Medical staff members on March 19 administer the AstraZeneca vaccine at La Nuvola (The Cloud) convention center that was temporarily turned into a COVID-19 vaccination hub, in Rome. AstraZeneca said March 22 that advanced trial data from a U.S. study on its COVID vaccine shows it is 79% effective. The U.S. study comprised 30,000 volunteers, 20,000 of whom were given the vaccine while the rest got dummy shots.
Scientists can now sequence an entire genome overnight. This technology has been the key tool in identifying and tracking Covid variants.

Unlocking the Covid Code

By Jon Gertner

Edward Holmes was in Australia on a Saturday morning in early January 2020, talking on the phone with a Chinese scientist named Yong-Zhen Zhang who had just sequenced the genome of a novel pathogen that was infecting people in Wuhan. The two men  old friends  debated the results. I knew we were looking at a respiratory virus, recalls Holmes, a virologist and professor at the University of Sydney. He also knew it looked dangerous.

Could he share the genetic code publicly? Holmes asked. Zhang was in China, on an airplane waiting for takeoff. He wanted to think it over for a minute. So Holmes waited. He heard a flight attendant urging Zhang to turn off his phone.

OK, Zhang said at last. Almost immediately, Holmes posted the sequence on a website called Virological.org; then he linked to it on Twitter. Holmes knew that researchers around the world would instantly start unwinding the pathogens code to try to find ways to defeat it.

From the moment the virus genome was first posted by Holmes, if you looked, you could find a genetic component in almost every aspect of our public-health responses to SARS-CoV-2. Its typically the case, for instance, that a pharmaceutical company needs samples of a virus to create a vaccine. But once the sequence was in the public realm, Moderna, an obscure biotech company in Cambridge, Mass., immediately began working with the National Institutes of Health on a plan. They never had the virus on site at all; they really just used the sequence, and they viewed it as a software problem, Francis deSouza, the chief executive of Illumina, which makes the sequencer that Zhang used, told me with some amazement last summer, six months before the Moderna vaccine received an emergency-use authorization by the Food and Drug Administration. The viruss code also set the testing industry into motion. Only by analyzing characteristic aspects of the viruss genetic sequence could scientists create kits for the devices known as P.C.R. machines, which for decades have used genetic information to formulate fast diagnostic tests.

In the meantime, sequencing was put to use to track viral mutations  beginning with studies published in February 2020 demonstrating that the virus was spreading in the U.S. This kind of work falls within the realm of genomic epidemiology, or gen epi, as those in the field tend to call it. Many of the insights date to the mid-1990s and a group of researchers in Oxford, England, Holmes among them. They perceived that following evolutionary changes in viruses that gain lasting mutations every 10 days (like the flu) or every 20 days (like Ebola) was inherently similar to  and, as we now know, inherently more useful than  following them in animals, where evolution might occur over a million years.

An early hurdle was the tedious nature of the work. The Oxford group had to analyze genetic markers through a slow and deliberate process that could provide insight into a few dozen characteristics of each new variant. It wasnt until the late 2000s that drastic improvements in genetic-sequencing machines, aided by huge leaps in computing power, allowed researchers to more easily and quickly read the complete genetic codes of viruses, as well as the genetic blueprint for humans, animals, plants and microbes.

In the sphere of public health, one of the first big breakthroughs enabled by faster genomic sequencing came in 2014, when a team at the Broad Institute of M.I.T. and Harvard began sequencing samples of the Ebola virus from infected victims during an outbreak in Africa. The work showed that, by contrasting genetic codes, hidden pathways of transmission could be identified and interrupted, with the potential for slowing (or even stopping) the spread of infection. It was one of the first real-world uses of what has come to be called genetic surveillance. A few years later, doctors toting portable genomic sequencers began tracking the Zika virus around Central and South America. Sequencers were getting better, faster and easier to use.

To many, the most familiar faces of this technology are clinical testing companies, which use sequencing machines to read portions of our genetic code (known as panels or exomes) to investigate a few crucial genes, like those linked to a higher risk of breast cancer. But more profound promises of genome sequencing have been accumulating stealthily in recent years, in fields from personal health to cultural anthropology to environmental monitoring. Crispr, a technology reliant on sequencing, gives scientists the potential to repair disease-causing mutations in our genomes. Liquid biopsies, in which a small amount of blood is analyzed for DNA markers, offer the prospect of cancer diagnoses long before symptoms appear. The Harvard geneticist George Church told me that one day sensors might sip the air so that a genomic app on our phones can tell us if theres a pathogen lurking in a room. Sequencing might even make it possible to store any kind of data we might want in DNA  such an archival system would, in theory, be so efficient and dense as to be able to hold the entire contents of the internet in a pillowcase.

Historians of science sometimes talk about new paradigms, or new modes of thought, that change our collective thinking about what is true or possible. But paradigms often evolve not just when new ideas displace existing ones, but when new tools allow us to do things  or to see things  that would have been impossible to consider earlier. The advent of commercial genome sequencing has recently, and credibly, been compared to the invention of the microscope, a claim that led me to wonder whether this new, still relatively obscure technology, humming away in well-equipped labs around the world, would prove to be the most important innovation of the 21st century. Already, in Churchs estimation, sequencing is 10 million times cheaper and 100,000 times higher quality than it was just a few years ago. If a new technological paradigm is arriving, bringing with it a future in which we constantly monitor the genetics of our bodies and everything around us, these sequencers  easy, quick, ubiquitous  are the machines taking us into that realm.

And unexpectedly, Covid-19 has proved to be the catalyst. What the pandemic has done is accelerate the adoption of genomics into infectious disease by several years, says deSouza, the Illumina chief executive. He also told me he believes that the pandemic has accelerated the adoption of genomics into society more broadly  suggesting that quietly, in the midst of chaos and a global catastrophe, the age of cheap, rapid sequencing has arrived.

One morning last August, after the pandemics first wave had ebbed on the East Coast, I visited the New York Genome Center in Lower Manhattan to observe the process of genetic sequencing. On that day, lab technicians were working on a slew of SARS-CoV-2 samples taken from patients at New Jerseys Hackensack University Medical Center. Dina Manaa, a lab manager at the center, handed me a blue lab coat upon my arrival. Ill walk you through the entire process, Manaa said, and over the next 20 minutes, we went up and down the labs aisles as she explained the work.

The sequencing of a virus, much like the sequencing of human DNA from a cheek swab or a drop of blood, is painstaking. Samples are moved along what is essentially an assembly line: weighed on exquisitely sensitive scales to check the mass of the specimen; bathed with chemical solutions known as reagents; tagged with a bar code of genetic material so each sample can be individually tracked. Most of the preparations, Manaa explained, are about checking the quality of the virus sample and then amplifying its genetic material  in effect, transforming a tiny and invisible amount of the coronavirus extracted from a swab into vast quantities of DNA, all in preparation for being read and analyzed by a device built to do exactly that.

In another lab, Manaa paused by a row of five sleek and identical new machines, the Illumina NovaSeq 6000  or Nova-seeks, as theyre called. These were similar to the machines used in China to sequence the virus for the first time, six months before. The NovaSeqs are about the size of an office photocopier and have few distinguishing features, apart from a large touch-screen interface and a vent pipe that rises from the back of the device to the ceiling. Each machine costs roughly $1 million; there are about 1,000 of them in the world right now. At a nearby lab bench, a technician named Berrin Baysa was pipetting minuscule amounts of clear, virus-laden solutions from one tube to another and moving her mixtures into small, spinning centrifuges. After nearly two days of preparation, these were the final steps for the Hackensack samples. At last, Baysa combined the tiny cocktails she had made by pouring them together into something known as a flow-cell, a flat glass cartridge about the size of an iPhone, containing four hollow chambers. She then carefully popped the flow cell into a drawer slot in a NovaSeq 6000.

Quietly, in the midst of chaos and a global catastrophe, the age of cheap, rapid sequencing has arrived.

OK, keep your fingers crossed, she said after punching some instructions into a touch-screen and then tapping GO. She held up both hands and crossed her own fingers.

For this particular task, it would take the machine two days to complete the readings, she said  meaning that at that point, the full genetic sequences of the virus would be ready for the bioinformaticians, who would look for patterns and variants in the samples.

The NovaSeqs represent the culmination of about two decades of technological development that in large part began with the Human Genome Project, which was completed in 2003 and funded mainly by the National Institutes of Health. The project showed that the human genome  natures complete genetic blueprint for building a human being, as the N.I.H. describes it  is composed of a sequence of about three billion base pairs. These are bonded chemicals coded as A, C, G and T, where A stands for adenine, C for cytosine, G for guanine and T for thymine. The chemical pairs are frequently grouped together on our chromosomes, in about 30,000 information-dense strings, or clumps. The clumps are our genes.

The Human Genome Project required 13 years of work and cost more than $3 billion. Jeffery Schloss, who for many years oversaw technology grants at the National Human Genome Research Institute, a division of the N.I.H., told me that in 2002, he attended a meeting to map out the future of sequencing. This had been a massive effort, to sequence the human genome, Schloss recalls, but we knew it was just the beginning of what we needed to do, which meant that sequencing had to change dramatically. And in the course of that meeting, some people brought up this crazy idea: What if you could sequence a big genome for a thousand dollars? What would that enable?

Most of the scientists in Schlosss circle believed it might lead to profound revelations. By studying the genomes of a large population of, say, Alzheimers patients, researchers might piece together how certain genes, or combinations of genes, could make someone more likely to become ill. In an even larger sweep, they might gain insights into the health or disease markers of entire population groups or countries. Sequencing might find uses beyond basic science  routine clinical scans for prenatal testing, say, or for genes known to increase the likelihood of certain cancers.

Schlosss office invested $220 million in various start-ups and ideas over a period of about 15 years. The ultimate goal was to help bring down the cost, and raise the speed, of whole-genome sequencing. Even if the $1,000 genome remained out of reach, perhaps a new generation of machines might come close. It was really unclear how long it would take for any of those to get into commercialization, Schloss recalls. They had to become commercially successful. It was all pretty uncertain. Indeed, many of the sequencing start-ups from the early 2000s ultimately failed in the marketplace. A few, however, were subsumed into the core technology of other firms. A company known as Solexa, for instance, developed ingenious ideas  known as sequencing by synthesis  that involved measuring genetic samples optically, with fluorescent dyes that illuminated elements of DNA in the samples. That company was ultimately bought by another firm  Illumina, which quickly became a leader in the industry.

As machines improved, the impact was felt mainly in university labs, which had relied on a process called Sanger sequencing, developed in the mid-1970s by the Nobel laureate Frederick Sanger. This laborious technique, which involved running DNA samples through baths of electrically charged gels, was what the scientists at Oxford had depended upon in the mid-1990s; it was also what Dave OConnor, a virologist at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, was using in the early 2000s, as he and his lab partner, Tom Friedrich, tracked virus mutations. The H.I.V. genome has about 10,000 letters, OConnor told me, which makes it simpler than the human genome (at three billion letters) or the SARS-CoV-2 genome (at about 30,000). In an H.I.V. genome, when we first started doing it, we would be able to look at a couple hundred letters at a time. But OConnor says his work changed with the advent of new sequencing machines. By around 2010, he and Friedrich could decode 500,000 letters in a day. A few years later, it was five million.

By 2015, the pace of improvement was breathtaking. When I was a postdoctoral fellow, I actually worked in Fred Sangers lab, Tom Maniatis, the head of the New York Genome Center, told me. I had to sequence a piece of DNA that was about 35 base pairs, and it took me a year to do that. And now, you can do a genome, with three billion base pairs, overnight. Also astounding was the decrease in cost. Illumina achieved the $1,000 genome in 2014. Last summer, the company announced that its NovaSeq 6000 could sequence a whole human genome for $600; at the time, deSouza, Illuminas chief executive, told me that his companys path to a $100 genome would not entail a breakthrough, just incremental technical improvements. At this point, theres no miracle thats required, he said. Several of Illuminas competitors  including BGI, a Chinese genomics company  have indicated that they will also soon achieve a $100 genome. Those in the industry whom I spoke with predicted that it may be only a year or two away.

These numbers dont fully explain what faster speeds and affordability might portend. But in health care, the prospect of a cheap whole-genome test, perhaps from birth, suggests a significant step closer to the realization of personalized medicines and lifestyle plans, tailored to our genetic strengths and vulnerabilities. When that happens, thats probably going to be the most powerful and valuable clinical test you could have, because its a lifetime record, Maniatis told me. Your complete genome doesnt change over the course of your life, so it needs to be sequenced only once. And Maniatis imagines that as new information is accumulated through clinical studies, your physician, armed with new research results, could revisit your genome and discover, say, when youre 35 that you have a mutation thats going be a problem when youre 50. Really, that is not science fiction, he says. That is, Im personally certain, going to happen.

In some respects, it has begun already, even amid a public-health crisis. In January, the New York Genome Center began a partnership with Weill-Cornell and NewYork-Presbyterian hospitals to conduct whole-genome sequences on thousands of patients. Olivier Elemento, a doctor who leads the initiative at Weill-Cornell, told me that the goal is to see how a whole-genome sequence  not merely the identification of a few genetic traits  could inform diagnosis and treatment. What is the best medication based on a patients genome? What is the ideal dosage? Were trying to address a very important question thats never been answered at this scale, Elemento explained: What is the utility of whole-genome sequencing? He said he believed that within one or two years, the study would lead to an answer.

Sequencing is 10 million times cheaper and 100,000 times higher quality than it was just a few years ago.

Some of the grandest hopes for sequencing have arisen from the notion that our genes are deterministic  and that by understanding our DNAs code, we might limn our destiny. When an early reading of the human genome was unveiled in 2000, President Bill Clinton noted that we were getting a glimpse of one of the most important, most wondrous maps ever produced by humankind. But the map has often proved hard to read, its routes unclear. The past 20 years have demonstrated that inherited genes are just one aspect of a confounding system thats not easily interpreted. The progress of using gene therapy to treat diseases, for instance, has been halting; it wasnt until last year that physicians had a resounding success with a treatment on several patients with heritable genes for sickle-cell anemia. In the meantime, scientists have come to realize something else: A complex overlay of environmental and lifestyle factors, as well as our microbiomes, appear to have interconnected effects on health, development and behavior.

And yet, in the course of the past year, some of the extraordinary hopes for genomic sequencing did come true, but for an unexpected reason. During the summer and fall, I spoke frequently with executives at Illumina, as well as its competitor in Britain, Oxford Nanopore. It was clear that the pandemic had meant a startling interruption in their business, but at each company the top executives perceived the situation as an opportunity  the first pandemic in history in which genomic sequencing would inform our decisions and actions in real time.

From the start, the gen-epi community understood that the SARS-CoV-2 virus would form new variants every few weeks as it reproduced and spread; it soon became clear that it could develop one or more alterations (or mutations) at a time in the genomes 30,000 base letters. Because of this insight, on Jan. 19, 2020, just over a week after the virus code was released to the world, scientists could look at 12 complete virus genomes shared from China and conclude that the fact that they were nearly identical meant that those 12 people had been infected around the same time and were almost certainly infecting one another. That was something where the genomic epidemiology could help us to say, loudly, that human transmission was rampant, when it wasnt really being acknowledged as it should have been, Trevor Bedford, a scientist at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, told me.

When Bedfords lab began studying viral genomes in Seattle, he could go a step further. By late February, he concluded that new cases he was seeing were not just being imported to the U.S. from China. Based on observations of local mutations  two strains found six weeks apart looked too similar to be a coincidence  community transmission was happening here. On Feb. 29, Bedford put up a Twitter post that noted, chillingly, I believe were facing an already substantial outbreak in Washington State that was not detected until now. His proof was in the code.

Bedfords lab was one of many around the world that began tracking the viruss evolution and sharing it in global databases. In the meantime, gen-epi researchers used sequencing for local experiments too. In the spring of 2020, a team of British scientists compared virus sequences sampled from ill patients at a single hospital to see if their infections came from one another or from elsewhere. We were able to generate data that were useful in real time, Estee Torok, an academic physician at the University of Cambridge who helped lead the research, told me. And in an ideal world, you could do that every day. In other words, sequencing had advanced from a few years ago, when scientists might publish papers a year after an outbreak, to the point that genetic epidemiologists could compare mutations in a specific location in order to be able to raise alarms  We have community spread! Patients on Floor 3 are transmitting to Floor 5!  and act immediately.

To watch the pandemic unfold from the perspective of those working in the field of genomics was to see both the astounding power of new sequencing tools and the catastrophic failure of the American public-health system to take full advantage of them. At the end of July, the National Academy of Sciences released a report noting that advances in genomic sequencing could enable our ability to break or delay virus transmission to reduce morbidity and mortality. And yet the report scathingly noted that sequencing endeavors for the coronavirus were patchy, typically passive, reactive, uncoordinated and underfunded. Every scientist I spoke with understood that the virus could evolve into dangerous new variants; it was many months before one in particular, known as B.1.1.7, emerged and demonstrated that it was more transmissible and most likely more deadly. Researchers were similarly worried that our sequencing efforts to track the pathways of infection  unlike more serious and government-supported efforts in Britain or Australia  were flailing.

One of the Biden administrations approaches to slowing the pandemic has been to invest $200 million in sequencing virus samples from those who test positive. With the recent approval of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, a further $1.75 billion will be allocated to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to support genomic sequencing and disease surveillance.

In late January, the C.D.C. began disbursing money to public-health laboratories around the country to bolster the sequencing work already being done at academic labs. But the effort was starting from a low baseline. One calculation in The Washington Post noted that the United States had ranked 38th globally in terms of employing sequencing during the pandemic; as of mid-February, the U.S. was still trying to catch up to many European and Asian countries. And it therefore couldnt be said that new or dangerous variants werent landing on our shores or emerging here afresh. What could be said is that we were unable to know.

One day sensors might sip the air so that a genomic app on our phones can tell us if theres a pathogen lurking in a room.

One day at the New York Genome Center, a researcher named Neville Sanjana told me that he thinks of genetic sequencers not as a typical invention but as a kind of platform technology. The phrase resonates among those who study innovation. Such technological leaps are rare. They represent breakthroughs that give rise to platforms  cellphones, say, or web browsers  that in time revolutionize markets and society.

The immense value of a platform innovation is related to how it can be adapted for a range of uses that are unforeseen at its inception. It can be like a toolbox, waiting at the back of a closet. What happened with sequencing during the pandemic serves as a good example. Another is Sanjanas work on new Crispr technologies, which he uses to modify or repair strings of DNA to better understand the genetic basis of human disease. Twenty years ago, when officials at the N.I.H. talked about investing in the future of sequencing, altering the human, plant or animal genome on a regular basis was not something they could have predicted. But Crispr requires Sanjana to constantly evaluate his editing by using sequencers  usually a desktop Illumina model, in his case  to check the results. It would be impossible to do these experiments otherwise, he says.

It has been the case historically that platform innovations dont merely create new applications. They create new industries. And while countless genomics companies have already sprung up, for now just four companies run most of the sequencing analyses in the world. These are Illumina and Pacific Biosciences, based in the United States; Oxford Nanopore Technologies, based in Britain; and Chinas BGI Group.

According to the Federal Trade Commission, Illumina controls roughly 90 percent of the market for sequencing machines in the U.S., and by the companys own assessment, it compiles 80 percent of the genomic information that exists in the world in a given year. It is sometimes described as the Google of the genomics business, not only because of its huge market share but also because of its products ability to search our complete genetic makeup. In short, it dominates the business. Last year, the firm took in over $3 billion in revenue and about $650 million in net income. In its hunger for expansion, the company has recently made a run of acquisitions. In late September, for example, Illumina announced that it intended to acquire, for $8 billion, a biotech company called Grail, which has created a genomic test that runs on an Illumina sequencer and that an early study suggests can successfully detect more than 50 types of cancers from a small sample of blood. On a recent corporate earnings call, deSouza called Grail and early cancer detection by far the largest clinical application of genomics were likely to see over the next decade or two.

As the pandemic unfolded, I spoke often to genomics executives about which industries could be transformed by their technologies and how their machines would be deployed in the years to come. One model for the future was built around the strengths of Illumina  big machines like the NovaSeq, with an extraordinary capacity for sequencing, housed in central testing labs (as they are now) and run by specialists. But a very different set of ideas emerges from one of Illuminas main competitors, Oxford Nanopore. Oxfords sequencers involve a technology that is electronic rather than optical; it is based on the concept of moving a sample of DNA through tiny holes  nanopores  in a membrane. The device measures how genetic material (extracted from a sample of blood, say) reacts to an electric current during the process, and it registers the letter sequence  A, G, C, T  accordingly. One distinctive feature is that a nanopore device can read longer threads of DNA than an Illumina device, which can be helpful for some applications. It can also give readouts in real time.

Yet the biggest difference may be its portability. In 2015, Oxford Nanopore began selling a sampling and sequencing gadget called the Minion (pronounced MIN-eye-on) for $1,000. It is smaller than a small iPhone. The chief executive of Oxford Nanopore, Gordon Sanghera, told me he sees his companys tool as enabling a future in which sequencing insights can be derived during every minute of every day. Inspection officers working in meatpacking plants would get results about pathogenic infection in minutes; surveyors doing environmental monitoring or wastewater analysis can already do the same. Your dentist might one day do a check of your oral microbiome during a regular visit, or your oncologist might sequence your blood once a month to see if youre still in remission. A transplantation specialist might even check, on the spot, about the genomic compatibility of an organ donation. The companys ethos, Sanghera says, is the analysis of anything, by anyone, anywhere. Indeed, there happens to be a Minion on the International Space Station right now.

The technology, compared with Illuminas, is considered by most scientists I spoke with to be less accurate, but it has advantages beyond those that Sanghera mentioned. It was the Minion that enabled scientists to test for diseases like Zika without any infrastructure beyond a laptop; more recently, its what allowed Estee Torok and other researchers in Britain to track viral mutations in real time in a hospital. That ability to do sequencing in the field, even in rural Africa, has opened up possibilities that were never previously even envisioned, Eric Green, who runs the National Human Genome Research Institute, part of the N.I.H., told me recently.

Bringing the equivalent of an iPhone into genomics may not effect a revolution overnight. Sanghera doesnt imagine that big central testing labs, or Illumina, could fade away anytime soon; indeed, his own company markets a line of large sequencers for big labs, too. And for sure, related technologies can coexist, much like cloud computing and desktop computing, especially if they solve different problems. For now, Sanghera regards the coronavirus, and the surveillance efforts in Britain and the U.S. that are increasing demand for his companys products, as hastening the cultures genomic transition. He said he sees no obstacle to a $100 whole human-genome sequence in the near future. His company, he told me, is also working with a new chip that may eventually bring down the cost to $10.

It seems beyond debate that the pandemic has demonstrated that we can benefit from genomic sequences even before we fully unravel all their mysteries. We can use them as a sort of global alarm system, for instance, much as they were used by Eddie Holmes and Yong-Zhen Zhang when they shared the SARS-CoV-2 sequence in January 2020. As it happens, there are a variety of different surveillance efforts underway, some driven by health agencies and others by academics, that would go much further than simply posting a sequence on a website  efforts that would share critical public-health information faster and, more broadly, might be useful for another new coronavirus, a deadly influenza strain or even a bioterror attack.

Pardis Sabeti, a geneticist at Harvard, told me that last May she received a philanthropic grant to help develop and deploy a pandemic pre-emption network called Sentinel. Weve always aimed for that ability to do surveillance, she told me, adding that the goal of Sentinel would be to use genomic technologies everywhere  in rural clinics in Europe, villages in Africa, cities in China  to detect familiar pathogens within a single day of their appearance and novel pathogens within a week. The system would then race to share the data, via mobile networks, with health workers and communities so as to elicit a rapid response: travel restrictions, quarantines, medicine. Anything necessary to break chains of transmission. With a virus that spreads exponentially, a day could matter. A week could mean the difference between a small but deadly outbreak and a global cataclysm. (The time between the first case of Covid-19 and the release of the sequence of the virus was most likely about two months.)

As successive waves of the pandemic washed over the world, I noticed that the buzzword at the sequencing companies also became surveillance. For the most part, it meant tracking new variants and using sequencing codes to help reveal paths and patterns of transmission. Yet surveillance sometimes seemed a flexible concept, given that Illumina and Oxford Nanopore were selling flexible machines. Surveillance could mean the search for the next novel virus in Asia or even early cancer detection in our bodies. And it sometimes meant mass testing too. Last year, both deSouza and Sanghera successfully adapted their companies machines to do clinical diagnostic tests for the coronavirus; the goal was to step in and help increase global testing capacity at a moment when many medical facilities were overwhelmed by the demand.

In many respects, a genetic sequencer is over-engineered for the task of simply testing for a virus. A P.C.R. machine is faster, cheaper and less complex. And yet there are potential advantages to the sequencer. Illumina eventually won emergency approval from the Food and Drug Administration for a diagnostic test for the NovaSeq that can run about 3,000 swab samples, simultaneously, over the course of 12 hours. Thus, a single machine could do 6,000 coronavirus tests per day. Two hundred NovaSeqs could do more than a million. In addition to this immense capacity, its viable to test for the virus and sequence the virus at the same time: An analysis run on a sequencer could inform patients whether they have the virus, and the anonymized sequencing data on positive samples could give public-health agencies a huge amount of epidemiology data for use in tracking variants. I can envision a world where diagnosis and sequencing are kind of one and the same, Bronwyn MacInnis, who directs pathogen genomic surveillance at the Broad Institute, told me. Were not there yet, but were not a million miles off, either.

Last summer, a few big clinical laboratories, notably Ginkgo Bioworks in Boston, began plans to roll out tests for Illumina sequencers, pending authorization from the F.D.A. Ginkgo, with help from investments from Illumina, as well as a grant from the N.I.H., began building a huge new laboratory next to its current one, where the company would install 10 NovaSeqs. After we get the big facility built, thats when wed be trying to hit 100,000 tests a day, Jason Kelly, Ginkgos chief executive, told me at the time. It was technically possible to sequence many of the positive coronavirus samples, too, he said.

When I asked Kelly what he would do if his capacity goes unused, he didnt seem concerned. He doubted his sequencers would be idle. By betting on sequencers as our Covid response, he remarked, we get flexibility for what you can use this for later. After the pandemic, in other words, there will still be new strains of flu and other viruses to code. There will be a backlog of sequencing work for cancer and prenatal health and rare genetic diseases. There will be an ongoing surveillance effort for SARS-CoV-2 variants. An even bigger job, moreover, involves a continuing project to sequence untold strains of microbes, a project that Ginkgo has been involved with in search of new pharmaceuticals. I think of this as like building fiber in the late 1990s, for the internet, Kelly said. Back then, we laid down huge amounts of fiber, then everything crashed.

But it turned out that a decade after the dot-com crash, optical fiber was essential for the expanding traffic of the web. And what Kelly seemed to be saying, I later realized, was that he would expand his lab because sequencing had to be the future, in all kinds of different ways. There was no going back.

Opening illustration includes a portion of the SARS-CoV-2 genome released to the public in 2020.



Jon Gertner is a contributing writer for the magazine and the author of The Ice at the End of the World. He writes frequently about science and technology, including features on Tesla and Climeworks, a Swiss company that is removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
By Ivan Tolit

Aruu North Member of Parliament Odonga Otto has been kept in detention for the third day following his arrest on a range of criminal offences, including assault of a journalist and claiming that he had been poisoned while in police custody.

Mr Otto, who was transferred from Gulu to Kampala City on Tuesday, is being detained at the Special Investigations Division at Kireka.

The spokesperson of the Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID), Mr Charles Twiine, yesterday said the legislator recorded statements in regard to the offences of illegal possession of a firearm, destruction of property and offensive communication.

"He has refused to record the statements, but later was convinced by his relatives. His file is being processed very fast and he will be taken to court very soon," Mr Twiine said.

It is alleged that Mr Otto assaulted a journalist while at Pece Stadium, Gulu City, in 2019. The police also allege that he used a gun that he holds illegally to attack a driver before he damaged his vehicle.

Other cases

In another case, it is alleged he was involved in electoral violence in January this year and when he was arrested, he claimed to have been poisoned while in detention. Police say it was not true and are now investigating him for offensive communication.

Mr Twiine said the MP has been holding a firearm that isn't registered with any of the security firms.

A team of top detectives led by Mr Francis Olugu, the deputy director at CID, was sent from the CID headquarters in Kampala City to Gulu City to arrest him. It is rare for an MP to be arrested in such way. Often MPs are summoned through the Speaker of Parliament and thereafter arrested upon appearance.

The CID team cornered him while at the Bomah Hotel gym section in Gulu City. Mr Otto's brother Tadeo Oloya Otto was also arrested on allegations that he was obstructing police officers from carrying out the arrest.

However, the MP said cases against him are politically motivated.

Mr Otto was defeated in the parliamentary election by Dr Christopher Komakech, a relative of the Deputy Inspector General of Police, Maj Gen Paul Lokech.
Batavia, NY (14020)

Today

Cloudy skies early, followed by partial clearing. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 59F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Cloudy skies early, followed by partial clearing. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 59F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph.
Buried underground in the middle of an open field, roughly a half-mile inland from St. Mary's River, archaeologists have discovered the remains of Maryland's earliest colonial site, a 387-year-old fort that was erected by European settlers in 1634.

The site, known as St. Mary's Fort, was the fourth English colony established in the United States and was home to approximately 150 settlers. The recent discovery is the culmination of a decadeslong search and could reveal intriguing new details about the first wave of European colonists in Maryland and those who were there before them, said archaeologist Travis Parno, director of research and collections for Historic St. Mary's City, where the fort is located.

"There are a lot of cross-colonial and cross-cultural things that we can learn," Parno said. "Not just how we compare to other places, but how the colony expanded and those really complicated social and political relationships between Native populations and the colonists, and also between different groups of Native peoples."

Parno said early excavations have indicated the site is well preserved. The fort was constructed of wood, which means that unlike with stone, brick and other types of masonry that can be uncovered, archaeologists instead have to look for clues in what remains in the soil.

"It's kind of a mixture of art and science because you have to excavate and look at stains in the soil left behind by wood that was there in the past," Parno said.

Conjectural drawing of St. Marys Fort based on the geophysical survey. (Jeffrey R. Parno)

St. Mary's Fort was the first colonial settlement in Maryland and was one of the earliest established in the U.S., after Jamestown in 1607, Plymouth in 1620 and Massachusetts Bay in 1630. This region of southern Maryland was home to the Yaocomaco, a tribe that Parno said lived on both sides of the St. Mary's River.

In March 1634, roughly 150 colonists sailed aboard two ships, Ark and Dove, to settle at St. Mary's Fort. The site was active for more than 50 years, but it was later abandoned after the state capital migrated to Annapolis.

Story continues

What's currently known about St. Mary's Fort has been mostly pieced together from historical records and correspondence in 1634 between the colony's first governor, Leonard Calvert, and the man in England who helped finance the settlement, Richard Lechford.

In fact, it was Calvert's own letters that caused some confusion during the search for St. Mary's Fort. In one of Calvert's dispatches, he described the fort as measuring 120 yards square with four bastions for protection.

A view of the St. Marys Fort dig site. (Historic St. Marys City)

But when archaeologists searched the field using ground-penetrating radar, they found the outlines of a structure that vaguely resembled what Calvert described  but not quite.

"We found a large, palisaded enclosure, but it wasn't square," Parno said. "It was rectangular and about 104 yards by 58 yards, so about 44 percent of the size of what Calvert described in his letter."

Parno's team also found only one circular bastion on one corner, rather than four. In 2019, a portion of the site was excavated and archaeologists sampled the remains. They found artifacts dating back to the early 17th century, which helped them confirm that they had indeed stumbled on the site of St. Mary's Fort.

"At that point, we knew it wasn't a later construction," Parno said. "It was the palisaded enclosure we were looking for."

Archaeologists are expecting to learn more about St. Mary's Fort as larger sections of the site are excavated. Beyond the area's rich colonial history, Parno said researchers are keen to understand how the land was used for thousands of years before European settlers landed on Maryland's shores.

"The colony was in place for essentially 60 years, but for more than 10,000 years, people lived in or moved through this part of southern Maryland," he said. "Why not expand and treat this whole field as a laboratory to investigate human experience in this part of the world over the course of thousands of years?"
When the police and soldiers arrived in the middle of the night, they fired their guns into the air, threw stones through the windows and threatened to drive a car through the front door if no one opened it. U Shwe Win and his family were asleep. It was 2:30 a.m.

The police and soldiers had come to arrest Mr. Shwe Wins son, Ko Win Htut Nyein. When they found him, they beat and handcuffed the 19-year-old before hauling him away. His offense, the family was told, was taking videos of the police at a protest in Mandalay the day before.

More than two weeks later, Mr. Shwe Win is still searching for his son. The authorities say they have no record of his arrest. I felt so hopeless, like I had lost everything at that moment, Mr. Shwe Win said. I still dont know where my son is. I dont want him to die in their hands, and I worry that they will torture him.

Since the Feb. 1 coup in Myanmar, millions of pro-democracy protesters have joined demonstrations against the military and participated in general strikes and a civil disobedience movement that have brought the economy to a virtual halt. Security forces have responded with increasing ruthlessness, shooting people in the streets and arbitrarily beating and arresting people.
As one might guess, different news organizations and other groups that compile data use different criteria for listing mass shootings. I'll go with that of the Congressional Research Service ("four or more shot and killed in one incident, excluding the perpetrators, at a public place, excluding gang-related killings and those done with a profit-motive").

Okay, here are the mass shootings so far this year, using CRS criteria:

Date Place Dead Perpetrator Race/Ethnicity January 9 Chicago, IL 6 Jason Nightengale Black January 24 Indianapolis, IN 6 Raymond Childs III Black February 2 Muskogee, OK 6 Jarron Deajon Pridgeon Black March 13 Indianapolis, IN 4 Malik Halfacre Black March 16 Atlanta, GA 8 Robert Aaron Long White, Christian March 16 Phoenix, AZ 4 Gilbert Gonzalez Hispanic March 22 Boulder, CO 10 Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa Arab, Muslim Total 44

The most notorious of these are the shootings in Atlanta and Boulder. How many times were we told that Robert Aaron Long is a Christian? This NYT article makes it clear, as do this and this in the Washington Post.

As for Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa's religion or ethnicity, nothing so far. The L.A. Times is silent about both. One must dive into alternative media to discover what he believed. Heavy.com has many quotes from his Facebook page, now deleted. He hated Donald Trump, was homophobic ("God created Adam and Eve not Adam and Steve just saying"), and opposed abortion ("Abortion is disgusting"). Wait, does that make him pro-life?

As for religion, consider this post from 2018: "Muslims may not be perfect but Islam is." I suppose that if the major media ever get around to these details of Alissa's life, they'll say he was "complicated" or that his posts require a "nuanced" reading. And when they consider his analysis of the origins of Christianity, we'll no doubt discover that he was a subtle exegete: "So Mary wears a hijab and Jesus doesn't eat pork and prays on his knees and hands. There [sic] both Muslims it's obvious."

I have assumed for years that mass shooters are overwhelmingly white males, because I keep reading that. If we look at the seven mass shootings so far this year, 57% of the perpetrators were black. But small datasets lead to misleading percentages: add just a few more white shooters, and the percentages change drastically.

Longer timelines must be considered. Statista reports that between 1982 and March 2021, 54% of mass shooters were white, 17% black, and 8% Latino. Wait a minute  Latinos can be any race. Nevertheless, whites are 73% of the U.S. population, and blacks 12.7%, so whites are very under-represented while blacks are over-represented. See also the series of excellent articles from the Center for Inquiry.

Here is an egregious example of the misuse of statistics, an article published in Newsweek on October 2, 2017, after the Las Vegas shootings, which declared that "white men have committed more mass shootings than any other group." PolitiFact did an analysis:

Mother Jones found that non-Hispanic white men have been responsible for 54 percent of mass shootings since August 1982. Another tally, with a longer timeline and a different definition of mass shooting, found non-Hispanic white men make up 63 percent of these attacks.

Nevertheless, PolitiFact concluded, "We rate this Mostly True." There are more whites in the USA than any other ethnic group! Even allowing the higher figure from the unnamed other "tally," white males are under-represented among mass killers. But it does not matter, it's "Mostly True."

Henry Percy is the nom de guerre of a writer in Arizona. He may be reached at saler.50d[at]gmail.com.

Image: Snappygoat.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-26 18:44:56|Editor: huaxia

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MOGADISHU, March 26 (Xinhua) -- The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said it has granted additional interim assistance to Somalia under the enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative of 0.97 million U.S. dollars on a lapse of time basis.

The IMF said in a statement issued on Thursday evening that the interim assistance will cover Somalia's debt service obligations to the fund for the year that ends on March 24, 2022.

On March 25 last year, the IMF and the World Bank approved Somalia's eligibility for the HIPC Initiative, providing access to International Development Assistance (IDA) instruments to mitigate the impact of multiple crises in Somalia.

The IMF board also approved an interim assistance of 1.5 million dollars for the year starting March 25, 2020.

"Performance under the extended credit facility-supported program has been satisfactory and Somalia continues to make progress on debt rescheduling and other reforms needed to reach the HIPC Completion Point," the IMF said.

Reaching completion points means Somalia has implemented reforms agreed to when the country reached the "decision point," when Somalia's eligibility for debt relief is confirmed and its relations with international financial institutions are fully normalized.

Decades of conflict and state fragmentation have left Somalia's public health system constrained and unable to mount an adequate, timely, and effective response to manage the COVID-19 crisis. Enditem
Blog

As one of the most important substances on earth, water is an element that is useful to living and non-living things. It is used for agriculture, recreation, industry and hydroelectricity. Water plays a pivotal role in improving health outcomes.

Water covers 71 percent of the earth's surface and continuously moves between the atmosphere, land and sea. This is the process that makes water available to us; it is called the water cycle.

World Water Day is celebrated on the 22nd of March every year. The theme for this year's celebration is 'Valuing Water'. Water is a vital resource that should be valued and protected. Research has revealed that climate change has an increasingly negative effect on the water cycle, water quantity and the quality of existing water resources.

The Need for Value -- Paying Close Attention to the Effects of Climate Change

Climate change is a change in temperature and rainfall in a region over a period of time. It destroys water sources and as a result, destroys livelihoods and health. Human activities like burning of fossil fuels (oil, natural gas and coal) add enormous amounts of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide (CO2) to those naturally occurring in the atmosphere.

Nigeria's CO2 emissions was 100.2 million tons in 2019. President Muhammed Buhari signed the Paris Agreement in 2016 where he committed to ensuring the country's greenhouse gas emissions reduces by 20% by the year 2030.

Impact of Climate Change on the Quantity and Quality of Water and on Health

Climate change causes drought, particularly in places that have less rainfall. When water sources dry up, clean water becomes difficult to find. This poses threats on agriculture and affects food production and hydroelectric power supply. Flooding occurs as a result of increased precipitation and intense rainstorms. Flooding transports large volumes of water and contaminants into waterbodies, resulting in untreated pollutants directly entering waterways. This is harmful to health with over 46 million Nigerians still practicing open defecation. A study published in 2019 to ascertain the impact of flood disasters in Nigeria showed that Ajegunle, a community highly susceptible to floods in Lagos State, lost children to diarrheal outbreaks, malaria and typhoid fever resulting from stagnant and polluted drinking water.

The Need to Protect Water

As a nation we must protect water by reducing and mitigating the impact of climate change. Water needs to be protected as it travels around the world so that it maintains its quality and distribution. If we do not act now, the impact on our communities will be disastrous. We cannot make 'new' water, we need to protect the water that we already have so that man and the ecosystem can thrive. Now is the time to proffer solutions that will address the challenges of climate change before it is too late.

Afforestation can help in addressing environmental degradation, particularly desertification, deforestation, erosion, and flooding as well as reducing the effects of climate change. The Great Green Wall is an African-led movement with the ambition to grow an 8,000 km natural green hedge across the entire width of Africa, making it one of the world's natural wonders.

The National policy on Climate Change is the national document for climate activities in Nigeria. It identifies adaptation and mitigation interventions in key sectors in environment, agriculture, forestry, health, water resources, transport, ICT and communication that if properly implemented, can help to significantly promote low carbon in our environment and increase public awareness and involve private sector participation in tackling climate change. Advocates must continue to ask how well this policy is being implemented.

Nigeria must act quickly to enact evidence-based policies that address the threat of climate change on the nation's bodies of water. There is a need to:

Reduce greenhouse gases to minimise the magnitude of climate change in our environment.

Improve energy efficiency by reducing activities that increases carbon dioxide in the atmosphere such as flaring of gas.

Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Nigeria Health Climate 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.

Protect public health, development, security and land and water resources from the potential threats posed by climate change by encouraging multi-sectoral interventions.

At the Nigerian government level, implement actions to improve water quality, water supplies and flood management.

Bring all stakeholders together to find innovative ways to tackle climate change in Nigeria so that it does not get out of hand.

Climate Change is not a 'foreign matter', an 'oyibo issue' or a 'problem for those that have food to eat'. It is a global issue and it is a Nigerian issue that is affecting Nigerian lives every single day. From the farmer in Delta State who suffers from contamination of the water he needs for irrigation by oil drilling residue, to the truck driver in Rivers State who drives through soot just to get to his destination on time. Climate change is a Nigerian issue. Its adverse impact on our water resources means we all must work to tackle it because water is life.
ROME, MAR 26 - A lecturer at Siena University was suspended for three months Friday for calling nationalist Brothers of Italy (FdI) leader Giorgia Meloni a "fishwife" last month. Professor Giovanni Gozzini has already been suspended pending the disciplinary ruling for what he said on Italian radio on February 19. Gozzin insulted Meloni after she criticised Premier Mario Draghi. The modern history lecturer called rightist leader Meloni a "fishwife" for "daring to criticise someone like Draghi", a former European Central Bank chief credited with saving the euro whose nickname is Super Mario. Asked to moderate his language so as not insult fishsellers, Gozzini replied "what should I call her then, a cow, a sow, what fully captures her ignorance and arrogance?" Meloni received crossparty solidarity after the incident, broadcast live on Italian radio. FdI is the only major party in Italy not to have joined Draghi's national unity government. But Meloni has said they will judge his policies on their merits. (ANSA).
The self-proclaimed party of unity has driven yet another wedge into the partisan divide of our country with the passage of HR 842. The legislation, dubbed the Protecting the Right to Organize Act, should be recognized as potentially one of the most economically damaging bills to ever be considered in Congress.

Cloaked behind a facade of protecting American workers, the measure is nothing more than a neatly wrapped gift to Big Labor, cashing in on the tens of millions of dollars unions poured into Joe Bidens presidential campaign.

HR 842 is a veritable laundry list of bad policies designed to empower labor unions at the expense of individual choice.

Among other bad outcomes, the bill would:

 Institute heavy-handed union organizing, including impeding secret-ballot elections on unionization

 Limit managements ability to refute union campaign messages during organizing drives

 Truncate the union election process so employees have less time to make informed decisions

 Require employers to provide unions with employees personal contact information.

Perhaps the most sinister provision of the bill would be to repeal right-to-work laws in the majority of states.

Twenty-seven states have right-to-work laws that protect employees choice to pay union fees or not. If the PRO Act makes it to Bidens desk and becomes law, it could require the roughly 938,000 private-sector workers represented by unions but choosing not to be union members to pay full union fees or risk losing their job.

Biden addressed this issue when speaking about an ongoing effort to unionize Amazon workers in Alabama. Biden declared, Let me be really clear: Its not up to me to decide whether anyone should join a union. But let me be even more clear: Its not up to an employer, either. The choice to join a union is up to the workers. Full stop.

The PRO Act, however, takes that decision away from millions of Americans and puts it in the hopelessly incapable hands of Congress.

The next particularly alarming provision of the legislation concerns employee privacy. The PRO Act would mandate that employers turn over a list of employees names and home addresses, work locations, shifts, job classifications, and, if available to the employer, personal landline and mobile telephone numbers and work and personal email addresses to the union within two days of the election being approved.

Thats personal, private contact information of employees, many of whom want nothing to do with a union, being handed over to labor bosses.

Richard Trumka, president of the nations largest union, the AFL-CIO, made clear his intentions to harass people into signing up for membership during congressional testimony last year when he said, It is essential to be able to communicate with them  we may have to meet with them at a grocery store, anyplace else where you can get them. The most efficient place, the best place for them to be able to talk is at their home setting, at their home.

Legislation like this should be of no surprise to those of us who have been paying attention.

Unions have been grappling with historically low membership. Why would labor waste time making membership appealing so employees want to sign up when they can simply rely on their new bought-and-paid-for congressional majorities to mandate membership?

While the elements of the PRO Act do quite a bit, the one thing the bill certainly does not do is advance the interest of American workers. The PRO Act takes away workers rights to empower unions  which is exactly what the party in power wants.

Jason Dudash is the Oregon state director of the Freedom Foundation, a national organization with the mission to advance individual liberty, free enterprise and limited, accountable government. He wrote this for InsideSources.com.
Thousands of Amazon workers and delivery drivers participated in the first-ever nationwide strike in Italy on Monday.

According to the national union federations, approximately 75 percent of employees struck. Amazon reported a much lower strike rate of between 10-20 percent. The company reportedly employs more than 9,500 workers directly across the country, and an estimated 15,000 via a network of third-party subcontractors, who are not directly employed by Amazon but are subject to the diktat of its onerous quota algorithms.

In this Thursday April 16, 2020 file photo, The Amazon logo is seen in Douai, northern France. (AP Photo/Michel Spingler, File)

The strike takes place amid a major campaign by the trade unions in the United States to secure recognition at Amazons Bessemer, Alabama plant. Democratic President Joe Biden has publicly backed the unionization campaign and called on Bessemer workers to vote for union recognition. In this context Jacobin magazine, the publication of the Democratic Socialists of America, a pseudo-left faction of the Democratic Party, has prominently reported on the Italian strike, labeling it as historic for the labor movement and a sign of a potential revival of the unions.

The strike in Italy clearly points to the enormous opposition and growing resistance among Amazon and other workers around the world. The company has significantly expanded its Italian operations over the past five years, including building six new fulfillment centers since 2017.

Striking workers who spoke to the media described conditions of brutal exploitation. Francesca, 30, told La Repubblica, When you are involved in picking, you have to do the same movement for eight hours, inside a cage. You do not change. Within a few days, you have pain in your arms, back and knees. On the third day, a picker was unable to walk due to the leg pain.  After a month, your wrist tendons ache. Every now and then someone faints.

Gianpaolo, 38, said he wears an ankle brace because of the long journeys of more than 20 kilometers he has to walk each shift. The system is driven by an algorithm, which demands results, he said. Whoever is in charge does not care how those numbers are obtained. The power is in the hands of these managers, 25- to 30-year-olds who have just graduated, who sometimes decide to use it even in an uncompromising and dangerous way.

There is a sharp contrast between the sentiments of Amazon workers, however, and the interests motivating the trade unions who called Mondays strike. It is worth noting that in the various statements about the strike, the unions did not raise a single concrete demand relating to wages, working hours or conditions as the reason for the action. Rather, their central demand is that Amazon agree to negotiate with them on the terms of a national agreement and establish stable trade union relations with them.

Three national unionsFilt Cgil, Fit Cisl and Uiltrasportiannounced the strike two weeks ago, after they claimed Amazon had refused to continue negotiations with them on a national contract covering delivery drivers.

The CGIL released a statement by Confederal Secretary Tania Scacchetti on Monday, declaring, Today is a very important day. The workers of the Amazon supply chain have decided to protest to claim a normal system of trade union relations. She added, In a company with that type of turnover, it is correct to build a system of relationships that recognizes workers with a performance bonus and contractual conditions. That is, stable trade union relations.

CGIL General Secretary Maurizio Landini stated that the strike requires answers from the multinational and the immediate reopening of negotiations. He called for concrete acts by the government and Parliament, to reaffirm the principle that doing business in our country means recognizing the right to national and collective bargaining and to a correct system of trade union relations.

These appeals make clear the real concerns of the unions, which have nothing to do with defending the interests of Amazon workers.

By stable trade union relations, they mean the incorporation of the trade unions into the structure of corporate management, to function as a well-paid industrial police force against the workers. They would oversee, not the raising of Amazon workers conditions, but their continued reduction, the boosting of profits and the suppression of strike activity. Their difference with Amazon comes down to how much of the money extracted from the workforce should go into the bank accounts of the unions and their well-paid executives.

This is the function that trade unions play internationally. Under the impact of globalized production and the development of multinational corporations, their earlier program of limited national reforms has been transformed into one of increasing the exploitation of the workforce and boosting the international competitiveness of their own nation-state.

Across Europe, over the past three decades, the unions have been more closely incorporated into structure of the capitalist state. The results have been a continued disaster for the working class in a relentless growth of social inequality and poverty.

In the United States, the DSA is attempting to use the strike as an argument for strengthening the trade union apparatuses. On Tuesday, Jacobin published an article by Francesco Massimo, entitled, Italys Amazon Strike Shows How Workers Across the Supply Chain Can Unite.

Massimo writes: In the last two decades, Italian confederal unions went through a process of institutionalizationfollowing an embrace of social dialogue and corporatism from the 1990s onward, which fueled a process of incorporation into the Italian state. Unions gained access to policymakingbut in exchange conceded wage devaluation and an end to industrial conflict. This especially hurt unions ability to mobilize the periphery of the labor marketnotably, the emerging logistics industry.

In other words, the unions role in lowering wages and suppressing strikes over decades has repulsed millions of workers, who see no purpose in paying these pro-business entities. In the latest walkout, Massimo admits, loyal to their narrow conception of social dialogue, [the unions] their aim is to force Amazon back to the negotiating tableto establish the normal industrial relations that exist in other sectors.

Despite the devastating picture he paints of the unions, Massimo nevertheless still writes as a supporter of social dialog between the union bureaucracy and corporate management. His conclusion is not that workers should break from the trade unions and form their own independent, rank-and-file organizations of struggle. Rather, he proposes that workers continue to subordinate themselves to these pro-corporate bureaucracies and engage in hopeless attempts to push them to the left.

He declares that Mondays strike is historic for the labor movement. But whether it can also prompt a broader revival of the unions depends on workers ability to keep the fight going and extend it to other workers

Pseudo-left parties like the DSA defend the trade unions not in spite of but because of their anti-working class policies. They speak for affluent sections of the middle class, including trade union bureaucrats, whose wealth has been inflated by three decades of social austerity, the suppression of strikes and rising share prices.

The Socialist Equality Party urges workers to form their own rank-and-file committees at Amazon hubs and fulfillment centers, independent of the trade unions and controlled directly by workers themselves. These would provide the means for reaching out and uniting with Amazon workers internationally, which is the only basis upon which a successful struggle can be waged.

This must be combined with a new political strategy, based upon the mobilization of the working class internationally for socialist policies. Corporate giants like Amazon should be taken out of private hands and transformed into public utilities, democratically controlled by the working class and used for the rational organization of society according to social need.
But you have to want to. You have to make the call, knock on the door. There has never been a better opportunity to get your foot in. Thats how she started, a teenager from Maine East High School when she got her break. But she was ready for it.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister



on Friday warned that some "stringent measures" will be taken if the COVID-19 situation did not improve in the next one week in district.

Pawar, who is also the guardian minister for Pune, issued the warning while addressing a press conference after reviewing the situation in the district.

"I would like to tell people that the situation is becoming serious. If the situation (in terms of cases) remains the same, we will have to take more stringent measures in the district by the first week of April," he said.

The deputy chief minister further warned people to follow all the COVID-19 norms such as using masks, physical distancing and hand hygiene.

As many as 50 attendees will be permitted at weddings, while 20 persons are allowed at funerals, he said, adding that social and political events have been cancelled.

Hotels and restaurants will be allowed to operate till 10 pm with a 50 per cent capacity, Pawar said.

In view of the surge in infections, the state has decided to take control of 50 per cent of beds at private hospitals, he said.

"We have already started a jumbo hospital in and a jumbo facility in Pimpri Chinchwad will be operational from April. We are also starting other COVID-19 care facilities in the city," the deputy chief minister said.

The number of beds in Sassoon General Hospital has been increased to 500, he said, adding that an officer has been appointed to ensure that the oxygen supply in hospitals remain uninterrupted.

"We are in talks with an oxygen plant in Raigad district in case we need additional supply," he said.

There are plans to double the vaccination centres in the district, he said.

"We held a discussion with Union Minister Prakash Javadekar and we have sought additional vaccine doses for the district. He has agreed to look into the issue," Pawar 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.)
Kalvin Bowers looked over what remained of his two-story house of Grayton Road South in Ohatchee this morning.

The second floor lay askew atop the first, items strewn across the lot his family had lived on since they relocated from Los Angeles in 1987.

He has no insurance.

I was at work in Oxford when the storm hit and I started home, he said. The news got worse the closer I got.

Bowers was one of several family members touched by tragedy today, as three people died yesterday in this enclave of single and double-wide trailer and homes from Wednesdays tornado.

Here is full coverage of the storms

Joe Wayne Harris, 74, Barbara Harris, 69, Ebonique Harris, 38, were killed in their mobile home. A fourth family member is currently being treated at Childrens of Alabama in Birmingham.

Myeshia Turner, 41, said the family were loving people who always hosted parties. The couple had been married 52 years.

Tornado damage off Grayton Road in Ohatchee where three members of the Harris family died Wednesday. Posted by al.com on Friday, March 26, 2021

We had a lot of good times out here, Turner said, holding a few mementos fished out of the wreckage.

Barbara Harris was known for working at Samco in Ragland, she said.

Turner said their family, who lived a few steps away in another trailer, had nothing left.

Darden family going through whats left of their mobile home in Ohatchee, Ala. pic.twitter.com/jaeoFrWwP2  WilliamThornton (@billineastala) March 26, 2021

Our trailer is over there in a ditch, she said.

Sheldon Abbott was another family member who lost his home. He said Joe Wayne Harris was old school, a man who loved to hunt, fish and was everything country.

Barbara Harris was a good loving woman who was always there for anybody who needed something.

Ebonique Harris was like a sister.

You could turn to her anytime you needed anything, he said.

When the storm hit, Abbott was in a shelter. He returned to find his familys enclave, land they had lived on since the late 80s, scarred and demolished.

This was the compound, he said. This was our park.

Ebonique Harris worked as a social worker with the Alabama Department of Human Resources. DHR Commissioner Nancy Buckner said in a statement coworkers are deeply saddened.

For the past six years, Ms. Harris dedicated herself to the protection of vulnerable children and adults in Calhoun County as an employee of the Department of Human Resources. She was an exceptional employee whose passing is a great loss to the department. Our thoughts and prayers are with Ms. Harris family and loved ones during this time of heartache, Buckner said.

Two other people, James William Geno, 72, and Emily Myra Wilborn, 72, were also killed by storms that hit Calhoun County.

Geno lived in a small converted shed off Mud Street that he was converting into a house, said one of his neighbors, Gracen Gibbs, who had lived in a trailer on the property for the past five years. His wife had recently died.

He hadnt been there that long, Gibbs said. Gracen, her husband Chase, 23, and their three children spent the morning sifting through broken toys, photographs, clothing and what was left of their belongings, tossed into pasture land by the storm.

Gracen took her children and sheltered with her mother Mary Darden in Odenville. Chase had only left the trailer 20 minutes before the storm hit to go to work. The family has already been through a great deal. Gracens father died of COVID-19 last September after only being sick for a week.

He was only 60, Mary said. He had no underlying issues at all. Its been hard.

Ohatchee is a small community not far from the Etowah County line in Northeast Alabama. Chase knew the Harris family through Ebonique.

Theyre just good folks, man, he said. That was a real family.

Tornado damage in Ohatchee Alabama Posted by al.com on Friday, March 26, 2021
GeoComm Contributor and our entire Public Safety Location Intelligence Platform, provides a new way to get the right location information, on the right map, for the right people, at the right time. Erik Loberg, Vice President of Public Safety Applications.

GeoComm, a leading provider of Public Safety Location Intelligence, announces the release of GeoComm Contributor an application designed specifically for achieving Public Safety Grade GIS Data. By improving workflows and collaboration, GeoComm Contributor empowers a wide range of local GIS data authorities to overcome day-to-day GIS maintenance workflow challenges with a consistent method to submit updates.

GeoComm Contributor is a core element of GeoComms Public Safety Location Intelligence Platform, empowering agencies with an innovative, cloud-native, collaboration tool to improve their GIS data. We know that in an emergency every second counts and GIS data and location information is disparate, inconsistent, and expanding, said Erik Loberg, Vice President of Public Safety Applications.

GeoComm Contributor solves the pervasive workflow issue within public safety agencies of filing, receiving, and initiating feedback on the GIS data. Agencies increase their efficiency with this cloud-native tool which can be utilized by GIS data users and GIS data maintainers alike to streamline the flow of data by leveraging a single software solution to access the same GIS data.

Visit https://geo-comm.com/contributor/ to learn more about GeoComm Contributor and our Public Safety Location Intelligence Platform.

About GeoComm: GeoComm, provider of Public Safety Location Intelligence, has a national reputation as a leading provider of public safety GIS systems. These systems route emergency calls to the appropriate 9-1-1 call center, map the callers location on a call taker or dispatcher map, and guide emergency responders to the scene of the accident on mobile displays within police, fire, and ambulance vehicles. Over the last 25 years, GeoComm has grown to serve local, regional, statewide, and military agencies in forty-nine states, helping keep more than 100 million people safe. In addition, in 2020 our statewide NG9-1-1 GIS project footprint has expanded to include fifteen statewide projects across the country. To learn more about GeoComm and our Public Safety Location Intelligence offerings visit http://www.geo-comm.com.


A 42-year-old woman has died and two others are in critical condition in HCMC after consuming vegan food that might have been contaminated with the botulinum toxin.

The woman, her 16-year-old daughter and 53-year-old sister had bowls of rice vermicelli on March 20. Among its ingredients was pate from an inflated can, indicating possible contamination.

All three women later developed symptoms of muscle weakness, respiratory and circulatory failure. They were rushed from the southern province of Binh Duong to the 115 People's Hospital in HCMC. While one woman died, the other two were in critical condition as of Thursday.

A doctor at the hospital said the womens clinical symptoms seemed to indicate botulism, a potential fatal disease, though a definite cause was yet to be confirmed. Two vials of botulinum antidotes were brought from Hanoi's Bach Mai Hospital to HCMC Thursday night for treatment.

The HCMC Department of Health has requested citizens to stop consuming any food related with vegan pate until more information is available.

Anyone who has consumed vegan pate with the three women need to go to the nearest hospital for monitoring and treatment, the department said.

Botulinum has been implicated in several food poisoning incidents in Vietnam. Earlier this month, two people died in the Central Highlands province of Kon Tum Province following a feast at a traditional festival, where several dishes were found infected with the Clostridium botulinum bacteria, which are responsible for producing botulinum.

Last year, at least 16 people suffered botulism after consuming vegan pate produced by a Hanoi food company. A 70-year-old man died, while several others survived on ventilators for months after.

Botulinum, the deadliest toxin known to man, is produced by the Clostridium botulinum bacteria under low-oxygen conditions. Botulinum toxins are ingested through food in which the bacteria or their spores survive, then grow and produce the toxins.

Symptoms usually appear within 12 to 36 hours of food consumption. They include stomach-ache, fatigue, muscle pain, blurred vision, dry mouth, difficulty in swallowing and speaking and droopy eyelids. Patients can end up with respiratory failure caused by paralyzed respiratory muscles, or even death.

Except the recent cases, Vietnam has not recorded any botulinum poisoning in the past three decades.
THE residents of Chinhoyi have expressed shock over the cold-blooded murder of a woman by her husband in a row over the couple's cool drink.

The suspect identified as Nelson Nhunge allegedly killed his wife Faith Mhlanga (36) following a quarrel over a soft drink meant for the couple's schoolchildren.

The gruesome incident happened around 11 am Thursday in Ruvimbo Phase 1, Chinhoyi.

The couple had a heated argument after the husband drank the beverage meant for their school-going kids, resulting resulting in Mhlanga stabbing his wife three times on the neck using a kitchen knife.

Mhlanga reportedly died on the spot as a result of the heinous attack after bleeding profusely.

Sources said the couple had a long history of domestic violence.

Efforts to get comment from Mashonaland West police spokesperson Margaret Chitove were fruitless at the time of publishing.
(Natural News) New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is in more hot water after it was revealed that he ordered health officials to let his family cut to the front of the line for Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) testing during the early days of the plandemic.

With the help of New York Health Commissioner Howard Zucker, Cuomo used his position of privilege to prioritize his own family over the New Yorkers he is paid to serve. Brother Chris Cuomo of fake news empire CNN was among the first in New York to receive a Chinese virus test last spring, along with his mother and at least one of his sisters.

Some of Cuomos family members received multiple tests, we now know, and Chris, aka Fredo, was tested at his home in Long Island. The Cuomo familys tests were referred to in communications as critical samples, which indicated that they needed to also be processed ahead of those submitted by the unwashed masses.

Other well-known figures and friends of Cuomo who received Wuhan flu tests before everyone else include Rick Cotton, executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, along with his wife; Patrick Foye, head of New Yorks Metropolitan Transportation Authorities and his wife; and other unnamed media members and state legislators.

Just like he is doing with the rape and sexual assault allegations levied against him, Cuomo fully denies that he did anything wrong by giving his family preferential treatment over other New Yorkers. Richard Azzopardi, Cuomos top adviser, says any suggestions otherwise are insincere efforts to rewrite the past.

In the early days of this pandemic, when there was a heavy emphasis on contact tracing, we were absolutely going above and beyond to get people testing  including in some instances going to peoples homes, and door-to-door in places like New Rochelle  to take samples from those believed to have been exposed to covid in order to identify cases and prevent additional ones, Azzopardi is quoted as saying.

Among those we assisted were members of the general public, including legislators, reporters, state workers and their families who feared they had contracted the virus and had the capability to further spread it.

How many people died because of Cuomos plandemic response failures?

When pressed for comment from Zucker and Eleanor Adams, an epidemiologist who reportedly tested Chris for Chinese germs, the New York State Department of Health said no statement would be given.

Instead, spokesman Gary Holmes tried to turn the situation around on Cuomos accusers by accusing them of being in the wrong simply for asking questions. This is a common tactic of abusers and manipulators who try to convince their victims that they did something wrong.

Youre asking professionals who took an oath to protect a patients privacy to violate that oath and compromise their integrity, Holmes is quoted as saying.

More than 43 million New Yorkers have been tested, and commenting on any of them would be a serious violation of medical ethics. Weve built a nation-leading testing infrastructure to ensure that anybody who needs a test could get one. That work continues today.

Meanwhile, at least eight women have come forward with claims that Cuomo sexually harassed or assaulted them, including numerous current and former aides. Cuomo has been asked to resign, but the chronic abuser has indicated that he has no plans to remove himself voluntarily.

There are also many unanswered questions concerning Cuomos mishandling of nursing home patients, whom he deliberately intermixed with elderly folks who had tested positive for the Chinese virus. Many of these nursing home patients died at the hands of Cuomo, who has yet to face justice for his crimes.

More of the latest news about the Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) can be found at Pandemic.news.

Sources for this article include:

FoxNews.com

NaturalNews.com
I could write again about the horrible week in Canberra, but Im not sure if you would appreciate it. We have all been dismayed, appalled and confused and many of us are wondering where our nation goes from here. Is it a great reckoning, a moment we will look back upon and recognise as important in a cultural shift towards greater equality and respect for women? I suspect so, I hope so, but I dont know.

So I will cop out and write to you about stories that sing about other aspects of humanity. Stories about people who show kindness or endeavour or generosity of spirit. Those stories are all around us, often crowded out on our website or newspaper by conflict and serious stories that need to be covered and analysed.

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We have appointed a new columnist, Nyadol Nyuon, who will write for us fortnightly. Her own story is remarkable. She was born in a refugee camp in Ethiopia to a family that had fled the second Sudanese civil war. She arrived in Melbourne along with her penniless family when she was 18 and, with the help of the generosity of others, became a lawyer. Shes also a beautiful writer and the first of her regular columns touched on that dry word, multiculturalism, and what it means for individuals. Nyadol wrote of singing the songs of her childhood to her daughter.

What I see emerging in my daughter, soon to turn four, is what I have seen develop in young people of migrant backgrounds who were raised or born here. These young people, like my daughter, may share the same skin colour as their immigrant parents, but it would be wrong to assume they share an identical sense of home. This country is home now. It is home both in its embrace and its rejections.
aurice Weild, 25, launched the attack on Ella Stimpson, 19, in Newport in 2019

A hairdresser bit a 19-year-old student's thumb so hard she broke it after stepping on her toe and hurling her to the floor in a nightclub, a court heard.

Laurice Weild, 25, launched the drunken attack on Ella Stimpson outside The Courtyard bar in Newport, South Wales, in December 2019.

A court heard Ms Stimpson shouted 'get off my toe' and was thrown to the ground by her hair as she bent over to check her foot.

Prosecutor Emma Harris said: 'The defendant used both hands, grabbing her hair and pulling her to the ground.'

Biomedical Science student Ella Stimpson (pictured left and right), 19, who was attacked outside The Courtyard bar in Newport, South Wales, in December 2019

Ms Harris said that Weild punched Ms Stimpson, who studies Biomedical Science, three times when she was on the floor.

She said Ms Stimpson got to her feet but Weild grabbed her hand and bit hard into her thumb.

Ms Harris added: 'She did not let go, even as others were pulling her away. She continued to bite down with some pressure before eventually letting go.'

Laurice Weild (pictured above), 25, was handed a 12-month suspended sentence and ordered to complete 200 hours unpaid work

Newport Crown Court heard Ms Stimpson's injured thumb 'was bleeding' after the attack.

The student asked a friend to take her home to her mother, who is a doctor, and the following morning she went to hospital where a fractured thumb and damage nailbed were confirmed.

Miss Harris said Ms Stimpson had to miss many of her first year exams as she could not write properly following damage to her thumb.

She said: 'There's a possibility surgery may be needed to correct the injury in the thumb.'

Weild, from Cwmbran, South Wales, was arrested and initially told police she couldn't remember the drunken attack but later admitted assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

Richard Ace, defending, said: 'She went out, she drank too much, she committed what is a relatively horrific attack. She accepts that. The defendant was horrified by her behaviour.

'The victim did absolutely nothing that night except go out with her friends, and she has walked away with an injury.'

Judge Neil Bidder said delays to the case coming to court meant he could not jail Weild straight away.

Newport Crown Court (pictured above, file photo) heard Ms Stimpson's injured thumb 'was bleeding' after the attack

He told her: 'You were acting aggressively before that. It was a heavy bite which caused damage to the nail bed and also fractured the tip of the thumb.

'It really affected her first year of study. It is hoped it won't affect her studies in the long-term, but without a doubt it affected her in the short term.'

Weild was handed a 12-month suspended sentence and ordered to complete 200 hours unpaid work.

She must also pay 500 compensation to Ella and 579 in costs and surcharge.

Referring to if she committed any further crimes, Judge Bidder told her: '[Then] that's the end of that - you are off to prison.'
Friday, March 26, 2021

From Washington Post:

This is the first ruling on same-sex marriage in Japan  and it is groundbreaking.

In 2019, the first lawsuits in Japan were filed in five district courts directly challenging the constitutional violation of not recognizing same-sex marriages. On Wednesday, the Sapporo District Court ruled that the current law, which does not recognize same-sex marriage, is unconstitutional because it violates the principle of equality stipulated in Article 14 of the Japanese constitution.

The ruling highlights the following: The standard of review is strict, the decision was made by indicating to the purposes and essence of marriage, and the Sapporo ruling affirmed that the majoritys understanding or acceptance was not a requirement.

Read more here.

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/family_law/2021/03/japan-same-sex-marriage-ban-is-now-unconstitutional.html
By Ruma Paul

COX'S BAZAR (Reuters) - Four people were killed after police fired on protesters who they said attacked a police station in the Bangladeshi city of Chittagong on Friday during a demonstration against a visit to the country by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Dozens were also hurt in the capital Dhaka where police used rubber bullets and teargas in clashes with violent protesters, witnesses said.

In Chittagong, thousands of supporters of an Islamist group that accuses Modi of alienating minority Muslims in India streamed out of mosques after prayers to register their protest against his visit, police official Rafiqul Islam said.

"We had to fire teargas and rubber bullets to disperse them as they entered a police station and carried out extensive vandalism," he told Reuters, referring to protesters.

He made no mention of police using live rounds. Another police official, Mohammad Alauddin, said a Chittagong hospital had received eight people with gunshot wounds, adding: "Among them four succumbed to their injuries."

He identified the dead as three students and a tailor.

Modi landed in Dhaka on Friday for a two-day visit to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Bangladesh's independence.

After being received by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Modi met opposition and government leaders.

Hundreds of protesters then clashed with police near a large mosque in Dhaka, witness Jahangir Alam said. He said dozens were hurt when police fired rubber bullets and teargas after protesters pelted them with stones and set ablaze motorcycles.

Social media network Facebook and its Messenger app, which are often used to organise protests in the country, appeared to be down in some parts of Bangladesh.

An official from Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission declined to comment. A Facebook representative did not immediately respond to questions from Reuters.

(Reporting by Ruma Paul in Cox's Bazar; Writing by ; Devjyot Ghoshal, Editing by Sanjeev Miglani, Toby Chopra and Timothy Heritage)
Burma Myanmar Regime Threatens Banks That Fail to Reopen With Fines

A branch of the country's largest bank, Kanbawza Bank, in Yangon, Myanmars commercial capital. / The Irrawaddy

In the latest ramping up of pressure on private banks in Myanmar, the military junta has again threatened them with penalties for failing to reopen and ordered them to blacklist staff who refuse to return to work.

Nearly two months after the Feb. 1 military coup, Myanmars banking system is in chaos as bank staff nationwide refuse to work under the military regime, joining thousands of civil servants who are participating in the civil disobedience movement. Coup leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaings aim of proving that the countrys economy can run smoothly under the dictatorship cannot succeed as long as the banks remain closed.

In its latest attempt to coerce private banks, the Central Bank of Myanmar (CBM) notified them on Tuesday that banks that fail to reopen will be hit with penalties ranging from 2 million to 30 million kyats (about US$1,400 to $21,200) per week, with the precise amount depending on their size and how many banks of similar size fail to reopen.

Additionally, on Wednesday, the CBM announced that all financial companies, including private banks and mobile money services, must require all employees to go back to work, and must share information on employees who fail to do so with other financial organizationsin other words, to create a blacklist of striking employees whom financial organizations cannot hire in the future.

Officials from two private banks confirmed to The Irrawaddy that they had received the separate directives from the CBM.

A senior branch official at the countrys largest private bank told The Irrawaddy that despite the regimes threats, bank operations would not be able to resume smoothly as long as employees refused to come back.

There is nothing we can do. Most of them chose to go on unpaid leave when we told them to return [to the office], he said.

The banks have requested that staff consider the pressures they are facing. We need to wait and see how employees respond on Monday next week, he added.

Since early February, hundreds of branches of at least 31 local and 13 foreign banks in the country have closed their doors due to employee strikes, halting all banking services except for mobile banking and ATM services. As a result, almost all trading companies, especially those engaged in sea-bound trade, have been forced to halt operations, as the banks are unable to issue the documents needed to import and export goods. Companies are also struggling to pay salaries, as banks are not providing payroll services.

Despite the military regimes detention of bank officials and its repeated pressuring of them to make efforts to resume operations, bank employees are staunchly refusing to return to work.

The military regime has also warned private banks that it will carry out forced transfers of private deposit accounts to military-controlled banks if they cannot resume operations.

In addition, banks are under scrutiny following the regimes announcement that it would investigate all financial transactions of international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) dating back to April 1, 2016. According to the notification, the military regime will investigate the financial transactions of all such organizations since the National League for Democracy (NLD) took office in early 2016.

Recently, when banks made a survey of the number of employees who were willing to come back to the office, only a handful of employees submitted applications. Last week, some of the countrys largest banks opened one or two branches for a limited time, with services limited to cash withdrawals. However, they faced condemnation from anti-coup protesters, with many threatening to close all their deposit accounts if the banks resumed operations.

We know that our superiors are facing pressure from all sides. But we cant go back to work while civil servants are risking their lives and giving up everything they have to oppose the regime, an employee of Ayeyarwady Bank (AYA) said.

Some might go back. But I wontuntil power is returned to our elected government, she said.

You may also like these stories:

Arsonists Target Headquarters of Myanmars NLD

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Myanmar Regime Arrests NLD Members for Seeking Explosive Training
getty images Rutgers University

Rutgers University has announced that all students planning to return to its campus this coming fall semester must be able to show proof that they've received a COVID-19 vaccine.

Rutgers President Jonathan Holloway and other university executives said in a statement released on Thursday that the New Jersey-based school plans "to move toward a full return to our pre-pandemic normal as a vibrant institution in Fall 2021."

"In support of Rutgers' commitment to health and safety for all members of its community, the University will be updating its Immunization Requirements for Students to include the COVID-19 vaccine," the statement read. "This health policy update means that, with limited exceptions, all students planning to attend in the Fall 2021 semester must be fully vaccinated."

"Proof of vaccination will be required for all students planning to attend this fall," the statement added.

getty images Rutgers University

RELATED: Celebrities Who've Tested Positive for COVID in 2021

According to the school, any vaccine authorized for use in the United States such as Moderna, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson are accepted in the updated policy.

Those who plan on participating in off-campus learning, including students enrolled in online degree programs who do not need to use on-campus facilities, will not need to provide proof of vaccination, school officials said.

Students may also request an exemption from the COVID-19 vaccination requirement for medical or religious reasons.

Rutgers already requires new or transferring students to show proof of vaccination against diseases such as measles, mumps and rubella.

"Since the start of the pandemic, we have said that the safety of the Rutgers community is a shared responsibility," Antonio Calcado, executive vice president and chief operating officer at Rutgers, said in a statement. "An effective vaccination program is a continuation of Rutgers' commitment to health and safety for all members of our community of more than 71,000 students, the cities we are in and the communities we serve throughout New Jersey."

Story continues

RELATED VIDEO: The Importance of the COVID-19 Vaccine and the Call for 'Unity'

Rutgers' decision to require COVID-19 vaccinations for all students on campus comes as states across the country begin to open up their eligibility to all residents over the age of 16.

As of March 25, five states  Alaska, Mississippi, West Virginia, Utah and Georgia  are now allowing any residents 16 and older to sign up to receive one of the three approved COVID-19 vaccines.

The vaccine from Pfizer is approved for people age 16 and up, and those from Moderna and Johnson & Johnson, are approved for people 18 and up.

California, Texas and 15 more states recently announced plans to open their COVID-19 vaccine eligibility to any residents aged 16 and up by mid-April.

Multiple large-scale studies have found that vaccines are safe. There is no scientific link between vaccines and autism, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

As information about the coronavirus pandemic rapidly changes, PEOPLE is committed to providing the most recent data in our coverage. Some of the information in this story may have changed after publication. For the latest on COVID-19, readers are encouraged to use online resources from the CDC, WHO and local public health departments. PEOPLE has partnered with GoFundMe to raise money for the COVID-19 Relief Fund, a GoFundMe.org fundraiser to support everything from frontline responders to families in need, as well as organizations helping communities. For more information or to donate, click here.
The Cheshire Memorial Day Parade is a long-honored town tradition to honor our military veterans who sacrificed all. In 2020, the Parade had to be cancelled due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. This year, while still needing to adhere to crowd control, the Cheshire Memorial Day Parade Committee has announced there will be a special motor vehicle parade through town on Sunday, May 30, starting at 1:30 p.m.

There will be no marching units or organizations involved, in order to keep the procession manageable, yet this years motor vehicle parade will be extra special as each will be occupied with local veterans who served our country. The 2021 Cheshire Memorial Day motor vehicle parade of veterans will begin at the Church Green with a brief ceremony and the playing of TAPs to honor those who sacrificed all.

It is vitally important to keep the tradition of the Cheshire Memorial Day Parade alive and keep the meaning of memorial in this sacred day. We are pleased the Town, the Cheshire Veterans Council and the Cheshire Memorial Day Parade Committee has come up with a way to do this until we can begin to organize a full parade, hopefully for next year, said John White of the Cheshire Veterans Council and Parade Marshal.

The parade route will be released in the near future, which will cover residential areas of town. The Cheshire Veterans Council and The Town of Cheshire will be asking all town residents to come out and support our veterans in honor of Memorial Day. Also, they need residents and viewers to adhere to the CDC guidelines as the parade is viewed along the route or at the edge of residents lawns, as no mass gatherings at any locations along the route will be allowed.

The Cheshire Police Department will lead and handle navigation of the parade route to stop traffic as needed. Parade vehicles will be limited to veterans and any residents who served and would like to be part of this, contact and register with Parade Committee member Leslie Marinaro, lesliem@snet.net or by calling (203) 631-7762, by April 15. Any veteran participant should secure a driver, however, anyone needing a ride to be part of the procession should let the Committee know this when contacting Marinaro.

Memorial Day was originally Decoration Day, an occasion when veterans, townspeople and children marched in a parade to cemeteries to decorate the graves of soldiers with spring flowers. It began after the Civil War and spread across the nation, becoming a national holiday. Later it was extended to honor all U.S. war dead. In 1971 Congress designated it as Memorial Day and fixed the date as the last Monday in May.

The Parade Committee encourages all viewers to come out, wave and cheer to the veterans who pass by. Also, to bring their children grandchildren or neighbors out to teach them the importance of honoring our veterans and understanding why we have Memorial Day. On Memorial Day we remember our fallen heroes and express gratitude so their sacrifice can never be forgotten. We can accomplish this by teaching future generations the reason we live in the Land of the Free is Because of the Brave, said Hayley Falk, founder of Because of the Brave and a new member of the Parade Committee.

Cheshires annual Memorial Day wreath-laying ceremony honoring the men and women who died in Americas armed forces will be held on the First Congregational Church green prior to the parade. The ceremony is sponsored by the Cheshire Veterans Council, which consists of American Legion Post 92, Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 10052, Army Air Force Round Table of Connecticut, Disabled American Veterans and the Town of Cheshire.


For everyone's findings, perhaps one of the fun unfinished puzzles for zoologists and wildlife fanatics is the gaps in our knowledge of what animals the Earth shares with us. Biodiversity hotspots like Madagascar continue to spit out species not yet recognized by science, and discovery in South America delivers not one but two new species of owls.

The Two Screech Owls

The study, released in the journal Zootaxa, describes two screech owls (cousins of the Eastern Screech Owls common in the United States) that live in the Amazon and Atlantic forests. Unfortunately, both birds are critically endangered, but they form two thrilling pieces in our planet's ongoing puzzle.

Bird calls was an important tool in establishing their species, collected from years of farm work in the Amazon forest and Atlantic forests in the eastern part of Brazil and neighboring countries. The birds they want to get a better understanding of are nocturnal and carrying out farm work to one of the most biodiverse habitats on the planet has its own unique risks.

Also Read: Methane Gas Flares Scorch Owls and Hawks at Waste Landfills in the US

Screech Owls and Their Territory

John Bates, curator of birds at the Field Museum in Chicago and one of the authors of the study in a statement said that if he was young, he would surely be afraid of death.

To make things even harder, their preferred hangouts sit about a hundred feet above the forest floor. But armed with problem-solving brains and recording devices, the researchers were able to persuade their subjects by playing with them their screech.

Screech owls are territorial, and if they catch an owl screeching in their screeching areas, you can bet they'll go and screech back at that owl - be it a bird or a machine.

The Xingu and Alagoas Screech Owl

Combining the differences in these calls - as well as the physical appearance of the birds, and tissue samples collected on the farm - the team proved that their birds are, in fact, two different species. Overall, they have 252 samples, 83 tape recordings, and 49 genetic specimens from across the range of the Tawny-bellied Screech Owl complex in South America to work with. It consists of contributions from the paper team as well as museum collections gathered over the hundred centuries.

Genetic data combined with the Screech Owls' physical differences and unique calls allowed the team to identify two new species: the Xingu Screech Owl and the Alagoas Screech Owl. The scientific name of the Xingu Screech Owl was chosen to honor Sister Dorothy May Stang, an activist who helped farmers fight for the possession of their land near the Xingu River where the bird resides. By the way, Alagoas was selected as a reference to the northeastern state of Brazil, in which it is mainly located.

Habitat Destruction

Both birds have gained their unfortunate threat status due to forest degradation and habitat destruction, both from the anthropogenic activity and unresolved forest fires that exploded in the canopy in 2019.

The researchers desire that their work will contribute a thick body of evidence that more needs to be done to prevent more trees from being cut down in this ever-shrinking biodiversity hotspot.

Related Article: The World's Biggest Owls Are Now Endangered: Is it too late to save them?

For more news, updates about owls and similar topics don't forget to follow Nature World News!
This article is part of the Free Speech Project, a collaboration between Future Tense and the Tech, Law, & Security Program at American University Washington College of Law that examines the ways technology is influencing how we think about speech.

There was a moment during Thursdays lengthy congressional hearing with three Big Tech CEOs that made me perk up. Rep. Gus Bilirakis, a Republican from Florida, was pursuing questions about social-media services tailored for children under 13 when he asked this one to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg: Do you have concerns about what has appeared on your platform hosted by YouTube? With regard to your children, in general, do you have concerns, yes or no?

Congressman, Zuckerberg replied, are you asking me about YouTube? That was a good thing to check, since YouTube is owned by Google, whose CEO was also testifying. Zuckerberg was briefly flustered, perhaps because he assumed Bilirakis was confused, but he gave an answer anyway: His kids do watch YouTube, but because theyre 3 and 5, he tends to supervise, so there havent been any issues.

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.@repgusbilirakis: "What about YouTube?"



Mark Zuckerberg: "Congressman, are you asking me about YouTube?"



Rep. Bilirakis: "Yes. I'm asking you about YouTube." pic.twitter.com/P7PS0fOgJP  Jeremy Art (@cspanJeremy) March 25, 2021

It was a cute little nothingburger of an answer in a House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing on disinformation that dragged on for nearly six hours, appeared to be frustrating for everyone, and featured many, many yes or no? questions that Zuckerberg, Googles Sundar Pichai, and Twitters Jack Dorsey tried their best not to answer. The hearing, the first since the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol to include these leaders, wasnt a total wash: One exchange nicely illuminated the differences in the views of the three CEOs on reforming the foundational internet protection Section 230. Its also true that, as my former colleague Will Oremus pointed out, there was some value in seeing Zuckerberg and Pichai weasel out of saying whether their companies shared any responsibility for the Jan. 6 riot. (Dorsey said that Twitter did bear some responsibility, though he added, You also have to take into consideration a broader ecosystem.) But for the most part it wasnt especially more enlightening than past hearings on these issues. Democrats asked why tech companies arent doing more about misinformation, tech CEOs said were doing various things and here are some large-sounding takedown numbers but you have to understand its complicated, and Republicansof coursealleged anti-conservative censorship. If the idea was to surface more information about how election lies, private groups with bad intentions, and coordinated propaganda on these platforms might have seeded the Jan. 6 riot, sorry: Nothing to learn here.

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Congress has an important oversight duty when it comes to companies whose basic function matters greatly to the health of democracy, but clearly this isnt working. (When I say this I mean House and Senate oversight of misinformation and harassment and so on. The House subcommittee on antitrust issues wrote a blockbuster report on market concentration in the technology industry, and does good work.) So I have an idea: Dont ask the tech CEOs about why their platforms are such hellscapes. Ask them about each others.

No, it doesnt need to be the whole event. But in Zuckerberg, Pichai, and Dorsey, you actually have three expert witnesses for a hearing about why mendacious, inflammatory, and seditious content was able to spread so ferociously, and why it wasnt until too late that their companies took serious measures against it. These CEOs built or supervise massive networks whose structures incentivize emotionally manipulative and politically polarized content and allow it to go very viral very quickly. They also are responsible for the policies meant to mitigate any harmful externalities of these systems designs. But their main job is to protect their companies and their shareholders, so inevitably they show up and obfuscate. Letting them play defense against the same old questions isnt useful for anyone. So throw some curveballs. Ask Pichai about Twitter. Ask Dorsey about Facebook. Ask Zuckerberg about YouTube (even more!). I bet wed learn something.

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There truly are differences in how these companies deal with problems like misinformation and malicious and hateful content. All three banned Donald Trump for inciting a mob after Jan. 6, though it took YouTube the longest. Now Google has said YouTube will restore Trumps access once the threat of the violence he inspired has fully receded. I wonder whether Dorsey and Zuckerberg think thats a good idea, just as Im curious what Pichai and Dorsey make of the Oversight Board that will rule on whether Trump can have his Facebook account back. Two of these companiesFacebook and Googleare world leaders in developing artificial intelligence, which they see as essential to moderating harmful content at a global scale. Let their CEOs share their opinions on their competitors progress and implementation. Dorsey, meanwhile, is pushing Twitter to develop an open-source protocol for a new decentralized approach to social media. Mark? Sundar? Tell us what you think.

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There is another benefit to my plan, which is that it would make for great TV. I suppose you could say that the ongoing rivalry between Zuckerberg and Apples Tim Cook has weighty implications for our standards of privacy in consumer tech and that its important for peers at the upper echelons of the industry to hold each other to account, but also: Its very, very entertaining. Im all for turning down the temperature in politics, and few actors have fanned the partisan garbage fires like the social networks. A better approach to hearings should lead to better oversight and, where needed, better laws. In the meantime: Please, let the CEOs fight.

Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society.
AstraZeneca: Vaccine Provides Strong Protection

By The Associated Press

CAMBRIDGE, UK - AstraZeneca insisted that its COVID-19 vaccine provides strong protection even after counting additional illnesses in its U.S. study, as the drugmaker responded to concerns raised by American officials in an unusually public rebuke that threatened to further erode confidence in the shot.In a late-night news release Wednesday, AstraZeneca said it had analyzed more data from that study and concluded the vaccine is 76% effective in preventing symptomatic COVID-19, instead of the 79% it had reported earlier in the week.Some experts called the new analysis reassuring and said the updated details didnt look substantially different from what was announced earlier. A peek at the full data won't come for at least another few weeks, once the Food and Drug Administration begins its own stringent review. For now, it's not clear if the new figures will be sufficient to repair the credibility in a vaccine that, despite being widely used in Britain, Europe and other countries, has had a troubled rollout.Earlier this week, an independent panel that oversees the U.S. trial of the vaccine had accused AstraZeneca of cherry-picking data to tout the protection offered by its shot. The panel, in a harsh letter to the company and to U.S. health leaders, said AstraZeneca had left out some COVID-19 cases that occurred in the study.The drugmaker responded that the results it reported included cases up to mid-February, as agreed in the study rules, and that it was preparing a fuller analysis of cases that had occurred since then  which it released Wednesday.AstraZeneca may have just been too hasty in submitting the earlier, incomplete interim analysis rather than waiting to analyze and submit the full dataset, said Julian Tang, a virologist at the University of Leicester who was not connected to the research. He said the updated details were likely solid enough for U.S. regulators to authorize the vaccine.Before the new results were released, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious disease expert, told reporters he hoped that when all the data was publicly vetted by the FDA, it would dispel any hesitancy caused by the spat. He predicted it would turn out to be a good vaccine.AstraZeneca had been counting on findings from a predominantly U.S. study of 32,000 people to help rebuild confidence in its shot, which is crucial to global efforts to end the coronavirus pandemic since it is cheap, easy to store and a pillar of the COVAX initiative aimed at bringing vaccines to low- and middle-income countries. Despite evidence from trials and in real-world use that it does protect, previous studies have turned up inconsistent data about the degree of effectiveness.Then last week a scare over blood clots had some countries temporarily pausing inoculations. Most have since restarted after the European Medicines Agency said the vaccine doesnt increase the overall incidence of blood clots, though it did not rule out a connection to some rare clots. On Thursday, Denmark announced it would continue its suspension of the vaccine.AstraZeneca's newest effectiveness calculations were based on 190 COVID-19 cases that occurred during the U.S. study, 49 more than it had included earlier in the week. The vaccine appears especially protective against the worst outcomes, with no severe illnesses or hospitalizations among vaccinated study volunteers compared to eight severe cases among those given dummy shots, the company said. It didn't provide a breakdown of the rest of the cases.Some European authorities have questioned how protective the vaccine is in older adults. In the U.S. study, it was 85% effective in volunteers 65 and older, the company said. The study didn't turn up safety concerns.The updated information confirms that our COVID-19 vaccine is highly effective in adults, including those aged 65 years and over, AstraZeneca research chief Mene Pangalos said in a statement. He said the company looks forward to "the rollout of millions of doses across America.The study hasn't ended, so additional COVID-19 cases could still accrue. AstraZeneca cautioned that 14 additional possible cases already are being examined and that could lead to further changes in the data.The company intends to seek FDA clearance of the vaccine within a few weeks. The agency will publicly debate all the evidence with its outside advisers before making a decision.Stephen Evans, a vaccines expert at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said it was difficult to understand why the dispute between AstraZeneca and U.S. officials spilled into the public. Such rifts during ongoing studies typically remain confidential.Given the details given here, it seems an unnecessary action to have raised concerns in public, he said. Results fluctuate as data accumulate ... what counts will be the FDA assessment and that will be done based on scrutiny of the full data and not press releases. He said any vaccine with an efficacy rate higher than 60% is useful.He said it was unclear why there was a breakdown in relations between AstraZeneca and the independent U.S. data experts monitoring the trial and worried that could undermine confidence in the vaccine.This vaccine is so important for global health, and the disputes do not promote global health, he said. At least in the short term, (this) will undermine confidence both in the U.S. and more importantly in the rest of the world.
A week after victimized by the racism violence, an Asian-American woman who was attacked in downtown San Francisco will be donating close to a million dollars to fight the ongoing anti-Asian violence and racism based on her own grandson.

Woman Suffered Injuries

While recovering from the vicious attack she suffered last week, which caused two swollen and bleeding black eyes, the grandson of the 75-year-old, Xiao Zhen Xie, set up an online fundraiser. John Chen initiated the cause in order to pay for his grandmother's medical bills.

Based on the statement of the San Francisco police, Xie was struck by 39-year-old Steven Jenkins at the 7th and Market streets on March 17, without any reason. A local news outlet initially reported that the 75-year-old Asian American defended herself by punching Jenkins.

ALSO READ: Latinos and Blacks in Florida Are Being Left Behind in the COVID-19 Vaccine Rollout

Anti-Asian Attack

Videos regarding the incident showed Xie on a street corner with a bruised face while her attacker was laying on a stretcher. The said anti-Asian attack came a day after the shooting incident at Atlanta-area spas which killed eight individuals including six Asian women.

Despite not having clear evidence that the Atlanta massacre was racially motivated, several Asian-Americans saw the incident as the culmination of a string of attacks against Asians during the coronavirus pandemic. Also, after the usage of racial language by former President Donald Trump, like 'Kung flu' and 'China virus' to link the origins of the virus to China, there is a rise in verbal and assaults on Asian-Americans.

Moreover, the attack on 75-year-old, Xiao Zhen Xie is one of several violent assaults on Asian-American senior citizens in the Bay Area, which prompted volunteers to start their patrolling. The grandson of Xie, John Chen wrote on his GoFundMe page that his grandmother, who is living in San Francisco for almost 26 years, survived cancer but suffered again because of the violence. Xie had a bruise on her wrist, but what concerns Chen most is the emotional distress that he grandmother suffered, The Mercury News reported.

GoFundMe Donation

The story of Xie and her self-defense quickly spread on social media which instantly poured the donations in. In just a week, the GoFundMe set up by Chen gained more than $965,000.

According to Los Angeles Times, on Monday, Chen updated the status of her grandmother and shared that Xie had improved, not only because the swelling around her left eye had shrunk but also emotionally. Chen mentioned that her grandmother was determined in donating the rest of the funds to the Asian American community in battling the ongoing anti-Asian hate crimes and racism.

Chen wrote that her grandmother emphasized that the Asian-American community should not submit to racism and must fight to the death as long as they will eliminate it. Xie also insisted that the issue is bigger than her and needs to be resolved.

Meanwhile, Robert Rueca, the spokesman of the San Francisco police stated that Jenkin had assaulted an 83-year-old Asian man earlier Wednesday at the U.N. Plaza. The spokesman added that a security guard in the vicinity witnessed the attack and chased Jenkins. Later on, Jenkins was arrested and hospitalized for injuries not related to the attacks, CNN reported.

WATCH: Elderly Victim In San Francisco Anti-Asian Assault Recalls Fighting Back Against Attacker - from KPIX CBS SF Bay Area

RELATED ARTICLE: California Universities Condemn Hate Crimes on Asian-Americans, Increase Efforts to Curb Racism
ANDERSON  A former Barnwell man who admitted to bombing the Pickens County Courthouse in 2019 was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison.

Michael Lambert Seabrooke, 37, had previously pleaded guilty to two counts of malicious damage and attempt to damage by means of explosive materials, and one count of possession of explosive devices, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of South Carolina.

The bombing took place on July 7, 2019, prosecutors said.

A Pickens police officer heard an explosion and "located a destructive device in a fenced-in area of the Pickens County Courthouse located at 214 East Main St.," prosecutors said.

Although the bomb exploded, it caused only minor damage to the building and no injuries, prosecutors said.

Investigators found the bomb was made up of two pipe bombs attached with a belt to a propane cylinder that had its valve in the open position, prosecutors said.

"The pipe bombs detonated but did not ignite the propane," prosecutors said. "During a search of the area, law enforcement officers recovered items from the scene including galvanized metal pipes, pieces of pipe endcaps, black plastic bag type material, green plastic bag type material, a propane cylinder along with propane cylinder hose."

Investigators found surveillance video from nearby businesses that showed a Chevrolet Silverado pickup and its license plate, prosecutors said. They honed in on the truck as a "suspect vehicle" and traced it to an address in Columbia.

Federal agents observed the truck until they saw someone walking up to it, prosecutors said. A FBI task force officer went up to the man and identified him as Seabrooke.

"During an interview, Seabrooke confessed to federal agents that he placed the device at the Pickens County Courthouse and that he also threw several destructive devices on the roof of the (S.C.) Department of Social Services building in Pickens," prosecutors said.

He gave agents permission to search his truck, where they found two metal pipe bombs and two Molotov cocktails, prosecutors said.

"During a search of his residence and vehicle, agents located materials consistent with those found on the explosive devices," prosecutors said.

Following the confession, agents went to the DSS building, where they found three Molotov cocktails and one detonated pipe bomb that caused minimal damage, prosecutors said.

Seabrooke was "completely cooperative" with authorities and told them he placed the bombs because "he was concerned about issues" with DSS and his family, prosecutors said.

The Post and Courier previously reported Seabrooke had sued Pickens County over his treatment at the county jail regarding a different criminal case, and that lawsuit had been dismissed days before the bombs exploded at the courthouse.

After he serves his prison sentence, Seabrooke will be placed on 3 years of supervised release, prosecutors said.
Albany, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/26/2021 -- Global Industrial Rubber Market: An Overview: The industrial rubber market is growing at a healthy rate, and is expected to continue its expansion in future. This is mainly due to rising availability of products in developing countries, increasing disposable income, and increasing demand for rubber-made commodities.



Read report Overview-



https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/industrial-rubber-market.html



Industrial rubber is one of the most versatile and widely used products in the world. Industrial rubber market is increasingly serving a wide range of sectors including building & construction, automotive, wire & cable, coating, medical & healthcare, electrical & electronics, etc.



Synthetic rubber is a petrochemical byproduct. It is an elastic polymer, which is stronger and more flame resistant as compared to the natural variety. Hence, the synthetic rubber provides more flexibility for manufacturers in conceptualizing various different end products.



Request PDF Brochure 



https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=60846



Global Industrial Rubber Market: Key Trends



A major driver influencing the growth of the global rubber market is the positive economic outlook of the Asia Pacific market. Increased sales for the automotive industry is expected to boost the industrial rubber market significantly. The industrial rubber market is anticipated to make major gains in emerging economies including Thailand, Malaysia, Brazil and India.



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Additionally, the mechanical rubber is also foretold to witness major growth due to increasing in purchasing parity in China. This variety of rubber is commonly used in machinery equipment and motor vehicles.



Growing automotive sales in China and its status as the manufacturing hub for automotive is expected to drive the market further. Increasing household income in emerging countries, lack of adequate public infrastructure, and changing preference for private cars is expected to drive the global industrial rubber market.



More Trending Reports by Transparency Market Research 



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Rising construction activities in emerging economies is also a key factor fueling prosperity for the industrial rubber market. Various governments in Asia Pacific are investing in both public and private initiatives to boost infrastructure in countries such as India and China. Several airports, metros, highways, other smart city projects are being undertaken in these economies. These projects are expected to boost demand for industrial rubber market during the forecast period in Asia Pacific.



Global Industrial Rubber Market: Regional Outlook



The industrial rubber market is expected to grow with the fastest CAGR in the Asia Pacific region. It is prophesized to grow at an average CAGR in North America as well as Europe. However, These regions are expected to hold the largest share of the global industrial rubber market during the forecast period .



The automotive industry contributes to a major contributor to GDP in several European countries. Hence, its sluggish growth can receive a boost from government initiatives during the forecast period. Increasing population in emerging markets is expected to drive Asia Pacific, followed by South America, and the Middle East & Africa.



Global Industrial Rubber Market: Competitive Dynamics



Main players in the industrial rubber market are TSRC Corporation, Nizhnekamskneftekhim, Kumho Petrochemical, JSR Corporation, Tire, and Rubber Company (US).a
Anthime Gionet, the prominent white nationalist personality known as Baked Alaska, has asked a federal judge to remove a GPS monitor hes been wearing since his arrest for storming the Capitol on Jan. 6, saying he does not come from a background of violence and loves police.

His argument, though, stands in sharp contrast to the charges he faces for breaching the building and live-streaming his parade through the halls. The FBI, in charging documents, noted that Gionet screamed at a Capitol police officer, labeling him a f---ing oathbreaker and a piece of s--- as police sought to usher rioters out of the building.

Gionets charges have been pending since late January, and he is one of more than 300 charged for entering the Capitol. He is not among the dozens facing graver charges such as conspiracy or assaulting police.

But Gionet is one of the better known figures to participate in the riot and actually enter the building. A prominent Trump ally whose white nationalist views have led to social media bans from mainstream platforms, he has developed a following among many of the fringe Trump backers who joined the storming of the Capitol.

Gionet, in his request for leniency, said he was entering the Capitol as a journalist  though hes not a credentialed member of the Capitol press corps  and that his past affinity for police should be a credit in his favor. He said footage from the day would show him fist bumping officers inside. His lawyer also noted he encouraged others not to break anything inside the Capitol, though prosecutors say he shouted about revolution and encouraged other rioters while recording a 27-minute livestream.

Gionets attorney also noted he was raised with a Christian upbringing, attended a private Christian school and that his parents are well respected in their community.

Mr. Gionet does not come from a background of violence and disdain for law enforcement, the attorney wrote.

The primary argument Gionet made is that hes complied with all his release conditions so far and is not a flight risk. His attorney, Zachary Thornley, acknowledged but downplayed that Gionet is also facing misdemeanor assault charges in Arizona.

To be sure, he has a pending misdemeanor case in Scottsdale Arizona with charges of trespass, misdemeanor assault and disorderly conduct, Thornley wrote, but this counsel is retained on the Scottsdale matter and a careful review of the video evidence in that case reveals that Mr. Gionet will be found not guilty if that matter goes to trial.
WILLIAMSTOWN  State police at Lykens are looking for a man they say stole a Williams Valley School District van and intentionally struck two vehicles, one of them head-on.

Troopers said the investigation began around 4:40 p.m. Thursday when they were called to the 200 block of East Market Street in Williamstown, Dauphin County, for a report of a criminal trespass.

At the scene, Gregory A. Daniels, address unknown, had illegally entered a vacant property and was driving a vehicle stolen in South Carolina, police said. A short time later, a trooper saw Daniels sitting in the vehicle and ordered him to get out. Daniels fled and was pursued by police.

The pursuit continued at high rates of speed into the Weiser State Forest, where Daniels stopped and then ran into a wooded area, police said.

He was not found during a search. A handgun, which Daniels could not legally possess, was found at the scene and collected as evidence, police said. A warrant was then obtained for his arrest.

According to police, around 12:10 a.m. Friday, Daniels stole a van from school district property and intentionally struck another occupied vehicle head-on and then intentionally rear-ended another vehicle in Williamstown before fleeing.

Around 7:30 a.m. Friday, the van was recovered near Lukes Trail and Lykens Road in Jefferson Township, Dauphin County.

As a precaution, students at the Williams Valley Elementary School were dismissed at 1:30 p.m. Friday.

On the district website, officials said state police indicated that there was no imminent danger to the school but, out of abundance of caution the students were dismissed

Police are appealing to the public for help in finding Daniels, whom they consider armed and dangerous.

Anyone with information is asked to call state police at the Lykens station at 717-362-8700.
Traditionally, we do tend to associate casino more heavily with men than women, and of course slots is a big part of that, so based on this dated reasoning, we would assume that men still play slots games more so than women in the year of 2020.

But is this a little misguided? Its 2020 now, and gender roles have become a lot more balanced than they were even just 10 years ago, let alone 50. So have women caught up at all in their usage of slot games? And if so, how far have they caught up?

This article aims to explore the trends of who uses slot games more, men or women, throughout time - visit and claim 200 free spins here. Were also going to briefly look at some of the sociological reasons for this throughout history, and see if they still reign true to this day.

History of Gender in Slot Game Usage

Throughout history, men have primarily played slot games, and in fact all forms of casino games, more than women. When casino reached its peak levels of popularity in the 1950s and 1960s, women were unfortunately told to stay at home while the men went out and worked and socialised at casinos after working hours.

Different Casino Games for Different Genders?

While this is not the case so much anymore, there is still an element of it in society, and its effects may have had a lasted impact on the ways men and women choose to take part in casino. But do women have a preference?

According to some research, women prefer to play bingo than most other forms of online casino. Apparently, this is because they are more social than men and can use the chat room feature in bingo to participate with other players.

Were not sure how true this actually is but it something to think about, for sure.

Who Plays Slot Games More in 2020?

Believe it or not, research shows that women have actually overtaken men in the usage of online slot games. A study from researchers from Oregon State University last year showed that women aged 55-60 were the most prominent demographic for slot games.

Slots are the most popular form of online casino for both genders in most parts of the world, and women actually make up 70% of online casino revenue in the USA. We can see from these trends that women not only take up the majority of online slot game usage, but that of all of online casino.

Why do Women Play Slot Games More than Men?

The researchers of Oregon State University proposed a couple of different reasons for womens usage of slot games compared to mens. They said that women prefer slot games to men because of their accessibility, their ability to alleviate stress, the variety of different themes and styles that slot games come in, and the fact that slot games have better returns than other forms of online casino game.
Managing Editor of the Insight newspaper, Kwesi Pratt has offered prayers for the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor as he embarks on a mission to rescue the nation's lands and resources from destruction.



The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources believes an all-hands-on-deck approach is one of the surest ways of eliminating the activities of illegal mining and environmental degradation.



Mr Samuel Abu Jinapor, during a visit to Asantehene Otumfou Osei Tutu II at the Manhyia Palace, Ashanti Region, reiterated governments commitment to protect the countrys natural resources.



The President [Nana Addo] has tasked me to go around the country and see to myself the situation on the ground and work on it....the Akufo-Addo government is committed to the fight against illegal mining and will leave no stone unturned in ensuring that mining activities are duly regulated, he said.



Speaking on Peace FM's ''Kokrokoo'', Kwesi Pratt noted that the natural resources which are being mined are non-renewable and therefore should the mining companies continue their illegal activities, years on, the country's resources will be depleted and posterity will suffer.



''They're non-renewable natural resource.So, as we are daily mining to foreign countries, if, in 50 years time; it finishes, what will become of our life? Even today that we have them, look at the abject poverty that has gripped us. So, if we keep mining them and they finish, how will our living be? That is my worry!'', he stated.



He described the Minister's taks as herculean but prayed he succeeds in his endeavor.





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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PRESIDENT Hussein Ali Hassan Mwinyi on Wednesday continued to pay tribute to departed President Dr John Pombe Magufuli by signing a condolence book at the Chama Cha Mapinduzi Kisiwandui office.

"It was a big shock for us about the sudden death of the beloved CCM national chairman. We weep for your departure," Dr Mwinyi said after signing the book at Kisiwandui CCM main office before doing the same at the Sheikh Idris Abdulwakil Multipurpose Hall at Kikwajuni area.

On behalf of all Zanzibaris and on his own behalf, Dr Mwinyi extended sincere condolences to "Magufuli's family, the new union President Samia Suluhu Hassan and all fellow citizens of the United Republic of Tanzania. Visibly in a sobbing mood, President Mwinyi reiterated after signing the book of condolences that the late Dr Magufuli was a great leader of Tanzania and tireless son of Africa, who would remain for long in the hearts of Tanzanians.

Dr Mwinyi also used the opportunity to thank residents of Zanzibar for turning out in big numbers to pay last respects to the late Magufuli when his body was brought here on March 23.

He said that the masses proved true love to the beloved Dr Magufuli. He said that it was a blessing chance for Zanzibaris to have Dr Magufuli's body brought at Amani Stadium where people prayed for him, thanking the national mourning committee for rescheduling timetable to enable more Zanzibaris to see his body.

Meanwhile, many people continued to flock at CCM main office, Sheikh Idriss Abdulwakil Hall, and other places where the books of condole
Westlife star Kian Egan has revealed the secret disasters simmering backstage during the celebrated group's reunion tour in 2019.

The Irish star, 40, hit the road alongside Shane Filan, Markus Feehily and Nicky Byrne for their Twenty Tour after releasing their hit album Spectrum, however Kian lamented the fact that the tour - their most expensive ever - was haphazard.

Despite the gaffes along the way, the 50 date tour was a roaring success although fans were left heartbroken when the coronavirus pandemic led to the postponement of their Stadiums In The Summer Tour, which has been rearranged to August.

Speaking to MailOnline ahead of the release of tickets for their two-date show at Wembley Stadium in August, Kian vowed to fans that the show would be amazing, having revealed he was forced to 'shout at crew' during their last stint on stage.

Uh oh! Westlife star Kian Egan has revealed the secret disasters simmering backstage during the celebrated group's reunion tour in 2019 (pictured in Glasgow in May 2019)

Last week, Westlife announced they will hit the stage at Wembley Stadium this summer - making them the first major act to perform at the venue in two years.

The concerts will fall on 21 and 22 August with All Saints and James Morrison supporting on the first night and All Saints & Anne-Marie on the second. Tickets are available to buy on Friday 26 March 2021 at 10am at LiveNation.co.uk.

Westlife have been blazing the comeback trail over the past two years with their album Spectrum leaving fans thrilled, however heartbreak struck last year when their one-off Wembley Stadium gig was cancelled due to coronavirus.

Speaking to MailOnline, Kian revealed that while The Twenty Tour looked smooth-sailing, there was trouble behind the scenes.

Back! The Irish star, 40, hit the road alongside Shane Filan, Markus Feehily and Nicky Byrne for their Twenty Tour after releasing their hit album Spectrum, however Kian lamented the fact that the tour - their most expensive ever - was haphazard (pictured in Leeds in 2019)

Amazing: Westlife have announced they will hit the stage at Wembley Stadium this summer - making them the first major act to perform at the iconic venue in two years

He said: 'There were huge problems that we managed to cover up. There were moments before we were walking on stage and the crew were still trying to build the stage. There was moments where we had to pull the show right before we went on.'

Detailing the vast woes the group faced, he said: 'Last year, three trucks got stuck in Dublin on the way to Glasgow because they missed the ferry, the lighting rig didn't get built then it's like shall we put on half a show for our first time back in Scotland?...

'No, on a reunion tour with the biggest production in our career, the most money we've ever spent on a production and half the rig was stuck in Dublin...

Uh oh! Detailing the vast woes the group face, he said: 'Last year, three trucks got stuck in Dublin on the way to Glasgow because they missed the ferry, the lighting rig didn't get built then it's like shall we put on half a show for our first time back in Scotland?'

'We wanted to give our fans in Scotland the best production they've seen Westlife do and the fans probably didn't recognise it but that gets in your own head when you're walking on stage and there were lots of moments like that...

'That happened in a few different places, in Manchester the wall of screens built in behind us wasn't put in properly. Lots of things, I remember standing out at the back of the stage as the arena was filling up.'

Kian admitted he needed to intervene, saying: 'I was talking to crew going: "What are you standing around for lads? What's going on?" I was literally shouting at crew to to get their a**e in gear and get the stage built.'

Original: Westlife soared to fame in 1998 when they were formed in Dublin, with the original line-up also featuring Brian McFadden, who later left in 2004 (pictured in 2000)

On staying in touch with his bandmates in lockdown, Kian went on: 'We had a two weekly call on Zoom. Zoom saw lots of ideas come up and fall away and we tried to keep the positivity up...

'We had a whole tour planned, we had a stadium tour in the UK, we had Wembley planned which obviously we've rebooked... That devastated us because it was a career high to play Wembley Stadium...

'It's so weird to have that rug pulled from underneath us. People are working really hard to get to an end goal and then boom the world had a different plan and everything went in the bin.'

Ahead of Wembley, Westlife said last week: 'This is a historic moment. Not only is it a huge moment for Westlife, it is a massive event for live music all over the world. This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience and we cannot wait to be back on stage...

Way back when: The group broke hearts of fans around the globe when they announced plans to disband in 2012 before all embarking on respective solo careers over the years before reuniting in 2019 with their hit Hello My Love

'Our two nights at Wembley Stadium will be bigger and more spectacular than anything weve done before. These will be our greatest ever shows in the UK...

'The Wembley weekend is going to be a massive celebration. It will be full of surprises and special guests on both nights. It is not to be missed.'

Westlife soared to fame in 1998 when they were formed in Dublin, with the original line-up also featuring Brian McFadden, who later left in 2004.

The group broke hearts of fans around the globe when they announced plans to disband in 2012 before all embarking on respective solo careers over the years before reuniting in 2019 with their hit Hello My Love.

Tickets for Westlife at Wembley Stadium are available from Friday 26th March, 10am at www.livenation.co.uk
Russia's political statements in support of the reintegration of certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions into Ukraine remain only on paper, and in practice, these territories are being integrated into the political, economic and military space of the Russian Federation.

Russias political statements that it supports the reintegration of those [occupied] Ukrainian territories remain only on paper. In practice, Kremlin continues integrating the occupied parts of Donbas into Russias political, economic and military space, Permanent Representative of Ukraine to International Organizations in Vienna Yevhenii Tsymbaliuk said at the OSCE Permanent Council meeting on March 25.

He drew the attention of delegations of the OSCE participating States to the fact that Russia wanted to integrate the occupied territories of eastern Ukraine into its electoral space. Amid Russia's preparations for the parliamentary elections in September this year, the Kremlin decided to use the population of the occupied Ukrainian territories for the electoral ends.

We strongly condemn the recently announced decision of a Russian ruling party to open its representative office in the occupied parts of the Donbas region. We again urge the Russian side to respect Ukraines sovereignty, and we underscore the illegal character of the ongoing so-called passportization and involvement of Ukrainian citizens in the electoral processes of a neighbour country, Tsymbaliuk said.

As reported, Russia has recently been actively discussing the organization of elections to the State Duma of the Russian Federation on September 19, 2021, in the occupied territory of Ukraine.

In March, a representative office of the Russian political party "A Just Russia - For Truth" was opened in occupied Donetsk to hold a consultation reception of citizens living in the territories of "DPR" and "LPR".

The Ukrainian authorities condemned this step, calling it another example of Russia's neglect of its obligations under the Minsk Agreements.

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(@ChaudhryMAli88)

President Dr Arif Alvi on Friday urged the Federal Tax Ombudsman to take steps for provision of timely relief to the aggrieved taxpayers against the maladministration of tax functionaries

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 26th Mar, 2021 ) :President Dr Arif Alvi on Friday urged the Federal Tax Ombudsman to take steps for provision of timely relief to the aggrieved taxpayers against the maladministration of tax functionaries.

In a meeting with Federal Tax Ombudsman Mushtaq Ahmed Sukhera here at Aiwan-e-Sadr, the president emphasized the need for creating awareness about the significant role being played by the Tax Ombudsman with regard to addressing public grievances against the tax authorities.

The President underscored the need for further strengthening the institution of Tax Ombudsman which played significant role in reducing malpractices as well as improving tax collection.

He asked the Ombudsman to improve liaison with Federal board of Revenue (FBR) that would greatly help in promptly redressing the grievances of the people against the maladministration of tax authorities.

Mushtaq Ahmed Sukhera presented Annual Report  2020 to the President and briefed him about the performance and achievements of his organization during 2020.

The Federal Tax Ombudsman apprised that refund claims to the tune of Rs5864.94 million were decided and due amount was paid to the aggrieved tax payers by FBR during 2020.

He highlighted that 3,555 complaints were disposed of during 2020, as against 2,863 in 2019. He said that 3,332 fresh complaints were registered during 2020 as compared to 2,510 in 2019.

He informed the President that 3,888 cases were processed during 2020 which also included 538 carry forward cases from previous year.

The President appreciated the role of Federal Tax Ombudsman and assured his support to the institution in the discharge of its duties and functions.
Only five of Nigerias 23 airlines have currently completed and passed the global safety certification by the International Air Transportation Association (IATA), a review by PREMIUM TIMES has shown.

The IOSA certification audit is an internationally recognised and accepted evaluation that assesses the operational management and control systems of an airline. IOSA uses stringent audit principles that sees airlines evaluated every two years.

The IATA on its webpage said Air Peace Limited, Allied Air Ltd, Arik Air Ltd, Azman Air services and Overland Airways Ltd are the certified airlines in Nigeria as of Friday. Nigeria has 23 operational commerical airlines, according to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA.

The certification of all five airlines will expire in 2021. While the registration for Air Peace will expire on December 2, Allied Air will expire on August 14. Azman Air service will expire on September 13, and Overland Airways certification will expire on October 25.

IATA said Ariks re-evaluation could not be conducted in 2020 due to COVID-19, so the airline will remain on the registry till April 2021.

In 2018, Arik Air, Aero Contractors, Allied Air, and Cargo services, Overland Airways, Medview, Dana Air and Air Peace were certified. But three years after, Dana Air, Medview and Aero contractors are not on the list.

Not Mandatory

Registering for IOSA certification and auditing is not mandatory. An airline that does not have IOSA certification may have chosen not to participate, or failed the audit.

Small budget and regional airlines often do not do the IOSA audit mainly because of the cost to have the audit conducted and to implement the recommended changes.

The report of global aviation safety for 2020 released on Thursday by the IATA showed that IOSA certified airlines had a crash rate three times less than airlines not on the IOSA registry.

Also, the 2016-2020 average of IOSA airlines versus non-IOSA airlines was more than twice as good.

There are currently 438 airlines on the IOSA registry of which 142 are non-IATA Members.

Suspended at Home

Nigerias airlines that achieved the IOSA are some of the countrys most active.

Ironically, one of them, Azman Air, recently came under local regulatory sanctions over safety concerns.

The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, two weeks ago suspended the airline, saying its aircraft had been involved in multiple incidents that could have serious consequences if not addressed.

The NCAA said its inspectors found an Azman Air maintenance engineer carrying out replacement of a landing gear wheel assembly of a Boeing 737-500 without referring to the manufacturers maintenance manual.

Also, it said in February, a component of an Azmans aircraft was observed to have fallen off during takeoff, and despite being notified by the air traffic control, the pilot continued the flight to Lagos. Upon arrival, the pilot failed to make entry in the aircraft technical logbook.

Five days later, the same aircraft suffered burst tyres during landing, with resultant severe damage to the aircraft engine and fuselage.

The Accident Investigation Bureau is currently investigating the incident.

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Azman Air denied an earlier statement attributed to the company accusing the regulator of unprofessionalism and taking a hasty decision.
Certain international brands and organizations must halt their inappropriate exclusion of cotton produced in China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and related products from their supply chains, the China National Textile and Apparel Council (CNTAC) said Thursday.



The CNTAC said in a statement it opposes any move that stigmatizes Xinjiang cotton, whose quality has been recognized globally. It urged those brands and organizations to respect the solemn position of Chinese companies and consumers and correct their wrong actions immediately.

China has the world's largest and most complete textile and garment industry and consumer market, and it is open to the world, the statement said, adding that the CNTAC supports the normal operation of transnational companies and their efforts in establishing industrial chains and supply chains in China.

The CNTAC will continue to support the production of Xinjiang cotton, and facilitate the development of Xinjiang's textile and garment industry, according to the statement.

Also on Thursday, China Cotton Association said suppressing China's cotton industry would hurt cotton farmers and textile workers, as well as the global supply and industrial chains of the textile and garment industry.

The association said brutal suppression by the West would not only hurt millions of cotton farmers and textile workers in Xinjiang, but also the interests of consumers, retailers, distributors and importers of textiles and garments in all countries.

This would, in turn, hurt the stability and prosperity of the global supply and industrial chains of the textile and garment industry, the association said.

China's cotton and textile industry has always protected the rights and interests of its employees, it said, with efforts being made to improve workers' living and working conditions, while boosting product quality to keep supply chains stable and efficient for global garment and retailing brands.

Cotton farmers and textile workers from China, as well as other participants in the industry, have contributed greatly to the development of the global cotton textile industry and deserve fair treatment, the association said.

As China's largest cotton-growing region, Xinjiang's annual cotton output stands at five million tonnes, accounting for more than 80 percent of domestic cotton production.

Cotton is a major source of income for farmers in Xinjiang, which contributes over 80 percent of the region's agricultural income. More than 50 percent of farmers in Xinjiang grow cotton, while the textile industry has created nearly 600,000 local jobs, according to the association.
As recent as the mid-1800s, five women in 1,000 died in deliveries performed by midwives. On the other hand, when physicians performed deliveries, the death rate was often 10 to 20 times greater. This was because physicians often began their day performing autopsies with bare hands and then, without washing their hands, examined pregnant women and delivered babies. Midwives, on the other hand, did not perform autopsies. These physician-caused deaths were due to puerperal fever, a horrendous way to die characterized by high fevers, painful abscesses, and a tortured decline into a nightmare of irreversible sepsis.

Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis was the Hungarian physician who spent his life as a voice crying in the wilderness trying to reduce the death rate of pregnant women. He had discovered that if physicians simply washed with a chlorinated lime solution before examining pregnant women or delivering babies that the death rate dropped to less than 1%. Because his view countered prevailing medical opinion, he was shunned by the medical profession and died an ignominious death at the age of 47.

The Semmelweis Reflex is a metaphor for our reflex-like tendency to reject new knowledge because it contradicts with an established belief or norm. That is exactly what is happening today with COVID.

Around the world, a small number of esteemed physicians have found combinations of drugs that can produce a near complete cure for COVID, as long as patients are treated when the viral load is low.

Dr. Thomas Borody is a gastroenterologist and infectious disease specialist in Sydney, Australia who discovered cures for two diseases, ulcers and Crohns. According to Dr. Borody, the tri-combination of ivermectin, doxycycline, and zinc is a near complete cure for the outpatient treatment of COVID. Dr. Borody states, it is just hard to believe how simple it is to cure the Corona virus.

The Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance (FLCCC) was organized in March 2020 by a group of critical-care physicians. Their outpatient COVID protocol also contains ivermectin and zinc, but adds to it vitamins C and D, quercetin, melatonin, and aspirin. In a recently published paper, the FLCCC concluded that ivermectin, a widely used anti-parasitic medicine with known anti-viral and anti-inflammatory properties is proving a highly potent and multi-phase effective treatment against COVID-19.

Also, an international group of medical experts from 16 countries have recognized ivermectin (which is typically used in combination with other drugs) as a safe and effective treatment for COVID. According to Dr. Pierre Kory, who is the President of the FLCCC, This group is the latest in the growing number of experts from around the world who recognize Ivermectins role in fighting this pandemic. Dr. Pierre Kory continued, The BIRD [British Ivermectin Recommendation Development] panel used the highest form of medical evidence, a meta-analysis, to evaluate data from over 20 trials of Ivermectin before concluding its safe and effective for use in treating COVID-19.

Given the compelling evidence that there is a close to 100% cure for COVID, it is mindboggling that a person who tests COVID positive will not be offered any medical assistance. Very recently, on March 11, 2021, Dr. Peter McCullough testified to the Texas Senate HHS Committee about this very issue. He states, patients actually think that the virus is untreatable and so what happens is they go out to get a diagnosis [and] it says here youre COVID positive, go home, is there any treatment, no, is there any resources I can call, no, any referral lines/hotlines, no, any research hotlines, no. He continues, that is the standard of care in the United States, and if we go to any of our testing centers today in the United States I bet that is the standard of care.

In short, what we have here is a near complete failure to respond to the COVID crisis due to our reflex-like tendency to reject new knowledge (i.e., that COVID can be effectively treated) because it contradicts the established belief that COVID cannot be effectively treated. The federal government has failed because it has not evaluated possible treatments for COVID and put its imprimatur on the treatments that are safe and effective. Also, the majority of physicians have failed because they have not put into practice the safe and effective treatments that now exist for COVID. Just as in the time of Semmelweis, these failures have severe and real consequences, including needless death and suffering.

Image: Wellcome Images
Elusanmi Kolawole, on Thursday, told an Osun State Judicial Panel of Inquiry how he had been bearing three years burden of expending N15,000 monthly on medication for the injuries he sustained in a police beating.

Details of Thursdays proceedings of the panel, set up to investigate cases of human rights violations and related extra-judicial killings, were shared on the Facebook wall of Office of the Osun State CPS.

Mr Kolawole, who said he was arrested in Osogbo, Osun State, about three years ago, is praying the panel for an award of N7million compensation to assuage the adverse effect of the beating he received from the police.

He said the policemen beat him so mercilessly that he had been suffering memory loss.

He recalled that five policemen including one identified as Superintendent Ayuba, a police officer he claimed was serving in Ogun State, had stormed his house on the fateful day, levelling the allegation of buying a stolen car against him.

I was beaten from Osogbo to Ilesa

The petitioner alleged that the policemen forced him into a car and tortured him, repeatedly hitting him in the head with harmful weapons, all the way to Ilesa, another part of the state, to meet the person he had later sold the car in question to.

Mr Kolawole, who was being cross-examined by the respondents counsel, on Thursday, said, It is unfortunate that I have been turned to what I am today. As you can see, I have been suffering from memory loss due to the incident of police brutality, which I was a victim of.

What actually happened was that I was in my house that fateful day when I saw about five fully-armed police officers who had come to arrest me. I was beaten mercilessly and forced into the vehicle.

I was hit repeatedly on the head with different harmful weapons they took along and I was taken to Ilesa, the residence of the person that I sold the vehicle to.

The injuries I sustained particularly on the head have been disturbing me till now to the extent that hardly I remember past occurrences. The ugly incident had caused a lot of damage to the extent that I spent N15,000 every month to buy drugs.

I bought and resold the car

The petitioner recalled that he bought the car in question from Waheed and Tajudeen Hassan, but later sold it to someone in Ilesa, after realising it was not his preference.

He said he refuted the claim by the policemen that he bought the stolen car by showing them the necessary documents.

He added, The car was sold to me at the rate of N220,000, out of which I paid N100,000 to the owner as deposit. When I made a move to return the car, I was asked to look for a buyer after which the person that sold the car to me and myself took it to someone that wanted to buy the car.

But a few weeks later, five police officers came from Mogbon Police Division in Ogun State, alongside the persons that sold the car to me and I was bundled out of the house around 1:00 a.m. and taken to Ilesa and later to Zone 11 here in Osogbo.

According to him, he remained at Zone 11 in Osogbo for a few days before he was later released.

Police sold my car to another police officer

The petitioner said that the car, retrieved from the latest buyer, was taken to Magbon police station in Ogun State.

He alleged that the car was subsequently sold to another police officer.

All efforts to retrieve the vehicle proved abortive but we later got to know that the car had been sold to a police officer in Ogun State, he added.

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The panel chairman, Akin Oladimeji, a retired judge, adjourned the case till Friday for further hearing.

The petitioners lawyer, Bidemi Odutola, who spoke with journalists after Thursdays proceedings, expressed confidence in the capacity of the panel to dispense justice.
stocks reacted positively to the Supreme Courts ruling in favour of Tata Sons on Friday, in its legal battle against the Mistry group.

companies closed with gains of up to 6.1 per cent on the BSE. Among individual stocks, Tata Steel (up 6.1 per cent), Indian Hotels (5.1 per cent), Tata Power (4.9 per cent) and Tata Steel BSL (4.8 per cent) were among the top gainers.

Tata Communications, Tata Coffee, Titan, Tata Motors DVR, Nelco, and Tinplate were up in the range of 3.6 per cent-4.1 per cent. In comparison, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 1.17 per cent to close at 49,008.5 points. Only a handful, such as Rallis India, Tata Teleservices Maharashtra, and Tayo Rolls, were down.

In contrast, Shapoorji Pallonji groups three listed companies, although far smaller in market value, saw their share prices fall between 1.8 per cent and 8.5 per cent over the previous close. Sterling and Wilson Solar was the biggest loser, down 8.54 per cent to Rs 249.15.

The share price of Tata groups most valuable firm, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), remained unchanged. Group companies (excluding TCS) added Rs 20,378 crore to combined market cap of Rs 5.70 trillion a day earlier, an increase of 3.6 per cent. Including TCS, the combined market cap rose from Rs 17.06 trillion to Rs 17.26 trillion.

Though most analysts said the SCs ruling would bring the curtains down on a fiercely fought battle between Indias two big corporate houses, it wouldnt change things for companies at the operational and fundamental levels.

This was a pure power tussle between the two parties and wouldnt change anything drastically for Tata group companies fundamentally. That said, investors can look at among the lot as it is a defensive play in uncertain times, said G Chokkalingam, founder and chief investment officer, Equinomics Research.

The judgment is sentimentally positive, which got adequately reflected in how the related stocks reacted once the outcome was known. That said, it is always better to resolve issues outside the court. We have been positive on and continue to remain so, said Gaurang Shah, senior vice-president, Geojit Financial Services.

Over the past year, even as the pandemic took a toll on India Inc and companies around the world, most have done well at the bourses.

Except for Benares Hotels, all Tata-owned stocks have given positive returns since the indices hit their recent low in March 2020. Tata Teleservices, a loss-making company with market cap of Rs 2,512 crore currently, has been the biggest gainer since, rallying 573 per cent to Rs 12.85 until the close of trade on Friday.

Tata Communications, Tata Motors, Tata Elxsi, Tata Motors DVR, Tata Steel Long Products, and Tata Chemicals have moved up between 233 per cent and 370 per cent since. Together, they added Rs 7.87 trillion to the groups market cap in one year.

Ambareesh Baliga, independent market analyst, too, believes the ruling will be a status quo as regards the fundamentals of Tata group stocks. The SC decision removes the overhang on Tata group stocks, but does not change anything fundamentally for them. At current levels, most stocks from the Tata stable are fairly valued  be it Tata Steel, Tata Power, Tata Chemicals or Tata Motors. However, among the lot, I am positive on Tata Elxsi and TCS, which is a defensive bet, he said.
In his first news conference in the East Room of the White House since taking the office in January, US President Joe Biden on March 25 said that Washington is working with its partners and allies to hold China accountable to adhere to the rules. Concerning China, Biden had made similar remarks in the first Quad leaders summit held earlier this month with Prime Ministers of India, Japan, Australia. Biden also called for democracies to work in cooperation against China.

Joe Biden addressed his first solo news conference from the White House on Thursday (local time) after taking the office on January 20. The US President also said that he is going to call for an alliance of democracies to convene at Washington DC to discuss the future.

"Earlier this month, and apparently got the Chinese attention, that's not why did it, I met with our allies and -- how we're going to hold China accountable in the region, Australia, India, Japan, the United States, the so-called Quad because we have to have democracies working together," he said.

While talking about the alliance in Washington, Biden asserted, "We are going to make it clear that, in order to deal with these things, we are going to hold China accountable to follow the rules, to follow the rules, whether it relates to the South China Sea or the North China Sea or the agreement made on Taiwan or a whole range of other things.

What Biden thinks of Xi Jinping?

In the same Thursday news conference which was attended by at least 30 reporters from several media outlets along with two foreign correspondents, Biden revealed what he thinks of Chinese President Xi Jinping as a person and a leader. After becoming the US President, Biden said he spoke with Jinping over the phone only once and the call, he revealed, lasted for two hours. Further, as vice president under former US President Barack Obama, Biden said he spent several hours together with Jinping. According to US President, his Chinese and Russian counterparts think autocracy is the wave of future.

"It was very, very straightforward. He doesn't have a democratic with a small D bone in his body, but he's a smart, smart guy. Hes one of the guys like Putin who thinks that autocracy is the wave of the future. Democracy can't function in an ever-complex world," he said.

What Biden told Jinping in a two-hour-long chat?

The US President said that when he got elected and Jinping called to congratulate him, both leaders made several points clear to each other. Of the two-hour-long conversation, Biden said,  I made it clear to him again what I told him in person on several occasions, that we're not looking for confrontation, although we know there will be steep, steep competition.

Two, that we'll have strong competition but we'll insist that China play by the international rules, fair competition, fair practices, fair trade. Thirdly, in order to compete effectively, I indicated that we're going to deal with China effectively, and we're going to need three things to do that I'm telling our people. First, we're going to invest in American workers and American science," said the US President.

Image credits: AP
Peripheral Vascular Diagnostic Systems Market: Key Findings

Peripheral vascular diagnostic systems market value to grow by USD 148.13 million at almost 8% CAGR during 2021-2025

at almost 8% CAGR during 2021-2025 Based on the product, the systems segment will offer maximum opportunities for vendors during the forecast period

segment will offer maximum opportunities for vendors during the forecast period Based on the Geography, North America dominated the market with a 41% share in 2020

dominated the market with a 41% share in 2020 Peripheral vascular diagnostic systems market is expected to have a positive impact due to the spread of COVID-19

Peripheral Vascular Diagnostic Systems Market: Growth Drivers

The increasing prevalence of diabetes coupled with rising diabetes awareness one of the prime factors driving the growth of the market. Factors such as sedentary lifestyles and rising incidence of obesity has increased the risk of diabetes globally. For instance, in 2019, nearly 463 million adults across the world had diabetes, and the number is expected to rise to 700 million by 2045. The growing prevalence of the condition is compelling governments across the world to conduct various programs and campaigns to increase the awareness of the disease. This is increasing the number people getting diagnosed for the condition, which is driving the market growth.

"Launch of minimally invasive and advanced diagnostic products and rising geriatric population will further boost market growth during the forecast period", says a senior analyst at Technavio.

Develop Smart Strategies for Your Business: Get a Free Sample Report Now!

Peripheral Vascular Diagnostic Systems Market: Major Vendors

Arjo AB



Arjo AB operates its business through the Unified segment. Key products offered by the company include Dopplex D900, Dopplex ABI ankle brachial Index kit, VP8 XS high sensitivity 8MHz probe, and VP5 XS high sensitivity 5MHz probe.

D. E. Hokanson Inc.



D. E. Hokanson Inc. operates its business through segments such as Instruments, Cuffs, and Accessories. Key products offered by the company include Portable ABI kit, Toe pressure kit, MD6 Doppler, and MD35.

Elcat Inc.



Elcat Inc. operates its business through segments such as Doppler, Plethysmograph, Transcutaneous monitoring, and Videoscopy. Key products offered by the company include vasodop 320 and handydop.

Related Reports on Healthcare Include:

Global Peripheral Vascular Stents Market  Global peripheral vascular stents market is segmented by Product (Self-expanding, balloon-expanding, and drug-eluting), Geography (North America, Europe, Asia, and ROW), and End-user (hospitals, ASCs, and cath labs). Get an Exclusive Free Sample Report

Global Vascular Patches Market  Global vascular patches market is segmented by material (biologic vascular patches and synthetic vascular patches) and geography (North America, Europe, Asia, and ROW). Get an Exclusive Free Sample Report

About Technavio

Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focuses on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions.

With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios.

Contacts

Technavio Research

Jesse Maida

Media & Marketing Executive

US: +1 844 364 1100

UK: +44 203 893 3200

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.technavio.com/

Report: www.technavio.com/report/peripheral-vascular-diagnostic-systems-market-size-industry-analysis

SOURCE Technavio
Chinese, Cameroonian FMs exchange congratulations on 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties

Xinhua) 14:41, March 26, 2021

BEIJING, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi exchanged congratulatory messages with Cameroon's Minister of External Relations Lejeune Mbella Mbella on Friday on the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

In his message, Wang said since the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Cameroon, bilateral ties have developed smoothly, and cooperation in various fields has achieved remarkable results.

The two countries have maintained close coordination on international affairs and have united and helped each other in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, he added.

In recent years, the heads of state of the two countries have met many times and reached important consensus, guiding the sustained and in-depth development of bilateral relations, Wang said.

Wang said he is ready to work with his Cameroon counterpart in implementing the consensus reached by the two heads of state, so as to bring the China-Cameroon relations to new levels.

Mbella said in his message that he congratulates the two countries on the significant progress made in their relations since the establishment of bilateral ties 50 years ago.

He said he is willing to work with the Chinese foreign minister under the guidance of the consensus reached by the two heads of state to continuously deepen the traditional friendship between Cameroon and China, and achieve common prosperity of the two countries.

(Web editor: Wen Ying, Liang Jun)
Pastor murdered in home hours after warning flock devil would try to kill them over witness to Gods power

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Hours after warning his flock that the devil would seek to kill and destroy them for being witnesses to God's power in the world, David Charles Evans, a beloved Oklahoma pastor, was shot dead inside his home Monday morning, where his wife was also present.

The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation said in a release that just after 1 a.m., officers from the Ada Police Department responded to a 911 call in the 1400 block of Northcrest in Ada. They found the 50-year-old Evans, who leads the Harmony Free Will Baptist Church, severely wounded. Paramedics would later pronounce him dead at the scene.

Agents told News 9 that Evans wife was also in the home.

"At this point in time, there are a lot of questions that we are trying to work through," Public Information Officer for the OSBI, Brook Arbeitman, said.

It just didnt seem real, just seemed like kind of a bad dream, a close friend of Evans told KFOR. He was such a beloved person. Hes not somebody who has enemies. Hes not somebody who has even people who dislike him as far as we know.

Calls made by The Christian Post to Evans home and church went unanswered Wednesday, but the OSBI said in their statement that Evans death is being investigated as a homicide, and anyone who saw or heard anything should contact them immediately at (800) 522-8017 or tips@osbi.ok.gov.

At this point in time, our agents are full-on investigative mode, tracking down anything they possibly can to try to figure out what happened to this pastor, Arbeitman told KFOR.

Oklahoma Freewill Baptist Churchs Executive Director Mike Wade told KXII that Evans, who was married with three adult children, was a driven pastor who would do anything he could for his ministry and the church.

He was always a very outgoing guy, Wade said. He always had a smile on his face, always looking out for the needs of others.

In his sermon on Sunday, during which he revealed he had only returned from a mission trip to Mexico last week, Evans preached about the popularity of Christianity from John 12:1-11. He examined the final days of Jesus ministry on Earth, including why the chief priest in the Scripture wanted to kill Lazarus after Jesus had raised him from the dead.

This guy cannot catch a break. What an interesting life hes lived here. Youre alive, youre dead. Youre brought to life, youre alive again, now the chief priest wants to kill you. Thats a full life, he told congregants.

I mean, ironically. But why? Why kill Lazarus? he posited before pointing to verse, 11 which says, because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus.

He then told congregants that if their life is bearing witness to the power of Jesus, they should get used to being attacked by the devil.

Sometimes, I just stop and think. If the devil is not attacking you with everything hes got in trying to destroy and kill you, maybe [its] because youre not the reason anybody is believing in Jesus. And as a pastor and just as a Christian, what a waste, he said.

What a thing to try to soak in? They wanted to see this man dead and dead for good because of his life ... his witness. People were leaving the Jewish religion and coming over and being Christians, believers in the Christ, the Messiah. They were believing in Him.

"And what a challenge to us because whos coming to Christ because of us? Whos believing in Jesus because of us? And if were doing anything in that direction, expect for the enemy to come to destroy you. So dont be shocked and start whining and crying. Expect it. Be prepared for it. If the devil is not attacking you, there is a reason. If the devil is attacking you there is a reason, he warned.

While he said he didnt have the answer for what is currently going on with the popularity of Christianity, he asserted that wed have fewer empty churches if we had fewer Christians who lived empty lives. And that we understood what were getting to be a part of for such a time as this.

If youre still worried about this pandemic and youre wondering whats going to happen to the Church, I think the bigger question is, whos on watch? he asked.

Were on watch. That means we have a responsibility and we need to start telling people about the miracle in our life and who performed that miracle. Quit getting caught up in every little stinking thing thats going on in the world and keep the main things the main things. And live our lives in such a way that demonstrates that we are no longer dead but born again, he insisted.

We can live for eternity with Him, and its time for Christians to live victoriously. Im not defeated. This world can give me the best and the worst theyve got.  And I know all about health problems and attacks on the body, attacks on finances, attacks on the spirit, bring it! Bring it! Because I know who fights my battles.
The United States is calling for Azerbaijani human rights lawyer Shahla Humbatova to be reinstated into the countrys bar association after she lost her membership earlier this month in what she claimed was a politically motivated act.

Humbatovas work, and the work of other human rights defenders in Azerbaijan, should be celebrated, not punished, and we call on those responsible to expedite her reinstatement to the Azerbaijani bar, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a March 26 statement.

The prominent lawyer was disbarred on March 5 for failing to pay membership fees of $260 to the Azerbaijani Bar Association.

The lawyer said at the time that the board did not inform her about the debt and she found about her disbarment from the media. She then paid her membership fee immediately.

Humbatova is one of several human rights lawyers to have been disbarred in recent years, leaving few advocates to take on cases in a country renown for cracking down on the media and critical voices.

We encourage all steps toward systemic reforms in Azerbaijan, especially those regarding the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms -- areas that will benefit the Azerbaijani people and create opportunities to deepen our cooperation, Blinken said in the statement.

Last year, the United States honored Humbatova with the secretary of states International Women of Courage Award.

Earlier this month, Freedom House published its 2021 report on global democracy, saying Azerbaijan's judiciary "is corrupt and subservient to the executive."

"Although nominally independent, the Azerbaijani Bar Association acts on the orders of the Ministry of Justice and is complicit in the harassment of human rights lawyers," the report said.
On Feb. 23, the S.C. Club for Growth, joined by three other state nonprofits, hosted a news conference to encourage senators not to fall prey to the false narrative of reform pushed by Santee Cooper and its supporters, and to sell the state agency to the private sector.

In a column published Feb. 27, Cindi Ross Scoppe used this as an opportunity to regurgitate the same arguments we warned lawmakers not to fall for.

The company wanting to purchase Santee Cooper offers its customers in other states rates 30% below the national average, far lower than Santee Coopers. It also will absorb the $4 billion debt accrued by Santee Coopers V.C. Summer failure.

Santee Cooper is under a court-ordered, four-year rate freeze, but there are no guarantees after that. The state agency is borrowing money just to continue to operate. It cant afford to pay off the debt and bring its infrastructure into the 21st century. The billions of dollars of debt keep it behind current industry standards.

If Ms. Scoppe truly wants to improve transparency and accountability at Santee Cooper, then she should be all for selling the state agency; thats the easiest way to bring independent Public Service Commission oversight to Santee Cooper. This is the oversight the utility requires, and that we should demand.

As we come closer to the General Assembly deciding Santee Coopers future, we must remember that the government-owned and -operated utility has proven itself financially inept and unwilling to reform.

Self-implemented reform is impossible. Our state needs to get out of the energy business. Its time to sell Santee Cooper this year.

EVAN NEWMAN

S.C. Club for Growth

Columbia

Editors note: NextEras official bid to purchase Santee Cooper proposed to charge customers $161 million more than Santee Coopers official proposal over the next 20 years and to eliminate more than 40% of the utilitys jobs. Both proposals pay off the debt.

Glad for warnings

A March 23 letter to the editor complained about local television stations warning in strident and compelling terms that we were going to experience a severe thunderstorm with a possibility of tornadoes.

Due to that forecast, schools were closed, events canceled and employees were sent home.

The writer noted that in the summer, we have a risk of a thunderstorm every day.

The forecast was not about a chance of a thunderstorm, but a severe storm with a possibility of tornadoes. Fortunately, no tornadoes touched down and it lasted only a short time.

On James Island, where I live, we had about 2 inches of rain in that short time. It blew over quite quickly. I, for one, appreciate the warnings.

Forewarned is forearmed. That was not an ordinary weather event.

IRVING ROSENFELD

Simpkins Street

James Island

Gun law not broken

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Our state continues to deal with a pandemic with lives lost every day.

Yet some in the South Carolina General Assembly think our most pressing issue is the inability to walk around openly carrying a firearm.

As a 28-year military officer, I qualified annually with a firearm. After meeting this requirement, I would return the weapon to be secured.

The military in several countries enacted similar protocols to reduce unintentional shootings.

The failure to store lethal means is a major contributor to the public health epidemic of gun violence, as both accidental shooting and suicide remain among leading causes of death in the U.S. and in our own state.

As a physician, I am aware of 40 national medical societies that oppose open carry and other measures proven to increase the risk of harm to our citizens.

This issue is not about being anti-gun, it is about common sense. I question why this is even up for debate right now. Our current concealed carry law is not broken.

Interestingly, a number of these legislators would forbid open carry at the South Carolina Capitol. They argue that it is perfectly safe for people to openly carry a firearm at their favorite restaurant, to the beach, at church, outside of their home or even in their place of work.

I encourage our elected officials to get back to the business of improving the lives of all South Carolinians.

Let us say not now to open carry.

Dr. FREDERIC G. JONES

Heidelberg Drive

Mount Pleasant

Protect gray wolves

Gray wolves in the lower 48 states are in dire straits. And the Biden administration must take action to protect the species.

The Trump administration stripped away federal protections by removing them from the endangered species list.

The move went into effect at the start of this year and were already seeing the devastating consequences of that decision.

In the first wolf hunt since gray wolves lost federal protections, hunters slaughtered nearly 1 out of every 5 gray wolves in Wisconsin in less than 60 hours.

The hunt in Wisconsin is a tragic case study that shows gray wolves suffer when the species is put under state control.

ANNETTE COLLINS

Limehouse Drive

Summerville
(TNS)  Comcast Corp. plans to spend $1 billion over the next decade to help low-income Americans connect to the Internet, company officials said Wednesday.The Philadelphia cable giant said the money would go toward wiring community centers with Wi-Fi, donating laptops and computers, awarding grants to nonprofits working with low-income Americans, and continued investment in its Internet Essentials program, a low-cost broadband service. Comcast estimates that the $1 billion investment could affect 50 million people.Comcast announced the commitment on the 10th anniversary of Internet Essentials, launched in 2011 as a condition to federal approval of the company's purchase of NBCUniversal. Comcast continued the reduced-cost broadband program beyond its three-year commitment, which would have ended in 2014. The program offers home Internet service to low-income customers for $9.95 a month. "We are rededicating ourselves to this mission to ensure that the next generation of students in America has the tools, resources, and abilities they need to succeed in an increasingly digital world," Dave Watson, CEO of Comcast's cable unit, said in a statement.The coronavirus pandemic has laid bare the necessity of Internet access, with millions of Americans relying on broadband to work or study from home. A February 2021 survey by Consumer Reports, a consumer advocacy group, found that 76% of Americans agreed that Internet service is as important as electricity or water service in today's world. A nearly equal percentage (75%) said they rely on the Internet every day.As the coronavirus closed schools and offices, Comcast offered 60 days of free service for new Internet Essentials customers, opened its vast network of business and outdoor Wi-Fi hot spots for public use, and partnered with school districts to connect kids online. But elected officials and activists have called on Comcast to do more during the crisis, criticizing Internet Essentials' slower speeds and demanding the company open residential WiFi hot spots for school children. The company has said those residential networks were not engineered for broad public use.Comcast recently doubled download speeds for Internet Essentials to 50 megabits per second (mbps) and increased uploads from 3 to 5 mbps. Download speeds reflect how quickly you can receive data, such as loading web pages or streaming videos. An upload speed is how fast you can send data, such as using a video chat to talk to someone.The company said the program has connected 10 million people across the country and more than 520,000 Philadelphia residents since 2011, including more than 9,000 who were connected at no cost through PHLConnectED, a partnership including the city and school district. Comcast does not share current enrollment numbers.In Philadelphia, Comcast has opened more than 40 "Lift Zones"  community centers connected to free Wi-Fi  to give students safe spaces for virtual learning while their guardians are occupied. The company aims to open roughly 1,000 across the country by the end of 2021. Meanwhile, Comcast's broadband business has continued to boom during the pandemic. Its cable unit added a record 1.6 million customers in 2020, helping push its 2020 fourth-quarter profits to $3.4 billion, an improvement of 6.9% from a year earlier.
Ex-customs officer sentenced to 7 years in prison for tobacco exports machinations

 RAPSI, Vladimir Burnov

16:09 26/03/2021

ST. PETERSBURG, March 26 (RAPSI, Mikhail Telekhov)  Former St. Petersburg Baltic customs inspector Alexander Zharin was found guilty of taking 51 bribes in the amount of $178,500 for falsifying documents related to the export of tobacco products and sentenced to 7 years in a strict regime colony, the United press service of St. Petersburg courts informs RAPSI on Friday.

This decision was made by the Petrogradsky District Court of St. Petersburg. During the trial, Zharin was under house arrest, so he was taken into custody right in the courtroom. His property was also confiscated by the court, the statement reads.

Zharin was a senior state customs inspector. As it follows from the materials of the case, from December 2018 to March 2019, the man acting in conspiracy with two other customs officers Alexey Ermolaev and Alexander Maklakov received bribes from the head of the primary trade union organization of the Baltic Customs Gennady Rogachevsky for each instance of false exports procedure; altogether, he registered 51 consignments of tobacco products, which, in fact, did not leave the customs territory of the Eurasian Economic Union and were sold without the payment of the respective excise taxes to the budget.

Moreover, Russian entrepreneurs, the owners of the said tobacco products, which they purchased in Belarus, could refund VAT on the territory of the Republic, the decision reads.

The criminal case against Rogachevsky and Maklakov was submitted to the Petrogradsky District Court for consideration on the merits, but was returned to the prosecutors due to certain violations found in the indictment. This decision of the court is now being appealed on the proposal of the prosecutor's office in the St. Petersburg City Court.
Parents have been urged not to stop or park on the grass verge outside a Newbridge school.

The issue was raised at the local municipal district meeting last week.

The meeting heard that vehicles driving onto the grass verge outside Scoil Na Naomh Uilig in Rickardstown were eroding the grass.

The issue was raised by Councillor Peggy ODwyer who asked the Council to consider repairing the grass margins or providing an alternative option in the area outside the school.

The Council responded that the grass margin was installed to provide an area of protection for the footpath users.

A statement added: "Vehicles parking on the grass margin are predominately collecting children at school times and should not be parking there.

"The school, through the Department of Education, need to provide an agreed plan for dropping off and collecting children in a safe manner."

District Engineer Brenda Cuddy commented at the meeting that to install parking spaces outside the school would be an unsafe option for footpath users.

The meeting agreed to draft a letter to the principal of the school to help seek a solution.
Swedish royals Prince Carl Philip and Princess Sofia are celebrating the birth of their third child.

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The Swedish royal court confirmed in a press release Friday that Carl Philip, 41, and Sofia, 36, the duke and duchess of Duke of Virmland, welcomed their third child together, a son.

Carl Philip and Sofia married in June 2015 and have two other sons, Prince Alexander, 4, and Prince Gabriel, 3.

Carl Philip was present for the new baby's birth at Danderyd Hospital outside Stockholm.

"We are so happy and grateful to be able to welcome our third son to our family. Princess Sofia and I, and his two big brothers, have all been longing for this day. And now we are looking forward to getting to know this new little member of our family," the prince said.

The Swedish royal court also confirmed the news on Instagram.

Carl Philip and Sofia announced in December that they were expecting their third child.

"We are happy and excited, and are looking forward to welcome our third child, a sibling to Prince Alexander and Prince Gabriel. A new little member to our family," the couple said at the time.

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Sofia became a medical assistant in April 2020 while volunteering at a hospital amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Carl Philip is the second of King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia's three children. He is fourth in line to the Swedish throne, following his sister Princess Victoria and her two children.
Police in Nairobi on Wednesday evening arrested a woman who allegedly stabbed three men leaving one dead and two critically injured at Saa Mbaya area in Kahawa West.

Margaret Wambui Wangari is said to have started sucking blood oozing from one of the men after she stabbed them and it took startled onlookers to restrain the violent woman.

"Passersby found the suspect sucking blood from open stab wounds sustained by the three victims," police said.

The female suspect was saved from the irate mob who had started stoning her by police officers who had been deployed at nearby schools in the ongoing KCPE examination.

"Officers rushed to the scene, just as outraged members of the public were about to lynch the suspect, who had further inflicted a serious cut at a second man's forehead," police said in a statement.

According to the police, the incident started after a fight ensued between the suspect, who was armed with a kitchen knife, and a man believed to be her boyfriend.

Two men, who were passing by, went to separate the couple but the enraged woman stabbed them with the knife, leaving them unconscious.

The two suffered serious stab injuries on the neck, chest and other parts of their bodies.

The survivors were rushed to Kenyatta University Teaching, Referral and Research Hospital while the deceased's body was moved to Chiromo mortuary.

Kasarani detectives assigned to the case are piecing together evidence to establish what led to the scuffle that claimed a life and left two fighting for their lives in ICU beds.
Ms Lily Chepngetich Ngok has been nominated to fill the vacant position of Deputy Governor in Kericho County.

Governor Paul Chepkwony on Thursday afternoon forwarded the name of the nominee to the County Assembly for vetting and concurrence for appointment to the position.

Ms Ngok is currently serving in the position of County Executive Committee member in charge of Education, Sports, Culture and Social Services.

"I hereby nominate Ms Ngok as the Deputy Governor , County Government of Kericho for the remainder of my tenure of administration pursuant to the provisions of Article 182(2) of the Constitution as read with section 32 (C) and 32 (D) of the County Governments' Act (Act. No 11 of 2020), and Section 22, 25 and 26 of the Election Act, 2011,"Professor Chepkwony stated in the letter.

The nomination comes only two days after the burial of Ms Susan Kikwai who had served in the position in the last eight years.

Ms Kikwai succumbed to Covid-19 complications on March 20, at Siloam hospital.

Prof Chepkwony said the nominee is from Kipkelion East constituency, the same area where the late Ms Kikwai hailed from and that the nomination "addresses continuity, in the distribution of elective seats and gender balance."

"I confirm that the nominee meets all the requirements for nomination to the post and has all the qualifications, leadership qualities, and competencies necessary for such a demanding job," stated Prof Chepkwony in the letter addressed to Speaker of the County Assembly Dominic Rono.

Woman nominee

Governors Jackson Mandago (Uasin Gishu), Alex Tolgos (Elgeyo Marakwet), Hillary Barchok (Bomet), Amos Nyaribo (Nyamira), Cabinet Secretary for Industrialization Ms Betty Maina, and 19 Deputy Governors under their caucus chairperson Dr Caroline Karugu and six Members of Parliament.

They were speaking on Tuesday during the funeral service for Ms Kikwai at Tugunon village in Kipkelion constituency.

"You have heard what the people have said through their leaders, and it is important that you respect their wishes for the sake of continuity. Women form an integral part of the society and have immensely contributed to development," said Mr Mandago.

Dr Karugu said "We are forever grateful to you Prof Chepkwony that in the two terms, you picked a woman as a deputy and elevated her office by giving it the portfolio of head of government business. This is a model that should be emulated and replicated by all candidates in 2022."

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"In honouring our departed dear sister, we implore upon you that you nominate another woman to replace her. To all candidates seeking to vie for Governorship positions in the next general election should consider the opposite gender as a running mate. It demonstrates that both genders can produce quality leaders to protect devolution across the country," Dr Karugu added.

Kericho Senator Aron Cheruiyot, Woman Representative Florence Bore, MPs Joseph Limo (Kipkelion West), Nelson Koech (Belgut), Mr Japeth Mutai (Belgut), Mrs Beatrice Kones (Bomet East) and Sylvanus Maritim rallied behind the call.

"There are women with administrative and leadership skills in this county, majority are of high integrity and would fit into the shoes of our fallen sister. Honour us women by picking the next DG from among them," said Mrs Bore.

Governor Chepkwony said in response that he would not disappoint on the matter and the matter should be put to rest.
GEORGETOWN COUNTY  Marsh Deane studied a medley of things in college, from landscape architecture to exercise science, but nothing ever stuck with him as something he would be passionate about doing forever.

Photography and videography were always hobbies, but it wasnt until he interned at the Village Group in Georgetown as part of the UN Youth Corps with Coastal Carolina University that he considered pursuing it as a career.

We were hosting a fundraiser in the spring, their Tour de Plantersville, and I just kind of saw an opportunity, Deane said. I said, Hey, I can use photography or I can make some short videos to help them reach their fundraising goal. And it really just opened my eyes across the board to, Wait a minute, I can actually make a career doing what I enjoy.

Now, after graduating from CCU in May 2019, Deane owns his own media company, MLNL Media, in Georgetown County and says without Georgetown RISE and the UN Youth Corps, he may have never found this path.

Georgetown RISE is a United Nations Regional Centre of Expertise on Education for Sustainable Development housed at Coastal Carolina University. RCEs were created in 2003 as a way to focus global sustainability efforts into local communities, and Georgetown RISE  which stands for resilience, innovation and sustainability through education  is the only RCE in the coastal southeastern United States.

Through Georgetown RISE, CCU students can apply for paid internships called the UN Youth Corps. Sponsored by the Frances P. Bunnelle Foundation, a local Georgetown County foundation dedicated to promoting economic vitality, preserving the environment and encouraging youth development, the UN Youth Corps pairs students with places in Georgetown County, like the city of Georgetowns administrative office and the countys office of environmental services to focus on sustainable development efforts.

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Pam Martin, executive director of Georgetown RISE, said some students during the current eight-week long spring UN Youth Corps cycle are working on affordable housing efforts in the county, while another is working on cyber security with Mercom.

The point of the program is to train students to think more broadly about sustainable development and also to understand how individual organizations and individuals themselves can contribute to the broader conversation of creating a sustainable and resilient community, Martin said.

In its fifth year, the UN Youth Corps not only helps Georgetown County by providing it young minds that are focused on sustainability, Martin said, but also encourages retention and post-graduation employment opportunities, as keeping students in Georgetown and Horry counties has been a challenge in recent years.

Professionally, students are surprised I think that in a small coastal community like Georgetown, they can get such a diversity of high quality professional training by professionals who really care about them and take the time to show them the skills in their profession, Martin said.

Deane said that opportunities like the UN Youth Corps are important not only for students to be able to see the world through a different lens, but also to the communities they serve. The communities, like Georgetown, get students who are from all walks of life, Deane said, to come in and work towards a common goal: making the community better for those who live in it now, and those who will live in it for the decades to come.

For myself, I decided to stick around and pursue some of these problems that my eyes were opened to (in UN Youth Corps), Deane said. So I think theres now an investment in the area that were going to benefit from.
A large, yellow Black Lives Matter mural painted across part of Dr. Martin Luther King Boulevard in Atlantic City will be removed and re-done in smaller lettering for safety and to comply with federal standards, local officials said Thursday.

On Wednesday, city council voted to spend $36,000 to repave the street where the mural is painted. Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small told NJ Advance Media that the words will be re-painted between each of the traffic lines on the black asphalt.

Were working with the rules. (The words) will be noticeable, its not going anywhere, Small said. Early on, it was an oversight with the traffic pattern and everything. He said city officials immediately started working on an alternate plan.

City Engineer Uzo Ahiarakwe said the mural was not in compliance with the federal Department of Transportations Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, which is very specific about how road markings have to appear. The mural also covered many of the markings on the four-lane road and created confusion, he said.

It ended up violating the DOT standards and also created a hazardous condition, Councilman Jesse Kurtz said.

Certain colors are used for certain road markings, and the yellow paint used in the mural overlaps with yellow lines meant to separate traffic, causing confusion for drivers, Kurtz said. In addition, he said, too much paint was used in the mural, and it causes the road to be too slick and hazardous during rain events.

Atlantic City Lt. Kevin Fair said MLK Boulevard between Atlantic and Pacific avenues, where the mural is, was closed a short time after it was painted due to safety reasons and has not re-opened since. The mural was done last September following countrywide police brutality protests in response to the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer.

Kurtz said he did not know the cost of the project, but said the Atlantic City Arts Foundation donated much of the paint.

The citys public works director, Paul Jerkins, said the city engineer advised him that milling the road would be the only option.

According to our engineer, he informed me that the type of paint that was used, it will bleed through, and once it bleeds through as we have reconstructed everything, it would just be a mess, Jerkins said. The alternative is to do the milling.

Once the words are re-written in the lanes, Jerkins said, it will be easier for motorists to see which lane they are in and to switch between lanes.

Each lane is between 12 or 15 feet... So the Black Lives Matter will be repainted on the black portion of the asphalt which will not cause a problem with the lines being painted so people will know how to make a right turn or left turn or stay in their lane while driving down the street. This is going to work out very well. Were not taking it away.

Shabazz, who represents the citys third ward where the mural is and introduced the resolution, said the road closure also made it impossible for cars to access multiple businesses on the street, Shabazz said.

The stretch is a major thoroughfare for people walking to the boardwalk or beach, he said, and the repaving will be complete by the summer.

That is a major street and people needed access, the residents, merchants and people from outside... Thats in the downtown area. Anytime that you block off a street for an extended period of time, that causes some discomfort and people are concerned, he said. Not that anyone is against Black Lives Matter, but they need to utilize this street and its been closed for some time.

This story has been updated to clarify that the street mural violated federal DOT standards, but the DOT was not involved in the decision making.

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Avalon Zoppo may be reached at azoppo2@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @AvalonZoppo.
When Tatiana Desardouin creates dance, she doesnt have to look around her for movement inspirationshe has a vocabulary to work with that is basically limitless.

Just within street and club dance, there are so many styles, and within each style theres so much information, the choreographer said in a recent interview. Under our umbrella, in our community and culture, theres so much that it would take a lifetime to explore everything we can do.

Desardouins New York Citybased Passion Fruit Dance Company is in residency March 29April 11 at Bridge Street Theatre in Catskill, and will offer a virtual performance excerpt of their new work, Trapped, on April 10 at 7 p.m.

The event is part of a series of dance residencies hosted by Bridge Street founders John Sowle and Steven Patterson, and supported by part-time Catskill residents and arts patrons Duke Dang, general manager of the Works & Process performing arts series at the Guggenheim Museum in Manhattan, and his husband, Charles Rosen.

What really fueled this was that a very good friend of ours, Anh-Tuyet Nguyen, who was a dancer and dance lover, died of COVID last April, and we wanted to do something to remember and honor her, Dang said. By nature of what I do professionally, I knew so many artists that could use these resources of space and time and housing at this moment, so we dreamed up this dance residency. Its about honoring ATs memory while also providing a safe harbor for artists to create and inspire and heal us.

In the case of Passion Fruit, an additional grant allowed Dang to bring the residency into the Works & Process Bubble Residency Program, which has allowed artists to safely create and rehearse together in upstate venues throughout the pandemic. When Desardouin and her dancers leave Catskill on April 11, they will head directly to the Guggenheim to perform Trapped live in the museums rotunda, as part of one of the first indoor performance series in New York since venues closed a year ago.

What Im trying to do personally and professionally is help shape what representation looks like as we emerge, Dang said. Street and hip hop dance companies have traditionally not received institutional support, and we wanted to highlight what women are doing in this incredibly rich art form.

Born in Switzerland of Haitian parents, Desardouin was exposed to the street dance scene through dance battles, parties and club culture, first in Europe and then in New York City, where she visited relatives in the Bronx throughout her childhood. Her time in the States, she said, allowed her to dive deeper into understanding the lineage of these art forms, and their inseparable connection to Black culture and history.

There would be no hip hop if it wasnt for slavery, but it tends to be taken out of context and removed from its culture, which is it essence, she said. Taking the art form on stage is a challenge because you dont represent culture on stage, but our bodies are the culturewe are the representation of the culture on stage, through the authenticity of being ourselves.

After co-founding Continuum, the first hip-hop dance company in Geneva, Switzerland, and opening a hip hop dance school there, Desardouin relocated to New York City in 2016. She founded Passion Fruit with the mission to both perform and educate, and launched the company with the work Dance Within Your Dance, showcasing the techniques, rhythms and essence of hip-hop and house dance, and the individual and collective methods through which they are created. Passion Fruit performed the work at venues including the Apollo Theater, Joes Pub and Jacobs Pillow, and Desardouin was selected as one of Dance Magazines 2020 25 to Watch.

The companys new piece, Trapped, is more challenging, she said, in that its more personal, addressing the unique and simultaneously universal experiences of women. Created with her company, which includes dancers LaTasha Barnes, Mai Le Ho, Nubian Nene, Lauriane Ogay, and Gyeun Jeong Aka Soo, it emerges from the lived experience of the three dancers and explores the obstacles and blocks women face. With music production by Saadiq Bolden, aka Saadiq The Last Musician, the work incorporates both set chorography and freestyle sections that are improvised for each performance.

Im using the same tools and vocabulary to express something more personal and respect everybodys vulnerabilities in the process, Desardouin said. As women from different cultures and backgrounds, each one of us [has been] uprooted and brings some challenges with us, and within those challenges there are differences but also a lot of similarities.

Their collaboration has been an emotional and extremely educational creative process, she says, in which the six dancers have listened closely to each others stories and the stories theyve inherited, while keeping the focus on the art form and its lineage. This anti-racist work is central to the mission of the company.
Washington, March 26 : The US will "re-open diplomatic channels of communication" with Palestine that had been cut off by the administration of former President Donald Trump, Washington's Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the Security Council.

"Since January, our diplomatic engagement has been guided by the premise that sustainable progress toward peace must be based on active consultations with both sides," Thomas-Greenfield said on Thursday during a virtual briefing on the Israeli-Palestinian issue.

"To that end, our administration will take steps to re-open diplomatic channels of communication that were halted during the last administration," the envoy added.

"Our engagements all have the same aim: to build support for a peaceful solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict." Thomas-Greenfield, while expressing her country's "continued support for Israel", noted that the US wishes to "see both Israelis and Palestinians take steps toward a two-state solution".

On the two-state solution, the ambassador said, "under President (Joe) Biden's leadership, the US has recommitted to the vision of a mutually agreed two-state solution, one in which Israel lives in peace and security alongside a viable Palestinian state".

"We believe this vision is the best way to ensure Israel's future as a democratic and Jewish state, while upholding the Palestinian people's legitimate aspirations for a state of their own and to live with dignity and security," she said.

Thomas-Greenfield noted that Biden is restoring US assistance programs that support economic development and humanitarian aid for the Palestinian people.

"Specifically, the US is pleased to announce today $15 million in humanitarian assistance to support the most vulnerable communities in the West Bank and Gaza," she added.

Trump cut hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to Palestinians, and during his administration, diplomatic contacts with Palestinians came to a virtual halt.

After Trump declared Jerusalem the capital of Israel in December 2017, the Palestinian Authority severed all official relations with the White House and the State Department, though security cooperation continued.
The Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Mr. Samuel Abu Jinapor, has announced the government's commitment to promote community mining as a means of eliminating illegal mining activities popularly known as galamsey.



He said the community mining concept could provide the antidote to the wanton environmental degradation being perpetrated by illegal miners across the country.



The Minister stated this in an interaction with workers of the Adansi North Community Mining at Adomanu as part of his two day tour of the Ashanti Region to acquaint himself with the mining sector after assuming office as new sector minister.



He said the operations of community mining were environmentally friendly and must be embraced by all stakeholders to create sustainable jobs for the youth without destroying the environment.



It is very evident that the way forward to resolving the issue of illegal small scale mining is community mining because this mining site I have come to witness, clearly they are mining sustainably with regard to the environment and making sure that the land is reclaimed, he observed.



Government, he said, would collaborate with the Minerals Commission to expand the community mining concept throughout the country to create job opportunities for the youth in illegal mining while protecting the environment from destruction.



The Ministry would soon facilitate a national consultative dialogue to come out with a blueprint to regulate the sector with the promotion of community mining as the main strategy to phase out illegal small scale mining, Mr. Jinapor hinted.



He said the President had tasked him to build a viable, sustainable and environmentally prudent mining sector and pledged his commitment to ensure all mining activities were properly regulated to bring sanity to the sector.



He said the President was not interested in collapsing the sector and rendering the teeming youth jobless, but he wants mining to be done in a regulated and licensed environment.



The Minister commended workers at the site for adhering to all the environmental and safety protocols and urged them to be good ambassadors of the concept by encouraging others to do the right thing.

Source: GNA









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(Newser)  With no nationwide digital "vaccine passport" plan, the paper COVID-19 vaccination cards issued by the CDC are Americans' only proof of vaccination, and major office supply chains are offering to help protect them. Staples says it will laminate the cards for fully vaccinated people for free until May 1, while Office Depot, which also owns Office Max, will laminate them for free until July 25, the Houston Chronicle reports.

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People are considered fully vaccinated after receiving the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine or the second dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines. The CDC, which is not keeping track of who has been vaccinated, has also recommended that people take a photo of their vaccination card in case it is lost or damaged, reports Business Insider. (Krispy Kreme has a sweet offer for the vaccinated.)
Three alleged extremists arrested in Rostov-on-Don on vandalism plot allegations

 TASS, Vitaly Nevar

13:53 26/03/2021

MOSCOW, March 26 (RAPSI)  Three alleged members of an extremist group have been arrested in Rostov-on-Don on suspicion of federal building vandalism plotting, the Public Relations Centre of the Federal Security Service (FSB) reports.

The apprehended persons prepared vandalism actions on a building of one of the Interior Ministrys department. An alleged mastermind said that their radical views formed under the influence of one of the Telegram messengers communities located in Poland, the statement reads.

The suspects are now making confession to previously committed and planned crimes, according to FSB.
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New Delhi:

The Bombay High Court on Thursday rejected anticipatory bail applications of Augustine Pinto, Grace Pinto and Rayan Pinto.

But, the Bombay High Court will give Augustine Pinto, Grace Pinto and Rayan Pinto interim protection from arrest till Friday only if they submit their passports.

Bombay High Court asked Augustine Pinto, Grace Pinto and Ryan Pinto to submit their passports to Mumbai Police Commissioner by 9 PM on Thursday.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Bombay High Court extended the interim protection from arrest granted to the trustees of Ryan International Group till Thursday, even as the father of the seven-year-old Pradyuman sought to oppose their anticipatory bail pleas.

The Pintos, who sought protection from arrest till they have approached the court concerned in Haryana, were on Tuesday granted interim protection from arrest till Wednesday.

The Pintos are being investigated since a 7-year-old boy Pradyuman was found with his throat slit on the morning of September 8 in the toilet of the Ryan International school in Gurugram.

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The Independent

Former President Donald Trump has reportedly met with a Pennsylvania lawmaker who has joined calls for his state to undertake an audit of the states 2020 election results similar to the widely-criticized effort in Arizona. The Washington Post reported Wednesday that Mr Trump met with Pennsylvania state senator Doug Mastriano, a top supporter of the former presidents baseless election fraud conspiracies, at his Trump Tower office in New York. The Independent has reached out for comment from the former presidents office.
LX Holdings Chairman Koo Bon-joon, left, and LG Chairman Koo Kwang-mo. Korea Times file



By Kim Yoo-chul



Shareholders of LG Corp. approved an already-announced plan to spin off the group's secondary affiliates involved in everything from trading and construction materials to display semiconductors.



During a shareholders' meeting at LG Corp, the spinoff plan has been approved with 76.6 percent approval, LG Corp. said in a statement.



Last November, LG Corp. said it was planning to separate the group's four affiliates  LG International, LG Hausys, LG MMA and Silicon Works  and integrate them into a new entity to be led by former LG Vice Chairman Koo Bon-joon.



Following the approval, the four LG entities will be renamed as LX Holdings, which will also be launched on May 1. Friday's approval also means LG Group will have two holding companies. At the time of the announcement, LG said the separation was aimed at expanding its outreach into batteries, electronics and telecommunications.



But some activist funds had been opposing LG's spinoff plan by claiming it would hurt the best interests of shareholders of LG Corp. and the group's other affiliates.



Specifically, Whitebox Advisors said because the spun-off affiliates will be controlled by Koo Bon-joon, who owns a 46.1 percent stake in LG and is also LG Chairman Koo Kwang-mo's uncle, the spinoff plan was LG's apparent move to treat LG Corp. shareholders as secondary. Also, the Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) said the combination of the separated affiliates into a single entity isn't looking good in terms of the group's growth potential given the expanded operations of those entities.



"The spinoff seems to have been conceived for the inappropriate purpose of solving a family succession issue between the company's chairman and his uncle," Whitebox said in an earlier letter. "The spinoff undermines LG's credibility and market position by revealing an insular corporate governance model that treats minority shareholders like second-class citizens."



LG flatly denied such accusations. In the statement released after the approval, LG Corp. said each of the holding companies will have greater management independence and put more focus on boosting overall corporate value. "The existing holding company LG Corp. will focus more on strengthening the group's presence in electronics, chemicals, batteries, OLEDs and vehicle components. Plus, LX Holdings would explore its best possible chances on how to boost corporate value," read the release.


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New York, March 26, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Acute Rehabilitation Market Research Report by Phase Type, by Devices Product, by Disease Type, by End-User Type - Global Forecast to 2025 - Cumulative Impact of COVID-19" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06025414/?utm_source=GNW



Market Statistics:

The report provides market sizing and forecast across five major currencies - USD, EUR GBP, JPY, and AUD. This helps organization leaders make better decisions when currency exchange data is readily available.



1. The Global Acute Rehabilitation Market is expected to grow from USD 43,453.94 Million in 2020 to USD 64,973.82 Million by the end of 2025.

2. The Global Acute Rehabilitation Market is expected to grow from EUR 38,101.24 Million in 2020 to EUR 56,970.27 Million by the end of 2025.

3. The Global Acute Rehabilitation Market is expected to grow from GBP 33,872.08 Million in 2020 to GBP 50,646.70 Million by the end of 2025.

4. The Global Acute Rehabilitation Market is expected to grow from JPY 4,637,636.52 Million in 2020 to JPY 6,934,353.03 Million by the end of 2025.

5. The Global Acute Rehabilitation Market is expected to grow from AUD 63,100.90 Million in 2020 to AUD 94,350.62 Million by the end of 2025.



Market Segmentation & Coverage:

This research report categorizes the Acute Rehabilitation to forecast the revenues and analyze the trends in each of the following sub-markets:



Based on Phase Type , the Acute Rehabilitation Market studied across Phase I- Acute Phase, Phase II- Subacute Phase, Phase III- Intensive Outpatient Therapy, and Phase IV- Independent Ongoing Conditioning.



Based on Devices Product , the Acute Rehabilitation Market studied across Blood Pressure Monitor, Heart Rate Monitor, Rower, Seated & Upright Elliptical Trainer, Stabilization Ball, Stationary Bicycle, and Treadmill.



Based on Disease Type , the Acute Rehabilitation Market studied across Abnormal Heart Rhythms, Angina, Atrial Fibrillation, Cholesterol Management, Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery, Coronary or Peripheral Artery Disease, Diabetes, Heart Failure or Transplant, High Blood Pressure, and Pulmonary Hypertension.



Based on End-User Type , the Acute Rehabilitation Market studied across Home Care, Hospitals & Clinics, Rehabilitation Centers, and Specialty Centers.



Based on Geography, the Acute Rehabilitation Market studied across Americas, Asia-Pacific, and Europe, Middle East & Africa. The Americas region surveyed across Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, and United States. The Asia-Pacific region surveyed across Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, South Korea, and Thailand. The Europe, Middle East & Africa region surveyed across France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain, United Arab Emirates, and United Kingdom.



Company Usability Profiles:

The report deeply explores the recent significant developments by the leading vendors and innovation profiles in the Global Acute Rehabilitation Market including Acadia Healthcare, Alden Network, Amedisys, Inc., Athena Health Care Systems, Aurora Behavioral Health System, Benedictine Health System, Berkshire Healthcare Systems, Burke Rehabilitation Hospital, CareOne Management, LLC, Casa Colina Hospital and Centers for Healthcare, Covenant Care, Encompass Health, Ensign Group, Five Star Senior Living, Genesis HealthCare, Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Network, Haven Behavioral Healthcare Inc., Kindred Healthcare, LLC, LHC Group, National HealthCare Corp., Nexion Health, Promises Behavioral Health, LLC, Providence St Joseph Health - home and community care, Select Medical, Springstone Inc., St. Anns Community, Tenet Healthcare Corporation, The Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society, Universal Health Services Inc., UPMC Community Provider Services, Vitas Healthcare, and VMG Health.



Cumulative Impact of COVID-19:

COVID-19 is an incomparable global public health emergency that has affected almost every industry, so for and, the long-term effects projected to impact the industry growth during the forecast period. Our ongoing research amplifies our research framework to ensure the inclusion of underlaying COVID-19 issues and potential paths forward. The report is delivering insights on COVID-19 considering the changes in consumer behavior and demand, purchasing patterns, re-routing of the supply chain, dynamics of current market forces, and the significant interventions of governments. The updated study provides insights, analysis, estimations, and forecast, considering the COVID-19 impact on the market.



FPNV Positioning Matrix:

The FPNV Positioning Matrix evaluates and categorizes the vendors in the Acute Rehabilitation Market on the basis of Business Strategy (Business Growth, Industry Coverage, Financial Viability, and Channel Support) and Product Satisfaction (Value for Money, Ease of Use, Product Features, and Customer Support) that aids businesses in better decision making and understanding the competitive landscape.



Competitive Strategic Window:

The Competitive Strategic Window analyses the competitive landscape in terms of markets, applications, and geographies. The Competitive Strategic Window helps the vendor define an alignment or fit between their capabilities and opportunities for future growth prospects. During a forecast period, it defines the optimal or favorable fit for the vendors to adopt successive merger and acquisition strategies, geography expansion, research & development, and new product introduction strategies to execute further business expansion and growth.



The report provides insights on the following pointers:

1. Market Penetration: Provides comprehensive information on the market offered by the key players

2. Market Development: Provides in-depth information about lucrative emerging markets and analyzes the markets

3. Market Diversification: Provides detailed information about new product launches, untapped geographies, recent developments, and investments

4. Competitive Assessment & Intelligence: Provides an exhaustive assessment of market shares, strategies, products, and manufacturing capabilities of the leading players

5. Product Development & Innovation: Provides intelligent insights on future technologies, R&D activities, and new product developments



The report answers questions such as:

1. What is the market size and forecast of the Global Acute Rehabilitation Market?

2. What are the inhibiting factors and impact of COVID-19 shaping the Global Acute Rehabilitation Market during the forecast period?

3. Which are the products/segments/applications/areas to invest in over the forecast period in the Global Acute Rehabilitation Market?

4. What is the competitive strategic window for opportunities in the Global Acute Rehabilitation Market?

5. What are the technology trends and regulatory frameworks in the Global Acute Rehabilitation Market?

6. What are the modes and strategic moves considered suitable for entering the Global Acute Rehabilitation Market?

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06025414/?utm_source=GNW



About Reportlinker

ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.



__________________________
This is the photo. Shot during the Rockhampton floods on January 1, 2011. I was in Rockhampton for a week documenting the slow rising floodwaters as they gradually inundated different areas of town. Most worrying for me was the number of snakes I saw in the water. And one day  when I was following some people in chest-high water  a mouse jumped on me, figuring I was a larger land mass than the top of the fence pole to which it had been clinging. In the area this photo was taken the water was not yet that high and, as most of the houses were built on stilts, many residents stayed where they were. It was New Years Day, and clearly nothing was going to stop this party. I love that it could be any New Years Day gathering anywhere in Australia, except that its happening in several feet of water. But most of all I love the two lions, incongruous against the Queenslander house.  Janie Barrett

It was the most amazing and heartbreaking assignment

September, 2018: Families wait at a health clinic in PNG. Its the best facility within six days walk for many. Credit:Louise Kennerley

In September, 2018 I travelled to Papua New Guinea to cover the countrys health crisis. This photo is showing patients waiting for medical treatment outside the Mougulu Medical Centre ward. Locals call it a ward, although it has no medical equipment. Until recently, tuberculosis was rare in Mougulu, thanks to its remote location and difficult terrain. However, the day that I visited the ward there were half a dozen suspected TB patients housed in the simple dormitory. The family photographed had walked many hours to reach the village. Its the best facility within six days walk in any direction, so its many patients trek long distances to get there. It was the most amazing and heartbreaking assignment. - Louise Kennerley

Photos1440 is at The State Library of NSW until April 25. Admission is free.
The company recently signed a binding offtake agreement with Shenzhen Chengxin Lithium Group Co for the annual supply of 180,000 tonnes of spodumene concentrate for an initial three-year term.

The halt will remain in place until March 30 or when an announcement is released to the market.

( ) (OTCMKTS:AZZVF) (FRA:3A2) has been granted a trading halt by the ASX with an announcement pending about a binding offtake agreement.

The halt will be in place until the start of regular trading on Tuesday, March 30, or when an announcement is released to the market, whichever occurs earliest.

AVZs market cap continues to grow and today is approximately A$606.9 million while shares last traded at A$0.20.

Second offtake agreement

The company this month signed a binding offtake agreement with Shenzhen Chengxin Lithium Group Co for the supply of spodumene concentrate (SC6) from the Manono Lithium and Tin Project in the DRC.

As a part of the agreement, Chengxin has agreed to purchase up to 180,000 tonnes of SC6 annually for an initial three-year term following the start of production with mutually agreed options to extend.

Chengxin is a leading global battery materials producer that is continuing to expand its lithium hydroxide production capacity.

News of this second offtake deal was cheered by investors sending shares 15% higher to A$0.23, approaching the three-year high of A$0.235 set earlier this year.
HAIKOU CITY, China, March 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- China Pharma Holdings, Inc. (NYSE American: CPHI) ("China Pharma," the "Company" or "We"), an NYSE American-listed corporation with a fully-integrated specialty pharmaceuticals subsidiary based in China, today announced financial results for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020.

Full Year Highlights

Revenue was both $10.9 million in fiscal year 2020 and 2019 , respectively ;

Gross margin was 1 8.0 % in fiscal year 20 20 , compared to 1 3.6 % in fiscal year 201 9;

Loss from operations was $2 .6 million in fiscal year 20 20 compared to $ 2 0.4 million in fiscal year 201 9 , which represented a n improvement of $ 17.8 million;

Net loss was $2 .9 million in fiscal year 20 20 compared to $ 20.7 million in fiscal year 201 9 . Loss per common share was $0 .07 per basic and diluted share in fiscal year 20 20 compared with $0 . 48 per basic and diluted share in fiscal year 201 9 .

Ms. Zhilin Li, China Pharma's Chairman and CEO, commented, "The outbreak of COVID-19 early in this year has create a substantial, negative impact on sales of pharmaceutical companies, including ours. Many people try to avoid going to hospitals for fear of cross-contamination or potential infection. However, our company has actively responded to the outbreak by the launch of wash-free sanitizer, as well as EU-certified KN95 Particulate Respirator and disposable medical masks. We also completed a one-time COVID-19 tester export in this year." Ms. Li continued, "In addition, we have a product that passed biological equivalents experiments of consistency evaluation in March 2021. We plan to submit relevant documentation and data to NMPA in the near future. We will continue to work on improving human health. We aim to leverage our expertise in the PRC for the development, manufacture and commercialization of pharmaceutical and comprehensive healthcare products for the benefit of human health."

Full Year Results

Revenue was both $10.9 million for the years ended December 31, 2020, and 2019, respectively. This was mainly due to a foreign trade of COVID-19 testers we completed in the second quarter of 2020 that offsets the sales decrease of our current existing products in 2020 as compared to 2019. Because of the market demand for COVID-19 related products, we received an export order for diagnostic test, which we purchased from a third party. This one-time business contributed approximately $1.7 million to our revenue in 2020. This is a milestone of our continuous efforts to explore various niche markets, products and regions based on our experiences and abilities. Except for revenue from the export of COVID-19 tester, sales of our existing products decreased in 2020 compared to 2019. The main reason for this decline was that the negative impact on our sales caused by temporarily suspended operations, staff quarantine, and significantly declined outpatient volume at the primary hospitals caused by COVID-19.

For the year ended December 31, 2020, our cost of revenue was $9.0 million, or 82.0% of total revenue, which represented a decrease of $0.4 million from $9.4 million, or 86.4% of total revenue, in 2019. This was mainly due to the impact of the one-time COVID-19 tester transaction and the government relief for employees' social insurance in 2020.

Gross profit for the year ended December 31, 2020 was $2.0 million, compared to $1.5 million in 2019. Our gross profit margin in 2020 was 18.0% compared to 13.6% in 2019. This increase in our gross profit margin was mainly due to the impact of the one-time COVID-19 tester transaction and the government relief for employees' social insurance in 2020.

Our selling expenses for the year ended December 31, 2020 were $2.2 million, a decrease of $0.2 million compared to $2.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2019. Selling expenses accounted for 20.4% of the total revenue in 2020 compared to 21.5% in 2019. This decrease was mainly due to emergency quarantine measures caused by the COVID-19 pandemic which reduced business travel and marketing activities.

Our general and administrative expenses for the year ended December 31, 2020 were $1.8 million, as compared to $2.3 million in 2019. General and administrative expenses accounted for 16.8% and 21.0% of our total revenues in 2020 and 2019, respectively. This decrease was mainly due to lower travel and office costs due to the impact of COVID-19, as well as offsets for administrative costs from government subsidies.

Our research and development expenses for the year ended December 31, 2020 was $0.38 million, compared to $0.23 million in 2019. Research and development expenses accounted for 3.5% and 2.1% of our total revenues in 2020 and 2019, respectively. These expenditures were mainly spent on the consistency evaluation of our existing products.

Our bad debt expenses for the year ended December 31, 2020 was $115,186, as compared to $3,153 in 2019. This increase was mainly due to the write-off of accounts receivable from some customers who ceased operations due to the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020.

Net Loss for year ended December 31, 2020 was $2.9 million, or $0.07 each basic and diluted share, compared to net loss of $20.7 million, or $0.48 each basic and diluted share for the year ended December 31, 2019. The decrease in net loss was mainly a result of the decrease in the impairment of long term assets of $17.0 million recognized in fiscal 2019 for which no comparable expense exists for fiscal 2020.

Financial Condition

As of December 31, 2020, the Company had cash and cash equivalents of $1.0 million compared to $1.1 million as of December 31, 2019. Working capital deficit increased to $6.1 million as of December 31, 2020 from $4.5 million as of December 31, 2019.

As of December 31, 2020, our net accounts receivable was $0.5 million, compared to $0.6 million as of December 31, 2019.

For the year ended December 31, 2020, net cash flow used by operating activities was $0.04 million, as compared to net cash flow of $0.61 million provide by operating activities in 2019.

Receipt of Audit Opinion with Going Concern Explanatory Paragraph

The audit opinion issued by the Company's independent registered public accounting firm relating to the Company's audited consolidated financial statements (the "financial statements") for the year ended December 31, 2020 included a going concern explanatory paragraph. The financial statements were included in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020, which was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 26, 2021. The explanatory paragraph in the opinion of the Company's independent registered public accounting firm notes that as discussed in Note 1 to the financial statements, the Company incurred recurring losses from operations, has net current liabilities and an accumulated deficit that raise substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern. Management's plans in regard to these matters are also described in Note 1 to the financial statements and the financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.

About China Pharma Holdings, Inc.

China Pharma Holdings, Inc. is a specialty pharmaceutical company that develops, manufactures and markets a diversified portfolio of products, focusing on conditions with high incidence and high mortality rates in China, including cardiovascular, CNS, infectious, and digestive diseases. The Company's cost-effective business model is driven by market demand and supported by new GMP-certified product lines covering the major dosage forms. In addition, the Company has a broad and expanding nationwide distribution network across all major cities and provinces in China. The Company's wholly-owned subsidiary, Hainan Helpson Medical & Biotechnology Co., Ltd., is located in Haikou City, Hainan Province. For more information about China Pharma Holdings, Inc., please visit www.chinapharmaholdings.com. The Company routinely posts important information on its website.

Safe Harbor Statement

Certain statements in this press release constitute forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions under The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any statements set forth above that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties may include, but are not limited to: the achievability of financial guidance; success of new product development; unanticipated changes in product demand; increased competition; downturns in the Chinese economy; uncompetitive levels of research and development; and other information detailed from time to time in the Company's filings and future filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking statements made herein speak only as of the date of this press release and the Company undertakes no duty to update any forward-looking statement to conform the statement to actual results or changes in the Company's expectations, except as required by applicable law or regulation.

- FINANCIAL TABLES FOLLOW 

CHINA PHARMA HOLDINGS, INC. CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS















December 31,

December 31,



2020

2019 ASSETS







Current Assets:







Cash and cash equivalents

$ 957,653

$ 1,074,979 Restricted cash

-

109,908 Banker's acceptances

53,736

45,756 Trade accounts receivable, less allowance for doubtful







accounts of $18,150,493 and $17,575,100, respectively

501,892

635,371 Other receivables, less allowance for doubtful







accounts of $27,289 and $22,729, respectively

27,652

46,643 Advances to suppliers

2,238

404 Inventory

3,705,119

3,588,824 Prepaid expenses

73,668

77,120 Total Current Assets

5,321,958

5,579,005









Property, plant and equipment, net

15,564,200

16,313,827 Operating lease right of use asset

49,687

136,779 Intangible assets, net

182,146

205,611 TOTAL ASSETS

$ 21,117,991

$ 22,235,222









LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY







Current Liabilities:







Trade accounts payable

$ 1,234,594

$ 1,366,330 Accrued expenses

177,359

189,880 Other payables

2,748,208

3,560,332 Advances from customers

719,786

505,398 Borrowings from related parties

2,134,428

2,071,986 Operating lease liability, current portion

52,070

91,306 Current portion of construction loan facility

2,298,886

2,150,168 Current portion of lines of credit

2,038,345

- Bankers' acceptance notes payable

-

109,908 Total Current Liabilities

11,403,676

10,045,308 Non-current Liabilities:







Construction loan facility

-

2,150,168 Lines of credit, net of current portion

904,228

- Operating lease liability, net of current portion

-

48,701 Deferred tax liability

805,556

753,444 Total Liabilities

13,113,460

12,997,621 Commitments and Contingencies (Note 9)







Stockholders' Equity:







Preferred stock, $0.001 par value; 5,000,000 shares authorized;







no shares issued or outstanding

-

- Common stock, $0.001 par value; 95,000,000 shares authorized;







45,579,557 shares and 43,579,557 shares issued and outstanding, respectively 45,580

43,580 Additional paid-in capital

24,452,684

23,590,204 Retained deficit

(28,839,179)

(25,972,402) Accumulated other comprehensive income

12,345,446

11,576,219 Total Stockholders' Equity

8,004,531

9,237,601 TOTAL LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY

$ 21,117,991

$ 22,235,222

CHINA PHARMA HOLDINGS, INC. CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS AND COMPREHENSIVE INCOME (LOSS)







For the Years





Ended December 31,





2020

2019 Revenue



$ 10,866,449

$ 10,923,936 Cost of revenue



8,913,543

9,441,752











Gross profit



1,952,906

1,482,184











Operating expenses:









Selling



2,215,394

2,352,610 General and administrative



1,822,655

2,289,520 Research and development



377,964

229,637 Bad debt



115,186

3,153 Impairment loss



-

17,015,117 Total operating expenses



4,531,199

21,890,037











Loss from operations



(2,578,293)

(20,407,853)











Other income (expense):









Interest income



5,675

27,527 Interest expense



(294,159)

(321,718) Net other expense



(288,484)

(294,191)











Loss before income taxes



(2,866,777)

(20,702,044) Income tax benefit



-

- Net loss



(2,866,777)

(20,702,044) Other comprehensive income - foreign currency









translation adjustment



769,227

259,130 Comprehensive income (loss)



$ (2,097,550)

$ (20,442,914) Loss per share:









Basic and diluted



$ (0.07)

$ (0.48) Weighted average shares outstanding



43,623,273

43,579,557

CHINA PHARMA HOLDINGS, INC. CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS





For the Years



Ended December 31,



2020

2019 Cash Flows from Operating Activities:







Net loss

$ (2,866,777)

$ (20,702,044) Depreciation and amortization

2,679,470

2,928,799 Inventory write off

-

253,465 Bad debt expense

115,186

3,153 Impairment loss

-

17,015,117 Changes in assets and liabilities:







Trade accounts and other receivables

(613,678)

(478,918) Advances to suppliers

(1,708)

(361) Inventory

807,592

1,999,978 Trade accounts payable

(214,015)

324,180 Other payables and accrued expenses

(15,217)

391,171 Change in bankers' acceptance notes payable

(111,160)

(1,158,728) Advances from customers

169,736

(12,875) Prepaid expenses

8,311

45,375 Net Cash Provided by Operating Activities

(42,260)

608,312









Cash Flows from Investing Activities:







Purchases of property and equipment

(867,307)

(136,003) Net Cash Used in Investing Activities

(867,307)

(136,003)









Cash Flows from Financing Activities:







Payments of construction term loan

(2,174,669)

(2,174,399) Proceeds from lines of credit

2,856,066

- Payments of line of credit

(72,489)

- Borrowings and interest from related party

206,908

691,459 Repayments to related party

(191,639)

(245,830) Net Cash Used in Financing Activities

624,177

(1,728,770)









Effect of Exchange Rate Changes on Cash

58,156

(19,179) Net Decrease in Cash, Cash Equivalents and Restricted Cash

(227,234)

(1,275,640) Cash and Cash Equivalents at Beginning of Period

1,184,887

2,460,527 Cash, Cash Equivalents and Restricted Cash at End of Period

$ 957,653

$ 1,184,887









Cash and Cash Equivalents

957,653

1,074,979 Restricted cash

-

109,908 Cash, Cash Equivalents and Restricted Cash at End of Period

957,653

1,184,887









Supplemental Cash Flow Information:







Cash paid for income taxes

$ -

$ - Cash paid for interest

$ 237,530

$ 299,164









Supplemental Noncash Investing and Financing Activities:







Accounts receivable collected with banker's acceptances

$ 687,347

$ 869,625 Conversion of officer wages to common stock

864,480

- Inventory purchased with banker's acceptances

682,791

843,867 Right-of-use assets obtained in exchange for operating lease obligations

229,673

229,644

SOURCE China Pharma Holdings, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.chinapharmaholdings.com


Axil Coffee Roasters owner David Makin has opened six CBD cafes over the past four months despite Melbournes centre being firmly in the grip of a pandemic-induced slowdown.

The rapid expansion during a lockdown and strict regulations to work from home wasnt by design. I did leasing deals on most of those city buildings before the pandemic hit, Makin said.

David Makins biggest concern is the slow return of government workers. Credit:Luis Enrique Ascui

But launching half a dozen coffee dens in quick succession  the most recent opening at the base of Cbus new Collins Arch tower  puts the bean aficionado in a good position to judge the citys post-COVID health.

Its been very quiet obviously, but we are starting to see some movement, especially over the last two weeks, Makin said. Were starting to see more people coming into offices.
This is our weekly briefing on how the pandemic is shaping schools and education policy vetted, as always, by AEI Visiting Fellow John Bailey. Click here to see the full archive. Get this weekly roundup, as well as rolling daily updates, delivered straight to your inbox  sign up for The 74 Newsletter.

COVID Experiences Survey  Who Is (and Isnt) Learning in Person Right Now?: From the CDC

Survey of parents with children aged 5-12 years, conducted Oct. 8-Nov. 13

45.7 percent reported that their children received virtual instruction only, 30.9 percent in-person only, and 23.4 percent combined virtual and in-person instruction.

Public school parents more commonly reported that their children received virtual instruction (47.6 percent) compared with parents of children enrolled in private school (20.3 percent).

Virtual instruction was also more commonly reported by Hispanic parents (65.9 percent), non-Hispanic other/multiracial parents (64 percent), and non-Hispanic Black parents (54.9 percent) than by non-Hispanic White parents (31.9 percent).

March 26, 2021  The Big Three

COVID Testing in School: Results of a new study that explored a school districts use of COVID testing over 18 weeks: In this school district with layered mitigation measures, in-school transmission was rare.

The program identified one cluster with in-school staff-to-staff transmission and spurred enhancement of safety strategies. A weekly COVID-19 screening program can provide critical data to inform mitigation efforts, and provides school-specific, current data to inform decisions about in-person learning models.

The New Guidance (and Debate)  3 Feet vs. 6 Feet of Distance: CDC updated its guidance on social distancing in K-12 schools:

Under the new framework, students could be spaced at least 3 feet apart in elementary schools. Middle and high school students would be spaced at least 3 feet apart in communities with lower community transmission.

However, middle and high schools should resort back to the 6 feet standard in communities of higher transmission if cohorting students is not possible. Schools should maintain 6 feet between adults (teachers and staff) and between adults and students.

But: The American Federation of Teachers is not convinced social distancing can safely be cut to 3 feet: We are not convinced that the evidence supports changing physical distancing requirements at this time. Our concern is that the cited studies do not identify the baseline mitigation strategies needed to support 3 feet of physical distancing.

My Analysis of the Situation: Whats the Difference Between 3 and 6 Feet When it Comes to COVID-19 Spread? Not So Much, New Summary of 130 Studies Shows

Back to Classrooms: Education Secretary Miguel Cardona expects 100 percent of schools to be reopened by fall  or sooner.

Story continues

I think if we continue with mitigation strategies that we know work and we utilize the American Rescue Plan funding to put in those safeguards that are needed to provide safe environments for our students, we can really continue to make the progress that were making to get students (back in school) in the spring.

Cardona is also launching the Summer Learning & Enrichment Collaborative with state education chiefs and the National Governors Association and a School Reopening Tour.

City & State News

Connecticut: State creates education task force to help with pandemic-caused learning loss

The group will include more than 80 teachers, school administrators and staff, students, families and advocates.

They will be charged with developing a plan for learning recovery after the pandemic, enrichment programs for spring and summer and ways to reduce opportunity gaps

Maryland: Failure rates surged in Maryland schools during the second quarter, with new data showing percentages doubling or tripling in key classes in most of the states 24 school districts.

California: State health department updates school guidance to have desks 3 feet apart, following the change in CDC guidance

Massachusetts: Parents helping hundreds of teachers get vaccinated

Texas: One Texas town, two school districts, clashing mask policies: How science and politics collided in New Braunfels classrooms

COVID-19 Research

Minimal Transmission  With Mitigation Strategies in Place: CDC Study

New Jersey boarding school with 520 full-time resident students and 255 commuter students (grades 9-12), as well as 405 faculty and staff members.

Mitigation measures included universal masking, testing, upgraded air-handling equipment to improve ventilation, physical distancing of at least 6 feet, contact tracing, and quarantine and isolation protocols to prevent and control transmission of SARS-CoV-2 among students, faculty, and staff members.

Only two identified cases were plausibly caused by secondary transmission on campus. 25 of 27 (93 percent) of cases were likely off-campus contacts.

Teacher Vaccinations: NEA reports that half of its members have received at least one COVID-19 shot.

IES: Monthly School Survey Dashboard shows about half of all white students were attending school in person full-time in January, the survey found. But that was true for just 28 percent of Black students and 33 percent of Hispanic students.

Homeschooling Surge: Census report estimates the number of U.S. households homeschooling doubled at the start of the 2020-2021 school year, compared to the previous year.

Children and COVID: Children who are 10 and younger produce more antibodies in response to coronavirus infection than adolescents and adults according to a new study.

Viewpoints

Some Schools Have Been Open for Months. Heres What They Learned: Via The Wall Street Journal:

Researchers have found that schools implementing measures like Montgomerys  with mask mandates, physical distancing and increased ventilation  have lower COVID-19 transmission than in the wider community.

The district also obtained carbon-dioxide monitors to gauge how well-ventilated a given room is, something aerosol scientists have recommended schools do if possible. People exhale carbon dioxide when they breathe, and if a room isnt well ventilated, it will build up in the air, a signal that the space may require more ventilation. School employees go to classrooms every month to sample the carbon-dioxide levels to make sure they arent above 700 parts per million. If they are, the school might consider opening more windows in the classroom or upgrading the HVAC system.

Surveying the Perspectives of Black K-12 Parents: New poll from EdChoice and Morning Consult  In a nutshell: We found Black parents were less comfortable with in-person schooling due to the pandemic. Read the blog overview and the more detailed brief.

Our Kids Are Not Broken: I am concerned about how this growing narrative of loss will affect our students, emotionally and academically, writes Ron Berger in The Atlantic

COVID Testing in Schools: Schools already testing students and staff for coronavirus say its crucial to in-person class: Its worth it (Erin Richards and Ken Alltucker in USA Today)

And on a lighter note

Fagradalsfjall Volcano: This drone footage is incredible!

ICYMI @The74

Weekend Reads: In case you missed them, our top five stories of the week:

School Safety: Police-Free Schools Movement Faces First Major Test As Students Return to Classrooms After a Traumatic Year Away (Read more)

Accelerating Learning: Were Crowdsourcing the Wisdom of Dozens of Experts on How Schools Can Best Address Unfinished Learning. Some of What They Have to Say (Read more)

Engagement Gap: Teaching Students in Person and Online at the Same Time Is a Huge Challenge. 4 Ways to Bridge the Home-Classroom Gap (Read more)

Learning Recovery: States Target Learning Loss with Summer School and Extended Days, but Some Parents Want Option to Hold Kids Back (Read more)

School Funding: Spared Debt Over Missing Students, NYC Principals Plan How to Use Money to Ease COVID Learning Loss (Read more)

Disclosure: John Bailey is an adviser to the Walton Family Foundation, which provides financial support to The 74.

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Medical workers have rallied policymakers to support efforts aimed at increasing the detection and treatment of Tuberculosis (TB), saying there has been a setback in the fight against the disease following the outbreak of Covid-19.

The call was made during a virtual meeting that brought together medical workers as Rwanda joined the world to mark the World Tuberculosis Day.

World Tuberculosis Day is marked on March 24 every year.

Like the rest of the world, Rwanda observed the day under the theme; "The clock is ticking" in order to convey the sense that the world is running out of time to act on the commitments of global leader to end TB by 2035.

In Rwanda, there was a substantial decrease (7 per cent) in TB case notification during the first six months of 2020, compared to the same period in the previous year, a worrying decrease that could lead to a spike in TB related deaths.

This is according to Dr. Patrick Migambi, Division Manager of Tuberculosis and other respiratory diseases at Rwanda Biomedical Centre (RBC).

In contrast, however, Migambi noted that there was no corresponding decline in treatment despite various travel restrictions, thanks to the support from Community Health Workers.

Migambi noted that among the 5,678 TB cases recorded in 2019, some 930 (16.4 per cent) of them were brought by Community Health Workers.

He added that TB among children under 15 years remains at 6 per cent while cases among the high-risk groups are at 50.4 per cent.

The high-risk groups include people living with HIV/AIDS, prisoners, TB contacts, children under 15 years and people aged 55 years and above.

"Tuberculosis is among the top ten killer diseases globally. In 2019 alone, the world lost 1.2 million people. That is almost 3000 people per day, we should be increasing TB services not decreasing them." he said.

"There has never been a more critical time to ensure continuity of essential services for people affected by TB. If people are unable to receive uninterrupted treatment, we risk losing more lives."

Globally, a new research by the Stop TB Partnership shows that during the pandemic, the number of people detected, diagnosed with and treated for TB dropped by approximately one million, falling back to 2008 levels.

Progress made

On a positive note, the Director General of Clinical Services at the Ministry of Health Dr Corneille Ntihaba said that the fight towards TB end in Rwanda has made progress as well impressive achievements despite battling the pandemic.

"Efforts were made to reach patients with accurate TB diagnosis and effective treatment," he said.

Community Health Workers in their capacity helped to deliver drugs to patients, ensure compliance with the treatment, and provide psychosocial support, he reiterated.

Ntihaba decried that there is still a low treatment success rate (86.4%), attributing the development to delayed diagnosis.

"86.4 per cent is not a bad percentage at all, but we are aiming at 90 per cent. The remaining 14 per cent is quite a big number and this can be achieved if all sectors come together."

In addition, he said that the country had seen a 40 per cent drop in incident cases in the past twenty years.

Plan to treat all patients living with HIV/ AIDS.

According to Ntihaba, the government has rolled out an initiative to implement Tuberculosis Preventive Therapy (TPT) among people living with HIV, as part of the efforts to reduce cases especially in high-risk groups.

HIV/AIDS accounts for most cases among high-risk groups.

"We have so far rolled out the plan to five district hospitals and scale-up will be done this year."

Besides people living with the virus, Dr Ntihaba said that the initiative aims at testing and tracing children under five years and above 12 months as well as household contacts for the patients.

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"As the theme suggests, working around the clock means we are only left with 14 years. This is rather a short time and requires us to double our efforts," he said.

The World Health Global TB Report 2020, indicates that an estimated 10.0 million people fell ill with TB in 2019, a number that has been declining in recent years.

According to the report, there were an estimated 1.2 million TB deaths among HIV-negative people in 2019. And 8.2 per cent of the total cases were people living with HIV.

In his remarks, the Minister of Health, Dr. Daniel Ngamije noted that the government will put more emphasis on treating and tracing patients.

Ngamije also said that there is need to invest in more campaigns in order to ensure capacity building at the same time waiving any form of charges from patients.

This, he said, will be the country's contribution towards the global initiative to end tuberculosis by 2035.
The Legacy of Tanzania's Magufuli - Dictator or Patriot?

Some African leaders have described late President Magufuli as a "true patriot" who dedicated his "tireless efforts" to develop Tanzania and the African continent. But not everyone saw him that way. Opposition leader Tundi Lissu described him as a dictator. Magufuli came into office in 2015, with great promise. He fought corruption and incompetence in the bureaucracy and re-channeled wasted government revenue into essential services such as hospitals. But over the years he became increasingly autocratic, centralising power and repressing criticism and opposition from political parties, media, and civil society. A 2018 law imposed jail terms just for questioning the accuracy of official statistics. Peter Fabricius, for the Institute of Security Studies, says on democracy, he clearly failed. On economics, his record was more ambiguous. Magufuli clamped down on foreign corporations, particularly mining houses, accusing them of stealing Tanzania's wealth. He imposed strict measures, especially on foreign mining companies, to force them to share more of Tanzania's natural resources. This "resource nationalism" was popular at home, and the government arguably used the proceeds to fund more public infrastructure. But to many critics, Magufuli's legacy will be shaped mainly by his last year in office, when he failed to control a runaway Covid-19 pandemic by essentially denying its power, if not its very existence. Magufuli, who died on March 17, 2021, has been buried at his home in Chato in Geita Region.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-26 06:03:21|Editor: huaxia

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Photo taken on Nov. 23, 2020 shows the White House in Washington, D.C., the United States. (Photo by Ting Shen/Xinhua)

President Joe Biden said "there will be responses if they choose to escalate," adding that he is "also prepared for some form of diplomacy, but it has to be conditioned upon the end result of denuclearization."

WASHINGTON, March 25 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Joe Biden Thursday warned the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) not to escalate the situation while saying he is prepared to conduct diplomacy with Pyongyang.

In his first formal press conference since taking office, Biden told reporters that DPRK missile tests on Wednesday violated UN Security Council Resolution 1718.

"We are consulting with our allies and partners, and there will be responses if they choose to escalate, we will respond accordingly," he said.

"But I'm also prepared for some form of diplomacy, but it has to be conditioned upon the end result of denuclearization," he added.

When asked if the DPRK ranked the top foreign policy issue for his administration, Biden replied, "yes."

Senior U.S. officials said Wednesday that the DPRK fired two short-range ballistic missiles off its east coast. The launch followed Pyongyang's test of two short-range weapons on Sunday, which the Biden administration downplayed as normal military activity.

These tests came after South Korea and the United States conducted their annual springtime military exercises from March 8 to 18.

U.S. officials said Tuesday that the Biden administration is in the final stages of its policy review regarding the DPRK. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan will discuss the issue with his counterparts in Japan and South Korea next week.

The White House said earlier this month that the Biden administration recently reached out to Pyongyang but had not yet received any response.

A top diplomat of the DPRK vowed that Pyongyang would ignore U.S. outreach until Washington "rolls back its hostile policy," the official Korean Central News Agency reported last Thursday.

"We have already declared our stand that no DPRK-U.S. contact and dialogue of any kind can be possible unless the U.S. rolls back its hostile policy towards the DPRK. Therefore, we will disregard such an attempt of the U.S. in the future, too," DPRK First Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui said. 
Serious cracks have emerged in the opposition Zapu following the nomination of the late Vice President Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo's son, Sibangilizwe to contest in Zapu's presidential election set for next month.

Sibangilizwe's name was reportedly forwarded by the party's Kezi branch in Matabeleland South province where the late national hero hails from.

Zapu will be hold its elective congress next month following the death of the party's president Dumiso Dabengwa two years ago.

According to sources in Zapu, the nomination of Sibangilizwe has divided the opposition with some questioning his membership status.

The sources said the party's constitution gives the right to vote and be voted for only to bona-fide members who are in good standing, a qualification they insist Sibangilizwe does not meet.

Some attributed the announcement of his candidature to mischief by "elements within the enemy camp" so as to destabilise the party.

Other sources claimed Nkomo was part of a wider plan by anti-Zapu forces to plant their deployees at the impending congress.

When reached for comment, the party's spokesperson Iphithule Maphosa confirmed to NewZimbabwe.com there were mixed reactions to the announcement of Nkomo's candidature.

He, however, dismissed the candidature as only wishes of individuals since the announcement was done outside party protocols and procedures.

"The primary nomination of a presidential candidate comes from the province at the occasion of the provincial conference. It is said a Kezi branch nominated him but for all we know Matabeleland South, the province under which Kezi falls is yet to hold its conference," said Maphosa.

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"So there is no nomination from Matabeleland South yet until their processes fall through and a proper nomination process is carried out."

Maphosa added it was wrong for Nkomo to attempt to ride on his father's name without making his own politically identity.

"There are some people who are now too old to rely on their late parents' names and exploits for relevance. A man ought to build his own name rather than turning a party that his father once led into some family fiefdom.

"This is the reason why the country is in a mess, all things in government were turned into family affairs by Zanu PF. From (the late former President Robert) Mugabe and his Zezuru relatives to (President Emmerson) Mnangagwa with his Karanga relatives. We cannot as Zapu condone such madness.

"Mr Nkomo is most welcome in the party, but he must first clear his membership issue that is being contested. If not yet a member, he should join just like any other would be member. Follow all protocols while rising through the ranks," said Maphosa.

However, Nkomo could not be reached for comment.
Criminal case over illegal greenstone sale reaches court

 flickr.com/ James St. John

15:45 26/03/2021

MOSCOW, March 26 (RAPSI)  A court in Russias Buryat Republic will consider a criminal case over illegal sale of semi-precious nephritic stone, the press service of the Prosecutor Generals Office has told RAPSI.

According to investigators, between May 2012 and November 2019, a man quarried jade green unfired bricks of mass about 1.3 tonnes to the value of 5.7 million rubles (over $75,000) without approval documents. Allegedly, he kept the metal in his car shed and then attempted to sell it to a foreigner.

His actions were averted during the stone demonstration to a buyer in October 2020, the statement reads.




NOT FORGOTTEN: Ameera Karim, 16, of El Socorro, San Juan, whose burnt body was discovered 11 days after she went missing on December 16, 2011, is one of the women whose eyes are featured, in sketch form, in the music video Precious Angela collaboration by Keelan Azaryah Callender, Machel Montano and Ravi B.
GOTTINGEN, Germany, March 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- At today's virtual Annual General Shareholders' Meeting, shareholders granted discharge to the Executive Board and the Supervisory Board and approved the boards' proposals by a large majority. They passed the resolution to pay dividends of 0.71 euros per preference share and 0.70 euros per ordinary share. The total amount disbursed will be 48.2 million euros. Prior-year dividends were 0.36 euros per preference share and 0.35 euros per ordinary share.

This press release contains forward-looking statements about the future development of the Sartorius Group. Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. Sartorius assumes no liability for updating such statements in light of new information or future events. This is a translation of the original German-language earnings release. Sartorius shall not assume any liability for the correctness of this translation. The original German earnings release is the legally binding version.

Presentation and further information on the 2021 Annual General Shareholders' Meeting

https://www.sartorius.com/shareholders-meeting

Current image files

https://www.sartorius.com/en/company/newsroom/downloads-publications

Financial calendar

April 21, 2021 Publication of first-quarter figures (January to March 2021) July 21, 2021 Publication of the first-half figures (January to June 2021) October 20, 2021 Publication of nine-month figures (January to September 2021)

A profile of Sartorius

The Sartorius Group is a leading international partner of life science research and the biopharmaceutical industry. With innovative laboratory instruments and consumables, the Group's Lab Products & Services Division concentrates on serving the needs of laboratories performing research and quality control at pharma and biopharma companies and those of academic research institutes. The Bioprocess Solutions Division with its broad product portfolio focusing on single-use solutions helps customers to manufacture biotech medications and vaccines safely and efficiently. The Group has been annually growing by double digits on average and has been regularly expanding its portfolio by acquisitions complementary technologies. In fiscal 2020, the company earned sales revenue of some 2.34 billion euros. At the end of 2020, nearly 11,000 people were employed at the Group's approximately 60 manufacturing and sales sites, serving customers around the globe.

Contact

Petra Kirchhoff

Head of Corporate Communications and Investor Relations

+49 (0)551.308.1686

[email protected]

https://www.sartorius.com/en

Follow Sartorius on Twitter @Sartorius_Group and on LinkedIn.

SOURCE Sartorius AG

Related Links

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The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board ignored a 2016 state law that allows wine and spirits not sold in state-run stores to be shipped directly to other retailers, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled.

The court on Thursday upheld a lower court ruling that the PLCB must allow distributors to send special wine and liquor orders directly to restaurants and retailers, instead of sending them to state stores for pickup where businesses had to pay a handling fee.

The PLCB was sued by MFW Wine Co., A6 Wine Co. and the Bloomsday Cafe.

The Supreme Court ruling shows the PLCB is not above the law and they cannot self-govern, said Jason Malumed, an operating partner with MFW Wine, told The Philadelphia Inquirer after Thursdays ruling.

The PLCB declined to comment until the board could evaluate the decision and its impacts to the boards operation, a spokesman said.

The ruling comes after the COVID-19 virus and Pennsylvanias response early in the pandemic hit those smaller retailers shipping wine and spirits hard.

Gov. Tom Wolf closed the state-run Fine Wine & Good Spirits shops on March 17, 2020, as part of the statewide shutdown to stem COVID-19. At the same time, the state Liquor Control Board shut down its special order system.

The special order program was re-started, first in a limited capacity, last April, and stores reopened in phases beginning last May, including with curbside pickup for customers.

Owners of Pennsylvania businesses that sell wine and liquor previously testified they were left in the dark for weeks during the system closure, but supermarkets and grocery stores selling wine and beer still had access to stock during the shutdown.

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During a recent trip to a local cafe, I realized with some dismay that the digital ordering system it had starting using during the pandemic was no more.

Its something many cafes and restaurants took up to minimize coronavirus risks. You sit down and scan a QR code at your table to look at the menu, then order and pay on your phone. Someone brings your order out to you. Its as contactless as you can get while dining out.

This particular cafe is one I head to when Im struggling to finish an article (motivation comes from promising myself I can buy a muffin if I hit a certain word count). This usually means Im sleep deprived and/or very stressed, so having baked goods magically appear on my table without needing to speak to anyone is ideal.

A waitress confirmed to me that the cafe had returned to face-to-face service as soon as it was safe to do so. Especially after the long months of isolation Melburnians went through with our harsh three-month lockdown, even something as simple as the interaction you have while ordering makes people feel a bit better, she said.
Declares Army's Policing Role is Constitutional

The Supreme Court on 18th March 2021held the army's policing role as outlined in the Gambia Armed Forces Regulations is legitimate and democratic contrary to Dr Ousman Gajigo's position that the aforesaid Rules are inconsistent with Gambia's democratic values.

Dr Gajigo brought the case before the Supreme Court seeking an order from the court to declare the Gambia National Army (The Gambia National Guard Unit) Police Duties Regulations as unconstitutional supposedly for it is in contravention of section 187 (1) (a) and (b).

The court held that Gajigo did not show the inconsistency or conflict of the Regulations with "the letter and spirit of sections 187 and 188 of the Constitution" to warrant the said order or a declaration to that effect.

The case emanated from an alleged incident involving Dr Gajigo, who is the Plaintiff in this case, and a soldier on duty on the 1st May 2019 in Kalaji village, West Coast Region. Gajigo said on this day, he was driving his vehicle when he approached the Kalaji military checkpoint. He explained there was a mounting queue of several vehicles caused by the barriers erected by the military checkpoint. He said there was a soldier standing at the checkpoint in the middle of the road, adding he followed the vehicle directly in front of him and after the said vehicle was allowed to proceed, the soldier manning the checkpoint insisted that he (Gajigo) reverses his vehicle and go behind the barrier until he authorizes him to do so. He said he refused because he saw no justification or proper legal cause for the soldier to detain him.

Refusing to pull over to the side of the road, Gajigo said he started to gently proceed to depart to continue his journey as he did not see the point of further engaging the soldier. As he drove off, Gajigo said the soldier in the rear - view mirror drew his military rifle, proceeded to cocking it and aimed at his. He added at point, the threat or risk of the soldier firing at his vehicle was real and imminent. The other soldiers sitting on the side of the road at a distance shouted and that was when the soldier lowered his gun, he said.

Gajigo was with the belief that the actions of the soldier threatened him and amounted to "a serious violation of his constitutional rights expressed in Chapter IV of the Constitution." He said he was not seeking for the enforcement of his right, but an interpretation of the Constitution regarding the army police role.

Section 3 of The Gambia National Army (The Gambia National Guard Unit) Duties Regulations provides: "In addition to their paramilitary responsibilities within The Gambia National Army, the National Guard shall, together with the

Police, be employed in the preservation of law and order, protection of property, prevention and detection of crimes, apprehension of offenders and the enforcement of all laws and regulations with which the Police are charged."

Gajigo wanted the court to make a declaration that the said Regulations specifically in relation to regulation 3 is in direct contravention of section 187 (1) (a) (b) and (3) of the Constitution and therefore unconstitutional. Secondly, he wanted the court to make a declaration that the said Regulations are "in direct conflict with fundamental rights enshrined in Chapter IV of the Constitution, specifically sections 17, 18, 19 and 21 of the Constitution because of the inherent values attached to fundamental rights and freedoms pursuant to section 17 of the Constitution, this specific section inclusive of the above Regulations ought to be repealed. Thirdly, Gajigo wanted a declaration from the court that the said Regulations are at odds and inconsistent with the peace, stability and democratic values and ideals of The Gambia's new democratic status and it is therefore, illegitimate and undemocratic, taking into account recent historical context and current peaceful state of affairs. Finally, he wanted for an Order directing the Defendant to advise the Government of The Gambia to cease the deployment of members of The Gambia armed forces at check points and exercising police duties and functions during peace times, on grounds that it is inconsistent and in direct conflict with the letter and spirit of sections 187 and 188 of the Constitution.

The Plaintiff's main contention was that section 187 (1) (a) and (b) of the Constitution limits the Commander in-Chief's power under section 188(2) of the Constitution to "give a Force Commander directions with respect to the operational use of the Commander's force in The Gambia for the purpose of maintaining and securing public safety and public order.

The plaintiff, therefore, contended that whatever directions the Commander in-Chief may issue as to the operations of a force in The Gambia are restricted to and confined within the parameters of the principal functions of the Armed Forces stated under section 187 (1) (a) and (b).

The defendant (the Attorney General), on the other hand, argues that sections 188(2) of the Constitution "in effect provides for supplementary functions of the Armed Forces It empowers the President to give directions to any force commander when it comes to operational issues for the purpose of maintaining and securing public safety and public order. The use of the terms 'public safety and public order' presupposes the possibility of regular army personnel operating within the civilian sphere and beyond the traditional sphere of armed combat.

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Section 12 of The Gambia Armed Forces Act provides that the power to order any of the said Forces to engage in operations for the defence of The Gambia, for the preservation of public order, for the relief in case of emergency, or for any other purpose appearing to the Commander in-Chief to be expedient.

"Consequently, The Gambia National Army (The Gambia National Guard Unit) Police Duties Regulations, made under section 147 of The Gambia Armed Forces Act, are in consonance with the powers of the Commander in-Chief both under the Constitution and the Act to direct the operational use of the armed forces for any purpose including a purpose appearing to be expedient to the Commander in-Chief," Justice Raymond Sock held.

He added: "Significantly, the Constitution does provide safeguards in the exercise of the functions of the armed forces, requiring under sub section (3) of section 187 that --

'It shall be the duty of the members of The Gambia Armed Forces to respect the fundamental rights and freedoms of the persons.'

Additionally, the Commander -- in -- Chief is under subsection (3) of section 188 required to "whenever practicable, consult the National Security Council" in the exercise of his or her powers."

Foroyaa will publish the full judgment of the Supreme Court in this case, verbatim.
President Muhammadu Buhari has disclosed that a new basic chemicals platform worth $1.3 billion, which will produce ammonia and fertilizers in Nigeria, will be ready for commissioning in the coming months.

The president, according to a release on Thursday by his Media Adviser, Femi Adesina, made this known at the State House, while playing host to a delegation from Fertilizer Producers and Suppliers Association of Nigeria (FEPSAN), saying the new plant, the location which he didn't disclose, will be built in partnership with the Kingdom of Morocco.

He said: "His Majesty, the King of Morocco and I have agreed to extend the current Phosphate supply agreement between the Kingdom of Morocco and Nigeria. We both believe that to consolidate and expand on the successes recorded thus far, we must secure raw material supplies to our blenders.

"Furthermore, to improve the balance of trade between Nigeria and Morocco, the two countries have signed an agreement to develop a $1.3 billion Basic Chemicals Platform in Nigeria that will produce Ammonia, Phosphoric Acid, Sulphuric Acid and various Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium (NPK) and Diammonium Phosphate (DAP) fertilisers using Nigeria's gas reserves."

The president added that the new plant, when completed, would complement the existing Dangote and Indorama Chemicals facilities which produce urea, ammonia and other industrial raw materials.

"When we combine these projects with the existing 44 blending plants, Nigeria will indeed become a regional and global fertiliser power house," he said.

Commenting on the activities of the FEPSAN, President Buhari expressed delight on the progress they have made over the past five years, saying despite the country going through recessions during the period, investments in the fertiliser and agricultural inputs sector continued to grow.

"Though many investors chose to take their monies out of Nigeria, you continued to invest. Today, we are seeing the fruits of your smart, long term and patriotic decisions. This is why all Nigerians should be proud of the personal commitments and sacrifices you all made in getting us to where we are today.

"Another commendable trait worth mentioning is that all your investments have been balanced between urban and rural Nigeria. These are the types of investments needed to address the unemployment and security challenges our nation is facing today," the president said.

According to him, the federal government would continue to ensure a conducive business environment for these investments to flourish.

On the issue of security, President Buhari expressed concern that the lack of employment prospects and opportunities in most rural communities had remained a major contributor to insecurity and noted that for decades, previous government policies have focused on urban development at the expense of rural inclusion.

He said: "In the last four years, we have worked hard to bridge some of these economic imbalances through our various agricultural and financial policies to attract employment opportunities to rural areas. As we continue to expand our security operations to bring an end to these challenges, it is important to note that peace and prosperity can only be sustained if we collectively and actively support investments that take opportunities to our rural citizens.

"I therefore urge our governors, bankers, investors and entrepreneurs to look beyond our cities when it comes to investments. As we have seen from Nigeria's 5-year fertiliser revolution, if investors are willing to endure the short term 'start-up' pains, they will surely benefit from long term sustainable and substantial gains."

The president commended Governor Badaru Abubakar of Jigawa State, Mr Thomas Etuh and his FEPSAN team, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority, security and intelligence agencies and all federal and state government agencies for their collaboration in making the project possible.

"I will also use this opportunity, on behalf of Nigerians, to thank my brother and friend, His Majesty, the King of Morocco for being with us during this difficult but exciting journey. This mutually beneficial partnership between our two countries is a true example of how intra-Africa trade and partnership should work," he further said.

Earlier in his remarks, FEPSAN President, Mr Thomas Etuh, recounted that in their first meeting with the president five years ago, he gave the association a mission to reduce Nigeria's reliance on import, enhance fertiliser availability and affordability and create jobs over a four-year period.

"Today, 4 years later Mr President, I am proud to inform Your Excellency, and indeed all Nigerians, that mission is accomplished," he said.

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Etuh stated that from three blending plants operating at 40 per cent capacity in 2016, today Nigeria has 44 blending plants most of which are operating at full capacity.

"From focusing on one fertiliser blend (NPK20:10:10) in 2017, today, we have countless numbers of crop specific blends coming up across the country. From being reliant on imports, today over 60 per cent of raw materials used in fertiliser production are locally sourced. From having fertiliser scarcity which led to rationing, today any farmer can buy as many bags as he or she wants. As a matter of fact, some farmer associations even give customised orders for their specific crops. On behalf of the Nigerian farmers we wish to thank Mr President for empowering them," he said.

The FEPSAN leader added that from being an unbankable sector that was on the verge of bankruptcy, the members of the association in the last three months alone have been able to raise bank guarantees and funding of close to N100 billion.

"Mr President, just four years ago, FEPSAN used to beg for money. Today Sir, the banks are begging us to take their money," he said.
Credit Suisse will give more junior members of its capital markets and deal businesses a $20,000 lifestyle allowance as it tries to maintain morale among staff feeling the strain from heavy workloads and remote working.

Stress among junior bankers has come into focus after a survey by 13 Goldman Sachs first year analysts highlighting their 95-hour working week went viral. Goldman has responded by saying it will hire more junior bankers and shift staff from other teams to help the busiest ones.

Now Credit Suisse, which is Switzerlands second-largest bank, is to award the extra cash to staff at the vice president level or lower, on top of pay rises being given to everyone with a director title or below.

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Credit Suisses Capital Markets & Advisory management recognises and wants to reward the efforts of our people who have not only managed to support our clients through unprecedented deal volume, but also increased our share of the market, the bank said in a statement.

Credit Suisse also plans to allow its graduate intake for 2021 to join the bank earlier this year if they wish given the scarcer opportunities to travel ahead of starting work.

Its 2020 intake have been told that events they missed out on because of the pandemic, such as class-wide social and philanthropic events will be hosted this year.

Reuters
If I could answer the question how the issue of traffic jams at Upper Lars checkpoint can be solved, that would be wonderful. This is what Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to Armenia Sergey Kopirkin told reporters today.

Kopirkin said this issue cant be solved easily since traffic jams are frequent, but added that, in his opinion, one of the ways to solve the issue is the work that is being done to unblock communications in the region within the scope of the trilateral task force.

The only land route from Armenia to Russia passes through the Upper Lars checkpoint located on the Stepantsminda-Lars highway. Due to snow and landslides, the highway is regularly closed, causing traffic jams.

By saying unblocking of communications in the region, Kopirkin refers to the links between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Hartford, New Haven and Bridgeport have all had Democratic mayors for decades, and during this time, each has had difficulty overcoming the litany of urban problems associated with other struggling U.S. cities. Understanding this historical perspective gives context to the ill-advised stance state Democrats have taken on recent zoning legislation.

Cities such as Pittsburgh, Cleveland and Detroit have also experienced structural changes in their economies and population shifts that had negative impacts on their abilities to deliver quality services to their residents. These once-vibrant industrial centers faced a reckoning, endured hard times and rose from the ashes. Why havent Hartford, New Haven and Bridgeport been able to experience a similar renewal?

Instead of finding and advocating for creative solutions to improve their cities, Democratic leaders have looked for scapegoats. By blaming well-run suburban towns and communities for their inability to address their urban problems, this absolves them of their inability to improve the lives and future prospects of their citizens.

This political sleight of hand is intended to divert attention from their problems as Democratic-run large cities to an imagined one  well-run, generally Republican communities. Their message is that Connecticut towns zoning policies are exclusionary and fundamentally racist and thus are the root cause of their cities problems.

Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin and New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker have stated that Connecticut is a segregated state and its towns and cities practice racist zoning policies. The Democrats are proposing a solution to resolving this by taking away local zoning authority and allowing developers to build with greater density, thereby creating greater housing equity. Of course, this would also result in many of our towns losing much of the unique character that makes them one of the most important reasons people move to and stay in Connecticut. So why attempt to change what has obviously worked well for the state?

At what point do we shine a spotlight on failed leadership and make a choice to move in a different direction? This is not necessarily a political statement as much as it is common sense. When one political party has held the seat of power decade after decade, and problems have been left to metastasize instead of getting cured, when does it become incumbent on political leaders to change course?

Struggling Connecticut cities need a radical plan that combines public, private and philanthropic efforts to help effect sustainable change. They need innovative thinking, community input and imagination to get this done. How about eliminating business taxes or land taxes on an interim basis to attract alternative housing development and encourage small and large businesses to invest in these communities? Innovative solutions should be targeted at those cities most in need, with a goal of allowing them to experience the same revitalization others have.

Greenwich will continue the hard work of improving housing affordability. Its important to remember that its not just the quantity of housing, but also the quality and the character a community that matters to residents. Greenwich cares deeply about each and every resident. Greenwich can and will do more.

So when you hear people like Elicker accuse Greenwich of practicing racist policies, or Bronin say Connecticut is a segregated state, ask them what they and their party have done to help the plight of lower-income families in their own cities. The answer, sadly, is not much. They should focus on addressing their own failed policies instead of blaming their plight on others.

Dan Quigley is chairman of the Republican Town Committee in Greenwich.
Hundreds of farmers on Friday blocked the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh Ghazipur border here as part of their 12-hour Bharat Bandh on the completion of four months of protest over the three contentious farm laws.

The farmers blocked the National Highway 24 that connects Delhi with Ghaziabad. The farmers sat on the highway demanding repeal of the three farm laws.

Delhi Traffic Police in a tweet said: "Traffic movement is closed on Ghazipur Border NH-24 (Both carriageway), Kindly avoid the stretch."

On Thursday, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) said that all shops, malls, markets and commercial establishments will remain shut on Friday in view of its 'Bharat Bandh' call on completion of four months of farmers' protest at Delhi's borders against the Centre's three new farm laws.

According to the SKM, the 12-hour bandh will be observed between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. However, ambulances and other essential services will be allowed.

The Bharat Bandh called by SKM is being supported by representatives of various farmer organisations, trade unions, student groups, lawyer associations, political parties and state governments.

Thousands of farmers, mostly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at the Delhi's borders -- Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur -- for more than four months, demanding the repeal of farm laws and ensuring MSP of their produce.

They have been protesting against the three laws since November 26 last year.
The West Africa Aids Foundation (WAAF) has appealed to the government to increase immunisation funding in order to sustain gains made in the coverage of the 13 vaccine preventable diseases (VPDs) since 1972.



The Bono and Ahafo Regional Coordinator of the non-governmental organisation, Mr Edward Ayabilah, said there was evidence that the country could not sufficiently cater for its own immunisation cost by 2024 if the rate of financial commitment to immunisation remained the same.



He explained that the proportion of the country's health budget to the national budget had reduced from 8.3 per cent in 2019 to 6.7 per cent in 2020.



The 13 VPDs are tuberculosis, poliomyelitis, pertussis (whooping cough), tetanus, diphtheria, haemophilus influenza type "B", hepatitis "B" and pneumococcal disease.



Others are measles, rotavirus diarrhoea, rubella, yellow fever, and neisseria meningitis, as well as the ongoing COVID-19 and malaria vaccines which are on pilot.



Domestic financing



Mr Ayabilah made the call at Kenyasi in the Asutifi North District of the Ahafo Region during a stakeholders' engagement on Immunisation Advocacy Initiative (IAI) aimed at increasing domestic financing for immunisation.



The IAI project, which is sponsored by the African Population and Health Research Centre (APHRC), is also aimed at engaging stakeholders, citizens and policy makers to discuss issues of health and immunisation budget allocations, among others.



Mr Ayabilah said the cost of immunisation in Ghana was rising without a corresponding increment in government funding, explaining that Ghana's enviable vaccination coverage had been riding mainly on the back of donors, and was, therefore, not sustainable.



He said the country's projected expenditure for immunisation was predicted to grow from $5.3 million in 2020 to $8.9 million in 2022 before reaching $13 million in 2024.



Mr Ayabilah called on the Ministry of Finance to commit more funds towards immunisation in order to make substantial savings on expenditure towards treating VPDs.



"The ministry should be consistent in annual budgetary allocation for routine immunisation activities to ensure that no child is left behind," he said.



Gavi's exit



Mr Ayambila explained that the expected exit in 2026 of Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI), which was the largest external financier of immunisation, had widened the funding gap that required critical attention from the government if the country was to protect gains made in reducing mortality and morbidity due to vaccine preventable conditions over the years.



He said the country was expected to fully transition from GAVI financial support in 2026, and explained that the government would be responsible for an increasing annual share of vaccine and vaccine delivery cost.



Mr Ayabilah expressed the need for the government to invest heavily in immunisation programmes and put to measures in place to become fully self-financing for vaccines before the exit of Gavi.



He said the country had made significant strides in eliminating VPDs, and had consistently been among the first sub-Saharan African countries to introduce new vaccines into its routine immunisation programmes.



Mr Ayabilah explained that since 2003, there had been no death caused by measles, and in 2012 Ghana was certified as having attained elimination status for maternal and neonatal tetanus, meeting the Global Vaccine Action Plan (GVAP) 2020 goal of eliminating the disease seven years ahead of target.



Participants



During the open forum, participants called on the government to use part of the National Health Insurance Fund to support immunisation to treat VPDs.



They also expressed the need for the government to break the cycle of fluctuating health budgetary allocations in single digit band, and to progressively move the Ministry of Healths share of the country's total expenditure to a minimum of 15 per cent.



The Deputy Ahafo Regional Director of Public Health, Dr Felicia Amoo-Sakyi, said the absence of cold rooms in the region was a hindrance to smooth immunisation because vaccines and other supplements needed to be transported from Sunyani.



"Once there is access to cold room, the region can forecast its vaccine needs; it makes management easier," Dr Amoo-Sakyi stated.





Source: graphiconline.com









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High Court judge Justice Tawanda Chitapi has dismisses the bail appeal for Harare West legislator Joana Mamombe and MDC Alliance youth leader Cecelia Chimbiri saying it is not in the interest of justice to grant their appeal.

Justice Chitapi said he agrees with Harare Magistrate Vongai Muchuchutu-Guwuriro that there are compelling reasons to deny the duo bail.

Mamombe and Chimbiri were arrested and charged with contravening national Covid-19 regulations after they allegedly addressed a press conference outsid the Harare Magistrates Court denouncing the arrest of fellow activist, Makomborero Haruzivishe.

But the two are denying the allegations arguing they only addressed journalists, who are considered essential service workers in terms of the lockdown regulations.

More to follow...
Of all the bad features in the Georgia voter suppression law, the worst and the most frightening is the provision that allows the state legislature simply to overturn the results of an election. If this law had been on the books a few weeks ago, the Georgia legislature could have voted to nullify the election victory of the two Democratic senators and have declared the two Republicans the winners. I can imagine that Indiana Republican legislators are looking at this law and saying hmmm, looks pretty good. If Georgia can get by with it, why not Indiana?
Colombian Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Rodolfo Enrique Zea, speaks during an interview with The Korea Times at the company headquarters in downtown Seoul, Friday. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul



By Jung Da-min



Although people usually associate Colombia with its world-famous coffee production, the South American country is exporting many other agricultural products to other countries, including bananas, fresh flowers and avocados, the country's agricultural minister said.



"Colombian avocado is now being exported to Europe and the United States. I also hope that South Korea would become one of the major importers of Colombian avocados. I hope that South Korean people would eat Colombian avocados in their lunch and dinner," Minister Rodolfo Enrique Zea said during an interview with The Korea Times in Seoul, March 19. Zea was on his first visit to South Korea since taking office as Colombia's agricultural minister to promote bilateral exchanges between the countries in the agribusiness fields.



According to the Colombian Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, South Korea is the second-largest destination for Colombia's agribusiness exports to Asia, with Japan being the first and China the third. In 2020, Colombia exported a total of about $148.2 million in agricultural products.



While coffee and its byproducts still accounted for the largest share of 80 percent out of Colombian exports to South Korea in 2020, in terms of value, shares of banana and fresh flowers were both on the rise, accounting for 10 percent and 4 percent in the total exports in 2020.



The Colombian agricultural ministry attributed the increase in exports of bananas and fresh flowers to the free trade agreement between South Korea and Colombia with took effect in July 2016, with which Colombian bananas and fresh flowers could enter the South Korean market with a zero percent tariff starting January 2020.



"It has been five years since Colombia and South Korea signed the free trade agreement and the FTA has led significant increases in Colombian exports of agribusiness products to South Korea," Zea said. "I met Minister Koo Yun-cheol of the Office of Government Policy Coordination during my visit here and Koo told me that all the South Korean authorities have completed all quarantine procedures for import of Colombian Hass avocado. I am excited that the possibility of Colombian export of Hass avocados opened up."



While the Colombian government seeks to expand its exports to South Korea in the already-strong agribusiness sector, the South American country is also seeking to bolster cultural exchanges with South Korea.





Colombian Vice Minister of Creativity and Orange Economy Adriana Padilla Leal speaks during an interview with The Korea Times at the newspaper's headquarters in downtown Seoul, Friday. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul
Shops in a Westfield have been added to the Covid hotspot list after an infected tradie roamed Brisbane for a week before testing positive to the super-spreader UK strain.

The 26-year-old landscaper from Stafford in north Brisbane tested positive to Covid on Thursday night.

Queensland Health on Friday evening confirmed the man's infection is linked to the state's previous cluster announced on March 12.

He contracted the B117 variant, better known as the UK strain, and health authorities believe the virus was likely passed on by an unidentified intermediary.

Shinobi Ramen Noodle shop at Westfield shopping centre, Carindale, Brisbane, is one of the new covid hotspots from 12 noon to 2.16pm on March 20

Before his positive test the man visited venues across Brisbane.

Queensland Health updated its advice to urgently call for anyone who was in any part of Westfield Carindale shopping centre from 12 noon to 2.16pm on Saturday, March 20, to immediately isolate and get tested.

Also anyone who went to Mamma's Italian Restaurant, Redcliffe, on March 21 from 12.40pm to 3.10pm should immediately quarantine for 14 days and get tested.

Hotspots added to the alert list on Friday evening include Shinobi Ramen Noodle Shop and Kmart at Westfield Shopping Centre Carindale on Saturday March 20 from 12 noon to 2.16pm

While at Westfield Carindale the man also visited Fresh Sensations, Harris Scarfe and Robins Kitchen and Go Vita.

KFC's drive-thru at Everton Park has also been added to the list of low-risk venues for anybody there on Monday March 22 for the five minutes from 7.55pm to 8pm.

The Queensland outbreak has prompted Western Australia to hand down a snap quarantine rules for potentially exposed travellers to isolate and get tested.

The KFC drive-thru at Everton Park, Brisbane has been put on the hotspot list for only 5 minutes from 7.55pm to 8pm on March 22

The restrictions apply to anyone in Queensland since March 20 who was at the designated hotspots during the alert times.

WA Health Minister Roger Cook said anyone entering WA from Friday who had been at the hotspots would need to quarantine.

The infected man - who has no connection to Queensland's hotel quarantine program and has not been overseas - has been taken to Royal Brisbane Hospital for treatment.

Queensland Health said the latest locally acquired Covid case is linked to the previous cluster announced on March 12.

Kmart in Carindale Westfield, Brisbane, has been added to the list of hotspots as WA imposes new restrictions of immediate quarantine for any traveller exposed during the alert times

On Friday afternoon, Queensland's chief health officer Jeannette Young said it was likely there was an unidentified intermediary who had passed the virus on to the man.

'We will know more in the next 24 hours, but in the meantime, those identified as visiting the locations in today's Public Health Alert should immediately get tested and isolate until you receive your results,' she said.

Dr Young said the Public Health Unit will reach out to close contacts, who will be required to quarantine.

'The detail from the genomic testing is getting faster and better  we know that the gentleman who tested positive on late Thursday night was highly contagious,' she said.

'We therefore cannot afford to be complacent  if you have any Covid symptoms at all, please come forward and get tested.'

The infection prompted Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk to close aged care facilities, hospitals and prisons to visitors in the Brisbane City and Moreton Bay council areas from 12pm on Friday.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has closed aged care centres, hospitals and prisons to visitors in Brisbane following a case of coronavirus outside hotel quarantine (pictured, testing in February)

Crowds on an escalator at Carindale Shopping Centre in Brisbane - one of the venues in the city listed as potential exposure sites to Covid-19

Queensland venues on alert Anyone who has been to the following venues must get tested and self-isolate for 14 days: Saturday 20 March Shinobi Ramen Noodle shop, Westfield Carindale Shopping Centre Carindale 12pm-2.16pm Saturday 20 March Black Hops Brewery East Brisbane 12pm-2pm Sunday 21 March Mammas Italian Restaurant 69 Redcliffe Parade Redcliffe 12.30pm-3.10pm Saturday 20 March Green Beacon brewing Co. Teneriffe 2pm-3.12pm Saturday 20 March Eatons Hill Hotel Eatons Hill 3.44pm-5.30pm Monday 22 March PCYC Pine Rivers Bray Park 7.16am-8.10am Monday 22 March KCF Training (gym) New Birtinya 9.15am 11.30am Monday 22 March Plus Fitness New Minyama 2.30pm 3.30pm Tuesday 23 March Plus Fitness New Minyama 7.30am 8.30am Tuesday 23 March Hamilton Hotel - Sports bar New Hamilton 2.20pm 4.45pm Tuesday 23 March Hamilton Hotel - Pokies room New Hamilton 4.45pm 5.23pm Friday March 26 FitStop Gym, 6/338 Lytton Rd, Morningside 6.50am-8am Friday 26 March Spinnaker Park Cafe 222 Alf ORourke Drive New Callemondah 10.22am-11.23am Friday 26 March Auckland House 60 Flinders Parade New Gladstone Central 7.23pm-9.30pm Saturday 27 March Auckland House 60 Flinders Parade New Gladstone Central 7.33am-8.20am Saturday 27 March Savour Cafe, Merthyr Village Shopping Centre New Farm 10.30am 12.10pm Monday 29 March Premium Pilates & Fitness Coorparoo 9.25am 10.30am Get tested immediately and quarantine until you get a negative result: Tuesday 16 March Body Plus Physio New Caboolture 08.30am 08.50am Tuesday 16 March Nextra Toowong Village New Toowong 9:30am 10:00am Tuesday 16 March Silky Oakes New Strathpine 12pm 12.05pm Tuesday 16 March Price Line Pharmacy New Albany Creek 12.30pm 12.40pm Tuesday 16 March Grilld New Eatons Hill 1pm 1.30pm Tuesday 16 March Meat at Billys New Ashgrove 2:30pm 2:45pm Wednesday 17 March Tafe New Southbank 8am 4.30pm Wednesday 17 March Woolworths Everton Park New Everton Park 1.39pm 2.13pm Thursday 18 March Plus Fitness New Everton Park 8.00am 9.30am Thursday 18 March Milton Fruit Bowl New Milton 9:00am 9:20am Thursday 18 March World Gym New North Lakes 9.15am 9.45am Thursday 18 March Basil and Vine New Burpengary 10am 10.15am Thursday 18 March Giant Chemist Pacific Fair Shopping Centre New Broadbeach 1.45pm 2pm Thursday 18 March Electric Chair Barber Shop New Everton Park 3.15pm 4.14pm Thursday 18 March Studio Pilates New Grange 4.30pm 5.15pm Friday 19 March Lawnton Country Markets Bakery New Lawnton 6.11am 6.26am Friday 19 March Plus Fitness New Everton Park 7.30am 9am Friday 19 March Woolworths New Paddington 10am 10:15am Friday 19 March Bakers Delight New Paddington 10:15am 10:30am Friday 19 March Westfield New North Lakes 11.20am 11.50am Friday 19 March Little Red Dumpling Carseldine 12.10pm 1.16pm Friday 19 March Studio Pilates New Grange 12.15pm 1pm Friday 19 March Woolworths Carseldine 1.10pm 1.20pm Friday 19 March TBs Wine and Beer New Rosalie 2:30pm 2:45pm Friday 19 March Newstead Brewing Co. New Newstead 3.54pm 5.29pm Friday 19 March Aldi Bald Hills 5.10pm 5.18pm Friday 19 March Super Cheap Auto Bald Hills 5.30pm 5.33pm Friday 19 March Reef Seafood & Sushi Brisbane New Newstead 5.37pm 6.35pm Friday 19 March The Standard Market Company, Gasworks Plaza 76 Skyring Tce New Newstead 6.35pm 6.45pm Friday 19 March Public Toilet, Gasworks Plaza (located to the right of the escalator from the car park) New Newstead 6.46pm 6.47pm Saturday 20 March Plus Fitness 24/7 Gym Everton Park New Everton Park 7.40am 8.34am Saturday 20 March Coles Everton Park Everton Plaza Shopping Centre New Everton Park 8.39am 8.44am Saturday 20 March Neighbourhood Market Co. New Everton Park 8.45am 8.55am Saturday 20 March Westfield Carindale Shopping Centre - any part of the shopping centre Carindale 12pm 2.16pm Saturday 20 March Black Hops Brewery East Brisbane 2pm 3pm Saturday 20 March The Bavarian Eagle Street Pier New Brisbane City 2.15pm 4pm Saturday 20 March Market Organics (store only) 190 Enoggera Road Newmarket 2.45pm 3pm Saturday 20 March Riverland Brisbane New Brisbane City 4.10pm 6.32pm Saturday 20 March Viscosity New Fortitude Valley 6.42pm 7.31pm Saturday 20 March XCargo New Fortitude Valley 7.35pm 9.32pm Saturday 20 March Baskins-Robbins 2/489 South Pine Road Everton Park 9.20pm 9.25pm Sunday 21 March The Standard Market Company, Gasworks Plaza 76 Skyring Tce Newstead 9.50am 10.20am Sunday 21 March Presents of Mind New Paddington 10:15am 10:30am Sunday 21 March Genki Mart 3/24 South Pine Road Alderley 10.30am 10.46am Sunday 21 March Subway Strathpine Plaza Shopping Centre Strathpine 12.50pm 1pm Sunday 21 March Burrito Bar Everton Park New Everton Park 3.24pm 3.33pm Sunday 21 March Liquorland, Dolphins Central Shopping Centre Ashmole Road and Klingner Road Kippa-Ring 4 .40pm 4.50pm Monday 22 March Bunnings Rothwell Cnr Anzac Avenue and Bremner Road Rothwell 7 .14am 7.27am Monday 22 March Cafe Lavenue Carseldine 8.51am 8.58am Monday 22 March Ashgrove Fresh Fruit Shop New Ashgrove 9:20am 9:30am Monday 22 March Zambrero Aspley 12.05pm 12.34pm Monday 22 March Jacobs Bakery Aspley 12.40pm 12.48pm Monday 22 March Bunnings Stafford 450 Stafford Road Stafford 12.40pm 12.50pm Monday 22 March Bunnings Lawnton 3.15pm 3.30pm Monday 22 March Strathpine Plaza Shopping Centre Strathpine 3.43pm 3.49pm Monday 22 March Woolworths Mountain Creek New Mountain Creek 4.15pm 4.40pm Tuesday 23 March Redcliffe Train Line  Kippa-Ring to Lawnton Kippa Ring to Lawnton 7.00am 8.00am Tuesday 23 March Cafe Lavenue Carseldine 8am 8.29am Tuesday 23 March Woolworths New Paddington 9:10am 9:25am Tuesday 23 March Westfield (Dymocks and Woolworths) New North Lakes 11am 12pm Tuesday 23 March Nutrition Warehouse New Maroochydore 11.15am 11.30am Tuesday 23 March Brightwater Medical Centre at Brightwater Shopping Centre New Mountain Creek 12pm 12.45pm Tuesday 23 March Sushi Train Carseldine 12pm 12.45pm Tuesday 23 March Zambrero Lawnton 12.51pm 12.55pm Tuesday 23 March QML Pathology at Brightwater Shopping Centre New Mountain Creek 1pm 1.15pm Tuesday 23 March Lawnton Fruit Market Lawnton 1.57pm 2.05pm Tuesday 23 March Redcliffe Train Line  Lawnton to Kippa-Ring Lawnton to Kippa Ring 2.00pm 3.00pm Tuesday 23 March Rosalie Gourmet Market Deli New Rosalie 2:30pm 2:45pm Tuesday 23 March Poolwerx Strathpine Strathpine 3.15pm 3.27pm Tuesday 23 March Nellas Gourmet Tucker Lawnton 3.37pm 3.47pm Tuesday 23 March Woolworths New Strathpine 4pm 4.30pm Tuesday 23 March Dan Murphys Strathpine 7.26pm 7.36pm Wednesday 24 March Tafe New Southbank 8am 4.30pm Wednesday 24 March IGA New Milton 9:05am 9:15am Wednesday 24 March Milton Fruit Bowl New Milton 9:20am 9:30am Wednesday 24 March Redcliffe Train Line  Lawnton to Kippa-Ring Lawnton to Kippa Ring 2.30pm 3.30pm Wednesday 24 March Lawnton Country Markets Lawnton 2.36pm 2.43pm Wednesday 24 March Coles Everton Park Everton Plaza Shopping Centre New Everton Park 3.24pm 3.33pm Wednesday 24 March Uroko Sushi on Train New Everton Park 7.19pm 7.33pm Thursday 25 March Cafe Lavenue Carseldine 8am 8.29am Thursday 25 March Aldi Stafford, Stafford City Shopping Centre 400 Stafford Road Stafford 8.30am 8.45am Thursday 25 March World Gym New North Lakes 8.45am 9.45am Thursday 25 March Meats at Billys New Ashgrove 9:10am 9:20am Thursday 25 March Officeworks New Rothwell 12pm 12.30pm Thursday 25 March Cafe Lavenue Carseldine 12.34pm 1.34pm Thursday 25 March Gin Gin Public Toilet (male) opposite Gin Gin Bakery Gin Gin 1.25pm 1.26pm Thursday 25 March Gin Gin Bakery 41 Mulgrave St Gin Gin 1.26pm 1.33pm Thursday 25 March Westfield New North Lakes 2pm 3pm Thursday 25 March Miriam Vale Road Star Roadhouse  male toilet Miriam Vale 2.35pm 2.45pm Thursday 25 March Nundah Respiratory Clinic 1270 Sandgate Road Nundah 11.15am 11.40am Thursday 25 March Olivers Real Food New Maryborough West 11.50am 12.09pm Thursday 25 March Cold Rock Ice Creamery Raby Bay 3.50pm 4pm Thursday 25 March Woolworths Cleveland Cleveland 4.00pm 4.40pm Thursday 25 March Redcliffe Train Line  Lawnton to Kippa-Ring Lawnton to Kippa Ring 5.45pm 6.45pm Thursday 25 March BWS - Lawnton Drive 820 Gympie Road Lawnton 6.15pm 6.30pm Thursday 25 March Hanwoori Korean BBQ Restaurant Brisbane City 6.30pm 7.30pm Thursday 25 March Wintergarden carpark Brisbane City 6.19pm 7.50pm Thursday 25 March Ceres Pizza Cafe Strathpine 7.00pm 7.58pm Friday 26 March World Gym New North Lakes 10am 10.30am Friday 26 March Nurse Station cafe (Patrons) South Brisbane 10.15am 10.30am Friday 26 March SPAR Carina Megafresh Carina 11.30am 11.45am Friday 26 March Coles, Stockland Gladstone Gladstone Central 12.09pm 12.33pm Friday 26 March Woolworths Coorparoo Coorparoo 12.55pm 1.30pm Friday 26 March Niche & Co Cafe Tugun 1.40pm 1.55pm Friday 26 March Chempro Chemist Tugun 1.55pm 2.10pm Friday 26 March Redcliffe Train Line  Lawnton to Kippa-Ring Lawnton to Kippa Ring 2.30pm 3.30pm Friday 26 March Woolworths Kippa-Ring 272 Anzac Avenue Kippa-Ring 3pm 3.20pm Friday 26 March Stockland Gladstone (including BWS) Gladstone 4.46pm 5.00pm Saturday 27 March IGA Redcliffe Redcliffe 12.50pm 12.55pm Saturday 27 March Sunlit Asian Supermarket Westfield Garden City Upper Mount Gravatt 2.30pm 2.45pm Saturday 27 March Dominos Pizza Greenslopes 3.30pm 3.40pm Sunday 28 March 7-Eleven Updated Mackenzie 1.30am 1.40am Sunday 28 March 52 Espresso Updated Nobby Beach 6.15am 6.45am Sunday 28 March LeanChef Kitchn Updated Surfers Paradise (Chevron Island) 10am 10.30am Sunday 28 March Stable Coffee Kitchen New Tugun 10.27am 10.48am Sunday 28 March HOTA Markets Bundall 10.45am 11.30am Sunday 28 March Surf Life Saving Competition Tugun Beach 12.30pm 2pm Sunday 28 March Epic Escape Room Updated Southport 1.45pm 5.20pm Sunday 28 March Kirra Surf Shop 6/8 Creek Street Updated Coolangatta 2.35pm 3.05pm Sunday 28 March Southport Park Shopping Centre New Southport 3pm 4pm Sunday 28 March Woolworths Updated Southport Park 3.14pm 3.35pm Sunday 28 March Tugun Supermarket Tugun 5.20pm 5.30pm Monday 29 March Rafiki Cafe Updated Mermaid Beach 6.45am 6.50am Low risk contacts - monitor for symptoms: Tuesday 23 March Outside Westpac - Peninsula Fair Shopping Centre 272 Anzac Avenue Kippa-Ring 3pm 3.30pm Advertisement

The 26-year-old returned two positive results after being tested for the virus earlier on Thursday.

'We will be issuing health alerts throughout the day and I urge the media to really put out these venues,' she said.

'We absolutely want people, especially over the next two  three days, to come forward and get tested if you are feeling unwell and you have symptoms.'

Dr Young said the man developed symptoms on Monday.

'He became reasonably unwell, and stayed home,' she said.

She raised the possibility the case was connected to an outbreak involving two hotel quarantine guests and a doctor at Brisbane's Princess Alexandra Hospital earlier this month.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said a 26-year-old man had tested positive to Covid-19

That outbreak also led to a ban on visitors to hospitals in the greater Brisbane area and an order for those who visited high-risk locations to self-isolate.

Brisbane previously entered a hard three-day lockdown in January after a Brisbane quarantine hotel cleaner contracted the UK strain of the virus.

'I would hope we don't need to have more restrictions, but it just depends what unfolds over the next 24-48 hours,' Dr Young said on Friday.

The state's health authorities have also issued an urgent alert for 96 suburbs across Brisbane after coronavirus fragments were detected in sewage water.

Residents line up outside a 24-hour COVID testing clinic south of Brisbane during the city's three-day lockdown in January. Genomic testing is underway to uncover how a 26-year-old caught the virus in the latest outbreak

Covid-19 traces were also found in the Luggage Point treatment plant in the city's east.

Dr Young urged anyone experiencing symptoms of the virus - however mild - to come forward for a test.

'It is very important people with symptoms come forward right away and get tested  we can't be complacent, we're still in this pandemic,' she said.

The landscaper while infectious had visited venues across Brisbane including a Bunnings in his own suburb of Stafford (pictured)

'It is critical we detect any cases that we may not be aware of as quickly as possible through our testing system, to contain any potential spread.

'We are concerned by the new variants that are emerging overseas that are more contagious than previous variants we have seen in Queensland.

'It's also possible that this detection relates to previous COVID-19 cases that can shed viral fragments for a couple of months after they are no longer infectious.'
By Steve Holland

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The United States has invited the leaders of China and Russia to participate in a global summit on climate change in April, U.S. President Joe Biden said on Friday.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin were among 40 world leaders invited to the April 22-23 summit, according to a White House statement.

Biden told reporters he had not yet spoken to the two leaders about it, "but they know they're invited."

Biden's Earth Day global summit on climate is part of his effort to elevate climate change as a top priority. It will be held virtually given pandemic restrictions and will be live-streamed for public viewing.

Climate change is one area U.S. officials believe it is possible to do business with China and Russia, despite deep differences on a host of other issues.

At his first solo news conference since taking office, Biden on Thursday called Xi and Putin supporters of autocracy.

The White House statement said a key goal of the Earth Day summit and a separate gathering in the Scottish city of Glasgow in November will be to galvanize efforts to keep within reach a goal of limiting planetary warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Biden, speaking as he departed the White House for a weekend at his Delaware home, also said he had just spoken with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, indicating the subject was also the climate summit.

Climate was also a topic when Biden spoke to European leaders on Thursday in a virtual summit of the European Council.

The Biden administration is expected to announce what the White House called "an ambitious 2030 target" for reducing carbon emissions by the time of the summit.

Any target Biden announces is likely to face opposition from Republicans concerned that the Democratic president will sacrifice jobs and economic growth while pursuing his climate plans.

Biden is urging world leaders to use the summit as an opportunity to outline how their countries will contribute to reduced emissions, the White House said.

The summit will bring together 17 countries responsible for 80 percent of global emissions and global GDP. The invitee list of 40 nations includes Canada and Mexico as well as allies in Europe and Asia as well as Israel, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Nigeria and South Africa.

(Reporting by Steve Holland, Jeff Mason and Eric Beech, Editing by Franklin Paul and Alistair Bell)
The Retired Investor: Cannabis Catalysts Coming Soon

Last week, a bipartisan slate of U.S. Senate co-sponsors introduced the Secure and Fair Enforcement Banking Act (the SAFE Act) that would allow the cannabis industry to tap the federal banking system. If passed, this could be a game changer for marijuana companies.

The SAFE Act has already been passed by the House back in September 2019 but was never brought up for a hearing, much less a vote in the Senate.

The bill's author, Congressman Ed Perlmutter, a Colorado Democrat, has introduced several versions of this bill many times over the last eight years. During that time, the legalization of marijuana has moved from a pie-in-the-sky hope of a few legislators to something that may actually have the votes to pass.

Forty-seven states have already legalized either recreational or medical marijuana (as well as the District of Columbia and four U.S. territories). That should have been pressure enough to overcome lawmakers' resistance and yet, the legal status remains the same. Cannabis is still a Schedule 1 drug that makes it illegal on the federal level; as such, most cannabis companies are excluded from utilizing banking accounts. They have to operate on a cash-only basis.

At the same time, the banking sector, as well as numerous public companies that might want to enter the cannabis space, are precluded from doing so in fear that they will run into problems with federal insurers and the federal government.

The cash-only model hamstrings marijuana companies that would like to borrow in order to expand but can't because bank loans are unavailable. It is both frustrating and somewhat ludicrous to many that this U.S. sector, which is valued at $17 billion, remains a cash business. It has also developed into a public safety issue since cash-laden tills of cannabis companies are prime targets for robberies and burglaries.

During the pandemic, a large number of states deemed the cannabis industry an essential business due to medical marijuana prescriptions. That also presents a public health concern, since more and more of these medical marijuana companies are dealing with increased demand. Many of them need access to the banking system to insure the continued flow of product to their patients.

In any case, in order for the SAFE Act to pass in the Senate, a minimum of 60 votes would be needed. At last count, advocates believe they have 59 votes, which would be more than enough momentum to at least field a Senate committee hearing. After that, the bill could be moved to the full Senate for a vote within the next month.

In the meantime, the New York State Legislature is expected to vote on its own Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act, any day now. Passage would legalize recreational marijuana, as well as provide $350 million in tax revenue per year. This could be another large boost in revenue for several marijuana companies. The market for recreational pot could become a multibillion-dollar industry in the state. Some forecasters expect sales to grow as high as $7 billion throughout the next four years.

And while investors focus on the U.S., don't forget that Mexico has already passed legislation in their lower house, the Chamber of Deputies, this month. The bill will now go to the Senate before being sent to President Andres Lopez Obrador, who already supports passage. The legislation is expected to be approved by their Senate any day now. Mexico, with 130 million people, would represent the largest marijuana market in the world by population.

With all this good news on the legislative font, it appears to me that we are on the cusp of a major series of catalysts that should benefit the cannabis industry and propel the stock prices of several well-positioned and profitable marijuana companies here in North America.
New Delhi, March 26 : As the Supreme Court on Friday ended a long strecthed dispute between the Tatas and the Mistrys, the matter of the Mistrys-led Shapoorji Pallonji Group's (SP Group) exit from the Tata Sons still hangs on fire.

Although the top court on Friday alllowed all the appeals of the Tata Group and dismissed the appeal of the SP Group, it did not decide on the prayer of the latter for its exit from Tata Sons in lieu of "fair compensation", leaving the matter unresolved.

SP Group, which holds 18.4 per cent stake in Tata Sons, had sought separation from the conglomerate through a scheme of reduction of capital by extinguishing the shares held by the SP Group in lieu of fair compensation effected through a transfer of proportionate shares of the underlying listed companies, with the balance value of unlisted companies and intangibles, including brand value, being settled in cash.

The verdict of the apex court, in a way, comes as another major setback for the SP Group which was seeking to raise funds by selling its stake in Tata Sons and strengthen its weakened financial condition.

The three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice S.A. Bobde noted that the application was filed after Tata Group moved an application for restraining SP Group from raising money by pledging shares and this court had passed an order of status quo on September 22, 2020.

"For the first time, the SP Group seems to have realised the futility of the litigation and the nature of the order that the Tribunal can pass under Section 242. This is reflected in Paragraph 62 of the application, where SP Group has stated that they are seeking such an alternative remedy as a means to put an end to the matters complained of," it said.

The bench observed that SP Group should have sought such a relief from the tribunal (NCLT) at the beginning.

"But in an appeal under Section 423 of the Companies Act, 2013, this court is concerned with questions of law arising out of the order of NCLAT. Therefore, we will not decide this prayer," the top court said.

The apex court said that after attacking Article 75 before the NCLT, the SP Group cannot ask the Supreme Court to go into the question of fixation of fair value compensation for exercising an exit option.

According to Article 75 of the Tata Sons Articles of Association, the company may at any time by 'Special Resolution' resolve that any holder of ordinary shares do transfer his ordinary shares. Such member would thereupon be deemed to have served the company with a sale notice in respect of his ordinary shares.

The court said that what the Mistrys have sought in the application for separation of ownership interests require an adjudication on facts of various items. The valuation of the shares of SP Group depends upon the value of the stake of Tata Sons in listed equities, unlisted equities, immovable assets, among others, and also perhaps the funds raised by SP group on the security or pledge of these shares.

"Therefore, at this stage and in this court, we cannot adjudicate on the fair compensation. We will leave it to the parties to take the Article 75 route or any other legally available route in this regard," the court said in its 282-page judgement.

As the Supreme Court did not give a clear directive in the matter of SP Group's exit from Tata Sons and has left it to the two parties to resolve the issue, it seems that Tatas now have an upper hand in the matter, making it tough for debt ladden SP Group to exit and raise funds, legal experts said.
[March 26, 2021] Regions Foundation Announces $100,000 in Tornado Recovery Grants

The Regions Foundation, a nonprofit initiative of Regions Bank that supports community investments, on Friday announced a series of grants totaling $100,000 for organizations coordinating disaster relief in portions of Alabama and Georgia that were impacted by tornadoes on March 25 and 26. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210326005456/en/ Teams from Regions Bank gathered at Oak Mountain High School near Birmingham, Ala., to deliver food, water and cleaning supplies for people impacted by the tornado outbreak. (Photo: Business Wire) "Many of our communities face a long and difficult recovery, and Regions Bank and the Regions Foundation will be here to offer support and guidance every step of the way," said John Turner, President and CEO of Regions Financial Corp. "We mourn the loss of life and recognize the devastating impact the storms had on our neighbors, our communities and our associates. We stand ready to deliver not only the types of financial services that can make the recovery easier, but also the care and compassion of a team that is focused on helping our communities recover and rebuild." From the $100,000 total, grants will be issued to the following relief organizations: American Red Cross-The Regions Foundation will provide $75,000 to the Alabama and Georgia chapters of the American Red Cross to supportrelief for people impacted by the storms in areas including metro Birmingham, as well as communities in and near Metro Atlanta. United Way of East Central Alabama-The Regions Foundation will provide $25,000 to United Way of East Central Alabama's Tornado Relief Fund to help people in places including Ohatchee and other communities in Calhoun and Randolph counties that were struck by a violent storm late on the night of March 25.



1 that were impacted by the tornado outbreak. Those services include: No check-cashing fees for FEMA-issued checks cashed in a branch 2

Regions Mortgage Disaster Relief Purchase and Renovation loan programs

Personal and business loan payment assistance3 Beyond these services, Regions teams are here to listen to customers' unique needs and connect them with options that can help. Customers can reach Regions personnel at the following numbers:

Mortgages, home equity loans and lines: 1-800-748-9498

Other consumer loans: 1-866-298-1113

Any other banking needs: 1-800-411-9393 "Our community has experienced great loss and destruction, but we have also been inspired to see neighbors helping neighbors in every possible way," said Linda Jenkins, Anniston and Calhoun County, Ala., market executive for Regions Bank. "Support and services from the Regions Foundation and Regions Bank will help our neighbors throughout the recovery process." About Regions Foundation Regions Foundation supports community investments that positively impact the communities served by Regions Bank. The Foundation engages in a grantmaking program focused on priorities including economic and community development; education and workforce readiness; and financial wellness. The Foundation is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) corporation funded primarily through contributions from Regions Bank. About Regions Financial Corporation Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF), with $147 billion in assets, is a member of the S&P 500 Index and is one of the nation's largest full-service providers of consumer and commercial banking, wealth management, and mortgage products and services. Regions serves customers across the South, Midwest and Texas, and through its subsidiary, Regions Bank, operates more than 1,300 banking offices and 2,000 ATMs. Regions Bank is an Equal Housing Lender and Member FDIC. Additional information about Regions and its full line of products and services can be found at www.regions.com. 1 Offers are available for a limited time and only to individuals and businesses affected by the recent disaster, may be subject to other exclusions and restrictions, and are subject to change without notice. All loans and lines, deferrals, extensions or forbearances are subject to required documentation and credit approval. Residency restrictions may apply. These offers are only available in the following ZIP codes: 30217, 30263, 30264, 30265

30269, 30271, 30277, 30290, 35004, 35015, 35022, 35034, 35035, 35040, 35042, 35045, 35046, 35048, 35051

35052, 35080, 35085, 35094, 35112, 35114, 35115, 35120, 35124, 35125, 35126, 35128, 35131, 35135, 35146

35147, 35173, 35176, 35182, 35184, 35186, 35188, 35206, 35210, 35215, 35235, 35242, 35244, 35441, 35442

35443, 35447, 35456, 35470, 35474, 35490, 35905, 35906, 35907, 35953, 36091, 36250, 36265, 36271, 36272

36274, 36276, 36279, 36740, 36744, 36776 2 The FEMA check no-check-cashing-fee offer is available only to Regions customers; if you are not a Regions customer, you must enroll in Now Banking. No checking account is required to enroll in Now Banking. Regions reserves the right to refuse to cash any check. 3 Subject to credit approval and additional terms. Interest will continue to accrue during the period that the payment is skipped or deferred. For installment loans, deferring or skipping payment may extend the maturity of your loan but will not automatically extend any optional insurance. Forbearances, skipped payments, and deferrals generally (a) vary by customer, (b) postpone-rather than forgive-certain payment obligations, and (c) require payment in full of the postponed payments at the end of the forbearance or deferral period, in addition to any other amounts that come due, unless you make other arrangements with Regions to resolve the delinquency. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210326005456/en/

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While the Covid-19 pandemic has caused great suffering on the African continent and around the world, the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) remains as a priority for countries on the continent, says President Cyril Ramaphosa.

"It has claimed the lives of millions of people, devastated economies and destroyed livelihoods," President Ramaphosa said.

Chairing the 30th African Peer Review Forum of Heads of State and Government, President Ramaphosa said the pandemic has placed systems of governance and service provision under significant strain, pushing resources and capabilities to the limit.

"Under these conditions, and as we work to rebuild in the wake of COVID-19, the African Peer Review Mechanism [APRM] takes on even greater significance. The APRM mission to promote the African Union's shared values of democratic governance and inclusive development remains a priority," President Ramaphosa said.

President Ramaphosa assumed the chair of the APRM in February 2020.

In his virtual address on Thursday, the President said the APRM is a firm statement of the resolve of African countries to strengthen effective governance, democratic practice, the rule of law and social and economic development.

"It is an important part of our effort - as individual states and as a continent - to tackle instability, conflict, corruption and maladministration. The APRM team, in collaboration with members of the African Governance Architecture Platform, produced the Africa Governance Report 2021 on African Governance Futures to 2063," said the President.

The National Governance Report team validated a toolkit for producing National Governance Reports with Member States.

The team worked with the Kenya APRM National Secretariat on virtual training and preparatory activities for the first pilot National Governance Report.

The development phase of the pilot Kenya National Governance Report was launched virtually on 9 October 2020.

Meanwhile, the APRM Monitoring and Evaluation team held a virtual capacity building workshop and developed a continental training programme on the integration of APRM National Programmes of Action into national development plans.

Member States that participated included South Africa, Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, Benin, Niger, Mauritius, Nigeria, Djibouti and Egypt.

The Research and Monitoring and Evaluation teams completed 55 country profiles for the Governance Atlas, using the APRM Electronic Questionnaire tool.

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The APR Forum is a Committee of Participating Heads of State and Government of the Member States of the African Union (AU) who have voluntarily chosen to accede to the APRM. This authority is the highest decision-making body in the APRM.

The APR Forum has ultimate responsibility for oversight of the APRM organisation and processes, for mutual learning and capacity building, and for exercising constructive peer dialogue and persuasion.

The 30th Summit of the Forum has among other items, welcomed the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) as the newest Member State to accede to the APRM.

The Summit also conducted the peer review of Liberia, discussed reports on targeted reviews of Sierra Leone and Zambia, receive a briefing on Sudan's governance gap analysis and receive an update on progress in Nigeria's second review process.

Kenya and Mozambique made presentations on the implementation of their national programmes of action.

The African Peer Review Mechanism was established in 2003 as a specialised agency of the African Union (AU) that serves as a platform for sharing experiences and reinforcing best practices towards political stability, accelerated economic growth and regional and continental integration as well as sustainable development.

It further seeks to foster change in underlying deficiencies in governance and socioeconomic development processes among member states.
Bobi Wine addresses journalists at his home in Magere, Wakiso District on January 26, 2021.

Uganda's National Unity Platform leader, Bobi Wine has hailed Tanzania's peaceful transition of power in the midst of tragedy.

Wine said this when siging a condolence book of at the Tanzania High Commission in Kampala on Thursday following the death of President John Magufuli.

Additionally,he promised to stand with Tanzanians during the mourning period.

"We continue to stand with the people of Tanzania as they mourn their leader and salute them for ensuring a peaceful transition in the face of this tragedy. May his soul rest in peace."said Wine
The governor of Plateau State, Simon Lalong, has approved the appointment of Sunday Chong Hyat as the new Head of Service of the state.

Mr Hyats appointment follows the retirement of Izam Azi, who has attained the mandatory age of 60, says the governors spokesperson, Makut Macham, in a statement on Friday.

The new Head of Service, Engr. Hyat, was until his appointment, the Permanent Secretary, General Administration in the office of the Head of Service.

Engr. Sunday Chong Hyat, mni, was born on 3rd February 1963, in Ganawuri, Riyom Local Government Area. He attended Boys Secondary School Gindiri before proceeding to the Federal University of Technology Minna where he graduated with B. Eng. Civil Engineering. He has a Diploma in Computer Application from the University of Jos.

He was one time Chairman, Nigeria Society of Engineers, Jos branch, and later served as the Council Member representing North Central on the Board of COREN. He is a fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers, a Fellow of the Nigerian Institution of Civil Engineers and is registered with the American Society of Civil Engineers.

An alumnus of the prestigious National Institute for policy and Strategic Studies, NIPSS, Kuru, Engr. Hyat has been Permanent Secretary in various ministries including and Works, Lands, Survey and Town Planning.

Mr Lalong expressed appreciation to the outgoing Head of Civil Service for his service to the state.

In a related development, the governor also approved the appointment of 14 new permanent secretaries in the states civil service.

Those appointed are:

1. Ishaya Turba

2. Istifanus John

3. Ibrahim Kam

4. Alfred Zaman Datoel

5. Jacob Bitrus Keng

6. Ambrose Danjuma Allaburah

7. Annastesia Dongjur

8. Jesse Nimyel Miri

9. Alexander Plangnan

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10. Kande Gotom

11. Fanto John Nanghin

12. Selfa Dashe

13. Nanlop Gupiya

14. Sunday G. Biggs

The new Head of Service and permanent secretaries will be sworn in on March 29, Mr Macham added.
At his first press conference since assuming office, President on Thursday (local time) said that he expected to run for re-election in 2024.

"My plan is to run for re-election (in 2024), that is my expectation," said Biden during a press conference at the White House.

On a question about whether Vice President Harris would remain as the vice-presidential candidate, Biden said he would fully "expect that to be the case," adding that she was doing "a great job."

This comes as Biden has tapped Harris to lead the effort to combat the migration crisis brewing at the southern border.

"She will work first on the goal of stemming the flow of irregular migrants to the ..but at the same time, the real goal is to establish a strategic partnership with these countries based on respect and shared values," a senior administration official 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.)
press release

The EFCC official said corruption fuels inequality, aids poverty and provides incentives for extremism.

Nigerians abroad have been asked to join President Muhammadu Buhari in the anti-corruption campaign in order to improve the floundering image of the country, cut waste and aid investment inflow. Nigeria is believed to lose billions of dollars to crooks who feast on public funds.

The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC) Abdulrasheed Bawa, spoke at the virtual training organised for Nigerians in Diaspora on Thursday.

Mr Bawa who spoke through Enakeno Oju urged millions of Nigerians in the Diaspora to see themselves as anti-corruption envoys. The EFCC official said corruption fuels inequality, aids poverty and provides incentives for extremism.

The training was organised by the Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA Resource Centre) in collaboration with the EFCC, the United Kingdom-based Kent University Law School and Finance Uncovered with the support of MacArthur Foundation, Open Society Initiative for West Africa, (OSIWA) and Open Society Foundation. About 40 participants attended the 5 hours long training including many from Europe, USA, Gambia and Nigeria

Speaking at the event, HEDA Resource Centre Chairman, Olanrewaju Suraju, said the training would strengthen the capacity of professionals, researchers and media practitioners to take a more active role in asset and illicit funds tracing. Mr Oju on behalf of the EFCC Chairman, Mr Bawa, expressed full support for non-state actors helping to drive away corruption to the cesspool.

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He said the fight against corruption is to reduce corruption or possibly eradicate corrupt practices in Nigeria. The EFCC boss said "Nigerians in Diaspora must join hands with President Muhammadu Buhari's administration to fight against Corruption for a better Nigeria".

Another representative of the EFCC, Ahmed Ghali, ran trainees through the technical details of spotting money laundering. He said the law against money laundering in Nigeria is enforced by the Money Laundering Prohibition Act adding that the outflow of illicit funds undermines sustainable livelihood.

"In Nigeria, there is no common law defences to persons charged with money laundering offences. The penalty for money laundering in Nigeria includes imprisonment for between two to three years," he said.

Resource persons like Gbenga Oduntan, Nick Hildyard and Lionel Faull all based in the United Kingdom taught participants on technical skill s needed to use search engines and social media platforms in discovering corrupt politically exposed persons, providing the relevant tools for professionals and journalists needed to discover stolen assets and looted funds. Mr Oduntan detailed participants through the technique of searching for property records and using new information technology skills. He said the issue of corruption is what Nigerians at home and in the Diaspora ought to take very seriously.
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks during a news conference in the East Room of the White House, Thursday, March 25. AP



U.S. President Joe Biden said on Thursday that the United States will respond appropriately should North Korea continue to escalate tension, but that it is also prepared for diplomacy with the recalcitrant regime.



Biden noted the launch of the missiles on Thursday (Seoul time) was in violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions.



"Let me say that, number one, U.N. resolution 1718 was violated by those particular missiles that were tested," Biden said in his first formal press conference since taking office on Jan. 20.



"We are consulting with our allies and partners, and there will be responses if they choose to escalate. We will respond accordingly," he added.



North Korea launched what appeared to be short-range ballistic missiles into the sea between the Korean Peninsula and Japan, U.S. and South Korean military officials said earlier.



Pyongyang is prohibited from testing any type of ballistic missiles under the U.N. Security Council resolution.



Biden's remarks marked the first official reaction from Washington to the North's latest missile launch.






Hundreds of people Friday began the recovery process after a series of tornadoes cut a swath of destruction through central Alabama, killing five, injuring more than a half dozen and pummeling homes and businesses from one end of the state to the other.

As of midday Friday, there was no official word yet from the National Weather service of the number and strength of twisters throughout Alabama, although damage to the Eagle Point community in Shelby County was confirmed to have been caused by an EF-2 tornado.

Most emergency management agencies on Friday began their assessment process, which they say wont be quick.

Among the hardest-hit areas was Calhoun County, which saw five people  three from the same family  killed. Authorities do not yet have a damage estimate but described Thursdays storms as a tragic afternoon.

A quick update from our multiple survey teams out in the field today: at least EF-2 damage found in the Eagle Point area. At least EF-2 damage found in the Ohatchee area. We will continue to provide updates as our survey teams evaluate additional damage locations. #alwx  NWS Birmingham (@NWSBirmingham) March 26, 2021

Were no stranger to this. We dont like it but were blessed with good people in our county and surrounding counties,' said Sheriff Matthew Wade. We had warning. We knew this was coming. And bad things still happened.

The sheriff said much of the devastation happened in the unincorporated areas, which was certainly more fortunate than the storm hitting the more densely populated areas. It could have been worse, but to those people who lost their homes and lost lives, this is devastating,' Wade said. Its something we wish didnt happen. You cant make it better for them. Our job is to be there for them.

Chris Darden of the National Weather Service said at a 2 p.m. press conference Friday said that the storm which hit Ohatchee was at least a high-end EF-2 tornado with at least 135 mph winds at least a half-mile wide. The storm started in Southern Mississippi and wound its way across Alabama until it cut through the northern part of Calhoun County.

Shelby County also to a beating from the storms and said Friday that two large tornadoes caused catastrophic damage to multiple neighborhoods and businesses countywide.

The Shelby County EMA issued preliminary numbers midday Friday but said the numbers are expected to grow throughout the day. Though no fatalities were reported, at least seven people were treated for injuries.

Between 30 to 50 homes were damaged in the Pelham area, and at 12 in Helena. In northern Shelby County along the Highway 280 and Highway 41 corridors, 57 homes were destroyed or heavily damaged, and 279 homes have either moderate or light damage.

Homes have also been damaged or destroyed in the Calera and Columbiana areas, but no formal assessments have yet been done.

Roughly 30 homes were destroyed and 150 damaged in the area of Hugh Daniel Drive, many in the Greystone Farms community. In Eagle Point, which is in unincorporated Shelby County, and the Cahaba Valley Fire jurisdiction, there were about 27 homes with major damage, 32 with moderate damage and 97 with minor damage.

Highway 119 remained closed Friday in both directions between Caldwell Mill Road and Cahaba Valley Trace.

Here is full coverage of the storms

These storms have caused a tremendous amount of property damage in Shelby County and around the entire State of Alabama. We are thankful that we have no reported fatalities in our county at the moment, and we pray that number does not change,' Shelby County Sheriff John Samaniego said Friday.

My heart goes out to all of those effected by this natural disaster, and I want everyone to know that our office is working around the clock with other agencies and volunteers to assist with damage control, recovery, and the protection of damaged areas.

In Jefferson County, NWS and EMA assessment teams were working with Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service and Irondale Fire Department to survey damage.

Tornado damage off Grayton Road in Ohatchee where three members of the Harris family died Wednesday. Posted by al.com on Friday, March 26, 2021

The second round of storms hit there later in the afternoon. Jefferson County EMA Director Jim Coker said the damage in Birmingham range from minor to one structure that was destroyed.

The hardest-hit area was in the Roebuck area and continued on to Irondales Roebuck Plaza area which is between Birmingham and Trussville.

Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin said the damage stretched from Gadsden Highway all the way to Oporto Madrid Boulevard, affect Roebuck, Roebuck Springs and South East Lake. We did not realize until daylight how much damage was done in this area. There is significant damage,' he said. What Ive seen for the last few hours is neighbors helping neighbors.

I just believe its a miracle our citizens are safe and not hurt,' the mayor said.

BPDs mobile command bus and BFRS are set up in east Birmingham where many residents are currently without power. Extra officers were in the area overnight to help secure areas without power and additional officers will be in the area throughout the day.

Various utility crews are working to restore power and clear roadways. Water and snacks are available for community members needing to take a break from cleanup. The bus is set up at Eastside Baptist Church near Brannon Honda on Gadsden Highway.

According to Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service, 120 houses in Birmingham sustained damage. Of those, the damage to 30 of them is considered severe.

As of about 2 p.m. Friday, there were still 3,000 city residents without power.

Birmingham police Deputy Chief Ron Sellers said authorities responded to about 60 storm-related calls on Thursday afternoon into the evening. First responders carried out door-to-door searches, and then conducted secondary searches. There were no reported injuries or fatalities. Well be here as long as the citizens need us.
Tunisias national carrier, TunisAir has reached a deal with TAV Airports to pay its debt to the Turkish airport operator, reports say.

The airline in a statement said both sides held a meeting on Tuesday and discussed several matters related to Monastir and Enfidhal airports, the two airports operated by the Turkish company.

The state-run airline early this month said it would sign a debt settlement agreement with TAV Airports after the Turkish firm seized in February temporally the accounts of the carrier for the settlement of 8 million (TD29 million); portion of 20 million debt accrued since 2015, not including penalties.

The debt, according to Badreddine Gamoudi, President of administrative reforms and good governance commission, stands at TD400 million.

TunisAir has not disclosed details of the Tuesday deal. The carrier, faced with an acute financial crisis, currently operates only eight aircraft. It has been unable to pay salaries.
New Delhi, March 26 : The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed an appeal filed by Priyanka Singh, sister of late actor Sushant Singh Rajput, challenging a Bombay High Court order refusing to quash the FIR filed against her by Mumbai Police following compliant from actor Rhea Chakraborty.

A bench headed by Chief Justice S.A. Bobde and comprising Justices A.S. Bopanna and V. Ramasubramanian said: "We are not inclined to entertain this petition." Senior advocate Vikas Singh, representing Singh, argued that the high court has overreached its power by examining allegations which were placed before the police through media reports.

Singh's plea said it is pertinent to note that Rhea's entire case is based on media report which do not have any credibility as to the source or authenticity of such reports.

"Further, this court in Dr. B. Singh Versus Union of India [(2004) 3 SCC 363] has specifically held that media reports are not admissible in evidence, thus by no stretch of imagination it can be held that there is any case against petitioner," said the plea.

Rhea, in her complaint on the basis of which the FIR was filed, had alleged that the sisters conspired with Tarun Kumar, a doctor, to obtain a false prescription for administering banned medicines to the late actor.

The Bombay High Court had observed that there was prima facie case found against Singh in the FIR lodged at the instance of Rhea. However, the high court quashed the proceedings against Sushant's other sister Meetu Singh, who was also named as an accused in the FIR.

"This conduct of Respondent No. 1 (Maharashtra government) shows that present FIR was registered hurriedly on same day without any inquiry and smacks of malice and vengeance as Respondent (Rhea) is herself accused in case of death of late actor Sushant Singh Rajput filed by father of Petitioner in FIR No. 241 of 2020 at P.S. Rajiv Nagar at Patna," added the plea.

The plea contended that it is also shocking that the high court had recorded observations against the Tarun Kumar, who is a senior cardiologist working in RML Hospital Delhi and was not present before the court in the proceedings.

"It is pertinent to mention that the prescription was provided in accordance with the MCI Regulations and Telemedicine Practice Guidelines and Telepsychiatry Operational Guidelines, where it is permitted to medical practitioner to prescribe medicine through teleconsultation and also through caregiver," plea said.

Latest updates on Sushant Singh Rajput Death Mystery

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Offers fully integrated enterprise cloud platform for mobile

Multiscreen-as-a-Service platform offering includes software development kits, vertical solutions, a mobile application framework, and data products

Top-tier customers and partners

What Phunware does:

( ), which launched in 2009, provides a fully integrated enterprise cloud platform for mobile that provides products, solutions, data, and services for brands, companies, and governments.

The companys Multiscreen-as-a-Service (MaaS) offerings include engagement, management, and monetization initiatives that help the worlds most respected brands create category-defining mobile experiences.

The platform is also targeted at four other verticles: Healthcare, Smart Cities, Corporate Campus, and Political Advocacy. The platform is currently largely focused on providing solutions to healthcare workers and cities confronting the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis fallout.

The Austin, Texas-based company also operates PhunCoin and PhunToken, cryptocurrencies that let users monetize their digital identity.

Phunware's Software Development Kits (SDKs) include location-based services, mobile engagement, content management, messaging, advertising, loyalty and rewards (PhunCoin and Phun), and analytics, as well as a mobile application framework of pre-integrated iOS and Android software modules for building an in-house or channel-based mobile application and vertical solutions.

Since inception, Phunware has created more than 2.5 billion Phunware IDs representing mobile devices connected to networks. Phunwares Knowledge Graph uses machine learning and proprietary algorithms to curate over five terabytes of data every day from approximately one billion of these active devices each month. Phunwares data offerings enable brands to more accurately reach their target consumers.

How is it doing:

In May, Phunware reported that it ended its first quarter of 2021 with a record $23.5 million in cash as of March 31, after generating net revenue of $1.6 million during the period.

It also realized Multiscreen-as-a-Service (MaaS) platform subscriptions and services revenue of $1.5 million in the March quarter, with a gross margin of 58%.

Earlier in the month, the company announced the launch of its PhunToken Purchase Portal to begin selling PhunToken to consumers, developers and brands. Consumers will also have an opportunity to receive PhunToken from brands who integrate the PhunToken MaaS Loyalty SDK into their mobile applications for Apple iOS and Google Android, which will allow any publisher to track and reward in-app customer behavior.

PhunToken, as well as PhunCoin, will be managed by PhunWallet on Apple iOS and Google Android, which was expected to be released later in the month following application approvals by the Apple App Store and Google Play, respectively.

PhunToken is an innovative cryptocurrency utilized by a blockchain-enabled Mobile Loyalty Ecosystem to help drive engagement by unlocking the features and capabilities of Phunwares Multiscreen-as-a-Service (MaaS) platform. It is designed to promote profitable behavior by rewarding consumers for their activity, such as watching branded videos, completing surveys designed to understand purchase intent and visiting points of interest.

On April 21, Phunware said it had released its Data Software Development Kit (SDK) for Apple iOS and Google Android on GitHub so third-party mobile applications can reward consumers with PhunCoin for their data. By integrating this lightweight SDK, Phunware said that any mobile application publisher can monetize and reward their audiences by signing them up to be compensated any time their data is purchased by brands.

A week earlier, Phunware had released its Loyalty Software Development Kit (SDK) for Apple iOS and Google Android on GitHub to support the issuance of PhunToken by third-party mobile applications. By integrating this lightweight SDK, any mobile application publisher can track and reward in-app customer behavior on Apple iOS and Google Android.

And at the start of April, Phunware said its board had authorized bitcoin purchases in preparation for the commercial launch of its blockchain-enabled Multiscreen-as-a-Service (MaaS) Customer Data Platform (CDP) and MaaS Mobile Loyalty Ecosystem. The company noted that it had completed an initial purchase of 25.8 bitcoin at an average price of $58,133 per bitcoin.

Phunware has also continuing to see strong demand for its MaaS platforms. During full-year 2020, the company posted revenue of $10 million -- $9 million of which was derived from its MaaS platform subscriptions and services. The firm reported a net loss of $22.2 million for the year or $0.50 per share.

Phunware kicked off 2021 with a big contract expansion in hand  widening its MaaS platform and MaaS Location Based Services (LBS) at Baptist Health South Florida (BHSF) through its channel partnership with Presidio. The company said Presidios expanded deployment of Phunwares MaaS platform at BHSF enables even more patients, staff members, and visitors to seamlessly engage with critical healthcare functions and navigate across an additional 3.1 million square feet of medical facilities, bringing the total MaaS LBS coverage to 6.3 million sq/ft and the total contract value to more than $1 million.

In March, the company announced a partnership with Vizzia Technologies to offer its digital front door solution on mobile to leading healthcare organizations that leverage Vizzias real-time location systems (RTLS) technology. And in the same month the firm revealed that it had been selected by Health, Yavapai Regional Medical Center in Arizona for its MaaS Location-Based Services in a five-year expanded deployment.

And on May 4, Phunware announced that it has partnered with Infinite Leap as a reseller of its digital front door on mobile. Phunware noted that Infinite Leap enables healthcare organizations to fully leverage the Internet of Things (IoT) through the seamless implementation of RTLS-enabled solutions and services.

On the financing front, in February, the company launched a $25 million public offering to satisfy obligations to redeem outstanding convertible debt and for working capital and general corporate purposes.

Inflection points:

List Phun Tokens on initial exchange(s) to support the compliant trading of utility tokens

List PhunCoin on initial Alternative Trading System (ATS) platform(s) to support the compliant trading of security tokens on a licensed exchange

Release MaaS PhunWallet mobile application portfolio update to enable staking and expand feature set to enhance the user experience (UX)

What the broker says:

In a note to clients on May 13, Roth Capital Partners analysts maintained their 'Buy' rating and $2.50 price target on shares of Phunware, saying they believe the company's 1Q miss is already mostly reflected in its current stock price.

We believe deal flow and deal closings, on a cadence basis, have improved in 2Q, and should further improve with a re-opening of the economy in 2H, as well as its unannounced indirect channel partner, which will have PHUNs software embedded into its product, the analysts said.

We tweak down our estimates out of conservatism, but remain positive on risk/reward as growth prospects should accelerate as the year progresses, they added.

The Roth Capital analysts noted that while they have revised their fiscal 2021 model to account for a more conservative 21% revenue growth rate, down from 25% previously, the launch of the company's PhunToken sales has kept them positive on PHUN shares at current levels.

What the boss says:

In the company's statement on April 21, Phunwares CEO Alan Knitowski said: Its no secret that data has become the most valuable asset on the planet, yet consumers continue to be exploited for this vital resource without consideration and often without permission."

As a pioneer in customer data monetization, we look forward to leveraging PhunCoin to usher in a new era of transparency and accountability that enables consumers to determine not only what data they share and who they share it with, but also what that data is worth,'" he added.

Contact Sean at sean@proactiveinvestors.com
Austal USA held a groundbreaking Friday for the steel production line that could be the key to the future for the Mobile shipbuilder and its 4,000-person workforce.

The day was also a sort of debut for two leaders thrust into high-profile roles during a recent leadership shakeup. Larry Ryder, newly promoted to vice president for business development and external affairs, served as master of ceremonies, saying that the occasion was the start of a new era for us here at Austal.

And it was Rusty Murdaugh, the CFO who took on the title of interim president following the abrupt departure of Craig Perciavalle, who pronounced that our steel production line will be up and ready to go in 12 months, in April of next year.

Austal has enjoyed rapid growth building aluminum ships for the Navy. But its specialization in that metal also has limited the range of contracts for which it can compete. Company executives say that adding the capability to build in steel as well as aluminum will put Austal USA in a prime position.

As the demand for greater and larger Navy and Coast Guard fleets grow, Austal USA is investing to meet those changing requirements, Murdaugh said. Were investing in our people, were investing in our process and were investing in our facilitys capabilities.

Murdaugh said Austals track record of efficiency included delivering 24 ships in 9 years. No other shipbuilder comes even close to matching that performance, he said.

Speakers extolling Austals prowess included Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson, Mobile County Commission President Merceria Ludgood, U.S. Rep. Jerry Carl and Jo Bonner, chief of staff to Gov. Kay Ivey. The audience included numerous other dignitaries, including members of the Mobile City Council, the Mobile County Commission and the state legislature.

A common theme among the days speakers was of unified political support for Austal.

Austal has earned the respect of all the elected officials, said Stimpson. Youre surely making it easy, today, for us to support your growth.

Austal keeps its promises, said Ludgood, praising the company for setting the gold standard in supporting area nonprofits and generally being an extraordinary corporate citizen.

Carl said that thanks to his position on the U.S. House Armed Services Committee, he sees a bright future for the shipbuilder.

I have a little bit of a snapshot of whats going to happen in the future, as far as the shipbuilding industry and the defense of this country, Carl said. Austals going to be a huge part in that.

Austal USAs future includes a looming challenge but also some promising opportunities.

The challenge is that the Littoral Combat Ship program has run its course. Austal has contracts to deliver half a dozen more of the ships, but the Navy has made it clear its never going to order any more: It has moved on to a new class of frigate, and Austal wasnt the winner in the competition to build it. As Austal nears the end of LCS construction, probably in two to three years, its biggest production line will fall idle unless more work is lined up.

The opportunity comes generally in the form of the Navys long-range fleet plan. In the updated version of this plan unveiled in December, the Navy envisions pumping up its active fleet dramatically from a force of about 300 vessels now. As Seapower Magazine summed up: The plan  shows the future fleet architecture to reach 406 battle force ships by 2045, plus 119 unmanned surface vessels (USVs) and 24 unmanned undersea vessels (UUVs).

Now, how all this gets paid for is very much an open question. But the Navy wants a lot more ships, including a fast-growing fleet of unmanned vessels. That would seem to represent a rising tide for all shipbuilders. It certainly helps explain the Navys interest in maintaining the industrial base, for example by providing a $50 million grant to help Austal venture into steel work.

A passage in the Navy plan makes it explicit: The industrial base continues to be the fundamental enabler for achieving and sustaining the Navys future fleet. Our shipbuilding and supporting vendor base constitute a national security imperative that must be steadily supported, and grown, to maintain a skilled workforce. Consistent commitment to the steady acquisition profiles underlying this report is required to ensure the industrial supplier base achieves the capability and capacity required to build and maintain the Navys future fleet.

Aside from those generalities, the plan includes what appears to one big, specific bright spot for Austal. Within the 30-year plan is a tighter five-year forecast called the Future Years Defense Plan. In this, the Navy says it wants six more of the Expeditionary Fast Transports, or EPFs, that Austal builds.

USNS Spearhead, the first Expeditionary Fast Transport built by Austal, is shown in Souda Bay, Greece, in 2014. (U.S. Navy photo by Paul Farley/Released)D. L. "Paul" Farley

While also subject to annual defense budget negotiations, that suggests long-term stability for one of Austals two big programs. The EPF was developed as a kind of oceangoing multitool: It can transport troops and vehicles, land helicopters and drop its loading ramp in shallow, unimproved ports. Austal has long pitched it as a platform for specialized variants, such as small hospital ships or drone motherships.

And the Navy already has provided money to develop EPF-14 as what the U.S. Naval Institute News called an ambulance ship.

Beginning with EPF 14, the EPF Flight II configuration enhances current EPF capabilities by including health services (a combined forward resuscitative care capability with a limited Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and medical ward) to the ship while maintaining most of the original mission requirements of the ship, Naval Sea Systems Command spokesman Alan Baribeau said in a statement given to USNI News. The medical mission is not the primary mission  Flight II EPFs will be able to stabilize postsurgical cases for evacuation without the requirement to first route them through a higher facility.

In the past there also has been discussion of equipping future EPFs with a flight deck that can handle the Osprey aircraft used by the Marine Corps. If and when it comes, that upgrade would improve the ships ability to handle patients straight from the battlefield.

With a long-range vision for the EPF program on the table, the big question for Austal remains: What comes after the LCS? Based on naval news, there are at least three tantalizing possibilities.

Possibility 1: To follow the LCS program, the Navy wanted new destroyer called the FFG(X). Austal pitched a bigger, stouter version of its Independence-class LCS, but last year the Navy awarded the deal to Fincantieri, an Italian shipbuilder with a yard in Wisconsin. The FFG(X) program is now known as FFG 62, or the Constellation-class frigate.

It seemed like a winner-take-all deal. But in the Navys 30-year plan, it expressed a desire to put a lot of the new frigates in the water fast. The plan includes funding to develop a follow yard for the frigates, meaning that another shipbuilder would be commissioned to crank out copies of the design.

A Littoral Combat Ship, left, and an Expeditionary Fast Transport sit docked alongside Austal USA's facilities on the east bank of the Mobile River on Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2020, as Hurricane Sally approaches the Gulf Coast.Lawrence Specker | LSpecker@AL.com

Given its investment as a finalist in the frigate competition, and its new steel capacity, Austal seems like a natural contender. That might be true of the other finalists as well, including Huntington Ingalls Industries in Pascagoula. Its also, to some extent, a political decision. As a recent Congressional Research Report noted, one of several frigate-related issues for legislators to consider is the potential industrial-base impacts of the FFG-62 program for shipyards and supplier firms in the context of other Navy and Coast Guard shipbuilding programs.

The fast-track frigate production envisioned in the Navy report involved investment in ship components stating in fiscal year 2022 and investments in the yard itself in fiscal year 2023.

Possibility 2: Speaking of the Coast Guard, tropical weather forced a major shift in plans for its new Offshore Patrol Cutter. In 2016 Eastern Shipbuilding of Panama City, Fla., was awarded the contract to build the first Heritage-class cutter with an option for eight more. But Hurricane Michael damaged Easterns facilities in 2018, leading to a change in plans.

The government gave Eastern some slack on delivering the first four ships. As described by the Congressional Research Service, this extraordinary contractual relief includes a competition to build the next 10 ships. In October 2019 the Coast Guard took a survey of interested shipbuilders and in March 2020 it announced that it had awarded study contracts to nine firms. Austal was one of them. (So were Eastern, Huntington Ingalls, VT Halter Marine of Pascagoula and Bollinger Shipyards in Lockport, La.)

Shipbuilders final proposals to build the 360-foot vessels are due in late May and the Coast Guard plans to award the contract in the second quarter of Fiscal 2022. If the timetable holds, the winner should be known by this time next year.

Make of it what you will, but during Fridays ceremony Ryder made a point of saying that in the coming years Austal is going to build and deliver steel ships out of this facility -- the ships needed by our Navy and our Coast Guard. Murdaugh also referred to serving Coast Guard needs.

Carl recognized a Coast Guard delegation on hand for Fridays ceremony. And Coasties, we love you, he said, after nods to the Navy and Marine Corps. We have a lot of Coasties in this town and we love our Coast Guard, thank you for your service.

Possibility 3: The Navys hunger for unmanned vehicles is enormous, even though the cutting-edge nature of the field means there are many unknowns about the technology that will go into these vessels and the ways in which they will be used.

The Navys long-range plan envisions allocating a quarter-billion dollars to unmanned vessels in fiscal 2022, half a billion in 2023 and over a billion dollars a year from fiscal 2024 onward. Its a big pie, which in theory means a lot of shipyards could get a slice of it. And Austal has been pitching a variety of unmanned vessel concepts for years, some of which are clearly EPF-based and some of which appear to draw on LCS design elements.

All of these possibilities are subject to Congressional priorities and further changes in what the Navy thinks it wants. The Navys desire for a radically larger fleet could create budgetary conflicts with other branches of the military.

The bottom line for now is that Austal continues to position itself as a reliable, flexible piece of the militarys industrial base. Fridays groundbreaking was a way to underscore that.

Is the best solution is an aluminum ship, well build them an aluminum ship, Ryder said. If the best solution is steel, well build them a steel ship.
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The Borno State House of Assembly, at an extraordinary session on Friday, passed a vote affirming the confidence of the lawmakers in the leadership of the governor, Babagana Zulum.

The vote followed a social media post alleging a plot by some members of the Assembly to impeach the governor over some alleged differences.

The Twitter post claimed a former governor of the state saved Mr Zulums head at a meeting in Gombe State.

Reacting to the rumour, the state lawmakers convened an extraordinary sitting on Friday where they unanimously passed a confidence vote on the governor.

Standing on Orders 8 and 9, the leader of the Assembly, Mohammed Dige, moved a motion for the members to dissociate themselves from the alleged impeachment plot and pass a vote of confidence on the governor.

The members took turns to express their displeasure over the rumour and affirmed their continuous support for the governor.

The deputy speaker, Muhammed Askira, described the impeachment rumour as malicious, stressing however that it was something that no one could control.

But what we can control is our resolve to continually support the governor at all times because he has done more than enough for our constituents, he said.

A member from the Dikwa constituency, Zakariya, said  let the media tell the world that we are not going to impeach our governor because he has not done anyone or the state any wrong.

At the end of the contributions, the Speaker, Abdulkarim Lawan, said the House has passed a vote of confidence in the leadership style of Professor Babagana Umara Zulum.

Ordinarily, the House would not have responded to that malicious report but we felt we should speak to avoid innocent members of the general public being misled to believing that false story, especially considering the fragile security of our state and also the giant strides recorded by Professor Babagana Umara Zulums administration in all sectors of the economy.

Fact is that we have a very cordial and harmonious working relationship between all arms of the Borno State Government. There was never any problem let alone the so-called attempt to remove our hardworking governor who built and accelerated peoples confidence in governance.

The House dismisses that news publication, we commend the mainstream media and reputable online media organisations for ignoring that mischief and we strongly call on relevant security agencies to bring to book, the perpetrators of that malicious news report, the Speaker said.
ALTON  State Rep. Amy Elik, R-Fosterburg, on Monday filed House Joint Resolutions 25 and 26 to honor the late Godfrey Capt. Jake Ringering and Eldon Twirp Williams.

Godfrey Mayor Mike McCormick has worked with the Illinois General Assembly to dedicate a portion of West Delmar to Ringering and a portion of Godfrey Road to Williams. The effort was delayed by the pandemic but during the Illinois General Assembly this spring, McCormick began to work with Elik to file the resolutions.

I had a very strong admiration for Capt. Ringering, said McCormick. I got to know him better through numerous conversations when the village of Godfrey and the Godfrey Fire Protection District were working together to purchase a new fire truck. He was a true hero in every sense of the word.

House Joint Resolution 25 designates West Delmar Avenue in Godfrey between Pierce Lane and Valhalla Cemetery as The Captain Jake Ringering Memorial Highway.

Capt. Jake Ringering was a dedicated public servant, said Elik. He impacted the lives of many who knew him as a friend, family member, and while serving in the line of duty. Countless individuals are alive today as a result of the sacrifice and courage of Captain Ringering. It is highly fitting for the General Assembly to honor Capt. Jake Ringering with a memorial highway.

House Joint Resolution 26 designates the portion of Illinois 111 along Godfrey Road from Stamper Lane to Crestwood Drive as the Eldon Twirp Williams Memorial Highway.

He was a dear friend of mine and to all he met, McCormick said of Williams. He was a faithful servant to the community through his lifelong involvement in many service organizations, including his work as a Village of Godfrey Trustee.

Both men are greatly missed not only by their family and friends, but by the many people they served, he said. The road dedications are a nice way to honor and remember them.

Elik said Williams dedicated his life to public service.

His commitment to Godfrey and Madison County will always be appreciated, she said. He touched the lives of all who had the pleasure of knowing him. Twirp Williams will be missed, but not forgotten.

The proposed resolutions will be considered for adoption by the Illinois General Assembly. Upon approval, dedication ceremonies will be held at a later date.
IV bags containing monoclonal antibody treatment at a UPMC infusion center. Credit: UPMC

As evidence mounts supporting the use of monoclonal antibody treatment to reduce hospitalizations and deaths from COVID-19, UPMC and University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine physician-scientists are sharing the health system's experience administering the life-saving medication.

In a report published today in the scientific journal Open Forum Infectious Diseases, the UPMC/Pitt team shares how it quickly established the largest and most equitable distribution network for COVID-19 monoclonal antibody infusions across Pennsylvania. The team today also reported preliminary results confirming the treatment reduced likelihood of hospitalization and death in UPMC patients who received it.

"When administered soon after infection, this treatment can help certain people fight the virus and keep them from progressing to serious illness and death," said Ryan Bariola, M.D., associate professor in Pitt's Division of Infectious Diseases and director of the UPMC Community Hospital Antimicrobial Stewardship Efforts (CHASE) Program. "But administering these infusions comes with logistical challenges, so many health care providers opt not to offer the treatment. UPMC overcame these challenges, and we're dedicated to sharing what we learned with other medical centers, clinicians and the public."

Monoclonal"mono" means "one" and "clonal" means "copy"antibodies are a type of medication that seeks the COVID-19 virus in a person's body and blocks it from infecting their cells and replicating. Since late 2020, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration has granted Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) to three monoclonal antibody treatmentsone from Regeneron and two from Eli Lillywhich are given through a one-time IV infusion. This is the same type of emergency authorization given to the COVID-19 vaccines being administered in the U.S.

This therapy is most helpful when given early, especially within 10 days of infection in people at highest risk of complications from COVID-19.

UPMC gives monoclonal antibody infusions at 16 fixed locations, as well as in some Emergency Departments, long-term care facilities and at patient's homes. Credit: UPMC

The U.S. supply of monoclonal antibodies is taxpayer-funded and given without charge to the institutions that administer it. Preparing for high patient demand, UPMC created a weighted lottery to ensure fair allocation of its supply. However, demand was never high enough to trigger use of the lottery.

"This lower use surprised us, and we're still debating why demand was less than expected," said co-author Donald M. Yealy, M.D., UPMC chief medical officer and professor and chair of Pitt's Department of Emergency Medicine. "It likely had to do with so few health care providers investing in the infrastructure, staff and processes needed to administer the drug. This created lower awareness among both patients and clinicians about the life-saving benefits of monoclonal antibodies."

Initially, eligibility was limited to patients 65 years or older, or to those with a body mass index of at least 35 because those were the people studies had indicated were most likely to benefit. UPMC has since expanded eligibility to younger people with certain medical conditions that place them at higher risk for complications from COVID-19, including children, in compliance with the EUA.

To date, UPMC has treated more than 1,000 patients with monoclonal antibodies at 16 sites across the communities it serves in Pennsylvania and New York. It also provides home infusion services when needed. UPMC ensures that all proper infection prevention protocols are followed, and specifically prevents COVID-19 patients from mixing with other patients at the infusion centers.

"Monoclonal antibodies are a crucial part of the COVID-19 treatment spectrum, bridging the gap between preventive measuressuch as masks, social distancing and vaccinationand the various therapies for hospitalized COVID-19 patients," said senior author Mark Schmidhofer, M.D., professor of medicine at Pitt and medical director of UPMC's Coronary Intensive Care Unit. "It's a potentially life-saving option and can keep people out of the hospital if prevention fails."

Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak

More information: J Ryan Bariola et al. Establishing a Distribution Network for COVID-19 Monoclonal Antibody Therapy Across a Large Health System During a Global Pandemic, Open Forum Infectious Diseases (2021). J Ryan Bariola et al. Establishing a Distribution Network for COVID-19 Monoclonal Antibody Therapy Across a Large Health System During a Global Pandemic,(2021). DOI: 10.1093/ofid/ofab151
Local Vaccinations Move to Phase 2 & 3

By West Kentucky Star Staff

PADUCAH - The Purchase District Health Department, Mercy Health, and Baptist Health are opening COVID vaccinations to Phase 1, 2, and 3. Phase 2 is anyone 40 and older, and Phase 3 is anyone 16 and older.Purchase District Health Department in McCracken County is scheduling Phase 2 and 3 immediately: To schedule in McCracken County please go to www.purchasehealth.org and select schedule or call 270-444-5170 if you would prefer to schedule by phone. The health department is administering the Moderna Vaccine. You must be 18 or older to receive this vaccine. Please be certain youre available to return 28 days following your first dose to receive the second dose.Mercy Health says it will begin scheduling Phase 2 and 3 on March 31 at 8 a.m. Call 866-624-0366 to schedule a COVID-19 vaccination appointment. Callers are advised to be patient, as call volumes will be high. Mercy Health is administering the Pfizer vaccine, which can be administered to the 16 and older population. Please be certain youre available to return to Mercy Health - Lourdes Hospital 21 days following your first dose to receive the second dose.Baptist Health will also begin scheduling Phase 2 and 3 on March 31 at 8 a.m. Schedule an appointment by visiting www.scheduleyourvaccine.com. You must use their online form. Baptist Health is administering the Moderna Vaccine. You must be 18 or older to receive this vaccine.Patients are asked to call and cancel if they are unable to make their appointment.The Pfizer vaccines 2nd dose is administered 21 days after the 1st dose. The Moderna vaccines 2nd dose is administered 28 days after the 1st dose. Please do not mix vaccine types.
On Tuesday, a massive container ship named Ever Given found itself stuck in the Suez Canal, the worlds busiest shipping route. Such is the scale of the disaster that its blocking at least 12% of the global trade.

New @planetlabs satellite imagery from this morning shows the shipping traffic backup in the Gulf of Suez behind the stuck Ever Given:



The Suez Canal handles 12% of global seaborne trade, with the blockage disrupting over $9 billion a day of goods.https://t.co/lIsmRAjzRO pic.twitter.com/hnN8uUDMl3  Michael Sheetz (@thesheetztweetz) March 25, 2021

Whats interesting, however, is that according to a recent statement issued by Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement, the company that manages the ship Ever Given, all the crew members are Indians. The company also informed that the 25-member crew is being taken good care of.



All 25 crew are safe and accounted for. All crew are Indian nationals and remain onboard. The crew are working closely with all parties involved to re-float the vessel. The hard work and tireless professionalism of the Master and crew is greatly appreciated, said the company.

The huge ship stuck in the Suez Canal is visible from space (satellite photos) https://t.co/ezeSibO6pZ pic.twitter.com/DKUMzeRFln  SPACE.com (@SPACEdotcom) March 26, 2021

Ever Given had got stuck across the canal on Tuesday allegedly due to strong winds. Two pilots from Egypts canal authority were guiding it when the grounding incident happened on Tuesday. Authorities are engaged in continuous efforts to push the vessel but havent been successful so far.

Even high tides have been used by authorities to move the ship but to no avail. Latest reports claim that it will take weeks until the situation is resolved. At present, the ship has resulted in a massive traffic jam with around 150 ships waiting in line to pass.

Japanese company Shoei Kisen Kaisha that owns the ship has offered a written apology for the fiasco. We are determined to keep on working hard to resolve this situation as soon as possible, they said. We would like to apologise to all parties affected by this incident, including the ships travelling and planning to travel through Suez Canal.

With no resolution in sight, Indians have resorted to humour amidst turmoil and here are some of the funny reactions:

Google map: Take the first exit



Me after taking the first exit : pic.twitter.com/tmFDKE9Mzy  .. (@itsdhruvism) March 25, 2021

If you've spent any time on Indian roads then you know exactly how the Ever Given (which has an all-Indian crew) got stuck in the Suez  Pritish Agarwal (@pritishag12) March 26, 2021

Aaj Ship Tera Bhai Chalayega ho gaya @sailorsmoon ? https://t.co/xtMOSKm73W  Yo Yo Funny Singh (@moronhumor) March 25, 2021

Men now - Captain of the Ship must be a lady.  Prabhasini (@cinnabar_dust) March 25, 2021

Must be these 2 guys..... pic.twitter.com/mmy2owjJYK  Varun Gandhi (@VarunGandhi78) March 26, 2021

schools & colleges finally have their annual MUN agenda fodder https://t.co/TmcorPAl7s  esha (@eshpvt) March 25, 2021
Electron microscope image of a microswimmer. The particle is 2.18 micrometres in diameter. The small, brighter dots on the particle are gold nanoparticles about 8 nanometres in size. Credit: Leipzig University, Faculty of Physics and Earth Sciences

Living organisms, from bacteria to animals and humans, can perceive their environment and process, store and retrieve this information. They learn how to react to later situations using appropriate actions. A team of physicists at Leipzig University led by Professor Frank Cichos, in collaboration with colleagues at Charles University Prague, have developed a method for giving tiny artificial microswimmers a certain ability to learn using machine learning algorithms. They recently published a paper on this topic in the journal Science Robotics.

Microswimmers are artificial, self-propelled, microscopic particles. They are capable of directional motion in a solution. The Molecular Nanophotonics Group at Leipzig University has developed special particles that are smaller than one-30th of the diameter of a hair. They can change their direction of motion by heating tiny gold particles on their surface and converting this energy into motion. "However, these miniaturized machines cannot take in and learn information like their living counterparts. To achieve this, we control the microswimmers externally so that they learn to navigate in a virtual environment through what is known as reinforcement learning," said Cichos.

With the help of virtual rewards, the microswimmers find their way through the liquid while repeatedly being thrown off of their path, mainly by Brownian motion. "Our results show that the best swimmer is not the one that is fastest, but rather that there is an optimal speed," said Viktor Holubec, who worked on the project as a fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and has now returned to the university in Prague. According to the scientists, linking artificial intelligence and active systems like in these microswimmers is a first small step towards new intelligent microscopic materials that can autonomously perform tasks while also adapting to their new environment.

At the same time, they hope that the combination of artificial microswimmers and machine learning methods will provide new insights into the emergence of collective behavior in biological systems. "Our goal is to develop artificial, smart building blocks that can perceive their environmental influences and actively react to them," said the physicist. Once this method is fully developed and has been applied to other material systems, including biological ones, it could be used, for example, in the development of smart drugs or microscopic robot swarms.

Explore further Physicists create 3-D printed microboat

More information: S. Muinos-Landin et al, Reinforcement learning with artificial microswimmers, Science Robotics (2021). Journal information: Science Robotics S. Muinos-Landin et al, Reinforcement learning with artificial microswimmers,(2021). DOI: 10.1126/scirobotics.abd9285

Provided by Universitat Leipzig
Family always come first for Bert and Patti Newton.

And this week, matriarch Patti, 76, shared a series of sweet tributes for daughter Lauren and her granddaughter, Lola, on their respective birthdays.

Underneath a gorgeous picture of Lauren holding her youngest child Alby, Patti said that Lauren made her and Bert's lives 'so wonderful.'

'You have made our lives so wonderful': This week Bert Newton's wife Patti shared sweet birthday tributes to daughter Lauren and her granddaughter Lola

'Happy Birthday my darling Lauren, you have made our lives so wonderful because you are so special. You are loved by everyone xx,' Patti wrote on Thursday as Lauren turned 41.

On Friday, Patti shared a sweet picture of granddaughter Lola as she celebrated her ninth birthday.

'Our darling Lola is 9 today. It's going too quickly,' Patti wrote.

'Happy Birthday my darling Lauren, you have made our lives so wonderful because you are so special. You are loved by everyone xx,' Patti wrote on Thursday as Lauren turned 41

Birthday girl! On Friday, Patti shared a sweet picture of granddaughter Lola as she celebrated her ninth birthday

She added: 'She is such a delight and one of Bert's joys in life, they are wonderful together. Love you lols Nana and Poppy xx.'

Lauren and her swimmer husband Matt Welsh, 44, have six children together; Sam, 13, Eva, 11, Lola, nine, Monty, five, Pearla, two, and seven-month-old Alby.

Meanwhile TV Icon Bert, 82, who also shares son Matt Newton with Patti, recently returned home from hospital following a mystery illness.

Family: Lauren and her swimmer husband Matt Welsh, 44, have six children together; Sam, 13, Eva, 11, Lola, nine, Monty, five, Pearla, two, and seven-month-old Alby

Health scare: Meanwhile, TV Icon Bert, 82, who also shares son Matt Newton with Patti, recently returned home from hospital following a mystery illness

Bert sparked fears for his health after Patti shared a photo on Instagram of the veteran entertainer wearing a mask while lying in his hospital bed, in November.

'Bert's been in hospital [but] all good. He's got a lot of living to do,' she captioned the picture.

Bert's health first became a concern in 2012 when he underwent a quadruple bypass.

In the years following the surgery, he was hospitalised three times with pneumonia and was also diagnosed with Anemia.

Anemia can make a person feel tired or weak because there are not enough healthy red blood cells to carry adequate oxygen to the body's tissues.
HOLLAND, MI  After four days in jail, restaurant owner Marlena Pavlos-Hackney, who flouted state coronavirus restrictions, has a $280,000 GoFundMe safety net  minus $15,000 paid in fines.

Her restaurant, Marlenas Bistro & Pizzeria, is closed, just like it was supposed to be in mid-November when the state banned dine-in service.

I wish more people would support restaurants that played by the rules to help stop the spread! a critical commenter said, on the restaurants Facebook page.

A supporter said: Thank you for your courage and strength. The residents and small business owners need to stand with you and fight (Gov. Gretchen Whitmer).

The controversy at Marlenas, like the response to coronavirus restrictions, has been viewed through a political lens. For those fighting to keep businesses afloat, its more than that. Its survival.

An area food supplier said he has worked hard to grow a thriving business but COVID has crushed what I built. I have a difficult time criticizing another business owner who is trying to maintain their business and survive.

For the last year its has been: Do whatever you can to hold onto what you have built.  Im getting killed. Im seeing (restaurants) getting killed, the business owner, who didnt want his name used, told MLive.

Chris Andrus, co-owner of The Mitten Brewing Company, has been frustrated by the states COVID-19 restrictions. Its hard to see the logic behind some of them, Andrus said.

But businesses that skirt the rules hurt restaurants who want to abide by them.

It makes it more difficult for me to do business and every other restaurant owner because it creates this idea that disobeying mass protocols is patriotic, Andrus said.

And, he said: It has a trickle-down effect to people who dont take it seriously.

He said instances of customer noncompliance with the states mask mandate have increased over the past couple weeks, and now occur about four or five times per week. Its easy to draw a line from those occurrences to high profile cases like Marlenas and people who are being encouraged by their patrons and even some public officials to engage in civil disobedience, he said.

The Mitten is a member of MI Restaurant Promise, a statewide initiative that promotes best health and safety practices among restaurants amid the pandemic. The groups website says its members are committed to upholding local, state and federal health guidelines.

Richard App, the retail retention and attraction specialist for the city of Grand Rapids, helped create the MI Restaurant Promise group. He said the restaurants he regularly works with remain committed to following health and safety guidelines because thats what most patrons want.

The reason: consumer confidence, he said.

Thats one less worry you have to have about dining out, App said, especially during a pandemic.

Matthew Klaus and his family own two Crust 54 pizza restaurants, described as Chicago Style, Holland Friendly, at 45 E. Eighth St. in downtown Holland, and 1145 S. Washington Ave., on the citys southside.

He remembered last years two-week shutdown to flatten the curve.

It didnt work.

Now, Klaus thinks restaurants and customers know what they have to do to keep themselves safe. Restaurants have taken many steps to prevent spreading the coronavirus, he said.

Its tough. Its 90 degrees in the kitchen. His cooks have to wear masks.

He doesnt want them to get sick. He doesnt want his customers sick. And, he doesnt want to bring anything home.

No one wants anyone to get sick, Klaus said.

It would be bad for business, too.

If someone gets sick here, everyone will find out, sooner or later, he said.

Klaus, a Hope College graduate, said its time for businesses owners and customers to make their own decisions.

Andy Johnston, vice president of government affairs at the Grand Rapids Chamber, said he has spoken with numerous business owners who are at their wits end or on their last legs amid the pandemic and state restrictions.

The chambers job is to channel those frustrations to productive outlets, and would advise business owners against ignoring the states COVID-19 restrictions, he said.

We always encourage them, whether they agree with it or not, to follow the guidelines and prioritize safety, Johnston said.

The state has taken action against restaurants and bars.

Since September, the Michigan Liquor Control Commission has suspended the liquor licenses of 41 bars and restaurants in Michigan that violated state COVID-19 guidelines, spokesperson Jeannie Vogel said.

Six food licenses  including at Marlenas Bistro  have been suspended though four have been dissolved, according to the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. The department has issued cease-and-desist orders to 17 bars and restaurants.

The jailing of Marlenas owner was unusual. She was released after she paid $15,000 in fines and closed her restaurant.

MDARD spokeswoman Jennifer Holton issued a statement to MLive.

Ms. Pavlos-Hackney was incarcerated because she committed contempt of court when she repeatedly violated the Ingham County Circuit Courts order to cease operating a food service establishment, the statement said. MDARD brought this legal action to prevent the establishments continued operation without a valid food license in violation of the Michigan Food Law.

Ingham County Circuit Judge Wanda Stokes order is clear that if Marlenas resumes operation of a food service establishment a bench warrant would issue for Ms. Pavlos-Hackney  and any other person engaged in actions Contrary to the Courts order  and those persons violating the Courts orders shall be arrested and incarcerated until such time as they comply with the Courts orders, MDARD said.

Officials are hopeful that after months of Ms. Pavlos-Hackney refusing to work with MDARD to resolve this matter, Ms. Pavlos-Hackney will comply with both MDARDs and the Courts orders and will come into compliance with the Food Law.

Related:

Jailed Michigan restaurant owner wins freedom

Marlenas Bistro supporters see restaurant closure as latest fight for freedom in pandemic

They can arrest me: Holland restaurant owner defies state coronavirus order

Holland restaurant owner arrested after defying state coronavirus orders

Supporters of jailed Michigan woman board up her restaurant, hoping to earn her release
The Cultural Landscapes Scanner pilot project will exploit Artificial Intelligence to detect the archaeological heritage of the subsoil. The project will last three years and will be carried out by IIT in collaboration with the European Space Agency

Venice (Italy), 26th March 2021 - The "Cultural Landscapes Scanner" (CLS) project has born from the collaboration between Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT- Italian Institute of Technology) and the European Space Agency (ESA) in order to detect archaeological sites from above by analyzing satellite images through artificial intelligence (AI). IIT's researchers of the Centre of Cultural Heritage Technology in Venice, led by Arianna Traviglia, will introduce AI to help archaeologists trace back the ancient presence of humans by revealing hidden traces in the soil. The AI will be able to recognize even minimal or imperceptible variations in vegetation or other particular signs of the surface that may indicate the presence of remains not yet discovered. The project will last three years and may have as immediate outcome an improved capacity of identifying cultural heritage sites at risk of looting.

In the last decades, the identification of sub-surface cultural heritage sites has taken advantage of Remote Sensing data, a way of detecting that allows to find buried objects in the sub-soil through images in which is possible to recognize subsoil archaeological deposits from anomalies and traces in bare soils, crops or vegetation. Arianna Traviglia's previous studies have already investigated the potential advantages of developing automated remote sensing, but they have also showed that the current technologies have some limits, being able to detect only very specific objects. In this scenario, web platforms of free remote sensing datasets have known an exponential growth and they are amply used by the Cultural Heritage community around the world. Among them, there is Copernicus, the free and open satellite data platform for Earth observation coordinated by the European Commission in partnership with ESA.

However, the visual analysis of data coming from these platforms is extremely complex due to the large amount of data to be managed and because the images must be viewed and human interpreted. For this reason, the real challenge for Traviglia's research group is to add machine leaning and computerized artificial vision in order to make this job much easier. The group is one of the few in the world that has designed algorithms for automatic detection of archaeological and cultural heritage sites.

The "Cultural Landscapes Scanner" (CLS) project will have, thus, an innovative approach aiming to overcome the current methods based on subjective observation, making possible a wider and more precise detection thanks to advanced computational methods.

Researchers will define a broad spectrum, adaptable and robust automated recognition procedure, customized for cultural heritage sites using the tele data obtained from the Copernicus platform. Automated Remote Sensing, via machine learning, will produce a more accurate detection of the cultural heritage objects through satellite imagery and a clearer identification of ancient land division systems.

Machine learning algorithms can improve automatically by gaining experience in an incremental self-learning process. Therefore, AI will be able to offer an increasingly precise identification of potential underground archaeological sites.

This AI approach will be able to see objects or irregularities that are usually impossible to see for the human eye. The combination of these elements will produce the possibility to observe traces in the vegetation, bare soils, hollows and cropmarks. Thus, AI will support current photo-interpretation practices, based on subjective observations, thanks to its accuracy in analyzing images and the possibility to explore wider spatial areas. Another aspect that will surely profit from the development of Automated Remote Sensing is the increased possibility of cultural heritage preservation. In fact, an immediate outcome will be represented by an improved capacity of response to cultural threats identifying the cultural heritage sites at risk of looting.

###

Further information

The Cultural Landscapes Scanner pilot-project is the result of a partnership between IIT's Centre for Cultural Heritage Technology and European Space Agency (ESA).

Arianna Traviglia is the coordinator of the IIT's Centre for Cultural Heritage Technology (CCHT) in Venice (Italy). Her research field is placed at the intersection of information management and humanities and most of it focuses on mediating the inclusion of digital technology within the study and management of cultural heritage. Her expertise lies in multispectral/hyperspectral image processing and photointerpretation: with research interests in the areas of landscape archaeology and remote sensing, spanning over 15 years of academic career, she is an internationally renowned expert in her field.
(Sharecast News) - London stocks were in the black by midday on Friday following encouraging UK retail sales data, with Smiths Group pacing the advance after well-received interim results.

The FTSE 100 was up 0.7% at 6,723.27 after figures from the Office for National Statistics showed retail sales recovered partly in February following a big fall at the start of the third national lockdown in January.



Retail sales rose 2.1% on the month in February, in line with consensus expectations and compared to an 8.2% slump the month before. Nevertheless, sales were still down 3.7% compared to February last year, before the coronavirus pandemic hit. This compares to a 5.9% slid in January and expectations for a 3.5% decline.



The ONS said non-food stores provided the largest positive contribution to monthly growth, with increases of 16.2% and 16.1% in department stores and household goods stores respectively. Clothing retailers reported the largest fall in sales volumes when compared to last February before the pandemic hit, down 50.4%.



The proportion spent online rose to a record 36.1% in February. This compares with 35.2% in January and 20% in February 2020.



ONS deputy national statistician for Economic Statistics, Jonathan Athow, said: "Despite national restrictions, retail sales partially recovered from the hit they took in January.



"Food and department stores benefitted from essential retail remaining open with budget-end department stores seeing increased sales. Household goods also fared well, with feedback suggesting spending on home improvement and outdoor products boosted sales as consumers prepared for an easing of lockdown restrictions. However, clothing stores continue to struggle with sales down more than half on their pre-pandemic level."



ING economist James Smith said: "Things will improve when shops are allowed to reopen in April, though a greater consumer focus on services and the trend towards online shopping means the headwinds for traditional high-street retailers are building."



In equity markets, miners were on the front foot as metals prices rose, with Glencore, Antofagasta, Rio Tinto and Anglo American all up.



Oil giants Shell and BP gushed higher as oil prices rose amid concerns that a ship blocking the Suez Canal could squeeze crude supplies.



Smiths Group was the top gainer on the FTSE 100 after it increased its interim dividend and said it was confident about meeting expectations for annual results as profit fell in the first half.



Aviva was also up after saying it had sold its Polish unit to Allianz for 2.5bn to focus on its strongest businesses in the UK, Ireland and Canada and cut debt.



Next was boosted by an upgrade to 'outperform' from 'sector perform' at RBC Capital Markets.



Kaz Minerals rallied after Nova Resources lifted its offer for the company to 850p a share, valuing the copper miner at 4.1bn.



Oxford Instruments surged to the top of the FTSE 250 after it said revenue is expected to be marginally ahead of last year.



Market Movers



FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,723.27 0.73%

FTSE 250 (MCX) 21,448.16 0.80%

techMARK (TASX) 4,207.87 0.93%



FTSE 100 - Risers



Smiths Group (SMIN) 1,553.00p 6.44%

Glencore (GLEN) 278.80p 3.70%

Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,679.00p 3.58%

Evraz (EVR) 552.00p 3.37%

Rio Tinto (RIO) 5,524.00p 3.27%

Anglo American (AAL) 2,812.00p 3.15%

BHP Group (BHP) 2,076.50p 2.64%

BP (BP.) 300.90p 2.45%

Aveva Group (AVV) 3,417.00p 2.43%

Melrose Industries (MRO) 167.55p 2.10%



FTSE 100 - Fallers



Polymetal International (POLY) 1,400.50p -1.75%

National Grid (NG.) 860.00p -1.49%

Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,874.50p -1.45%

United Utilities Group (UU.) 904.00p -1.16%

Severn Trent (SVT) 2,290.00p -0.99%

Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 1,107.00p -0.81%

Unilever (ULVR) 4,030.00p -0.74%

Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 179.30p -0.69%

Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 6,368.00p -0.69%

Imperial Brands (IMB) 1,483.50p -0.67%



FTSE 250 - Risers



Oxford Instruments (OXIG) 2,075.00p 15.79%

Cineworld Group (CINE) 103.10p 8.53%

Wood Group (John) (WG.) 282.40p 5.14%

Ferrexpo (FXPO) 365.40p 4.16%

Babcock International Group (BAB) 244.70p 3.73%

FirstGroup (FGP) 91.00p 3.41%

Pets at Home Group (PETS) 399.20p 3.37%

Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 1,946.00p 3.07%

CMC Markets (CMCX) 470.50p 2.95%

Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 864.00p 2.86%



FTSE 250 - Fallers



Chrysalis Investments Limited NPV (CHRY) 198.50p -2.70%

Provident Financial (PFG) 210.20p -2.23%

Chemring Group (CHG) 265.00p -1.67%

Pennon Group (PNN) 976.20p -1.19%

Vietnam Enterprise Investments (DI) (VEIL) 596.00p -1.16%

Hochschild Mining (HOC) 200.20p -0.89%

John Laing Group (JLG) 310.60p -0.83%

Indivior (INDV) 125.20p -0.63%

Bytes Technology Group (BYIT) 413.20p -0.63%

Oxford Biomedica (OXB) 957.00p -0.62%
Washington, March 26 : NASA has selected 365 US small business proposals for initial funding from the agency's Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programme, a total investment of more than $45 million.

The agency provides up to $125,000 for companies to establish the merit and feasibility of their innovations, NASA said on Thursday.

"At NASA, we recognise that small businesses are facing unprecedented challenges due to the pandemic," Jim Reuter, Associate Administrator for the agency's Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD), said in a statement.

"This year, to get funds into the hands of small businesses sooner, we accelerated the release of the 2021 SBIR/STTR Phase-I solicitation by two months. We hope the expedited funding helps provide a near-term boost for future success." Through the programme, NASA works with US small businesses and research institutions to advance cutting-edge technologies.

Phase-I SBIR contracts are awarded to small businesses and last for six months, while Phase-I STTR contracts are awarded to small businesses in partnership with a research institution and last for 13 months.

Based on their progress during Phase-I, companies may submit proposals to subsequent SBIR/STTR opportunities and receive additional funding.

NASA selected proposals to receive funding based on their technical merit and commercial potential.

The selections span the breadth of NASA missions to empower the agency's work in human exploration, space technology, science, and aeronautics.
More than 1100 households in the town of Gobabis have received land through an existing institutional partnership between the Shack Dwellers Federation of Namibia (SDFN) and the Namibia Housing Action Group (NHAG) that resulted in a settlement upgrading in the eastern town. Other key partners include the Gobabis municipality and the Ministry of Urban and Rural Development. With support from the German Cooperation Agency (GIZ) and other international partners, the project became part of government's Flexible Land Tenure (FLT) pilot project.

Thus far, 20 houses have been completed and a further 10 brick-and-mortar structures are currently under construction. Earlier this month, 988 residents were presented with certificates of their land hold titles through the FLT project.

The Namibia University of Science and Technology's departments of Architecture and Spatial Planning; and Land and Property Sciences, also played key roles in bringing the project to fruition. NUST students and lecturers participated in different aspects of the project as a case study, which resulted in journal publications as well as Masters and PhD dissertations for the NUST students.

According to Guillermo Delgado, the Land, Livelihoods and Housing Programme Coordinator at NUST's Integrated Land Management Institution (ILMI), the process started around 2012 when data was collected by residents of the area and based on their findings, discussions followed amongst various stakeholders to develop the settlement called Freedom Square.

Also in 2012, a Memorandum of Understanding between the Gobabis municipality, SDFN and NHAG, was signed which laid the groundwork for a series of "planning studios" with town and regional planning students in NUST's Department of Architecture and Spatial Planning.

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In these studios, NUST students analysed the site, mapped infrastructure and features and engaged community members to design layouts of "re-blocking" the settlement structures into a formal setting.

The urban and rural development ministry then availed N$10 million to install infrastructure (water and sewer) at the site through community training. Communities excavated the trenches and even installed their own water lines and constructed manholes through training. Additional funding was sourced from a Latin American, African and Asian Social Housing Service in Europe, called Selavip, to purchase 200 prepaid water

meters.

"A contractor, KSP assisted with excavation of sewer trenches and offered to lay sewer pipes at no cost. After the completion of the services, pressure tests on water and sewerage lines were done and passed, and services were handed over to the municipality. Before installing the services, the community requested that they be provided with prepaid water meters instead of conventional water meters," said Delgado. -ebrandt@nepc.com.na

w
A borough man is facing child pornography charges after investigators searched his home Thursday, according to state police.

Darrell M. Stringer, 32, 215 Fourth St., Apt. 3, is charged with 20 counts of possession of child pornography and one count of criminal use of a communication facility, according to a criminal complaint. Authorities searched his home at 7:05 a.m. after receiving multiple tips from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, troopers said.

Stringer told troopers he was waiting for police to show up, and that he had child pornography on a flash drive in his computer. Investigators analyzed his phone, computer and flash drive, finding numerous photos and videos of child pornography, according to the complaint.

Stringer remains in the Wayne County Correctional Facility in lieu of $100,000 bail.
The number of new print magazines started in the U.S. fell by more than half in 2020 to 60, compared t
The former governor of a Mexican border state who U.S. prosecutors alleged cut deals with drug cartels, took kickbacks from government contractors and laundered millions of dollars in Texas real estate pleaded guilty Thursday to a single count of money laundering.

It was an anticlimactic end to a saga that has dragged on for nearly a decade.

Tomas Yarrington Ruvalcaba, who was governor of Tamaulipas from 1999 to 2005, initially faced up to life in prison if hed been convicted of the racketeering or drug trafficking conspiracy charges the U.S. government leveled against him eight years ago.

A 53-page indictment federal prosecutors filed in Brownsville in 2013 accused Yarrington, 64, of not only taking bribes from the notorious Zetas drug cartel, whose turf wars wracked Tamaulipas and its border from Brownsville to Nuevo Laredo, but of actively participating in their drug trafficking enterprise.

Yarrington was accused of laundering money by purchasing homes across Texas and investing in real estate developments in San Antonio and South Padre Island.

During Thursdays court hearing in Houston, prosecutors walked away from the drug trafficking allegations, dismissing the most serious charges and allowing the former governor to plead guilty to one money laundering conspiracy count.

Yarrington will face up to 20 years in prison when hes sentenced at a later date, but prosecutors said in court theyll recommend a prison sentence of less than a year. Yarrington has been in detention since 2017 and will get credit for several years of time served. He also faces a fine, and has agreed to give up a waterside residence in Port Isabel.

Yarrington admitted to using Texas real estate transactions to launder money from bribes paid while he was governor, but not to taking bribes from drug traffickers.

Yarrington received illegal proceeds from individuals and private companies seeking business with the state of Tamaulipas, Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen Betancourt said in court Thursday. These commercial bribes were made in exchange for favorable treatment by Yarrington and others for these individuals and companies through the award of contracts with the State of Tamaulipas.

The money was transferred to the U.S., Betancourt said, where Yarrington purchased assets in the State of Texas with these illegal proceeds using nominee names to hide his ownership.

She said the amount of bribe money Yarrington is admitting to moving into the U.S. was between $3.5 million and $9.4 million. Prosecutors had initially said his money laundering scheme involved $23 million.

Among the real estate prosecutors alleged Yarrington purchased with the stolen money was 46 acres on La Cantera Parkway that was slated to be turned into a mixed-use development. That property was eventually sold and $1 million was turned over to the U.S. The government also seized homes in Kyle and McAllen that prosecutors alleged he purchased through a nominee.

Yarrington, a charismatic figure in Mexican politics who was once viewed as a potential presidential candidate, spoke Spanish at Thursdays hearing but occasionally broke into English to gently correct the interpreter.

Afterward, his attorney Chris Flood said prosecutors obviously dont believe that what others are saying about his involvement in the cartels is true.

Governor Yarringtons happy to put this part of the case behind him, Flood said.

The Homeland Security Investigations-led case, dubbed Operation Green Tide, has dragged on for years.

For more than a year before Yarrington was indicted in 2013, federal prosecutors in Texas had accused him in court documents of taking bribes from the Zetas. The first public acknowledgment that he was under investigation came with the February 2012 arrest in San Antonio of a businessman prosecutors said was an intermediary between the former governor and cartel leaders in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. Later that year, prosecutors unveiled an indictment against Fernando Alejandro Cano Martinez, a Tamaulipas paving magnate they alleged bribed Yarrington and helped him launder money in Texas. In a related civil action, prosecutors again accused Yarrington of taking bribes from the Zetas.

A year later, the U.S. finally charged Yarrington, unveiling the lengthy indictment that accused him of being at the head of a racketeering enterprise that brought drugs and dirty money to Texas.

The prosecutors in Brownsville said then-governor Yarrington helped the Zetas and their masters-turned-rivals, the Gulf Cartel, traffic drugs and, after leaving office, was paid a commission for orchestrating a truce between warring narcos in a key port city.

Despite the weighty allegations in the U.S., and criminal proceedings against him in Mexico, Yarrington avoided arrest for four years.

In 2017 Italian authorities arrested him living in that country under a false name. The following year, after a brief spat between the U.S. and Mexico over who would get to prosecute him, he was extradited to the United States.

The damning allegations of drug trafficking went unmentioned at Thursdays hearing, prompting some drug war observers to draw connections to Salvador Cienfuegos, a former Mexican defense minister whose prosecution the Justice Department abandoned last year.

What is the signal that youre giving to Mexico? That youre not serious about this, said Guadalupe Correa Cabrera, a government and policy professor at George Mason University. It really makes us believe that theres no justice in the United States, either.
A body which represents the tourism industry in Northern Ireland have criticsed Stormont ministers for confused messaging around booking a holiday this summer.

The Northern Ireland Tourism Alliance was speaking after the Health Minister Robin Swann and Chief Medical officer Michael McBride had earlier in the week ruled out holidays this year.

On Thursday however, speaking during a press conference in Dungannon, the First Minister Arlene Foster said it was too soon to be ruling out a holiday, ahead of a report from the Global Travel Taskforce which is due to make recommendations around international travel.

The comments made by Mr Swann drew criticism from Brian Ambrose, the CEO at Belfast City Airport, who accused the Health Minister of potentially causing damage to the air travel industry as a consequence of his public comments and he called on a unified decision from the Executive.

Read More

Speaking to the BBC on Friday, Joanne Stuart from the NI Tourism Alliance urged the Executive to end the speculation among the ministers and to engage in a meaningful way.

What doesnt help is speculation. What we want to understand is what the data is saying, she told BBC Radio Ulsters Good Morning Ulster.

We need to see what the data is so that then everyone can make a judgement call. Certainly at this point it is far too early to say whether you will or will not be able to go.

I think it [the message] is confused. It is very clear it is the Northern Ireland Executive that makes the decisions on which restrictions are going to be eased.

The health information and scientific information is one part of how those decisions is made. When you do get these speculative comments, it does confuse people.

They are expecting to hear those comments from the Executive and obviously both the First minister and deputy First Minister said they were waiting for this report on 12 April, that it was too early to say - which is where we as an industry would be.
Tel Aviv, March 26 : The final results of Israel's parliamentary elections held earlier this week revealed another stalemate, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his opponents both fell short of a majority to form a government.

The Central Elections Committee, which oversees the elections, said in a statement that Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party and its allies won 52 seats in the 120-seat parliament, while opponents of the country's longest serving Prime Minister garnered 57, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Likud won 30 seats, down from 36 in the previous elections.

The centrist party of Yesh Atid, led by former Finance Minister Yair Lapid, won 17 seats, becoming the second-largest party.

On Thursday, Lapid held series of meetings in a bid to form a coalition government.

But in the Israeli system, the government is formed by the candidate who manages to put together a majority coalition of at least 61 seats.

Netanyahu has secured three supporter parties, which won six, seven and nine seats, respectively.

He also hopes to win the support of his former ally, Naftali Bennett, leader of Yamina, a pro-settler party that won seven seats.

Ra'am, an Islamist party, won four seats, becoming the balance of power between a Netanyahu-led coalition or a government led by his opponents.

Ra'am party leader Mansur Abbas said on Wednesday that he doesn't rule out sitting in any coalition.

Before Tuesday's elections, which were the fourth in two years, Netanyahu said he will not rule out a coalition with Ra'am.

Blue and White, a centrist party and Netanyahu's partner in his current power-sharing government, won eight seats.

New Hope, a right-wing party formed recently by former allies of Netanyahu, won six seats.

Next week, President Reuven Rivlin is expected to officially receive the election results.

Then, he will launch a series of consultations with heads of the factions, after which the president will announce who will be tasked with attempting to form the next government.

The elections were held following a series of indecisive results and prolonged political deadlock.

Netanyahu is struggling for his political survival while facing a criminal trial over corruption charges in three separate cases.
New Delhi, March 26 : The Centre on Friday told the Supreme Court that India is not the capital of illegal immigrants, contesting a plea seeking release of about 150 Rohingya reportedly detained in a Jammu jail.

Advocate Prashant Bhushan vehemently argued about atrocities Rohingyas may face if they were deported to Myanmar, as the current military government in Myanmar is unfavourable to them. "We are not in any way called upon to condone or condemn genocide in Myanmar, though we believe genocide anywhere is condemnable," said a bench headed by Chief Justice S.A. Bobde told Bhushan.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Centre, said the Rohingya, who had fled persecution in Myanmar to India, were deported only after confirmation of their nationality from the government of that country.

"They are illegal immigrants...We are in touch with Myanmar and once Myanmar confirms their nationality, then they will be deported," Mehta clarified.

The bench also compromising Justices A.S. Bopanna and V. Ramasubramanian queried Mehta, will you deport them only after Myanmar confirms? Mehta explained the government will not deport a person hailing from Afghanistan to Myanmar.

The top court observed "The fear is that once they are deported, they may get slaughtered. But we cannot stop it".

Bhushan urged the top court not to deport the Rohingyas back to Myanmar. Mehta submitted "India is not the capital of the immigrants of the world". He pointed that a strange pattern has been observed with the movement of Rohingya who illegally entered from border areas. "They entered from West Bengal and travelled all the way up to Jammu and Kashmir", said Mehta. He reiterated after confirmation from the concerned government they will deported.

Bhushan retorted, how could a confirmation from a military government, which seized power in Myanmar through a coup, can be trusted, and how could it serve basis for their deportation by the Indian government? "Is this country not obliged to maintain the guarantee of right to life," Bhushan submitted. The bench replied that it cannot refuse to recognise the sovereignty of another nation. The bench observed: "we are only considering the legality of their deportation." Bhushan said the government cannot send somebody to a place where that person is likely to be subjected to torture or may face threat to life. The Chief Justice asked Bhushan where is the evidence that Rohingya are being tortured or killed in Myanmar? Bhushan asked the court to hear the submission of the United Nations Special Rapporteur represented by senior advocate C.U. Singh. However, both the Centre and the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, represented by senior advocate Harish Salve, vehemently objected. "We will not allow the United Nations Special Rapporteur to be heard today because there is serious objection," said the bench.

Salve said treaties or conventions declined by the government cannot be elbowed through the courts and the U.N. is not subject to the jurisdiction of the municipal court.

After a detailed hearing in the matter, the Supreme Court reserved its order. An application has been filed by Mohammad Salimullah, a Rohingya refugee, through advocate Prashant Bhushan, seeking direction from the top court to the government to refrain from implementing any orders on deporting the Rohingya refugees who have been detained in jail in Jammu.
In some ways, broker Roxanna Bajras job amounts to a tale of two cities.

Theres Stamford, where home prices continue to soar, and where many commuters to jobs in Westchester County and Manhattan want to be these days.

And then theres everything north and east of Stamford  places that her clients are suddenly forced to consider as alternatives, as they watch prices climb way above what theyre willing to pay.

I am working with several clients right now who are coming into this realization that their dream, their sweet location, may not be where they are going to end up, said Bajra, president of the Stamford Board of Realtors and a broker with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices New England Properties.

3 1 of 3 Bryan Haeffele / Hearst Connecticut Media Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Alexander Soule Show More Show Less 3 of 3





Across Connecticut  but especially in lower Fairfield County, where home prices have shot up dramatically during the COVID-19 pandemic  similar stories of dashed hopes, downsized expectations and creative problem-solving are playing out.

Some buyers find themselves forced to accept aspects of a property they never envisioned.

In one extreme case, Lori Elkins Ferber, a broker in the Westport office of William Pitt Sothebys, described a New York City couple coming out on top with an offer for an antique farmhouse in Easton  with one major add-on: that they keep a barnyard of alpacas, goats and chickens.

They agreed.

Heres my New York City buyers who have never even had a dog. Its like Green Acres, living this [lifestyle]  and theyre very excited about it, Ferber said. With all these offers, agents are having to get a lot more creative about finding listings and sometimes theres some very unusual things that are happening to actually be the person that wins that bidding war.

In February, Stamford prices were running 23 percent above their levels of a year earlier, as calculated on a square footage basis by William Pitt Sothebys International Realty.

Bajra can count on one hand the list of options for anyone getting squeezed by Connecticuts heated housing market: widen your geographic search, downsize expectations when it comes to space and features, or stay put in your current home or rental unit until prices subside.

To date, theres no general rule of thumb for how much more people will pay above their original offer, Bajra said.

One client is now heading to Norwalk, which she does not want to do, Bajra said. She works in Westchester County, and that extra 20-minute drive can be a lot for her to get to work.

Another of Bajras clients  a Westchester worker who was originally considering Norwalk in addition to Stamford  couldnt find a three-bedroom, two-bath home in the right price range, and later expanded the search as far as Trumbull and Milford.

They came close to buying one property in Milford, but they couldnt make the numbers work.

It was the perfect size, the perfect street, the perfect parcel, but it needed work, Bajra said. And at the top of their price point, they cant do the work. ... So the house went by the wayside.

Bedrooms, baths and beyond

The COVID-19 pandemics impact on offices has been a major contributor to high demand for homes outside New York City.

Many earners now have assurances from employers that flexible working arrangements will continue even after the majority of the population gets vaccinated. That allows some home buyers to stick to budgets and lists of desired features by looking well outside the arc of the Metro-North commuter line stations and highway access points.

But for many others, whether for work or personal reasons, location still matters most.

Another of Bajras clients  a renter in Stamford who is now facing a lease expiration  recently elected to renew her lease for another year, as she watched homes in her price range get snapped up by above-asking-price offers. Shes now waiting to see if the 2022 market offers better options.

Besides location, buyers are reconsidering what they want in a house. Bedrooms and bath counts are still top of mind, but some clients may now take a closer look at a propertys footprint and decide whether or not it can accommodate expansion or the addition of extra rooms to fit their needs.

In its annual survey of home buyer preferences published last summer, the National Association of Realtors indicated that the pandemic caused discernible changes in buyer expectations when it comes to room counts.

Buyers submitting exorbitant bids in desirable towns are raising home prices to levels beyond the means of many, forcing them to widen their searches, according to Ferber, the Westport broker.

Especially if you have a more [specific] home, like a mid-century modern or a vintage antique restored house, these houses are really in demand, Ferber said, especially by New York City buyers who seem to really love them.

Of course, the number of those high-demand homes in any given area is small to begin with, Ferber said.

I have clients [who] start off maybe in Westport and then they are saying, Ok, lets look at Easton, lets look at Newtown, lets look at Woodbury, lets look at Brookfield, Ferber said. They are not as concerned about a commute. Theyre telecommuting. They figure that down the road, they may not even be going back to an office.

Alex.Soule@scni.com; 203-842-2545; @casoulman
WESTPORT, Conn., March 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- LCR Capital Partners is proud to announce it has joined the Invest in the USA (IIUSA) Leadership Circle and will be working with IIUSA and the EB-5 Industry in supporting the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2021 which was recently introduced by Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Patrick Leahy (D-VT). LCR Capital has experience throughout its leadership team of engaging the US Congress and will be working with the IIUSA advocacy team to galvanize support for the reauthorization of the EB-5 Regional Center Program.

Invest in USA

Active in EB-5 since 2012, LCR Capital has always maintained close ties to Washington legislators from both parties. LCR Capital's founder and executive chairman, Suresh Rajan, began his career as a policy advisor to members of the US Congress, and worked closely with then Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich, and longstanding Congressman Amory Houghton, Jr. who represented New York. Matt Virkstis, LCR's Chief Compliance Officer and General Counsel, worked for Senator Patrick Leahy and was Senior Counsel to the US Senate Judiciary Committee. Gregory Sweeney, LCR Chief Client Officer, worked for over 30 years with Praxair in leadership roles building global businesses, and during the final years, managed the company's efforts to improve regulation and legislation at both federal and state levels focused on the investment side of the chemical, electronics, healthcare and performance coatings businesses.

"LCR Capital strongly supports the current legislation that Senators Grassley and Leahy have put forward. Good record keeping and thorough investor background checks should be table stakes in our industry. If we can achieve processing time improvements, clear respect for integrity and reauthorization, we will have modernized the legislation that underpins this program. Over $40 billion have been invested in the US through this program. These funds are not from the US taxpayer, nor is it new debt that must be repaid. They are from immigrants investing in new American businesses focused on job creation," said Suresh Rajan , Founder and Executive Chairman of LCR. "First generation immigrants are a huge engine of growth for the US economy. How can we quantify the economic impact of highly-skilled entrepreneurs like Elon Musk, Sergey Brin or Alex Behring. The United States gives them the foundation to build job creating American companies that support growth across the globe."

"Leadership Circle members consist of industry leaders that have used their success within the EB-5 Regional Center Program to support IIUSA at the highest levels. Leadership members are unanimous in their support of the association and its push towards long-term EB-5 reauthorization," said Aaron Grau, Executive Director of IIUSA .

"We understand the pressure that is put on Congress to improve the legislation underpinning programs like EB-5," said Matt Virkstis , LCR's Chief Compliance Officer and General Counsel, "Senators Grassley and Leahy represent how two very senior legislators can work across party lines to support a program that is good for the United States. There are EB-5 programs in nearly every state and many of these developments would not be successful without EB-5 investment."

LCR Capital will be working with its Washington contacts and bringing in additional relationships through its development partners to help clarify any issues about the EB-5 program. LCR has already worked with hundreds of highly educated investors and fully sees the benefits these families can bring to the US companies and communities they join.

About Invest in the USA (IIUSA)

Founded in 2005, Invest in the USA (IIUSA) is the national membership-based 501(c)(6) not-for-profit industry trade association for the EB-5 Regional Center Program. Fundamentally, IIUSA is an organization focused on stimulating the United States economy for the benefit of American workers, American communities, and all those invested in sustainable, domestic job creation.

To date, IIUSA represents 130+ Regional Center members and 120+ Service Provider members across the country serving 47 states/territories. Regional Centers account for billions of dollars in EB-5 capital formation. Concretely, our work has empowered our members to create hundreds of thousands of jobs in a wide range of industries and American communities, generating billions in foreign direct investment at no cost to the U.S. taxpayer.

Through dedicated advocacy work, education, industry development, and research, IIUSA advocates for policies that maximize economic benefit to the United States. from the EB-5 Regional Center Program. Accordingly, our primary mission is to achieve the permanent Congressional reauthorization of the EB-5 Regional Center Program after nearly 30 years of enthusiastic bipartisan support and record-breaking economic impact.

About LCR Capital Partners

LCR Capital Partners is a private investment and advisory services firm that supports families interested in global opportunities. Founded in 2012, the firm's primary focus is supporting clients interested in immigrant investor programs. LCR has helped over 850 clients move to the United States through the EB-5 Immigrant Investors Program. LCR also works with the E-2 Investors Visa, the Portuguese Golden Visa, and Grenada's Citizenship by Investment program. The firm focuses on conservatively-structured funds invested in signature real estate developments. These projects create new American jobs and help develop communities across the United States, in Portugal and in Grenada. Over the past 5 years, LCR has built long-term, trust-based relationships with a global client base of high-net-worth families in over 30 countries around the world. LCR is headquartered in Westport, CT, and runs a global network with teams in Miami, San Francisco, Sao Paulo, Dubai, Singapore, and Mumbai.

Website: http://www.lcrcapital.com

For more information please contact:

John M. Baker

Chief Marketing Officer, LCR Capital Partners LLC

[email protected]

+1 646 684 7587

SOURCE LCR Capital Partners
New Delhi, March 26 : Three lives were saved in the heart of the national capital on Friday when a Delhi Police head constable and constable decided to go all super-hero risking their lives climbing a building to rescue people trapped in a raging blaze.

DCP South Atul Thakur in a statement said that a call of fire was received at 6.55 a.m. from a building at Greater Kailash area and it was entrusted to Head Constable Daryav.

All available police station staff, including the SHO were among the first team to reach the site.

"It was a fierce blaze on the second floor that had engulfed the third floor also.

"Three people -- Amit Sudhakar, 56, his wife Shalini, 48, and mother Sudha, 87, were trapped in the third floor balcony.

"The balcony was secured fully with iron grills, meaning there could be no rescued before the fire was extinguished." However, the DCP said not just the fire what was also necessary at that point before the survivors could be extracted out was calming down of their nerves -- and that is exactly what the two policemen - Head Constable Munshilal and Constable Sandeep did.

Once the rescue operation was in full swing supervised by the Delhi Fire Brigade personnel, Thakur said, "The brave police personnel scaled the walls from outside reached the iron rails and spoke to them, nearly hand-holding the three family members as the fire personnel launched the rescue from all sides.

The trapped needed to be calmed down, before any attempt to extract them could be attempted, and Munshilal and Sandeep -- did exactly that.

According to police officials, amid the blaze, two policemen - Head Constable Munshilal and Constable Sandeep -- risked their lives as they climbed on to the iron grills of the building to reach the family and calm them down.

Fire was doused after a few hours after four fire tenders worked alongside the police and persons were rescued with the help of fire department personnel, the DCP added.
RISING prices of essential commodities used to be the norm in Tanzania forcing the shilling to rail under intense pressure from market players.

Prices for food items, fuel and clothes kept on rising so were fares for public transport vehicles including commonly known daladala in urban areas. But that was no more the case after president John Magufuli came to power in 2015 and tightened control in the financial services sector and as well encouraged best practices among banks, financial institutions and bureaux de change.

It was during his leadership the Central Bank mounted a crackdown on bureaux de change in 2018 and 2019 to plug loopholes for illegal foreign currency trading and money laundering. The Central Bank had initiated the crackdown on illegally operating foreign exchange bureaux following suspicions on money laundering and associated illegal transactions.

The Central Bank Governor, Prof Florens Luoga said the clampdown on illegal operating foreign exchange shops were part of a countrywide crackdown against "masterminds of syndicates behind money laundering and those operating without licences." The crackdown helped also to ease the pressure on the shilling and helped it to stabilize against major global currencies, he said.

"The crackdown on illegal foreign exchange bureaus in 2018/19, among others, uprooted a syndicate that was behind the pressure in country's foreign exchange that caused Tanzanian shilling to weaken against the US Dollar," Prof Luoga told 'the Daily News' in an email.

"Since the operation was completed, the exchange rate between the two currencies has remained stable, which is beneficial to Tanzania, whose economy continues to be import dependent to some extent."

"And indeed the shilling maintained stability against the US dollar and other major currencies and prices for essential commodities stabilized. "The operation also helped to clean foreign exchange market of money laundering activities as some of the bureaux were used as a gateway for money laundering," he said noting that Tanzania's rating in terms of combating money laundering and terrorism financing has improved partly on account of measures that were implemented in 2018/19.

After the crackdown on foreign exchange bureaux, the Central Bank reviewed some regulations to enhance operational efficiency and plug loopholes for illegal foreign currency trading and money laundering.

In August 2020 it issued a circular to all foreign exchange authorised dealers operating in Tanzania, providing directives on foreign exchange operations to foster macroeconomic stability and safeguard the stability of the financial system in Tanzania. President John Magufuli had said in 2019 that the Central Bank had previously licensed too many bureaus and some of them had breached laws.

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The shilling remained broadly stable since the beginning of 2019 and the International Monetary Fund had said in a report that came out in April of the same year that the real value of the currency was "broadly in line with fundamentals."

Former Deputy Minister for Finance and Planning Ashatu Kijaji is quoted as saying the local had remained stable against the U.S. dollar because of effective supervision and implementation of monetary policies, which included effective control over foreign exchange bureaux.

"Controlling the foreign exchange shops business is also a key initiative taken by the government to ensure that our shilling remains stable," said Kijaji in an interview with an international news agency.
David Cameron's activities were investigated by Harry Rich, the Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists - Jacob King/PA

David Cameron has been cleared of breaking lobbying rules following claims that he tried to persuade Government figures to grant loans to a financial firm he worked for.

The investigation, by the lobbying watchdog, concluded that Mr Cameron was an employee of Greensill Capital and so was not required to declare himself on the register of consultant lobbyists.

After exchanging letters with the former Prime Minister, the watchdog made no assessment of whether claims that he sent a number of texts to the Chancellor's private phone asking for support for the firm were true.

Mr Cameron is also alleged to have approached the Bank of England about Greensill, which collapsed into administration earlier this month.

His activities were investigated by Harry Rich, the Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists  a post set up in legislation passed by the Cameron Government in 2014.

"Based on detailed information and assurances provided, Mr Cameron's activities do not fall within the criteria that require registration on the Register of Consultant Lobbyists," the watchdog's decision said.

It is illegal for someone who is not a registered lobbyist to directly lobby ministers or senior civil servants, but people lobbying on behalf of their own organisation are not required to register.

The watchdog said it had received "comprehensive assurances" from Mr Cameron that any contact he had with any Government minister or permanent secretary was made as an employee of Greensill.

Friday's decision prompted more calls for stricter lobbying rules that would also cover the activities of employees.

Liam Herbert, the chairman of the public affairs board at the Public Relations and Communications Association, said it was "inevitable that the registrar would reach this conclusion as unfortunately the legislation fails to cover the vast majority of those engaged in lobbying activities".

"The legislation fails to ensure a level playing field on transparent and ethical lobbying, because it not only excludes literally every single in-house lobbyist but even manages not to cover a significant number of consultant lobbyists, such as lawyers, management consultants and others," he said.

"There could surely be no more compelling proof that the Lobbying Act needs urgent revision than the fact that former Prime Ministers who become lobbyists are exempt from its provisions."

Rachel Reeves, the shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, said: "The Conservatives' record on transparency is woeful. A Labour Government would deal with these issues by creating an integrity and ethics commission to make us a world leader in transparency and good governance on everything from lobbying to stamping out cronyism."
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It has been a little over one month since President Biden officially announced a moratorium of new leases for oil and gas development on federal lands, and New Mexicans are already starting to feel the impact.

Our state, which is over one-third federal land, has uniquely benefitted from the ability of the energy industry to develop oil and gas resources on lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management. Last year alone proceeds to New Mexico from drilling on federal land totaled $707 million  the most of any state in the country  and accounted for nearly 10% of the states total budget.

While this current ban of new oil and gas leases is currently framed as a pause  the executive order is ostensibly supposed to last one year for a moratorium on new leases on federal lands and waters  this order could be the prelude to a more permanent ban. Such a ban would be devastating for New Mexico.

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A recent analysis from the American Petroleum Institute found if the federal leasing ban is made permanent, New Mexico could lose 62,000 jobs by 2022 and $1.1 billion in state revenue could be at risk. That is largely because state oil production on federal, state and private lands could fall by as much as 70% in two years, according to one estimate by economists from the New Mexico Legislative Finance Committee, as energy companies are forced to move their drilling rigs and the jobs they create to out of state to drilling sites with much less regulatory uncertainty.

In fact, the negative effects of even the 60-day ban are already being felt by New Mexicans, and the uncertainties in budgeting it has created threatens to cancel important new programs. New Mexico is already expected to lose $12 million in 2021 from cancelled federal lease sales, and that number will only grow the longer private companies are cut off from developing energy on federal lands.

Long-term, our states already struggling educational system will likely feel the impact of this decision most significantly. Recently enacted legislation to increase teacher pay and boost the New Mexico Opportunity Scholarship will likely be impossible to fund without oil and gas revenue. Similarly, increases in school spending and to the states contribution to a retirement fund for public education employees has been cast into doubt as lawmakers, such as myself, grapple with an uncertain financial future and long-term spending commitments.

Thats why 2019 New Mexico Teacher of the Year Jessica Sanders recently remarked that New Mexicos oil and gas industry not only provides critical funding for education, but they provide future career opportunities for our students. The Biden administration should keep sentiments like this in mind as they consider the unintended consequences of a leasing ban and threaten to shut off this important source of funding to our schools.

Fortunately, there are several ways to prevent the worst from happening. While the best solution would be for the Biden administration to allow federal lease sales to restart after this one-year moratorium expires or better yet rescind the order altogether, a legislative fix is also in the works. Congresswoman Yvette Herrell, D-N.M., has proposed legislation that would exempt oil and gas development on federal lands in New Mexico from the Biden administrations proposed moratorium.

This is an idea Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham floated as early as 2019  Regardless, her previous comments show that despite her very public embrace of green energy initiatives, the governor is also mindful of her campaign pledges to fix public education and knows how important the revenues from oil and gas leasing on federal lands are to realizing that goal.

Discussions of permanent bans of oil and gas leasing on federal lands have left the state of New Mexico, and its educational system, at an important crossroads. Our state has benefitted significantly from these revenues and stands to lose a lot should they be taken away. As President Biden weighs any further actions with regard to leasing bans, I hope he will take this potential collateral damage into account and base his future decisions accordingly.

Rep. Kelly Fajardo is the co-founder of RISE New Mexico.
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP)  Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson on Friday signed into law legislation allowing doctors to refuse to treat someone because of religious or moral objections, a move opponents have said will give providers broad powers to turn away LGBTQ patients and others.

The measure says health care workers and institutions have the right to not participate in non-emergency treatments that violate their conscience. The new law won't take effect until late this summer.

Opponents of the law, including the Human Rights Campaign and the American Civil Liberties Union, have said it will allow doctors to refuse to offer a host of services for LGBTQ patients. The state Chamber of Commerce also opposed the measure, saying it sends the wrong message about the state.

Hutchinson opposed a similar measure in 2017 that failed before a House committee. But he said the law he signed was narrower and limits the objections to particular health care services, not treating specific types of people.

I support this right of conscience so long as emergency care is exempted and conscience objection cannot be used to deny general health service to any class of people," Hutchinson said in a statement released by his office. Most importantly, the federal laws that prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, sex, gender, and national origin continue to apply to the delivery of health care services.

Opponents have said types of health care that could be cut off include maintaining hormone treatments for transgender patients needing in-patient care for an infection, or grief counseling for a same-sex couple. They've also said it could also be used to refuse to fill prescriptions for birth control, or by physicians assistants to override patient directives on end of life care

There is no sugarcoating this: this bill is another brazen attempt to make it easier to discriminate against people and deny Arkansans the health care services they need, ACLU of Arkansas Executive Director Holly Dickson said in a statement. The ACLU did not say whether it planned any legal action to try and block the law before it takes effect.

Story continues

The law is among several measures targeting transgender people that have easily advanced through the majority-Republican Legislature this year. Hutchinson on Thursday signed a law that will prohibit transgender women and girls from playing on sports teams consistent with their gender identity.

A final vote is scheduled Monday on another proposal that would prohibit gender confirming treatments and surgery for minors.

The Human Rights Campaign announced Friday that it would air a television ad in Arkansas during the Arkansas-Oral Roberts game in the NCAA Tournament on Saturday night denouncing measures such as the transgender athlete restrictions in Arkansas and other states.

Trans kids are kids. They don't deserve this cruelty," the 30-second spot says.

The bills are advancing as a hate crimes measure backed by Hutchinson has stalled in the Legislature after facing resistance from conservatives. The bill would impose additional penalties for committing a crime against someone because of their characteristics, including their sexual orientation or gender identity.
Rosenberg reports on the way in which mainstream media try to fit current stories into a narrative they care about or one they think readers should care about, adding their spin to what should be a third-party disinterested journalistic news report.

The stories are deadly serious but the media's intent is to place the blame on a strawman of their choosing. Their actions effectively play a one-sided political role rather than report actual events.

The story can be seen in conjunction with the previous story "America Choking on Wokism," in which Rosenberg reported on Chicago latte liberals upbraiding strangers in public for "alleged racism or other imputed dark beliefs." See https://newsblaze.com/thoughts/opinions/america-choking-on-wokism_176066/

These stories are part of the NewsBlaze "Underreported Political Middle Ground Series that was announced in September 2020:

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/newsblaze-senior-reporter-launches-underreported-political-middle-ground-series-301129749.html

About Martha Rosenberg

Martha Rosenberg is the senior Health Reporter for NewsBlaze, and contributes to British Medical Journal (BMJ), Consumer Reports, Public Citizen, the Annenberg Center for Health Journalism at the University of Southern California at San Francisco and the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University. She has appeared on CSPAN, National Public Radio and lectured at the medical school and university levels.

Trained in pharmacology, Rosenberg has successfully given voice to whistleblowers in both the drug and food industries who have sought to expose wrongdoing against workers, patients and the public.

Martha Rosenberg has been an important part of the NewsBlaze team since sending her first story to NewsBlaze in December 2006. Her work can be seen on the Martha Rosenberg profile page.

To Connect with Martha Rosenberg, call or email NewsBlaze or connect with her on twitter @MarthRosenberg.

About NewsBlaze Pty. Ltd.

NewsBlaze was founded in 2004 as an independent online newspaper and information portal, forming relationships with other publishers and wire services. NewsBlaze covers broad topics of interest to readers worldwide, which has helped build a loyal, global following of readers, especially in Australia, North America and Europe.

In addition, as the lead Syndicate Partner of the World City Press Network, NewsBlaze provides news, editing and content services for the publishers that make up the World City Press Network. Visit NewsBlaze.com to learn more.

Media contact: Alan Gray, [email protected], +61 8 8531 0254

SOURCE NewsBlaze

Related Links

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Stephen Kenny will hope for a breakthrough moment in his fledgling reign as Republic of Ireland manager when Luxembourg head for the Aviva Stadium on Saturday evening.

Kenny has reshaped the squad he inherited from Mick McCarthy and attempted to instil a new brand of football, but is yet to taste victory in his nine matches to date, the most recent of them Saturdays 3-2 World Cup qualifying defeat in Serbia.

Here, the PA news agency takes a look at some of the talking points surrounding the Group A clash in Dublin.

Dara or Duffy?

Shane Duffy has been a colossus for the Republic of Ireland in recent seasons (Martin Baumann/PA)

Central defender Shane Duffy played every minute of Kennys first eight games, having established himself as a mainstay of the team under predecessors Martin ONeill and McCarthy and also standing in as captain in Seamus Colemans absence. However, having lost his place at Celtic after a difficult run of form and therefore short of football when he reported for international duty, he found himself sitting on the bench in Belgrade as Dara OShea got the nod alongside Ciaran Clark. A towering presence at the heart of the Irish defence, Duffy still has a role to play, but 22-year-old OShea has stepped up impressively and represents genuine competition.

Changing of the guard

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It was perhaps significant in Serbia that Robbie Brady and Jeff Hendrick, the stars of Irelands Euro 2016 finals adventure, and James McClean, whose goals in the last World Cup qualifying campaign proved so important, were used only as substitutes. The midfield trio which started the game at the Rajko Mitic Stadium instead comprised 21-year-old Jayson Molumby, Josh Cullen, 24, and senior partner Alan Browne, himself only 25, and although largely inexperienced at international level, reflected the managers desire to play a more possession-based game. Their retention might send a message as to his plans for the way forward.

Fronting up

Republic of Ireland striker Aaron Connolly reacts to referee Davide Massas decision not to award him a penalty in Belgrade (Novak Djurovic/PA)

The foot injury Aaron Connolly suffered in Serbia is a blow, but he is yet to open his goalscoring account after six appearances. Of the remaining members of the striking pool, Shane Long has 17 goals to his name, but none since he found the back of the net in Moldova in October 2016, James Collins two  he got the second in Belgrade after coming off the bench  and Callum Robinson one, with Troy Parrott also yet to register. All four will hope for a chance to add to their respective tallies.

Story continues

Those were the days

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Should the Republic fail to emerge with three points, they will assemble for their next round of fixtures in September having gone more than two years and 13 games without a competitive win. Their last victory came in a Euro 2020 qualifier at the Aviva in June 2019 when a Joseph Chipolina own goal and a late Brady strike secured a 2-0 win over minnows Gibraltar.

Luxembourg threat

Luxembourg are up next (Liam McBurney/PA)

This will be the first meeting between Ireland and Luxembourg, who are no longer a soft touch in international football. They finished second in their Nations League C group, winning three of their games and drawing a fourth, with their most impressive result a 2-1 away victory over Montenegro, who ultimately topped the table. They fared less well, however, in the Euro 2020 qualifiers, where all four of their points in a group which also included Ukraine, Portugal and Serbia, were claimed against bottom-of-the-table Lithuania, and lost 1-0 to World Cup hosts Qatar in a friendly in Hungary in midweek.
The wait is over!

All is set for the 2021 National Arts Merit Awards (NAMAs) ceremony tomorrow, which will be held virtually under the Covid-19 pandemic regulations and will run under the theme "Our Legacy, Our Pride".

The awards will honour 40 arts legends and celebrate Zimbabwe's 40th anniversary, as well as the 35 years of the National Arts Council (NAC)'s existence.

The event, which will be beamed live on ZBC, will also be streamed on Zimpapers Television Network (ZTN) and the NAMA social media page, will be hosted by songstress Ammara Brown.

With performances from Zimdancehall sensation Poptain, Nutty O, Anita Jaxson, Busi Ncube, ExQ, DJ Tamuka and Tammy Moyo.

Another set of artistes is set to make an appearance and perform from the Diaspora.

The list, which has been described as "a first and rare occurrence collaboration -- the 'Big Diaspora Collaboration", will see seven artistes in different countries coming together on one track.

The musicians include Bekezela (SA), Brian Nhira (USA), Cindy Munyavi (USA), Sani Makhalima (Australia), Tina Masawi (Spain), Vimbai Zimuto (Netherlands) and Vusa Mkhaya (Austria).

NAMA executive director and producer, Napoleon Nyanhi, said Zimbabwe exported a lot of brilliant talent.

"At NAMA, we will celebrate with some of our best musical exports from different countries, Zimbabweans who are making it abroad. We have the talent and this is how best we can appreciate them and show to the world the stuff they are made off."

Jacaranda Culture and Media Corporation's Tinashe Kitchen said, "Our aim is to celebrate our artistes who are flying the Zimbabwean flag high all over the world. Just like the legends we will honour this year, they continue to inspire and make us proud to be Zimbabwean through their art and majesty.

"One of the NAMA mandates is to expose Zimbabwean talent to the world and the Big Diaspora Collaboration serves to herald Zimbabwe's dominance beyond our borders."

Last year, the NAMA show had an electric opening performance with a remix of the song "Ngaibake".

The performance featured Alick Macheso, Freeman, Ammara Brown and TiGonzi, and had the whole auditorium on its feet.

With Ammara Brown as their choice for hosting the awards this year, the songstress can set the show ablaze considering that she is a versatile musician, dancer and actor.

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The NAMAs are Zimbabwe's own the Oscars, the prestigious American show which covers music, dance and theatre.

This year there is an absence of the red carpet which most fashionistas, celebrities, artistes and socialites would love to walk down, showcasing their garments and power suits.

It was going to bring more excitement if it had incorporated the red carpet affair virtually, just like what happened on the Golden Globe awards ceremony recently.

Yes, with some of our local fashionistas who are craving to be seen out there because there was no activity for almost a year, some are sure that they would do whatever it takes to appear on the virtual show.

"We could have dressed up for the occasion at our houses while watching the show and then they have multiple screens which show our footage, what we are wearing," said one fashionista identified as Tarry MK of HL Classique.

"This year is about virtual, we can still do the interviews via Skype too. Maybe they thought that was not necessary, but for awards to have a spark, they need a fashion factor."

Again, this year there are no nominees as the NAMAs are honouring selected 40 legends in the arts sector who hogged the limelight over the past 35 years.
AUSTIN, Minn.  A man pleads guilty to threatening to kill someone and kicking their dog.

Jeremy James Gilbert, 34 of Austin, entered a guilty plea Friday to terroristic threats and animal cruelty.

The Mower County Sheriffs Office says Gilbert went to a home on Clinton Street in Mapleview on August 30, 2020. Court documents state that Gilbert appeared to be upset over some audio speakers, threatened to kill an adult male, and then kicked the victims dog as Gilbert left.

Investigators say Gilbert initially denied making any threats and said he was petting the dog when it attacked him but that after Gilbert was arrested and was being taken to a squad car he yelled I kicked that *expletive* dog.

Gilbert is scheduled to be sentenced on May 21. Charges of first-degree burglary and fifth-degree assault will likely be dismissed as part of a plea deal.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala., March 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Encompass Health Corp. (NYSE: EHC) will hold its annual meeting of stockholders at 11 a.m. CDT, on Thursday, May 6, 2021. In light of COVID-19 public health concerns, the annual meeting will be held as a virtual event.

Details on how stockholders can participate will be available on the Company's website at https://investor.encompasshealth.com. Stockholders should retain the control number printed on their proxy cards or Notice Regarding the Availability of Proxy Materials, as they will use this number to log in on the morning of the meeting. For those not able to attend the virtual event live, the audio webcast may be replayed through an archived link on the same website following the meeting.

Media planning to attend should pre-register with Hillary Carnel by calling 205 970-5912 or emailing [email protected] no later than Friday, April 23, 2021.

About Encompass Health

As a national leader in integrated healthcare services, Encompass Health (NYSE: EHC) offers both facilitybased and homebased patient care through its network of inpatient rehabilitation hospitals, home health agencies and hospice agencies. With a national footprint that includes 137 hospitals, 241 home health locations, and 82 hospice locations in 39 states and Puerto Rico, the Company provides highquality, cost-effective integrated healthcare. Encompass Health is ranked as one of Fortune's 100 Best Companies to Work For. For more information, visit encompasshealth.com, or follow us on our newsroom, Twitter and Facebook.

Encompass Health Contacts:

Media: Hillary Carnel | 205 970-5912

[email protected]

Investor Relations: Crissy Carlisle | 205 970-5860

[email protected]

SOURCE Encompass Health Corp.

Related Links

http://www.encompasshealth.com


Panevezio statybos trestas AB

Notification on material event

Additional Items to Agenda of Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders

Following Articles 25 and 26 of the Law on Companies of the Republic of Lithuania, information is provided on additional items to the agenda of the Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders of Panevezio statybos trestas AB (hereinafter the Meeting) to be convened.

Additional items shall be added to the agenda by a shareholder of Panevezio statybos trestas AB holding shares with at least 1/20 of all votes.

The Meeting shall be held at the meeting room of Panevezio statybos trestas AB at P. Puzino Str. 1, Panevezys on 9 April 2021.

The Meeting shall begin at 10:00 (registration shall begin at 09:30).

The record day of the Meeting shall be 1 April 2021 (only the persons who at the end of the record day of the Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders shall be on the shareholder list of the company, or the persons who are a proxy for them, or the persons with whom an agreement on transfer of voting rights has been concluded, shall have the right to participate and vote at the Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders).

The agenda of the Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders with the items added and draft resolutions:

1. Withdrawal of the Board members .

1.1. To withdraw the Board of the Company (in corpore) before the end of the term and elect the new Board.

2. Election of the Board members.

2.1. To elect for the term of 4 (four) years the following members of the Board of Panevezio statybos trestas AB:

Gvidas Drobuzas (born in 1963)  a businessman since 1989, a member of the Supervisory Board at Panevezio keliai AB.

Vaidas Grincevicius (born in 1980) (as an independent member of the Board)  educational background: Vilnius University, Master in Management and Business Administration. Participation in activities of other companies: LitBAN  a member of the Lithuanian Business Angel Network, a venture capital investor, SIQOR industries UAB  the Chairman.

Justas Jasiunas (born in 1982)  educational background: Mykolas Romeris University, Master in Law. Participation in activities of other companies: Panevezio keliai AB  a member of the Board, Aliuminio fasadai UAB  the Chairman, Vekada UAB  the Chairman, Skydmedis UAB  a member of the Board, Kingsbud Sp. z o. o.  the Chairman.

Kristina Maciuliene (born in 1978)  educational background: Kaunas University of Technology, Bachelor in Business Administration, Lithuanian University of Law, Master in Law. Participation in activities of other companies: Panevezio keliai AB  a member of the Board, Skydmedis UAB  the Chairman, Hustal UAB  the Chairman, Metalo meistrai UAB  a member of the Board, Vekada UAB - a member of the Board, PST investicijos UAB  a member of the Board.

Lina Simaskiene (born in 1968) (as an independent member of the Board)  educational background: Kaunas University of Technology, Engineer-Economist.

3. Approval of the procedure for awarding and paying remuneration of independent Board Members of Panevezio statybos trestas AB for their activities in the Board.

3.1. To approve the procedure for awarding and paying remuneration of independent Board Members of Panevezio statybos trestas AB for their activities in the Board (Annex).

4. Third party liability of Board Members.

4.1. To approve limitation of liability of the Board Member when there is no intention or gross negligence of the Board Member and when liability of the Board Member is limited to the amount of 3 (three) monthly average remunerations after taxes (received in the last 12 months) calculating the total amount of liability for all decisions taken during the term of office of the Board. The reduced indemnification of damage may not be less than the amount to be paid by the insurance company, in case the Company insures/has insured the third party liability of the Board Members using its own funds, and such damage is considered to be an insured event. It shall be deemed that any decisions made without a clear purpose to the contrary of the Company and approved by at least 4 Board Members conform to the concept of business risk.

4.2. The Company shall enter into an agreement with the Board Members on limiting the liability of the Board Members under the conditions established above.

The company shall not provide possibilities to participate and vote at the meeting using any means of electronic communications.

Draft resolutions on the items of the agenda, any documents to be presented to the Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders and any information related to realisation of the shareholders rights shall be published on the website of the company at www.pst.lt under the menu item Investor Relations not later than 21 days before the meeting date. The shareholders shall also be granted access to the information thereof at the secretarys office at the registered office of the company (P. Puzino Str. 1, Panevezys) from 7:30 till 16:30. Telephone number for inquiries: (+370 45) 505 508.

The shareholders who hold shares carrying at least 1/20 of all votes may propose additional items to be included in the agenda and present a draft resolution of the meeting for each proposed additional agenda item or, in case no resolution is to be adopted, give an explanation. Any proposals for additional items of the agenda shall be submitted in writing or by e-mail.

The proposals in writing shall be delivered to the secretarys office or sent by registered mail to the following address: Panevezio statybos trestas AB, P. Puzino Str. 1, LT-35173, Panevezys. The proposals by e-mail shall be sent to the following e-mail address: pst@pst.lt.

Any proposals for additional items of the agenda shall be presented before 16:00 on 26 March 2021. In the event new items are added to the meeting agenda, not later than 10 days before the meeting date the company shall inform about the additions thereof using the same means as were used for convening the meeting.

The shareholders who hold shares carrying at least 1/20 of all votes may propose new draft resolutions on the items that are on or to be included in the agenda, additional candidates for the members of the company bodies and the audit company. The proposals thereof may be presented in writing or by e-mail.

The proposals in writing before 8:00 on 9 April 2020 may be delivered (on work days) to secretarys office or sent by registered mail to Panevezio statybos trestas AB, P. Puzino Str. 1, LT-35173, Panevezys. The proposals presented in writing shall be discussed during the meeting provided they have been received at the company before 8:00 on the meeting day (9 April 2021). Any proposals in writing may be presented during the meeting after the chairman of the meeting reads the agenda out but not later than the meeting starts working on the agenda items.

Any proposals to be delivered by e-mail are to be sent to pst@pst.lt. The proposals received to the e-mail address thereof before 8:00 on 9 April 2021 shall be discussed during the meeting.

The shareholders shall be entitled to present their questions related to the agenda items to the company in advance. The questions may be sent by the shareholders by e-mail to pst@pst.lt not later than 3 working days before the meeting date. The company shall answer the questions thereof by e-mail before the meeting. The company shall not deliver the answer to any question of the shareholders in person provided the relevant information is published on the website of the company at http://www.pst.lt.

When registering for participation at the meeting, the shareholders or their proxies shall present a document which is a proof of their personal identity. The proxies to the shareholders shall present their proxies certified following the prescribed procedure. The proxy issued by a legal person shall be certified by a Notary Public. The proxy issued in a foreign country shall be translated into Lithuanian and legalised following the procedure prescribed by law. The proxy may be given the authority by more than one shareholder and vote in a different manner based on the instructions given by each shareholder. The company has no special form for the proxy.

The shareholder may, using the means of electronic communications, authorize some other natural or legal person to participate and vote at the meeting on behalf of the shareholder. Such proxy shall require no certification by a Notary Public. The proxy issued by the means of electronic communications shall be certified by the electronic signature of the shareholder created using any safe electronic signature software and attested by the qualified certificate valid in the Republic of Lithuania. Both the proxy and the notification shall be in writing. The shareholder shall notify the company about the proxy issued by the means of electronic communications by e-mail to pst@pst.lt not later than 16:00 on the last working day before the meeting date. The electronic signature shall be affixed on the proxy and notification but not on the letter sent by e-mail. When sending the notification to the company, the shareholder shall refer to the internet address to be used for the purpose of free downloading of electronic signature verification software. In case the shares hold by the shareholder are kept on a few securities accounts, the shareholder may authorise a separate proxy to participate and vote at the General Meeting of Shareholders in accordance with the rights carried by the shares kept in each securities account. In that case, any instructions given by the shareholder shall be valid only for one General Meeting of Shareholders.

The shareholder who holds the shares of the company acquired in his name, however for the interests of other persons, before voting at the General Meeting of Shareholders shall disclose to the company the identity of the end client, the number of voting shares and the content of given voting instructions or any other explanation related to participation and voting at the General Meeting of Shareholders agreed with the client. The shareholder may vote in a different manner using one part of his shares carrying votes and the other part of shares carrying votes.

A shareholder or his proxy may vote in advance in writing by filling in the general ballot paper. Not later than 21 days before the meeting date the form of the general ballot paper shall be published on the website of the company at http://www.pst.lt under the menu item Investor Relations. In case a shareholder submits a written request, not later than 10 days before the meeting date the company shall send a general ballot paper by registered mail or deliver it in person against signature of receipt. The filled in general ballot paper shall be signed by the shareholder or his proxy. In case the general ballot paper is signed by the proxy, the document validating the voting right shall be attached to it. The filled in general ballot paper with the attached documents (if required) shall be delivered by registered mail to the secretarys office at Panevezio statybos trestas AB, P. Puzino Str. 1, LT- 35173, Panevezys not later than the last working day before the meeting date.

The following information and documents shall be published on the website of the company at http://www.pst.lt under the menu item Investor Relations throughout the entire period starting not later than 21 days before the meeting date:

- notice of convening the meeting;

- total number of company shares and number of voting shares on the date of convening the meeting;

- draft resolutions on the items of the agenda and other documents to be presented to the meeting;

- form of general ballot paper.

Egidijus Urbonas

Managing Director

Panevezio statybos trestas AB

Information

Phone: (+370 45) 505 503

Attachment
H-E-B is a culture, but especially so for Texans who work for the grocery chain. So imagine their excitement when they saw a photo of a bagger wearing a Here Everything Bussin T-shirt.

Earlier this week, Twitter user @israeldrown shared a photo of a young man bagging groceries and wearing the H-E-Banz design, and included the caption, bro really pulled up to work wearing this shirt.

This quickly prompted H-E-B employees on the site to want to get their hands on the shirt, which also features H-E-Buddy with a grill, chain and oversized shirt, for themselves  and maybe make a few jokes as well.

For folks who may not be familiar or assumed it had to do with the booty-shaking buss it TikTok challenge from earlier this year (ahem, myself included), Urban Dictionary defines bussin as what you would say if something was really good. That seems pretty accurate given that most Texans would fight to death if someone dared to speak ill about H-E-B.

RELATED: You can soon buy Chick-fil-A sauces at H-E-B. Here's how.

As true as this statement may be about the San Antonio-based grocer, @israeldrown actually photoshopped the design onto a photo originally featured in a March 8 article from the Houston Chronicle. In the article, the man  identified as Isaiah Gatson  is wearing a T-shirt that says Be the change and has the stores logo.

Even if Gatson didnt show up to work as @israeldrown claimed, Texans can still snag the $40 T-shirt for themselves. Just maybe hold back on showing up to work in it if youre an H-E-B partner.
This is the third in a series of articles on the 2021 Berlin international film festival, the Berlinale, which took place March 15. The first part was posted March 1 6 and the second March 20.

The First 54 YearsAn Abbreviated Manual for Military Occupation

Israel has occupied the West Bank and Gaza Strip since 1967 in the longest occupation of foreign territory in modern history. For The First 54 YearsAn Abbreviated Manual for Military Occupation, Israeli director Avi Mograbi edited dozens of interviews with Israeli soldiers who have participated in the repressive operations over the past half century or so.

The interviews with 38 soldiers are drawn from the archives of Breaking the Silence, an organisationfounded in 2004made up of Israeli army veterans prepared to speak out against the occupation and expose its inner workings.

The First 54 Years

The interviews on the Breaking the Silence website are posted largely without commentary. They bear witness to the countless crimes of the Israeli regime, varying from psychological warfare and mass intimidation up to vicious forms of torture.

Having assembled the interviews, Mograbi realised it was necessary to provide some broader context and, in his manual for military occupation, he goes through the various stages of the Israeli occupation and the varying tactics adopted by the Israeli army to cement its presence, under successive coalition governments led by Labour and later Likud. The soldiers describe their orders, missions and actions, with Mograbi commenting, between interviews, on the how and why, i.e., the occupiers motives for imposing a particular system of laws and rules on the inhabitants.

The film opens with the Six-Day War in June 1967, Israels victory and subsequent land grab of the West Bank and Gaza. Large numbers of Palestinians were working in foreign countries and sending money home when the occupation began. One of the first measures adopted by the Israeli government was to prevent those abroad from returning home.

This policy led to the break-up of families and the increasing disruption of Palestinian society. This policy of shredding the social fabric was enhanced by arbitrary searches of houses, often in the middle of the night, waking families with young children and forcing them into the street, combined with road blocks aimed at stopping and intimidating those attempting to return to their homes.

At the same time, Israel commenced building new settlements inside the occupied areas for its (non-Arab) population. In the first decade after the start of the military occupation, 28 such settlements were established. The current total of settlements stands at more than 250.

When it became clear that all the talk of self-determination for Palestinians on the part of the Israeli government was hollow, and its grab of territory was being expanded, Palestinians responded with protests and riots in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and within Israel itself. One of those periods of sustained protest, the First Intifada, lasted from December 1987 until the autumn of 1991.

At this point Israeli tactics changed, as Mograbis film makes clear. We witness scenes where Israeli soldiers use clubs to beat Palestinians, including women and young children. One soldier reports that the order was given to his unit to break the arms and legs of protesters or anyone who stood in the way of Israeli troops. According to the accounts of leading figures in the Zionist regime, the order to break limbs came directly from Israeli Defence Minister Yitzhak Rabin. Another soldier reports that the torture of those taken into custody to obtain intelligence was now officially sanctioned.

The aftermath of the US-brokered peace talks in Oslo (1993)the Camp David summit (2000)revealed that Israel had no intention of pursuing peace or reversing its policy of illegal occupation. In September 2000, Israeli opposition leader (and future prime minister) Ariel Sharon, surrounded by a massive security force, visited the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Palestinians reacted to this deliberate provocation by the Israeli state with renewed protests and riots in what was to become the Second Intifada (September 2000 to February 2005).

The initial protests by Palestinian youth throwing stones were met by Israeli police using rubber bullets and tear gas. Quickly the confrontation escalated with Israel adopting a policy of urban combat involving well-armed infantry conducting house-to-house searches.

Tanks and armoured personnel carriers carried out repeated incursions into the West Bank and Gaza Strip, supported by F-16 fighter jets, drone aircraft and helicopter gunships, which carried out targeted killings. This Israeli policy, frequently involving large numbers of innocent casualties, became the model for imperialist aggression all over the world, notably the drone strikes carried out by the Obama administration in the Middle East and Afghanistan.

The First 54 Years (directed by Avi Mograbi)

In Mograbis film we see Israeli bulldozers demolishing entire houses, first to create buffer zones and then build a 435-mile, eight-metre high wall cordoning off the West Bankin turn, clearing the ground for future Israeli settlements. One soldier reports that in its response to the Second Intifada, the military high command announced there were no rules of engagement, everything was allowed. In the parlance of the Israeli government, there were no innocent bystanders. or as Avi Dichter, a chair of the Israeli Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee, put it a decade later: The IDF has enough bullets for everyone.

The final section of Mograbis film deals with Israels Operation Cast Lead, a massive assault on the Gaza Strip in 2008, which, over the course of 22 days, cost the lives of around 1,400 Palestinians, most of them civilians.

In one of the last scenes in The First 54 Years, Israeli soldiers in a bunker witness the impact of a missile fired into a civilian area of the Gaza Strip. As the missile detonates in a huge explosion with untold consequences and casualties, one of the soldiers remarks, That was so beautiful.

Israeli government spokespeople have denounced Breaking the Silence, claiming that the accusations of war crimes levelled by former and serving soldiers are unfounded and made by anonymous individuals. The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF), they claim, is a purely defensive force.

Mograbis film proves the opposite. The interviews with former soldiers who show themselves on camera demolish the claim of anonymity, and the film clips of Israeli soldiers viciously beating children, intimidating old women and looking on as bulldozers demolish Palestinian homes to make way for new settler residences underscore that the Israeli army has never been a defensive force.

The First 54 Years is a devastating indictment of the Israeli occupation, and although this is not its theme, a damning indictment of all those governments across the globe, including the imperialist powers and the various Arab regimes, that have given succour to the Israeli regime over the past decades.

Dirty Feathers

Dirty Feathers (directed by Carlos Alfonso Corral) is a black-and-white documentary following the lives of a number of homeless people in the US-Mexico border towns of El Paso, Texas and Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua.

Part of the film is shot in the Opportunity Centre (The OC), featuring short clips of residents at the homeless centre. Most of Dirty Feathers, however, concentrates on a handful of the homeless whose situation is so desperate they are excluded from the centre. We are introduced to Brandon and his wife Reagan. The latter is eight months pregnant and a crack cocaine addict. The couple have been banned from the homeless centre for unruly behaviour and are forced to live on the streets.

Dirty Feathers

Brandon has a culinary arts degree and dreams of opening up a soul food restaurant in El Paso. Reagan is struggling with her addiction and fearful for the fate of her unborn child. A highlight of their day is the donation of a pair of shoes, which allows them to burn with glee the tattered pair of shoes of a fellow homeless person16-year-old Ashley. To stay clean, Brandon takes a shower in the open from a railway water tank. The couple sleep in the open, leaving their bedclothes and belongings in the street during the day when they seek something to eat and satiate Reagans addiction.

A low point in their lives occurs when they return and find someone has ransacked their belongings. Anything of value has gone, left behind are bags of flouruseless for the pair, who have no means to cook. Brandon wears a t-shirt with the insignia God Bless America.

We are introduced to others living on the streets. Navy veteran Nathan describes his tours of duty and then the way in which he was left high and dry when he left the military. Ashley has a bruised face and traces of abuse. From her appearance, she could be 15 years older. She is highly religious, rejects all material things and is prepared to go hungry so that her fellow homeless can eat.

Director Corral describes his motivations for making the film. Born in Mexico, he grew up in El Paso, where he spent most of his childhood. He describes himself as a Chicano. In the press notes for the film, Corral writes: I have childhood memories of the police raiding our home, their goal was to destabilise our well-being, inculcate a culture of fear in us, and make us feel that we didnt belong, indicating that this is why I relate with, and care for those living at the margins of US society.

Corral is a talented filmmaker. He chose black-and-white for his film to highlight the extremes experienced by the homeless in their day-to-day lives. There are a number of lyrical scenes in Dirty Feathers underscored by his imaginative use of music.

At the same time there are discordant elements. Towards the end of the film, we return to the Opportunity Centre, where a voluntary worker is imparting life advice to the residents. God is with you, she asserts, as you dwell in your favourite space. The final shot of the film is a young man with angel wings strapped to his back who is evidently delusional. There is madness to my method, he proclaims, The question is, is there method to my madness? These scenes are unaccompanied by comment.

Capitalist society seeks to render the homeless invisible and force them under bridges and into camps on the fringes of cities or institutions hidden away from public view. Corrals film makes their presence felt. He gives them a voice, allows them to tell their stories and provides them with a degree of dignity. At the same time, the director fails to provide any broader context for the source and growth of homelessness.

Corrals film raises issues similar to those dealt with in a recent review of Nomadland . Homelessness is not a fact of nature or the inevitable consequence of individual mistakes. Rather it is a direct consequence of the unprecedented levels of polarisation between rich and poor in modern society.

Dirty Feathers (2021)

According to official statistics (no doubt an underestimation) released by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the US homeless population grew last year for the fourth year in a row. On a single night in January 2020, there were more than 580,000 individuals who were homeless in the United States, a 2 percent increase from the year before. In 2020 and for the first time since the government began counting, the number of single adults living outside209,413exceeded the number of individuals living in shelters199,478. The figure of over half a million homeless includes more than 106,000 children. These statistics do not take into account the repercussions of the COVID-19 epidemic.

Federal funding for the homeless in 2020 was less than $3 billion, that is, around one-twentieth of the wealth of one Texas billionaire, Alice Walton, the only daughter of Walmart founder Sam Walton and Americas richest woman, with an estimated net wealth of $62.3 billion.

To be continued
The move has not gone down well with many people, who accuse the authorities of killing traditional culture. In some cities, fireworks and cremations have also been proscribed. Xi Jinping is manipulating Chinese traditions to boost his regime's control over society.

Beijing (AsiaNews)  Some Chinese cities have decided to ban the ritual burning of joss paper or ghost money[*] on Qingming, Tomb-Sweeping Day[] (4 April), a traditional practice meant to honour ancestors.

Some municipalities, especially in northern China, want to limit the age-old custom because it is considered dangerous for public safety and harmful to the environment.

From 2010 to 2019, over 97 per cent of forest fires were caused by human activities, of which traditional activities were a major proportion, the Ministry of Emergency Management reported.

Recently, the authorities in Harbin (Heilongjiang) banned the manufacturing of joss paper for Qingming, pledging to punish sellers.

The irony is that only a decade ago Chinese authorities made Qingming a national holiday in an attempt to preserve traditions among the new generations.

Not only that, last Monday, Xi Jinping urged the Chinese Communist Party to kook at China's cultural roots to shape the future.

According to some experts, the Chinese president is trying to use Confucian traditions to protect the regime from external pressure.

The ban on Qingming has however sparked grassroots protests, with residents accusing local governments of killing traditional culture.

For the Chinese, burning joss paper at funerals or other ceremonies is a way to communicate with the afterlife.

Authorities have recently targeted other practices deemed polluting, such as fireworks at traditional festivals, cremating the dead instead of burying them, and celebrating lavish weddings and funerals.

According to a number of observers, these bans are a sign of poor administration and will not achieve the desired results.

In 2019, the central government published guidelines in order to change habits and customs in the countryside and build mechanisms to manage social behaviour by 2022-2024.

The quest for social control is a major feature of Xi's regime, trying to strike a balance between promoting traditions and rejecting them to achieve its end.

[*] Joss paper, also known as ghost or spirit money, is a traditional form of Chinese ancestral worship, involving the burning of sheets of paper as offerings.

[] Also known as Memorial Day or Ancestors' Day.
analysis

Nearly half of South Africa consists of flat semi-desert which can be both terrifying and alluring. Don Pinnock went exploring the heart of the Nuweveldberg Plateau in search of hazy memories and a sandwich.

Long before dawn I would be coaxed out of bed and shepherded into the back seat of the car, still clutching my pillow. There I'd fall asleep again, with the tassels of the travelling blanket tickling my cheeks.

Hours later I would wake to the hum of the engine and the smell of egg-and-mayonnaise sandwiches. Up ahead the road would stretch out endlessly, while the side-windows offered a featureless blur of brown veld and distant, flat-topped hills. We'd be going somewhere strange and exciting: Cradock, maybe, Graaff-Reinet, Molteno or some farm lost in the vastness of it all. But to get there time seemed to stretch like the rubber band trapping the grease-proof paper round my sandwich. I'd stare out the window at the cloud towers and vast blue sky, unsure whether I was awake or dreaming.

I once asked - I must have been about six - why the road went on for so long. I still...
African elephant populations have decreased dramatically over the past decades, due to the illegal ivory trade and habitat loss, an NGO has said. Conservationists say only 415,000 elephants remain on the continent.

African elephants are facing the imminent threat of extinction due to poaching for ivory and habitat loss, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) said in a report published on Thursday. The number of African forest elephants has dropped by 86% over a 31-year period, the assessment said, with the population of African savanna elephants decreasing by 60% over a 50-year period.

"We must urgently put an end to poaching and ensure that sufficient suitable habitat for both forest and savannah elephants is conserved," IUCN Director General Bruno Oberle said.

There are currently 415,000 elephants across the African continent, according to the IUCN. The African forest elephant is classified as "critically endangered," the highest threat level before extinction, while the larger savanna elephant is "endangered."

Where do the elephants live and why are their populations decreasing?

The African forest elephants inhabit tropical rainforests in west and central Africa, in countries such as Gabon and the Republic of Congo. The savanna elephants prefer the wide, open plains of sub-Saharan Africa, with populations found in Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe.

The top risk for both species is ivory poaching, which has soared over the past decade. In 2008, a huge legal sale of ivory from four African nations to Japan and China intended to reduce poaching backfired, causing more elephants to be killed from the practice.

In 1989, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) banned the international ivory trade. Yet, the ivory trade continues often because of criminal networks working with corrupt officials, with much of the ivory leaving Africa for Asia.

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Another major threat for the elephants is habitat loss, as land across Africa is increasingly being developed for agriculture and other purposes.

"If we don't plan our land-use properly, moving forward, then as much as we stop poaching and we stop the illegal killing of these animals, there will still be other forms of indirect killings due as a result of poor land-use planning," Benson Okita-Ouma of the IUCN African Elephant Specialist Group said.

What can African governments do to save the elephants?

The IUCN report also highlighted the steps some African nations have taken to preserve their elephant populations. In Gabon and the Republic of Congo, forest elephant populations are stable in some well-managed conservation areas, while savanna elephant populations are stable or growing in the Kavango-Zambezi Conservation Area, which lies within the borders of five African countries.

"Several African countries have led the way in recent years, proving that we can reverse elephant declines, and we must work together to ensure their example can be followed," Oberle said.

The Wildlife Conservation Society, a non-profit based in New York City, believes five strategies should be implemented in order to protect elephant populations. These include preventing illegal elephant killings, protecting their habitats, monitoring elephant numbers, reducing ivory trafficking and reducing the demand for ivory itself.

(AP, Reuters)
People are urged to donate online for the Irish Cancer Societys Daffodil Day taking place today (March 26).

This will be the second year in a row where Covid-19 has restricted the usual community spirit and cheerfulness normally associated with collections across the country.

The charitys flagship fundraiser would usually see thousands turn out across the country to fundraise and sell the iconic daffodil pins. However, with collection buckets silent for the second year in a row, people are being asked to support Daffodil Day online or by phone.

The Irish Cancer Society normally raises in the region of 4million when traditional events are able to take place. However, last year the charity saw a 2million drop in income from the event after it was cancelled just days before it was due to take place.

Each year more than 40,000 people in Ireland hear the words you have cancer. Over 9,000 people will lose their lives to the illness each year. Meanwhile, 200,000 patients and survivors in Ireland are living after cancer.

The Irish Cancer Society provides advice, support and practical help for anyone affected by cancer.

This year marks Boots Irelands 4th year of sponsoring Daffodil Day. Through the partnership, Boots is committed to increasing awareness, supporting people affected by cancer and promoting cancer prevention. Boots 89 stores located nationwide will be raising vital funds by selling Daffodil pins in store and hosting virtual fundraisers across the country.
(Alliance News) - Yamana Gold Inc on Friday hailed its two "cornerstone assets" as it provided a technical update on projects in Canada and Chile.

In Canada, Yamana has the Malartic mine in Quebec, while in Chile, it operates the El Penon mine in the Antofagasta region. It filed technical reports with regulators in the two countries.

"The reports provide technical updates on two of Yamana's cornerstone assets and information supporting the mineral reserves and mineral resources that form the basis for the company's 10-year strategic production outlook," Yamana explained.

El Penon has grown in strength since the last technical update three years ago, Yamana said. Since the end of 2017, mineral reserves at the asset have risen 21% to 921,000 ounces of gold. Silver resources rose almost a quarter to 29.2 million ounces over the same period.

"The operation also continues to add to its mineral inventory in both the measured and indicated and inferred mineral resource categories," Yamana added.

"Successful development of mineral reserves and mineral resources has translated into the highest production levels since the company right sized the operation in late 2016."

While output is rising, costs are falling, Yamana explained. El Penon is now in the 22nd year of its life and is still generating "significant free cash flow".

Malartic's last technical report in Canada was filed in 2014 and since then, four million ounces of gold have been produced.

Yamana added: "Project enhancement opportunities will continue to be evaluated as the project advances, including opportunities for increased conversion of mineral resources and extension of the higher-grade East Goudie zone, which have the potential to significantly extend mine life."

Shares in Yamana were 4.7% higher at 335.00 pence each in London on Friday morning.

By Eric Cunha; ericcunha@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2021 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, has landed himself in warm water with yet another federal agency, this time the National Labor Relations Board.

NLRB urged Tesla CEO Elon Musk to withdraw the tweet

On Thursday, the board learned that a tweet from Elon Musk on May 20, 2018, targeted employees with stock options loss if they chose to be covered by the United Auto Workers union. Tesla's board of directors told Musk to withdraw the tweet and cease threatening workers with job loss if they help a labor union. Tesla must issue a warning about unfair labor conditions at its Fremont, California factory. It must release a notice about the tweet at all of its locations nationwide, as per the AP News.

Tesla repeatedly violated labor laws by threatening to prohibit workers from coordinating and addressing working conditions, according to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Tesla violated the law by "coercively interrogating" employees engaging in constitutionally covered organizing activities, using gag orders to prohibit them from speaking to the media, and firing union organizer Richard Ortiz in 2017, as per the NLRB.

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According to Business Insider, companies may argue that negative stuff would happen if employees unionize under US labor law, but they can't punish workers who unionize. According to the NLRB, Musk broke the rule when he said that workers "would lose their stock options if they wanted the Union as their representative." Workers at Tesla's Fremont, California, plant have been growing their efforts to form a union with the United Auto Workers (UAW), which Musk listed in the tweet, in reaction to what they say are grueling working conditions.

In 2017, the UAW and Tesla workers filed labor violation charges against the company, accusing it of attempting to censor pro-union employees, causing the NLRB to file a formal lawsuit against it. Since then, Elon Musk has had disputes with Fremont factory workers over working conditions.

Why Did This Chinese Billionaire Suddenly Quit With His Tech Company?

Tesla previously involved with COVID-19 workplace transmission

Last May, after public health directives in Alameda County, forced nonessential companies to close, Musk defied the orders and reopened the factory. After Tesla filed a lawsuit, the county changed its mind and allowed the factory to resume operations.

Despite assurances from the company's safety chief that there had been "zero COVID-19 workplace transmissions" since the plant reopened, many Tesla employees tested positive for COVID-19 a month later. Public health data has since reported more than 450 cases linked to the facility, which employs about 10,000 people.

Tesla workers say that the company fired some employees who remained at home because they were afraid of contracting the virus, although the firm assured them they could. As part of the lawsuit, Tesla was found to have implemented laws demanding authorization for the circulation of union pamphlets and related literature as part of a series of violations of the Labor Relations Act committed by Tesla and Elon Musk.

Back pay and rehiring of one dismissed employee, removal of disciplinary reports for another, and specific notice of Tesla's workplace violations for employees at its Fremont, California, plant are among the remedies ordered by the administrative judge. The terms of the original ruling were upheld in the board decision, issued by three members, two of whom were Republicans, Washington Examiner reports.

Tesla Plant Records Hundreds of COVID-19 Cases

@ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Chinese officials have briefed diplomats on the ongoing research into the origin of Covid-19, ahead of the expected release of a long-awaited report from the World Health Organisation.

The briefing appeared to be an attempt by China to get out its view on the report, which has become enmeshed in a diplomatic spat. The US and others have raised questions about Chinese influence and the independence of the findings, and Beijing has accused critics of politicising a scientific study.

Our purpose is to show our openness and transparency, said Yang Tao, a Foreign Ministry official. China fought the epidemic in a transparent manner and has nothing to hide.

The report, which has been delayed repeatedly, is based on a visit earlier this year by a WHO team of international experts to Wuhan, the city in central China where infections from a new coronavirus were first reported in late 2019.

China firmly opposes certain countries attempts to politicise the origin tracing issue and make groundless accusations and hold China accountable Chinese Foreign Ministry

The experts worked with Chinese counterparts and both sides have to agree on the final report. It is unclear when it will come out.

Feng Zijian, a Chinese team member and the deputy director of Chinas Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, said the experts examined four possible ways the virus got to Wuhan:

 A bat carrying the virus infected a human.

 A bat infected an intermediate mammal that spread it to a human.

 Shipments of cold or frozen food.

 A laboratory that researches viruses in Wuhan.

The experts voted on the hypotheses after in-depth discussion and concluded one of the two animal routes or the cold chain was most likely to be the answer. A lab leak was viewed as extremely unlikely, Mr Feng said.

His remarks were reported by state broadcaster CCTV, which said envoys from 50 countries and the League of Arab States and the African Union attended the briefing at the Foreign Ministry.

China firmly opposes certain countries attempts to politicise the origin tracing issue and make groundless accusations and hold China accountable, the ministry said in an online post.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said: I would like to stress that virus tracing is a scientific issue that should be studied by scientists through co-operation.

She told reporters the experts are still discussing the contents and translation of the WHO report, and she did not know when it would be released.

At a press briefing later in Geneva, the WHO expert who led the China mission said the nearly 400-page report had been finalised and was in the process of being fact-checked and translated.

I expect that in the next few days that whole process will be completed and we will be able to release it publicly, Peter Ben Embarek said.
The federal government has denounced pockets of attempts by some entrenched interests to sabotage the new electronic call-up system introduced by the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) to solve the protracted Apapa gridlock.

Known as Eto, the electronic call-up system has achieved some success in its one month of operation.

Also, the government commended the NPA over the introduction of the electronic call- up system to ease the perennial gridlock on the Apapa ports access roads.

Speaking with the media on behalf of the federal government in Lagos, the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Shippers' Council (NSC), Mr. Hassan Bello, commended NPA and its ingenuity at deploying technology to solve the problem that seem to have defied all solutions.

He called on maritime stakeholders to be patient with the system adding that innovations are associated with progressive phases for success.

"I commend the NPA for the introduction of the e-call up system. The system is workable. People should have patient. Innovations are associated with teething problems; so, all that is required are some adjustment which NPA is already doing.

"We must be mindful of those who have seen the innovation as a problem to their personal interests in the system. These are the people trying to derail the system. NPA, however, is on top of the situation and we see all the challenges becoming a thing of the past soon," he said.

He, therefore, called on the maritime industry stakeholders, especially truckers and terminal operators, to cooperate with NPA to make this system workable.

"I am happy that NPA has identified the problems, procedures and the infrastructure to make this system work," he said.

Bello assured NPA of the cooperation of NSC to make the e-call up work and change the fortunes of the nation's ports and Nigerian shippers.

According to him, "the Nigerian Shippers' Council will work with NPA to ensure the success of the new system on the ports access roads."

Bello also lauded the promoters of the Lekki Deep Seaport over their commitment to the project which he described as a game-changer that will actualise the economic ambition of the nation, saying, "This is one huge step in the aspiration of Nigeria to be hub in the sub-region. So, I commend the federal government, NPA and the investors for building such edifice."

He called on the House Committee on Ports and Harbours to facilitate the legislation on FAL Convention for domestication.

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FAL Convention is the convention on Facilitation of International Maritime Traffic adopted in 1965 by the International Maritime Organization(IMO) to achieve the most efficient maritime transport as possible, looking for smooth transit in ports of ships, cargo and passengers.

FAL Convention encourages exchange of data between ships and ports, while statistics have shown that countries with more efficient FAL infrastructure have better import and export figures, thereby creating a link between reducing red tape and competitiveness as well as enhancing trade facilitation.

Similarly, he said, "NSC is also working on an important legislation, which is, 'Carriage of Goods by Land Bill'. I call on the House Committee on Ports and Harbour to see its urgency and facilitate its legislation process."

The NSC boss also called on the House of Representatives Committee on Constitution Amendment to set up a think-tank committee made up of agencies in the maritime industry, "So that we can advise the House Committee correctly on how to concentrate on drastic but good economic policies and laws that will allow the transport industry to make contributions to the economic development of Nigeria."
About 10% of the daily traffic through the Wallace Tunnel in Mobile is truck traffic, according to data recorded in 2017, the latest available. And that figure is front and center for the trucking industry as it considers the prospect of a new truck-only toll bridge in Mobile.

They are asking questions like, If we are 5-10% of the traffic count, is it fair to bear the 100% of the cost? said Mark Colson, president & CEO with the Alabama Trucking Association, who added that more information and details are an imperative for the project.

An Alabama transportation official agrees that the most recent truck data for Interstate 10 is outdated, and said that further studies would commence if local politicians in Mobile and Baldwin counties support the bridge concept.

The $725 million project was unveiled on Monday and calls for a $10 to $15 toll on large semi-tractor trailers as its financing cornerstone.

The new bridge would take big trucks out of the Wallace Tunnel, leaving it for cars and smaller trucks only.

According to the 2017 figures for Wallace Tunnel traffic, truck volume is about 8,500 per day. Those numbers have likely gone up with growth at the State Docks and increased shipping in general, said Tony Harris, spokesman with the Alabama Department of Transportation.

He said ALDOT will conduct some very detailed analysis on truck volumes so long as the Metropolitan Planning Organizations in Mobile and on the Eastern Shore get on board with the truck bridge. Those decisions are expected to occur within the next six months, if not sooner.

We believe the concept has potential, but ultimately, its the continued support of local leaders and residents that will determine the path forward, Harris said.

Its not fair

The plan has been met with concern from Mobile-based trucking companies, which worry about a spike in costs on their end.

Its kind of unfair, said T.J. Preyer, a manager with Heartsdale Trucking, a minority-owned firm based on the Cochrane Causeway near Austal USA. It will impact our business depending on how much it is. We have loads going daily, as many as 12 per day to Pensacola. So its an every day thing for us to go across (the I-10 Bayway).

The 7-year-old trucking firm also has a warehouse in Loxley, and provides deliveries to locations in Spanish Fort and Daphne.

If we have to pay tolls, we have to pass that cost along, said Preyer. In all honesty, I hope the bridge comes to fruition. But I hope they come up with a different system in regard to tolls. If its just for truck drivers, its not fair.

Ralph Amos, vice president of Southern Intermodal Xpress LLC, said its simply too early to tell what the full impact of a truck-only toll bridge might be. But at first glance, hes concerned about firms having to shoulder yet another fee.

He, too, said the increased costs would have to be passed along. Southern Intermodal Xpress, at U.S. 90 and I-165 in Mobile, runs about 200 trucks through the Mobile market and employs around 230 workers.

If it takes a separate bridge and a toll, I guess that is how you progress, but its not fun to think about  the toll part, Amos said.

Questions

Vince Calametti, a former ALDOT Southwest engineer, speaks during a news conference on Monday, March 22, 2021, at the Five Rivers Delta Resource Center in Spanish Fort, Ala. Local leaders introduced the concepts behind the latest plans for Interstate 10. The $725 million project includes building a new bridge for trucks that will be financed, in part, by the trucking industry through a $10 to $15 toll assessed on large semi-tractor trailers. (John Sharp/jsharp@al.com).

Some of the largest players in the coastal regions economy are encouraged by the fact that a bridge concept is back on the table.

At the Alabama State Port Authority, spokeswoman Judith Adams said, The port has long supported the I-10 bridge as necessary infrastructure to improve safety and to resolve travel delays for both personal vehicles and commercial freight, and without question, tolling the bridge is necessary to getting it built. She said, While it appears the proposed solution places significant costs on commerce, were open to any process that finds a fair solution for all users concerned.

At Austal USA, spokesman Craig Savage said that the company supports a bridge, which our community so desperately need. He said Austal has a strong partnership with the state to ensure neither bridge construction operations nor our shipbuilding operations are impeded during or after construction.

Lee Lawson, president & CEO with the Baldwin County Economic Development Alliance, said the states 2017 traffic data is certainly outmoded considering that Baldwins population is Alabamas fastest-growing since the last Census, and that its rate of job growth is also No. 1.

I am sure business and industry leaders in south Alabama will be interested to see ALDOTs updated traffic study, he said.

Reid Cummings, director of the Center for Real Estate & Economic Development at the Mitchell College of Business at the University of South Alabama, said the traffic study will be crucial to understand the true origins and end-users of the trucks that travel along I-10 through downtown Mobile and along the Bayway.

If 90%  are carrying goods from California to Florida, there is little or no impact to the Mobile consumers, said Cummings. But if 90% are carrying from Mobile to Baldwin County and are just serving the local market, I would think its reasonable to imagine that added costs of those tolls will be absorbed into costs and pricing models.

Cummings also said that any review should account for seasonality, or the fluctuations of the types of trucks that pass through the I-10 corridor. For instance, trucks carrying certain kinds of vegetables would travel only during certain seasons.

Colson said the trucking industrys list of questions is growing by the day and the longer those questions are left unanswered, the more concern will build, especially among Alabama truckers.

The American Trucking Industry has already signaled that might challenge the constitutionality of a truck-only toll. The industry has challenged similar truck-only tolls in other states, alleging that they violate the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution. A federal lawsuit has been filed in Rhode Island seeking to overturn that states truck-toll system.

In Indiana, a federal appeals court dismissed a lawsuit filed by the Independent Drivers Association challenging that states 35% increase of tolls on trucks along I-90 in the northern part of the state. The association claimed the toll violated the Commerce Clause, but Judge Richard L. Young said the notion that only units of government build and manage roads would have come as a surprise to the people who wrote the Commerce Clause.

In 1787, many if not most roads, bridges, canals and similar parts of transportation system were private ventures, often paid for by tolls, the judge wrote. The publicly owned interstate highway system, which began during the 1950s, would have been unthinkable a century earlier.

Healthy debate

A rendering of the I-10 Mobile River Bridge project from a few years ago. Local leaders introduced the concepts behind an alternative plan for Interstate 10 that keeps the bridge portion of the project. The overall $725 million project includes building a new bridge that will be financed, in part, by the trucking industry through tolls assessed on large trucks. (John Sharp/jsharp@al.com).

The latest I-10 bridge project, aside from the truck tolls, would be financed with $250 million from the state and $125 million from a federal grant secured by U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Tuscaloosa, to support a Mobile bridge.

The grant, though, expires in 2022, prompting local officials to scramble to find an alternative to the defunct $2.1 billion I-10 Mobile River Bridge and Bayway project. That earlier project, which would have been the states most expensive-ever infrastructure undertaking, collapsed in 2019 in the face of public anger about proposed tolling on drivers traveling the new bridge, the Bayway and the Wallace Tunnel.

The failed projects environmental impact statement (EIS), published in 2019, showed that 70% of the 684 public comments favored a the bridge and Bayway portion of the project, but opposed the tolling.

Kevin Spriggs, who owns convenience stores in the coastal region, and whos been active in road-project debates, said he believes the federal and state governments should be appropriating more money toward the new concept. He and others in the coastal region have, since 2019, questioned why any remaking of I-10 would involve tolls, whereas other projects in Alabama  namely, a $750 million overall of the I-59/I-20 corridor through Birmingham  did not.

The Birmingham project replaced bridges that were built more than 45 years ago and were designed to accommodate 80,000 vehicles per day. Before the old bridges were torn down, they were handling around 160,000 vehicles daily.

The states $250 million  that is still short, said Spriggs. And the ultimate fact of the feds only putting $125 million into this is totally wrong. Its too important piece of infrastructure to put only $125 million into it.

ALDOT Director John Cooper, in an interview with AL.com in 2019, said it was an outdated notion for the state to rely on the federal government as a reliable source to match transportation funding. Cooper urged that the $2.1 billion I-10 project be a public-private partnership, or P3 arrangement. Theres been no mention of that approach with the new project.

The new project, despite relying on truck tolls, would put a lighter burden on the trucking industry that the $2.1 billion project, which called for big-truck tolls ranging from $24 to $36.

Steven Polunsky, director of the Alabama Transportation Policy Research Center at the University of Alabama, said the concept of a truck-only toll is not particularly new, and creates a set of pros and cons that will spark a healthy debate in Mobile.

Separating truck and car traffic should increase safety and throughput, with the cost ultimately borne by the consumer through increased cost of goods, but with possible ripple effects such as altering the competitive balance between trucks and rail, Polunsky said.
New Delhi:

Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Dera, serving 20 years of jail term for raping two of his followers has been diagnosed as a sex addict by a team of five doctors including a psychiatrist.

According to the doctors of PGIMS who examined the Dera chief said that he is suffering from a disease called satyriasis  uncontrollable and excessive desire for sex.

A doctor part of examining team will not to be name said, Ram Rahim is a sex addict. No access to physical pleasure in jail is the reason behind his restlessness. He can be treated.

The Dera chief had complained of uneasiness and restlessness on Tuesday after which a team of doctors examined him at the Sunaira Jail in Rohtak.

The doctors after completing their examination said that Ram Rahim is a sex addict and the uneasiness is nothing but the withdrawal symptoms.

The Dera chief had requested the jail authorities to allow Honeypreet  adopted daughter  to stay with him in the jail.

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(Alliance News) - The US on Friday condemned a "boycott" campaign by Beijing against foreign brands that have declined to use cotton grown in China's Xinjiang region due to reports of rights abuses there.

"The US condemns the PRC... social media campaign and corporate and consumer boycott against companies, including American, European and Japanese businesses," said State Department deputy spokeswoman Jalina Porter, referring to the People's Republic of China.

At least one million Uyghurs and people from other mostly Muslim groups have been held in camps in northwestern Xinjiang, according to rights groups, who accuse authorities of forcibly sterilizing women and imposing forced labor.

"We commend and stand with companies that adhere to the US laws, and ensure products we're consuming are not made with forced labor," Porter said.

A number of clothing companies such as Sweden's H&M, American sportswear giant Nike Inc, Germany's Adidas AG and Japan's Uniqlo pledged last year to boycott cotton from Xinjiang.

The old statements resurfaced this week on Chinese-owned social network Weibo, triggering the controversy.

Several Chinese celebrities and tech firms have subsequently pulled partnerships with many of the brands from Nike and H&M to Burberry PLC and Calvin Klein a with Beijing seen as fuelling the social media war.

source: AFP

Copyright 2021 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
North Korean despot Kim Jong Un missed the test firing of his country's new ballistic missile according to photographs released by the country's official news agency.

The North's official Korean Central News Agency said the two 'new-type tactical guided projectiles' accurately hit the target off the eastern coast on Thursday. Photos on the website of the North's main Rodong Sinmun newspaper showed a missile lifting off from a transport erector launcher amid bright flames.

However, images released by KCNA did not show North Korea's dictator Kim Jong un who often provides 'field guidance'.

KCNA quoted top official Ri Pyong Chol, who supervised the test, as saying that the new weapon's development 'is of great significance in bolstering up the military power of the country and deterring all sorts of military threats existing on the Korean Peninsula.'

North Korea has released images it claims show its new tactical short range ballistic missile

The missile launch was the first test by Pyongyang in more than a year, causing further diplomatic problems with the United States and North Korea's neighbours

Images released by Pyongyang showed Ri Pyong Chol, who was in charge of the missile test, applauding the launch

Japanese officials said both weapons tested Thursday were ballistic missiles, which are prohibited by U.N. Security Council resolutions. According to South Korean officials, North Korea fired two other missiles on Sunday but they were likely cruise missiles, which are not banned.

The test-firings were the North's first major provocation since Biden took office in January. Some experts say North Korea aimed to apply pressure on the Biden administration to boost its leverage in future talks.

'We're consulting with our allies and partners,' Biden told a news conference Thursday. 'And there will be responses if they choose to escalate. We will respond accordingly. But I'm also prepared for some form of diplomacy, but it has to be conditioned upon the end result of denuclearization.'

The United States called for a meeting of U.N. experts monitoring sanctions against North Korea that will take place Friday morning behind closed doors.

U.S.-North Korea talks on curbing the North's nuclear ambitions have been in a limbo for about two years due to disputes over U.S.-led sanctions on the North. In January, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said he would expand his weapons arsenal and build up his country's military capability to cope with what he called American hostility.

KCNA said the new weapon's warhead weight has been improved to 2.5 tons. It said Thursday's test also confirmed the reliability of the improved version of the weapon's solid fuel engine and its irregular orbit features of low-altitude gliding leap.

South Korean observers said the weapon is likely an upgraded North Korean version of the Russian-made Iskander, a short-range nuclear-capable missile designed to fly at a low altitude and make in-flight guidance adjustments. They said it has a better chance of evading missile defense systems in South Korea.
Ranchi, March 26 : Unidentified miscreants looted gold worth Rs 20 lakh from a trader in state capital Ranchi on Friday, the police said.

According to the police, the incident took place in the heart of Ranchi between the Sahjanand roundabout and the Harmu Mukti Dham. The trader was carrying around half kg gold.

"I always bring gold from Kolkatta. On Friday morning, I returned from Kolkatta with half kg gold. My brother picked me up from the Ranchi railway station and were returning home on a Scooty. We did not realise that three bike-born criminals were following us. When we were crossing the Harmu bypass area, the criminals asked us to stop. One of them then pointed a revolver at my brother and asked for the bag containing the gold. They threatened to kill us if we didn't hand over the bag to them. One of them then snatched the bag as the trio fled the spot," said Jitendra Kumar, the victim.

On being informed by the trader about the incident, the police reached the spot to probe the matter. They are presently scanning the CCTV footages to trace the criminals.
President Moon Jae-in speaks at the event marking the sixth anniversary of the Yellow Sea Defense Day at Pyongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, Friday. Yonhap



President Moon Jae-in on Friday censured North Korea's recent ballistic missile launches, saying that military provocations by Pyongyang are "undesirable" amid efforts to revive stalled international negotiations on the North's nuclear program.



In his speech to a ceremony to mark the sixth anniversary of the Yellow Sea Defense Day held at the Navy's 2nd Fleet Command in Pyeongtaek, 70 kilometers south of Seoul, Moon said that "actions providing difficulty for the mood for dialogue are undesirable."



"I'm aware the people are greatly concerned by the North's missile test-firings. Now is the time for South and North Korea and the United States to work to continue our dialogue," he added.



Moon stressed South Korea remains firm in its security readiness to combat any and all types of provocations.






In a new Twitter post, OnePlus founder and CEO Pete Lau delivered news that the companys OnePlus 9 series smartphones have overtaken the OnePlus 8 series in day1 pre-orders by more than three times.

There's really just one thing I can say: thank you, to all our community, old and new. pic.twitter.com/UPO5RdMf5d  Pete Lau (@PeteLau) March 26, 2021

After weeks of being teased, OnePlus fully unveiled the OnePlus 9 series earlier this week. The company announced a new partnership with Hasselblad that would help the company improve its cameras. Both the 9 and 9 Pro have a new 50MP ultrawide camera that sees significant improvement in low-light and nearly eliminates lens distortion. Though the two phones have different main camera sensors, they are both tuned by Hasselblad.

The new partnership has resulted in higher interest in OnePlus phones. That, and the companys recent shakeup thats pumped out several midrange devices has made raised awareness for the brand in global markets. In North America, the OnePlus 9 and 9 Pro arrived at T-Mobile as the exclusive partner, though Verizon didnt pick up the new series this year.

What do you think about the OnePlus 9 this year? Will you be picking up one of them or the OnePlus 9R or are you skipping out this year?

Via Twitter
The death toll reaches 328, with more than 3,000 arrested since Feb. 1 coup.

This photo taken and received from an anonymous source via Facebook on March 25, 2021 shows security forces holding weapons on a street in Taunggyi in Myanmar's Shan state, during a crackdown on protests against the military coup.

Myanmars military junta broadcast a threat Friday that anti-regime protesters would be shot in the head, as security forces killed six demonstrators in a southern coastal city, pushing the death toll since the Feb. 1 to more than 320, witnesses told RFA.

The juntas warning, broadcast on state-run MRTV News prior to its 8 p.m. news program, said the protesters should learn that they can be in danger of getting shot in the head and back, and urged the people not to fall into a colonialist propaganda trap.

The warning came just hours before Saturday, Armed Forces Day, on which the junta is planning a show of force, including a military parade, and activists are calling for more protests across the nation of 54 million people.

Earlier in the day, police opened fire on a crowd of protesters in the southern coastal city of Myeik, killing six.

Among the dead were 19-year-old Min Myat Paing, an unidentified 32-year-old Muslim woman and mother of three, and four others who have yet to be identified.

Min Myat Paing was shot in the head and died immediately according to his brothers Facebook page.

Pictures and posts on Facebook showed police and soldiers shooting from the inside of an ambulance. A Myanmar Now report, quoting the man who donated the ambulance, said security forces took it away after dragging four firemen out of the vehicle.

In Khin Oo township in the northern Sagaing region, two men who were shot on Thursday passed away in the hospital.

The two dead are Toe Zaw Aung of Kanthit village and Zaw Win Maung of MyaKanthar ward, both 19 years old. We are now at Shwebo Civil Hospital to retrieve Toe Zaw Aungs body and will hold a funeral service this afternoon, a source close to the two men, who requested anonymity for safety reasons, told RFAs Myanmar Service Friday.

There is no one to claim Zaw Win Maungs body yet because his wife is in hiding because she was also part of the protests. I have contacted the Free Funeral Service on his behalf. During the fighting yesterday 21 people were arrested, said the source.

Demonstrators sitting on motorcycles display flags during a protest in Launglone, Dawei district, Myanmar March 26, 2021. Credit: Reuters

Protests in many parts of the country on Thursday continued into the evening, with security forces killing and wounding several protesters as clashes continued into the night.

In Sagaings Tamu township, bordering India, police and soldiers killed at least two and wounded seven Thursday, eyewitnesses told RFA.

The two men had sustained injuries while protesting and were in the process of being rushed to Kalemyo General Hospital, when police stopped the car they were riding in. They died shortly after.

Local residents told RFA that four others were in critical condition after they were shot in the head and chest. Several others were undergoing treatment at a makeshift first aid camp.

Sources said the shooting in Tamu started when local residents surrounded policemen and soldiers as they approached two jewelry shops in the town.

About a dozen Myanmar nationals from Tamu crossed the border into India Thursday and three in the group were admitted to the hospital with serious bullet wounds, the Associated Press reported. The hospitalized were allowed to stay in India on humanitarian grounds, while the others were repatriated.

Yangon raid

Meanwhile in the commercial center Yangon, police and soldiers raided residential quarters in South Dagon township at about 10 p.m. Thursday, killing a man on the spot, witnesses told RFA through a messenger app. They said 10 other people were injured in gunfire and 15 youths were also beaten up and taken from their homes.

Police and soldiers arrived in North Dagon on about 15 trucks and began firing automatic weapons indiscriminately, shooting people with rubber bullets, teargas and slingshots.

There was a lot of shooting and many were wounded. Three people are now in critical condition, an eyewitness told RFA.

There is now a large police and soldier presence in wards 70, 71, and 72. They forced people nearby to remove the makeshift barriers in the streets, the eyewitness said.

Elsewhere in the city, at about 4 a.m., a Molotov cocktail was thrown at the headquarters of the National League for Democracy, the party ousted by the Feb. 1 military takeover. The incident was caught on nearby security cameras and posted to Facebook.

Local residents told RFA they had to break down the entrance gate to put out the fire themselves after the local fire department failed to respond despite several calls. Not much damage was reported, with the exception of only the front entrance.

Anti-coup protesters gesture during a march in Yangon, Myanmar, Friday, March 26, 2021. Credit: AP

In the nearby Bago regions Pyu township, a 20-year-old man died after police fired at crowds descending on the police station to demand the release of several protesters that had been arrested. The fate of another man who was shot is not yet known.

In Monywa, the largest city in Sagaing, security forces broke into houses and arrested 20 people, residents told RFA.

Authorities kicked down doors and arrested about 15 men, a woman who insisted on remaining anonymous told RFA.

They were searching for one man by name at one house, and they ended up taking away a woman and her six-year-old son because they couldnt find her husband. They also arrested maybe six or seven men sitting at the Shwe Ohnthee Teashop, as well as the owner and an employee of the shop, she said.

According to a tally verified by RFA, more than 270 civilians were killed by the juntas security forces since Feb. 1.

The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, an NGO based in Thailand, reported that at least 328 people have been killed in the crackdown as of Friday, and more than 3,000 arrested, charged, or sentenced.

Reported by RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Khin Maung Nyane. Written in English by Eugene Whong.
Fort Lauderdale, Florida--(Newsfile Corp. - March 26, 2021) - UAS Drone Corp. (OTCQB: USDR), a leader in robotics technology and drone solutions, announced today that its Board of Directors has appointed Yossi Balucka as Chief Executive Officer and President of the Company and its subsidiaries.

Mr. Balucka served for 25 years in various field and headquarters positions in the Israeli Navy and retired as Colonel. Following his retirement from the Israeli Navy, between 2014 and 2016, Mr. Balucka served as a senior executive and management member for retail and customer service at Partner Communications Ltd., one of the leading mobile telecommunications companies in Israel. From 2017 to 2019, Mr. Balucka served as the CEO of Electra Technologies Ltd., a division of Electra Ltd., which is active in the fields of integrated electro-mechanical and construction. Since 2019, Mr. Balucka has been providing global strategic consulting services in the field of defense for international corporations, including Elbit Systems.

Mr. Balucka's leadership appointment is effective immediately, and accordingly, Mr. Sagiv Aharon has stepped down as Chief Executive Officer and President of the Company and will continue to serve as Chief Technology Officer of the company and as a Director.

The board of the Company believes that the position of the Company's CEO now requires additional attributes to successfully execute on the Company's strategy and lead the recently announced collaboration with Elbit Systems Land. The Company believes Mr. Balucka has the proper operational and communication skills and leadership abilities to deliver improved execution and financial performance.

About Duke Robotics:

In June 2020, UAS Drone Corp. (OTCQB: USDR) completed the acquisition of Duke Robotics Inc. Duke Robotics is a forward-thinking company focused on bringing necessary products and solutions to the defense sector. Duke Robotics developed TIKAD, an advanced robotic system designed to serve the growing need for tech solutions in the combat field. The Company's wholly owned subsidiary, Duke Robotics' revolutionary stabilization technology enables remote, real-time and accurate firing of lightweight firearms and weaponry via an unmanned aerial platform (UAV). The proprietary and confidential complex kinematic algorithms address the crucial need of modern warfare to carry weapon on remote to bear on remote hostile targets without risk to the military personnel.

We believe that troops can use TIKAD to handle potentially dangerous situations quickly and efficiently from the air. This technology also allows troops to potentially disarm a situation remotely, without ever deploying a ground presence.

For more information about Duke Robotics, please visit www.dukeroboticsys.com or view documents that USDR files with the Securities and Exchange Commission at http://www.sec.gov.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements. Words such as "future" and other similar expressions or future or conditional verbs such as "will" are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and are based on our beliefs as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to us. For example, when we discuss the belief that the position of the company's CEO now requires additional attributes to successfully execute on the company's strategy and lead the recently announced collaboration with Elbit Systems Land, the belief that Mr. Balucka has the right proper operational and communication skills and leadership abilities to deliver improved execution and financial performance, and that troops can use TIKAD to handle potentially dangerous situations quickly and efficiently from the air, we are using forward looking statements. Accordingly, our actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements due to known or unknown risks and uncertainties that exist in our operations and business environment including, but not limited to: the successful integration of acquisitions; significant fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates; and competition, including technological advances. For additional information on these and other risks and uncertainties, please see our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the discussion under "Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" in our Annual Reports on Form 10-Ks and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Qs. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Investor Contact:

Contact name: Erez Nachtomy

Phone number: +97248124101

Email address: invest@dukeroboticsys.com

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/78611
Uber will open its new Mission Bay headquarters on Monday, becoming the first major office employer in San Francisco to return to work after restrictions were lifted.

The ride-hailing company will open next to the Warriors Chase Center at 20% capacity and on a voluntary basis. The four-building complex is over 1 million square feet, enough space for around 5,000 workers before the pandemic. Construction was completed during the pandemic.

Uber drivers, who are classified as independent contractors, have been allowed to operate throughout the pandemic, but office workers were allowed to work remotely until Sept. 13.

As cities will carefully return to a new normal, so will we, Uber said in a statement to The Chronicle.

Workers will be required to take daily health screenings including temperature checks at home to qualify. The company is increasing cleaning services and requiring face coverings.

Uber has around 22,000 global employees and is one of San Franciscos largest employers. Offices in New York have also reopened.

Tech giants are moving to reopen offices after San Francisco and Silicon Valley entered the states orange tier, which allowed non-essential workplaces to resume operations. Facebook is opening its Menlo Park headquarters on May 10 and its San Francisco towers on June 7 if virus trends continue to improve.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom said all residents 50 or older will be eligible for a vaccine on April 1 and everyone 16 or older will be eligible on April 15.

Reuters first reported Ubers reopening plans.

Interactive Vaccine Tracker: Latest developments Detailed information about the coronavirus vaccines as it becomes available.

Uber was one of the fastest-growing tech companies in the past decade, leasing and buying over 2 million square feet of office space in the Bay Area. But even before the pandemic, the company listed sublease space in four buildings in Mid-Market and downtown San Francisco as it planned to move to its new Mission Bay buildings. It is also listing sublease space in other cities like New York and Dallas.

Uber bought part of the Mission Bay site from Salesforce in 2014, after the cloud computing company shifted its own headquarters plans to what is now Salesforce Tower. In 2017, Uber bought a stake in the two office buildings that are part of the Chase Center project, partnering with the Warriors and developer Alexandria.

The pandemic has weakened Ubers core ride-hailing business while boosting its Uber Eats food delivery. Uber laid off 6,700 employees last May and bought rival Postmates in December.

Roland Li is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: roland.li@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @rolandlisf
Acting Features Editor

Jennifer Huberdeau is the acting features editor. Prior to The Eagle, she worked at The North Adams Transcript. She is a 2020 New England First Amendment Institute Fellow and a 2010 BCBS Health Care Fellow.
Huntington, WV (25701)

Today

Mostly cloudy with scattered thunderstorms mainly during the evening. Areas of patchy fog. Low 61F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%..

Tonight

Mostly cloudy with scattered thunderstorms mainly during the evening. Areas of patchy fog. Low 61F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%.
In this handout photo taken from a footage released by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on March 26, 2021, A Russian nuclear submarine breaks through the Arctic ice during military drills at an unspecified location. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday hailed the militarys performance during recent Arctic drills, part of Moscows efforts to expand its presence in the polar region. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin has hailed the militarys performance during recent Arctic drills, part of Moscows efforts to expand its presence in the polar region.

Navy chief Admiral Nikolai Yevmenov reported to Mr Putin that the exercise featured three nuclear submarines simultaneously breaking through Arctic ice and warplanes flying over the North Pole.

This weeks drills were conducted around Alexandra Land, an island that is part of the Franz Josef Land archipelago where the military has recently built a base.

Moscow has prioritised beefing up its military presence in the Arctic region, which is believed to hold up to a quarter of the Earths undiscovered oil and gas.

Expand Close Russian nuclear submarines break through the ice during military drills in the Arctic (Russian Defence Ministry Press Service/AP) / Facebook

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Whatsapp Russian nuclear submarines break through the ice during military drills in the Arctic (Russian Defence Ministry Press Service/AP)

Mr Putin has in the past cited estimates that put the value of Arctic mineral riches at 22 trillion.

Russia, the US, Canada, Denmark and Norway have all been trying to assert jurisdiction over parts of the Arctic, as shrinking polar ice opens new opportunities for tapping resources and opening new shipping lanes.

As part of its efforts to project its power over the Arctic, the Russian military has rebuilt and expanded numerous facilities across the polar region in recent years, revamping runways and deploying additional surveillance and air defence assets.

As part of this weeks manoeuvres, a pair of MiG-31 fighters flew over the North Pole, Adm Yevmenov said.

A Defence Ministry video featured them being refuelled by a tanker plane.

Expand Close A MiG-31 fighter is refuelled (Russian Defence Ministry Press Service/AP) / Facebook

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The video also showed three nuclear submarines that smashed through the Arctic ice next to one another.

Mr Putin noted that the exercise was unprecedented for the military and praised its skills. He added that the manoeuvres have also proven the reliability of Russian weapons in polar conditions.

I order to continue Arctic expeditions and research in the Far North to help ensure Russias security, the president told the navy chief.

The Russian military has expanded the number and the scope of its war games amid bitter tensions in ties with the West, which have sunk to post-Cold War lows after Russias 2014 annexation of Ukraines Crimea region.
By Ju-min Park and John Geddie

TOKYO (Reuters) - A consortium of private Japanese firms and a Japanese state entity paid rent on a multi-million dollar hotel and office development that ultimately went to Myanmars defence ministry, six company and government officials told Reuters.

It is the first time Japan has acknowledged the project benefits Myanmars defence ministry, which is controlled by the military under the countrys constitution. The payments, starting in 2017, are not illegal but are potentially embarrassing for Japan given United Nations investigators have alleged human rights abuses by Myanmars military. Reuters could not determine how much rent was actually paid to the defence ministry.

Known officially as the Tatmadaw, Myanmars military is under investigation for genocide by the International Court of Justice over its offensive against Rohingya Muslims in 2017. The military seized control of the country in a Feb. 1 coup and has since detained the countrys elected leader and killed more than 261 protesters.

Myanmars defence ministry and the military junta could not be reached for comment. Myanmars army has said its action against the Rohingya were clearance operations targeting militants and the government has rejected accusations of human rights abuses and genocide as false. The junta has blamed the killings since the coup on protesters themselves, accusing them of arson and violence.

The Y Complex, built on army-owned land near the Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon, is just one of many assets and projects linked to Myanmars military, which has ruled the country for the majority of the last 60 years.

The military controls two conglomerates with interests ranging from mining to banking. Some foreign investors have struck partnerships with the conglomerates over the past decade as Myanmar's democratic government attempted to open the countrys economy.

Each party to the Y Complex deal told Reuters they thought the rent, which was paid by an intermediary, ultimately was going to Myanmars government, not the military.

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Ryota Nagao, an official at the international policy division of Japans land ministry, which approved the state agency's investment, said the ministry had judged the project was not dealing with the military directly or indirectly because the defence department was a government ministry. He declined to comment on the fact that Myanmars defence department is controlled by the military, under the countrys 2008 constitution, drafted during previous army rule.

Japanese construction company Fujita Corp said in a press release in 2017 that the Yangon project, converting a former military museum into a complex of swanky offices, shops and a five-star hotel, would cost $330 million.

Fujita, property manager Tokyo Tatemono Co and Japans state investment firm JOIN, which is overseen by Japans land ministry, told Reuters they formed a consortium that paid rent on the land the complex is built on. The state-owned Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) said in 2018 it was taking part in financing the project.

Fujita, Tokyo Tatemono and JOIN declined comment on how much rent has been paid and how much ended up with the Myanmar defence ministry.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato, the Japanese governments most senior spokesman, acknowledged the involvement of JOIN and JBIC in the Y Complex project, through a special purpose company. In response to Reuters questions, he said it was his understanding that neither entity had a direct business relationship with Myanmars military.

Fujita initially said the project would be finished in 2020. Construction was suspended after the coup due to concerns over worker safety, said JOIN, which is 95% owned by the Japanese government. Representatives of each of those parties told Reuters the rent payments were made via its local partner Yangon Technical and Trading (YTT), a subsidiary of privately held Myanmar conglomerate Ayeyar Hinthar which has interests in agriculture, banking, healthcare and property.

Kyi Tha, a YTT official, said that the site is being leased by the defence ministry and that the ultimate beneficiary is the Myanmar government. He said no special steps had been taken to assess the Myanmar militarys human rights record. That is not a requirement under any laws or regulations.

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Chris Sidoti, who has researched the Myanmar militarys economic interests for the United Nations, said Y Complex was the only example he had found of a military-linked project involving foreign government entities.

Each of the Japanese state entities and companies declined to comment on the terms of the deal, which was approved by Myanmar in 2017. A trove of purported official Myanmar records leaked last month and posted online by Distributed Denial of Secrets (DDoSecrets), which describes itself as a whistleblower website, indicates the rent on the complex amounts to about $2 million a year over 50 years. Reuters could not independently verify the terms of the deal, or how much the military is set to actually receive.

Documents on the DDoSecrets website show a project company controlled by the Japanese investors, Y Complex Company, agreed to pay $1.8 million out of a total $2.2 million in rent payments to the defence ministry, via an intermediary account, each year from 2019. The remainder was to be paid by YTT, according to the documents. For 2017 and 2018, called the construction phase, the project company agreed to pay a lesser amount of $500,000 out of $573,160 in annual rent, documents show. Reuters could not determine how much rent has actually been paid to the defence ministry.

JOIN, Fujita and Tokyo Tatemono paid $1.8 million in rent in 2019 for the project, according to the audited accounts of a Singapore holding company formed by them for the Y Complex scheme. The filing made to Singapores companies regulator does not say to whom the rent was paid. Each of the three companies which formed the entity declined to comment on the figure.

Japan is the worlds fifth-largest investor in Myanmar, putting $1.4 billion into the country over the past five years, according to Myanmars Directorate of Investment and Company Administration. Japanese officials have said the countrys ties with Myanmar, which also include aid donations, academic exchanges and medical and disaster relief training for its military, help counter China's growing influence in the region.

Revelations about economic ties to Myanmars military may put more pressure on Tokyo and Japanese companies to drop them, according to human rights groups. Last month, days after the coup, Japanese brewer Kirin axed a beer venture with Myanmar Economic Holdings Ltd, one of two conglomerates owned by the Myanmar military, saying it was deeply concerned by the militarys recent actions, referring to the coup, which it said were against its standards and human rights policy.

This will have severe reputational implications for not just JOIN and JBIC, but for Japan as a country, said Akira Igata, a national security expert at Tama University. Japan is at risk for being perceived as a country that will continue doing business with human rights violators.

In early March, the U.S. Department of Commerce imposed sanctions on Myanmars military-controlled defence and home ministries saying they were responsible for the coup. The U.S. Treasury Department also has imposed sanctions on Myanmars defence minister, Mya Tun Oo, and his predecessor, Sein Win, among others.

Justice for Myanmar, Human Rights Watch and other pressure groups on Feb. 17 asked a United Nations' human rights body to investigate Y Complexs ties to the military. A spokeswoman for the U.N. human rights working group said it had received the petition, but declined further comment.

Yoshihiro Kubo, an official who handles Myanmar business for JOIN, declined comment on the future of its involvement in Y Complex. He described the situation as "painful and difficult" but did not elaborate.

Japans finance ministry, which supervises JBIC, directed questions to JBIC. JBIC said its loans for the project comply with Japanese laws and global sanctions, and that it was monitoring the situation in Myanmar.

JBIC said in a 2018 press release that Japanese banks Mizuho Bank and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp would also provide loans to the project. Both declined comment.

Fujita and Tatemono both said in emailed statements that they will "keep an eye on the situation" while considering future measures.

(Reporting by Ju-min Park in Tokyo and John Geddie in London; Additional reporting by Tetsushi Kajimoto and Antoni Slodkowski in Tokyo and Reuters staff; Editing by Bill Rigby)
26 years old Abdul Turay, a driver, has made his first appearance before Magistrate Sahr Kekura at the Pademba Road Court No.4 for alleged fraudulent conversion.

He was before the court on one count of fraudulent conversion contrary to Section 20(1) (1V) (11) of the Larceny Act.

Police prosecutor, Sergeant 7224 Songo J.K, alleges that the accused on Saturday, 13th February, 2021, at Hill Cut Road Kingharma Road Round- About in Freetown, fraudulently converted to his own use and benefit certain property-one maroon Toyota dyna van with registration number ALC 421 valued seventy six million Leones, entrusted to him by Amadu Bangura for the purpose of safe keeping.

The complainant testified that he knows the accused and recalled on the said date.

He said on that day he was at his residence when the accused visited him and that he gave his vehicle with registration number ALC 421, to him for commercial purpose.

He said since that day, he could not set eyes on him and that he made statement at the Central Police Division about the issue.

He said the accused was arrested by his relatives who handed over to him (the complainant) while he took him to the said police station and made statement.

Magistrate Kekura refused bail and remanded the accused in custody and adjourned the matter to the 30th March, 2021.
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A petition started by students of the teacher suspended by Batley Grammar School has been signed by thousands of people today - at a rate of one per second - as it was revealed he was forced to flee his home because of death threats.

The 'burly Yorkshire lad' in his 20s, who has not been named, is getting support from police after he allegedly showed cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad as the headteacher today kept 980 children at home after 50 Muslim protesters from outside the area turned up for a second day.

Some of his students have launched a petition trying to save his job, which has been signed by more than 8,500 people.

People who backed the campaign to save his job have described him as a 'good man' and a 'diligent teacher' who is 'respectful of all religions'. Others said the school must stand by him, insisting he was being 'bullied out' by 'radicals'.

One Muslim parent signed the petition, named Mohammed J, wrote: 'I would like to convey my support for the school and also the teacher concerned. He has taught my daughter and she speaks very highly of him. I would not hesitate to see him teach her again. I am confident that the teacher concerned did not mean any offence and I hope following an investigation he returns to his role at the school.'

Another signatory said: 'He is loved by many students. Muslim and non Muslim. Batley Grammar stand up for one of your own. Don't lose a good teacher'.

Protesters managed to close the school today but none of the demonstrators MailOnline spoke to this morning were parents of children there, and had travelled to Batley from Dewsbury, Bradford and Leeds to join a smaller group of locals social media and WhatsApp groups. Many have pledged to protest there every day until he is sacked.

Education secretary Gavin Williamson has condemned the protests and said schools must be free to show 'challenging or controversial' materials in class. Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick said it was 'very disturbing'that the teacher has been forced into hiding.

The amateur rugby player, trained to teach in the mid-2010s after going to university in the north of England, and now lives in the area close to his West Yorkshire school with his partner. Recently he described his love of his job and helping educate young people from his area.

His neighbour, who is concerned for her own safety after protesters published his name online, has told MailOnline that he left his home at 9.30am yesterday and was rushed into a black vehicle. It is not known if it was an unmarked police car.

She added: 'I saw him and his family leaving in a rush yesterday. They got into a black car. A car which belongs to them is still at the front. They seemed in a hurry and they haven't come back last night and are not here today. I have phoned the police myself because I am worried in case there is any trouble as I live above them and I have got a baby. I can't go and stay with my parents because of Covid.'

The row of the teacher's RE lesson continues as:

Ministers speak out to defend 'free speech' and demand people protesting outside the school must go home and let the school and council investigate;

Protesters say they will come every day and have done nothing wronmg by naming the teacher online, claiming if he had upset the LGBT or Jewish communities he would have already been sacked;

Neighbours described a 'kind' and 'smiling' teacher who loved his job and saw helping students as his vocation;

Pupils launch petition to save his job, which has also been backed by some Muslim parents whose children were taught by him;

Protesters bowed their heads outside the school today as it was revealed the teacher facing death threats has been forced to flee the area

A protester speaking 'on behalf of the Muslim community' read out a statement outside of the school on Friday, and said 'We do not accept that the school has taken this issue seriously, given that it's taken them four days to merely suspend only one of the teachers involved'

The RE teacher facing death threats and protests at his Batley school (pictured today) is a 'burly Yorkshire lad' who recently wrote about his love for the job

Today more Muslim protesters gathered at the gates of Batley Grammar School and were spoken to police as the teacher was suspended from his job and the headteacher issued a humbling apology and shut the school

A student turned up at the gates for school only to be told the headteacher had shut it down for the day due to the ongoing protests

One of the protesters watches a police officer at the gate of the West Yorkshire school where a young teacher was accused of blasphemy

Protesters told MailOnline that the teacher has insulted 2billion Muslims around the world and must be sacked immediately

The protesters have included local faith leaders from across Yorkshire who are calling for the school to take action now

The group outside the gates insist that they want a peaceful protest and will remain until the teacher has been fired

The protesters, all Muslim men, are angry that the RE teacher allegedly showed cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad to students.

A man amongst the 50 protesters admitted he had posted the teacher's name on Facebook with a letter condemning - but told Mail Online he had done nothing wrong

'What next? People being punished for insulting unicorns?': Ricky Gervais ridicules furious backlash at teacher Mr Gervais, a well known defender of free speech also famed for his own outrageous and often offensive jokes, tweeted to his 14.5million followers that it was like getting 'punished for insulting unicorns' Ricky Gervais has ridiculed Muslims angry with a teacher given death threats after allegedly showing cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad to students, declaring: 'What next? People being punished for insulting unicorns?'. The atheist British comedian has mocked the protesters who gathered outside Batley Grammar School again today demanding the unnamed teacher is sacked for blasphemy, forcing the headteacher to keep 980 children at home. Mr Gervais, a well known defender of free speech also famed for his own outrageous and often offensive jokes, tweeted to his 14.5million followers: 'Blasphemy? F***ing Blasphemy? It's 2021 for f**k's sake. What next? People being punished for insulting unicorns?'. The creator of The Office, After Life and Extras, was backed by BBC broadcaster Nicky Campbell, who said Mr Gervais' tweet was about the 'lunacy of blasphemy', branding it a 'victimless crime' while rowing with a critic of the comedian. One critic of the comedian called his tweet: 'An insult to the Islamic community worldwide'. Gervais is famed for being outspoken on Twitter, especially scathing remarks about religion, saying previously: 'Imagine if you carried on believing in Santa and the tooth fairy into adulthood. And even killed & started wars over it. Haha. Imagine that'. On another occasion he wrote: 'Everyone has the right to believe anything they want. And everyone else has the right to find it f***ing ridiculous'. Advertisement

Dozens of British Muslims, all of them men, returned to the school today, holding prayers and speeches and demanding the immediate sacking of the teacher at the school, where almost three-quarters of pupils are from minority ethnic groups.

A protester speaking 'on behalf of the Muslim community' read out a statement outside of the school on Friday, in which he said: 'The teachers have breached the position of trust and failed their duty of safeguarding, and this issue must be addressed as a matter of urgency.

'We do not accept that the school has taken this issue seriously, given that it's taken them four days to merely suspend only one of the teachers involved'. He called on the entire British Muslim community to review the materials being taught in their children's schools.

Batley Grammar School was closed today after more than 50 Muslims returned to demand the sacking of a RE teacher. The protesters outside the school dispersed after a couple of hours this morning as the rain fell.

Labour MP for Batley and Spen Tracey Brabin has condemned those who 'seek to fan the flames' in the Prophet Muhammad row at a school in her constituency.

It comes as people gathered for a second day of protest outside Batley Grammar School, in Batley, near Bradford, West Yorkshire.

In a statement shared on Twitter, Ms Brabin said: 'No teacher should be facing intimidation or threats, there is no excuse for that.

'The focus must be on the welfare and education of the children at this school.

'I welcome the school's apology and recognition of the offence this has caused but conversations between the school, parents and local community must proceed in a dignified and respectful matter.

'Those who seek to fan the flames of this incident will only provoke hate and division in our community and I would encourage all involved to work together and calm the situation.'

But protesters outside the school again accused him of offending 2billion Muslims around the globe, arguing he should have been dismissed immediately.

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson has condemned the death threats.

He said: 'It is never acceptable to threaten or intimidate teachers. We encourage dialogue between parents and schools when issues emerge. However, the nature of protest we have seen, including issuing threats and in violation of coronavirus restrictions are completely unacceptable and must be brought to an end.

Teacher who sparked Batley school 'blasphemy' protests wrote of his love for his 'fantastic' job The RE teacher who sparked a blasphemy protest at the gates after allegedly showing cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad to students is a 'burly Yorkshire lad', it was revealed today. The amateur rugby player, who is in his late 20s, had trained to teach in the mid-2010s after going to university in the north of England, and now lives a short distance from his Batley school with his partner. In an article about life as a trainee teacher, he wrote: 'Teaching is a fantastic profession. One which I cannot wait to start.' He added: 'You also teach them about life'. He had spoken of his experiences as a trainee teacher, saying how it was a 'fantastic' profession that he 'could not wait' to begin, The Telegraph reports. One neighbour called him a 'nice man', while another called him a 'good, honest, burly Yorkshire lad' who 'always had a smile for us'. Advertisement

'Schools are free to include a full range of issues, ideas and materials in their curriculum, including where they are challenging or controversial, subject to their obligations to ensure political balance. They must balance this with the need to promote respect and tolerance between people of different faiths and beliefs, including in deciding which materials to use in the classroom.'

The school's headteacher took a late decision to keep pupils away and put them on online studies today due to the row. Private security guards have also been called to the school to monitor the protest, while police liaison officers trained to deal with protests and community relations were also at the gates. Some children were turned away this morning because the closure was at the 11th hour.

The unnamed teacher had spoken of his experiences as a trainee teacher, saying recently how it was a 'fantastic' profession that he 'could not wait' to begin so he could 'teach students about life', The Telegraph reported.

Today more Muslim protesters gathered at the gates and were spoken to by police for the second day after the unnamed teacher was suspended and the headteacher issued a humbling apology to parents at the state school, where almost three-quarters of pupils are from minority ethnic groups.

It is not known if all the group of around 50 men outside this morning were parents, with some likely to be from local mosques, including from nearby Leeds and Dewsbury.

Mohammed Hussain of the 'Purpose of Life' group has admitted to MailOnline that he shared teacher's name on social media with a letter condemning him.

He said: 'His name was already widely available in Internet posts and it was going around. I didn't make public his name first. It was not our intention to cause any danger to him. In fact we asked for only peaceful protest. We don't want people breaking the law. But we do feel that if this had been something that offended the LGBT community or something that was anti-Semitic, he would've been sacked on the spot.

'His resignation should be forthcoming immediately. He has insulted 2billion Muslims on the planet. We cannot stand for that. We have to make our voices heard on it.'

One man at the gates, who only wanted to be named as Muhammed, said: 'It's a very sensitive topic - it's about our prophet. Somebody has disrespected our prophet.

'We don't disrespect anybody else's religious beliefs. We just want to create awareness that this is wrong. Don't do it - it's as simple as that.

'It's a very peaceful protest today and we'll keep it like that.

'We want the individual involved to be suspended on a permanent basis - not a temporary basis. We'd be very disappointed (if the teacher isn't sacked).'

He then added that they will come to the school gates every day until the teacher is fired.

Protesters take part in a prayer outside Batley Grammar School in Batley today where protesters say they will return every day until the teacher is sacked

A police officer arrives at the protest today, which later ended abruptly after torrential rain in West Yorkshire this morning

The majority of the protesters are believed to be from outside the area. Labour MP for Batley and Spen Tracey Brabin condemned those who 'seek to fan the flames' in the row

The Communities Secretary said protests outside a school in West Yorkshire where a teacher was suspended for reportedly showing pupils a caricature of the Prophet Muhammad were 'not right'.

Robert Jenrick also said suggestions that a teacher at Batley Grammar School in Batley, near Bradford, was in hiding were 'very disturbing', telling Sky News: 'I don't know precisely what a teacher did in the classroom.

'We know that the school is looking into the matter and investigating, and that is absolutely right - the Department for Education (DfE) is liaising with the school and the council.

'What I can say is there has to be an appropriate balance - we have to ensure there is free speech, that teachers can teach uninhabited but that has to be done in a respectful and tolerant way and that's a balance to be struck by teaching professionals and the schools concerned.

'What I would also add is that I was disturbed to see scenes of people protesting outside the school - that is not right.

Batley Grammar School headteacher Gary Kibble wrote to parents to confirm the issues were being investigated

'We shouldn't have teachers, members of staff of schools feeling intimidated, and the reports that a teacher may even be in hiding is very disturbing. That is not a road we want to go down in this country, so I would strongly urge people who are concerned about this issue not to do that.'

The leader of the group told those gathered: 'Let's keep social distance and let's keep our masks on. We are here to protect the name of the Prophet.'

A police source says there were 'meetings' within West Yorkshire Police about the demonstration, and how best to manage the fallout - including keeping teachers safe.

'Officers have been especially assigned to him,' the source said. 'This is obviously very sensitive. Local Muslims are up in arms and the teacher has not apologised. There is obviously significant risk around the individual.'

Gavin Williamson has condemned the death threats made against a teacher who was suspended for allegedly showing a caricature of the Prophet Muhammad in a religious studies lesson on blasphemy.

The Education Secretary said that the protests outside the historic Batley Grammar School in West Yorkshire yesterday were 'completely unacceptable', after dozens of furious Muslim parents demonstrated and chanted 'shame on you' as they called for the teacher's removal.

One neighbour called him a 'nice man', while another called him a 'good, honest, burly Yorkshire lad' who 'always had a smile for us'.

Furious protesters outside the historic Batley Grammar School in West Yorkshire yesterday chanted 'shame on you' as they called for the teacher's removal, following allegations he showed a graphic depiction of the Prophet Muhammad in a lesson about blasphemy.

It is not yet known what exact image was shown to the children, but parents had claimed they were 'French' caricatures.

This could be a reference to those published by Charlie Hebdo in 2012, which had been used as a justification for the heinous murder of 12 people at the magazine's Paris office.

The teacher is now the subject of great controversy, finding himself in the middle of a row over freedom of speech and offensive material.

There was no sign of him at his home and the car was missing yesterday, following the outbreak of the row.

West Yorkshire Police sent specialist liaison officers trained to deal with protests and community relations were also at the gates

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson has now condemned the death threats made against the teacher. A Department for Education spokesperson said: 'It is never acceptable to threaten or intimidate teachers. We encourage dialogue between parents and schools when issues emerge

The backlash over his alleged actions come five months after history teacher Samuel Paty was beheaded on the street near his school in a Paris suburb by an Islamic extremist for showing Prophet Muhammad cartoons to his students.

The killing shocked the country and led to a fresh debate about freedom of speech and the integration of France's large Muslim population.

It also brought back memories of a wave of Islamist violence that started with the Charlie Hebdo massacre, sparked by the same cartoons in the satirical magazine in 2015 when gunmen killed 12 people.

Messages had been issued on social media on Wednesday urging Muslims to 'defend the honour of our Prophet Mohammed' by protesting by the school.

Muslim community leaders urged calm. The Ramadhan Foundation's Mohammed Shafiq said: 'We are proud to exercise our civic rights in regards to freedom of speech by standing up against such depictions.

'We do so in peace and reject any violence or threat of violence. We urge all who love the Prophet Muhammad PBUH within the British Muslim community to remember our responsibilities to reject violence and never give in to the narrative that some want to paint us as.'

A West Yorkshire Police officer read out a grovelling apology to mothers and fathers from headteacher Gary Kibble, but this provoked even more fury from those gathered as they called the teacher - who is now believed to be in hiding after he was identified online - a 'danger'.

Parents claimed that the teacher, who the school have not named, showed students a cartoon of the Prophet during a religious education class - and had predicted he would face a controversial reaction.

Though it is not yet known what exact image was shown to the children, parents had said they were 'French' caricatures, possibly referring to those published by Charlie Hebdo in 2012, which were used as a justification for the heinous murder of 12 people at the magazine's Paris office.

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson has now condemned the death threats made against the Batley teacher.

A Department for Education spokesperson said: 'It is never acceptable to threaten or intimidate teachers. We encourage dialogue between parents and schools when issues emerge.

'However, the nature of protest we have seen, including issuing threats and in violation of coronavirus restrictions are completely unacceptable and must be brought to an end.

'Schools are free to include a full range of issues, ideas and materials in their curriculum, including where they are challenging or controversial, subject to their obligations to ensure political balance.

'They must balance this with the need to promote respect and tolerance between people of different faiths and beliefs, including in deciding which materials to use in the classroom.'

Former Conservative Cabinet Minister Sajid Javid also condemned the backlash, writing: 'In this country we are free to peacefully follow, preach or query any religion or none. These are hard-won freedoms that must be upheld by all public institutions. Reports of intimidation in Batley set a deeply unsettling and potentially dangerous precedent.

'President Macron rightly warned about intolerant ''separatism'' two weeks before Samuel Paty was murdered. We cannot afford to wait for another tragedy to tackle extremism and reaffirm our values, as I argued recently.'

In posts to Facebook, the teacher is said to have accepted that pupils at the co-educational free school would tell their parents about the image before then displaying the cartoon to the class.

Police descend on Batley Grammar School in West Yorkshire on Thursday as dozens of furious Muslim parents protest outside

Mufti Mohammed Amin Pandor, a local Muslim scholar, told the crowd in Batley that the teacher has been suspended

Batley Grammar School headteacher Gary Kibble, pictured, has since apologised for the 'inappropriate' resource

An angry crowd had first gathered outside the grammar school at 7.30am on Thursday, causing the establishment to delay its opening and tell pupils to stay home amid chaotic scenes at the gates.

The parents were still protesting at lunchtime, as police began threatening them with Covid-19 fines and shut a road in both directions. Police later said there were no arrests or fines issued.

'Children must learn about faiths - but in a respectful, sensitive way': Headteacher Gary Kibble's full statement 'The school unequivocally apologises for using a totally inappropriate image in a religious studies lesson. It should not have been used. 'The member of staff has also relayed their sincere apologies. 'We have immediately withdrawn teaching on this part of the course, and we are revising how we go forward with the support of all communities represented in our school. 'It is important for children to learn about faiths and beliefs, but this must be done in a respectful, sensitive way. 'The member of staff has been suspended pending an independent formal investigation. 'The school is working closely with our governing body and community leaders to help us resolve this situation, and we continue to do so. 'I know many of you will have questions but we are undertaking a formal process now and it is therefore very difficult for us to be able to answer any of those questions without jeopardising that, but we hope that we can reach a swift conclusion moving forward.' Advertisement

It took until 2.30pm for the demonstration to be cleared by police, a spokesperson for West Yorkshire Police confirmed. MailOnline has asked the school a series of questions, including about what images were shown.

Muslim leader Mohammad Sajad Hussain, founder of a Batley-based charity, said he was 'deeply hurt' by the 'insulting caricatures of our beloved Prophet Mohammed' in an open letter. He said the charity is unwilling to work with or promote the school until the teacher is 'permanently removed'.

Dr Abdul Shaikh, an academic in Batley and Muslim activist, said he heard about the incident on social media on Wednesday night.

Speaking to the PA news agency, he said: 'I was shocked like many Muslims in the town that Muslim school children's religious sensitivities were completely ignored by the school teacher who decided to show an offensive image that lampooned the noble Prophet Mohammed.

'Every Muslim around the world holds the Prophet in the highest esteem. I feel that the school should be allowed to complete their investigation in due course and find a fair and adequate solution that satisfies first and foremost Muslim pupils, their parents and the wider Muslim community in Batley.

'This situation should not be allowed to happen again for the sake of community cohesion in the area.'

Qari Asim, a senior imam at the Makkah Mosque in Leeds, said: 'I sympathise with the parents and pupils because sadly, this is not the first time we have seen offensive images of Prophet Mohammed being used.

'People have a right to express their concerns and hurt but protests can't always achieve what can be achieved through constructive dialogue - fair investigation by the school, in consultation with the parents, should be allowed to take place.

'We do not want to fan the flames of Islamophobia and provoke hatred or division.'

And Mohammed Shafiq, CEO of the Ramadhan Foundation, condemned the teacher 'in the strongest terms' for not considering the 'hurt' he would cause by showing a drawing to children in a religious studies lesson.

He said: 'The World knows the love and respect we have for our Prophet and our hearts are pained tonight to know a teacher working with 70% Muslim pupils didn't consider the hurt this would cause.

'We understand the anger parents have been feeling and as we know this is not the first time under the cloak of freedom of speech our faith is being attacked.

'We love the Prophet Muhammad PBUH more than own lives and this incident has happened which will now be hijacked by those who have an interest in perpetuating an image of Muslims, we will not allow these attacks to go unanswered.'

He added: 'It is alarming that the Department of Education chose to amplify those divisions by attacking the parents and pupils rather than looking how we can come together to have a respectful discussion and seek an end to this issue.'

Mr Kibble, headteacher of the school founded in 1612 by the Reverend William Lee, said the RE teacher has been suspended, and went on to issue a 'sincere' and 'unequivocal' apology. He called the image 'totally inappropriate' and said the school had 'immediately withdrawn teaching on this part of the course'.

In a televised statement, he added: 'It is important for children to learn about faiths and beliefs, but this must be done in a respectful, sensitive way. The school is working closely with our governing body and community leaders to help us resolve this situation, and we continue to do so.'

The RE teacher, who lives with his partner a short distance from the school, was not home today and his car was not parked at the property.

A neighbour told MailOnline: 'He's a nice man. I see him go off to school, but not today or the day before.'

He was described by another neighbour as a 'local lad' who studied close to home and decided to teach in the area he was born and raised.

The neighbour said: 'He's a good, honest Yorkshire lad. Likes his rugby and always had a smile for us.'

The teacher's parents were also not at home.

The National Secular Society branded the protest as an 'attempt to impose an Islamic blasphemy taboo on a school'. Stephen Evans, its chief executive, said: 'Teachers must have a reasonable degree of freedom to explore sensitive subjects and enable students to think critically about them.

'And the school's weak response will fuel a climate of censorship, which is brought on by attempts to force society as a whole to accommodate unreasonable and reactionary religious views.'

Today's protest comes five months after history teacher Samuel Paty was beheaded on the street near his school in a Paris suburb by an Islamic extremist last October after showing Prophet Muhammad cartoons to his students.

The killing shocked the country and led to a fresh debate about freedom of speech and the integration of France's large Muslim population. It also brought back memories of a wave of Islamist violence that started with the Charlie Hebdo massacre, sparked by the same cartoons in the satirical magazine in 2015 when gunmen killed 12 people.

Mufti Mohammed Amin Pandor, a local Muslim scholar, told the crowd that the teacher had been suspended, which was later confirmed by the school, where almost three-quarters of pupils are from minority ethnic groups.

Muslims make up 41 per cent of the population in Batley, a historic market and mill town in the Kirkless region which was the constituency of Labour MP Jo Cox who was murdered by a far-Right extremist in June 2016.

The latest RE syllabus for the Calderdale, Kirklees and Leeds region, valid from 2019 to 2024, states that pupils should be able to 'give reasons why visual representation of God and the prophets is forbidden - haram - in Islam' by the end of key stage two - but does not specifically state whether teachers should show any of these images.

National guidance from the Department for Education also does not specifically address cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, but says RE must be taught according to 'either the locally agreed syllabus or in accordance with the school's designated religion or religious denomination, or in certain cases the trust deed relating to the school.'

Alumni from the school, which serves Halal-approved food in the canteen, include Innocent Smoothies founder Richard Reed, Ginetta Cars owner Lawrence Tomlinson and prominent 18th century theologian Joseph Priestley.

Mr Kibble wrote in a letter to parents: 'The school would like to thank the parents who contacted us on Monday, March 22 highlighting concerns with a resource used in an RS [religious studies] lesson that day.

'Upon investigation, it was clear that the resource used in the lesson was completely inappropriate and had the capacity to cause great offence to members of our school community for which we would like to offer a sincere and full apology.'

He added that the school had taken 'immediate action' to investigate what had happened, including the removal of the resource from materials and the suspension of that lesson content from the scheme of work.

Mr Kibble continued: 'As an additional precaution, we will undertake a formal review of the RS curriculum to ensure no other resource or statement is inappropriate and take appropriate action as needed.'

The headteacher, who is thought to have been in his role at the school for three years, also told how staff were now investigating the matter 'using formal processes and we are grateful for the support of the local authority'.

With parents gathering outside the school, it sent them all a text message to say: 'Due to the disturbance outside of school, if your child has not already set off please keep them at home as school will be starting at 10am.'

Later in a statement to ITV News, Mr Kibble said: 'The school unequivocally apologises for using a totally inappropriate image in a religious studies lesson. It should not have been used.

** Are you a parent of a child at Batley Grammar School? Please email: tips@dailymail.com ** Advertisement

'The member of staff has also relayed their sincere apologies. We have immediately withdrawn teaching on this part of the course, and we are revising how we go forward with the support of all communities represented in our school.

'It is important for children to learn about faiths and beliefs, but this must be done in a respectful, sensitive way.

'The member of staff has been suspended pending an independent formal investigation. The school is working closely with our governing body and community leaders to help us resolve this situation, and we continue to do so.

'I know many of you will have questions but we are undertaking a formal process now and it is therefore very difficult for us to be able to answer any of those questions without jeopardising that, but we hope that we can reach a swift conclusion moving forward.'

The protesters had been demanding the resignation of the teacher, with organisers asking anyone attending to do so in their vehicle. Officers were guarding all school entrances but the protest appeared to be peaceful.

How the death of teacher Samuel Paty in France led to a fresh debate about freedom of speech Five months ago, French teacher Samuel Paty was beheaded on the street near his school in Paris by an Islamic extremist last October after showing cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad to his students. The killing shocked the country and led to a fresh debate about freedom of speech and the integration of France's large Muslim population. It also brought back memories of a wave of Islamist violence following the Charlie Hebdo massacre, sparked by the same cartoons in the satirical magazine in 2015 when 12 people were killed. Mr Paty was beheaded by an 18-year-old man of Chechen descent on October 16. The man was shot dead by police shortly after the attack. On March 9, a girl aged 13 admitted to telling lies about the teacher after an online hate campaign kick-started by her comments. Mr Paty's killing, which happened in the town of Conflans-Sainte-Honorine just outside Paris, sent shockwaves through France and reignited tensions in the country over the strict divide of church and state. President Emmanuel Macron's response defending the cartoons of Muhammad and Mr Paty's actions sparked mass protests and boycotts of French goods in many Muslim-majority countries. Following Mr Macron's comments, three people were killed in a terrorist attack at a Catholic church in Nice on October 29. France has been hit by several major terror attacks in recent years. Its fiercely secular state was founded on the concept of laicite, which separates state institutions - including schools - from the influence of religion. In recent years, this policy has chafed with the reality of France's multi-cultural population, particularly Muslims, some of whom feel they have been unfairly targeted by secularism policies including a ban on the wearing of some forms of Islamic dress in public spaces. Teachers are increasingly on the front lines of this debate. Advertisement

In a video filmed by the Huddersfield Examiner, Mufti Mohammed Amin Pandor, a local prominent Muslim scholar who is director of the Peace Institute, told the crowd outside this morning: 'What has happened in the school, we are appalled.

'Look at what we do as a community, and you'll understand our stance. What has happened is totally unacceptable and we have made sure that the school understands that. The school is preparing a statement.

'So our discussion is they prepared a statement and we weren't happy with the statement, so we said no, the statement needs to be worded in this way. Some people think I tried to stop you guys from coming.

'I don't know where that information is from, so that's between whoever has spread that rumour and Allah. So that's nothing to do with me. This is a democratic country, you can protest. It's your right to protest.

'Somebody called me last night and said there's a protest for tomorrow, what should we do? I said we, as a group, have got a different stance, we want to work with the school. But if anyone wants to exercise their democratic right, you are here. So let's move on. So what's happening?

'The school is going to issue an apology, issue a statement. We have asked for amendments on the statement to say that they are very apologetic and they apologise. All the resources that were used have all been pulled out.

'The teacher has been suspended, the teacher has been suspended. Now then, you cannot sack him. You guys are professional, you know you can't just dismiss someone like that, they have due process.

'So he's been suspended, OK, he's been suspended. Now we've asked for an investigation, an investigation to be independent, and we have asked also that some of us get onto the investigation panel.

'So this is what we've asked for. So whether they do it or not, we can't force them, but they're investigating. And then we're going to work with the school to make sure in future things like this don't happen.'

Commenting on the situation, a woman in her 30s with a child at the school said: 'We are continuing to wait outside the school to try and speak to the headteacher, we want to hear what he has to say.

'He needs to come out, explain what happened, apologise for it and tell us how he will make sure nothing like this ever happens again.

'We feel like he's hiding away and that's not good enough, he needs to show his face. A lot of us have questions for him about how this ever happened in the first place, something clearly went very wrong.

'This image is so offensive to us and, in my opinion, there is no way it could have been part of the curriculum. What happened is very dangerous and we need answers.'

People hold a photo of Samuel Paty during a memorial march for him in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine on October 20, 2020

But Dr Paul Stott, associate fellow at the Henry Jackson Society think tank, told MailOnline: 'Secondary schools have a duty to introduce pupils to contentious ideas and debates, as part of a process of teaching children how, rather than what, to think.

'Schools in the UK must not concede policy to angry mobs at the school gates or to so-called community leaders.

'The school's censorious approach appears to be the exact opposite of the approach in France, where demands to sanitise classroom discussions by Islamist campaigners were resolutely rejected by the government, following the hideous murder of teacher Samuel Paty.'

The Free Speech Union said it stands 'in solidarity with the teacher at Batley Grammar who has been suspended at the behest of a censorious religious mob'.

Toby Young, its director general, said he is writing to the headteacher to object, copying in Education Secretary Gavin Williamson, and to the local Chief Constable asking him to make sure the teacher is 'protected from intimidation'.

He told MailOnline: 'Schools should be teaching children about the importance of free speech and for the headteacher to give in immediately to the demands of an outrage mob - apologising to them and suspending the teacher concerned - sets a very bad example. No one has the right not to be offended.'

Carole Pattison, cabinet member for learning at Kirkless Council, told MailOnline: 'Batley Grammar is an academy school so the council has a very limited role in its running but we are aware of issues raised by parents this week.

'We are pleased to see that the school has taken swift action to resolve the issues alongside the local community. They have apologised, taken immediate action on teaching materials and they are reviewing the relevant processes.'

A West Yorkshire Police spokesman said at about midday: 'We are aware of a small demonstration at the school, which is still ongoing. Local neighbourhood officers are in attendance.'

Police cordoned off Carlinghow Hill in both directions and the 213 bus service was diverted via Batley Field Hill.

Later, the force spokesman added: 'The demonstration has now ended. We closed the road for a short time. No arrests or FPNs (Fixed Penalty Notices) issued.'

The school, which has 990 pupils, was rated 'good' in its last Ofsted inspection. It used to be an all-boys school until girls were admitted into its sixth form in 1988 and it then became fully co-educational in 1996.

** Are you a parent of a child at Batley Grammar School? Please email: tips@dailymail.com **
It wasnt easy to make sense of the news that a German engineering firm is locating its North American headquarters on San Antonios East Side.

For one thing, it seemed a little random. Why here, exactly, in a city known less for its technical chops than its many unskilled workers?

And why did the San Antonio Economic Development Foundation think it was a big enough deal to warrant a formal announcement last week?

Sure, the 50 jobs that Saueressig Engineering said it will create will be good ones, paying $73,500 a year, on average. The firm will hire engineers, programmers and technicians, the kind of positions San Antonio lacks compared to other major cities.

Still, 50 jobs. It seemed like the EDF was reaching, desperate to show it was plowing ahead in its mission to bring jobs to San Antonio despite the down economy.

Not quite.

Tesla is why the relocation is more than a one-off.

Saueressig is one of Teslas suppliers, although Pittsburgh-based Matthews International, Saueressigs parent company, doesnt discuss that relationship publicly. And EDF didnt mention it in the news release.

The mechanical engineering firm works with clients in numerous industries, including automakers and energy storage developers. It designs, builds and installs custom machinery.

We dont know what Saueressig does for Tesla, but its clear the firm is in San Antonio because of the $1.1 billion, electric vehicle Gigafactory Tesla is building in southeastern Travis County, 15 minutes from downtown Austin.

I think it boils down to lucrative work in Austin, made even more so by cheaper real estate and lower labor costs in San Antonio.

About some of those costs: Matthews International and its landlord plan to make $9 million worth of improvements to Saueressigs new location on Profit Drive, and theyre asking the city for a 10-year property tax abatement valued at $235,000.

Saueressig came up Thursday morning when I spoke with EDF chief executive Jenna Saucedo-Herrera and Randy Smith, head of Weston Urban, the real estate development firm that is recasting the eastern end of downtown San Antonio.

They were talking about the foundations work-in-progress: a regional, team approach to attracting out-of-town employers. The EDF is negotiating cooperation agreements with several of the suburban cities clustered around San Antonio, including New Braunfels.

This big idea starts with the fact that the fast-growing San Antonio and Austin metro areas are converging into a mega-region along the lines of Dallas-Fort Worth. The population blob thats forming around us has tremendous potential to create wealth. But cities across the region need to drop their parochialism to reap as many of the rewards as they can.

In other words, they have to stop scrapping with their first cousins over every corporate relocation or expansion that comes along and learn to share the wealth.

That requires humility.

Like acknowledging that Austin is shouldering its way into the ranks of Silicon Valley, Seattle and Boston. The price its paying is worsening traffic congestion, out-of-control housing costs and yawning income inequality. But theres no getting around the reality that  in the words of Will Ferrells greatest movie character, NASCAR champion Ricky Bobby  our sister city is a big, hairy, American winning machine.

Its taking in a flood of California refugees, including Oracle. In December, the enterprise software-maker announced plans to move its corporate headquarters to Austin from Redwood City.

Tesla is another new arrival.

Elon Musk, its founder and CEO, has personally settled in Austin and announced in July that Tesla would build its factory in the area. Itll manufacture the companys Model 3 and Model Y cars, as well as its planned Cybertruck and Semi, a long-haul commercial truck.

Despite its blossoming automotive industry, San Antonio didnt seriously compete for the Tesla factory. Indeed, the citys know-how  gleaned in part from San Antonios Toyota plant and its suppliers, and from the Southwest Research Institutes work on electric and self-driving vehicles  was part of Austins bid for the plant.

By the same token, Saucedo-Herrera said the EDF touted San Antonios proximity to Austin in its recent bid to bring the U.S. Space Command headquarters here. It didnt work. Apparently Austins magic only goes so far.

So there was no wailing and gnashing of teeth in San Antonio when Tesla made its selection.

For now, Musks fascination with Austin appears to be bottomless.

Randy Smith, vice chairman of the EDFs executive committee, didnt talk specifically about Teslas Gigafactory. Nevertheless, he was in the same ballpark when he said: Were kidding ourselves if we think we compete against Austin. When our house is in order, we are going to compete with Austin  emphasis on with.

At other times, EDF will try to capitalize on San Antonios strengths in health care, the biosciences, cybersecurity and advanced manufacturing  as it did in landing Navistar in 2019, the Illinois-based heavy-duty truck maker thats building a plant on the South Side.

At still other times, itll help deliver outside companies and their jobs to the boondocks of San Antonio.

To get its house in order, as Smith noted, EDF is embarking on a major fundraising campaign. Its asking private-sector employers to cough up contributions totaling $38.5 million over the next five years. Part of the aim is to bump up the nonprofits annual budget from about $4 million to $7 million and to spend a lot more to market the region.

Its real, Saucedo-Herrera said of the fundraising goal. This is not incremental change.

Pulling it off will require donors to buy into EDFs new approach, which itll roll out publicly this week. And regional cooperation is a big part of it.

Smith offered up a good encapsulation: You will not find a bigger cheerleader for Schertz than Jenna and I.

Time will tell if theirs is a compelling enough vision for the executives theyll be pitching.

Like I said, humility is key.

But Saueressig Engineerings East Side headquarters, which is expected to open by years end, is a small, early sign that theres something to their regional strategy.

greg.jefferson@express-news.net
NEW YORK, March 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Inventory Management market will register an incremental spend of about USD 1.23 Billion, growing at a CAGR of 9.10% during the five-year forecast period. A targeted strategic approach to Inventory Management sourcing can unlock several opportunities for buyers. This report also offers market impact and new opportunities created due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Download free sample report

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Gov. Ned Lamont said more than a third of Connecticuts new COVID infections likely involve the variant first identified in the United Kingdom that experts say is a highly contagious and potentially more dangerous strain of the disease.

The B.1.1.7., aka the U.K. variant, which is highly-infectious, looks like it could be about 40 percent of our infections right now, maybe a little bit more in some of the states to the south of us, Lamont said Thursday.

The news is not unexpected. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said as early as January that the variant could become the predominant strain in the U.S. in March, suggesting Connecticut is actually behind that trajectory.

But the increased detection of the strain comes as Connecticut is seeing a bump in overall COVID cases and an elevated positivity rate.

Considering that B.1.1.7 is moving toward the majority of the cases, its likely playing a bit of a role, said Nathan Grubaugh, an assistant professor at the Yale School of Public Health who is tracking strains of the virus in the state. However, I'd point out that human behaviors are the main driving force in the trends, so this may be happening even without B.1.1.7.

In the U.K., the variant caused the nation to begin a second lockdown in early January, after the rapidly-spreading variant led to rising hospitalizations.

In Connecticut, 379 cases of the B.1.1.7 variant have been identified, according to state data released Thursday. Many of them have been found in the New Haven area.

There have been 72 cases identified in New Haven, 30 in West Haven, 25 in Waterbury and 24 in Wallingford, the data shows.

Branford, Bridgeport, East Haven and Hamden have each identified more than a dozen cases of the variant, according to the data.

A study published this month in the health journal, Nature, estimated the variant makes the virus about 61 percent more deadly.

Sequencing of COVID-19 samples by Yale University and Jackson Labs last week found 38 percent were cases of the B.1.1.7. variant, according to data released on Thursday.

About 22 percent were cases of B.1.526, a variant first detected in New York. Connecticut is not tracking the cumulative number of cases of the strain, according to Yales report. The strain from New York is considered to be a variant of interest, and not a variant of concern like B.1.1.7.

Lamont noted there is a creep up in cases among younger adults. Thats where the infections are taking place, its a younger demographic  less complications, but perhaps a little less caution, he said.

Josh Geballe, the states chief operating officer, said Connecticuts partners are screening for the two variants first identified in California, known as B.1.427 and B.1.429. They have identified a very small number of each  two of the B.1.427 and seven of the B.1.429, he said.

The states report released Thursday showed Connecticut has now also recorded two cases of the P.1 variant first identified in Brazil and seven cases of the B.1.351 strain first identified in South Africa.

Grubaugh said people should be aware that we have all of the major variants of concern, and these could be a problem if we let them be.

Variants can't spread if we don't have cases, he added.
Gone are the days when Latinos were not on the list when it came to acquiring insurances. Now, insurance companies are striving day and night to bring the best insurance policies for Latinos. Hispanics are growing in population; however, they are still the only nation with the least number of insurances.

There are almost 2 million Hispanics who are running their businesses. The more corporations in a state, the more insurances are required. Nonetheless, the Latino market for Insurance is increasing to a great level.

To get an idea of which insurance company is the most accurate option for you, stick to this article till the end, and you will find out about the best insurance companies for Latinos.

Talking about the insurance companies that came out to spun off the Latino community is Allstate. This insurance company is known to be the oldest company targeting Hispanics.

Established in 1931, this insurance company started as a part of Sears. The most exciting part about Allstate is that it provides a wide range of coverage. Allstate stands among the list of Latinos' best insurance companies, from giving life insurances to Latinos to offering autos, renders, boats, and motorcycle insurance.

During the 2016 HACR Corporate Inclusion Index, Allstate improved to an extensive level altogether, reaching 75 points.

The headquarters of Farmers Insurance is situated in Los Angeles. As suggested by this insurance company's name, Farmers Insurance mainly started for the farmers and agriculturists to provide them with lower premium insurance packages.

Since 1928, Farmers Insurance has been growing to a great level. With every passing year, Farmers Insurance has been including financial packages, life insurance policies, policies for farmers and ranchers, etc.

Farmers Insurance has constantly been dedicating its outreach program to the Latino community. The most exciting part is that Farmers Insurance has been expanding its services and are ready to include many new ideas for the community.

The top-rated insurance company for autos and motorcycles is the Progressive Insurance company in the US. Progressive is known to be the most popular insurance company in the United States for Latinos.

Started on March 10, 1937, Progressive Insurance Company has been working day and night to provide complete protection to the vehicle owners. Two lawyers decided to start a business company to earn a profit. Indeed, after so many years, it can be said that this decision seems to have paid off now.

This company is known for bringing the most innovative and latest ideas to the auto insurance market. Progressive Insurance Company became the first one to get some newest insurance drive-in plans for the clients.

Progressive is also ranked as the best auto insurance company to get car insurance quotes from in Insuranks guide.

Established in 1845, New York Life stands on the list of the best insurance companies for Latinos. The headquarters of New York Life is located in Manhattan. Therefore, this insurance company offers a great range of coverage, making it the premium insurance company in the world.

The company mainly started as an insurance company to target the Latino community. The Chief Executive of New York Life is much interested in the Latinos' welfare and has a deep value for the Hispanic community.

Interestingly, New York Life held an exclusive conference for the agents in 1999. New York Life has more than 100 management workers who belong to the Latino community. So, it is pretty apparent that New York Life is undoubtedly the best insurance company for Latinos because of its dedication towards Hispanics.

Infinity Auto Insurance, the last but not a minor insurance company for Latinos, is best for all the drivers who are at a high-risk but are unable to get their Insurance done by expensive large-scale companies.

Infinity Insurance offers an affordable insurance policy for Latinos. The best insurance company, Infinity Insurance, can be directly accessed from Infinity Insurance.

Takeaway

The uncertainty of life is quite extreme and little measures like insurance play an important role in compensating for the loss brought about by an uncertain event in your life. If you are looking for the best insurance companies for Latinos, try the ones mentioned above. They are our top picks for life, car, or business insurance in any aspect or field.
George Floyds loved ones appeared before a state House committee Thursday to support a sweeping police reform bill named for the former Houston resident, who was killed last May when a Minneapolis police officer pinned him to the ground with a knee to the neck for almost nine minutes.

Floyd, a Black man, has become a symbol of the movement against police brutality and systemic racism in the United States. The bill named in his honor would introduce a series of reforms, including new requirements that police develop new policies emphasizing conflict de-escalation tactics and receive racial sensitivity training. The legislation would also ban police from using chokeholds to subdue people and would require officers to stop their colleagues from using excessive force.

We have been sentenced to a life without George, and we will be reminded for the rest of our lives of the horrific way that he was killed at the hands of police, said Tera Brown, Floyds cousin. I believe that the outcome for him could have been different if at least one of the officers tried to intervene or offer aid  yet none of the officers stepped in to help him.

He could, possibly, still be alive today.

As the bill faced its first test in the Texas Houses public safety committee Thursday, the most disputed change appeared to be a provision scrapping some legal protections for officers who violate a persons rights. Similar legislation in Congress  the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act  passed the House this month despite opposition from every Republican lawmaker in the chamber.

Lets put the right people behind the badge, testified Travis Cains, Floyds close friend. Youre not there to kill. Youre there to protect and serve.

In Texas, Thursdays hearing was just the first step in a long road to approve the bill. It would need to pass both chambers and earn Gov. Greg Abbotts signature to become law.

Its unclear where Abbott stands on the bill, though it was the governor who first floated the idea of a George Floyd Act last summer at a public memorial. An Abbott spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment Thursday.

Many of those who testified in opposition to the bill acknowledged the need for at least some of its measures but rejected a total abandonment of qualified immunity, the legal doctrine that shields officers from liability if they violate someones civil rights while on duty.

Stan Standridge, the president of the Texas Police Chiefs Association, said the group objected to the bill as written  but not entirely. While he supports some of the bills provisions  including de-escalation tactics and a responsibility to intervene  he said tossing qualified immunity could endanger officers who are truly performing their jobs to the best of their ability.

Often, officers are involved in situations where they dont yet know all the facts but still have to make split-second decisions. They need to be able to take action in those cases without fear of legal consequences, Standridge said.

Now is the time to make change, he said. We just need to be careful stewards of said change.

DeAndre Hutchison, the president of the Afro American Police Officers League, similarly said his organization supported a statewide misconduct database, de-escalation tactics and mandatory body cameras but feared a total repeal of qualified immunity.

We have to make this distinction very clear: When officers violate peoples civil rights and the oath they took to protect and serve, thats when they need to be held accountable, Hutchison said. And thats where we have to close the loopholes  not punish the officers that are doing this job the right way.

The hearing mostly steered clear of defund the police talk. The issue has often been falsely equated with any proposed police reform, and Texas GOP leaders have launched separate efforts to punish cities that strip funding from their police departments  but bill supporters explained that nothing in the George Floyd Act would reduce police budgets.

This bill is not about punishing the good cops. There are many of them out there, and were thankful for their service, said state Rep. Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston, the sponsor of the legislation. This bill is about preserving the sanctity of life. ... It is about transparency and accountability, and it is about preventing others from abusing the power that the state of Texas gives to officers in order to protect our communities across the state.

Ahead of Thursdays hearing, social justice activists rallied outside the Texas Capitol in support of the policy changes. There, advocates made their case for the bill, speaking of Texans who have also died at the hands of police.

The leaders of Texas claim to value personal liberty, life and the families of this great state, said Alycia Castillo, a policy analyst at the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition. Yet time and time again, violence at the hands of those meant to keep us safe robs Texans of each of those things, with little to no consequence. It is time for our state Legislature to take meaningful action and hold law enforcement to a higher standard  one that works to serve and protect all Texans, regardless of the color of their skin.

Later, Floyds family and friends would testify both virtually and in person. The former Minneapolis officer charged in Floyds death is set to stand trial next week.

After the murder of George, there were two things that the family committed to doing individually and collectively, and that is to fight for justice for him, and also to work toward changes that would cause police reform, said Shareeduh Tate, another cousin of Floyd.

cayla.harris@express-news.net
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The three family members killed in their Alabama home by the devastating tornadoes and storms that left seven dead across the Deep South have now been identified, as forecasters warn more twisters could be headed for Nashville at the weekend.

Willie Jean Harris, 73, his wife Barbara Harris, 69, and their daughter Ebonique Harris, 38, were killed while a 12-year-old girl was rushed to hospital for surgery on her back as the severe weather reduced their wooden home in Ohatchee, Calhoun County, to rubble Thursday.

The daughter and sister of the victims Latashia Harris-Ramos told WBRC Friday how she rushed from her home in Virginia after learning of her sister's death, while she clung onto hope that her missing parents would be found alive.

Harris-Ramos said the she was left 'numb' as she arrived to find out her mom and dad had also lost their lives after a powerful tornado barreled through the county Thursday afternoon, flattening homes and ripping up trees in its path.

'I got a call from a friend who was talking to my uncle and she said she heard a loud noise and my uncle was yelling for help,' she said.

'I kept calling my uncle's house, my mom's cellphone. I couldn't get anyone and then my brother called me and told me everything was gone and he couldn't find my parents... He told me that my sister had died and I just got in my car and drove here.'

She said she was 'hoping [her parents] had found shelter or something and then I found out that they had passed.'

The three family members killed in their Alabama home by the devastating tornadoes and storms that left seven dead across the Deep South have now been identified. Willie Jean Harris, 73 and his wife Barbara Harris, 69 (pictured)

Ebonique Harris, 38, (pictured) and her parents Willie and Barbara were killed as the severe weather reduced their wooden home in Ohatchee, Calhoun County, to rubble Thursday

The daughter and sister of the victims Latasha Harris-Ramos (above) rushed to the scene to learn they had died

In Newnan, Georgia, the front of a home has been ripped off due to the severe storms and tornadoes this week

Debris scatters the landscape after a tornado touched down damaging multiple homes in Wellington, Alabama

In Wellington, Alabama, people start to wade through the rubble left in the wake of the storms and tornadoes

Tommy Sweet sifts through debris from a building he owns after an apparent tornado swept through Newnan, Georgia

Debris covers a yard from a damaged home after an apparent tornado swept through Newnan, Georgia

Police tape lines the yard where James Geno was killed his mobile home in Ohatchee Thursday afternoon

Dwight Jennings surveys the damage where his friend Geno was killed in the tornado as he said he found the man's dog alive

Another relative Sheldon Abbott told ABC 31 the tornado struck the area around 3pm pummeling the four mobile homes where several members of the family lived next to each other.

Abbot, the 47-year-old cousin and nephew of the victims, said he and his mom managed to escape in time only to return to find three of their relatives dead and their homes destroyed.

'When I came back, it was demolished. Everything was gone. Everything was gone. I lost everything. Everything. I mean, you just can't explain it. You know you hear about it every day on the news, but once it hits you, it hits you,' said Abbot.

The three relatives are among five people so far confirmed dead in Alabama, with 72-year-old James William Geno also killed in his mobile home in Ohatchee.

Geno's neighbor Dwight Jennings said they had been planning to go catfishing this weekend together.

Jennings said he spent several hours searching for his friend's dog before the animal was found alive.

A 72-year-old woman, Emily Myra Wilborn, was also killed in her mobile home in Wellington.

'Tonight, five people lost their lives and for those families, it will never be the same,' Calhoun County Sheriff Matthew Wade said at briefing Thursday evening.

'Our hearts, our thoughts and our prayers go to the families, and we are going to do our best to let them know we love them.'

Fallen trees are cut in damaged neighborhoods after an apparent tornado swept through Newnan, Georgia

Steve Horton examines his destroyed home in Newnan, Georgia, after a storm ripped off the roof

A bicycle stuck amidst debris in a destroyed home in Newnan, Georgia, where residents survey the damage

Inside a home in Newnan, Georgia, the ceiling has been ripped through and debris is strewn around the place

Residents are left to pick up the pieces after severe weather tore through Georgia and Alabama Thursday and Friday

Mary Rose DeArman and her husband sheltered in a basement closet when the tornado struck their neighborhood in Shelby County, Alabama

A huge tree is uprooted outside a home in Newnan, Georgia, while another has impaled the property

A woman removes damaged items from a destroyed home in Newnan as residents survey the aftermath of the tornadoes

A neighbor hugs Danny Poss, pastor of Ragan Chapel United Methodist Church, as he surveys tornado damage at the church in Ohatchee, Alabama

Fears are mounting that the death count could rise further as emergency search and rescue operations continue to comb the area for people trapped under the debris, while the death toll rose to seven nationwide.

At least one person has also been killed in Georgia, where the 'super cell' of storms moved onto after leaving its trail of destruction in Alabama, Coweta County officials said Thursday.

Mississippi also had a storm-related fatality Wednesday when 62-year-old Ester Jarrell, 62, died when a large tree toppled onto her mobile home in Wilkinson County.

While the severe weather threat has largely come to an end in much of hard-hit Alabama and Georgia, the NOAA's Storm Prediction Center warned of isolated strong to severe storms Saturday across the lower Mississippi through the Tennessee Valley regions.

Large hail, damaging winds and flooding are expected with Nashville residents warned to prepare for possible tornadoes Saturday and Saturday night, mainly west of I-65.

Though forecasters say the worst of the weather is over, residents are now left to pick up the pieces of their homes and communities.

Storms that rolled through North Georgia late Thursday into Friday left a path of destruction in their wake

The remains of a home in Georgia Michael after severe storms and tornadoes tore through the state

Fears are mounting that the death count could rise further as emergency search and rescue operations continue to comb areas for people trapped under the debris

People survey the damage in Waterworks Road in Commerce, Georgia, where a pile of trees and branches have been pulled up by the storm

James Dunaway tells the story of somehow surviving a tornado in the bedroom behind his shoulder, as he and his neighbors begin to clean and salvage what they can in Pelham, Alabama

Coweta schools Superintendent Evan Horton, left, and Principal Chase Puckett, right, walked the Newnan High campus

Residents walk through Newnan, Georgia, with the remains of their belongings to head to shelters

A home's pillars are toppled along Greenville Street Friday after the storm tore through Newnan, Georgia while the death toll rose to seven nationwide

Men salvage items for a resident of an apartment complex on LaGrange Street, Friday, in Newnan

Will Sweet sifts through debris from a building he owns Friday in the wake of the devastation left by the storms

Pastor Danny Poss surveys damage at the Ragan Chapel United Methodist church in Ohatchee, Alabama

Five people died in Alabama including three members of the same family after a powerful tornado barreled through Calhoun County Thursday afternoon, flattening homes and ripping up trees in its path

Pastor Danny Poss removes a safe from the Ragan Chapel United Methodist church in Ohatchee - the neighborhood where Willie Jean Harris, 73, Barbara Harris, 69, and Ebonique Harris, 38, were killed

Power company crews begin the clean up process after a tornado touched down Friday in Wellington, Alabama

Children's toys are scattered in the grass alongside debris from the storms that ripped through Wellington, Alabama

The number and strength of tornadoes that struck land this week are yet to be confirmed but the National Weather service said the hard-hit Eagle Point community in Shelby County, Alabama, was caused by an EF-2 tornado, meaning wind estimates reached up to 135 mph.

Terrifying videos have revealed the lucky escapes made by some residents as the storms barreled into the Deep South Thursday, wreaking destruction that social media users said turned the area into a 'war-zone'.

In one video, a man is seen running from his porch inside his home as a tornado lands in the area in Birmingham, Alabama.

Separate video shows the moment two men survived a powerful tornado while driving down a road in an Alabama town on Thursday afternoon.

Cesar Villasenor, 22, said he was with his boss when they encountered the twister hitting Pelham. He said they were driving to his boss' home as incredibly strong winds associated with a tornadic supercell hit.

Villasenor escaped the tornado unharmed and also said that his home was not impacted by the storm.

'My reaction, I was like, 'this is probably it. I'm probably dead,'' he said. 'At one point, the van was shaking really bad to the point that I thought it was like to flip over. I was just shaking. I couldn't control my hands.'

And by the looks of the footage, Villasenor and his boss are extremely lucky to be alive.

In the Alabama clip, rain is seen pelting the truck's windows as powerful winds blow debris in front of the vehicle as Villasenor drives down the road.

The tornado Villasenor encountered was a part of a string deadly twisters that roared through Alabama on Thursday, toppling trees, demolishing homes and knocking out power to thousands, part of a broad swath of violent weather sweeping across the Deep South.

Terrifying video shows the moment two men survived a powerful tornado that killed at least five people while driving down a road in an Alabama town on Thursday afternoon

A tree (left) was uprooted along the road the two men were traveling on and a home was seen destroyed as they passed by it (right)

Cars were flipped and damaged on on Montgomery Highway in Centerville, Alabama

Farther west of Calhoun County , vast areas of Shelby County near Birmingham were badly damaged. In the city of Pelham, James Dunaway said he initially ignored the tornado warning when it came over his phone.

But it wasn't long before he could hear the twister approaching, so he left the upstairs bedroom where he had been watching television and entered a hallway - just before the storm blew off the roof and sides of his house, completely exposing the bedroom. All three of his vehicles were left undriveable.

'I'm very lucky to be alive,' the 75-year-old Vietnam War veteran told Al.com.

Utility lines were downed along Highways 119 and 31 in northern Pelham, police said. Pelham authorities posted video of large trees blocking roads and utility poles leaning menacingly over debris-littered streets.

Pelham police said that 'numerous houses' have been damaged in Chandalar. In addition, police said the Pelham Civic Complex has suffered damage, but the extent is unclear. Approximately 60 homes were damaged in Pelham, police said. Of those homes, 22 sustained 'major damage'.

Firefighters outside a flattened home in the Eagle Point subdivision, also in Shelby County, said the family that lived there made it out alive before they arrived. Nearby homes were roofless or missing their second stories.

About 32 homes in Eagle Point were damaged with 29 of those suffering heavy damage.

Shelby County Sheriff John Samaniego told the AP that some houses in the county 'have been completely destroyed'.

'We can confirm local residential structures have been completely destroyed. Our priority at the moment is identifying those citizens in need of emergency medical attention.

'We will then work with our partnering agencies to provide needed resources to our residents who are displaced. This search and outreach effort will continue throughout the night and into the early morning hours, Samaniego said.

The tornado (pictured) hit small communities south of Birmingham and inflicted catastrophic damage, police said

Dark clouds are seen in the Eagle Point subdivision as a tornado tore through the area on Thursday afternoon

As many as eight tornadoes might have hit the state on Thursday, De Block said. He said investigation teams will review eight suspected tornado tracks, and the final twister number will depend on if any of those tracks can be connected.

Search and rescue efforts were complicated by strong weather that continued to rake across the region.

Radar 'debris signatures' showed a tornado that formed in southwest Alabama traveled roughly 100 miles and stayed on the ground for about an hour and 20 minutes, De Block said.

The twisters ripped through towns from west to east. In the western city of Centreville, south of Tuscaloosa, Cindy Smitherman and her family and neighbors huddled in their underground storm pit as the twister passed over their home.

A tree fell on the shelter door, trapping the eight of them inside for about 20 minutes until someone came with a chain saw to remove the tree, said Smitherman, 62.

The twister downed trees, overturned cars and destroyed a workshop on the property.

'I'm just glad we're alive,' she said. 'Praise the Lord.'

Centreville Mayor Mike Oakley said a local airport was hit. 'We have airplanes torn apart like toys. We've got homes along here that are totally destroyed, trees down, power lines down. It's pretty devastating,''Oakley said.

Damage is seen after tornadoes tore through Pelham, Alabama, Thursday afternoon

Calhoun County Sheriff Matthew Wade said that five deaths and two injuries have been reported in the Ohatchee and Wellington area

A firefighter surveys damage to a house where the family was trapped, but were able to get out after a tornado touched down south of Birmingham, Alabama, in the Eagle Point community

Damage is seen to a home after a tornado passed through the Eagle Point subdivision on Thursday

A firefighter works with residents to remove fallen trees blocking roads for rescue crews to get past after a tornado touched down south of Birmingham, Alabama

Workers at Cahaba Tractor work to protect the damaged roof of the business after being hit by a tornado on Thursday in Pelham, Alabama

Piles of debris remain after a tornado touched down killing several people and damaging multiple homes on Thursday in Ohatchee, Alabama

Debris was left scattered after a tornado destroyed a home on Thursday in Ohatchee, Alabama

Homes were completely destroyed after Thursday's tornado in Ohatchee, Alabama

Ragan Chapel United Methodist church was destroyed after a tornado touched down killing several people and damaging multiple homes on Thursday in Ohatchee, Alabama

More than 35,000 customers were without power in Alabama.

First lady Jill Biden postponed a trip to Birmingham and Jasper, Alabama, that she had planned for Friday because of the severe weather, her office said in a news release.

'Thinking of everyone in Alabama and all of those impacted by the severe weather across the South tonight. My prayers are with the grieving families. Please stay safe,' Biden wrote on Twitter.

After devastating Alabama, the 'super cell' ravaged parts of Georgia later Thursday and Friday morning.

There were several reports of downed trees and power lines on Friday and Newnan police asked residents to 'get off the roads' in a Facebook post, explaining that emergency officials were surveying the area.

The Storm Prediction Center on Thursday afternoon had issued a 'particular dangerous situation' tornado watch until 8pm CT for about 5.5 million people in parts of Alabama, northwest Georgia, Mississippi and southern Tennessee.

The advisory is issued when there's high confidence that multiple strong tornadoes of EF-2 strength, which has wind speeds of 111 to 135mph, or higher will occur in the watch area.

Alabama Governor Kay Ivey issued an emergency declaration for 46 counties as the severe weather approached, and officials opened shelters in and around Birmingham.

While Alabama bore the worst of the extreme weather Thursday, it stretched across the southern US, raising concerns of thunderstorms and flooding in parts of Tennessee, Kentucky and the Carolinas.

The weather super cell has ripped across Georgia, wreaking destruction that social media users said turned the area into a 'war-zone'

Newnan, Georgia, residents were left without phone or internet services for several hours as the tornado ripped through the country

A house is totally destroyed after the tornado touched down in the Eagle Point community on Thursday

Firefighters responded to the Eagle Point neighborhood Thursday afternoon after a tornado hit the community that sits just south of Birmingham

Trees sit uprooted along SR 31 after a tornado came through on a day of extended severe weather on Thursday in Pelham, Alabama

The tornado outbreak rolled into western Georgia early Friday with one large, dangerous tornado moving through Newnan and surrounding communities in the Atlanta metro area, meteorologists said.

Newnan, Georgia, residents were left without phone or internet services for several hours as the tornado ripped through the country.

Newnan Utilities manage Dennis McEntire said the phone lines had now returned and urged residents to follow the utility on social media for any updates.

'It's still dark so it's hard to assess all of the damage but we believe we have 30 broken poles,' McEntire said. 'We serve about 10,000 customers and about half are without electricity right now.'

McEntire said the damage from the storm was severe and it will 'take several days, with the help from outside crews, to put the system together again.'

In Tennessee, emergency responders hospitalized one person in Sumner County, and the Nashville Fire Department posted photos on Twitter showing large trees down, damaged homes and streets blocked by debris.

In Ohio, more than 100,000 people were without power early Friday after thunderstorms delivered 50 mph (80 kph) wind gusts to parts of the state. Forecasters reported peak gusts of 63 mph (100 kph) in Marysville.

Some school districts from Alabama to Ohio canceled or delayed class Friday due to damage and power outages.

Residents survey damage to homes after a tornado hit the Eagle Point community damaging multiple homes

Damage is seen to a home after a tornado passed through the Eagle Point subdivision on Thursday afternoon

Residents cut away debris after a tornado touched down south of Birmingham, Alabama, in the Eagle Point community on Thursday

Residents work to remove fallen trees blocking roads for rescue crews to get past after a tornado touched down south of Birmingham, Alabama

Police respond to a downed tree across 1st Ave W on a day of severe weather in Helena, Alabama

Significant and dangerous weather continues to impact portions of Alabama, and I urge all folks in the path of these tornadoes and storm systems to remain on high alert,' the governor said in a statement Thursday afternoon.

'Tragically, we are receiving reports of loss of life. I offer my sincerest prayers to all impacted. Unfortunately, the day is not over yet. Y'all please stay safe and vigilant!'

Flash floods were a problem in parts of Alabama at times. State troopers closed all lanes of a section of Interstate 65 near Cullman after floodwaters covered the roadway. The highway was reopened later in the day.

A Florence Police Department officer was struck by lightning while putting out barricades at the intersection of Chisholm Road and Gresham Road, the department tweeted.

He was 'conscious and responsive' at North Alabama Medical Center, the police department in Florence said on Twitter.

As of early Friday morning, there are more than 27,000 people without power in Alabama and some 19,000 without power in Georgia, according to power outages.

Police in Helena, Alabama, tweeted that the town 'received major damage as a result of the tornado'.

'All phone lines to HPD are down. Call 911 if you need emergency assistance. Please stay out of the area of Old Town on Hwy 261,' the department wrote.
When it comes to real estate, the pop star Ariana Grande goes big.

The chart-topping chanteuse recently splashed out $8.9 million for a teardown in the upscale Bird Streets neighborhood of Los Angeles, Variety reported.

But thats just the tip of the real estate iceberg for Grande. The two-time Grammy winner pulled in $72 million in 2020, and she's been buying up real estate. Her engagement to a real estate agent, Dalton Gomez, may only serve to propel her transactions to new heights.



We dug into the stars home history. At the tender age of 27, shes accomplished a lot, not least of which is an impressive property portfolio. Lets take a look.

Ritzy rentals

Grande rose to fame as a teenager, with starring roles on the Nickelodeon shows "Victorious" and Sam & Cat.

She snagged a record deal in 2011, and her debut album, Yours Truly, topped the Billboard Hot 200. The hits didn't stop coming, including the albums Sweetener and Thank U, Next. The hitmaker is a mainstay atop the Billboard 100, and she's collaborated with stars like Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber.

But before she began her pricey property purchases, the Florida native's introduction to L.A. living began as a renter.

For years, the performer had been leasing a posh property above Beverly Hills. Built in 2015, the Mediterranean-style mansion offers five bedrooms and 6,200 square feet of living space. The open floor plan features a living room with a bar, plus a gourmet kitchen that looks out to a family area. French doors open to the patio outside.

A huge master wing with sitting area and fireplace opens out to the backyard. An en suite bath includes a separate tub and two walk-in closets. The back of the home opens out to a deck with pool and spa.

For a time, Grande also lived at another Beverly Hills address, which happened to be next door to a French Country manor that Ellen DeGeneres sold for $35 million.

Beverly Hills rental realtor.com

Over a decade ago, the star reportedly rented a Hancock Park home with her mother, Joan, that had once been owned by Francis Ford Coppola. Although it was just a lease, she must have really felt at home, given that she installed a recording studio in the basement.

The pretty six-bedroom Tudor has since been renovated, but its unclear whether the recording studio made the cut. It's currently on the market for $9 million, and includes a wood-paneled sunroom, new gourmet kitchen, family room, and formal dining room.

Hancock Park home realtor.com

When Grande was just starting out, she rented a Toluca Lake, CA, property with her mother.

Billed as a former celebrity compound, the gated five-bedroom French manor offers a whopping 10,000 square feet of space.

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Watch: Kelly Clarkson's Massive 'Farmhouse' Gets a Price Cutto $8.9M

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Built in 2007, the mansion sits next door to the Bob Hope estate, and features a giant chefs kitchen, seven fireplaces, screening room, and gym. The grounds of over a half-acre include rolling lawns, fountains, and an outdoor living room with a fireplace. It last sold in November 2015 for $6.5 million.

Toluca Lake compound realtor.com



Los Angeles land grab

After dabbling in the rental market for nearly a decade, Grande is now amassing real estate in SoCal.

In February, she paid $8.9 million in an off-market deal for a parcel of private land about a half-mile from a swanky spread she bought less than a year ago. The approximately quarter-acre parcel includes an original 748-square-foot cottage from 1953, plus a pool, patio, and drop-dead views.

Located close to her lavish L.A. digs, the extra acreage might be a teardown to build anew. Perhaps a guesthouse for out-of-town visitors? Or perhaps she has an eye on the property to use as a local recording studio or workspace.

Even if she winds up not using it, she could always attempt to flip the property down the line. It last sold for $2.5 million, which means that the seller earned a handsome 256% return for hanging on to the land for a decade or so.

Teardown with killer views realtor.com

Adjacent to her most recent purchase, Grande owns a deluxe contemporary that she picked up last year for a cool $13.7 million.

Although that's a lot of dough, the songstress scored a relative bargain.

Initially offered for $25.5 million, the home had been on and off the market for years, and had never been lived in. It was last on the market for $17.5 million, so Grande managed to cut an even larger discount.

The mod home features disappearing walls of glass and smart-home technology, as well as views of the city and ocean. With four bedrooms and 5.5 bathrooms, its highlights include a formal dining area, office, and a chefs kitchen with a black granite island that opens to a family room. Pocket doors extend the living area out to the deck, where an infinity-edge pool looks out on the vistas below.

Upstairs, a massive master suite spans the entire level. The retreat features a walk-in closet, lounges, bathroom with dual vanities, tub, and a separate glass shower.

On the lower level, find a media lounge, bar, 300-bottle wine cellar, fitness studio, cedar wellness center, and guest suites.

Contemporary L.A. mansion realtor.com



Montecito mansion

Like many celebrities, Grande joined the crowed and picked up a place in the elite enclave of Montecito. The tiny town in Santa Barbara County is home to Oprah Winfrey, Katy Perry, and of course, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry.

She snapped up the delightful Tudor-style manor known as Porter House for $6.7 million last spring from the serial home flippers and fellow Montecito residents, talk show host Ellen DeGeneres and her wife, the actress Portia de Rossi.

The couple purchased the property for $3.6 million in early 2020, quickly renovated the place, and slapped it back on the market for twice the price a mere four months later.

It includes two English barns from the 1700s that were moved from England to California. Updates were made throughout, including a subdued color palette and modern light fixtures.

An updated layout has a great room with a fireplace and an octagonal study lined with casement windows. The floor plan also boasts a gym, workshop, and a three-car garage with half bathroom. Set on a little over an acre, the grounds include outdoor spaces framed by stone walls, fragrant flowers, and mature trees.

Porter House in Montecito realtor.com



New York City

In 2018, while the star briefly and publicly dated the "SNL" cast member Pete Davidson, the couple was rumored to have moved into a deluxe, $16 million apartment in the high-end architectural marvel over Manhattan's High Line elevated park. It wasn't clear if Grande had bought or rented in the snazzy new building.

Either way, the swanky, 4,000-square-foot, five-bedroom Chelsea condo certainly made a splash.

The layout included a set-back terrace with views of the Empire State Building, a sleek kitchen with high-end appliances, and views of the High Line. It was located in the building designed by Zaha Hadid, and residents enjoy amenities including a fitness center, private spa, and a 75-foot, skylit pool.



Ariana's childhood home

Before Grande became a worldwide phenomenon, she performed in local theater productions in Fort Lauderdale, FL.

She has long since left her childhood home in Boca Raton, which last was on the market in 2015 for $2.4 million.

The updated Mediterranean-style home with 6,000 square feet of living space is located in one of Bocas most sought-after gated enclaves, according to information on the listing, which also notes that the star lived here as a child.

Highlights include a home theater, library, gourmet kitchen, screened-in Florida room, sauna, gym, pool, and a summer kitchen with a bar.

Grande did leave her mark at this home in the Sunshine State: There's also a soundproof music studio.

Grande's childhood home in Boca Raton, FL realtor.com

The post Property Positions: Take a Tour of Ariana Grande's Grand Homes appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com.
Facing double pressure posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and the global economic downturn in 2020, the company achieved a sales revenue of 6.3 billion yuan, with that of self-run products realizing an increase of 100 percent.

In the context of pushing a "dual circulation" development pattern, in which domestic and overseas markets reinforce each other, with the domestic market as the mainstay, Xifeng Group has been eyeing the international market, and expedited international layouts.

The company has signed contracts with many overseas distributors and reached cooperation intentions with many foreign merchants to expand its presence in the international market.

In 2020, Xifeng Group firmly promoted the strategy of "high-end and national development" and implemented the "4 plus 6 plus 16" national market layout, namely four strategic zones, six special zones, and 16 provincial branches and international divisions, noted Zhang Zheng, Party chief and chairman of the company.

Chang'an, the name of Xi'an in ancient times, was the starting point of the ancient Silk Road, and developed amid this atmosphere, Xifeng baijiu is a well-deserved baijiu brand boasting Silk Road culture, said Zhang.

The company will fully take the location advantage of the Belt and Road to build a cultural tourism experience zone that integrates raw grain planting, production and brewing, picking experience, cultural dissemination, and customization of baijiu worthy of collection, and further improve customer experience to construct new marketing for Chinese baijiu, he added.

See the original link: https://en.imsilkroad.com/p/320509.html

SOURCE Xinhua Silk Road
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The Northern Cross River Youths Coalition in conjunction with Centre for Good Governance Democracy and Accountability has urged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to investigate the Bekwarra, Obudu and Obanliku Federal Constituency projects in the state.

The convener of the group, Sunday Michael, made the call at a news conference on Thursday in Abuja.

Mr Michael said the House Committee on Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board facilitated three constituency projects  two ICT centres in Bendi Technical College, Obanliku and Clement Ebri College in Utugwang, Obudu and a resource centre in Abuochichie, Bekwarra.

He said that the projects were all awarded by the relevant government agency which was the Nigerian Content Development and Management Board (NCDMB) as required by law.

The projects were to be executed at N491 million.

We have visited the three project sites already and observed that the projects have not been done according to the terms and conditions stated in the award letters.

The contract ended up in the hands of contractors who did not do the job.

This act of non-execution and non-completion of constituency projects contracts awarded is a flagrant abuse of our extant laws, he said.

Mr Michael said the group had investigated and uncovered huge financial fraud, sleaze and outright non-execution of the projects by the contractors.

He said investigation revealed that instead of building and constructing the projects as contained in the contracts schedule, the contractors only renovated and collected 50 per cent of the contract sum as kick back.

The implication, he said, is that the contracts were not fully executed in compliance with the contract terms and conditions.

Mr Michael said that the group had petitioned relevant anti-graft agencies to investigate the matter and bring the perpetrators to book.

We will keep following up the matter, he said.

He said the group demanded to know why the award letter and signpost showed construction, while the contractors did renovation.

He added that the group would want to know how and why full payment was made for the job and who verified the work before full payment was made among other things.

(NAN)
Parler has been removed from the Amazon Web Services platform (AWS) after being allegedly the platform that allowed the Capitol Riot last Jan.6 to happen, which was one of the most chaotic events of 2021. Moreover, Parler claimed that they have been coordinating with the FBI regarding these issues, and have submitted reports about possible threats.

Now, the social media platform is back to its operations after finding an internet server that accommodated them and made way for their website to be back and running after almost two months of hiatus. The return of Parler has ousted its founder and CEO, John Matze, which has been removed for no known reasons and without his knowledge.

Currently, Parler is centered on its social media website that is accessible via the web browser, as it remains banned on the mobile platform of Apple's iOS and Google's Android OS. The company is working on social media applications, along with adhering to their rules and regulations so that it could go back to its old setup.

Read Also: Google Apps Android Server Down: Early Reports of YouTube, Gmail, and MORE Are Unresponsive-How to Fix?

Parler: Capitol Riot Threats Were Reported Ahead to the FBI

In a letter written by Parler's lawyers addressed to Representative Carolyn B. Maloney of the New York District on Thursday, March 25, the company claimed that it proactively coordinated with the FBI. Its coordination with the Federal Bureau of Investigation included potential threats that could lead to disaster, such as the Capitol Riot of Jan. 6.

Here, Parler addressed the different instances that the company gave intel to the federal agency, especially as it concerned matters of national interest and security. Parler also claimed that the FBI took their reports lightly, and were not that attentive, hence resulting in the chaotic Capitol Riot where people joined with deadly weapons.

The social media company reiterated that the Capitol Riot was not a mere "protest" against the proclamation and decision of the government on the recent elections, but was more dangerous. Parler also said that Capitol Police has also acknowledged this information (via The Washington Post), but was also lax in implementing the measures that led to people storming the building.

Parler Says Amazon Ban Was 'Unlawful and Anticompetitive'

As added by Parler in their statement to Rep. Maloney, the Amazon Web Services ban was "unlawful and anti-competitive," because the company did their best to warn the FBI of the imminent threat. Parler has already faced the music for the past months, only to come back aiming to be better, and wanting to find retribution.

Related Article: Parler Blocks Former CEO John Matze After Online Comeback?

This article is owned by Tech Times

Written by Isaiah Alonzo

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
The number of active COVID-19 cases statewide continues to creep up despite progress in the vaccination effort, according to new data from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.

Active infections in Massachusetts rose to 28,078 on Thursday, up from 27,374 the day before, representing more than a week the number has been rising.

State health officials confirmed another 2,274 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, according to the Department of Public Health.

Officials also announced another 39 COVID-related fatalities, bringing the death toll from the pandemic to 16,671.

The seven-day average of positive tests rose to 2.23%.

Since the pandemic began, officials have confirmed 586,298 total COVID-19 cases across the state.

According to the New York Times, there has been an average of 1,920 cases per day over the last week, which represents a 28% increase from the average two weeks earlier.

There are now 631 patients hospitalized with COVID statewide, which is up from 628 the day before. That includes 137 people in intensive care, 87 of whom are currently intubated. COVID hospitalizations had been slowly but steadily declining since Jan. 6, but have risen for the past four consecutive days.

The average hospitalization age increased on Wednesday from 61 to 63, and the average age of the newly infected declined to 35, data shows.

There have been a total of 3,151,237 COVID vaccine doses administered in Massachusetts to date, and 1,165,381 residents are now fully vaccinated.

New cases continue to be highest among the 0-19 age group, with 5,807 cases reported over the last two weeks, according to the latest data from the Department of Public Health. Twenty-somethings make up the second-largest age bracket, with 4,822 reported over those two weeks.

On Monday, the state entered Step 1 of Phase 4 in Gov. Charlie Bakers reopening, allowing a number of previously closed businesses and venues to open under capacity restrictions. Gathering limits for public events are now capped at 100 people indoors and 150 people outdoors.

The state announced Thursday plans to launch an in-home vaccinations phone line Monday to connect homebound residents to in-home vaccine appointments. The program will be led by Commonwealth Care Alliance with help from 170 local boards of health.

Total COVID cases by county:

Barnstable County: 11,580

Berkshire County: 5,297

Bristol County: 58,784

Dukes County: 906

Essex County: 87,984

Franklin County: 2,143

Hampden County: 44,806

Hampshire County: 8,158

Middlesex County: 119,685

Nantucket County: 1,261

Norfolk County: 48,920

Plymouth County: 43,222

Suffolk County: 83,023

Worcester County: 69,278

Related Content:
Down Syndrome Ireland Laois Branch celebrated World Down Syndrome Day recently by encouraging all their members to wear colourful odd socks for the day, and many taking part in the DSI virtual Purple Run.

The day celebrates all things Down Syndrome, with the run usually happening in the Phoenix Park.

On the day March 21, the Laois Branch of DSI has also launched its 4 Text to Donate number 50300 with the word Dreams Fundraiser in support of their Employment Training Centre of Excellence project in Abbeyleix.

They will soon start publishing one members profile each month, so the public can meet the people they will be

supporting, and learn how they will make a difference to the lives of DSI Laois members going forward. The first member profile to kick off this fundraiser is Sadhbh Lalor. Read about her below.

The DSI Laois Branch Field of Dreams project is a centre to be built in Abbeyleix.

It will incorporate a coffee shop, charity shop, horticulture base, office spaces, therapy and training rooms, walkway, running track. The vision is to equip members with an array of skills and abilities to hold down jobs in meaningful paid employment.

This is hoped to lead to independence, both personal and financial, and indeed Independent Living in a project that will run alongside, and adjacent to the Laois Field of Dreams project.

Michael Gorman is chairman.

"The project will help our Branch to complete our Cradle to Grave Philosophy whereby we support our members throughout their life cycle.

"Our Branch has acquired a 4-acre site from Laois County Council to establish this project which will make such a huge difference to the lived lives of people with intellectual and physical difficulties in the county. It will also alleviate the huge pressure on the Day Services in the county in terms of overcrowding.

"We are asking the public to support this endeavour by donating 4 to our Text to Donate fundraiser going forward, or alternatively donate to our Gofundme page at (gofundme.com/field-of-dreams-laois). People may donate however much or little they want to in this way.

"We currently supply heavily reduced Occupational Therapy, Speech and Language Therapy, Physiotherapy and Chiropody to name a few. This Employment Training Centre of Excellence project will, with the help and support of the public in Laois and surrounds, help us to complete the life cycle support for people with Down Syndrome in delivering financial and social independence, Independent Living and meaningful social integration into the fabric of our communities here in Laois," Michael said.

The Laois Branch of Down Syndrome Ireland has been in existence since March 1995 and continues to be the Primary Source of support for people with Down Syndrome and their families in the county.
New Delhi, March 26 : Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has extended support to the Bharat Bandh and said that 'Satyagraha' was the way to oppose these laws and hoped that the protest will be peaceful.

In a tweet in Hindi on Friday, Rahul Gandhi said (loosely translated),"History is witness that through Satyagraha injustice, arrogance and exploitation ends and the agitation should be in the interest of the country and should be peaceful." The Congress has been opposing the farm laws and is in support of the agitating farmers. Rahul Gandhi even participated and led the tractor Yatra in Punjab and Rajasthan. The party has been organising protests across the country in support of the farmers.

Meanwhile, hundreds of farmers on Friday blocked the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh Ghazipur border here as part of their 12-hour Bharat Bandh on the completion of four months of protest over the three contentious farm laws.

The farmers blocked the National Highway 24 that connects Delhi with Ghaziabad. The farmers sat on the highway demanding repeal of the three farm laws.

Delhi Traffic Police in a tweet said: "Traffic movement is closed on Ghazipur Border NH-24 (Both carriageway), Kindly avoid the stretch." On Thursday, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) said that all shops, malls, markets and commercial establishments will remain shut on Friday in view of its 'Bharat Bandh' call on completion of four months of farmers' protest at Delhi's borders against the Centre's three new farm laws.

According to the SKM, the 12-hour bandh will be observed between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. However, ambulances and other essential services will be allowed.

The Bharat Bandh called by SKM is being supported by the representatives of various farmer organisations, trade unions, student groups, lawyer associations, political parties and state governments.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
In an exclusive conversation with Republic, the leader of the opposition party Bangladesh Tariqat Federation Syed Nazibul Bashar Maizvandary expressed gratitude to PM Narendra Modi for visiting the country. Outlining that he had a conversation with PM Modi on his arrival to the country, he affirmed that there were discussions about the bilateral relationship between the two countries.

Talking about the attack on Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina, and the around 9-10 radicalised youth being given death sentence in that relation, he stated, "All those were sentenced to death were related to ISI, and they are the ones engaged in such many happenings in the area." Acknowledging that the same sect was engaged in terrorism in India, he said, "I request PM Modi to fight together against radicalism and all those indulged in these kinds of activities."

Earlier in the day, PM Mod who is on a two-day visit to Bangladesh met the Foreign Minister of the country AK Abdul Momen and is said to have indulged in discussion on a wide gamut of issues pertaining to the countries' bilateral relationship.

PM Narendra Modi and Bangladesh Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen hold talks in Dhaka.



PM Modi is in the neighbouring country on a two-day visit which commenced today. pic.twitter.com/prgxWBL0yD  ANI (@ANI) March 26, 2021

After the meeting, Momen expressing his feelings said, "It was lovely meeting such a minister. Touching upon a few points discussed in the meeting and quoting PM Modi he said that the two countries have developed a good friendship & we have to work together in such a way so that the entire region develops within the next 50 years."

"We may have some issues but we will solve all of them through dialogue & discussion," he added.

PM Modi arrives at Dhaka

Early on Friday, PM Modi arrived at Dhaka's Shahjalal International Airport, clad in a Khadi Mujib jacket and was received by his counterpart in Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina and her council of Ministers.

The news of his arrival was shared on his official Twitter handle soon after.

Landed in Dhaka. I thank PM Sheikh Hasina for the special welcome at the airport. This visit will contribute to even stronger bilateral relations between our nations. pic.twitter.com/oWFydFH2BG  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 26, 2021

Thereafter, he went to National Martyr's Memorial to pay tribute to the martyrs of the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971. At the visitor's book at the memorial, he penned down a few lines which read, "I pray that the eternal flame at Savar, remains a lasting reminder of the noble victory of truth and courage over deceit and oppressions." He also planted an 'Arjun' sapling at the unmarked graves of the martyrs at the memorial ground.

Bangladesh: Prime Minister Narendra Modi signs the visitors' book at National Martyrs' Memorial in Dhaka. pic.twitter.com/sw3UuzS2CR  ANI (@ANI) March 26, 2021

PM Modi is visiting Bangladesh at the invitation of his counterpart in Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina. The invitation comes in connection with three very important events- the birth centenary of the country's founding leaders Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, 50 years of Bangladesh's war of liberation and 50 years of the establishment of diplomatic ties between India and Bangladesh.

This is PM Modi's first trip abroad after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Last week, when the White House announced that Joe Biden would hold his first formal press conference as president on March 25, the pre-game hype began. Reporters excavated the history of White House press conferences, then shared their questions for Biden with the public, and each other. There was coverage of Bidens prepinvolving three-ring binders and fourteen-point fontand, because this is Joe Biden, his potential to commit gaffes and his staffs presumed terror at the prospect. The event was framed, in some outlets, as a president who talks much less than his predecessor shedding his invisibility cloak, even though Biden sat down for a network interview just last week, and taped a prime-time address the week before. Many journalists needled Biden for waiting longer to hold a pressersixty-five days into his termthan any president in a century. (That criticism was not universal, however. Presidential press conferences are almost never about the public, as Politicos Jack Shafer noted. Theyre about letting the press preen a little.)

Given the anticipation, one might have expected White House reporters to use their time with Biden wisely. Some did, asking specific questions on consequential topics such as troop withdrawal from Afghanistan and tariffs on China. On the whole, though, the questions were a flop. Some were misframed: Biden was asked, based on the worthless word of Mitch McConnell, the Senate minority leader, if he had rejected bipartisanship; a question about Republican voting restrictions cast them not as an assault on democracy, but a potential partisan disadvantage for Bidens party. (Biden corrected the error: What Im worried about is how un-American this whole initiative is, he said. Its sick.) Other questions came up repeatedly, even though Biden answered them the first time: Reporters raised the situation at the border, applying the highly dubious narrative that Bidens decency is leading to a surge in child migration. Biden was asked twice whether hed run again in 2024 and, if so, whether Vice President Kamala Harris would be on his ticket, and whether he thought Donald Trump would be his opponent. (Look, I I dont know where you guys come from, man, Biden replied. Ive never been able to plan three and a half years ahead for certain.) All of the above questions long preceded the first substantive question on gun policy, despite the recent mass shootings in Atlanta and Boulder, Colorado. There were no questions at all about the pandemic.

Listen: America does not know what a mass shooting looks like

Afterward, the weirdness was acknowledged. MSNBCs Chris Hayes called it nuts that the press didnt ask about COVID; April Ryan, theGrios White House correspondent, who was at the presser but not called on, noted on Twitter that there are still major challenges with bridging the race gap with vaccinations and the impact of this pandemic on communities of color. As a whole, media watchers gave the press conference overwhelmingly negative reviews. Questions should be designed to elicit from the president responses that permit the public to inform itself, NYUs Jay Rosen argued, but many of those who rise at these events ask questions designed so that the presidents responses will make news. Dan Froomkin, the journalism critic, said that the presser created the impression that as Biden is trying to solve problems, the press corps is trying to create them, and observed that, in the case of the border, Biden now has to fact-check the media, after four years of the opposite. Kendra Pierre-Louis, a journalist who covers the climate crisis (which also failed to come up in any detail), had perhaps the most succinct take: It was a shit press conference and the reporters are why.

Biden, as is his wont, talked a lot at the presser. Some of his answers were evasive or misleading, but he often spoke thoughtfully and substantively about urgent challenges. Post-game coverage chewed over his answersyet for lack of gaffes or drama, the analysis focused on, well, the lack of those things. Biden faces thorough questioningand largely avoids major headlines, ABC News wrote, in a headline. Numerous pundits said that Biden didnt want to make any news; others called the presser boring. Dan Rather compared it to the Super Bowla big buildup followed by an anticlimax. After Bidens low news, low drama press conference, The Atlantics Edward-Isaac Dovere wondered, will there be as much of a drumbeat for him to hold the next one?

If journalists indignant protestations about Bidens delay had been sincere, the answer to Doveres question should be yes; if the drumbeat slows, it will reflectas did many of the questions Biden was asked yesterdaythat the political press is more concerned with novelty, spectacle, and contrived outrage than with transparency. Thats not to say the pre-presser clamor was proportionateit was, in my view, absurdly over the top, and premised on the faulty Trump-era expectation that only the president can make political news. It would still be good to have more regular presidential pressers, but theyre only as useful as the scrutiny reporters apply. Next time, lets focus less on the existence of the presser, and more on sharpening our questions. And, for heavens sake, lose the questions about 2024. Weve suffered enough.

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Other notable stories:

ICYMI: Medium has pivoted so many times it has now come full circle

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Jon Allsop is a freelance journalist. He writes CJRs newsletter The Media Today. Find him on Twitter @Jon_Allsop.
A six-year-old girl and her four-year-old brother had just arrived at their home from church last Sunday when they discovered the lifeless body of their mother, lying in a pool of blood.

Celestine Kioko, 26, from Kambi ya Juu area in Isiolo, was last seen by villagers that morning while seeing off her children to church.

But police believe her husband, whom she had reportedly broken up with three weeks earlier following several disagreements, is a person of interest in the gruesome killing.

Neighbours suspect the killing happened between 10am and 2pm when most of the people in the neighbourhood were in church. She had prepared to do some washing as used utensils and clothes were found outside her house.

On realising their mother's lifeless body, the children alerted their grandmother who lived some metres away from their rental house, who then informed a friend who accompanied her to her daughter's house.

Throat slit

"I initially thought she could be saved but on closer look, I saw her throat had been completely slit. She had other stab wounds in the chest and was dead," said Ms Susan Wangari, who accompanied Ms Kioko's mother to the scene.

Neighbours say the relationship between Ms Kioko, who ran a hotel, and her husband, was rocky and that the estranged man used to beat her.

Ms Wangari said the man recently roughed her up while at his parent's compound within the same vicinity.

"She had even reported to police (about the assault) but no action was taken," she told Nation.

A proud mother, Ms Kioko, hid the scars and never showed her grief in public, and was committed to seeing her eight-year-old marriage work until it turned more violent and she decided to walk out.

Jovial woman

Her past posts on Facebook between June 30, 2019 and February 7 this year, when she last shared a picture of herself in a white top and black skirt, showed a jovial woman.

She had on May 21, May 24 and September 26 last year shared her pictures, of light moments and with her children under hashtags #Ifoundmypeace #ProudMommaOfTwo #BestMommaChallenge.

Information gathered from her social media account shows that she was married and schooled at Lema Girls High School in Machakos.

Naked

Details have emerged that the assailant could have raped her before murdering her as eye witnesses say she was naked.

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The killing has sparked anger among Kenyans online who have demanded justice for Ms Kioko and her now motherless children.

The woman's mother, Florence Kioko, said her daughter's marriage was marred by violence and that she recently moved out and rented a room where she lived with her children.

"She reported the matter to police on some occasions including one when the husband injured her on the face. The issue did not proceed to court as police told her to solve the matter with elders and parents," the mother said.

She asked police to expedite investigations into the matter and bring the culprit to book.

Advised to separate

"They had issues and we advised them to separate for some time. Police should arrest the one who murdered my daughter," Florence said while blaming detectives for not updating the family on progress of investigations.

A police officer who sought anonymity told the Nation that an identification card was recovered from the scene but they are yet to establish whether the attacker dropped it or it was planted.

Isiolo Sub-County Police Commander George Kariuki said they are treating the estranged husband as the prime suspect and that he is being pursued.

"Investigations are underway to arrest the culprit," Mr Kariuki told journalists at Isiolo Police Station.

The police boss said a report on the post-mortem done on the woman's body will be out later and promised to share it with the media.
Joe Biden revealed some of his goals for his first year as US president at the White House yesterday. Photo: Reuters

Joe Biden last night committed to running for re-election in 2024, when he would be 81 years old.

In his long-awaited first press conference as president, Mr Biden defended his handling of an immigration crisis at the Mexico border. He said he was flattered that migrants thought he was a nice guy but nothing had changed in terms of letting them in.

He also announced a new target of delivering 200 million coronavirus vaccines in his first 100 days.

Ratcheting up tensions with China, Mr Biden condemned Beijing for human rights violations and said president Xi Jinping doesnt have a democratic bone in his body.

The president also suggested a goal of removing US troops from Afghanistan by May 1 would be missed but did say he did not envisage them being there next year.

Read More

Asked if he would run for the White House again, Mr Biden said: The answer is yes, my plan is to run for re-election, that is my expectation.

He added: Im a great respecter of fate. Ive never been able to plan three-and-a-half, four years ahead for certain.

The president was also asked if he expected Kamala Harris to again be his running mate next time.

He said: I would expect that to be the case. Shes doing a great job, shes a great partner.

Mr Biden is already the oldest person ever elected US president.

He said he had no idea if he would be running once more against Donald Trump. I dont even think about it. Ive no idea if therell even be a Republican party  do you?

Mr Biden was questioned repeatedly over increasing numbers of children being held in custody after crossing the border from Mexico.

Nearly 5,000 children are in crowded border stations awaiting transfers to overwhelmed government shelters. He said they were not coming because of the perception that he was a nice guy and would let them in, but because of conditions in their own countries in Central America.

Mr Biden said the vast majority of migrants caught at the border were turned back but Mexico was not accepting some of them. He said no previous administration, apart from Mr Trumps, had refused to give care and shelter to children arriving.

I know its ambitious, twice our original goal, he said. No other country in the world has even come close.

Mr Biden said China was trying to become the leading, wealthiest country in the world and it wont happen on my watch. He said the Chinese president doesnt have a democratic bone in his body but hes a smart, smart guy.

I told him in person on several occasions were not looking for confrontation, though we know that there will be stiff competition.

On recent missile launches by North Korea, Mr Biden said: If they choose to escalate, we will respond accordingly.

He was prepared for some form of diplomacy but it would have to be conditioned upon the end results of denuclearisation. The president said he believes the US Senate should make it harder to use a parliamentary tactic called the filibuster.

It requires 60 votes to advance most legislation in the 100-seat chamber. He called the long-standing rule an obstacle to progress that is being abused by senators in a gigantic way.

Following two recent mass shootings in Georgia and Colorado, Mr Biden said gun control measures would be a matter of timing but he intended to pursue them.
Rights of Ukrainians to their land to be restored after de-occupation of Crimea - Kuleba

After de-occupation of Crimea, the rights to land of Ukrainian citizens living there will be restored, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said.

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs immediately made a statement about this invalid decree of the Russian president. It is a continuation of the policy of oppression and displacement of Ukrainian citizens from the occupied peninsula with the parallel - let's be frank - russification of Crimea," the Ukrainian Foreign Minister said at an online briefing on Friday.

He said that all such attempts of displacement are "knowingly failures".

"Whatever Russia does, Crimea will return anyway, and all the acts that were adopted by the Russian Federation during the years of occupation will simply disappear in history. The rights of legal owners to land plots will certainly be restored after the restoration of our state's sovereignty in Crimea," Kuleba said.

According to him, now it is very important that the owners of land plots keep all documents that confirm their ownership, and any documents that the Russian Federation will impose on them in return.

In addition, Kuleba said that the issue of depriving Ukrainians of ownership of land in Crimea has been added to the list of issues that will be in the focus of attention of the Crimean Platform.

"There is no one-step solution to this problem, but a solution will be found and all rights will be renewed," he said.

The decree of the President of Russia stating that most of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol were added to the list of border territories of the Russian Federation, where foreign citizens are prohibited from owning land, entered into force on March 20, 2021, a year after its adoption.
The insurance industry faces a mammoth bill after a giant cargo ship continued to block the vital Suez Canal.

The 1,312 ft long, 224,000 ton Ever Given ran aground at both ends on Tuesday, completely blocking Egypts waterway for the first time.

Salvage efforts by smaller tugboats have proved unsuccessful, and an elite salvage squad from the Netherlands has now been drafted in.

Stuck fast: The 1,312 ft long, 224,000 ton Ever Given ran aground at both ends on Tuesday, completely blocking the Suez Canal for the first time

The ships owner, Japanese firm Shoei Kisen KK, and its insurers are on the hook for millions of pounds of insurance claims due to the cost of the salvage operation as well as the trail of shipment delays caused by the blockade.

The ship was insured in the Japanese market for hull and machinery damage of 100million.

In addition, owners of the cargo on board the ship and on other ships stuck in the canal are likely to claim for losses to perishable goods or missed delivery deadlines.

If you have a constant build-up of ships, there are massive supply chain issues, said Marcus Baker, the global head of marine and cargo at insurance broker Marsh.

Industries likely to be affected by the blockade include car and food manufacturers who operate just-in-time supply chains.

Cargo ships are being rerouted around South Africas Cape of Good Hope, adding 6,000 miles to a journey to Europe and 220,000 in fuel costs for a supertanker.

Oil prices fell sharply because of worries about demand due to new pandemic restrictions in Europe. Brent crude dropped as much as 4.7 per cent to a low of $60.98.

The slump came a day after oil rose around 6 per cent on fears the Suez blockade would hit supply.
COLUMBUS, Miss. (WTVA) - Columbus police have issued an arrest warrant for a murder suspect.

The warrant is for Kenny Armistad, 25, of Columbus, the police department announced on Friday.

Hes wanted for the shooting death of Frank Edwards, 20, of Columbus, on Dec. 30, 2020.

The shooting happened just after 9 p.m. in the 1300 block of 12th Avenue South.

Columbus Police Chief Fred Shelton urges anyone with information to contact Golden Triangle Crime Stoppers at 800-530-7151 or leave an anonymous tip using the P3 app.

Read More - Coroner identifies victim of Columbus shooting
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Eduard Izatov (left) prepares to practice a skill he'll need to know for the state exam to become a certified nursing assistant. (Jill Replogle/LAist)

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Eduard Izatov practices turning a bedridden patient -- actually a mannequin -- to give it a light back massage.

"One, two, three. Ok, here we go," Izatov said, pushing on the mannequin's shoulder to maneuver it onto its side. He and six fellow students at the Encino LA Skills Academy are finishing up a six-week training course to become certified nursing assistants, or CNAs. They're learning how to feed and bathe patients, take vital signs, and prevent infections and falls.

Thanks to our aging population, nursing assistants and home health aides are among the fastest-growing, most in-demand health care jobs in California and nationwide. These careers can provide dependable, flexible employment with minimal investment in higher education. Becoming a CNA can also be a stepping stone to higher-level jobs in the health field.

CNA jobs are also physically and emotionally demanding, generally low-paying and tend to have high turnover rates. During the COVID-19 pandemic, these frontline health care workers have been among the most at-risk for infection because of their work environment -- largely in nursing homes and other congregate living facilities -- and the need to be in close proximity with patients.

The policy research group California Competes: Higher Education for a Strong Economy estimates that close to 13,000 nursing assistant jobs go unfilled every year in California. As our population ages, in California and nationally, the need for CNAs is massive.

"There is literally a challenge of whether we're going to have enough people, forget about whether they're qualified or not, to actually do this work," said Robyn Stone, vice president of research at Leading Age, a coalition of nonprofit aging services organizations.

WHY BECOME A CNA? AT A GLANCE

Pros:

Jobs are plentiful and offer a variety of schedules.

Training programs are relatively inexpensive. The courses offered through the LA Skills Academy, which is the local provider for American Red Cross CNA training, cost $1,800. Some other courses are free.

Training programs are relatively short: the state of California requires 60 hours of classroom training; 100 hours of on-the-job clinical practice.

Dozens of institutions, including community colleges, offer the training in the L.A. area. Some hospitals and nursing homes will train you on site and give you a job once you're certified.

Becoming a CNA requires relatively minimal qualifications:

Be at least 16 years old



Complete required training hours



Pass certification exam



Pass a criminal background check (a conviction does not necessarily disqualify an applicant, depending on the crime)



Complete continuing education and recertify every two years

It's relatively easy to find jobs in other parts of the state and country because of high demand, although each state has its own licensing requirements.

Also of note: Nursing assistants do not need to be citizens or legal permanent residents to get certified in California.

Cons:

CNA jobs are relatively low-paying: the average hourly wage in the Los Angeles area is $16.73 -- not much above the $15/hour local minimum wage -- according to the most recent data (2019) from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

It's hard work, physically and emotionally. CNAs usually work with people who are elderly and infirm, sometimes with severe physical and cognitive impairment.

Job turnover is high among CNAs who work in nursing homes and long-term care facilities (which the majority do), in large part because of low pay and difficult working conditions.

CNAs are highly exposed to infectious diseases, including COVID-19 and influenza.

The California Community Colleges' Health Workforce Initiative aims to show students the breadth of health care jobs and how to create career ladders. (Screenshot of Health Workforce Initiative graphic.)

WHY THESE ANGELENOS ARE BECOMING CNAS

Pandemic-induced career switch. Izatov, who's 46 and originally from Russia, was a ballroom dance instructor until the pandemic hit. "The studios are still closed right now, so I completely lost my business," he said.

A friend who's a nurse encouraged him to become a certified nursing assistant. The hourly pay is a lot less than what Izatov charged for an hour of dance lessons. But he figures if he works full time at a hospital, which he's hoping for, and picks up some overtime shifts, he can make a decent living.

"If you can calculate for, like, four days of 12-hours shifts, it's going to be in a year around $65,000," he said.

Cristina Pesina, 36, practices her nursing skills on a mannequin at the LA Skills Academy. (Jill Replogle/LAist)

Dipping her toes in. Christina Pesina, 36, has bounced around low-wage jobs: retail, cigar-roller. Now, she's dipping her toes into the health care field by becoming a CNA. Her mom and Pesina's wife are both licenced vocational nurses, which is one step up from a CNA.

"They always have a job and they seem happy," Pesina said. "So I wanted to try it, you know, to make sure that this is something that I wanted to do."

Pesina is getting ready to take her state exam to become a CNA, but in the meantime, she already has a job at the skilled nursing home in Santa Monica where she did her clinical training.

"I started just coming into this thinking ... I'm going to give it a try, may not work out. And now, today, I feel very positive. Everything's starting to line up," Pesina said.

Transitioning from a career overseas. For recent immigrants, becoming a CNA can be a way to break into the U.S. health care field. Parveen Saqib worked as a nurse for 13 years in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia before moving to the U.S. in 2014. But when she didn't pass the exam required to work as a registered nurse here, she realized she needed a better understanding of U.S. laws and regulations around patient care. "Here it is very strict," she said of U.S. patient privacy laws.

So she decided to enroll in a CNA course through the Los Angeles Skills Academy. Saqib said that since she got her state nursing assistant certification in January, she's had multiple job offers and is planning to accept one at a local Veterans Affairs hospital.

She hopes to take the nursing exam, called the NCLEX, again in the future. But in the meantime, she enjoys caring for seniors and talking with them about their life experiences.

"CNA is a hard job," she said. But "if you are patient, if you think you are a good listener ... this is the best thing you can do."

Jessica Williams practices helping a patient into a chair during a CNA training program. Williams plans to ultimately become a physician assistant. (Jill Replogle/KPCC)

Clinical experience. Jessica Williams, a junior at USC, plans to work as a CNA to get the hands-on clinical experience required to enter physician assistant school. Plus, she's thrilled to get out into the real world after a year of fully online classes.

"Being able to get that experience and do something where I know I'll be able to go in and actually be working with people is very exciting," she said.

Many students who enroll in CNA programs are hoping to become registered nurses. Nursing programs are highly competitive and applicants get extra points for having clinical experience.

Talin Arikian, 39, became a CNA in January 2020 after finishing the CNA/home health aide course at Los Angeles Mission College. She now works at Olive View - UCLA Medical Center while finishing up her prerequisites for nursing school at the college.

She loves her CNA job, Arikian said, and it's been a great way to try out the nursing field. "Saying you want to be a nurse is one thing, but you should go in and see if you can handle it," Arikian said. "It's a dirty job."

COMPLEX JOB, LOW PAY

Low pay for CNAs and other caregivers is widely recognized as a major problem in attracting and retaining workers, and has also been linked to lower-quality care for elderly and disabled patients, and heightened health and safety risks, especially during the coronavirus pandemic.

A recent report from LeadingAge notes:

"...underpaid, financially strapped direct care workers had few other options than to keep working during the coronavirus pandemic, even if it put at risk their own health and the health of their families and care recipients."





"So they are dealing with all the medical and social support needs that these individuals have, as well as the emotional and behavioral health issues that may often occur, particularly since a lot of this population has some level of cognitive impairment and many have dementia."





"They are a very underpaid professional set of occupations that is undervalued by our society and that is essential in the long-term sector because so much of the services are provided by these people," Stone said.





Stone from LeadingAge notes that a CNAs job is much more complex than taking care of a patient's basic needs, in part because they are often the only people with patients, whether in a nursing home or the patient's home.Stone said these caregivers deserve higher pay and greater recognition of the professionalism required by their jobs.Page 2 of Exploring Health Careers Contributed to DocumentCloud by KPCC Documents (Southern California Public Radio)  View document or read text

According to PHI, a nonprofit organization focused on improving elder and disability care, 36% of nursing assistants working in nursing homes require some form of public assistance to make ends meet, like Medicaid or food aid. Women of color, who make up the majority of caregivers in nursing homes and residential settings, make even less money, on average, than white women and especially white men, according to PHI.

Arikian, the CNA, said she has to work overtime to keep up with her bills. If not, "I fall a little bit behind," she said.

HOW TO USE CNA TRAINING AS A STEPPING STONE

PHI, LeadingAge, and other groups want policymakers to raise the minimum wage for CNAs and direct caregivers. At the same time, health educators say it's important to lay out clear career pathways for would-be entry-level health care workers. Amal Amanda Issa, Bay Area regional coordinator for the California Community Colleges Guided Pathways initiative, said:

"It's like if you start here, this is your wage, if you take these two courses, this will be your next job, and this is your new wage. So it's kind of really creating a ladder."





Issa also said educators need to do more to encourage working high school and community college students to get a job related to their field of study. Often, she said, students will take whatever job they can get that helps pay the bills "and what ends up happening too often, and I've seen this with so many of my students, is that work starts to take priority over school.

"But when you're working in the field and learning the field, that commitment between the two grows," Issa said.

She said educators also need to make students aware, starting at the high school level, that there are numerous professions in the healthcare field besides doctors and nurses, and many of them don't require years and years of higher education and training.

Arikian, the CNA, said working at a hospital has been a great way to learn about all the other health careers out there: respiratory therapist, phlebotomist, pharmacy technician. Still, she has her sights set on becoming a registered nurse. She hopes to be enrolled in nursing school by the end of this year.
Minn. - A development that wasn't unexpected -- It is unlikely, still if you've already received your COVID-19 vaccination it is still possible to be infected.

Minnesota state health officials report 89 Coronavirus cases among those who have been fully-vaccinated with either the Pfizer, Moderna, or Johnson and Johnson vaccines.

Clinical trials suggest the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are 95 percent effective - while the Johnson and Johnson vaccine is said to be 66 percent effective.

Jeremy Otto, Marketing and Public Information Officer of Cerro Gordo County Public Health says they are all effective at preventing severe illness, hospitalization, and death.

"The disease that is resulting from these cases - is a lot more mild to moderate - it's really just further evidence just how well these vaccines are working. Otto explains.

He adds the rate of transmission around the nation is still high.

Director of CG Public Health, Brian Hanft urges anyone who is presented the opportunity to get the shot - to take it.

He says, People really should not be shopping around for a specific type of vaccine - just get the vax that you can get - the one that's most available - or available at the time that you can get it."

With families coming back from spring break travels - health officials are expecting a surge in cases within the next 7 to 14 days.

"Everybody still needs to mask up in public, avoid large gatherings - practice good sanitation, Otto emphasizes, Right now is not the time to get away from those practices - in fact in my opinion we need to double down on those and focus on those main mitigation efforts."

Those exposed will generally see infection between 2 and 14 days after exposure. If you have not yet been vaccinated and come back from travel - wait 5-7 days to get tested - as you could still be asymptomatic.

If you're receiving a two dosage vaccine - a reminder to get your second dose from the same provider where you receive your first.
(L-R) U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, Vice President Kamala Harris, President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Tony Blinken, and National Security Council Senior Director for Western Hemisphere Juan Gonzalez, participate in a virtual bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on Feb. 23, 2021. (Pete Marovich-Pool/Getty Images)

First Call Between Freeland, Harris Highlights Chinas Arbitrary Detention of Kovrig and Spavor

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland held her first phone call with U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday.

Among the range of issues they talked about were the various aspects of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the close economic ties between the two countries, and the importance of free flowing trade and investment.

According to a government statement, the two highlighted the Chinese regimes unacceptable imprisonment of Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor. They agreed to continue to demand the two mens immediate release.

Kovrig and Spavor are being held on baseless charges of stealing state secrets, and have been detained in China since Dec. 10, 2018. Their detention is widely considered a hostile retaliation for Canadas arrest of Huaweis senior executive Meng Wanzhou nine days earlier at the request of the United States.

Meng is under house arrest in Vancouver as her extradition case makes its way through court. She is accused of bank fraud for allegedly misleading HSBC in an attempt to evade U.S. sanctions against Iran.

Spavor was put on trial on March 19 for spying and illegally sending state secrets abroad, while Kovrig was tried a few days later on charges of spying into state secrets and intelligence for foreign entities. Consular access to both court hearings was denied.

The continued fight against #COVID19. Vaccines. Childcare. A strong economic recovery for all. Today, @VP Harris and I spoke about these and more as we build upon the strong relationship between our two countries.  Talk to you again soon, Madam Vice President.  Chrystia Freeland (@cafreeland) March 26, 2021

Freeland and Harris also spoke about the economic recession caused by the pandemic. They discussed the need to continue support for entrepreneurs, small businesses, young people, and low-wage workers. They also talked about the importance of child care as part of the economic recovery.

Freeland thanked the vice president for ensuring Canada will receive 1.5 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine, which are expected to arrive in Canada next week.

She also noted the close economic ties between Canada and the United States in facilitating free trade and investment, particularly under the Buy American proposals.

Harris raised issues around migration from Central America, and both leaders agreed on the need to tackle the root causes contributing to the crisis.

Previously, Freeland and Harris participated in a virtual meeting between Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and U.S. President Joe Biden on Feb. 23, 2021. The two agreed to stay in close contact for future collaboration between the two countries.
MEXICO CITY (AP)  Mexicos elections agency has withdrawn ballot registration for a ruling-party state candidate who was nominated despite accusations of rape against him.

The decision drew the wrath Friday of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who has defended candidate Felix Salgado and criticized women's groups who objected to his candidacy.

This is an attack on democracy, Lopez Obrador said, saying that high powered, mafia interests wanted Salgado disqualified as candidate for the governorship of southern Guerrero state. This is anti-democratic.

The National Electoral Institute ruled late Thursday that Salgado had failed to report the money he spent during the primary process, and that his candidacy would no longer be officially recognized.

Mexico will hold state and federal mid-term elections on June 6.

Salgado won the nomination of Lopez Obrador's Morena party earlier this month, despite protests by womens rights activists. He has not personally addressed the accusations, though his lawyer has denied them.

Salgado vowed Friday to fight the decision in court, calling it rude and arbitrary, but did not say whether he had reported all spending as required by Mexicos election laws.

Salgado was chosen as candidate by a poll of Morena party members despite nationwide protests over the fact two women accused him of rape.

Lopez Obrador was stung by protests against his administration over his refusal to break with Salgado. The president said the issue should be left up to voters in Guerrero, and claims it is being brought up by his foes, the conservatives.

Salgado has not been charged; the statute of limitations ran out on one case and the other is still being investigated.

Salgado, who goes by the nickname Toro, or Bull, is a former federal legislator and mayor of Acapulco who has been been known for questionable behavior in the past. He was filmed scuffling with police in Mexico City in 2000.

Former Guerrero state prosecutor Xavier Olea told The Associated Press that the current governor of Guerrero, Hector Astudillo, ordered him in 2017 not to investigate one of the rape accusations against Salgado, though Astudillo has denied that.
The commercial studio Buck has opened a new office in Amsterdam. The European base adds to locations in Los Angeles, New York, and Sydney, allowing for what Buck calls around-the-clock strategy, ideation, design, and delivery.

Buck is opening the new studio to build and expand relationships with European talent, brands, and creative partners. The studio mostly works in cg, but utilizes a wide range of styles and techniques for clients such as Coca-Cola, Apple, Nike, and Instagram.

Buck, which employs a global staff of around 300, works with many artists already based in Europe. Co-founder and co-CCO Ryan Honey says that opening a studio on the continent will serve as a home base for its European talent.
Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], March 26 (ANI/BusinessWire India): Jaro Education, one of India's leading EdTech companies has announced launching a series of new PG Certificate Programmes in collaboration with IIM-Nagpur.

In the era of the new age technologies and digital transformation of businesses, the demand for techno functional employees is surging high, especially in a growing economy like India. Today, businesses and individual working professionals are willing to invest more to future-proof themselves. The knowledge of new-age tools and technology is quintessential in the post COVID-19 world which is why upskilling has become the need of the hour.

The demand for upskilling is paving a new milestone and reskilling is gaining momentum leading to better career opportunities. Jaro Education and IIM-Nagpur are launching NEW post-graduate programmes to cater to the rising demand of the market and preparing the Indian youth to suit the job roles of the imminent future.

The Indian Institute of Management Nagpur (IIMN) aspires to be a leading management institution that shapes management systems, policy and governance through high-quality education, research and industry engagement. IIM Nagpur's aim is to address the needs of a modern India; connecting aspirations and realities to attain benchmarks that are respected internationally.

Equip with the right opportunity out of an entire range of executive-level programmes to upsurge career-growth.

Jaro Education is launching new skill-based learning programmes:

* Post Graduation Certification Programme in Business Management for IT Professionals (BMIT)

* Post Graduation Certification Programme in Data Science for Business Excellence and Innovation

* Post Graduation Certification Programme in Digital Strategy & Marketing Analytics

* Post Graduation Certification Programme in Financial Technology (FinTech)

These programmes aim to support mid-senior level executives or working professionals in all walks of life to skill-up tactfully. With a proven programme curriculum, which is equipping learners with an in-depth understanding of the industry related concepts and techniques -- a mix of lectures, case-based discussions and hands-on training and much more.

This promising association is escalating 'The Future of Education in India' by leveraging the right educational methods and tools.

"These New-Age programmes are specially curated for the working professionals to bridge the skill-gap and also help to upskill in accordance with the industry standards. Our association with IIM Nagpur will set a benchmark in the EdTech industry and will be a great catalyst to leap the career ladder," said Ranjita Raman, CEO, Jaro Education.

Aspirants can easily enrol for the programmes through Jaro Education website.

Website link: (https://www.jaroeducation.com)

This story is provided by BusinessWire India. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/BusinessWire India)

DISCLAIMER

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Deputy President William Ruto says he is open to working with anyone, including his perceived political rival Raila Odinga.

Speaking during an interview on Radio Citizen on Thursday morning, DP Ruto hinted at a possible reunion with the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) leader ahead of the 2022 General Elections as long as they share a similar goal of stabilizing the Kenyan economy.

Ruto indicated that he does not have a problem with Raila, saying their differences are only political.

Some people think I have problems with Raila. I do not. These differences are political. And there are things I agree with Raila. He is agreed on the need to form national parties and he is facing similar issues (in the opposition) I am facing of regional chieftains. And I want to say this: If anybody wants to partner with us to bring up the hustler, we have no problem. We support, we will work together, said Ruto.

Anybody who wants to join us to fight poverty and other things that ail the country is welcome. I will work with everyone who shares an approach to stabilizing the economy through the bottom-up model. If Raila is that person, what stops me from working with him? he posed.

At the same time, DP Ruto censured Railas coalition partners Kalonzo Musyoka (Wiper), Musalia Mudavadi (ANC) and Moses Wetangula (Ford Kenya) for pushing for regional parties.

The former Prime Minister and I read from the same script on the need to have political parties that have a national outlook. Unlike other leaders who believe in ethnic-based political parties, Raila and I are pushing for a few political outfits which can be embraced nationally. We have seen many leaders go back to their tribesmen, from political parties to bargain a pre-or post-election alliance. We need political parties that transcend the borders of ethnicity, said Ruto.

Adding: If you go to Wiper, it belongs to Ukambani people. ANC is a Western party just like Ford-Kenya. Kanu, which was formerly a national party, is now confined in Baringo. And now the Coast leaders are pushing for their own party.
Intelligent.com, a trusted resource for online degree rankings and higher education planning, has announced the Top 50 Master's in Math Education Degree Programs for 2021. The comprehensive research guide is based on an assessment of 193 accredited colleges and universities in the nation. Each program is evaluated based on curriculum quality, graduation rate, reputation, and post-graduate employment.

The 2021 rankings are calculated through a unique scoring system which includes student engagement, potential return on investment and leading third party evaluations. Intelligent.com analyzed 193 schools, on a scale of 0 to 100, with only 50 making it to the final list. The methodology also uses an algorithm which collects and analyzes multiple rankings into one score to easily compare each school.

Students who pursue any one of these programs can expect to gain employment much quicker in comparison to candidates without a degree. In addition to accessibility and cost, the steady job growth in this market is one of the many reasons Intelligent.com researched and ranked the Top Master's in Math Education Degree Programs. To access the complete ranking, please visit: https://www.intelligent.com/best-masters-in-math-education-degree-programs/

2021 Master's in Math Education Degree Programs featured on Intelligent.com (in alphabetical order):

Appalachian State University

Aurora University

Ball State University

Boston University

Chadron State College

Columbus State University

Drexel University

East Carolina University

Emporia State University

Georgia State University

Grand Canyon University

Harvard University

Indiana State University

Iowa State University

James Madison University

Kansas State University

Kennesaw State University

Lesley University

Liberty University

Marshall University

Minnesota State University, Mankato

Montana State University

North Carolina State University

Northern Arizona University

Nova Southeastern University

Radford University

Regent University

Rutgers University

Rutgers University, Camden

Shawnee State University

Slippery Rock University

State University of New York College, Brockport

State University of New York, Buffalo

Texas A & M University, College Station

University of Alaska

University of Arkansas

University of Cincinnati

University of Detroit Mercy

University Of Florida

University of Houston

University Of Idaho

University of Illinois at Chicago

University of Missouri

University of Nebraska, Lincoln

UNC Greensboro

University Of Pittsburgh

University of Tennessee, Knoxville

University of Texas, Rio Grande Valley

Western Governors University

Western Kentucky University

About Intelligent.com

Intelligent.com provides unbiased research to help students make informed decisions about higher education programs. The website offers curated guides which include the best degree programs as well as information about financial aid, internships and even study strategies. With comprehensive, user-friendly guides and hundreds of program rankings, Intelligent.com is a trusted source among students and prospective students. To learn more, please visit https://www.intelligent.com/.
ADDIS ABABA - Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD) said that Africa and Russia should work to rapprochement and revive their longstanding relationship, which has been challenged in the course of time, for the benefit of the people and economies of the two sides.

The Premier's remark came while addressing the 'Africa-Russia- The Revival of Traditions: International Interparty' dialogue on Wednesday.

Abiy stated that platforms including Russia-Africa Summit and Economic Forum have played instrumental role to the two sides exchange ideas on ways to fostering a lasting cooperation.

The forums are also beneficial to both African countries and Russia better prepared to overcome challenges that tackle their pursuit of strong partnership.

The Premier stated that the dialogue would contribute to the world's peace and stability in highlighting the importance of the United Nations principle of non-inference in domestic affairs of sovereign countries.

The dialogue also proposed ways to revive the rich traditional similarity between Russian and African countries.

The Prime Minister further noted that Russia was a key ally in Africa's decolonization struggle and provided scholarship to many freedom fighters thereby contributing to nurture African leaders and intellectuals.

Africans need to cooperate overcome poverty, inequality, unemployment, and violence whilst forming strong partnership with global actors including Russia. "Africans must revisit our tradition and consolidate our friendship and renew solidarity."
In July 2019, Alan M. Dershowitz, the lawyer who defended President Donald J. Trump during Mr. Trumps first impeachment trial, said in an interview that he had a perfect sex life with his wife.

Mr. Dershowitzs phrasing  in response to questions about his connections to the accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein  drew headlines at the time. The comments also prompted Bandy X. Lee, then a psychiatrist at Yale University who had questioned Mr. Trumps mental fitness and his influence over his supporters, to assess Mr. Dershowitzs behavior.

In January 2020, she compared Mr. Dershowitzs wording with Mr. Trumps own prominent use of the word perfect, suggesting in a tweet that it could reflect a shared psychosis through which Mr. Dershowitz had taken on what she said was Mr. Trumps grandiosity and delusional-level impunity.

Days later, Mr. Dershowitz complained in an email to Yale, saying that Dr. Lee had violated ethics rules by offering a public diagnosis without examining him. Shortly after, Dr. Lee says, the head of Yales psychiatry department warned her about her behavior.
United States national emblem and mascot, the bald eagle, has been the target of a mysterious neurodegenerative disease for the last 25 years.

According to a report by Live Science, researchers have been sleuthing since 1994, when the disease, known as vacuolar myelinopathy (VM) was first discovered. At that time, a large number of bald eagle carcasses were found near DeGray Lake in Arkansas.

According to researchers, an infected animal will begin to have problems with motor functions as VM attacks the brain, and eventually the animal succumbs to a gruesome death.

Live Science cited co-author Susan Wilde, an aquatic scientist at the University of Georgia whos been studying VM since 2001, and who told them: When the birds are really sick, they just look really drunk, they stumble around and fall down. She added, But it gets even worse, they get paralyzed, blinded and can have tremors and seizures before eventually succumbing to the disease.

Scientists had no idea how the disease was acquired.

Initially, scientists had no explanation for how the eagles acquired the disease. Eventually they identified an invasive plant and later a particular species of cyanobacteria that seemed to be responsible, however, they were unable to determine the exact mechanisms behind VM.

But, Live Science reports that a new study has found that a neurotoxin called aetokthonotoxin that is produced under certain circumstances by the cyanobacteria living on the invasive plants, is the culprit.

Lead author Steffen Breinlinger, a doctoral student at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg in Germany, explained to Live Science: A toxin produced by cyanobacteria that colonize a highly invasive plant, which has the capacity to affect diverse animal phyla, should not be underestimated in its potential impact on our environment, the report cited.

What is VM?

VM has spread quickly throughout U.S. lakes, since it was first discovered in 1994, the report noted.

We have found it in nine states from Virginia to Texas, Wilde said. But I dont think we understand just how many places this might be occurring.

Although a wide range of lake species, such as fish, frogs, snails, salamanders, turtles and snakes, as well as smaller birds like, coots, owls and waterfowl also appear to be impacted by the disease, bald eagles are one of the most affected species because they feed on all of these other infected animals, Wilde said.

We know its at least 130 eagles that have died testing VM-positive, Wilde added. But the recovery rate of dead bodies is probably around 10 or 12%, so its probably at least 10 times that number.

To test for VM, researchers perform a necropsy immediately following the animals death. According to Wilde, the only physical evidence of the disease are lesions and damage to the brain, which can only be properly identified during a short window of time after death, making tracking the disease and estimating deaths even more difficult, the report cited.

Unraveling the mystery.

Although early on, scientists discovered that VM was found only in lakes where an invasive plant species, Hydrilla verticillata, was also found, it soon became apparent that not all lakes where Hydrilla grows were linked to VM, so it had to be something else that was causing the disease.

Then, in a new study by Wilde and colleagues in 2015, a species of cyanobacteria (Aetokthonos hydrillicola) was identified, that was found on Hydrilla in lakes where VM was occurring in animals. But the team still couldnt explain how the bacteria were causing VM, the report noted.

In the new study, when Wilde sent samples of the cyanobacteria to Breinlinger and other researchers in Germany, who attempted to grow cultures of the bacteria to see what toxins they produced, the German team found to their surprise, that cyanobacteria grown in regular cultures did not produce any toxin and seemed to disprove Wildes theory that they were responsible for VM.

But, the report said that when grown on cultures that included bromide, the plants produced a toxin researchers now think causes VM, called aetokthonotoxin. The names translation is poison that kills the eagle.

Its still unknown why the cyanobacteria produce the toxin and do so only in the presence of bromide, researchers say. And, although bromide occurs naturally in lakes in small doses, Breinlinger said that it is also spreading by anthropogenic influence, herbicide use and chemical run-off from both flame retardants and pollution from coal-powered power stations.

According to Wilde, the probability that VM will ever be eradicated from U.S. lakes, is highly unlikely. However, scientists now have a better understanding of the toxin responsible for it, which will aid in developing ways to control the spread and manage the disease.

READ MORE:
GONE is the man who will forever be remembered for his economic diplomacy, spread of diplomatic wings and regional bloc leadership. President John Magufuli who ascended to power in 2015, has been Tanzania's shortest serving president, but one who has had a huge impact in attaining development for the country and its people.

Since assuming office, the late President Magufuli has asserted a strong stance against public spending and has discouraged foreign travel by him and his senior government officials.

He made his first foreign visit to Rwanda in April 2016, five months after assuming office.

The other countries that he toured until his passing away are Uganda (thrice), Kenya, South Africa, Ethiopia, Namibia and Zimbabwe. In spite of such few visits, JPM has been vibrant and served well as a regional leader within East African Community (EAC) as Chairman of Heads of State Summit as well as successfully leading the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

He stopped 'business as usual' attitude of some Tanzanian ambassadors abroad, becoming tough to ensure that they serve the country by bringing in investors as well as tourists, something that has since paid handsomely for the country. In September 2018, JPM warned the country's ambassadors and diplomats to account for their performance or risk being returned home, saying he would not hesitate to dismiss non-performing ambassadors representing Tanzania in various countries.

He spread the diplomatic wings by receiving China's State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Chato, Geita region on January 8 this year, asking him to convey his sincere greetings and best wishes to President Xi Jinping. He noted that the older generation of Chinese and Tanzanian leaders nurtured deep friendship between the two countries with sincerity and good faith.

He told him that Chinese people have always been close friends and good brothers of the Tanzanian people, adding that Tanzania is deeply grateful for years of tremendous assistance provided by the Chinese people to its struggle for national liberation and development.

He noted that Tanzania was willing to continue carrying forward the traditional friendship between the two countries and to stand firmly with China on all issues involving China's core interests and major concerns. China has made remarkable achievements in economic development, and the two countries witness mutual beneficial and win-win economic and trade cooperation.

JPM was also elected as Chairperson of the EAC Heads of State, leading the bloc by, among other things, reducing spending. He has been all along eager in strengthening the integration process. The former Head of State has been insisting that the situation of food security in the region was important in many circles.

The President while calling for concerted efforts to address the situation mentioned surplus grain reserves in the Republic of Uganda and in the United Republic of Tanzania. The president further rooted for industrialisation, market access regulation and other global developments.

Throughout his presidency, President Magufuli has styled himself as an African nationalist, a bulwark against imperial exploitation and as pro-austerity, anti-corruption crusader. But this Tanzaniafirst policy outlook has not gone unnoticed in the region.

JPM was honored also to lead the SADC, saying apart from many achievements of the bloc, member states still have a long way to go in realising the dreams of the bloc's founding fathers. In 2020, President JPM said that a majority of the 350 million people of the now 16- nation bloc were still grappling with the challenges of poverty, unemployment and hunger, despite being endowed with abundant natural resources like fertile land, minerals, forests and water.

In its condolence message following the death of President Magufuli, SADC Chairperson and Mozambique President, Mr Felipe Nyusi said SADC region and Africa as a whole have lost a great, committed and inspirational leader admired across the African continent and the world.

"H.E. President Dr Magufuli will always be remembered for his developmentoriented leadership and commitment to SADC deeper political and socio economic regional integration. Upon assuming the SADC Chairpersonship in August 2019, H.E. President Dr Magufuli reiterated that, "The United Republic of Tanzania is fully committed to SADC's vision; goals, principles and ideals, and indeed, we always consider SADC as an integral part of our future'. "True to his commitment to the SADC ideals, he steered the region to record a number of milestones, such as finalisation of the development of the SADC Vision 2050 and Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP) 2020-2030, two blueprints that provide a strategic direction of the SADC Region in the years ahead," said President Nyusi.

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Dr Magufuli always sought practical solutions to increase industrial capacity and intra-regional trade in the SADC region as reflected in the theme of the 39th SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government held in Dar es Salaam. He was urging SADC Member States to harmonise policies, laws, regulations and improve the quality of standards of goods and services, so as to increase the volume and value of intra and extra regional trade.

The untimely passing of President Magufuli came barely a week before SADC commemorates the Southern African Liberation Day on 23rd March, 2021, a day dedicated to honour men and women for their sacrifices in the liberation struggle.

In his SADC Day Message on 17th August, 2020, President Magufuli paid tribute for the achievements of the SADC founding leaders and successive leaders and added; "We should always guard against complacency since much still needs to be done in order to realise our founding fathers' dream and vision."
Dominion Voting Systems, the company that creates much of the voting infrastructure used to cast ballots in the U.S., filed a defamation lawsuit against Fox News Friday morning seeking $1.6 billion in damages. The suit alleges that the right-wing news network knowingly and purposely broadcast falsehoods about the election technology company that was at the heart of the Trump-driven election fraud conspiracy theory that consumed the network and nearly devoured the nation. Fox endorsed, repeated, and broadcast a series of verifiably false yet devastating lies about Dominion, the suit states. Fox took a small flame and turned it into a forest fire.

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The claims, which started on the QAnon fringe before creeping their way into the former presidents brain, were over-the-top ludicrous. Dominion, the conspiracies went, was the key player in the successful plot to rig the election. The company surreptitiously switched votes! It was paying kickbacks to election officialseven Republican onesto keep it quiet! One-time Trump lawyers Sidney Powell and Rudy Giuliani made dark claims about the algorithm and, when all of that didnt seem on the nose enough, they came up with a Rorschach test of Republican lunacy, pushing the idea that the company and the whole sinister plot was somehow linked to socialist Venezuela and the countrys former president Hugo Chavez, who died in 2013.

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That time Lou Dobbs chatted with an enabler in the legal profession about the Big Lie and the myth of election fraud: pic.twitter.com/tQA2Ax3UsE  Tim O'Brien (@TimOBrien) February 6, 2021

The lies were outlandish, and those who propagated them are now trying to wriggle free of their consequences. The Dominion suit alleges that not only did the Fox network knowingly broadcast false statementsover and over and over againit did so with a commercial purpose in mind: to hold on to viewers who were decamping for more extreme sites considered more loyal to Trump. Fox sold a false story of election fraud in order to serve its own commercial purposes, severely injuring Dominion in the process, the suit claims.

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Well, yeah. Its hard to argue with the baseline accusation that Fox did all of those things and it did those things for its own financial benefit. Whether that ultimately rises to the technical legal definition of defamation remains to be seen, but what Fox did here is plain as day. Last month, another election technology company, Smartmatic, which has been aggressively going after Trumps right-wing enablers, filed a similar $2.7 billion suit against the network, as well as a trio of its highest-profile hosts: Maria Bartiromo, Lou Dobbs, and Jeanine Pirro. Dominion has already sued two of the biggest individual distributors of election fraud misinformation, pro-Trump lawyers Sidney Powell and Rudy Giuliani. Powell this week filed a motion to dismiss the suit, claiming that no reasonable person would have believed her claims to be true. The even a tomato can knew we were full of it theory seems like a worrying sign for Fox News how were we to know? defense.

In response to the suit, Fox News Media issued a statement saying the company is proud of our 2020 election coverage, which stands in the highest tradition of American journalism, and will vigorously defend against this baseless lawsuit in court.
It has been a year since government bodies across Michigan were first allowed to meet virtually, amid the COVID-19 pandemic. In the months since, local governments and school boards saw an influx in the number of citizens making their voices heard.

The impact of such a major change in how local governments do the publics business goes beyond a spike in public comments. It has also led to an erosion of civility, some say, and issues of access for those struggling with technology necessary to access the newly virtual meetings.

Related: COVID-19 one year later: This is our life now

Still, others see virtual access to public meetings as one positive result of the ongoing pandemic.

With the state law allowing virtual public meetings slated to expire this month, many see a benefit in continuing to allow remote public participation, even after the threat of pandemic. Some argue against shutting the door for citizens who, before, may have had work or parental duties or transportation issues bar their in-person civic engagement.

We have heard from our members over and over again that they have had an uptick in public participation since folks are able to remotely access the meetings and not have to physically be present or go to city hall to participate, said Jennifer Rigterink, a legislative associate with the Michigan Municipal League.

In many instances, though, individuals have been shut out of the virtual conversation  namely those without access to internet, computers or smartphones. Public officials see the issue as evidence of the digital divide, or gap between those with technology and internet access and those without, further magnified during the pandemic.

Related: For blue-collar workers, its fear. For white-collar workers, its isolation. COVID-19 changed work for everybody.

When public bodies, with some exceptions, return to in-person meetings Thursday, April 1, it is unclear whether virtual access will remain for citizens. Jennifer Smith, the director of government relations at the Michigan Association of School Boards, said she wasnt sure if school boards can legally maintain any form of remote participation for the public going forward.

The transition from in-person to virtual meetings was not without hiccups.

There were many instances of technical difficulties and cases of Zoom bombing, where people called in to meetings to yell profanities or slurs. Some commenters seemed emboldened to be less civil, many observed, when addressing local leaders from behind a phone or computer screen.

Though many noted a marked increase in public participation since the pandemic, that cannot be entirely attributed to ease of access, some say.

A number of critical issues facing communities also played out during the pandemic, including calls for racial justice and reimagining policing and the debate over whether students should return to in-person lessons, and when.

The emergence of those hot-button issues, in part, also makes it difficult to be certain whether the change from in-person to virtual participation has made public discourse, in some instances, less civil.

I know that some districts have seen some pretty upset parents and staff on both sides of the issue, whether they wanted their kids in school or staff wasnt comfortable going back to school yet, Smith said. But I dont know if you can generalize it on a statewide level, because some districts arent seeing it, some districts are getting phone calls at their work because parents are so mad. It really runs the gamut.

Related: A year of coronavirus deepens Michigans political division

Issues drawing public comment, as well as the newfound ease of access for citizens to address elected leaders, resulted in meetings that lasted for hours in some communities.

During a June Kalamazoo City Commission meeting, more than 80 people called in to make comments. The majority advocated for police reform and questioned the controversial response from local police to racial justice demonstrations in the city.

The meeting, which started at 7 p.m., continued into the early morning hours as recorded comments were played for commissioners, finally ending at about 1:30 a.m. the next day.

That type of turnout was not unusual during in-person meetings when major issues were up for discussion, said Matt Milcarek, a Kalamazoo resident and former Kalamazoo city commissioner who spoke during the June meetings public comment portion. But, Milcarek said, it was easily the longest city commission meeting he has ever attended.

He said there is a human element that can be lost when members of the community are not engaging with their elected officials face-to-face.

I think there is a difference between calling in on the phone and pointing out that someone in the government has factually lied on an issue, versus being in person and looking the elected officials in the eye and they know you and they trust you and them seeing that youre not just spouting off because youre worked up on an issue, he said. Youre a fellow community member with a real concern.

That sort of common thread of we know each other, were in a community together can really be lost online.

It remains to be seen how local governments across Michigan might incorporate the lessons learned during a year of virtual meetings. But many see value in enabling the kind of public participation in local government seen since March 2020.

When you talk about access, and more people being able to participate, it seems like this is something we dont want to go backwards on after the pandemic, said Rigterink, of the Michigan Municipal League.

Also on MLive:

Pandemic stressful for parents juggling work and kids at home, worrying constantly

Is it too soon to ease restrictions? Michigan economist says mortality data should determine reopening

369k cubic yards of sediment came through Morrow Dam, says river expert

MSP investigating pair of stabbings involving staff and inmates at U.P. prison
The Prime Minister says that Corpus Christi, also known as the "Day of Wreaths", is set aside on the Christian calendar to honour the Holy Eucharist which was observed at the last supper before Christ was crucified.
[March 25, 2021] Yeahka Announces 2020 Annual Results

HONG KONG, March 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Yeahka Limited ("Yeahka" or the "Company", Stock Code: 9923), a leading payment-based technology platform in China, is pleased to announce the audited consolidated results for the year ended December 31, 2020 (the "Reporting Period"). Mr. Luke Liu, Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of the Company, said, "I am pleased to present Yeahk's first annual results as a public company. Over the past year, we were able to maintain solid growth, and create value for our shareholders as well as merchants and consumers. As a leading payment-based technology platform in China, our business philosophy is 'Start From Payment, Go Beyond Payment' and we have progressively established a sustainable commercial digitalized ecosystem by leveraging our app-based payment services as the core. Leveraging the resources within our ecosystem, including traffic, data and R&D, we expanded our innovation business by launching technology-enabled merchant SaaS products, precision marketing services and fintech services, which have in turn helped to drive the rapid growth of various businesses within our company." Mr. Liu continued, "As we continue to innovatively promote digitalized upgrades and integration across industries, we are creating greater value for both merchants and consumers. Looking ahead, the continued development of the consumer and industrial internet will accelerate the digital transformation of Chinese enterprises, and the landscape of business services will change significantly during this process. For both our merchant and consumer business segments, we will continue to utilize the traffic and data captured by the vast number of payment transactions that we process to explore new opportunities in various business segments, and fully commercialize our growing ecosystem." Financial Highlights During the Reporting Period, the Company's total revenue reached RMB 2,292.9 million , representing a year-on-year increase of 1.5%, mainly driven by the growth of the technology-enabled business. Revenue contribution from technology-enabled business services increased rapidly to 20.2% from 7.8% in 2019. Within this segment:



- Revenue from marketing services reached RMB 364.9 million , representing a year-on-year increase of 234.1% and 15.9% of the total revenue.

- Revenue from merchant SaaS products reached RMB 29.9 million , representing a year-on-year increase of 99.5% and 1.3% of the total revenue.

- Revenue from fintech services reached RMB 68.7 million , representing a year-on-year increase of 30.2% and 3.0% of the total revenue.





, representing a year-on-year increase of 1.5%, mainly driven by the growth of the technology-enabled business. Revenue contribution from technology-enabled business services increased rapidly to 20.2% from 7.8% in 2019. Within this segment: - Revenue from marketing services reached , representing a year-on-year increase of 234.1% and 15.9% of the total revenue. - Revenue from merchant SaaS products reached , representing a year-on-year increase of 99.5% and 1.3% of the total revenue. - Revenue from fintech services reached , representing a year-on-year increase of 30.2% and 3.0% of the total revenue. Gross profit increased 14.9% year-on-year to RMB 743.7 million . Gross profit margin increased to 32.4% from 28.7% in 2019.

. Gross profit margin increased to 32.4% from 28.7% in 2019. Net profit increased 420.6% year-on-year to RMB 440.8 million . Adjusted net profit increased 19.8% year-on-year to RMB 360.6 million . Earnings per share was RMB 1.45 . Business Highlights Despite the impact from the pandemic, the total number of app-based payment transactions saw a 119.1% increase in the second half of 2020 compared with the first half. As of December 31, 2020 , the number of active payment service customers increased by 4.5% year-on-year to 5.5 million, and the number of payment service customers increased by 75.5% year-on-year to 645.3 million.

, the number of active payment service customers increased by 4.5% year-on-year to 5.5 million, and the number of payment service customers increased by 75.5% year-on-year to 645.3 million. The Company continued to expand and diversify its distribution channels. As of the end of 2020, the Company had collaborated with more than 10,000 independent sales agents and sales partners. Among them, the Company proactively cooperated with nearly 900 merchant SaaS service providers from offline scenarios spanning catering, retail, parking, refueling, ticketing, bicycle sharing, charger sharing, internet cafes, tourist attractions and vending machines. Fushi Technology , the Company's one-stop digitalized platform for merchants, accumulated more than 320,000 merchants. The daily active users of its merchant App had exceeded 120,000. The number of peak daily payment transactions of grew over 4 times year-on-year to over 7.3 million.

, the Company's one-stop digitalized platform for merchants, accumulated more than 320,000 merchants. The daily active users of its merchant App had exceeded 120,000. The number of peak daily payment transactions of grew over 4 times year-on-year to over 7.3 million. During the Reporting Period, the Company's technology-enabled business services achieved significant breakthroughs. The number of customers from technology-enabled business services hit 982,000, representing an increase of 128.2% year-on-year. Specifically, among the Company's merchant SaaS products, Juhuisaosao , the Company's payment aggregation tool, served over 63,000 merchants in 2020 and recorded a daily peak sales volume of 1,191 units. Smart Shopkeeper , an integrated SaaS management platform for restaurants, maintained solid growth, as its total number of merchants increased by 201.1% year-on-year and it ranked at the top of the charts in terms of sales volume and review ratings on various Chinese mainstream e-commerce platforms. On the precision marketing front, the total exposures generated by the Company's precision advertising platform were more than 23.9 times greater than 2019. For the Fintech services, the total number of transactions that the Company facilitated was approximately RMB568.5 million , a 15,2% growth year-on-year, and the weighted average tenor was 10.39 months. As of December 31, 2020 , the M1+ delinquency rate by vintage (over 30 days overdue) has remained stable at around 1.05% since the second quarter of the year. Business Review Payment Services The Company regards payment services as an important portal to attract traffic. During 2020, the Company continued to steadily expandits payment business and remained focused on building out its app-based payment services. The Company continued to diversify payment channels to rapidly expand its merchant base. Meanwhile, it also actively optimized its payment-based technology platform, further integrated its internal resources, substantially increased R&D investments and continuously refined the management of its payment business operations.



Payment services continued to expand during the Reporting Period. The number of app-based payment transactions jumped 119.1% , while GPV increased by 28.5% in the second half of 2020 as compared to that in the first half of 2020. . The peak daily average number of QR code payment transactions exceeded 30 million. Despite the pandemic, the number of active payment service customers increased by 4.5% year-on-year to 5.5 million, and the number of payment service customers increased by 75.5% year-on-year to 650.0 million. The Company continued to collaborate with premium industry partners. As of December 31, 2020, the Company had collaborated with more than 10,000 independent sales agents and sales partners. The Company also proactively cooperated with almost 900 merchant SaaS service providers that offer services in a wide range of offline-scenarios, including across food and beverage, retail and parking, by providing one-stop payment services to the merchants they serve. By leveraging the abundant merchant resources and the nationwide branch network of joint stock banks, urban commercial banks and rural commercial banks, the Company co-developed a merchant payment service system and jointly provided bank card acquiring services with these banks, and had established a merchant resources sharing system with almost 50 banks, efficiently expanding the Company's payment service business. In terms of emerging payment methods, the Company set up dedicated teams during the Reporting Period to support development in digital currencies.

Merchant SaaS Product Portfolio As merchants continued to digitalized their operations, the Company developed and provided a comprehensive merchant SaaS product portfolio, allowing merchants to reduce their operational costs and acquire customers more easily. The Company's SaaS products and services are primarily accessible to merchants through online channels such as WeChat mini programs and merchant applications, as well as other offline touch-points. During the Reporting Period, the Company invested in Fushi Technology (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd. Fushi's one-stop merchant digitalized platform, Haoshengyi, is an important part of the Company's ecosystem that helps the Company expand and serve its merchant base. As of December 31, 2020, Fushi had expanded its coverage to 25 cities nationwide and accumulated more than 320,000 merchants. The number of its peak daily payment transactions exceeded 7.3 million, which was more than four times higher than 2019, and the daily active users ("DAU") of its merchant app exceeded 120,000 as of December 31, 2020. Furthermore, the latest data shows that, as of March 22, 2021, its peak daily payment transaction counts rose further to 8.1 million. For the retail industry, in the first half of 2020, the Company launched Juhuisaosao, a proprietary QR code payment SaaS with a voice reminder function. Leveraging the big data capabilities of the Company's ecosystem, Juhuisaosao can provide merchants with multi-dimensional transaction reports and analysis, cash flow analysis and forecasts via mobile devices and WeChat mini programs based on their needs, thereby allowing merchants to gain additional insights into their business performance and facilitating business decisions. Since its launch, Juhuisaosao has been well received by merchants as it effectively reduce delays and omissions during rush hours. In the first half of 2020, it had served over 11,000 merchants, which further increased significantly by 439.1% to 63,250 merchants in the second half of the year. During the Reporting Period, Juhuisaosao recorded daily peak sales volume of 1,191 units. In 2020, the Company also launched Smart Store, a lightweight SaaS product that offers merchants a one-stop platform to manage store procurement, sales and inventory. For the catering industry, the Company launched its first one-stop SaaS platform Smart Shopkeeper in China in 2015. Since then, Yeahka has developed two brands, namely Smart Shopkeeper and Milican, that target different segments of the catering industry and different types of merchants to offer better solutions. In particular, Smart Shopkeeper targets catering merchants with single stores, while Milican targets catering franchises with multiple stores. As of December 31, 2020, the total number of merchants served by Smart Shopkeeper increased by 201.1% year-on-year. The App ranked at the top of various Chinese mainstream e-commerce platforms in terms of sales volume and review ratings. In order to help merchants manage decentralized native traffic, in March 2020, the Company launched Yuehuiquan, a coupon aggregation and distribution platform built on blockchain technology. During the Reporting Period, the platform has served over 56 thousand merchants and expanded to become a platform that manages millions of coupons. In October 2020, Yuehuiquan was officially titled and given a recordation number in the domestic blockchain-based information service by the Cyberspace Administration of the PRC. In January 2021, the Group launched Yuehuiquan Pro, a community-based fully-automated hosting membership management system, with the aim of assisting more merchants build customized membership programs from scratch and satisfying merchant's' increasing needs for customization. In 2020, the Company made a number of strategic investments through RYK Capital Partners Limited, an investment platform jointly established by the Company and Recruit Holdings Co., Ltd., a renowned Japanese internet company, including Shenzhen Zhibaiwei Technology Development Co., Ltd., an O2O mobile internet SaaS provider focusing on retail and F&B POS-ERP services, and Jiangsu Ruipos Data Technology Co., Ltd., a SaaS service provider focusing on domestic catering chains, including tea and beverages, fast food and lu wei (braised snacks) restaurants (operated under the Shuaishouzhanggui brand). Precision Marketing Services The Company is dedicated to building a precision digital advertising platform which is based on diversified data traffic. Using proprietary payment data, integrated from a wide range of case scenarios, Yeahka maximizes value for its customers by intelligently matching target users with advertisers and merchants through its precision marketing services. In recent years, the Company has established a proprietary data management platform (DMP) and used it as the core to launch a precision advertising marketing platform "Juliang". Yeahka leveraged its growing artificial intelligence ("AI") and machine learning capabilities to intelligently match target users, refining and labelling data in Juliang, thus precisely matching offline traffic owners' demands for monetization with advertisers' demand for advertisement placement results. In November and December 2020, the Company reached an agreement to acquire an 85% equity interest in Beijing Chuangxinzhong Technology Co., Ltd., a leading content performance-based marketing service provider in China. The acquisition will not only allow the Company to quickly expand its advertising inventory, but will also further enhance its capabilities to collect data related to user behaviors and preferences. Beijing Chuangxinzhong's online media network will quickly bolster the Company's consumer profiles and data based on their preferences, strengthen traffic labels on Juliang, as well as improve ad placement efficiency. Fintech Services Yeahka provides fintech services, including loan facilitation services, entrusted loan services, and small-sized loan and insurance referral services to merchants. During the Reporting Period, the total number of transactions that the Company facilitated was approximately RMB568.5 million, representing an increase of 15.2% from 2019, with a weighted average tenure of 10.39 months. As of December 31, 2020, the M1+ delinquency rate by vintage (over 30 days overdue) had remained stable at around 1.05% since the second quarter of the year, demonstrating the effectiveness of the Company's credit risk management capabilities across various economic cycles. Outlook Looking ahead, the continued development of the consumer and industrial internet will facilitate the ongoing digital transformation of Chinese enterprises. The landscape of business services will change significantly during this process. For both its merchant and consumer business segments, the Company will continue to utilize the traffic and data captured through the vast number of payment transactions it processes to explore and capitalize on opportunities in various business segments. The Company will further leverage its ecosystem to support digital transformation and commercialize services around it. For technology-enabled business services, the Company will continue to enhance its ecosystem, which includes merchant SaaS products, precision marketing services and fintech services. In addition, the Company will accelerate its embrace of market changes, stay at the forefront of technological advancements, and proactively promote emerging payment methods such as digital currencies. The Company will continue to expand its business boundaries, strive to enable businesses to operate and acquire customers through decentralization, and enhance consumer lifestyles and merchant capabilities by providing greater convenience. About YEAHKA LIMITED (9923.HK) Yeahka Limited is a leading payment-based technology platform in China providing payment and technology-enabled business services to merchants and consumers. The Company was listed on The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (the "Stock Exchange") in June 2020 under the stock code "09923.HK". The Company's value proposition is to create a commercial digitalized ecosystem that enables seamless, convenient and reliable payment transactions between merchants and consumers and further offer a rich variety of technology-enabled business services, including (i) merchant SaaS products, which help customers improve their operational efficiency, (ii) precision marketing services, allowing customers to effectively reach their target markets, and (iii) fintech services, which cater to customers' diverse financial needs. Please refer to the link below for the audited consolidated results of Yeahka Limited and its subsidiaries (collectively, the "Group") for the year ended December 31, 2020 together with the comparative figures for the year ended December 31, 2019. https://yk-webapp-static.leshuazf.com/20210325/1616667943732474.pdf SOURCE Yeahka Limited

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Holland is planning to send 200 people on holiday to Greece for eight days as an experiment to see if tourism is feasible during the pandemic.

The trial will see travellers enjoy an all-inclusive holiday in Rhodes, costing 342 (399) per person, the BBC reports.

Those chosen for the experiment, which has had 25,000 applications so far, will be expected to quarantine for ten days when they return to Holland.

The experiment will see 187 people heading to a resort in Rhodes, Greece (stock image) for an eight-trip to test whether foreign travel is possible

Those who make it onto the experiment must be tested for coronavirus before they leave and when they return and must stay within the resort (pictured) for the duration of the trip

During the experiment, hosted by holiday firm Sunweb, the selected 187 holiday-goers will not be allowed to leave the resort.

According to RTL Nieuws, they will be staying at the Mitsis Grand Hotel in Rhodes where they will be the only guests.

It comes as Boris Johnson announced overseas travel outside the UK is scheduled to resume on May 17 but the latest wave in Europe could push the date back.

The advice is similar in Holland, with all foreign travel, expect essential journeys, discouraged until mid-May.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the country has recorded 1.25million confirmed cases and 16,536 deaths.

The latest holiday experiment has left many wondering whether giving people the chance to escape lockdown is 'responsible or reckless' as cases continue to rise across Europe and the Netherlands.

During the trip, those selected will be required to stay within the resort (pictured), which includes three swimming pools and two restaurants

Despite being located on the coast in Rhodes, Greece, guests of the hotel as part of the experiment will not be allowed to go to the beach. Picture: Stock

Others on social media have compared the resort to a 'luxury prison' and questioned why people would volunteer for the experiment.

The country has been carrying out a number of experiments to understand which events could be safe to resume, including a conference attended by 500 people and a dance party with 1,300 guests.

Those wishing to take part in the latest holiday experiment must be aged 18-70 and will be tested before and after they travel.

In the experiment, which has been given the go ahead by public health authorities in Holland, they will be allowed to use the hotel's facilities, including three swimming pools and two restaurants, but won't be able to head down to the beach or leave the resort.

European leaders are being forced to impose tough new lockdown measures to curb a rise in Covid infections driven by new and more-infectious variants of the virus, with Germany the latest to slam on the brakes

In the UK, the government will start fining people 5,000 from next week if they leave England to go on holiday.

The Prime Minister yesterday told the Commons that things were 'looking difficult on the Continent' as he refused to confirm whether he would be taking a foreign jaunt.

It comes as Germany and France have imposed fresh restrictions, while there is speculation that the UK could impose restrictions on people returning from much of the continent once leisure travel resumes.
This week, former Conservative prime ministers Jose Maria Aznar and Mariano Rajoy reminded everyone of how unencumbered by principles their party once was (or "is"?), by appearing as witnesses in another trial concerning kickbacks and bribes. Testifying for the second time, an uncharacteristically animated Rajoy even claimed that there was "never a slush fund in the Popular Party (PP)", something which there are excellent reasons to disbelieve.

If there has never, ever been any dodgy financing within the Conservatives' upper ranks, then Spain's National Court owes them an apology. In 2017, as part of the sprawling Gurtel case, several judges ruled that a slush fund HAD existed during Rajoy's premiership, functioning as part of a "system of institutional corruption". "Caja B", as the judges dubbed it, was an "accounting and finance structure that ran in parallel to the official one and which had been in use since at least 1989" - in other words, since the very year in which the PP was formed, with a fusion of the Francoist People's Alliance and several smaller parties.

The PP as a whole was fined 240,000 euros for running this alternative accounting system - small change when compared to the multi-million-euro fines handed to Gurtel's ringleaders, many of whom also received lengthy prison sentences. Yet despite having effectively been found guilty of fraud as an entity, the PP responded by saying that it remained committed to the "fight against corruption" (the fight against its own corruption?), and that the fact that Rajoy had testified showed that he'd had nothing to do with the slush fund.

It remains unclear whether Rajoy or Aznar knew about widespread corruption during their stints as party leaders or prime ministers (Aznar also denied this week that he'd taken illegal bonuses during his premiership). What does seem beyond doubt, though, is that kickbacks, bribery and parallel accounting were part of life at PP HQ from the moment it was created in 1989. Given that the Conservatives are facing a tough election to retain control of Madrid early May, this week's high-profile testimony couldn't have come at a worse time.

The party's current leader, Pablo Casado, wants everyone to believe that these underhand practices and their shady practitioners belong to a bygone age. He's declared his intention to sell the party's current Madrid HQ building (allegedly refurbished with money from the slush fund), in an attempt to show that things have changed since the old days, when black cash and favours counted more than policies.

This would have considerable symbolic impact, much as the relocation of Franco's remains did in October 2019, but it wouldn't change anything by itself. After all, it wasn't the building that was corrupt - it was the culture that prevailed within it.
The closely watched union election at the Amazon fulfillment center in Bessemer, Alabama, is in its final days. On Tuesday, Amazon will find out whether enough workers have voted to form the companys first unionized workplace. The battle over the union drive has been fierce, generating media attention as Amazons tactics to undermine organizerslike forcing workers to attend anti-union townhallshas come under scrutiny. Its a delicate moment for the national image of the e-commerce giant, which has been shown by surveys to be one of the most trusted brands in America. For some reason, however, Amazons PR team is trying to make it through the union drives final stretch by tweeting through it.

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Amazons social-media accounts have taken on a more pugnacious tenor in recent days. Much of this is coming from @amazonnews account, which has taken to picking fights with politicians and journalists. The interaction thats generated the most attention began with Dave Clark, Amazons CEO of worldwide consumer, who called out Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders on Twitter. Sharing a news article about Sanders plans to travel to Alabama to visit with union organizers, Clark argued that Amazon actually upholds more progressive ideals than the senator does by paying workers $15 an hour. Wisconsin Rep. Mark Pocan then entered the fray, tweeting at Clark, Paying workers $15/hr doesnt make you a progressive workplace when you union-bust & make workers urinate in water bottles. Thats when @amazonnews stepped in to reply, You dont really believe the peeing in bottles thing, do you? If that were true, nobody would work for us.

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1/2 You dont really believe the peeing in bottles thing, do you? If that were true, nobody would work for us. The truth is that we have over a million incredible employees around the world who are proud of what they do, and have great wages and health care from day one.  Amazon News (@amazonnews) March 25, 2021

Reporters almost immediately refuted that claim, citing a flurry of pieces confirming that workers have in fact had to pee in bottles to keep up with productivity mandates in Amazon facilities. Vices Lauren Kaori Gurley obtained actual photos of pee bottles. (@amazonnews separately called Gurley a self-interested critic for her reporting on the A.I.-powered surveillance system that Amazon uses to monitor its workers.) The Intercepts Ken Klippenstein got ahold of documents showing that Amazon management is well aware of employees not only peeing in bottles, but also defecating in bags.

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Dont believe the self-interested critics who claim these cameras are intended for anything other than safety. Our pilot data showed crashes decreased 48%, stop sign violations decreased 20%, driving without a seat belt decreased 60%, and distracted driving decreased 45%.  Amazon News (@amazonnews) March 24, 2021

This wasnt @amazonnews only ill-conceived attempt at dunking on people on Twitter. The account also shared a piece from the Guardian criticizing the film Nomadland for glossing over the more punishing aspects of working in an Amazon warehouse and claimed, without evidence, that the author decided to write a fiction piece based on opinion instead of facts and that nearly every claim in this post is either false or misleading. Its continued to slide into senators mentions. You make the tax laws @SenWarren; we just follow them, @amazonnews tweeted at Sen. Elizabeth Warren. If you dont like the laws youve created, by all means, change them. Warren responded that Amazons lobbyists have been instrumental in developing tax loopholes and that shes fighting to break up Big Tech so that youre not powerful enough to heckle senators with snotty tweets. The account fired back, This is extraordinary and revealing. One of the most powerful politicians in the United States just said shes going to break up an American company so that they cant criticize her anymore. The account tried to take another swipe at Sanders, taunting the senator over Vermonts $11.75 minimum wage. An Amazon robotics engineer responded to the tweet, why does corporate PR think its a good idea to target the most popular politician in recent American history? We are destroying our public image. Nearly all of the accounts tweets from the law few days have been summarily ratioed.

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This is extraordinary and revealing. One of the most powerful politicians in the United States just said shes going to break up an American company so that they cant criticize her anymore. https://t.co/Nt0wcZo17g  Amazon News (@amazonnews) March 26, 2021

The activity from @amazonnews is notable in that it is far more aggressive and abrasive than the companys other social media efforts, but thats been confounding lately too. The company has notoriously marshalled warehouse workers to sing their employers praises as Amazon FC Ambassadors. These ambassadors are also increasingly flooding pro-union Twitter users with claims that they have no need for a bargaining unit, albeit with a slightly less standoffish tone than @amazonnews. The company targeted Facebook and Instagram ads for its anti-union DoItWithoutDues.com website at workers in Bessemer, and its tried to make the hashtag #DoItWithoutDues into an anti-union rallying cry on Twitterthough thats largely been coopted by the companys critics.

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Professor David Matchar and his team from the Health Services and Systems Research (HSSR) Programme at Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore, bagged two prestigious awards at the International Stroke Conference 2021 for their project on a randomised controlled trial investigating the effects of incentives on improving the uptake of outpatient rehabilitation services (ORS) among stroke patients in Singapore.

Prof Matchar received the Stroke Rehabilitation Award from the American Stroke Association, which recognises the best original research in clinical rehabilitation and recovery strategies.

His team also clinched the Paul Dudley White International Scholar Award for submitting the highest ranked abstract from Singapore. Named after one of the founders of the American Heart Association who championed global cardiovascular health strategies, the award recognises work which reflects Dr. White's vision for global excellence in cardiovascular science and medicine.

Prof Matchar, who is also a consultant at the Singapore General Hospital's Department of Internal Medicine, received the awards on behalf of the team at the Association's annual conference which was held online from 17 to 19 March 2021.

Prof Matchar credits the work of Professor Gerald Koh, who now is a professor at NUS' Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health as inspiration.

I was impressed by [his] work at NUS on the underuse of rehabilitation services in Singapore and observation that the key barriers were inconvenience and cost. This led my team to show in an economic analysis how improved ORS uptake could actually be cost saving for the Singapore healthcare system. So, this project was the logical next step--how to improve uptake by addressing the barriers." Professor David Matchar, Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore

In the award-winning study, Prof Matchar and his team aimed to determine if the relatively low uptake of ORS in Singapore could be improved if patients were given incentives. A total of 266 participants from the stroke and acute rehabilitation units of two tertiary hospitals in Singapore were recruited for the study.

The team evaluated two types of incentives, which focused on increasing the convenience for patients through the provision of coordinated transportation and eliminating out-of-pocket costs for ORS sessions attended by patients.

They found that when both incentives were offered, an overall improvement in the uptake of ORS was observed, in contrast with patients in a control group who were offered a stroke rehabilitation educational programme instead of incentives.

Their findings highlight the potential for providing incentives in health policies relating to the management of patients with chronic health conditions such as stroke.

Professor Thomas Coffman, Dean of Duke-NUS, said, "We are extremely proud of this prestigious and well-deserved recognition of Professor David Matchar and his team. David has spent his career doing research to improve medical practice, with a special interest in care of patients who have suffered strokes. This is a terrific example of the impactful work he is doing as an exemplary clinician scientist, to improve primary care services for Singaporeans with chronic health conditions."

This is the latest distinction in Prof Matchar's clinical research career, which spans over three decades. Over the course of his career, he has focused on interdisciplinary clinical work and public policy analysis primarily on the management of disabling neurological disorders such as stroke.

He was awarded the STaR Investigator Award by the National Medical Research Council for his work on a systems model that addressed the crucial strategic and operational challenges presented by a rapidly ageing population. He also serves as a consultant for areas in clinical policy development, and for specific projects relating to stroke. Most recently, he has expanded his focus to address the long-term health and systems consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Photo: The Canadian Press Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Marie-Claude Bibeau responds to a question during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill, in Ottawa, Friday, Dec. 11, 2020. The federal government has a new agreement with the provinces that gives upgrades to a program that protects farmers against large declines in income. THE CANADIAN PRESS/ Patrick Doyle

The federal government has a new agreement with the provinces that gives upgrades to a program that protects farmers against large declines in income.

Federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau hosted a meeting with provincial and territorial agriculture ministers Thursday to discuss planned changes to the AgriStability program that would increase payouts for production losses, increased costs and effects from market conditions.

Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba were the only holdouts going into the meeting.

"We've received the support from all our prov. & territorial colleagues on the removal of the Reference Margin Limit from AgriStability, retroactive to 2020!" Bibeau tweeted.

"It's a big win for farmers across Canada = about $95M/year. Thank you to all farmers & producer groups who got behind our offer."

Ottawa had proposed last November to eliminate the reference margin limit, which serves to reduce a farmer's payout and to boost the compensation rate to 80 per cent.

All the provinces agreed to removing the margin limit, but an agreement wasn't reached on moving to an 80 per cent compensation rate.

"The federal government chose to withhold $75 million in compensation funding for farmers, costing Alberta $12 million per year in federal transfers," said Alberta Agriculture Minister Devin Dreeshen.

"We are disappointed that the federal government chose to withhold these publicly communicated funds."

Saskatchewan Agriculture Minister Dave Marit said reliable risk management programming is essential to continued growth in the agriculture sector.

"Producers have made it clear that removing the reference margin limit will help the AgriStability program function as intended and make the program more effective and equitable," Marit said.

Response from the agriculture sector was largely one of relief. But the Canadian Federation of Agriculture is calling on Bibeau to offer its increased compensation rate to supportive provinces.

"For years agriculture groups all across Canada have been telling their governments that these programs would not be sufficient in a real crisis. AgriStability, as a program responding solely to severe income losses, is there to help producers in crisis," said CFA's president, Mary Robinson.

"And now, at a time where Canadian agriculture faces immense disruptions and uncertainty, we see critical investments in risk management treated like a political game, with politicians haggling for over 100 days while farmers have real concerns about their livelihoods over the coming year."

Alberta producer groups, including the Alberta Barley Commission, Alberta Beef Producers, Alberta Canola, Alberta Cattle Feeders Association and Alberta Pork, also wish the percentage of compensation was higher.

"This portion of the federal offer includes an additional $75 million per year of support for Canadian producers," the groups said in a release.

"We continue to encourage the provincial and territorial Ministers to consider accepting this part of the proposal, bringing additional support to Canadian farmers and ranchers."
Regulatory News:

Vifor Pharma is pleased to announce that the Board of Directors will propose Asa Riisberg for election to the Board at the Annual General Meeting on 6 May 2021.

Asa Riisberg, a Swedish citizen, was formerly Partner and member of the extended Executive Committee of the private equity firm EQT. She has served on various international boards with current board seats at Atlas Antibodies, Netcompany, F-Secure, Dagens Nyheter, Bonnier News and Bonnier Capital as well as at the Women in Finance Foundation. Asa is also an Advisory Board Member at the Stockholm School of Economics and member of the Investment Committee at Cinder Invest. She holds a M.Sc. in Financial Economics and Business Administration from Stockholm School of Economics.

Jacques Theurillat, Chairman of Vifor Pharma, commented: "We are very pleased that Asa Riisberg will bring her expertise to the Board of Directors. Her broad knowledge and experience, particularly in the areas of investment management and operations are extremely valuable for Vifor Pharma. She will ideally complement the Board to assess the company's business development and inorganic growth plans, aiming to become the global leader in iron deficiency, nephrology and cardio-renal therapies."

Vifor Pharma Group is a global pharmaceuticals company. It aims to become the global leader in iron deficiency, nephrology and cardio-renal therapies. The company is a partner of choice for pharmaceuticals and innovative patient-focused solutions. Vifor Pharma Group strives to help patients around the world with severe and chronic diseases lead better, healthier lives. The company develops, manufactures and markets pharmaceutical products for precision patient care. Vifor Pharma Group holds a leading position in all its core business activities and consists of the following companies: Vifor Pharma and Vifor Fresenius Medical Care Renal Pharma (a joint company with Fresenius Medical Care). Vifor Pharma Group is headquartered in Switzerland, and listed on the Swiss Stock Exchange (SIX Swiss Exchange, VIFN, ISIN: CH0364749348).

For more information, please visit viforpharma.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210325005841/en/

Contacts:

Media Relations

Nathalie Ponnier

Global Head Corporate Communications

+41 79 957 96 73

media@viforpharma.com



Investor Relations

Julien Vignot

Head of Investor Relations

+41 58 851 66 90

investors@viforpharma.com
Real estate services firms spotlighted in the RealTrends 500 experienced a 12.5% increase in transaction sides, and a 22.7% increase in transaction volume compared to last year, demonstrating an ability to gain market share amid a challenging market.

The RealTrends 500, now in its 34th year, remains the undisputed leader in ranking the performance of residential real estate services firms. Due to the requirement of independent verification, the RealTrends 500 is The Trusted Source for information about performance of these firms.

HomeServices of America and Realogy Brokerage Group continue their run as the largest brokerages by transaction sides, according to the 2021 RealTrends 500 (RT500), an independently verified compilation of the nations leading residential real estate companies. HomeServices saw a 4.1% increase in transaction sides, while Realogy saw a 2.5% increase. eXp Realty, ranked No. 3, saw an extraordinary 82.9% increase in transaction sides, followed closely by Compass at No. 4 with a 70.9% increase.

Over 1,750 firms qualified for this year's RealTrends 500. According to the research report produced by RealTrends, the 500 largest residential real estate brokerage firms in the nation closed over 3.9 million residential sales transactions in 2020. These transactions were valued at over $1.6 trillion.

Rankings are produced in several ways. Firms are ranked based on closed transaction sides, then by sales volume. Firms ranked by sales volume may not appear in the rankings by transaction sides due to differences in mean sales prices of homes across the country. RealTrends is aware that there are significant numbers of brokerage firms that would qualify to be ranked in the survey but, for their own reasons, chose not to submit to the study. As such, any data that readers use to qualify market shares of a firm on this study or of national organizations should not be considered complete or authoritative.

At the end of 2020, HW Media acquired RealTrends content, events and rankings along with certain other assets. HW Media and its team will proudly carry on the tradition of being The Trusted Source in real estate services rankings.

"The RealTrends 500 remains the definitive source for verified brokerage ranking data, and HW Media is proud to publish the 34th edition of these rankings, states Mark Adams, Director of Real Estate at RealTrends, Mark Adams. Real estate services firms spotlighted in the RealTrends 500 experienced a 12.5% increase in transaction sides, and a 22.7% increase in transaction volume compared to last year, demonstrating an ability to gain market share amid a challenging market. RealTrends would like to thank all our partners for their participation in this year's survey. Without their support, this report would not be possible."

To view the rankings, go to: https://www.realtrends.com/real-trends-500/.

About HW Media:

HW Media aspires for audiences to Come for the content, and stay for the community. By aligning vertical expertise and innovative b2b marketing solutions, HW Media answers the ever-evolving needs of modern professionals, brands and marketers. Based in Dallas, TX with team members across the country, HW Media was founded in 2016 through the acquisition of HousingWire and is owned by Riomar Capital, an entrepreneurial investment firm.

HW Media is the publisher of HousingWire, FinLedger and RealTrends.
How different are men and women's brains? The question has been explored for decades, but a new study led by Rosalind Franklin University neuroscientist Lise Eliot is the first to coalesce this wide-ranging research into a single mega-synthesis. And the answer is: hardly at all.

"Men and women's brains do differ slightly, but the key finding is that these distinctions are due to brain size, not sex or gender," Dr. Eliot said. "Sex differences in the brain are tiny and inconsistent, once individuals' head size is accounted for."

The unusually large study of studies, "Dump the 'dimorphism': Comprehensive synthesis of human brain studies reveals few male-female differences beyond size," published in Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, finds that size is the only clear-cut difference between male and female brains.

Women's brains are about 11% smaller than men's, in proportion to their body size. Smaller brains allow certain features, such as a slightly higher ratio of gray matter to white matter, and a higher ratio of connections between, versus within, cerebral hemispheres.

This means that the brain differences between large- and small-headed men are as great as the brain differences between the average man and woman. And importantly, none of these size-related differences can account for familiar behavioral differences between men and women, such as empathy or spatial skills." Dr. Lise Eliot, Neuroscientist, Rosalind Franklin University

This is not the story typically publicized about sex differences in the human brain.

"Since the dawn of MRI, studies finding statistically significant sex differences have received outsized attention by scientists and the media," said Dr. Eliot, whose books include "Pink Brain, Blue Brain: How Small Differences Grow Into Troublesome Gaps."

"Researchers have been quietly accumulating massive amounts of data comparing male and female brains, but it's only the differences that get hyped," Dr. Eliot continued. "Unlike other areas of health research, women have been equally included in brain imaging from the outset."

Dr. Eliot and her collaborators -- fourth-year Chicago Medical School students Adnan Ahmed, Hiba Khan and Julie Patel -- conducted a meta-synthesis of three decades of research, assimilating hundreds of the largest and most highly-cited brain imaging studies addressing 13 distinct measures of alleged sex difference.

For nearly every measure, they found almost no differences that were widely reproduced across studies, even those involving thousands of participants. For example, the volume or thickness of specific regions in the cerebral cortex is often reported to differ between men and women. However, the meta-synthesis shows that the regions identified differ enormously between studies.

Male-female brain differences are also poorly replicated between diverse populations, such as Chinese versus American, meaning there is no universal marker that distinguishes men and women's brains across the human species.

"The handful of features that do differ most reliably are quite small in magnitude," Dr. Eliot said. "The volume of the amygdala, an olive-sized part of the temporal lobe that is important for social-emotional behaviors, is a mere 1% larger in men across studies."

The study also rebuts a longstanding view that men's brains are more lateralized, meaning each hemisphere acts independently, whereas women's two hemispheres are said to be better connected and to operate more in sync with each other.

Such a difference could make males more vulnerable to disability following brain injury such as stroke. Here again, the consensus of many studies shows that the difference is extremely small, accounting for even less than 1% of the range of left-right connectivity across the population.

This finding does agree with large datasets that have found no gender difference in aphasia, or the loss of language, following a stroke in the left hemisphere, contrary to long belief.

A last focus of the new study is on functional MRI. This method allows neuroscientists to see areas that "light up" during particular mental tasks and has been widely used to look for male-female differences during language, spatial and emotional tasks.

Across hundreds of such studies, Dr. Eliot's team found extremely poor reliability in sex difference findings -- nearly all specific brain areas that differed in activity between men and women were not repeated across studies. Such poor reproducibility agrees with recent research out of Stanford University demonstrating "false discovery," or the over-publication of false-positive findings in the scientific literature on functional MRI sex difference.

"Sex comparisons are super easy for researchers to conduct after an experiment is already done. If they find something, it gets another publication. If not, it gets ignored," Dr. Eliot said. Publication bias is common in sex-difference research, she added, because the topic garners high interest.

"Sex differences are sexy, but this false impression that there is such a thing as a 'male brain' and a 'female brain' has had wide impact on how we treat boys and girls, men and women," Dr. Eliot said.

"The truth is that there are no universal, species-wide brain features that differ between the sexes. Rather, the brain is like other organs, such as the heart and kidneys, which are similar enough to be transplanted between women and men quite successfully."
New Delhi:

The Sharad Yadav faction of Janata Dal (United) on Thursday met Election Commission officials and staked claim for the partys symbol. The faction also sought four weeks time to submit relevant documents.

It is to be noted that the EC had refused to take cognisance of Sharad Yadav factions earlier plea by saying that it lacked supporting documents.

As per Arun Kumar Shrivastav, a close aid of Yadav and the party's general secretary before its president Nitish Kumar removed him from the post, the partys national executive will meet in New Delhi on Sunday.

Shrivastav said that the meeting will showcase support for Yadav in the party. He added that most of the state units support Yadav in fight against Kumar.

The national council meeting is scheduled on October 8.

It will be clear on September 17 how much support Sharad Yadav has in the party. It is Bihar Chief Minister Kumar and not Yadav who strayed from the partys avowed position and betrayed it by joining hands with the BJP, he said.

In its application before the EC, the Yadav faction also registered its protest against its earlier decision, claiming it was based on hyper-technical ground and the Commission should have allowed them a hearing.

The JD(U) leaders backing Kumar have claimed that an overwhelming number of popularly elected members of the party and its office bearers are with the Bihar CM, and Yadav enjoys little support. They had also submitted affidavits of the leaders supporting Kumar with the Commission.

With PTI inputs

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
The digital world should be open for children to learn and play, safely and . . . children must be consulted with regard to how the digital world evolves and how governmental regulations are generated, said Prof. Philip Jaffe, of the Child Rights Committee (CRC).

Jaffe was referring the newly published General Comment 25 on childrens rights in relation to the digital environment. The general comment establishes that children have rights in the digital world, despite the Convention on the Rights of the Child not stating them explicitly. Jaffe said the general comment shows that States have a clear responsibility to provide regulatory oversight over how children fare in the digital world and to hold businesses accountable to have childrens interests in mind when advertising online.

The general comment positions childrens human rights at the core of some of humankinds greatest achievements, at the heart of an evolving informational and technological revolution, he said.

General Comment 25 has the power to recalibrate the asymmetric relationship between children and the tech sector, said Baroness Beeban Kidron, who is the chair of the 5Rights Foundation, an NGO specializing in making changes in the digital world to ensure it caters for children and young people.. The foundation was key in mobilizing children and young people across the globe to contribute to the discussions around the general comment.

Childrens rights should be applied to the digital world, she said. It is amazing to me that this was not always the case, that somehow as digital technology has been developed and becoming ever present, it seemed that people had forgotten about children.

Seven hundred children; 27 countries; 2 years; 1 new guide

The general comment is the result of a two-year consultation involving States, inter-governmental organizations, national human rights institutions, civil society, and, most importantly children. More than 700 children and young people, from nine to 22 years old across 27 countries, were asked for their thoughts on how digital technology affected their lives.

Mairead Reid was one of those young people. The 19-year-old from Scotland was a member of a leadership group within the 5Rights Foundation NGO, that looked to put into better context the rights already promised to children by the Convention.

It is vitally important for young people to have a say in anything and everything that concerns us, she said. Young people are the experts on our lived experience, so we must be listened to and heard.

Tarique Kenny, 20, from South Africa agreed. The 20-year-old reporter and board member of RX Radio, one of the first radio stations for and by children, said the general comment would help with enforcing the right to quality and affordable internet access across the globe.

It will ensure that businesses put the best interests of children first in order to make sure that they are protected in a digital environment, Kenny said. Language barriers will be bridged so that everyone will have equal access and that safe softwarewill be put into place.

In addition to providing input for the general comment, children and young people have also designed a child-friendly version of the general comment. Nearly 300 children from countries across the globe contribute to the creation of In Our Own Words, a user-friendly and more easily understood version of General Comment 25. Mason Rickard, 19 from England, was one of the contributors. Contributing to the general comment is a way for adults to hear us, he said. In Our Own Words is for children by children.

It would be counter-productive to produce a document enshrining childrens digital rights which children themselves cannot understand due to legal jargon and sophisticated language, he said. In Our Own Words provides the necessary tools for children to comprehend the general comment and realise their rights.

Read In Our Own Words  the child-friendly version of CRC General Comment 25 on our Medium site.

26 March 2021
March 26 : With the number of COVID-19 cases increasing in Mumbai, many Bollywood celebrities are contacting the virus. On Thursday actor R Madhavan informed through social media that he has tested positive. A day before that superstar Aamir Khan was tested positive for COVID-19. Amidst all this, a good news has come that veteran superstar Dharmendra has tested negative even though three of his household staff members have tested positive.

Reportedly, Dharmendra is taking care of the household staff members after quarantining them. The 85-year-old actor also makes efforts through social media to spread the word about taking all precautions during the second wave of the pandemic.

Meanwhile, the megastar tweeted a video last week where he was seen getting his first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Tweet karte karte.... josh aa gaya ...aur main nikal gaya....vaccination lene .... its definitely not a show off...but to inspire you all..... Friends, please take care, he wrote.

Tweet karte karte.... josh aa gaya ...aur main nikal gaya....vaccination lene .... its definitely not a show off...but to inspire you all..... Friends, please take care  pic.twitter.com/gp4lQAZr1l  Dharmendra Deol (@aapkadharam) March 19, 2021

Earlier, he had also tweeted and reminded everyone to wear masks amid the spike in COVID-19 cases in Maharashtra. Mask laga kar baith..... tere tarboz koi nahin kharede ga.......lock down ko lock karna hai ..... to do gaz ki doori aur mask zarori, (wear a mask and sit, nobody is going to buy your watermelons, we have to lock the lockdown, maintain social distance and wear a mask), the veteran actor wrote.

Mask laga kar baith..... tere tarboz koi nahin kharede ga.......lock down ko lock karna hai ..... to do gaz ki doori aur mask zarori  pic.twitter.com/UlDcOyEuyc  Dharmendra Deol (@aapkadharam) March 19, 2021

After a second wave of coronavirus pandemic has taken place in Maharashtra, particularly in Mumbai, many Bollywood celebs have self-quarantined after they contacted the deadly virus. Besides Aamir and Madhavan, the latest addition to this long list of celebrities who have contacted the virus are Ranbir Kapoor, Kartik Aaryan, Shiddhant Chaturvedi, Manoj Bajpayee, Sanjay Leela Bansali and several others.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
'Mr Bondi' has had a major win in his legal battle against police after they dropped all charges over his dramatic arrest during the height of Sydney's lockdown.

Dimitri Moskovich, 55, was tackled and handcuffed when he was arrested in his Speedos on April 19 last year. He was charged with resisting an officer and failing to comply with a notice in a public place.

The colourful Russian-born personality maintained there were no signs at North Bondi's Ben Buckler Point, and that he was entitled to go outside for essential exercise.

Sydney man Dimitri Moskovich (pictured) has won a major battle against NSW Police

The popular strongman emerged from Downing Centre Local Court on Friday after police prosecutors dismissed the charges against him and agreed to pay his $25,000 legal costs.

Mr Moskovich told reporters he couldn't believe such a thing could happen in Australia, the Daily Telegraph reported.

'I came to this country, it's a free country, when it happened to me I thought I was in Russia,' he said.

The Bondi icon is now preparing to sue New South Wales Police for unlawful arrest and assault.

Dozens of shocked locals watched on and filmed Mr Moskovich - wearing nothing but his signature red budgie smugglers - being arrested by two police officers.

In the distressing footage, Mr Moskovich was held down on the grass while the officers attempted to handcuff him.

Locals pleaded with police not to use handcuffs and let Mr Moskovich keep his 'dignity'.

Mr Moskovich's arrest (pictured) made headlines after he was filmed in a struggle with two NSW officers and now his lawyer argues the arrest involved 'unlawful force'

Dozens of shocked locals watched on and filmed Mr Moskovich (pictured), wearing nothing but his signature red budgie smugglers, being arrested by police officers

'Just cooperate with us okay?' the female officers told Mr Moskovich, who called out to onlookers to film the incident.

He begged police to allow him to go with them without being handcuffed first.

'Please guys, just stop. I'm not doing anything wrong. You started harassing me. You started with me about nothing,' he is heard saying.

'I'll come with you to the police station but I'm not giving you my arms.'

Police eventually handcuffed Mr Moskovich before putting him in the back of a police car.

He was then charged with resisting arrest and failing to comply with a notice in a public place.

At the time of his arrest, Bondi Beach had been closed for more than two weeks after the coronavirus outbreak forced social distancing.

Mr Moskovich is famous among the Bondi community, and is often seen working out on the famous promenade's outdoor gym.

Dimitri Moskovich sustained bruises to his wrist and a cut on his forehead after being pinned down by police

His arrest was also captured on an officer's body-worn camera, however the court heard it was only switched halfway through the interaction.

In the video Mr Moskovich is reportedly heard saying to two Rose Bay Police Station constables: 'You assaulted me for nothing you're abusing your power.'

The local celebrity then asks: 'Do I have to put my arms behind my back? Can you please tell me why?'

One of the officer's simply replies: 'You're under arrest'.

His lawyer Nick Hanna said his client should never have been charged.

'His damages are extensive. In the interim however, the bare minimum NSW Police could do is issue an apology to Dimitri.'

NSW police told Daily Mail Australia in a statement the decision to drop the charges against Mr Moskovich was made following a review by senior officers at Eastern Suburbs Police Area Command and the prosecutors.

'An internal investigation is underway into the circumstances of arrest and conduct of involved officers,' NSW Police said.

'As the matter is ongoing, it would be inappropriate to comment further.'
Brett Coomer, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer

Disparities in COVID-19 infections have brought to light what many have known all along: there is no equity in health in the United States. Notice I did not say health care. It is true, there is a lack of equity in health care as well. Five million Texans do not have health care coverage, and that number is bound to grow as businesses close and people lose their jobs  and health insurance. However, watching COVID infections ravage communities of color, sometimes devastating several generations in a single family, it is obvious that COVID-19 found an easier place to take hold in certain populations than in others.

The drivers of morbidity and mortality from COVID-19 in Black and Hispanic communities are twofold: increased risk of infection and increased risk of severe disease or death from infection. Individuals from communities of color are more likely to be in high-exposure environments that result from close physical proximity to others at work and home and an inability to work remotely or to isolate themselves. In addition, these same communities are overly burdened with chronic illnesses  heart disease, diabetes, obesity, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, kidney disease  and are more likely to suffer from a COVID infection that requires hospitalization due to severe illness. The most recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that Black and Hispanic people are three times more likely to be hospitalized with a COVID infection and two times more likely die.
The logos of US social network Facebook and the mobile messaging service WhatsApp are shown in a file photo.

China has been targeting Uyghurs living in exile in attacks on their online communications, sources say, with Facebook announcing in a statement this week it is taking action to counter the threat.

One Chinese hacker group, called Evil Eye, is working hard to lure Facebook users, offering links to subjects or news items of special interest to its targets, IT expert Steven Adair told RFAs Uyghur Service in an interview.

These links, which lead to what often appear to be real web sites, allow the hackers to install malware on the targets devices, and especially on mobile phones, Adair said.

Messages from unfamiliar contacts may suggest go look at this news link, or take a look at this video, Adair said. And if you click on that link, theres a chance that your phone will be compromised.

And once they get the malware on [the phone], that gives the attacker a way to start stealing stuff, Adair said. So they could start monitoring your Facebook or your Facebook Messenger, or your WhatsApp, or your WeChat or your Telegramthe different applications on your phone.

Hackers can then identify who users are, where they are, passwords, things that they wrote, things that they said.

Journalists and their sources are especially at risk as targets, Adair said. But anyone trying to protect their communications should be careful and not follow links that on close examination may include elements that just dont look right.

Its good to be suspicious, Adair said.

Facebook in a statement this week announced it was now taking action to shut down the hacking groups to disrupt their ability to use their infrastructure to abuse our platform, distribute malware and hack peoples accounts across the internet.

[These groups] targeted activists, journalists and dissidents predominantly among Uyghurs from Xinjiang in China primarily living abroad in Turkey, Kazakhstan, the United States, Syria, Australia, Canada and other countries, Facebook said.

On Facebook, Chinas online espionage campaign primarily sent links to malicious websites rather than direct sharing of the malware itself, said the statement by Mike Dvilyanski, head of Facebooks Cyber Espionage Investigations, and Nathaniel Gleicher, Head of Security Policy.

We saw this activity slow down at various times, likely in response to our and other companies actions to disrupt their activity.

'More careful now'

Speaking to RFA, Mustafa Aksuprogram coordinator for research and advocacy at the Washington D.C.-based Uyghur Human Rights Projectsaid he had learned about the Chinese hacking from a Facebook warning.

Not only my colleagues, but also friends from the U.S., Canada, Europe, Turkey, and Australia told me that they had received the same warnings. This is not the first hacking attempt, nor will it be the last. Such attacks have happened many times in the past, Aksu said.

Aksu said his own Facebook and email accounts had been targeted before, and that he had even received emails purporting to be from Uyghur activists or journalists.

But now were more careful and experienced, he said.

Tracked and arrested

Phishing and other hacking attacks are more than mere nuisances for Uyghurs living abroad, whose contacts in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) can be tracked and arrested. Journalists and rights activists are at particular risk.

Early this month RFAs Uyghur Service editor Eset Sulaiman confirmed that two brothers and at least five of his cousins were detained by authorities in the XUAR, in what is seen as an intimidation campaign aimed at preventing him from reporting on rights abuses.

RFA learned after interviewing several local officials that the brothers and the cousins went missing after authorities in the XUAR launched a campaign of mass extralegal incarceration that has seen up to 1.8 million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities detained in a vast network of internment camps since early 2017.

Sulaimans detained relatives joined more than 50 relatives of RFAs Uyghur Service staff who have been confirmed held in some form of Chinese state detention, alongside the millions either in the camps or sentenced to prison for crimes often for activities deemed religious extremist by authorities.

Reported by Nuriman Abdurashid and translated by Alim Seytoff for RFAs Uyghur Service. Written in English by Richard Finney.
Robert Redfield, MD, Director, then-United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, testifies during a U.S. Senate Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee Hearing to examine COVID-19, focusing on an update on the federal response at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., U.S., September 23, 2020. Alex Edelman/Pool via REUTERS

Former CDC Director: COVID-19 Escaped From Wuhan Virology Lab

Former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Robert Redfield said he believes the CCP virus, the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19, originated from a Chinese laboratory.

Its not unusual for respiratory pathogens that are being worked on in a laboratory to infect a laboratory worker, Redfield said in an interview with CNN on Friday before adding that his comments are my opinion.

Normally, when a pathogen goes from a zoonot to human, he added, it takes a while for it to figure out how to become more and more efficient in human to human transmission.

As a result, Redfield said he believes the virus most likely was from a laboratory in Wuhan, China, that escaped. The former CDC director, who was appointed by former President Donald Trump to head the agency, said he believes the pandemic began as a localized outbreak in Wuhan in either September 2019 or October 2019, months earlier than the official timeline.

Chinese officials have claimed the virus was first discovered in December 2019 and emerged at a wet market in Wuhan, about 10 miles from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, a top-level lab where researchers studied how coronaviruses can transmit from animals to humans.

Im of the point of view that I still think the most likely etiology of this pathology in Wuhan was from a laboratoryyou know, escaped, Redfield further elaborated. Other people dont believe that. Thats fine. Science will eventually figure it out.

He added, I am a virologist. I have spent my life in virology, while saying his claims are not implying any intentionality.

The P4 laboratory (L) on the campus of the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, on May 27, 2020. (Hector Retamal/AFP via Getty Images)

It comes after a World Health Organization (WHO) team in early February claimed that the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus likely did not originate in a laboratory.

The findings suggest that the laboratory incidents hypothesis is extremely unlikely to explain the introduction of the virus to the human population, Peter Ben Embarek, a WHO food safety and animal disease expert, said at the time, reported The Associated Press. Embarek further stated that lab leaks are quite rare.

But the AP said that it conducted an investigation and found the Chinese regime put limits on research into the outbreak and ordered scientists not to speak to reporters during the WHO teams probe. Meanwhile, the CCP only agreed to the investigation in Wuhan following international pressure from the United States and other countries. Beijing has also resisted calls for a totally independent investigation.

Several weeks ago, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo asserted there is enormous evidence supporting the Wuhan laboratory leak claim.

These are not the first times that weve had a world exposed to viruses as a result of failures in a Chinese lab, he told ABC News in early March. Pompeo, like Redfield, did not imply whether he believed the virus was intentionally released from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

He added, Remember, China has a history of infecting the world, likely referring to the CCPs cover-up of the SARS outbreak in the early 2000s.
The launch of the UAEs new industrial strategy Operation 300bn by the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology has received an overwhelmingly positive response from businesses based in the Emirate.

Officially announced on March 22 by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai, the strategy  so called because it aims to raise the manufacturing sectors contribution from Dh133 to Dh300 billion over the next 10 years  has been endorsed by an array of businesses covering the spectrum of the UAEs industrial sector.

Among those expressing their enthusiasm for the new strategy, which creates a framework for an industrial model underpinned by advanced technology, were:

Mohammed Hussein Alshaali, Chairman of Gulf Craft: The launch of the Industrial Strategy Operation 300bn" represents a significant milestone for all UAE based industries, as it brings with it unlimited opportunities for growth and development and offers national brands a powerful platform to strengthen their global presence and competitiveness. Gulf Craft has achieved remarkable milestones over the past four decades, and managed to assert the UAEs position as a leader in the boat manufacturing industry on the global scene. Operation 300bn will further amplify the existing advanced boat manufacturing infrastructure in the UAE, boost the sectors productivity and attractiveness to young talent, and ultimately increase its contribution to the industrial sectors annual GDP.

Naser Bustami, General Manager of Stevin Rock: The launch of Operation 300bn is the most exciting development for the UAEs industrial sector since the formation of the union 50 years ago this year. Stevin Rock, one of the largest quarrying companies in the world, take an enormous pride in its involvement in some of the greatest landmarks in the UAE, including Burj Khalifa, the Dubai Metro, Palm Jumeirah, Emirates Palace, Abu Dhabi and Dubai Airports along with many others. We are really looking forward to helping the UAE reach the targets it has established in its strategy and to continuing our contribution to the countrys GDP and to the amazing development of the UAE over the next 50 years and beyond. We congratulate the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology for the launch of this new strategy and wish it every success in the coming years. We look forward to playing a leading role in realising the aims and objectives of Operation 300bn.

Mohammed Al Mutawa, CEO of Ducab Group: The Operation 300bn national industrial strategy truly reflects the enormous opportunity ahead of us as a society. It recognises the vital contribution that industrial entities already make to the UAEs economic growth and diversification, while taking our shared ambitions even further. An emphasis on product innovation, the application of advanced technology, and upholding the highest international safety and quality standards must continue to be hallmarks of Made in UAE industrial products. The initiatives outlined under the Operation 300bn strategy will enable more organisationsof all sizesto embrace these values and accelerate their realisation. At Ducab Group, we have been proud to be a part of shaping the UAEs industrial landscape while taking Made in UAE products to the world for over 40 years. We look forward to being an active contributor to the programmes being rolled out by the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology as part of this comprehensive strategy.

Abdallah Massaad, Group Chief Executive Officer: As a UAE-based company that has grown to become a global household name brand in the space of 30 years, RAK Ceramics is only too aware of the importance of having a strong industrial strategy that supports local businesses and facilitates their expansion internationally. We are looking forward to contributing to - as well as benefitting from - the second pillar of the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technologys strategy, which commits to scaling up industries where the UAE already enjoys a competitive advantage. Operation 300bn represents a major shift in the countrys industrial model and is especially significant coming as it does in the year of the UAEs 50th anniversary.

RAK Ceramics has been proudly flying the flag for the UAE since 1989 and Operation 300bn will enable us to further develop our influence as one of the worlds leading ceramics and sanitaryware brands. We extend our warmest congratulations to the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology on the launch of their new strategy. --TradeArabia News Service
Tsabong  Kgalagadi District councillors have unanimously agreed that an operational plan for the Tsabong multi species abattoir should be ready by the time construction of the facility is complete.

In a virtual full council session recently, Tsabong East councillor, Mr Peter Megano said there was need to come up with a plan of how the abattoir would be run once complete while construction was ongoing.

He said it was critical to leverage on efficiencies to avoid a state of the art structure becoming a white elephant.

Other councillors, Messrs Edward Coetzee and Piet Bock for Tsabong North and of Khawa respectively called for quarterly updates on the project to enable them to track progress and give communities feedback.

Regular updates would place councillors in the best position to act in the event the contractor experienced challenges.

In his opening speech, Kgalagadi District Council chairperson, Mr Hendrick Jacobs had said construction activities started on January 12 and that the sub-contractor, Agri Holdings, was on site for mobilisation purposes.

"He has been engaged by the main contractor Innovative Process Solutions Botswana to do the earthworks and civil works such as the perimeter fencing, water drainage, setting up for offices and ablutions. However, shortage of water is a challenge," he said.

So far, he said, 27 Batswana had been employed.

The P161 million project was commissioned by President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi in December last year and is expected to be completed in 18 months.

Source : BOPA
Monrovia  A conglomeration of Liberian women under the banner of Women of Liberia have vowed to protect and promote women's participation in national and local politics across the country.

According to the women group, the women of Liberia are prepared to compete with their male counterparts to achieve the 30% of women participation in the Legislature.

Speaking on behalf of the Women of Liberia at a press conference in Monrovia, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Madam Olubanke King Akerele said it is time for the women of Liberia to respond to the UN Security Council Resolution 1825 that talks about violence against women, among other things.

"That resolution talks about the whole issue of violence against women, violence against women in the political system and Botoe's case is from start to finished."

Madam Akerele added: "We saw the exemplification of what she (Botoe) went through and which in return brought us as women together to respond to the significance of the UN Security Council Resolution 1825 which our own, former President was involved in to set up at the level of the UN Security Council."

However, taking cue from the Botoe Kanneh's election saga, Mrs. Dorley said the Women of Liberia have conglomerated into a force called the "Lapper Revolution or Movement".

"What we are experiencing today is the first phase of the "Lapper Revolution or Movement. What is the Lapper Revolution or Movement? The Lapper Revolution or Movement is where the women of Liberia have decided that we (women) are coming on strong in terms of political participation," she said.

She added that the ruling of the Supreme Court in the Gbarpolu County controversial election is a tribute to the upcoming International Women's Day in Liberia.
A Meredosia mans fitness to stand trial on murder charges will be determined Tuesday after the judge reviews testimony and reports submitted during a fitness hearing Thursday.

Dustin A. Finlaw, 21, of Meredosia was diagnosed with schizophrenia in October 2018 after being found unfit to stand trial.

Finlaw, who took the stand Thursday, has said he is fit and ready to continue with his trial, though his attorney, Tom Piper, and psychiatrist Terry Killian maintain that he is not.

During his testimony Thursday, Finlaw told the court that he no longer is hearing voices or having hallucinations, as he was at the time of his original diagnosis.

He also said he understands the policies and procedures of the court and is ready to continue.

States Attorney Gray Noll called Finlaw to the stand after asking the court to accept evaluation reports from Philip Pan, an independent psychiatrist who was hired in February by Piper to complete an evaluation of Finlaw, and Terrence Casey, a psychiatrist with Chester Mental Health Facility and the Illinois Department of Human Services.

Both reports, the most recent of which was completed in February, found Finlaw fit to stand trial.

After about a year of treatment following the October 2018 determination that he was unfit to stand trial, the Illinois Department of Human Services found Finlaw fit.

Piper and Killian said they believe Finlaw remains unfit but is saying he is fit to avoid returning to the Chester facility.

I believe the defenses position is that the defendants diagnosis is hindering his ability to assist in his defense, Noll said.

Killian argued that Finlaw could listen to the orders of voices in his head rather than take Pipers legal advice.

Fitness is also the ability to rationally assist in a defense, Killian said.

During the hearing, Piper mentioned several incidents that happened during Finlaws time at the Chester facility, including a medication-related seizure and an attack on Finlaw by another patient. Both incidents could lead Finlaw to want to appear fit to avoid a return to the facility, Piper and Killian said.

Killian said he believes Finlaw still could be experiencing hallucinations, which he said manifested as a auditory female voice, called Seriphinne, that tells him what to do.

He told me Seriphinne tells him what to do and he does it, Killian said. If he doesnt do what she says, she will go away. He doesnt want her to go away.

Killians last evaluation of Finlaw was in October 2019. Killian also is the psychiatrist who initially determined Finlaw was unfit in 2018.

Piper argued that Finlaw also does not take his prescribed anti-psychotic medication regularly.

A nurse for the Morgan County Detention Facility did not testify in person, but both the state and defense stipulated that, if she were to testify, she would say Finlaw does not take his medication more often than he does, though Finlaw claims he takes it roughly 80% of the time.

If I dont feel like taking it, I wont, Finlaw said on the stand.

Finlaw said he believes he was misdiagnosed and was instead suffering from sleep deprivation and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder related to witnessing the stabbing he is alleged to have committed.

I was going four and five days without sleep, Finlaw said on the stand.

Finlaw faces first-degree murder charges in the stabbing death of Robert L. Utter, 42, of Rushville, who was found dead May 24, 2018, in a car in Meredosia. Finlaw also is facing charges of aggravated assault on two police officers, resisting arrest and obstructing justice/destroying evidence.

He is scheduled to appear at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday for additional arguments and a ruling by the court on his fitness.

If Finlaw is found fit, the trial will proceed with a preliminary hearing, Noll said. If he is found unfit, he likely will be sentenced to return to the Illinois Department of Human Services for continued treatment.
It's time now to meet the newest members of our Morning Mug Club -- brought to you by Holland Farms Bakery & Deli.

An Annual Spring/Easter Bazaar will be held on Saturday, March 27 at Saint Peter and Paul Orthodox Church - 305 Main Road in East Herkimer. (Just look for the gold domes at the top of the hill on Route 5.)

A delicious selection of Eastern Slavic and American food is on sale; Potato pierogies and sauerkraut pierogies are $8 a dozen, cabbage rolls are $8 for a package of three, borscht (red beet soup) is $4 for a 16oz container, braided bread with or w/o raisins is $8 a loaf, large cookie platters are $15, small cookie platters are $8, poppyseed and nut rolls are $8.

Saint Peter and Pauls parish famous cookbook Recipes Bless the Heart and Home with over 2000 international recipes and 700 pages divided into 25 convenient sections, are also available for $20 a copy.

In following current regulations and COVID-19 precautions, all purchases are curbside pick-up only.

Order and pick-up time will be from 11 a.m. - 2 p.m.
The ongoing drama surrounding the COVID-19 vaccine developed jointly by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford took another turn late Wednesday when the drugmaker released updated information about its effectiveness.

The new information, based on its late-stage clinical trial involving more than 30,000 participants in the United States, shows the two-dose regimen is 76 percent effective in preventing symptomatic coronavirus.

The latest figures revised an announcement made by the British-Swedish pharmaceutical giant on Monday that the vaccine was 79 percent effective against the virus. Those claims were thrown into doubt just hours later when a key U.S. government oversight agency, the Data and Safety Monitoring Board, said AstraZeneca "may have included outdated information" from the late-stage clinical trial, "which may have provided an incomplete view of the efficacy data."

The statement from the independent board of experts was just the latest setback for the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, which has had a troubled international rollout. Several European countries had recently stopped use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine because of reports that it was associated with blood clots in recipients. South Africa stopped using the shot due to concerns about its efficacy against a local variant of the virus. The country sold at least a million of its Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID vaccines to the African Union.
With Maharashtra accounting for majority of Covid-19 cases in the country, many cities in the state are staring at the probability of a lockdown, either complete or partial.

Maharashtra had its highest ever Covid-19 cases in a day on Thursday with 35,952 cases and 95 deaths. The state has been witnessing a surge of over 30,000 cases a day for the past few days. Maharashtra accounts for over 62 per cent of all new cases in India. Nine out of 10 districts in the country with maximum infections are currently in Maharashtra. Health experts say that at the current pace, total infections in the state could cross 3 lakh by the first few weeks of April, considering the holidays and Holi celebrations this week.

Already, many districts and cities have announced partial lockdowns. The Maharashtra government on Wednesday had announced a lockdown in the Beed and Nanded districts of the Marathwada region from March 26 till April 4. The Nagpur Municipal Corporation has banned Holi celebrations this year. Infections are climbing at a fast pace in Mumbai, Pune, Thane, Palghar, Nagpur, Aurangabad etc.

Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray, who had indicated possible lockdowns as the final options last week, has convened a meeting of all district collectors today to review the Covid-19 situation in the state.

Also read: COVID-19 in India: Maharashtra reports over 25 lakh cases; Parbhani, Beed under lockdown

Also read: COVID-19 vaccination: Maharashtra leads in immunisation drive, administers 43.42 lakh doses
The Pacific Northwest will have drier and warmer weather during much of the weekend.

Friday will start with a mix of clouds and clear skies over the metro area. Temperatures in outer Washington and Yamhill counties were at or near freezing by 5 a.m., creating slick spots on roadways, sidewalks and bridges.

#pdxtraffic Friday!!! The west side is cold again this a.m. with temps at or near freezing. Watch for slick spots on the roadways, especially in rural Yamhill and Wash counties. pic.twitter.com/FC7HJHlEz5  PDX Traffic Alerts (@TrafficPortland) March 26, 2021

Winds will be light, and any cloud cover should move off by the afternoon, according to the National Weather Service. The high will be near 57 degrees, about average for this time of year.

The sunny streak continues Saturday with slightly warmer temperatures and calm winds. Skies will be mostly clear, and the high temp will reach about 61 degrees. Some areas closer to the coast could see increasing clouds before evening from a new system approaching from the northwest.

Rain is likely to reach the Oregon coast sometime Sunday morning. Models disagree on how quickly this next system moves into the Portland area. Theres a 50% chance, at this point, of rain in the metro area before noon. Skies should be partly sunny at least during the early part of the day. Once clouds move in, temperatures will be kept down, with a high of 59 predicted.

That is a significant lowering of the temperature predictions of earlier this week, when many forecasters were looking at temps close to 70 for the weekend.

Winds will also be strong at times. Gusts may hit as high as 25 mph Sunday.

A much colder air mass will follow the front. Snow levels are likely to fall to as low as 1,000 feet by Monday morning. Strong winds will continue through the Columbia River Gorge and across the tops of the Cascades.
LSD

Pictured in white and silver, the four-door sedan looks statelier than its 2021 sibling. A bit of Accord up front, a bit of Corolla out back, and a swept-back roofline sum up the redesigned exterior. Both vehicles are equipped with twin-spoke alloy wheels featuring a silver-and-black machined finish.Revealed in prototype guise last year on Twitch, the 2022 Civic sedan will be accompanied by the five-door hatchback sometime this year. As opposed to Swindon in the United Kingdom, the more practical body style will be manufactured at the Japanese automakers facility in Greensburg, Indiana.Honda didnt confirm if the Type R will be made in the United States too, but chances are it will because of the 2.0-liter turbo . As a brief refresher, the hot hatchback's force-fed heart is built at Anna Engine Plant in Ohio.The Civic Si will return to the lineup after sitting out the 2021 model year, and just as before, the 1.5-liter turbo will be connected to a slick-shifting manual with six forward ratios. A short-gearedfor quicker acceleration and higher RPMs on the highway is worthy of mention, along with output figures in excess 205 horsepower and 192 pound-feet (260 Nm) of torque.Lower down the spectrum, customers will have to settle for a feedback-less continuously variable transmission and a choice between a free-breathing motor with 2.0 liters of displacement or the lower-spec turbo mill. On the upside, customers of the all-new model can look forward to many Civic firsts, such as a digital drivers meter cluster and a 9.0-inch media system.Expected to arrive at dealerships in the U.S. in the summer if the chip shortage doesnt disrupt production, the 11th-generation Civic will probably cost a little more than the 10th generation. For future reference, the starting prices for the 2021 sedan, hatchback, and Type R are $21,250, $22,200, and $37,895, excluding destination charge and optional extras.
After being labeled a terrorist by Weld County Sheriff Steve Reams earlier this week, Rep. Leslie Herod, D-Denver, said those comments are grounds for his constituents to decide to choose another person for that job.



It's inflammatory and dangerous, especially in this day and age. I believe that the group he was speaking with is also an extremely problematic audience that was clearly talking about taking justice into their own hands and that's a problem, Herod said in an interview with Colorado Politics. To call me a terrorist for fighting for my community and fighting for my country is wrong.

Reams comments, first reported by the Colorado Times Recorder, came Monday at a meeting of Keep Colorado Free & Open, a group that opposes public health orders issued to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

The comments came after an attendee said the federal Supreme Courts Marbury v. Madison ruling gives Americans the right to ignore laws they feel are repugnant to the Constitution and instead abide by natural law. In a video of the meeting posted on the groups Facebook page, Reams responded by telling those in attendance to be willing to question authority and go to elected officials in order to put them on record.

I guarantee you, Leslie Herod down at the state Capitol has made a name for herself. In my mind, shes a terrorist, shes a terrorist against the citizens of Colorado. Her record speaks volumes, Reams said.

If theres anybody that you should have a reason to get out of office, its Leslie Herod because she is absolutely running bills to strip law enforcement from your daily lives to prevent law enforcement from protecting you and shes turning the state upside-down. Shes on record. How many others can we get on record and then who do we run against them? Thats the ultimate question.

A spokesman for the Weld County Sheriffs office was not available for comment.

Herod has previously championed a number of law enforcement reform bills, including a proposal signed into law last summer in the wake of George Floyds death that among other things mandated officers:

Can no longer use chokeholds.

Must wear body cameras when dealing with the public.

Cannot use deadly force unless they feel their lives are in imminent danger.

Can be sued individually for misconduct for up to $25,000, or for 5% of the judgment.

Are required to intervene if they feel that another officer is using deadly force.

Herod said the incident encapsulated exactly why we ran law enforcement accountability measures.

It's exactly why I fight for reform every single day: to make sure that people who have that badge and who are sworn to serve and protect actually do that work, she said. With what's happened here, it's clear that that is not a value [Reams] upholds.



Reams comments drew swift condemnation from a number of Herods House Democratic colleagues  including Speaker Alec Garnett of Denver and Majority Leader Daneya Esgar of Pueblo -- as well as the creation of the #StandWithLeslie hashtag.



Sage Naumann, a spokesman for the Senate GOP caucus, noted in a tweet that Senate President Leroy Garcia, D-Pueblo, had previously referred to GOP lawmakers who refused to wear masks as terrorists and also highlighted that Herod used the term in reference to former President Donald Trump.



[S]ince I'm sure somebody will ask, yes, Sheriff Reams was wrong to call Representative Herod a terrorist. I don't agree with her on much but she is the furthest from a terrorist. She's an elected official in a democratic republic. That rhetoric does nothing good, Naumann tweeted.



Asked about her use of the term directed at Trump, Herod told Colorado Politics she stood by her previous comments.



I think it's very different to make a statement like that versus to be a law enforcement officer talking to a group of anti-government folks who are asking to take the law into their own hands, to publicly name me and call me out as someone who is a terrorist, she said.


The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), in association with Futurebrands, is launching the first ever deep, immersive dive into gender depiction in Indian advertising. The study, GenderNext, aims to provide actionable insights that can shape the gender narratives in advertising positively.

The study is the first of several initiatives that ASCI will undertake in 2021 as part of a year-long focus on gender.

The report, to release in September 2021, is expected to be a seminal piece of work in understanding the depictions of women in advertising. It uses several starting points of inquiry. To begin with, there will be a semiotics and cultural decode of Indian advertising over time, across categories and regions. In addition, advertisers, creative voices, policymakers, gender experts will be met for their inputs. Ad clinics will be conducted across 10 centres with consumers for their views and feedback on gender depiction in advertising. The study will draw an understanding of the larger cultural shifts in India through Bharat Darshan, a proprietary study done by Futurebrands over a decade, and across more than 200 towns. GenderNext is a first-of-its-kind study and expected to be of significant value to advertisers and creative agencies, as well as academia, policymakers and advocacy bodies.

Subhash Kamath, Chairman, ASCI, commented, As a self-regulatory body, ASCI wants advertisers to embrace more responsible advertising. The idea is to not just limit ourselves to being a complaints management body, but also to help advertisers navigate through complex issues and contribute to the creation of positive advertising. ASCI will support brands and advertisers to get it right in various ways, and this is one such initiative.

The study will cover multiple categories: personal, fashion and beauty care; hearth, home and health; gadgets and wheels; and money and education.

Its major objectives are:

To unravel gender narratives in advertising through a collaborative journey

To evolve and enrich gender understanding in the context of cultural change

To provide insights to navigate and embrace positive narratives for women in advertising content

Manisha Kapoor, Secretary General of ASCI, observed, The portrayal of women in advertising has been the subject of much debate. The gender narrative has been evolving and changing, but it is not a simple, linear change. GenderNext will help advertisers navigate these narratives, which can sometimes even be seemingly in conflict with each other. The idea is to provoke conversations, and generate actionable insights that advertisers can tap into for progressive, culturally relevant and aspirational gender portrayals.

Kapoor further said that besides GenderNext, ASCI will also be partnering with like-minded organisations with similar objectives to make a difference to the gender narrative.

The study has attracted much interest amongst advertisers, who are backing it with their own insights as well as funding. The landmark study has received support from the likes of Nobel Hygiene, ITC-Vivel, Kellogg, Colgate, Diageo, Eureka Forbes and Mondelez, and ASCI hopes more of its members will become a part of it.

Santosh Desai, MD & CEO, Futurebrands, said, We are excited to be part of a study that will track the changing gender narrative in advertising and help advertisers with insights to craft their strategies better. The study  a synthesis of primary consumer feedback, opinions of a wide range of stakeholders and commentators, and a wider reading of cultural changes  will build on the extensive cultural tracking work Futurebrands has been engaged in over the past decade.

According to Kartik Johari, VP - Marketing and Commerce, Nobel Hygiene, the principal sponsor of the study, As a company where our brands resolutely speak the consumer truth, through this unique partnership with ASCI, we are keen to understand how popular culture has, and will continue to shape, our perception of gender. We hope this research forms not only a map of their minds, but a casting net on the minds that will shape tomorrow.

The study will go beyond individual category movements to bring brands in tune with the larger shifts they must be cognizant of. This exercise hopes to spark new conversations amongst advertisers, creators, policy makers, academia and is expected to be a seminal reference study on the depiction of gender in advertising.
The woman counted to three and gave the order.

You can release your balloons, she told more than 100 people Thursday evening at Meyer Park in Spring for a candlelight vigil in remembrance of a woman and her three young children who were killed in car crash.

A gust of wind picked up dozens of balloons  pink, green, blue, yellow, red and white  suddenly freed and carried them past tall trees and into the sky, where most disappeared. Roughly 6 miles from the park, a man believed to have been under the influence crashed into a vehicle stopped at a red light with Porsha Branch, 28, King, 5, Messiah, 2, and Drake, 7 months old.

Daniel Canada had been pulled over about 20 minutes prior to the crash when he sped past a Harris County sheriffs deputy, according to authorities. The deputy confiscated marijuana the man admitted to having to lab test it before the filing of criminal charges. Not seeing any outward signs of impairment, according to the sheriffs office, the deputy let him go.

Canada has since been charged with four counts of intoxication manslaughter with a vehicle, according to Harris County court records.

Damien House, 31, the childrens father and Branchs husband, said he misses everything about his family, including the time they would share playing at the park, eating out and watching movies. The kids were just unbelievable, he said after the vigil as the crowd cleared. Just good kids.

He also said he plans to attend every court date for the man accused of killing his family.

The ceremony preceded four other services scheduled for Friday and Saturday. Before an interment after the funeral service, there will be two visitations and a celebration of life, according to the funeral home Pruitts In The Heights.

Following the release of the balloons, the crowd prayed and heard brief addresses from relatives and huddled in a circle, holding thin white candles.

Less than an hour after the start of the commemoration, all that remained were a few people and life-sized signs with each of victims name.

alejandro.serrano@chron.com
(Natural News) President Joe Biden recently reached his target of having 100 million shots administered in his first 100 days in office with six weeks to spare, thanks to a strategy he inherited from his predecessor.

The former administration wrote clauses into contracts with Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine manufacturers and used the Defense Production Act (DPA), which grants the president extraordinary powers over manufacturing in times of crisis.

Biden also took advantage of the provision under the DPA that allows the U.S. to include whats called a priority rating on contracts, which moves the government to the front of a line. In return, the manufacturers usually get better access to supplies they need.

Both administrations have been unapologetic for putting Americans first in the inoculation ladder.

Trump administration officials said American taxpayers deserved to have their orders prioritized because of the former presidents multibillion-dollar Operation Warp Speed program that accelerated the development of the COVID-19 vaccines.

We didnt want to put billions of dollars of taxpayers money at risk only to find out we were third in line for the product we invested in, said Paul Mango, a former senior official in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under Trump.

Government used DPA provision to secure shots for Americans

The U.S. applied priority ratings to its contracts with both Moderna and Johnson & Johnson a month after signing them in August last year, according to the HHS. The designation meant the companies had to fill their U.S. orders before those from other countries. AstraZenecas U.S. contract also included a priority rating.

Officials with the Trump administration said Pfizers initial contract did not include a DPA priority rating, but the contract language required the company to provide 20 million doses to the U.S. monthly beginning November last year. The deal also included a clause that said all timing estimates were subject to change based on emerging data, regulatory guidance, and manufacturing and technical developments, among other risks.

The second contract the Trump administration signed with Pfizer raised the countrys total order to 200 million doses. It included a priority rating that the company requested, an indication it was willing to put U.S. orders at the front of the line to benefit from the governments power to secure scarce supplies.

In other words, the Trump administration effectively bought all COVID-19 vaccines produced in the country by Pfizer and Moderna the moment the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized their use. (Related: Moderna in talks with Biden administration to provide extra 100 million coronavirus vaccine doses.)

The America first approach taken by both Biden and Trump has been criticized by public health experts.

It, depressingly, has gone pretty much exactly as predicted, said Thomas Bollyky, director of the global health program at the Council on Foreign Relations. In every previous global health crisis where there has been a medical intervention that would make a difference, wealthy countries have hoarded it.

As of this writing, the U.S. has put nearly 130 million doses into arms  twice as many as the more-populous European Union.

Unlike the U.S., the EU has exported doses despite its own shortages and rollout failures. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen claimed that the EU had exported 41 million doses of COVID-19 shots to 33 countries worldwide since January.

EU to restrict export of COVID-19 vaccines

The European Commission presented new plans on Wednesday, March 24, to restrict the export of COVID-19 vaccines from the 27-member bloc. The commission, the EUs executive arm, wants to ensure that member states will receive all the shots that have been promised for the second quarter.

While our member states are facing the third wave of the pandemic and not every company is delivering on its contract, the EU is the only major OECD producer that continues to export vaccines at large scale to dozens of countries. But open roads should run in both directions, von der Leyen said in a statement.

The EUs tougher position was triggered by the setbacks in the number of vaccines delivered by AstraZeneca. (Related: EU IN CRISIS: Deadly rollout of AstraZeneca vaccine destroys EUs reputation, shatters image of unity within bloc.)

Earlier this year, the Anglo-Swedish firm said it could only deliver 30 million doses of its vaccine in the first quarter instead of around 90 million doses. More recently, the pharmaceutical giant cut delivery expectations for the second quarter to less than half of what the bloc was initially expecting.

The EU member states will look at reciprocity and proportionality with their exports. They will now consider whether the destination country restricts its own vaccine exports or raw materials and whether the destination country is ahead or behind the EU with its vaccine rollout.

It could alarm those who are concerned that the EU is moving towards a protectionist approach to vaccine supply. The EU drew international criticisms when Italy blocked the export of 250,000 doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine to Australia early this month.

In particular, the renewed stance could become an issue in the United Kingdom  by far the biggest recipient of COVID-19 shots produced in the EU. Data from the commission showed that the UK has imported more than 10 million doses from the EU. The next two biggest importers were Canada at 6.6 million and Japan at 5.4 million.

But Spains Minister of Foreign Affairs Arancha Gonzalez Laya quickly brushed off the idea.

It is not against the UK, it is to ensure AstraZeneca complies with the commitments it takes vis-a-vis with the European Union, Gonzalez Laya told CNBCs Squawk Box Europe on Wednesday.

The export restrictions we have prepared for were never meant to be against countries. They were meant to be to ensure that pharmaceutical companies would comply with their commitments, with the contracts they have made with the European Commission.

Follow Immunization.news for more news and information related to the coronavirus pandemic.

Sources include:

Bloomberg.com

CNBC.com
This satellite image from Maxar Technologies shows the cargo ship MV Ever Given stuck in the Suez Canal near Suez, Egypt, Friday, March 26, 2021. A maritime traffic jam grew to more than 200 vessels Friday outside the Suez Canal and some vessels began changing course as dredgers worked frantically to free a giant container ship that is stuck sideways in the waterway and disrupting global shipping. (Maxar Technologies via AP)

SUEZ: A maritime traffic jam grew to more than 200 vessels Friday outside the Suez Canal and some vessels began changing course as dredgers worked frantically to free a giant container ship that is stuck sideways in the waterway and disrupting global shipping.

One salvage expert said freeing the cargo ship, the Ever Given, could take up to a week in the best-case scenario and warned of possible structural problems on the vessel as it remains wedged.

The Ever Given, owned by the Japanese firm Shoei Kisen KK, got wedged Tuesday in a single-lane stretch of the canal, about 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) north of the southern entrance, near the city of Suez.

A team from Boskalis, a Dutch firm specializing in salvaging, is working with the canal authority. using tugboats and a specialized suction dredger that is trying to remove sand and mud from around the port side of the bow. Egyptian authorities have prohibited media access to the site.

An attempt Friday to free it failed, said Bernhard Schulte Ship management, the technical manager of the Ever Given. Plans are in the works to pump water from interior spaces of the vessel, and two more tugs should arrive by Sunday, the company said.

The Suez Canal Authority said it welcomed international offers of help. A U.S. defense official said Washington has offered Egypt assistance, including possible naval aid, and they are in discussions about how best to help. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss aid that has not yet been finalized.

The canal authority released a video showing Lt. Gen. Osama Rabei inspecting efforts to free the Ever Given and telling workers: Good luck, God willing.

An initial investigation showed the vessel ran aground due to strong winds and ruled out mechanical or engine failure as a cause, the company said. GAC, a global shipping and logistics company, had previously said the ship had experienced a power blackout, but it did not elaborate.

Bernhard Schulte said two canal pilots had been aboard the ship when it got stuck. Such an arrangement is customary, but the ships captain retains ultimate authority over the vessel, according to shipping experts.

In addition to the over 200 vessels waiting near the canal, more than 100 ships were en route to the waterway, according to the data firm Refinitiv.

Apparently anticipating long delays, the owners of the stuck vessel diverted a sister ship, the Ever Greet, to head around Africa instead, according to satellite data.

Others also are being diverted to avoid the canal. The liquid natural gas carrier Pan Americas changed course in the mid-Atlantic, now aiming south to go around the southern tip of Africa, according to satellite data from MarineTraffic.com.

About 10% of world trade flows through the canal, which is particularly crucial for the transport of oil. The closure also could affect oil and gas shipments to Europe from the Middle East.

Oil markets are absorbing the disruption for now, said analyst Toril Bosoni.

Oil inventories have been coming down but they are still relatively ample, he told The Associated Press, adding that he believes the impact might be more pronounced in the tanker sector than in the oil industry.

We are not losing any oil supply but it will tie up tankers for longer if they have to go around the tip of Africa, he said, which is roughly an additional two-week trip.

Freeing the Ever Given is quite a challenge and could take five days to a week, .Capt. Nick Sloane, a maritime salvage expert who led the high-profile effort to salvage the cruise ship Costa Concordia in 2012 told the AP.

The Ever Givens location, size and large amount of cargo make the operation more complex, Sloane said. The operation should focus initially on dredging the bank and sea floor around it to get it floating again, rather than unloading its cargo, which could take weeks.

Thats because the clock is also ticking structurally for the vessel, he added.

The longer it takes, the worse the condition of the ship will become, because shes slowly sagging, said Sloane, vice president of the International Salvage Union. So ships are designed to flex, but not to be kept at that position with a full load of cargo for weeks at a time. So its not an easy situation.

International companies are preparing for the effect that the canals blockage will have on supply chains that rely on precise deliveries of goods. Singapores Minister of Transport Ong Ye Kung said the countrys port should expect disruptions.

Should that happen, some draw down on inventories will become necessary, he said on Facebook.

The backlog of vessels could stress European ports and the international supply of containers, already strained by the coronavirus pandemic, according to IHS Markit, a business research group. It said 49 container ships were scheduled to pass through the canal in the week since the Ever Given became lodged.

The delay could also result in huge insurance claims by companies, according to Marcus Baker, global head of Marine & Cargo at the insurance broker Marsh, with a ship like the Ever Given usually covered at between $100 million to $200 million.

Those trying to free the vessel want to avoid complications that could extend the canal closure, according to an Egyptian official at the canal authority. The official spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to talk to journalists.

Satellite and photos distributed by the canal authority show Ever Givens bow touching the eastern wall, while its stern appeared lodged against the western wall.

The Ever Given was involved in an accident in northern Germany in 2019, when it ran into a small ferry moored on the Elbe River in Hamburg. No passengers were on the ferry at the time and there were no injuries, but it was seriously damaged.

Hamburg prosecutors opened an investigation of the Ever Givens captain and pilot on suspicion of endangering shipping traffic, but shelved it in 2020 for lack of evidence, spokeswoman Liddy Oechtering told The Associated Press.

Oechtering also could not say what the investigation had determined the cause of the crash was, but officials at the time suggested that strong winds may have blown the slow moving cargo ship into the ferry.
Blog

The deterioration of Kenya's economic prospects during COVID-19 has intensified backlash to its participation in China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The COVID-19-induced economic slowdown has accelerated a reckoning with the underlying fragility of BRI in Kenya, already the subject of scrutiny due to corruption, pollution, and debt concerns. As a recent Independent Task Force report [PDF] on BRI illustrates, while BRI has met significant infrastructure needs in Kenya and China's involvement is hardly the neocolonial debt trap many observers feared, the path forward for Kenya is challenging.

President Uhuru Kenyatta's decision to extend measures to combat a third wave of the virus comes as Kenya's economy experiences anemic growth and its government faces a rising fiscal deficit. The combination of BRI loans and an economic slowdown have left Kenya at elevated risk [PDF] of debt distress. In January, both China and Paris Club lenders agreed to defer impending loan payments, but Kenya still faces substantial debts, including some $9 billion to China, its biggest bilateral lender, largely for BRI projects.

China has sought to build economic linkages with Africa as part of its broader effort to reorient trade flows to benefit Chinese firms, set favorable technical standards, and boost its political influence. Policymakers in Beijing saw a tempting partner [PDF] in Kenya, East Africa's largest economy and a strategically located costal hub. Kenya reciprocated Chinese interest under its "Look East" policy, seeking to upgrade infrastructure and accelerate economic development.

Kenya has managed participation in BRI better than some host countries, and China has enabled an ambitious infrastructure push, including expanding Mombasa Port, building a port at Lamu, installing [PDF] safe city surveillance systems in Nairobi and Mombasa, and laying a standard-gauge railway (SGR) along an important trade and transport artery. Still, opaque contract terms and processes, unsustainable projects, and insensitivity to local concerns have led many Kenyans to question BRI's benefits.

The SGR is emblematic of the promise and shortcomings of BRI in Kenya. The railway, which opened in 2017, expanded shipping capacity and cut travel time between Nairobi and Mombasa in half. But the project has been so plagued by controversy--over corruption, procurement, labor practices [PDF], and its price tag [PDF]--that China declined to build its final phase. Fears that the $4.7 billion project could not pay for itself boiled over when it emerged that Mombasa Port serves as collateral for the SGR, giving Beijing considerable leverage. Meanwhile, the SGR has been unprofitable, accruing nearly $200 million in operating losses over three years, in part due to a steep operating contract with Afristar, a subsidiary of state-owned China Road and Bridge Corporation, which Kenya is terminating.

The economics of the SGR are now at the forefront of Kenya's debt concerns. An agreement to defer $245 million of debt payments, along with Kenya Railways' assumption of operational responsibilities, will provide some relief. These steps, combined with an uptick in SGR freight, offer some hope that the SGR can transition to economic viability, but that goal seems far off.

Beyond the postponement of debt payments to China, Kenya has also obtained relief from Paris Club creditors under the terms of the G20's Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI) and agreed to an IMF funding package. Kenya is hardly the only BRI partner experiencing debt pressure; other countries are in far worse positions. Still, Kenya's experience highlights the need for the United States to advocate for extending and expanding international relief measures like DSSI, and ensure that international financial institutions have the resources, policies, and leadership to meet the needs of Kenya and other nations. Likewise, U.S. policymakers should, in concert with allies, pressure China to improve lending transparency and treat BRI-related loans as official debt subject to DSSI. Further, extensive corruption in SGR procurement and construction underlines the urgency of extending global anti-corruption efforts, with BRI-related corruption as a priority.

While debt concerns are central, non-economic aspects of BRI have likewise caused friction in Kenya. In Lamu, for instance, construction of a new deep-water port and a stalled coal-fired power project sparked backlash over possible environmental degradation of a UNESCO World Heritage Site and nearby fishing grounds, as well as fears [PDF] of population displacement. These and related carbon-intensive projects underscore the importance of pressuring China to meet its commitment to "greening" BRI by pursuing sustainable investments, such as the solar power plant in Garissa. Chinese port projects in Lamu and Mombasa also raise concerns of intelligence collection from commercial operations, undersea cables, and nearby U.S. military facilities, including a base for AFRICOM air operations. China's growing presence near sensitive data conduits and installations should spur the United States to map vulnerabilities and safeguard assets and intelligence.

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Kenya's experience offers a window into tensions surrounding BRI and calls attention to the need for the United States to embrace an affirmative agenda to promote sustainable and secure development while combating Chinese efforts to shift trade flows, inflate its political influence, and expand power-projection capabilities--in Kenya, a long-standing U.S. economic and security partner, and around the world.

Max Yoeli is a New York-based attorney, currently working as policy advisor and speechwriter to former Secretary of the Treasury Jacob Lew.

Blog posts represent the views of CFR fellows and staff and not those of CFR, which takes no institutional positions.
Temporary facilities in Donna, Texas, are being used to process family units and unaccompanied alien children apprehended by Border Patrol. (CBP)

Texas Court Upholds Firing of Teacher Who Asked Trump to Deport Her Illegal Students

A Texas teacher who was fired after requesting that President Donald Trump help remove illegal students from her school district will not get her job back, an appeals court judge ruled Tuesday.

Judge Catherine Mauzey, of the 250th District Court of Travis County, upheld the Fort Worth school boards decision to fire Georgia Clark, reported the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. The ruling may be subject to further challenge in the Austin-based Third Court of Appeals.

Clark was unanimously dismissed by the school board in June 2019 after she reached out to Trump in a series of posts on Twitter. Mr. President, Fort Worth Independent School District is loaded with illegal students from Mexico, she wrote in what she thought were private messages to the president. Carter-Riverside High School has been taken over by them. Drug dealers are on our campus and nothing was done to them.

I really do need a contact here in Fort Worth who should be actively investigating and removing illegals, another post read.

A follow-up post asked the president to help remove illegals from Fort Worth, along with two phone numbers and said Georgia Clark is my real name.

Clark appealed her job termination on the First Amendment grounds. In August, an independent hearing examiner reviewed the case and recommended her reinstatement, only to be rejected by the school board. Clark then appealed her case to the Texas Education Agency (TEA).

Mike Morath, commissioner of the TEA, ruled in favor of Clark, demanding her reinstatement with back pay. He stated in his November 2019 ruling that the English teachers contract does not waive her constitutional rights to contact, outside of her working hours, elected officials concerning matters over which they have jurisdiction.

The Forth Worth Independent School District, which appealed Moraths decision almost immediately after its release, welcomed Tuesdays ruling.

The District is pleased that Judge Catherine A. Mauzy recognized the importance of the Boards ability to make employment decisions in the best interests of its students and school community, the district said in a press release.

The court ruling comes amid a massive influx of illegal immigrant children across the U.S.-Mexico border. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday sent a letter (pdf) to President Joe Biden, urging the federal government to interview every unaccompanied minor coming across the border to determine if any child has been harmed, groomed, or victimized by human traffickers in any way.

Recent decisions by your administration are emboldening dangerous cartels, smugglers, and human traffickers to ramp up their criminal operations, the Republican governor wrote. In many cases, these criminals entice unaccompanied minors into inhumane conditions and expose them to abuse and terror.
Oakland California Highway Patrol introduced the world to a pigment-free procyon named Timmy on Friday.

The albino raccoon is reportedly living on the Bay Bridge, and by the looks of the video shared on CHP's Instagram, he's a friendly beast.

"Meet Timmy. Timmy is a rare albino raccoon who lives off the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge," the agency commented alongside the video. "Timmy was first discovered by one of our Oakland Graveyard Officers about a year ago. We are unsure why Timmy is so friendly, but one thing is for sure, hes always watching our six."

The footage shows Timmy living his best life, approaching the officers and inspecting their vehicle.

It is not known if it's the same animal spotted near Lake Merritt two years ago. That raccoon was photographed peeking out from between two trees on the lakeshore.

A genetic mutation causes raccoons with albinism to lose the traditional black and gray coloring and their trademark bandit strip across the eyes. The condition is very rare  a raccoon has a 1 in 10,000 chance of being born with albinism.

This isn't the first time raccoons have made the news recently in the Bay Area. In September, an alarming photo taken in Golden Gate Park showed no less than 14 of the critters approaching a boy on a walk. That photo went viral on social media.

In October, two bandits literally broke into a bank in Redwood City, before being removed by the Peninsula Humane Society.

If you catch a glimpse of Timmy, or any other raccoons, it is recommended that you break eye contact and slowly back away, moving into a building until the animal passes. The Humane Society also advises making yourself appear larger while doing this.
For Dave Chappelles upcoming comedy shows, the audience must bring more than just an appetite for humor.

The Emmy and Grammy Award-winning funnyman is tightening up COVID-19 safety measures for his latest stand-up routine.

His shows at the Foxwoods Resort and Casino in Ledyard, Conn., are requiring more than the price of a ticket for entry.

All attendees to the shows, scheduled for June 25 and 26, will be required to take a rapid COVID-19 test at the door, regardless of whether or not theyve been vaccinated.

If the test is positive for any attendee and their group member, none will be admitted into the venue and refunds will be issued.

Chappelle, who revealed in January that he tested positive for the virus, performed socially distanced comedy shows in his native Ohio beginning last summer, followed by performances in Texas over the winter.

Each of those events offered rapid tests to all audience members before being seated, however, this is the first time the tests will be mandatory.

Situated on Native American tribal lands, Connecticuts casinos are not legally bound to follow state COVID guidelines but have aligned with prevailing national and state recommendations such as masks and distancing.
FLINT, MI -- District Court Judge Judith E. Levy has denied a motion to give adults and children more time to register to opt-in or opt-out of the water crisis settlement.

The decision was made during a Friday, March 26 hearing held after Philadelphia attorney Mark Cuker, who represents approximately 1,300 Flint residents in federal water cases, asked to extend the registration period to May 17.

Cukers court motion asking for the additional time says the extension is needed to accommodate a sustained increase of public interest in registering and because of a lack of access to bone scan testing other than an existing test site operated by another law firm. On Thursday, March 26, two additional attorneys who represent Flint residents filed motions supporting the requested deadline extension.

Related: Federal court asked to give Flint residents more time to register for water crisis settlement

Bone scans are not necessary to register for the water crisis settlement, Levy said. Minors, who the settlement argues were most harmed due to lead exposure during the water crisis, are provided a future minor claimant time period for registration, which begins as early as two years after the approval of the settlement and concludes when an individual turns 19 years old, the judge added.

In no event do those individuals have to register within the 60 day period or it could conclude when the funds have been depleted, she said.

It is time to get to work registering residents, Levy said.

Justice delayed is justice denied, Levy said.

During the hearing, attorneys Stephen Monroe said people have been coming into his office stating they have just heard about the settlement registration. He said its possible trouble with the post office could mean some are just receiving notices sent out in February, based on what he has heard from clients this week.

Were seeing a continued interest and response that we werent seeing a week ago, two weeks ago, Monroe said.

Levy said this was not the topic addressed in the motion.

Genesee County Circuit Court Judge Joseph J. Farah agreed with Judge Levys decision.

This is the time for late night pizza and coca-colas if you need them, Farah said. Get all hands on deck and get everybody filling out these forms. They take about 10 minutes to fill out, youre registered. You can take whatever action you want after registration but this does not seem arduous at all to me and certainly not, I agree with Judge Levy, a reason to change the deadline.

The state of Michigan and lead attorneys for individuals represented by their own lawyers oppose the 60-day extension, the motion filed Wednesday, March 25 says, while lead attorneys representing individuals in a class action tied to the settlement favor it.

The $641-million water crisis settlement was reached by attorneys for Flint residents and the state of Michigan in August and was later joined by the city of Flint, McLaren Regional Medical Center and Rowe Professional Services, each of which agreed to pay millions of dollars to excuse themselves and their employees from more than 100 water crisis lawsuits pending in state and federal courts.

The settlement has received preliminary approval from Levy. It provides for nearly 80 percent of settlement funds -- after attorney fees and expenses -- to be paid to children who were younger than 18 when they were first exposed to Flint River water, which contained elevated levels of lead, bacteria and chlorination byproducts in 2014 and 2015.

Adults and children with completed bone scans can earn significantly more than others in the same age categories, according to the settlement. Blood and neurological testing results can also be used to prove lead exposure in those making claims.

As of Monday, March 22, the U.S. District Court claims administrator reported that there were approximately 29,220 registrants that had been entered into the settlement database with an additional 4,121 registration forms that have been received but that are still being processed.

Bone scans have been a major point of contention in the settlement agreement. Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha and Dr. Lawrence Reynolds, key figures in having the water crisis recognized as a federal emergency, have each advised against the procedure for children, particularly the use of a portable X-ray fluorescence device, or XRF, that was originally not designed for use on humans.

Hunter Shkolnik of Napoli Shkolnik and Corey Stern of Levy Konigsberg LLP, who were appointed as lead attorneys for individually represented Flint residents in the settlement, have defended use of the XRF, saying it is not being used to diagnose, prevent or treat any disease, and poses no risk to children or adults to exposure to radiation.

Read more on MLive:

Monday registration deadline looms for Flint water crisis settlement

Flint pediatrician who blew the whistle on water crisis wont recommend bone scans for kids

Flint mayors health advisor calls water settlement bone lead testing a human rights violation

Youngest Flint water crisis victims to get 80 percent of historic $600 million settlement
Investors have punished TPG Telecom after the shock exit of its elusive billionaire chairman David Teoh, wiping close to a billion dollars off the telcos books.

Mr Teoh announced his immediate departure from the $12.9 billion company on Friday, putting an end to his 30 year tenure at the helm of one of Australias biggest broadband businesses. The news sent TPGs stock into a tailspin, with shares falling to their lowest point since last July, and closing 6.7 per cent weaker at $6.41 on Friday. They had finished the session on Thurdsay at $6.90.

Mr Teoh, who established TPG with his wife Vicki in 1992, said on Friday it was the right time to leave and pursue other interests despite the merger of his company with Vodafone Hutchison Australia only eight months ago.

Elusive TPG Telecom founder David Teoh has resigned from the company. Credit:Joe Armao

His resignation coincided with the exit of his son Shane Teoh, who was convicted of assaulting an Uber driver earlier this month. TPG did not comment on the reasons for Mr Teohs resignation but said earlier this month it was reviewing the conviction. The resignation of both Teohs followed a board meeting late on Thursday night.
The Bloomberg School Virtual Experience: In Students Own Words

The Covid-19 pandemic required us to swiftly adjust how we study, teach, and gather at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. We moved all of our instruction online so that we could continue to safely train the next generation of scientists, practitioners of public health, and policymakers.

Understandably, prospective students are interested in hearing about the transition to fully online teaching and learning and what to expect from our Virtual Plus Campus in the future.

Who better than current Bloomberg School students to share their thoughts about the virtual education format this past term? Five future public health leaders volunteered to share their experiences and takeaways.

Ndeye Silla

MSPH22-International Health, Social & Behavioral Interventions

Age: 23

Hometown: Dakar, Senegal

Current City/State: Dakar, Senegal

Dream Job Title: Medical Anthropologist/MD

Dante Cilento

MHA22, Health Policy and Management

Age: 24

Hometown: Clifton Park, New York

Current City/State: Baltimore, Maryland

Dream job title: Chief Strategy Officer of a large health system and/or founder of a social enterprise organization that seeks to provide value beyond the current medical treatment for those with a substance use disorder

Noelle Huhn

MSPH22, International Health, Global Disease Epidemiology and Control (GDEC)

Age: 23

Hometown: Boise, Idaho

Current City/State: Baltimore, Maryland

Dream job title: Senior Epidemiologist

Pranab Chatterjee

PhD24, International Health, Global Disease Epidemiology and Control (GDEC)

Age: 35

Hometown: Kolkata/New Delhi, India

Current City/State: Baltimore, Maryland

Dream Job Title: It keeps changing!something along the lines of a clinical epidemiologist or an infectious disease position in elimination and outbreak prevention with an agency like Medecins Sans Frontieres or the World Health Organization!

Jayati Sharma

ScM22-Epidemiology

Age: 22

Hometown: Salt Lake City, Utah

Current City/State: Phoenix, Arizona

Dream Job Title: Professor and Director of a research institute

What has your overall experience as a virtual JHSPH student been like?

Pranab: Although I did miss the feeling of not being able to sit in a class and connect with my peers, I never felt that the quality of my education was compromised. Dedicated TAs who were always available on email or discussion forums were an amazing resource in every course I attended. Overall, it has been a different and challenging year for everyone, but the School has pivoted to online learning smoothly and I feel they have provided me with an optimal learning experience.

Jayati: From accessible class formats and interactive LiveTalks to online club events and Zoom game nights, I've been able to connect with fellow students, staff, and faculty across many departments at JHSPH. I joined several student organizations during my first quarter this past fall, and was pleased at the amount of recorded virtual meetings and events clubs.

Noelle: My experience as a virtual JHSPH student has completely exceeded my expectations! I feel very lucky to have still been able to connect with so many wonderful classmates and faculty members in the virtual environment. While we are all in our separate work spaces, JHSPH has worked very hard to provide a welcoming, valuable learning experience for its students.

What are your favorite aspects of learning online? Did anything surprise you?

Dante: I have the flexibility to budget my schedule efficiently and in a way that works for me. Without having to commute to campus or wait for another class to begin, I can be more efficient and work during the times that I am naturally more productive. The structure has really been a blessing in terms of adapting to the new stressors and rigor of graduate school.

Ndeye: A benefit is that I can do my classes remotely anywhere. During winter break and the first half of third term, I was able to do my classes in Senegal and spend time with my family there. Another benefit is that you are a bit more flexible with your schedule and learning pace.

Jayati: I've enjoyed the flexibility of listening to recorded, asynchronous lectures that I can easily rewatch to better understand difficult content and to test my understanding. I've been surprised by the breadth of experience that students and faculty both bring to their work. Hearing from peers living a dozen time zones away makes me acutely aware of the wide diversity of perspectives that being a JHSPH student exposes me to.

During third term, we started offering a limited number of hybrid courses that allowed students to be on campus for class and online. Some of you were part of this; please share your experience.

Dante: In my program, we have had one class a week on campus. It has been phenomenal to go and see the space that I get to call my school. I get some face time with people I have a class with and several professors. It has been an incredibly valuable experience and the precautions the University has taken have been excellent.

Noelle: I have one in-person class during third term. Weekly [Covid-19] testing has been very accessible and easy to do, making it simple and safe to go to campus once a week. The classroom environment, while appropriately spaced out [for social distancing], is incredibly engaging and we are finding creative ways to complete group work. I am grateful for the opportunity to come together in a small group every week!

How have your professors and advisers helped you during this unprecedented time at JHSPH?

Pranab: Not being on campus has not resulted in a reduction in my interactions with my mentors or professors. The professors in the courses have been available to solve student queries throughout the term, to the extent that they even set up a dedicated telephone hotline to call if we were having troubles. Further, there have been multiple seminars, hosted by the different centers affiliated with the School, where I have been able to learn more about the different research interests of the faculty members.

Jayati: My professors and advisers have been highly accessible and accommodating throughout my virtual experience in and outside of the classroom. This has been especially noticeable in my large 100+ person epidemiology and biostatistics courses, where professors have been willing to provide multiple exam times for those of us living in different time zones, to record any synchronous lectures/reviews, and to promptly answer questions/concerns posted on the discussion forum or submitted by email. I've been able to have some really inspiring and enriching conversations with faculty thanks to these virtual options!

Noelle: My adviser has been really helpful in connecting me with other faculty as well as non-Hopkins public health professionals to expand my professional experiences. In addition to my adviser, my professors are all so willing to meet outside of class to discuss my career interests or possible research opportunities. In Zoom breakout rooms, my professors often circulate through the rooms, not only to check in on our group work, but to ask about our other classes and outside activities.

Please share any research or outside opportunities youve been able to participate in during your program.

Ndeye: From October 2020 to January 2021, I served as a research assistant in the Department of International Health at the School through Federal Work Study. I worked closely with Professor Peter Winch, MD, MPH 88, on a study to contribute to the formation of the WHOs new Behavioral Insights Department. Furthermore, as part of my Qualitative Research Practicum in my degree plan, I am strengthening my skills in qualitative research methods and analysis through work with a Baltimore nonprofit, EndsideOut. With a team of other MSPH students in the Social and Behavioral Interventions Program, I am conducting a qualitative assessment of the nonprofits Know Your Health program in Baltimore schools for grades 37.

Dante: I am currently going through the application and interview process for my residency placement for next year. It has been a blessing to be able to hear from and connect with so many different organizations and their esteemed leaders.

Noelle: I was able to join the Center for Health Security's Outbreak Observatory in my first term at JHSPH. In my role, I write one blog post or article a week on an emerging infectious disease or other outbreak preparedness topics. I am also working on additional research projects with Outbreak Observatory in the spring. This position has been very flexible with my class schedule and I have learned so much through this work. It has also exposed me to other public health fields and research areas that I am now incorporating into my academic plans. I have also been able to engage in community service work through SOURCE, the community engagement and service-learning center for the School and Johns Hopkins schools of Nursing and Medicine. In the HEAT Corps, I teach students in Baltimore City Public Schools about the biology of Covid-19, masks, and hand hygiene.

How have you stayed in contact with friends or made connections with fellow students while participating in the program over this last year?

Pranab: The incoming cohort of PhD students have banded together in a WhatsApp group. This has been a highly interactive group, where people have sought out friendships, course advice, and the occasional cake recipe or pet selfies! Though we have not met each other in person, there is a shared feeling of community and camaraderie. We hope that these budding networks will be enriched once on-campus activities begin.

Jayati: To me, having a strong support system is essential in graduate school. I've created a Zoom study group with some of my fellow Epidemiology students, and have maintained some friendships from previous lab groups in courses from previous terms. Connecting with peers in the JHSPH Student Assembly and the Epidemiology Student Organization has also been a great way to get to know a wide variety of students from different departments and programs across the School! We host a lot of great wellness and social events that are awesome for getting to know lots of students.

Noelle: The most valuable part of this experience has been the willingness of my fellow students and my professors to build relationships to solve problems together to improve the health of the communities around us. When it was warmer, we were able to do outdoor picnics and study in Lower Fells Point. In the online environment, our cohort has held weekly Zoom "happy hours" to chat with students who may not be in Baltimore. This has been a great and informal way to connect with classmates outside of class!

Why did you choose to attend JHSPH?

Dante: My decision to attend JHSPH was rooted in the prestige of the MHA program and the second-year residency. I really did not want to be out of the workforce for more than a year. After moving to Baltimore and meeting my cohort, exploring the city, and trying the food, I felt more connected to this place than I thought I ever would.

Jayati: The diverse research interests and backgrounds of the Epidemiology Department, students, faculty, and staff alike, made the program really appealing to me. The faculty and students genuinely care about the JHSPH vision: protecting health and saving livesmillions at a time. Their continual dedication to public health has proven to be an important part of my own growth as a public health student and future epidemiologist.

Pranab: Now more than ever we need a global cadre of public health experts who are skilled in various aspects of prevention of disease, promotion of health, and alleviation of human suffering. It has always been a dream for me to be able to attend JHSPHand it could not have come at a better time for me.

Do you have any advice for an incoming JHSPH student?

Ndeye: Take advantage of the many research assistant positions early, make connections with classmates to help you study, compile a list of jobs you want, and make a solid connection with at least one faculty member in case you need a letter of recommendation.

Jayati: Take advantage of the breadth of opportunities you are afforded as a JHSPH student! Attend seminars and talks, apply to research groups and internships, and take classes outside of your program if you're able. Reach out to faculty and students whose work you're interested in; they're always happy to talk! Building a strong support system, either within or outside of the school, is really important, so take time to cultivate or maintain friendships and choose activities that help you keep a work-life balance throughout the rigors of grad school.

Noelle: Some of my best mentors at JHSPH have said that grad school is a team sport and you only get through by developing relationships. Focus on connectionsnot just networkingwith your classmates. These people will be your future go-to epidemiologists, health scientists, policy analysts, and secretaries of health. I have learned so much from my classmates and they have truly made this experience more incredible than I could have ever imagined!

The work of public health is more essential than everas is the need for exceptional public health leaders. While we arent sure yet what format our programs will take for the 20212022 academic year, our students can attest that we will provide a robust and rewarding experience, whether next years students are on campus, online, or in a hybrid learning format.
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More than 114,000 people living with HIV in Homa Bay County are facing an uncertain future following delays in delivery of antiretroviral (ARV) drugs, which threatens to wipe out the recent gains in suppressing the deadly infection in the devolved unit.

International medical aid organisation Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) has warned that HIV positive patients are at risk following interruptions in the management of the virus because of delays in distribution of the drugs such as Tenofovir, Lamivudine and Dolutegravir (TLD) to health centres.

According to the organisation, health facilities in Homa Bay County are running out of ARVs after a consignment of the drugs got stuck at the port of Mombasa.

Consequently, patients are now sharing the few available drugs, with MSF warning that ARVs could run out soon if restocking is not done immediately.

'Impending stock-outs'

"Lack of timely access to HIV medications and the impending stock-outs of ARVs is a tragedy waiting to happen and threatens to quash the gains made so far in reversing the curve of HIV infection in the county," Mr Roshni Mahida, the Project Coordinator for MSF in Homa Bay County, said in a statement on Wednesday.

Homa Bay County leads in HIV infections in the country at 19.6 percent according to the Kenya Population Based HIV Impact Assessment (KENPHIA) 2018 report.

HIV patients have a schedule for picking up ARVs which are offered free of charge.

Limited supply

MSF said the shortage has forced patients to take between two to four week refilling schedules as limited supply of drugs threatens the long-term availability of the lifesaving medicines.

Before the crisis, patients would ordinarily be put on a three to six-month refill schedule.

According to the MSF, this reduced unnecessary burdens on the health system, which the organisation said has led to significant improvements in adherence to treatment in recent years.

Shorter treatment intervals would only be considered for patients in need of closer follow up.

Reduced drugs update intervals have already increased the burden that HIV patients in the county have.

For example, patients have to travel more often to the health centre to take drugs unlike before when they would travel at least three times in one year for the same drugs.

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An HIV patient who works in Kisumu said he was recently given drugs to last him a month, down from the three, when he went to Magina Health Centre in Ndhiwa Sub-county.

'Difficult to arrange'

"I live far from here and the monthly visits will be difficult to arrange with my employer," the patient told MSF.

Experts have warned of dire consequences due to the shortage of ARVs. Kenya Medical Practitioners Pharmacists and Dentist Union (KMPDU) Homa Bay County Liaison Officer Amos Dulo told Nation that defaulting in ARVs uptake is likely to lead to other infections like TB and meningitis.

"It is more dangerous to stop using ARVs when you have started using them. It makes patients more susceptible to dangerous infections," he said.

The KMPDU officer warned that other disease burdens in the county will increase should the drugs fail to be delivered in time.

HIV has been the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in Homa Bay County.

MSF expressed concerns that ARV uptake will drop and increase Covid-19 transmission rates should no action be taken immediately.
 Flash

It's immoral to manipulate any particular family's story to fabricate reports on Xinjiang as Iraq War stories cannot be repeated, Chinese Ambassador to the United States Cui Tiankai said in an interview with CNN on Thursday.

In response to a question raised by CNN anchor Christiane Amanpour about the cable network's so-called investigative story at an orphanage in China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Cui said, "I think it's very unfortunate. It's immoral to take advantage of any particular family situation and manipulate it. This is not true journalism. It's very unfortunate for CNN."

When asked to comment on the CNN story, Cui said, "And also you're talking about media coverage, satellite pictures. I remember all these things happened over the years, for instance, in maybe more than a dozen years ago in Iraq, a few years in Syria, in Libya."

"I still remember you reporting the Iraq War some years ago. So, can people come out and repeat these same stories to the world? No. Because many of the stories were just based on falsehood, were just fabrication," Cui added.

"And it's very unfortunate some people, including some journalists, they start with very strong bias and prejudice. That's their problem. That's how they come to very different conclusions about the particular situation, very much against real facts," said Cui.

In the last few years, more than 1,000 people, including diplomats and journalists, from over 100 countries, many of them Muslim countries, have visited Xinjiang, the Chinese ambassador said, refuting CNN's claim that Xinjiang was closed to international officials and journalists. "What they have seen are real facts."

Cui said the big threat to people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang, until very recently, was terrorist attacks, hurting and killing thousands of innocent people from all ethnic groups.

"It was a very serious threat. There was strong demand by the local people that the government had to do something to stop it. So this has been our priority, to stop the spread of terrorist attacks. Some of them are connected with international groups like ISIS," he said.

"There was mounting terrorist, extremist and violent ideology among the local population. That was also very dangerous. But what we did was not start war there. We did not use missiles or drones. We set up efforts for education and training, helping people to learn more about the law, to acquire good skills to improve their lives, find good jobs," he said.

Now the Xinjiang region has not seen a single terrorist attack in the last few years. "In terms of the population, the Uygur population has more than doubled in the last four decades," Cui said, adding that "So how can people talk about the so-called genocide?"


Tasmania Heading to an Early Election

Tasmania, the island state in the south of Australia, will head to the polls on May 1, a year sooner than planned, after Speaker Sue Hickey quit the party, plunging the state Liberal government into a minority.

Premier Peter Gutwein on Friday said, Tasmania cant afford the uncertainty of minority government. Now more than ever, we need a strong, stable majority government.

Gutwein defended the timing of the election being so close to when Labor Opposition Leader Rebecca White is set to give birth in June.

I have given this a great deal of thought, Gutwein said. Obviously an election later this year is completely out of the question.

In a post on Twitter, White indicated that she had no gripes.

Plenty of pregnant woman continue to work, she wrote. Im no different and I can assure everyone that as far as Im concerned its game on!

The Liberal government entered minority earlier this week after Speaker Sue Hickey quit the party.

Hickey was told last weekend she would not be re-endorsed by the Liberals for the next election and is now operating as an independent.

She sensationally claimed the speakership three years ago by voting with opposition parties and has crossed the floor on contentious issues.

Hickey used the cover of parliamentary privilege this week to accuse federal Liberal Senator Eric Abetz of [expletive]-shaming Brittany Higgins, a federal parliamentary staffer who alleged that she was raped in Canberras Parliament House.

When drawn on the question outside Parliament, she refused to say more, noting that she could be liable for defamation for what she might say outside of Parliament.

Senator Abetz has strongly denied the claims, saying they are defamatory, and Prime Minister Scott Morrison has stood by him.

Morrison told ABCs AM program on Thursday morning that Senator Abetz was a longstanding member of the Senate with a strong record.

Senator Abetz, who is a longstanding member of the Senatehes a longstanding figure in public life and has a strong record when it comes to addressing these issues very seriouslyhas absolutely denied that, Morrison said.

I was not a party to the conversation. And so, you know, in this country, if people make allegations, they can make them.

This has been strenuously denied. And so I think it would be very unfair to draw a conclusion here when, you know, the facts are in such dispute, he said.

Tasmanias Liberals are riding a wave of support on the back of the states COVID-19 response, which included an early call to shut the islands borders.

According to an EMRS poll published in February, 61 percent of voters have Gutwein as their preferred premier, with White sitting at 26 percent.

The Liberals are the preferred party (52 percent) ahead of Labor (27 percent).

Gutwein took over as premier early last year after Will Hodgmans surprise mid-term decision to step down as leader.

The Liberals will voluntarily disclose donations of more than $5,000 made during the election campaign.

Political donation reforms were slated to come before state Parliament prior to the election.

I would hope that other parties would likewise voluntarily disclose thresholds and amounts themselves, Gutwein said.

The Liberal government was returned for a second term in 2018, winning 13 of 25 seats.

It was the first time in 22 years that a Liberal government had won a second consecutive term in Tasmania.

Epoch Times Sydney Staff contributed to this article.
"When Pakistani started attacking people of Bangladesh then Bangabandhu Sheikh declared Independence. He was then taken to jail. We always remember the contribution of India in the war and I am honoured to have PM Modi here in Bangladesh," said Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina.

She added," I thank the govt of India and Modi in particular for awarding Gandhi peace to Sheikh Mujibur Rehman. I extend gratitude to PM Modi and people of India for being helpful during the pandemic. The two countries have decided to share several diplomatic programs."

Lauding Indo-Bangla ties, she said, " All political parties of India are always united in one issue and that is being with the people of Bangladesh. We share Historical, cultural, geographical ties. India has sheltered 1 cr Bangladeshis, who fled from Bangladesh because of the atrocities of Pakistan. By the joint operation of both countries, victory was achieved. A notable number of Indian soldiers sacrificed their lives. Self cooperation and contribution by the people of India can never be forgotten."

She added, "Our relation with India escalated with new heights. India has become one of our best development partners. If we move forward hand in hand, development in inevitable."
The government has ordered touts out of public spaces following a recent video of an elderly woman being harassed at a bus terminus went viral on social media.

Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Minister, Sithembiso Nyoni said touts were threat to the society.

"Eventually, we want to witness the removal of touts from all bus termini. Public spaces must be safe for all and may it be known that the law enforcing agents shall not deal with this lightly," she said.

Nyoni said the government will act against the increasing incidents of harassment by touts towards women at bus termini and other public spaces across the country.

"My ministry has engaged relevant Government departments and local authorities to nip these inhumane acts of gender-based violence in the bud," she said.

The government has vowed to keep the public space safe for everyone.

The circulating video on social media platforms shows a woman being forcefully dragged by touts with her luggage being pulled into a Chipinge bound bus.
PITTSFIELD  Four Lee residents want a court to decide whether civic leaders exceeded their authority when they agreed to allow an old quarry to house toxic chemicals without bringing the issue to residents.

Lee officials are on record saying that they believe they acted in the towns interests.

In a lawsuit filed this week in Berkshire Superior Court, the residents  three of them are members of Lees representative Town Meeting  say the Select Board breached its duty and abused its discretion when it signed on to a settlement that allows the General Electric Co. to bury 1 million cubic yards of sediments containing polychlorinated biphenyls in an engineered landfill.

The action brings to a head a year of debate that has pitted residents opposed to the dump against the towns top board. And it widens the legal challenges already facing the Environmental Protection Agencys latest plan to remove toxins from the Housatonic River.

On Feb. 5, 2020, Thomas Wickham, the Lee boards chairman, signed on to the secret deal during an executive session  which the lawsuit also claims was improperly called.

The Select Board acted independently without the authority of town meeting, which is a violation of their duty to the town, Judith C. Knight, the Great Barrington attorney representing residents, said in an interview Thursday. For them to do this in secret and not put it before town [residents] is shocking.

Knight represents plaintiffs Robert Jones, Andrea Wadsworth, James Castegnaro and Clare Lahey, all of Lee. The suit names the town and three Select Board members as defendants  Wickham, Patricia Carlino and David Consolati.

As of Thursday afternoon, the defendants had not been served notice of the lawsuit, Knight said.

Officials have said pointedly that they held the authority to back the settlement. In late January, the Lee Select Board rejected a call by residents to reverse its approval of the February 2020 agreement that made local PCB disposal a part of a decadeslong river cleanup.

The [federal] EPA has mandated the PCB dump. We dont have to like it, but we have to deal with it. We can argue all day whether we have the authority; we have the authority, Consolati, the current Select Board chairman, said at a meeting Jan. 26.

The lawsuit asks the court to find that the Select Board was not authorized to sign the agreement that would place an Upland Disposal Facility in Lee to accept lower levels of PCB-tainted river sediments, with soils that exceed a certain level of contamination going to a licensed facility outside Massachusetts. The town is poised to receive $25 million from GE as part of the deal.

PCB dump in the Berkshires? It's on the table, activist reveals (copy) The former Lane Construction quarry lies near the Housatonic River south of Woods Pond. It is the planned location of a PCB disposal site allo

It asks the court to declare the towns approval of the settlement null and void. It also proposes, as an alternative, that the court find that any aspect of the agreement that concerns Lee, including the planned dump, be struck down.

In its 2016 Rest of River cleanup permit, the EPA had insisted on out-of-state disposal. That led to an appeal by GE, a courts suggestion that the EPA reconsider that requirement and then, after secret mediation, to the current plan.

In addition to the Lee residents lawsuit, the EPAs permit is being challenged at the Environmental Appeals Board by the Housatonic River Initiative, led by Lee resident Tim Gray, and by the Housatonic Environmental Action League.

Knight, the attorney representing Lee residents, argues in the six-page suit that Lee bylaws compel the Select Board to present issues like this to townspeople. She also contends that by approving the settlement and dump plan in executive session, the board did not follow rules on what constitutes legal grounds for excluding the public, in violation of the Open Meeting Law.

On that question, the office of Attorney General Maura Healey already has found that Lee, and other towns that signed on to the settlement, did not violate the Open Meeting Law. Knights lawsuit includes an appeal of the attorney generals finding.

In the complaint that went to the attorney general, Lahey, a current plaintiff, joined with residents Suzanne Salinetti and Matt Kelly to argue that the Select Board failed to hold open meetings on the settlement.

The AGs office, though, found that the Lee boards executive session was lawful because of an exemption permitting discussion of pending litigation. It found that the board did not have to return to public session to ratify the agreement.

The question of whether Lee officials violated rules on executive sessions is key to the residents lawsuit. They assert that deliberations about the settlement should have taken place in public.

The private mediation, led by Washington lawyer John Bickerman, ran during 2018 and 2019.

The lawsuit also advances the argument that the Lee boards support for the settlement ran counter to state law that says a town may make contracts for the exercise of its corporate powers, on such terms and conditions as authorized by the town meeting in a town.

Not informing Town Meeting of the private talks, Knight said, constitutes a breach of duty to constituents.

They badly botched this process by not bringing it to town members, she said. How in the world would the residents of Lee know that this was a possibility? Their first duty is to their own town.
Authorities of Ho Chi Minh City and northern Hai Phong City are hastening actions to seal off the places related to the new COVID-19 patients who illegally entered Vietnam, and trace their contacts.

Medical workers at a hotel in HCM City to conduct COVID-19 testing. (Photo: VNA)

The two new patients were among a group of 10 people illegally entered Vietnam on a fishing boat and arrived in Phu Quoc Island of southern Kien Giang Province on March 22 morning.



After that, two of the group travelled to Hai Phong by air and one of them later tested positive for the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, while the other tested negative.



The Hai Phong Department of Health has isolated five places related to the women, including the Vinmec Hospital, a hotel on Le Hong Phong Street, and a guesthouse in Kien Thuy District, and been tracing people having close contact with them.

The Vinmec International Hospital in Hai Phong city is sealed off as a new patient has come here for testing. (Photo: VNA)

Meanwhile, two others went to HCM City, where one of them took an on-demand test which later showed she is positive for the virus.



The person travelling with this woman stayed at a guesthouse in Alley 102 on Le Van Tho Street. This person used to be hospitalised for COVID-19 treatment in Cambodia on March 3 and discharged from hospital on March 14 after testing negative for the virus twice.



HCM City authorities have disinfected and sealed off Quoc Thai Hotel and Alley 102 on Le Van Tho Street in District 9 of Go Vap District, as well as other places related to these persons. Close contacts with them are also being traced, according to the citys disease control centre.

VNA
press release

Six detainees allegedly tortured while in custody

Overuse of pre-trial detentions and violation of fair trials

Dire conditions of detention aggravated by COVID-19

Progress noted in investigations into electoral violence

Hundreds of people in Cote d'Ivoire are languishing in dire conditions in prison after being arrested during violence and election-related protests last year, including many who are in pre-trial detention with limited access to lawyers, Amnesty International said today.

The organization interviewed 52 people during a mission in Cote d'Ivoire last month, including former detainees, families of detainees, lawyers, victims of violence and activists. Researchers also met with authorities to assess the judicial response to the protests and violence that occurred between August and November 2020, surrounding the presidential election in October.

At least 300 people including activists, protesters, opposition supporters, and alleged perpetrators of violence from across the political spectrum have been arrested and detained. It was not possible to ascertain the exact number of people currently in detention in the context of these events as the authorities did not provide this information, and Amnesty delegates were not allowed to visit the prisons despite a formal request.

"Detainees are suffering dire conditions in already overcrowded prisons. Many of them have limited access to lawyers or medical treatment, and current COVID-19 restrictions impede visits from their families. They must be treated humanely and must be able to communicate with their families and lawyers," said Samira Daoud, Amnesty International West and Central Africa Director.

"We call on authorities in Cote d'Ivoire to put an end to the systematic use of pre-trial detention, especially, to immediately and unconditionally release those arbitrarily detained and to expedite proceedings for the other detainees in due respect of the rights of the defense."

Amnesty International welcomes the progress that has been made in investigating the violence that raged between supporters of the ruling and the opposition parties in many towns, as families of victims of killings during such violence are still in need of justice, truth and reparations. The delegation noted that investigations are ongoing, and some arrests have already been made.

However, the organization documented several human rights violations linked with the judicial process of protesters and other people, including arbitrary arrests, systematic pre-trial detention, lack of legal assistance, allegations of torture or other ill-treatment, and poor detention conditions.

Arbitrary detentions

In August 2020, demonstrations were called by opposition parties to denounce President Alassane Ouattara's candidacy for a third term. From that point on, many people were arbitrarily arrested, including opposition members and civil society activists, for exercising their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.

Although some people have since been released after having spent days, weeks, or months in detention, many remain behind bars. Among them is Pulcherie Edith Gbalet, the president of social justice organization Alternative Citoyenne Ivoirienne (ACI).

Pulcherie was arrested on 15 August 2020 by masked individuals after she called for peaceful demonstrations. She was charged with compromising public order, participation in an insurrectionary movement, undermining the state's authority, willful destruction of public properties, and causing a gathering.

Three of her colleagues, Gbaou Gedeon Junior, Kouakou N'Goran Aime Cesar and Djehi Bi Cyrille were arrested on the same charges. They all remain in detention at MACA central prison in Abidjan.

"Pulcherie Edith Gbalet, her three colleagues and other people arbitrarily detained must be immediately and unconditionally released. They must be allowed to return to their family safely and be able to continue with their legitimate activist work," said Michele Eken, Amnesty International West Africa researcher.

The organization documented several cases of people who were arbitrarily detained, including many who did not participate in the protests.

One businessman was arrested in November 2020 on his way to his office, which is near the headquarters of an opposition party. He is still detained at MACA after being charged with public disorder.

Another detainee was arrested in August 2020 while going to a pharmacy on a day that protests were occurring and has been in pre-trial detention ever since.

Systematic pre-trial detention and inadequate legal assistance

Many of those arrested in connection with the protests and violence have been in pre-trial detention for months. Many did not have access to a lawyer from the moment they were detained and appeared in front of the investigating judge without a lawyer to dispute the charges and the need for detention.

"Pre-trial detention should be the exception, not the norm. It should never be used as an advance punishment for people who have not been - and may never be- found guilty. It is important to respect the presumption of innocence and the right to fair trial of all people subject to criminal charges, including the right to have a lawyer," said Samira Daoud.

Allegations of torture

Six individuals were allegedly forced to accept the charges against them after being subject to torture or other ill-treatment.

One man who was arrested on 31 October 2020 spent nearly a month at the Directorate for the Surveillance of the Territory (DST) where he and five others were allegedly tortured with power lead and tasers, then beaten with machetes, before signing the statements that they were not allowed to read. They were then transferred to MACA.

A youth leader of an opposition party was arrested in November, handcuffed, and taken to the DST where he was allegedly punched and beaten before being charged with eight counts, including disturbing public order and conspiracy against the state.

Another man who was arrested on 18 October spent six days at the DST where he was allegedly beaten with machetes and power leads.

"Authorities in Cote d'Ivoire must immediately launch independent, impartial and effective investigations into allegations that some detainees were tortured and threatened while in custody," said Michele Eken.

Dire prison conditions

Lawyers and authorities told Amnesty International that most detainees, including those arrested in other towns, are being held at MACA central prison.

As of January 2020, MACA prison held 7,782 people many of them pre-trial detainees, far beyond its capacity for 1,500.

As of January 2020, the prison held 7,782 people more than half pre-trial detainees, far beyond its capacity for 1,500. Eyewitnesses described how the MACA has become more overcrowded following the wave of arrests between August and November last year.

As well as severe overcrowding, they described unsanitary conditions that led to illnesses. At least one detainee who arrived at MACA in August tested positive for COVID-19. Another was not allowed to shower for three days.

In the women's section of the prison, former detainees said they showered, washed dishes and did laundry in the same hot and mosquito-filled cell.

Ill-health made worse by lack of medical care

At least one person arrested surrounding those events and held at MACA has died.

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Aristide Ahui died on 9 March 2021 after he was transferred to the hospital. He had been arrested on 29 October 2020 for undermining the state authority while he was on his way to get drinks and had then been detained at MACA prison pending his trial. His right foot was paralyzed, and his health quickly deteriorated while he was in pre-trial detention.

According to information received by Amnesty International, Aristide Ahui's condition got so bad that he was unable to speak or move. He was transferred to the hospital once early in February this year then sent back to prison where his condition deteriorated.

Following pressure from several figures, Aristide Ahui was hospitalized again at "CHU Cocody" hospital at the end of February, where he died on 9 March. The hospital bills were covered by his family.

A family member told Amnesty International:

"After his arrest I was unable to visit him due to COVID-19 restrictions. They searched the house. He did not have a lawyer. He was not sick before his arrest. I was told he first suffered from tuberculosis. He was chained to the hospital bed."

Another detainee had been arrested on 13 August along with dozens of others, charged with public disorder and sent to MACA prison. He was diagnosed with a heart condition before being arrested and has been unable to see a heart specialist since his detention. He was sent to the hospital when he arrived at the prison as he could not breathe well due to chest pain. He was given a weeklong treatment of antibiotics, which helped him feel a bit better but he later relapsed.

"As prison overcrowding worsens, and amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, we reiterate our call on authorities to ensure more people are released, in particular detainees with underlying medical conditions, in accordance with the recommendations of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights," said Samira Daoud.

"Authorities should ensure that pre-trial detention is only used as a measure of last resort."
A one-of-a-kind digital collectible item created out of a New York Times technology column sold for more than $500,000 in an auction, the first such sale in the history of the newspaper.

An image of the column  titled Buy This Column on the Blockchain!  was turned into a nonfungible token, or NFT, and sold in a heated auction that brought in more than 30 bids on the NFT marketplace website Foundation.

The NFT, a unique bit of digital code that is stored on the Ethereum blockchain and refers to a 14 megabyte graphic of the column hosted on a decentralized file hosting service, cannot be duplicated or counterfeited, making it potentially valuable for collectors. Some NFTs have sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars in recent weeks, with one such sale  a collection of art by the digital artist Beeple  bringing in more than $69 million at auction.

Along with the token, the winner of the auction  should they choose to identify themselves  will receive additional perks including a voice message from Michael Barbaro, the host of The Daily podcast. All proceeds from the auction will be donated to the Neediest Cases Fund, a Times-affiliated charity.
Wilkes-Barre, PA (18701)

Today

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Tonight

Mostly cloudy with showers and a few thunderstorms. Low 63F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%.
" " Anna (right), a resident of the Villa Sacra Famiglia Nursing home in Rome, Italy, hugs her daughter through a plastic screen in the "Hug Room." The nursing home inaugurated the Hug Room in March 2021 so guests and their families could hug each other while still remaining separated and protected from COVID-19. Antonio Masiello/Getty Images

Social distancing, to your everyday homo sapien, is nothing more than a painful oxymoron. You can't be both social, something that humans inherently are, and distant. You can't be together and apart.

Still, over the past year-plus, during a pandemic that has tested the limit of our humanness, that's what's been expected of us; to not gather, to separate, to keep 6 feet (2 meters) between us yet still carry on as if our entire social existence hasn't been trashed. It's practically inhuman.

Is it really a coincidence that the agreed-upon social-distancing buffer is the same depth at which we bury each other?

Social distancing, as smart as it may be to keep the coronavirus at bay, has cost us a lot during the past year or more. Luckily, though, we're resilient. And as we begin to take the first tentative steps out of this government-approved and medically sound self-exile, we have something that can fix all the stress and loneliness that have piled up during our social distancing.

That's right, you newly vaccinated, yearning to break free. It's time, finally, for a great, big hug.

" " In March 2021, the Centers for Disease Control updated its recommendations for fully vaccinated adults which now means grandparents can visit and hug their unvaccinated grandchildren without wearing masks or physical distancing, as long as none of the unvaccinated family members are at risk of severe COVID-19. SOPA Images/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

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The Power of Hugging

Like the rest of us, scientists have long suspected the healing capacity of a good hug. Unlike the rest of us, they've gone about trying to prove it.

"There's a lot that we still need to learn, and there's a lot we don't know," says Michael Murphy, a research professor in the department of psychological sciences at Texas Tech University. "What seems to be emerging is that hugs, as well as other forms of affectionate touch, are really powerful ways of reminding people that they're cared about, they belong, that they have someone in their corner.

"We expect touch. When we're born, we're placed in our mother's arms almost immediately. In that first year of our life, we spend a lot of time being held by other people. And as we grow up, we seek out hugs and touch and cuddling as a way of connection. I think what has been lost in this past year are these really easy opportunities to be reminded of connection."

While he was at Carnegie Mellon, Murphy was the lead author of a hug-centered 2018 article in the scientific journal PLOS One. In a series of interviews with 404 adults over a two-week period, the researchers found, in the science-speak of the paper's title, that "Receiving a hug is associated with the attenuation of negative mood that occurs on days with interpersonal conflict." That is to say, generally, hugs help to blunt the negative impacts that personal conflicts may cause in our daily lives.

Other papers have found similarly that hugs aren't just reserved for simple social greetings. Hugs and other forms of physical touch can really change a person's moods. A 2006 brain-wave study in which 16 married women were threatened with an electrical shock showed that simply holding hands with their husbands helped calm the brain's reactions to the possible threat. Further, holding hands with their husbands in what was considered a higher-quality marriage lessened the brain's threat response even more.

" " Surab Nasrallah (right) hugs executive director Margarita Kechichian before visiting her father on the first day of in-room family member visits at the Ararat Nursing Facility in the Mission Hills March 24, 2021 in Los Angeles. Mario Tama/Getty Images

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What Happens When We Hug?

Some of the body's physiological reaction to hugs may center on oxytocin, a hormone normally associated with childbirth. Oxytocin, among other roles, stimulates uterine muscles to contract to begin labor. In a 2014 study, it also was found to show a link between hugging and lower blood pressure.

Oxytocin is known as the "cuddle hormone," to the non-scientific among us.

Hugs and other forms of personal touch also may trigger our endogenous opioid system, which can release all sorts of feel-good and stress-relieving chemicals

"Laboratory studies ... suggest that things like hugs help us feel safer and more cared-for, and feeling safer and more cared-for in turn makes us less sensitive to physical pain and less reactive when we're faced with potentially threatening experiences," Murphy says. "This lab work has shown that hugs and other touch behaviors promote a number of beneficial processes. Touch promotes less cardiovascular reactivity related to stress. The more stress we have, the more our heart rate goes up, our blood pressure goes up; we mount the fight or flight response. And receiving warm, affectionate touch can dampen that."

Researchers still have plenty of questions about how hugs work: What happens when we go without? Are all hugs alike? How do different cultures around the world view the worth of hugging? What about people who don't like to be hugged? How long is too long for a hug?

The answers may not be evident yet. But for now, getting back to a partial side hug, an enveloping wraparound, a hello hug, a goodbye hug, an arm around the shoulder, a squeeze around the waist, or a big, swallow-you-up-or-be-swallowed bear hug will be plenty for the hug-starved.

"I've certainly heard anecdotally from family members and friends who have been fully vaccinated, of them lingering in their hugs with their fellow friends and family members who are also vaccinated. Just sort of lounging in that feeling of being able to do that again," Murphy says. "I think there's a lot of thirst there."

NOW THAT'S INTERESTING One 2011 study from the University of Dundee in Scotland concluded that most (but certainly not all) hugs last about three seconds. Which happens to be about the same time, the researchers found, as a French two-kiss greeting, a wave goodbye or hello, and a breath (in and out). The study bolstered a hypothesis that humans live in the present in three-second bursts. The researchers timed hugging among athletes at the 2008 Beijing Olympics
App delivery service Dash Deliveries, founded by Marvin Muller and Caleb Thring, is a new way to move your parcels from A to B with zero emissions. Dedicated to both delivery of products purchased on the internet and specialising in catering services and express courier, all by bike, Dash Deliveries aims to provide a simple, cost-effective and efficient solution.

Image Supplied.

Why Dash Delivers? What was your inspiration?

Can you tell us more about the importance of a zero-emissions service?

What kind of estimated delivery time can consumers look forward to? And what sort of parcel sizes/weight can consumers choose from?

How is Dash Deliveries' services empowering riders?

What is your long-term vision for Dash Deliveries?

What has the reception been like to the platform?

The company provides same-hour on-demand delivery thats 100% eco-friendly, within a 20km radius, whether it is for retail, high-quality food and drinks, personal delivery, company events or marketing campaigns.We chat with Muller and Thring to find out more.: The idea started in September 2017, when I needed PC hardware delivered from Sandton to Bedfordview, urgently, but because it was after 2pm, it would only be delivered the following day. Despite the distance only being 20km, I figured there had to be another way for urgent inner-city deliveries to be done. After a bit of thinking and digging on the net, this is how Dash Deliveries was born.: Marvin has been bouncing off the idea of Dash Deliveries from the beginning, getting my input and advice as well as being his supporter to bring Dash Deliveries to life. He has had a few offers from people to buy the app, however, I have also been against him selling because I saw the potential of what Dash Deliveries can be. And so in 2020, he asked me to officially become a partner with him. There are many courier delivery companies, but very few that offer what Dash Deliveries is offering, especially in South Africa.: Whether you believe in the science or not, climate change is affecting the entire world, and with extreme weather conditions, such as drought, heatwaves, heavy rain, floods and landslides becoming more frequent, the need for zero carbon emissions becomes increasingly more important.However, we at Dash Deliveries are not satisfied with zero-emission, we would like to become carbon-positive; we are in discussions with a tech company to harness the power generated by riders.: With the constant power outages in Richards Bay and the ongoing load shedding in South Africa, there is now a need to look for alternative energy sources and think out of the box. Becoming carbon-positive is not only a must, we should be making it a way of life. By reducing our carbon emissions, we can effectively decrease our carbon footprint in the fight against global warming.: Consumers can expect their goods delivered well within 90 minutes of booking. We currently limit parcels to a weight of 10kg, as long as it can fit into a riders backpack or basket.: Consumers can look forward to dimensions comprising 600mm x 500mm x 380mm.: Dash Deliveries pays out a generous 70% on each successful delivery directly to the rider every two weeks. Bicycles are far cheaper to purchase and have very little maintenance costs, allowing more people across South Africa to earn a living. Each rider works on their own schedule and is thus their own boss. Lastly, riders stay fit while earning.: With the current unemployment rate and slow growth of the economy in South Africa, someone that is sitting at home who is unable to earn an income. Dash Deliveries provides a great initiative to be able to be productive and earn a living.: For Dash Deliveries to become the first major inner-city delivery service by bicycle across Africa and to empower as many disenfranchised people as possible.: It's been incredible. People cant wait to start sending goods through our app.: It's been exceptional; the excitement and anticipation of using the app is growing.
Police have been banned from searching the Queen's private estates for stolen or looted artefacts, it emerged today.

Her Majesty was given immunity from the Cultural Property (Armed Conflicts) Act, which protects valuable cultural objects.

According to The Guardian, citing documents obtained under a Freedom of Information Act, the exemption is understood to have been made before the bill became law in 2017.

The law seeks to prevent the destruction of cultural heritage, including monuments, archaeological sites and works of art in future conflicts.

Her Majesty (pictured in 2019), was given immunity from the Cultural Property (Armed Conflicts) Act

The exemption applies only to the Queen and her private estates - meaning police are banned from searching Balmoral and Sandringham (pictured)

Buckingham Palace and the government are refusing to say why it was deemed necessary in 2017 to give the Queen an exemption that prevents police from searching Balmoral on Royal Deeside (pictured)

What is the Cultural Property Act? The Cultural Property (Armed Conflicts) Act 2017 received Royal Assent in February 2017. Part 3 of the act prohibits the unauthorised use of the cultural emblem - the symbol created by the Convention - to identify cultural property which is protected. Part 4 gives police powers to search properties where looted artefacts may be held, and to seize them. It creates a new offence of dealing in such cultural property. Part 5 provides immunity from seizure or forfeiture of cultural property which is entitled to special protection under Article 12 of the Convention, because it is being transported to the United Kingdom, or through the UK to another destination, for safekeeping during a period of armed conflict. Advertisement

Part of the act also makes it an offence to deal in cultural property, 'knowing or having reason to suspect that it has been unlawfully exported.'

The definition of 'dealing' includes acquiring by purchase, donation, or loan.

A Buckingham Palace spokesperson told MailOnline: 'The Royal Household can be consulted on Bills in order to ensure the technical accuracy and consistency of the application of the Bill to the Crown, a complex legal principle governed by statue and common law.

'This process does not change the nature of any such Bill.'

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) gave the monarch the special dispensation - according to the Guardian - following a letter to Buckingham Palace in 2016, from a private secretary working for then culture secretary, John Whittingdale.

The documents were requested by the newspaper as part of its investigation into Queen's consent.

The letter from Whittingdale's secretary states that the exemption applies only to the Queen and her private estates - meaning police are banned from searching Balmoral and Sandringham.

Police are still allowed to search properties that are part of the crown estate.

Section 30 of the 2017 act states: 'Nothing in this section affects Her Majesty in her private capacity.'

A DCMS spokesperson said: 'It is incorrect to suggest that there was any direct attempt to obscure the purpose of any clause. It is common for legislation to include an exception for Her Majesty the Queen in her private capacity.'

The constitutional procedure known as Queen's Consent requires the monarch to give approval when any new law affecting her powers or personal finances is brought forward.

The Royal household can be approached by government departments to consult on the technical accuracy of a bill, but not to change it.

What is Queen's Consent? Queen's Consent is a procedure by which the government is required to ask the monarch for permission to debate laws that affect her. It happens during the drafting of a bill that is in the process of going through parliament, and is declared in parliament usually at the second or third reading stage. There are two main areas where it is used: 1. On matters that affect the Royal prerogative (the powers of state), such as the ability to declare war, granting of honours or issuing passports; 2. When a law affects the assets of the crown, such as the royal palaces or hereditary revenues, including the Duchy of Lancaster or Duchy of Cornwall, as well as personal property or personal 'interests' of the Crown. Parliamentary lawyers would decide that a bill requires such consent, and a government minister would write to the Queen to request permission for parliament to debate it. A copy of the bill is sent to the Queen's private lawyers, who have 14 days to consider it and to advise her. If the Queen grants her consent, parliament can debate the legislation and the process is formally signified in Hansard, the record of parliamentary debates. But if the Queen withheld consent, then the bill cannot proceed and parliament is in effect banned from debating it. But in practice this is unlikely to ever happen. A spokesman for the Queen said of the Consent procedure: 'Queen's consent is a parliamentary process, with the role of sovereign purely formal. 'Consent is always granted by the monarch where requested by government. Any assertion that the sovereign has blocked legislation is simply incorrect.' Consent is also different to Royal Assent, which is given after a bill passed through both Houses of Parliament and must be made into law. Assent is needed for all legislation. The last time it was withheld was by Queen Anne for the Scottish Militia Bill 1708, who did not give it on the advice of ministers for fear that the proposed militia 'would be disloyal'. Advertisement

Queen's Consent has been used on Bills ranging from social security issues to the Article 50 law allowing Britain to leave EU.

Some of the wide-ranging legislation also affected her powers, wealth and personal property such as her Balmoral and Sandringham estates.

In a list compiled by The Guardian, at least 1,062 parliamentary bills have been subjected to Queen's consent.

Stretching back to the London County Council Bill in 1952 at the start of her reign, the data shows that the procedure has been use far more extensively than previously thought.

As well as major legislation on matters like Brexit and establishing the Scottish Parliament, Queen's consent has been used on obscure rules on car parking charges and rates for caravans and boats.

Under the procedure, government ministers are meant to privately notify The Queen of clauses in draft legislation that may affect hers and ask for consent to debate them.

It follows another controversy involving Queen's Consent, in which lawyers for the Queen apparently lobbied ministers to alter a draft law so that her private wealth could be kept secret.

The incident, which happened under Edward Heath's premiership, was over concerns that the 1973 Companies Bill would allow directors to demand that front companies holding their shares reveal the identities of the real owners of the shares.

Documents suggest the Queen's legal team was given advance sight of the Bill under the constitutional procedure known as Queen's Consent.

It is claimed there was alarm over the possibility that any 'potentially embarrassing' investments in Her Majesty's shareholdings might be exposed as a result.

Lawyers acting for the Queen challenged the Bill, and following some deep thinking by the Bank of England, there was an alteration to the Bill which, it was said, would protect heads of state and foreign government interests from having to reveal their shareholdings.

The bill did collapse because Heath's government lost all its planned legislation when it called an election in February 1974, but it did go on to the statute book under Labour in 1976.

Among those involved in altering the Bill, said to be in a bid to protect the Queen, was Geoffrey Howe, then trade and industry secretary and later chancellor and foreign secretary under Margaret Thatcher.

Howe, who died in 2015, approved a fix developed by the Bank of England and civil servants, which was sold to the public as a means of protecting the identities of foreign heads of states and governments investing in Britain.

He later wrote that he 'discussed this solution with the legal advisers to the Queen', who in turn said 'they could not ask us to do more'.

It follows another controversy involving Queen's Consent, in which lawyers for the monarch apparently lobbied ministers to alter a draft companies law so that her private wealth could be kept secret during the premiership of Edward Heath (pictured with Queen)

A spokesperson for the Queen said: 'Queen's Consent is a Parliamentary process, with the role of Sovereign purely formal. Consent is always granted by the Monarch where requested by Government. Any assertion that the Sovereign has blocked legislation is simply incorrect.

'Whether Queen's Consent is required is decided by Parliament, independently from the Royal Household, in matters that would affect Crown interests, including personal property and personal interests of the Monarch.

'If Consent is required, draft legislation is, by convention, put to the Sovereign to grant solely on advice of Ministers and as a matter of public record.'

The Cabinet Office said: 'Queen's consent is a longstanding convention and a requirement of the parliamentary process. Consent is routinely sought by the government and agreed by the monarch as a matter of course.'
Dar es Salaam  Critics of the late Tanzanian president John Magufuli are hoping his crackdowns on press freedom and opposition and his coronavirus denial have gone with him to the grave. A week after his death, it's not yet clear if his successor, President Samia Suluhu Hassan, will carry on his authoritarian-leaning style of leadership.

Tanzania has undergone a smooth transition process following the death of president John Magufuli early in his second term.

Former vice president Samia Suluhu Hassan has taken over as the sixth president of Tanzania and will finish out Magufuli's term, which ends in 2025.

The new leadership will be passing through a period of filling the gaps that were mostly criticized during Magufuli's term. Speaking at Magufuli's funeral, the new president told Tanzanians there is nothing to worry about.

"Let me say something here," she said. "For those who have doubts that this woman, if can handle being a president, I want to tell them that the one who is standing here in front of you is the president of Tanzania."

Opposition politicians, such as James Mbatia, the chairperson of the National Convention for Construction and Reform, say that if the new president cooperates with the opposition, there will be no tension between them and the ruling party.

"Last year's general election left big scars in the history of the multiparty system in Tanzania," Mbatia said. "The election hurt people, people died, and others were denied their rights. People started to preach opposition is enemy while we had already moved from there."

"The best way to help Samia Suluhu to get out of this deep hostility is to have a reconciliation table, because we are not here due to hostility or to disrupt the country," he said. "If she uses her political will, he says, I think this can be achieved."

During Magufuli's time in office, human rights activists criticized him for suppressing dissent and freedom of expression. Rights activists, like Kumbusho Kagine, say the new administration must allow a reopening of debate and public space.

"In the previous leadership, we criticized a lot on issues concern suppression of human rights, but for a period of five years there has been the enactment of oppressive laws that suppress rights activists, media, and social media users," he said.

"That was the main thing, that is them criticize Magufuli's leadership. What we expect that Samia's leadership will do, and we will also be vocal on that, is to remove all oppressive laws," he said.

Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Tanzania Governance Human Rights 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.

Since 2015, Tanzania enacted strict laws on cybercrimes and media services. The laws allow authorities to directly suspend media outlets and charge journalists with sedition for publishing material deemed misleading, false or a threat to peace.

Journalists hope that under the president, they can they do their jobs freely.

Sophia Malaki, a freelance journalist in Tanzania, says the new president should ensure journalists have freedom so they can reveal challenges in the society and speak out. She believes Hassan will hear them.

"There are some people who think that when a journalist writes a critical story, they are the opposition. It's nothing like that," she said.

Tanzanian citizens are waiting to see how their new president chooses to lead the country. Many believe that the leadership style of President Hassan will be in sharp contrast to that of the late Magufuli.
Turkish police on Friday detained dozens of students protesting against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's appointment of a party loyalist as the head of a top Istanbul university.

The student demonstrations have been running across Turkey's main cities since January, when Erdogan named Melih Bulu as the rector of the elite Bogazici University.

Dozens of protesters gathered outside Istanbul's main court on Friday in a show of support for friends who were detained for displaying a rainbow flag during another demonstration the day before.

Police cordoned off the area and prevented the students from making a statement to the press, AFP journalists outside the court reported.

The police eventually moved in, wrestling some of the students to the ground as they rounded them up before putting them on a waiting bus.

A lawyer representing the students said 42 people had been detained.

"We are not silent, we are not afraid, we do not obey," the students chanted as the police moved in. "The rector will leave but we will stay."

The students see Bulu's appointment as part of Erdogan's broader effort to centralise control over universities.

The row has intensified after protesters hung a poster near Bulu's office depicting Islam's holiest site in Mecca draped in LGBT imagery in late January.

Bogazici University's LGBT club was disbanded after the incident.

Erdogan last month compared some of the students to "terrorists" and said the LGBT cause incompatible with the country's values.

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Mumbai, March 26 : In separate swoops, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has nabbed three notorious drug peddlers from different parts of Mumbai and seized a large quantity of drugs, Indian and foreign currencies besides luxury vehicles from them, an official said.

The accused were identified as Sharukh Khan alias Bullet, Shadab Shaikh alias Batata and Rafique Chand Shaikh, belonging to the gang of Danish Merchant, alias Chikna, said NCB Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede.

Following a tipoff, a NCB team raided a location in western suburbs and seized more than 2 kg Mephedrone, 160 gm Ephedrine, Rs 115,500 cash, plus various amounts in foreign currencies of Iran, Poland and Oman, two vehicles - a Toyota Fortuner and a Hyundai i20 - besides a currency note counting machine.

Both Khan and Shaikh are history sheeters know to operate in the western suburbs, and have various offences against them. Khan is facing charges of dangerous driving, and Shaikh has been booked under the NDPS Act in a previous drug-related case.

The NCB also raided the den of a notorious peddler Merchant in Dongri, south Mumbai, and nabbed an associate along with a commercial quantity of codeine-based syrup. Merchant's gang is said to be active in south Mumbai, said Wankhede.

While Merchant got a whiff of the raid and managed to slink away, the NCB nabbed one of his close cronies Rafique Chand Shaikh with 2.68 kg of the drug-based cough syrup.

The NCB is probing further to find out their suppliers, financers, the foot-soldiers who deliver it to the final customers all over the city.
New Delhi, March 26 : There was no impact of the Bharat Bandh as early office goers were on their routine at the metro stations and bus stands, traffic was also smooth at the Delhi-Noida Direct Flyway (DND) in the early hours of Friday in the national capital.

The Metro saw the crowd as usual like any other day during the office time. Commuter Vinay Kumar said, "We have no knowledge of the Bharat Bandh and also there was no holiday in the office so I am going to the office." Rickshaws, buses and private vehicles plied in South Delhi without any hindrance. Rafiq Ahmed, who uses a private vehicle to go to his office, said, "Nobody stopped me and there is smooth traffic." The Bharat Bandh has been called by farmers on the completion of four months of the protest. On Thursday, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) said that all shops, malls, markets and commercial establishments will remain shut on Friday in view of its 'Bharat Bandh' call on the completion of four months of farmers' protest at Delhi's borders against the Centre's three new farm laws.

According to the SKM, the 12-hour bandh will be observed between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. However, ambulances and other essential services will be allowed.

The Bharat Bandh is being supported by representatives of various farmer organisations, trade unions, student groups, lawyer associations, political parties and state governments.
The US ambassador who made a splash in Vietnam by making a rap video is getting a promotion -- as the top diplomat for Asia under President Joe Biden.

Daniel Kritenbrink, a career diplomat who speaks Chinese and Japanese, was nominated by Biden to be the assistant secretary of state for East Asia and the Pacific, a White House statement said.

Kritenbrink became an internet sensation last month during Tet, the Lunar New Year that is Vietnam's most important annual celebration, as he put out his own rap video to send his greetings.

In a performance that combined both astute diplomatic messaging and a healthy touch of irony, Kritenbrink appeared strolling the streets of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City in his suit wearing headphones accompanied by Vietnamese music stars.

"Hi, my name is Dan / I'm from Nebraska / I'm not a big city boy/ Then three years ago I moved to Hanoi," he began in a video viewed hundreds of thousands of times that also included lines in Vietnamese.

Despite his sense of humor, Kritenbrink has a serious background, previously serving as the number two at the US embassy in Beijing and as the top White House aide on Asia policy under former president Barack Obama.

Kritenbrink's nomination, which requires Senate confirmation, comes as tensions mount between the United States and China on issues ranging from human rights to trade to Beijing's assertive military moves.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Biden's national security advisor, Jake Sullivan, last week held a testy first meeting in Alaska with senior Chinese officials, who vocally denounced US pressure efforts.

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Georgia state troopers arrested state Rep. Park Cannon on Thursday as she knocked on Gov. Brian Kemps door, interrupting his livestreamed announcement that he had signed an elections bill into law.

The officers forcibly removed Cannon, a Democrat, dragging her through the Capitol and pushing her into a police car.

Cannon was with several other protesters when she knocked on Kemps office door, saying the public should be allowed to witness the announcement of the bill signing. The sweeping legislation requires ID for absentee ballots, limits drop boxes and changes early voting hours.

Tamara Stevens, who was with Cannon, said she wasnt being disrespectful or causing a disturbance.

She knew he was signing a bill that would affect all Georgians  why would he hide behind closed doors? This isnt a monarchy, Stevens said. You have a women of color fighting for the rights of Georgians and they arrested her for knocking on the door because she wanted to witness our governor sign the bill.

State Rep. Erica Thomas, a Democrat, said Cannon didnt do anything illegal.

She was doing her job as an elected official, Thomas said. She was asking where the governor was and where the bill was being signed.

Thomas said she was upset Cannon was arrested at all because state law says legislators are free from arrest during sessions of the General Assembly except for charges of treason, felonies or breach of the peace. Its unclear what charges Cannon is facing.

Earlier this legislative session, Cannon was involved in a separate confrontation with a Capitol police officer.

During a protest over elections bills, Cannon positioned herself in front of an officers bullhorn, and then another officer took hold of her arm to move her away. The conflict led to a sit-in by Cannon and fellow Democrats on the stairs of the state Capitol.

Attorney Gerald Griggs, who posted a video of Cannon being forcibly dragged out of the building, said in an interview from the Fulton County Jail that he planned to represent her.

Im concerned that this happened, he said. Ill fight to get her released.

2021 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Visit at ajc.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Things got personal Thursday during a virtual Congressional hearing to elicit testimony about misinformation online from three of the world's most powerful CEOs, with lawmakers demanding to know what concerns Facebooks CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and Alphabets CEO Sundar Pichai, had about social medias impact on their own children.

The issue of protecting childrens welfare, and particularly mental health, emerged as a major theme at the hearing before the House Energy & Commerce Committee, which also featured Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, following recent reports that Facebooks (FB) Instagram is developing a sister photo-sharing platform for children under the age of 13.

Facebook and Googles (GOOG, GOOGL) YouTube have already rolled out sister products tailored to children.

What do you say when one of your children doesnt want to put their phone down? Rep. Lori Trahan (D-MA) asked Pichai, after accusing Google and Facebook of doing a poor job of keeping children under 13 off their platforms, and actively onboarding children onto their ecosystems using YouTube Kids, and Facebooks Messenger Kids.

The struggle is the same, and particularly through COVID it's been  it's been hard to moderate it, Pichai said after earlier saying that he worries about the amount of time his kids spend online. And I do take advantage of the parental controls and the digital well being tools so we can limit the time on their apps, and so we have provisions in place.

Youre plotting your next frontier of growth

Zuckerberg told the committee that his children  ages 3 and 5  dont use social media, and that his company was designing tools that would put parents in control.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg testifies during a remote video hearing in Washington, U.S., on March 25, 2021. U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee/Handout via Reuters

I think we've proven that that can be a good and safe experience, and I think that was one of the things that made us think that we should consider doing this for Instagram, Zuckerberg said, explaining that Facebook was still thinking through how the service would work.

Story continues

Twitters CEO also didnt get a free pass from accounting how his platform is protecting children. Committee members repeatedly pushed the CEOs to answer accusations that their platforms are used to share exploitative images and videos of children. They were also questioned over the impact on the mental health of children who spend excessive time on their services, and why, in Facebooks case, its creating a version of Instagram for children under the age of 13.

Youre plotting your next frontier of growth, Bill Johnson (R-OH) said. Big Tech is essentially handing our children a lit cigarette and hoping they stay addicted for life, Johnson added, comparing social medias addictive qualities to Big Tobacco.

Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) hypothesized that an increase in teen suicide in her district could be directly linked to teens social media use, and pushed the trio of CEOs to answer if their companies had researched the impact of social media on younger users.

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey testifies during a remote video hearing in Washington, U.S., on March 25, 2021. U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee/Handout via Reuters

Too much time on screens and social media is leading to loneliness and despair, and it seems to be an accepted truth in the tech industry. Because what were hearing today is that making money is more important, Rodgers said.

Zuckerberg pushed back to the lines questioning saying that users who spend time online connecting with people are, in fact, less lonely.

The CEO of Google also faced a tough line of questioning over YouTube, which it owns, with Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA) expressing concerns over YouTubes advertisments targeting children. In 2019, Google and YouTube paid a record fine of $170 million to settle claims by the Federal Trade Commission and the New York Attorney General that it collected childrens personal information without their parents' consent.

Pichai said YouTube had removed close to 1 million videos based on concerns over child safety, and complies with regulations.

There are scenarios in which there could be family viewing, and today there are creators who create content oriented towards families, and as part of that there are advertisers which are interested in connecting with those users, Pichai said.

No solutions on Section 230

Committee members also raised the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, as well as a mass shooting in Boulder, Colorado and a recent shooting spree in Atlanta as evidence that social networks still arent doing enough to limit the spread of violent, extremist content.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai testifies during a remote video hearing in Washington, U.S., on March 25, 2021. U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee/Handout via Reuters

For their parts, Zuckerberg, Dorsey, and Pichai said they are continuing to work to tamp down such content and limit its spread across their networks.

Missing from the hearing were expected substantive debates over solutions for how to fix Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, a law passed in 1996. The law, which provides liability protection for websites and platforms that host user-generated content and allows sites to moderate that content, has been criticized by both Democrats and Republicans.

Many Democrats say it allows social media sites to host extremist content on their platforms without fear of repercussions, while Republicans contend it censors conservative voices.

Zuckerberg, Pichai, and Dorsey each offered their own takes on how to address the law, with Zuckerberg saying it should be tweaked for larger companies, Pichai calling for greater transparency into moderation, and Dorsey proposing an open-source social networking protocol. Committee members, however, didnt offer much in the way of their own proposals.

Representatives also continued to fail to come to an agreement on what exactly it is that they so vehemently disagree with when it comes to Section 230. And while they raised important issues about the impact of social media on children, until lawmakers can explain their problem with the law, it will go unchanged.

Alexis Keenan is a legal reporter for Yahoo Finance and former litigation attorney. Follow Alexis Keenan on Twitter @alexiskweed.

Got a tip? Email Daniel Howley at dhowley@yahoofinance.com over via encrypted mail at danielphowley@protonmail.com, and follow him on Twitter at @DanielHowley.

Read more:

Should Facebook let Trump back on? A new slim majority want to lift the ban

Square's Cash App vulnerable to hackers, customers claim

Twitter's Jack Dorsey sued over his dual role as Square CEO
The California Air Resources Board (CARB) adopted its Triennial Strategic Research Plan. The plan serves as a roadmap for research planning for fiscal years 2021-2024, and ensures that CARBs research portfolio addresses policy and program needs.

The Triennial Plan guides CARBs annual selection of research contracts, which are fulfilled through in-house work, external contracts and collaborative research projects. It acts as a resource for those interested in CARBs research priorities for the 2021-2024 fiscal years, informing sister agencies, universities and communities of the agencys priorities.

The new plan aims to increase efforts to engage additional regional universities, foster cross-university and community partnerships, and fully integrate racial equity into CARBs research activities and projects.

The following goals guide the plan:

Providing healthful air for all Californians;

Achieving carbon neutrality (net zero CO 2 emissions) and thereafter net negative by balancing CO 2 emissions with removal or elimination of CO 2 , then removing or sequestering more CO 2 than is emitted; and

Reducing emissions in communities heavily burdened by pollution and environmental stressors.

The core of the plan is made up of research initiatives, which consist of broad topics (Health, Environmental Justice, Economics, Air Quality, Mobile Sources, Climate and Sustainable Communities) defining CARBs most pressing research priorities. The Plan also describes ongoing work, which builds on past research and informs future research.

An important new chapter in the Triennial Plan outlines CARBs commitment to begin the process to operationalize racial equity and social justice into its research. CARBs Research Division will develop a Racial Equity Framework to supplement the Triennial Research Plan; a community engagement process set to begin early this summer will help inform how CARB will ultimately carry out this commitment.

When our research is better focused to benefit the most vulnerable among us it will lead to policies and programs that better protect all Californians from the harmful effects of air pollution and climate change. CARB Research Division Chief Elizabeth Scheehle

Transportation trends. CARBs Research Program supports the implementation of the Sustainable Communities and Climate Protection Act of 2008 (SB 375)a key component for Californias meeting its 2050 climate goal. SB 375 requires that Californias metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) develop regional Sustainable Communities Strategies (SCS) containing land use, housing, and transportation strategies that, when implemented, meet the regional per-capita passenger vehicle GHG emission reduction targets set by CARB for 2020 and 2035.

The regional targets, indexed to years 2020 and 2035, range from -4% in 2035 for the Shasta RTA to -19% in 2035 for MTC/ABAG, SACOG, SANDAG, and SCAG.

The goal of an SCS is to foster healthier and more equitable communities that reduce VMT. The plans are intended to align regional land use and transportation planning to focus housing and job growth in existing urbanized areas, expand transit and active transportation networks and infrastructure, and conserve natural resources and farmland.

Senate Bill (SB) 150 requires CARB to prepare a report to the Legislature starting in 2018, and every four years thereafter, to evaluate progress in meeting the goals of SB 375. Based on current estimates in the first SB 150 report released in 2018, metro areas in the state are falling short of the GHG reduction goals stipulated by SB 375. Although transportation planning efforts across the state have identified strategies intended to reduce VMT and thereby GHGs, real-world implementation of these strategies is not yielding the anticipated reductions, CARB said.

CARBs Research Program on sustainable transportation and communities is multi-faceted and builds upon the 2018 SB 150 report and more recent information. Research includes the use of big data and emerging transportation technologies and travel patterns. A series of studies using big data and policy analysis will assess real-world reductions from on-the-ground changes as well as the influence of policies on those changes to determine barriers and best practices.

Transportation patterns are evolving quickly. New mobility services such as ridehailing, automated vehicles, and other micro-transit options have been emerging for almost a decade, with rapid growth in urban areas. CARB is developing the Clean Miles Standard regulation to set GHG-per-passenger-mile standards for ride-sharing services.

Future research will prioritize identifying strategies for managing rapid transportation changes. An unanticipated driver of change to transportation has been the COVID-19 pandemic. During the initial stay-at-home order for COVID-19, VMT changed significantly and led to an increase in telecommuting, a decrease in commute-related VMT, and a decrease in transit ridership and service; however those VMT changes did not last, nor were they consistent across communities, socioeconomic groups, sectors, or occupations. The long-term impacts of these changes are unclear.

Research projects are ongoing to examine not only the impact of emerging transportation technologies but also how the pandemic has impacted mobility and access, and spurred changes in travel behavior.
TOWANDA - The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has temporarily suspended the law license of the Bradford County district attorney who has been charged with sexually assaulting woman who were his clients when he was in private practice.

The order issued Thursday is limited to the temporary suspension of Chad Michael Salsmans law license and should not be construed as removing him from elected office, the court stated.

Salsman plans to remain in office, his attorney, Samuel C. Stretton, said Friday.

After being charged, he placed his first assistant in charge of the day-to-day operations of the office and that arrangement will continue, Stretton said.

Since district attorneys are elected officials, removing them is a difficult task.

Sen. Gene Yaw, a Republican lawmaker whose district includes Bradford County, has introduced a bill that would address that issue. The Judiciary Committee this week unanimously approved the bill that would require district attorneys to hold an active law license while in office.

The Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association supports this legislation, said Greg Rowe, the groups executive director.

The legislation also would establish safeguards so the office would continue to operate uninterrupted in the event of a law license suspension or disbarment, Yaw said.

The first assistant if qualified would become acting district attorney if there was a suspension. Disbarment would create a vacancy that would be filled under current law.

A second bill would amend the state constitution to require the state attorney general to have a valid law license.

The two pieces of legislation have been under consideration for some time and were not prompted by the Salsman case, Yaw said. But that case highlights the need for a change, he said.

The proposed constitutional amendment would have prevented Attorney General Kathleen Kane from remaining in office after the suspension of her license in 2015.

Kane did not resign until after she was found guilty in August 2016 on perjury and other counts.

Salsman has rejected calls for his resignation. A grand jury heard women say he groped them, sought nude photos and pressured or forced them into sexual acts, sometimes on his office desk.

Authorities said Salsman stopped charging a custody case client after they began having sex and telling another woman with whom he had sex everything she owed him would go away when he took office in January 2020.

The charges accuse him of taking advantage of clients who had a history of being sexually abused, struggled with addictions or had other vulnerabilities.

He picked these victims because they didnt have another choice, Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro said in February.

Salsman is free on $500,000 bail awaiting trial on charges of sexual and indecent assault, witness intimidation, obstruction of justice and promoting prostitution.

An April 16 hearing is scheduled on his motions seeking to have the criminal charges dismissed claiming prosecutorial and state police misconduct.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-26 14:24:04|Editor: huaxia

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FUZHOU, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Yu Guangqing, former Party chief of a village in east China's Fujian Province, is proud of himself for helping turn local snacks into a household name across the country.

Back in the early 1990s, inspired by some villagers who made big profits by peddling local cuisine in big cities, Yu, from Yubang Village, Shaxian District in the city of Sanming, tried to talk the whole village into following in their footsteps.

Now, over 90 percent of the village's laboring population is in the snack business in cities across the country, satisfying customers with Shaxian delicacies including peanut butter noodles, wontons filled with juicy meat, fried rice noodles and meat soup.

During an inspection tour in Fujian Province from Monday to Thursday, President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, visited the village, where he underlined that the key to rural vitalization lies in developing industries that suit local conditions and benefit local people.

Yubang is now hailed as the origin of the Shaxian Delicacies eateries that have risen to popularity across the country.

With great variety, widely accepted flavors and affordable prices, Shaxian Delicacies has emerged as one of the pillar industries in Shaxian.

Xi has highlighted the important role that local snacks and similar industries can play in driving rural development.

In a visit to Shaxian in March 1999, Xi, then deputy Party chief of Fujian, said the secret to the success of Shaxian Delicacies was finding a niche market and a low-margin but high-volume business model, and called for expanding the snack industry.

The next year, Xi revisited Shaxian, urging efforts to strengthen the tertiary sector with its pillar snack industry as a new driver of economic growth.

"His words helped me see the prospects in making Shaxian eateries into a restaurant chain like McDonald's and KFC, so I gathered my courage to open an outlet outside my hometown that December," said Lin Yingjiang, a Shaxian native.

In the following years, many locals like Lin traveled afar to populate Shaxian Delicacies franchises throughout China and even abroad.

To promote the snack industry, Shaxian, previously a county, has drawn up more than 40 documents, granted 532 million yuan (about 81.56 million U.S. dollars) in loans for start-ups and provided more than 23,000 free training courses in management and production skills over the past two decades.

Inspired by Xi's instruction, Shaxian has found new success through industrial upgrades in recent years.

Once a scattering of husband-and-wife eateries, Shaxian Delicacies is now a food chain with around 88,000 storefronts worldwide with more than 300,000 employees, generating a yearly turnover of nearly 50 billion yuan.

The booming snack industry has helped increase Shaxian's rural per capita annual income from 2,805 yuan in 1997 to 21,855 yuan in 2020.

It has also helped lift more than 200,000 people in Shaxian and its adjacent areas out of poverty, amid the country's vigorous anti-poverty efforts that have seen nearly 100 million rural residents shake off poverty over the past eight years.

To consolidate poverty alleviation outcomes and promote rural vitalization, China plans to support the formerly impoverished rural areas in developing and expanding industries featuring local characteristics.

Xi has attached great importance to the development of industries that fit local conditions in rural vitalization.

During his Fujian trip, he also visited a tea farm in Wuyishan City. "In the past, the tea industry was a pillar in your fight against poverty, and it should become a pillar industry of rural vitalization in the future," Xi said.

During an inspection trip to the southwestern Guizhou Province in February this year, Xi visited a Miao embroidery workshop and applauded its role in promoting rural vitalization.

In May 2020, when inspecting the northern Shanxi Province, Xi visited an organic daylily farm and said the daylily industry can become a big industry with great prospects.

With vast greenery and good ecological environment, Sanming's eco-tourism industry has maintained strong momentum. Last year, the city's eco-tourism industry alone generated a total revenue of 75 billion yuan.

In Guifeng, an 800-year-old village in Sanming known for its well-preserved ancient buildings, around 180,000 tourists have visited the village each year in the recent period.

"The scenery in my hometown is really beautiful," said 33-year-old villager Cai Wenjiang, a former migrant worker who has returned home and started a homestay business. "I hope more people will come and enjoy its beauty." Enditem
WASHINGTON, March 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum will confer its highest honor, the Elie Wiesel Award , on Ambassador Stuart Eizenstat and the US Department of Justice's Office of Special Investigations (OSI, now the Human Rights and Special Prosecution Section). The award to OSI will be accepted by former OSI Director Eli Rosenbaum, under whose leadership the majority of the unit's prosecution successes were achieved and who is currently the Director of Human Rights Enforcement Strategy and Policy at the Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section. Both recipients have worked tirelessly to secure a measure of justice for Holocaust survivors. The awards will be presented at the Museum's 2021 National Tribute Virtual Event on Thursday, April 22.

"While true justice for the victims of the Holocaust is not possible, Stuart Eizenstat and the US Department of Justice's Office of Special Investigations have each worked tirelessly in different ways to secure a measure of justice for the survivors and accountability for the perpetrators," said Museum Chairman Howard M. Lorber. "We are honored to recognize their achievements and decades-long dedication to these noble pursuits."

By bringing the issue of Holocaust justice back on the world's agenda after decades of indifference, Ambassador Eizenstat has played a singular role in securing the permanence of Holocaust memory as well as compensation and restitution for Holocaust survivors worldwide. In 1978, in his capacity as Chief White House Domestic Affairs Adviser under President Carter, Eizenstat played a pivotal role in the establishment of the President's Commission on the Holocaust , recommended the appointment of Elie Wiesel as its chair, and was instrumental in the legislation that led to the creation of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Serving four additional presidential administrations, Ambassador Eizenstat has led tireless efforts to secure justice for survivors. In the Clinton administration, while serving as Ambassador to the European Union, Under Secretary of Commerce, Under Secretary of State and Deputy Secretary of the Treasury, he also served as Special Representative on Holocaust-Era Issues. He negotiated major compensation agreements with many European countries, banks, corporations, and insurance companies, the 42-nation Washington Principles on Nazi-confiscated Art, and for communal and private property restitution. During the Obama administration, as Special Adviser to the Secretary of State, he negotiated additional agreements including with the French railroads and led the effort to create the 47-nation Terezin Declaration encouraging more benefits to survivors. He continued to serve as an Expert Advisor on Holocaust-Era Issues in the Trump and Biden administrations.

Ambassador Eizenstat has also served for more than a decade as the lead negotiator for the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany with the German Government, securing increased benefits for survivors, including those who lived behind the Iron Curtain. He chairs the board of the Defiant Requiem Foundation and is an active member of the Museum's Committee on Conscience, which oversees the work of the Simon-Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide and seeks to do for victims of genocide today what was not done for the Jews of Europe.

The United States Department of Justice's (DOJ) Office of Special Investigations (OSI) was established in 1979 to identify, investigate, and bring to trial people living in the United States who participated in Nazi crimes against humanity. Staffed by a dedicated team of prosecutors, investigators, and historians, OSI sought out Nazi perpetrators living in the United States who had entered the country illegally. Between its founding and 2010, when it was merged into a new DOJ component, the Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section (HRSP), OSI opened hundreds of investigations of people suspected of Nazi crimes leading to the denaturalization and/or removal of more than 100 Nazi offenders from the United States. In addition, with the assistance of the Immigration and Naturalization Serviceand since 2002, its successor, the Department of Homeland SecurityOSI blocked more than 200 people suspected of participating in Nazi crimes from gaining entry to the United States.

OSI documented and made public US intelligence agencies' recruitment of such Nazi perpetrators as Klaus Barbie, known as "the Butcher of Lyon" for his torture of Jews and members of the French Resistance and the deportation of Jewish children to Auschwitz. It also denaturalized and deported, among others, John Demjanjuk, the notorious Sobibor extermination camp guard, and Arthur Rudolph, a wartime Nazi slavemaster and later a senior NASA official in charge of constructing the Saturn V rocket. OSI also performed the key investigative work, under Ambassador Eizenstat's leadership, that proved that the Third Reich transferred Holocaust victim-origin gold to the Swiss National Bank during the war and helped achieve the declassification and public release of millions of pages of classified US Government records on Nazi criminals and their crimes.

Given that the vast majority of Holocaust perpetrators are no longer alive, the principal focus of the human rights enforcement work of the Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section is now on prosecuting war criminals from postwar conflicts such as those in Bosnia, Serbia, Rwanda, and Guatemala. Just this year, however, it won an important court victory in a World War II Nazi case involving a former guard of concentration camp inmates. OSI and HRSP's groundbreaking work in preventing perpetrators of genocide and other civilian mass atrocities from finding refuge in the US is a beacon of hope for the victims of these crimes.

About the Elie Wiesel Award

Established in 2011, the Elie Wiesel Award recognizes internationally prominent individuals whose actions embody the Museum's vision of a world where people confront hate, prevent genocide, and promote human dignity. Elie Wiesel, the Museum's founding chairman, was the first recipient of the award, which was subsequently named in his honor. Engraved on the award are words from Wiesel's Nobel Prize acceptance speech, "One person of integrity can make a difference."

About the 2021 National Tribute Virtual Event

The awards will be presented during the Museum's virtual National Tribute gathering. The event will be chaired for the first time by Holocaust survivors. Louise Lawrence-Israels and Alfred Munzer , who volunteer at the Museum, will represent all the survivors whose active involvement for more than four decades led to the creation of the Museum and its growth into a global institution.

About the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

A living memorial to the Holocaust, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum inspires citizens and leaders worldwide to confront hatred, prevent genocide, and promote human dignity. Its far-reaching educational programs and global impact are made possible by generous donors. For more information, visit ushmm.org .

SOURCE United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

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A pro-independence party has agreed to stand down its candidates for the upcoming Scottish Parliament election after the launch of another group by Alex Salmond on Friday.

Action For Independence (AFI), initially formed under the name Alliance for Independence last summer, confirmed the move in a bid to put Scotland before Party.

It comes just 12 hours after the party announced its 42 list candidates for the May 6 vote.

Mr Salmond launched the Alba Party in an online event on Friday afternoon and said he will be standing on the North East regional list section in the election.

A statement from the group late on Friday night said: The National Executive of Action for Independence (AFI) has agreed to stand down its 42 candidates in the forthcoming election on the 6th May following the launch of Alex Salmonds list only Alba party today.

AFI is gratified that its concept of Max the Yes and the building of a supermajority of independence supporting MSPs has been taken up by such a highly credible party with such influential leadership.

The Alba Party is to all intents and purposes AFI 2 and we note that the ideas, slogans and Max the Yes concept it employs were all spawned by AFI.

To view this content, you'll need to update your privacy settings. Please click here to do so.

AFIs members were right in pursuing the Max the Yes concept and they should all be proud of the part they have played in paving the way for an independence supermajority.

AFI thanks all of our members, candidates and branches for the amazing work they have done in bringing the Max the Yes concept to the fore in Scottish politics and looks forward to an overwhelming pro-independence majority on the 6th of May.

AFIs aim has always been to unite the Yes family on the regional lists and we are confident that the Alba Party, with the help of AFIs members, will succeed in doing that.
Wabco India surged 12.84% to Rs 6373.35 on the BSE after the company's offer for sale (OFS) concluded on Friday, 26 March 2021.

Through the OFS, the company's promoter ZF International UK offered to sell up to 17,17,388 equity shares (representing 9.05% stake).

The floor price for the OFS was set at Rs 5450 per equity share, a 10.68% discount to Wabco India's closing price of Rs 6101.90 on Wednesday, 24 March 2021.

ZF International UK held 18.1% stake in the company as on 31 December 2020.

The OFS opened on Thursday (25 March 2021) for non-retail investors, while both retail as well as non-retail investors were allowed to subscribe on Friday (26 March 2021). A total of 10% of the total offer size is reserved for retail investors.

On Thursday (T-day), the OFS received subscription for 72,54,418 shares. It was subscribed 469.34% on the base non-retail offer size of 15,45,649 shares.

Following the strong response on T-day, the company's promoter decided to exercise the oversubscription option of 6,86,955 shares (3.62% equity) in addition to the base offer.

Accordingly, the final share sale was 24,04,343 shares, constituting 12.68% of the paid-up equity share capital of Wabco India.

ZF International UK had previously stated that it would sell an additional 9.05% stake or 17,17,387 equity shares of the company in case of oversubscription, taking the total share sale to 34,34,775 shares, representing 18.1% of outstanding equity shares of the company.

As on 15:30 IST on Friday (T+1 day), the OFS received total bids for 6,29,669 shares or 366.64% of the base retail offer size of 1,71,739 shares.

The retail segment received bids for 2,72,749 shares or 158.82% of the base retail offer size. The non-retail segment received bids for 3,56,920 shares or 207.83% of the base retail offer size.

On the enhanced retail offer size of 2,40,435 shares, the OFS was subscribed 261.89% on Friday.

Wabco India manufactures automotive parts. The company produces electronic braking, stability, and suspension and transmission control systems for heavy-duty commercial trucks, trailers and buses.

The company's standalone net profit jumped 35.48% to Rs 52.43 crore on a 28.47% increase in net sales to Rs 566.50 crore in Q3 FY21 over Q3 FY20.

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
SAN JOSE, Calif., March 25, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- LILEE Systems is proud to receive the first permit for self-driving bus commercial services on two designated bus lines in Tainan, Taiwan. The self-driving fleet, subsidized by the Ministry of Transportation, will generate new revenues to the city's public transit systems by providing two regular bus services in the science park and between the high-speed railway station and the nearby university, exhibition center and large outlet mall. This milestone of the innovative autonomous rapid transit (ART) system has been achieved through partnership with Kasion Green Energy, Taiwan's sole distributor of BYD vehicles, and Tainan Bus, one of the largest bus operators servicing over 23-million passengers per year.

Selected by the Tainan City Government and Taiwan's Ministry of Transportation, LILEE Systems, Kasion Green Energy and Tainan Bus have signed a memorandum of cooperation in creating a new smart transportation model that realizes true driverless driving of urban buses. The commercial services will begin on September 2021 using the BYD K6 bus fleet.

"Launching the autonomous rapid transit (ART) system with LILEE Systems is a key milestone of our smart transportation development," said Ming-Te Wang, Director of Tainan's Bureau of Transportation. "We are excited to roll our self-driving buses to expand the city's public transportation services and improve safety and efficiency."

Headquartered in Silicon Valley, USA, LILEE Systems specializes in advanced transportation safety software and is the leading technology provider of autonomous driving solutions that deliver AI-based object detection, precision positioning, HD-Map and path planning. The self-driving system is monitored by a cloud-based operations control center (OCC) for an extra layer of safety.

Jia-Ru Li, CEO of LILEE Systems, added: "Autonomous driving reduces the operating cost of labor and fuel, the two biggest expenses of bus operations. It can effectively solve urban transportation issues of driver shortages and improves safety by avoiding human errors. Through close government-industry collaborations, we are confident that the autonomous rapid transit (ART) system will become a sustainable public transportation mode for the future."

About LILEE Systems LILEE Systems is the leader provider of mission-critical transportation safety software and autonomous driving solutions. LILEE Systems is headquartered in Silicon Valley with an office in Taipei, Taiwan.

Contact us: 91 East Tasman Drive Suite #150 San Jose, CA 95134, USA info@lileesystems.com

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SOURCE LILEE Systems
By Jonathan Stempel

(Reuters) - A federal appeals court on Friday revived a philosophy professor's lawsuit against a public university in southern Ohio that reprimanded him for refusing to address a transgender student by her preferred pronouns.

The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Nicholas Meriwether can try to prove Shawnee State University violated his First Amendment free speech and religious rights by mandating pronouns that he said did not reflect "biological reality" and contradicted his devout Christian beliefs.

Shawnee State had given Meriwether, who had taught there since 1996, a written warning about his conduct, and said he could be suspended without pay or fired for violating its nondiscrimination policy.

Writing for a three-judge panel, Circuit Judge Amul Thapar said Meriwether was simply communicating on a "hotly contested" matter of public concern, whether one's sex can be changed.

He also said Portsmouth-based Shawnee State offered no proof Meriwether's decision not to use feminine pronouns affected his job, hampered school operations or denied educational benefits to the student, known as Jane Doe, who received a high grade.

"If professors lacked free-speech protections when teaching, a university would wield alarming power to compel ideological conformity," wrote Thapar, an appointee of former President Donald Trump.

"A university president could require a pacifist to declare that war is just, a civil rights icon to condemn the Freedom Riders, a believer to deny the existence of God, or a Soviet emigre to address his students as 'comrades,'" he added. "That cannot be."

The appeals court returned the lawsuit to a Cincinnati judge who dismissed it in February 2020. Several interest groups submitted briefs supporting both sides.

Shawnee State and its lawyer did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

John Bursch, a lawyer at the conservative nonprofit Alliance Defending Freedom who represented Meriwether, praised the decision. "Nobody should be forced to contradict their core beliefs just to keep their job," he said.

The case is Meriwether v Hartop et al, 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 20-3289.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
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A recent market study published by Future Market Insights (FMI) on the atopic dermatitis treatment includes global industry analysis 2014-2018 & opportunity assessment 2019-2029, delivers a comprehensive assessment of the most important market dynamics. After conducting a thorough research on the historical as well as current growth parameters of the atopic dermatitis treatment, the growth prospects of the market are obtained with maximum precision.

Atopic Dermatitis Treatment: Segmentation

The global atopic dermatitis treatment is segmented in detail to cover every aspect of the market and present a complete market intelligence approach to the reader.

Drug Class

Corticosteroids

Calcineurin Inhibitors

Immunosuppressants

Biologic Therapy

PDE-4 Inhibitor

Antibiotics

Antihistamines

Emollients

Mode of Administration

Topical

Oral

Injectable

Distribution Channel

Hospital Pharmacies

Retail Pharmacies

Online Pharmacies

Drug Stores

Mail Order Pharmacies

Dermatology Clinics

Region

North America

Latin America

Western Europe

Eastern Europe

Asia Pacific excluding Japan

Japan

Middle East & Africa

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Report Chapters

Chapter 01  Executive Summary

The report initiates with the executive summary of the atopic dermatitis treatment, which includes a summary of key findings and statistics of the market. It also includes demand & supply-side trends pertaining to the atopic dermatitis treatment.

Chapter 02  Market Overview

Readers can find the definition and a detailed segmentation of the atopic dermatitis treatment in this chapter, which will help them understand the basic information about the atopic dermatitis treatment.

Chapter 03  Market Background

This chapter explains the key macroeconomic factors, drivers, restraints, trends and opportunity analysis that are expected to influence the growth of the atopic dermatitis treatment over the forecast period. Moreover, in-depth information about the market dynamics and their impact analysis on the market have been provided in the successive section.

Chapter 04  Market Context

This section includes the premium insights such as regulatory scenario, disease epidemiology and parent market analysis. This section helps readers understand the key factors associated with the atopic dermatitis treatment market.

Chapter 05  Global Atopic Dermatitis Treatment Demand Analysis 2014-2018 & Opportunity Assessment 2019-2029

This section explains the global market value analysis and forecast for the atopic dermatitis treatment between the forecast periods of 2019-2029. This chapter includes a detailed analysis of the historical atopic dermatitis treatment market, along with an opportunity analysis of the future. Readers can also find the absolute $ opportunity for the current year (2019), and an incremental $ opportunity for the forecast period (20192029).

Chapter 06  Global Atopic Dermatitis Treatment Analysis 2014-2018 & Opportunity Assessment 2019-2029, by Drug Class

Based on drug type, the atopic dermatitis treatment market is segmented into corticosteroids, calcineurin inhibitors, immunosuppressants, biologic therapy, PDE4 inhibitor, antibiotics, antihistamines, emollients. In this chapter, readers can find information about the key trends and developments in the atopic dermatitis treatment and market attractiveness analysis based on drug type.

Chapter 07  Global Atopic Dermatitis Treatment Analysis 2014-2018 & Opportunity Assessment 2019-2029, by Mode of Administration

This chapter provides details about the atopic dermatitis treatment based on mode of administration, and has been classified into oral, topical and injectable. In this chapter, readers can understand the market attractiveness analysis based on mode of administration.

Chapter 08  Global Atopic Dermatitis Treatment Analysis 2014-2018 & Opportunity Assessment 2019-2029, by Distribution Channel

This chapter provides details about the atopic dermatitis treatment market based on distribution channel, and has been classified into hospital pharmacies, retail pharmacies, online pharmacies, drug stores, mail order pharmacies, dermatological clinics. In this chapter, readers can understand the market attractiveness analysis based on distribution channel.

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Chapter 09  Global Atopic Dermatitis Treatment Analysis 2014-2018 & Opportunity Assessment 2019-2029, by Region

This chapter explains how the atopic dermatitis treatment market will grow across various geographic regions such as North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia-Pacific excluding Japan, Japan, and Middle East & Africa (MEA).

Chapter 10  North America Atopic Dermatitis Treatment Analysis 2014-2018 & Opportunity Assessment 2019-2029

This chapter includes a detailed analysis of the growth of the North America atopic dermatitis treatment market, along with a country-wise assessment that includes the U.S. and Canada. Readers can also find the pricing analysis, regional trends, and market growth based on the application and countries in North America.

Chapter 11  Latin America Atopic Dermatitis Treatment Analysis 2014-2018 & Opportunity Assessment 2019-2029

This chapter provides the growth scenario of atopic dermatitis treatment market in Latin American countries such as Brazil, Mexico, and the Rest of Latin America. Along with this, assessment of the market across target segments has been provided.

Chapter 12  Western Europe Atopic Dermatitis Treatment Analysis 2014-2018 & Opportunity Assessment 2019-2029

Important growth prospects of the atopic dermatitis treatment market based on its end users in several countries such as Germany, the U.K., France, Spain, Italy, Russia, BENELUX, and the Rest of Europe are included in this chapter.

Chapter 13  Eastern Europe Atopic Dermatitis Treatment Analysis 2014-2018 & Opportunity Assessment 2019-2029

In this chapter, Russia, Poland & Rest of Eastern Europe countries are the prominent countries in the Eastern Europe region that are the prime subjects of assessment to obtain the growth prospects of the Eastern Europe atopic dermatitis treatment market. Readers can find detailed information about the growth parameters of the Eastern Europe atopic dermatitis treatment market during the forecast period of 2019-2029.

Chapter 14  Asia pacific excluding Japan Atopic Dermatitis Treatment Analysis 2014-2018 & Opportunity Assessment 2019-2029

This chapter highlights the growth of the atopic dermatitis treatment in Asia pacific excluding Japan by focusing on China, India, Australia & New Zealand, ASEAN and rest of APEJ. This section also help readers understand the key factors that are responsible for the growth of the atopic dermatitis treatment market in the APEJ region.

Chapter 15  Japan Atopic Dermatitis Treatment Analysis 2014-2018 & Opportunity Assessment 2019-2029

This chapter highlights the growth of the atopic dermatitis treatment in Japan. This section also help readers understand the key factors that are responsible for the growth of the atopic dermatitis treatment market in Japan.

Chapter 16  MEA Atopic Dermatitis Treatment Analysis 2014-2018 & Opportunity Assessment 2019-2029

This chapter provides information about how the atopic dermatitis treatment market will grow in major countries in the MEA region such as GCC Countries, South Africa, Turkey, Northern Africa and the Rest of MEA, during the forecast period of 2019-2029.

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Chapter 17  Competition Analysis

In this chapter, readers can find a comprehensive list of all the prominent stakeholders in the atopic dermatitis treatment market, along with a detailed information about each company, which includes company overview, revenue shares, strategic overview, and recent company developments. Some of the market players featured in the report are Novartis, Bayer, Allergan, Sanofi and among others.

Chapter 18  Assumptions and Acronyms

This chapter includes a list of acronyms and assumptions that provides a base to the information and statistics included in the atopic dermatitis treatment report.

Chapter 19  Research Methodology

This chapter help readers understand the research methodology followed to obtain various conclusions as well as important qualitative and quantitative information about the atopic dermatitis treatment.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-26 20:11:26|Editor: huaxia

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BAGHDAD, March 26 (Xinhua) -- The new archaeological discoveries at the Sanxingdui Ruins site in southwest China's Sichuan Province are a great achievement for the whole world, archaeologists said in recent interviews with Xinhua.

"These discoveries are very important because they explain an important historical period of the Chinese civilization, which helps researchers know more about this important period," said Professor Mohammed Salih Attia, assistant director-general in the department of investigation and excavations at Iraq's State Board for Antiquities and Heritage.

Specialists studying on ancient civilizations in Mesopotamia and Egypt would also be motivated to compare the similarities and interconnections of their discoveries with those from Sanxingdui Ruins site, Attia said.

Attia called for enhancing cooperation with China to benefit from its advanced experiences in the field of archaeological excavations, to learn about the modern technologies used by Chinese experts.

"We invite Chinese experts to come to Iraq and participate in the excavation operations, as the land of Mesopotamia is rich in ancient civilizations," Attia told Xinhua.

"In Iraq, we have a plan for excavations. We are waiting for the funds allocated for that in the current annual budget, so we can implement it," he added.

Archaeologists have found six new sacrificial pits and unearthed more than 500 items dating back about 3,000 years at the Sanxingdui Ruins in Sichuan Province, the National Cultural Heritage Administration announced.

Archaeologists have unearthed various important cultural items from four of the pits, including pieces of gold masks, gold foil, bronze masks, bronze tree relics and several ivory pieces. The rest of the newly discovered pits are still under excavation.

"The excavations include many unique items, which would enrich civilized museums after documenting and identifying, then the world can see the latest archaeological discoveries in China," said Junaid Amer, another archaeological researcher at the Iraqi State Board for Antiquities and Heritage

"Discovering any civilizations are achievements for all humanity, because the cultural diversity is a bridge between the past and the present, for people to understand about and learn from the history," Amer said. Enditem
She recently raised eyebrows with her controversial comments on the Covid pandemic.

Yet Lady Victoria Hervey seemed unaware of the drama as she got to work filming a new show at La Peer Hotel In West Hollywood on Thursday.

Clad in a stylish mini dress, the 44-year-old socialite turned heads as she sashayed down the sunny streets.

Moving on: t Lady Victoria Hervey seemed unaware of the drama regarding her recent Covid comments as she got to work filming a new show at La Peer Hotel In Hollywood on Thursday

Putting her toned pins on display, Lady Victoria looked radiant in a cream pleated mini dress with black panels.

Adding to the glamour and boosting her modelesque frame, the British beauty donned a pair of glittering ankle boots with a stiletto heel.

Accessorising with a single bangle and delicate earrings, Victoria completed the look with a slick of plum lipstick.

Legs eleven out of ten! Clad in a stylish mini dress, the 44-year-old socialite turned heads as she sashayed down the sunny streets

Victoria was not wearing a mask on her outing after recently admitting she doesn't agree with them.

'I'm not going to lie, I never wear one,' she told The Daily Mail earlier this month, adding that she 'storms out' of any shops that ask her to put one on.

Even so, she went into business supplying PPE at the start of the pandemic, but insisted that she isn't a hypocrite.

'I did a little bit of a pivot,' she said. 'But no, it doesn't! I was selling it to hospitals, not to people out walking their dogs or shopping.'

Monochrome magic: Putting her toned pins on display, Lady Victoria looked radiant in a cream pleated mini dress with black panels

Stylish: Adding to the glamour and boosting her modelesque frame, the British beauty donned a pair of glittering ankle boots with a stiletto heel

Asked if she would ever take the Covid vaccine, she scoffed: 'No way!

'It's a personal thing, and my mother's had hers, but at my age I really believe in natural immunity.'

She admitted that Project Baby had also influenced her thinking  as she has a prospective sperm donor/father lined up.

Six of her eggs were frozen and stored three years ago, at a cost of 11,000, and she spent the time afterwards looking for a donor.

'I had a friend who was going to be my sperm donor. He was going to be involved in my child's life, but as a friend, not a partner,' she explained.

'And I was supposed to be pregnant now. But then Covid happened, which was a big blow, but looking back I'm really grateful I didn't do it with that person. He just wasn't right.'

Victoria revealed she has since found someone, but is keeping their identity secret.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine is introducing the title of Honorary Ambassador of Ukraine, which will be used to reward people whose efforts help popularize Ukraine and everything Ukrainian in the world, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said.

"For the first time since Ukraine gained independence and the establishment of diplomacy of a modern independent Ukrainian state, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs introduces the title of Honorary Ambassador of Ukraine. This title will be granted to lawyers and promoters of Ukraine in the world. So, we will reward, and this will mark and motivate people who are most active promote and protect the interests of Ukraine in the world, without belonging to the system of public agencies of Ukraine or other countries," the minister said at an online briefing on Friday.

He said that in this way they will reward really special people, "those whose warm hearts and persistent efforts help to popularize Ukraine and everything Ukrainian."

"In fact, the honorary ambassador of Ukraine will be the highest honor in the field of public diplomacy in Ukraine. I believe that everyone who receives it will be proud that he has such a difference from Ukraine," Kuleba said.

The minister said that the honor will be granted to individuals and legal entities, Ukrainian and foreign citizens, who contribute to the advancement of Ukraine in the world and strengthen its positive image.

According to him, in addition to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, embassies and consulates of Ukraine abroad, organizations of foreign Ukrainians and any non-governmental public organization that has expertise in the international relations will also be able to nominate candidates for this title.
A school has sparked outrage by forcing its young male students to apologise on behalf of their gender to female classmates.

Brauer College in the south-western Victorian town of Warrnambool held an assembly on Wednesday where boys were told to stand up in a symbolic gesture of apology to girls and women.

One parent said her son in Year 7 was left confused about why he had to stage the bizarre apology, where boys were told to say sorry that women are raped and sexually assaulted.

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Brauer College in Warrnambool, south-western Victoria has been criticised for holding an assembly where its young male students had to apologise on behalf of their gender

A male student was also critical about having to apologise for his gender in an angry Snapchat post

Poll Should male students have to apologise for their gender's behaviour in school assemblies? Yes No Should male students have to apologise for their gender's behaviour in school assemblies? Yes 114 votes

No 6036 votes Now share your opinion





'He said that he was made to stand up and basically apologise... it wasnt explained properly to the male students what they were doing or why they were doing it,' the mother Danielle Shephard told 7News.

'They really should have made more of an effort to notify the parents.'

In a separate post on Facebook, Ms Shepherd shared another complaint from a parent who called the assembly 'a joke'.

'Wow just wow... this is actually disgusting Brauer College... not at all impressed that you made my son apologise for something he's never done nor considered doing,' she wrote.

A male student also criticised the assembly in a Snapchat post.

'Today at Brauer they made every guy stand up and apologise to every girl for rape, sexual assault,' the student said.

'Guys go through as much s**t as girls do.'

Brauer College Principal Jane Boyle said the apology part of the assembly was 'inappropriate' but defended the school's intentions.

'The assembly included the screening of a video message by Brisbane Boys College Captain Mason Black about being proactive in stopping incidents of sexual assault and harassment,' she said in a statement.

'As part of this discussion boys were asked to stand as a symbolic gesture of apology for the behaviours of their gender that have hurt or offended girls and women.

A mother of a Year 7 pupil in the assembly Danielle Shephard said her son was confused why he had to apologise

'In retrospect, while well-intended, we recognise that this part of the assembly was inappropriate.'

One mother said on Facebook their son had told her the exercise was simply intended to 'raise awareness'.

'My son explained they stood not to apologise, but to stand in support and solidarity,' another parent wrote.

'You'll find all schools will be teaching consent over the next year - Braeur won't be the only one.'

The assembly came just days after Wesley College in Melbourne was hit with claims some of its male students were ranking female students 'based on their looks'.

Multiple harassment and assault allegations have been levelled by students at the school.

Victorian Acting Premier James Merlino has since moved to make teaching consent compulsory in all government schools from next month.

The initiative previously did not explicitly direct schools to teach consent and instead focused on relationships, sexuality and safety.

Consent classes will soon be made mandatory for students in Victorian state schools (stock image)

From term two, the directive will compel state schools to teach the government's Respectful Relationships training on free agreements.

Mr Merlino said Victoria and other states should not be complacent on ensuring consent was taught well in classrooms.

'Respectful Relationships is proven to make a real difference and is a recommendation of the Royal Commission into Family Violence,' the education minister said in a statement on Sunday.

'It is a program that should be rolled out nationwide. But we have to listen to students, who say they want and need a greater focus on this issue in the classroom.

Brisbane Boys' College captain Mason Black stood in front of his peers last Thursday and told them he 'feels sick' about the claims of sexual assault and that the 'narrative needs to change'

'It is why we will mandate the teaching of consent in all government schools in an age-appropriate way.'

Mason Black stood in front of his peers last Thursday and told them he 'feels sick' about the claims of sexual assault and that the 'narrative needs to change'.

'It makes me feel sick and it makes me feel embarrassed that our school is featured in the testimonies of young women who are victims of sexual assault,' he said.

Brisbane Boys' College is another of several schools in Australia that has been named in testimonies from private and public school girls who say they were either sexually assaulted, harassed or raped.

Mr Black said sexual assault was an issue that hit close to home with his family: 'My own mother, at the age of 10, against her will, was sexually abused before she learned about the birds and bees'

Thousands of school girls shared their experiences after Kambala School alumni Chanel Contos, 22, launched a petition on February 18, demanding students be taught about consent

The petition kickstarted by Ms Contos demands consent be included earlier in sexuality education

Thousands of schoolgirls shared their experiences after Kambala School alumni Chanel Contos, 22, launched a petition on February 18, demanding students be taught about consent.

Mr Black said his mother had been sexually abused when she was a little girl, and later told Channel 7's Sunrise he only found out by searching her name on Google.

'My own mother, at the age of 10, against her will, was sexually abused before she learned about the birds and bees,' he said.

'Are you brave enough to ask your mum about her experiences?' He said.

'What about your sisters? Friends? You shouldn't have to ask women these questions.'
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

Ireland began enforcing a mandatory hotel quarantine for travellers arriving in the state from 33 "high risk" countries on Friday in a bid to quash the spread of new coronavirus variants.

The government website said "all passengers arriving into Ireland from designated states... are now required to pre-book accommodation in a designated quarantine facility".

The quarantineannounced by the government two months agocame into effect at 4:00 am (0400 GMT), the site confirmed.

Earlier this week, the department of health said "the aim of mandatory quarantine is to protect the population from challenges posed by new variants of concern".

Ireland has been hard-hit by a third wave of infections with leaders blaming the emergence of new, more infectious variants of the virus.

Leaders have designated 33 countries as "high risk"17 African nations, 14 South American, as well as Austria and the United Arab Emirates.

Travellers from those states will be subject to a two-week quarantine.

It will also apply to travellers arriving from any nation without a negative coronavirus test, as currently required under government regulation.

After 10 days travellers can be released if they receive a negative test while isolated in the hotel facilities.

Failure to complete the quarantine is a legal offence carrying a fine of up to 2,500 euros ($2,900) and/or six months in prison.

According to latest official figures, 4,631 have died from coronavirus in Ireland.

Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak

 2021 AFP
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi landed in Bangladesh for a two-day visit, his first since the coronavirus outbreak. PM Modi reached Dhaka at around 10:30 in the morning, where his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina received him at the airport to welcome him. He participated in the 50th anniversary celebration of Bangladesh's Independence.

Bangladesh completed 50 years of Independence from Pakistan and the hero of the war was Sheikh Mujibur Rehman. In 1975, Sheikh Mujibur Rehman, the hero of Bangladesh's independence, and his family were brutally murdered in his own country. At that time, Sheikh Hasina, his daughter was in Germany.

Zee News Editor-in-Chief Sudhir Chaudhary on Friday (March 26) analysed the significance of this day for Bangladesh and how Mohammad Ali Jinnah's mistake led to the creation of the country.

In the year 1948, during his first and last visit to East Pakistan, Jinnah had made the mistake by declaring openly that Urdu will be the official language of the whole of Pakistan.

Jinnah believed that Islam followed by Sindhi Muslims, Punjabi Muslims, Pathans and Bengali Muslims would be able to unite under the common language Urdu.

But in doing so, he made a big mistake when he did not understand the mood of then East Pakistan as Bengalis felt their identity was under threat.

Sheikh Mujibur Rehman was born on March 17, 1920 in the village of Tungipara in Gopalganj district of Bengal. He became a part of active politics in 1940, when he joined All India Muslim Student Federation. This was also the time when the Lahore session of the Muslim League first passed a resolution from India about a separate nation from Pakistan and then Mohammed Ali Jinnah was leading it.

In the year 1949 the East Pakistan Awami League party was formed. The formation of this party was also important because Mohammad Ali Jinnah had visited East Pakistan a year earlier and then he had announced that Urdu would be the official language of Pakistan. This led to a major political conflict.

Sheikh Mujibur Rehman was challenging the fact the government was being run from West Pakistan. He also won the provincial election in East Pakistan in 1954 and reached the Legislative Assembly, further, in 1956 he was also the Minister of Industries and Labor of East Pakistan.

However, in 1958, when the then President of Pakistan, General Ayub Khan implemented martial law in the whole country then the feeling of disatisfaction and despair in East Pakistan increased considerably.

At that time Sheikh Mujibur Rehman was also arrested and remained in jail till 1961. However, after his release he continued to oppose martial law and he was arrested again in 1962.

In Sheikh Mujibur Rehman's journey from a leader to being called the 'father of Bangladesh' his struggle never really ended.

In 1975, Sheikh Mujibur Rehman was the Prime Minister of Bangladesh and there was a lot of dissatisfaction against him in the Army. As a result of this, on August 15, 1975, some troops of the army conducted an operation against him in Dhaka. Sheikh Mujibur Rehman had three houses in Dhaka and the army raided them all and killed him and his family.

However, after the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rehman his daughter Sheikh Hasina was given political asylum in India under Indira Gandhi's rule. Hasina had moved to Delhi with her family.

Friday's event on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Bangladesh was dedicated to its brave son and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was rendered emotional as she remembered the whole story.
Consumer Reports has crowned Apples latest, and costliest, 5G smartphone  the iPhone 12 Pro Max  as one of the best smartphones of 2021.

The report published by Consumer Reports today highlights the best smartphones one can buy in 2021. The publication does note that the competition between top ranks has been very fierce in 2020, so much so that the first and the 20th ranked smartphones are separated by just 5 points.

While it is surprising about the Consumer Reports recommending Apples highest-end model as the best iPhone to buy in 2021, the position iPhone 12 Pro Max has earned is because of the inclusion of the A14 Bionic chip, 5G modem, and for the first time, a bigger camera sensor than other iPhones in the lineup.

While the 12 Pro Max will cost you $100 more than its smaller sibling, the 12 Pro, it packs in several more hours of battery life, a slightly larger display, and a 2.5x zoom camera that gets you just a hair closer to the action than the 12 Pros 2x camera. On the flip side, the Max version is significantly heavier and can be tough to use one-handed, even for people with long fingers. If youre wary of bulky phones, you might be happier with the 12 Pro.

The publication recommends people to get an iPhone 12 Pro Max over the other iPhones this year due to the longer battery, larger display, and 2.5x zoom camera. Other smartphones included in the list are Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, and OnePlus Nord N10 5G.

Consumer Reports is known to maintain a ranking of best smartphones in the world. Previously, iPhones like the iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 have secured top position in their ranking. Back in 2018, iPhone X was named the best smartphone camera by the same publication.

Looking to grab yourself a new iPhone 12 Pro Max? Well, not the largest of all, but some carriers are running great deals on their website, and you might just get yourself an iPhone 12 for free.

What are your favorite features of the iPhone 12 series? Do drop a comment and let us know your experience!

[Via Consumer Reports
Judge Desai found that South African Human Rights Commission monitors trying to enter the site were acting lawfully

The Western Cape High Court has criticised the City of Cape Town for its treatment of human rights monitors at its camp for homeless people in Strandfontein.

The court also dismissed interdicts granted to the City last year which prevented the monitors and the South African Human Rights Commission from entering the site.

In May 2020, the City announced the closure of the site just six weeks after it opened at a cost of R53 million.

It is unclear if the City will appeal.

The Western Cape High Court has given the City of Cape Town a tongue-lashing for how it treated human rights monitors at its Strandfontein relocation site during the national lockdown.

This comes nine months after judgment was reserved in the case between the City and the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC). On Wednesday, the City was also ordered to pay costs for the hearing.

The judgment was handed down by Judge Siraj Desai on Wednesday morning. The judge delivered the judgment in court and it was streamed on the Internet.

Judge Desai said that the City had sought to muzzle freedom of expression.

Last year, the City was granted an interdict preventing the Commission and its appointed independent human rights observers from entering the Strandfontein relocation camp. The camp housed about 2,000 homeless people relocated from different parts of the city at the start of the national lockdown a year ago.

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The interdict followed a report released by the SAHRC that brought to light disturbing conditions at the camp. In response the City went to court for an interdict, arguing that the Commission and its monitors had caused disruption at the camp, and were spreading "misinformation and lies."

The City, at the time, also argued that the SAHRC did not have the power to appoint independent monitors to supplement their staff, and that the monitors were in breach of lockdown regulations.

Following public outrage over the conditions at the Strandfontein site, the City announced its closure on 21 May 2020. The site had only been open for six weeks at a cost of R53 million.

When the case appeared before the High Court again in June 2020, the City withdrew its application.

On Wednesday, Judge Desai dismissed the interdicts granted to the City, finding that the SAHRC had acted lawfully. He said that the Commission was allowed to appoint independent human rights monitors, and that the City should show proper respect to Chapter Nine bodies like the SAHRC. In fact, the City has a duty to assist the Commission, he said.

Judge Desai's written order was not available at time of publication.

UPDATE AT 16:15: In a statement, the City said that while it did not agree with Desai's court ruling it will "consider our options once the written judgment is made available by the court".

The City criticised the SAHRC: "Unfortunately, known political opportunists were deployed by South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) provincial Commissioner Chris Nissen to play politics and tell outright lies about South Africa's biggest effort to help people living on the street."
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-25 18:54:48|Editor: huaxia

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U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has wrapped up his first trip to Europe since taking office. Observers worldwide have expressed doubt over whether the U.S. will be able to revamp the transatlantic partnership.

Produced by Xinhua Global Service
Evangelist Nick Vujicic declares all of life has value at Roe v. Wade premiere

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ORLANDO, Fla.  Nick Vujicic, who's known as the "limbless evangelist" because he was born without arms or legs, has shared his life story with people around the world to show that all life has value. Regardless of what the circumstances look like or what the doctors say, God has a plan for the unborn, he told The Christian Post.

Vujicic, alongside his wife, attended the movie premiere of Roe v. Wade held at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Feb. 26. The film is based on the facts behind one of the nation's most contentious U.S. Supreme Court rulings.

Roe v. Wade will hit theaters on April 2 and features a star-studded cast, including Hollywood actors Jon Voight, Robert Davi, Corbin Bernsen, John Schneider, Stacey Dash and Nick Loeb.

The film depicts the history of "what happened from 1966 through 1973" that led to the Supreme Court's decision declaring existing state laws banning abortion unconstitutional.

"Many people have asked me, especially over the last 18 months, 'What happened, what really happened in our country for it to be where it is?' And I really believe that it started with the family, Vujicic told CP of why he wanted to attend the premiere of such a controversial film.

I also believe that it started with the church and understanding that we must hold on to what God has given us, the basics of what He's given us in Scripture  that all of life has value, that all of life God can use for His purpose. And that even though we don't get a miracle, we can still be one.

Without any medical explanation, Vujicic was born in the early 80s without arms and legs. According to his biography, growing up proved to be difficult for him, and during his school-age years, he struggled with depression and loneliness. It was his faith in God that would eventually grant him victory over his struggles.

Vujicic said regardless of what appears to be a roadblock, God has a plan for every life.

"No matter who that child is, no matter what the doctors say, God has a plan. When God says He's got a plan, a good plan, He can take whatever we have and use it for good, he declared.

The Australian evangelist, who has inspired millions of people worldwide with his testimony of overcoming the odds, went on to encourage people to look to the Lord in lifes most difficult of moments.

"You got to trust in God. And that's the pinnacle and epiphany of faith  to understand that only God can do that, Vujicic continued. Only God can use the man without arms and legs to be His hands and feet and call him to stand in front of the gates of Hell and redirect traffic.

"When we stand in front of the gates of Hell and redirect traffic, that's when we understand that what is for man impossible  it is possible with God! he concluded.

In the past, Vujicic has spoken out against the abortion of Down syndrome babies. He said he was once told that as a disabled person, he should not have been allowed to preach, get married or even have children. All of which Vujicic has accomplished.

As previously reported by CP, Roe v. Wade, a Nick Loeb-directed film, encountered several obstacles, including Facebook banning their ads and losing cast members who opposed the film's mission.

The featured film tells "the untold story of how people lied, how the media lied, and how the courts were manipulated" to legalize abortion nationwide, which has led to the killing of more than 60 million Americans, Loeb previously said in an interview with Fox News host Tucker Carlson.

Despite many setbacks, the film will be in theaters nationwide on April 2. For more information, visit "Roe v. Wade" movie.com.
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On March 17, around one hundred assailants, traveling on motorcycles and pickup trucks, killed thirty-three soldiers and wounded an additional fourteen in an attack near Tessit in central Mali. Peacekeepers operating under the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) assisted the evacuation of the dead and wounded; the French-led counterinsurgency force stationed in West Africa, Operation Barkhane, helped the Malian military secure the area after the attack.

About four days later, perpetrators killed 137 in coordinated attacks in the Tahoua region of southwest Niger. The attacks took place near the border with Mali and also not far from Tillaberi, another Nigerien border region, where at least fifty-eight people were killed recently by gunmen on motorcycles.

The Islamic State's "West Africa affiliate" has apparently claimed responsibility for the Tessit attack. This likely refers primarily to the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS), which is known to operate in the tri-border region where the frontiers of Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso meet; reporting on the attacks at Tillaberi and Tahoua suggests ISGS involvement. If so, there are additional reports that militants from the Islamic State in West Africa (ISWA)--a splinter group of Boko Haram--provided reinforcements to ISGS in the Tahoua attack. That would indicate a new expansion of ISWA's geographic scope: the hotbed of ISGS activity is located well over one thousand kilometers from Boko Haram and ISWA's main area of operations in northeastern Nigeria.

Much closer to the tri-border area, however, is northwestern Nigeria, where criminal and jihadi activities are converging as the Nigerian region becomes more insecure. Banditry, particularly kidnapping for ransom, is prevalent; Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau claimed responsibility for a mass kidnapping in Nigeria's Katsina State in December last year, though his claim is unverified. With regard to the latest atrocities in Mali and Niger, it remains possible that some level of coordination took place between jihadi groups and groups regarded as primarily criminal in nature.

But, if so, why? Victims were killed, not kidnapped, and looting does not seem to have been the goal. However, outside observers lack the granular knowledge of the region to divine the motivation for the attacks. Revenge or rivalry over control of smuggling routes are plausible explanations, as is jihadi militancy. Or, perhaps, elements of all three are present.

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With regard to the counterinsurgency effort against the jihadis, Barkhane is considered the most effective fighting force in West Africa. But the French deployment is not popular in France; public opinion perhaps fears Barkhane could become bogged down in West Africa like the United States in Afghanistan. Looking to the 2022 presidential elections, President Emmanuel Marcon raised the possibility of a whole or partial military withdrawal, but he has of late backed away from his earlier comments. MINUSMA was established in 2013 after the French Operation Serval and the African-led International Support Mission to Mali (AFISMA) failed to stabilize Mali in the face of Islamist rebellion.

The deployment under MINUSMA is large, with more than 16,000 total personnel as of January 2021. So, too, have been its fatalities: some 235 since it was established. Its mandate is "stabilization," not peacekeeping per se, as there is no peace to keep. The recent string of violent episodes, along with rumored cooperation between jihadi cells, shows that stability and security in the Sahel are far from achieved, and that a significant French withdrawal or a winding down of MINUSMA could lead to jihadi and criminal forces severely threatening the survival of Mali's military-led government.

Blog posts represent the views of CFR fellows and staff and not those of CFR, which takes no institutional positions.
Train Strikes Vehicle, Injures Princeton Woman

By West Kentucky Star Staff

PRINCETON - A Princeton woman was injured Wednesday night when her vehicle was struck by a train.The Caldwell County Sheriff's Office said the collision happened at approximately 6:50 pm on Matt Rich Road. Deputies said a vehicle driven by 28-year-old Macie Oliver was traveling on Matt Rich Road toward Highway 62.

According to police, Oliver's vehicle was struck after she failed to yield the right of way to an oncoming P&L Railway train.

Oliver refused treatment at the scene, but was later airlifted to Deaconess Hospital in Evansville for treatment of her injuries. Deputies said two children in Oliver's vehicle were not injured.






Canada Calling? Hong Kong Residents Shift Billions Abroad After Clampdown

TORONTOAs China imposed a sweeping national security law in Hong Kong last year after massive protests, residents of the city moved tens of billions of dollars across the globe to Canada, where thousands are hoping to forge a new future.

Capital flows out of Hong Kong banks reaching Canada rose to their highest levels on record last year, with about C$43.6 billion ($34.8 billion) in electronic funds transfers (EFT) recorded by FINTRAC, Canadas anti-money laundering agency, which receives reports on transfers above C$10,000.

The previously unreported outflows, the highest since 2012 when the earliest FINTRAC records are available, are the first evidence of a significant flight of capital overseas from the Asian financial hub following the security turmoil.

One Canadian lender, Equitable Bank, also told Reuters it had seen a surge in deposits from Hong Kong just after the new law was introduced in June 2020. Critics say the law was aimed at stifling dissent, an allegation denied by Beijing which says it was needed to strengthen national security.

The West End is seen on the mountain-backed skyline of Vancouver on Sept. 30, 2020. (Reuters/Jennifer Gauthier/File Photo)

The Hong Kong government has said the city has not seen significant capital outflows since the anti-government unrest first began in 2019, when a now-shelved bill that would have allowed extraditions to mainland China was proposed.

The record transfers, up 46 percent from 2016 and up 10 percent from 2019, came in a year when Hong Kong police froze the accounts of several people linked to pro-democracy protests, triggering concern among some residents about asset safety.

The outflows represent only 1.9 percent of Hong Kongs total bank deposits in 2020. But at the same time, the FINTRAC data captures only a fraction of total legal inflows into the Canadian economy because many transactions are not included, such as transfers via cryptocurrencies, between financial institutions, or under C$10,000, said spokesman Darren Gibb.

The agency has seen a steady increase in overall EFT reporting, consistent with global trends, he said.

And its not just money.

Reuters interviewed a dozen immigration consultants, lawyers, and real estate brokers who provided a window into how many Hong Kong residents are eager to start a new life in Canada and bring with them millions of dollars, once pandemic-induced travel restrictions end.

Canadian visa applications from Hong Kong, excluding visitors visas, rose 10 percent to 8,121 in 2020, indicating further capital flows from the city are likely. Britain and Australia are expected to be other favoured destinations for Hong Kong residents.

Andrew Lo, chief executive of immigration consultancy Anlex in Hong Kong, is looking to expand into wealth management services in Canada, which he believes will be a booming market for new immigrants, especially from Hong Kong.

Lo said he helped around 36 families emigrate to Canada in the past 12 months, each bringing C$1.5 million on average.

Click here for graphic on financial transfers to Canada by Hong Kong residents.

Two women exit the Enjoy Cafe 1 + 1, a popular Hong Kong-style eatery, in Richmond, British Columbia, on Jan. 26, 2021. (Reuters/Jennifer Gauthier/File Photo)

HONG KONG INFLOWS SWELL

Despite the cash leaving Hong Kong, it continues to receive inflows on a net basis, with total deposits growing by 5.4 percent in 2020 to HK$14.5 trillion ($1.9 trillion), according to the Hong Kong Monetary Authority.

As an international financial center (IFC), Hong Kong handles capital inflows and outflows which arise from all sorts of needs on a regular basis, a central bank spokeswoman told Reuters in response to the questions about outflows to Canada.

This is just normal in keeping with the nature and function of an IFC.

Robust cash flows from mainland China via the Stock Connect initiative and strong demand for some of Hong Kongs initial public offerings (IPOs) last year have helped capital inflows into Hong Kong, analysts and bankers have said.

Canada is a second home for many Hong Kong residents after their families moved to the Vancouver and Toronto areas ahead of the British handover of its former colony to China in 1997. After obtaining Canadian citizenship, many returned to Hong Kong, which is now home to about 300,000 Canadiansone of the largest Canadian communities abroad.

But following the 2020 security law, more Hong Kong residents want to make their home in Canada, which took steps late last year to make it easier for them to obtain work permits and permanent residency, according to immigration consultants and lawyers.

The residents cite eroding rights and freedoms, and a better education for their children as reasons for their choice, and many are selling their Hong Kong properties and bringing their money with them, they said.

Political developments have prompted people to consider what will happen if things decline, and to look at Canada as an option, said Canadian immigration attorney Evelyn Ackah. Right now, its just an option. I dont see a mass exodus. Its people looking around, saying can I be somewhere else if I need to?'

Click here for graphic on Canada visa applications from Hong Kong.

A Lunar New Year decoration hangs outside of Lido Restaurant, a popular Hong Kong-style eatery in Richmond, British Columbia, on Jan. 26, 2021. (Reuters/Jennifer Gauthier/File Photo)

MORE THAN A SPIKE

Even as departures are delayed by travel restrictions and slower immigration processing times, some have already begun moving money into Canadian accounts, according to immigration experts.

Toronto-based Equitable Bank has seen a remarkable increase in balances in existing accounts linked to Hong Kong phone numbers, said Mahima Poddar, group head of personal banking.

Average balances in these accounts were up 30% between June and mid-March, versus a 4 percent rise in accounts with non-Hong Kong phone numbers.

The countrys large banks either didnt respond to requests for, or declined to comment on, any influxes from Hong Kong.

Jean-Francois Harvey, a Canadian lawyer based in Hong Kong who specializes in immigration for high-net-worth individuals, has seen a five-fold increase in clients seeking to move to Canada since mid-2020. His clients have transferred at least C$1 million and, more commonly, between C$5 million and C$10 million in the last 12 months.

Theres been an incredible increase in demand especially for Canada in Hong Kong, so much that in the middle of COVID-19, I had to double the team and the size of the office in Hong Kong, said Harvey, worldwide managing partner for Harvey Law Group.

This is more than a spike. This is a wave.

Hong Kong-based attorney Clifford Ng, who himself immigrated to Canada in 1975 and returned to Hong Kong in 1995, said he has seen a four-fold increase in inquiries about the tax implications of moving to Canada.

Canada is not the only destination expected to see inflows from Hong Kong as residents look to leave, though.

Britains government expects that as many as 321,600 Hong Kong residents will migrate there over the next five years, with almost half of those in 2021. Based on this, Bank of America said in January it expects emigration-related outflows to reach HK$280 billion ($36.1 billion) this year.

A man walks past New Hong Kong Supermarket in Richmond, British Columbia, on Jan. 26, 2021. (Reuters/Jennifer Gauthier)

RACE FOR REAL ESTATE

Some of the money coming into Canada is likely to flow into real estate, property consultants said.

In the first 10 weeks of 2021, Hong Kong hosted nearly a third more exhibitions of new-build properties by Canadian developers than in the same period in 2019, according to data from Eli McGeever, vice president of international property at Soho App.

Exhibitions in 2020 were affected by Hong Kongs first wave of COVID-19 lockdowns.

Alisha Ma, founder of immigration consultancy Halcyon Counsel, said Hong Kong families are looking at properties in Toronto and Vancouver, but waiting until they obtain permanent residency to avoid foreign buyers taxes.

Keelan Chapman, founder of the Canadian Real Estate Investment Centre (HK), said he has seen a noticeable increase in buyers looking for larger properties in good school areas for eventual self-use, rather than solely for investment.

He said many of his clients, most of whom are Hong Kong residents with Canadian passports, have accelerated timelines for returning to Canada to around five years on average, from around eight years previously.

Theres no rush to move back to Canada tomorrow, he said. Its more of a long picture view.

By Sarah Wu and Nichola Saminather
... says House'll reintroduce Equal Opportunity Bill

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rep. Femi Gbajabiamila, on Thursday, urged the federal government to raise its standards concerning the rights of women.

In a statement signed by Special Adviser on Media, Mr Lanre Lasisi, the Speaker declared that his leadership has already made the protection of women and promoting gender-based issues, a hot item on its Legislative Agenda.

He spoke at the National Assembly when he received a delegation from a development partner, OXFAM International, on a courtesy visit to his office in Abuja on Thursday.

Gbajabiamila assured the team that the House would do everything within its limits to protect and defend the rights of women, though he clarified that the ultimate goal would be to achieve gender equality by addressing the interests of both women and men.

"We can't be left behind in the 21st Century where the world is a global place. We can't be left behind as a country in terms of how women are protected", Gbajabiamila stated.

Also read: Reps reject N10,000 Visa Clearance charge for Nigerians

However, in pursuing gender issues, the Speaker stressed that the Legislature, in collaboration with other stakeholders, must interrogate why attempts to promote matters affecting women often faced hiccups.

He noted that some of the factors could be "sentiments" and interests of various dimensions, which needed to be tackled so that gender-based issues could have a smooth sail in Parliament.

Speaking specifically on the Gender Equal Opportunity Bill, which had failed passage several times at the National Assembly, Gbajabiamila promised that the House would reintroduce it, while at the same time partnering with stakeholders to attend to the factors working against the bill.

The Speaker said, "That bill has been with the National Assembly for six to seven years, I guess. It failed a couple of times. When a bill fails like that, clearly there must be a reason. It is that reason that we need to interrogate. If you keep presenting a bill over and over again, thinking okay, we will wear these people down, the reasons why it failed to remain.

"What we need to do is to interrogate the issues, the sentiments. Why did the bill fail? When we find out, there are two ways to approach it: either you share education by sensitising/lobbying people who may be against the bill for that reason, or to recouch the bill and achieve the same result."

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Gbajabiamila added, "It is our desire in the House to push the bill through, but we need to work hard and find out why the bill has had challenges. It's a good bill that we need to look at and push through."

The Country Director of OXFAM in Nigeria, Mr Constant Tchona, while speaking earlier, informed Gbajabiamila how since the 1960s, the organisation had been supporting the three tiers of government to become "more agile and responsive to issues of social protection, human rights, people-oriented policy making and implementation."

Tchona, who praised the Speaker for his gender and social development initiatives, seized the opportunity of the visit to canvass the passage of the Gender Equal Opportunity Bill by the Legislature.

He said this would "go a long way to redefine inclusive social and economic development in Nigeria."

The organisation embraced most of the social development initiatives of the Speaker, offering to partner with the Speaker's Office to execute and bring them to fruition.

Vanguard News Nigeria
In a joint message, twelve cardinals from across the continent call on all in Myanmar for an end to violence and express their closeness to Cardinal Bo and the Church in the troubled nation.

By Robin Gomes

Asian cardinals have jointly raised their voice urging for peace and reconciliation in Myanmar. We, the Cardinals of Asia, join in making a fervent appeal to all concerned: the military, the politicians, the demonstrators, all religious leaders and the Church: PEACE, PEACE, PEACE. Peace is possible. Peace is necessary, read a joint statement signed by the 12 cardinals of the continent.

The initiative was led by the Federation of Asian Bishops Conferences (FABC) under the leadership of its president, Myanmar Cardinal Charles Bo, Archbishop of Yangon.

Peaceful protests met with violence

Since the Feb. 1 military coup, the entire nation has been in turmoil with protests and a civil disobedience strike, demanding the release of their elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi and others, and the restoration of democracy. The military has however taken a hard stand with security forces cracking down ruthlessly on peaceful protesters, with more than 270 dead.

The cardinals said that they have been following the events in Myanmar with deep sadness and great distress. They regretted that too much anger, too much violence, too much bloodshed, too much suffering and pain have been inflicted on a peace-loving populace which only seeks unity, harmony, and an opportunity for progress in freedom.

Evoking the powerful image of the brave Catholic Xaverian nun, Sister Ann Nu Tawng, who went down on her knees and with folded hands pleaded with the police in the northern city of Mytkyina, not to harm the peaceful protesters, the cardinals said the people of Myanmar are peace-loving and only seek an opportunity for progress. They have been law-abiding and cooperating with all authorities. At the moment they only seek harmony and end to violence.

Asian cardinals' closeness

Emphasizing that Asia is a continent of peace and of hope, of warm family bonds, the cardinals said they all form one family. They pledged their help to Myanmar but underscored that peace is possible and it must begin at home.

They expressed their closeness and support to Cardinal Bo saying they share his pain and anguish. We join you as you lead your people in prayer to God for a speedy resolution of the conflict, and for light to all to see the way towards a solution. Violence and force, they said, are never a solution, as they lead to more pain, suffering, violence and destruction. The cardinal appealed to all the religious leaders in Myanmar to join them in praying for peace, in appealing for peace and in making efforts to peace.

Card. Bo: continue on the path of peace

In a separate message, Cardinal Bo condemned all acts of violence against the peaceful protests and urged his fellow citizens, especially the young, not to take on the path of armed struggle. I unconditionally condemn all acts of violence against unarmed civilians, the cardinal said.

He expressed admiration for the contribution and sacrifice of the people for the good of the country and their fellow citizens. Their nation-wide movement, grounded in democratic values, non-violence, equity, solidarity and justice, he noted has also earned the admiration of the world.

Cardinal Bo pointed out that the brutal violence by security forces was making it increasingly impossible for people to gather peacefully. There is fear, depression and anxiety about the course of future action and they find it difficult to find safe places.

Worldwide admiration for people's peaceful efforts

Heartbroken and frustrated by violence and the rising death toll, perhaps the people are contemplating the path of armed struggle, the cardinal noted, saying he can well understand their pain, anger and trauma. Nevertheless, he dissuaded them from taking on the path of violent struggle and appealed to them to remain determined and disciplined in non-violence. Your impressive movement has gained worldwide attention, solidarity, admiration and support because of its peaceful nature so far.

The path of violent struggle will initially excite a section of the population but in the long-term, it will alienate the majority, losing all support and goodwill not only at home but also with the international community, the cardinal said in his message.

He stressed, Hate cannot be dispelled by hate but only by love; darkness is never dispelled by darkness but only by light. He pointed out that all religions regard violence as intrinsically evil as it brings greater violence. Cardinal Bo concluded, pledging his support for all non-violent and peaceful efforts and interventions.
PHARMACY workers had to be asked to leave a major Irish vaccination centre after a social media hoax which claimed Covid-19 vaccines were being offered on a first-come, first-served basis.

A number of people, who believed the social media information to be correct, briefly refused to leave the Pairc Ui Chaoimh complex in Cork until they had received the vaccines.

Last Thursday and Friday vaccines were being administered at the Cork GAA complex to healthcare workers but only on an appointment basis.

Read More

The AstraZeneca jabs were being administered to a wide range of healthcare workers who had not received their vaccinations to date via hospitals or GP surgeries.

It is understood a fake message was circulated on social media on Thursday night that walk-in vaccine appointments were now being offered to pharmacy staff in the greater Cork area.

Cork's 96FM said that the social media message also advised that pharmacy workers should attend with their drivers licenses and their PPS numbers.

Almost 40 pharmacy workers arrived at the Cork complex over the course of Friday.

However, HSE staff were adamant that vaccines were only being administered on an appointment basis and in strict accordance to national priority groups.

No vaccines were being offered on a call-in basis.

Vaccination of the general public at the Cork GAA complex is not expected to commence until May or even June.

When a number of irate pharmacy workers refused to leave the Cork complex without having received vaccines, a special memo was sent to pharmacies in the Cork area asking for staff to be directly contacted about the social media hoax.

The memo asked pharmacy owners and managers to contact their staff and ask them to leave the site immediately if they were among those refusing to go home.

Officials were concerned at the social distancing implications of the number of people gathered at the complex.

Pharmacy officials were also told to clarify with their staff that vaccination appointments are only issued through official HSE channels and will be administered on an appointment-only basis.

A HSE spokesperson stressed that there is an online registration system for healthcare workers which, once utilised, will offer an appointment time and date for vaccination with the alert being received by text.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador devised ramped up vaccination efforts as the country currently chases time after Mexico's COVID deaths spiked to more than 200,000 on Thursday.

The recent 'loaned' vaccines of 1.7 million AstraZeneca shots by Mexico in the United States were set by the Mexican President to be distributed by the military, personnel of states, and local governments to be administered by health workers to avoid additional numbers in the death toll.

According to Associated Press, Mexico has reached 200,211 confirmed COVID deaths, as announced by the Mexican government. This puts them as the third country in the world to reach the 200,000-mark, trailing the United States and Brazil. But experts believed that the real death toll is actually closer to 300,000 as the country is currently experiencing a shortage in its testing.

One among funeral home workers in the country, Benigno Clemente Zarate, shared that the death toll is more and the numbers that the news reports are not correct as it is higher. The funeral home worker even stated that he was able to attend with multiple corpses of individuals who are living in just a single household.

ALSO READ: Thousands of Venezuelans Seek Refuge in Colombia Amid Border Dispute

Real Death Toll Could Be Higher

Moreover, the government of Mexico stopped the publishing of the numbers regarding the excess deaths at the end of 2020. The last report regarding the said numbers was at the start of January, a month before the peak of the second wave's deaths.

Mexico City authorities published the excess deaths at the end of February, but only showed the percentage of the deaths through that date, and they also showed that the deaths of January were around 46% higher compared to the deaths in the city during the first wave last June. Even the Health Department of Mexico acknowledges that there were almost 220,000 estimated coronavirus deaths by the middle of March. However, the estimated number does not include the excess death reports and the number of individuals who died while at home, Bloomberg reported.

The city of Mexico was among the hardest-hit cities in the world. With 9 million individuals or only 7.1% of the total population of Mexico, the capital is associated with 19.3% of the total deaths of the country. Despite having better medical care facilities compared to the rest of Mexico, it had 430 confirmed COVID-19 deaths per 100,000 individuals, Reuters reported.

The target of the Mexican President, based on his statement on Thursday, is to get all individuals who are over 60 vaccinated with at least one dose by the end of April, as they try to avoid the possibility of another wave of infections in the country. Lopez Obrador emphasized that he does not want the resurgence of the virus. But based on a GEA-ISA polling firm, their March 6-9 poll shows that only 52% out of 1,000 Mexicans are willing to get vaccinated, while the remaining percentage, 20% of them mentioned that they were not sure and 28% stated that they would not get vaccinated.

WATCH: Mexico's confirmed Covid-19 deaths surpass 200,000, while experts worry toll is much worse - FRANCE 24 English

RELATED ARTICLE: Brazil Hits 300,000 COVID-19 Deaths, Bolsonaro Under Scrutiny
Facebook finally identifies the Chinese hackers that are targeting Uyghurs in the United States. The giant tech firm confirmed that these cybercriminals are secretly spying on the Uyghurs who are living abroad in Kazakhstan, Turkey, the U.S., and other countries.

Also Read: Dark Web's First Online Crime Enforcement Passes Bill to Arrest and Serve Warrants to All Violators

According to CNN Business' latest report, Facebook confirmed that the Chinese hackers used malware to breach their targets' electronic devices. This method enabled the surveillance of their victims' gadgets.

On the other hand, the hackers also compromised or copied the official news websites that Uyghurs are mostly watching.

"This group used fake accounts on Facebook to create fictitious personas posing as journalists, students, human rights advocates or members of the Uyghur community to build trust with people they targeted and trick them into clicking on malicious links," said Facebook.

Facebook finally caught the Chinese hackers

Right now, there are more than two million Uyghurs living in the United States, as estimated by the U.S. State Department. This makes the massive hack a more serious matter than anyone could have expected.

Facebook said that the Chinese hackers belonged to a hacking group called Earth Empusa and Evil Eye. The tech giant company also confirmed that these cybercriminals were involved in previous spying campaigns.

Furthermore, Facebook was criticized by many people, saying that the popular social media platform allegedly allowed Russian trolls to pose as Americans.

What devices were affected?

Ars Technica reported that the Chinese hackers targeted the Urghuys' Android and iOS devices. The online attackers exploited a host of iOS vulnerabilities so that they can install the malware called Volexity.

On the other hand, Google claimed that these attacks involved the popular zero-days method, which is a hacking technique popular to iOS systems. This means that the Chinese hackers might have targeted iOS devices with system versions 12.0 and 12.1.

If you want to know more details, just click this link.

For more news updates about Chinese hackers and other cybercriminals, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes.

Related Article: Hackers Leak Guns.Com's User Data on Dark Web; The Leak Information Contains IDs, Hashed Passwords, and More

This article is owned by TechTimes.

Written by: Giuliano de Leon.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
I've been joining a group of parents in Fairfax County, Virginia, on Zoom to discuss our mounting concern over the rising vilification of Asian Americans in the area.

But if you think we are worried about nativist hate groups or white supremacist organizations, guess again. The perpetrators in this drama are none other than the very school officials we have entrusted with our childrens education and well-being.

To understand whats behind this conflict, look no further than the controversial ideology of critical race theory, which praises or blames members of a particular race solely because they happen to be that race and seeks to interpret all forms of perceived injustice through a racial lens. This ideology has swept through Americas educational system at every level and is erasing our different narratives as Asian Americans from different backgrounds and  to our shock  marginalizing our children and us.

The ugly truth about critical race theory is that it inevitably seeks to fight racial hierarchies by instituting new forms of racial hierarchies. And Asian-American parents are increasingly taking notice.

Hard work shouldn't be punished

I know because Im one of those parents.

My teenage son attends the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJ for short) in Alexandria, Virginia, a Governors School for students gifted in science, technology, engineering and math, where 70% of the students are Asian American, many of their parents immigrants, like me, who believe deeply in the idea of an American Dream in which people advance in life with hard work. The crown jewel of the Fairfax County Public Schools system, TJ was ranked Americas No. 1 high school by U.S. News and World Report.

Asra Nomani speaking at protest for Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, in Alexandria, Virginia, in September 2020.

County school officials set out to correct the supposedly problematic over-representation of Asian American students at TJ by watering down the strict admission standards. The school has used a long-standing challenging race-blind, merit-based exam to determine admission.

Story continues

But, in December 2020, the county school board, led by Fairfax County Public School Superintendent Scott Brabrand, replaced that exam with a new process that includes completing an essay and a "Student Portrait Sheet" that reveals "experience factors" like language spoken at home and family wealth.

Don't blame the tests: Getting rid of standardized testing means punishing poor students

Although the new process states it will "use only race-neutral methods," in practice this subjective set of standards allows them to pick and choose the students they prefer to achieve their desired racial balance and keep out too many Asian American students.

Many Asian American families, like mine, have worked hard and sacrificed to prepare their children to meet the rigors of the test and the TJ curriculum. We protested this weakening of standards  in part because it was clearly aimed at reducing our numbers in the student body, but just as importantly because it would degrade TJs long tradition of advanced learning.

TJ leadership has dismissed those concerns and repeatedly put the focus squarely on racial balance at the school and the number of Black and brown children at TJ, somehow overlooking the fact that the many students of Indian descent are brown. We don't begrudge any child who is qualified and meets the previously rigorous criteria from attending TJ. Nor should our children be begrudged the opportunity simply because of their Asian heritage.

Discrimination is never just

Asian American students in 2021 are experiencing the same type of discrimination and bigotry that Jewish American students faced a century ago. In 1922, Harvard University President Abbott Lawrence lamented to alumni and donors who complained about the number of Jewish students that he had "foreseen the peril of having too large a number of an alien race, and had tried to prevent it.

Most of us recoil at such rhetoric today, and rightfully so. But Lawrences perspective on Jews a century ago is similar to how todays elite educational administrators discuss Asian Americans. The only difference is that today they wrap their prejudice in the soothing and noble-sounding therapeutic language of diversity.

Glenn Harlan Reynolds: Why is Harvard discriminating against Asian Americans? 'Diversity' is no excuse for racial bias.

Nor is the anti-Asian vilification limited to one school system. In recent months, weve seen similar moves to marginalize Asian American students at schools in New York City, Boston, and Washington state, where one district decided Asians no longer qualify as people of color. Where Asian American families have worked to teach their children that academic achievement and intellectual labor will earn rewards, those children are being removed from the system.

But we are standing up to these bullies. We are working with the nonprofit Pacific Legal Foundation to file a lawsuit against our school board and superintendent for violating the right of Asian American children to equal protection under the Constitution.

Education officials in Virginia and elsewhere should get the message that the Asian American community will not stand by meekly while our children are marginalized. One Zoom call at a time, we will fight for the American Dream.

Asra Q. Nomani is a parent of a student at Thomas Jefferson High School and Technology and the cofounder of Coalition for TJ, which has filed suit against the Fairfax County School Board and the board's superintendent. She is a former Wall Street Journal reporter and the author of "Standing Alone: An American Womans Struggle for the Soul of Islam." Follow her on Twitter: @AsraNomani

You can read diverse opinions from our Board of Contributors and other writers on the Opinion front page, on Twitter @usatodayopinion and in our daily Opinion newsletter. To respond to a column, submit a comment to letters@usatoday.com.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Elite TJ High School is just the tip of anti-Asian discrimination
Under the gun from lawmakers and lawsuits, Googles web privacy efforts have made it harder for advertisers, publishers, and data brokers to gather personal data without users permission. Google will no longer be making data profiles based on users activity on Google, and while this is great for individuals who seek privacy, for advertisers its a blow to the face.

Third-party cookies that are placed on websites are being phased out, including the ability for third-party sites, like Google, to track activity upon entering and leaving websites. This could potentially hurt advertisers who want to target competitors websites and people in the market for products. The silver lining: If you have a Google ad tag already installed on your website, Google will still be able to gather data from your visitors and retarget them with your ads.

An alternative to a full privacy lockdown was introduced in 2019 by Google with the idea of a privacy sandbox designed to serve both the privacy concerns of individuals and the need to target user interests for advertisers and publishers. The privacy sandbox is a secure environment for personalization that also protects user privacy, said Justin Schuh, a Google Chrome engineer. The privacy sandbox is still in progress and has multiple ways it can gather data without accessing the personal details of the user, including a privacy budget and Federated Learning of Cohorts (FLOC).
Some teachers, braced for a difficult year, were given additional space and time to experiment with remote learning options. Some students found they enjoyed the flexibility and independence of online learning.

As more schools return to full-time, in-person instruction, what solutions were created during the pandemic that can change education for good? What can Alabama schools learn from seeing what worked elsewhere across the country?

A lot of education is hyperlocal, and a lot of journalism is hyperlocal, said Ruth Serven Smith, editor of The Alabama Education Lab at AL.com, in a conversation with the Solutions Journalism Network. We forget to look for solutions elsewhere.

The Ed Lab, in partnership with newsrooms across the country, explored what initiatives may outlast the pandemic and offer chances for lasting success to parents, teachers and students. The collaboration was funded in part by Solutions Journalism.

Schools wanting to improve teacher morale could take note of how two districts in Alabama helped stressed educators and increased effectiveness by allowing them to focus on remote or in-person learning -- not both, Trisha Powell Crain reported for the Ed Lab.

The Christian Science Monitor delved into how some students are finding that the independence and flexibility of remote learning works better for them.

The Seattle Times focused on a collaboration between a Native tribe and school district to give students a warm and welcoming place to turn during the pandemic.

The Fresno Bee explored how a community organization helped teach parents how to use the digital tools schools were sending home with students.

The Dallas Morning News looked at what lessons districts could learn from iUniversity Prep, a virtual academy in Grapevine-Colleyville ISD that has been thriving where other online schools have failed.

Join us for a conversation about these lessons learned, hosted by The News and education journalist Eva-Marie Ayala, on Wednesday, March 31, at noon. Sign up to attend the virtual discussion here.

Panelists will include:

Ian Kirk, a high school senior at iUniversity Prep in Texas

Suzanne Lacey, an Alabama superintendent who tried to ease teachers workload

Robin Lake, the director of the Center on Reinventing Public Education

Nkomo Morris, a New York City learning specialist and guidance counselor

Titilayo Tinubu Ali, the senior director of research and policy at the Southern Education Foundation

Submit questions in advance to edlab@dallasnews.com.

To learn more about The Alabama Education Lab and to get alerts about future work and events, sign up for its forthcoming newsletter, Ed Chat. See recent stories here.

Follow The Alabama Education Lab on social media.
Mumbai, March 26 : Besides singing, musician Jubin Nautiyal says he also likes to feature in his music videos. While singing will always be his "first love", acting in music videos is fun, he adds.

"My first passion will always be music but shooting for music videos is fun and a different experience too," he says.

The actor's new music video "Tujhe bhoolna toh chaha" is out, and he says it was challenging to shoot.

"'Tujhe bhoolna toh chaha' was challenging because of the extreme weather. However, the locations explored, the story and emotions behind have been beautifully captured," he says.

He hopes that the song is accepted.

"We hope the audiences enjoy the song as much as we enjoyed making it. Big love to my director Ashish Panda as this is our fourth song together and we have created magic again," he says.

The video features Abhishek Singh and Samreen Kaur. The track composed by Rochak Kohli and penned by Manoj Muntashir.
Senate Democrats failed big time to pass the $15 Minimum Wage. They failed to reach an accommodation, and the issue is dead on arrival. Despite their best efforts, they failed to pass it. Now it's the progressives and liberals who are headbutting over the issue.

$15 Minimum Wage for Democrats is crucial

According to Politico and the Punch Bowl politics newsletter, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called a meeting on Tuesday reported the Business Insider. Democrats met to regroup after they failed to pass it.

There are eight moderate Democratic senators who opposed Sen. Bernie Sanders' push to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour. The current hourly rate is $7.25.

As per the report, Sanders was also present, with the other Democratic Party's Senate caucus. He had support from the progressive wing. Moderates and progressives (left learning) do not see eye to eye on the wage hike.

They were rejected last March in their attempt to pass the wage hike. They lost it after a senate official said it could not be added in the $1.9 trillion stimulus. It was an unexpected setback that they wanted correct.

Following that, 8 moderate Democrats voted against bringing back the minimum wage hike. The moderate DEMs did not approve of that the bill on some points. It imposes extra costs on companies still trying to recover from the pandemic's impact.

The $15 Minimum Wage, according to the Senate Parliamentarian, a neutral official was outside the range of the Democrat stimulus plan. It was under discussion as special budget reconciliation. It is the process that allows bills to pass with fewer votes.

Joe Biden's $3 Trillion Package to Come Next After Stimulus Bill

This gathering is supposed to act as a bridge between Democrats on the issue. Punch Bowl News, a Washington, DC newsletter, reported that no progress was made on Tuesday.

Sen. Joe Manchin, an influential moderate from West Virginia, allegedly disagreed over the amount of a proposed increase. Sanders pushed for a $15 increase, and Manchin opted for $11. The wage had become an issue for moderates and progressives in the party.

According to Politico, one topic of discussion is the reasonable minimum wage. This includes employees who receive tips, such as bartenders and restaurant servers.

The future of the wage increase is now in danger owing to the deadlock. According to the sources, the party has a long way to go before reaching an internal consensus. Let alone try to muster the 60 votes needed to resolve a possible Republican filibuster.

One of the problems to resolve is to overcome the Republicans who can use the filibuster. The 60-vote needed is not easy to do. In the Senate, there are 50 Republicans and 48 DEMS, with two independents seating now.

More republican seats by two made it hard to pass the wage hike. This is why the DEMs want to take away the Filibuster. Republicans justify having it to stop a one-party-rule that ends Democracy in the government.

There is a difference in opinion between Democrat moderates who don't want the $15 Minimum Wage, which the progressives led by Sanders clashed with Manchin.

Biden Approves $1.9 Trillion Stimulus Bill Ready for Rollout

Democrats Pass $1.9 Trillion Partisan COVID-19 Relief

Democrats To Approve $1.9T COVID Aid Plan

@ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
ONEONTA, N.Y.  An Oneonta man was arrested twice in one day, after he was released with an appearance ticket Tuesday morning.

Jason K. Manderville, 34, was arrested around 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, after allegedly threatening someone with a chainsaw at a home on Oneida Street during a domestic dispute.

Jason Manderville Jason Manderville

New York State Police found Manderville in a wooded area behind the residence, and took him into custody. He was charged with menacing and petit larceny.

An order of protection was issued on the victims behalf, and Manderville was released with an appearance ticket.

Later in the day around 2:45 p.m., Oneonta Fire Department was called to a house fire at the same residence where Manderville had been arrested earlier in the day.

The home was fully engulfed in flames by the time firefighters and troopers arrived to the scene.

State police found Manderville in the woods near State Highway 205, and arrested him for the second time that day.

Manderville allegedly set the fire intentionally, according to police. He also violated the protection order that had been issued that morning.

He was charged with third-degree arson and first-degree criminal contempt, both felonies.

Manderville was remanded to the Otsego County jail on $10,000 cash bail or $20,000 bond.
The burial field in Valsgarde outside Uppsala in central Sweden contains more than 90 graves from the Iron Age.

"On a light note, we could say that Valsgarde is Scandinavia's answer to Sutton Hoo in England as portrayed in the film The Dig on Netflix," says Birgitta Berglund, professor emeritus of archaeology at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology's NTNU University Museum.

Valsgarde is especially known for its spectacular boat graves from the 600s and 700s CE. This timeframe is in the middle of what Norway calls the Merovingian period, the era just before the Viking Age.

Two of these spectacular boat graves are at the center of this story -- or more specifically, the story is really about the down bedding that was found in the graves.

When researchers from NTNU investigated which birds contributed their feathers to the bedding, they made a surprising discovery that provides new insight into Iron Age society.

The boats carrying the two dead men were about 10 meters long, with room for four to five pairs of oars. Both were outfitted for high-ranking warriors, with richly decorated helmets, shields, and weapons. Provisions and tools for hunting and cooking were also included for their last voyage.

In one grave, a Eurasian eagle-owl (Bubo bubo) had been laid, with its head cut off. We'll return to that. Horses and other animals were arranged close to the boats.

"The buried warriors appear to have been equipped to row to the underworld, but also to be able to get ashore with the help of the horses," says Berglund.

Beauty sleep was also taken care of in death. Two warriors lay atop several layers of down bedding. The contents of the bedding probably had a greater function than simply serving as filler.

You might have thought of down bedding as a modern concept, which admittedly only became available for the common folk in recent times. The down bedding in the graves at Valsgarde is the oldest known from Scandinavia and indicates that the two buried men belonged to the top strata of society.

Wealthy Greeks and Romans used down for their bedding a few hundred years earlier, but down probably wasn't used more widely by wealthy people in Europe until the Middle Ages, Berglund says.

Berglund has been studying down harvesting in Helgeland coastal communities in southern Nordland county for many years, where people commercialized down production early on by building houses for the eider ducks that were the source of the down.

The theory was that down from this location might have been exported south, so Berglund wanted to investigate whether the bedding at Valsgarde contained eiderdown. "It turned out that a lot of kinds of feathers had been used in the bedding at Valsgarde. Only a few feathers from eider ducks were identified, so we have little reason to believe that they were a commodity from Helgeland or other northern areas," says Berglund.

However, she was not disappointed by this discovery. The great variety of species gave the researchers unique insight into the bird fauna in the immediate area in prehistoric times, along with people's relationship to it.

"The feathers provide a source for gaining new perspectives on the relationship between humans and birds in the past. Archaeological excavations rarely find traces of birds other than those that were used for food," the researcher says. "We also think the choice of feathers in the bedding may hold a deeper, symbolic meaning. It's exciting."

Berglund explains that according to Nordic folklore, the type of feathers contained in the bedding of the dying person was important.

"For example, people believed that using feathers from domestic chickens, owls and other birds of prey, pigeons, crows and squirrels would prolong the death struggle. In some Scandinavian areas, goose feathers were considered best to enable the soul to be released from the body," she said.

These are well-known folk traditions that have been collected from the 18th century onwards. But they may have their roots in prehistoric times.

In the Icelandic Erik the Red saga, a pillow stuffed with feathers from domestic hens was placed on the throne at Heriolfsnes in Greenland, where a visiting female shaman was to sit. The saga is considered to have been written down in the 13th century, but addresses events around the year 1000, says Berglund.

The examples show that that feathers in the bedding from Valsgarde most likely also had a deeper meaning than just serving as a filler. It's also well known that birds could hold special importance for obtaining information in shamanism -- think of Odin's two ravens Hugin and Munin.

Exactly what ritual function the feathers at Valsgarde had is hard to say. But the bedding contained feathers from geese, ducks, grouse, crows, sparrows, waders and -- perhaps most surprisingly --- eagle owls.

Biologist Jrgen Rosvold, now employed at the Norwegian Institute for Natural History (NINA) identified the species from the feather material.

"It was a time-consuming and challenging job for several reasons. The material is decomposed, tangled, and dirty. This means that a lot of the special features that you can easily observe in fresh material have become indistinct, and you have to spend a lot more time looking for the distinctive features," Rosvold says. "I'm still surprised at how well the feathers were preserved, despite the fact that they'd been lying in the ground for over 1000 years."

The feathers in the down bedding weren't the only interesting bird found in the graves. One of the graves also contained a headless owl.

From recent graves, we know that people took measures to prevent the buried from returning from the dead, and it's easy to imagine that this was also done long ago as well.

"We believe the beheading had a ritual significance in connection with the burial," says Berglund.

Swords found in tombs from Viking times were sometimes intentionally bent before being laid in the tomb. This was probably done to prevent the deceased from using the weapon if he returned.

"It's conceivable that the owl's head was cut off to prevent it from coming back. Maybe the owl feather in the bedding also had a similar function? In Salme in Estonia, boat graves from the same period have recently been found that are similar to those in Valsgarde. Two birds of prey with a severed head were found there," says Berglund.
There was a testy Twitter exchange last week between Bernie Sanders, the socialist Democratic U.S. senator from Vermont, and eccentric billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk.

Sanders started by tweeting that Musk and Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos have more wealth than "the bottom 40% of people in this country," a fact Sanders chalked up to "greed" and characterized as "immoral."

Musk replied and referenced his efforts to push the frontiers of space travel (with his company SpaceX), tweeting, "I am accumulating resources to help make life multiplanetary & extend the light of consciousness to the stars."

Sanders' response was both condescending and ignorant. "Space travel is an exciting idea," he tweeted, "but right now we need to focus on earth and create a progressive tax system so that children don't go hungry, people are not homeless and all Americans have healthcare. The level of inequality in America is obscene and a threat to our democracy."

Where to start?

First, the federal tax system is already progressive. Federal individual and corporate income taxes are progressive, as are estate taxes. Even payroll taxes are largely progressive.

Second, the left's talking points about "income inequality" generally leave out important facts. As author and financial analyst Helen Raleigh wrote in an article for The Federalist in 2019, the lowest-income households in America were receiving government transfers (Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps, etc.) equal to nearly 10 times their annual income. These transfers -- totaling more than $2 trillion annually -- are possible precisely because of the progressive nature of the federal income tax.

In other words, the rich already pay more.

How much more? The top 1% of earners in the United States pay almost 40% of all income taxes. The top 10% pay 70% of all income tax. The wealthiest 50% of Americans pay fully 97% of all income taxes. And this does not take corporate income taxes, estate taxes or payroll taxes into account.

Third -- and most importantly -- Sanders never discusses how people like Musk and Bezos acquired the wealth they did; he condemns it as a function of greed. That is a falsehood of the worst sort. It is fashionable to hate on capitalism. But America has a culture of entrepreneurial capitalism unlike any other country on the planet. People here can start out poor as Job's turkey. But if they invent, innovate and produce goods and services that millions of people want -- and are willing to pay for -- those entrepreneurs can obtain wealth beyond their wildest dreams.

That is exactly what Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and tens of thousands of other successful entrepreneurs have done, and our society is immeasurably better for it.

Most entrepreneurs do not develop life-altering, industry-changing inventions. But those who do are not merely indulging their tech-geek fantasies. The innovations they develop advance society and improve lives in ways not foreseen at the time they are created.

Take Wilbur and Orville Wright, for example. When the brothers were trying to make flying machines, they were viewed as crackpots. Only the most outrageously imaginative individuals alive at the time would have argued that such machines would save children's lives. But airplane flight has -- among countless other things -- enabled donated organs to reach children (and adults) who would die without them. And fruits and vegetables previously available only in tropical regions can now reach grocery stores and markets in northern climes, to the nutritional benefit of those who live there.

The same could be said of the internal combustion engine and the automobile. Before Henry Ford entered the picture, the automobile was a custom-made luxury available only to the very wealthy, much as a private jet is today. Ford's genius was to join the technology of the motorcar with automation, building factories that mass-produced automobiles, making them affordable to everyone. That innovation completely transformed society, making travel faster, easier and more comfortable -- and making possible the kinds of life-saving emergency services we take for granted now, including police cars, fire engines and ambulances.

The list of inventions and innovations that have made modern civilization what it is today would fill volumes of books. But almost all of them have current applications that even their creators did not envision. Certainly, no government functionary would have foreseen them.

That, right there, is the key to the success of entrepreneurship and innovation in America: It has not been centrally planned. The federal government provides strong support for innovation, spending billions of dollars annually on research conducted at universities, in the military, at national laboratories and in hospitals, and provides plenty of financial incentives for corporate research as well. (By way of example, former President Trump's request for research funding in his fiscal year 2020 budget was $134 billion.) But for the most part, the market, not the government, decides what will be produced and sold.

Sanders' tweets to Elon Musk reflect a dangerous attitude and suggest support for a system where politicians or bureaucrats decide whether and which and when innovations will be pursued. This is a prescription for failures we cannot anticipate. Countries that have tried command-and-control economies -- those where production and distribution decisions are made by the government -- have failed catastrophically, time and time again. Until an invention is created, it is impossible to know the myriad ways it will help society. If it is never created, we will never know what we've lost.

We should be leaving innovation to the innovators, not entrusting to politicians the decisions about what should and should not be made and commercialized. History shows that political leaders have an endless supply of ideas about how to enrich themselves, entrench their power, spend other people's money and kill their enemies, but are largely dull and unimaginative otherwise.

Innovators save lives. Politicians, not so much.

COPYRIGHT 2021 CREATORS.COM
Pahal Financial Services

News Summary

To support the development of microfinance in India, Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation has granted a loan of 3 million euros over 3 years to Pahal Financial Services Private Limited, an Ahmedabad (Gujarat) based microfinance institution.
A woman who was sexually groomed as a teenager has said that it is an injustice that her abuser is only facing two years in prison.

Anthony Smith (44) pleaded guilty to the sexual exploitation and abuse of Aoife Lynch in 2014 earlier this month. Aoife was just 14 years old at the time.

The father of nine was sentenced to five years in prison with three years suspended.

Speaking on Liveline today, Ms. Lynch spoke of the horrific abuse she endured as a teenager and the effects it has had on her seven years later.

She recalled how Anthony, who was close to Aoifes family, groomed her by maintaining constant contact on social media.

She said: I was being bullied in school at the time and I was sort of vulnerable. I would have been spending a lot of time in his sisters house and he would have been there quite frequently.

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We kind of just got talking and I didnt really think anything of it. I just thought of him as family.

Contact became more frequent over social media; he would text me a lot and things like that and I think he used that to isolate me from my friends and my family. It kind of escalated from there, she continued.

She told listeners that he mostly used Snapchat to contact her and warned of how the platforms disappearing messages feature can be used to predators advantages.

Its such a huge gateway for predators because as soon as the message is opened, its deleted straight away so theres no way of going back and seeing what was said and what happened.

She added: He made sure that if we ever had contact on Messenger on Facebook or over normal text that if anything was said on his behalf out of the ordinary, hed ask me to delete it. So, he kind of knew how to keep it under wraps and how to get away with it.

The man confessed that he had feelings for Aoife just after she turned 15 while he was in his late 30s but told her they had to keep their secret between the two of them.

She explained: He texted me the weekend after my 15th birthday and said that he was in love with me and that completely threw me. I didnt know what to think of it. I didnt know what he meant by that because he was family.

I was so isolated, and I felt really alone and I didnt want to affect anyone else with what was going on so I just tried to cover it up and deal with it myself. I didnt want to be the reason he got in trouble.

Aoife finally went to the Gardai for help at the age of 18 and said that while it was difficult to address her abuser in court, she felt it was the right thing to do for herself and other victims.

Aoife bravely shared: I felt like for myself I needed to stand up in court and read my victim impact statement out myself. It happens to so many people on a daily basis and most of these cases dont get reported because they feel like they wont be believed.

You shouldnt be silenced by your abuser. You should have support around you, whether thats a professional or somebody that you trust.

She revealed that the abuse she endured as a teenager has had a huge effect on her and called Anthonys reduced sentence an injustice.

It has a huge effect on me. Its never gone away and its always in the back of my mind. I feel like all my childhood and teenage years were taken by him and replaced with constant mental, physical, and emotional effects.

The last seven years of my life have been completely taken over by him and in return hes spending only two years in jail. I dont think thats fair. Its an injustice, she added.

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Sigmaroc expects to generate an incremental underlying profit [EBITDA] of 1m per annum from the move

PLC ( ) said it is taking control of all the quarrying operations at its CDH business in Belgium.

This will lay the groundwork for a major push into the European aggregates market, added the AIM-listed building materials and quarrying group.

acquired CDH in 2019 and as well as producing highly-prized Belgium Blue Stone, the operation also had a standard construction aggregates arm run by LafargeHolcim.

Todays agreement sees Sigmaroc take over those operations, a move that it said puts in a far stronger position to become a large-scale supplier in the Benelux aggregates market.

No cash is changing hands but LafarcgeHolcim will get a minimum of 1.5mln tonnes of aggregates a year until the end of 2024 through a take or pay arrangement.

Sigmaroc added it expects to generate an incremental underlying profit [EBITDA] of 1m per annum, with the potential for more once legacy equipment on-site is replaced.

All of its quarrying operations in Belgium, including three existing Stone Holdings sites, are now to be rebranded as Granulats du Hainaut (GDH), said Sigmaroc.

Total European production volume will increase to approximately 2mln tonnes per year, said the statement.

Max Vermorken, SigmaRocs chief executive added: "When we acquired CDH, we saw the potential to unlock significant added value from the legacy arrangements with LafargeHolcim.

With the assumption of control over the aggregate production assets, we get one step closer to fully benefitting from the potential CDH has to offer and this intermediary step will allow us to be well prepared to establish ourselves as a major supplier of aggregates in the Benelux market by the end of 2024."

Liberum raised its share price target to 81p from 73p on the back of the deal to reflect the earnings enhancement.
by Francis Khoo Thwe

The four oil companies pay the junta revenues of over $ 1 billion a year for natural gas projects. The civil disobedience movement nominated for the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize. The army killed 12 people yesterday. The toll so far is 320 dead, of which 20 are children. Success of the "Silent Strike": the streets of the cities are empty.

Yangon (AsiaNews) - Activists in Myanmar and around the world, who support the democracy movement against the military coup, appreciate what the international community - especially in the West - is doing to impose sanctions on trade and the generals at the head of the emergency government.

In Myanmar, almost the entire economy is in the hands of the army through two large conglomerates: Myanma Economic Holdings Limited (MEHL) and the Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC).

The two companies manage trade in a variety of products, ranging from mines to beer, to precious woods, together with banks, construction, cigarettes, insurance, and much more.

Since day one of the coup, the people of Myanmar began a boycott of beer, cigarettes, SIM cards, and carried out a civil disobedience strike that has thrown the banks and public offices into crisis.

The details of the sanctions imposed by the USA, Great Britain and the European Union are not known but activists say it's time to impose sanctions on foreign oil companies doing business with the junta.

Chevron (USA), Total (France), Posco (South Korea), Petronas (Malaysia) operate in the country: all of them pay revenues to the junta of over 1 billion dollars a year, only for projects related to natural gas.

According to Justice for Myanmar, Total's payments are the largest source of tax revenue for the regime.

Paul Donowitz, Myanmar Campaign Leader at the pressure group Global Witness, said the new sanctions were an important step in cutting off key sources of funding to the military regime.

He demands that the EU and Great Britain impose sanctions on both conglomerates, MEHL and MEC, as the US has done. The EU has not yet established the type of sanctions and London has only sanctioned the MEHL.

A more ideal but significant sign of support for the democracy movement comes from Norway. A group of six professors from the University of Oslo have named the civil disobedience movement (the CDM) among the candidates for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022. The reason is its ability to work for peace, democracy through non-violent methods.

The decision for 2022 is due to the fact that the deadline for submitting candidates for the 2021 Award expired on January 31. Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the democratic movement, also received the Nobel Prize in 1991.

Protests continued today despite the military killing at least 12 people yesterday. Candlelit evening demonstrations took place in Mandalay, Sagaing, Karen and Chin States. There have been deaths in Taunggyi (Shan State), Mohnyin (Kachin State, photo 1), as well as in Yangon and Bago. According to the Association for Assistance to Political Prisoners (Aapp), the regime has so far killed 320 people, including 20 children.

APP data shows that more than 25% of the dead were killed with a bullet to the forehead, a sign that they were deliberately targeted. About 90% of the murdered are males; 36% are young people under the age of 25.

The security forces violence is failing to cower the resistance of the population. Two days ago a "Silent strike" was called, asking people to stay at home and not to go to work, to counter the junta that forces its employees to go to offices or construction sites. The streets of many cities were deserted for most of the day. Only in the evening there were demonstrations, which were also attended by many Buddhist monks (see photo).

Last night a fire broke out in the headquarters of the National League for Democracy in Yangon. The inhabitants of the neighborhood were able to put out the fire after half an hour. Curiously, the nearby water pumps and hydrants were either destroyed or without water.
LUDLOW  The Hampden County Sheriffs Department says it has vaccinated nearly 70% of its full-time staff and two-thirds of its correctional staff against COVID-19. More than 400 inmates have also received at least one dose of Moderna vaccine.

Sheriff Nicholas Cocchi said in a statement that 662 of the departments 953 full-time employees have opted to receive the vaccine through the departments program. Of the employees with direct contact with the incarcerated population, 321 out of 482, or two-thirds, have elected to receive the vaccine.

We encourage everyone to take it, Cocchi said. The vaccine is one of the most important tools in the fight against a virus that not only upended our operations but our very way of life for more than a year.

I trust the science and I have already received the second shot of the Moderna vaccine, he said. For me, being vaccinated ensures I am protecting my family, the staff, inmates in our care and the general public which we serve.

Under Gov. Charlie Bakers phased rollout of vaccines in Massachusetts, inmates and correctional workers  including officers, caseworkers and counselors  were among the first to be eligible in mid-January. A few weeks later the rest of the department staff became eligible.

So far, more than 750 Moderna vaccine doses have been administered at the Ludlow jail. Cocchi said he is looking into locating supplies of the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine to streamline the inmate vaccine program.

The jails intake protocols call for each arriving inmate to be offered a vaccine. So far 430 have accepted the shots, with 230 inmates receiving the second vaccine.

Cocchi said only one person, who had a preexisting medical condition, suffered a serious side effect. That person had an allergic reaction that was handled by staff.

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Lawton, OK (73501)

Today

Some clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 62F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Some clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 62F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph.
For Latino and Black students, seeing educators who share their lived experiences can make a big impact on the path to success, and possibly on the path to becoming teachers themselves.

But in Massachusetts, the public school student body is much more diverse than the educators in classrooms.

Its an issue legislators and education officials and advocates are hoping to address with the Educator Diversity Act.

COVID-19, as we all know, has exacerbated equity issues for Black, Latino, Asian and immigrant families. This moment calls on all of us to finally address the structural inequities that have been prevalent in our education system from the beginning, Amanda Fernandez, the co-founder and CEO of Latinos for Education and also a member of the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, said at a virtual event in support of the proposed bill.

In Massachusetts, 40% of students in public schools are non-white but only 8% of teachers are non-white, Fernandez noted.

The disparity and lack of representation is greatest for Latino students who make up over 21% of the population of our students while only 3% of educators identify as Latino. Black students make up 9% of the student population and same thing, yet only 3% of teachers identify as Black. This is also the case for principals, superintendents and other system leaders, Fernandez said. Four out of 10 Latino teachers leave the classroom within four years, discouraged by inadequate salaries, colleague bias and added obligations that often are put on them because of their background, such as being the school interpreter.

The Educator Diversity Act (HD.3641/SD.2208), proposed by state Rep. Alice Peisch and state Sen. Jason Lewis, co-chairs of the Joint Committee on Education, has four components that would address the disparity: it would create a more equitable path to licensure, identifying and addressing current obstacles; create an educator diversity data dashboard to track progress and shine a light on the issue; establish a center for strategic initiatives within DESE, charged with establishing guidelines for diverse hiring and monitoring compliance; and require all districts to hire or appoint diversity officer and create district-level diversity councils to work with district administration.

I think for as far as I can remember, lip service has been paid to the issue, Peisch said, adding that the bill is a serious statewide effort to make changes.

As of Thursday afternoon, Peisch said the bill was still in the clerks office and had not yet gone to committee, but she anticipated it would soon.

Lewis said he was fairly confident the legislation would be a high priority this session. He said creating alternative paths to licensure is important because the MTEL is a disproportionate barrier for students of color. Lewis pointed to evidence from last year, when the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education provided emergency licensure as the pandemic struck.

Of the I think its approximately 7,000 teachers and others that have received these emergency licenses, 25% were granted to people of color, Lewis said.

The Massachusetts Educator Diversity Act Coalition, which is led by Latinos for Education, held the virtual event Thursday to launch a campaign in support of passing the act.

State Rep. Chynah Tyler at the virtual event said this topic is personal to her as a policymaker, education advocate and as a parent to a fourth-grader.

I grew up here in the city of Boston where I was fortunate enough to have Black role models who reflected my lived experience and helped me to understand that none of my goals were out of reach, Tyler said. Education is a guaranteed pathway to prosperity and success for our students and we need to ensure that they too have the opportunity to see themselves reflected in the classroom.

DESE Commissioner Jeffrey Riley said children need to see role models. In his time as the superintendent/receiver in Lawrence, Riley noted, the graduation rate went from 50% to more than 70% and the dropout rate was decreased by half as the district tripled its number of Latino educators.

I always felt like this was the secret sauce, that it helped us get better, Riley said.

The state wants to see at least 26% of its educator workforce be people of color, reflecting the racial and ethnic diversity of Massachusetts, by 2030, Riley said. To reach that goal, 10,880 teachers are needed.

This can be done but its going to take a concerted effort to fix this glaring hole that we have, Riley said.

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A new analysis suggests that schools and colleges, large companies and other organizations that want to keep themselves safe with frequent mass testing should think beyond their own personnel.

By dedicating a substantial portion of their tests to people in the surrounding community, they can reduce the number of Covid-19 cases among their members by as much as 25 percent, researchers report in a new paper, which has not yet been published in a scientific journal.

Its natural in an outbreak for people to become self-serving, self-focused, said Dr. Pardis Sabeti, a computational biologist at Harvard University and the Broad Institute who led the analysis. But she added, If youve been in enough outbreaks, you just understand that testing in a box doesnt makes sense. These things are communicable, and theyre coming in from the community.

The study has really profound implications, especially if others can replicate it, said David OConnor, a virologist at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, who was not involved in the analysis but reviewed a draft of the paper.
The International Islamic Youth League (IIYL), through its Global Chief Executive Officer, Ambassador Dr. Hamid Ahamed Kanneh, has started a nationwide construction of 10 ultra-modern Islamic complexes.

The purpose of International Islamic Youth League agency is to build mosques, schools, help orphans, and provide safe drinking water for the poor and the needy, as well as providing food supply to extremely poor people.

The project will include the construction of modem Islamic complexes, provision of 120 bore-holes and to support (8,000) Youth empowerment through vocational skills training, creation of employment opportunities and livelihood promotion in selected communities in Sierra Leone.

The beneficiary communities include; Port Loko, Yaweima, Small Bo, Kambia, Pujehun, Njala, Mano Dase, Moyamba, Kailahun, Kono and Falaba Districts.

In his statement, Ambassador Kanneh said each Islamic complex will comprise of a Mosque, Quranic School, ablution site, toilets, Imam's residence and Community Health Centre, among others.

The project, he said, is being supported by friends from Middle East and Asia to support the New Direction's objectives under the leadership of President Julius Maada Bio.

The programme has been lunched in most of the ten communities, with Portloko being the latest beneficiary. The project was launched on Sunday, March 21, 2021 in Kambia Road, Bakeloko Chiefdom, Port Loko Town.

Regional Chief Imam, North-West, Sheik Sorie Ibrahim Conteh, expressed gratitude to Ambassador Kanneh and his organisation for their wonderful stride in contributing to nation building, adding that their rewards will only come from Allah.

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Councillor Hajaratu Kamara of Ward 234, thanked Ambassador Kanneh, on behalf of her community and the nation at large for bringing such development at the right time.

Chiefdom speaker of Bakeloko Chiefdom and Project Office of IIYL, Marlapy Mohamed Ali Tarawallie, said IIYL started operating in Lungi during the 11 years rebel war. He stated that the agency was helping both internationally displaced persons and refugees with food items and other relevant amenities.

Giving a brief background of IIYL, Ambassador Kanneh explained that the agency is an International non -governmental humanitarian organization and that it is a signatory to the code of conduct of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement (IFRC), accredited to the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSCOC), the International Youth Federation (IYF) and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

According to him, IIYL is also a founding member of the Union of NGOs of the Islamic World and that the organization is officially registered in 48 countries across the globe and support projects through direct implementation in the selected vulnerable communities in partnership with line ministries, the local government authorities and beneficiary communities.

"Currently, our organization have received one hundred thousand (100,000 copies) of Holy Quran from partners in the Middle East and Europe for free distribution to Islamic schools throughout the country. This donation will enhance government efforts in the Free Quality Education program," he said.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  Amid an already thriving underground market in New York City, calls for social justice, and concerns over drugged drivers  only time will tell what the full impact of legalizing marijuana in New York could look like.

State legislators Wednesday reached an agreement with Gov. Andrew Cuomos office to legalize marijuana in New York, minus a few minor, technical details that need to be worked out, sources told the Advance/SILive.com.

According to a Sienna poll conducted in January, nearly 60% of New York residents were in favor of legalizing.

At a press conference Wednesday, Cuomo said legalizing cannabis was among his top priorities in the budget in order to generate the revenue the state is losing to people driving to New Jersey or Massachusetts, where marijuana is already legal.

Its in New Jersey. Its in Massachusetts. To say were going to stop it is not an option. It is here, Cuomo said. The only question is, do we regulate it here, do we gather the revenue here, or do we have people driving [to other states]?

STIFF COMPETITION

Cuomos office has estimated that legalizing marijuana could pull in $350 million every year once implemented.

Other states where adult use has been legalized, however, have in some cases run into the challenge of competing with a tax-free black market.

Sources said legislation close to passing in New York would impose a 13% sales tax; 9% allocated for the state and 4% for the locality. Meanwhile, a thriving, tax-free black market remains. So theres concerns, in the short-term at least, of regular users opting out of a state-regulated dispensary.

With a 13% sales tax, the black market for New York is also most likely to increase, said Assemblyman Mike Tannousis (R-East Shore/South Brooklyn), who stands opposed to legalizing. He cited reports of Colorados thriving black market after lawmakers there established a 15% sales tax.

In New Jersey, the sales tax is 6.625%, and towns can levy a tax of up to 2% under the measure. So presumably some New Yorkers will cross the border to shop. In Massachusetts the tax is 20%.

Facing those challenges and more in regard to generating tax revenue for the state, some lawmakers in Albany are optimistic about the long-term impact of legalizing, said state Sen. Diane Savino (D-North Shore/Brooklyn), who was instrumental in the legalization of medical marijuana.

Just like the way the legal alcohol market eventually did away with illegal distilleries, the same thing will happen with marijuana, Savino speculated, adding that marijuana reform at the federal level could benefit the industry in New York, and the 15 other states where it already is legal.

As long as the federal government continues to maintain marijuana as a Schedule 1 substance, its a 50 state marketplace, she said. Its just crazy.

TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT

The bill proposed in Albany would punish drivers found to be under the influence of marijuana as a violation, not a misdemeanor, said Tannousis, a former prosecutor on Staten Island.

Keep in mind that law enforcement is already at a disadvantage in prosecuting these cases because they dont currently have the technological tools that they utilize when they prosecute driving while intoxicated by alcohol, Tannousis argued.

In Colorado  where adult use has been legal for more than five years  state officials reported that 13.5% percent of drivers involved in fatal crashes in 2018 tested positive for cannabis. According to a study out of Massachusetts where cannabis dispensaries opened to the public in 2018  marijuana was the most prevalent drug found in drivers involved in fatal Massachusetts crashes from 2013 to 2017, the Boston Herald reported.

Richmond County District Attorney Michael E. McMahon expressed concern in a recent editorial to the Staten Island Advance/SILive.com about the possibility of legalizing, calling for lawmakers to slow down first and make certain their bill includes comprehensive traffic safety measures to allow law enforcement to continue to hold impaired drivers accountable.

SOCIAL JUSTICE

McMahons editorial also noted the social justice aspect of legalizing adult-use, stating how the war on drugs has disproportionately affected the lives of African American and minority communities.

I recognize the social justice aspect of this issue  which has disproportionately affected the lives of African American and minority communities  and the need to reform our marijuana laws...

New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams voiced his support for the move in a 2019 opinion piece published by the New York Daily News. After explaining he never smoked marijuana but sold small amounts as a teenager, he said he felt grateful not to be among the disproportionate arrests advocates for reform refer to.

We need to expedite and prioritize legalizing marijuana, and not just for white wealthy kids in their dorm, but for young Black ones in Crown Heights, Williams wrote. We need to expunge records for people with cannabis convictions and invest heavily in the geographic and demographic communities hurt most by prohibition.
HOLYOKE  Holyoke Health Center has teamed up with the Holyoke Public Schools to provide COVID-19 vaccines for about 600 district employees on Saturday.

Jay Breines, Holyoke Health Centers CEO, said the vaccines are available through a federal initiative to provide 250 health centers around the country with direct shipments of vaccine.

The federal vaccine has allowed us to focus on the school staff not just as a public health opportunity, but as a means to expedite the return to classrooms for thousands of children in our school system, Breines said.

The COVID-19 vaccine clinic will be held from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday at the Holyoke High School Dean Campus. All spots were reserved through a survey and registration process.

U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, D-Springfield, and Holyoke Public Schools Receiver Anthony Soto will attend the vaccine clinic to meet with many of the employees who will be vaccinated.

The demand for second doses is currently using up most of the vaccine made available from the state, limiting the number of additional appointments that can made for those needing their fist dose, said Rosilma Romero, assistant clinical director for nursing at the health center. The federal initiative creates more opportunities for eligible people to get vaccinated.

Lori Lewicki, chief pharmacy officer at the health center, organized the clinic and has provided vaccine clinics at the health center for other local agencies including the Holyoke Senior Center and an area housing agency.

This has been an exciting way to use the resources of the pharmacy and our staff. Our programing is built around the integration of pharmacy and medical care, and this effort puts us directly on the front lines in the Covid battle, she said.

To date, Holyoke Health Center has provided more than 3,000 vaccine doses to its staff, patients, first responders and others.

Related content:
All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of all creation. May the salutations of Allah, His peace and blessings be upon our beloved Prophet, Muhammad, his family, his companions and his true followers until the Last Day  then to proceed:

Dear brothers and sisters, without any doubt, Ramadan is one of the noblest months in Islamic year. It is the month where Muslims change their regular routine, turn towards prayers seeking forgiveness, and seek the blessings and mercy of Allah Almighty for the rest of the year.

Respected brothers and sisters, in the month of Ramadan, the goal of a Muslim is to make the best use of the month and seek as much blessings and mercy as possible and refrain from all such activities that spoil the fast and somehow make a Muslim lose all the reward and blessings, which he or she had earned.

Our beloved Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) said in His Hadith:

When the month of Ramadan starts, the gates of the heaven are opened and the gates of Hell are closed and the devils are chained. [Bukhari]

My beloved people, from this Hadith of Prophet (Peace be upon him), it is clear that in Ramadan there is no Satan (Shaitan), therefore, the element of luring towards evil is missing, thus, the chances of doing and being good increase. Therefore, if there is something bad that occurs from a Muslim, it is his or her personal doing.

Therefore, it is imperative that during Ramadan a Muslim refrains from all such acts that are not worthy of fasting and are mistakes that should not be committed during the fast as follows:

1. Avoid Anger: The first thing that a Muslim needs to avoid during Ramadan is anger. It is the root cause of all the evils and the outcome of it is never good. When angry the judgment of a person gets clouded and he or she is not able to see clearly, and in such unclear situation a person commits mistakes that for which a person has to feel ashamed or repent upon later on. Moreover, one of the essences of fasting in Ramadan is that it teaches a Muslim to be patient and humble, which are the virtues which when present cause the vice of anger to flee. Therefore, it is more than imperative that a Muslim resorts towards patience and tolerance instead of getting angry during Ramadan. This anger leaves to hurting other people emotionally, which definitely is not a good deed and should be avoided during Ramadan. Also, when you feel like getting angry, remember the noble Prophet Muhammad (SAW)s advice of seeking refuge from Allah. The Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) said:

I know a word which, if only he would say it, this (anger) would leave him. If he said, Auzu billahi min al-shaitan (I seek refuge with Allah from the Shaitan),, this [anger] would leave him. [Reported by al-Bukhari]

In addition, start concentration upon the Special Deeds of Our Prophet Muhammad (SAW) in Ramadan which would ultimately drive your anger away.

2. Sleeping All The Day: Each and every moment of Ramadan is precious and a Muslim must make full use of it by praising and praying to Allah Almighty in the maximum time possible. Although the sleep at night and a little nap in the afternoon is necessary for the health of the body, however, staying awake all night long and sleeping throughout the day is never a good ploy. In order to avoid the hunger and thirst that develops during the day, some Muslims try staying awake during the night so that they could sleep through the day. This is wrong and against what fasting teaches us. The thirst and hunger during fast helps us understand what the less fortunate people and the needy go through, therefore, if one does not feel all that, then the essence of Ramadan is lost. Hence, it is imperative that a Muslim keeps fast whilst keeping the regular routine intact and continuous.

3. Fasting Without Prayer: This usually happens in cases when Muslims stay awake during night and spend all day sleeping. Besides praying in fast, the prayers themselves are mandatory upon a Muslim and fasting or no fast, a Muslim is supposed to offer them regularly. Therefore, a day without prayers in normal circumstances is not complete, let alone the day of Ramadan. During Ramadan, a Muslim is supposed to indulge in excessive prayers and seek forgiveness and blessings from Allah Almighty by offering regular players, therefore, if one does not do so and only remains hungry and thirsts throughout the day, then perhaps it is not keeping the fast in the way it deserves to be kept. Therefore, a Muslim must make sure that regular fast is accompanied with the mandatory prayers and Tarawih Salah at night to keep fast with true essence.

4. Not Taking Care Of Speech: Another objective of fasting in Ramadan is to teach a person self control. In a fast, a person is supposed to control his or her desires and urges. Besides these urges and desires, a Muslim is also to control the way he or she is to behave and speak with others. In this regard, one needs to take care of any kind of vulgar speech. Whether its in terms of profane, derogatory or vulgar speech or in the form of backbiting and slandering, a Muslim is to refrain from them all in order to better be able to incorporate the spirit of Islam in his or her personality. Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) says:

Fasting is a shield, so the one who fasts should avoid obscene speech and ignorant behaviour. If someone abuses him or starts to fight with him, he should reply by saying: I am fasting, I am fasting. [Bukhari]

Therefore, a Muslim to observe fast as a shield and refrain from all such sorts of speech that provoke anger or caused derogation of the other person.

5. Taking Ramadan as a ritual: For many of us Ramadan has lost its spirituality and has become more of a ritual than a form of Ibadah (worship). We fast from morning to night like a zombie just because everyone around us is fasting. We forget that its a time to purify our hearts and our souls from all evil.we forget to supplicate, forget to beseech Allah to forgive us and ask Him to save us from the Fire. Sure we stay away from food and drink, but thats about all.

6. Too much stress on food and drink: For some people, the entire month of Ramadan revolves around food. They spend the entire day planning, cooking, shopping and thinking about food, instead of concentrating on the prayer, Quran, Zikr, Supplications, and other acts of Ibadah (worship). All they can think of is food. So much so that they turn the month of fasting into the month of feasting. Come Iftar time, their table is a sight to see, with the multitudes and varieties of food, sweets and drinks. They are missing the very purpose of fasting, and thus, increase in their greed and desires instead of learning to control them. It is also a kind of waste and extravagance. Allah Almighty says:

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..and eat and drink but waste not by extravagance, certainly He (Allah) likes not those who waste by extravagance. [Surah al-Araf: 31]

7. Spending all day cooking: Some of our Muslim sisters (either by their own choice or forced by their husbands) are cooking all day and all night, so that by the end of the day, they are too tired to even pray Isha prayer, let alone pray Tarawih or Tahajjud or even read Quran. This is the month of mercy and forgiveness. So turn off that stove and that cooking gas, and turn on your faith (Iman)!

8. Eating too much: Some people stuff themselves at Suhur until they are ready to burst, because they think this is the way to not feel hungry during the day and others eat at Iftar like there is no tomorrow, trying to make up for the food missed. However, this is completely against the Sunnah of Prophet (Peace be upon him) and against the health guidelines. Moderation is the key to everything good. The Prophet (Peace be upon him) said:

The son of Adam does not fill any vessel worse than his stomach; for the son of Adam a few mouthfuls are sufficient to keep his back straight. If you must fill it, then (fill) one-third for food, one-third for drink and one-third for air. [Tirmidhi]

Too much food distracts a person from many deeds of obedience and Ibadah (worship), makes him lazy and also makes the heart heedless.

9. Sleeping all day: Some people spend their entire day (or a major part of it) sleeping away their fast. Is this what is really required of us during this noble month? These people also are missing the purpose of fasting and are slaves to their desires of comfort and ease. They cannot bear to be awake and face a little hunger or exert a little self-control. For a fasting person to spend most of the day asleep is nothing but, negligence on his part.

10. Wasting time: The month of Ramadan is a precious, precious time. Before we know it, this month of mercy and forgiveness will be over. We should try and spend every moment possible in the worship of Allah so that we can make, the most of this blessing. However, there are some of us who waste away their day playing video games, or worse still, watching bad things in television, movies or even listening to music. Subhanallah! Trying to obey Allah by disobeying Him!

11. Fasting but not giving up evil: Some of us fast but do not give up lying, cursing, fighting, backbiting, etc. and some of us fast but do not give up cheating, stealing, dealing in Haram, buying lotto tickets, selling alcohol, fornication, etc. and all kinds of impermissible things without realising that the purpose of fasting is to not stay away from food and drink; rather the aim behind it is to fear Allah. Allah Almighty says:

O you who believe! Fasting is prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you, that you may become pious. [Surah al-Baqarah: 183]

The Prophet (Peace be upon him) said:

Whoever does not give up false speech and acting upon it, and ignorance, Allah has no need of him giving up his food and drink. [Bukhari]

12. Skipping Suhur: The Prophet (Peace be upon him) said:

Eat suhur for in suhur there is blessing. [Bukhari and Muslim]

And he (Peace be upon him) said:

The thing that differentiates between our fasting and the fasting of the People of the Book is eating suhur. [Muslim]

13. Missing the golden chance of having your Dua accepted: The prayer of the fasting person is guaranteed to be accepted at the time of breaking fast. The Prophet (Peace be upon him) said:

Three supplications are not rejected: the supplication of a father (to his children), the supplication of a fasting person, and the supplication of a traveler. [Al-Baihaqi]

Instead of sitting down and supplicating at this precious time, some people forego this beautiful chance, and are too busy frying chickens, samosas, talking, setting the food, filling their plates and glasses, etc. Think about it dear brothers and sisters.Is food more important than the chance to have your sins forgiven or the fulfillment of your supplications?

14. Fasting but not praying: The fasting of one who does not pray will not be accepted. This is because not praying constitutes kufr (unbelief) as the Prophet (Peace be upon him) said:

Between a man and shirk and kufr (unbelief) there stands his giving up prayer. [Muslim]

15. Praying only on the night of the 27th: Some people pray only the 27th to seek Lailatul-Qadr, neglecting all the other odd nights, although the Prophet (Peace be upon him) said:

Seek Lailatul-Qadr among the odd numbered nights of the last ten nights of Ramadan. [Bukhari and Muslim]

Dear servants of Allah, in a nutshell, the emphasis or focus of a Muslim during Ramadan should be on gathering as much blessings as possible. In addition, one must take care of the things to do and things to avoid in Ramadan. Therefore, it is imperative that one refrains from any such deeds that spoil the blessings gained and is against the essence and spirit of fasting.

Respected brothers and sisters, the blessed month of Ramadan is around the corner  may Allah Almighty bestow His mercy and blessings upon you and all your families, ameen.

Dear brothers and sisters, this Ramadan, our centre, Nagazi-Uvete Islamic Center will be working on Special Ramadan Programs that you can support as usual. Whether you would like to pay your Zakah, your Sadaqah or your Sadaqatul-Fitr  your Ramadan donations will help us distribute food packs to impoverished families, unprivileged, and provide Suhur and Iftar for orphaned children, and children at our Islamic/Islamiyyah schools.

My beloved people, Alhamdulillah, since Nagazi-Uvete Islamic Center was established, every Ramadan we have been distributing food packs to impoverished families across Kogi State and beyond. These food packs can feed an entire family for a whole month. We make every effort to make sure the food packs are locally sourced. Local sourcing means these food packs not only help families during Ramadan  but also provide sustainable means of living when Ramadan is over. On average, subject to differing local market rates, the estimated cost of a Ramadan Food Pack is almost N50,000. Each pack feeds one family for one month.

The noble month of Ramadan is blessed  it brings families and loved ones together. Ramadan is not the same without our families  but unfortunately this is not a privilege enjoyed by everyone. This is why we are steadfast in providing Suhur and Iftar for orphaned children and children at all our Islamic/Islamiyyah schools. For the past twenty years, we have made sure that, especially during Ramadan, no child is left to go hungry.

And alhamdulillah, our work and appeals do not come to an end with the sighting of the moon  with your support, we can improve lives on a daily basis. Nagazi-Uvete Islamic Center is a strong supporter of development in education, healthcare, practical skills and means to earn a living. Whether its a training the teachers, Fair Trade, or Community Organisations, have a look and see how your Ramadan donation could support the less fortunate.

Ramadan, for many of us, is a few hours of feeling the pangs of hunger, but for many children and adults around the world  hunger is a daily fact.

Please do donate generously during this blessed month.

FISABILILLAH! FISABILILLAH!! FISABILILLAH!!!

Our beloved Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) said:

Whoever relieves his brother of a hardship from the hardships of this world, Allah shall relieve him of a hardship from the hardships of the Day of Judgement. And whoever makes things easy for a person in difficulty, Allah will ease for him in this world and the Next. Allah is forever aiding a servant so long as he is in the aid of his brother. [Authentic Hadith]

May Allah Almighty bestow His kindness upon you, and reward you for helping to relieve the hardship of our brothers and sisters, ameen.

Account details:

 Account number: 0048647196

 Account name: Murtala Muhammed

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May Allah send His Salah and Salam upon our noble Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him).

And all praises and thanks are due to Allah alone, Lord of the worlds. May the peace, blessings and salutations of Allah be upon our noble Messenger, Muhammad, and upon his family, his Companions and his true and sincere followers.

And I pray, May Allah grant us the opportunity to witness this coming month of Ramadan in good health, ameen.

Murtadha Muhammad Gusau is the Chief Imam of Nagazi-Uvete Jumuah and the late Alhaji Abdur-Rahman Okenes Mosques, Okene, Kogi State, Nigeria. He can be reached via: gusauimam@gmail.com or +2348038289761.

This Jumuah Khutbah (Friday sermon) was prepared for, delivery today, Friday, Shaaban 12, 1442 AH (March 26, 2021).
SAGINAW, MI  A former Bay City resident with a lengthy criminal record is newly charged with a life offense for allegedly stealing property from a Saginaw Township Menards at knifepoint.

Saginaw County District Judge Terry L. Clark on Friday, March 26, arraigned 26-year-old Joshua A. Aldrich on one count of armed robbery. The judge set Aldrichs bond at $50,000 cash-surety or 10 percent.

The charge stems from Aldrich visiting the Menards at 5806 State St. on the afternoon of Wednesday, March 24. A loss prevention officer approached Aldrich when he suspected him of shoplifting, only for Aldrich to pull a knife and threaten him, Saginaw Township Police Chief Donald F. Pussehl Jr. previously told MLive.

Aldrich fled the store on foot, with several citizens watching as he discarded some clothes near a U.S. Postal Service office at 2130 Wieneke Road. The civilians collected the scrapped clothing, Pussehl said.

Other civilians followed Aldrich, keeping eyes on him until police arrived and they directed them to his whereabouts. Officers found Aldrich near the old Brockway Roller Rink at 5550 Brockway Road, Pussehl said.

The officers recovered a knife and a gas gauge stolen from Menards on Aldrich, Pussehl said.

Were very appreciate for (the civilians) help and keeping an eye on him, Pussehl said. Officers were close by and thankfully were able to take him into custody within a short time.

Aldrich, who now resides in Saginaw, has a substantial history in Bay County. In July 2016, he allegedly wielded a knife as he stole a ladder from a neighbor. After he pleaded guilty to some resulting charges, he was sentenced to two concurrent terms of 93 days in jail, with an additional 338 days deferred plus two years probation under the countys Swift and Sure Sanctions Probation Program, an intensive system.

In May 2013, Bay County Circuit Judge Harry P. Gill sentenced Aldrich to one year in jail, plus time in a Michigan Department of Corrections boot camp. That sentence resulted from Aldrich stealing items from a dollar store, a crime for which his mother served as his getaway driver, according to authorities.

When Aldrich committed that theft, he was serving two terms of probation on two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon. Aldrichs probationary terms were through the Holmes Youthful Trainee Act, which allows a judge to place a defendant between the ages of 17 and 24 in jail or on probation without a conviction on their record. If the defendant successfully completes the terms of the judges sentence, he or she avoids having a criminal record.

Aldrichs record includes numerous convictions of retail fraud, assaulting police, and tampering with an electronic monitoring device.

In October 2017, a Bay County judge sentenced Aldrich to 18 months to five years in prison. Aldrich is also on probation through the Michigan Department of Corrections through Oct. 10, 2022.

Aldrich is due back in court for a preliminary examination at 10 a.m. on April 15.

Read more:

Civilians help police locate suspect in armed robbery at Saginaw Township Menards

Repeat resident of Bay County Jail gets time for stealing ladder

Bay City repeat offender back in jail on charges of stealing ladder with knife
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP)  Wyoming lawmakers rejected a measure that would have required candidates to win a majority of votes in primary elections to avoid runoffs  a change endorsed by Donald Trump Jr. in his campaign to undermine Republican U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney.

The state Senate defeated the proposal with a 15-14 vote Wednesday after lawmakers raised concerns over the cost of adding more elections and the burden that doing so would put on voters and local officials.

Trump Jr. called for Cheney's defeat after she voted to impeach President Donald Trump over the storming of the U.S. Capitol by a mob of his supporters.

A primary runoff for Cheney could have consolidated Republican opposition to her re-election. She didn't take a position on the proposed election law changes.

The state GOP central committee censured Cheney in February for her impeachment vote. But for the most part, Wyoming's Republican elected officials have continued to support her.

Two Republican state legislators - Sen. Anthony Bouchard, of Cheyenne, and Rep. Chuck Gray, of Casper  already have announced they are running against Cheney, Wyoming's lone congresswoman. Bouchard voted for changing the primary.

In her first run for U.S. House in 2016, Cheney won a nine-way Republican primary with just short of 40% of the vote while the runner-up got 22%.

"That's not exactly what you would call a mandate," said Sen. Bo Biteman, a Republican and sponsor of the election bill. Biteman on the Senate floor listed Cheney's race and others in which Republican victors got less than half the vote, the Wyoming Tribune Eagle reported.

"There's a lot of people out there that don't think that that's right. They want to send our nominee off to the general election with a mandate of the majority of the party's support."

But the cost of the measure was a turnoff for lawmakers confronting declining state revenue from Wyoming's key coal, oil and gas sectors, which have led to steep state and local budget cuts.

One lawmaker said his constituents were "appalled" that could be subjected to more elections.

"I haven't really heard a great reason for changing 130 years of history yet," said Sen. Ed Cooper, R-Ten Sleep. "I think there may be merit to it, but there may not be."

"Let's do it right, let's do an interim study," he added.
Just eight months after hammering TPG and Vodafone together, a deal that took years of planning and a protracted court case to happen, reclusive billionaire David Teoh has relinquished the chairmans seat, leaving the door open to a radical restructure of the telco.

Its a muted, and perhaps fitting, exit of one of Australias most reclusive business leaders, who was forced into making a public appearance in 2019 in a bid to rescue the tie-up with Vodafone. The circumstances leading to Teohs farewell remain just as mysterious as the manner in which he led TPG -from inception 35 years ago to the successful merger last year.

Outgoing TPG chairman David Teoh. Credit:Arinseh Housipan

His abrupt exit wasnt just a shock to the market, which sent TPG shares tumbling almost 8 per cent, but also caught TPGs board and staff on the hop.

A source close to the situation says that even Teohs closest confidante on TPG Telecoms board, Robert Millner (the chairman of Washington H Soul Pattinson), was unaware of the move.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-26 20:16:56|Editor: huaxia

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RIYADH, March 26 (Xinhua) -- The Saudi Defense Ministry said on Friday that the kingdom saw a series of attacks from Yemen's Houthi rebels the previous day, including a projectile that hit an oil facility in the southwestern city of Jazan and caused a fire.

The Saudi forces also intercepted eight bomb-laden drones and three missiles on Thursday, said the ministry spokesman Turki Al-Malki.

He said the recent attacks from the Houthi movement, which now controls the northern part of Yemen, show the militia group has no intention to accept any peace proposal to end years of bloodshed in the country.

The attacks came days after Saudi Arabia proposed a comprehensive cease-fire across Yemen under the supervision of the United Nations.

The kingdom will undertake all necessary, deterrent measures to safeguard its national assets and put an end to these assaults, the spokesman said.

Friday marks the sixth anniversary of the military intervention of the Saudi-led Arab coalition in Yemen.

Yemen has been mired in a civil war since late 2014, when the Iran-backed Houthis seized control of several northern provinces and forced the internationally-recognized government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi out of the capital Sanaa. Enditem
Prince Albert II of Monaco recently weighed in on the controversial interview that Britains Prince Harry and Meghan Markle gave to Oprah Winfrey. In an interview with BBC, Prince Albert said that he found the couples public display of dissatisfaction "inappropriate". He believed that Prince Harry and Meghan should have spoken within the intimate quarters of the family and further added that it doesnt really have to be laid out in the public sphere like that.

Prince Albert acknowledged the pressure the couple were under but he also said that the interview bothered him a little bit. He said that he can understand where Prince Harry and Meghan were coming from, however, he added that he thinks it wasnt the appropriate forum to be able to have these kinds of discussions. As for the Duke of Sussex, Prince Albert said that he wishes him the best in his life outside of the royal family. He said that it is a difficult world out there and he hopes that Prince Harry can have the judgement and wisdom to make the right choices.

Prince Harry, Meghan Markles interview

During the Oprah interview, two of the most significant allegations Meghan made concerned the palaces alleged indifference to her mental health struggles as well as her claim that unnamed palace officials expressed concern over how dark their son Archies skin would be while she was pregnant. In the interview, Meghan, however, had refrained from naming the specific royal who had hurled racial slurs against her son alleging that it will be 'too damaging' for that person.

Meanwhile, Oprah and Meghan were even joined by Prince Harry, where they spoke about moving to the US and what they have decided for their future plans. The Duke of Sussex revealed that his father Prince Charles had literally cut him off, and "stopped answering [his] calls. Harry even added that upon a number of occasions he and the Queen had the awkward conversation about how the couple could not be invited to the Sandringham House, a villa of Queens, not citing the reasons. He speculated that his grandmother's advisers instigated her against his wife and offered bad advice.

However, in a statement, Buckingham Palace insisted that it took the couples claims very seriously and further pointedly added that recollections may vary, suggesting some allegations are disputed. "The whole family is saddened to learn the full extent of how challenging the last few years have been for Harry and Meghan. The issues raised, particularly that of race, are concerning. While some recollections may vary, they are taken very seriously and will be addressed by the family privately. Harry, Meghan and Archie will always be much-loved family members," the statement said.

(Image: AP)




TWO men "caught red-handed" in a cocaine-dealing operation have been jailed for a year.

Jason McCrory (33), of Cumberland Close in Dundonald, and Lee Gardner (34), of Lavinia Square in south Belfast, will spend 12 months on licence after they are released from prison.

Both pleaded guilty to possessing cocaine with intent to supply.

McCrory received concurrent sentences for possessing 2,500 of criminal property, possessing a wooden baton and having a quantity of herbal cannabis.

Belfast Crown Court was told the PSNI carried out a planned stop of a car containing the defendants on Ravenhill Avenue in east Belfast on March 23.

Gardner got out, ran off and discarded a bag of white powder between two parked cars. It was later found to contain 1,680 worth of 77% purity cocaine.

A search of the car uncovered the baton and a plastic bag containing sandwich bags and a set of scales.

Police recovered 2,500 in cash and a quantity of herbal cannabis during a follow-up search of McCrorys home.

A dealer list containing 10 names and the debts they owed was found in Gardners bedroom.

During interview, he denied any knowledge of the dealer list and said he was not involved in the supply of drugs.

Gardner also denied discarding the bag of cocaine, insisting four police witnesses were "mistaken.

He later admitted being involved in supplying drugs and said the dealer list was his.

He told probation services the cocaine was bought ahead of lockdown over fears the restrictions would hit supply.

The court was told Gardner had moved in with his mother after a "confirmed paramilitary threat" forced him to leave his partner and their three children.

McCrory initially told police the scales found in the car were for cooking, that he had saved the 2,500 and that the baton belonged to his son.

Passing sentence, Judge Sandra Crawford said: "In serious offending of this type, there is a need that the sentencing regime deter those tempted to deal in drugs by the imposition of an immediate custodial sentence, save for exceptional circumstances."

She added that since she could find no such circumstances, she could not suspended the sentences.




China has announced sanctions against organizations and individuals in the United Kingdom over what Beijing called "maliciously spread lies and disinformation" over Chinas treatment of its Muslim Uyghur minority.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement on March 26 it sanctioned four entities and nine individuals who have been vocal critics of China in the U.K., including five British lawmakers.

The move came in retaliation for measures taken by the British government this week over human rights abuses in China's northwest Xinjiang region.

U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said those sanctioned were "shining a light" on "gross human rights violations being perpetrated against Uyghur Muslims.

"Freedom to speak out in opposition to abuse is fundamental and I stand firmly with them," he wrote in a tweet.

Locked Up In China: The Plight Of Xinjiang's Muslims Radio Free Radio/Radio Liberty is partnering with its sister organization, Radio Free Asia, to highlight the plight of Muslims living in China's western province of Xinjiang.

Activists and UN rights experts say at least 1 million Uyghurs and other mostly Muslim minorities have been held in camps in Xinjiang, where authorities are also accused of forcibly sterilizing women and imposing forced labor.

China has repeatedly denied all accusations of abuse and says its camps offer vocational training and are needed to fight extremism.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry said China is firmly determined to safeguard its national sovereignty, security, and development interests, and warned Britain not to go further down the wrong path. Otherwise, China will resolutely make further reactions."

The sanctioned parties and their immediate family members are barred from entering China -- including Hong Kong and Macau -- their property in the country is frozen, and Chinese citizens and institutions are banned from dealings with them.

The response by Beijing follows similar sanctions imposed on the European Union, which was part of a coordinated action on March 22, along with the U.K., the United States, and Canada, against Beijing over what the countries call human rights violations against the Uyghur Muslim minorities in Xinjiang.

Jo Smith Finley, a Uyghur expert at Newcastle University, reacted on Twitter to being listed among the individuals sanctioned.

"It seems I am to be sanctioned by the PRC (Chinese) government for speaking the truth about the #Uyghur tragedy in #Xinjiang, and for having a conscience," she said. "Well, so be it. I have no regrets for speaking out, and I will not be silenced."

With reporting by Reuters and AFP
Insights on operationalizing COVID-19 monoclonal antibody treatment

PITTSBURGH, March 26, 2021 - As evidence mounts supporting the use of monoclonal antibody treatment to reduce hospitalizations and deaths from COVID-19, UPMC and University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine physician-scientists are sharing the health system's experience administering the life-saving medication.

In a report published today in the scientific journal Open Forum Infectious Diseases, the UPMC/Pitt team shares how it quickly established the largest and most equitable distribution network for COVID-19 monoclonal antibody infusions across Pennsylvania. The team today also reported preliminary results confirming the treatment reduced likelihood of hospitalization and death in UPMC patients who received it.

"When administered soon after infection, this treatment can help certain people fight the virus and keep them from progressing to serious illness and death," said Ryan Bariola, M.D., associate professor in Pitt's Division of Infectious Diseases and director of the UPMC Community Hospital Antimicrobial Stewardship Efforts (CHASE) Program. "But administering these infusions comes with logistical challenges, so many health care providers opt not to offer the treatment. UPMC overcame these challenges, and we're dedicated to sharing what we learned with other medical centers, clinicians and the public."

Monoclonal--"mono" means "one" and "clonal" means "copy"--antibodies are a type of medication that seeks the COVID-19 virus in a person's body and blocks it from infecting their cells and replicating. Since late 2020, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration has granted Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) to three monoclonal antibody treatments--one from Regeneron and two from Eli Lilly--which are given through a one-time IV infusion. This is the same type of emergency authorization given to the COVID-19 vaccines being administered in the U.S.

This therapy is most helpful when given early, especially within 10 days of infection in people at highest risk of complications from COVID-19.

The U.S. supply of monoclonal antibodies is taxpayer-funded and given without charge to the institutions that administer it. Preparing for high patient demand, UPMC created a weighted lottery to ensure fair allocation of its supply. However, demand was never high enough to trigger use of the lottery.

"This lower use surprised us, and we're still debating why demand was less than expected," said co-author Donald M. Yealy, M.D., UPMC chief medical officer and professor and chair of Pitt's Department of Emergency Medicine. "It likely had to do with so few health care providers investing in the infrastructure, staff and processes needed to administer the drug. This created lower awareness among both patients and clinicians about the life-saving benefits of monoclonal antibodies."

Initially, eligibility was limited to patients 65 years or older, or to those with a body mass index of at least 35 because those were the people studies had indicated were most likely to benefit. UPMC has since expanded eligibility to younger people with certain medical conditions that place them at higher risk for complications from COVID-19, including children, in compliance with the EUA.

To date, UPMC has treated more than 1,000 patients with monoclonal antibodies at 16 sites across the communities it serves in Pennsylvania and New York. It also provides home infusion services when needed. UPMC ensures that all proper infection prevention protocols are followed, and specifically prevents COVID-19 patients from mixing with other patients at the infusion centers.

"Monoclonal antibodies are a crucial part of the COVID-19 treatment spectrum, bridging the gap between preventive measures--such as masks, social distancing and vaccination--and the various therapies for hospitalized COVID-19 patients," said senior author Mark Schmidhofer, M.D., professor of medicine at Pitt and medical director of UPMC's Coronary Intensive Care Unit. "It's a potentially life-saving option and can keep people out of the hospital if prevention fails."

###

Patients and providers can find out more about monoclonal antibody treatment at UPMC by visiting upmc.com/AntibodyTreatment or calling 866-804-5251.

Additional authors of this research are Erin McCreary, Pharm.D., Tina Khadem, Pharm.D., Graham Snyder, M.D., M.S., Richard Wadas, M.D., David A. Nace, M.D., M.P.H., and Douglas B. White, M.D., M.A.S., all of Pitt and UPMC.

To read this release online or share it, visit https:/ / www. upmc. com/ media/ news/ 032621-bariola-mab-ofid .

Additional Contact:

Danielle Sampsell

Office: 814-889-2622

Mobile: 412-420-9818

E-mail: SampsellD@upmc.edu

About UPMC

A $23 billion health care provider and insurer, Pittsburgh-based UPMC is inventing new models of patient-centered, cost-effective, accountable care. The largest nongovernmental employer in Pennsylvania, UPMC integrates 92,000 employees, 40 hospitals, 700 doctors' offices and outpatient sites, and a 4 million-member Insurance Services Division, the largest medical insurer in western Pennsylvania. In the most recent fiscal year, UPMC contributed $1.4 billion in benefits to its communities, including more care to the region's most vulnerable citizens than any other health care institution, and paid more than $800 million in federal, state, and local taxes. Working in close collaboration with the University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences, UPMC shares its clinical, managerial, and technological skills worldwide through its innovation and commercialization arm, UPMC Enterprises, and through UPMC International. U.S. News & World Report consistently ranks UPMC Presbyterian Shadyside among the nation's best hospitals in many specialties and ranks UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh on its Honor Roll of America's Best Children's Hospitals. For more information, go to UPMC.com.??? ??????

About the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

As one of the nation's leading academic centers for biomedical research, the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine integrates advanced technology with basic science across a broad range of disciplines in a continuous quest to harness the power of new knowledge and improve the human condition. Driven mainly by the School of Medicine and its affiliates, Pitt has ranked among the top 10 recipients of funding from the National Institutes of Health since 1998. In rankings recently released by the National Science Foundation, Pitt ranked fifth among all American universities in total federal science and engineering research and development support.

Likewise, the School of Medicine is equally committed to advancing the quality and strength of its medical and graduate education programs, for which it is recognized as an innovative leader, and to training highly skilled, compassionate clinicians and creative scientists well-equipped to engage in world-class research. The School of Medicine is the academic partner of UPMC, which has collaborated with the University to raise the standard of medical excellence in Pittsburgh and to position health care as a driving force behind the region's economy. For more information about the School of Medicine, see http://www. medschool. pitt. edu .

http://www. upmc. com/ media

This story has been published on: 2021-03-26. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Sinn Fein has rejected the nomination of Barry McElduff for selection as a candidate for West Tyrone in next year's Assembly election, according to reports.

It is understood that Mr McElduff had consented to a cumann putting his name forward as one of the party's three candidates for the poll.

But the Ulster Herald reported that Sinn Fein said it was unable to accept the nomination of a male member where a sitting female MLA was also seeking the nomination.

Mr McElduff declined to comment when contacted by the Belfast Telegraph. Sinn Fein was also approached for comment.

The West Tyrone selection convention takes place next week with delegates expected to ratify Nicola Brogan, Maoliosa McHugh, and Declan McAleer.

Mr McElduff sits on Fermanagh and Omagh Council. He resigned as an MP in 2018 amidst controversy after a video he posted of himself balancing a Kingsmill loaf on his head. He apologised for the hurt caused but said he didn't know it was the anniversary of the IRA atrocity.
One in 25 Britons hospitalised with Covid since December were vaccinated, No10's scientific advisers have found.

Analysis by SAGE shows 1,800 out of 43,000 patients admitted with the virus since December 8 had received at least one dose of either Pfizer or AstraZeneca's jab.

The vast majority caught the coronavirus shortly before their appointment or in the fortnight afterwards, before immunity had kicked in.

Researchers who carried out the study reiterated that the findings in no way should be viewed as proof that the vaccines do not work as well as hoped.

Instead, they believe people had taken unnecessary risks after getting their vaccine, or had caught the virus while travelling to and from vaccination centres.

In a meeting on March 12, SAGE called for better Government communication about how long it takes for the jab to work - normally around a fortnight or more.

About 300 of the patients were hospitalised 14 days after their first dose, with SAGE highlighting that 'no vaccine is 100 per cent effective'.

They were mostly over-80s, who are the most vulnerable to Covid and who struggle most to fight off the infection.

The expert group said going forward it will be analysing whether any of the cases are linked to other Covid variants feared to make vaccines less effective.

Government analysis has shown both Pfizer and AstraZeneca's vaccines to be more than 90 per cent effective at reducing deaths and hospitalisations after both doses.

One in 25 Britons hospitalised with Covid since December had been vaccinated, the Government's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies revealed today. The number of Covid hospital admissions among vaccinated people is shown in blue, versus non-vaccinated in red

Analysis by SAGE shows 1,800 out of 43,000 patients admitted with the virus since December 8 had received at least one dose of either Pfizer or AstraZeneca's jabs. The graphs highlight how just a fraction of overall admissions are among jabbed people

The vast majority of hospital patients in the past few months caught the virus shortly before their appointment or in the few days afterwards, before immunity had kicked in

SAGE was able to work this by working backwards from date of admission. The incubation period of the virus is at least five days

Efficacy is about 85 and 80 per cent twelve weeks after the first injection, and they prevent about 60 per cent of people from spreading the disease.

The new paper, published today as part of the latest tranche of studies used by SAGE to advise ministers, looked at a total of 42,788 Covid hospital patients up to March 5.

Of those who fell ill after vaccination, the average time between getting their jab and being admitted to hospital was five days.

Given it usually takes five days after infection to fall ill with Covid, it suggests most had become infected shortly before or around the time they got their jab.

SAGE said it believed many people would have taken unnecessary risks after getting the vaccine, by presuming they were protected.

But they accepted many vulnerable people may have inadvertently been exposed travelling to and from their appointment.

Some vaccinated patients were also admitted for non-coronavirus reasons and were asymptomatic but later identified as PCR positive.

Writing in the study, the experts said: 'Elderly and vulnerable people who had been shielding, may have inadvertently been exposed and infected either through the end-to-end process of vaccination, or shortly after vaccination through behavioural changes where they wrongly assume they are immune.'

The tiny number of people admitted with the virus more than two weeks after being vaccinated were over the age of 80.

People in this age bracket are the most vulnerable to Covid and are among the least likely to be able to mount an immune response against it.

Minutes from its 83rd meeting on March 11 show SAGE said: 'The observation that a significant number of people developing symptoms within a few days of a first dose may suggest some behaviour change following vaccination (and before immunity has developed).

'It is important therefore that communications around vaccination reinforce the need for safe behaviours to be maintained.

'It may also be the case that some infections occur during the end-to-end process of vaccination (i.e. including journeys to and from vaccination).

'Many of those included in the study would have been vaccinated at a time when community prevalence was very high.

'Although the Covid vaccines in use in the UK are highly effective, no vaccine is 100 per cent effective, and some people will be hospitalised even after completing their full vaccination schedule (high confidence).

'It will be particularly important to monitor the prevalence of different variants present in this group by sequencing to understand any potential immune escape.'


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Northern Berkshire Habitat for Humanity plans to build a single family home on this Maple Street building lot, next door to a Cole Avenue home, left, that the non-profit is in the process of finishing.

Williamstown Community Preservation Committee Votes Funding Requests

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass.  After one of its four applicants withdrew its independent request, the Community Preservation Committee was able to give all four what they sought for fiscal 2022.

The committee Wednesday voted to send the annual town meeting three requests covering four entities for Community Preservation Act funds.

One of the three, a request for $200,000 from the town's Affordable Housing Trust, now includes a commitment from the trustees to grant $40,000 to Northern Berkshire Habitat for Humanity.

The local chapter of Habitat for Humanity had in December submitted an application for $80,000 to fund a project manager for two years to oversee the construction of homes on land purchased by the Affordable Housing Trust for that purpose.

But the $80,000 ask, coupled with three other applications before the CPC, left the committee with more requests than it had available CPA funds in FY22. And the committee faced the prospect of either underfunding one or more applicants or denying an applicant.

Trust Chair Tom Sheldon suggested a compromise, Town Manager Jason Hoch told the committee on Thursday: the Trust added $40,000 to its request for FY22 with the understanding that either the it or Habitat will be back with a request for $40,000 for the same purpose in the FY23 funding cycle.

Hoch noted that the nonprofit may not need those funds if it completes a purchase-and-sales agreement on a home nearing completion on Cole Avenue and can use that money to fund the position in question.

As for the agreement between the town's housing trust and the non-profit, that is consistent both with the practice and purpose of the Affordable Housing Trust, which granted to the nonprofit the land where it is building the homes in the first place, Hoch said.

The total request from the Trust that town meeting will see from the Affordable Housing Trust includes $200,000 in new CPA funds, of which $40,000 will pass through to Habitat for Humanity, and the release of $18,722 in previously restricted funds which the trustees are asking to convert to unrestricted funds.

The committee also unanimously recommended to town meeting that it grant $50,000 to the Williamstown HIstorical Museum for a project to disassemble a historic barn on Green River Road and reassemble the barn on the museum's property at the site of the former South Center School on New Ashford Road (Route 7).

But the committee split, 5-3, on the third active request before it on Wednesday evening.

The majority favored sending town meeting voters a $56,000 request from Williamstown Rural Lands Foundation to support an Agricultural Preservation Restriction on 18 acres owned by the Galusha family, operating as Fairfields Farm. Rural Lands needs the town to help provide the local match required for the APR; the bulk of the price tag, $327,450, is coming from the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources.

Jane Patton, who occupies the Select Board's seat on the committee, used the platform to question the town's prioritization of land in conservation over other potential uses.

"I am all for conservation, 100 percent, all in," Patton said. "I keep finding myself coming back to this notion of the recreational space available in Williamstown and what's suitable for that. It seems like that inventory, if you will, is ever shrinking. Just in my time in Williamstown, we have put so much in conservation that it starts to feel like we're boxed out.

"As we take more and more options away by putting all this land in conservation, we're completely missing the recreation piece."

Susan Puddester, who represents the Planning Board, agreed, saying 50 percent of the town's land is in conservation or otherwise protected so that it cannot be used for anything else.

"That's a big concern for me," Puddester said. "We can't see what's going to happen in 50 years or 100 years. I have the same concern as Jane but for other reasons."

Hoch, a voting member of the committee by statute, said the particular parcel in question is not very usable for other purposes, except perhaps to create a couple of single-family building lots. It is that development pressure that drove the Galushas to seek an APR, which the commonwealth supports.

"It's on a corner served by gravel roads," Hoch said. "There is no town water service there. It's a piece of land that has a pretty reasonable slope down to the river in a short stretch.  It doesn't have the carry capacity for more than [a couple of single family homes] without major infrastructure to support that corner."

Nate Budington, who represents the Historical Commission, argued that the parcel's value as prime agricultural land is worth preserving.

"This is not a rocky hillside where cattle are grazing," Budington said. "This kind of land, once you lose it, you never get it back."

Budington, Hoch, Melissa Cragg, Philip McKnight and Peter Mehlin voted in favor of the request. Joe Finnegan joined Patton and Puddester in voting no.
By Barbara Goldberg

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York City plans to deploy an all-Asian undercover police team and expand community outreach in more than 200 languages to combat a rise in hate crimes against Asians, authorities said on Thursday.

"If you are going to commit a hate crime in New York City, we will find you," New York City Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said in unveiling the two-pronged plan to fight bias crimes.

"We are not going to tolerate anyone being targeted because of the color of their skin, the religion they worship, their sexual preference or anything else," Shea said.

Just days after a spate of assaults on Asian-Americans in New York City last weekend, Shea said he was ramping up the NYPD's undercover force with plain-clothed officers, all of them of Asian descent. Starting this weekend, they will patrol subways, grocery stores and other locations to stem anti-Asian incidents that total 26 so far this year, including 12 assaults, police said.

"The next person you target through speech or menacing activity may be a plain-clothed New York police officer - so think twice," Shea said.

The 26 incidents so far have resulted in seven arrests, police said. Those incidents included 12 assaults so far this year, three of them last weekend, police said. By comparison, at this time last year, there were no assaults reported against Asian-Americans, police said.

Because hate crimes too often go unreported, now anyone dialing 911 can utter a single English word for their native language - such as Mandarin - and police operators will help access translators who speak more than 200 languages, police said.

Advocates tied the surge in hate crimes to blame that has been placed on the Asian-American Pacific Islander community for the coronavirus spread. The community reported a spike in violence since March 2020, when then-President Donald Trump started repeatedly referring to COVID-19 as the "China virus" and "kung flu," which some said inflamed anti-Asian sentiment.

Story continues

Hate crimes against Asian Americans rose by 149% in 2020 in 16 major cities compared with 2019, according to the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism. Violent incidents included people being slashed with a box cutter, lit on fire and verbal harassment, according to testimony at a U.S. congressional hearing on anti-Asian violence convened this month.

The most deadly incident was this month's shooting spree at three Atlanta area spas that left eight people dead, six of them Asian women. A 21-year-old white man has been charged with multiple counts of murder, and police investigating motives have not ruled out the possibility that the attacks were provoked, at least in part, by anti-immigrant or anti-Asian sentiments.

(Reporting by Barbara Goldberg; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)
All lorry drivers entering England face compulsory Covid-19 tests to fight the threat of new coronavirus variants - despite fears the scheme could disrupt food supplies.

Hauliers, border force officials and other workers have been exempt from testing when entering the UK, but Whitehall is set to announce a change this weekend.

Those arriving will have to take a customised test once they are in Britain, rather than at the borders, to avoid delays that could lead to empty shelves in supermarkets and shops.

Despite concerns over delays, Boris Johnson said on Wednesday that the Government 'can't rule out tougher measures'.

French officials started testing lorry drivers in Dover, before they crossed The Channel, in December last year. This week they have dropped the scheme, while the British Government looks set to adopt a similar one to curb the spread of Covid variants

A Government source told The Telegraph: 'The potential impact is hard to quantify but there is a concern that an inbound testing regime will introduce an additional burden that could cause significant points of friction.'

Those staying longer than two days will have to have a test within 48 hours of arriving and then every 72 hours, with fines similar to the 2,000 penalties for travellers who fail to test during home quarantine.

Border Force staff engaged in cross Channel work and similar arrangements for those working on trains and ferries in the area will have to take three mandatory tests a week.

Rather than be tested at Calais and risk cross-Channel delays, the Government is expected to test hauliers in England. Those staying longer than two days will have to have a test within 48 hours of arriving and then every 72 hours

Concerns are growing about the spread of the South African and Brazilian variants of coronavirus, with Home Affairs Committee chairwoman Yvette Cooper on Wednesday asking why hauliers coming from France were not being tested given the country has up to 3,000 cases of the two strains.

Speaking on the same day, Mr Johnson admitted he was considering tougher restrictions for France, telling the Liaison Committee of senior MPs that 'we have to look at the situation at the Channel' and 'we can't rule out tougher measures and we will put them in if necessary'.

When France required the testing of hauliers crossing the Channel in December it led to thousands of lorries being stranded in Kent while the arrangements were put in place.

Three months on from the delays, France this week lifted its requirement for lorry drivers arriving from Britain to present a negative Covid test.

Boris Johnson admitted he was considering tougher restrictions for France, telling the Liaison Committee of senior MPs that 'we have to look at the situation at the Channel' and 'we can't rule out tougher measures and we will put them in if necessary'

Mr Johnson on Wednesday acknowledged there would be 'very serious disruption' involved in any curtailing of cross-Channel trade.

'This country depends very largely for the food in our shops, for the medicines that we need on that trade flowing smoothly,' he said.

'We will take a decision, no matter how tough, to interrupt that trade, to interrupt those flows, if we think that it is necessary to protect public health and to stop new variants coming in.

'It may be that we have to do that very soon.'

The comments were made amid reports Mr Johnson is under pressure from England's chief medical officer Chris Whitty and his deputy Jonathan Van-Tam to implement tougher border controls.

Logistics UK said any testing regime of hauliers arriving in the UK from France must be 'proportionate'.

Sarah Laouadi, European policy manager at the trade body, said it was 'worth remembering that drivers are, by the nature of their jobs and thanks to contactless delivery procedures, a very low-risk category - as has been borne out by the testing carried out on drivers since the start of the pandemic - and any testing regime must be proportionate'.

A spokeswoman for the Department for Transport said: 'We are carefully monitoring the increase in cases in Europe and will keep all measures under review as we cautiously remove restrictions throughout our roadmap.'




[This unedited press release is made available courtesy of Gamasutra and its partnership with notable game PR-related resource Games Press.]

Project LUMINA (Notes Co., Ltd., Aniplex Inc., and DELiGHTWORKS Inc.) is set to release the 2D fighting game "MELTY BLOOD: TYPE LUMINA" for the PlayStation4, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox One platforms in 2021.



"MELTY BLOOD: TYPE LUMINA", based on the world of "Tsukihime -A piece of blue glass moon-", TYPE-MOON's long-form romantic visual novel, is slated for release in 2021. With a story by Kinoko Nasu and new character designs by Takashi Takeuchi (both of TYPE-MOON), "MELTY BLOOD: TYPE LUMINA" is a 2D fighting game that allows players to utilize the skills of characters from "Tsukihime -A piece of blue glass moon-" in combat. The 2D characters also feature in animated battle scenes.

The new game is developed by French-Bread, the creative collective involved in the original "MELTY BLOOD" series. While staying true to the distinctive features of the classic "MELTY BLOOD" games, "MELTY BLOOD: TYPE LUMINA" has been built from the ground up for the modern gaming landscape, with features including support for HD visuals and a rebuilt fighting system.

"MELTY BLOOD: TYPE LUMINA" is set for worldwide release with support for five languages: Japanese, English, Chinese (simplified and traditional), and Korean. Voice acting is in Japanese only.



Official website: https://meltyblood.typelumina.com/en/



Images:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Yiu7O_06aqWKtw3ZbwVzakhVH1WbvXIS?usp=sharing



Game Overview

Over 10 playable characters will be featured, with each character offering a unique and diverse range of attacks and moves. Each character has a total of 10 different color schemes, and players even have the option of setting up their own custom colors.

Single-player modes are Story, Time Attack, and Survival. In Story mode, players will control their selected character through a series of must-win fights, and witness story events that are unique to that character. Try beating your fastest fight in Time Attack mode, or see how many battles you can endure before your limited health runs out in Survival mode.

While carrying over the classic features of the "Melty Blood" series, the new game's battle system has been rebuilt from the ground up. Features include the "Rapid Beat" system, which allows players to execute combinations with repeated presses of the attack buttons. Actions and systems that make use of new resources are also planned for inclusion.



CONTACT: DELiGHTWORKS Inc., [email protected], +81-3-6416-0685
Former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad gestures after a meeting with Pakatan Harapan coalition leaders at the headquarters of the Peoples Justice Party in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, June 9, 2020.

A senior Malaysian police official revealed on Thursday that his agency had foiled an Islamic State sympathizers plot to kill then-Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad in January 2020.

Police discovered the plot when they arrested Wan Amirul Azlan bin Jalaluddin, the suspected leader of a group called Anshorullah At-Tauhid, on Jan. 6 last year, Azman Omar, the assistant director of counter-terrorism at Special Branch, said during a roundtable discussion in Kuala Lumpur on Islamic extremism.

During interrogation, Wan Amirul admitted that he intended to launch attacks against several government leaders by stabbing them with knives or sharp object as a sign of support for Daesh, Azman said, using another name for the terror group known as Islamic State, or IS.

According to Azman, those targeted officials were Mahathir and three other members of his Pakatan Harapan government: Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng; Attorney-General Tommy Thomas; and Mujahid Yusuf Rawa, minister in charge of religious affairs.

ISs last bastion in Syria fell in March 2019, and its then leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, died during a raid by U.S. Special Forces in October that year.

His death reduced ISs influence and  coupled with strict controls on the Syrian border  foiled the groups new recruitment efforts in Malaysia, Azman said at the discussion. The International Institute of Advanced Islamic Studies Malaysia organized the forum, titled Islam, Radicalism & Extremism in the Age of Pandemic.

The death of Wanndy Jedi and other major characters also broke the spirit of Daesh in Malaysia, he added.

IS member Muhammad Wanndy Mohamad Jedi was on a U.S. government list of global militants, and was the alleged mastermind of a grenade attack on a bar near Kuala Lumpur that injured eight people in June 2016. Police announced in May 2017 that he had been killed in Syria.

Azman also said there were currently 56 Malaysians in Syria, including 19 men, 12 women and 25 children.

Senior police sources, who did not want to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue, told BenarNews that Wan Amirul had worked as a masseur and was arrested in Perak state after his group uploaded video threats against the four government leaders on WhatsApp, the sources said.

Along with Wan Amirul, police arrested five other Anshorullah At-Tauhid suspects, including an Indonesian national, the police sources said. All six suspects were arrested under Malaysias counterterrorism act, SOSMA, the sources said.

Wan Amirul was tried and sentenced to three years in prison after being convicted of engaging in terrorism-related offenses, the sources said, without mentioning dates.

A security source told BenarNews separately that two of the other five suspects were also convicted and sentenced to between 3 and 4 years in prison for possessing items related to terrorism, and three were let go because of insufficient evidence.

The security source said Anshorullah At-Tauhid was a very small group, with no connections whatsoever to Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), a Southeast Asian militant network affiliated with al-Qaeda.

Responding to the revelation by the deputy police counter-terrorism chief, Pakatan Harapan, the coalition that Mahathir led, criticized Muhyiddin Yassin, the then-home minister and current prime minister, for not informing the cabinet about the assassination plot.

[W]e urge Muhyiddin to provide an explanation on this matter immediately, Pakatan, which is now in the opposition, said in a statement posted on Facebook.

JI in Malaysia

JI is a Southeast Asian militant group that authorities in Indonesia say carried out the countrys deadliest terrorist attack to date  twin bombings that killed 202 people in Bali in October 2002  and helped plan the 2003 bombing of the J.W. Marriott hotel in Jakarta that left 12 dead.

At the roundtable discussion, the Special Branchs Azman denied claims by police in the state of Sabah that JI was active in recruiting and raising funds there.

As far as we know, we have no strong evidence that JI now exists, even though Abu Bakar Bashir was released in Indonesia. Until now, we have no information that the JI is back, because if there was anything, we would certainly already know, Azman said.

Bashir was a JI-co-founder and spiritual leader of the militant group. He was released by Indonesian authorities in January after serving nearly 10 years of a 15-year sentence for funding a militant training camp. He was freed after authorities cut 55 months off his term for good behavior.

Last month, a local newspaper in Sabah quoted state Police Commissioner Hazani Ghazali as saying that JI members were active in the state located on Borneo Island, recruiting and raising funds for the group.

Hazani also told the Daily Express that Sabah could see attacks similar to the Bali bombings of 2002 and the attack on the J.W. Marriott hotel in Jakarta a year later, if law enforcement did not monitor and halt JI activities.
Following Tesla's statement earlier this March that the Cybertruck will have an update soon, the company's CEO Elon Musk stated that the said truck would have no handles.

It was intended to be produced in late 2019 but had a road bump and entered a continued production in early 2021.

Tesla Cybertruck Resdesign: Going Handle-Less?

As reported by Electrek, Elon Musk teased on Twitter that the Cybertruck will have no handles to open the doors. It may seem that the company is headed in a new direction for its door handles and could be using remote or a push button.

Would be bad ass if @elonmusk had a little bit of time on his hand to maybe tease us with CyberTruck stuff#Tesla #CyberTruck  Zack (@JubanMohamed) March 25, 2021

In the previous Tesla Cybertruck design, it was equipped with the same handles from the Tesla Model S, which hidden from the door and will appear when the driver approaches the car with the key or manually pushes it to reveal itself. However, there are no further details about the new design other than what Musk teased from his Twitter account.

Maybe the company plans to introduce self-opening doors, as it was their original intention to feature in their car line-up since 2015.

In a previous report by Gearbrain, Musk stated that the Tesla Cybertruck would be released in Q2 this 2021 as it is currently current production in Giga, Texas. Musk added that the team's primary focus to date is the production of the futuristic truck.

Update probably in Q2. Cybertruck will be built at Giga Texas, so focus right now is on getting that beast built.  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 6, 2021

It is also important to note that there are no clear statements if the Cybertruck will be release globally or in the U.S. alone. After its reveal in 2019, it was claimed that it would not pass pedestrian safety in Europe.

Gearbrain noted that Tesla has a habit of altering their car's design between the first reveal and their ongoing production assembly. With that said, fans are expected to be eager enough to see the final decision and the new Cybertruck released to the mass market.

Also Read: Tax Documents Confirm Tesla's Cybertruck Factory Sites Would Be In Texas and Oklahoma: Here's What the Filing Says

Tesla also has a habit of not sharing any information regarding their products, and fans often hear news about the company's upcoming units through rumors online. If the company is ready to unveil the Cybertruck this year, it will most likely have specific changes to it than its previous design.

Confirmed Tesla Cybertruck Redesigns

The first reveal of the Cybertruck came in November 2019. The truck was a prototype back then, and Elon Musk has invested a lot of cash to refurbish the car. A year later, fans have wondered when the truck will be released and what the production Cybertruck will look like.

As Hot Cars reported, here are some confirmed redesigns for the Tesla Cybertruck:

First off is the Cybertruck will be smaller in size compared to the 2019 prototype. Musk confirmed this by posting on Twitter that the upcoming truck will have a "reduced size," adjusting the original measurement by three percent. The Tesla CEO also revealed to Jay Leno that the Cybertruck was too big to fit in a standard-sized parking place, so the company adjusted it to make a daily driver out of the truck for commuters everywhere.

Besides that, the Tesla Cybertruck will have side mirrors, windshield wipers, bumpers, brake lights, turn indicators, and more that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration would approve to green-light the truck for commercial use for private transport and ensure driver safety.

Meanwhile, Elon Musk indeed claimed that the final production of the Cybertruck is in wraps but did not reveal precisely what was the final specification for the truck. Musk stated that "We've got the designs fixed." However, the release date is still hanging in the air.

Related Article: Tesla CEO Elon Musk Is Planning To Have The Cybertruck Drive Across The Country Before 2020 Ends
(Corrects to Friday the day that Eritrean minister responded to messages in paragraph 11)

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Eritrea has agreed to withdraw troops from Ethiopian territory along their mutual border, Ethiopia's prime minister said on Friday, under international pressure to address mounting reports of human rights abuses during months of conflict.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who acknowledged for the first time this week that Eritrean forces had crossed the border into Ethiopia's northern Tigray region during the fighting, said Ethiopia's military would take over guarding the border area.

"Eritrea has agreed to withdraw its forces out of the Ethiopian border," he said in a statement on Twitter during a trip to Eritrea's capital, Asmara, for talks with President Isaias Afwerki.

Eritrea's information minister, Yemane Gebremeskel, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Eritrea's government has not acknowledged its troops are in Tigray.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said this month he wanted Eritrean forces replaced in Tigray by forces that would respect human rights.

A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters Senator Chris Coons had met Abiy last weekend and urged him to press for an Eritrean troop withdrawal. Coons was sent to Ethiopia on behalf of President Joe Biden because of growing U.S. concern about the situation.

Fighting erupted in Tigray in early November after forces loyal to the then-governing party there - the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) - attacked army bases across the region.

The Ethiopian government declared victory over the TPLF in late November but fighting has continued in some areas.

Abiy told parliament on Tuesday Eritrean troops had crossed the border into Tigray because they were concerned they would be attacked by TPLF forces, and that the Eritreans had promised to leave when Ethiopia's military was able to control the border.

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He also acknowledged there had been atrocities such as rape during the conflict.

Asked about reports of rights abuses by Eritrean forces, Yemane said in text messages on Friday that it was "never in our military tradition to kill civilians" and that "sexual violence, rape etc are an abomination to Eritrean society."

REPORTS OF ABUSES

The violence in Tigray has killed thousands of people and forced hundreds of thousands from their homes in the mountainous region of about 5 million.

Abiy did not make clear on Friday whether any Eritrean troops not in the immediate border area would also withdraw.

Reuters journalists in Tigray this month saw hundreds of soldiers in Eritrean uniforms travelling in vehicles with Eritrean license plates in large towns and along the main road between the regional capital, Mekelle, and the city of Shire.

Dozens of civilians in Tigray told Reuters they had been victims of, or witnesses to, gang rapes and looting by Eritrean soldiers. Four had bullet wounds they said were from Eritrean attacks. Some said they had witnessed extrajudicial killings.

Reuters could not independently verify the accounts.

In his comments to Reuters earlier this month, Yemane said Eritrea had evidence that TPLF activists were coaching fake witnesses, but he did not share the evidence. He did not comment at the time on whether Eritrean troops were in Tigray.

The TPLF has long been an enemy of Eritrea and repeatedly fired rockets at Eritrea after the conflict began.

Abiy said on Tuesday his government had raised accusations of widespread looting and rights abuses by Eritrean soldiers in Tigray with Eritrea.

International rights groups including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, and Ethiopia's state-appointed human rights commission, have accused Eritrean troops of killing hundreds of civilians in the town of Axum over 24 hours last year. Eritrea denied the accusations.

When Reuters visited Axum this month, the city, was silent and most shops were shuttered.

"The town is mourning. The Amnesty report was exactly right," one man told Reuters.

He added: "Don't put my name. They (the Eritreans) are still here, and they will kill me."

(This story corrects to Friday the day that Eritrean minister responded to messages in paragraph 11)

(Reporting by Nairobi newsroom, additingalreporting by Phil Stewart in Washington; Editing by Robert Birsel, Alexandra Zavis and Timothy Heritage)
Moroccan PM 'blocks law legalising cannabis', media Plan for therapeutic use divides government parties

(ANSAmed) - RABAT, MARCH 26 - Morocco's head of government Noureddine el Othmani has blocked a law which would legalise cannabis, local media reported Friday.



Two weeks after the Cabinet brought in a plan to legalise the therapeutic use of marijuana, the Justice and Development Party in the government remains divided.



One of its most popular leaders, former prime minister Abdelilah Benkirane, has threatened to split the party while the current prime minister from the same party seems to have changed his mind about the draft law presented by the government.



Othmani has not yet formalised moving the law through the country's parliamentary body for voting.



The daily Al-Akhbar reports that the secretary general of the government had filed a letter at the prime minister's office immediately after the government approval but that Othmani has not yet signed it.(ANSAmed).




Newport Beach's first permanent animal shelter is expected to open in summer 2022. (Courtesy of the Friends of Newport Beach Animal Shelter)

Friends of Newport Beach Animal Shelter Moves Closer to a Forever Home

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif.Life just got a little easier for lost and stray animals in Newport Beach, as well as those hoping to adopt a furry forever friend.

The Newport Beach Planning Commission approved a conditional use permit in early March submitted by the Friends of Newport Beach Animal Shelter (FONBAS), moving forward the organizations plans to provide the city with its first permanent animal shelter.

The city previously contracted with other shelters to provide animal care and adoption. But in 2016, that all changed when city council approved opening a dedicated facility.

Since then, the shelter has been run out of a rented property in the Santa Ana Heights area off Riverside Drive, staffed and managed by the Newport Beach Police Departments animal control division and committed volunteers.

Newport Beach Police Department animal control services supervisor Valerie Schomburg and Stasha (Courtesy of the Friends of Newport Beach Animal Shelter)

A Community Effort

Led by a dedicated group of community leaders and influencers, including several former mayors and munificent philanthropists, the shelter was in 2017 formed as a nonprofit organization to raise funds and awareness.

Since then, efforts have helped supplement the funding of special medical procedures and equipment for the citys animal control services.

But FONBASs primary goal has been to focus on raising the necessary funds to purchase property and build a state-of-the-art facility befitting the area. Once built, FONBAS intends to donate the shelter to the city, while continuing to raise awareness and funds to offset annual operational costs.

This is a great example of how a public/private partnership can benefit a community when everyone involved pulls in the same direction, Jon Langford, FONBAS president, told The Epoch Times. Thanks to an energetic membership drive, our Raise the Roof capital campaign, and particularly several major donors who stepped up, weve successfully reached our $2.5 million goal to purchase the property and hire the architect. With the recent planning commission approval, we now move to permitting and hope to break ground by late spring or early summer.

The recent approval gives FONBAS the green light to demolish the existing residential kennel and construct a public animal shelter to house cats and dogs in separate buildings.

The approved plans call for a single-story, 1,565-square-foot shelter, and a 755-square-foot kennel housing up to 29 dogs. The property will also include four surface parking spaces in front, and new gates and fencing that will provide a front-yard greeting area and secure rear-yard exercise area.

If all goes as planned, Langford said the shelter should be open to the public by summer 2022. Services will not only include pet adoption, but also temporary housing for lost dogs and cats until they are reunited with their owners, dog licensing, coyote and wildlife management, quarantine in case of bites, and other animal services.
analysis

In Episode 51 of the Judgment Date Zoom series, Judge Dennis Davis talked to distinguished advocate and former Justice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa Zak Yacoob. Yacoob gave his perspective on where we find ourselves in the constitutional democratic landscape as the pair discussed the recent 'incessant attacks' on the judicial institution.

"When the chips are down, attacks on the judiciary are absolutely inevitable."

This was said by former Justice of the Constitutional Court Zak Yacoob when asked for his perspective on recent attacks on the judiciary, in a discussion with Judge Dennis Davis on Friday 12 March.

For centuries, individuals who have lost cases have resorted to criticising the judiciary in order to defend themselves, said Yacoob.

"That is, in my view, nothing new. It has happened and will continue to happen," he said.

Attacks against the judiciary occur "when political systems or political agendas are fighting for their survival", said Yacoob.

Referring to evidence at the Zondo Commission of Inquiry into State Capture that state funds were used to influence members of the judiciary and the outcome of cases, Davis asked what one does when the public is made aware of these...
One of Editor & Publishers 10 That Do It Right 2021
Karnataka logged 2,566 new COVID-19 cases and 13 related fatalities, taking the caseload to 9.81 lakh and the toll to 12,484, the Health department said on Friday.

This is the fourth consecutive day that the state has reported over 2,000 fresh cases. On Thursday, it registered 2,523.

Bengaluru Urban continued to top the list of cases, with 1,490 infections



The day also saw 1,207 patients getting discharged after recovery.

Cumulatively 9,81,044 COVID-19 positive cases have been confirmed in the state, which includes 12,484 deaths and 9,48,988 discharges, the Health department said in a bulletin.

Out of 19,553 active cases,19,379 patients are stable and in isolation at designated hospitals, while 174 are in Intensive Care Units.

Among 13 deaths reported on Friday, three were from Bengaluru Urban, two each from Bengaluru rural and Kalaburagi, and one each from Belagavi, Bidar, Kolar, Mandya, Mysuru and Tumakuru.

Bengaluru Urban also headed the list if new cases, accounting for 1,490, Udupi 210, Tumakuru 126, Kalaburagi 109, Dakshina Kannada 72, Mysuru 67, Bidar 65, followed by others.

Bengaluru Urban district tops the list of positive cases, with a total of 4,24,349, followed by Mysuru 55,202 and Ballari 39,608.

Among discharges too, Bengaluru Urban was on top with 4,06,449, followed by Mysuru 53,698 and Ballari 38,830.

A total of over 2,08,94,800 samples have been tested so far, out of which 1,12,271 were tested on Friday alone.
Lebanese private sector importing Russian vaccine Companies paying to vaccinate their employees

(ANSAmed) - BEIRUT, MARCH 26 - The first batch of 50,000 doses of the Russian anti-COVID vaccine arrived in Lebanon on Friday on the initiative of business owners that publicly stated that priority will be given to the employees of the private companies that pay for the vaccines.



The country is suffering from an economic crisis the likes of which had not been seen in thirty years.



The Lebanese pharmaceuticals company Pharmaline, owned by the Sarraf family, is acting as the go-between for this transaction.



Jacques Sarraf is the honorary Russian consul in Lebanon and chairman of the Lebanon-Russian businessmen's council.



Lebanon began its vaccination campaign in mid-February after signing an agreement funded by the World Bank with Pfizer for two million doses.



The country has a population of about six million people including one million Syrian refugees.



Health ministry figures show that Lebanon has thus far received 225,000 Pfizer-BioNTech doses and has administered about 100,000.



In recent days, the first 30,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine provided to Lebanon through the UN's humanitarian platform COVAX have also arrived. The local currency has lost about 90% of its value over the past year and a half and a growing percentage of the population is under the poverty threshold.



Lebanese media say that the country will in the coming weeks continue to receive Russian vaccines until the one million mark is met. These vaccines will be administered to the employees and their families of companies that pay Pharmaline for the vaccines. (ANSAmed).




South African President Cyril Ramaphosa criticized the nations biggest banks for failing to speedily disburse government-backed loans to businesses struggling to survive the coronavirus pandemic, and for not doing enough to promote investment and create jobs.

The government agreed to guarantee R200 billion ($13.3 billion) of loans last year as part of its response to Covid-19, less than R18 billion has been dispensed so far.

While lenders have drawn criticism for applying loan requirements too stringently, the National Treasury has said banks were willing to adjust their terms and some business operators opted not to apply for financing because they werent sure their enterprises would remain viable.

We put up 200 billion and said assist the private sector, to allow them to protect jobs so that companies are able to operate through Covid, and through that we should also restructure our economy and bring more black people who have been prevented from operating in their own economy, Ramaphosa said in an address to government officials on Thursday.

The response from the banks has been greatly disappointing, he said.

FirstRand Ltd.s First National Bank, Standard Bank Group Ltd., Absa Group Ltd. and Nedbank Group Ltd. are South Africas biggest lenders.

Theyve previously stated that they assisted their customers when the pandemic struck and there wasnt much demand for additional financing after the government-backed plan was announced.

Ramaphosa also said the country was overly reliant on the financial services industry to drive economic growth, and more emphasis needs to be placed on promoting industrialization and manufacturing which would help address the 32.5% unemployment rate.

The profits that our financial sector has been making has just been huge, billions and billions, and not enough of the money is invested in job-creating assets, he said. The banking industry also remains too highly monopolized, with money rotating between the four main lenders, he said.

The president also said the governments archaic procurement system needed overhauling to promote entrepreneurship among the countrys black majority, while ensuring it wasnt susceptible to corruption.
Photo: DARREN STONE, TIMES COLONIST Her Majesty's Canadian Ship Calgary conducts a sail past of the Victoria shoreline at Clover Point before embarking on a six-month deployment on Feb. 26, 2021.

A sailor has been found guilty of all three charges against him  luring a child, invitation to sexual touching and disgraceful conduct  at a court martial held in the Bay Street Armoury in Victoria.

The verdict against Master Sailor Randolph Machtmes was handed down Thursday after almost two weeks of proceedings. A five-person panel deliberated for about a day.

The charges against Machtmes stemmed from online communications the sailor initiated between September and November 2018 with someone younger than 16. At the time, his ship, HMCS Calgary, was in Darwin, Australia, as part of Operation Projection.

A sentencing hearing will be held via teleconference April 22.
On 29 March 2011, a militia supporting the newly-elected Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara is alleged to have murdered more than 800 civilians in the western city of Duekoue, known to have been a stronghold of defeated president Laurent Gbagbo. The suspected mastermind of this attack is now on trial in Abidjan.

His name is Amade Ouereni, and he's described as a former bandit and smuggler. He is accused before the Abidjan Criminal Tribunal of having played an active role in planning the 2011 militia attack which cost the lives of 817 people, according to the International Red Cross.

Ouereni faces twenty charges, including genocide, war crimes, rape, murder and extortion. He was arrested in 2013.

The accused denies any part in the organisation of the massacre, saying he was following the orders of a superior officer, a lieutenant Coulibaly.

On the day of the Duekoue attack, Ouereni says he was in the distant village of Blodi, on a mission to collect a supply of weapons. He arrived back in Duekoue in the afternoon of the day after the killings.

On Wednesday, the opening day of the trial, it took the court clerk nearly two hours to read the description of the events of 29 March 2011.

'That's war'

Old men and children were summarily executed, women and girls raped, houses pillaged and burned.

Amade Ouereni is suspected of having taken active part in the savagery while leading a militia group.

Questioned by the tribunal president on Wednesday, Ouereni denied having had any position of authority in the then rebel militia; he denies having been in Duekoue on the day in question.

He insists, however, that the militia action against armed groups supporting former president Laurent Gbagbo in the Carrefour district of Duekoue was fully justified.

"But how did 817 people lose their lives in a single day?" the president asked.

"That's war," Ouereni replied, before going on to suggest that hunters of the Dozo ethnic group could have been responsible for the massacre.

Ten witnesses have made the trip from Duekoue to Abidjan to give evidence. The trial continues.
Abuja  The Senate yesterday expressed dismay on the absmal performance of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission ( NERC), on Mass Metering Project in the country despite N33.4 billion already released by the Central Bank of Nigeria.

The Senator Gabriel Suswam, PDP Benue North East led Senate Committee on Power, which gave the poor performance verdict on NERC was sequel to assessment made on the project at an interactive session with NERC officials and representatives of the various Electricity Distribution Companies ( DISCOs) at the Senate wing of the National Assembly on Thursday.

Speaking at the meeting, the NERC Chairman , Engineer Sanusi Garba, the project which targets one million metering of houses across the country between October 2020 and April 2021, has only recorded 13% implementation as at 19th of March 2021.

According to him, "while. N403, 000 out of the targeted one million meters, have been delivered to the various DISCOs, only 127, 000 have been installed , representing 13% performance" .

Garba who attributed the poor performance to delay in disbursement of fund , the chunk of which he said was made available to the DISCOs in February this year, said, " Target performance duration for the project which is phase one , entailing metering of one million houses across the country in reducing the metering deficit of 6.5 million , is six months , that is from October 2020 to April 2021.

"Though out of the N59.2 billion earmarked for it , N33.4 billion has been released to the various DISCOs by the Central Bank of Nigeria but disbursement of the releases were very slow which resulted in many of them , accessing the fund in February .

"This largely contributed to the poor performance percentage by the DISCOs for now, on the National Mass Metering project .

"But with chunk of the funds available to the DISCOs now , the implementation performance index will rise astronomically within the next few weeks."

Not happy with the performance of NERC,Mthe entire members of the committee, one after the other, lampooned the Commission and the DISCOs for poor performance .

In his remarks, the Committee Chairman, Gabriel Suswam, who noted that based on the poor performance recorded so far, essence of intervention made by the federal government with the N59.2billion loan may not be achieved, said, "Your performance report on the mass Metering project is not impressive and encouraging at all.

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" Nigerians are not happy that with all efforts being made by the federal government to get get electricity consumption metered , are being thwarted in one way or the other .

" Estimated Billings is not acceptable and that is the reason why the intervention was made .

" In the light of this , this Commitee will want your Commission and the DISCOs to appear before it again by the end of next month , to see whether the assurance given on better performance will be done or not."

Other members of the Committee from Senators Abubakar Kyari ( APC Borno North) , Yusuf Abubakar Yusuf ( APC Taraba Central ), Kola Balogun ( PDP Oyo South ) etc , scored the commission and the DISCOs very low on performance report given .

But the NERC Chairman who assured the Committee of better performance in the coming weeks, said, " All comments made are well noted and will gear us for increase performance."

Vanguard News Nigeria


A very large container ship struck land and is blocking Egypts Suez Canal waterway. At least 150 other ships cannot pass it, officials said.

The ship, called the Ever Given, is registered in Panama. It usually carries cargo between Asia and Europe. It ran aground Tuesday in the manmade waterway that connects the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. Efforts to free the ship using heavy equipment have not been successful. Billions of dollars of products and supplies cannot pass through the canal as a result.

The ships Japanese owner offered a written apology Thursday for the incident.

We are determined to keep on working hard to resolve this situation as soon as possible, Shoei Kisen Kaisha Ltd. said, adding we would like to apologize.

Officials began work again to free the ship Thursday morning after stopping for the night, an Egyptian canal official said. The official said workers hoped they would not have to unload the ship in an effort to free it because that would extend the closure. The official did not want to be identified because the person did not have permission to talk to reporters.



Workers using heavy equipment have tried to clear dirt around the large ship. Other boats have tried to push it, but satellite pictures show it is still in the same place.

A team from Boskalis, a Dutch company that specializes in such problems, arrived at the canal on Thursday. One of the companys top officials said moving the ship could take days to weeks.

Boskalis chairman Peter Berdowski told a Dutch news program Wednesday night, The ship, with the weight it now has, cant really be pulled free. You can forget it.

Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement is the company that supervises the Ever Given. It said the ships 25-member crew is safe. Shoei Kisen Kaisha said all the crew came from India.

Two pilots from Egypts canal organization were on the ship to guide it when it struck land early Tuesday morning, Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement said.

Canal services company Leth Agencies said at least 150 ships were waiting for the Ever Given to be moved. Cargo ships already behind the Ever Given in the canal will be forced to move back to Port Suez to free the channel, Leth Agencies said. Officials hope to do the same to the Ever Given when they can free it.

Evergreen Marine Corp. is the large Taiwan-based shipping company that operates the ship. It said the Ever Given had been affected by strong winds as it entered the canal, something Egyptian officials also said earlier.

Bernhard Schulte said there was no mechanical or engine failure.

The British publication Lloyds List estimates each day that the Suez Canal is closed effects over $9 billion worth of trade that should be passing through it. Nearly 25 percent of the ship traffic that passes through the Suez Canal is container ships like the Ever Given, it said.

Im Susan Shand.

The Associated Press reported this story. Susan Shand adapted it for Learning English. Mario Ritter, Jr. was the editor.

_______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story

cargo n. something that is carried from one place to another

run aground v. (navigation) when a ship strikes land and cannot travel

resolve v. to find an answer to a problem

channel n. the deep part of a river, harbor, or canal where ships can travel safely

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Statement - Government of Canada welcomes the Auditor General's report on the Canada Emergency Response Benefit

Statement - Government of Canada welcomes the Auditor General's report on the Canada Emergency Response Benefit

Canada NewsWire

GATINEAU, QC, March 25, 2021

GATINEAU, QC, March 25, 2021 /CNW/ - The Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion, Carla Qualtrough, and the Minister of National Revenue, Diane Lebouthillier, today issued the following statement in response to the Auditor General's report on the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB):

"Since the very beginning of this pandemic, our government's number one priority has been to keep Canadians safe. At a time when we were asking people to stay home and flatten the curve, the CERB helped more than 8 million workers and their families stay afloat. The quick and decisive actions we took to provide income support to millions of Canadians affected by closures and public health restrictions helped buffer the worst economic impacts. As a recent International Monetary Fund report found, these actions helped protect both lives and livelihoods.

The Auditor General's report highlights the incredible work done by the Canadian public service, and recognizes the approach taken by our government to roll out support quickly during an unprecedented emergency. In fact, the report notes that accepting certain risks to expedite payments to those in need is consistent with best practices promoted by the International Public Sector Fraud Forum and its Principles of Fraud Control in Emergency Management.

To make sure Canadians received support when they needed it the most, we created a simple and straightforward application with back-end verifications. As the benefit rolled out, we made adjustments to support even more Canadians and our economic recovery. This included an expansion of eligibility so that workers making up to $1,000 a month could still be eligible, as well as key measures to prevent fraud.

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Today, we welcome the Auditor General's report on the design and delivery of the CERB, recognize the importance of the findings and accept all recommendations. Work is already underway to address the report's recommendations. A post-payment verification plan has been developed and initiated to ensure that those who received the benefit were eligible. Additionally, work will begin on an assessment of the CERB's design and delivery. This will help the Government of Canada apply lessons learned for the design of future emergency response benefits.

The Government of Canada is committed to addressing cases of deliberate fraud, and the Fall Economic Statement provided additional resources to both Employment and Social Development Canada and the Canada Revenue Agency to support this work.

As we move ahead in our economic recovery, we will continue our work on post-payment verification, while also supporting Canadians who have been hit hardest during the pandemic."

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SOURCE Employment and Social Development Canada
Nigeria Rejects Transparency International's Corruption Rating

The government has described the Transparency International (TI) Corruption Perception Index, which downgraded Nigeria in the rating for 2020, as inaccurate and not a true reflection of the strides made in its fight against corruption. The agency revealed that the country dropped three places, scoring lower in a number of areas since 2019. The government said the report was filled with discrepancies and inaccurate data. Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has said that TI had failed to make use of available data on the government's various reforms and other preventive steps. He emphasised that the agency has been using incorrect indices to rate Nigeria in the last decade.

As part of the government's clampdown on corruption, President Muhammadu Buhari suspended the previous Acting Economic and Financial Crimes Commission chief, Ibrahim Magu, in 2020, after allegations that he had diverted funds recovered by the agency into private pockets, charges Magu's lawyer has denied. Buhari appointed Abdulrasheed Bawa as the head of the country's anti-graft body. Bawa will now take charge of a string of high-profile investigations, including into alleged wrongdoing by P&ID, a gas firm with a U.S.$10 billion arbitration ruling that the government is going to appeal in the UK. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission was established in 2003 as a law enforcement agency to investigate financial crimes and other corruption cases.
Zorzor City  An honoring program was held Thursday, March 25 at the Curran Lutheran Hospital in Zorzor, Lofa County, as more than 100 staff of the hospital paid their respects to Mr. Alexander Cummings for making available US$ 5,000 to employees of the hospital few months ago.

Nurses, Physicians, Support Staff and doctors were all present. It was a solemn act of recognition to Cummings, political leader of the opposition Alternative National Congress (ANC), by employees of the hospital who had not received salary from government for seven months and were at the verge of protesting before the intervention of Cummings.

"Mr. Cummings, we, the staff of the Curran Lutheran Hospital here in Zorzor, would like to bestow this honor on you for identifying with us when we needed you the most. It can be recalled that you made available the sum of US$5,000 or its equivalence of 1 million Liberian dollars at the time we had not taken pay from governor for seven months. For someone who is a private citizen to make such a huge donation, needs to be recognized and honored. That's is why we have decided to honor you today," said Amani Seraphin, medical doctor of the hospital.

Dr. Seraphin said the intervention of Cummings will go a long way in the history of workers. "What you did for us few months ago was absolutely amazing and you deserve all the credit for that. All the staff of this hospital are aware of what you did and we have come here in unity to honor you. Your intervention was very timely," he said.

Dr. Seraphin revealed that similar situation that Cummings tried to avert is repeating itself as workers of the hospital have not taken pay for the past 13, rendering it difficult for workers to send their children to school.
Poet Amanda Gorman will be Oprah Winfrey's next guest on her Apple TV+ series The Oprah Conversation.

The media mogul, 67, was wowed by the 23-year-old's performance at President Joe Biden's inauguration, saying Gorman 'stepped into a moment in history with enormous grace and dignity.'

'I was enthralled by her youthful spirit from the first moment we met, and very much looked forward to hearing her unpack all that has happened to her the past few months,' Winfrey said in a statement ahead of the interview, out Friday on the streaming service.

Wordsmith: Poet Amanda Gorman will be the next guest on Oprah Winfrey's Apply TV+ series The Oprah Conversations in a new episode released Friday

The first National Youth Poet Laureate and the youngest inaugural poet in U.S. history, Gorman recited The Hill We Climb for the January 20 swearing-in ceremony for President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.

In a wide-ranging interview with Winfrey, Gorman discusses how she approached the poem's creation.

She also discusses the literary figures who inspire her, personal stories that shaped her past, and her hopes for the future, the streaming service said in a release Thursday.

'It felt meaningful, not only for me but in a broader sense,' Gorman says of her poem in a clip from the interview.

Grace: The media mogul, 67, was wowed by the 23-year-old's performance at President Joe Biden's January inauguration (above,) saying Gorman 'stepped into a moment in history with enormous grace and dignity'

Thrilled: 'I was enthralled by her youthful spirit from the first moment we met, and very much looked forward to hearing her unpack all that has happened to her the past few months,' Winfrey said in a statement ahead of the interview

She describes the work as 'something that the world needed to hear and that I needed to write. Very rarely do you get that type of luxury as a poet, in which your words arent just meeting the moment, but making the moment in history.'

Winfrey is used to making moments, most recently with her CBS interview in which Britain's Prince Harry and Meghan Markle detailed why they left their royal duties and are creating a new, independent life in California.

Among the bombshells the couple shared with Winfrey: that someone in the palace had speculated on how dark their then-unborn son, Archie, would be.

History: The first National Youth Poet Laureate and the youngest inaugural poet in U.S. history, Gorman recited The Hill We Climb for the January 20 swearing-in ceremony for President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris

Bombshell: Winfrey is used to making moments, most recently with her CBS interview in which Britain's Prince Harry and Meghan Markle detailed why they left their royal duties and are creating a new, independent life in California

Meghan also said she felt suicidal and told Harry she didn't want to be alive anymore when they were in the UK.

Harry also laid into his own family, claiming their 'lack of support and understanding', the couple's mental health problems and fears 'history repeating itself' with Meghan like his mother Diana, who died in 1997.

Others who have been interviewed for The Oprah Conversation include former President Barack Obama, Matthew McConaughey, Stevie Wonder and author Ibram X. Kendi.
Young gray short-tailed opossums about 20-21 days old cling to their mother. Photos by UNM Professor Rob Miller.

A University of New Mexico Biology professor and second-year Ph.D. student are part of a team of scientists who have examined the immune system of an unusual group of mammals, which includes a small South American opossum, to find solutions that evolution has produced to fight disease-causing pathogens.

In a paper titled "The molecular assembly and architecture of the marsupial  T cell receptor defines a third T cell lineage," published in Science, an international team of scientists from The University of New Mexico, Monash University in Australia, and the U.S. National Institutes of Health has defined a novel T cell lineage, called  T cells, found only in marsupials, such as kangaroos and opossums, and monotremes such as the duckbill platypus.

The co-lead author on this work is Kimberly Morrissey, a second-year Ph.D. student in the UNM Biology program. She is a recipient of an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship. Rob Miller, UNM Biology professor and director of the Center for Evolutionary & Theoretical Immunology, worked with Morrissey on the research.

"Modern genomic tools applied to many species have opened the door to the myriad immunological solutions to fighting pathogens that evolution has produced," says Rob Miller, director of the Center for Evolutionary & Theoretical Immunology.

The immune systems of all vertebrates  including humans  contain specialized cells, called T cells, that play a fundamental role in protecting against fungal, bacterial, parasitic and viral pathogens, which can cause diseases such as cancer or COVID. For most of the past four decades, it was generally considered that there were two T cell lineages,  or  T cells.

"T cells are usually one of two types. They either monitor and kill virally infected cells or tumor cells, or they can act as master regulators by activating or suppressing other immune cells. They are a key component in the immune response against specific pathogens and play an integral part in vaccine effectiveness," Morrissey explained.

Miller explained that there are three types of mammals on the planet: the eutherians, marsupials, and monotremes. Eutherians  such as humans  generally have longer gestation periods and give birth to more highly developed young. In contrast, the marsupials have shorter gestation periods and the young complete their development attached to a teat, sometimes in a pouch. They are humans' most distant relatives that give birth to live young. The monotremes are also mammals but they lay eggs. They are humans' most distant relatives that are also mammals.

Morrissey and Miller examined the immune system of a small South American opossum species, the gray short-tailed opossum Monodelphis domestica, for their research. This was the first marsupial species to have its genome sequenced, a project Miller participated in, which was completed in 2007. The researchers look for both similarities to humans and differences.

"We study the immune systems of marsupials, like the opossum, to look for both novelty as well as conservation. Novelty would be things that the opossum has that we lack. This gives us insights into evolutionary innovation in some species that are not found in common research models such as mice and rats. Conservation, or ways in which opossums and humans are the same, gives us insight into ancient features that have been preserved over more than 150 million years of evolution and are therefore likely to be fundamentally important," Miller explained.

"The discovery reported in this Science article is an example of something that is ancient and was present in the ancestor of all living mammals, but for some reason was lost in the placental mammal lineage (like humans). To understand why it was lost, or why we seem to be fine without it, or perhaps we have different cell types performing the same function, we will first need to know what the cell is doing in the species that have it, like the opossum," he continued.

Gray short-tailed opossum. Credit: UNM Newsroom

Evidence for the novel T cells came with the discovery of genes encoding the TCR protein while analyzing the first complete marsupial genome sequence of the South American opossum. Oddly distinct from conventional TCR, TCR was predicted to share similarity with other important molecules in the immune system, the antibodies.

In addition to characterizing the T cells that use the TCR, the investigators obtained a detailed three-dimensional image of the opossum  TCR using a high-intensity X-ray beam at the Australian Synchrotron. The  TCR has a unique structure, distinct from the conventional  or  TCRs. Noteworthy is the presence of the additional single antibody-like domain called V with a structure similar to a unique type of antibodies called nanobodies. This discovery raises the possibility that  T cells recognize pathogens using a novel mechanism, different from conventional T cells.

The TCR has the potential to expand the immunology "toolbox," Miller said, adding that nanobodies are useful both for therapeutics and diagnostics and are currently generated using members of the camel family (e.g. alpacas). Marsupials (e.g. opossums) may be an alternative source, one that is smaller, easier and cheaper to maintain than llamas and alpacas.

"The discovery further illustrates the value of exploring the world's biodiversity for novelty beyond the standard animal research models, such as laboratory mice. Modern genomic tools applied to many species have opened the door to the myriad immunological solutions to fighting pathogens that evolution has produced," he said.

One of the observations that emerged from my research is that  T cells are not found in all tissues in the opossum," Morrissey noted. "Most notably they don't appear to be circulating in the blood. Determining where in the animal, what organs or tissues they reside, can give us insights into their role in immune responses to pathogens. One aim of my current research is to determine where  T cells are found in the animals and if there are differences among the cells that are related to their location."

The research is important on many levels, Miller continued. "In addition to the basic-science value of a discovery of a new type of T cell, it raises the potential of adding to our toolbox of recognition molecules in the immune system that can be exploited for therapeutics and diagnostics. More significant to me is it an important illustration of how studying the immune system of atypical model species reveals there are new discoveries to be made that a mouse or a human would not have revealed."

"As Rob said, the  T cell receptor is structurally more similar to an antibody than are the conventional T cell receptors found in humans and mice. We think this means they may recognize  or bind to  pathogens and other antigens differently than conventional T cells. Conventional T cells recognize antigen that is first broken down or processed and presented to the T cells by other cells. Antibodies can recognize or bind to antigens directly without the antigen being broken down. I am testing whether the  T cell recognizes or binds to antigens more like a conventional T cell or like an antibody made by a B cell. If it is the latter then there is a chance it can be developed into a clinical tool like a nanobody," Morrissey noted.

The research findings were a culmination of a 10-year multidisciplinary collaboration and the support from the US National Science Foundation, the US National Institutes of Health, and the Australian Research Council, the ARC Centre of Excellence in Advanced Molecular Imaging, and the use of the Australian Synchrotron.

Miller affirmed that the international collaborative effort that brought together labs with very different skill sets was of critical importance to the research.

"My lab at UNM is expert in the immune system of marsupials in general and opossums in particular and discovered the first evidence for these novel T cells. Our collaborators at the NIH brought expertise in analyzing T cells at the level of single cells. Our collaborators in Australia brought expertise in protein structure. I should add that the Australian group at Monash University is among the best in the world in solving the structure of these kinds of immune system proteins, not because Australia is famous for its marsupials. This lab normally works on mouse and human immunology," he remarked.

More information: Kimberly A. Morrissey et al. The molecular assembly of the marsupial  T cell receptor defines a third T cell lineage, Science (2021). Journal information: Science Kimberly A. Morrissey et al. The molecular assembly of the marsupial  T cell receptor defines a third T cell lineage,(2021). DOI: 10.1126/science.abe7070
People march through the streets during the Drop the Charges march and rally Saturday, Sept. 26, 2020 in Denver. The Party for Socialism and Liberation organized the march after five anti-racist organizers were arrested on multiple charges pertaining to protests for Elijah McClain in Aurora this summer. (Michael Ciaglo/Special to The Denver Gazette)
A Georgia representative has been arrested and dragged off the state capitol grounds while protesting the signing of a sweeping Republican-sponsored overhaul of state elections.

Rep Park Cannon was arrested on Thursday after she knocked on Republican Gov Brian Kemps statehouse office door to protest the signing of the voting reform bill, which critics say is designed to make it harder for African Americans to vote.

Video of the incident shows Ms Cannon, who is Black, handcuffed with her arms behind her back while being taken away by police. She repeatedly identifies herself as a legislator and asks why she is being arrested. Footage of her arrest shows other people asking why she is being detained without answer.

Ms Cannon was charged with felony obstruction of law enforcement, punishable by one to five years in prison, and with disrupting a session of the General Assembly.

Democrats and voting rights groups have condemned the passage of the bill as they say the law will disproportionately disenfranchise voters of colour.

Read more:

Mr Kemp signed the voting reform bill less than two hours after it cleared the Georgia General Assembly on Thursday.

The legislation is one of a wave of GOP-backed election bills introduced in states around the country after former President Donald Trump stoked false fraud claims regarding the 2020 election.

Following the election in November, Mr Trump refused to accept his loss by about 12,000 votes in Georgia, long a Republican stronghold.

The former president lobbied to overturn the result by undermining confidence in the voting system in the state and falsely suggesting the ballot had been rigged.

Georgians turned out in record-breaking numbers because they could access the ballot, Democratic Rep Rhonda Burnough said.

Lies upon lies were told about our elections in response, and now this bill is before us built on those same lies.

Rep Cannon was released late on Thursday night, NAACP Attorney Gerald Griggs confirmed to reporters. He said that she had sustained bruises during her arrest, The Hill reported.

We had an African American woman who was standing up for the voices of millions of Georgia voters, Mr Griggs said, according to the outlet.

He says that he intends to get Ms Cannon absolved of all charges.

CNN reported that Georgia State Patrol claimed that Ms Cannon "was beating on the door to the Governors Office," at around 6.30pm.

Rep Cannon continued to knock on the door and was instructed again to stop knocking on the door, Lieutenant W Mark Riley, Georgia State Patrols public information director, told The Hill.

She was advised that she was disturbing what was going on inside and if she did not stop, she would be placed under arrest.

Tamara Stevens, who posted some of the footage of the arrest online told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that Rep Cannon was not causing a disturbance

She knew he was signing a bill that would affect all Georgians  why would he hide behind closed doors? This isnt a monarchy, Ms Stevens said.

You have a woman of colour fighting for the rights of Georgians and they arrested her for knocking on the door because she wanted to witness our governor sign the bill.

The controversial bill includes sweeping voting restrictions such as limiting the use of ballot drop boxes, cutting the time people have to request an absentee ballot, and setting photo ID requirements for absentee voting.

Additional reporting by the Associated Press
The United States and the European Union have reiterated their calls for Russia to immediately release Aleksei Navalny after the jailed opposition politician said he was suffering from severe back pains and that nothing was being done by prison authorities to solve the problem.



In a message posted on his Instagram account on March 26, Navalny also said he had been warned by past prominent prisoners that getting sick in prison was potentially fatal.

"Once Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who served 10 years in prison, told me: The main thing is not to get sick there," the post said, referring to the owner of the former oil giant Yukos who spent a decade behind bars after being convicted in two controversial cases.

"Nobody will treat you. If you get seriously ill, you will die," he quoted Khodorkovsky as telling him.

Navalny, 44, is currently incarcerated in Correctional Colony No. 2, about 100 kilometers from Moscow. The prison is known as one of the toughest penitentiaries in Russia.

We have seen the disturbing reports about Aleksei Navalny's worsening health in prison. We urge continued access for his lawyers and that he receive medical care, U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price tweeted on March 26.

"We reiterate our call for Russia to immediately and unconditionally release" Navalny, he added.



Earlier, Nabila Massrali, a spokeswoman for EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, issued a similar call, saying Russian authorities "must give @navalny access to medical care & give his lawyers access to him."

The Kremlin foes condition became an issue on March 24 after his allies said they were concerned over his deteriorating health and called on prison authorities to clarify his condition.

On March 25, Navalnys wife, Yulia Navalnaya, issued a plea to the Kremlin to free her husband so that he could be treated by doctors he trusts and called his imprisonment the presidents "personal revenge."

The same day, Navalny's lawyers were finally able to see him and reported the anti-corruption campaigner was in an "extremely unfavorable" condition, suffering from back pain and issues with his right leg that has made it "practically nonfunctional."

The message on Instagram said that getting out of bed is hard and very painful" but that "a week ago, the prison doctor examined me and prescribed two tablets of ibuprofen [a day], but I still don't know the diagnosis.

"Apparently a nerve was pinched from constantly sitting in police wagons and in 'pencil cases' crookedly," he said in reference to the cramped cages defendants are placed in during court hearings.

President Vladimir Putin's most prominent critic joked that he did not want to "part with" his right leg and quipped about becoming a one-legged pirate.

'Sleep Deprivation'

Talking to journalists in Moscow, Putins spokesman said Navalnaya "should not have turned to the Kremlin as it has no role in the matter."

"We will not react to such an appeal.... At the moment, in a situation when a citizen is a convict incarcerated in a penal colony, the address for such appeals is the FSIN," Dmitry Peskov said, referring to the Federal Penitentiary Service.

Lawyer Vadim Kobzev said that after "finally" getting to see Navalny, it quickly became clear that he was not only not being treated properly, "but a deliberate strategy is under way to undermine his health."

In a statement on his website, Navalny also accused the prison of torturing him through sleep deprivation.

Peskov rejected that allegation, saying Navalny, like other prisoners, is woken up every hour as a way "of maintaining order and discipline in penitentiaries" and that stricter measures are often used in prisons abroad.

Peskov, however, failed to address the allegation that such measures weren't needed since there is a closed-circuit television camera in Navalny's cell allowing guards to monitor him at all times.

Such comments show "these people are the enemies of our own country," Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) said on Twitter in response to Peskov's statements.

Navalny was detained at a Moscow airport in January immediately upon returning from Berlin, where he was recovering from what several Western laboratories determined was a poisoning attempt using a Novichok-type nerve agent that saw him fall seriously ill on a flight in Siberia in August 2020.

Navalny has said the assassination attempt was ordered by Putin -- an allegation rejected by the Kremlin.

A Moscow court in February ruled that while in Germany, Navalny had violated the terms of parole from an older embezzlement case that is widely considered to be politically motivated.

His suspended 3 1/2-year sentence was converted into jail time, though the court reduced that amount to 2 1/2 years for time already served in detention.

Navalny's incarceration set off a wave of nationwide protests and a crackdown against his supporters.

The European Union, the United States, and Canada have imposed a series of sanctions against Russia over the Navalny case.

With reporting by Interfax, TASS, and AFP
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-26 17:05:17|Editor: huaxia

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U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken testifies before U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs on the Biden Administration's Priorities for U.S. Foreign Policy on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on March 10, 2021. (Ken Cedeno/Pool via Xinhua)

Blinken follows the foreign policy starting from the previous U.S. administrations, Finnish geopolitical analyst Markku Siira told Xinhua.

Since World War II, Washington has sought to keep Russia and Germany apart, for they would be too powerful for Western hegemons if the two come together, he added.

by Ren Ke

BERLIN, March 26 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday wrapped up a three-day visit to Brussels, which was meant for a new chapter of transatlantic relations after four years of tensions under the former Donald Trump administration. However, differences remain.

Despite pledging revitalization of bilateral ties, the two sides failed to resolve some major disputes, like the future of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project that aims to transport natural gas from Russia to Germany directly.

Flags of the EU fly in front of the headquarters of the European Commission in Brussels, Belgium, June 29, 2020. (Xinhua/Zhang Cheng)

U.S. ATTEMPT TO AMEND TIES

Blinken's visit to Europe was his first since taking office in January. He attended a NATO foreign ministers' two-day meeting in Brussels, and met European Union (EU) officials and his counterparts from the member states.

The U.S. top diplomat underlined the importance of the cooperation between allies, calling the U.S. relations with NATO and the EU crucial.

"I came here," he said, "with one particular focus in mind, and that was to make clear the United States' determination to revitalize our alliances and partnerships."

"This will open a new chapter in the relationship between North America and Europe, and it is a perfect platform to set the direction for the future of our alliance," said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at a press conference on Tuesday.

At their meeting, NATO foreign ministers discussed issues ranging from Russia, Afghanistan to NATO's 2030 agenda, and also prepared for a summit scheduled later this year, which Biden is expected to attend.

Blinken's vision marked a U-turn on the previous administration's stance that NATO was outdated and divided, as well as its clash with EU capitals over taxes, trade and defense spending.

Since taking office, the Biden administration has pledged to revitalize transatlantic relations. As the first U.S. president to do so, Biden in February attended the virtual Munich Security Conference. "America is back, the transatlantic alliance is back," he said.

Picture taken on Oct. 8, 2012 shows Nord Stream pipeline equipments before the opening ceremony of the North Stream second gas link in Portovaya bay, some 60 kilometers from the town of Vyborg in northwestern Russia. (Xinhua)

DIFFERENCES REMAIN

During this maiden visit to Brussels, however, the U.S. top diplomat failed to sidestep some of Washington's major disputes with its allies.

At a joint press conference with Stoltenberg on Tuesday, Blinken openly criticized the Nord Stream 2 project, echoing similar policy of the Trump administration.

"President Biden has been very clear, he believes the pipeline is a bad idea; it's bad for Europe, bad for the United States. Ultimately, it is in contradiction to the EU's own security goals," Blinken said, responding to a German journalist.

The pipeline "has the potential to undermine the interests of Ukraine, Poland, a number of other close partners or allies," he added, referring to "a law in the United States which requires us to sanction companies participating in the efforts to complete the pipeline."

Blinken discussed the issue with his German counterpart Heiko Maas face-to-face on Tuesday night. Later, the German Foreign Office tweeted that the two politicians had a very good exchange of views, without mentioning Nord Stream 2, while the U.S. State Department said Blinken emphasized during the meeting Washington's opposition to the pipeline.

The soon-to-be-completed Nord Stream 2 is designed to transport natural gas through the Baltic Sea. The 1,230-km pipeline is expected to deliver 55 billion cubic meters of gas per year.

Washington criticized the project for making Europe too dependent on Russian energy, and made it clear that it wants to sell liquified shale gas to Europe. It has imposed sanctions on some European companies taking part in the pipeline's construction. Germany, however, has said that it will not intervene in the completion of the project.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg (L), British Prime Minister Boris Johnson (R) welcome U.S. President Donald Trump at the official arrivals for NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) Summit in London, Britain on Dec. 4, 2019. (Xinhua/Han Yan)

WHAT IS UNCHANGED

"Biden also remains tough," read the title of a commentary published by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper on Wednesday.

"The new President Biden has repeatedly affirmed how valuable and politically important America's alliances are. In this respect, he differs fundamentally from his predecessor, who looked at the allies like a debt collector," it added. "However, some contentious issues survived the change of government; the American criticism of Nord Stream 2 is one of them."

Blinken follows the foreign policy starting from the previous U.S. administrations, Finnish geopolitical analyst Markku Siira told Xinhua.

He said there was no notable change from the turbulent times of former U.S. President Trump and former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Since World War II, Washington has sought to keep Russia and Germany apart, for they would be too powerful for Western hegemons if the two come together, he added.

Defense spending is another contentious issue between the United States and European countries. Washington has accused such NATO states as Germany of failing to contribute 2 percent of its gross domestic product to the military alliance. Germany said it was committed to this goal, but it could not reach it before 2024.

Blinken said Wednesday that this goal remained "crucial," but softened Washington's approach by acknowledging that the allies could "shoulder their share of the burden in different ways."

"The EU keeps following Washington's dictates, even though it will undermine European interests," Siira said. "The Atlanticist current is still quite strong in the European countries." 
Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II has asked the newly-appointed Minister of Lands and Resources, Mr Samuel A. Jinapor, to be committed to duty.



Issues relating to the effective management of the countrys natural resources, he said, were critical to the socio-economic and sustainable development of the country.



You have a daunting task ahead given the present situation in which we find ourselves, particularly in the era of the changing climatic conditions which require meticulous use of our land resources, the Asantehene noted.



Otumfuo Osei Tutu II also described as alarming, the rate of illegal mining in the country despite governments clampdown on the activities of the miners in 2017.



If Ghana will develop, it is through the judicious use our mineral resources. We appear to be losing the fight against galamsey looking at its alarming rate. We should begin to have a national consultation on how to put a stop on galamsey activities and rather train and regulate the activities of all small-scale miners to protect our environment.



Otumfuo Osei Tutu, who was addressing the Minister at the Manhyia Palace, Kumasi, when he paid a courtesy call on him, stressed the need for stakeholders to work closely with the Ministry to help achieve its objectives and mission statement.



He implored the various heads to advise and direct the Minister on the right path in protecting the countrys lands and mineral resources.



You should be able to guide the minister and offer him the necessary support to succeed in his quest to fight illegal mining and also protect the environment.



It is the duty of the technical personnel, staff and related agencies to be supportive of the new Minister in order to realize his vision, he advised.



The focus, according to the king, ought to be on promoting policies and programmes that would eventually lead to the sustenance of biodiversity and the ecology.



He was confident that the Ministry would live up to expectation in addressing concerns bothering on mining, forestry, land management and related issues for the benefit of the nation.



Mr. Jinapor, who is on a working tour of the Ashanti Region to interact with stakeholders, was grateful to the Asantehene for granting him an audience.



He promised to justify the confidence reposed in him by being diligent in the discharge of his duties.

Source: GNA









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A North Korean spy who has been extradited to the U.S. was among other things North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's liquor runner. The portly leader has a well-known penchant for whiskey and cognac.

Mun Chol-myong (55), who was extradited from Malaysia last week, is allegedly a member of North Korea's spy agency and worked in Singapore and Malaysia for 10 years. He was arrested in Kuala Lumpur in 2019 after U.S. federal prosecutors indicted him on charges of money laundering to bypass sanctions against the regime.

According to an indictment, Mun purchased large quantities of liquor from three companies in Singapore to be sent to North Korea. In September 2016, he ordered 604 bottles of Remy Martin French cognac, Chivas Regal Scotch whiskey and Johnny Walker Black and Gold labels from one company and paid US$103,186.

The next month he bought another 571 bottles from the same company for $96,270.

In February 2018, Mun bought 400 bottles of whiskey and wine from another Singaporean company and paid $86,000.


(Newser)  A group of 710 women told a judge Thursday that they've settled their legal claims against USC over their abuse by a school gynecologist for $852 million. Combined with previous payments to thousands of alumnae and students who accused George Tyndall, the university's payments will surpass $1.1 billion, the Los Angeles Times reports. That makes it the largest sexual abuse settlement in higher education history. The school's president, who was hired after the revelations, said she hopes the settlement "provides some relief to the women abused by George Tyndall." From 1989 until 2016, Tyndall was the only gynecologist at USC's student health clinic. He treated some 17,000 women in that time. Tyndall, whose medical license has been taken from him, is awaiting trial on criminal charges.

story continues below

Women complained to the school while Tyndall was still working there, but a federal investigation found USC mishandled the case. An internal inquiry also found that he wasn't fired despite evidence of crimes, potentially allowing the abuse to continue; the federal Department of Education imposed sanctions on USC last year. Tyndall wasn't suspended until a nurse complained to the campus rape crisis center in 2016. The next year, he resigned with a payout. The university knew of the abuse for years but didn't act, said an attorney for the 710 women. "There are many in the administration and the board of trustees who don't belong at that university," John Manley said, per NBC. "They put the prestige, fundraising, and the university brand ahead of the well-being of students for 30 years." (Read more George Tyndall stories.)
BANGALORE, India, March 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Pest Control Market is segmented by Type (Chemical, Mechanical, Biological, and Others), by Pest Type (Insects, Termites, Rodents, and Others), and by Application (Residential, Commercial, Agricultural, Industrial, and Others). The report covers global opportunity analysis and industry forecast from 2020 to 2027. It is published on Valuates Reports in the Pest Control Category.

The global Pest Control Market size was valued at USD 20.6 Billion in 2019 and is projected to reach USD 30.0 Billion by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 5.2% from 2020 to 2027.

Major factors driving the growth of Pest Control Market size are:

The increasing awareness of public health has compelled people to adopt pest control services regularly at residential and commercial levels.

Implementation of Mandatory Audit Certification & change in climatic conditions has enhanced the demand of the market . Stringent government regulations and increased R&D activities to propel the dependency on bio-based pesticides.

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TRENDS INFLUENCING THE GROWTH OF PEST CONTROL MARKET SIZE

Business and industrial enterprises are increasingly requiring mandatory audits for certifications such as ISO 9001 and ISO 22000. These certifications provide a requirement for pest control to be performed on an annual, half-yearly, or quarterly basis. Businesses that fail to comply with these mandates may face fines or even shut down operations. These mandatory audits and regulations are expected to increase the growth of the pest control market size.

The growth in instances of life-threatening disease outbreaks combined with increasing awareness about public health and cleanliness is expected to fuel the growth of pest control market size. People have been forced to use pest control services at regular intervals in both the residential and commercial levels as pests pose real health threats.

Furthermore, the use of biological insecticides, which have few or no side effects on human health, is expected to provide lucrative growth opportunities during the forecast period.

Toxicity and health-related issues caused by pesticide chemicals, on the other hand, are significant factors limiting the pest control market size. On the contrary, ongoing research and development efforts to increase reliance on bio-based pesticides are expected to provide a lucrative growth opportunity.

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PEST CONTROL MARKET SHARE ANALYSIS

Based on region, the Asia-Pacific pest control market is expected to expand at the rate of 7.9% during the forecast period. China is one of the major contributors to the Asia-Pacific pest control market share. Chinese pest control market key players are pursuing development strategies to boost sales of organic pest control products in the country.

Based on type, the chemical segment was the largest revenue-generating segment in the pest control market and is anticipated to grow at CAGR 4.8% during the forecast period. However, the biological segment is expected to rise with the highest CAGR in the forecast period.

Based on pest type, the insect segment held the largest pest control market share in 2019 and is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 5.0% during the forecast period.

Based on Application, the chemical segment held the largest pest control market share in 2019 and is predicted to grow at a CAGR of 4.8% in the predicted period of time.

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KEY MARKET SEGMENTS

By Type

Chemical

Mechanical

Biological

Other

By Pest Type

Insects

Termites

Rodents

Other

By Application

Commercial

Residential

Agriculture

Industrial

Other

By Region

North America

U.S.



Canada



Mexico

Europe

Germany



U.K.



France



Italy



Spain



Rest of Europe

Asia-Pacific

China



Japan



India



Australia



South Korea



Rest of Asia-Pacific

LAMEA

Brazil



Saudi Arabia



South Africa



Rest of LAMEA

Key players in the global pest control market are:

Anticimex

BASF SE

Bayer AG

Cleankill Pest Control

Dodson Pest Control Inc.

Eastern Pest Control

Eco Environmental Services Ltd.

Ecolab

FMC Corporation

JG Pest Control

Lindsey Pest Services

NBC Environment

Rentokil Initial plc

Rollins Inc.

Syngenta

The Service Master Global Holdings Inc.

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Burundi and Egypt on Wednesday signed a visa exemption agreement for holders of diplomatic and service passports in the two countries.

Service passports are used by public servants and government officials who do not hold diplomatic passports.

"Burundi and Egypt signed an agreement on visa exemption for diplomatic and service passports and an agreement for the integrated execution of water resources in Burundi," a statement from Burundi's presidency said.

The two countries also signed agreements in the tourism, education, culture and communication sectors.

This comes as Burundi's President Evariste Ndayishimiye is in Egypt for a four-day visit scheduled to end on Friday.

The Burundi government said the agreements will provide an opportunity for Egyptian investors to invest in the country.

President Ndayishimiye travelled to Egypt with his wife, foreign affairs minister, health minister, agriculture minister, minister of energy and mines and Burundian businessmen.

"The delegations of Burundi and Egypt under the leadership of the heads of state held discussion on investment, technology transfer, tourism, projects on Lake Tanganyika and support from Egypt in the infrastructure and health sector," a statement from Burundi president's office reads.

This is president Ndayishimiye's third visit outside the country since he took over the office mid last year. His first visit came on September 19, 2020 where he met Tanzania's John Pombe Magufuli in Kigoma, and the second was in November when he made a five-day state visit to Equatorial Guinea.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-26 20:49:18|Editor: huaxia

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Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, presides over a symposium on the economic situation via video link attended by local government officials in Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province, March 25, 2021. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu)

NANJING, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has underscored efforts to consolidate economic recovery momentum, stimulate the vitality of market entities and enhance the endogenous engines for growth.

Li made the remarks while presiding over a symposium on the economic situation via video link attended by local government officials Thursday.

The Chinese economy has got off to a good start this year, said Li, noting that the actual annual growth might be relatively higher than the target of over 6 percent set for 2021. Enditem
Barangay representatives meet with the Philippines National Police and others to highlight local development priorities in Sorsogon, Philippines, in 2019. Relationships built through these types of community conversations have led to better COVID-19 relief in remote villages. Photo by Grace Labalan.

Consistent government engagement with community leaders builds trust and changes behavior in neglected rural conflict zones, finds a study co-authored by an Emory political scientist  even during crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

One of the first social science experiments on COVID-19 relating to conflict areas in a developing country, the findings were published by the American Political Science Review. The Philippine program that was studied serves as a promising model for future natural disasters and global health emergencies.

In only six months, [the program] provoked change in places most difficult that were skeptical about governments ability to deliver, says Renard Sexton, political science assistant professor. In these conflict areas, if you put good faith effort and opportunities out there, you can reach these folks and build collaboration with them.

Sexton, University of California San Diego assistant professor Nico Ravanilla and Florida State University assistant professor Dotan Haim designed the project and co-authored the paper.

Since the 1960s, the Philippines Bicol Region has been home to violent armed conflicts with insurgent rebels. Its also a hotspot for natural disasters with an active volcano, annual typhoons and earthquakes, making the area an ideal laboratory to learn how to deliver services in conflict areas.

Sexton says that Philippines National Police (PNP) Colonel Ronaldo Cabral, who had been working with Ravanilla and Haim on a community policing program, wanted to try a new approach in Bicol because combatting rebels with police crackdowns had not worked.

The program appealed to Sexton, who specializes in global conflict zones where foreign aid often doesnt help. His research suggests that aid programs should be based on long-term investment administered by local authorities who address local needs, coordinate between agencies and connect to high levels of the political process.

Cabral suggested rebuilding trust and cooperation through regular conversations with village leaders to hear frustrations and needs and bringing in government agencies to provide assistance. He wanted to partner with university researchers to ensure a rigorous scientific process and promote confidence in what he hoped would be a credible alternative, eventually implementing the program nationwide.

In October 2019 they randomly selected 200 villages to test using the Usap Tayo (Lets Talk) meetings. It wasnt a blanket program across the region. It wasnt one-size-fits-all, Ravanilla says.

For example, struggling farmers in one village needed seeds, so the Department of Agriculture came to the meetings to provide help, Ravanilla says.

In March 2020, the country was ordered into pandemic lockdown. All in-person meetings went remote. The crisis offered a test of the program when the Philippines government requested rapid assessments of risk exposure factors for villages nationwide, including those in the study.

Most village leaders werent willing to share information with the researchers, but those in the program were 10% more likely to report the COVID-19 risk assessment information. Even more encouraging, response rates from rebel-sympathetic treated villages were 30% higher than rebel-sympathetic control villages.

The improved relationships led to better COVID-19 relief. During the remote meetings, some village leaders shared that they had not received the government COVID-19 relief. The researchers were able to get those villages the much-needed resources.

Community meetings also helped youth council leaders who were often frustrated by government and vulnerable to recruitment by rebels. The researchers identified unemployment as one contributor to that vulnerability; the issue was addressed by partnering with an underutilized government youth training program to recruit, train and hire several dozen youth as security guards.

The hunger was there for opportunity. Its super hot there and you work in a big mall with air conditioning. Its a secure job with regular salary, Sexton says of the recruitment. Some were able to send money back to their villages. Suddenly, these areas had tangible things the government had done for them. It opened the door to all kinds of conversations in places that had super-high levels of favoring the rebels.

The research team will eventually return to Manila to present findings at PNP national headquarters in hopes of changing national policy and expanding the program.

Unfortunately, a pandemic had to happen to realize that this works. The hope is the government pays attention to this. Laying the groundwork before anything happens really pays off in the long run, Ravanilla says. You dont have to wait for a disaster to strike or a conflict to escalate for the government to do something that really helps.
More than a dozen Oakland elementary schools and preschools will not reopen as planned Tuesday after the majority, if not all, teachers at the sites opted not to return until required to do so in mid-April, despite an $800 incentive and prioritized vaccinations.

District officials had to rescind reopening plans at six elementary schools and 10 preschools Thursday, days before students in preschool through second grade were scheduled to head back after seven months of distance learning.

Under an agreement between the district and the unions, those students were scheduled to return to school on March 30, with all elementary and at least one middle or high school grade back in schools by April 19. High-needs students across all grades, including homeless students, foster youth, English learners, disengaged students and those with special needs, among others, would also be able to return by mid-April.

The lack of teachers volunteering could nullify an agreement between the union and district officials to pay all teachers a $2,000 stipend. The deal required there be enough teachers to ensure that priority students across all grades could return on March 30. That includes homeless students, foster youth, English learners and those struggling with distance learning.

An additional 30 schools were scheduled to reopen to a limited number of students given the staffing shortage, while 31 elementary and early learning sites will reopen as planned, said district spokesman John Sasaki.

The district did not have enough substitutes or alternative staff members to cover all the classrooms where teachers opted not to return.

The news is likely to upset many families who had eagerly awaited reopening as many students struggled academically and emotionally with distance learning. The delayed reopenings point to the challenges districts face as they struggle to reopen in the face of difficult labor relations and complicated logistics.

Parent Annie Gottbehuet questioned how the district and union could agree to bring back the youngest students, who are the least able to sit down and learn through Zoom, and not require the teachers to be there.

Its likely a substitute or other staff member will cover for her daughters kindergarten teacher at Montclair elementary until mid-April, she said.

Its laughable that teachers arent coming back right away given its likely her kindergarten daughter will only get five hours of in-person learning per week, with the rest still online through the end of the school year.

School board President Shanthi Gonzales said it was discouraging that some sites would not reopen as planned Tuesday because it would have allowed schools to slowly ramp up for a full return.

Parents are very frustrated and in particular children whove experienced isolation, depression, all of those things, she said. Its disappointing and Im very sympathetic to the families. I wish more teachers were volunteering.

District officials said 58% of families have indicated they would be returning for in-person learning.

At Cleveland Elementary, officials notified parents this week that the school would not reopen Tuesday as planned, but remain closed until April 19, when teachers and staff are required to be back in classrooms unless excused from in-person instruction.

At this time, we simply do not have enough staff who opted in for in-person instruction to open our classrooms to K-2 and priority students on Tuesday, Principal Peter Van Tassel said in a letter to families. Although this is disappointing news, please know that we are working hard to make sure we find every way possible to serve our students safely.

On Thursday, Garfield Principal Alicia Arenas continued to prepare for Tuesday, even though 60% of her staff has opted not to return.

She said the decision for each teacher was personal and that the school would reopen a few classrooms Tuesday with the rest for families in mid-April.

We are very excited to return, she said. We miss our students and we miss our families.

District and union officials agreed earlier this month to a deal that would reopen schools on March 30, with a voluntary return period for teachers until April 14 and all K-5 classrooms back five days later.

The deal offered teachers a significant financial incentive, including a $2,000 stipend for all 2,700 union members who return to in-person learning this spring, if enough educators returned to reopen for priority students, including those with disabilities.

COVID Resources Coronavirus Map Tracking COVID-19 cases across the Bay Area and California.

With some schools failing to reopen, its unclear whether that measure was met, Gonzales said.

Teachers for preschool through second grade who return voluntarily will still receive an $800 stipend.

Families have the option of remaining in distance learning, with about 45% of the districts 36,000 making that choice, Sasaki said.

Those who choose in-person learning will return part time, splitting the week between time in the classroom and virtual instruction.

The agreement acknowledges that not all teachers will be fully vaccinated until mid-April, which is why officials agreed to reopen the first sites in March with teachers who volunteer to return to in-person instruction.

At Montclair Elementary, officials said only students whose teacher is returning will be back in classrooms Tuesday. The rest will remain in distance learning until mid-April.

I ask that you respect our teachers and the decisions they made based on their personal situations, said Principal Maite Barloga.

Sasaki said that in some cases, prioritized students  including those with the highest needs  would have priority in returning Tuesday, depending on the number of staff opting to come back early.

To see the full list of schools and the status of reopening, go to ousd.org.

Jill Tucker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jtucker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jilltucker
When someone stole a Harley-Davidson from a St. Helena property in 2018, they probably didnt know they were stealing more than a motorcycle  they were stealing a memory.

With a big assist from the St. Helena Police Department, the Christianson family was overjoyed last week to recover the bike, which was restored by the late Jack Christianson.

This bike is a testament to his passion and his talent, said Julie Christianson, Jacks daughter. Its a physical representation of my father that has so much sentimental value.

A mechanical whiz, Jack Christianson worked on nuclear submarines at Mare Island Naval Station before spending the rest of his career working on farm equipment at Beckstoffer Vineyards. In his early years he used to race Harley-Davidsons on flat tracks around the country, and while he gave that up when he started a family, restoring Harleys became his passion.

Toward the end of his life, Christianson donated all but two of his Harleys to the Dudley Perkins Co. Harley-Davidson dealership in San Francisco.


Flexible shoulders gave clue that a hefty and now-extinct kangaroo could climb through the branches.

A big kangaroo climbing a tree might look roo-diculous today. But hundreds of thousands of years ago, some hefty kangaroos were actually adapted to tree-living, according to a recent study.

Congruous kitcheneri

Most marsupial families (modern macropods) which include kangaroos, wallabies, and pademelons stick to the ground, but a few of these species spend almost all of their time in trees. Natalie Warburton and Gavin Prideaux from Murdoch University in Perth and Flinders University in Adelaide respectively, both in Australia, examined fossils of the extinct macropod Congruous Kitchener, discovered in southern Australia.

Standing close to one meter tall and its weight about 50 kilograms, Congruous kitcheneri was shorter than most of its extinct huge relatives but bigger than most living species of marsupial. Congruous kitcheneri had a specifically flexible shoulder joint, big hands and feet with curved claws, and arm muscles exclusively for pulling the forelimbs into the body and not like its big-framed cousins.

These physical traits recommend that Congruous kitcheneri was able to ascend and move gradually through trees, though it was not as used to tree-living species as modern tree-kangaroos, according to the researchers.

Also Read: Kangaroos Ask Help From Humans Once They Do This!

The Marsupial Species

The kangaroo is a marsupial species which means "large foot". Mostly, the term is used to explain the largest species from this family of macropods which are the red kangaroo, antilopine kangaroo, western grey kangaroo, and as well as eastern grey kangaroo.

Kangaroos are aboriginal to New Guinea and Australia. In 2011, the government of Australia estimated that 34.3 million kangaroos inhabited the commercial harvest regions of Australia 2011, up from 25.1 million a year before.

The wallaby, wallaroo, and kangaroo relate to a paraphyletic animal group. All three relate to members of the same family of Macropodidae and are differentiated according to size. The largest animals in the family are known as kangaroos and the smallest are commonly called wallabies. The term wallaroos mean species of average size.

T ree-living Kangaroos

There are also the tree-living kangaroos, another type of macropod, which survives the tropical rainforests of New Guinea, faraway northeastern Queensland, and some of the islands in the area.

They have large, strong hind legs, large feet used for leaping, a small head, and a long muscular tail used for maintaining balance. Like most species of marsupials, female kangaroos have a pouch known as marsupium where they finish postnatal development.

The hefty kangaroos have adapted much to land clearing for pastoral agriculture and changes in habitat brought to the landscape in Australia by humans than the smaller macropods. Most of the smaller species are endangered and rare, while kangaroos are relatively abundant.

Marsupial Parenting

Female kangaroos have one baby at a time. The baby immediately climbs into the pouch of the mother and does not come out for two months.

Until it's about eight months of age, threatened young kangaroos, known as Joey will quickly dive for safety. As they develop, the heads and feet of Joey can frequently be seen popping out of the pouch.

Related Article: Video of Kangaroo on a Leash Sparks Debate: Should Wild Animals Be Treated Like Pets?

For more news, updates about kangaroos and similar topics don't forget to follow Nature World News!
EU warns will block AstraZeneca vaccine exports

EU warns will block AstraZeneca vaccine exports

The European Union warned on Thursday that it will ban drugs firms from exporting coronavirus vaccines to the UK and other countries until they make good on their promised deliveries to the bloc.



EU chief Ursula von der Leyen's stark warning - which could hit UK-based AstraZeneca first - came after a video summit of all 27 EU leaders and stoked fears that cross-Channel rivalry could damage global efforts to combat the pandemic.



Some leaders stressed that an embargo should be a last resort if negotiations for a better way of sharing vaccine production come up short, but von der Leyen and France's President Emmanuel Macron adopted an uncompromising tone.



"I think it is clear that first of all the company (AstraZeneca) has to catch up, has to honour the contract it has with the European member states, before it can engage again in exporting vaccines," von der Leyen told a news conference.



The focus of the latest row is an AstraZeneca plant in the Netherlands, which Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government claims as part of the British vaccine supply chain.



Macron declared his firm support for the Commission's plan, declaring "an end to naivety".



"I support the idea that we should block all possible exports for as long as the labs don't respect their commitments to Europeans," he said.



The Netherlands and Belgium, centres of EU vaccine production, are skittish at talk of an embargo, fearful that disruption to global supply chains could hurt other firms' production.



"The supply chains are so intricate, they're so intertwined, so it's not automatically a good thing if this new instrument is to be applied," Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said, citing the example of a Belgian plant making BioNTech/Pfizer vaccines that relies on raw materials from Britain.



But Rutte also told reporters he warned Johnson that the Netherlands would enforce any EU decision to halt exports - even as he hoped for a quick resolution.



"Luckily at least the two (sides) are talking and it seems, I think, on Saturday or soon after they could come to an agreement," Rutte told reporters.



"That would be very helpful, because we are friends, the UK and the rest of Europe, and we need each other."



London was alarmed by von der Leyen's decision this week to tighten Europe's export control mechanism to give the Commission more leeway to block exports if EU vaccine supplies are at stake.



Johnson is also concerned that a ban that extends beyond UK-based AstraZeneca's disputed supply could also block BioNTech/Pfizer vaccines produced in Belgium.



That would imperil Britain's vaccination drive, which has so far proved more successful than those of EU member states, which have been hit by a massive shortfall in deliveries.



As tempers frayed this week, a joint statement by the British government and the commission on Wednesday said both sides were looking for ways to cooperate towards a "win-win" compromise, but no details were given.



While Britain accuses the European Union of vaccine "nationalism", von der Leyen noted that the bloc was "the region that exports the most vaccines worldwide".



She said that, since the beginning of December, companies in the EU had sent 77 million doses of Covid vaccines out of the bloc - with an EU official noting that more than a quarter of those went to Britain.



But von der Leyen said the next three months will see overall vaccine supplies more than triple and the EU - population 450 million - is on track to see 70 percent of adults fully vaccinated by mid-September.



AstraZeneca is expected to deliver 30 million doses to the EU in the first quarter, a pledge already radically reduced from the 120 million doses it was initially contracted to provide.



Another sensitive issue is the distribution of vaccines within Europe.



A group of six smaller states led by Austria demanded more doses after they missed an earlier opportunity to secure a bigger share of costlier vaccines by betting on the cheaper - but unreliably supplied - AstraZeneca one.



But after the talks, Rutte said Austria does not seem in "bad shape at the moment" and member states had asked ambassadors to find a solution for harder-hit Bulgaria, Croatia and Latvia. (AFP)
Ju-Ni

San Francisco sushi destination Ju-Ni is unveiling an all-outdoor omakase dining setup. It appears to be the first of its kind in the city, with a new parklet designed specifically for omakase  and reservations are going fast.

Before the pandemic, Ju-Ni served only omakase  an upscale and leisurely Japanese meal where the chef chooses the courses  in its intimate, 14-seat space. For the past year, its been serving rice bowls for takeout instead. All the while, the owners toyed around with creating an outdoor service but preferred to keep their employees as safe as possible. But once restaurant workers could get vaccinated, they started building the parklet.
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., March 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Spring has officially sprung at Wow Wow Hawaiian Lemonade (Wow Wow). The Arizona-based gourmet lemonade stand wants to help guests dust off the winter blues with a vibrant spring flavor focused limited-time menu.

Starting Monday, March 29 and for a limited-time-only, guests who visit any Wow Wow location can choose between three plant-based energy infused lemonades, all served frozen. Introduced last fall and instantly becoming a fan favorite, the plant-based lemonades are naturally jam-packed with energy and guests can choose from Lava Flow, Classic and Passion Strawberry flavors during this limited-time offer.

You also can't "think spring" without being reminded of the refreshing tastes of coconut and mint. These two flavors combine to create the Lemon Coconut Mint Bowl  a frozen lemonade-based smoothie bowl crafted with coconut, mint, banana, mango and pineapple and topped with granola, banana, strawberry, blueberry and coconut chips.

"There's no better way to celebrate the change of seasons than with fresh new menu items that include seasonal flavors sure to warm up any guest's day," said Tim Weiderhoft, chief executive officer of Wow Wow. "We are looking forward to ramping up the spring season with this limited-time menu and continuing to provide the best tasting food experience for our guests."

Guests looking to a hint of spring can visit all Wow Wow locations for an energizing lemonade or cool blend of coconut, mint and lemon until supplies last.

About Wow Wow Hawaiian Lemonades:

Wow Wow Hawaiian Lemonades offers fresh, all-natural Hawaiian lemonades and smoothies and a food menu consisting of acai bowls, grain bowls, flatbread sandwiches, and multigrain avocado and nut butter toasts. The fast casual restaurant was founded in Hawaii in 2012. It quickly gained in popularity and grew from the stand to a trailer, then opened its first brick and mortar location on Maui in 2014. The fast casual launched its franchise opportunity in 2017, opening in Scottsdale Arizona in 2018. Today it has a total of seven lemonade stands domestically and two internationally with stand number eight opening in El Dorado Hills, CA on March 22nd, 2021. For more information, please contact the franchisor at [email protected] and visit their website at www.wowwowhawaiianlemonade.com.

Media Contact: Amanda Regan, Fishman PR, [email protected], 630-229-8962

SOURCE Wow Wow Hawaiian Lemonade

Related Links

http://www.wowwowhawaiianlemonade.com


Ukraine ranks eighth in the list of the largest trade and economic partners of Kyrgyzstan, but in terms of potential it should be among the top five.

President of the Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (UCCI) Hennadiy Chyzhykov said this during an online conference entitled "Ukraine-Kyrgyzstan: Opportunities for Bilateral Cooperation" on Friday, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

According to him, the current bilateral trade is estimated at USD 50-70 million, and this does not at all correspond to the potential of both countries: six to seven years ago, the trade turnover was five times higher.

Among the obstacles preventing the restoration of the previous intensity of cooperation, entrepreneurs name rather complicated logistics. The UCCI, the Ministry of Infrastructure and other interested agencies are working to improve logistics routes to make the exchange of goods and services more efficient, Chyzhykov said.

He reminded that Ukrainian goods have a good reputation in Kyrgyzstan. These are, first of all, agricultural products (oil, cereals, and flour). The Kyrgyz Republic actively supplies high-quality textile products to Ukraine. High technology should be a priority in the future.

Ukraine has every opportunity to play a more important role in cooperation with Kyrgyzstan in the construction of hydroelectric power plants, mechanical engineering, and IT sector. The task of the authorities is to support the desire of entrepreneurs of the two countries to work in these areas," the UCCI president noted.

Chyzhykov also emphasized the importance of regional cooperation and stressed that online conferences are one of the ways to achieve Ukraine's ambitious goal of intensifying trade contacts with partners around the world.

ish
The National Labor Relations Board on Thursday upheld a 2019 ruling that Tesla had illegally fired a worker involved in union organizing and that the companys chief executive, Elon Musk, had illegally threatened workers with the loss of stock options if they unionized.

The board ruled that the worker, Richard Ortiz, must be reinstated with back pay, and that Mr. Musk must delete his tweet. The company must also post a notice committing not to violate labor law in the future and announcing that it will undertake the mandated remedies.

Mr. Ortiz had been visibly involved in union organizing, including distributing leaflets in the parking lot of the companys plant in Fremont, Calif., before he was fired in October 2017. The company said it fired him because he had posted screenshots of employees profiles in an internal platform to Facebook. An administrative law judge ruled that it was in retaliation for his organizing efforts.

The judge also found that the company had illegally issued a warning to another employee for taking the screenshots and sending them to Mr. Ortiz, a ruling that the board upheld on Thursday as well.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-26 09:57:01|Editor: huaxia

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SYDNEY, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Australian police have charged two men with allegedly running a "sophisticated terrorist network", which helped local fighters travel to Syria to join violent extremist groups.

The men, aged 34 and 31, were arrested in coordinated moves in the states of Queensland and Victoria on Thursday, and charged with crimes related to entering a foreign state with the intention of engaging in hostile activities.

As well as facilitating others to travel overseas, the 34-year-old was accused of having gone to Syria himself to engage in hostile activities, an offence which carries a potential 20 years jail time.

"We will be alleging that he entered Syria, he fought alongside terrorist organizations, and he did that against the Syrian government," Australian Federal Police (AFP) Commander Stephen Dametto said.

Police allege the men played senior roles in establishing networks in Australia, Turkey and Syria which were used by Australian foreign terrorist fighters to enter Syria between 2012 and 2014.

Once there the Australian fighters allegedly joined terrorist organisations including Jabhat al-Nusra, a violent extremist group that engaged in hostilities with Syrian government forces.

U.S. government agencies had also previously flagged the 31-year-old for sending material support to the terrorist group, Al-Qaeda.

Searches of properties tied to the men on Thursday uncovered 80,000 Australian dollars (60,700 U.S. dollars) in cash along with high-value gemstones.

"The decision to arrest these men yesterday was made by the Queensland joint counter-terrorism team when we thought we had enough evidence to charge these individuals," Dametto said.

"I should be clear that the decision to act was not made in connection to any imminent threat to the community in either Queensland or Victoria."

Dametto also stressed it was not the ideology or background of individuals which the AFP targeted, but the criminality of their actions.

"Today is an example of our commitment to discourage Australians from fighting overseas and holding people to account for their involvement in supporting terrorism and terrorist organizations," Dametto said. Enditem
Mann has always been adept at coaxing menace from the familiar bustle of public spaces, and the opening shot of this classy genre thriller (2004) is a fine example. As Tom Cruises character, an implacable hit man, slowly emerges from the crowd at a Los Angeles airport and approaches the camera, his purposeful stride is deliberately out of step with the sea of travelers around him. Silver-haired and expressionless behind jet-black shades, he glides through the terminal, his pale gray, sharply tailored suit and dazzling white shirt giving off a faint sheen. The shark metaphor is unsubtle, yet perfect: In barely 30 seconds of screen time, and before hearing him say a word, we know this man is a predator. JEANNETTE CATSOULIS

The Insider: Modulating Pacino

Mann is such a distinctive stylist, with such a recognizable visual and aural aesthetic, that its easy to overlook how deftly he directs his actors. For proof, look no further than Pacinos big scene in The Insider. By the end of the 1990s, after his Oscar win for his roaring turn in Scent of a Woman, audiences had come to expect Pacino to work at top volume and high intensity. Instead, Mann keeps the actor on a low simmer  until this scene, when Pacinos 60 Minutes producer, working on an investigation of Big Tobacco, has finally had enough. Mann and Pacino build the explosion were waiting for beautifully, the director modulating the escalation like a symphony conductor, as the actor slowly but surely unloads on his bosses, only to have his closest collaborator take the wind out of his sails. JASON BAILEY

Thief: A Vulnerable Turn
There was a seismic change in the tone of the constitutional debate this week that, in years to come, may well be pointed to as the week Ireland got busy for change.

RTE, for the very first time, brought the largest parties in the south together to discuss - in words writ 10 feet tall - a united Ireland. And no one tore the head off each other.

Fianna Fail's other leader, Jim O'Callaghan, had people poring over his paper on a united Ireland as he delivered an online speech for Sussex University.

A paper containing so much blue-sky, but detailed, thinking that, in the absence of actual government papers, it gained concerted debate and focus.

Imagine Belfast brought together women from across the community in a debate hosted by Aras Ui Chonghaile to discuss a united Ireland and what was discovered was that, not only could debates be held with thoughtful respect, much common ground could be found.

On the same day, Belfast and Dublin City Councils hosted an event on an economic corridor linking the two cities. A visionary concept where the border is invisible and trade and opportunity are the watchwords.

Leo Varadkar was the main speaker; back to his optimistic self, he was clearly in a post-Protocol mindset.

The Irish government's Shared Island initiative saw Simon Coveney's commitment to the role of civic society in the debate on constitutional change. Shifting the focus from the political sphere has been central to progress on all constitutional issues since the 1990s on this island.

From the peace process to equal marriage, civic actors provided momentum, popular engagement and, ultimately, informed the nation-changing franchises that provide the backdrop to much of the current discourse on the constitutional future.

Later that evening, Ireland's Future produced their document on the economic benefits of a united Ireland.

Bringing together contemporaneous research and the issues of British subvention, economic investment and the legacy of partition into one document, this initiative will undoubtedly be a touchstone for the debate as it gets less conceptual and more detailed in the coming weeks and months.

It was a week marked by confidence and optimism, where we moved from speaking about this debate's legitimacy, or potential divisiveness, to scoping referendum planning.

In the RTE debate, former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern's idea that the referendum could take place on the 30th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement - 2028 - became the touchstone. Far enough away to feel safe, close enough to know we may get our skates on planning.

Last week, Colum Eastwood mooted the potential scenario of a British Secretary of State calling a snap border poll and how that would catch everyone off guard.

Maybe that was the needed boot up the proverbial backside to concentrate minds. Maybe it was the adverts of Irish America in American newspapers urging border poll planning, or the US Senate resolution on its commitment to the Good Friday and Stormont House Agreements in all of their parts.

Whatever the motivation, March came in with border poll scepticism and goes out with border poll concentration.

Meanwhile, in every discussion there is a striking absence. That absence is noticed, engaged with and spoken about. Political unionism is not in the room.

It is not engaging with these debates. It is pretending that the status quo will remain the same and they do not need to be engaged.

While nationalism and republicanism is at pains to mention the special place of unionism, the value of unionism and the need for unionism, unionism stays outside the door.

There is a warmed chair by the fire waiting for them and the cushions are being regularly plumped with ideas of what can make it more comfortable. But unionism stays outside.

It was instructive that, in the RTE debate, Gregory Campbell spoke of there being three minorities in the north: nationalism, other and unionism.

This was an extraordinary statement, but this thinking may well speak to the uncertainty and insecurity that underpins unionism's lack of engagement in the discussion.

The planning is under way and will necessarily include planning for unionism's place in a new Ireland.

Surely, political unionism wants to influence that? Before events, or time, overtake them.

Andree Murphy is deputy director of Relatives for Justice and a political commentator
WEST MELBOURNE, FL / ACCESSWIRE / March 26, 2021 / BK Technologies Corporation (NYSE American:BKTI) today announced that it has been awarded a new service contract by the United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service (USFS) for the maintenance and repair of BK Technologies products. Replacing the previous service contract, which expired, the new contract provides for a period of performance extending through June 13, 2024 and does not specify firm service dates or quantities. In addition to the USFS, the contact is available for use by all agencies within the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

BK President Tim Vitou commented, "We are very pleased to be awarded this service contract, extending our longstanding relationship with the USFS and other agencies within the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The contract enables us to maintain our high standard of reliability for fire-suppression professionals who depend upon BK products in life-threatening circumstances, while also providing us with recurring service revenue for several years. We look forward to continuing our valued relationship with the USFS and all our customers that rely upon this contract."

About BK Technologies

BK Technologies Corporation is an American holding company deeply rooted in the public safety communications industry, with its operating subsidiary manufacturing high-specification, American-made communications equipment of unsurpassed reliability and value for use by public safety professionals and government agencies. BK Technologies is honored to serve these heroes with reliable equipment when every moment counts. The Company's common stock trades on the NYSE American market under the symbol "BKTI". Maintaining its headquarters in West Melbourne, Florida, BK Technologies can be contacted through its web site at www.bktechnologies.com or directly at 1-800-821-2900.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements that are made pursuant to the "Safe Harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements concern the Company's operations, economic performance and financial condition and are based largely on the Company's beliefs and expectations. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company, or industry results, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors and risks, some of which have been, and may further be, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, include, among others, the following: changes or advances in technology; the success of our land mobile radio product line; successful introduction of new products and technologies, including our ability to successfully develop and sell our anticipated new multiband product and other related products in the planned new BKR Series product line; competition in the land mobile radio industry; general economic and business conditions, including federal, state and local government budget deficits and spending limitations, any impact from a prolonged shutdown of the U.S. Government, and the ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic; the availability, terms and deployment of capital; reliance on contract manufacturers and suppliers; risks associated with fixed-price contracts; heavy reliance on sales to agencies of the U.S. Government and our ability to comply with the requirements of contracts, laws and regulations related to such sales; allocations by government agencies among multiple approved suppliers under existing agreements; our ability to comply with U.S. tax laws and utilize deferred tax assets; our ability to attract and retain executive officers, skilled workers and key personnel; our ability to manage our growth; our ability to identify potential candidates for, and consummate, acquisition, disposition or investment transactions, and risks incumbent to being a noncontrolling interest stockholder in a corporation; impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the companies in which the Company holds investments; impact of our capital allocation strategy; risks related to maintaining our brand and reputation; impact of government regulation; rising health care costs; our business with manufacturers located in other countries, including changes in the U.S. Government and foreign governments' trade and tariff policies, as well as any further impact resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic; our inventory and debt levels; protection of our intellectual property rights; fluctuation in our operating results and stock price; acts of war or terrorism, natural disasters and other catastrophic events, such as the COVID-19 pandemic; any infringement claims; data security breaches, cyber-attacks and other factors impacting our technology systems; availability of adequate insurance coverage; maintenance of our NYSE American listing; risks related to being a holding company; and the effect on our stock price and ability to raise equity capital of future sales of shares of our common stock. Certain of these factors and risks, as well as other risks and uncertainties, are stated in more detail in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020 and in the Company's subsequent filings with the SEC. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this press release, and 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 the forward-looking statements.

Company Contact:

Hayden IR

James Carbonara

james@haydenir.com

(646)-755-7412

SOURCE: BK Technologies Corporation

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/637512/BK-Technologies-Awarded-Service-Contract-from-the-USDA-Forest-Service
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-26 14:50:34|Editor: huaxia

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BANGKOK, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Thailand reported 134 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, taking the total caseload to 28,577, according to the Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA).

Of the new cases, 128 were domestic infections while six others were imported cases, according to the CCSA.

Proactive testing led to the discovery of 87 new cases, with 82 in the capital Bangkok. No new death was reported Friday, leaving the country's total death toll at 92.

Also on Friday, the Ministry of Public Health reported the death of a person 13 days after being given COVID-19 vaccine in the country, which experts said was from a pre-existing condition and not a consequence of the inoculation.

The patient, who had aortic aneurysm, died of a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm after a surgery.

"After evaluation, we believe the patient's death is unrelated to the vaccination," said Sophon Mekthon, assistant to the public health minister and chairman of a subcommittee on COVID-19 vaccine management.

Thailand has confirmed 28,577 COVID-19 cases, with 25,556 being domestic infections while 3,021 imported cases. So far, 27,032 have recovered and been discharged, and 1,453 patients are still in hospitals. Enditem
CHICO, Calif. - A former Chico teacher was sentenced to five years in state prison for sexual offenses to a former student, Butte County District Attorney said.

Jennifer Smith, 50, was a Spanish teacher at Bidwell Junior High School when she began an abusive sexual relationship with a student who turned 14 in 2010.

The victim reported the abuse in 2020 but said the abuse happened until she turned 18.

The victim said Smith began to pay more attention to her after the victim told Smith she had a turbulent home life, District Attorney Mike Ramsey said.

Smith then began spending time with the victim outside of school, including inviting the victim to family outings.

The victim then moved in with the Smith family and Smith would tell her friends and associates the victim was her daughter.

Smith regularly provided the victim with marijuana and alcohol while molesting her.

RELATED: Teacher charged with sexual abuse of student headed for trial

The victim described her years of abuse and the emotional toll she feels from the years of abuse by Smith in front of the court on Thursday, Ramsey said.

Another alleged victim said Smith attempted to groom her for sexual abuse years before Smith met the current victim.

Smith requested probation but it was denied as she was sentenced to the maximum term under the charges Smith pleaded to.

Teachers who violate that trust by sexually abusing their students do great harm to their victims and their community at large, Ramsey said. We owe a debt of great gratitude to this brave young lady who came forward and shared her story with us. Her courage allowed us to take a dangerous predator off the streets.
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

Researchers from UCL have shown that brain changes associated with perception and understanding of sounds occur in key regions affected by dementia and may flag early signs of disease. The work looks at the so-called "cocktail party effect," a problem often seen in people with dementia, and is presented at Alzheimer's Research UK's 20th Annual Research Conference today (Friday 26 March).

In 2020 a landmark report by The Lancet Commission estimated that people with unaddressed midlife hearing loss are up to five times more likely to be affected by dementia than those without hearing loss. With no current treatments available that slow down or halt these diseases, understanding the complex relationship between hearing loss and dementia is even more important.

Most previous studies have focused on our ability to detect sounds and we tend to think of hearing problems as sounds seeming quieter and less likely to be noticed. But the ears are instruments that pick-up sound waves and send out nerve impulses, while our brains interpret these signals.

At Alzheimer's Research UK's 20th Annual Research Conference, supported by Iceland Foods Charitable Foundation, Prof Jason Warren presents findings of a series of linked experiments investigating the 'cocktail party effect."

The cocktail party effect is the challenge people have focusing on a single speaker or conversation in a noisy environment. For example, most people talking to a friend at a bustling cocktail party are able to listen to and understand what they are talking aboutand ignore what other people nearby are saying. This becomes increasingly difficult for many people with Alzheimer's disease.

Prof Warren's team assessed a process where sound information is extracted from noisy environments in patients with Alzheimer's disease, compared to healthy older individuals. They also designed new tests of the participants' ability to judge the location of a sound in a complex auditory scene. To understand the impact on the brain they assessed brain function and structure using sophisticated MRI brain scans. The team also looked to see if a prescribed medication for memory loss in Alzheimer's disease helped improve the understanding of speech that is 'degraded' or mixed with noise.

People with Alzheimer's disease showed deficits in processing noisy environments and perceiving degraded speech. However, individuals who received a single dose of donepezil, the most widely prescribed Alzheimer's drug, showed improved understanding of degraded speech. They also showed retained ability to learn to understand noisy speech signals, similar to healthy older listeners.

Prof Jason Warren from University College London, said:

"While most people think of memory problems when we hear the word 'dementia," that is far from the whole story. Vision and hearing problems are also common, even when there is nothing wrong with a person's eyes or ears.

"Hearing happens in the brain and there is a complex relationship between hearing changes and the onset of dementia. Our research simulating real-world hearing problems shows they are due to changes in brain structure linked with the development of diseases like Alzheimer's and other diseases that cause dementia.

"The brain is a fantastic organ and our work shows that despite damage that occurs during Alzheimer's disease, the brain retains a remarkable ability to adapt. My hope for the future is that we explore the use of complex hearing tests for the early diagnosis of dementia and investigate potential drugs that may harness pathways associated with hearing and the plasticity of the hearing brain. This will help reduce the number of dementia cases and help people with dementia live and communicate more successfully."

Dr. Rosa Sancho, Head of Research at Alzheimer's Research UK, said:

"While dementia is caused by a complex mix of age, genetics and lifestyle, research shows there are things within our control to change that may affect our risk, and that dementia is not an inevitable part of getting older. Gaining a deeper understanding of how the brain and the senses are linked is a hot topic in dementia research and we are pleased to be able to showcase this at the 20th Alzheimer's Research UK Conference."

To try to understand the links between hearing loss and memory and thinking further, national charities the RNID and Alzheimer's Research UK have teamed up to invest up to 200,000 into a new research project.

Dr. Ralph Holme from RNID, said:

"Hearing loss and dementia can have devastating consequences, and with an aging population it is an issue we can no longer ignore. I'm delighted that both charities have joined forces to fund research to better understand why hearing loss and dementia are linked. This could give us new insight into ways of improving hearing and preventing dementia."

Explore further Hearing loss linked to early memory and thinking problems
The easternmost Prairie Province has invited a total of 1,627 candidates so far in 2021.

Manitoba invites 335 in new PNP draw The easternmost Prairie Province has invited a total of 1,627 candidates so far in 2021.

Manitoba invites 335 in new PNP draw The easternmost Prairie Province has invited a total of 1,627 candidates so far in 2021.

Manitoba invites 335 in new PNP draw The easternmost Prairie Province has invited a total of 1,627 candidates so far in 2021. Shelby Thevenot Aa Accessibility Font Style Serif

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Manitoba invited another 335 Canadian immigration candidates to apply for a provincial nomination on March 25.

If these invited candidates receive the provincial nomination through the Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program (MPNP) they will be one step closer to permanent residency status.

Manitoba regularly invites hopeful immigrants to apply through one of the following three Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) streams: Skilled Workers in Manitoba, International Education Stream, and Skilled Workers Overseas. The Skilled Worker streams require that candidates have previously submitted an Expression of Interest (EOI) profile,

Here are the results from the latest draw:

Skilled Workers in Manitoba 285 invitations with a minimum EOI score of 423;

Skilled Workers Overseas 9 invitations with a minimum EOI score of 711; and

International Education Stream 41 invitations with no EOI score requirement.

A total of 49 invitations, also known as Letters of Advice to Apply (LAAs), went to Express Entry candidates.

Find Out if Youre Eligible for Canadian Immigration

How to immigrate to Manitoba

Manitoba has a number of immigration programs dedicated to attracting international talent to the province. The provincial government manages its immigration through the MPNP, which supports immigration applications to the federal government. Canadian provinces do not have the ability to give out permanent residency status, but they can help an application along by issuing provincial nominations.

If you want to benefit from a nomination from Manitoba, you need to register an Expression of Interest with the MPNP. This enables you to potentially receive an LAA through the Skilled Workers in Manitoba and Skilled Workers Overseas streams.

Manitoba then ranks candidates out of 1,000 points for their human capital factors, as well as their connections to the province.

The Skilled Workers Overseas Category and Skilled Workers in Manitoba streams are designed to allow the province to identify candidates who meet its labour market needs.

Candidates overseas need to demonstrate connections to Manitoba through the likes of close family ties, previous experience in the province, or an invitation through one of Manitobas Strategic Recruitment Initiatives. You do not need to be living in Manitoba at the time of your application to be eligible.

In order to receive an invitation under the Skilled Workers in Manitoba category, you need to have a full-time job offer from a provincial employer.

International graduates who complete education in Manitoba can receive an LAA under the International Education Stream if they demonstrate that they have in-demand skills.

Express Entry candidates may be invited through the MPNP

Express Entry is the main way Canada manages skilled worker applications. It is possible to skip the PNP process and receive a permanent residence invitation by applying through Express Entry directly. However, having a provincial nomination effectively guarantees that Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) will invite you to apply for Canadian permanent residence.

Express Entry is an application management system for three federal immigration programs. When you submit your profile, you are then ranked based on the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS), which considers factors like your age, work experience, education, and language skills.

The highest-scoring candidates receive invitations to apply for permanent residence through regular Express Entry draws.

You gain an additional 600 CRS points if you receive a provincial nomination from a PNP, such as Manitobas. This award is high enough to allow you to receive an Invitation to Apply in an Express Entry draw.

Find Out if Youre Eligible for Canadian Immigration

 CIC News All Rights Reserved. Visit CanadaVisa.com to discover your Canadian immigration options.
Since the beginning of time, the secret of life is to travel and explore the world. The history of evolution has proved the statement. In the ancient world, once men were living a nomadic life and entirely dependent on nature. Travelling becomes the soul of human life. Travel is a powerful implement for being a better person and creating a better world to celebrate the diversity of the universe.

Not all those who wander are lost.- By J.R.R Tolkien (The Lord of the Rings)

Ever wonder why people love to travel and moving out of their comfort zone. Each and every individual has their reasons. Most commonly noticed ones that justify the love are challenging yourself, learning more, expanding of perspective, appreciating lives outside of your world, finding yourself among diversity, strengthening your relationship with the universe, having an adventure, escaping, celebrating, relaxing and rejuvenating. Challenging yourself pushes them to their limits and gets them outside their comfort zone. It helps to discover the new world as well as the importance of self. Seeing the world adds knowledge and skills such as new languages, culture, new cuisine and many more. Getting away from our comfort zone offers multiple opportunities to reflect on our life. And travelling is one of the best ways to learn more about self. It shows diversity and its value which helps us to accept and develop.

Though travellers buck list has always so many amazing places, still there is a possibility to miss out on one that is Nepal.

Nepal is a country, which will never disappoint you as a traveller. Its full of happiness, culture and beauty. Some of the basic reasons why you should visit Nepal are the views are stunning, the people are friendly, home to once-in-a-lifetime treks, diversity and acceptance of religion, safe and affordable.

Trekking adventure

Nepal has some of the best trekking in the world. It is home to Mount Everest, Ama Dablam, the Ghorepani Poon Hill (sometimes known as the Annapurna Panorama Trek) and many others. People, from all over the world, come to hike Everest Base Camp. At the altitude of 18,000 feet and experience the best mountain views in the world and the multiple days trek are well worth the effort. The Ghorepani Poon Hill is an easy to modest level trek. During the trek, a traveller walks amongst lush green forests blazing with beautiful red rhododendron. There is a chance to observe the local lives of the Gurung tribe. The place is known for its beautiful views of the rising sun. Moreover, it is famous for its alternating incline between forests, plain fields, and hills.

Admire the Boudhanath Stupa

There is the largest stupa (a Buddhist shrine with a dome shape) and also the holiest Tibetan Buddhist temple outside Tibet. This is scared place and established in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal. Every part of the building represents the stages to the trail of enlightenment with the eyes painted on each side of the gilded tower showing the all-knowing nature of the Gautama Buddha as well as five elements of earth, water, fire, air and ether (the fifth represented by another Buddha preserved in the centre).

Spotting the Wildlife

The wildlife seekers have an incredible scenario to fix their eyes on. One can spot tigers, rhinos, leopards, elephants, and buffalos around Nepal. The most common place to go on a safari is Chitwan National Park, however, Bardia ( Bardiya) National Park is a great hidden gem. Theres nothing like going on an overnight safari, falling asleep to the sounds of wild animals and getting close to nature. Bird-watching fanatic will especially take pleasure in a visit to the Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve, on the south-eastern Terai bordering India. It's to be found on the floodplain of the Sapta Koshi River and is made up of mudflats, reed beds, and freshwater marshes. Almost 500 species of birds can be found here.

Hidden Temple in the Kathmandu Valley

Changu Narayan is the oldest temple in Kathmandu, situated in the east of the Kathmandu Valley, just north of Bhaktapur. It is one of the Kathmandu Valley's several UNESCO World Heritage sites, but, perhaps because it's a little out of the way, it's far less busy than other such sites like Swayambhunath or Pashupatinath. It is easy to visit from Bhakapur. Changu Narayan is a two-story pagoda-style temple devoted to Lord Vishnu and enclosed by ancient carving and statues. It has survived from double destruction of 1702 and 2015.

Sip Tea in the Plantations of Ilam

While Darjeeling is a domestic name within the tea world, the plantations of Ilam are not nearly in popularity. Travellers can pick up boxes of Ilam tea in Kathmandu, but for even fresher bits and pieces, travel east to Ilam itself. The hilly landscape of tea plantations is ultimate for moderate hikes, and the nearby forests are rich in biodiversity.

Decades have passed away; humanity has evolved from the Stone Age to the Millennial Age but the intuition has remained the same. Still, we find that travelling is the soul of surviving. Love for Nepal is not because of any artificial or technical development. It is a love for novelty and nature. Moreover, the wish to travel is not going to end. In fact, it is demonstrating the revolution of evolution.
On Monday, March 29, at 12.00, the press center of the Interfax-Ukraine news agency will host a press conference entitled "Vaccination. Why people do not want to get vaccinated against Coronavirus?" according to the results of a survey of the population of Ukraine, conducted by Ukrainian Sociological Group from March 15 to March 22, 2021, with the participation of Director of Ukrainian Sociological Group Oleksandr Levtsun (8/5a Reitarska Street). The press conference will be available on the YouTube channel of Interfax-Ukraine. Since restrictive measures introduced due to COVID-19 outbreak until April 9, 2021 in Kyiv, the presence of journalists in the agency's press center is not allowed, only speakers will be present in a room.
Vietnam Airlines has resumed international commercial operations after a long hiatus, with its first flight arriving in Da Nang from Taiwan on Thursday.

Over 200 passengers arrived from Taipei, all paying from their pockets for quarantine and Covid-19 testing on landing.

"This flight marked the restart of Vietnam Airlines' inbound commercial flights after a period of suspension due to the complicated development of Covid-19," the carrier said in a release.

Before departure, all passengers had to furnish a certificate showing they had tested negative for the novel coronavirus based on an RT-PCR test done three days before the flight.

They also had to submit papers for quarantine registration in Vietnam and install Bluezone, a Bluetooth-based app that shows if a person has come into close contact with a Covid-19 patient.

All were tested on landing and will be tested again six days later.

Those testing positive for Covid-19 will be admitted for treatment, and the rest can move from the quarantine center to isolation at home, place of work or a hotel until they complete the 14-day mandatory quarantine under the supervision of local authorities.

Earlier Vietnam Airlines said it is awaiting approval from the U.S. government to launch regular direct flights to that country.

Vietnam closed national borders and canceled all international flights in March last year with only Vietnamese repatriates, foreign experts and highly-skilled workers allowed in since then with stringent conditions.
Six students have been banned from the roads for drink-driving e-scooters.

A court heard how one was almost four times over the drink-drive limit. And another was found with someone else on the back of the vehicle  a violation of the hire rules.

North Tyneside Magistrates' Court was told there was confusion regarding the laws surrounding the use of e-scooters and that the students had 'simply not appreciated that these are not toys, they are classed as vehicles'.

One student was found with someone else on the back of the vehicle  a violation of the hire rules. An e-scooter is pictured above in Jesmond, Newcastle

Five of the students were banned for between 12 months and 30 months and given fines. The sixth was fined and banned for six months.

Northumbria Police had stopped the men in the same area of Newcastle in the space of several hours on February 25.

Following the arrests and complaints from residents in Jesmond about dangerous riders, Newcastle City Council imposed a nightly ban on the city's pilot scheme e-scooters.

Kate Matthews, defending two of the students, told the court the e-scooter scheme was being piloted in the city and said even some members of the legal profession did not know they were covered by the same drink-drive rules as other motorised vehicles.

North Tyneside Magistrates' Court was told there was confusion regarding the laws surrounding the use of e-scooters and that the students had 'simply not appreciated that these are not toys, they are classed as vehicles'

The scooters were free to ride overnight at the time, she said, and people needed a provisional licence and to read through terms and conditions - something they were unlikely to do in the early hours of the morning.

She said the hire firm running the e-scooter scheme has now switched off the machines so they cannot be ridden overnight.

John Crawford, representing another student, said the e-scooters had a top speed of 10-15mph, adding: 'The risk they pose is significantly lower than that of a car.'

Robert Lawson, prosecuting five of the six of the cases, which were heard separately, said one officer spotted a number of men scooting towards him on Osborne Road, Jesmond, at around 5.30am on February 25, having received 'numerous' complaints about people riding in an anti-social way.

Police had already caught a number of students by this time.

Chairman of the Bench John Doyle banned five students for between 12 months and 30 months and imposed fines.

District Judge Paul Currer dealt with the other case and banned that young man for six months, having heard he only intended to ride 300-400m home.
Baltimore College Upgrades Call Center for COVID19 Vaccination Scheduling

Baltimores Coppin State University has partnered with The University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS) to develop a call center to help communities of color with vaccination scheduling. Coppins new call center will direct eligible patients to the Baltimore Convention Center Field Hospital, where state residents can receive their shots.

We are pleased to partner with UMMS establish this call center which is specifically designed to improve equitable allocation of the COVID-19 vaccine and expand the emphasis on vaccinating the most vulnerable communities in Baltimore, said Dr. Anthony L. Jenkins, CSU president.

The need for call center accessibility has increased dramatically over the last few months, as many health organizations look to provide convenient ways to provide citizens without internet access with options to schedule appointments. Call centers also gives candidates who are less connected to the internet, such as older citizens, a simpler option for getting in contact with health professionals.

This call center will offer a valuable alternative for many of Baltimores vulnerable residents who may not have access to computers and the internet, therefore limiting their ability to schedule vaccine appointments, Jenkins said.

Eligible vaccination candidates living in the Baltimore area without internet access can call 443-462-5864 or 443-462-5865, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., on Mondays and Wednesdays, and noon to 6 p.m., on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Edited by Maurice Nagle
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)  caused by the highly infectious severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pathogen  has claimed over 2.7 million lives worldwide. On the 11th of March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the rapid worldwide spread of COVID-19 a global pandemic.

Scientists around the world are fighting hard to learn more about the virus, which is essential for containing the pandemic. Scientists and public health authorities across the globe are concerned over the emergence and regional predominance of novel SARS-CoV-2 variants that exhibit higher infectivity and, in some cases, heightened virulence.

Researchers have identified several SARS-CoV-2 variants that have resulted from mutations in the viruss genomic region that encodes the viral spike protein. The rate at which mutations are occurring has exceeded the predictions of previous phylogenetic surveys. Scientists believe that immunocompromised hosts are the reservoirs of these variants. People with weakened humoral or cell-mediated immune function have a tendency to contain high viral load for a longer period, which may be several weeks. However, it is unclear as to why some variants eventually become dominant.

The rate of infection of the new variants is extremely high and has a tremendous global impact on SARS-CoV-2 epidemiology. Researchers found that B.1.1.7 variant has a higher virulence and infection rate than the baseline variants. However, two other variants, i.e., B.1.3.5.1 and P.1, have shown potential to escape the immune responses from current vaccines and natural infection. The actual number of epidemiologically important variants is not accurate owing to the lack of sequencing facilities in many parts of the world.

Scientists believe that in the future, these variants of concern (VOC), namely, B.1.1.7, B.1.3.5.1, and P.1, may undergo further significant evolutionary changes and, thereby, new characteristics may develop.

In a new study, a team of researchers have developed a new mathematical model which helps characterize factors responsible for the emergence of new variants and their predominance. They have published their research on the medRxiv* preprint server.

Several models such as the dose-response model, transmission model, reproduction number, and the SARS-CoV-2 within-host model are associated with this study. Even though a higher rate of infection is a significant indicator of a variants ultimate prevalence in a population, bad luck is another significant factor that plays a vital role in variant domination in a population. The above-mentioned mathematical model helps identify this luck factor.

It was noted that stochastic burnout commonly occurred when a pathogen (e.g., virus, bacteria, fungi, etc.), with a reproductive number between 1 and 2, was introduced into a population. The probability of stochastic burnout increased in conditions where the rate of secondary infection was over-elevated, when compared to the primary infection. The model revealed that all new variants with higher infectivity emerged from immunocompromised individuals who do not transmit significantly in the population. Thereby, this model puts forward a thought-provoking hypothesis suggesting human coronaviruses (SARS, MERS, and SARS-CoV-2), which have the potential to cause a pandemic, are introduced into the human population only as a matter of chance.

The mathematical model developed in the current research revealed that variants that have established their prevalence, are due to early super spreader events. Such a phenomenon is relatively rare; however, the dominance of these variants increases during a local outbreak. These super-spreader episodes provide a great escalation in the growth rate of a potent variant, as a result of which, it rapidly establishes its predominance. During such events, these variants bypass the linear growth phase, which would eventually land them on the epidemic growth curve, which can be predicted more accurately.

The current research also highlights the importance of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) in preventing large super-spreader events. Such events can be avoided by preventing large indoor gatherings, implementation of finest quality facemasks (K95 or N95) in places where gatherings cannot be avoided, and an increase in ventilation in the indoor workplace and schools. These precautionary measures effectively limit super-spreader events and help lower the chances of episodes where a variant with high infectivity initiates a rapid epidemic. Such incidents have occurred in many regions during the pandemic, (e.g., South Korea and Boston in the U.S).

Researchers have revealed some of the limitations of the mathematical model. The qualitative predictions of the model are very robust; however, it cannot estimate the outbreak size associated with a new variant introduced in a population. This is because of unknown missing parameters. For example, the percentage of immunocompromised hosts varies greatly across the population. Further, the number of secondary infections associated with new variants may also differ because of unpredictable factors that lead to secondary infection. Another limiting factor is that the administration of NPIs varies considerably among regions and over time. As the model does not account for these factors, its predictions are phenomenological only.

*Important Notice

medRxiv publishes preliminary scientific reports that are not peer-reviewed and, therefore, should not be regarded as conclusive, guide clinical practice/health-related behavior, or treated as established information.
Code of generosity: Transformation Church donates over 200 MacBooks to students, high school staff

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Transformation Church has donated more than 200 MacBook laptops to high school seniors and staff at a school in the Tulsa, Oklahoma, area.

The church distributed the 221 MacBook laptops at McLain High School for Science & Technology on Monday.

Tammy McQuarters, the executive pastor of Operations at Transformation, told The Christian Post that the giveaway was part of their culture code of generosity, noting that we give just to give, not to get.

Particularly in March, labeled as The Month of Generosity, we look for opportunities in the community to be generous. One of the opportunities identified this year was to bless the seniors, teachers and administration at McLain High School, McQuarters said.

As part of this code, McQuarters told CP that the church sets aside 10 percent of our income to give to individual benevolent situations, natural disasters, and other nonprofit organizations that provide support for homelessness, food banks, and other churches to name a few.

We just want people to know that the church cares for them and, more importantly, Jesus loves them. Our vision statement is to 'Re-present God to the lost and found for Transformation in Christ,' she continued.

We want to show God differently, promote God differently and give God differently, and sometimes that is best done by meeting their needs.

For their part, McLain High School took to their Facebook page to express their appreciation of the laptop giveaway, noting that it happened at an event featuring remarks by Transformation Church Lead Pastor Michael Todd.

He told them he hopes they turn that into a music studio, or a business, or the book that is living inside of them, or to use it to continue their educations, posted McLain.

We are so grateful, and even though they didnt do it for the shout out, we want to SHOUT THEM OUT! Thank you for pouring love into McLain!

Last December, Transformation raised millions of dollars to help several churches, charity groups, and individuals; this included giving one needy family a car and money to buy a house.

The whole mission of this message was to show you more than I could tell you, said Pastor Todd in a statement last year to commemorate the donations.

Transformation Church gains nothing from blessing these people and organizations personally but the reputation of the Kingdom of God is expanded because of what God did through us today.
Adams Police are investigating an incident that occurred at a residence on East Hoosac Street.
Carriers that insured Freightliner Corp. before it was purchased by Daimler-Benz AG in 1981  even those that entered into fronting agreements that transferred liability back to the insured  have to contribute to the defense of claims related to a Superfund site and asbestos injuries, the Oregon Supreme Court ruled Thursday.

The high court found fault in decisions by both the trial court and the Court of Appeals in its 7-0 ruling in favor of appellant Allianz Global Risks. The decision potentially makes Freightliners former insurers liable for claims related to pollution and 1,500 asbestos-related lawsuits, although the court remanded the case with instructions to the trial court to decide if any policy exclusions apply.

We are very pleased with the Oregon Supreme Courts opinion vindicating our clients positions in the lengthy litigation, Washington D.C. attorney Margeret H. Warner, with McDermott Will & Emery, said in a prepared statement. We have worked with our insured to deal with the challenging situations brought by the Portland Harbor Superfund site, asbestos bodily injury and other complex claims. We look forward to the co-insurers now contributing to that work.

According to the Supreme Courts opinion, Allianz has spent $24 million defending and paying environmental and asbestos claims arising from Freightliners business operations between 1952 to 1982.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 2000 designated a Superfund site encompassing a 10-mile strip on both banks of the lower Willamette River through Portland. Freightliners former manufacturing plant is among several industrial uses that are thought to have contributed pollutants.

Allianz insured Daimler-Benz against claims against its US operations. The carrier sought contribution from other carriers that insured Freightliner or its parent company, Con-Way. Those include Ace Property and Casualty, General Insurance Co., Westport Insurance Co. and Lloyds of London.

The insurers refused, saying that Freightliner and Con-Way did not transfer liability for environmental and asbestos claims to Diamler-Benz when the business was sold. Also, General, Westport and Ace said even if Daimler did assume those liabilities, they owe no coverage because Freightliner made side agreements to indemnify the insurers for any claims.

Whats more, Lloyds and General said their policies excluded coverage for pollution liability unless it was sudden or unexpected and unintentional.

A Multnomah County jury found that the insurers could not be liable because of the side agreements. Also, the jury decided the Lloyds and General policies excluded coverage for environmental claims.

The Court of Appeals affirmed the jurys verdict, but on alternative grounds. The court found that the other insurers were not liable because Daimler-Benz did not assume Freightliners contingent liabilities.

In an opinion written by Justice Thomas A. Balmer, the Supreme Court said both the trial court and the Court of Appeals got it wrong.

The high court found that the evidence shows Daimler did assume Freightliners liabilities when it purchased the company, other than $16 million in specific contingent liabilities for which Freightliner had deposited reserves that were paid out during the three years after the transaction closed.

Whats more, the high court found no merit in the insurers argument that the fronting agreements show that they did not intend to accept liability for the environmental and asbestos claims. The court said the insurance policy and side agreements should never have been presented to the jury in the first place.

What the policies did or did not meanthat is, the correct legal interpretation ofthepoliciesis an issue for the court to decide as a matter of law, the opinion says.

Furthermore, the jurys finding that the insurers did not intend to cover the claims is not relevant, the court said. The insurance policies themselves include a duty to defend and indemnify for covered claims, even though Freightliner separately agreed to indemnify each insurer for damage and defense costs, the court said.

That left the question of whether pollution exclusions contained in the policies barred coverage. The jury found that the Ace and Westport policies included exceptions for sudden, unexpected, and unintended discharges, so coverage would be owed if not for the side agreements. The Lloyds and General policies, however, used different language and no coverage would be owed, the jury found.

The Supreme Court ruled that the trial court erred by not interpreting the meaning of side agreements, as well as the the exclusions and exceptions in the policies.The court remanded the case to the trial court with instructions to decide those issues as a matter law.

In summary, we reverse the Court of Appeals holding that Daimler didnot assume the contingent liabilities of Freightlinerincluding the liabilities at issue hereand affirm the jury verdict on that issue, the court concluded.
Photo: (Photo : Photo by @wanderpow from Twitter )

Parents who are tired of saying no to their children loosen the rules and allow their children to do whatever they want for 24 hours - as long as it is not illegal, unethical, life-threatening, or would irritate the neighbors. It's known as a "Yes Day," and it's also the title of a new Netflix film. However, in reality, parents are saying no to yes day.

In the movie, Allison, the mother, lives her life by saying yes to everything (jumping out of planes, traveling the world, etc.). That's how she met Carlos, the father, an equally daring character whom she eventually marriesher "yes" partner, and they soon had children.

The word "no" eventually became their default response to their kids. It's a necessary transition that helps to protect children, but Allison goes too far with it.

READ: Queen's Gambit Season 2 Not Happening Despite Influx in Young Chess Players



When Allison and Carlos are summoned to a parent-teacher meeting, that's where the story unravels. Allison being a dictator who makes her children feel caged is the subject of a haiku written by one of their children. Their son has made a video comparing Stalin, Mussolini, and Allison.

Later, they run into the school guidance counselor, who proposes a "yes day," in which you say yes to anything your children suggest for 24 hours. There are certain restrictions (no crimes, for example), but nothing is off-limits in general.

Parents may discover that they will be surprised at how simple it is to open themselves up to saying yes a little more often. Your children can become more sensitive, compliant, and welcoming as a result. They could also discover that saying yes is enjoyable. But real-life parents are saying no to yes day.

ALSO READ: Netflix's New Series City of Ghosts Is Unlike the Other Kid Series

When "no" is warranted

There can be occasions when the word "no" is overused and even detrimental to our children's growth. Perhaps a different reaction will encourage them to take chances or develop their imagination. Here are a few explanations of why and some ways to keep the peace without constantly denying children.

Stop unwanted behavior

Kids have a reputation for doing things that irritate their parents. As a result, parents use the word "no" to get their children to avoid doing something dangerous, messy, or noisy. This is particularly evident when a child is a toddler. When a child is continually told no, he or she becomes desensitized to the word. Then, when their children need it (for like a hot stove, or busy street, etc.), the word "no" is somewhat meaningless to them.

Do this: Instead of pulling the dog's tail, redirect the children with constructive alternatives like, "Please wait until I finish talking on the phone so that I can give you my undivided attention," for example. Save the word "no" for when you mean it.

Out of habit

If parents are exhausted, and patience has run out, the best way to get through the day is to say "no" out of habit. They become a broken record when the word "no" slips off their tongue too quickly and rapidly.

Do this: Count how many times you say no in a day and what you're saying no to. Would a different answer have been appropriate in any of those situations? It certainly won't harm anybody.

It is appropriate for parents to say no, and there's nothing wrong with that. You may have other non-negotiables as well. To keep a happy home, we always have to say no.

READ MORE: In a New Netflix Series, Michelle Obama Launches a Kid's Cooking Show
The death toll for protesters confirmed killed in Myanmar since last months military takeover has surpassed 300, a human rights group has announced.

Myanmars Assistance Association for Political Prisoners organisation said its tally of 320 dead includes only documented cases, with the actual number of casualties likely to be much higher.

It said 11 people were killed on Thursday, when it also managed to verify 23 deaths that occurred previously.

The group also said that as of Thursday, 2,981 people had been arrested, charged or sentenced in the crackdown since the February 1 coup that ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.

Today US @SecBlinken and I have announced new sanctions which target Myanmar military business interests.



The UK and our partners will not hesitate to take action against a regime that has caused so much pain to so many innocent civilians  

https://t.co/dyTYhSr6bI  Dominic Raab (@DominicRaab) March 25, 2021

Most, including Ms Suu Kyi and President Win Myint, remain detained.

The armys seizure of power halted the south-east Asian nations move toward democracy that began when Ms Suu Kyis party took office in 2016 for its first term, after more than five decades of military rule.

The movement against the junta and its takeover received a major boost on Thursday when the UK and US announced tough sanctions against two military-owned conglomerates with vast holdings in many sectors.

The US treasury department said its action against Myanma Economic Holdings Public Company Limited and Myanmar Economic Corporation Limited targets the armys control of large parts of the countrys economy, which is a vital financial lifeline for the military junta.

Expand Close Anti-coup protesters hold up the three-fingered salute which has become common during demonstrations (AP) / Facebook

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The sanctions against the two companies and their holdings block access to any property they control in the United States and effectively bars any US person or company from conducting any sort of business with them, including supplying them with funds or providing goods or services.

Myanmars home-grown Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) against military rule is targeting the economy in order to make it difficult for the junta to govern.

It has advocated work stoppages by state enterprise workers, bank closures and disinvestment by foreign companies.

Myanmars economy is already battered by the Covid-19 pandemic, which surged there in the second half of last year.

The World Bank, in a Asia-wide review released on Friday, forecast that Myanmars economy will contract by 10% in 2021 after growing a meagre 1.7% in 2020 and 6.8% in 2019.

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Anti-coup protests continued on Friday in cities and towns across Myanmar, despite the threat of lethal force by the security forces.

Reports on social media of casualties caused by the security forces could not immediately be confirmed.

At about 4am on Friday, unidentified people tossed firebombs at the headquarters of Ms Suu Kyis National League for Democracy party in Yangon, but nearby residents managed to put out the fire before it could cause any major damage.

The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners described a typical deadly confrontation on Thursday in Taunggyi, in Shan State in eastern Myanmar, when the junta used live ammunition, trying to create a combat zone of residential areas, resulting in four civilians shot and killed, one dead body was dragged away, some other civilians were injured.

The group added: Moreover, junta forces raided houses and violently arrested youths and civilians, thereafter destroying motorcycles, cars and barricades. They stormed streets unprovoked, shouted obscenities and vandalised property.

In response to the military coup and Burmese militaryas continued violent crackdown on peaceful demonstrators, the United States is taking further action by designating Myanma Economic Holdings Public Company Limited and Myanmar Economic Corporation Limited.  Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) March 25, 2021

The CDM, which was founded largely by medical workers, has drawn plaudits for its strategy, including a nomination for the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize by six social science professors at the University of Oslo in Norway.

Our nomination is a recognition of this anti-coup resistance that is working for peace and democracy through non-violent means, said their nomination letter.

Speaking for the six, Professor Kristian Stokke told The Associated Press their hope is that the Peace Prize nomination will generate further international recognition and support for the movement and its peaceful aims and means.

A leading member of the CDM said the nomination reiterates the need for the junta  to refrain from any type of violence and peacefully and immediately transfer the power to the democratically elected leaders of the nation.

Ms Suu Kyi won the Nobel Peace Prize for 1991 for leading a nonviolent struggle against a previous military dictatorship.
If youre one of the 23 City Council candidates competing in Districts 3 and 5 in the May 1 election, youve probably received a curious piece of mail from an unfamiliar organization.

A group calling itself the San Antonio Equity Alliance has sent out a candidate questionnaire, with the promise that completing the form will put you in consideration for an endorsement from the group.

Candidates would be forgiven for asking, What is the San Antonio Equity Alliance? and What are they hoping to accomplish?

The Equity Alliance is a newborn political action committee that filed its paperwork with the Texas Ethics Commission on Feb. 19.

The questionnaire mailer is part of the groups soft opening, a way to quietly introduce itself to the political scene.

Thats why the group is focusing its attention on Districts 3 and 5, two seats whose current occupants  Rebecca J. Viagran and Shirley Gonzales, respectively  are term-limited out. At least for now, the Equity Alliance isnt taking on any council incumbents seeking re-election.

The organization is a collaboration between investment company executive John Agather, the former chair of the San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, and local attorney Marcie Trevino Ripper, former chief of staff for Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff.

Theyre joined by political operative Kelton Morgan, former campaign manager for Mayor Ron Nirenberg.

The Equity Alliances primary objective is to seek out and help candidates who express support for the concerns of small businesses.

Agather was at Council Chambers on August 16, 2018, when council members approved a controversial ordinance mandating that employers provide paid sick leave to their employees.

Agather, then the chair-elect of the Hispanic Chamber, opposed the measure and said this to the council:

Were not opposed to paid sick leave, but a municipally mandated ordinance, kind of a one-size-fits-all, is not something our members feel is reflective of what we need in the business community.

The councils passage of both paid sick leave and the ambitious, aspirational 2019 Climate Action and Adaptation Plan left Agather and some of his chamber colleagues with the sense that small-business owners voices werent being heard or considered.

That feeling only intensified over the past year, when the COVID-19 pandemic shut down much of this citys business activity.

Big businesses have teams of governmental affairs people, they have lobbyists, they have a lot of help, Agather said. But small businesses, theyre in the hurricane of just trying to survive. It is the majority of businesses in San Antonio. Where do they go? Who are their lobbyists?

Agather noticed that there were individuals voicing concerns about council actions, but no strong coordinated approach.

He started out reaching out to local entrepreneurs and found a universal frustration with some of the actions taken at City Hall and people wanting to participate in the political discourse.

That sparked the formation of the Equity Alliance.

Agather said the Equity Alliance wants to make sure the concerns of small businesses are heard and considered at City Hall. The group also wants to spur a deeper conversation on the issue of systemic poverty in San Antonio.

This is not a Republican talking-point organization, Agather said. In fact, its most decidedly a nonpartisan organization.

One area where I think we can help is with education. Down the line, I think youll see us playing more in that field as well.

Until recently, Agather didnt know Ripper at all. But he heard she was working on a project similar to what he envisioned, so they decided to team up for the Equity Alliance.

The Equity Alliance questionnaire defines the organization as a collective intended to be a tool for responsible and inclusive economic development.

Candidates are presented with four statements and asked in each case to indicate whether they agree or disagree with the premise.

The first statement concerns the value of tax credits and financial incentives for businesses. The second statement declares that city government should focus on basic services and not dictate policy on state and federal issues.

The last two statements focus on business regulations and whether the council should involve itself in the management of city departments and utilities.

Given that were only five weeks away from San Antonios city election, its unlikely that the Equity Alliance will have a serious impact during this campaign cycle.

Were a little bit late to be playing the 2021 race, Agather said. Were trying to do something in the 2021 race, but this is much more about making sure that we start coordinating for 2023.

The group will soon start raising money, to be used for polling and research, as well as to support endorsed candidates.

I have no city or county contracts, Agather said. I have no desire to run for public office at all. Im doing this because we really need to have this.

ggarcia@express-news.net | Twitter: @gilgamesh470
PLC's ( ) Shishir Podder joins Proactive London's Katie Pilbeam to discuss their new recruits, including world-leading graphene scientist Dr S. K. Biswal.

The company has strengthened its team across its three business units to support the companys rapid growth, with the addition of Dr S. K Sathpathy as well as Dr P. Dash. In total, Tirupati has invested in over 30 engineers, geologists and technologists to drive the firm towards their goals.

Podder also shares his delight at winning the CFI.co's (Capital Finance International) 2021 global award for Best Sustainable Value Creation Strategy.
A German team of military medics and health professionals returned to their homeland Friday after assisting overstretched hospitals in Portugal battling a surge of the coronavirus in early February.

The leaving ceremony was attended by Portuguese defense minister Joao Cravinho, who praised officials for their work in saving lives away from their homes.

Cravinho said Portugal will ''always be grateful'' for the assistance received.

The German team had come to try to help Portugal coping with shortage of human resources in its public health system, which has been stretched to the limit after a January spike fuelled by a fast-spreading COVID-19 variant first identified in England.

The January COVID-19 surge made Portugal the worst-hit country in the world by size of the population.

German Ambassador to Portugal Martin Ney called the project a ''project of European solidarity,'' praising the ''excellent'' relationship between Germany and Portugal.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
At the moment, 104 countries of the world are open for the travel of Ukrainians, where one can get, subject to certain rules, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba has said.

"Now 104 countries are open for Ukrainian citizens. Let me remind you that on February 19 there were 95 such countries at the briefing, that is, in a month we added nine countries to this list. Some 104 countries where, subject to certain rules, Ukrainians can now get to," he said at an online briefing.

Kuleba noted that Iceland, Montenegro, Haiti, Guyana, Bangladesh and Gabon have reopened their borders for Ukrainians.

"The conditions of entry, of course, may include compliance with anti-epidemic requirements. Therefore, I ask you to properly check all the rules of entry, you can do this on our website, which we have created for you  tripadvisor.mfa.gov.ua," the minister said.
A move to extend free car parking for Northern Irelands Health and Social Care staff has been welcomed by unions.

The Minister of Health announced the extension on Friday and said the move would extend the removal of car parking charges from April 1 to July 31.

I have asked Trusts to proceed with putting in place arrangements to extend free parking for staff for another four months, said Robin Swann.

I am aware that with the hope of further recovery from the pandemic and associated rebuilding of the HSC, it is anticipated that many more parking spaces will be required for patients and visitors.

This will mean that it will not be possible to provide onsite free car parking for staff to the same levels as in the first two periods, and my officials are working with Trusts and others on a range of potential offsite solutions. Trusts will be keeping staff informed at a local level.

Welcoming the move, the union Unison added that it would encourage the minister to reconsider the approach to staff parking charges generally.

Health Trade Unions welcome the announcement regarding the extension of the removal of car parking charges for health workers, they said in a statement.

Workers providing such important care and service should not incur additional expenses when attending their place of work and therefore we call on the employers and the Minister to engage with Trade Unions with the aim of agreeing a meaningful solution to this issue going forward.
The release of the latest Department of Labor jobless claims report showed 684,000 claims filed for the week ending March 20, the lowest number in over a year, but nearly equivalent to the October 1982 record of 695,000 claims. The reported figure is the first time state claims have been below 700,000 since the pandemic began.

While the report was hailed in the bourgeois press as a positive sign demonstrating a recovering economy, the fact is the number is three times the pre-pandemic average of 225,000 claims, and under any other circumstances would be considered catastrophic.

Over a year into the pandemic, some 10 million jobs have yet to return and nearly 101 million people are not in the labor force, which is nearly 6 million more compared to February 2020 just before pandemic restrictions were implemented.

Pedestrians wait in line to collect fresh produce and shelf-stable pantry items outside Barclays Center as Food Bank For New York City provides assistance to those in need due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Thursday, Sept. 10, 2020, in New York. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

In addition to state claims, federal claims made under the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) exceeded 241,000, bringing the combined total of state and federal claims to roughly 926,000. Should the figure remain after adjustments are calculated in the coming days, it would be the first time in over a year combined claims did not exceed 1 million.

Testifying to the persistent character of the economic and social crisis, the report revealed that for the first time, more Americans are claiming long-term unemployment benefits on the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) program, 5.6 million, compared to regular state unemployment, which was recorded at 4.5 million. Overall, nearly 19 million workers are receiving some form of unemployment, an increase of over 733,000 from the week prior.

The PUA and PEUC programs were both created under the CARES Act passed last March and are set to expire on September 5 of this year without congressional action. The PUA program was created for so-called gig and contract workers who would normally be ineligible for benefits under traditional state programs, while PEUC was created for workers who had exceeded the term of their state benefits. The elimination of both of these programs would leave millions of workers either with nothing or at the mercy of underfunded state unemployment programs, of which 10 states offer less than 26 weeks of benefits, with six states paying a maximum weekly benefit of less than $300.

The administration of vaccinessurpassing 100 million dosescoupled with the deadly reopening of schools and non-essential businesses in states across the US, was cited by bourgeois economists as reasons for the decline of roughly 97,000 state claims compared to the prior week.

Unemployment rates across the country continued to decline with Pennsylvania, the Virgin Islands and Nevada leading the way at 5.8, 5.6 and 5.4 percent unemployment rate, respectively. However, the dip below 6 percent is more a function of workers dropping out of the labor force and no longer being counted in official statistics as opposed to finding work.

The profit-driven reopening of schools, spearheaded by the Democratic Party and President Joe Biden with the assistance of the trade unions, has already led to a four percent rise in COVID-19 cases nationally compared to the previous week, as preventable COVID-19 fatalities continue to hover around an average of 1,000 deaths a day.

The reopening of schools has exacerbated the spread of the deadly B.1.1.7 variant of the virus which is now dominant in Florida and Michigan, which has seen a major surge in infections in recent days. Overall, there have been over 30 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the US with nearly 560,000 deathsboth figures are the highest in the world.

While some economists have pointed to the relaxing of public health measures to explain the decline in claims, another factor has been the imposition of new security measures in states such as California and Nevada designed to combat supposedly fraudulent unemployment claims.

In Nevada, the implementation of an identification system called ID.me which requires jobless workers to submit a photo along with a government identification card and a social security card has led to thousands of workers being denied their weekly benefits. Workers have reported the system kicking back their cell phone pictures, forcing them to upload a photo from a webcam on a computer, something to which many do not have access.

As one frustrated worker, Vick, said in a social media group for unemployed workers in Nevada, We could have used this time to find jobs instead. I am afraid to leave my computer now and I just canceled my doctors visit just for this. You know what, it seems it does not matter UI/PUA tried to do to prevent fraud, I only feel us, the actual claimants have to suffer through this and fraudulents (sic) got away without caught or having to deal with what we are dealing with.

Another exasperated worker, Val agreed, exactly they make the actual claimant go through loophole after loophole just to get money thats owed to us, its stressful and people are getting fed up. Gregg added that it took him, three attempts and a total of 12 hours to get verified. Sort of helpful hint: refresh your browser every 4 mins 30 secs. The world in which we live becomes more Orwellian/Dystopian every day. Pathetic.

Speaking to the Washington Post on the issue of the long-term unemployed workers waiting weeks for benefits, Martin Wegbreit, director of litigation at the Central Virginia Legal Aid Society in Richmond, Virginia, said he had, never seen the level of frustration and desperation that Ive seen in the last year. And part of it is the whole system is overwhelmed and near total collapse. What used to take three or four weeks to get decided is now taking three or four months to be decided. The system was never designed for people on unemployment to have to wait that long.

As jobless workers continue to try and navigate broken unemployment systems, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on Thursday confirmed that for the time being, the monthly Fed purchase of $120 billion in Treasury bonds and mortgage-backed securities would continue. However, the markets reacted negatively when Powell said that the current program was unsustainable in the long term and that gradually over time and with great transparency, when the economy has all but fully recovered, we will be pulling back the support that we provided during emergency times.

While Powell did not give a firm date for when the Wall Street program would wind down, for millions of renters, the expiration of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention eviction moratorium in less than a week has left them unsure if they will have a home in the coming days.

While the moratorium has kept millions in their homes, hundreds of thousands have still been evicted during the pandemic, leading to thousands of unnecessary deaths. A tracker created by the Eviction Lab at Princeton University which monitors evictions in 27 US cities has recorded 278,376 evictions during the pandemic with 5,195 evictions filed for the week ending March 20.

In Nevada, where a statewide eviction moratorium is slated to expire next week, thousands of renters are desperately trying to access rental assistance funds. Abby Quinn, chief communications officer for HELP of Southern Nevada, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal their non-profit was working with more than 1,000 families to help secure money for rent.

Theres a huge need right now for rental assistance and a lot of the people we talk to, some of their rents that they owe are still from 2020, so youre still talking about a lot of back rent, Quinn said. Its not really someone just needing one or two months of rent, so we are concerned and were getting prepared.

Thats when well see a lot more people on the streets and coming in because theyre living in their cars and so we do anticipate an influx, again, of people once that moratorium is up, she added.
Andrew Cuomo accuser Lindsey Boylan last night compared him to the repulsive Jabba the Hutt from Star Wars in a new attack on the embattled New York governor.

Boylan shared a picture of the slug-like Jabba with Princess Leia in his grip in a famous scene from 1983's Return of the Jedi, adding the caption: 'Just the good old office welcome to women in the governor's office of New York'.

The tweet by Boylan, who claims Cuomo kissed her on the lips without her consent, prompted fellow accuser Ana Liss to respond with a GIF from Jurassic Park in which a glass of water trembles while a dinosaur prowls nearby.

'Tfw he's approaching your desk,' she wrote, implying Cuomo is a sort of predator and highlighting a string of claims by Cuomo staffers who say his office was an uncomfortable place for women.

The governor has denied claims of inappropriate touching but said he was sorry if his behavior had 'made people uncomfortable'.

Lindsey Boylan posted this image of Jabba the Hutt with Princess Leia in his grip in a famous scene from Return of the Jedi, drawing a comparison with New York governor Andrew Cuomo

Fellow Cuomo accuser Ana Liss followed up with a GIF of a trembling cup of water from Jurassic Park, implying that Cuomo is a dinosaur

The flurry of allegations against Cuomo has led to repeated calls for his resignation but he has so far refused to bow to the pressure.

In addition to claims of physical misconduct, Cuomo is accused of making objectifying remarks and asking women unwanted questions about their sex lives.

Others have described unwanted hugs or kisses or making comments they interpreted as gauging their interest in a relationship.

One staffer says she was told to sit in Cuomo's 'line of sight' and later told that the governor liked blondes wearing high heels.

Boylan, who was the first accuser to speak out publicly, claims that Cuomo would 'go out of his way to touch me on my lower back, arms and legs'.

She first raised the allegations in December but elaborated earlier this year in a post which prompted several other women to come forward.

They included Liss, who said that Cuomo had kissed her hand, asked if she had a boyfriend, called her 'sweetheart' and would greet her with a kiss on both cheeks.

'It's not appropriate, really, in any setting,' she told the Wall Street Journal in an interview published earlier this month. 'I wish that he took me seriously.'

Cuomo denies sexual harassment but has acknowledged that it was a 'custom' for him to kiss and hug people when greeting them.

The 63-year-old Democrat has also said he was sorry if his behavior had made 'people feel uncomfortable.'

Andrew Cuomo, pictured, denies sexual harassment but has said he is sorry if his behavior made people feel uncomfortable

Lindsey Boylan, pictured at a rally calling for Cuomo's resignation last weekend, was the first accuser to speak out publicly against the governor

New York's attorney general Letitia James is investigating the claims against Cuomo, with President Biden saying he should quit if they are found to be true.

Cuomo declined to say on Wednesday what his office is doing to ensure a safe work environment for female aides.

Speaking to reporters from his Manhattan office, Cuomo said 'there are rules' about how employers are supposed to handle such complaints.

He then turned to his special counsel, Beth Garvey, to elaborate.

'Certainly every individual who comes forward and makes a complaint is protected from retaliation and we are making sure that occurs in this case as well,' Garvey said.

In addition to the harassment claims, Cuomo is also under pressure over alleged wrongdoing in New York's handling of Covid-19.

Once seen as a leader in the response to the pandemic, Cuomo has since been accused of covering up deaths at nursing homes during the outbreak last year.

New York's state assembly is holding an impeachment inquiry against Cuomo while a federal inquiry into the nursing home deaths is also underway.

On top of that, new claims have emerged that Cuomo used his office to secure Covid tests for family members including his brother Chris at CNN.

James has urged New York's Joint Commission on Public Ethics to investigate the alleged preferential testing after reports were published in the Times Union of Albany, the New York Times and the Washington Post.

A spokesman for the ethics commission, Walt McClure, said the commission could not comment 'on anything that is or might be an investigative matter.'
President Joe Biden speaks in the East Room of the White House on March 18, 2021 in Washington, DC., as Vice President Kamala Harris looks on. Biden announced that his administration will have met his goal of administering 100 million COVID-19 vaccine doses in 100 days on March 19, 58 days after taking office. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Two Pandemics Are Scarier Than One

Commentary

This month marked the anniversary of Canadas COVID-19 confinements that were only supposed to last for a few weeks. That was 52 weeks ago.

In many ways, fear became the pandemic. Different people drive the COVID-19 fear, but its principal generators are statisticians and the medical bureaucratsthe experts advising the politicians, who in turn display appearances of virtue, claiming to save lives. In competing for our attention, the media are a gigantic amplifier of COVID-19 fear.

Along with life-saving claims, Canadas chief public health officer has finally admitted to presiding over a massive failure in protecting the most vulnerable, who constitute the majority of those who died. Camouflaging the failure, authorities confine and restrict us all the more with the pretence of protecting us. Yet the vulnerable keep dying, and those at much less risk are confined in domestic violence situations, forcibly unemployed, forced to forgo treatment for chronic illness, or forced to watch their business crash and their savings vapourize. It has taken a year for the chief public health officer to admit failure, but she has manifested no desire to correct or reverse course.

Neither the admission of failure nor the absence of solutions (other than to hope for vaccination) have stopped the fear wagon that sent us here a year ago. Instead, in time for the anniversary, fresh alarmist calls give more horsepower to the wagon. Experts are calling for greater lockdowns, more restrictive and oppressive. And they are doing so in language that instils even more fear.

For what could be more frightful than a pandemic? Two pandemics! Two pandemics are more frightening than one.

On Feb. 8, a month before the one-year anniversary of the World Health Organization declaring the COVID-19 pandemic, a Laurentian medical bureaucrat ominously heralded a brand new source of fear: Today we are in a  transition to a new pandemic. She is Torontos medical officer of health and an adjunct at the University of Toronto. She was commenting on statistical modelling crafted at York University. The model would have us believe that Toronto alone could see 15,865 deaths by May of this year if SARS-CoV-2, propelled by new variants, reached an infection rate of 20 percent. For perspective, that would amount to nearly 75 percent of all COVID-related deaths so far recorded in Canada.

To be clear, whatever the fantastic predictions of a model, the health officer of a single city, even if it is Toronto, has zero authority to declare a new pandemic. A pandemic is a global event, not an outbreak inside a city, a province, or even a country. Torontos medical officer of healths proclamation constitutes a deliberate exaggeration and an unseemly self-anointing with immense authority. How does one take her seriously when she makes planet-size pronouncements?

It took only three days for a University of Toronto colleague to outdo the medical officer of healths ridiculous fear-mongering declaration. The director of the Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table raced out of the transition she had announced by declaring that the second pandemic had in fact arrived. Jurisdictionally, he has even less medical authority than the medical officer of health, but that did not temper him in saying more outrageous and terrifying things.

According to him, the arrival of a new pandemic, identified with B.1.1.7, the so-called British strain, should be distinguished from the traditional pandemic that originated in Wuhan, China. The absurd, puzzling, and disorienting is also scary: His science table reported exponential growth (as if viruses advance in any other way) driving a third wave of COVID-19 that he described in less than scientific terms as a pandemic within a pandemic. (Ironically, this expression appeared in September 2020 in the New England Journal of Medicine to describe the domestic abuse spiked by the lockdowns that the science table director recommends with feigned reservation).

Peddling the fear of a second pandemic obscures the reality that B.1.1.7 advanced inside the second lockdown that has not even fully ended. The Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table director does not wonder if lockdowns have failed. Instead, he calls for even firmer lockdowns, by which he means more draconian and to which he refers as the right thing. The premier of Ontario says he always respects and will do what the medical experts say. But the science table director is no brute; he offers comfort: If this works out well with the vaccines, he told CTV, it will be the last time that we do that. There wont be any more lockdowns.

Who can maintain faith in lockdown promises and medical bureaucrats when we consider the abominable failure in protecting the most vulnerable during two separate viral waves; two rounds of harmful lockdowns and curfews that keep expanding and extending; the draconian arrests and fines; the incalculable hurt of unintended health, social, and economic consequences; and the ongoing botched vaccination efforts?

Lets now add, a year into it, the prideful flights of fancy of local bureaucrats declaring newer and scarier pandemics.

Marco Navarro-Genie is senior fellow with the Frontier Centre for Public Policy and president of the Haultain Research Institute. He is co-author, with Barry Cooper, ofCOVID-19: The Politics of a Pandemic Moral Panic  (2020).

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
A JUDGE has refused to allow a beauty salon owner vary her bail conditions to allow her to re-open her salon to carry out essential reflexology treatment for clients - after she was charged with breaches of the current Health Act.

Christine McTiernan (48) - the owner of C&N Beauty Room in Balbriggan, Co Dublin - was arrested and charged last month with three breaches of Section 53 (1) (a) of the Health Act after she allegedly opened her salon during Level 5 lockdown.

All non-essential businesses are currently not allowed to open under Level 5 restrictions.

Ms McTiernan, of Ashfield Rise in Balbriggan was brought before Swords District Court last month charged with opening her business, failing to close her business and unnecessary travel on February 24 at Dublin Street, Balbriggan.

All three charges are in breach of the current Covid regulations under the Health Act.

As part of her bail conditions the beauty salon owner has been ordered not to open her business while prohibited not to and has been ordered not engage in her business anywhere.

She has also been ordered to comply with all other regulations under the Health Act.

Read More

At Thursdays sitting of Balbriggan District Court, an application was made by solicitor Fiona DArcy on behalf of Ms McTiernan to vary her bail conditions to allow her provide essential reflexology services in her salon.

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She wishes to ask the court to vary her bail conditions to allow her carry out reflexology treatment as it is deemed an essential service, said Ms DArcy.

However, Judge Sandra Murphy said Ms McTiernans bail conditions are very clear.

Reflexology is a service provided by a lot of beauty clinics that are closed, said Judge Murphy.

She is looking to open again under the auspices of offering reflexology. No, I am afraid not, her bail terms state she is not to operate any business during covid restrictions.

At the moment I am not going to vary bail, the judge said, and adjourned the case until next month for a plea to be entered or a hearing date to be fixed. Ms McTiernan was not required to appear before the court yesterday due to the pandemic. She has not indicated, as yet, how she intends to plead.
Critics of the late Tanzanian president John Magufuli are hoping his crackdowns on press freedom and opposition and his coronavirus denial have gone with him to the grave. A week after his death, it's not yet clear if his successor, President Samia Suluhu Hassan, will carry on his authoritarian-leaning style of leadership.

Tanzania has undergone a smooth transition process following the death of president John Magufuli early in his second term.

Former vice president Samia Suluhu Hassan has taken over as the sixth president of Tanzania and will finish out Magufulis term, which ends in 2025.

The new leadership will be passing through a period of filling the gaps that were mostly criticized during Magufulis term. Speaking at Magufulis funeral, the new president told Tanzanians there is nothing to worry about.

"Let me say something here," she said. "For those who have doubts that this woman, if can handle being a president, I want to tell them that the one who is standing here in front of you is the president of Tanzania."

Opposition politicians, such as James Mbatia, the chairperson of the National Convention for Construction and Reform, say that if the new president cooperates with the opposition, there will be no tension between them and the ruling party.

"Last years general election left big scars in the history of the multiparty system in Tanzania," Mbatia said. "The election hurt people, people died, and others were denied their rights. People started to preach opposition is enemy while we had already moved from there."

"The best way to help Samia Suluhu to get out of this deep hostility is to have a reconciliation table, because we are not here due to hostility or to disrupt the country," he said. "If she uses her political will, he says, I think this can be achieved."

During Magufulis time in office, human rights activists criticized him for suppressing dissent and freedom of expression. Rights activists, like Kumbusho Kagine, say the new administration must allow a reopening of debate and public space.

"In the previous leadership, we criticized a lot on issues concern suppression of human rights, but for a period of five years there has been the enactment of oppressive laws that suppress rights activists, media, and social media users," he said.

"That was the main thing, that is them criticize Magufulis leadership. What we expect that Samias leadership will do, and we will also be vocal on that, is to remove all oppressive laws," he said.

Since 2015, Tanzania enacted strict laws on cybercrimes and media services. The laws allow authorities to directly suspend media outlets and charge journalists with sedition for publishing material deemed misleading, false or a threat to peace.

Journalists hope that under the president, they can they do their jobs freely.

Sophia Malaki, a freelance journalist in Tanzania, says the new president should ensure journalists have freedom so they can reveal challenges in the society and speak out. She believes Hassan will hear them.

"There are some people who think that when a journalist writes a critical story, they are the opposition. Its nothing like that," she said.

Tanzanian citizens are waiting to see how their new president chooses to lead the country. Many believe that the leadership style of President Hassan will be in sharp contrast to that of the late Magufuli.
There have been two notable funding rounds by insurtechs this week.

Workers compensation provider Pie Insurance has raised $118 million in new funding, including financing from Allianz and others.

Snapsheet, a claims management platform insurtech, raised $30 million in new financing. The Ping An Global Voyager Fund and Pivot Investment Partners led the financing.

Pie said it will use the funds for further investments in technology and automation. The company also plans to grow the companys core workers compensation business and begin to offer new products in the coming months.

Pie launched in 2017 to provide workers compensation insurance to small businesses directly through its website and through independent agents. Pie operates as a managing general agency for Sirius America Insurance Co.

2017 Profile: Insurtech Pie Insurance Eyes Slice of Workers Comp Market with Pricing Tool

The companys last financing came through a $127 million Series B extension in May 2020, which included a $100 million equity capital commitment designed to help it form and purchase licensed insurance companies.

Overall, Pie has raised more than $300 million since its debut.

The company said its gross written premium has grown above $100 million and it has partnered with more than 1,000 insurance agencies nationally so far.

Investors Allianz X (the digital investment unit of the Allianz Group) and Acrew Capital led the Series C round, while existing investors Greycroft, SVB Capital, SiriusPoint, Elefund and Moxley Holdings also participated.

Nazim Cetin, CEO of Allianz X, said in prepared remarks that he sees plenty of opportunities for cooperation with Pie in areas including the joint development and sale of insurance products.

Snapsheet

Snapsheet said it will use its $30 million to further build out its cloud-based system and meet customer demand that it said has surged in the wake of COVID-19. The company is expanding beyond auto claims into all lines of property/casualty insurance and plans to expand globally

As carriers and their customers are forced to work and engage virtually, we have seen demand for our technology skyrocket in the wake of COVID-19, and its here to stay, Snapsheet founder and CEO Brad Weisberg said. By digitizing the entire claims process from start to finish, were able to automate any task, and empower insurers to provide exponentially better customer experiences at the most critical point in their customer lifecycle.

Insurtech Profile: Snapsheets Evolution in Making Virtual Claims Service a Reality

This is the second part of a Series E round; the first raised $29 million. Ping An Global Voyager Fund and Pivot Investment Partners join other Snapsheet investors including Nationwide, Liberty Mutual, Intact Ventures, Tola Capital, Commerce Ventures and others.

Global Voyagers Chief Investment Officer, Donald Lacey, will join Snapsheets board of directors.

The venture capital infusion will also support more engineering and sales hires.

Snapsheets software as a service (SaaS) platform uses information from various customer channels, including e-mail, text, or a web and mobile app to process claims quickly. The Snapsheet technology also lets carriers directly deposit payments into customers bank accounts.

Snapsheet claims to have processed millions of claims and more than $7 billion in appraisals for more than 100 clients, including many of the largest insurance carriers, third-party administrators, and insurance and sharing economy disruptors in North America.

Topics Mergers InsurTech Tech
by Nwafor

THE Presidency yesterday said Nigeria has created and saved over two million jobs through the implementation of the Economic Sustainability Plan, ESP, which began in June last year.

The ESP, chaired by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, designed the N2.3 trillion ESP as the country's response to the economic challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.

While inaugurating the committee in March 2020, President Muhammadu Buhari charged members, among other things, to develop a clear economic sustainability plan in response to the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic; provide fiscal and monetary stimulus package, including support to private businesses; and propose a clear-cut strategy to keep existing jobs and create opportunities for new ones.

Briefing journalists after the ESP meeting, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Office of the Vice President, Laolu Akande, said over two million jobs were created around micro, small and medium enterprises, MSMEs.

Akande said the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, gave a report on the implementation of the plan at the meeting, detailing the outcome of the plan and the release of funds for it.

He said: "The committee was also briefed that over two million jobs have been both saved and created since the implementation of the ESP.

"This is especially around MSMEs with the Survival Fund; the Payroll Support, construction and a lot of rehabilitation that has been going on, including the 774,000 jobs created around public works in each of the 774 local government areas in the country."

According to Akande, the Finance Minister also informed the committee that there has been considerable progress in the release of funds, with about 57 per cent of the N500billion allocated to the plan in the amended 2020 Appropriation Act released so far.

He said this "is why there has been considerable progress in the work of the committee."

Akande said the vice president and members of the committee were committed to doing more to meet the president's target of ensuring that the fallouts of the pandemic did not badly affect Nigerians and that the economy got the recovery it deserved.

Vanguard News Nigeria
As the fight of the Venezuelan military against Colombian armed groups continues to escalate, the tensions on the border between the two countries prompted thousands of Venezuelans on Thursday to depart their homes and hideaway on Colombian soil close to the border.

The Colombian government, along with other displaced Venezuelans, disclosed that thousands of people from Venezuela have fled to the province of Apure in Colombia in the wake of the ongoing operations of the Venezuelan military against the Colombian armed groups. The military of Venezuela shared that their target armed groups are located in rural areas where it has its support from the local population.

Based on the statement of a Venezuelan who reached Colombia through a canoe, 26-year-old Niomar Diaz, they were nervous as they can hear the sounds of bombs falling on the ground. He also shared that the situation in the area was terrible, and in a house within their community, he even witnessed a mother died along with her son, daughter, and even their grandfather. Diaz also stated that the Venezuelan military was abusive. That is why his family and some of their neighbors chose to leave the country, Reuters reported.

ALSO READ: Mexican President Blames Biden for Current Border Crisis

Hundreds of Families Affected

According to Aljazeera, the Colombian Migration agency stated that more than 3,100 individuals or 780 families started to arrive in the municipality of Arauquita in Colombia on Monday because of the tensions at the border due to the ongoing military operations of the Venezuelan military.

Despite the border closure of Colombia due to the COVID-19 threat, still, some people from Venezuela chose to hide in the Colombian municipality due to military abuse.

The migration agency of Colombia also said that the foreigners were dispersed in eight shelters in the municipality of Arauquita while the Colombian government is assisting them in terms of food and medical needs. The governor of Arauca province, alongside the international community, is looking for additional resources to keep providing those who are in need of assistance.

On the other hand, the Foreign Minister of Venezuela, Jorge Arreaza, denounced the attacks by Colombia on civilians on the border and the usage of antipersonnel mines. He also added that his country would have a strong reaction if that will happen.

In his statement, Arreaza mentioned that Venezuela will effectively guarantee peace within its national territory and will ratify any attempt of territorial integrity violation. The Venezuelan Foreign Minister also emphasized that whether the execution is conventional or covert, by any armed group, or even any kind of attack, they will have a strong reaction.

In addition, Arreaza said that the operations that the Venezuelan military has conducted against illegal camps of Colombian armed groups have already led to the deaths of two Venezuelan soldiers. This week, the foreign ministry of Colombia also expressed that they were worried about the ongoing situation and urged the international community to contribute to those displaced by the tension, Bloomberg reported.

On Wednesday, the Colombian Defence Minister, Diego Molano, tweeted that the government will be increasing military and police presence on the border.

WATCH: Colombia appeals help for Venezuelan immigrants - SMNI News South America

RELATED ARTICLE: Border Patrol Whistleblower Reveals Inhumane Situation in Texas Processing Center
National

India and Pakistan discuss peace along LoC

NEW DELHI, MAR 26 (IANS) | Publish Date: 3/26/2021 1:55:12 PM IST

India and Pakistan brigade commanders met on Friday and discussed peace along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir. The brigade commander-level meeting took place to take forward the understanding to implement ceasefire decided last month.

In February, both the countries decided to re-implement the ceasefire agreement of 2003 to maintain peace at the borders. Post the DGsMO Understanding 2021, a Brigade Commander Level Flag Meeting was held between Indian and Pakistan Army at Poonch Rawalkot Crossing Point on 26 March, 2021 to discuss implementation mechanism as per the understanding, the Indian Army said.

However, there has been no commitment from Islamabad to stop sponsoring terror and launchpads continue to exist, government sources said. Indian Army Chief General M.M. Naravane said not a single bullet has been fired at the LoC in the month of March. India and Pakistan have reached understanding to implement ceasefire agreement reached during the talks between Director-General of Military Operations of both the countries over hotline on February 22.

Our endeavour is to achieve peace and stability which is beneficial for the region and specially for the population residing along the LoC, this is an attempt to bring the violence levels down, the force had stated. The Indian Army had stated that DGMO of India and Pakistan Army interact regularly over the established mechanism of hotline.

The purpose of the mechanism is to review the situation along the Line of Control, International Boundary and endeavour to achieve observance of all understandings and agreements reached between the two militaries. The force had stated that Indian Army remains committed to fight the scourge of terrorism. Acts of terror will not be tolerated and befitting response would await any misadventure, the force said. Over the last few years our counter infiltration posture along the LoC has further strengthened and terrorists have found infiltration across the LoC increasingly difficult.

The force said that infiltration of terrorist remains a primary concern. The ceasefire violence primarily due to the activities of terrorism along and across LoC. There is trust deficit with Pakistan, Indian Army had stated. The force had pointed : We have a history of bitter experiences with Pakistan. The peace processes in the past have been derailed either because of acts of terror or Pakistan Armys belligerence. We are live to this reality and We all remain prepared to meet any eventuality. However we remain cautiously optimistic. Peace along LoC is mutually beneficial.
The people of Cork are being urged to support what has been described as the most important Daffodil Day yet as the Irish Cancer Society raise funds virtually this year.

Today marks the Irish Cancer Societys Daffodil Day and the second year in a row where Covid-19 has restricted the usual community spirit associated with collections for Daffodil Day across the country.

The Irish Cancer Societys flagship fundraiser would usually see thousands turn out across the country to fundraise and sell the iconic daffodil pins.

However, with collection buckets silent for the second year in a row, people are being asked to support Daffodil Day online or by phone.

The charity normally raises in the region of 4million with the fundraiser but due to Covid-19, last year the charity saw a 2million drop in income from the even as it was cancelled just days before it was due to take place.

To mark the day, buildings and landmarks across Ireland have turned yellow, including Cork City Hall.

Each year more than 40,000 people in Ireland are diagnosed with cancer while over 9,000 people lose their lives to the illness each year.

The Irish Cancer Society provides advice, support and practical help for anyone affected by cancer.

Speaking on Daffodil Day, Irish Cancer Society Acting CEO Conor King said that each year, the people of Ireland rally together and stand in solidarity with cancer patients.

Today, on our most important Daffodil Day yet we may not be together, but we can still show our support for the cancer community.

Despite the challenges of the last year the Irish Cancer Society is still here for people affected by cancer; through the cancer nurses on our Support Line, our Daffodil Centre staff, our dedicated Volunteer Drivers to bring people to chemotherapy and our Night Nurses, who provided more nights of precious end-of-life care than ever before.

By donating at cancer.ie, or supporting any of the other fundraisers happening today you are helping to ensure that we can continue to be there for anyone who needs it.

A Late Late Show Daffodil Day special on RTE 1 is also set to take place tonight, featuring some very special guests, including Westlifes Shane Filan who tells of the heartbreak of losing both parents to cancer within 10 months of each other; and Jedward, who will honour their Mum who died from cancer, by shaving off their legendary quiffs.

This year is Boots Irelands 4th year of sponsoring Daffodil Day as stores across Cork and Ireland join local communities in marking the day.

To donate, visit cancer.ie.
press release

Kigali, Rwanda  Partnership for Resilient and Inclusive Small Livestock Markets (PRISM) will reach 23,400 food insecure households in 15 districts.

To improve incomes and food and nutrition security in Rwanda's most impacted regions, international development organization, Heifer International, and the Rwanda Ministry of Agriculture announced a partnership to invest more than $10 million USD in livestock and training for 23,400 smallholder farming households. In Rwanda, one fifth of the population is food insecure, and the average income per household is approximately $3.11 per day in the 15 districts in Rwanda's Northern, Southern, Western provinces where PRISM will be implemented.

Through the partnership, Heifer International aims to support farmers to reach a living income - the amount of money needed to live a dignified life - of $6.08 per household per day. PRISM will focus on prioritizing three groups: women heads of households, malnourished children and young adolescent girls, in order to sustainably improve the livelihoods of the most vulnerable populations. Women will represent at least 50% and youth at least 30% of those engaged by PRISM and will have opportunities to access finance through the project.

"Heifer International has supported communities across Rwanda for more than 20 years to build sustainable food and farming businesses, and reduce hunger and poverty," said Adesuwa Ifedi, Senior Vice President of Africa Programs for Heifer International.

"Through our training model, farmers will develop the financial, farming and leadership skills they need to care for their animals and sharpen their business acumen. This will help them improve farm production and productivity, as well as develop stronger connections to formal markets, building sustainable agribusinesses and increasing profits."

"We look forward to working closely with Heifer Rwanda to deliver this program that will positively impact farmers and their families," said Dr. Gerardine Mukeshimana, Minister of Agriculture and Animal Resources of Rwanda. "Heifer International has a long history of working with farmers in Rwanda to build resilient rural communities and support farming families to live productive, prosperous lives."

Heifer International's Values Based Holistic Community Development model supports communities to build their capacity for development, working with farmers to increase their knowledge and resilience, while reducing vulnerability to climate change and economic shocks. PRISM will include:

Formation of self-help groups of 20-30 members to provide capacity building training and mentorship

Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Investment Agribusiness Rwanda 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.

Training and capacity for poultry, swine, goat and sheep farmers to develop shared values, mobilize and plan together

Agribusiness and income generation training to develop hard and soft skills, including nutrition, gender and leadership modules for men and women, values based financial literacy and environmental management

Technical training prior to livestock placement on poultry, swine, goat and sheep breeding, husbandry and feeding

Training and equipment for Community Agrovet Entrepreneurs (CAVEs) to support animal wellbeing across all value chains, including basic animal care, vaccines and simple surgeries.

In addition to providing training to 23,400 farmers on sustainable community development and livestock production, PRISM will strengthen private sector service provision. It will support the formation of 1,170 farmer groups and establish a network of 117 community facilitators, along with veterinary and extension services provided by 31 private veterinary entrepreneurs.

To learn more about the work of Heifer International Rwanda, visit the website or contact media@heifer.org.

ABOUT HEIFER INTERNATIONAL

For 76 years, Heifer International has worked with more than 36 million people around the world to end hunger and poverty in a sustainable way. Working with rural communities in 21 countries in Africa, Asia, and the Americas, including the United States, Heifer International supports farmers and local food producers to strengthen local economies and build secure livelihoods that provide a living income. For information, visit https://www.heifer.org.

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Tesla violated labor laws repeatedly by firing a union activist and 'coercively interrogating' staff who supported the union, the National Labor Relations Board has ruled.

Tesla had been battling the United Auto Workers (UAW) union over the violations which they say began in 2017. A judge sided with the workers in 2018 but Tesla fought the decision.

On Thursday, the Labor Board sided with them again.

Among the violations was firing an employee who had arranged union activity. It's unclear what exactly the employee did.

The Board told Tesla it must offer to rehire the employee and pay them back-pay from the time they were let go until now.

Tesla had been battling the United Auto Workers (UAW) union over the violations which they say began in 2017

Musk was told to delete this May 2018 tweet about union dues vs stock options

It also chastised the company for 'coercively interrogating' any employees who thought about organizing within the union, and

The board on Thursday found that a May 20, 2018 Musk tweet unlawfully threatened employees with loss of stock options if they chose to be represented by the United Auto Workers union.

Board members ordered Tesla to make Musk delete the tweet and stop threatening employees with loss of benefits for supporting a labor organization.

Tesla must also post a notice addressing unfair labor practices at its Fremont, California, plant, and post a notice dealing with the tweet at all its facilities nationwide.

The UAW, which had been trying to organize the 10,000-worker Fremont plant, called the order a great victory for workers who have the courage to stand up to companies like Tesla.

Vice President Cindy Estrada said in statement that the system 'is currently stacked heavily in favor of employers like Tesla who have no qualms about violating the law.'

Messages were left Thursday seeking comment from Tesla.

Workers from the Tesla plant in Fremont, California, started complaining about labor violations in 2017

In its decision, the board agreed with an administrative law judge who ruled against Tesla in September of 2019.

The board also told Tesla to reinstate an employee who was fired for organizing activity and to give him back pay.

Other than the back pay, Tesla faces no financial penalties, the UAW said.

Musk tweeted on May 20, 2018: 'Nothing stopping Tesla team at our car plant from voting union. Could do so tmrw if they wanted.

'But why pay union dues and give up stock options for nothing?

'Our safety record is 2X better than when plant was UAW & everybody already gets healthcare.'

It's the second time Musk has run afoul of federal regulations on Twitter.

In September of 2018, Musk and Tesla agreed to pay $20 million each and make concessions to settle a Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuit alleging Musk duped investors with statements about a plan to take the company private.
-Descends on motorcyclists; puts Rep. Wesso on the spot

Bopolu, Gbarpolu County- President George Weah briefly departed from his usual response to citizens' requests in Bopolu, Gbarpolu County on Thursday during a town hall meeting when he descended on motorcyclists and put Representative Kenneth Wesso of Gbarpolu County on the spot for calling First Lady Clar Weah, "Mrs. Clar Williams."

President Weah narrated that he and his wife had been married for over 21 years and has not divorced. So for Rep. Wesso to call her "Mrs. Williams", he needed to correct that before moving on.

Mr. Weah, a former campaigner for commercial motorcyclists to be allowed to ply the streets of Monrovia during his tenure as Senator of Montserrado County, also blasted cyclists here for their recklessness and expressed regrets for his earlier support to allow them run commercial bikes on the streets.

"I stood up when they were taking you from the streets, but you made me shame," he narrated as he wrapped up his two days' visit to that county as part of his second leg county tour in the Western cluster region, comprising Bomi, Gbarpolu and Grand Capemount counties.

"If I were in that Senate, I will not make that mistake again," President Weah stated, as he told traditional chiefs who had requested 10 motorbikes that he would rather buy them two pickups than bikes because of safety reasons.

Mr. Weah disclosed that his administration is now considering regulations that could bring some sanity in the traffic as it relates to the motorcyclists menace. "We cannot ask you to be peaceful and then you be or [are] reckless on the streets," he added.

He stated that the new regulations, if not followed, would lead to the impoundment of motorbikes to get them off the streets.

The President explained that as it stands, bike riders have no respect for traffic laws and usually take the laws into their own hands whenever there is an accident, some of which are usually their faults as a result of reckless riding.

He further empathized saying, "Those that are using bikes, we need to put you in order. If the bike is your livelihood, then you got to use it with caution. You got to respect the traffic laws.

"If you don't respect the traffic laws, trust me, for you to be alive and not vote for me, I rather you being alive. If you don't drive those motorbikes right, we will take every motorbikes from the street. So, if the bike will make you rich or pay your school fees, you have to drive it with order."

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Mr. Weah also warned youths to eschew protest and settle their issues through dialogue because according to him, protest is very expensive.

He said the amount require to put the military and police on the streets to quell a protest could be used to solve the problems that protesters want to be solved.

"Protest is expensive. If 50 of you were to get on the street today, we have to bring in a whole military truck and police truck on the street because it's your right to protest and we don't want to violate your right," President Weah went on.

"... Those police and army that are coming to you, they want fuel and we have to pay them instantly. We have to buy them materials even the ones that will be used to remove you. That you are on the street for."

But the President added that if protesters were to settle for a dialogue the money used could be expended to solve the problem.
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US Counties Warn Americans Against Organ Tourism to China

A growing number of county governments in the United States are warning Americans who may travel to China for transplant surgery that they are at risk of becoming accomplices in state-sponsored forced organ harvesting.

Spotsylvania County, Virginia, on March 23 became the eighth county this year to approve a resolution condemning the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for forcibly harvesting organs from prisoners of conscience.

People from all over the world flock to China, at the cost of tens of thousands of dollars, for organ transplants, often due to shorter wait times. However, an independent tribunal found in 2019 that prisoners, many of whom are Falun Gong practitioners, are being killed on a significant scale for their organs for use on the transplant market.

Spotsylvania County, Va., officials discuss a resolution to condemn the CCPs forced organ harvesting from Falun Gong practitioners in the countys government building, on March 23. (Sherry Dong/The Epoch Times)

Kevin Marshall, supervisor of Berkeley District in Spotsylvania County, told The Epoch Times on March 25 that spreading awareness of the crime is crucial in stopping Americans from unknowingly participating in it.

A lot of folks here are not aware of it, he said.

Before it was brought to our attention  we had no idea any of this was happening. And now we do, and were going to take a step to do something about it.

Kevin Marshall (C), Berkeley District supervisor, and Falun Gong practitioners outside the county government building in Spotsylvania County, Va., on March 23, 2021. (Sherry Dong/The Epoch Times)

The resolution urges the U.S. government to investigate Chinas organ transplant program and to take measures to end the regimes practice of forced organ harvesting. Earlier this month, a bipartisan bill was introduced to the U.S. House and Senate that would sanction Chinese officials involved in the practice.

Several other Virginia counties have passed similar resolutions in recent weeks, including Warren, Madison, and Fauquier counties.

This is a crime against humanity, Walter Mabe, supervisor for Shenandoah District in Warren County, told The Epoch Times on March 25. We should be standing up against it.

The largest group of victims of forced organ harvesting are practitioners of Falun Gong, which is a spiritual discipline based on the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance.

The practice spread in China in the 1990s and soon gained around 70 million adherents, according to estimates by Chinese authorities. In July 1999, the CCP began statewide persecution to eradicate the practice. According to the Falun Dafa Information Center, millions of its followers have been detained, and hundreds of thousands have been tortured.

Chris Cloud, a realtor from Fauquier County, told The Epoch Times that organ harvesting is a crime so outrageous its hard to believe that its taking place. Because of this, many people want to turn a blind eye from that and not think about it, he said.

But forced organ harvesting needs to be stopped at any cost, said Cloud.

That type of behavior should not be allowed on this planet.

Sherry Dong contributed to this article.
WE WENT to Newport for three days last week, two Minnesotans long married, to rediscover the fact that ocean air is delicious and invigorating and can even make you happy. That surely is why the Vanderbilts built their monstrous mansion on the shore: sinking into decadence in a fake palace w
Gov. Whitmer Launches New Dashboard to Track Rebuilding Michigan Progress

Gov. Whitmer Launches New Dashboard to Track Rebuilding Michigan Progress

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 25, 2021

Contact: Jeff Cranson, MDOT Director of Communications, MDOT@michigan.gov

Gov. Whitmer Launches New Dashboard to Track Rebuilding Michigan Progress

LANSING, Mich. -- Governor Gretchen Whitmer today launched a new dashboard in collaboration with the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) to track road projects and make information easily accessible to the public as construction continues under the governor's Rebuilding Michigan program. The program will finance new projects throughout the state and free up funding to expand the scope of other projects or reduce construction times. The new dashboard will be available at Michigan.gov/RebuildingMichigan.

"As we continue to invest in better roads and bridges under the Rebuilding Michigan program, this new dashboard will be important to ensure our efforts to fix the damn roads remain on time and on budget," said Governor Whitmer. "The Rebuilding Michigan plan is financed without an increase at the gas pump, and it'll help jumpstart our economy by creating thousands of good-paying construction jobs. We have a lot of work to do during this upcoming construction season. Let's get to work and get the job done."

The Rebuilding Michigan Program (2020-2024) objective is to rebuild state highways and bridges that are critical to the state's economy and carry the most traffic. The program, unanimously approved by the State Transportation Commission, allows MDOT to sell a total of $3.5 billion in bonds to finance dozens of new and modified road construction projects, while accelerating many others. The investment strategy is aimed at fixes that result in longer road life and improves the condition of the state's infrastructure.

"The Rebuilding Michigan Program allows MDOT to completely rebuild some important freeways that we otherwise could only afford to resurface," MDOT Director Paul C. Ajegba said. "And the bond funding allows us to accelerate the rebuilding of many other non-freeway projects. In keeping with the governor's objectives, this dashboard gives people a clear view of the program's impact across the state in an open and transparent fashion."

The site leads off with MDOT's Five-Year Plan information and then provides an in-depth look at the Rebuild Michigan Program. An interactive map shows the location, scope, and progress for each Rebuilding Michigan road and bridge project, along with a running statewide tally of the hours of construction work spent on projects and the jobs supported by the work.

Color-coded icons locate projects on the state map and show the percentage of bond funds allocated for each project spent so far, so the public can see its tax dollars at work. Clicking on each project icon shows more details. The map data is updated every month.

A screen capture from the new Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) online dashboard shows the wealth of information available about ongoing and future Rebuilding Michigan road and bridge projects around the state. (MDOT image)

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NEW DELHI (Reuters) - The Supreme Court on Friday ruled in favour of autos-to-steel conglomerate Tata Group in its long-drawn legal tussle with former chairman Cyrus Mistry whose family firm owns an 18% stake in the group holding company, Tata Sons.

Mistry in 2016 was sacked from his job at the helm of Tata Sons, the holding company for the Tata Group, after he fell out with group patriarch Ratan Tata over corporate governance issues at Tata group companies.

The two sides have since been embroiled in a legal battle.

(Reporting by Aditi Shah and Suchitra Mohanty; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)
Facebook announced it had acquired Giphy in May 2020. Photo: Getty Images

UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said Facebook's (FB) $400m (291m) acquisition of GIF search engine Giphy raises competition concerns "in relation to digital advertising and the supply of GIFs".

The CMA has given the companies five days to offer legally binding proposals to address its concerns. The CMA will then decide whether to accept the offer or refer the case for further investigation.

Giphy is an online database and search engine that allows users to share GIFs and stickers either via its website and app, or through online platforms such as Facebook and its properties Instagram and WhatsApp, as well as Twitter (TWTR) and Snapchat (SNAP).

Facebook announced it had acquired Giphy in May 2020. 50% of GIPHYs traffic comes from the Facebook family of apps, half of that from Instagram alone, Facebook had said at the time.

Before that, the CMA explained Giphy competed with Facebook outside the UK in digital advertising through paid partnerships with brands such as Pepsi (PEP) and Dunkin Donuts. It said it has found evidence that Giphy had planned to expand its digital advertising partnerships to other countries, including the UK.

If Giphy and Facebook remain merged, Giphy could have less incentive to do so, leading to a loss of potential competition.

WATCH: How to prevent getting into debt

READ MORE: UK competition regulator wants to 'shape the behaviour' of tech giants

"This is particularly concerning given Facebooks existing market power in display advertising  in July, last year, the CMA found that Facebook has a share of over 50% of the 5.5bn display advertising market," it said in a statement.

The CMA also found that the deal could harm rival social media platforms, as it could mean Giphy would stop supplying GIFs to these companies or do so on worse terms.

One example of this is requiring rivals to provide more user data to access GIFs. The CMA is worried "this could potentially lead to reduced choice for users and further increase Facebooks market power in relation to social media."

Story continues

Last year the CMA issued advice to the UK government on a new regime for digital markets, which will proactively shape the behaviour of the most powerful tech firms including Google (GOOG) and Facebook.

The advice outlines a modern regulatory regime fit for the digital age  one that is forward-looking, targeted and enables quick results to harness the full potential of digital markets, driving greater competition and innovation, the CMA said in a statement.

Its aim is to ensure consumers and businesses are treated fairly and help to level the playing field for smaller rival tech firms.

WATCH: What is a credit rating and why does it matter?

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Creche workers caring for the children of staff at the Beacon Hospital also received jabs from the private hospital earlier this month, it has emerged.

The Beacon Hospital said: "In keeping with the zero wastage policy, vaccines were administered to childcare providers located on the Beacon Medical Campus. These workers deliver an essential service to frontline healthcare workers.

Michael Cullen, chief executive of the hospital, is now facing calls to resign after it was revealed 20 teachers and staff from a private school in Bray, Co Wicklow were also inoculated this week.

Labour Party leader Alan Kelly described his position as entirely untenable, while Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said no private school should have received vaccines.

Read More

St Gerards Catholic School refused to comment on the matter.

The Beacon Hospital did not respond to queries about whether board members have also been vaccinated, or if an investigation into how the vaccines were given to teachers and childcare providers will be carried out.

Childcare workers and teachers are in Cohort 11 of the Health Service Executives vaccine roll-out.

The families of patients receiving cancer treatment at the Beacon have also condemned the hospitals actions, describing it as a kick in the teeth and incredibly upsetting.

Aoife Stokess 64-year-old mother, who is receiving cancer treatment at the Beacon, is in Cohort 4 and has yet to receive a vaccination date, despite this group currently being in the process of being vaccinated.

Im incredibly angry and so frustrated, Ms Stokes said.

How can a private hospital who looks after hundreds of patients in the vulnerable categories not have a stand-by list and end up giving vaccines to an external group of people.

Weve been able to get no answer about when my mam will be vaccinated. Weve gone from our GP to the Beacon to the HSE, who told her to ring an out of hours GP. From an organisational point of view, its so frustrating and its a kick in the teeth.

The HSE is investigating how the private hospital  which has apologised  vaccinated 20 staff from St Gerards private school, where it is understood Mr Cullen's children attend.

Giving vaccines to teachers in his childrens school ahead of vulnerable patients in the hospital is simply unjustifiable, Mr Kelly said.

Its beyond belief that the CEO thought this type of behaviour would be appropriate or acceptable and there is now a fundamental question over his judgement, he said.

He said Beacon had made a belated decision to join the Covid fight a few months ago.

This two-tier elitism is shocking, and unfortunately, has been enabled by the lack of a cohesive vaccine strategy from the Minister for Health, Mr Kelly said.

He said it undermined the message that the vaccine is being rolled out in an equitable way.

The incident, highlighted by the Irish Daily Mail, follows a similar incident at the Coombe Hospital in January, when vaccines were given to the Masters immediate family.

The CEO of the Beacon, Michael Cullen, said the situation arose because there were over 200 no-shows for a jab clinic. This happened because of double-booking with the Aviva stadium, and his facility was under time pressure to administer the doses.

The Beacon said it is now amending its processes to broaden our stand-by list to ensure that if there are leftover vaccines on any occasion in the future that there are sufficient numbers of identified individuals in a position to reach the Centre within the tight time frame required.

Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly described the situation as completely unacceptable. He told RTE: What Im instructing the HSE to do is to appoint a HSE lead over the situation at the Beacon.

However, he also said that the main priority remains to vaccinate as many people as possible, and as such the vaccination programme will not be pulled from the hospital.

It is an important part of the vaccination infrastructure for the Dublin area and the Beacon is doing it at their own cost, he said.

So, by stopping the vaccinations at the Beacon - while I understand it would send a very clear signal - ultimately we would be cutting off our nose to spite our face, because the priority right now has to be to vaccinate people as soon as the vaccines arrive in the country.

HSE chief Paul Reid, speaking on RTE radio, said protocols are in place and expressed disappointment that they had not been followed.

Sinn Fein TD for Wicklow, John Brady, said the incident between two private institutions, 13km apart, was without justification, and smacked of the well-heeled looking after the well-heeled.
Sean Lannon, 47, is now being charged in connection with four deaths total

A man accused in the beating death of a New Jersey resident he claimed sexually abused him as a child has now been charged with killing his ex-wife and two others in New Mexico in what investigators call a complicated case spanning multiple states.

The new charges on Friday come about a week after investigators searched a house where Sean Lannon, his ex-wife and their children lived in the city of Grants, about 80 miles west of Albuquerque.

Lannon was charged with first-degree murder and tampering with evidence in all three deaths, as well as kidnapping to inflict death in relation to the two victims who were not his ex-wife.

Those killed in New Mexico were identified as his ex-wife Jennifer Lannon, 39, Matthew Miller, 21, and Jesten Mata, 40, of Grants, and Randal Apostalon, 60, of Albuquerque.

Sean Lannon has been charged in the deaths of his ex-wife, Miller and Mata. Charges related to the death of Apostalon have yet to be filed.

NJ.com reports that Mata and Jennifer Lannon were in a relationship.

Authorities have said Jennifer Lannon, Miller and Mata were friends, and Apostalon lived out of his car and was known to give rides for money.

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Sean and Jennifer Lannon were married for several years before they divorced in 2019

The remains of Jennifer Lannon and the three others were found on March 5 inside Apostalon's car at a parking garage at the Albuquerque airport about a month after they were reported missing.

Daniel Lemos, 45, is cooperating with investigators in regards to the case after an unrelated arrest and is being questioned in regards to the Grants disappearances, but not the deaths.

Authorities also have been looking into Sean Lannon's claims that he killed 11 other people in New Mexico, but police have said there were no records of people missing from the area or other police reports that would indicate there are potential victims.

Authorities said in court documents that Lannon, 47, admitted to the additional killings in a phone call to a relative.

Lannon remains in custody in New Jersey on charges stemming from Michael Dabkowski's killing, which include first-degree murder, burglary, robbery, and theft.

Pictured: The New Jersey home where Michael Dabkowski, 66, was allegedly beat to death

Lannon is accused of breaking in to the 66-year-old's New Jersey home, just south of Philadelphia, and beating him to death with a hammer, according to an affidavit.

Lannon told investigators that Dabkowski had sexually abused him as a child when he was a member of Big Brothers Big Sisters and that he had gone to the home to retrieve sexually explicit photos.

Investigators have not said if they've uncovered any sexually explicit photos to corroborate Lannon's story.

Dabkowski's body was discovered March 8, three days after the remains were found in New Mexico.

Lannon allegedly stole the man's wallet and was driving Dabkowski's car when he arrested March 10 in St. Louis. Authorities are not sure why he was in Missouri.

At the time, he was considered only a person of interest in the New Mexico slayings and detectives from Albuquerque traveled to St. Louis to interview him before he was extradited to New Jersey.

Matthew Miller, 21, was a friend of Jennifer Lannon and Sean has been charged with his death

Assistant deputy public defender Ronald Appleby has declined to comment on the New Jersey charge. A court hearing in that case is scheduled for April 8.

Jesten Mata, 40, another death being linked to potential serial killer Sean Lannon

Sean and Jennifer Lannon lived in New Jersey and married around eight years ago before moving to New Mexico for Sean's job in 2017 - before he filed for divorce.

Court records related to the couple's divorce and custody case showed that Sean Lannon was awarded sole custody of the couple's three children in 2019 and that a protective plan from the New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department included only supervised visitation by their mother over concerns at the time about the potential for neglect due to prescription drug abuse.

Relatives say Sean Lannon flew to New Jersey in early March with the couple's three children - 6- and 7-year-old girls and a 4-year-old boy.

He took them to his parents' house and left again, saying he was going to look for his ex-wife, whom he claimed had run off with friends. Her family became worried, saying it wasn't like her to be without her children.

When Sean Lannon left New Jersey, he took ride share services to Virginia, then returned to New Jersey, where he broke into one home in Elk Township before heading to Dabkowski's house.

In the Elk Township break-in, Lannon was charged with burglary and possession of a weapon.

It's not clear what Lannon was doing in Virginia.

The children are now in the case of Jennifer Lannon's family, which has raised over $19,000 on GoFundMe for their care.

Four bodies were found in a car at the Albuquerque airport on March 5 (pictured)

When Lannon previously confessed to committing 16 murders, he claimed he dismembered several people at his New Mexico home, according to NJ.com.

'He admitted to killing a total of 16 people... 15 being in New Mexico and one in the State of New Jersey,' said Assistant Gloucester County Prosecutor Alec Gutierrez.

Lannon served in the U.S. Army from 1999 to 2003 and received an honorable discharge from the military.

WPVI reports Lannon has a history of drug abuse and a violent record.

His lawyer argued for a pre-trial release in connection to the New Jersey murder, but was rebuffed by the judge.
Cineworld shares bombed after it laid bare the effect of months of closures and delayed blockbuster releases since coronavirus struck.

The cinema chain, which has 9,300 screens at 767 theatres worldwide, swung to a 2.2billion loss in 2020, down from a profit of 155million the year before.

It makes about three-quarters of its sales in the US  with 15 per cent coming from the UK and Ireland.

Lockdown woes: Cineworld, which has 9,300 screens at 767 theatres worldwide, swung to a 2.2bn loss in 2020, down from a profit of 155m the year before

Turnover tumbled by 81 per cent and the number of people visiting its cinemas by 80 per cent, to 54.4million.

Cineworld's sites were forcibly closed for months during strict lockdowns, but it made a shock move in October by voluntarily shutting its sites after the next James Bond film, No Time To Die, was delayed for a second time.

Its numbers were eye-watering, but largely expected. What was more difficult for investors to swallow was a warning that there is 'significant doubt' about the company's ability to survive if the pandemic becomes more severe and cinemas are closed again later this year. It also raised the prospect of more funding.

Stock Watch - Induction Healthcare An NHS trust in London has signed a three-year deal to use a phone directory app developed by Induction Healthcare. The Induction Switch app gives medical staff access to a contacts list that shows them the extension details for other people who work in the same hospital  meaning they don't need to use the main switchboard  and lets them send messages. Shares in the group, which did not say how much the contract was worth, rose 4.6 per cent, or 4.5p, to 102.5p.

Although Cineworld has arranged an emergency 156million loan, it also said it would ask shareholders for permission to raise its debt ceiling next month. And it warned that it might need to ask investors for yet more cash.

Cinemas in the US are expected to open next month and in the UK and the rest of the world in May.

Chief executive Mooky Greidinger struck a bullish tone, saying he wanted to 'leave 2020 behind' and expects a strong summer.

He said: 'Last year the only big release we really had was Tenet and this year, with Bond, the new Top Gun and Matrix films, that will get people fired up again for the cinema experience.'

But this wasn't enough for spooked shareholders and Cineworld fell 7.6 per cent, or 7.8p, to 95p.

UK and Malaysia-focused energy group Enquest also racked up a loss last year after lockdowns lowered demand for oil, sending crude prices plummeting.

It posted a loss of 15million, from a profit of 323million in 2019, with shares tumbling 6.8 per cent, or 1.36p, to 18.74p.

The FTSE 100 fell 0.6 per cent, or 38.06 points, to 6674.83, while the FTSE 250 also finished the session down 0.6 per cent, or 124.7 points, at 21277.84.

Compass, the world's largest catering firm, struggled in 2020  and suffered a hit to its reputation when it bungled a free school meals contract in the UK. But it said its margins have been improving since the start of this year.

This means it stands to make higher profits from its revenues. It warned that first-quarter turnover stands to fall by 31 per cent compared with last year  which included almost three pre-pandemic months  but investors greeted the trading update warmly, with Compass finishing up 1.1 per cent, or 16p, at 1486p.

The market was less impressed with record revenues at semiconductor chip maker IQE (down 15.2 per cent, or 11p, to 61.6p), but snapped up shares in Sir Martin Sorrell's digital advertising agency S4 Capital (up 2.9 per cent, or 14p, to 502p) as turnover and profits surged.

Petra Diamonds shares (up 0.4 per cent, or 0.01p, to 1.42p) shrugged off claims that security guards at its mine in Tanzania had shot at people with metal balls rather than the rubber projectiles they were supposed to use. Petra has been investigating alleged human rights abuses since last year.

The company said it was already examining the latest details.

Online trading platform CMC Markets (up 2.9 per cent, or 13p, to 457p) has managed to retain many of the customers who joined last year to take a punt on stock markets thrown into turmoil by the Covid crisis. It also said that profits for the year to March are set to beat expectations of 400million.
Twitter Inc. Chief Executive Officer Jack Dorsey said he takes some responsibility for online organizing that led to the Jan. 6 riot at Capitol Hill, while the leaders of Facebook Inc. and Alphabet Inc. deflected blame during a Congressional hearing that focused on social media disinformation.

Representative Mike Doyle, a Pennsylvania Democrat, asked Dorsey, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and the head of Google and its parent Alphabet, Sundar Pichai, if their platforms bear any responsibility for disseminating Stop the Steal disinformation alleging the 2020 presidential election was stolen from Donald Trump. Doyle demanded a yes or no answer.

Yes, but you also have to take into consideration a broader ecosystem, Dorsey said. Its not just about the technology platforms we use.

Doyle cut off Zuckerberg when he responded that Facebooks responsibility is to build effective systems, and said individuals who organized the events and those who questioned the elections outcome, including Trump, deserved blame. When Doyle asked Pichai if his statement that we always feel a deep sense of responsibility amounted to a yes, the CEO said it was a complex question.

This exchange set the tone for a tense back and forth between the leaders of the worlds most powerful social media networks and lawmakers eager to hold them accountable over how they police falsehoods on Covid-19, vaccines and the election on their internet services. Many committee members also pressed the executives on the negative impact of their products on children and teenagers.

The executives appeared on Thursday before members of two U.S. House Energy and Commerce subcommittees during a virtual hearing examining social medias role in promoting extremism and disinformation.

While some lawmakers have been seeking tighter regulations of online content for years, pressure is increasing on tech companies to more aggressively curtail violent and misleading material on their platforms following the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, which left five people dead and many more injured.

People died that day, and hundreds were seriously injured, Doyle said on Thursday. That attack and the movement that motivated it started and was nourished on your platforms. Your platforms suggested groups people should join, videos they should view, and posts they should like.

Trumps supporters used social media sites -- particularly alternative platforms such as Parler and Gab, but also larger services -- to organize the riot, which was held in protest of Trumps loss to President Joseph Biden in the November election.

In recent months, Democrats have been pushing the tech giants to do more to rid conspiracy theories about Covid-19 and the vaccine that prevents its symptoms from their websites.

The witnesses here today have demonstrated time and again that promises to self-regulate dont work, said Jan Schakowsky, chair of the Consumer Protection and Commerce Subcommittee, in an opening statement. They must be held accountable for allowing disinformation and misinformation to spread across their platforms, infect our public discourse, and threaten our democracy.

Thursdays hearing is sparking renewed debate in Washington over whether Congress should weaken or even revoke a decades-old legal shield that protects social media companies from liability for user-generated content posted on their sites, known as Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996.

While both parties have proposed bills to reform the law, they have sparred over how tech companies should change their content moderation practices. Republicans have threatened to weaken the legal protection for tech companies over unfounded accusations that social media firms are systematically censoring conservative viewpoints. Democrats want internet companies to do more to curb the spread of misinformation, hate speech and offensive content.

Given your promises in the fall, the events that transpired on January 6 and your true incentive that you yourself admit, I find it really difficult to take some of these assurances you are trying to give us today seriously, Debbie Dingell, a Michigan Democrat, said.

Dingell followed up by asking Zuckerberg if he would be opposed to a law to enable regulators access to tech companies algorithms that promote disinformation and extremism.

I dont agree with your characterization, Zuckerberg said. I do think giving more transparency into the system is an important thing. He added it might be hard to separate the algorithms and peoples data, arguing such a proposal might risk users privacy.

Representative Robin Kelly, an Illinois Democrat, said the companies business models to promote engagement on their platforms come at the cost of spreading disinformation.

To build that engagement, social media platforms amplify content that gets attention -- that can be cat videos or vacation pictures -- but too often it means content thats incendiary, contains conspiracy theories or violence, she said. This is a fundamental flaw in your business model.

The tech executives also differed in their support for making changes to the legal shield. Before the hearing, Zuckerberg told the committee he supports making the liability protection conditional on having systems in place for identifying and removing unlawful material. Under Zuckerbergs proposal, a third party would determine whether a companys systems are adequate.

Googles Pichai, whose company owns the most popular video website, YouTube, signaled that he was more skeptical of making changes to the law. Reforming it or repealing it altogether would have unintended consequences -- harming both free expression and the ability of platforms to take responsible action to protect users in the face of constantly evolving challenges, he said in prepared testimony.

Later, under questioning, Pichai said he was open to Zuckerbergs approach.

There are definitely good proposals around transparency and accountability, which Ive seen in various legislative proposals as well, which I think are important principles, Pichai said. We would certainly welcome legislative approaches in that area.

Dorsey said he supported the idea of encouraging tech companies to be more transparent about their practices.

Several bills being considered by Congress seek to weaken the legal shield in an effort to encourage the platforms to bolster their content moderation practices. Democratic senators, led by Mark Warner of Virginia, introduced the SAFE TECH Act, which would hold companies liable for content violating laws pertaining to civil rights, international human rights, stalking, harassment or intimidation.

And a bipartisan bill -- the PACT Act -- from Democratic Senator Brian Schatz of Hawaii and Republican Senator John Thune of South Dakota would require large tech companies to remove content within four days if notified by a court order that the content is illegal.

Several members of the subcommittees used the hearing to ask pointed questions about how the companies products affect children, amid Facebooks push to make a version of Instagram for kids under age 13.

Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers, a Washington Republican, criticized the power of tech companies algorithms to determine what children see online.

Over 20 years ago, before we knew what Big Tech would become, Congress gave you liability protections. I want to know, why do you think you still deserve those protections today? said McMorris Rodgers, the committees top Republican. What will it take for your business model to stop harming children?

Representative Bob Latta, an Ohio Republican, asked Zuckerberg whether Facebook shoulders part of the blame for an underage girls suicide after a man showed a compromising photo of her to her peers on the social network.

Zuckerberg said it was an incredibly sad story, and said his company bears responsibility to build systems to remove that kind of content.
According to information published by Arab News on March 26, 2021, the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle arrived in Abu Dhabi as part of a deployment to demonstrate freedom of navigation in the regions waters.

According to information published by Arab News on March 26, 2021, the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle arrived in Abu Dhabi as part of a deployment to demonstrate freedom of navigation in the regions waters.

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French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle at Abu Dhabi (Picture source: French government)

The flagship of the French Navy docked at Mina Zayed port along with its strike group of three frigates, a submarine and a refueling vessel.

Its arrival in the UAE capital is part of a four-month deployment through the Eastern Mediterranean, Red Sea, Indian Ocean and Arabian Gulf called Clemenceau 21. which includes operations with the coalition against Daesh and after RHEA exercise.

The ship has been accompanied by frigates from Greece and Belgian and the US Navy destroyer USS Porter.

Iran and its proxies have been accused of a series of attacks against shipping in some of the worlds busiest maritime routes around the Arabian Peninsula.

The Charles de Gaulle, which is carrying 20 Rafale Marine fighter jets and two E-2C Hawkeye early warning and control aircraft, will stay in Abu Dhabi until Wednesday.

Since leaving its base in Toulon last month it has taken part in a number of exercises including joint drills with the US, Japan and Greece in the Arabian Sea this week.

Next month, the aircraft carrier will take part in exercises with India and the UAE before returning to the Eastern Mediterranean to continue its work with the anti-Daesh coalition.

LHD Mistral, FREMM Languedoc, 2 H225M Caracal Helos, a KC-130J, a C-130, 2 Rafale, a C-135, an AWACS, a NH90 Caiman were engaged in a huge naval counter-terrorism exercise "Rhea" off the coast of Crete.

The first of this class, named Charles de Gaulle (also referred to as de Gaulle), was ordered in February 1986; construction was started in November 1987. The keel was laid in April 1989, and the ship was launched in May 1994.

De Gaulle will be approximately 261 meters long and have a displacement of approximately 40,000 tons. It will accommodate 40 aircraft, including the new Rafale SU 0 class, the Super Etendard (to be replaced by the Rafale SU 2 in 2005), and E-2C Hawkeye early-warning aircraft, as well as several helicopters. There are two catapults, each capable of launching an aircraft every minute. Propulsion is provided by two nuclear reactors of the same design as those used for the new-generation SSBNs.
FinMin mulls bringing DPE under itself ahead of privatisation drive

In order to better control public sector undertakings (PSUs), the is considering bringing the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) under itself as it gears up for the ambitious privatisation exercise. The Department of Economic Affairs has written to the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) to explore the option, pointing to overlapping of some functions between the two bodies, according to a senior government official. Read More

Govt mandates companies to disclose investments in cryptocurrencies

The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has made amendments to rules in the Companies Act, mandating firms to disclose their investments in cryptocurrencies, spend on corporate social responsibility (CSR), and benami property transactions, among others, in their financial statements from the next financial year. Read More

Finance Bill amendment eases Mauritius funds' path for India shift

An amendment to the Finance Bill has allowed a wholly-owned special purpose vehicle (SPV) of an offshore fund to transfer securities to an International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) fund in Gujarat, while also enabling the IFSC fund to issue units either to investors in the offshore fund or to the offshore fund itself. This, said experts, will make it easier for Mauritius funds investing in India to shift to the IFSC. Read More

DFI goes back to the future: Will changes boost infra funding in India?

The government has gone back to the drawing board with its new development finance institution (DFI), learning from recent experience to include control mechanisms and safeguards. Indias DFI model worked till the economic liberalisation of the early nineties forced them to fend for themselves. For such an institution to succeed now, the government must stand like a rock behind it and be patient, said experts and bankers who have spent their careers engaged in infrastructure funding. Read More

Supreme Court to deliver judgement in Tata-Mistry case on Friday

The Supreme Court will pronounce its judgment in the four-and-a-half year-old corporate war between Tata Group and the Mistrys on Friday. A bitter legal and public battle between the two sides erupted when Cyrus Mistry, the scion of the Mistry family, was removed from Tata Sons board as chairman in October 2016 by its board. Read More

Top corporate houses pay 20% more tax this fiscal, shows CBDT data

Top corporate houses have paid over 20 per cent more tax this financial year than the corresponding period last year, according to data available with the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) as on March 25. HDFC Bank leads the top 10 list, and has paid Rs 12,050 crore in taxes, which is an 18.5 per cent increase over the Rs 10,170 crore it paid in the corresponding period last year. Read More

Byju's in talks to raise up to $700 mn, valuation may cross $15 bn

Edtech start-up Byjus is in talks to raise $500-700 million from new and existing investors in a fresh funding round, which, if successful, would lift the Bengaluru-based firms valuation to about $15 billion from $12 billion at present, sources close to the development said. Byjus is closing in on Paytm, which is the most valuable start-up in the country with a valuation of about $16 billion. Read More



Second Covid wave unlikely to derail India's growth: RBI Governor

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das on Thursday expressed confidence that the second wave of Covid infections will not derail Indias economic journey. He maintained the RBIs recent 10.5-per cent growth forecast for the coming fiscal year (2021-22, or FY22). His assurance assumes significance amid apprehensions about surging new Covid infections and resultant lockdowns being clamped in many cities. Read More
HELSINKI, Nov. 11, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- If recent events have you thinking about a serious life change this year - Finland, 'the happiest country in the world,' is hiring.

Finland has seen a surge of interest in applications for residence permits from abroad in the past six months, following a wider global trend of the tech industry expanding away from traditional city hubs such as Silicon Valley, as tech workers search for a better quality of life.

Finland has now launched a '90 Day Finn' campaign to offer tech workers a free 90-day relocation package to Helsinki for their entire family.

With its culture of equality and social support system, it's no wonder Finland was named the 'happiest country in the world' for the three years running.

A technology superpower

Birthplace of Nokia, the SMS and 5G, Finland is technology superpower and leader in cybersecurity thanks to its active cooperation between public and private sectors. Global companies like Google, Bayer and GE Healthcare have established campuses in the country.

Salaries remain competitive, with roles in IT amongst the highest in Europe. Experts working in data and analytics or software engineering can expect to earn up to 4,113 and 4,021 gross per month, with low competition for roles.

Vibrant start-up scene

Finland's start-up eco-system is valued at a staggering $5.8 bn. Their start-up permit makes it easy for international entrepreneurs outside of the EU to start businesses. The Finnish government supports professionals with advice and even startup funding.

Joonas Halla, Head of Talent Boost at Business Finland says, "We are seeing a growing trend of high flyers who want to relocate to start a new life. These are people who love nature, and are interested in innovations and solutions to solve big world problems. We welcome these fascinating people to thrive as part of Finnish society."

The best place to raise a family

Finland's generous parental leave and universal healthcare are significant benefits for those looking to start families.

Ann Sarimo, Chief Marketing Officer at Infinited Fiber Company moved to Finland from California."Coming from the USA, I found the parental leave and child benefits in Finland to be phenomenal. It was such a relief to have leave plus a percentage of my salary for a full year, and all medical care paid for. My husband also got great paternity benefits."

SOURCE Business Finland
GARDAI in Limerick issued just 37 fines for breaches of Covid-19 regulations, over the past week, it has been confirmed.

According to figures, released by An Garda Siochana, a total of 1,150 Fixed Charge Notices were issued across the division up to close of business on Thursday.

Despite the modest week-on-week increase, the number of fines issued in Limerick since mid-December is the fourth-highest in the country.

Nationally, An Garda Siochana has issued more than 16,000 fines in relation to a range of Covid-19 breaches including non-essential travel and attending or organising a house party.

More than half (53%) of all fines have been issued to individuals aged between 18 and 25 while 44% of all fines have been issued at the weekend.

Commenting on the latest figures, Deputy Commissioner Anne Marie McMahon said gardai appealed to people to comply with the public health regulations.

"Unfortunately, despite the constant public health advice, we are still seeing people attending house parties and other large social gatherings. Going to such gatherings puts yourself, your loved ones, and everyone else you come into contact with after of getting Covid-19. Everyone has a role to play in this. The best way of keeping safe this weekend is to stay home. If you are going out, please stay within your 5km, limit your contacts with others, maintain social distancing, and regularly wash your hands," she said.

In addition to the issuing of fines a number of people have already appeared before the courts in Limerick in relation to alleged breaches of Covid-19 regulations.
A group calling itself the Objective Media Forum has described the petition filed against the Managing Director of the Electricity of Ghana, Mr Kwame Agyeman-Budu by the Ghana Electrical Contractors Association (GECA), as frivolous and politically motivated.



GECA among, other allegations, accused the MD of depriving the ECG of logistics and materials to work.



They also alleged that the government of Ghana had handed over some 600 million to the MD to pay contractors but had sat on the money.



They also questioned his professional competence for the job as MD of ECG.



But the statement issued by the Objective Media Forum described the petition as unmeritorious and one containing falsehoods.



According to the group led by Emmanuel Anrfi, the petition is being sponsored by some faceless personalities who want the job of the MD.



This is not only outrageous but lies orchestrated by faceless individuals who have planned to have the MD removed from office.



We wish to state categorically that under no circumstance has the ECG encountered the shortage of materials and logics to work.



Mr Budu has consistently provided the ECG with the needed logistics and materials for them to work efficiently.



Any objective mind who wants to dispute this fact can engage t65he ECG and would come to the same conclusion.



The petition also claimed that the MD has blatantly refused to pay contractors who have completed their works, including on-going projects for the past three years.



The accusation is false and without merit, because the current MD, introduced monthly payment for the Independent Power Producers, this was a novel initiative because his predecessors did not have that in place.

This was to help sustain our power supply, and from our objective analysis, we strongly state that he is being accused, falsely.



Again, the petition makes a waggish claim that the outstanding and competent MD has ignored awarding contracts in relations to a power supply to rural communities.



The new MD has not only brought in innovations to the EC but employed the use of new technologies in advancing the work of the ECG.



Read the full statement below



Our attention has been to a frivolous and unmeritorious petition filed against the Managing Director of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), Mr Kwame Agyeman Budu by the Ghana Electrical Contractors Association (GECA).



The group among other things alleged that under the sterling leadership of Mr Budu, there had been a shortage of materials such as transformers, conductors, head-gears, etc for the past years which is affecting the early completion of most upgrades and expansion projects nationwide.



This is not only outrageous but lies orchestrated by faceless individuals who have planned to have the MD removed from office.



We wish to state categorically that under no circumstance has the ECG encountered the shortage of materials and logics to work.



Mr Budu has consistently provided the ECG with the needed logistics and materials for them to work efficiently.



Any objective mind who wants to dispute this fact can engage t65he ECG and would come to the same conclusion.



The petition also claimed that the MD has blatantly refused to pay contractors who have completed their works, including on-going projects for the past three years.



The accusation is false and without merit, because the current MD, introduced monthly payment for the Independent Power Producers, this was a novel initiative because his predecessors did not have that in place.

This was to help sustain our power supply, and from our objective analysis, we strongly state that he is being accused of falsely.



Again, the petition makes a waggish claim that the outstanding and competent MD has ignored awarding contracts in relations to a power supply to rural communities.



The new MD has not only brought innovations to the EC but employed the use of new technologies in advancing the work of the ECG.



It would be the figment of the imagination of his accusers to throw these allegations against Mr Budu for their selfish and parochial interest.



On the allegation of him awarding contracts to NDC supporters after taking money from them, we would ask the public to treat that with contempt because it lacks substance.



As an MD who believes in Corporate Social Responsibility, he personally completed the abandoned Pantang Infectious Disease Centre, which served as a referral point for the treatment of Covid-19.



The Objective Media Forum has also taken note of the introduction of smart prepaid meters with which one can load their metres with credit at their convenience.



He also introduced the drone system for monitoring power lines and projects given out to independent contractors.



The initiative has assisted the ECG to identify faulty lines and resolve them quickly.



Other infrastructural projects undertaken by the MD is unmatched, and they include the call centre incorporated with various social media and web platforms into the operations of ECG.



We conclude by reinforcing that Kwame Agyeman-Budu is an engineer with over 28 years of experience. His professional life is unquestionable, and he has risen through the ranks at ECG.

Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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-Cummings

The Political leader of the Alternative National Congress (ANC), Mr. Alexander B. Cummings, currently paying a two day visit to Lofa County says, the arrest of Mo Ali, Secretary General of the UP, and Deputy SG of the CPP is provocative and a recipe for chaos.

Mr. Ali was arrested after the Liberian National Police declared him a wanted man for failing to honor an invitation to explain a social media post, which government has termed as inciting arson attacks against the National Elections Commission (NEC) and Justice in Chamber Associate Justice Joseph Nagbe barely two weeks ago.

Mr. Cummings also condemned the suspension of ANC/CPP lawmaker Yekeh Kolubah from what he described as the CDC- controlled House of Representatives for "continuous insults to the President" as ridiculous and reeks of dictatorship tendencies.

"We cannot continue to do the same things over and over and expect the country to change. The expediency of the times does not call for further division between the ruling party and the opposition or between Liberians as citizens and neighbors. It has become a trend of this government to target or indict opposition voices with bogus charges and falsely imprison them in an attempt to silence the opposition.

These are examples of the violation of the human rights of our people, which is currently being investigated by the United States Senate Committee under the Global Manitsky Human Rights Act, along with the looting of our country as described by U.S. Congressman Chris Smith - a kleptocratic government, now embodied in the demand to print new family of banknotes.

As the CPP prepares to respond officially to this injustice, I want to take this time to call the attention of our international partners, Diplomatic Corps, Council of Churches, and Civil Society Organizations to this high level of provocation on the opposition. These attacks on the opposition are unacceptable. We remain a responsible opposition dealing with an irresponsible government, but that does not mean we are a weak opposition. The rights of all Liberians, regardless of political affiliation, must be protected, and Mo Ali and Rep. Kolubah are no exceptions," Mr. Cummings wrote.
International

Protests against Modi visit in Bdesh: 4 killed

Demonstrators raised their shoes in their hands to register their anger. (Al Jazeera).

DHAKA, MAR 26 (AGENCIES) | Publish Date: 3/26/2021 1:57:25 PM IST

At least four people were killed in the Bangladeshi city of Chittagong after police fired at protesters during a demonstration against a visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, police officials said.

We had to fire teargas and rubber bullets to disperse them as they entered a police station and carried out extensive vandalism, Rafiqul Islam, a police official, told Reuters news agency, referring to protesters.

Modi is in Bangladesh to attend its Golden Jubilee celebrations of independence and the birth centenary of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the countrys founder and father of current Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

The protesters in Chittagong were from the Hefazat-e-Islam Bangladesh, an Islamist group opposed to the visit of Modi, who critics say has been pushing a Hindu-first agenda in India.

Mohammad Alauddin, another police official in Chittagong, said that eight people were brought to a hospital in the city with gunshot wounds, of which four succumbed to their injuries

Protests at the main mosque in the city of Dhaka were dispersed by police using tear gas and rubber bullets  injuring scores of people  after clashes broke out between groups of demonstrators, officials and witnesses said on Friday.

Hundreds of protesters had gathered outside Dhakas Baitul Mokarram mosque after the Friday prayers. Witnesses said violent clashes broke out after one faction of protesters began waving their shoes as a sign of disrespect to Modi, and another group tried to stop them.

Local media said the protesters who tried to stop the shoe-waving are aligned with the governing Awami League party, which criticised the other protest faction for attempting to create chaos during Modis visit.

Local TV showed protesters throwing stones at the police, who were heavily present on the streets near the mosque. Somoy TV reported that at least 40 people were injured, including journalists, and were taken to the Dhaka Medical College Hospital for treatment.

Modis two-day tour  his first abroad since the coronavirus pandemic began last year  will cap Dhakas 10-day celebrations already attended by leaders from Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and the Maldives.

Prime Minister Hasina, a key partner for India in maintaining regional stability, welcomed Modi at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka on Friday morning. We dont want him

Fridays was the latest in a series of protests held across Bangladesh to oppose the visit by Modi, who many Bangladeshis accuse of stoking religious tensions and persecuting Muslims in India.

On Thursday, police in Dhaka fired rubber bullets and tear gas at hundreds of mainly student demonstrators protesting against the Hindu nationalist leaders visit and criticising the government for inviting him.

Police said the protest got out of hand as nearly 2,000 demonstrators marched in Dhaka, with many throwing rocks and stones at officers. Dozens were wounded, with at least 18 sent to hospitals in the city.

We fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse them We have also arrested 33 people for violence, police official Syed Nurul Islam told AFP news agency on Thursday.

At another protest outside Baitul Mokarram mosque last Friday, protesters said more than 1,000 people, most of them Muslims, were killed in the Indian state of Gujarat in 2002, when Modi was the chief minister.

His government has passed several laws which make Muslims a second-class citizen in India. We dont want him here in Bangladesh, Maulana Mamunul Haque, secretary-general of Hefazat-e-Islam, an Islamist political organisation, told Al Jazeera.

A leader like him should not be allowed to attend the 50th Independence Day event.

Even though Hefazat-e-Islam calls itself non-political, the Islamist organisation has gained eminence after the fall of Jamaat-e-Islami, Bangladeshs largest Islamist political party.

At the protest outside Baitul Mukarram mosque, Hefazat supporters slammed Modi for killing Muslims in Gujarat, Kashmir, Delhi and other parts of India. They took their shoes in their hands to show disrespect to the Indian leader.

Foez Ullah, president of the Bangladesh Students Union, said Modis policies go against the basic tenets of Bangladeshs founding principles.

Inviting Indias riotous, communal Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the golden jubilee of independence is against the spirit of the liberation war, the group said in a statement.

Protesters also criticised the killings of Bangladeshis by Indian border guards. India says such casualties happen when Bangladeshis are involved in cross-border smuggling and attempt to cross the border illegally.

Many Bangladeshis are also unhappy with Indias unwillingness to sign a water-sharing treaty for the Teesta river, one of many common rivers.

Our rulers in Bangladesh call India as our friend but the BSF (Indias Border Security Force) is often shooting and killing our people on Bangladesh-India border, Foez Ullah told Al Jazeera.

Bangladesh has not yet received its fair share of Teesta water. Our rivers, ports, the Sundarbans are all victims of Indian aggression. India is interfering in internal affairs of Bangladesh politics.

India helped Bangladesh gain independence from Pakistan through a nine-month bloody war in 1971. Dhaka and New Delhi have since shared close ties.

Our partnership with Bangladesh is an important pillar of our Neighbourhood First policy, and we are committed to further deepen and diversify it. We will continue to support Bangladeshs remarkable development journey, under Prime Minister Sheikh Hasinas dynamic leadership, Modi said in a tweet late on Thursday ahead of his trip.

Earlier this week, Bangladeshs Foreign Affairs Minister AK Abdul Momen told Al Jazeera that since India helped Bangladesh achieve its independence, so it is very natural that the Indian prime minister will be asked to become Bangladeshs Golden Jubilee celebrations main guest.

We are not concerned what the fundamentalists are saying about Modis visit. They do not represent the voice of the countrys people, he said, adding that only a small fraction of people were protesting.

They are making an issue out of it without any valid reason, he told Al Jazeera.

But Imtiaz Ahmed, professor of international relations at Dhaka University, feels inviting Modi for the celebrations was not a good choice.

Along with the Golden Jubilee, we are also celebrating the birth centenary of father of the nation. Sheikh Mujib fought for a secular nation whereas Modi is inherently communal. He [Modi] is criticised in his own country for his hardliner Hindu nationalist stance, Ahmed told Al Jazeera.

Ali Riaz, distinguished professor of politics and government at the Illinois State University in the United States, told Al Jazeera there was widespread discontent among a large number of Bangladeshis about the unequal relationship between India and Bangladesh.

It is generally understood that India has enormous influence on the domestic politics of Bangladesh. BJP leaders derogatory statements about Bangladeshis and discriminatory policies of the Modi government have also compounded the situation, he said.
Eventually Saman Akhtar had to know what Mohammad Islam was thinking. I actually directly asked him: Do you like me? What is going on? she said.

By that point, they had spent time together in New York, Washington and San Francisco and were texting on a daily basis. But beyond flowing conversation and a hug at the end of their time together in the Bay Area, nothing romantic had occurred.

This wasnt because of any lack of interest on Mr. Islams part. Just the opposite, actually. It was he who sought out Ms. Akhtar in 2014 in New York at Iftar in the Park, a charity event she helped organize during Ramadan. And he was the one who made an effort to get her number from mutual friends in Washington, where they were both living at the time, so they could see each other before he moved to California for a job at Threshold Ventures, where he is now a partner.

A phone call from out of the blue from Mr. Islam, after he moved to the West Coast, was particularly puzzling to Ms. Akhtar, 35. Guys dont call you from across the country just for no reason, she said.
Shimla, March 26 : Owing to spike in coronavirus cases, the Himachal Pradesh government on Friday closed all educational institutions, including universities, colleges and schools, except for the classes having their exams, till April 4 with a ban on the public celebration of the Holi festival.

This was decided at a high-level meeting chaired by Chief Minister Jairam Thakur here.

The Chief Minister said schools having residential facilities need not to close their hostels. However, they would have to comply with all the SOPs.

He said the teachers and other school and college staff would continue to attend the institutions.

Thakur said no government social and cultural events would be organised and gatherings would be restricted to the maximum of 200 for indoor events.

Nursing and medical institutions would continue to function as usual. He said congregations and community kitchens in the temples would be banned. However, devotees would be allowed to pay obeisance at the temples.

The Chief Minister said there would be no public celebration of Holi. He urged the people to celebrate Holi at their homes with their family members only.
Three weeks after a munitions blast left a trail of death and destruction, in Equatorial Guinea, the Church is doing its bit to help.

Vatican News English Africa Service

On Sunday 7 March, around 1 pm, we heard a loud noise, as if the house was shaking. A few minutes later, another noise was heard, which caused the destruction of the hotels doors and windows, located in front of our house. We started to receive calls and messages telling us what had happened, namely, an explosion at the Nkuantoma Barracks, which is some 6 km from where we live. This is the testimony of the Sisters of Charity of Saint Anne. They live and work in Bata, the economic capital, and most populous city of Equatorial Guinea.

Aid agencies report more than 107 deaths, 119 injured  the majority of whom are children. UNICEFs rapid assessment indicate that shelter and protection were the most significant challenges. Several children had lost family members and remained unaccompanied. Efforts to locate other family members were ongoing.

Solidarity of the Church and ordinary people in Bata

Agenzia Fides reports that the Sisters of Charity of Saint Anne immediately mobilised to help victims.

In less than two hours and without knowing exactly what was going on, we made our way to the general hospital as we had been informed that this is where the wounded were being taken. We loaded our car with medical supplies and offered our full support. In all this difficult situation, we have seen the rapid response of support and solidarity from the population. Some 200 health workers rushed to this hospital: Volunteers, nurses, doctors, medical students - all came face to face with something they did not understand, said the religious.

Worse than a horror movie

Many parishes and Catholic schools have made their structures available to accommodate and feed dozens of homeless families, and we, as a health centre, continue to treat dozens of people suffering from injures as well as the psychological consequences of these explosions, affirm the Sisters.

Other religious, in Bata, described the aftermath of the explosions as experiencing something worse than a horror movie. There is still need for humanitarian assistance to feed and house those who have lost homes.

specialised nature of ammunition safety

Due to the emergencys nature, several specialised agencies with expertise in ammunition safety have deployed to Bata under the coordination of the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Africa (UNREC).
Before the movie goes to the zoo, its unaccountably well-sustained raunch and harsh revelry. Then it dips and flattens out a bit in the middle. Then it finishes strong. Not all the set-ups rely on gross-out extremes. When Andre breaks into song (backed by four dancers) about the love of his life, in a mall, surrounded by slack-jawed, visibly uncomfortable Floridians, the slapdash, can-do spirit buoys the fun. Andre is especially amusing in full-on panic mode and he has an eye for the odd detail, as when a race through a parking lot is interrupted by Andre reentering the frame to help a woman load groceries into her minivan.
CHICAGO, March 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Unemployment rates for workers 55 and older exceeded those of mid-career workers for the length of the pandemic, the first time since 1973 such an unemployment gap has persisted for more than six months for older workers according to a recent study by the Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis.

Easterseals has been selected by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration to address this crisis through the Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP) which provides individuals aged 55 years or more with individualized training assistance and employment opportunities.

Through SCSEP, a transitional employment program, Easterseals partners with community-based nonprofit organizations, as well as government agencies. Throughout the program, participant job seekers update their skills while working with Easterseals to identify and achieve their employment goals. During their participation in the Program, people train an average of 20 hours weekly and are paid a training stipend which is highest of federal, state, or local minimum wage. This training serves as a bridge to unsubsidized employment opportunities for participants.

"Unlike any time in history, older workers lost jobs faster and are reentering the workforce slower as a result of lay-offs they experienced during the pandemic," claims Crystal Odom-McKinney, M.A., National Director of SCSEP. "Older workers without a college education have been impacted the most, with elevated rates of job loss. Non-college educated older workers were on average 45% more likely to fall into unemployment than their peers with college degrees. Persistent unemployment may cause more older workers to leave the labor force earlier than planned, increasing downward mobility and poverty in retirement. Easterseals, through SCSEP, provides opportunities for older workers eager to reenter the workforce with training and job placement."

Individuals interested in learning more about SCSEP can visit www.easterseals.com or contact Odom-McKinney at [email protected].

About Easterseals

For more than 100 years, Easterseals has served as an indispensable resource for individuals with disabilities, veterans, and seniors, regardless of age or ability, as well as their families, their caregivers, and the greater community. Its Network of 67 Affiliates in 48 states delivers high-quality services throughout the lifespan to more than 1.5 million people annually as well as advocacy for the one in four Americans living with disability today. Through its partnership with the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, Easterseals has offered the Senior Community Service Employment Program for more than 18 years, helping an average of 75,000 older workers each year with training to successfully reenter the workforce.

SOURCE Easterseals

Related Links

http://www.easterseals.com


At least 14 people have been injured during a demonstration here in Dhaka University campus against the upcoming scheduled visit of Indian Prime Minister

Modi is expected to arrive on Friday to attend the joint celebrations of the Golden Jubilee of Bangladesh's independence and birth centenary of Father of the Nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

The injured include two journalists, and two pro-government Chhatra League (BCL) workers.

Activists of Left student organisations, who were demonstrating on Thursday against Modi's visit, allegedly came under attack from the BCL at Dhaka University campus.

Earlier in the day, Jubo Odhikar Parishad activists clashed with police in the city's Motijheel area while protesting against the Indian prime minister's visit.

Left student organisations under the banner of 'Progressive Student Alliance' were demonstrating at the VC Chattar area of the campus protesting against Modi's visit.

The Left organisations alleged the ruling party student wing Chhatra League (BCL) activists carried out the attack on the demonstrators around 8 p.m. on Thursday evening.

All the 14 injured are undergoing treatment at Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

The clashes ensued when the law enforcers obstructed the demonstrators.

--IANS

sumi/pgh
An Iranian daughter executed her mother, who was accused of murdering her husband under a primitive death penalty law that enables children to make exact revenge on their parents. Maryam Karimi was hanged by her daughter on March 13 at Rasht Central Prison after being imprisoned for 13 years.

An Eye for an Eye: Daughter Executes Mother

Karimi was hanged for the murder of her abusive husband with the help of her father. Her daughter, who was six when the killing ensued, took part in the execution after reportedly declining to forgive her or accept "Diya" (blood money).

However, it is believed that the killing of Karimi's husband have actually been carried out by her father, Ebrahim. Because he would not agree to a divorce, Ebrahim Karimi allegedly murdered his daughter's husband. The husband was also reportedly physically threatening towards his wife.

Authorities arrested and charged Maryam with "pre-mediated murder" for her role in the crime. She was executed upon being indicted of "retribution in kind." This is known in Iran as "Qisas" or "an eye for an eye" in the Islamic Republic, reported Mirror.

Karimi's death in Iran is the latest appalling example of the rise in executions conducted in the Islamic Republic. A journalist for Iran International TV and activist described the execution as another "victory for a man" as a woman was acknowledged to end her mother's life while Karimi's father escaped capital punishment.

The victim's next of kin are acknowledged to conduct the execution themselves under Qisas. According to a source who addressed Iran Human Rights, in the course of 13 years, they had told her that her parents passed away, but had to tell her the truth a few weeks before the execution to psychologically prepare her, reported New York Post.

Canada Senate Amends Assisted Dying Bill, Extends Access To Mentally Ill People

It remains ambiguous why Ebrahim, who was forced to witness his daughter's execution, was not executed for his alleged crime. Under the qisas law, relatives are acknowledged to be present for and take part in carrying out the punishment.

Activist and journalist Aram Bolandpaz stated with regard to the case, extreme punishments in Iranian society, four decades of brainwashing at schools, and a patriarchal regime mean that Maryam's daughter had an upbringing to ensure that executing her mother was a victory for a man, whether that be for the oppressive regime or for her father.

She added Qisas is not humane, savaged, and cunning anywhere in the world. For a country that prioritizes the rights of unborn babies and underscores that life is the most valuable phenomenon, she questioned how the Islamic Republic could seize a life from someone in a brutal way.

According to Iran Human Rights Director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, the Islamic Republic laws make a woman whose father was killed when she was a child the executioner of her own mother. Thus, the Islamic Republic is the leading promoter of brutality in Iranian society as of now, reported Daily Star. The use of Qisas has urged calls from the United Nations over the 2020 retribution execution of Iranian champion wrestler Navid Afkari.

Virginia Senate Passes Measure to Abolish Death Penalty

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BOULDER, Colo.  Investigators searching for answers after the mass shooting in Boulder, Colo., this week still do not know why a gunman shot and killed 10 people at a crowded grocery store, the police chief said on Friday.

We, too, want to know why, the Boulder police chief, Maris Herold, said at a news conference. Why that King Soopers? Why Boulder? Why Monday? And unfortunately, at this time, we still dont have those answers.

The semiautomatic weapon used in the shooting was legally purchased six days earlier at a gun store in Arvada, Colo., the chief said. That weapon, a Ruger AR-556 pistol, is essentially a shortened version of an AR-15-style rifle and is considered a handgun under Colorado law.

The 21-year-old suspect, Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa, was also found with a 9-millimeter handgun, but the authorities do not believe he fired it, the chief said.
The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled the federal governments carbon pricing legislation is entirely constitutional but it seems jurisdictional feuding is far from over.

The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled the federal governments carbon pricing legislation is entirely constitutional but it seems jurisdictional feuding is far from over.

The court's 6-3 decision was released Thursday.

Ontario, Saskatchewan and Alberta challenged the constitutionality of the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act  the 2018 legislation that created a nationwide minimum threshold level for a carbon tax  arguing it overstepped and meddled in the provinces ability to develop their natural resources.

Manitoba signed on as an intervener and contributed arguments to the case that was heard in September.

Supreme Court Chief Justice Richard Wagner, writing for the majority, said Ottawa is within its rights to enact such legislation because climate change can be categorized as a national concern, under the "peace, order and good government" clause of Canadas Constitution.

"There is also a broad consensus among expert international bodies that carbon pricing is a critical measure for the reduction of GHG emissions. This matter is critical to our response to an existential threat to human life in Canada and around the world," Wagner wrote.

Environment and Climate Change Minister Jonathan Wilkinson applauded the decision, a relief for the Liberals, who had made the carbon tax a core policy platform.

"Canadians rightly expect their governments to build an economy that fights climate change using the most effective tools at our disposal. And now we can get on with the job," Wilkinson said.

He said he hoped the ruling would bring jurisdictions together "in a renewed spirit of common purpose" to address climate change.

The reaction in some parts of the country suggest that's unlikely.

Premier Brian Pallister responded by digging in his heels, indicating the province will keep fighting.

Manitoba filed a separate lawsuit in Federal Court in 2019 asserting Ottawa had no right to disregard the province's carbon tax plan for falling short of its minimum requirements.

"Our proposal involves a flat-like-the-prairie-horizon carbon levy. That's what we wanted to do," Pallister said. "We were ready to do it."

JUSTIN TANG / THE CANADIAN PRESS Minister of Environment and Climate Change Jonathan Wilkinson rises during Question Period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Thursday.

Manitobas plan outlined a permanent $25 per tonne carbon tax, but the federal benchmark started at $20 per tonne in 2019 and will rise to $50 by 2022. Pallister's proposal looks even more inadequate after Ottawa's December announcement of plans to raise the amount to $170 per tonne by 2030.

"I think we have a better plan. I'm confident it will work better because Manitobans will work better at it because it comes from us," Pallister said.

The province's opposition leader suggested the premier is wasting valuable time.

"He can keep fighting the federal government in court, or he can start really fighting climate change on behalf of future generations," NDP Leader Wab Kinew said.

"We say that he should focus on fighting climate change."

JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS FILES Premier Brian Pallister responded by digging in his heels, indicating the province will keep fighting.

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney and Saskatchewan's Scott Moe said they intend to continue their political opposition.

The Supreme Court ruling said Ottawas legislation set out a minimum threshold for action by the provinces, but was not prescriptive because it won't be applied if they comply with the minimum requirements.

"A failure to include one province in the scheme would jeopardize its success in the rest of Canada," the decision stated.

Ian Mauro, executive director of the Prairie Climate Centre, said he was thrilled to see the Supreme Court cut through partisanship and put climate science at the forefront of its decision.

"The fundamental thing that comes out with respect to the science articulated in the judgment is that climate change is fundamentally a trans-boundary problem. It doesn't occur in one province or one country. This way in which we have to tackle it across jurisdictions, is in many ways, the fundamental challenge," Mauro said.

"The fundamental thing that comes out with respect to the science articulated in the judgment is that climate change is fundamentally a transboundary problem. It doesn't occur in one province or one country. This way in which we have to tackle it across jurisdictions, is in many ways, the fundamental challenge."  Ian Mauro, executive director of the Prairie Climate Centre

The decision also highlighted the importance of carbon pricing for Indigenous communities.

However, Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Grand Chief Arlen Dumas said the court missed a vital opportunity to weigh in on where First Nations jurisdictional rights fit into the equation. AMC acted as an intervener in this case.

"It would have helped facilitate a conversation about First Nations governance, First Nations rights in conjunction with provincial and federal jurisdictions, and for the Supreme Court not to bother wading into that issue is problematic, because fundamentally, what will happen is it will become a jurisdictional issue again," Dumas said.

 With files from Dylan Robertson, Carol Sanders, The Canadian Press

sarah.lawrynuik@freepress.mb.ca
New Delhi: The convicts in Nikita Tomar's murder case were sentenced to life imprisonment by a Faridabad court on Friday (March 26, 2021). On Wednesday, Touseef, the prime accused in the case and his aide Rehaan were convicted for conspiracy, kidnapping, and homicide by a fast-track court.

Mohammad Azruddin, the third accused arrested for allegedly supplying weapons to the other two, was acquitted by the court.

Meawhile, Nikita's family is disappointed by court's decision. Mother Vijaywati told Zee News that the accused should be sentenced to death.

"We will talk to our lawyers and go to a higher court. Will fight for justice until the accused is hanged. During this five months too much was suppressed. The accused is from the influential family. We will fight this," she said.

The Faridabad police filed a 700-page chargesheet in the case. The court framed charges against the accused on November 23 under sections of the Indian Penal Code and Arms Act.

As many as 60 witnesses were listed in the murder case as part of the investigation, also fingerprints were matched from three samples  from the car, the pistol, and the womans arm. The team was led by Anil Kumar Yadav, assistant commissioner of police (crime).

Nikita Tomar, a 21-year-old BCom final-year student was shot dead outside her college in Ballabhgarh on October 26, 2020. Her murder had created a huge uproar.

The whole incident was captured in a CCTV camera which showed the accused trying to force Tomar into their vehicle while she was on her way home after she left college.
You Too Can Brew

When it comes to homebrewing, it's easy to get startedthe hard part is stopping

You may not have realized it, but Prohibition didnt entirely end in 1933: Brewing your own beer also became illegal under the constitutional ban, but the practice wasnt made legal when commercial sales of alcohol resumed. Actually, you can thank Jimmy Carter for your homebrew, and, in turn, the craft brewing industry.

California Sen. Alan Cranston worked homemade beer into a transportation bill in 1978, and when President Carter signed HR 1337and when the law went into effect Feb. 1, 1979it was game on for homebrewers. (Well, legally, anyway, and according to the Feds. On the state level, Mississippi and Alabama didnt sign on with the idea until 2013.)

Homebrewing Goes Mainstream

Learning to brew while in college in 1970, a young Charlie Papazian would go on to become an icon in the brewing world. He founded Zymurgy magazine, the American Homebrewers Association, and the Great American Beer Festival, and eventually published The Complete Joy of Homebrewing in 1984 (now in its 4th edition), often considered the bible of homebrewing.

Ive written brewery travel guidebooks to Wisconsin, Michigan, and Minnesota, featuring every brewery in each state (at the moment it was published; often one or two behind the count 10 minutes later). And the origin stories of these brewing superheroes were almost always a hobby gone out of control.

Heres generally how the story goes: It starts on the kitchen stove, then moves to the garage and a turkey-fryer burner, usually at the behest of an annoyed housemate or spouse (who likely purchased the starter brew-kit as a Christmas gift). Let this be a warning to you if you choose to accept this mission.

Join the Club

Find a homebrewers club near you. Having support from fellow hobbyists increases the fun, and you may end up exchanging final products with new friends. In Madison, the Madison Homebrewers and Tasters Guild actually founded one of the best and oldest craft beer festivals in North America: Great Taste of the Midwest.

The American Homebrewers Association hosts an annual Big Brew for National Homebrew Day, held on the first Saturday of May, and in 2020, the pledged 31,300 brewing gallons were triple those of the highest recorded year. Homebrewing does well in bad economic times, and being stuck at home only increased the ambitions.

Wisconsinite Dean Danner has been retired just over two years, and when the lockdown came in 2020, he needed something to do. An avid birder and photographer, he lamented, You can only take so many pictures of birds in your yard. Hed talked about homebrewing for a long time, and so his son got him a two-gallon BrewDemon system. His first brew was the Arizona-based Demon Brewing Co.s Prophecy Ale: Really, I was actually surprised how good it was.

The kit came with his first recipe, but hes since purchased others, including the ingredients for a recent batch of doppelbock. They come in two cans, he said, referring to malt extract, a concentrated wortjust add water. Following directions, it was pretty easy. I may invest in better equipment. Im just happy getting something I can drink.

Look for a homebrew starter kit from your local supply storeor one that ships, like this kit from Craft a Brew. (Courtesy of Craft a Brew)

The process is straightforward: Boil water, add the malt extract, move it all to the fermenter, and add the yeast. Then follow seven days in an airtight container, then conditioning in bottles for at least seven more days. I cant usually wait. After the minimum time, Im drinking it, said Danner.

The hardest part is getting the equipment sterilized, he added. But even that is made easier by using the included no-rinse sterilizing powder in water. So after an initial kit investment of about $90, each new batch costs $20 to $30 and produces two gallons, the equivalent of about 21 standard cans of beer.

This is stage one of the out-of-control part. You can change malt extracts for actual grain and grind your own, using a portable grain mill that sits atop a five-gallon bucket. Upgrade to a glass carboy instead of plastic; larger vessels; that turkey-fryer burner out in the backyard for the boil. After all, Larry Bell of the massively successful Bells Brewery started with a homebrew shop in 1983 and opened the brewery two years later.

Consult your local homebrew supply store about options. If you dont have a shop in town, any not-so-local store likely ships. (A popular one is Northern Brewer.)

As Long As Were Having a Good Time

Even professional brewers, who in many cases slowed down or stopped entirely, returned to homebrewing last year, and some never quit at all. Joe Walts, a professional brewer now working in the lab and as process improvement specialist for Octopi Brewing in Waunakee, Wisconsin, says he continued with the hobby, making at least a batch for Thanksgiving each year and perhaps two or three more besides.

For the first eight-ish years after going pro, it was because I loved creating recipes and rarely got to do it at work, he said.

Walts recommends How To Brew: Everything You Need to Know to Brew Great Beer Every Time by John J. Palmer. The first edition is free on Palmers website, and a greatly expanded and updated 4th edition came out in 2017. Its a great start for broadly understanding the processes of brewing.

My advice would be to focus on, one, whatever you find fun, and two, fermentation, said Walts. Certain beers cant be made with extractsanything that requires Munich malt has starch that needs to be enzymatically convertedbut that doesnt mean you have to go beyond the basics.

When you start buying stainless-steel multi-barrel tanks, you might want to think about moving out of the kitchen. (Bogac Erkan/shutterstock)

You can make equally good beer with extracts, plus steeped bags of specialty grain versus all-grain, Walts said, but you may want to switch to all-grain at some point because its fun. You can even culture your own yeast. Temperature control, another important aspect of the process, may incline you to upgrade equipment, but a used fridge or chest freezer with a temperature controller is as good as anything.

So, aspiring homebrewers, you have options: starting from basic stovetop boiling with malt extracts. Thats how they hook you. When you start buying stainless-steel multi-barrel tanks, you might want to think about moving out of the kitchen. Dont say you werent warned.

Kevin Revolinski is an avid traveler, craft beer enthusiast, and home cooking fan. He is the author of 15 books, including The Yogurt Man Cometh: Tales of an American Teacher in Turkey and his new collection of short stories, Stealing Away. He is based in Madison, Wis., and his website is TheMadTraveler.com
Press Release

26 March 2021

Hong Kong - Shangri-La Asia Limited (HKEX stock code: 00069) today reported its financial results of the Company and its subsidiaries ("Group"), and associates for the year ended 31 December 2020. Highlights included:

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The consolidated revenues of the Group decreased by 57.5% to USD1,033.4 million.

Aggregate effective share of EBITDA to the Group decreased 79.0% to USD181.6 million; effective share of EBITDA from Investment Properties segment decreased by only 6.0% from USD259.4 million to USD243.9 million.

The weighted average occupancy of the hotels was 33% for the year ended 31 December 2020, a decrease of 35 percentage points compared to 68% for the year ended 31 December 2019.

RevPAR was USD40 for the year ended 31 December 2020, a decrease of 64%, compared to USD110 for the year ended 31 December 2019.

The overall global operating environment was very difficult during the year in review due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With International travel halted and limited domestic travel, hotel business was severely impacted. However, revenue from investment properties showed resilience and provided the Group with a more stable income. Revenue from property development for sale recorded a drop as there were less residential units to be handed over. Nevertheless, there were encouraging signs in Mainland China for both hotels and investment properties. Hotels in the region marked a bottom in early February 2020 but have since seen a gradual recovery that has continued throughout the year. Thisrecovery was helped by a strong rise in demand for domestic leisure travel, coupled with local business demand for corporate events such as exhibitions and trainings, all of which helped make up for some of the losses incurred by the decline in international travel.

Commenting on the year'sresults, Shangri-La Group's Chief Executive Officer, Lim Beng Chee said, "The year 2020 presented unprecedented challenges for our industry. We have implemented the 'Shangri-La Cares' commitment globally, to ensure the safety and wellbeing of our guests and colleagues. We have received very positive feedback from our guests through the TrustYou platform, and high rankings on positive sentiments in the "Public Health" category. We will continue to do our utmost to maintain the highest standards of health and safety. At the same time, we have rolled out cost management measures to mitigate the financial impact of COVID 19. These measures delivered benefits over the second half of the year and helped to limit the impact of the pandemic and are expected to carry through to 2021."

Shangri-La Group's Chairman Hui Kuok said, "The past year was tremendously challenging for many businesses including ours, which was significantly impacted due to the closing of borders. However, I am particularly heartened by how our colleagues came together to support their local communitiesstarting in Wuhan, where the situation was extremely difficult, and then followed by all the locationsthat we operate in. I think it isin tough timesthat one's culture shinesthrough. We talk a lot about caring for our community, colleagues, and customers. I do feel that during this pandemic period, we have been able to abide by our core values and put our words into action."

"There remain many uncertainties for 2021, however we can see glimmers of hope, especially in our biggest market, China, which saw strong recovery last year given the government's decisive response. We anticipate continued economic recovery in this market this year. At the same time, our management team has made significant efforts to manage our costs. With the launch of vaccine programmes around the world, I sincerely hope that it will not be long before we welcome international travellers and guests back into our properties with our heartfelt hospitality," she added.

Business Update



Hotels saw a sharp decline in business as COVID-19 continues to spread globally since January 2020, particularly in those destinations reliant on international tourism. However, with nearly half of its business in Mainland China, the Group's hotels in the region have seen sustained, gradual recovery since March, supported by domestic leisure, corporate travel, and some government business. In the second quarter, business also improved in regions such as Australia and Malaysia, where the pandemic has shown signs of being controlled. In both countries, there was strong domestic demand, but when travel restrictions were re-imposed in late 2020, it resulted in additional temporary suspensions which put further strain on the Group's occupancy rate and RevPAR.

On investment properties, there was a drop in revenue as a result of temporary rental concessions at the beginning of the pandemic. The One Galle Face Mall and Tower (opened November 2019) coupled with the continued growth of the Group's subsidiary Investment Properties in Mainland China was partially offset by weakened demand for serviced apartments in Singapore.

Despite the impact, the Group has continued to proceed cautiously with development plans and unveiled two hotels in Mainland China, Zhoushan and Putian respectively. The Group has also reached a management cooperation agreement with Shenzhen Metro Group and China Vanke for a new Shangri-La hotel in Shenzhen Bay Huiyun Centre. The collaboration between Shougang Group and Shangri-La reached a new milestone in October with the opening of the standalone restaurant and craft brewery - Shang Brew in Shougang Park, Beijing. Additionally, the Shangri-La Centre, Wuhan soft opened in November to offer all-encompassing office space as part of the revitalisation of Wuhan's financial centre.

Prospects



The recovery the Group has witnessed in Mainland China throughout the latter half of 2020 is expected to sustain momentum into 2021. The Group's earlier investment in new products designed to enhance the family experience has begun to yield returns, helping hotels generate a new source of revenue and growth. The Group also saw reassuring outcomes from its efforts in new offerings, such as home deliveries and takeaways, and will continue to innovate and expand these products and services. There were very encouraging results from the 2021 Chinese New Year sales promotions, which served as a strong testament to the general health of China's consumption demand. The improvement of business was also apparent from the retail stores in the Group's investment properties, where some of the tenants have seen year-on-year growth during the Golden Week holidays in October 2020.

The financial position of the Group continues to be strong. As at 31 December 2020, the Group had cash and cash equivalent of USD990.9 million and committed undrawn facilities of USD2.0 billion (of which USD725 million is reserved to be drawn down to replace existing facilities from the same banks), which has remained largely stable over the past 12 months despite the pandemic situation.

The Board has proposed no final dividend for the year and drastically cut back on CAPEX plans as a prudent effort to conserve accessible cash reserves in the event of a prolonged period of uncertainty.

For more details, please refer to the full results announcement at: https://www1.hkexnews.hk/listedco/listconews/sehk/2021/0326/2021032600818.pdf.
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According to a new study published by Polaris Market Research the global fog computing market is anticipated to reach USD 934 million by 2026. Fog computing helps in enhancing the efficiency as well as data computing competencies for cloud computing. The major use of fog computing is to enhance efficiency however, the use of fog computing can also be done for security and compliance reasons. Fog computing is used in several applications including, smart city, smart buildings, smart grid, vehicle networks and software- defined networks.

Browse for full research summary: https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/fog-computing-market

On the basis of components, the market is segmented into hardware and software. The software market is growing at a highest CAGR and has accounted for the largest share attributed to low cost, increasing functionality, as well as advancements in features & designs. Furthermore, the constantly decreasing costs of sensors, storage devices, and semiconductor devices is one of the factor which is fueling the market growth of hardware in fog computing. Another factor responsible for the market growth of fog computing is the developments in network technology resulting in reduction of OPEX across business organizations.

Currently, the market for fog computing is dominated by North America with countries including, US and Canada taking initiatives to promote the adoption of IoT in the region. Also, Europe is the second largest market after North America, which is also experiencing growth in the adopting of fog computing and IoT. However, APAC is expected to witness high growth during the forecast period attributed to the increasing awareness of fog computing in these regions.

Request for a sample of this research report @ https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/fog-computing-market/request-for-sample

Major companies profiled in the report include Cradlepoint, Inc., PrismTech, FogHorn Systems, Cisco Systems, Inc., Crosser Technologies, Nebbiolo Technologies, Microsoft Corporation, Intel Corporation, Fujitsu, Arm Holding Plc., and ADLINK Technology Inc.

Key Findings from the study suggest North America is expected to command the market over the forecast years. APAC is presumed to be the fastest growing market, with highest CAGRover the forecast period. The fog computing market is presumed to develop at a CAGR of over 62.6% from 2018 to 2026. The fog computing technology is used in applications such as building & automation, smart energy, transportation & logistics, smart manufacturing, connected health, and others. Among the application segment, smart manufacturing is expected to hold the largest share. This is due to the several number of sensors required for varied functions in manufacturing facilities, that generates enormous amount data. Fog computing helps manufacturing companies to reduce operating cost by making use of real-time data to take efficient decisions.

Check for discount: https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/fog-computing-market/request-for-discount-pricing

Fog Computing Market Size And Forecast By Hardware Routers/Gateways Switches Controllers Sensors Others

Fog Computing Market Size And Forecast By Software Fog Computing Platforms Custom Application Software

Fog Computing Market Size And Forecast By Service Professional Service Training Service

Fog Computing Market Size And Forecast By Application Smart Homes/Smart Cities Smart Energy Smart Manufacturing Connected Healthcare Smart Transport Others

Fog Computing Market Size And Forecast By Regions North America U.S. Canada Europe Germany UK Asia Pacific China Japan Latin America Brazil Mexico Middle East & Africa



Make Inquiry about this report @ https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/fog-computing-market/inquire-before-buying

About Polaris Market Research

Polaris Market Research is a global market research and consulting company. We provide unmatched quality of offerings to our clients present globally. The company specializes in providing exceptional market intelligence and in-depth business research services for our clientele spread across different enterprises. We at Polaris are obliged to serve our diverse customer base present across the industries of healthcare, technology, semi-conductors and chemicals among various other industries present around the world.

Contact us-

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HOUSTON, March 25, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- An $851.6 million settlement has been secured on behalf of victims who were sexually abused and assaulted by gynecologist George Tyndall at the University of Southern California (USC). This is the largest sexual abuse settlement in history  larger than those involving the Catholic Church and the Michigan State University incidents.

Attorney Michael Pierce of Pierce Skrabanek, LLC stated:

"Our firm is extremely proud of our role in helping the victims of Dr. Tyndall receive some measure of justice for what they have suffered. While no amount of money can undo what happened, holding USC and Dr. Tyndall accountable for their actions was important to our clients and to us. With this settlement, I believe that we have succeeded."

Dr. Tyndall's conduct included photographing private body parts, inappropriate touching, making inappropriate comments, and performing medically unnecessary exams. He surrendered his medical license, as hundreds of women came forward with allegations against Tyndall.

These experiences left many of the assault victims with long-term psychological trauma. The financial compensation provided by the settlement will help victims obtain the resources and justice needed for their losses.

The grand total awarded is $851.6 million for 710 plaintiffs. This is broken down into two settlements of $842.4 million for 702 plaintiffs and $9.2 million for 8 plaintiffs.

The case average for Hodes Milman clients who were assaulted by Tyndall is about $1.2 million. This is significantly larger than those who joined the class action, who on average received around $2500 or higher per case.

In addition to the monetary payouts, the case also involved important changes to the statute of limitations for these cases, allowing more victims to come forward and obtain legal remedies.

USC will also be making changes to its operational policies to improve the safety of its students and prevent similar abuses from happening. The school will now maintain a centralized record-keeping system to track complaints and monitor the responses of school officials.

Pierce Skrabanek worked in conjunction with attorneys from California and other areas to secure the settlement.

Attorney Michael Pierce has handled hundreds of cases involving matters ranging from personal injury to healthcare insurance and product liability.

He graduated from Louisiana State University with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and earned his Juris Doctorate degree at Baylor University Law School.

Pierce Skrabanek, PLLC provides representation for families and individuals located throughout Texas and the Gulf region.

Related Links

https://www.pstriallaw.com/legal-news/sexual-assault-settlement-george-tyndall-usc-scandal

SOURCE Pierce Skrabanek, PLLC
Missouri law enforcement personnel aided by the United States Geological Survey team use imaging sonar to try to locate the body of Mengqi Ji Elledge near Columbia, Miss., on Dec. 4, 2019. (Don Shrubshell/Columbia Daily Tribune via AP)

Remains Found in Park Believed to Be Missing Chinese Woman

COLUMBIA, Mo.Missouri authorities say they believe that human remains first spotted by someone out walking in a state park Thursday afternoon are the body of a Chinese woman who has been missing since October 2019.

The skeletal remains, some clothing, a drivers license and some credit cards with Mengqi Ji Elledges name on them were found in a remote area of Rock Bridge State Park in Boone County. Columbia Mayor Brian Treece and Columbia Police Chief Geoff Jones announced the findings Thursday evening.

Assistant Chief Jeremiah Hunter described the identification of the remains as preliminary. Hunter, Jones and Treece emphasized the importance of this development in beginning to provide closure to Jis family. Police officials said DNA and potentially other testing would be done to confirm that the remains are Jis.

Jones said authorities had contacted Jis family through their attorney.

As a parent, I can only imagine how important it is to want to have some measure of closure in a tragedy such as this, Jones said.

Jis husband, Joseph Elledge, was charged in February 2020 with first-degree murder in her disappearance. He has pleaded not guilty to the murder charge and to related charges of child endangerment and domestic abuse.

The couple has a 2-year-old daughter. Elledge, a University of Missouri student, is jailed without bond. His trial is set for Nov. 1.

Prosecutors have speculated that Elledge strangled his wife to avoid a costly divorce and stop her from fleeing to China with their daughter.

This undated photo provided by the Boone County Sheriffs Department in Columbia, Miss., shows Joseph Elledge. (Boone County Sheriffs Department via AP/File)

Elledge told authorities he realized his wife was missing on Oct. 9, 2019, but didnt report she was gone until the next daywhich is when a friend came to the house at the request of Jis mother. Authorities say he drove to remote areas, spending around 45 minutes at a secluded access point to the Lamine River after dark, during those 24 hours. Cadaver dogs detected the presence of human remains there, but law enforcement was unable to find a body despite multiple searches.

Hunter said parts of Rock Bridge State Park had been previously searched but not the area where the remains were found, which is about 30 feet from a road.

During a court hearing in November 2019, Boone County Chief Prosecutor Dan Knight described Elledge as a jealous, controlling, manipulative psychopath. Knight played four audio recordings of the couple arguing.

In the recordings, the husband says, I dont like being with you, Im eager to end it and I will bury the earth under you. Ji can also be heard arguing with her husband, who raised his voice several times. At one point, he told her, I know you want me to hit you, and, This, its not abusive.

He was also heard saying he wanted a divorce the sooner the better.

Defense attorneys argued during the hearing that Ji had exchanged sexually explicit messages with another person.

Elledges attorney, Scott Rosenblum, said he had no comment Thursday evening.

A message left with Jis family attorney was not returned Thursday.

Ji received a masters degree in mechanical and aerospace engineering from the University of Missouri in December 2014. She previously attended the East China University of Science and Technology in Shanghai.
I accepted this until I became an adoptive parent in 2012 and a social worker suggested that my adopted daughter might want to know my story someday. Shes from China, and like many international adoptees, she also had no story of her biological family. So I requested my records from the State of Indiana and was denied. Next I called the Childrens Bureau, where a kind woman on the phone had my records in her hands, but was not allowed to share them.

It still didnt bother me excessively until after 2018, when Indiana law changed. Many adoptees or biological families may now obtain records unless another party to the adoption previously objected. In 2019 the state and the Childrens Bureau sent me documents that gave my biological mothers name, left my biological fathers name blank and labeled me illegitimate. On a hospital form someone had taken my right footprint, with my biological mothers right thumbprint below it on the page.

Typed notes from the Childrens Bureau recorded a visit with my biological mother in the hospital. Asked how she felt, she cried. And when she went to the Childrens Bureau for follow-up meetings, she was clearly trying to hold herself together. A caseworker encouraged her to process her emotions, but she was adept at conversing with seeming openness while maintaining a wall around her feelings. For her final meeting, after shopping downtown, she wore a pink sheer shirtwaist and heels, with a tiny waist, as if she had never been pregnant. The one emotion she expressed was feeling trapped in Indianapolis. She was so desperate to sign the paperwork and leave town that she was half an hour early for her appointment. She planned to visit her family in Kentucky, but not to tell them of her experience: Shed been calling home without saying where she was.

Its been nearly two years since I first read those documents, and Im still not over it. Knowing that story has altered how I think about myself, and the seemingly simple question of where Im from. Its brought on a feeling of revelation, and also of anger. Im not upset with my biological mother; it was moving to learn how she managed her predicament alone. Her decisions left me with the family that I needed  that I love. Nor am I unhappy with the Childrens Bureau, which did its duty by preserving my records. I am angry that for 50 years, my state denied me the story of how I came to live on this earth. Strangers hid part of me from myself.

While I now have the privilege of knowing my information, many peoples stories are still hidden. About 2 percent of U.S. residents  roughly six million people  are adoptees, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. A majority were adopted domestically, with records frequently sealed, especially for older adoptees. Gregory Luce, a lawyer who tracks adoption laws, reports that only nine states allow adoptees unrestricted access to birth records. Indiana is among those that have begun to allow it under certain conditions, while 19 states and the District of Columbia still permit nothing without a court order. California and Florida remain closed; Texas surrenders a birth certificate only if you prove you already know what it says. If my biological mother had stopped in a different state back in 1968, I might know nothing today.
IN the fifth government under the leadership of the late President John Magufuli, several strategic projects were initiated and completed; in turn immensely raised the country's economy.

The projects implemented or are still ongoing touched almost every sector such as transport infrastructures (sea, land and air)), energy, manufacturing, health and education, all of which were aimed at uplifting Tanzania's social-economic status.

Some of the ongoing projects include the construction of Julius Nyerere Hydropower Project (JNHP), reviving the national airline (ATCL), construction of oil pipeline from Hoima in Uganda to Tanga region, construction of Standard Gauge Railway (SGR), construction and upgrading of the country's ports.

Going into each item, the ongoing implementation of Julius Nyerere Hydropower project that will be producing 2,115 megawatts has so far created over 3,500 jobs during implementation stage. The project is constructed along the Rufiji River, Coast Region, by a joint venture of Egyptian companies, Arab Contractors and El Sewedy Electric Co. at a cost of 3.6 billion US dollars, (around 6.5tri/-).

In the current budget of the energy ministry, the project will gobble 66.4 per cent of the ministry's total development budget, even though the Parliament endorsed over 2tri/- for the ministry's development budget for this year.

The ongoing construction of the JNHP, also known as the Rufiji Hydropower project, the 2,115 megawatts dam will be the largest by size and power production capacity in East Africa and among the largest in Africa compared to Egypt's Aswan High Dam (2,100 megawatts), Mozambique's Cahora Bassa Dam (2,075 megawatts) and Angola's Lauca Dam (2,069 megawatts).

The 2,115 MW Julius Nyerere Hydropower project is expected to transform the country through generation and supply of reliable electricity for both domestic and industrial use.

"The investment and power generation costs from Rufiji project will be cheaper than any other alternative source of electricity. Our manufacturing factories cannot be competitive if the cost of electricity remains high," the late Dr Magufuli said when inaugurating the project in July, 2019.

Magufuli said the 2,115-megawatt Rufiji power project would more than double the Tanzania's current power generation capacity of around 1,600 megawatts.

"This project is expected to be completed in June 2022. Make sure you accomplish this project on time or before time," he told the Egyptian contractors. The late President Magufuli promised that his government would have implemented a number of energy projects to make the country effectively exploit its sources of electricity.

Dr Magufuli said during his second term in the top office he would ensure the major JNHP was finalised and become operational. Some other planned new hydropower projects he intended to undertake are Luhuji (358MW), Lumakali (222MW) and Kikonge (300MW).

On the part of the natural-gas powered electricity, the late president cited those in Mtwara (300MW), Somanga Fungu (330MW), Kinyerezi III (600MW), Kinyerezi IV (300MW), and other small projects. He stated that during the next five years he would see Tanzania generating 1100MW from renewable energies such as solar, wind and others.

During the last five years of his administration, Dr Magufuli enabled the supply of electricity to 9,884 villages from 2,018 in 2016.

"When we have all power projects completed we would not only enable enough power become available, but also would make us have surplus and sell to the neighbouring countries, and lower electricity costs," Dr Magufuli stated when he inaugurated the 12th Parliament, last year.

His memories would continue to linger among Tanzanians on efforts he made to revive the national airline- ATCL. For instance, within some few years, the company purchased new commercial airplanes and over 400 jobs were created upon the reformation of the company.

The eight brand new planes also generate revenue whereby the monthly revenues of the ATCL have gone up from 2.5bn/- to 15bn/-. Dr Magufuli repeatedly argued that reviving the ATCL was crucial in stimulating other sectors like tourism, because the planes would be airlifting tourists from different countries directly into Tanzania, thus boosting the number of tourists and revenues.

Tanzania also witnessed the launching of construction of the Tanga-Hoima oil pipeline, a key project for the development and transformation of the region. The late president Magufuli and Ugandan counterpart Yoweri Museveni last year gave a green light for the implementation of the strategic mega project.

The two leaders meeting at Chato airport signed an agreement to start implementing the $3.5 billion project, warning that anyone who may attempt to delay the process will be dealt with accordingly. He also revealed that Tanzania will get a 60 per cent share of the profits to be accrued from the pipeline project because about 80 per cent of it will lie on Tanzania's land.

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Mr Museveni said he was ready to give Tanzania 80 per cent of the profits due to the fact that the largest part of the pipeline was in the country but, according to him, Dr Magufuli settled on 60 per cent. The 1,443km long heated pipeline will transport oil from Hoima in Uganda through Chongoleani in Tanga, Tanzania to the world market.

On marine transport, Magufuli's administration worked on improving the Dar es Salaam Port under the Dar es Salaam Maritime Gateway Programme (DMGP). The project meant to upgrading capacity of the port to handle big ships and more cargo, thus attracting more vessels opting docking at the port, something which is expected to raise more revenues from the port.

This went in line with improving other ports of Mtwara and Tanga as well as Lake ports which links Tanzania with neighbouring countries to ease high costs of transportation of cargo and services through roads.
New Delhi, March 26 : Delhi Capitals (DC) on Friday announced nachos brand Cornitos as one of the team's official partners for the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

The Cornitos logo will be worn by the team on its official playing and training jersey.

"We are thrilled to welcome Cornitos on board as our official snack partner this season," said DC CEO Vinod Bisht.

"The company's dynamism, ambition and popularity across generations, is a perfect fit for our team. We look forward to a fruitful partnership with them," he further said.

"We are thrilled to partner as associate sponsor of Delhi Capitals in the upcoming season of IPL. We are launching our new economy packs for Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, and IPL would be the perfect platform for us for a pan-India reach. This is going to be our first innings at the IPL, and we are confident of a successful partnership with last year's finalists, Delhi Capitals," said Cornitos managing director Vikram Agarwal.

Latest updates on IPL 2021
New Delhi: Extending full support in the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP), UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay said that key concepts under NEP like strengthening administrative capacities, socio-emotional learning and environmental awareness are "very crucial" for the development of students.

On Thursday (March 25), Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal held a virtual meeting with Azoulay in New Delhi and discussed key issues of mutual importance including NEP, Indias response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

During the meeting, Azoulay appreciated the response of India in mitigating the challenges of COVID-19 and ensuring continuity of education during the pandemic by providing education to the students through different mediums of TV, radio and online to the last student of the country, according to an official release.

She remarked that Indias response to COVID-19 was remarkable in terms of scale and diversity. She also requested the Union Minister to share the experiences and best practices relating to the education sector of India with member states of the UNESCO.

Pokhriyal mentioned initiatives undertaken to ensure continuity of education for children across the country. "NEP aims to transform the educational ecosystem for over 340 million students of the country. It is based on the foundations of equality, equity, access, affordability and accountability. It seeks to fulfil our Prime Ministers vision of making India a global superpower of knowledge` and his `mission to create a global citizen," he said.

He said that as recommended in NEP, the government will soon bring out school textbooks with more emphasis on environmental education.

Stressing that concerted efforts were taken to ensure no loss of the valuable academic year, he talked about Digitally Accessible Information System (DAISY), an initiative for differently-able children. He also spoke about MANODARPAN, the governments initiative to provide online psychosocial support to students, teachers and families for their mental health and emotional wellbeing.

Highlighting the crucial role played by Indian educational institutions during the trying times of pandemic, Pokhriyal said these institutions transformed the challenges posed by COVID into opportunities.

Live TV
: Hazel43 (Hazel liu), : Pharmaceutical

 : Innovent Academy

: BBS  (Fri Mar 26 02:16:50 2021, )



Welcome to Innovent Academy!



At Innovent Academy, more than 200 world-class scientists across

multifunctional groups closely collaborate in the fields of antibody/protein

engineering, immunology, oncology and translation medicine. Innovent

Academy proudly provides them with state-of-the-art technology platforms and

equipment, and supports their cutting edge research to accelerate

translation into innovative drugs. Besides, a National Postdoctoral

Research Workstation has been established to offer the young generation of

scientists exciting opportunities for career development. At Innovent

Academy, our scientists dream big, work hard and play hard. We push the

boundary of science and relentlessly pursue the development of innovative

life changing medicine for our patients.



You will work with top scientists like Dr.Liu and Dr.Yu,we are looking for

PI candidates all over the world,and senior/associate scientists in protein

antibody/immunology/ADC...



We are actively hiring global talents with the shared vision to join our

efforts in deciphering some of the most challenging diseases, and to

translating scientific discoveries from bench to bedside



TitlePrincipal Investigator, Immunology

Report Line: President

Location: China, Suzhou U.S. MD



Job responsibilities

 Lead discovery efforts from target nomination, validation through

pipeline development. Independently conceive, execute experiments and

analyze data for proof of concept and mechanism of action studies.

 Manage a research team to understand the mechanisms of immune

disorders including, but not limited to, asthma, COPD, atopic dermatitis,

rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, systemic lupus

erythematosus, type 1 diabetes, psoriasis and multiple sclerosis.

 Establish and sustain cross-functional collaborations internally

and externally with industrial and academic partners.

 Actively contribute to the research community through

publications and conference presentations. Supervise staff members and

foster a rigorous and dynamic research environment within team.

Qualifications

 PhD with at least 3 years postdoctoral training in immunology

or inflammation discipline. Industrial experience preferred. Experience with

co-targeting desired.

 Tracked records of original contributions to his/her field,

evidenced by high profile first-author publications.

 Hands-on immunological skillsets, demonstrated expertise in

advanced flow cytometry, immune cell functional assays and in vivo disease

models.

 Excellent communication and interpersonal skills. Agility and

adaptability in a fast-paced environment.





Please contact with me ---email [email protected]



--

 :Hazel43  Mar 26 02:19:24 2021 [FROM: 45.]

 :WWW  mitbbs.com [FROM: 45.]


SHAWINIGAN, QC and MONTREAL, March 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - Taiga Motors Inc. ("Taiga"), a leading developer of electric off-road vehicles, announced plans to build a mass-production assembly facility in the City of Shawinigan, Quebec. The first phase of construction, scheduled for completion in 2022, represents an investment to accelerate the mass-production of Taiga electric snowmobiles and personal watercrafts, as well as Taiga's side-by-side vehicles, which are expected to be ready for production in 2022.

"This facility, a part of the $185M in recently announced funding, will bolster Taiga into becoming a globally leading OEM for powersports vehicles," said Samuel Bruneau, CEO of Taiga. "We have seen strong customer demand limited by product availability. This new facility shows Taiga's continued commitment to be trailbreakers and offer electric vehicles capable of diving mass-market adoption without compromise."

This facility dedicated to the mass-production of electric powersports vehicles, is designed from a clean sheet to support Taiga's manufacturing processes through its modular vehicle platforms for optimized production output. Snowmobile and personal watercraft production is expected to begin immediately following build completion. The facility is expected to increase Taiga's production capacity to 80,000 units by 2025.

Taiga's initial production acceleration is well underway in Taiga's current Montreal Research & Development facility, which is expected to ramp-up production capacity to 2,000 vehicles per year by the end of 2021. The second phase of increasing Taiga's production capacity includes the building of the state-of-the-art Shawinigan facility, beginning at a 200,000 sq. ft. capacity and later increasing to 340,000 sq. ft. Taiga intends to begin construction in the second quarter of 2021, following its listing on the Toronto Stock Exchange in connection with its proposed merger with Canaccord Genuity Growth II Corp.

The site was chosen because Quebec is already a world-leading electric technology hub and the site secures positioning in a primary location for innovation in the electric-vehicle space. As a location for a mass-production facility, Shawinigan provides multiple advantages with strong logistical infrastructure and a talent pool for future growth. As Shawinigan is an established technology hub, it will accelerate Taiga's vision for a vertically integrated local supply chain.

"It's always a pleasure to receive advocates and entrepreneurs who wish to establish themselves in Shawinigan. Especially when it's a start-up that has developed in our entrepreneurial ecosystem and is part of one of our four pillars of economic diversification: Energy Efficiency and Green Technologies. Shawinigan welcomes the entire Taiga Motors team," said Michel Angers, Mayor of Shawinigan.

About Taiga Motors Inc.

Taiga is a Canadian company, founded in 2015, that is reinventing the powersports landscape with breakthrough electric off-road vehicles. Through a clean-sheet engineering approach, Taiga has pushed the frontiers of electric technology to achieve extreme power-to-weight ratios and thermal specifications that outperform comparable high-performance combustion powersports vehicles. The first models released include a lineup of electric snowmobiles and personal watercraft to deliver on a rapidly growing recreational and commercial customer demand who are seeking better ways to explore the great outdoors without compromise. For more information, visit https://www.taigamotors.ca.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this news release are prospective in nature that constitute forward-looking information and/or forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws (collectively, "forward-looking statements"). Forward-looking statements generally, but not always, can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "outlook", "objective", "may", "could", "would", "will", "expect", "intend", "estimate", "forecasts", "project", "seek", "anticipate", "believes", "should", "plans" or "continue", or similar expressions suggesting future outcomes or events and the negative of any of these terms.

Forward-looking statements reflect management's current beliefs, expectations and assumptions and are based on information currently available to management. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, as there can be no assurance that the future circumstances, outcomes or results anticipated or implied by such forward-looking statements will occur or that plans, intentions or expectations upon which the forward-looking statements are based will occur. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by such statements

All forward-looking statements included in this news release are qualified by these cautionary statements. Unless otherwise indicated, the forward-looking statements contained herein are made as of the date of this news release, and except as required by applicable law, Taiga does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Investor Relations Contact

Cody Slach and Tom Colton

Gateway Group

(949) 574-3860

[email protected]

Public Relations Contact

Tatiana Ramirez

Taiga Motors Inc.

[email protected]

Jordan Schmidt

Gateway Group

(949) 574-3860

[email protected]

SOURCE Taiga Motors

Related Links

https://taigamotors.ca/contact/


Barely on the job as the new U.S. attorney in Miami, Ariana Fajardo Orshan confronted her first crisis in the fall of 2018  a sensational terrorism investigation of a homeless man who was sending crudely made pipe bombs in the mail from South Florida to politicians in the Northeast.

Her office, along with the FBI, jumped all over it. But as the probe generated national headlines, she received back-to-back phone calls from the U.S. attorney in Manhattan and the deputy attorney general in Washington, D.C.

Stand down, they both told her, the case would be prosecuted by the Southern District of New York, aka the sovereign district because of its long tradition of power and independence among the 94 U.S. attorneys offices in the country.

They grabbed the case, Fajardo told the Miami Herald Wednesday. She was nominated by President Donald Trump, became the first woman to serve as U.S. attorney in Miami, and is now leaving office Friday following Trumps defeat to Democrat Joe Biden in November. Like other top federal prosecutors nationwide, Fajardo, 48, must step down as part of the transition in presidential power.

For Fajardo, a former Miami-Dade circuit judge and assistant state prosecutor, the New York power play was an immediate sore spot for the federal newcomer. She argued that the perpetrator was local and mail bombs were all made here, so the case belonged in South Florida, but the Southern District of New York outmaneuvered her by opening a grand jury first to make the terrorism case. Some of the mail bombs were received by former President Barack Obama and other politicians in D.C., New York and elsewhere.

Fajardos tenure as U.S. attorney has been met with far more unexpected challenges, from a federal government shutdown to the COVID-19 pandemic.

After the Cesar Sayoc pipe-bomb case was taken over by New York prosecutors, the federal government shut down and left her staff of more than 500 prosecutors and assistants wondering when they would receive a paycheck or be furloughed as non-essential employees. The 35-day closure, lasting from late December 2018 to late January 2019, would be the longest in U.S. government history.

Story continues

Fajardo had only been on the job for a few months and was still trying to learn employee names, federal criminal codes and the bureaucratic structure of the sprawling office extending from Key West to Fort Pierce. People were working but they were not getting paid, she recalled, saying it was a morale low point for the office.

But as the office recovered, Fajardo said she set out to change the hierarchy and hiring of the long male-dominated U.S. Attorneys Office in South Florida  at first with input from the outgoing U.S. Attorney Ben Greenberg, who worked for a brief time as her first assistant, and then by another career prosecutor, Tony Gonzalez, who replaced him.

Fajardo, who was raised in a Cuban family in Hialeah, handpicked a dozen women and men who were Hispanic, Black, Asian, Indian and white to fill executive and supervisory positions. I knew I wanted a greater representation in our office that reflected the community, she said.

Fajardo, who acknowledged she doesnt like meetings, collaborated with Gonzalez, a techie type, and other advisors to develop a methodical system of hiring new assistant U.S. attorneys  going beyond tapping only the best students from the nations top law schools and federal clerkships.

Her team recruited civil and criminal lawyers with trial experience in either law firms or the Miami-Dade State Attorneys Office, hiring more than 90 new prosecutors over the past two years. Among the new hires: two Haitian Americans, which, though a small number, was significant because of their lack of presence in the office. Fajardo also recruited candidates from the conservative legal group known as the Federalist Society. It gained tremendous influence during the Trump administration.

During that same two-year period, dozens of veteran prosecutors left the U.S. Attorneys Office in Miami because of retirement or joining major law firms  including Michael Nadler, who had been the lead prosecutor in a series of massive Venezuelan money laundering cases.

Fajardo created a new money laundering section outside the traditional realm of narcotics to take aim at the tainted millions flowing into South Floridas banking, business and real estate sectors from foreign corruption and embezzlement. She said the offices bench in this area had to be rebuilt around financial crimes experts because of the loss of Nadler and other key prosecutors in recent years.

Fajardo said she recognized the need for a special money laundering section just by looking at all the new condo high-rises from Miami to Aventura. All these buildings are going up, but who are all these buyers? she recalled thinking. Nobody seems to be living in them. Theyre all dark at night.

As she gained her footing as U.S. attorney, Fajardo and her office of about 250 lawyers and 250 support staff would be upended by the coronavirus pandemic in March of last year, much like the rest of society that feared the threat of the deadly respiratory disease.

It was overwhelming, Fajardo said. Our number one concern was sending people home and keeping them safe.

They not only all had to work from home for months  though the U.S. Attorneys Office remained open for some business  they were forced to adapt to a new world of technology, such as using only laptops and conducting remote conference meetings. The Justice Department forbids workers from taking home their desktop computers, which store secret and sensitive information on hard drives.

Worse still, the federal courthouse, while remaining open for incremental case developments, shut down for all trials. Moreover, the grand jury was put on hold. Newly filed cases focused on defendants who committed violent crimes, child porn offenses on the internet or fraud against COVID-19 business relief programs. But those cases had to be charged by criminal complaint, not the grand jury. As a result, a backlog of hundreds of indictments developed through November, when the grand jury partly reopened twice a week only in the federal courthouse in Miami.

Fajardo said her first assistant, Gonzalez, not only helped with the overall logistics but he also collaborated with statistical experts to develop a database on the daily and weekly risks of the COVID-19 threat and shared information on cases, hospitalizations and testing with the court system, federal judges and law enforcement agencies.

Gonzalez, who will replace his boss as the new acting U.S. attorney, said that since September about one-third of the staff has returned to working at the office at the James Lawrence King Federal Justice Building at 99 N.E. Fourth St. Also significant, with the grand jury resuming in November, it has returned 300 indictments with 450 defendants.

Were caught up, Gonzalez said. We have worked through the backlog.

While a couple of civil trials might be held this spring, criminal trials probably wont resume until the fall.

Meanwhile, Fajardo, who practiced family law with her husband earlier in her career, plans to take some time off and may try to return to the Miami-Dade bench as a judge. That would require an appointment by the governor or running for election.

I loved this job, she said of her tenure as U.S. attorney. It will be difficult to top this.

Already, there are more than a half-dozen South Florida lawyers said to be interested in becoming the next U.S. attorney, to be picked by President Biden. They are: Jacqueline Arango, Markenzy Lapointe, Andres Rivero, Matthew Dates, Cristina Perez Soto, Michael Hantman and Dave Aronberg.
 Flash

U.S. President Joe Biden said on Thursday that it would be hard for the United States to meet the May 1 deadline to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan.

"It's gonna be hard to meet the May 1 deadline in terms of tactical reasons, hard to get those troops out," Biden told reporters in his first formal press conference since taking office.

Biden said that the United States is in consultation with U.S. allies on this issue, adding that the withdrawal would be in "a safe and orderly way."

"It is not my intention to stay there for a long time, the question is how and what circumstance do we meet that agreement that was made by President (Donald) Trump," he continued.

"But we are not staying a long time," he said. "We will leave, the question is when we leave."

When asked if the United States will have troops in Afghanistan next year, Biden replied, "I can't picture that being the case."

Adam Smith, the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, suggested Wednesday that withdrawing all U.S. forces from Afghanistan by the May 1 deadline is "too soon" due to logistics reasons.

"You cannot pull out 10,000 plus troops in any sort of reasonable way in six weeks," said the Democrat.

U.S. media reported last week that Biden was considering a six-month extension for U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

The Pentagon said that there are roughly 2,500 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, but U.S. media recently said the number did not include 1,000 more U.S. special forces in the country.

Besides, about 7,000 NATO troops in Afghanistan rely on U.S. logistics and security support.

The war in Afghanistan, which has caused about 2,400 U.S. military deaths, is the longest one in U.S. history.

The United States and the Afghan Taliban signed an agreement in late February 2020, which called for a full withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan by May 2021 if the Taliban meets the conditions of the deal, including severing ties with terrorist groups.

The Biden administration had noted that the Taliban had not met its commitment under the U.S.-Taliban deal.
In a follow-up to India-Pakistan DGsMO meet in February 2021, a Brigade Commander Level Flag meeting was held between the two countries on Friday. The Commander level meeting between the Indian and Pakistan Army was held at Poonch Rawalkot crossing point to discuss the implementation mechanism of the 2003 ceasefire agreement across the Line of Control (LoC), which was affirmed by the DGsMO in February.

Despite the affirmation, the Indian Army has maintained that there will be 'no let-up' in counter-terror operations as a result of the agreement reached which has been lauded by global leaders. The Indian Army has asserted that the agreement with Pakistan is an attempt to bring down the 'violence' however, the Army retained its 'right to respond' in case of any unfortunate events.

Post the DGsMO Understanding 2021, a Brigade Commander Level Flag Meeting was held between Indian and Pakistan Army at Poonch Rawalkot Crossing Point on 26 Mar 2021 to discuss implementation mechanism as per the understanding. pic.twitter.com/JfvUgJji0M  ADG PI - INDIAN ARMY (@adgpi) March 26, 2021

In February this year, India and Pakistan had issued a joint statement agreeing to strictly observe the 2003 Ceasefire agreement along the Line of Control (LoC). The move which has been welcomed by global leaders came in the aftermath of repeated LoC violations by Pakistan including multiple infiltration attempts foiled by the Indian Army.

Incidentally, the consensus on ceasefire came a day after Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan called for resolving differences with India via dialogue. On his maiden visit to Sri Lanka, Khan made this comment during his address at the Pakistan-Sri Lanka Trade and Investment Conference on Wednesday. Claiming that he had unsuccessfully attempted to diffuse tensions in the bilateral relationship after assuming power in 2018, he stressed the need to improve trading ties with India.

"In the interest of achieving mutually beneficial and sustainable peace along the borders, the two DGsMO agreed to address each others core issues and concerns which have propensity to disturb peace and lead to violence. Both sides agreed for strict observance of all agreements, understandings and cease firing along the Line of Control and all other sectors with effect from midnight 24/25 Feb 2021," the India-Pakistan joint statement read.

'Talks & terror cannot go together'

On the occasion of Pakistan's National Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday extended his greetings to the people of the neighbouring country. In a letter to his counterpart Imran Khan, PM Modi expressed that India desires cordial relations with Pakistan. However, he emphasized that to achieve it, an environment of trust, 'devoid of terror and hostility' is imperative.

"Excellence, at this difficult time for humanity, I would like to convey my best wishes to you and the people of Pakistan for dealing with the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic," PM Modi wrote in his letter to Imran Khan.

PM Modi's emphasis on an environment devoid of terror comes at a time Imran Khan has been attempting to push the onus of progressing peace talks on India. Earlier this month, Khan had acknowledged India's tough stance on no talks without an environment stance free of terror, hostility and violence. Addressing the Islamabad Security Dialogue, PM Khan noted, "India has told Pakistan that talks and terror cannot go together."
The number of African forest elephants has fallen by more than 86pc over a 31-year period, while the population of savanna elephants dropped by more than 60pc over a 50-year period

Increasing threats of poaching and loss of habitat have made Africas elephant populations more endangered, according to a report by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

The African forest elephant is critically endangered, and the African savanna elephant is endangered. The two species had previously been grouped together as a single species and were classified as vulnerable by the IUCN.

The number of African forest elephants has fallen by more than 86pc over a 31-year period, while the population of savanna elephants dropped by more than 60pc over a 50-year period, according to the IUCN.

Africa has 415,000 elephants, counting the forest and savanna elephants together.

The savanna elephants prefer more open plains and are found in various habitats across sub-Saharan Africa, with Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe having high concentrations. The African forest elephants  smaller in size  mostly occupy the tropical forests of West and Central Africa, with the largest remaining populations found in Gabon and Republic of Congo.

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In Gabon, the fight against elephant poaching is more than just fighting for nature. Its fighting for the stability of our country, said Lee White, Gabons minister of water and forests.

We have seen countries like Central African Republic, where poachers became bandits and rebels, and destabilised the whole country, Mr White said, attributing the bulk of poaching and ivory trafficking to international cross-border syndicates.

Eighty to 90pc of our ivory goes to Nigeria and ends up funding (jihadist rebels) Boko Haram. So its very much a cross-border fight against organised crime and even against terrorism, he said.

The battle to protect Gabons forest elephants is a war, he added. We have transformed biologists into warriors, Mr White said. We have transformed people who signed up to watch elephants and work with nature and the national parks into soldiers who have gone to war for the survival of the elephants.

Criminal networks working with corrupt officials are a significant problem in central and western Africa, said Rudi van Aarde of the University of Pretoria.

Most of the ivory that leaves this continent for Asia is from central and western Africa. The population is suffering more because of the illegal trade in ivory instead of environmental issues like deforestation, said Mr van Aarde.
Herald Reporter

Touts remain present at many bus terminuses despite Zupco reclaiming these, and still control the informal pick-up points where pirate kombis load, with the Minister responsible for women's affairs and the Zimbabwe Passenger Transport Organisation now wanting effective action to enforce the laws and getting them out of terminuses and off the streets.

Both the Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Ministry and the Zimbabwe Passenger Transport Organisation have been holding meetings with the relevant authorities this week to work out how the menace can be eliminated.

Touts also operate as self-appointed enforcers in other public areas, such as water points and in open markets, with women being seen as the soft targets.

In the absence of strong and continuous police at terminuses and pick-up points, unemployed youths move in, harassing passengers, extorting from kombi operators and sometimes stealing. The same happens in other areas where these touts run what amount to protection rackets, again with women being the main target.

At the moment an old video clip has gone viral on social media showing an elderly woman crying while being harassed at Beitbridge bus terminus, including being violently dragged by at least nine touts who also forcibly took her luggage at Beitbridge bus terminus.

Since none of the crowd in the clip are masked, it is assumed the clip pre-dates the Covid-19 public health rules, but similar scenes can be found in many places today. The clip is a good example of the threats women in particular face every day at terminuses when they want to travel.

Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Minister Mrs Sithembiso Nyoni yesterday attacked the harassment of women travellers by touts saying the barbaric act has no place in any decent society.

"We would like to assure the citizens that in collaboration with the relevant duty bearers, my Ministry shall ensure that corrective action and these perpetrators are bought to book.

"Eventually we want to witness the removal of touts from all bus terminuses. Public spaces must be safe for all and it may be known that the law enforcing agents shall not deal with this lightly.

"My Ministry has engaged relevant Government departments and local authorities to nip these in humane acts of gender based violence in the bud," she said.

Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Legal Affairs Transport Zimbabwe 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.

"We condemn this out rightly and it should not be allowed to happen again in a peace loving nation. It is most unfortunate that this is happening at a time when the country and the world is celebrating women. It is disturbing that there are some who are stripping women of their dignity even in public spaces," she said.

The harassment is happening in broad daylight on streets, bus terminuses, near schools, markets and water distribution sites in diverse settings both rural and urban.

She said such acts reduce women and girls ability to participate freely in work, at school and in national development as well as limits their access to essential services and enjoyment of freedoms granted by the Constitution.

National Police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi said touts remained banned.

The Zimbabwe Passenger Transport Organisation chairman Mr Sam Nanhanga condemned the behaviour displayed by the touts, who like to be thought of as self-appointed rank marshals, that harassed the woman at Beitbridge terminus.
Panaji, March 26 : The Goa government on Friday announced cancellation of the official celebrations of indigenous peasant festival (Shigmo), Holi, Navaratri and Shab-e-Barat due to the rising Covid cases across the state.

Chief Minister Pramod Sawant told the Legislative Assembly during the ongoing Budget Session, that the SOPs should be followed strictly in public events like festivals and weddings, while also urging hotels not to host large gatherings on the occasion of the upcoming Holi festival.

"The government is cancelling Shigmo due to the rise in Covid-19 cases in Goa. Health comes first, festivals can be held every year," Sawant told the state Assembly during Zero Hour.

Shigmo can be celebrated in small numbers at local temples, he said.

Shigmo, or Shishirotsava is a spring festival celebrated in Goa. Reckoned as the indigenous variant of the Portuguese-oriented Carnival, the Hindu festival of Shigmo, is marked by the boisterous celebration of colour and music and decorated float parades in various parts of the state.

It is also a notified state festival and is celebrated by the Konkani community.

Through an order issued by the Health Ministry late on Friday, the Goa government also announced a ban on public celebration of upcoming religious festivals in the state. amid "a fresh surge in Covid cases".

"All authorities shall ensure that public celebrations and gatherings, congregations during these upcoming festivals like Holi, Shab-e-Baratm Navaratri, etc shall not be allowed in public places, parks, markets in the state of Goa," the order issued by under secretary (Health) Gautam Parmekar said.

Sawant has already directed hotels and resorts to desist from hosting large holi-themed parties on their premises, to curb the Covid spread.

Latest updates on Holi Festival 2021

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Queensland is yet to implement a lockdown after a case of community transmission of COVID-19 on Friday, with residents urged to keep up measures such as social distancing to prevent the spread of the disease.

A 26-year-old Stafford man tested positive on Thursday, with authorities concerned he had been infectious in the community since Friday, March 19.

By Friday afternoon, Queensland Health had linked the landscape gardeners infection of the UK strain to a doctor who treated coronavirus patients at Princess Alexandra Hospital.

Genome testing confirmed the case was linked to the previous cluster announced on March 12.
The claim: A ship that is stuck and blocking traffic in the Suez Canal is a human trafficking vessel connected to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton

A shipping vessel that could clog the Suez Canal for weeks is the latest piece added to an ever-evolving conspiracy theory about former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and other members of a so-called deep state and links to human trafficking.

Communications channels where QAnon conspiracy theories spread were humming this week about a connection between Clinton and the quarter-mile-long ship that ran aground as high winds cut across the canal.

Those seeped into mainstream social media as well, including posts on Facebook and Instagram, where users tied Clintons Secret Service codename to the ship and suggested its radio call sign intentionally matched Clintons initials.

A Facebook user who shared the post did not respond to a request for comment. It speculates without evidence that Evergreen "is most likely a cover for human and sex trafficking."

Others pushing the same theory allude to the containers being opened on television to reveal trafficked people inside. It is the latest potential disclosure related to the QAnon conspiracy theory that says former President Donald Trump was elected to thwart a deep-state cabal of pedophiles and cannibals, including Clinton.

This photo released by the Suez Canal Authority on March 25, 2021, shows Lt. Gen. Ossama Rabei, center, head of the Suez Canal Authority, with a team walking along the bank of the Suez Canal where the Ever Given, a Panama-flagged cargo ship, has become wedged across the Suez Canal and blocking traffic in the vital waterway.

How does the conspiracy theory connect Hillary Clinton to the ship?

At about a quarter-mile long, the ship was built in 2018 as one of the largest in the world, according to the Associated Press. It first got lodged in the canal at about 7:45 a.m. March 23, halting traffic in a key shipping channel between the Mediterranean and Red seas.

The conspiracy theory goes like this: The ship that is stuck in the canal, the Ever Given, is owned by Taiwan-based Evergreen Marine and carries the radio call sign H3RC. Clintons Secret Service code name is Evergreen, and her initials are HRC.

Those pushing the theory connect the ship to human trafficking but provide no evidence.

Story continues

Evergreen denied that it is "engaged in illegal activity of any sort," said Michael Vooss, a spokesman for the company, in an email to USA TODAY.

The Ever Given can carry up to 20,000 standard 20-foot containers, Vooss wrote.

"As such, cargo aboard the vessel at any time can include a wide spectrum of goods one would expect might be legally transported within containers," he said. "Evergreen is not now and has never in the past been connected in any way whatsoever to Hillary Rodham Clinton."

Fact check: Antifa was not created by former President Barack Obama and George Soros

CNN reported in 2016 that Clinton, then the Democratic nominee for president, was keeping the code name assigned to her when she was first lady. Code names for the presidents family generally start with the same letter as the presidents moniker. For example, President Bill Clintons code name was Eagle and Hillary Clintons was Evergreen.

Evergreen Marine was established in 1968, according to its website, when Clinton was still in college.

Ever Givens call sign is indeed H3RC, according to MyShipTracking.com. But the initials are a coincidence as well.

The International Telecommunications Union in Geneva, Switzerland, regulates call signs. The union is a specialized agency of the United Nations.

The first two characters of a maritime call sign constitute the nationality identification for the ship, according to the 2020 edition of the agencys radio regulations. The H3 characters are assigned by the union to Panama, under whose flag the Ever Given sails, according to those regulations.

This photo released by the Suez Canal Authority on Thursday, March 25, 2021, shows the Ever Given, a Panama-flagged cargo ship, after it become wedged across the Suez Canal and blocking traffic in the vital waterway from another vessel.

Another Clinton conspiracy theory

QAnon believers have targeted Clinton as part of several conspiracy theories.

In one, a decoded email allegedly implicated her and former President Barack Obama in child sex-trafficking. Another from 2018 claims there is video of Clinton and her former aide Huma Abedin sexually assaulting a young girl, according to FactCheck.org.

Earlier this month, a website wrote that Navy Seals acting on Trumps order had arrested Clinton, even though Clinton made several public appearances after the alleged arrest.

Perhaps the most famous of the conspiracy theory involving Clinton is Pizzagate, a 2016 presidential election falsehood that claimed Wikileaks had released emails showing Democrats linked to Clinton were running a child-sex ring in the basement of a pizza shop in Washington. A North Carolina man was arrested after firing a rifle into the restaurant.

None of those conspiracy theories is true. Clinton responded to falsehoods spread about her during an interview with The New York Times in February.

For me, it does go back to my earliest days in national politics, when it became clear to me that there was a bit of a market in trafficking in the most outlandish accusations and wild stories concerning me, my family, people that we knew, people close to us, Clinton told the Times.

Vooss called social media posts alleging that Evergreen's ship is being used for human trafficking "nothing more than wholly-unfounded conspiracy theories" and blamed a lack of accountability for social media platforms for their spread.

Then Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump listens to then Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton during the second presidential debate at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, on Oct. 9, 2016.

Our ruling: False

The claim that a ship stuck in the Suez Canal is a human trafficking vessel with links to Hillary Clinton is FALSE. Those pushing the conspiracy theory offer no proof that the ship is transporting people to be trafficked. The theory is another in a long line of falsehoods spread online about Clinton and human trafficking.

Our fact-check sources:

Thank you for supporting our journalism. You can subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or electronic newspaper replica here.

Our fact check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fact check: No evidence Hillary Clinton, Suez Canal vessel are linked
Twenty-four-year-old Anisha MC Thapa gave birth to her second child on February 25, 2021, at Pyuthan District Hospital. To ensure the safety of the mother and the child, the doctors performed a c-section on Thapa.

Initially, things were going good. But, soon Thapa started to show symptoms of internal bleeding. To curb that, doctors performed another surgery on her on February 27. But, the bleeding did not stop. As Pyuthan Hospital did not have a ventilator, it referred the case to a hospital in Butwal. But, as she was being taken to Butwal, she died.

As the news of Thapas death reached the ears of her family, tensions ran high at Pyuthan Hospital. Thapas family staged a demonstration at the hospital premises, causing chaos. They called for the hospital chief as they believed that the doctors negligence was the reason Thapa died.

However, things gradually calmed down after talks were held between the hospital and the family members. After the hospital promised to set up a revolving fund of Rs 500,000 in the name of the newly born, the family decided not to file a legal complaint as they left the hospital with Thapas body to perform her final rites.

This incident has brought to light the dark side of medical negligence and the victims familys greed. Things often go south whenever a person dies suspiciously as people create havoc at the hospital, breaking things and sometimes even beating up hospital staff that include doctors. But, this often gets solved quickly when the hospital decides to pay the victims family.

Locals stage a demonstration claiming a woman died due to the doctors negligence, in Pyuthan, on Sunday, February 28, 2021. Photo: Bijay Singh Bharati

No hope from law

On September 15, 2019, a similar incident ensued in Kathmandu.

Kamala Bhatta, a resident of Butwal and admitted at Om Hospital, died after a nurse prescribed the wrong medicine in absence of doctors. That caused a lot of tension at the hospital as her relatives believed it was the nurses and the hospitals fault. Bhattas relatives were adamant that they would not be leaving the hospital until the hospital took action against the doctors involved in the negligence.

To avoid any bad press, Om Hospital requested Bhattas relatives to let go of the incident even offering them money to do so. But, Bhattas relatives denied the money and called for action against the hospital.

That resulted in the Ministry of Health and Population forming a probe committee to study what exactly had happened. But, 18 months since the incident, the probe committee is yet to submit its report, nor has it taken action against the doctor, nurse or the hospital.

Weve been going to the ministry to ask when they will submit their report, says Narayan Neupane, Bhattas relative. But, the only answer we get is that they are investigating the case.

Neupane believes that nothing has been done by the ministry or the police because the hospital is too powerful.

Its quite disappointing to see the ministry be so powerless, he says.

Bhattas family has yet to file a formal case as they believe that due to the lack of clear laws, there is no point; they feel the hospital will walk away.

We have realised how influential these hospitals are. They have a setting everywhere. Even if we file a case, we know that it will just be a waste of time and money, says Neupane.

In the cases above, there are two things that are common.

Both of the victims families decided not to file a case as laws are not clear enough. They believed staging a protest was the right way to call for action through which they pressured the hospital to provide them with compensation for their negligence.

According to the Consumer Rights Protection Forum, in the past five years, the district compensation committee in Kathmandu has received 50 applications regarding doctors negligence while performing surgeries. Out of the 50, only 18 of these cases have been forwarded for prosecution.

Even though a lower court has offered its verdict on five of these cases, either the hospital or the victims family has appealed for a review at a higher court. The authorities, however, are unaware of the status of the rest of the cases.

We file a case against the hospital, but in a few months, both parties come to us saying that they have come to a mutual understanding, says advocate Kumari Kharel, the secretary at the Consumer Rights Protection Forum. When that happens, the legal process ends immediately.

From October 2018 to October 2019, 70 complaints were filed at the Nepal Medical Council (NMC) regarding the negligence of doctors. The ethics committee of the council states one-third of these cases have been looked at and a verdict has been given.

Similarly, in the last nine months, 34 of these complaints had been filed at the NMC.

Out of the complaints that we get, sometimes its not the doctors fault, says the coordinator of the ethics committee, Dr Harihar Wasti. Some incidents where it is the doctors fault get solved after the hospital offers the victims family some amount. When that happens, even though we start a legal procedure, we cannot do anything.

A major reason people resort to violence is a lack of faith in Nepals legal system and weaknesses in Nepals public health system, says Dr Dharma Kanta Baskota, a former president of the NMC.

Baskota says that people often do this to pay hospital bills that they cannot as they resort to using goons to create tension at the hospital. He says that if health care was free, incidents like these would not occur.

The reason Baskota says that people often resort to violence is that rarely do doctors get punished for their negligence and the medical council cannot offer compensation to victims.

People dont believe that they will get justice as they believe that our legal system is flawed, says Baskota.

The NMC, if it finds medical negligence, only has the authority to suspend a doctors licence for up to two years.

People get frustrated when the NMC tells them that it cant offer them compensation based on their complaints. When we ask them to go through a legal process, many get agitated and resort to vandalism, says Baskota.

According to medical economist Dr Ghanshyam Gautam, people often do this because they spend their lifelong savings on the treatment. Some even take loans from banks and when they are told that their family member wont survive, people get agitated, says Gautam.

Gautam says that Nepal, like countries in the West, should either start to take the medical tax or make insurance mandatory so that it can help people out when they are at the hospital. We need to start thinking about reforming the public health system model. When we do that, Im sure incidents of vandalism will sop, says Gautam.

Medical sociologist Dr Amod Pyakurel says that a belief that hospitals can cure all sorts of illness is another reason that such incidents happen after the death of the patient. As doctors are idolised, people often believe that nothing will happen to them if they visit a hospital. Pyakurel believes that problems also arise because doctors cannot explain situations to a patients family properly.

Doctors dont tell the patients family what exactly is wrong with the patient and give them false hope about the patients survival. When that happens, the family often tells doctors to do everything they can and that results in a long hospital bill, which after the patient dies, falls on his/her family, says Pyakurel.

A grande fault

Even though many incidents of negligence are similar, the one that happened at Grande International Hospital is different.

Ekata Ghimire, a resident of Kathmandu, gave birth to her first child in June 2018. She was 36 weeks pregnant and the doctors performed surgery to take the 2.85 kg baby out. As the baby was premature, the doctors transferred the baby to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) as he was suffering from breathing issues. Ghimires husband Sanjeev Neupane was told that the baby had to be put in the NICU as klebsiella bacteria had spread across the babys body as he was diagnosed with pneumonia.

In the first 50 days of his birth, the baby, Rihan, had to go through two major operations and was at the hospital for 10 months. In that time, the size of Rihans head continued to grow unnaturally and by the time he was nine months old, he underwent his fifth surgery. But, Rihans state did not change, after which his father Neupane had an altercation with the hospital.

Neupane grew tired of the hospital and wanted a second opinion. He showed Rihans report to other doctors. Every doctor he showed the report to told him the same thing that Rihan was not going to get better and asked him not to put the baby through more trouble. After that, Neupane decided to not keep Rihan at Grande International Hospital.

On May 15, 2019, Neupane then filed a complaint at the Nepal Medical Council against Grande International Hospitals NICU and paediatric intensive care unit (PICU) along with Dr Amit Thapa. In the complaint, Neupane had also requested the council to take action against the hospitals owners.

A team from the council led by Prof Dr Ganesh Rai, after the investigation, came to the conclusion that the hospital and its staff were to blame for the state of the baby. But, in their report, the council stated that it had no say in the compensation which left Neupane distraught.

We had hoped that the NMC would take some sort of action against the doctors. But, nothing happened to them, says Neupane. But, at least the NMC agreed that the hospital was at fault. At least, the report did say that due to their negligence, my baby would be suffering until he lives.

Neupane, on January 24, 2020, filed a case at the Patan High Court demanding compensation of Rs 20 million and punishment to the doctors involved in the case. The case is still sub-judice.

The open secret of ochlocracy

File: Protest launched by doctors

According to Dr Sishir Kunwar of the Pyuthan Hospital, there had been no negligence in his hospitals recent case. He says that the reason he and the hospital apologised was due to fear of the mob that was present at the hospital. Kunwar says that had the hospital had a ventilator, they would not have had to refer Thapa to another hospital. He says that as Thapa died on the way to another hospital, Thapas family brought her deceased body to the hospital and staged a protest.

It was quite scary. An entire village had surrounded the hospital. They had a mob-like mentality, says Kunwar. That is why local leaders approached us and asked us to apologise to avoid further tension. As soon as the hospital said they would compensate the family, the mob quieted down and the family didnt even press charges.

Nepal Medical Association President Dr Lochan Karki says most hospitals, due to the fear of the mob, decide to offer compensation to the victims without even thinking about legal processes. He says almost 90 per cent of the cases that come into public light are solved without going into a legal process. He further says that out of these cases, only a few amount to negligence.

A mob comes into the hospital and starts to break things. Its quite scary. They can cause damages up to Rs 2 million, which is why many, even if it isnt their fault, offer compensation of around Rs 500,000, says Karki. Had there been a rule to prosecute the people who cause damages at the hospital, Im sure hospitals wouldnt offer out compensations.

The coordinator of the NMCs ethics committee Dr Harihar Wasti says medical negligence cases happen due to problems in machinery or due to human error. Apart from that, Wasti says, doctors not making things clear to the patients family is also another reason.

I understand that people will be suspicious when their loved ones die an unnatural death. But, that doesnt mean they should go around and destroy hospital premises and attack the hospital staff. Everyone should follow a legal procedure, says Wasti. Sometimes, its as if people know that they can ask for money just by doing so, which is wrong. But, laws are also not in favour of genuine cases, due to which people resort to doing this.

The former coordinator of the NMCs ethics committee, Dr Dundi Raj Paudel, says that even though two parties sit for talks, not much is achieved out of it as there is a lot of tension between the patients family and the hospital. This, he says, has resulted in even genuine victims not receiving the justice they deserve.

Reluctance to follow rule

According to the Nepal Medical Council, no doctor or hospital has filed a legal case against vandalism from people accusing them of negligence. The reason, the Nepal Medical Associations general secretary Dr Badri Rijal says, is because the hospitals do not want bad press about people dying at their hospital due to negligence of doctors.

Rijal says that as hospitals take years to make a reputation, they do not want to tarnish that, which is why most pay people and hide things under the carpet. He says that until the verdicts do not come out, the credibility of the hospitals and doctors is in question, which is why normally, hospitals decide to pay people.

The associations president Dr Lochan Karki says that unless a rule is not made about punishing people who vandalise hospital property, things will not change.

Unless a probe is done, no one will know who is to blame, says Karki.

Rijal from the NMA says that there are cases when doctors are wrong but argues that people blaming doctors every time when people die is wrong and dangerous.

The NMAs former president Mukti Ram Shrestha says that most cases in which people cite negligence are caused by hired goons. These goons, according to Shrestha, tell the deceased patients family that they will arrange everything and cause problems at hospitals.

If goons arent mobilised to talk to hospitals, why do you think all cases are settled before the legal process is followed, questions Shrestha.

Complicated complaint procedure

Even though the Nepal Medical Association says 90 per cent of the cases are solved by hospitals offering compensation, the actual data, however, is not available anywhere. According to the associations data, from 2013 to 2021, there have been 34 cases in which a mob has either assaulted doctors or vandalised hospital property.

Of the 34 incidents, 22 happened at private hospitals and 12 at government hospitals. The association is not aware of whether any legal measures were taken in these incidents.

The associations former president Shrestha says that the association has not been able to correctly collect data as a deal is normally struck between parties before the case is taken to the court.

Consider this case. On February 23, 2018, a Norvic Hospital team led by Dr Pravin Nepal had operated on a patients wrong leg. Thirty-eight-year-old Bindu Poudel had a problem in her left leg, but the doctor and its team had operated on her right leg.

The hospital, agreeing to its mistake, then promised to offer free treatment if Poudel faced any problems in her legs. Even though Poudels family had reached an agreement with the hospital, the medical council still punished the doctors involved for gross medical negligence. Nepal and one other doctor were suspended from practising medicine for a month.

So, why dont victims want to go through a legal process? The answer is simple  Nepals weak and vague laws.

Sanjeev Neupane, who filed a case against Grande Hospital, says he filed a case because he does not want others to face the same problem he had to face.

If my child wasnt as critical as he is, I dont think I would have filed a legal case, he says.

With vague laws that deal with medical negligence and no autonomous body to deal with the cases, people often refrain from filing legal cases, says the former coordinator of NMCs ethical committee, Dr Dundi Raj Paudel.

He says that had there been an autonomous body with experts in medicine, forensic science and law that went to these hospitals as soon as the incidents happened, people would have been filing cases against hospitals and doctors.

The current laws are limited and people dont believe they will get justice, which is why they resort to using middlemen to talk to the hospitals, says Paudel.

But, negligence is common

File: Patan High Court

The NMCs ethical committee coordinator Wasti says these types of incidents are common.

On May 26, 2017, something weird happened at Manmohan Hospital. Shiva Rimal had gone to the hospital to get his stone fixed. But the hospital doctors took out his kidney. After Rimals wife found that out, she signed a six-point agreement with the hospital as per which she was assured free medical care and education for her children, employment opportunity for Rimal at the hospital and life insurance.

But, when Rimal found out about the agreement, he wanted more. He wanted to know why his kidney had been taken out and asked for life insurance worth Rs 5 million. However, the hospital told him that they had taken out his kidney to save his life and denied his new demands.

The case was then investigated by a committee of the Ministry of Health and Population. The committee highlighted the errors done by both Rimal and the hospital.

The first one was that the hospital should have taken Rimals permission in writing before taking out his kidney although it was not involved in kidney trafficking.

The second fault was the hospital not telling Rimal or his family that they had taken out his kidney. And the last problem the committee found was the hospital signing the agreement with his wife rather than with Rimal himself. The committee also came to the conclusion that the Rimal family was influenced by others and had tried to escalate the issue further.

The incident since then has not been talked about.

In section 23 of the Consumer Protection Act 1998, there is a provision of establishing a compensation committee. That section had also put medical negligence into its bracket. With the help of this act, in 2019, Pushpa Gyawali had filed a case against the Civil Service Hospital demanding a compensation of Rs 4.5 million. Kathmandu District Court has asked the hospital to give out partial compensation to Gyawali. The full text of the verdict is yet to be made public, says advocate Kharel.

Similarly, in December 2016, a case demanding Rs 4.75 million in compensation was filed against Grande International hospital. The case, four years on, is still sub-judice. A similar case demanding Rs 11.3 million was filed against Bhaktapur-based Nepal Korea Friendship Municipality Hospital in 2019. The case is also sub-judice. Dozens of similar cases are stuck at various courts.

In 2018, the Consumer Protection Act was amended. Sections 50, 51 and 52 of the act have added provisions to include medical negligence in them. The amendment also has a provision of establishing a consumer court. The court members would include a district judge, a judicial officer and a government official.

The act has given the consumer court the right to investigate the case and also determine compensation. However, the court has not been formed anywhere to date and these cases are being seen at the concerned district court.

The secretary at the Consumer Rights Protection Forum, advocate Kharel, says as the legal process is quite long and tedious, people often decide to take whatever deal they are given and walk away.

The verdicts of these cases take years. Even when the verdicts come, people often appeal at a higher court. Many find this process tedious and are compelled to take whatever deal they get, says Kharel.

But, Kharel says that whenever a case is filed, the hospital often comes to the victim with a deal.

They want to make sure they are not shown in a bad light, which is why they come with a good deal, says Kharel.

Efforts to strengthen law

Due to the lack of solid laws, the council of ministers on September 18, 2017, had ordered the Health Ministry to manage proper compensations, insurance and a fair investigation in cases related to medical negligence. But, after protests from Nepal Medical Association, the decision was taken back in 72 hours.

Doctors said that the Security of the Health Workers and Health Organisations Act 2010 did not allow for such a law to be passed by the council of ministers. The doctors, instead, demanded that action be taken against people who attack medical professionals. They said that many were being released on bail and added that these people should be arrested and put to jail without bail.

Section 232 of the National Penal (Code) Act, 2017, which also deals with offences related to treatment, states that any cases of medical negligence would be punishable. The section stated that a person found guilty of medical negligence would be jailed for five years and would have to pay a fine of Rs 50,000. If the person was found guilty of recklessness, they would be jailed for three years and have to pay a fine of Rs 30,000. The act also had a provision that the doctors themselves had to pay the patient compensation themselves.

The act also prohibits carrying out any experiment on the human body without consent. Those doctors who do so could be jailed for life when the patients died. But, if the patients suffered problems in their organs, the doctors could be jailed for 10 years and pay a fine of up to Rs 100,000.

But, doctors from across the country staged protests stating that doctors should not be booked for murder cases. After continuous pressure from them, the act was amended and added that if the negligence of doctors led to the death of a patient, they would be jailed for up to five years and pay a fine of up to Rs 50,000. Similarly, if the doctors recklessness caused a patients death, they would be jailed for up to three years and had to pay a fine of up to Rs 30,000.

The act has a provision to form a Charge Investigation Committee. An undersecretary looking at legal affairs at the Health Ministry, one member from the medical council, an official of the policy and planning division of the Health Ministry, an expert doctor in the specific case, a member from the Consumer Rights Protection Forum, an SSP from Nepal Police and a joint government attorney from the Office of the Attorney General are supposed to be included in the committee.

A total of 13 complaints have been registered at the committee in the past two years. Two of them, however, have been dismissed due to insufficient legal grounds while the verdict on two other cases will be given soon. Three complaints are being heard at different courts whereas nine complaints are yet to be seen by the committee.
Armed Man Arrested at UK Hospital

By The Associated Press

LEXINGTON - Police arrested an armed Kentucky man as he left a hospital after receiving a tip from another police department that he was in the area.A large police presence gathered at the University of Kentuckys Chandler Hospital emergency room Thursday.University officials asked students and visitors to stay away from the area.University of Kentucky Police say the man, Bryan Carroll of Versailles, was arrested without incident as soon as he exited the hospital.Officers also found body armor and possible explosive devices in his car.
A Queensland dog trainer alleged to have helped three men enter Syria and accused of shooting at armed forces in that country has been refused bail.

In co-ordinated raids, joint counterterrorism teams from Queensland and Victoria arrested Gabriel Crazzi, 34, from Chambers Flat in Logan, south of Brisbane, and Ahmed Talib, 31, from Doncaster East in Melbournes north-east on Thursday.

Logan dog trainer Gabriel Crazzi, 34, has been denied bail. Credit:Facebook

Mr Crazzi faced seven charges in Brisbane Magistrates Court on Friday, including incursions into foreign states with two counts of intention of engaging in hostile activities, and five counts relating to preparations for foreign incursions into foreign states for the purpose of engaging in hostile activities.

The father of three was refused bail and remanded in custody.
Police are appealing for information about missing south Belfast man David William McVeigh and warned they are "increasingly concerned".

The 52-year-old man was last seen in the Great Victoria Street area of Belfast on Sunday morning.

In a statement, the PSNI said: "Police are becoming increasingly concerned for the welfare of missing person David William McVeigh.

"David, aged 52, is from south Belfast and was last seen in the Great Victoria Street area of the city on the morning of Sunday 14 March.

"It is believed he may have travelled to the Republic of Ireland, namely Dublin, Galway or Ennis.

"Police are asking David, or anyone who may have information on his whereabouts, to contact them on 101 quoting reference number 1211 of 20/03/21."
Once upon a time, there was a young girl from the colonies who dreamed of having something in common with a princess: a pony, a lavish wedding, a handsome prince, maybe even a walk-in wardrobe.

But birthing a baby on the bathroom floor? No, the fairytales failed to condition me to yearn for the one experience that I would actually end up sharing with a member of the British royal family. But here we are: Zara Tindall, the Queens granddaughter, equestrian and now mother of three, has joined the exclusive club of women like me who have birthed their children not in the sterile environment of hospital or the inflatable tub of homebirth dreams, but in the room that usually hosts far more prosaic activities. Welcome!

Zara Tindall welcomed her third child, a boy, this week. Credit:Getty

As her husband, Mike Tindall, explained on his podcast, that wasnt the plan: they simply realised that they werent going to make it to the hospital in time. As a fellow unplanned bathroom birther, I imagine that, as Zara inhales her newborns sweetness, she might feel a similar sentiment that I did: What the hell just happened?!

Maybe theres an air of wonder, or perhaps shes horrified that little Lucas entered the world next to the loo. She might be disappointed, shocked even. (One in three Australian women identify their births as traumatic, according to the Australasian Birth Trauma Association). But my hope for her, and every birthing person, is not to be too quick to brand a birth bad or good: after two very different experiences, Ive learned that birth often has layers of meaning, and categorising it does a disservice to its complexities.
New Delhi, March 27 : The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has summoned the alleged mastermind of the illegal coal smuggling scam in West Bengal, Anup Majhi aka Lala, for questioning on March 30, sources said on Friday.

A CBI source related to the probe told IANS, "The agency has summoned Majhi in connection with the case for questioning on March 30 at its Kolkata office." The source said that the summon to Majhi came a day after the Supreme Court stayed his arrest till April 6. The action is related to the case the agency had registered in November last year involving illegal coal pilferage.

The CBI had earlier this week questioned former Commissioner of Asansol, Laxmi Narayan Meena, for over three-and-a-half hours in connection with the case.

The CBI had registered a case against the alleged kingpin of the pilferage racket Majhi, Eastern Coalfield Ltd GMs Amit Kumar Dhar and Jayesh Chandra Rai, ECL chief of security Tanmay Das, area security inspector Kunustoria Dhananjay Rai, and SSI and security in-charge of Kajora area, Debashish Mukherjee, in November last year.

The CBI has also recorded the statement of Rujira Banerjee, the wife of Trinamool Congress MP and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's nephew Abhishek Banerjee, and his sister-in-law Menka Gambhir in the last week of February.

The CBI had recently carried out searches at several locations in West Bengal, including the premises of Amit Agarwal, a close aide of Majhi, in connection with the case.

The central agency's actions have turned the heat on poll-bound West Bengal, where the ruling Trinamool Congress and the BJP are engaged in a bitter battle.
IndiaFastmarkets calculated its steel scrap, shredded, index, import, cfr Nhava Sheva, India , at $423.29 per tonne on Friday, down from $427.50 per tonne one week before.A deal was heard at $423 per tonne this week, compared with a deal level of $425 per tonne the previous week. Offers were reported at $415-425 per tonne, down from $425-430 per tonne one week earlier.At the start of the week, there were rumors that the market would go down, but suppliers and yard owners are trying to limit prices and are not willing to [see prices fall]. But there is an expectation that prices will go down further, a buyer said.The same buyer wondered if there might be significant buying before the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, when all activity slows down.One market participant said that there were no new prices and no deals this week, while a mill source said that India appeared to be out of the market because local scrap was available and was cheaper.The domestic options of direct-reduced iron (DRI) and scrap remained available and were preferred over imports. This was emphasized by a ship being stuck in the Suez canal, which has thus been blocked for several days The Suez canal issue will lead to delays and is pushing the freight rate further upward. Some shipping lines have stopped taking fresh bookings, a buyer said.India was currently experiencing a spike in Covid-19 case numbers, with new restrictions being imposed on gatherings and a curfew in states such as Maharashtra, but many market participants were not concerned about the effects on business.The market is rather quiet and Indian domestic prices have dropped, but overall there is nothing to be worried about, a seller said.There are holidays next week. I dont see any major consequences from the [pandemic] but it might disturb sentiment. Stockists who worry about lockdown wont stock up, but it would be a social lockdown, not an economic lockdown, he said.The second wave of Covid-19 has [resulted in] a few areas where cases are high and that have restrictions, a buyer said, but demand for finished steel is good. Its different from the first wave - steel is backbone of the infrastructure projects that affect gross domestic product.Fastmarkets weekly price assessment for steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20 mix), import, cfr Nhava Sheva, India , was $380-400 per tonne on Friday, unchanged week on week.A supplier would not earn anything at these prices. With a freight rate increase of $300-400 per container next month, all the profit is taken away by the shipping cost. Even before confirming prices, youre asked whether you can get a shipping booking, a trader said.After Ramadan, Turkey will be back in the market, and scrap production in Europe is higher during spring, he added.On the Pakistan market, trading was also subdued, with prices moving downward.Fastmarkets calculated its weekly steel scrap, shredded, index, import, cfr Port Qasim, Pakistan , at $423.21 per tonne on March 26, down from $429.42 per tonne on March 19.A deal was reported at $420 per tonne this week, down from deals at $425-435 per tonne the previous week, while offers were in the range of $425-435 per tonne, compared with $440-455 per tonne one week earlier.Domestic rebar prices in the country were also heard to have moved down, and were now believed to be $835 per tonne, compared with $841 per tonne last week.
In a March 11, 2021 photo, potato farmer Brian Sackett watches as potatoes are moved from a storage bin at his farm in Mecosta, Mich. For generations, Sackett's family has farmed potatoes that are made into chips. About 25% of the nation's potato chips get their start in Michigan, which historically has had reliably cool air during September harvest and late spring but now is getting warmer temperatures. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

For generations, Brian Sackett's family has farmed potatoes that are made into chips found on grocery shelves in much of the eastern U.S.

About 25% of the nation's potato chips get their start in Michigan, where reliably cool air during September harvest and late spring has been ideal for crop storage. That's a big reason why the state produces more chipping potatoes than any other.

But with temperatures edging higher, Sackett had to buy several small refrigeration units for his sprawling warehouses. Last year, he paid $125,000 for a bigger one. It's expensive to operate, but beats having his potatoes rot.

"Our good, fresh, cool air is getting less all the time, it seems like," he said on a recent morning as a front-end loader scooped up piles of plump, light-brown potatoes that would be packed into a tractor trailer for shipment to chip factories.

The situation here illustrates a little-noticed hazard that climate change is posing for agriculture in much of the world. Once harvested, crops not immediately consumed or processed are storedsometimes for months. The warming climate is making that job harder and costlier.

The annual period with outdoor air cool enough to store potatoes in Michigan's primary production area likely will shrink by up to 17 days by mid-century and up to a month by the late 2100s, according to an analysis by Julie Winkler, a Michigan State University geography and climate scientist.

In a March 11, 2021 photo, potato farmer Brian Sackett describes his ventilation system at his farm in Mecosta, Mich. For generations, Sackett's family has farmed potatoes that are made into chips. About 25% of the nation's potato chips get their start in Michigan, which historically has had reliably cool air during September harvest and late spring but now is getting warmer temperatures. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

The window for unrefrigerated storage is also narrowing for apples in the Northwest and Northeast, peanuts in the Southeast, lettuce in the Southwest and tomatoes in the Ohio valley, according to follow-up research published last year by plant physiology scientist Courtney Leisner at Auburn University.

Techmark Inc., an agricultural engineering company based in Lansing, Michigan, designed the Sackett farm's equipment. Co-owner Todd Forbush, whose customers also include growers of sugar beets, onions and carrots, said storage of those crops increasingly will need refrigeration.

Growers will face tough choices about the economics of their operations. Producers who install equipment to regulate temperature and humidity will see power costs rising as the outside air gets hotter.

"Whose pocket is it going to come out of? Probably the consumer," Leisner said, adding that the potential effects of global warming on storage had been "largely ignored."

In a March 11, 2021 photo, potatoes are examined along a conveyor belt before being loaded into a tractor trailer at the Sackett Potato farm in Mecosta, Mich. For generations, Brian Sackett's family has farmed potatoes that are made into chips. About 25% of the nation's potato chips get their start in Michigan, which historically has had reliably cool air during September harvest and late spring but now is getting warmer temperatures. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

"There's a big disconnect in our minds about the chain of events between the field and the grocery store and onto our plate," she said. "Just a few degrees can make all the difference in whether it's economical to store the fruits and vegetables that we expect to have on our dinner table 365 days a year."

Aside from potentially higher prices, climate change may worsen food shortages caused by spoilage. About 14% of food produced globallyand 20% of fruits and vegetablesgoes bad between harvest and retail, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. Wasted food is a significant source of greenhouse gases.

In Sub-Saharan Africa, small farmers lose up to one-third of their stored grain to insects and mold, which can produce toxins. Rising temperatures will make it easier for pests to survive winters, said Tanya Strathers, an associate professor with the University of Greenwich's Natural Resources Institute in London.

Stored grain will be more susceptible to rotting, Strathers said.

In a March 11, 2021 photo, potato farmer Brian Sackett walks inside a storage bin at his farm in Mecosta, Mich. For generations, Sackett's family has farmed potatoes that are made into chips. About 25% of the nation's potato chips get their start in Michigan, which historically has had reliably cool air during September harvest and late spring but now is getting warmer temperatures. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

"When people are getting production off just an acre or two of land, their margin for error is very low," said Jake Ricker-Gilbert, a Purdue University agricultural economist who has worked in several African nations including Malawi and Tanzania.

For delicate fruits and vegetables in the U.S. and Europe, a leading storage hurdle comes immediately after harvest, when temperatures must be lowered quickly to avoid decay. Lettuce and leafy greens such as kale are especially vulnerable, said Deirdre Holcroft, a plant biologist who worked previously for Dole Food Co. Inc.

Climate change is "going to add more and more pressure into the system," Holcroft said.

In Mecosta, Michigan, the Sackett potato operation long needed only fans to cool down freshly dug potatoes to 60 degrees (15.5 degrees Celsius) or lower, and keep them there for months.

In a March 11, 2021 photo, potatoes are loaded into a tractor trailer at the Sackett Potato farm in Mecosta, Mich. For generations, Brian Sackett's family has farmed potatoes that are made into chips. About 25% of the nation's potato chips get their start in Michigan, which historically has had reliably cool air during September harvest and late spring but now is getting warmer temperatures. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

A computer-controlled system pulls in outside air, which industrial-sized wall fans blow across a humidifying pad. Floor slats in the 16 storage bins enable the air to rise through mounds of potatoes, regulating their temperature and moisture so they won't dry out or get too wet and spoil.

But as the weather warms, it isn't always enough.

During the 1990s, there were three years when Michigan's average temperature in September and October was above normal. The 2000s had six such years. From 2010-2020, the total rose to eight.

Sackett began investing in small refrigeration units about a decade ago. The larger, custom-made device he got last year can be wheeled around to different bins, helping cool things down as needed.

"Definitely not a cheap purchase," he said, adding that another may become necessary.

In a March 11, 2021 photo, potato farmer Brian Sackett is interviewed at his family's farm in Mecosta, Mich. For generations, Brian Sackett's family has farmed potatoes that are made into chips. About 25% of the nation's potato chips get their start in Michigan, which historically has had reliably cool air during September harvest and late spring but now is getting warmer temperatures. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

In a March 11, 2021 photo, potatoes are examined along a conveyor belt before being loaded into a tractor trailer at the Sackett Potato farm in Mecosta, Mich. For generations, Brian Sackett's family has farmed potatoes that are made into chips. About 25% of the nation's potato chips get their start in Michigan, which historically has had reliably cool air during September harvest and late spring but now is getting warmer temperatures. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

What all this means for the price of a bag of potato chip isn't clear. But producers will have to offset their rising costs somehow, said Forbush of Techmark, the equipment company.

"We as a society need to do a better job of not wasting food," he said. "If we don't put the necessary energy into storing that product, it could get worse."

Explore further Summer drought may shrink supplies of French spuds

 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
The House panels join Senate committees that are also looking into the insurrection. The Senate Homeland and Governmental Affairs Committee and the Senate Rules Committee have already held two hearings with security officials about what went wrong as the rioters broke into the Capitol and sent lawmakers fleeing for their lives. The security officials, including from the Capitol Police and the Department of Defense, have pointed fingers at each other as they described violent attacks on overwhelmed police officers and desperate pleas for backup.
By Michael Bell, Professor of Ports and Maritime Logistics, University of Sydney

In the early hours of March 23, the container ship Ever Given was blown off course by high winds on its way through the Suez Canal. At 400 metres long, the Ever Given is longer than the canal is wide, and the ship became wedged firmly in both banks, completely blocking traffic.

Dredgers, excavators and tug boats are working frantically to free the ship, but the operation may take weeks, according to the head of one of the rescue teams. About 10% of the worlds maritime trade passes through the canal, which allows ships to shorten the trip between Europe or the American east coast and Asia by thousands of kilometres, saving a week or more of travel time.



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Around 50 ships a day pass through the canal under normal circumstances, split almost equally between dry bulk carriers, container carriers (like the Ever Given) and tankers. As the blockage continues, some shipping lines are considering diverting ships around Africa rather than wait for it to clear.

Coming on top of the COVID-19 pandemic, this event has highlighted the fragility of global supply chains  and is likely to accelerate changes in the world economy that were already under way.

Good news for oil tankers

The blockage is disrupting important energy trades, but probably not dramatically as there are alternative routes and sources should the blockage last a long time.

About 600,000 barrels of crude oil are shipped from the Middle East to Europe and the United States via the Suez Canal every day, while about 850,000 barrels a day are shipped from the Atlantic Basin to Asia also via the Suez Canal. While the SUMED pipeline, which runs parallel to the Suez Canal, will enable some crude to continue to flow between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, European and North American refiners will want to replace Middle East oil with oil from sources that dont usually pass through the canal. Similarly, Asian refiners will want to replace North Sea crude oil.

Interest is growing in shipping crude oil around the Cape of Good Hope, which adds seven to ten days to the shipping time from the Middle East to Europe and North America, increasing the demand for ultra large crude carriers.

While the rerouting of crude oil is unlikely to have much effect on oil prices generally, as inventory levels are currently high, this comes at an opportune moment for crude oil tanker owners, as the charter rates for such ships have been rock bottom due to the depressed global demand for oil and the aftereffects of pandemic lockdowns. Owners of tankers carrying refined oil or LNG can expect a similar increase in demand for their ships and therefore charter rates.

A reminder of supply chain fragility

For commodities such as oil, LNG, coal and iron ore, there is a world demand and a world supply which must balance. However, one source can often be substituted by another. This means the blockage of the Suez Canal will affect the spot price of commodities locally and the charter rates for the ships that carry them, but the trade will continue.

Its a different story for products carried by container ships like the Ever Given. These products tend to be highly differentiated and more difficult to substitute. The blockage of the Suez Canal will undoubtedly cause shortages of specific products around the world, either because they dont arrive at their destinations on time or because manufacturers run short of key inputs or components.

Shortages will remind manufacturers of the fragility of global supply chains, and they may look at how to reduce their dependency on specific sources, particularly those that are distant and rely on container shipping.

Global supply chains are already shrinking

Advances in technology associated with digitisation and automation are making manufacturers less dependent on large skilled workforces found only in certain parts of the world. Production is becoming more mobile and therefore able to locate closer to the markets served.

More mobile production, along with the continued miniaturisation of some products (for example, flat screen TVs becoming ever flatter) and the advancing digitisation of things like books and manuals, is gradually shrinking global supply chains and reducing freight-kilometres, measured in terms of value or volume. Major disruptions such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the blockage of the Suez Canal can only hasten this development.





Read more:

Suez Canal container ship accident is a worst-case scenario for global trade





This trend predates the pandemic and the current blockage. It can be seen in a number called the world seaborne trade-to-GDP multiplier, which measures how much of the worlds economic activity depends on shipping.

After the global financial crisis of 2008-09, this number fell below 1% on average. This tells us that a 1% increase in world GDP now leads to a less than 1% increase in world seaborne trade.

Who will pay the price?

The cost of the disruption caused by the blockage of the Suez Canal will weigh heavily with the insurers of the Ever Given. The ship is owned by Japanese firm Shoei Kisen Kaisha and chartered to the Taiwanese line Evergreen. The hull and machinery are insured on the Japanese marine insurance market, but at the moment damage to the ship appears to be minimal.

The major costs are loss of earnings by the Suez Canal Authority while the canal is closed to traffic, and losses incurred by the owners of the cargo in the many ships held up by the blockage. Depending on how long the blockage lasts, these may lead to huge insurance claims. Third party claims are covered by the London P&I Club, which is reinsured by the International Group of P&I Clubs.

In the long term, however, the blockage may be a good thing. If it offers a further nudge to shorten supply chains, the benefits to the global economy and environment will surely outweigh the cost to the insurers.





Read more:

What will freight and supply chains look like 20 years from now? Experts ponder the scenarios





Michael Bell does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Originally published in The Conversation.
Irelands mandatory hotel quarantine system has come into effect for passengers arriving from countries flagged as high risk for Covid-19 transmission.

So far there have been 76 bookings, with 37 people due to begin their stay at the hotels between now and the end of March.

As of 4am on Friday, all passengers arriving into the country from one of the 33 countries deemed high risk by the Government will have to quarantine for 12 nights at a hotel.

The stay could be reduced if a person receives a negative test for the virus taken on day 10 of quarantine.

Countries on the list include Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Chile, Mauritius, Rwanda, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates and Zimbabwe.

Travellers are required to pre-book accommodation in a designated quarantine facility and to pre-pay for their stay.

The booking portal for mandatory hotel quarantining went live on the Government website earlier this week.

The cost per adult traveller for a 12-night stay inclusive of all services is 1,875.

The Tifco Hotel Group, which has been appointed as the service provider, will provide full board accommodation, as well as ground transportation, security services and health and wellbeing services.

The Crowne Plaza Dublin Airport Hotel in Santry is the first hotel to begin receiving quarantining travellers.

If a person does not fulfil the legal requirement for mandatory hotel quarantine they are committing an offence, and can be fined up to 2,500 and/or a six-month prison sentence.

The new quarantine rules also apply to any passenger who arrives in the country from any other country without a negative PCR test for Covid-19 carried out no more than 72 hours before they arrive in Ireland.

Those passengers will have to pay a day rate of 150.

The Defence Forces will not be involved in the everyday security or care of passengers in mandatory hotel quarantining.

According to the Governments Covid-19 guidelines, anyone who arrives into Ireland from a country not deemed high risk must quarantine at home provided they have a negative PCR test.
The Bank of England has showcased the design of a new banknote that celebrates Alan Turing who, with his code-breaking machine, saved the lives of millions of people.

Alan Turing also designed the famous 'Turing Test', which became a yardstick for measuring the smartness of artificial intelligence.

Reuters

Reported first by Reuters, his face has been featured on a 50-pound note that possesses his face, a mathematical formula from the 1936 paper he wrote that was instrumental in the existence of modern computer science as well as technical drawings of the Enigma code-breaking machine.



ALSO READ: New UK 50 Pound Won't Feature Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose, Choosing Alan Turing Instead

The note also holds a popular quote by Turing which predicted the rise of machine intelligence, This is only a foretaste of what is to come, and only the shadow of what is going to be. The new note will start rolling on his birthday on June 23.

A brief history of Alan Turing

From an early age, he showed a strong aptitude towards science and mathematics. After his schooling, he went on to study at King's College, Cambridge from 1931 to 1934 where he was awarded first-class honours in Mathematics. He later got his PhD from Princeton University under the guidance of Alonzo Church.

Wikipedia

Alan Turing, with his team, elaborated upon the early computer designed by Polish engineers, working to break the German Enigma machine codes. This, along with his ability to comprehend patterns and codes, the team were able to break several other German codes, including the famous U-boat codes that basically ordered the German submarine fleet to attack their enemies and destroy their resources.



ALSO READ: New UK 50 Pound Note May Feature India's Sir JC Bose, Who Did Pioneering Work For Wi-Fi

His contributions not just shortened World War II by nearly two years, but it also saved millions of lives that had been lost either by German attacks or extension of the war period. Alan Turing was awarded the Order of the British Empire by the King for his contribution, which like his work was kept a secret for several years.

Wikipedia

Sadly, despite his contributions, he was punished for being a homosexual as homosexual sex was illegal in Britain until 1967. He was ordered to undergo chemical castration where female hormone injections were administered in his body to avoid imprisonment.

He even lost his security clearance to work with Britains GCHQ spy agency. In 1854, at the age of 41, he ended his life by consuming cyanide. Turing was granted a royal pardon by Queen Elizabeth posthumously, in 2013.
Planning Minister Hala el Saeed said Nawart Baladak (Welcome Home) initiative aims at boosting cooperation among the governmental bodies and implementing economic plans seeking to merge Egyptians abroad and benefiting from their skills to achieve comprehensive development.

The ministries of immigration and planning launched a website for the initiative within the framework of the directives of President Abdel Fattah El Sisi to contain the Egyptian workers that returned home after being harmed by coronavirus pandemic outbreak and work on merging these workers into the national economy in the different governorates.

In a statement on Thursday, Saeed said that the ministry is working on providing job opportunities for the returning workers in infrastructure projects to put into effect the vision of the state to employ the youth power and benefit from their expertise in order to accomplish sustainable development.

The website of the initiative aims at contributing to providing training programs in the different domains to qualify the returning workers to hone their skills to cope with the needs of the Egyptian market.
The priorities stemming from issues of vital importance to Artsakh [the Armenian name for Nagorno-Karabakh] and Armenia made it imperative to hold regular discussions in that format during the last Artsakh war and in the post-war period, Sarkisians office said.

Earlier on Friday, former President Levon Ter-Petrosians spokesperson Arman Musinyan also confirmed that former presidents of Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh  Levon Ter-Petrosian, Robert Kocharian, Serzh Sargsian, Arkady Ghukasian and Bako Sahakian  met yesterday to discuss the post-war situation in Artsakh and a number of issues concerning possible further developments.

The report about the meeting of former Armenian and Karabakh leaders comes amid an announced meeting of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov with his Armenian counterpart Ara Ayvazian that is due to take place on April 2.

Maria Zakharova, an official representative of Russias Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that Lavrov will also meet with Azerbaijans Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov.

Issues related to Nagorno-Karabakh and the South Caucasus region are expected to feature prominently at the meetings.

Meanwhile, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian had a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday.

The Armenian premiers press office, in particular, said that the two leaders addressed the process of the implementation of the provisions of the trilateral statement of November 9, 2020.

Russia brokered a truce agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan last November, putting an end to six weeks of hostilities in and around Nagorno-Karabakh in which more than 6,000 people were killed.

Under the terms of the document called a trilateral statement, a chunk of Nagorno-Karabakh and all seven districts around it were placed under Azerbaijani administration after almost 30 years of control by ethnic Armenian forces.

The agreement also led to the deployment of around 2,000 Russian peacekeepers along frontline areas and a land corridor connecting the disputed territory with Armenia.
80%

Website haras-nationaux.fr uses latest and advanced technologies. It is very popular on the web, it's within the 1 million most visited websites of the world at position 107863 by Alexa. It supports HTTPS. The main html page has a size of .

This CoolSocial report was updated on 2021-03-26, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want.
On March 22, thousands of sixth, ninth, and twelfth graders returned to in-person learning at Clark County District Schools (CCSD), which includes children from Las Vegas, Nevada and surrounding communities. This follows the return of pre-K to third graders to school buildings on March 1. The remaining grades will return in a hybrid model on April 6, with all elementary students scheduled to return to campuses five days a week.

Clark County school bus [Credit: Clark County website]

While an estimated 26,764 students were expected to return Monday, the parents of 44,912 students chose to keep them in remote learning, despite the barrage of propaganda from the media and political and union officials that in-person learning is not only safe, but essential to the mental well-being of students. As one teacher noted on social media, 41 students got off buses today at my high school. ...We had less than a 100 on campus, but we were supposed to have 400.

As for the pre-K to third grade students who were sent back on March 1, 36,440 are in Cohort A and attend in-person classes on Mondays and Tuesdays, and 32,685 are in Cohort B, which meets on campuses on Thursdays and Fridays. According to the district, 93,644 pre-K through third grade students remain in remote learning.

Students and teachers returned to schools in accordance with a Memorandum of Agreement reached between CCSD and the Clark County Education Association (CCEA) on December 14, 2020. The deal was approved by the CCSD trustees on January 14, 2021. The CCEA not only did not put up any struggle but left the wording of the document so ambiguous that social distancing measures were allowed to be reduced weeks before the CDC reduced its guidelines from six to three feet to pack more children into classrooms.

In total disregard for the safety of educators, students and the community at large, the CCEA has backed the drive to reopen schools. When the district first threw open its doors, union officials declared on Facebook, We want to wish all pre-k through 3rd grade educators a great first day back with students in the building today! We want to hear how your day goes! Let us know what your favorite thing that happens today is and what youre looking forward to most the rest of the week. Share your photos and share your stories! This post was followed by a smiley face.

The reopening of schools has been accompanied by a months-long media blitz feigning concern over the academic and emotional well-being of students. This comes after decades of annual budget cuts to programs, which are designed to address the mental health and other needs of children.

Just as this second wave of students returned to school, Mark Pandori, director of the Nevada State Public Health Laboratory, stated at a COVID-19 press conference, It does appear that we are on a trajectory to achieve some of the low end of herd immunity in the next couple of months. Pandori claimed the spread of the virus was slowing due to the number of people who had already been infected, plus the number who were being vaccinated.

The CDC reported that 23 percent of Nevada residents had antibodies in their system in mid-January when total vaccinations were below 10 percent. Now that slightly over 20 percent of the population has received at least one dose of the vaccination, he told the Las Vegas Review Journal (RJ), This suggests that up to 46 percent of Nevadans have at least some level of protection to the virus, while noting there is probably some overlap between the group studied with antibodies and the group vaccinated. He said, Its an educated guess, its not proof, but its one of the best explanations for the declining numbers.

This is the height of irresponsibility. It also shows that the opening of schools is deliberately aimed at spreading the virus on the basis of the criminal policy of accelerating herd immunity. Pandori completely left out that mitigation measures had been in place until the beginning of March, when schools began reopening.

At the same time, new more virulent and lethal variants are spreading in the state. Pandori said two new California variants, B.1.427 and B.1.429, now make up 25 percent of the cases in the state. According to the CDC, these variants are 20 percent more transmissible than the original SARS-CoV-2 strain.

Pandori said there were at least 43 different variants present in Nevada. These include the South African variant first found in February and the British B.1.1.7. While the P.1 variant from Brazil has yet to be reported, it has been identified in all of the surrounding states save Idaho.

Given these conditions, he admitted, What we dont know, and what we didnt have in the past, is the recipe of, of opening things up and having people get together in the presence of variants ... that recipe could mean that my hypothesis is incorrect, that the presence of these variants means that its going to get around some of this herd immunity.

This recipe is there for anyone to clearly see in Brazil where so many are dying, they are unable to bury their dead. The Brazilian P.1 variant developed because of what was essentially an open-air laboratory for the creation of variants due to the premature opening of nonessential businesses and schools. This is precisely what is being carried out not only in Nevada and California but in every state in the nation. The P.1 variant is of concern not only because it is more transmissible, but it is likely that people can become reinfected with it. According to scientists, antibody effectiveness is six times weaker against P.1 in comparison to previous SARS-CoV-2 strains.

In the state of Michigan, the number of infections almost tripled in one month after schools were reopened. In St. Clair County, the number of infections more than doubled in a week after schools returned to in-person learning on a full-time basis. Michigan is also the state that has seen the highest per capita rate of infection for the B.1.1.7 variant, which has been linked to the return to school team sports.

The second wave of students returning to in-person learning comes directly after the busiest tourist weekend for Las Vegas since the beginning of the pandemic. It also follows one week after the easing of restrictions on occupancy levels in theaters, casinos, convention centers and the decision to allow stadiums to open up at 50 percent capacity.

Nevada teachers and support staff employees should join the growing network of educators rank-and-file safety committees, which have been formed independently of the unions around the country and internationally. These committees are organizing to expose outbreaks, organize collective action to protect educators and students, and mobilize the working class to demand the closure of schools and nonessential businesses, with full income protection, until the population is widely vaccinated, and the pandemic is fully contained.
The battle between Edible Cooking Oil Association of Malawi (ECOAM) and government on the introduction of 16.5% VAT rages on as Ministry of Finance rebuffs the association on their grievances.

ECOAM wrote the Ministry of Finance and MRA on the impact of the introduction of 16.5% VAT on cooking oil, however the Ministry of Finance in its letter refused to bow down.

"Kindly note that the VAT cannot be reversed midway through the budget considering that the legal instruments were already passed by Parliament," reads part of the letter signed by Secretary to the treasury, Chauncy Simwaka.

However, ECOAM chairperson, Jayshree Patel told members of the media on Wednesday during a press conference at Amaryllis Hotel in Blantyre that there are so many implications if government continue shunning their grievances.

For instance, she said this development will force cooking oil companies to increase prices of cooking oil.

She also warned that the companies will not be left with an option rather than chopping off some workers.

"We beg government to address this issue otherwise member companies of cooking oil will commence retrenchment in the month of March as due to 50% drop in sales. The financial losses are rising and companies cannot afford anymore to hold on, "she said.

Patel also said the problem is that with the increase of cooking oil it has resulted in an influx of substandard cooking oil on the local market entering into the country illegally due to porous borders.

Another worrisome development is that the Soya that is purchased from local farmers is VAT free-and that currently government has imposed a 3% withholding tax which farmers are already refusing to be deducted.

Instead, the association has since predicted that as the 3% withholding tax continues, Malawi farmers will sale their soya to buyers outside the country to fetch better prices denying the local oil industries whose total installed capacity to crush Soya is at 500,000 metric ton per annum.
Dhaka, March 26 : Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Friday expressed her gratitude to her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi, saying the government of India always stands by Bangladesh through thick and thin.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Dhaka on Friday on a two-day visit to Bangladesh to attend the celebrations of the country's 50th year of liberation from Pakistan and the 100th birth anniversary of its founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the father of Sheikh Hasina.

"I'd like to express my heartfelt gratitude to Modi Ji and the people of India," Hasina said.

On the last day of the 10-day celebrations to mark the country's 50th year of liberation from Pakistan, Modi and Hasina enjoyed the music of legendary classical vocalist Pandit Ajoy Chakravarty at the National Parade Square in Dhaka, along with the President of Bangladesh, Abdul Hamid, and others.

Hasina said, "The Prime Minister of India made us glorified with his priceless presence in this pandemic period. The people of Bangladesh are grateful to Modi Ji and the people of India, who served the most for the people of Bangladesh in 1971." Hasina added that India must play a leading role in building a politically and economically prosperous South Asia. "We can make this region a hunger-free, poverty-free zone. We will achieve the goal set by the UN by 2031," she said.

"I am grateful to India for nominating Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman for the prestigious Gandhi Peace Prize in 2019. India is our friendly neighbour, and the two countries share a long standing relationship. The government of India had provided all kinds of assistance to the people of Bangladesh who took refuge there to save their lives from the atrocity, rape and arson of the Pakistani army in 1971. The Indian government and its people gave shelter, served food and assured medical help to around 1 million helpless people from Bangladesh," she said.

"In 1971, many army officers from India shed their blood for the independence of Bangladesh. I respectfully remember their contributions. India's cooperation will never be forgotten. I'm personally grateful to the people and government of India. After all my family members were killed during the war, I was at my husband's workplace in Germany with my sister and children. I had lost everyone. There was no arrangement to stay in that country. At that time, then Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi and Yugoslav leader Marshal Tito gave us shelter," Hasina said.

The Bangladesh premier also appreciated the policies of Modi, and his slogan "Neighbours first and foremost", saying that Bangladesh receiving 2 million Covid vaccine doses from India establishes this principle.

With the inauguration of the Maitri Bridge, India will now be able to use the Chittagong Port and Mongla Port, Hasina assured to Modi.

"May Bangladesh-India friendship be long-lasting for all kinds of cooperation," she said.

Bangladesh President Abdul Hamid said, "During my stay in India for nine months during the liberation war in 1971, I myself witnessed how the government of India and its people gave shelter to 10 million people and refugees from Bangladesh. I hope all the unresolved issues will be settled soon. Bangladesh is always grateful to India."
Peter Ma, Chairman of Ping An Group, said that the strategic cooperation established between Ping An Group and SZSE at the start of China's national 14th Five-Year Plan is of profound significance. The strategic cooperation is an important milestone for the Ping An to deliver on its "finance + technology" and "finance + ecosystem" strategies, by working with SZSE to build a digital ecosystem in the capital market.

Jessica Tan, Co-CEO of Ping An Group, said she believes that technology will play critical role in developing an influential ecosystem in the global capital market. This cooperation between Ping An and SZSE will support the innovation and development of fintech in the capital market, she said.

Ye Wangchun, Chairman and CEO of OneConnect, said, "On the basis of this cooperation, OneConnect will fully demonstrate its functions as a market platform and its ability to lead the development of financial industry technology as it supports SZSE in building an open and collaborative digital system for the industry."

As a leading technology-as-a-service platform for financial institutions in China, OneConnect had served nearly 700 banks and more than 100 insurance companies as of the end of December 2020. Ping An Group also signed a fintech strategic cooperation agreement with the HKEX Group in September 2019, with OneConnect leading on behalf of the Group. The two parties continue to work together in the fintech field.

SZSE is a national securities trading venue approved by the State Council of the People's Republic of China. Serving the real economy and supporting the national strategy, the SZSE strives to build an innovative capital center and a world-class exchange. SZSE places great importance on the fintech innovations and applications in the capital market. It promotes the development and progress of fintech to serve the real economy.

About Ping An Group

Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd. ("Ping An") is a world-leading technology-powered retail financial services group. With over 218 million retail customers and 598 million internet users, Ping An is one of the largest financial services companies in the world. Ping An focuses on two over-arching domains of activity, "pan financial assets" and "pan health care", covering the provision of financial and health care services through our integrated financial services platform and our ecosystems; in financial services, health care, auto services and smart city services. Our "finance + technology" and "finance + ecosystem" transformation strategies aim to provide customers and internet users with innovative and simple products and services using technology. As China's first joint stock insurance company, Ping An is committed to upholding the highest standards of corporate reporting and corporate governance. The Group is listed on the stock exchanges in Hong Kong and Shanghai. In 2020, Ping An ranked 7th in the Forbes Global 2000 list and ranked 21st in the Fortune Global 500 list. Ping An also ranked 38th in the 2020 WPP Kantar Millward Brown BrandZTM Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands list.

For more information, please visit www.group.pingan.com and follow us on LinkedIn - PING AN.

SOURCE Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd.

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The traffic and enforcement department (JSPT) of the Polis Diraja Malaysia (PDRM) has rolled out the MyBayar Saman online portal and mobile app, providing the public with a way to pay their summonses directly and easily. With this, Malaysians will be able to clear their summonses via FPX, debit cards, credit cards, and prepaid cards at their convenience.

JSPT said that MyBayar Saman is introduced to meet the publics shifting preference for online payments and phone transactions in the present time. This trend applies to the payment of summonses as well because statistics from the JSPT showed that while only 18.5% of offenders opted to pay their summonses via online payment in 2019, the number hiked up to 46.7% in 2020.

The MyBayar Saman service provides an alternative to the public from conventional payment methods such as over-the-counter transactions. With the emergence of MyBayar Saman, this would reduce the departments reliance on private collecting agents and improve on the service efficiency of the JSPT towards the public, added Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Abdul Hamid Bador at the launch.

Additionally, MyBayar Saman is also a move to support the governments various policies on going digital, such as the Pelan Strategik e-Pembayaran Sektor Awam and Pelan Pelaksanaan Peningkatan Dalam Talian Kerajaan Secara End to End. This is on top of an initiative forwarded in the MyDigital blueprint, which sought to enable cashless payment options for all government ministries and agencies by 2022.

To use the MyBayar Saman portal or app, you will need to first register an account, during which you must fill in personal details, verify your identity via OTP, and then set and confirm your account password. Once done, go ahead and log in to check and pay your summonses (if any!). Note that there is no need to contact or inform the PDRM of your payments as the information will be updated automatically.

JSPT also said that it is now providing an introductory discount of 50% for summonses paid through the MyBayar Saman portal or mobile app, so you might want to take advantage of this if you have any that you need to clear off! The offer is ongoing until 11 April 2021.

For more information, you can head on over to the MyBayar Saman website, or check out the FAQ here. Alternatively, download the mobile app on Google Play or the App Store (soon to come).

(Sources: Paul Tans Automotive News [1, 2], Malay Mail)

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The leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has formally received a former Chief of Army Staff, Lt.- Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika. Ihej...

The leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has formally received a former Chief of Army Staff, Lt.- Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika.

Ihejirika indicated his interest to join the party in February, after a meeting with top chieftains.

On Friday, Ihejirika had a meeting with Yobe Governor, Mai Mala Buni, Chairman APC Caretaker and Extra-ordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC).

Bunus spokesman, Mamman Mohammed, announced that the meeting was held in Abuja.

Ihejirika was presented to Buni by Jigawa governor and Chairman APC Strategy and Contact Committee, Abubakar Badaru, and Farouk Aliyu.

Mohammed quoted Buni as saying that the coming of Gen. Ihejirika into the APC will increase the fortunes of the party in Abia and the South-East generally.

This is a great moment for the party as Gen. Ihejirika and other sons and daughters of the region are coming into the party to deliver the region and bring the South-East closer to the centre.

The party chairman added that the party looked forward to more of APC presence in the South-East.
A couple racially vilified by a white woman while waiting for the first ultrasound of their unborn baby have a surprising message for their abuser: 'We forgive you'.

Australian born Jamie Shin and his partner were left shaken after the incident, where a middle-aged woman allegedly unleashed several racial slurs, including calling the couple g**ks before telling them to 'go back to your own country, nips'.

Perth based Mr Shin began filming the woman during her tirade of abuse at a radiology clinic in Canning Vale, in Perth's south.

Speaking days after the incident, Shin had a message for the woman.

Jamie Shin (left) claims he and his pregnant partner (right) were racially abused while waiting to to get an ultrasound of their unborn child

'I'm willing to forgive you, if you are willing to learn,' he said.

'I think she needs to be educated, it's 2021, these things shouldn't happen.'

In Shin's TikTok video, which has been viewed more than 250,000 times, the clip starts with Mr Shin arguing with the woman.

'Don't tell me to go back to my own country,' he said. 'Don't yell at me,' she replied, but Mr Shin stands his ground.

'No, you just told me to get out of my own country and go back to where I came from. I was born here,' he said.

A staff member at the clinic is heard in the background trying to defuse the situation by asking the middle-aged woman and her partner to wait at the front.

'Yeah, gladly,' the woman replies.

Jamie Shin began filming after the woman allegedly unleashed a number of racial slurs

The woman is then heard telling Mr Shin to 'p**s off back to China' as she walks off.

Mr Shin is a third generation Korean-Australian and his partner is 19 weeks pregnant.

'We were sitting there minding our own business typing on our phones,' Mr Shin told news.com.au.

'She (abuser) then went on a whole rampage of racial slurs. She said: 'Go back to your own country, nips'.'

He believes the woman took out her frustrations on them after her partner couldn't come into the room while she had a procedure.

Mr Shin described clinic staff's handling of the incident as 'amazing'.

He claimed in his TikTok video the woman was later banned by the radiology clinic's seven branches and by the GP who referred her.

In the wake of the Covid pandemic, Asian hatred is said to be on the rise globally - including in Australia.

Asian Australians, particularly of Chinese heritage, reported a dramatic increase in abuse and racist attacks in 2020 after it was revealed the coronavirus was first detected in China.

The woman (pictured) was eventually by staff asked to move and wait at the front

Jamie Shin had a blunt message for his abuser - 'educate yourself, racially abuse is unacceptable'

Jamie Shin (pictured left) was born and raised in Australia, yet still is a victim of racial abuse

In May last year, two sisters of Asian descent were confronted by a 17-year-old girl in Sydney's inner-west, who yelled a number of obscenities about their race and the pandemic.

The sisters were accused of 'bringing coronavirus to Australia' before being 'told to eat another bat.'

One of the sisters was then spat on by the offender, who was later charged with three counts of common assault, using offensive language and two counts of attempting to stalk/intimidate.

In another example of casual racism, a woman, 34, from Perth, told The Guardian she took her child to the GP last July, only for another patient to stop her from entering the building.

The woman allegedly then told her 'Asians need to stay indoors due to the spread of Covid-19.'
A Hong Kong activist who served a seven-month jail term in southern China after trying to flee his home city along with 11 others by speedboat is incommunicado following his return to Hong Kong, his family and a concern group have said.



Andy Li was taken to Hong Kong's Yuen Long police station soon after arriving back on March 22 at the end of his jail term, and immediately arrested under a draconian national security law imposed on Hong Kong by the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from July 1, 2020.



Li, 30, faces three charges, including "collusion with foreign powers" under the security law, which carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment, as well as early charges related to the possession of spent police ammunition from protests in 2019, as well as "conspiracy to assist an offender."



His case was mentioned in a hearing at the West Kowloon Magistrates Court on the same day, but Li himself wasn't in court, as he is currently in compulsory 14-day quarantine.



But the Save 12 Hong Kong Youths Concern Group said his family had been told both by police and the Correctional Service Department (CSD) that they didn't know where he was, and that his name no longer appeared on their systems.



"The [families] later confirmed that seven of the eight [detainees] had been sent to Lai Chi Kok Reception Centre and Pik Uk Correctional Institution, but we have not been able to locate the whereabouts of Andy Li, who has also refused the lawyer arranged by his family," the group said in a post on its Facebook page.



According to media reports, the prosecution applied to the court on March 24 for Li to be transferred to the custody of the CSD, while the prosecution revealed that Li had met with a lawyer who is not known to his family, it said.



"When Li's family inquired with the CSD and the police, the CSD said there was no such person, while the police said they were not sure of Li's location," the group said.



"The family is worried because no government official has contacted the family since Li was detained by the Hong Kong authorities four days ago," it said, calling on the government to clarify Li's whereabouts and status.



The reports that Li has dismissed his defense attorney sparked concern on social media that he is being held by the Hong Kong branch of China's feared state security police, which has taken over a hotel in Causeway Bay as its headquarters, and who are mandated to deal with national security cases deemed more "serious" by the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP).



The CSD has responded to media inquiries, saying it won't comment on individual cases.

'Money laundering, fake news'



Police on Friday arrested a a 25-year-old woman in connection with a Facebook account titled Hong Kong Freedom Book, on suspicion of "money-laundering," a charge that is frequently used to target pro-democracy activists raising money that includes overseas donations.



The woman was also accused of posting "fake news" about police, after the page reported that police had treated protesters badly.



The arrest came after a March 22 post saying that the page "is already in police sights."



The page had been crowdfunding to assist Hong Kong protesters and to fund a non-fiction book documenting the 2019 protest movement, to be translated into other languages.



Meanwhile, the Hong Kong government has called on other countries not to recognize the U.K.-issued British National Overseas (BNO) passport, which many young Hongkongers are using to apply for working holiday visas in Europe, North America, and parts of Asia.



The government has informed foreign consulates in a letter that it no longer considers the British National Overseas (BNO) passport a valid travel document as of Jan. 31, 2021.



A spokewoman for the Foreign Office in London said Hong Kong had no authority to dictate which passports foreign governments recognize as valid.



"The UK will continue to issue British Nationals (Overseas) passports which remain valid travel documents," she told Reuters.



Reported by Chan Yun Nam for RFA's Cantonese Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
Owner of Root Floral Design, Mia Sandberg, stopped by News15 at Noon virtually to chat about an amazing flower festival coming to Louisiana. This is the festivals first year.

This two day outdoor celebration is perfect for all ages. With acres of outdoor space and plenty of room for social distancing, Pointe-Marie is excited to host Louisiana's first Flower Fest. For more details visit www.theflowerfest.com.

From the festival website:

The Flower Fest is devoted to celebrating the talent and ingenuity of Floral Artists through this collaborative event bringing together florists in a spirit of camaraderie, fellowship and culture. All profits of the festival and gala will benefit St. Jude Children's Hospital.

This floral festival was born out of a need for beauty, fresh air, and the sheer desire to create felt by many. With a huge canvas, Pointe-Marie a 120 acre community nestled quietly off the Mighty Mississippi in Louisiana, a competition of 10 floral groups will showcase their abilities, vision, and execution during over Easter Weekend. The selection of Easter weekend was intentional as this time of year is full of life, growth, and the absolute definition of spring time in Louisiana.

This festival is very unique as it is for the entire family and has different options for all level of flower lovers and philanthropists. Each ticket holder's experience will be unique as we offer workshops, food trucks, an endless supply of selfie-worthy backdrops, and the ability to watch these installations come to life right before your eyes. Saturday's Gala will be the first of its kind with a cocktail hour inspired and infused by flowers followed by the official competition, judging, and award ceremony. Knowing that all proceeds benefit St. Jude Children's Hospital is an added bonus to this joyous weekend.
Princess Sofia and Prince Carl Philip of Sweden are officially parents of three boys!

The son of King Carl XVI Gustaf and his wife welcomed their third child, a baby boy, on Friday at Danderyd Hospital in Stockholm. That makes their sons, 4-year-old Prince Alexander and 3-year-old Prince Gabriel, big brothers!

"We are so happy and grateful to be able to welcome our third son to our family. Princess Sofia and I, and his two big brothers, have all been longing for this day. And now we are looking forward to getting to know this new little member of our family," said Prince Carl Philip in a statement.

A name for the baby boy has not yet been announced.

The new baby is seventh in line to the Swedish throne and the eighth grandchild for King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia.

RELATED: Princess Sofia and Prince Carl Philip's Third Child Will Be Born with Different Title Than Siblings

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The Swedish royals announced the exciting baby news in December with a stunning black and white photo posted on the royal family's official Instagram page. "We are happy and excited and look forward to welcoming our third child," the couple said. "A new little member of our family."

Their happy news comes just weeks after Prince Carl Philip, 41, and Princess Sofia, 36, announced that they tested positive for COVID-19 after they began to experience flu-like symptoms in late November.

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King Carl XVI Gustaf, announced in October 2019 that he decided to strip the HRH titles from children of Prince Carl Philip and Princess Sofia as well as his daughter Princess Madeleine and Chris O'Neill.

"His Majesty The King has decided on changes to The Royal House. The purpose of these changes is to establish which members of The Royal Family may be expected to perform official duties incumbent on the Head of State or related to the function of the Head of State," a statement from the palace read. "His Majesty The King has decided that the children of Their Royal Highnesses Prince Carl Philip and Princess Sofia, and the children of Her Royal Highness Princess Madeleine and Mr Christopher O'Neill will no longer be members of The Royal House."

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Prince Carl Philip and Princess Sofia's third child is the family's first new addition since the rule went into effect. The baby won't have a HRH title like brothers Prince Alexander and Prince Gabriel did when they were born. The baby will have the title of Prince, but the title is personal and any future spouses or children will not have a right to titles.

RELATED: Pregnant Princess Sofia of Sweden's Growing Baby Bump on Display While on Royal Duty

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After the announcement, Prince Carl Philip shared on Instagram that he saw the decision as "positive."

"Today, the King announced the decision that our children no longer hold the Royal Highness position. We see this as positive as Alexander and Gabriel will have freer choices in life," he wrote. "They will retain their prince titles and their duchies, Sodermanland and Dalarna, which we value and are proud of. Our family has strong connections to both landscapes and we maintain our commitment there."

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He added, "We will continue to focus on our heart issues and commitment. We will also continue to support the King and Crown Princess  our future head of state  and participate in the King's House activities as we wish."
It also goes unreported because so much harassment  the uncomfortable staring, the catcalling, the lewd gestures, the public masturbation  is seen as simply normal nuisances that women have learned to put up with.

Were not joining the dots, nobody is making connections, said Laura Bates, author of Men Who Hate Women. There is a big picture here that we are just repeatedly missing. There are connections between the normalized daily behaviors that we brush off and the more serious abuses.

Ms. Bates, in 2012, created the Everyday Sexism Project so that women could share things that had happened to them that they felt were too insignificant to report or make a fuss over as a way to highlight how pervasive the problem is, and to pick up on patterns of aggression.

It is now one of the worlds largest databases of its kind with thousands of entries from women around the world who felt uncomfortable, vulnerable, threatened by men. In one example, a woman recalls that when she was in school, at age 13 or 14, a few girls complained to a teacher that the boys in their class had been groping them and the teacher said that they were being oversensitive. In another example, a woman recalls waiting at a bus stop when a man walked up to her and grabbed her bottom but everyone around her who had witnessed the incident remained silent. In yet another example, a woman recalls how a man sat directly opposite her on the train and touched himself and then got off the train on the next stop, as if nothing had happened.

The police officer arrested in London was held on suspicion of indecent exposure at a fast-food restaurant in a separate episode just days before Ms. Everard disappeared. The Metropolitan Police is now under investigation for how it handled that allegation.

Thats what we need to be doing better. We need to get better at sweating the small stuff, said Caroline Criado Perez, author of Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men.

An example of sweating the small stuff would be training public transport staff to better handle harassment complaints since so much of the harassment that women face happens on public transport, Ms. Criado Perez said. Educating children on appropriate and healthy relationships would also help, she said.
Democrat Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut is blaming Republicans for the two mass shootings in recent days, as if to suggest that only Democrats and their gun-grabbing agenda can save us from such attacks.

Here's the Breitbart story:

Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) said Tuesday on CNN's "OutFront" that Republican lawmakers were "complicit" in all the mass shootings that take place in the United States, given their opposition to gun legislation. Blumenthal said, "In Boulder, that shooter is a deeply disturbed man who became a mass killer because he had an assault weapon that can kill people with the efficiency and speed meant for the battlefield. So guns make all these problems more fatally and deadly, especially for domestic violence victims who then can be killed, five times more likely to be killed in those situations. That's why we need to make sure we adopt these common-sense measures."

Republicans? Really?

Maybe we should say Democrats are complicit in these deaths:

Every death caused by an illegal alien when we have open borders and tie ICE's hands and other law enforcement from enforcing the laws of that border.

All the deaths of kids at the hands of cartels, drug-smugglers, human-smugglers, gang members, and sex traffickers because of Joe Biden's and other Democrats' immigration policies. I haven't heard Blumenthal and other Democrats worry about these deaths.

The people who died because then-president Obama and his wingman, Attorney General Eric Holder, lost track of guns in their Fast and Furious sting operation, which left guns in the hands of cartels. Why did they illegally hide the information of it from Congress for years?

Every death in large Democrat cities that was caused by soft on crime policies and the continued release of known criminals. Getting rid of cash bail, a Democrat hobbyhorse, is brilliant.

The deaths of people in Democrat cities at the hands of criminals because these Democrats tied the police's hands and cut police funding, all to appease violent protests by radical leftists who are clearly domestic terrorists.

All the deaths caused by Iran's now dead Revolutionary Guards chief, Qassem Soleimani, since Biden and others said how dangerous it was when Trump took him out.

All the people who died because Obama/Biden refused to enforce the red line in Syria and trusted Russian president Vladimir Putin to monitor Syrian dictator Bashar Assad's weapons. Isn't that like having a fox guard a henhouse?

Every death from terrorism and drug overdoses because Obama dictatorially ordered the Justice Department to stop a years-long investigation into a billion-dollar drug-running operation by Lebanese terrorist group Hezb'allah. How dangerous is it to appease a terror group that pledges death to Israel and death to America?

How many deaths were caused because Obama/Biden gave the Iranian tyrants billions of dollars, Obama called ISIS the J.V. team, and because this same administration pulled all the troops out of Iraq?

All the deaths caused by suicide and drug overdoses because of the extensive lockdowns, especially of schools and children's organized sports.

All the deaths at nursing homes because Democrat governors ordered them to take COVID patients in. New York's Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Michigan's Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, and three other Democrat governors might as well have sent in people with loaded guns to kill the vulnerable residents, yet we haven't heard a word about those deaths from Blumenthal, or Sen. Chuck Schumer, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Sen. Dick Durbin, and all the others wanting to limit the Second Amendment.

Through March 22, 116 people have been murdered in Chicago, which has very strict gun laws and no gun shops. Yet Blumenthal, Schumer, House speaker Nancy Pelosi, Biden, Harris, and others haven't made any comments as far as I can tell. The flags haven't flown at half-mast. We don't see the names, ages, and races of those who are killed or the information about the people doing the killings. The majority of the victims are black, and the majority of the murderers are black, as they are every year in Chicago, so these deaths don't matter to Democrats because they don't fit the agenda.

The statistics in 2020 were the second worst in two decades, but somehow the media and other Democrats had little interest.

In Chicago, 116 people have been killed this year. That is 17 more than 2020. According to the Chicago Tribune:

The number of homicides and shootings in Chicago spiked dramatically in 2020, ending with more bloodshed than in all but one year in more than two decades, statistics released by police on Friday revealed. After three years of falling homicide totals, 2020 ended with 769 homicides  274 more than the previous year and the most since the 784 homicides in 2016. The latest shooting victim figures told the same story, with the year ending with 4,033 shooting victims compared with 2,598 the year before.

And in Houston, there's this news, too. And this.

Houston had many fewer murders than Chicago in 2020, 400 vs 769. They had 48% fewer murders with a population that is only 15% less.

What is amazing is that Houston has 1,500 places where you can buy guns, and Chicago supposedly has zero. So gun availability is certainly not the problem.

How many gun shops in Houston? According to Reuters:

The 1,500 figure came from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Their number includes all places where guns are sold in the area  discount stores, etc.

How many millions of people in underdeveloped countries throughout the world have died prematurely because radical leftists tell them not to use oil and coal?

Something we have not seen in Biden's press conference is any question asking him for justification to destroy the oil and coal industry because supposed journalists don't really care any more than they care about all the people being murdered in Chicago.

It is pathetic that Democrat policies are called progressive when everything they are proposing leads to more government control and that will lead to economic and societal collapse. Democrats pretend they want to unite the country when their policies and actions seek to divide us and to destroy or cancel anyone who disagrees with them. The swamp is very deep.

Image: Aldon Hynes via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0.
Hungarian President Janos Ader (R) meets with visiting Chinese State Councilor and Minister of National Defense Wei Fenghe in Budapest, Hungary, March 24, 2021. (Photo by Li Xiaowei/Xinhua)

BUDAPEST, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Hungarian President Janos Ader said here on Wednesday that he hoped Hungary and China will continue to strengthen cooperation on anti-pandemic, economy, trade, tourism and military affairs, and to promote the in-depth development of the Hungary-China comprehensive strategic partnership.

Ader made the remarks when meeting with visiting Chinese State Councilor and Minister of National Defense Wei Fenghe.

Hungary-China relations have developed rapidly and become closer in recent years, said Ader, adding that China's remarkable achievements in fighting COVID-19 and its post-pandemic economic recovery have drawn worldwide attention.

Ader thanked China for its vaccine support, which brought hope for Hungary to prevail over the pandemic.

During the meeting, Wei introduced China's recently-concluded "two sessions" and achievements in economic and social development.

China has always regarded Hungary as a good brother and partner and is willing to continue to strengthen cooperation with Hungary in various sectors, said Wei.

Wei also gave an introduction about the real situation of the construction and development in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, and refuted the lies and false accusations created by the United States and some other Western countries.

China firmly opposes and strongly condemns the unilateral sanctions imposed on China by the European Union, the United States, Britain, Canada and some other countries under the pretext of the so-called Xinjiang human rights issue, Wei said.

China appreciates Hungary's firm support and righteous words on Xinjiang-related issues and other issues concerning China's core interests, he noted.

Wei emphasized that China is willing to expand and strengthen military exchanges and cooperation with the Hungarian army so as to elevate the relations between the two militaries to a new level.

Hungarian Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjen met with Wei on the same day.

During his visit, Wei on Thursday held talks with Hungarian Defense Minister Tibor Benko. The two sides exchanged in-depth views on the relations between the two countries and two militaries, as well as the international and regional situations.

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Details for land purchase agreement should be ready by next week
President Ram Nath Kovind visited Army's Research and Referral (R&R) Hospital in New Delhi on Friday morning after he complained of chest discomfort. The President's condition is now stable, according to Army's Research and Referral (R&R) Hospital.

In a statement issued on Friday, Army's Research and Referral (R&R) Hospital confirmed that President Kovind had visited the hospital after he had complained of chest discomfort. The hospital further stated that the President has undergone routine tests and is currently under observation.

"President of India Shri Ram Nath Kovind visited Army Hospital (R&R) in New Delhi following chest discomfort this morning. He is undergoing routine check-ups and is under observation. His condition is stable," a medical bulletin issued by Army R&R Hospital said.

Earlier, President Kovind had extended greetings to President of Bangladesh Abdul Hamid and to the people of Bangladesh on the occasion of the nation's 50th Independence Day. "On behalf of the people of India and on my own behalf, I extend warm greetings and felicitations to Your Excellency, the Government and the people of Bangladesh on the occasion of your National Day. India and Bangladesh are celebrating 50 years of our exemplary and unique bilateral ties," said President Kovind, according to ANI.

President Kovind had taken the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine on March 3 at Army's Research and Referral (R&R) Hospital. "President thanked all doctors, nurses, health workers and administrators who are successfully implementing the largest vaccination drive in history and urged all eligible citizens to get vaccinated," the President's office had tweeted at that time.

Also read: COVID-19 vaccine for above 45-years-old: How to register on Aarogya Setu, Co-WIN site

Also read: COVID-19 in UP: Ramp up testing facilities at railway stations, airports, says Yogi Adityanath
PORTLAND, OR / ACCESSWIRE / March 26, 2021 / Cannalogix is honored to congratulate the California Senate for unanimously passing SB 311 this week. We would like to support and encourage the CA Assembly and Governor Newsom and his office to put this landmark bill into law and provide Californians much needed relief.

SB 311 (Ryan's Law) Compassionate Access to Medical Cannabis Act, will provide a long overdue and much needed change in policy, permitting our colleagues to be both compassionate and complicit in providing a higher quality of life to fellow Californians when they need it most. The Cannalogix Foundation Research Institute voices their complete support for SB 311, Ryan's Law.

Ryan's Law will lessen suffering and improve the quality of life for patients who are struggling at the end-of-life. It will also close a fundamental gap by providing a health care facility with legal protections so patients who choose to access cannabis in an in-patient setting have the ability to access and use their medical cannabis. While Ryan's Law will still prohibit smoking and vaping in health care facilities, medical cannabis will be allowed to be administered to terminally ill patients in an in-patient setting under certain restrictions.

SB 311 Ryan's Law provides the following: 1) clearance for healthcare facilities to reasonably restrict the manner in which a patient stores and uses medical cannabis, so as to ensure the safety of other patients, guests, providers and employees of the healthcare facility, 2) exclusion of patients who are receiving emergency care, nor state hospitals and 3) expressly prohibits smoking and vaping medical cannabis. Ryan's Law provides a safe harbor clause, allowing for healthcare facilities to suspend the program if there is any federal intervention. All of this is done to protect the health and safety of patients, employees and others.

Patients continue to be disproportionately discriminated against in the healthcare system, especially in regards to the right to choose your own method of wellness. Healthcare facilities must have a clear legal path to provide patients with access to medical cannabis while in their facilities. Ryan's Law provides that.

J.B. Creel, PgM, Cannalogix Foundation Research Institute's Director of Research and Development is quoted as saying, "Ryan's Law will illuminate the darkest of circumstances allowing patients to get access to the medicine they choose and actually have a quality of life at the end rather than having to suffer and die in agony. As a result, our communities will be safer, since there will be less prescription drugs that make it to the street by default. We encourage unified support for SB 311!"

Please take a moment to voice your support for SB 311 today by calling the California Assembly and Governor Newsom so that patients can get the relief they deserve.

Cannalogix Foundation Research Institute is a national nonprofit 501(c)(3) public charity dedicated to researching, developing and implementing leading edge solutions that lead to a cleaner environment, a healthier society and an environment capable of sustaining generations to come.

For more information, please contact:

MSOPlus

Public Relations

Sophaur One, EVP, Director of Communications

publicrelations@compassion-center.org

SOURCE: Compassion Center

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/637657/CANNALOGIX-Congratulates-The-California-Senate-For-Passing-Ryans-Law
Five Ugandan startups; Volcano Coffee, Uganics Repellants, MScan, Flip Africa and Ori Rides have been featured in the internationally-acclaimed Yale Africa Startup Reviews #YASR30, write SAMUEL KITARA & NAMWANJA LOUIS KIZITO.

Local entrepreneurs, accelerators and ecosystem partners will beam with excitement at the validation this provides for a hub they have long believed in. The Yale Africa Startup Review is a Yale alumni and student-led initiative on a mission to share stories of ingenuity and innovation to attract interested stakeholders to the African startup ecosystem.

The annual publication seeks to feature startups and founders redefining African business through innovation and entrepreneurship. The #YASR30 finalists were selected by a panel of esteemed judges that include leading African venture capitalists - after prior rounds of diligence by the editorial team.

Imagine you are a small-scale coffee farmer in Uganda growing coffee on less than an acre of land. You till your field for three years and harvest a fair crop but are offered a minute $0.67 (Shs 2,500) per kilo at the farm gate by rural middlemen. You can fetch a higher price if you can store and sell it when the price rises, but you lack storage facilities. You also know that you can get a better deal if you could de-hull and dry it, but you lack the technology.

So, the #YASR30 startup, Volcano Coffee, founded by Gerald Katabazi, offers farmers a stable market price based on fair-trade principles through contract farming arrangements that pay premium prices for agreed quality standards.

Volcano Coffee also dries and dehuls the beans to avert post-harvest losses and even offers roasting services to enable the farmers to capture more value and resell their coffee at a higher margin on the export market.

Meanwhile, there are about nine million Ugandans who operate in the invisible gig economy where there are high levels of exploitation. Without consistent income, these youth are unable to access social benefits schemes or mainstream financial services. On the other hand, small businesses rely on word-of-mouth to find talent.

FLIP Africa, another #YASR30 startup co-founded by Abu Musuuza, Neha Pandya and Timothy Laku, is a freelance marketplace where businesses can hire experienced, rated, short-term talent at the click of a button.

FLIP wants to unlock the great potential of the gig economy, while addressing the informality, illegality and exploitation associated with gig work. FLIP offers a revolutionary and scalable solution that not only ensures dignity, accountability and security, but also upward mobility in gig work.

So, what can the country do to ensure these startups become the norm, not the exception? What can we do to ensure that these companies survive and thrive?

Legal hurdles

A good start would be to rethink the registration and legal hurdles, internet irregularities and tax infrastructure that stifle innovators and entrepreneurs.

The National Information Technology Authority-Uganda (NITA-U) recently started requiring startups to certify with them. Although well-meaning in principle, this process adds extra fees and routine audits to cash-strapped startups without delivering much value. It is a barrier that increases the cost of doing business and discourages aspiring entrepreneurs.

Arbitrary internet shutdowns (such as seen recently) hurt technology startups that leverage the internet payments and social media networks in their business models. When the internet is shut down, the world notices, customers realize that that network isn't reliable and traffic patterns are re-routed. This may affect local startups looking to leverage the internet to scale their services and ultimately make them less attractive to financiers.

The government needs to come up with seed enterprise investment schemes (SEIS), where tax incentives are given to startups that are either raising venture capital or bootstrapping.

The ICT ministry should fund and provide free incubator-type workspaces in all government universities from Makerere to Gulu. In these spaces, aspiring student innovators should have unlimited access to the internet, computers, prototyping tools and drop-in mentors to co-mingle and ideate with.

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Uganda youth are brilliant and inventive; they will create their own informal structures and find the resources they need. Such simple steps would go a long way in creating a conducive environment for startups.

The Uganda Capital Markets Authority (CMA) has historically focused on private equity for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and on listed companies on the Uganda Securities Exchange. CMA should take a more proactive role in helping high-growth local startups by advancing policies like they have done for SMEs; by helping steward resources towards building university accelerators and equipping hubs, in collaboration with the ICT ministry.

Uganda's startup entrepreneurs are ready to build. Authorities can make it easier for them to do so by removing barriers and replacing them with strategic support systems.

Kitara is a co-founder and editor at YASR while Kizito serves as a general counsel for several Ugandan tech startups.
CHIEF Justice (CJ), Prof Ibrahim Juma and several lawyers in the legal fraternity expressed their shock and disbelief on an untimely death of the President Dr John Magufuli on 17th this month.

Prof Juma explained that Judiciary's management and all its staff join Tanzanians in mourning the tragedy that has befallen on nation, adding that following the tragedy, the Judiciary of Tanzania extends its condolences to the President, Mama Samia Suluhu Hassan, and all government officials.

"President Magufuli will be remembered for his contribution to the Judiciary, including strengthening the Judiciary's infrastructure and the fight against corruption by facilitating the establishment of the Economic, Corruption and Organised Crime Division of the High Court of Tanzania," he said.

On his part, long serving advocate Michael Ngalo said the death of President Magufuli was a big loss to the whole nation, saying: "I received the news of the untimely death of President Magufuli with total disbelief because in his last public appearances he didn't look sick. Rather he looked energetic and jovial as he always did in public past gatherings."

Elaborating, Mr Ngalo distinguishes Dr Magufuli from the rest of the other leaders due to his bravery, daring, openness, honesty, strictness and God fearing attitudes, adding that he was a no-nonsense leader when it came to performance of his duties, and that has left a legacy of his own in the history of the country.

According to him, being in the legal profession he was aware of President Magufuli's role and what he contributed to the legal sector in the country.

"He supported and made sure that the courts' working conditions and infrastructure were improved and also approved funds to implement and achieve the improvements. He appointed a good number of judges in efforts to ensure that the judiciary was well staffed," the lawyer said.

Advocate Ngalo described Dr Magufuli as a person, who was always touched by injustice, especially the ones he received as complaints from members of the public, adding that he had to get their instant solutions. Former Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Mr Augustine Shio, expressed almost similar position, but still wondered how this country would move forward after President Magufuli.

Mr Shio, who is currently an Advocate of the High Court, eulogized Dr Magufuli as a man who took the country from the lowest place to the high position and that is why Tanzania reached the middle class income.

"It is true that everyone will leave this world, but for our President, even if I look at his 61-year-old age, it was still a working age. There are several development projects he had set up, notably the SGR and Julius Nyerere Hydropower Station, also called Rufiji Hydroelectric Power Station," he said.

He, thus, went on asking where another person like this leader will come from to extend the initiatives he had established and to fulfill his dreams. This is because, he said, President Magufuli was a slightly different person; he was thinking big things and was implementing them very fast.

"I appreciate his performance and how he was running the country. Now I wonder who among the leaders is going to continue with his speed on these unfinished projects. There is a lot of money that has been invested. But let us remain united and pray for his successor and I believe we will succeed," he said.

Another seasoned lawyer Hudson Ndusyepo said that most Tanzanians had seen President Magufuli as a unique leader, adding: "The news of his death really shocked us as Tanzanians, because we had put ourselves in the position that he will not die unless he completed his work and fulfilled promises to the nation," he said.

On his part, another long serving member of the bar, Mr Cuthbert Tenga, said that Tanzanians will remember him as a leader who was making decisions and was implementing them without fearing or favouring anybody.

"Decisions are crucial in leadership and you make decisions and implement them. Our president supervised his decisions and cleared the government machinery. He was able to control the government and shown us that it is possible for a leader to run the government if he wants to," he said.

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As far as justice is concerned, the Advocate pointed out that Dr Magufiuli showed that real justice needs a true independent judiciary for the country to dispense justice and give the people hope that their problems will be heard and resolved without any external interference.

Upcoming youthful lawyer Jonathan Mbuga said that he would remember President Magufuli for supporting the Judiciary in ensuring that it perfumed its obligations as per the constitution effectively. According to him, he made appointment of judges of youth age, who have improved efficiency.

He pointed out further that Dr Magufuli created a system of accountability to all public servants, which also extended to all judicial officers, with judges and magistrate inclusive. The lawyer explained that the former head of state also played a great role in improvement of infrastructure in the Judiciary.
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Instead, he said this: Rolling back the policies of separating children from their mothers? I make no apology for that. Rolling back the policies of Remain in Mexico, sitting on the edge of the Rio Grande in a muddy circumstance with not enough to eat? I make no apologies for that. I make no apologies for ending programs that did not exist before Trump became president that have an incredibly negative impact on the law, international law, as well as on human dignity.
Three undergraduate researchers selected for elite Goldwater Scholars Program

Goldwater Scholars: William & Marys Goldwater Scholars for 2021 are (from left) Titouan Duston,Elizabeth Li and Luke Mrini. Mrini is a rare sophomore Goldwater Scholar. Courtesy photo/Photos by Stephen Salpukas Photo - of - Hide Caption

Three William & Mary students have been named Goldwater Scholars, joining a select group of undergraduates studying the natural sciences, mathematics and engineering.

William & Marys Goldwater Scholars for 2021 are Titouan Duston 22, Elizabeth Li 21 and Luke Mrini 23. The awardees outlined their career goals in their applications for the Goldwater: Duston intends to pursue research in physical and computational chemistry and earn a Ph.D. to teach at a university level. Li says that she is aiming for a M.D./Ph.D.in systems biology to work at the intersection of medicine and research. Mrini will work toward a Ph.D. to teach at the university level and conduct research in high-energy theoretical physics.

We are extremely proud of all of our winners this year and were particularly excited that so many disciplines are represented, said Lindsey Love. Having our students win Goldwater Scholarships is a reflection of the outstanding undergraduate research experience at William & Mary.

Love is the universitys representative to the Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation as well as the director of National Scholarships at William & Marys Roy R. Charles Center. She points out that having three Goldwater Scholars is a mark of pride for William & Mary, as rules for Goldwater Scholars permit an institution to nominate only four students  five, if one of the nominees is a transfer student.

The Goldwater Foundation stated in a March 26 press release announcing the scholarships that the 410 honorees were selected from 1,256 natural science, engineering and mathematics students nominated by 438 academic institutions. The release noted that past Goldwater Scholars have been awarded 94 Rhodes Scholarships, 150 Marshall Scholarships, 170 Churchill Scholarships, 109 Hertz Fellowships, and numerous other distinguished awards such as the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships.

The Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation was established by Congress in 1986

Titouan Duston

Titouan Duston listed participation in three ongoing research projects with faculty in William & Marys Department of Chemistry. One led to a paper published in a peer-reviewed journal, with Duston as co-author.

Since early on, Ive known that my interests lie on the border between chemistry and physics. At this level, science allows us to understand and describe chemical interactions at their most fundamental level. Im most interested in studying the dynamics of chemical reactions, Duston wrote in his Goldwater application. Unfortunately, there is no undergraduate course of study which lies between chemistry and physics; thus, Ive opted to study both. This decision has done me well as my most enlightening courses thus far have come from both the physics and chemistry departments.

Robert Pike, professor of chemistry, mentored Duston in his research and the two are co-authors on a paper. Pike said that Duston showed promise beginning in his freshman year.

Experimental design seemed to come very naturally to him, Pike wrote in his letter of endorsement. This is very unusual ability in a senior research student, let alone a freshman.

Another chemist, Nathan Kidwell, pointed out that Duston was the first sophomore to take his Physical Chemistry course  and earned the highest grade in the class. Duston joined Kidwells lab, proving to be a valued contributor.

Primarily on his own, he has learned the theory and process of calculating theoretical calculations to predict the absorption properties and outcomes of molecular chromophores in brown carbon aerosols, Kidwell wrote. These flexible nitrogen-heterocycles are implicated as major light-absorbing molecules that steer the optical properties of brown carbon aerosols.

Beverly Sher, senior lecturer in chemistry, wrote about Dustons contributions to her interdisciplinary journal club course which focused on papers about the human microbiota.

Titouan was the only student in the class who had not taken any biology courses in college, she wrote. His strength in chemistry, though, helped him to make important contributions to class discussion, as he often noticed important details that his more biologically-oriented classmates missed, and his lack of biological preconceptions, as well as his comfort with asking questions to which he did not already know the answers, helped his peers understand each of the papers we read more deeply.

Elizabeth Li

Elizabeth Li wrote in her application that she first heard about synthetic biology from her high school biology teacher. It was less than a decade after the first self-replicating synthetic bacterial cell had been achieved.

Everything felt so awe-inducing as I first opened my eyes to this field and this fascination only continued to grow as I learned more about researchers redesigning cells, tissues and whole organisms using a synthetic biology toolkit, she wrote.

She joined the lab of Chancellor Professor of Biology Margaret Saha her freshman year and worked up to taking the lead on a project. Saha told the Goldwater Foundation how Li dug into the work.

Over the course of the year Elizabeth designed a project that would build a circuit that would be able to sense, count and record, using CRISPR technology, the number of calcium transients in the cell, Saha wrote. Currently there are no effective ways to record the number of calcium spikes in living cells, spiking which can determine the phenotype of these cells.

Saha wrote that Li made such progress on her creative solution that she presented her work at a synthetic biology conference and again at the national meeting of the American Society for Cell Biology.

Paul Heideman, Boles-Ash Distinguished Professor of Biology, presented another side of Li, telling the Goldwater committee about her record as a scholar as well a communicator. He noted that Li added an education course and a creative writing course to her slate of classes and immersed herself into teaching through involvement with the universitys TutorZone program.

Elizabeths experience in teaching with TutorZone has increased her interest in effective communication in science, Heideman wrote. She has talked with me about using multi-media approaches as part of teaching and communication, frequently borrowing ideas and observations from her professors to help with her own tutoring.

Beverly Sher wrote that Li enrolled in her freshman seminar, CHEM 150: Emerging Diseases, and said she became Lis pre-medical advisor that same year. Sher said the two of them talked frequently and Li was a valued member of the CHEM 460 journal club.

Her participation in my informal summer COVID-19 journal club was also highly productive, and her fellow students learned a great deal from her thoughtful comments on the papers we discussed, Sher wrote. Elizabeth is a fine critical reader who consistently picks up on details that other students miss, and she also excels at seeing how a single research paper fits into the bigger picture of its scientific field.

Luke Mrini

Luke Mrini wants to drill down into the fundamental nature of the physical world through pursuit of such phenomenon as quantum gravity, particle physics, cosmology and foundational quantum mechanics. He has joined the high energy theory group at William & Mary, working most often with Joshua Erlich, professor of physics, but Mrini also has participated in experimental physics most notably at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C.

Erlich wrote that he first met Mrini even before he enrolled at William & Mary. Mrini was a prospective student and struck me as surprisingly knowledgeable and ambitious, Erlich recalled. Once enrolled, Mrini jumped into the most challenging courses. Erlich related that he tried to put on the brakes.

Practically as soon as he arrived on campus, Luke wanted to begin physics research, Erlich wrote. I recommended that he first get his bearings with the rigors of William & Mary academics, but given how smoothly he had been sailing through his courses I gave him a project in his second semester.

That project led to a quantum gravity paper co-authored with Erlich and a more-senior student, submitted and under review at a peer-reviewed journal. Christopher Monahan, assistant professor of physics at William & Mary, also wrote in support of Mrinis candidacy.

During one lecture, I asked the class of 23 students if anyone had questions, Monahan related. Luke duly raised his hand, as was typical for the class, and proceeded to ask three insightful, challenging questions that related conceptual aspects of quantum mechanics to quantum theory in curved spacetime, none of which I could answer without further thought after the class. Unable to answer Lukes questions on the spot, I then asked the classto some laughterwhether anyone had any easier questions that I could actually answer.

Mrini also received plaudits from Joe Penano, head of the directed energy physics branch at the Naval Research Laboratory. Penano wrote that Mrini worked in his lab on two occasions, beginning as a high school junior.

As a scientist and as a person, what impresses me the most about Luke is his desire to seek a deeper understanding of things. He is usually not satisfied with what he learns in the classroom and will often explore difficult concepts on his own, from different viewpoints, with analytic rigor that would intimidate most other students, Penano wrote. He is genuinely curious; our car rides home were filled with spirited discussions of various topics he had been thinking about. Several times I had to confess that I didnt have the intellectual bandwidth to carry on the conversation and drive at the same time.
English Lithuanian

Ordinary General meeting of LITGRID AB shareholders is summoned on 20 April 2021, 10:00 am (company code 302564383, registered at Virsuliskiu skg. 99B, Vilnius). The meeting will be held at room 229, at Virsuliskiu skg. 99B, Vilnius. Beginning of shareholders' registration: 20 April 2021, 9:30. End of shareholders' registration: 20 April 2021, 9:55.

Taking into account that the quarantine announced in the territory of the Republic of Lithuania by Government Resolution No. 1226 of 4 November 2020 includes the day of the Shareholders Meeting Day, the management of the Company strongly urges the Company's shareholders to vote on the agenda items in writing, by filling voting ballot. More information on shareholders' rights and obligations is provided below in this announcement.

The record date of the ordinary general meeting of shareholders has been set for 13 April 2021. The right of participation and voting in the ordinary general meeting of shareholders can be exercised only by the persons who remain shareholders of LITGRID AB by the end of the record date of the ordinary general meeting of shareholders.

The record date of rights of the ordinary general meeting has been set for 4 May 2021. The shareholders property rights provided for in Article 15 (1) Items 1-4 of the Law of Companies of the Republic of Lithuania will be exercised only by the persons who remain the company shareholders at the end of the record date of the rights of the meeting.

Agenda and proposed draft resolutions of the general meeting of shareholders:

LITGRID AB annual report for 2020.

The decision of the General Meeting of Shareholders is not required. The annual report of LITGRID AB on the activities of the company for 2020 is taken into account. (Annex No. 1)

Independent auditor's report on LITGRID AB 2020 set of financial statements and annual report

A decision of the general meeting of shareholders is not required. The general meeting of shareholders should take into consideration the opinion presented in the independent auditors report for LITGRID AB shareholders when deciding on approval of LITGRID AB complete set of consolidated and company financial statements for 2020 (Annex 1).

LITGRID AB 2020 m. approval of a set of financial statements

Proposed resolution:

To approve the set of financial statements of LITGRID AB of 2020 (attached).

LITGRID AB 2020 m. approval of profit distribution

Proposed resolution:

To approve the profit distribution of LITGRID AB of 2020 (attached).

Regarding the approval of LITGRID AB in 2020. remuneration report

Proposed resolution:

To approve the remuneration report of LITGRID AB of 2020, which is part of the annual LITGRID AB 2020 report. (attached).

The shareholders may familiarize themselves with the Draft Resolutions of the General Meeting of Shareholders and supplementary material thereof, also with the implementation of the shareholders rights on the Central Database of Regulated Information www.crib.lt and at Companys website www.litgrid.eu.

The shareholders of the Company, whose shares are entitled to at least 1/20 of the total number of votes, shall have the right to supplement the agenda for the Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders. The proposal to supplement the agenda shall be submitted in writing and sent by registered mail or delivered to the head office of the Company to the address: Virsuliskiu skg. 99B, LT-05131 Vilnius (the Head Office). Draft Resolutions on the proposed issues or, when it is not mandatory to adopt resolutions, explanatory notes on each proposed issue of the agenda of the Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders must be presented alongside with the proposal. The agenda will be supplemented if the proposal is received not later than on 6 April 2021.

The shareholders entitled to at least 1/20 of the total number of votes shall have the right, at any time before the Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders or during the Meeting, to propose in writing new draft resolutions on the items put on the agenda of the Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders. Such a proposals must be executed in writing and sent to the Company by registered mail or delivered to the Head Office of the Company. The proposal submitted during the course of the Meeting must be executed in writing and handed over to the Secretary of the Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders.

The shareholders shall have the right to submit questions to the Company in advance, but not later than on 13 April 2021, in relation to the issues on the agenda of the Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders to be held on 11 January 2021. Questions must be executed in writing and delivered to the Company by registered mail or to the Head Office of the Company. The Company will not present any answer to the question submitted by a shareholder personally to him in the case relevant information is available on the Companys website www.litgrid.eu.

Any shareholder shall be entitled to authorize a natural or legal person to participate and vote in his name at the General Meeting of Shareholders. The proxy of the shareholder must present the document confirming the persons identity and the certified Power of Attorney issued and valid in accordance with the law, which must be delivered to the Head Office not later than before the end of the registration of the attendees of the Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders. During the Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders, the proxy exercises the same rights as the shareholder he is representing should. The form of the Power of Attorney to represent at the General Meeting of Shareholders is available on the website of the Company: www.litgrid.eu.

On the issues on the agenda of the Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders, the Shareholders may vote in writing by filling in a General Ballot Paper. On the shareholders request, the Company, not later than 10 days before the day of the Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders, will send a General Ballot Paper by registered mail free of charge or submit it in person against signature to the shareholder. The shareholder or his proxy must undersign the filled in General Ballot Paper. If the General Ballot Paper is signed by a person who is not a shareholder, a document certifying his right to vote must be appended to the filled in Ballot Paper. The duly filled in General Ballot Paper must be delivered to the Company by registered mail or submitted against signature at the Head Office not later than before the end of registration of the attendees of the General Meeting of Shareholders. The form of the General Ballot Paper is available on the website of the Company: www.litgrid.eu.

On the day of convocation of the Extraordinary General Meeting of the Shareholders the total number of shares was 504 331 380. All these shares grant voting right.

Information referred to in Articles 26 and 261 of the Law on Companies of the Republic of Lithuania shall be available on the website of the Company: www.litgrid.eu. Information about the additions to the agenda, as well as decisions made by the general meeting shall be also available on the Central Database of Regulated Information www.crib.lt.

Annexes:

LITGRID AB financial statements for 2020, prepared in accordance with the International Financial Reporting Standards adopted by the European Union, together with the conclusion of the independent auditor and annual report; Profit (loss) distribution project for 2020; Voting ballot. LITGRID AB Power of Attorney Form

The individual authorized by LITGRID AB to provide additional information:

Jurga Eivaite

Project manager

Communication Division

Phone: +370 613 19977

e-mail: jurga.eivaite@litgrid.eu

Attachments
LOS ANGELESAVN Media Network is pleased to announce the launch of the Spring Break Siren Contest on AVN Stars.

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Industry Update

Appointment

26 March 2021

Anthony Berkau

Named General Manager

At Willows Lodge in Woodinville - WA, USA

BENCHMARK, a global hospitality company, has named Anthony Berkau general manager for Willows Lodge, a Gemstone Collection property located in Woodinville, Washington State's renowned wine country. Greg Champion, Benchmark's president & COO, made the announcement. Anthony Berkau comes to his new role at Willows Lodge with two decades of distinguished hospitality industry experience. He previously held the position of lodge manager for Willows Lodge. Prior to this he served as the property's director of food and beverage, leading an award-winning culinary and wine program. Mr. Berkau originally joined Willows Lodge as the hotel's wine director. He resides in Snohomish, Washington, with his family.

BENCHMARK BENCHMARK, a global hospitality company, is a trailblazer in the development, management, marketing and owner-advisory services of resorts, hotels, conference centers and exclusive private clubs. In addition to the companys established, iconic Benchmark Resorts & Hotels portfolio, the newly-branded Gemstone Collection is a distinctive luxury portfolio of independent hotels & resorts in highly select and preferred destinations. more information

Recent Appointments at Benchmark Clayton van Hooijdonk - Resort Manager 3 June 2021  Turtle Bay Resort has named Clayton van Hooijdonk to the position of resort manager for this landmark property situated on Oahu's legendary North Shore. The resort is currently being reimagined and will open on July 1, 2021. read more

Claire Lieberman - Vice President, Development 5 May 2021  BENCHMARK a global hospitality company, today announces the promotion of Claire Lieberman to vice president of business development. As a leader within Benchmark's robust development team, Lieberman will drive forward the continual growth of the Texas-based management company that operates more than 80 assets worldwide. read more
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-26 14:34:09|Editor: huaxia

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UNITED NATIONS, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Washington will "re-open diplomatic channels of communication" with Palestine that has been cut off under the previous Donald Trump administration, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the Security Council on Thursday.

"Since January, our diplomatic engagement has been guided by the premise that sustainable progress toward peace must be based on active consultations with both sides," Thomas-Greenfield told the Security Council video-conference briefing on the Israeli-Palestinian issue.

"To that end, our administration will take steps to re-open diplomatic channels of communication that were halted during the last administration," the envoy added. "Our engagements all have the same aim: to build support for a peaceful solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict."

Thomas-Greenfield, while expressing her country's "continued support for Israel," noted that the United States wishes to "see both Israelis and Palestinians take steps toward a two-state solution."

On the two-state solution, the U.S. ambassador said, "under President Biden's leadership, the United States has recommitted to the vision of a mutually agreed two-state solution, one in which Israel lives in peace and security alongside a viable Palestinian state."

"We believe this vision is the best way to ensure Israel's future as a democratic and Jewish state, while upholding the Palestinian people's legitimate aspirations for a state of their own and to live with dignity and security," she said.

Thomas-Greenfield noted that Biden is restoring U.S. assistance programs that support economic development and humanitarian aid for the Palestinian people.

"Specifically, the United States is pleased to announce today 15 million U.S. dollars in humanitarian assistance to support the most vulnerable communities in the West Bank and Gaza," she added.

Former U.S. President Trump cut hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to Palestinians, and during his administration, diplomatic contacts with Palestinians came to a virtual halt.

After Trump declared Jerusalem the capital of Israel in December 2017, the Palestinian Authority broke off all official relations with the White House and the State Department, though security cooperation continued. Enditem
Chennai, March 26 : The Tiruchirappalli based ICAR-National Research Centre for Banana (NRCB) is hopeful that the shipment of 10 ton of Nendran banana sent by sea from Kerala reaches UK safely soon and exporters start the sea route, said a top official.

"We had developed special protocol for sending bananas by sea. One consignment of bananas reached Dubai. Then the Vegetable and Fruit Promotion Council - Keralam had requested us to develop the protocol for Nendran banana variety for shipment to UK," S.Uma, Director, NRCB told IANS.

Kerala is famous for the Nendran banana variety and it is used for making chips and others.

She said freight cost of banana can be brought down drastically if the export consignment is sent by a ship instead of air lifting the same.

Uma said the protocol followed for the sea shipment includes scientific preharvest bunch care management like micronutrients, growth regulators, male flower removal, covering the bunch and others.

According to her, airlifted bananas may not be of uniform maturity and may not match with international grading standards.

The Nendran banana sent to the UK is for the Indian expats there targeting the Malayalam New Year Vishu that will be celebrated on April 14.
A man was caught moving over 68,000 of heroin to assist his step-son who had a drug debt and was later shot dead, a court has heard.

Peter Finnegan (37) agreed to move the drugs in his car in June 2018 to help his step-son Jordan Davis (22) who had amassed at one stage a drug debt of 150,000.

The family home was attacked many times due to this debt.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that Mr Davis was shot dead on May 22, 2019 while he was wheeling his four month old baby in a buggy.

Finnegan with an address at Foxhill Green, Ayrfield, pleaded guilty to possession of heroin for sale or supply at Foxfield Avenue, Ayrfield, on June 10, 2018. He has no previous convictions.

Judge Martin Nolan said he thought the level of culpability of the accused was very low. He sentenced Finnegan to four years imprisonment, but suspended the entirety of the sentence on strict conditions.

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During the sentencing hearing yesterday, Garda Neil Plunkett told Caroline Cummings BL, prosecuting, that on foot of information gardai put an operation in place on the date in question and followed a car driven by the accused man.

Gda Plunkett said that when the car was stopped, Finnegan told gardai there was a red bag in the car which contained drugs. The total value of the heroin found in this bag was 68,600.

In interview with gardai, Finnegan denied that he had indicated that a bag was present when he was stopped and denied all knowledge of the bag.

His DNA was later located on the handles of the bag.

Gda Plunkett agreed with Anne Rowland SC, defending, that her client was the step-father of Mr Davis who became addicted to drugs and amassed a drug debt.

He agreed that in May 2019, Mr Davis was shot dead in broad daylight while wheeling his four month old baby in a buggy.

The garda agreed with counsel that her client was moving the drugs to help with his step-son's drug debt.

He agreed that the family home had been attacked many times due to this debt.

Ms Rowland said her client has a severe intellectual disability.

She said a forensic psychological report concluded that only 0.1% of the population would have lower intellectual capabilities than her client.

Counsel said her client has surmounted his difficulties and is able to work five days a week. She said his money is spent on his children and none of it is spent on himself.

Ms Rowland said at one stage Mr Davis told his step-father that he owed a debt of 150 and her client put his hands in his pockets and said he could give him 150.

Mr Davis replied that he owed a drug debt of 150,000.

Judge Nolan said he accepted the defence's submission that Finnegan was prevailed upon to carry these drugs to help his step-son.

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YEREVAN, MARCH 26, ARMENPRESS. The opposition Prosperous Armenia (BHK) party believes that given the current challenges it is time for Armenia to sign a new military-political alliance with Russia, the partys lawmaker Naira Zohrabyan told reporters.

She also commented on the Artsakh parliaments decision on making Russian an official language of the country.

We must realize the delicacy of the situation. Armenian remains the state language there, while Russian becomes the second language. After the loss of 75% of Artsakh, lets be honest, today Russia has an immeasurably big role also as the guarantor of Artsakhs security, she said.

Zohrabyan cited BHK leader Gagik Tsarukyans statement, saying: Taking into consideration all the challenges that the region and namely Armenia are facing today, we believe that it is indeed the time to sign a new military-political alliance with Russia.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan
WESTPORT  The town has six years to submit a legal challenge to the Federal Railroad Administrations plans to expand the Greens Farms Train Station according to First Selectman Jim Marpe.

The Federal Railroad Administration approved a modified Greens Farms station in July in its Northeast Corridor Reason of Decision outlining the Northeast Corridor rail plan.

The NEC project, which would connect Washington, D.C., to Boston with high-speed train infrastructure, plans to expand the Greens Farms train station in an effort to equip the station to serve as a transfer point along the rail-line.

I have been very concerned about the development of this plan and its consequences for Westport. I have been meeting with elected leaders from Fairfield County and representatives from Sen. (Richard) Blumenthals office in an effort to coordinate a strong and united approach that we can take to the Federal Railroad Administration regarding our concerns, Marpe said.

Following up on his concerns, Marpe requested Town Attorney Ira Bloom of the law firm Berchem Moses PC of Milford review the statute of limitations for appealing the ROD. In turn, Bloom reached out to the law firm Aikin Gump, which is knowledgeable in matters concerning federal regulation.

Gump researched the issue and recently announced the opinion that legal challenge to the ROD must be filed within six years, which is a statute of limitations much longer than the previously assumed Dec. 7, 2017 appeal deadline based on the 150 days from the ROD Federal Record listing.

Nonetheless, Bloom said he and Marpe hope to move forward in challenging the station plan.

He wants to move on this. We want to get some sort of clarification as to this suggestion that Greens Farms might be appropriate for an expanded station, Bloom said.

Marpe expressed similar sentiments as Bloom.

This gives the the town ample time to continue to negotiate with the Federal Railroad Administration, but it is certainly not an invitation to let the issue take a back seat. We are committed to getting the FRA to remove any reference to a modified Greens Farms Station and engage them on focusing on achieving a state of good repairs for the Northeast Corridor, Marpe said.

In addition to improving Amtraks Northeast Corridor, Marpe called for Government investment in the Metro-North system to increase train speeds from Westport to New York City.

District 5 Representative Town Meeting member Greg Kraut, who represents Greens Farms, said hes pleased by the increased timeline for challenging the modified station.

The Greens Farms trains station is iconic and in my opinion needs to be preserved, Kraut said.

Similar to Marpe, Kraut wants to turn focus to quickening the commute to NYC. I am all for a faster and safer commute time to NYC, since I am a frequent user. There are a significant amount of residents who relocate from NYC and its also one of the main reasons why people dont move here, Kraut said.
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Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State said his administration has no plan to ban commercial motocyclists in the state.

Mr Makinde made this known on Friday during the inauguration of a newly constructed ultra-modern commercial motocyclist and tricycle loading points in Ibadan.

He said his administration would re-organise and coordinate the operations of Okada and tricycle riders to conform with modern ways of doing transport business.

The governor maintained that when properly organised, it would be easy to differentiate individuals doing other businesses from commercial motorcycles and tricycles business operators.

He said the loading points would facilitate easy transportation of residents in the state capital.

Mr Makinde said the loading points were designed as a pilot scheme, saying that if the units are used judiciously, the initiative would be replicated throughout the state.

He also enjoined Keke and Okada riders to do away with those using motorcycles and tricycles to commit crimes.

We also want you to be coordinated and organised. I already told the people in charge to install solar lights here so that you can all do your businesses comfortably at night.

We have security challenges and I must say that Okada and tricycle operators have to help the government.

When you are organised, you can fish out those who are using Okada and tricycles to commit crimes and hand them over to the law enforcement agencies, the governor said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that some of the motorcycle/ tricycle operators plying Beere -Gate  Iwo road appreciated the Oyo State government for the construction of the loading points and called for more of it.

One Mukaila Jimoh, an okada rider and Ezekiel Olabode, a tricycle operator, said the loading points would enhance their operations.

Mr Jimoh said the loading points would make it easy for okada operators to abide with the regulation of one passenger per bike, and other regulations guiding their operations.

Mr Olabode, on his part, said the loading points would enable them to know genuine and registered tricycle operators from Intruders.( NAN)
[March 26, 2021] Kraig Biocraft Laboratories Secures $4 Million Dollars of Expansion Capital

ANN ARBOR, Mich., March 26, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kraig Biocraft Laboratories, Inc. (OTCQB: KBLB) (Company or Kraig Labs), announced today that it has secured $4 million dollars of expansion capital. This financing significantly strengthens the Companys balance sheet and supports its progress in the commercialization and sale of recombinant spider silk.

This is a major financial milestone for Kraig. For many years we have operated on a shoestring budget, building a solid foundation with our spider silk production system. We are now prepared to reap the rewards of that careful investment with opportunities to put this capital to work building materials, products and brands, said CEO and Founder, Kim Thompson. To view the most recent news from Kraig Labs and/or to sign up for Company alerts, please go to www.KraigLabs.com/news About Kraig Biocraft Laboratories, Inc. Kraig Biocraft aboratories, Inc. (www.KraigLabs.com), a fully reporting biotechnology company, is a developer of genetically engineered spider silk based fiber technologies.



Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward Looking Information Statements in this press release about the Companys future and expectations other than historical facts are forward-looking statements. These statements are made on the basis of managements current views and assumptions. As a result, there can be no assurance that managements expectations will necessarily come to pass. These forward-looking statements generally can be identified by phrases such as believes, plans, expects, anticipates, foresees, estimated, hopes, if, develops, researching, research, pilot, potential, could or other words or phrases of similar import. Forward looking statements include descriptions of the Companys business strategy, outlook, objectives, plans, intentions and goals. All such forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. Except as required by law, the Company does not undertake any responsibility to revise or update any forward-looking statements.

This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of, these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to the registration or qualification under the securities laws of such state or jurisdiction. Ben Hansel, Hansel Capital, LLC

(720) 288-8495

ir@KraigLabs.com



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A year after the pandemic began, and as Manitoba approaches a third wave of COVID-19 cases, front-line nurses are finally being asked for their input.

A year after the pandemic began, and as Manitoba approaches a third wave of COVID-19 cases, front-line nurses are finally being asked for their input.

A working group, which involves nurses who work in the medical intensive care unit at Health Sciences Centre, was established in the past month and recently started to meet, the Free Press has confirmed.

It was prompted by an outpouring of concerns that patients werent getting quality care because the nursing team was desperately under-staffed during a surge of hospitalizations in the fall, and patient-to-nurse ratios were tripled, without nurses being consulted.

Meanwhile, other nurses who were untrained in the critical-care specialty were sent to help out, but didnt have the necessary skills and were traumatized by the high-pressure work of constantly monitoring extremely ill patients.

Previously, critical care nurses at HSC, which has the highest number of ICU beds in Manitoba, werent involved in pandemic planning and felt their concerns werent being heard, said a nurse who has decades of experience.

She, like many other nurses whove taken the rare step of speaking to reporters during the pandemic, is afraid shell face repercussions if her identity becomes known. Some of her colleagues have quit; others have threatened to leave.

"They acknowledged that we never really had a voice in any planning," the nurse said.

"Our staffing, our ratios, things that affected us directly, and we were never included in that conversation."

The committee was formed in the wake of news reports about the working conditions in intensive care, and followed months of nurses voicing their concerns privately and in open letters to their employers.

At the height of the second wave in the fall and early winter, non-specialized "extender" nurses were assigned to the ICU, and experienced nurses were expected to use their help to look after up to three patients at a time, instead of just one. A one-to-one ratio is standard in critical care, but even as hospitalizations have recently declined, nurses in the unit are regularly assigned to two patients at a time.

If front-line nurses had been able to weigh in on the plans ahead of time, they could have warned against them and found another way to cope with the surge of COVID-19 patients, the ICU nurse says, pointing out their daily work requires them to manage life-or-death situations.

"We need more critical care nurses. And we know its not going to be (a ratio of) one to one. Sit down with us. Ask us what we think, whats the solution, and well come up with one," she said.

"They left us in a really bad situation, and it didnt have to be this bad."

She hopes the situation will start to improve, but shes bracing for a third wave.

Management has received nurses feedback about the need to improve unit orientation for redeployed nurses, provide mental health support for new and existing staff, and make "strategic changes" to the assignments of patients and nurses, a Shared Health spokeswoman confirmed in a statement.

When asked whether nurses had been invited to take part in pandemic planning over the past year, Shared Health said planning was done by critical-care leadership.

"Its important to emphasize that detailed planning and preparations in response to COVID-19 have been ongoing for more than a year. This has included representatives from various areas of the health system, as well as clinical leaders and experts in critical care units. The critical care leadership team continues to monitor the provincial situation through daily huddles, tracking issues as they emerge and identifying solutions across units to share progress and maintain transparency with staff," the statement said.

"We know this past year has placed unprecedented pressure on our health-care providers. We are deeply committed to working collaboratively with them to ensure we learn from their lived experiences and build upon them as opportunities to improve our ability to provide hiqh-quality, safe patient care."

The Manitoba Nurses Union said nurses should have been consulted months ago.

"The time for a working group was at the onset of the pandemic. MNU has repeatedly said that nurses should need to be a part of the discussions before the crisis hits  not months after. Burning out a precious resource such as ICU nurses should alarm everyone who cares about health care."

NDP health critic Uzoma Asagwara, a former nurse, has been hearing from nurses for months that they are burnt out and patient safety is at risk.

"We must listen to these front-line service professionals, who are experts in what they do, and implement their recommendations," Asagwara said.

On Thursday, there were 30 Manitobans in intensive care, roughly half of the patient volume ICUs had near the peak of the second wave.

katie.may@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @thatkatiemay
Rome, March 26 : Events were held across Italy to commemorate the 700th birth anniversary of poet Dante Alighieri, whose "The Divine Comedy" is deemed the most important poem of the Middle Ages and the greatest literary work in the Italian language.

More than 100 events were held on Thursday after March 25 was decreed as a National Day ("Dantedi") last year, reports Xinhua news agency.

"His coherence must be a model for us," President Sergio Mattarella said in an interview with the country's leading daily Il Corriere della Sera.

"Although I'm not fully convinced of the opportunity to actualise historical figures and to compare the medieval country to what Italy is today, I think we must emphasize his (Dante's) ability to transcend his own times and provide teachings that are forever valid," he explained.

Mattarella said that Dante has been "a point of reference and a source of inspiration for generations of Italians, regardless of their specific situation across the different centuries and ages".

Dante was a poet, a renowned scholar and a philosopher.

He was born in Florence in 1265. He is primarily known as the author of "The Divine Comedy", an epic poem divided into three books of equal length and considered by critics and historians to be the pre-eminent work in Italian.

The largest celebrations on Thursday were held in Florence, Verona and Ravenna, the three Italian cities that hosted and protected Dante during his turbulent life.

Florence was his birthplace; in Verona, he stayed after fleeing Florence and that is where his descendants still live; and he spent his last years in Ravenna, where his tomb is also located.

In the city of Parma (Italy's Capital of Culture in 2020-2021), a complete series of illustrations of "The Divine Comedy" was on display, and an exhibition in Forli brought together depictions of Dante's image by ancient and modern artists.

All events on Thursday were restricted and many were held online due to the coronavirus measures currently in force in the country.

The celebrations will continue throughout the year with numerous conferences, lectures, readings and shows.
MUSKEGON, MI  A former Sons of Norway lodge soon will become a cannabis retail store, consumption lounge and grow operation.

The former lodge at the corner of Harvey Street and Marquette Avenue on Muskegons north side recently was added to the citys marijuana overlay district.

It will be operated by the same folks who brought cannabis-infused fine dining to West Michigan.

Michigan Canna House, the parent company of Michigan Cannabis Chefs, is behind the new establishment that has yet to be named.

The site is the current home of Muskegon Taekwondo.

Cory Roberts, a partner at Michigan Canna House, said he was looking for a location for his new venture, and when he saw the old lodge, it ticked several boxes. It can be seen from nearby U.S. 31, its away from other areas of the city that are zoned for marijuana and it has a large space that can be renovated, Roberts said.

Its address, 420 S. Harvey St., seemed like fate, Roberts said. Four-twenty is slang for cannabis, and April 20 has become a traditional day for cannabis celebrations.

It seemed like it was meant to be, Roberts said.

The path for the budding business venture wasnt exactly easy for Roberts. When initial financing for the project fell through, he was able to get the city commission to table its consideration to rezone the property for marijuana uses.

That was key because once property is zoned for cannabis uses, its price skyrockets, Roberts said.

Related: Marijuana-infused food goes gourmet with Michigan Cannabis Chefs

He joined up with his wife Lynette Roberts and partner Nigel Douglas, both of whom are the chefs behind Michigan Cannabis Chefs, to host a cannabis-infused gourmet dinner party in Chicago to court potential business partners.

It was there that they met Edgar Ramon, who said the group hit it off right away.

I was honored, Ramon said of the invitation to become a partner in Michigan Canna House and its Muskegon venture.

Ramon brought along his brother David Ramon, who also is a partner in the business venture. The Ramons Hispanic ethnicity and Roberts several-year incarceration on a marijuana conviction, allow the group to meet the states and citys social equity guidelines for cannabis businesses.

The state provides reductions in license fees for those who have been convicted of marijuana charges, and city commissioners take into account minority representation when considering cannabis business use permits.

The city commission agreed on Tuesday, March 23, to rezone the property for cannabis uses. The citys planning commission earlier voted 4-3 against recommending the rezoning.

Edgar Ramon said the group will close on the property April 2, and shortly after will bring in an architect to develop design plans. The existing 11,000-square-foot building will be renovated for the retail shop and consumption lounge, Ramon said.

The former lodges commercial-grade kitchen will allow Michigan Canna Houses chefs to bring gourmet food to the lounge  though it wont be cannabis-infused, Ramon said.

A new grow facility, likely a greenhouse to take advantage of natural sunlight, and processing facility will be built on the property, Ramon said. The group is seeking a class D growers license, allowing for the cultivation of up to 500 plants, as well as a processing license.

Plans are for the retail shop and lounge to open by the end of the year, Ramon said. The growing and processing may take longer, he said.

Roberts said hed like to provide opportunities to students at nearby Muskegon Community College and Baker College. The grow operation could provide internships or other experiences for students in MCCs agricultural degree program, he said.

And students in Bakers Culinary Institute of Michigan could be provided experiences in the new ventures kitchen, Roberts said.

Read more:

10 marijuana shops get initial approval from the city of Muskegon Heights

Marijuana growing and retail, 150 new apartments at old Shaw-Walker factory get initial OK

Muskegon adds Apple Avenue site to marijuana business area

Muskegons 5th marijuana shop uses Rair process to grow plants without dirt
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Photo: The Canadian Press A Dominion Voting Systems voting machine is seen in Atlanta.

Dominion Voting Systems filed a $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News on Friday, arguing the cable news giant, in an effort to boost faltering ratings, falsely claimed that the voting company had rigged the 2020 election.

The lawsuit is part of a growing body of legal action filed by the voting company and other targets of misleading, false and bizarre claims spread by President Donald Trump and his allies in the aftermath of Trump's election loss to Joe Biden. Those claims helped spur on rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 in a violent siege that left five people dead, including a police officer. The siege led to Trump's historic second impeachment.

Dominion argues that Fox News, which amplified inaccurate assertions that Dominion altered votes, sold a false story of election fraud in order to serve its own commercial purposes, severely injuring Dominion in the process, according to a copy of the lawsuit obtained by The Associated Press.

The truth matters. Lies have consequences, the lawsuit said. ... If this case does not rise to the level of defamation by a broadcaster, then nothing does.

Even before Dominion's lawsuit on Friday, Fox News had already filed four motions to dismiss other legal action against its coverage. And anchor Eric Shawn interviewed a Dominion spokesperson on air in November.

Fox News Media is proud of our 2020 election coverage, which stands in the highest tradition of American journalism, and we will vigorously defend against this baseless lawsuit in court, it said in a statement on Friday.

There was no known widespread fraud in the 2020 election, a fact that a range of election officials across the country  and even Trump's attorney general, William Barr  have confirmed. Republican governors in Arizona and Georgia, key battleground states crucial to Bidens victory, also vouched for the integrity of the elections in their states. Nearly all the legal challenges from Trump and his allies were dismissed by judges, including two tossed by the Supreme Court, which has three Trump-nominated justices.

Still, some Fox News employees elevated false charges that Dominion had changed votes through algorithms in its voting machines that had been created in Venezuela to rig elections for the late dictator Hugo Chavez. On-air personalities brought on Trump allies Sidney Powell and Rudy Giuliani, who spread the claims, and then amplified those claims on Fox News massive social media platforms.

Dominion said in the lawsuit that it tried repeatedly to set the record straight but was ignored by Fox News.

The company argues that Fox News, a network that features several pro-Trump personalities, pushed the false claims to explain away the former president's loss. The cable giant lost viewers after the election and was seen by Trump and some supporters as not being supportive enough of the Republican.

Attorneys for Dominion said Fox News behaviour differs greatly from that of other media outlets that reported on the claims.

This was a conscious, knowing business decision to endorse and repeat and broadcast these lies in order to keep its viewership, said attorney Justin Nelson, of Susman Godfrey.

Though Dominion serves 28 states, until the 2020 election it had been largely unknown outside the election community. It is now widely targeted in conservative circles, seen by millions of people as one of the main villains in a fictional tale in which Democrats nationwide conspired to steal votes from Trump, the lawsuit said.

Dominions employees, from its software engineers to its founder, have been harassed. Some received death threats. And the company has suffered enormous and irreparable economic harm," lawyers said.

One employee, Eric Coomer, told the AP he had to go into hiding over death threats because of the false claims. He has sued the Trump campaign, conservative media columnists and conservative media outlets Newsmax and One America News Network.

Dominion has also sued Giuliani, Powell and the CEO of Minnesota-based MyPillow over the claims. A rival technology company, Smartmatic USA, also sued Fox News over election claims for a similar sum of money. Unlike Dominion, Smartmatics participation in the 2020 election was restricted to Los Angeles County.

Dominion lawyers said they have not yet filed lawsuits against specific media personalities at Fox News but the door remains open. Some at Fox News knew the claims were false but their comments were drowned out, lawyers said.

The buck stops with Fox on this, attorney Stephen Shackelford said. Fox chose to put this on all of its many platforms. They rebroadcast, republished it on social media and other places.

The suit was filed in Delaware, where both companies are incorporated, though Fox News is headquartered in New York and Dominion is based in Denver.


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"Our posture's gonna be that we're posted outside of DC, awaiting the president's orders. We hope he will give us the orders. We want him to declare an insurrection, and to call us up as the militia."

Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes, in November, looking ahead to Jan. 6
Oakland to Enroll 600 Families of Color in Guranteed Income Pilot Program

Critics say the race-based eligibility criteriawhich exclude whitesare illegal

The mayor of Oakland, California, on Tuesday announced a privately funded program that will give low-income families of color $500 per month in a trial program similar to the universal basic income idea that gained national attention when proposed by former presidential candidate Andrew Yang.

Under the 18-month long pilot that is to be up and running by summer, 600 families will receive $500 a month to spend as they choose, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf said in a statement.

While the concept isnt newa number of mayors have launched small, temporary programs across the country in a coordinated campaign to convince Congress to adopt a national guaranteed income programit is the first to limit eligibility strictly to black, indigenous, and people of color communities.

Our vision is an Oakland that has closed the racial wealth gap, and where all families thrive, Schaaf said in a video statement. We believe that guaranteed income is the most transformative policy that can achieve this vision and whose time has come.

We believe that poverty is not personal failure, it is policy failure, she added.

In an apparent explanation for why white families were excluded from the program, Schaaf cited the Oakland Equity Index, which shows that white households in Oakland on average make about three times as much annually than black households.

But the race-based eligibility criteria raise questions about the legality and ethics of the initiative.

Civil rights attorney Harmeet K. Dhillon, civil rights attorney and founder of the Center for American Liberty, appeared on Fox News The Ingraham Angle to discuss the initiative.

This is obviously immoralmaking distinctions based on race for money and distributing moneybut is it constitutional? Laura Ingraham asked.

Its illegal on multiple grounds, Dhillon replied. The United States Supreme Court has long ruled that any race-based classifications are noxious, is one word thats used, pernicious, is another word thats used. And any such categorizations are subject to strict scrutiny when the government is imposing them.

Dhillon added that the California constitution contains specific provisions that make it illegal for benefits to be handed out on the basis of race.

Oakland is going to say in court that this is being funded by private, nonprofits that are giving this money, but its still the government handing it out, it is still excluding people on the basis of race. Our country was founded on the basis that we dont do that and the 14th Amendment of the Constitution absolutely forbids this type of race-based classification, so its like there was no lawyer involved in designing this ridiculous program.

Other critics of the program, including labor unions, have expressed concern that such expensive programs could force cuts to other safety net programs like Social Security and food stamps.

Schaaf dismissed such concerns, saying at a press conference on Tuesday that the social safety net programs must remain.

We believe that those safety net programs should not go away, but should be supplemented with unconditional cash that gives families the dignity and flexibility to meet their needs, she said.

The pilot, called the Oakland Resilient Families program has so far raised $6.75 million from private donors including Blue Meridian Partners, a national philanthropy group. Besides the controversial race-based eligibility criteria, those who qualify must have at least one child under 18 and income at or below 50 percent of the area median income, which is around $59,000 per year for a family of three.

Half the spots are reserved for people who earn below 138 percent of the federal poverty level, or about $30,000 per year for a family of three. Participants will be randomly selected from a pool of applicants who meet the eligibility requirements.

Oaklands project is also significant because it is one of the largest efforts in the United States so far. Its backers also hope it will fuel the adoption of a federal guaranteed income program.

We have designed this demonstration project to add to the body of evidence, and to begin this relentless campaign to adopt a guaranteed income federally, Schaaf said.

During the 1990s, the U.S. welfare system was overhauled, shifting the focus away from giving cash unconditionally to one that focused on a work-oriented system.

Robert Rector, senior research fellow of domestic policy studies at the Heritage Foundation and a leading authority on poverty and welfare programs, told The Epoch Times that the change slashed the poverty rate among children roughly in half while reducing dependence and increasing employment.

He warned about returning to policies of unconditional aidlike guaranteed income programswhich he called extremely expensive but also very harmful to the poor themselves, because when you do that youre pushing them toward the social margin.

Rector said that an expansion of welfare programs creates disincentives to work, adding that its important for various reasons to have a working adult in a householdincluding the fact that it initiates social contacts, creates role models for children, and improves the psychological well-being of the individuals.

Its a huge cultural trap that youre creating, by creating this artificial environment where the poorest people are kind of set aside and told, Youre not expected to work or do anything, he said.

Nicholas Giordano, a professor of political science at Suffolk Community College in New York, told The Epoch Times that, in Finland and Canada, attempted pilot programs for universal basic income were terminated early due to the massive costs and the little benefit they provided.

Bowen Xiao contributed to this report.
Unity announced a collaborative agreement with HERE Technologies to partner on developing next-generation embedded automotive HMIs with state-of-the-art, RT3D rendering capabilities. The collaboration will also extend to work on next-generation location technology for autonomous driving, simulations, city planning and digital twins.

In order to showcase the combined capabilities of Unitys real-time 3D platform and HEREs location technology, the partners developed a proof-of-concept application of an embedded in-vehicle-infotainment (IVI) system. Created on Unitys platform and featuring HERE 3D city data, it showcases a futuristic, wide-screen navigation experience of a 3D map of San Francisco and demonstrates what can be achieved with the addition of game-changing HMI workflow design improvements. To date, HERE has mapped in 3D more than 70 major cities in the US, Europe and Asia with plans to eventually offer global 3D map coverage.

Car buyers now care more about interactivity with their vehicle than horsepower or fuel-efficiency. Unitys work with HERE opens up the ability to meet consumer demand, providing a continuous user experience across all displays powered by Unity and our ecosystem, said Julien Faure, Vice President, Verticals at Unity. By working with industry leaders like HERE, we feel that Unity has the potential to power dynamic infotainment, immersive augmentation, and geospatial and media experiences all integrated into a seamless user experience.

While several dedicated HMI development solutions currently exist in the automotive industry, this collaboration will combine elements of automotive-grade map data and services with an advanced real-time 3D engine that brings dynamic, high-end design capabilities to the automotive user-experience in terms of maps, infotainment and more.

The goal of our collaboration with Unity is to meet our customers desire for an in-car navigation experience thats an engaging representation of reality, said Jorgen Behrens, Chief Product Officer, HERE Technologies. Unitys robust 3D rendering engine makes HERE 3D city data, route guidance and navigation look impressive, providing a rich and immersive in-dash experience to the driver.

This collaboration underscores the companies commitment to developing the next generation of automotive HMIs. The HERE and Unity PoC application successfully runs on Qualcomm Snapdragon and in 2020, Unity announced collaborations with multiple companies across the HMI ecosystem, including Continental AGs Elektrobit and NXP Semiconductors.

HERE is the leading provider of map content and location-based services to the global automotive industry. Today, the company delivers end-to-end solutions for connected vehicles, in-vehicle infotainment and automated driving. HERE is a private company owned by global brands: Mercedes-Benz AG, BMW AG, Audi AG, Mitsubishi Corporation, NTT, Intel Capital, Bosch, Continental, and Pioneer.
(Bloomberg)  CanSino Biologics Inc. said its in talks with a number of European countries about orders for its Covid-19 vaccine, which if signed would mark the first recognition of Chinese drugmakers inoculations in the developed world amid concerns over their relative lack of data disclosure.

Three European Union member states have approached the Tianjin-based vaccine developer to discuss a possible purchase, according to Pierre Morgon, CanSinos senior vice president in charge of its international business. Morgon declined to identify the three European countries.

Hungary also issued an emergency use authorization for the inoculation, paving the way for the one-shot vaccine to be rolled out there, the company said on Monday.

We are considering extending our regulatory footprints and Europe is definitely in the cards, Morgon said in an interview on Tuesday with Bloomberg. Hungary is bringing an interesting twist to the whole situation because its a European country.

European purchases of the CanSino shot would mark a significant breakthrough in the global rollout of Chinese Covid vaccines. While the worlds second-largest economy has produced four of the 12 vaccines now available worldwide, the shots have gone mainly to developing countries struggling to access those made by western companies like Pfizer Inc. and AstraZeneca Plc. The lions share of those inoculations have gone to the U.S. and other wealthy nations.

Chinese drugmakers have also been criticized for a lack of data disclosure compared with Western and Russian makers. Full Phase 3 trial data for Russias Sputnik shot and Pfizers and BioNTech SEs mRNA vaccine have been published in peer-reviewed scientific journals; no Chinese maker has done so yet. Morgon said CanSino plans to, though he did not elaborate on when.

Another Chinese maker, Beijing-based Sinovac Biotech Ltd., has been the subject of concerns over a lack of data. The Singapore government is sitting on a stockpile of Sinovac doses but has not proceeded on approval because its requested additional data, local media reported. In Hong Kong, the government exempted Sinovac from a requirement for peer-reviewed journal publication in order to approve the shot for local use.

CanSinos availability as a convenient one-shot vaccine could help boost the European rollout, which has faced challenges like supply limitations and fears over blood clots linked to AstraZenecas shot.

We are facing an increase in demand coming from countries across all the continents, Morgon said. Because they have a hard time securing other vaccines and because it is now known we have a safe and effective vaccine.

For CanSino, European inroads would grant global legitimacy to its vaccine development capabilities. While it was the first in the world to begin human testing in March 2020, the Chinese firm lost its lead after a delay in the start of late-stage studies in countries with active outbreaks. A trial testing the CanSino vaccine with a booster shot in Canada has been indefinitely postponed amid growing tension between Beijing and Ottawa.

CanSinos single shot vaccine was 66% effective in a trial of 30,000 people across Pakistan, Russia, Argentine, Mexico and Chile, according to officials in Pakistan. It uses a virus that normally causes the common cold, which has been rendered harmless, to carry the genetic sequence of the coronavirus spike protein into the body to stimulate an immune response. That, according to Morgon, makes the CanSino shot extremely comparable to Johnson & Johnsons single-shot vaccine, with similar technology and efficacy. The J&J vaccine has been cleared for use in countries across Europe, the U.S. and South Africa.

The CanSino vaccine has already been granted approval in China and is authorized for emergency use in Hungary, Pakistan and Mexico. The company is seeking Emergency Use Listing with the World Health Organization, which would pave the way for the shot to be distributed through the Covax facility that provides access for poor and middle-income countries.

The Chinese vaccine maker will price its shot based on income levels, or purchasing power parity, in each country, Morgon said. It will offer Covax the lowest price, while charging high-income countries about three times as much, he said.

Contact editor Yang Ge (geyang@caixin.com)

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Samsung looks like it's readying yet another entry-level smartphone for India, to launch in the near future. The device in question is the upcoming Galaxy F02s.

This new smartphone may be identical to the Galaxy A02s and M02s for all intents and purposes, if we're going by what Samsung's done in the past with the F-series.

The Galaxy F02s will cost INR 8,999 with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage, and INR 9,999 if you go for the version with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage.

If this is going to be a mirror image of the A02s and M02s, then expect it to sport a 6.5" 720p display, the Snapdragon 450 chipset at the helm, a 5,000 mAh battery with support for 15W charging, a 13 MP main rear camera with a 2 MP macro and 2 MP depth sensor alongside it, a 5 MP selfie snapper, and Android 10 on board.

Source
A man who committed theft at a Longford supermarket shortly after arriving in the country has been given a suspended prison sentence to deter him from reoffending.

Marius Tudorache Catalin (19) of Mountain View House, Hempstown, Blessington, Co Wicklow appeared at last weeks sitting of Longford District Court charged with being in possession of a foil bag and theft of 511.81 worth of electrical goods contrary to section 4 of the Theft and Fraud Offences Act.

The court heard that Mr Catalin arrived in the country from Romania in January and committed the offences on February 28.

When charged by gardai, he said that the foil bag belonged to him. All goods were recovered.

Judge Hughes asked if Mr Catalin had had any success finding work and was told by the Romanian interpreter that he had not.

Does he have any intention of remaining in this country? asked Judge Hughes.

He plans to leave as soon as possible, said the Romanian interpreter.

Ill release him today, said Judge Hughes.

Sgt Enda Daly, for the state, explained that Mr Catalins address was an issue for gardai.

If he commits a further crime, you can pick him up again and hell have a previous conviction recorded against him, said Judge Hughes, adding that he will be handing down a suspended sentence.

Mr Catalins solicitor explained that this was her clients first conviction but Judge Hughes convicted the accused and sentenced him to two months in prison for the theft charge, suspending the sentence for a period of three years.

He also handed down a concurrent two month sentence for possession of the foil bag, and suspended it for three years.
I have a vague memory of my father driving my mother and myself to catch a final glimpse of the Hurlbut-Messenger house at 1406 Washington Avenue in Upper Alton just before it was demolished in 1957. Since I was born in 1953, the precise details are hazy. But Im sure I recall my father stopping the car, while my mother said something along the lines of There going to tear down this beautiful old house, so take a good look at it.

My mother had been in the Hurlbut-Messenger house many times. Dorothy (Dot) Horton Dromgoole, her aunt by marriage, was born in that house in 1899 and grew up in it. Aunt Dot married Joe Dromgoole, my mothers uncle who worked for The Telegraph, in that house in 1923. The house remained in Aunt Dots family until it was sold to Calvary Baptist Church, the homes next-door neighbor. The church used it as a Sunday School building before having it demolished..

The house was built in 1841 for Thaddeus Hurlbut, Elijah Lovejoys most ardent ally. Hurlbut had served as associate editor of the Alton Observer, Lovejoys newspaper. He and Lovejoy were among the co-founders of the Illinois Anti-Slavery Society. Hurlbut was among the defenders of Lovejoys final printing press at the Godfrey-Gilman warehouse on Nov. 7, 1837 and remained with his friends bullet-riddled corpse when the mob entered the warehouse to seize that printing press.

Hurlbut left Upper Alton for a time after Lovejoys murder but returned to the village and had this home constructed, which served as an Underground Railroad station. Its Upper Alton location in all likelihood meant that it wasnt the first station reached by slaves after crossing the Mississippi. These fugitives would have sought initial refuge at a location near the river such as the Dimmock home or what is now the Enos apartments.

How would runaway slaves have safely journeyed across town? As I noted in my book Abolitionism and the Civil War in Southwestern Illinois, one of Aunt Dots relatives who grew up in the Hurlbut-Messenger house during the twentieth century stated that as a child he had explored a long tunnel that ran from the basement of the house.

How many slaves were granted sanctuary at this house? No records have survived. In all likelihood, no records were kept  and for good reason. The law of the nation founded on the principles of all men are created equal and endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights such as Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness did not look favorably on the liberators of slaves. The Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 stipulated that anyone who aided runaway slaves be fined $500. The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 raised the fine to $1,000 and added a term of a six months imprisonment.

Thaddeus and Abigail Hurlbut demonstrated their commitment to abolitionism by naming their only son after two abolitionists. Wilberforce Lovejoy Hurlbut grew up helping his parents secure freedom for runaway slaves. He dropped out of Shurtleff College to enlist in the Union army and was killed during the Battle of the Wilderness.

Thaddeus Hurlbut sold this home in 1884 when Abigail died. The buyers were Benjamin and Charlotte Messenger, Aunt Dots grandparents. And thus it became the Hurlbut-Messenger house.

In paragraph four I alluded to the Dimmock home as an Underground Railroad station located near the river. I can assure you that historic building will never be demolished. My wife and I own it.

Built a decade before the Hurlbut-Messenger house, this two-story brick building was purchased by Elijah and Sarah Dimmock, who arrived in Alton in 1840. Elijah, an ardent abolitionist, made the building an Underground Railroad station. Fugitive slaves first tasted freedom within these walls. The Dimmock home  now known as the Dunphy Building  is a citadel of liberty. Its history is Americas history. And to quote Winston Churchill, A nation that forgets its past has no future.

John J. Dunphy is an author, the Godfrey 15th Precinct Democratic Committeeperson and recording secretary for the Godfrey Democrats.
A family-run distillery has become the first in Ireland to win an award for the best, new-make whiskey in the world. Boann in Co Meath is the toast of the drinks industry after scooping the global accolade in the World Whiskies Awards. The honour, Best New Make and Young Spirit 2021 for its single pot still "New Born" spirit, comes just weeks after it won six prizes in the national category of the same awards. Pat Cooney, Boann Distillery founder, said: "This is very exciting as no other Irish distillery has won best international new-make in this competition, which is the top award when it comes to whiskey distillation. "We have achieved this by merging the old ways of whiskey production in copper pot stills, with cutting edge, 21st century nano-technology. "It is an incredible achievement for our team that we have produced the best new-make whiskey on the planet." The awards were streamed online on Thursday night from the World Whiskies Awards offices in Norfolk, England, after a record 1,000 whiskies were entered across 16 different categories. Level 5 restrictions, however, mean a proper celebration of Boann's achievement is on ice until later in the year. Drinks trade veteran Mr Cooney said single pot still whiskey is unique to Ireland - its history traced back to the imposition of the malt tax in 1682 when Irish distillers used unmalted barley to outwit excise men. "As a result, it was realised over time that unmalted barley gave the finished whiskey a more rounded and mellow flavour and this most distinctive style of Irish whiskey was born," Mr Cooney added. "Over time, other grains were added - mostly oats, wheat and rye." Boann employs more than 20 people at its 20m plant just outside Drogheda, with plans underway to open a new visitor centre and roll out a new gin, Silks, named in honour of the nearby Bellewstown Races. The distillery recently started a programme of cask sales, offering the world award-winning, new-make spirit laid down to mature in one of 12 different cask types. Last month, Boann unveiled a collection of long-lost, Irish whiskey recipes unearthed by a historian. Casks were produced using ingredients - or mashbills - dating back to the 1800s. The recipes were unearthed by leading whiskey historian, Fionnan O'Connor, during a thesis into the lost treasure trove.
SAIC breaks the $7B revenue mark, but COVID continues to be an overhang

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic's impacts over the last year, Science Applications International Corp. reported double-digit revenue growth and only a slight dip in its net income.

For the companys 2021 fiscal year ended Jan. 29, revenue was $7.1 billion compared to $6.4 billion in the prior 12-month period.

Most of that growth came through the acquisition of Unisys Federal in March 2020. But after taking out the acquired sales, organic revenue growth was less than 1 percent.

Organic growth would have been 4 percent without the impacts of COVID-19, CEO Nazzic Keene said Thursday in a call with investors.

The organic growth was driven by new business with the intelligence community and the U.S. Air Force. SAIC also saw growth within its existing programs, according to SAICs filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Among the notable new awards was the $1.3 billion Army Corps of Engineers Revolutionary IT Services contract known as RITS. During a recent Project 38 podcast, SAIC's defense and civilian president Bob Genter said that win was attributed to the companys acquisition of Unisys Federal.

With Unisys Federal in tow, SAIC strengthened its bid for RITS and won the contract to provide modern and secure enterprise-wide IT support for more than 37,000 users spread across 1,500 field and project offices around the world.

Net bookings for the full year were $11.9 billion to achieve a book-to-bill ratio of 1.7. The company estimates it has a backlog of $21.5 billion, of which $3 billion is funded.

Looking ahead, SAIC offered conservative guidance for revenue of $7.1 billion-to-$7.3 billion. What should be a positive for the company is that only 10 percent of its revenue is up for recompete during fiscal 2022.

This is below the typical average, said Prabu Natarajan, SAICs chief financial officer.

A large recompete that will happen during fiscal 2022 is the NASA Integrated Communications Services contract, which SAIC won in 2011. Also known as NICS, the ceiling value is $1.5 billion and NASA is evaluating all bids with an award expected in the summer.

SAIC's strategy going forward is to focus on longer-term needs for the government so the company is expanding its IT modernization focus into broader digital transformation, Keene said.

We are building on our heritage and engineering by deepening our digital engineering capabilities, so that we can help the government advance complex systems integration, saving costs and increasing mission readiness, Keene said. We're also looking at the growing and evolving missions of our customers, especially in areas like space and health where there are new agencies, missions and requirements.
TEL AVIV, Israel, March 25, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- MobileODT, an Israeli Digital Health FemTech company that is producing the latest innovation in cervical cancer screening, is proud to announce that their Visual Check AI technology is supporting a large-scale government cervical cancer screening project in the Dominican Republic. This proof of concept project was initiated as part of the company's strategic direction in providing cervical cancer screening at scale, utilizing Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) capabilities.

MobileODT EVA VisualCheck AI Technology for Cervical Cancer Screening (PRNewsfoto/MobileODT)

The project is currently run by the Dominican Republic Ministry of Health in cooperation with MobileODT. In the past three months, 9,000 women were screened for cervical cancer with the EVA Visual Check AI technology. Due to the initial success of the project, it was decided to expand this program to cover another 50,000 women who are due to be screened over the next 6 months. VisualCheck, provides non specialists with an AI clinical decision support tool, predicting how highly trained colposcopists would determine positive or negative cervical cancer diagnosis.

With a high cervical cancer rate among the Dominican Republic women population, early prevention can make a huge impact on women's lives. Furthermore, it can help the health system save significant funds that would have been otherwise directed to treatment.

"Many cervical cancer cases happen due to a lack of timely follow-up," says Dr. Alfredo Levy, MD, OBGYN , one of the leading physicians involved in this project. "The ability to receive the results immediately at the point of care, is a complete game changer. The EVA VisualCheck system is quick and easy to use, allowing us to screen more patients, and predict results with a high accuracy."

Visual Check AI is the first step in the company's long-term strategy to develop groundbreaking AI solutions that will transform the FemTech market. "We are the only company in the world with an AI capability in cervical cancer screening ," says Leon Boston, MobileODT's CEO. "Our unique AI algorithm, allows an unprecedented screening scale, that can be life saving for so many women around the world. We are currently in the midst of a funding round, to support our long-term strategy and expand to broader areas in women's health with AI technology."

About MobileODT

MobileODT helps clinicians utilize the power of AI on its portable medical devices to enhance women's health. MobileODT's EVA System combines advanced imaging, data and software applications, to expand access to quality care in over 20 countries and across more than 60 US health systems. The EVA System's smart mobile colposcope is used by clinicians worldwide for colposcopy, general gynecology, telegynecology, and forensic imaging. MobileODT is integrating its AI in approved markets to provide powerful clinical decision support to healthcare providers at the point-of-care. The company raised $26 million to date from Orbimed, Tristel, Tara Health, Laerdal, DAI, private funds and investors. For further info please visit mobileodt.com

Contact:

Olga Rosenman

[email protected]

SOURCE MobileODT
Hunter Biden told his therapist in 2018 that his lover and brother's widow, Hallie Biden, left his .38 handgun in a grocery store trashcan  prompting a police investigation.

Hunter claimed that when Delaware cops found the gun 'the FBI and the Secret Service' got involved, and that Hallie told officers she took the weapon because she was 'afraid for the kids' and 'because she was scared I would harm myself due to my drug and alcohol problem', in texts found on his abandoned laptop.

A copy of a police report obtained by news site Politico confirmed the October 23, 2018 incident in Wilmington.

The Secret Service told the site they had no record of agents investigating the incident, and Joe Biden, who was not under their protection at the time said he had no knowledge of their involvement.

But Hunter's texted claims that the agency was involved are echoed by two sources who spoke to Politico.

In October 2018, Hallie Biden tossed a gun that she'd found in Hunter Biden's pick-up truck. She was concerned he was going to kill himself with it, he told police later. She then went to retrieve it but it had gone and that's when police got involved

In texts obtained by DailyMail.com, Hunter messaged his therapist to tell him about the ordeal. 'She stole the gun out of my truck lock box and threw in a garbage can full to the top at Jansens. Then told me it was my problem to deal with,' Hunter wrote

One source said Secret Service agents asked the Wilmington, Delaware gun store owner where Hunter bought the .38 for the sale paperwork.

The source, who the site reported had firsthand knowledge of the episode, said that the store owner, Ron Palmieri, refused to hand over the papers as he feared the agents wanted to hide Hunter's ownership of the gun.

The source said Palmieri instead later turned over the documents to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

A .38 revolver, similar to the kind Hallie found in Hunter's truck

A second source who was reportedly briefed by the Secret Service confirmed the story to the site.

'Did I tell you what she did with my 38,' Hunter wrote in a December 2018 text message to his therapist, found on his abandoned laptop. 'Took from lock box of truck and put in IN PapER BAG AND Threw it in trash can at local high end grocer. For no reason.

'And I freaked when I saw it was missing 10 minutes after she took it and when she went back to get it after I scared the sh*t out of her it was gone which led to state police investigation of me. True story But really on top of the full open trash can.'

Hunter repeated the story in a three-way text message with Hallie and his therapist in January 2019, claiming that the FBI and US Secret Service were involved.

'She stole the gun out of my truck lock box and threw in a garbage can full to the top at Jansens. Then told me it was my problem to deal with.

'Then when the police the FBI the secret service came on the scene she said she took it from me because she was scared I would harm myself due to my drug and alcohol problem and our volatile relationship and that she was afraid for the kids. Really not joking the cop kept me convinced that Hallie was implying she was scared of me.'

Hallie wrapped the gun in a plastic bag and put it in a trash van outside Janssen's Market in Wilmington

The owner of the gun store, Ron Palmieri, said Secret Service agents visited the store and asked for the records that proved Hunter owned the gun. He refused to give them to them

At the same time, Secret Service agents visited Starquest Shooters (pictured) and asked for records that proved Hunter owned the weapon

When a cop asked if the gun had been used in a crime, Hunter 'became very agitated' and asked the cop if he was intentionally lying to 'make him mad'.

The cop then asked him if he'd been using drugs or was drunk and he said: 'Listen, it isn't like that.

Hunter's drug and alcohol problems are well documented. He is shown in one of a series of compromising photos that emerged during his father' s campaign

'I think she believes I was gonna kill myself.'

Hunter's drug and alcohol problems have been well documented.

Within a few days, the gun reappeared when a man who regularly went through the trash bins of the store brought it back.

No one was arrested or charged and the incident was kept mostly a secret.

No one in the Biden family was entitled to Secret Service protection at the time but Politico cites unnamed sources who say that agents from the Secret Service offices in Wilmington and Philadelphia kept an 'informal' role in protecting them after Joe left office as Vice President in 2017.

Vice Presidents are not entitled to lifelong Secret Service protection in the way that Presidents are.

The Secret Service told Politico it had no record of any involvement of its officers in the investigation.

Hunter, during his police interview, told police he never asked his father for 'anything'.

Hunter and Hallie's relationship was revealed in 2017, two years after Beau's death. Beau died from a brain tumor.

Hunter was seen with his wife Melissa Cohen, their child Beau and his father befor4e heading on Marine One on Friday

Hallie was married to Hunter's brother Beau, who died in 2015 after battling cancer

At the time, Hunter was married to Kathleen, his first wife.

He and Hallie dated for two years before ending their controversial romance.

Around the same time, it emerged that he'd secretly married a South African woman, Melissa Cohen, six days after meeting her.

They now have a baby son together, who is also called Hunter.

In August 2018, months before the gun incident and when he was still with Hallie, he fathered another child with Lunden Alexis Roberts, a stripper who lives in Arkansas.

She sued him after he stopped paying child support.

Hunter's problems with drugs and tortured personal love life has been a sore spot for President Biden and plagued his Presidential campaign.

He scarcely talks about him other to say that he supports his sobriety, and has denied ever intervening or abusing his powers to help him.

In response to the Politico revelations, a White House spokesman said on Thursday: 'President Biden did not have any knowledge of, or involvement in, the Secret Services alleged role in this incident, and neither he nor any family member was a protectee at that time.'
Boris Johnson has condemned Chinas sanctions against outspoken MPs and other British citizens, saying: I stand firmly with them.

Beijing is punishing critics, including former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith, in a tit-for-tat retaliation for UK sanctions over Beijings treatment of Uighur Muslims.

In response, the prime minister tweeted: The MPs and other British citizens sanctioned by China today are performing a vital role shining a light on the gross human rights violations being perpetrated against Uighur Muslims.

Freedom to speak out in opposition to abuse is fundamental and I stand firmly with them.

Mr Duncan Smith, one of the leading China critics on the Tory benches, said he would wear the sanctions as a badge of honour.

Read more:

And another, Tom Tugendhat, the chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, described Beijings move as a direct assault on British democracy.

Also on the list are fellow Tory MPs Neil OBrien, Tim Loughton and Nusrat Ghani, Labour peer Helena Kennedy, Liberal Democrat peer David Alton, the China Research Group (CRG) of MPs, Conservative Party Human Rights Commission, Uighur Tribunal, and Essex Court Chambers.

In a statement on behalf of the CRG, Mr Tugendhat and Mr OBrien said the profoundly sinister move could potentially affect 100 MPs involved with the group.

It is tempting to laugh off this measure as a diplomatic tantrum, they said. But in reality it is profoundly sinister and just serves as a clear demonstration of many of the concerns we have been raising about the direction of China under Xi Jinping.

It is telling that China now responds to even moderate criticism with sanctions, rather than attempting to defend its actions in Hong Kong and Xinjiang.

While the MPs said they would not personally be hugely affected by the sanctions, they voiced concern that Beijings aim was to make others feel threatened and to have a chilling effect on businesses that might make decisions based on Chinas human rights record.

They pointed to retailers like H&M and Nike that have faced a backlash in China after expressing concerns over allegations of the use of forced Uighur labour in cotton production.

Mr OBrien published a series of tweets highlighting allegations of forced sterilisation and rape of Uighur women, mass internment of members of the Muslim minority, and the use of AI face-recognition technology for surveillance.

The first ever sanctions against MPs by Beijing are a big deal and demonstrate exactly the concerns we have been raising, said Mr OBrien. But ultimately, this isnt about us; its about them trying to distract from human rights abuses reminiscent of South Africa under apartheid.

Ms Ghani said: I wont be intimidated or silenced and neither must the government. I will use my freedom to raise the plight of the Uighurs and I will take this sanction as a badge of honour.

And Lord Alton said: The Chinese Communist Party assumes that trading with a state credibly accused of genocide will be more important to the UK than defending the values we cherish. They are fundamentally mistaken.

The imposition of tit-for-tat sanctions is a crude attempt to silence criticism. But the CCP needs to learn that you cant silence the whole world and that the first duty of a parliamentarian is to use their voice on behalf of those whose voices have been silenced.

At a news conference at the Chinese embassy in London, a spokesperson condemned fabricated reports about the countrys treatment of people in the Xinjiang region.

The situation in Xinjiang  with reports of 1 million people detained without trial and widespread claims of torture and rape in the camps  cant be defined by a few satellite images, he insisted.

Britain, the US, Canada and the European Union imposed sanctions on Chinese officials deemed responsible for human rights abuses in Xinjiang, in a coordinated action on Monday.

In retaliation, the Chinese side decides to sanction nine individuals and four entities on the UK side that maliciously spread lies and disinformation, a statement said.

As of today, the individuals concerned and their immediate family members are prohibited from entering the mainland, Hong Kong and Macao of China; their property in China will be frozen, and Chinese citizens and institutions will be prohibited from doing business with them. China reserves the right to take further measures, it said.

The Chinese embassy spokesperson claimed lies of the century were being spread about what was going on in Xinjiang and criticised the UKs deployment of sanctions.

Human rights in Xinjiang cannot be defined by a few satellite images, fake reports cobbled together by people thousands of miles away, he said.

Mr Tugendhat said he had been elected to speak for the people, and added: I view this as a direct assault on British democracy and an attempt to silence the people the British people have chosen to speak for them.

The chair of the foreign affairs committee in the German parliament offered full solidarity with Tom and all his colleagues.

Banning leading western parliamentarians from entering the country for asking critical questions wont do mutual understanding any good, Norbert Rottgen wrote on Twitter.

The shadow foreign secretary, Lisa Nandy, criticised the sanctions as a blatant attempt to silence British parliamentarians who are shining a spotlight on the appalling persecution of the Uighur people.

And Layla Moran, the Liberal Democrat spokesperson for foreign affairs, voiced full solidarity with those named, saying: Targeting backbench MPs instead of ministers makes clear this is about Chinas disdain for democracy around the world.
A mechanic from south-east Queensland has been found guilty of the 'vile and despicable' sexual abuse of an 11-year-old girl.

Dylan Barry Phillip Buckingham, 27, was sentenced this week in Brisbane District Court for three counts of rape, four counts of indecent treatment of a child, and maintaining an unlawful relationship with a child.

The court heard the offending spanned six months from August 2016 to February 2017 after he struck up a friendship with the girl's family.

Dylan Buckingham, 27, was sentenced this week in Brisbane District Court for three counts of rape, four counts of indecent treatment of a child, and maintaining an unlawful relationship with a child (stock image)

The victim, now 16-years-old, bravely sat in the gallery as the sickening details of the offending were read to the court and the sentence was handed down, reports The Courier Mail.

Prosecutor Toby Corsbie said the offender, then aged 22, convinced the victim 'she was in a relationship with him, as an 11-year-old child.'

He repeatedly abused the girl by inappropriately touching her and on one occasion raped her in his bedroom.

'Outside of those sexual acts there were numerous incidents of kissing  as well as the degree of moral corruption,' Mr Corsbie said.

Judge Michael Burnett said Buckingham had taken advantage of the vulnerable young girl.

'Children are to be protected. They are far too young to understand these adult things and you did take advantage opportunistically of that situation.'

He was found to have lied under oath about the offending and was sentenced to six and-a-half years jail.

He will be eligible for parole in March 2024.
New Delhi: GST officers have arrested a person for creating fake firms and fraudulently passing on input tax credit (ITC) worth Rs 94 crore, the Finance Ministry said on Friday.

Investigation revealed that the multi-layered network was being operated by one Krishan Kumar, the Finance Ministry said.

"During the search of his residence, incriminating documents like ATM cards, signed cheques, bank documents, stamps of these dummy firms including the stamp of the transport company as mentioned in the e-way bills of the fake firms and outer packets/cases of SIM cards of mobile phones used for registration of firms were recovered," it said.

In 2020-21, CGST Delhi Zone has made total 40 arrests in various cases involving GST evasion amounting to Rs 5,310 crore, it said.

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The Cox Automotive March forecast calls for U.S. auto sales to pick up pace heading into spring. Tweet this

The sales recovery has been choppy since September. The SAAR has bounced around between the upper-15 to mid-16 million levels over the past six months. A return to the higher end is expected in March. The sales pace should improve this month after being hampered by winter storms that disrupted much of the country in February. With the deep freeze impacting markets as far south as Houston and disrupting millions of lives and businesses for days, many sales were likely delayed into early March. Also, the distribution of stimulus checks is well underway, and we've already noticed upward movement in our daily sales tracking numbers as a result.

"Inventory levels are tight right now, though, and this could hinder the market in coming months," said Charlie Chesbrough, senior economist, Cox Automotive. "Supply chain disruptions that continue to plague the industry are adding to the short supply situation. Although lean inventories have not had much impact on buyers in the first quarter, that will likely change as we move into Q2. The production disruptions happening now will turn into even lower inventory in the months ahead."

March 2021 Sales Forecast Highlights

In March, new light-vehicle sales are forecast to increase by 490,000 units, or nearly 50%, compared to March 2020 . When compared to last month, sales are expected to rise nearly 300,000 units, or 25.4%.

. When compared to last month, sales are expected to rise nearly 300,000 units, or 25.4%. The SAAR in March 2021 is estimated to be 16.5 million, above last year's 11.4 million level and an increase from last month's 15.7 million pace. There are 26 selling days this month, one more than last year and two more than February, so additional time will also help lift sales.

is estimated to be 16.5 million, above last year's 11.4 million level and an increase from last month's 15.7 million pace. There are 26 selling days this month, one more than last year and two more than February, so additional time will also help lift sales. Year-over-year comparisons will become less relevant in the months ahead as large year-over-year increases are reported. Compared to March 2019 , sales volume this month is forecast to be down by more than 8%. March 2019 had one additional selling day than March 2021 .

, sales volume this month is forecast to be down by more than 8%. had one additional selling day than . First-quarter sales are forecast to be up 8.7% compared to Q1 2020 but down 4.9% versus Q1 2019.

March 2021 Forecast



Sales Forecast1 Market Share

Segment Mar-21 Mar-20 Feb-21 YOY% MOM% Mar-21 Feb-21 MOM

Compact SUV/Crossover 250,000 150,233 200,592 66.4% 24.6% 16.9% 16.8% 0.1%

Mid-Size SUV/Crossover 250,000 164,288 204,396 52.2% 22.3% 16.9% 17.1% -0.2%

Full-Size Pickup Truck 215,000 173,350 176,126 24.0% 22.1% 14.5% 14.7% -0.2%

Compact Car 105,000 79,038 81,060 32.8% 29.5% 7.1% 6.8% 0.3%

Mid-Size Car 95,000 87,388 71,854 8.7% 32.2% 6.4% 6.0% 0.4%

Grand Total2 1,480,000 991,089 1,194,365 49.3% 23.9%









1 Cox Automotive Industry Insights data 2 Total includes segments not shown

All percentages are based on raw volume, not daily selling rate.

Cox Automotive Q1 2021 U.S. Auto Sales Webcast

The Cox Automotive Industry Insights team will host a webcast on Monday, March 29, 2021, at 11 a.m. EDT. During the event, the team will discuss key economic indicators driving the auto market, review the 2021 forecasts, and offer analysis of new- and used-vehicle sales for March and the first quarter. The presentation will be followed by a Q&A session. RSVP to attend.

About Cox Automotive

Cox Automotive Inc. makes buying, selling, owning and using vehicles easier for everyone. The global company's more than 27,000 team members and family of brands, including Autotrader, Clutch Technologies, Dealer.com, Dealertrack, Kelley Blue Book, Manheim, NextGear Capital, VinSolutions, vAuto and Xtime, are passionate about helping millions of car shoppers, 40,000 auto dealer clients across five continents and many others throughout the automotive industry thrive for generations to come. Cox Automotive is a subsidiary of Cox Enterprises Inc., a privately-owned, Atlanta-based company with annual revenues of nearly $20 billion. www.coxautoinc.com

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A 10-year-old is in the hospital after what appears to be an accidental shooting.

Birmingham police were notified just before 5 p.m. Thursday that the child had arrived at St. Vincents East suffering from a gunshot wound, said Sgt. Rod Mauldin. The child was taken to the hospital by private vehicle.

The child sustained life-threatening injuries but his or her condition has been listed as stable. Mauldin said information gathered so far suggests the weapon was obtained by another child and accidentally discharged.

No additional details have been released.
ANN ARBOR, MI  A bank robbery suspect fleeing the scene of the armed heist did not have a clean getaway as he crashed shortly after getting on U.S. 23, snarling traffic for hours.

Here is that headline and some more you might have missed this week.

Bank robbery suspect who crashed on U.S. 23 was wearing body armor, police say

A man suspected of robbing a bank then crashing on U.S. 23 while fleeing from police was found armed and wearing body armor when he was taken out of his wrecked vehicle, police say.

Police responded to a reported bank robbery at 1:22 p.m. Tuesday, March 23, at the Chase Bank branch in Pittsfield Township when they spotted the male suspect and attempted to pull him over.

The suspect, a 48-year-old Ypsilanti man, disregarded the stop and fled police who pursued him onto northbound U.S. 23 where he lost control of his vehicle and crashed.

Ann Arbors 50th Hash Bash will be virtual, but smoke-in protest planned

Organizers of the annual Hash Bash marijuana rally in Ann Arbor are planning to hold the event virtually for the second year in a row, with a long list of speakers and entertainers via online livestream.

But past organizer Adam Brook says hes not sitting out another year and hes planning what he considers the official event: a smoke-in protest on the University of Michigan Diag.

If you ask me, Hash Bash happens on the Diag, so I would say that the official Hash Bash is on the Diag, and these people who are afraid to appear in public are now doing something virtually, Brook said. Im at war with these people.

UM warns it wont condone marijuana use at Hash Bash smoke-in protest

For those planning to attend the Ann Arbor Hash Bash smoke-in protest at the University of Michigan Diag on April 3, UM offers a word of caution.

We always support the free-speech rights of citizens to gather in public spaces, UMs public affairs division said in a statement Thursday, March 25. At the same time, we do not condone the use of drugs on our campus. It is important that we provide a safe environment for everyone on our campus, especially in the midst of a pandemic.

Ann Arbor cannabis shop to host grand opening during Hash Bash

Cannabis retailer Treehouse 603 is offering in-store customers a discount during its grand opening which will take place on Ann Arbors infamous Hash Bash weekend.

The dispensary, located at 603 E William St. in Ann Arbor, has been operating since November and as business began picking up more recently, Retail Director Mary Cluxton said they decided to showcase their offerings during Ann Arbors Hash Bash, an event full of enthusiasts celebrating the marijuana movement. The event is expected to run virtually this year, but an in-person, smoke-in protest is planned.

The first day of in-person classes through the eyes of one Ann Arbor family

After seven months of getting to know his teacher and classmates on an iPad screen, 5-year-old Graham Hautamaki was ready to leave behind his homemade remote work station for his kindergarten classroom inside Burns Park Elementary School.

Men charged in Egypt Covington slaying head to trial for murder

Three men accused of killing Egypt Covington during a botched robbery are heading to trial for murder.

The preliminary examination of Timothy Eugene Moore, Shandon Ray Groom and Shane Lamar Evans concluded Thursday, March 25, with Wayne County 34th District Judge Tina Green finding there was probable cause the men were involved in the 2017 slaying of Covington during a failed plot to steal marijuana from a medical care giver living in the next duplex apartment over.

The three men are facing felony murder and home invasion charges in the killing of Covington, 27, who was found dead of a gunshot wound to the head about 7:15 p.m. June 23, 2017, in her home in the 45000 block of Hull Road in Van Buren Township.

Ann Arbor may institute unarmed responses to certain 911 calls by end of 2021

Ann Arbor officials have laid out a proposal for an unarmed public safety response program to have non-police professionals respond to certain 911 calls.

Mayor Christopher Taylor and other City Council members are co-sponsoring a resolution on the councils April 5 agenda to direct City Administrator Tom Crawford to establish a program by the end of the year in collaboration with the Washtenaw County Sheriffs Office and others.

Ann Arbor PFAS levels rise again. City says its coming from Wixom.

The Huron River in Ann Arbor, where the city draws most of its drinking water, has seen steadily rising levels of toxic forever chemicals this past year.

The citys test results for the raw intake water from Barton Pond suggest growing PFAS pollution that Ann Arbor officials believe is coming downstream from Wixom.

Washtenaw County residents can now self schedule for COVID vaccine appointments

The Washtenaw County Health Department is beginning a new vaccine scheduling process to accommodate the greater number of people now eligible for shots.

Instead of waiting to receive an appointment from the health department, people can now make appointments online themselves as they become available at mass vaccination sites in Ypsilanti and Chelsea. New appointments will be added to the health departments website at least weekly or as existing appointments are canceled, health officials said.

11 women file lawsuit alleging Eastern Michigan University mishandled sexual assault claims

Eleven women have filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against Eastern Michigan University claiming the school mishandled sexual assault reports against several male students.

Filed on March 24 in the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Michigan, the lawsuit states that law enforcement is currently investigating 30 rape cases that occurred between 2015-20, and that sexual assault was prevalent at EMU because EMUs officials turned a blind eye or were deliberately indifferent to reported sexual assaults.
Beach huts have soared in demand as Britons look to holiday at home for a second year amid concerns foreign trips will be banned.

Prices to buy and rent the wooden shacks have rocketed despite most having few utilities and mainly being used for storage.

Property website OnTheMarket found estate agents have seen searches surge by 259 per cent this month compared to six months ago.

But there is a shortage of huts available across the country, with the average price increasing from 27,805 to 35,919 since September last year.

Mudeford in Christchurch, Dorset, has the most expensive ones in Britain - where they regularly sell for over 300,000.

Resorts that before the first lockdown had unwanted beach chalets on their books for months sold them as soon as the country opened up last summer.

Many estate agents have lengthy waiting lists of people eager to get their hands on a coastal getaway.

Prices to buy and rent the wooden shacks have rocketed despite most having few utilities and mainly being used for storage. Pictured: Mudeford in Dorset

Property website OnTheMarket found estate agents have seen searches surge by 259 per cent this month compared to six months ago. Pictured: Bournemouth

Where are the best beaches to get a hut? Mudeford Sandbank, Dorset Beer, Devon Southwold, Suffolk Shaldon, South Devon Llanbedrog, Gwynedd Mersea Island, Essex Cove Harbour, Berwickshire Torquay, South Devon Whitstable, Kent Trebetherick, Cornwall Source: Countryfile Advertisement

Vikki Bennett, from OnTheMarket, said: 'Having spent significant amounts of time at home under lockdown restrictions, it's no wonder that increasing numbers of pent-up Brits are now attracted to the idea of buying a beach hut to own a slice of the outdoors.

'And while many people may be reluctant to travel abroad this summer due to the pandemic even if restrictions are lifted, it seems likely that the popularity of beach huts is set to increase even further.'

On Monday the government brought in 5,000 fines for going abroad on holiday when a ban on leaving the UK without 'reasonable excuse' was announced.

The threat of fines was extended until July, making foreign summer holidays look increasingly unlikely as a third wave of coronavirus sweeps across Europe.

Health officials are increasingly concerned by a surge in cases of the South African Covid variant across the Channel.

A senior minister even suggested the whole of the Continent could be put on the red list because of the botched vaccine rollout.

Quarantine-free holidays may not be possible until August, killing off hopes of trips abroad until late summer.

There is a shortage of huts available across the country, with the average price increasing from 27,805 to 35,919 since September last year. Pictured: Bournemouth

A 'traffic light' system is under consideration, allowing travel to 'green' countries without the need for quarantine on return.

Estate agent Bob May from May's in Bognor Regis, West Sussex, said he had eight beach huts for sale in February 2020 with no interest.

But as soon as things reopened after the first lockdown he sold them all and now has a waiting list of about 100 people hoping to buy one.

Mr May said: 'The demand has been astonishing. I now have a register of around 100 people hoping to buy one.

'The huts range from about 5,000 with relatively short leases and up to 18,000 but the prices are going up all the time.

'Back in 1995, I sold a hut for 450 but the same hut is now worth about 12,000. I've had around 30 enquiries with people keen to get whatever they can but I've no huts left to sell.'

Resorts that before the first lockdown had unwanted beach chalets on their books for months sold them as soon as the country opened up last summer. Pictured: Bournemouth

Jo Tyler, at agents Belton Duffey in Norfolk, said: 'Demand has probably doubled for beach huts this year in the wake of the pandemic.

'It seems that because a lot more people are out and about locally, they are spotting the beach huts and enquiring about buying them.

'They've always been popular but even more so now, people want to enjoy the outside spaces and have somewhere to visit.'

325,000 for a beach hut... that DOESN'T face the sea A beach hut has gone up for sale for a whopping 325,000 - and it doesn't even face the sea. The front of the 16ft by 10ft wooden cabin on the exclusive Mudeford Spit in Christchurch, Dorset, points inland with a view over a lagoon. The back faces towards the sea, but there are some other huts in the way that prevent an uninterrupted view. The hut also lacks a toilet or washing facilities. The front of the 16ft by 10ft wooden cabin (circled) on the exclusive Mudeford Spit in Christchurch, Dorset, points inland with a view over a lagoon. The back faces towards the sea, but there is another hut in the way Meanwhile, a six-bedroom house in Manchester with four bathrooms and off road parking was recently listed on Zoopla for 320,000. The hut already has a waiting list and is expected it to be snapped up quickly thanks to Covid-related demand for staycations and Brexit making it more complicated to buy holiday homes on the Continent. Advertisement

He said: 'We've probably sold around 10 huts this year and we don't have any available now.

'The huts don't have any utilities so you can't stay overnight, you can enjoy a cup of tea or a bacon sandwich using a gas stove, but they are mostly for storage.

'We sell huts at Hunstanton, Wells and Heacham, they cost from 15,000 to up to about 60,000.

'We used to see around two or three enquiries for each one but that has risen over the last year.'

Chris Hope, from Dawsons in Swansea, said: 'Beach huts have always been popular in this part of the world but demand has definitely escalated because of lockdown.

'I also think that lockdown has given those who already own a hut more reasons to appreciate it when the restrictions lift - they will be delighted to use them again and probably use them more.'

At Avon Beach in Christchurch there are about 60 beach huts that are up for rent.

Beach hut manager Laura Huxtable-White said: 'We are near enough booked up not only for this year but for next winter as well.

'All of our long term lets, which are April to July and July to August, have gone as have the weekly lettings for the summer.

'Even the winter lettings from October to next March have been booked up. It is people who now realise they can't go abroad this summer but still want something of a beach holiday who have been booking.

'We fixed our prices last October for this year but we could have sold out two times over.'

Andrew Denison, of Denisons estate agents, specialise in selling exclusive beach huts at Mudeford, Christchurch, for eye-watering prices of over 300,000.

He said: 'There is a shortage of huts coming on the market but we still have a waiting list of people wanting to buy one.

'There is a lot of demand at the moment from people who can't go abroad.'

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps is leading a taskforce that will report by April 12 on how and when the ban on non-essential travel can be lifted.

It can be no sooner than May 17 under Boris Johnson's official roadmap out of restrictions.

That might mean the need to quarantine after foreign trips would stay in place until at least August.
Building workers known as the Shrewsbury 24 have had all convictions against them quashed in the UKs Court of Appeal.

Originally sentenced in three trials held in the 1970s on a variety of charges following mass picketing, including unlawful assembly, conspiracy to intimidate and affray, the Shrewsbury 24 maintained their innocence from the start.

Des Warren (front second from right) with Ricky Tomlinson (next to him holding poster)

After earlier hearing submissions from lawyers representing 14 of the pickets and from the Crown, the Vice-President of the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) Lord Justice Fulford ruled Tuesday that the verdicts in the three trials were unsafe and could not be upheld.

This exoneration took half a century due to the determination of Britains ruling elite to defend a legal travesty and a crime against the working class. It came too late for six of the 14 appellants, who died before hearing the verdict. Des Warren, the picket given the harshest sentencethree years imprisonmentdied prematurely in 2004, following years of debilitating illness due to the drugs he was administered in jail.

Speaking after the appeal verdict was announced, picket and now actor Ricky Tomlinson, sentenced to two years imprisonment alongside Warren, said It is only right that these convictions are overturned, adding, my thoughts today are with my friend and comrade Des Warren.

Arthur Murray, convicted of unlawful assembly and affray and sentenced to six months, said, We were innocent all along, yet it has taken us nearly fifty years to clear our names. Murray said the prosecution of the Shrewsbury pickets was a political witch-hunt and that serious questions needed to be asked about the role of the building industry bosses in our convictions and the highest offices of government who all had a hand in our trial and conviction.

Terry Renshaw, one of 24 men arrested, said, We never thought we would see this day when this miscarriage of justice was overturned. The police and the prosecuting authorities used every trick in the book to secure guilty verdicts even if it meant trampling over our rights and manipulating the evidence.

Terry Renshaw

The 30-page ruling by Lord Justice Fulford, together with Mr Justice Andrew Baker and Justice Goose, provides a devastating indictment of the police responsible for bringing the charges against the Shrewsbury 24.

On September 6, 1972, building workers had deployed flying pickets to nine construction sites in the Shrewsbury and Telford area to win support for the national strike seeking a substantial pay rise and an end to the iniquitous system of casual employment dubbed as The Lump.

At one, Kingswood, the pickets were threatened with a shotgun by the site foreman.

However, as the court ruling notes, Police officers accompanied the pickets to many of the sites, but no arrests were made at the time available extracts from the police radio communications do not suggest there were any significant concerns over public order as events unfolded.

Five days later, September 11, Philip Smith, the Regional Director of the National Federation of Building Trades Employers (NFBTE), wrote to the West Mercia Police complaining of their failure to act against the pickets. He referred to them as terrorists and alleged that a mob had been able to carry out violence on this scale with apparent impunity.

The national strike was ended on September 16, with building workers winning a significant pay increase from the NFBTE.

Determined to make an example of the most militant workers, such as Warren and Tomlinson, responsible for the especially effective tactic of the flying picket, the employers constructed an Intimidation Dossier, which they sent to the Chief Constable of West Mercia Police and the Conservative Party Home Secretary Robert Carr.

On December 18, 1972, the West Mercia Constabulary produced a report, Disorderly conduct by pickets at building sites in Shropshire on Wednesday 6th September 1972. The document was sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions. It alleged that the police had been unprepared for the massive disorder on the part of the flying pickets. (Lord Justice Fulwood notes that the report only first became available for the purposes of the present proceedings in March 2017, following a Freedom of Information request.)

The police then began to interview many of the pickets and others about the events of September 6. In November, 31 men were arrested, but then released without charge. In February 1973, 24 of the pickets were either rearrested and charged or summonsed with offences arising from the picketing.

The court ruling by Lord Justice Fulford provides a clear account of how the police had constructed the case against the Shrewsbury 24 and then manipulated evidence that could have helped their defence at the time. This involved returning to potential witnesses, in some cases months after their initial statement had been taken and showing them photographs the police had obtained from local press coverage of the days events. Lord Justice Fulwood noted that the photographs were shown to all the witnesses and cited the West Mercia report above, with a view to identifying persons involved in disorderly picketing.

Witnesses were then invited to make a new statement, while their original statement was destroyed.

A crucial piece of evidence of the police frame-up cited in the Appeal Court was uncovered by Eileen Turnbull, the researcher for the Shrewsbury 24 Campaign. This was a document found in the National Archive, a note of a September 17, 1973 meeting at the house of Maurice Drake Q.C., the counsel for the Crown, with officers from the West Mercia Police:

So that Counsel would be aware it was mentioned that not all original hand written statements were still in existence, some having been destroyed after a fresh statement had been obtained. In most cases the first statement was taken before photographs were available for witnesses and before the Officers taking the statements knew what we were trying to prove.

When it came to the trials, the witness statements provided to the defence were the final versions, with no mention of any previous iterations.

Lord Justice Fulwood made short shrift of the argument of the Crown lawyer in the appeal hearing, who claimed that since the statements provided in the evidence bundles would have included all the information from the previous versions, the defence was not prejudiced in any way. Lord Justice Fulwood wrote that he saw no basis for concluding that the content of a destroyed witness statement would necessarily have been preserved in its replacement. Indeed, we would suggest that the opposite mayindeed, was likelyto have been the case, given the destroyed statements in all probability had a different focus than their later iterations, since they were taken before photographs were available and before the officers taking the statements knew what the Crown were seeking to prove.

He noted that one of the vital means of demonstrating that an eyewitness is unreliable was through a careful examination of the opportunities the individual had for observation; their powers of perception and memory; mistakes they have made in recalling and recording what occurred; inconsistencies in their evidence; and omissions or inconsistencies revealed in, or by, previous statements.

Since the case against the appellants was essentially based on the testimony of eyewitnesses, the defence lacked a key piece of evidence in planning its cross-examination of witnesses to establish the verity of their accountknowledge of their previous statements.

It was this that led the appeal court to conclude the original verdicts were unsafe and could not be upheld.

The justices dismissed the second grounds of appeal, that the ITV broadcast of news documentary Red under the Bed, transmitted just as the prosecution in the first trial closed its case, would have prejudiced the jury against the defendants.

Describing the programme as an avowedly anti-communist exercise in journalism, which had presented a picture of a new and alarming phenomenon: violent picketing and intimidation, and even included the allegation that union leaders turned a blind eye to threats of murder, Lord Justice Fulwood said he was confident jurors who had seen it would not have been prejudiced against the appellants, Given the political climate of the early 1970s and the clear issues in the case.

Speaking for the establishment, the Lord Justice dismissed the defences case, saying that the involvement of the government in preparing the programme, via a secret dossier given to the programme-makers prepared by the murky Information Research Department, was irrelevant and had not prejudiced proceedings.

The quashing of all the convictions of the Shrewsbury 24 is to be welcomed. It confirms the serious injustice done to a militant section of workers. However, the Labour Party and the trade unions can take no credit for this whatsoever.

The Labour government entered office in March 1974, with Prime Minister Harold Wilson and Home Secretary Roy Jenkins refusing to overturn the sentences of Warren and Tomlinson.

After remaining silent throughout the appeal process, only after the verdict was announced did Labour leader Sir Kier Starmer open his mouth, calling the result a huge victory.

Speaking for the union bureaucracy, Unite General Secretary Len McCluskey said he saluted the heroic men and their families and their enormous courage in taking on the apparatus of the state, something anathema to any trade union leader.

Des Warren

Were Des Warren alive to celebrate this victory, he would have other words to describe the filthy role played by the Labour and trade union bureaucracy, aided by the Communist Party in the fate suffered by him and his fellow pickets. In his autobiography, The Key to My Cell, he wrote:

I feel bitterness, anger and loathing when I think of some of our trade union leaders bemoaning the nations ills and how the workers must endure a cut in their living standards in order to save the country from disastereven my kids would recognise that as a load of crap. Their phoney dealing with the government (which is holding me prisoner) is to batten down the working class and force them to accept capitalist answers to capitalisms problems. Leaders? As far as I can see the only time some of them take a lead is when they go to the front of the queue when honours are dished out.

The Workers Revolutionary Party (WRP), then the British section of the International Committee of the Fourth International, and its youth section the Young Socialists conducted a vigorous campaign to defend the Shrewsbury pickets. Party members were instrumental in establishing the Wigan Building Workers Action Committee, which organised a march from Wigan to London demanding Free the Shrewsbury 2Des Warren and Ricky Tomlinson. By the time the march reached London, its size had swelled to over 10,000, attracting support from many sections of workers as well as young people.

It was this principled stand which convinced Des Warren to resign from the Communist Party and join the Trotskyist movement.
The community of Longford is rowing in behind a Stonepark family to help them raise funds for their ten-year-old daughter's cancer treatment.

Michelle Gijmadijevs is a fourth class pupil living in Stonepark with her dad Lenars, mum Olga and sister Nellie. In 2020, she was diagnosed with a rare spinal cord tumour called ganglioglioma mutation positive.

She has had surgery and has spent three months in Dublin hospitals, with many difficult sessions of physiotherapy to help her to move again. Michelle still needs treatment to kill the cancer cells that remain in her body. The family will travel to Essen, Germany for proton therapy - a treatment, which will take eight weeks. Both Lenars and Olga will need to take time off work.

Michelle's tumour goes from her second to seventh vertebra and her surgeon had said she might never breathe by herself or walk but surgery went well and Michelle gained the power to move her hands and walk again. She will have to wear a halo for three months to support her neck while her spine is healing.

The Stonepark girl is still on rehabilitation and her latest MRI scan showed some tissue in the spinal chord and will need proton treatment, which Michelle will receive in Germany.

A GoFundMe campaign was set up last night by Michell's neighbours, Lisa Mc Ginnity and Sarah Ni Chasarlaigh, who are hoping to raise 10,000 to ease the financial stress on the family.

So far, over 2,700 has been raised in just 14 hours, thanks to 65 generous donors.

To donate, visit the GoFundMe campaign here.
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A man has been indicted in relation to a sexual assault case at Texas A&M International University, according to the Webb County District Attorneys Office.

On Wednesday, a grand jury charged Jamyus Armand Jones, 21, with sexual assault, a second-degree felony that carries a punishment of up to 20 years in prison and a maximum fine of $10,000.
New Delhi, March 27 : The President of Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind (JuH), Maulana Arshad Madani, said on Friday that the 'love jihad' law under which people are being arrested "arbitarily" is totally against the guiding principles of the Constitution of India.

Madani was reacting to the trial court order on Friday which issued conditional bail to six accused, including two women, who had been lodged in jail for the past four months in a love jihad case in Sitapur district in Uttar Pradesh.

Madani said, "We are not satisfied with the bail. Instead of bail, the demand of justice was that the court should dismiss the case, but it did not do so." Expressing deep concern over the slow pace of the judicial system, he said that if innocent persons are arrested and sent to jail on the basis of personal enmity or prejudice, it would take years to get justice.

Elaborating his point, Madani said that in the Sitapur case, the entire family, including housewives, of the accused was arrested by the police on the basis of prejudice.

"Justice and the law demanded that the police would arrest the real culprit, but under the pressure of the state government, they arrested only those who had no guilt. Is this not a serious violation of human rights," he asked.

Madani said that the court passed the order of their release after the girl had stated that she had not been chased away by anyone but had gone of her own free will. The case was fought by the legal team of JuH.

He also said that they are fighting a legal battle in the Supreme Court against the unconstitutional love jihad law which is based on prejudice.

"According to the number of arrests made so far under the new law and the figures submitted to the court by the state government, 99 per cent of the arrested persons are Muslims. This proves that the law was introduced to harass and intimidate the Muslim youth," he said.
Jerusalem: How did a Muslim dentist from an Arab village 17 kilometres from Lebanon end up as a potential kingmaker among Jewish lawmakers battling for power in Jerusalem?

The surprising star turn of Mansour Abbas at the centre of Israeli politics stems from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus desperate search for parliamentary seats. And it could signal the possible softening of Israels long-standing taboo against Jewish parties partnering with Arab parties.

Mansour Abbas, leader of the United Arab List, votes for Israels parliamentary election at a polling station in Maghar, Israel, Tuesday, March. 23, 2021. Credit:AP

A final tally from Tuesdays election - Israels fourth during two years of political stalemate - was announced Thursday, and it showed that Netanyahu had fallen short of securing the majority he needs to stay in office. The results confirm that his Likud party won the most seats in the Knesset, but the bloc of parties that are certain to support him only won 52 seats, nine shy of the number needed for a majority. His opponents, too, failed to garner a majority, with a collection of anti-Netanyahu parties securing 57 seats.

In the scramble to find supporters, both sides are now looking at the four seats won by the United Arab List, a small Islamist party led by Abbas.
Jordan Banjo has revealed that he is planning his wedding to fiancee Naomi Courts for next summer.

The Diversity dancer, 28, said he is 'super excited' for the upcoming celebrations after they were delayed due to the pandemic and that they have found a venue.

He added that his two children Mimi, 20 months, and Cassius, three, will be a flower girl and page boy during the ceremony.

Exciting: Jordan Banjo has revealed that he is planning his wedding to fiancee Naomi Courts for next summer (pictured after their 2020 engagement)

Jordan announced his engagement to mother-of-two Naomi in January 2020 when he proposed during a trip to the Maldives after almost five years together.

Speaking to The Sun he said: 'Nay loves the idea of Mimi being a little flower girl and Cas being a page boy.

'It will be really nice to have them at the wedding because not everyone has children at the wedding, they normally come after. I'm super excited.

'Everyone in Diversity had kids after they got married, we did that the other way round. We're hoping late next summer, we're pretty sure we've found the venue.

Sweet: The Diversity dancer, 28, said he is 'super excited' for the upcoming celebrations after they were delayed due to the pandemic

'Nay today was like, 'we've got to book it'. We haven't seen it in person yet. Cas will be four, Mimi will be three. They'll be a little older, I'm super excited for it.'

Last January Jordan revealed he popped the question to Naomi in the Maldives, six months after welcoming their second child, Mimi.

In a sweet Instagram post, the dancer and his partner - who also share Cassius - cuddled up to each other at the four-star SAii Lagoon resort as the brunette flashed her diamond engagement ring.

Loved-up: Jordan announced his engagement to mother-of-two Naomi in January 2020 when he proposed during a trip to the Maldives after almost five years together

The couple appeared on cloud nine as they took snaps on the beach, where a fire display with the words: 'WILL U MARRY ME' was lit up.

In another photo, Naomi put her eye-watering band on full display, which was complete with a pear-shaped stone and a sculpted swirl design.

Street dancer Jordan captioned the images: 'Well she didn't say no', alongside ring and heart emojis.

The pair were finally one step closer to marriage after Jordan admitted his proposal plans failed twice.

Happy family: He added that his two children Mimi, 20 months, and Cassius, three, will be a flower girl and page boy during the ceremony (pictured last January)

He told The Sun in April 2019: 'At this rate we're going to end up with 13 kids and not going to be married. I was ready to propose when I found out she was pregnant with Cass.

'So I thought, "OK, I'll wait until he's a little older and then I'll take Naomi away and surprise her with a proposal".

'Then when I started thinking about doing it again this year I found out she was pregnant again. Now she's convinced we're not going to get married.'

Jordan and Naomi met at famous nightclub Sugar Hut in 2013, but embarked on a relationship two years later.

Beautiful: After he proposed last year Jordan took to Instagram to show off the stunning engagement ring

Loved-up: The smitten couple were holidaying in The Maldives when Jordan proposed last year

In January 2018, the couple revealed they were expecting their first child together, with the Essex-based beauty admitting she took 'nine pregnancy tests' out of shock.

She told OK! at the time: 'I wanted to be sure so I went out and bought eight more tests. I sat with them laid out in front of me on the bathroom floor, staring at them in disbelief.

'We always said we wanted kids together, we just didn't think it would happen this soon. We're over the moon, though!'

Happy days: Before Naomi fell pregnant for the second time, the presenter said he was ready to get hitched

Eight months after welcoming Cass, the pair announced they were pregnant with their second baby, with their daughter arriving in the July.

The I'm A Celeb star previously dated Little Mix's Jesy Nelson from mid 2012 until March 2013.

Jordan rose to fame in 2009 when he won Britain's Got Talent with big brother Ashley as part of their dance troupe Diversity.

Since being in the spotlight, he has hosted the 2013 edition of Got to Dance, participated in I'm A Celeb in 2016 and presented BBC's The Greatest Dancer with Alesha Dixon.
Jessica Rowe and her daughter Allegra are lucky to be alive after their car burst into flames in the middle of a busy road in Sydney on Thursday afternoon.

But the former Studio 10 host wasn't letting the traumatic experience get her down on Friday as she stepped out in a colourful dress for a morning of TV interviews.

She appeared to be in a good mood and smiled for the paparazzi as she crossed the street after shooting a live cross for a breakfast show.

No worries! Jessica Rowe wasn't letting her near-death experience on Thursday get her down as she stepped out in a colourful dress for a morning of TV interviews on Friday

Jessica, 50, wore a patterned frock with long sleeves, which she paired with a pink lattice-style belt and faux crocodile skin boots.

For makeup, she opted for a radiant base with bright pink lipstick, blush on her cheeks, and lashings of mascara

Looking every inch the professional, she carried her phone and keys before heading off to do another interview.

Quirky: The former Studio 10 host, 50, appeared to be in a good mood and smiled for the paparazzi as she crossed the street after shooting a live cross for a breakfast show

Fashionista: Jessica wore a patterned frock with long sleeves, which she paired with a pink lattice-style belt and faux crocodile skin boots

Jessica, who has been a journalist for more than two decades, looked comfortable in front of the camera as she discussed her terrifying ordeal.

On Thursday afternoon, she was picking up her daughter Allegra, 14, from school in Sydney's eastern suburbs when her black Volvo XC 60 began billowing smoke on New South Head Road in Rose Bay.

A passing school bus driver named Mev flagged them down to alert them of the danger and helped the pair escape from the vehicle and flee to safety just as the car burst into flames.

In her element: Jessica, who has been a journalist for more than two decades, looked comfortable in front of the camera as she discussed her terrifying ordeal

Small talk: The mother of two chatted to a producer in between interviews

They both escaped uninjured but were traumatised by the ordeal.

Following the incident, Jessica told her Instagram followers she and Allegra were 'safe and sound' but still shaken by what had happened.

She said they were grateful to all the Good Samaritans who helped them - in particular bus driver Mev, whose intervention likely saved their lives.

Dangerous: On Thursday afternoon, Jessica was picking up her daughter Allegra from school in Sydney's eastern suburbs when her black Volvo XC 60 began billowing smoke. The pair fled the vehicle after being alerted by a passing bus driver and the car subsequently exploded

'Thank you to the thoughtful, fast thinking and kind school bus driver Mev who got us out of the car, called the fire brigade, cleared the road and then stayed to drive us home,' she said.

'Thank you to the police and paramedics who are angels. And the tow truck driver! And the mums and dads who stopped to help. We love you.'

Jessica's manager, David H. Wilson, told Daily Mail Australia on Friday the cause of the blaze is still a 'mystery at this stage'.
President John Magufuli has accomplished many that opposition and I boasted his government won't. Magufuli was very consistence in his plans and speed and that attracted me to join CCM, luckily he trusted me, said Mwita Waitara, Deputy Minister in the Vice President's Office (Union and Environment).

The former Chadema politician turned CCM stalwart wants his party leaders to sustain the good work of President Magufuli. He pleaded loyalty to President Samia Suluhu Hassan at Magufuli's funeral service in Chato Thursday.

Waitara who is a native kurya says being a hard working politician it was easy to adopt to the spirit and leadership speed of President John Magufuli.

Mama Samia is our President, he said, more importantly he knows President Magufuli as he had worked with him as a cabinet minister and as the president.
At least three nail salons in California  including one in in the Bay Area  received racist, hateful letters in the mail this week from an anonymous sender.

The contents of the letters were identical, invoking all manner of racist stereotypes about Asian people and alluding to language used by former President Donald Trump.

GO BACK TO YOUR NASTY ST-HOLE COUNTRY!! read the letter. YOU DONT BELONG HERE! NOONE WANTS YOU HERE!!!

The letter was sent without a return address, but was made to appear as if it were sent by a citys Department of Health and Human Services. Both letters were postmarked March 19 from San Bernardino, Calif., three days after the horrific Atlanta shootings left eight dead  six of whom were Asian.

Vicky Mai, the owner of All Polish Nails in Healdsburg, received the letter last week. So did Jackie Vu, whose family owns Top 10 Nail in Riverside.

I cant believe this is happening, with everything going on right now, Mai told the San Francisco Chronicle Thursday. It was shocking. I was so surprised. (SFGATE and the Chronicle are both owned by Hearst, but operate independently of one another.)

Vu, a nail technician, decried the letter in an Instagram post published last Sunday. She told SFGATE that her mother opened the letter, thinking that it was from city health officials. "Initially, we were in disbelief," Diem said.

"If it wasn't for the fake 'Department of Health and Human Services'," she said, "I don't think she would have opened a random letter."

POST THIS IN YOUR SHOP SO ALL YOUR WORKERS & CUSTOMER CAN SEE IT! the letter said.

Another nail salon in San Bernardino also received the hateful letter, a Riverside police spokesman told SFGATE. "We find the content of the letter received in Riverside to be disgusting and completely unacceptable," he added.

Healdsburg officials condemned the dispatch. In a Facebook message shared Wednesday, Healdsburg city councilwoman Ariel Kelley said that multiple Asian-owned businesses have received the same letter and acknowledges that they are a direct danger to our AAPI community here in Healdsburg and beyond.

There is no room for hate, bigotry, or white supremacy in our town, she said in her post. Healdsburg is beautiful because of its diversity, and anything that suggests otherwise is a lie."

"So while this racism is nothing new, the recent uptick in violence is a stark reminder that we cannot stay silent in the face of oppression," she added.

Sgt. Will Van Vleck with the Healdsburg Police Department suspects that the sender is mass-targeting salons and other small businesses perceived to be Asian-owned. Per the Healdsburg Tribune, city police are investigating the letter as a hate incident rather than a hate crime under California law. Van Vleck also told the local newspaper that All Polish was the sole business in Healdsburg so far to have received the letter.

Vu said the letter has left her drained and heartbroken, despite the support she's received online after sharing her story.

"It's very heartbreaking that what I have been seeing elsewhere is happening here. In my hometown," she said. "I got a letter, I want it to stop there. No more bloodshed. What's going on is enough. It's simple."

Healdsburg police did not immediately respond to a request for comment from SFGATE.
A Derry woman was today convicted of stealing 4,700 from an elderly uncle she had been helping to care for.

Rachel Coyle, 33, from Kilburn Crescent, admitted fraudulently cashing cheques in the name of her uncle on three separate occasions in December last year and January of this year.

Derry Magistrates Court was told Coyle had been 'ostracised' by her family following the offences.

A representative for the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) told the court that the offences came to light after the pensioner had noticed a 'substantial' drop in his balance when he received a bank statement.

The bank advised him to speak with his family.

He spoke with his niece, the defendant, and she denied having anything to do with the missing money.

When the man contacted his bank again, he was told to report the fraud to the police.

When police called to the man's house to take a statement, Coyle was in the house and had just admitted to taking the money.

She said she had used his cheque book to cash cheques in her name, one for 714.01, another for 985.20 and one for 3,000.

During interview, Coyle said she had suicidal thoughts and had used the money to pay off her debts and 'sort out her children's Christmas'.

She said her uncle's cheque book had fallen out of the back of her car and she had 'seized' the opportunity and written the cheques in her name.

The PPS representative said the man had been reimbursed by the bank for the money taken due to his status as a 'very loyal customer'.

Coyle's defence barrister, Mark Reel, told the court she had gathered enough money together to repay the money she took.

He said that the money would now have to be given to the bank given that the injured party had been reimbursed.

Mr Reel said a pre-sentence report set out some 'unusual and fairly tragic circumstances' in relation to the defendant but he added that he did not wish to go into those details in open court.

He said Coyle had been the victim of an incident in 2016 after which she was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Mr Reel said she was a carer for the injured party and remains 'very fond' of him.

He said that Coyle has been able to gather the money needed to repay her uncle as she had recently received compensation in relation to the 2016 incident.

Mr Reel said that since the recent events, Coyle has been 'ostracised' by her family, a matter which she 'deeply regrets' but does hold against them.

This is her fault and she accepts that, he said.

The judge said the court took such 'breaches of trust' very seriously and normally such offences would have resulted in the guilty party being sent to jail.

However, the judge highlighted Coyle's early admission, her previously clear record and the fact that she had gathered the money together to repay the injured party.

Coyle was given a four month prison sentence but the sentence was suspended for two years.
New Delhi: President Ram Nath Kovind is undergoing check-up at the Army's Research and Referral hospital here after complaining of chest discomfort on Friday morning, the hospital said.

It said that he is undergoing routine check-up and is under observation.

President Ram Nath Kovind

"President of India visited Army Hospital (R&R) following chest discomfort this morning. He is undergoing routine check-up and is under observation," the hospital said in a medical bulletin.

"His condition is stable," it added.
Intelligent.com, a trusted resource for online degree rankings and higher education planning, has announced the Top 48 Paralegal Certificate Degree Programs for 2021. The comprehensive research guide is based on an assessment of 200 accredited colleges and universities in the nation. Each program is evaluated based on curriculum quality, graduation rate, reputation, and post-graduate employment.

The 2021 rankings are calculated through a unique scoring system which includes student engagement, potential return on investment and leading third party evaluations. Intelligent.com analyzed 200 schools, on a scale of 0 to 100, with only 48 making it to the final list. The methodology also uses an algorithm which collects and analyzes multiple rankings into one score to easily compare each school.

Students who pursue any one of these programs can expect to gain employment much quicker in comparison to candidates without a degree. In addition to accessibility and cost, the steady job growth in this market is one of the many reasons Intelligent.com researched and ranked the Top Paralegal Certificate Degree Programs. To access the complete ranking, please visit: https://www.intelligent.com/best-paralegal-certificate-degree-programs/

2021 Paralegal Certificate Degree Programs featured on Intelligent.com (in alphabetical order):

American Public University System

American Public University System

Ashworth College

Assumption College

Auburn University

Bay Path University

Boston University

Bryant & Stratton College

California State University, Bakersfield

Central Texas College

Cerro Coso Community College

Charter Oak State College

Clayton State University

Daemen College

De Anza College

Eastern Kentucky University

Edmonds Community College

Franklin Pierce University

Grand Valley State University

Hamline University

Hampton University

James Madison University

Kennesaw State University

Lake Superior College

Lakeshore Technical College

Liberty University

Louisiana State University

Loyola University Chicago

Marist College

Northwestern State University of Louisiana

Rice University

Rio Salado College

Roger Williams University

Saint Mary of the Woods College

Southwestern College

University of California, Berkeley

University of California, Davis

University of Cincinnati

University of Georgia

University of La Verne

University of Massachusetts, Lowell

University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

University Of North Georgia

University of Texas, Austin

University of Texas, San Antonio

University of Washington

Villanova University

Webster University

About Intelligent.com

Intelligent.com provides unbiased research to help students make informed decisions about higher education programs. The website offers curated guides which include the best degree programs as well as information about financial aid, internships and even study strategies. With comprehensive, user-friendly guides and hundreds of program rankings, Intelligent.com is a trusted source among students and prospective students. To learn more, please visit https://www.intelligent.com/.
Former Osun State Governor, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, has canvassed for unity among members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in order...





Former Osun State Governor, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, has canvassed for unity among members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in order to win the 2023 presidential election.

Oyinlola gave the advice while speaking with newsmen after receiving former Oyo State Deputy Governor Taofeek Arapaja and party supporters in his house in Osogbo.

He said with unity of purpose, the PDP can rescue Nigerians from the suffering created by the All Progressives Congress misrule.

Oyinlola expressed satisfaction with the breakthrough in the Ekiti state chapter of the party as both former Governor Ayo Fayose and Senator Abiodun Olujinmi reconciled their differences.

I was part of the party at the time it was coming on board, they have not fulfilled a single promise, from security to economy, corruption, just mention it. So if we have our party united, the people will follow us.

Speaking about the APC led government, Oyinlola asserted that the party has failed Nigerians in every aspect of governance, except if someone wants to be insincere, then one will say the party has delivered the electoral promises it made to Nigerians.

We must be united if we want to win the election, there are no two ways about it, said the former PDP scribe.
Kendall Jenner was forced to shut down speculation she was pregnant on Thursday, after her mother Kris Jenner sent tongues wagging when she posted a baby bottle emoji.

The model, 25, was inundated with messages online asking if she was expecting her first child after fans believed Kris' emoticon was a cryptic hint she was pregnant.

The rumours first started when Kris, 65, wrote 'You got this!!! @Kendall Jenner', alongside the baby-themed emoticon.

'Mom!': Kendall Jenner was forced to shut down speculation she was pregnant on Thursday, after her mother Kris Jenner sent tongues wagging when she posted a baby bottle emoji

Phew! The model, 25, was inundated with messages online asking if she was expecting her first child after fans believed Kris' emoticon was a cryptic hint she was pregnant (pictured in 2018)

Shortly after Kris' original Tweet was posted, many Keeping Up With The Kardashians fans reacted in shock of what appeared to be a baby-themed tweet.

'Dont u think shell be the cutest mommy? #KUWTK,' wrote one user, with another clarifying to those NOT tuning into Thursday night's episode of Keeping Up With The Kardashians that Kendall was on 'babysitting' duty.

Kendall, making sure that there were no misconceptions, took to her own Twitter, where she acknowledged that her mom's out of context tweet read like a 'pregnancy announcement.'

Confusion: 'Wait whatttt?' wrote one confused fan, prior to Kendall's clarification. While another penned in all caps: 'WAIT SHES PREGNANT'

'I really thought this was a pregnancy announcement, that one emoji,' read one tweet, referencing to Kris' baby bottle emoji choice

'mom, this looks like a pregnancy announcement!' wrote the runway maven, followed by a laughing emoji and a face-palm emoji.

'Wait whatttt?' wrote one confused fan, prior to Kendall's clarification. While another penned in all caps: 'WAIT SHES PREGNANT'

'I really thought this was a pregnancy announcement, that one emoji,' read one tweet, referencing to Kris' baby bottle emoji choice.

KUWTK: The 20th and final season of Keeping Up With The Kardashians premiered last Thursday, with the second highly anticipated installment airing tonight on E!

Baby fever? During the evening's episode, Kendall exhibited some 'baby fever' on air, being the only member of the Kardashian-Jenner clan without offspring

The 20th and final season of Keeping Up With The Kardashians premiered last Thursday, with the second highly anticipated installment airing tonight on E!

During the evening's episode, Kendall exhibited some 'baby fever' on air, being the only member of the Kardashian-Jenner clan without offspring.

Quarantining alone had made her 'a little jealous' she told her older sister Khloe and her BFF Malika, adding, 'I want kids badly. Soon, too.'

Malika offered to let Kendall watch her son Ace, four months, to get experience.

Quarantining alone had made her 'a little jealous' she told her older sister Khloe and her BFF Malika, adding, 'I want kids badly. Soon, too'

Babysitter: On Kim's 'girl's night,' Kendall watched True, and Kim's kids Chicago, three, and Psalm, one

As Kendall handled him, she admitted that she had no idea what to do and looked aghast as Malika explained how to change a boy baby's diaper.

She and Khloe took advantage of Kendall's services to head off to McDonalds.

The supermodel struggled to put Ace in his high chair, worried when he cried after scratching himself on her fingernails, then calmed him with a pacifier.

'You guys, he was so easy, I swear I could have done it longer,' she bragged when Malika and Khloe returned.

Rules in place: Khloe warned Kendall that she couldn't watch TV with True, that everything they did had to be 'age-appropriate,' and that the child was 'potty training, so she doesn't have a diaper on'

Hectic: Hours later she got 'nervous' as the kids squabbled, screamed, fought and fell over in the playroom

On Kim's 'girl's night,' Kendall watched True, and Kim's kids Chicago, three, and Psalm, one.

Khloe warned Kendall that she couldn't watch TV with True, that everything they did had to be 'age-appropriate,' and that the child was 'potty training, so she doesn't have a diaper on.'

Kendall joked that she wouldn't show True the violent 2001 movie Training Day.

It's a lot: 'I don't know what to do now,' she said as Kris called to check in. 'I'm like having anxiety now'

Chaos: Trying to put all three kids to bed was 'chaos,' she confessed. 'I guess this is motherhood'

Hours later she got 'nervous' as the kids squabbled, screamed, fought and fell over in the playroom.

'I don't know what to do now,' she said as Kris called to check in. 'I'm like having anxiety now.'

Trying to put all three kids to bed was 'chaos,' she confessed. 'I guess this is motherhood.'

What? 'If anything, this experience didn't turn me off from having kids,' she told the cameras. 'It actually made me more excited'

But when Kim and Khloe returned, Kendall was surprisingly upbeat.

'If anything, this experience didn't turn me off from having kids,' she told the cameras. 'It actually made me more excited.'

'Next time, we're gonna bring on Reign, Saint and Dream,' Khloe threatened, referring to Kourtney, Kim, and Rob Kardashian's slightly older kids.

Kendall said she was happy to babysit whenever, at which point Khloe and Kim snuck out again.

Pose! Elsewhere, Kendall has been promoting her new perfume collaboration with her sister Kim

Wow! In promotional shots for the campaign Kim looked incredible in a series of leather looks

Prep: Kim's glam team was at hand to ensure they looked their best for the shoot

Elegant: The shoot incorporated horses which are one of Kendall's passions

Breathtaking: Kim looked incredible in a quirky blazer and matching trousers
In this Wednesday, March 24, 2021 image from video provided by Duke Health, Alejandra Gerardo, 9, looks up to her mom, Dr. Susanna Naggie, as she gets the first of two Pfizer COVID-19 vaccinations during a clinical trial for children at Duke Health in Durham, N.C. In the U.S. and abroad, researchers are beginning to test younger and younger kids, to make sure the shots are safe and work for each age. (Shawn Rocco/Duke Health via AP)

The 9-year-old twins didn't flinch as each received test doses of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccineand then a sparkly bandage to cover the spot.

"Sparkles make everything better," declared Marisol Gerardo as she hopped off an exam table at Duke University to make way for her sister Alejandra.

Researchers in the U.S. and abroad are beginning to test younger and younger kids to make sure COVID-19 vaccines are safe and work for each age. The first shots are going to adults who are most at risk from the coronavirus, but ending the pandemic will require vaccinating children too.

"Kids should get the shot," Marisol told The Associated Press this week after the sisters participated in Pfizer's new study of children under age 12. "So that everything might be a bit more normal." She's looking forward to when she can have sleepovers with friends again.

So far in the U.S., teen testing is furthest along: Pfizer and Moderna expect to release results soon showing how two doses of their vaccines performed in the 12 and older crowd. Pfizer is currently authorized for use starting at age 16; Moderna is for people 18 and older.

But younger children may need different doses than teens and adults. Moderna recently began a study similar to Pfizer's new trial, as both companies hunt the right dosage of each shot for each age group as they work toward eventually vaccinating babies as young as 6 months.

Last month in Britain, AstraZeneca began a study of its vaccine among 6- to 17-year-olds. Johnson & Johnson is planning its own pediatric studies. And in China, Sinovac recently announced it has submitted preliminary data to Chinese regulators showing its vaccine is safe in children as young as 3.

Getting this data, for all the vaccines being rolled out, is critical because countries must vaccinate children to achieve herd immunity, noted Duke pediatric and vaccine specialist Dr. Emmanuel "Chip" Walter, who is helping to lead the Pfizer study.

Most COVID-19 vaccines being used around the world were first studied in tens of thousands of adults. Studies in children won't need to be nearly as large: Researchers have safety information from those studies and subsequent vaccinations of millions of adults.

And because children's infection rates are so lowthey make up about 13% of COVID-19 cases documented in the U.S.the main focus of pediatric studies isn't counting numbers of illnesses. Instead researchers are measuring whether the vaccines rev up youngsters' immune systems much like they do adults'suggesting they'll offer similar protection.

Proving that is important because while children are far less likely than adults to get seriously ill, at least 268 have died from COVID-19 in the U.S. alone and more than 13,500 have been hospitalized, according to a tally by the American Academy of Pediatrics. That's more than die from the flu in an average year. Additionally, a small number have developed a serious inflammatory condition linked to the coronavirus.

Apart from their own health risks, there still are questions about how easily children can spread the virus, something that has complicated efforts to reopen schools.

Earlier this month, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious disease expert, told Congress he expected that high school students likely would begin getting vaccinated in the fall. The elementary students, he said, may not be eligible until early 2022.

In North Carolina, Marisol and Alejandra made their own choice to volunteer after their parents explained the opportunity, said their mother, Dr. Susanna Naggie, an infectious disease specialist at Duke. Long before the pandemic, she and her husband, emergency physician Dr. Charles Gerardo, regularly discussed their own research projects with the girls.

In the first phase of the Pfizer study, a small number of children receive different doses of vaccine as scientists winnow out the best dosage to test in several thousand kids in the next phase.

"We really trust the research process and understand that they may get a dose that doesn't work at all but may have side effects," said Naggie, describing the decision-making that parents face in signing up their children.

But 9-year-olds have some understanding of the pandemic's devastation and "it's nice to participate in something where it's not just about yourself but it's about learning," Naggie added. "They do worry about others and I think this is something that really, you know, struck home for them."

For Marisol, the only part that was "a bit nerve-wracking and scary" was having to give a blood sample first.

The vaccination itself was "really easy. If you just sit still during the shot, it's just going to be simple," she said.

 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Jayne air The pictures that ran with the profile on Jayne Hrdlicka , CEO of Virgin [March 13], display a curious lack of the basic mandatory safety equipment required to be worn in the airside area. Inside the operational area of the airport, personal protective equipment should be worn. This includes, but is not limited to, safety shoes, high-visibility clothing and hearing protection, none of which are evident. It sends an appalling message to her staff. Chris Johnston Glen Iris, Vic

Send us a picture or Instagram one of Good Weekend in your life, using the hashtag #goodweekendmag. We choose one each week to publish here and in print.

No place like home

This article [March 13] is one of the saddest and most harrowing pieces I have read in Good Weekend. So many lives affected, from the birth mother and her child to both sets of parents. Once again we see the power of the Catholic Church in Irelands everyday life and the powerlessness of the countrys politicians. How could the commission find that what happened to the mothers was the fault of anyone but the Church? Its no wonder so many Catholics have left their faith.

Robert Pallister

Punchbowl, NSW

Jane Wheatley was right to describe Irelands institutions for unwed pregnant women as resembling houses of horror. Over two decades, Irelands church and state have offered apologies following official reports on clerical child sexual abuse, orphanages and young women working in convent laundries. With that history, its not surprising that Ireland legalised same-sex marriage in 2015 and abortion in 2018 [by popular vote, not in parliament]. Irish history offers a warning when it comes to Australias proposed legislation on religious freedom, namely that any extension of freedom for one group will affect the freedom of others in our multiracial and multicultural society.

James Moore

Kogarah, NSW

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Australian unmarried mothers were treated just as horrifically as their Irish counterparts. Notably, the sins of the Catholic clergy were covered up by the setting-up of a ward at a Melbourne hospital for girls and women who had had babies to priests; their babies were adopted, and their mothers were told that they had died. My friend, one of these girls, discovered later that her baby hadnt died. She never found him because, as was the case in Ireland, records, if kept, were inaccessible.

Patricia Beaton

Weston, ACT

My heart breaks  I cannot read this story although I feel I should. I didnt have the courage to go ahead with an unwanted pregnancy; I would have killed myself if my baby had been taken from me. I had a termination. I am in my early 70s now; it has taken years to come to terms with my decision. I know it was right for me.

Janet Hagger

Ocean Grove, Vic
There's a new development at Mills College.

The Oakland-based university that's shifting its focus amid financial struggles will be hosting a UC Berkeley program for first-year students this fall.

UC Berkeley announced Thursday that in addition to its semester-long Fall Program for Freshmen and traditional path on the Berkeley campus, the Changemaker in Oakland program will be held on the Mills campus, with 200 students living and taking classes together. The freshman program will last a year and give students the opportunity to ease into college in a smaller environment.

Ramu Nagappan, assistant dean of UC Berkeley Extension, which runs the Fall Program for Freshmen and will also run the new program, described the experience as like a small liberal arts college, with the resources and opportunities of a large research university, in a statement.

Nagappan said students in the Fall Program for Freshmen demonstrate small, but measurable differences in academic outcomes  their GPAs are slightly higher, their time to graduate is a little faster than College of Letters and Science students who start on the main campus. Its more of a nurturing environment.

The 169-year-old Mills College, one of the few women's colleges in California, announced March 17 it's shifting from a degree-giving college to an institute promoting women's leadership.

After fall 2021, Mills will no longer enroll new first-year undergraduate students, and it will likely confer its final degrees in 2023, pending further consideration and action by the board of trustees, Elizabeth Hillman, the school's president, said in a letter posted online.

Opened in 1852, two years after California became a state, Mills is steeped in history. The college was originally founded in Benicia as the Young Ladies Seminary, according to the Mills website. The school was moved to Oakland in 1872, after being purchased by two missionaries who were champions of women's rights. Mills has been hailed for many firsts over the years, including the first womens college to offer a computer science major in 1974, the first and only women's college to reverse a decision to go co-ed in 1990 and the first single-sex college to adopt an admissions policy welcoming transgender students in 2014.

"Declines in enrollment, coupled with years of operating losses and the unexpected challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, require this change," Hillman said in a video posted on Twitter.
Parents of transgender children can consent to treatment with puberty blockers on their child's behalf without a court's approval, a High Court judge has ruled.

Mrs Justice Lieven gave the ruling today in the case of a 15-year-old, identified as XY, who was born a boy but lives as a girl and is undergoing treatment with puberty blockers.

The judge was asked to consider the issue following the High Court's landmark decision in the case of Keira Bell over whether children can consent to the use of puberty blockers.

The girl's mother sought a declaration from the High Court that she and the girl's father can consent to her ongoing treatment amid 'uncertainty on the lawfulness of parental consent' and a concern that XY's GP might not continue to prescribe puberty blockers in light of that ruling.

Mrs Justice Lieven said the use of puberty blockers for children with gender dysphoria 'raises unique and highly controversial ethical issues', and the division of clinical and ethical views has become 'highly polarised'.

Mrs Justice Lieven gave the ruling on Friday in the case of a 15-year-old, identified as XY, who was born a boy but lives as a girl and is undergoing treatment with puberty blockers. Pictured: Keira Bell

The judge said that, before the ruling in Ms Bell's case, XY had been treated with puberty blockers on the basis that she was able to consent to the treatment herself.

However, she said that view had been 'cast into doubt' by the judgment in Ms Bell's case and therefore the issue for her to decide was whether XY's parents could continue to consent to the treatment on her behalf.

The judge concluded that, whether or not XY is considered legally competent to make the decision about puberty blockers, 'her parents retain the parental right to consent to that treatment'.

Ms Bell, who began taking puberty blockers when she was 16 before 'detransitioning', brought legal action against the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust - which runs the UK's only gender identity development service (GIDS) providing treatment to transgender children - arguing that children cannot properly consent to taking puberty blockers.

The judge was asked to consider the issue following the High Court's landmark decision in the case of Keira Bell (seen as a child) over whether children can consent to the use of puberty blockers

Mrs Justice Lieven (above) said the use of puberty blockers for children with gender dysphoria 'raises unique and highly controversial ethical issues', and the division of clinical and ethical views has become 'highly polarised'

Dame Victoria Sharp, sitting with Lord Justice Lewis and Mrs Justice Lieven, ruled in Ms Bell's favour in December last year and said children under 16 need to understand 'the immediate and long-term consequences of the treatment' to be able to consent to the use of puberty blockers.

Following the ruling, which is being challenged and will be considered by the Court of Appeal in June, GIDS paused new referrals for hormone treatment.

However, the trust said treatment for patients currently taking puberty blockers should continue on the basis of parental consent given the 'extreme distress these children and young persons would suffer if the treatment was not continued'.

Keira Bell is a key witness in the landmark High Court case against the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust Keira Bell, 23, took legal action against the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the UK's only gender identity development service for children, arguing that children cannot properly consent to taking puberty blockers. Ms Bell, who began taking puberty blockers when she was 16 before 'detransitioning', brought the legal challenge with Mrs A, the mother of a 15-year-old autistic girl who is currently on the waiting list for treatment. In a judgment given in January, Dame Victoria Sharp, sitting with Lord Justice Lewis and Mrs Justice Lieven, said that children under 16 need to understand 'the immediate and long-term consequences of the treatment' to be able to consent to the use of puberty blockers. The court ruled that 'in order for a child to be competent to give valid consent, the child would have to understand, retain and weigh' a number of factors, including 'the immediate consequences of the treatment in physical and psychological terms' and the fact that 'the vast majority of patients taking puberty blocking drugs proceed to taking cross-sex hormones and are, therefore, a pathway to much greater medical interventions'. Keira began treatment at Tavistock in North London at 16, when she decided she no longer wanted to be a girl and asked for help. After three one-hour appointments, she was prescribed hormone blockers to halt the development of her female body. Put on what she calls a 'roller coaster' journey, she was soon being given the male hormone testosterone to change her appearance. Three years ago, she had her breasts removed, in an operation paid for by the NHS. Despite that dramatic step, this story has taken an extraordinary twist. For Keira has now changed her mind about being a man. She believes it is an impossible quest, and is trying to reverse the process. It was revealed in January that she is the key witness in a landmark High Court case against the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the clinic. The legal action questions the basis on which the Tavistock's Gender Identity Service obtains consent to treat youngsters  some of them as young as 12. So controversial is the high-profile case that some lawyers expect it to end up in the Supreme Court, the UK's highest judicial body, for a decision on how gender reassignment treatment should be authorised for those who haven't reached adulthood. In a statement, Keira said: 'I don't believe children and young people can consent to the use of powerful, experimental hormone drugs like I did. Hormone-changing drugs and surgery do not work for everyone, and it certainly should not be offered to someone under 18.' Advertisement

Mrs Justice Lieven said she 'self-evidently' agrees with the conclusions in Ms Bell's case, having been one member of the court which gave the ruling, and that nothing in her decision on XY's case is intended to depart from it.

However, she said the issue of parental consent was not considered by the court in Ms Bell's case.

In the case of XY, the judge said there was agreement between the teenager, her parents and treating clinicians that she should continue to be treated with puberty blockers.

The teenager's mother said her daughter had always only been interested in girls' toys and clothes and was 'utterly miserable, became very withdrawn, and was shy and unhappy' during a period when she tried to conform to a more 'male' stereotype.

Once she told her parents she was transgender and started going to school as a girl, her mother said XY's confidence grew and she 'became much happier'.

The judge said she has now 'fully transitioned socially in all aspects of her life, including legal paperwork' and has changed her name by deed poll.

She said XY has never been diagnosed as having an unresolved mental health issue and there is no suggestion she is on the autistic spectrum.

The girl's mother said in a witness statement she did extensive research on puberty blockers before her daughter started taking them, was 'fully aware' of the potential side effects and knew that the treatment was very new.

The judge said: 'It does appear from (the mother's) witness statement that she and (the father) have been careful and cautious in their approach to the treatment, have tried to become as well informed as possible and have sought at various stages to take matters slowly.'

After starting on puberty blockers, XY and her parents considered fertility treatment but decided not to wait for it to go ahead because the changes to her body were 'progressing at considerable speed and causing her distress'.

In a statement before the court at the hearing earlier in March, XY said: 'I agree with everything my mum says about our efforts for me to undergo fertility preservation treatment before I started on puberty blockers and the race against time.

'The visible and irreversible onset of male puberty was very and most distressing for me.

'It also meant that my life wouldn't be my life any more and normal, where everyone knew and accepted me as female.

'I had to make a very difficult choice. I have already explained in my letter how I felt about developing any additional male characteristics and especially as they could not be reversed. I would have been devastated.

'My parents and I talked about everything, they have been hugely supportive and understanding.'

Mrs Justice Lieven said the 'key difference' from Ms Bell's case is that parents are generally in a position to understand and consider what is in the best interests of their child.

She added: 'They are adults with full capacity and, as the people who know their child best and care for them the most, will be in a position to reach a fully informed decision.

'The evidence strongly suggests that XY's parents have fully considered these matters and come to a careful and informed decision.'

The judge concluded: 'In my view, the factors identified in (Ms Bell's case), which I fully agree with, do not justify removing the parental right to consent.

'The gravity of the decision to consent to puberty blockers is very great, but it is no more enormous than consenting to a child being allowed to die.

'Equally, the essentially experimental nature of puberty blockers should give any parent pause for thought, but parents can and do routinely consent on their child's behalf to experimental treatment, sometimes with considerable, including life-changing, potential side-effects.'

The judge said that in cases where there was disagreement between clinicians, or concern that parents were being 'pressured' by their children to consent, then those cases should be brought to court.

However, she said she does not consider that these issues 'justify a general rule that puberty blockers should be placed in a special category by which parents are unable in law to give consent'.
It's hard to believe that a year has passed since the first lockdown began. Suddenly, nothing in the world mattered except Covid. Let me say, straight away, that of course Covid matters. It's a nasty disease that has killed a lot of people, the overwhelming majority of whom were old and frail.

It is difficult to know precisely how many were killed directly by Covid, because of the odd way such deaths are recorded - die within 28 days of testing positive and you'll be marked as a Covid victim, even if you got hit by a bus.

But there's no question that these lost lives matter, however they ended. So too do the people who died as a result of the mitigation measures themselves.

Right from the start, I was sceptical about lockdown and the other mandated restrictions.

I'm a journalist, and it is journalism's job to question authority, seek truth, and hold power to account, not simply nod obediently and say 'yes, minister'.

If the Government decides to deprive us of our liberty, it is reasonable to ask why. Freedom is too precious to be given up overnight.

What I wanted to know was: is this response proportionate? Is it proven? These seemed, to me, to be the two essential questions.

One year of misery and chaos later, it is becoming increasingly clear that the answer to both is no.

This week, to mark the grim anniversary, the Health Advisory and Recovery Team (HART), a group of more than 40 highly qualified scientists, psychologists, statisticians and health practitioners, published a fully documented overview of the evidence.

The HART report states that lockdowns must never happen again, because they "serve no useful purpose and cause catastrophic societal and economic harms".

Health minister Robin Swann recently said that there was "no handbook" for a pandemic of such a virus. In fact, there was. Maybe he just hadn't read it.

As HART points out, we had existing pandemic plans, endorsed by the WHO, for dealing with a new severe respiratory virus.

Lockdowns were explicitly not recommended.

Instead, there would be targeted action to assist the most vulnerable. Yet these scrupulously researched documents, produced over the course of a decade, were abruptly dumped, and a panic-driven decision was made to shut society down, totalitarian China-style. In that moment, the fate of millions was sealed.

Not everyone has suffered. Lockdowns have been described as "focused protection for the rich" - the laptop classes hiding from the virus in their large and comfortable homes, while working people, who can't afford to hide, bring them their Amazon and Deliveroo orders.

What is striking is how quickly the restrictions have become a kind of secular religion, with its own associated rituals of mask-wearing and two-metre social distancing.

Despite all the talk about "following the science", decisions appear to have been driven by an unquestioning belief in the fundamentalist creed of lockdown.

If cases are decreasing, then lockdowns are deemed to be working. If they are going up, then more lockdowns are needed. Whatever way you look at it, lockdowns are the answer.

At Christmas, it was widely believed that the easing of restrictions led to a sharp rise in cases. But an investigation of the data by the BBC demonstrated that the rise was already happening, and was probably caused by a new, more infectious variant of the virus rather than by increased contact between people.

You won't hear anyone official talking about this, because governments have invested far too much in the monumental decisions they've made.

As the HART report notes, this is known as the "sunk cost fallacy". It uses WW1 as the classic example: "By Christmas 1914 it was obvious to all that the war was a catastrophe, but to admit this was to admit that all the lives lost had been lost pointlessly. And no country would confess that."

Indeed, politicians and their advisers have become so attached to the restrictions that, despite the incredible success of the vaccine programme, and the plunging death and hospitalisation rates, they just don't want to let them go.

Now English people can't go abroad because they might bring back a new variant - unless they're buying or selling a second home, in which case it's fine. The rich always get to keep their accustomed privileges.

Meanwhile, public health official Dr Mary Ramsay has announced that mask-wearing could remain mandatory for years. Yet there's no clear clinical evidence that masks stop the spread of disease in the first place.

Is any of this proportionate? Is it proven?

You decide.
The US will take steps to more quickly move hundreds of migrant children and teens out of cramped detention facilities along the south-west border, Joe Biden said on Thursday.

The president was pushing back against suggestions his administrations policies are responsible for the rising number of people seeking to enter the country.

Pressed repeatedly on the border issue at his first news conference since taking office, Mr Biden said his administration was taking steps to address the situation with measures such as setting aside space at a Texas Army base for about 5,000 unaccompanied minors. But mostly he fired back at criticism.

Before I took office, I set a big goal of 100 million shots in my first 100 days.



We hit the goal on day 58.



Now, Iam setting a new one: 200 million shots in my first 100 days.



Letas do this.  President Biden (@POTUS) March 25, 2021

He noted that his administration, as was done under President Donald Trump, is continuing to quickly expel most adults and families under a public health order imposed at the start of the Covid-19 outbreak. The crucial difference is that the government is allowing teens and children, at least temporarily, to stay in the country, straining government resources during the pandemic.

The only people were not going to let be left sitting there on the other side of the Rio Grande by themselves with no help are children, he said.

The situation along the US-Mexico border has become an early challenge for the administration, drawing more questions than any other subject at the maiden news conference, and diverting attention as the administration addresses the pandemic and the economy.

Expand Close Fatima Nayeli, 13, left, ands her sister, Cynthia Stacy, eight, answer questions from a US Border Patrol agent at an intake site after they were smuggled on an inflatable raft across the Rio Grande river in Roma, Texas (AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook

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Whatsapp Fatima Nayeli, 13, left, ands her sister, Cynthia Stacy, eight, answer questions from a US Border Patrol agent at an intake site after they were smuggled on an inflatable raft across the Rio Grande river in Roma, Texas (AP)

The number of migrants attempting to cross the border is at the highest level since a spring 2019 surge under Mr Trump, according to the most recently released statistics. The numbers appear to be rising and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas recently warned they are on pace to hit a 20-year peak.

Mr Biden sought to portray it as a seasonal spike and not, as critics have said, a result of moves such as his decisions to halt construction of border wall projects started under Trump or support for broad immigration legislation.

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It happens every year, he said. Does anybody suggest that there was a 31% increase under Trump because he was a nice guy and he was doing good things at the border? Thats not the reason theyre coming.

Expand Close Migrants deported from the US walk into Ciudad Juarez, Mexico (AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook

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Whatsapp Migrants deported from the US walk into Ciudad Juarez, Mexico (AP)

Mr Trump responded to a sharp increase in border crossings in 2019 by requiring migrants to wait in Mexico while the US evaluated their asylum petitions or to make claims instead in Guatemala, El Salvador or Honduras. Those Trump-era programmes were criticised for sending people fleeing violence back into dangerous situations.

Former acting DHS secretary Chad Wolf, now a fellow at the Heritage Foundation, said on Thursday that Mr Biden invited the current crisis by ending those programs and other measures.

He took away all of the consequences, at the same time he began to message that it was perfectly acceptable to come, he said.

Mr Biden, for his part, condemned the Trump-era requirement that migrants await their asylum claims in Mexico as sitting on the edge of the Rio Grande in a muddy circumstance with not enough to eat.

He also criticised an earlier policy of separating children from their families at the border and argued that it was conditions in peoples home countries that push them to the US border.

Its because of earthquakes, floods. Its because of lack of food. Its because of gang violence, he said. Its because of a whole range of things that when I was vice president had the same obligation to deal with unaccompanied children.
LONDON  It started last week when the host of the BBCs morning show mocked a cabinet minister, Robert Jenrick, for the Union Jack hanging conspicuously behind him, next to a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II. The flag, the host cracked, was not up to standard-size government interview measurements.

The host, Charlie Stayt, and his co-host, Naga Munchetty, who chuckled along, were quickly in hot water. After the BBC came under fire for disrespecting the British flag, both were reprimanded. Ms. Munchetty apologized for liking offensive Twitter posts that joined in the mockery of the ministers flag.

Never one to duck a culture-war skirmish, the Conservative government of Prime Minister Boris Johnson has seized on the flag flap to try to keep opponents on the defensive and the dissolution of the United Kingdom at bay.

On Wednesday, it decreed that, henceforth, the Union Jack should fly on all government buildings every day of the year, rather than simply on designated days. The only exception will be regional holidays when, say, the Scottish flag, the Saltire, would fly in Scotland on St. Andrews Day.
analysis

Every year students take to the streets to protest against the exorbitant cost of university fees and the resulting financial exclusion. To escape this annual quandary, SA needs a viable funding model perceptive to the needs of all students in the higher education system, says the CEO of the Council on Higher Education, Dr Whitfield Green.

South African students have been fighting financial exclusion of the poor and working class from institutions of higher education from long before the 2015-2017 #FeesMustFall movement

"The issue of student debt is a historical one, but ongoing. And as long as we don't have a viable funding model that addresses the needs of the range of students the issue of student debt will continue to be a challenge," said Dr Whitfield Green, the CEO of the Council on Higher Education (CHE) during an interview with Daily Maverick.

The recent spate of nationwide student protests brought to attention the role of statutory bodies like the CHE in finding a lasting and sustainable solution to the funding crisis in SA's universities.

Wits University's student debt bill stands at an exorbitant R1-billion. The combined debt owed to universities is R9-billion. Students, vice-chancellors and other stakeholders in the...
Spring is making her debut. The sun is peeking around the clouds, cherry trees are blossoming, my dog doesnt need to wear here little sweater on our walks anymore.

You get the picture.

With spring comes Easter  and all the egg hunts and chocolate bunnies that come with it.

While COVID is still a concern, some events will take place in-person this year. Masks and social distancing are still required, even at outdoor venues.

From meet and greets with goats to drive-thru candy grabs, here are some Easter events to kick off the spring season.

Egg-stra special Easter event at The Meriden Green: 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday, April 3 at 77 State St., Meriden. This is a free one-way walk through event with several candy stations for children. Bags will be provided. Masks are required. Pre-register by March 31 at meridenct.myrec.com.

Flashlight egg hunt: 8-9 p.m. Thursday, April 1, at Pratt Nature Center, 163 Paper Mill Road, New Milford. Children ages 8 through 14 can partake in this outdoor egg hunt in the dark at the lower fields of the Pratt Nature Center. Everyone must bring their own baskets and flashlights. Pre-registration is required by emailing info@prattcenter.org. Cost is $10 per child. For more information, visit the event Facebook page.

Easter Eggspress: 10 a.m.-4 p.m. March 27-28 and April 2-3 at the Connecticut Trolley Museum, 58 North Road, East Windsor. This event includes multiple activity stations including a scavenger hunt, a bunny ear craft and more. Price is $13 per person. Museum members receive half off on admission. For tickets and information, visit ct-trolley.org.

Drive-thru Easter eggstravaganza: 10-11:30 a.m. Saturday, April 3, at the City of Groton Municipal Building, 295 Meridian St., Groton. The Easter bunny will hand out bags of eggs to children in their cars. For more information, visit cityofgroton.recdesk.com.

Easter bunny and goat meet and greet: 10 a.m.-4 p.m. March 27-28, at Designs by Lee, 129 Interlaken Road, Stamford. Families can sign up for 20-minute slots to meet the Easter Bunny and three goats. Cost is $5 per family. Visit the event Facebook page for tickets and information.

Perry House Easter Hop: Noon-2 p.m. Saturday, April 3, at 1128 W. Broad St., Stratford. This event features Easter-themed stations and activities, including photos with the Eater Bunny. Attendees must bring their own baskets and pre-register for a timed slot. Masks and social distancing are required. $5 per child. For registration and information, visit perryhousestratford.org/programs-events.

Easter Eggstravaganza: 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday, March 27, at Wasson Field, W. Main St., Milford. The Downtown Milford Business Association hosts this event featuring photos with the Easter Bunny, a downtown Easter egg hunt, goody bags and more. Cost is $25 per car with a maximum three children per car. To register, visit downtown-milford-business-association.myshopify.com.

Easter egg hunt: 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, April 3, at the Brownstein/Selkowitz Carousel Pavilion in Milford Park, 30 West Broad St., Stamford. Event includes an egg hunt and visit with the Easter Bunny. Attendees must pre-register and pay $5 fee. For information and registrations, visit the event Facebook page.

Easter egg hunt in Bridgeport: 11:45 a.m. Sunday, April 4, at North Park Baptist Church, 5200 Park Ave, Bridgeport. This event features an Easter egg hunt for preschoolers and first through fifth graders and pictures with the Easter bunny. Free. For more information, visit the event Facebook page.

Great egg hunt and Spring celebration: 12:15-1 p.m. April 1-3 at The New Canaan Nature Center, 144 Oenoke Ridge, New Canaan. This event includes an egg hunt, a self-led scavenger hunt and an animal meet and greet. Participants should bring their own baskets. Masks are required. Attendees must pre-register. Cost is $10 per child plus two free adults for members and $15 per child plus two free adults for non-members. For registration and information, visit newcanaannature.org.

Easter Egg Hunt Eggstravaganza: 10 a.m.-noon Staurday, April 3, at Kenosia Park, Christopher Columbus Ave., Danbury. This event features a free Easter egg hunt. Attendees should arrive 30 minutes prior to event to participate in temperature checks. For registration and information, visit the event Facebook page.

sarajane.sullivan@hearstmediact.com, @bysarajane on Twitter
Goose Creek, SC (29445)

Today

Scattered thunderstorms early, then mainly cloudy overnight with thunderstorms likely. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. Low 71F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%..

Tonight

Scattered thunderstorms early, then mainly cloudy overnight with thunderstorms likely. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. Low 71F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%.
MUSKEGON, MI  Residents who are at least age 50 and havent had the COVID-19 vaccine should strive to get themselves on multiple registration lists as vaccination distribution and vaccine clinics ramp up in West Michigan.

Thats according to Kathy Moore, public health director for Muskegon County, where nearly a third of those age 16 and older have received at least one dose of the vaccine.

Walgreens pharmacy is the latest provider to enter the countys COVID-19 vaccination scene, joining the health department, Mercy Health and Meijer as the primary sources for vaccinations, Moore said.

Those age 50 and older are eligible for the vaccine in Michigan. Everyone else, as long as theyre older than 16, joins the eligibility list on April 5.

Most sign-up lists are available by visiting vaccinatewestmi.org. The website has sign up information for counties throughout West Michigan, including how to sign up for large scale clinics at DeVos Place in Grand Rapids.

The Walgreens appointment list is available by visiting walgreens.com. Meijers list also can be accessed by texting the word COVID to 75049.

Some special clinics have been hosted by the Muskegon County health department, including two to reach rural populations. No special clinics are scheduled for the week of March 29, Moore said.

Ford Field in Detroit has the capacity to vaccinate 6,000 people daily for the next eight weeks. But, those clinics, held from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., that started March 23 havent experienced that level of demand among people currently eligible.

As a result, the Ford Field clinics have opened up to anyone who wants them at the end of the day, according to published reports. To register for a vaccine, text EndCovid to 75049 and select Ford Field as the location, visit clinic.meijer.com/register/CL2021 online or call the MDHHS COVID-19 Hotline at 888-535-6136.

Sparrow Health System is holding vaccination clinics in East Lansing, and has been scheduling individuals under age 50. To sign up there, an account first must be made by visiting sparrow.org/mysparrow. Once an account is set up, click on visits and then schedule and appointment.

Read more:

Walk-in vaccine clinic comes as COVID-19 cases continue to climb in Muskegon County

Friday, March 26, coronavirus data by Michigan county: 37 counties now over 10% positivity rate

COVID-19 cases in Michigan nursing homes drop 96%, deaths drop 99% since late December
Authorities in San Diego on Thursday identified rapper Martell 'OG YD' Dean as a victim in a fatal freeway shooting in his native San Diego.

Dean, 37, was one of three people in a vehicle traveling on the southbound Interstate 805 that was shot at, the California Highway Patrol told The San Diego Union-Tribune.

Two people were shot during the incident, which took place at around 2:20 a.m. Saturday near Imperial Avenue, police said.

Details: Authorities identified rapper Martell 'OG YD' Dean, 37, as the victim in a fatal freeway shooting on in his native San Diego

Dean died at a hospital, while the other shooting victim was expected to make a recovery, police said.

In video from OnScene TV, first responders were seen tending to Dean alongside a white Dodge Charger that was riddled with bullet holes.

In the clip, another man was seen bleeding with a cloth tied on his arm.

OG YD had success on his YouTube account, with nearly 10,000 views on the video for his track Tag, and more than 8,000 views for his track Came From Nothin.

Details: Dean died at a hospital, while the other shooting victim was expected to make a recovery

OG YD had success on his YouTube account , with nearly 10,000 views on the video for his track Tag, and more than 8,000 views for his track Came From Nothin

CHP Officer Mary Bailey told the paper that no suspect has been identified in the ongoing probe.

Those who have information about the incident are asked to contact Crime Stoppers anonymous tip line at 888-580-8477, or CHP investigators at 858-650-3600.
Archaeologists in northern Peru have identified a 3,200-year-old mural painted on the side of an ancient adobe temple that they believe depicts a zoomorphic, knife-wielding spider God associated with rain and fertility, The Guardian reported on March 25. The mural was unearthed last year at a time when the farmers destroyed nearly 60 per cent of the site in a bid to grab more land to expand their sugarcane and avocado plantations. Meanwhile, the experts have named the temple Tomabalito based on a nearby archaeological site el Castillo de Tomabel.

About the mural

Photographs and videos released by the ministry show the mural painted in yellow, ochre, grey and white colours. The dimensions of the mural measure 15m and 5m and was built during the countrys pre-Columbian Cupisnique culture. It was discovered in the area of Viru province of Perus La Libertad region.

In the aftermath of the discovery, archaeologists have said that the temples strategic location alongside a river indicates that it was built to please ancient water deities. Talking further, archaeologist Regulo Franco Jordan asserted that the mural featured a spider, which was an immensely significant animal in ancient Peru and was associated with water. Therefore, it was likely that there was a special sacred water ceremony  that was held by the locals at the time when rainwater came down from the higher areas.

This is not the first time an ancient mural has left people astonished. Last October, a 37-metre long geoglyph of a cat appeared in the Southern part of Peru. As per The Guardian, archaeologists discovered the feline geoglyph which dates between 200 -100 BC discovery while work was carried out on public view point. A UNESCO world heritage site since 1994, the Nazca Lines is made up of various zoomorphic images that were created by removing soil to reveal contrasting material below.

The figure was scarcely visible and was about to disappear because its situated on quite a steep slope thats prone to the effects of natural erosion. Over the past week, the geoglyph was cleaned and conserved, and shows a feline figure in profile, with its head facing the front," Perus culture ministry said in a statement this week.

Image: Andina News Agency
He was married to Jennifer Aniston for two years but have remained friends since the end of their marriage.

And during a virtual ET Online interview, Justin Theroux talked about his upcoming Apple TV+ series The Mosquito Coast, debuting on the same streaming network as ex wife Jennifer's hit series The Morning Show.

When asked if he would do a guest appearance on Jen's show - which she also executive produces - Justin, 49, laughed and joked that they could send him some pages of the script.

Handsome guy: He was married to Jennifer Aniston for two years but have remained friends since the end of their marriage. And during a virtual interview, Justin Theroux talked about his upcoming Apple TV+ series The Mosquito Coast, debuting on the same streaming network as ex wife Jennifer's hit series The Morning Show

The handsome star said when asked about Jennifer, 49, and if she gave him any advice on working with Apple TV+: 'She's doing a totally different show. She's in Los Angeles obviously shooting her show there, so its sort of apples and oranges as far as our production.'

Adding about their relationship now: 'But yeah we check in and I think we are both having fabulous experiences working with Apple Plus+.'

Justin said of his show: 'Its that perfect balance of work and also not controlling the creative... letting the creatives... We have an enormous deep bench of creative people on our show. They let them do their job, give intelligent notes, its been a really great set to be on.'

When the ET Online reporter said she'd love to see Justin on The Morning Show, he said: 'Well listen if they want to send me some pages,' he said with a laugh.

Former couple: When asked if he would do a guest appearance on Jen's show - which she also executive produces - Justin, 49, laughed and joked that they could send him some pages of the script; seen February 26, 2017 in Beverly Hills at the 2017 Vanity Fair Oscar Party

Speaking out: The handsome star said when asked about Jennifer, 49, and if she gave him any advice on working with Apple TV+: 'She's doing a totally different show. She's in Los Angeles obviously shooting her show there, so its sort of apples and oranges as far as our production'

His new show The Mosquito Coast was adapted from his uncle Paul Theroux penned.

The show, a drama, is set to debut on Apple TV+ on April 30, 2021.

Justin plays Allie Fox with Melissa George as his wife, Margot; the show is about a man who uproots his family to Latin America after he gets disgusted at the corruption within civilized world.

Jennifer stars as Alex Levy on The Morning Show opposite Reese Witherspoon; the show debuted 2019.

Movie star: Adding about their relationship now: 'But yeah we check in and I think we are both having fabulous experiences working with Apple Plus+'

Throwback: When the ET Online reporter said she'd love to see Justin on The Morning Show, he: 'Well listen if they want to send me some pages,' he said with a laugh; seen April 13, 2017 in Paris, France at the Series Mania Festival opening night at Le Grand Rex

Justin and Jennifer started dating in May 2011 after they worked together on the 2012 movie Wanderlust.

The duo announced their engagement on August 10, 2012.

They were married from August 5, 2015 until they announced their separation on February 15, 2018, revealing they separated end of 2017.
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Amravati : , March 26 (IANS) In a shocking incident, a 28-year-old female Range Forest Officer posted in the Melghat Tiger Reserve (MRT) in Amravati, committed suicide after alleging sexual harassment and torture at the hands of an Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer, in a purported suicide note, officials said here on Friday.

The young woman RFO, (Mrs.) Dipali Chavan-Mohite, 28, shot herself at her official quarters in the Harisal village near the tiger reserve with her service revolver and succumbed on the spot, late on Thursday. Her blood-splattered body with the gun was recovered later by relatives and colleagues.

A no-nonsense and tough officer, famous as 'Lady Singham' for her dare-devilry against the forest mafias, Dipali's husband Rajesh Mohite is working as a Treasury Officer in Chikhaldhara, while her mother had gone to her native Satara when she resorted to the extreme step.

Earlier Friday, Dipali's family refused to take over her body for the last rites till the Amravati Police nabbed the accused named in her suicide note, sending shockwaves in the forestry circles across the state.

Acting swiftly, the Amravati police went after the Deputy Conservator of Forests (DCF) Vinod Shivkumar, who figured in Dipali's 4-page suicide note, with an earnest plea that strict action should be taken against him so that nobody else should suffer her ordeal.

An IFS officer, Shivkumar, was detained at the Nagpur railway station when he was waiting to board a train to Bengaluru and was being brought to Amravati for further formalities.

Among other things, she has mentioned how Shivkumar, abused his position, harassed her sexually and inflicted mental trauma on her continuously since the past few months.

On several occasions in the past, Dipali had complained about Shivkumar to his senior, MTR Field Director, M.S. Reddy (IFS), who reportedly ignored her pleas and ostensibly sided with the accused DCF.

Dipali had highlighted Shivkumar's alcoholism, using abusive or foul language at her in public and private, making advances and dropping hints to get physical.

However, as she repeatedly rebuffed him, she earned his wrath in the form of difficult assignments, punishing work schedules, abuses, and once even holding back her salary for a month.

Married in 2020 and pregnant, in early-February, Shivkumar had compelled Dipali to accompany him on a gruelling 3-day forest patrol, walking or driving hundreds of kms ignoring her maternal condition, a colleague close to her told IANS on condition of anonymity.

Consequently, upon return from the forest ordeal, she suffered a miscarriage and was in deep depression and recovered with the loving care of her single-mother Shakuntala Chavan, who rushed to Amravati from Satara, he added.

Living up to her honest and upright image, around five years ago, in her official vehicle, Dipali displayed huge courage by chasing a gang of forest smugglers which was escaping by a train to Madhya Pradesh.

At the next station she intercepted the gang trying to smuggle out over five tonnes of a valuable jungle produce 'lac', arrested them, seized the consignment, and brought them back to Maharashtra.

Dreaded by local mafias out to steal forest produce or poach big and small animals, Dipali was known to run after them, often alone in remote areas when they would disappear in the thick forests, said another friend Rohan Bhate.

Joining the Maharashtra government service in 2013, she had taken up cudgels against illegal encroachments in the forests for which she faced the ire of local politicians or mafia who instigated such activities for their vested interests or pecuniary gains, said Bhate.

When questioned about the tragedy, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar said that a thorough probe will be conducted into the incident covering all angles and no guilty would be spared.

(Quaid Najmi can be contacted at: q.najmi@ians.in)
President Joe Biden talks to reporters during the first news conference of his presidency in the East Room of the White House in Washington, on March 25, 2021. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Photographs Show Notes Used by Biden During First Solo Press Conference

President Joe Biden, during his solo first press conference Thursday, consulted notes that assisted him with key policy points, data, and appeared to show numbered images of reporters attending the event.

Biden, during his first press conference after more than two months in office, answered questions on topics including whether he will run for reelection, the burgeoning crisis along the border, and abolishing the 60-vote filibuster.

Photos taken at the press briefing show one card with facts about U.S. infrastructure, and another with headshots of what appeared to be the reporters in attendance. The briefing was limited to 25 reporters.

The United States now ranks 13th globally in infrastructure qualitydown from 5th place in 2002, one bullet point read. The president still corrected himself after mistakenly telling reporters that the United States ranked 85th in the world in infrastructure.

I still think the majority of the American people dont like the fact that we are now ranked what, 85th in the world in infrastructure. I mean, look, the president said, before clarifying: We rank 13th globally in infrastructure.

China spends 3 times more on infrastructure than U.S., another bullet point said. The bullet point below noted: Bridges: More than 1/3 of our bridges (231,000) need repairs or preservation.

President Joe Biden walks off, holding his notes, after a news conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington on, March 25, 2021. (Evan Vucci/AP Photo)

At Thursdays briefing, the president took answers only from a list of reporters whose outlets and names were listed and numbered on a cue card. Biden took 31 questions from reporters, notably ignoring those from Fox News and The New York Times.

The Epoch Times has reached out to the White House for comment.

The president was also asked about whether he plans on running for reelection, which comes as members of the media have speculated and questioned why he hasnt held a formal White House press conference in more than two months.

My plan is to run for reelection, he said at the White House, adding that he has no idea about whether he will run against former President Donald Trump. Biden said he expects Vice President Kamala Harris to join him on a potential ticket.

Trump in November 2019 referred to a notebook with handwritten notes during a press briefing at his first impeachment hearing.

Ivan Pentchoukov contributed to this report.
New Delhi [India], March 26 (ANI/BusinessWire India): Gulf Capital, one of the largest and most active alternative asset managers in Growth Markets, announced today its two-year growth plans for ART Fertility Clinics, the fastest growing provider of fertility treatment services in the GCC.

With increased awareness coupled with the technological advancements in the field, the fertility sector in India is forecasted to continue to grow at 12 per cent+ CAGR annually over the next 5 years.

The new chapter of ART Fertility Clinics will see the implementation of an ambitious two-year rollout of 18 IVF clinics across India. The first two clinics in Gurgaon and New Delhi have commenced medical operations. They are to be followed by clinics in Ahmedabad and Hyderabad (April), Mumbai and Chennai (May), Bangalore and Kolkata (July). The rest of the rollout will be announced in Sept 2021.

Launched in early 2015 in collaboration with IVI RMA Global, ART Fertility clinics is now an independent and leading provider of Fertility treatments with the highest success rates internationally (69 per cent Pregnancy rate: 1.3 Embryos per transfer, no donor eggs or sperm).

ART Fertility Clinics has established itself as a global thought leader in healthcare science and innovation. ART Fertility Clinics have deployed the most advanced infrastructure and technologies in their clinics.

Some of these technologies and equipment are being introduced in India for the very first time. ART Fertility Clinics has its own state of the art genetic lab that utilizes the latest NGS system. Having achieved over 5500 + pregnancies in less than five years, ART Fertility Clinics' success is driven by the scientific and personalized approach of highly skilled physicians, embryologists and support medical team. With a focus on original research and publications, ART.

Fertility Clinics has become an international referral centre for patients seeking advanced treatments, especially after multiple failed cycles using their own eggs.

ART Fertility Clinics has assembled a very experienced management team to oversee this ambitious rollout across multiple international geographies whilst continuing to deliver the best-in-class treatment and success rates.

Dr Karim El Solh, Chief Executive Officer of Gulf Capital, said: "We are thrilled to back the strongest management and medical team within the IVF sector for its ambitious expansion in India. ART Fertility Clinics are the fastest growing IVF service provider in the GCC, and we are excited to be collaborating with ART Fertility's management to take this platform to the next level. Our investment in ART Fertility Clinics is Gulf Capital's largest equity investment to date and includes the first corporate carve-out in our Firm's history (Gulf Capital invested over US USD 100 Million to acquire a controlling stake in ART Fertility Clinics in Jan 2020). The rapid expansion of Art Fertility Clinics across Asia cements Gulf Capital's long track record of building global leaders out of the GCC."

Dr (Professor) Human Fatemi, Group Medical Director for ART Fertility Clinics, remarked: "Reproductive Medicine is a relatively young field, however over the past few years, the uptake of assisted reproduction medicine to conceive has increased exponentially worldwide, especially amongst the urban population. Infertility has been on the rise due to the ever-evolving lifestyle patterns and other disorders. However, most of the treatment protocols are based upon western treatment plans. While the IVF market in India is growing rapidly, there is a clear need to address issues like standardized clinical protocols based upon ethnicity, genetic makeup, structured training, and ethical practices. At ART Fertility Clinics, we are undertaking fundamental research across all related areas including genetics, based upon our observations and trials locally. It has been our constant endeavour to assist more and more couples to fulfil their dream of starting a family by providing the most advanced fertility treatments in accordance with international guidelines, coupled with the right technology. Our partnership with Gulf Capital helps us offer our services to an even broader segment of the population."

Suresh Soni, Global CEO of ART Fertility, added: "We are excited to launch the most advanced IVF clinics in India as we embark on our next phase of expansion and growth. We share a common vision: 'Cogito, Ergo Sum....I think, therefore I am ... The cornerstone of our success is good science and technology, which translates into the best medical outcomes for our patients. We have world-renowned IVF specialists and embryologists working in state-of-the-art facilities. We shall continue to deliver the best treatments and services to our patients so that they receive the best value for their money."

VineshGadhia, CEO, ART Fertility Clinics, India concluded: "We were very impressed by what Suresh Soni and Dr Human Fatemi have been able to accomplish in such a short period of time. ART Fertility Clinics' research-focused and patient-centric approach has allowed it to build an impressive track record that compares extremely favourably with the best IVF centres globally. With the India market expected to continue to expand at double-digit growth rates over the next five years, we are confident that ART Fertility Clinics will expand its coverage and services into new territories within Tier one and Tier two cities in India to deliver world-leading pregnancy and live birth rates. We are enthusiastic about our future together and look forward to working closely with the team on this new phase of growth."

This story is provided by BusinessWire India. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/BusinessWire India)

DISCLAIMER

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
There have been 20 further deaths due to Covid-19 and 584 new cases of the virus confirmed by the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) this evening.

Of the deaths reported today, 11 occurred in March, three in February and six in January, with the median ages of those who died being 73 years respectively. The age range was 57-91 years.

There has been a total of 4,651 Covid-19 related deaths in Ireland and 233,327 confirmed cases.

Of the cases notified today, 297 are men and 286 are women, while 72pc are under 45 years of age. The median age is 34 years old

Nationally, 222 cases were in Dublin, 44 in Kildare, 33 in Offaly, 31 in Meath, 29 in Westmeath and the remaining 225 cases are spread across 19 other counties.

Read More

As of 8am today, 317 Covid-19 patients are hospitalised, of which 67 are in ICU. 25 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours.

As of March 23, 709,348 doses of Covid-19 vaccine have been administered in Ireland, with 515,800 people having received their first dose, and 193,548 people having received their second dose.

Dr. Ronan Glynn, Deputy Chief Medical Officer said that: The vast majority of people are making a huge sacrifice and missing time with loved ones in order for us to stay on course with the public health guidance.

However, we know that in the week ending March 14, approximately one-in-ten people visited another household for social reasons, with most of these visits involving time spent indoors. While this clearly demonstrates that the vast majority of people are sticking with the public health guidance, it does represent a significant change versus January when just one in 20 people were visiting other homes for social reasons.

"Please continue to stick with the public heath advice and avoid visiting other homes at this time  do not give this virus the opportunities it is seeking to spread.

There has been a 40-50pc increase in cases in young children since February, but Professor Philip Nolan said just a fraction was linked to schools.

I know it is a controversial thing for me to say, but simply because things are happening at the same time  because they are happening concurrently  does not imply a direct cause-and-effect relationship.

Mr Nolan warned the current spread of the virus was either static or potentially disimproving. The situation remains volatile and one of high risk, he added.

The HSE just received 9,600 doses of the Oxford AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine last week, the lowest delivery to date. This lined up with the temporary pause of the vaccine while it was being investigated by the European Medical Agency.

Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said it is expected that around 1 million vaccines will arrive here next month. Around 10,000 vaccinators have been trained to administer the vaccines, he said.

To help increase testing, five new walk-in Covid-19 test centres opened in areas of high transmission.

The walk-in test centres will be based in Tallaght Stadium, Irishtown Stadium, Blanchardstown Centre, the Primary Care Centre in Grangegorman and in Spollens car park in Tullamore, County Offaly.

Speaking about it yesterday, Dr Miriam Owens, Director of Public Health at the HSE, said: Today sees the opening of new walk-in test centres in areas of high transmission to enable increased ease of access to testing facilities for people who dont have symptoms.

"If you do experience symptoms, I would encourage you to contact your GP to arrange a test as soon as possible. Together we can break the chains of transmission of this infection, by washing our hands, keeping a safe distance and by avoiding all non-essential activity where you are mixing with others.
Shares is the leading weekly publication for retail investors. It is packed with investment ideas, news and educational material to help build and run portfolios and get more from your money.

Shares puts on free Investor Events throughout the year across the country. They provide an opportunity for investors to learn more about companies on the stock market and hear from a range of investment experts including fund managers and Shares journalists.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-26 09:43:20|Editor: huaxia

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by Matthew Rusling

WASHINGTON, March 25 (Xinhua) -- After mass shootings in the past fortnight on the U.S. soil grabbed headlines worldwide, U.S. President Joe Biden may take action on gun control via executive orders, experts said.

"It is going to be hard to get gun measures through Congress," Brookings Institution Senior Fellow Darrell West told Xinhua, referring to the most deeply divided Congress in decades.

"But Biden can issue executive orders that have the force of law. He could use this procedure to tighten background checks and make it possible to remove guns in cases of demonstrated mental distress or violence," West said.

"Republicans will oppose his efforts but won't be able to block his executive orders," West said.

Two killers conducted mass shootings less than a week apart -- the first in Atlanta, killing eight people, and the second in Boulder, Colorado, leaving 10 people dead. The shootings have prompted Biden to address the issue of gun control, as he faces hard questions over what actions he'll take in response.

On Thursday, in his first press conference since taking office, Biden indicated he would not prioritize gun control, saying instead he would focus on infrastructure.

Democrat lawmakers are calling for more background checks, and the president has pushed the Senate to pass a bill that the Democrat-controlled House has already passed.

Biden wants to pass the Bipartisan Background Checks Act, which would expand background checks and close loopholes that allow people to purchase firearms on the Internet and at gun shows.

He also wants to pass the Enhanced Background Checks Act of 2021, which would close a loophole that allows firearms sales to go forward despite an incomplete background check if three business days have passed from the time the check began. The bill would extend to 10 days the period in which the background checks are to be completed.

"These are bills that received votes with both Republicans and Democrats in the House. This is not and should not be a partisan issue. This is an American issue that will save lives, American lives. And we have to act," Biden recently said.

Biden earlier this week also expressed a desire to ban assault weapons. The White House has not made it clear yet whether Biden would take executive action, although experts said that's what he's likely to do.

"I would give odds of 5 to 1 that ultimately Biden will issue executive orders," Clay Ramsay, a researcher at the center for international and security studies at the University of Maryland, told Xinhua.

"I think the Senate is locked tight against any gun control measure passing," Ramsay said.

GOP Senator Lindsey Graham is going to propose a very diluted measure that some Republicans will oppose nonetheless, not to mention Democrats, who want to pass something more effective, Ramsay said.

Biden's executive orders will be chosen less for effectiveness than for their capacity to stand up to legal challenges, Ramsay said.

"At the end of that road is the Supreme Court, and there is no reason to assume gun-control executive orders would be upheld there," Ramsay said.

Some Republicans noted that gun control measures Biden is pursuing were already in place in the state of Colorado when the shooting occurred, and that they did not stop the gunman from taking lives.

Republican Congresswoman from Colorado Lauren Boebert tweeted on Wednesday that "Universal background checks & magazine bans were enacted in Colorado in 2013," contending that they are "not the solution."

"From 2013-2017 violent crime increased by 25 percent in (Colorado) while declining nationally," she tweeted.

Republican Strategist and TV news personality Ford O'Connell told Xinhua that the laws Biden is proposing are a mere political play and do not make anyone safer.

"Every measure Biden is looking for, Colorado already had in place," O'Connell said.

Gun control has for decades been a major point of contention between Democrats and Republicans. Republicans argue that the U.S. Constitution guarantees Americans the right to defend themselves when the police are far away. Democrats believe guns are one of the main reasons for so many firearms-related deaths in the United States. Enditem
Copenhagen, Denmark transit operator Nobina has ordered 13 electric buses from Dutch bus manufacturer Ebusco. Nobinathe largest public transport operator in the Nordicshas opted for the Ebusco 2.2 12-meter city bus with three doors. The Ebusco 2.2 has a 350 kWh battery pack supporting a range of up to 350 km (218 miles).





Ebusco will also supply seven CCS chargers, each with two charging inlets. These chargers have been developed for both fast and normal charging. During the day, the charger can quickly charge a bus with a high capacity of 150 kW per hour. At night, this capacity is shared so that two buses can be smart charged at 75 kW per hour simultaneously. This is better for battery life.

Ebusco will deliver the buses in November 2021. The buses will enter into service in December. Five buses will be in the Holte area and eight will operate in the Glostrup area in Greater Copenhagen.

There are now more than 200 electric Ebusco buses in Europe, including in the major cities of Amsterdam, Munich, Frankfurt and Paris.
Lerner and Rowe Gives Back presents a $10k donation to Phoenix Children's Hospital Lerner and Rowe Gives Back feels fortunate to have the opportunity to once again join other local individuals and entities in supporting the many beneficial services and programs provided by Phoenix Childrens Hospital.

Lerner and Rowe Gives Back is excited to announce it will once again be a $10,000 level partner of Phoenix Childrens Hospitals Annual ABC15 Telethon. Since 2010, the nonprofit foundation has donated nearly $80,000 to help the hospital make a difference in the lives of over 135,000 young patients and their families that seek treatment each year. Local viewers are invited to give back by gifting a donation online today or, by tuning in on Wednesday, April 14, 2021, during the live broadcast of the 9th Annual ABC15 Telethon and calling (602) 933-4567 to pledge a donation from 6:30 a.m. through 10:35 p.m.

Donations will be used by the Phoenix Childrens Hospitals Hope Fund to finance innovative research, cutting-edge technology, and physician recruitment. Additionally, it will help fund child-friendly programs and services that make the hospital environment more comfortable for young patients and their families.

The needs at Phoenix Childrens are greater than ever during the COVID-19 pandemic as their emergency department continues to see record numbers of visits and an increasing number of families that now face financial hardship. In light of these hardships, our team feels fortunate to have the means and opportunity to once again join other local individuals and entities in supporting the many beneficial services and programs provided by the hospital, shares Kevin Rowe, ESQ, founder of Lerner and Rowe Gives Back.

The Phoenix Childrens Hospital is the sixth-largest childrens hospital in the country and the largest source of pediatric care to low-income families in Arizona. Lerner and Rowe Gives Back hopes that others will open their hearts and join them in pledging their support. Learn more about the 9th Annual ABC15 Telethon for Phoenix Childrens Hospital at phoenixchildrensfoundation.org.

More About Lerner and Rowe Gives Back

Lerner and Rowe Gives Back is a nonprofit organization founded by Kevin Rowe, managing partner of Lerner and Rowe Injury Attorneys and Lerner and Rowe Law Group. The foundation believes in paying forward the law firms achievements and successes by assisting other community organizations that advocate for the general health and well-being of children, struggling families and individuals, as well as our four-legged friends. For more details about their nonprofit organization visit LernerAndRoweGivesBack.com.

For more details about the law firms visit lernerandrowe.com, lernerandrowelawgroup.com, or follow them on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
Hyderabad, March 27 : Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Friday announced that he has taken a decision to enable the Gram Panchayats funds to be utilised as per the decisions taken by the village level bodies.

He said Gram Panchayats will have powers to spend funds for their own local needs.

The Chief Minister also decided to construct integrated markets for the sale of vegetarian and non-vegetarian food, fruits and flowers in 142 municipalities and corporations. He directed the officials to identify adequate government sites for these markets in such a way that they are accessible to women.

He instructed TS Transco, Genco CMD Devulapalli Prabhakar Rao to remove the power lines that are running over the houses in villages and urban areas at the government's cost.

He asked the legislators to inspect the construction works of the offices of district collectors and superintendents of police. He gave instructions in this regard to DGP Mahender Reddy over phone. The Chief Minister also decided to construct additional police stations including the Traffic Police stations. He wanted the formation of women police wings.

The Chief Minister held a meeting here on Friday with MLAs from several constituencies. Speaking on the occasion, the CM said that in the backdrop of the Telangana state government working actively towards empowering the local bodies, the government is keen on strengthening the basic infrastructure facilities in rural and urban areas.

The meeting took decisions sanctioning works pertaining to the R&B, Irrigation, Home and Panchayat Raj departments in certain Assembly constituencies. On this occasion, the Chief Minister sanctioned works, both pending and new as per the requests made by the MLAs, by speaking to the higher officials concerned over phone.

The Chief Minister sanctioned works pertaining to Rail Over Bridges in the urban areas where there are railway lines, underpasses, widening of the roads, construction of the dividers, formation of Central Lightning System, Check dams on rivers and canals wherever they are necessary.

The CM instructed the officials from the Water Resources Department to ensure that crops would not wither away under the Krishna Godavari Basin. Responding to requests from some MLAs, the Chief Minister instructed the officials to release water for the summer crops.
New Delhi, March 26 : President Ram Nath Kovind was admitted to the Army's Research and Referral (R&R) Hospital in New Delhi on Friday morning owing to chest discomfort.

The President, 75, complained of chest discomfort in the morning and thereafter he was rushed to the military hospital.

The President, who underwent routine tests and was put under observation, is now in a stable condition, the hospital said.

In a statement, the hospital authorities said: "He is undergoing routine check-ups and is under observation. His condition is stable." Sources said the President will stay in the hospital till the time the entire medical diagnosis is complete. The doctors are taking care of things, said the hospital authority.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
(Newser)  North Korea on Friday confirmed it had tested a new guided missile, as President Biden warned of consequences if Pyongyang escalates tensions amid stalled nuclear negotiations. The Norths official Korean Central News Agency said the two new-type tactical guided projectiles accurately hit the target off the eastern coast on Thursday, the AP reports. Photos on the website of the Norths main Rodong Sinmun newspaper showed a missile lifting off from a transport erector launcher amid bright flames. KCNA quoted top official Ri Pyong Chol, who supervised the test, as saying that the new weapons development is of great significance in bolstering up the military power of the country and deterring all sorts of military threats existing on the Korean Peninsula.

story continues below

Japanese officials said both weapons tested Thursday were ballistic missiles, which are prohibited by UN Security Council resolutions. According to South Korean officials, North Korea fired two other missiles on Sunday but they were likely cruise missiles, which are not banned. The test-firings were the Norths first major provocation since Biden took office in January. Were consulting with our allies and partners, Biden told a news conference Thursday. And there will be responses if they choose to escalate. We will respond accordingly. But Im also prepared for some form of diplomacy, but it has to be conditioned upon the end result of denuclearization. The United States has asked for a meeting of the UN Security Council committee that monitors sanctions against North Korea, and it's set to take place Friday morning behind closed doors.

(Read more North Korea stories.)
A San Francisco Superior Court judge on Thursday denied the citys request for an emergency court order requiring the school district to bring all students in all grades back by the end of April.

Judge Ethan Schulman wrote in his ruling that the request was made pointless by several recent developments, including the approval of a plan to bring younger students, as well as more vulnerable older students, back to classrooms.

Additionally, he wrote that he was not in a position to dictate or oversee the Districts decisions regarding how to reopen a large public school system comprising over 50,000 students and nearly 10,000 teachers, staff and administrators at 130 schools.

City Attorney Dennis Herrera called the decision disheartening, and said in a statement, We vehemently disagree with the courts reasoning.

Though the court ruled in favor of the San Francisco Unified School District, the unprecedented lawsuit increased attention on the issue of school reopening. The case, along with parent protests, put new pressure on the district, which reached an agreement in early March to resume some level of in-person learning.

Its unfortunate that it took a lawsuit and families rallying in the streets to get the school district to focus on the most important thing  getting its students back in class, Herrera said.

Under the agreement between San Franciscos district and its unions, preschool through fifth graders, special education students and vulnerable older groups will be allowed to return to some level of in-person instruction starting April 12.

This lawsuit has served as nothing but a superficial distraction from the work to safely return San Franciscos public school students to in-person learning, Superintendent Vincent Matthews said in a statement.

We are working round the clock to return students to school sites and serve them in distance learning, he said.

When Herrera first filed the case in early February, the district had no clear details on a return to schools.

At a hearing on Monday, attorneys for the city argued that the school district is still failing to meet state mandates because it does not have a plan for in-person learning that includes older students. The districts lawyer argued that district officials were doing their best to bring as many students back as possible but that the challenges of returning all students remain. In a brief filed ahead of the hearing, the districts attorneys wrote that political grandstanding cannot render in-person learning any more possible than it was before the suit was filed.

In a statement released after the hearing, Herrera said he didnt want to sue the school district, but it was sadly necessary.

The toll on families, the mental health crisis gripping our children, the devastating learning loss are all too much, he said.

After the decision was released, Herrera said, We swung for the fences in seeking this court order because San Francisco families deserved it. We came up short, but the case is not over.

The city is evaluating its legal options.

Emma Talley is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: emma.talley@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @emmat332
Teleperformance leads the way in region's most prestigious awards program dedicated to customer experience

Teleperformance secured three gold, five silver, and three bronze awards

Teleperformance recognized for operations regionally in Denmark, France, Greece, Portugal, Romania, Russia, and Spain

The company once again received the most awards for customer experience excellence

Teleperformance won five more awards in 2020 versus 2019

ECCCSA program is the largest and most credible in Europe for independent customer experience awards recognition

Regulatory News:

Teleperformance (Paris:TEP), a leading global group in digitally integrated business services, announced today its operations in Europe won 11 awards at the 2020 European Contact Center Customer Service Awards (ECCCSA), in a virtual ceremony held on March 16, 2021. Teleperformance seized three gold, five silver, and three bronze awards for its operations in Denmark, France, Greece, Portugal, Romania, Russia, and Spain They were recognized in the categories of Innovation and Technology, Operational Effectiveness, Team Awards, Employee Experience and Contact Centers.

Teleperformance in Greece won all three gold awards:

Best Outsourcing Partnership (Small) with Phillips;

Best Quality Management Team;

Most Effective Learning and Development.

Teleperformance won five silver awards:

Best Outsourcing Partnership (Small) with Scandic Denmark in Denmark;

Best Contact Center Support Team and Best New Contact Center in Portugal;

Best Response in a Crisis for its partnership with Assurant in Romania;

Pan European Contact Center of the Year.

Teleperformance won three bronze awards:

Most Effective Management of Peak Demand in France;

Best Innovation in Customer Service in Russia;

Best Outsourcing Partnership (Large) with Iberdrola in Spain.

In this year's awards, Teleperformance secured its place as the leading company at the ECCCSAs and even increased its total number of awards from six in 2019 to eleven.

The highly regarded ECCCSAs award organization recognizes Customer Experience companies in Europe based on their practices around people value, innovation, and operation efficiency. Teleperformance continued leadership position in the most prestigious industry award program in the region is a significant milestone in recognizing the company's mission in delivering simpler, faster, safer customer interactions by combining human touch with high technology.

Yannis Tourcomanis, President Continental Europe, Middle-East Africa, Teleperformance group, said"We are particularly honored with this record number of awards. It is the recognition of the effort from all of our teams in the region, especially during these unprecedented times, and the valuable trust in us from our clients."

Teleperformance Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Daniel Julien, said: "I am pleased to see our team in Europe being recognized across many operations for our universal commitment to providing strong tangible results and service excellence for our clients and their customers. These respected independent awards show we continue to set a strong industry performance benchmark for outstanding customer experience throughout CEMEA."

ABOUT TELEPERFORMANCE GROUP

Teleperformance (TEP ISIN: FR0000051807 Reuters: TEPRF.PA Bloomberg: TEP FP), a leading global group in digitally integrated business services, serves as a strategic partner to the world's largest companies in many industries. It offers a One Office support services model combining three wide, high-value solution families: customer experience management, back-office services and business process knowledge services. These end-to-end digital solutions guarantee successful customer interaction and optimized business processes, anchored in a unique, comprehensive high tech, high touch approach. The Group's 380,000+ employees, based in 83 countries, support billions of connections every year in over 265 languages and over 170 markets, in a shared commitment to excellence as part of the "Simpler, Faster, Safer" process.This mission is supported by the use of reliable, flexible, intelligent technological solutions and compliance with the industry's highest security and quality standards, based on Corporate Social Responsibility excellence. In 2020, Teleperformance reported consolidated revenue of 5,732 million (US$6.5 billion, based on 1 $1.14) and net profit of 324 million.

Teleperformance shares are traded on the Euronext Paris market, Compartment A, and are eligible for the deferred settlement service. They are included in the following indices: CAC 40, CAC Support Services, STOXX 600, S&P Europe 350 and MSCI Global Standard. In the area of corporate social responsibility, Teleperformance shares are included in the CAC 40 ESG index, the Euronext Vigeo Eurozone 120 index, the FTSE4Good index and the Solactive Europe Corporate Social Responsibility index (formerly Ethibel Sustainability Excellence Europe index).

For more information: www.teleperformance.com Follow us on Twitter: @teleperformance

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Contacts:

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Jakarta, March 26 : An Indonesian man survived at sea for about two weeks clinging to a wooden board after his boat was rammed by a large ship, a rescue official said on Friday.

Muhammad Kartoyo, 18, was sailing with six other fishermen off Bali when their fishing boat was destroyed after being hit by what appeared to be a ferry, dpa news agency quoted Krisna Maharta, a spokesman for the search and rescue agency in Bali, as saying.

Kartoyo was rescued by fishermen on Tuesday in waters off Sulawesi island while clinging to a wooden board from the boat, Krisna said.

"They drifted for a week clinging to what was left of the boat but Kartoyo said one by one the other sailors drowned," he said.

"Kartoyo did not remember clearly when the accident happened but it was believed to be March 9," he added.

One other fisherman was found dead, while five others are still missing, according to the spokesman.
LAKE GEORGE  Mayor Robert Blais is this Adirondack village's longest-serving mayor. But he may be its last.

For the fourth time during his 50-year-long tenure as the top administrator, his village board of trustees will consider funding a study to dissolve its government and hand over all village functions to the town. If the village trustees approve a study, a vote on dissolution will likely happen in 2022, close to the end of the mayor's term.

Its a move that has been unsuccessful in many areas of the state, including the village, where residents have rejected three other dissolution attempts. Those plans were so unpopular, Blais said, that they never made it to a referendum. Residents, he said, had "no will" for change and argued that bigger is not always better. They liked having village services and leaders handy and responsive and being identified as a villager.

People are extremely proud to say they live in the village of Lake George, Blais said about one of the Adirondack's biggest tourism destinations. They don't want to give up that moniker. That all plays into the psyche of the taxpayers."

But Blais admits things have changed. The village, with 995 year-round residents, is no longer populated by restaurateurs and shop owners who live above the store or on the back streets. Many of the dozens of businesses that line Canada Street and Beach Road are owned by people who live out of town and often out of the country.

When I became mayor years ago, people who owned businesses in the village lived in the village, said the 84-year-old who was first elected in 1971. Blais is believed to be New York's longest-serving mayor - and one of the few to serve that many decades nationwide. Today, the majority of people who own businesses in the village do not live in the village or the town. They might live in Queensbury, Glens Falls, Warrensburg. They might live in Colombia, Pakistan, South Africa. We have a great influx of people from Asia who own businesses. ... Its changed dramatically.

And when the village's biggest business, the Fort William Henry Hotel and Conference Center, asked the village to look into it, the board of trustees agreed.

Regardless, Blais said the dissolution in Lake George will be complicated. In most communities, village residents end up simply eliminating their village tax. Village services are transferred to the town and residents, who paid both village and town tax, would only pay one town bill for services. But in Lake George, he said, the village and town service lines are blurred.

For example, village residents are paying for the debt on the $24 million wastewater treatment plant, a cost that boosted the tax burden by 2.5 percent for its residents this year. Dissolution wont change that. But, Blais said, the towns Caldwell sewer district is hooked up to the plant and the town ends up paying nearly half the cost of operating the plant.

The town also pays 78 percent of the cost of operating the Lake George Fire Department that serves all. He said that's based on the higher assessments of homes in the town ($1.191 billion) than those in the village ($308 million). The town also hires and pays for lifeguards on the village beaches. But the village pays for creating and maintaining the town's landscaping.

The sticking point that convinces many voters to keep their village governments - a village police department - is a non-issue in Lake George. Neither the town or the village have its own force. The Warren County Sheriffs Office has a presence in the same building in the village as the fire department.

Meanwhile, the town and village already share the assessor, the court, the judge, the dog warden, the youth commission and the building inspector.

Dan Barusch, the planning and zoning director for both the village and the town, said despite the intertwining nature of the two governments, he feels the dissolution would be "a positive" because the state would provide a $475,000 annual tax credit to the town if the village dissolved. He also believes taxes would go down for village residents and only slightly increase in the town.

"Because of the tax credit that is available, merging the two budgets would really get us in a wonderful place in town," Barusch said. "Right now is a good time."

That was precisely the case in 2009, the last time the village did a study. But Blais is skeptical the state will continue the tax credit forever. He also predicts that village residents might see an increase in their property taxes, while town residents might see a decrease.

"This time, it will be interesting," Blais said. "I think the village is getting the best bang for their buck with their shared services.

Amanda Metzger, marketing director of the Lake George Regional Chamber of Commerce, said that the chamber has yet to form a position on the dissolution.

"We need to talk to our members in the village to find out how this would affect their businesses and our community," Metzger said. "Then we can take a position and advocate on their behalf. Over the past decade, it seems like the town and village have been sharing more services and I've heard that has resulted in some savings though I don't know any of the numbers."

Blais said now is the time to do the study because he is retiring in two years. It will leave him with just enough time to help with dissolution if it's backed by voters. He admits he has announced retirement before, but this time, he said, Im not going to change my mind.

Ill get over it, God willing, he said. Its time to pass the torch and I want to put to bed the question of the village."

The study, which he said will likely be conducted in the fall, will take about nine months to complete. He said the village board has several estimates in hand for a study, all of which carry a price tag of about $50,000. He also said that the village will apply for a state grant that would pay for half of the study's cost.

Once the study is complete, the village will host a series of public hearings. Then village residents will vote. If they agree to dissolution, the mayor's office and the village, planning and zoning boards will be eliminated. Village employees, he said, would likely go by attrition. But those who stay might likely face doubling of their duties. Of course, he emphasized, the answers to many questions are unknowns, thus the need for the study.

The people are always looking for ways to cut costs, Blais said. Obviously if the village is no longer a governmental agency, there may be some savings there that the study will identify for future years.  I believe the study is worthwhile.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa attending the Republic of India's 70th Republic Day celebrations in New Delhi in 2019.

analysis

India has stepped up its global ambitions and foreign policy re-engagement with African countries in recent years. Its bilateral trade increased from $7.2 billion in 2001 to $63 billion in 2017/18. India is now the third largest export destination and the fifth largest investor on the continent.

While it plays catch-up with China's commanding presence in Africa, India has signed numerous new bilateral agreements. It has also strengthened its diplomatic presence and is actively furthering trade, infrastructure and private sector investments.

In our research under a multi-year project, we found that New Delhi promotes an alternative model of development. It showcases the successes of its Green Revolution and advances in information, communication and technology. But it also highlights its ability to develop "Triple A" technology - affordable, appropriate, adaptable.

India's expertise in affordable healthcare has assumed increased significance during the ongoing pandemic. New Delhi is already reaping the benefits of an ambitious diplomatic initiative to deliver Made-in-India vaccines to developing countries.

India is one the largest producers of drugs globally. It manufactures 60% of the world's vaccines. Many African countries have purchased or received these as gifts.

New Delhi's capacity and willingness to produce and share COVID-19 vaccines have further boosted the country's diplomatic heft and recognition as a global power.

India's Africa policy

India's historical footprint in Africa differs from that of other powers. New Delhi offered support for African countries in their struggle against colonial rule. Indo-African partnership followed in the post-colonial period. This was cemented by solidarity with and support for the Non-Aligned Movement and the fight against racism.

India also offered support for South Africa in its struggle against apartheid. In addition, New Delhi points to the presence of a sizeable Indian diaspora and their economic and philanthropic contributions on the continent.

Since the early 1990s, India has moved from idealism to pragmatism and the explicit pursuit of commercial interests. The change was driven by robust economic growth at home and the need to access raw materials and new markets.

India's push for South-South cooperation relies on three broad elements. The first is a shared identity as part of the "Third World". Second is expertise in cost-effective development technologies. Third is a recurrent articulation of the principles of mutual respect and solidarity.

Its long history of being democratic and its successes in reducing poverty and preventing famines have also bolstered the legitimacy of its developmental approach in the Global South.

Since 2018, the India-Africa partnership has been based on a set of principles. These have emphasised "local priorities". They call for joint efforts to reform global institutions, combat climate change and fight global terrorism. They also highlight capacity building for agriculture, education, digital technology and cooperation on peacekeeping and maritime issues.

How and to what extent might Africa benefit from India's growing interest? We identify three broad sets of health-related opportunities and benefits that may shape the future of India-Africa relations.

Three major areas of collaboration

The first relates to India's formidable reputation as the "pharmacy of the world". It has actively contributed to meeting global demand for vaccines, over the counter medicines and low-cost generic drugs. The relatively low manufacturing costs make Indian products affordable throughout the world.

Almost 20% of India's pharmaceutical exports, valued at US$ 17 billion, are to Africa. Southern and western regions of Africa are the largest importers of Indian medicines. These include antiretroviral (ARV) drugs that cost only a fraction of those produced by Western companies.

The second relates to capacity building and collaboration in the health sector. Leading Indian healthcare providers are collaborating with African partners. Some have opened or plan to open speciality hospitals across Africa.

Since 2009, the Pan-African E-Network supported by India has offered tele-medicine services. This also connects Indian hospitals and educational centres with their counterparts in Africa. With its state-of-the-art medical facilities, which offer services at competitive costs, India has also emerged as an attractive destination for "medical tourism".

The third relates to India's active "medical diplomacy". Africa's reliance on a cheap supply of essential medicines in addition to an affordable COVID-19 vaccine is only likely to increase in the near future.

But Africa's success in containing pandemics such as Ebola offers lessons to India, too. An illustrative example is Senegal, which has adapted its experiences from the 2014 Ebola outbreak to fight COVID-19. Numerous additional lessons on disease control from African countries can also be scaled up to improve India's health sector.

Future collaboration on health

India appears well-poised to share its digital capabilities for improved and affordable access to universal healthcare. New Delhi has revamped its tele-medicine and online video consultation infrastructure on the continent. This offers a cost effective and safe option for treating contagious diseases.

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In the near future, India's partners may benefit from its online and mobile applications to improve accessibility and affordability of healthcare. Online platforms can be used to access information on blood banks, public hospitals, and organ donation. Mobile applications can help track the vaccine status of children and disease awareness.

But there are also some challenges that must be resolved. Combating the menace of counterfeit medicines on the African continent is one. In addition to existing measures to curb criminal activity, mobile apps can verify medicines to tackle the problem.

A major challenge is improving access to generic medicines through negotiated intellectual property rights waivers. At the World Trade Organisation, India and South Africa have taken a moral stance against "vaccine nationalism". Their joint proposal in October 2020 for a temporary waiver on drugs and COVID-19 vaccines was nevertheless rejected by the organisation.

Since then, however, mainly African countries have shown growing support for the proposal.

Dan Banik, Professor of political science, Director of the Oslo SDG Initiative, Host of "In Pursuit of Development" podcast, University of Oslo and Renu Modi, Professor in African Studies, University of Mumbai
By Steve Holland and Trevor Hunnicutt

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Joe Biden is "worried" about a set of sweeping new voting restrictions approved in the state of Georgia, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Friday.

The Democratic president is concerned that the new law signed on Thursday by Republican Governor Brian Kemp would prevent people from bringing water to voters in line, reduce open hours at polling locations and restrict the use of absentee ballots, she said.

"There's nothing more precious than the right to vote and speak up," Psaki told reporters, adding that she expected Biden to soon make a statement on the issue himself.

"It should not be harder - it should be easier to vote. We should not put limitations in place. People should be able to vote from home. They should be able to use absentee ballots. There should be a range of restrictions that are undone, not put back in place."

She also voiced support for efforts by congressional Democrats to pass federal voting rights and election reform legislation. Such efforts have already run into strong Republican opposition.

Georgia's new law will impose new limits, including stricter identification requirements, limiting drop boxes, giving lawmakers the power to take over local elections and shortening the early voting period for all runoff elections. Offering food and water to voters waiting in line will now be considered a misdemeanor crime.

Kemp said he offered no apology for "taking another step to making our elections fair and secure" but opponents describe the law as among the country's most damaging attempts to limit access to the ballot box and designed to reduce the influence of Black voters.

A Black Georgia state representative, Park Cannon, was arrested and released after knocking on the door to Kemp's office as he signed the law. Psaki said anyone who saw a video of the arrest would be "deeply concerned" by the actions of law enforcement.

Story continues

Democrats just months ago celebrated historic wins in the presidential election and two Senate campaigns in Georgia that helped deliver the White House and U.S. Senate control to their party in Washington. Biden was the first Democratic presidential candidate to win Georgia since 1992.

Other Republican-controlled state legislatures are pursuing voting restrictions in key battleground states, including Florida and Arizona, after former Republican President Donald Trump blamed his loss to Biden on unproven allegations of massive voter fraud.

(Reporting by Steve Holland and Trevor Hunnicutt; Editing by Aurora Ellis)
Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - President Uhuru Kenyatta announced a return to more stringent lockdowns to combat a third coronavirus pandemic wave, which has seen hospital admissions rise by 52% in days
A sweeping measure was introduced in the Senate Friday that could open up health care and disability compensation to a huge swath of veterans made sick by burn pits and other toxic exposures during military service.

Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., and Marco Rubio, R-Fla., reintroduced the Presumptive Benefits for War Fighters Exposed to Burn Pits and Other Toxins Act, which would do away with most of the burden of proof on veterans to show they got sick from breathing in burning garbage for up to a year at a time while deployed.

The measure was also introduced last year and never got any serious traction. This year, its bipartisan sponsorship means it could have a better chance of becoming law.

Read Next: 'Why Are We Talking About It?' Congress May Face Impasse on Extremism in the Military

Veteran advocates have grown increasingly impatient, faulting Congress for being unable to pass any significant legislation that delivers care and compensation to veterans made sick by exposure to burn pits and other toxic environments. The VA has also not issued clear guidance on who can get compensation for toxic exposure.

The VA estimates 3.5 million veterans have been exposed to burn pits, according to a 2015 report. Yet the department has denied claims of roughly 75% of veterans. As of January, the VA had approved claims related to burn-pit exposure for 3,442 veterans out of 13,830. It is unlikely the data paints a complete picture. Its unclear how many suffer from serious burn pit-connected health ailments, or how many veterans are sick and unaware that illness is linked to service abroad.

The VA maintains the science is not clear on diseases potentially caused by burn pit exposure. Advocates, however, have argued the department is stalling and repeating mistakes made with Vietnam veterans exposed to Agent Orange and World War II veterans exposed to radiation.

The department itself and Congress are also likely wrestling with the enormous cost of providing care to such a large potential pool of veterans who connect their illnesses to burn pit exposure. The VA is the second-largest federal agency in terms of size and budget, and costs could quickly balloon if it was required to provide care to any veteran who believes their cancer is service-connected.

"The VA continues to deny them care by placing the burden of proof on veterans suffering from rare cancers, lung diseases and respiratory illnesses," Gillibrand said in a statement. "Congress cannot sit by as the VA ignores its duty. The bottom line is that our veterans served our country, they are sick and they need health care -- period."

Under current rules, veterans who believe their illness came from toxic exposure or burn pits must establish a direct service connection for benefits, a process that can include a doctor's statement and proof of where a veteran served, among other documents. For veterans affected by burn pits, this can prove especially challenging -- it can be virtually impossible to prove the exact location of overseas service or that there was a burn pit there. It could also be a monumental task to prove a cancer was caused by that burn pit.

If Gillibrand and Rubio's bill became law, veterans would only have to prove they received a campaign medal associated with the Global War on Terror or the Gulf War, and that they suffer from one of a long list of qualifying health conditions. Those conditions include the following:

Asthma diagnosed after service

Head cancer of any kind

Neck cancer of any kind

Respiratory cancer of any kind

Gastrointestinal cancer of any kind

Reproductive cancer of any kind

Lymphoma of any kind

Kidney cancer

Brain cancer

Melanoma

Chronic bronchitis

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Constrictive bronchiolitis or obliterative bronchiolitis

Emphysema

Granulomatous disease

Interstitial lung disease

Pleuritis

Pulmonary fibrosis

Sarcoidosis

Rep. Raul Ruiz, D-Calif., who has been a top voice on Capitol Hill for veterans affected by burn pits and has led the effort on presumptive care, will introduce a House version of Gillibrand's bill in conjunction with an April 13 press conference that he, Gillibrand, and Rubio will hold in Washington, D.C. with veteran advocates including Jon Stewart.

Stewart, the former "Daily Show" host, has thrown his advocacy weight behind the burn pits issue after successfully lobbying to secure health care for victims of the 9/11 attacks who got sick after inhaling the toxic smoke, fumes and dust.

"There's a lot of similarities between the first responders' struggle and those exposed to burn pits," Stewart said in an interview with Military.com. "And not just the health struggles, but the struggles with having it recognized by the government. The only difference between this and 9/11 is, we did this to our own troops as opposed to an attack. We operated those burn pits."

Many who work on or lobby for veterans' issues also believe President Joe Biden's personal connection to the issue could put it on the fast track for action.

Biden suspects his son, Beau, who was a major in the Delaware Army National Guard, died of brain cancer in 2015 due to exposure to burn pits in Iraq. Beau Biden was at Balad Air Base.

"[Beau volunteered to join the National Guard at age 32 because he thought he had an obligation to go," Biden told a Service Employees International Union convention in 2019. "And because of exposure to burn pits -- in my view, I can't prove it yet -- he came back with Stage Four glioblastoma."

Biden has yet to mention burn pits since his inauguration.

-- Steve Beynon can be reached at Steve.Beynon@military.com. Follow him on Twitter @StevenBeynon

Related: Why 2021 Could Be a Game-Changing Year for Veterans Sickened by Burn Pit Exposure
Dhaka, Mar 26 (UNI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived here on Friday on a two-day visit to take part in the golden jubilee celebrations of Bangladesh's independence and the birth centenary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

As the Prime Minister touched down, he was received by his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka. A red carpet was rolled out to welcome the Premier. Later, a salute of 19 guns and Guard of Honour was accorded to him upon his arrival.

"Landed in Dhaka. I thank PM Sheikh Hasina for the special welcome at the airport. This visit will contribute to even stronger bilateral relations between our nations," Mr Modi tweeted.

Notably, this is the Prime Minister's first foreign visit after the onset of Covid pandemic.

After a warm welcome at the airport, Mr Modi left for the National Martyrs Memorial in Savar to pay rich tributes to the heroic martyrs of the Liberation War of Bangladesh.

Mr Modi on Thursday had expressed happiness for his visit and said that India's partnership with Bangladesh is an important pillar of Neighbourhood First policy. "We are committed to further deepen and diversify it," he said.

After paying tributes at the National Martyrs Memorial, Mr Modi will visit the Bangabandhu Memorial Museum at Dhanmondi 32, to pay homage to Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. In the afternoon, Bangladesh Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen will call on the Indian premier at Hotel Sonargaon. Later, Mr Modi will join the celebration program marking the birth centenary of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the golden jubilee of Bangladeshs Independence Day as a guest of honor at the National Parade Square. President Md. Abdul Hamid will be present at the celebration as the chief guest while Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will preside over.

In the evening, Mr Modi is scheduled to inaugurate the Bangabandhu-Bapu Museum jointly with Bangladesh Premier at the Bangabandhu International Conference Center. Later, he will attend a state banquet arranged in his honor.

Mr Modi will leave Dhaka in the evening on March 27.

UNI JAL-MAZ ASN 1206
Crude oil producers from Europe, Africa and the United States faced difficulties selling to Asia, especially China, as buyers took cheaper oil from storage while refinery maintenance has reduced demand, industry sources said on Thursday.

Chinese independent refiners, which account for a fifth of the country's imports, have slowed imports in the second quarter because of refinery maintenance, strong Brent prices and a large influx of supplies, including Iranian oil, in the first quarter.

These buyers and others in Asia are lapping up cheap oil offered by traders under pressure to clear storage after Brent crude flipped into backwardation, with prices for prompt delivery higher than those for future months, traders said.

As a result, traders were forced to sharply reduce prices for spot cargoes loading in April and May from Europe, Africa and the United States for delivery to Asia.

Lockdowns in Europe have also reduced demand, they said.

"Barrels are struggling to find homes in the export market as Asia still isnt buying and Europe is struggling as well," said Scott Shelton, energy specialist at United ICAP.

Crude grades priced on Brent were worst hit, traders said, as a widespread between the global benchmark and Middle East's Dubai crude price made them least appealing to Asian buyers. <DUB-EFS-1M>

"China's demand for (Russian) the Urals, West African, CPC Blend oil just evaporated. Buying from stock is much more interesting for them now," said a source with a western trading house.

Caspian CPC Blend crude's discount to dated Brent widened to $2.85 per barrel, the lowest since mid-May 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic caused oil demand to plunge, Refinitiv Eikon data showed. <BFO-CPC>

CPC Blend is a popular grade with South Korean refiners, but this month they also minimized oil purchases amid refinery maintenance and buying from storage, two traders said.

Unipec, the trading arm of Asia's largest refiner Sinopec, offered six of its 10 term Angolan crude cargoes in April to the market, traders said.

An April-loading cargo of Angolan Mostarda crude sold this month for $1.50 a barrel below dated Brent, down over a dollar from levels seen in the previous month, they said.

"There's just too much supply so buyers want to see cheap cargoes," a Singapore-based trader said.

Reduced Asian buying also put pressure on U.S. Gulf Coast grades. WTI at East Houston <WTC-MEH>, a popular export grade, slumped to the weakest since October this week as an export activity for April has been muted.

US crude arrivals in Asia are expected to drop to about 30 million barrels in April, the lowest since June 2020, according to initial assessments from Refinitiv Oil Research on Eikon.

However, the recent drop in Brent crude prices closer to $60 a barrel if sustained, could help revive Asia's demand in late June or early July, traders said.

By that time, Asia's peak maintenance season would have ended while inventories would have largely been drawn down, they said.
For years has sought to draw moral equivalence with the West over human rights, insisting that other countries have no standing to criticise its policies. Now Beijing is making companies pay if they disagree.

this week has pushed a campaign to boycott Western retailers after the US, UK, Canada and the EU imposed sanctions over human-rights abuses against ethnic minority Uyghurs in The furor started when the Communist Youth League amplified a months-old statement from Swedens Hennes & Mauritz AB expressing concern about reports of forced labor in the far west region, and quickly spread to other companies.

Shares of H&M, Nike, others plummeted as Chinese government officials endorsed the boycotts and celebrities cut ties with brands including Adidas, New Balance and Japans Uniqlo. H&M outlets appeared not to show up on Apple Maps and Baidu Maps searches in on Friday. Chinese apparel makers have seized the opportunity with statements supporting cotton made from Xinjiang, boosting local companies.

While both Western and Asian companies have frequently been targets of Chinese nationalism over the years, the latest flurry signals a shift in strategy by President Xi Jinpings government as it confronts a more unified approach from the US and its allies. Analysts say the Communist Party is betting that a response that inflicts financial costs on firms will be popular at home, show China stands on equal footing with the US and help thwart President Joe Bidens efforts to heap more pressure on Beijing over





ALSO READ: Burberry becomes 1st luxury brand to suffer Chinese backlash over Xinjiang

Although is in the spotlight now, Chinese diplomats made clear during tense talks with the US in Alaska last week that Xis administration is drawing a firm line against what it calls interference in internal affairs including Hong Kong, Tibet and Taiwan. That raises the prospect that foreign companies operating in China could find themselves in the geopolitical firing line, facing pressure from Beijing to keep quiet on just as global investors put more weight on environmental, social and governance issues.

Chinas earlier approach of simply denying allegations has been seen as a weak defence, according to Wang Huiyao, an adviser to Chinas cabinet and founder of the Center for China and Globalization. Under Xi, China appears to have adopted the mantra that it is better to be feared than liked, said Ryan Hass, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.

Multinationals operating in China have frequently found themselves apologising. Daimler AG in 2018 expressed remorse for a post quoting the Dalai Lama that hurt the feelings of Chinese people, while Gap Inc issued an apology for a T-shirt with a map of China that didnt include Taiwan, Tibet or disputed islands in the South China Sea.
While Rosie Jacobs just offloaded her Sydney apartment, Rove McManus and wife Tasma Walton recently purchased a new home in the same city.

In a post of Instagram on Friday, the 41-year-old ex-wife of TV presenter Steven Jacobs celebrated the recent sale of her Bronte apartment for $1.8million.

She also congratulated Rove and Tasma, both 47, on the purchase of their new home in neighbouring Coogee.

Buying and selling: While Rosie Jacobs just offloaded her Sydney apartment, Rove McManus and wife Tasma Walton (pictured together at the AACTA Awards in Sydney in November) recently purchased a new home in the same city

'SOLD! Seriously delighted with this outcome. And congrats @rovemcmanus and @tasma_walton! 2021 is shaping up to be an epic year! #eek #timetomove,' she wrote.

Rosie purchased the apartment for $1.56million back in December 2018, following her split from Steven, 54, in 2017.

The two-bedroom, top-floor apartment boasts stunning ocean views with a a sun-drenched open plan living space.

Property: In a post of Instagram on Friday, Rosie Jacobs (pictured at a Cirque du Soleil premiere in Sydney in August 2016) celebrated the recent sale of her Bronte apartment for $1.8million

'SOLD! Seriously delighted with this outcome. And congrats @rovemcmanus and @tasma_walton! 2021 is shaping up to be an epic year! #eek #timetomove,' she wrote

It was described in its realestate.com.au listing as an 'eclectic fusion of beachside appeal and New York-inspired design'.

Meanwhile, according to a report by the Wentworth Courier as re-reported realestate.com.au last week, Rove and Tasma sold their home in Bronte for $14million.

They traded the stunning clifftop home for a $3.76million deceased estate in nearby Coogee in Sydney's eastern suburbs.

Fixer upper: Rove and Tasma traded their stunning clifftop home in Bronte for a $3.76million deceased estate in nearby Coogee in Sydney's eastern suburbs

The couple purchased their former Bronte home back in 2016 for $6.4million, and recently completed a $4million two-year renovation of the home.

Rove and Tasma are planning on also renovating their new house, which previously belonged to Spanish-born Pedro Capilla, who died at 101 in 2019.

They are reportedly planning on spending more time in Perth after purchasing a five-bedroom home there for $2million back in November.
NEW DELHI: The festival of colours, Holi is arriving soon and people are gearing up to celebrate the joyous festival with their friends and family. While Holi is celebrated in every part of the country, one of the most unique celebrations occurs in the holy land of Radha-Krishna, Braj located in the centre of Vrindavan-Mathura.

Since it is celebrated in the village of Braj Bhumi, the festival is called Braj ki Holi. Here, the celebrations often begin from Basant Panchami (February 5) and extend till 2-3 days after the last day of Holi! This unique celebration of Holi is internationally popular for its grandness but this year, the festivities will remain small and contained due to the social distancing guidelines. However, the traditions of Braj ki Holi will remain the same.

Here are the types of Holi celebration included in Braj ki Holi this year:

Laddu's Holi, Barsana: This is the first day of Braj ki Holi. Its held at Radha Rani's village Barsana. Laddu Mar Holi consists of devotees gathering in temples, dancing, singing and later throwing laddus at each other, which is ultimately consumed as Prasad.

Lathmar Holi, Barsana in Rangili Gali: On this day, women of Barsana take up sticks or lathis and chase men away from the area. This practice comes from the story of Lord Krishna, who once visited Radhas village to tease her and her friends.

At the time, gopis of the village took offence to this and chased him away with sticks. After the celebrations in Radhas village Barsana, Lathmar Holi is celebrated in Nandgaon on the following day.

Holi of flowers and Rangbarni Holi: In Mathura, Lord Krishnas birthplace, Phool ki Holi or Holi of flowers takes place at the Bankey Bihari Temple. Here, the idols of Radha-Krishna are served with beautiful and freshly bloomed garlands. Local priests and dwellers only use flowers and petals to play with each other during this Holi celebration.

Gulal's Holi for widows, Vrindavan: Traditionally, widows are told to strictly wear white after their husbands departure. However, on this day, they get to break the rules of the previous tradition. On this day, we see widows smearing gulal on each other and painting one another with colour and liveliness.

Holika Dahan, Banke Bihari Temple: Holika Dahan or Chhoti Holi is celebrated with a bonfire that signifies the burning of the demon Holika. It is usually performed the evening before the Rangwali Holi.

Coloured Holi: Much like the rest of the world, Mathura-Vrindavan will celebrate Rangwali Holi with vibrant gulal often made organically with flowers.

Huranga of Dauji Temple, Nandgaon: Observed a day after the coloured Holi, this is a slightly violent celebration as it involves women thrashing and stripping men off their clothes. This exclusive ritual only takes place in the courtyard of the Dauji Temple which is located about 30 km outside Mathura. The practice is considered to be a way for women to take revenge on men for teasing them and playing pranks on them.
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A couple more celebrities have brought their food and confection lines to Albuquerque.

Cookie enthusiasts can now get Mariahs Cookies delivered to their door.

Legendary recording artist Mariah Carey launched the virtual brand in partnership with Virtual Dining Concepts. Carey joined forces with restaurateur Robert Earl to create a delivery-only brand of cookies.

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Yay, cookies! We love em  love em during the holidays.  love em all year round! Carey said in a news release after the launch of her cookie brand in December.

Mariahs Cookies recently became available for purchase in Albuquerque through various delivery services, including Doordash, Grubhub, UberEats and Postmates. Cookies are sold in dozen and half-dozen assortments, with an option to add individual cookies.

Boxes include the Chocolatey Treats Box with Chocolate Chunk, Triple Chocolate Chunk and Heath Bar; Mimis Mix Box, with Careys favorite homemade flavors; Chocolate Chunk Box, with butter, chocolate, chunk cookies made with all natural ingredients and loaded with rich gourmet chocolate chunks, according to the news release.

Mariah and I have chatted over the years about working together on a food business, and with her love of baking, cookies were a natural fit, Robert Earl, co-founder of Virtual Dining Concepts, says in the news release.

More information on Mariahs Cookies can be found at mariahcareyscookies.com.

Satisfy your burger or sandwich cravings with something from the MrBeast Burger menu.

Jimmy Donaldson, better known by his online alias, MrBeast, joined forces with Virtual Dining Concepts to start his virtual restaurant brand, MrBeast Burger, now available for delivery in Albuquerque. The delivery-only brand launched in mid-December 2020 and continues to expand its reach through partnerships with restaurants throughout the country.

I am really excited about the launch of MrBeast Burger, Donaldson says in a MrBeast Burger news release. We have put months of hard work into putting this together and cant wait for our fans to have a taste of what weve cooked up! Weve had such a great response from our fans, and were excited to sign up more restaurants.

MrBeast is one of the fastest-growing digital creators globally. He has built a loyal and extensive fan base through his YouTube videos featuring elaborate stunts with a purpose. He has become recognized for giving back to organizations and individuals with monetary gifts and other surprises.

MrBeast Burgers menu has made-to-order smashed burgers and sandwiches inspired by his three closest friends. The Beast Style burger has beef patties with house seasonings, American cheese, pickles, diced white onion, mayonnaise and brown mustard on a soft roll. Chris Style offers two smashed crispy beef patties with house seasoning, American cheese and bacon topped with crinkle fries. Chandler Style has two smashed crispy beef patties with house seasoning served plain with American cheese on a bun. Other menu items include Karls Grilled Cheese, Beast Style Fries, Nashville Hot Chicken Sandwich, Crispy Chicken Tender Sandwich and seasoned crinkle fries.

MrBeast Burger is available through third-party delivery apps, including Grubhub, DoorDash, Postmates, UberEats and Seamless. For more information, download the Beast Burger app through the Apple Store or Google Play.
Cleaning the New York City subway has always been a dirty job. But when the pandemic hit last spring, it became even more challenging. When Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo ordered that trains be shut down overnight for cleaning, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority turned to contractors to help undertake the monumental task of scouring the trains in the nations largest transit system.

The thousands of workers the contractors hired  largely low-income immigrants from Latin America  were envisioned as a stopgap measure, as M.T.A. workers were falling ill and dying of the virus. At the same time, ridership and revenue had plummeted and the agency found itself in an intense budget crunch.

But nearly a year later, the workers are still toiling at stations all over the city, some paid as little as half as much as the M.T.A. employees who did the same work before the pandemic began, and many without access to health insurance.

Now, as the M.T.A. prepares to welcome more riders, the workers are pushing back, raising concerns about their safety, salaries and working conditions that they say feel like exploitation.

Their complaints illustrate the challenges of keeping the sprawling subway system cleaner than ever because of public health concerns during the pandemic. They also appear to show how the M.T.A.s contractors have relied on a labor force that has been desperate for work at a time when hundreds of thousands have lost jobs in cleaning, construction and restaurants.
WASHINGTON (AP)  Dominion Voting Systems filed a $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News on Friday, arguing the cable news giant falsely claimed in an effort to boost faltering ratings that the voting company had rigged the 2020 election.

The lawsuit is part of a growing body of legal action filed by the voting company and other targets of misleading, false and bizarre claims spread by President Donald Trump and his allies in the aftermath of Trump's election loss to Joe Biden. Those claims helped spur on rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 in a violent siege that left five people dead, including a police officer. The siege led to Trump's historic second impeachment.

STILL MAD: The Texas GOP is still furious about Harris County's drive-thru voting

Dominion argues that Fox News, which amplified inaccurate assertions that Dominion altered votes, sold a false story of election fraud in order to serve its own commercial purposes, severely injuring Dominion in the process, according to a copy of the lawsuit obtained by The Associated Press.

The truth matters. Lies have consequences, the lawsuit said. Fox sold a false story of election fraud in order to serve its own commercial purposes, severely injuring Dominion in the process. If this case does not rise to the level of defamation by a broadcaster, then nothing does.

Even before Dominion's lawsuit on Friday, Fox News had already filed four motions to dismiss other legal actions against its coverage.

Fox News Media is proud of our 2020 election coverage, which stands in the highest tradition of American journalism, and we will vigorously defend against this baseless lawsuit in court, it said in a statement on Friday.

There was no widespread fraud in the 2020 election, a fact that a range of election officials across the country  and even Trump's attorney general, William Barr  have confirmed. Republican governors in Arizona and Georgia, key battleground states crucial to Bidens victory, also vouched for the integrity of the elections in their states. Nearly all the legal challenges from Trump and his allies were dismissed by judges, including two tossed by the Supreme Court, which has three Trump-nominated justices.

Still, some Fox News employees elevated false charges that Dominion had changed votes through algorithms in its voting machines that had been created in Venezuela to rig elections for the late dictator Hugo Chavez. On-air personalities brought on Trump allies Sidney Powell and Rudy Giuliani, who spread the claims, and then amplified those claims on Fox News massive social media platforms.

Dominion said in the lawsuit that it tried repeatedly to set the record straight but was ignored by Fox News.

The company argues that Fox News, a network that features several pro-Trump personalities, pushed the false claims to explain away the former president's loss. The cable giant lost viewers after the election and was seen by some Trump supporters as not being supportive enough of the Republican.

Attorneys for Dominion said Fox News behavior differs greatly from that of other media outlets that reported on the claims.

This was a conscious, knowing business decision to endorse and repeat and broadcast these lies in order to keep its viewership, said attorney Justin Nelson, of Susman Godfrey.

Though Dominion serves 28 states, until the 2020 election it had been largely unknown outside the election community. It is now widely targeted in conservative circles, seen by millions of people as one of the main villains in a fictional tale in which Democrats nationwide conspired to steal votes from Trump, the lawsuit said.

DOUBLING DOWN: After ATL and Colorado shootings, Texas GOP double down on gun rights

Dominions employees, from its software engineers to its founder, have been harassed. Some received death threats. And the company has suffered enormous and irreparable economic harm," lawyers said.

One employee, Eric Coomer, told the AP he had to go into hiding over death threats because of the false claims. He has sued the Trump campaign, conservative media columnists and conservative media outlets Newsmax and One America News Network.

Dominion has also sued Giuliani, Powell and the CEO of Minnesota-based MyPillow over the claims. A rival technology company, Smartmatic USA, also sued Fox News over election claims for a similar sum of money. Unlike Dominion, Smartmatics participation in the 2020 election was restricted to Los Angeles County.

Dominion lawyers said they have not yet filed lawsuits against specific media personalities at Fox News but the door remains open. Some at Fox News knew the claims were false but their comments were drowned out, lawyers said.

The buck stops with Fox on this, attorney Stephen Shackelford said. Fox chose to put this on all of its many platforms. They rebroadcast, republished it on social media and other places.

The suit was filed in Delaware, where both companies are incorporated, though Fox News is headquartered in New York and Dominion is based in Denver.
Two people test positive for Covid-19 in Haiphong

Two people have tested positive for Covid-19 in the northern city of Haiphong, local authorities reported on Thursday evening.



The two women are from Haiphongs Kien Thuy District and Quang Ninh Provinces Cam Pha City.





The area where the two people are staying in Haiphong have been locked down



According to reports from local authorities, on the early morning of March 22, the two travelled from Cambodia to Phu Quoc District in the southern province of Kien Giang by boat. At around 7 am the same day, they arrived in Phu Quoc and stayed at a hotel on Nguyen Van Cu Street. After that they flew to Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi at 3 pm before going to Haiphong by taxi the same day.



Since the evening of March 23, they have been staying at a hotel on Le Hong Phong Street, Ngo Quyen District. They did not go out but only ordered the food delivery service.



On Wednesday, they came to Vinmec Haiphong Hospital for medical checks-up and tested positive for Covid-19.



They had contact with the hotel owner in Haiphong but kept the distance of two metres.



The Ministry of Health is seeking people on flight VJ458 which departed from Phu Quoc Island at 12:15 on March 22 and landed at Noi Bai International Airport at 3 pm on the same day. Passengers on this flight have been asked to contact medical centres in Hanoi as soon as possible for Covid-19 prevention



Ngo Quyen District is searching for people who had close contact with the two women.




Veteran radio identity Ray Hadley has revealed a name on his wedding guest list many didn't expect - his first wife Anne Maree.

And it was on the insistence of his latest bride to be - glamorous former secretary Sophie Baird.

Speaking on Ben Fordham Live on Friday, Hadley told listeners Anne Maree, the mother to a couple of his now adult children, will be among the well-wishers on the NSW Central Coast on Saturday afternoon.

'Anne Marie, who I was married to and we had Dan and Laura... she's the grandmother to our grandchildren, she's coming to the wedding at Sophie's insistence,' Hadley said.

Radio identity Ray Hadley is getting married for a third time on Saturday when he weds Sophie Baird

Ms Baird was Hadley's personal assistant for 16 years before they eventually became an item

It is unknown if Hadley's second wife (pictured left) Suzanne was invited to this weekend's nuptials

'She wants her to be there with the kids and with the grandkids as it makes Dan and Laura happy, it makes me happy, it makes her happy.

'The thing that she (Sophie) has done most of all, is cement my relationship with my children.'

Hadley proposed to Ms Baird - who was his personal assistant for 16 years - in October of 2019 as he left home to call the NRL grand final between the Sydney Roosters and Canberra Raiders at Sydney Olympic Park.

The couple had to postpone their big day on four occasions last year due to Covid-19.

With a combined three previous marriages, the loved-up pair have six adult children.

They include Daniel, 30, and Laura, 28, from Hadleys first marriage with Anne Marie, Emma and Sarah from his second with Suzanne  and Nick, 21, and Jessie, 19, from Ms Bairds previous marriage.

Last month Hadley, a former taxi driver, put his sprawling Sydney mansion featuring two swimming pools, five bedrooms and ten car spaces, on the market.

Hadley hopes to snare more than $7million for the estate, with other acreages in the Hills District recently selling in the mid $8million range.

He plans to then move into a neighbouring four-bedroom townhouse with Ms Baird after they tie the knot at media tsar John Singletons restaurant Saddles.

The man dubbed 'Bolts' in media circles also has no desire to retire from the airwaves anytime soon.

The workaholic has long divided his time between Sydney and the Gold Coast, where has owned an apartment at Main Beach since 2004.

Hadley and Ms Baird had to postpone their big day on four occasions last year due to Covid-19
Labour leader Alan Kelly has called for the chief executive of the Beacon Hospital to resign after it gave Covid-19 vaccines to staff from a private secondary school.

He said the actions of Michael Cullen are scandalous and his position is now entirely untenable.

The HSE is investigating how the private hospital  which has apologised  vaccinated 20 staff from St Gerards private school in Bray, where it is understood Mr Cullen's children attend.

Giving vaccines to teachers in his childrens school ahead of vulnerable patients in the hospital is simply unjustifiable, Mr Kelly said.

Its beyond belief that the CEO thought this type of behaviour would be appropriate or acceptable and there is now a fundamental question over his judgement, he said.

He said Beacon had made a belated decision to join the Covid fight a few months ago.

This two-tier elitism is shocking, and unfortunately, has been enabled by the lack of a cohesive vaccine strategy from the Minister for Health, Mr Kelly said.

He said it undermine the message that the vaccine is being rolled out in an equitable way.

Everyone is shocked that such actions could be unilaterally taken by a private organisation, he said, as there were widespread adverse comments in the Seanad today.

The CEO has undermined the rollout of the vaccine, Mr Kelly said in the toughest political comment on the affair so far.

Were not talking about All-Ireland tickets here. Were talking about the difference between life and death. I am sickened to think that this level of privilege, elitism and commodification exists in society today. The Beacon CEO must go.

The Labour leaders comments came after the Minister for Justice spoke out strongly against the vaccination of teachers from the private school by the Beacon Clinic.

Justice Minister Helen McEntee said: Theres a very clear protocol in place. There shouldn't be a situation where people are scrambling to find somebody to take the vaccine.

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Theres a clear protocol that you work through the list, and that you have people on standby.

And if you run out of people, if for whatever reason people don't show up, then you move down the list. It shouldn't be a situation where random people get the vaccine.

HSE chief Paul Reid, speaking on RTE radio, said protocols are in place and expressed disappointment that they had not been followed.

The incident, highlighted by the Irish Daily Mail, follows a similar incident at the Coombe Hospital in January, when vaccines were given to the Masters immediate family.

The CEO of the Beacon, Michael Cullen, said the situation arose because there were over 200 no-shows for a jab clinic. This happened because of double-booking with the Aviva stadium, and his facility was under time pressure to administer the doses.

Ms McEntee said: It frustrates people. It makes people feel as though you know there's a system or structure in place but it's not working and if it doesn't work, then the whole thing starts to fall apart.

Sinn Fein TD for Wicklow, John Brady, said the incident between two private institutions, 13km apart, was without justification, and smacked of the well-heeled looking after the well-heeled.

He said: Vaccines intended for frontline healthcare workers instead being administered to staff at a private school is a monumental kick in the teeth to the frontline doctors, nurses and other HSE staff who have put their lives on the line to protect us and our loved ones over the past 12 months.

It is beyond shocking for any hospital or any facility to be distributing the vaccine without adhering to the strict guidelines that have been laid down by the HSE.

After the scandals of office workers in the HSE being vaccinated outside of the prioritisation order, and likewise with family members of staff at the Coombe and Rotunda Hospitals, we were assured that procedures would be put in place to ensure that this would not happen again.

The latest incident is even more insulting to frontline workers and the most vulnerable in our society, he said, and further underlines the too-often calamitous nature of the vaccine rollout.

Public confidence in the rollout is fast eroding, Mr Brady added.
A schoolgirl was allegedly followed from a bus stop, choked unconscious, pulled into bushland and raped by a 20-year-old man.

The 14-year-old girl had been making her way home from school when she got off the bus near Hamilton Parade on Macleay Island, off the Brisbane coast, on Wednesday.

Police allege a 20-year-old man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, followed the girl before forcing her into bushland near the intersection of Williams and Arthur streets.

A school girl was allegedly followed from a bus stop, choked unconscious, pulled into bushland and raped by a 20-year-old man (pictured)

The 14-year-old girl had been making her way home from school when she got off the bus near Hamilton Parade on Macleay Island, off the Brisbane coast, on Wednesday

At one point the girl became unconscious from the man putting his arm around her neck to drag her into the bushes, police said.

When she came to, she fought back and her alleged attacker ran off.

The girl managed to get help from a nearby resident and the man was arrested in nearby bushland off Cooee Crescent a short time later.

A shocked local described the alleged incident as 'absolutely horrifying'.

'I know the little girl and she's an absolute sweetheart,' he told 9News.

The 20-year-old, from nearby Russell Island, has been charged with rape and disabling in order to commit an indictable offence.

He appeared in Cleveland Magistrates Court on Thursday where he was remanded in custody.

He will face court again on May 27.
Steven William Johnson, 35, was arrested Wednesday and charged with torture/willful abuse of a child and violation of a domestic violence protection order, according to the Limestone County Sheriff's Office.

Johnson, drummer for Athens-based rock band Alabama Shakes, is being held in the Limestone County Detention Center on a $21,500 bond.

According to court documents, Johnson was arrested after a grand jury indictment.

He has an arraignment hearing April 7.

In March of 2020, he pleaded guilty to violating a different domestic violence protection order in Limestone County.
Bengaluru, March 26 : The Karnataka health department has sealed Manipal Institute of Technology (MIT) campus at Manipal in the state's Udupi district due to the surge in Covid cases, Health Minister K. Sudhakar said on Friday.

"As the number of Covid patients in MIT rose to 770 so far, with 184 positive cases reported on Friday, we have sealed the campus, which was declared a containment zone on March 17," Sudhakar told reporters here.

Manipal is 400km from Bengaluru on the west coast of the southern state.

"We are taking stringent measures across the state to contain the virus spread in its second wave," asserted Sudhakar, a medical doctor by profession.

The coastal district has tested about 6,000 students in the institute, though most of them were found to be asymptomatic.

"The Covid patients have been isolated and quarantined for treatment in the Manipal hospital," said Udupi deputy commissioner G. Jagadish.

With 2,566 fresh cases registered on Thursday, the state's Covid tally shot up to 9,81,044, including 19,553 active cases, while 9,48,988 recovered, with 1,207 discharged in the last 24 hours.

Accounting for over 60 per cent of the cases in the state, Bengaluru reported 1,490 fresh cases on Thursday, taking its Covid tally to 4,24,349, including 13,327 active cases, while 4,06,49 recovered, with 632 discharged on Friday.

Asserting that factual Covid data was being made public daily, the minister said the state government was not hiding numbers, which are reported to the Union Health Ministry online in real time.

"No question of hiding Covid numbers. We do not intend to hide the data or it is possible as the Union Health Ministry monitors every state daily in real time," reiterated Sudhakar.

Noting that state Chief Minister B.S. Yedyiurappa was ready to call for an all-party meeting to discuss the pandemic situation in the state, Sudhakar said the opposition leaders of the Congress and Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) were welcome to give their suggestions in controlling the infection.

"The government is free to discuss the Covid situation with the opposition leaders and take their suggestions in arresting the surge," he affirmed.

Referring to the state government's decision to ban ensuing festivals in public places to prevent large gatherings and mass congregations across the state the minister said people should strictly follow the guidelines to protect from the infection.

"The state technical advisory committee of health experts has given many precautionary measures to contain the second wave. Though it is difficult to restrict normal activities, a decision to regulate them to check the virus spread," added Sudhakar.

In an order on Thursday, Chief Secretary P. Ravi Kumar banned celebrating festivals like Holi, Easter, Shab-e-Barat and Ugadi in coming weeks in public places to prevent large gatherings or mass congregations for containing the pandemic.

Deputy Commissioners in all the remaining 30 districts across the state have also been directed to ensure strict compliance of the order by all the concerned to prevent the virus spread.

The order warned of action under the Disaster Management Act and Karnataka Epidemic Diseases Act against those violating the Covid-induced guidelines.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
ROSWELL, Ga., March 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- 3ive Labs (pronounced \thriv\), a medical device product development organization focused on treating kidney disease, today announces the appointment of Lance Black, MD, MBID as Senior Medical Director. Dr. Black brings 20 years of experience as a clinician, engineer and innovator.

In this new role, Dr. Black will lead the development of clinical strategies and plans to ensure that physicians, payers and patients have a clear understanding of how to safely and effectively incorporate JuxtaFlow into the practice of medicine.

Lance Black, MD, MBID was most recently the Associate Director of Texas Medical Center Innovation which aims to launch and establish healthcare startups within Houston, Texas. Drawing on his extensive military, medical, and engineering expertise, he supported medical device and digital health companies who were residents of the award-winning healthcare startup accelerator, TMCx, and the company formation program, TMC Biodesign, bringing hundreds of novel technologies to Texas and beyond.

After earning his M.D. from LSU Health Sciences Center of New Orleans, Dr. Black served in the U.S. Air Force and deployed overseas twice: first as Chief of Medical Staff for Manas Transit Base in Kyrgyzstan, and then as a Squadron Flight Surgeon in Okinawa, Japan. During his time in the armed forces, Dr. Black helped to create modular medical facilities for civilian use, and designed and implemented safety protocols for F-22 stealth fighter pilots and their crews.

Inspired by his work with the Wounded Warrior program, Dr. Black utilized his background in Bio-engineering to focus on the design and development of technologies aimed at improving human health. Following his exit from service, Dr. Black received his Masters of Biomedical Innovation & Development from Georgia Tech, including a year in their Masters of Industrial Design program.

"Lance brings a unique and powerful combination of skills to the organization. As a physician, engineer and innovator, he understands the importance of medical device design from the perspectives of the patient, the provider, the designer and the developer,'' said John Erbey, Ph.D., President of 3ive Labs. "We are thrilled that he is bringing his diverse background and passion to 3ive to help improve the lives of millions of patients with kidney disease."

About JuxtaFlow

JuxtaFlow is clinical stage medical device designed to deliver mild controlled negative pressure into the collecting system of each kidney. The initial indication being pursued is the management of venous congestion, fluid overload, and worsening kidney function for patients with the Cardiorenal Syndrome.

About Cardiorenal Syndrome and Kidney Function

Cardiorenal syndrome is a condition where an abrupt decline in heart function (acute heart failure) causes a decline in kidney function. The kidneys are complex organs responsible for at least five critical functions; (1) eliminate waste and excess fluid, (2) help regulate blood pressure, (3) stimulate red blood cell production, (4) keep bones healthy, and (5) regulate pH levels. Fluid overload, and the resulting venous congestion are an early indicator of declining kidney function. Since the kidneys are encapsulated, they are unable to expand to accommodate the excess volume associated with rising venous pressures. Therefore, increasing venous pressure decreases filtration and further impairs all of the other kidney functions. Dialysis is the treatment of last resort. By filtering the blood, dialysis can reduce waste and excess fluid. However, it does not replace the other vital kidney functions.

Contact:

John Erbey

[email protected]

+1 908-797-1019

SOURCE 3ive Labs
New Delhi [India], March 26 (ANI): Extending full support in the implementation of the National Policy (NEP), Director General Audrey Azoulay said that key concepts under NEP like strengthening administrative capacities, socio-emotional learning and environmental awareness are "very crucial" for the development of students.

On Thursday, Union Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal held a virtual meeting with Azoulay in New Delhi and discussed key issues of mutual importance including NEP, India's response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

During the meeting, Azoulay appreciated the response of in mitigating the challenges of COVID-19 and ensuring continuity of during the pandemic by providing education to the students through different mediums of TV, radio and online to the last student of the country, according to an official release.

She remarked that India's response to COVID-19 was remarkable in terms of scale and diversity. She also requested the Union Minister to share the experiences and best practices relating to the education sector of with member states of the

Pokhriyal mentioned about initiatives undertaken to ensure continuity of education for children across the country. "NEP aims to transform the educational ecosystem for over 340 million students of the country. It is based on the foundations of equality, equity, access, affordability and accountability. It seeks to fulfill our Prime Minister's vision of making a 'global superpower of knowledge' and his 'mission' to create a 'global citizen," he said.

He said that as recommended in NEP, the government will soon bring out school textbooks with more emphasis on environmental education.

Stressing that concerted efforts were taken to ensure no loss of the valuable academic year, he talked about Digitally Accessible Information System (DAISY), an initiative for differently-able children. He also spoke about MANODARPAN, the government's initiative to provide online psychosocial support to students, teachers and families for their mental health and emotional wellbeing.

Highlighting the crucial role played by Indian educational institutions during the trying times of pandemic, Pokhriyal said these institutions transformed the challenges posed by COVID into opportunities.

(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.)
Ukraine is interested in further deepening cooperation with Canada at both the political and economic levels.

Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Dmytro Razumkov wrote this on his Facebook page following an online meeting with Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada Anthony Rota.

According to Razumkov, the Verkhovna Rada has already approved a number of bills to attract, in particular, Canadian investment.

"Canada remains one of our key partners: active work within friendship groups, support for Ukraine on international platforms, and exchange of experience between our military. Of course, the pandemic has made its corrections. However, I am convinced that after overcoming COVID-19, cooperation between Ukraine and Canada will be even more effective," he wrote.

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Fisheries New Zealand has today announced changes to catch limits for 14 fish stocks and the introduction of a full year-round closure to harvesting shellfish at Cockle Bay/Tuwakamana on Auckland's east coast.

Director of fisheries management, Emma Taylor, says the changes are part of a regular review to ensure the ongoing sustainability of New Zealand's fish resources.

"Our oceans and fisheries are important to all New Zealanders  they provide food for our whanau and jobs in our communities. By reviewing catch limits and other management measures, we help ensure their long-term sustainability for all New Zealanders to enjoy.

"Of the 14 stocks reviewed, catch limits will increase for 5 stocks, 4 will decrease, and 5 remain unchanged. A full year-round closure to the take of shellfish in Cockle Bay/Tuwakamana in the Hauraki Gulf will also be introduced.

The Cockle Bay closure will come into effect on 1 May 2021, which is when the beach would have previously opened under the current seasonal closure that is in place.

The following will change from 1 April 2021:

 Giant spider crab in the Chatham Rise, South East Coast, and Southland/Southern offshore islands (GSC 3, 5, & 6A)  increases to catch limits reflecting the increased abundance of stock.

 Red rock lobster in Gisborne (CRA 3) and Wellington/Hawke's Bay (CRA 4)  catch limits will decrease to ensure the stocks remain sustainable.

 Red rock lobster in Northland (CRA 1) and Canterbury/Marlborough (CRA 5)  no change to limits as stocks are currently at sustainable levels. These will continue to be closely monitored.

 Packhorse rock lobster nation-wide (PHC 1)  a moderate catch increase. Information shows this stock is doing well and more can be sustainability harvested.

Catch limits to the following will come into effect on 1 October 2021:

 Blue cod in the Chatham Islands (BCO 4)  a Total Allowable Catch (TAC) has been set for the first time. The commercial catch limit will remain unchanged.

 Elephantfish in the West Coast and top of the South Island (ELE 7)  no change to catch limits.

 Flatfish in the East Cape, Hawke's Bay, Wellington, and Taranaki (FLA 2)  catch limits will be decreased due to sustainability concerns if fully fished.

 Dark ghost shark in the East Coast of Northland, Auckland, and the Bay of Plenty (GSH 1)  a TAC has been set for the first time. Available information suggests there is an opportunity for increased utilisation. As such, a small increase to the Total Allowable Commercial Catch (TACC) has also been made.

 Giant stargazer (STA 1) in Waikato, Auckland, Northland, and Bay of Plenty  a TAC has been set for the first time. The commercial catch limit will remain unchanged.

 Yellow-eyed mullet in Waikato, the West Coast of Auckland and Northland (YEM 9)  a decrease to the catch limits to ensure sustainable management and respond to environmental impacts on the fishery.

"New science suggests packhorse rock lobster populations have increased in recent years, which means more can be sustainably harvested. A total allowable catch limit will be set for the first time and a moderate increase made to the commercial catch limit.

"The changes to catch limits for flatfish and yellow-eyed mullet take into consideration factors on the marine ecosystem that may affect productivity, such as habitat degradation or pollution.

"We review stocks in April and October every year, using the best scientific information available, to determine if changes are required to management settings to ensure our fisheries remain sustainable. If the science tells us more fish can be sustainably caught, then we increase the catch limits. However, if this information shows the opposite, we look to reduce the catch limits to help rebuild stocks.

"This information, along with feedback received from tangata whenua and public consultation, allows Fisheries New Zealand to provide the Minister for Oceans and Fisheries with advice on changing catch limits," says Emma Taylor.

Click here for more information.
GREENWICH  An administrator at Eastern Middle School has tested positive for COVID-19, which forced the entire student body into remote learning for Friday and sent a sizable group of staff and students into quarantine for 14 days.

Principal Jason Goldstein sent a health alert to Eastern families Thursday afternoon notifying them of the positive case of COVID-19. According to the alert, staff members in the schools office, three teachers, four service providers and three students are in quarantine as a result.

The districts Director of Communications Sasha Houlihan clarified Friday that the schools principal and dean of students were not among those in quarantine. In a subsequent update, sent Friday afternoon, Goldstein announced that in-person learning will resume Monday, March 29.

Cases of COVID-19 in Greenwich schools have continued to rise in the last two weeks, as the town is observing a similar uptick.

In the past week, the school district is reporting 32 new cases, the largest week-over-week increase in over a month. The new cases bring the total since the start of school to 527.

On Wednesday, First Selectman Fred Camillo described a slight uptick in cases that was a little concerning.

According to Greenwichs Director of Health Caroline Baisley, the biggest increases in cases have been in the 11 to 20 and 41 to 50 age groups. The spread among teens was, in part, the result of students playing sports, she said. And contact tracing tied many cases in the 41 to 50 age group to residents coming back from vacations.

There are 11 Greenwich schools currently with active COVID-19 cases, with the highest highest concentrations at Greenwich High and Eastern Middle School.

Cases of the coronavirus are rising even as vaccination efforts continue. This week, Gov. Ned Lamont expedited his vaccination schedule when he announced that all Connecticut residents age 16 and up will be eligible for vaccination April 1, up from the original date of April 5.

At Thursdays Board of Education meeting, Superintendent of Schools Toni Jones said the district is working to provide information to parents about how to get their children vaccinated.

Also at the Thursday meeting, Carol Sutton, president of the Greenwich Education Association, noted her concern at rising cases in the district and town-wide, particularly in the age 11 to 20 cohort.

Please everyone, this is not the time to let our guards down, no matter how much we want to be back to normal, Sutton said.

justin.papp@scni.com; @justinjpapp1; 203-842-2586
A 9-year-old migrant girl drowned while trying to cross the Rio Grande into Texas with her family, according to federal authorities, the first reported death of a child in a new surge of migration along the southwestern border.

U.S. Border Patrol agents responding to a rescue call found a mother and two children, all three unconscious, on an island in the river that separates the United States from Mexico. The agents were able to resuscitate the mother and the younger child, a 3-year-old boy.

The older child was transferred to emergency medics in Eagle Pass, Texas, but remained unresponsive and was pronounced dead after the March 20 episode, according to a statement released on Friday by the federal Customs and Border Protection agency.

The rescued mother was Guatemalan; her children were both Mexican nationals, the statement said.

Austin L. Skero II, the chief patrol agent for the Border Patrols Del Rio sector in South Texas, said that his agents had rescued more than 500 migrants attempting to illegally enter the country since the start of the current fiscal year, which began Oct. 1. A total of 82 migrants have died in that period, according to C.B.P. data.
Coronavirus fragments have been found in sewage linked to 100 Brisbane suburbs, with health officials putting thousands on high alert for symptoms.

Queensland Health announced the virus had been detected at the Luggage Point treatment plant at Pinkenba, in Brisbane's east.

The treatment facility services 96 suburbs including Albion, Brisbane City and South Brisbane.

The warning comes as Queensland discovered an unexpected coronavirus case on Friday, a 26-year-old local man with no links to hotel quarantine or overseas travel.

Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young urged residents who may show the slightest flu-like symptoms to get tested for Covid-19.

Coronavirus fragments have been found in sewage linked to 100 Brisbane suburbs, with health officials putting thousands on high alert for symptoms

Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young urged residents who may show the slightest flu-like symptoms to get tested for Covid-19

'Symptoms include fever, cough, sore throat, runny nose, fatigue, diarrhoea, nausea or vomiting, and loss of taste or smell,' she said.

'It is very important people with symptoms come forward right away and get tested  we can't be complacent, we're still in this pandemic.

'It is critical we detect any cases that we may not be aware of as quickly as possible through our testing system, to contain any potential spread.'

Covid-19 affected residents are still able to pass particles of the virus weeks after they have been infected.

'It's also possible that this detection relates to previous COVID-19 cases that can shed viral fragments for a couple of months after they are no longer infectious,' Dr Young said.

A nurse carries out a Covid-19 swab test at a drive-through clinic at Murarrie in Brisbane

Queensland venues on alert Anyone who has been to the following venues must get tested and self-isolate for 14 days: Saturday 20 March Shinobi Ramen Noodle shop, Westfield Carindale Shopping Centre Carindale 12pm-2.16pm Saturday 20 March Black Hops Brewery East Brisbane 12pm-2pm Sunday 21 March Mammas Italian Restaurant 69 Redcliffe Parade Redcliffe 12.30pm-3.10pm Saturday 20 March Green Beacon brewing Co. Teneriffe 2pm-3.12pm Saturday 20 March Eatons Hill Hotel Eatons Hill 3.44pm-5.30pm Monday 22 March PCYC Pine Rivers Bray Park 7.16am-8.10am Monday 22 March KCF Training (gym) New Birtinya 9.15am 11.30am Monday 22 March Plus Fitness New Minyama 2.30pm 3.30pm Tuesday 23 March Plus Fitness New Minyama 7.30am 8.30am Tuesday 23 March Hamilton Hotel - Sports bar New Hamilton 2.20pm 4.45pm Tuesday 23 March Hamilton Hotel - Pokies room New Hamilton 4.45pm 5.23pm Friday March 26 FitStop Gym, 6/338 Lytton Rd, Morningside 6.50am-8am Friday 26 March Spinnaker Park Cafe 222 Alf ORourke Drive New Callemondah 10.22am-11.23am Friday 26 March Auckland House 60 Flinders Parade New Gladstone Central 7.23pm-9.30pm Saturday 27 March Auckland House 60 Flinders Parade New Gladstone Central 7.33am-8.20am Saturday 27 March Savour Cafe, Merthyr Village Shopping Centre New Farm 10.30am 12.10pm Monday 29 March Premium Pilates & Fitness Coorparoo 9.25am 10.30am Get tested immediately and quarantine until you get a negative result: Tuesday 16 March Body Plus Physio New Caboolture 08.30am 08.50am Tuesday 16 March Nextra Toowong Village New Toowong 9:30am 10:00am Tuesday 16 March Silky Oakes New Strathpine 12pm 12.05pm Tuesday 16 March Price Line Pharmacy New Albany Creek 12.30pm 12.40pm Tuesday 16 March Grilld New Eatons Hill 1pm 1.30pm Tuesday 16 March Meat at Billys New Ashgrove 2:30pm 2:45pm Wednesday 17 March Tafe New Southbank 8am 4.30pm Wednesday 17 March Woolworths Everton Park New Everton Park 1.39pm 2.13pm Thursday 18 March Plus Fitness New Everton Park 8.00am 9.30am Thursday 18 March Milton Fruit Bowl New Milton 9:00am 9:20am Thursday 18 March World Gym New North Lakes 9.15am 9.45am Thursday 18 March Basil and Vine New Burpengary 10am 10.15am Thursday 18 March Giant Chemist Pacific Fair Shopping Centre New Broadbeach 1.45pm 2pm Thursday 18 March Electric Chair Barber Shop New Everton Park 3.15pm 4.14pm Thursday 18 March Studio Pilates New Grange 4.30pm 5.15pm Friday 19 March Lawnton Country Markets Bakery New Lawnton 6.11am 6.26am Friday 19 March Plus Fitness New Everton Park 7.30am 9am Friday 19 March Woolworths New Paddington 10am 10:15am Friday 19 March Bakers Delight New Paddington 10:15am 10:30am Friday 19 March Westfield New North Lakes 11.20am 11.50am Friday 19 March Little Red Dumpling Carseldine 12.10pm 1.16pm Friday 19 March Studio Pilates New Grange 12.15pm 1pm Friday 19 March Woolworths Carseldine 1.10pm 1.20pm Friday 19 March TBs Wine and Beer New Rosalie 2:30pm 2:45pm Friday 19 March Newstead Brewing Co. New Newstead 3.54pm 5.29pm Friday 19 March Aldi Bald Hills 5.10pm 5.18pm Friday 19 March Super Cheap Auto Bald Hills 5.30pm 5.33pm Friday 19 March Reef Seafood & Sushi Brisbane New Newstead 5.37pm 6.35pm Friday 19 March The Standard Market Company, Gasworks Plaza 76 Skyring Tce New Newstead 6.35pm 6.45pm Friday 19 March Public Toilet, Gasworks Plaza (located to the right of the escalator from the car park) New Newstead 6.46pm 6.47pm Saturday 20 March Plus Fitness 24/7 Gym Everton Park New Everton Park 7.40am 8.34am Saturday 20 March Coles Everton Park Everton Plaza Shopping Centre New Everton Park 8.39am 8.44am Saturday 20 March Neighbourhood Market Co. New Everton Park 8.45am 8.55am Saturday 20 March Westfield Carindale Shopping Centre - any part of the shopping centre Carindale 12pm 2.16pm Saturday 20 March Black Hops Brewery East Brisbane 2pm 3pm Saturday 20 March The Bavarian Eagle Street Pier New Brisbane City 2.15pm 4pm Saturday 20 March Market Organics (store only) 190 Enoggera Road Newmarket 2.45pm 3pm Saturday 20 March Riverland Brisbane New Brisbane City 4.10pm 6.32pm Saturday 20 March Viscosity New Fortitude Valley 6.42pm 7.31pm Saturday 20 March XCargo New Fortitude Valley 7.35pm 9.32pm Saturday 20 March Baskins-Robbins 2/489 South Pine Road Everton Park 9.20pm 9.25pm Sunday 21 March The Standard Market Company, Gasworks Plaza 76 Skyring Tce Newstead 9.50am 10.20am Sunday 21 March Presents of Mind New Paddington 10:15am 10:30am Sunday 21 March Genki Mart 3/24 South Pine Road Alderley 10.30am 10.46am Sunday 21 March Subway Strathpine Plaza Shopping Centre Strathpine 12.50pm 1pm Sunday 21 March Burrito Bar Everton Park New Everton Park 3.24pm 3.33pm Sunday 21 March Liquorland, Dolphins Central Shopping Centre Ashmole Road and Klingner Road Kippa-Ring 4 .40pm 4.50pm Monday 22 March Bunnings Rothwell Cnr Anzac Avenue and Bremner Road Rothwell 7 .14am 7.27am Monday 22 March Cafe Lavenue Carseldine 8.51am 8.58am Monday 22 March Ashgrove Fresh Fruit Shop New Ashgrove 9:20am 9:30am Monday 22 March Zambrero Aspley 12.05pm 12.34pm Monday 22 March Jacobs Bakery Aspley 12.40pm 12.48pm Monday 22 March Bunnings Stafford 450 Stafford Road Stafford 12.40pm 12.50pm Monday 22 March Bunnings Lawnton 3.15pm 3.30pm Monday 22 March Strathpine Plaza Shopping Centre Strathpine 3.43pm 3.49pm Monday 22 March Woolworths Mountain Creek New Mountain Creek 4.15pm 4.40pm Tuesday 23 March Redcliffe Train Line  Kippa-Ring to Lawnton Kippa Ring to Lawnton 7.00am 8.00am Tuesday 23 March Cafe Lavenue Carseldine 8am 8.29am Tuesday 23 March Woolworths New Paddington 9:10am 9:25am Tuesday 23 March Westfield (Dymocks and Woolworths) New North Lakes 11am 12pm Tuesday 23 March Nutrition Warehouse New Maroochydore 11.15am 11.30am Tuesday 23 March Brightwater Medical Centre at Brightwater Shopping Centre New Mountain Creek 12pm 12.45pm Tuesday 23 March Sushi Train Carseldine 12pm 12.45pm Tuesday 23 March Zambrero Lawnton 12.51pm 12.55pm Tuesday 23 March QML Pathology at Brightwater Shopping Centre New Mountain Creek 1pm 1.15pm Tuesday 23 March Lawnton Fruit Market Lawnton 1.57pm 2.05pm Tuesday 23 March Redcliffe Train Line  Lawnton to Kippa-Ring Lawnton to Kippa Ring 2.00pm 3.00pm Tuesday 23 March Rosalie Gourmet Market Deli New Rosalie 2:30pm 2:45pm Tuesday 23 March Poolwerx Strathpine Strathpine 3.15pm 3.27pm Tuesday 23 March Nellas Gourmet Tucker Lawnton 3.37pm 3.47pm Tuesday 23 March Woolworths New Strathpine 4pm 4.30pm Tuesday 23 March Dan Murphys Strathpine 7.26pm 7.36pm Wednesday 24 March Tafe New Southbank 8am 4.30pm Wednesday 24 March IGA New Milton 9:05am 9:15am Wednesday 24 March Milton Fruit Bowl New Milton 9:20am 9:30am Wednesday 24 March Redcliffe Train Line  Lawnton to Kippa-Ring Lawnton to Kippa Ring 2.30pm 3.30pm Wednesday 24 March Lawnton Country Markets Lawnton 2.36pm 2.43pm Wednesday 24 March Coles Everton Park Everton Plaza Shopping Centre New Everton Park 3.24pm 3.33pm Wednesday 24 March Uroko Sushi on Train New Everton Park 7.19pm 7.33pm Thursday 25 March Cafe Lavenue Carseldine 8am 8.29am Thursday 25 March Aldi Stafford, Stafford City Shopping Centre 400 Stafford Road Stafford 8.30am 8.45am Thursday 25 March World Gym New North Lakes 8.45am 9.45am Thursday 25 March Meats at Billys New Ashgrove 9:10am 9:20am Thursday 25 March Officeworks New Rothwell 12pm 12.30pm Thursday 25 March Cafe Lavenue Carseldine 12.34pm 1.34pm Thursday 25 March Gin Gin Public Toilet (male) opposite Gin Gin Bakery Gin Gin 1.25pm 1.26pm Thursday 25 March Gin Gin Bakery 41 Mulgrave St Gin Gin 1.26pm 1.33pm Thursday 25 March Westfield New North Lakes 2pm 3pm Thursday 25 March Miriam Vale Road Star Roadhouse  male toilet Miriam Vale 2.35pm 2.45pm Thursday 25 March Nundah Respiratory Clinic 1270 Sandgate Road Nundah 11.15am 11.40am Thursday 25 March Olivers Real Food New Maryborough West 11.50am 12.09pm Thursday 25 March Cold Rock Ice Creamery Raby Bay 3.50pm 4pm Thursday 25 March Woolworths Cleveland Cleveland 4.00pm 4.40pm Thursday 25 March Redcliffe Train Line  Lawnton to Kippa-Ring Lawnton to Kippa Ring 5.45pm 6.45pm Thursday 25 March BWS - Lawnton Drive 820 Gympie Road Lawnton 6.15pm 6.30pm Thursday 25 March Hanwoori Korean BBQ Restaurant Brisbane City 6.30pm 7.30pm Thursday 25 March Wintergarden carpark Brisbane City 6.19pm 7.50pm Thursday 25 March Ceres Pizza Cafe Strathpine 7.00pm 7.58pm Friday 26 March World Gym New North Lakes 10am 10.30am Friday 26 March Nurse Station cafe (Patrons) South Brisbane 10.15am 10.30am Friday 26 March SPAR Carina Megafresh Carina 11.30am 11.45am Friday 26 March Coles, Stockland Gladstone Gladstone Central 12.09pm 12.33pm Friday 26 March Woolworths Coorparoo Coorparoo 12.55pm 1.30pm Friday 26 March Niche & Co Cafe Tugun 1.40pm 1.55pm Friday 26 March Chempro Chemist Tugun 1.55pm 2.10pm Friday 26 March Redcliffe Train Line  Lawnton to Kippa-Ring Lawnton to Kippa Ring 2.30pm 3.30pm Friday 26 March Woolworths Kippa-Ring 272 Anzac Avenue Kippa-Ring 3pm 3.20pm Friday 26 March Stockland Gladstone (including BWS) Gladstone 4.46pm 5.00pm Saturday 27 March IGA Redcliffe Redcliffe 12.50pm 12.55pm Saturday 27 March Sunlit Asian Supermarket Westfield Garden City Upper Mount Gravatt 2.30pm 2.45pm Saturday 27 March Dominos Pizza Greenslopes 3.30pm 3.40pm Sunday 28 March 7-Eleven Updated Mackenzie 1.30am 1.40am Sunday 28 March 52 Espresso Updated Nobby Beach 6.15am 6.45am Sunday 28 March LeanChef Kitchn Updated Surfers Paradise (Chevron Island) 10am 10.30am Sunday 28 March Stable Coffee Kitchen New Tugun 10.27am 10.48am Sunday 28 March HOTA Markets Bundall 10.45am 11.30am Sunday 28 March Surf Life Saving Competition Tugun Beach 12.30pm 2pm Sunday 28 March Epic Escape Room Updated Southport 1.45pm 5.20pm Sunday 28 March Kirra Surf Shop 6/8 Creek Street Updated Coolangatta 2.35pm 3.05pm Sunday 28 March Southport Park Shopping Centre New Southport 3pm 4pm Sunday 28 March Woolworths Updated Southport Park 3.14pm 3.35pm Sunday 28 March Tugun Supermarket Tugun 5.20pm 5.30pm Monday 29 March Rafiki Cafe Updated Mermaid Beach 6.45am 6.50am Low risk contacts - monitor for symptoms: Tuesday 23 March Outside Westpac - Peninsula Fair Shopping Centre 272 Anzac Avenue Kippa-Ring 3pm 3.30pm Advertisement

The warning comes as health authorities keep a close eye on a new strain of Covid-19 discovered among returned travellers from Papua New Guinea.

PNG is gripped by a coronavirus crisis with cases spiking out of control across the country, with very low testing rates meaning the problem is even worse.

The Queensland Health Department is aware of 64 people in hotel quarantine with the newly-identified B.1.466.2 strain after arriving or transiting through PNG.

'The Covid-19 pandemic is a rapidly-evolving situation and as the pandemic is ongoing, we have continued to see new variants emerge, such as the UK and South African variants,' Queensland Health said.

'Currently, the variant most commonly detected in travellers from Papua New Guinea is the B.1.466.2 lineage, which is not a lineage of concern.

The warning comes as health authorities keep a close eye on a new strain of Covid-19 discovered among returned travellers from Papua New Guinea (Pictured: Policeman orders a man to wear a mask in PNG)

'This is the new name for the specific B.1 strain mentioned as circulating in PNG.'

Australia has already committed 8,480 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine and are considering sending more.

Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade secretary Frances Adamson said the government was aware of the urgency of the situation.

'The possibility of some of Australia's domestically produced stocks being able to be used for this purpose is certainly something that is live but yet formally to be decided by government,' she said on Thursday.

Hotel Quarantine worker Zuby Daryau is being vaccinated during a rollout of the COVID-19 Pfizer vaccine at STARS Metro North Health facility, in Brisbane
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Kate Middleton's virtual video calls show how she is able to inject her 'contemporary classic' style into every space she inhabits, interior design experts have revealed.

In recent months the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have taken part in video calls and sent recorded messages from their home at Kensington Palace and at the Queen's home of Sandringham, in Norfolk, where they set up a temporary office while living at nearby Anmer Hall over lockdown.

There are striking similarities between the two spaces, revealing how Kate Middleton is able to bring her personal design flair and sense of 'calm' and 'harmony' to every home office. The couple also brought their favourite family photos between London and Norfolk, creating a sense of unity between the two spaces.

Yesterday Kate and William offered another glimpse of Apartment 1A at Kensington Palace, where they live with Prince George, seven, Princess Charlotte, five, and Prince Louis, two, when they shared a video message for a mental health campaign.

Analysing the spaces exclusively to FEMAIL, Deirdre Mc Gettrick, Founder and CEO of ufurnish.com, commented: 'Colours can evoke different feelings or emotions and historically, primary colours such as rich reds, deep blues and dark greens would have coloured the walls.

Deirdre explained that the royal couple have delicately embraced the regal heritage of their property by adding a touch of red into their cushions. Pictured, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge during a message recorded at Kensington Palace this week

Deirdre Mc Gettrick, Founder and CEO of ufurnish.com explained Prince William and Kate Middleton have opted for a muted neutral tone of earthy cream to keep the rooms 'fresh, calm and modern' while working at Sandringham over lockdown. Pictured, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge recorded a video message from their Sandringham office earlier this year

According to interior design expert Deirdre Mc Gettrick, Kate's use of a nature-inspired trend is known to improve our wellbeing and bring harmony into our homes. Pictured, the Duchess in her temporary office at Sandringham

'William and Kate have opted for a muted neutral tone of earthy cream to keep their rooms fresh, calm and modern.'

Interior design expert Benji Lewis agreed that the tone that Kate has struck with the interiors at both Sandringham and Kensington Palace is 'neutral contemporary classic.'

'Clearly there's an enjoyment of timeless chalky - almost ballet pink - with her choice of wall colour, which has been interjected with accent colours that are distinctly harmonious and calm,' he explained.

'Absolutely no colour clashes here, it's actually a very well executed, absolutely inoffensive, colour scheme because whilst it's clearly lovely taste, it also works brilliantly with her wardrobe choices and sets her up very well backdrop-wise for her virtual appointments.'

Deirdre pointed out that the royal couple have incorporated a trend which has proven popular during lockdown - by bringing plants and greenery into their decor.

Pictured, The Duchess of Cambridge during her video call to Little Village, the London based charity which provides clothes, toys and equipment for babies and children up to the age of five, on their fifth anniversary on 12 February 2021. The video call took place at Sandringham, where the Duchess worked while living at Anmer Hall over lockdown

The interior design experts also added that the use of family photographs offers a more personal feel to the Sandringham room - which has been the backdrop of several Zoom videos amid the Covid-19 pandemic (pictured). The same photos are seen in the Kensington Palace appearances

'This use of a nature-inspired trend is known to improve our wellbeing and bring harmony into our homes,' she explained.

The interior design experts also added that the use of family photographs offers a more personal feel to the living room and the Sandringham office - which has been the backdrop of several Zoom videos amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

'This is calm, well-curated polish that's gentle and traditional and the family photos on the sideboard behind her suggest an approachability, "we're letting you into our personal space" type feel,' Benji explained.

Deirdre added: 'Whilst dark furniture would have also been used previously to accessorise the space, the Duke and Duchess have chosen to continue this heritage feel of using natural wooden materials, but instead accessorising the work surfaces with modern gold photo frames, adding a homely ambiance and personal touch by displaying their family photographs and favourite artwork.

'Certain patterns capture the essence of nature in a subtle way and these can actually have a positive effect on our wellbeing and reduce stress levels, because of our desire to be closer to nature.'

Benji explained that the manner in which the upholstered pieces have been handled 'isn't overly elaborate.' Pictured, the Duchess of Cambridge at Sandringham during a video call last month

Benji went on to say that while it would be easy to assume the budget for decoration would likely have been generous, the manner in which the upholstered pieces have been handled 'isn't overly elaborate.'

'The tailoring on the sofas is great, nothing loose covered, or baggy  and yet a possible little contrast piping aside, added embellishment like nailhead detail has been left out, so it really is contemporary classic,' he explained.

'Layering colour and tone has been thought through, because the soft mint green is echoed by the sharper colour in the super healthy looking plants behind Kate.'

He adds that the artwork on the walls suggests grandeur but it's not being 'shoved in our faces.'

'Likewise the antique furniture indicates that there's a kind of make do with what we have approach rather than 'blank canvas/blank cheque - let's go shopping,' he continued. 'Considering the home to whom this belongs it's clever because it's absolutely not flashy but it's unquestionably got gloss, and it's smart and considered.'

Interior design expert Benji Lewis added that the artwork on the walls suggests grandeur but it's not being 'shoved in our faces.' Pictured, Kate at home at Kensington Palace, London, in November last year

'By conducting her virtual appointments from the comfort of her sofa - rather than over a desk - this again suggests that we're engaging with an off duty, affable and approachable Royal.'

Deirdre also explains that many different textures forming our surroundings, and that the royal couple appear to have taken inspiration from this, layering their homes with different textures in the form of embroidered floral cushions.

'Incorporating a touch of red into these accessories, they have delicately embraced the regal heritage of their property through the use of this colour,' she explained.

Benji added: 'Dipping into pattern is a decorative detail that has been embraced via the inclusion of the multiple cushions  embroidered in a kind of Ottoman fashion with scrolling foliage  but this could be off the peg shopping rather than bespoke.'
There are only two places in Houston declared National Treasures by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. One is the Astrodome, regarded as The Eighth Wonder of the World when it opened in 1965. The other is a small, unpretentious stucco house near downtown that passersby hardly notice.

The curious, however, would spot a plaque in front of the white, two-story building where the Texas Historical Commission marked its prominence. It is the home of the historic League of United Latin American Citizens Council 60 Clubhouse, the epicenter of many significant achievements of the Latino civil rights movement of the last century.

Some historians have noted the clubhouse was where Latino political power began to show. Unlike any other Hispanic organization in contemporary history, the LULAC clubhouse attracted national leaders, including President John F. Kennedy and Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Houston building that housed Latino rights group named National Treasure

Almost a decade since Council 60 stopped using the clubhouse due to unsafe conditions of the building structure, a renewed LULAC leadership is kicking off a $500,000 fundraising campaign to renovate the historic site and reactivate the clubhouse with a wider community and exhibition value.

We want people to know this LULAC Clubhouse that serves as an icon of the Mexican American civil rights movement, said Ray Valdez, chair of C 60 Inc., a nonprofit established to restore the building. We want to preserve it and renew its use so that people can come by and be proud of all that Latinos have accomplished.

The fundraising campaign includes the creation of a GoFundMe.com account called LULAC Clubhouse. But organizers plan to escalate it after finishing a significant phase of the construction project at the end of this month.

Construction work  part of an emergency stabilization plan needed after the house was severely damaged during Hurricane Harvey  is being finished, Valdez said.

This phase included structural, foundational and roof repairs, as well as the restoration of exterior walls. Some areas required special treatment to meet Department of the Interior guidelines for historic rehabilitation. One of them was the chimney, which was taken down brick by brick, cataloged and reassembled to the original specifications of the house. It was built in 1907 at 3004 Bagby St.

Brett Coomer, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer

Now, the goal is to raise $500,000 for the next phase of construction to finish the project.

The campaign is a tiered crowdfunding initiative to thoughtfully engage individuals across the city, state and country to contribute to the restoration of the historic place, said Jesus Davila, project director for the online capital campaign and member of the organization.

The fundraising campaign will include online engagement initiatives and opportunities for people to donate by shopping through corporate charity programs such as Amazon Smile.

Organizers said they hope to attract some large financial contributions. But the goal is to also gather thousands of smaller donations to reflect the spirit of community and advocacy that has marked the clubhouse since its inception, said Davila, who is the founder of Landing Advisors, a management consulting firm.

Milestones

The buildings importance is associated with the relevance of Council 60 as one of the most consequential chapters of LULAC in Texas during the civil rights movement. But it also has its own merits from a historic point of view, said Gene Preuss, associate professor of history at the University of Houston-Downtown and member of the C 60 Inc. Board.

LULAC is the oldest and, for periods, the largest active national Hispanic organization. It was founded on Feb. 17, 1929, in Corpus Christi, largely by World War I veterans disenfranchised by segregation and racial discrimination against Mexican Americans, said Cynthia Orozco, a historian at Eastern New Mexico University and author of several books on Mexican American history. The organization solidified by creating councils in neighborhoods across Texas and other states.

Council 60, active since the mid-1930s, initiated numerous court cases against discrimination, said Preuss.

One of the most notorious was Delgado v. Bastrop in 1948, the first Texas case since the 1930s to rule against public school segregation of Mexican American students, Preuss said.

Other landmark litigation included Hernandez v. the State of Texas in 1954, the first case won by a Mexican American legal team in the U.S. Supreme Court. The ruling said people of Mexican descent couldnt be discriminated against in jury selections and created a precedent in striking down overall discrimination based on ethnicity and class.

na, HC staff / Houston Chronicle

A year later, Council 60 board members bought the stucco house on Bagby Street, becoming the first time a LULAC council in the United States was able to own a building for its operations, Preuss said. It continues to be the only clubhouse owned by a chapter of the organization in the country, said Valdez.

Besides working on the LULAC national platform on voters participation, justice equality, education and healthcare access for veterans, the clubhouse was the hub for the creation of significant programs.

It was there where members organized the Little Schools of the 400, the first bilingual education program adopted by the state of Texas to prepare Spanish-speaking kids with language abilities before entering school, Preuss said. It later became the basis for a larger state-sponsored program in Texas and for President Johnsons Head Start project for disadvantaged children, according to Oxford Academics Journal of American History.

The council also created the SER Jobs program  still active with a large platform in the Gulf Coast  that trains and places around 4,000 job seekers per year from low-income backgrounds, according to its website.

A wider picture

LULAC members said restoring the clubhouse is part of a wider effort to promote the barely known history of the Latino civil rights movement arising from Texas. Most of what is known or taught in schools nationwide is related to farm workers struggles in California.

During the last decade, people like David Contreras, the LULAC Texas state historian, have researched and found numerous valuable documents about the organization scattered in several archives. He put together a website with many previously unpublished documents and videos related to the JFK visit to the annual LULAC gala hosted by Council 60 at the Rice Hotel in Houston the night before he was assassinated in Dallas. He visited with his wife, Jackie Kennedy, who spoke to the party in fluent Spanish, as well as then Vice President Johnson and his wife, Lady Bird Johnson.

The first floor of the clubhouse will have the renovated bar where LULAC members used to strategize political moves and meet with influential visitors over a drink.

We will not sell alcohol these days, of course, said Valdez. But they plan to offer beverages and sandwiches to keep the community spirit flowing. Rooms on the second floor will be open for use by other organizations that share similar community interests in the city.

Davila thinks that now with the COVID pandemic beginning to recede, its a good time to launch an effort to collect small donations with a common purpose.

Its been a full year where we have been separated and broken apart, said Davila. In contrast and maybe in defiance of this reality, its a powerful metaphor to rebuild a historic place of community through collective generosity.

olivia.tallet@chron.com

Twitter.com/oliviaptallet
Dhaka, March 26 : Violent clashes broke out between the police and the supporters of radical Islamist group Hefazat-e-Islam in Dhaka and Chittagong after the cops thwarted an attempt to launch an anti-Modi protest in front of the Baitul Mukarram National Mosque in the Bangladesh capital following Friday prayers.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Dhaka on Friday on a two-day visit to Bangladesh to attend the celebrations of the country's 50th year of liberation from Pakistan and the 100th birth anniversary of its founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the father of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

After the police resorted to lathi charge and tear-gas shelling to stop the Hefazat supporters from taking out a march to protest against the Indian Prime Minister's visit, leaving several persons injured, around a thousand students of Hathazari Madrasa in Chittagong, known to be a stronghold of the radical group, attacked a police station there, leading to clashes in which at least five persons received injuries.

A large number of Hefazat supporters had gathered at Dhaka's prominent Baitul Mukarram mosque for Friday prayers. As they were about to take out a anti-Modi march soon after the prayers ended, they were stopped by the police and the altercations between the two sides soon turned violent after a few Hefazat followers hurled brickbats at the cops.

Image Source: IANS News

The police first tried to disperse the crowd by using tear-gas shells. But as things turned bad, they fired from shotguns and used rubber bullets and water cannon to bring the situation under control. As per some eye witnesses, the opposite side comprising mostly Islamist radicals also fired back, as the clashes went on for more than an hour.

At least 20 people, including a journalist, were injured in the clashes. The injured are being treated at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital. Vehicular movement in the area was disrupted in view of the violent protests and the situation is still tense in the Baitul Mukarram area.

As soon as the news of the clashes spread to Chittagong through personal social media groups, around a thousand students of Hathazari Madrasa attacked and vandalised the Hathazari Model police station at around 2.30 p.m. in protest against Modi's visit to Bangladesh and the police action on Hefazat supporters in Dhaka.

In the retaliatory action by the police, who resorted to lathi charge, tear-gas shelling and firing rubber bullets at the protesters, five madrasa students were injured who are being treated at the Chattagram Medical College Hospital.

-- Syndicated from IANS
New York, March 25, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Government Cloud Market Research Report by Type, by Service Model, by Deployment Model - Global Forecast to 2025 - Cumulative Impact of COVID-19" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06033927/?utm_source=GNW



Market Statistics:

The report provides market sizing and forecast across five major currencies - USD, EUR GBP, JPY, and AUD. This helps organization leaders make better decisions when currency exchange data is readily available.



1. The Global Government Cloud Market is expected to grow from USD 12,983.67 Million in 2020 to USD 27,492.56 Million by the end of 2025.

2. The Global Government Cloud Market is expected to grow from EUR 11,384.33 Million in 2020 to EUR 24,105.99 Million by the end of 2025.

3. The Global Government Cloud Market is expected to grow from GBP 10,120.69 Million in 2020 to GBP 21,430.28 Million by the end of 2025.

4. The Global Government Cloud Market is expected to grow from JPY 1,385,687.54 Million in 2020 to JPY 2,934,152.81 Million by the end of 2025.

5. The Global Government Cloud Market is expected to grow from AUD 18,854.02 Million in 2020 to AUD 39,922.85 Million by the end of 2025.



Market Segmentation & Coverage:

This research report categorizes the Government Cloud to forecast the revenues and analyze the trends in each of the following sub-markets:



Based on Type, the Government Cloud Market studied across Services and Solutions. The Services further studied across Cloud Storage, Disaster Recovery, Identity and Access Management, and Risk and Compliance Management. The Solutions further studied across Integration and Migration, Support and Maintenance, and Training, Consulting, and Education.



Based on Service Model, the Government Cloud Market studied across Infrastructure as a Service, Platform as a Service, and Software as a Service.



Based on Deployment Model , the Government Cloud Market studied across Hybrid Cloud, Private Cloud, and Public Cloud.



Based on Geography, the Government Cloud Market studied across Americas, Asia-Pacific, and Europe, Middle East & Africa. The Americas region surveyed across Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, and United States. The Asia-Pacific region surveyed across Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, South Korea, and Thailand. The Europe, Middle East & Africa region surveyed across France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain, United Arab Emirates, and United Kingdom.



Company Usability Profiles:

The report deeply explores the recent significant developments by the leading vendors and innovation profiles in the Global Government Cloud Market including Adobe Inc, Amazon Web Services, AT&T Inc., Capgemini SE, CenturyLink, CGI Inc, Cisco Systems, Inc, Citrix Systems, Inc, Dell Technologies Inc., Equinix, Inc., Fujitsu Limited, Google LLC, Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company, Huddle, Informatica, Intel Corporation, International Business Machines Corporation, Microsoft Corporation, NEC Corporation, NetApp Inc., Oracle Corporation, Rackspace Technology, Salesforce.com, Inc., SAP SE, Veritis Group Inc., Verizon Communications Inc., and VMware, Inc..



Cumulative Impact of COVID-19:

COVID-19 is an incomparable global public health emergency that has affected almost every industry, so for and, the long-term effects projected to impact the industry growth during the forecast period. Our ongoing research amplifies our research framework to ensure the inclusion of underlaying COVID-19 issues and potential paths forward. The report is delivering insights on COVID-19 considering the changes in consumer behavior and demand, purchasing patterns, re-routing of the supply chain, dynamics of current market forces, and the significant interventions of governments. The updated study provides insights, analysis, estimations, and forecast, considering the COVID-19 impact on the market.



FPNV Positioning Matrix:

The FPNV Positioning Matrix evaluates and categorizes the vendors in the Government Cloud Market on the basis of Business Strategy (Business Growth, Industry Coverage, Financial Viability, and Channel Support) and Product Satisfaction (Value for Money, Ease of Use, Product Features, and Customer Support) that aids businesses in better decision making and understanding the competitive landscape.



Competitive Strategic Window:

The Competitive Strategic Window analyses the competitive landscape in terms of markets, applications, and geographies. The Competitive Strategic Window helps the vendor define an alignment or fit between their capabilities and opportunities for future growth prospects. During a forecast period, it defines the optimal or favorable fit for the vendors to adopt successive merger and acquisition strategies, geography expansion, research & development, and new product introduction strategies to execute further business expansion and growth.



The report provides insights on the following pointers:

1. Market Penetration: Provides comprehensive information on the market offered by the key players

2. Market Development: Provides in-depth information about lucrative emerging markets and analyzes the markets

3. Market Diversification: Provides detailed information about new product launches, untapped geographies, recent developments, and investments

4. Competitive Assessment & Intelligence: Provides an exhaustive assessment of market shares, strategies, products, and manufacturing capabilities of the leading players

5. Product Development & Innovation: Provides intelligent insights on future technologies, R&D activities, and new product developments



The report answers questions such as:

1. What is the market size and forecast of the Global Government Cloud Market?

2. What are the inhibiting factors and impact of COVID-19 shaping the Global Government Cloud Market during the forecast period?

3. Which are the products/segments/applications/areas to invest in over the forecast period in the Global Government Cloud Market?

4. What is the competitive strategic window for opportunities in the Global Government Cloud Market?

5. What are the technology trends and regulatory frameworks in the Global Government Cloud Market?

6. What are the modes and strategic moves considered suitable for entering the Global Government Cloud Market?

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06033927/?utm_source=GNW



About Reportlinker

ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.



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Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi (right) and Singaporean counterpart Vivian Balakrishnan walk past flags of members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) during their meeting in Jakarta, March 25, 2021.

Singapore on Thursday joined Malaysia and Indonesia in calling for an urgent summit of Southeast Asian leaders to discuss the post-coup crisis in Myanmar, as its top diplomat wrapped up a three-nation tour with Myanmar on the agenda at each stop.

Singaporean Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan met with Indonesian counterpart Retno Marsudi in Jakarta  his last stop on the regional trip  where they discussed the Feb. 1 military coup in Myanmar and the killing of more than 250 pro-democracy protesters there since then.

Balakrishnan said that his country and Indonesia, both members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, were very distressed by the situation in fellow member-state Myanmar and supported an ASEAN leaders meeting to arrive at a common position on Myanmar.

Both Indonesia and Singapore believe there should be no foreign interference. But ASEAN stands ready to help in any way that we can help, Balakrishnan told a news conference after his meeting with Retno, which was on the agenda of his two-day visit to Indonesia.

Therefore, we also support our leaders getting together to generate a common position in which ASEAN can express its support for Myanmar, said the city-states top diplomat, who conveyed similar messages during his stops in Brunei and Malaysia before arriving in Indonesia.

Last week, Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and Indonesian President Joko Jokowi Widodo called for an urgent summit of ASEAN leaders to discuss the turmoil in Myanmar. Jokowi said he would talk with Brunei, this years ASEAN chair, about the summit.

The 10-member regional bloc has been roundly criticized as ineffective, both by regional politicians as well as civil rights groups, for not being able to achieve a common stance on the rapidly devolving situation in Myanmar.

Non-interference in members domestic affairs is ASEANs foundational principle and a major obstacle, critics said.

It came as no surprise to many that a special meeting of ASEAN foreign ministers in early March had failed to agree on demanding the immediate release of Myanmars civilian leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, and others held by the military.

On Thursday, Indonesias Retno pointedly said that the regional groups goal to achieve an ASEAN Community can only be achieved with the contribution of all ASEAN Members.

UN Urges Regional Summit

Meanwhile, a United Nations expert on Thursday also said that Myanmars neighbors  and indeed all other nations  needed to step up because the international response to the situation there was flagging.

An urgent meeting of Southeast Asian nations and other influential countries was imperative to prevent things in Myanmar from deteriorating more, said Thomas Andrews, U.N. Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar.

Without a focused, diplomatic solution, including the hosting of an emergency summit that brings together Myanmars neighbors and those countries with great influence in the region, I fear the situation of human rights in Myanmar will further deteriorate as the junta increases the rate of murders, enforced disappearances and torture, Andrews said in a statement issued by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner of Human Rights (OHCHR).

Andrews called on those in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the European Union, the United States and China, to hold an emergency summit of all stakeholders, including the duly elected illegally deposed parliamentarians who make up the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw.

Andrews was referring to a shadow parliament formed by Burmese lawmakers elected in the November 2020 vote in Myanmar, which the junta claims was marred by fraud.

In fact, a group comprising Southeast Asian lawmakers said this week that ASEAN should consider sending a joint delegation to Naypyidaw with Christine Schraner Burgener, the U.N. Special Envoy to Myanmar, to monitor the situation and help negotiate a democratic and human rights-based solution.

The Myanmar army is killing people every day. Statements are welcome but are useless against the militarys bullets, Charles Santiago, a Malaysian MP who chairs the ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights, said in a statement.

The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners put the death toll from the Myanmar militarys crackdown on anti-coup protesters at 275.

One Indonesian analyst believed that pressure from ASEAN member-nations like Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore would convince Brunei to call a summit of the groups leaders.

These three countries are founding members of ASEAN. Combined, they hold the largest economic power and population, nearly half of the entire region, Teuku Rezasyah, a lecturer in international relations at Padjajaran University in Bandung, told BenarNews.

Rezasyah said Indonesia could also initiate a meeting between the Myanmar military and veteran political and military figures in the region, including former Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri, former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and former Singapore premier Goh Chok Tong.

US extends Myanmar sanctions

On the other side of the globe, meanwhile, the United States on Thursday imposed sanctions on two entities in Myanmar, in what it called its most significant action to date to impose costs on the military regime.

It sanctioned two of Myanmars largest military holding companies linked to leaders of the coup.

All shares in them are held and managed by current or former Burmese military officers, regiments, and units, and organizations led by former service members, U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said in a statement.

These actions will specifically target those who led the coup, the economic interests of the military, and the funding streams supporting the Burmese militarys brutal repression. They are not directed at the people of Burma, he said.

Washington also condemned as abhorrent and brutal the killings by Myanmar government forces of children as young as 7 years old.

Such acts further demonstrate the horrific nature of the Burmese military regimes assault on its own people, State Department Spokesperson Ned Price said.

Tia Asmara in Jakarta and S. Adie Zul in Kuala Lumpur contributed to this report.
By Damali Mukhaye

Education experts have listed numerous hitches stalling digital education in Uganda, warning that if the government through the ministry of education does not address them, it will be impossible to achieve any positive results.

While giving his keynote address during the ongoing third teachers symposium which kicked off on Wednesday this week, the Vice Chancellor of Nkumba University, Jude Lubega sited the lack of adequate training of teachers on adaption of new techniques of digital education.

He also calls for heavy investment in Information and Communication Technologies in all institutions of learning, especially in teachers colleges so that trainees graduate with hands on ICT skills.

He said all the above will only be possible if the government puts in place a clear national digital agenda to be followed by all institutions of learning.

The 3rd annual national teachers symposium is set to be officially closed by the state minister for higher education John Chrysostom Muyingo later today.
The government now should form a committee to go through all these art pieces, Ms. Yung said in an interview, to ensure that they adhered to the museums ethical standards.

In a statement, M+ said it would comply with the law while maintaining the highest level of professional integrity. It added that the museum could not exhibit all of its collections during its opening, and has no plan to show Mr. Ais Tiananmen photograph then.

For artists, their long-lingering fears have hardened into a more tangible threat.

Even before the security law, the filmmaker Evans Chan knew some considered his work too provocative. A Hong Kong venue in 2016 canceled a screening of a documentary he made about the 2014 protests, citing a desire to remain nonpartisan. Last year, he finished a sequel, only to cut a scene for Hong Kong audiences that featured Chinas national anthem; a new law forbade disrespecting the song.

Still, Mr. Chan said, the security law was a watershed moment. He had planned to make a third film about Hong Kongs fight for democracy. But he is unsure if he could find people to participate or places to show it  not just in Hong Kong but overseas, in venues with ties to China.

We are coming to a point to ask, what kind of space is left by global capitalism? he said. Where does China fit in? Where does artistic expression from and about Hong Kong fit in?

Others have urged artists to experiment with the space that remains. Clara Cheung, who runs an arts education space, said she had promoted projects like community murals or a map of Hong Kongs heritage buildings. Though not explicitly political, they could encourage open-mindedness and civic engagement.
Hikers looking to tackle Dog Mountain this spring will once again need a permit to do so, but that wont necessarily mean having to plan a hike several months in advance.

The U.S. Forest Service announced Thursday that spring hiking permits for the popular Columbia River Gorge destination would go on sale March 31 at recreation.gov. Permits will be required on weekends from April 24 to June 13, including on Memorial Day.

Forest officials will initially release 100 hiking permits per day through the peak season, but this year they will also hold back an additional block of 100 last-minute permits to release three days in advance.

That change was first announced in 2020, but since Dog Mountain closed due to the coronavirus pandemic in March, and remained closed though the spring wildflower season, hikers never had the chance to utilize the new last-minute permits.

The permitting system was created in 2018 to help stem the impact of crowds in the parking lot and on the wildflower-strewn meadows that cover Dog Mountain each spring. The trailhead is known for overcrowding, which in the past has led to illegal parking and at least one fatal traffic accident.

Hikers can purchase the $1 permits online, which are required in addition to the $5 parking fee at the trailhead, or display of a valid public lands pass. Permits are also available on Skamania Countys West End Transit bus, which shuttles hikers from nearby Stevenson to the trailhead.

Hikers will be required to carry either a physical permit or digital proof of purchase, the forest service said. A permit doesnt not guarantee a parking spot, so visitors are encouraged to carpool to the trailhead.

-- Jamie Hale; jhale@oregonian.com; 503-294-4077; @HaleJamesB
At least 10 people have died in a fire incident that happened in Mumbai mall hospital on Friday. As many as 70 patients have been rescued till now. On Friday midnight, around 12:30 am, fire broke out at Mumbai's Sunrise Hospital in the Dreams Mall building in Bhandup area. Subsequently, 20 fire engines, 15 water tankers and ambulances rushed to the spot.

The hospital had reportedly more than 70 patients during the incident, including coronavirus-infected patients.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said they are investigating the cause of the 'level four' fire.

Meanwhile, the hospital released a statement saying that "There was a fire on the first floor of Dreams Mall, Bhandup and the smoke reached up to the Sunrise Hospital located on the top floor. When fire alarms beeped, all patients were safely evacuated to the fire refuge area as the smoke was reaching the hospital."

The fire engineers evacuated the 70 patients and moved them to another hospital.

Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar who visited the site expressed surprise that a hospital was operating inside the mall. "I have seen a hospital at a mall for the first time," the mayor said, adding action will be taken if irregularities were found in allowing the facility to operate there.

Mumbai Police Commissioner Hemant Nagrale also said: "This is a serious incident. Negligence of hospital management has come to light. We will register a case".

However, the hospital stated that it was started last year in "exceptional circumstances" of the pandemic and has helped save many lives. "The hospital is functioning with all due compliances like fire licence, nursing home licence among others," it added.

A civic official said the BMC had issued notice to the mall in November last year for allegedly flouting fire safety norms. Former NCP MP Sanjay Dina Patil said he had also written to the BMC commissioner last year drawing the civic body's attention to the flouting of fire safety norms there.

Separately, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray offered condolences and apologies to the families of the deceased. He said, "Compensation will be given to families of the deceased," and added that "Action will be taken against those who are found responsible".

Also read: 'Validation of group's values, ethics', says Ratan Tata after Supreme Court rules in favour of Tata Sons

Also read: You may not get Sec 80C tax benefit despite investing in ELSS by Mar 31; here's why
[March 26, 2021] Global Life Sciences CDMO Selects Kneat's e-Validation SaaS Platform

LIMERICK, Ireland, March 25, 2021 /CNW/ - kneat.com, inc. (TSXV: KSI) ("Kneat") - is pleased to announce that it has signed a five-year Master Services Agreement with one of the world's largest contract development and manufacturing organizations (CDMO) to digitize its global Computer System Validation, Commissioning, and Qualification processes. This global leader in contract development and manufacturing has over fourteen thousand employees across more than twenty-five countries. It provides technically advanced development and manufacturing services for pharmaceuticals and biopharmaceuticals to the life sciences industry, including many top tier global healthcare companies. Adopting the Kneat e-validation SaaS platform supports top managements' desire to digitize, streamline and provide the highest levels of data integrity in paperless manufacturing and quality. This agreement, which has a start date of March 24, 2021, will enable the customer and its affiliates to roll Kneat Gx out across their global sites over several years, representing a significant expansion opportunity for Kneat. "We are pleased to be trusted by this innovative world leader in contract development and manufaturing to manage their critical validation processes" said Eddie Ryan, Chief Executive Officer of Kneat. "We look forward to working with their team to roll Kneat Gx out to all their global manufacturing sites".



Implementation will begin immediately at the customer's lead manufacturing site in Europe, scheduled to go-live in Q3, 2021. About Kneat

Kneat, a Canadian company with operational headquarters in Limerick, Ireland, develops and markets the next generation Kneat Gx SaaS platform. Multiple business work processes can be configured on the platform from equipment to computer system validation, through to quality document management. Kneat's software allows users to author, review, approve, execute testing online, manage any exceptions and post approve final deliverables in a controlled FDA 21 CFR Part 11/ Eudralex Annex 11 compliant platform. Macro and micro report dashboards enable powerful oversight into all systems, projects and processes globally. Customer case studies are reporting productivity improvements in excess of 100% and a higher data integrity and compliance standard. For more information visit www.kneat.com Cautionary and Forward-Looking Statements Except for the statements of historical fact contained herein, certain information presented constitutes "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. Such forward-looking information, includes, but is not limited to, the relationship between Kneat and the customer, Kneat's business development activities, the use and implementation timelines of Kneat's software within the customer's validation processes, the ability and intent of the customer to scale the use of Kneat's software within the customer's organization and the compliance of Kneat's platform under regulatory audit and inspection. While such forward-looking statements are expressed by Kneat, as stated in this release, in good faith and believed by Kneat to have a reasonable basis, they are subject to important risks and uncertainties. As a result of these risks and uncertainties, the events predicted in these forward-looking statements may differ materially from actual results or events. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, given that they involve risks and uncertainties. Kneat does not undertake any obligation to release publicly revisions to any forward-looking statement, except as may be required under applicable securities laws. Investors should not assume that any lack of update to a previously issued forward-looking statement constitutes a reaffirmation of that statement. Continued reliance on forward-looking statements is at an investors' own risk. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. SOURCE kneat.com, inc.

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Khartoum / Omdurman  Yesterday, the Sudanese Interior Ministry distanced itself from remarks by the Director of Khartoum State Police, Lt Gen Issa Adam Ismail, calling for the Public Order Law to be reinstated "to combat crime".

In a press statement, Ismail expressed dissatisfaction with what he called the "Sudanese feeling of increased freedom after the Revolution". He said that society demanded the return of the law in a new form, stressing its importance and necessity for preserving society's traditions, customs, and the protection of families.

He stressed the need to enforce the law according to a new approach that won't impact personal freedoms, including dress code. He also said that it will derive from criminal law.

The Interior Ministry "is committed to the requirements of the [transitional period] and supportive of the popular will to achieve change and lay down the foundations of the civil state," said the Ministry of the Interior in a statement on Thursday.

Issa Adam Ismail has also denied any criminality or involvement regarding the death of 13-year-old student, Samah El Hadi, in the El Saliha neighbourhood of Omdurman last Friday.

El Hadi was shot three times and run over by a car, reports said. Neighbours have taken to social media to blame her father, who was briefly questioned by the authorities but released. No postmortem was carried out on her body.

Ismail said in press statements that the "procedures taken by the police are legal and professional," explaining that the investigations have proven that all the circulating accounts about what the student was exposed to and her circumstances are incorrect.

The police were accused by activists of colluding with the family of Samah to open a report under Article 51, which meant that there was no need for an autopsy. Activists on social media called this a violation of the rights of girls and women, using the hashtag "killing me".

Public outcry

The statements of the Director of Khartoum State Police sparked widespread reactions on social media. In an interview with Radio Dabanga, the leader of the No to the Oppression of Women initiative, Amira Osman, expressed her regret at his demand for the restoration of the Public Order Law.

She said that the statements mean that the former regime is still present in the corners of Sudan's judicial institutions, stressing the importance of carrying out a campaign to remove members of the police associated with the former regime under Omar Al Bashir. She said that the police are trying to regain immunity and return to using whips. "Because of this," she said, "the revolution is not yet complete."

The No to Women's Oppression initiative organized a protest in front of the Public Prosecutor, on Thursday, in response to the case of student Samah and domestic violence. Activists and Resistance Committees have demanded Ismail's dismissal on social media.

Prosecution of case

The Violence Against Women Unit said that it has communicated with the Public Prosecutor's Office about the case of Samah and are preparing a memorandum calling for a correction of the legal course of the case.

The unit requested that the report be transferred to the Family and Child Protection Unit, following the jurisdiction, exhumation, and autopsy of the body. They said that the public need to find the cause of death, stressing that in such cases it is the core responsibility of the Public Prosecution.

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They also affirmed their endeavours to ensure the protection of women and girls from violence and said they would provide psychological and legal support services for survivors of gender-based violence.

They called on the transitional government to expedite the law to combat violence against women and to strengthen the protection of women and girls from all forms of violence, especially those that are within the family framework. They also stressed the need not to tolerate incidents of domestic violence that occur to women and children and that kinship or blood ties should not constitute immunity to anyone.

In November 2019, the Sudanese government repealed the Public Order Law, which disproportionately affected women. Women groups continue to call on the transitional government to do more and ratify important international instruments related to women's rights including the Maputo Protocol and the UN Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).
Credit: Aalto University

How can we improve the monitoring of patient vital signs when hospitals are full of COVID-19 patients? An international group of students, whose award-winning innovation led to establishing a company, has the solution.

"We noticed that the patient monitoring processes in hospitals are inefficient. They also lack digital solutions and generate unnecessary manual and administrative tasks for the overworked nurses and doctors." says Miklos Knebel.

Knebel and Peter Danos participated in a project run by EIT Digital Master School in which students designed a new type of medical device for monitoring patient vital signs. The device consists of a 3D-printed wristband that can remotely monitor patients' vital signs, such as body temperature, oxygen saturation, pulse, and respiratory rate.

This device utilizes IoT technology to quickly and securely send the patients' data to a medical software platform. This allows multiple patients to be followed simultaneously, increasing time efficiency for medical staff.

The device reports problems in real-time

One benefit of the remote monitoring device over traditional manual monitoring of patient vitals is that medical staff can immediately notice changes in a patient's condition and act accordingly.

Credit: Aalto University

"As an example, the increase in a patient's temperature is usually the first indicator of an infection, but respiratory and other acute issues can also be immediately noticed with Entremo's system. Time is often of the essence in health careso the quicker a change in a patient's condition is noticed, the fewer complications that will occur," says Knebel.

It is especially beneficial for monitoring patients with COVID-19 as it does not require close contact between medical staff and the patient. The device is also helpful in the care of patients with other respiratory diseases.

The Entremo team is using the EIT Digital investment to develop their minimal viable product. According to Knebel, there is still a critical phase left: testing and validation with patients on a broader scale.

This spring, the device is being tested in nursing homes and hospitals in Hungary.

"We have high hopes, but we still need external feedback on what should be changed or improved. We developed this solution based on consultations with health care workers and other professionals to be a useful tool in a hospital setting. However, we will only know if we have succeeded when it is validated in practice." says Danos.

Explore further CSAIL device lets doctors monitor COVID-19 patients from a distance
FISHERMEN at Walvis Bay, who have been out of work for the past five years, are accusing the director of the Namibia Fishermen United Association, Matheus Lungameni, of abandoning them.

They say they have been inviting Lungameni to address them on the matter of promised employment, to which he has replied he prefers correspondence.

Reading a petition at Walvis Bay during a demonstration this week, Mattias Ndeulita, who represents the unemployed fishermen, said they are not provided with feedback on their situation.

"When did he become a letter man, or are we not important any more? We have been fighting together for all these years, and now that he is employed, he is doing things his way without explaining things to us. Is the current condition of the affected fishermen good for him? If not, what is he doing to solve it?" Ndeulita asked.

The fishermen are demanding information on quotas allocated to a company established with the purpose of providing them with quotas.

They also want details on the deed of a trust that was established to generate money for the former fishermen.

The group is further requesting information on Lungameni's new union, the Namibian Sea Association.

They say they are aware of money donated by international unions, but were never told what the donation amounted to, and in which account it was deposited.

The unemployed fishermen also wanted to know when they would be employed as promised.

The group asked if they would receive backpay from September 2020, as their colleagues were employed in that month.

They further claimed they were promised secure jobs, but have only been offered contracts of up to 12 months.

Meanwhile, Lungameni called the petition political propaganda.

He said after consulting with the Ministry of Labour, Industrial Relations and Employment Creation, as well as the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources in December, it was proposed that the former fishermen be accomodated at various fishing companies.

Some have already started working, and a list consisting of 335 fishermen were handed over to the chairperson of the Namibian Fishing Industry's Human Resources Forum, Edwin Kamatoto, and Namibia Fishing Industries president Daniel Imbili.

Lungameni said Hangana proposed to accommodate 200 of the fishermen, while Seawork would employ 190.

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The news was shared with Ndeulita to convey to the group, Lungameni said.

"While waiting for a meeting with the fisheries ministry, I now hear they called the media. I was there two months ago asking if they still need me as their chairperson, and they strongly agreed. Now I hear I am ignoring them. We understand they are desperate, but I wish they would be a bit more patient as we have been for the past five years," he said.

He said 640 fishermen who worked on contract at the Cavema, Hodago, and Rainbow companies for three months are still receiving salaries.

They report to work for about 20 minutes every day while waiting for vessels, he said. Lungameni said 250 fishermen have received safety and fitness training to allow them to go back to sea.

He undertook to answer all questions in full after his meeting with fisheries minister Albert Kawana. More than 700 of the fishermen are currently employed by different fishing companies.
For a second straight year, the Covid-19 pandemic will force the Texas Library Association Annual Conference to be online only (April 2224). But in true Texas fashion, TLA organizers have risen to the challenge with an expansive virtual program that features a slate of strong speakers and sessionsa program that stands as a symbol of leadership, fortitude, and unwavering commitment, according to 2021 TLA president Christina Gola.

It was just over a year ago when the world changed seemingly overnight. On March 11, days before the 2020 TLA Annual Conference was set to open in Houston, the World Health Organization declared Covid-19 a global pandemic. The global death toll from Covid-19 had just surpassed 4,300. The number of confirmed cases worldwide stood at 121,000. As the seriousness of what was coming settled in, TLA executives convened an emergency meeting and made the call: the live conference simply could not go on.

Still, few could have foreseen the arduous road that lay aheadand few would have predicted that a year later much of the economy, including libraries, would still be closed or operating at limited capacity, or that students would still be doing remote school, or that workers fortunate enough to have the option would still be working from home. Tragically, as of this writing, the pandemic has claimed more than 540,000 lives in the U.S. And while vaccines have brought hope, the pandemic has left millions of Americans struggling, unemployed, at risk, food insecure, alienated, and depressed.

In announcing the TLA 2021 virtual program in Texas Library Journal, Gola said that navigating the challenges of the last year has left her in awe of her fellow librarians. I believe the program is a reflection of where we find ourselves in 2020, she wrote, calling the past year a crucible leadership experience for TLA.

Leaning in

Its fair to say no one had any real idea what was coming in terms of the pandemic, Gola tells PW. Even after canceling the in-person conference in 2020 and transitioning to virtual, I think most of us expected the effects of the pandemic would only last four, maybe six months. But over time, the impacts of the pandemic forced us to rethink all we do and adapt many new processes and services, for the longer term, both in TLA and in libraries more broadly.

Exactly how the pandemic will change libraries, and the work of national and state library associations, remains an open questionfirst and foremost, because the pandemic is not over. New case levels and hospitalizations have gone down nationally, but public health officials warn that the number of new infections remains far too high, and troubling new variants pose a major concern as we race to get vaccines into arms.

Looking further into the future, some 89% of researchers recently told the journal Nature that they expect this novel coronavirus will likely become endemic. Battling an endemic version of Covid-19 will require constant vigilance, epidemiologists say. In fact, its unlikely we will get back to the way we lived pre-pandemic any time soon. And how libraries approach and adapt to our post-pandemic reality remains a key question going forward.

When asked about the challenges facing librarians as we approach year two of this historic crisis, Gola responds with more questions: What will we learn from this and how might we change our norms? Will we be able to maintain what our patrons have come to enjoy and expect during the pandemic, as well as the services they enjoyed pre-pandemic?

 I think we have to answer a lot of questions about work-life balance, quality of life, and the ability to be more balanced. 

And how will the pandemic change the workplace for librarians? The pandemic has shown us we can do quality work remotely and attend to our families, Gola points out. I think we have to answer a lot of questions about work-life balance, quality of life, and the ability to be more balanced.

As an association, TLA also has work to do. Strong support and engagement from TLA members, as well as sound financial planning and budgeting, have put the association in a surprisingly good position, Gola says. Meaning that after an extraordinarily difficult year, TLA is ready to explore and embrace its post-pandemic new normal.

The pandemic showed us how much TLA relies on our annual conference for revenue, for example, and how it proved to be a financial weakness, Gola says, pointing to the need for the association to be more strategic about its work moving forward. But she says she is confident that both TLA and the librarians it represents will come out stronger for the experiences of 2020. And part of that confidence, she suggests, traces back to the work TLA members did in their communities over the past year, and to the job the assocciation did in pulling off its last-minute virtual pivot for the previous annual conference.

We had tremendously positive feedback about our 2020 conference, Gola says. But we also learned a lot about what more we could offer. In planning for 2021, and in making the call early to go virtual, we had more time to reflect on lessons learned and plan for a more robust conference.

No question, the famously intimate, familial atmosphere of a TLA annual conference has been sorely missed by many membersmany of whom are understandably eager to get back to face-to-face events when it is safe to do so. At the same time, as many libraries and organizations have learned during this pandemic year of forced digital experimentation, virtual programs can significantly increase engagement.

TLA will need to reevaluate the value of in-person services vs. virtual programming, and where we gain more benefit by reaching more members in a virtual environment, Gola says. During the spring and summer of 2020, we had hoped that we might be able to offer a hybrid conference, with both virtual and in-person events, and I think that is something we will consider for future conferences. A hybrid approach would also offer more equitable access to our members. But, no matter what, many of our members will want to come together in person to hug and break bread together. You cant replace that.

Equity, diversity, inclusion

The pandemic is of course only one challenge facing libraries. Following the shocking death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police last summer, a racial and social justice movement has taken root across the nation, challenging individuals and institutions alike to make meaningful changesthe library profession included.

Equity, diversity, and inclusion are of course core values of the library community. And making progress on diversity issues was a key goal within TLA prior to the events of 2020. The theme for last years annual conference, A Vision for All Texans, focused on inclusion, and in planning that program, thenTLA president Cecilia Barham and her planning committee had developed and implemented a system to ensure that all of TLAs programs included diverse voices and were as inclusive as possible.

This years conference theme, which was settled on back in October 2019, is Celebrate Differences, Empower Voices. In March 2020, Gola told PW that her goal with the program was to push TLA attendees out of their comfort zones. We want to raise up different voices, she said, to encourage the voices of librarians who maybe havent had the stage before to be at the forefront, to help us explore what we need to hear and learn about.

The focus on equity, diversity, and inclusion was important within TLA before the events of 2020but theres no question that the tragic events of last year have sparked a sense of urgency and greater awareness within the library profession.

No profession or organization should be able to just sweep recent events under the rug, Gola says when asked about what the movement for racial and social justice means for the work of libraries. We need to engage in the hard conversations that recognize our nations historical and ongoing racial and social injustices. Even libraries have a past and present built on historical, political, and social injustices. And we have to examine our past in order to find ways to reduce barriers to equity. We have a long way to go, but we have the heart, and we have a foundation to start with.

Incoming TLA president Daniel Burgard agrees. Christina Gola deserves big kudos for her focus on equity and social justice within the organization, he says, adding that he intends to continue that work during his presidential year. We know the challenge. And I trust that Texas librarians will hold us to account for continuing to fight for equity, diversity, and inclusion, which is represented in the activities of librarians and libraries every day across the state. TLA and every other library group clearly have work to do on equity and social justice issues. But I think our organization can be a leader on how a profession can embrace diversity and equity and integrate it into our everyday professional lives.

Burgard, a medical librarian by training and currently a university librarian and vice provost for scholarly information management at the University of North Texas Health Science Center, says his presidency will also take on another massive challenges facing librarians: recovery. Self-care for library professionals will be a key theme of his 2022 TLA presidency.

This was my idea in late 2019, before we had ever heard of Covid-19, and it is obviously even more pertinent now, Burgard says. We know that librarians and library staff are quintessential service professionals, primarily concerned with worrying about everyone elses needs first. But I am calling on us to be little selfish for a change. I want us to focus on our own situations and needs. So, we will have programming during my presidential year and at the TLA conference in 2022 that will offer all library employees the opportunity to learn about and practice self-care, and to begin the process of rebuilding connections to their colleagues and their communities that have frayed over the past year.

Real change

Both Gola and Burgard remain hopeful that next years TLA conference will be an in-person event, at least in some capacity. But the crises of the last year, Gola says, have reinforced the importance of TLAs work.

Certainly my presidency did not go as planned, but it has been a tremendous, unforgettable journey. The value of TLA has really shined this year. The pandemic created so many unknowns, with no playbook on how to respond. Members learned from one another through trial and error, we connected members with medical and safety experts, and we shared resources openly and collaboratively. We will build on this strength, and I believe TLA will come out stronger for it.

Burgard says the challenges of the past 12 months also serve to highlight the importance of TLAs advocacy workespecially in 2021, which is a legislative year in Texas, where the legislature convenes just every two years.

When the pandemic hit, we thought we were just going to get an extra long spring break, Burgard says. But that has turned into more than a year away from our physical library buildings. And when you lump the recent Texas infrastructure failure on top of that, I think many people are fed up and raw with emotion about their world being upended. Well, it occurs to me that this is a legislative opportunity. Typically, it is hard to get elected officialsor anybody else for that matterto focus on the importance of investing in infrastructure. At this moment, however, everyone in Austin is extremely sensitive to the basic backbone services that the state offers its citizensalso known as voters.

Indeed, while Texansincluding the library community in Texashave once again shown their resilience, Gola says the events of the past year require action.

I think it is wonderful that librarians and our communities are so resilient, she notes. Libraries are resilient because our people are amazing. However, its not just our people who need to be resilient but our buildings, our infrastructure, and our educational systems, too. It is this very reason that we cant stop advocating and telling our stories. We need real change, not Band-Aids.
Charged with murder were Matthew Givens, 23, of the 17200 block of Lorenz Avenue in Lansing, and Cortez Hudson, 23, of the first block of West Superior Street in Oak Park, according to Hanania. The two also were charged with attempted carjacking in an attack during the police pursuit that ended in their capture after they couldnt start a Tesla car they were trying to make off with, Hanania said.
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The police in Kano State have honoured two officers who rejected one million naira offered them as bribe.

The state Commissioner of Police, Samaila Dikko, called on other officers to emulate their example.

According to a statement by the police spokesperson in Kano, Abdullahi Kiyawa, Friday morning, Garba Rabo and Jamilu Buhari were serving on the task force of the Consumer Protection Council (CPC) in the state when they were offered the bribe.

He said in the course of their operation, they received information that expired goods worth billions of naira were kept in a warehouse in the Kano metropolis.

The task force team stormed the warehouse, where one million naira was offered them as bribe. They rejected the bribe, recovered the expired goods, the money as exhibit and arrested the suspect, Mr Kiyawa narrated.

The Acting Managing Director of the CPC, Baffa Danagundi, also commended the officers for rejecting the bribe.

Mr Danagundi said the council had decided to show appreciation for the good conduct of the officers by presenting them with a gift of one million naira.

He called on the people to continue to support the police and appreciate those performing their duties well.
The trolling started after Reem Abdellatif, a prominent Egyptian-American journalist now based in The Netherlands, published her first column in December for the Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz. Titled "How I escaped Saudi Arabia, the Kingdom that terrorizes women," it described the challenges she faced as a female journalist who had previously worked in Saudi Arabia and denounced Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's much-publicized Vision 2030 reform plan as a smokescreen to divert attention from human rights abuses. Almost immediately, she began receiving hateful messages.

"Twitter trolls were vicious. Sometimes I had to report up to 20 accounts a day, most of them claiming to be from Saudi Arabia, the UAE and the Gulf," Abdellatif told CPJ via email.

Because she contributed to an Israeli newspaper, Abdellatif was also accused of being a Zionist, a term considered insulting in Gulf countries which have historically supported Palestinians in spite of Bahrain and the UAE's recent normalization deals with the country.

Though she is based in a comparatively safe country, Abdellatif said the threats made her fear for her security. She told CPJ she reported the threats to the Dutch police who scheduled a meeting to discuss them. She also said she reported the threats to Twitter, which she said replied that the messages broke its rules but did not say if the company would take further action. CPJ contacted Twitter Human Rights Director Cynthia Wong via messaging app but did not receive a response.

Beyond the immediate impact on her life, the threats, Abdellatif said, are illustrative of the backlash against reporters who cover women's issues in the Gulf, a backlash that is much more dangerous for journalists based in the region. Nassima al-Sada and Nouf Abdulaziz, two commentators who cover women's issues, have both been imprisoned in Saudi Arabia since 2018, according to CPJ research.

Abdellatif, who has worked for the Wall Street Journal and the Los Angeles Times and is now an editor and writer at travel website Skift, spoke to CPJ about the challenges facing female journalists in the Gulf based on her experience as a reporter in Saudi Arabia and the UAE. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

What is it like for women journalists in the Gulf?

You can be targeted for being a journalist, a woman, and a woman of Egyptian or African descent. I faced attacks and sexism in the Gulf because I tick all three boxes.

Systemic racism and gendered attacks are huge challenges. The only difference (with the rest of the Arab world) is that some countries, including the UAE and Saudi Arabia, invest more money in PR to control the narrative and their image. Social media users and propagandists from the Gulf and Saudi Arabia have infiltrated online spaces to silence critics. Twitter has become their playground. Almost every woman journalist who dares to criticize or question authorities in the region gets threatened or trolled online.

Women journalists rarely report these attacks because there is a lack of accountability.

There has always been a fear of authority in the Middle East region due to assassinations of journalists, forced disappearances, or gendered attacks, as happened to Ghada Ouiess (a Lebanese journalist for Al-Jazeera who alleges that her phone was hacked and she faced online harassment). Others are also worried about losing their jobs. I was warned by many female colleagues to avoid speaking about my experience before I left the Gulf. Some were genuinely scared for my life or the lives of my loved ones; others warned me I might never work in media again because Saudi Arabia is invested in prominent media organizations, including Bloomberg.

This culture of silence is why perpetrators act with impunity. The global community also turns a blind eye to perpetrators in the Middle East because they think this behavior is part of the culture. It is linked to racism and perpetuates a colonialist mentality that has no place in today's world. It puts women like me and many others at risk.

[Editor's note: Neither Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Media, nor the UAE Embassy in the United States replied to CPJ's emailed request for comment.]

Your columns on topics like sexual abuse and harassment of female journalists have drawn a lot of criticism. Do you think this has to do with the outlet that published them -- Haaretz -- or the issues you address in your columns?

Social media accounts claiming to be from Saudi Arabia and even a few colleagues from the Middle East tried to discredit my lived experiences simply because I published in Haaretz - an Israeli newspaper. These attacks never offer constructive criticism or an invitation for dialogue. The real issue is that I am a woman of Middle Eastern descent who overstepped societal boundaries to choose where and how my testimonies get published. This is what our attackers fear more than anything: women reclaiming the narrative.

The unhinged behavior and discrimination that I witnessed while working in Saudi Arabia is very similar to the gendered attacks that I'm currently experiencing online. Twitter users claiming to be from Saudi Arabia have launched relentless attacks against me for questioning authority and discussing the need for deep structural reforms. They use profanities that are meant to break and disempower women, particularly in traditional Middle Eastern societies. The words they use to attack me and other women would never be used to describe men. The lengths they go to can be emotionally draining, nerve-wracking, and frightening at times.

As a journalist, I've been very active online for over a decade now, mainly covering the Middle East and the Gulf region. I lived for nearly 12 years in the Middle East, with five of those based in the United Arab Emirates. Now, the pandemic has pushed women like me further into the digital space. That's why today, strategic information warfare is the new frontline, and journalists who question authority are on the frontlines.

What was the content of some of these attacks?

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They called me names, used racist slurs against me because I am Egyptian and from Africa, told me to keep my nose away from Saudi Arabia, threatened sexual abuse and rape, made uninvited lewd sexual advances, accused me of working for the Muslim Brotherhood and Qatar.

The threats grew more serious after I published my second column for Haaretz stressing the need for the Arab world to deal with sexual harassment and assault and to break the silence surrounding these issues. Somebody claiming to be from Saudi Arabia sent me an email that I posted on Twitter and read "Die with anger and expect strong retaliation soon." Die with anger is indeed an Arabic saying that doesn't necessarily mean one should literally die, but when followed by such remarks as "expect strong retaliation soon," it is worrying.

In your opinion, what needs to be done to improve the situation for female journalists in the Gulf and what should journalists bear in mind when reporting on issue like sexual harassment and abuse?

Women, activists, journalists, and survivors of gender-based violence must reclaim free agency over their stories and bodies. We must continue to exercise our basic human right to free expression.

Women in the region must also reclaim the narrative. Our stories must be told by us in ways that can empower future generations and educate global communities. By that, I mean we must forge our own paths and start believing that we have a right to take up space. The international community and nations that uphold human rights, particularly the United States, must be supportive of journalists in the region. That is the only way sustainable change can happen.
Monrovia  Justice Minister Frank Musah Dean has ordered with immediate effect the release of Mr. Mo Ali, Secretary General of the opposition Unity Party, one of four parties making up to Collaborating Political Parties.

"Until the evidence, when produced, is reviewed and a determination made by the Attorney General, the LNP is ordered to release Mr. Ali," Minister told FrontPageAfrica moments ago.

The minister said: "Consistent with section 22.2 (b) of the New Executive Law, which requires the Minister of Justice to "institute all legal proceedings necessary for law enforcement", the Minister of Justice has, today, March 25, 2021 called on the Liberia National Police to produce the proper evidence to support charges levied against Mr. Mo Ali. Mr. Ali is reportedly charged with terrorism, Criminal Attempt to Commit Murder, Arson and Terrorist Threat.
11,265 new cases were confirmed. The number of people infected with the coronavirus in Hungary now stands at 614,612. The number of deaths stands at 19,499 while the number of those recovered now stands at 392,314.

202,799 is the number of active infected, 11,823 patients are hospitalized, 1,480 of them are on ventilators.



Vaccination is ongoing, with 1,803,533 people already vaccinated, of which 594,662 have already received their second vaccination.

We are in the ascending branch of the third wave of the epidemic, with an increasing number of active infected and hospitalized patients, which is why the government has decided to tighten and extend restrictions. Opening might be possible on 12 April.



The additional protection measures that took effect are:

* Wearing a mask is mandatory on all streets and public areas within the residential area.

* If possible, keep a protective distance of at least 1.5 meters from the other person.

* Work is possible, but where possible, we recommend working from home. In the state administration, work from home can be ordered, except for those who contribute to the defense.



The evening curfew is still in force between 8pm and 5am. One case of exemption from the curfew is work, which, however, needs to be justified.



Sample certificate can be downloaded here.



A call center set up for advice on the coronavirus can be reached on +36-80-277-455 and +36-80-277-456 or by email koronavirus@bm.gov.hu



Source:

koronavirus.gov.hu
BOULDER  The suspect in the Colorado supermarket shootings bought a firearm at a local gun store after passing a background check, and he also had a second weapon with him that he didnt use in the attack that killed 10 people this week, authorities and the gun store owner said Friday.

Investigators are working to determine the motive for the shooting, but they dont know yet why the suspect chose the King Soopers grocery store in Boulder or what led him to carry out the rampage, Police Chief Maris Herold said at a news conference.

Like the rest of the community, we too want to know why  why that King Soopers, why Boulder, why Monday, Herold said. It will be something haunting for all of us until we figure that out. Sometimes you just dont figure these things out. But, I am hoping that we will.

The quick response by officers, who traded gunfire with the suspect, kept many people inside the store out of danger, said Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty, who declined to say how many people were in the supermarket. The first officer on scene was killed.

Their actions saved other civilians from being killed, Dougherty said about the officers. They charged into the store and immediately faced a very significant amount of gunfire from the shooter, who at first they were unable to locate.

More charges will be filed against 21-year-old Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa in the coming weeks in connection with firing at officers, Dougherty said.

John Mark Eagleton, owner of Eagles Nest Armory in the Denver suburb of Arvada, said in a statement that his store was cooperating with authorities as they investigate. The suspect passed a background check conducted by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation before purchasing a gun, Eagleton said.

The suspect used a Ruger AR-556 pistol, which resembles an AR-15 rifle with a slightly shorter stock, in the shooting, Herold said. An arrest affidavit says he purchased it on March 16, six days before the shooting.

He also had a 9 mm handgun, which the police chief said was not believed to have been used in the attack. Herold didnt say how the suspect obtained it.

We are absolutely shocked by what happened and our hearts are broken for the victims and families that are left behind. Ensuring every sale that occurs at our shop is lawful, has always been and will always remain the highest priority for our business, Eagleton said in the statement.

The gun store is in a shopping center that also has a chiropractic clinic, yoga studio and foot massage parlor. It is less than a half-mile from one of the restaurants Alissas family owns and about 3 miles from his familys house in Arvada. A different King Soopers store is across the street.

Colorado has a universal background check law covering almost all gun sales, but misdemeanor convictions generally do not prevent people from purchasing weapons.

Alissa was convicted in 2018 of misdemeanor assault after he knocked a fellow high school student to the floor, climbed on top of him and punched him in the head several times, according to police documents. He was sentenced to probation and community service.

If the suspect had been convicted of a felony, his gun purchase would have been prohibited under federal law.

Dougherty, the district attorney, said Friday that the FBI and other agencies were looking into the background of suspect and the victims and didnt yet have information to share. He said federal agencies were looking into other firearms that might be connected to him but refused to elaborate.

Dougherty said officials will limit how much they reveal about the investigation, which is expected to take months, to protect the suspects right to a fair trial and ensure it takes place in Boulder County.

If we share too much about the facts of the investigation, its possible well see a motion by the defense to move this trial to somewhere else in the state of Colorado, Dougherty said. And I want to make sure that the people of Boulder have the opportunity for this trial to be held and for justice to be done here.

The suspect made his first court appearance Thursday, where his public defender asked for a mental health evaluation but provided no details about his mental state. He is charged with 10 counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder over shots fired at a police officer who was not hurt.

The suspect was treated at a hospital before going to jail, his hands bound during the transfer by the handcuffs used by Officer Eric Talley, who died in the attack. He has been moved to a jail outside Boulder County due to safety concerns stemming from threats made against him, county sheriffs spokeswoman Carrie Haverfield said in a statement Friday.

Alissa is being held without bail and has not yet entered a plea. His next court hearing will not be scheduled for two to three months to allow his attorneys to evaluate his mental state and evidence collected by investigators.

A Catholic funeral Mass for Talley will be celebrated Monday at a cathedral in downtown Denver. His funeral is scheduled for Tuesday in the Boulder County city of Lafayette. The 51-year-old joined the Police Department in 2010. He had seven children.

--The Associated Press
During the past few weeks, videos have been circulating on social media detailing alleged fraud by a New Jersey Instagram influencer, who grew his following to nearly a million users by showcasing a luxury lifestyle and his overt generosity by handing out cash to strangers.

Jebara Igbara, known on social media as Jay Mazini, reportedly wanted to speak to one of the people who was tarnishing his name online. The 25-year-old picked the man up in Fort Lee in his white 2020 Land Rover earlier this month to grab a coffee and discuss issues of scams, according to a criminal complaint filed in Bergen County.

The encounter eventually led to Igbara and two other unknown individuals stripping the (man) naked and holding a machete to the (his) neck ordering him to remove negative social media postings about (Igbara) or a video of the encounter would be released to social media, while threatening to kill him, according to the complaint.

Igbara is charged with aggravated assault, luring an adult, kidnapping, possession of a weapon, criminal coercion, endangering an injured victim and making terroristic threats.

He is being held in Bergen County on the charges. A spokesperson for the Bergen County Prosecutors office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether anyone else was charged in the alleged attack.

Igbara is now facing both state and federal criminal charges after he was accused of wire fraud earlier this week in the Eastern District of New York in for allegedly scamming at least four people out of sending him more than $2 million in Bitcoin and failing to pay them the cash he promised.

The Instagram influencer reached out to the man he is charged with attacking to reportedly discuss the alleged scams and drove to a 7-Eleven store in Cliffside Park to do so.

Upon arrival, according to the complaint, two unknown individuals entered the car. The man who was meeting with Igbara was suspicious about what was about to occur, so he fled the vehicle, leading Igbara and the two other men on a chase through the Bergen County borough, authorities said.

The man was eventually caught, beaten and thrown into the Land Rover, according to the complaint.

After allegedly beating and threatening the man, Igbara eventually dropped the victim off in the city of Passaic, provided the man with his personal belongings then warned him to not call the police or they would kill him.

The victim suffered a concussion, left ankle injury, large abrasion and lump above right eye, and multiple bruises, lacerations, swelling and pain on head and body.

Igbaras attorney declined to comment on the state charges.

Federal authorities said Igbara used his social media account, in which he promoted businesses and handing out large amounts of cash to random people, as a way to show his followers he was a person of substantial means.

In reality, New York FBI assistant director-in-charge William F. Sweeney Jr. described Igabara as a multimillion-dollar scammer.

Igbaras Instagram account has been deleted.

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(Newser)  Donald Trump appeared on Fox News Thursday night to discuss President Biden's first press conferencebut he soon strayed to other subjects, including the Capitol riot. The former president argued on The Ingraham Angle that federal authorities are "persecuting" the rioters but not going after antifa or Black Lives Matter activists, the Guardian reports. He claimed the rioters posed "zero threat" on Jan. 6, saying that while they "shouldn't have done it," some of them were "hugging and kissing the police and the guards" and had "great relationships." One Capitol Police officer died after the attack and around 140 others were hurt. The DC police force reported more than 60 injuries.

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Trump also addressed the 2020 election, calling it "disgraceful" and slamming the Supreme Court for not having the "courage" to overturn the result, though host Laura Ingraham interrupted him as he was repeating his claims about the election being "stolen," Mediaite reports. "Speaking as a lawyer, we are not going to relitigate the past tonight," she said. Trump also slammed Dr. Anthony Fauci, saying he "frankly didn't listen to him too much." On Biden's press conference, Trump said the president's claim that the Trump administration left children to "starve to death" on the Mexican side of the border was "outrageous," Fox reports. Trump said reporters had asked Biden "softball" questions and noted that the Fox correspondent "didn't get to ask a question." (Biden says he plans to run again in 2024.)
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich.Utah's controversial new device filtering bill, which was signed into law Tuesday by Governor Spencer Cox and would require all smartphones and tablets sold in the state to have anti-porn filtering software pre-activated should certain benchmarks come to pass, is widely known to have gotten pushed through the legislature by Republican State Representative Susan Pulsipher, but now a much less reported entity out of Michigan has stepped forward in local media to claim responsibility for helping author the bill and get it passed: the religiously-rooted child safety advocacy organization Protect Young Eyes.

As reported by West Michigan NBC affiliate WOOD 8, Protect Young Eyes founder Chris McKenna said his group "helped write the Utah legislation that was signed by the governor Tuesday" and indicated that he "is now determined to pass the same law in Michigan, especially as the Utah measure won't go into effect unless five other states enact similar laws."

Indeed, that is the provision written into the Utah law that some have predicted will prevent it from actually taking holdthough it set a deadline of 2031 for that to happen, and as McKenna told WOOD, "We have other states that will pass it before the end of this calendar yearI can almost guarantee that." Of course, even if that prediction does bear true, any such law concocted anywhere will face an uphill First Amendment battle.

But more to the subject at hand, who exactly IS Protect Young Eyes? And given that the group is based in Michigan, how exactly did it become involved in helping write legislation in Utah ahead of its own state?

AVN reached out to the organization Thursday through its website to ask just that, among other questions, and so far has received no response. We did learn several revealing facts about the group and its founder, however, in examining said website.

Firstly, as trumpeted in a celebratory blog post (penned by McKenna) about the Utah bill's passage, not only was PYE actively involved in composing it, but McKenna "gave virtual testimony in two separate hearings in front of the Utah House and Senate."

More significantly (but hardly of much surprise), the post prominently touts that this effort was mounted "in partnership with ... the National Center [on] Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE)"the religious lobbying group formerly known as Morality in Media that's also currently heavily engaged in campaigns against Pornhub and others. McKenna, the post proceeds to boast, "worked closely with attorneys from the Representative's office and NCOSE to craft a technically elegant and simple solution, all while preserving choice for consenting adults, constitutionality, and avoiding commerce clause issues that often arise with this type of state-level legislation."

PYE's affiliation with NCOSE, though not entirely clear, has some traceable history, in that NCOSE bestowed the group with a so-called "Dignity Defense Alert" last year for helping push the failed EARN IT Act introduced in the U.S. Senate in March 2020 by Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, which would have largely curtailed the protections of Section 230 of the 1996 Communication Decency Act, colloquially known as the "First Amendment of the Internet." (Motion appears to currently be underway to reintroduce EARN IT in the sitting 177th Congress.)

Praised NCOSE in an August announcement of the accolade on its own website, "Through countless efforts including initiating and maintaining ongoing relationships with legislators, Protect Young Eyes championed the EARN IT Act through the Senate Judiciary Committee. ... As a direct result of PYE's calls for accountability in Big Tech towards safer online spaces for kids and the threat of legislation by Congress, many of the largest platforms have made significant improvements on their sites. We thank Protect Young Eyes for their advocacy and partnership!"

Elsewhere in the NCOSE announcement, it is noted that during the hearings on EARN IT, PYE founder McKenna "presented powerful testimony about the many way [sic] predators use social media platforms to access minors. Senators were outraged by what they heard and several were moved to bipartisan legislative action to create the EARN IT Act." Furthermore, in a separate passage attributed in a highly similar follow-up statement to NCOSE senior vice president and executive director Dawn Hawkins, PYE is lauded "for its instrumental role initiating this groundbreaking legislation, the EARN IT Act, which will hold technology companies accountable for the rampant child sex abuse material (CSAM) on their platforms."

So again, who is Protect Young Eyes? One need not dig very deep to discover at least its motivating core: On the page of its site dedicated to its "PROTECT App" (available for iPhone and Android, and offering parents and their children tools and tips for how to "navigate a hostile digital world"), McKenna writes, "When I was 8 years old, I found a significant stash of pornography. This exposure put me on a path that I wasn't ready for. I didn't understand this new curiosity in my brain. No one talked about things like this. The seeds planted during that exposure led to problems that carried into adulthood and marriage.

"Fast-forward to my time as a middle school ministry director," he continues, "where I watched parents drowning in a tidal wave of technology! Many of them just had no idea how to talk to their kids about difficult and awkward topics.

"These 2 experieces are the primary reasons why I created Protect Young Eyes. We stand in the gap between amazing parents who want to protect their children from online harm and tech that does not care for families."

Buried toward the bottom of the PROTECT App's promo pageand again, of little surpriseis the ostensible selling point that among the app's offerings is the ability to "Honor God with technology" by way of an "optional faith toggle with three Scripture translations for Protestants & Catholics."

On top of that, it turns out that McKenna also serves as the Digital Marketing Manager for Covenant Eyesanother Michigan-based outfit whose unmitigated aim, as boldly blazoned high on its website's homepage, is to "Defeat Porn. Together." Interestingly, that far more outwardly faith-based organization uses the trademarked and oh-so-familiar-sounding slogan "We bridge the gap between technology and relationships." Given the numerous parallels between the two bodies (not the least of which being their stikingly similar names), one might very reasonably presume that PYE is mearly a more secular offshoot of CE.

Nonetheless, being so clearly driven by religion, it may be no wonder why McKenna chose Utah as the launching pad for this seeming campaign to make porn filters enabled by default on mobile devices across the land, what with that state's Mormon-influenced history of enacting anti-porn measureslast year, it passed a bill requiring all adult material, online and off, to carry a "warning label"; in 2017 it passed one allowing parents to sue adult companies if they determined products from such had caused "emotional or psychological harm" to their children; and it was the first of what's grown to 15 states to declare by congressional resolution, in 2016, that porn constitutes a "public health crisis."

How successful McKenna and PYE will be in this campaign remains to be seen. But he makes no secret about the next move he has planned: "I will be bringing this to Michigan," he told WOOD. "Anything we can do here in West Michigan to as a community work together to protect all of our kids, not just mine, yours and everybody else's, is going to benefit us."

As to what states he may be eyeing beyond that, he holds his cards a little closer to the vest. "That information I'll keep to myself," he told the news outlet, "because we want to get there before the lobbysists do."

Stay tuned.

Protect Young Eyes logo via Facebook.
Nearly all Houston Independent School District employees would see minimal or no pay increases under a budget proposal for the 2021-22 school year, a reflection of uncertainty about the districts financial outlook, Interim Superintendent Grenita Lathans administration said Wednesday.

While schools across Texas could receive large infusions of federal stimulus funds in the coming months, HISD officials said it is too early to bank on that money as they craft spending plans for the upcoming school year. HISD is projected to receive more than $1 billion in stimulus through 2024, but state officials could still decide to cut into that chunk or attach strings to the money.

HISDs enrollment decline, coupled with limitations on adding revenue under the states revamped school finance system, leave little money for boosting employee pay, administrators said.

It is a challenge to try to figure out how many kids we might or might not have, whats going to happen with the state and so forth, HISD Chief Financial Officer Glenn Reed said.

The proposal marks the first step toward HISD school board members approving an annual $2 billion budget by the June 30 deadline set out in state law.

Administrators and some board members have battled over Lathans budget proposals in recent years, with trustees arguing the district should increase staff compensation and cut spending in other areas. Frustration also has brewed when administrators initially forecast significant budget deficits, then showed surpluses at the end of the fiscal year.

Under the initial plan, HISD teachers, counselors, nurses and other employees on the same salary schedule would see a step increase  which ranges from $50 to $2,365, depending on years of experience  and a $500 one-time bonus under the proposal. All other staff members, with a few exceptions, would get a $500 retention stipend.

The largest raises would go to elementary school principals, who would net a $5,000 increase, and all assistant principals and deans, who would earn an additional $2,500.

This is the group that has continually been left out, so we feel its really time to advocate for (them), HISD Chief Human Resource Officer Julia Dimmitt said.

All employee also would receive a $750 one-time bonus to honor their work during the pandemic.

For nearly all staff members, the pay bumps would be offset in some measure by a 10 percent increase in employees health insurance costs.

HISD also expects to maintain an additional $19 million in spending on special education, which trustees approved in October, and $6 million to finish staffing all campuses with a wraparound resource specialist who addresses students nonacademic needs.

HISD trustees asked numerous questions about the proposal Wednesday, with some expressing unease about a potential reduction in the amount of money that campus-based leaders would decide how to spend.

District officials are recommending a 4 percent cut to per-student funding sent to each campus, which principals use to set their budgets for hiring staff members and covering some program expenses, among other costs. The trim would help offset increases in staff pay and special education spending.

Reed said the initial proposal runs a $72 million deficit, though he acknowledged that number could decline by tens of millions of dollars depending on multiple factors. The districts rainy day fund totals about $650 million, roughly $150 million more than the state-recommended minimum.

Every year, Im wanting to see theres not going to be a budget deficit, HISD Trustee Holly Maria Flynn Vilaseca said. Since Ive been on this board, that has yet to come to fruition. I know things just get harder and harder, year over year.

The projected deficit could shrink if HISDs enrollment bounces back after a roughly 10,000-student decline amid the pandemic, bringing more revenue into the district. For budgeting purposes, HISD administrators are planning for the return of 5,000 students, mostly in prekindergarten and early elementary grades.

The proposal did not include plans for delivering more academic support in 2021-22, which likely would be covered by federal stimulus funding. Lathan said she expects to present detailed proposals, which could include money for additional tutoring services and an extended school year for some students, in the next couple of weeks.

jacob.carpenter@chron.com
RABAT - Morocco has run out of anti-COVID vaccine stocks. The health ministry has sent a statement to vaccination site directors asking that they suspend administration of first doses as the remaining vaccines will be used for the booster shots of those still in need of them.



According to the daily paper Al Ahdath Al Maghribiya, if new supplies do not arrive by April 10, the national vaccinato campaign will have to be suspended.



Over 4 million Moroccans have already received the first dose and 3.7 have received both doses.



In the coming days, a million doses are expected to arrive of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine, two million of the Chinese Sinopharm, and 1.2 million through the COVAX mechanism of the World Health Organization.



The High Planning Commission (HCP), in studying the impact of COVID-19 on the most vulnerable sectors of society, has said that COVID-19 had increased poverty in Morocco seven times over.



The HCP report indicates that the percentage of the population in dire poverty had increased during the pandemic from 1.7% to 11.7%.



In rural areas, poverty levels grew by five times more than in urban areas, from 3.9% to 19.8%.



Vulnerability rates also increased, from 7.3% to 16.7%.


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A Porsche which was once owned by drug lord Pablo Escobar during his minor career as a racing driver has gone on the market for $2.2million.

The Colombian criminal surfaced in reports of racing events in Bogota before he became notorious as the murderous cartel boss who amassed an estimated $30billion fortune from cocaine until his death in 1993.

Among his fleet of cars was this Porsche 911 RSR, which was built in West Germany in 1974 and driven at the International Race of Champions before falling into Escobar's hands.

The car went into storage after his death, but has since been restored and repainted to its original pastel-yellow and dealers boast that it is 'ready to race or to be added to your collection'.

Luxury wheels: This 1974 Porsche 911 RSR which is going on sale for $2.2million once belonged to Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar, who amassed an estimated $30billion fortune from his cocaine cartel before his death in 1993

'Piece of history': A label on the side of the car shows that it was once driven by Brazilian Formula One driver Emerson Fittipaldi, but its more famous owner was Escobar who also had a minor career as a racing driver

At the wheel: Escobar in a racing car in the early 1980s in Medellin, the city which gave its name to his murderous drug gang

Described by dealers as a 'piece of history', the model is one of only 15 which were ever in existence, having been built specially for drivers at the International Race of Champions in 1974.

At that time it was driven by Brazilian F1 driver Emmerson Fittipaldi, but it is believed to have changed hands several more times before ending up in Escobar's collection.

In addition to the Porsche, Escobar is thought to have owned a vintage Cadillac in homage to Al Capone as well as a fleet of other vehicles from Mercedes, Toyota and Renault among others.

Escobar's racing career was relatively modest compared to his notoriety as a narco-terrorist but he is once said to have finished second in a tournament called the Copa Renault 4.

There are stories of Escobar involving local police in a plot to sabotage his motor racing rivals by pulling them over on their way to a race.

While early reports of his racing exploits in the 1970s did not mention his criminal background, he had already by this point founded the crime empire that would eventually become the feared Medellin cartel in Colombia.

In the driving seat: A view of the interior of the Porsche, which was made in West Germany in 1974 and has now been restored after being put into storage in the years after Escobar's death in a police operation in 1993

Restored: A front-on view of the 1974 vehicle which dealers say has been restored to its original pastel-yellow, with each vehicle in the series originally painted in a different colour to take advantage of new colour TVs

Under the hood: The Porsche-made engine of the vehicle once owned by Escobar, who surfaced in press reports of racing events before he became notorious as a cartel boss

The cartel shipped billions of dollars' worth of cocaine to the United States and Europe and was behind a series of bloody murders, bombings and assassinations ordered by Escobar.

Drugs agents believed the Medellin gang was responsible for 80 per cent of America's cocaine imports at the height of its powers.

The city of Medellin after which the cartel was named was once dubbed the most dangerous on Earth, with thousands of people killed in violence unleashed by Escobar and his deadly operatives.

The group eventually collapsed after Escobar turned himself in to authorities in 1991, escaped again the following year and was finally killed by security forces in 1993.

Part of a set: In addition to the Porsche, Escobar is thought to have owned a vintage Cadillac in homage to Al Capone as well as a fleet of other vehicles from Mercedes, Toyota and Renault among others

Rear view: The restored car which was once driven in the International Race of Champions and later belonged to a drug lord

Another Escobar property, an apartment building where he once lived in Medellin, was destroyed in 2019 after becoming a destination for tourists on much-maligned 'narco-tours'.

How the Porsche ended up in Florida is not entirely clear, but it is now being sold by Atlantis Motor Group which boasts that cars from the 1974 series 'very rarely come up for sale'.

Another in the series, driven by Peter Revson, once belonged to Jerry Seinfeld until he put it on the market along with two other Porsches from his collection at an auction in 2016.

Dealers say the Escobar vehicle 'has been professionally restored', adding that it is 'ready to race or to be added to your collection.'

On sale: The Escobar car, seen on show in a garage alongside other luxury vehicles, is listed on the market for $2.2million

Signed: The signature is not that of Escobar but of Fittipaldi, the Brazilian racing driver for whom the car was originally made
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday rejected the petition filed by Sushant Singh Rajput`s sister Priyanka Singh against the Bombay High Court order which did not quash Rhea Chakraborty's FIR against her in connection for allegedly providing banned medicines to the late actor. A three-judge bench of the Apex Court, headed by the Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sharad Arvind Bobde and also comprising Justices A S Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian dismissed the petition filed by Priyanka.

"We are dismissing the petition," the CJI S A Bobde said. Priyanka Singh had filed the petition before the Supreme Court and challenged an FIR registered on the basis of this complaint before the Bombay High Court. She had claimed in her petition, that the FIR was lodged to "concoct a whole new story entirely different from the statements made" by Chakraborty before the Supreme Court and media platforms.

However, the Bombay High Court had held "there is prima facie case found against Priyanka Singh and there should not be any impediment against investigation against her."A case was registered in September last year against Rajput`s sisters Priyanka and Meetu for allegedly getting Sushant medicine without a physical consultation. A doctor from Delhi, Dr Tarun Kumar was also named in the case. The Supreme Court had, on August 19, directed the CBI to probe the case related to the death of Sushant Singh Rajput putting a stop to the political slugfest between the governments of Maharashtra and Bihar over the case.

Bihar Police had registered a case in the matter on the complaint of Rajput`s father and initiated an investigation, which was later referred to the CBI by the Bihar government, a proposal accepted by the Central government.Rajput was found dead at his Mumbai residence on June 14.
A 20-year-old Senior High School (SHS) student, Patrick Nyarkoh, has been arrested by the Police in Assin-Fosu for allegedly defiled 18-month-old twin-sisters at Nsuta in the Assin South District of the Central Region.



The suspect admitted the crime but claimed he was under the influence of an unknown evil spirit and pleaded for forgiveness upon his arrest.



"Their mother left them in my care while I was charging my phone in my room. I fell asleep in no time and before I realized, I had sex with the younger of the twins and I believe I was possessed by an unknown evil spirit do so, I am pleading for forgiveness," he implored as he wept profusely.



Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Daniel Darkoh, the Assin-Fosu Municipal Crime Officer confirmed the incident to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) but could not give further details.



However, the mother of the victims who pleaded anonymity, said she and the suspect are co-tenants at Assin-Nsuta.



She said on Sunday, March 21, she left the girls in the care of the accused to purchase some edibles not far from their house but did not meet the suspect and her daughters at home upon her return.



She said after looking for them for a while she became suspicious that the twins were in the room of Nyarkoh, because he was the only person who was around when she was leaving the house.



She said she forcibly opened the suspect's door only to find her daughters lying prostate and unconscious with Nyarkoh pretending to be asleep.



According to her, she quickly took hold of the girls and the younger of the twins pointed to her vagina while pointing to the suspect where she saw some fluid in their vagina.



She said being terrified she quickly called her husband and shouted for help where her neighbours responded immediately.



The mother said the victims were taken to St. Francis Xavier hospital where it was confirmed that they had been defiled.



An official complaint was made to the police and the suspect was arrested and currently assisting the police in their investigations.

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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Former Germany international Mathias Sammer believes that losing Mats Hummels would be a bigger blow for Borussia Dortmund than Erling Haaland.

Sammer, who works as an adviser for Dortmund, acknowledges the importance of Haaland to the side, but he believes that Hummels' defensive leadership means he is a more important component to the side.

"[Hummels'] departure would hurt the club more [than Haaland's]," he told Bild.

"Not only has he stabilised the team but also in difficult moments he showed up in Edin Terzic's defence in a way that commands respect.

"He is a type of character that we need looking ahead to the future."

Sammer also advised Haaland to appreciate what Dortmund have given him before making a move at the first possible opportunity.

"The club have given him a lot," he said.

"For Erling only a handful of teams come into the conversation as future destinations.

"When he takes the next step, it must be a perfect step."
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Mary Schenk is a reporter covering police, courts and breaking news at The News-Gazette. Her email is mschenk@news-gazette.com, and you can follow her on Twitter (@schenk).
Washington DC: US President Joe Biden on Thursday (March 25) said he would prevent China from passing the United States to become the most powerful country in the world, vowing to invest heavily to ensure America prevails in the rivalry between the world's two largest economies.

Joe Biden said he had spent "hours upon hours" with Xi Jinping when he served as vice president under former President Barack Obama and was convinced the Chinese president believed autocracy - not democracy - held the key to the future.

The Democratic president said he had made it clear to Xi that the United States was not looking for a confrontation, but would insist China abide by international rules for fair competition, fair trade and respect for human rights.

"China has an overall goal ... to become the leading country in the world, the wealthiest country in the world, and the most powerful country in the world," he told reporters at the White House. "That`s not going to happen on my watch because the United States is going to continue to grow."

Joe Biden took aim at Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin for embracing autocracy.

"He's one of the guys, like Putin, who thinks that autocracy is the wave of the future, (and) democracy can`t function in an ever-complex world," the president told his first news conference since taking office in January.

Earlier in March, US President Joe Biden told ABC News he believed Putin was "a killer," which sparked fury in Moscow.

"He (Xi) doesn't have a democratic - with a small 'd' - bone in his body, but he's a smart, smart guy," he said.

Biden's remarks echoed those made during his presidential campaign and come days after the first high-level, in-person talks between the US and Chinese officials under his administration in Alaska, where combative public statements laid bare the depth of tensions between the rivals.

In an interview with CNN`s Christiane Amanpour, the Chinese ambassador to the United States, Cui Tiankai, said China`s goal is to "meet the growing aspiration of the Chinese people for a better life."

"Our goal is not to compete with or replace any other country. This is never our national strategy." He said dividing the world is not a solution that will help get rid of the coronavirus, tackle climate change or eradicate poverty.

"We don`t think any attempt to divide the world into different camps or even build confrontational military blocs, we don`t think that this kind of approach is a solution," Biden said he would work with U.S. allies to hold China accountable for its actions on Taiwan, Hong Kong, the South China Sea, and its treatment of the Uighur minority, as well as push Beijing to stick to international rules for fair trade.

He said he told Xi during a two-hour conversation after taking office: "As long as you and your country continue to so blatantly violate human rights, we are going to continue in an unrelenting way to call it to the attention of the world, and make it clear, make it clear, what`s happening. And he understood that."

Failing to do so, as happened under former President Donald Trump, would undermine America`s credibility, Biden said. "The moment a president walks away from that, as the last one did, is the moment we begin to lose our legitimacy around the world. It`s who we are," he said.

Tiankai denied China is separating Uighur families in Xinjiang. " Let me make it very clear. China is not doing these things," he said on CNN.

Biden, who plans to unveil a multi-trillion-dollar infrastructure proposal next week, said he would ensure increased U.S. investment in promising new technologies, such as quantum computing, artificial intelligence and biotechnology.

He said he aimed to return U.S. investment in research and technology development closer to the 2% of GDP invested in the 1960s from the current rate of about 0.7%.

"The future lies in who can, in fact, own the future as it relates to technology, quantum computing, a whole range of things, including in the medical fields, he said.

"We are going to make real investments," he said, noting China spending three times more than the United States on infrastructure.

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The British Council, together with the Council for Technical and Vocational Education Training (COTVET), on Wednesday, March 24, 2021, held a workshop on the enforcement of Ghanas first National Apprenticeship Policy.



The six-hour workshop which took place at the British Council saw very important people who analyzed the draft policy ahead of its implementation by the government.



The policy is set to coordinate Ghanas apprenticeship sector, merging several separate schemes beneath a common standard. This will help ease the process for apprentices to be able to access skills training in areas ranging from carpentry to dressmaking.



Apprentices will have more opportunities to gain certifications to show evidence of their skills and training too.



Dr Fred Kyei Asamoah, Ag. Director-General of COTVET, in his keynote address, said that the apprenticeship policy, which has great benefits, should have been in place long ago, however, it is never too late.



According to Dr Asamoah, the government aspire to produce world-class apprentices who can attract the attention of employers from every part of the world.



He added that Beyond the benefits the country is expected to derive from this national apprenticeship policy, businesses will also benefit immensely if they are guided by the policy. If businesses adopt apprenticeship training as one way of developing their workforce, it can help to develop highly skilled employees.



Apprenticeship programs also reduce turnover rates, increase productivity and lower the cost of recruitment. The apprenticeship will also ensure that businesses have customized training that meets industry standards, tailored to the specific needs of businesses.



Meanwhile, Country Director of British Council, Alan Rutt hailed Ghana for the policy, having witnessed the successful running of something similar in his country.

Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, a former presidential candidate, spoke Friday afternoon at a rally in Birmingham to support Alabama workers seeking a union at the Amazon fulfillment center in Bessemer.

If you succeed here, it will spread all over this country, Sanders said from a stage set up in a Southside parking lot behind the office of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union in Birmingham.

They know that it is not only workers here who are sick and tired of outrageous working conditions, Sanders said. A union is not going to solve it all, but what it does do is allow you a seat at the table.

Votes will be counted Tuesday in the election, which will decide whether workers will be represented by the Retail, Wholesale & Department Store Union.

When you go against one of the largest corporations in the world and you do it alone, youll have no power, Sanders said. But when you stand together in solidarity with each other, you can negotiate for a better work day.

Sanders noted that Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, worth $180 billion, is the richest man in the world, yet Amazon distribution center employees work in overheated conditions and are punished for taking more than two brief bathroom breaks on a 10-hour shift and barely have enough time to eat lunch.

Enough really is enough, Sanders said. How much money do the richest people in this country require? How much in profits do the largest corporations really need?

The union vote will send a message, he said.

So, what this is about today is to say to this large, powerful profitable corporation, Treat your workers with respect and with dignity. Were not dealing with a mom and pop operation here. Were dealing with a trillion-dollar corporation, that makes huge profits, that can certainly provide the kind of wages and benefits that working people desperately need.

Two workers at the Amazon center in Bessemer also spoke at the rally.

Its just time to fight, said Darryl Richardson, who initiated the unionization effort. Its time for us to stand together and fight.

Richardson said that when he was a new employee waiting to be assigned to a station, he was written up for not being at his station. If you leave your station you have to clock out, he said. I got a write-up for waiting for them to assign me to a station. Thats one of the reasons I thought we needed a union.

He only gets two breaks a day on a 10-hour shift, and its nearly impossible to get to the bathroom and back to the station in the time allotted, he said.

Linda Burns said that after taxes are taken out, her weekly pay is $300. With one hand, I have to pick up 1,000 pieces (shipments) in one hour, she said. Getting to the lunch room and back on a 30-minute lunch break leaves about 10 minutes to eat, she said.

She had to get a second job and also attends nursing school on the side, she said. If shes one minute late, she loses an hour of pay, she said. We cannot fight Bezos by ourselves, she said.

Sanders noted that in Europe, Amazon workers are represented by unions.

People are afraid to stand up for their rights, Sanders said. Theyre afraid theyre going to get fired.

He noted that Amazon has criticized his efforts to support unionization. Its not Bernie Sanders theyre afraid of, he said. Its the power of the workers.

I am very proud to stand in solidarity today with Amazon workers in Bessemer, Alabama who are fighting for dignity on the job and the right to join a union. Join our rally LIVE from Alabama. https://t.co/XpW1abVI1B  Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) March 26, 2021

Theres a big difference between talk and action. @SenSanders has been a powerful politician in Vermont for 30 years and their min wage is still $11.75. Amazons is $15, plus great health care from day one. Sanders would rather talk in Alabama than act in Vermont.  Amazon News (@amazonnews) March 26, 2021

Workers are being intimidated and called in to meetings where they are told a union is not in their best interests and they are being urged to vote against it, Sanders said.

Even if the unionization effort in Alabama fails, its been a success, Sanders said.

This is historically an anti-union state, he said. A major point has already been made.
Manitobas beleaguered arts and culture sectors have some support on the way after the provincial government announced a new $6-million support fund for them on Thursday.

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Manitobas beleaguered arts and culture sectors have some support on the way after the provincial government announced a new $6-million support fund for them on Thursday.

Like with previous sector-specific funds aimed at helping businesses and organizations get through the COVID-19 pandemic like the restaurant fund announced late last year and the hospitality fund announced last week, the Arts and Culture Sustainability Funds will be managed by an industry group.

In this case, the Manitoba Arts Council and Manitoba Film and Music will be handling the money.

Of the $6 million, Premier Brian Pallister said during a media conference on Thursday morning that $250,000 will be set aside specifically to support professional artists.

"This is an industry thats been affected more than most," said Pallister. "Its often described, actually, as the first to close and the last to open because, of course, in many cases, this involves group settings. Manitobas arts and culture sector has been drastically impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic."

A full list of eligible organizations has yet to be announced, but museums, galleries, festivals, cultural facilities, community arts, publishing, artists and musical groups are expected to be included.

Later Thursday afternoon, a spokesperson for the premier told the Sun by email that Crown corporations and Crown agencies would not be eligible to receive money from the funds.

Which organizations receive support and how many funds will be allocated to applicants, the premier said, will be based on need.

Asked directly about the Provincial Exhibition of Manitoba, which has had to undertake many fundraising efforts to keep afloat after having to cancel all of its events for a year, Pallister said it was his understanding that it would be.

The premier said that hed just recorded a message for the virtual version of the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair that will be held next week from March 29 through April 3.

"I have incredible memories of going with my father when I was a young boy and watching the Clydesdales come into the stadium and shake the stands," Pallister said. "That event has created such great memories for so many people, not just in Manitoba or rural Manitoba but from elsewhere as well, Im told. We do wish that group and all of our cultural events in the future."

In an email to the Sun, Provincial Exhibition of Manitoba board chair Greg Crisanti expressed gratitude for the fund.

"The board of directors at the Provincial Exhibition of Manitoba are excited to hear the announcement today and we will certainly be applying for any and all initiatives the government presents," Crisanti wrote.

"We will have further comment upon review of the application and look forward to the possible opportunity of funding. Especially in such a difficult time. We thank the Provincial Government for recognizing the need for these funds and the opportunity to assist heritage sites such as our Display Building II (the Dome Building)".

According to Pallister, the arts sector contributes approximately $1.5 billion and 21,000 jobs to Manitobas economy every year.

"This is not a small sector as much as its comprised of many pieces," he said. "Taken together, this is an enormously important sector for our province and for our economy going forward."

 cslark@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @ColinSlark
One of former President Charles Taylor's most sturdy and devoted Butlers who traveled with him in exile in Nigeria provided a myriad of substantive information regarding Taylor's last days in exile in Nigeria which ended in a more breathtaking and sadder catastrophe. The Butler who asked not to be named currently resides in the State of Rhode Island, US.

Butler revealed that "Ex-Pres. Taylor was excitedly received by the then Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo. Taylor was later taken to Calabar, the capital of Nigeria's Southeastern Cross River State where his villa was located on the hilltop guided by over 50 Nigerian security officers.

Cross River State Governor Donald Duke who enthusiastically welcomed Charles Taylor to Calabar told him to feel at home. Taylor was compelled to disclose all his wealth to the Nigerian government for safety and political protection.

The Butler further howled that the actual wealth Taylor did travel with included twenty (20) SUV Jeeps, eighty-(80) black Jemo-Size-suitcases; sixty (60) of which did contain forty-six million United States dollars (US$46M) in cash; One-thousand six hundred (1, 600) gold karats; two-thousand-five (2,500) pieces of diamonds, and twelve (12) silver pistols guns."

The Butler said, "Taylor entrusted me with all these valuables, so I knew much about everything in those suitcases including his piled-up cash." "Taylor asked me to prepare a package of 8 million dollars along with 50-pieces of diamonds for the then Nigerian Pres. Obasanjo when he visited Taylor at his Hillside Villa in Calabar."

"There were 100 security officers who guided our villa, and each was paid US$150.00 every Saturday morning as a token of Taylor's deep appreciation. The security was given some gold as well. This was different from the normal tips they received from Taylor by other Nigerians government officials who visited Taylor regularly especially on Saturdays and holidays."

The Butler went on to say that from the moment Taylor set foot on Nigerian soil, he was bound to be exploited and/or rubbed off all his wealth by Nigerians which eventually came to fruition in a relatively short while of Taylor's short-lived exile life in Cross Rive Stata, Nigeria.

The Butler disclosed that when Taylor's indictment was announced officially, the Nigerian government was under intense pressure to hand-over Taylor, Taylor quickly bribed the Cross-River State, Governor Hon. Duke US$6 million along with 200 pieces of diamonds with one (1) of the silver pistols, but the governor betrayed Taylor after he promised to protect him. The governor later organized a fake route for Taylor to escape via Nigeria and Cameroon borders after which was a very highly deceptive maneuver on the part of the governor.

Governor Duke later told Taylor that all was well for his escape. "We loaded all our valuables including the remaining millions in cash, diamonds, and gold onto our fleets of SUVs at 3: am dawn. Before we departed from Calabar, one of the security officers hinted Taylor that 50 soldiers were being deployed on the route Taylor was poised to travel through for protection as a safe passage out of Nigeria."

Behold to our dismay, the Butler said: "the 50 soldiers were planted by Governor Duke. They ambushed Taylor and his fleets which certainly happened when we were just 5 kilometers in a border town of Gamboru-Ngala were about 50 soldiers according to the Butler hijacked Taylor's at a gunpoint and took everything away including his millions, diamonds, and golds as well as the silver pistols."

The Nigerian police officers who escorted Taylor turned their blind eyes to what was happening as we were being robbed of everything. The officers who ambushed us pushed Taylor and the rest of us into one SUVs and took the remaining SUVs' including all the suitcases away and left a small plastic bag with Taylor with a few of his clothes in it.

Taylor suddenly wept profusely and asked the security officers whether he could have a word with Governor Duke of Cross River State, but the security officer told Taylor that Governor Duke's phone was no longer accessible and reachable as he was very busy attending official matters in Abuja with President Obasanjo.

The security officers later pushed Taylor into the Suv's with the rest of us 12 in number including three Nigerian girls who were told to return to Nigeria for their safety. One of the security officers told the girls "This man is now a fugitive and a killer, so go away, you stupid girls"

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As soon as Taylor was dropped off at the border town of Gamboru-Ngala, another set of Nigerian security officer immediately arrested Taylor and took him directly to Abuja after the hijacking group had left. We were later told by the escorting security officers to quickly get on-board another SUV's back to Cross River State before then, we had been separated from Taylor and other security officers were awaiting our arrival in Cross River State. Upon our arrival, the security officer seized all our remaining belongings from the Villa. We were also told to leave Nigeria within 72 hours or risk being arrested for a war crime.

Tears quickly pulled down my chick, as all our belongings were being looted by the Nigerian security officers and nearby neighbors. A large group of Nigerians rushed into the villa vandalized it and took away whatsoever they could lay their hands on while the security officers stood by watching in disbelief. Butler is pleading with President Weah to retrieve Taylor's wealth from Nigeria and share it with other poor Liberians in need instead of it staying in Nigeria to create job opportunities for Nigerians." "I am prepared to testify about Taylor's stolen wealth by the Nigerian government." he angrily lamented.
During Holy week, the Holy See plans to provide vaccines for 1,200 of the poorest and most marginalised people who, because of their situation, are the most exposed to the virus. People can make an online donation to contribute to the initiative.English translation.

Vatican City (AsiaNews)  The Vatican plans to provide vaccines for some of the "most vulnerable" people during Holy Week.

The initiative, which comes from the Office of Papal Charities, is aimed at reinforcing the Holy Father's numerous appeals to ensure that no one be excluded from the anti Covid-19 vaccine, the Office of Papal Charities once again accompanies the most fragile and vulnerable.

During Holy Week, as Easter approaches, doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, purchased by the Holy See and offered by the Lazzaro Spallanzani Hospital through the Vatican Covid-19 Commission, will be used to vaccinate 1,200 of the poorest and most marginalised people who, because of their situation, are the most exposed to the virus.

Furthermore, in order to continue to share the wonder of charity towards our poorest and most vulnerable brothers and sisters, and to give them the opportunity to access treatment and vaccination, it will be possible to pay for the vaccine for a person in need by giving alms with an online donation through the Holy Fathers charity account, managed by the Office of Papal Charities.

The latter noted that In his Message on the Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord 2020, Pope Francis made a heartfelt appeal: I ask everyone  government leaders, businesses, international organisations  to foster cooperation and not competition, and to seek a solution for everyone: vaccines for all, especially for the most vulnerable and needy of all regions of the planet. Before all others: the most vulnerable and needy!

In the face of a challenge that knows no borders, we cannot erect walls. All of us are in the same boat. On the use of the vaccine, then, Pope Francis has repeatedly encouraged people to get vaccinated, for it is a way of exercising responsibility for one's neighbour and the collective wellbeing; he has strongly reiterated that everyone must have access to the vaccine, with no one being excluded because of poverty.

Last January, when the anti-Covid19 vaccination campaign began in the Vatican, Pope Francis requested that fifty needy people, mostly homeless, who live around St. Peter's and who are assisted and sheltered daily by the assistance and residence facilities of the Office of Papal Charities, would be among the first to be vaccinated.

The administration of the vaccine to the poor during Holy Week will take place in the specially designed facility inside the Paul VI Hall in the Vatican, and the same vaccine administered to the Pope and employees of the Holy See will be used.

The medical doctors and health workers providing the vaccination will be volunteers who work in the Madre di Misericordia mobile health clinic, which is located under the Bernini colonnade, employees of the Vatican's Directorate of Health and Hygiene, and volunteers from the Medicina Solidale Institute and Lazzaro Spallanzani Hospital.

With the start of the vaccination campaign for its employees in early January, the Vatican also provided vaccines for some homeless people.
Biological tactile/visual neurons and mechano-photonic artificial synapse. (A) Schematic illustrations of biological tactile/visual sensory system. (B) Schematic diagram of the mechano-photonic artificial synapse based on graphene/MoS2 (Gr/MoS2) heterostructure. (i) Top-view scanning electron microscope (SEM) image of the optoelectronic transistor; scale bar, 5 m. The cyan area indicates the MoS2 flake, while the white strip is graphene. (ii) Illustration of charge transfer/exchange for Gr/MoS2 heterostructure. (iii) Output mechano-photonic signals from the artificial synapse for image recognition. Credit: Science Advances, doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abd9117

Multifunctional and diverse artificial neural systems can incorporate multimodal plasticity, memory and supervised learning functions to assist neuromorphic computation. In a new report, Jinran Yu and a research team in nanoenergy, nanoscience and materials science in China and the US., presented a bioinspired mechano-photonic artificial synapse with synergistic mechanical and optical plasticity. The team used an optoelectronic transistor made of graphene/molybdenum disulphide (MoS 2 ) heterostructure and an integrated triboelectric nanogenerator to compose the artificial synapse. They controlled the charge transfer/exchange in the heterostructure with triboelectric potential and modulated the optoelectronic synapse behaviors readily, including postsynaptic photocurrents, photosensitivity and photoconductivity. The mechano-photonic artificial synapse is a promising implementation to mimic the complex biological nervous system and promote the development of interactive artificial intelligence. The work is now published on Science Advances.

Brain-inspired neural networks.

The human brain can integrate cognition, learning and memory tasks via auditory, visual, olfactory and somatosensory interactions. This process is difficult to be mimicked using conventional von Neumann architectures that require additional sophisticated functions. Brain-inspired neural networks are made of various synaptic devices to transmit information and process using the synaptic weight. Emerging photonic synapse combine the optical and electric neuromorphic modulation and computation to offer a favorable option with high bandwidth, fast speed and low cross-talk to significantly reduce power consumption. Biomechanical motions including touch, eye blinking and arm waving are other ubiquitous triggers or interactive signals to operate electronics during artificial synapse plasticization. In this work, Yu et al. presented a mechano-photonic artificial synapse with synergistic mechanical and optical plasticity. The device contained an optoelectronic transistor and an integrated triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) in contact-separation mode. The mechano-optical artificial synapses have huge functional potential as interactive optoelectronic interfaces, synthetic retinas and intelligent robots.

Synergistic effect of mechanical and visual signal for mechano-photonic artificial synapse. (A) Schematic diagram of the synergistic mechanical and optical signal for mechano-photonic artificial synapse. (B) PSCs under different PLEDs at a fixed D of 1 mm, VD = 1 V, and light pulse width of 0.5 s. Inset: The peak current of PSC versus PLED. (C) PSCs under different PLEDs when the light is turned off. (D) PSCs at different light pulse width (PLED = 3.5 mW cm2 and D = 1 mm). (E) The PSCs under 40 consecutive light pulses under different displacements (PLED = 3.5 mW cm2; pulse width, 50 ms; D = 0.5, 1, and 1.5 mm). (F) The conductance margins (Gmax/Gmin) as a function of displacement. Credit: Science Advances, doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abd9117

The human brain and its associated biomechanical and visual sensations are critical to acquire somatosensory and visual information. The brain contains a variety of neurons that receive interactive signals through varied modes to implement neuromorphic computation in the multisensory association area. Synapses from important points of connection between two adjacent neurons during neural information transmissions. Yu et al. were bioinspired by the brain and nervous system to develop a mechano-photonic artificial synapse with synergistic mechanical and optical plasticity. The mechano-photonic artificial synapse included an optoelectronic transistor and integrated TENG (triboelectric nanogenerator). During the experiments, the team used chemical vapor deposition to deposit monolayer graphene on the optoelectronic transistor, which they then stacked on a multilayer molybdenum sulfide (MoS 2 ) flake on a silicon dioxide substrate. Using the experimental setup, Yu et al. could realize the synergistic optical and mechanical modulation on the synaptic plasticity.

Mechano-optoelectronic transistor based on Gr/MoS2 heterostructure and corresponding working mechanism. (A) The TENG output voltage (VTENG) versus displacement (D). Inset: Equivalent circuit diagram for VTENG characterization. (B) Transfer curves (ID versus D) in the dark and under different green light power intensity (PLED). (C) Working mechanism of the mechano-optoelectronic transistor based on Gr/MoS2 heterostructure. Schematic illustrations of the working principles and the corresponding energy band diagram at (i) initial flat-band state, (ii) separation state (D+), and (iii) contact state (D). Credit: Science Advances, doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abd9117

Testing the device and mechano-optical characterization.

To test the practicality of triboelectric potential gating, the team characterized the TENG output voltage versus mechanical displacement using a test circuit, where they connected the transistor dielectric capacitor and test system capacitor with TENG in parallel. By optimizing the MoS 2 thickness in the heterostructure, Yu et al. improved the device photosensitivity and electrical performance to potentially influence the device for system-level applications. To characterize the mechano-optoelectronic transistor, they measured the output performance under synergistic effects for TENG displacement and illumination with green LED at different power intensities. To then understand the tunable photoresponsivity of the mechano-photonic transistor of the device, they studied the influence of mechanical displacement on the photocurrent and photosensitivity. A more positive displacement can induce larger photocurrent and higher photo-receptivity relative to the electric field-dependent Fermi-level and electronic states in the heterostructure. The mechanical displacement related photoresponse improved the photosensitivity of the device while regulating the feature at a desired level on demand.

Simulation of ANN for image recognition by the mechano-photonic artificial synapse. (A) Schematic illustration of the simulated ANN with 784 input neurons, 100 hidden neurons, and 10 output neurons. (B) Schematic illustration of retinal neural network. (C) Examples of the mapping image obtained from ANN: input image, initial state image, output image at D = 1 mm, and output image at D = 1.5 mm. (D) Recognition accuracy of visual signal stimulation with different numbers of synapse. (E) Recognition accuracy of visual signal stimulation with different numbers of training samples. Credit: Science Advances, doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abd9117

Channel conductivity and long-term synaptic plasticity.

The team then regulated the channel conductivity of the transistor using mechanical displacement and light illumination; fundamental for multimodal plasticity in mechano-photonic artificial synapses. They maintained the basal post-synaptic current (PSC) stable at different levels under different displacement states as a pre-requisite to accomplish synaptic photoresponses. The work showed the effects of the triboelectric potential-modulated electrical behaviors and optoelectrical behaviors on the post-synaptic current. They retained the mechano-photonic artificial synapse for more than an hour without changes to provide evidence to implement the synergistic optical and mechanical module for long-term synaptic plasticity. The team credited the decreased postsynaptic current (PSC) to the weakened density of holes in graphene used within the setup, on the other hand they credited the persistent PSCs to localized states in MoS 2 and the directional triboelectric field. For instance, during light illumination, photogenerated electrons could be induced in the MoS 2. When compared to previous work of bioinspired synaptic devices, the present mechano-photonic artificial synapse simultaneously realized dual-mode plasticization via mechanical and visual signals.

Mechano-photonic artificial synapse based on Gr/MoS2 heterostructure. (A) Real-time evaluation of the initial PSC in the dark; D varies from 0 to 1.5 mm. (B) Photo-activated postsynaptic current (PSC) of the artificial synapse at D = 1 mm and PLED = 3.5 mW cm2 with light pulse width at 50 ms. (C) PSC under the synergetic effect of light illumination and different D (from 0.75 to 1.5 mm) at VD = 1 V. Top inset: The schematic diagram of mechanical and visual presynaptic signals. The PLED is fixed at 3.5 mW cm2 with light pulse width at 50 ms. (D) Schematic illustrations of the density of states and carrier distribution in Gr/MoS2 heterostructure under light illumination and after light illumination (persistent photocurrent region) at two different displacement status (D+ and D+). Credit: Science Advances, doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abd9117

Yu et al. further examined the synergistic effects of the artificial synapse under light pulse inputs embodying diverse spatio-temporal information. They then simulated a multilayer perception-based artificial neural network (ANN) using typical synaptic characteristics for supervised learning function using the modified National Institute of Standards and Technology (MNIST) handwriting image dataset. In the ANN, Yu et al. included 28 x 28 input neurons, 100 hidden neurons, and 10 output neurons fully connected via synaptic weights. The total of 784 input neurons corresponded to a 28 x 28 MNIST image and the 10 output neurons corresponded to 10 Arabic numbers from zero to nine. The team built the ANN bioinspired by the human retina, which contrastingly contains billions of nerve cells to form a complex three-layered network. They then showed how improving the periodicity, stability and repeatability of the device improved the simulation of ANN for image recognition.

Outlook

In this way, Jinran Yu and colleagues developed a mechano-photonic artificial synapse with synergistic multimodal synaptic plasticity. The team used triboelectric potential to drive he synaptic transistor and regulate the charge transfer exchange in the heterostructure to facilitate post-synaptic photocurrents, persistent photoconductivity and photosensitivity. The setup also allowed long-term memory and consecutive neural facilitation. The team then simulated an artificial neural network (ANN) to show the feasibility of mechanical plasticization to promote image recognition accuracy. The work will pave the way to develop multifunctional and interactive neuromorphic devices.

Explore further Researchers present spontaneous sparse learning for PCM-based memristor neural networks

More information: 1. Yu J. et al. Bioinspired mechano-photonic artificial synapse based on graphene/MoS 2 heterostructure, Science Advances, 10.1126/sciadv.abd9117 1. Yu J. et al. Bioinspired mechano-photonic artificial synapse based on graphene/MoSheterostructure,, 10.1126/sciadv.abd9117 2. Adam G. C. et al. Two artificial synapses are better than one. Nature, doi.org/10.1038/d41586-018-05297-5 3. Choi S. et al. SiGe epitaxial memory for neuromorphic computing with reproducible high performance based on engineered dislocations, Nature Materials, doi.org/10.1038/s41563-017-0001-5 Journal information: Science Advances , Nature , Nature Materials

 2021 Science X Network
A LOT has been said about the late Dr John Pombe Magufuli (JPM), Tanzania's President who passed away on March 17th, 2021 from a 10-year heart-related complication at a Dar es Salaam hospital.

Of these stories, not much has been said about his role in transforming and stabilising the country's higher education financing. OMEGA NGOLE writes, Excerpts ... Paschal Laurent Yohana (24), a science teacher graduate from Mkwawa University College of Education (MUCE), had hoped one day to meet and thank the man, who he believes made his dream a reality.

He will not, at least in this world, as the man we fondly refer to him as JPM is no more. In a recent interview at his home village of Chokaa, in Chunya district, Mbeya region - some 890 km from Tanzania's major commercial capital, Dar es Salaam, Paschal narrates a story that you are likely to hear from any of the villages in Tanzania.

"I'm thankful to the Government of President Magufuli for supporting my University studies, I know without government loan, my poor parents would not have afforded the costs," narrates Paschal, the seventh and last child of Laurent Yohana (79) and Judith Kamomba (65) - both small scale farmers at Chokaa.

Paschal, a chemistry teacher who enjoyed 100 per cent financial support from the government's owned Higher Education Students' Loans Board (HESLB), joined Iringa-based Mkwawa University College of Education (MUCE) in 2017 and graduated last year.

He is among some of the beneficiaries who have been supported by the government at a total cost of 2.28 trn/- (U$D 983.1 million) disbursed by the JPM's administration since it assumed power in the first five-year term in 2015/2016 to 2019/2020.

"I remember when President Magufuli visited our college in 2018 and categorically said the loans (higher education) were for eligible young Tanzanians from poor households ... and I can boldly testify that, I personally thank his administration for that," says Paschal in an interview flanked with his mother who adds: "We have never met him, but I thank President Magufuli for facilitating my son's studies at the university ... with petty trades, we could never have afforded to support our only child who managed to go through to university," says the mother, Judith Kamomba.

On his part, the HESLB Executive Director, Abdul-Razaq Badru remembers the late JPM as transformational leader who was always keen on performance and results - not prolonged processes.

"I joined HESLB in July 2016 when he (JPM) had months in office and all of us had felt the heat and were already on the transformation mode ... noting his tone and directives on sustainability we agreed ourselves to reengineer our business processes, collect more and extend loans to more beneficiaries," says Badru in an exclusive interview recently.

According to Badru, when the new administration assumed office in 2015, an average of 2.1bn/- was being collected monthly - - a situation the new head of state wanted to be reversed and now average monthly collection is 16-17 bn/-.

"I recall in one event while officiating construction of hostels at the University of Dar es salaam, he firmly asked beneficiaries with due loans to come forward and repay. He also asked us to take legal action against defaulters, he was keen to seen performance," says Badru.

The Executive Director notes that JPM's led major transformation including amendments of HESLB Act in 2016, says Badru adding that the reforms aimed at enhancing efficiency in collection of due loans by specifically introducing new statutory roles of beneficiaries and employers, who were enjoying government investment in the beneficiaries.

"Employers are now tasked to submit to HESLB list of new graduate employees within 28 days after recruitment for us to scrutinize while beneficiaries, upon employment, are tasked to inform employers that they benefited and therefore immediate deduction and remittance to us," says Badru.

As a result, explains Badru, annual collection of due loans increased from 28.2 bn/- (U$D 121,600) in 2016/2017 to 192.1 bn/- (U$D 828,000) in 2019/2020 and target for 2020/2021 is 200 bn/.

"Of course, amendments were not the only reason for collection increase, we also intensified inspection to employers and awareness on importance of compliance to both employers and individual beneficiaries ... all these aimed at seeing results which was key to the late President," adds Badru.

Elaborating, the Executive Director revealed that, at HESLB, the push for transformation ignited by the fifth administration under JPM and his then Deputy, now President Samia Suluhu Hassan also targeted improvements in the delivery of quality services.

He says between 2016 and now, HESLB has increased the number of operational offices across the country from five to seven and embraced technology by introducing three new products to enhance service delivery.

"With the introduction of biometric-based Digital Disbursement Solution (DiDiS) in 2017/2018, about 85 per cent of students now receive funds in less than five minutes. Loans application and processing is 95 per cent automated and recently we have introduced online portal in our website for employers and beneficiaries to get loan statements and payment procedures," says Badru.

In his tribute to the late JPM, the Chairperson of the Tanzania Higher Learning Institutions Students' Organisation (TAHLISO), Peter Niboye hailed Dr. Magufuli for putting students' interests at his heart.

"According to our Constitution, he was the patron and we appreciate his commitment especially on increase of students' loan budget from 347 bn/- (U$D 149,600) in 2014/2015 to 464 bn/- (U$D 200,100) in 2020/2021 plus timely disbursement of the funds which resulted into calm atmosphere in the universities in the past five years," says Niboye.

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The increase in budget, adds Niboye, allowed significant increase in the number of beneficiaries of government loans in higher learning institutions from 93,100 in 2014/2015 to 145,000 in 2020/2021.

Now that JPM is laid to rest at Chato, the nation was reminded of sustainability of his vision from President Samia Suluhu Hassan and the ruling party Vice-Chairperson, Mzee Philip Mangula at Jamhuri Stadium in Dodoma during national farewell ceremony to the late head of state.

"Let me take this opportunity to assure you that nothing will be lost. Our country is in safe hands ... my colleague, Dr. Hussein Ali Mwinyi and I, will continue where he (the late Dr. Magufuli) left and we will get to where he envisioned Tanzania to be," said President Samia.

On his party, Mzee Mangula reminded: "There is nothing to worry, both President Samia Suluhu Hassan and the late Magufuli were CCM's flag bearers and campaigned all over the country in 2015 and 2020 general election articulating their plans and priorities as detailed in a 303- page manifesto for the next five years ... things will go as planned," said Mzee Mangula.

The body of the late Dr. Magufuli, who was born in Chato in 1959 will be laid to rest today, March 26th in Chato where sombre mood has engulfed the district since announcement of his death by President Samia Suluhu Hassan on March 17th this year.

(The writer works with the Higher Education Students' Loans Board. He can be reached through Mobile: 0757500800 Email: ongole@heslb.go.tz)
Faridabad, March 26 : A Faridabad court in Haryana on Friday sentenced life imprisonment to the two convicts -- Tauseef Ahmed and Rehan -- in the case of the sensational murder of Nikita Tomar in broad daylight outside her college in October last year.

The duo were found guilty of the gruesome killing of 21-year-old Tomar, a third year B.Com student, in Ballabgarh by the district sessions court on Wednesday, around four months after the trial began on December 1.

However, the quantum of the punishment was not announced on that day.

Both the convicts were found guilty under sections 302 (murder), 366 (kidnapping a woman to compel her into marriage), section 506 (criminal intimidation), 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code. Both have been in jail since their arrest in October.

The third accused in the case, Mohammad Azruddin, who was charged for providing weapons to the two, was acquitted by Faridabad Additional District and Sessions Judge Sartaj Baswana.

She was shot dead at point-black range by her former classmate Tauseef outside Aggarwal College. The crime was caught on camera. The trial for this murder case began on December 1, 2020.

The victim's family had claimed that this was a case of 'love jihad' where the accused Tauseef pressured the victim to embrace Islam and marry him.

Tausif and Rehan had tried to abduct Nikita Tomar. When she resisted, Tausif pulled out a revolver and fired at her.

The incident took place on October 26 when Nikita Tomar emerged out of the college. Two men tried to first drag her into their vehicle at gunpoint, and one of them shot her when she resisted.

A special investigation team (SIT), which was formed on October 27, 2020, had filed a 700-page chargesheet on November 6, with 60 witnesses in the case.

Following the crime, protests were held across Haryana. Seeing the sensitivity of the crime, the Manohar Lal Khattar-led state government had constituted a five-member SIT to probe the incident.

The victim's family said they had filed a police complaint against Touseef in 2018, but the matter was settled later.

Not satisfied with the life imprisonment, the family said they would challenge the judgment in the Punjab and Haryana High Court to demand capital punishment for the convicts.

"Her parents educated her and thought that she was going to be self-dependent. That girl was murdered in a gruesome manner. I would like to demand to give capital punishment," National Commission for Women (NCW) Chairperson Rekha Sharma told the media.

Nikita Tomar's father said his daughter could have been saved if a law against love jihad had been enacted earlier.
According to information published by Royal Canadian Navy on March 24, 2021, an adapted version of the German Navys Berlin-class auxiliary ship, the new JSS will replace Canadas now-decommissioned supply ships Protecteur and Preserver. Germany began construction of its fleet of auxiliary ships in the early 2000s, with its third and last ship commissioned into service in 2013.

According to information published by Royal Canadian Navy on March 24, 2021, an adapted version of the German Navys Berlin-class auxiliary ship, the new JSS will replace Canadas now-decommissioned supply ships Protecteur and Preserver. Germany began construction of its fleet of auxiliary ships in the early 2000s, with its third and last ship commissioned into service in 2013.

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An artist rendering of the definition design for Joint Support Ship.



The Joint Support Ship (JSS) is one of the three classes of ships procured for the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) under the National Shipbuilding Strategy.

Its actually been advantageous for Canada to buy into the Berlin class at this stage, now that Germany has three in the water, says Rear-Admiral (RAdm) Casper Donovan, Director General Future Ship Capability for the RCN. We are able to capitalize on many of the lessons learned during previous iterations of the design, and apply those lessons to our Canadian version  the JSS. In other words, even though we are purchasing a mature design, there are necessary modifications required for JSS to meet Canadas specific environment, needs and standards.

To support Government of Canada defence policy, the RCN requires a ship that can operate all around the world -- independently, in support of a Canadian Task Group, or integrated into an international coalition force -- and contribute to the full spectrum of military operations. The JSS must be capable of supporting combat operations in the future threat environment, which will require necessary survivability measures and appropriate interoperability with the RCN future fleet and partner navies. It must also be able to support the rapid provision of humanitarian relief, represent Canada through defence diplomacy, and support a broad set Government priorities.

To meet this global requirement, whether JSS is operating in the heat of the Arabian Sea or the cold of Canadas Arctic waters, the ship itself and all of its systems must be able to handle all extremes of climate and temperature.

Other modifications include the requirement to meet todays international regulations, such as those regarding limits on engine gas emissions, which have become more stringent since the Berlin class was designed in the 1990s. The JSS will have a more efficient engine design, which will satisfy the RCNs range and speed needs, but achieve these with new, low-sulfur fuel formulas and exhaust gas scrubbers.

The JSS must be capable of handling multiple CH-148 Cyclones, a large multi-role maritime helicopter with its own unique operational and maintenance requirements. And, while not all of the design changes are large or complex  the ships flag had to be moved because the Cyclone sight lines were blocked  all are necessary.

Different military-specific personnel and operational policies also drove some of the modifications. The JSS design uses a gender-neutral approach to crew habitability and washrooms, part of the RCNs cultural drive towards greater inclusivity. This will include individual shower stalls and toilets with lockable doors, instead of the older style communal showers and urinals. Other design changes integrate the most current technology that will enable the RCN to operate the JSS well into the future.

Another uniquely Canadian event was also used to modify the JSS to Canadian requirements.

We are also using the hard lessons learned from incidents like the original Her Majesty's Canadian Ship Protecteur engine room fire to modify the design for RCN damage control needs -- be it a fire, flood or need for redundancy to ensure survivability of our sailors, says RAdm Donovan.

The modifications being incorporated in JSS will give Canada a robust at-sea replenishment and support capability, designed in a manner that meets the RCNs specific military requirements, and will provide the agility to operate in multiple ways to achieve mission success and support the Canadian governments needs of today and well into the future.

The Joint Support Ship (JSS) project is a Government of Canada capital acquisition project to replace the Royal Canadian Navy's ageing Auxiliary Oiler Replenishment (AOR) ships. Canada's current procurement strategy includes the assessment/evaluation of two design options: a bespoke design developed by BMT Fleet Technology and an existing, off-the-shelf design of ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems' Berlin Class.


Experts call for stronger actions to stop the situation from getting worse



By Kang Seung-woo



The international community expressed concerns over North Korea's test-firing of two short-range ballistic missiles last Wednesday, in defiance of United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions. But Pyongyang is likely to avoid fresh punishment, based on recent history, in which the international community has been generous about short-range weapons.



However, some experts believe that there should be a stricter response to the North Korean provocations, regardless of their size or range, in order to avoid giving the North the impression that short-range launches are tolerable.





According to the North's Korean Central News Agency, Friday, the totalitarian state test-fired two "new-type tactical guided missiles" that flew 600 kilometers off its east coast to hit their targets. South Korean and U.S. military authorities said they were ballistic missiles, which violate international resolutions that ban the country from using such technology.



The first North Korean ballistic missile test since March 2020 comes as the new U.S. presidential administration is putting the final touches on its North Korea policy review, which could be unveiled as early as next week.



In response to the show of force, the UNSC sanctions committee on North Korea is expected to meet Friday (local time), at the request of the United States, to discuss the regime's latest launches.



In addition, despite accusing the missile launches of violating the U.N. order, U.S. President Joe Biden told his first press conference, Thursday, that the United States will respond appropriately should North Korea continue to escalate tensions, while leaving the door open for diplomacy with the North.



However, history is on North Korea's side, as it has been conducting short-range ballistic missile tests since 2019, but has never faced punitive measures from the international community.



"The missile test will likely be discussed at the sanctions committee, but as they have never punished any country for the launches of short-range missiles, it is not likely that North Korea will face another set of sanctions," a South Korean foreign ministry official said.



However, claiming that North Korea's recent launches were part of its leader's ambitious plans to advance its ballistic missile programs, rather than a cry for attention or economic assistance, Markus Garlauskas, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and a former U.S. National Intelligence Officer for North Korea, said the international community should take punitive action against North Korea.



"If these launches go unchecked by the international community, that is likely to lead to launches of bigger and more capable systems, including those capable of carrying multiple nuclear warheads," Garlauskas said, adding that no response would "reinforce the precedent of such launches being accepted by the international community without any costs to Pyongyang at all."




The value of Chinese imports in the first months of 2021 alone reached $15.42 billion, twice as much as the value of Vietnamese exports to the market.

Import turnover from China in the first two months of the year surged by 66 percent in comparison with the same period last year, reaching $15.42 billion. Vietnam exported $7.98 billion worth of products to China, up by 46.8 percent.

As such, Vietnam had a big trade deficit with China of $7.44 billion. The value was even higher than Vietnams total export turnover to ASEAN and South Korea combined.

The imports and exports to China increased sharply in the first two months of the year partially because trade with China had been interrupted because of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.

With the high growth rate, the proportion of Chinese goods in Vietnams total import turnover increased from 24.9 percent in the first two months of 2020 to 32.7 percent in the first two months of this year, or one-third of total import turnover.

The report showed a sharp rise in technology and telecommunication imports from China, including computer, electronic products and components (up by 78.3 percent, $2.88 billion), and machines, equipment and accessories (70.7 percent, $3.37 billion).

Vietnam continued importing input materials for domestic production in the textile and garment and footwear industries, including cotton, fiber and fabric. China remained the biggest supplier of these products for Vietnam, worth $1.8 billion in the first two months, accounting for 51 percent.

Also according to the General Department of Customs, Vietnams goods trade with Asian countries had the value of $62.12 billion, up by 25.6 percent over the same period last year, accounting for 64.8 percent of total import and export value of the country.

Vietnams import and export value was $19.82 percent for America (up by 26.8 percent), $10.95 billion for Europe (15.9 percent), $1.85 billion for Oceania (18.7 percent) and $1.11 billion for Africa (35.4 percent).

In the first two months of the year, the total import and export turnover of the whole country reached $95.85 billion, up by 24.6 percent. Of this, the export turnover was $48.74 billion, up by 23.7 percent, or $9.35 billion, while import turnover was $47.11 billion, up by 25.5 percent, or $9.56 billion.

A report of the Ministry of Industry and Trade showed that China was the top trade partner in 2020, the biggest goods supplier and the second-largest export market, after the US, for Vietnam.

Vietnam reported a trade deficit of $35.2 billion with China in 2020, up by 3.74 percent over 2019.

Tam An

Vietnams trade deficit with China hits US$35.2 billion in 2020 China remained the largest supplier of goods to Vietnam in 2020 as Vietnam ran a trade deficit of US$35.2 billion with the neighboring country last year, up 3.7% against 2019, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
The Government is considering all options to make sure Liberty Steel does not go bust.

The company, which is owned by industrialist Sanjeev Guptas GFG Alliance, employs around 3,000 people in the UK.

But it has been in crisis since the start of this month, when GFGs main lender Greensill Capital collapsed.

Liberty Steel, which is owned by industrialist Sanjeev Guptas GFG Alliance, employs around 3,000 people in the UK

Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said he has met Liberty management several times in the past three weeks and this week spoke to unions.

He previously indicated the Government could intervene to help keep the business afloat.

Kwarteng went a step further yesterday, telling MPs in the House of Commons that there is a future for the steel industry in the UK and he would like to support Liberty in its entirety.

He said: We are doing all we can to look at all options to make sure this vital piece of infrastructure continues and remains a going concern.

Labour has called for the Government to step in and save Liberty Steel, with Labour business spokesman Ed Miliband saying the situation was urgent and worrying and that ministers should even consider nationalising Liberty.

Bruno Le Maire, Frances finance minister, promised to protect jobs and factories that could be at risk from Libertys turmoil  and unions have urged the Government to make similar pledges.

Liberty has 11 steel plants in the UK that make car and plane parts and supply steel used to make railway tracks.
The made-in-Vietnam AI system's camera is able to process high-quality images in real-time with 30 frames per second.

A facial recognition technology using artificial intelligence (AI) developed by a research group of the Hanoi University of Science and Technology can recognize peoples faces with 99.7% accuracy.

Ngo Huu Son, a 4th year student of Institute of Information Technology and Communication under the university conceived the idea of door control system with facial recognition technology for many years. His plan of materializing the ideal was supported by Dr. Do Phan Thuan, Sons lecturer.

My idea is also supported by an enterprise to develop commercialized products. They will provide smart software, hardware including identification camera, lane gate and automatic barrier. My team is responsible for making the software for the identification and control system, Son told Hanoitimes.

He said the camera is able to process high-quality images in real-time with 30 frames per second.

When detecting someone in front of the camera, the computing device will select the best quality frame of the persons face so that the central processor can recognize by algorithms, Son added.

When I was in my third academic year, I learned about AI, but it was not easy to apply AI in practice. Besides, processing multiple frames can overload the device, Son said.

Entry control AI system is installed at Chuong Duong Primary School in Hanoi. Photo: The research team

Dr. Thuan said that through many models that improve camera angle and optimize algorithm, the system can select the nearest face for checking and run the check on smaller-scale processing equipment.

In addition to facial recognition, the system integrates a function of detecting fake identity which automatically activates when someone arrives, Thuan noted.

In the coming time, the team will develop algorithms to avoid being fooled by disguise, identify people wearing face masks and check body temperature.

The research team and the enterprise also plan to use AI in smart garage systems, smart shopping carts and air quality monitoring, Thuan said.

A representative of the enterprise supporting Son's idea, who wanted to be anoymous, told Hanoitimes that the AI system developed by Son's research team simply uses information from ordinary cameras and does not need additional sensors (like infrared sensors).

This is an important factor which will make the product reduce price and can be easily integrated into existing camera systems. The product can be widely applied to timekeeping systems, authentication systems for organizations, including schools and businesses.

Moreover, masks are an essential item in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, but when people wears face mask, the accuracy of the facial recognition technology can be reduced by more than 50%. Therefore, we also want to develop this technology to improve facial recognition, the representative stressed.

Hanoitimes

Make-in-Vietnam smart locks to compete with foreign models The smart lock market in Vietnam belongs to foreign enterprises, mainly Chinese, but this is likely to change with the introduction of Make in Vietnam smart locks.
As the City of Laredo continues to experience a downturn in the spread of the novel coronavirus, it celebrated another milestone, announcing that only 12 patients are hospitalized in Laredo with COVID-19.

The mark is the lowest number seen since the city started reporting COVID hospitalizations at a consistent rate. Accordingly, the number of patients is also the lowest mark in 2021, after the year started with 184 people hospitalized.

The Texas Department of State Health Services reports a hospital rate of 3.59% for the Laredo hospital region, based on data from March 24. The rate has now been reported below 4% for the second consecutive day.

Laredo fire chief and emergency management coordinator Guillermo Heard said Laredo's medical sector continues to demobilize state resources at a slow rate amid the decrease of hospitalizations.

According to Heard, about 10% of the workforce sent by the state has been relieved every week since the start of March. In total, 251 health professionals are currently in Laredo, with having demobilized about 150 professionals that were in Laredo to assist in local medical facilities.

Two facilities -- the infusion center at the Haynes Recreation Center and the alternate care site at the UT-Health Science Center -- are currently in operation and will remain in operation until at least the end of March, Heard said. At that point, the facilities will be reevaluated and a decision will be made on whether they will be extended.

Both the facilities will be needed, specifically if a surge in cases is seen due to spring break celebrations and the repeal of some restrictions designed to limit the spread of the coronavirus.

City Manager Robert Eads revealed Thursday that as of the noon update, no City of Laredo employees or their immediate family members have COVID-19, a first since the virus was originally confirmed in the city's workforce.

Eads said he is hopeful the news is yet another indicator that the spread of COVID-19 is lessening in Laredo.

"We're hopeful we could see the same throughout the community," Eads said. "We're driving down to zero, and that's where we want to be."

The city manager also relayed the scheduling of the city council meeting on Monday, when council is expected to discuss their plan to further open the city. Eads said in light of the lessening COVID metrics, that the city council could soon enter phase 2 or 3 of their plan to return to normalcy.

In today's update, city leaders confirmed only one positive and one new death.

The death, of a man in his mid 50s, occurred Wednesday, and marks the fifth COVID-19 death reported in the last four days.

95 people are actively infected with the virus, with 42,182 persons estimated to have recovered from a previous infection. As of noon, 316,350 tests for the coronavirus have been administered in the Laredo area.

Since last March, 43,093 have tested positive and 816 people have died.

78,852 first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in Laredo, with 19.76% of the population fully vaccinated. 66.10% of the population aged 65 and older have received at least one dose of the vaccine.
Hitting out at the ruling government in West Bengal, Defence Minister Rajanath Singh on Thursday said that the state is living in the 19th century because of decades of misrule by the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and Left parties.

"When entire India is living in a new century, the 21st century, West Bengal is living in the 19th century. This is all because of decades of misrule by the Left parties and TMC," Singh said while addressing an election rally in Joypur district on the last day of campaigning before the first phase of voting set to take place on Saturday.

He also hit out at the government over the water issue in the state and promised that every household will get water by the end of 2024 under the 'Jal Jeevan Mission' Scheme.

"I am absolutely sure that BJP will win more than 200 seats in the elections. The people of West Bengal want to ask Mamata Di that what has she done for them in the last 20 years. Water is a major issue in this region. But I assure you all that every house will get water by the end of 2024 under 'Jal Jeevan Mission' Scheme," he said.

Citing the 13th Finance Commission, the Defence minister said that West Bengal was given Rs 1.32 lakh crores during UPA II regime which was increased to Rs 4.32 lakh crore during the NDA government and asked Chief Minister -- "where has the money gone?"

Singh also promised that if voted to power in the state, the government would provide 33 per cent reservation for women in jobs, increase the widow pension to Rs 3,000, ASHA workers' salary from Rs 450 to Rs 600 and start a comprehensive skill development programme to train 20 lakh youth.

"After forming the government in West Bengal, we will launch a Machhuare Samman Nidhi Yojana from which four lakh fishermen of Bengal will get Rs 6,000 annually just like (farmers do from) the Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana," he added.

and BJP are at loggerheads ahead of the assembly elections in West Bengal.

The first phase of the assembly polls will be kicked off on Saturday. In the first phase, 30 seats covering all assembly constituencies from the districts of Purulia and Jhargram and a segment of Bankura, Purba Medinipur and Paschim Medinipur will go for polls.

Elections to the 294-member West Bengal Assembly will be held in eight phases starting from March 27 with the final round of voting on April 29. The counting of votes will take place on May 2.

(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.)




We're a family of seven living in Georgia where Andrew's working as a professor at GSU. You can read more about us here
Ghaziabad, March 26 : The farmers sitting on the Ghazipur border on Friday expressed their displeasure over a Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader being taken into police custody.

Demanding his immediate release by the police, the farmers rode to the Dabur Cut Chauraha near the Kaushambi Metro station in Ghaziabad on tractors. However, the farmers were immediately evicted from the Chauraha by the police.

Earlier, while addressing a press conference in Ahmedabad, BKU leader Yudhvir Singh was taken into custody by the police. As soon as other farmer leaders came to know about the detention, they expressed their displeasure over the incident and demanded the police to release the BKU leader immediately.

Soon after receiving the information about the farmers heading towards the Kaushambi Metro station, Additional District Magistrate Shailendra Kumar Singh reached the spot along with other officials. The senior officials asked the farmers to vacate the roads and return to the border.
Nine British citizens and four organisations that denounced human rights violations in Xinjiang targeted. On March 22, the Chinese sanctioned European Union personalities and institutions. China responds to punitive measures from the US, Europe, the UK and Canada. London and the EU see Beijing as a "systemic" threat.

Beijing (AsiaNews) - China today adopted sanctions against nine British citizens accused of spreading "falsehoods" about the situation in Xinjiang, in the second round of punitive measures decided by Beijing this week.

The first came on March 22, shortly after the US, the European Union, Britain and Canada imposed sanctions on four senior officials and a government body for violating human rights in the Chinese autonomous region. The Chinese government responded with punitive countermeasures against EU bodies, MEPs, politicians, academics and European research centres.

The targeted British personalities sanctioned by Beijing include five MPs, among them Iain Duncan Smith, former Conservatives leader (see photo). All are part of the Interparliamentary Alliance on China, which brings together legislators from different countries.

Four groups that denounced the repression of Uyghurs and other Turkish-speaking minorities of Islamic faith in Xinjiang were also affected. The sanctioned persons will not be able to enter China, Hong Kong or Macao; their assets on Chinese territory will be frozen; they will then not be able to have business relations with Chinese citizens and institutions.

According to expert data, confirmed by the United Nations, the Chinese authorities hold or have detained over one million Muslims in concentration camps in Xinjiang, which Uyghurs, Kazakhs and Kyrgyz call "East Turkestan".

Recent media revelations have also highlighted the existence of labour camps in the Chinese autonomous region, where hundreds of thousands of Muslims are reportedly used as forced labour especially in the cotton harvest.

According to German researcher Adrian Zenz, there are textile factories built next to internment camps in Xinjiang: satellite images, says the academic, show masses of people in uniform moving from one site to another.

The Chinese reject all charges and claim that the camps in Xinjiang are vocational training centres and projects for poverty reduction, the fight against terrorism and separatism.

Beijing justified the measures against British citizens and organisations saying that in turn the UK's decision to impose sanctions "flagrantly breaches international law and basic norms governing international relations, grossly interferes in China's internal affairs, and severely undermines China-UK relations."

In his recent foreign policy paper, Boris Johnson's government described the Asian giant as a "systemic competitor" and "the biggest state-based threat to the UK's economic security." It is the same vision adopted by the EU, which has not yet prepared a counter-response to the Chinese sanctions, limiting itself for the moment to declarations of protest.
The Northern Ireland woman at the helm of conservation charity the National Trust has said she regrets the timing of its report on the slavery links of its historic houses.

Hilary McGrady, who is from Co Antrim and has been director general of the charity for three years, was speaking to Jeremy Paxman on podcast the Lock-In about the challenges of the last year.

Some members accused the charity of pursuing a "woke" agenda and aligning itself with the Black Lives Matter movement when it released a report in September on the slavery connections of places, such as Winston Churchill's home at Chartwell. It also commented that the former owners of Mount Stewart in Co Down had supported abolition of slavery.

But Ms McGrady said her only regret was the report's timing. She said she'd received "brickbats" and had outraged many Conservative Party members.

"If I had my time again, the slavery report was absolutely the right thing to do, absolutely the right commission, but timing-wise, not brilliant," she said.

"My biggest mistake was publishing it when we did because it got conflated with Black Lives Matter, and also my organisation and I personally didn't have the bandwidth to do it all."

Andrew Murrison MP had accused the body of "using a much-loved institution to platform its own views and denigrate figures like Churchill".

Ms McGrady said: "I am not woke. What I am is interested in telling the history of all our properties."

Ms McGrady said she had worried that the Trust would collapse because of the financial pressures it faced due to the closure of its properties in lockdown, including cafes and shops, during lockdown. But she said it would survive after making around 100m in cuts, and availing of government support.

The charity also owns The Crown Bar in Belfast, as well as other historic homes like The Argory and Ardress House in Co Armagh.

With the podcast's theme of 'lock-in' the theme of the podcast, Mr Paxman asked which National Trust pub would be her venue of choice.

"Now, I'm biased here, where else could I say other than The Crown Bar in Belfast. There couldn't be a better one."

Paxman, who spent time in Belfast as a journalist in the 1970s, retorted: "I've gotten p***ed there already."
In a rare moment of self-admonition, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey admitted that the influential social media platform he co-founded may have contributed to the Capitol riots.

Rep. Mike Doyle, D-Pa., asked during a Thursday hearing whether social media services contributed to the spread of misinformation that led to the Jan. 6 events, and Dorsey was the lone tech executive to say yes. The unrest at the Capitol on Jan. 6 left five dead, including a Capitol police officer.

Dorsey did attach a caveat to his response: But you also have to take into consideration the broader ecosystem, he said, per the New York Times. Its not just about the technological systems that we use.

Hours after the Capitol riots, Twitter was the first big platform to censure former President Donald Trump after he shared a video in which he called the rioters very special and unfairly treated, but wavered on removing the video from the site. YouTube and Facebook removed the video sooner than Twitter.

But those companies respective head honchos, Sundar Pichai and Mark Zuckerberg, did not answer Rep. Doyle, both instead opting to avoid the question, Newsweek reported. Pichai, Googles CEO, said it was a complex question, while Zuckerberg completely deferred responsibility on his platforms role in disseminating misinformation.

All three platforms are known avenues for misinformation, especially among the right.

A New York University study published earlier this month found that far-right misinformation was more engaged on Facebook than credible news, effectively forming a feedback loop in which it spread faster than credible news. A 2018 report from the Guardian also found that YouTubes algorithm makes it easy for viral misinformation to spread through the sites recommended clips.

As for Twitter, the site has taken a slightly less opaque role in curtailing misinformation in recent years  for instance, by repeatedly putting warnings on prominent pieces of misinformation by the likes of Trump and others  but still served as a viable platform for its spread, as evidenced by a Brookings Institution analysis published last year.

A Twitter spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment from SFGATE.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 26)  The World Bank has downscaled its 2021 economic growth forecast for the Philippines.

The Washington-based lender on Friday (Manila time) announced a 5.5% growth projection for the country, down from the 5.9% it initially announced in December last year.

The Philippines, it noted has a high domestic transmission of COVID-19 and is lagging behind in its vaccine rollout.

The Philippines is also among the last countries in the region to start its vaccination drive, only rolling it out on March 1. The country also has one of the highest COVID-19 case tallies among ASEAN members, logging over 700,000 infections to date. It also broke its all-time high for daily cases recorded for the fifth time on Friday with nearly 10,000.

Another factor the World Bank pointed to is the country relying more on "prolonged restrictions on mobility rather than an effective test-based strategy."

While most parts of the Philippines are placed under the more relaxed modified general community quarantine (MGCQ), main economic hub Metro Manila has been placed in a stricter GCQ NCR Plus 'bubble' along with Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal for two weeks.

The multilateral lender also flagged the country's "conservative" fiscal stance, along with its under-spending due to weak implementation.

The government recorded a "modest" growth in expenditures as of January, which contributed to the reversal of the budget gap for the month into a fiscal deficit. Economists have counted on ramped up spending to prevent the domestic economy from deteriorating even more.

"[G]rowth is expected to recover in the medium term, contingent on an improved external environment, a successful vaccination program, and the loosening of movement restrictions," read the World Bank report.

The World Bank's 2021 economic growth forecast for the Philippines rests below the 6.5% to 7.5% forecast range eyed by the Development Budget Coordination Committee.

Still, it's status quo for the DBCC's projection for now, according to Acting Socioeconomic Planning secretary Karl Chua.

"Too early in the year to make changes," Chua told reporters about the committee's forecast, adding the body will always "look at the data to guide our projections."

The World Bank meanwhile raised its 2022 forecast for the Philippine economy to 6.3% from the previous 6%, but still below the 8-10% targeted growth by the DBCC. It notes economic output for the country, along with Thailand, is projected to stay below pre-pandemic levels for the year.

The Philippines remains in recession, with the economy tumbling by a record-low of -9.5% in 2020 as quarantine restrictions continue to dampen consumer and business activity.

CNN Philippines Lois Calderon and Melissa Lopez contributed to this report.
HADDAM - Their voices cut through the morning fog Friday as female students at Haddam-Killingworth High School called for more education on stopping sexual harassment and sexual assault.

Dozens of students - including a number of men and boys - rallied on the Village Green in Higganum demanding greater awareness of and instruction about ways to curb harassment.

The principal organizer, Hannah Laird-Hoover, said she thinks the school needs to develop more instruction about body autonomy and all types of harassment, including unsolicited emails, requests for inappropriate photos, inappropriate comments, and inappropriate touching.

Were here to try and raise awareness about this issue and to speak out on behalf of women who have been victims but who (might) be afraid to speak out for fear of being judged, Laird-Hoover said.

Following speeches by several speakers, the crowd - which by then had grown past 200 - marched to the five-way intersection of Saybrook Road and Route 81.

There, protesters spread out into smaller groups on each road leading from the intersection holding up signs that reinforced their messages.

Supporters who drove by the protest honked their horns in support of the students.

Everyone at the event worse a mask. Two Connecticut State Police troopers were present, but they kept a low profile.

At mid-morning, state Rep. Christine Palm, D-Chester, came by to lend her support to the protest.

Holding a sign that read flirting is not consent, senior Morgan Schwartz said she came to the rally because I know so many people who have affected by the issues they were drawing attention to.

The school issued a message to parents and staff from Superintendent of Schools Holly Hageman this week in which she explained the school systems stance against sexual harassment and assault and bullying.

The Region 17 schools promote a secure and safe school climate, conducive to teaching and learning that is free from threat, harassment and any type of bullying behavior or teen dating violence, the statement said. Therefore, bullying or harassment of a student by another student is prohibited, Hageman said in her statement.

From an education perspective, both the middle school and high school health curricula include instruction on healthy relationships, effective communication and refusal skills, and teen dating violence. As needed, the administration or counseling staff provides further education or counseling on topics that may need to be revisited or reinforced, Hageman said.

Further, Hageman wrote, Whenever any allegation of any type of inappropriate behavior is brought to the attention of the school, the administration follows any and all pertinent Board policies and regulations to investigate fully and respond accordingly. Victims of sex discrimination and/or sexual harassment are encouraged to report such claims and are guided in the process of how to file a report. Employees respond to such complaints in a prompt and equitable manner.

Senior Kristin Daley organized a petition to increase awareness about appropriate interactions among and between students.

.
A year ago, as the Covid-19 pandemic began bearing down on the U.S., the Texas Library Association was one of the first major conferences in the U.S. to announce the cancellation of its in-person event, replaced by a quickly organizedand remarkably successfuldigital event. In 2021, the pandemic has again forced TLAs annual conference online. But conference organizers have had a year to plan this years virtual event, and librarians and conference organizers have learned much from the past year of Zoom meetings and other necessary digital innovations.

Set to run online ThursdaySaturday, April 2224, the TLA 2021 Annual Conference will feature 200 educational sessions and a strong lineup of live speakers, and organizers are confident that it will inspire, educate, and entertain attendees. Registration will remain open through April 24, and the conference recordings will be available to registered attendees through June 22. Below are some program highlights.

General sessions



Writer, marketer, and media representation advocatewill deliver the opening keynote at the TLAs opening General Session (Thursday, 8:30 a.m.). Joseph, who was recently selected for the Forbes 30 Under 30 list, will discuss his latest book The Black Friend: On Being a Better White Person (Candlewick). In it, he touches on everything from cultural appropriation to power dynamics, reverse racism, white privilege, microaggressions, and the tragic results of overt racism.

Author Isabel Wilkerson will keynote TLAs General Session II (Friday, 9 a.m.). Wilkerson is the author most recently of the bestselling Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents (Random House). In 1994, she won the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing as the New York Times Chicago bureau chief, making her the first African American woman to win a Pulitzer Prize in journalism.

And rounding out the main program speakers, bestselling author Linda Sue Park will keynote TLAs General Session III (Saturday, 9 a.m.). Park will discuss her latest novel, the highly praised Prairie Lotus (Clarion), a middle grade historical about a half-Asian girl growing up in a small town in the U.S. in 1880. Shell also discuss her upcoming work, The One Thing Youd Save (Clarion). Park is also deeply involved with equity, diversity, and inclusion work for We Need Diverse Books and the Society of Childrens Books Writers and Illustrators.

Note: All general session talks will be live events.

More featured authors

Topping the list of great authors at TLA 2021 will be Matthew McConaughey, the Academy Awardwinning actor, author, and maybe the future governor of Texas? McConaughey will speak on day one of the show in a live presentation at 11:30 a.m. He will discuss his bestselling memoir, Greenlights (Crown). In 2009, McConaughey and his wife Camila founded the Just Keep Livin Foundation, which helps at-risk high school students make healthier mind, body, and spiritual choices.

In another live session, Ilyasah Shabazz and Tiffany D. Jackson will feature at the Black Caucus Round Table Author Session (Thursday, 1:45 p.m.). Shabazz and Jackson will discuss their new book, The Awakening of Malcolm X: A Novel (FSG), an intimate look at Malcolm Xs young adult years that broaches larger discussions on Black power, prison reform, and civil rights. Shabazz, the daughter of Malcolm X and Betty Shabazz, is an author, motivational speaker, and community organizer. Jackson is the author of several YA novels, including Mondays Not Coming, which was a Walter Dean Myers Honor Book and a Coretta Scott King John Steptoe New Talent Award winner.

Danny Trejo, one of Hollywoods most recognizable character actors, will deliver this years TLA After Hours Keynote (Thursday, 6:30 p.m.), where hell discuss his forthcoming memoir, Trejo: My Life of Crime, Redemption, and Hollywood, due out from Atria this summer. Famed for his decades-spanning career, which has included roles in AMCs Breaking Bad, FXs Sons of Anarchy, and in director Robert Rodriguezs Spy Kids and Machete film franchises, Trejo is also a successful restaurateur.

Dwayne Reed and Gary Paulsen will speak at the Library Friends, Trustees & Advocates Author Session (Friday, noon). Reed, a Chicago educator better known as Americas favorite rapping teacher, spreads his message of empowerment to more than 50,000 followers, subscribers, readers, listeners, and fans each month through live seminars and interactive workshops. His first book, Simon B. Rhymin (Little, Brown), was published this month. Paulsen is the author of more than 100 books for children and teens. His newest book is Gone to the Woods: Surviving a Lost Childhood (FSG).

This years Closing Author Session will be keynoted by Houston native Attica Locke (Saturday, 3 p.m.), whose latest novel, Heaven, My Home (Mulholland), is the sequel to the Edgar Awardwinning Bluebird, Bluebird, which is the TLA 2021 All Conference Read. A former fellow at the Sundance Institutes Feature Filmmakers Lab, Locke works as a screenwriter as well. Most recently, she was a writer and producer on Netflixs "When They See Us" and the Hulu adaptation of "Little Fires Everywhere." The conference will offer multiple opportunities to engage with Bluebird, Bluebird, culminating in Lockes talk, which will close the event.

The Bluebonnets

Always a highlight of TLA, the Texas Bluebonnet Award is a nationally recognized childrens choice award. The program is designed to encourage reading for pleasure among students in grades three through six. Each year 20 books are chosen for the Texas Bluebonnet Award Master List by a selection committee. If students read a minimum of five books from the master list, they can vote for their favorite title each January.

The 2021 Texas Bluebonnet has been awarded to Chris Van Dusen for If I Built a School (Dial). This year, almost 55,000 students from 1,275 registered institutions (school libraries, public libraries, and homeschooling groups) submitted their votesan especially impressive feat considering the library and school closures due to the pandemic. Students representing 10 Texas school districts will present the award to Van Dusen at the Texas Bluebonnet Award Author Session (Saturday, 12:151 p.m.).

Professional program highlights

This years TLA 2021 will be held on a new virtual, interactive conference platform that will feature strong education sessions for all types of libraries. They include multiple, concurrent prerecorded education programs, many of which will have live chat sessions with speakers and panelists. In accordance with this years conference theme, Celebrate Differences, Empower Voices, the professional program is loaded with useful sessions designed to help attendees celebrate difference, and to get more comfortable confronting uncomfortable but vital topics. As always, consult the online program for a final and complete list. Weve highlighted a selection of panels below.

 Leaning into Discomfort: Talking about Race and Anti-racism in Libraries (Thursday, 10:1511:15 a.m.). In this session, attendees can learn professional development strategies for guiding librarians through anti-racist work and discuss and share ideas about how to continually grow in these practices. Featuring Shannon Houston and Ami Uselman, Round Rock ISD.

 Its Not Imposter Syndrome (Thursday, 1:452:45 p.m.). By examining the origins of imposter syndrome, we can uncover how library organizations and managers play a role in constructing the phenomenon, and its effect on library workers. Attendees will learn how white supremacy, organizational culture, and other workplace conditions contribute to the problem, and how to identify opportunities for improvement. Featuring Nicola Andrews, University of San Francisco.

 Your Public Library Presents: Andrew Aydin (Friday, 34 p.m.). Celebrate the life and work of civil rights icon Congressman John Lewis with Andrew Aydin, who coauthored the March graphic novel trilogy with Lewis. Aydin, the former digital director and policy advisor to Lewis, is also coauthor, with Lewis, of the forthcoming Run graphic novels.

 A Conversation with Neal Shusterman (Saturday, 10:1511:15 a.m.). A discussion with the charismatic Shusterman, the bestselling author of more than 30 novels for children, teens, and adults.

 Marginalized Voices Rise Up: A Conversation with Sharon Flake and Tami Charles (Saturday, 1:452:45 p.m.). Sharon G. Flake discusses writing strong characters from marginalized communities over her lifetime and her latest YA novel, The Life Im In (Scholastic Press). Tami Charles is the bestselling author of the childrens book All Because You Matter, an ode to Black and brown children everywhere.

Exhibits and more

In addition to the main speakers and professional program, attendees can visit with exhibitors to discover the latest books, products, and services offered in the virtual exhibit hall. They can also connect with colleagues during conference hours and make new connections in live chat rooms, live virtual social events, a virtual photo booth, and more. For a complete list of scheduled events and for more on this years virtual offerings, visit the TLA 2021 conference website.
Biden's inaugural priest and family friend investigated for questionable behavior, placed on leave

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The Jesuit priest who presided over the inaugural mass for President Joe Biden is being investigated and placed on leave from the university where he serves as president.

In an announcement from the chair of the board of trustees posted on its website Thursday, Santa Clara University in California said that Father Kevin OBrien had exhibited behaviors in adult settings, consisting primarily of conversations, which may be inconsistent with established Jesuit protocols and boundaries.

The university, also known as the Jesuit University In Silicon Valley, noted that an independent investigation has been launched. During the course of the inquiry, OBrien will be on leave from his position.

The Board of Trustees takes these accounts seriously. We also respect the need for a thorough investigation and support the actions being taken by the USA West Province Office. We reserve any further action on the part of the Trustees until we have fully reviewed the final results of the investigation, board chair John M. Sobrato wrote in the statement.

The Trustees support those who came forward to share their accounts. It is important that anyone who witnesses actions they believe are inconsistent with SCUs values or rules is able to share their concerns and have confidence that they will be taken seriously.

The statement did not elaborate further on what allegations have been made against OBrien but noted that the executive committee's trustees were briefed on the accusations. The committee confirmed OBriens appointment of Provost Lisa Kloppenberg to serve as acting president while he is on leave.

The Jesuits' West Province includes Arizona, Alaska, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Washington.

I would ask that everyone please allow the investigation to run its course, Sobrato stated. We will not be providing interim updates, but will communicate the final results of the investigation.

The 54-year-old priest celebrated mass on Inauguration Day just before Bidens Jan. 20 swearing-in ceremony at St. Matthew's Cathedral in Washington, D.C.

The mass was attended by Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, their family members and other political leaders.

OBrien has served as SCU president since 2019 after he served as dean of SCUs Jesuit School of Theology for two years. According to the schools website, OBrien joined the Society of Jesus in 1996. He was ordained to the priesthood in 2006.

Before SCU, OBrien was based at Georgetown University, where he was executive director of campus ministry and then vice president for mission and ministry. While in Washington, he served at Holy Trinity Church, where the Bidens have and continue to attend Mass. OBrien is described as a Biden family friend.

"This day, when we emphasize national unity, we welcome people of all faith traditions and all political preferences, for we are all sons and daughters of God, and we all need to say thank you to the God who has been so, so good to us and to our country, OBrien said in his Jan. 20 sermon. And we also need to rely on God's help, God's encouragement."
Friday, March 26, 2021

An attorney whose lax supervision of a non-lawyer employee facilitated a $2.7 million misappropriation has been reprimanded by the New Jersey Supreme Court as reciprocal discipline for a six-month New York suspension.

As explained by the Disciplinary Review Board

When respondent initially trained Teitelbaum, he properly supervised Teitelbaums work. Thereafter, respondent failed to regularly review, audit, and reconcile the firms attorney trust accounts, or to supervise Teitelbaum. Indeed, as time progressed, respondent delegated more responsibility to Teitelbaum, allowed him to make online bank account transfers, and authorized him to be a signatory on the firms attorney trust account. Between 2009 and 2013, as a result of respondents utter abdication of his recordkeeping duties, Teitelbaum misappropriated more than $2.7 million from the firms accounts, including the attorney trust account, comprising more than $2.1 million in client funds, in more than 200 client matters, and more than $573,000 in law firm funds. Additionally, between 2005 and 2009, respondent improperly deposited more than $15,000 in personal funds in his firms attorney trust account, out of ignorance of the Rules of Professional Conduct, rather than for an improper purpose.

Teitelbaums scheme came to light when, in June 2013, TD Bank notified the OAE of a $274.47 overdraft of respondents New York attorney trust account. Teitelbaum intercepted a letter that the OAE had sent to respondent in connection with the overdraft and replied to it, without respondents knowledge. On June 27, 2013, because the TD Bank account was a New York account, the OAE forwarded the notice of overdraft to the Lawyers Fund for Client Protection of the State of New York.

The attorney had consented to the New York sanction and made full restitution.

Sanction

Although respondent consented to a six-month suspension from practicing law in New York, the OAE recommended a reprimand for his violations of the New Jersey Rules of Professional Conduct. New Jersey disciplinary precedent supports that position.

The core of respondents misconduct is his failure to supervise his nonlawyer bookkeeper. Attorneys who fail to supervise their nonlawyer staff typically receive discipline ranging from an admonition to a reprimand, depending on the presence of other ethics infractions, prior discipline, or aggravating and mitigating factors.

(Mike Frisch)

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/legal_profession/2021/03/when-respondent-initially-trained-teitelbaum-he-properly-supervisedteitelbaums-work-thereafter-respondent-failed-to-reg.html
A 'genius' MIT graduate who was described as 'off the charts gifted' by his high school counselor was found dead in his Chicago apartment surrounded by explosives at 11:30pm on Tuesday.

Police made the discovery after being asked to visit his apartment by his father, who had not heard from Hilk in several days.

Upon arrival at the Streeterville address, officers heard water running but no one answered the door. Inside, police discovered Hilk's body.

A follow-up investigation found Theodore Hilk's apartment contained bomb-making equipment for three different explosive devices.

Police were unable to confirm earlier reports that the 30-year-old had two active pipe bombs stored in his refrigerator in the 7th floor Streeterville apartment.

But the discovery of explosive materials, which police initially thought was a meth lab, sparked an evacuation of two floors of the apartment block.

Chicago police bomb squad, SWAT team, and the FBI attended the scene.

Theodore Hilk, 30, A 'genius' MIT graduate who was described as 'off the charts gifted' by his high school counselor, was found dead in his Chicago apartment on Tuesday

A follow-up investigation found Theodore Hilk's apartment contained bomb-making equipment for three different explosive devices

Earlier reports said Hilk had stored two active pipe bombs in his refrigerator in the 7th Streeterville apartment, but police were unable to confirm the claim

The Chicago Fire Department later uncovered lead Azide, a substance most often used commercially as a detonator for large explosives, in Hilk's flat.

The explosive material was transported from the flat on 240 east Illinois Street in a white blast-proof container.

Chicago police said the materials had all been disposed of safely by the Special Functions Division.

Police said the site was cleared by 11pm on Wednesday.

A neighbour, who asked to remain anonymous, told CBS Chicago they had closed their vents in fear that dangerous chemicals were loose in the air.

She said: 'We didn't know if there was something in the vents. So we turned off the vents in our house. We opened up the windows,'

The woman, who has lived in the apartment block for seven years, added: 'There was a lot of police communication through the building telling us they're conducting tests and everybody should stay put.

'The concern was: what was going in that apartment really?'

She said residents had googled Hilk in effort to find out why he had stored explosive chemicals his flat.

She explained: 'Somebody was googling them, and he seems like he had a pretty educated background. So we were more worried, what was he doing, what was he thinking?'

How Hilk got hold of the cache of explosives and what he intended to use them for remains unclear.

He was declared dead at 4am on Wednesday but is believed to have died days earlier. Police said the body had already started decomposing when it was discovered.

Any autopsy to determine the cause of death is underway with results from the Medical Examiner expected in the coming days.

The Chicago Fire Department also uncovered lead Azide, a substance most often used commercially as a detonator for large explosives, in Hilk's flat

The explosive material was transported from Hilk's flat on 240 east Illinois Street in a white blast-proof container

Chicago police said the materials had all been disposed of safely by the Special Functions Division

How Hilk got hold of the cache of explosives and what he intended to use them for remains unclear

The 30-year-old graduated from MIT, where he earned a bachelor's degree in computer science, engineering, and math, in 2013

The 30-year-old graduated from MIT, where he earned a bachelor's degree in computer science, engineering, and math, in 2013.

He went on to work as a day trader at Headlands Technologies in Chicago in 2015.

Hilk is originally from Kansas and went to school in Shawnee, on the outskirts of Kansas City.

He was a very intelligent individual and received a perfect score, a 36, on his ACT in 2007.

High school counselor Carolyn Devane said: 'I have only known a handful of those who have scored a 36.

'I think his greatest struggle at times might have been the social side of being a teenager and being so off the charts gifted.'

Hilk was declared dead at 4am on Wednesday but is believed to have died days earlier and police said the body had already started decomposing when it was discovered

The discovery of explosive materials, which police initially thought was a meth lab, sparked an evacuation of two floors of the Streeterville apartment block

Neighbours told CBS Chicago they had closed their vents in fear dangerous chemicals were loose in the air

Hilk is originally from Kansas and went to school in Shawnee, on the outskirts of Kansas City

The30-year-old was a very intelligent individual and received a perfect score, a 36, on his ACT in 2007
At least one person was killed and three others were wounded by gunmen outside a bar in Cancun.

The incident was captured on camera and showed at least four people standing next to the entrance of Bar Ginza in the upscale residential neighborhood of Puerto Cancun on Friday at 2am local time.

A taxi can be spotted slowly pulling into the commercial center's parking lot before three armed men stepped out of the vehicle.

WARNING GRAPHIC CONTENT

Two gunmen are seen in a video firing at a group of people who were standing outside Bar Ginza in Cancun, Mexico, on Friday. A 40-year-old security guard was killed in the attack and three people were wounded

Customers at Bar Ginza tend to a wounded person moments after three gunmen opened fired at the waterhole located in the upscale Cancun neighborhood of Puerto Cancun

One of the assailants stopped in front of the group and appeared to exchange words with them before he opened fire.

Another suspect raced toward the bar's door entrance and opened fire just moments before a third accomplice unleashed his own assault.

The shooter shot at the bar and then towards the group, including two men who tried to crawl away.

A video of the shooting obtained by network Televisa showed the attackers running back towards the taxi to escape.

A surveillance camera captures the moment the three suspects stepped out of a taxi before they unleashed a deadly assault at a bar in Cancun on Friday which left a security guard dead and three people with gunshot wounds

A cellphone video recorded by a bar customer shows two of the victims who were shot at close range by gunmen in Cancun on Friday

Separate video footage showed multiple customers lying on the floor while they were tended to by their companions.

The lone casualty of the shooting was identified by local media as Ernesto Y., a 40-year-old security officer who was employed at the bar.

Among the wounded is Patricia G., 39-year-old Brazilian national, who was shot in the chest.

A 25-year-old student named Diego C., from Mexico City, suffered gunshot wound to the abdomen.

The head of the bar's security staff, Julio C., 39, was shot twice on the back and twice on his left arm.

Authorities have not provided a motive for the mass shooting. No arrests had been reported as of Friday afternoon.
The Ministry of Blue Economy, Marine Resources, Fisheries and Shipping wishes to inform the public and in particular registered and applicant fishers, that in-lagoon fishing activities will resume as from Monday 29 March 2021.

These regions affected by the MV Wakashio oil spill, as follows:

a) from La Cambuse to Mahebourg; and

b) from Bois des Amourettes to Trou dEau Douce.

The attention of registered and applicant fishers concerned is drawn to the fact that the restriction on in-lagoon fishing, as well as the collection of baits in the region from Pointe Canon to Vieux Grand Port including mangroves is being maintained.

In view of the COVID 19 situation prevailing in Mauritius, the following special arrangements are being made to enable the carrying out of fishing activities during the confinement period 

A. Registered Fishers

a) All registered fishers are authorised to carry out their fishing activities in their respective fishing areas as mentioned in their Fisherman Registration Cards issued by this Ministry from Monday to Saturday between 6.00 am and 6.00 pm, excluding public holidays, irrespective of alphabetical order;

b) The fishers shall notify the nearest fisheries post or the National Coast Guard office before they set out for their fishing activities;

c) They shall keep in their possession their Fisherman Registration Cards for the whole duration of their fishing activities; and

d) Only two fishers including applicant fishers will be allowed per fishing boat and they should observe all sanitary precautions.

B. Applicant Fishers

a) Applicant fishers are allowed to accompany registered fishers for fishing activities from Monday to Saturday between 6.00 am to 6.00 pm, excluding public holidays, irrespective of alphabetical order;

b) To strictly control their movement, this Ministry is issuing a memo to the applicant fishers certifying that they are allowed to accompany registered fishers for fishing activities from Monday to Saturday between 6.00 am to 6.00 pm, excluding public holidays;

c) Applicant fishers must call at their respective fisheries posts to collect the memo;

d) They shall keep in their possession the memo issued by the fisheries posts and their National Identity Card for the whole duration of their fishing activities; and

e) This memo shall be valid during the confinement period only.

Access to the fishing sites will be strictly monitored by officers of the Fisheries Protection Service of the Ministry of Blue Economy, Resources, Fisheries and Shipping and the National Coast Guard.

For their safety, registered and applicant fishers shall wear their life jackets for the whole duration of the fishing trips.

The Ministry relies on the collaboration of all for the smooth running of the fishing activities.

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OTTAWA, ON, March 26, 2021 /CNW/ - The Honourable Mary Ng, Minister of Small Business, Export Promotion and International Trade, and the Honourable Bardish Chagger, Minister of Diversity and Inclusion and Youth, today issued the following statement:

"The Government of Canada is committed to standing with Canadians of Asian descent from coast to coast to coast against the drastic rise in anti-Asian racism and hate crimes in Canada. Canada's commitment to inclusion, diversity and multiculturalism is unwavering and offers no place for any forms of racism or discrimination. These harmful acts of anti-Asian racism must stop, and we condemn all forms of it.

"Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have seen discrimination and violence fuelled by xenophobic rhetoric and scapegoating. As we continue to fight this pandemic and work toward an inclusive recovery, it is important that we remain committed to combatting anti-Asian racism and discrimination in all of its forms to build a society that is consciously more inclusive and safer for all.

"As part of our government's ongoing work to take action against anti-Asian racism, we met today with Asian community and business leaders and allies from Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton to discuss how the Government of Canada can best support them and collaborate in the fight against anti-Asian racism. Joel Lightbound, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, participated in the discussion on behalf of Minister Blair.

"Minister Joyce Murray and members of Parliament Han Dong, Shaun Chen, Jean Yip, Randeep Sarai, Hedy Fry and Ken Hardie were also present, as well as law enforcement leadership, to hear directly from the community. As a society, as a government and as a country, we must all take action to combat anti-Asian racism and stop the stigma and the spread of misinformation, whether online, on our streets, in our homes or in the workplace.

Story continues

"No one should ever feel unsafe or threatened because of who they are. As a government, we have a responsibility to take action, and we will continue to work with communities of Asian descent to take concrete steps to confront all forms of anti-Asian racism and discrimination.

"Our work does not stop here. We also call on all Canadians to support and stand with their friends, family and neighbours of Asian descent during these difficult times and to take action against anti-Asian racism."

SOURCE Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada

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View original content: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/March2021/26/c4380.html
The US State Department on Thursday referred to the joint Earth-observing mission NISAR, between ISRO of India and NASA, and observed that the "stellar" partnership between the two nations will be a very useful tool to address the matters pertaining to disaster preparedness while it will also cater to the need for management of natural resources across the world.



The Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, US State Department was quoted by ANI as saying "Thrilled with NASA and ISRO collaborating together on satellites. This stellar US-India partnership will help optimise the management of the world's natural resources and enhance disaster preparedness. India recently shipped critical components to the US to support the NISAR mission."

Meet NISAR 



Earth observations will be taken to new heights with the development of this satellite, a joint mission between @NASAJPL & @ISRO. Goals for the mission include spotting potential natural hazards and monitoring rising sea levels. Learn more: https://t.co/F50taDwZ24 pic.twitter.com/Eb923cjwaF  NASA (@NASA) March 24, 2021

Equipment in place for mission by NASA and ISRO

The joint earth-observatory mission NISAR is aimed at making global measurements of the causes and consequences of land surface changes by using advanced radar imaging, something that NASA has been using for a long time now. The mission will be equipped with high-end tools that will help scientists in NASA and ISRO fetch information about the earth using satellite imagery. The tools NASA is providing include a radar reflector antenna, a high-rate communication subsystem, GPS receivers, a solid-state recorder, and a payload data subsystem; while ISRO will provide the launch vehicle, the spacecraft bus, the S-band SAR, and the associated launch services that India specialises in.

Meet NISAR 



Earth observations will be taken to new heights with the development of this satellite, a joint mission between @NASAJPL & @ISRO. Goals for the mission include spotting potential natural hazards and monitoring rising sea levels. Learn more: https://t.co/F50taDwZ24 pic.twitter.com/Eb923cjwaF  NASA (@NASA) March 24, 2021

A large satellite equipped with one of the largest reflector antennae is taking shape in the cleanroom at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California. As per a statement issued by NASA, "By tracking subtle changes in Earth's surface, it will spot warning signs of imminent volcanic eruptions, help to monitor groundwater supplies, track the melt rate of ice sheets tied to sea-level rise, and observe shifts in the distribution of vegetation around the world."


AUSTIN, Texas - Texas officials on Thursday raised the death toll from February's winter storm and blackouts to at least 111 people  nearly doubling the state's initial tally following one of the worst power outages in U.S. history.

FILE - In this Feb. 18, 2021, file photo, an Oncor Electric Delivery lineman crew works on repairing a utility pole that was damaged by the winter storm that passed through Odessa, Texas. Texas officials on Thursday, March, 25, 2021 raised the death toll from February's winter storm and blackouts to at least 111 people  nearly doubling the state's initial tally following one of the worst power outages in U.S. history.. (Eli Hartman/Odessa American via AP, File)

AUSTIN, Texas - Texas officials on Thursday raised the death toll from February's winter storm and blackouts to at least 111 people  nearly doubling the state's initial tally following one of the worst power outages in U.S. history.

The frigid weather also was blamed for dozens of more deaths across other Southern states including Arkansas, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Kentucky and Alabama.

The majority of the Texas deaths are associated with hypothermia, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services. And the dramatic number of new victims is still a potential undercount, as officials continue investigating deaths that happened around the time the storm knocked out power to more than 4 million customers in Texas.

Many homes went without power or drinkable water for days after subfreezing temperatures, failing power plants and record demand for heat pushed Texas' electric grid to the breaking point.

Texas officials earlier this month put the initial tally of deaths at 57 but warned it would increase. The toll now officially exceeds that of Hurricane Harvey in 2017, which was blamed for 68 deaths in Texas.

The list of victims from the February snowstorm cut a wide swath across the state of 30 million people: Some fatalities were nearly as far north as Oklahoma, while others were close to the U.S.-Mexico border. State officials said the causes of multiple deaths" included motor vehicle accidents, carbon monoxide poisoning, medical equipment failures, exacerbation of chronic illness, lack of home oxygen, falls and fire.

The most confirmed deaths occurred around Houston, where Harris County officials have reported at least 31 victims.

Among them was Gilbert Rivera, 60, who told relatives after the power went out in his garage apartment that he was cold but staying bundled up. Rivera, who had worked for about two decades as a custodian, had a learning disability but reveled in his independence and chose to live on his own.

Lawrence Ibarra, his 44-year-old nephew, said that after being unable to reach Rivera since the day earlier, his father went out on Houstons treacherously icy and snowy roads to check on him. When he arrived at Riveras apartment, he found his brother bundled up and dead on the floor.

Ibarra said his father told him: I think he froze to death.

The autopsy determined the cause of death was hypothermia, which occurs when ones body loses heat faster than it can produce it.

Ibarra noted that the temperature in his own house which also lost power had dropped to 37 F (3 C).

The body first tries to generate heat by shivering and boosting one's heart rate, but if internal temperatures keep dropping, that slows and the body will restrict blood circulation to extremities to maintain blood in the core and keep internal organs warm.

Left untreated, hypothermia begins to affect the brain.

As people get colder, their mental status can change, and they can become unresponsive and not think as clearly, said Dr. Deborah Diercks, chair of emergency medicine at UT Southwestern in Dallas.

Riveras family is among dozens who have filed lawsuits against electricity providers and the states embattled power grid, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas. The disaster led to a congressional investigation and the ouster of ERCOT CEO Bill Magness.

Next week, the Texas House is expected to vote on a package in response to the storm, including efforts to winterize power plants. On Thursday, ERCOT announced that projections show a low risk" for blackouts during Texas' sweltering summer months, when demand on the system is typically highest.

Stengle reported from Dallas.
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TPG Telecom has welcomed the appointment of Canning Fok as Chairman of the TPG Telecom Board as billionaire David Teoh resigns from the board, while still remaining a large shareholder.

As a major shareholder in TPG Telecom, and with Teoh's son Jack Teoh appointed as a non-executive director, Teoh can still be an influential figure behind the scenes.

TPG Telecom's board voted to appoint Canning Fok as Chairman, effective today, following the resignation of David Teoh from the board. Fok was previously a non-executive director on the board.

As of publication, David Teoh is still listed as Chairman on the "our board" section of the TPG Telecom site but this will no doubt be updated in due course, and may even be updated by the time you're reading this.

CEO Inaki Berroeta said Foks appointment would be a seamless transition, stating: Canning brings decades of global executive business and telecommunications experience to the role of Chair, and I believe he will be a strong leader of the board.

With his involvement in the business dating back more than 20 years and his key role in the merger, Canning knows the company well.

I look forward to working with Canning as we lead TPG Telecom into the future.

Fok said: Very few companies have an opportunity like TPG Telecom to challenge and shape an industry which is so important to the everyday lives of Australians. Its an honour to be appointed as Chairman at such an exciting point in the companys history.

"I admire the work Inaki and the Executive Team have done to set the company up for the future and its clear there are exciting times ahead.

Berroeta noted that with integration progressing well following last years merger between Vodafone Hutchison Australia and TPG, Teoh had decided to resign from the board, adding: "After a strong start to the merged company, the future has never been brighter for TPG Telecom, and we are making the most of our significantly increased scale and opportunities.

We are already making a significant impact in the market, delivering for customers and shareholders, and making strong progress on our strategic priorities.

Our focus is on driving growth through convergence, bringing customers onto our own infrastructure and developing our Enterprise unit, enabled by our network evolution to 5G and digital investment, and supported by our synergy and integration program.

While David will remain one of the companys major shareholders, I would like to thank him for the support he showed me and I wish him well for the future.

Fok also acknowledged and thanked Teoh for his significant contribution to the company and his legacy to the industry more broadly, stating: Davids legacy is incomparable. He has driven significant change in the Australian market and has carved out a position which TPG Telecom will build on. We are in Davids debt for all he has done.

Teoh said: I am leaving TPG Telecom in good hands with Inaki and his team, and I am confident in its strong future. After nearly 30 years leading TPG, I feel that now is the right time for me to hand over the reins and focus on other interests.

"I thank shareholders, employees and colleagues for their support over the years and convey my special thanks to the incoming Chairman, Canning Fok, whom I greatly respect as being a businessman of extraordinary acumen. I remain committed to the company and will be following its future with a keen interest.

Teoh's son Shane Teoh has also resigned as a Non-Executive Director of the board.

The board reports appointing Jack Teoh and Tony Moffatt, the current TPG Telecom Company Secretary, as Non-Executive Directors to fill the vacancies created by the resignations of David Teoh and Shane Teoh.

Both Jack Teoh and Moffatt will join the TPG Telecom Board effective today, with Moffatt resigning from his role as Company Secretary.

The Board has appointed Trent Czinner, currently TPG Telecom Group Executive Legal & External Affairs, as Company Secretary, effective today and in addition to his current role.
analysis

Former president Jacob Zuma has hit back at the judiciary saying he will not subject himself to 'an oppressive and unjust court system'. Zuma's blistering attack on the Constitutional Court comes only hours after the State Capture Commission of Inquiry asked the court to have him jailed for contempt of court.

Ex-president Jacob Zuma launched a brutal attack on the judiciary on Thursday, criticising the court system and saying a "judicial dictatorship" appears to be emerging in the country. This was according to an eight-page statement by the former president, which was shared on Twitter by his daughter, Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, late on Thursday evening.

"I strongly agree with the public sentiment that is starting to see the emergence of a judicial dictatorship in South Africa," said Zuma in the statement.

"We have in South Africa today the gradual entrenchment of the counter-majoritarian problem. Unfortunately, when people rise up against this judicial corruption, our young democracy will unravel and many democratic gains will be lost in the ashes that will be left of what used to be our democratic state," the statement read.

@PresJGZuma Statement On Constitutional Court Hearing pic.twitter.com/jKETckqH0t

-- Dudu Zuma-Sambudla (@DZumaSambudla) March 25, 2021

Zuma's statement comes after...
University of Cincinnati toxicologist says finding an 'eliciting dose' may help those who suffer mild or moderate allergic reactions to peanut

An estimated 6 million Americans may suffer from peanut allergies. Tiny amounts of peanut protein can lead to hives, itching, tingling in the mouth, shortness of breath or nausea within minutes.

For individuals with severe peanut allergies, food-induced anaphylaxis can occur. It's a life-threatening emergency that requires treatment with an injection of epinephrine and a trip to the emergency room. Food labels offer warnings such as "may contain peanuts" or "was processed in a facility that may process nuts."

The warnings allow individuals with severe reactions to steer clear, but for consumers who may be able to tolerate a minimal amount of peanut protein without major incident the labels aren't very useful, says Lynne Haber, PhD, a University of Cincinnati College of Medicine senior toxicologist.

But a new study that Haber has led may help change that situation in the United States.

Using patient data from multiple locations, scientists used mathematical models to estimate an "eliciting dose" -- or the amount of peanut protein that will cause or elicit an allergic reaction in a certain percentage of peanut sensitive patients, explains Haber. The study reviewed the responses of 481 patients in double-blind placebo-controlled studies, who were exposed to increasing levels of peanut protein in a controlled clinical setting until the patient had an allergic reaction.

The dose calculated to elicit an allergic reaction in 1% of patients with peanut allergies was 0.052 milligrams of peanut protein, about the weight of a single grain of salt, says Haber. The eliciting dose for 5% of patients was calculated to be 0.49 milligrams of peanut protein, or about the weight of a single grain of sugar, says Haber.

The findings were published in the scholarly journal Food and Chemical Toxicology.

"Risk is based on a combination of how inherently hazardous something is, and how much of that substance someone is exposed to," says Haber, an adjunct associate professor of environmental and public health sciences in the UC College of Medicine. "Arsenic is more toxic than sodium chloride, also known as table salt, but if you're not exposed to any arsenic, it does not pose any risk."

"The amount of exposure is also important in determining risk," says Haber. "Water is healthy, but if you drink enough of it, it could kill you. There has been a move to shift to labeling that is based on a combination of the inherent hazard of a substance and how much of it is in a product. This is being done in Australia, New Zealand and Europe. The United States has been slower to do this."

Haber worked with patient data from Stanford Medicine and the Consortium for Food Allergy Research. The study was supported by The Institute for the Advancement of Food and Nutrition Sciences (IAFNS). This non-profit 501(c)(3) scientific research organization pools funding from food industry collaborators and advances science through the in-kind and financial contributions from public and private sector participants.

"We were asked to do analysis using data from the U.S. population as there may be differences between the U.S. and other countries in terms of peanut consumption and exposure that affect the sensitivity to peanut," says Haber. "We have posted all the data and modeling code via the internet to ensure transparency. We have identified an exposure limit that is relevant to the U.S. population using a method and data that others can use for their own analysis."

###

Other collaborators on the study were John Reichard, PhD, PharmD, assistant professor, and Melissa Vincent, a former research associate, both in the UC College of Medicine. Additional collaborators include independent consultant Bruce Allen, and Alice Henning and Peter Dawson, both of the Emmes Company, Rockville, Maryland; along with Sharon Chinthrajah, MD, Sayantani B. Sindher, MD, Andrew Long, PharmD, and Kari Nadeau, MD, all from Stanford Medicine.

Funding for the contributions of Haber, Reichard, Henning, Dawson, Vincent and Allen was provided by IAFNS through an ILSI North America Food and Chemical Safety Committee grant.

Haber reports a recent contract with Specialised Nutrition Europe (SNE) (another organization with food-related interests) and the Flavor and Extract Manufacturers Association (FEMA), and is a subcontractor on a separate IAFNS project related to food risk assessment. Chinthrajah reports grants from NIAID, CoFAR, Aimmune, DBV Technologies, Astellas and Regeneron. Chinthrajah is also an advisory member for Alladapt, Genentech, Novartis and receives personal fees from Before Brands.

Sindher receives grant support from the National Institutes of Health. Sindher is involved in clinical trials with Regeneron, Aimmune Therapeutics, DBV Technologies, Adare Pharmaceuticals, Sanofi and Novartis.

Nadeau reports grants from National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) and National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences; Food Allergy Research & Education (FARE), director of World Allergy Organization Center of Excellence at Stanford; adviser at Cour Pharma; co-founder of Before Brands, Alladapt, Latitude and IgGenix; National Scientific Committee member at Immune Tolerance Network and National Institutes of Health (NIH) clinical research centers.

Nadeau is a data safety monitoring board member for NHLBI and holds U.S. patents for basophil testing, multifood immunotherapy and prevention, monoclonal antibody from plasmablasts and device for diagnostics.
"Living a happy life is the primary human right"

 At the conclusion of the 46th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council

16:00, March 26, 2021 By Yi Fan ( People's Daily Online

During the just-concluded 46th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, representatives from different countries had heated discussions, some of which were ultimately about what human rights are. China's stance on this is clear  "Living a happy life is the primary human right", as General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out in his congratulatory letter to the symposium marking the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. China embraces a human rights philosophy that centers on the people, and regards the rights to subsistence and development as the basic human rights of paramount importance. China advances people's economic, political, cultural, social and environmental rights in a coordinated way and fully participates in global human rights governance. By doing so, China has delivered remarkable results in human rights development.

Having eliminated extreme poverty, China is marching towards moderate prosperity. The year 2020 has witnessed China's complete victory in the fight against poverty. All rural residents living below the current poverty line have been lifted out of poverty, marking the eradication of absolute poverty. This is a milestone in China's human rights cause. As China moves from finishing the first centenary goal to the second centenary goal, Chinese people of all ethnic groups work closely together for a moderately prosperous society in all respects and common prosperity. In this process, no one can be left behind and no one is. The development of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region is a case in point. Over the past six decades and more, Xinjiang's economic aggregate has increased by more than 200 times, historic and unprecedented achievements have been made in economic and social development, people's quality of life has been constantly improved, and their basic rights have been safeguarded. China has met the poverty eradication target set in the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development 10 years ahead of schedule and provided assistance to other developing countries to the best of its ability. These efforts show that China is truly a contributor to global poverty alleviation.

In the fight against COVID-19, China puts people's life front and center. Faced with the major test presented by the virus, China has adhered to the principles of shoring up confidence, strengthening unity, following a science-based approach and taking targeted measures. The Chinese people raced against time for breakthroughs in scientific research, and worked as one to carry out epidemic prevention and control. With these efforts, people's basic rights, including the right to life and the right to health, have been protected to the greatest extent. China effectively coordinated COVID-19 control and economic and social development and was among the first to reopen the economy. China safeguards people's rights of earning income and pursuing a better life through work. With the belief that mankind is in a community with a shared future, China reported COVID-19 cases to the World Health Organization (WHO) at the earliest possible time and publicized the genome sequencing of the virus. China shared with other countries COVID-19 prevention and control protocols and diagnostic and therapeutic protocols, sent medical expert teams, facilitated procurement of medical supplies, and donated vaccines to other countries. All these efforts speak volumes about China's commitment to humanitarianism as a major country and its contribution to the global fight against COVID-19.

Protecting green mountains and lucid waters, China's environmental actions benefit the people. China scored historic achievements in ecological and environmental protection. As China's efforts to control pollution have intensified, we have seen in recent years unprecedented progress in terms of the frequency with which new systems for environmental governance have emerged, the rigor with which oversight and enforcement has been carried out, and the rate at which the environment has improved. China has actively scaled up its nationally determined contributions, aiming to peak carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060. The Outline of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) for National Economic and Social Development and the Long-Range Objectives Through the Year 2035 dedicates a special chapter to China's concrete measures in advancing green development and promoting the harmonious co-existence between human and nature. In October, the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15) will be held in Kunming, the "Spring City". China stands ready to work with other countries to protect the Earth, our shared home. Every one of us is entitled to the right of enjoying a beautiful environment and it is the common responsibility of the world to protect the natural ecosystem. China is taking actions that reflect the ancient Chinese philosophy  "one should help others to succeed while seeking one's own success".

With relentless efforts, China has realized the goals of making the gains of development benefit all Chinese people in a fair way, enhancing people's sense of fulfillment, happiness and security, and finding the path of human rights development with Chinese characteristics. Meanwhile, China actively works with other countries to make the international human rights governance system fair, just, open and inclusive, jointly build a community with a shared future for mankind, and make the world a better place. During the 14th five-year plan period, China will build on past achievements, forge ahead with unswerving commitment to the development of human rights in China and contribute to the global human rights cause.

Yi Fan is a commentator on international issues.

(Web editor: Hongyu, Liang Jun)
The first press conference in the presidency of Democrat Joe Biden was significant both for what it covered, and even more for the topic that it avoided: the mounting death toll and ever-rising spread of infection due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Biden made brief opening remarks in which he said the United States would reach 200 million injections of some form of coronavirus vaccine by the 100-day mark of his new administration, on April 29. This doubled his initial pledge of 100 million shots, but at the current rate of 2.5 million daily vaccinations, the target will be easy to reach.

The US president said nothing about a much grimmer milestone that the United States is likely to reach at about the same time600,000 dead from coronavirus, a total greater than the sum total of military casualties in every US war since the Civil War. Already, more Americans have died of coronavirus after Bidens election than before it.

President Joe Biden speaks during a news conference in the East Room of the White House, Thursday, March 25, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

If a spring surge develops, in response to the criminal decisions of both Democratic and Republican politicians to reopen public schools and virtually all workplaces, from bars and restaurants to major factories, the US death toll could quickly return to the worst levels of the winter.

Biden did not touch on any of these dangers, except to hail his own administrations efforts to force a general reopening of the schools, which he presented as another positive achievement, also to be carried out in the first 100 days.

The response of the assembled representatives of the corporate media was to join in the cover-up of the pandemic catastrophe. Ten reporters asked questions of Biden, from AP, PBS, the Washington Post, ABC, the Wall Street Journal, NBC, CBS, CNN, Bloomberg News, and Univision. Not a single one asked what Biden would do to prevent the deaths of 1,000 Americans every day.

These journalists reflect the consensus within the US ruling elite. The daily death toll is accepted as an unavoidable necessity, a cost of doing business. Schools and workplaces must be reopened in order to restart the US economy: the extraction of surplus value from the labor of the working class, which is the basis of the capitalist system.

The main focus of the questions asked of Biden was the mounting humanitarian disaster on the US border with Mexico. More than 15,000 children are crowded into US detention centers, while tens of thousands of desperate refugees from Central America have been denied entry and pushed back across the border as Biden continues with very little change the cruel policies perpetrated by the Trump administration.

Biden was at pains to present his administrations policies as a radical break from those of Trump, making professions of a more humane approach, in contrast to Trumps vilification of immigrants as rapists and criminals. The rhetoric may be different, but the substance of the policies is the same, as are the horrific consequences for tens of thousands of refugees and migrants.

Dismissing claims by Republicans and right-wing media outlets like Fox News that immigrants are flocking to the United States because of his more liberal policies at the border, Biden pointed out that Trump too faced a surge of refugees in the early months of each year, when weather conditions in the Mexican desert are more favorable for the journey.

He also argued that migrants were coming because of the desperate and oppressive conditions in their home countries, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. This is of course true, but neither Biden nor his questioners raised the issue of the role of American imperialism in creating those conditions. Biden himself is implicated, since the most recent right-wing coup, in Honduras in 2009, was carried out under the Obama-Biden administration with the full support of then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Biden claimed that thousands of children were being held under cramped conditions because Trump had dismantled the facilities previously built (under the Obama administration) to imprison them. He went on to argue, The majority of those crossing the border are being sent back, those over 18 and those who are single, and the vast majority of families.

The only exceptions to the return of families were those which the Mexican government refused to accept. We are in negotiations with the president of Mexico, he said. I think we are going to see that change. The task of strong-arming Mexico has been assigned to Vice President Kamala Harris, who proved during nearly 20 years as a prosecutor in California that she will not be moved by the suffering of poor people.

If Bidens professions of understanding the desperate plight of Central American refugees were genuine, the US administration would grant refugee status to them automatically, since they are fleeing dictatorships, gang violence and natural disasters. Instead, his government has invoked Title 42, the same one used by Trump, to exclude most Central American migrants on the grounds they may be carrying coronavirus.

Despite invoking the pandemic as a pretext for excluding most adult migrants, the US border patrol is not testing children for coronavirus when they are detained in crowded camps. Such tests are only carried out, many days later, when the children are transferred to the facilities run by the Department of Health and Human Services, where hundreds of infections have been detected.

Biden pronounced on a number of other topics, ranging from the filibuster (he is not yet prepared to overturn it), to Afghanistan (he said the US would not meet a May 1 withdrawal deadline but would be gone by the end of the year), to his expectations for the 2024 election (he said he and Harris would run for reelection, but was unsure what his opposition would be, or if the Republican Party would even exist) to North Korea (he said that it was the most serious foreign policy issue facing the United States).

The main foreign policy issue, on which he elaborated at some length, was China. The correspondent for Bloomberg News asked him a three-part question on topics of critical importance to business interests: whether he would maintain Trumps tariffs on imports from China, whether he would ban imports of selected Chinese products allegedly made by slave labor (i.e., from Xinjiang, home of the Uyghur minority), and whether he would seek to cut off Chinese access to the international payment system, which would effectively cut off all US trade and investment with China.

Biden declined to answer any of these inquiries, although he described them, remarkably, as legitimate questions. (A cutoff of all US-China trade and investment would rapidly plunge the capitalist system into a global depression).

Instead, he sought to outline an ideological justification for what amounts to a new Cold War directed against both China and Russia, but China particularly, based on the claim that the United States is leading a coalition of democracies against the global rise of autocracies.

While speaking respectfully of Chinese President Xi Jinping, with whom he has a long acquaintance, Biden said he did not have a democratic, with a small d, bone in his body. He warned that China was out-investing the United States in many areas of science and research; his administration would seek to change that. The future lies in who can own the future as it relates to technology, quantum computing, a whole range of things, including the medical fields, he said.

Biden noted the formation of the quad, aligning four major countries in the Pacific region, India, Australia, Japan and the United States, against China, and pointed out that he had convened the first meeting of the heads of state of this group.

He concluded: China has an overall goal, and I do not criticize him for the goal, but they have the overall goal to become the leading country in the world, the wealthiest and most powerful country in the world. That is not going to happen on my watch because the United States is going to continue to grow and expand.

Biden has discarded the America First rhetoric and bellicose tub-thumping of Trump, only to assert the interests of American imperialism in a more conventional but equally threatening form. He is asserting the traditional alliance structures established by the United States at the beginning of the Cold War, but with a new and more incendiary goal, and with the addition of many more volatile elements.

In Europe, the countries of Eastern Europe, generally run by right-wing dictatorships or extreme nationalist regimes, have enrolled in NATOs anti-Russian campaign. In Asia, the formation of the Quad transforms India, still embroiled in border conflicts with China, into what amounts to a frontline state for US imperialism.

The rhetoric of the US administration may be soporific, but it is employed to promote policies that lead inexorably toward war in which the worlds biggest nuclear power, the United States, would confront the second and third largest nuclear powers, Russia and China.
More than a hundred angry Mills College students and alumnae waving SAVE MILLS signs protested loudly outside the Oakland campus Friday and demanded that the trustees reverse a decision to close the 169-year-old womens school.

Drivers honked in solidarity as they passed the historic campus on MacArthur Boulevard, and the sun shone on the protesters, some of whom had flown long distances to join the rising opposition movement.

We are outraged! Devastated! Heartbroken, Renel Brooks-Moon, announcer for the San Francisco Giants and Mills Class of 81, said into the microphone. Mills is a sacred, sacred place. It is a treasure in this great city of Oakland. This is a place where we support women. ... We protect women! We believe women!

Brooks-Moon paused as the crowd cheered, then said: Very few places on this planet are like this campus on which we stand today. This is a special, safe place for women from all over the world. From all backgrounds. This is a college that supports women of color and women of the LGBTQ community. This is our house  and we are not going down without a fight!

Now Playing: Video: Nanette Asimov / The Chronicle

Since learning on March 17 that Mills will stop enrolling students after the fall and award its last degrees in 2023, students, faculty and an alumnae network of 25,000 women have mobilized across social media  the Facebook page Save Mills is at 1,600 members  and vowed to fight for their school.

Its unknown if the group can succeed. The private school reported an endowment of $189 million in 2015, but Moodys financial grading service withdrew its rating for Mills debt that year, after downgrading the college because of deficit spending and enrollment losses. Records show that Mills began losing enrollment in 2014, from a 2013 peak of 917 undergraduates and 625 graduate students. Undergraduates now number 609, and graduate students 352.

Yet supporters are determined. They are strategizing over Zoom and speaking out.

I stand with you to demand that the trustees go back to the table! Oakland City Council Member Sheng Thao, who took classes at Mills in 2010, told the crowd. If we were at the table, we would find an answer.

One of the protesters great frustrations has been that the trustees made their decision without including students, staff or alumnae in the conversation.

Protesters have defeated the Mills trustees before. Mills is believed to be the only single-sex college in the country ever to get its board of trustees to reverse a decision to go coed, after student protesters occupied the campus for 13 days in 1990, triggering the reversal.

But Katie Sanborn, chair of Mills board of trustees, told The Chronicle last week that neither aggressive fundraising nor admitting male undergraduates (the graduate school is coed), will save the college.

We believe the best long-term solution is to transition from being a four-year, degree-granting college and instead focus on building the Mills Institute, Sanborn said, although its not yet clear what that would be. Sanborn also said Mills will collaborate with other schools, and on Thursday announced that the campus will host UC Berkeleys Changemaker in Oakland Program this fall.

COVID Resources Coronavirus Map Tracking COVID-19 cases across the Bay Area and California.

The new program will bring 200 Berkeley first-year students of all genders to live and study on the Mills campus during the 2021-22 academic year, Mills President Elizabeth Hillman announced.

The program will include courses on education, labor and humanism, followed by internships in Oakland, said Janet Gilmore, a UC Berkeley spokeswoman. She said UC Berkeley will hire the instructors and that the program is separate from a larger collaboration the campuses are discussing.

For many students, the idea of bringing male undergraduates to Mills is a nail in its coffin. SuzyJane Edwards, a Mills senior, told the crowd she was a proud trans, proud lesbian, and proud feminist. As a child in the 1980s, she said, classmates harassed her. She dreamed of being able to attend Mills with other women. And then she did.

I healed here, she said. Even so, I stand here deeply wounded. It is absolutely necessary that Mills remain a degree-granting college.

Nanette Asimov is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: nasimov@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Nanette Asimov
A baker has shared her simple no-bake recipe for decadent cheesecake bites.

Shirene, from Sydney's cake supplier Cake Mail, used Kinder Bueno chocolate bars, cream cheese and melted chocolate to create the mini cheesecake balls.

To make the dessert, she simply crushed the chocolate bars with a fork.

A baker has shared her simple no-bake recipe for decadent cheesecake bites

To make the dessert, she simply crushed the chocolate bars with a fork. Next she combined the crushed Bueno with 60 grams of cream cheese

Next she combined the crushed Bueno with 60 grams of cream cheese. Then she rolled them into small, bite-size balls.

She placed the tray in the fridge for 30 minutes. Once the bites have hardened, she then dipped them individually in melted chocolate until it's completely coated.

Shirene placed the tray back in the fridge - and served them once chocolate has set.

The incredibly easy-to-make cheesecake bites are perfect for anyone looking to whip up a last minute dessert or those who are time poor.

Many said they couldn't wait to try out the recipe, with some saying it's an epic dessert to make leading up to Easter long weekend.

Shirene, from Sydney's cake supplier Cake Mail, used Kinder Bueno chocolate bars, cream cheese and melted chocolate to create the mini cheesecake balls

The cheesecake bites comes just weeks after the cake store shared its recipe for an indulgent Oreo layered cake using just two products - Oreo biscuits and whipped thickened cream

The cheesecake bites comes just weeks after the cake store shared its recipe for an indulgent Oreo layered cake using just two products - Oreo original creme biscuits and whipped thickened cream.

To assemble the dessert, Kayla lined a plate with a layer of biscuits in a round shape, then spread with a thin layer of the cream.

She repeated the step, placing the next layer of cookies on top before spreading another layer of cream.

Kayla finished with a layer of cream and crushed biscuits on top to decorate.

She then placed the sweet creation in the fridge overnight. By keeping the cake chilled, the biscuits 'soften' over time.
CEO refused to own up any responsibility for the January 6 attack on the US Capitol as he put the blame on former US President for his "words" and the people involved in the assault for "their actions".

In his first appearance before the US Congress since the January 6 attack, Zuckerberg on Thursday also blamed the people for spreading misleading content.

At the hearing with the House Energy and Commerce committee, lawmakers pressed the CEO to own up some responsibility for the attack for facilitating the organisation of the attack.

"How is it possible for you not to at least admit that played a leading role in the recruitment, planning and execution of the attack on the capitol?" asked Democratic Representative Mike Doyle.

Zuckerberg said that "the responsibility lies with the people who took the actions to break the law and do the insurrection".

"Secondarily, also with the people who spread that content, including the president but others as well, with repeated rhetoric over time, saying that the election was rigged and encouraging people to organize, I think that those people bear the primary responsibility as well."

In his opening remarks Zuckerberg said that the company believes "Congress should consider making platforms' intermediary liability protection for certain types of unlawful content conditional on companies' ability to meet best practices to combat the spread of this content".

Besides Zuckerberg, Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey also faced questions related to misinformation and safety issues plaguing their online platforms during the hearing extending up to over five hours.

--IANS

gb/in

(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.)
LOS ANGELESIn 2019, a group of 50 women who said they had been sex trafficked through the classified ad site Backpage  which was seized and shut down by federal agents the previous year  sued not only the defunct ad site, but also Salesforce, the company that provides business software infrastructure to dozens of sites, including prior to the sites shutdown, Backpage.

But a Superior Court Judge in San Francisco blocked the lawsuit, ruling that Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act shielded Saleforce from any liability in the alleged sex trafficking of the plaintiffs, who are identified in the suit only as Jane Does.

Section 230 protects online platforms from civil or criminal responsibility for the posts and actions of users. In 2019, attorney Annie McAdams, who represents the women, claimed that Section 230 did not apply to the lawsuit, because the suit did not allege that Salesforce acted as a publisher. Instead, she said, We are making allegations that they helped build Backpage. We are saying that without Salesforce, Backpage wouldnt have been able to operate.

On Wednesday of this week, a federal judge in Houston, Texas, agreed with McAdams, allowing the sex trafficking suit against Salesforce to go ahead after all, according to a report by The Houston Chronicle newspaper. Judge Andrew Hanen, a 2002 appointee of President George W. Bush, ruled that the 25-year-old law did not apply to Salesforces liability for the alleged sex trafficking through Backpage.

The sex trafficking victims are closer to making these companies answer for their actions, McAdams said in a statement Wednesday. For the first time, a court essentially has said, 'Not so fast, technology industry. The Communications Decency Act should not be used to hide devastating evidence of sex trafficking activity and abuse.

But Hanen dismissed claims made by the plaintiffs of negligence and conspiracy in the alleged sex trafficking.

The lawsuit filed in 2019 alleged that Salesforce was an integral part of the Backpage operation through which the 50 anonymous women say they were trafficked. Salesforce boasted about fighting human trafficking using its data tools. But behind closed doors, Salesforces data tools were actually providing the backbone of Backpages exponential growth, the suit states. With Salesforces guidance, Backpage was able to use Salesforces tools to market to new users  that is, pimps, johns, and traffickers  on three continents.

Seven Backpage executives, including the sites co-founders Michael Lacey and James Larkin, were hit with numerous counts that included money laundering and facilitating prosecution. The indictments do not accuse the Backpage execs of sex traffcking directly, however. In December of 2018, the company's CEO, Carl Ferrer, pleaded guilty to money laundering and conspiracy charges.

Photo by nathanmac87 / Wikimedia Commons
OneWeb and TrustComm will enable Low Earth Orbit (LEO) connectivity to government customers. Tweet this

The partnership between OneWeb and TrustComm will enable Low Earth Orbit (LEO) - delivered connectivity to government customers, bringing unprecedented opportunity to end users.

Supported by a global network of gateways and air, maritime and land user terminals, OneWeb's Global Connectivity Platform will provide secure, high bandwidth and low latency secure data and internet connectivity to government customers across the globe. Initial services are expected to be available starting 4th quarter of 2021.

TrustComm specializes in combining satellite and terrestrial communication systems into fully interoperable networks, providing customers with best-fit and customized end-to-end connectivity solutions in Ku, Ka, L, C and X-band frequency ranges. TrustComm operates a Teleport and Secure Managed Services Operations Center at Ellington Field Joint Reserve Base in Houston, Texas, and holds a number of DoD contract vehicles to provide managed satellite services.

OneWeb's partnership with TrustComm will focus on early adopters looking to take advantage of LEO technology including the US Naval Research Lab, US Army Futures Research Lab and others. Solutions will be deployed initially into areas of operation including the Arctic which continues to suffer from poor levels in connectivity due to its high latitude and extreme terrain. OneWeb and TrustComm also expect to support the biennial Ice Exercise (ICEX) in 2022.

OneWeb's Head of Government Services, Dylan Browne said: "The US DoD is OneWeb's largest single customer and so we will ensure we have the tools and vehicles in place to contract for service this November when our network goes live above the 50th parallel. I'm delighted we can now count on the support of the TrustComm team who are experts in satellite and terrestrial managed network service for DoD customers."

TrustComm's Chief Executive Office, Bob Roe said: "We are truly excited by the potential and advantages that OneWeb's LEO system brings to the US and other government users on a global scale. With more OneWeb satellites being deployed on a monthly basis and the ground/service infrastructure coming online, we will be able to bring this capability to market quickly using our existing US Government contracts, especially CS3 and GSA. OneWeb's unique architecture and focus on scalable solutions supported by clear SLA's make it a perfect fit for the TrustComm portfolio."

OneWeb is co-owned by a consortium of investors led by the UK Government and the global telecommunications provider, Bharti Global Limited.

About OneWeb

OneWeb's mission is to enable Internet access for everyone, everywhere. OneWeb is building a communications network with a constellation of Low Earth Orbit satellites that will provide connectivity to people around the world. OneWeb is creating business solutions for Broadband, Government and Cellular Backhaul. Its high speed, low latency, network will offer game-changing Mobility solutions to industries that rely on global connectivity, such as Aviation, Maritime, Automotive, Trains and more, supported through Cloud Computing and 'on-demand' digital resources.

Ideal for Government missions across multiple mission space domains; land, sea and air. OneWeb's Government business will provide a truly game changing communications-on-the-move capability with fiber-like data-rates, low SWaP user terminals and latency on all platforms.

SOURCE OneWeb

Related Links

http://www.oneweb.net


A man described as having an Irish accent and with links to Ireland has featured on BBC One's real-life television crime programme, Crimewatch, as part of a British police appeal to find an escaped prisoner.

Michael Moorehouse (32) is on the run after escaping from prison in 2019 where he had been serving a six-year sentence for burglary.

Surrey Police have said they believe Moorehouse has information about a series of burglaries in the area, and are appealing for the public's help in finding him.

The force tweeted: "Have you seen 32-year-old Michael Moorehouse? Featured on BBC Crimewatch this morning [March 24], we believe he has information about a series of burglaries in Surrey.

"If you see him or know how we can find Michael, you can direct message us here [on Twitter]."

A description on the BBC's website reads: "Do you recognise this man, Michael Moorehouse?

"He should be serving a six-year sentence for burglary - instead the 32-year-old is on the run after escaping from prison in 2019.

"Police also want to question him about a burglary where eight-and-a-half thousand pounds worth of jewellery was stolen.

"Moorehouse has an Irish accent and links to Ireland and the South East of England - particularly Essex."
NEW DELHI: President Ram Nath Kovind was taken to the Army's Research and Referral hospital in Delhi after complaining of chest discomfort.

The President is currently undergoing a routine check-up at the Army's R&R Hospital, according to news agency PTI. He is under observation at the moment, the hospital said.

"President of India visited Army Hospital (R&R) following chest discomfort this morning. He is undergoing routine check-up and is under observation," the hospital said in a medical bulletin.

"His condition is stable," it added.

PM Narendra Modi, who is in Bangladesh on a two-day visit to the country, also spoke to the President's son. He inquired about the President's health and prayed for his well-being, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said in a release.

Sources said the President, 75, will stay in the hospital till the time the entire medical diagnosis is complete. The doctors are taking care of things, said the hospital authority.

Live TV
Yenagoa  The Chief of Naval Staff (CNS), Rear Admiral Awwal Gambo, has warned that the Nigerian Navy would deal decisively with naval personnel caught colluding with oil thieves, economic saboteurs, drug traffickers, bandits and kidnappers.

Gambo gave the warning at the headquarters of the Central Naval Command in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, where he visited as part of his familiarisation tour of naval formations in the country.

He said the navy would not condone laziness and ineptitude among its officers and men, and promised to reward those who prove themselves to be gallant and excellent in service.

The CNS warned that the expansion policy of the navy would not deter it from flush out personnel found wanting in handling responsibilities assigned to them.

The naval chief said the force would not relent in the marching orders given to security agencies by the president to restore the security of the country.

He said: "Nigerians are not patient, and they want quick action. We have started by hitting the ground running.

"Professionalism is needed, and good conduct must be upheld alongside discipline and integrity. While efforts are being made to improve welfare, I shall not hesitate to review values and contributions of every personnel in the line of duty."

Also, the Flag Officer Commanding of the Central Naval Command, Rear Admiral Kennedy Egbuchulam, said the prevailing security situation in the country has called for new and adaptive skills to tackle it because of the shifting strategies of criminals.
Schools in rural Panama started classes on Wednesday after a year of closure, intending to avoid dropouts and providing a safe environment where children are tutored in small groups.

Education authorities called to resume remote classes on March 1st, but support the local program in secluded areas where they have few students and only if the school is not reporting COVID-19 cases.

In Las Zanguengas elementary school, director and teacher Leny Perez said they had to spread to multiple students into their own grades, opposit to the multigrade approach they usually use.

With the support of parents and voluntary teachers, some 300 students are now in class in the 20 schools in Western Panama region.

Magdalena Stonestreet, one of the parents helping with the sanitizing tasks, said she was happy for her children to have a space dedicated to studying where they can have a teacher to support them.

The schools tutoring groups of up to six children at a time, at the end of the one-hour session, the children's relatives clean and sanitize the room for the next group.

According to UNICEF latest figures, 114 million children and teenagers in Latin America have been deprived from face-to-face classes during the last year, being the region with the most children affected.

The report by UNICEF ranks Panama as the country where schools remained closed for the most time since March 2020.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
PHOENIX, March 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- SinglePoint Inc. (OTC:SINGD) ("SinglePoint" or the "Company"), a company focused on providing renewable energy solutions and energy-efficient applications to drive better health and living, announced today that the Company has effected a 1-for-75 reverse split of its issued and outstanding shares of common stock. Shares of SinglePoint's common stock will begin trading on a split-adjusted basis under the ticker symbol "SINGD" on the OTC on March 26, 2021 for a period of 20 trading days, after which the ticker symbol will revert to "SING".

"We are continuing to take deliberate and necessary actions to position the company to be able to attract accretive growth capital from institutional investors and family offices. This is another fundamental step in achieving the joining of listed exchange. An increased price has the opportunity to entice larger pool of potential investors which could lead to increase shareholder value. We are pleased to have successfully completed another segment of our comprehensive financial restructuring, and we would like to thank our investors for their dedication and support they have given us," said SinglePoint President Wil Ralston.

SinglePoint's management focuses on solar and renewable energy applications. The Company will continue to look for accretive acquisitions in an effort to create the first truly national network in the sector. The solar industry is estimated to quadruple by 2030 according to the U.S. Solar Market Insight 2020 Year-in-Review report, released on March 16, 2021 by the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and Wood Mackenzie. Currently only 4% of the addressable residential homes in the US domestic market have solar with a similar number for small commercial opportunities.

As previously stated in a recent SEIA publication, the forecast shows that by 2030, the equivalent of one in eight American homes will have solar, but we still have a long way to go if we want to reach our goals in the Solar+ Decade. This report makes it clear that smart policies work. The action we take now will determine the pace of our growth and whether we use solar to fuel our economy and meet this climate moment.

Compelling Strategic Rationale

As SinglePoint implemented its strategic growth and diversification plan, its Board of Directors explored opportunities to drive enhanced performance and stockholder value. Following a strategic review of SinglePoint' s growth prospects, customers, financial market considerations and business operations in the current market, the Board concluded that separating SinglePoint's noncore assets would create multiple industry-leading companies, with attributes that best position each company for long-term success, including the following:

Focus: Each company will benefit from a distinct strategic and management focus on its specific growth priorities.

Each company will benefit from a distinct strategic and management focus on its specific growth priorities. Differentiated Investment Opportunities: Each company will offer differentiated and compelling investment opportunities based on its particular operating and financial model, allowing it to more closely align with its natural investor type.

Each company will offer differentiated and compelling investment opportunities based on its particular operating and financial model, allowing it to more closely align with its natural investor type. Optimized Balance Sheet and Capital Allocation Priorities: Each company will have its own capitalization and financing to grow its specific business.

Each company will have its own capitalization and financing to grow its specific business. Incremental Stockholder Value: Each company will benefit from the investment community's ability to value its businesses independently and drive incremental stockholder value.

Each company will benefit from the investment community's ability to value its businesses independently and drive incremental stockholder value. Division of Responsibilities: Each spinoff will have its own management team, which will provide distinct focus to grow the company.

The first spin off from SinglePoint will be 1606 Corp. The company has issued shares on a 1-for-1 issuance upon the spin-off of 1606 Corp., which will become its own entity. No action will be required of stockholders to receive shares of 1606 common stock, which means that shareholders will not be required to pay for the shares of 1606 common stock that you receive in the distribution; and shareholders do not need to surrender or exchange any shares of SinglePoint common stock in order to receive shares of 1606 common stock, or take any other action in connection with the spin-off.

By 2025, Nielsen expects the smokable-hemp market to reach $300 million to $400 million, representing roughly 5% of the potential $6 billion to $7 billion hemp-derived CBD consumer products category.

1606 is focusing on increasing its retail footprint concentrating on regional expansion in addition to continuing to grow its' online presence.

The Company plans to strategically spin off additional assets, such as Shield Saver  a unique Automotive and Data (Blockchain) opportunity originally acquired in 2018, following the same procedural processes. Future intended spin offs will provide shareholders additional value while enabling the companies to continue to grow independently while SinglePoint continues to grow its renewable energy footprint. Upon successful completion of the spin-off, Greg Lambrecht will become CEO of 1606 Corp. Mr. Lambrecht is currently the CEO of SinglePoint and supports all of its businesses. It is planned that Wil Ralston (President) will move to CEO of SinglePoint and the current CFO, Corey Lambrecht, will move to President and the Company will bring in a new CFO.

About SinglePoint Inc.

SinglePoint Inc. is a renewable energy and sustainable lifestyle company focused on providing environmentally friendly energy efficiencies and healthy living solutions. SinglePoint is initially focused on building the largest network of renewable energy solutions and modernizing the traditional solar and energy storage model. The Company is also actively exploring future growth opportunities in air purification, electric vehicle charging, solar as a subscription service, and additional energy efficiencies and appliances that enhance sustainability and a healthier life. For more information, visit the Company's website (www.singlepoint.com) and connect on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this news release may contain forward-looking information within the meaning of Rule 175 under the Securities Act of 1933 and Rule 3b-6 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and are subject to the safe harbor created by those rules. All statements, other than statements of fact, included in this release, including, without limitation, statements regarding potential plans and objectives of the Company, anticipated growth and future expansion, are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties.

There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Technical complications, which may arise, could prevent the prompt implementation of any strategically significant plan(s) outlined above. The Company undertakes no duty to revise or update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this release.

Investor Contact:



JTC Team, LLC

Jenene Thomas

833-475-8247

[email protected]

SOURCE SinglePoint Inc.

Related Links

https://www.singlepoint.com


She may be the head of a beauty empire.

But Kim Kardashian went makeup free in an Instagram video Friday while showing off her sensational figure in lingerie from her SKIMS line.

The 40-year-old reality star revealed she used to be a 'non-underwear kinda girl for a long time' as she welcomed her fans into one of her cavernous walk-in closets.

She may be the head of a beauty empire: But Kim Kardashian went makeup free in an Instagram video Friday while showing off her sensational figure in lingerie from her SKIMS line

She spent her video heavily plugging her shapewear line SKIMS as she showed her fans through her now extensive underwear collection.

SKIMS was founded in 2018 and since going into the shapewear business Kim has now amassed drawers and drawers of underwear.

During the video she dished that 'whats so crazy is I was like a non-underwear kinda girl for a long time just because they bothered me.

She revealed 'any underwear no matter what it was, always bothered me, so for a good last few years I just wouldnt wear underwear but now I do and Im obsessed.'

Spilling secrets: The 40-year-old reality star revealed she used to be a 'non-underwear kinda girl for a long time' as she welcomed her fans into one of her cavernous walk-in closets

Lap of luxury: SKIMS was founded in 2018 and since going into the shapewear business Kim has now amassed drawers and drawers of underwear

Candid: During the video she dished that 'whats so crazy is I was like a non-underwear kinda girl for a long time just because they bothered me

Looking back: She revealed 'any underwear no matter what it was, always bothered me, so for a good last few years I just wouldnt wear underwear but now I do and Im obsessed'

While promoting the brassieres from her brand Kim also shared that it has been 'years' since she has worn an underwire bra.

'I think that the myth of an underwire bra  I dont know if you have like big boobs and you dont think that non-underwire is supportive enough,' she said.

'SKIMS has changed all of that because thats all I wear. I dont wear an underwire anymore. I havent in years,' she plugged.

In fact as she opened various drawers full of underwear she noted to her 211 million Instagram followers: 'Literally it's all SKIMS.'

In the past: While promoting the brassieres from her brand Kim also shared that it has been 'years' since she has worn an underwire bra

On brand: In fact as she opened various drawers full of underwear she noted to her 211 million Instagram followers: 'Literally it's all SKIMS'

During the video she also plucked out a few pairs of underwear and demonstrated in front of the camera how stretchy they were.

Kim is in the process of divorcing her Kanye West by whom she has four children - North, seven, Saint, five, Chicago, three, and Psalm, one.

The thrice-married superstar filed for divorce in February and she and Kanye reportedly agreed to split custody of their children.

Kim has hired top Hollywood divorce lawyer Laura Wasser who also represented her in her second divorce from her husband of 72 days Kris Humphries.

Convenient: During the video she also plucked out a few pairs of underwear and demonstrated in front of the camera how stretchy they were

New era: Kim is in the process of divorcing her Kanye West by whom she has four children - North, seven, Saint, five, Chicago, three, and Psalm, one

Kanye and Kim are negotiating the division of their assets and TMZ has reported she may get to keep their Hidden Hills home in order to not uproot the children.

It emerged this week that she has constructed a 'Lil Hidden Hills' for her children on the grounds of her sprawling estate in Calabasas.

The luxurious miniature town includes a Starbucks, a fire station, a restaurant called West Diner, a playhouse with slides and of course a tiny little KKW Beauty shop.
Thousands of Venezuelans are seeking shelter in Colombia this week, following clashes between Venezuela's military and a Colombian armed group in a community along the nations' shared border.

On Thursday, the Colombian government said that more than five thousand people moved from Venezuela to Colombia since Sunday.

The group of displaced people crossed the border in search of protection from the conflict in the border state of Apure, Venezuela.

Authorities in Colombia have set up eight shelters to host the influx of people.

Etelivar Torres Vargas, the mayor of Arauquita, said the group includes elderly people with different illnesses who have asked for medical attention, pushing the local health system to the brink.

"We are at full capacity. It is an enormous burden for our municipality to receive in just four days more than 5000 people,"

The Colombian Ombudsman's Office conducted a census at the site and identified the presence of 858 minors, 134 older adults and 52 pregnant women.

The displaced include 223 people from the binational Sikuani Indigenous community.

Venezuelan Defense Minister Gen. Vladimir Padrino Lopez said Monday in a statement the clashes that began Sunday resulted in the arrests of 32 people, the destruction of six camps and the seizure of weapons, but he did not name the armed group involved.

The Venezuelan government has not said whether the clashes have continued.

The Colombian government has repeatedly accused Venezuela of harbouring the National Liberation Army members and dissidents of the rebel Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known by its Spanish acronym FARC.

Colombia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed its concern for the civilian population and called on the international community "to join in assisting in the face of this humanitarian crisis."

Colombia and Venezuela share about 1,370 miles (2,200 kilometres) of border but have not had diplomatic relations since February 2019 following President Nicolas Maduro's decision to expel Colombian diplomats.

Colombia President Ivan Duque does not recognize Maduro as Venezuela's legitimate president and instead supports opposition leader Juan Guaido.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
Patna, March 26 : A man was gunned down in front of his mother in Bihar's Bhagalpur district, an official said on Friday.

Two persons, including the main accused was arrested. The incident took place Thursday around 9 p.m. in Sabaur area.

The deceased, identified as Mohamad Kaju, had sustained a gunshot injury to his chest and died on the spot, said Sunil Kumar Jha, SHO of Sabaur police station.

"The deceased had given a shop on rent to one Mohamad Mister four years ago.

"Last month, Kaju asked Mister to vacate the shop as he wanted to open his own shop. Mister fraudulently procured a lease agreement of the shop for 40 years and presented the document to Kaju," Jha said.

Kaju filed a police complaint for cheating in Sabaur police station and alleged that Mister has committed fraud to usurp the shop.

"On Thursday around 9 p.m., Mister along with one associate went to Kaju's house and shot him in front of his mother. He died on the spot," the officer said.

Neighbours heard the gunshot and rushed out, they managed to over power the assailants, who were handed over to the police.

A case was registered and further probe was on.
JERUSALEM  The sun was rising on the Mediterranean one recent morning when the crew of an Iranian cargo ship heard an explosion. The ship, the Shahr e Kord, was about 50 miles off the coast of Israel, and from the bridge the sailors saw a plume of smoke rising from one of the hundreds of containers stacked on deck.

The state-run Iranian shipping company said the vessel had been heading to Spain and called the explosion a terrorist act.

But the attack on the Shahr e Kord this month was just one of the latest salvos in a long-running covert conflict between Israel and Iran. An Israeli official said the attack was retaliation for an Iranian assault on an Israeli cargo ship last month.

Since 2019, Israel has been attacking ships carrying Iranian oil and weapons through the eastern Mediterranean and Red Seas, opening a new maritime front in a regional shadow war that had previously played out by land and in the air.
Boxes of some of the first 500,000 of the 2-million AstraZeneca coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine doses that Canada (Photo : REUTERS/Carlos Osorio/File Photo)

India has put a temporary hold on all major exports of the AstraZeneca coronavirus shot made by the Serum Institute of India (SII), the world's biggest vaccine-maker, to meet domestic demand as infections rise, two sources told Reuters.



The move will also affect supplies to the GAVI/WHO-backed global COVAX vaccine-sharing facility, through which 64 poorer countries are supposed to get doses from the SII, the programme's procurement and distributing partner UNICEF told Reuters.



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Deliveries will be delayed in March and April "as the government of India battles a new wave of COVID-19 infections," GAVI, an alliance of countries, companies and charities that promote vaccination, said in a statement https://www.gavi.org/news/media-room/covax-updates-participants-delivery-delays-vaccines-serum-institute-india-sii-az.



COVAX was in talks with India to "ensure some supplies are completed during March and April," it said, adding that the SII had supplied 28 million doses to COVAX. An additional 40 million doses had been expected in March and up to 50 million doses in April.



An Indian government source said New Delhi had not imposed any ban on vaccine exports "unlike many other countries," and that it would continue to supply doses in phases.



"We remain committed to help the world with vaccines, including through the COVAX facility," said the source, declining to be named.



But the source said it may be necessary to adjust supply schedules given India's vaccination needs.



"All stakeholders would have to work together to adjust the schedules as required," the source said.



India's foreign ministry and the SII did not reply to requests for comment.



"Everything else has taken a backseat (to India's needs), for the time being at least," said one of the sources.



"No exports, nothing till the time the India situation stabilises. The government won't take such a big chance at the moment when so many need to be vaccinated in India."



India has so far exported more than 60.5 million doses in total, according to the foreign ministry's website https://www.mea.gov.in/vaccine-supply.htm, and many countries are relying on the COVAX programme to immunise their citizens.



SOME DELAYS ALREADY



The SII has already delayed shipments of the AstraZeneca drug to Brazil, Britain, Morocco and Saudi Arabia. British authorities are in touch with New Delhi to get its second batch of 5 million doses ordered from SII.



Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, however, will gift 1.2 million doses of the shot to Bangladesh when he visits the neighbouring country on Friday, Abul Bashar Mohammad Khurshid Alam, head of the Directorate General of Health Services in Bangladesh, told Reuters.



COVAX has a deal to buy 1.1 billion doses of the AstraZeneca and Novavax shots that the SII is making in bulk, mainly for low- and middle-income nations, including its home country.



India will widen its inoculation drive next month by including everyone above 45, and many states battling a surge in infections have demanded that all adults be covered. Currently, only the elderly and those over 45 with other health conditions are eligible for vaccinations in India.



With 11.8 million cases, India has reported the highest number of coronavirus infections after the United States and Brazil.



India has so far administered more than 54 million doses, of which 49 million are the SII's locally-made version of the AstraZeneca vaccine. The rest is the COVAXIN vaccine developed in India by Bharat Biotech.



The government has so far asked the SII to supply around 141 million doses. The company has also accounted for nearly all of India's vaccine exports.



The SII plans to boost monthly production to 100 million doses from April/May, from up to 70 million now, Reuters reported earlier this month.


News  Vietnam

Vietnam to take over presidency of UN Security Council
Al-Futtaim Engineering & Technologies, part of Al-Futtaim Group, has announced that it has agreed with LG Electronics Gulf FZE (LGE) to distribute the South Korean companys range of Commercial Air Conditioners (CAC) in the UAE.

Under the agreement, Al-Futtaim Engineering & Technologies will distribute LGEs complete range of CACs including Ducted Split, Cassette Splits, Ceiling Suspended Splits, Floor Standing Splits and Package units. In addition to Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF) units with all type of Fan Coil Units (FCUs), Air Handling Units (AHUs), Fresh Air Handling Units (FAHUs) and all related accessories along with LG chillers. The products are highly efficient and provide reliable solutions that are built on a solid foundation of global R&D and advanced manufacturing capabilities.

Commenting on the distribution agreement, Murali S, Managing Director of Al-Futtaim Engineering & Technologies, said: As part of our commitment to our customers, we are constantly looking at ways to improve and provide innovative solutions. This agreement with LGE, in addition to adding a world-renowned brand to our portfolio, provides us the perfect opportunity to deliver cost-effective cooling solutions that meet the requirements for various asset owners including villa complexes, staff accomodations, shopping malls, hotels, commercial towers and warehouses. We are excited to team up with LGE as they are one of the leading manufacturers in the industry and we look forward to a long and fruitful relationship.

Hongju Jeon, President  LG Electronics Gulf FZE, said: The combination of our industry-leading, super-efficient commercial air solutions and the strong local market knowledge of Al-Futtaim Engineering & Technologies will support our aggressive growth plans for the country. We are delighted to have Al-Futtaim Groups company as our partner which is a trusted name in the region.

The addition of LGEs range of commercial air conditioners further enhances Al-Futtaim Engineering & Technologies portfolio of brands and offers customers an ever greater choice of air cooling solutions.

-- Tradearabia News Service
Holi, also known as the Festival of Colours, is a Hindu festival celebrated annually in India and Nepal. Today, with the advent of digitization, people worldwide are much more aware of each other's cultures and have welcomed them graciously, thus making Holi somewhat of an International festival. In 2021, the festival of Holi will be celebrated on March 28 and 29. Will there be a bank holiday on Holika Dahan 2021? With more COVID cases flying around, will citizens be able to celebrate Holika Dahan 2021?

Is Holika Dahan a bank holiday?

Holika Dahan is not considered a bank holiday. However, the following day i.e. the actual occasion of Holi is declared a national holiday around India, except for the states of Karnataka, Kerala, Lakshadweep, Manipur, Puducherry and Tamil Nadu. Holi is typically not celebrated in South India but now with migration, the festival is gradually opening up in the Southern parts too. Taking cognizance of the recent turn of events surrounding COVID-19 in the country, several states and union territories have announced a ban on celebrations of the Holi festival in 2021.

According to the legend in the Bhagavata Purana chapter 7, King Hiranyakashyap, the king of Asuras, could neither be killed by humans nor by animals because of the special powers he earned as a boon. As a result, he grew arrogant and thought of himself as God. His son Prahlad was a worshipper of Lord Vishnu and remained devoted to him even after his father forced him to choose sides. In the spite of his anger, Hiranyakashyap tortured his son with cruel punishments.

His sister Holika joined in and tricked Prahlad into sitting on a pyre with her. She possessed a cloak that made her immune to injury from fire but Prahlad didn't. Ironically, it was Holika who burnt and died in the fire while Prahlad survived. It was later understood that this was all the doing of Narsimha, the half-human and half-lion form of Lord Vishnu. Later that night, Narsimha captured Hiranyakashyap, placed him on his lap and punctured holes in his chest with his lion claws.

Devotees gather around a pyre to perform religious rights in the name of Holika Dahan. They believe that their internal evil will burn down in the same way Holika did, proving that good will always triumph over evil. The next morning of Holika Dahan is celebrated as Rangpanchami, during which people play with colours and binge on exquisite delicacies.

Image Source: Shutterstock
Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Mohamed Abdel Atti discussed with visiting Burundi's Minister of Environment, Agriculture and Livestock Deo-Guide Rurema ways of boosting bilateral cooperation between the two countries in the water resources.

Abdel-Atti said that he is upbeat about the visit of Rurema, stressing depth of joint relations.

The Egyptian official said that he is looking forward to working together to achieve sustainable development in water resources in Burundi.

Rurema said he wants to promote cooperation between the two ministries in the water resources.

The two sides signed a memorandum of understanding between the two countries in the integrated management of water resources.

Under the deal, Egypt will conduct studies about the construction of dams to collect rain water in Burundi.
Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium

Most of us with an appreciation for fine food are are familiar with Parmigiano Reggiano cheese. Never to be confused with generic Parmesan, no less an authority than the BBC has dubbed Parmigiano Reggiano Italys practically perfect food, noting that pound for pound, Parmigiano Reggiano can compete with almost any food for calcium, amino acids, protein and vitamin A, and is sometimes prescribed by doctors in Italy to cure certain ailments. As the BBC points out, Parmigiano Reggiano can only be made with extremely precise ingredients, in an extraordinarily particular process, in a geographical area of Italy so carefully defined that a few miles can make all the difference.

Emilia-Romagna Tourism

Emilia-Romagna Tourism

Since the time of ancient Rome, the city of Parma, one of the areas where Parmigiano Reggiano is produced (from which it takes the first part of its name), has been looked upon as the gastronomic capital of Italy. In recognition of this, in 2015 UNESCO named Parma Creative City for Gastronomy, the first city in Italy to be so recognized. In addition to its incredible architecture and gastronomic richesin addition to Parmigiano Reggiano, Parma (and its surrounding region) is also known for Parma ham, balsamic vinegar from Modena, Lambrusco wine, and world-class restaurants and as the home of Ferrari, Maserati, and Lamborghini.

To get the true measure of the place one must consider the territory of Emilia-Romagna as a whole, in central-northern Italy, which comprises the provinces of Bologna, Ferrara, Modena, Parma, Reggio Emilia, Piacenza, Rimini, Ravenna and Forli-Cesena. Its location establishes it as a link between northern and southern Italy, as well as connecting the Mediterranean with northern Europe. Parmigiano Reggiano is most emblematic of its area of origin. In theory at least, you could assemble a Ferrari anywhere and it would still be a Ferrari. And its heritage runs much deeper; for over a thousand years Parmigiano Reggiano has only been produced in this area using just three natural ingredients: milk, salt and rennet.

Emilia-Romagna Tourism

It is first and foremost a microbiological characteristic that binds Parmigiano Reggiano to its area of origin, notes the historic Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium, which inspects every wheel of cheese bearing the hallowed name. Only raw milk produced in the area of origin is used to produce Parmigiano Reggiano cheese. It is a special milk, characterized by a unique and intense bacterial activity of the autochthonous microbial flora, and influenced by environmental factors, especially by the local forage, alfalfa, grass and hay that constitute the main feed of our cows, on 3,000 local farms. Each wheel of Parmigiano Reggiano is embossed with the number of the daily that produced it as well as the month and year of production.

Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium

Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium

The environment is heavily protected in this area, as is every aspect of the cheese-making process. As the Consortium notes, the regular controls carried out on the milk used in the process are aimed specifically at maintaining the high quality and the special characteristics which allow Parmigiano Reggiano to continue to be, as it always has, a purely natural product, completely without additives or preservatives.

Emilia-Romagna Tourism

Organic farming is integral to Parmigiano Reggiano, and it is thriving in the region like nowhere else. In 2017, there were 5,555 organic farm businesses operating in the sector, a 10% increase and with a 13.5% rise in the total area under organic crops, making the region the leader in northern Italy. A total of 13% of the region's agricultural land is organically farmed, with an impressive number of farms run by young farmers. Despite the pandemic, 2020 was a record year for Parmigiano Reggiano PDO (protected designation of origin) production, which saw a 7.9% increase in sales in Italy and a 10.7% increase abroad, while production increased by 4.9%. Nearly four million wheels of Parmigiano Reggiano were produced in 2020, the most in its long history.

Emilia-Romagna Tourism

Of course you cant have cheese without wine. Emilia-Romagnas different types of soil give birth to a broad range of wines, enhanced by innovative viticulture practices and wine-making techniques. The regions wine production is divided fairly evenly between whites and reds, the dominant varieties being Malvasia, Lambrusco, Trebbiano, Barbera, Bonarda and Sangiovese, among them one of the oldest wine grapes in the world, as well as the only wine originating from a grape on the Italian Peninsula.

Emilia-Romagna Tourism

Emilia-Romagna Tourism

And Motor Valley as its known, aka the place where speed was born, centered on Bologna (Ducati), Modena (Maserati) and Maranello (Ferrari), is a must for lovers of beautiful machines. The attractions include factories, automobile museums and professional racetracks, among others. Visiting the region in person and sampling the precious cheese in its native environmentonce travel restrictions have inevitably been liftedis of course the best way to experience it. We consulted with Fabrizio Raimondi, spokesperson for the Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium, on some other cant-miss highlights:

Caseificio San Bernardino Dairy: San Bernardino is a small, family-run dairy that represent all the intangible assets of Parmigiano Reggiano: tradition, sustainability and pursuit of excellence. Here the work never stops: Parmigiano Reggiano must be produced 365 days, but it is not enough just to do it. We must do it with passion, with a smile."

Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium

Parmigiano Reggiano Maturation Facility: The maturation facility has that wow factor that makes every visit unforgettable. Why? Perhaps for the intense aroma of Parmigiano Reggiano, perhaps for the thousands of wheels lying on the shelves to rest in silence until the minimum aging of 12 months. Or maybe because only here you really understand how much work and how much passion there is inside a wheel of Parmigiano Reggiano.

Trattoria Masticabrodo: Gastronomy is the means that allows Parmigiano Reggiano and our products to be known all over the world. Masticabrodo, with its traditional cuisine and warm hospitality, is certainly a great ambassador of this philosophy.

Emilia-Romagna Tourism

Azienda Agricola Palazzo: Thanks to wine producers such as Palazzo, the vines of the Parma area such as Malvasia and Lambrusco are increasingly in demand all over the world. It is difficult not to fall in love with this place after a walk among the vines and a wine tasting at sunset.

Emilia-Romagna Tourism

Giusti Traditional Balsamic Vinegar of Modena PDO Cellar: They call it Modena black gold: the traditional balsamic vinegar of Modena must mature at least 12 years before obtaining the PDO mark. A visit to the cellar is essential to understand the value that is contained in each bottle, and also because the original has nothing to do with the many cheap products labeled balsamic that can be found elsewhere.

Emilia-Romagna Tourism
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A Manhattan apartment building emptied out a tenant's rent-controlled apartment where he has lived for 20 years while he was hospitalized with COVID, leaving behind just his piano and pet tortoise, because 'everyone assumed he had died'.

Japanese native Ryo Nagaoka, 60, has lived in the East Village apartment for more than 20 years. He works in midtown, at a noodle restaurant, and lives alone with his pet tortoise, Kame-san, which in English translates to Mr. Tortoise.

In October, he became severely ill and neighbors thought he had COVID-19 but he refused hospital treatment because he has no health insurance.

In January, he was found unconscious in his apartment by the super, who had gone to tell him about a water leak. The super called an ambulance and he was rushed to the hospital.

He spent two months in Bellevue Hospital and then an outpatient facility in Brooklyn then returned to his apartment on Wednesday but found it had been entirely emptied out.

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Japanese native Ryo Nagaoka, 60, returned to the East Village apartment where he has lived for 20 years on Wednesday to find it had been emptied out entirely. The only thing left was his piano. A neighbor saved his tortoise, Kame-san (Mr. Tortoise)

Friends and neighbors have donated clothes, a mattress and other possessions for the 60-year-old.

This is all that the man owns now after having all of his possessions thrown out by his building

Kame-san, which means Mr. Tortoise in Japanese, was 'saved' by a neighbor who has been feeding him for two months

The East Village building where Mr. Nagaoka has been living for the last 20 years. The building said it tried to reach him never heard back

The building is owned in part by Shark Tank's Barbara Corcoran and Alex Rodriguez. They haven't commented

The only things left inside were his piano and his pet; the building had even removed his fridge. He has no phone, wallet or ID.

The building - which is owned in part by Shark Tank's Barbara Corcoran and A-Rod - had cleaned everything out. The building sent in a team to empty it and clean it on February 17.

Now, neighbors and friends are raising money on a GoFundMe page to help him put his life back together.

It has raised $30,000 of their $50,000 goal. Barbara Corcoran has donated $12,000 to it.

Speaking from his apartment on Friday to DailyMail.com, Nagaoka said: 'I was in Bellevue hospital and later transferred to the outpatient in Brooklyn.

'Then I came back, two months later, that was Wednesday I came back to the apartment and the key had changed.

'I had to ask my neighbor to call the landlord. They called and someone came and opened the door. When I opened the door...another shock - it's empty.

The building owners had started renovating the old apartment. They threw out the fridge and tore up some flooring

A GoFundMe page set up for Ryo has now raised more than $30,000. Among those who donated to it is Barbara Corcoran

'They threw out everything. I'm not sure who but somebody saved the turtle. His name is Mr. Tortoise,' he said.

Friends and neighbors were stunned when he reappeared. They had become so concerned that they put up missing person signs in the hallways.

Now, they are rallying together to replace what was taken from him.

In addition to the GoFundMe site, they have compiled a spreadsheet where people can list items to donate.

Nagaoka joked that he now has nicer food and clothes than he ever did before the saga began.

The building is managed by H&H Ventures but owned by Corcoran and A-Rod.

The pair bought it in 2018 from Donald Trump and his former lawyer Michael Cohen.

A rep for Corcoran defended what had happened in an interview with The New York Post , saying they made 'every effort to locate the Resident including calling local hospitals and contacting Adult Protective Services.

'After APS was alerted to the situation, an APS caseworker was assigned to the Resident.

'Despite the effort of the APS caseworker and this office, the Resident could not be located and the apartment was cleaned by a company that specialized in bio clean-up services on Feb. 17, 2021, in conformity with all governing regulations.'
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People and institutions sanctioned by China China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has placed sanctions on nine people and four UK institutions that had 'maliciously spread lies and disinformation'. The nine British people are: Lord David Alton , human rights campaigner

, human rights campaigner Sir Iain Duncan Smith , former Conservative leader

, former Conservative leader Tom Tugendhat , Foreign Affairs Committee chairman

, Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Baroness Helena Kennedy , Labour peer and barrister

, Labour peer and barrister Sir Geoffrey Nice , human rights barrister and judge

, human rights barrister and judge Jo Smith Finley , Newcastle University academic

, Newcastle University academic Neil O'Brien , Conservative MP

, Conservative MP Tim Loughton , Conservative MP

, Conservative MP Nusrat Ghani , Conservative MP The four British institutions are: China Research Group , established by Tory MPs

, established by Tory MPs Conservative Party Human Rights Commission

Uyghur Tribunal , independent research group

, independent research group Essex Court Chambers , legal firm Advertisement

China's ambassador to Britain has been summoned to explain revenge sanctions slapped onto MPs and academics critical of the Beijing regime today as relations between the two nations cooled further.

The Government reacted with fury today as nine China hawks - plus four UK institutions - were targeted by the Communist regime for speaking out on its human rights abuses.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he stood 'firmly' behind them over the tit-for-tat move, which came four days after Britain, the US, Canada and the European Union placed sanctions on Chinese officials deemed responsible for human rights abuses against Uighur Muslims in the country's autonomous Xinjiang.

Former Conservative leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith, one of those targeted, said he would wear the sanctions as a 'badge of honour' for speaking out against activities branded 'genocide' by the United States and others.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said the Chinese ambassador would be summoned this afternoon over the sanctions, branding them a 'sign of weakness' from Beijing.

Speaking to broadcasters, Dominic Raab said: 'The ambassador here will be summoned and we will explain in very clear terms the position both in relation to the MPs and other figures who have spoken out, but also that we will not be silenced in terms of speaking out about these human rights abuses.

'And I think you'll see - as we saw only this week with 30 countries, including the UK, united in imposing sanctions on those abusing the Uighur Muslims and others in Xinjiang - that pressure continue to grow and to rise.'

Mr Raab announced a package of travel bans and asset freezes against four senior officials and the state-run Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps Public Security Bureau (XPCC PSB) earlier this week.

He said the abuse of Uighur Muslims was 'one of the worst human rights crises of our time' and the global community 'cannot simply look the other way'.

But China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today that Mr Raab's move was 'based on nothing but lies and disinformation, flagrantly breaches international law and basic norms governing international relations, grossly interferes in China's internal affairs, and severely undermines China-UK relations'. The Ministry said it had sanctioned nine people and four British institutions 'that maliciously spread lies and disinformation'.

Tory MPs Sir Iain, Neil O'Brien, Tim Loughton, Nusrat Ghani and chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee Tom Tugendhat were sanctioned, along with crossbench peer Lord Alton, Labour's Baroness Kennedy, barrister Geoffrey Nice and academic Jo Smith Finley.

Taking aim at China on Twitter this morning Mr Johnson said he stands 'firmly' with those affected.

China has hit British institutions and MPs including former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith (pictured in the House of Commons last December) with sanctions in response to similar moves by the UK over the treatment of people in Xinjiang

Foreign Affairs Committee chair Tom Tugendhat MP (left) and human rights campaigner Lord David Alton (right) on the list

Conservative MPs Nusrat Ghani (left) and Neil O'Brien (right) are among the nine individuals on the list released by China

Taking aim at China on Twitter this morning Mr Johnson said: The MPs and other British citizens sanctioned by China today are performing a vital role shining a light on the gross human rights violations being perpetrated against Uighur Muslims.

'Freedom to speak out in opposition to abuse is fundamental and I stand firmly with them.'

Sir Iain said: 'It is our duty to call out the Chinese government's human rights abuses in Hong Kong and their genocide of the Uighur people.

'Those of us who live free lives under the rule of law must speak for those who have no voice. If that brings the anger of China down upon me the I shall wear that as a badge of honour.'

And Ms Ghani told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'This is a wake-up call for all democratic countries and lawmakers that we will not be able to conduct our day-to-day business without China sanctioning us for just attempting to expose what's happening in Xinjiang and the abuse against the Uighurs.

Almost half of Britons say China is a 'threat to UK More than four in 10 Britons believes that China is a direct threat to the United Kingdom, a new poll reveals today. Some 43 per cent of those polled by Redfield and Wilton Strategies for MailOnline see Beijing as an adversary. In contrast little more than one in 10 (11 per cent) of the 1,500 people quizzed see China as a global ally. Additionally, just 15 per cent want the UK to force closer ties with the Communist state and almost a third (29 per cent) was the UK to cool relations. The poll comes in the wake of a growing row between the two countries over Hong Kong, a former UK territory, and the mistreatment of the Uighur Muslim minority in China's remote Xinjiang province. The ethnic cleansing underway has been branded 'genocide' by the US and this week the UK was among a swathe of countries which introduced sanctions against officials believed to be involved. More than half (54 per cent) of those polled said they felt the UK had a responsibility to protest against human rights abuses in China. Advertisement

'To sanction MPs who are just doing their jobs here in the UK is extraordinary. I know I won't be intimidated, this has now made me feel even more determined to speak about the Uighur.'

A spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in the UK said 'lies of the century' were being spread about what was going on in Xinjiang and criticised the UK's deployment of sanctions.

He told a press briefing on Friday: 'Human rights in Xinjiang cannot be defined by a few satellite images, fake reports cobbled together by people thousands of miles away.'

The spokesman added: 'For some time, potent forces... have fabricated a large amount of lies of the century about Xinjiang and used these lies to demonise China and interfere in China's internal affairs in order to serve their political agenda.

'Some countries, including the UK, even proposed so-called sanctions against China. We strongly oppose and reject this.'

Senior MP Mr Tugendhat said the decision by China to sanction him and other parliamentarians were the actions of a 'vulnerable and weak' state.

He told BBC News: 'I view this as a direct assault on British democracy and an attempt to silence the British people who have chosen me to speak for them - if that isn't an assault on British sovereignty, I don't know what is. I think the British Government should make it absolutely plain today and now that it stands with the democratic rights of the British people to express their views in whatever ways they see fit. This is after all what sovereignty means. There is no point in taking back control from Brussels only to hand it over to Beijing.'

Mr Tugendhat added: 'What we are seeing at the moment is a vulnerable and weak China that has failed in its democratic outreach to states around the region, it has failed to undermine the coalition of countries that are standing up for human rights and it has failed to undermine the connection between the UK, the US and indeed Europe, so what they are doing is lashing out.

'Sadly this is a sign of weakness and not a sign of strength and a demonstration that President Xi is failing the Chinese people, the Chinese Community Party and, indeed, failing the whole world.'

And Ms Finley, a Uighur expert at Newcastle University, tweeted: 'It seems I am to be sanctioned by the PRC (Chinese) government for speaking the truth about the Uyghur tragedy in Xinjiang, and for having a conscience. Well, so be it. I have no regrets for speaking out, and I will not be silenced.'

The four British groups sanctioned were the China Research Group, established by a group of Tory MPs; the Conservative Party Human Rights Commission; research group Uyghur Tribunal; and Essex Court Chambers, a law firm that also described Chinese policies toward minorities in Xinjiang as crimes against humanity and genocide.

Responding to China's move today, Mr Raab said: 'It speaks volumes that, while the UK joins the international community in sanctioning those responsible for human rights abuses, the Chinese government sanctions its critics.

'If Beijing want to credibly rebut claims of human rights abuses in Xinjiang, it should allow the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights full access to verify the truth.'

The Communities Secretary called the decision by China to sanction British institutions and MPs 'completely wrong'.

Robert Jenrick told Times Radio: 'I think it was completely wrong for China to place these restrictions on members of our Parliament, who were simply exercising their democratic right in this country.

Newcastle University academic Jo Smith Finley (left) and Labour's Baroness Helena Kennedy (right) are both on the list

Barrister Geoffrey Nice (left) and Conservative MP Tim Loughton (right) are also among the nine people on the sanctions list

Britain says abuse of Uighur Muslims is 'one of the worst human rights crises of our time' Activists and UN rights experts say at least one million people, mainly Uighurs and other Muslim minorities, have been detained in a vast system of camps in China's western Xinjiang region in recent years. Former inmates say they were subject to ideological training, forced labour and abuse in the camps. The activists and some Western politicians also accuse China of carrying out forced sterilisations on Uighur women and separating children from their families. China has repeatedly denied all accusations of abuse and says its camps offer vocational training and are needed to fight extremism. On Monday, Britain, the US, Canada and the European Union put sanctions on Chinese officials deemed responsible for human rights abuses in the country's autonomous north-west territory. Then today, China hit four British institutions and nine people including former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith with sanctions in response to the moves. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has said the abuse of the Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang was 'one of the worst human rights crises of our time' and the international community 'cannot simply look the other way'. The UK Government is under pressure to take a tougher stance on Beijing. It has faced a potential Tory revolt with backbenchers prepared to support an amendment to the Trade Bill aimed at preventing ministers signing a deal with countries involved in genocide. Advertisement

'Knowing those MPs, I doubt that they will be silenced or intimidated by this action and the UK certainly won't step back from its important role in calling out China for its human rights abuses.

'We've been leading the world in that respect, at the United Nations and with our international partners, and I know the Foreign Secretary (Dominic Raab) will continue that work.

'We've already applied restrictions on certain Chinese individuals and we're taking action against companies which are importing products into the UK and other markets from those provinces in China - that's the right course and the Foreign Secretary will keep up that work on the international stage.

'But we completely condemn the action we've heard from China this morning.'

Shadow foreign secretary Lisa Nandy said China would 'not succeed' in silencing British criticism of human rights abuses following the decision to apply sanctions.

In a statement, the senior Labour MP said: 'These sanctions are a blatant attempt to silence British parliamentarians who are shining a spotlight on the appalling persecution of the Uighur people. They will not succeed.

'The UK has a moral duty to continue to raise the horrific abuses taking place in Xinjiang and we will continue to press the Government to lead the international community to hold the Chinese government to account for their actions.'

And the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) said the Chinese sanctions on parliamentarians were a 'flagrant assault' on democracy and that there would be no change in members' approach to criticising the Far East nation.

Of the seven sanctioned parliamentarians, five are IPAC members: Tory MPs Sir Iain Duncan Smith, Nusrat Ghani and Tim Loughton, and peers Baroness Kennedy and Lord Alton.

An IPAC spokesman said: 'The decision to sanction five of our British members is a flagrant assault on those parliamentarians' rights to conduct their duties.

'We will be making urgent representations to ministers and the House authorities to see that they're protected from danger or harm as a result of the (Chinese) Communist Party's bullying.

'No member of IPAC will change their approach in any way and we will continue to advocate for oppressed people in China whatever aggression the Chinese Communist Party seeks to respond with.'

But a Ministry spokesman in China said: 'As of today, the individuals concerned and their immediate family members are prohibited from entering the mainland, Hong Kong and Macao of China, their property in China will be frozen, and Chinese citizens and institutions will be prohibited from doing business with them'.

The Ministry said it 'reserves the right to take further measures', and that it had summoned the UK's ambassador to China, Caroline Wilson, 'to lodge solemn representations, expressing firm opposition and strong condemnation'.

In announcing his sanctions on Monday, Mr Raab told the Commons state control in Xinjiang is systemic.

'Over a million people have been detained without trial, there are widespread claims of torture and rape in the camps, based on first-hand survivor testimony,' he said. 'I'm sure the whole House will join me in condemning such appalling violations of the most basic human rights.'

Workers walk by the perimeter fence of what is officially known as a vocational skills education centre in Dabancheng in China, in September 2018. Activists and UN rights experts say at least one million people, mainly Uighurs and other Muslim minorities, have been detained in a vast system of camps in China's western Xinjiang region in recent years

The EU had earlier announced its own sanctions, with Beijing responding by denouncing them as 'based on nothing but lies and disinformation' and targeting its own measures at 10 individuals - including five MEPS - and four institutions.

The timing of Mr Raab's announcement came as the Government was under pressure to take a tougher stance on Beijing.

Asian stocks recover from three-month low as investors weigh economy against diplomacy Global shares bounced back today, with Asian stocks recovering from a three-month low, as investors focused more on optimism about the global economic recovery than rising tensions between the West and China. MSCI's ex-Japan Asia index rose 1.43 per cent after hitting a near three-month low yesterday, as the Shanghai Composite Index gained 1.53 per cent, ending a three-day losing streak. Yasutada Suzuki, of Sumitomo Mitsui Bank, said: 'All the sanctions so far have been largely symbolic and should have little economic impact. But the Sino-U.S. confrontation is affecting market sentiment. It could take some time for them to come to any compromise.' Japan's Nikkei rose 1.47 per cent after Wall Street shares staged a rally, driven by cheap, cyclical stocks that have been battered by the pandemic. The Dow Jones rose 0.62 per cent and the S&P 500 gained 0.52 per cent. Advertisement

The Government faced a potential Tory revolt with backbenchers prepared to support an amendment to the Trade Bill aimed at preventing ministers signing a deal with countries involved in genocide.

Activists and United Nations rights experts say at least one million Muslims have been detained in camps in Xinjiang.

The activists and some Western politicians accuse China of using torture, forced labour and sterilisations.

China has repeatedly denied all accusations of abuse and says its camps offer vocational training and are needed to fight extremism.

A Ministry spokesman said: 'China is firmly determined to safeguard its national sovereignty, security and development interests, and warns the UK side not to go further down the wrong path. Otherwise, China will resolutely make further reactions.'

Yesterday, Chinese state TV called for a boycott of Swedish retail chain H&M as Beijing lashed out at foreign clothing and footwear brands following Monday's decision by the 27-nation EU, the US, Britain and Canada to impose travel and financial sanctions on four Chinese officials blamed for abuses in Xinjiang.

Cotton and other agricultural products form a major component of the local economy in vast but thinly populated Xinjiang.

Companies ranging from Nike to Burberry that have well-established presences in China were also targeted online, with some Chinese celebrities announcing they were severing endorsement deals with some firms.

China's ruling Communist Party and nominally independent nationalists operating mainly online have a long history of attacking foreign firms and even entire countries seen as insulting China's national dignity or harming the country's core interests.

South Korean retail giant Lotte saw its China business destroyed after it provided land for a US air defence system that Beijing objected to, while relations with Norway had been strained for years after the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to pro-democracy writer Liu Xiaobo, who died in a Chinese prison in 2017.
On the deadliest day in Nigers recent memory, over 130 people and nearly two dozen children were killed in a series of suspected Islamic extremist raids Sunday afternoon in a region of Africa where jihadi attacks have become more prevalent in recent years.

The attacks happened along the Mail border in southwestern Niger as unidentified insurgents on motorcycles raided three villages and other hamlets in the Tahoua region, according to government sources.

The initial estimate of lives lost released Sunday was about 60. But that count has since been updated to 137 by the government.

The attackers remain unidentified. But violence in West Africas Sahel region has increased as Al Qaeda and Islamic State-affiliated militants have carried out countless attacks in recent years, displacing many from their homes.

Source:The Christian Post
A missile is launched by the North Korean military, Thursday. North Korea said Friday that it test-fired new tactical guided missiles. Yonhap



North Korea said Friday it test-fired new tactical guided missiles a day earlier, confirming the launch of ballistic missiles for the first time in about a year.



On Thursday, South Korea's military said the North fired what appeared to be two short-range ballistic missiles into the East Sea, raising concerns that the missiles banned under the U.N. Security Council resolutions could sharply escalate tensions.



The latest launch came as the Joe Biden administration prepares to announce a new policy on the North.



"The newly developed new-type tactical guided projectile is a weapon system whose warhead weight has been improved to be 2.5 tons with the use of the core technology of tactical guided projectile that was already developed," the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.





North Korea's military officials smile as they watch the missile test, Thursday. Yonhap



The Academy of Defence Science conducted the launch and was "very successful just as it had been confidently predicted," according to the KCNA.




The 2020/21 Form Four national exams began on Friday across the country, with 751,150 candidates eligible to write the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) tests.

As was the case with the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) examinations, which ended on Wednesday, the exams will be tightly monitored by the Kenya National Examinations Council (Knec) and security agencies to ward off malpractices.

The candidates will start with English functional skills testing at 8am and later write English comprehension, literary appreciation and grammar tests in the afternoon.

Here is a round-up of how the day one of the examinations kicked off.

Kisii

In Kisii, Education CS Prof George Magoha supervised the distribution of test papers at the county commissioner offices.

He said no cheating has been detected so far and that officials are closely monitoring schools in Kisii, Migori and Homa Bay counties.

Meru

In Meru County, Skills Development PS Alfred Cheruiyot said the Ministry of Education has put in place measures to ensure that the examinations are credible.

The PS said officers from the Education ministry headquarters had joined their colleagues in various centres across the country to help them supervise distribution and invigilation of the tests.

"We have been supporting our field officers in this exercise and will ensure the exams are credible. These exams are being done in difficult times when we are battling the Covid-19 pandemic and we will do our best to support our officers," said Mr Cheuiyot.

He spoke at the Meru County headquarters when he opened the examination container and supervised distribution of examination materials to school principals

Nyeri

Kenya National Examination Council (Knec) Chairman John Onsati oversaw the opening of the container in Nyeri Central Sub county.

He commended the KCPE team for a flawless exercise urging the centre managers, supervisors and students to emulate them and have a credible exam.

"All examination that we are going to offer has been secured fully up to this point. They have been properly guarded all in the name of giving a level playing ground for the children and it is going to continue from the container now to the centres and back," he said.

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Mr Onsati maintained that security would be beefed up during the examination seeing as every school would have at least two police officers.

"All the institutions will have two police officers to safeguard the examination. We are not going to compromise the quality at any stage," he said.

Tharaka Nithi

At least one KCSE candidate in Tharaka Nithi County is expected to start for the examination in a labour ward at the Chuka County Referral Hospital.

In the county, a total of 10,981 candidates are set to sit for the examination; 5,764 girls and 5,217 boys.

Speaking during the distribution of examination papers in Chuka town, Tharaka Nithi County Commissioner Beverly Opwora warned that any form of examination malpractices will land culprits in trouble.
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Department of Health officials will be invited to appear before an Oireachtas Committee to answer questions from TDs and senators about allegations of gathering dossiers on autistic children involved in legal actions.

It is believed that the Committee will meet with Robert Watt, who is the interim Secretary General at the Department of Health.

The Committee will write to Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly this evening, calling for the Senior Counsel's report to be made available to the whistleblower today.

In the letter, the Committee will also request a copy of the report for its members to be sent by March 30, next Tuesday.

Taoiseach Micheal Martin has asked Mr Donnelly to consider a review of policy following issues raised by a report by RTE Investigates.

The programme, which aired last night, found that the Department of Health has been secretly using information from private doctor consultations to build and maintain dossiers on children with autism who were involved in legal actions against the State.

In an emergency private meeting of the Oireachtas Health Committee today, TDs and Senators decided that they would invite Department of Health officials to appear before the Committee.

The meeting was urgently called by the chair of the Committee, Sinn Feins Sean Crowe, following the airing of the programme on Thursday.

Sources said that while it is not yet clear which department officials will be invited to appear before the Committee, former officials may also be considered.

Former officials have no obligation to appear as witnesses before an Oireachtas committee.

As next weeks Committee meeting has already been arranged, it will now be examined if provisions can be made for an additional meeting when the Dail and Seanad is off for two weeks for Easter.

TDs and senators may hold the special meeting on the week of April 5, if this is possible due Committee Room booking slot availability.

It is understood that at this afternoons meeting, members condemned last nights programme and recognised that the case is quite complex.

Mr Watt, who is currently the interim secretary general of the Department of Health, has been under scrutiny recently because he will receive a salary increase of around 80,000 a year from his current 211,000 if he is appointed to the role on a permanent basis.
Member of the public attend the launch of the Building Bridges Initiative report at Bomas of Kenya in Nairobi (file photo).

On March 11, police officers in Sololo, on the Moyale-Marsabit road, intercepted a 24-year-old woman attempting to smuggle explosives into Kenya.

The woman's bag had three grenades and four teargas canisters, according to police.

Police were conducting a search in a 14-seater matatu at a checkpoint, about 30 kilometres from the Kenya-Ethiopia border, when they found the explosives.

It has not been established where she was headed.

The find came barely a month after a Marsabit county government vehicle was seized carrying bullets by Border Police Unit (BPU) officers in Elle-Borr.

With such incidents, fingers would be pointed at Al-Shabaab and other terrorist groups.

Arming local militias

However, intelligence reports acquired by the Nation show the weapons are being given to militias engaged in fighting between the Gabra and Borana in Marsabit County.

"We are not dealing with a terrorist organisation in this area. These are local militias arming. It is a concern for security agencies," county BPU head John Mathiu said.

For decades, clashes between members of the two communities have left hundreds dead and thousands injured and displaced.

As peace negotiations yield little or no results, the animosity continues.

Control of resources and greed for power have been the drivers of the violence between these communities.

With the General Election fast approaching, government authorities fear politicians are fanning violence.

Local political and community leaders are linked to the formation and arming of militias.

Displace rival groups

The aim is to displace rival groups in order to swell voter numbers in their favour.

Authorities say this is breeding a new form of home-grown terrorism that could throw the entire region into anarchy.

"Violence whose sole aim is displacement is in itself terrorism," Sololo Deputy County Commissioner Dennis Kyeti said.

Funan Qumbi and Funan Idha townships on the Turbi-Sololo wards border are deserted due to clashes that have lasted a month.

At play are militias that have been killing, maiming and displacing people and stealing livestock.

Though residents of the two centres have fled for fear of retaliatory attacks, spies and scouts remain, hidden in the bushy and rocky Turbi hills.

Their job is to be lookouts for attackers and who among the warring communities will fire the first shot.

Attacking law enforcers

But there is more. The militias have turned their weapons on law enforcers. A group recently attempted to raid Turbi Police Station, the divisional headquarters.

On February 9, security officers repulsed four men who raided the station. Police said the attackers fled to Turbi hills.

While it is not clear on whose orders the men were acting, it has emerged that mercenaries from Ethiopia are taking part in the clashes.

One of the groups believed to be involved in the fighting is Ethiopia-based Oromo Liberation Front (OLF).

OLF members have been active in Marsabit for more than two years, taking part in guerrilla-type attacks on villages.

Documents from the Ministry of Interior obtained by the Nation corroborate our findings.

OLF hideouts

According to the files, investigations have unearthed OLF operational camps and hideouts in Funan Idha.

"Government military attire, drugs, OLF uniforms, relief food, civilian clothes, household goods, equipment, an Oromia Cooperative Bank book, among other items were found in the camp believed to be predominantly occupied by the OLF members," the document dated March 10, 2021 reads.

"OLF members have been staging attacks on the Gabra with the knowledge, blessings and funding from politicians of one community."

This is not the first time the OLF has been fingered as a participant in the Marsabit bloodbath.

In fact, the group is said to have been behind the killing of 11 Gabra elders during a peace meeting in Forole on the Kenya-Ethiopia border two years ago.

The elders and security committee members set out for two peace meetings supposedly initiated by elders from Ethiopia on May 5, 2019. It turned out to be a deadly trick.

Rogue police reservists

When foreigners are not involved in the raids, former and current rogue police reservists fight alongside militias.

They train and arm fighters in remote parts of the vast arid county.

It is out of this realisation that the government started disarming the reservists.

The disarmament was said to have been advised by findings that government weapons were being used in the ethnic killings.

The disarmament was, however, marred with reports of irregularities. Some leaders and residents said it was selective.

Following the disarmament, residents turned to militias, pushing up the proliferation of illegal guns and smuggling from Ethiopia.

Intelligence reports suggest the Gabra and Borana could be arming their militias to displace people ahead of the 2022 elections.

The National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) said there were 100,000 illegal firearms in the hands of civilians in Marsabit County as of September last year.

Porous border

Unmanned points on the porous Kenya-Ethiopia border allow in migrant fighters and members of militia groups like the OLF.

The illegal trade in firearms is thriving.

A light weapon goes for about Sh20,000 while machine guns and more sophisticated firearms are sold for around Sh150,000.

A bullet is bought for as little as Sh200. Local leaders are believed to be bankrolling the business.

Apart from adopting military-grade arsenal, the militia groups have taken up technology.

They use social media to spread propaganda and spew hate against rival communities and militias.

Twitter, WhatsApp and Facebook have become important communication tools in a land traditionally cast as disconnected from modernity.

Incitement tool

Vernacular radio stations had emerged as a tool for incitement but tough regulations on the broadcasters saw a migration to internet-based platforms.

Local political and community leaders have been accused of masterminding the incitement and propaganda.

"One of our toughest roles has been identifying and taming these social media networks but we need to find a long-lasting solution," Mr Kyeti said.

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The most intriguing aspect of the militias is their intelligence capability, which seems to match or even surpass that of the government.

Besides using scouts and spies for surveillance and reconnaissance, the militias have adopted internet-based messaging platforms to communicate.

The sophisticated web of networks is used to convey vital information on movement, attacks and even government security operations.

Real time information

Leaders and militias get the information in real time during or after an attack, sometimes even before law enforcers.

"By the time we get a report of a killing, the victim's tribesmen hundreds of kilometres away have the information," Mr Kyeti said.

This, the administrator added, creates an avenue for distortion and manipulation of information, leading to retaliatory attacks.

In a land where trust is almost non-existent and secrecy is a way of life, community policing is proving to be a mismatch for the networks, which are usually organised in cells trickling down to village level.

This, coupled with the language barrier facing non-local security operatives, keeps the militias a step ahead of the government.

Knee-jerk reactions by the government in its attempts to end the killings have failed to yield results.

Bias claims

State officials have been accused by members of the two communities of bias.

The government has deployed specialised BPU and General Service Unit officers to the volatile region.

This has only been a temporary reprieve. The police officers' camps usually act as buffers between the communities.

Security operatives are pushing for dialogue between the Gabra and Borana with the hope of finding a long-term solution to the bloodshed.
COVID-19 Outbreak Data Required to be Reported in California

CDPH: Local health departments must know about all workplace outbreaks.

California law requires employers to report all COVID-19 outbreaks in the companies to its local health departments. The health departments then report that data to the California Department of Public Health.

Non-health employers are required to report to their local health department when identifying three or more COVID-19 cases in the workplace within two weeks. According to CDPH outbreak guidelines, local health departments will determine whether the cases qualify as an outbreak. Outbreak data shows that from January 1, 2021 to March 1, 2021, a total of 4,311 confirmed COVID-19 outbreaks and 39,526 outbreak-related cases were reported.

The most common places for these outbreaks include: residential care facilities, restaurants and skilled nursing facilities. Outbreak data, however, is not equivalent to transmission risk within a particular industry. The number of outbreaks in certain settings will depend on the number of workplaces and people in each setting. This report shows it's possible some outbreaks occurred prior to 2021; it's possible not all outbreaks were reported CDPH.

For more information about this years outbreaks, visit the CHHS Open Data Portal.
US officials held talks in Mexico on Tuesday with the government of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) to discuss measures to halt the wave of asylum seekers escaping the humanitarian crisis in Central America.

The essence of the measures announced, however, is to tighten the stranglehold of US imperialismits corporations and Wall Streetover the local governments, which has been the main historic cause of the poverty and violence underlying mass migration.

Mexican National Guard troops (Wikimedia Commons)

So naked was the neocolonial character of the trip by US officials that Lopez Obrador was asked by the vetted reporters in his press conference on Tuesday whether it was a visit to supervise policies being taken in exchange for vaccines. Lopez Obrador angrily responded, We are not a colony or protectorate. He then added submissively, We have said that Bidens immigration policy is very good.

While promising to address the root causes of migration, the most immediate and devastating cause of the humanitarian crisis in Central America, the pandemic, is being totally disregarded by the Biden administration.

The UN World Food Program (WFP) reported last month that the number of people going hungry in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua has quadrupled in the last two years, which has doubled the percentage of people making concrete plans to migrate.

The COVID-19-induced economic crisis had already put food on the market shelves out of reach for the most vulnerable people when the twin hurricanes Eta and Iota battered them further, the WFP explains.

Instead of helping ease the pandemic crisis in Central America, the Biden administration has continued hoarding vaccines, while employing a limited supply to extort Mexico into agreeing to further militarize its southern border to block migrants.

After Biden announced last week that the US would send roughly 4 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to Mexico, a vaccine which is still unapproved in the United States, the AMLO administration ended all non-essential travel from Guatemala into Mexico. This accompanied new deployments of National Guard troops and immigration officers with drones, night-vision goggles, and other equipment to patrol the border with Guatemala.

Following their visit to Mexico, Bidens National Security Council official Juan Gonzalez and the newly appointed special envoy to the Northern Triangle, Ricardo Zuniga, announced in an online press conference the creation of a Regional Anti-Corruption Task Force with governments, civil society and the private sector.

The task force will establish a preferential relationship with actors dedicated to anti-corruption efforts, they explained. It is an old tactic of US imperialism to look the other way when favoring corrupt politicians until they fall out of favor. This was most clearly illustrated by the falling out with Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega, a former CIA asset who was overthrown in a 1989 US invasion.

As Obamas Vice President, Biden oversaw the work of US-sponsored anti-corruption commissions in Guatemala and Honduras, which selectively pursued cases to pressure the local ruling elites into implementing policies favorable to US banks and corporations, while opposing the influence of geopolitical rivals, chiefly China.

These crusades were also employed to focus local politics on questions of corruption, as opposed to social inequality, austerity and exploitation. In 2015, mass protests against Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina were successfully channeled by US-backed politicians and NGOs behind the UN-sponsored anti-corruption commission CICIG (International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala) and its investigations of Molina, who was then replaced by another pro-austerity and repressive administration.

On Wednesday, Biden tapped Vice President Kamala Harris to take up his former role in working with regional governments to address migration.

Bidens new task force will directly sponsor judges, attorneys and politicians favored by Washington, instead of relying on independent commissions, which were ultimately shut down under pressure by the local oligarchies.

A planned visit yesterday to Guatemala, where US officials were reportedly going to lobby in defense of several favored judges and prosecutors, was postponed after the countrys international airport was shut down because of ash clouds from the nearby Pacaya volcano.

White House officials spoke to reporters yesterday of a sense of decency with treating migrants like human beings and treating our neighbors with respect and dignity.

This is coming from a government that is sacrificing hundreds of thousands of lives in a pandemic to safeguard the flow of profits for Wall Street. Congress and the Biden administration, moreover, have spent the last months accommodating their policies to the Republican co-conspirators in Trumps January 6 coup, who are anti-immigrant fanatics tied to fascist paramilitary forces.

The Biden administration has responded to pressure from Republicans by escalating the assault on asylum seekers and repeating ad nauseam: Dont come! The border is closed!

In his first press conference, Biden boasted yesterday that the vast majority, the overwhelming majority of people coming to the border crossing are being sent backthousands, tens of thousands We are trying to work out now with Mexico the willingness to take back more of those families. He then insisted on addressing the root causes of migration.

On a March 11 press release, Democratic Senate Pro Tempore President Patrick Leahy warned that the judicial system was being filled with cronies of the other branches of government in Guatemala; corruption permeates the highest ranks of government in Honduras; El Salvador is becoming a one party state. He concluded that these regimes are the antithesis of credible partners.

Allied with murderous dictatorships across Africa and the Middle East, Washington is not concerned about credible partners, but is fearful of the inability of these regimes to deal with an eruption of the class struggle.

In the 1970s, the last time Central America saw such a drop in living standards as today, mass rebellions of peasants, workers and youth broke out against the US puppet regimes. Between 1945 and 2000, Central America experienced eight times more years of violent conflict between governments and insurgents than the world average, according to researcher Fabrice Lehoucq. Central American countries spent on average 72 percent of the period from 1900 to 1980 under dictatorships and saw a total of 38 coups.

US imperialism consistently backed and trained the militaries as a bastion of its own control. Between 1946 and 1992, it provided $1.8 billion in military assistance to the region, which was used to crush left-wing movements.

During a brief interval, between 1962 and 1972, the United States spent $617 million in Central America under the Alliance for Progress initiated by John F. Kennedy, which was used to build schools, roads, hospitals and other key infrastructure.

The Biden administrations Central America Plan, just like Obamas Alliance for Prosperity and Security, will focus on building up the regions repressive state apparatus and providing greater incentives for US transnational corporations, while getting the Mexican ruling class more involved in anti-immigrant repression.

However, even Kennedys intentions were to undermine the influence of the Soviet Union and the threat of social revolution. The American ruling class today, which is facing an existential crisis of declining global hegemony and the increasing instability of its class rule at home, will respond to the social crisis and threat of revolution in Latin America with unvarnished brutality.
Overnight flooding closes roads, triggers two-hour school delay

Mud Creek flooded the Oklawaha Greenway at North Main Street. [COURTESY OF HENDERSON COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE]
The Houston Arboretum went up in flames Thursday.

The intentional setting ablaze of one of H-Town's most sacred green spaces was somewhat dampened by wet ground, but what could catch fire sure did burn  enough for the prescribed measure to be deemed a success.

SCOOTER BOOTIN' BOOGIE: Houston city council kicks electric scooters to the streets

A blue, clear sky made way for perfect fire-starting weather at the arboretum, the operators of which are hoping the burn will help preserve and restore the land to the way nature intended.

Human development around the space meant nature couldn't take its proper course inside the arboretum, where any trace of large grazers (like bison) and uncontrollable wildfires (like when lightning strikes) was as good as gone by the 21st century, according to Christine Mansfield from the Houston Arboretum.

"This year, we brought back grazers in the form of goats," Mansfield said, referring to the now-three times that the rumanents have so-called "mowed" pastures at the Arboretum in the last year. "Now, we're actually able to bring back (wild)fire in the form of a safe, controlled, prescribed burn."

Jay R. Jordan / Chron staff

By the time the sun came up Thursday, clouds were clogging Houston's skies and had brought some rain to the area. The sun shining by noon was not enough to dry up puddles left behind by those short-lived showers, which made it more difficult for some of the vegetation to catch fire.

HOUSTON RIDES: Cyclists paint bike lanes where the city won't

Still, crews from the Houston Fire Department, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, and the Houston Arboretum were able to set fire to much of the seven acres they originally planned to burn. Flames somtimes reached feet into the air as dry tall grass was lit with a deisel torch.

A crewmember speculated that if enough wasn't burned this time, it might not be until next year before another burn could happen.

That could be on the agenda for the arboretum, which plans to utilize prescribed burns more often, Mansfield said.

The last time it happened was in early 1999. By that fall, the arboretum boasted an emaculate seasonal wildflower bloom.

"Within a matter of two or three weeks (from now), you'll see green sprouts starting to come up," Mansfield said. "It will be a beautiful spring."

What's your favorite memory at the Houston Arboretum? Share with me on Twitter: @JayRJordan.
Paxton, IL (60957)

Today

Some clouds. Low 62F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Some clouds. Low 62F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph.
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Dhaka: Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote an opinion piece titled 'Imagining a different South Asia with Bangabandhu' in The Daily Star newspaper here on Friday (March 26), and said that the brutal assassination of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1975 deprived the region of the destiny that could and should have been "ours to share".

The Prime Minister, who is visiting Bangladesh on his first trip to a foreign country since the outbreak of the coronavirus, further said that it was time to once again chart a bold ambition for partnership between India and Bangladesh.

He promised that India will remain Bangladesh's partner as they jointly march towards the golden future for which Bangabandhu, and millions of patriotic Bangladeshis, and indeed thousands of Indians, gave their all.

PM Modi wrote, "It is time to once again chart a bold ambition for our partnership, as Bangabandhu would have done. With the spirit and enterprise of our people as our Bhagya Vidhata, the dispenser of our shared destiny, such a future is closer than ever," adding "As we look back on Bangabandhu's life and struggle, I ask myself, what could our subcontinent have looked like, had this modern-day giant not been assassinated?"

Modi said the Bangabandhu's killers wanted to reverse the gains of Bangladesh's independence, for which he had led a heroic struggle, adding "They also wanted to strike a mortal blow to Bangabandhu's dream of building a cooperative, peaceful and harmonious subcontinent."

Despite unflinching commitment to his cause, and despite all the persecutions he suffered, Bangabandhu retained a generosity of spirit that is a mark of true greatness, Modi said, adding that the Bangladeshi leader's progressive belief in fairness, equality and inclusiveness is captured in the words he wrote in the 1950s, "I know at least this much: no one should be murdered because he holds views different from mine."

He further wrote, "In him, we saw a tall leader whose vision went beyond the narrow confines of physical borders and social divisions. That is why we join our Bangladeshi sisters and brothers in celebrating Bangabandhu's memory in this very special Mujib Borsho."

"A sovereign, self-confident Bangladesh, at peace with its neighbours, bearing friendship to all and malice towards none, was rising fast from the ashes of a painful war. If this had continued, perhaps India and Bangladesh could have achieved many decades ago some of the accomplishments that we were able to reach only recently," Modi said.

Citing the example of the 2015 Land Boundary Agreement between India and Bangladesh, PM Modi said that had Bangabandhu been at the helm longer, this achievement may have come much earlier, adding "Had that happened, our cooperation would have reached a different orbit all together, enabling development, economic growth and shared security."

"I am sure that with his visionary world-view, Bangabandhu would have dared to dream something even bigger for our subcontinent. With the spirit of the Liberation War energising us, and with Bangabandhu as the guiding star, this region, at least the Bay of Bengal area, might have been in a different reality now," he said.

"We could have built a closely integrated economic region, with deeply interlinked value-chains spanning food processing to light industry, electronics and technology products to advanced materials. We could have created inter-governmental structures to maximise the economic, scientific and strategic benefits of a community of hundreds of millions of people," he said.

The two countries could have developed a vast multimodal connectivity network of roads, navigable rivers and riverports, railways, ports, container yards and airports, seamlessly integrated and coordinated through a Bay of Bengal transportation and logistics council, he said, adding that it could have allowed goods to move quickly and seamlessly, even multiple times during the production process, across IT-enabled and highly modernised borders.

Live TV

The Prime Minister wrote, "This is the Shonali Adhyaya that we may have been living in had it not been for that tragic Friday morning of August 1975. The assassination of the Father of Bangladesh deprived the region of the destiny that could and should have been ours to share."

He further said, "And yet today, it is possible in this dawn of a new and rising Bangladesh to believe that this future is once again within our grasp," adding "Our exciting recent journey gives me hope. In a spirit of good neighbourliness, we have resolved complex issues amicably. Our land and maritime boundaries stand settled. We have substantial cooperation covering almost all aspects of human endeavour. Our trade has reached historic levels, aiding economic activities in each other's countries. Our people-to-people exchanges remain robust as ever."

Live TV

According to PM Modi, "In this historic commemorative year, we look forward to the completion of important connectivity projects like the India-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline and the Akhaura-Agartala rail link. As our connectivity improves, our business will increase, our partnership will deepen, and we will open new vistas of cooperation."

(With Agency Inputs)
I had never seen these people before in my life, he said. They had not been in the establishment. I had no prior contact with these folks. I dont know if it was mistaken identity or something. It was completely random. And Im still trying to wrap my mind around the whole thing.
Not only will we see an immediate effect on jobs, industry capability and confidence, there will be flow on effects to the deep supply chain that sustains the visitor economy, he said. Loading Harry Hunt who runs Hunts Hotel Liverpool said he will need to shed two or three full-time staff and casuals will lose about 30 per cent of their hours, which had been subsidised by JobKeeper payments for the past 12 months. Mr Hunt, who also chairs of the South West Sydney Tourism Taskforce, said many hotel businesses across Greater Sydney, including his in the south-west, were still reliant on JobKeeper. He said about 60 per cent of his business came from international travellers., particularly from China. Because our business hasnt increased like those rural and coastal areas, we are going to have to go back to the pre-JobKeeper days when we had to put off a lot of staff, he said. The government should support about 20 per cent of businesses that are still left who still need JobKeeper.

Figures released by Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg this week showed 334,000 workers in NSW were still receiving JobKeeper in January, although that was well down from the 1.2 million that were relying on the wages subsidy between April and September last year. Labor Party analysis of the latest available Treasury data showed the inner-city seat of Sydney had the most employees receiving JobKeeper among NSW electorates (28,591 workers) followed by the western Sydney seat of Watson (12,309 workers) and North Sydney (12,262 workers). Indeed Hiring Lab economist Callam Pickering said, while the jobs market was recovering more quickly than expected, the withdrawal of JobKeeper would be very disruptive for some industry sectors. Im certainly more optimistic about the outlook for employment now than I was three or four months ago but there is absolutely a risk that the end of JobKeeper could cause the recovery to falter, or at the very least slowdown considerably, he said. University of Melbourne economist Jeff Borland estimates that between 100,000 to 200,000 jobs will be lost around the country when JobKeeper ends. However, this would be partially offset by employment growth of 50,000 to 60,000.

So long as it falls within the range, my feeling is that the loss will be relatively quickly undone by ongoing employment growth  a setback that lasts a few months rather than a major reversal, he said. Employment in NSW has recovered strongly in recent months with the states unemployment rate falling from 7.1 per cent in September to 5.6 per cent in February. David Hammon, who has been running the Bridgeclimb business since October 2018, said he has lost staff who had worked for the business for 20 years. They had to leave and get other jobs because they needed full-time jobs to survive, he said. JobKeeper has been very beneficial over this period when weve had about 75 per cent decreases in visitation. About 65 per cent of that would come from international people and the other 15 per cent is domestic interstate.
(Newser)  Anthime Gionet's apparent livestreaming of the Capitol attack on Jan. 6 may have helped authorities nab multiple other participants in the riot, and he himself was arrested on Jan. 15 and charged with knowingly entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds without lawful authority, violent entry, and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds. Now, via attorney Zachary Thornley, Gionet, a known white nationalist, has put in a request to a federal judge to allow him to take off his GPS monitor, insisting that he "does not come from a background of violence" and loves cops. Thornley claims his client was working as a journalist on the day of the attackPolitico notes Gionet is not a credentialed Capitol press corps memberand that he could be seen in video clips fist-bumping police officers he encountered inside. Thornley also insists that Gionet, raised with a "Christian upbringing," warned others inside the Capitol Building not to damage anything.

story continues below

The attorney says Gionet isn't a flight risk and has stuck to all necessary conditions since he posted $50,000 bail and was released in mid-January. However, prosecutors have said that in a Jan. 6 livestream that lasted nearly 30 minutes, Gionet spurred on other participants and yelled about revolution. In charging documents, the FBI has noted that Gionet also got into a confrontation with a Capitol Police officer, calling him a "f---ing oathbreaker" and a "piece of s---." Gionet is also facing misdemeanor assault charges in Arizona. Ben Smith, now a New York Times media columnist and formerly the editor of BuzzFeed, says Gionet ran the Vine account for the video arm of the latter under Smith's tenure. In a January Times piece, Smith noted the role that social media played in regard to Gionet, and how he seemed enraptured by the power of viral posts. "It's not clear what Mr. Gionet actually believes, if anything," Smith wrote. "And really, I'm not sure I care." (Read more Capitol attack stories.)
STAMFORD  Bankrupt OxyContin maker Purdue Pharmas new reorganization plan runs about 100 pages. But it leaves a key question unanswered: What will happen to the firms approximately 500 employees, including the nearly 200 based at its Stamford headquarters, after its dissolution and the transfer of its assets into a new company?

In response to an inquiry from Hearst Connecticut Media, Purdue said this week in a statement that we have no current plans for any reductions in force. The company declined to comment in response to a follow-up inquiry about whether its statement meant that current employees, including CEO Craig Landau and other senior-level executives, would be allowed to work at the new company if they were interested in doing so.

State attorneys general are also staying tight-lipped about the staffing of the new company.

Without listing specific individuals, I firmly believe that those responsible for this crisis should not continue to work in this industry, said Connecticut Attorney General William Tong.

Tong is one of 24 state attorneys general who have not agreed to settle their states lawsuits against Purdue because they deem the companys settlement offer insufficient.

What is clear is that the break-up of Purdue is on the horizon. Its reorganization plan calls for its dissolution and the transfer of all of its assets into a new company after emerging from bankruptcy.

Sackler family members who own Purdue would relinquish control and have no involvement in the new company.

The successor company would be indirectly owned by two trusts, which would help disburse settlement funds that the company values at a total of more than $10 billion. The settlement money would resolve the hundreds of thousands of claims against the company and fund programs aimed at tackling the opioid epidemic.

Despite filing for bankruptcy in September 2019 to resolve the lawsuits, Purdue and the Sacklers have denied the complaints allegations that the company fueled the opioid crisis with deceptive OxyContin marketing.

As the company has grappled with the torrent of litigation, its headcount has dropped dramatically in recent years. It cut its workforce by a total of more than 1,000 in 2017 and 2018. Several hundred employees were laid off when it disbanded its sales force following its February 2018 decision to stop marketing OxyContin and other opioids to medical professionals.

Since filing for bankruptcy, the company has struggled to keep its remaining staff. Citing an annualized voluntary turnover rate of 13 percent from the start of its bankruptcy through August 2020, Purdue said in court filings last year that it needed to award employee bonuses to respond to a real and serious attrition problem.

Last October, the judge overseeing Purdues bankruptcy approved bonuses for lower-level employees that could total up to nearly $36 million. Those payments are being distributed among more than 600 people.

The following month, Judge Robert Drain signed off on a performance bonus of nearly $3 million for Landau, although that amount was $593,000 less than the amount originally proposed by Purdue.

Questions about HQ

Purdues re-organization plan also leaves unclear the new companys headquarters location.

On Jan. 1, Purdue started a new three-year lease for about 104,000 square feet at 201 Tresser Blvd., in downtown Stamford. It ranked as the second-largest office-leasing transaction in Fairfield County in 2020.

The current lease involves less space than Purdue previously used at 201 Tresser, although the company has declined to specify its previous square footage. It has been based since 2000 at 201 Tresser, which is also known as One Stamford Forum.

In response to Hearst Connecticut Medias inquiry, Purdue officials said that we have no current plans to change location, but declined to say whether the lease would also apply to the successor company.

The Sacklers represent the beneficial owners of the approximately 505,000-square-foot building at 201 Tresser, according to bankruptcy court records.

A message left for a spokesperson for the Sacklers was not immediately returned.

Other tenants at 201 Tresser include Charter Communications  the provider of Spectrum-branded cable, internet and phone services  which is headquartered in the adjacent building at 400 Atlantic St. Charter plans to open later this year its new headquarters a few blocks away at 406 Washington Blvd.

During the past few years, 201 Tresser has periodically attracted protesters. On March 12, activist and former Stamford art gallery owner Fernando Luis Alvarez led a protest outside the building calling for the ouster of the Food & Drug Administrations interim commissioner, Janet Woodcock.

Alvarez gained international attention in June 2018 after he was arrested for his role in a protest that involved the installation of an 800-pound spoon in front of 201 Tresser.

In a move apparently aimed at reducing its offices visibility, Purdue in 2019 removed all of its exterior signs at 201 Tresser.

[Want more Connecticut business news? Sign up for our newsletter here.]

pschott@stamfordadvocate.com; twitter: @paulschott
The Charger Blog

Jeff Brown, an IT risk and information security expert with more than two decades of experience in the field, recently visited campus virtually as part of the Universitys Connecticut Institute of Technologys Cyber Legends web series. By Sarah Kispert '22

Jeff Brown, chief information security officer of the State of Connecticut, recently shared his story and advice with the University community.

The University of New Havens Connecticut Institute of Technologys Cyber Legends Series continued earlier this month with a wide-ranging talk by Jeff Brown, chief information security officer for the State of Connecticut.

An IT risk and information security expert who has more than 20 years of experience implementing cost-effective controls for global Fortune 500 financial institutions, he began his current role last year. As part of his lecture, he discussed his career and offered students advice on how to navigate the ins and outs all levels of the cybersecurity field.

Brown began the webcast by addressing what has been the biggest challenge to him and his team being part of a fully remote workforce.

A lot of communication happens in person when youre building relationships, he said. A lot of how you will succeed is based on your business relationships.

'We need to be stronger together'

Brown explained how security is a field made up of many different disciplines, and that building relationships and developing skills encompassing each of these fields is essential to being successful.

Hailey Johnson 22 M.S., a candidate in the Universitys graduate program in cybersecurity and networks, asked how important soft skills are when one also has strong technical abilities.

There are very few people working alone anymore, responded Brown. How you act and operate on a team will be very important.

He emphasized how critical it is to be approachable and a team player in an adapting to a virtual world. With the world becoming more technology based and as virtual threats become more common, he said having strong communication skills are essential in keeping a team functioning to prevent cyber threats from ever developing.

We need to be stronger together, said Brown. To do that, we need to raise awareness. Bills in the Connecticut General Assembly are now pending to create programs that are designed to make individuals more cyber literate, however, there still needs to be more work done to bring awareness to the field and create available resources for individuals to educate themselves.

Browns final note to students interested in pursuing careers in cybersecurity was to be prepared for lifelong learning. He encouraged them to learn to adapt to ever-changing technologies and threats, as well as to develop both soft and hard skills, and to continue to grow as individuals who are prepared to face both old and new challenges in the field of cybersecurity.

Browns latest publication, The Security Leaders Communication Playbook, is scheduled to be published in Fall 2021 by CRC Press.

Sarah Kispert '22 is a forensic science major at the University of New Haven and a cybersecurity marketing intern. She is the daughter of Karl Kispert, host of the Cyber Legends Series.
South Africa: Committee welcomes improvements in water audit opinions

The Portfolio Committee on Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation has acknowledged improvements in audit opinions of the water and sanitation portfolio.

These improvements have resulted in the all auditees in the portfolio receiving unqualified audit opinions.

The committee on Thursday received a briefing from the Office of the Auditor-General on the delayed 2019-20 annual reports within the portfolio.

The committee welcomed information that the Water Trading Entity (WTE) and the Trans-Caledon Tunnel Authority had improved from the qualified audit opinion received in the 2018-19 financial year.

We recognise the work that has gone into ensuring improvements in audit opinions, which in our view, is the foundation necessary to ensure efficient service delivery to the people of South Africa. We welcome the fact that the WTE has improved from the four previous qualified audit opinions, committee chairperson, Machwene Semenya, said.

Despite this, the committee has raised a number of areas that require attention to ensure sustainable improvements that will translate into service delivery.

Firstly, the committee has called for the permanent appointment of a Director-General and Chief Financial Officer for the department to be expedited to ensure effective and continuous leadership. The high turnover in senior leadership contributes to challenges at the department.

Secondly, in addressing the material misstatements in the auditees financials, the committee has called for improvement in internal controls relating to regular reviews and reconciliations of information submitted for audit, which will enhance the quality of financial statements, said Semenya.

In addition, while the committee has noted the decrease in fruitless and wasteful expenditure over the past two years, the committee remains concerned that R566 million was incurred fruitlessly for the 2019-20 financial year.

The committee has called for strengthened measures to prevent this, as the money could be spent elsewhere to enhance service delivery, Semenya said.

She noted that the R979 million incurred by the auditees due to irregular expenditure arose mostly from deviations from normal procurement processes, which is unjustifiable and of great concern to the committee.

In addition, irregular expenditure was incurred through [the] extension of a contract without prior approval by the delegated official, discrepancies with bid specifications and variations not approved by National Treasury. The committee has called for effective consequence management against those identified to be in the wrong, Semenya said.

Call for conclusion of water boards audits

The committee has also called for the conclusion of the audits of Sedibeng, Amatola and Rand Water to get a clear picture of the performance of water boards in the country.

Despite this, the committee welcomed the improvements at Magalieswater and Mhlathuze Water, who received unqualified audit opinions with no findings.

The committee further called for strategies to deal with the perennial challenge of debt owed by municipalities to water boards.

The committee believes that [not recovering] this debt inhibits certain water boards from fully servicing their operational expenditure needs, which have to be funded from this revenue.

Specific and focused debt recovery strategies are required to be implemented by management to ensure sufficient levels of cash flow are maintained to ensure uninterrupted continuation of operations, which does not compromise service delivery, Semenya said.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2021-03-26. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
More than 5 million renters say they have lost employment income and expect to be evicted soon, the CBPP reported. Struggling renters are disproportionately households with children and people of color, particularly people who are Black or Latino.
At least 20 Chinese military aircraft entered Taiwan's air space on Friday, according to Taiwan's defense ministry.

Why it matters: It is the largest incursion by China's air force since Taiwan's defense ministry has announced almost daily Chinese military exercises into its air space, per Reuters.

A person familiar with Taiwans defense planning told Reuters that the Chinese military was simulating an operation against U.S. warships sailing through the Bashi Channel.

China has said the exercises are meant to show its determination to defend the island, which it considers part of Chinese territory, though Taiwan's status is one of the most sensitive political issues between Washington and Beijing.

The big picture: Friday's exercises involved four H-6K bombers, which have nuclear strike capabilities, 10 J-16 fighter jets and six other military planes.
India's history shows that 'satyagraha' ends atrocities, injustice and arrogance, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said on Friday, expressing support for the 'Bharat Bandh' called by farmer unions protesting the three agri laws.

Farmer unions protesting the laws have called for a complete 'Bharat Bandh' from 6 am to 6 pm on Friday which marks four months of the farmer agitation on Delhi's three borders -- Singhu, Ghazipur and Tikri.

In a tweet in Hindi, Gandhi said India's history shows that 'satyagraha' ends atrocities, injustice and arrogance. The movement should be in national interest and peaceful, the former Congress chief added.





Hundreds of farmers have been camping at Delhi's border points at Ghazipur, Singhu and Tikri since November last year demanding that the Centre repeal the three contentious farm laws.

Enacted in September last year, the three farm laws have been projected by the Centre as major reforms in the agriculture sector that will remove middlemen and allow farmers to sell their produce anywhere in the country.

The protesting farmers have expressed apprehension that the new laws would pave the way for eliminating the safety cushion of the Minimum Support Price (MSP) and do away with the "mandi" (wholesale market) system, leaving them at the mercy of big corporates.

Also read: Bharat Bandh today: What's open, what's close; all you need to know

Also read: Bharat Bandh on March 26: Ghaziabad shops to remain open, say officials
CHICO, Calif. - One of Chico's own longtime public health nurses, Monica Soderstrom, received the 2021 Woman of the Year Award today for her incredible contributions to Butte County Public Health's response to COVID-19.

Soderstrom's excellence in serving her community reaches far beyond just this past year.

Assemblyman James Gallagher presented her the award today praising the work she did with the Oroville spillway, the aftermath of the Campfire and for always rising to the challenge.

Im just really humbled, Soderstrom said. There are so many people apart of this response, and to be chosen is just such an honor."

She is one of 120 women being recognized for this honor by the California Legislative Women's Caucus.

One of the nominations said Soderstorm saved lives by being the center of the organization and management of coronavirus testing, case investigation and contact tracing.

Director of Butte County Public Health Danette York said Soderstorm "remains, steadfast, stoic and is an all-around superstar."
A doctor in France wrote the country's first prescription for therapeutic cannabis on Friday, kicking off a two-year trial involving 3,000 patients that could lead to marijuana's legalisation for medical use

ClermontFerrand, France, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 26th Mar, 2021 ) :A doctor in France wrote the country's first prescription for therapeutic cannabis on Friday, kicking off a two-year trial involving 3,000 patients that could lead to marijuana's legalisation for medical use.

Cannabis is prohibited in France even for medical purposes, but patients' associations have been lobbying for years to get it cleared for use to relieve pain.

"This is an important day in the history of medicine in France," Health Minister Olivier Veran told reporters after witnessing the filling-in of the prescription.

"You are the first French patient to receive a cannabis-based treatment," Veran told the recipient, who said he had been "suffering for seven years" because of an illness.

The prescribed treatment contains active cannabis-derived substances in the form of essential oil to be taken orally, or of cannabis flowers for vaping.

"There is no question of smoking any of it," Veran said.

The minister said that after the trial France would proceed with a "rigorous scientific and medical evaluation" of its results.

Once the treatment's efficacy and side effects were known, it could be cleared for general use for all eligible patients -- an outcome Veran said he hoped for.

Nicolas Authier, president of a scientific committee on medicinal cannabis, said: "We hope that with this new therapeutic tool that we can give patients an improved quality of life." Some 170 hospitals will contribute data to the trial. Patients will be eligible for cannabis treatment only if other drugs fail to alleviate their condition, or provoke excessive side-effects, according to French medicines agency ANSM.

Conditions that qualify for cannabis treatment include some forms of epilepsy, neuropathic pain, chemotherapy side-effects, a need for palliative care, and pain linked to multiple sclerosis.

Cannabis treatment can also be prescribed for children in cases of refractory epilepsy or cancer.

The treatments will be obtained abroad, as France prohibits cultivating marijuana, and made available with different degrees of THC and CBD, the two active ingredients of cannabis.
as I listened and prayed it became clear that this period of time between the death and rising of Jesus was not covered by sources, fictional or nonfictional.

Author Christopher Graham recounts the days following Christs crucifixion through His mothers eyes in Mary ($16.99, paperback, 9781662813535; $8.99, e-book, 9781662813542).

When we read the story of Jesus death, we know that He will rise again three days later. His disciples did not. Graham helps us imagine what those three days could have been like by following Mary, the mother of Jesus, through this time of grief and confusion.

as I listened and prayed it became clear that this period of time between the death and rising of Jesus was not covered by sources, fictional or nonfictional. I talked to a priest friend of mine and he suggested this may be a calling to write a story, said Graham.

Christopher Graham is a member St. Francis Xavier, Roman Catholic Church and a retired IT executive. He is a graduate of Cleveland State University and holds a masters degree from University of Wisconsin  Oshkosh. Graham and his wife, Kathleen, have two children and live in Merrill, Wisconsin.

###

Xulon Press, a division of Salem Media Group, is the worlds largest Christian self-publisher, with more than 15,000 titles published to date. Mary is available online through xulonpress.com/bookstore, amazon.com, and barnesandnoble.com.


SACRAMENTO  No place in California has generated more fervent support for ousting Gov. Gavin Newsom than Calaveras County in the Sierra foothills.

More than 1 in every 10 residents signed petitions to put a recall election on the ballot, the highest per capita rate of any of Californias 58 counties, a Chronicle analysis shows. Calaveras was the starkest example of a statewide pattern  the way the recall election is all but sure to have qualified because of outsize enthusiasm from rural voters, driven by resentment of Democratic governance and especially of Newsoms coronavirus pandemic policies.

Doug Rockey, owner of Spur R Guns, a gun shop in Copperopolis, started collecting recall signatures from his customers last summer. He said residents of the county despise the governor and the liberal politics of Californias big cities.

Personally, I think hes a dictator, Rockey said. We dont want to be part of San Francisco anymore.

San Franciscans couldnt feel more differently when it comes to the recall. If it had been up to them and voters in most of Californias other urban areas, its likely Newsom wouldnt have been on the ballot until the 2022 governors election.

Newsoms hometown provided the lowest number of signatures per capita for the recall effort, The Chronicle found. Fewer than 1 in 100 residents of the city signed the petition, according to the secretary of states most recent count.

Similar trends can be seen throughout California. Counties outside the states largest metro areas  the Bay Area, Sacramento, Los Angeles and San Diego  are home to about 21% of the population. But those rural areas accounted for nearly a third of the more than 1.8 million signatures that recall organizers had submitted as of March 11.

Put simply, people who live in counties that touch the Pacific Ocean were far less likely, on the whole, to sign recall petitions than residents of inland counties.

Political observers say that discrepancy reflects longstanding divisions in California politics. Most counties with higher rates of recall signatures were won by Donald Trump in last years election, even as the former president lost the state overall by nearly 2 to 1. Calaveras County hasnt voted for a Democratic presidential candidate since 1964  San Francisco hasnt backed a Republican one since 1956.

That could foreshadow the problem recall organizers face in challenging Newsom in a state where the most populous areas are overwhelmingly Democratic.

The pivot to the next stage requires a different level of calculus for Republicans to be successful, said David McCuan, a political scientist at Sonoma State University.

The Chronicle analysis is based on recall signatures turned in as of March 11. Recall organizers say they submitted more than 2.1 million signatures through the March 17 deadline, but the state will not report the final county-level numbers until late April.

Backers need about 1.5 million valid signatures from registered voters to qualify the recall for the ballot. The Chronicles analysis includes all signatures because counties have not finished verifying them. So far, more than 81% of the recall signatures tabulated have been found to be valid, giving organizers a safe cushion.

The preliminary county-level data shows support for the recall was strongest in the Sierra foothills and the northeast corner of the state, areas that have been solidly red for decades.

In Calaveras County, a county of about 46,000 residents, at least 6,049 people signed recall petitions. Thats more than 13% of the population. Neighboring counties had similar rates.

Rockey, the gun store proprietor, was one of about a dozen business owners in the county who collected signatures. He said many who signed were frustrated by Californias strict gun laws and restrictions Newsom imposed on businesses during the pandemic.

They want to be able to live their life comfortably, he said. We have some of the strictest laws in the United States.

Frustration in the region speaks to a more fervent brand of protest politics emerging in longtime Republican pockets of the state, where people feel alienated but are unable to sway the outcome of statewide races, McCuan said.

As you move further east, those are Trump-like counties or recall-centric counties, he said. Such areas consist of a lot of farms, a lot of trucks and a lot of guns.

Outside of the Sierra foothills, the recall collected high rates of signatures in the southern and northern ends of the Central Valley. Support was more lukewarm in the mid-Central Valley, where many Bay Area expatriates have moved.

Dan Newman, a consultant for Newsoms campaign to oppose the recall, said the geographic split shows the effort is driven by Republicans. He said the map closely mirrors Newsoms 2018 run for governor, when he defeated Republican John Cox by a wide margin.

It shows theyre on the same path that John Cox and Donald Trump were on in California elections, with about a third of the electorate supporting them, Newman said.

Mike Netter, one of the recalls chief organizers, said the effort has strong support in many urban areas, but its simply more difficult to collect signatures in a city like Los Angeles. He said rural counties often have a handful of central gathering places that are easier to target.

The fascinating part is the number of signatures collected in the really big counties, where its frankly hard to do anything, Netter said. The reality is, if it had just started and grown out of Northern California, we probably wouldnt be having this conversation.

He said the recall campaign expects the number of signatures collected in San Francisco and other parts of the Bay Area to increase in the final count. Netter said voters on the coast tended to be slower to warm to the recall movement.

Residents of Los Angeles County accounted for 281,775 signatures as of the most recent reporting deadline, less than 3% of the population. The 8,220 signatures from San Francisco represent less than 1% of the population.

The recall appears to have made more inroads in some Bay Area counties. Solano County, which is traditionally a lighter shade of blue, had the highest signature rate per capita locally  its 18,062 signatures represent about 4% of the population. Sonoma County was second with 18,634 signatures, almost 4% of the population.

And the urban-versus-rural pattern has clear exceptions, The Chronicle analysis shows. Orange County, a traditionally Republican bastion that has turned purple in recent elections, accounted for more than 240,000 signatures, about 8% of its population.

Orange County has been the source of much of the recalls fundraising and consulting muscle, boosted by wealthy conservative groups like the Lincoln Club of Orange County, which was at the center of the 2003 recall campaign that ousted Democratic Gov. Gray Davis.

Seth Morrison, executive director of the Lincoln Club, said many voters in the county were aggravated by what they see as arbitrary pandemic restrictions.

There was a time when they were wanting to arrest people for sitting on the beach, he said. Thats kind of fresh in peoples minds out here.

Ventura County, another purple outpost in Southern California, also produced a large number of recall signatures. Newsoms weakness in such counties could be a sign of vulnerability among moderate Democrats and centrist independents.

Melissa Michelson, a political scientist at Menlo College, said that while the overall numbers reflect the states red-blue county schism, she was struck by the raw number of signatures collected even in blue counties.

She said organizers could not have gathered so many signatures without a number of Democrats and independents souring on Newsom.

You have to be really disappointed to sign a recall, Michelson said. Its clearly folks from all over the state, from all over the political party spectrum, who are signing these petitions. And that should be very troubling to the governor.

Dustin Gardiner is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: dustin.gardiner@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @dustingardiner
HENDERSON, Nev., March 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Sunshine Ray is being recognized by Continental Who's Who as a Top Business Professional in acknowledgment for her contributions as a Co-Owner of both Atlas Plumbing and Johnny C's Dinner.

With many years of experience in several professions to her credit, Sunshine Ray has excelled as the co-owner of Atlas Plumbing alongside her brother, Rod Ray, since 2018. Situated at 1628 Athol Ave, Henderson NV, Atlas Plumbing is a family-owned company that has provided quality residential and commercial plumbing services to the Henderson community and the Las Vegas Valley for 40 years. Founded in 1980 by the head of their family, Bob Ray, the company's initial focus was to solve traditional plumbing problems before evolving in recent years.

Starting off as a young girl, Mrs. Ray would join her father on service calls, assisting on jobs, handling small bookkeeping tasks, ultimately fostering her work ethic from a young age. Years later her brother would personally recruit her to co-purchase Atlas Plumbing from their father. Bob Ray states, "Rod is extremely fortunate to have Sunshine as his partner" and "Sunshine is one of the hardest workers I know."

Earning a worthy reputation as a woman in the plumbing industry, Mrs. Ray continues to excel in the family business today. She is responsible for all business-related matters and since taking over the company she has developed a new company image, new branding, and is the driving force behind the marketing avenues utilized to promote her company. Ever since purchasing Atlas Plumbing in 2018, Mrs. Ray has strived to establish Atlas Plumbing as the premier provider of cutting-edge technology and equipment to better serve her customers. Atlas Plumbing is looked to as a trendsetter within the Las Vegas community, being the first to offer services such as trenchless re-piping and mechanical pipeline descaling, all while looking to tackle more complex plumbing tasks as they are presented. Sunshine plans on remaining at the forefront of the homes services industry in Las Vegas while she is at the helm.

Before embarking on her professional path, Mrs. Ray pursued an education at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, earning a Bachelor of Science in business marketing in 2004.

Following this accomplishment Mrs. Ray began her business ownership career early on, and just out of college she pioneered the first airbrush tanning salon business in Las Vegas. Later she obtained her certification as a business broker, which also requires a real estate license. True to her commitment to excellence, Mrs. Ray went the next step and earned her broker sales license. She held the position of a business broker/broker saleswoman prior to the Great Recession in 2008, during which time she brokered the sales of all types of businesses and residential homes throughout the Las Vegas valley.

Mrs. Ray remains affiliated with various organizations in relation to her areas of expertise, having maintained her involvement with the Service Nation Alliance, a contractor coalition she credits much of her contractor success through their ongoing mentorship.

Due to Mrs. Ray's ongoing success, she was recognized by Luxury Bath, a National Corporation. She was pursued by this National Corporation and is now their exclusive Luxury Bath dealer/installer for all of Las Vegas and Clark County.

Mrs. Ray is an active member of the community and finds helping those in need one of the most gratifying things she has been a part of since purchasing the company. Sunshine considers it an honor to work with local charities, such as Good Deed Project, Nevada Hand, and Hometown Hero's providing materials and plumbing services to assist in the community's good works.

Prior to these appointments, Mrs. Ray worked in the food and beverage service industry for over 20 years at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas. Due to her years of experience in this industry, opening a restaurant alongside her husband, Celebrity Chef, Chopped Champion, Johnny Church was an easier transition. Johnny C's Dinner has successfully become well known within her community as the go-to "All American Diner." The diner is located at 8175 Arville St Las Vegas, NV.

Mrs. Ray credits her work ethics to her parents through their guidance and unwavering support. She has always been motivated to own a business and is very excited to see her hard work and enthusiasm pay off as her businesses now thrive. Mrs. Ray states, "I am proud to have earned my peers' respect as a woman in the plumbing industry while bringing a softer approach to the trade." She is committed to ongoing success in the future by franchising the Johnny C's Diner concept and adding other services to the Atlas Corporation. Mrs. Ray is also in the final stage of securing a patent for a plumbing invention she created, if all goes as planned this new fixture will be on shelves throughout the world by 2021. Sky's the limit!

Contact: Katherine Green, 516-825-5634, [email protected]

SOURCE Continental Who's Who

Related Links

http://www.continentalwhoswho.com


Charleston, WV (25301)

Today

Mostly cloudy with some showers after midnight. Areas of patchy fog. Low 61F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%..

Tonight

Mostly cloudy with some showers after midnight. Areas of patchy fog. Low 61F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%.
Beijings penultimate trade strike on Australia over national security and human rights disputes has led to a flood of cheaper lobster into the Australian market. But no amount of domestic demand from a country of 25 million will ever replace the live-seafood appetite of a country of more than 1.4 billion. Many lobster farmers have left the water, some might never return. Loading And it is not the only economy dealing with a domestic rush of an unusual commodity over international trade tensions. The lobster farmers of Australia have more in common with the pineapple growers of Taiwan than they realise. In Taipei, President Tsai Ing-wens government remains untouchable in the polls. It wants to remain separate from Beijing despite the growing military, economic and political threats from the superpower, which views it as an inalienable part of the mainland.

Frustrated by the lack of public and political appetite for its One-China policy, Beijing sent dozens of warplanes towards its island neighbour in the first months of this year. Then it banned Taiwans pineapple exports. Like Australia, the official reason given by Chinese customs was for technical infringements. Authorities said pests were found in exports or enhanced COVID-19 testing was blamed. But both the Australian and the Taiwan governments deny these claims and say they are part of a pattern of economic intimidation. Taiwanese have spontaneously purchased domestic pineapples to reaffirm our solidarity, says the mayor of Tainan City Council, Huang Wei-che. The area is home to the second-largest number of pineapple exporters in Taiwan. There is pineapple in soup, pineapple wine, pineapple tarts and #FreedomPineapple, the hashtag used on Twitter by Taiwans Foreign Minister Joseph Wu to whip up a surge of consumer nationalism. I urge like-minded friends around the globe to stand with #Taiwan & rally behind the #FreedomPineapple, he said on Twitter in February.

The hashtag was itself taken from the fourth Australian export out of half-a-dozen last year to be hit by Chinese trade restrictions: #Freedomwine. Australias $2 billion-a-year wine trade with China was knocked out last year by tariffs of between 100 and 200 per cent over allegations it had been dumped at discount prices in the Chinese market. The Australian industry and the government have refuted those claims. This weekend, China extended tariffs on some Australian wines for another five years.Chinese officials said the taxes - expected to be up to 220 per cent - were an anti-dumping measures. Huang says it is time to trade more Penfolds and lobster for pineapple. In my opinion, it will certainly be a win-win situation if countries with a common vision can share with each others signature products, he says. Chung-Hsiu Hung, the chairman of Taiwans agricultural peak body, Mitagri, says if Chinese authorities dont want to allow the imports of Australian wine and lobster, we will eat it!

The more unreasonable the restrictions the more it will summon the consumers together, he says. The pineapple saga tells us, dont put all your eggs in one basket, and the risk resilience for the industry is a crucial issue and challenge we need to cope with. Fiona Fan, the director-general of Taiwans de facto consulate, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Sydney, says the trade disruptions have left many Australian and Taiwanese exporters in a state of uncertainty. As both are staunch supporters of free trade and market economy, Taiwan and Australia could work together to maintain the well-functioning of the multilateral trading system, she says. But for all the best intentions Taiwan-Australia food diplomacy remains beset by structural difficulties.

Two trade-dependent island countries, similar in disposition and population, find it impossible to meet for dinner at the highest levels because of the great power games going on around them. Taiwan is Australias 10th largest export market but there is no free trade deal with the island. Nor is there one on the horizon. A formal deal that could effectively recognise Taiwan as a separate trading nation would deepen tensions with Beijing in an already fraught environment. Diplomats on both sides are cognisant of this and are working privately to boost trade without official statements. But the lack of a formal agreement has seen Australian wine take only 12 per cent of the market where European and US wine dominate. Six tonnes of fresh Taiwanese pineapple are scheduled to arrive in May but overall, trade negotiations between the two Indo-Pacific democracies remain at the margins. Weve got a very strong economic relationship with Taiwan, says Australias Trade Minister Dan Tehan. I can see no reason why that cant continue. Trade Minister Dan Tehan says the solidarity expressed by Taiwan, the US and Europe in Australias trade difficulties with China was encouraging. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer

He said that while trade deals with Europe, the UK and Israel were a priority, the solidarity expressed by Taiwan, the US and Europe in Australias trade difficulties with China was encouraging. In his strongest public comments on the Australia-China relationship since taking office, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday singled out China for its blatant economic coercion of Australia and said it threatened the collective security and prosperity of the international system. Tehan says there has been a lot of empathy from countries globally because people think that there seems to be some unfair targeting going on. We need to be reassured that other countries are looking at whats happening and thinking that this isnt how countries should behave towards each other, he says. Loading

The Australian government has also been attempting to navigate the complexities of a changing relationship with China while those who have the most to lose, businesses, wear the economic hit. Australias ambassador to Beijing, Graham Fletcher, told an Australia-China Business Council meeting on Thursday that the two countries were in a stand-off and the public nature of the dispute had made it hard for either side to back down. Im not sure China realises the damage that is occurring both in Australia and internationally. Its been exposed as quite unreliable as a trading partner and even vindictive, he said. The Coalition - conscious of the potential for an electoral blowback on its China policy after taking decisions to block Chinese telecommunications provider Huawei, restrict foreign investment deals and call for an independent inquiry into the coronavirus - has been briefing industry throughout. It is vulnerable to attacks from Labor, particularly in WA (home to Australias largest rock lobster farms) where Labors trade spokeswoman Madeleine King has been critical of Australias China trade policy. The Coalition can not afford to lose one seat at the next election or it will lose majority government.

Papacosta, whose seafood members are among the most exposed in the country to retribution from China and has fewer readily available alternative markets, says the government had been direct in its consultation. They are not just sending messages down the line, she says. They have been very clear on their position. That helps as an industry when you are planning your approach or pivoting. Loading Tehan says he has been upfront and honest with businesses about what Australia was trying to achieve. Its actually been quite humbling for me because there have been businesses that have been hurt, says Tehan. But theyve understood that ultimately weve got to protect our sovereignty, and weve got to protect our national interests.
A mother-of-two has received a suspended prison sentence for assaulting her partner's brother and kicking a garda in the groin.

Judge Elma Sheahan told Lisa Geoghegan (34), who also smeared the word PIGS in menstrual blood on a prison cell, that she should be ashamed of her behaviour.

She said Geoghegan's actions showed an immense lack of respect for herself and for those charged with upholding the law.

After a trial in February 2020, a jury convicted Geoghegan of assault causing harm to Aidan Kenna and of assaulting Garda Anthony Sugrue at Willans Way, Blanchardstown on August 9, 2017.

Geoghegan of Glovers Court, York Street, Dublin had pleaded guilty to one count of criminal damage to a prison cell wall at Blanchardstown garda station on August 10, 2017.

The trial at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that Geoghegan was in a dysfunctional relationship with a man named Paul Kenna at the time of the incident. On the day in question, Mr Kenna's brother, Aidan Kenna, was concerned about his brother and called to Geoghegan's door. He was then assaulted, stabbed with a stanley knife and bitten in the hand.

Geoghegan was acquitted of producing a knife in the course of assaulting Aidan Kenna, and Derek Cooney BL, prosecuting, told the court that it could then not be established that she was the person who stabbed him.

She was found guilty of assaulting Garda Anthony Sugrue by kicking him in the groin during her arrest. Geoghegan's child was present in the house at the time, the court heard.

After she was detained in a cell in Blanchardstown garda station, Geoghegan wrote PIGS on the cell wall using her menstrual blood, the court heard. Sergeant Stephen Byrne told Mr Cooney that it cost 150 to have the cell professionally cleaned.

Ciaran Macloughlin BL, defending, said his client was extremely intoxicated on the day in question.

He submitted Geoghegan was not violent towards gardai until her child was removed from her care by arresting officers.

My client was in a distraught situation where she had a difficult altercation with members of An Garda Siochana, he said. He noted she had been found not guilty of assaulting two other gardai who were present on the day.

Geoghegan had a difficult upbringing and suffers from anxiety and depression, Mr MacLoughlin said. She was in a violent and difficult relationship at the time but is now in a stable relationship with a new partner and has a 10-month-old baby.

She is extremely embarrassed about a number of things she did, he said.

Judge Elma Sheahan said she would be sentencing Geoghegan for the biting only which she said was a disgusting act.

She suspended a prison term of one year on condition that she keep the peace for two years and engage with the Probation Services in relation to anger management and alcohol abuse issues.

Judge Sheahan said she was taking into consideration the lack of previous convictions, and the fact that the defendant was going through a particularly difficult period at the time of these offences.

Geoghegan was found not guilty by the jury of five further counts, including producing a stanley knife in the course of an assault, two counts of assault causing harm to two gardai, one count of damaging a garda ballistics vest and one count of intimidating a witness.
Baking as catharsis isn't new. There's angry baking. There's fundraising bake sales.

But for bakers Megan Brooke Morales and Andrea Holt, baking as a way to amplify the Asian American and Pacific Islander community was personal.

The duo met through their local "Murderino" (AKA true crime fans who enjoy listening to the popular My Favorite Murder podcast) chapter, and became fast friends through a mutual love of baking. Morales owns Cereal Killer Sweets, a Northside bakery off West Avenue known for their over-the-top goodies while Holt is launching her own baking pop-up, Kijimuna.

"She's from Okinawa, and I love their milkbreads, so I asked her, 'Do you know how to make these?' And that's how we started our friendship," Morales laughed.

Holt is half Japanese, while Morales is half Filipino.

"We wanted to promote and bring awareness to the violence that's always happening against AAPI and South Asian communities," Morales said. "After what happened at Noodle Tree and the deaths in Atlanta, we needed to do something."

For Holt, who spent half her life in Japan and fully identifies with both of her halves, she began to experience racist remarks from boys in high school. Though she says being white-passing served as somewhat of a protection from Asian hate.

Their solution? A treat box, $55, filled with the flavors they know and love with 100 percent of profits going toward Asian nonprofits and to help support the Atlanta victims. The box includes an assortment of cookies (ube, ube and white chocolate, strawberry matcha, pandan) by Cereal Killer Eats, as well as a ube and pandan swirl mini pound cake topped with toasted coconut glaze. Holt will tackle various Japanese shortbreads or chinsuko and butter cookies. Savory snacks from Sari-Sari Filipino Restaurant, Market & Bakery will round out the offering.

They didn't stop there. The pair also created a Google spreadsheet that highlights all AAPI businesses in San Antonio, from bakeries and restaurants to beauty and markets. The list has grown substantially in the past few days and now includes more than 140 businesses.

"Most of the messages we've received are from folks wanting to add more businesses," Holt said. "We haven't scratched the surface on home-based bakeries and businesses."

Orders can be placed at cerealkillersweets.com.
Less than a month before the death of 8-year-old Keyontae Holzendorf, a woman spotted the boy with injuries at Food Town and called police to report her concerns.

Officers responded shortly after noon on Feb. 28 to the grocery store at 1455 Wilcrest Drive in Houstons Briarforest area to conduct a welfare check, said John Cannon, Houston Police Department public information officer.

After speaking with the parents and boy, officers referred the case to Child Protective Services personnel in Harris County and Texas. Police noted the boy appeared playful, Cannon said. CPS told police there was no immediate record of having dealt with the family.

The names listed as complainants on the report were Kayla Holzendorf and Dominique Lewis, Cannon said.

Both are now charged with injury to a child and tampering with evidence in connection with the death of the boy. Holzendorf is the 24-year-old mother of Keyontae and Lewis, 28, is her common-law husband, according to authorities.

The boy died Tuesday night at Quality Inn & Suites at 2930 West Sam Houston Parkway South, which is the address listed in court records as the familys residence. Police responded to a reported child drowning at the hotel, but authorities found the boy in the middle of the room with injuries not consistent with drowning.

During a probable cause hearing, a prosecutor said there was evidence that the boy was chronically abused and possibly tortured, including ligature marks on his ankles and patches of skin missing from parts of his body.

In charging documents, both adults are accused of binding the boy and striking him with and against a blunt object. The couple is also accused of concealing a pair of handcuffs and duct tape during the course of the investigation into the child's death, court records show.

Nahji Jackson, 30, said she was walking up to the grocery store last month when she saw a boy nodding off while on his feet. He had a gash under his right eyelid and burns, cuts and bruises on his skin, she said.

Jackson, a mother of three, approached the boy and his mother. She asked the boy what happened, and he told her he fell off a bike, Jackson said. You can be honest, she told him, but the boy fell silent and his mother became defensive.

Jackson got into an argument with the boys mother, whose boyfriend threatened Jackson over the phone, she said. Thats when Jackson called the police.

The responding officers observed that the boy had an injury to his eye and scratches behind his ears, Cannon said. The officer stated in his report that the boy appeared to be playful and not afraid or scared of his mother or stepfather.

The couple told police that the boy fell off his bike while riding without training wheels, Cannon said. The officer contacted Harris County Child Protective Services, who said they could find no immediate record of having dealt with the family. As a precaution, Cannon said, the officer notified the agencys physical abuse unit and statewide CPS personnel about the incident before leaving the scene.

A spokesperson with Texas Department of Family and Protective Services said Thursday its child protective branch had prior contact with the family, but it was unclear if that contact was the incident at the grocery store. Specific details are confidential according to law, said spokesperson Melissa Lanford.

Jackson said it looked like the mother was hustling the boy outside the store for money. The boyfriends demeanor on the phone changed when police showed up, she said, and the boy told officers to get away from him  like he was trained, Jackson said.

As Jackson left the store, she said she told the boy: Somebody loves you  I love you. Im so sorry I cant do nothing else.

On the drive home, she wanted to turn around and go back for him. She called her friends and family members crying.

This week, Jacksons mother called to tell her about the death of a child she heard on a news report . She wondered if it was the same boy. Jackson went to the hotel where the death was reported and showed employees the video she took of the boy during the grocery store encounter.

Employees told her it was the same boy, she said.

Jackson was filled with anger, hurt and confusion after learning of the death, she said, and has since been speaking to media outlets about the situation.

We could have saved that boys life, Jackson said. What I want to do is I want to get my point across  if you see something, say something.

anna.bauman@chron.com
- Tutors International launched Sea Tutors in 2015, which specialises in placing high-quality full-time private tutors on yachts

- They have released first-hand anecdotes and experiences from full-time private tutors who have worked in these seafaring positions, showcasing the nature of the job and the qualities necessary to thrive as a full-time private tutor at sea

OXFORD, England, March 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- In 2015, the prestigious team at Tutors International (TI) launched Sea Tutors to fill a specialist niche in the private tutoring sector. Sea Tutors provides high-quality full-time private tutors to families on yachts.

One full-time private tutor - Joanna Dunckley - taught on a 60m yacht for 6 months and sailed all around the South Pacific. Locations included Fiji, Tonga, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Australia, Palau and Indonesia.

Some aspects of full-time private tutoring are the same whether at sea or on land, but there are inevitable marked differences. Joanna explains:

"I was very fortunate to have a designated air-conditioned classroom onboard, and was on hand in New Zealand to help provision the classroom with all the resources I needed, including a smartboard! We maintained a good routine and timetabled classroom learning in the mornings and then activities and excursions in the afternoons. So, in some respects, it was very 'normal'. However, I will always remember teaching under sail and having to brace ourselves at interesting angles during lessons some mornings!

"It makes for lots of very memorable moments, but teaching the boys about volcanoes and being able to stand on the edge of an active Volcano in Vanuatu while it steamed and spluttered with them, was definitely one of them.

"We also kayaked to an uninhabited island in New Caledonia for an afternoon of beach-combing and happened upon nesting sea snakes (banded sea kraits) - another incredible experience that led to a lot of learning!

"Exchange rates and different monies provided ample maths opportunities. Language and cultural differences could be discussed and debated. There were so many adventures and experiences from which questions and learning could happen naturally. This is one of the reasons I am a big believer in education and travel going hand in hand.

"I learned how wonderful a trip like this is as a life/educational experience, even if it's just for a term or two. I would definitely like to do it with my son once he is a bit older."

This kind of full-time private tutoring job requires a very special, dedicated and accomplished tutor. Sea Tutors operates within the Tutors International model of recruitment; a thorough and bespoke global search is conducted for every client enquiry, to find the perfect full-time private tutor.

In order to maintain the high-quality reputation of Sea Tutors, there are certain qualities that applicants must possess. Full-time private tutors recruited by Sea Tutors demonstrate academic excellence, ample experience, and meet every aspect of the job's detailed specification.

Experienced full-time private tutor, Joanna Dunckley, outlines what qualities she deems crucial for successfully tutoring on a yacht:

"Adaptability is probably the most important, followed closely by being a team player. The former, because itineraries and plans change at a moment's notice, be it due to weather, tides, customs officials etc, and the latter because you are working and living in close quarters with both the crew and the family 24/7. You need to be able to help out wherever needed."

About Tutors International

Tutors International provides an unparalleled bespoke service that matches the right full-time private tutor with the right child, in order for the student to fully reach their personal potential and academic excellence. Providing a service for children of all ages at different points in their educational journeys, Tutors International is founded on a commitment to finding the perfect residential tutor to realise the specific goals and aspirations of each student. Tutors are available for full-time private tutoring positions, after-school assistance, and home-schooling. It provides a prestigious and high-quality approach to home education.

Founded in 1999 by Adam Caller, Tutors International is a private company based in Oxford, a city renowned for academic excellence. Our select clientele receives a personally tailored service, with discretion and confidentiality guaranteed.

Contact Details

Web: www.tutors-international.com

Email:marketing@tutors-international.com

Phone: +44 (0) 1865 435 135

Tutors International

Clarendon House

52 Cornmarket Street

Oxford

OX1 3HJ

UK

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How badly would the UK's vaccine drive suffer if the EU blocked exports? If the European Union blocked all exports of coronavirus vaccines made on its turf, Britain could remain self-sufficient and still get jabs to the entire population. However, it could come under pressure on second dose supply because it relies on importing Pfizer's jab from Belgium. WHICH VACCINES ARE MADE IN THE EU? The Pfizer/BioNTech jab is currently the only vaccine used in the UK but manufactured in the EU, at the company's plant in Puurs, Belgium and BioNTech factories in Germany. AstraZeneca's jab is made at home in England and Wales. Moderna's  which will become available in about two weeks' time at the start of April  is produced in Switzerland, which is not an EU member and so not under von der Leyen's jurisdiction. CAN WE RELY ON ASTRAZENECA? The good news is that the UK has ordered so many doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab  100million  that in a worst-case scenario it could immunise the entire adult population (around 50million people) using that one alone. And the majority of these can be made in England and Wales, although ministers had hoped to boost it with imports from the Netherlands and India, which are now facing problems. WHAT ABOUT PFIZER SECOND DOSES? The bad news is that around 11million people have already had at least one dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, and the majority of them are still waiting for a second jab, which are likely only to come from within the EU. Even if all the 2.8m second doses given in the UK so far were all Pfizer, the country still needs more than eight million extra doses to hit that target. And it also hopes for another 14million so it can immunise the total 20million for whom doses were ordered. The UK has already stopped giving out the Pfizer vaccine to first-time patients so it can prioritise all the supplies - which are now in danger of grinding to a halt - for existing patients' second doses. Pfizer and the UK Government have both refused to comment on the supply chain but deliveries were already expected to be smaller in April. Pfizer declined to comment on its supply chain but said: 'In the UK, we are continuing to liaise closely with the Government to deliver the 40million doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine that we have committed to supply before the end of the year and can confirm that overall projected supply remains the same for quarter one (January to March).' Advertisement

Tory MPs have railed against threats from EU leaders to use an export ban to block shipments of second vaccine doses to the UK.

France today escalated the row by suggesting Britain does not have sufficient stockpiles of Pfizer jabs to administer its round of second doses - and that the rollout is at the mercy of EU supply chains.

Paris's foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian also accused the UK of 'blackmailing' Brussels and making it 'pay the price' for the Britain's decision to 'hurry ahead' with first doses, ahead of crunch talks this weekend to reach an agreement on supplies.

EU leaders last night stepped back from the brink of the vaccine embargo - which was being pushed by the under-fire Commission President Ursula von der Leyen - after Angela Merkel and Dutch PM Mark Rutte instead called for a diplomatic approach.

But Emmanuel Macron is leading a group of hardline states still agitating for the export ban.

Conservative MP Philip Davies told MailOnline: 'I think the French and the EU should take note of the maxim: when you're in hole, stop digging.'

He added: 'It goes to prove we were so right to leave the EU, they're thrashing around trying to cover for their own incompetence and in turn are behaving like a protectionist racket.

'I think the Prime Minister was completely right when he said that no company is going to want to do business in an organisation that blocks exports, and has no respect for contract law.'

Tory MP Bob Seely, a member of the Commons foreign affairs committee, said: 'At a time when everyone has a duty to be working together, for both the good of the EU and the UK, the wretched vaccine nationalism of some EU politicians is appalling.'

Ministers have refused to rule out a tit-for-tat retaliation if the bloc imposes an embargo on jabs leaving the Continent.

Yet a senior government source stressed the UK has enough supplies to give people their second dose.

They said this afternoon: 'We are confident in vaccine targets, offering first dose to all over-50s by April 15 and all adults by July 31, as well as second doses.'

There are understood to be around 12million second doses due to be administered in April.

Britain produces around two million doses a week of AstraZeneca vaccine and imports the Pfizer jab from Belgium. While insiders have said they have enough supplies 'on stream' to deliver millions of second doses required over the coming months, it is unclear if these doses are already in the UK.

Complicating the picture is India's confirmation that it will ban export of vaccines, which could further delay the shipment of five million doses that has already forced the UK to slow the number of injections in April.

Many mass vaccinations centres will close next month as the UK 'pauses' the roll-out of first doses to the under-50s due to the supply shortage.

The UK has adopted a strategy of waiting 12 weeks between first and second doses to inoculate more people as just one injection still provides significant immunity - 29million have now been jabbed.

But this morning Le Drian took a swipe at the British rollout: 'The United Kingdom has taken great pride in vaccinating well with the first dose except they have a problem with the second dose.

'You are vaccinated when you have had both doses. Today there are as many people vaccinated with both in France as the United Kingdom...

'You can't be playing like this, a bit of blackmail, just because you hurried to get people vaccinated with a first shot, and now you're a bit handicapped because you don't have the second one.'

It came after similarly Emmanuel Macron led a group of hawkish EU nations in pushing for the export ban on vaccine.

France, Italy and Spain are continuing to talk tough ahead of the weekend negotiations concerning a disputed 10million doses from a Dutch AstraZeneca plant, some of which are bound for Britain.

Brussels accuses AstraZeneca of reneging on its contract to supply the bloc with 120million doses in the first quarter, having only delivered 30million so far.

Cabinet minister Robert Jenrick said it would be 'very damaging if countries started to pull up drawbridges and prevent vaccines, medicines or elements of them from crossing international borders'.

The Communities Secretary this morning refused to be drawn on whether Britain - where critical vaccine components are also manufactured - would respond with a tit-for-tat ban, saying 'that kind of talk is unhelpful'.

But hardline EU nations justified their support for halting shipments of vaccine by accusing the UK of failing to export any doses to the Continent.

Throwing his weight firmly behind the ban, Macron fumed: 'Europe is not a selfish continent. Because when I read what the press on the other side of the Channel writes, we're being accused of being selfish. Wrong! We let our supply chains untouched.

'But we saw that the United States tend to protect their own vaccine production... that the United Kingdom did not export many doses. Actually, none. So we put in place an export control mechanism.'

At the meeting Von der Leyen briefed leaders that the UK needs the vaccine manufactured in the EU because the AstraZeneca jabs made in the UK are not enough to inoculate citizens with second doses.

She threatened to block AstraZeneca vaccine exports to Britain until the firm 'catches up' on its deliveries to the Continent.

The UK's vaccine rollout has surged far ahead of the EU's leaving the bloc under huge pressure to explain why

UK infection rates have been brought right down while much of the EU is grappling with a third wave of coronavirus

Matt Hancock running in London today. The government insists it is confident in its vaccine targets of offering a first dose to all over-50s by April 15 and all adults by July 31

Emmanuel Macron speaking after the summit and gesturing to a graph which appears to show the shortfall in doses from AstraZeneca (far right bar on his graph). He struck a defiant as he called the blockade threat 'the end of naivety'

Britain's vaccine rollout continues apace while EU lags behind The UK's vaccine programme continues apace while the EU remains beset with supply difficulties and low take-up rates. While Britain has jabbed more than half of its adults, the EU lags on about 15 per cent. Brussels' problems can be traced to sluggish initial efforts to procure vaccine - which even Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has compared to a 'tanker' to the UK's 'speedboat'. After coming in for criticism, Boris Johnson has won plaudits for opting out of the EU's centralised buying scheme and deciding to go it alone. The UK's vaccine taskforce bet big on several manufacturers early in the pandemic, quickly ordering 40million Pfizer/BioNTech doses and 100million Oxford/AstraZeneca jabs before they had even been cleared. Early approval by the UK medical regulator also meant the UK was quick off the mark to start inoculating citizens last December. A strategy of prioritising first doses - leaving a 12-week gap until the second - is also helping the country streak ahead in terms of vaccination rates. In contrast, the EU was flat-footed to procure doses, signing deals months after the UK. Britain points out this is why AstraZeneca is honouring its contract with the UK. Many EU countries also suspended the AstraZeneca jab briefly this month for fear of blood clotting, before u-turning when the EMA ruled it was safe. Doubt cast on the jab has fuelled scepticism from citizens and beset the EU with low take-up rates. Advertisement

Britain has vaccinated more than half of its adult population, while the EU has only managed to inoculate about 15 per cent.

The UK has received considerably more doses per capita, and has inoculated 14million people with the Oxford-developed jab from plants in Britain. The UK is also believed to have approximately 10million in storage for second doses.

Britain points out that it negotiated a tighter 'exclusivity' contract with the Anglo-Swedish firm and signed the deal earlier than the EU's 'best efforts' contracts - and that EU vaccine factories rely on supplies from the UK so any trade war could shut down vaccine production completely.

When Pfizer doses are included, the EU says it has exported 21million doses to the UK, while none have been shipped from Britain to the EU.

The export ban was backed by France, Spain and Italy, but failed to pass after countries including Belgium, the Netherlands, Ireland, Sweden and Denmark stressed the need for smooth global supply chains.

Mr Jenrick this morning agreed, telling Sky News: 'Vaccines are based on complex international supply chains.

'There are elements of the vaccines being produced in the UK, there are elements being produced in parts of the European Union and indeed all over the world - we are working with the Serum Institute, for example, in India.

'So it is critical for all countries that there is the free flow of medical products, including vaccines, across international borders and it would be very damaging if countries started to pull up drawbridges and prevent vaccines, medicines or elements of them from crossing international borders and the UK strongly opposes that.'

But Von der Leyen maintained the tough stance, telling a news conference that AstraZeneca 'has to honour the contract it has with the European member states, before it can engage again in exporting vaccines.'

'We could have been much faster if all pharmaceutical companies had fulfilled their contracts,' she added. 'AstraZenaca has committed to a lower number of doses than was contracted.'

This chart shows how the AstraZeneca supply chain looks across Europe

AstraZeneca lost 21 BILLION in profits from selling Covid vaccine cheaply By Matt Oliver for the Daily Mail Astrazeneca sacrificed over 21billion of revenues by selling its Covid vaccine at no profit, it emerged last night. The British company has pledged to produce 3billion doses of the life-saving jab it developed with Oxford University for an average price of just $5 (3.60) globally  the minimum needed to recover costs. Its decision to forego huge profits is an unprecedented move by a multinational business, prompting the World Health Organisation to hail the jab as a 'vaccine for the world'. But critics in the EU have tried to round on the company over supply chain problems and blame it for the bloc's vaccine rollout. Some have even accused the firm of 'dishonesty' and of secretly hoarding jabs. The attacks are said to have left bosses at Astra dismayed. More than one senior figure is said to have suggested that they wouldn't make the same decision again. If profit had been its main goal, Astra could have boosted its bottom line significantly. The Mail understands that had the firm doubled the price per jab to 7.30, it could have made an extra 11billion in revenues. Tripling it would have netted over 21billion. Advertisement

The European Commission, asked about the progress of negotiations with the UK on sharing coronavirus vaccines, today said discussions were 'ongoing'.

Chief spokesman Eric Mamer told a press briefing in Brussels: 'All I can tell you is that discussions with the UK are ongoing.

'We don't have any comments to make at the moment on the gist and content of those discussions.

'Our common aim is to ensure we have good co-operation in terms of supply chains and producing the vaccine.'

Asked whether the commission was worried the issue with vaccine supply from India into the UK could hinder a Brussels-London sharing agreement, Mr Mamer added: 'We have noted the India decision.

'I have no comment to make on the link between the Indian decision and any possible discussions under way with the United Kingdom.'

It comes despite an apparent effort to ease tensions on Wednesday night when the EU agreed to put out a joint statement with the UK 'to create a win-win situation and expand vaccine supply for all our citizens.'

US vaccine-maker Pfizer, which ships jabs from Europe to Britain, echoed Boris Johnson's sentiments as it warned the bloc that export controls risked creating a 'lose-lose' situation for everyone.

Macron and Merkel are feeling the heat domestically as they battle soaring infection rates amid a third wave of the virus which has brought yet more scrutiny on their woeful vaccine roll-outs.

Newly-Brexited Britain has managed 46 doses per 100 people in the population, this compares to just 14 doses per 100 in Germany and 13 per 100 in France, which prides itself on its well-endowed public healthcare system.

Merkel said after the summit: 'We are on the one hand inclined to respect global supply chains and want to fight protectionism, but of course we also want to protect our own people because we know this is the way out of the crisis. In relation to Britain, we want a win-win situation, we want to act sensibly politically.'

Europe's intransigence comes after an extraordinary rebuke from the former Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker who called Europe's vaccine war with Britain 'stupid.'

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz also warned that a failure to resolve grievances between member states over how many doses each would receive risked 'damage to the EU like we haven't seen in a long time.'

The EU summit is taking place via video link after the council admitted that the pandemic prevented them meeting in person

Germany open to using Russia's Sputnik vaccine despite EU doubts The German government said Friday that it would be open to using the Russian-made Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine once it had been approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA). 'EMA approval - which Sputnik does not yet have - would provide the opportunity to use the vaccine in inoculation campaigns in Europe, and it would then also be worth considering for Germany,' said Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesperson Steffen Seibert. He refused to be drawn over France's accusation against Moscow of using the jabs as a 'propaganda' tool. Last week, Merkel herself directly referred to Sputnik jabs and said Germany 'should use any vaccine that has been approved' by the EMA. A spokesman for the health ministry echoed the same sentiment on Friday, saying that 'all vaccines are welcome if they have been approved by the EMA'. The EMA this month launched a rolling review of Sputnik V, a key step towards it being approved as the first non-Western coronavirus jab to be used across the 27-nation bloc. Yet Sputnik has faced criticism in Western countries, and French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Drian accused Russia and China on Friday of using their jabs to gain influence abroad. 'In terms of how it is managed, it (the Sputnik V vaccine) is more a means of propaganda and aggressive diplomacy than a means of solidarity and health aid,' Le Drian told France Info radio. His comments were swiftly dismissed by Moscow. 'We absolutely disagree with the fact that Russia and China are using the coronavirus pandemic and vaccines as tools of influence,' Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. Russia registered Sputnik V in August, ahead of large-scale clinical trials, prompting worries among many experts over the fast-track process. Later reviews have been largely positive, with leading medical journal The Lancet publishing results showing it is safe and more than 90 percent effective. Advertisement

Von der Leyen referenced the third wave that is gripping much of Europe and which has caused ratcheting tensions between nations over how many vaccine doses they will be allocated.

Merkel, under pressure in Germany after making a U-turn on plans for an extended Easter holiday to stop the spread, defended the EU's decision to procure vaccines jointly for all member states.

'Now that we see that even small differences in the distribution of vaccines cause big discussions, I would not like to imagine if some member states had vaccines and others did not,' she told German lawmakers ahead of the summit. 'That would shake the internal market to its core.'

The EU's executive unveiled the plans on Wednesday to tighten oversight of vaccine exports that would allow greater scope to block shipments to countries with higher inoculation rates.

A draft of the summit conclusions seen by Reuters said on vaccines that leaders would stress 'the importance of ... export authorisations', and reaffirm that vaccine producers must be respect contractual delivery deadlines.

However, diplomats said countries with misgivings about a tougher stand on exports would not put up strong resistance.

'Their message is ... please act very cautiously, in a very balanced way,' said one EU diplomat. 'But there is nobody who says don't do it.'

The two-day summit will conclude on Friday.

Ex-Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker scolded his successor for proposing the vaccine export ban.

Mr Juncker told the BBC: 'I'm not a fan of this idea. This could create major reputational damage to the EU, who used to be the world free trade champion.

'I don't think this is the right way to do it. We have to pull back from a vaccine war.

'Nobody understands why we're witnessing such a stupid vaccine war. This cannot be dealt with in a war atmosphere.

'We are not in war and we are not enemies, we are allies. We have special relations with Britain, there's room for dialogue.'

The former commission chief lashed out at the EU for 'major mistakes' in being 'too cautious' and 'too budget conscious' when approving and procuring vaccines.

A further threat to the UK rollout emerged last night as India was reported to have blocked all major exports of the AZ vaccine because infections there are soaring.

Two weeks after five million doses for the UK were stopped, sources said Narendra Modi's government has now implemented a complete ban on exports by the Serum Institute of India, the world's biggest vaccine manufacturer.

The move will also affect supplies to the Covax vaccine-sharing facility through which more than 180 poorer countries are expected to get doses, one of the sources said. Covax would also be hit by any EU ban. Its co-chairman Jane Halton said any threats from Brussels to hold vaccine exports hostage would be 'extremely regrettable'.

Could Britain run out of second vaccine doses? Fears for UK roll-out as France threatens supply of Pfizer jabs from EU and delays of AstraZeneca from India could halt roll-out for even LONGER

By Sam Blanchard and Ross Ibbetson for MailOnline

Britain's supply of second vaccine doses is heading into troubled waters as deliveries of both Pfizer and AstraZeneca's jabs are in danger of being stopped by foreign governments.

India has banned exports of the AstraZeneca jab being made at the Serum Institute so it can use them for its own citizens, delaying a shipment of five million doses bound for the UK.

And EU officials are poised to stop shipments of Pfizer vaccines - which the UK needs to complete second doses for around 10million people by mid-June.

Insiders say AstraZeneca's supplies can be made entirely in the UK and the five million-dose boost from India was not critical to meeting government targets, meaning the delivery from India may be a disappointment rather than a crisis.

But all of the country's Pfizer doses are made in factories in Europe - the firm and its partner BioNTech have major facilities in Belgium and Germany - and international shipping is vital to make sure people get their second doses.

More than 12million Pfizer doses have already been sent to Britain and the NHS needs at least the same number again by June to make sure everyone gets their booster jab within three months, as promised by the government.

Medics have already stopped giving out the vaccine to first-time patients so it can prioritise all the Pfizer supplies - which are now in danger of grinding to a halt - for existing patients' second doses.

No10 today insisted that Britain is still on track to hit its vaccination targets even in spite of supply troubles.

A senior government source said: 'We are confident in vaccine targets, offering first doses to all over-50s by April 15 and all adults by July 31, as well as second doses.' There are understood to be around 12million doses due to be delivered in April.

But now there is a prospect of open-ended delays to the jabs with political tensions rising and other countries facing yet more increases in infections.

India is in the grip of a second wave and holding vaccines from the Serum Institute so it can immunise its own one billion citizens, and cases are surging again in parts of Western Europe, where the rollout has been less successful than in Britain. As a result, politicians are trying to cling to vaccine supplies to use them on their own unprotected citizens.

And Moderna's vaccine, which is expected to be the third and latest addition to the UK rollout from next week, will have to be imported from Europe, too, although it is manufactured in Switzerland which isn't part of the EU.

PFIZER SECOND DOSES AT RISK

The biggest concern around vaccine export arguments is the prospect of interruptions to Britain's plans to give people their second doses of the Pfizer vaccine.

Britain is totally reliant on deliveries from Belgium and Germany to be able to use Pfizer's jab, whereas it makes AstraZeneca's at home in England and Wales.

If the European Union successfully stopped Pfizer and BioNTech shipping the vaccine to the UK in order to give the doses to its own citizens, Britain could be left without the second doses it has promised to millions of people.

At least 12million doses have already been used in the UK and there is a stockpile and incoming supply of second doses - half a million second doses were given out this week, with most of them Pfizer jabs.

But the NHS relies on rolling stock rather than a backlog big enough to cater for all the second doses, meaning supplies must keep coming.

In total 10.9million people had Pfizer for their first vaccine by March 7, meaning they must all get another dose of it by June 7 at the latest.

Even if all the 2.8m second doses given in the UK so far were all Pfizer, the country still needs more than eight million extra doses to hit that target.

Neither Pfizer nor the UK Government have confirmed how fast the company is supplying the vaccine to Britain, nor what its target is for the end of March.

Ministers have refused to confirm details of the UK's vaccine supplies out of fear of causing outrage among other nations that don't have as many. As a result, the supply problems are largely playing out behind closed doors except for comments from foreign politicians.

The UK is not without leverage in this situation, because it makes critical components of the Pfizer vaccine at a factory in England, meaning it has the power to disrupt other countries' supplies if it were cut off. British politicians are desperately trying to avoid confrontation on the matter.

Speaking on Good Morning Britain today, Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick said he was 'confident' that the UK would have enough vaccine to meet its goals.

He said: 'Were getting our vaccines from multiple manufacturers, from all over the world with complex international supply chains  none of them are reliant on any one factory or any one country.

'What I can assure your viewers of is our absolute commitment and confidence that we will be able to deliver on the targets that the Prime Minister has set out, so there is no reason to worry  the vaccine programme will continue and it is going to continue to be a world-leading one.'

On Sky News he added: 'There are elements of the vaccines being produced in the UK  there are elements being produced in parts of the European Union and indeed all over the world. We are working with the Serum Institute, for example, in India.

'So it is critical for all countries that there is the free flow of medical products, including vaccines, across international borders.

'It would be very damaging if countries started to pull up drawbridges and prevent vaccines, medicines or elements of them from crossing international borders, and the UK strongly opposes that.'

MODERNA COMES INTO PLAY IN APRIL

Moderna's vaccine is also expected to come in from Europe from next week and into April, adding a third dimension to Britain's jab rollout with 17million doses on order.

That jab, which is almost identical to Pfizer's but the UK's deal was struck too late to get early access, will provide enough vaccine to immunise 8.5million people over the summer.

Although it's coming from the continent, Moderna makes its vaccine in Switzerland, at a factory in Visp - and Switzerland is not a member of the European Union.

This means it is unlikely that any row with the European Commission or other countries in the bloc will be able to affect the Moderna supply chain directly from that plant, regardless of whether it is flown or driven through Europe.

There is, however, a factory in Madrid, Spain, that is involved with the 'fill and finish' bottling process after the vaccine has been manufactured. Exports from here may be considered EU products and under the jurisdiction of the Commission, but Britain's exact supply chain is not yet clear.

ASTRAZENECA CAN BE HOMEMADE

And on another more positive note, supplies of the AstraZeneca vaccine in Britain may be hurt by the export ban from India - five million had been expected in the coming weeks - but they should not be impacted by the EU's actions.

Only a tiny proportion of the 14million AstraZeneca doses given out so far in the UK were made in Europe - a small batch of unknown size delivered at the very start of the rollout in December.

A second ad-hoc shipment has since arrived in Britain from a factory in the Netherlands - which likely triggered the current row with the European Commission - but these vaccines have not yet been used.

The size of the shipment has been kept secret by the Government and Halix, the firm that sent it, and the MHRA confirmed it has not yet approved the batch for use in Britain.

AstraZeneca claims it can make two million doses per week in the UK to supply exclusively to the NHS.

While the EU has demanded that some of these doses be sent to its own nations, this does not appear to have happened so far.

In a bid to boost its own production of the crucial vaccine, which is the cheapest one available, the European Medicines Agency today finally listed the Halix factory in the Netherlands as an approved supplier so the millions of doses it is churning out can be legally used.

It also approved a new manufacturing site in the German city of Marburg and more flexible storage conditions for the BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine.

The UK Government's vaccination targets and lockdown-ending plans are understood to be based on a rollout that keeps pace with AstraZeneca's domestic production, meaning imports from India or the Netherlands can boost the programme but delays outside the country shouldn't slow it down significantly.

Although India confirmed it would control vaccine supplies to make sure its own citizens were provided for, a government source said it had not imposed any ban on vaccine exports 'unlike many other countries,' and that it would continue to supply doses in phases.

'We remain committed to help the world with vaccines, including through the COVAX facility,' the source told Reuters.

DRIVE-THROUGH VACCINE CENTRES TO BE SCALED UP FOR SUMMER The UK will make greater use of drive-through vaccination centres in the coming months, according to NHS sources. Some areas already have facilities where people can get a jab through the window of their car but these could become a more common feature of the rollout later this year when the programme is expanded to younger adults, iNews reports. Under-50s are expected to be invited for their vaccinations after mid-April, the target date for reaching everyone in the priority groups, which include over-50s, health and care workers and people with long-term illnesses. Currently most people get their vaccine by going to a purpose-built vaccination centre, hospital or GP surgery, but the drive-through centres could make the process faster and easier and potentially reduce the risk of the virus spreading. Dr Emily Lawson, head of England's vaccination programme, said in an NHS report this week: 'Convenience of access should support uptake and so we are introducing additional innovative delivery modes.' Advertisement

However, a health ministry source told The Times: 'Other countries will get supplies only if there are vaccines left over after keeping enough for our own population.'

Deliveries will be delayed in March and April 'as the government of India battles a new wave of Covid-19 infections,' said GAVI, an alliance of countries, companies and charities that promote vaccination.

This disruption, which has led to Britain having to deal without a delivery of five million doses it planned to receive from India next month, was the original reason behind the slowdown expected from next week.

In a letter to vaccine clinics, hospitals and GPs last week, NHS chiefs said: 'The Government's Vaccines Task Force have now notified us that there will be a significant reduction in weekly supply available from manufacturers beginning in the week commencing 29 March, meaning volumes for first doses will be significantly constrained.

'They now currently predict this will continue for a four-week period, as a result of reductions in national inbound vaccines supply.'

The letter adds that inviting people for jabs who are not in the top nine priority groups is 'only permissible in exceptional circumstances'.

But a new, potentially more troubling development, has unfolded since then as the European Union has threatened to cap exports of jabs from factories on its land.

The UK has been importing millions of doses of Pfizer and BioNTech's vaccine from their factories in Belgium and Germany and has around 10million people who need a second dose of the jab by mid-June.

French foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian took a swipe at the British strategy today and said: 'The United Kingdom has taken great pride in vaccinating well with the first dose except they have a problem with the second dose.

'You are vaccinated when you have had both doses. Today there are as many people vaccinated with both in France as the United Kingdom...

'You can't be playing like this, a bit of blackmail, just because you hurried to get people vaccinated with a first shot, and now you're a bit handicapped because you don't have the second one.'

As a result of Britain's vaccination slowdown, some mass vaccination sites have announced they will close temporarily in April because they won't have enough stock to keep going.

Vaccine centres in Devon, Cornwall and Kent are among those to have confirmed they will 'have to pause' during the month-long slowdown. If the rest of the country follows suit, it could see all 150 mass vaccination sites shut.

Mass coronavirus vaccination sites across the UK have announced they will close temporarily next month due to looming supply issues. Vaccine centres in Devon, Cornwall and Kent are among those to have confirmed they will 'have to pause' during the month-long slowdown. If the rest of the country follows suit, it could mean all 150 mass sites will shut

The focus of the rollout will turn to ensuring there are sufficient vaccine stocks to dish out crucial second doses, with staff at mass hubs around the country expected to be redeployed.

Local vaccination centres have also been told to close unfilled bookings from March 31, with the supply constraint expected to last throughout April.

The NHS has called on over-50s to book their first vaccine appointment while they still can before Monday, or risk facing delays.

GPs will continue contacting eligible patients on their lists, but some vaccination sites including Westpoint, near Exeter, have revealed they will shut between April 1 and 11. All of Kent's five mass vaccination centres, for example, are set to close 'for a number of weeks' from next month.

The pause in Britains vaccine drive will mean that fewer Britons are vaccinated when No10 starts to reopen the economy on April 12 - but ministers have insisted the timetable will not be affected despite predictions of an 'exit wave' of Covid cases as society opens up.

WHY INDIA IS DELAYING EXPORTS TO PUT CITIZENS FIRST An Indian government source has said it may be necessary to adjust international supply schedules because of India's vaccination needs as the country faces a surging second wave of coronavirus. Another 53,000 cases were recorded in the country on Wednesday, the highest single-day tally for five months. Fifty-three million Indians have received at least one dose of a vaccine, but Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set a target of 300 million by June in the country of 1.4 billion. 'Everything else has taken a backseat [to India's needs], for the time being at least,' said one of the sources. 'No exports, nothing till the time the India situation stabilises. The government won't take such a big chance at the moment when so many need to be vaccinated in India.' India has so far exported more than 60.5 million doses in total, according to the foreign ministry's website, and many countries are relying on the COVAX programme to immunise their citizens. The SII has already delayed shipments of the AstraZeneca drug to Brazil, Britain, Morocco and Saudi Arabia. British authorities are in touch with New Delhi to get its second batch of 5 million doses ordered from SII. COVAX was in talks with India to 'ensure some supplies are completed during March and April,' it said, adding that the SII had supplied 28 million doses to COVAX. An additional 40 million doses had been expected in March and up to 50 million doses in April. India will widen its inoculation drive next month by including everyone above 45, and many states battling a surge in infections have demanded that all adults be covered. Currently, only the elderly and those over 45 with other health conditions are eligible for vaccinations in India. With 11.8 million cases, India has reported the highest number of coronavirus infections after the United States and Brazil. India has so far administered more than 54 million doses, of which 49 million are the SII's locally-made version of the AstraZeneca vaccine. The rest is the COVAXIN vaccine developed in India by Bharat Biotech. The government has so far asked the SII to supply around 141 million doses. The company has also accounted for nearly all of India's vaccine exports. The SII plans to boost monthly production to 100 million doses from April/May, from up to 70 million now, Reuters reported earlier this month. Advertisement

The great vaccine divide: London boroughs lag behind and parts of the country have only inoculated a THIRD of 50-55-year-olds - with at least 4MILLION target patients still to be jabbed before mid-April goal amid supply shortage

By Joe Davies for MailOnline

England's Covid vaccine postcode lottery was laid bare again today as data revealed just a third of people aged between 50 and 54 have been inoculated in parts of the country.

And three boroughs  all of which are in London  have still yet to even reach 60 per cent of everyone over the age of 50, with at least 4million vulnerable people still yet to get jabbed across the nation.

Meanwhile, the Isles of Scilly and suburban commuter towns in Suffolk are among the best-performing parts of the country, reaching upwards of 90 per cent of over-50s.

The government is aiming to offer all over-50s one dose of vaccine by mid-April before lockdown is lifted. But the roll-out will be 'paused' in April because of supply issues, with GPs attempting to mop up eligible adults who have yet to accept their invite.

NHS England statistics show just 60 per cent of adults in the 50-54 age group had at least one dose of either the Pfizer-BioNTech or Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine by March 21  the most recent day local data is available for.

It comes after the NHS's most senior doctor yesterday urged every eligible adult who has yet to be jabbed to book an appointment by Monday or risk having to wait weeks because of a supply shortage that will delay the roll-out in April.

MailOnline's analysis of the figures shows parts of the country have vaccinated more than twice the proportion of 50- to 55-year-olds than others.

Eden in Cumbria, Burnley in Lancashire and Rutland in the East Midlands have all seen fewer than 40 per cent of people in the age group. For comparison, five areas of the country have vaccinated more than 80 per cent of the cohort.

They were: the Isles of Scilly (88 per cent), Mid Suffolk (82 per cent), East Cambridgeshire (81 per cent), Babergh in Suffolk (81 per cent) and Malvern Hills in Worcestershire (80 per cent).

Meanwhile, London is significantly lagging behind in the mammoth NHS drive, with nearly a quarter of over-80s still yet to have a first dose in Hackney  four months since the rollout began four the age group.

First doses are expected to be restricted from next week due to severe shortages in the vaccine supply, meaning millions of over-40s will likely have to wait until the end of April to be jabbed.

Vaccine centres in Devon, Cornwall and Kent are among those to have confirmed they will 'have to pause' during the month-long slowdown, which has been triggered by a shortfall of 5million AstraZeneca jabs from India. No10 is currently negotiating with Narenda Modi's government to get the batch shipped over immediately.

Ministers are concerned anti-vaxx messages spread online are preventing people from taking up the offer of a jab, meaning millions of vulnerable Brits could still be at risk from the disease when it is allowed to spread when restrictions are eased. Ministers also have to account for jabs not being 100 per cent effective.

And the shortage in available doses from next week will further threaten the likelihood of a successful roll-out to the remaining 21million adults in Britain.

Just a third of people aged 50 to 55 had a jab in parts of England by March 21 despite the rollout being extended to the cohort last week, NHS figures have revealed

More than four million adults over 50 are yet to receive their first dose of the vaccine, amid warnings that supply shortages mean people seeking a jab should do so before the end of the week or risk missing out

Top 10 areas for the vaccine roll-out to people aged 50 to 55 Eden, Cumbria Burnley, Lancashire Rutland, East Midlands Corby, Northamptonshire Newham, London Kensington and Chelsea, London 35.2 per cent 39.5 per cent 39.9 per cent 40.3 per cent 40.5 per cent 42.5 per cent Northumberland, Cumbria Pendle, Lancashire North Tyneside Redcar and Cleveland, North East 43.0 per cent 43.0 per cent 43.1 per cent 43.5 per cent Advertisement

Bottom 10 areas for the vaccine roll-out to people aged 50 to 55 Isles of Scilly Mid Suffolk East Cambridgeshire Babergh, Suffolk Malvern Hills, Worcestershire 88.0 per cent 82.3 per cent 81.5 per cent 81.0 per cent 80.2 per cent Warwick Stafford Harrogate, North Yorkshire Surrey Heath Selby, North Yorkshire 79.9 per cent 79.8 per cent 79.8 per cent 79.3 per cent 79.3 per cent Advertisement

MailOnline's analysis shows some 47 of areas of the country have yet to vaccinate half of adults between 50 and 55, with the proportion low in both remote areas of the North and inner city urban areas.

The lowest rate after Eden, Burnley, and Rutland was in Corby, Northamptonshire, where just 2,225 adults in the cohort have been vaccinated  an uptake rate of just 40.3 per cent.

It was followed by Newham (40.5 per cent) and Kensington and Chelsea (42.5 per cent), both in London, Northumberland in Cumbria (43 per cent), Pendle in Lancashire (43.1 per cent) and North Tyneside (43.1 per cent).

But looking at the figures for all over-50s presents a much different picture, where the lack of uptake among older cohorts sees London lagging behind the rest of the country.

Most people over 50 have now been invited for jabs, with NHS bosses now trying to mop up people who are hesitant. Over-80s were invited for a vaccination back in December.

All of the top 16 worst-performing areas for rollout among over-50s were in the capital , with Newham (59.3 per cent) and Kensington and Chelsea (59.4 per cent) being the worst and third worst respectively.

Westminster (59.3 per cent) was the second worst and Kensington and Chelsea was followed by Hackney (61 per cent), Lambeth (62.9 per cent), Hammersmith and Fulham (63 per cent)

The unusually optimistic projections from No10's experts will pile more pressure on the PM to speed up his lockdown-loosening plan

QUARTER of care home staff have still not accepted a first Covid jab, data shows Nearly a quarter of staff at older adult care homes in England have not been given a first dose of coronavirus vaccine, new figures show. The latest data from NHS England, published on Thursday, shows that 76.6 per cent of eligible staff at older adult care homes had been given a first jab by March 21. It is the fifth consecutive week that the proportion of staff given a first dose has been around 75 per cent, going back to 71.5 per cent by February 21. This compares to 93.7 per cent of eligible older adult care home residents receiving a first dose of vaccine by March 21. Residents and staff are classed as eligible for the vaccine if they have not had Covid-19 in the previous 28 days. The latest figures come just days after the Government confirmed it is considering the possibility of making vaccination a legal requirement for healthcare staff. The Telegraph reported details of a leaked paper submitted to the 'Covid O' sub-committee of Cabinet, which said the Prime Minister and the Health Secretary had agreed to the proposal. But Matt Hancock has insisted 'no final decision' has yet been taken. Mr Hancock had previously told LBC that 'many' care homes had asked for this to happen, adding: 'There's a legal change that's required and, as you can see, I'm open to that, but no final decision has been taken.' Advertisement

In total, more than 100,000 over-50s in those 16 boroughs alone are still yet to have a jab, with the Government's May deadline fast approaching.

Meanwhile, the data also showed just 76 per cent of care home workers have taken up the offer of the vaccine. Just 64.5 per cent of carers in London have been jabbed.

Uptake among the group  who work with the most vulnerable people in society  is lowest in Barnet in north London (45 per cent), Barnsley in south Yorkshire (55.8 per cent) and Bath and North East Somerset (57.6 per cent).

A spokesperson for the Adam Smith Institute thinktank said: 'Every person who misses their jab, or their opportunity for a jab as imports are restricted, represents a possibility for an infection.

'Every person in the vulnerable groups unvaccinated represents a risk to their life personally and possibly unnecessary risk to the lives of others through uncontrolled transmission.

'The claim is often made that you need to make many multiples of people vaccinated at the lower age ranges to save the life of one vaccinated in the highest risk group is true in strict probability of risk to life of the individuals involved, we're now at a point approaching antibody build up in a percentage near herd immunity across the whole population via vaccines and those that sadly caught the virus already.

'Any and all extra doses in arms now will help to slow and stop the spread of the vaccine and force it into retreat even as we unlock.'

It comes as mass coronavirus vaccination sites across the UK have announced they will close temporarily next month due to looming supply issues.

If the rest of the country follows centres in Devon, Cornwall and Kent's suit, it could see all 150 mass vaccination sites shut because of shortage in supply.

The focus of the rollout will turn to ensuring there are sufficient vaccine stocks to dish out crucial second doses, with staff at mass hubs around the country expected to be redeployed.

Local vaccination centres have also been told to close unfilled bookings from March 31, with the supply constraint expected to last throughout April. The NHS has called on over-50s to book their first vaccine appointment while they still can before Monday, or risk facing delays.

GPs will continue contacting eligible patients on their lists, but some vaccination sites including Westpoint, near Exeter, have revealed they will shut between April 1 and 11. All of Kent's five mass vaccination centres, for example, are set to close 'for a number of weeks' from next month.

The pause in Britain's vaccine drive will mean that fewer Britons are vaccinated when No10 starts to reopen the economy on April 12 - but ministers have insisted the timetable will not be affected despite predictions of an 'exit wave' of Covid cases as society opens up.
California megachurch fires worship director for inappropriate behavior online

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Correction Appended

Months after their lead pastor was asked to resign for allowing his son with an attraction to minors to work with children, Menlo Church in California has fired the worship director of their Mountain View campus for inappropriate behavior online years ago.

John Crosby, the churchs transitional pastor, along with David Kim, elder board chair, announced in a statement on Saturday that Michael Bryce Jr., the worship director, was terminated effective on March 19 for demonstrated poor judgement.

Many years ago, Michael engaged in inappropriate behavior online. The allegation was from several years before Michael joined our staff. When our leaders learned about the allegation, Michael was immediately put on leave. Due to the claim, we contacted law enforcement, and they are undertaking an investigation, the Menlo officials said.

While the church did not share any specifics regarding the situation, The Mercury News cited a police log showing that the church was contacted by Menlo Park police on March 16 at about 7:10 p.m.

Executive Pastor of Ministries Sue Kim-Ahn told the publication that there is an active law enforcement investigation in progress, and we cannot disclose further information at this time.

Church officials further noted that they are following up with volunteers who worked with Bryce, who is a married father.

We have no reason to believe that anyone was affected at Menlo Church, but if you have any concerns, please reach out to your campus pastor. Or, if you prefer to contact an outside party, Zero Abuse has generously offered to intake any requests, officials said.

We recognize that this news is heavy to receive. It may evoke difficult memories or emotions for many of us. This is a hard reminder that our churches, by the grace of God, are gatherings of ordinary, imperfect people. We are in this together, and our staff and pastors are here for you, they added.

Last July, John Ortberg, Menlo Churchs then lead pastor, resigned over how he managed his sons access to children in the church even after he learned of his son's sexual attraction to minors.

Ortberg was first asked to go on personal leave from the church on Nov. 22, 2019, while an investigation of concerns raised by a third party about a then unidentified church volunteer was conducted. In early July 2020, Daniel Lavery, a trans-identified woman who is Ortberg's estranged daughter, revealed in an extensive thread on Twitter that the volunteer is her brother, John Ortberg III.

In January 2020, without revealing Ortbergs relationship to the volunteer, Menlo Church elders said their leader exhibited poor judgement, but no harm had come to any minor in the Menlo Church community based on the findings of an investigation.

Ortberg returned to the pulpit last March and apologized for his "shortcomings" in a letter to the church on July 6. Pressure from blindsided members of the church who felt betrayed about the details of Ortbergs familial connection to the volunteer, however, forced an ongoing supplemental investigation.

The elder board later asked Ortberg to resign based on a collective desire for healing and discernment.

Our decision stems from a collective desire for healing and discernment focused on three primary areas. First, Johns poor judgment has resulted in pain and broken trust among many parents, youth, volunteers and staff. Second, the extended time period required to complete the new investigation and rebuild trust will significantly delay our ability to pursue Menlos mission with the unity of spirit and purpose we believe God calls us to, the elder board said.

An earlier version of this article published on March 25, 2021, stated that the inappropriate behavior online involved a juvenile, however that was incorrect according to Menlo Church.
The first Bay Area case of the concerning Brazil variant of COVID-19 has been detected in a Santa Clara County resident, public health officials said.

The variant known as P.1 is highly infectious and research has shown that it can reinfect people who have already had other strains of the virus.

The individual who tested positive for P.1 was identified in mid-March after returning from out-of-state travel, according to the county health department.

The county has also identified two confirmed cases of the variant first detected in South Africa and 19 confirmed cases of the variant first detected in the United Kingdom.

"The presence of the P.1 variant, in addition to the spread of other variants, is a strong reminder that our collective progress in controlling the virus remains tenuous," the county said in a statement. "Community members should continue prevention measures that have already proven highly protective against COVID-19. Non-essential travel is strongly discouraged, and everyone should continue to wear a mask, keep their distance, and get vaccinated when its their turn."

Viruses are constantly mutating, and numerous variants of COVID-19 have emerged in recent months including variants from the United Kingdom and South Africa. They are concerning as researchers believe they may spread more easily and are likely to become the main source of disease.

The P.1 strain was first found in four Brazilian travelers who were tested during routine screening at Haneda airport in Tokyo in early January, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It has since become the dominant variant in Brazil which has seen more than 300,000 people die due to coronavirus complications, according to Johns Hopkins University.

P.1 was first identified in the United States in Minnesota at the end of January 2021, and 79 cases have since been detected in 18 other regions across the country, according to the CDC.

Early research suggests the vaccines offers protection against the new variants, although they may be slightly less effective and further investigation is needed.
President Joe Biden speaks during a press conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., Thursday. AP-Yonhap



By Nam Hyun-woo



U.S. President Joe Biden's press conference, Thursday (local time), showed his administration is taking a different course from the previous Trump administration in terms of American policy toward North Korea, according to analysts and sources, Friday.



They said Biden's remarks on North Korea issues indicated that the U.S. is returning to a rules-based international order in dealing with the country, while stressing global cooperation and coordination with allies.



During his first White House press conference, Biden said the North's missile tests on Thursday were a violation of United Nations Security Council resolution 1718, which bans North Korea's nuclear tests and ballistic missile launches.



"We are consulting with our allies and partners, and there will be responses if they choose to escalate. We will respond accordingly," Biden said. Asked if he agrees North Korea is the top foreign policy issue, Biden also said yes.





Then-President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un pose during their Singapore summit on June 12, 2018. Yonhap




Corporate Media Coverage of CO and GA Shootings Crystallizes Its Corruption

Commentary

The very corporate media that presents itself as the ultimate arbiter of truth, and sworn enemy of disinformation, has, in the last week gone to great lengths to reveal to the world just how brittle this facade is.

Its coverage of the shootings in Georgia and Colorado has brought into stark relief its true nature: The corporate media is the communications arm of the Ruling Class, prioritizing narrative over reality in a bid to change the culture and our politicsconsistent with the Ruling Classs ideology and ambitions.

That is, the media ultimately exists to serve the ends of the powerfulof which it is an organrather than to challenge the powerful.

The peddlers of Russiagate, and an avalanche of similarly deceitful and detrimental tales, who simultaneously engage in anti-speech activism against dissenting independent media voices they claim are the real disinformation artists (the ones often exposing corporate media mendacity) are the ultimate projectionists.

In the case of the Georgia shooting, the unmistakable narrative propagated in article after article, echoed by those from President Joe Biden on down, was this: The shootings at Atlanta area spas by a white male that killed eight, including six Asians, were anti-Asian hate crimes borne of white supremacy. They come against a background of rising anti-Asian hate, driven in part by a Chinese coronavirus-driven backlash that the Trump administration helped whip up, and just as the very white supremacism and extremism animating that administrations supporters is mushrooming into our greatest domestic threat.

The problem is, every element of this narrative is dubious.

The gunman told police he was a sex addict, who, following the Georgia rampage, was en route to Florida to launch another attack on a business tied to the porn industry, all to fight his temptation. Reportedly, he had frequented two of the businesses he targeted, and previously sought treatment for his addiction. It is not clear that there is even a scintilla of evidence indicating that what transpired in Georgia was anything other than a tragic set of acts carried out by a supremely disturbed individual.

The other parts of the narrative at hand were similarly wanting.

The idea that anti-Asian hate, driven by white supremacists, has exploded since the onset of the coronavirus crisis is undermined by the relative paucity of such attacks, the unscientific and sometimes biased sources of data cited to justify it, the statistics on the perpetrators of anti-Asian crimes, and the political predilections of those discriminating against Asians in civil society. It is at very best opinion to claim that a Trump administration that routinely explicitly delinked the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from the Chinese people when ostracizing China for its malign acts, and merely rightly referred to the coronavirus by its place of origin, is culpable for anti-Asian hatred. There may be a large percentage rise in such sentiments in America, but by all accounts it mercifully manifests itself in related acts that have grown from a miniscule level to a slightly less miniscule level, both on an absolute and relative basis.

That the CCPs English-language mouthpieces have been seizing on this overarching narrative, and that it has ramped up its propagation of it around the Anchorage meeting between Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, in which their two CCP counterparts had the gall to attack America for its purported human rights violations, demonstrates the chicanery at play.

The overall argument that ill-defined white supremacy, right-wing extremism, or general extremism are mushrooming, and constitute the greatest threats to our homeland is also a canard.

Past studies seeking to prove this idea have repeatedly proven dubious. The intelligence community has not provided justification for its dire assessment of the purported threat of domestic violent extremism.

The narrative around the primary act providing the pretext for the U.S. government-led focus on this issue, which the media has dutifully parroted, and the hysteria generated over subsequent non-acts, have further undermined the argument.

The notion that the Jan. 6 breach of Capitol Hilldisgraceful and inexcusable though it wasconstituted a gory armed insurrection, and attempted overthrow of the U.S. government, is crumbling. Nor has there been credible evidence given to justify the hyping of purported threats in January to Americas statehouses, in March again to the Capitol, or since for the continued militarization of Washington, D.C.

Nevertheless, the narrative persists that white supremacists or extremists are the nations greatest scourge, and of course that they come from the ranks of Trump supporters, all of whom may well be defined as actual or would-be domestic violent extremists.

In sum, the media, consistent with our political elites, has sought to exploit the Atlanta area shootings based on identity politics, and use said politics as a cudgel against their political adversariesbasic prudence, the merits, and the truth be damned.

The story of the Boulder, Colorado shooting is still playing out, but as in the case of the Atlanta area shooting, the first impulse of many in the media was to pin the attack on white supremacy, again, to hone in specifically on identity politics and seek to wield it as a cudgel.

When the facts started to come in and quickly undermined this narrative, the shooter being an Arab Muslim Syrian immigrant, the media quickly pivoted. It did not paint the attack as an actual or potential indicator of the scourge of Islamic supremacy. Rather, it portrayed him as a disturbed individual with a violent streak.

The media shifted to safer political ground: Going after guns, in tandem with the Biden administration. It is easier to buy a gun than to register to vote, they lied. That is, the media focused on the weapon rather than the perpetrator, in a bid to further curtail the Second Amendment that the media loathes.

The corporate media does not like machinations like the ones described herein to be exposedits cynical exploitation of tragedies, propagating of pernicious narratives, and the resultant societal division it sows, for political ends.

The anti-speech activism much of the corporate media is currently engaged in is about removing competitionboth those who critique it, and those who present dissenting viewpoints and ideas.

In the end, anti-speech activism is seeking to cement the Ruling Classs monopoly on the narrative, the culture, and the politics.

Ben Weingarten is a fellow of the Claremont Institute and co-host of the Edmund Burke Foundations The NatCon Squad. He is the author of American Ingrate: Ilhan Omar and the Progressive-Islamist Takeover of the Democratic Party, and is currently working on a book on U.S.China policy and its transformation under the Trump administration.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Element Risk Management has acquired Henderson Insurance of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and Our Legacy Insurance of Front Royal, Virginia.

Henderson Insurance, founded by Jim Henderson in 1978, has served the central Pennsylvania community for more than 40 years. The Henderson staff will continue to serve clients from its office in Harrisburg following the transaction.

Clients transitioning from Our Legacy Insurance, founded by sisters Michelle Davis and Renee Athey, will be welcomed at Element Risks Front Royal office.

Element Risk Management is an independent insurance agency based out of West Chester, Pennsylvania. It provides personal, commercial and specialty insurance, as well as risk management solutions.

Source: Element Risk Management

Topics Mergers Risk Management
Union County said it is considering shuttering its county jail as local governments statewide consider ways to save money amid a decreasing number of inmates.

A county spokesman said officials have met repeatedly with leaders from the local corrections union to discuss the possible closure.

We are always looking at ways at making County Government more efficient, and one of the steps has involved an examination of the operations of our jail, County Manager Ed Oatman said in a statement. While nothing has been finalized, we have been in several conversations with the state and other counties on employment opportunities for corrections officers and civilians at the jail if we decide to proceed.

He did not say where Union County inmates would be transferred if the jail in Elizabeth closes.

A representative for PBA Local 199 declined comment.

While state prisons generally hold people convicted of serious crimes, county jails house those awaiting trial or convicted of lesser offenses.

The jail population can change rapidly. Unions jail dropped to 280 inmates a year ago before ticking up to 431 by December, according to the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey and court records.

The number of inmates statewide has decreased since New Jersey largely eliminated cash bail, and populations dropped further during the pandemic because of mass releases and fewer arrests.

In addition, the state Supreme Court recently paved the way for more people awaiting trial behind bars to be released.

Union has long weighed closing its facility. In 2014, officials discussed transferring inmates to nearby Hudson County.

Closing the jail could mean layoffs which would disproportionately affect Black and Latino men and women, local activist Salaam Ismial, director of the advocacy organization National United Youth Council Inc., told NJ Advance Media.

In September, Union County officers protested a similar proposal further south, after Cumberland County moved to close its jail and transfer inmates to neighboring facilities.

Cumberlands plan has led to a months-long court battle to stop the closure. Public defenders sided with the local union, arguing that transferring inmates would make it difficult for lawyers to meet with clients.

Members from PBA Local 199 Union County Corrections hang their banner on the front of the bus they arrived on to support members of PBA Local 231 Cumberland County Corrections during a rally at the Cumberland County administration building to protest the planned closure of the county jail and the layoff of officers, Tuesday, September 22, 2020.Al Amrhein | For NJ Advance Media

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Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - March 25, 2021) - Bucephalus Capital Corp. (CSE: BCA) ("Bucephalus" or the "Company") announces that it has granted an aggregate of 1,400,000 options to purchase common shares of the Company exercisable at a price of $0.22 per share for a period of 3 years to officers and consultants of the Company. The common shares issuable upon exercise of the options are subject to a four month hold period from the original date of grant.

About Bucephalus Capital Corp.

Bucephalus Capital (CSE: BCA) is a specialized investment firm providing bridge loans and ancillary services to private and public companies with respect to a variety of financial transactions including public listings, RTOs (reverse takeovers), re-structuring and M&A transactions.

Additional information about the Company can be found on the Company's website at www.bucephaluscapital.ca. For further information, please contact:

John McMahon, CEO

Tel: (416) 786-9031

Email: jmcmahon@bucephaluscapital.ca

Forward-Looking Information

Certain information set forth in this news release may contain forward-looking information that involves substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties. This forward-looking information is subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond the control of the Company, including, but not limited to, the impact of general economic conditions, industry conditions, and dependence upon regulatory approvals. Readers are cautioned that the assumptions used in the preparation of such information, although considered reasonable at the time of preparation, may prove to be imprecise and, as such, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking information. The parties undertake no obligation to update forward-looking information except as otherwise may be required by applicable securities law.

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

THIS NEWS RELEASE IS INTENDED FOR DISTRIBUTION IN CANADA ONLY AND IS NOT INTENDED FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/78644
Amazons restrictive contracts with major publishers has made it impossible for book retailers to try to beat Amazon on price, Seattle law firm Hagens Berman alleges in the suit. The contracts, with publishers Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster  known as the Big Five  prohibit the publishers from selling books to other retailers for less than the price they offer Amazon, provisions Hagens Berman has said are anticompetitive. Attorneys are proposing the class include all booksellers that bought books from the Big Five after March 2017.
A Melbourne man accused of orchestrating a $395 million fraud to dupe two Korean investment houses into investing in fake NDIS-related property deals has appeared in court.

Demetrios James Charisiou on Friday attended a short administrative hearing at the Melbourne Magistrates via video to face five counts of obtaining financial advantage by deception. He is yet to enter a plea.

The Continental Hotel was one of the assets LBA Capital looked to purchase with money raised for NDIS housing. Credit:Simon Schluter

Mr Charisiou, 60, has not been remanded in custody.

Dressed in dark blue suit, open collar shirt and glasses, Mr Charisiou could be seen smiling and chatting with his lawyer before the hearing began. He made no comment during the hearing apart from to confirm his name and that he understood the charges.
Hundreds gathered at Union Square in San Francisco on Friday for a peaceful, student-led rally against the wave of anti-Asian violence in the Bay Area and throughout the country.

We want to bring everyone together, and have the voices of our Asian community be heard and seen, said a message from organizers leading up to the Friday protest.

The crowd marched through the city to the Embarcadero  where a closing rally was held Friday afternoon. On-the-ground footage showed large groups of people chanting, Stop, stop, stop Asian hate, buttressed by the sound of marching drums. Signs held read, Racism is a pandemic, too, and Protect Asian lives.

Former city Supervisor Sandra Lee Fewer spoke at the rally, and according to the Bay Area News Group, recalled a white woman attacking her mother on a Muni bus as a child.

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

These incidents are not new, she said, the newspaper reported. These incidents have always happened.

San Francisco District 6 Supervisor Matt Haney posted images on Twitter from the march, calling it a powerful, huge moment of anti-racist action.

In addition to speaking out against anti-Asian violence, the protests remembered Angelo Quinto, a Vallejo man and Navy veteran who died days after a police officer knelt on his neck amid a mental health crisis last December. His family spoke at the rally, wearing shirts and hoodies with Angelos face on them.

Theres no good reason that my brother, Kuya Angelo, shouldn't be here protesting or speaking up against anti-Asian violence today, his sister, Bella, said during the rally, according to a video shared by KGO.

The action comes in the weeks after an unprecedented wave of violence here and elsewhere in the country, including the horrific Atlanta shootings that left eight dead  including six Asian women.

More protests will be held throughout the Bay Area this weekend, including one in San Francisco starting at 11 a.m. on Saturday at City Hall, and in Milpitas and Dublin on Sunday afternoon.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
President Joe Biden warned North Korea Thursday that the United States will "respond accordingly" if it escalates its military testing, after Pyongyang fired two missiles in its first major provocation since he took office.

The nuclear-armed North has a long history of using weapons tests to ramp up tensions, in a carefully calibrated process to try to forward its objectives.

Biden's response demonstrates a change of tone from his predecessor Donald Trump, who engaged in an extraordinary diplomatic bromance with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and last year repeatedly played down similar short-range launches.

Pyongyang had been biding its time since the new administration took office, not even officially acknowledging its existence until last week.

But on Thursday it launched two weapons from its east coast into the Sea of Japan, known as the East Sea in Korea.

It was a violation of UN resolutions and the US was "consulting with our partners and allies," Biden said, warning North Korea that "there will be responses if they choose to escalate. We will respond accordingly."

"I'm also prepared for some form of diplomacy, but it has to be conditioned upon the end result of denuclearization," he told reporters.

- 'Nuclear capable' -

Washington and Tokyo said the North had fired ballistic missiles, which it is banned from developing under UN Security Council resolutions that have imposed multiple sanctions on the isolated country.

Pyongyang insisted Friday that the test involved a "tactical guided projectile" with a solid-fuel engine, with its official KCNA news agency saying it was supervised by senior official Ri Pyong Chol, rather than leader Kim Jong Un.

The weapons hit a target 600 kilometres (370 miles) away, KCNA said -- further than the 450 kilometres reported by South Korea's military -- and could carry a payload of 2.5 tons.

Pictures in Pyongyang's official Rodong Sinmun newspaper showed grinning officers applauding after the launch, most of them not wearing masks.

Story continues

Vipin Narang of MIT said it appeared to be a weapon that the North displayed at a military parade in January.

"A 2.5 ton warhead likely settles the question whether this KN23 variant is nuclear capable. It is," he tweeted.

The US stations 28,500 troops in South Korea to defend it against its neighbour, which invaded in 1950, while Pyongyang says it needs nuclear weapons to deter a possible US invasion.

- 'Familiar pattern' -

Besides Biden's comments, rebukes poured in from Germany, France and Britain, which each condemned the tests as violations of UN Security Council resolutions.

At Washington's request, the UN North Korea sanctions committee would meet Friday behind closed doors, according to diplomatic sources, although no public statement is expected.

Pyongyang has made rapid progress in its capabilities under leader Kim, testing missiles capable of reaching the entire continental United States as tensions mounted in 2017.

Trump's first year in office was marked by a series of escalating launches, accompanied by a war of words between him and Kim before a dramatic turn to personal diplomacy, with the two holding headline-grabbing summits in Singapore and Vietnam.

The United States pulled back on some joint military exercises with South Korea while the North froze nuclear tests and intercontinental ballistic missile launches.

But their February 2019 Hanoi summit broke up over sanctions relief and what North Korea would be willing to give up in return.

Communications then dried up, despite a third encounter in the Demilitarized Zone that divides the Korean peninsula, and no substantive progress was made towards denuclearization.

Pyongyang was now "slowly going up that spectrum, that ladder of the inflammatory nature of provocation," said Frank Aum, a North Korea expert at the US Institute of Peace and former Pentagon adviser, to see how the Biden administration responded.

Thursday's launch, and an earlier test of short-range, non-ballistic missiles at the weekend, came after joint exercises by the US and South Korean militaries and a visit to the region by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, when Blinken repeatedly stressed the importance of denuclearizing North Korea.

Biden administration officials say they have sought to reach out to Pyongyang through several channels but have received no response so far.

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Earlier this week, Gov. Phil Murphy declared that New Jerseys schools will return to full in-person classes for the next school year. Districts, he said, will not be allowed to offer virtual learning  even for parents who want that option due to ongoing COVID-19 concerns.

I want to be unequivocal about this. We are expecting Monday through Friday, in-person, every school, every district, the governor told reporters.

Can the governor actually order kids back to the classrooms?

Much will depend on how and if the state emerges from the pandemic at summers end. But the answer lies with the executive order that shut down classrooms last year, school experts said.

Schools now are only able to operate remotely because of a public health emergency declared by the governor. Once that is rescinded, all districts will again be subject to the 180-day rule: If a school district wants state funding, it must be open at least 180 days during a school year, without exception, according to the N.J. Department of Education.

It is our understanding that since the governor effectively closed schools in March 2020 with Executive Order 104, once the Executive Order is lifted, schools would return to in-person classes, said Janet Bamford, a spokeswoman for the New Jersey School Boards Association.

There are regulations in New Jersey that allow for home instruction or online instruction in special circumstances, including when students have temporary or chronic health conditions. However, those rules were not created to apply to the uncharted territory of the closure of entire school districts due to a virus outbreak.

The power of the purse is a mighty thing, observed former state education commissioner Christopher Cerf. The 180-day requirement is a lever that can be used to influence districts.

And the question of the ultimate allocation of power between state and districts can be quite murky, Cerf added. But he noted that the constitutional duty to assure a thorough and efficient education is assigned to the state, not districts, and state funding is a powerful tool.

I would be very surprised if it ever came to that, but conditioning funding on satisfying centrally-set requirements is a tried-and-true method of expanding otherwise limited powers, remarked Cerf.

In a statement, the governors office said only that Murphy expects all districts to provide in-person instruction in the fall.

If the current rate of vaccine allocation and anticipated Fall 2021 health reality stands up, we would expect that every student will be able to attend school full time in person this fall, said spokeswoman Alyana Alfaro Post. Of course, we will always follow the best available public health guidance at the time.

Still, its not as simple as opening the doors, said David Sciarra, executive director of the Education Law Center, who advocates for students in low-income communities. He said such pronouncements ignore the bigger picture of what must be done before schools move back to full, in-person learning.

The governor and state education officials have a legal obligation  a clear legal duty  to make sure schools are safe to reopen, he said. That schools are safe for teachers and students and families, and the resources are there to deal with the impacts of the coronavirus within their facilities.

That includes needed improvements in ventilation systems, configuring classrooms that in many districts are already overcrowded, and support programs for students emotionally impacted by the pandemic, or those who have fallen behind through a year of virtual learning.

I think the real issue he needs to address, in very clear and concise ways, with very clear benchmarks which have not been established, is how the state will to hold accountable every school across the state. Thats the issue, Sciarra said. Its not whether he can lift the closure order. The last thing we want to happen is they reopen and they are not safe to open.

School districts that believe it is unsafe to open would likely go to court to contest any order forcing them to go back, Cerf said.

There are currently only 143 school districts open for all in-person instruction, which includes about 97,000 students, state officials said. Another 534 districts with about 833,000 students are open for hybrid instruction, with students combining in-person and remote learning.

Meanwhile, pre-K through 12th grade teachers and other education staffers are now among those eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

The New Jersey Education Association said it shares the governors hope that New Jerseys public schools will be able to safely and responsibly open for in-person instruction in the fall.

No one can say with certainly what the pandemic will look like in September, but with competent national leadership at last, a broader, faster vaccine rollout and continued vigilance in our communities, there is good reason to be hopeful that conditions by that time will allow schools to safely and responsibly open for in-person instruction, said union spokesman Steven Baker.

He added that they continue to advocate for all of the mitigation strategies  including social distancing, mask wearing, careful cleaning and adequate ventilation  that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other experts say are necessary for as long as they say those measures necessary to keep students and staff safe in school.

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Ted Sherman may be reached at tsherman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TedShermanSL.
A look at Friday's major share movers on the London Stock Exchange

plc ( ) soared 46% to 113.93p before close after updating the market on the COVID-19 test developed by investees Paraytec and the University of Sheffield.

A new preliminary analysis revealed that the assay could deliver a significantly better performance than the lateral flow tests currently authorised for emergency use, with 40% higher overall test sensitivity  meaning fewer chances to receive a false negative result.

Having the capability to detect a few hundred viral copies per swab means that this test - which does not need to be located in a specialised laboratory or operated by trained laboratory personnel - has the potential to compete very favourably with expensive centralised systems requiring two-day turnaround times, said Prof Carl Smythe, who leads the University of Sheeld team.

2.30pm: on the rise after proposing Edinburgh Hostel sale for 16mln

PLC ( ) jumped 8% to 20.5p in the early afternoon after proposing the sale of its Edinburgh Hostel to a&o Hotels and Hostels for 16mln.

Part of the proceeds will be used to cut debt by 35% while providing the group with enough cash reserves for the next months.

The hostel operator, which is burning 350,000 each month due to closures, said the price represents a 22% premium to the 13.4 million book value.

1.40pm: drops as it explores all strategic alternatives after losses swell

Ltd ( ) tumbled 14% to 0.61p in the afternoon after admitting it is exploring all strategic alternatives to maximise shareholder value.

The oil and gas explorer said its cash resources are depleting and there are continued delays regarding its Italian licence applications.

Losses swelled four-fold to US$3mln in the six months to December 31, due to a US$2.4mln write-off following the expiry of the PEL0029 permit in Namibia, which will not be renewed under the local petroleum exploration law.

12.40pm: Oxford Instruments climbs after upbeat update

( ) climbed 14% to 2,035p after announcing it has made good progress in the second half of its fiscal year and that its end markets remain resilient.

The FTSE 250 manufacturer said it saw the strongest growth across semiconductor applications.

Despite taking a small hit from currency fluctuations, the provider of equipment to the scientific community said revenue in the year to the end of March is expected to marginally ahead of the previous year.

11.50am: TT Electronics moves higher after receiving UK registration for rapid COVID-19 screening device

( ) moved 6% higher to 247p in the late morning after the UK regulator registered Virolens, a rapid COVID-19 screening device, for use in the country.

The device, for which TT is the exclusive manufacturing partner, uses microscopic holographic imaging and artificial intelligence software technology, developed by British start-up iAbra, to detect the presence of the virus from a saliva swab test in around 20 seconds.

The electronics producer said its shares of revenues depend on iAbra's potential end customers in the UK converting expressions of interest into firm orders.

It added that a high proportion of the commercial interest in Virolens to date has been outside of Great Britain and any revenues resulting from this interest require further regulatory approval in those territories.

11am: Argo Blockchain jumps after signing agreement for first clean energy Bitcoin mining pool

( )( ) jumped 13% to 223.7p after signing an initial agreement with DMG Blockchain Solutions, a blockchain and cryptocurrency technology firm, for the first Bitcoin mining pool powered exclusively by clean energy.

Under the terms of the deal, the pair will jointly launch Terra Pool, which will initially consist of both companies processing power which is mostly generated by hydroelectric resources.

The cryptocurrency has recently emerged as a massive polluter for the amount of energy required for mining, which can have serious environmental consequences if powered by carbon fossils.

10am: slips after noting Greater Manchester bus reform decision

PLC ( ) slipped by a tenth to 30p after noting that the Mayor of Greater Manchester made the formal decision to press ahead with franchising the bus market in the Greater Manchester region.

Prior to this decision, the bus operator had already made a court application to subject to judicial review both the consultations conducted by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority and the process by which the consultations were carried out.

Given the ongoing legal proceedings, which it is now confirmed are to be heard by the Court in late May 2021, the company said it is not appropriate to comment further on the decision taken by the Mayor to proceed with his franchising scheme.

In the FTSE 100, Burberry PLC ( ) shed 2% to 1,871.75p after being scrubbed from a popular Chinese video game and seing one of its brand ambassadors resign following Western allegations about human rights abuses by China.

Britain has joined with other Western countries to impose sanctions on China over the claims of systematic rights abuse of the Uighur community in Xinjiang.

Adidas, Nike and H&M have all been targeted by negative comments on local Chinese social media and press reports due to their stance on cotton sourcing from Xinjiang.

8.45am: Proteome Sciences rises early after upgrading profit expectations

( ) was the top riser early on Friday, climbing 26% to 4.78p on the back of an upbeat trading update.

The precision medicine firm said full-year profit after tax will come in materially higher than announced on 25 January.

This is mostly thanks to higher than expected royalty receipts from Thermo Scientific for the last quarter of 2020.

Elsewhere, ( ) surged 18% to 13.58p after completing soil sampling at the Bassala project, in Mali, with the next phase of work planned for this week.

Some 1,200 soil samples were obtained and the findings of the successful programme confirm that two major gold anomalous trends are present and the zones appear to be continuations of regional mineralisation trends.

The miner will next undertake an induced polarisation (IP) survey while first detailed sample results are expected in April.

Proactive news headlines

( ) ( ) said it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with DMG Blockchain Solutions, a blockchain and cryptocurrency technology firm, to launch the first Bitcoin mining pool powered exclusively by clean energy.

( ) shares jumped on Friday as the firm said it has signed its first customer agreements for the delivery of its CleanTreat novel water purification system.

(AIM: ORPH) has won a 7.5mln contract to conduct a human viral challenge study for an unnamed biotechnology company.

Bidstack Group PLC ( ), whose technology implants advertising into computer games, said revenues in 2020 topped market expectations and it expects the top-line to continue motoring north in 2021.

( ) welcomed a real-world analysis of ferric maltol (the alternative name for the companys lead drug Feraccru/Accrufer) in people with iron-deficiency anaemia that have inflammatory bowel disease.

( ) said it has applied for admission to trading on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange and cancel its listing on the standard segment of the exchanges main market. The potash development firm said the cancellation is expected to be effective at 8am on April 27, while its AIM admission is anticipated to begin at the same time.

(LON:TXP, ), in its financial results, highlighted a year of significant progress in which the company enhanced its financial position significantly.

( ) said it had fast-tracked the next phase of exploration at its Bassala gold project in Mali after positive results from a completed soil sampling programme.

(LOB:PCF) said customers in forbearance had dropped to just 5% of its loan book with lending overall rising slightly over the most recent five months.

Plc ( ), in its interim results statement, told investors that its business is now extremely well placed to take advantage of the growing trends underpinning the world's transition to a low carbon economy.

( ) said that following its announcement on March 23 and the completion of required regulatory checks Brad Taylor has been immediately appointed to the board as chief executive and an executive director.

( ) has released an updated corporate presentation, available on the companys website, summarising and consolidating information that has recently been made publicly available.

( ) announced that the maturity date of its 6.5% senior notes has been extended from May 2021 to 31 October 2026.

( ) said it has granted share awards over a total of 470,977 ordinary shares in the company under its 2020 global share incentive plan.
President Joe Biden invited rivals Vladimir Putin of Russia and Xi Jinping of China to the first big climate talks of his administration, an event the U.S. hopes will help shape, speed up and deepen global efforts to cut climate-wrecking fossil fuel pollution.

'They know they're invited. But I haven't spoken to either one of them yet,' Biden said of the two leaders when he departed the White House on Friday to head home to Wilmington, Del.

The White House on Friday released the full list of the 40 world leaders invited, which includes the prime ministers of Canada and the United Kingdom and the king of Saudi Arabia.

President Joe Biden invited rivals Vladimir Putin of Russia and Xi Jinping of China to the first big climate talks of his administration

The president is seeking to revive a U.S.-convened forum of the world's major economies on climate that George W. Bush and Barack Obama both used and Donald Trump let languish.

World leaders invited to Biden Climate Summit  Prime Minister Gaston Browne, Antigua and Barbuda  President Alberto Fernandez, Argentina  Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Australia  Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh  Prime Minister Lotay Tshering, Bhutan  President Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil  Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Canada  President Sebastian Pinera, Chile  President Xi Jinping, People's Republic of China  President Ivan Duque Marquez, Colombia  President Felix Tshisekedi, Democratic Republic of the Congo  Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, Denmark  President Ursula von der Leyen, European Commission  President Charles Michel, European Council  President Emmanuel Macron, France  President Ali Bongo Ondimba, Gabon  Chancellor Angela Merkel, Germany  Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India  President Joko Widodo, Indonesia  Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel  Prime Minister Mario Draghi, Italy  Prime Minister Andrew Holness, Jamaica  Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, Japan  President Uhuru Kenyatta, Kenya  President David Kabua, Republic of the Marshall Islands  President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, Mexico  Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand  President Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria  Prime Minister Erna Solberg, Norway  President Andrzej Duda, Poland  President Moon Jae-in, Republic of Korea  President Vladimir Putin, The Russian Federation  King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia  Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Singapore  President Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa, South Africa  Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, Spain  President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey  President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, United Arab Emirates  Prime Minister Boris Johnson, United Kingdom  President Nguyen Phu Trong, Vietnam Advertisement

Leaders of some of the world's top climate-change sufferers, do-gooders and backsliders round out the rest of the 40 invitations being delivered Friday.

It will be held April 22 and 23. The virtual Leaders Summit will be live streamed for public viewing, the White House noted in its announcement of the event.

Hosting the summit will fulfill a campaign pledge and executive order by Biden, and the administration is timing the event with its own upcoming announcement of what's a much tougher U.S. target for revamping the U.S. economy to sharply cut emissions from coal, natural gas and oil.

The invites come amid tensions with the two nations.

Biden on Thursday said he would prevent China from passing the United States to become the most powerful country in the world, vowing to invest heavily to ensure America prevails in the race between the world's two largest economies.

The president said he had made it clear to Xi that the United States was not looking for confrontation, but would insist that China abide by international rules for fair competition and fair trade and respect for human rights.

'China has an overall goal ... to become the leading country in the world, the wealthiest country in the world, and the most powerful country in the world,' he told reporters at the White House at his first presidential press conference. 'That's not going to happen on my watch because the United States is going to continue to grow.'

Biden took aim at Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin for embracing autocracy.

'He's one of the guys, like Putin, who thinks that autocracy is the wave of the future, (and) democracy can't function in an ever-complex world,' Biden said.

And Biden's invitation to Putin comes as he refused the Russian's leader offer to hold online talks in the wake of Biden referring to Putin as a 'killer' with no soul.

Putin snapped back at Biden since the president made his comments in an interview with ABC News, including wishing his American counterpart 'good health.'

And Putin gave his own strong response to Biden's 'killer' accusation, saying that 'it takes one to know one.'

'We always see in another person our own qualities and think that he is the same as us,' Putin said.

Russia is demanding an apology from the United States for Biden's 'killer' comment. The provocative comments prompted the Kremlin to make the highly unusual move to recall Anatoly Antonov, its ambassador to the US, for urgent consultations over the future of US-Russia ties.

The Climate Summit  and whether it's all talk, or some progress  will test Biden's pledge to make climate change a priority among competing political, economic, policy and pandemic problems.

It also will pose a very public  and potentially embarrassing or empowering  test of whether U.S. leaders, and Biden in particular, can still drive global decision-making after the Trump administration withdrew globally and shook up longstanding alliances.

The Biden administration intentionally looked beyond its international partners for the talks, an administration official said.

'It's a list of the key players and it's about having some of the tough conversations and the important conversations,' the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss U.S. plans for the event. 'Given how important  this issue is to the entire world, we have to be willing to talk about it and we have to be willing to talk about it at the high levels.'

Trump mocked the science underlying urgent warnings on global warming and the resulting worsening of droughts, floods, hurricanes and other natural disasters. He pulled the United States out of the 2015 U.N. Paris climate accords as one of his first actions. That makes next month's summit the first major international climate discussions by a U.S. leader in more than four years, although leaders in Europe and elsewhere have kept up talks.

U.S. officials and some others give the Obama administration's major-economies climate discussions some of the credit for laying the groundwork for the Paris accord. The United States and nearly 200 other governments at those talks each set targets for cutting their fossil-fuel emissions, and pledged to monitor and report their emissions. Another Biden administration official said the U.S. is still deciding how far the administration will go in setting a more ambitious U.S. emissions target.

The Biden administration hopes the stage provided by next month's Earth Day climate summit  planned to be all virtual because of COVID-19 and all publicly viewable on livestream, including breakout conversations  will encourage other international leaders to use it as a platform to announce their own countries' tougher emission targets or other commitments, ahead of November's U.N. global climate talks in Glasgow.

The administration hopes more broadly the session will help galvanize governments on getting moving on specific, politically-bearable ways to retool their transportation and power sectors and overall economies now to meet those tougher future targets.

The U.S. summit isn't just 'about the deliverables, it really is about engaging at the leader level  sending a signal from the U.S. perspective about how serious we are, and putting our own cards on the table in a significant way,' the first official said, referring to Biden's upcoming announcement on a more aggressive U.S. emissions target. 'And hoping that countries will join us.'

Biden's invite to Russian President Vladimir Putin comes after he turned down Putin's offer to talk online after Biden called his Russian counterpart a 'killer' with no soul

Biden on Thursday said he would prevent China from passing the United States to become the most powerful country in the world as he tries to keep President Xi Jinping in check

Like Bush's and Obama's major-economies climate forums, Biden's invite list includes leaders of the world's biggest economies and European blocs. That includes two countries  Russia and China  that Biden and his diplomats are clashing against, over election interference, cyber attacks, human rights and other issues. It's not clear how those two countries in particular will respond to the U.S. invitations, or whether they are willing to cooperate with the U.S. on cutting emissions while sparring on other topics. China is the world's top emitter of climate-damaging pollution. The U.S. is No. 2. Russia is No. 4.

Brazil is on the list as a major economy, but it's also a major climate backslider under President Jair Bolsonaro, who derailed preservation efforts for the carbon-sucking Amazon and joined Trump in trampling international climate commitments.

The 40 invitees also include leaders of countries facing some of the gravest immediate threats, including low-lying Bangladesh and the Marshall islands, countries seen as modeling some good climate behavior, including Bhutan and some Scandanavian countries, and African nations with variously big carbon sink forests or big oil reserves. Poland and some other countries on the list are seen as possibly open to moving faster away from dirty coal power.

Biden as a candidate pledged $2 trillion in investment to help transform the U.S. into a zero-emission economy by 2050 while building clean-energy and technology jobs. Biden and other administration officials have been stressing U.S. climate intentions during early one-on-one talks with foreign leaders, and Biden climate envoy John Kerry has focused on speeding up emissions cuts internationally in diplomacy abroad.
Denton, TX (76205)

Today

Considerable cloudiness. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 63F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Considerable cloudiness. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 63F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph.
HB 673 is named Gail's Law after Gail Gardner, an Orlando woman who is survivor of a vicious sexual assault in 1988 by an armed man who broke into her home and raped her at knifepoint. Despite courageously consenting to a forensic exam, where a sexual assault evidence kit was collected, Gail had to wait nearly 30 years before her kit was tested. In November of last year, Orlando police finally identified Gail's attacker as a man who was already in prison for another sexual assault. That man is accused of assaulting 15 other women in Florida, yet evidence that could have led to his conviction sat on a shelf for almost 30 years.

In response to Gail's Law passing out of committee, Representative Slosberg said, "Gail's Law seeks to address the historical lack of accountability surrounding sexual assault evidence kits and, in conjunction with other measures passed by the legislature, eliminate the potential for evidence to go untested and for perpetrators to escape justice. I am delighted to see such bipartisan support for this bill and I look forward to working on this bill in the Justice Appropriations Subcommittee."

The attached video is of the moving testimony provided by Representative Slosberg and Gail Gardner.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/8jgfjb8vv0vxfev/GAILS%20LAW%20IG.mp4?dl=0

SOURCE Representative Emily Slosberg, Florida House of Representatives, District 91
Awka  The Dangote Group, owned by Africa's Richest Man, Mr. Aliko Dangote, has sponsored training for 60 journalists from South-east and South-south geo-political zones of the country.

The journalists who were trained for three days on various aspects of journalism were drawn from diverse sectors of the media, including print, broadcast and online media.

The training was done in partnership with Folio Media Creative Academy (FMCA) and African Institute for Public Policy (AIPP), with top trainers, including the Executive Secretary of AIPP, Professor Sylvester Monye, Dr. Charles Anosike, MD/CEO of Anambra Broadcasting Service, Dr. Uche Nworah and a renowned media trainer, Mr. Lekan Otufodurin.

Representative of the Dangote Group at the training, Mr. Okey Nwankwo, the Dangote Group is deeply involved in corporate social responsibility for communities hosting its businesses.

Nwankwo said: "Today, we are moving away from just our usual corporate social responsibility to communities where our businesses are sited, to also impact on a very critical arm of the society, which is the media.

"This training is meant to equip you with knowledge for the job you do, and we hope that it will impact on the society."

The Chairman of the FMCA and publisher of Daily Times Newspaper, Mr. Fidelis Anosike, charged journalists to sit up and perform their duties effectively as the watchdog of the society.

The training, which was held at AIPP training centre at Onicha-Ugbo, Delta State, with the theme: "Convergence Journalism," featured topics like advertising, public relations, social media, convergence media and others.
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Ebro Foods France-based pasta business in Panzani is reportedly on the radar of local peer Lustucru, which is considering teaming up with private-equity firm CVC to bid for the assets.

French newspaper Les Echos said the two suitors could launch a move for Panzani in the coming weeks.

just-food has contacted CVC for comment.

Ebro refused to be drawn on the report and said it had not put Panzani on the block. This issue has been on the market from the divestment of our North American dry-pasta businesses. Ebro has not put Panzani up for sale and we will not comment on rumours, a spokesperson said when asked if the company would be willing to sell the business.

In November, Ebro announced a deal to sell a clutch of pasta brands in the US  Prince, Creamette and Skinner  to local manufacturer TreeHouse Foods. A week earlier, Ebro said it agreed to offload its Catelli dried pasta business in Canada to Italian counterpart Barilla.



Last month, Ebro said it was considering offloading another pasta brand, Ronzoni, which the company claimed had seen a great deal of interest from potential buyers.

In 2020, Ebros group net sales rose 15.1% to EUR3.24bn (US$3.82bn), with the company pointing to the strong performance of our businesses during the [Covid-19] pandemic.

Ebros net profit was up 35.7% at EUR192.4m, in part helped by proceeds from the sale of assets in North America.

Sales from the groups continuing pasta business increased 14.5% to EUR1.5bn in 2020. Rice sales were up 16.1% at EUR1.82bn.
A Maryland state bill that would ensure public libraries the right to license and lend e-books and other digital works that are available in the consumer market took another step forward this week, sailing through a routine committee hearing in the Maryland state senate.

After passing the Maryland General Assembly unanimously on March 10, the bill is now in reconciliation and faces a few more steps before it can head to the governors desk. But the first of those steps went quickly during a scheduled March 24 committee hearing, in which the bill was reported favorably out of committee in just over a minute, without objection.

Library supporters remain hopeful it will cross the finish line before the April 12 legislative session ends in Maryland, despite recent comments from the Association of American Publishers, which this week stated its opposition to the measure.

"Federal copyright law prohibits this type of regulation of copyrights by state governments. Moreover, SB432 raises significant Commerce Clause and Due Process Clause concerns and would likely be found to violate the U.S. Constitution," reads testimony submitted to the Maryland state legislature by AAP general counsel Terrence Hart. "We therefore urge lawmakers to revisit the intent and expression of this draft bill and to engage broader stakeholder input into its intended and unintended impacts."

First introduced in January, the bill (HB518 in the House of Delegates and SB432 in the Senate) would require a publisher who offers to license an electronic literary product to the public to also offer to license the product to public libraries in the State on reasonable terms that would enable public libraries to provide library users with access to the electronic literary product.

Despite its initial passage, the bill still faces a few more steps in the legislative process, but if signed by Governor Larry Hogan the bill could take effect as early as July 1 of this year.

Two more states (New York and Rhode Island) introduced similar legislation last year but it is unclear when or if those measures will be reintroduced.

As of 2014, most publishers make their full catalogs available to libraries in some formthough whether or not that access is reasonable is an ongoing debate. Amazon, however, is a different story, and the Maryland law comes as the pressure ramps up on Amazon to make its exclusive digital content available to libraries.

 The bills prevent unreasonable discrimination against public libraries. 

In its testimony this week, AAP downplayed the tension in the library e-book market between libraries and publishers, while urging Maryland lawmakers to pursue a different route in addressing concerns with Amazon.

"To the extent that the bill aims to address the licensing decisions of a particular dominant online company doing business in the state, we ask the Committee to handle those concerns as a matter of antitrust law," the testimony states, while adding that "AAP is unaware of any demonstrated, pervasive market failure or other basis involving the hundreds of publishers we represent that would justify the systemic market regulation of copyrights that SB432 would establish."

Jonathan Band, a Washington DC-based lawyer who works with the library community, offered a rebuttal to the AAP's concerns.

"The bills do not force publishers to transfer any of their exclusive rights and the publishers rights remain undiminished," Band wrote in a response shared with PW, explaining that because the bills regulate license terms, the AAP's copyright concerns are misplaced. "The bills prevent unreasonable discrimination against public libraries," Band argues, explaining that the legislation simply provides that if a publisher licenses an e-book to the public in Maryland, the publisher must also make licenses available to public libraries as well.

Band also told PW that publishers can't have it both ways: using the concept of e-books as licensed products to deny libraries the right to buy and lend digital versions of literary works, a right they enjoy under copyright law, while claiming that copyright law forbids the state from imposing what he called a modest condition requiring the fair availability of digital licenses.

"The intent of this legislation is not to deprive authors of the compensation they deserve, nor to facilitate copyright infringement. Rather, the legislation is intended to enable libraries to continue in the digital age to fulfill their mission of providing the public with access to information," Band writes. "This legislation will help restore the equilibrium that digital technology has disrupted."
Patna, March 26 : There has been a surge in the overall number of Covid-19 cases due to the spike in the number of active patients in Bihar.

According to state Health Department data, 26 patients were identified on March 15 in the state while 88 Covid-19 patients were reported on March 20. Similarly, on March 23, 111 patients were identified, 170 infections were confirmed on March 24 and on March 25, as many as 258 infections were confirmed.

The number of active Covid-19 patients has also increased as the total number of cases surge. While there were 327 active patients in Bihar on March 15, the number of active patients of Covid-19 increased to 472 on March 20. Similarly, on March 23, the number of active patients increased to 623, on March 24 this number reached 726 while on March 25, 924 active patients were reported in the state.

Meanwhile, the state Health Department is also cautious of people coming from other states on the occasion of Holi. People visit their homes during Holi.

A state Health Department official on Friday said random coronavirus checks were being done at all railway stations, bus stands and busy markets. People coming from other states are being closely monitored.

Bihar Health Minister Mangal Pandey said the people need to be vigilant and aware about Covid-19. He said the the state government is fully alert. Patna has the highest number of active patients in the state. On Thursday, 54 infected people were identified in Patna, increasing the number of active patients in the state capital to 382. It is a sigh of relief that the recovery rate of infected patients in the state is 99.06 per cent.

In Bihar, 2,33,75,172 samples have been tested, out of which 2,64,198 people have been found infected so far. As many as 1,567 infected people have died in the state.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Former prime minister David Cameron has been cleared of breaching lobbying rules by allegedly asking the Chancellor for emergency Covid loans worth millions for a firm he advised.

The ex-Tory leader faced a probe over text messages he was reported to have sent to Rishi Sunak and senior civil servants on behalf of Greensill Capital before it went into administration.

His activities were investigated by Harry Rich, the registrar of consultant lobbyists - a post set up in legislation passed by Mr Cameron's Government in 2014.

But he ruled today that Mr Cameron's role with the Anglo-Australian financial services firm was not that of a lobbyist and therefore no rules had been broken.

'Based on detailed information and assurances provided, Mr Cameron's activities do not fall within the criteria that require registration on the Register of Consultant Lobbyists,' the watchdog's decision said.

David Cameron personally lobbied Rishi Sunak to grant millions of Covid loans to a financial firm he was advising before it collapsed, it was claimed last night

The former prime minister is said to have texted the Chancellor's private mobile in a bid to secure government-backed funding for Greensill.

The former prime minister is said to have texted the Chancellor's private mobile in a bid to secure government-backed funding for Greensill.

He is also alleged to have approached the Bank of England about the firm, which collapsed into administration earlier this month.

Mr Sunak ignored most of the messages and instead referred Mr Cameron to senior Treasury officials, according to The Sunday Times.

Those contacted by the ex-Tory premier were said to include Tom Scholar, the permanent secretary, and Charles Roxburgh, the second permanent secretary.

The Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Act 2014 makes it an offence for someone who is not a registered lobbyist to directly lobby ministers or senior civil servants.

But people lobbying on behalf of their own organisation are not required to register.

The watchdog said it had received "comprehensive assurances" from Mr Cameron that any contact he had with any Government minister or Permanent Secretary was made as an employee of Greensill.

Greensill was the main financial backer for Liberty Steel, which owns 12 plants in the UK and employs 5,000 people but now faces an uncertain future.
Theres a prophetic scene at the end of Charlie Wilsons War, the film that chronicles a flamboyant Texas congressman (played by Tom Hanks) and a rogue C.I.A. agent (Philip Seymour Hoffman) mobilizing what was then the largest U.S. covert intelligence operation in history. Operation Cyclone facilitated the training, arming, and empowering of the Afghan mujahideenholy warriorsto fight the Soviet Union in the nineteen-eighties. Americas proxies prevailed, in the sense that the Soviets realized that their decade-long presence had become too costlyfinancially, politically, and militarilyand that they couldnt achieve their goals. What, are we going to sit there forever? the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev reportedly told the Politburo in 1986. Or should we be ending this war? Otherwise, well disgrace ourselves in every respect. In 1989, after losing more than fourteen thousand troops and spending at least fifty billion dollars, the Soviets withdrew. They just wanted out of an unpopular war. Afghanistan soon collapsed into a civil war that pitted rival warlords against one another, until the Taliban seized power, in 1996, imposed strict Islamic law, and welcomed other jihadis such as Al Qaeda. After Al Qaedas attacks in 2001, U.S. forces helped their Afghan allies to topple the Taliban. A new U.S.-backed government was ensconced in Kabul.
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) speaks as other lawmakers listen in a press conference in Iran about a measure limiting President Donald Trump's ability to take military action against Iran, on Capitol Hill, in Washington on Jan. 9, 2020. (Jose Luis Magana/AP Photo)

Progressive Rep. Ro Khanna Says He and Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz Work Together Well

Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) said he has and is ready to work with Republicans whenever possible, especially to stop endless wars, create manufacturing jobs in the United States, and take on special interest groups. Khanna revealed that he and Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), through dialogue, have found common ground and worked with each other to solve many issues.

We do get along. We work on common issues. We work to get PAC money out of politics. We both believe that lobbyists shouldnt be running this place. We both believe that we shouldnt be in foreign wars. Obviously, we disagree on issues, but we actually engage in dialogue and even hang out, Khanna told Fox News host Brian Kilmeade on Thursday.

Gaetz is one of former President Donald Trumps strongest supporters and Khanna supported Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) run for president, but they both have been able to find common ground.

Whats unique about this political realignment that I think Donald Trump had something to do with it, that Bernie Sanders had something to do it, is that you can actually have right-wing populist and left-wing populists working together, and sometimes it is the establishment against the rest of us, said Gaetz.

Both said they have been criticized by their own party for working with the other but they put America before their party. Khanna said his colleagues are suspicious of his work with a conservative like Gaetz.

Well, Im deeply proud of the work too and you can look at my Twitter feed probably right now Im getting criticized, anytime I do anything with Matt they say, well, why are you doing that, are you supporting his position, said Khanna.

I have been criticized for my work with Ro, but Im proud of it because, at the end of the day, our team isnt just the Republican caucus or the Democratic caucus, our team is the American people, and I have gotten criticism from leadership for it, and I dont mind it at all, said Gaetz.

Gaetz credited Khanna for refusing in 2020 to take lobbyist and Big Tech PAC money for his reelections, writing that about 62 percent of Gaetzs contributions that year came from small donations under $200 and 37 percent came from large donations, according to Open Secrets.

Khanna praised Gaetzs efforts to stop endless wars.

When we were trying to end our involvement in Yemen, and when we were trying to make sure that we didnt get into Iran. Matt went against people in his own party, in his own leadership to stop those wars, and if I was just trying to put together a coalition on the left, we would never have made the progress on Yemen, we would have never made the progress in stopping the intervention in Iran. So, people said why are you working with Matt Gaetz, I said, well if you care about stopping wars overseas, look at what hes doing, said Khanna.

The California representative is referring to Gaetzs support to help pass (228 to 175) his bill in the 116th Congress, which prevents taxpayer funding from being used to take military action against Iran without congressional authorization.

Khanna emphasized the need for more dialogue between the two parties and working together to help Americans prosper.

Thats what weve got to get over in this country. I get criticized when I come on Fox News. Come on, weve got to talk to each other, we got to work together in concrete ways to help move this country forward, Khanna added.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-26 07:12:18|Editor: huaxia

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Photo taken in Arlington, Virginia, the United States, on Feb. 19, 2021 shows a screen displaying U.S. President Joe Biden speaking in Washington, D.C. during a virtual event with the Munich Security Conference in a video provided by the U.S. State Department. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

"I can't guarantee we are going to solve everything," President Joe Biden said of the challenges his administration is facing on the border. "But I can guarantee we can make everything better."



WASHINGTON, March 25 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Joe Biden admitted Thursday that he cannot completely solve what he considered to be the long-existing border problem caused by the excessive influx of migrants, claiming that the situation is improving and that it can get "a lot better" soon.

"Truth of the matter is nothing has changed," Biden said during his first press conference as president, where the border issue took center stage. "It happens every single solitary year."

Biden's remarks pushing back against the growing criticism of his administration's handling of the skyrocketing migrant border-crossings came as U.S. media, citing official data that has not been publicly released, reported that the average daily number of unaccompanied migrant children detained by border officials has now topped 600, twice as many as in 2019, when the number peaked at around 370 on average a day.

Republicans and other critics have blamed the surging new arrivals on the Biden administration being more lax on immigration than the Donald Trump administration -- claims Biden denied, saying economic reasons and seasonal factors were the main drivers that propelled migrants to make the U.S.-bound journeys.

"The reason they're coming is that it's the time they can travel with the least likelihood of dying on the way because of the heat in the desert, number one. Number two, they're coming because of the circumstances in their country," Biden said.

The president said the "vast majority" of migrant families coming to the U.S. border are being sent back by his administration, which in the meantime is also "moving rapidly to try to put in place" a migration processing system dismantled by the Trump administration, so as to better accommodate the unaccompanied migrant children who are currently packed in U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) facilities where the conditions Biden admitted are "totally unacceptable."

The Biden administration has come under attack for not allowing journalists to independently visit the CBP facilities, including the one in Donna, Texas, where photos provided by Democratic Congressman Henry Cuellar this week showed unaccompanied children jamming together without social distance, sleeping on mats under foil blankets, and divided into sections only by plastic sheathing. Cuellar said more than 400 male minors were being held in a section meant for 250.

A U.S. Border Patrol agent stands in front of the border fence that divides the U.S. and Mexico in San Diego, California, the United States, Nov. 17, 2018. (Xinhua/Zhao Hanrong)

Biden pledged during the press conference that he is committed to transparency and providing media access to facilities run by the CBP and other agencies. He didn't give a timetable as to when that would happen.

There were nearly 5,000 unaccompanied migrant children detained in CBP facilities as of Tuesday, according to the latest data available. Hundreds of the kids have been in custody longer than what is legally allowed, with the average time hovering around 130 hours.

The CBP is supposed to transfer unaccompanied minors to the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Office of Refugee Resettlement within 72 hours, but the HHS has been scrambling to find enough shelters, citing constraints related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Biden argued that progress is being made in finding additional housing facilities for the child migrants who are allowed to stay in the country as their immigration requests are processed. He said Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin just informed him that some 5,000 beds at Fort Bliss Army post in El Paso, Texas, had been made available for sheltering the migrants.

"I can't guarantee we are going to solve everything," Biden said of the challenges his administration is facing on the border. "But I can guarantee we can make everything better. We can make it better. We can change the lives of so many people." 
A man was Wednesday arraigned at a Nairobi court for impersonating his dead father in an attempt to access his bank account that reportedly holds millions of shillings.

The prosecution told the court that Francis Mahenia Waweru alias James Waweru Ndegwa presented himself to the National Bank of Kenya on Harambee Avenue in Nairobi on Tuesday, March 23, 2021, pretending to be his dead father.

He reportedly handed over to the bank staff a digital form for application for mobile banking using his late fathers bank account.

Bank staff discovered the attempted fraud and had him seized for interrogation. It was then that Ndegwa revealed the deceased holder of the bank account was his father.

The accused told authorities that one of his friends told him that he had a contact at the bank who could help him access his late fathers money.

His friend picked him from Roysambu and took him to the National Bank headquarters, where he filed the form and gave the documents to customer care.

Ndegwa said he showed the bank his fathers and mothers death certificates but the officers refused to authenticate the documents.

He said he was also in possession of his brothers national ID card as the family desperately needed to access the funds.

The mans father died in 2018 but his children have not been able to access the funds since then. The deceased is said to have had properties in posh parts of Nairobi, including Lavington and its environs, with income from those properties channeled to the National Bank account.

Ndegwa, who is a mitumba dealer, was charged with one count of personation. He denied the charges before Nairobi Chief Magistrate Martha Mutuku and was released on a cash bail of Sh50,000.
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Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have arrested Ibeh Theophilus Uche, the CEO of 10 Kobo Wine Place, Ikotun, Lagos alongside his mother for their alleged involvement in computer-related fraud to the tune of about N50million in Lagos.

The 28-year-old suspect was arrested recently in his room in Radisson Blu Anchorage Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos, following credible intelligence reports about his alleged criminal activities.

During interrogation by EFCC investigators, Uche, who presents himself variously as Rachael Armstrong, Keanu Reeves, Rebekah Schwarzenberger, Keanu Private, Elizabeth Hortman and Stefan Paulson, confessed to being into Bitcoin investment scam, romance scam and identity theft.

The suspect also confessed to have defrauded his victims to the tune of about N50m, since he started the criminal activities in 2020.

Investigations by the EFCC revealed that the suspect had been using a First Bank account belonging to his mother, who is one of his accomplices, to launder the proceeds of his alleged criminal activities.

Items recovered from the suspect are one iPhone 11 Pro Max; one iPhone 12 pro max; two MacBook Pro laptops; a PlayStation 5; an iPad and a small Nokia touch phone.

Others are a Mercedes Benz S550 2015 Sedan car and a Lexus RX 350 SUV 2016, among other incriminating items.

The suspect will soon be charged to court.

Wilson Uwujaren

Head, Media & Publicity

26 March, 2021
The investigation into the murder of National Lands Commission (NLC) Communications Director Jennifer Wambua is threatening to turn into yet another cold case, with no suspect questioned, two weeks after she was killed.

The Nation has established that the police have been unable to find a solid clue that could lead to the arrest of the killers.

The star witness in a Sh122-million corruption case was buried in Kathekakai village, Machakos County on Wednesday, with colleagues, friends and family calling for the arrest of the killers.

"The commission will assist the authorities to unravel this death so that perpetrators are arrested," NLC chairperson Gershom Otachi promised the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI).

Former Kibwezi MP Kalembe Ndile told DCI boss George Kinoti to give the case the weight it deserves.

State witnesses

"If this trend continues and the Director of Public Prosecutions is not careful, Kenyans will be discouraged from becoming State witnesses," he said.

But even the family insisted on the DCI finding the killers, the threat of the investigations turning cold continue to mount.

No suspects had been interrogated by yesterday evening, the Nation was told.

Only immediate family members, colleagues and security officers who might have an idea of what transpired in the days before March 12, when Wambua disappeared have been quizzed.

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Those familiar with investigations into homicides say detectives should get a lead within the first 48 hours after being called.

The clock starts ticking the moment the case is transferred from the crime department of a police station to the DCI.

If a lead is not found in the first two days, chances of solving the murder are cut by half.

Wambua's case was first taken up by the DCI the day she was discovered missing. It was then transferred to the DCI's Homicide Unit headed by Mr Martin Nyuguto a day after her body was found.

Contaminated

That was the fourth day from when she vanished. Shortfalls in the investigation were visible from the moment Mr Nyuguto's team took charge.

The thicket where the body was found was sealed in the presence of journalists on March 16. It may have been contaminated for three days.

Wambua's workmates and kin were questioned by two DCI teams.

Preliminary investigations have not yet found a link to the corruption case. Wambua was to be cross examined in a case in which Lugari MP Ayub Savula and 22 others are accused of defrauding the Government Advertising Agency of Sh122 million.
Americans could get the O.K. to take off their masks after getting fully vaccinated against COVID-19 within five months, thanks to a new study of Moderna's vaccine.

College students vaccinated with Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine, will be part of a new study to test its effectiveness in curbing the spread of the virus, the COVID-19 Prevention Network said on Friday.

It's a critical question that was not answered by clinical trials for Moderna's vaccine (or Pfizer's or Johnson & Johnson's), which only showed that the shot is 94 percent effective at preventing people from developing symptomatic COVID-19.

The new trial, backed by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), is designed to determine if the vaccine, mRNA-1273, can prevent coronavirus infection, limit virus in the nose, and reduce transmission from vaccinated individuals to their close contacts.

The study 'will ask and answer the very important question related to what people who are fully vaccinated can and cannot do,' said Dr Anthony Fauci during a Friday White House Covid response team press briefing.

Moderna's five-month trial will track whether 12,000 college students vaccinated with its shot develop asymptomatic COVID-19 or transmit the virus to their close contacts (file)

The study 'will ask and answer the very important question related to what people who are fully vaccinated can and cannot do,' said Dr Anthony Fauci during a Friday White House Covid response team press briefing (file)

'We hope within the next five or so months, we will be able to answer the question: Do vaccinated people get infected asymptomatically and if they do, do they transmit infection to others.

'The prevailing question is, when these people get infected, how often is that, and if they are asymptomatic, how much virus in their nose and how often do they transmit the virus?

'This will help inform science-based decisions about mask use and about social distancing.'

The Prevent COVID U study, funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), will monitor about 12,000 young adults across 20 universities over a five-month period.

Half of the students will be vaccinated at enrollment, while the other half will receive the vaccine four months late, according to the network, formed by NIAID to conduct studies of vaccines and antibodies for the new coronavirus.

The students, as well as 25,000 individuals named by them as 'close contacts' will fill out questionnaires, take nasal swab samples and provide blood samples for a designated period, allowing study investigators to measure the spread of the virus.

'Our hope is that we demonstrate that COVID-19 vaccines prevent people from getting infected with coronavirus in the first place and that it stops transmission to others,' said Dr Larry Corey, principal investigator of the network's operations program.

About 14 percent of the U.S. population - or about 47 million - Americans are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

Vaccination is unequivocally that path to a return to normalcy - but U.S. health authorities have not yet given these tens of millions of people the go-ahead to return to their pre-pandemic lives.

Current Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidance advises fully vaccinated people that they should still wear masks in public and limit their maskless contact to visits with other fully vaccinated people, or just one household of unvaccinated, low-risk family or friends.

For seniors, especially, the ability to visit some of their children and grandchildren is a leap forward, but a far cry from normalcy.

The reason that the CDC remains so conservative in the freedoms it recommends as safe for fully vaccinated people is that last year's massive vaccine trials simply weren't designed to answer key questions about asymptomatic infection and transmission.

We know that various vaccines prevent between 66 and 95 percent of people who receive them from getting sick from coronavirus because trials only tested people who got developed symptoms for COVID-19.

They did not test people who didn't develop symptoms, nor did they document how many close contacts of trial participants who became infected also caught coronavirus.

That's typical for the types of vaccine trials that led to emergency use authorization for Moderna's, Johnson & Johnson's shots, and helped move the approval process more quickly.

But the unknowns left by those trials have left vaccinated Americans in a sort of limbo between continuing to live life as they have for the past year of the pandemic, and returning to their pre-pandemic ways.

Health officials still consider the risk that a fully vaccinated person will contract asymptomatic COVID-19 and spread it to others too high to let those people unmask.

Moderna's trial will at least tell scientists whether people fully vaccinated with that shot can take off their masks.

It is unclear whether similar trials are planned for Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson's shots or whether the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or CDC will consider the results of Moderna's trials applicable to other vaccines.
A standard approach for states looking to finance infrastructure projects is to create public-private partnerships in which a quasi-public entity uses private capital from investors to fund socially desirable projects like affordable housing. But these partnerships serve to enrich private investors at taxpayer expense.

In piece entitled How to Cut Infrastructure Costs in Half, Ellen Brown argues that these costs are excessive and unnecessary: Private equity investment now generates an average return of about 11.8 percent annually on a 10-year basis. For infrastructure investment, those profits are made on tolls and fees paid by the public. Even at simple interest, that puts the cost to the public of financing $1 trillion in infrastructure projects at $1.18 trillion, more than doubling the cost. Cities often make these desperate deals because they are heavily in debt and the arrangement can give them cash up front. But as a 2008 Government Accountability Office report warned, there is no free money in public-private partnerships. Local residents wind up picking up the tab.
Academy of Art University knows it can be overwhelming for graduates to embark on careers with theoretical knowledge but no real experience. That's why the Academy prepares students for artistic careers by teaming its campus-based programs with high-profile industry placements.

In particular, the Academy's School of Animation and Visual Effects provides a high level of practice-led tuition by encouraging students to work on real-world projects. Aside from offering numerous inspiring work placements, the school also runs the Studio X project, which is one of the Academy's Built-In Career-Prep Opportunities. As a student-run, faculty-mentored production space, Studio X is the Academy's in-house animation studio. Students work in the studio on real films and games with real clients. They meet real deadlines and solve real problems to create industry-standard animations and films, many of which have gone on to air on television and win awards.

Here, we'll explore four recent Studio X projects that have made their mark on the film industry.

1. Strawberry Mansion

Strawberry Mansion is the latest in a string of successes that students have developed in Studio X. The dystopian, surreal animation tells the story of a government that records civilians' dreams and taxes them accordingly. The movie premiered at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, marking the sixth Sundance premiere in 12 years of collaboration between the Academy and Studio X.

The Strawberry Mansion students got to work on a dream-world set in Studio X for the best part of three months to produce the animation. During this time, they developed their technical skills, liaised with clients, and solved countless problems as they worked towards tight deadlines. This was particularly challenging as the students were working remotely amid COVID-19.

"Encouraging the artists to stay positive and persevere through creative challenges was another important responsibility that my producer-student friends and I strove to fulfill every week," said Lead Producer Melissa Spearman. "I couldn't be more proud of my team and the effort that they put into it every week from all corners of the world."

Learn more about Strawberry Mansion.

2. I'm No Longer Here

In our next Academy success story, three animation graduates - Hank Chang, Yixuan Wu, and Penpicha Jingjungvisuti - created a Studio X movie that now features on Netflix. What's more, the Spanish musical drama I'm No Longer Here won 10 accolades at the 2020 Ariel Awards - including 'Best Picture' - and received a nomination for 'Best Special Effects', a title that recognizes the best of Mexican film. The Ariel Awards has celebrated outstanding cinema since 1946 and is considered the Mexican equivalent of the Oscars.

I'm No Longer Here is the story of Ulises, a teen who must leave his home in Mexico for New York after a run-in with a cartel. But Ulises doesn't speak English and finds himself isolated.

As a student who left his hometown to study at the Academy himself, Chang particularly enjoyed working on the project.

"It kind of reflects my feelings - I came to the U.S. from Taiwan," said Chang, who graduated from the Academy in 2019 with an MFA. He now works as a digital compositor at FuseFX. "You miss your hometown so much - your family, your friends, things that you're familiar with."

Learn more about I'm No Longer Here.

3. Redemption

Next up, Academy alumna Seora Hong wrote and directed Redemption, a short film that won first place in the 3D Animation Short category at the Academy's Spring Awards. The film tackles a challenging theme, suicide, but offers an optimistic, hopeful take on finding happiness ahead. The drama is now making its way around festival circuits. It has already been selected for four festivals and won two prizes.

"It has the potential to go really far," said Catherine Tate, director of the School of Animation and Visual Effects. "I mean, we're talking maybe the Oscars. It was such an impressive, collaborative effort."

The film started its life as Hong's MFA thesis, which she partly produced in Studio X. Multiple students then also worked on the project, adding intricate details to create vivid realism. They also rendered the animation in black and white to emphasize the film's melancholy themes.

"We're not just trying to make beautiful images; we're trying to make powerful images that make the audience get lost in the story," said Derek Flood, associate director of visual effects at Studio X.

"I hope audiences feel warm-hearted while they are watching the film," added Hong. "The film starts with depression but ends hopefully. So, if someone is struggling, I hope they can overcome the difficulties of that moment."

Learn more about Redemption.

4. The 24th

During 2019, many Academy students collaborated with Oscar-winning film director and screenwriter Kevin Willmott to bring the new historical film The 24th to life. While some students worked on the set in North Carolina, others completed the visual effect shots in Studio X.

The School of Animation and Visual Effects rounded off 2020 with an exclusive webinar, which featured Willmott alongside lead actor, co-writer, and producer Trai Byers; executive producers Patrick Peach and Tony Grazia; and cinematographer Brett Pawlak. Together, they discussed the filmmaking and visual-effects processes behind the movie. The true-life story follows members of the U.S. Army's all-Black 24th Infantry Regiment through a deadly uprising in 1917 Houston.

Learn more about The 24th.

About Academy of Art University's School of Animation and Visual Effects

The School of Animation and Visual Effects provides students with opportunities to work with industry professionals, attend networking events, and partake in collaborative projects with students from other departments. This way, students can hone their practical skills in preparation for successful careers. The Academy partners with leading companies across numerous industries to provide students with these unique career-building opportunities.

Numerous budding artists enrol on the school's courses to learn from industry professionals in the core of the animation industry and begin their own exciting careers. As the only American animation and VFX school to teach in a studio production environment (Studio X), it's hardly surprising that Academy students win prestigious awards and make their way to screens around the world.

Learn more about the School of Animation and Visual Effects.
The CDC has identified five variants of concern, and the one most successful at invading Illinois is a variant first identified in Britain in September, known as B117 because of its place on the family tree. The state health department has reported 188 known cases caused by the variant, but there are likely far more, as genetic testing on Illinois cases is limited.
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - March 26, 2021) - Matica Enterprises Inc. (CSE: MMJ) (OTCQB: MMJFF) (FSE: 39N) ("Matica" or the "Company") reports on the successful Annual General & Special Meeting ("AGSM"), which was held today on March 26, 2021 in Toronto, Ontario.

At the AGM, the Company's shareholders re-elected the following directors to the board: Gurcharn (Charn) Deol, Ali Gerba, Meissam Hagh Panah, Roopinder Singh Mundi and Boris Ziger. Subsequent to the shareholders meeting the Company also reappointed the following officers: Boris Ziger as CEO and Charn Deol as CFO. Moreover, McGovern Hurley LLP were re-appointed as auditors of the company and the continuation of the ten percent rolling stock option plan was approved.

We will also be hosting a conference call on March 30, 2021 at 1:00 pm EST to provide a corporate update for shareholders. The dial-in number is (647) 952-3020 (no password).

About Matica

Matica is a multi-faceted, innovative company in the Quebec cannabis space. Its subsidiary, RoyalMax Biotechnology Canada Inc. is a Dorval, Quebec based Health Canada Licence Holder with standard cultivation licence, standard processing, medical sales and sales licences. Matica continues to work with Yunify Natural Technologies, a Quebec based health and personal care research and innovation company to develop proprietary products for Matica and RoyalMax, including topicals and ionic mists. Through its acquisition of Trichome Treats, an award winning chocolatier, Matica and RoyalMax intend on introducing edibles into the RoyalMax product mix.

For more information on Matica Enterprises please visit the website at: www.maticaenterprises.com.

On behalf of the Board of Directors

MATICA ENTERPRISES INC.

Boris Ziger

Boris Ziger, CEO & Chairman

The Company's public filings are available for review at www.sedar.com and www.thecse.com.

For further information, please contact Boris Ziger, at:

Telephone: 416-304-9935

E-mail: info@maticaenterprises.com

Website: www.maticaenterprises.com , www.maticammj.com

Disclaimer for Forward-Looking Information

Certain information in this press release may constitute forward-looking information. This information is based on current expectations that are subject to significant risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict. Actual results might differ materially from results suggested in any forward-looking statements. The Corporation assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those reflected in the forward looking-statements unless and until required by securities laws applicable to the Corporation. Additional information identifying risks and uncertainties is contained in the Corporation's filings with the Canadian securities regulators, which filings are available at www.sedar.com.

This news release contains statements about the Company's information that may be made available on the S&P Capital IQ Corporation Records Listing Program and the business of Matica that are forward-looking in nature and as a result, are subject to certain risks and uncertainties. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on them as actual results may differ materially from the forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date hereof, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements or information, except as required by law.

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. We seek Safe Harbor.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/78713
Mar. 25Increasing reports of discrimination and violence toward Asians and Asian-Americans nationwide have prompted Indiana State University to provide a public statement of support for members of those groups on campus.

Andy Morgan, interim vice president for student affairs, wrote the letter, which was distributed to the ISU community on Friday in the aftermath of the March 16 Atlanta-area spa shootings that claimed the lives of eight people, including six women of Asian descent.

Mark Alesia, ISU director of communication, said the letter was distributed because "we wanted to reassure our Asian and Asian-American students, faculty, and staff that we support them as part of our inclusive, welcoming academic community. And we wanted to remind everyone that ISU will not tolerate discrimination or harassment."

In the letter, Morgan wrote, "Our nation has seen an increased amount of hate and violence towards Asian, Asian American, and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities.

"On Tuesday, March 16, it accelerated in the Atlanta area with the murders of eight people, six of whom were Asian women. The violence must stop. Indiana State University condemns all forms of racism, xenophobia, and violence. We mourn with the families and friends of those who were injured and lost.

"ISU strives to create and maintain an environment that is free from discrimination and harassment. Such acts will not be tolerated and are treated very seriously."

The letter further states that those who feel they have experienced any act(s) of discrimination or harassment based on age, disability, genetic information, national origin, pregnancy, race/color, religion, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, veteran status or any other characteristic that is protected by state and federal laws, they are encouraged to contact the ISU Office of Equal Opportunity and Title IX.

"If you are concerned for yourself or for someone on our campus because of increased anxiety or stress and/or feeling lost or alone, there are numerous student affairs departments to help you," Morgan wrote. "Please reach out to any student affairs departments ... they will listen and advocate for you."

The departments listed were Sycamores Care; Student Counseling Center; Victim Advocate; Charles E. Brown African American Cultural Center; Student Health Promotion and the Multicultural Services & Programs, which includes  Women's Resource Center, LGBTQ+ Student Resource Center, International Student Resource Center and La Casita Student Resource Center.

Sue Loughlin can be reached at 812-231-4235 or at sue.loughlin@tribstar.com Follow Sue on Twitter @TribStarSue.
What does

PLC ( ) is a construction materials company with a buy-and-build strategy focusing on assets in the UK and Northern Europe.

Founded in 2016, the firm looks to create value by purchasing assets in the fragmented construction materials market and forming them into larger groups to create efficiencies.

These assets are segmented into regional platforms: Ronez, PPG, South West and Benelux.

What it owns

The companys portfolio includes

 Ronez: A concrete and asphalt firm based in the Channel Islands consisting of the St Johns Quarry in Jersey and Les Vardes Quarry and Castle in Guernsey

 Allen Concrete: A precast concrete product maker with plants in Surrey and Northamptonshire

 Poundfield Products: Suffolk-based precast and prestressed concrete manufacturer

 CCP Building Products: Supplier of concrete and aggregates (materials including sand, gravel and crushed stone). Has manufacturing facilities in North West England and North Wales

 Foelfach Quarry: Crushed aggregate and stone quarry in Carmarthenshire, Wales, containing some of the home nations highest quality aggregate reserves. The quarry also produces high-polished stone, a valuable material for road surfacing

 GD Harries (GDH): 40% stake in GDH, one of Waless largest independent suppliers of aggregates. Operates seven hardstone quarries, six concrete plants, three asphalt plants, a wharf operation and four road-contracting units.

Carrieres du Hainaut (CDH). the cornerstone of our Benelux platform, which comprises operations at CDH and Stone Holdings. CDH presently produce around 900,000 square metres of high quality Belgian blue stone per year.

How it's doing

At the beginning of February, the company revealed that it expects to report results for 2020 that are ahead of current market expectations.

The group said the strong trading reported in its December market update continued through to the end of the year.

expects to report revenues for 2020 of around 124mln, up 77% year-on-year, while underlying earnings (EBITDA) are expected to be 54% higher than the year at before at 23.8mln.

In March, the company said it was taking control of all the quarrying operations at its CDH business in Belgium.

This will lay the groundwork for a major push into the European aggregates market, added the AIM-listed building materials and quarrying group.

acquired CDH in 2019 and as well as producing highly-prized Belgium Blue Stone, the operation also had a standard construction aggregates arm run by LafargeHolcim.

The agreement sees take over those operations, a move that it said puts in a far stronger position to become a large-scale supplier in the Benelux aggregates market.

What the boss says: Max Vermorken, chief executive

"When we acquired CDH, we saw the potential to unlock significant added value from the legacy arrangements with LafargeHolcim.

With the assumption of control over the aggregate production assets, we get one step closer to fully benefitting from the potential CDH has to offer and this intermediary step will allow us to be well prepared to establish ourselves as a major supplier of aggregates in the Benelux market by the end of 2024."

What the broker says: Liberum

Liberum raised its share price target to 81p from 73p on the back of the Lafarge deal to reflect the earnings enhancement.
Hyderabad, March 26 : Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) on Friday launched 'Azadi ka Amrut Mahotsav' to commemorate the 75 years of India's independence.

The week- long celebrations will be held at all units of the company from till April 1.

The celebrations started with a 'Freedom March' organized at RSI, Secunderabad wherein, war veterans, serving officers from Armed Forces along with senior executives of BDL participated with lots of enthusiasm and fervour.

The serving officers included Major General RK Singh, General Officer Commanding, Telangana and Andhra Sub Area.

Speaking on the occasion, CMD, BDL Commodore Siddharth Mishra (Retd) expressed his gratitude to war veterans and officials from the armed forces for their participation in large numbers in the 'Freedom March'.

"The Mahotsav gives us an opportunity to cherish the seminal moments of India's freedom struggle, at the same time, recalling the innumerable sacrifices made by the great sons of our motherland. India is a country where majority of the population constitutes young citizens. The footprints left by war veterans have become the guiding-path for future generations to work towards nation-building", Mishra said.

"We are proud that at one hand, India has supplied vaccine shots to the world for fighting against corona and on the other hand, the country is offering missiles and torpedoes for exports to foreign countries", he added.

BDL, is Defence PSU manufacturing various categories of missiles and underwater weapons and counter measure system to the Armed Forces. Few of these are also being offered for exports. War veterans were felicitated on the occasion.

Later during the day, as a part of Azadi Ka Amrut Mahotsav, a talk by Gampa Nageshwar Rao, an eminent motivational speaker was organized for students of Old City, ITI, Hyderabad to encourage them to improve their employability skills. Director (Finance), BDL N Srinivasulu, speaking on the occasion stated that the theme identified by Ministry of Defence for celebrating Azadi Ka Amrut Mahotsav is 'Atmanirbhar Bharat'.

Srinivasulu urged the students to work hard to become 'Aatmanirbhar' in their profession and to realize this, BDL will be keen to promote skill development under CSR.

During the weeklong celebrations, BDL has planned to organize webinars on indigenization for vendors on Aatmanirbhar Bharat with MSME vendors on conceptual understanding of government rules, regulations, benefits to MSMEs, awareness programmes for apprentices on industrial safety and hazardous processes, special drive for vendor registration for MSME, SC/ST entrepreneurs and launch of an E-Book.
Xinjiang regional government condemns sanctions announced by EU, U.S., Canada, UK: all lies and disinformation

CGTN) 10:54, March 26, 2021

Officials in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region have condemned the sanctions announced this week by the European Union (EU), the United States, Canada and the UK, saying the sanctions are based on nothing but lies and disinformation.

During a press conference held in Urumqi on Tuesday afternoon, Xu Guixiang, deputy director of Xinjiang's Publicity Department, said these countries care nothing about "human rights" or truths, but want to interfere in China's domestic affairs and curb the development of China under the guise of "human rights."

"This move, disregards and distorts fact, flagrantly breaches international law and basic norms governing international relations, grossly interferes in China's internal affairs, and severely hurts the feelings of people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang," said Xu.

Xu added that the autonomous region's government has invited the EU envoy to visit Xinjiang several times, but the EU side has given many reasons to postpone such visit and made unreasonable demands.

"They are just afraid of seeing the real situation in Xinjiang. They are scared that a stable and prosperous society of Xinjiang would tear their lies apart," Xu said.

Echoing Xu, Elijan Anayat, spokesperson of the autonomous region's Information Office, once again refuted some major Xinjiang-related allegations, including denials of religious freedom, attempts at culture elimination, forced labor and the existence of concentration camps. He said accusations of so-called "genocide" make no sense amid a population that's actually grown in recent years.

Children are seen behind a painted door in Shubaigou Village of Piqan Township in Shanshan County, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, northwest China, January 11, 2020. /Xinhua

"Statistics show that from 2010 to 2018, the Uygur population in Xinjiang rose by more than 2.5 million, or an increase of over 25 percent. And the Uygur population's growth is higher than that of other ethnic groups in the region," the spokesperson said.

In response to the rumors on "freedom of religious belief" in Xinjiang, Elijan said all religious activities of Muslims, whether performed in mosques or at home, are up to the participant and are protected by law.

"In recent years, the conditions of venues for religious activities have been constantly improved in Xinjiang," Elijan said. "Mosques in Xinjiang have been equipped with water, electricity, natural gas, radio and television facilities. Other facilities newly installed or added to mosques include medical services, LED screens, computers, electric fans or air conditioners, firefighting equipment, and clean drinking water facilities."

The spokesperson said the EU's accusation that Xinjiang has carried out "large-scale detention" is a sheer fabrication.

"Xinjiang has established vocational education and training centers in accordance with the law to prevent the breeding and spread of terrorism and religious extremism to the largest extent, effectively curbing the frequent terrorist incidents and protecting the basic rights of people of all ethnic groups," said the spokesperson.

He added that it's absurd to claim that Xinjiang is eliminating the ethnic culture, as many ethnic art forms have been added to the national or regional intangible cultural heritage lists. And it's worth mentioning that Uygur Muqam and Kirgiz epic Manas were registered on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

He emphasized that laborers of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang sign labor contracts with companies according to China's Labor Law and related regulations, and choose jobs out of their own will and the agreed terms and conditions according to laws and regulations.

"Laborers' rights to payment, rest and vacations, labor safety, health protection, and social security benefits are legally guaranteed by law. Their customs, languages, cultures, religions and beliefs are fully respected and protected by law no matter where they work, in or outside Xinjiang," the spokesperson added.

(Web editor: Meng Bin, Liang Jun)
Hanoi, March 26 : Vietnam Airlines has resumed inbound commercial international flights, with a flight from Taiwan to the coastal city of Da Nang marking the first to be allowed into the nation after months of coronavirus lockdown, state media said on Friday.

Two hundred passengers flew from Taipei to Da Nang on Thursday, with travellers requiring a negative Covid-19 test in order to board the aircraft, dpa news agency quoted the state media report as syaing.

All arrivals must also pay for a mandatory 14-day period of quarantine.

At the time of writing, it remains unclear exactly how many inbound international flights will be permitted and from which countries.

Vietnam ceased all international flights at the end of March 2020 as part of measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19 within the country.

Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, however, repatriation flights have brought stranded overseas Vietnamese back home, with some foreign experts also permitted to travel on these flights.

Following a resurgence of the virus shortly before Lunar New Year at the end of January, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said Vietnam would limit all inbound flights until after the holiday to reduce the risk of further coronavirus outbreaks.

Vietnam stands out as a global success story in its handling of the pandemic, having officially recorded just 2,581 cases and 35 deaths.
GRAND RAPIDS, MI  Despite passing some major milestones as health workers across the state vaccinate residents for the COVID-19 virus, a Kent County health official is urging people to remain vigilant.

Were worried, Kent County Health Department Spokesman Steve Kelso said on March 26, about the rising number of COVID cases and the positivity rate.

More than a quarter of Michigan adults have been vaccinated.

Still, the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations statewide has more than doubled in recent weeks, from about 824 on March 1 compared to 1,687 reported Tuesday, March 23.

Kent County has seen a total of 51,615 confirmed COVID cases and 664 deaths.

Everyone in Kent County 16 and older is encouraged to register to be vaccinated, Kelso said. Health officials will enter each person into the system and determine the timing for vaccinations based on the priority guidelines, he said.

Weve come too far to let our guard down at this point, Kelso said. Were really encouraging people to continue with those social distancing measures, wearing the mask, washing hands and all those things weve been telling you for a year. We are so close.

The state announced that all Michiganders over age 50, and some 16-years-olds, became eligible to receive the vaccine on March 22.

People 16 and older with preexisting conditions or who work in restaurants, critical manufacturing, mass transit, grocery stores, postal service, food and agriculture, civil service, utility work and other critical infrastructure industries to start pre-registering for vaccination, are eligible.

All Michigan adults will be eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine beginning April 5, the state of Michigan said.

All West Michigan vaccine registration information can be found at: https://vaccinatewestmi.com/register/.

Read more:

Detroit restaurant owner: If you smell like marijuana dont even think of stepping inside

Faith leaders in Kent County mobilize to urge community members to get the COVID-19 vaccine

See The Accidentals, Brian Vander Ark and other Michigan acts at virtual Spread the Music Festival
New Delhi: Television actress Hina Khan is in no mood to leave the Maldives, at least on social media. Her breathtaking photo album for her vacays to the picturesque properties of the island country is making us envious already.

A quick look into Hina Khan's Instagram diary, and you know what we are talking about:

A few days back, the actress achieved a milestone with one million hashtags of her name on Instagram, a feat only familiar with the biggest stars of the country.

The gorgeous face is a social media stunner and her posts break the internet, minutes after she makes any update.

Hina Khan made her Bollywood debut in Vikram Bhatt's 'Hacked' this year along with Rohan Shah, Mohit Malhotra and Sid Makkar in lead roles. The film has been produced by Amar P Thakkar and Krishna Bhatt.

Hina made her debut at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival red carpet in 2019 where her maiden movie 'Lines' first look poster was unveiled. She also bagged an international project named 'The Country Of Blind'. The telly fashion icon will be seen playing a character named Gosha in 'The Country Of Blind'.

Hina Khan also featured in a web film titled 'Unlocked: The Haunted App' by ZEE5. The horror flick also stars Aditi Arya and Rishabh Sinha. It directed by Debatma Mandal.

She was seen as one of the Toofani seniors on Bigg Boss 14 along with Sidharth Shukla and Gauahar Khan.
Residents in Australia's 'defence force capital' are growing increasingly concerned after a mysterious Chinese consulate popped up in a suburban neighbourhood.

Locals say the building on the 5200m2 block in Joslin, north-east Adelaide, looks more like a fortress than a consular office.

The 'intimidating' facility with high fences and an array of security cameras has also raised eyebrows within the Department of Foreign Affairs, due to it's excessive size, staffing levels and proximity to an Australian naval base.

The latest flash point threatens to further destabilise the fractured diplomatic relationship between the two countries after Beijing imposed a range of trade sanctions on Australian goods last year to punish Canberra for calling for an independent inquiry into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic.

A staff member at the new Chinese consulate closes the gate on a TV crew from A Current Affair

Locals say the building in Joslin, northeast Adelaide, looks more like a fortress than a consular office

Dr Rachel Hurtz, who lives nearby the consulate which is set to officially open on March 30, told A Current Affair 'there was absolutely no consultation' with the local community.

She labelled the Communist Party's move into suburban Adelaide 'shoddy, mute and intimidating'.

'To see it kind of bolstered like a fortress is really anti the whole nature of this environment,' she said.

Another local, Peter Carrigan said: 'Well I don't think anybody is really happy about it.'

The strongest push-back on the location of the consular office has come from the South Australian capital's 1500-strong Uighur community.

But five other ethic groups including members of the Hong Kong, Tibetan, Nepalese, Vietnamese and Taiwanese communities have also rallied against the new consulate.

A picket demonstration is scheduled to go ahead at the site on Tuesday.

South Australian Liberal senator Alex Antic told Senate estimates the consulate had 'caused angst' among local residents.

'There are, as we understand it, 12 foreign national staff working in what is a state of 1.7 million people with a significant defence project footprint and a significant Uighur population,' he said on Thursday.

'Does that not cause any alarm bells to ring?'

Australia is obliged to accept applications for diplomatic missions under the Vienna Convention. Pictured: Chinese President Xi Jinping (left), Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison (right)

A protester demonstrates outside the Chinese Consulate in Adelaide

Australian security agencies fear the quiet street was chosen because of its close proximity the Osborne Naval Shipyard where critical defence infrastructure is being built.

The high-tech base just a 30-minute drive away is home to two of Australia's largest defence force projects including the construction of nine anti-submarine hunter-class frigates, and 12 attack-class submarines set to be built in 2023.

'There's a risk that at some stage, one of them might become vulnerable in some way through human intelligence, and the other sorts of things we need to be thinking about.' Mr Antic said.

The Senator told the Chanel Nine program some locals have claimed drones have been flying over their homes already and that security camera's peer into their backyards.

Conservative Liberals Eric Abetz and Concetta Fierravanti-Wells also quizzed Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade officials at this week's hearing.

DFAT secretary Frances Adamson said she fully understood the concerns of senators and residents.

'We are alert to as a government, as an agency within the government, both our obligations under the Vienna Convention and to the points that each of you are making,' she said.

'This is a matter of, if you like, active consideration on our part.'

South Australian Liberal senator Alex Antic told Senate estimates the consulate had caused angst among local residents

The foreign affairs department is alert to concerns about a new Chinese consulate in Adelaide, which has raised eyebrows over its size and staffing levels

There are about 30,000 Chinese citizens in Adelaide but there has been speculation the consular presence could intimidate the Uighur population, which is Australia's largest.

Ms Adamson said DFAT examined a country's needs to service citizens when establishing consulates.

'On the basis of that alone, yes it looks on the large size but it is not on its own a matter of concern,' he said.

Meanwhile, consular officials continue to visit Australian citizens Cheng Lei and Yang Hengjun in detention in China.

Ms Cheng, a TV anchor accused of leaking state secrets, was visited on Wednesday, while Mr Yang, a writer charged with spying, is due to be seen on Thursday.
A judge has refused to allow a beauty salon owner vary her bail conditions to allow her to re-open her salon to carry out essential reflexology treatment for clients - after she was charged with breaches of the current Health Act.

Christine McTiernan (48) - the owner of C&N Beauty Room in Balbriggan, Co Dublin - was arrested and charged last month with three breaches of Section 53 (1) (a) of the Health Act after she allegedly opened her salon during Level 5 lockdown.

All non-essential businesses are currently not allowed to open under Level 5 restrictions. Ms McTiernan, of Ashfield Rise in Balbriggan was brought before Swords District Court last month charged with opening her business, failing to close her business and unnecessary travel on February 24 at Dublin Street, Balbriggan.

All three charges are in breach of the current Covid regulations under the Health Act.

As part of her bail conditions the beauty salon owner has been ordered not to open her business while prohibited not to and has been ordered not engage in her business anywhere.

She has also been ordered to comply with all other regulations under the Health Act.

At Thursdays sitting of Balbriggan District Court, an application was made by solicitor Fiona DArcy on behalf of Ms McTiernan to vary her bail conditions to allow her provide essential reflexology services in her salon.

She wishes to ask the court to vary her bail conditions to allow her carry out reflexology treatment as it is deemed an essential service, said Ms DArcy.

However, Judge Sandra Murphy said Ms McTiernans bail conditions are very clear.

Reflexology is a service provided by a lot of beauty clinics that are closed, said Judge Murphy.

She is looking to open again under the auspices of offering reflexology. No, I am afraid not, her bail terms state she is not to operate any business during covid restrictions.

At the moment I am not going to vary bail, the judge said, and adjourned the case until next month for a plea to be entered or a hearing date to be fixed. Ms McTiernan was not required to appear before the court yesterday due to the pandemic. She has not indicated, as yet, how she intends to plead.
A Turkish court sentenced two former police chiefs to life imprisonment for their involvement in the murder of prominent Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, Anadolu reported.

Dink was shot dead while leaving the office of the newspaper Agos, of which he was editor, in January 2007.

In 2011, Dink's killer Ogun Samast was sentenced by a juvenile court to nearly 23 years in prison. He was 17 years old at the time of the murder. In January of the following year, Yasin Khayal was sentenced to life in prison for incitement to murder.

Among those convicted by the court on Friday was former police intelligence chief Ali Fuat Yilmazer, who was sentenced to imprisonment without parole. Another police chief, Ramazan Akyurek, was also sentenced to life in prison.

Turkish state media blamed Dink's murder on the movement of Islamic preacher Fetullah Gulen, whom Ankara accuses of organizing a coup attempt in July 2016.

Various other suspects in the Dink case were sentenced to prison on charges including complicity in murder, membership in a terrorist group - due to ties to the Gulen movement - and forging and destroying documents.

In 2010, the European Court of Human Rights ordered Turkey to pay 100,000 to Dink's family in compensation, saying the authorities had failed to adequately protect Dink even though they knew the ultranationalists were plotting to kill him.
Suspended Mumbai cop Sachin Vaze entered a five-star hotel in Mumbai on February 16 with bags full of cash. He was carrying five bags full of cash on the day of the incident, sources in the NIA (National Investigation Agency) confirmed.

Vaze, who is in the custody of the anti-terror probe agency, is the main suspect in the Antilia bomb scare case as well as the death of Thane-based car dealer Mansukh Hiren.

According to an India Today report, earlier the suspended assistant police inspector was seen checking into a posh hotel in south Mumbai on February 16 of this year.

This was around 10 days before a Scorpio with 20 gelatin sticks and a threat-note was discovered near industrialist Mukesh Ambani's residence Antilia on Carmichael Road.

Also Read: Ambani bomb scare case: CCTV footage shows Mansukh Hiren met Sachin Vaze

A mystery woman was also spotted at the hotel accompanying Vaze on February 16. The suspended cop stayed at the hotel from February 16 till February 20. Vaze used a fake Aadhaar card to check into the hotel. While entering the hotel, he had his bags scanned.

Visuals from the scanning kiosk of the hotel substantiated that Vaze was carrying a large amount of cash inside the hotel.

The NIA is also going through CCTV footage retrieved from the hotel. Footage available with the agency reveals Vaze entered the hotel on February 16 with five bags. The agency has also questioned members of hotel security who were on duty at the scanning kiosk.

As per the investigators, a businessman paid Rs 13 lakh to book the hotel room for Vaze for 100 days. The reservation was made through a travel agent. Meanwhile, the whereabouts of the five bags full of cash are still unknown.

Also Read: Ambani bomb scare & the untold secrets of tainted Mumbai cop Sachin Vaze

Vaze was produced before a court on Thursday, March 25, and sent to the NIA custody till April 3. He is also being questioned in relation to the bags. A team of the NIA on Thursday took the suspended cop to Mumbai creek in Thane where locals discovered Mansukh Hiren's body on March 5.

The objective of the visit was to recreate the crime scene. Vaze was also taken to Gaumuk Chowpatty on Ghodbunder Road by the NIA on Thursday. Assistant Commissioner of Police (ATS) Shripad Kale also joined investigators on the visit.
EDWARDSVILLE  The fight against the coronavirus is far from over, but the rapidly rising number of vaccinations gives Madison County health officials even more reason for optimism.

We passed 100,000 doses given this week and our total as of Tuesday was 108,619, but there are even more people that have actually been vaccinated, said Amy Yeager, director of community health and public information officer for the Madison County Health Department.

Those numbers include the vaccines that we have given, and the hospitals have given, but it doesnt include our long-term care facility residents and staff, which is a federal contract, or the Walgreens or the Walmart in Highland, which are state contracts.

The total number of doses included 38,166 first doses and 18,349 second doses of the Pfizer vaccine, 24,836 first doses and 16,778 second doses of the Moderna vaccine and 10,490 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

The fact that we have been able to give over 108,000 doses in a little over three months is pretty amazing, Yeager said. When it comes to second doses of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccines or the (one-dose) Johnson & Johnson vaccine, 45,617 people have been fully vaccinated. Again, that doesnt include the long-term care facilities.

Vaccinations in Illinois started with Phase 1A, which includes healthcare providers and long-term care residents and staff, followed by Phase 1B, which includes people over age 65 and frontline essential workers.

The state is now in Phase 1B+, which includes people ages 16 to 64 with medical conditions that increase the risk for severe COVID-19, as well as people with disabilities not covered by those conditions.

Under additional vaccine priority group guidelines announced by the office of Gov. JB Pritzker, higher education staff, government workers and media became eligible on Monday, while food and beverage workers, construction trade workers and religious leaders become eligible on March 29.

All Illinois residents age 16 and older become eligible on April 12.

It should be a hopeful day and an exciting day when people get vaccinated, and just to see the smiles under peoples masks is wonderful, Yeager said. Its something that a lot of people have worked hard for and most people did what we asked them to do by following the CDC guidelines.

When you walk through the observation area of one of our vaccination clinics, you can just feel that sense of relief and that sense of hope. Its something that I havent felt in a long time, even before the pandemic.

Still, some of the trends regarding the coronavirus in Madison County are not moving in a positive direction.

Although our case rates have dropped significantly in the last two months, which we expect to continue as more people get the vaccine, the seven-day case positivity rate went up from 3.75 percent on March 10 to 5.37 percent on Monday, Yeager said. Thats a pretty big jump over 12 days.

Thats one of the things that we watch because we cant just focus on one part of this operation. Were cautiously optimistic because people tell us that our vaccination clinics are running like a well-oiled machine. The vaccines are a huge step forward, but people still need to follow the preventative precautions.

With spring arriving and the number of vaccinations continuing to climb, Yeager cautions people not to let their guard down.

As people get their vaccines and as restrictions continue to be lifted across the state and across the country, people tend to become a little more relaxed, Yeager said. But not enough of the population has been vaccinated yet to relax.

Theres a reason why its not get your vaccine, take your mask off. The virus is still very much out and about in our community, so continue to wear your mask, wash your hands and watch your distance. The CDC has provided some additional, less strict guidelines if youre vaccinated, but you still need to follow them.

For up-to-date vaccination information for Madison County, visit the health departments COVID-19 response hub at https://coronavirus-response-madcoil.hub.arcgis.com/.

As of Wednesday night, the health department has opened appointments for five upcoming days for the first doses of the vaccine.

This is a time where we have to balance trying to get back to some sense of routine while still respecting that the virus is still here and can still be transmitted, Yeager said. If are you symptomatic, get tested. If you were in a large crowd with people who are not vaccinated, not masked and not socially distant, you might want to get tested.

Yeager also noted that the state has changed the days of operation for its regional COVID testing clinic at St. Clair Square in Fairview Heights from seven days a week to Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

For Yeager, that is good news because it means that the demand for testing has decreased along with the number of cases.

The IDPH has scaled back their regional testing sites and theyre moving their mobile testing sites to areas where there is a big jump or disparity issues in COVID numbers, Yeager said. The other testing sites on our dashboard are still doing COVID testing by appointment as well, so people still have plenty of options.
Rouhani: Biden can just sign the "good piece of paper"

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani this week called for President-elect Joe Biden to reenter the Iranian nuclear deal by reversing sanctions imposed by the United States after the Donald Trump administration withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the deals formal name, in May 2018.

Rouhani told a Cabinet meeting Wednesday that the next president "can put a good piece of paper on the table and sign it nicely so that we could return to the first place, and it does not take time at all."

His message echoes that of his Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who said last month that if the incoming Biden administration revokes only three executive orders that imposed sanctions on Iran, there is no need for preconditions or negotiations.

During the US presidential campaign, Biden assailed Trumps withdrawal from the JCPOA as a setback for US nonproliferation efforts and has called for a return to the Iran nuclear deal, if Iran is in compliance with its terms.

Iran, however, is not in compliance. In response to Trump's "maximum pressure" policies, Iran has increased its enrichment of uranium, a necessary step toward a nuclear weapon, bypassing JCPOA-imposed levels. Iran has not yet reached weapons-level stockpiles or even the pre-JCPOA levels. Iran has also expanded its use of centrifuges, in violation of the JCPOA, as we reported here last month.

Zarif has made clear these actions are all reversible. If the United States revokes the executive orders which imposed the sanctions, Zarif said, Iran will carry out its obligations too."

Guardian Council gives Rouhani two months to get the old deal

Rouhani is under pressure from hard-liners in Irans Islamic Consultative Assembly (the official name for its parliament, or Majles) which passed a law Dec. 1 to suspend UN inspections of its nuclear facilities and further increase enriched uranium production unless the terms of the JCPOA are reinstated.

Iranian hard-liners hold the majority in the parliament after elections in February.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo issued a statement Friday that "the international community must not reward the regimes dangerous gamesmanship with economic appeasement."

The legislation was sparked by the assassination of leading nuclear scientist and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC) Gen. Mohsen Fakhrizadeh on Nov. 27.

Iran has blamed Israels intelligence services and the exiled opposition group Peoples Mujahedeen of Iran (Mujahedeen-e-Khalq) for the assassination, which it claims may have occurred via satellite and possibly using facial recognition technologies.

The buzz in Tehran is that the United States may have also had a role. That would make it harder for Washington to strike a deal with Tehran, as if the issue of sanctions werent burden enough on Bidens options in dealing with Iran.

Neither Israel nor the United States has taken responsibility for Fakhrizadehs assassination.

Irans Guardian Council, a constitutionally mandated oversight body with influence on legislation and government decisions, tweaked the Majles bill to offer a two-month window for the other JCPOA signatories to act before Iran would do so.

Rouhani has been protective of the sensitive diplomatic opening that may be his last chance to put Irans economy and foreign policy back on the track it was on before Trump took office. The Iranian president told his Cabinet on Wednesday that the conduct of diplomacy is the domain of the government, which needs to speak with a "single voice" to the world.

With the Guardian Council amending the period to two months," writes Ali Hashem, "the most conservative body in the Islamic Republic is tweaking the message to Biden, in what could be described as an act of aggressive pragmatism that is aimed at getting a quick answer from Washington: it is either the old deal or no deal.

The Guardian Council's timeline in a way tracks with the constraints on Rouhani and Zarif, and provides an opening, according to Hashem. "Iran as an establishment is willing to engage as far as the United States is willing to return without preconditions to the nuclear deal," he writes. This would also have implications on the chances of a moderate candidate having chances in winning the next presidential election that is planned for June 2021. Still, any president in Tehran will have to deal with an ultra-conservative parliament that is likely to create a lot of headaches, whether or not the path of engagement is restored."

Biden: "A starting point for follow-on negotiations"

Biden told New York Times columnist Tom Friedman this month that "the United States would rejoin the agreement as a starting point for follow-on negotiations, and lift the sanctions on Iran that Trump imposed.

While there may be arguments for using the Trump sanctions as leverage in the opening diplomatic bid, Friedman reports that the prevailing view among the Biden team is to get Iran back into full JCPOA compliance first.

Biden told Friedman that his administration, in consultation with our allies and partners, will then seek subsequent agreements to "tighten and lengthen Irans nuclear constraints, as well as address the missile program.

US regional partners, such as Israel, Saudi Arabia and the UAE were mostly content with Trumps maximum pressure policies on Iran and worry that they could be left behind in another new round of diplomacy with Iran.

Israel believes Iran will accept a US proposal, if one is made, that would include a lifting of some sanctions and a full return by Iran and the United States to the nuclear agreement, writes Ben Caspit.

Biden is making consultation a priority and will have an advantage in subsequent negotiations with Iran of working with regional partners more openly and closely than in the past, thanks to the Trump-brokered normalization agreements between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

In an Al-Monitor event this week, both Alon Ushpiz, director general of Israel's Foreign Ministry, and Omar Ghobash, the UAE's assistant minister for culture and public diplomacy, reiterated their countries concerns about Iran. They also stressed optimism about continued strong consultations with a Biden administration on Iran and all regional and security matters, as Adam Lucente reports.

A quick return to the nuclear deal might also undercut the ability of Russian President Vladimir Putin to leverage his role as middleman in a sustained US-Iran diplomatic standoff, as Micky Aharonson said in a podcast this week. While Russia is a signatory to the JCPOA, it also enjoys the role of spoiler.

Rouhani: "A new opportunity for diplomacy"

Rouhani cant commit to negotiations with the United States or other signatories on the terms of the JCPOA, given the political constraints in Iran. As Hashem writes, the best Rouhani can do, for now, is the old deal or no deal. But that may be an opening bid to keep the diplomatic door ajar, if the Biden administration reenters the deal in good time.

Israeli strategists believe Iran may refrain from retaliating for Fakhrizadehs assassination to keep open the prospect of talks. Rouhani has also backed off his previous demands for compensation and an apology from the United States for the sanctions caused by Trump, as Bijan Khajehpour explained in a recent podcast.

We should make use of the new opportunity for diplomacy, Rouhani said Wednesday.
The Supreme Court ruling that blocked the reentry of Cyrus Mistry as chairman of Tata Sons is a big win for Ratan Tata. Besides, it will help Tata Group companies to continue implementing the transformation plan of Chairman N Chandrasekaran.

It was Tata's decision in 2016 that led to the unceremonious exit of Cyrus Mistry, whose family was holding 18.37 per cent stake in the holding company Tata Sons. "Tata had a feeling that the group is not going in the direction that he wished. The growing control of Mistrys in Tata group was another worry," said a veteran executive earlier.

Chandrasekaran was Tata's immediate choice. Since Chandrasekaran took over as chairman on February 21, 2017, Tata Group has been trying to resolve pending issues in group companies and pivot their businesses by leveraging technologies, including Artificial Intelligence (AI), data analytics and cloud computing.

Chandrasekaran has been implementing a strategy of simplification, synergy and scale. He grouped together similar businesses, formed 10 clusters and exited insignificant ones. Besides, he has been focused on balance sheet fitness and financial returns.

The Supreme court set aside National Company Law Appellate Tribunal's (NCLAT) order of December 17, 2019 which allowed reinstatement of Mistry as Chairman of Tata Sons. On January 10, 2020, the top court had stayed the judgment.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Bobde and including Justices AS Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian pronounced the judgment.

Also read: Big win for Tata Sons: Supreme Court upholds Cyrus Mistry's removal

Also read: Tata Vs Mistry: Will Supreme Court bring clarity in Tata Sons valuation?
New Delhi, March 26 : Twenty-five per cent people in Haryana, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh are planning to play Holi outside with their family and friends on March 29 despite nearly 60,000 cases recorded in a single day on Friday.

According to a survey by LocalCircles, this indicates that while the majority aren't going to be out there playing Holi, if state government and local administrations do not act and sensitise people, a sizable number will be exposed and this could lead to further spread of the Covid-19 virus.

India is experiencing resurge in cases of mutant viruses i.e. the UK variant and the South African variant over the past few weeks. That is one strong reason for citizens to observe restraint as a number of festivals come up next week starting with Holi. People perhaps could have the celebrations only with their immediate family, staying indoors.

As per the survey, 42 per cent in Haryana, 23 per cent in Delhi and 18 per cent residents in Uttar Pradesh plan to play Holi with people outside their family despite the state governments' restrictions on public gatherings over Holi.

Seventy per cent citizens in a national survey by LocalCircles had supported a one- to three-day lockdown over Holi.

Amid an upward trajectory in the active Covid-19 cases across several states in the country, the Government of India has directed states and UTs to take adequate measures to contain the surge of daily cases ahead of the 2-day celebration of Holi.

The daily count of coronavirus cases in India crossed 50,000 for the first time since November 6 with the daily case load rising more than 4 times in the last 45 days. Currently, there are 10 districts that have more than 5,000 active cases, 78 districts with between 500 - 5,000 active cases. In total out of India's 736 districts, 211 districts now have more than 100 active COVID cases.

Taking cognizance of the issue, amid host of festivities that are lined up from March-end-Holi, Shab e Bharat, Chaitra Navratri, Ram Navami in April-State Governments across India have started issuing a fresh set of guidelines for citizens to mandatorily follow during Holi, and other upcoming festivals. Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Haryana have already restricted public gatherings for Holi, while Mumbai, Pune and other districts in Maharashtra similar restrictions including lockdown has been imposed all aimed at containing the surge.

LocalCircles conducted 3 state level surveys taking responses from residents in Haryana, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, where state governments have issued restrictions on how they plan to celebrate Holi. The survey received inputs from more than 5000 validated residents across these 3 states.

Forty-two per cent residents of Haryana plan to play Holi this year with people outside their family. Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij Wednesday announced a ban on public celebrations of Holi festival. The decision was made after the state witnessed 4,691 cases from March 15 to 21 against 684 reported from February 15 to 21.

Taking cognizance of rising Covid cases in the state, the survey sought to understand how residents of Haryana plan to celebrate Holi this year. In response 29 per cent said "will play with family at home", 6 per cent said "will play with family and friends at ours or someone's home", 12 per cent said "will play with family and friends in the neighborhood", another 12 per cent said "will be attending a neighbourhood Holi get together and playing there", and further 12 per cent said "will be attending a Holi party and playing there.

The findings of the survey indicate that 42 per cent residents of Haryana plan to play Holi this year with people outside their family. Such percentage of residents saying that they plan to celebrate Holi with people outside their family amid acute rise of Covid cases in the state is worrisome and State Government and local authorities must act to create awareness and maintain strict enforcement to the notification. The poll in the survey received 911 responses.

Twenty three per cent residents of Delhi plan to play Holi this year with people outside their family The Delhi Disaster Management Authority on March 23 ordered that there will be no public celebration of festivals in the city, including Holi.

Delhi on March 25 recorded 1,254 new cases, which was the highest spike in over 3 months.

Amid such rise in Covid cases in the city, the question that was asked to the residents of Delhi on their plan to celebrate Holi this year, 30 per cent said "will play with family at home", 7 per cent said "will play with family and friends at our or someone's home", 7 per cent said "will play with family and friends in the neighborhood", and 9 per cent said "will be attending a neighborhood Holi get together and playing there". The majority of 45 per cent said "will not be playing Holi this year", while 2 per cent couldn't say.

The findings of the poll indicated that 23% residents of Delhi plan to play Holi this year with people outside their family.

Eighteen per cent residents of Uttar Pradesh plan to play Holi this year with people outside their family Uttar Pradesh is the hub of Holi celebrations in India with week long celebrations happening in many sub-urban and rural parts of the state. Massive get-togethers take place in Vrindavan and Mathura on Holi. One such video emerged from last weekend where hundreds of people had gathered for a laddu maar Holi with no social distancing observed at all. Subsequently, earlier this week the Government issued an order restricting public gatherings and processions and they requiring prior permission. Also people above 60 and children under 10 have been advised to remain indoors.

When LocalCircles asked residents of Uttar Pradesh about their planto celebrate the occasion of Holi this year, 39 per cent said "will play with family at home", 4 per cent said "will play with family and friends at ours or someone's home", 7 per cent each voted for "will play with family and friends in the neighborhood" and "will be attending a neighborhood Holi get together and playing there".

Breaking down the poll, 36 per cent said "will not be playing Holi this year at all", while 7 per cent couldn't say. The findings of the poll indicate that only 18 per cent residents of Uttar Pradesh plan to play Holi this year with people outside their family. A timely notification and dissemination via public media has led to higher awareness in the state where it seems majority plan to play Holi with their near and dear ones at home.

Latest updates on Holi Festival 2021

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- Syndicated from IANS
Greys Anatomy In My Life Season 17 Episode 9 Editors Rating 2 stars * *  Previous Next  Photo: Courtesy of ABC

Greys Anatomy has certainly made some, um, choices this season. Its already been almost unbearably sad as weve watched our doctors at Grey Sloan Memorial take on the devastating toll of the COVID-19 pandemic. And now, as if to double down on the trauma, in In My Life, Greys has decided to take a deeper dive into a story line tied to 9/11. Like I said, a real choice. And nine episodes in, just as people are really growing frustrated with all the time spent away from the hospital in Merediths trippy life-or-death limbo beach, Greys decides its the perfect time to spend an entire episode in a different characters trippy dream sequence. Listen, Im not against trippy dream sequences  Greys has done many over the years and theyve been effective  its just  the timing of this one couldnt be worse. Everything here feels like overkill.

Heres the other thing: There are a lot of problems with the Teddy character (definitely not Kim Raver, who seems to be doing everything she can in her performance and is great) since she returned full time in season 15 as a completely different person than she was during her initial run. This episode feels like the show is once again trying to make these changes make sense, to show its a pattern that has always been there, but it just ends up feeling forced. Perhaps if Teddy being trapped in her mind as she processes the worst events in her life and tries to figure out where things really went wrong was just one story line among many  like how we visit Meredith on that godforsaken beach while other things are going on  it wouldve worked better. Having the entire episode be focused on Teddys hellscape with the only reprieve being Owen and Amelia building furniture and screaming about trauma? This is a hard one to swallow.

At least while spending time in Teddys head and watching Owen grapple with whats happening to her we do learn some interesting things. Oh, and Ghost DeLuca is there, so thats nice. Lets talk about it.

So, yes, as we saw after DeLucas memorial, Teddy has gone into some type of PTSD-induced state in which she isnt speaking or eating or moving, really  shes staring off into space, trapped in her own mind. Here we find her still in this state, but in bed, with Owen doing everything he can to snap her out of it. Or, at the very least, drink some water. If something doesnt change soon, hell have to admit her to the hospital.

Amelia pops over with fluids for Teddy and to be there for Owen and once Owen spills his guts about where everything stands with Teddy she is like, and Im paraphrasing, Boy, child, man, you need to forgive that woman. For all of our sakes, including and mainly for the audience. Owen throws a complete fucking hissy fit about how Teddy doesnt deserve his forgiveness, which is RICH coming from a liar and a cheat himself, and it is Amelia (!) who is the voice of reason (!!), reminding Owen that just because Teddy has processed her trauma differently than he has, it doesnt mean he can blow it off. She is clearly suffering from PTSD from the trauma of losing Allison in such a horrific way (and probably from a whole host of other things this woman has been through). And then Owen says something ridiculous about how shes never talked about it before, and Amelias like, Do you walk around telling everyone how you strangled Cristina? I really wish Ghost DeLuca had popped in and literally scratched a record at this moment. The air is sucked out of the room. Amelia reminds Owen that people dont walk around talking about the worst things that have happened to them and that sometimes traumatized people hurt the people they love. Owen knows that better than anyone. Owen got help for his PTSD. Now Teddy needs help. And Owen needs to find a way  no matter how long it takes or how impossible it seems  to forgive her.

Now, while all of thats going on, Teddy is having a time of it. Theres lots of wild cuts and symbolism and people (Ghost DeLuca rises!) and things and open heart cavities where they shouldnt be. Its all unnerving and chaotic; its supposed to be. Once the episode settles into its groove, you see the whole thing is about Teddy reliving huge turning points in her life and wondering if she had made a different choice, would things be better now? Where did Teddy go wrong and can she change things?

Obviously, we know this exercise is futile. But Teddy does it over and over, going further back into her past. What if she got in the car with Tom on the day of her wedding to Owen and they ran away together? Well, it seems like it would be fun for a little, but then she would lose Owen and her family and completely blow things up (she literally blows Dream Tom up with a grenade).

What if when Owen came to visit her in Germany, she didnt kick him out and he stayed and she told him the truth about Allison and then they got married? This sequence takes a turn fast: Even during the wedding ceremony  officiated by Ghost DeLuca  Owen is taking calls and text from his exes, Amelia, Beth, and Cristina (justice for Emma!). Teddys insecurities about whether Owen actually wants to be with her and isnt just settling because he cant have Cristina or Amelia rear their head here. Ill never be enough for you, she tells him.

And then shes back in an O.R. with DeLuca and he wants to know about Allison. We learn more about their story: They were friends, and when Teddys parents both died in the same year (her father was sick, for her mother it was sudden), Allison was the one who got her through it. Teddy was in so much pain, and its during this time that they went from friends to lovers.

I killed her, Teddy says. This is the moment Teddy wants to try and change: The morning of September 11, 2001, Teddy and Allison were in bed together and Allison wanted them to play hooky  but Teddy says no. She has to get to work. And everything changes. This time around, in dreamworld, Teddy says yes. But even as they spend the morning happily in the park, you see the shadow of a plane fly overhead and there is chaos and Allison still dies. There is nothing Teddy can do to stop it.

Teddys problems are two-fold, as explained by Meredith, who walks Teddy through a hospital lined with corpses on gurneys covered by sheets like she is the freaking gatekeeper of death (feels on-brand). First, Teddy is burdened by the immense guilt she feels over the people shes lost. She feels responsible for Allisons death, for DeLucas, for Merediths current condition. But also, as Mer points out, Teddy has a tendency to run from pain. When her parents died, she ran into Allisons arms. When Allison died, she left her life behind to join the army. When Owen was with Cristina, Teddy found her way to Henry. It goes on and on and on. This wise dream version of Meredith tells Teddy that joy and pain are a package deal, and you cant have one without the other. Teddy needs to stop running, even if she is scared of both those things.

Those wise words seem to do the trick because just like that, Teddy snaps out of it, gets out of bed, and Owen finds her rocking baby Allison, assuring her daughter that shes there now and it will all be okay. Does Meredith have magical powers in all her forms or what?

The O.R. Board

 Wowie has Greys Anatomy really done Henry Burton dirty. Teddy has barely (if at all?) mentioned the guy since returning and in her big life breakthrough episode, he is merely brought up within a list of a bunch of other characters whom Teddy has lost? She doesnt want to redo the way he died? Or, like, just have him pop up on the O.R. monitors for a hot second? What a cruel, cruel world Grey Sloan has been to Henry Burton.

 Even in dream sequences, everyone knows Cristina Yang is number one, always.

 Dream Tom only wants pancakes and Champagne, Dream Tom is  my dream man?

 Next week: LEXIES BACK!! Aw, look at Merediths Death Beach using its powers for good!
A Bloodstained Armed Forces Day

The Myanmar militarys brutal crackdown on opponents of its recent coup will haunt Armed Forces Day on March 27. It marks the day in 1945 when the Burma National Army launched a rebellion against the occupying Imperial Japanese Army. This year, foreign diplomats, ethnic armies and deposed civilian officials will shun the commemorations. Security forces have killed some 270 civilians in a crackdown on protests since the military seized power on Feb. 1.
Intelligent.com, a trusted resource for online degree rankings and higher education planning, has announced the Top 35 Master's in Media Communications Degree Programs for 2021. The comprehensive research guide is based on an assessment of 53 accredited colleges and universities in the nation. Each program is evaluated based on curriculum quality, graduation rate, reputation, and post-graduate employment.

The 2021 rankings are calculated through a unique scoring system which includes student engagement, potential return on investment and leading third party evaluations. Intelligent.com analyzed 53 schools, on a scale of 0 to 100, with only 35 making it to the final list. The methodology also uses an algorithm which collects and analyzes multiple rankings into one score to easily compare each school.

Students who pursue any one of these programs can expect to gain employment much quicker in comparison to candidates without a degree. In addition to accessibility and cost, the steady job growth in this market is one of the many reasons Intelligent.com researched and ranked the Top Master's in Media Communications Degree Programs. To access the complete ranking, please visit: https://www.intelligent.com/best-masters-in-media-communications-degree-programs/

2021 Master's in Media Communications Degree Programs featured on Intelligent.com (in alphabetical order):

American University

Arizona State University

Austin Peay State University

Boston University

Brenau University

Clarion University of Pennsylvania

Colorado State University

Edinboro University

Emerson College

Florida International University

Liberty University

Michigan State University

National University

Northwestern University

Purdue University

Quinnipiac University

Regent University

South Dakota State University

Southern New Hampshire University

Texas Tech University

The New School

University of Alabama

University of Arkansas, Little Rock

University of Colorado, Boulder

University of Denver

University of Florida

University of Iowa

University of Nebraska, Lincoln

University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

University of Southern California

University of Washington

Villanova University

Wake Forest University

Washington State University

Webster University

About Intelligent.com

Intelligent.com provides unbiased research to help students make informed decisions about higher education programs. The website offers curated guides which include the best degree programs as well as information about financial aid, internships and even study strategies. With comprehensive, user-friendly guides and hundreds of program rankings, Intelligent.com is a trusted source among students and prospective students. To learn more, please visit https://www.intelligent.com/.
There are easy ways to upgrade your peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. MSPhotographic/Shuttershock

Insider asked four chefs about their biggest tips for making the perfect PB&J sandwich.

Homemade bread and peanut butter are great, but you can also use high-quality store ingredients.

Adding a little spice, salt, or balsamic syrup can easily elevate your simple meal.

Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

The chefs agreed that the best bread for a PB&J is classic white.

The bread doesn't have to be homemade. chaechaebyv/Shuttershock

James Furnish, head chef at Maui Brewing Co., told Insider that ingredient quality is arguably the most important thing to consider when making the best peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

It's ideal to use fresh or locally made ingredients as much as possible. Furnish said he likes to use two slices of homemade, classic white bread.

But according to Carey Bringle, pitmaster and owner of Peg Leg Porker, you don't need to throw a dough together yourself  just about any classic white bread that's soft will work.

"A fresh, white bread is the best way to start  something like Wonder Bread!" Bringle told Insider. "Got to have the stick-to-the-roof-of-your-mouth vibe."

Homemade peanut butter can make all the difference.

Crunchy, natural peanut butter from the store also works well. Erin McDowell/Insider

After you've picked out your bread, you can get to the meat of the sandwich  the peanut butter.

Juan Munoz, executive chef of Proper Food, told Insider that the best option is to actually make your own.

"This way, you can control the sweetness and consistency, whether you like it smoother or chunkier," Munoz said. "You can sweeten with any host of natural sweeteners like agave, maple syrup, honey, etc. and can avoid the preservatives and refined sugar of store-bought peanut butter."

Furnish said that if you're not able to whip up the homemade alternative, look for salted, crunchy peanut butter that's natural and freshly ground.

Go for a flavorful preserve or consider adding a hint of spice.

Strawberry and raspberry jams are the classics. joanna wnuk/Shuttershock

Once you've selected your peanut butter, it's time to choose a jelly or jam  strawberry and raspberry are the classics.

Story continues

Chef and restaurant owner Matthew McPherson told Insider that the jelly must be very flavorful so you don't have to use too much, otherwise, it will make the bread soggy.

"A strawberry preserve from last season's late harvest gives added sweetness and flavor and utilizes used fruit or ugly fruit," McPherson said.

Alternatively, Bringle said, you can add a hint of spice to your sandwich for a spin on the classic PB&J by using a strawberry-jalapeno or peach-habanero jam.

"I get mine from our local farmers market here in Nashville," Bringle told Insider. "A tiny drizzle of spice here will go a long way."

Toast just one side of your bread.

Toasting one side will add more texture to your sandwich. Sarita Sutthisakari/Shuttershock

Furnish told Insider that a trick he uses that may throw some people off is toasting just one side of the bread, then putting the PB&J together with the heated sides on the interior.

"Toasting one side will add more texture and flavor," Furnish said. "And having it on the inside will protect the roof of your mouth."

The ratio of peanut butter to jelly is arguably the most important part.

Make sure to put peanut butter on both sides of the bread. MSPhotographic/Shuttershock

Munoz told Insider that perfecting the ratio of peanut butter to jelly is an essential step in making the best PB&J possible.

"The secret is putting peanut butter on both halves of the bread," Munoz said. "There should only be enough jam to taste the fruit, but the peanut butter should be the showcase."

Elevate your sandwich by adding a few extra ingredients.

Marshmallow fluff can make an excellent addition to a PB&J. Rebecca Fondren Photo/Shuttershock

Finally, to truly get a chef-inspired PB&J, it doesn't hurt to add a few extra ingredients that would make this sandwich shine.

Furnish recommended sprinkling a little salt to taste and or drizzling some balsamic syrup for an adult twist on a timeless childhood classic.

Other popular additions include bananas, chocolate chips, and marshmallow fluff.

Read the original article on Insider
In 2019, Hyundai Card, the credit card company of South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor, announced it would purchase 50 per cent stake in FCCOM  the consumer finance arm of MSB. However, the nearly $42 million deal has been called off.

According to the announcement, the firm would focus on sharing its knowhow of financial products, marketing, risk management, and digital finance, while MSB, which is familiar with the local market, would be in charge of sales and operations. The joint venture would have been Hyundai Cards first overseas operation. The deal was to be completed in 2020.

FCCOM was acquired by MSB in 2015 and has been looking for potential foreign suitors since 2018.

MSB signed a contract to sell 50 per cent of FCCOM to Hyundai Card. However, the major shareholders of Hyundai changed their business direction in Vietnam and Asia, so the deal was not completed due to the pandemic. The Hyundai side also provided partial compensation to MSB, said Nguyen Hoang Linh, general director of the bank at the latest annual shareholders' meeting on March 24.

"MSB is now at the final phase of negotiation with another foreign partner. We hope that the upcoming divestment from FCCOM will bring a relatively large profit to MSB, he added.

In 2020, FCCOM's profit reached was down 64 per cent on-year at only VND2.3 billion ($100,000).
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Images taken during President Joe Biden's first press conference on Thursday showed him using cheat sheets - which did not prevent him from misstating key facts and losing his train of thought at times.

The 78-year-old Democrat is seen holding one sheet that showed the headshots of journalists at the press conference that he planned to call on.

Another cheat card listed stats about infrastructure, but Biden was still forced to correct himself after mistakenly saying the US ranked 85th in the world in infrastructure.

The bullet point on one of his notes read: 'The United States now ranks 13th globally in infrastructure quality, down from 5th place in 2002.'

The performance has been blasted by former President Donald Trump and a host of media commentators, including Sean Hannity who called it 'embarrassing' and said: 'We really need to ask who is running the show at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue?'

Images taken during President Joe Biden's first press conference on Thursday showed him using cheat sheets. The 78-year-old Democrat is seen holding one sheet that showed the headshots (pictured) of journalists at the press conference that he planned on calling on

'The United States now ranks 13th globally in infrastructure quality  down from 5th place in 2002,' one bullet point (pictured) reads -- but Biden still mistakenly claimed the US ranks 85th in the world

President Joe Biden holds notes in hand as he speaks during the first formal press conference of his presidency in the East Room of the White House in Washington DC on Thursday

Tripping up the stairs and forgetting his Pentagon chief's name: Biden's record of gaffes AIR FORCE ONE SLIP-UP Biden tripped up the Air Force One stairs last week Video last week showed Biden tripping up the stairs as he boarded Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews. Biden grabbed the hand railing to catch his balance, but lost his footing twice more and fell to his knees. White House Deputy Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre later told reporters that Biden was '100 per cent fine', adding that it was 'pretty windy'. CALLING KAMALA 'PRESIDENT HARRIS' Just a day earlier, Biden accidentally referred to Vice President Kamala Harris as 'President Harris.' 'Now when President Harris and I took a virtual tour of a vaccination center in Arizona not long ago, one of the nurses on that, on that tour injecting people, giving vaccinations, said that each shot was like administering a dose of hope,' Biden said. Later that day, when the White House released the transcript of his speech, Harris's proper title was inserted with brackets. FORGOT PENTAGON CHIEF'S NAME In a speech on March 9, Biden seemed to forget the name of his Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin. 'I want to thank Sec - the former general - I keep calling him "General,"' Biden said. 'My - the guy who runs that outfit over there. I want to make sure we thank the Secretary for all he's done to try to implement what we've just talked about, and for recommending these two women for promotion.' MIXES UP GRANDDAUGHTERS During an Election Day speech in Philadelphia, Biden trailed off as he told the crowd: 'I want to introduce you to two of my granddaughters...this is my son, Beau Biden who a lot of you helped elect to the Senate in Delaware.' The then-candidate had meant to introduce the crowd to Natalie, Beau's daughter. But he had also mixed up his granddaughters - having put his arm around Finnegan Biden, Hunter's daughter. Beau Biden passed away in 2015 after a months-long battle with glioblastoma, one of the deadliest types of brain cancer. TOLD STATE SENATOR IN WHEELCHAIR TO STAND UP In 2008, after Biden had been named Barack Obama's running mate, he attended a campaign rally in Missouri. It was there that he called on Missouri state senator Chuck Graham, who passed away last year, to stand up for the crowd. 'I'm told Chuck Graham, state senator, is here. Stand up Chuck, let 'em see you,' Biden said - before realizing Graham was in a wheelchair due to muscular dystrophy. 'Oh, God love you. What am I talking about. I'll tell you what, you're making everybody else stand up, though, pal,' Biden corrected himself. Advertisement

'I still think the majority of the American people don't like the fact that we are now ranked what, 85th in the world in infrastructure. I mean, look,' he said, before later circling back and clarifying: 'We rank 13th globally in infrastructure.'

Despite the cheat sheets, Biden at several points in the press conference appeared to lose his train of thought.

After speaking for four minutes about the surge of migrants at the border, he remarked, 'And the other thing we're doing, I might add...' before cutting himself off to ask, 'Am I giving you too long of an answer? Because if you don't want the detail '

'I don't know how much detail you want about immigration,' he continued. 'Maybe I'll stop there.'

At another point, Biden was speaking at length about the Senate filibuster when he lost his train of thought again.

'I've never been particularly poor at calculating how to get things done in the United States Senate. So the best way to get something done, if you hold near and dear to you that you like to be able to' he said, trailing off.

'Anyway, we're ready to get a lot done,' he then continued.

At another point in the press conference, things turned downright bizarre when Biden made a reference to 'Jim Eagle' when accusing Republicans of trying to restrict voting rights to disenfranchise black voters.

'So I'm convinced that we'll be able to stop this because it is the most pernicious thing. This makes Jim Crow look like Jim Eagle,' he said of voting restrictions.

Observers all seemed to agree that Biden was trying to make the point that restrictions such as voter ID laws are 'worse than Jim Crow' -- but the exact role of Jim Eagle in the analogy was lost on many.

Jim Crow refers to laws that enforced racial segregation in schools, public places, transportation and all aspect of public life in many U.S. states from the 1870s to the 1950s.

Biden's Jim Eagle remarks predictably drew mockery from conservative critics.

'Duh. It's an analogy. Crow, eagle. They're both birds, but an eagle is much bigger than a crow,' said Fox News host Tucker Carlson. 'That means that asking people to show a driver's license when they vote is much more racist than segregation and lynchings.'

'Segregation and lynchings were Jim Crow, voter ID laws are Jim Eagle -- way worse,' he added sarcastically.

Thursday's conversation was his first since he took office on January 20. It was also limited to 25 reporters.

At the one-hour press conference on Thursday, Biden called on just 10 reporters to ask questions, and many of them focused on the migrant crisis at the southern border, leaving little time for other subjects.

Though Biden addressed relations with China at length, he faced no questions about the ongoing investigation of the origins of COVID-19 -- or any other question about his pandemic response and vaccine rollout.

There were no questions about potential tax hikes to fund Biden's reported $3 trillion green infrastructure plan, and relations with Russia were left unmentioned despite recent tensions after Biden labeled Vladimir Putin a 'killer'.

Biden was also not asked to weigh in on New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, his fellow Democrat who faces twin scandals over his handling of nursing homes in the pandemic, and allegations of sexual harassment and bullying. This week, reports emerged he had also prioritized COVID-19 testing for family, including his CNN anchor brother Chris, and friends at the height of the pandemic when ordinary New Yorkers struggled to get access.

Parents desperate to get their children back in the classroom also did not get the chance to hear Biden's plan to reopen schools in the coronavirus pandemic.

Also unmentioned at the presser was a recent report from Politico detailing a 2018 incident in which the Secret Service intervened after president's daughter-in-law Hallie discarded a gun belonging to Hunter Biden in a trash can.

Biden's notes included headshots of reporters with notations apparently indicated the order he planned to call on them

In addition to the note cards, some of the notes Biden consulted were hand-written

Trump slams 'softball' questions at presser and Sean Hannity calls it 'embarrassing' Sean Hannity called Biden's press conference 'embarrassing' In a phone interview hours after Biden's first press conference, Trump complained that it was a very different scene from his time in office. 'There were strange questions and they were asked in a very interesting way, they were softballs,' Trump told Fox News host Laura Ingraham. 'It's very sad to watch, they're feeding them questions, they're easy questions.' 'It was like softballs; like you are throwing softballs up, and it is just a different world,' he said. 'The whole thing is ridiculous, and you know it and so do I,' added Trump. Fox Host Sean Hannity also called the press conference 'embarrassing'. 'Our enemies are watching, this is embarrassing. Have you ever seen an American president rely on a book of cheat sheets before? To ever answer a simple question at a press conference? It is pathetic. Its embarrassing. 'And let's be clear, the compliant media mob wasn't exactly throwing Joe any tough curve balls. They were incredibly polite and kind,' he said. Hannity also questioned whether or not Biden is fit for the job at all. 'A competent president should not need to prep for days on end to answer a few simple questions. This is the hardest job in the world. 'A commanding, 24/7 job. Ask yourself, is Joe, in your viewthe American peopleup to the job, to perform well even in a press conference? After practicing for days, what is he capable of doing? Anything? Because honestly, we really need to ask who is running the show at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue? 'Is it Vice President Harris? Is it Chief of Staff Ron Klain? Is it Schumer? Is it Pelosi? Is Barack Obama? Is it Susan Rice? 'Because it's certainly not the frail, the weak, and the cognitively struggling guy we all witnessed today. 'If Joe Biden is not capable of doing the job, he shouldnt be in the job. So much is at stake. And our enemies are watching.' Advertisement

Fox News reporter Peter Doocy called out Biden for not taking any questions from him at the press conference, saying he had 'a binder full of questions' to put to the president.

'We had a lot and most of the stuff we did not get to,' Doocy remarked on-air after the press conference.

'Nobody asked him about this big plan that he has got, this big idea to completely transform the economy to make it all green,' Doocy continued.

'That is something we were hoping to get on the board with and there were not a lot of questions about Covid, particularly the investigation into the origins of it,' he added.

Sean Hannity also called the press conference 'embarrassing'.

'Our enemies are watching, this is embarrassing.

'Have you ever seen an American president rely on a book of cheat sheets before? To ever answer a simple question at a press conference? It is pathetic.

'Its embarrassing. And let's be clear, the compliant media mob wasn't exactly throwing Joe any tough curve balls.

'They were incredibly polite and kind.

'A competent president should not need to prep for days on end to answer a few simple questions. This is the hardest job in the world.

'A commanding, 24/7 job. Ask yourself, is Joe, in your viewthe American peopleup to the job, to perform well even in a press conference? After practicing for days, what is he capable of doing? Anything? Because honestly, we really need to ask who is running the show at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue?

'Is it Vice President Harris? Is it Chief of Staff Ron Klain? Is it Schumer? Is it Pelosi? Is Barack Obama? Is it Susan Rice?

'Because it's certainly not the frail, the weak, and the cognitively struggling guy we all witnessed today.

'If Joe Biden is not capable of doing the job, he shouldnt be in the job. So much is at stake. And our enemies are watching.'

Several reporters at the press conference focused on issues at the southern border, where a surge of illegal crossings is on track to break a 20-year record.

Biden said he would be 'flattered' if migrants were coming to the United States because of him and ridiculed the idea the surge in migrants at the border is because he's a 'nice guy.'

'Look, I guess I should be flattered that people are coming because I am the nice guy, that that is why they are coming, that I am a decent man or however it was phrased. That that is why they are coming, because Biden is a decent guy. But the truth is nothing has changed,' he said.

Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, slammed Biden's remarks, saying it was ridiculous to assert that his policies were not to blame for the surge in illegal migration.

'With all due respect, this press conference is hard to watch. The misinformation being given by President Biden on immigration is stunning,' Graham wrote in a tweet.

Just 25 reporters were allowed at the press conference due to pandemic restrictions, and Biden called on only 10 of them

Biden is slammed for taking no questions on Covid, schools or Russia President Joe Biden and the White House press corps are facing criticism after his first press conference in office did not include questions about key topics such as the pandemic, reopening schools, potential tax increases, or Russia. At the one-hour press conference on Thursday, Biden called on just 10 reporters to ask questions, and many of them focused on the migrant crisis at the southern border, leaving little time for other subjects. Though Biden addressed relations with China at length, he faced no questions about the ongoing investigation of the origins of COVID-19 -- or any other question about his pandemic response and vaccine rollout. There were no questions about potential tax hikes to fund Biden's reported $3 trillion green infrastructure plan, and relations with Russia were left unmentioned despite recent tensions after Biden labeled Vladimir Putin a 'killer'. Biden was also not asked to weigh in on New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, his fellow Democrat who faces twin scandals over his handling of nursing homes in the pandemic, and allegations of sexual harassment and bullying. This week, reports emerged he had also prioritized COVID-19 testing for family, including his CNN anchor brother Chris, and friends at the height of the pandemic when ordinary New Yorkers struggled to get access. Parents desperate to get their children back in the classroom also did not get the chance to hear Biden's plan to reopen schools in the coronavirus pandemic. Also unmentioned at the presser was a recent report from Politico detailing a 2018 incident in which the Secret Service intervened after president's daughter-in-law Hallie discarded a gun belonging to Hunter Biden in a trash can. Advertisement

'It's clear he does not have the situational awareness he needs to understand what is going on at the border or how to fix it,' he continued.

'The Trump policies created dramatic decreases in illegal immigration. The changes made by President Biden have created a virtual human tsunami,' added Graham.

Trump also slammed the White House press for asking 'softball' questions at Biden's first press conference.

'There were strange questions and they were asked in a very interesting way, they were softballs,' Trump told Fox News host Laura Ingraham. 'It's very sad to watch, they're feeding them questions, they're easy questions.'

Trump said he saw no similar figure to Jim Acosta, the antagonistic CNN correspondent who often sparred with Trump as a White House correspondent. Acosta is now the network's chief domestic correspondent.

'They don't have that,' said Trump. 'And if Jim Acosta were there, he would ask very soft questions, it would be a whole different thing.'

During the press conference Biden said he would likely seek reelection in 2024.

'My plan is to run for reelection. That's my expectation,' Biden told reporters in the wide-ranging news conference.

He later pushed back against a reporter's suggestion that his 2024 plans were definite.

'I said, 'That is my expectation,'' Biden said. 'I'm a great respecter of fate. I've never been able to plan four-and-a-half, three-and-a-half years ahead for certain.'

Traditionally, there is no question as to whether a first-term president will run for reelection.

Former President Donald Trump, for example, announced his plans to seek reelection on his first day in office.

But questions about Biden's 2024 intentions have swirled since even before his November victory - because of his age. At 78, Biden is the oldest person to assume the presidency.

In office only two months, his 2024 plans have a direct effect on his political strength.

If viewed as a one-term president, Biden would effectively be a lame duck with diminished sway at home and abroad as he pursues an aggressive agenda.

Given a high-profile opportunity to clarify his status Thursday, he sought to create the impression he was not a lame duck, but he avoided making any definite promises.

Should he run again, Biden said he 'would fully expect' to choose Vice President Kamala Harris to be his running mate again. 'She's doing a great job. She's a great partner,' he said.

During the press conference Biden said he would likely seek reelection in 2024. 'My plan is to run for reelection. That's my expectation,' Biden told reporters in the wide-ranging news conference

Should he run again, Biden said he 'would fully expect' to choose Vice President Kamala Harris to be his running mate again. 'She's doing a great job. She's a great partner,' he said

Biden's bizarre 'Jim Eagle' remark Biden made a reference to 'Jim Eagle' when accusing Republicans of trying to restrict voting rights. 'So I'm convinced that we'll be able to stop this because it is the most pernicious thing. This makes Jim Crow look like Jim Eagle,' he said of voting restrictions. Observers all seemed to agree that Biden was trying to make the point that restrictions such as voter ID laws are 'worse than Jim Crow' -- but the exact role of Jim Eagle in the analogy was lost on many. Jim Crow refers to laws that enforced racial segregation in schools, public places, transportation and all aspect of public life in many U.S. states from the 1870s to the 1950s. Advertisement

Biden seemed exasperated when asked if he expected Trump to run on the Republican side in four years.

'I don't even think about it. I have no idea,' Biden said, suggesting that Trump may not even be part of the Republican Party.

It may seem early, but several Republican presidential prospects are already jockeying for position ahead of the GOP's 2024 nomination fight.

On Friday, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo plans to deliver a speech in Iowa, which traditionally holds the nation's first presidential primary contest.

Trump has teased another run, but he would be 78 himself at the beginning of the next president's term.

With a Democrat in the White House, there has been virtually no jockeying on the Democratic side so far.

Harris would be the most likely successor should Biden step aside, but she would probably face competition.

So soon after taking office, however, Harris' allies have taken no steps to prepare for a presidential bid of her own.

Privately, many Democrats believe Biden will not seek a second term. But publicly, there's few willing to question his intentions.

'He's starting out by so far successfully improving our pandemic response both from a health perspective and economic perspective, which lays the groundwork for a successful term and reelection strategy,' said Democratic strategist Josh Schwerin. 'He's running.'
March 26, 1892

Whitman dead at 72

Poet Walt Whitman died March 26 at his home in Camden, New Jersey. He was 72.

Whitmans friends Thomas B. Harned and Horace L. Tranbell and his physician Alexander McAlister were with him when he died. They reported that his end was peaceful and painless, and he was conscious to the last.

Whitman was born in May 1819 in West Hills, Long Island, New York. After attending common school, he first worked in an office but later switched to the printing trade.

From the printing trade he started editing newspapers in Brooklyn and later New Orleans.

In 1855 his book of poetry, Leaves of Grass, was published. It first went unnoticed by reviewers and critics. Months after its publication, Ralph Waldo Emerson came upon a copy. Emerson published a letter praising the work. Emersons praise attracted the attention of the critics who unleashed their pens against the work. In Boston and other cities the book was declared unfit for circulation at public libraries.

The critics did not stop Whitman or this book. He published it again in 1856 as a special edition and continued publishing additions between 1867 and 1889.

Following his service during the Civil War as a volunteer nurse, he contracted what was called progressive paralysis, and he retired from working.

His last public appearance was on April 14, 1887, at Madison Square Theater in New York City where he gave a lecture on Abraham Lincoln.

Broken belt causes excitement, terror

The Meadow Brook silk mill was the scene of excitement and terror the afternoon of March 25 when a large belt pulley broke.

When the belt broke, it whipped and dashed about the selection of the mill at a high rate of speed, giving the hundreds of young women working there a fright.

Many of the women rushed to the doors to exit the building. Mary Burns was injured in the rush.

The foreman in charge at the time got the situation under control and saved the lives of many young women.
This includes funding more places in mens behaviour change programs  which are increasingly being mandated by courts seeking a penalty when incarceration is not an option  and specialist pilots such as Caring Dads. But can a violent man really change? Do these programs actually work? Five years down the track, mens behaviour change programs remain controversial. Experts are urgently calling for longitudinal studies, saying they still dont know how effective the programs are in reducing family violence. The evidence on what works in engaging men in behaviour change  in preventing future acts of violence or preventing escalation of violence  is still very limited, says Kate Fitz-Gibbon, director of the Monash Gender and Family Violence Prevention Centre.

Mens behaviour change programs have been operating in Victoria since the mid-1990s. They were heavily influenced by the Duluth model, founded in Minnesota in the early 1980s, which explains gender inequality and power and control as the foundation of violence against women. (Some critics argue it is a one-size-fits all approach that does not recognise the complexity of family violence and requires men to accept the reality of gender inequality to be effective.) Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video The programs use group discussions and role plays to get men to think about the impact of their violence on those around them and hold each other accountable. But the royal commission found research into whether they were effective was complex and controversial.

We do not know whether and to what extent existing programs are successful in changing an individuals behaviour and attitudes or in keeping victims safe, its report said. It made a suite of recommendations, including increased funding of mens behaviour change programs, the introduction of minimum standards, improved research and evaluation to establish their effectiveness and specialist programs for different cohorts of offenders. The government moved swiftly. In 2017, it announced $49.5 million over four years to boost access to mens behaviour change programs and trial specialist pilots such as Caring Dads. The length of the programs increased from 12 weeks to 20 weeks. There were also targeted programs for perpetrators who are Indigenous, have a disability, are LGBTQ, come from different cultures or are ordered to attend by a court.

There are now more than 4000 mens behaviour change program places funded across the state every year, although many providers have long waiting lists. Minister for the Prevention of Family Violence Gabrielle Williams says working with perpetrators is a key priority in the time ahead. Victorian Minister for the Prevention of Family Violence Gabrielle Williams. Credit:Simon Schluter The royal commission had some interesting feedback to give on the fact the evidence base for perpetrator programs is really thin, not just in Australia but globally, she says. Part of its recommendation was we need to be building the evidence base in this area, so we have a clear idea of what works and what doesnt.

Williams says the evaluation process started last year. The whole idea of trials is to work out what model or combination of models needs to be adopted. More work needs to be done on building the evidence. No to Violence CEO Jacqui Watt Credit:Joe Armao No to Violence chief executive Jacqui Watt warns mens behaviour change programs do not work for everybody and they are not a panacea. But if we dont work with men using family violence, how are we ever going to stop this?

Watt says the men most likely to change are those open to what is causing them to be violent and those who complete the programs. The feeling of people who work in the sector is that a third of men will leave that program going Well, thats the best thing Ive ever done, I should have done it years ago, how do I carry this on?; a third will be, what a waste of time, I only did it because I wanted to see my kids, I didnt believe a word of it, its a lot of feminist nonsense; and a third will be somewhere in the middle. But Watt says the purpose of mens behaviour change programs isnt necessarily to change the men, but to keep the family safe by ensuring they remain in the view of service providers. Under the minimum standards for programs introduced after the royal commission, there is additional support for the families of the participating men. One of the really important roles of mens behaviour change programs is keeping in contact with the partners and ex-partners to make sure they are safe and keeping an eye on whether his violence escalates.

Tori Cooke, head of workforce development at No to Violence, has been running programs and training facilitators for 15 years. In one exercise, Cooke asks perpetrators to mark on a whiteboard where they see themselves in a continuum between good man and swamp monster. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video Those who see themselves as good men will not recognise that they have done anything wrong and struggle to make it through the course, she says. A man who places his mark close to the swamp monster has had a gutful of himself, hes lost a whole lot, hes ready for change.

However, the majority place themselves somewhere in the middle. Cooke says the starting position of many of these men is they shouldnt be there. The first six weeks is often breaking down that resistance, by week seven and eight, if weve done our job right, hes engaged, she says. When people ask me the question, can men change?, I have absolutely seen it. But we need to do a lot more research around the longitudinal aspects of change. I want to know what these guys are doing in two years and in five years. Thats where the investment needs to be. There has been limited research in Australia beyond evaluations of individual programs.

Professor Jim Ogloff, the director of the Centre for Forensic Behavioural Science at Swinburne University and Forensicare, says he still has reservations about the extent to which the efficacy of the programs has really been proven. Its a contentious field, thats for sure. He believes an empirical evaluation of programs is desperately needed, that looks at measures such as reoffending rates and breaches of intervention orders. Thats the litmus test, he says. Ogloff raised concerns during the royal commission that men with mental health and drug and alcohol issues were being excluded from behaviour change programs. He says there has since been considerable improvements. I certainly shifted my view to be more positive. And I do think mens behavioral change programs have a place and its probably for the people who are lower risk, who have a degree of motivation to change, like knowing theyll lose a relationship, Ogloff says.

Loading But Im still concerned that a broader range of people with higher needs and at higher risk are probably not benefiting from programs and its continuing to place family members in danger. Elena Campbell, who runs a family violence research program at RMITs Centre for Innovative Justice, says mens behaviour change programs were never intended to be a silver bullet. Essentially weve been asking programs to shift attitudes and behaviours that have developed over a lifetime in a matter of weeks  and then wondering why the results arent always what we expect, Campbell says. They were always intended to be part of an integrated system, they are by no means ever going to be the whole solution on their own.

Loading James Charlwood was never physically violent. However, he came to realise that using his voice in a very aggressive and scary way and smashing property was abusive behaviour that was frightening his children. I finally started to become aware that it was my behaviour that was having this effect and I needed to do something about it, Charlwood says. He enrolled in a mens behaviour change program run by Relationships Australia Victoria. Even though I think I went in with a pretty good level of self-awareness, I still wasnt quite prepared for just how much responsibility I needed to take for myself. Its just so easy to end up blaming others, he says.

While it can be humiliating at the time and very hard work confronting your own destructive behaviour and the realisation that there is no one else to blame, the self-esteem that comes out of this courageous process is truly invigorating. His one criticism of the program is the lack of support when it ends. There needs to be some follow-up for men who just want to manage their mental health and stop themselves sliding back into the behaviours that will destroy their relationships. And as we know, will lead to murder in way too many cases. *Not his real name. With Wendy Tuohy
A Spirit Airlines flight was forced to divert after a passenger allegedly tried to open the cabin door mid-flight.

The service had departed from Cleveland, Ohio, on 24 March and was destined for Los Angeles, California, when the pilot made the decision to land in Denver, Colorado.

No one was injured in the incident, according to the carrier.

Spirit Airlines flight 185 diverted to Denver on the way to Los Angeles due to a passenger who appeared to attempt to open an exit door, Spirit Airlines told local news outlet WJW-TV in a statement.

Safety is our number one priority at Spirit Airlines.

Read more:

Law enforcement met the aircraft in Denver and took the passenger into custody.

We thank the crew members and guests who assisted for handling this situation quickly prior to arrival.

The airline was also keen to stress that those onboard were not in any real danger, as opening the emergency exit doors while an aircraft is in flight is impossible.

It is important to note that opening a door inflight is impossible due to air pressure inside the cabin pinning the door against its frame with force stronger than any person could ever overcome, read the statement.

A Denver International Airport official confirmed to Newsweek that the flight had landed there at around 8.22pm due to a disturbance onboard.

Its not the first time a passenger has attempted to open the doors mid-flight.

A 26-year-old British woman was jailed for two years after trying to open the door of a passenger plane in mid-air.

In February 2020, Chloe Haines was found guilty at Chelmsford Crown Court of endangering the safety of an aircraft and assaulting a member of cabin crew.

The air-rage incident had occurred onboard a Jet2 flight to Dalaman in Turkey the previous summer.

The aircraft was forced to return to the UK when Haines tried to open the door, forcing the RAF to scramble two Eurofighter Typhoon jets to intercept it.

One cabin crew member sustained scratches as she attempted to pull Haines, who was yelling Im going to kill you all, away from the door.
When federal officials announced plans for mass vaccination hubs in Texas cities, San Antonio officials were not shy about asking for one.

If Houston, Dallas and Arlington qualified, why not San Antonio, the nations seventh-largest city?

Now its official: There will no federal vaccination center here, and it didnt take long for officials of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to make the decision.

In fact, they rejected the request the same day they received it, records show.

San Antonio is the largest city in Texas without a FEMA super-site capable of administering up to 6,000 shots per day.

In February, FEMA partnered with Texas officials to establish three mega-sites in Houston and the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Officials said then that if the approach proved successful, sites could be opened in other areas  and San Antonio leaders asked for one even before the first three hubs were fully operational.

It would have been located at the Alamodome.

We have the capacity, readiness and need to increase vaccination distribution and administration, Mayor Ron Nirenberg and Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff said in a letter to FEMA officials last month.

State officials submitted the request to FEMA on the citys behalf March 19. The agency rejected it the same day, according to records obtained by the San Antonio Express-News.

FEMA does not have the resources to support this request, agency officials said by email.

TEXAS SHORTCHANGED?: State leaders say Texas is shorted on COVID vaccine allocations

State officials then asked whether the federal government could tap resources of the Defense Department to support an additional mass vaccination site in Texas  only to receive a similar response, said Seth Christensen, a spokesman for the state Department of Emergency Management.

All federal resources are being considered and used, FEMA replied. The federal agency said vaccination centers are being spun up and operated all over the nation, and the resources are drying up fast.

A FEMA spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.

Wolff said Friday that the city is in a race to vaccinate as many people as possible. The city already operates a mass vaccination site at the Alamodome. It could establish a separate mega-site, Wolff said, but that would not solve the problem of inadequate supplies of vaccine.

We just need the vaccines, he said.

Under the current distribution system, the federal government provides doses directly to FEMAs mass vaccination centers. The state receives a separate weekly allocation of vaccine, which it doles out to county public health systems, hospitals and other providers.

So far, San Antonio has received allocations only from the state.

I dont know what they mean by resources  if they mean they dont have the vaccines or they dont have the personnel, Wolff said of FEMA officials. If they dont have the personnel, it doesnt matter. We just want the vaccines.

He said local officials will continue to lobby for a FEMA super-site and are considering other proposals for a mass vaccination hub.

Like communities across the country, San Antonio has struggled with a mismatch between vaccine supply and demand. Appointments at vaccination hubs operated by the city, county-owned University Health and other providers are snapped up as soon as they become available.

People both eligible and eager to be vaccinated must refresh webpages endlessly or redial phone numbers for hours to snag open appointments.

Vaccine supplies have ramped up recently, but so has demand as the state has expanded eligibility  first to people over 50 and then to any adult in Texas, effective Monday.

EFFECTIVE MONDAY: All Texas adults eligible for COVID-19 vaccine starting March 29

FEMAs three Texas mega-sites are at Houstons NRG Stadium, Dallas Fair Park and Arlingtons AT&T Stadium.

Combined, the sites have administered as many as 12,000 doses a day  6,000 a day at the Houston site and 3,000 apiece at the Dallas-Fort Worth locations. They began administering first shots Feb. 24 and moved on to second doses this month.

The original agreement called for the sites to continue operating through early April. Texas officials have asked FEMA to extend operations for at least 30 more days. FEMA has not yet responded, Christensen said.

In a statement Friday, Gov. Greg Abbott called on FEMA to approve the request.

The mass community vaccination sites in Arlington, Dallas and Houston have been crucial to expanding vaccine access in underserved communities, he said. Continuing operations at these vaccination sites will ensure that even more Texans can get vaccinated and will help keep our communities safe.

On Wednesday, Harris County leaders urged the federal government to renew the Houston site at least through May 31.

The success of the (center) in reaching communities that lack equitable access to the vaccine demonstrates the need for its continued operation, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo and Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner wrote in a letter to FEMA officials.

They said the sites are needed now more than ever because the state has opened up vaccine eligibility to all Texans age 16 and over.

Texas has administered more than 9.7 million doses since mid-December. Nearly 6.6 million people have received at least one shot, and 3.3 million are fully immunized.

In Bexar County, 445,651 people had received at least one dose of vaccine as of Friday. Nearly 250,000 residents have been fully vaccinated, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services.

cayla.harris@express-news.net
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

Europe and the United States will use a thaw in ties to strike a pact that would allow for the exchange of private data across the Atlantic, replacing previous agreements struck down by an EU court.

Facebook, Google, Microsoft and thousands of other companies want such a deal to keep the internet traffic flowing without facing significant legal jeopardy over European privacy laws.

Last year, the European Court of Justice "raised important questions on how to ensure protection of privacy when data crosses the Atlantic," EU Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders said in a speech to the American Chamber of Commerce to the EU.

"Finding this solution is a priority in Brussels and in Washington DC," he added a day after stepping up talks with US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.

As "like-minded partners" the two sides "should be able to find appropriate solutions on principles that are cherished on both sides of the Atlantic," he said.

The third attempt for a new data arrangement would succeed deals that were invalidated after succesful lawsuits arguing that US security laws violated the fundamental rights of EU citizens.

The legal onslaught was led by Max Schrems, an Austrian activist and lawyer who began his campaign after the revelations by Edward Snowden of mass digital spying by US agencies.

Businesses have since resorted to legally uncertain workarounds to keep the data flow moving, with hope that the two sides could come up with something stronger in the long term.

Reynders said a deal would require that "complex and sensitive" issues are solved "that relate to the delicate balance between national security and privacy".

The deal would have to cover important issues, including guarantees of access to courts and clearly enforceable individual rights.

"The only way to achieve this is to develop a new arrangement that is fully compliant with the (EU court's) Schrems II judgement. This is in our mutual interest," Reynders added.

The EU has concluded similar agreements with 12 entities and countries, including Japan, Switzerland, Canada, Israel, and is in the process of concluding negotiations with South Korea.

In February, Brussels gave an initial green light to the transfer of personal data to the UK, which left the EU's direct jurisdiction this year after a post-Brexit transition period.

Explore further Brussels okays EU-UK personal data flows

 2021 AFP
Mogrify Limited (Mogrify), a UK company aiming to transform the development of ex vivo cell therapies and pioneer the field of in vivo reprogramming therapies, was awarded the Hewitsons Award for Innovation in Business and Price Bailey Award for Business of the Year at last nights CambridgeshireLive Business Excellence Awards 2020. The awards recognize the potential of Mogrifys proprietary suite of platform technologies that utilize a systematic big-data approach to direct cellular conversion and the maintenance of cell identity, to accelerate the development of regenerative cell and in vivo reprogramming therapies.

The Companys technologies, MOGRIFY and EpiMOGRIFY, deploy next-generation sequencing, gene regulatory, and epigenetic network data to enable the prediction of the transcription factors and culture medium conditions required to produce any target cell type from any source cell type.

Mogrify will use these platforms to engineer therapeutic cell types that exhibit efficacy and safety profiles necessary to transform the development of ex vivo cell therapies and pioneer a new class of in vivo reprogramming therapies for indications of high unmet clinical need in immuno-oncology, ophthalmology, and other disease areas.

Uniquely positioned to address a cellular therapy and regenerative medicine market estimated to be worth in excess of $39 billion USD by 2023, Mogrify is commercializing its technology via a combination of internal cell and gene therapy development and collaborations. Since February 2019, Mogrify has raised over $20 million USD in seed and Series A rounds, and $2.5 million USD in grant funding, and has grown to a headcount of over 60 of scientific, operational, and commercial staff.

The CambridgeshireLive Business Excellence Awards are held annually to celebrate businesses and business people in Cambridgeshire and to promote local entrepreneurship and innovation.
Warren Buffett's investment company Berkshire Hathaway has proposed a plan for boosting Texas' energy security: building 10 GW in new natural gas-fired generation capacity.

Bloomberg reports that the proposal involves setting up a company that would build the plants and add emergency gas storage to the offer in a bid to help prevent a repeat of this year's energy crisis caused by the unusually cold weather in late January and early February.

"We really want to make sure that this never happens again. So we're really wanting to partner with the state," Chris Brown, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Energy Infrastructure Group, told Bloomberg in an interview. "The proposal is simple: state residents should have a reliable source of backup power."

Outages in gas-fired power plants were among the culprits for the energy crisis in the Lone Star state. Some blamed exclusively the state's wind generation capacity, which was also affected by the Freeze. But, ultimately, the cold spell wreaked havoc across all kinds of power generation and caused outages in natural gas production, making emergency supplies impossible.

As a result of the crisis, however, the wind industry in the state has suffered a severe blow, the Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month. The Texas Freeze took out half of the state's wind capacity. This meant that the operators of these wind farms could not fulfill their obligations under contracts they had struck with investors to get financing for the project.

The contracts basically oblige the wind farm operator to supply a certain amount of electricity. If it fails to generate this electricity itself, it needs to buy it on the wholesale market, and prices on the Texas wholesale market reached historic highs amid the Freeze.

The fact that Berkshire is betting on gas and not wind may be telling, as it comes amid a federal push for lower-carbon energy generation. According to the Bloomberg report, the plan would cost some $8.3 billion, with Texas power customers paying a fee to pay for the construction. Berkshire has proposed a 9.3% rate of return on its investment that is pending Texas regulators' approval.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
NASHVILLE  The Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance (TDCI) is sharing important consumer information about filing insurance claims, hiring contractors for home repairs, home safety and avoiding scams with Tennessee residents who may have sustained home or auto damage from the storms that swept across the South and through Tennessee on Thursday, March 25, 2021.



Thursdays severe weather produced high winds, hail and heavy rain that knocked out electric power for thousands and caused damages to homes and vehicles across Tennessee. To aid consumers recovery efforts, TDCI is providing tips to aid Tennesseans when filing their insurance claims, selecting contractors and avoiding scammers who might prey on storm victims.

Filing Insurance Claims:

File your claim as soon as possible. Call your insurance company or agent with your policy number and other relevant information. Your policy may require that you make the notification within a certain time frame.

If your home is damaged to the extent that you cannot live there, ask your insurance company if you have coverage for additional living expenses.

Document the damages by taking photographs or video of any damage for each instance your home or property was damaged.

Make the temporary repairs necessary to prevent further damage to your property (cover broken windows, leaking roofs and damaged walls).

Never have permanent repairs made until your insurance company has inspected the property and you have reached an agreement on the cost of repairs. Be prepared to provide your claims adjuster with records of improvements you made prior to the damage.

If you feel that you are unfairly denied a claim by your insurance company, file a complaint with TDCI. consumers should

What Damage to Your Home is Covered?

Damage caused by wind, wind-driven rain, trees or other falling objects are all covered under most standard homeowners policies. Check your policy and call your insurance agent or company if you need clarification or have specific questions.

What Damage to Your Home is Not Covered?

The following events are typically not covered by the standard homeowners insurance policy: Interior water damage from a storm, when there is no damage to the roof or walls of your home; damage as the result of a flood; removal of fallen trees (if the trees do not land on and damage your home); food spoilage due to a power outage; and water damage from backed-up drains or sewers. Some insurers offer endorsements (i.e., additional protection that may be purchased) for certain coverages not covered under the standard homeowner policy. Check with your agent or company to determine your needs.

If you have a dispute with your insurer about the amount or terms of the claim settlement or questions about filing a claim or about your insurance policies, contact our team at (615) 741-2218 or 800-342-4029. File a complaint online here.

Generator Safety, Avoiding Carbon Monoxide Poisoning:

During power outages, many people may rely on portable fuel-powered generators which are potential sources of carbon monoxide. Carbon monoxide is an odorless, colorless gas created when natural fuels burn incompletely. Breathing high levels of carbon monoxide can cause loss of consciousness or even death. The Tennessee State Fire Marshals Office reminds Tennesseans to never use a gas generator inside a home, garage, carport basement, crawlspace or outside near a window, door or vent. A generator should only be used outdoors and at least 15 feet away from buildings. It is dangerous to use a gas or kerosene heater inside a home or other building.

Have flashlights and battery-powered lighting ready to use during a power outage. If you must use candles for lighting, never leave them unattended and keep them at least 3 feet away from anything that could burn.

Hiring a Contractor:

Remember that a contractors license is required before bidding or price negotiations when the total cost of the project is $25,000 or more.

For work that costs less than $25,000, check with your local governments building codes office to confirm whether a contractor needs a state license or local license to perform home improvement, electrical, plumbing or HVAC work, as well as their permit requirements for inspections.

Before selecting a professional, ensure they are properly licensed for the project by visiting verify.tn.gov.

Get several bids and check references before committing to a contractor.

Be wary of contractors selling repairs door-to-door, especially when they ask to receive payment upfront or offer deep discounts.

Generally, do not pay more than 1/3 of the cost upfront and make sure you have the terms of payment in writing.

If you are dealing with a company or person who promises to remove debris from your property, ask them to list the services they will provide in writing.

Ensure that your contract provides for you to make an inspection and approve the work before making the final payment.

Tennessee's felony theft law covers consumers whenever a contractor takes money and fails to perform work within 90 days. Pursuant to T.C.A. 39-14-105 , consumers may contact local law enforcement and file charges to prosecute the contractor for theft. More information about the law can be found here.

, consumers may contact local law enforcement and file charges to prosecute the Consumers can check the complaint and disciplinary history of a contractor by contacting the Board for Licensing Contractors by phone at (800) 544-7693 or (615) 741-8307 or emailing our team at contractors.home-improvement@tn.gov. To file a complaint, consumers should visit our website at tn.gov/commerce .

Avoiding Severe Weather Contractor Scams:

While many people seek to help after severe weather  unfortunately, there is also an increased risk for scams and fraud. Watch out for:

Upfront fees to help you claim services, benefits or get loans. No federal or state government agency charges application fees for services or benefits.

Con artists posing as government employees, insurance adjusters, law enforcement officials, or bank employees. Confirm credentials by calling the agencies if necessary.

Organizations with names similar to government agencies or charities.

Limited time offers. Dont be pressured to make a decision on the spot or to sign anything without having enough time to review it.

Fake rental listings. If the offer sounds too good to be true or the property owner cant show you the property beforehand, its a bad sign.

TDCI reminds consumers of the following:
It is a serious issue for the men involved. But lets not mistake it for something it isnt. Higgins experience, both in her alleged rape and the response from her former political bosses, triggered a seismic reckoning about how women are treated inside and outside Parliament. Morrison in an interview with A Current Affairs Tracy Grimshaw on Thursday night described it as a wake-up call that had started a very deep and confronting conversation. Nathan Winn (left) and Gavin Cuddy. The story that engulfed federal politics this week is a distraction from this conversation. It is being misleadingly framed, carries more than a whiff of homophobia and since its initial broadcast, has been distorted by the deep hatreds that shape Liberal Party politics. I think this was genuinely about someone who works seven days a week, 17 or 18 hours a day and spends way too much time on Scruff and Grindr, said a Liberal MP who knows Winn well but was unable to speak on the record. He deserved to be sacked but this wasnt about misogyny.

Instead, this was a hit job on the Morrison government by a person who has never worked in politics or in Parliament but, since the same-sex marriage debate leading up to the 2017 plebiscite, has expressed a deep animosity towards some Liberal Party politicians and their policies. The man behind this tawdry episode goes by the name Tom the Whistleblower but isnt a whistleblower in the true sense of the word. His real name is Gavin Cuddy and he is a retail manager, currently out of work, who lives in the ACT. Cuddy met Winn about five years ago. They hooked up once or twice, became friends and over the years, shared images of their sexual encounters. Cuddy told The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald that their friendship cooled after the mans new partner began spreading hate about him. He continued to send Winn explicit pictures six months after the staffer stopped reciprocating. Cuddy is a prolific Twitter poster who is highly critical of Morrison and his government. He denied his decision to expose Winns sexual activities was politically motivated. This story was about culture, it wasnt about politics, Cuddy said. He admits to having a hatred for his local Liberal Senator Zed Seselja, because he is ultra-conservative and is everything I stand against personally but denies loathing the entire party. In a telephone interview and exchange of text messages, he compared himself with Higgins and expressed disgust at men having sex inside the most important building in the country, despite admitting hed done so himself.

He graphically described some of the sexual acts he says took place inside Parliament House. He said he had no moral objections to the behaviour; only where it happened. At what stage do they stop?, he said. Had I not done it, it would have got bigger and bigger and more frequent. It was like they were gloating at what they were getting away with. When asked why he was willing to ruin the career of a man he once considered a friend, he became defensive. Did I ruin a career? Or did the actions of the staffer wreck his own career, Cuddy said. It was definitely the latter. I dont need to justify my reasons for coming forward. I will say I have not been paid. Associates of Cuddy say he is an avid collector and sharer of explicit material. He claims to have had sex inside Parliaments meditation room with Liberal staffers. This room, steeped in urban myth and sordid history, is notorious as a place where people kneel but rarely pray. Cuddy is also an unlikely champion of womens rights. In December last year, under a now-suspended Twitter handle @ubitchinatme, he said in the course of a heated political debate: Stop carrying on like a furry pitted, anti-vaxing lesbian on heat.

He claimed on Thursday he provided the government and opposition with pictures and videos of the current and former Liberal staffers. Labor Senator Kristina Keneally confirmed a person from her office had spoken to the man but said he hadnt provided any documents, videos or photos. A spokesman for Special Minister for State Simon Birmingham said Mr Cuddy provided information to them and a government investigation was ongoing. This entire episode  the outing of gay Liberal men for consensual sex inside Parliament  is part revenge porn and part political activism. In normal times it would never have been broadcast or reported by a mainstream media outlet, including this masthead. But these are not normal times. Not for the Parliament. Not for the media covering it. When Cuddy first approached the ABC last November with an unsolicited, encrypted protonmail promising images of a LNP staff member having oral sex in the whips office, the 4 Corners team deemed the message too scurrilous to warrant a response. He next approached the Ten Networks Peter Van Onselen on February 18, four days after journalist Sam Maiden broke the Higgins story. In his reports on the Ten Network and in The Australian newspaper, Van Onselen emphasised the fact that the desk on which the Liberal staffer ejaculated belonged to a female MP. This detail, which shaped the immediate reaction of both sides of politics, was the only evidence presented to link the episode with the treatment of women.

Since then, one mans performative relief has been portrayed as a perverted expression of male power. It has also been suggested that the masturbation was a form of protest against Marinos opposition to same-sex marriage. Another, perhaps more likely, is there was a kinky appeal about sex in the boss's office. Whatever the explanation, Morrison was genuinely appalled at the latest example of indecent behaviour inside Parliament House. He also saw an opportunity. Where Morrison was evasive in his response to Higgins and defensive in his response to Porter, he was unequivocal in expressing his disgust at the shameful behaviour of men at work. Winn, who was employed as a principal parliamentary adviser in the current chief whips office, was dismissed within hours of the report going to air. These events have triggered, right across this building and indeed right across the country, women who have put up with this rubbish and this crap for their entire lives, as their mothers did, as their grandmothers did, the PM said on Tuesday. While this sentiment encapsulates the issues which galvanised the March4Justice movement, it applies less readily to gay men having sex in Parliament. Until this week Nola Marino was unaware that anything so salacious had taken place in her office.

Morrisons eagerness to denounce the staff member contrasts with his reluctance to engage with the implications of either the Higgins or Porter issues. It also pales with what happened on Wednesday night when Peta Credlin, a chief of staff to former prime minister Tony Abbott and Sky News broadcaster, seized upon the scandal to settle old scores and position herself as a champion of Liberal women. Credlin is an enigmatic figure in Liberal politics. Beloved by rank and file conservatives but largely unsupported by the partys factional bosses, Credlin is a star candidate without a seat. But for the past eight years she has drawn strength from an inexhaustible source; her hatred of Malcolm Turnbull, the man who deposed her old boss. Peta Credlin and former prime minster Tony Abbott. It was Credlin who first hired Winn to work in the chief whips office. She also claims she was responsible for his subsequent removal in 2012 for perceived disloyalty. Winns direct boss at the time, Warren Entsch, remembers Credlin having nothing to do with the decision. Either way, it is true Credlin wanted him gone and that he returned to Canberra once Turnbull replaced Abbott. For her purposes on Sky News, this was all she needed. The man sacked by the Morrison government this week for his disgusting acts on his MPs desk and its distribution on a little chat group  how do you even think about doing that sort of crap at work?  that bloke I demanded to be sacked years earlier for disloyalty, for lying, for leaking against his boss.

I sacked him and I said he would never be back while I worked in that building. Turnbull rolled Abbott, I was gone and he was back. Credlin went on to warn a former minister rumoured to have welcomed male prostitutes into Parliament that she knew who he was. The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald are unaware of any basis for these rumours, which relate to a factional ally of Turnbull. A current MP is also facing an empty threat of exposure over footage that doesnt exist. Peta Credlin said on Sky News that she had sacked the Coalition staffer featured in a video performing a lewd act on the desk of a federal MP. Credit:Sky News Credlin claimed to have seen evidence of staffers from both sides of politics engaging in gay orgies while their respective ministers were in question time. This is understood to relate to material found on another former Liberal staffers computer. There is a pattern of behaviour here but it is not behaviour that disempowers women; it is behaviour which marginalises gay men.

Where does this leave Credlins campaign? A Victorian Liberal MP believes Credlin is genuine in her desire to advance the interests of women. The most dramatic example of this is the role she played in convincing Tony Abbott to announce what, at the time, was a radically generous paid maternity scheme. Loading Whether Credlin lifts up women around her is another matter. As Abbotts chief of staff, Credlin was for a time the most powerful woman in the Liberal Party and arguably, the most powerful in the nation. She was uniquely placed to change the culture of how women are treated within her party. Journalist Niki Savva is the closest thing we have to a biographer of Peta Credlin. In her 2016 book Road to Ruin: How Tony Abbott and Peta Credlin destroyed their own government, she chronicles what former staff members of Credlin describe as her management style towards men and women.
Lendlease has promised US legislatures at a recent congressional hearing it will improve conditions at its $13.6 billion military housing portfolio where it has been accused by military personnel of being a slumlord.

It comes as the property giant enters into preliminary settlement discussions with a group of disgruntled members of the US Army over substandard housing supplied by the Australian property giant.

US Marines and US Army personnel have joined two separate class actions against the Australian property giant. Credit:Glenn Campbell

Lendlease Communities managing director Carolyn Tregarthen told a recent US House Armed Services Committee hearing the company would renovate nearly one in three homes in its 40,000 home portfolio and had arranged an additional $US1.1 billion ($1.4 billion) investment to fund the updates.

It confirmed that about half of that funding, or $US550 million, would go to fixing existing homes at a single army base  Fort Hood, Texas where there are 5000 homes. The spending bill equates to roughly $US110,000 for each property at the base, though not all homes need updating. Lendlease is facing a class action in Texas by a group of residents who allege their properties are infested with mould, insects and have suffered water damage.
We have no choice but to file this lawsuit, both to protect consumers as well as the hundreds of franchised dealers across the state who contribute to the local economy, Pete Sander, president of the Illinois Automobile Dealers Association, said in a news release Friday.
opinion

Overcrowding of Gambians prisons is a long-standing problem that was addressed in the past. The country's Prisons system has suffered from years of neglect and under-development under Jammeh's rule.

And conditions of detentions are poor and the Remand Wing of Mile 2 (state central prisons) is seriously over-crowded and in a dilapidated state.

The situation changed a little better when the current coalition government took over in 2017. But a lot more needs to be done to better the living conditions of inmates.

Around the globe, prisons are correctional facilities that transform and reform inmates for positive re-integration into the society. And that is how prisons suppose to be anywhere in world.

On the contrary, prisons in Africa especially in The Gambia are death traps designed to get rid of opponents or people critical to sitting government.

Well, it is in the news that the minister of Interior, Yankuba Sonko on Wednesday launched the Rapid Prisons Assessment Report, Photobook and Video Documentary. This will pave the way for new reforms at these facilities. The event was organised by the Ministry of Interior in partnership with The Gambia and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Country Office.

The move could not have come at a better time, when the country's prisons are seriously and urgently in need of reform to ameliorate the conditions of our inmates and services.

Challenges at the Gambia's prisons stem from environment, dilapidated infrastructure, lack of equipment, ICT to mobility. These areas need urgent redress.

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It should be noted that cramped conditions in prison militate against the prisoner's right to good health and dignity. Furthermore, an excessive prison population creates problems of hygiene, sanitation, management and discipline.

Our prisoners should be accorded with opportunities that will enable them land themselves gainful skills after serving their prisons terms.

Also, juvenile inmates need very different care and attention than adult inmates. They should be accorded with right opportunities to change for the better and not for them to fall into harden career criminals.

What is interesting about the conditions of Gambian prisons is that most of the facilities were constructed during the colonial era dating back to 1920s.

If it was not for Covid-19, urgent measures would not have been taken especially in improving conditions of the Remand Wing, which many fear has the potential to become an epicenter for the spread of the global pandemic.

We therefore commend the UNDP and all those who played a part in coming up with this project titled;- Strengthening Rule of Law and Enhancing Justice and Security Delivery in The Gambia.

We can do a lot to improve the conditions of our prisons. Together we can build a better Gambia.

"Decongest and Imporoved the detentions conditions of the Remand Wing of Mile2."
President Klaus Iohannis attended the European Council meeting in video conference format on Thursday, in which he made an appeal to European leaders for the defence, consolidation and unity of the European Union, stressing that it is in a difficult situation due to the COVID-19 pandemic, informs a release of the Presidential Administration, according to AGERPRES.

With regard to the mechanism for the distribution of vaccines in the Union, President Iohannis has called for maintaining the pro-rata principle in force for the distribution of vaccines at EU Member States level.

"The President of Romania expressed support for the European Commission's recent proposal on the authorisation of the export of vaccines, but called for caution in the use of this mechanism so as not to affect free trade. Regarding the European Commission's proposal for the establishment of a digital certificate, President Klaus Iohannis reiterated the need for it not to create discrimination between EU citizens. The President of Romania stressed that these certificates should be used only for medical purposes and without affecting the freedom of movement within the Union," the cited source shows.

In the context of the Union's efforts to create and operate as quickly as possible a European vaccine distribution mechanism to support third countries, the Romanian president has given a vote to support the Eastern Partnership states in managing the health crisis. Iohannis pointed out that Romania has donated 21,600 doses to Moldova, with more than 50,000 more doses to be donated in the coming days.

According to the Presidential Administration, at the Extended Euro Summit, the European leaders adopted a declaration stressing the importance of strengthening the international role of the Euro. It is also stressed the importance of ensuring an inclusive and sustainable recovery and increased economic resilience, as preconditions for strengthening the global role of the Euro.
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., March 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Many employers will be surprised to see their best and brightest executives leave for better opportunities after the pandemic, according to a new study of 1,000 companies by Radiant Forest, LLC. This study is the first to create a standardized rating of the best and worst employers based on employee ratings.

Report Cover for Digital Leadership Culture Index: How Public Data Reveals the Leadership Quality of Employers Infographic highlighting the best and worst companies as well as average employer performance by state.

"With more employers supporting remote work arrangements, the best employees will refuse to return to poor cultures," said Ben Lichtenwalner, employment turnover expert, founder of Radiant Forest, and author of the study. "Candidates and employees who are unhappy with their current employer will value these employee ratings as candid insight to cultural realities. Now, for the first time, they can compare how each company ranks among their peers."

The study compiled 17 unique data points for each employer, across top websites including Glassdoor, Indeed, and LinkedIn. Each company was then given a standardized score, called their Digital Leadership Culture Index (DLCI). Using a proprietary formula, Radiant Forest ranked all Fortune 500 and the top 500 of the INC 5000 companies. The result included many surprises.

"It's shocking how little some employers value these platforms. They are a wealth of insight into organizational leadership and culture. This data can be neon signs - scaring away or welcoming ideal candidates," Lichtenwalner said. "With the standardized DLCI score, employers now know where they stand among their peers. Employees see this as well. It is the next level in transparency."

Companies in the top quartile, with high or very high confidence data, included Adobe, Microsoft, Intuit, American Express, Costco Wholesale, Cisco Systems, Clorox, and more.

"These companies are setting high standards for leadership development and employee engagement," he said. "In contrast, some employers with the lowest quartile scores included Norfolk Southern, NGL Energy Partners, Dollar General, Global Partners, and Frontier Communications."

Any company with a low DLCI is at risk of losing their best employees. After all, every company in the top quartile is currently hiring. Employers in middle or low quartiles should act quickly to improve leadership development and employee engagement scores, he said. The report includes suggestions for these employers, as well as ideas for candidates, employees, and educational institutions.

The study also revealed some interesting surprises, including:

Leadership quality decreases as locations increase

States with more post-secondary leadership programs were 69% more likely to have better employers

Download the full report, for free, at https://radiantforest.com/dlci/

ABOUT RADIANT FOREST, LLC: Radiant Forest, LLC is the premiere service provider for reducing employee turnover while increasing productivity through application of SERVANT-Leadership principles. Based on a decade of research, encompassing dozens of leading models and hundreds of leadership best practices, Radiant Forest's proprietary solutions drive real results for companies focused on real change. Contact Radiant Forest, LLC to see how they can help you, at www.RadiantForest.com .

ABOUT BEN LICHTENWALNER: Ben Lichtenwalner is the founder and lead consultant at Radiant Forest, LLC. In this role, Ben helps executives and teams identify leadership gaps and fix cultural problems. His thought leadership has been adopted and applied at Fortune 500, INC 500, non-profits, and academic institutions in many countries.

Lichtenwalner is the author of the critically acclaimed book, "Paradigm Flip: Leading People, Teams, and Organizations Beyond the Social Media Revolution." In addition, his blog, ModernServantLeader.com is ranked in the Top 30 Leadership Blogs, according to BlogRank.

Ben is a graduate of Penn State University and holds an MBA from Lehigh University. In his writing, training, speaking, and consulting work, Ben is passionate about changing people's lives by improving organizational leadership.

Contact

Ben Lichtenwalner

(616) 202-2270

[email protected]

SOURCE Radiant Forest, LLC
Geneva  The World Health Organization reports the African continent is lagging in the race to vaccinate its people against the deadly coronavirus. WHO says Africa needs far greater access to COVID-19 vaccines to reach its goal of vaccinating 60 percent of the population by June 2022.

Africa received its first delivery of vaccines from the COVAX vaccine-sharing facility a month ago. Health officials say this has kick-started robust vaccination campaigns throughout much of the continent.

Richard Mihigo is an immunization and vaccine development program coordinator at the WHO regional office for Africa. He says 32 countries currently are vaccinating high-risk groups against COVID-19. So far, he notes, nearly 7.7 million doses have been administered.

"This is, indeed, a good start, even if the continent has received only limited doses and much later than other regions of the world," Mihigo said. "The momentum that has started must be kept up to widen the scope of COVID-19 vaccination beyond the high-risk groups that have been prioritized by many countries."

Mihigo warns this will not be possible unless vaccine equity becomes a reality. He says it is unfair for some high-income countries to vaccinate their entire populations, while ignoring the needs of poorer nations.

WHO estimates Africa will need 1.5 billion vaccine doses to protect 60 percent of the continent's 1.2 billion population by June 2022. Another challenge facing Africa is the new coronavirus mutant strains.

Mihigo says at least 15 African countries have reported the presence of variant strains. He says it is important to monitor the evolution of the new strains and to maintain public health measures, such as masks and social distancing.

"All the measures that were proven really effective in preventing transmission should continue to be done," Mihigo said. "... By increasing the vaccination capacity, we will put less pressure on the virus and avoid its mutation, as we have heard. So, this is the only solution that we can have to get out of this situation."

Mihigo says WHO is exploring different ways of boosting the vaccine supply through the COVAX facility. One possible solution he says is to collaborate with rich countries and test their willingness to share surplus doses with Africa. Another is to promote technology transfer and reduce intellectual property barriers, so vaccines can be produced locally.
Five alleged child sex offenders have been arrested in South Australia in just one week as police continue to target the criminals.

Australian Federal Police and SA Police carried out raids in Adelaide with two of the five men arrested after they were alerted by United States authorities of alleged criminals trading illegal content online.

'The perverse demand for this abhorrent content fuels the physical abuse of children,' AFP Detective Superintendent Gail McClure said.

A 37-year-old is arrested by police in the South Australia raids (pictured) during which five were arrested over child sex offences

In 2020, police officers arrested and charged 92 alleged child sex offenders in South Australia.

The five men arrested in the latest raids range from 27-years-old to 43-years-old.

One has already been to court and the remaining four are set to front court in the next few weeks.

Ms McClure said Covid lockdowns had contributed to a rise in these types of crimes with both offenders and victims spending more hours online while confined to their houses.
Islamabad, March 26 : Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan is expected to reshuffle his Cabinet next week, a media report said on Friday, adding that the move comes as "he is not happy with some key Ministers performance".

The Express Tribune newspaper report said that despite testing positive for Covid-19, Khan has conducted several meetings, "gauged the performance of Ministers, deliberated upon swapping portfolios of several cabinet members, mulled over the names of new lawmakers that are to be included in the cabinet and, also pondered over who will be replaced".

"Prime Minister will announce the changes made in the federal cabinet by next Monday," Senator Shibli Faraz told The Express Tribune.

The Senator said that discussions were still underway on which Minister will get which portfolio.

"Three-to-four new people are expected to be given state-minister level portfolios," Faraz said without revealing their names.

Since Khan came to power in 2018, he has reshuffled the Cabinet several times.
Smartphones have gone beyond being simple communication tools. They have become trendy fashion accessories that are part of an individuals style statement. This goes beyond simply designing a pretty looking smartphone. It needs to have the right software and camera capability to appeal to the social media savvy generation.

OPPO seems to know this quite well. The companys F-Series of phones have always tended to focus on camera, design, performance, and faster charging. The new OPPO F19 Pro is one of the newest smartphones launched in the series and has high expectations to live up to.

We have had the phones with us for a while now and there are some of the key features that users can check out.

Quad-Camera setup

The OPPO F19 Pro packs a quad-rear camera setup. This includes a 48MP primary camera, an 8MP ultra wide-angle camera, a 2MP macro camera, and a 2MP mono camera. There is also a 16MP front-facing camera. With so many cameras, users have the flexibility to take the perfect shot for social media, and bring in the likes and shares. Be it detailed portraits, wide-open landscapes, huge groups of friends, detailed close-ups and more. The user is limited only by his or her imagination.

Besides hardware, the OPPO F19 Pro also has a bunch of software tricks up its sleeve. One of the most important ones being AI Colour Portrait Video. This feature uses artificial intelligence to intelligently recognise the human subject when taking a video. It then separates the subject and applies a monochrome filter to the background. The result is a video in which the subject is in full colour, but everything else is in monochrome.

Flaunt that design

As mentioned before, the design is pretty important to OPPO when it comes to the F-Series. Thankfully, the new OPPO F19 Pro seems to live up to the companys standards. The phone features a minimalist design with a one-piece quad-camera module at the back. Instead of an extremely glossy rear panel, the phone features a matte finish that would avoid fingerprints and smudges on it.

On top of this, the OPPO F19 Pro is also pretty slim and lightweight. The phone is 7.8mm thick and weighs about 172gm. This is pretty important as this impacts the way the phone feels in the hand.

The phone is available in two colour variants, Fluid Black and Crystal Silver. The Fluid Black variant features a gradient that goes from dark to light, which is said to be similar to ink smudging in water. The Crystal Silver features the Reno Glow Print Effect that makes the rear panel of the device glitter and catch the eye.

30W VOOC Flash Charge 4.0 in the house

The OPPO F19 Pro packs a 4310mAh battery.. To ensure users dont spend ages waiting for the device to charge back up, the phone supports the companys 30W VOOC Flash Charge 4.0 technology. With this in place, the phone is said to charge back up in just 56 minutes. In fact, OPPO notes that with a 5-minute charge, users can expect 3.2 hours of talk time or an hour of Instagram.

Besides the 30W VOOC Flash Charge 4.0 technology, the phone also comes with a Super Power Saving Mode. This mode kicks in when the battery level is extremely low and adjusts some key features of the phone. The CPU frequency and well as brightness is tuned to be as efficient as possible. There is also Super Nighttime Standby mode that is designed to kick in at night when the phone is not in use.

Octa-core performance

At the heart of the OPPO F19 Pro is an octa-core MediaTek Helio P95 SoC. This chipset features two performance-centric A75 cores that offer a maximum clock speed of 2.2GHz. For everyday tasks, the chipset uses six power-efficient A55 cores for better battery efficiency.

Besides hardware, OPPO has also tweaked the software to better performance. The OPPO F19 Pro runs on Android 11-based ColorOS 11.1. This includes a feature called System Performance Optimiser. This is specifically designed to improve touch responsiveness and reduce app launch times. It is also designed to reduce lag, even after long periods.

Large 6.43-inch display

The OPPO F19 Pro packs a 6.43-inch Super AMOLED FHD+ display with a single punch-hole in the corner that houses the front camera. The phone features a narrow bezel design that allows the phone to offer a screen-to-body ratio of 90.8%. There is also a fingerprint scanner hidden under the display that allows for a more clean build as there is no need for an exterior sensor.

As one can see, with the OPPO F19 Pro, the company has focused on the design, camera and performance of the phone. Snazzy camera features like the AI Color Portrait make it an alluring option of the social media savvy generation that wants to capture it all. Meanwhile, the overall design ensures that users still look cool while taking shots and recording video. In other words, the new phone continues the tradition of the F-Series of smartphones and is worthy of the badge.

The OPPO F19 Pro (8GB+128GB) starts at Rs 21,490 and is available across mainline retailers, Amazon, Flipkart and other leading e-commerce platforms The 8GB+256GB variant is priced at Rs 23,490 and will go on sale starting March 25th.

OPPO is also offering a special bundle deal that will allow F19 Pro or F19 Pro+ 5G buyers to buy the OPPO Enco W11 earbuds for Rs 999. They can also pick up the OPPO Band Style fitness tracker for Rs 2,499.

Aside from this, there are also a number of discounts and cashback offers for buyers. Those with an HDFC, ICICI, Kotak, Bank of Baroda, and Federal Bank credit cards can enjoy a 7.5% flat cashback. Paytm users get a 11% instant cashback and one EMI cashback with IDFC First Bank. HomeCredit and HDB Financial Services are offering a zero down payment option, while Bajaj Finserv, ICICI Bank and IDFC First Bank have a triple zero scheme in place. On top of this, existing OPPO customers can avail an additional one-time screen replacement offer that is valid for 365 days. Buyers can also get an extended warranty for 180 days along with Rs 1,500 upgrade bonus. These offers can be redeemed via the OPPO AI WhatsApp chatbot.

[Brand Story]
By Reito Kaneko, KYODO NEWS - Mar 26, 2021 - 21:07 | All, World, Japan

China's coast guard could step up armament and provocations around the Japanese-controlled Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea following the enforcement of a controversial Chinese law, a Japanese Defense Ministry think tank warned Friday.

The National Institute for Defense Studies said in an annual report that military competition between the United States and China in the Western Pacific is likely to further increase under a "new Cold War" between the two powers.

The institute published the report after Beijing on Feb. 1 enforced a law that allows the China Coast Guard to use weapons against foreign ships the country sees as illegally entering its waters, in what critics say is an attempt to seize the Senkakus, which China claims and calls Diaoyu.

"(Chinese President) Xi Jinping's leadership is stepping up efforts to strengthen challenge, based on force, to Japan's sovereignty" over the islands, said the report, titled East Asian Strategic Review 2021.

"Looking ahead, it requires strong concerns and alert that Chinese coast guard vessels could further build up armament and carry out more provocative acts in waters around the Senkakus," it said.

Masafumi Iida, head of a division at the institute's Regional Studies Department and one of the authors of the report, said, "(Chinese) law enforcement against Japanese fishing boats will likely become even more apparent."

"Last year there were signs as Chinese coast guard vessels followed and approached Japanese fishing boats," Iida told reporters. "It is possible that China could create an environment that is advantageous numerically for its vessels although they currently have around four near the Senkaku Islands."

There are 12 Japan Coast Guard vessels that are dedicated to protecting the uninhabited islets.

Referring to simmering tensions between the United States and China, the report said a "new Cold War" is expected to intensify as the People's Liberation Army seeks to deny the U.S. military's access to China in the event of contingencies.

The report cites a Chinese exercise from January to February during which a PLA Navy fleet consisting of a destroyer and three other vessels traveled to the Western Pacific through the South China Sea and the Bashi Channel, and then returned to the South China Sea after nearing Guam.

As U.S. B-52 bombers left Andersen Air Force Base on Guam last year, there were concerns of a possible decline in the country's Indo-Pacific region commitment once touted as a deterrence strategy against adversaries in Asia.

However, the report analyzes that the United States' move is in line with the 2018 National Defense Strategy, making its operations unpredictable.

Moreover, the United States has deployed B-1Bs in the Western Pacific that could install the latest long-range missiles, which the B-52H could not, as the report cites a U.S. Air Force person as saying it is the "best fit" for the Pacific area.

The report interprets the deployment as a containment strategy against China's PLA Navy.

The world is embroiled in the race between the two big powers, the United States and China, the report said, adding that countries, including in Europe, have started to pave the way for "strategic autonomy," meaning they aim not to be dependent on the two nations.

Australia, another important actor in the Indo-Pacific, is also seeking strategic autonomy as its relationship with China is deteriorating, but the report assesses that there has been no concrete outcome.

Related coverage:

Suga, Biden to affirm Senkakus fall under Japan-U.S. security pact

FOCUS: Japan expects deterrence to keep China in check over Senkakus

Japan could shoot at official vessels aiming to land on Senkaku Islands
Liberty High School senior Nathalia Mendoza Gutierrez was so nervous for her final scholarship interview Friday morning that she couldnt sleep.

The 17-year-old gave up on rest around 4 a.m., prayed and began prepping for whatever questions her principal, Harrison Bailey, might throw at her during what she thought was her last interview for a full-tuition ride to East Stroudsburg University.

Nathalia arrived at Liberty confident, ready to take on the day and convinced shed ace the interview. She was shocked when she found her family, teachers and representatives from East Stroudsburg awaiting her in Libertys art gallery.

The interview was a ruse to surprise Nathalia.

Shed already won the new superintendents scholarship, which the university plans to award to two Bethlehem Area School District seniors with grade point averages of 3.7 or better annually.

I was not expecting this at all, Nathalia said, wiping away tears. When I saw my family members, I was in shock. This is such an opportunity to me and my family.

Over at Freedom High School, Kayla Smith found herself shaking as she headed to the school library, but when she realized she was the only student in attendance Smith began to relax a little. Fifteen minutes after learning shed won, Smith was still in shock, but grinning below her face mask.

Im so overwhelmed, she said.

Sean Wright, assistant director of admissions at East Stroudsburg University, awards Freedom High School's Kayla Smith as the school's first recipient of the 2021 BASD Superintendent's Scholarship Program with East Stroudsburg University. Saed Hindash | For lehighvalleylive.com

Superintendent Joseph Roy said the Bethlehem Area School District already partnered with ESU to expand student access in many ways. The new scholarship valued at about $34,000 over four years  is now an incredible way to remove financial barriers to higher education and unlock promising students potential, Roy said.

Both Nathalia and Kayla plan to major in nursing at East Stroudsburg and they agree the scholarship is life changing for two first-generation college students.

It means I can afford my education. It means I am able to study and go to college, Nathalia said. It is my passion and purpose to pursue my career as a nurse.

When she was 11, Nathalias family fled drug and gang violence in their native Colombia and came to America. Fridays award ceremony left her mother Diana Gutierrez Pelaez with tears of joy flowing freely. It all felt like an unbelievable dream come true, her mother said.

It is impossible, but it is real, Gutierrez Pelaez said beaming.

Nathalias early days in the Bethlehem Area School District were spent in the English as a Second Language program and shell graduate from Liberty as one of the programs top volunteers. She enjoys working with younger students and acting as a role model for what they can achieve with hard work, she said.

District Supervisor of English Learner Services Carole Schachter said Nathalias been a phenomenal volunteer, who dedicates her time and skills to the office and students.

Sean Wright, assistant director of admissions at East Stroudsburg University, awards Liberty High School's Nathalia Mendoza Gutierrez as the school's first recipient of the 2021 BASD Superintendent's Scholarship Program with East Stroudsburg University. Saed Hindash | For lehighvalleylive.com

Roy said Nathalia embodies the classic story of immigrant families coming to the U.S. in search of a better life.

Having that level of academic success in your second language is impressive, he said.

Kayla hopes to one day earn her masters degree in nurse midwifery from the University of Pennsylvania and the scholarship makes that dream more financially attainable. Kayla, who works two jobs as a hostess at a diner and a cashier at Heights Market, worried about paying for college and affording an advanced degree. Shes always excelled in the sciences and is fascinated by the miracle of pregnancy and childbirth. She wants to help patients have a better hospital and birthing experience.

Shes so self motivated. I didnt have to hound her, Kaylas guidance counselor Seli Oquendo said. Shes always been on the ball. Shes a great student. Shes so well rounded.

Her parents David and Susan Smith were thrilled with Kaylas achievement.

She deserves it, her mother said. She works real hard.

The coronavirus pandemics made earning top grades in high school extra challenging, both students said, but they each found ways to keep pushing themselves. Kaylas seized the chance to take three dual enrollment courses at Northampton Community College online, earning college credits and pushing herself academically. Much of her scholarship essay focused on the mental effects of the pandemic on students missing out on social interactions, in-person learning and rites of passage.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com.

Sara K. Satullo may be reached at ssatullo@lehighvalleylive.com.
Space Science LLC was founded by Akhil Turai in November 2020 and aims to educate young people about space science through various interactive elements. The creator of Space Science LLC, Akhil Turai, is just twenty-six years old, and he has a fascinating educational background which led him to where he is currently. Today we are going to discover more about Akhil Turais upbringing and what led him to create Space Science LLC.

Akhil Turai  His Educational Background

For any aspiring aerospace engineer, Akhil Turai is an inspirational role model. However, his route to where he is today is a little different from what you may expect. He dropped out of university twice during his time in education. Throughout his educational career, he shifted majors from electronics engineering to chemical technology, before finally settling on aerospace engineering.

He first became interested in space at the age of nine, when he was fascinated by Stephen Hawkings A Brief History of Time. However, he never believed it was something he could pursue as a career, until 2014 when his passion for space was reignited. Akhil Turai then enrolled in an online Astrophysics program with the Australian National University before completing his major in Aerospace Engineering on campus. His unusual route to his current success teaches young people that they should keep experimenting with new ideas during their education before settling on the field they are most passionate about.

Space Science LLC

Space Science LLC was conceived on 11/11/2020 and was then officially incorporated the next day in Delaware, U.S. The company aims to help young people learn more about the field of space science. This will be achieved through interactive gaming apps, quizzes,

competitions, and much more. While one of its biggest focuses is astrophysics and astronomy for young people, its also open to the general public of all ages. Kids and adults will be able to explore our incredible universe with telescopes for stargazing.

Akhil Turai aims to create a world in which space is part of the education of young people so that the industry will continue to grow for years to come. As an aerospace engineer himself, finding interactive and enjoyable ways to get future generations involved is what he believes is the key to developing future space scientists and engineers. He hopes to encourage children and teenagers to further develop their education through fun and interactive learning tools.

Space is a field that is often overlooked within regular school curriculums but is something that is fascinating to young boys and girls around the world. To help incentivize learning, Space Science LLC will run incredible competitions such as the Space Science Olympiad. The first prize for winning this event includes meeting a NASA astronaut, so as you can imagine, this is going to encourage many youngsters to further their education.

Akhil Turai is dedicated to the development of the aerospace industry and is also working to shape the future of planetary defense. As an ambitious young aerospace engineer himself, Akhil Turai will no doubt continue to inspire the younger generation to follow in his footsteps and consider a career within the field.

(Disclaimer: This is a Brand Desk content)
LUCKNOW: The State Election Commission (SEC) on Friday announced the polling dates for the upcoming Panchayat Elections 2021 across Uttar Pradesh.

According to the poll panel's announcement, the polling will be held in four phases - first phase polling on 15th April, second phase on 19th April, third phase on 26th April and fourth phase on 29th April.

Counting of votes will be held on 2nd May, the SEC said.

State Election Commission announces polling dates for Panchayat Elections 2021. Polls to be held in four phases - first phase polling on 15th April, second phase on 19th April, third phase on 26th April and fourth phase on 29th April. Counting of votes on 2nd May.  ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) March 26, 2021

The SEC warned that strict action will be taken against those who spread wrong and misleading information through social media in connection with the UP Panchayat elections. The State Election Commission has directed the DM and SP to keep a strict vigil on the social media postings. A notification will be issued in this regard soon, it said.

State Election Commissioner Manoj Kumar said all district magistrates or district election officers of the state and senior superintendents of police and superintendents of police posted in the districts should keep a vigilant view on wrong, misleading and sensational information to the public by keeping their media cell fully active till the voting concludes.

According to the information, the nomination process of the first phase of panchayat polls will start on April 3. The nomination can be filed from April 7 to 8.

It may be recalled that on Thursday, the UP government has disposed of the objections and released the final reservation list regarding the panchayat polls.

Meanwhile, all eyes are set on the Supreme Court as it will hear a petition regarding reservation in the UP Panchayat Election 2021 (Panchayat Chunav), challenging the Allahabad High Court order to shift the base year for reservations to 2015 from 1995.

In view of the coronavirus situation in Uttar Pradesh, the State Election Commission (SEC) had on Monday said not more than five people will be allowed to accompany a candidate during door-to-door campaigning for the panchayat elections.

A letter in this regard has been sent to all the district magistrates. Additional Election Commissioner Ved Prakash Verma said a three-member team will be formed under the additional district magistrates to ensure the directives issued by the SEC are being followed.

At the district-level, the chief medical officers have been made nodal officers and stress has been laid on COVID-19 prevention. The SEC has emphasised on the provision of sanitiser, soaps and water for the candidates while they come to file their nomination papers.

It has also been decided that only one candidate will be allowed to enter the room of the election officer. Similarly, during polling, the voters will have to put up a mask and maintain social distancing. Instructions have also been issued to make circles at a distance of six feet at the polling centres.

Verma said COVID-19 norms will also be followed during the counting of votes and added that PPE kits will also be arranged as per requirement. The Allahabad High Court had recently asked the state government to complete the panchayat election process by May 25.

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Two Vietnamese women returning home illegally through Phu Quoc Island in the Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang were diagnosed with COVID-19, the Ministry of Health said on March 26.

Body temperature checked helps prevent the spread of COVID-19. (Photo: VNA)

Both of them, aged 25, came back to Vietnam on a fishing vessel on March 22. The same day, one travelled to Ho Chi Minh City by boat and road, while the other flew to Hanoi on Vietjet flight VJ458 before going to Hai Phong City on a private car.



The woman who came to Ho Chi Minh City got medical checkup at FV hospital on March 24, and was tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 on March 25. She is being quarantined at Cu Chi Hospital. Meanwhile, the other had a test at Vinmec Hospital in Hai Phong City on March 24, and was confirmed positive on the following day.



The Ministry of Health issued an urgent notice at 23:00 on March 25, asking all passengers on flight VJ458 from Phu Quoc to Noi Bai International Airport to contact medical stations nearby for support.



Meanwhile, competent authority in Thuan An City, southern Binh Duong Province sealed off road D35 in the Vietnam-Singapore residential area in An Phu Ward as one Chinese man living there was contracted with COVID-19. The man came to Moc Bai border gate in Tay Ninh Province for goods purchase a couple of days ago.



The authority has identified eight people who came in close contact with the case.



As of 6:00 on March 26, Vietnam documented 1,603 domestically-transmitted infections, including 910 logged since the latest outbreak on January 27.



As many as 36,480 people who came in close contact with COVID-19 patients or arrived from pandemic-hit areas are under quarantine nationwide, including 485 at hospitals, 18,343 at other quarantine sites, and 17,652 at home.



The Ministry of Healths Medical Examination and Treatment Management Department said that 2,265 patients have been clear of the virus so far.



Among the patients under treatment, 54 have tested negative for the virus once, 21 twice, and 45 thrice.



The National Expanded Programme on Immunisation said that additional 2,408 people were inoculated with COVID-19 vaccine on March 25.



By 16:00 on the day, Vietnam had 42,225 frontline medical workers receiving COVID-19 vaccine shots.

Chinese man in Binh Duong tests positive for Covid-19

A residential area in the southern province of Binh Duong was locked down from Thursday evening after a Chinese man tested positive for Covid-19.

According to Thuan An City Peoples Committee, residential area 4 in An Phu Ward has been temporarily closed. A Covid-19 checkpoint has also been set up on Road D35 nearby.

The 44-year-old Chinese man has been living in Binh Duong since before the Lunar New Year 2021. Earlier, he had come to Moc Bai Border Gate in Tay Ninh Province and had close contact with some Cambodian people there.

Binh Duong authorities have identified eight people who had come into close contact with the man.

This is the first Covid-19 case in Binh Duong reported over the past 50 days.

VNA/Dtinews
Amid rise in infections, Maharashtra administration announced a night curfew in the state from Sunday night to prevent the spread of the virus and to avoid large gatherings.

Further, malls have been directed to remain closed from 8 pm to 7 am, according to an official statement from the chief minister's office.

"In view of the increasing number of corona infections in the state, chief minister Uddhav Thackeray has instructed officials to impose a night curfew in the state from Sunday night (March 28)," the CM's office said.

"To avoid congestion, Thackeray also directed officials to implement some strict measures to curb growing infections and do it effectively," according to the statement.

The chief minister asked officials to ensure availability of adequate hospital beds and medicines and also warned of stricter restrictions if people did not adhere to Covid-19 safety protocols, it said.

A separate order in this regard will be issued by the disaster management and rehabilitation department soon, the CM's office noted.

Earlier during the day, Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray chaired a meeting of all divisional commissioners, collectors, SPs, and senior doctors of district hospitals to review Covid-19 situation in the state, through video conference.

On Friday, Maharashtra recorded 36,902 infections, the biggest single-day spike since the pandemic began last year. The state has added over 100,000 cases in just four days.

On Friday, Nagpur saw its highest every single-day spike in Covid-19 cases as 4,095 people were detected with the infection, while the day also saw 35 deaths and 1,943 people getting discharged.

The district's caseload now stands at 211,162, including 4,819 deaths, and a recovery count of 169,407 has left it with 36,936 active cases.
After a year without a single large-scale shooting in a public place, the country recorded yet another within six days when a gunman killed 10 people in Boulder, Colo., on Monday. In covering these tragedies, Times reporters and editors weigh extremely delicate issues like what information to publish and when, how to sensitively approach grieving family members and how to put the event in context for a national audience.

As Mr. Laceys successor, Jia Lynn Yang, mobilized national correspondents to cover the Boulder shooting this week, Mr. Lacey shared in an edited interview how The Times approaches those issues, and how its coverage of mass shootings has changed in the past 10 years.

How does The Times decide when to identify a suspect in a mass shooting?

We publish the names when theyre confirmed by the authorities. We dont always publish the photo of the perpetrator or suspect. Theres considerable research that shows that those who commit mass shootings thoroughly research past mass shootings  some people call it the Columbine Effect. These young men become obsessed with looking at all the coverage and images of previous gunmen, and want to seek similar, in their minds, glory, by committing their own heinous acts.

If you do publish a photo of a suspect, what do you consider?

We shy away from publishing images in which the gunman is brandishing weapons, because that sort of imagery is exactly what the suspect wants to get out there  they often leave these images on social media feeds for that very purpose.

When do you publish the names of victims?

The only way we would publish a victims name before the authorities is if the family themselves publicized the name and we had confirmed it. The authorities are very careful about notifying next of kin before releasing names, and we certainly dont want anyone to find out their relative died in a mass shooting by reading The New York Times.
Want to save on your property tax bill as a reward for shopping local?

The state Legislature on Thursday approved legislation (A4806) allowing and New Jersey municipalities to create this kind of incentive program that encourages property owners to patronize their local businesses with discounted property taxes.

The average property tax bill in New Jersey hit a whopping $9,112 last year.

Such programs already exist in places like Marlboro, which bills its program as the first in the country, Voorhees, Haddonfield, and in Union Township, where homeowners are reminded that the more they shop, the more they save. The bill signs-off on rewards programs already in place.

Municipalities across New Jersey have found a way to do the impossible; encourage residents to support local businesses, while at the same time lowering their property taxes. Businesses do more business. Shoppers know every dollar they spend at participating local stores and restaurants will lower their property tax bill, said Assemblyman Nicholas Chiaravalloti, D-Hudson, who sponsored the bill.

Its common-sense solutions like this that will boost New Jerseys economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic-induced recession and ease its burden on small businesses and hardworking families, he said in a statement.

The state Senate passed the measure 37-0 on Thursday, followed by a 72-0 vote in the Assembly. It must be signed by the governor to become law.

Under these programs, municipalities offer a reward card that shoppers use when making purchases at local participating shops, with a percentage of the sale going to lower the shoppers property tax bill. Out-of-town shoppers could receive their reward as a rebate check, according to the bill.

Businesses determine the size of the rewards. A website for Marlboros program indicates businesses have opted to offer rewards of 1% to 12%, with many offering an 8% credit. Theyre responsible for paying the municipality the value of the property tax credits earned by shoppers.

Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a subscription.

Samantha Marcus may be reached at smarcus@njadvancemedia.com.
Urge the Namibian President to Save the Okavango Delta - Youth Climate Activists
HANGZHOU, China, March 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Hollywood film composer Mark Chait will embark on the journey "Searching for Music along Poetry Road" in Zhejiang. This year, Chait will compose a symphony based on the cultural landscapes on the four "Poetry Roads". As soon as the song is released, musicians from around the world will collaborate in its online performance.

The "Searching for Music along Poetry Road" project has been developed by the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism and is expected to last nearly one year. During this period, Chait will travel through the four "Poetry Roads", to gain knowledge of the profound Shangshan(10000-8400 years from now), Kuahuqiao(8000-7000 years from now),Hemudu(7000-6000 years from now) and Liangzhu(5300-4300 years from now) cultures. He will experience intangible cultural heritages such as the Southern and Yue Operas, celadon and tea, as well as listen to the sound of waves on West Lake, and also the Qiantang and the Nanxi Rivers. The inspiration gathered along the journey will be encapsulated in a symphony titled " Picturesque Zhejiang ". A documentary of the same name, Searching for Music along Poetry Road, will record Chait's course of finding inspiration.

As a winner of the prestigious Emmy Award and three-time Telly Award, Chait has created many world-renowned compositions. The Power of One, the title song for Warner Bros' Pokemon 2000, was a Billboard chart hit for eight weeks.Full of expectations to create music that blends both Western and Chinese elements.

COVID-19 has led to the demise of face-to-face communication between countries. However,According to Xu Peng, Deputy Director of the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, the music could be considered a language that knows no borders and has gone beyond any existing geographical restrictions. This composition will help more people learn about China and Zhejiang, and subsequently make it their next travel destination.

The product of Chait's thoughts gained from his travels comes, comes in the form a symphony specifically for Zhejiang, which will then be presented to the world. At that stage, Chait will perform the piece at Zhejiang's main venue. Famous musicians will be invited to collaborate in the performance at venues in Europe, North America, East Asia and Australia, offering an international online music event to showcase Picturesque Zhejiang to the rest of the world.

SOURCE Zhejiang People's Broadcasting Station Music FM; Zhejiang Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism
In January 2021 China launched the third (of eight) 40,000-ton Type 075 LHDs (amphibious assault ship that mainly use helicopters to get troops ashore). That makes three LHDs put into the water within 16 months. The first two were launched in September 2019 and April 2020. Both of these are now undergoing sea trials. Construction on the first LHD began in 2011 and was in sea trials by August 2020. Sea trials on the first of a class typically take longer because it is a new design and several trips to the shipyard for modifications before the first in class enters service. The first LHD will probably enter service in 2021 or 2022. As more are built the basic design is modified based on the experience of earlier ships and the availability of new technology.

The Chinese LHD is 237m (778 feet) long and 35m (118 feet) wide. Air defense consists of two 30mm CIWS (similar to the American Phalanx) and two HQ-10 SAM (Surface to Air Missile) launchers.

There is a crew of 1,100 sailors and capacity for carrying up to 1,200 troops who are put ashore using about 20 transport helicopters and a few landing craft. There is a well dock in the rear for loading Type 726 air-cushioned landing craft as well as conventional landing craft. The vehicle deck carries an undetermined number of trucks and ZBD05 amphibious IFV (Infantry Fighting Vehicles) and the ZTD05 amphibious light tanks. Vehicles can also be driven on or off the LHDs via ramps, like a RORO (Roll On Roll Off) vehicle transports. It will take a few years of experience before determining the optimal mix of combat vehicles and landing craft for this class of LHDs.

This ship is designed to carry 30 helicopters of various types. China does not have any heavy lift helicopters or tilt wing transports like those that operate off American amphibious ships. China also lacks VTOL (Vertical Take Off and Landing) warplanes like the F-35B or the earlier Harrier. China is currently using the 13-ton Z-8 naval helicopter transport on amphibious ships. The Z-8 is based on the French Super Frelon. The Z-8 can carry 20 or more troops and also be armed with missiles, rockets and machine-guns. China has a growing number of helicopter gunships and these have been seen practicing operations from warships. China is also introducing a copy of the American 11-ton SH-60 naval helicopter.

The Type 75 is similar to the eight American 41,000-ton LHD helicopter carriers that are capable of carrying up to twenty F-35B fighters. The design of these American mini-carriers was influenced by the earlier eight Wasp class LHDs. The last of these amphibious assault ships (Makin Island, LHD-8) entered service in 2009 and was followed by two more that had some drastic modifications that led them to be designated LHAs because they were a bit larger (45,000 tons) and did not have the internal dock for landing craft. The additional space was devoted to more fuel, weapons storage and aircraft maintenance. The first of these ships (LHA-6) entered service in 2014, the second one in mid-2020 and the third (of 11) began construction in 2019. The LPDs tend to carry twelve 21-ton V-22s tilt-rotors aircraft, eight AH-1 helicopter gunships, ten F-35B VTOL (Vertical Take Off and Land) stealth fighters, four 33-ton CH-53K, and 4 Navy CH-60 helicopters. In both cases, actual air combat elements, the term for the reinforced combat aircraft deployed on these vessels, may vary depending on the mission. The LHA-6 is being built with these new VTOL aircraft, tilt-rotors, and helicopters in mind.

Meanwhile, China was scaling up. As of early 2021 they have six Type 071 class amphibious ship into service in service and two launched and fitting out. The first one arrived for duty in 2007 and by the time the second one entered service in 2011 the Chinese apparently realized they would need more than the four they originally planned to build. Meanwhile, China is also expanding its marine infantry force from three to seven brigades. As of 2020 six brigades (each with over 5,000 troops) were in service.

The 071s are LPD (landing ship dock) type vessels and were the largest ships in the Chinese Navy until the first aircraft carrier entered service in 2013. But while Chinese aircraft carriers are still a work in progress, work was quickly found for the LPDs right away. This makes Chinese neighbors uncomfortable.

These LPDs are 210m (689 foot) long, 25,000-ton amphibious ships with a flight deck for up to four helicopters and a flooded well in the rear for landing craft. It normally carries four hovercraft in the well and two smaller landing craft suspended on davits. The ship can carry up to 800 troops (500 are more common) and up to 20 armored vehicles. Max speed is 46 kilometers an hour with cruising speed 33 kilometers an hour. At that speed, a Type 071 can stay at sea for up to 60 days. The 071 class ships are similar to the American 25,000-ton San Antonio class or the French 21,500-ton Mistral class. The 071s have the smallest crew (120) compared to 180 in the Mistral and 396 for the San Antonio.

Type 071 armament consists of a 76mm gun, four 30mm anti-missile autocannon, and four 18 tube decoy/chaff dispensers (for anti-missile work). Each 071 is believed to cost about $300 million, less than half what a San Antonio or Mistral cost. The Type 75s appear to have the same four 30mm autocannon plus two HHQ-10 anti-aircraft missile launchers. These have a range of about six kilometers.

The 071s had some interesting adventures early on. In 2010 China sent the first one (the Kunlan Shan) to join the anti-piracy patrol off Somalia. The Kunlan Shan went to Somalia without a lot of troops or any armored vehicles. But there were two Z-8 helicopters on board, each capable of carrying up to twenty troops, and the landing craft could be used to go after pirates. Some naval commandos were probably on board as these troops have been seen, several times, practicing landing on cargo ships (via helicopter or small boats).

The Kunlan Shan was the largest Chinese warship to be sent on anti-piracy duty. The previous five rotations (each four months long) only included frigates and destroyers. The appearance of the second LPD in the South China Sea made Vietnam and the Philippines nervous that China might be ready to seize possession of some uninhabited islands that all these nations claim. The Chinese also found the LPD useful not just for handling the situation in the South China Sea but also for disaster relief missions. These proved very popular with the distressed locals and Chinese diplomats.

Now that it is clear that China will soon have eight LPDs plus eleven of the larger Type 75s. These ships will be crucial in establishing and supplying small outposts in the South China Sea and elsewhere off the Chinese coast where there more disputed islands. The recent appearance of 071s in the Indian Ocean indicates Chinese amphibious ambitions have a very long reach indeed. When not being the intimidator the 071s stand ready to help out in natural disasters in the region. In both cases the 071s show countries in the region that China now has a large fleet and can be your friend or the neighbor who quickly and unexpectedly invades you from the sea.
Former South African president Jacob Zuma has said he's ready to be jailed should the courts decide so.



In a lengthy statement on Thursday, Mr Zuma explained why he has not appeared before a commission of inquiry looking into corruption allegations against him. He denies any wrongdoing.



Mr Zuma says he has lost trust in the South Africa's justice system.



"All I said is that I am not afraid of going to jail, as I was not under the apartheid system. However, I will not subject myself to an oppressive and unjust court system."



On Thursday, the South African Constitutional Court reserved judgement - or withheld the decision - in the contempt case against him.



Mr Zuma has ignored summons to appear before the commission of inquiry being chaired by Justice Ray Zondo to answer corruption allegations - saying he believed that Justice Zondo was biased against him.



The countrys highest court in January ordered him to appear before the commission, but he ignored the order.



The commission's lawyer Tembeka Ngcukaitobi on Thursday said Mr Zuma's failure to comply with a court order was "deliberate and cynical".



His conduct must be seen for what it is. We are dealing with a cynical manoeuvre to avoid accountability.



The lawyer said a two-year jail term they wanted imposed on Mr Zuma would show the level of seriousness of his actions.



The court is expected to make its ruling at a later, but undeclared, date.

Source: BBC









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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday assured Bangladesh's main parliamentary Opposition Jatiya Party of doing his best to ink the long-awaited deal over the Teesta and other common rivers.

His comments came during a meeting with the Jatiya Party leaders.

Modi is here on a two-day visit to attend the celebrations of the golden jubilee of the country's independence, the birth centenary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and hold talks with his counterpart Sheikh Hasina.

Jatiya Party's chief patron Raushan Ershad led the four-member delegation in the meeting with Modi at the Sonargaon Hotel. The meeting lasted for 25 minutes.

The Jatiya Party delegation during the meeting raised the longstanding issue of resolving the water-sharing of Teesta and other 54 common rivers with India.

Read | Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina seeks India's pioneering role for South Asia's development

"I have already made the commitment on inking a treaty on water-sharing of Teesta River. Discussions at the technical level are underway over this. We must sign the treaty," Jatiya Party Secretary General Ziauddin Ahmed Bablu quoting the Indian premier as saying.

Jatiya Party Chairman G M Quader told a newspaper that Modi simultaneously assured that "we will do whatever is necessary for our friendly country Bangladesh".

Quader said his party requested the Indian premier to introduce an on-arrival visa for Bangladeshis, increase people-to-people connectivity and scholarships for Bangladeshi students.

Jatiya Party in a statement said its leaders reminded Modi that outstanding issues involving the common rivers must be resolved as "water, air and birds" are above political boundaries.

"This was the comment made by Mr Narendra Modi himself during his 2019 Bangladesh tour," Bablu said.

Indian foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla and other senior officials were present during the meeting.

Also Read | Bangladesh Foreign Minister A K Abdul Momen calls on PM Modi, discusses bilateral ties

India and Bangladesh share 54 common streams with the Teesta being a major one.

The Teesta river originates in Sikkim, flows through the northern parts of West Bengal, before entering Bangladesh and joining the Brahmaputra river.

The flow of the river is crucial for Bangladesh from December to March during which the country requires 50 per cent of the river's water supply.

The Teesta deal was set to be signed during then Prime Minister Manmohan Singhs visit to Bangladesh in September, 2011 but was postponed at the last minute due to objections by West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee.

Banarjee had expressed strong reservations against giving Bangladesh a greater share of water.

On Saturday, Prime Minister Modi will hold talks with his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina when all issues related to bilateral concerns are expected to be discussed, according to Bangladesh foreign ministry officials.
For a brief moment on Tuesday, at the bewildering press conference where he came to apologise to the women of Australia for not hearing them but wound up losing his temper, Scott Morrison seemed to grasp that he might personify the very problem weve all been talking about. That there was something in the way he conducts himself as Prime Minister  in his private dealings with female members of his government, and in his public dealings with the press  that has added fuel to the month-long debate about the treatment of women.

Morrison revealed that he had been listening carefully to female colleagues and friends about the issues and the traumatic things that they have had to deal with. One of the things he learnt was that men in power dont see women as equals.

A visibly distressed Prime Minister Scott Morrison at a press conference in Canberra on Tuesday. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

I have heard that women are overlooked, talked over, by men, whether it is in boardrooms, meeting rooms, staff rooms, in media conferences, in cabinets, or anywhere else, he said.

The key words here are media conferences and cabinets. There is no other person who his colleagues and friends could have been referring to. They may have sugar-coated their observations by assuring the PM that he didnt mean to come across this way, and that his federal predecessors, as well as countless state premiers, were also prone to mansplaining. But Morrison is that guy he described, and it is a credit him that he could acknowledge it as part of Tuesdays mea culpa.
German wine chateau sees great potential in Chinese market

Xinhua) 10:51, March 26, 2021

File Photo.

FRANKFURT, March 26 (Xinhua) -- For Schloss Reinhartshausen, a centuries-old wine chateau situated in the Rheingau wine-growing region in Germany, China will be a key market for white wine in the future as its consumers become more sophisticated in wine consumption.

Considering the huge market potential, it is very relevant to have an agreement on geographical indications in place between the European Union and China, the chateau's export manager Alexander Lorch told Xinhua in a recent interview.

Founded in 1337, Schloss Reinhartshausen is one of the oldest wineries in the world. About 90 percent of its vineyards around the chateau are planted with Riesling grapes, to be made into Germany's renowned Riesling wine.

"The origin of Riesling is the most important to the wine itself and to the style, to the character," Lorch explained. "It is important that the consumer is aware of what he is purchasing."

For Lorch, Chinese consumers are becoming increasingly sophisticated, and the country is shifting from heavy red wine consumption towards a more diversified demand. "We see that there is improvement, that there is interest, that there is experiment," Lorch said.

Lorch said he believes there exists a large market for white wine in China. "When you have a very strong red wine consumption by history, and then you start to find there is more than red wine, there is white, there is Riesling, there are other varietals," he said.

Riesling would be a good choice for those who prefer less acidity and more fruitiness, Lorch said, adding that the wine accompanies an assortment of dishes without overwhelming the food.

"The white wines will have a great future, at least in the younger population of China," he said.

Although the German domestic market takes up 60 percent to 70 percent of the chateau's sales, China is becoming its most important export market, according to Lorch.

"It's the most important spirit for all of us at Reinhartshausen to really take the chance and develop step by step the Chinese market," Lorch said.

The chateau has already set foot on China's metropolitan areas including Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, and is expanding. It has also been a frequenter to wine expos in Chengdu and Shanghai before the pandemic.

Lorch said China reopened earlier than other markets in the world after the pandemic lockdowns, another positive factor in its market potential.

He hopes the chateau could welcome Chinese visitors again, possibly from 2022 on, to experience the chateau and the estate.

(Web editor: Guo Wenrui, Liang Jun)
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Boris Johnson has condemned a 'mob intent on violence' after anti-police protesters rioted in Bristol again last night.

The Prime Minister slammed the 'disgraceful' demonstration and hit out at those 'intent on violence and causing damage to property'.

He was backed by Priti Patel who blasted the 'thugs' who were 'only intent on causing trouble' at the Kill the Bill march.

The Home Secretary said she was 'disgusted' by the attacks on police, which saw protesters launch fireworks at officers on horseback outside Bridewell Police Station.

She said the force 'have my full support' and added she believed the 'silent, law-abiding majority will be appalled by the actions of this criminal minority'.

Police used their shields to batter protesters, sending some of them tumbling to the ground as they pushed and shoved at the police line blocking off their headquarters.

More than 100 riot officers started to disperse the crowd of more than 1,000 people after eggs, bottles and traffic cones were pelted at them, with snarling dogs marched forwards to force the demonstrators back.

Officers were seen beating at least one protester across the thighs as he refused to go quietly when he was apprehended. Two other videos on social media showed journalists being shoved back by officers.

Ten arrests were made after what police called unacceptable 'violent conduct' at the third Kill the Bill demonstration.

Protesters are demanding the government scrap a new policing bill which criminalises marches deemed a 'public nuisance.'

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At around 11pm footage emerged showing mounted officers cantering towards the crowds before a firework was hurled among the horses' hooves. When the rocket exploded the terrified horses scattered across the road as their riders lurched around in their saddles and policemen on foot rushed aside to avoid being clattered by the animals.

Horses are sent skittering across the pavement as a firework explodes at their feet in appalling scenes in Bristol on Friday night

Violence exploded in Bristol again last night with protesters hurling fireworks at mounted police after anarchy broke out yards from the police station which was the scene of last Sunday's chaos

Ten arrests were made after what police called unacceptable 'violent conduct' at the third Kill the Bill demonstration

Officers used their shields to batter protesters, sending some of them tumbling to the ground as they pushed and shoved at the police line blocking off Bridewell Police Station

More than 100 riot police started to disperse the crowd of more than 1,000 people after eggs, bottles and traffic cones were pelted at them, with snarling dogs marched forwards to force the demonstrators back

Police riders were sent careering across the road after a firework was pelted at them by a rioter in Bristol city centre on Friday night

A demonstrator falls during a clash with police officers at the 'kill the bill' protest in central Bristol on Friday night

Demonstrators scuffle with riot police in Bristol city centre last night after their protest of the new policing bill turned violent

Mounted officers are seen holding their ground before a crowd of people on the streets of Bristol last night

A protester is tackled by officers as they move in to shut down demonstrations in Bristol city centre on Friday night

Mounted officers backed by policemen with riot shields march the crowds backwards after mayhem broke out on Friday night

Mounted officers on guard on the streets of Bristol on Friday night as hundreds of demonstrators continued to rail against them

A protester wrenches at a police riot shield in Bristol city centre on Friday night during clashes between demonstrators and officers

An officer detains a protester last night as another stands guard while they are surrounded by crowds of demonstrators

Police officers with raised batons move in to disperse the crowds in central Bristol on Friday night

An officer wearing riot gear is seen grappling with a protester on the pavement in Bristol last night

Riot police were seen using their shields to whack protesters at the front of the line who were shoving into officers

A man wearing a hood shoves back police by holding onto one of their riot shields in Bristol last night

An officer uses the butt of his shield to strike a protester in his midriff during Friday night's riot

Snarling dogs were deployed by officers to march the crowds out of the city centre and away from the police headquarters

Mr Johnson said: 'Last night saw disgraceful attacks against police officers in Bristol. Our officers should not have to face having bricks, bottles and fireworks being thrown at them by a mob intent on violence and causing damage to property. The police and the city have my full support.'

Ms Patel added: 'I'm in no doubt the silent, law-abiding majority will be appalled by the actions of this criminal minority.

'Despite repeated warnings to disperse, it's clear these thugs were only intent on causing trouble. I am receiving regular updates and the police have my full support.'

At around 11pm footage emerged showing mounted officers cantering towards the crowds before a firework was hurled among the horses' hooves.

When the rocket exploded the terrified horses scattered across the road as their riders lurched around in their saddles and policemen on foot rushed aside to avoid being clattered by the animals.

'No, no, stop,' yelled some protesters, intent on maintaining a semblance of peace amid the rioting.

More than 1,000 had earlier massed outside the police station in the city centre which on Sunday was targeted by rioters who torched police vans amid 40 reports of assaults on officers.

Timeline of the Bristol protests: Sunday, March 21: Around 3,000 were protesting the new policing bill peacefully on College Green before a hardcore of 500 activists arrived outside Bridewell Police Station in Bristol city centre. They torched police vans, smashed windows of buildings and attacked officers. Avon and Somerset Police is investigating assaults on 40 officers and one member of the media. Tuesday, March 23: Two days after the riot around 100 demonstrators gathered on College Green in the heart of the city's student area. On this occasion there was no rioting, but one witness described officers' dispersal of the protesters as 'quite heavy-handed', which was 'shocking to see.' Officers made 15 arrests. Friday, March 26: Ten arrests were made after what police called unacceptable 'violent conduct' at the third Kill the Bill demonstration in Bristol. Some 300 people initially joined a protest march through the city centre against the Government's new Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill on Friday night, before the crowd swelled to more than 1,000 as tempers flared. Advertisement

As they crowded around the wide cordon set up by police with shields and parked vans, officers were tipped off that a group of six men were spotted in the crowd wearing knuckledusters just 100 yards from the police headquarters.

Some demonstrators were seen turning up with carrier bags full of booze despite police putting a restriction notice on city centre shops banning them from selling alcohol.

Others earlier held daffodils out to officers to symbolise peace, with some walking up to their riot shields and placing the flowers on top - but the demonstration soon deteriorated.

Protesters had also shone laser lights into officers' faces, the force said.

Some 300 people initially joined a protest march through the city centre against the Government's new Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, before the crowd swelled to more than 1,000 as tempers flared.

Police officers wearing helmets and holding shields moved towards the protesters after 10pm, after calling for the crowd to disperse.

A statement from the force said ten people were arrested in the city over the night. Avon and Somerset Police Superintendent Mark Runacres said: 'Ten people were arrested for offences including violent disorder, assaulting an emergency worker and possession of Class A drugs.

'Items, including glass bottles and bricks were thrown at officers, fireworks were launched at our mounted section while one of our horses was also covered with paint.'

He added: 'Three of those arrested were also detained in connection with the violent disorder which took place in Bristol on Sunday.'

The force had previously urged people not to attend, and later to go home due to the risk of spreading Covid-19.

A large police presence was on duty during the demonstration, including horses and dogs which were used to help move the crowd back.

Prior to the arrests, protesters had been spotted dancing to music despite heavy rain, handing out flowers and chanting slogans such as 'Who do you protect?' and 'Justice for Sarah'.

Rows of officers and vans had blocked the protesters from Bridewell police station, the scene of Sunday's violence.

Friday's protest was the third demonstration held in Bristol against the proposed Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill.

The legislation would give police in England and Wales more power to impose conditions on non-violent protests, including those deemed too noisy or a nuisance, with those convicted under the bill liable to fines or jail terms.

The first demonstration last Sunday began peacefully with around 3,000 attending, but descended into a riot when some 500 people marched on Bridewell police station.

Nine people have been arrested in connection with the disorder, in which officers attacked, police vehicles were set on fire and the windows of a police station smashed. The force later retracted claims two officers suffered fractures in Sunday night's riot.

Snarling dogs are marched forwards by officers amid rioting on the streets of Bristol on Friday night

Officers with batons and shields drawn defend their colleagues on horseback in Bristol on Friday night

Demonstrators push back police officers during a protest against a newly proposed policing bill

A man takes hold of a police riot shield as scuffles break out

Mounted officers are deployed behind riot police with shields during the clashes

A protester lies on the road with his hands up to shield his head during angry clashes with riot police

A hooded man pushes against riot police in the city centre on Friday night

A demonstrator lies on the pavement after being bundled to the ground by riot police

People are seen clashing with riot police in Bristol city centre on Friday night over the new policing legislation

Police dogs are used to disperse crowds in Bristol city centre on Friday night

Police with riot shields shove against demonstrators in the city centre on Friday night

A woman can be seeing pushing against a riot shield in the city centre during ferocious clashes on Friday night

Protesters are seen pushing against police riot shields in Bristol on Friday night amid anger over the new policing bill

Riot police use their shields to force demonstrators back after an hours-long protest which began this afternoon turned violent

A demonstrator is seen pushing against police officers with riot shields in the city centre last night

Police officers hold their shields as hundreds of demonstrators mass around them and their colleagues on horses

'We believed the information had been verified but it had not, and while we apologise for that there was no intention to mislead,' a force spokesman said. A second protest took place on College Green on Tuesday night and resulted in 15 arrests.

Earlier on Friday, National Police Chiefs' Council chairman Martin Hewitt warned large gatherings remained illegal under lockdown rules and suggested there were extremist agitators seeking to 'hijack' peaceful protests.

Mr Hewitt said protesters arrived at Sunday's demo 'intent on causing violence and causing damage' and that the people arrested were from 'literally all over the United Kingdom'.

'I would ask people planning to protest this weekend to think carefully and consider whether joining a large gathering outside, in the midst of a pandemic, and potentially being near the scene of violence like we saw last weekend, is something that is safe for them as individuals to do,' he said.

'And let me really be clear that any person who is identified committing such acts of violence as we saw can expect to face the full weight of the law.

Protestors and police officers in Bristol city centre for the third 'Kill the Bill' protest against new policing powers, March 26

Demonstrators gesture in front of police officers during a protest against a newly proposed policing bill, in Bristol

Police officers detain a demonstrator during a protest against a newly proposed policing bill, in Bristol

Protestors and police officers in Bristol city centre for the third 'Kill the Bill' protest against new policing powers

Police officers clash with demonstrators during a protest against a newly proposed policing bill

Police officers detain a man as they move in on demonstrators in Bristol

A demonstrator with a bandaged wrapped around his bleeding head during clashes in the city on Friday night

Police officers move in on demonstrators in Bristol during the 'Kill The Bill' protest against The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill

Officers with shields force demonstrators back in Bristol city centre last night

Police with dogs order demonstrators to disperse from the city centre on Friday night

'You will have seen the number of images that Avon and Somerset Police have been putting out already, and they are working really hard with the Crown Prosecution Service as well.

'And these people will be brought to justice, and already some of those have been taken through the courts and brought to justice, and indeed one of those that has been imprisoned was someone that was already on bail for assaulting police officers.'

Yesterday police shared footage from Sunday's protest, showing the moment a lit item was placed under a police van while a police officer was inside.

Earlier an activist who previously helped organise Bristol protests also urged people to stay home. The unnamed man advised people wait until Monday, when coronavirus restrictions relax, to gather.

He said: 'My belief is that, in this current climate of lockdowns, young people, bored and frustrated by their situation, witnessing a standoff with police in the evening, could be inclined to take out their aggression on the police who they may feel responsible for their lack of possibilities at the moment.

Demonstrators hold out flowers at the rally against the new policing legislation in Bristol on Friday night as they faced-off with more than 100 riot police outside the station which was the scene of Sunday night's riot

More than a hundred riot police were deployed in Bristol last night on Bridewell Street which saw assaults on officers and vans torched on Sunday night

A protester with a bottle of vodka in one hand gestures to police with the other and appaers to shout at them during the protest on Friday night

Thousands of protesters flood the streets of Bristol on Friday night to demonstrate against new police powers

An officer holds a shield which has had a daffodil placed upon its rim. Demonstrators were earlier seen holding flowers towards officers in a sign of goodwill

A young woman gestures in front of a police van on Bridewell Street, the scene of Sunday night's riot over the policing bill which left 40 police officers injured

A protester wearing a balaclava and a sheepskin coat holds his arms outstretched before a line of riot police in Bristol city centre last night

A demonstrator stands inches away from a riot police officer to look him in the eyes during protests in Bristol

A row of police vans are used to block off Bridewell Street close to the police station on Friday evening. Vans were torched on Sunday night during a riot over the new policing bill

A protester stands in front of a police line near to Bridewell Police station during the 'Kill The Bill' protest against The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill in Bristol

Hundreds of demonstrators stream past police vans in Bristol city centre on Friday evening during a 'kill the bill' demo. Yesterday, National Police Chiefs' Council chairman Martin Hewitt warned that large gatherings remained illegal under the Covid lockdown rules and suggested there were extremist agitators seeking to 'hijack' peaceful protests.

A demonstrator holds a sign which reads: 'Bun Babylon,' as mounted officers patrol the streets. In West Indian patois bun means burn, while Babylon refers to the state or the system, taken from Biblical references to the wicked city on the banks of the Euphrates

Police block off a road during the 'Kill The Bill' protest against The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill in Bristol

Demonstrators holding protesters denouncing the legislation and referring to a 'Tory police state' are held up by activists in Bristol yesterday evening

Officers prepare to keep the demonstrators at bay yesterday evening by linking arms across the highway

Hundreds of demonstrators are seen pouring through the streets of Bristol this afternoon, the third such demonstration in the city centre since Sunday

A protester is seen spraying paint across a building in the city centre this afternoon as crowds gathered to demonstrate against new police legislation

Riot police hold up shields beside a van parked across the road as they face-off with demonstrators for a third time in a week

Protestors gather on College Green, Bristol ahead of the third 'Kill the Bill' protest against new policing powers yesterday evening

A hooded protest holds a sign that says 'Police lies cost lies' as hundreds gathered on College Green in Bristol city centre this afternoon

'We normally chose day times on weekends to negate the risk of people with alternate agendas hijacking our protests.

'I cannot support the choice of a Friday afternoon start, it's a recipe for disaster, obviously, and therefore I fear this event has been organised by someone with bad intentions, and so I want to be distanced from it entirely, as do those I know.'

Chief Superintendent Claire Armes, Avon and Somerset Police's head of operational support, urged people not to march this weekend.

She said: 'We are aware that some people may be intending to protest in Bristol and Bath this weekend, 26 to 28 March.

'Once again, we remind everyone that we're still in a pandemic which has cost many lives and remains a significant challenge for our colleagues in the NHS.

'We have all sacrificed so much to stop the spread of this terrible disease and we're so close to a relaxation of the restrictions, when peaceful protest will again be possible.

A protester speaks to officers on Bridewell Street close to the police station on Friday night

A demonstrator stands in front of police officers during a protest against a newly proposed policing bill, in Bristol

Demonstrators hold signs urging the government to 'kill the bill', another holds a depiction of a pig - an insult which is used against police

A demonstrator holds a sign written on the underside of a skateboard as hundreds mass on College Green in the city centre

Police officers with riot helmets at the ready patrol through central Bristol this afternoon as demonstrators gathered again

Hundreds of protesters hold signs denouncing the government's new bill as Bristol prepares for another night of demonstrations

Police said around 300 people joined a march through the city and the crowd headed towards Bridewell Street, the scene of Sunday's riot. A large police presence was on duty, including horses and dogs, and was preventing the protesters reaching Bridewell police station where police vans were torched and officers assaulted at the weekend.

Pffocers stand guard to prevent demonstrators from making their way to Bridewell police station, the scene of the weekend's riot

Officers stand guard in Bristol city centre, using manpower and vehicles to block the highway as demonstrators mass against the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill

Hundreds of protesters stream through the city this afternoon to demonstrate against the new policing bill which criminalises protests deemed a 'public nuisance'

Demonstrators holding signs which say, 'Covid is bad but the bill is worse' and, 'History has its eyes on you'

Police block a road leading to the police station in the city

Demonstrators crowd around police officers in the city centre during the policing bill protest on Friday afternoon

Protesters march through the city centre on Friday to demonstrate against the new police powers

An officers hands a protester a notice on Friday evening as hundreds of people swell through the city's streets

Demonstrators march through the city centre with signs calling for the 'end of police violence' yesterday evening

Demonstrators standing on elevated platforms look out across a sea of other protesters in Bristol city centre yesterday evening

Demonstrators hold a placard which says, 'They speak in violence, we speak in peace', in the city centre yesterday evening

Police officers with helmets clipped to their waists, along with batons, survey the scene on College Green, Bristol, on Friday afternoon

Police officers stand watch on College Green this afternoon as young people gathered to demonstrate against the new policing bill

An officer looks out over hundreds of youngsters preparing to protest against the new policing legislation

Police are seen at College green prior to the protest on Friday afternoon

Police officers with helmets and batons ready stand watch on College Green this afternoon

Police stand watch as young people go about their business in the student area of the city

'In Avon and Somerset we remain committed to facilitating peaceful protest when it's safe and lawful to do so, however gatherings remain a breach of COVID restrictions and risk increasing the spread of coronavirus.

'We urge you not to come. 'We do understand the strength of opposition to the new legislation being debated in Parliament.

'Protest is a right which we're asking people to be responsible about exercising right now. This is about public health and public safety at a time of pandemic.

'Please consider making your voice heard in different ways - such as contacting your MP or signing one of the petitions available online.

'Thirteen people were arrested after we asked people to disperse from Tuesday's protest.

'Ten of them were aged between 19 and 25 - young people who clearly have a social conscience, but who may now face a criminal conviction which could impact on their whole futures and their chances of making a real difference in society.

After violent clashes with officers saw a police vans set alight on Sunday, demonstrators are set to return to College Green in Bristol for a third protest last night

Fires were started and protestors clashed with police on Sunday. Chief Superintendent Claire Armes, Avon and Somerset Police's head of operational support, urged people not to march this weekend

A burning piece of card was placed under a police van as fires raged behind on Sunday night

Yesterday police released an image of an 18th protester they wanted to speak to after a lit item was placed under a police van with an officer still inside

'I want to make it clear. Peaceful protesters will be given the opportunity to disperse, but Bristol will not tolerate violent behaviour and we're here to prevent it.'

Earlier in the week Avon and Somerset Police released photos of people they wish to trace over the disorder.

Yesterday they released footage of a lit item being placed underneath a police van, with an officer still inside, along with a picture of the man police would like to identify in connection with the incident.

The footage was released on the same day Avon and Somerst Police retracted claims that two officers had suffered broken bones amid the carnage.

A spokesman for the force told ITV: 'At the time the Chief Constable did interviews on Monday morning, it was believed the officer may have suffered broken bones and a punctured lung.

'Following further medical assessment, this was deemed not to be the case  but this officer's injuries were serious enough to result in hospital treatment and a CT scan.

'A second officer also suffered a suspected broken arm, but on further assessment this too was thankfully found not to be the case.'

An officer has described first hearing on the radio how colleagues were being injured outside the Bridewell police station.

They said: 'I was aware from the radio that my colleagues were under attack outside the front of Bridewell police station where damage had been caused.

Urging people to stay at home, Ch Supt Armes said: 'This is about public health and public safety at a time of pandemic'

Protestors are calling for an end to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, which could see additional measures created to crackdown on demonstrations

Around 3,000 protestors gathered at Sunday's demonstration, with fireworks let off in the street and little room for social distancing

The force is still looking to identify 17 people in connection with the unrest on Sunday night

'I could hear screaming and shouting from the officers as they were being attacked - a call was made for vehicles to be used to assist officers.

'The only way to protect my colleagues was to place the vehicle across, side on, in front of them to offer protection.

'There were glass bottles, rocks as big as fists, pallets, fences and other objects strewn across the road and being used against the police.

Ch Supt Carolyn Belafonte, who is overseeing the investigation into the disorder, said: 'This officer's account is just one of many we've gathered from our colleagues at the scene of this terrifying incident.

'It's upsetting to hear how colleagues feared for their lives that night and it strengthens our resolve to bring all those responsible to justice.

Newly released footage, taken during the violent 'Kill the Bill' disorder in the city on Sunday, shows the moment a lit item was placed under a police van while a police officer was inside

'Our investigation is continuing at pace but it is painstaking work.

'Our online gallery, which currently has 18 images within it, has been viewed more than 80,000 times since it was launched - and we've received more than 200 calls and around 280 evidential submissions from the public to date.. This is a phenomenal response and we're grateful for every piece of information.

'I would ask people to look at the latest image we have released and call us if you know who it is - or you can provide information via a dedicated form on our website.'
Anyone who remembers Spanish pop of the 80s might recall a song by the group Mecano entitled No Hay Marcha en Nueva York (which could roughly be translated as 'there's no fun in New York'). One line is: "Que si eres 'espanis' ni un vaso con soda" ("if you're Spanish they won't even give you a glass of soda"), and I found that amusing. Well now the same thing is happening to us, but the other way round, and it's not funny.

As you will have heard, in this giant fiasco of restrictions on movement in Spain in times of Covid, if you live in Malaga, you have to stay in the province over Easter. Yes, I know it's a lovely place, but we've seen it.

On the other hand, if your cousin who lives in Berlin wants to come to warmer climes and swap his 'currywurst' for an 'espeto' of sardines, he can jump on a plane and land on the Costa del Sol, and let's hope he does because we need him; but he could also go to Mallorca, or Barcelona, or the Canaries. Basically he can go where he likes in Spain.

So, if you were planning a short break to Tarifa or Cabo de Gata, to visit friends in Madrid or take a stroll beneath the orange blossom in Seville, well tough luck; we're in a semi-lockdown and we have to curb the fourth wave and save the summer and I don't know how many other mantras that no one believes.

But the foreign tourist can do whatever he or she wants, even what the local population isn't allowed to do. Not only is it unfair, but I'm sure that in time they will prove that it is totally discriminatory and illegal.

For now the European Commission has asked Spain to be coherent with its restrictions on movement that it is imposing inside and outside its borders, and warned that the risks of catching Covid are similar in terms of domestic or foreign travel.

In other words, even though tourists come with their recent PCR tests, nothing or no one is going to stop them from taking a poisoned souvenir home in their suitcases.

Really, I think it's great that all the tourists in the world come on holiday to the Costa del Sol, as they always have done, as long as they comply with the same rules as the local residents.

I don't believe that their presence involves more risk than the gangs of youngsters who go to massive drinking parties every weekend in Malaga city centre, Pedregalejo and other places.

All I want is to have the same right to move around my country, no more no less, even with the same test requirements as the foreign visitors.

I refuse to be treated as a second-class citizen in my home country.
Shares of Tata Group companies, on Friday, rallied up to 6 per cent in intra-day trade on the BSE after the Supreme Court pronounced its verdict in favour of the Tata Group in the high-profile fued. The judgment on the five-year long protracted legal battle sets a precedent on various important matters in the courtroom battles.

Among individual stocks, Tata Steel rallied 6 per cent, each, on the BSE. Tata Steel Bsl, Indian Hotels, Tata Motors, Tata Power, Titan Company, Tata Coffee, Tata Investment Corporation and Tata Communications ended higher in the range of 3 per cent to 5 per cent. In comparison, the S&P BSE Sensex closed 1.2 per cent higher at 49,008.50 points today.

Delivering its judgment in the four-and-a-half-year-old corporate war between Tata Group and the Mistrys, the Supreme Court ruled in favour of Tata Sons, allowing its appeals and dismissing the Pallonji Group's plea.

While the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) Mumbai had sided with the Tatas, the NCLAT had termed Mistrys removal illegal and reinstated Mistry as Tata group chairman. It had also termed his successor N Chandrasekarans appointment illegal. The Tatas then moved the Supreme Court, seeking to overturn the NCLAT judgment.
The draft EIA 2020, according to Tongad's plea, provides for post facto approval of projects and does away with public consultation in some cases.

New Delhi: The Centre told the Delhi High Court on Friday that its views on translating the draft Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) in all 22 languages in the Eight Schedule of the Constitution was being given "thoughtful consideration" and some more time will be required to arrive at a decision.

The submission was made before a bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice Prateek Jalan by Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma, pursuant to which the court listed the matter for further hearing on April 30.

The high court on February 25 had observed that its view that the draft EIA be translated in all 22 languages should not be taken so "combatively" by the central government.

People in remote areas are "our citizens" who need to be heard and may not understand the draft if published only in English and Hindi, the court had said to the Environment Ministry which has been against translating the draft EIA in the vernacular languages.

The bench said it would be easy for the government to get the draft EIA published in all the languages and suggested that it can be ordered in the peculiar facts of the instant case i.e it would not be considered as a precedent.

It had asked ASG Chetan Sharma to come with instructions on the next date of hearing, March 26, on whether the draft EIA can be translated in all the 22 languages for a better consultative process.

On the last date of hearing on February 25, ASG Sharma, during the hearing, told the bench that translation in all 22 languages posed various administrative difficulties and the translations may not conform to the actual content of the draft EIA.

He had also assured the bench that the government was not being combative with regard to the court's view.

He had further said that over 20 lakh responses have been received with regard to the draft EIA and therefore, it cannot be said that the consultative process or participation by stakeholders was skewed.

The bench was hearing the government's plea seeking review of its June 30, 2020 direction to the Environment Ministry to translate the draft EIA notification in all the 22 languages within 10 days of the order and had also extended till August 11, 2020 the time for receiving remarks from the public.

The order had come on a PIL by environmental conservationist Vikrant Tongad, represented by senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayana, seeking publication of the notification in all vernacular languages and also extension of the time to receive public comments on it.

The order was initially challenged by the ministry in the Supreme Court which allowed the government to withdraw its appeal and instead file a review before the high court.

The apex court also put on hold the proceedings in the contempt plea filed by Tongad for non-compliance of the June 30, 2020 direction.

Subsequently, the ministry filed a plea seeking review of the June 30 order on grounds that official documents are required to be published only in Hindi and English.

Sankaranarayanan, had on January 27, told the court that while the draft has been translated in all the languages by the government, it was not publishing the same and wanted to argue on whether such translations was required under the law.

The draft EIA 2020, according to Tongad's plea, provides for post facto approval of projects and does away with public consultation in some cases.

The petition by Tongad had claimed that the draft EIA 2020 completely supersedes and replaces the existing environmental norms.

"This draft notification proposes significant changes to the existing regime, including removing public consultation entirely in certain instances, reducing the time for public consultation from 45 days to 40 days, and allowing post facto approvals for projects," it had said.
In this social network video released on by his lawyer Ben Crump, Jacob Blake delivers a message from a hospital bed in Kenosha, Wis., on Sept. 5, 2020. (Attorney Crump Twitter account/AFP via Getty Images)

Jacob Blakes Family Accuses Kenosha Police Officer of Constitutional Violation in New Lawsuit

Jacob Blakes family on Thursday filed a lawsuit against Kenosha police officer Rusten Sheskey for the August 2020 shooting that triggered protests and riots.

The federal civil rights suit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington, claims that Sheskey used excessive and deadly force without cause of justification, in violation of the U.S. Constitutions Fourth Amendment.

That misconduct, lawyers asserted, was undertaken with malice, willfulness, and reckless indifference to the rights of Plaintiff.

As a result of the force, Blake has suffered and will continue to suffer both physical and emotional damages.

While Jacob Blake survived being shot six times, his devastating injuries are permanent and life-changing. The bullet that severed Jacobs spinal cord has left him paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair. Jacob now suffers from an intractable pain syndrome. After various surgical procedures and an agonizing course of physical rehabilitation, Jacob remains unable to return to his job as a security guard and relies on others to assist him with the basic needs of daily living, Patrick Salvi II, one of Blakes attorneys, said in an emailed statement to The Epoch Times.

The suit requested a trial by jury.

Sheskey did not have an attorney listed on the court docket.

Blake was charged in July of last year with third-degree sexual assault, a felony, after his ex-girlfriend told police he went to her house, broke in, assaulted her, and stole her vehicle and a debit card. Blake and the woman, Laquisha Booker, share three children.

The following month, officers were called to a home in Kenosha after Booker reported that her boyfriend was present and was not supposed to be on the premises.

Kenosha police officer Rusten Sheskey in an undated photograph. (Wisconsin Department of Justice via AP)

Officers arrived and saw Blake, who had a warrant out for his arrest from the assault charge. He declared he was taking two of his children and Bookers vehicle, while Booker indicated likewise.

Officers tried taking Blake into custody, using tasers, but he resisted.

There are multiple ways that officers try to bring Jacob Blake into custody. Again, none of those, I think, visible in any of the videos. They try to direct him to the ground. Multiple officers try to grab his arms and secure him so he can be cuffed. He admits at one point, Officers were trying to handcuff me, but I was able to get up,' Kenosha District Attorney Mike Gravely told reporters in January.

Blake was able to walk around the vehicle and open the drivers side door. As he leaned forward, Sheskey, while holding onto Blakes shirt, fired his gun seven times, striking Blake in the back.

Blake was armed with a knife during the encounter with police, both his lawyers and investigators have confirmed. Blake himself said so when speaking to the authorities. Blake was clearly armed when moving to enter the vehicle, Gravely said, and had refused to drop the weapon.

Sheskey decided to re-engage with Blake and grabbed Blakes T-shirt, in part because he didnt know what the man was going to do with the children in the vehicle. He feared a hostage situation if Blake was able to enter the van and drive away.

Gravely made the decision not to charge Sheskey, based on an independent evaluation from former Madison Police Chief Noble Wray. The evaluation determined that the use of force by Sheskey was justified.
The Therapeutics Good Administration, the Australian governments medical goods regulator, issued a cease and desist order last month against the COVID Medical Network (CMN) in response to CMNs promotion of drugs that have been proven ineffective, and in some cases dangerous, for the treatment of COVID-19.

CMN is a right-wing group that opposes pandemic lockdowns and advocates herd immunity. Articles posted on CMNs website also declare that vaccines rarely give more protection than the disease itselfa statement that is patently false.

COVID-19 testing site in the Melbourne suburb of Fawkner (Photo: @JoanWil85024201, Twitter)

The CMN was formed last year, ostensibly in response to a four-month lockdown in the state of Victoria, which eventually ended a COVID outbreak that peaked at 700 cases per day and threatened to overwhelm the under-resourced public hospitals. The CMN claimed that lockdowns are doing more harm than good and will cause more deaths and negative health effects than the virus itself.

While purporting to be concerned about public health, a review of CMNs website and policy statement reveals it is an advocate for the unrestricted spread of COVID. It opposes lockdowns, vaccinations and mask wearing, demands the re-opening of schools and advances bogus treatments for the disease.

Governments all over the world have pursued the policy of herd immunity. It prioritises business profits over lives by forcing workers prematurely back to work. The result has been resurgences of the pandemic and a catastrophe for the international working class, with more than 123 million infections and 2.7 million deaths worldwide so far.

The CMN policy statement aligns with the Great Barrington Declaration, published last October by the pro-business American Institute for Economic Research, which calls for COVID to be allowed to infect younger people in order to build up a so-called herd immunity, while supposedly offering protections to the elderly.

CMN claims that any attempt to eliminate community transmission of coronavirus by lockdowns and vaccinations is both irrational and unachievable. No credible medical organisation or authority has endorsed this view. The World Health Organisation has described herd immunity by exposure to the virus as scientifically problematic and unethical. Last year, the Australian Medical Association, the main doctors group, denounced CMNs opposition to lockdowns as fatally flawed.

Genuine herd immunity refers to the process by which a nearly completely vaccinated population is able to suppress the virus. Vaccines are the only safe method to developing immunity, and this has been understood for decades. Great Barrington and its advocates are calling for the oppositea policy in which the vast majority of people are exposed to the actual virus, leading to high rates of death and disability. Moreover, any COVID mutations would nullify the supposed advantages of contracting the virus.

While genuine elimination will ultimately require mass vaccination, lockdowns have been demonstrated as crucial in slowing and suppressing viral spread. A study of 41 countries conducted by an international team of researchers from Harvard, Cambridge, Oxford and the Australian National University concluded that closures were one of the most effective means to lower the rate of COVID transmission.

Lockdowns are necessary because COVID-19 has a demonstrated reproduction rate ranging from 3 to 5 persons, meaning every infected person risks infecting that many others. The experience of China, where the first outbreak of COVID was recorded, proves the efficacy of a combination of lockdowns, strict quarantines, widespread testing and extensive contact tracing.

Among the CMNs cures for COVID are ivermectin (an anti-parasitic medication) and hydroxychloroquine (an anti-malarial and immune system suppressant). These have demonstrated no anti-COVID properties, despite multiple studies investigating them. The key research paper touted by CMN to demonstrate hydroxychloroquines usefulness was published in the research journal owned by its lead author Peter McCullough, exposing it as a sham.

Significantly, the latter drug was regularly promoted by Donald Trump, and far-right Australian parliamentarians Craig Kelly, who defected from the Liberal-National government last month, and George Christensen, who remains a government member.

CMN circulated an open letter last year opposing the Victorian lockdown, with 500 signatories, yet its membership size remains undisclosed. The list of known signatories to the current CMN website statement features right-wing figures, none of whom have any significant experience treating COVID patients.

The signatories include Eamonn Mathieson, an anaesthetist who serves as one of CMNs lead representatives. He is chair of the Australian Catholic Medical Association, which advances homophobic positions. Another spokesman and consultant for COVID-19, Ben Bornstein, is claimed to be a liaison with experts on the pandemic, yet has no publicly available credentials or non-CMN publications. Then there is Kuruvilla George, former deputy chief of psychiatry in Victoria, who sparked public opposition in 2012 due to a homophobic submission to parliament saying it was important for the future health of our nation to maintain discriminatory anti-gay marriage laws.

CMN is acting as a promoter of conspiracy theories and a platform for far-right and fascistic figures in Australia and abroad. Apart from favourable interviews with Kelly, it has hosted individuals such as Simone Gold and Vladimir Zelenko. Gold, an emergency medicine specialist who participated in the January 6 fascistic coup in support of Trump, is a leading member of Americas Frontline Doctors, which plays a similar role to CMN in the US. Zelenko is a US doctor whose fraudulent promotion of hydroxychloroquine was picked up by Trump.

In the US and Australia, as elsewhere, opposition to a scientific approach to COVID has become a central organising force for fascistic forces that demand the subservience of workers to private profit interests. Determined that not one cent of societys resources be expended to protect workers, they have become a small but vocal base for promoting herd immunity.

In the US, many who took part in the January 6 coup bid have advocated fascistic conspiracy theories about COVID being a hoax, and threatened violence and assassinations against doctors and public health officials, as well as state governors authorising lockdowns, such as Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer. Similarly in Australia anti-lockdown protests have been organised and led by such elements.

The vast majority of doctors and other medical workers oppose CMNs hostility to the safety of workers. Recognising the severity of COVID, and taking a scientific approach to its management, they have by and large courageously met their responsibilities to the public, despite the risks to their own health produced by the failure of governments to provide adequate personal protection equipment and other essential safety measures.

The presence of far-right forces, and the promotion of their dangerous claims, demonstrates that CMN is not an organisation attempting to objectively assess COVID in the interests of public safety. Rather, it is a front seeking to provide a veneer of legitimacy to the murderous policies of herd immunity advanced by the ruling corporate elite.
Two weeks before the world commemorates the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi for the 27th time, survivor organisations say that they have already started treating psycho-trauma cases, The New Times can reveal.

The Healing Activities Coordinator at Rwandan Graduate Genocide Survivors Organisation (GAERG), Aimee-Josiane Umulisa, says that adjusting to the fact that public activities surrounding commemoration may be discouraged for the second year due to Covid-19 has heightened fear among the survivors.

"Restrictions that are in place to protect Rwandans from contracting the virus have left some of the survivors lonely and heightened their fear and anxiety. They don't fully understand why they can't gather to remember their loved ones and it takes a toll on their mental health," she said.

She said that they have already started talking to the survivors on the reasons why commemoration this year will also happen on a smaller scale, with most people encouraged to stay indoors, for them to fully comprehend that their loved ones have not been forgotten.

Mourners pay respects to the victims of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi at Ntarama Genocide Memorial in Bugesera District in 2018. / Photo: Sam Ngendahimana

So far, she said, consultation with patients will continue to be done on the phone with the help of 200 community-based counsellors and 20 psychologists.

GAERG works with about 2,500 people who are split into 168 groups spread all over 25 districts countrywide.

She explains that the members of these groups are of advanced age (above 55) and face different mental health challenges including depression, PSTD, alcoholism and anxiety among others.

70 per cent of the 2,500 are battling both PTSD and depression.

Helplines availed

In a telephone interview with The New Times, the Executive Director of Survivors Fund Rwanda (SURF), Samuel Munderere said that uncertainty and instability surrounding the outbreak of Covid-19 has worsened the well-being and contributed to new mental health problems among the survivor community.

He pointed out that preparations for mental health challenge spikes were underway in collaboration with other stakeholders including AVEGA, Ibuka, AERG, and GAERG.

"Like last year, we will provide mental health support online. We have put in place four helplines, four counsellors and 48 peer support counsellors. The lines will be open 24/7 for a period of 16 months from April this year to July next year," he said.

The Executive Secretary of IBUKA, the Umbrella Organisation of genocide survivors, Naphtal Ahishakiye said in an interview that financial constraints continue to be a challenge when dealing with mental health issues on the grassroots level.

Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Rwanda Coronavirus 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.

"Almost everything right now is being done on phone, which means that we are basically telling these people to volunteer and use their resources to make these calls, to check in on the patients because we don't give them facilitation," he said.

He said that because of this, the survivors are all not being reached.

In 2019, Ibuka had 3,656 people who had mental health challenges during the commemoration period. Of these, about 3,087 were given immediate onsite support while 569 serious cases were transferred to hospitals.

In 2020 after the pandemic hit, about 1200 were affected and 401 were transferred to hospitals.

editor@newtimesrwanda.com

Follow https://twitter.com/Africannash
Trains crash in southern Egypt, killing at least 32 View Photo

TAHTA, Egypt (AP)  Two trains crashed Friday in southern Egypt, killing at least 32 people and injuring 165, authorities said in the latest of a series of deadly accidents on the countrys troubled railways.

Someone apparently activated the emergency brakes on the passenger train, and it was rear-ended by another train, causing two cars to derail and flip on their side, Egypts Railway Authorities said, although Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouly later added that no cause has been determined. The passenger train was headed to the Mediterranean port of Alexandria, north of Cairo, rail officials said.

Video showed twisted piles of metal with passengers covered with dust trapped inside  some bleeding and others unconscious. Bystanders removed the dead and laid them on the ground nearby.

One passenger was heard shouting on the video, Help us! People are dying! A female passenger appeared to be upside down, squeezed under the seats, and was crying, Get me out, boy!

Hazem Seliman, who lives near the tracks and heard the crash, said he initially thought the train had hit a car. When he arrived at the scene, he said he found the dead and injured on the ground, among them women and children.

We carried the deceased and put the injured into ambulances, he said.

More than 100 ambulances were sent to the scene in the province of Sohag, about 440 kilometers (270 miles) south of Cairo, Health Minister Hala Zayed said, and the injured were taken to four hospitals. Injuries included broken bones, cuts and bruises.

Two planes carrying a total of 52 doctors, mostly surgeons, were sent to Sohag, she added at a news conference in the province, accompanied by Madbouly, who added that a military plane would bring those needing special surgery to Cairo.

Chief Prosecutor Hamada el-Sawy was on the scene to investigate the crash, he said.

The (railway) service has been neglected for decades to an extent that made it quite outdated and extremely dangerous, Madbouly told reporters. We have spent billions to upgrade the railway but we still have a long way to go in order to complete all the required work.

The government will pay the equivalent of $6,400 in compensation to each family that had a relative killed, Madbouly said, while the injured will get between $1,280 to $2,560, depending on how badly they were hurt.

President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi said he was monitoring the situation and that those responsible would receive a deterrent punishment.

The pain that tears our hearts today cannot but make us more determined to end this type of disasters, he wrote on his Facebook page.

Egypts rail system has a history of badly maintained equipment and mismanagement, and official figures said there were 1,793 train accidents in 2017.

In 2018, a passenger train derailed near the southern city of Aswan, injuring at least six people and prompting authorities to fire the chief of the countrys railways. The same year, el-Sissi said the government needed about 250 billion Egyptian pounds ($14.1 billion) to overhaul the rail system. Those remarks came a day after a passenger train collided with a cargo train, killing at least 12 people.

A year earlier, two passenger trains collided just outside Alexandria, killing 43. In 2016, at least 51 people were killed when two commuter trains collided near Cairo.

Egypts deadliest train crash was in 2002, when over 300 people were killed after fire broke out in a train traveling from Cairo to southern Egypt.

By NOHA ELHENNAWY and MOHAMED WAGDY

Associated Press
Spanning over 370 acres to the Northeast of Swindon, the Civic-making assembly plant operated by Honda was used during World War II for aircraft production. Under the Japanese automakers control, the factory started churning out engines in 1989 and the Accord sedan in 1992.
March 26 : Kangana Ranaut, who is currently shooting for Tejas in Jaisalmer, gets partial relief in a defamation case filed against her. The Andheri court in Mumbai has granted bail to the Panga actress on Thursday after she had moved the court to cancel the bailable warrant it had issued against her in the defamation case. The defamation case was filed against her by veteran lyricist Javed Akhtar.

On Thursday, Kangana appeared before the court following which the court granted the bail to her. The court also asked her to furnish a surety of 15,000 and a cash surety of 20,000. The bailable warrant was issued by the court against Ranaut on March 1 as the Queen actress failed to respond to the summons sent to her by the court.

Magistrate R R Khan said in an order that Kanganas absence without any justified reasons, despite the summons sent to her, amounts to issuance of bailable warrant of 1,000 against the actress.

Javed Akhtar had filed the defamation case against Kangana after the actress in a television interview on July 19, 2020 had linked Akhtar with late actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death. Javed Akhtar filed a criminal complaint against Kangana on November 3, 2020, under Sections 499 (defamation) and 500 (punishment for defamation) of the Indian Penal Code.

Javed Akhtar has so far appeared in the court six times in the case since November 2020 while Kangana has appeared just once to get the bailable warrant cancelled on March 15. However, the lyricist could not appear in the hearing of the case today in Andheri Magistrate court as he was not well.

The plea filed by Javed Akhtar said that Kangana Ranaut has made baseless comments on national television and social media against him, damaging his reputation that he had built over 55 years. Javed Akhtar told the court that Kangana unnecessarily dragged his name while referring to a coterie existing in Bollywood, following the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput in June 2020.

Meanwhile, the Karnataka high court on Thursday set aside an FIR registered against Ranaut over her tweets where she compared protesting farmers with terrorists.
New Delhi:

The last date of UP Board of Madrasa has asked all the Madrassas in the state to submit their details on its website by September 15, failing to which they may lose their recognition.

The board has asked all the Madrassas recent to submit the details of classrooms, number of teachers, their Aadhaar card numbers and account details on its web portal.

Yogi Adityanath government has decided to upgrade all the Madaras to ensure transparency in their functioning.

The intention is to bring all the madrasas on one platform and ensure transparency in their functioning, said Rahul Gupta, Registrar, UP Board of Madarsa Education.

Earlier on Wednesday, the UP government has stopped funds to 46 madrasas after a two-month scrutiny suggested they were not functioning as per the norms.

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VANCOUVER, BC, March 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - Zacatecas Silver Corp. ("Zacatecas Silver" or the "Company", (TSXV: ZAC) is pleased to announce it has engaged Red Pennant Geoscience of British Columbia, Canada (Senior Principal Consultant, Michael O'Brien, P.Geo) to prepare a current resource estimate at the Panuco Silver Deposit at the Zacatecas Silver property, located in Zacatecas State, Mexico and that it has received assay results as part of a core re-sampling program being undertake with regards to the resource confirmation process.

Highlights:

Red Pennant Geoscience engaged to prepare a current resource estimate at the Panuco Silver Deposit

Approximately 10% of the drill core sample intervals used in the historical resource estimate at Panuco have been re-sampled and re-assayed

A 100kg composite sample of drill core used in the Panuco resource estimate sent to SGS Minerals Lakefield for benchmark metallurgical work, which has started

A digital elevation model (DEM) with an estimated accuracy of

All historical drill hole collars have been resurveyed and cross-referenced to the DEM.

Detailed petrographic and XRD study of drill core has commenced for input into metallurgical test-work and deposit modelling.

A 57 kg sample composite of historic Panuco drill core from one of the higher grade shoots has assayed higher than the grade described in the historic resource, with the sample returning assays of 198 g/t Ag Eq. (146 g/t Ag, 0.30 g/t Au, 0.13% Zn, and 0.42 % Pb)  based on US$ 16/oz Ag, US$ 1350 oz/Au, US$ 0.9/lb Pb and US$ 1.1/lb Zn and the recovery factors used in the historical resource.

The Panuco Silver Deposit is located in the north of the Zacatecas Property and is the most advanced prospect. Panuco has an historic inferred mineral resource of 19,472,901 ounces Ag Eq. (cut-off 100 g/t Ag Eq.) from 3,954,729 tonnes at 153.2 g/t Ag Eq (136 g/t Ag, 0.14 g/t Au, 0.012% Pb, 0.11% Zn) (the "Historical Estimate"). See "Historical Resource Estimate Information" set forth below.

Re-sampling of 184 historic sample intervals  being approximately 10% of sample intervals used in the historical resource estimate at Panuco  has been completed. Assay results have been received and the company is currently verifying data against the historical assay database. These assay results will form the backbone of a remodelled resource estimate. Drill core samples were prepared and assayed by ALS Laboratories (ISO 9001:2008).

As part of the resource remodelling, Zacatecas has also commenced a bench-scale metallurgical test of approximately 100 kg of mineralized drill core used in the Panuco resource. An integrated test program is being undertaken by SGS Minerals at Lakefield with a specific emphasis on flow-path options for optimised recovery of actual Panuco mineralization. No metallurgical work was done at Panuco under the Historical Estimate and instead recovery estimates used in the Historical Estimate based recovery assumptions on an outdated processing facility in the region that processed material from a different vein system, using gold (52.2%), silver (62.1%), lead (87.9%) and zinc (78.6%). These precious metals recoveries are lower than the recoveries used within various modern resource calculations by other companies in the region. Given the low tenor of precious metal recoveries, there is significant opportunity to strengthen the resource estimate with a modern bench-scale metallurgical test.

Worldview-3 high resolution satellite Imagery was acquired for an area covering Company licences, the areas between Company licences, and a 2 km wide edge buffer. This coverage ensured that geology, alteration, structure and mineralization, could be placed in a wider context and mapped between licences. The imagery provides 34 cm visible (panchromatic) and 1.36 m 8-band multi-spectral VNIR resolution it has provided a detailed base image allowing for rapid field verification and geological mapping at Panuco and other targets within the Zacatecas land-holding.

The TerraSAR-X satellite was tasked to provide 20 ground control points at

Satellite data was processed by Pacific Geomatics Ltd of Victoria, B.C., who also provided an AW3D enhanced 50 cm Digital Terrain Model and 1 m topographic contours for the entire area generated from Maxar satellite data. Using the

Dr. Chris Wilson, Chief Operating Officer and a Director of Zacatecas comments, "The acquisition of such high resolution integrated satellite data has provided an exceptional GIS dataset that has allowed field geologists to rapidly re-map the Panuco and El Cristo projects. Interpretation of Worldview-3 data is providing excellent structural data for input into deposit models. The DEM has also provided an extremely accurate topographic surface for current re-modelling of the Panuco resource, and future drill targeting and resource estimation".

Detailed petrology and XRD study of drill core used in the historic Panuco resource estimate is ongoing and will initially provide detailed mineralogical data for input into the bench-scale metallurgical tests. Understanding vertical changes in mineralogy is also critical to modelling the vertical position in an intermediate sulphidation vein system  and thus prioritizing the highest value drill targets.

While the company's focus to-date has been on work in preparation of a establishing a current resource estimate, Zacatecas Silver is also pleased to report that geological team members are onsite conducting exploration work in preparation for expansion and exploration drilling at the Panuco Silver Deposit.

Detailed re-mapping of the El Cristo project  the northwest strike extension of the Veta Grande vein  has confirmed the presence of multiple epithermal veins over a strike length of at least 3 km. Reconnaissance review of other high priority silver targets throughout the large land package is ongoing.

Quality Assurance / Quality Control

All assays were subject to quality control measures appropriate for verification re-sampling of historical drill core for use in resource estimation. Samples were delivered to ALS Zacatecas in individually numbered bags sealed with unique single-use clip-lock seals  ensuring that chain of custody was maintained. Sample preparation, sub-sampling protocol and analysis followed industry-recognized standards of best practice for the style of mineralization and type of sample.

Samples were submitted in batches of 20 comprising 16 samples, a field blank, a CRM (certified reference material), one crush duplicate and one pulp duplicate. Samples were prepared by ALS Zacatecas who then couriered pulps to ALS Loughrea (Ireland) for analysis. Field blanks and CRM's assayed within tolerance limits. Crush and pulp duplicates showed good repeatability (precision) with respect to the original  demonstrating appropriate sub-sampling methodology and analytical technique.

Gold was analysed by fire assay with atomic absorption finish using a 50 g sample charge (ALS code Au-AA26)  with a reportable range of 0.01-100 ppm Au. Silver was assayed by fire assay with a gravimetric finish (ALS code Ag-GRA21) using a 30 g nominal sample weight  with reportable range of 5-10,000 ppm Ag. Samples were also submitted for 33 element analysis by ICP-AES following a 4 acid digest  with reportable ranges silver (0.5 to 100 ppm), lead (2 to 10,000 ppm), zinc (2-10,000 ppm) and copper (1-10,000 ppm Cu). Over-range samples were resubmitted for analysis using a 4 acid digest and ICP-AES finish with the following ranges: Ag 1-1500 ppm (Ag-OG62), lead 0.001-20% (Pb-OG62), zinc 0.001-30% (Zn-OG62) and Cu 0.001-40% (Cu-OG62).

Qualified Person

The technical content of this news release has been reviewed, verified and approved by Dr. Chris Wilson, B.Sc (Hons), PhD, FAusIMM (CP), FSEG. Chief Operating Officer and Director of Zacatecas Silver, a qualified person as defined by NI 43-101.

About Zacatecas Silver Corp.

The Zacatecas Silver property is located in Zacatecas State, Mexico, within the highly prospective Fresnillo Silver Belt, which has produced over 6.2 billion ounces of silver. The company holds 7826 ha (19,338 acres) of ground that is highly prospective for low and intermediate sulphidation silver-base metal mineralization and potentially low sulphidation gold-dominant mineralization.

The property is 25 km south-east of MAG Silver Corp.'s Juanicipio Mine and Fresnillo PLC's Fresnillo Mine. The property shares common boundaries with Pan American Silver Corp. claims and El Orito which is owned by Endeavour Silver. There are four main high-grade silver target areas within the Zacatecas concessions: the Panuco Deposit, Muleros, El Cristo and San Manuel-San Gill. The Property also includes El Oro, El Orito, La Cantera, Monserrat, El Penon, San Judas and San Juan silver-base metal vein targets. These targets are relatively unexplored and will be the focus of rapid reconnaissance review

On behalf of the CompanyBryan SlusarchukChief Executive Officer and Director

Historical Mineral Resource Estimate Information

In 2019 Santacruz Silver Mining Ltd. completed an updated historical resource estimate as set forth in the technical report titled "Technical Report  Veta Grande Project, Zacatecas State, Mexico" dated 20th of August 2019. The report was prepared by Van Phu Bui, P. Geo and Michael O'Brien, P. Geo, and filed on www.sedar.com ("2019 Panuco Historical Resource"). The 2019 Panuco Historical Resource reported 3,954,729 tonnes at 153 g/t Ag Eq. (136 g/t Ag, 0.14 g/t Au, 0.012 % Pb, 0.11% Zn) for a total of 19,472,901 ounces Ag Eq. (cut-off 100 g/t Ag Eq.). The 2019 Panuco Historical Resource used "inferred mineral resources", which is a category set forth under CIM Definition Standards for Mineral Resources & Mineral Reserves adopted on May 10, 2014.

The 2019 Panuco Historical Resource was calculating using 75 drill collars, 866 down hole surveys and 2,607 assayed samples. A surface trench database totalling 183 trenches with 1,813 samples was used. Resource blocks were defined using with dimensions of 20 m along strike and down dip, and 1 m across strike. Grades for gold, silver, lead and zinc were interpolated into blocks using the following estimation algorithms: central  ordinary kriging and NW and Tres Cruces  inverse distance squared. Assumptions used in the 2019 Panuco Historical Resource include the following metal prices: gold price of US $1,350/oz, silver price of US $16/oz, lead price of US $0.90/lb and zinc price of US $1.10/lb. The 2019 Panuco Historical Resource assumed recovering similar to the Veta Grande System being: gold at 52.2%, silver at 62.1%, lead at 87.9% and zinc at 78.6%. The Company considers the 2019 Panuco Historical Resource relevant due to its identification and modelling of the Panuco deposit.

The Company has not done sufficient work to classify the 2019 Panuco Historical Resource as a current mineral resource or mineral reserves, and the Company is not treating the historical estimate as current mineral resources or mineral reserves. Although the historical resource estimate is considered reliable, 8% of the drill core intervals used in the resource calculations was re-sampled and submitted these to ALS for independent assay. Further, additional data verification including resurveying of select diamond drill holes collars; review of graphic drill core logs, comparison of these logs with remaining half-cut core, and a cross-check of select geological logs agonist database entries; and a check of original ALS assay certificates against the assays and drill hole database. Remodelling of the current Panuco resource is ongoing pending receipt of check sample assays.

Forward-Looking Statements

Information set forth in this news release contains forward-looking statements that are based on assumptions as of the date of this news release. These statements reflect management's current estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations. They are not guarantees of future performance. Zacatecas Silver cautions that all forward looking statements are inherently uncertain and that actual performance may be affected by many material factors, many of which are beyond their respective control. Such factors include, among other things: risks and uncertainties relating to Zacatecas Silver's limited operating history, its proposed exploration and development activities on is Zacatecas Properties and the need to comply with environmental and governmental regulations. Accordingly, actual and future events, conditions and results may differ materially from the estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations expressed or implied in the forward-looking information. Except as required under applicable securities legislation, Zacatecas Silver does not undertake to publicly update or revise forward-looking information.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

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SOURCE Zacatecas Silver Corp.
The Minister for Education has been left in no doubt about the 'terrible' condition of the main primary school in Abbeyleix, acccording to Brian Stanley TD.

The Laois Offaly Sinn Fein TD was among a number of politicians who met virtually with Minister Norma Foley this week. He said pupils, parents, staff, teachers management and Deputy Stanley's colleagues in the Dail delivered a unified strong message about what is wrong and what should be done.

A rock solid case was made yesterday for a new school in Abbeyleix at a meeting with Minister Norma Foley. The Minister was left in no doubt of the terrible condition that Scoil Mhuire is in. The school staff, pupils and school management outlined in great detail the terrible condition of the building.

I told the Minister of one proposal that was put to me last year and that was to have the building retrofitted in 2024 or a date after that. This is not an option as the school cant wait that long and it is my firm belief that a full technical assessment would show that Scoil Mhuire needs to be demolished.

"I explained to Minister Foley that the school is on an 8.5acre site which means that a new 16 classroom building can be constructed at the rear of the existing school without disturbing the functioning of the school during the construction phase.

"In the meantime, the school needs emergency repairs to the roof, the sewerage system and the electrics so as to tide them over until new accommodation is provided.

"I welcome the commitment Minister Foley gave to have a full Engineers report and technical assessment as soon as possible, said Dep Stanley after the meeting which was convened by Minister of State Sean Fleming.

The minister committed to examining two options at the meeting.

The meeting was also attended by Minister of State Pippa Hackett, Charlie Flanagan TD, Carol Nolan TD and Cllr John Joe Fennelly.
During a nighttime military parade last October, North Korea displayed a new, untested I.C.B.M. that looked bigger than any of the previous ones.

And at a party congress in January, Mr. Kim doubled down on his nuclear arms buildup, offering a laundry list of weapons he said he planned to develop. They included multi-warhead nuclear missiles, hypersonic missiles, land- and submarine-launched I.C.B.M.s that use solid fuel, and ultramodern tactical nuclear weapons.

Whether North Korea has mastered the technology needed to send an intercontinental nuclear warhead into space and then guide it back through the earths atmosphere to its target is still unclear. North Korea has yet to demonstrate that its warhead can survive the intense heat and friction created by re-entry.

Its weapons are getting more sophisticated.

When North Korea resumed missile tests in 2019 following the collapse of the Kim-Trump talks, the tests featured three new weapons, code-named KN-23, KN-24 and KN-25 by outside experts.

They each marked big advances in North Koreas short-range ballistic missile program.

Unlike its older missiles that used liquid fuel, all three of the new missiles used solid fuel. The new solid-fuel weapons, mounted on mobile launchers, are easier to transport and hide and take less time to prepare. And at least two of them, KN-23 and KN-24, could perform low-altitude maneuvers, making them harder to intercept.

At a military parade earlier this year, North Korea displayed what looked like a bigger, upgraded version of KN-23. Photos released by the North Korean media indicate that was the weapon tested on Thursday.
This past year has been a challenge for us all, but we cannot forget the blessings God has given our nation, President Mnangagwa said this morning while rallying the nation towards the Special National Day of Thanksgiving.

The Head of State and Government posted on the microblogging site Twitter urging the peace loving Zimbabweans to continue to humble themselves before God in prayer for the country to enjoy blessings such as good harvests, in an environment of peace.

"This past year has been a challenge for us all. But we cannot forget the blessings God has given our nation.

"Today, l invite all Zimbabweans to together for a National Day of prayer and fasting, to appreciate the gifts our Lord has provided for us," he said.
Our world is changing at an unimaginable pace, and this is true for the world of education as well. Shrinking global boundaries and a host of online learning options means students today have many choices in terms of the institutions and the medium of education. However, expanding choices also mean greater dilemma and added confusion in the minds of the students. Individuals should take a long-term view of their investment and ensure their decision prepares them for a dynamic, ever-evolving world.

Today, we take a look at why it makes sense for aspirants to consider an undergraduate or postgraduate degree from the UK and how the UK prepares its alumni for life.

Academic Excellence and Global Recognition

Did you know that University of Oxford and University of Cambridge  considered to be meccas of education  are both located in the UK! In fact, 29 of the top 200 universities in the world belong to the UK (Times Higher Education World University Rankings, 2020) including 4 of the top 10 universities (QS World University Rankings, 2020). The UKs academic excellence is unmatched, and its teaching pedagogy is admired around the world. Each year, the UK sees more and more international students applying to its colleges.

Over the past decade, more than 160,000 Indian students have trusted UK institutions to shape their careers. A recent survey has shown that globally, 90 per cent of UK graduates are satisfied or very satisfied with all aspects of their lives, beyond just careers, with 82 per cent feeling that studying in the UK is worth the investment.

A Truly Global Environment

Studying in the UK is a great experience, that goes beyond academics. UK universities welcome more than 270,000 international students every year from over 200 nations, and wherever they settle, students get a warm, supportive, and nurturing environment which helps them achieve their fullest potential. Almost 20% of students in the UK are international, enabling a multi-cultural environment that allows students to create a network of future peers and friends across the globe.

Nearly one-third of the UK's university academic staff are from outside of the UK and the breadth of global teaching expertise means UK universities foster a global culture, which integrates people from diverse backgrounds and helps develop a global mindset.

Academic choices

The UK education system takes into view the changing dynamics in the real world and offers courses that allow individuals to acquire skills in the area of their interest. While studying in the UK, students can choose from more than 50,000 courses from 169 recognised universities. The UKs education system is structured in such a way that it allows students the flexibility to combine courses or opt for courses in a manner that best suits their needs and backgrounds. Working professionals with industry experience might want to upskill themselves, while younger students might need a formal education to build a theoretical base in their field of study.

UK universities offer short, diverse and specialised courses that include full-time, three-year bachelors degrees, one-year masters degrees, four-year integrated degrees, sandwich courses and doctorate degrees. Working professionals might opt for one-year courses, foundation degrees, combined degrees, top-up degrees, part-time courses or conversion courses.

Affordability and Value for Money

Often assumed to be more expensive, the UK can actually turn out to be a more affordable study destination than both the USA and Australia. The UK offers students options that allow them to graduate sooner, avail a host of scholarships and work with pay while they study, all of which contribute towards making their education more affordable. There are various scholarships and financial support for aspiring students, artists, professionals and even entrepreneurs. There are also scholarships exclusively for Indian students such as Chevening Scholarships, Commonwealth Scholarships and Fellowships, GREAT Scholarships and the Charles Wallace India Scholarships. The UK has a generous offer to Indian students available from universities, UK government and British Council each year, for various levels of study across fields.

The value of a UK education goes beyond globally recognised degrees and the consequent strong job prospects. The faculty, the global peer network and the post-study support offered by UK universities creates lifelong value for its alumni.

To know more about studying in the UK, visit: study-uk.britishcouncil.org/

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Central Michigan University is the latest institution to backtrack on ties to Lansing-based political firm Vanguard Public Affairs after owner TJ Bucholz was accused by multiple women of sexual harassment and creating a toxic work environment for women.

Vanguard Public Affairs is a political communications firm based in Lansing. The firm has done work on high-profile Democratic political campaigns, as well as campaigns for local offices. It also does communications for unions and corporate clients.

Its owner is Bucholz, a CMU graduate and fixture in state government circles. He worked for the state before working in the private and nonprofit sectors, along with on political campaigns. He founded his own firm in 2014.

Allegations about Bucholzs behavior towards women came to the fore this month after, in a Facebook post, Emily Dievendorf described his regular inappropriate behavior towards her while working with him on a campaign, including propositioning her about having a threesome with him and his wife.

Since Dievendorf wrote about her experience, a number of women have come forward with descriptions of inappropriate behavior from Bucholz, first in the progressive website Electablog and the Detroit Free Press, then in other publications and on social media. Many of them were current or recently graduated CMU students at the time of their work with Bucholz.

In a letter sent to CMU students, staff and faculty Friday, President Bob Davies said a faculty member connected to Vanguard and a staff member who may have had knowledge of the situation have been placed on administrative leave pending further investigation. The political newsletter MIRS first reported the universitys staffing actions Thursday evening.

Davies did not name the employees under investigation, but the universitys student newspaper, Central Michigan Life, reported they are journalism faculty member Steve Coon and student media adviser Dave Clark. MLive has contacted both Coon and Clark for comment.

The university has retained outside, independent counsel to conduct an investigation into what happened and identify steps CMU can take to ensure our students are appropriately supported throughout their CMU journey, Davies wrote in the letter.

I have read the testimonies and accounts from our students and alumni, as well as those of other individuals who were associated with the firm, he wrote. The stories of what they endured as employees  the degrading and horrible acts they experienced  deeply sadden me, and I extend my sincere apologies to each of them. They have all demonstrated incredible bravery in coming forward, and I want them to know they have our support.

Women who worked at Vanguard Public Affairs described a toxic work culture led by Bucholz. His workplace behavior was erratic and he often got extremely angry, according to former employees.

I would say in the beginning it was sunshine and rainbows. And then very quickly, I started to see the real TJ. He often had blowups in the office. He would go on tirades screaming about anything and everything, said Mariah Prowoznik, who worked at the company from April 2018 to October 2019.

She served as the companys brand manager and then was promoted to creative director, which made her a member of the senior staff.

And until reading another womans account of her treatment by Bucholz, she hadnt thought of what shed experienced at Vanguard as sexual harassment. Shes still not sure how some of her experiences square with that word.

As a woman, Im lucky enough to have never experienced sexual assault. And I thought I was lucky enough never to have experienced sexual harassment either. But then when I read Emily Dievendorfs post... the first words out of my mouth were me too, Prowoznik said.

At one point, she said, Bucholz sent her a photo of himself topless, wearing a bowtie.

He brought her into his office to show her his gun, she said, and made a comment about it being for protection.

Hed also bring her in to make comments about the appearances of women anchoring news shows on the television in his office, including their outfits and hairstyles, Prowoznik said.

Rachel Felice worked for Vanguard Public Affairs between the spring of 2018 and the fall of 2019.

I felt right away that it was not a normal office job in the fact that like, theres this boss, hes super cool, hes paying me way more money than I should be making at that time, we can drink in the office, Felice said.

But there were also things that made her uncomfortable. He knew she hadnt traveled much and would talk about taking her on trips to places she hadnt been. He would talk about his wife, and mention trading her in for a younger model while talking to her, a younger woman, she said. He told her he shaved his chest because the ladies like it, she said, and that he preferred blonde women.

And then there was what she described as verbal abuse  yelling at her in front of other employees, or becoming angry about personal things, like her not laughing at his jokes.

Toward the end of her tenure, his behavior upset her to the point where she would sometimes have panic attacks from being in the same room as him.

She watched interns be scared of him, and tried to warn them away from taking jobs there. But her alma mater, CMU, kept sending them. She thought about calling a contact there, but was afraid it would come back to affect her career.

I really wanted to call him to tell him to stop sending people to Vanguard, but I was nervous... he knows TJ, TJ knows him. I was scared that if I said something it would get back to TJ, Felice said.

Tess Francke worked at Vanguard as an intern in 2016, when she was a senior at CMU. She hadnt heard of Vanguard before, but was connected to it through Coon, whod shed previously had as an instructor. Francke is in a relationship with an MLive reporter not involved with the reporting of this article.

During her internship, Francke drove from Mount Pleasant to Lansing twice a week, and gradually came to dread going into the office.

One time I remember he asked me to call him daddy and to only refer to him as daddy, which was like, obviously weird and uncomfortable, Francke said.

Another time, she said Bucholz likened the team of women who worked there to the Hooters of PR agencies, something she said drew emphasis to and sexualized the womens bodies.

It was the first corporate workplace shed been in, but it didnt feel right. And it was before the me too movement  when she went, crying, to talk to her advisor about dropping the internship, she didnt feel like she had the right vocabulary to describe why the working conditions were so difficult.

The environment was just very uncomfortable to me, personally. My experience was that I was always really uncomfortable going in there, to the point that I did ask my advisor if I could just drop the internship, but I needed it to graduate, Francke said.

Abby Clark, who worked for the company from the spring of 2018 to the fall of 2019 before starting her own company, progressive political communications firm Athena Strategies, was part of the senior staff. She described a revolving door of young, female talent that would come into the firm and leave just as quickly.

If a man ever wandered in, the turnover was super fast... but even for the women, the turnover was extremely high. And then theres like this limitless supply, which is like the Central Michigan connection in action, Clark said.

She said he didnt display anything more than run-of-the-mill, boorish behavior in front of her, but women would tell her of inappropriate things he did while he was one-on-one with them. It put her in a difficult position because she couldnt address his behavior without him knowing who had told her about it.

But he was open about hiring mainly women, and would sometimes bring female employees to client meetings they didnt need to be at.

He loved to show it off. He loved to roll into a meeting with a whole set of us in tow.

He just wanted to look cool all the time... the cars, the office, all the women working there, he just really really really wanted to look cool, to be cool. And its frustrating to know youre being used that way, Clark said.

Bucholz referred a request for comment to his attorney, Derrick George.

My client is confused as to why these allegations are now being shared years after they allegedly occurred, via social media. No complaints were ever filed formally as per the company policies outlined in Vanguards handbook. Any other allegations of misconduct outside of Vanguard have not been disclosed to Mr. Bucholz until now, and no formal complaint or documentation exists to support these allegations either.

In an attempt to stop the reputational ruin that my client has experienced in the last 48 hours, he issued a statement and apology for anything that he has said that may have hurt someone. That apology is in no way an admission of guilt of alleged actions that were churned up in Facebook posts, George said in a statement.

The fallout from the allegations has been swift. Some senior staff at Vanguard have publicly cut ties with the firm, and Bucholz was asked to step down from board positions he held at Downtown Lansing, Inc. and Central Michigan Public Relations Society of America.

The Michigan Department of Civil Rights  which previously contracted with Vanguard for a report on disparities in K-12 education and subsequent funding analysis totaling $49,750  denounced the behavior detailed in the accusations and urged anyone who has been the victim of sexual harassment to file a discrimination complaint.

The fact that someone the Michigan Department of Civil Rights contracted with has been accused by multiple women of such behavior is deeply disturbing. We must take their accusations seriously, department Director James E. White said in a statement. If the harassment occurred within the last 180 days, we will conduct a thorough and neutral investigation. It is important that people facing this behavior reach out as soon as possible and not assume they have no recourse.

Davies encouraged any current or past students and graduates of CMU to contact the Office of Civil Rights and Institutional Equity at 989-774-3253 or seek out confidential resources provided by the university.

Clark said the groups that have dropped their affiliation with Bucholz were important to him, and its a true punishment. But she also said this story coming out now points to a larger issue.

TJ is personally being held responsible for his actions, which is very important... but its not going to really make a difference big-picture, long-term, unless we look at some of the systems that allow this to occur. And what allows it to occur is the power imbalance. The fact that TJ could show, every day, right, that hes connected, that he has powerful friends, both in the media and in politics, right, because who are you gonna tell?
Microsoft and Google are partnering to promote web browser compatibility around a number of CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) features, with an effort called #Compat2021.

Also involving open source software consulting firm Igalia and the broader web community, #Compat2021 aims to improve compatibility in five specific areas:

CSS Flexbox, a CSS module that defines a CSS box model optimized for user interface design and the layout of items in a single direction.

CSS Grid, for dividing a page into regions or defining the relationship in terms of layer, position, and size, between parts of a control built from HTML primitives.

CSS Position: sticky, or sticky positioning, which is akin to a hybrid of relative and fixed positioning.

CSS aspect-ratio property, pertaining to a CSS property setting a preferred aspect ratio for the box, to be used in the calculation of auto sizes and other layout functions.

CSS transforms, for rotating, scaling, skewing, or translating an element.

The joint working group involved in the project identified these focus areas based on the number of related bugs in each vendors tracking system, feature usage data, survey feedback, CanIUse data, and web-platform-tests test results.

While working group members will focus on their respective implementations, the Microsoft Edge team plans to contribute fixes to the Google-sponsored Chromium project to pass all CSS Grid tests in 2021 and to support improving interop across browsers.

#Compat21 was announced on March 22. Progress on the project can be tracked on the Compat 2021 dashboard.
WASHINGTON, March 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Independent Women's Voice (IWV) announced the launch of the Free Speech Pledge . Signed by elected officials and the American public, the Free Speech Pledge demonstrates their commitment to protecting free speech and the ability of all Americans to speak, protest, and express their opinions publicly.

Early signers of the Free Speech Pledge include Senator Mike Braun (IN) and Representatives Cathy McMorris Rodgers (WA-05), Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-01), Ken Buck (CO-04), Michael Burgess (TX-26), Mike Gallagher (WI-08), Nancy Mace (SC-01), Stephanie Bice (OK-05), Tom McClintock (CA-04), Victoria Spartz (IN-05) and Yvette Herrell (NM-02).

Today, freedom of speech is under attack. Efforts to stifle debate and silence dissenters are compounded by cancel culture, a dangerous movement which imposes severe social and economic sanctions on those who express insufficiently woke opinions.

The Pledge lets voters know which lawmakers are committed to using their office to defend Americans' rights to speak freely and protest peacefully, and to ensure that large platforms and services apply their rules consistently and do not engage in viewpoint discrimination against users.

"Freedom of speech must be defended," said Heather R. Higgins, CEO of Independent Women's Voice. "Today, many Americans are afraid to express their beliefs out of fear of retaliation or being 'canceled.' What is happening right now isn't about suppressing hate speech. It's about suppressing history, facts, and viewpoints that some self-appointed woke arbiters who are looking to be offended have decreed are damaging and hateful. That's a recipe for a society defined by fear, division, mistrust, intolerance, discrimination, and ultimately violence."

In summer 2020, Cato Institute released a study finding that 62% of Americans "strongly" or "somewhat" agree that "the political climate these days prevents me from saying things I believe because others might find them offensive." According to the study, only "very liberal" Americans feel like they are able to freely express their beliefs.

"This is not how America is supposed to function," Higgins added. "This is not the foundation of a healthy, pro-human, society in which people with different ideas and beliefs civilly debate their positions, actually listen to each other, display charity and forgiveness, and work together in search of common ground."

For more information on the Free Speech Pledge, please visit freespeechpledge.com .

Related links:

freespeechpledge.com

www.iwv.org

###

Independent Women's Voice fights for women and families by effectively expanding support among women, independents, and millennials for policy solutions that aren't just well intended, but actually enhance people's freedom, choices, and opportunities.

Contact:

Elizabeth Tew

[email protected]

SOURCE Independent Women's Voice
Over $4.6 mln to be allocated for regional hospitals and outpatients' clinics - order

 flickr.com / sugree

10:58 26/03/2021

MOSCOW, March 26 (RAPSI)  Russian regions will receive more than 3.5 billion rubles (over $4.6 million) for additional financing of hospitals and outpatients' clinics working within a compulsory health insurance system. A corresponding order was signed by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin on Friday.

The funds from the reserve fund will be forwarded to 12 regions and Baikonur town. This financial support will let medical organizations compensate additional costs related to the treatment of patients infected with coronavirus, according to the Government.

Earlier, the Cabinet of Ministers transferred over 25.4 billion rubles to another 47 regions for these purposes.




Communication in the possession of this paper indicates the Management of APM Terminals has snubbed Labor Minister Cllr. Charles Gibson's mandate to left suspension of 24 employees of the company.

The communication dated March 19, 2021, from Minister Gibson's office states, "By directive of the Minister of Labour, Cllr. Charles Gibson, you are hereby instructed to halt all ongoing investigations of the 24 suspended employees; growing out of their alleged involvement in the strike action of September 2020 at the company's premises in the Freeport of Monrovia. Meanwhile, pending further actions by the Ministry of Labour, all affected employees are to return to work and be allowed to carry out their duties as prescribed in their respective employment contracts."

However, speaking to this paper Thursday, March 25, 2021, the president of the APM Terminals Liberia Workplace Representative Ballah Kpadeh said, following the minister's communication to the management, he (Ballah) and his colleagues had gone to resume work last Monday as usual and in compliance with the letter from the Minister but the APM Terminals Management resisted their entry into its premises at the Freeport of Monrovia.

The letter of complaint sent to Minister Gibson states, "It is with a heavy heart we write to inform you that as per your communication dated March 19, 2021, which states that all 24 suspended employees of APM Terminals Liberia should resume work in good faith based on their employment contract. Predicated on the above, the workers went to work early morning of March 24, and were denied entry by the management stated herein."

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APM Terminals is a foreign company that manages the Freeport of Monrovia through commercial activities of the port.

Since last year 24 employees of the company were suspended for time indefinite for reportedly participating in strike action against the company. Both the Labour Ministry and the Liberian Senate have tried to resolve the matter, but to avail.

In October 2020, the Liberian Senate in an unusual angry mood ordered the Secretary of the Senate to summon the Management of APM Terminals to answer why it should not be held in contempt of the Liberian Legislature.

The motion, proffered by the chairman of the Committee on Executive, Senator Saah Joseph, and angrily supported by Pro-tempore Albert Chie, followed a hearing report by the Committee on Labor and Judiciary.

The complaint was authored by Senator Abraham Darius Dillon against alleged unfair labor practices by the company against the Dock Workers' Union.

In findings of the two committees read before the Senate plenary on Wednesday, October 7, 2020, it was observed that the Dock Workers Union's complaint was serious and that several efforts were made with the Minister of Labor, but to no avail, as ruling from hearing officers at the Ministry of Labor was not adhered to by the APM Terminals, as collective bargaining agreement between the company and the Dock Workers Union had long expired. Accordingly, the management is operating on its handbook.
(JTA)  A Brooklyn rabbi is under investigation for allegedly arranging marriages between children as young as 15 years old.

The Forward reported Thursday that the New York Police Department and Administration of Child Services are looking into the accusations against Yoel Roth, who runs Yeshiva Tiferes Hatorah in the Williamsburg neighborhood as well as a community in upstate Liberty, where many of the young couples he allegedly has married off now live.

Frimet Goldberger, a writer who grew up in the Hasidic community, posted about the practice earlier this month, sharing a picture of a newly engaged couple: The girl is 17 and the boy is 15.

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I am sharing this photo so you know what underage forced marriage looks like, Goldberger wrote.

While men and women in Hasidic communities typically marry young, marriages are generally not done before the age of 18. In New York state, one must be 18 years old to marry, though a 17-year-old can marry with a courts permission.

According to the Forward, Roth believes that boys should be married off at a young age to prevent them from masturbating. Former followers of Roth said he arranged marriages without permission from the parents of the bride and groom, and often does not allow parents to decide the date of the wedding or even to know the age of their childs future spouse.

Roths secretary, Shaul Indig, denied the claims to the Forward.

If you do something good, theres always people who criticize you, he said.

The NYPD and Administration of Child Services declined to provide specific information about the investigations to the Forward.
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Copyright  2021 Albuquerque Journal

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled in favor of an Albuquerque woman who was shot in the back by New Mexico State Police while fleeing officers in 2014.

The ruling means the lawsuit filed by Roxanne Torres in federal court against the two officers can proceed.

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The public should feel good that the Supreme Court is taking civil rights and issues of police brutality seriously in this case, said attorney Kelsi Corkran, who argued the case before the justices last October.

In her lawsuit, Torres says she was sleeping in her SUV in the parking lot of an apartment complex when two police officers wearing dark clothing and tactical vests approached her, and blocked her car with their unmarked cruiser. Officers Janice Madrid and Richard Williamson were attempting to serve an arrest warrant on another woman.

Torres said that, when the officers tried to open her car door, she thought they were carjackers and started to drive away. Thats when Madrid and Williamson  who contend she drove at them  shot at her, striking her twice in the back. Torres crashed the car, stole another one and managed to drive more than 80 miles to a hospital in Grants.

Torres attorney, Eric Dixon, said the complaint alleges her Fourth Amendment rights were violated and the seizure was unreasonable since she had the right to be where she was.

She wasnt a suspect or wanted for any crime, and wasnt threatening anybody, including the officers, Dixon said. She was an unarmed civilian and they used excessive force by firing on her.

A State Police spokesman said that the agency does not comment on pending litigation. He said Sgt. Madrid is still with the State Police and Sgt. Williamson retired in December 2019.

Dixon said his client, now 35, still lives in Albuquerque.

Ms. Torres continues to suffer from the unjustified use of force against her and looks forward to presenting her case to a jury, Dixon said. It was a difficult experience for her, but (she) is overjoyed that the law has been changed for herself and other victims of unjustified police abuse.

He said the federal lawsuit will pick up where it left off in 2018.

A U.S. District Court judge had dismissed the case, ruling that, since Torres managed to escape, she was never seized and she cannot prevail on her claims that the officers used excessive force in effecting a seizure.

The 10th Circuit upheld that ruling. But the U.S. Supreme Court disagreed.

In the 5-3 opinion released Thursday, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that The question in this case is whether a seizure occurs when an officer shoots someone who temporarily eludes capture after the shooting. The answer is yes: The application of physical force to the body of a person with intent to restrain is a seizure, even if the force does not succeed in subduing the person.

Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Brett Kavanaugh joined in the 18-page opinion.

Justice Neil Gorsuch  joined by Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito  dissented. They criticized the majority opinion, saying it ignores all countervailing evidence, doesnt offer reasoned explanations and is interpreting the word seizure differently for people and objects.

Our final destination confuses a battery for a seizure and an attempted seizure with its completion, Gorsuch wrote in a 26-page dissent. All this is miles from where the standard principles of interpretation lead and just as far from the Constitutions original meaning.

Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who was not on the bench when the case was heard on Oct. 14, 2020, did not take part in consideration of the case.

Corkran said its an incredibly significant case, but it also probably confirms what most people already assume to be true. She said the Department of Justice, under the Donald Trump administration, was on their side and had filed an amicus brief in their support.

If the case had come out the other way, I think most people would be surprised to find out that the police are free to shoot people for no reason at all so long as the person is able to escape and doesnt immediately fall to the ground, Corkran said in an interview. Its a relief that the court recognized the original meaning and, as a practical manner, why it was important to provide protection here.

As for Dixon, he said just hearing that the case was going to be heard before the Supreme Court was the most exciting day of my life and he is incredibly pleased with the result. The Supreme Court is asked to consider about 10,000 cases every year and hears only a tiny fraction of them.

Its a huge victory for civil liberties, he said. You never know how these cases are going to go  It was amazing that we got granted in the first place.

US Supreme Court ruling in Torres v. Madrid et al. by Albuquerque Journal on Scribd
opinion

South Africa's democracy is under attack by a man, and those within his factional alliance, who served in the highest office in the land. However, broad coalitions of South Africans have already begun to form and mobilise to respond to the immediate threat to our constitutional democracy that Jacob Zuma continues to pose.

The interesting thing about constitutional delinquents is that while they are unable to change their stripes or spots, they remain doggedly committed to their tactics and posturing.

Former president Jacob Zuma continues to plague the inner workings of the African National Congress, but even worse, threatens the constitutional fabric and framework of South Africa's democracy in much the same way that Donald Trump continues to shape the politics of the Republican Party and haunt the union in America.

South Africa's democracy is under attack by a man, and those within his factional alliance, who served in the highest office in the land -- a fact that seems irrelevant to the man at the centre of this delinquent behaviour, regardless of the facts before the country, the Constitutional Court, the State Capture Commission or in the public square.

Zuma continues to represent a real and serious danger to...
Haja Umu Timbo (pictured centre), 21, had her penalty lowered in Brisbane Magistrates Court on Friday after magistrate took racist abuse into account

Two of three women accused of lying on a border declaration form to avoid quarantine after travelling to a declared hotspot have been sentenced to 80 hours of community service.

Haja Umu Timbo and Diana Lasu, both 21, avoided a $13,000 fine and had no convictions recorded after a magistrate took 'racist and threatening' abuse from members of the public into account.

Timbo, Lasu and friend Olivia Winnie Muranga, 20, were initially charged with one count of making false or misleading documents and one of fraud.

The pair faced Brisbane Magistrates Court on Friday to face only a lesser charge of failing to comply with a public health direction.

The court heard they spent four nights in Melbourne where they attended a party in July 2020, guests of which later tested positive for COVID-19.

They received fines in Victoria for failing to comply with gathering restrictions.

Both failed to declare the hotspot visit on their return to Brisbane, and Lasu later tested positive for COVID-19.

Timbo's lawyer Rebecca Fogerty said her client's offending differed from her friends because she did not test positive for coronavirus and took it upon herself to self-quarantine.

Timbo, Lasu (pictured left) and friend Olivia Winnie Muranga, 20, were initially charged with one count of making false or misleading documents and one of fraud

The court heard Timbo (pictured) spent four nights in Melbourne where she attended a party in July 2020, guests of which later tested positive for COVID-19

The court was told Timbo was unaware she would have to pay for hotel quarantine before she left Queensland, and Ms Fogerty said her lie was partially motivated by avoiding the cost.

She said the media storm Timbo was subjected to should be taken into account when sentencing, calling out elements of racism and sexism in the 'disproportionate' public backlash that included hundreds of private messages on social media.

'If what she has gone through in the last nine months is not atoning, then I don't know what is,' she said.

'She feels pessimistic about future prospects and happiness.'

Lasu's lawyer, Elizabeth Davey, said her client also took it upon herself to self-isolate and did not spend time in the community when she returned.

Lasu had also been subjected to 'horrific' racial slurs and messages telling her to kill herself after the incident attracted so much attention, Ms Davey said.

The court was told Timbo (pictured, centre) was unaware she would have to pay for hotel quarantine before she left Queensland, and Ms Fogerty said her lie was partially motivated by avoiding the cost

Lasu's (pictured right) lawyer, Elizabeth Davey, said her client also took it upon herself to self-isolate and did not spend time in the community when she returned

'She was receiving those messages, including death threats, while recovering from a serious virus,' she said.

Prosecutor Lisa Pye told the court the maximum penalty was more than $13,000 or six months in prison, and argued a significant fine was appropriate given the cost to the community.

But deputy Chief Magistrate Janelle Brassington lowered the penalty due to 'racist and threatening' messages the pair received, The Courier Mail reported.

Timbo and Lasu both pleaded guilty to the single charge of failing to comply with a public health direction and Ms Brassington recorded no conviction due to Timbo's young age and prospects of rehabilitation.

Muranga is listed for a plea on April 15.
IQALUIT, Nunavut - The first chief justice in Canada's largest and youngest territory has died at age 68.

IQALUIT, Nunavut - The first chief justice in Canada's largest and youngest territory has died at age 68.

Court officials say Beverley Browne, who was Nunavut's top judge for 10 years, died Wednesday in Edmonton surrounded by family.

Justice Beverley Browne poses in this undated handout photo. Court officials say Browne, who was Nunavut's top judge for 10 years, died Wednesday in Edmonton surrounded by family. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO, Fred Katz *MANDATORY CREDIT*

Browne became a judge in the Northwest Territories in 1990 and was appointed chief justice of Nunavut in 1999, the year the territory was founded. She was responsible for building Nunavut's justice system and establishing Canada's only single-level trial court.

She also co-founded the Akitsiraq Law School to train Inuit lawyers in Nunavut.

In 2009, she left Nunavut for Alberta, where she served on the Court of Queen's Bench and helped create Alberta's Gladue and restorative justice committees. She continued to serve as a deputy judge in Nunavut up until her retirement in February.

In an interview, current Nunavut Chief Justice Neil Sharkey said he first met Browne in Nunavut in 1989, when she was 36. She was someone other judges and lawyers turned to for advice.

"She was always available. She was there for people. You could go to Bev and just put your feet up and stop ruminating about a problem," Sharkey said.

"Her work ethic as well as her community involvement were just inspirational."

Sharkey said Browne left a legacy for others of "leading by listening."

"The way that I watched Bev be a leader was inspiration in terms of listening ... not to take charge, but to listen. Bev made it look so seamless."

He also said Browne had been in Iqaluit a few months ago to chair meetings on the revitalization of an elders program at the Nunavut Court of Justice. The program, which she created, allows elders to sit alongside judges during sentencing hearings to speak with offenders.

She represented the "gold standard of judicial community commitment," Sharkey said.

Browne was also widely known in Iqaluit for her role in the community's music scene. In 1996, she founded the Iqaluit Music Society, which was recently awarded the $1-million Arctic Inspiration Prize.

Darlene Nuqingaq, who runs the music society, said Browne was "a very dear friend" who cared deeply about teaching music.

"She would get the choruses of many musicals we produced translated into Inuktitut," Nuqingaq said.

Browne also created a community orchestra in Iqaluit. She played the saxophone and the flute.

"We played at the first opening of Nunavut's legislative assembly in 1999, even though she had just been sworn in as chief justice at midnight the night before," Nuqingaq said. "She was tireless in all the things she did."

Browne, who has two children and six grandchildren who live in Iqaluit, would regularly return to the city and visit with the music community, Nuqingaq added.

"Everybody just loved to see her. She's been a lifelong friend and mentor. I didn't think she would be gone so soon."

Browne also founded and taught a law course at Iqaluit's high school, Nuqingaq said.

"She was someone that if she saw a need, she would find a way to do it. And if she couldn't find someone to do it, she would do it herself."

Chief Justice Mary Moreau of the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta said Browne "was a wonderful mentor and support to new justices and an inspiration to us all."

"She touched us all with her compassion, her down-to-earth approach to problem-solving and her strong desire to improve the court's relationship with Indigenous communities," Moreau wrote in a statement.

In Edmonton, Browne was a regular guest at Warrior Program graduation ceremonies at the Stan Daniels Centre and Buffalo Sage Wellness House, two community residential facilities for conditionally released and federally sentenced Indigenous offenders.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 26, 2021.

This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Facebook and Canadian Press News Fellowship
Click here for updates on this story

SACRAMENTO, California (KOVR) -- A Sacramento woman called out an anonymous neighbor for sending her an Amazon delivery with a shock collar for her barking dog.

The package also included an unpleasant note addressed to Barking Dog Owner.

One year into the pandemic, next-door neighbors maybe arent quite as neighborly anymore. Thats whats happened at Leianna Coxs house.

Whoever sent the package to her didnt knock on her door to complain, and if they did, they might have found out she doesnt even have a dog.

People are crazy, theyre bored, theyre stuck in their houses, Cox said.

Its a pandemic present with a certain shock value.

Its funny, its kind of funny, its kind of not funny, Cox said.

She wasnt sure what she would find inside of the package. But she said it was a shock collar that went for $38 on Amazon.

The gift also came with a gift card.

It says, Dear Barking Dog Neighbor, we thought We would super enjoy you using this on your dog as we would like to sleep past 5:30 AM. Thanks so much for being a considerate neighbor! From Your Neighbors,  Cox said.

Cox doesnt know who took the time to pick out the present. Whoever did, never took the time to talk to her.

Theres my cat. This is the only thing I have. They dont bark, she said.

Cox does want the anonymous Amazon sender to know this: Lets just address that issue. If I did have a dog, and I was to receive this, I would be super upset that youre telling me to put a shock collar on my dog.

Cox blames the pandemic as much as the person who sent her the delivery.

People are at home with nothing else to do, people arent going to work anymore, theyre just probably working from home, she said.

She said Amazon is investigating the delivery on the grounds of harassment.

In the meantime, Cox said she was able to get Amazon credit for the delivery, which she used to buy magnetic eyelashes
A petroleum products distribution terminal in Jizan, Saudi Arabia, was attacked late on Thursday local time, the Kingdom said, blaming the Iran-aligned Houthi movement and vowing to take measures to preserve the stability of the global oil supply.

Late on Thursday, an attack with a projectile was made on the petroleum products distribution terminal in Jizan, an official spokesman at the Saudi Ministry of Energy said, as carried by the official Saudi Press Agency.

The attack caused a fire in one of the petroleum tanks at the terminal on the Red Sea coast of Saudi Arabia, close to the border with Yemen. There were no casualties, the Saudi agency reported.

The Kingdom strongly condemns this cowardly attack against vital installations. The attack does not only target the Kingdom, but also petroleum exports, the stability of energy supply to the world, freedom of world trade, as well as the global economy, Saudi Arabia said.

The Saudi Ministry of Defense said that the terrorist, Iran-backed Houthi militias attempt to target Jazans petroleum products distribution terminal Thursday evening (25 March 2021) is a cowardly act of vandalism, which does not target the Kingdom and its economic installations, in fact it targets the core of global economy, the security of oil exports and stability of petroleum supplies, as well as the security of maritime navigation and international trade.

The ministry added it would undertake all necessary, deterrent measures to safeguard its national assets in a manner that preserves the security of global energy, and puts an end to these assaults.

The attack on the Jizan terminal follows attacks in recent weeks, in which the Houthis claimed a drone attack on the Riyadh refinery and a drone-and-ballistic-missile attack at oil facilities at the Saudi port of Ras Tanura, one of the worlds largest oil ports.

Thursdays attack also comes amid concerns that global oil supply could be disrupted by the ongoing blockage of the Suez Canal, which could take weeks to clear for shipping after a giant container ship got stuck sideways in the narrowest section of the canal. Oil prices were rising by around 3% on Friday, supported by the Suez Canal disruption and the latest Houthi attack in the worlds largest oil exporter, Saudi Arabia.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
MarsBars/iStockBy MEREDITH DELISO and JOSH MARGOLIN, ABC News



(NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J.) -- Rutgers University, New Jersey's flagship state institution, said Thursday it will require COVID-19 vaccination for students before they arrive on campus this fall, possibly the first school in the country to announce a vaccine requirement.



The school plans to welcome back all students to its three campuses this fall. The requirement will apply to all residential and commuter students, though there will be limited case-by-case exemptions for religious or medical reasons. Students enrolled in fully remote programs will not be required to be vaccinated.



School officials said they were encouraged to require the vaccine for the fall after President Joe Biden declared earlier this month that all adults should be eligible for COVID-19 vaccinations by the end of May.



New Jersey's vaccination rates so far have also been promising, Tony Calcado, executive vice president and chief operating officer at Rutgers, told ABC News. More than 3.8 million total vaccines have been administered in the state, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.



The vast majority of students who attend Rutgers are from the state. With over 71,000 students, it's the largest university in New Jersey.



Vaccination will help play a key part in continuing to operate a safe campus and help return operations to a "pre-pandemic normal," officials said.



"They need to get some sense of normalcy back in their lives," Calcado said. "They need to experience the college experience. We really firmly believe that."



The school wanted to announce the requirement now "so that we give all of our students and their families the opportunity to be able to make the right decision for themselves," Calcado said.



School officials believe Rutgers is the first university in the U.S. to require that students receive the COVID-19 vaccine.



"I suspect that others will look at this and do the same thing," Calcado said. "That's just speculation on my part."



Students will be able to submit proof of vaccination in a school portal, where other vaccine records and medical information are already uploaded. Students under the age of 18 will be advised to receive the Pfizer vaccine, as it is approved for those ages 16 and up.



University faculty and staff are not required to get the vaccine, though they have been strongly encouraged to receive it during the rollout.



Rutgers has received approval from the state to administer the vaccine across its campuses as well, though is awaiting sufficient supply to start.



The state is looking to ramp up distribution, as New Jersey has the highest rate of new COVID-19 cases per capita in the country. More contagious variants are likely to be a factor in the spread, health officials said.



Copyright  2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
Photo courtesy of CurexLab, Inc. When Americans turned to double masking in order to protect themselves against the virus, we designed our SureSafe-4 mask, explains Shan S. Haider, chief executive officer at CurexLab Inc.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), using a mask with multiple layers will help keep respiratory droplets from getting inside or outside of the mask. One company has come out with a 4-ply mask that will provide the highest level of protection from the virus so people dont have to try to double or triple up on masks. The SureSafe-4 is currently available from CurexLab Inc., one of the largest personal protection equipment (PPE) providers in the world.

When Americans turned to double masking in order to protect themselves against the virus, we designed our SureSafe-4 mask, explains Shan S. Haider, chief executive officer at CurexLab Inc. It provides solid protection by X2 filter, which is comfortable to wear, easy to breathe, and affordable to use.

The SureSafe-4 mask available at CurexLab is made in Turkey and meets the CDC guidelines for disposable masks and the manufacturer is registered with the FDA. Its a disposable mask that has been scientifically developed in the lab to provide protection against air droplets, bacteria, and virus. The new disposable mask offers two melt-blown filters and is comfortable, breathable, and affordable.

The CDC further advises that wearing a mask is a critical step to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. They recommend that the mask fit snugly on the face, so that there are no open edges around the sides of the mask. Those who have problems with masks fitting properly may want to add a mask fitter or brace to help it be more snug. The mask should be worn around the nose, mouth, and chin. They report that disposable masks are not designed to fit tightly and that wearing more than one will not improve the fit.

We are happy to be able to offer people this 4-ply mask, which will help keep them safer when it comes to virus exposure, added Haider. Its easier to put on and use, and people find it more comfortable than trying to layer up multiple masks.

CurexLab Inc., pioneers in clinical diagnostic kits, offers a range of COVID-19 PPE supplies and lab supplies at affordable costs. Its product line includes antibody rapid testing kits, RNA COVID-19 extraction kits, inferred thermometers, ventilators, face shields, hand sanitizer, nitrile gloves, KN95 masks, three and four-ply masks, isolation and surgical gowns, and coveralls. To get more information or see the line of COVID-19 PPE and lab supplies, visit the site at: https://www.curexlab.com.

About CurexLab Inc.

Based in New York City and Toronto, Canada, CurexLab Inc. offers a range of COVID-19 lab and PPE supplies, including nitrile gloves and 4-ply masks. It is one of the largest suppliers of COVID-19 medical supplies. CurexLab masks were designed in compliance with FDA and CDC guidelines. They are a vendor a vendor at the state and federal government level. Its products are manufactured in labs in the U.S., Canada, Turkey, Estonia, Vietnam, and China. All vendors are carefully selected to meet CurexLabs high standards. To get more information or see the line of COVID-19 PPE and lab supplies, visit the site at: https://www.curexlab.com.

# # #

Source:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Improve how your mask protects you. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/your-health/effective-masks.html
Sotheby's Paris employees pose with the painting "Scene de rue a Montmartre" by Dutch painter Vincent Van Gogh - CHRISTIAN HARTMANN/Reuters

A previously unseen Van Gogh painting of Montmartre was sold for 16m at auction in Paris only to be resold minutes later for three million euros less due to a bidding error.

Street Scene in Montmartre, which has never before been exhibited since Van Gogh painted it in 1887, carried an estimate of 5-8m estimated price when the Sothebys auction opened on Thursday. It had been in the same private collection since 1920.

After a furious ten-minute bidding battle between a London and Hong Kong specialist, the price tag had reached 12m before an online buyer swooped in at the last minute, apparently securing the painting at 14 (16.2m with taxes).

The painting was the highlight of an auction of 33 works from masters including Degas, Magritte, Modigliani, Klee, Rodin and his muse Camille Claudel sold in an auction live-streamed by Sotheby's in Paris.

In this file photo taken on February 24, 2021 two employees put on display a painting titled "Scene de rue a Montmartre" - Getty Images)

However, as the sale other works continued, Sothebys announced that there would be a resale of the Van Gogh due to a "bidding error". This time, the mystery third person was nowhere to be found and the work went to London specialist Samuel Valette for 13m, including tax.

Despite the drop, the sale price was a record for the artist in France, said Sothebys.

The 1887 Van Gogh, one of more than 200 paintings produced by the Dutch post-Impressionist master during two years spent in Paris, portrays one of the windmills that dotted Montmartre when it was just a village on the northern outskirts of the capital.

In brown tones, a couple stroll and two children play in front of a wooden fence and leafless trees while a bright red flag flies above the mill. It is not considered one of his best works.

Camille Pissarro's "La Recolte des pois" - Sotheby's

The period marked a turning point in Van Gogh's career after which he turned to greater use of colour in the final years of his life, before his suicide in 1890 at the age of 37.

The last Van Gogh sold at a public auction, Labourer in a Field from 1889, went for $81 million at a New York sale in 2017.

Story continues

Other highlights in the Paris auction included the sale of a recently restored, Nazi-looted work by Camille Pissarro, La Recolte des pois, which fetched 3.38 million euros. It had been originally commissioned by Van Gogh's brother, Theo.

Among other landmark works auctioned at the double sale of impressionist and modern art at Sotheby's in Paris and London was a pastel by Edgar Degas called "Dancer" sold for 2.6 million.

In London, a portrait of the photographer Dora Maar by Pablo Picasso went for 9.3 million while Embrace on the beach by Norwegian painter Edvard Munch sold for 16.2m.

The painting was briefly owned by top Nazi official Hermann Goring, despite Munch's official designation as a "degenerate" artist by the Third Reich.
New Delhi, March 27 : The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) in association with the Directorate General of Human Resource Development under the Ministry of Finance has started a unique programme called 'Srishti' for learning about nature class in its school.

Under the project, a nature-based classroom has been developed with a herbal and aromatic plant yard in which sapling of basil (Tulsi) dill, rosemary, aloe, fennel, sage, lemon grass were planted. Along with these, an open air eco-shade (Gazebo) equipped for teaching and learning tools like table, chair, whiteboard and microphone for instructor and eco stools for students are provided.

DP Singh, Director of education in NDMC told IANS: "I believe that the initiative will not only enrich the knowledge of students but will also have a positive effect in whole learning process.

While inaugurating the nature-based classroom, Neetu Lall Butalia, Director General (Human Resource Development) said, "The project has been initiated keeping in the mind with learning about nature. Classroom is developed under the swachhta action plan in the school for the students."
Some military commanders and administration officials have argued that any set date for withdrawing the approximately 3,500 American troops who remain, whether it is May 1 or at the end of the year, will doom the mission. The only way to preserve hard-fought gains in Afghanistan, they said, is to keep the small American presence there long enough to force a lasting deal between the Taliban and Afghan government.

These officials have used the intelligence assessment to make the point that a withdrawal this year will lead to a fall of the current government, a sharp erosion of womens rights and the return of international terrorist groups. A rush to the exit, some officials said, will only drag the United States back into Afghanistan soon after leaving  much as was the case in Iraq in 2014, three years after the Obama administration pulled troops out of that conflict.

The White House has held a series of meetings on Afghanistan, and more are to come. On Thursday, the president said he was waiting for briefings from Mr. Austin, who met recently with Afghan officials, and Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken, who conferred this week with NATO allies, for their bottom-line advice on what he should do.

For many Biden administration officials, the issue that has resonated the most clearly is the threat that a Taliban takeover could pose to Afghan women. While some former intelligence officials predict the Taliban will initially take care not to roll back womens rights altogether  at least in major cities  if they take over the entire country, it will be difficult to guarantee protections for women, such as education for girls and access to health care.

Any agreement must preserve their gains if Afghanistan wants to ensure the international communitys continued political and financial support, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, told the Security Council this week. We will not give an inch on this point.
Canadas population growth rate falls to WWI levels in 2020 Reduced immigration had a major impact on Canada's population growth during the pandemic.

Canadas population growth rate falls to WWI levels in 2020 Reduced immigration had a major impact on Canada's population growth during the pandemic.

Canadas population growth rate falls to WWI levels in 2020 Reduced immigration had a major impact on Canada's population growth during the pandemic. Shelby Thevenot Aa Accessibility Font Style Serif

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With an increase in deaths and a decrease in new immigrants, Canada saw its lowest population growth rate since 1916.

In 2020, Canadas population only increased 0.4 per cent, according to Statistics Canada. Population growth has not been this low since the first year of World War I when it was just 0.3 per cent. By the end of 2021, Canadas population had increased by about 149,000, which just slid its population count past the 38 million mark.

There was an increase in the number of deaths last year, about 5 per cent were due to COVID-19. It was also the first time in Canadas recorded history that the number of deaths in Canada surpassed 300,000.

Immigration accounted for 58 per cent of population growth in 2020. Usually, it accounts for about 80 per cent of Canadas growth. Due to travel restrictions and other coronavirus-related measures, the number of new immigrants in 2020 was the lowest it has been since 1998. In 2019, nearly 86 per cent of Canadas population growth was thanks to newcomers. However, it fell by almost half in 2020.

Canada lost more than 86,000 temporary residents last year, which is the largest net loss on record. This is almost entirely due to decreases in the numbers of work and study permit holders.

Find Out if Youre Eligible for Canadian Immigration

Immigration levels increased to make up for 2020 slump

In the fall of 2020, Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino announced that Canada would increase its immigration target to 1.2 million over the next three years. In 2021 alone Canada is aiming to accept 401,000 newcomers.

The increase in immigration targets is a response to the low levels of immigrants admitted in 2020. Immigration is still a priority in Canada, as it helps address the countrys demographic challenges, which include an aging labour force and a low birth rate.

With no end in sight to the current travel restrictions that are obstructing immigration, the Liberal government is prioritizing immigrants who are already in Canada to meet its 2021 immigration levels target. Mendicino recently told Bloomberg that with immigration levels stabilizing in January, Canada is currently on track to meet this target.

One of the governments strategies has been to invite more immigration candidates to apply for permanent residence through the Express Entry system. Express Entry is not an immigration program, but it is an electronic system that manages immigration applications. People who want to immigrate to Canada submit their profile to the system, they get a score, and then they may be invited to apply for permanent residence based on their eligibility for any of the programs that are managed by Express Entry.

So far in 2021, the only Express Entry candidates who have been invited to apply are those who may be eligible for the Canadian Experience Class, or those who have received a nomination from a Provincial Nominee Program.

Canada also increased the processing capacity for family class immigration at its Case Processing Centre in Sydney, Nova Scotia. This initiative is meant to help Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada return to its one-year processing standard for spousal sponsorship applications.

Find Out if Youre Eligible for Canadian Immigration

 CIC News All Rights Reserved. Visit CanadaVisa.com to discover your Canadian immigration options.
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Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole asked if Raut had been appointed as Pawar's spokesperson

I don't think any regional party in the country has objection to Sharad Pawar heading the UPA, said Sanjay Raut. (PTI file photo)

New Delhi/Mumbai: Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Thursday said the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) is paralysed and a non-Congress leader like Sharad Pawar should head it. His statement drew sharp criticism from the Congress, which reminded him that Shiv Sena is not a part of the UPA and asked Mr Raut to keep his views to himself.

"The UPA is paralysed now. I think NCP chief Sharad Pawar should lead the UPA at the national level, Mr Raut said while speaking to reporters in New Delhi. When asked whether other parties support his demand, he said, "I don't think any regional party in the country has objection to Sharad Pawar heading the UPA. All of us are opposing the BJP at the moment."

The Maharashtra Congress has reacted sharply to Mr Rauts statement with state Congress chief Nana Patole asking if Mr Raut had been appointed as Mr Pawar's spokesperson while reminding him that Shiv Sena isn't part of the UPA.

"Sanjay Raut is a Shiv Sena MP and Shiv Sena is not a part of UPA. Hence he has no right to talk about UPA leadership. Sonia Gandhi is competent enough to lead the UPA. Hence Mr Raut should not worry about the coalition, said Mr Patole.

The Congress leader also said that he has asked chief minister Uddhav Thackeray to intervene in the matter. We have told the CM that such statements are wrong and that he should tell Mr Raut so. The CM has said he will discuss it, he added.

Another Congress leader and former Rajya Sabha member Husain Dalwai said, Shiv Sena got more seats (in the last Maharashtra Assembly election), hence it got the chief ministers post. But the Sena is still not part of the UPA. There is no need to take Mr Rauts statement seriously Mr Raut should not forget that the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government could be formed because the Congress extended its support. He should not say something like this and stoke a controversy.

Insiders say that since Sonia Gandhi, the UPA chairperson, is not keeping well, there needs to be change in the top leadership of the UPA to fight the BJP effectively. Mr Pawar is actively steering the alliance in Maharashtra and is also actively campaigning in poll bound states.

The results of the upcoming Assembly elections hold the key for the Congress. If it does not do well, the demand to change the UPA chief will be raised once again.

Mr Patole said the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra would last five years. There will be no problem. Ye Fevicol ka mazboot jod hai (the alliance is very strong). The BJP may level as many false allegations as they want, it wont affect the government. They are trying to malign Maharashtra, but people of the state won't forgive them, he said.

The Congress leader also demanded that the state government should investigate the BJPs Devendra Fadnavis, who is the leader of Opposition in the Vidhan Sabha. Mr Fadnavis is levelling baseless allegations by speaking blatant lies. He is conspiring against Maharashtra by misusing the central investigative agencies, he said.
People in Leitrim are urged to donate online for the Irish Cancer Societys Daffodil Day taking place today Friday, March 26th.

This will be the second year in a row where Covid-19 has restricted the usual community spirit and cheerfulness normally associated with collections across the country.

The charitys flagship fundraiser would usually see thousands turn out across the country to fundraise and sell the iconic daffodil pins. However, with collection buckets silent for the second year in a row, people are being asked to support Daffodil Day online or by phone.

The Irish Cancer Society normally raises in the region of 4million when traditional events are able to take place. However, last year the charity saw a 2million drop in income from the event after it was cancelled just days before it was due to take place.

Each year more than 40,000 people in Ireland hear the words you have cancer. Over 9,000 people will lose their lives to the illness each year. Meanwhile, 200,000 patients and survivors in Ireland are living after cancer.

The Irish Cancer Society provides advice, support and practical help for anyone affected by cancer.

Viewers can also tune in to a Late Late Show Daffodil Day special on RTE 1 at 9.35pm tonight, which will feature some very special guests, including Westlifes Shane Filan who tells of the heartbreak of losing both parents to cancer within 10 months of each other; and Jedward, who will honour their Mum who died from cancer in 2019, by shaving off their legendary quiffs.

Speaking on Daffodil Day, Irish Cancer Society Acting CEO Conor King said: "By donating at donate.cancer.ie, or supporting any of the other fundraisers happening today you are helping to ensure that we can continue to be there for anyone who needs it."

If you have concerns or questions about cancer, or to learn more about support services available in your area, contact the Irish Cancer Society Support Line on Freephone:1800 200 700

To donate online go to https://donate.cancer.ie/

To donate via phone callsave 1850 60 60 60
Brazil's over 300,000 deaths from the coronavirus amount to the 'biggest genocide' in the Latin American country's history, former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Friday in a scathing attack on current leader Jair Bolsonaro.

'On Tuesday, 3158 people died of Covid in Brazil. It's the biggest genocide in our history,' Lula told Germany's Der Spiegel weekly, adding that Bolsonaro had lied to the Brazilian people about the pandemic.

After a corruption conviction against him was annulled earlier this month, recent opinion polls suggest that Lula is the best-placed politician to challenge far-right incumbent Bolsonaro in next year's elections.

Brazil's former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (pictured on March 10 after a corruption conviction against him was annulled) has launched a scathing attack on Brazil's current leader Jair Bolsonaro, saying Brazil's over 300,000 deaths from the coronavirus amount to the 'biggest genocide' in the Latin American country's history

Lula's comments come after Brazil surpassed 100,000 new Covid-19 cases in a single day on Thursday, adding another grim record in country.

With the new cases, at least 12.3 million people are now known to have been infected with the coronavirus in Brazil. After the United States, it is the hardest-hit country anywhere in the world.

The toll has risen steadily since February, due to factors including people's abandoning social distancing norms and a new virus variant that emerged in the country that is believed to be more contagious than the original strain.

Another big problem is that the country's vaccination drive is moving slowly. Brazil has given at least one dose of coronavirus vaccine to 7.79 people per 100 - a similar rate the other South American countries, other than Chile with a rate of 49.19.

However, in comparison to the United States' 39.89 doses per 100 people, the only country in the world with more coronavirus deaths, Brazil is well behind.

As it struggles to get its vaccination programme off the ground, Brazil's average of new daily infections over the past seven days is 77,050 - twice what it was in January.

After a corruption conviction against him was annulled earlier this month, recent opinion polls suggest that Lula is the best-placed politician to challenge far-right incumbent Bolsonaro (pictured on March 25 during a ceremony) in next year's elections

On Tuesday the daily death toll surpassed 3,000 for the first time. Brazil's daily number of fatalities is now the highest in the world.

President Jair Bolsonaro announced Wednesday he was launching a crisis committee to deal with the pandemic, a change of course amid mounting pressure over a situation he has repeatedly minimised.

The announcements appeared to do little to tame criticism of Bolsonaro, who has flouted expert advice on lockdowns and face masks, pushed a drug regime he calls the 'early treatment' package that scientists say does not work, and spoken out against vaccines.

Pictured: Graph showing the rolling seven-day average of new recorded coronavirus deaths in Brazil. On Tuesday the daily death toll surpassed 3,000 for the first time. Brazil's daily number of fatalities is now the highest in the world

Pictured: Graph showing the rolling seven-day average of new recorded coronavirus cases in Brazil. As it struggles to get its vaccination programme off the ground, Brazil's average of new daily infections over the past seven days is 77,050 - twice what it was in January

The newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo accused the president of lying when he said his government had worked ceaselessly to fight the virus.

'For 12 months, Bolsonaro minimized the pandemic, promoted crowds, spoke out against mask use and halted talks to secure vaccines,' it said.

Despite his apparent change of heart, on Thursday Bolsonaro again criticised lockdown measures as being bad for Latin America's largest economy.

'If the policy of closing everything in a radical way continues, who knows what will happen to Brazil?' Bolsonaro said in his daily talk show carried out on social media.

'But I want to make one thing clear: we want to fight the virus,' he added.

Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva receives a dose of the Sinovac's CoronaVac coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine in Sao Bernardo do Campo near Sao Paulo, Brazil March 13, 2021

Pictured: Cemetery workers carry a coffin during the first burial at night amid the coronavirus pandemic at the Vila Formosa cemetery in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on March 25, 2021

Elsewhere in South America, Argentina has opted to suspend flights from Brazil, Chile and Mexico from Saturday to prevent different strains of the coronavirus from entering the country as it braces for a second wave of infections.

The government said in a statement on Thursday that the measures, which include tests and mandatory isolation for citizens who return from other regions, will take effect on Saturday.

'Until further notice, regular flights will be suspended from ... Chile, Brazil, Mexico,' the statement read. A similar policy is already in place for flights from Britain.

Argentina has registered 2,278,115 cases of COVID-19 and 55,092 deaths, and the government is concerned about the chaotic situation in neighbouring Brazil.

In Chile, health officials on Thursday extended a lockdown across the capital Santiago to tame a second wave of infections even as the South American nation continues to plough ahead with the world's fastest per capita vaccination campaign.

Cases in Chile have been ticking up for weeks following the end of the southern hemisphere summer holiday, but topped a record on Saturday, bringing hospitals to the verge of collapse.

In Chile, health officials on Thursday extended a lockdown across the capital Santiago (pictured on Thursday) to tame a second wave of infections even as the South American nation continues to plough ahead with the world's fastest per capita vaccination campaign

Authorities announced a raft of new restrictions on Thursday, clamping down on travel inside the country and temporarily eliminating permits that allow those in quarantine to leave their homes to go grocery shopping, calling the more extreme measures "a last effort."

Large swathes of Santiago, a city of more than 6 million and the country's economic engine, were already under lockdown, but officials said the remainder of the city would also be quarantined to slow the virus's spread.

The new restrictions come even as Chile, a comparatively small but wealthy Andean nation, is currently vaccinating faster per capita than any other, according to a Reuters tabulation of countries with populations of more than 1 million.

Officials say cases spiked alongside the arrival of more contagious variants of the virus and a relaxation of sanitary measures during the successful vaccination program.

Chile was the first in South America to begin vaccinating its citizens, with an early shipment of the Pfizer vaccine on December 24.
Press Release

26 March 2021

COVID-19 has accelerated the digitization of the travel agent model, creating more shop closures as in-store agencies switch operations online. This is a necessary adaptation to changing consumer preferences, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

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Johanna Bonhill-Smith, Travel & Tourism Analyst at GlobalData, comments: "The long-term survival of in-store travel agencies has been discussed for several years due to the rising popularity of online bookings. Success in 2021 will largely depend on good levels of cash-flow, an area in which online travel agents (OTAs) continue to be a step ahead of traditional brick and mortar style agencies, thanks to their asset light business models."

Only 17% of global respondents in *GlobalData's Q3 2019 consumer survey declared they booked with an in-store travel agent, showing that prior to COVID-19, booking in-store was already decreasing in popularity. A more recent **GlobalData survey in December 2020 found that 47% of global respondents would buy more products online rather than visiting a store and 60% would do banking transactions online in the 'new normal'.

Bonhill-Smith continues: "Lack of revenue and high demand for refunds has taken its toll on many traditional travel agencies. High fixed costs including high street rents would have depleted cash reserves further for in-store agents in comparison to OTAs. Store closures were considered essential for many to simply stay afloat during 2020 and some have been made permanent."

STA Travel, a long-haul flight specialist with more than 50 shops in the UK, had to cease trading in August 2020 as costs were racking up at a time when there was little income. Flight Centre closed 421 out of 740 of its stores during COVID-19, while Hays Travel has declared it expects to operate a 'hybrid' return to retail with some shops reopening and others to remain closed in relation to the UK Government's roadmap. Many staff have declared they are happy to work from home, which may see more permanent shop closures as a result. Tour operator TUI is the most recent to announce it plans to close a further 48 branches in 2021. This, in addition to the 166 TUI shops that were shut in 2020, leaves the company with around 314 branches as it aims to digitize its operations.

Bonhill-Smith adds: "It now boils down to survival of the fittest. The rollout of vaccinations worldwide, coupled with the supposed release of digital vaccine passports, has offered a beacon of hope for the travel sector. However, the news of new variants of COVID-19, coupled with ongoing lockdowns across Europe, suggests 2021 will still be a year that is far from normal."

"Traditional in-store travel agencies have been increasingly under pressure to develop their online directories to remain competitive within the global marketplace. The lower the fixed costs for travel agencies, the greater flexibility they will have in servicing the future travel space. Therefore, more shop closures are likely to follow as we enter the so-called 'new normal'."

*GlobalData's Global Q3 2019 consumer survey (29,744 respondents)

**GlobalData's COVID-19 Recovery Survey (2nd - 6th December 2020) (5,766 respondents)
Researchers from Kumamoto University (Japan) have discovered two primary historical documents showing that Mitsuyoshi Yoshida, author of the popular Edo-period Japanese arithmetic book "Jinkouki," was invited by the Kumamoto clan to stay in Kumamoto (from Kyoto) between 1636 and 1637. At that time, the Kumamoto clan had a lot of construction work to do, including castle restoration and levee building, and Yoshida possessed cutting-edge knowledge of arithmetic systems, civil engineering, and hydraulic technologies. These documents provide important clues into the society of the early Edo period.

When the abacus (invented around the 14th century) was imported from China, it quickly spread across Japan. As the textbook covering its use and the arithmetic skills needed for daily life and business, Jinkouki is said to have greatly contributed to the use of the abacus in Japan. After the first edition was published in 1627, many revised editions and similar books were published. The textbook was widely used by both experts and the general public.

Mathematician Mitsuyoshi Yoshida came from a family that earned a lot of wealth through finance in Kyoto and overseas trade, and contributed to civil engineering projects such as river improvement and canal development. Mitsuyoshi himself worked on the Shobutani Tunnel, a water utilization facility in Kyoto. However, much of what is known about him today is based on hearsay so specific details about his life remain unknown. When he was invited to Kumamoto, the local government was busy with the restoration of Kumamoto Castle, levee construction, and large-scale arable land development.

The first of the two historical documents was signed by four "sobugyo" (chief magistrates) from Kumamoto. The four addressees were the officials in charge of rice, finances, and expenditures of the Hosokawa clan in Osaka office.

[Original Japanese text of the first historical document.]

13163672110.9.51.2 

  









 







[Translation] (Eisei Bunko Document Number: 10.9.51.2)

Sent 21 July 1636 (lunar calendar)

- This message is to inform you that the arithmetician Mr. Shichibei (Mitsuyoshi) Yoshida, who accompanied Lord Tadatoshi from Kyoto to Kumamoto, will now be returning to Kyoto.

- This letterbox contains a document with the Lord's approval which is to be sent to the officials in charge of expenditures in Kyoto. Please make sure it is delivered. Also, send a receipt to Kumamoto by regular delivery to confirm that you have received it.

At the end of March 1636, the feudal lord (daimyo) of the Kumamoto domain, Tadatoshi Hosokawa, was in Edo (present-day Tokyo) finishing overseeing construction of the stone walls of Edo Castle, which had begun at the New Year. He left Edo on May 13 and arrived in Kumamoto on June 9, stopping at Kyoto along the way. Since the Japanese phrase typically meaning "accompanied by" is used in the document, researchers assume that Tadatoshi himself brought Mitsuyoshi Yoshida from Kyoto to Kumamoto at that time.

This document is a copy of a letter from the Kumamoto magistrate to four officials in charge of expenditures in Osaka when Mitsuyoshi was to return to Kyoto (around July 21st) after being in Kumamoto for two months. The four men were the magistrates in Osaka who handled the finances and expenses of the Hosokawa family. This letter seems to be instructions from Kumamoto to the Osaka office, which is near Kyoto, to pay for Mitsuyoshi's transportation, food, and living expenses on his way back to Kyoto.

The second document is a copy of an order from the Imperial Magistrate's Office in Kumamoto Castle to Rokuzaemon Torii, the Hosokawa clan officer (also based in the castle) in charge of guest care.

[Original Japanese text of the second historical document.]

1416372714.16.37   



[Translation] (Eisei Bunko Document Number: 14.16.37)

Sent 7 February 1637

Like last year, Mr. Shichibei (Mitsuyoshi) Yoshida will be invited to Kumamoto from Kyoto. As such, the Magistrate directs Mr. Rokuzaemon Torii to have rice provided to him from the day he arrives.

This document confirms that Shichibei (Mitsuyoshi) Yoshida was invited to Kumamoto as a guest again in 1637. These two primary historical documents prove that Mitsuyoshi stayed in Kumamoto twice, once in 1636 and again in 1637, as a guest rather than in the service of the Hosokawa family as had been previously thought.

Previously, the mathematician was only known to have stayed in the Kumamoto domain by references from later compilations and secondary historical documents; no primary historical documents had been identified to support those claims. This discovery confirms Mitsuyoshi Yoshida's stay in Kumamoto as historical fact, and that he was invited as a guest rather than in service to the Hosokawa family&emdash;an important distinction during this time in Japanese history.

At a time when the Hosokawa clan was busy with large-scale development projects, Mitsuyoshi Yoshida provided a mathematical (arithmetic) system essential for civil engineering work as well as the most advanced hydraulic engineering technology from Kyoto. This discovery of these documents confirms that large-scale infrastructure development in the early 17-century that transformed the local society, such as flood control and agricultural land development, was based on technological and cultural exchange between the central and local governments.

###

An article entitled by Kumamoto University's Noriko Goto discusses the discovery of these documents was published in the February 2021 issue of Mathematical Communications, Volume 25-4 of the Journal of The Mathematical Society of Japan (Japanese only).

Eisei Bunko Research Center

"Eisei Bunko" is the name of a foundation established to retain and care for ancestral works of art, literary manuscripts, and other historical materials (ancient texts, records, illustrations, etc.) of the Hosokawa family, who were once the daimyo of Kumamoto. In 1964, several pieces from the Hosokawa Kitaoka Mansion collection in Kumamoto City were entrusted to the Kumamoto University Library. These continue to be used in educational research conducted by the University.
In all six years, Lightfoot filed taxes in several states in addition to Illinois, including New York, California and Minnesota. She previously explained that she had an ownership stake in the law firm, which does business in various states and internationally.
Vallarta Living



Aid to Families of Children With Cancer March Update



The pandemic has made this past year especially difficult for Puerto Vallarta families who have a child that's been diagnosed with cancer but, thanks to all of you, the AFCC is continuing to make a difference. Puerto Vallarta, Mexico - A child diagnosed with cancer impacts an entire family. Not only does a cancer diagnosis turn a child's entire world upside down, but overwhelming medical expenses can add an enormous amount of financial stress on families with minimal income.



Aid to Families of Children With Cancer (AFCC) is an organization that supports families who have a child diagnosed with cancer in the Puerto Vallarta region. The organization receives no government funding so relies solely on donations from private donors, community organizations, and fundraisers.



The pandemic has made this past year especially difficult for these families but, thanks to all of you, the AFCC continues to make a difference. Here's the latest news from the AFCC:



It's been a year of giving - a year since we began the "gogetfunding" page to help the children with cancer and their families. We are so thankful to everyone who has donated to help with the costs of treatments and the day-to-day living. Your donations have kept the children and their families going, and we are very grateful. Without you, they wouldn't have received their treatments or the nutritious food that they need. With your help, we've been able to make a difference in their lives.



Over the year, many children made several trips between their homes in Vallarta and Guadalajara hospitals for treatments. Of course, there is no medical insurance that non-nationals depend on, so these treatments have to be paid in cash. The families were dependent on at least one of the parents having an income. Due to the pandemic this past year, several of the parents have lost their jobs.



In a typical year, we'd be able to hold fundraisers to continue helping these families, and you would get to meet the children in person. Unfortunately, we can't yet do that this year, but their needs continue, maybe even more so now. There are seven children making trips to hospitals for treatments, and more need medications. On April 1st, Monse will be receiving her surgery to implant two new prosthetic eyes. Her surgery was delayed while she battled Covid and severe allergies.



Easter is coming up - a celebration of life. As a part of this celebration, I'd like to ask you to continue your support. We need your help now to maintain assistance to the children so they can live long and happy lives.



We are now providing assistance for 19 families and they depend on us to continue with that support. I hope you'll find it in your hearts to help us help them. Please visit - A child diagnosed with cancer impacts an entire family. Not only does a cancer diagnosis turn a child's entire world upside down, but overwhelming medical expenses can add an enormous amount of financial stress on families with minimal income.Aid to Families of Children With Cancer (AFCC) is an organization that supports families who have a child diagnosed with cancer in the Puerto Vallarta region. The organization receives no government funding so relies solely on donations from private donors, community organizations, and fundraisers.The pandemic has made this past year especially difficult for these families but, thanks to all of you, the AFCC continues to make a difference. Here's the latest news from the AFCC:It's been a year of giving - a year since we began the "gogetfunding" page to help the children with cancer and their families. We are so thankful to everyone who has donated to help with the costs of treatments and the day-to-day living. Your donations have kept the children and their families going, and we are very grateful. Without you, they wouldn't have received their treatments or the nutritious food that they need. With your help, we've been able to make a difference in their lives.Over the year, many children made several trips between their homes in Vallarta and Guadalajara hospitals for treatments. Of course, there is no medical insurance that non-nationals depend on, so these treatments have to be paid in cash. The families were dependent on at least one of the parents having an income. Due to the pandemic this past year, several of the parents have lost their jobs.In a typical year, we'd be able to hold fundraisers to continue helping these families, and you would get to meet the children in person. Unfortunately, we can't yet do that this year, but their needs continue, maybe even more so now. There are seven children making trips to hospitals for treatments, and more need medications. On April 1st, Monse will be receiving her surgery to implant two new prosthetic eyes. Her surgery was delayed while she battled Covid and severe allergies.Easter is coming up - a celebration of life. As a part of this celebration, I'd like to ask you to continue your support. We need your help now to maintain assistance to the children so they can live long and happy lives.We are now providing assistance for 19 families and they depend on us to continue with that support. I hope you'll find it in your hearts to help us help them. Please visit GoGetFunding.com and make a donation TODAY.



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The army controls significant segments of the countrys economy through MEHL and MEC, the U.S. says.

An anti-coup protester flashes the three-finger sign of defiance as he walks past burning tires in Yangon, Myanmar on Thursday March 25, 2021.

The United States and Britain on Thursday levelled economic sanctions on two Myanmar military holding companies that serve as a critical economic lifeline for the junta that seized power last month, in what the top U.S. diplomat called most significant action to date to impose costs on the military regime.

The sanctions, which block assets owned or partially owned by the two military entities in the United States and the United Kingdom, aims to squeeze the junta that deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her elected government on Feb. 1 and has since killed at least 270 people in fierce attacks on daily protests.

The two firms designated for sanctions are Myanma Economic Holdings Public Company Limited (MEHL) and Myanmar Economic Corporation Limited (MEC), the U.S. Treasury Departments Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said.

The Burmese military controls significant segments of the countrys economy through these holding firms, which enjoy a privileged position in the Burmese economy, OFAC said in the statement.

These sanctions specifically target the economic resources of Burmas military regime, which is responsible for the overthrow of Burmas democratically elected government and the ongoing repression of the Burmese people. These sanctions are not directed at the people of Burma, it said, using Myanmars former name.

By designating MEC and MEHL, Treasury is targeting the Burmese militarys control of significant segments of the Burmese economy, which is a vital financial lifeline for the military junta, said OFAC Director Andrea Gacki.

The revenue that these military businesses generate  provides financial support for the Tatmadaws operations with their wide array of international human rights and humanitarian law violations, said a 2019 report by the U.N. Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar.

There are strong and persistent business and familial links between the Tatmadaw, its conglomerates MEHL and MEC, and a number of private Myanmar companies and conglomerates, colloquially known as crony companies, it said. The Tatmadaw is the Burmese language name of the military,

Increasingly disturbing actions

In a statement on the sanctions, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the measures were taken because members of the Burmese military have taken increasingly disturbing actions aimed at their own citizens since February 1.

In response to the militarys refusal to disavow the coup and continuing violence against peaceful protestors, today the United States is taking its most significant action to date to impose costs on the military regime, he added.

Simon Billenness, executive director of the International Campaign for the Rohingya, called the measures a "good start" that should inspire other actors to follow Washington and London.

"We're hoping that the EU joins the U.S. and U.K in imposing sanctions on the regime, tough and targeted sanctions," the Washington-based activist told RFA.

In Myanmar on Thursday, the previous days silent protest in which people in major cities stayed home to avoid indiscriminate shooting, gave way to protests that were met with gunfire in cities including the commercial center Yangon and Taunggyi, capital of eastern Shan state, toward the border with Thailand.

Security forces shot dead at least four people, injuring many more, adding to a death toll of more than 270 in seven weeks of protest.

In Taunggyi, the, two were killed and more than 10 arrested as authorities violently quelled demonstrations, according to an unnamed source.

Yes, there were fatalities. I am not sure whether the deceased were in the protest march or not, the source, who requested anonymity for security reasons, told RFAs Myanmar Service.

We heard the bodies were at the military hospital, and the Abbot from the Monastery is talking to them to get their bodies back. Many were also arrested, quite a lot, while at least three others were shot in the legs, the source said.

In Yangons Thingangyun township, authorities arrested five men from a religious center where local residents established a first aid center.

They took away the five men as well as all the food... medicines, and first aid equipment as well as the bed, a woman at the center told RFA.

They even took away the food being prepared for the monks as well as all the cooking utensils and crockery. Not a pot was left behind in the kitchen, she said.

There is a lot of blood on the streets from injured people, but ambulances cannot come in because the police have blocked all the entrances. Some of the young protesters are fighting back with anything they can find, said the woman.

In northern Sagaing regions Khin Oo township, police fired shots to disperse a crowd of protesters who had descended on a police station demanding the release of 14 people arrested for guarding their residential ward on Wednesday night.

Several in the crowd were injured but none were confirmed killed, and the 14 were released around midnight.

They just began shooting without any warning. Three of our friends got hit, one in the arm, one in the leg and one in the abdomen. People were saying the guy hit in the abdomen might have died but we dont have confirmation yet, an unnamed resident said.

Theres a 75 percent possibility that he could die from his injury. Right now, soldiers from No 33 Brigade are still shooting in the city center. They are making a lot of arrests too, the Khin Oo resident said.

In Hpa-an, capital of southeastern Karen State, a man was hit in the groin when security forces fired live rounds at protesters there. Local outlet KIC Karen News reported 90 people were arrested in protests.

The shootings came a day after 628 detained protesters, mainly students, were freed in Yangon and other cities.

The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, an NGO based in Thailand, reported that at least 320 people have been killed in the crackdown as of Thursday, and more than 2,000 remain in custody or face outstanding charges.

Journalists on trial

Two journalists detained in a March 9 raid stood trial on the first day of their hearing Wednesday in Yangons Kamayut township.

According to family members, the founder of chief editor of Kamayut Media, Nathan Maung, a U.S. citizen, and co-founder Hanthar Nyein were brought to the court in Kamayut from Yangons Insein Prison. The families did not know what charges the two faced.

Nathan Maungs family told RFA that they had attempted to reach the U.S. Embassy and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) for assistance but have not yet been contacted by either entity.

Police in Shan state arrested four journalists from the Kanbawza Tai news agency near the state capital Taunggyi.

Editor Nan Nan Tai, Reporter Nan Win Ti, Publisher Tin Aung Kyaw, and Security Guard Sai Sithu were taken away in Hopon, about 12 miles from Taunggyi, Editor-in Chief Zay Tai told RFA.

They took them away for just a while, but we havent heard any news about them so far. The last thing we hear was that they are being held at Taung Lay Lone prison for questioning, Zay Tai said, adding that he was able to escape arrest because he was not at the office when the four were taken in.

Our editor, a female reporter, the publisher and the security guard were arrested at my house

My neighbors told me that the police broke down the gate entrance of my compound, searched the building and took away some documents like household registration cards and my laptop.

The editor-in-chief said the journalists were doing their jobs and that the arrest was unlawful.

With the arrests at Kanbawza Tai, the junta has detained 50 journalists and released 30, with two others out on bail, since the Feb. 1 military takeover, according to an RFA tally. At least 15 have been charged, RFA found.

Reported by RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Khin Maung Nyane. Written in English by Eugene Whong.
An archivist at the National Library of Israel displays a letter dated 1900 by Oxford English Dictionary editor James Murray, at the library premises in Jerusalem on Feb. 27, 2020. In this letter, Murray wrote to Claude Montefiore that the term "anti-Semitism" did not have an entry of its own in the dictionary since Murray believed it was unlikely to have much use in the future. (Menahem Kahana/AFP Getty/AFP via Getty Images)
Head of the National Agency for Corruption Prevention (NACP) Oleksandr Novikov has drawn up an administrative protocol against Head of the Constitutional Court Oleksandr Tupytsky, who canceled a special session of the court to consider the issue of his disciplinary offence.

"The head of the National Agency for Corruption Prevention drew up an administrative protocol against suspended judge of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine Oleksandr Tupytsky. The protocol was drawn up in accordance with Part 1 of Article 172-7 of the Code of Administrative Offences of Ukraine, regarding failure to notify about the existence of a real conflict interests," the NACP said in the message on its website on Friday.

"Tupytsky did not notify the Constitutional Court about the conflict of interest that arose on the basis of sending an appeal to the court by the State Bureau of Investigations [SBI] about the commission of a disciplinary offence by him. Tupytsky canceled the order on the meeting at which this SBI appeal was to be considered. Thanks to the SBI appeal, we managed to find this violation," the NACP said, citing its head Oleksandr Novikov.

The NACP explains that the essence of the violation is that the Constitutional Court received an appeal from the SBI on the commitment of a disciplinary offence by Tupytsky, which is incompatible with the status of a judge. "Deputy Head of the Constitutional Court Serhiy Holovaty, who, in accordance with Part 7 of Article 33 of the law of Ukraine on the Constitutional Court of is the person legitimately acting as the head of the Constitutional Court, by his order convened a special plenary session, at which it was planned to consider the SBI appeal [...] Tupytsky, despite the removal from office of the head of the Constitutional Court, illegally issued an order by which he canceled the earlier issued order of Holovaty, and also convened a special plenary session of the Constitutional Court for another date. Having a real conflict of interest, Tupytsky did not inform the court about it," the NACP said in a message.

The agency also informs that on March 26, a session of Holosiyivsky District Court in Kyiv was to be held in order to consider two protocols drawn up by the NACP in February this year. The protocols relate to Tupytsky's actions in conditions of a conflict of interest during voting for the decision of the Constitutional Court on electronic declaration and non-declaration of land plots in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.

"Tupytsky did not appear at the hearing. Consequently, the court could not consider the case, because the Code of Administrative Offences of Ukraine stipulates that the case can only be considered with the participation of the accused," the message said.
Misinformation threatens to scuttle Papua New Guinea's already faltering efforts to bring a severe Covid-19 outbreak under control, with a survey showing one-in-four health workers are reluctant to get vaccinated.

After a year without widespread community transmission, the impoverished Melanesian nation is now seeing record numbers of new infections almost every day.

Hospitals have turned away patients due to a shortage of medical staff, who are falling ill or being forced to isolate.

With experts warning the health system is close to collapse, neighbouring Australia this week sent an emergency batch of 8,000 vaccines to inoculate frontline staff.

But misinformation may be spreading faster than the virus, with large proportions of the public and even medical experts reluctant to get vaccinated.

AFP Fact Check has debunked several widely shared posts on Facebook -- which along with WhatsApp is the country's dominant digital media platform -- that falsely claimed Papua New Guineans are being forcibly vaccinated as part of a mass vaccine trial, or in one case, as part of a racial genocide.

Gary Nou, a Port Moresby emergency department physician, asked more than 130 colleagues whether they would get inoculated -- 24 percent said they would refuse, and 37 percent were unsure, he told AFP.

"Health workers themselves are upset, and they don't know if the vaccine is going to help them or not," he said.

"People were telling them it was 'all experimental and it's genetic therapy, and people are gonna die', they were copying all the videos that were popping up on social media."

"These are educated health workers," he added.

Health minister Jelta Wong gave AFP government polling which also shows significant vaccine scepticism among the broader public, with many citing safety or religious concerns.

The survey found that nearly 10 percent of Papua New Guineans would refuse a vaccine, with the figure above a quarter of the population in some provinces.

Story continues

Glen Mola, a professor who works at Port Moresby General Hospital, told AFP if medical workers refused vaccination because of misinformation, the country's health system could collapse.

"Once you get 20 percent down in some of the high-intensity areas, like the emergency department and the labour ward, for instance, they just can't function," he said.

Even in normal times Papua New Guinea faces an acute shortage of medical staff, with fewer than 30,000 personnel serving a population of nine million.

- 'Business as usual' -

St John Ambulance country chief Matt Cannon said he had seen a "concerning amount" of misinformation on social media claiming Covid does not exist at all.

"We are seeing evidence of people either being highly likely to have Covid or being confirmed cases and continuing business as usual," he said.

In one post shared hundreds of times and fact checked by AFP, doctor Sam Maima advised fellow Papua New Guineans not to get tested, proposing a range of unproven treatments instead, including drinking two cups of warm lime tea every six hours.

Opposition leader Belden Norman Namah has called for the government to halt its vaccine rollout and suggested coronavirus may have existed in Papua New Guinea for hundreds of years.

Papua New Guinea has long struggled with immunisation efforts. It is one of a handful of countries in the world where polio is still endemic.

The country's polio outbreak is believed to have come from a weakened version of the virus -- present in vaccines -- entering the food chain and infecting the severely under-immunised community.

Australia has asked AstraZeneca to divert one million Covid-19 vaccine doses bought by Canberra to Papua New Guinea so widespread vaccination can begin before the government's current mid-May target.

But even if logistical hurdles -- from securing those doses in a competitive global market to building out cold storage facilities and distribution networks across a mountainous, juggle-covered nation -- there are fears misinformation could scuttle the plan.

- 'Ban Facebook' -

Mola said the government needed to do more to combat the spread of misinformation, and health authorities needed to communicate effectively with people still undecided about the vaccine.

"It's one thing to donate vaccines, but if no-one is going to use them, it's really no use," he said.

Communications minister Timothy Masiu told AFP that while the government is concerned about misinformation, it currently has no strategy to combat it.

"We are not doing anything right now because we believe in freedom of speech. But if it comes to a worst-case scenario, as a government, we can move to make submissions to ban Facebook."

"We also have the cybercrime act, which we can impose on people who are posting misinformation on social media," he added.

Fact checking is rare in Papua New Guinea, with only a handful of news organisations verifying claims made in the public domain or on social media.

ttf-arb/gle
Lawmakers yesterday asked authorities in Uganda to emulate fallen Tanzania President John Pombe Magufuli's stamina in the fight against corruption.

The House was discussing a key motion that sought to pay tribute to Magufuli who died on March 17 at the age of 61 due to a heart attack.

In eulogising Magufuli, MPs passed a bipartisan resolution in recognition of his tireless efforts in the fight against thieves in public and private offices

The lawmakers asked the NRM government to swallow its pride and copy from his approach to governance.

Magufuli, nicknamed "the bulldozer" for his successful programme of building roads when he was minister for works, was serving his last term in office following his re-election in October last year. His term will be completed by former Vice President Samia Suhulu Hassan who has automatically taken over as president.

The motion for a resolution of Parliament to pay tribute to Magufuli was moved by Prime Minister Ruhakana Rugunda and seconded by Leader of the Opposition in Parliament, Ms Betty Aol Ocan.

Dr Rugunda commended Magufuli for his fight against corruption and also working for the transformation of Tanzania, which under his tenure attained the lower middle income status.

Describing the late as a "diligent leader," the Prime Minister said Magufuli helped to unite the people of East Africa and cited his fast-tracking of the oil pipeline project and the construction of the Standard Gauge Railway.

"President Magufuli has achieved global recognition for his vision, ethical standards and innovative solutions for Tanzania, including formulating policies for the restoration of discipline among public servants that has increased productivity in service delivery...," Dr Rugunda stated.

MPs weigh in

During the debate, MPs asked the government not to stop at mourning Magufuli but instead should go back on the drawing board and reflect on where Tanzania under his five- year leadership made achievements surpassing 35 years of the current region. Bugabula South MP Henry Kibalya stung the government on its failure to authoritatively fight corruption.

"I want to challenge the ministers who are here that if you reflect on what Magufuli did as a minister, what are you doing now and what do you intend to do? President Magufuli managed the mafia. One of the greatest challenges around our President is the mafia. As the mafia continues to disturb Uganda, we need to see our President walking the talk other than coming to attend celebrations," Mr Kibalya said.

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Dokolo District Woman MP Cecilia Ogwal said with the record of Magufuli in just five years, Uganda will live to envy Tanzania if the government does not quickly change its methods of work. He said Magufuli has joined the legion of deceased "great leaders" in Africa as he has managed to walk in the footsteps of first Tanzania President Mwalimu Julius Nyerere.

"Ugandans have every reason to envy Tanzania. The first president, Nyerere, left a giant foot print on Africa and I am grateful that the president we are mourning today moved in the steps on Nyerere. We must check our behaviour like too much greed and unnecessary expenditure," she said.

Mr John Baptist Nambeshe (Manjiya County), praised Magufuli for coming up with policies that saw him make Tanzania achieve the low middle income status in just one term. He challenged the ruling NRM government to study why it has failed to achieve the middle income status despite overstaying in power.

He said Uganda should borrow a leaf from Tanzania on how to stop the appetite for loans because Magufuli has managed to do many things, including infrastructure development and providing free education, using locally generated revenue.

Speaker Rebecca Kadaga said lessons need to be learnt on how he managed to connect electricity at 80 per cent in villages and 79 per cent in urban areas.
And the pub? The Border Inns art deco facade is the pride of Apsley. Locals barrel in from farms for a meal and a beer, their pockets lined with cheer from a healthy wool clip and soaring prices of fat lambs. Travellers are drawn by the stark beauty of the surrounding redgum and wetlands country. Apsley in the western Wimmera. Caravans and RVs park alongside the inn, their peripatetic occupants merrily using the facilities and the hotels bar and dining room.

There are times when we all might wish ourselves far from the hustle of cities or, given recent events, what pass these days for the nations centres of power. Apsleys people are hoping those growing sentiments might deliver them a new era in the resurrection of their town. The community is offering the Border Inn for sale. For sale: Apsleys Border Inn, the beating heart of the town. It says something about the huge disparity between the big cities and tiny bush towns to mention the price: $99,000 for the leasehold.

But how has a community come to own a pub? In 2014, the doors of the Border Inn had been shut for several years. This was intolerable for a village that boasted the oldest continuing horse-racing club in Victoria. The Apsley Cup has been run annually since 1855  a full decade before even the Melbourne Cup got under way  when the local pastoralists brought in their station horses and got up a purse worthy of the gold rush. The annual cycle race ahead of the Apsley Cup on the June long weekend. Credit:Georgina Robinson The finishing post for the early races was at the front door of the first Border Inn, which burned down and was replaced by the current building in 1885.

Even after the Apsley race meeting moved 40 years ago to the Edenhope racecourse, 20 kilometres to the east, rollicking after-parties continued at the Border Inn. Apsley and its pub had quite a history. Why, the Indigenous cricketers who toured England in 1868  Australias first internationals  were workers on pastoral stations around Apsley and the west Wimmera. One of the players, Murrumgunerrimin  known, in the patronising style of the time, as Jimmy Tarpot  was raised on Benayeo Station, just outside Apsley. Theres a memorial to him in the Apsley cemetery, though he pulled out of the England tour just before the boat sailed. Australias first internationals: the Indigenous cricketers who toured England in 1868 were from western Victoria. Marvellously, he made his name as an unbeatable runner ... backwards. He ran the 100 metres backwards and barefoot in 14 seconds at the MCG in 1866.

Every year even now, the Jimmy Tarpot Backwards Cup is run as part of the Apsley Cup race meeting. The great star of the first Indigenous team, Unaarrimin, known as Johnny Mullagh  whose home village of Harrow, also in the western Wimmera, pays continuing homage to him  got a less than stellar welcome when he played at Apsley, however. He was refused entry to the Border Inn, eating his lunch on the doorstep in protest. A longer, disappeared and aching history is worn by scars still visible on big old redgums across the landscape. The first people, including clans of the Wergaia, Jardwadjali, Wotjobaluk, Jaadwa and Jupagalk peoples, cut bark from trees for canoes, carrying food and for shelter before their land and lives were stolen. Not far away are more trees bearing marks  those of the Chinese making the long, baffling trek from the South Australian port of Robe to the Victorian goldfields between 1857 and 1863. But a past had no point without a future, and in 2014, local property owners gathered to reopen the Border Inn. In the bush, if you want something done, you need to do it yourself.

Thus, 12 couples from the district clubbed together and bought the pub, never expecting a monetary return. In saving the Border Inn, those 12 couples saved Apsley. Suddenly, there was a venue for meetings of the cricket club, the golf club, for footy players and all the other community groups in search of a home. The beer garden became the spot for a parents group, complete with a cubby house. A corner of the inn became a general store. You could have a beer and pick up milk, butter and breakfast cereal. The Border Inn is a popular destination for touring motorcyclists. Credit:Georgina Robinson People who had left the area began returning, and those who might have moved away chose to stay. Tourists, discovering the village had an inn, stayed over. Motorcyclists, cyclists and car clubs turned Apsley into a prime destination.
WASHINGTON  President Biden said on Thursday that Republican efforts to limit voting rights were sick and un-American, vowing to prevent states from taking what he called despicable actions that undermine democracy by making it harder for people to cast ballots.

Speaking to reporters in the East Room of the White House for his first formal news conference, Mr. Biden said he would do everything in my power to pass voting rights legislation now under consideration in the Senate. But when asked about ending the Senate rule that requires 60 votes to approve most legislation  one of the biggest obstacles to the voting rights bill and much of the rest of his agenda  the president was more cautious, suggesting he was open to change but not committing himself to it.

The 60-vote threshold imposed by the filibuster was being abused in a gigantic way, Mr. Biden said, reiterating his support for a proposal that would require senators to keep talking in order to block legislation  a shift in practice that could deter routine use of the rule.

I strongly support moving in that direction, he said.

But he also signaled more directly than he has previously that he might eventually back more far-reaching proposals to limit or abolish the filibuster if doing so turned out to be essential for passage of a voting rights measure and other key elements of his agenda in a Senate that is currently divided 50 to 50.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-26 23:35:51|Editor: huaxia

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Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, presides over a symposium on the economic situation via video link attended by local government officials in Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province, March 25, 2021. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu)

NANJING, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has underscored efforts to consolidate the momentum of economic recovery, stimulate the vitality of market entities and enhance the endogenous engines for growth.

Li made the remarks while presiding over a symposium on the economic situation via video link attended by local government officials Thursday.

The Chinese economy has got off to a good start this year, said Li, noting that the actual annual growth might be higher than the target of over 6 percent set for 2021.

Largely due to the lower comparison base of the previous year, some economic indicators have witnessed rapid year-on-year growth, but from a period-on-period viewpoint, the economy has generally been running steady, Li noted.

The premier called for consolidating economic fundamentals and avoiding large fluctuations to keep economic development sound and steady.

Underlining the challenges posed by the complicated international situation and domestic issues, such as employment stress and slow recovery in some industries, Li stressed keeping the economy running within a reasonable range to lay a solid foundation for sustainable and sound development.

He said that policy support for securing employment, people's livelihoods and the operations of market entities will not weaken, and financial services for the real economy shall be strengthened.

Meanwhile, more work should be done to boost employment and people's incomes, while keeping consumer prices stable and improving the ecological environment, which are the major basic tasks for keeping the economy running within a reasonable range, he said.

Government policies should focus on helping market entities get back on their feet, while reform and opening-up should be advanced to inspire their vitality and enhance the endogenous engines for growth, Li said, urging local authorities to make all-out efforts in improving the business environment.

He also demanded solid work to prepare for the implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement, enhance opening-up and safeguard the stability of industrial and supply chains while seeking further cooperation.

State Councilor Xiao Jie attended the symposium. Enditem
COLUMBIA  The South Carolina Supreme Court suspended the law license of attorney and former state agency head Harry Gregory after he was arrested on charges of performing lewd acts on a child.

The former director of the S.C. State Accident Fund was arrested March 18 by the Richland County Sheriff's Department and charged with committing acts from 2002 to 2004, when the victim was a minor, according to Sheriff Leon Lott.

Gregory, 61, was head of the agency which provides workers' compensation insurance to S.C. government employees for 14 years, after being appointed in 2003 by then-Gov. Mark Sanford.

Gregory was released on a $100,000 personal recognizance bond on March 19, according to court records.

A personal recognizance bond means that the defendant is released from jail without being required to post any money, based on a promise to appear at their next court date.

Under state law, the Supreme Court may place a lawyer on interim suspension if a lawyer is charged with a "serious crime."

According to the high court's order, the suspension will remain in place until further notice.

Gregory's next court hearing is May 7.
American management consulting firm McKinsey said in a recently-published article that Vietnams tourism sector could recover by 2024 if domestic travel continues to grow and the country maintains its low infection rate.

According to McKinsey, Vietnams tourism sector relies heavily on international travel  a sector of the economy which took a dramatic plunge last year.

International flights to Vietam dropped 80 percent in October 2020 compared to the same time period a year earlier.

Meanwhile, hotels throughout the country only reached 30 percent occupancy.

The sharp drop in foreign travelers, who spend significantly more than their local counterparts, has had a tremendous impact on the tourism sector and Vietnams economy as a whole.

In 2019, a year in which the tourism industry accounted for 12 percent of the countrys GDP, international travelers made up just 17 percent of the total number of tourists in Vietnam, yet accounted for more than half of all tourism spending, with them spending an average of US$673 each compared to the $61 spent by each domestic traveler.

The sharp dive in revenues from tourism also stunted the countrys food and beverage and retail industries.

As a return to pre-COVID-19 levels of international tourism may be far off, the travel sectors short-term revival could depend on local tourism, McKinsey said.

In 2019, Vietnamese tourists shelled out $15.5 billion, $5.9 billion of which was spent overseas.

Now, due to the pandemic, the majority of tourists are unable to leave the country and are therefore looking to scratch their travel itch with domestic vacations.

Travel companies should therefore rise to the occasion and capture value from this opportunity, McKinsey suggested.

On the other hand, the firm said that even with favorable tailwinds driven by domestic tourism, Vietnam will be dependent on international markets, which represent around $12 billion in spending.

The majority of Vietnams international tourists come from Asian countries, with those from China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan accounting for around 80 percent of the nation's foreign tourism spending.

Vietnams strong economic ties with these countries could lead to a relatively fast tourism-industry recovery compared with other key tourist destinations in Europe and North America.

The zero-case-first strategy the country has pursued since the start of the pandemic, as well as its association with markets in which COVID-19 transmission rates are low, has resulted in a relatively high rate of traveler confidence, at least on the domestic level.

With this approach, combined with Vietnams resilient local economy and proactive government campaigns, McKinsey believes that the countrys tourism sector could recover to pre-crisis levels by 2024.

Under this scenario, three paradigms  namely tourists shifts to high-end domestic trips, price cuts which are not sustainable for the long term, and international travel bubbles  must be explored with caution, according to the American firm.

Visitors swim during a Hon Son - Nam Du - Phu Quoc Islands tour off Kien Giang Province, Vietnam, March 2021. Photo: Duc Hiep / Tuoi Tre

Action plan

As travel companies reimagine their pathways to recovery, McKinsey said it is important to address the risks and anxieties related to COVID-19, while also solving the pain points and leveraging the trends that existed before the crisis.

It thus suggested six actions that could jump-start Vietnams tourism recovery, including:

-- A focus on domestic travelers: Revitalizing local demand by focusing on emerging destinations with joint cooperation from local governments, online travel agencies, attractions, hotels, and airlines. To further tap into domestic opportunities, operators must focus on affordability while striving to maintain high-quality products and experience.

-- The consideration of new pricing models to rebuild demand: Rebuilding demand and propelling volume through discounts and pre-sales should be key tactics during the early stages of recovery, especially for high-end operators that will not be able to tap into international demand for some time. Companies can also explore opportunities to bundle products, which can offer upselling and cross-selling opportunities, as well as diversify their revenue streams and enhance premium product and pricing.

-- The adoption of mobile and digital tools: Strategic collaborations, such as online travel agencies providing ticket-booking services via instant messaging and social media platforms, could offer an opportunity for increased market penetration. At the same time, travel companies should revamp their online touchpoints and experiences to improve customer experience. Furthermore, companies could also think about placing digital tools in new places within the customer's journey.

-- Laying the groundwork for inbound demand: Travel companies will need to be flexible and nimble in order to capture early international travel demand. They should be prepared to implement strict health and safety protocols that fulfill the stipulations of both domestic and destination security policies.

-- There should be a reinvention of the travelers experience beyond accommodations and tourism investments should be redistributed toward unconventional and more diverse destinations.

-- The reimagining of the governments role in tourism: In the short term, the government and industry associations need to ensure the survival of operators. The government can experiment with new and sustainable financing options such as hotel revenue pooling, in which a subset of hotels operating at higher occupancy rates share revenue with others. In the midterm, government-backed digital and analytic transformation is necessary, especially to level the playing field for small and medium-sized enterprises, which made up more than 50 percent of travel suppliers in 2018. The government can play a vital role as a matchmaker, connecting suppliers to distributors and intermediaries to create packages attractive to a specific segment of tourists, and then use tourist engagement to provide further analytical insights for travel intermediaries. Governments and industry associations can also leverage the overall momentum of the country, as well as the expected return of international travel, to boost demand.

* This article is derived from the piece written by Margaux Constantin, a partner in McKinseys Dubai office, and Matthieu Francois, an associate partner in the Ho Chi Minh City office, where Thao Le is a consultant, as part of the management consulting firms series which discusses Vietnams post-COVID-19 economic recovery, its longer-term growth aspirations, and ways for ecosystem players to win in the Southeast Asian country.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-26 09:28:09|Editor: huaxia

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RIYADH, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Saudi Arabia's Energy Ministry said Thursday that a projectile attack caused a fire at a petroleum products distribution station in the country's border city of Jazan, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.

The attack resulted in a fire in one of the terminal's tanks, and no casualties were reported, said a spokesman for the ministry.

Saudi Arabia strongly condemned such an attack against vital installations, the SPA quoted the spokesperson as saying.

Meanwhile, the Saudi-led coalition involved in a war in Yemen announced earlier on Thursday the interception of eight bomb-laden drones launched by Houthis towards Saudi border cities. Enditem
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Armenia Finance Ministry: MFA's budget grew by AMD 1,600,000,000 in 2020

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Japanese Cherry Blossoms: Springs Glorious Fleeting Celebration

Bright pink cherry blossoms against a brilliant blue sky is a sight unlike any other in the world. Sakura is the cherry blossoms name in Japan. They flutter slowly to the ground as crowds mill about, taking in springtimes beauty. Across the country, the atmosphere shifts. Buds bloom. Winter draws to an end. Just as spring brings the promise of fresh beginnings, the sweet scent of the sakura brings hope and cheer. Family and friends gather to admire the scenery and enjoy warmer weather.

A Revered Tradition

Hanami is the Japanese word for the act of admiring cherry blossoms, which is a respected tradition there. It dates back to the Nara period (710794) when a Japanese envoy to China brought back the custom of enjoying plum blossoms. Festivals dedicated to sakura began in the Heian period (7941185).

Every spring, hundreds of people flock to the magnificent Hirosaki Castle to take part in the cherry blossom festival. (Koichi Kamoshida/Getty Images)

Back then, Japanese people believed that gods signaled a year of good harvest through cherry blossoms. So they prayed, made offerings, and feasted to honor the sacred trees. Hanamisakura festivals as we know them nowwere first popular in the imperial court. Nobles held grand viewing ceremonies that included singing, dancing, feasting, and drinking. Over time, the hanami tradition spread to the common people and became widely enjoyed all over Japan.

One of the largest hanamis to ever take place was Hideyoshi Toyotomis Cherry Blossom Party in 1598, held at the famous Daigo-ji Temple in Kyoto. The temple was in a state of disrepair until Toyotomi invited thousands to attend his event. With over 700 cherry blossom trees planted around the temple, the extravagant fete further cemented the hanami as a valuable part of Japanese culture. After that, Daigo-ji Temple was revitalized and is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Beauty in Impermanence

From the 1600s until the mid-1800s, viewing cherry blossoms was a popular event enjoyed by Japanese from all walks of life. The flowers and their festivals became recurrent motifs in art and literature, as the charming blossom established itself as a national image for the Japanese. Famously, Utagawa Hiroshige depicted several blooming cherry boughs in his vertical-format landscape series One Hundred Famous Views of Edo. Hiroshige was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist and considered one of the last great masters of the tradition.

Utagawa Hiroshige depicted several scenes of blooming cherry trees in his vertical-format landscape series One Hundred Famous Views of Edo. This print is Suijin Shrine and Massaki on the Sumida River. (Public Domain)

The legendary sakura found its way into famous poetry of the day, beginning in the Heian period. Waka is one of the most recognized forms of Japanese poetry and the basis for haiku. The cherry blossom often appears in the Kokin Wakashu, one of the earliest anthologies of waka poems compiled by Emperor Uda.

More than beautiful, the cherry blossom represents impermanence. Despite being so widely adored, the blossoms last for a very short period of time. Cherry blossoms bloom once a year for only a weekmaybe two at best. Part of their beauty lies in how fleeting they are. The Japanese were perhaps the first to discover the special pleasure of impermanence and believed  that impermanence was a necessary element in beauty, Japanese-American scholar Donald Keene said.

In fact, much of Japanese literature is filled with a sense of acceptanceeven celebrationof impermanence. Mono no aware, which translates to the pathos of things, is the Japanese term for the awareness of impermanence, or the transience of things. It originates from The Tale of Genji, a classic work of Japanese literature from the Heian period that is often considered the worlds first novel. The cherry blossom has come to embody this phrase, representing a bittersweet fondness for the brevity of life.

While flowers are typically associated with femininity, the cherry blossom has a masculine side, too. They are a symbol of the samurais bravery. These men faced death with courage. As an ancient Japanese proverb states, The best blossom is the cherry blossom; the best man is the warrior. Just as the cherry blossom falls at its prime, samurai were known to sacrifice their lives without hesitation for the sake of their country.

Chiyoda Great Interior Flower Viewing, 1894, by Toyohara Chikanobu. This painting depicts a hanami, the revered Japanese tradition of admiring cherry blossoms. (Public Domain)

Though the sakura blooms only briefly, its impact on Japan is profound. The blossom has planted its seed in peoples hearts, making its way into everyday life. From sakura-flavored snacks and drinks, sakura-patterned decor, to sakura-inspired clothing pieces, the flower fills people with a sense of comfort and joy. After a long day, a glimpse of its beauty is enough to lift ones spirits.

A Universal Allure

There are many kinds of sakura, each with its own beauty, including the most common Somei Yoshino blossoms, the wild Yamazakura blossoms, and the bright pink Shidarezakura blossoms, or weeping cherry. The sakura originated in China where the largest variety of species still live. The Japanese have cultivated the blossoms since discovering them thousands of years ago, and have spread their beauty around the globe.

Cherry blossom viewing was first introduced to the United States in 1912, when Mayor Yukio Ozaki of Tokyo gifted 100 cherry blossom trees to Washington, D.C. Over time, hanami culture spread across America. Now, every year from late March to early April, Washington holds a national cherry blossom festival. New York, Los Angeles, and Vancouver hold their own celebrations, as do other cities across North America.

One can take part in hanami culture in America as well. Every year from late March to early April, Washington holds a national cherry blossom festival. (Sean Pavone/Shutterstock.com)

In an age when people are more isolated, the cherry blossom has the power to bring people together. Under the cherry blossom, there are no strangers, Japanese poet Kobayashi Issa said. No matter how vast their differences, individuals can come together in mutual admiration of the beauty of the sakura.

This article by Cora Wang and translated by Angela Feng is republished with permission from Elite Lifestyle Magazine.
Recently, composer and virtuoso pianist Evgeny Khmara in the social networks informed his followers that he had become the official ambassador of Turkish Airlines. The composer always told about his love for the sky: since childhood he has been dreaming of airplanes and can recognize the model of an airplane by the sound of the engine. But why Turkish Airlines?

Evgeny Khmara told a fascinating story that happened to him a year ago:

Last winter we were on holidays with my wife and two small children in Thailand. Suddenly, Covid-19 began, the world started to panic. We had to urgently return home. But in a plane from Bangkok to Kiev something incredible happened: our son Nikolai began to cough heavily, almost suffocating. My wife and I were terrified and the passengers looked at us in horror, afraid of getting infected. We had to leave the plane and go to a medical center at the airport.

To our big relief, the doctor said that our son was fine. However, a new problem arose: our plane flew away, and we stayed in Bangkok. In order to get on another flight, we had to buy new tickets at our own expense. With small children in a foreign country, we were confused and did not know what to do next.

Suddenly I remembered my acquaintance, Mr. Zafer, who heads the Lviv branch of Turkish Airlines in Ukraine. To my surprise, he reacted immediately, despite the fact that it was night in Ukraine. Mr. Zafer personally wrote a letter to the representatives of the company in Thailand. He said that we were very important passengers and asked to do everything possible to help us get home. Thanks to this letter, we departed to Kyiv on the next flight and even were provided with a business lounge, where we could relax after the stress of that crazy day. I was extremely grateful for this attitude and support, especially because at that time Mr. Zafer Agirtmish almost did not know me. That's how our friendship with Turkish Airlines began. "

Evgeny Khmara intrigues followers, saying that they have many plans with Turkish Airlines and some of them may be a real surprise to many Ukrainians.
Emma Stone has welcomed her first child with her comedian husband Dave McCary.

TMZ confirmed the news on Friday morning and sources told the site that the actress, 32, gave birth last Saturday in LA.

The couple are yet to confirm the name or the gender of their first-born but are no doubt thrilled.

Happy news: Emma Stone has welcomed her first child with comedian husband Dave McCary but they are yet to confirm the gender of their baby (stock image)

Emma's pregnancy was confirmed back in January when a source told E! News: 'Emma is pregnant and just loves married life!'

The film star was pictured cradling her large bump during an outing with a friend on December 30, although she made no comment on the news at the time.

The sighting came after it was revealed in December that Emma had dropped out of an upcoming film featuring Brad Pitt.

Blooming lovely: A heavily pregnant Emma was last pictured in Studio City back in February

Emma was slated to play the lead in La La Land director Damien Chazelle's Old Hollywood epic Babylon.

She left the cast after an apparent scheduling conflict. But perhaps the 'conflict' was taking time to raise her first child.

According to Deadline, Australian actress Margot Robbie, 30, is now being lined up by producers to swiftly replace Stone.

The movie was supposed to begin filming in Los Angeles before the coronavirus pandemic put a halt to plans, so it's likely the change in filming dates created a conflict.

Emma and her comedian, writer, and director husband Dave, 35, first began dating in 2017 after meeting on the set of Saturday Night Live where he works as a segment director.

Hitched: Emma andn Dave's marriage was confirmed by PEOPLE in September 2020, two weeks after they were spotted wearing matching wedding bands on an outing in Los Angeles

The couple confirmed their engagement in December 2019 when Dave shared a photo of the pair to Instagram with Emma showing off her ring.

Last May rumors first flew that Emma had secretly gotten married to McCary when she sported a wedding band during a YouTube appearance with Reese Witherspoon.

She dropped a further hint that she was now a married woman when Dr Harold Koplewicz, who was also on the chat, asked her about marrying an 'anxious man'.

He said: 'If you marry an anxious man, you're going to have to know me the rest of my life.

While Emma reassured him and said: 'Thankfully I didn't do that.'

Their marriage was then confirmed by People in September, two weeks after they were spotted wearing matching wedding bands on an outing in Los Angeles.

They were reportedly supposed to have their wedding in mid-March, but had to call it off due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Ultra-private Emma, who does not have any social media, previously told how her perspective on marriage and children has changed over the years.

Family: Emma previously told how her perspective on marriage and children has changed over the years, telling Elle magazine in 2018 she 'really wants' to have kids (pictured in 2019)

Previously never seeing herself as the type to settle down, she told Elle magazine she changed her mind as she got older.

She said: 'My perspective about kids has changed as I've gotten older. I never babysat or anything. As a teenager, I was like, "I'm never getting married, I'm never having kids."

'And then I got older and I was like, I really want to get married, I really want to have kids.'

Prior to her relationship with Dave, Emma famously dated British actor Andrew Garfield for four years.

The former couple began dating in 2010 after meeting on the set of The Amazing Spider-Man, although they never spoke about their relationship publicly.

The A-list actors were reported to have parted ways in 2015.
A woman holds up a placard during a protest against sexual violence and gender inequality in Melbourne on March 15, 2021. (William West / AFP)

Boys Forced to Apologise to Girls on Behalf of Gender at Aussie School Assembly

Administrators at an Australian school have apologised to parents after male students were forced to stand up in a show of compulsory solidarity at an assembly and apologise to the female students for sexism and assault on behalf of their gender.

The assembly, which was held on March 24 at Brauer College, a government school in Warrnambool, in the Australian state of Victoria, elicited an angry reaction from parents and the community, forcing Principal Jane Boyle to apologise.

ABC reported that Boyle conceded that a discussion on sexual assault and harassment held at the assembly had taken an inappropriate turn.

In a statement, Boyle said the male students were asked to stand as a symbolic gesture of apology for the behaviours of their gender that have hurt or offended girls and women.

In retrospect, while well-intended, we recognise that part of the assembly was inappropriate, she said.

One parent told The Herald Sun that she was left feeling angry that the school did not tell parents in advance what they planned to do.

Danielle Shepherd, mum to a Year 7 boy at the school, said other parents feel the same way she does.

They watched a video to do with sexual consent, and at the end of it, they were made to stand up and apologise to the opposite gender on behalf of their own gender, she said.

Shepherd said her son was left confused and upset.

He wasnt sure why. He just knows that he was told to get up and apologise for things he hadnt done.

Hes upset by ithe now has this misconception that everybody looks at him and males as predators or somebody wishing to do harm to someone in a sexualised mannerseriously, hes 12, she said.

The principal said parents would be contacted to explain the reasons behind the assembly and to ensure that any student who requires support is aware that it is available.

The incident comes as the Victorian state government announced that sexual consent education would be made mandatory in all Victorian state schools.

Acting Premier James Merlino has moved to make the lessons compulsory from next month under an expansion of the Respectful Relationship program.
Rutgers to require students be vaccinated for virus in fall

Rutgers to require students be vaccinated for virus in fall View Photo

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. (AP)  Rutgers University will require that all students be vaccinated for the coronavirus before arriving for classes in the fall, the university said Thursday.

The federal governments assurance of vaccine supply for all Americans prompted Rutgers to make the decision, the university said in a statement.

Brian Strom, chancellor of Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences and executive vice president for health affairs, said the vaccine is the key to the return of campus instruction and activities closer to what we were accustomed to before the pandemic.

The COVID-19 vaccines have proven to be safe and effective in preventing serious illness, hospitalization and death, Storm said in the statement.

The university said students may request an exemption from vaccination for medical or religious reasons. Students participating in online-only classes will not be required to be vaccinated.

Students enrolling at Rutgers who are under 18 will be advised to receive the Pfizer vaccine because its approved for people age 16 and up, the university said.

Faculty and staff are strongly urged to receive a vaccination, a university official said in the statement.

Rutgers said it has received approval from the state of New Jersey to administer vaccines on campus to faculty, staff and students once vaccine supplies are available to the university.
Two people jailed forpublic health offences and one for robbery with force from an occupied house are to be freed by the Jesus El Rico brotherhood on Wednesday of Holy Week.

This will be a historic occasion because it is the first time in the 270 years of this tradition that three prisoners will be freed under the privilege granted to the religious brotherhood by King Carlos III in the 18th century, instead of one.

One of them, Manuel C. L., was sentenced by the Malaga Provincial Court on 27 May 2019 for drug trafficking. He was given three years and three months in prison and fined 25,000 euros for crimes commited in 2018.

On 11 July 2017, the court sentenced Antonia L.R. for a public health offence. She was sent to prison for four years and fined 1,000 euros, for crimes committed in 2015. Now, she is to be freed.

The third prisoner to be released is Jorge M.R., who was sentenced on 3 October 2018 to two years and three months in jail for robbery with force in an occupied house, a crime he committed in 2018.

In these three cases, the reports of the court and the prosecuting authority were taken into account, and it was considered that there were "reasons of justice and equity" to grant them a pardon.

This is on condition that they do not re-offend, for three years in the case of Jorge M.R., and four years for the other two.

The prisoners are normally released in a ceremony that forms part of the brotherhood's procession. This year, with all processions cancelled, the event will take place in the city's cathedral.
ROCHESTER, Minn. - A Rochester kindergartner passed an important milestone on Thursday, marking his last day of chemo.

His school, St. Francis of Assisi, put on a drive-through celebration for him.

The whole parking lot was full of students and staff cheering on Nathan Herber Thursday morning on his last day of chemo.

He is completing a 2.5-year fight with cancer.

"I feel proud. I'll tell you that," says big brother Grant Herber.

Nathan Herber was diagnosed with Stage 4 T-cell Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma in September of 2018.

His diagnosis came just two weeks after his 4th birthday.

Nathan had just started preschool and missed time in the classroom to undergo treatment.

Because of complications, he ended up spending over six months in the hospital.

With the bright-eyed boy's cancer treatment now wrapping up, his mom took a moment to reflect on all the support the family received these past few years.

"Wow. The fact that this many people are just embracing our family made the journey that much easier. I always said the only thing harder than going through this would be going through it alone and that's something we never had to worry about. We had so many people in our corner," says Becky Herber.

"We're going to the bar for some kiddie cocktails!" Grant says.

He will be returning to school in the fall, with his two brothers, Grant and Justin.
Former national security adviser Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn (Ret.) speaks at the Let the Church ROAR National Prayer Rally on the National Mall in Washington on Dec. 12, 2020. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times)

Michael Flynns Family Sues CNN Over Report Alleging QAnon Affiliation

Two family members of former national security adviser Michael Flynn sued CNN on Thursday, asserting a report connecting them to the QAnon movement constituted defamation.

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of New York, and obtained by The Epoch Times, says CNNs Feb. 4 video report falsely accused Plaintiffs of being followers and supporters of QAnon.

The plaintiffs are John Flynn and Leslie Flynn, Michael Flynns brother and sister-in-law.

QAnon supporters promote a variety of ideas, including the existence of a so-called deep state thats in control of the U.S. government. Some supporters believe that a group of wealthy globalists are part of a sex trafficking conspiracy involving children, pointing to the charges against late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein as proof.

FBI Director Christopher Wray has described QAnon as a complex set of conspiracy theories.

The video story, CNN Goes Inside a Gathering of QAnon Followers, featured reporter Donie OSullivan reporting from a gathering in Arizona of people he said support QAnon.

At one point, Sullivan said: Where we go one, we go all, an infamous QAnon slogan promoted by Trumps first national security adviser, Michael Flynn.

In support of the remark, CNN aired a clip from a video that Michael Flynn posted on social media on July 4, 2020. The video showed members of the Flynn family taking an oath to the U.S. Constitution before Michael Flynn used the phrase.

The phrase was first engraved on a sailboat owned by President John F. Kennedy and the video had nothing to do with QAnon, John and Leslie Flynn say.

The CNN sign is seen outside the news networks headquarters in New York City in a file photograph. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

CNNs intent to defame is shown by the way the network left out both the oath to the Constitution and the words God Bless America, fraudulently making it appear and insinuating that Plaintiffs pledged an oath of allegiance to QAnon, the suit stated.

Plaintiffs are not followers or supporters of any extremist or terrorist groups, including QAnon. CNN falsely attributed to Plaintiffs associations that never existed, actions Plaintiffs never took, including an oath of allegiance to QAnon, and views Plaintiffs never held. CNNs false attributions exposed Plaintiffs to public scorn, ridicule and contempt, lowered their esteem in the community, causing insult, embarrassment, humiliation and substantial injury to Plaintiffs reputations.

To this day, plaintiffs have had to defend themselves when asked by friends and others about the report.

Jack and Leslie Flynn, both of Rhode Island, live in Rhode Island. They enjoyed an untarnished reputation in their community before CNNs video report, according to the suit.

The couple is seeking $75 million.

CNN and OSullivan didnt respond to requests for comment.
Key equity indices continued trading with strong gains in mid-morning trade amid positive Asian cues. At 11:25 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 476.38 points or 0.98% to 48,916.50. The Nifty 50 index added 150.20 points or 1.05% to 14,475.10.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index gained 1.25% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.88%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 1678 shares rose and 929 shares fell. A total of 181 shares were unchanged.

COVID-19 Update:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 125,431,910 with 2,754,935 deaths. India reported 421,066 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 160,949 deaths, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

India recorded its highest single-day Covid count in over five months on Thursday with 59,118 people testing positive for the virus.

Primary Market:

The initial public offer (IPO) of Barbeque Nation Hospitality received bids for 1.14 crore shares as against 49.99 lakh shares on offer, according to the stock exchange data at 11:20 IST on Friday (26 March 2021). The issue was subscribed 2.30 times.

The issue opened for bidding on Wednesday, 24 March 2021, and it will close on Friday, 26 March 2021. The price band for the IPO is set at Rs 498-500 per share.

New Listing:

Shares of Kalyan Jewellers India were trading at Rs 78.05 at 11:22 IST on the BSE, a discount of 10.29% over the initial public offer (IPO) price of Rs 87.

The stock was listed at Rs 73.9, a discount of 15.06% to the IPO price. So far, the stock hit a high of Rs 81 and low of Rs 73. On the BSE, 23.49 lakh shares were traded on the counter so far.

The IPO of Kalyan Jewellers India was subscribed 2.61 times. The issue opened for bidding on 16 March 2021 and closed on 18 March 2021. The price band for the IPO was set at Rs 86-87 per share.

Shares of Suryoday Small Finance Bank were trading at Rs 278.60 at 11:23 IST on the BSE, a discount of 8.66% over the initial public offer (IPO) price of Rs 305.

The stock was listed at Rs 293, a discount of 3.93% to the IPO price. So far, the stock hit a high of Rs 295.95 and low of Rs 275.60. On the BSE, 2.79 lakh shares were traded on the counter so far.

The IPO of Suryoday Small Finance Bank was subscribed 2.37 times. The issue opened for bidding on Wednesday, 17 March 2021, and it closed on Friday, 19 March 2021. The price band for the IPO was set at Rs 303-305 per share.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Pharma index was up 0.66% to 11,894.35. The index had lost 0.83% to end at 11,816.80 yesterday.

Aurobindo Pharma (up 1.46%), Divi's Labs (up 1.40%) and Cipla (up 0.58%) advanced while Dr. Reddy's Labs (down 0.24%), Biocon (down 0.23%) and Alkem Laboratories (down 0.13%) declined.

Sun Pharma (up 1.69%), Torrent Pharma (up 0.99%), Cadila Healthcare (up 0.43%) and Lupin (down 1.13%) on Thursday announced they have subscribed to partnership interest in healthcare services firm ABCD Technologies at a cost of Rs 40 crore each.

The four pharmaceutical companies will acquire 20% stake each in ABCD Technologies, which will be renamed as IndoHealth Services.

The objective of acquisition is to facilitate, enable and promote efficiency and Good Distribution Practices including digitizing healthcare infrastructure in India, in support of the National Digital Health Mission of Government of India.

Global Markets:

Asian stocks rose across the board on Friday trade following an overnight rebound on Wall Street.

U.S. stocks staged a late-day comeback on Thursday, boosted by economic comeback plays as the market rebounded from a two-day losing streak.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell acknowledged Thursday that fiscal help from Congress and accelerated vaccine distribution has allowed the U.S. to recover faster than expected.

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
California has given San Francisco steadily more COVID-19 vaccine doses since California started an equity program this month directing 40% of the states supply to the lowest-income ZIP codes. But the citys two qualifying neighborhoods have yet to receive any benefit from the influx of lifesaving shots, says the supervisor who represents them.

California allocated 62% more vaccine doses to San Franciscos hospitals and its public health department by the third week of March compared with the first week  42,640 doses compared with 26,260  according to a Chronicle review of records. Within that, the public health department received 5% more doses by the third week: 16,260, up from 15,450.

But Supervisor Matt Haney says the low-income Tenderloin neighborhood and Treasure Island, which include the 94130 and 94102 ZIP codes on the states priority list, have seen no uptick in vaccine availability so far.

At the end of the day, there are two neighborhoods still being left behind, despite the fact that theyve been prioritized by the state, Haney told The Chronicle.

The fact that there isnt a drop-in site in the Tenderloin in light of the extra doses being provided for this neighborhood is entirely unacceptable, he said. And Treasure Island does not have access to clinics currently, despite the fact that these extra doses have been allocated for three weeks. So where were the doses for these ZIP codes for the last three weeks?

The answer to that question sheds light on the flexible nature of the states equity program, developed by Gov. Gavin Newsoms administration to get vaccinations to the people who need them most. The targeted ZIP codes on the equity list are essentially recommendations, according to the state.

Counties receive vaccine doses, and they decide where to allocate them within their county. To the extent a ZIP code (on the equity list) is not getting doses  those decisions are being made at the county, said Darrel Ng, Newsoms spokesperson on vaccine issues.

The San Francisco Department of Public Health publicly tracks the doses it administers in each neighborhood and says on its website that it prioritizes older people, those at risk of severe disease and health care workers. The states equity program is not mentioned.

California hands out vaccine supply each week to the health department and, also in San Francisco, to UCSF, Kaiser and Dignity Health. Nearly half of last weeks doses went to Kaisers mass vaccination site, and 38%  the 16,260 shots  went to the health department. Kaiser said it is reaching out to residents in the identified ZIP codes but provided no details.

The health department says it uses its allocation to serve the citys most vulnerable communities. In all, the department has administered 57,065 doses in 38 neighborhoods since it began vaccinating people.

Bayview-Hunters Point has received the largest portion: 13.53%. Next are the Mission (10.47%), the Excelsior (8.94%) and the Sunset/Parkside (6.13%).

Fifth is the Tenderloin, which has one of its three ZIP codes, 94102, on the states equity list. The neighborhood has received 5.91% of the health departments doses, but its not clear if they have been concentrated in the lower-income 94102 area.

Treasure Island  all of which is within the 94130 ZIP code on the equity list  has received 0.27% of the citys doses. Its third from last, just above two of the wealthiest San Francisco neighborhoods, the Presidio (0.12%), and Sea Cliff (0.07%)

On Thursday, the city announced that eligible residents from eight ZIP codes can drop in for shots without appointments at Southeast Health Center and San Francisco General Hospital. Both the Treasure Island and Tenderloin ZIP codes from the states equity list were included in the Thursday announcement.

Haney, however, said the hospital is very far from Treasure Island and the Tenderloin, and that language and (lack of) technology might prevent residents of those neighborhoods even from learning about the availability. We have to keep barriers as low as possible, he said.

San Francisco isnt relying on the states equity list, which did not account for the fact that many of our neighborhoods, like the Mission for example (include) extremely low-income census tracts, said a statement from the citys COVID Command Center.

The exclusion of many low-income areas is at the heart of strong objections by a number of Bay Area officials to the way California created its equity list. The state relied on its Healthy Places Index, which combines dozens of economic and social measures to score ZIP codes for priority attention. A Chronicle analysis found that just 2% of the people prioritized for vaccines under this approach live in the Bay Area.

San Franciscos COVID Command Center said that nearly 80% of its doses go to organizations that serve prioritized people, which take into account income levels, crowding and groups with little access to health care.

The rest are offered to people over age 65 with digital and language barriers to appointments, a group with the highest risk of hospitalization and death from COVID that still has significant gaps in access to vaccines, the COVID Command Centers statement to The Chronicle said.

The Command Center also cited its use of mobile units to take vaccines into underserved areas.

Haney said the mobile units are too small, and that drop-in vaccination centers are whats needed for Treasure Island and the Tenderloin.

I absolutely believe this is the countys responsibility, he said. They are getting additional doses for the explicit purpose of equity distribution  but Ive no evidence of expanded access.

The states equity list included eight other Bay Area ZIP codes. In Solano County: 95625, 94535, 94512, and 94590. In Alameda County: 94601, 94621 and 94603. And in Contra Costa County: 94801, which includes Richmond.

The Contra Costa County health department has been prioritizing appointments for Richmond residents, vaccinating about 35% of the nearly 30,000 people in the 94801 ZIP code, said spokesperson Scott Alonso.

Bela Matyas, Solano Countys health officer, said his county has targeted low-income Vallejo, which includes 94590, but not the other ZIP codes in the county that are on the states list.

One of those ZIP codes covers Travis Air Force Base  which is responsible for vaccinating their own, Matyas said, and the others are very sparsely populated.

There is a genuine disconnect between what the state says theyre doing and whats real, he said. We are aware of our poorest communities and have been very aggressively targeting not just that ZIP code but all those we believe are impacted by health equity issues.

Nanette Asimov is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: nasimov@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @NanetteAsimov
Darjeeling :

The Darjeeling hills is limping back to normalcy as several shops, markets, government offices, and government-aided schools re opened on Thursday, while GJM chief Bimal Gurung asked his party men to intensify the band that started 92 days ago.

The shops and markets opened, defying the indefinite bandh, sponsored by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) for a separate Gorkhaland.

The state-run North Bengal State Transport Corporation started a few buses, which were escorted by the security forces.The buses plied from Siliguri to Darjeeling and back via Kurseong, besides between Siliguri and Mirik in Darjeeling district, official sources said.

Many governments and government-aided school have started functioning and teachers have been asked to join immediately.The sources said the situation in the hills remained tense but incident-free despite threats and intimidation by the GJM.

For the sixth day in a row, the police, along with the administration, appealed to the locals via public address systems to open shops and restore normalcy in the hills.

Expelled GJM leader Binay Tamang said that normalcywas returning in the hills. Tamang is one of the key GJM leaders who had represented the party in the two rounds of dialogues with the state government to discuss the Darjeeling issue.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had appealed to the hillparties to withdraw the bandh and restore peace and normalcy. Gurung, who is in hiding, had rejected Banerjee's appealand said that the bandh will continue till the Centre holds atripartite meeting on the Gorkhaland issue.

He threatened that if the tripartite meeting is notcalled soon the situation will worsen in the days to come. In an audio statement released from a secret location, Gurung said if something untoward happens in future, the state government would be responsible for it.

He also asked the GJM cadre to intensify the bandh inthe hills and ensure that no one made an attempt to break it. Peace rallies were taken out by residents in Kurseong, Darjeeling and Mirik.

The GJM supporters took out rallies in some parts ofDarjeeling, Sonada and Kalimpong supporting creation ofGorkhaland and the ongoing shutdown, the sources said. Internet services remain suspended in the hills since June 18.

Meanwhile, unidentified miscreants raided 'Roy Villa', a heritage house in Darjeeling last night where Sister Nivedita, social worker and disciple of Swami Vivekananda, had died. The miscreants damaged it and took away some cash, police said, adding that investigation is on.

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Lucknow, March 26 : The Yogi Adityanath government is trying to increase self-employment among the youth in rural Uttar Pradesh through food processing units.

Under the current food processing industries policy, capital grants and rebate in interest are being provided to those who are setting up such units.

Apart from providing employment opportunities to people, these food processing units will also make the farmers of the villages economically self-reliant and fulfil the resolve of rural development.

According to the government spokesman, the state government will create new jobs in the rural areas through its 62,122 units.

A record investment of Rs 10,500 crore has been made in the food processing industry which is considered to be the backbone of the project.

The government has made amendments in its food processing industry policy and will be ready to provide employment to around 3 lakh people by bringing investment of more than Rs 20,000 crore.

To increase employment and self-employment in rural areas, the units are being set up according to the area wise agricultural production.

Units related to milk products will be set up in Aligarh, Bareilly, Bulandshahr, Kanpur Dehat, Jaunpur and Mathura, while Aurraiya and Kasganj will have units for making ghee.

Products based on green chillies will be set up in Varanasi and Deoria, mango in Lucknow, Amroha and Sitapur, Kala Namak rice in Basti, Gorakhpur and Siddhartha Nagar, banana chips in Kushinagar and potato in Purvanchal.

The spokesman said that there is an emphasis on setting up food processing units based on maize cultivation in western and central Uttar Pradesh.

It is noteworthy that in order to promote food processing industries in Uttar Pradesh, the Yogi Adityanath government is giving an exemption in mandi rates to agricultural processing units and new rules have been made for that purpose.

The government is completely focused on bringing up more units to the state so that with more employment opportunities, farmers can also get maximum benefit from these units.

The government has also proposed a plan to set up agriculture and food processing industries on the vacant land of big mandis in the state.

Under this plan, the food processing units set up in the mandi area, which cost Rs five crore or more, are being exempted from mandi duty for five years.
EDITORS NOTE: On April 13, NJ Cannabis Insider hosts a virtual networking event, featuring professionals in the legal cannabis industries. Tickets are limited.

Lawmakers passed a bill Thursday that requires police to notify parents every time teens are caught with alcohol and weed, tweaking a measure they passed last month that outraged police and parents.

Now its headed to Gov. Phil Murphys desk. Its the first of three bills seeking to change the marijuana reforms signed into law last month.

The Senate voted 36-0 and the Assembly 72-0 to pass the latest cleanup bill (S3565). It would change the underage alcohol and weed use warning law that passed swiftly as a compromise to get legal weed done last month.

Murphy had said he would not sign bills to launch a legal cannabis industry and end arrests for marijuana possession until lawmakers passed a third bill to clarify civil penalties for those under 21 caught with weed.

Lawmakers debated replacing arrests with fines, but compromised on a three-tier warning system. The first warning would go only to the underage person, the second to a parent if the person was under 18 and the third as a referral to drug treatment or education programs.

It moved quickly from a committee to the full Senate and Assembly. The Legislature sent it to Murphys desk minutes before the deadline for him to sign the other two bills.

But the law received immediate criticism. Both Democratic and Republican lawmakers introduced several bills that would make the small change to have police notify parents of a juveniles first offense involving alcohol or marijuana.

Never have I ever seen such an outrage about one piece of legislation, Assemblywoman Nancy Munoz, R-Union, said during the voting session Thursday.

Murphy has said he supports changing the law.

I personally think thats a step in the right direction, and so well see where that goes, he said earlier this month.

But several lawmakers Thursday said more must be done. Republican senators last week introduced another bill to that would make a slight change to restrictions for police interacting with young people caught with weed or alcohol. The new underage law made officers subject to a third degree criminal charge of deprivation of civil rights for knowingly detaining a young person too long or illegally searching them.

Officers found guilty of the offense could face three to five years in prison or fines of $15,000.

There has to be some proportionately between the violation and the punishment, Sen. Anthony Bucco, R-Morris, said Thursday.

When our residents voted to legalize marijuana, I am sure they did not vote to criminalize police officers.

The new bill would only allow the officers to be guilty of such a charge if the person was targeted for their race, ethnicity, sexuality, gender or religion.

The New Jersey State Association of Chiefs of Police applauded the change Thursdays bill would make to the law, but called for more.

Without further reform, the legislation will limit the ability of officers to enforce underage marijuana and alcohol laws and will present health and safety risks to our states minors, the association said in a statement.

The potential for criminal liability in any interaction will prevent officers from intervening in situations where underage criminal activity occurs, allowing underage marijuana and alcohol use to run rampant in our schools, in our parks and on our beaches.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.

Amanda Hoover may be reached at ahoover@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @amandahoovernj.
South Africa: South Africans should embrace other cultures, says Bapela

South Africans should be understanding, tolerant and empathetic towards issues of diversity within the context of culture and religion, says Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) Deputy Minister, Obed Bapela.

In a statement, the Deputy Minister called on South Africans to become cultural activists and proponents of tolerance for the countrys diverse backgrounds.

He made the plea in the wake of events that unfolded at Boulders Mall in Gauteng this week. In a video circulating on social media, the centre manager of the mall requests a member of the public to leave the centre for wearing his Ndebele traditional attire, describing it as indecent. The manager has since been suspended by the centre.

In the statement, Bapela says the man, Thando Mahlangu, was discriminated upon and treated with disdain.

He said guided by the countrys Constitution of 1996, it should be emphasised that any form of prejudice or discrimination has no place in South Africas multicultural and multiracial society.

Any action, behaviour or conduct that seeks to undermine our cultural diversity is an antithesis to our constitutional principles of respect, tolerance and coexistence, said the Deputy Minister.

He said the unfortunate event has shown practically that managing diversity is proving to be a "somewhat difficult process" that cannot be left to the government alone.

To protect the constitutional rights and freedoms of individuals and groups alike, all South Africans have to play their part to recognise our diversity which makes us unique.

Whilst it is understandable that some in our society might not be exposed to different cultural practices, it cannot be correct to discriminate and disrespect the rights of others. It is incumbent upon individuals to acquaint themselves with various cultures in our country, as this is fundamental to addressing cultural conflict.

"It is important that anyone living in a diverse country such as ours should respect and have due regard for other individuals who observe or practice a variety of cultures. The expression of these multiculturalism features through attire, cuisine and language should be elevated to rightful prominence.

The Deputy Minister said South Africans should be understanding, tolerant and empathetic towards issues of diversity within the context of culture and religion. "Recognising that our strength is in our diversity, we should take up an important role of becoming cultural activists and proponents of tolerance for our different cultures.

He said government will continue to partner with respective institutions in pursuit of promoting multiculturalism and tolerance in an effort to build a better country.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2021-03-26. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Program provides education and mentoring to students about career possibilities at NASA

MANHATTAN BEACH, Calif., March 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- STEMconnector and NASA proudly announce a Day of Design program bringing STEM at NASA to students of all ages. The Day of Design program helps inform students of future STEM careers by connecting them to STEM professionals, real-world challenges, and project-based learning. NASA's Day of Design: Shooting Stars connects students to female scientists making an impact in space. This Day of Design program features a series of virtual events providing education and mentoring to young students about career possibilities at NASA.

The first of these series will take place in March 2021 in honor of Women's History Month.

"Women are making history every day at NASA," said Kris Brown, deputy associate administrator of NASA's Office of STEM Engagement. "Through our partnership with STEMconnector we aim to attract girls into STEM, increase awareness of opportunities for students at NASA and further support our shared passion of advancing women in STEM."

"We are living in exciting times - we have just seen NASA successfully land a rover on Mars, after traveling 290 million miles to get there. To try to put that into some kind of perspective the circumference of Earth is approx. 24 thousand miles" said Dr Jo Webber, FRSC CEO of STEMconnector. "We are thrilled to be working with NASA to bring the brilliance of STEM to schools across America."

Designed for K-12 and post-secondary schools, these virtual events will be distributed to participating schools via YouTube Premieres beginning on March 24th, 2021. With over 50 schools already enrolled as a result of STEMconnector's existing network, this no-cost virtual event is open to all K-12 and post-secondary schools that would like to participate. Please contact Bethanie Wisniewski at STEMconnector if you would like your school to be included.

Story continues

About STEMconnector

STEMconnector is committed to increasing the number of STEM-ready workers in the global talent pool. Using our technology platform and network programming, we work with STEM-focused universities and colleges, and many of the world's largest companies including defense, technology and retail, to help corporations build, maintain and re-envision the STEM workforce. Our mission is to inform, stimulate and connect leaders with a passion for and vested interest in growing a STEM-ready workforce.

Media Contact:

Rita Tennyson

Orca Communications Unlimited, LLC

(310) 779-9747

rita.tennyson@orcapr.com

Cision

View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/stemconnector-and-nasa-join-together-for-day-of-design-301256504.html

SOURCE STEMconnector
The Minister of Education Prof D. Ansu Sonii says the ministry has added 852 teachers on its payroll to fill in the vacant spaces of teachers in the various counties.

Speaking in the Chambers of the Liberian Senate Tuesday, 23 March, Minister Sonii said there will be about three teachers to a school, though he admits that this number is not sufficient for the schools.

He explains that those teachers will be placed according to their various categories.

Minister Sonii reveals that the 852 teachers will be added to fill in the gap for those schools that do not have teachers.According to the Education Minister, there are funds already available to finance their payment.

Speaking on the issue of retirement, Sonii also notes that it wasn't noticed because it was done during the heat of the Coronavirus in the country. He stresses that the teachers in the rural areas should help maintain the school.

"If one zinc leaks, it spreads over to the ceiling and rolls down to the walls, that's how the teachers and administration of the school sit there and allow the school to spoil. We all should help to build the country," Minister Sonii says.

The Ministry of Education (MOE) boss says he has over three thousands schools under his control, noting that not a zinc that costs US$5 will make him to process an invoice to the Ministry of Finance.

He calls on teachers take care of the schools for the benefit of everyone, adding that the building of schools in the country has not been a problem but there are no teachers to take over those schools.

Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Liberia Education Labour 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.

Minister Sonii adds that the ministry is working in the various counties and he has been to 13 counties to assign District Education Officers (DEOs).

According to him, they are making sure that the DEO of every county should reside within the county to be able to know the happenings of the various schools.

Meanwhile, there have been complaints by some senators, saying that in their various counties, school authorities there do not know their DEOs and CEOs.

It can be recalled that the Deputy Education Minister Latin Dathong appeared before the plenary of the Liberian Senate saying that the program which brought out taking teachers names from the payroll was done in the past government.

He explained that there was a test given to the teachers and those that failed were asked to be removed from the Ministry of Education's list.

He also said that there was a grace period for those teachers that failed to equip themselves by going to school and achieving a degree, noting that some teachers challenged it and they were added to the list of qualified teachers.-
A shock new case of coronavirus has been found in Queensland outside of hotel quarantine, the first locally-acquired case in weeks which has left experts stunned.

A 26-year-old landscaper from Stafford in north Brisbane tested positive to Covid-19 on Thursday night, and health chiefs fear he had been infectious in the community since last Friday.

During that time, the man visited venues across Brisbane including a Bunnings in his own suburb, a fresh food market in inner-city Newstead and Carindale shopping centre in the south-east.

The infected man - who has no connection to the state's hotel quarantine program and has not been overseas - has been taken to Royal Brisbane Hospital for treatment.

Queensland Health said how he contracted the virus remains a mystery.

The case prompted Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk to close aged care facilities, hospitals and prisons to visitors in the Brisbane City and Moreton Bay council areas from 12pm on Friday.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has closed aged care centres, hospitals and prisons to visitors in Brisbane following a case of coronavirus outside hotel quarantine (pictured, testing in February)

Crowds on an escalator at Carindale Shopping Centre in Brisbane - one of the venues in the city listed as potential exposure sites to Covid-19

Queensland venues on alert Anyone who has been to the following venues must get tested and self-isolate for 14 days: Saturday 20 March Shinobi Ramen Noodle shop, Westfield Carindale Shopping Centre Carindale 12pm-2.16pm Saturday 20 March Black Hops Brewery East Brisbane 12pm-2pm Sunday 21 March Mammas Italian Restaurant 69 Redcliffe Parade Redcliffe 12.30pm-3.10pm Saturday 20 March Green Beacon brewing Co. Teneriffe 2pm-3.12pm Saturday 20 March Eatons Hill Hotel Eatons Hill 3.44pm-5.30pm Monday 22 March PCYC Pine Rivers Bray Park 7.16am-8.10am Monday 22 March KCF Training (gym) New Birtinya 9.15am 11.30am Monday 22 March Plus Fitness New Minyama 2.30pm 3.30pm Tuesday 23 March Plus Fitness New Minyama 7.30am 8.30am Tuesday 23 March Hamilton Hotel - Sports bar New Hamilton 2.20pm 4.45pm Tuesday 23 March Hamilton Hotel - Pokies room New Hamilton 4.45pm 5.23pm Friday March 26 FitStop Gym, 6/338 Lytton Rd, Morningside 6.50am-8am Friday 26 March Spinnaker Park Cafe 222 Alf ORourke Drive New Callemondah 10.22am-11.23am Friday 26 March Auckland House 60 Flinders Parade New Gladstone Central 7.23pm-9.30pm Saturday 27 March Auckland House 60 Flinders Parade New Gladstone Central 7.33am-8.20am Saturday 27 March Savour Cafe, Merthyr Village Shopping Centre New Farm 10.30am 12.10pm Monday 29 March Premium Pilates & Fitness Coorparoo 9.25am 10.30am Get tested immediately and quarantine until you get a negative result: Tuesday 16 March Body Plus Physio New Caboolture 08.30am 08.50am Tuesday 16 March Nextra Toowong Village New Toowong 9:30am 10:00am Tuesday 16 March Silky Oakes New Strathpine 12pm 12.05pm Tuesday 16 March Price Line Pharmacy New Albany Creek 12.30pm 12.40pm Tuesday 16 March Grilld New Eatons Hill 1pm 1.30pm Tuesday 16 March Meat at Billys New Ashgrove 2:30pm 2:45pm Wednesday 17 March Tafe New Southbank 8am 4.30pm Wednesday 17 March Woolworths Everton Park New Everton Park 1.39pm 2.13pm Thursday 18 March Plus Fitness New Everton Park 8.00am 9.30am Thursday 18 March Milton Fruit Bowl New Milton 9:00am 9:20am Thursday 18 March World Gym New North Lakes 9.15am 9.45am Thursday 18 March Basil and Vine New Burpengary 10am 10.15am Thursday 18 March Giant Chemist Pacific Fair Shopping Centre New Broadbeach 1.45pm 2pm Thursday 18 March Electric Chair Barber Shop New Everton Park 3.15pm 4.14pm Thursday 18 March Studio Pilates New Grange 4.30pm 5.15pm Friday 19 March Lawnton Country Markets Bakery New Lawnton 6.11am 6.26am Friday 19 March Plus Fitness New Everton Park 7.30am 9am Friday 19 March Woolworths New Paddington 10am 10:15am Friday 19 March Bakers Delight New Paddington 10:15am 10:30am Friday 19 March Westfield New North Lakes 11.20am 11.50am Friday 19 March Little Red Dumpling Carseldine 12.10pm 1.16pm Friday 19 March Studio Pilates New Grange 12.15pm 1pm Friday 19 March Woolworths Carseldine 1.10pm 1.20pm Friday 19 March TBs Wine and Beer New Rosalie 2:30pm 2:45pm Friday 19 March Newstead Brewing Co. New Newstead 3.54pm 5.29pm Friday 19 March Aldi Bald Hills 5.10pm 5.18pm Friday 19 March Super Cheap Auto Bald Hills 5.30pm 5.33pm Friday 19 March Reef Seafood & Sushi Brisbane New Newstead 5.37pm 6.35pm Friday 19 March The Standard Market Company, Gasworks Plaza 76 Skyring Tce New Newstead 6.35pm 6.45pm Friday 19 March Public Toilet, Gasworks Plaza (located to the right of the escalator from the car park) New Newstead 6.46pm 6.47pm Saturday 20 March Plus Fitness 24/7 Gym Everton Park New Everton Park 7.40am 8.34am Saturday 20 March Coles Everton Park Everton Plaza Shopping Centre New Everton Park 8.39am 8.44am Saturday 20 March Neighbourhood Market Co. New Everton Park 8.45am 8.55am Saturday 20 March Westfield Carindale Shopping Centre - any part of the shopping centre Carindale 12pm 2.16pm Saturday 20 March Black Hops Brewery East Brisbane 2pm 3pm Saturday 20 March The Bavarian Eagle Street Pier New Brisbane City 2.15pm 4pm Saturday 20 March Market Organics (store only) 190 Enoggera Road Newmarket 2.45pm 3pm Saturday 20 March Riverland Brisbane New Brisbane City 4.10pm 6.32pm Saturday 20 March Viscosity New Fortitude Valley 6.42pm 7.31pm Saturday 20 March XCargo New Fortitude Valley 7.35pm 9.32pm Saturday 20 March Baskins-Robbins 2/489 South Pine Road Everton Park 9.20pm 9.25pm Sunday 21 March The Standard Market Company, Gasworks Plaza 76 Skyring Tce Newstead 9.50am 10.20am Sunday 21 March Presents of Mind New Paddington 10:15am 10:30am Sunday 21 March Genki Mart 3/24 South Pine Road Alderley 10.30am 10.46am Sunday 21 March Subway Strathpine Plaza Shopping Centre Strathpine 12.50pm 1pm Sunday 21 March Burrito Bar Everton Park New Everton Park 3.24pm 3.33pm Sunday 21 March Liquorland, Dolphins Central Shopping Centre Ashmole Road and Klingner Road Kippa-Ring 4 .40pm 4.50pm Monday 22 March Bunnings Rothwell Cnr Anzac Avenue and Bremner Road Rothwell 7 .14am 7.27am Monday 22 March Cafe Lavenue Carseldine 8.51am 8.58am Monday 22 March Ashgrove Fresh Fruit Shop New Ashgrove 9:20am 9:30am Monday 22 March Zambrero Aspley 12.05pm 12.34pm Monday 22 March Jacobs Bakery Aspley 12.40pm 12.48pm Monday 22 March Bunnings Stafford 450 Stafford Road Stafford 12.40pm 12.50pm Monday 22 March Bunnings Lawnton 3.15pm 3.30pm Monday 22 March Strathpine Plaza Shopping Centre Strathpine 3.43pm 3.49pm Monday 22 March Woolworths Mountain Creek New Mountain Creek 4.15pm 4.40pm Tuesday 23 March Redcliffe Train Line  Kippa-Ring to Lawnton Kippa Ring to Lawnton 7.00am 8.00am Tuesday 23 March Cafe Lavenue Carseldine 8am 8.29am Tuesday 23 March Woolworths New Paddington 9:10am 9:25am Tuesday 23 March Westfield (Dymocks and Woolworths) New North Lakes 11am 12pm Tuesday 23 March Nutrition Warehouse New Maroochydore 11.15am 11.30am Tuesday 23 March Brightwater Medical Centre at Brightwater Shopping Centre New Mountain Creek 12pm 12.45pm Tuesday 23 March Sushi Train Carseldine 12pm 12.45pm Tuesday 23 March Zambrero Lawnton 12.51pm 12.55pm Tuesday 23 March QML Pathology at Brightwater Shopping Centre New Mountain Creek 1pm 1.15pm Tuesday 23 March Lawnton Fruit Market Lawnton 1.57pm 2.05pm Tuesday 23 March Redcliffe Train Line  Lawnton to Kippa-Ring Lawnton to Kippa Ring 2.00pm 3.00pm Tuesday 23 March Rosalie Gourmet Market Deli New Rosalie 2:30pm 2:45pm Tuesday 23 March Poolwerx Strathpine Strathpine 3.15pm 3.27pm Tuesday 23 March Nellas Gourmet Tucker Lawnton 3.37pm 3.47pm Tuesday 23 March Woolworths New Strathpine 4pm 4.30pm Tuesday 23 March Dan Murphys Strathpine 7.26pm 7.36pm Wednesday 24 March Tafe New Southbank 8am 4.30pm Wednesday 24 March IGA New Milton 9:05am 9:15am Wednesday 24 March Milton Fruit Bowl New Milton 9:20am 9:30am Wednesday 24 March Redcliffe Train Line  Lawnton to Kippa-Ring Lawnton to Kippa Ring 2.30pm 3.30pm Wednesday 24 March Lawnton Country Markets Lawnton 2.36pm 2.43pm Wednesday 24 March Coles Everton Park Everton Plaza Shopping Centre New Everton Park 3.24pm 3.33pm Wednesday 24 March Uroko Sushi on Train New Everton Park 7.19pm 7.33pm Thursday 25 March Cafe Lavenue Carseldine 8am 8.29am Thursday 25 March Aldi Stafford, Stafford City Shopping Centre 400 Stafford Road Stafford 8.30am 8.45am Thursday 25 March World Gym New North Lakes 8.45am 9.45am Thursday 25 March Meats at Billys New Ashgrove 9:10am 9:20am Thursday 25 March Officeworks New Rothwell 12pm 12.30pm Thursday 25 March Cafe Lavenue Carseldine 12.34pm 1.34pm Thursday 25 March Gin Gin Public Toilet (male) opposite Gin Gin Bakery Gin Gin 1.25pm 1.26pm Thursday 25 March Gin Gin Bakery 41 Mulgrave St Gin Gin 1.26pm 1.33pm Thursday 25 March Westfield New North Lakes 2pm 3pm Thursday 25 March Miriam Vale Road Star Roadhouse  male toilet Miriam Vale 2.35pm 2.45pm Thursday 25 March Nundah Respiratory Clinic 1270 Sandgate Road Nundah 11.15am 11.40am Thursday 25 March Olivers Real Food New Maryborough West 11.50am 12.09pm Thursday 25 March Cold Rock Ice Creamery Raby Bay 3.50pm 4pm Thursday 25 March Woolworths Cleveland Cleveland 4.00pm 4.40pm Thursday 25 March Redcliffe Train Line  Lawnton to Kippa-Ring Lawnton to Kippa Ring 5.45pm 6.45pm Thursday 25 March BWS - Lawnton Drive 820 Gympie Road Lawnton 6.15pm 6.30pm Thursday 25 March Hanwoori Korean BBQ Restaurant Brisbane City 6.30pm 7.30pm Thursday 25 March Wintergarden carpark Brisbane City 6.19pm 7.50pm Thursday 25 March Ceres Pizza Cafe Strathpine 7.00pm 7.58pm Friday 26 March World Gym New North Lakes 10am 10.30am Friday 26 March Nurse Station cafe (Patrons) South Brisbane 10.15am 10.30am Friday 26 March SPAR Carina Megafresh Carina 11.30am 11.45am Friday 26 March Coles, Stockland Gladstone Gladstone Central 12.09pm 12.33pm Friday 26 March Woolworths Coorparoo Coorparoo 12.55pm 1.30pm Friday 26 March Niche & Co Cafe Tugun 1.40pm 1.55pm Friday 26 March Chempro Chemist Tugun 1.55pm 2.10pm Friday 26 March Redcliffe Train Line  Lawnton to Kippa-Ring Lawnton to Kippa Ring 2.30pm 3.30pm Friday 26 March Woolworths Kippa-Ring 272 Anzac Avenue Kippa-Ring 3pm 3.20pm Friday 26 March Stockland Gladstone (including BWS) Gladstone 4.46pm 5.00pm Saturday 27 March IGA Redcliffe Redcliffe 12.50pm 12.55pm Saturday 27 March Sunlit Asian Supermarket Westfield Garden City Upper Mount Gravatt 2.30pm 2.45pm Saturday 27 March Dominos Pizza Greenslopes 3.30pm 3.40pm Sunday 28 March 7-Eleven Updated Mackenzie 1.30am 1.40am Sunday 28 March 52 Espresso Updated Nobby Beach 6.15am 6.45am Sunday 28 March LeanChef Kitchn Updated Surfers Paradise (Chevron Island) 10am 10.30am Sunday 28 March Stable Coffee Kitchen New Tugun 10.27am 10.48am Sunday 28 March HOTA Markets Bundall 10.45am 11.30am Sunday 28 March Surf Life Saving Competition Tugun Beach 12.30pm 2pm Sunday 28 March Epic Escape Room Updated Southport 1.45pm 5.20pm Sunday 28 March Kirra Surf Shop 6/8 Creek Street Updated Coolangatta 2.35pm 3.05pm Sunday 28 March Southport Park Shopping Centre New Southport 3pm 4pm Sunday 28 March Woolworths Updated Southport Park 3.14pm 3.35pm Sunday 28 March Tugun Supermarket Tugun 5.20pm 5.30pm Monday 29 March Rafiki Cafe Updated Mermaid Beach 6.45am 6.50am Low risk contacts - monitor for symptoms: Tuesday 23 March Outside Westpac - Peninsula Fair Shopping Centre 272 Anzac Avenue Kippa-Ring 3pm 3.30pm Advertisement

The 26-year-old returned two positive results after being tested for the virus earlier on Thursday.

'We will be issuing health alerts throughout the day and I urge the media to really put out these venues,' she said.

'We absolutely want people, especially over the next two  three days, to come forward and get tested if you are feeling unwell and you have symptoms.'

Anyone who has visited one of eight Covid-19 exposure sites listed by Queensland Health at the specified times must get tested and self-isolate until they receive a negative result.

Queenslands Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young said genomic testing was underway to uncover how the man caught the virus.

'This gentleman developed symptoms on Monday, he became reasonably unwell, and stayed home,' she said.

She raised the possibility the case was connected to an outbreak involving two hotel quarantine guests and a doctor at Brisbane's Princess Alexandra Hospital earlier this month.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said a 26-year-old man had tested positive to Covid-19

That outbreak also led to a ban on visitors to hospitals in the greater Brisbane area and an order for those who visited high-risk locations to self-isolate.

Brisbane previously entered a hard three-day lockdown in January after a Brisbane quarantine hotel cleaner contracted the UK strain of the virus.

'I would hope we dont need to have more restrictions, but it just depends what unfolds over the next 24-48 hours,' Dr Young said on Friday.

The state's health authorities have also issued an urgent alert for 96 suburbs across Brisbane after coronavirus fragments were detected in sewage water.

Residents line up outside a 24-hour COVID testing clinic south of Brisbane during the city's three-day lockdown in January. Genomic testing is underway to uncover how a 26-year-old caught the virus in the latest outbreak

Covid-19 traces were also found in the Luggage Point treatment plant in the city's east.

Dr Young urged anyone experiencing symptoms of the virus - however mild - to come forward for a test.

'It is very important people with symptoms come forward right away and get tested  we can't be complacent, we're still in this pandemic,' she said.

The landscaper while infectious had visited venues across Brisbane including a Bunnings in his own suburb of Stafford (pictured)

'It is critical we detect any cases that we may not be aware of as quickly as possible through our testing system, to contain any potential spread.

'We are concerned by the new variants that are emerging overseas that are more contagious than previous variants we have seen in Queensland.

'It's also possible that this detection relates to previous COVID-19 cases that can shed viral fragments for a couple of months after they are no longer infectious.'
Panaji, March 26 : The BJP government in Goa has formed a special co-ordination committee, with central government agencies, including the ASI, for the upkeep of the state's iconic 17th century Church Complex in Old Goa, deputy Chief Minister Chandrakant Kavlekar told the state assembly on Friday.

The Basilica of Bom Jesus, which is the key heritage building in the complex, also holds the relics of Fr. Francis Xavier, a Spanish Saint, who died in the mid 1500s.

Kavlekar, who also holds charge as Minister for Archives and Archaeology also said during the Zero Hour of the Budget Session, that the committee was formed after the roof and several parts of the Bom Jesus Basilica complex were damaged following rain and unplanned maintenance.

"We have formed a committee, which includes the CM and me. We will ensure that this will not be repeated," Kavlekar said.

The Committee comprises of the CM, Dy. CM and officials from the state archaeology, police, public works departments, as well as the central government's Archaeological Society of India and senior church officials.

Construction of the Church complex, of which the Basilica is a part, by the Portuguese colonists was completed in the 17th century and is now a UNESCO-endorsed world heritage site.

Every year, hundreds of thousands of tourists visit the Church complex, which is located around 10 km from Panaji.

Last year, the Basilica had developed leaks in the monsoon season and the repair work was delayed because the contractor entrusted with the work was unable to hire workers during the Covid-19 lockdown.
Juba  The first batch of COVID-19 vaccines arrived in South Sudan's Juba International Airport on Thursday. The 132,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine will be offered first to health care workers, including doctors and nurses, along with other vulnerable groups.

South Sudan Health Minister Elizabeth Achuil said 732,000 additional doses are scheduled to arrive over the next few months through the support of the COVAX facility, a global partnership made up of a coalition that includes the Vaccine Alliance, UNICEF and the World Health Organization. COVAX was established to ensure that all countries can equitably access COVID-19 vaccines.

Achuil said the AstraZeneca shipment is a milestone for South Sudan.

"The COVID-19 vaccine will help us to protect our population against the COVID infections and prepare for a return to a normal life. We are grateful to all partners for their support in facilitating the arrival of the vaccines in our country," she told reporters at Juba International Airport.

A COVID-19 vaccination campaign will kick off across the country next week, according to Hamida Lasseko, the UNICEF representative for South Sudan.

"It is very important that the government has decided to start with the health workers, who are the front-line workers, because they are the ones to be safe so as to continue with delivering health services," Lasseko said.

German Ambassador to South Sudan Manuel Muller, who represented the donor community at Juba International Airport to receive the vaccine doses, said South Sudan is one of 140 countries that will benefit from the COVAX initiative by the end of May.

"Our goal is that everyone in the world can have access to the required vaccine. That is what we mean when we say the vaccine against COVID-19 must be a common goal. People in the developing countries also have the right to a vaccine that has been tested safely, thoroughly and transparently," Muller said.

COVAX has secured more than 3 billion doses of vaccines that can cover at least one-third of the global population in 2021, according to Muller.

The AstraZeneca vaccine requires two doses to ensure optimal immune response against the virus. The doses will be provided on a voluntary basis and free of charge in South Sudan.

Confidence in the AstraZeneca vaccine had plunged across Europe after recent reports that a small number of recipients had developed unusual blood clots amid a coronavirus wave on the continent.

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In France, Germany, Italy and Spain, polling shows more people now believe the vaccine is unsafe, compared with those who think it is safe. That is a major setback to a shot that remains Europe's best hope for saving lives.

Millions of doses have been sitting unused in refrigerators across the continent, with doctors reporting some people canceling appointments for injections over fears about side effects.

In South Sudan, health experts say people should still wear face masks and practice other preventative measures, said Dr. Fabian Ndenzako, World Health Organization representative for South Sudan.

"I would like to emphasize that if the vaccine starts to roll out around the world, they should complement, not replace, the proven public measures such as wearing masks, physical distancing, ventilation and hand hygiene, alongside robust programs to test, trace, isolate and treat," Ndenzako told South Sudan in Focus.

More than 15 African countries received COVID-19 vaccines in recent weeks.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan held a press conference via video link on Significance of Peace and Trust in the Modern World with participation of heads and representatives of a number of Turkmen and foreign news agencies, TV and radio companies and other mass media.

In particular, representatives of the Interstate Television and Radio Company "Mir", the Turkish Television and Radio Broadcasting Corporation "TRT", the Russian International Network of Information TV Channels "Russia Today", the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union, the All-Russian State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company, the Indian broadcasting corporation "Prasar Bharati" joined online the discussions of pressing issues of our time.

The press conference participants discussed the aspects of information exchange, methodological online seminars and joint work to cover events taking place as part of the International Year of Peace and Trust and celebration of the 30th anniversary of Turkmenistan's independence.

 TURKMENISTAN.RU, 2021
China announces sanctions on British individuals, entities

Xinhua) 08:04, March 26, 2021

BEIJING, March 26 (Xinhua) -- China on Friday announced sanctions on relevant British individuals and entities.

According to a statement by a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, the United Kingdom (UK) imposed unilateral sanctions on relevant Chinese individuals and entity, citing the so-called human rights issues in Xinjiang.

"This move, based on nothing but lies and disinformation, flagrantly breaches international law and basic norms governing international relations, grossly interferes in China's internal affairs, and severely undermines China-UK relations," said the statement.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry has summoned British Ambassador to China to lodge solemn representations, expressing firm opposition and strong condemnation.

The Chinese side decides to sanction the following nine individuals and four entities on the UK side that maliciously spread lies and disinformation: Tom Tugendhat, Iain Duncan Smith, Neil O'Brien, David Alton, Tim Loughton, Nusrat Ghani, Helena Kennedy, Geoffrey Nice, Joanne Nicola Smith Finley, China Research Group, Conservative Party Human Rights Commission, Uyghur Tribunal, and Essex Court Chambers.

"As of today, the individuals concerned and their immediate family members are prohibited from entering the mainland, Hong Kong and Macao of China. Their property in China will be frozen, and Chinese citizens and institutions will be prohibited from doing business with them. China reserves the right to take further measures," said the statement.

China is firmly determined to safeguard its national sovereignty, security and development interests, and warns the UK side not go further down the wrong path. Otherwise, China will resolutely make further reactions, said the statement.

(Web editor: Liang Jun, Bianji)
When Florida starts giving vaccines to any adult who wants one on April 5, the state will also allow 16- and 17-year-olds to get the Pfizer shot  the only COVID-19 vaccine currently approved for teenagers.

Theyll need their parents or guardians permission, who will either have to accompany them to the site or sign an authorization form that the teens can bring with them.

The guidelines for teens were set by the Food & Drug Administrations Emergency Use Authorization for all vaccines, and thats why Florida intends to follow them, said Jason Mahon, a spokesman for the Florida Department of Health, confirming a Tampa Bay Times report.

So if the FDA approves other vaccines for use in teens, they should be able to get them later. Gov. Ron DeSantis opened eligibility up to residents 40 and up starting Monday, a week before the 18 and up eligibility kicks in for all vaccines.

While older Floridians clamor for the vaccines that could prevent them from becoming severely ill and dying from COVID-19, younger adults are indifferent, unconvinced the vaccines are necessary  even though young adults are the largest spreaders of the virus.

They dismiss the urgency of getting vaccinated, rely heavily on peers and social media for vaccination advice  and seem unaware their rejection of the vaccine could lengthen the course of the pandemic.

Staff writer Cindy Krischer Goodman contributed to this report.
Cream cakes being exported to the EU face new Brexit red tape from next month.

British firms will need export health certificates signed by vets before their foods containing dairy products are deemed safe to be sold on the continent.

MPs were told yesterday that foods hit by the paperwork from April 21 would include cream cakes such as a Victoria sponge and cheese.

It comes despite Boris Johnson insisting the trade deal agreed at Christmas allowed Britain to 'have its cake and eat it'.

MPs were told yesterday that foods hit by the paperwork from April 21 would include cream cakes such as a Victoria sponge and cheese (file photo)

Environment Secretary George Eustice told the environment committee: 'It is an extra bit of complexity for... confectionery and cake manufacturers.'

Asked why the UK was not imposing the same checks on imports from the bloc, he said they were 'entirely futile'.

'We have chosen to recognise that and be pragmatic in the way we've phased in checks,' he added.

Meat products have required the strict export certificates since January, causing huge delays.

The minister admitted that it might not be worth some small British firms sending individual deliveries to Europe any more because of the added costs and red tape.

Environment Secretary George Eustice told the environment committee: 'It is an extra bit of complexity for... confectionery and cake manufacturers'

He said: 'You'll get consolidation of several goods through wholesalers through export agents who will then, in the case of for instance cheese, might take several different types of artisan cheese from several different producers and take a lorry load across and redistribute it from from there.'

But he insisted that the flow of lorries across the Channel in February was almost back to normal levels after a sharp drop in January as a result of the Brexit disruption and Covid restrictions.

Mr Eustice raised the prospect of taking legal action against over one of the biggest Brexit flashpoints, the EU's ban on live shellfish exports.

He said that once Brussels ratifies the deal, a specialist committee will be set up that can 'deal with these sorts of disputes'.
Phuket targets zero road accident fatalities over Songkran

PHUKET: Officials have set a target of zero fatalities on Phukets roads during the Seven Days of Danger road-safety campaign this Songkran holiday, to be enforced from April 10-16.

SafetytransportaccidentsdeathCOVID-19Coronavirus

By The Phuket News

Friday 26 March 2021, 10:42AM

Phuket Vice Governor Vikrom Jakthee announced the goal yesterday (Mar 25) at a meeting to coordinate all government agencies in carrying out this years Songkran campaign.

The goal is to reduce the number of accidents, injuries and fatalities in comparison to previous years, V/Gov Vikrom said.

The meeting aims to set out our objectives and establish a clear understanding on the relevant preparations required from each relevant official.

We hope to reduce the number of accidents and have no deaths during the long holiday, he added.

This years slogan is Joyful Songkran - drive safe and away from COVID.

Ultimately our goal is to ensure the safety and happiness of road users during the holiday period, V/Gov Vikrom concluded.

Last week, Natapanu Nopakun, Deputy Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, confirmed that the upcoming Songkran festival will not include water splashing, powder smearing or foam parties.

The focus will be on more traditional aspects such as merit making, pouring of water on Buddha statues and on the hands of elderly people.

Strict anti-COVID measures will still apply, he added.

The Songkran holiday last year was classified as a normal working period after the COVID pandemic forced festivities to be scrapped. The days were carried over to form a substitute public holiday later in the year.
UN Special Envoy on Myanmar Christine Schraner Burgener on Friday called on the country's military to uphold the fundamental rights and demonstrate utmost restraint in the context of the anti-coup protests, the UN Spokesperson's Office said in a statement on Friday

UNITED NATIONS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 26th March, 2021) UN Special Envoy on Myanmar Christine Schraner Burgener on Friday called on the country's military to uphold the fundamental rights and demonstrate utmost restraint in the context of the anti-coup protests, the UN Spokesperson's Office said in a statement on Friday.

"The Special Envoy of the Secretary-General on Myanmar, Christine Schraner Burgener, remains deeply disturbed by ongoing violence committed by the country's security forces," the statement said. "The special envoy appeals for basic rights and democratic norms to be upheld in the greater interest of the nation's prosperity under civilian rule. The Special Envoy calls for maximum restraint."

Schraner Burgener said she believes the Myanmar military has turned against the country's citizens instead of ensuring peace and defending them.

Schraner Burgener also said she stands in solidarity with the people of Myanmar and their commitment to peace. She called on the military regime to release all detained officials, including President U Win Myint and State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

On February 1, Myanmar's military overthrew the civilian government and declared a year-long state of emergency. The military also arrested the State Counselor and the President over alleged electoral fraud and later, on charges of violating COVID-19 restrictions.

The coup triggered mass protests that continue for the sixth week. Over 70 percent of government employees have now joined the civil disobedience movement in the country.
EDWARDSVILLE  Charges against an Arizona man for multiple counts of child pornography filed in early February were unsealed Thursday.

Scott C. Wood, 48, of Litchfield Park, Arizona, was charged Feb. 11 with five counts of child pornography, a Class 2 felony. The charges had been sealed until Thursday.

The case was presented by the Alton Police Department.

According to court documents, on Jan. 13 Wood allegedly possessed images of children under 13 performing sex acts or lewd exhibition.

Bail was set at $250,000. As of Friday he was in custody at the Madison County Jail.

Felony charges filed March 25 by the Madison County States Attorneys Office include:

 Ladon L. Salisbury Jr., 27, of Pontoon Beach, was charged with three counts of aggravated domestic battery, all Class 2 felonies. The case was presented by the Alton Police Department. According to court records, on March 22 Salisbury allegedly strangled a household or family member; and on March 23 strangled the same person twice. Bail was set at $50,000.

 Trevonta D. Nicholson, 27, of Collinsville, was charged with aggravated domestic battery, a Class 2 felony. The case was presented by the Edwardsville Police Department. On March 6 Nicholson allegedly struck a household or family member in the head with a handgun, fracturing her jaw. Bail was set at $75,000.

 Antonio T. Laws, 29, of St. Louis, was charged with aggravated unlawful use of weapons, a Class 4 felony. The case was presented by the Illinois State Police. On March 20 Laws allegedly was found to be carrying a Smith & Wesson handgun loaded in his vehicle, at a time when he was engaged in a misdemeanor violation for cannabis possession. Bail was set at $15,000.

 Justin J. Harper, 31, of Florissant, Missouri, was charged with forgery, a Class 3 felony, and aggravated fleeing or attempting to elude police and possession of cannabis, both Class 4 felonies. The case was presented by the Granite City Police Department. On March 24 Harper allegedly was found to be in possession of three counterfeit $5 bills and between 100-500 grams of marijuana; and attempted to elude a Granite City police officer, reaching speeds of more than 100 miles per hour on Illinois 3 and Interstate 270. Bail was set at $50,000.

 Bryan C. Reeves, 23, of East St. Louis, was charged with retail theft over $300, a Class 3 felony. The case was presented by the Glen Carbon Police Department. On March 12 Reeves allegedly took clothing valued at more than $300 from the Glen Carbon Walmart, 400 Junction Drive. Bail was set at $15,000.

 Eric R. Matthews, 24, of Alton, was charged with theft under $300, a Class 3 felony. The case was presented by the Alton Police Department. On Nov. 16 Matthews allegedly took $9,360 from Rent Solutions. Bail was set at $15,000.

 Lisa P. Novak, 56, of Cottage Hills, was charged with retail theft under $300 (second subsequent offense), a Class 4 felony. The case was presented by the Wood River Police Department. On March 18 Novak allegedly took a steak and a bottle of Jack Daniels, valued at less than $300, from the Wood River Walmart, 610 Wesley Dr. Bail was set at $15,000.

 Thomas M. Eisele, 32, of Ferguson, Missouri, was charged with unlawful possession of a stolen license plate, a Class 2 felony. The case was presented by the East Alton Police Department. On March 24, Eisele allegedly was found to be in possession of a stolen license plate from a 2008 Kawasaki motorcycle. Bail was set at $50,000.

 Aundre T. Vaughn Jr., 29, of East St. Louis, was charged with aggravated fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer, a Class 4 felony. The case was presented by the Illinois State Police. On March 12 Vaughn allegedly was driving a Hyundai Tuscon when he attempted to flee from an Illinois State Trooper, disobeying several traffic control devices. Bail was set at $20,000.
Of course, if there had been no Texas blackout crisis, much of that natural gas would have been burned in power plants to supply energy to homes and businesses. But flaring is also damaging because the burning is sometimes incomplete, so it can also release uncombusted gases into the atmosphere, chiefly methane, which is a far more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide in the shorter term.

Those emissions are just one part of the total amount of gases released by processing plants refineries, power plants and other oil and gas facilities as they struggled to cope with the extreme cold. Rystad Energy, a research company, found that flaring from those facilities reached 180 million cubic feet of gas a day in February, the highest since Rystad started tracking the data in 2018.

The extreme weather conditions that Texas experienced in February forced many facilities to flare gas, as there was no other exit, Artem Abramov, head of shale research at Rystad, wrote in a research note. Just immediately closing the gas tap is not possible.

Under pressure to rein in emissions from oil and gas production, the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative, a consortium of the worlds largest producers, says its members aim to end routine flaring by 2030. But that pledge would not cover flaring prompted by disruptions like the Texas freeze, or in emergencies where flaring becomes necessary to reduce the risk of fires or explosions.

Julien Perez, the consortiums vice president for strategy and policy, said in a statement that its members had collectively started to cut down on flaring, reflecting a shared commitment to reduce volumes of natural gas flared.

But in the United States, flaring as well as venting  the even more harmful practice of releasing unburned natural gas directly into the atmosphere  hit all-time highs before the pandemic as drilling outpaced the construction of pipelines and other infrastructure necessary to carry the gas away to be used.
analysis

There are around 150,000 sex workers in South Africa. The National Strategic Plan on HIV identifies sex workers as a "key population" at high risk of HIV. HIV prevalence for female sex workers ranged from 48% to 72% in 2013/2014. This was much higher than for adult women in the general population, where prevalence was 14.4%. Reducing the prevalence of HIV among sex workers is prioritised as a critical national-level response to HIV.

But there are complex client-sex worker power relations that play a central role in HIV transmission in the sex industry in South Africa.

Research shows that sex between sex workers and clients contributed to 6.9% of the overall new HIV infections recorded in South Africa between 2010 and 2019. Sex between clients and their non-paying partners accounted for 41.9% of new infections over the same period.

Some men in South Africa do not want to use condoms, as "flesh-on-flesh" sex remains closely tied to conceptions of masculinity and pleasure. Sex workers in South Africa may face violence from clients for refusing demands for condom-less sex. In the face of abject poverty, some sex workers may accept their clients' demands for condom-less sex and other risky sexual practices, or negotiate condom-less sex for a higher fee.

New research shows that clients of sex workers may be key to reducing HIV transmission in South Africa. This study predicts that scaling up antiretroviral therapy among the clients of sex workers would avert almost one-fifth of new HIV infections in South Africa over the next decade. This constitutes the most influential population-level intervention possible. Why, then, do public health programmes and policymakers pay so little attention to sex work clients?

What we know about sex work clients

Sex work clients come from all walks of life. The limited research available on this group suggests that about 18% of men in South Africa report having had sex with a sex worker.

Many men who pay for sex never tell anyone about it, so the actual numbers are likely to be higher. Clients are not a homogeneous group and have diverse needs and experiences. There is evidence that clients can and do play an important role in supporting safe and respectful client-sex worker relations. However, some South African studies also report that clients can be particularly violent and misogynistic. Other studies suggest that men who buy sex contributed significantly to new reported adult HIV cases in 2018.

Surprisingly, sex worker clients have been almost completely ignored in public health or psychosocial interventions and education programmes. These typically target female sex workers. This symbolically reinforces stigmatising ideas that sex workers are disease-carriers and should be blamed for social ills like HIV. To some, it suggests that sex workers are to be held responsible for the violence and marginalisation they experience. As one policeman put it:

You are just whores -- you can't be raped.

These narrow, even unimaginative public health responses inhibit reducing HIV, exploitation and marginalisation within sex work. Greater innovation and closer collaboration with people who participate in the sex industry are needed.

During the last decade, important strides have been made in South Africa in designing sex-worker-friendly health programmes in consultation with sex workers. The South African National Sex Worker HIV Plan 2016-2019 provides for:

peer education;

healthcare and psychosocial interventions;

human rights safeguards, and

economic empowerment.

The plan includes an important call for the decriminalisation of sex work. Yet, like most other interventions on sex work, clients are barely mentioned. It is this silence around the role and responsibilities of clients that has motivated us to design client interventions.

Designing a sex work client programme

In cooperation with sex workers, clients, and service organisations, we have produced a report on client intervention programmes. We have also designed a prototype training programme for sex worker clients in South Africa. We offer suggestions for interventions that include and target clients to foster safer, healthier, and more respectful sex work engagements. We build on colleagues' work on demystifying sex work transactions. The "Secret Guide to the Business of Sex" encourages a health and safety approach to buying sexual services in the form of a booklet pitched at sex work clients.

In developing the training materials, we considered the current evidence available on client interventions worldwide. We found that South Africa is not unique in overlooking sex work clients - there are very few existing programmes internationally. Several sex work client interventions attempted to "re-educate" or "rehabilitate" clients, working from the assumption that the buying of sexual services is morally offensive and socially undesirable, and thus employed shaming techniques to "correct" people's behaviour.

There is little evidence that interventions with clients that start from the position of sexual deviance and focus on re-education are effectual. In fact, the humiliation and stigma resulting from such programmes added to men's emotional problems and distress. Conversely, evidence from client programmes in the Global South suggests that sex worker and peer-led programmes have the potential to influence clients' awareness, knowledge, and behaviours around sexual health risks and safer sex practices.

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Drawing on these lessons, our team drafted principles and strategies to inform the design of context-appropriate client interventions in South Africa, and included a model curriculum. Intervention programmes should be non-judgmental and aim to encourage clients of sex workers to share the responsibility for HIV harm reduction by practising healthy and respectful engagements with sex workers. Principles for practical client interventions include clear definitions of sex work, challenging stigma and judgment, emphasising elements of sexual consent, and considering risk perception and emotional distress.

The COVID-19 pandemic is rapidly eroding some of the gains made with HIV and AIDS programmes. Now more than ever, innovative and bold interventions are necessary to reach beyond social taboos and conventions. Sex worker clients are a neglected group who deserve respectful attention, political will, and programmatic resources, not sexual moralism.

Monique Huysamen, Research Associate in Sexual and Reproductive health, Manchester Metropolitan University and Marlise Richter, Research fellow, African Centre for Migration & Society, University of the Witwatersrand
An upscale Detroit restaurant has warned patrons they can't step a foot inside if they smell of marijuana - and most are praising the owner's decision.

The Caucus Club Detroit, which is owned by local man George Sboukis, told potential diners this week that 'strong odors' would no longer be tolerated at the restaurant.

In a Facebook post about the restaurant's business casual dress code, Caucus Club Detroit said: 'Seriously people, hoodies and jerseys are not business attire. Neither are ball caps and sneakers.

'Most importantly, if you smell like marijuana don't even think of stepping inside the Caucus Club.'

The Caucus Club Detroit, which is owned by local man George Sboukis, told potential diners in a Facebook post this week that 'strong odors' would no longer be tolerated at the restaurant

Sboukis, who has run the fine dining restaurant since 2017, said he had previously received complaints from other diners about the smell of marijuana on some patrons

The post has already attracted nearly 1,000 comments.

Many have praised Sboukis for cracking down, in particular, on the smell of weed, which is now legal to buy in the state of Michigan.

A few, however, said the small of marijuana was no different to alcohol on someone's breath or cigar smoke.

Some even branded the decision to ban the smell of weed as racist.

'It's a cloud of stench that encompasses the entire dining room,' Sboukis told the Detroit Free Press.

'I frankly see it as selfish behavior that's disrespectable to other people.

'Even strong perfume can be offensive, but not like this. It's so pungent and overwhelming. It's horrifying.'

Sboukis said he first noticed people adopting a more relaxed dress code and smelling more like marijuana last summer but opted not to crack down because not very many people were dining out amid COVID-19.

He decided to add the attire warning to his website and social media accounts after reopening from a second COVID-19 lockdown.

Sboukis, who has run the fine dining restaurant since 2017, said he had previously received complaints from other diners about the smell of marijuana on some patrons.

Many have praised Sboukis for cracking down, in particular, on the smell of weed, which is now legal to buy in the state of Michigan. The restaurant (pictured above) warned patrons this week that they can't step a foot inside if they smell of marijuana

Many on social media hailed Sboukis and his stance, saying the smell of marijuana is 'disgusting'.

'Just because it's legal... you don't have to flaunt it,' one person wrote.

'If I am going to spend high class money I dont want to smell or see anything disgusting, stay home if you cant clean yourself up,' one person wrote.

Another said: 'If you don't want to follow the rules here...Detroit has plenty of restaurants'.

Some, however, accused the rule on marijuana as being 'thinly veiled racism'.

'Trying to racially profile before your clients even show up?!?! Probably a kiss of death for the establishment. I'll never eat there,' one person said.

Another wrote: 'This is coded language for racism and is likely going to be used as a tool to prevent black and POC Detroiters from dining here. Horrible decision to make such a post.'

One person played on the name of the restaurant, calling it the 'Caucasian Club'.
The domestic indices were trading near the day's high in afternoon trade led by strong global cues. At 13:20 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, soared 628.49 points or 1.30% at 49,068.61. The Nifty 50 index surged 198.20 points or 1.38% at 14,523.10.

HDFC (up 2.45%), HDFC Bank (up 1.55%) and ICICI Bank (up 1.98%) firmed up the market.

The broader market was trading higher. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 1.60%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 1.05%.

Buyers outnumbered sellers. On the BSE, 1,726 shares rose and 1,083 shares fell. A total of 170 shares were unchanged.

The stock markets will remain shut on Monday, 29 March 2021, on account of Holi.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 3,383.60 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net buyers to the tune of Rs 2,267.69 crore in the Indian equity market on 25 March 2021, provisional data showed.

COVID-19 Update:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 12,54,92,163 with 27,55,210 deaths. India reported 4,21,066 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 1,60,949 deaths while 1,12,64,637 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

India recorded its highest single-day COVID-19 count in over five months on Thursday with 59,118 people testing positive for the virus.

Five States, Maharashtra, Punjab, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh and Gujarat have reported a surge in daily new cases. Maharashtra continues to report the highest daily new cases at 35,952. It is followed by Punjab with 2,661 while Karnataka reported 2,523 new cases. Three States, Maharashtra, Kerala and Punjab together account for over 73% of the total active cases in the country.

Economy:

The Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das on Thursday reiterated that RBI is fully committed to use all policy tools to secure a robust recovery of the economy from the debilitating effects of the pandemic. He was speaking at the Economic conclave organised by a private media house. He said that the collective endeavour resulted in stabilisation of the financial sector and provided necessary liquidity support to maintain the flow of credit in the economy.

Das said India is on the way to becoming Asia's top financial technology hub with 87% FinTech adoption rate as against the global average of 64%. At present NEFT and RTGS systems are working 24x7 and India is among a few countries that provide the facility to transfer any amount at any point of time.

Tata Group SC Verdict:

A Supreme Court (SC) bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde and also comprising Justices A S Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian ruled in favour of the Tatas in their battle with the Mistry group by setting aside the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) order which had re-instated Mistry on Tata Sons' board and had termed current Chairman N Chandrasekaran's as ''illegal".

The country's apex court also rejected Mistry group's plea against the conversion of Tata Sons into a private company. The bench also refused to entertain Mistry group's plea for fair compensation for their 18.5% stake in Tata Sons saying the value of Mistry's stake will depend on valuation of Tata Sons assets and that it would not get into determining what should be a fair value.

SC's verdict in nearly five-year-old case puts an end to the corporate war between Tata Group and the Mistrys. A legal tussle erupted between the two sides after Cyrus Mistry was removed from Tata Sons' chairman post in October 2016.

Following the SC verdict, Tata Steel, Tata Communications, Indian Hotels Company, Tata Power, Tata Motors, Tinplate Company, Titan Company, Tata Investment Corporation, Tata Consumer Products, Voltas, Tata Coffee, Tata Chemicals, Tata Steel Long Products, Tata Metaliks, TCS and Rallis India rose by between 0.38% to 5.73%.

Meanwhile, shares of Pallonji Group's Sterling and Wilson Solar tumbled 7.54% to Rs 251.85.

Gainers & Losers:

Tata Steel (up 5.29%), Bajaj Finserv (up 4.40%), Tata Motors (up 4.10%), Asian Paints (up 3.94%) and Hindalco Industries (up 3.30%) were major gainers in Nifty 50 index.

Power Grid Corporation of India (down 1.16%) and ONGC (down 0.59%) were major losers in Nifty 50 index.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Punjab & Sind Bank fell 1.52% after the state-run bank informed on Thursday that the NPA account Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS) with outstanding dues of Rs 399.31 crore has been declared as fraud. The bank said it has reported it to the RBI on Thursday as per regulatory requirement. The account has been fully provided for as per existing RBI norms, the bank said.

Separately, Punjab & Sind Bank said it allotted 3,35,16,14,868 equity shares of Rs 10 each of the bank for cash at an issue price of Rs 16.41 per equity share to Government of India (President of India) aggregating to Rs 5,500 crore on preferential basis. With the allotment, the Government of India's shareholding has increased to 97.07% from 83.06%.

Bajaj Auto advanced 2.83% after the domestic auto major on Friday announced that it is strengthening its strategic cooperation with PIERER Mobility for the development of electric products in the two-wheeler sector to meet the growing demand for innovative e-mobility concepts. PIERER Mobility AG and Bajaj Auto originally joined forces to make a sizeable and relentless footprint in the international motorcycle industry. The two companies have now decided to jointly explore the zero tailpipe emissions, low maintenance, and long-lasting benefits of light electric vehicles in urban settings and dense metropolitan areas.

Ashok Leyland spurted 3.73% after the commercial vehicle maker launched India's first 4-axle 8x2 DTLA truck (14-wheeler) AVTR 4120 which has a capacity of 40.5 tonne gross vehicle weight. This new truck offers an additional 5 tonne payload compared to standard 8x2 trucks with better total cost of operation (TCO).

Global Markets:

Shares in Europe and Asia rallied across the board on Friday trade following an overnight rebound on Wall Street.

Crude oil prices rebounded overnight amid concerns that a massive container ship blocking the Suez Canal may take weeks to free up, squeezing global supply.

US stocks staged a late-day comeback on Thursday, boosted by economic comeback plays as the market rebounded from a two-day losing streak.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell acknowledged Thursday that fiscal help from Congress and accelerated vaccine distribution has allowed the U.S. to recover faster than expected.

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Laois has had a rise in Covid-19 case reported at the start of the Easter school break.

There are 15 more cases recorded for the county this Friday, March 26 as Ireland slides into another wave of the virus.

It means that the five day daily incidence for Laois has risen to 11 a day, having fallen to 3 a day in mid March. The incidence rate for Laois continues to rise and is now 129.9 per 100,000 population on the back of 110 new cases in the past two weeks. The national incidence is now 158.1 per 100 k over 14 days.

Laois neighbours continue to have among the worst levels of the virus in Ireland, according to the latest figures from the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET).

Offaly where a free testing centre was set up yesterday, has 33 new cases reported today. It continues to have the highest level of the disease out of all Irish counties while Kildare is ranked fourth and Tipperary is eighth.

FULL COUNTY FIGURES IN TABLE BELOW.

Nationally, the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) has today been notified of 20 additional deaths related to COVID-19. 11 occurred in March, 3 in February and 6 in January.

The median ages of those who died was 73 years respectively. The age range was 57-91 years. There has been a total of 4,651 COVID-19 related deaths in Ireland.

As of midnight, Thursday 25th March, the HPSC has been notified of 584 confirmed cases of COVID-19. There is now a total of 233,327 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ireland.*

Of the cases notified today:

297 are men / 286 are women

72% are under 45 years of age

The median age is 34 years old

222 in Dublin, 44 in Kildare, 33 in Offaly, 31 in Meath, 29 in Westmeath and the remaining 225 cases are spread across 19 other counties**.

As of 8am today, 317 COVID-19 patients are hospitalised, of which 67 are in ICU, with 25 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours.

Vaccinations have finally crept past the 700,000 mark.

As of March 23, 709,348 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in Ireland:

515,800 people have received their first dose

193,548 people have received their second dose

The 7-day average incidence per 100 k is now 85 while the 5-day moving average 552 a day nationally.

The COVID-19 Dashboard provides up-to-date information on the key indicators of COVID-19 in the community including daily data on Irelands COVID-19 Vaccination Programme.
University of Colorado student Osvaldo Villagrana, 24, gets a first dose of the Moderna vaccine on the Boulder campus, becoming one of the first of 12,000 students nationwide to participate in the Prevent COVID U study. Photo by Glen Asakawa / University of Colorado

Thousands of college students in the U.S. may soon help answer one of the worlds most pressing questions about COVID-19 vaccines: Can these shots, which protect against serious symptoms, also prevent those who might still get infected from silently spreading the disease to others? Designed and managed by researchers at the CoVPN, or COVID-19 Prevention Network, which is headquartered at Seattles Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, the study will offer the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine to 12,000 students willing to swab their noses every day for four months during the course of the clinical trial. Called the Prevent COVID U study, it began enrollment on 21 U.S. campuses this week. It is supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, headed by Dr. Anthony Fauci. Fred Hutch professor and virologist Dr. Larry Corey, who directs operations at CoVPN, said plans for the study began in December. The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines were proven by then to be extraordinarily effective in stopping symptomatic disease, but it was unknown whether vaccinated people could become infected without showing symptoms and spread the virus unwittingly. We needed a different kind of study design  one that uses intensive sampling of the nose, the site of first infection, and can detect the exact time-course of infection, Corey said.

Fred Hutch Professor Dr. Larry Corey, an acclaimed virologist and director of operations for the COVID-19 Prevention Network headquartered in Seattle, has spearheaded the development of the Prevent COVID U study. Photo by Robert Hood / Fred Hutch News Service Limited evidence from the current COVID-19 vaccine efficacy trials  as well as data emerging as vaccines roll out in the community  suggest but do not prove that the current COVID-19 vaccines do reduce infection, including asymptomatic infection. The newly launched college study is designed to find out for sure. Answers from this new trial will likely signal whether the much-anticipated vaccines will usher in a return to life where people can safely congregate in crowded, indoor settings without fear, or if the era of masks and social distancing is likely to be with us for a long, long time. Results of the trial should be ready in time for students attending college this fall. Although only the Moderna vaccine will be used in the college trials, Corey said the results will apply equally well to the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, which uses a similar technology (called mRNA) to train the bodys immune system to recognize and attack SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Whatever one learns from Moderna applies to Pfizer, he said. The strand of RNA is identical. There will be no placebo injections given in this trial. Half of the students (aged 18-26) will be randomly selected to receive the Moderna vaccine on the day they enroll, and the remaining 6,000 will get their first shot four months later. 12,000 students, 1.3 million nasal swabs Those nasal swabs  more than 1.3 million of them  will be stored by the participants and shipped off weekly to a laboratory for the same kind of PCR testing performed by public health clinics to determine if someone is infected with SARS-CoV-2. All 12,000 participants will be prompted to fill out weekly electronic diary checking for symptoms of illness and reminding them to complete their daily swab tests. During this time, these same participating students will also receive twice weekly real-time COVID-19 tests from their college health clinics so that, if a person becomes positive for the virus, he or she can quickly be isolated and receive appropriate treatment. Any positive samples found among the daily swabs will be more deeply analyzed to determine how much virus was in them  a measure called viral load. Any viruses detected can also be genetically sequenced to determine which variant of SARS-CoV-2 had infected the individual. Daily testing is key to giving researchers a better handle on the stealthy nature of SARS-CoV-2. Studies suggest that a person appears to be most infectious for only a few days, and those days are often before the onset  if ever  of any COVID-19 symptoms. Roughly half of SARS-CoV-2 infections remain asymptomatic.

Fred Hutch biostatisticians Drs. Holly Janes (left) and Elizabeth Brown (right), led the design of the Prevent COVID U study. Fred Hutch biostatisticians Drs. Holly Janes (above) and Elizabeth Brown (below), led the design of the Prevent COVID U study. Photos by Robert Hood / Fred Hutch News Service

In the college study, by testing participants every day we can quantify the amount of virus in the nose of those infected  early and throughout the course of infection  and use that to assess the ability of the vaccine to reduce infectiousness, said Hutch biostatistician Dr. Holly Janes, who helped design the college study. What we would like to see is that the vaccine recipients who become infected have lower levels of virus in the nose or a shorter duration of infection than participants who became infected and are not vaccinated. It would be particularly concerning should this study find that the vaccine only knocks down telltale COVID-19 symptoms but leaves vaccinated people still able to transmit infection. A large increase in the number of asymptomatic spreaders could reverse the obvious advantages of new vaccines shown to cut symptomatic disease by nearly 95%. Janes said that while the large, ongoing efficacy trials of new COVID-19 vaccines are measuring viral load among infected individuals, they are doing so only in those developing symptoms, after the onset of those symptoms. Therefore, these studies will not capture how much virus is present in a person with asymptomatic infection, or how much virus is present early in the course of infection when most transmission occurs. The primary goals of the college study are to assess the ability of the vaccine to reduce the infection rate and infectiousness of SARS-CoV-2. A second, crucial component of the trial will focus on documenting cases of transmission among those who live in close proximity to the participating students who become infected and evaluating how well the vaccine reduces actual transmission of infection. Because the initial focus of vaccine trials was to find one or more that worked, assessing infectiousness and transmission after vaccination has not been a priority in the large-scale trials to date. It has also not been attempted until now, Janes said, because it is so challenging to do it well. For example, people are most infectious early after contracting the virus, so it is important for researchers to reach and test their contacts as soon as possible. That way, if there is a transmission to a close contact, it can be picked up right away. For this strategy to work, researchers ideally want the names of contacts on hand before any potential transmission.

Universities participating in the Prevent COVID U study College students attending the following universities may learn more about enrollment in this important clinical trial by going to PreventCovidU.org. Charles Drew University Clemson University Indiana University  Bloomington Morehouse College Northwestern University Stony Brook University Texas A&M  College Station Texas A&M  Kingsville University of Arizona University of California  San Diego University of Colorado  Boulder University of Florida  Gainesville University of Illinois  Urbana-Champaign University of Kentucky University of Maryland  College Park University of Nebraska University of North Carolina University of Virginia University of Washington Wake Forest Baptist Health West Virginia University To meet that challenge, the 12,000 participants assigned to get a vaccine  immediately or four months into the study  will be asked at enrollment to invite their friends, co-workers or housemates to sign up on a roster of close contacts. These are the people most likely to be exposed if a participant becomes infected. If the researchers already have their names on hand, they can be notified quickly. The researchers plan to sign up 24,000 of these prospective contacts. Each will be asked to monitor their health weekly on an electronic diary. In the event one of the participants in the primary study tests positive, their contacts listed would be notified and provided with kits for two weeks of self-testing. If they are already enrolled in the prospective contact cohort, we have a better chance of intercepting the transmission closer to the time of infection, said Dr. Elizabeth Brown, who shares the lead biostatistician role in the study with Janes. Brown noted that the life of a student becomes chaotic if that person tests positive, so it is helpful to have that list of prospective contacts on hand. Infected students will likely have to relocate for two weeks to dorms set up to accommodate and isolate positive cases. Theyre probably not really going to be thinking about their contacts at that point in time. Theyre going to be packing their stuff, Brown said. Should any of the 12,000 original enrollees become infected, they will also be asked if they can recall close contact with someone they had not previously named in the prospective group. Those potentially exposed individuals might also be offered an opportunity to self-test for two weeks as well, swabbing their noses, filling out the electronic diaries and self-administering blood tests during that time.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-26 19:00:53|Editor: huaxia

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KATHMANDU, March 26 (Xinhua) -- The Nepali government has removed the requirement for foreign tourists to stay in quarantine provided they have got full doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, Nepal's Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation said.

The ministry said in a notice on Thursday that foreign tourists producing the relevant documents that they have got full doses of vaccine against COVID-19 would not be required to stay in hotel quarantine. Earlier, all foreign tourists visiting Nepal were required to stay in hotel quarantine for at least seven days.

Similarly, the ministry also said that foreign tourists producing documents that were tested negative for coronavirus 72 hours prior to boarding the Nepal-bound plane, are also not required to stay in hotel quarantine. For other tourists who visit Nepal without taking vaccines or who don't have negative Polymerase Test Reaction (PCR) test report against COVID-19, will have to get their swab tested and must stay in hotel quarantine at least until they are tested negative for coronavirus.

"The provision related hotel quarantine was relaxed to give some respite to the long suffering tourism sector of the country," Prem Subedi, joint spokesperson at the tourism ministry told Xinhua on Friday morning. "As restriction on almost all other sectors has been lifted along with vaccination drive against COVID-19, this relaxation was made in the tourism sector too in order to help this sector hit hard by the pandemic."

The Nepali tourism entrepreneurs had long been lobbying against the provision of the week-long hotel quarantine, terming it impractical.

According to Nepali officials, the Nepali government was prepared to relax the quarantine provision as the Himalayan country wants to welcome foreign tourists in this spring mountaineering season.

Due to the global spread of the pandemic, the Nepali government cancelled all mountain expeditions last year. Hundreds of foreigners visit Nepal every year to climb the Himalayan Mountains including Mt. Qomolangma, known as Sagarmatha in Nepal.

Navaraj Dahal, managing director of Nepal Environmental Treks & Expedition, told Xinhua early this week that some foreign tourists have been ready to visit Nepal by following all safety protocols if they are not compelled to stay in hotel quarantine for long.

"We have been arguing that the provision of seven-day long hotel quarantine for foreign tourists is impractical as political parties and their sister organizations in Nepal have been organizing mass gatherings of thousands of people," said Dahal, who is also the former president of the Trekking Agencies' Association of Nepal.

On Thursday, Nepal reported 120 new cases of COVID-19. Till Thursday, Nepal reported 276,509 COVID-19 cases with 3,020 deaths from the pandemic. Enditem
ALBANY, N.Y.  Nursing homes in New York can allow visitation without having to be COVID-free for 14 days, effective immediately, according to the New York State Health Department.

Earlier this month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated the nursing home visitation guidance, to allow indoor visitation at all times for all residents, regardless of vaccination status, except in specific circumstances.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo says the state is revising its previous guidelines to align with this new guidance from the CDC.

Under the new guidance, visitation will be temporarily suspended for:

Unvaccinated residents, only if the county positivity rate is greater than 10% and less than 70% of residents in the facility are fully vaccinated.

Residents with confirmed COVID-19 infection, until they have met the criteria to discontinue transmission-based precautions.

Residents in quarantine, whether vaccinated or unvaccinated, until they have met criteria for release from quarantine.

"We now have three effective vaccines that are leading to significant decreases in long term care COVID cases and a robust staff testing system to limit community spread from entering a facility, said Cuomo. Now is an appropriate time to take the next step and safely reconnect this community with their families."

The state health department still recommends facilities offer rapid COVID-19 testing to visitors.

According to Cuomo, positive cases in nursing homes have decreased by 80% since January.
Deputy President William Ruto has rubbished reports Didmus Barasa has quit the Hutsler Nation.

The Hutsler Nation is a political outfit associated with the DP, which seeks to economically empower the low-income earners in exchange for political capital.

"He is a hardworking person and I really like him. I picked him against all odds and supported him for the Kimilili seat. He is still part of the Hutsler Nation. I was with him yesterday (Wednesday). He is still part of us even though I have given him time to relax and reflect," the DP explained during an interview on Jalang'o TV.

The DP also suggested the Kimilili lawmaker was unsettled following a wave of political witchhunt from a section of his colleagues.

"He's told me there was a lot said about him that was not true. He appears unsettled. I have told him to relax for a while and come back. I advised him that it's good when things are said about you because it means you are heading somewhere."

Barasa, considered a key ally of the Deputy President in Western Kenya recently announced that he was taking a break from active politics for four months.

And in what appeared a blow to the DP, Barasa further explained that he would use his break to talk to like-minded leaders in Western Kenya in a bid to front for one presidential candidate in the 2022 General elections.

Since he made that announcement, Barasa has had meetings with Kapseret lawmaker Oscar Sudi, an ally of the DP, as well as Kakamega Senator Cleophas Malala, considered to be close to opposition leader Musalia Mudavadi.
The majority of Nigerias current ministers have at least a university degree with some having multiple degrees while at least four have PhDs.

Law degree is their most desired honour as 14 of the nations current 44 ministers, whose ages have been spotlighted to be at odds with national reality, are law graduates at various levels.

This is followed by honours in engineering, public and business administration, data culled from the review of their curriculum vitae show.

Law graduates among the ministers include the state ministers for environment, Sharon Ikeazor; power, Goddy Agba; labour, Festus Keyamo; science and technology, Mohammed Abdullahi; foreign affairs, Zubair Dada; and education, Emeka Nwajiuba.

Others are ministers of Niger Delta, Godswill Akpabio; industry, trade and investment, Richard Adebayo; foreign affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama; defence, Bashir Magashi; youths and sports, Sunday Dare; information, Lai Mohammed; works and housing, Babatunde Fashola; and justice, Abubakar Malami.

Behind law, engineering, public administration and business administration are the degrees most sought after by the ministers. Five ministers have degrees in each of these courses.

Those with engineering degrees include ministers of power, Sale Mamman; state for works and housing, Abubakar Aliyu; science and technology, Ogbonnaya Onu; water resources, Suleiman Adamu; and interior, Rauf Aregbesola.

The ministers of labour, Chris Ngige; agriculture, Sabo Nanono (at masters level); Mr Malami; and FCT (state), Ramatu Tijjani, make up the quintet with degrees in public administration.

Ministers of FCT, Muhammad Bello; Clement Agba (as masters honour); Mr Nanono (as first degree in 1972); humanitarian affairs, Sadiya Farouq; mines and steel (state), Ikechukwu Ogah all had a stint in business administration in the course of their educational itinerary.

Accounting, medicine, international studies, economics, English and sociology are the next most studied course among the ministers with Adamu Adamu, education; Zainab Ahmed, finance; and Tayo Alasoadura, Niger Delta (state) all having degrees in accounting.

While the trio of Osagie Ehanire, health; Adeleke Mamora, health (state); and Mr Ngige (as first degree) studied medicine, the trio of Goddy Agba and Mr Dare (both at first degree levels) and Ms Farouq (at masters level) are graduates of international studies.

Likewise, transportation minister for state, Gbemisola Saraki and Mr Agba have honours in economics.

In the same vein, Paulen Tallen, women affairs; George Akume, special duties; and Mustapha Shehuri, agriculture (state) studied sociology. This is just as Rotimi Amaechi, transportation; Maryam Katagum, industry (state); and Timipre Sylva, petroleum (state) hold degrees in English.

The duo of Maigari Dingyadi, minister of police affairs and Mr Onyeama studied political science (both at bachelors and masters degrees).

Also, both Mr Adamu and Mr Dare have degrees in journalism. Lai Mohammed (as one of the two bachelors degrees he has) and Mr Dada are graduates of French.

Qualifications

All the ministers but three have at least one university degree, with Ahmadu Bello University being the institution where the most degrees were obtained, the review of their credentials show.

Petroleum minister Muhammadu Buhari graduated from Mons Officer Cadet School, Aldershot, UK, in 1963 having completed his programme at the Nigerian Military Training College (NMTC) in 1962, which was later renamed the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) in February 1964.

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As a colonel, Mr Buhari later attended the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, where he bagged a masters degree in strategic studies in 1980.

Tayo Alasoadura, state minister for Niger Delta, has various accounting honours, including ICAN, Fellow Chartered Accountant (FCA)  which one earns after five years of practice as an accountant after qualifying for ACA; Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA); and Fellow Chartered and Certified Accountant (FCCA).

His colleague at the ministry of interior, Rauf Aregbesola, also gained a higher diploma in mechanical engineering in 1980 from The Polytechnic, Ibadan.

Aviation minister Hadi Sirika also has various aviation qualifications to his name, including those he got from the Nigeria Civil Aviation Training Centre, Zaria, Delta Aeronautics Inc, Petroleum Helicopters Training Institute, Flight Safety International and City University London where he had his masters.

Twenty four of the ministers have both bachelors degrees and masters degrees.

The quartet of communication minister, Ali Pantami; science and technology minister, Ogbonnaya Onu; education minister for state, Emeka Nwajiuba; and environment minister, Muhammad Mahmood, all have PhD degrees.

FCT minister for state, Ramatu Tijjani, has a PhD degree in view from 2015.

Double honours

State minister for mines and steel, Ikechukwu Ogah, has a higher diploma in accounting from the Institute of Management and Technology (IMT), Enugu. He went on to bag two bachelors degrees to his name, his CV shows  first in banking and finance and then in business administration.

Foreign affairs minister Geoffrey Onyeama has two bachelors and two masters degrees, both in political science and law.

Like him, humanitarian affairs minister, Sadiya Farouq, has two masters degrees. One in business administration which she got in 2011, and the other in international affairs and diplomacy.
Highlights Xiaomi is working on an electric car.

It might work with Great Wall company.

Xiaomi's car may come before Apple car.

It's only a matter of time before smartphone makers starting rolling out electric cars. Apple has also already made intentions clear in this regard. However, it seems like Xiaomi may pip the Cupertino-based electronics giant and introduce EVs under its own brand. According to a report by Reuters, Xiaomi Corp is planning to make electric vehicles (EVs) using Great Wall Motor Co Ltd's factory. The report claims that three people with direct knowledge of the matter have confirmed the development.

This makes Xiaomi the latest tech firm to join the smart mobility race. The new partnership can be announced as soon as next week. The electric cars produced under this partnership will be sold under Xiaomi's brand. Just like the other Xiaomi products, its electric cars will also focus at the mass market.

Great Wall, which has not before offered manufacturing services to other companies, will provide engineering consultancy to speed up the project. However, both Xiaomi and Great Wall are yet to officially confirm the new partnership.

Apple's Project Titan

Apple has been working to make breakthrough in the automotive sector. It had started Project Titan in 2014 with the same goal to design its own vehicle from scratch. The journey since then hasn't been easy. Apple had almost pulled out to focus on software and reassessed its goals. That changed when one of its former executives was hired back from Tesla to lead the project in 2018.

Since then, Apple has made decent progress and is targeting 2024 to produce a passenger vehicle that could include its own breakthrough battery technology, according to an earlier report by Reuters. This battery technology is expected to increase vehicle range.

Who will win the race?

Apple might have started working on electric cars way before Xiaomi, its goal has expanded from a purely self-driving system to a more ambitious project. The tech giant is believed to have hired a small team of hardware engineers to produce driving systems, vehicle interiors, and design external car bodies.

According to an earlier Bloomberg report, it may take Apple another five to seven years to launch its first car.

This leaves Xiaomi with a long enough window to make the first move and introduce its car before Apple. One of its executives in 2015 had said that Xiaomi will not build a car in three to five years because of insufficient energy. That five year window has now expired which leaves more optimism around Xiaomi's electric car.

The company is now more capable of entering new category and the market size is also rapidly growing. Newer markets, including India, are promoting electric vehicles. The overall market size is expected to exceed 5 million in 2025, which is about five times the current size. Xiaomi realises this potential too. This is why out of all patents filed by it, 10 are related to automobiles, mainly including vehicle cruise control, energy supplement, vehicle control, navigation, assisted driving, driving safety, parking information Forecast etc.

Apple and Xiaomi will not be the only tech giants fighting it out for electric cars. Several others including Huawei and Alibaba have also entered the race. Who wins this round, time will tell.
In the spring of 2014, during the occupation of the Crimean peninsula, the so-called "little green men" controlled by Russia, the families of incumbent MPs Viktor Medvedchuk and Taras Kozak (the Opposition Platform - For Life faction) acquired 42% of the shares of Novoshakhtinsk Plant of Petroleum Products in Rostov region for $40,000.

According to Radio Liberty referring to the joint investigation of the Schemes television program and the international project to investigate corruption and organized crime "Russian Money, Ukrainian Politics," since 2014 and to the present time, Novoshakhtinsk Plant of Petroleum Products has provided both families with dividends of over $100 million.

"Official documents of Cypriot companies, which were reviewed by journalists, indicate that on February 27, 2014, on the day of the seizure of the Crimean parliament by the so-called 'little green men,' the families of Viktor Medvedchuk and Taras Kozak became co-owners of Novoshakhtinsk Plant of Petroleum Products in Rostov region, having received 42% of the enterprise for $40,000," the journalists said.

It notes that the families also received control over 60% of the NZNP Trade LLC, which at that time already had a license to develop Gavrikovskoye oil field in Russia for $1,000. The reserves of this large field are estimated at almost 137 million tonnes of oil.

"Already on the fifth day after the end of the Revolution of Dignity, Viktor Medvedchuk received a powerful source of funding for his political activities, a kind of 'Russian feeding trough' that provided him with millions of dollars annually. Moreover, it cost Medvedchuk and his associates a token amount. Even cheaper than the declared Faberge set of his wife," the journalists said.

They said this transaction looks like an agreement to transfer an asset to someone for a very small amount.

"It looks like a valuable asset has passed into ownership, and, according to the documents, the payment for this seems to be wildly disproportionate to the value of the shares that were transferred," British expert on financial transactions and anti-money laundering Graham Barrow commented on the agreements.

It is reported that both Novoshakhtinsk Plant of Petroleum Products and NZNP Trade LLC, before they came under the control of the Medvedchuk and Kozak families, belonged to the Russian billionaire Sergei Kislov.

"The plant, which gives millions of dividends, in which Kislov has invested millions of dollars, was sold to the companies Lavreniuk and Marchenko [the wife of Kozak and Medvedchuk] for about $40,000, this is almost nothing," analyst of the Anti-Corruption Action Center Antonina Volkotrub said, having analyzed the documents.

Journalists said that none of the persons involved in the investigation answered questions about the sale of the plant.
Electric vehicle start-up Lordstown Motors misled the public and its investors, fraudulently inflating demand and concealing production setbacks, according to a report published earlier this month by Hindenburg Research, an investment research and short-selling firm. Hindenburg disclosed that it had taken a short-sale position on Lordstown, meaning that it stands to profit from the decline of Lordstowns share value.

Although Lordstown has sought to downplay the report and defend its demand and launch date projections, it admitted that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulatory agency has asked for information related to the allegations, sending the companys stock price tumbling. At least three lawsuits have also been filed by shareholders against the company, according to the Detroit Bureau, one of which is seeking class action status.

Vice President Mike Pence delivers remarks to employees and guests Thursday, June 25, 2020, at Lordstown Motors in Lordstown, Ohio. (Official White House Photo by D. Myles Cullen)

Hindenburgs detailed report, titled, The Lordstown Motors Mirage: Fake Orders, Undisclosed Production Hurdles, And A Prototype Inferno, draws from interviews and documents given by former employees and prospective customers of the company. What emerges is an image of a Potemkin village, a largely hollow construct behind the media facade, and an enterprise which is scrambling after the significant amounts of money to be made in the speculative mania gripping stock markets.

Among the most significant allegations:

Despite repeated claims by Lordstown Motors executives that they had pre-sold 100,000 orders of its commercial electric pickup, the Endurance, these preorders were largely fictitious and a prop to raise capital and confer legitimacy, Hindenburg said. What were called preorders were based on nonbinding letters of intent, not requiring any deposit and not legally committing the signer to any future purchase.





A number of the preorder agreements trumpeted by Lordstown Motors in press releases were to startups or other organizations which seem unlikely to ever follow through with purchases. In the most glaring example, 14,000 pickups were preordered by E Squared Energy, a deal valued around $735 million were it to be consummated. E Squared, however, is a two-person enterprise run out of an apartment in Texas which doesnt actually operate a truck fleet.



All told, we found zero binding orders or genuine signs of commitment in Lordstowns order book, Hindenburg stated.

Lordstown Motors initially said it would launch its pickup in late 2020, which it has since pushed back to September 2021, but in reality remains years away from production, according to an unnamed former employee interviewed by Hindenburg.





The company continues to make extensive modifications to its designs, such as switching from a plastic to an aluminum exterior in January, and has yet to conduct cold weather, million mile durability, or state-required safety testing. While Lordstown Motors has said that it will assemble battery packs on a line inside the plant, the packs are still being hand-assembled, a former employee said.





In mid-January, a prototype driven less than a mile during a road test in Michigan burst into flames, which was not publicly revealed until February 10. In an indication of potential insider trading, executives and directors for the company sold nearly $9 million in stock during that time.

Lordstown Motors gained prominence following General Motors closure of multiple factories in 2019, including its Lordstown Assembly Plant in northeastern Ohio, which Lordstown (the company) agreed to purchase from GM in May 2019. GM loaned Lordstown Motors roughly $40 million to acquire the plant as part of the agreement. Just last month, GM had announced that it would be investing $75 million in the company, which included $25 million in cash, on top of the forgiveness of outstanding loans and accumulated interest.

In October 2020, Lordstown Motors merged with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), DiamondPeak Holdings, acquiring a nominal valuation of $1.6 billion, even though it had never sold or mass produced a single vehicle. SPACs, also known as blank check companies, are set up for the purpose of acquiring a firm and taking it public, avoiding the more rigorous scrutiny and regulations of an initial public offering. SPAC activity, particularly among EV startups, has skyrocketed over the last year, provoking nervous commentary in the financial press over the actual viability of many of the enterprises.

Lordstown Motors was founded by CEO Steve Burns, formerly CEO of the EV startup Workhorse Group, which had initially been reported to be the expected buyer of the plant. Hindenburgs report also includes interviews with unnamed former senior employees who described Burns as a con man and PT Barnum figure (after the notorious American showman and circus founder), and who state that Burns was essentially forced out of Workhorse for wasting money and repeatedly missing deadlines.

It remains unclear to what extent Lordstown Motors will recover from the expose, and whether and how many jobs will ever materialize at the plant. Just 171 were employed in Ohio at the end of January, according to a company press release at the time.

Regardless, the entire episode contains important and painful truths about the decades-long assault on workers livelihoods, and the perpetually fraudulent character of promises by the corporations, the media, and the political establishment that the return of decent-paying jobs is just around the corner.

The decades-long attack on jobs in Mahoning Valley

GMs shutdown of Lordstown was one part of a new stage in the brutal corporate restructuring effort throughout the US auto industry, aimed at cutting costs, ending the production of less-profitable sedans, and freeing up the substantial capital required to compete in the race to dominate electric vehicles.

The closure of Lordstown Assembly, along with several other GM facilities, was ratified by the United Auto Workers union in its sellout contract negotiated with GM in 2019, forced through after the union isolated and sabotaged a militant 40-day nationwide strike by 46,000 autoworkers.

Lordstown Assembly, built by GM in the mid-1960s, was the site of bitter struggles by autoworkers in the 1970s. At its height, the plant employed around 13,000 in the once heavily industrialized Youngstown-Mahoning Valley region. By mid-2018, GM had decimated its workforce there, cutting two shifts and all but about 1,600 jobs. The company then announced the planned closure of the plant in December 2018, along with four others: Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly and Warren Transmission in Michigan, Oshawa Assembly in Canada, and Baltimore Operations in Maryland.

Picketers outside shuttered Lordstown plant on the first day of GM strike (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)

The UAW facilitated GMs mass layoffs at Lordstown and numerous other plants before it throughout the last four decades, suppressing strikes and other expressions of opposition by workers, while simultaneously extracting concessions from those who remained, under the false pretext that they were necessary to save jobs. Workers at Lordstown had reacted with widespread anger in 2018 when it emerged that the UAW, including then-UAW Vice President for GM Cindy Estrada, had secretly agreed to allow GM to hire low-paid temps through a subsidiary, Lordstown GM Subsystems Manufacturing LLC, after the company laid off hundreds of high-seniority workers.

As the UAW worked with GM behind the scenes to negotiate company-friendly agreementswhile also pocketing millions in bribes from Fiat Chrysler officialsit was simultaneously attempting to whip up nationalism and anti-Mexican and anti-Chinese sentiment, blaming workers overseas for the loss of jobs, seeking to deflect anger from themselves and the transnational corporation that was the source of the attacks.

Although GMs Lordstown, Baltimore and Warren facilities (along with a parts distribution center in Fontana, California) were all closed following the 2019 GM-UAW contract, the UAW touted jobs that were saved at Detroit-Hamtramck. Renamed Factory ZERO, it is currently retooling in preparation to produce the companys new Hummer electric pickup. However, any jobs which eventually return to the plant have been predicated on the UAW imposing painful concessions on workers, including the massive expansion of the use of low-paid temporary workers, who have fewer benefits and virtually no job security, yet still pay union dues.

In a further effort to buttress its claims that it was saving jobs, the UAW pointed to GMs announcement that it would construct a battery factory in Lordstown, in a joint venture with South Koreas LG Chem. The plant, however, will have just a fraction of the number previously employed at Lordstown Assembly, with wages considerably less, about $17, than those that had been earned by senior assembly workers.

The shutdown of Lordstown Assembly has devastated workers, their families, and their community, in a region which had already suffered more than 40 years of relentless deindustrialization. Most notoriously, Youngstown Sheet and Tube announced it would shutter its Campbell Works steel mill on Black Monday, September 19, 1977, laying off 5,000 overnight. Within five years, another 50,000 manufacturing jobs would disappear from the Mahoning Valley. Since 1990, another 37,000 manufacturing jobs have been lost from the Youngstown-Warren metro area, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

As a result of GMs ruthless calculations that the Lordstown Plant was not worth continuing to operate, impossible and heart-rending decisions have confronted former workers, who have been forced to choose between separating or uprooting their families in order to continue work at GM plants hundreds of miles away, or remaining in the area and facing the grim prospects of lower-paid work, or worse, long-term unemployment, the loss of homes, and descent into poverty and hunger.

GMs announcement in 2018 that it would close several plants was a significant blow to the Trump administration at the time, cutting across its claims of engineering a blue collar boom.

Thus, Trump was one of the loudest boosters of the deal to sell the plant, tweeting in May 2019 that the sale was GREAT NEWS FOR OHIO! and, preposterously, that, With all the car companies coming back, THE USA IS BOOMING! A year later, Vice President Mike Pence visited the factory, riding onto a stage in an Endurance prototype, and claimed the company would soon begin production, pompously declaring that it would lead a transition to greatness.

In opposition to the media and political hype around the plants sale, the World Socialist Web Site warned in May 2019, What, if any, jobs the venture will create is open to speculation, especially given that the company has no experience in manufacturing operations, currently employs fewer than 100 people and reported $36.5 million in losses for 2018.

Rising speculation and fraud surrounding EVs

The exposure of Lordstown Motorss dubious practices is both another embarrassment for GMwhich had taken a roughly 4.5 percent stake in the company and had announced that it would provide it access to its supplier networkand a further indication of the swindling and fraud increasingly dominating financial markets and capitalism more broadly, in which the accumulation of wealth is more and more separated from any real productive process.

Lordstown Motors prototype on fire in January 2021 (Farmington Hills Fire Department)

Lordstown Motors is now the second EV startup GM has partnered with that has been targeted by short sellers over signs of potential fraud. Last year, GM was forced to wind back a much-hailed deal with EV startup Nikola after a report, also produced by Hindenburg Research, which alleged repeated misrepresentations by the company about its technology. The report was released just after the GM-Nikola deal had been announced.

Nikola had also gone public through a merger with a SPAC in March 2020, with an initial valuation of $3.3 billion, later reaching as high $30 billion, more than that of then-Fiat Chrysler (now Stellantis), even though Nikola had never produced a single vehicle. The SEC also launched an investigation following Hindenburgs report about Nikola. The companys chairman, Trevor Milton, accused by Hindenburg of making exaggerated claims, ultimately resigned, and the companys share price plummeted from a high of nearly $80 last June to just over $14, more recently.

SPACs, particularly those for EVs, have increasingly been marketed to retail investors, i.e., individual amateur stock traders, making them ripe opportunities for the predatory operations of the financial aristocracy. One of the most effective ways of preying on unsophisticated retail [investors] seems to be doing SPACs in the EV space, Carson Block, founder of short-selling investment firm Muddy Waters, recently told Business Insider. When they look at the massive amounts of wealth that Tesla has created through its stock-price appreciation, I think a lot of unsophisticated, particularly recent entrants to the market can be forgiven for thinking that they might be able to buy the next Tesla. The SPAC sponsors and bankers, Im sure, are very aware of that mentality.
[March 26, 2021] HAPPY forays into food-tech lending in partnership with Swiggy

MUMBAI, India, March 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The fast-growing online food market in India which, as per a report by Google and Boston Consulting Group, is expected to touch $7.5-8 billion at 25-30% CAGR by 2022, gives testimony to the fact that India loves its food. While food tech aggregators are riding on the wave of rapid digitization, favourable consumer disposition and increased penetration in smaller cities, many small restaurants are boosting their growth like no other. As per a 2019 report, India's food services market is estimated at INR. 4.24 trillion. 65% of India's food services market comprises unorganized or unregulated joints; most of whom do not have access to formal sources of credit. And that's where digital lending fintech HAPPY has stepped in to help. In the current pandemic-led situation, small scale restaurants that live on a day-to-day cash flow basis have been the worst hit, and are strugging to meet the costs of their rent and staff. HAPPY's foray into the food-tech sector, in partnership with India's leading online food delivery platform Swiggy, could not have come at a better time. HAPPY offers small-scale restaurants with short-term, small-ticket and easy-to-repay loans. Already a market leader, HAPPY addresses the needs of small and micro-businesses in India, a segment underserved by traditional financial institutions. Through the Swiggy Capital Assist program, HAPPY will extend this capability to thousands of Swiggy partner restaurants across all major cities through its completely digital and paperless lending model.



Manish Khera, Founder & CEO, HAPPY, says, "Our objective is to enable small-scale restaurants to get quick access to credit to meet their growth and working capital needs. Especially when these businesses have been hit by the pandemic-led slowdown, this facility will aid their recovery and help them stay afloat in the current times." HAPPY leverages machine learning-based model to instantly underwrite loans to interested restaurateurs based on their past sales performance among other data points. The technological edge, combined with the unique product, will make this partnership a one-stop destination for small and medium-scale restaurants to achieve their business dreams.

HAPPY's lending partner is ARTH, a new-age finance venture that aims to redefine the way micro-enterprises discover financial services by creating an enabling ecosystem built on advanced technology, data and deep customer connect. About HAPPY HAPPY is a fast-growing fully digital-lending Fintech targeting a multi-billion-dollar credit gap in India's micro-businesses, delivering flexible & easy short-term access to credit for small business owners & proprietors in urban & city settings. Founded in 2017 by successful serial entrepreneur Mr. Manish Khera, HAPPY has so far disbursed more than 5.3 lakh loans amounting to more than INR. 255 Cr. across all states in India. Website: https://happyness.net/



LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/happydigitallendingfintench Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1474632/HAPPY_Logo.jpg

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President Joe Biden's approval rating has dropped in the last week as he continues to be questioned about the border crisis. Immigrants surge at the border, and outrage from across the political spectrum over the administration's handling of the situation. Republican lawmakers have jumped on the questions, accusing Biden's immigration stance of worsening them.

Joe Biden's approval rating declined amid border issues

Democratic politicians have expressed fears over the detention of underage migrants at the border, raising questions over how they are handled.

Biden's approval ratings increased last week when stimulus checks started to arrive, but they have since declined as border criticism continues. According to Newsweek, Biden's approval rating fell to 59 percent in the new Ipsos Core Political poll the week before.

According to the poll results conducted on March 24 and 25 among 1,005 adults in the United States, Biden has a 53 percent approval rating and a 41 percent disapproval rating. The extent of reduction in approval differed depending on which political party respondents belonged to.

Ninety percent of Democrats said they approve of Biden's performance. Joe Biden's approval rating was down two percentage points from the previous week's score of 92. He received 52 percent support from independents, down from 56 percent previously. His approval rate among Republicans has fallen to 15 percent from 23 percent a week ago.

The entire survey has a reliability rating of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points, plus or minus 5.2 percent for Democrats, plus or minus 5.8 percent for Republicans, and a plus or minus 10.7 percent for independents. In his press conference on Thursday, Biden tried to downplay the border's situation, claiming that "nothing has changed," referring to the annual influx of migrants.

Alejandro Mayorkas, the Secretary of Homeland Security, said last week that the United States is on track to see immigrants' largest surge in two decades. He and those in the administration, on the other hand, have refused to term the case a crisis. They have also tried to link problems to policies implemented by the previous administration. Former President Donald Trump and his allies have dismissed those claims, calling for building a border wall to resume.

According to US Customs and Border Patrol statistics, unaccompanied minors at the border have increased since Biden took office. Vice President Kamala Harris will be in charge of the administration's approach to the border concerns.

Joe Biden's Health: 'Something's Not Right' says Former White House Physician

Biden defends border policy

President Joe Biden announced that the U.S. would transfer hundreds of migrant children and teenagers out of overcrowded detention centers along the Southwest border. He was trying to refute claims that his administration's policies are responsible for the increased number of immigrants wanting entry into the world, as per 9News.

Since taking office, Biden was repeatedly pressed on the border crisis at his first press conference. He said his administration was taking action to fix the situation, including reserving space at a Texas Army base for around 5,000 unaccompanied minors. Yet, he mostly retaliated against criticism.

He noted that his administration is continuing to immediately expel most adults and families under a public health order issued at the onset of the COVID-19 outbreak, as was done under President Donald Trump. The critical distinction is that the government encourages children and teens to remain in the country, at least temporarily, putting a burden on government services during the pandemic.

Donald Trump Says He Wrote a Letter to Joe Biden 'From the Heart'

GOP urged to squeeze Biden, Democrats on the border crisis

Republicans are speeding up their attempts to pressure President Biden and congressional Democrats over the border surge, seeing a strategic opportunity as the year moves closer to 2022.

After four years of being mocked for Trump's policies, GOP lawmakers are now trying to turn the tables. They are pressuring Democrats to block immigration measures on the floor, focusing on lawmakers who are up for reelection and take well-publicized trips to the border.

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) spoke out at Democrats from the Senate floor, saying the "border crisis continues to intensify."

The GOP policy is taking shape as the Biden administration faces mounting opposition, including some Democrats, over the border surge causing humanitarian concerns. According to the most recent statistics, the federal government holds over 15,000 unaccompanied minors who took the risky path from Central America and Mexico to obtain asylum in the United States, The Hill reported.

Joe Biden May Regret Passing the $1.9 Trillion Stimulus Bill, Realizes It Could Be Useful for Other Priorities

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Khloe Kardashian's two-year-old daughter True Thompson made her TV commercial debut during Thursday's episode of Keeping Up With The Kardashians.

The 36-year-old reality star - who boasts 187.8M social media followers - proudly tweeted: 'My @NurtecODT commercial with my TuTu!'

Nurtec ODT is an 'orally-dissolving tablet used for the acute treatment of migraine in adults,' according to the website.

In the spotlight: Khloe Kardashian's two-year-old daughter True Thompson made her TV commercial debut during Thursday's episode of Keeping Up With The Kardashians

In the ad, Khloe is fed popcorn by her privileged princess turning three on April 12.

After three IVF procedures, Kardashian and Boston Celtics center Tristan Thompson have multiple frozen embryos ready to make a sibling for little True.

'I have so many brothers and sisters, so I do want to have a sibling for True,' the Calabasas socialite revealed during Thursday's episode of The Drew Barrymore Show.

'With the world of COVID I've been doing IVF and all that kind of stuff and it's been more challenging in a quarantine year, but I definitely do.'

The 36-year-old reality star - who boasts 187.8M social media followers - proudly tweeted: 'My @NurtecODT commercial with my TuTu!'

PDA: Nurtec ODT is an 'orally-dissolving tablet used for the acute treatment of migraine in adults,' according to the website

'Onederful': In the ad, Khloe is fed popcorn by her privileged princess turning three on April 12

The Canadian 30-year-old is also father to four-year-old son Prince Oliver with prior babymama Jordan Craig, who was still pregnant when he began dating Khloe.

Kardashian was 'a little under the weather' that evening when she live-tweeted the episode during the 20th (and final) season of her family's E! reality show.

'My my my.....have TT and Keeks come a long way,' the Good American co-founder wrote at one point.

Expanding their family: After three IVF procedures, Kardashian and Boston Celtics center Tristan Thompson (R, pictured March 13) have multiple frozen embryos ready to make a sibling for little True

The Calabasas socialite revealed during Thursday's episode of The Drew Barrymore Show: 'I have so many brothers and sisters, so I do want to have a sibling for True. With the world of COVID I've been doing IVF and all that kind of stuff and it's been more challenging'

Serial cheater: The Canadian 30-year-old is also father to four-year-old son Prince Oliver (R, pictured December 12) with prior babymama Jordan Craig (L), who was still pregnant when he began dating Khloe

Khloe previously split with Tristan in February 2019 split following his three, highly-publicized cheating scandals.

Kardashian also made sure to weigh in on the latest from her big sisters Kim and Kourtney Kardashian.

On December 10, the Dose and Co. global brand ambassador and her fam signed a new multi-year global content deal with Hulu/Star, which starts streaming in late 2021.

20th (and final) season: Kardashian was 'a little under the weather' that evening when she live-tweeted the episode

The Good American co-founder wrote at one point: 'My my my.....have TT and Keeks come a long way'

Fool me once: Khloe previously split with Tristan in February 2019 split following his three, highly-publicized cheating scandals
on Thursday enforced new travel rules removing the quarantine requirements for foreign tourists who have got both doses of Covid-19 vaccine, in an attempt to give a boost to pandemic-depressed travel and tourism business in the country.

According to new travel protocols, posted on the website of the Tourism Ministry on Thursday evening, vaccinated tourists entering the Himalayan Nation have to submit a negative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test report form within 72 hours prior to departure from the country of origin along with documents proving administration of both doses of anti-coronavirus vaccines has also been made mandatory for those flying by air.

After they arrive in Nepal, they have to conduct another PCR test at their own cost and stay at the isolation in the hotel until the report is out.

"If the report is positive, they should, as per the rules, remain for further isolation in the hotel at their own costs," says the new travel protocols that were passed by the Cabinet's meeting on March 18. With a negative PCR result, they can continue on their tour.

The new protocol also has made it mandatory to buy insurance coverage of Nrs. 100 thousand for tour guides with the visitors.

Accrediting Indian tourists traveling to Nepal, the new rulebook states, they should follow arrangements as per Nepal-India Travel Bubble Agreement.

The Indian tourists coming to via surface route should submit PCR negative reports and documents proving that they have been vaccinated at the border points.

Meanwhile, the government has resumed the on-arrival visa for tourists after a year. Foreign tourists should apply for the visa at the Nepali embassies and diplomatic mission in their respective countries.

However, for the foreigners, if they don't have Nepali missions and embassies in their countries and are facing difficulties to obtain visas, they are allowed to apply for on-arrival visas at Kathmandu Tribhuvan International Airport. On-arrival visas are not granted for tourists coming overland.

According to the new rules, tourists seeking on-arrival visas should submit at least four documents at the airline's check-in counters, before boarding the flight to Nepal: PCR negative report that has been taken 72 hours prior to their departure, documents proving that they are vaccinated with full dose; a copy of a recommendation letter issued by the Tourism Board and Department of Tourism; proof of hotel booking in Nepal; and travel insurance covering emergency search and rescue and treatment throughout their travel in Nepal.

The latest amendment has removed the mandatory provision of COVID-19 insurance which earlier amounted to 5000 USD.

"The airlines should permit the passengers coming to Nepal after checking these four documents," the ministry said in its updated rules. "This new rule replaces all the travel rules issued by the government earlier," read the update.

The COVID-19 pandemic which engulfed the world from early 2020 resulted in a massive revenue fall for the Himalayan nation as well as rendered thousands unemployed.

According to the statistics of the Department of Immigration, only 230,085 foreign tourists visited Nepal last year, about the same number that came in 1986. Most of them arrived before the country imposed entry restrictions on March 20.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Britain accused China of gross human rights violations against the Muslim Uyghur minority Friday after Beijing slapped sanctions on UK lawmakers and lobby groups, widening a rift with Western powers over alleged abuses in Xinjiang.

At least one million Uyghurs and people from other mostly Muslim groups have been held in camps in northwestern Xinjiang, according to rights groups, who accuse authorities of forcibly sterilising women and imposing forced labour.

The European Union, Britain, Canada and the United States sanctioned several members of Xinjiangs political and economic hierarchy this week in coordinated action over the allegations, which the US has said amounts to genocide.

Beijing, which insists Xinjiang is an internal affair, has retaliated with sanctions on individuals from the EU and Britain who have taken up the Uyghur cause and also spoken out on the crackdown against democracy campaigners in Hong Kong.

While also fuelling a social media war on Western brands, China announced sanctions against nine British individuals and four entities, saying they had maliciously spread lies and disinformation over the treatment of Uyghurs.

The individual sanctions were confined to critical legislators rather than government ministers, but Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Britain stood squarely behind them.

The MPs and other British citizens sanctioned by China today are performing a vital role shining a light on the gross human rights violations being perpetrated against Uyghur Muslims, he tweeted.

Freedom to speak out in opposition to abuse is fundamental and I stand firmly with them, he said, days after his government defended the need for critical engagement with China on climate change and trade in a new global strategy paper.

 Profoundly sinister 

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said Chinas envoy to London would be summoned to hear that we will not be silenced in speaking out about these human rights abuses.

Beijing also sanctioned the China Research Group of MPs, the Uyghur Tribunal, and Essex Court Chambers, a partnership of lawyers who wrote a legal opinion that there is a case for genocide against the Chinese government concerning the Turkic ethnic group.

All of the sanctioned parties will be barred from mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau, while any assets in the country will be frozen, and Chinese citizens and institutions will be banned from dealings with them.

The China Research Group  led by sanctioned MPs Tom Tugendhat and Neil OBrien  accused Beijing of a profoundly sinister approach to its critics.

Yet more Western businesses are discovering that China is becoming a dangerous place to do business, a statement said, citing an increasingly nationalistic and unpredictable Communist party.

The Uyghur Tribunal, a panel of independent UK-based lawyers, vowed to press on with its investigation into whether China is guilty of crimes against humanity in Xinjiang.

China flatly denies any abuses in the region, describing detention centres as work camps intended to boost incomes and deter extremism in a region made restive by central control.

Beijing accused Western countries of provoking first with their sanctions.

We can only talk and deal with them in a way they understand and will remember, foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters in Beijing.

I think they will get used to it gradually.

 Suicidal brands 

The reputations of several Western brands have been shredded in China this week after old statements expressing concerns over the reports of forced labour in cotton-rich Xinjiang resurfaced on closely controlled social media.

Chinese celebrities and tech firms waded in, pulling partnerships with brands from Nike and H&M to Adidas, Burberry and Calvin Klein.

Nationalist tabloid Global Times said H&M, which counts China as its fourth-largest market, had been suicidal in its remarks.

As the fashion retailer disappeared from Chinese shopping apps, H&M China said Wednesday it does not represent any political position and remained committed to long-term investment in China.

The vituperation from Beijing also brought into question a massive trade pact with the European Union which is in the final stages before enactment.

France on Thursday warned it would take a firm stance on forced labour in the pact, which must be ratified by the blocs 27 states and approved by its parliament.

The Western move to box in China over Xinjiang has been orchestrated by new US President Joe Biden, who has sought consensus against the perceived aggressions of Beijing.

In his first presidential press conference late Thursday, Biden said he was not seeking confrontation.

But a debut face-to-face meeting between the two nations top diplomats last week in Alaska descended into public mud-slinging.

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Residents have launched legal action to halt work on the $915 million Parramatta Powerhouse, just weeks after the Berejiklian government gave the museum project the green light.

A residents action group has sought an injunction to halt any works taking place on the historic 140-year-old Victorian Italianate Villa, Willow Grove, that stands in the way of the proposed museum pending a full hearing of claims before the Land and Environment Court.

Willow Grove, built in the 1870s, is set to be demolished and rebuilt elsewhere to make way for the Parramatta Powerhouse. Credit:Janie Barrett

While planning may still proceed, legal action could delay a start to the museums construction. The state government is expected to vigorously defend the integrity of the planning process.

The North Parramatta Residents Action Group is challenging planning approval on the basis that the environmental assessment did not meet requirements for a state significant project. Summons for a judicial review was filed on Thursday.
WASHINGTON  At the end of a winding answer on Thursday about competing with China and about his relationship with Xi Jinping, a man he said does not have a democratic bone in his body, President Biden offered up a revealing assessment of one of Americas most pressing challenges.

This is a battle between the utility of democracies in the 21st century and autocracies, he told reporters at his first news conference as president. Weve got to prove democracy works.

Chinas president, Mr. Xi, Mr. Biden said bluntly, was a smart, smart guy who shared with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia a belief that autocracy is the wave of the future and democracy cant function in the complexities of the modern world.

Among the biggest tasks of his presidency, Mr. Biden seemed to be arguing, is to prove anew to a skeptical world that both American democracy and its model of democratic capitalism still works  and that it is superior to the very different system Mr. Xi is ruthlessly enforcing at home as he tries to extend Chinas influence around the world.
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Debra Pressey is a reporter covering health care at The News-Gazette. Her email is dpressey@news-gazette.com, and you can follow her on Twitter (@DLPressey).
Three men have admitted to planning to gun down members of the public in a terrorist attack in Victoria.

Ertunc Eriklioglu, his brother Samed and another man, Hanifi Halis, on Friday pleaded guilty to one charge each of conspiring between November 9 and 19, 2018 to buy a firearm in preparation for an attack.

Documents released by Victoria's County Court show an attack against members of the public was planned for the 'advancement of Islam through violence'.

The trio are next due in court on June 15 for a pre-sentence hearing.

Ertunc Eriklioglu (pictured), his brother Samed and another man, Hanifi Halis, on Friday pleaded guilty to one charge each of conspiring between November 9 and 19, 2018 to buy a firearm in preparation for an attack
" " U.S. President Joe Biden signs the $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill into law March 11, 2021, as Vice President Kamala Harris looks on. The bill was passed using reconciliation. Pool/Getty Images

Passing new legislation in the U.S. can be, well, difficult to say the least. And when there is a Congress that is all but deadlocked because of razor-thin majorities in the House and Senate, that makes passing big budget legislation even more problematic. That's where reconciliation comes into the picture.

Budget reconciliation is a way for Congress to pass major funding bills  which are notoriously difficult to pass  especially when there's a very evenly divided Senate. It was created by the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 as a way to quickly advance these tax and spending bills.

With reconciliation, the party in control of Congress can pass funding legislation  things like taxes, spending and debt limits  with a simple majority (either 51 votes or 50 votes and the vice president's tiebreaking vote) in the Senate, without threat of a filibuster. It takes 60 votes to defeat a filibuster. The Congressional Budget Act also limits Senate debate on the bill to 20 hours and limits debate on the compromises between the two houses to 10 hours, which helps the Senate expedite and pass reconciliation bills much faster.

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How Reconciliation Works

To start the process, Congress agrees on a budget resolution that includes a reconciliation directive for specified committees. These directives instruct the committees on how much to increase or decrease spending and revenue, or how to to limit the debt ceiling. And it provides and a deadline for completion. Congress doesn't tell the committees how to hit the reconciliation target, just to hit it.

Once the various committees complete their tasks, the House and Senate budget committees combine the recommendations into a single omnibus bill  the reconciliation bill. Then the House and Senate vote; both must obtain a majority to pass the legislation.

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What Reconciliation May Include

Reconciliation bills can include spending changes to items such as Medicare, Medicaid, federal civilian and military retirement benefits, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as food stamps) and farm programs. Social Security is untouchable. The reconciliation rule allow bills that raise the deficit, but only for 10 years. (The 2017 Trump tax cuts were passed via reconciliation, though the Senate allowed some of the tax cuts to expire so the bill wouldn't increase the federal deficit past the 10-year window.)

Important to note: Reconciliation only can be used once per fiscal year and only to change  or "reconcile"  laws related to taxes and spending.

Since reconciliation was first introduced in the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, it has been used 21 times. Some of its notable uses were the Trump tax cuts in 2017, the Bush tax cuts in 2001 and 2003, Clinton's welfare reform in 1996, and major deficit reduction bills in the 1980s and 1990s. The reconciliation process also was used to pass parts of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2010. In 2021, reconciliation was used to pass President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package.

Now That's Interesting The Byrd Rule (named for the late Sen. Robert Byrd, who served as the Democratic senator for West Virginia for 51 years) is intended to keep "extraneous policies" from being included in budget reconciliation. Basically, it keeps senators from sneaking non-budgetary items into reconciliation. It's up to the Senate parliamentarian to decide what is  and isn't  extraneous to the reconciliation.
Costs rose significantly in the past two years, with the Covid-19 pandemic leading to extra accommodation needs, reports Maresa Fagan

Accommodation providers have earned over 1.6bn in direct provision accommodation contracts since 1999.

That is according to figures furnished by the Department of Children on the overall cost of direct provision accommodation for asylum seekers between 1999 and 2020.

A breakdown of annual spending shows that costs have increased significantly in the past two years, when yearly spending soared to 129m in 2019 and 183m last year.

The increased costs largely stem from the need to provide emergency hotel and bed and breakfast accommodation at 100 per day because existing direct provision centres were at capacity and following a rise in applicants in 2019.

Last year alone, this type of emergency accommodation cost 45m.

The department confirmed that no intermediary payments were made to parties who helped to source emergency accommodation.

An additional 18m was spent on providing extra accommodation and isolation accommodation last year to manage Covid-19 and reduce occupancy in centres so that no more than three non-related persons were sharing a room.

A further breakdown of contracts awarded between 2000 and 2018 shows that a small number of businesspeople have earned significant sums of close to 100m and more over the past two decades.

The most up-to-date contract figures available from the International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) show that the owners of the Mosney holiday centre in Meath have been the biggest earners to date, receiving almost 150m to the end of 2018.

Other key contractors include:

East Coast Catering, owned by Canada-based businessman Patrick OCallaghan;

Bridgestock companies owned by Seamus and Michael Gillen;

A number of companies involving Cork businessman Alan Hyde;

Several companies involving Wicklow businessman Sean Lyons Sr;

Cork-based Millstreet Equestrian Services, headed up by Thomas Duggan.

The level of profits being made from running these accommodation centres is far from clear, in particular as a number of the larger operators have moved to unlimited company status in recent years, meaning they do not have to publish annual financial accounts.

The department said it does not disclose contract values for the most recent two-year period, although details of contracts are easily accessible on an EU tender site.

Figures collated by the Irish Examiner suggest that further contracts amounting to over 800m were awarded in the past two years based on EU contract-award notices.

The contracts include some of the firms already mentioned, with some four-year contracts costing as much as 46m.

Asked why up-to-date contract information was not available , a spokesperson for the department said: It is not in the interest of yielding best value for the taxpayer that the details of current individual contracts are made available to other commercial bodies who are, or may in the future be, engaged in these negotiations.

As of December last, almost 7,000 people were living in the direct provision system.

The Government has committed to abolishing the current for-profit system by developing six regional reception centres and own-door accommodation in the community by 2024. The new model is being developed for a maximum of 3,500 asylum seekers.

The system has been heavily criticised by several rights groups, including the Ombudsman for Children, the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, the Special Rapporteur for Children, and the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights and the Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

Mosney

By the end of 2018, the former Butlins holiday camp has earned close to 150m for providing accommodation and other services to house asylum seekers in Meath.

The 300-acre Mosney site is one of the biggest direct provision accommodation centres in the country, housing around 600 asylum seekers at any one time.

The company, which is run and owned by Drogheda businessman Phelim McCloskey, also provides emergency accommodation.

Last year, Mosney was awarded a four-year contract worth 37m, according to EU tender notices.

The company became an unlimited firm in 2012. The last set of accounts presented show that the family business had a turnover of 7.8m in 2010.

The operation is owned by Sonning Unlimited, a company registered in the Isle of Man, of which Mr McCloskey is a director.

East Coast Catering

Canada-based businessman Patrick OCallaghan is behind East Coast Catering, which has been paid 137m to provide direct provision accommodation in Dublin and Louth.

The company runs the Balseskin Reception Centre in north Co Dublin, as well as Hatch Hall in Dublin City and Carroll Village in Louth.

Hatch Hall direct provision centre in Dublin City.

Mr OCallaghan was named as the Atlantic 2012 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year. In a 2013 video posted on the Financial Post website, he said the ability to see opportunity where others saw risk was one of the key attributes to being an entrepreneur.

Bridgestock County

Roscommon-based business Bridgestock has been a key provider of direct provision accommodation, with centres and emergency accommodation in Galway, Mayo, Offaly, Sligo, Leitrim, and Roscommon.

By the end of 2018, Bridgestock Ltd and Bridgestock Care, which are operated by Seamus and Michael Gillen, had been paid over 115m by the government for accommodation while also holding contracts for supplies.

Over the past two years, Bridgestock Care was awarded contracts to the value of 130m for accommodation and other services, according to EU tender notices.

The largest contract was for 46m in 2020 for accommodation in the border counties over four years. The company also secured a contract in 2019 to provide 10m worth of supplies over four years.

The company became unlimited in 2011 and the owner is registered as two companies, Bridgestock (BVI) Limited and Unlimited in the British Virgin Islands.

Companies involving Cork businessman Alan Hyde

Alan Hyde is involved with seven companies contracted to provide direct provision accommodation across Cork, Limerick, and Waterford and which have received over 100m to date.

The companies include Stompool Investments Limited, Barlow Properties, Bideau Ltd, Baycaster Limited, D and A (Pizza) Limited, Oval Rock, and Alliance Leisure Limited some of which have since been dissolved. Fellow Cork businessman Tadgh Murphy has also been involved in a number of these companies.

The accommodation centres include Clonakilty Lodge, the Glen Vera centre in Cork City, Mount Trenchard in Limerick, and the Ursuline Complex in Waterford, among other smaller centres.

Over the past two years, D and A Pizza Ltd was awarded contracts worth over 116m for accommodation; the biggest contract was for 39m in 2020 for accommodation in Cork and Kerry, according to EU tender notices.

Companies involving Sean Lyons

Wicklow businessman Sean Lyons and his son Sean Jr and Graham Carry have numerous interests in the direct provision system, with several companies receiving over 91m by the end of 2018.

The companies providing accommodation to date include Fazyard Limited, Georgian Court Limited, Oscar Dawn Ltd, The Old Rectory (New Ross) Limited, Rowtes Limited, Warrens House Limited, Mint Horizon, and Old George Ltd.

Over the past two years Oscar Dawn Ltd, which runs the Hazel Hotel in Kildare, was awarded a contract for 42m, while Fazyard Ltd was awarded a contract for 36m for four years, according to EU tender notices.

Millstreet Equestrian Services

Cork-based company Millstreet Equestrian Services has been a regular contractor for direct provision accommodation over the past 20 years.

To the end of 2018, the company led by Thomas Duggan, has been paid over 85m to provide direct provision accommodation across Cork, Kerry, Tipperary, and Waterford.

Over the past two years, the Millstreet venture was awarded contracts worth 125m; the largest contract was awarded in 2020 for 39m for accommodation in Cork and Kerry, according to EU tender notices.

The company became unlimited in 2010. Company filings show it increased its turnover to 8.6m in 2018 due to the opening of two new centres and also recorded pre-tax profits of 2.36m that year.

Company filings state the firm is owned by two companies registered in the Isle of Man, Arbella Unlimited and Tolosa Ltd.

Covid impacted ombudsman's ability to visit centres

Ombudsman Peter Tyndall: Covid-19 highlighted the unsuitability of some accommodation in direct provision. File picture: Sam Boal/Rollingnews.ie

The Government must first move asylum seekers out of inappropriate emergency accommodation as it forges ahead with plans to end the current direct provision accommodation system.

That is according to Ombudsman Peter Tyndall, who expressed continued concern over the use of hotels and B&Bs to provide emergency accommodation for more than 1,100 asylum seekers.

Mr Tyndall was speaking to the Irish Examiner as his office confirmed a fall in the number of complaints about the direct provision system in 2020.

The Covid-19 pandemic not only highlighted the unsuitability of many of the congregated direct provision centres but also impacted on the ombudsmans ability to visit centres and meet with residents.

The ombudsman received 61 complaints last year compared to 168 in 2019, with issues around Covid-19 and transfers to other centres or isolation facilities to the fore.

The number of complaints is down considerably because we had to curtail our outreach programme; we couldnt visit centres and thats our main source of complaints, Mr Tyndall said.

We are trying to find a way to safely recommence our outreach programme and exploring all of the options available to us, he said, adding that he hoped this would happen by autumn, if not before.

Transfers between centres continued to be a big issue last year as well as Covid-19.

People were concerned about moving to the isolation facility at Citywest and between centres. There were concerns about the capacity of centres to deal with Covid and socially distancing and so on.

On the issue of accommodation standards, the ombudsman said several accommodation centres did not have contracts renewed where they fell down on standards, which represented a substantial sanction.

Mr Tyndall said a shift by the department to procure apartments blocks in Letterkenny and Galway and other locations was a welcome move towards providing own-door accommodation.

Aside from accommodation, other changes such as the right to work had already made an enormous difference and moves were now being made to enable asylum seekers to obtain a driving licence and open a bank account.

The move towards more facilities with self-catering was also making a difference. I was struck by children who had never seen their parents prepare a meal because they were in direct provision. Thats gradually changing and has made a big difference to peoples morale.

The continued use of hotels and B&Bs to accommodate more than 1,000 asylum applicants, however, remains Mr Tyndall's greatest concern and will be prioritised by his staff when outreach resumes.

There are still more than 1,100 people living in emergency accommodation which doesnt meet the standards, he said, adding that the department was moving in the right direction to reduce numbers but there was still a way to go.

Its perfectly suitable for a very short period but to spend months in it or even longer its not appropriate, he added.

While welcoming the recently published white paper on ending the direct provision system, Mr Tyndall said one of the first actions should be ending the use of emergency accommodation: First of all they need to get people out of emergency accommodation and then gradually move away from the less suitable centres.

The white paper model, he said, had the potential to deliver in the medium term if adequately resourced.

Equality and Integration Minister Roderic OGorman at the launch of the white paper on ending direct provision in February. Picture: Keith Arkins

Im absolutely convinced that they have chosen the right course. Provided that it is properly resourced it is a model that can deliver, he said, adding that any own-door accommodation developed could be repurposed for other housing needs if demand fell into the future.

There is progress but there is quite a long way to go, he said.

The Movement of Asylum Seekers in Ireland (MASI) said the pandemic highlighted the overcrowded living conditions facing many asylum seekers and that it would have expected the number of complaints to be higher given the challenges around Covid-19.

MASI founding member Lucky Khambule, who described the current system as oppressive, said action is needed to deliver on the many positives in the white paper proposals.

The fall in asylum applications in 2020 and this year, he said, provided more scope for the department to start progressing the proposals this year.

What we want to see is the proper implementation of the promises made in the white paper, Mr Khambule said.

We need visible short-term goals and we need to see things beginning to happen this year.

Lack of transparency on government spending

A lack of transparency around government spending on for-profit operators of direct provision accommodation has only served to create distrust and concern among residents and taxpayers, the Irish Refugee Council has said.

IRC chief executive Nick Henderson said the lack of transparency around direct provision accommodation highlighted the need to move to a not-for-profit model, as recommended in the recently published white paper.

Nick Henderson: Asylum process needs to be reset.

The fact that private companies are not prepared to be transparent in how they are making money from the system is really a big problem.

"It creates distrust and it is concerning from the taxpayers perspective and also for those living in the system, he said.

Mr Henderson said the asylum process needs to be reset given the large number of people awaiting decisions in the system.

An advisory group recommendation to give people, who were waiting more than two years for a decision, permission to remain hasnt been taken on board to date, he said.

As the Government moves to replace the current system with State-run reception centres and not-for-profit own-door accommodation by 2024, it must simultaneously clear the backlog in asylum applications, he said.

A transition and implementation strategy and new agency with clear budgets and timelines is needed to progress the white paper proposals, he added.

The white paper parks a lot of the implementation this year to focus on developing a strategy. I understand that but there is a risk that we will kick the can further down the road. What we need is momentum. We need to start seeing some movement on accommodation this year, Mr Henderson said.

He pointed out that national standards, signed off in 2019, were not universally applied to all accommodation settings and did not apply to emergency accommodation.

Basic inspections are currently carried out by IPAS officials and an independent inspection agency, QTS.

The Health and Information Quality Authority (Hiqa) is expected to carry out inspections against national standards in the future, although there is no clear timeline for when this will happen.

Hiqa said legislation will be required before it can assume an interim inspection role and additional resources will also be required.

This timeline is dependent on the legislative changes being made to allow Hiqa to do this and the allocations of funding to the programme, a Hiqa spokesperson said.
Ireland is to receive approximately 160,000 doses of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine after 29m doses were found in an Italian warehouse, the Irish Examiner understands.

Of the 29m doses discovered, 16m will be split pro-rata between EU member states, with Ireland getting 1%, or 160,000.

Around 13m of the doses are destined for the international Covax scheme, which was set up to ensure that the 92 middle- and lower-income countries that cannot fully afford to pay for Covid-19 vaccines get equal access.

AstraZeneca has said it was incorrect to describe the find as a stockpile, stating that the doses were waiting for quality control to be completed.

It is understood the decision was made as Taoiseach Micheal Martin held a lengthy meeting on Thursday with EU leaders about improving vaccine supply after months of roadblocks in the European rollout.

EU leaders held virtual talks to discuss supply issues and improving distribution across its 27 member states.

"What was clear was the consensus of the urgent need to increase production and increase the supply of vaccine in quarter two and the importance of the export authorization mechanisms, particularly in the context of AstraZeneca and companies who don't fulfil their contracts, there is a mechanism there to engage," Mr Martin said.

We welcome the fact that the EU and UK are now engaged in a process working together on the wider issues of keeping supply chains open.

"The EU has been the most significant producer of vaccines in the global market and the export authorisation mechanism makes that more transparent.

"In the context of companies who fail to fulfil their contract with the EU, leverage is there and has to be there to ensure contracts are fulfilled and that the EU can have certain safety nets in respect of having the necessary vaccine for its own population."

The EU Council said in a statement tonight: Accelerating the production, delivery, and deployment of vaccines remains essential and urgent to overcome the crisis. Efforts to this end must be further intensified. We underline the importance of transparency as well as of the use of export authorisations.

The European Commission said it is working with AstraZeneca and the British government to find a satisfactory way forward after months of issues with supply.

Leaders also discussed the need for solidarity with a small group of member states who were disproportionately reliant on AstraZeneca in their portfolio of vaccines.

The group of leaders also met virtually with US president Joe Biden to discuss ongoing co-operation between the EU and US on vaccines.

It is likely that weekly meetings will now be set up between Thierry Breton, the commissioner for the internal market, and a US envoy to co-operate on vaccine production and supply.

"President Biden gave a strong presentation on renewing and resetting the transatlantic partnership and saying America is all-in in terms of its commitment, and the European Commission and US will work closely together to remove any bottlenecks in the production and delivery of vaccines," Mr Martin said.

"All in all, a positive intervention by the president and certainly indicating a new era in US-European relationships."

The meeting continues today.
The Bucharest prefect, Alin Stoica, announced that he summoned a meeting on Friday, with Metrorex employees who protested this morning, but also with the unions and the director of the company, according to AGERPRES.

"I wanted to have a discussion with the protesters' representatives, they are refusing talks, so, at 13:30 I summoned a discussion on the social dialogue at the Prefecture with both the Metrorex unions, as well as with CNSLR Fratia, which is the confederation that this Metrorex union is part of. I invited the director of Metrorex at 13:30 and sent through the negotiators of the Gendarmerie and representatives of those who are at the Unirii Square subway station and protesting, that they are also invited, in order to talk and work out this situation," Alin Stoica declared.

"We need to mention that the Metrorex employees that needed to ensure the train schedule arrived at work, as usual. The protest action is illegal, it disrupts the public order and prevents transportation in normal conditions in Bucharest. Metrorex reserves the right to use all legal means at its disposal in order to stop this illegality," Metrorex specified in a press release.
Mumbai, March 26 : The Indian stock market returned to the positive territory on Friday with the BSE Sensex gaining over 400 points.

The indices rose as investors took to bargain buying after the recent decline over concerns of resurging Covid-19 cases both globally and in India.

Around 10.10 a.m., Sensex was trading at 48,851.63, higher by 411.51 points or 0.85 per cent from its previous close of 48,440.12 points.

It opened at 48,969.25 and has touched an intra-day high of 49,044.44 and a low 48,699.91 points.

The Nifty50 on the National Stock Exchange was trading at 14,459.80, higher by 134.90 points or 0.94 per cent from its previous close.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Finserv, Tata Steel and Bajaj Auto, while the major losers were Power Grid, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries and Reliance Industries.
Reese Witherspoon shared a series of throwback photos to her Instagram Story on Friday morning.

The 45-year-old actress was celebrating her 10th wedding anniversary with her second husband Jim Toth, and included a romantic picture from their big day.

In another snap, the Legally Blonde actress added a sweet message to her spouse, which read, 'Here's to many more days of happiness & laughter!'

Looking back: On Friday morning, Reese Witherspoon posted a series of throwback snaps to her Instagram Story to commemorate her 10th wedding anniversary with her husband Jim Toth

In Witherspoon's first snap, she was seen posing next to her husband in an empty hallway, noting that the pair met eleven years ago.

The Election actress was dressed in a mostly-black outfit in the throwback shot, with the only standout being a red shirt worn underneath her overcoat.

Her luscious blonde hair provided the perfect contrast to the dark tones of the rest of her clothing ensemble.

The performer's 50-year-old husband kept it classy in a sizable light brown coat worn on top of a black sweater, white button-up shirt and gray pants.

Still going strong: One of the Election actress' snaps showed her with Toth at their wedding ceremony, which took place at her former ranch in Ojai

Taking it easy: The actress' final photo showed her relaxing on a picturesque beach with her husband; she also proclaimed her love for Toth in an onscreen graphic

The second photo shared to Witherspoon's Story showed the happy couple on their wedding day, with Toth kissing his wife's head.

The actress looked radiant in a large white wedding dress, while her husband opted for a sharp black suit with a matching tie.

The clothing designer's final shot showed the pair spending time together at a picturesque beach location while taking in the slowly setting sun.

Witherspoon and Toth both kept it casual in the shot, as the actress wore a blue dress and her husband was dressed in an embroidered red polo shirt and a pair of black shorts.

Sending her love: Witherspoon's third post featured a text graphic that read, 'Here's to many more days of happiness & laughter!'; the two are seen at the 77th Annual Golden Globe Awards in January of 2020

The Academy Award-winning actress finished off her snap by adding a text graphic that read 'I love you JT!'

After their first meeting, the couple embarked on a whirlwind romance before they tied the knot in 2011 at Witherspoon's ranch in Ojai, which she later sold.

The pair went on to welcome their son Tennessee James, aged eight, a year after they became married.

Toth is also a stepfather to his wife's older daughter Ava Elizabeth, aged 21, and Deacon Reese, aged 17.

Witherspoon welcomed her first two children with her first husband Ryan Philippe; the two were married from 1999 until 2007.

Starting a family: Witherspoon and Toth welcomed a son named Tennessee James, currently aged eight, the year after they tied the knot; The family is seen with the actress' older children at the 2016 premiere of Sing
A volcanic eruption in Iceland has transformed a tranquil green valley into an ominous-looking scene, its first dark secrets beginning to emerge as volcanologists suggest the eruption could last longer than previously thought.

Experts had initially predicted that the eruption of the fissure near Mount Fagradalsfjall, just 40 kilometres (25 miles) from the capital Reykjavik, would be brief, likely dying out after a few days.

But due to the constancy of the lava flow and based on the first analyses of the magma, they now suspect the eruption could be a long-hauler.

"The eruption rate has been similar since the beginning of the eruption" on March 19, Freysteinn Sigmundsson, a geophysicist at the Institute of Earth Sciences, told AFP.

"We have started to wonder if it may eventually be a long duration eruption."

The relatively controlled lava flow has since the weekend drawn hordes of curious onlookers to the Geldingadalur valley, eager to catch a rare, first-hand glimpse of the hypnotic display of bubbling orange-red molten rock.

Grilled sausages and marshmallows

The authorities block access only sporadically in case of bad weather or high levels of toxic gas emissions.

According to preliminary calculations, the magma emerging from the volcano is almost 1,190 degrees Celsius (2,170 degrees Farenheit).

Daredevil spectators who hike 90 minutes from the nearest road have grilled sausages, bacon and marshmallows on the hot lava as it cools to basalt rock.

A scientific study of the freshly-minted basalt suggests that the magma has come from deep within the Earth's mantle, around 15 kilometres (nine miles) beneath the surface.

Magma from a source this deep has not been seen in this region for thousands of years, Sigmundsson said.

"Most magmas make their way to the crust by creating their own lineals, by evolving. This magma is coming straight up," explained volcanologist Thorvaldur Thordarson.

And more importantly, the underground lava flow is similar to the one being seen above ground, suggesting the eruption could be protracted, he said.

"In a system where the inflow is the same as the outflow, you can keep that (going) for a long time."

"In my view, this eruption has potential to sustain itself for quite a long time," he said.

Because of the location of the eruption -- a natural basin in an uninhabited area -- experts said a lengthy eruption poses no significant danger to surrounding areas.

Flowing at its current rate, it would take weeks for the lava to reach the closest road, they said.

Eye on toxic emissions

While Iceland has more active volcanoes than any other country in Europe, the Reykjanes peninsula has not experienced an eruption since the 13th century.

The last one lasted about 30 years, from 1210 to 1240.

A reawakening of the sector could signal the beginning of a new period "which may last centuries with eruptions, possibly 10 years to 100 years apart," according to University of Iceland geophysicist Magnus Tumi Gudmundsson.

The region is already popular with tourists for its famed Blue Lagoon geothermal spa.

The first signs of renewed seismic activity in the region appeared a little more than a year ago, before intensifying about a month ago -- an indication that the magma was nearing the surface.

The eruption, located about a dozen kilometres from the closest town, the Grindavik fishing port, has grown more spectacular by the day.

The magma spewing out of a crack in the ground has formed small hills over the past week as it cools, creating two vents ejecting the lava, the biggest one measuring 20 metres.

The site is relatively safe for visitors, although the authorities are keeping a close eye on toxic emissions.
" " An oversized bottle of Tabasco hot sauce is displayed outside of the Tabasco factory on the grounds of Avery Island, Louisiana, in 2019. The sauce has been made there for more than 150 years. Drew Angerer/Getty Images

When it comes to American-made hot sauce brands, one name stands above the rest: Tabasco. The Tabasco company was founded in 1868 in the rural community of Avery Island in southern Louisiana. New Orleans banker Edmund McIlhenny, tired of the bland cuisine of the Reconstruction era, used pepper plants of the Tabasco variety (capsicum frutescens) brought from Latin America to create a spicy and delicious sauce.

McIlhenny called his creation Tabasco Pepper Sauce, patenting the name. The hot sauce quickly gained popularity in America and Europe in the 1870s thanks to the recipes the company created to use with the sauce. It is now an important part of Louisiana's famous cuisine, added to dishes like shrimp etouffee. Relatives of the McIlhenny family still run the company.

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The pepper sauce production process has remained relatively unchanged over the last 150 years. The field hands that originally worked on Avery Island used what's known as le petit baton rouge, or a "little red stick," to determine the Tabasco peppers' ripeness. The pepper had to match the color of the deep red on the stick in order to be picked.

Surprisingly, despite technological advancement, the company still uses the sticks, as workers still pick peppers by hand. So far, a machine hasn't been developed that can make that determination on ripeness, John Simmons, the great-great-great grandson of Edmund McIlhenny, told Louisiana Farm & Ranch. Versions of the red sticks are sold in Tabasco's gift shop.

Once the right peppers have been selected, they are mashed and barrel-aged for up to three years in white oak barrels sourced from bourbon distilleries. Nowadays, most of the peppers are grown in Latin America and South Africa, but the pepper seeds all come from Avery Island. These are then shipped overseas for growing. After they are harvested, the peppers are ground, mixed with salt into a paste and shipped back to the island. Avery's abundant salt reserves come in handy, as a thick layer of salt is placed on top of each sealed barrel. The salt settles into any small air holes that may exist in the barrel and prevents moisture from seeping in.

But don't sample yet, as this pepper mash is a whopping 10 times hotter than Tabasco's completed sauce. Each batch of mash is inspected by a member of the McIlhenny family to confirm that the color and aroma are just right. After the aging process, the mash is mixed with vinegar and churned for about three weeks. Then, the liquid is strained and poured into the classic red-topped glass bottles. Each of the 2-ounce (59-milliliter) bottles can hold 720 drops of the sauce and the Tabasco factory can produce up to 700,000 bottles per day.

The flagship variety of the sauce varies in heat, usually between 2,500 and 5,000 Scoville units, the measure of spice level. The brand boasts eight total varieties, including habanero, chipotle and sriracha, some of which may be hotter.

So, the next time you add Tabasco to your food, remember the process that goes into it, from one little red stick to a red-topped container.

Now That's Spicy Tabasco has also been a part of military rations around the globe and served to members of the British royal family and NASA astronauts. You can also visit Avery Island and take the factory tour, visit the gift shop and dine at the 1868 restaurant, where almost everything on the menu has some of the famous sauce in it.
Utah Republican Senator Mitt Romney will receive the John F Kennedy Profile in Courage Award for being the only Republican to vote to impeach former President Donald Trump during his first impeachment trial in early 2020.

The award was created by the family of the late president to acknowledge those who risk their careers for the greater public good by taking on unpopular positions. The award is named after Mr Kennedys 1957 Pulitzer Prize-winning book, Profiles in Courage.

Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of JFK, said in a statement from the JFK Library Foundation: Senator Romneys commitment to our Constitution makes him a worthy successor to the senators who inspired my father to write Profiles in Courage.

She added: He reminds us that our Democracy depends on the courage, conscience and character of our elected officials.

The 74-year-old Mr Romney said he was inspired by his father George Romney, who was an automotive executive and served as the governor of Michigan.

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When I think of courage, I think of my Dad. He did what was right regardless of consequence. I aspire to his example, though I have failed from time to time. We must subordinate our political fortunes to the causes of freedom, equal opportunity and truth, particularly as they are under assault here and abroad, he said, according to The Associated Press.

Mr Romney served as the governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 before running for president in 2008 and 2012, getting the Republican nomination on his second attempt, but losing the election to Barack Obama.

Former President Donald Trumps first impeachment trial focused on his relationship with Ukraine and whether he had withheld military support to the country to pressure them to publicly open an investigation into Joe Biden, who had yet to enter the presidential contest by that point.

Mr Romney became the first senator to vote for the conviction of a president of his own party in US history. He was intensely criticised for his vote and even got threats from supporters of then-president Trump.

Mr Romney told NBC News on Friday: Well, no question, there are a few people that are not happy with me. I understand that thats the nature of the job that Ive got.

When asked if he felt the vote was worth it, he said: Absolutely. I mean, I sleep well because I know that I did what my conscience told me was the right thing to do.

Mr Romney didnt join the efforts of Mr Trump and other Republicans to overturn the 2020 election, but defended its integrity and opposed the efforts of some of his colleagues. After the Capitol riot on 6 January, he called on his fellow Republican senators to stand up for the truth that Joe Biden had fairly won the election.

In Mr Trumps second impeachment trial following the insurrection, six other Republican senators joined Mr Romney in voting to convict Mr Trump, but it was not enough to reach the threshold for conviction in the Senate.

The 63-year-old Caroline Kennedy told NBC News: Not everybody has the courage to accept this award, but were grateful to the senator, and we feel as a committee, we have to be courageous to call it like we see it. Certainly, senator Romneys example stood out.

Mr Kennedys 1957 book Profiles in Courage tells the stories of eight senators who risked their careers to take unpopular positions and stand up for their principles. The John F Kennedy Library Foundation created the award in 1989.

A virtual ceremony will be held in May to present the award, a sterling-silver lantern which symbolises a beacon of hope, to Mr Romney.

Selected by a bipartisan panel of 15 national leaders, previous recipients include Presidents Barack Obama, Gerald Ford, and George HW Bush, Arizona senator John McCain, and Liberian peace activist and Nobel laureate Leymah Gbowee.

Mr Romney ran and lost against JFKs younger brother Ted Kennedy in the 1994 Massachusetts Senate election. They later collaborated on a healthcare law enacted when Mr Romney served as Massachusetts governor. Mr Romney told NBC News: We became very good friends as time went on.

He said that the kind of bipartisanship like the cooperation between the younger Mr Kennedy and himself, is what the country is in need of right now: I think common ground is the best way to unify the country. Im afraid if the president of either party instead just follows the demands of the most aggressive wing in his party, you may have that wing satisfied, but the nation has become more divided. Youve got to find common ground and work with people in both parties and get answers to issues that are bipartisan.
Kathy Janson's husband Michael and their Maine Coon cat Freddie. Credit: University of Cincinnati

In an effort to save her beloved animals, Kathy Janson, a Maine coon cat enthusiast reached out to a University of Cincinnati researcher to find a way to help her pets who were developing heart troubles.

Maine coon cats are known as great mousers, popular farm cats and, of course, for their enormous size. The New England breed is a really big cat and can weigh up to 19 pounds and grow up to 40 inches in length. Janson fell in love with these animals more than 25 years ago bringing them into her Cincinnati suburban home to become part of her family.

"Maine coon cats are beautiful animals," she says. "They have great personalities with dog-like characteristics, coming when called. They are intelligent, lovable lap cats. There is no cat like them in my estimation."

Her cats learned to open cabinets, fetch pens and one of her Maine coon cats she trained to use the toilet. "There was a book out about how to train your cat to do this," says Janson. "I worked with him and he just took to it. It sounds funny but he was unbelievable."

Janson became alarmed when one of her pets, Reggie, a blond purebred Maine Coon, was suddenly diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), commonly known as an enlarged heart, in March 2017. HCM leads to thickening of the muscle walls of the heart causing heart failure or other complications such as blood clots in major blood vessels over time. About 30% of Maine coon cats have a genetic mutation that predisposes them to HCM.

Desperate to save her beloved pet, Jason researched the topic and stumbled upon a research article discussing a drug known as Mavacamten (MYK-461) and a role it might play in addressing feline HCM. Sakthivel Sadayappan, Ph.D., professor in the UC College of Medicine and shown in the photo above, was listed as editor of the article. Sadly, Reggie died of congestive heart failure in April 2017 at age three. The Jasons owned a 10-year-old cat, Nigel, who was related to Reggie and they worried he might also have the HCM gene mutation.

Nigel, a Maine Coon cat. Credit: University of Cincinnati

Cardiac researcher turns focus to felines

Sadayappan has studied HCM in humans for the past two decades. His laboratory in the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine has investigated variants of the heart gene cardiac myosin binding protein-C and its role in the development of HCM which affects 1 in 500 humans.

Research from the Sadayappan Lab has shown that the prevalence of a genetic heart variant in people of South Asian descent predisposes them to HCM. But the researchers turned their focus to feline physiology and began studying DNA samples collected from Freddie to determine what genetic mutation might be affecting the animal's heart health.

Sadayappan and McNamara were able to eventually identify a mutation in a gene known as troponin-T (TNNT2), which regulates heart contractility. It is present in humans, but this is the first time it has been associated with heart disease in cats. Their findings appear in the scholarly journal Frontiers in Physiology.

"We know this gene in humans is associated with sudden cardiac death," says Sadayappan. "The gene is involved in regulating calcium in the heart which regulates pumping action of the heart. If you know this, you can treat this cat and other carriers of this gene differently when addressing heart disease. You can consider calcium blockers, channel blockers or other types of drugs. This type of diagnosis can be essential in heart treatment."

Reggie, a Maine Coon cat. Credit: University of Cincinnati

A loving pet and a model for more research

McNamara, currently a research fellow at Murdoch Children's Research Institute in Melbourne, Australia, says the study was exciting for researchers in the Sadayappan Lab.

"It was unique for our lab and a great opportunity to interact with the community. We were approached by Kathy Janson who was very concerned about her Maine coon cat. This gigantic breed of cats are about twice the size of a normal cat. They are more likely to experience hypertrophic cardiomyopathy where the heart grows abnormally large and blood can't fill it efficiently."

McNamara said researchers examined a blood sample from Janson's cat, Freddie, and they were surprised to find the cat didn't have a more common mutation associated with HCM. They used genetic sequencing as part of their efforts and acquired blood from Freddie's parents to examine it for genetic variants. Both parents had one mutated copy of troponin-T (TNNT2) and they passed those defective copies to Freddie.

"By the time we figured this out the cat had already been on drugs to stabilize his condition," says McNamara. "But our work has important implications for the future. It suggests that in these Maine coon cats it is not just one mutation that is important, but we should be potentially looking at other proteins that may cause disease."

James McNamara, PhD, shown in the UC College of Medicine. Credit: Colleen Kelley/UC Creative + Brand

Sadayappan says the work identifying the cause of Freddie's HCM will serve as an animal model for researchers to use as they search for better treatments for HCM in humans. Freddie continues to play with other cats adopted by Janson. There is 13-year-old Nigel, also a Maine coon cat, who was also tested for HCM but turned up negative, and a black cat named Siggy.

Janson says she thinks the struggles of Freddie and Reggie may advance our understanding of HCM in humans. Freddie is on multiple heart medications but appears healthy. He has an echocardiogram every six months with MedVet cardiologist Maggie Schuckman, DVM.

"In the long run I think my cats might have some role to play in helping find the solution for those young people who die suddenly of heart issues because of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy," says Janson. "It is a way for research to use my cats to find a solution for cardiac problems in humans."

"Dr. Sadayappan and Dr. McNamara have been so helpful, kind and so knowledgeable that I feel very much honored that my cats have been in their study," says Janson. "They have been able to use the information they have found to further their work in the area of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy."

More information: James W. McNamara et al. A Novel Homozygous Intronic Variant in TNNT2 Associates With Feline Cardiomyopathy, Frontiers in Physiology (2020). James W. McNamara et al. A Novel Homozygous Intronic Variant in TNNT2 Associates With Feline Cardiomyopathy,(2020). DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2020.608473
Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G will go on sale from March 30 in India, as per the latest leak. The Galaxy S20 FE 5G was launched back in September 2020 globally and now it looks like Samsung is bringing it to India. Samsung released the 4G version of the S20 FE in October in India that is powered by the Exynos 990 processor.

According to a tweet by popular tipster Mukul Sharma, Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G which is powered by the Snapdragon 865 processor will go on sale from March 30 in India. The listing of the S20 FE has gone live on the official Samsung India website, lending some credence to the leak. Apart from this, the tipster also posted a teaser of the Galaxy S20 FE which shows the phone in multiple colours and confirms the sale date to be March 30. Having said that, Samsung is yet to announce it officially.

As I mentioned earlier, Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G Snapdragon Edition (865) has already arrived in the country. The FIRST SALE of the device will start on March 30, 2021

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For now, here's an EXCLUSIVE teaser for you@samsungindia #GalaxyS20FE pic.twitter.com/QbJTi5fjBf  Mukul Sharma (@stufflistings) March 25, 2021

As per an earlier report, Samsung is planning to launch the Galaxy S20 FE next week in India and will price it under Rs 50,000. At this point, it will go up against the likes of the recently launched OnePlus 9 series and Vivo X60 series.

Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G specifications

Samsung Galaxy S20 FE features a 6.5-inch Full HD+ (2400 x 1080 pixels) resolution Super AMOLED display with a punch-hole cutout in the centre. The display also supports a 120Hz refresh rate and is certified for HDR10+ playback with features like an always-on display. It is IP68 rated which makes it protected against dust and water ingress.

The Galaxy S20 FE is powered by the Snapdragon 865 processor with an octa-core CPU and Adreno 650 GPU. This is paired with up to 8GB RAM and up to 256GB storage options to choose from. It will likely run on Android 11 based OneUI 3.1 out-of-the-box.

Samsung Galaxy S20 FE has triple cameras on the back headlined by a 12MP primary camera with an f/1.8 aperture and OIS, an 8MP telephoto camera with 3x optical zoom and a 12MP ultra-wide-angle camera with 123-degree field-of-view. The rear cameras can record in 4K at up to 60FPS and theres a 32MP selfie camera upfront.

The Galaxy S20 FE has stereo speakers, in-display fingerprint sensor and is equipped with a 4,500mAh battery that supports 25W fast wired charging and 15W fast wireless charging.
VICE TV Celebrities and over 10,000 Fans to Attend

Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 26, 2021) - TransCanna Holdings Inc. (CSE: TCAN) (OTC PINK: TCNAF) (FSE: TH8) ("TransCanna" or the "Company") and its wholly-owned subsidiary Lyfted Farms, is thrilled to announce two much-anticipated new product launches this weekend in San Diego, California.

Lyfted Farms, renowned in the industry for its masterful cultivation techniques and unique and powerful strains of exotic cannabis flower, will tease two new very potent strains to 10,000 existing and potential consumers at the Barona Raceway near San Diego tomorrow, Saturday, March 27th.

VICE TV celebrities "Donkmaster" Sage Thomas and "Country C" will be championing and promoting the launch directly to the audience at the Raceway, and limited 'first taste' products will be available for sale on-site through a licensed delivery service.

The new THC-dominant strains, Carolina Cantaloupe, and Heads Up Pro-Tree, with 31% and 25% THC respectively, will rank among some of the most potent THC strains to come onto the market in 2021. The strains are proprietary to Lyfted Farms and have never before been sampled by consumers.

"This kind of direct-to-consumer loyalty and relationship-building is the central theme of our marketing and how we differentiate," said Shaun Serpa, Marketing Director for Lyfted Farms. "We are actively in, on the ground, and arm in arm with our consumers, where they celebrate their passions, like drag racing, and idols, like Donkmaster and Country C. This is how they know we are the real deal."

Donkmaster and Country C will personally be on-hand to meet and greet fans and further promote the new strains on Sunday March 28th at the COOKIES La Mesa retail store in San Diego.

COOKIES, with over 25 retail locations throughout the United States, is one of the most authentic and well-respected cannabis lifestyle brands in the country and is set to massively scale its retail footprint in 2021 and beyond.

Immediately following the exclusive launch events at Barona Raceway and COOKIES, full distribution of the new strains will roll out to additional select Lyfted Farms retail dispensaries.

About TransCanna

TransCanna Holdings Inc. is a California-based, Canadian-listed company building cannabis-focused brands for the California lifestyle, through its wholly-owned California subsidiaries.

TransCanna's wholly owned subsidiary Lyfted Farms is California's authentic cannabis brand whose pioneering spirit has been continuously providing the finest cannabis flower genetics and cultivation methods since 1984. The Lyfted Farms brand of exclusive cannabis flower is sold at premium retailers throughout the state. With its new cultivation facility in Daly, California, the company is now poised to become one of the largest and most efficient vertically integrated cannabis companies in the California market.

For updated information with respect to our company, please see our filings on SEDAR atwww.sedar.com and on the CSE at www.thecse.com.

On behalf of the Board of Directors

Bob Blink, CEO

Corporate Communications:

Hybrid Financial @hybridtcan

irteam@transcanna.com

604-800-3589

FORWARD LOOKING INFORMATION:

Certain information in this release may contain forward-looking statements, such as statements regarding future expansions and cost savings and plans regarding production increases and financings. This information is based on current expectations and assumptions, including assumptions concerning the completion of the expansion of the Daly Facility, government approval of pro-cannabis policies, greater access to financial services and increased cultivation capacity, that are subject to significant risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict. Actual results might differ materially from results suggested in any forward-looking statements. Risks that could cause results to differ from those stated in the forward-looking statements in this release include unexpected increases in operating costs, a continued strain on farmers due to fires and the Coronavirus pandemic and competition from other retailers. All forward-looking statements, including any financial outlook or future-oriented financial information, contained in this release are made as of the date of this release and are included for the purpose of providing information about management's current expectations and plans relating to the future. The Company assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those reflected in the forward-looking statements unless and until required by securities laws applicable to the Company. Additional information identifying risks and uncertainties is contained in the Company's filings with the Canadian securities regulators, which filings are available at www.sedar.com.

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange ("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.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/78646
She has amassed millions of followers thanks to her sensational curves and sultry social media uploads.

And Demi Rose turned up the heat once more on Thursday in sizzling patterned swimwear.

The influencer, 25, put her ample assets on display in a skimpy bikini and uploaded the stunning clip to Instagram.

Send temperatures soaring: Demi Rose put her ample assets on display on Thursday in a skimpy bikini and uploaded the stunning clip to social media

Her chocolate tresses tumbled down in a relaxed wave and she enhanced her visage with soft make-up.

It comes after Demi took part in a quick-fire fan Q&A on Tuesday, sharing a series of sensational bikini-clad photos as she answered fans' burning questions.

The beauty flaunted her curves as she showcased her adventurous side, confirming her relationship status, age and 'favourite thing to do' in throwback snaps.

In one photo, Demi, who is currently residing in Ibiza, sizzled in a low-cut pink halterneck as she told a fan: 'I am single.'

Natural beauty: The influencer, 25, let her chocolate tresses tumble down in a relaxed wave and she enhanced her visage with soft make-up

With her brunette hair swept up into a messy bun and her famously plump pout accentuated with swipes of lip gloss, Demi insisted she's currently single.

The model also revealed that Ibiza is 'the place on earth where she feels most comfortable', posting a photo of herself sprawled out on the Spanish island's shoreline wearing an enormous straw sunhat.

With her beloved pet dog by her side, the social media sensation lay on her front wearing a black thong swimsuit that left her peachy bottom on full display.

In another snap, Demi put on an eye-popping display in a barely-there orange bikini and retro-inspired sunglasses, telling a fan: 'I don't have implants.'

Stunning: It comes after Demi took part in a quick-fire fan Q&A on Tuesday, sharing a series of sensational bikini-clad photos as she answered fans' burning questions

Demi has been sharing a slew of snaps from her sunny travels in recent months  including trips to the Maldives and Tanzania.

The Wolverhampton-born beauty recently opened up to MailOnline about how she shot to stardom at the age of 14 after being bullied in school - before going on to sign for a modelling agency at the age of 18.

Demi recalled: 'I was bullied in school, I wanted to make friends outside of it so I ended up spending a lot of time online.

'I was even interested in virtual reality as a kid, I was always on the computer and then MySpace came around and I found my calling.'
Lucknow, March 26 : The Bharat Bandh evoked minimal response in Uttar Pradesh on Friday.

Barring a few districts in western Uttar Pradesh, the majority of the districts in the state witnessed normal road and rail movement.

The blocking of the Ghazipur border and the proximity of some districts to the venue of farmers' agitation on the outskirts of Delhi, however, had an impact and private transport movement was restricted.

Farmers blocked NH 24 which led to minimal traffic on the route.

The state government had made a heavy deployment of police on all major roads and highways to ensure that the Bharat Bandh call was not forcibly implemented.

Since schools and educational institutions in Uttar Pradesh have already been closed due to the surge in Covid cases, the restriction on road transport did not affect the common man in the morning hours.
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn., March 25, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Walden Security recently named new leadership to support the ongoing growth and expansion of services. The new personnel were promoted as additional, critical support to branch and field team members, specifically in the areas of operations, quality assurance, technology and human resources.



2020 was a year of positive growth for our Commercial Services Division, and we celebrated many successes as a company, Walden Security President Michael S. Walden said. We are supporting that growth with additional critical leadership for our branch and field team members.

The following are the companys recent additions and promotions:

Jon Mitchell was recently promoted to executive vice president of Walden Securitys Commercial Services Division, overseeing all accounts in Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas. He also continues to manage the companys GeoCheck Mobile Workforce Reporting solution with a focus on supplying efficient, cost-saving remote technology services. Mitchell first joined Walden Security in 2018 as regional vice president, based in Atlanta. In addition to his security industry experience, he brings with him 11 years of service with the Atlanta Police Department as a law enforcement officer. Prior to starting with Walden Security, Mitchell also served as vice president of operations with a leading security technology company. Mitchell is active in the community and with professional organizations, including ASIS Internationals Atlanta Chapter.

Zach Winchester was recently promoted to executive vice president of Walden Securitys Commercial Services Division, overseeing all accounts in Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky and Mississippi. In addition, he will direct the companys corporate-based Command Technology Center and RemoteCheck technology services. As a member of the Walden Security team for the last three years, Winchester contributed to the ongoing growth and success of the Chattanooga and Birmingham Branches as regional vice president. He promotes a collaborative team atmosphere and takes a partnership approach with his customers to help shape their security needs. Winchester is a member of ASIS International and volunteers with various organizations in Chattanooga, Tenn.

Dana McCormick recently joined Walden Security as vice president of human resources for the corporate office. For more than 15 years, McCormick has worked in various human resources and management positions with companies such as The Krystal Company, Inc. and Ryder System, Inc. Most recently, she served as vice president of human resources and administration for a privately held, global clinical outsource provider company. During her tenure with this company, McCormick helped save nearly $1 million through a payroll conversion project, and nurtured employee relations programs by designing and implementing enhanced compensation and benefits plans.

Pat Silberman was recently promoted to director of compliance for corporate. Silberman will be working closely with branch operations teams in his new role to ensure the company is meeting its performance standards and customer commitments. Optimizing the training for managers and aspiring leaders is a primary focus for Silberman. He will work directly with Walden Security's learning and development team to enhance their award-winning Leadership Pathways operations manager training program to reinforce critical compliance topics. A leader with Walden Security since 2014, Silbermans contributions span all areas of operations, including compliance, personnel management, cost efficiency and customer relations. In his most recent role as senior operations manager of the Chattanooga Branch, Silberman oversaw all account managers as well as the 24/7 field supervision team. Most notably, Silberman beta-tested and subsequently trained several operations managers throughout the company on a proprietary guard schedule verification tool, which contributed to company-wide improvement of billing and payroll efficiency rates. Silberman is also an active member of the ASIS International Tri-State Chapter.

Drew Burrows was recently promoted to general manager, overseeing all operational aspects in Tennessee, Alabama and Mississippi. Since starting with Walden Security 12 years ago, Burrows has worked in various positions within the company. In his most recent roles, Burrows served as general manager over the Knoxville Branch and as a senior operations manager based in Atlanta. His contributions have also extended beyond his region to support a critical multi-state transition with a key national account. Burrows is an active member with several industry organizations: the Building Owners and Managers Association, the International Facility Management Association and the Institute of Real Estate Management.

Tony Fore was recently promoted to general manager with leadership over all operations in Georgia and Florida. For nearly 10 years, Fore has served as a leader for the Atlanta Branch, where he is known most for his commitment to relationship-building, placing equal emphasis on customers and employees for his accounts. Most recently, Fore served as senior operations manager based in Atlanta, Ga. His contributions are most evident in account leadership over an Atlanta-based Fortune 500 company. Fore is also active in his community as an active member of the Buckhead Coalition, a group committed to the safety and security of Atlanta's third-largest neighborhood.

Each of these individuals are invested, invaluable members of our Walden Security family, Walden said. We are grateful for their ongoing loyalty and dedication to our company, and we look forward to celebrating the great work theyll achieve in their new leadership roles.

About Walden Security: Setting the Standard by Setting the Example

Walden Security is one of the nations only security firms with an ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management System Certification, and is the nations largest WBENC-certified Womens Business Enterprise specializing in uniformed and integrated security services. For four consecutive years, Walden Security was ranked among the Training Top 100 award for its extensive training programs, and received various awards from Training magazine for its classroom-delivered employee training and orientation program as well as its advancement training program for managers. Dedicated to business integrity, Walden Security is also a two-time winner of the Better Business Bureau (BBB) Torch Award for Marketplace Ethics and recipient of the BBB International Torch Award for Ethics. For more information, visit waldensecurity.com, or follow Walden Security  at facebook.com/WaldenCorporate , twitter.com/waldensecurity  or linkedin.com/company/walden-security.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT

Erica Gurrieri, Corporate Communications

erica.gurrieri@waldensecurity.com

Photos accompanying this announcement are available at

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Islamabad:

Pakistan is reassessing ties with the US, Defence Minister Khurram Dastgir Khan has said and accused Washington of ignoring the threats to his country from India.



Khans remarks came amidst tension in ties between the US and Pakistan after President Donald Trump accused the country of providing safe havens to terrorists.



Khan said on Wednesday that it was not possible for Pakistan to satisfy the US, Dawn reported.



We are here to give our point of view logically and with evidence. We will explain our position. But its not for us to satisfy them, he told the media.



The government, he said, was reassessing ties with the US, and has simultaneously undertaken a regional outreach ahead of talks with Americans on future bilateral engagement.

Read | Days after condemning JeM, LeT, China pats Pakistans back for doing its best to fight terrorism



Khan said the two countries needed a frank and candid dialogue on the issues concerning them, as differences between them would reflect in Afghanistan and other regional issues.



The defence minister expressed discontent that the US did not share Pakistans threat perception about India.



He also claimed that a nexus existed between the US, India and Afghanistan that was threatening Pakistan.



The US knows all, but ignores the threats faced by us because of its strategic interests.



He said Pakistan would keep raising concerns about India in future engagements with the US.



The United States cannot ignore the threat to us from India. It is [a] serious [situation], he underscored, adding that it would be major challenge for the Pakistani side to get it acknowledged in the upcoming talks.



Khan said the other challenge for Pakistan was the fact that the US keeps changing the goalposts.

Read | US banking regulators shut down Pakistan's Habib Bank amid money laundering concerns



Pakistan, he said, would advise the US that intensifying kinetic operations (lethal or offensive combat missions) in Afghanistan would not work and the only way forward lay in a politically negotiated settlement of the conflict.



Dawn reported that Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif would accompany Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi to the UN General Assembly session in New York next week and is expected to use the opportunity to visit Washington for a meeting with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.



Asifs meeting with Tillerson was originally scheduled for mid-August, but was postponed on Pakistan?s request after Trump?s policy statement on Afghanistan and South Asia.



Asif is currently visiting several countries to garner support for Pakistans point of view regarding Afghanistan.

For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
WASHINGTON (AP)  A coalition of nongovernmental organizations is calling on President Joe Biden to immediately begin developing plans to share an expected surplus of hundreds of millions of COVID-19 vaccine doses with the world, once U.S. demand for shots is met.

Biden has repeatedly said his primary focus is on ensuring all Americans can get vaccinated, and on Thursday he outlined a new goal to deliver 200 million doses cumulatively over his first 100 days in office. But with all adults set to be eligible for shots by May 1, and the U.S. set to have enough vaccine for its entire population by the end of July, Biden is being asked to facilitate the sharing of excess doses with the world  and to do so without putting strings on the injections or engaging in vaccine diplomacy.

In a letter to Biden sent Friday and obtained exclusively by The Associated Press, the groups  30 NGOs including the ONE Campaign, the International Rescue Committee, Catholic Relief Services and Save the Children  call on Bidens administration to commit to sharing excess doses through the World Health Organization-backed COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access, or COVAX, facility.

It is estimated that there could be twice as many deaths from COVID-19 if rich countries monopolize the first doses of vaccines instead of making sure they are distributed globally, the groups write. Vaccine hoarding could cost the global economy up to $9.2 trillion. Wealthy countries will bear half of those costs because of supply chain disruptions and demand shocks.

They argue COVAX would ensure the vaccines are distributed in a way to maximize equity. Other countries, such as Russia, China and Israel, have sought to use vaccine sales to bolster their geopolitical positioning.

Biden has moved to have the U.S. contribute financially to the COVAX alliance, which will share vaccines with more than 90 lower- and middle-income nations, but the U.S. has yet to commit to sharing any doses. To date, Bidens administration has only approved the export of about 4 million doses of AstraZenecas vaccine, which is not authorized in the U.S. but is in use around the world, to Canada and Mexico.

In the coming months, the U.S. surplus is expected to reach into the hundreds of millions of doses, allowing for what the White House calls flexibility in responding to any shortfalls and future developments on the potential need for booster shots and vaccinating children.

The U.S. is injecting an average of about 2.5 million doses each day, and the pace is likely to dramatically rise later this month in conjunction with an expected surge in supply of the vaccines, putting the 200 million-dose goal well within reach.

The NGOs want the Biden administration to preempt any contractual or legal issues that U.S. manufacturers would have in sharing vaccines with the world and to outline a delivery schedule for when COVAX could begin to distribute U.S.-produced doses. They also call on drug companies to share manufacturing expertise and for the Biden administration to support the availability of raw materials for vaccines for doses to be distributed by COVAX.

They are calling on Biden to develop a framework for sharing vaccines now, so that once U.S. demand is met supply can quickly be shifted overseas.

Currently, all vaccines produced in the U.S. are claimed by the federal government under the terms of contracts signed by the manufacturers and the government.

The Biden administration has purchased enough doses of Moderna, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson vaccines to inoculate 150 million more people than the U.S. population by the end of the year.

The U.S. has also ordered 110 million doses of vaccine, enough for 55 million people, from Novavax, which is expected to file for emergency authorization as soon as next month, as well as 300 million doses, enough for 150 million people, from AstraZeneca.

Given the optimistic outlook for vaccinating most Americans in the next few months and the huge number of excess doses the U.S. has in its pipeline, the U.S. is uniquely positioned to accelerate the global response to the pandemic by sharing vaccines, the groups write.
A top American lawmaker has praised for sending COVID-19 vaccines to African countries, asserting it has shown good faith in humanity.

has made vaccines available to 30 other countries in Africa, Congresswoman Karen Bass said on India's vaccine delivery efforts in Africa during a markup of the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Thursday.

Although there are reports that the Serum Institute of is suspending major exports of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to the continent, they have shown a good faith in humanity, Bass, the Democratic Congresswoman from California, said as she referred to her recent meeting with India's Ambassador to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu.

India, among others, made a grant in a delivery of 30,000 COVID-19 vaccines to Botswana, she said.

During another hearing by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Democracy in Latin America and Caribbean, Organization of American States Secretary-General Luis Almagro praised similar Indian move in the region.

Some countries have been, India for example, provided donations, many donations to Caribbean countries. Of course, this makes countries grateful because when you don't find solutions anywhere else, you find solutions wherever you can in order to vaccinate your people, he said.

That is why I asked during my presentations for a stronger commitment of the United States of America in order to help deliver vaccines to Canada and to Mexico -- you have a third border that is Caribbean countries -- Caribbean countries -- they should be attended too -- they should be taken care of too, Almagro said.

India has so far sent more than 60 million doses of COVID19 vaccines to over 70 countries.

(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.)
Wits announces team to advance AI research in Africa

The team, led by Professor Zeblon Vilakazi, will lead Africas effort to advance artificial intelligence research and its application across the continent.

Wits University has announced its team that will advance Africas AI initiative, Cirrus, a private sector led initiative bringing together academia and industry for the establishment of a world class artificial intelligence (AI) research and application capability for Africa.

The university team will be led by Professor Zeblon Vilakazi, Vice-Chancellor and Principal, with Professor Emeritus Barry Dwolatzky (project lead), Professor Nithaya Chetty, Dean of the Faculty of Science, as the champion for scientific engagement, and Dr Roy Forbes as the engagement coordinator.

The university team (Biographies) will work closely with the Cirrus team (Biographies) that was announced at AI Expo Africa in 2020.

Priorities and challenges

The university team is focused on two key priorities:

Academic: Supporting the establishment of the AI Africa (AIA) Consortium which provides the mechanism for bringing together academic and research institutions with a vested interested in the success and sustainability of Cirrus as Africas artificial intelligence effort.

Government: Lead engagement and coordination with government on:

the adoption of Cirrus and;

support for local academic and research institutions to invigorate AI research and to further the application of AI across various academic and industrial domains.

Cirrus is the largest and most complex undertaking of its kind in Africas history; however, the major challenges are neither financial nor technological. Rather, it is rallying the academic and research institutions in Africa for there to be a critical mass of research and applications that can fully leverage the capabilities that will be established with Cirrus. Most of the institutions participating in the AIA Consortium will be publicly funded academic institutions from across the continent.

With Wits University, Cirrus now has a leading university on the continent and a competent team to spearhead this important work.

South African and numerous other African universities currently host various academic and industrial research groups. These groups are involved in, amongst other things, activities ranging from environmental and climate change research, medical research to materials research and energy storage development and design.

Most if not all these existing research thrusts could benefit significantly from incorporating AI methodologies in their research activities. Furthermore, in working together as opposed to working in isolated groups the impact of the research will also be improved, says Gregg Barrett, Founder of Cirrus.

The establishment of Cirrus is therefore a rallying call to the academic and research institutions in Africa for there to be a critical mass of research and applications that can fully leverage the capabilities that will be established with Cirrus.

We at Wits have been on a long journey with Cirrus to bring all of the elements of this ambitious partnership into place. We are hoping to soon begin to sign up members of the AI Africa (AIA) Consortium and to see tangible benefits flowing from our engagement with Cirrus, says Dwolatzky.

Wits Universitys endeavours extend beyond the AIA Consortium and includes catalysing necessary strategic policy engagements with government to ensure impact on important research and societal objectives.

The critical strategic steps that need to be taken in Africa have long been spoken about and now is the time for action. As Marc Andreessen recently pointed out, a takeaway from the COVID-19 pandemic is that people need to think about their occupation and contribution to society. If you are not helping people directly, and your occupation does not lead to something being built and contributes little to society, you are failing yourself. Cirrus represents Africas collective opportunity to move past the talk and get building on solving real problems with significant societal impacts, says Barrett.

Read more about how Cirrus is building Africas AI initiative.
WHEN 10 Heads of State from Africa jetted to Dodoma on Monday this week to pay last respects to the departed Tanzania President, John Magufuli, and hosted by President Samia Suluhu Hassan at the Jamhuri Stadium in city, a picture of a true son and pan- Africanist dominated their eulogies.

Setting the ball rolling President Samia said: "The late Head of State (Dr Magufuli) mentored me enough and I will accomplish all the wishes that he had in mind for the country. He made strong mentorship to all of us in the government before his surprise demise and I want to assure the nation that I am now competent enough to implement the wishes with the same vigour, zeal and pace.

"The country and Africa has lost a great leader, patriotic, God-fearing, pro-poor and true. As we mourn the demise of our beloved President, let's continue praying for his soul to rest in peace, but I assure you that the government will continue cherishing all development projects and continue coming up with new ideas based on the direction he had set.

"As I said earlier... today is a very sad day for me, I am overwhelmed by grief and great sadness, because I have lost a leader and my patron, but I am grateful I had the opportunity to talk to him a few days before his death.

"When I informed him that I was going to Tanga Region, he told me that Samia you shouldn't be worried, I am progressing well, go and inspect the implementation of the CCM manifesto as we pledged to the citizens, pass my greetings to them, tell them I love them so much.

These were his last words to me, I never knew those words would be his goodbye to me and Tanzanians; I never knew I won't receive his phone call again. "For those of you doubting this woman being the President of the United Republic of Tanzania, I want to tell you that standing right here is the President of the United Republic of Tanzania, who is biologically a woman.

"I want to reiterate that I am hardworking and confident to serve you, therefore, be assured that I will deliver to your expectations."

On his part, the Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa said: "Tanzanians are assured that all the plans will be implemented as planned. The late President Magufuli and Mama Samia are the ones who travelled across the country to campaign for the CCM election Manifesto, so everything will go smoothly."

According to Uhuru Kenyatta, the President of Kenya and current East Africa Community chairman, it was:

"Dr Magufuli taught many African leaders a lesson that the continent could be run without funds from foreign countries which come with a raft of conditions. "The late Magufuli has in a short period of time, shown to the world that Africa can stand on its own without relying on foreign aid.

Dr Magufuli's death is a big loss not only to Tanzania and Africa, but the world at large. Africa and the world have lost an illustrious leader whose vision, passion and immense leadership propelled the nation forward and also steered the East African Community to closer integration.

"My sister (President Samia Suluhu Hassan), you have been shown the road, it has been opened, go ahead... I assure you that we will walk this journey together to bring the region together and the continent as one."

On his part, Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi, who is the Southern African Development Community (SADC) current chairman at the stadium said: "Dear Magufuli, in front of your body, we, your colleagues in SADC will not stop working for our citizens' wellbeing. "Dear Magufuli, we will remember you, for your strong leadership, thinking about every Tanzanian and every African... . we will give support to President Samia Suluhu Hassan so she can continue uniting Tanzanians.

"It is true that our African continent has lost one of its popular leaders, it is true that Tanzania has lost a truthful citizen, hardworking Tanzanian. How can we say farewell to a person who led SADC by sacrificing himself and wished the region could become economically independent?"

SADC is a regional economic community comprising 16 Member States of Angola, Botswana, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eswatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Taking his turn, Namibia's Vice President, Nangolo Mbumba on behalf of his President Hage Geingob said: "Dr Magufuli was a hardworking and result oriented leader and that he will be remembered for his positive and constructive ideas on building the economy.

"Let's agree that the late president was an African fighter and African leader, therefore let me say may the brave and courageous soul of President John Magufuli rest in peace."

For Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa also in attendance: "The late President John Magufuli as a true Pan-Africanist who openly opposed and appealed for lifting of sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe. He rallied the bloc regional leaders towards deepening cooperation and collectively calling for Zimbabwe's US and EU sanctions to be immediately lifted."

"SADC, especially Zimbabwe, will remember Dr Magufuli for his practical inclusive development skills, unwavering stance while calling for partnership and jobs' creation to the youth. In Tanzania, the departed hero supported the country's climb in economic rank onto a middle economy state earlier than projected.

"I remember on the night of 14-15 March 2019, Cyclone Idai hit in Beira, Mozambique, killing over 1,000 people across Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe and leaving 2.6 million people in desperate need of humanitarian assistance. In the middle of the night, I heard a persistent phone call, and I realised it was Dr Magufuli calling to sympathize with us... he asked me, my brother, what assistance can Tanzania offer you immediately?

"I answered, we urgently need foodstuffs, medicine, blankets and mosquito nets, and to my surprise in the morning, a plane loaded with the items landed in Harare. This was a man who walked his talk." For Zambia President, Edgar Lungu also in Dodoma: "On our part as Zambians, our strong bond of friendship is cemented through, among other things, historic projects such as Tazara and Tazama oil pipeline.

I remember in 2016 when we launched a community service centre in Nakonde border. "What I remember most is his heart to motivate people on both sides when he spoke to our people at the border. For improved trade not only to the two countries, but for the entire Africa and to me personally, he was not only a revolutionary but my best friend, and I will miss him very much."

Taking his turn, President of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) Felix Tshisekedi said: "Dr Magufuli was against the embezzlement of public funds and corruption which he described it as a cancer, because it was delaying and eating development on the continent. During his leadership, President Magufuli, among other things, led the fight against corruption attributed to delays in development on the continent."

On his part, President of Botswana Mokgweetsi Masisi said: "President Magufuli was a great leader, a colleague, dear friend and a son of Africa. Many of us still remember his chairmanship and diplomatic tactics as he meticulously held meetings to our great success.

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"Even though he has died he will forever remain in our minds and hearts...we hope his love and dedication to this country will continue inspiring the people of Tanzania towards socio-economic development, as well as peace and stability as it will be for the rest of us across the continent."

According to South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, also in attendance: "President Magufuli stood out as a fighter against corruption. He was one of the new generation leaders on our continent who waged war on corruption and who believed that leaders should work for their people and not for themselves.

"I felt honoured because President Magufuli was not a great traveller. He did not like travelling very much, but preferred to stay home. I often thought he possibly was afraid of flying, but he told me he preferred to be at home serving his people rather than travelling outside the country.

"I can now see that indeed he stayed home to serve you the people of Tanzania, because the work he has done and what is left behind is quite impressive as one listens to a report of the things he has done. So, you were a very lucky nation to have a President like Dr Magufuli."

"Dr Magufuli was a true Pan-Africanist who believed that the culture and traditions of our forebears should be remembered, taught and embraced." "My brother, I will make it a point that I teach you Kiswahili myself he told me and it is indeed so sad knowing President Magufuli's dreams in this was not fulfilled. Poor, he left us before he could teach me the best Kiswahili to speak."
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The first batch of vaccines against COVID-19 and anti-epidemic materials donated by China to the Maldives arrived Wednesday night and were handed over on Thursday.

Chinese Ambassador to the Maldives Zhang Lizhong officially handed over the Sinopharm vaccines and some syringes to Maldivian Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid and Minister of Health Ahmed Naseem in an official ceremony held Thursday.

Speaking at the event, Zhang said the donation was a sign of the bonds of friendship between China and the Maldives and the donation fulfills China's commitment to making the vaccines as a "global public good."

The vaccine donation bears significance in cooperating to fight COVID-19, winning the battle at an early date, and promoting resumption of normal personnel exchanges and cooperation between China and the Maldives, the Chinese ambassador said.

China is ready to provide more support within its capacity to the Maldivian side in fighting the epidemic and recovering the economy, he said

Foreign Minister Shahid thanked the government and the people of China for contributing to the country's vaccination program, noting that Chinese companies in the Maldives have also contributed to the country's anti-epidemic efforts.

Health Minister Naseem also thanked the chinese government, hoping to strengthen cooperation between China and the Maldives as so to win an early victory over the pandemic.

The Maldives approved China's Sinopharm vaccine for emergency use on March 15.
(Newser)  Four decades ago, a 50-year-old Philadelphia wife and mother of two named Marie Petry Heiser vanished. Police say husband William Heiser told their children that she "packed her bags and left" and that he had no idea where she'd gone, per the Philly Voice. One part of the mystery has finally been solved: Authorities in Delaware say they have identified the remains of a woman found in a wooded area in Townsend in June 1997 as Heiser's, reports Delaware Online. At the time, police knew the woman had been murdered, but they could not identify her. Had William Heiser reported his wife missing, they might have identified her that way, but he failed to do so for reasons that look to remain a mystery, per People.

story continues below

William Heiser, a former Philadelphia police officer, sold their home in December 1977 and moved to Florida, where he died of cancer in 2006. The murder case remains open, and New Castle police say they are "specifically interested" in speaking to anyone who knew Marie Heiser or the family before her death. They have not identified any persons of interest in the murder. The identity was cracked in a now-familiar way: Investigators found a match between the DNA of their victim and her living childrena daughter in California and a son in Floridain ancestry databases. (Read more cold cases stories.)
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Nigerians abroad have been asked to join President Muhammadu Buhari in the anti-corruption campaign in order to improve the floundering image of the country, cut waste and aid investment inflow. Nigeria is believed to lose billions of dollars to crooks who feast on public funds.

The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC) Abdulrasheed Bawa, spoke at the virtual training organised for Nigerians in Diaspora on Thursday.

Mr Bawa who spoke through Enakeno Oju urged millions of Nigerians in the Diaspora to see themselves as anti-corruption envoys. The EFCC official said corruption fuels inequality, aids poverty and provides incentives for extremism.

The training was organised by the Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA Resource Centre) in collaboration with the EFCC, the United Kingdom-based Kent University Law School and Finance Uncovered with the support of MacArthur Foundation, Open Society Initiative for West Africa, (OSIWA) and Open Society Foundation. About 40 participants attended the 5 hours long training including many from Europe, USA, Gambia and Nigeria

Speaking at the event, HEDA Resource Centre Chairman, Olanrewaju Suraju, said the training would strengthen the capacity of professionals, researchers and media practitioners to take a more active role in asset and illicit funds tracing. Mr Oju on behalf of the EFCC Chairman, Mr Bawa, expressed full support for non-state actors helping to drive away corruption to the cesspool.

He said the fight against corruption is to reduce corruption or possibly eradicate corrupt practices in Nigeria. The EFCC boss said Nigerians in Diaspora must join hands with President Muhammadu Buharis administration to fight against Corruption for a better Nigeria.

Another representative of the EFCC, Ahmed Ghali, ran trainees through the technical details of spotting money laundering. He said the law against money laundering in Nigeria is enforced by the Money Laundering Prohibition Act adding that the outflow of illicit funds undermines sustainable livelihood.

In Nigeria, there is no common law defences to persons charged with money laundering offences. The penalty for money laundering in Nigeria includes imprisonment for between two to three years, he said.

Resource persons like Gbenga Oduntan, Nick Hildyard and Lionel Faull all based in the United Kingdom taught participants on technical skill s needed to use search engines and social media platforms in discovering corrupt politically exposed persons, providing the relevant tools for professionals and journalists needed to discover stolen assets and looted funds. Mr Oduntan detailed participants through the technique of searching for property records and using new information technology skills. He said the issue of corruption is what Nigerians at home and in the Diaspora ought to take very seriously.
Bengaluru, March 26 : Acting swiftly in a politically sensitive case, the Karnataka police registered a complaint and submitted the First Information Report (FIR) against former Karnataka minister Ramesh Jarakiholi to the local court on Friday afternoon.

The woman, who claims to be a victim of sexual exploitation by former Karnataka minister Ramesh Jarakiholi, lodged her complaint through her legal counsel K. N. Jagadish in the Cubbon park police station, where the first complaint in this regard was filed by social activist Dinseh Kallenahalli on March 2.

In the FIR, the complainant in Kannada alleges that she was sexually exploited twice on the pretext of offering her a government job by the former minister. She also alleged that she feared for her family and her life by the accused.

Though, Kallenhalli, within four days of lodging a complaint with the police, backed out and withdrew his complaint through his legal counsel.

After the complaint was withdrawn, Karnataka had formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by Bengaluru's Additional Police Commissioner (West), Soumendhu Mukherjee.

Meanwhile, reacting to the woman releasing a third clip and filing a complaint, Karnataka Home minister, Basvaraj Bommai said that the SIT would do its job impartially and promptly.

"The case is in public glare. Let anyone lodge a complaint in this regard, the SIT will take it seriously and act promptly. With regard to security, I stand by what I said on the floor of the House, both the complainant and her family will be provided with adequate security. We will give protection," he said.
Kinshasa  Rising number of girls in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) turn to sex trade as COVID-19 deepens desperation

Rising food prices, night-time curfew deepen hardship

Teenagers, street children forced into sex work to survive

Authorities say lack resources to tackle underage sex work

When Naomie's mother asked the teenager to join her as a sex worker in the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo last September, she knew it was a matter of survival for the family.

The fallout from the coronavirus pandemic - from rising food prices to a curfew resulting in fewer clients for her mother - left the 15-year-old with no choice but to take to the streets.

"I am fatherless, and I have an eight-year-old brother," Naomie - whose name has been changed to protect her identity - said one evening this month in the Tshangu district of Kinshasa.

"If I don't do this, my family may perish because we have no one to support us," she said while seeking clients on Kimbuta Avenue - well-known for prostitution - with a cigarette in hand.

Naomie is one of countless girls in Kinshasa - a megalopolis of more than 12 million people - to have joined the sex trade during the last year because of the pandemic, campaigners said.

About three-quarters of Congo's 90 million people live in extreme poverty on less than $1.90 a day, and the African Development Bank has said its economy - a key global exporter of cobalt and copper - could be particularly hard hit by COVID-19.

The sprawling central African country has confirmed at least 28,845 cases of the virus, of which about 712 have died.

"A lot of girls around my age are working here (in the sex trade)," Naomie added. "I see new faces all the time."

SOCIAL CRISIS

Girls who have turned to sex work to help their families find themselves competing for clients with street children.

Prior to the pandemic, there were an estimated 20,000 such children - known as "Shegues" - in the city. Most of them resort to begging and prostitution to get by and must pay a cut of their earnings to criminal networks who control the sex trade.

For many girls - homeless or not - the sex trade is now the only viable source of income, said Jean Kalala, vice-president of REEJER, a network of caseworkers that helps street children.

"Extreme poverty and a lack of education push many young girls into prostitution because they don't know what to do," Kalala told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in an interview.

"These underage sex workers are the consequences of the social crisis that is raging in Congo," he added, referring to the impact of coronavirus on people's livelihoods nationwide.

While prostitution is legal in Congo, having sex with a girl under the age of 18 or running a child prostitution ring are crimes punishable by between five and 20 years in prison.

A senior official at the Ministry of Gender, Family and Children, Florence Boloko, said there were insufficient resources and limited scope to tackle underage prostitution.

"We only work during the day," said Boloko, director of the National Agency Against Violence to Women and Girls (AVIFEM).

"At night, we do not know how to dismantle the networks ... (or) track down these girls, and all these men (the buyers)."

'EASY PREY'

For 17-year-old Vanessa, who joined the sex trade in Kinshasa two years ago, the pandemic has "destroyed her work".

Her earnings have fallen by half to about 10,000 Congolese francs ($5) a night, and she blames the rising number of young sex workers and a daily coronavirus curfew from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m.

Vanessa said she wanted to leave the trade, but did not know how else she would earn money. She had considered paying smugglers to help her reach Europe but decided against it.

Girls such as Vanessa and Naomie must deal with gangs who offer them "protection" in return for a cut of their earnings.

Naomie said the man she worked under managed 20 girls and visited her each night to take about one sixth of her earnings.

Christophe Diakonda, a police commander at nearby Sonapangu station, said that officers frequently arrested such gang members - known as "Kuluna" - but needed more support from the government to tackle the issue of young girls in the sex trade.

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"Regarding underage sex workers ... we are awaiting the government's impetus to boost the operation to stop this," he added. One of his colleagues said the girls were "stubborn" and resisted police efforts to deter them from the sex trade.

As more girls take to the streets - where some are pressured to have sex without a condom and many turn to alcohol or drugs - campaigners said they were concerned for their health.

"They become easy prey for men who abuse them," said Annie Bambe, president of the NGO Forum for Youth and Children's Rights in Congo. "They often have unprotected sex with the little money they are given ... we fear a lot for their future."

Having left school at 13, Naomie would like to return to education or train as a seamstress - but cannot afford to do so.

"We do this (sex work) to earn a living," she said. "The country has abandoned us."
Two months into the new administration, labor leaders are proclaiming Joseph R. Biden Jr. to be the most union-friendly president of their lifetime  and maybe ever, as Steve Rosenthal, a former political director for the A.F.L.-C.I.O., said in an interview.

Mr. Biden has moved quickly to oust government officials whom unions deemed hostile to labor, and to reverse Trump-era rules that weakened worker protections. He has pushed through legislation sending hundreds of billions of dollars to cities and states, aid that public-sector unions consider essential, and tens of billions to shore up union pension plans.

Perhaps most notably, the president appeared in a video alluding to a union vote underway at an Amazon warehouse in Alabama, warning that there should be no intimidation, no coercion, no threats, no anti-union propaganda  an unusually outspoken move by a president in a standard union election.

Yet Mr. Rosenthal and other labor advocates confess to a gnawing anxiety: Despite Mr. Bidens remarkable support for their movement, unions may not be much better off when he leaves office than when he entered it.
STORY LINK GBP/EUR Forecast: Pound to Euro Exchange Rate Steady on Back of UK Retail Sales

Pound Sterling (GBP) Exchange Rate Steady as UK Retail Sales Increase in February

 There are signs that consumers are getting used to the realities of life under lockdown, with online sales hitting yet another high of 36.1% of total retail sales.

 As we edge towards the re-opening of non-essential stores after Easter, retailers will be hoping that the wave of optimism sweeping consumers as a result of the successful vaccine rollout will translate into increased sales.

Euro (EUR) Exchange Rate Muted as German Ifo Business Climate

Companies were clearly more satisfied with their current business situation. Optimism about the coming months has also returned. Despite the rising rate of infections, the German economy is entering spring with confidence.

GBP/EUR Exchange Rate Forecast: UK Employment Data in Focus

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The Pound to Euro exchange rate is steady this morning after the UK reported a modest growth in retail sales for February, adding support to Sterling.At the time of writing the Pound to Euro exchange rate is currently trading at around 1.1685.The Pound is steady this morning as the UK recorded a modest growth of 2.1% in retail sales for February.Lisa Hooker, consumer markets leader at the consultancy PwC commented on the growth in the sector, saying:It comes as the UK-EU row over coronavirus vaccines continues, as European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen took another swipe at the UK saying that she had no knowledge of the UK exporting any vaccines and was waiting for transparency from the country.However in a joint statement released on Thursday the UK and EU said the two sides would work on a win-win situation when it comes to vaccine exports, as investors hope that this means the EU is backing down on blocking the export of the AstraZeneca vaccine.The Euro has been muted this morning as the row between the EU and UK over vaccine exports continues.Despite a joint statement from the two saying they were hoping to work through tensions, both continue to take swipes at each other as the EU summit is expected to continue today.The Euro has found support this morning from the release of the latest Ifo business climate from Germany for April which has increased by almost 3 points to 96.6.Clemens Fuest, president of the Ifo, commented on the increase in the business climate:For Pound investors heading into next week, UK GDP data for Q4 and final PMI data for March which will give an insight into how the UKs economy has been performing as the country begins to reopen from the national lockdown.Euro traders will be looking towards the Eurozones final consumer confidence index for March which is expected to remain in contraction, as renewed lockdown fears and a third wave plague the bloc.In absence of any notable data over the week, the GBP/EUR exchange rate will be driven by any further coronavirus developments.

International Money Transfer? Ask our resident FX expert a money transfer question or try John's new, free, no-obligation personal service! ,where he helps every step of the way, ensuring you get the best exchange rates on your currency requirements.

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The Hyderabad high court quashed the charges framed against her by the CBI in June 2014.  By arrangement

TIRUPATI: Former chief secretary of Karnataka, K. Ratna Prabha, is the BJP candidate for by-election to the Tirupati parliamentary constituency. She had worked in the AP and Karnataka cadre.

Sunil Deodhar, the national secretary of BJP and co-in-charge of party affairs in the state congratulated the former IAS officer through a tweet on his official twitter wall on Thursday.

The Tirupati parliament (SC reserved) seat fell vacant last year following the death of sitting MP Balli Durga Prasad, who died of heart attack while recovering from Covid-19 in September.

As several retired bureaucrats were aspiring for party ticket, the BJP that entered into an alliance with Jana Sena has struggled hard to finalise its candidate.

A native of Prakasam district, Ratna Prabha served in various government departments and retired from the service in 2018 after serving 37 years in AP and Karnataka. Her father K. Chandrayya, her husband Vidya Sagar and brother Pradeep Chandra had also served as AP cadre IAS officers.

The 1981 batch IAS officer served as collector of several districts in Karnataka, as secretary of various departments and finally as chief secretary. She also served as secretary to the IT and communications department in AP.

Notably, she had won the Woman of the Year award from American Biographical Institute Inc, USA, for two successive years, in 1999 and 2000.

She is known for launching a literacy campaign in a big way as a pilot project in 1991. During her term as the additional CS, Ratna, a Dalit, played a vital role in paving the way for the legislation that gives reservations in promotions to SC/ST state government employees.

She joined the BJP in April 2019 in the presence of BJP state president BS Yeddyurappa in Kalburgi.

Meanwhile, CBI had framed charges against Ratna Prabha in the illegal assets case of YS Jaganmohan Reddy. CBI charged her for allegedly extending undue favours to Indu Tech Pvt Ltd in allotting land in her capacity as secretary to the IT and communication department.

However, the Hyderabad high court quashed the charges framed against her by the CBI in June 2014.
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[March 26, 2021] H.I.G. Growth Partners Invests in ServiceTitan $500M Series F Financing H.I.G. Growth Partners ("H.I.G.") is pleased to announce that an affiliate has invested in the Series F growth financing for ServiceTitan (the "Company"), the leading provider of software for home and commercial service businesses. The round was led by Tiger Global Management and Sequoia Capital (News - Alert) Global Equities with significant participation from existing investors, including Bessemer Venture Partners, ICONIQ Capital, Battery Ventures, Index Ventures, Durable Capital, Dragoneer Investment Group, and funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates. Based in Glendale, California, ServiceTitan serves more than 7,500 contracting businesses that collectively employ more than 100,000 technicians and perform more than $20 billion worth of annual transactions across various home and commercial service verticals, including plumbing, air conditioning, electrical, and more. ServiceTitan has also surpassed $250 million in annual recurring revenue, having grown more than 50% over the past twelve months. ServiceTitan's $500M Series F financing round reflects the value of its technology to the home and commercial service customers, and will be used to fuel rapid growth as the Company continues to invest in customer experience, product development, and hiring top talent around the globe. Co-founders Ara Mahdessian (CEO) and Vahe Kuzoyan (President) launched ServiceTitan in 2012 as a solution for their fathers, who both worked in the trades. "We depend on the men and women of the trades to maintain our life support systems: running water, heat, air conditioning, and power," said Ara Mahdessian. "Today, as both homeownership rates and time spent at home reach record highs, these essential service providers are facing rising demand from an increasingly tech-savvy homeowner. By providing contractors with the tools they need to deliver a great customer experience and grow their businesses with ease, ServiceTitan is enabling the hardworking men and women of the trades to reach the level of success they deserve." "We're in the early innings of a fundmental shift. Software is transforming the trades industry to meet consumer demand for greater technology adoption and a mobile-first user experience," said Tony Tamer, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of H.I.G. Capital. "ServiceTitan is building mission-critical software that not only addresses key challenges faced by residential and commercial contractors, but also drives new growth opportunities across the broader home services ecosystem." "ServiceTitan is the category-leading software provider powering the massive home and commercial services sector. The Company's impressive growth and scale is a testament to the value delivered to its customers who use ServiceTitan to grow and manage all aspects of their businesses," said Scott Hilleboe, Managing Director of H.I.G. Growth Partners. "The Company's relentless drive around building best-in-class software and its laser focus on delivering a stellar customer experience speak to the culture that Ara and Vahe have developed. We are pleased to support ServiceTitan in their next phase of growth." About ServiceTitan

ServiceTitan is a software company built to accelerate the home and commercial service industries. The Company's end-to-end software suite includes CRM, intelligent dispatch, custom reporting, marketing automation, a mobile solution for field techs, and accounting, payments and financing integrations. By bringing a fully operational modern SaaS (News - Alert) infrastructure to an industry traditionally underserved by technology, ServiceTitan makes a direct and positive impact on the lives of thousands of entrepreneurs and their extended teams. ServiceTitan is backed by world-class investors, including Tiger Global Management, Sequoia Capital Global Equities, H.I.G. Growth Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners and ICONIQ Capital. For more information about ServiceTitan, visit https://servicetitan.com/. About H.I.G. Growth Partners

H.I.G. Growth Partners is the dedicated growth capital investment affiliate of H.I.G. Capital, a leading global alternative investment firm with more than $43 billion of equity capital under management.* H.I.G. Growth seeks to make both majority and minority investments in strong, growth-oriented businesses located throughout North America, Europe and Latin America. H.I.G. Growth Partners considers investments across all industries but focuses on certain high-growth sectors where it has extensive in-house expertise such as technology, healthcare, internet and media, consumer products and technology-enabled financial and business services. H.I.G. Growth strives to work closely with its management teams to serve as an experienced resource, providing broad-based strategic, operational, recruiting, and financial management services from a vast in-house team and a substantial network of third-party relationships. For more information, please refer to the H.I.G. website at www.HIGgrowth.com.

* Based on total capital commitments managed by H.I.G. Capital and affiliates. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210326005255/en/

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Domestic suppliers still have a lot of potentials in linking with foreign-invested partners, photo Photo: Le Toan

Currently, a good 50 Vietnamese enterprises have become top suppliers for Samsung Vietnam. The South Korean conglomerate has given the necessary support to help these companies improve their manufacturing processes and better meet global supply chain standards  but becoming one of its regular suppliers is no mean feat.

Hoang Minh Tri, general director of 4P  the first domestic company to supply electronic circuit boards to LG Electronics Vietnam  said that supplying Samsung with these products is especially difficult as the company has strict standards for quality, expertise, technical precision, and high professionalism.

4P was thus forced to reform its business according to Samsungs requirements, accepting technical standards and working conditions in the company, even for employees on how to use sterilised rooms and equipment properly. According to Samsung, these practices relate to the scientific stages in the production process and, if carried out correctly, can prevent risks as well as quality issues.

Vietnamese businesses must thus meet these criteria set by Samsung to become one of its suppliers. Kim Kyung Tae, senior expert at Samsung Vietnam, noticed that performance and management are the limitations of these companies.

Passing all those evaluation criteria, Kim said, is a real challenge. Vietnamese businesses must prepare thoroughly in order to meet these criteria. And yet, Samsung also has other evaluation indicators related to the environment, the vendors financial potential, and its documentation practices.

Samsung is close to its goal of increasing its localisation rate to 57 per cent, as well as fulfilling its commitment to the government to promote the development of supporting industries. But the addition of Vietnamese enterprises in the supply chain also helps Samsung reduce the cost of importing components, improve competitiveness, and increase profitability.

Samsung remains the largest foreign investor in Vietnam with the registered investment capital of $17.5 billion. In 2020, the total export turnover of Samsung Vietnam reached about $57 billion, a relatively positive result in the context of the complicated pandemic and its negative impacts on the global economy.

According to a VIR source, in Samsungs list of vendors, about 80 per cent are large-scale foreign-invested enterprises (FIE) from South Korea, China, and Japan. Among them are Samsung Electro-Mechanics, Samsung SDI Vietnam, and MCNEX Vina, which produces camera modules. Other suppliers include Power Logics Vina which delivers battery protection boards, CammSys Vietnam which provides camera modules, Goertek Vina that delivers headsets and mics, and more  and none of them are Vietnamese companies.

Weak links

Data from the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) shows that after nearly 35 years of national renovation, Vietnams private economy has continuously maintained a fairly good growth rate, accounting for 43 per cent of GDP and attracting about 85 per cent of the workforce. However, the development of the private economys quality is an issue that Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung described as concerning at a meeting on March 12.

Minister Dung said that the links between Vietnamese businesses remain lax and do not focus on mutual development. As such, domestic enterprises have not been focusing on improving links and competitiveness to participate in the regional and global value chains.

Currently, only about 21 per cent of small- and medium-sized enterprises participate in parts of the global value chain, and 14 per cent are successful in associating with foreign partners, while the number of FIEs in Vietnam is very high, the minister said.

According to him, the productivity and growth rate of the private sector is low and limited. Statistics show that the average labour productivity of private companies makes up only about 34 per cent of the labour productivity of state-owned enterprises and about 69 per cent of foreign-invested enterprises. This low productivity is related to the fact that most enterprises are micro- or small-sized ones, accounting for about 98 per cent of all enterprises.

Capacities in science and technology also remain limited, with some being outright backward, the MPI minister pointed out. Enterprises have not invested in the application and development of science and technology, especially core and pioneering technologies, Minister Dung said.

Currently, only 10 per cent of businesses have registered patents within three consecutive years. Meanwhile, enterprises investment in technology and innovation only accounts for about 0.3 per cent of their revenue, much lower than in countries like India (5 per cent) and South Korea (10 per cent).

The shortcomings of private companies, according to Minister Dung, are partly due to the state management of the economy. The system of mechanisms and policies on private economic development still has many shortcomings and lacks synchronisation. Although the investment environment has been improved, it remains still limited, with access to opportunities and development resources not being equal, which incurs many intermediate and informal costs.

Weak links have been prevalent in the economy for many years. The provincial competitiveness index of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) showed that the proportion of domestic private enterprises participating in the supply of goods and services in the production chains of FIEs has been limited for many consecutive years. By 2017, only about 10 per cent of domestic businesses provide input goods to FIEs operating in Vietnam.

Links are also very weak from the perspective of FIEs. According to the VCCIs data, only about 27 per cent of their input value is purchased in Vietnam, but a significant proportion is supplied by other FIEs. Especially, those operating in high-tech manufacturing tend to import goods from their own countries and use fewer local suppliers.

Establishing connections

Vietnam is changing its strategy of attracting foreign direct investment (FDI), focusing on quality projects coming from former and current big investors, emerging and growth-leading economies  an opportunity to promote links between FIEs and domestic enterprises, following the Politburos Resolution No.50-NQ/TW on the orientation to perfect institutions and policies to improve the quality and efficiency of foreign investment cooperation by 2030.

The increased realised capital in the first two months of 2021 was a positive sign and was estimated at $2.5 billion, up 2 per cent over the same period in 2020. Many major FIEs are expanding investment in Vietnam this year.

For example, LG Display increased its capital by $750 million, adjusting the total sum for the fourth time since beginning to invest in Vietnam. Up to now, the total investment capital of LG Display poured into the northern city of Haiphong has reached $3.25 billion. As planned, after receiving its investment registration certificate, the company is now quickly building and installing necessary facility extensions that are expected to start production by May.

Meanwhile, after its previous investment project to manufacture tablets and laptops in the northern province of Bac Giang, Foxconn has just had a business trip in the north-central province of Thanh Hoa to explore new opportunities in the production of electronics.

Such endeavours are currently increasing and contributing to the connection between FIEs and domestic firms, while the government is working on improving the legal framework. Analysts said in addition to improving quality of labour and narrowing the gap in the technology levels of FIEs and domestic ones, it is also necessary to pay attention to geographical factors.

The establishment of separate industrial and export processing zones can help improve the efficiency of operations and exports but has also limited positive spill-over effects on domestic private companies.

Vietnam has partaken in negotiating and signing 17 free trade agreements, 14 of which have been signed and put into effect. Kyle F. Kelhofer, senior country director for Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia at the International Finance Corporation, said that an adjustment to investment attraction is necessary for Vietnam, and that this should focus more on strengthening the links between Vietnamese firms and FIEs to create shared interests, which will contribute to Vietnams overall goal of deeply international integration.
BOYNTON BEACH, Fla., March 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Residents of area senior living community Discovery Village At Boynton Beach have recently begun receiving some very special deliveries: "Balloon Buddies," courtesy of South Florida balloon artist Lenor Ryan. Ryan, through the national "Adopt a Grandparent" program, now aims to handcraft and personally deliver a buddy to each of the 57 residents of the community's Assisted Living neighborhood. She dropped off the first three this past week, much to the delight of residents and team members. Nine, additional buddies will be coming soon.

Local balloon artist Lenor Ryan aims to deliver a handmade "balloon buddy" to all 57 Assisted Living residents at Discovery Village At Boynton Beach through the nationwide "Adopt a Grandparent" program.

"I just think this is such an awesome thing," said Mary Allen, Assisted Living Administrator at Discovery Village. "The past year has been trying for seniors in all settings, including here in our community. Ongoing concerns regarding COVID-19, separation from families and loved ones, and for many, the need to isolate here at our community for such a long time proved taxing. We relied heavily upon FaceTime and other, digital technologies to maintain those outside connections, but having something tangible like this is a small act of kindness that will have a much larger, positive impact."

Ryan had no prior connections to Discovery Village, but learned about the Adopt a Grandparent program following the illness and loss of her father last year. Due to mandatory visitation restrictions in hospitals and long-term care communities, she was unable to be with him for the final 16 weeks of his life. Following his passing, she set out to do some good for seniors and loved ones who were facing challenging circumstances, and so began this Balloon Buddy initiative.

For a $20 donation, Ryan will create a Balloon Buddy and gift it to a resident of Discovery Village. For anyone who purchases five buddies, she will create and deliver a sixth one for free. Donations are being accepted on Ryan's website, www.LightsCameraSelfies.com.

Located at 4735 NW 7th Court, Discovery Village At Boynton Beach offers Independent and Assisted Living options, as well as its proprietary SHINE Memory Care program. The community is owned and operated By Bonita Springs, Florida-based Discovery Senior Living, which currently manages a national, multi-brand portfolio of more than 70 communities in 15 states.

About Discovery Senior Living

Discovery Senior Living is a family of companies that includes Discovery Management Group, Morada Senior Living, Discovery Development Group, Discovery Design Concepts, Discovery Marketing Group, and Discovery At Home, a Medicare-certified home healthcare company. With almost three decades of experience, the award-winning management group has been developing, building, marketing, and operating upscale senior-living communities across the United States. By leveraging its innovative "Experiential Living" philosophy across a growing portfolio of almost 12,000 existing homes or homes under development, Discovery Senior Living is a recognized industry leader for lifestyle customization and, today, ranks among the 10 largest U.S. senior living operators and providers.

Media Inquiries :

Sam Mohtady, Senior Marketing Manager

[email protected] | 239.908.2921

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"Balloon Buddies" Delivered to Residents of Discovery Village At Boynton Beach

Local balloon artist Lenor Ryan aims to deliver a handmade "balloon buddy" to all 57 Assisted Living residents at Discovery Village At Boynton Beach through the nationwide "Adopt a Grandparent" program.

SOURCE Discovery Senior Living
As the sun sets tomorrow evening and the Sabbath wanes, Jewish people around the world will be welcoming in the holiday of Passover, with the holidays most notable event, the Passover Seder.

The Passover Seder is a family and community gathering characterized by a festive and elaborate meal, complete with symbolic foods, inserted into the middle of the re-telling of the story of our Exodus from Egypt.

The stage is set with the lighting of holiday candles accompanied by the prayer that reminds us of the Torah commandment that mandates our telling of the story of our liberation in every generation as if we ourselves were delivered from slavery unto freedom.

The drama of the moment is further enhanced by the singing of the Kiddush and blessing over the wine; and reaches a crescendo when the youngest of the children asks the four questions summarized as, Why is this night different from all other nights?

The joyful, yet solemn response begins with the words, We were slaves unto Pharoah in the land of Egypt , and continues with the participants reciting the story of our 400-year slavery and our liberation from that slavery by the very hand of God, exercising His enormous power over nature by inflicting 10 plagues on the Egyptians in convincing Pharoah to Let my people go!

After dinner, the story of our transformation from a tribal people into a nation founded on the precepts of Torah continues with our return to our indigenous home in the Land of Israel after 40 years of wandering in the desert.

For more than two millennia, since the forced exile of the Jewish people from the Land of Israel over two thousand years ago, the story of the Exodus from Egypt recited at seders throughout the world has ended with the inspiring and aspiring words of the Jewish people to be reunited and return to their biblical homeland with the simple prayer, Next Year in Jerusalem.

The uniqueness of the Passover story is that it must be told at several levels of sophistication so that everyone, whatever his or her status of life, level of intelligence, education, experience or maturity, can understand, feel and appreciate what it means to be free; and also the enormous responsibility that freedom requires of us to assure we proclaim liberty throughout the land and to all the inhabitants thereof.

The lessons of the Passover story has universal application and is particularly relevant to the preservation of our freedom and commitment to the U.S. Constitution; and crucial if we are to heal a bitterly divided America.

Our freedom will never be enhanced by suppressing the freedom of our fellow citizens. On the contrary, I think we can hold this truth to be self evident that expanding freedom and equality to all our citizens enhances freedom and equality for all our citizens.

Everyones freedom is threatened if we seek to restrict anyone elses freedom. Our government was not created to dole out freedoms; the Constitution is not the source of our freedom; its mandate, as ordained by the American people, is to secure the blessings of liberty, not to grant those blessings.

The past year has been a difficult one for all Americans. While the Second Amendment, as intended by the founders, prohibits the government from abridging our right to bear arms, we are not compelled to always bear arms. How wonderful would it be if we put our arms away for the moment and used our human arms to embrace our fellow Americans!

Except for indigenous Native Americans, we must recognize that all other Americans trace their lineage to immigrants who came to our shores under many different circumstances and from the four corners of the Earth.

In every generation, it was these new Americans and those that preceded them and their progeny who bestowed the blessings of liberty on the new immigrants.

Now it is our time for all Americans to embrace the Passover story, to remove the last vestiges of slavery and to bestow the full blessings of liberty on all our citizens and on all those who lawfully reside within the territorial jurisdiction of the United States. Happy Passover to all!

If you wish to comment or respond you can reach me at melpearlman322@gmail.com. Please do so in a rational, thoughtful, respectful and civil manner.

Mel Pearlman holds B.S. & M.S. degrees in physics as well as a J.D. degree and initially came to Florida in 1966 to work on the Gemini and Apollo space programs. He has practiced law in Central Florida since 1972. He has served as president of the Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando; was a charter board member, first vice president and pro-bono legal counsel of the Holocaust Memorial Resource and Education Center of Central Florida, as well as holding many other community leadership positions.
Asda store workers have won a Supreme Court fight with bosses after bringing equal pay claims over complaints that staff in distribution depots unfairly got more money.

More than 40,000 Asda store workers, about two-thirds of whom are women, said staff working in distribution depots, most of whom are men, unfairly get more cash.

Bosses at Leeds-based Asda said store jobs were not comparable to distribution centre jobs, but justices at the Supreme Court in London today ruled against them.

The judges decided that store workers, who had made sex-discrimination claims, were entitled to compare themselves to distribution staff for equal pay purposes.

The Asda store workers said they have historically got less because most store workers are women, and most distribution depot staff are men.

Customers queue to pay for their goods at checkouts at an Asda in Watford in October 2013

Asda bosses have lost a Supreme Court fight with store workers who brought equal pay claims after complaining that staff working in distribution depots unfairly got more money

Lawyers from legal firm Leigh Day, who were representing the store workers, said distribution depot workers got between 1.50 and 3.00 an hour more.

Supreme Court justices were asked to consider whether Asda store workers are entitled to compare themselves to distribution staff for equal pay purposes.

History of Asda legal battle and how it could still run on for years The litigation between Asda and the store workers began some years ago. In 2016, an employment tribunal decided that store workers were entitled to compare themselves to distribution staff. That decision was upheld by Court of Appeal judges in 2019. Asda bosses then appealed to the Supreme Court. Lawyers said the store workers' fight will not end, even though Supreme Court justices ruled in their favour, and the litigation could run on for years. They said the next stage will involve an employment tribunal deciding whether specific store and distribution jobs were of 'equal value'. If judges decided that different jobs were of 'equal value', the litigation will then enter a third stage. Lawyers say an employment tribunal would then consider whether there were reasons - other than gender - why people working in stores should not get the same pay rates as people working in distribution centres. Advertisement

Judges considered arguments at a hearing in July - and lawyers said that if Asda store workers win all further stages of their fight they could be entitled to several years' back pay.

They say this will have implications across the retail industry and suggested victory might lead to supermarkets paying out around 8billion.

Store workers bringing claims are members of the GMB union, which hailed the ruling as 'amazing news' and a 'massive victory' for the store workers.

Five Supreme Court judges dismissed Asda's appeal today and unanimously ruled in favour of the store workers.

One, Lady Arden, said: 'This is clearly a very substantial case for Asda. At the time of the hearing before the employment tribunal in June 2016, Asda had around 630 retail stores and employed approximately 133,000 hourly paid retail employees.'

She indicated that the litigation would now proceed to another stage.

'However, my conclusion, agreed by the other Justices hearing this appeal, does not mean that the claimants' claims for equal pay succeed,' she said.

'At this stage all that has been determined is that they can use terms and conditions of employment enjoyed by the distribution employees as a valid comparison.'

Lade Arden added: 'Asda will be able to rely on any defence open to it, including (if appropriate) the statutory defence that the difference in pay was due to a genuine material factor which was not itself discriminatory on the grounds of sex.'

Susan Harris, the GMB's legal director, said: 'This is amazing news and a massive victory for Asda's predominantly women shop floor workforce.

'We are proud to have supported our members in this litigation and helped them in their fight for pay justice.

Customers queue at the checkout at an Asda store in Nottingham on March 19 last year

The Supreme Court in Parliament Square, London, where Asda bosses lost their battle today

'Asda has wasted money on lawyers' bills chasing a lost cause, losing appeal after appeal, while tens of thousands of retail workers remain out of pocket.

Women welcome court ruling on equal pay Women who worked at Asda welcomed a court decision on equal pay, but said the supermarket should have resolved the issue years ago. Kate Gorton, one of the claimants, said that the difference between the pay of workers on the shop floor and distribution centres is 'significant'. Ms Gorton, who worked in Asda stores in Stoke-on-Trent and Coventry between 2011 and 2019, said: 'The difference in pay was between 1 and 4 an hour. This case goes back to 2016 so Asda should have resolved it a long time ago. The difference in pay still goes on today.' Wendy Arundale, who worked for Asda for 32 years, added: 'I'm delighted that shop floor workers are one step closer to achieving equal pay. 'I loved my job, but knowing that male colleagues working in distribution centres were being paid more left a bitter taste in my mouth. It's not much to ask to be paid an equal wage for work of equal value, and I'm glad the Supreme Court reached the same conclusion as all the other courts.' Advertisement

'We now call on Asda to sit down with us to reach agreement on the back pay owed to our members - which could run to hundreds of millions of pounds.'

Lauren Lougheed, a Leigh Day lawyer representing Asda store staff, said: 'We are delighted that our clients have cleared such a big hurdle in their fight for equal pay.

'Already an employment tribunal, the employment appeal tribunal and the Court of Appeal ruled that these roles can be compared, and now the Supreme Court has come to the same conclusion.

'It's our hope that Asda will now stop dragging its heels and pay their staff what they are worth.'

A Leigh Day spokesman said: 'Asda shop floor workers are one step closer to victory in their fight for equal pay after the Supreme Court today ruled their roles can be compared to their colleagues in distribution centres.'

She added: 'The next stage in this equal pay claim is for Leigh Day solicitors, on behalf of the claimants, to argue that the roles are of equal value.

'This part of the claim is already under way. After equal value has been decided, Asda will then have an opportunity to argue that there is a reason, other than sex discrimination, as to why the roles should not be paid equally.'

But an Asda spokesman said today: 'This ruling relates to one stage of a complex case that is likely to take several years to reach a conclusion.

'We are defending these claims because the pay in our stores and distribution centres is the same for colleagues doing the same jobs regardless of their gender.

'Retail and distribution are very different sectors with their own distinct skill sets and pay rates. Asda has always paid colleagues the market rate in these sectors and we remain confident in our case.'

The litigation began some years ago. In 2016, an employment tribunal decided that store workers were entitled to compare themselves to distribution staff.

That decision was upheld by Court of Appeal judges in 2019. Asda bosses then appealed to the Supreme Court.

Following today's ruling, Jennifer Smith, employment law partner at JMW Solicitors, told MailOnline: 'This is a significant ruling for the retail sector - along with the tremendous financial impact for Asda, the rest of the retail industry could now be exposed to similar group actions from their employees.

'If other retailers' employees were to bring similar claims, the cost to the retail sector is estimated to hit 8billion.'

And Fawcett Society chief executive Felicia Willow said: 'We are delighted with today's watershed ruling that means lower-paid shop staff, who are mostly women, can compare themselves with higher-paid warehouse workers, who are mostly men.

'This doesn't mean the fight for equal pay is won but it does mean employers must take a long, hard look at their pay structures and ensure male and female workers are paid equally for all work of equal value.'
Last Thursday, on the first day of Peacocks agreement to launch the WWE Network on their streaming service, fans began to notice some of the shows were edited from its original version. Those edits were of moments or matches that either havent aged well or they werent even appropriate at the time. Now, it appears those edits will not be isolated situations and that will be the plan going forward.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, NBCUniversal is reviewing all 17,000 hours of WWE content to ensure it aligns with Peacocks standards and practices. In addition, WWE is also being made aware of any edits.

As of now, only pay-per-views, documentaries, and recent shows have been uploaded to Peacock while the rest of the library is expected to be up by SummerSlam.

There have been two major edits that fans have noticed so far. The first was from WrestleMania VI where Rowdy Roddy Piper did a promo and a match with half his body painted black going against Bad News Brown, a Black wrestler. Both the promo and the match has been edited out of the Peacock version.

The second was from Survivor Series 2005 where Mr. McMahon, the TV character of owner and CEO Vince McMahon, said the N-word to John Cena. That backstage scene is also taken out from the Peacock version.

This means that, regardless if one agrees with this practice or not, pro wrestling fans are now figuring out in their minds which moments are likely to be on the chopping block, with many of those moments likely coming from the Attitude Era of the late 90s/early 00s.

Just off the top of my head on moments that possibly could be removed, X-Pac did blackface when D-Generation X impersonated the Nation of Domination. Triple H (in storyline) drugged Stephanie McMahon to get her to marry him. Triple H, wearing a Kane mask, had sex with a mannequin in a coffin. Brian Pillman pulled a gun on Stone Cold Steve Austin that looked like a home invasion. Terri and Lita had separate storyline miscarriages. And that doesnt get into all the unprotected chair shots to the head, instances of violence against women, the bra and panties matches, and some of the insensitive characters from over the years.

In other words, there might be a lot of things throughout the history of WWE, WCW, and ECW that dont make the cut for Peacock. Some of these controversial moments, like the Big Boss Man feeding Al Snow his own dog, were intentionally meant to be controversial in order to make fans hate the villain in the storyline but Peacock might not consider intent in their decision making. WWE has kept these moments on their streaming service and put up a disclaimer before older shows that explain how they were airing a show in its original version, that it doesnt reflect their current values as a company, and that viewer discretion is advised.

[The Hollywood Reporter/Photo: WWE Network]
The Ukrainian military says four of its soldiers have been killed in shelling in the countrys east, where fighting between government forces and Russia-backed separatists has killed more than 13,000 people since April 2014.

"Today, March 26, the armed forces of the Russian Federation once again violated the cease-fire agreed in July 2020 and targeted the positions of Ukrainian forces with 82-mm mortars, automatic grenade launchers, and large-caliber machine guns prohibited by the Minsk agreements aimed at putting an end to the conflict, the military said in a statement.

It said two soldiers were also injured in the attack, which occurred near the settlement of Shumy, north of the separatist stronghold of Donetsk.

The skirmish brings the total number of Ukrainian servicemen reported killed since the beginning of the year to 16, according to AFP.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy urged the leaders of the so-called Normandy Format, a diplomatic process involving Ukraine, Russia, Germany, and France aimed at resolving the conflict, to do their utmost to preserve a full and comprehensive" cease-fire.

In a joint statement on March 18, the G7 group of nations noted that the cease-fire implemented last year has significantly reduced violence in the eastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk while also deploring recent military escalations by Russian-backed armed formations at the line of contact.

The foreign ministers of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United States, as well as the EU foreign policy chief, called on Moscow to implement its commitments to the Minsk agreements, and stop fueling the conflict by providing financial and military support to the separatists.

Moscow claims it only provides political and humanitarian support to the separatists holding parts of Donetsk and Luhansk, and says Russians fighting there are volunteers.

With reporting by AFP
CVC Capital Partners is nearing a deal to acquire National Bank of Greece SAs insurance business after a years-long search for a buyer, people familiar with the matter said.

The private equity firm could announce an agreement as soon as this week to buy a majority stake in Ethniki Insurance, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the talks are private.

A disposal would help National Bank of Greece replenish its capital buffers as it continues to clean up bad loans on its balance sheet. Its also delivering on a pledge to the European Commission after the financial crisis that it would try to offload the business, which offers both life and non-life policies.

Representatives for National Bank and CVC declined to comment.

This year has seen a flurry of deals in the insurance industry, driven by European giants seeking to divest peripheral businesses to streamline their operations. CVC, one of the private equity firms with the most experience in financial services deals, has invested in lenders, insurers and payments firms. It already owns French insurance broker April as well as specialty P&C insurer Fidelis.

National Bank of Greece is also selling a 6.1 billion-euro ($7.2 billion) portfolio of bad debt as it seeks to cut its non-performing loan ratio by more than half. Pacific Investment Management Co. and a consortium backed by Bain Capital are among preliminary bidders for the assets, people with knowledge of the matter have said. The loans are a legacy of the countrys decade-long debt crisis, which saw economic output fall by around 25% and unemployment reach as high as 30%.

With assistance from Paul Tugwell.

Copyright 2021 Bloomberg.

Topics Mergers
A company has been fined over $74,000 for improperly sending asbestos-tainted debris to a landfill in Southern Oregon.

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality described the violations as major magnitude violations, but said the problems have since been properly abated and removed, The Mail Tribune reported.

The state fined BACH Land Development for improperly clearing a dozen manufactured home sites containing asbestos after last years fires between late November and early December and conducting an unlicensed asbestos abatement project at Medford Estates.

The company has until April 4 to contest the fine.

BACH Land Development is not, and has never been licensed by DEQ as an asbestos abatement contractor, according to findings of fact surrounding the improper cleanups before staff at the Dry Creek Landfill refused the companys loads Dec. 7 because of improper documentation that failed to state whether it contained asbestos.

The refusal by the landfill prompted DEQ inspections in December at Medford Estates.

By Dec. 17, the contractor had properly sealed all involved piles of debris containing asbestos, and by late January had hired DEQ licensed subcontractor Asbestos Control Group to mark and properly dispose of all involved debris, according to DEQ.

BACH Land Development has had no prior violations, according to DEQ.

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Training Development Oregon Contractors
Three-dimensional rendering of the left lung of a study participant with tuberculosis, showing airspace cavities in blue and lesions in yellow. Credit: Y.L. Xie et al., Science Translational Medicine (2021)

In clinical trials, a time-honored but old-school way to determine if TB is being knocked out by antibiotics involves having study participants cough up phlegm for a sputum culture, a test that can gauge whether the bacteria are succumbing toor resistingtreatment.

Sputum cultures are widely used to determine the amount of active bacteria among trial participants. They are also collected routinely in clinic and hospital diagnoses of TB. Phlegm, or sputum, is the thick, viscous substance secreted by mucous membranes in the respiratory tract.

But scientists are challenging the use of sputum cultures in clinical trials of TB drugs because emerging evidence suggests the cumbersome sputum test is less reliable than state-of-the-art imaging technologya real-time view of the infection under the pressure of potent medications. Although no one is questioning the value of sputum tests in the routine diagnosis of TB, scientists now say the phlegm cultures may be inadequate as a testing method in TB drug trials.

Indeed, in an international study that explored how well drug therapy was annihilating active tuberculosis, imaging tools provided the best method of assessing the effectiveness of powerful antibiotics as the drugs attacked active tuberculosis in participants' lungs. The research ran for 14 days involving tests of individual drugs and combination-drug therapy.

"Monitoring bacterial counts in the sputum of individuals with tuberculosis during two weeks of drug treatment is a key part of developing new TB drugs. However, such studies do not always correlate with the clinical response seen during a full six-month drug regimen," wrote Dr. Yingda L. Xie, lead author of a report published in Science Translational Medicine. "The rate of change in sputum bacterial load over time provides an informative, but imperfect, estimate of drug activity.

"Quantitating radiological responses to drug treatment provided comparative single-drug and combination-drug activity measures across lung lesion types that correlated more closely with established clinical outcomes," according to Xie.

She and an international group of collaborators hailed from major academic centers throughout the United States and TB research institutes in South Africa. Xie studies TB in the division of infectious diseases at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School. Although the study involved only 160 patients, its aim was to provide answers that will help overcome an obstacle that has dogged TB drug research for yearsfinding more precise ways to measure drug effectiveness in clinical trials.

As shocking as it may seem, the core antibiotics in the TB treatment regimen range between 54 and 75 years old, having been discovered between 1946 and 1967 and remaining in use as key therapeutics to this day. Although other antibiotics, such as bedaquiline, delamanid and pretomanid have emerged in recent years as important medications aimed at multi-drug resistant TB, the new study makes a strong case for what's hoped will be two important advances in the not-too-distant future: Better methods of testing research participants in drug studies and acknowledging the urgent need to develop new drugs to treat TB. Patients with active tuberculosis are in desperate need of additional medications that can effectively address the disease, public health experts at the World Health Organization say.

PET and CT scans showing inflammation and the effects of pyrazinamide in the lungs of a patient with tuberculosis. Credit: Y.L. Xie et al., Science Translational Medicine (2021)

Findings by Xie and her colleagues suggest common imaging techniques, such as PET and CT scans, provide a keener and more accurate assessment of the bactericidalkilling activityof antibiotics. These forms of imaging were superior to so-called enumeration, which essentially involves evaluating from the sputum culture how much of the bacteria declined or didn't decline after drug therapy. "The PET/CT findings correlated better with the clinical response to TB drugs than did bacterial counts in sputum," according to Xie.

Discovering ways to better conduct tuberculosis drug studies, and thus ultimately improve treatment, moves doctors and patients one step closer to the larger goal of ending the global scourge altogether. Eliminating TB is a major objective of WHO, which calls its tuberculosis eradication program, End TB. The disease is a worldwide threat with more than 9 million new infections annually. Although overshadowed by the COVID-10 pandemic since the winter of 2020, tuberculosis has been a formidable cause of global death for centuries. An estimated 1.4 million people died of TB in 2019, the most recent year for complete WHO statistics.

One impediment to to quickly wiping the disease off the planet is the persistence of deadly multi-drug resistant strains. Another major problem is the inability of some patients to tolerate the six-month treatment regimen, a situation that causes some patients to shrug off treatment midstream, a factor that drives the proliferation of multi-drug resistant TB.

In the research conducted by Xie and her team, meanwhile, all patients in the study underwent 2-deoxy-2-fluoro-d-glucose positron emission tomography (PET) and computerized tomography (CT), receiving the scans at the beginning and end of the 14-day drug treatment protocol. An analysis of patients' radiological data allowed the team to compare single drug doses and combination therapy involving multiple types of lung lesions.

Drugs administered in the research included old pharmaceutical standbys, such as isoniazid, which was approved in the by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 1952. Rifampicin, another older medication, was approved in Italy in the mid-1960s and in the United States in 1971. Study participants additionally were administered newer medications, such as moxifloxacin and pyrazinamide. Some drugs were prescribed individually, others in combination. Moxifloxacin is a fluoroquinolone that has become an important medication aimed at the treatment of a wide range of infections, including TB.

"Rifampicin and rifampicin-containing drug combinations were most effective in reducing both lung lesion volume measured by CT imaging and lesion-associated inflammation measured by PET imaging," Xie wrote. "Moxifloxacin was not superior to rifampicin in any measure by PET/CT imaging [which is] consistent with its performance in recent phase 3 clinical trials. PET/CT imaging revealed synergy between isoniazid and pyrazinamide and demonstrated that the activity of pyrazinamide was limited to lung lesions."

Tuberculosis has persisted as a global pandemic throughout the cavalcade of recorded human history. Descriptions of what clearly can be interpreted to be tuberculosis are documented in the Old Testament in both Deuteronomy and Leviticus. More obvious evidence of TB as a plague among humankind occurred many millennia before the Old Testament. Egyptian mummies' bones, in some instances, bear the telltale signs of metastatic TB.

Tuberculosis is an airbone bacterial infection caused by the bacillus Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Infection can occur by inhaling contaminated droplets dispersed into the environment through coughing and sneezing by someone with active TB. The most common form is pulmonary TB which affects the lungs. In some instances the infection can infiltrate the lymphatic system as well as the joints and bones.

Explore further Antibiotic could be repurposed and added to tuberculosis treatment arsenal

More information: Yingda L. Xie et al. Fourteen-day PET/CT imaging to monitor drug combination activity in treated individuals with tuberculosis, Science Translational Medicine (2021). Journal information: Science Translational Medicine Yingda L. Xie et al. Fourteen-day PET/CT imaging to monitor drug combination activity in treated individuals with tuberculosis,(2021). DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.abd7618

 2021 Science X Network
North Korea on Friday said that it test-fired two new tactical guided missiles a day earlier.

"The newly developed new-type tactical guided projectile is a weapon system whose warhead weight has been improved to be 2.5 tons," the official [North] Korean Central News Agency said. The two missiles "accurately hit the target" in waters 600 km off the East Coast, it added.

A day earlier the Joint Chiefs of Staff here responded timidly to the launches, which are banned under UN sanctions.

"The military detected two short-range projectiles that were fired into the East Sea from Hamju, North Hamgyong Province at around 7:06 a.m. and 7:25 a.m," a JCS spokesman said. He added that U.S. and South Korean intelligence officials were analyzing detailed specifications.

Only four hours later did the JCS admit that the projectiles were tactical ballistic missiles and added that they traveled a distance of 450 km at an altitude of 60 km.
Steve and Leticia are a high performing team that work incredibly hard to support their clients to achieve their goals, commented Paul Carlson, Co-founder of Seventy2 Capital. We are excited to support their client needs in our high energy, results oriented culture at Seventy2 Capital.

Seventy2 Capital, a fast-growing, independent wealth management practice in the Washington  Baltimore region is pleased to welcome two experienced team members who recently joined from Merrill Lynch. Steve Otten, CFP, Vice President and Financial Advisor, and Leticia Murakami, Client Service Associate, will be located in its Bethesda, MD office and will reunite with fellow Merrill Lynch alum, Don Dearie, who joined the team in October. Leticia will work alongside them as part of the Client Service team.

Im excited to forge my own path in this business while knowing that I have the backing and resources of the Seventy2 Capital team, says Otten. Over the last 15 years, I have built a successful practice but feel that now is the opportune time to join an entrepreneurial, independent platform that helping me build my practice and better serve my clients ahead of other interests.

Steve and Leticia are a high performing team that work incredibly hard to support their clients to achieve their goals, commented Paul Carlson, Co-founder of Seventy2 Capital. We are excited to support their client needs in our high energy, results oriented culture at Seventy2 Capital.

Steve is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER  professional and holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the University of Maryland at College Park. Leticia previously held the position of Registered Senior Wealth Management Client Associate and holds a Bachelors degree in Business Administration from New York Universitys Stern School of Business. For more on Steve and Leticia, please visit: https://www.seventy2capital.com/our-team.1.html.

About Seventy2 Capital Wealth Management

Seventy2 Capital Wealth Management is an independent, private client practice headquartered in Bethesda, MD with $1 billion in assets under management (AUM). With decades of combined experience at some of Wall Street's largest firms, advisors specialize in addressing the unique needs of Fortune 500 executives, successful individuals and affluent families, and small to medium-sized businesses. Seventy2 Capitals commitment to maintaining the highest standards of care and professionalism in serving clients has earned its advisors some of the most advanced designations including the CIMA, CFP, CAIA, CRPC and CRPS and national industry awards. The practice has also been recognized as one of the 2019 and 2020 Best Places to Work in the Greater Washington Area by the Washington Business Journal. http://www.seventy2capital.com.



The Greater Washington Area Best Places to Work award program determined by surveys that went directly to employees who answered a series of questions, ranked across 5 categories such as fun, collaborative, culture, compensation and benefits offerings and other amenities as well as management practices

About Wells Fargo Advisors Financial Network

For 19 years, Wells Fargo Advisors Financial Network, the independent brokerage arm of Wells Fargo & Company, has simplified independence by partnering with successful financial advisors and fostering a mutual passion for doing what's right for clients. As of January 1, 2020, Wells Fargo Advisors Financial Network has grown to operate nationwide with 1,320 owners and advisors in 602 practices administering over $125 billion in client assets. Investment products and services are offered through Wells Fargo Advisors Financial Network, LLC Member SIPC, a separate registered broker-dealer and non-bank affiliate of Wells Fargo & Company. http://www.wfafinet.com

Seventy2 Capital Wealth Management is a separate entity from Wells Fargo Advisors Financial Network, LLC. CAR-0321-04063

iAs of August 2020

MEDIA CONTACT:

Brandy Corcoran Carlson

info@seventy2capital.com

301-298-2230
A Lancaster County couple became the target of a road rage incident in North Carolina on Thursday, leaving a woman dead, according to officials.

The Robeson County Sheriffs Department released a statement Thursday saying Julie Eberly, 47, of Manheim, was shot through the passenger door of the vehicle she shared with her husband Ryan Eberly.

He was the driver and was not injured. She died at the hospital.

This was an innocent family from Pennsylvania headed to the beach for a vacation, Sheriff Burnis Wilkins said in a statement. Thankfully they had left their six children at home with grandparents but now these kids have to live with the thought of their mother being murdered in such a cowardly and senseless way. My heart goes out to this family and I ask that everyone reading this stop and pray for this entire family.

The pair were traveling on Interstate 95, near Exit 22 north of Lumberton, around 11:40 a.m., the sheriffs office said.

Through the early stages of the investigation, investigators learned the Eberlys vehicle came close to the suspects vehicle as they merged into a lane, the sheriffs office said. The suspects vehicle then drove up alongside the Eberlys passenger side.

The suspect rolled down his window and fired multiple shots into the passenger side, one of which hit Julie Eberly, according to the sheriffs office.

Witnesses to the shooting said the suspect sped away, exiting the interstate at Exit 22 and crossing into Lumberton, the sheriffs office said.

The suspect vehicle is described as a Chevrolet Malibu or Impala, possibly a 2010 model, that is silver or grey in color. It has tinted windows and may have chrome around the window frame.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Robeson County Sheriffs Office at 910-671-3170 or email sheriff@robesoncoso.org.

Read more on PennLive:
Kay Cole James, president of The Heritage Foundation, in a file photo. (Courtesy of The Heritage Foundation)

Conservative Heritage Foundation Turns Down Six-Figure Donations From Google, Facebook

Conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation has declined donations from Google and Facebook because of the companies censoring of persons and groups with conservative points of view.

Outgoing foundation president Kay C. James sent letters to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Google CEO Sundar Pichai explaining that the Heritage Foundation could not in good conscience accept money from companies that suppress conservative speech and content.

Heritage turned down a $225,000 donation from Google and returned a $150,000 donation from Facebook in October 2020.

James made it clear to the Big Tech companies that her organization is assisting Congress to revise antitrust laws, which currently protects the companies from liability for content published on their platforms.

Heritage is in the midst of reviewing these proposals, and the last thing we need is for anyone to think that our conclusions have in any way been influenced by a relatively small donation from your company, she wrote.

The letters to Zuckerberg and Pichai came a day before the CEOs of Big Tech gave testimony before the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Thursday.

While the federal government has a handful of antitrust laws they have introduced, state-level officials have also begun holding the Big Tech companies to account, with many governors and attorney generals filing lawsuits and changing policies to rein in the companies and require more transparency in their user policies.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a multistate lawsuit against Google, alleging antitrust violations and deceptive acts by the tech giant, with five additional states and territories recently joining his states effort: Alaska, Florida, Montana, Nevada, and Puerto Rico. States already named on the lawsuit include Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Utah.

Similarly, Florida has also proposed measures that could penalize social media companies if they de-platform candidates during an election. The legislation would fine companies $100,000 a day until the candidates access to the platform is restored.

Meanwhile, in her letter to Zuckerberg, James cited some recent incidents of censorship bias suffered by conservatives.

The Heritage Foundation has all too often fallen victim to Facebooks double standard. Referrals to our Daily Signal news site, for example, have plunged from 600,000 sessions in July to a mere 105,000 so far in Oct., she wrote, requesting that the CEO explain the decrease in their traffic.

James did not spare Googles CEO either. She told Pichai that his company has twice censored The Heritage Foundations videos.

Most recently, you added a prominent label to our election integrity video that was clearly meant to cast doubt on the credibility of our well-sourced claims about the risks of voting by mail, she wrote.

Youve in effect handed discriminatory authority to a group that is biased against our view on election fraud. Our detailed complaint to Susan Wojcicki was met with a shrug, she added. Wojcicki is the CEO of YouTube.

Axios reported that in the past, Google had donated $1.55 million to The Heritage Foundation while Facebook gave $275,000.

Janita Kan contributed to this report.
Amaravati, March 26 : Andhra Pradesh logged 984 new Covid-19 cases on Friday, while its active case tally breached the 4,000-mark to reach 4,145.

After several days, the southern state logged 900 or more cases on a single day. The new cases took its tally to over 8.96 lakh, while 306 persons recovered from the disease in the last 24 hours to raise the total number of recoveries to over 8.85 lakh.

Guntur district reported the highest number of cases at 176, followed by Visakhapatnam (170), Chittoor (163), Krishna (110), Nellore (89), Kurnool (54), East Godavari (49), Anantapur (46), Srikakulam (42), Kadapa (31), Prakasam (27), Vizianagaram (15) and West Godavari (12).

East Godavari's tally has crossed 1.25 lakh, the highest among all Andhra districts, while the state's positivity rate fell to 6.01 per cent, which is still higher than the national average of 4.9 per cent.

Meanwhile, two more persons succumbed to the virus in the past 24 hours, raising the state's Covid death toll to 7,203.

With 40,604 more tests, the total number of tests conducted in Andhra Pradesh crossed the 1.49 crore-mark.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Conservative MP Tom Tugendhat takes part in a meeting of a conservative research group in Westminster Hall in London on April 9, 2019. (Tolga Akmen/AFP via Getty Images)

China Sanctions UK Politicians, Lawyers in Retaliation for Xinjiang Measures

The Chinese regime announced on Friday it is imposing sanctions on British individuals and entities in retaliation for UK sanctions against Chinese officials responsible for the alleged abuse of Uyghurs in Xinjiang.

Britain announced sanctions on March 22 in coordination with the European Union, Canada, and the United States against Chinese officials over the alleged human rights abuses of Uyghur Muslims.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Friday it had summoned Britains ambassador to China to lodge solemn representations, expressing firm opposition and strong condemnation.

Beijing had decided to sanction nine individuals and four entities on the UK side that maliciously spread lies and disinformation, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said.

The MPs and other British citizens sanctioned by China today are performing a vital role shining a light on the gross human rights violations being perpetrated against Uyghur Muslims. Freedom to speak out in opposition to abuse is fundamental and I stand firmly with them.  Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) March 26, 2021

In response, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said, The MPs and other British citizens sanctioned by China today are performing a vital role shining a light on the gross human rights violations being perpetrated against Uyghur Muslims.

Freedom to speak out in opposition to abuse is fundamental and I stand firmly with them, he wrote on Twitter.

UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said in a statement: It speaks volumes that, while the UK joins the international community in sanctioning those responsible for human rights abuses, the Chinese government sanctions its critics.

If Beijing want to credibly rebut claims of human rights abuses in Xinjiang, it should allow the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights full access to verify the truth.

The nine UK individuals include five Conservative MPsTom Tugendhat, Iain Duncan Smith, Neil OBrien, Tim Loughton, and Nusrat Ghaniwho have been vocal about the Chinese regimes human rights abuses in Xinjiang.

Tugendhat, one of the targeted MPs, who chairs the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, responded on Twitter that Attempting to silence those elected by the British people is a direct assault of British democracy and our sovereignty.

Ghani said she wont be intimidated or silenced, and neither should the British government.

I will use my freedom to raise the plight of the Uyghur & I will take this sanction as badge of honour, she wrote on Twitter.

The list includes two members of the House of LordsLord David Alton, a cross-bencher, and Labour peer Baroness Helena Kennedy.

Also targeted was Sir Geoffrey Nice QC, who chaired the China Tribunal on forced organ harvesting and is now leading a tribunal investigating Beijings treatment of the Uyghurs.

In addition, a British academicJoanne Nicola Smith Finley from Newcastle Universitywas subjected to the measures.

It seems I am to be sanctioned by the PRC (Chinese) government for speaking the truth about the #Uyghur tragedy in #Xinjiang, and for having a conscience. Well, so be it. I have no regrets for speaking out, and I will not be silenced. https://t.co/Mu3kvj9Jnx  Jo Smith Finley (@j_smithfinley) March 26, 2021

Finley wrote on Twitter: It seems I am to be sanctioned by the PRC (Chinese) government for speaking the truth about the #Uyghur tragedy in #Xinjiang, and for having a conscience. Well, so be it. I have no regrets for speaking out, and I will not be silenced.

The entities targeted include the China Research Group, established by a group of Conservative MPs to reshape the UKs China policy; the Conservative Human Rights Commission; and Essex Court Chambers, which issued a legal opinion in February that the available evidence credibly establishes that crimes against humanity and the crime of genocide have been committed in Beijings treatment of Uyghurs, according to the Global Legal Action Network.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry said the sanctioned individuals and their immediate family members are prohibited from entering mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macao, and their property in China, if any, will be frozen.

The regime has already sanctioned EU individuals in retaliation for EU sanctions against Chinese officials. It said on March 22 it had decided to impose sanctions on European lawmakers, the EUs main foreign policy decision-making body known as the Political and Security Committee, and two institutes.

Reuters contributed to this report.
Boulder (Colo.) Police Chief Maris Herold said she still cannot explain why a 21-year-old suspect opened fire at a King Soopers grocery store, killing a police officer and three employees, among others, earlier this week.

"We still don't have those answers," she said at a Friday news conference.

Herold said authorities still are not sure why Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa targeted the King Soopers store, which was more than 30 miles from the suspect's residence.

"It will be something haunting to all of us, until we figure that out," Herold said.

She said Alissa purchased the AR-556 pistol used in the attack legally at a gun store in Arvada, Colo., about 30 minutes from the grocery store, last week.

Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty also spoke at the news conference Friday morning. Dougherty vowed authorities will continue to work vigorously to uncover a motive for the attack.

"I think the victims' families and the community are desperate to know the motive," Dougherty said. "We want to know the motive and that is going to be our focus going forward."

He said that officers responding to the initial 911 calls on Monday faced "a very significant amount of gunfire" from the shooter.

Boulder and University of Colorado police officers charged into the store "very, very quickly," and "their actions saved other civilians from being killed," he said.

Dougherty and Herold said that one of the officers who responded to the scene shot Alissa in the leg, and that the officer has been put on administrative leave, which is standard procedure in Boulder. The pair said the officer's actions are being reviewed by a team of experts.

Alissa appeared in court for the first time Thursday, where a judge ruled that he would be held without bail.

Alissa's lawyers asked to delay the next status hearing in the case for two to three months, saying "we cannot do anything until we are able to fully assess Mr. Alissa's mental illness."

The judge granted the request and called for a recess after roughly six minutes. Alissa did not enter a plea, but will do so later in the judicial process.

Alissa, from Arvada, has been charged with 10 counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted first-degree murder for his alleged shooting rampage of the King Soopers store.

The Boulder County district attorney's office said in a news release that "additional charges would be filed in the weeks ahead."

- - -

The Washington Post's Mark Berman contributed to this report.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 25)  A health officer from the Bicol Region assured on Thursday that the thousands of AstraZeneca vaccine doses they sent back to the Department of Health are in good condition despite the container's defective thermometer.

Dr. Rita Mae Ang-Bon, coordinator of the DOH Bicol COVID-19 vaccine program, said the 7,500 COVID-19 vaccine doses made by Oxford-AstraZeneca had to be sent back to Metro Manila based on protocol because the temperature monitoring device it came with malfunctioned.

She said the device registered 400 degrees Celsius or beyond boiling point. But when they touched the vaccine vials, they were still cold. Upon using a different thermometer, it showed that the sensitive vaccines were transported in the temperature of 4 degrees Celsius.

AstraZeneca doses are supposed to be stored and transported at normal refrigerated temperature of 2 degrees to 8 degrees Celsius.

"These vaccines are in good condition," Ang-Bon told CNN Philippines. "Ang problem lang dito is the temperature monitoring device na kasama sa vaccine transport box."

[Translation: The only problem was the monitoring device included in the vaccine transport box.

"We are just following protocol because upon receipt nasa 400 degrees centigrade ang lumabas na temperature so ang vaccines ay hindi namin ni-release for distribution sa Bicol Region," she also said.

[Translation: We are just following protocol because upon receipt it registered 400 degrees Celsius, so we did not release it for distribution.]

The returned batch was part of the 22,000 doses of AstraZeneca shots delivered to the Bicol Region on March 10. The rest of the doses were distributed across the region.

The official said the returned vaccines can still be used because they were shipped in the required temperature.

"As long as the vaccines are kept in that temperature, we are assured of the potency of the vaccines," Ang-Bon explained. "Kapag tinurok ito [Once this is injected], it will use the desired effect."

The Health Department also assured that the 7,500 doses will not go to waste amid limited supplies reaching the country.

The Philippines has so far inoculated 508,332 individuals since it began its vaccination program on March 1.
Honda has today confirmed that it has sold its Swindon vehicle production facility in Swindon.

The car maker is due to cease manufacturing of the Civic hatchback at the plant in July and on Friday has confirmed the factory has been purchased by logistics firm Panattoni.

The company, which is among Europe's largest developer of new-build industrial and logistics facilities, says it will invest more than 700million into the site.

Honda Swindon sold: The UK's fifth biggest car maker has confirmed it has sold its Wiltshire factory, with production due to end in the summer

Panattoni, which was first established in the US in 1986, has previously constructed and developed large-scale sites for businesses including Amazon and Sainsbury's.

It will take control of the site from spring 2022, giving Honda enough time to wind down production of cars and clear the facility.

Assembly of the Civic is due to end in July, though the site will then have to undergo a full decommissioning schedule - leaving the site 'in a responsible way, with a sustainable legacy for Swindon' - that will take months before the keys are handed over to the new owner.

Panettoni says it will begin its redevelopment plans as soon as it takes control of the Swindon site.

Jason Smith, director at Honda of the UK Manufacturing, said: 'We are pleased to have identified a capable new owner of the site. From our engagement with Panattoni and initial discussions with Swindon Borough Council, we are confident that the new owner can bring the development forward in a commercially timely fashion and generate exciting prospects for Swindon and the wider community.'

Japanese car maker Honda announced two years ago the closure of its Swindon car plant, putting 3,500 jobs at risk

Honda announced in 2019 that the Swindon facility will be closed once the existing Civic comes to the end of its production cycle. That date is July 2021, though the car maker will spend months decommissioning the factory before handing over the keys

Honda confirmed on Friday it had sold the site to logistics firm Panattoni, which has promised a 700million investment in the location once they move in

James Watson, development director at the new owners, added: 'Panattoni is committing to invest over 700 million into the site to attract new employers and provide for existing businesses looking to expand in Swindon.

'We will be working very closely with Honda and Swindon Borough Council, along with the community and its representatives to regenerate the site.'

Honda has owned the 370-acre Swindon site since 1985.

Having previously been an airfield, the site was converted to a car production facility and was operational within 12 months.

It was originally used to carry out pre-delivery inspections on engines before powerplant production started in 1989.

Three years later in 1992 it began manufacturing of vehicles, with the Honda Accord family saloon being the first UK-made model. Since then, Honda Swindon has produced Jazz supermini, CR-V SUV, Civic family car and Civic Type R hot hatch.

In 2015, Honda Swindon celebrated production of its three millionth car. However, in 2019, it announced it would end production of the Civic at the end of the current model's cycle (2021) and move operations back to Japan.

Honda has owned the 370-acre Swindon site since 1985. Having previously been an airfield, the site was converted to a car production facility and was operational within 12 months

Vehicle manufacturing has taken place at the factory since 1992, with models including the Accord family saloon, Jazz supermini, CR-V SUV, Civic family car and Civic Type R hot hatch (pictured) assembled at the plant

The Honda plant in Swindon, Wiltshire is pictured in a file photo from 1998

Honda was the UK's fifth biggest car maker in 2020, producing a total of 69,366 Civics.

That output figure was severely restricted by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, with the Swindon plant building 108,876 examples in 2019.

Honda of the UK manufacturing employed some 3,500 staff before the closure was announced two years ago.

Susie Kemp, chief executive of Swindon Borough Council, said: 'The new opportunities outlined by Panattoni will be a major step in Swindons rejuvenation following Hondas exit.

'Their investment offers a significant boost to the local economy and we are excited by the prospect of this redevelopment creating thousands of jobs for Swindon and the surrounding area.

'We already have a strong working relationship with Panattoni following their recent development of the adjacent site, Symmetry Park, and look forward to working with them over the next year. We understand that Hondas key aim was to identify a responsible new owner and I believe todays announcement demonstrates that.'
[March 26, 2021] Renewable Energy Leader, Vision Solar, Poised to Create 1,000 Green Jobs

Vision Solar, one of the fastest growing residential solar energy companies in the United States, celebrated the opening of its new flagship facility in Blackwood, NJ with a ribbon-cutting ceremony this past weekend. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210326005059/en/ From left to right: VP of Marketing - John Czelusniak, Executive Assistant to CRO - Grace Grussenmeyer, VP of Sales - Fred Sorbello, In-House Counsel - Josh Grajewski, CEO - Jonathan Seibert, VP of Inside Sales - Matt Anderton, Washington Township Mayor Joann Gattinelli, Councilmember - Dre Dougherty, Executive P - Ryan Benko, CRO (Chief Revenue Officer) - Mike Eden, Economic Development Consultant Township of Washington - Nancy Mozzachio, CIO - Greg Young, CFO - Faraz Khan, Communications - Ellen Granson (photo credit: Michael Martin)



A full-service renewable energy company, Vision Solar sells, installs, and maintains residential solar powered electricity systems across New Jersey as well as in Pennsylvania, Arizona, Massachusetts, and Florida. Following more than $100M in sales revenues in 2020, Vision Solar expects revenues to grow to $150M in 2021 as it adds more than 600 jobs to its workforce, chiefly in New Jersey. The company is rapidly expanding, with offices to open in Connecticut, Arizona, Texas, and two additional locations in Florida in 2021, and in Puerto Rico in 2022.

"We are proud to be able to give back to people in our community by providing good green jobs for workers, and by helping homeowners establish a smaller carbon footprint and lessen their impact on the environment," said Mike Eden, Chief Revenue Officer and Blackwood native. Vision Solar has provided opportunities for energy savings and a reduced carbon footprint to New Jersey customers since 2018. Growing at a projected rate of 168%, the company expects to add more than 1,000 green jobs to the region by the end of 2022. "Our dedication to the community is underscored by the hundreds of high paying jobs that Vision Solar is set to create," said Blackwood born and raised Jonathan Seibert, Vision Solar Chief Executive Officer. "Many of these jobs will be based out of our Blackwood headquarters and provide our employees with an exciting new career path." The new facility, Vision Solar's second in Blackwood, will serve as the company's national headquarters, housing its executive offices as well as sales and training divisions. Washington Township Mayor Joann Gattinelli cut the ribbon of the company's new headquarters. "As the mayor of a town recognized at the Silver Level by Sustainable Jersey, I am proud to see former members of our community return to Washington Township and bring their green business and job opportunities with them," said Joann Gattinelli, Washington Township Mayor. "Opening a business here, during these challenging times, speaks to the drive of Vision Solar's leadership. We are excited for them and look forward to supporting their journey." To learn more about Vision Solar, please visit: https://visionsolar.llc/. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210326005059/en/

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Dhaka, Mar 26 (UNI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived here on Friday on a two-day visit to take part in the golden jubilee celebrations of Bangladesh's independence and the birth centenary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

As the Prime Minister touched down, he was received by his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka. Later, he was accorded Guard of Honour upon his arrival.

Notably, this is the Prime Minister's first foreign visit after the onset of Covid pandemic.

Mr Modi is scheduled to take part in various programmes and strengthen cooperation between the two nations.

Mr Modi on Thursday had expressed happiness for his visit and said that India's partnership with Bangladesh is an important pillar of Neighbourhood First policy. "We are committed to further deepen and diversify it," he said.

UNI JAL ASN 1047
One thing we can say definitively about Jim OCallaghan is that after two decades in public life he has at last ceased being known mainly as Miriams brother.

Whether he will be the next leader of Fianna Fail, and eventually Taoiseach, is far less certain. This week he pumped up the volume in his eight-month-old campaign to take the leadership reins and rescue the Soldiers of Destiny from their slide towards terminal decline.

Few people realise that the 53-year-old south Dublin barrister has spent nearly 20 years in active politics, beginning with an unsuccessful attempt to win a National University of Ireland seat in the Seanad in July 2002. He stood three times for Dublin city council, twice with success, and three times for the Dail, also with two successes.

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But most media references to him inevitably carried the tag, also a brother of RTE presenter Miriam. One of his electoral forays, his second and successful bid for a Dublin city council seat in June 2009, pitted him against the brother of another RTE star, Garrett Tubridy.

It happened as Ryan Tubridy took over The Late Late Show, a stellar slot to which Miriam OCallaghans name had also been linked. For some pundits, this was a proxy re-run of the RTE glittering prize contest, only this time the OCallaghan clan won.

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Tall, soft-spoken and patrician-looking, Jim OCallaghan is the classic posh Fianna Failer that the party has favoured for the leafy Dublin southern suburbs, where Fine Gael support has long been the default position of many.

The son of Kerry-born Jerry OCallaghan, who finished his civil service career with the rank of principal officer, Jim grew up close near Cornelscourt shopping centre.

Schooled by the Jesuits at Gonzaga College, an institution that has produced a high proportion of political heavy-hitters, he combined studiousness with a flair for rugby.

He represented University College Dublin, Cambridge University, London Irish and Wanderers, along with the Ireland under-21s.

His legal studies, at UCD and Kings Inns, were garnished by a masters in criminology at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, where he returned this week to deliver his deepest thoughts on what shape a united Ireland might take.

He came to politics via the Law Library, where he was a protege of former attorney-general Rory Brady, with whom he did practical court training.

Brady, who died in 2010, was a big influence on OCallaghan both in law and politics. Others in the politico-legal world to whom he was close included former justice minister, John ODonoghue and the late Eamon Leahy, the husband of Fianna Fail minister Mary Hanafin. He represented Bertie Ahern at the Mahon Tribunal and in a libel action against Denis Starry OBrien.

His standing as a Fianna Fail lawyer was recognised by an embattled new party leader, Micheal Martin, in early February 2011 as the party faced electoral meltdown.

Martin named OCallaghan, then just a city councillor, as legal adviser to the Fianna Fail front bench. Luckily for OCallaghan, he was not a candidate in the calamitous Dail election later that month.

Critics of his lofty national ambitions point to the number of times he has scraped home in elections. Last time he limped into the final seat, shy of the quota, slightly increasing his vote on his first Dail success in 2016.

This, and lack of ministerial experience, feed doubt about his ambitions to redirect and galvanise Fianna Fail.

But supporters counter that he has fielded in difficult times for the party nationally, in electoral areas that have not often been a natural stronghold for the party.

One ally insists that he is slogging away locally and building a base in Dublin Bay South that will show long-term results.

Adversaries in other parties speak highly of him, noting that, unlike some others, he is unfailingly courteous and correct in his approach to politics. However, some within his own party and outside it ponder whether he is too naive for the big bad world of high-level politics.

Supporters say the falling out with his party leader dates from December 2018, when Martin renewed the confidence-and-supply arrangement with Fine Gael.

Though a Dail newcomer in spring 2016, OCallaghan was among those who negotiated the arrangement. He was notably not on the Fianna Fail coalition negotiating team in 2020 and it was no surprise when he did not get one of the partys seven slots around the cabinet table.

He refused a junior ministry on law reform, opting for the backbenches to speak his mind and devote attentions to the party. OCallaghan later railed at Fianna Fails failure to get justice or foreign affairs portfolios.

His stated party focus would be cultivating a younger membership, with liberal and left-leaning policies. These days he also appears more open to the idea of coalescing with Sinn Fein.

Then again, that is the position of many within Fianna Fail, and even Micheal Martin softened his obduracy on the issue in an interview with this newspaper in January.

But those with a longer memory will recall OCallaghan denouncing the possibility of a Fianna Fail-Sinn Fein alliance in the days following last years general election.

Again critics say he has also devoted an undue amount of time to his legal work.

One notes how he was heard to ask colleagues soon after his election in 2016: How do you live on this salary?

Supporters counter that double-jobbing is not unknown at Leinster House.

He has also been refusing a lot of legal work over the past four years, one them says. They add that accusations of aloofness are really about a certain reserve and shyness.

It brings us to the key questions. Can he replace Micheal Martin? And can he rescue Fianna Fail?

The answer to the first is that he is a contender but nothing can be taken for granted  either on the timing of Martins departure or winning a vote by party members.

Rivals may include Housing Minister Darragh OBrien and Public Expenditure Minister Michael McGrath.

The longer-term fortunes of Fianna Fail are even less certain. The danger is that the partys next leader may not have much to lead.
The Assyrian King's Earring

(BBC) -- If you want big answers, start small. Take, for example, the sprawling sculpted slabs of ancient alabaster known as the Lion Hunt of Ashurbanipal. At first glance, the 7th-Century BC gypsum panels, which once adorned the walls of a royal palace in Nineveh, Upper Mesopotamia, are a confusing chaos of arrows splitting muscle. But beyond the surface narrative of majestic might conveyed by the exquisite sculptures, which portray the Assyrian King Ashurbanipal (now on horseback, now in a chariot) proudly slaughtering pride after pride of snarling lions, it might be difficult for any casual observer of the bas reliefs to discern any larger aesthetic or spiritual message from this brutal ballet of poised spears and frozen roars.

What's it all about? It's certainly not what it at first purports to be, a celebration of the king's success in defeating an onslaught of lions in the wild. (A pair of panels revealing the carefully choreographed release of the creatures from cages puts paid to that propaganda, hinting that the reliefs are an archaic form of fake news.) Though there is little doubting the ferocious finesse of the forgotten artist responsible for this miracle of chisel and sweat, what our eyes long for is a hook or aperture amid the leonine bloodbath through which to glimpse the work's deeper meanings.

And then you see it, dangling conspicuously just below the ear of the king himself in one of the work's most dramatic scenes: a garish trinket as transfixing in its suggestive potential as the overblown gem that hovers beside the porcelain cheek of Johannes Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring -- that single decisive detail that unlocks the secret symbolism of this overpowering masterpiece. The ancient artist who designed the lion hunt reliefs has taken great care to articulate the shape and texture of the oversized earring that hangs from Ashurbanipal's left lobe in what historians call The Arrow Scene (one of four principal sculpted episodes that include The Lance Scene, The Dagger Scene and The Preparation Scene). The piece of jewellery is so sharp and palpable in its sculptural description, one senses that the king might well, at any moment, drop his bow altogether, rip the earring loose, and fling it like a makeshift Ninja weapon at his feline foes.

In a scene of fierce and formidable action -- of taut reins, raining arrows, and slanting spears -- this seemingly innocuous decoration unexpectedly holds its own and manages to command our attention. Far from incidental, the arresting piece of jewellery, which bursts from the borders of itself with piercing radiance like a celestial orb, transforms the static action from a callous chronicle of recurring cruelty, however impeccably wrought, to something more sympathetically mythic: a meditation on the interconnectedness of all things. To understand how that object functions, we must first remind ourselves of the surface contours of the alabaster reliefs and the pioneering achievement of the anonymous craftsman who created them more than two millennia ago.

Were it not for a sustained stretch of soggy weather in Mesopotamia in the middle of the 7th Century BC, these captivating carvings might never have come about. Good for animal and vegetable alike, the irriguous conditions allowed lions to flourish in the lush hills that surround what was the city of Nineveh, the epicentre of Assyrian civilisation and culture. As the lions grew exponentially in number, their fearsome roar became an aspect of daily life. So too did their appetite. Livestock and the farmers who raised it were increasingly the target of the lions' hunger and aggression. "Corpses of men, cattle, and sheep," according to contemporary records, "lie in heaps as if the plague had killed them. Shepherds and herdsmen lament at what the lions had done. The villages are in mourning day and night."

So great was the threat to tranquillity that the lions posed, one of the chief responsibilities of Assyrian kings was to deal with the menace. To judge from the design of the Assyrian royal seal, which depicts the king in hand-to-claw combat with an erect lion, royal authority rose and fell in direct proportion to the king's ability to tackle the problem. Thus began the brutal pomp of the royal lion hunt and the emerging myth of the Assyrian king as vanquisher of the beasts.

When a new residence was built for the latest occupant of the Assyrian throne, King Ashurbanipal, who reigned from 699 to 631BC, an artist was commissioned to decorate the walls of the North Palace with reliefs that not merely chronicle the perennial campaigns to quell the lion scourge, but exalt the struggle. Taking 10 years to complete, the result was a tour de force of aesthetic innovation that would be lost to cultural history almost as quickly as it was finished.

Less than two decades after the work was completed in 635BC, Nineveh was sacked in 612BC by a coalition of former vassals that included Babylonians and Chaldeans, Persians and Scythians, burying the artistic treasure under rubble for 2000 years. Rediscovery of the forgotten reliefs was the remarkable achievement of a 19th-Century Iraqi Assyriologist, Hormuzd Rassam, who, between 1852 and 1854, oversaw their excavation and helped arrange their relocation to the British Museum, where they have been on display ever since. (The recent decision by the University of Aberdeen to return a Benin Bronze to Nigeria has put pressure on other British institutions that house colonially displaced treasures to send these objects back to the regions of their birth.) Occupying a gallery of their own that can be sauntered through on Google Maps at one's own pace (and at any hour), the fragmented panels are impossible to stroll (or scroll) past with indifference.

It's the arrows that strike you first. Now suspended in timeless sculpted air; now piercing the acrobatic eye of its untamed targets; now stony still, feathers to bowstring, pinched between the focused fingers of the king, the arrows propel the frozen action of the visual narrative forward. Like needles stitching together time, the suspended shafts exist simultaneously in the past, the present, and the future. They provide a storytelling logic to the king's continual reappearance in scene after scene.

It was precisely this sense of stop-motion splicing that caught the imagination of the 20th-Century American poet William Carlos Williams when he encountered the reliefs as a young man in the early 1920s. "See! Ashur-ban-i-pal", Williams writes in an early poem, cleverly echoing the flurry of flying and falling arrows that punctuate the reliefs with an excess of hyphens, dashes, and exclamation points, "the archer-king on horse-back... with drawn bow -- facing lions/standing on their hind legs,/fangs bared! his shafts/bristling in their necks!"

Williams captures the fantastical quality of the reliefs, how they portray an eternal instant when an arrow is at once yet-to-be-unleashed ("with drawn bow") while at the same time forever striking its target ("bristling in their necks!"). Here, time collapses. So too, in a sense, does the enmity between the slayer and the slain. It's almost as if the king and the lions he perpetually quells -- antagonists who are depicted by the ancient sculptor with at least as much heroism and sympathy as the august protagonist of the hunt -- occupy a realm outside of the here-and-now (or there-and-then) and are, in essence, less mortal adversaries than spiritual reflexes of each other, pulsations of the same mythic heart.

This is where the significance of Ashurbanipal's radiant earring reveals itself and becomes a crucial puzzle piece not merely in comprehending the complex relationship between these two complementary forces, the hunter and hunted, but in rescuing Ashurbanipal himself from eternal futility. After all, if the king is truly as mighty as the alabaster reliefs suggest, why do the lions keep coming back, panel after panel, year after year, reign after reign? The sculptor who conceived the aesthetic strategy for the carvings, in other words, faced a monumental conundrum in explaining how it is that an all-powerful ruler is incapable of defeating his foe once and for all -- a dilemma that the earring, and it alone in the iconography of the works, helps him overcome.

A symbol of lion and king

At first glance, the piece of jewellery appears to be little more than a deceptively simple solar symbol blossoming with barbed flares, an ornament accenting the king's incontestable brilliance. Look closer, and the beaming petals that shoot pointedly from the earring's centre echoes not just the sharpened arrowheads on which the king's power is conditioned but also the claws and teeth that threaten to overwhelm him. The earring is a kind of compound emblem, one that absorbs into itself the eternity of the refulgent sun, the invincibility of the king, and the formidableness of the forces that he and he alone is powerful enough to keep at bay.

There is every reason to suspect that contemporary observers of the gypsum reliefs would have recognised immediately the earring's double entendre -- its reference both to the weaponry of the hunt and that of its ferocious target. In Mesopotamian mythologies of the era, the sun was synonymous with the archer god Ashur, from whom the king's very name derives. Surviving stone medallions that predate the Lion Hunt panels portray a winged Ashur, bow in hand, encircled by and enthroned in the sun. Blurring into this connection between the sun and the archer and complicating it is an age-old association too between the sun and the lion, a link that dates back to the very inception of astrological signs millennia before Ashurbanipal's reign. "The ancient connection of the sun god with the lion," according to the folklorist Alexander Krappe, who was the first to translate the collected tales of the Brothers Grimm, "is reflected in the lore of the zodiac, unquestionably of Mesopotamian origin". The sun is read in arrows and claws.

Seen through the lens of the multivalent earring, the alabaster Lion Hunt is more than merely a chronicle of a single campaign to cull a persistent pest. It is the stuff of timeless myth, turning a failure to entirely defeat the lions into a glorious victory. Suddenly, easily overlooked flourishes introduced by the ancient sculptor into his masterpiece begin to make sense: the elegant little lion head whittled into the tip of Ashurbanipal's bow; the leonine armlets that clench the muscles of his attendants. The hunter and hunted define each other; they are coeternal cogs in the endless engine of existence. To exalt the king, the lion too must be apotheosised. However brutal the beastly battle between them, life itself relies on the struggle. The reliefs are making it clear that the king and the lion are one.
Residents at a Florida school board meeting shockingly defended slavery during a debate about renaming Robert E. Lee High School.

The Duval County School Board has proposed removing the Confederate general's name from the school in Jacksonville, CNN reported.

Board member Warren Jones wrote in the board's proposal that 'we must being the process of renaming all the schools named for a confederate soldier. This effort can help to heal a city that is fractured.'

But at a public meeting to discuss the renaming, some commenters in the audience hit out at the motion and appeared to defend slavery in America.

One man in the audience said: 'It says in the Bible, Jesus himself never condemned slavery. In fact, he said slaves have an obligation to obey their master.'

Video shows alumni and others making controversial comments during the meeting.

The Duval County School Board has proposed changing the name of Robert E. Lee High School in Jacksonville, Florida

The name of Robert E. Lee, the general who commanded the Confederate army during the American Civil War, still evokes an image of racism in the U.S.

A woman said: 'I was taught that the chiefs of the tribes in Africa sold their people into slavery. If it had not been that way, there would not have been and slaves anywhere in America... So don't blame Robert E. Lee. Maybe you should be after your ancestors.'

Another commenter said, 'Communism slowly destroys a nation by removing all icons, such as Aunt Jemima's face from pancake mix, Civil War statues, and other things like historical school names.'

Another wondered aloud, 'If this high school is having problems, how long has it been predominantly African American?'

Their comments were blasted by others in the audience, and online after footage of recent meetings was posted by student organization EVAC Movement on Twitter.

Robert E. Lee High School Senior Class President Deyona Burton, who is black, told audience members she understands 'the connection, the bond, the family and heritage that you feel is embodied in the name.'

'When the name is so blatantly disrespectful that you choose to downplay the horrific actions that happened under that general, that flag,' Burton said. 'I humbly ask that the name calling on both sides stop. That we look at history objectively and honestly, that we make room for change.'

School senior Chris St. Louis said the video comments made him 'feel uncomfortable, disgusted,' First Coast News reported.

St. Louis and other supporters of the name change said the names of the high school and others in the district are symbols of racism. The ongoing discussion about renaming the schools is a difficult but necessary process, they said.

Residents and students attended meetings to discuss the prosed name change of Robert E. Lee High School in Jacksonville, Florida

A white woman at one of the meetings condemned the comments of some other community members.

'I heard a lot of racist things as I stood because I think some of you good people thought I was one of you, but I am not,' she said. 'So I am here to say that all of this does make a difference. You are speaking from your white culture and your white self. And I ask you, take a deep breath.'

Another speaker, a white man, said the name was insulting to students from non-white ethnicities.

'The Lee name, tied as it must be to slavery, is an affront to all students of color that seek an education here,' he said. 'It clearly undermines their self-respect and dignity by conveying for all to see that they are descendants of second-class citizens. From that flows the implication that they, too, are second-class citizens. It's hard to imagine a more demoralizing tone set for students seeking to excel.'

Robert E. Lee High School Principal Timothy Feagins and Duval County School Board Chair Elizabeth Andersen and Vice Chair Darryl Willie have been approached for comment by DailyMail.com.

A Duval County schools spokesperson responded on behalf of the board and district Superintendent Diana Greene: Community input will help inform [Greene's] recommendation to the school board, and the school board will then discuss this in-depth as a formal action item. I am quite sure all of our board members will have much to say about this topic when it comes to them for formal action.

One commenter opposed to changing the school's name claimed, 'It says in the Bible, Jesus himself never condemned slavery. In fact, he said slaves have an obligation to obey their master'

Another commenter said, 'If this high school is having problems, how long has it been predominantly African American?'

A Twitter post demanded school board and department officials go on the record about their positions regarding a school name change and racist comments made in opposition to the proposal

Students as young as elementary school will be given the opportunity to cast ballots during the school day outside of instructional time on possible new names for schools in the district.

The affected schools in the Duval County system include J.E.B. Stuart Middle, Jefferson Davis Middle, Joseph Finegan Elementary, Kirby-Smith Middle and Stonewall Jackson Elementary.

Others who can vote until the end of March include residents living within the school's attendance zone, members of the Parent Teacher Association or School Advisory Council, school faculty and staff and alumni.

The results from the voting process do not determine the new name of the school, but the superintendent and school board plan to take the poll into consideration.

A final decision is expected in June.

The Duval County School Board is expected to make a decision on the name change in June

Last month, school leaders in San Francisco put the renaming of 44 schools on hold after coming under fire for prioritizing the issue over reopenings and using Wikipedia as a reference point to determine which names were racist.

In a statement president Gabriela Lopez acknowledged discussions on re-branding the institutions named after figures such as Abraham Lincoln and George Washington had been 'distracting' and 'mistakes have been made'.

The board first came under fire last month when it emerged committee members allegedly used references from Wikipedia and other non-scholarly sources to determine which personalities were racist and problematic.

Lopez, 30, said Sunday: 'Were canceling renaming committee meetings for the time being. We will be revising our plans to run a more deliberative process moving forward, which includes engaging historians at nearby universities to help.'

Parents and residents had become concerned when it emerged that historians had not been consulted by the renaming committee.

Instead, several citations used in the debate have now been proven to be factually incorrect, including a false claim that American poet James Russell Lowell did not want black people to vote and that Paul Revere's military activities were tied to 'the conquest of the Penobscot Indians'.
The Australian governments Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety recently released its final report. The inquiry held 23 public hearings over two years and received more than 10,000 submissions from aged care residents and their families, staff, providers and government agencies.

The submissions revealed a catastrophic crisis. Virtually no aspect of the aged care system is accessible, transparent, affordable and adequately funded or staffed. Yet the report conceded that its findings are fundamentally no different to those in numerous previous inquiries.

Commissioner Tony Pagone stated: The problems in the aged care system are neither new nor unknown. There have been more than twenty substantial official inquiries into aspects of the aged care system over the past twenty years. Many of these inquires have made similar findings and offered similar recommendations for improvement to those that we make in this report. The responses by successive governments have failed to tackle the underlying problems.

Royal Commission in Age Care Quality and Safety (Source: YouTube)

Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the inquiry in September 2018, in an effort to quell public anger over media revelations of the abuse, malnourishment and neglect of many elderly residents of nursing homes, and to divert attention from the impact of ongoing cuts and privatisation of the industry by Liberal-National and Labor governments alike.

As with the previous inquiries, this one acts as a cover for those responsible for these conditions. In its final hearing, it stated: Now is not the time for blame. There is too much at stake. We are left in no doubt that people, governments and government departments have worked tirelessly to avert, contain and respond to this human tragedy.

The final report, entitled Care, Dignity and Respect, made 148 recommendations. Whilst these were characterised as a call for fundamental reform of the aged care system, they were predominately administrative measures that do not deal directly with the quality of aged care services.

Many of the recommendations centred around the adoption of a new Aged Care Act, which should be aimed at ensuring the safety, health and wellbeing of people receiving aged care, and include a universal entitlement for high quality and safe care based on assessed need. The commissioners recommended that the new Act list rights of older people receiving aged care, but these only may be taken into account in interpreting the Act.

Moreover, a proposal for National Decision-Making Principles to guide the drafting of relevant federal, state and territory laws was made in 2014 by the Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC). The same recommendation was repeated in a further 2017 ALRC inquiry.

Other recommendations included the creation of an independent office of the Inspector-General of Aged Care to investigate, monitor and report on the administration and governance of the aged care system, a review of certificate-based courses for aged care, and a review of aged care quality standards. Previous inquiries have made similar calls for reviews.

The recommendations are not enforceable or mandatory, nor is a five-year time frame set for the government to implement them. There was also disagreement between the commissioners on 43 recommendations, primarily on questions of funding and governance.

In a press conference, Morrison signalled that the government has no intention of taking any action to address even the urgent and short-term priorities set out by the report. He stated: I thank the commissioners because they know there are no easy fixes It will take quite considerable time to achieve the scale of change that we want to and need to.

Likewise, opposition Labor Party leader Anthony Albanese said: Labor will take time to digest and work our way through the recommendations of the Royal Commission.

According to the report, in order to implement its recommendations, government funding would need to increase by $10 to $20 billion a year. Morrison announced a meagre $452.2 million packageless than the $537 million pledged in response to the inquirys interim report in November 2019.

This is in line with the governments response to the coronavirus pandemic, which resulted in the deaths of more than 600 aged care residents and the infection of over 1,700 aged care workers. Just $1.8 billion was pledged to aged care services to cope with COVID-19, a fraction of the hundreds of billions allocated to bail out big business.

Professor Joseph Ibrahim, Head of the Health Law and Ageing Research Unit at Monash University, commented: Saying it will take five years to get anything done means another 200,000 older people will have lived and died in aged care before we see a change. The $450 million that has been allocated now is less than 3 percent of the total annual budget for aged care, so its really just, its not very much at all.

The report outlined four concerns for immediate attention: food and nutrition, dementia care, the use of restrictive practices and palliative care. But the recommendations, even if implemented, would do nothing to significantly improve the lives of those in aged care.

The commissioners recommended an immediate increase to aged care residents Basic Daily Fee of $10 per resident per day, to pay for living needs including nutrition. This was described as an urgent need for action, yet it is only proposed to be implemented by July 1.

Submissions from the public showed that despite the extraction of 85 percent of the aged pension from every resident, the average amount spent on food in these facilities is just $6.08 per resident per day. The single aged pension is $944.30 per fortnight, 85 percent of which amounts to $802.66. Of this, just $85.12 is expended on food, meant to cover three meals a day and morning and afternoon tea.

The inquiry heard that widespread understaffing means that many aged care workers do not have the time or training or provide adequate care for residents, particularly for those with high-care needs like dementia.

Yet the report only recommended that by July 2023, the government should establish a dementia support pathway to provide a comprehensive, clear and accessible post-diagnosis support pathway for people living with dementia, their families and carers. In the same time frame, it recommended that the government should merely review and publicly report on, the state of specialist dementia care services.

Despite commissioning a report by the University of Wollongongs Centre for Health Service Development which found that, on average, each resident in a residential aged care facility receives 180 minutes of care per day, of which just 36 minutes are provided by registered nurses, the inquirys recommended time frame to address this is 2022.

By 2022, the report recommended an abysmal 200 minutes, or around 3.5 hours, of care per resident dayan increase of just 20 minutesof which 40 minutes would be provided by registered nurses. By 2024, it recommended an increase to 215 minutes of care per day, with 44 minutes to be provided by registered nurses.

Also by 2024, the standard would require at least one registered nurse on site at each residential aged care facility at all times. But no staff-to-patient ratios were proposed.

The trade unions welcomed the report. They have facilitated the privatisation of aged care and the attacks on workers wages and conditions by suppressing strike action and enforcing regressive enterprise bargaining agreements for decades.

The Australian Nurses and Midwives Federation called on the government to urgently respond to the reports recognition that staffing levels in aged care are too low and that staff ratios should be introduced.

The Health Services Union (HSU) said its members were hoping this report will finally provide the impetus to change the system for good. It claimed that government and opposition members were open to another HSU suggestion, a possible aged care levy. It insisted: The future looks brighter.

In reality, the appalling conditions in aged care, which have worsened during the coronavirus pandemic, can be explained only as a result of the capitalist system, which subordinates everything, including life itself, to the interests of private profit.

Unless the working class undertakes independent political action in defence of the elderly, which means fighting for a workers government to expropriate the corporate health empires and major banks and corporations, these conditions will continue to deteriorate.
Gurugram, March 26 : The call for Bharat Bandh by the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) on Friday did not have much of an impact in Gurugram.

The SKM had appealed to citizens across the country to make the bandh a success against the three farm laws enacted by the Centre.

With heavy deployment of police personnel shops, wholesale vegetable markets, malls, banks, government offices, local courts, petrol pumps, metro stations, bus stands and railway stations remained open.

Transport services were also functional and no untoward incidents were reported from anywhere in the city.

"There was no major impact of Bharat Bandh on traffic movement in Gurugram. All our police force was deployed on different stretches, including the national highway, state highways and the border areas. A huge deployment of police teams was ensured at the sensitive areas in Gurugram. The traffic movement was smooth on Friday even during peak morning hours," said Gurugram Police Spokesperson, Subhash Boken.

He said the police control room was also on high alert passing on information to the nearest police station and patrol vans in case of any violence.

There was no impact of the Bharat Bandh as office-goers, workers and shop owners went about their usual routine. Traffic was as usual on the Delhi-Jaipur Expressway.

Passengers were seen at metro stations, bus and railway stations as usual like any other day during the morning hours.

A passenger Pranav Roy said,"We have no information of the Bharat Bandh and there was no holiday in the office so I am going to the office. Even nobody stopped me from my house to the bus stand." Rickshaws, autos, e-rickshaws, government and private buses as well as private vehicles plied in Gurugram without any disturbance.

BJP District President Gargi Kakkar said the people of Gurugram have rejected the bandh call.

"The people are satisfied with the steps taken by the state and Central governments. With antics such as "Bharat Bandh" and "Chakka Jam", the protesters are creating unnecessary problems for the common man," she added.

"Neither does the Bharat Bandh have any effect and nor are the actual farmers bothered with such things. Whatever the protesters are doing is not good for the society," she said.

On Thursday, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) said all shops, malls, markets and commercial establishments would remain shut on Friday in view of its 'Bharat Bandh' call on completion of four months of farmers' protest at Delhi's borders against the Centre's three new Union farm laws.
Reactive oxygen species (ROS) cause oxidative stress at the cellular level. Research shows that this way, amongst others, they inhibit the germination capacity of plants, produce cytotoxins or exert toxic effects on aquatic invertebrates. Environmentally persistent free radicals (EPFR) are potential precursors of ROS because they can react with water to form these radical species. "Therefore, EPFR are associated with harmful effects on the ecosystem and human health," explains Gabriel Sigmund, the lead investigator of the study.

"Our study shows that these environmentally persistent free radicals can be found in large quantities and over a long period of time in fire derived charcoal," reports Sigmund, environmental geoscientist at the Center for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science (CMESS) at the University of Vienna. In all 60 charcoal samples from ten different fires, the researchers detected EPFR in concentrations that exceeded those typically found in soils by as much as ten to a thousand times. Other than expected, this concentration remained stable for at least five years, as an analysis of charcoal samples showed which were gathered at the same location and over several years after a forest fire. "The more stable the environmentally persistent free radicals are, the more likely it is that they will have an impact on ecosystems over longer periods of time," explains Thilo Hofmann, co-author of the study and head of the research group.

Samples from fires in forest, shrubland and grassland spanning different climates

The researchers collected charcoal samples from fires of diverse intensity in boreal, temperate, subtropical, and tropical climates. They considered forest, shrubland and grassland fires and, thus, also different fuel materials (woods and grasses). The original material and the charring conditions determine the degree of carbonization. Consequently, both indirectly influence the extent to which EPFR are formed and how persistent they are. "The analyses show that the concentration of environmentally persistent free radicals increased with the degree of carbonization," Sigmund reports. Woody fuels favored higher concentrations. For these, the researchers were also able to demonstrate the stability of EPFR over several years. "We assume that woody wildfire derived charcoal is a globally important source of these free radicals and thus potentially also of harmful reactive oxygen species," adds Hofmann.

International collaboration across disciplines

"It is our collaboration with colleagues at Swansea University in the United Kingdom that enables us to make these highly differentiated statements," explains Sigmund. The wildfire experts at Swansea University are conducting global research into the effects of fire on environmental processes such as the carbon cycle and erosion. They have collected charcoal samples from around the world and sent them to Vienna for analysis, along with information on the timing, duration and intensity of the fires. CMESS researchers analyzed the samples in collaboration with Marc Pignitter of the Faculty of Chemistry using electron spin resonance spectroscopy (ESR spectroscopy). ESR spectroscopy made it possible to quantify the environmentally persistent free radicals in the studied material and to identify their adjacent chemical structures.

Questions about consequences for the ecosystem

The study has provided insights, but also raised further questions: The fact that environmentally persistent free radicals occur in such high concentrations and remain stable over several years was surprising. In future studies, the researchers are planning to also assess the consequences this may have for the environment. "To what extent is this a stress factor for microorganisms after a fire? How does it affect an ecosystem? The study is an impetus for further research," reports Sigmund.

###

Publication in Communications Earth & Environment:

G. Sigmund, C. Santin, M. Pignitter, N. Tepe, S. H. Doerr, T. Hofmann, Environmentally persistent free radicals are ubiquitous in wildfire charcoals and remain stable for years. Communications Earth & Environment (2021), DOI: 10.1038/s43247-021-00138-2
The first-of-its-kind South East First Citizens Accord has created a forum of the 'First Citizens' from Carlow, Kilkenny, Tipperary, Waterford and Wexford who are coming together with the goal of addressing the structural challenges faced by the South East.

The region is particularly vulnerable to the impact of the pandemic having had the highest regional unemployment rate coming into the crisis. The Accord agrees on immediate common priorities for the region as a whole that can aid economic recovery coming out of the Covid-19 crisis and can address the historical imbalance in State funding and engagement with the South East.

The First Citizens invited the regional TDs and Senators to attend a meeting today, Friday, March 26, where the priorities were presented and the need for each outlined. There was strong support among the Oireachtas members to align behind these critical issues, many of which they are currently and actively engaged on. The seven priorities are:

1. Technological University of South East  250 million investment by 2025: The new TUSEI will require funding that matches the scale of the ambition of the project, similar to the State support given to the 500m development of TU Dublin.

2. A 30m region-specific South East Innovation Fund: There is a need for specific funding for the South East to support strategic projects that can drive job creation (similar to the 28m Border Fund and the 44m Midlands Just Transition Fund).

3. Investment in South East Ports & more strategic collaboration between them: Government support is required to develop the South East ports (Rosslare and Belview, Waterford) as strategic national solutions to Brexit, to take advantage of their huge potential as offshore wind hubs and to act as drivers of the regions economy.

4. 40 new IDA companies in South East and new IDA property in each county by 2024: The South East has amongst the lowest levels of IDA jobs in Ireland. More ambitious IDA engagement in the South East is required to make up the shortfall.

5. A specific Enterprise Ireland Regional Director for South East: The South East is one of the only regions in Ireland without a specific Enterprise Ireland Regional Director. Our SMEs are vulnerable to Brexit and Covid, and senior EI leadership is required urgently.

6. Accelerate upgrades of N24 and N80 road connections: The South East requires upgrades on its road connectivity to the west and internally. The N24 upgrade needs to be progressed and the route should also be seriously examined as an alternative motorway route to the proposed N20 development.

7. Provision of a 24/7 Cardiac Care Centre for the South East: The announcement of the appointment of the contractor to build the second Cath Lab in UHW is very welcome and we now need to ensure that this translates to comprehensive delivery of 24/7 cardiac care service to ensure that patients do not have to travel long distances for urgent care.

These are also some of the areas recently identified by IBEC as being key to the region's success.

Speaking on behalf of the people of Kilkenny, Cathaoirleach of Kilkenny County Council Andrew McGuinness welcomed the establishment of the First Citizens Forum.

"Collaboration by the counties in the South East Region is key to the delivery of key priorities for our region, such as the multi campus TUSE, the upgrade of the N24 and 24/7 cardiac care," he said.

"I look forward to working with my fellow First Citizens for the betterment of the Kilkenny and the South-East.

The Forum will operate a rotating chair and speaking on behalf of the five First Citizens.

In signing the South East First Citizens Accord the five First Citizens are agreeing to work collaboratively to achieve significant progress on these seven common priorities for the region," said current Chair, Cllr Damien Geoghegan.

"Advancing these tenets are critical to addressing the structural deficits in the South East economy and creating sustainable regional economic and social development. It is the right time for us to work together with the aim of developing a prosperous future for everybody in the region.

The five local authorities in the region have increased their collaboration over the past five years and have resourced the Ireland South East Development Office (ISEDO). ISEDO manages the delivery of the South East Regional Enterprise Plan and facilitates collaboration among industry and public agencies within the region. The signing of the First Citizens Accord now builds on this work by ensuring political cohesion on key priorities. The five First Citizens in the Region are Cllr Tom ONeill, Carlow; Cllr Andrew McGuinness, Kilkenny; Cllr Michael Smith, Tipperary; Cllr Damien Geoghegan, Waterford; and Cllr Ger Carthy, Wexford.

The Ireland South East Development Office is a regional collaboration initiative of the five local authorities of the South East (Carlow, Kilkenny, Tipperary, Waterford and Wexford) and is the first office of its kind in Ireland.

Full details can be found at www.irelandsoutheast.com.
OROVILLE, Calif.  Cal Fire Butte Unit has moved into its new headquarters located at 176 Nelson Avenue in Oroville.

The new facility replaces a nearly 70-year-old compound and will allow the department to consolidate many of its operations onto one site, Cal Fire said. It will also serve as the administrative headquarters for Butte County, the Town of Paradise, Cities of Gridley and Biggs Fire Departments, which are served by Cal Fire.

We are excited to unveil our new headquarters, Butte Unit and County Fire Chief John Messina said. This modern facility will allow the fire department to better serve the citizens of Butte County for decades to come.

The property has been home to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, now CAL FIRE, in Butte County since the 1940s. The State-funded project replaces old, out-of-date buildings that could no longer meet the needs of the department.

The new headquarters campus will include a training room that can be split in half to accommodate two classes at once, 28 offices for administration, operations, training, and other staff. Two full-service auto shops, an upgraded emergency command center, and a supply and service center. There will also be a brand new three-engine fire station.

Cal Fire said there will be a ribbon-cutting ceremony scheduled later this spring after the move-in process is complete.
Palpable fear has gripped residents of the commercial city of Aba in Abia State following the killing of 11 young men by Nigerian troops stationed at Ariaria junction along the Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway.

A military source said that the dead youths were "gunmen," who were on their way to attack the soldiers but were ambushed and gunned down following intelligence reports.

The source said that the gunmen numbering about 50 had engaged troops in gun battle at about 8.00 p.m. on Tuesday but 11 of them lost their lives in the encounter while there was no casualty on the side of the soldiers.

The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has clarified that the young men were not members of its security outfit, the Eastern Security Network (ESN). The Media and Publicity Secretary of the IPOB, Mr. Emma Powerful, alleged that the troops had gathered young men in Aba yesterday night and "executed" them.

Powerful said that no ESN's camp was anywhere in Abia State was attacked by soldiers.

The Assistant Director of Army Public Relations, 14 Brigade, Ohafia, Captain Ilya Dauda, also stated that there was no army operation at any ESN's camp.

Dauda confirmed that troops felled some unknown gunmen that attacked them at a checkpoint at Aba.

Some eyewitnesses said that as many as 16 persons, including a soldier, died in the encounter even though the army authorities in Abia have not come out with official figure of casualties.

The Abia State Government had earlier alerted the security agencies and the general public of the presence of hoodlums in Aba, allegedly brought in by the opposition ahead of the by-election for Aba Federal Constituency that is slated to hold on Saturday.

The Commissioner for Information, Mr. John Okiyi Kalu, said that intelligence at the disposal of the state government was passed to security agencies to act on the information.

The security situation in Abia has been deteriorating over the past 48 hours following the killing of three policemen at a checkpoint at Abriba in Ohafia Local Government Area.
 Close How did a ship get stuck in the Suez Canal?

An investigation into how the Ever Given ship became stuck in the Suez Canal started on Tuesday hours after traffic on one of the world's busiest and most important trade routes resumed overnight.

Experts boarded the giant vessel to assess it for damage and to begin a probe into how it got wedged into in the canal's bank for almost a week, disrupting billions of dollars worth of trade.

Some thirty-seven vessels that were stranded in the waterway while authorities dealt with the Ever Given managed to pass through overnight on Monday and around 70 more were expected to clear the strait by the end of Tuesday.

Authorities said they hoped to clear a backlog of more than 300 ships waiting to enter the canal in a matter of days, but shipping experts warned the impact the disruption has had on global supply chains could take months to resolve.
A threat found Friday in a Bethlehem high school bathroom did not close the school, the Bethlehem Area School District said.

The threat was found written above a urinal in a Freedom High School bathroom, the district said in a post on Twitter.

After consulting with Bethlehem Township police, school and district officials determined classes would continue as usual. The school is on a hybrid schedule during the COVID-19 pandemic, where students report for in-person classes on Tuesday and Thursday or Wednesday and Friday.

Township police were on campus Friday morning and, out of an abundance of caution, would remain at the school for the rest of the day.

(1/2) Freedom HS Alert: A threat was found written above a urinal in a lavatory at Freedom HS earlier today. In consultation with Bethlehem Township Police, school and district officials determined that classes will continue as usual. @BASDSUPT pic.twitter.com/rT666cGyjm  BASD (@BethlehemAreaSD) March 26, 2021

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Sarah Cassi may be reached at scassi@lehighvalleylive.com.
Brattleboro, VT (05301)

Today

Showers with a possible thunderstorm early, then variable clouds overnight with still a chance of showers. Low 61F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall near an inch..

Tonight

Showers with a possible thunderstorm early, then variable clouds overnight with still a chance of showers. Low 61F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall near an inch.
Regulatory News:

SpineGuard (Paris:ALSGD) (FR0011464452 ALSGD), an innovative company that deploys its DSG (Dynamic Surgical Guidance) sensing technology to secure and streamline the placement of bone implants, reported the end of its French 'sauvegarde' proceeding following the hearing held on March 10, 2021 at the Commercial Court of Creteil in France and the subsequent decision on March 24, 2021.

At the hearing on March 10, 2021, Maitre Thevenot, the French trustee, presented to the Court, the plan completed in collaboration with SpineGuard's officers and Maitre Pellegrini, the 'Mandataire Judiciaire', who had previously submitted it to the creditors and collected their feedback.

In its decision of March 24, 2021, the Commercial Court of Creteil validated this plan which ends the French 'sauvegarde' proceeding. The company will now enter the execution phase of the plan.

In summary, the liabilities of c. 5M including 4.8M of financial debt, were settled as follows:

An agreement with the bond holders (Norgine and Harbert) as part of the U.S. Chapter 11 proceeding for an amount of 3,875K with a 5-year reimbursement schedule starting February 2021; Bpifrance has accepted the reimbursement of its 975K loan over a 9-year period starting February 2022; The majority of the other creditors accepted a 9-year reimbursement plan starting February 2022 for a total of 60K; The few remaining suppliers opted for a one-time payment of 5K totaling 60K; There is no remaining litigation. Two non-material disputes have been addressed and resolved by the 'Mandataire Judiciaire' on March 24, 2021.

As the U.S. court also agreed on the two procedures to be aligned in timing, the company expects to exit Chapter 11 by the end of May contingent upon the U.S. judicial administrative processes.

Pierre Jerome, Chairman, CEO and co-founder of SpineGuard, said: "This validation by the Commercial Court is excellent news for SpineGuard. We exit the 'sauvegarde' proceeding with a refreshed financial situation, a clearly defined roadmap and our ambition to continue to reveal the great potential of our DSG technology remains intact. The successful deployment of an innovative medical technology is not without many challenges and I wish to warmly thank Maitre Thevenot for his continued support, our creditors for their cooperation, our shareholders and partners for their trust and the entire SpineGuard team for their remarkable attitude and fortitude throughout this process."

2021 Perspectives

For 2021 SpineGuard is focusing on the following priorities:

Pursue the implementation of the DSG digital technology in the surgical robotic field through the deployment of AI algorithms, new scientific evidence, and additional patents. Re-boost commercial activities with the launch of the DSG-Connect visual interface. Intensify the collaboration with ConfiDent ABC for the dental application and co-develop a new generation of products embedding the DSG technology. Invest selectively while remaining close to breakeven. Affirm the company's technological shift and sign new strategic partnerships in particular for the use of DSG technology in the robotic field.

Webinar for investors

The Company also informs its shareholders that a webinar will be held on April 8, 2021 at 6:00 p.m., following the publication of 2020 financial results and 1Q21 sales. Pierre Jerome, Stephane Bette and Manuel Lanfossi, respectively, Chairman and CEO, Deputy CEO, and CFO, will present the company's strategic orientations and outlook. This webinar will be held in French and will be followed by a Q&A session. A webinar in English will be scheduled at a later date.

The webinar can be followed using the following link: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_itAGbPMhQwihUNG1K8k5kw

Next financial news release:

2020 financial results and 1Q21 sales on Thursday April 8, 2021 at 6pm CET

About SpineGuard

Founded in 2009 in France and the USA by Pierre Jerome and Stephane Bette, SpineGuard is an innovative company deploying its proprietary radiation-free real time sensing technology DSG (Dynamic Surgical Guidance) to secure and streamline the placement of implants in the skeleton. SpineGuard designs, develops and markets medical devices that have been used in over 80,000 surgical procedures worldwide. Sixteen studies published in peer-reviewed scientific journals have demonstrated the multiple benefits DSG offers to patients, surgeons, surgical staff and hospitals. Building on these solid fundamentals and several strategic partnerships, SpineGuard has expanded its technology platform in a disruptive innovation: the smart pedicle screw launched late 2017 and is broadening the scope of applications in dental implantology and surgical robotics. DSG was co-invented by Maurice Bourlion, Ph.D., Ciaran Bolger, M.D., Ph.D., and Alain Vanquaethem, Biomedical Engineer.

For further information, visit www.spineguard.com

Disclaimer

The SpineGuard securities may not be offered or sold in the United States as they have not been and will not be registered under the Securities Act or any United States state securities laws, and SpineGuard does not intend to make a public offer of its securities in the United States. This is an announcement and not a prospectus, and the information contained herein does and shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of the securities referred to herein in the United States in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or exemption from registration.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210326005187/en/

Contacts:

SpineGuard

Pierre Jerome

CEO Chairman

Tel.: +33 1 45 18 45 19

p.jerome@spineguard.com



SpineGuard

Manuel Lanfossi

CFO

Tel.: +33 1 45 18 45 19

m.lanfossi@spineguard.com

NewCap

Investor Relations Financial Communication

Mathilde Bohin Pierre Laurent

Tel.: +33 1 44 71 94 94

spineguard@newcap.eu
At the conference Dialogue 2045, held in Ho Chi Minh City on March 6, Tran Kim Chung, chairman of the board of directors of C.T Group, said that it is necessary to focus on investing in the young generation.

In his opinion, until 2045 it will be a shortcoming if one does not mention young people.

Chung shared that C.T Group will focus on six major programs in accordance with its vision for 2045.

First, it will construct affordable houses for young people and develop talented young human resources, with a view to building young urban areas around big cities.

Second, C.T will participate in mobilizing and contributing capital to high-speed railways linking Ho Chi Minh City to southwestern provinces.

Third, the company will build satellite cities around Ho Chi Minh City.

Fourth, it will found four leading tech start-ups: Fintech, Proptech, Cell Tech, and Flytech. Until now, the technical infrastructure for two of the companies has been completed.

Fifth, the group will join hands with city authorities in preventing inundation and building a green environment by restoring the project of the Vinh Loc ecological lake in Binh Chanh, Ho Chi Minh City.

Lastly, C.T will develop a digital bank specializing in export support.

C.T Group's programs have been formulated on the basis of the long-standing strengths of Vietnam such as the countrys geographical location, its population, and Vietnamese intelligence, according to Chung's explanation.

He proposed that the government support enterprises in launching the Invest in Vietnam campaign in global media such as Bloomberg and CNN, advertising that Vietnam is an epitome of combating the COVID-19 pandemic while still maintaining economic growth.

The government should also cut red tape, streamline administrative procedures, and guide companies through to sustainable development as well as global market conquering, the board chairman suggested.

In the short term, government agencies should quickly complete a comprehensive legal framework for public-private partnerships.

In addition, the government needs to heavily invest in activities supporting intelligent young people who have aspirations and quickly complete a legal framework for the development and application of Cell Tech and Flytech, for there is currently no such legal framework.

In particular, the heavy investment should focus on transport infrastructure from Ho Chi Minh City to southwestern provinces and on developing educational infrastructure for the Mekong Delta to foster future human resources.
New Delhi, March 26 : Hundreds of farmers on Friday blocked the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh Ghazipur border here as part of their 12-hour Bharat Bandh on the completion of four months of protest over the three contentious farm laws.

The farmers blocked the National Highway 24 that connects Delhi with Ghaziabad. The farmers sat on the highway demanding repeal of the three farm laws.

Delhi Traffic Police in a tweet said: "Traffic movement is closed on Ghazipur Border NH-24 (Both carriageway), Kindly avoid the stretch." On Thursday, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) said that all shops, malls, markets and commercial establishments will remain shut on Friday in view of its 'Bharat Bandh' call on completion of four months of farmers' protest at Delhi's borders against the Centre's three new farm laws.

According to the SKM, the 12-hour bandh will be observed between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. However, ambulances and other essential services will be allowed.

The Bharat Bandh called by SKM is being supported by representatives of various farmer organisations, trade unions, student groups, lawyer associations, political parties and state governments.

Thousands of farmers, mostly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at the Delhi's borders -- Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur -- for more than four months, demanding the repeal of farm laws and ensuring MSP of their produce.

They have been protesting against the three laws since November 26 last year.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
The Cabinet Secretary has been urged to investigate whether Boris Johnson broke the ministerial code to pay for his lavish Downing Street flat refurbishment

The Cabinet Secretary has been urged to investigate whether Boris Johnson broke the ministerial code to pay for his lavish Downing Street flat refurbishment.

Labour asked Simon Case to look into the eye-watering amounts said to have been spent on the revamp, which included gold wall coverings.

It follows a series of disclosures by the Daily Mail about the financing of decor and furnishings for the apartment the Prime Minister, 56, shares with fiancee Carrie Symonds, 33.

Last week, the Mail revealed election watchdogs are probing a secret 60,000 payment for the makeover to determine whether it broke the rules. Labour MP Sarah Owen wrote to Mr Case yesterday calling for transparency and clear explanations over the murky payments.

Urging an investigation, she wrote: It is vital the facts behind the costs of this refurbishment are established and published in full. This isnt just about whether the taxes of hard-working people have contributed to spun gold wallpaper.

The lack of openness means that there are so many questions relating to matters of transparency, probity, judgment and whether the ministerial code has been broken.

She emphasised that the ministerial code requires ministers to avoid the danger of any actual or perceived conflict of interest between their position and their private financial interests.

Labour asked Simon Case to look into the eye-watering amounts said to have been spent on the revamp, which included gold wall coverings. Pictured: File photo of the flat

It comes after the Conservative Party paid a 60,000 bill for the refurbishment of Mr Johnsons flat. Tory donor Lord Brownlow secretly reimbursed the party six months ago.

The code also states that ministers should be as open as possible with Parliament and the public and should provide information.

The MP asked how much had been spent, what it had been spent on, and how the suppliers for the refurbishment were chosen.

Downing Street has not denied the reports and has stated that details of the refurbishment will be provided in a Cabinet Office report.

It has not said when this will be published. Mr Johnson denies any impropriety.
By Benjamin Jumbe

The minister for agriculture, animal industry and fisheries Vincent Ssempija has denied allegations that he took animals from the National Animal Genetic Research Centre and Data Bank.

The minister was defending himself in parliament against allegations that he took breeding cows from Lusenke stock farm.

The minister said neither did he influence the centre to give him the 15 cows nor did he take breeding animals.

He says the animals given were a donation for a public event and were castrated bulls which were not used in breeding.
H&M logo is seen on one of the Swedish retailer's shops, on Jan. 30, 2020. (Ints Kalnins/File/Reuters)

H&M Vanishes From Chinese Ride-Hailing App Didi After Xinjiang Backlash

SHANGHAIChinas top ride-hailing app Didi Chuxing has dropped H&M from its listings, joining a backlash over comments made by the Swedish fashion retailer last year about labor conditions in Xinjiang province.

Search results for the clothing store chain in the app for all of Chinas major cities yielded no results on Friday.

Didi Chuxing did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

H&M faced an unexpected public backlash in China this week when social media users in the country suddenly circulated a statement the company made in 2020 announcing it would no longer source cotton from Chinas Xinjiang province due to difficulties to conduct credible due diligence in the region and after media and human rights groups reported the use of forced labor in Xinjiang.

Farmers picking cotton in the fields during the harvest season in Hami, in northwest Chinas Xinjiang region, on Sept. 20, 2015. (STR/AFP via Getty Images)

H&M said at the time it was deeply concerned by the reports.

Human Rights organizations have accused authorities in the western region of detaining Uighur Muslims in camps, where they undergo forced labor and ideological indoctrination.

Beijing routinely denies the accusations and describes the camps in question as vocational training centers which help combat religious extremism.

The public backlash against H&M caused e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, shopping app Meituan, and the maps app for search engine Baidu Inc, to each remove the Swedish retailer from their listings.

Since the initial backlash against H&M, other overseas brands including Burberry Group PLC, Nike Inc, and Adidas AG have also faced an online blowback for making similar statements regarding their sourcing of cotton in Xinjiang.

By Josh Horwitz
President Biden spoke to reporters on Thursday in his first formal news conference. Heres a fact check of his remarks.

What was said

Were sending back the vast majority of the families that are coming.

This is false. Federal officials recorded about 19,000 encounters with families at the southwestern border in February. Of those, about 7,900 families, or 42 percent, were expelled, far short of a majority. According to Axios, that rate was 13 percent last week.

Mr. Biden correctly noted later in the news conference that most encounters over all led to expulsions because of the high proportion of single adults: Out of more than 100,000 encounters at the southwestern border in February, more than 70,000 led to expulsions. But that is not true for families specifically.

What was said

I started to deal with it back when I was a United States senator  I mean, vice president, putting together a bipartisan plan of over $700 million to do the root causes of why people are leaving. What did Trump do? He eliminated that funding. He didnt use it.
Talks between Coast leaders and President Uhuru and Deputy President William Ruto have elicited mixed reactions.

Allies of the two traded accusations of betrayal amid claims of a plot to scuttle the formation of a coastal party.

President Kenyatta met Governors Hassan Joho of Mombasa, Kilifi's Amason Kingi and Salim Mvurya of Kwale on Wednesday.

Dr Ruto held talks with lawmakers and a former senator at his Karen home in Nairobi on the same day.

Kilifi North MP Owen Baya called the three governors selfish.

"I am among the people who started the push for Coast unity until it was hijacked by political brokers. Governor Kingi told people he would unveil a political party in March. It is five days to March 31 but we have not seen anything," he said.

Read: Joho, Kingi to ditch ODM and form regional party

The leaders who met Dr Ruto are Malindi MP Aisha Jumwa, Msambweni's Faisal Bader, Mr Owen Baya (Kilifi North), Mr Khatib Mwashetani (Lungalunga), Lamu Senator Anuwar Loitiptip and former Mombasa Senator Hassan Omar.

Holding talks

However, Kadu-Asili, Umoja Summit, Shirikisho and Devolution party leaders, who are holding talks to form a coalition, supported the meeting between the President and the governors.

Ms Naomi Cidi, the founder and secretary-general of Umoja Summit Party, said even though the three leaders have not said what they discussed with Mr Kenyatta, the region would be united.

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"The push for regional unity is unstoppable, with or without Mr Kingi, Mr Joho or Mr Mvurya," she said yesterday.

"In fact, talks on forming an alliance are at an advanced stage. Lawyers have been involved to make it happen."

Kadu Asili chief Gerald Thoya said any leader supporting a party that does not have roots in the region is an enemy of Coast people.

"Governor Kingi and Joho have been in the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) but we have not seen any improvement in the lives of our people. ODM will not be allowed to continue misusing us," he said.

The meetings came at a time the relationship between ODM leader Raila Odinga and lawmakers in the region is at a low ebb.

Coast party

Prof Hassan Mwakimako, a political analyst, said the meetings showed that "something is cooking".

He said the President would most likely talk to the governors to back the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI).

Prof Mwakimako dismissed claims that Mr Kenyatta is pushing for the formation of a Coast party.

"These are national leaders and need the region. There meetings are an indication of major political events," he said.

The analyst added that the meetings also put Mr Odinga in a tough position for he now needs to calculate his next move with in regard to his influence in the region.

"Raila's position seems to be weakening in the Coast. He needs to rethink and rework on his strategy," Prof Mwakimako said.

"During his recent visit to the Coast, Raila missed the point when he openly opposed the formation of a regional party."

Additional reporting by Mohamed Ahmed
The Nagol is Back! VTOs guide to this years Nagol, plus where to stay and play in south, central and north Pentecost.
NEW HAVEN  You almost didnt have to ask Maya Cedor, 6, and her brother Dresden, 8, what was so special about Vice President Kamala Harris flying into Tweed New Haven Regional Airport to visit New Haven and West Haven that would cause their family to wait for hours just to catch a glimpse of her limo driving by.

All you had to do was read the sign sketched out on the blackboard Maya held: My VP looks like me!!

OK, it was Mayas mother, Gayathri Cedor  whose family was among about 150 people gathered along Burr and Dean streets to watch Harris plane land and hope for a glimpse  who spelled things out on the blackboard. But in their family, its even more applicable.

The kids are half African-American, half South Indian-American, two of the same ethnicities that are part of Harris makeup.

We live here in New Haven and Im just excited for the kids to see her, said Cedor, who took her kids out of their remote learning at Nathan Hale School  with an email to their teachers  so they could be there.

Why?

Shes the first woman to be vice president, said Dresden, who held a whiteboard that read, Welcome to New Haven.

Well make up the classes, said his mom, speaking moments before Harris touched down.

When Air Force 2, Harris plane, landed at 2:26 p.m.  nearly an hour later than the most recently-announced arrival time  Katie Conner, who lives on Burr Street across the street from Tweed, was gently cradling her newborn daughter, Elizabeth, 6 months, who rocked in front of her in a sling around her moms neck.

My daughters only 6 months old, and I thought this might be a once-in-a-lifetime thing for her, Conner said. Even if Elizabeth doesnt remember it, Katie Conner will be able to tell her about it.

For Conner, It makes a big difference that Harris is a woman. Last November, I watched her give her victory speech and I thought, That could be my daughter in 30 or 40 years.

Thretha Green of West Haven could barely contain her joy as she streamed her first-ever Facebook Live video of Harris plane landing.

Im just excited, said Green, a trauma therapist who grew up in New Haven. Shes here to represent for our urban towns, for people who have suffered from COVID-19 and she was glad to see Harris and President Joe Biden addressing some of the problems in the country.

Its just amazing, said Green, also president of the National Association of Negro Professional Womens Clubs New Haven chapter and co-chairwoman of the Greater New Haven NAACPs Criminal Justice Committee. I took a lunch break just to see it.

Not everyone there at Tweed was a Harris or Biden fan.

Anthony Laudano confided earlier that he voted for former President Donald Trump, but after Harris plane landed, he held his son, Anthony Jr., and whispered in his ear, The vice president, buddy! This is history!

Hes going to be the vice president one day, Laudano said.

While one crowd was waiting at Tweed, another was forming across town near the New Haven Boys and Girls Club on Columbus Avenue in the Hill neighborhood, where Harris was engaging in a roundtable discussion as part of her first stop.

About an hour-and-a-half before Harris scheduled arrival at the Boys and Girls Club, New Havener Angela Brown and her daughter Jadyn stood at the corner of Columbus and Howard avenues hoping to see the vice president.

I wish that more youth could be here, Brown said.

Brown wore a button remembering a family friend killed in the Hill in 2014. Brown herself said she was shot on Dixwell Avenue in 1991. Urban violence is a big, big issue with me, she said.

She said she hoped Harris will actually press on the issues and actually ask what can be done?

Were all human at the end of the day. We all deal with the same issues, she said.

Lifelong New Haven resident Timothy Little held a sign that said STOP EVICTIONS, CANCEL RENT.

The Cedar Street resident said hes worried about being evicted from his apartment next month after losing two fast-food jobs due to the pandemic. I want to be heard. This is the major issue in Connecticut right now. What am I going to do?

Hill resident Luz Ramos brought her 7-year-old granddaughter in the hopes they could see Harris.

When she became vice president it was a very heartfelt time for us, Ramos, who immigrated to the U.S. from Mexico in 1997, said. Its very important to show our kids they can achieve anything.

Activists from Unidad Latina en Accion also were on hand to welcome Harris.

Director John Lugo said the time to act on immigration reform is now, when Democrats control the White House and Congress.

This is the time to do it, but they have to have the guts and the courage to pass immigration reform, Lugo said.

In West Haven, a crowd slowly gathered on Washington Avenue to watch Harris arrive at the West Haven Child Development Center, eventually numbering about 50 people.

Patty Horvath said she wanted to see the motorcade. In the past, she saw Bill Clinton and Barack Obama on Marthas Vineyard. But such visits are uncommon in West Haven.

Its very exciting for West Haven to have her, said Horvath.

Donna Middleton said she wanted to see a historical moment, also noting the relative rarity of something like this happening in town.

Hopefully, shell come back again, said Middleton.

Asked why she was there, Rachale Scaranuzzo nodded at her daughter, Sofia, who exclaimed that she also wanted to be president or vice president someday.

Its great for her to see someone in charge, making decisions thatll affect us, said Scaranuzzo.

Soon after 4:15 p.m., the motorcade came by. Cops on motorcycles led the way for large black SUVs, adorned with tiny American flags. The crowd cheered and whooped in excitement.

Back at Tweed, Burr Street neighbors Dashayla Miller and Jessica Ferraro were strolling along with Ferraros son, Tim, 3, in a stroller, as snipers wearing camouflage uniforms climbed to the top of the Tweed administration buildings former control tower to check out the angles.

Why were Miller and Ferraro there?

Obviously, the vice president is coming  our first female and African-American vice president, they said. This is history  something  something I dont want to miss.

Ferraro lives right at the corner of Burr Street and Fort Hale Road, directly across from Tweeds main entrance. Minutes earlier, she had ordered a group of Trump-flag-waving Trump supporters off her property. They returned while she was out walking.

Its history, she said of Harris visit. Its the first black woman vice president. Im just so glad to be here!

Moments later, they ran into two other neighbors, Laura McHugh and her wife, Lisa Ventura McHugh.

I love Harris  love her and what she stands for, said McHugh. Its good for a female to be up where she is.

Michelle Cabaldon normally would be working in her position as head of school at High School in the Community in New Haven. But Friday, she was at Tweed, telling the story of Harris arrival on Instagram for her students to follow.

Its not often that we get to see a president or vice president in person, Cabaldon said. Plus, the woman part  and the woman of color part  is important. As you know, the majority of New Haven is minority, and its important for them to know you can be anything you want.

Michelle Clary-Butler, director of the threatened East Shore Senior Center, which could be closed under the more austere of Mayor Justin Elickers two budget proposals, came out to support Harris  but also to post signs reminding her and anyone else who passed by that Seniors Matter.

Im ecstatic! I think its great for our city, Clary-Butler said as she posted a temporary Welcome Vice President Kamala Harris sign near the entrance to the airport. Its just historic. Its just emotional. This is the first  and who knows whats to come.

Other signs nearby mentioned the senior center, itself.

Im trying to save it, she said.

Across the street from her  in front of Ferraros house, a group of Trump supporters were waving their flag before Ferraro told them to leave.

Were getting ready for 2024, said Morris Cove resident George Williams.

A couple doors down along Burr Street, Charles Curry also identified himself as a Trump supporter. I wish it wasnt her arriving, Curry said of Harris. I wish it was Trump. I love that man.

Maribel Gomez, 37, of East Haven, came with her mother, Maria Rodriguez, a native of Ecuador, and her daughters Camila, 13, and Abigail, 5.

The fact that shes a woman is a big thing, said Gomez, who was born in Ecuador but raised in Massachusetts and works for the state Juvenile Court in Bridgeport. It gives an opportunity to have something to look forward to. It gives a woman an opportunity to look to the future  and shes a person of color!

Clem DeLucia, who lives in New Haven and grew up right across Burr Street from the airport, said that when the late President John F. Kennedy came in the early 1960s, the Secret Service used the closet in my bedroom as a lookout point.

Anna Brazzell of East Haven brought her 14-year-old daughter Angela with to see the vice president arrive.

I mainly brought her here so she can see Air Force 2 and hopefully catch a glimpse of the vice president, said Anna Brazzell, who works at Tweed for American Airlines. Were just excited. Ive never seen Air Force 2.

Beyond that, Im pretty excited. ... It is pretty interesting to know that the vice president is a woman, Brazzell said as Gov. Ned Lamont and U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona strolled in front of the Tweed administration building a couple of hundred feet away as they waited for Harris to land. To me, this empowers a lot of women. Now I can show my daughter, You can do it, too.

Trump supporters Robert and Michelle Canter of East Haven carried a plywood sign that read, Americans First, which they held atop the Tweed fence along Dean Street.

We need to support people here before we send money to other countries, said Robert Canter, a self-described conservative. $86 million to the border? Support Americans first!

mark.zaretsky@hearstmediact.com
Businessman Mike Lindell appeared on the cable network Newsmax last month and launched into a baseless conspiracy theory blaming a voting machine company for fraud in the 2020 presidential election.

After muting Lindells microphone, a Newsmax anchor told viewers that the My Pillow Inc founders claims were unsubstantiated and unverified. The anchor then read a prepared statement that included: Newsmax accepts the (election) results as legal and final.

Lindell, an ardent ally of losing presidential candidate Donald Trump, refused to drop the subject, and the anchor stormed off mid-interview.

The on-air reality check highlights a new trend in conservative media: In an apparent effort to minimize liability for defamation, Newsmax and some other outlets are relying on prepared disclaimers or additional pre-recorded programming to repudiate pro-Trump conspiracy theories spouted by guests and hosts.

Legal experts say this practice, also used in some form by One America News Network (OANN) and other conservative TV and radio networks, is a response to lawsuits recently filed or threatened by Dominion Voting Systems Inc and Smartmatic Inc, two election technology companies targeted by pro-Trump conspiracy theorists.

A Newsmax spokesman declined to comment. OANN did not respond to a request for comment.

The suits could test the effectiveness of disclaimers on news coverage more broadly, as well as the conservative medias appetite for guests and hosts who make unsubstantiated claims about hot-button issues, legal experts say. The suits also pose an existential threat to the smaller networks, which can ill afford a big verdict or settlement, said Columbia University historian Nicole Hemmer, author of a book on conservative media.

Dominion pushed forward with its legal challenges on Friday, saying it filed a $1.6 billion defamation suit against Fox News parent company Fox Corp in Delaware Superior Court, accusing it of falsely claiming the voting company rigged the election to boost its ratings.

Earlier, on Feb. 4, Smartmatic sued Fox, former Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani and others, claiming Smartmatic was falsely accused of rigging the election in favor of President Joe Biden. That suit seeks more than $2.7 billion in damages from the network and its hosts or guests.

Floyd Abrams, a prominent media lawyer and First Amendment advocate, said disclaimers could be modestly useful in bolstering the argument that the networks were simply carrying the views of Trump surrogates, rather than acting with malice toward Dominion and Smartmatic.

Fox did not run disclaimers, taking a different approach. In the case of Smartmatic coverage, the network aired a three-minute taped interview of an expert who expressed skepticism about electoral fraud claims. The segment ran three times in December. It first aired days after Smartmatic demanded that Fox retract false statements made on its shows, and weeks after those statements were originally broadcast.

Fox did not retract anything. A Fox spokeswoman pointed to instances in November and December when the network reported on the lack of evidence behind the voter fraud allegations.

If the First Amendment means anything, it means that Fox cannot be held liable for fairly reporting and commenting on competing allegations in a hotly contested and actively litigated election, the network said last month after filing a motion to get the Smartmatic lawsuit dismissed.

In that filing, Fox said it had invited Smartmatic to appear on the network to address the allegations made by Trumps surrogates, and that Smartmatic declined.

A Smartmatic attorney declined to comment on the invitation.

Dominion has filed earlier defamation lawsuits against Trump allies, including Giuliani and Lindell, based in part on their statements on networks and social media. Dominion has formally advised social media networks to preserve posts and data from Fox, Newsmax, OANN, Trump and others, saying they are relevant to pending and forthcoming claims.

Giuliani did not return a request for comment but told Reuters in January that his comments about Dominion were constitutionally protected free speech. Lindell told Reuters he was happy that Dominion sued him, because it would allow him to seek evidence from the company. He said that he planned to countersue Dominion for trying to silence him.

As for the networks, Dominion counsel Tom Clare and an attorney for Smartmatic said the disclaimers and counterarguments came too late.

They cannot undo the damage to Dominion, Clare said in an interview prior to filing Fridays lawsuit.

Theyve Got To Warn You About Me?

When Giuliani hosted a show in February on conservative talk radio station WABC in New York, the station inserted a statement mid-broadcast that the hosts views, assumptions and opinions do not necessarily represent the opinions, beliefs or policies of the station, its owner, other WABC hosts or advertisers.

Giuliani, returning to the microphone after the disclaimer, appeared blindsided. Rather insulting, he said. Were in America. Were not in East Germany. Theyve got to warn you about me?

WABC did not respond to a request for comment.

New York media lawyer Ryan Cummings said disclaimers could help media outlets argue that their hosts and guests were presenting opinions, not news. Under U.S. law, opinion enjoys more legal protection than reporting that purports to assert facts. However, radio and cable news outlets generally dont provide cues to make the distinction obvious to viewers.

Disclaimers could also help Newsmax and others argue that they were not acting recklessly, said Stanford Law School professor Robert Rabin. Under U.S. law, a false statement about a well-known person or company is deemed defamatory only if it is made with actual malice or a reckless disregard for the truth.

Fox, the conservative network with by far the greatest reach, took a different route with its pre-recorded interview titled Closer Look at Claims About Smartmatic.

The network first presented the skeptical experts views in December, five weeks after it originally aired the false claims about Smartmatic. The segment ran during the same shows on which the false statements originally were made.

The questions in the segment, voiced by an unidentified off-camera interviewer, were quick and to-the-point.

For instance, the interviewer asked, Have you seen any evidence that Smartmatic software was used to flip votes anywhere in the U.S. in this election? The voting technology expert, Eddie Perez, responded: I have not seen any evidence that Smartmatic software was used to delete, change, alter anything related to vote tabulation.

Perez told Reuters that Fox had been vague about the interview when it booked him, and did not say that the questions would be exclusively about Smartmatic. However, he said, Foxs audience needed to hear sober factual information. The network had been leading them astray for weeks, Perez said.

On the other hand, he added, I am not so naive to think that one five- to seven-minute piece that answers those questions would miraculously change minds.

Smartmatic saw the taped interview as an admission of guilt or an admission of liability on the part of Fox News, said Smartmatics counsel, Erik Connolly. And thats how we have positioned it in our lawsuit.

Is Trump Immune?

As legally fraught as election fraud claims can be, the subject is enormously appealing to many pro-Trump viewers and voters. And conservative media continue to make Trump, the most powerful voice in the Republican Party, a focal point of their coverage.

Some media lawyers say the president  who led the way in making and spreading election fraud claims  may be in less legal peril than his surrogates and the conservative networks that cover him.

Thats partly because he made specific public claims about the companies only while he was still president: Sitting presidents are immune from suits related to their official acts, a protection that has been interpreted broadly by the courts. Rabin, the Stanford lawyer, said the protections are meant to ensure that high-level government officials can speak out and perform their responsibilities without fear of defamation suits.

Since leaving office, Trump has kept his remarks vague, not mentioning the election technology companies by name. The broader or the vaguer the articulation of election fraud, the clearer it is that it will be protected by the First Amendment, Abrams said.

Trump has not been personally sued by Smartmatic or Dominion. A senior Trump adviser did not respond to requests for comment.

By comparison, even if they issue disclaimers and keep their coverage vague, the networks are at risk for what already has been said on their news programs. Theres a certain irony in it, Rabin said, referring to the contrast between Trumps legal exposure and that of the media who cover him.
Two 7th century warriors at an ancient burial ground in Sweden were laid to rest with comfy bedding stuffed with feathers from a variety of birds, research shows.

New microscopic analysis of the bedding shows traces of feathers from local geese, ducks, grouse, crows, sparrows, waders and even eagle owls.

The warriors were also buried in their boats with richly adorned helmets, shields and weapons and even gaming pieces, which, along with the several layers of bedding, would have eased the journey 'to the realm of the dead', according to researchers.

Bizarrely, in one grave, an Eurasian eagle owl (Bubo bubo) had been laid with its head cut off  and the experts aren't entirely sure why.

The graves are two of 15 that were uncovered and excavated by archaeologists in the 1920s in Valsgarde outside Uppsala in central Sweden.

Scroll down for video

Excavated feathers from one of the boat graves. They are very well preserved, but brittle, densely packed and entangled

Valsgarde is described by the team as Scandinavia's answer to Sutton Hoo  the famous English burial site near Woodbridge in Suffolk, which is the subject of Netflix's film The Dig, starring Lily James, Carey Mulligan, Ralph Fiennes.

Weirdly, horses and other animals were arranged close to the boats when they were buried  about 1,400 years ago.

'The buried warriors appear to have been equipped to row to the underworld, but also to be able to get ashore with the help of the horses,' said Professor Birgitta Berglund at NTNU University Museum in Trondheim, Norway.

'We also think the choice of feathers in the bedding may hold a deeper, symbolic meaning.'

According to Nordic folklore, the type of feathers contained in the bedding of the dying person was important.

The weapons in the graves were richly decorated. This sword was found in one of the boat graves looked at for this study, Valsgarde 7

The graves are two of 15 that were uncovered and excavated by archaeologists in the 1920s in Valsgarde outside Uppsala in central Sweden

WHAT IS DOWN? The down of birds is a layer of fine feathers found under the tougher exterior feathers. It's still used as a thermal insulator for padding, bedding, pillows, quilts and more. Eiderdown, or eider down, comes from the Common Eider Duck, a large migratory sea duck. Advertisement

'For example, people believed that using feathers from domestic chickens, owls and other birds of prey, pigeons, crows and squirrels would prolong the death struggle,' Professor Berglund said.

'In some Scandinavian areas, goose feathers were considered best to enable the soul to be released from the body.'

'Down'  or soft feathers  in the graves at Valsgarde is the oldest known from Scandinavia and indicates that the two buried men belonged to the top strata of society.

Wealthy Greeks and Romans used down for their bedding a few hundred years earlier, but down probably wasn't used more widely by wealthy people in Europe until the Middle Ages, Berglund said.

As for the beheaded owl, Professor Berglund said: 'We believe the beheading had a ritual significance in connection with the burial.'

The keeping of predatory birds, like the Eagle Owl, has also long been a status symbol, according to the researchers.

Swords found in tombs from Viking times were sometimes intentionally bent before being laid in the tomb, likely to prevent the deceased from using the weapon if he returned from the dead.

Left, map of the Valsgarde hillside with numbered burials. The investigated sites are marked in red. Right: Warriors on a metal sheet from the helmet at Valsgarde 7, with birds of prey on their helmets

Valsgarde was found and excavated by archaeologists in the 1920s. The burial field in Valsgarde outside Uppsala in central Sweden contains more than 90 graves from the Iron Age. Pictured, the grave field of Valsgarde

'It's conceivable that the owl's head was cut off to prevent it from coming back,' said Professor Berglund.

The cemetery at Valsgarde was excavated in the 20th century, starting in 1928 by todays Uppsala University Museum.

The burial field in Valsgarde was found to contain more than 90 graves from the Iron Age, of which 15 were boat-burials with 'well-equipped' warriors from the Late Iron Age (AD 5701030).

The two boat graves that are the focus of this new study  Valsgarde 7 and 8  had both already been archaeologically dated to the 7th century.

Valsgarde 7 was excavated in 1933, while Valsgarde 8 was excavated in 1936, according to Professor Berglund.

The boats carrying the two dead men each measure about 30 feet long, with room for four to five pairs of oars.

Both were outfitted for high-ranking warriors, with provisions and tools, as well as the 'richly decorated' helmets, shields and weapons.

For example, Valsgarde 7 alone was found containing more than 30 game pieces and three die, textiles (feather bed and pillows), and animals (cattle, pig, sheep, snowy owl, black grouse, duck, goose and pike).

A reconstruction of a Valsgarde 7. The goods may have been placed as if the dead person was going on a boat journey in the afterlife

An ornate warrior helmet taken from Valsgarde 5, which was not analysed for this new study

Artefacts related to animals included 20 horse shoe studs, one saddle, four bridles and four or five dog leashes.

The purpose of this new study was to determine which bird species the down in the luxury bedding had been taken from, and whether it had been imported or was taken from local birds.

It was thought the feathers may have been imported from far afield, which would have suggested some sort of historical trade route.

Berglund's fellow study author, biologist Jrgen Rosvold at the Norwegian Institute for Natural History (NINA), identified the species from the feather material.

'It was a time consuming and challenging job for several reasons,' he said. 'The material is decomposed, tangled and dirty.

'This means that a lot of the special features that you can easily observe in fresh material has become indistinct, and you have to spend a lot more time looking for the distinctive features.

'I'm still surprised at how well the feathers were preserved, despite the fact that they'd been lying in the ground for over 1,000 years.

Based on a comparison of modern feathers, small details in the historical feathers revealed which birds the feathers came from.

Zooming in on individual areas of modern feathers (pictured) help researchers determine which birds the feathers came from

A Eurasian Eagle owl (Bubo bubo) on a branch eating a mouse. In one grave, an Eurasian eagle owl had been laid with its head cut off. The species' feathers were also found in the bedding (stock image)

Professor Berglund has been studying down harvesting in Helgeland coastal communities in southern Nordland county for many years, where people commercialised down production early on by building houses for the eider ducks.

The theory was that down from this location might have been exported south, so Berglund wanted to investigate whether the bedding at Valsgarde contained eider down.

'Only a few feathers from eider ducks were identified, so we have little reason to believe that they were a commodity from Helgeland or other northern areas,' said Professor Berglund.

Various levels of bird identifications were obtained through microscopic analysis of the ancient feathers, some of which were corroborated with bird bones in the two burials and from a contemporary farm close to the burials.

So this suggested the bird feathers, from the wide range of species, were taken from local birds, rather than birds further afield.

Regardless, the great variety of species have still given the researchers insight into the bird fauna in the immediate area in prehistoric times.

'The feathers provide a source for gaining new perspectives on the relationship between humans and birds in the past,' said Professor Berglund.

'Archaeological excavations rarely find traces of birds other than those that were used for food.'

The study has been published in Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports.
More than 600 Texas Roadhouse locations are spread around the globe. Photo: Don & Melinda Crawford/Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

When the COVID-19 pandemic forced Americas restaurants to close last year, the Texas Roadhouse chain uploaded its Jukebox Jams to a Spotify playlist called, appropriately, Texas Roadhouse Jukebox Jams. It would take two full days to listen to the entire thing. The playlists 729 songs run the gamut from country classics like Bloody Mary Morning to contemporary hits, like Luke Bryans 2019 song Knockin Boots (sample lyric: Boots need knockin / Knockin boots / Knockin boots / Me and you). The Jukebox Jams are, ostensibly, the songs that  in a normal world  could be playing right this minute at any of Texas Roadhouses 600-plus locations, in 49 states and nearly a dozen countries around the world, with a particular international popularity in Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

The sound of an actual Texas Roadhouse is typically more boisterous: Theres the steady clang of cutlery digging into the Ft. Worth Ribeye steaks, the crunching of peanut shells beneath customers feet, and the familiar yee-haws that round out every chorus of Happy Birthday, which is customarily sung as the birthday gal or guy sits atop a leather saddle.

Texas Roadhouse is the brainchild of Kent Taylor, the chains founder and CEO who died by suicide last week. He had survived a bout of COVID-19, but the tinnitus that arrived with the virus was reportedly too much for Taylor to bear. When I saw the news, I immediately thought of the companys peculiar origin story, and Taylors tenacity. From the chains very beginning, Taylor was a man who wanted to replicate Texas all over the world, to re-create one place within the borders of a completely different place. During this year of isolation, travel restrictions, and social distancing, that is an idea that stuck with me.

After sketching out the designs for the restaurant on a napkin that I can only assume was surprisingly thick and wide, Taylor launched the first Texas Roadhouse in Clarksville, Indiana, in 1993. To this day, the company is headquartered in Louisville, and the first outpost in the state of Texas didnt even open until 1997. According to Travis Doster, who is the senior director of public relations for Texas Roadhouse, the chain did maintain a P.O. box in the state for the first decade of its existence because, Doster told me a couple months ago, Kent said, My gosh, I got to do something so people think Im in Texas.

As a native Texan, I never wanted to like Texas Roadhouse. But when the pandemic hit, I found myself stuck in Brooklyn, unable to safely fly home to San Antonio, the city where my parents live and where breakfast tacos on homemade flour tortillas sell for a dollar. But I could go to Texas Roadhouse. A simplified and commodified version of Texas, I figured, was better than no Texas at all.

There arent any outposts in New York City proper, but eight Texas Roadhouses, with their enormous neon signs and waving Texas flags, surround the five boroughs like an old Western siege. In New Rochelle, on my first-ever visit to a Texas Roadhouse, I ordered the Rattlesnake Bites, glorious fried balls of jalapeno and Jack cheese. Theyre hot, my waiter warned me. I sure hope so, I replied.

I was also struck by the restaurants never-ending baskets of sourdough rolls, which always arrive steaming hot and  once you slather them with cinnamon butter  taste, not unpleasantly, like Eggo waffles.

Before Texas Roadhouse, Taylor worked at a Bennigans in Dallas. According to Doster, it was then that Taylor first fell in love with the state, driving the farm-to-market roads to see what hed find. When he moved back to Kentucky, he missed the mom-and-pop restaurants of Texas and developed a damn-near stubborn ambition to replicate that back-road feeling all over the country. (Three out of five of the first Texas Roadhouses failed, but Taylor pushed forward anyway.)

When the pandemic hit, that attitude came in handy. In early 2020, Taylor told his team that jet airplanes dont have mirrors on them for a reason  theyre going fast and forward. Then he encouraged all of his restaurants managers to do whatever it took to stay safe and successful. One location sold $5 hamburgers on the side of the road. Staff at a Houston location, upon learning of the COVID-induced grocery shortages, sold COVID survival kits at drive-through markets, which included beef, produce, and toilet paper. For his part, Taylor forfeited his own salary and incentive bonus for the year so the company could continue to pay frontline employees, even when the doors to Texas Roadhouses were temporarily closed.

All of the efforts paid off. Casual-dining restaurants, in sad and stark contrast with local restaurants, have fared pretty well during the pandemic. And Texas Roadhouse has been especially successful. A 2020 report from insight company TOP Data confirmed what Texas Roadhouses impressive market gains seemed to suggest: During the pandemic, Texas Roadhouse has been the No. 1 casual-dining restaurant in 15 states, most of them in the Northeast and Midwest.

Before I head home from any Texas Roadhouse, I tour around the restaurant. I walk past Willies Corner, dedicated to Willie Nelson, who was a longtime poker buddy of Taylors. I look for the neon Shiner logos on the wood-paneled walls. And I take in the giant mural, which is unique to each outpost. In Teterboro, Andy the Armadillo  the Roadhouse mascot  is depicted sightseeing at the Statue of Liberty. Cozied up to his lizard friend, the illustrious armadillo pokes his snout out of Lady Libertys crown, smiling affectionately at the New York Harbor. It is simultaneously too earnest and utterly ridiculous.

During my most recent trip to a Roadhouse, I started my meal with a $7 margarita, on the rocks, with salt. It was too sweet, too sour, and too boozy  and it was the perfect embodiment of the Texas Roadhouse spirit. If youre going to be too much, be too much of everything.

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Seth Rogen has admitted it would be 'really hard' for him to live without marijuana after smoking the drug helped his low-level OCD and Tourettes.

Speaking as he graced the cover of British GQ's May Issue, the actor, 38, said that people are 'still weird' about cannabis despite it being legalised for medical use in 35 US states.

Seth also reflected on the international incident that was sparked by his controversial 2014 film The Interview, joking that if the film had been released during Donald Trump's Presidency he'd likely have been sent to North Korea for 'execution.'

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Candid: Seth Rogen has admitted it would be 'really hard' for him to live without marijuana after smoking the drug helped his low-level OCD and Tourettes

Seth explained that he's smoked marijuana to help his obsessive-compulsive disorder and Tourettes, which are low-level but more pronounced in his father.

Asked whether he could live without the drug, he said: 'It would be like saying you can't wear clothes anymore. It would be a real bummer. It would make it really hard for me to do what I need to do in the world.'

'The only stigma with weed is because it affects your brain. And people are just weird about it. They don't like talking about brain health.'

Candid: The actor said that people are 'still weird' about cannabis despite it being legalised for medical use in 35 US states

Currently marijuana is legal for medical use in 35 states including California, Nevada and Vermont, while 15 have also made the drug legal for recreational use.

Seth also confessed he between the ages of 13 and 23 he 'drank as often as he could without derailing his life in any meaningful way,' but slowly began to question why he needed to drink so heavily.

He said: 'Like, why am I getting blackout drunk at these things and hating myself the next day? And I think I realised I had been lied to about alcohol and that it held a place in society for the wrong reasons.'

'Once I grew more comfortable with doing other drugs that were more stigmatised and not worrying about damage in terms of anyone's perceptions of me, there was just a point where I realised I just need to be comfortable doing a quarter tab of molly [MDMA] at this party and not drinking and having a much better time.

Shocking: Seth also reflected on the incident sparked by his 2014 film The Interview, joking that if the film was released during Donald Trump's Presidency he'd have been 'executed'

'Or eating a tiny bit of shrooms at this thing or having a [weed] lollipop. The next day I don't have a hangover. I'm not throwing up. It's just much better for me...Truly, you would be better off doing a hit of acid than drinking.'

Following the release of his candid memoir, Seth Rogen's Yearbook, the Lion King star also reflected on the release of The Interview, which sparked huge controversy when it was released in 2014.

The film saw Seth and James Franco appear as a TV producer and presenter sent to North Korea to kill Kim Jong-Un, under the ruse they are travelling to the country for an interview with him.

The controversy led Sony Pictures to delay the release of the film and re-edit scenes, and a majority of theatre chains refused to play the picture, leading it to be released on for online digital rental and limited showings.

See the full feature in the May issue of British GQ available via digital download and on newsstands Thursday 1st April

Barack Obama, who was US President at the time, did much to try and calm tensions with the North Korean government over the film, and Seth admitted if Donald Trump had been in the White House, he may not have been so lucky.

He said: 'We would have been f**king sent to North Korea! Men would have shown up, thrown me in a van, thrown me in the back of a f**king cargo plane and I would have been, like, parachuted over Pyongyang to be executed. I cant even imagine!'

Looking back at the film, which he also wrote and co-directed, he added: 'Well, mainly that a lot of comedians have the sense they are embroiled in some sort of, quote-unquote, controversy, but none of that was controversial.

'Theyve experienced hypothetical controversy of people getting mad at them on Twitter. The president didnt hold a press conference about their controversy.

'There werent books and documentaries and classes in universities dedicated to the fallout.'

See the full feature in the May issue of British GQ available via digital download and on newsstands Thursday 1st April.
The Minister of Education, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, has called for calm over a row involving students with dreadlocks seeking admission to Achimota School in Accra.



He also appealed to public commentators and the public to lower the tempo in the discussions to allow management of the Ghana Education Service (GES) to find a lasting solution to the vexed issue.



Speaking in an exclusive interview on the impasse between the parents of the students and authorities of the school, the minister called for compromises, saying the current public commentary was not healthy.



Directives



Dr Adutwum asked the Director-General of the GES, Professor Kwasi Opoku-Amankwa, to facilitate a meeting between the parents of the boys and the authorities of the school to find a solution to the current impasse.



I have directed the GES to come out with clear policy guidelines so that teachers can teach, parents can have the peace of mind as they bring their children to school and administrators have clear guidelines to run their schools and allow peace to prevail, he said.



Cool heads



As a Minister of Education, I do not have a position on this but all that I am saying is that let calm prevail, Dr Adutwum explained.



The minister expressed the hope that the meeting between the GES and the two factions would resolve the differences and allow the students to get back to school.



Dr Adutwum said he appreciated the fact that schools had rules and regulations governing them and also the concerns expressed by all stakeholders, but appealed for peace.



As we talk, the Director-General of the GES and the Chief Director of the ministry are holding a discussion with the parents of the boy, he told the Daily Graphic, and expressed the hope that it would provide a solution in the short term.



Products of Achimota



The minister commended Achimota School for offering admission to various categories of students and producing great personalities occupying high offices globally.



He said the school had the record of admitting children from across the country, and I do not want Achimota to be described as a school of exclusion.



Background



Authorities of the school last week admitted the students who were posted there under the Computer School Selection and Placement System (CSSPS), but requested that the students cut off their dreadlocks as part of the school's rules and regulations.



The father of one of the students, Ras Aswad Nkrabeah, rejected the directives of the school and took to social media to pressurise the school to rescind its decision because this is a gross human right violation. We have no option but to battle.



As a child he has every right to his culture in so far as such culture does not breach the 1992 Constitution. He equally deserves the right to access education within his culture just like other cultural believers.



As a Rastafarian, I think that dreadlocks do not in any way cause any harm which should even be a basis to be asserted by the school authorities, he posted on his Facebook wall.



The issue drew sharp lines among the general public with some supporting the position of Ras Nkrabeah, while others backed the school authorities, insisting that the student must be made to follow the rules of the school.



The Minister of Education, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, has called for cool heads to prevail over the admission row involving students with dreadlocks who were admitted by the Achimota School in Accra and allow management of the Ghana Education Service to find a lasting solution to the stand-off.









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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Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-27 04:48:49|Editor: huaxia

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QUITO, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Ecuador recorded 2,795 new COVID-19 infections and 38 more deaths in the last 24 hours, the Public Health Ministry said on Friday, bringing the total figures to 321,451 cases and 11,797 deaths.

The South American country is facing an uptick in infections in seven of its 24 provinces, as the hospital system nationwide is swamped due to the sustained increase in cases.

In several cities, local authorities have imposed restrictive measures to contain the spread of the virus, including no crowds.

As of Wednesday, 152,526 people had received their first vaccine dose and 38,653 had been given their second dose, while phase 1 of the country's vaccination plan, which began on March 1, is progressing with the inoculation of seniors, according to ministry data.

The Ecuadorian government's goal is to vaccinate 2 million people, including seniors and strategic sector personnel, by May 20. Enditem
What are the challenges and opportunities that women in Latin America face during and after the pandemic? How can those societies change to address some of the pressing issues that affect women in particular?

These are some of the topics that were explored by an esteemed panel in the virtual seminar Leading Women in Global Health: Equity and Health, hosted by the University of Miami Institute for Advanced Study of the Americas on Thursday. Part of an ongoing series called Latin American Women in Global Health, it was sponsored by the University of Miami, the Institute for Advanced Study of the Americas, Tomatelo a Pecho, Women in Global Health, and Fundacion Mexicana para La Salud.

Felicia Knaul, an international health economist and director of the institute, welcomed the participants by pointing out that they are untiring defenders of womens health who would impart their knowledge and experience on gender leadership and gender health inequities with a particular focus on the effects of the pandemic.

Gabriela Ramos, assistant director general for social and human services of UNESCO, opened the session. She shared that when the Generation Equality Forum meets in Mexico next week, the pandemic will be a major topic.

This pandemic has sent us back years, she said. It has set us back in life expectancy, it has set us back in how children learn, and it has set us back in poverty. There are 130 million more poor people in the world and the clock keeps ticking.

Esta pandemia tiene cara de mujer (this pandemic has a womans face), Ramos said. Because women have borne the heaviest burdens in health, in the economy, and having to deal with the highest cost of schooling children at home, she stated.

In addition, many women have had to face the increase of domestic violence during the pandemic, she said. It is really troubling, and we must put the theme of health as a top theme in the forum.

Ramos also said that the issue of helping women achieve leadership positions within the business and public work sectors was also important.

The fact is that when you have women in positions of power, you have diversity, you look at things differently, she said. Decisions are better made when women are added to positions of power.

Knaul said that the violence against women and girls was a pandemic that would continue unless there was a focus on developing public awareness, changes in norms and behaviors, and the enlisting of leadersincluding menwilling to defend the rights of women.

One out of every three women in the world is affected by domestic violence, according to the World Health Organization, she said.

The cost of not acting is enormous, said Knaul, who is co-chair of the Lancet Commission on Gender-based Violence and Maltreatment of Young People.

What can our women offer to the global movement of violence against women and which programs work? Knaul asked the group.

This problem must be approached from different areas, said Helia Molina, former minister of health in Chile and professor at the University of Santiago Faculty of Medical Sciences.

She said that in Chile there was a very strong social movement defending womens rights and that she believed keeping the issue of womens rights in the forefront of the public consciousness was important.

Molina also noted that the Latin American region must accept that there are cultural patterns that differentiate it from other regions. So, learning what other regions were doing to combat gender violence was critical.

Providing womens shelters and personal help to victims was important, she added.

Beatriz Londono, former minister of health in Colombia and steering technical director of the Interamerican-Health Task Force, said that violence is learned from an early age. So, it is critical for children (both girls and boys) to be systematically educated at home and in schools to respect and value women.

Public institutions must also make it easier for women to access legal protections when they have been the victims of abuse, she said.

When talking about inequity of labor and income for women as compared to men, Knaul indicated that women make up the greater number of caretakers both at home and in the health sectors.

But women who are homemakers are not paid and not recognized, she said. Previous estimates show that womens paid and unpaid contributions to the health sector amounted to 5 percent of global GDP, Knaul pointed out. With updated methodology accounting for discrimination, preliminary estimates suggest the figure will increase by 2-3 percentage points.

This gender disparity has become more relevant as many women have been forced to stay at home during the pandemic to care for children or other relatives.

What must we do to achieve a balance in the responsibilities at home and to access employment? Knaul asked the panelists.

Maki Esther Ortiz, municipal president of Reynosa, Tamaulipas, in Mexico and former undersecretary of the Ministry of Health in the country, said that in her homeland work that is not remunerated represents 5.6 million pesos, or 16.8 percent of the countrys GDP.

Of course, the ones that bear the burden are women, Ortiz remarked. Not only do women not get paid but that means not having those taxes flow into municipal budgets so that there could be more services to help women.

The pandemic has worsened this because the majority of those who lost jobs during the pandemic were women, she said.

Ortiz stated that the government must establish public policies to address this issue. Children and the disabled should have access to scholarships so they can easily access education. She also said that informational programs to empower families and decrease the machismo culture that undervalues womens work were a must in every municipality.

There is a lot of work to do in this regard, said Ortiz. But we must work hard on this issue.

Other participants included Patricia Garcia Funegara, former minister of health in Peru; Valentina Pantoja, co-director of Women in Global Health in Chile; and Jeanette Godinez Alejandre, youth leader for Women in Global Health in Mexico.
Email marketing is beneficial for businesses of all sizes. Of course, you have to master all the aspects of email campaigns if you want them to be successful. But at the end of the day, running an email marketing campaign comes down to the numbers. It is excellent that you can analyze the metrics because these will come in handy in the future. On the other hand, you must know which data you should track.

As a marketing specialist, or business owner, you have to think about security. After all, customers are trusting you with their personal and financial information. Cybersecurity tools are necessary if you use social media or have access to customer data. In this regard, a VPN can help you out with this. If you are unsure which provider to use, quick research can help you make up your mind. For instance, you can read about NordVPN and check all the great features it offers. Having a VPN protecting your business is indispensable, since privacy issues are the order of the day.

Check out NordVPN last offer here and keep your business safe

Looking at the title of the article we can think these metrics are something very specific and only relevant to email marketing, but they are actually something to consider in every marketing activity we intend to implement in our business.

1.Clickthrough Rate

Clickthrough Rate or CTR is undoubtedly one of the metrics you shouldn't ignore. It would be best if you tracked it every single day. It will give you a good overview of the number of people who engage with your content one way or the other. For instance, if you included a link to a new offer on your website, the clickthrough rate will tell you how many customers and subscribers clicked on it.

There are a couple of tricks you can use to increase the clickthrough rate in the emails. Ensure that the links are located in the right places throughout an email. Don't group them all in one place. Also, if there is a call to action in an email, make it visible and noticeable.

2.Open Rate

Open rate is the primary email marketing metric that will tell you if the subscribers are opening your emails or not. The average rate for email campaigns is around 24%. So if your number is higher than that, you are doing exceptionally well. On the other hand, if your open rate is lower than 24%, it might be time to change a thing or two.

Start with your subject line because that is what your subscribers see first. Customize it by including a subscriber's first name. The subject should be short and straight to the point without any unnecessary or extra words. Consider using emojis as well, depending on your target audience.

3.New Subscribers and Unsubscribers

Tracking unsubscribers alone won't do much for the success of your email marketing campaign. While you can keep a close eye on the number of people who hit unsubscribe after opening your email, it is not a reasonable estimate of those who don't engage with your business anymore. The majority of subscribers are, for some reason, too lazy to unsubscribe. They will continue to receive the emails and entirely ignore them.

On the other hand, you can examine the number of new subscribers and unsubscribers to see how your mailing list is growing. You can calculate this yourself by subtracting the number of unsubscribers from the number of new subscribers. Then divide the result by the number of total subscribers and multiply it by 100. Remember that this number will often fluctuate, but it is helpful to track it.

4.Sharing and Forwarding

This metric might not look important, but the truth is that sharing and forwarding emails is crucial when it comes to a campaign's success. It means your subscribers want to tell their friends or family about something you included in the message. After all, these actions will make new people discover your services.

You could motivate your existing subscribers to share the content by making it useful. Then track how many of them forward an email or share links on social media. Not to forget that you need to see the types of articles or links they send out. It can help you out when planning future content for your company's blog and give you more ideas about what subscribers like.

5.Return of Investment

Finally, there is the return of investment, also known as ROI. It is the way to see the overall return of investment during an email campaign. You can quickly calculate this by subtracting the money you spent by launching a campaign from the revenue you made in sales. Then divide that number by the money your company has invested in the campaign itself and multiply the result by 100.

Overall, it is easy to track the leads you generated during a campaign. Email marketing is expensive, and it indeed is an investment. But it is also one of the best marketing strategies out there at the moment. So if the business you work for is not yet sure if email campaigns work, presenting them with a high ROI number should change their minds.
The on Friday upheld the decision of the Tata Sons board in October 2016 to remove its then chairman, Cyrus Mistry, from office and later the companys board.

In its 282-page judgment, the court set aside the National Company Law Appellate Tribunals (NCLATs) order of December 2019, which had re-instated Mistry on the Tata Sons board and had termed the appointment of the current chairman, N Chandrasekaran, illegal.

The Bench, led by Chief Justice S A Bobde, rejected Mistrys Groups plea against the conversion of Tata Sons from a public limited company into a private limited one and did not get into the issue of valuing the companys stake.

Lawyers said both sides could begin talks on how Mistry Group could sell its 18.4 per cent stake to or to investors nominated by it and at what valuation.

The court said divorce without acrimony should be encouraged and Mistry Group seemed to have realised the futility of litigation.





ALSO READ: Tata vs Cyrus Mistry: Here are key facts and timeline of legal battle

It said Article 75 of Articles of Association of Tata Sons was nothing but a provision for an exit option to shareholders and after attacking Article 75 before the NCLT, Mistry Group could not ask it to go into the question of fixing fair value compensation for exercising an exit option

We cannot adjudicate on the fair compensation. We will leave it to the parties to take the Article 75 route or any other legally available route in this regard, the court said.

Reacting to the judgment, Ratan Tata, chairman emeritus of Tata Group, said he appreciated the court judgment and was grateful for it.

It is not an issue of winning or losing. After relentless attacks on my integrity and the ethical conduct of the group, the judgment, upholding all the appeal of Tata Sons, is a validation of the values and ethics that have always been the guiding principles of the group. It reinforces the fairness and justice displayed by our judiciary, Tata said in a social media post.

During the hearing, the Mistry family, one of the oldest business families in India, valued its stake at Rs 1.76 trillion, while the Tatas pegged it far below at up to Rs 80,000 crore.



ALSO READ: Does Tata-Mistry ruling change outlook for Tata Group cos? What experts say

With the companies shares going up significantly in the stock markets, the valuation of Mistry Groups stake has also gone up.

Lawyers said the verdict would have an impact on not only Tata Sons but also other that planned to go private.

The Mistry family had objected to Tata Sons going private. This, according to it, reduced liquidity in Tata Sons shares.

This has been a very high-profile and highly publicised dispute. The has, by answering the points at issue, laid down an important precedent on the various points raised by the respective parties. As the size of business houses keeps growing in India, this judgment will have a significant impact on disputes of this nature in the corporate sector, said Anand Desai, managing partner, DSK Legal.





ALSO READ: Mistry stake valuation in Tata Sons may lead to fresh round of legal tangle

Tata Trusts, which owns 66 per cent in Tata Sons, is chaired by Ratan Tata, who is 83 and patriarch of the group.

Mistry, 52, who was handpicked to lead after a global hunt, took over as chairman in 2012 after Tata retired on turning 75.

While Tata remained chairman of Tata Trusts, Mistry was running the group They fell out, leading to Mistrys ouster.

A bitter legal and public battle soon erupted, with Mistry complaining that he was made the scapegoat for the mistakes committed by his predecessor.

In his communication to the Tata Sons directors and Tata Trusts trustees soon after he was removed, Mistry had cited the sagging financials of Tata Steel Europe, Tata Motorss loss-making Nano project, Tata Teleservices, Indian Hotels, Jaguar Land Rover, and Tata Powers Mundra, which drained Tata Sons coffers.





ALSO READ: Tata-Mistry battle: Analysts peg Mistry stake at nearly Rs 1.16 trillion

Mistry also moved the National Company Law Tribunal, which, in July 2017, upheld the Tatas plea. But the NCLAT termed Mistrys removal illegal and reinstated Mistry as Tata Group chairman. Mistry in his petition did not pray for his reinstatement.

The Tatas then moved the Supreme Court, seeking to overturn the NCLAT judgment, and it stayed the tribunals order in January last year till further notice.

Just a few weeks before the Supreme Court hearing started, the Mistrys offered to sell their Tata Sons stake in lieu of shares in listed Tata companies, including Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Motors, and Tata Steel, and calculated their stake in Tata Sons at Rs 1.75 trillion, including its brand value.

But the Tatas rejected the offer, saying Mistry had damaged the Tata brand by going public.
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Karen Schuler And Taryn Crane, BDO

Karen Schuler And Taryn Crane, BDO

Privacy breaches are on the rise. Most (or all) of you reading this have likely received notice that your personal data has been breached. Some of you may have fallen victim to identity theft. Regardless, its unnerving when a company notifies you that your personal information has been accessed or stolen by an unauthorized party. In the age of digital transformation, privacy awareness is on the rise, and related legal obligations have taken center stage. Thus, substantial privacy and data protection program will help protect personal information, build a foundation to mitigate data risks, and establish trust with data subjects and consumers.

For those in the United States, privacy has been understood as an individuals fundamental right for many years and, in a broad sense, is the right to be left alone. However, information privacy is a new concept. Information privacy is concerned with establishing the rules that govern the collection, use, disclosure, retention, and disposal of personally identifiable information (PII). It provides an individual the right to control how their personal information is collected and used, which means that data identification, classification, governance, IT controls, and information life cycle management are critical to mitigating data and privacy risks.

When building a data protection program and associated policies and standards, it is an excellent practice to institute Fair Information Practice Principles (FIPPs), a set of guidelines for handling, storing, and managing personal information. FIPPs are organized into four categories and can serve as a foundation to protecting personal data:

 Rights of individuals  the company provides clear notice, choice,

and consent to how personal data is used and the individual's ability to request access to their data.

 Controls on the information  the company ensures a level of care around information security, IT controls, and that the data maintains its integrity and quality.

 Information lifecyclethe company has defined collection practices, uses the data for legitimate purposes, retains data for legal, business, or compliance purposes aligned with regulations, and data is destroyed when it should be.

 Management  the company has a plan to manage and administer its privacy program and monitor the program to ensure they are meeting their compliance obligations and enforce their programs policies.

To build a holistic data protection program, it is essential to determine what the organization considers PII, particularly as it relates to applicable law. Personal information typically includes name, gender, postal address, telephone number, email address, age and date of birth, marital status, citizenship, and government-issued identification numbers. In certain jurisdictions, PII may also include other information that can be reasonably linked to an individual, such as IP address, location, and other device data. The organization then needs to determine what they consider sensitive information, such as health information or financial data. Once those terms are defined, the project team should build their Data Protection Framework.

Above is BDO DigitalsData Protection Framework, which allows an organization to manage individual rights and data

protection obligations by looking at the organizations obligations from a holistic perspective. Outlined below is a checklist to get started.

Governance There should be a culture of compliance, accountability, and ownership of policies, combined with a tone at the top that supports data protection and compliance initiatives.

 Privacy Operations

The program should not only include a Global Privacy Office and should also involve supporting business units and operations to support privacy needs. This is an excellent area to consider outsourced operations and technology to drive down costs.

 Privacy by Design

Each process and system that collects, stores, and/or uses personal data should be designed with privacy in mind preventative, not remedial, privacy as a default setting, privacy embedded into the design, full functionality despite increased privacy controls, end-to-end security, as well as visibility and transparency for the users.

 Notice

Ensure that public notices describe how the organization collects, uses, retains, and discloses personal information. The organization must follow the guidelines they publish.

 Consent Management

The organizations websites or apps should empower the individual to obtain consent when information gathering is required.

 Rights Requests & Complaints

Under many laws, such as the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), it is required that you allow individuals to gain access to or request the deletion of their records. Additionally, the organization must let individuals file a complaint if they suspect that their rights have been violated.

 Data Management

At the core of any good data protection program is data management. A holistic data protection programs data management platform should ensure that the company can identify personal data sources located on their systems, where the data goes (inflows and outflows), builds upon the stated privacy policies, communicates uses of data, and can be monitored to ensure there is appropriate data classification schemas and retention programs in place. Additionally, the data should only be used for its intended purposes and should have a legitimate reason for being stored for a certain period.

 Data Security

Handling personal data and the controls implemented to protect personal data is essential to any suitable data protection program. Remember to ensure that appropriate access controls, encryption, data loss prevention strategies, and appropriate authentication mechanisms have been implemented, and always map to required data security laws and regulations.

 Incident Management

Incident response is a critical element of any data protection program. Without a good incident response program, the organization could likely be fined due to poorly managing the incident. This program not only requires a strong investigative and forensics team; it also requires a sound communications plan, crisis management team, and incident notification capabilities.

 Vendor Management

Data that flows to third parties should be reviewed, and the practices that those vendors employ are incredibly critical to fulfilling the organizations holistic data protection program. Consider how data is handled when it is collected, stored, or analyzed by a vendor.

 Training & Awareness

If your employees dont understand their responsibilities, then it is likely the program will fail. Train team members regularly, especially those that handle personal information and periodically communicate regulatory changes, so each associate understands the companys obligations.

 Regulations & Change

Managing change is a challenge for any organization  monitoring regulatory changes is even more challenging. Build a program that implements tracking regularly and consider employing outside resources (technologies, service providers, consultants) that can track and manage your new obligations.

At the core of any program will be the organizations ability to manage, maintain, and govern personal data to ensure that it is protected and accessible. Once the holistic program is developed, the company can consider taking a cyclical approach to complying with varying regulations. Often companies approach regulations from a linear perspective (e.g., GDPR, CCPA, PIPEDA) versus cyclical maintenance (e.g., identify regulatory changes, review the current status of a privacy program, create or update as needed). Combining a holistic plan and continuous monitoring allows the organization to manage an individuals rights better, comply with regulations and laws, and respond to potential incidents
ROSCOMMON, MICH. -- This spring, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources wants to help you tap into your inner Bob Ross.

The DNR is offering Happy Little Getaway overnight packages at its Ralph A. MacMullan Conference Center in Roscommon, as well as Happy Little Trees painting classes with a Bob Ross-certified instructor in the style of the iconic artist and TV host.

The classes and overnight packages will be held in April, timed to the return of the DNRs wildly popular Run for the Trees / Happy Little Virtual 5K, a Bob Ross-themed virtual 5K race. The programing, in partnership with Bob Ross Inc., helps plant native trees at Michigans state parks.

In keeping with the theme, participants in the Happy Little Getaway package and Happy Little Trees painting classes will get the chance to help plant trees as part of their experience.

The Happy Little Getaway Package, which runs from April 22-30, is $80 per person per night with lodging at the Ralph A. MacMullan Conference Center, adjacent to North Higgins Lake State Park, plus breakfast and lunch. The three-hour painting classes are optional, at $60 per person, with all materials included.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the DNR is limiting lodging and only accepting reservations for small groups of up to two households per lodge. There is room for eight families at one time, with one family unit per wing or lodge.

For more information on the Happy Little Getaway package and painting classes, or to make reservations, visit the Ralph A. MacMullen Conference Center website or read the events page here.

More information on the DNRs Happy Little Trees program can be found here.

RELATED:

DNRs Family Friendly Fishing map shows best Michigan spots to take kids fishing
The new investment feature in Touch n Go (TNG) eWallet, GO+, has now been made available to more users since we first reported it. Interestingly, the roll-out is several days ahead of its official launch  which is set to happen on 29 March (next Monday)  allowing these users an early opportunity to test out the new feature and its benefits.

Now that our apps have been updated with the new feature, lets go through a deep dive of what looks like the first e-wallet in Malaysia to offer interest or returns to a users wallet balance.

What is GO+ by TNG eWallet?

Essentially, GO+ lets you earn potential daily returns on your TNG eWallet credit, provided that you park the credit under your GO+ account. The balance will be invested in a low-risk money market fund to provide you with income and liquidity.

The key benefit to using GO+ is that your TNG eWallet balance can now earn extra cash for you even as it sits within your e-wallet. Balances put into the GO+ wallet is invested into a money market fund managed by Principal Asset Management Berhad, called the Principal e-Cash Fund. With it, youll be able to earn returns on a daily basis, which will then be credited into your account the following day. The indicative return rate will vary from day to day depending on market conditions; as of the time of writing, the rate is projected at 1.47% p.a., which is a slight increase from 1.35% p.a. for the day before.

GO+ also has the convenient Quick Reload Payment service, which enables it to automatically reload your eWallet with the GO+ wallet to the exact amount needed if you have insufficient eWallet balance. So if, for instance, you have an eWallet balance of RM5 and a GO+ balance of RM10, and are paying for a meal that costs RM8, GO+ will automatically reload your eWallet with RM3  allowing you to complete your purchase seamlessly. The Quick Reload Payment service supports all payments (retail, toll, and online payments), except for P2P transactions.

Aside from that, other GO+ benefits include the affordable initial investment amount (minimum cash in amount) as well as flexible withdrawal option (cash out). Well talk more about this in the coming sections.

Activating your GO+ account

GO+ is only available to Malaysian users above 18 years old with verified TNG eWallet accounts. The onboarding process isnt complicated either; youll be requested to fill in some personal details and complete the verification process, and after that, youll be invited to cash in an initial investment amount into your GO+ account (at least RM10).

When youre done, youll be able to see the total TNG eWallet balance, as well as a breakdown of the actual funds that are in your eWallet and GO+ account.

Cash In, Cash Out

After signing up, youll be allowed to carry out cash in and cash out transactions from your GO+ account. Simply put, cashing in money is the process of depositing money into your GO+ account, which can be done either via FPX (online banking) or from your existing TNG eWallet balance. Meanwhile, cashing out is when you withdraw money out from your GO+ account, transferring it back into your eWallet account or bank account.

Heres a table to better explain the maximum and minimum amounts that you can cash in or cash out:

Cash in Cash out From TNG eWallet From bank account (FPX) To TNG eWallet To bank account (FPX) Minimum amount RM10 RM10 RM10 RM10 Maximum amount RM5,000 RM9,500 per transaction RM5,000 No limit

For cash out requests, your money will be credited instantly if you choose to cash out to your TNG eWallet. If you opt to transfer to your bank account, however, your first cash out request will take between one to two business days to process (depending on whether you make your request before or after 4pm). Subsequent cash out requests to verified bank accounts will then take two calendar days.

Holding Limits For Your GO+ Account

TNGs FAQ clarified that the maximum limit for your GO+ account balance is currently set at RM9,500. In other words, your GO+ account can only hold a total of RM9,500 at any one time.

Fees To Consider

As with other money market funds, there will be no application fee or sales charges when you cash in into GO+, but do be aware that there is a management fee of up to 0.45% p.a., and a trustee fee of up to 0.03% p.a..

According to the funds prospectus, both the management fee and trustee fee are accrued on a daily basis and will be paid monthly. Neither the prospectus nor TNGs FAQ on GO+ indicates how these fees will be paid by the user  well clarify with TNG and update this section when we get an answer.

Meanwhile, there are currently no charges or fees applicable for the cashing out of money from your GO+ account.

Explaining Indicative Return Rate

Earlier, we mentioned that GO+ lets you earn daily returns at an indicative return rate, which is then credited into your account the next day. But what is an indicative return rate?

The indicative return rate is basically the approximate return rate that is expected, predicted based on historical prices, past performances, and various other market volatilities. It is not the actual return that you will get; depending on market performance, the actual amount credited into your account may do better or worse than the indicative return rate. As such, the figure will fluctuate on a daily basis  though for low-risk investments such as a money market fund, the fluctuation spread is small and the actual return rate will not stray too far from what is stated.

In the case of the Principal e-Cash Fund, which is the underlying fund for GO+, it has investments in the following:

Money market instruments

Deposits (including cash (at bank) and placement of deposits)

Debt instruments

Any other form of investments as may be permitted by the Securities Commission from time to time

You may also want to find out about how Principal Asset Management prices its units to provide you with your returns. These information can be found in the Principal e-Cash Fund prospectus.

***

In promoting its new GO+ feature, TNG has also cautioned its users of some key details, namely that it is not protected by PIDM, and that it is not shariah-compliant. Its FAQ also advised that the feature should not be treated as e-money, nor is it similar to placing a deposit with a financial institution.

On the other hand, GO+ takes advantage of existing investment tools, simplify it, and make it accessible to a much larger audience. For this alone, the team at TNG Digital has firmly disrupted the conventional perception of banking and investments  which is what fintech is all about.

All information in this article is derived from publicly available data, including the GO+ FAQ and Principal e-Cash Fund prospectus.

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Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-26 01:57:15|Editor: huaxia

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A nurse prepares to administer the COVID-19 vaccine at a hospital in Tripoli, northern Lebanon, on March 25, 2021. Lebanon registered on Thursday 3,560 new COVID-19 cases, raising the total number of infections to 452,281, the Health Ministry reported. (Photo by Khaled/Xinhua)

BEIRUT, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Lebanon registered on Thursday 3,560 new COVID-19 cases, raising the total number of infections to 452,281, the Health Ministry reported.

Meanwhile, death toll from the virus went up by 61 to 5,964.

Caretaker Health Minister Hamad Hassan discussed on Thursday with the Russian Ambassador to Lebanon Alexander Rudakov about donating to Lebanon Sputnik V vaccines to accelerate the vaccination campaign in the country.

Lebanon has been fighting against the virus since Feb. 21, 2020. Enditem
Two men have been charged for allegedly being key players in a Queensland-based terrorism syndicate and planning to travel to Syria to take part in hostile activities.

In coordinated raids, joint counterterrorism teams from Queensland and Victoria arrested Gabriel Crazzi, 34, from Chambers Flat in Logan, south of Brisbane, and Ahmed Talib, 31, from Doncaster East in Melbournes north-east.

Mr Crazzi was refused bail in Brisbane Magistrates Court on Friday.

Australian Federal Police has alleged the pair ran a sophisticated terrorist network in south-east Queensland that assisted a number of Australian foreign terrorist fighters to travel to Syria between 2012 and 2013, and had a religiously motivated violent extremist ideology.
One day after topping 1 million cases of COVID-19, Pennsylvania continues approaching another sad milestone: 25,000 deaths.

Another 36 lost lives were reported in Fridays daily update from the Pennsylvania Department of Health, bringing the statewide coronavirus death toll to 24,953. At current rates, the state would cross 25,000 dead in two days, though reporting typically slows over the weekend.

This comes as the pace of Pa. coronavirus cases again increases. Another 4,927 cases were reported Friday, the most in one day since Jan. 30. The states count now stands at 1,005,167 total cases since the pandemic arrived here a year ago this month, with daily case counts on the rise after weeks of stagnation.

It may be too soon to call it a surge, but certainly its an upswing in cases, possibly the result of coronavirus variants or COVID fatigue, said Dr. Jeffrey Jahre, vice president of medical affairs and chief emeritus of infectious diseases at St. Lukes University Health Network.

Your Pa. coronavirus updates for March 26, 2021.

(Cant see the map? Click here.)

COVID vaccines in Pa.

At least 1.6 million Pennsylvanians are fully vaccinated, the health department reported.

That figure does not include Philadelphia, which receives its own allotment of shots. When the city is factored in, approximately 14.5% of Pennsylvanias population has been fully vaccinated. It takes up to two weeks from the final shot for full protection to set in.

The Wolf administration on Friday also said that the educator vaccination program is nearly complete: 104,331 teachers and school staff statewide had received the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine as of Friday morning.

(Cant see the Pa. DOH vaccine provider map? Click here.)

Locally in the Lehigh Valley, this weekends vaccine initiatives include Northampton Countys first mass-vaccination site and a mobile clinic at Greater Shiloh Church in Easton.

The church clinic, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, is part of an outreach effort to under-vaccinated minority communities. It is run by St. Lukes, which has also hosted free clinics at the Hispanic Center Lehigh Valley in South Side Bethlehem, including one on Friday.

Lehigh Valley Health Network is holding the mass-vaccination clinic from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at Northampton Community College, where it expects to vaccinate 3,000 people. Appointments have already been filled.

Pennsylvania remains in Phase 1A, focusing on medical workers, seniors and anyone with high-risk health conditions. Health officials have said they will review progress at the end of the month when they could expand eligibility to more essential workers in Phase 1B and 1C.

(Cant see the chart? Click here.)

Coronavirus in Pa.

A year ago, Pennsylvania had 1,687 cases and 16 deaths. We averaged 215 cases and two deaths a day.

As of Friday, the state averaged 3,552 cases and 30 deaths a day.

Both are down from their winter peaks. The death rate has held between 25 and 30 for a week. The case rate stalled in late February between 2,400 and 2,700 a day but has now been climbing for over a week.

Hospitalizations are showing a rise as well, as is the state positivity rate, the percentage of tests that come back positive.

Dr. Jahre, with St. Lukes, said there is no question that mutations of the coronavirus are increasing, seen more and more in the New York metro area, New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania  similar to the viruss initial spread a year ago. Another factor may be COVID fatigue.

Theres a group of people who feel that now this is a done deed and it isnt. It isnt, Jahre said. This disease has had surprising evidence of vigor and changes and we have to be aware of it.

Even as more Pennsylvanians get vaccinated and restrictions are set to ease on April 4, health officials say it is still as important as ever to wear masks, stay socially distant and wash hands to prevent spreading the virus.

Coronavirus in the Lehigh Valley

The Lehigh Valley had 343 new cases and one death in Fridays update, putting the region at 63,045 cases and 1,477 deaths.

Lehigh and Northampton counties are seeing 131 and 155 new cases a day, respectively  their highest rates in at least six weeks.

(Cant see the chart? Click here.)

State parks reopening some facilities

Pennsylvania state parks will expand their offerings when other statewide COVID-19 restrictions ease on April 4. Parks had been open, but without special programs or most facilities.

The state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources on Friday announced that theyll be resuming outdoor, in-person programs and opening visitor centers and other buildings with limits on capacity. Large events are still halted.

Masks and social distancing will still be required for all events.

MORE: Outdoor programs returning to Pennsylvania state parks

Lehighvalleylive.com journalist Kurt Bresswein contributed to this report.

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Steve Novak may be reached at snovak@lehighvalleylive.com.
[March 26, 2021] Compute Health Acquisition Corp. Announces the Separate Trading of Its Class A Common Stock and Redeemable Warrants Commencing March 29, 2021

Compute Health Acquisition Corp. (NYSE: CPUH.U) (the "Company") today announced that, commencing March 29, 2021, holders of the units sold in the Company's initial public offering of 86,250,000 units completed on February 9, 2021, may elect to separately trade the shares of Class A common stock and redeemable warrants included in the units. Those units not separated will continue to trade on The New York Stock Exchange ("NYSE") under the symbol "CPUH.U," and the shares of Class A common stock and redeemable warrants that are separated will trade on the NYSE under the symbols "CPUH" and "CPUH WS," respectively. No fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole warrants will trade. Holders of units will need to have their brokers contact Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, the Company's transfer agent, in order to separate the units into shares of Class A common stock and redeemable warrants. The Company is a blank check company formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses. The Company intends to focus on healthcare businesses that are already leveraging, or have the potential to leverage, computational power, with an emphasis on companies in the medical device space, including imaging and robotics, and companies operating in the virtual care space, including telehealth, care delivery and next-generation payor and provider models. The Company's management team is led by Omar Ishrak, Jean Nehme and Joshua Fink. The units were initially offered by the Company in an underwritten offering. Goldman Sachs & o. LLC acted as the sole book-running manager in the offering.



The offering was made only by means of a prospectus, copies of which may be obtained for free from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the " SEC (News - Alert) ") website at www.sec.gov or by contacting Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, 200 West Street, New York, NY 10282, Attn: Prospectus Department, by telephone at 866-471-2526, facsimile at 212-902-9316 or by emailing prospectus-ny@ny.email.gs.com. A registration statement relating to the securities was filed with, and declared effective by, the SEC. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.

Forward Looking Statements This press release may include "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, including with respect to the anticipated separate trading of the Company's Class A common stock and redeemable warrants and the pursuit of an initial business combination. All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this press release are forward-looking statements. When used in this press release, words such as "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "intend" and similar expressions, as they relate to us or our management team, identify forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs of management, as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to, the Company's management. Actual results could differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements as a result of certain factors detailed in the Company's filings with the SEC. All subsequent written or oral forward-looking statements attributable to us or persons acting on our behalf are qualified in their entirety by this paragraph. Forward-looking statements are subject to numerous conditions, many of which are beyond the control of the Company, including those set forth in the Risk Factors section of the Company's registration statement and prospectus relating to the Company's initial public offering filed with the SEC. The Company undertakes no obligation to update these statements for revisions or changes after the date of this release, except as required by law. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210326005451/en/

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NASHVILLE, Tenn., March 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- A little over a year after visitor restrictions were put into place as one measure to help protect residents from COVID-19, Brookdale communities across the country are now able to lift those restrictions to allow both outdoor AND indoor visits, subject to specific state guidance.

The applicable state regulatory agencies in the 43 states in which Brookdale operates have adapted guidance to align with the recently updated protocols from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and/or the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) allowing assisted living, memory care and skilled nursing facilities to loosen restrictions on visits. Assisted living, memory care and skilled nursing communities that meet the state specific requirements are beginning to let families and loved ones in for visits again! Independent living communities that are not licensed by the state but which had restricted visits as a measure of protection have also lifted visit restrictions.

Brookdale President and Chief Executive Officer Lucinda "Cindy" Baier was pleased that more families can start to join their loved ones in their communities again. "Brookdale has worked hard to keep our residents engaged and connected with their families, even when visits were not possible, by increasing use of technology and employing new ideas such as window visits and car parades. But there is no substitute for an actual visit with loved ones right inside a Brookdale community, our residents' home. We are thrilled to see families again connecting in person. We're excited to move into this next phase, guided by the CDC, CMS, and the applicable state health authorities."

States such as Rhode Island, Washington and Florida have already been able to schedule families for indoor visits. In some states, state health departments have updated guidance to allow for "brief contact."

The week that Brookdale West Bay in Rhode Island resumed in-person visits, the state released new guidance allowing for hugs. Resident Hazel Slocum was left speechless when she got to hug her son and daughter-in-law, Phil and Lauren. "You done great kid," said Phil as he hugged his mother for the first time in a year. Their story, and others, can be seen on this episode of NBC Dateline.

In Washington, in-person visits resumed at Brookdale West Seattle on March 22, 2021. Adrienne Gregory's daughter was able to visit for three hours and they were able to hug for the first time since March. Gregory remarked how, "it felt good to be together again."

About Brookdale

Brookdale Senior Living Inc. is the leading operator of senior living communities throughout the United States. The Company is committed to providing senior living solutions primarily within properties that are designed, purpose-built and operated to provide the highest-quality service, care and living accommodations for residents. Brookdale operates and manages independent living, assisted living, memory care and continuing care retirement communities, with 726 communities in 43 states and the ability to serve approximately 64,000 residents as of December 31, 2020. The Company also offers a range of home health, hospice and outpatient therapy services to over 17,000 patients as of that date. For more Brookdale news, go to brookdalenews.com.

Contact: Heather Hunter, (615) 564-8622, [email protected]

SOURCE Brookdale Senior Living
Ron Weiser, the chair of Michigans Republican Party, drew swift criticism on Friday after a video surfaced that showed him calling top Democratic officials in his state witches and referred to assassination while discussing two Republican congressmen who had voted to impeach former President Donald J. Trump.

The video was taken at a local Republican meeting in Clarkston, Mich., on Thursday, during which Mr. Weiser talked about his party needing to vote out three top Democratic officials: Gov. Gretchen Whitmer; Dana Nessel, the state attorney general; and Jocelyn Benson, Michigans secretary of state. The Detroit News reported on and published the video on Friday.

In the video, Mr. Weiser can be heard calling the officials the three witches.

Our job now is to soften up those three witches and make sure we have good candidates to run against them, that they are ready for the burning at the stake, Mr. Weiser said about the women, all of whom are up for re-election in 2022.

Also, in discussing intraparty politics, Mr. Weiser joked about assassination in response to a crowd members question about supporting potential opponents running against Representatives Fred Upton and Peter Meijer  current G.O.P. congressmen from Michigan who voted in favor of impeaching Mr. Trump on a charge of inciting an insurrection.
Dera Ismail Khan : , March 26 (IANS) The Bagai family in India has urged Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan to refrain from dismantling its historic ancestral palace located in the Dera Ismail Khan city in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province.

"I am writing to draw your immediate attention on the demolition of a heritage site in Dera Ismail Khan - Bagai Mahal - despite tremendous efforts taken by the Archeology Department to preserve it," read the letter written by the Bagai family.

"The public has created a lot of agitation to stop the demolition and are willing to protest if given a chance, to preserve their heritage," the letter added.

The letter also raised serious concerns over the existing land mafias and land grabbers, who, it said, continue to demolish the Bagai Mahal.

"Today, the Bagai family has requested the KP government to stop the demolition, but the land mafias and land grabbers don't seem to budge and continue to ruin the Bagai Mahal," read the letter.

"The site can be brought to use by creation of a museum encompassing a library and preserving a few artifacts will prove to be a tourist attraction, symbol of culture," the letter added.

The Bagai Palace aka Bagai Mahal was built in the 1800s by Seth Das Ram Bagai inside the old walled city of Dera Ismail Khan. The location of the Bagai Mahal was well known to be the area of those top businessmen and landlords, whose wealth was the stuff of legends locally.

History reveals that the Bagai family was on the top of social fabric in Dera Ismail Khan during the British Raj.

Elderly locals maintain that the Bagai family built a wall to stop the city from the annual flooding and also established a Vedic College in the city with their own money.

However, their luxury residence, which is one of the last memorials of the family, has recently been bought by a private group, which has dismantled it despite the concerns of the local community.

The family is now looking towards Prime Minister Imran Khan to step in and stop the demolition of its family heritage as the private group that has bought the place is not wasting time in demolishing it.

"The clock is ticking and the culprits have proved to be of no moral. Therefore, with all respect and a sad heart filled with hopes, we humbly request you, please held us in saving this heritage site which if vandalized can never be restored," read the letter written by Attul Bagai and other of his family members.
The California Supreme Court on Thursday struck down large parts of the cash bail system in the state.

The common practice of conditioning freedom solely on whether an arrestee can afford bail is unconstitutional, the justices wrote in a unanimous decision.

A growing chorus of civil rights advocates have been pushing to end the cash bail system, where people who have been arrested and put in detention can temporarily give up bail money or other forms of property and be released until their trials, arguing the practice is prejudiced against poor people and people of colour.

Todays ruling didnt end the practice entirely, but rather requires judges to consider a defendants ability to pay bail before setting it. Bail rates are often fixed in the tens and hundreds of thousands of dollars, so the decision will effectively mean many poor people will be free to go unless theyve been deemed notably threatening to public safety.

The decision also pointed to a broader reduction in the use of bail, noting that courts must first find by clear and convincing evidence that no condition short of detention could suffice for cases where the suspect poses a risk to public safety. Non-detention alternatives, the decision explained, could include electronic monitoring, check-ins with law enforcement, and orders for defendants to shelter in one location.

Read more:

Civil rights advocates celebrated the decision.

Hallelujah! Democratic state Sen. Robert Hertzberg told the Associated Press. Cash bail is unjust, and what the court made clear is that cash bail does not work. It does not make us safer, it wastes taxpayer money, and it is discriminatory. We still have more to do, but this is a great day.

California voters rejected a November ballot initiative that would have ended cash bail, and there are currently bills in the states Assembly and Senate to set bail at $0 for low-level felonies and misdemeanours.

Some have argued that adding in considerations of someones ability to pay bail as part of the pre-trial process violates state law. In 2008, California voters approved whats known as Marsys Law, which laid out conditions, including victim safety, the state must consider when setting bail.

The money bail is there to ensure that they do come back for their trial date, and theyre incarcerated to protect the victim or the public, Kymberlee Stapleton of the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation, which filed a friend of the court brief arguing against eliminating cash bail, said in a statement to the AP after the decision. Its hard to tell what impact this will have on victim and public safety going forward.

The case began when 66-year-old Kenneth Humphrey of San Francisco, who is now out jail, couldnt post a $350,000 bail charge after threatening and stealing $7 and a bottle of cologne from a disabled neighbour in a senior housing complex in 2017. His bail was initially set at $600,000.
A roads agency has asked Meru residents to be patient as it repairs a section of the Meru-Nanyuki road at Makutano town.

On two occasions, area residents have held demonstrations, protesting that the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) was taking too long to complete the works.

However, the project resident engineer Sheikh Takoy said they were within the project's schedule, saying KeNHA started repairs on the 26-kilometre section between the Isolo-Meru junction and Meru town in November last year and would complete the works in 18 months.

"The section at Makutano that has sparked protest is only 300 metres and we appeal to residents to bear with us. There is more traffic on this section, the reason it is taking a little longer," said Mr Takoy who is also KeNHA's Eastern Regional manager.

"This section was also badly damaged and we had to excavate the road and fill it up with rocks to ensure it is stable. Soon we will complete this section," he added.

On Monday, Municipality MCA Elias Murega complained that the works were taking too long as he asked the authority to fast-track construction.

According to Mr Takoy, KeNHA had also embarked on a reconstruction of the 21-kilometre Ruiri-Meru road that links with the Maua-Meru road, providing a convenient and shorter route between Meru and Isiolo airport.

"The current road is completely tattered and needs reconstruction and after completion, it will open up the area. It is also the shortest route to Isiolo airport from Meru town," Mr Takoy said.

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The repairs come at a time when Meru politicians have accused the Jubilee administration of failure to complete projects that President Uhuru Kenyatta promised the region before the 2017 elections.

Constructed bypasses

The Kenya Urban Roads Authority has already completed construction of the 21-kilometre Eastern and Western bypasses at a cost of Sh2.9 billion and is awaiting commissioning, according to KURA officials.

The two roads, which originate at Gikumene, two kilometres from the town along the Meru-Embu road, is KURA's single biggest infrastructure project in the county.

The 8.8-kilometre western bypass links motorists to the Meru-Nanyuki road at the Meru Polytechnic while the eastern bypass joins the Meru-Maua road at Kaaga Girls High School.

The bypasses have eased traffic congestion in the rapidly growing town, which has in the past seen motorists travelling from Embu to Nanyuki, Maua or Meru National park take at least two hours to cover a distance of five kilometres from Gikumene through the town.

Also on the cards is the construction of a dual carriageway that will cut through the town from Gikumene to Gitoro, near Meru Polytechnic.

A four-kilometre section of the dual carriage will also be constructed from Makutano to Ruiri on the Meru-Maua road, connecting with the eastern bypass.


American President Joe Biden has announced a new goal to provide 200 million shots of COVID-19 vaccine by April 30. Biden spoke Thursday from the White House in his first press conference as the countrys leader.

Biden spoke about other issues too, including immigration. He defended his administrations actions to deal with migrants at the border of Mexico and the United States.

And, he called a Republican Party effort to change U.S. voting laws un-American and sick. He promised action on gun control as well. Two mass shootings took place in the country within the last ten days, leaving 18 people dead.

Biden said the Senate's filibuster rule has been abused. He said senators should have to continuously speak on the Senate floor in order to filibuster. And he suggested more action could be taken if the filibuster rule leads to a complete lockdown and chaos.



Afghanistan and North Korea

On Afghanistan, the president said he does not want U.S. forces to stay in the country for a long time. But he said it would be difficult to withdraw all U.S. forces there by a May 1 deadline.

The U.S., under the Trump administration, had agreed to the deadline as a condition for peace with the Taliban. Biden said, If we leave, were going to do so in a safe and orderly way. He added that his administration is discussing the plan with allies and other partners.

Biden said he agreed with former President Barack Obamas position that North Korea is the biggest foreign policy issue and threat facing the U.S.

The president said North Korea has violated United Nations resolutions by firing four missiles in the past week. Biden warned that the U.S. will answer such actions if they are threatening. He added, Im also prepared for some form of diplomacy, but it has to be conditioned upon the end result of denuclearization.

On China

Biden said Chinas goal is to become the wealthiest and most powerful country in the world. He said that goal would not be reached while he is president.

His administration, Biden said, would insist that China play by the international rules, fair competition, fair practices, fair trade. And, he said, the U.S. would not put up with Chinas human rights violations.

Biden said that he will look to block Chinas rise by increasing American investment in science and research. It is an area, he said, where China is expanding while the U.S. is not.

Domestic programs

Biden used China as the example to announce his administrations next major effort: a $3 trillion program to provide jobs and rebuild the country.

The president said he plans to announce details of the program next week in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The program, in his words, is to rebuild the infrastructure, both physical and technological infrastructure of this country, so that we can compete and create significant numbers of really good paying jobs.

Biden used most of the hour-long press conference to defend how his administration is dealing with migrants at the U.S. border with Mexico. He said the U.S. is sending most migrant families back

Reporters asked whether his administrations policy had led to increased numbers of migrants at the border. Biden answered, "Tens of thousands of people who are over 18 years of age and single people, one at a time coming, have been sent back, sent home. He added that a large majority of migrant families are also being expelled.

The U.S. does not expel child migrants traveling without an adult. Biden said when parents send their children alone across the border, its a desperate act. The U.S., he said, will change the severe conditions in Central American countries from which the migrants flee.

At the age of 78, Biden is the oldest person to hold the office of president. However, he told reporters Thursday that he plans to run for reelection in 2024 with Vice President Kamala Harris.

When asked who will be his Republican opponent, Biden joked, I have no idea whether there will be a Republican Party, do you?

Im Caty Weaver.

Hai Do wrote this story for Learning English. Caty Weaver was the editor.

________________________________________________

Words in This Story

filibuster - n. an effort to prevent action in a legislature, like the U.S. Senate, by making speeches

chaos - n. complete confusion or disorder

insist - v. to demand that something happen

practice - n. something that is done often or regularly

infrastructure - n. basic equipment and structures such as roads and bridges

significant - adj. very important

desperate - adj. very sad and upset because of having little or no hope
[March 26, 2021] Oncology Investors to Hear "Cancer Device Company of the Year" Immunicom Present at MedInvest Conference

Immunicom, Inc., a global biotechnology company pioneering novel "subtractive" immunotherapies, today announced CEO Amir Jafri will speak at MedInvest's 2021 Oncology Investors Conference on March 29 at 12:30 PM. Immunicom was recently named MedInvest's "Cancer Device Company of the Year - 2021", and Jafri will discuss the unique platform-based vision driving the many such accolades Immunicom's FDA Breakthrough Device has garnered, and the distinct advantages the platform has over drug-based therapies. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210326005429/en/ A new era in cancer treatment is being led by Immunicom and its CEO/Founder, Amir Jafri, with Immunicom's unique platform-based immunotherapy cancer treatment. (Photo: Business Wire) Jafri's presentation, titled "A New Era in Cancer Care," will speak to the current industry shortcomings and Immunicom's solution strategy. "The consequence of the current drug-centric standard of care is the toxicity patients suffer from round after round of drug combinations, which cancers often build resistance to," Jafri said. "So instead of adding substances into the body, our therapy is subtractive - we remove immune inhibitors. These investors eagerly attend these conferences because they know how much room there is for improvement and they're all looking for what's next." Jafri's confidence in a strategy that is a literal inversion of convention is evident - after founding the company in 2013, he immediately targeted the most difficult advanced cancers to treat, and his three clinical trials underway recruited metastatic patients who had failed multiple rounds of standard therapies. One of those trials resulted in a CE Mark to reduce the immune system inhibitors, sTNFRs, addressing an unmet medical need in triple negative breast cancer patients with advancd refractory metastatic disease, showing improvement in the quality of life, and potential for extension of life, and disease stabilization in these end-of-life patients.



"There are reasons why MedInvest named us 'Cancer Device Company of the Year 2021' and is featuring this presentation," Jafri said. "They want to introduce investors to tomorrow's therapies so tomorrow is better than today." The conference has the potential, indeed, to enable next generation treatments. Sponsored by the National Foundation for Cancer, it is attended by over 200 of the largest and most serious oncology investors, spanning venture, public funds, foundations, family offices, angels, and government grant making entities. MedInvest presenters represent the industry's most elite and promising from startups, early pre-clinical through clinical, and public and private companies worldwide.

Jafri's presentation will follow a keynote address by 2018 Nobel (News - Alert) Laureate Dr. Jim Allison, whose work led to development of the first immune checkpoint inhibitor drug Ipilimumab, which was approved for late-stage melanoma by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2011. Jafri's presentation will be available on Immunicom's website on April 2nd. See https://www.immunicom.com Subtractive Therapy - ImmunopheresisTM and the LW-02 Column Immunicom's innovative Immunopheresis approach uses the LW-02 column to extract specific immune-suppressive cytokines produced by cancer tumors. Selective removal of these targeted cytokines is intended to neutralize cancer's ability to block a patient's natural immune defense mechanisms which are significantly compromised in late-stage, metastatic disease and thereby "re-energizes the immune system to aggressively fight cancer." Immunopheresis is a "subtractive therapy", in contrast to drugs that are "additive", subtractive therapy is meant to avoid the side effects, toxicity and negative impact on a patient's quality of life typical of other cancer treatments. Immunicom believes that the LW-02 column could be used either in combination with other therapies or as a stand-alone treatment. The LW-02 Immunopheresis column has already received Breakthrough Device Designation for stage IV metastatic cancers from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Immunicom has obtained ISO 13485 certification for its manufacturing and related quality systems. The LW-02 Immunopheresis column is currently being evaluated in several global oncology trials for multiple cancers, including TNBC, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), metastatic melanoma and renal cell carcinoma. It is being investigated both as a monotherapy and in combination with low-dose metronomic chemotherapy and the well-known immunotherapy checkpoint inhibitors Opdivo (Bristol-Myers Squibb) and Tecentriq (Roche). These trials are being conducted in collaboration with world-renowned research organizations and thought leaders including: Poland - at Jagiellonian University of Krakow Hospital, under the direction of Principal Investigator, Professor Piotr Wysocki, MD, PhD; and Israel - at Sheba Medical Center's Ella Lemelbaum Institute for Immuno-Oncology (Tel Aviv), under the direction of Dr. Ronnie Shapira, MD and Prof. Gal Markel, MD, PhD; and Turkey - at Acibadem Altunizade Hospital (Istanbul), a member of the Acibadem/IHH Healthcare Group, under the direction of Principal Investigator, Prof. Dr. Gokhan Demir, MD, PhD. For an overview of how Immunopheresis breakthrough technology works, watch Immunicom's How it Works video. Immunopheresis and the LW-02 column is considered an investigational therapy by the U.S. FDA and other regulatory authorities. The clinical efficacy of the LW-02 column has not yet been demonstrated. Clinical investigations evaluating the clinical efficacy of the LW-02 column for TNBC are ongoing. About Immunicom Immunicom, Inc. creates novel immunotherapies designed to treat a variety of diseases using its breakthrough ImmunopheresisTM technology platform to improve patient access and affordability. The privately held medical technology company develops innovative, non-pharmaceutical approaches for treating cancer, autoimmune disorders, and inflammatory and renal diseases. Immunicom's revolutionary blood-filtering Immunopheresis technology has the potential to effectively treat a wide variety of cancer types, including those that have not responded to other treatment strategies, with possibly fewer side effects. Immunicom's lead product, the LW-02 column, has received U.S. FDA Breakthrough Device designation for stage IV metastatic cancer and European regulatory clearance (CE Mark certification) for use in adults with advanced, refractory, triple negative breast cancer (TNBC). Immunopheresis is currently being evaluated in several global oncology trials for multiple cancers. Immunicom is headquartered in San Diego, CA (News - Alert) with operations in Philadelphia, PA, Houston, TX, and Krakow, Poland. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210326005429/en/

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New Delhi, March 26 : The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday carried out searches at the premises of Archana Bhargava, the former Chairperson-cum-Managing Director of Union Bank of India (UBI) and former executive director of the Canara Bank, in connection with a disproportionate asset case.

The financial probe agency in a statement said, "ED's Delhi unit carried out searches at two premises belonging to Bhargava." It said that the agency has registered a case on the basis of FIR registered by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against Bhargava in the disproportionate assets case.

As per the CBI FIR, Bhargava had amassed disproportionate assets to the tune of Rs 3.63 crore during the check period when she was occupying senior positions in various public sector banks.

THe ED said that the searches were carried out by the ED to trace the proceeds of crime and to unearth the documentary evidence showing acquisition, routing, layering and projection (as legitimate assets) of the said proceeds of crime amounting to Rs 3.63 crore, leading to commission of the offence of money-laundering.

"As a result of searches, ED has recovered certain incriminating documents and electronic evidences pertaining to aforesaid further reinforcing the case against Bhargava," the agency said.

Bhargava is also being probed by ED in another case under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in respect of FIR booked by CBI against her in 2016.

Another FIR relates to use of Kolkata-based shell companies to hide the proceeds of crime into the accounts of Rank Mercantile Private Limited (RMPL), a company owned by her husband and son.
Gujarat: 345 fishermen from Gujarat lodged in Pak jails: Assembly told

March 26,2021 | Source: Outlook India

The Gujarat government told the Legislative Assembly on Thursday that 345 fishermen from the state are languishing in Pakistani jails, of whom 248 were arrested by the neighbouring country in the last two years. State Fisheries Minister Jawahar Chavda said this in a written reply to a query over fishermen from Gujarat held in Pakistan. As on December 31, 2020, a total of 345 fishermen from Gujarat were in Pakistani jails, he said. Of these, 248 fishermen were arrested in the last two years - 85 in 2019 and 163 in 2020 - Chavda said in reply to a starred question by Congress MLA Shailesh Parmar. The minister said that the government is taking efforts to get these fishermen released, and submitted the required documentary proofs to the Ministry of Home Affairs for further action after verification of their nationality.



In a related question, the minister said that the government has extended Rs 37.70 lakh financial assistance to the fishermen in Porbandar to install GPS in their fishing boats. Fishermen from Gujarat are on several occasions held by Pakistan Maritime Security Agency after they cross the International Maritime Border Line (IMBL) while fishing deep into the Arabian sea. Fishermen from Gujarat districts, such as Porbandar, Gir Somnath and Devbhumi Dwarka, mistakenly cross the maritime border in the Arabian sea and end up in Pakistani jails. The state government has been conducting awareness programmes and also assisting fishermen in setting up GPS to alert them when they come near the IMBL, he said.
The Red Arrows have been grounded after a Royal Navy Hawk jet crashed in woodland during a training exercise in a suspected engine failure.

Two pilots are in a stable condition in hospital after crew from the 736 Naval Air Squadron based at RNAS Culdrose at Helston, Cornwall, ejected from the jet on Thursday morning.

The two-seater Hawk T1, which is the same model of jet as used by the Red Arrows, crashed in woodland in the St Martin area near Helston.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has now launched an investigation and temporarily paused all flying of Hawk T1 aircraft, including the Red Arrows.

A member of the RAF seen holding a drone in front of the debris of the Royal Navy crash yesterday near Helston, Cornwall. Two pilots were ejected from the two-seater Hawk T1

The Red Arrows were seen soaring across the sky on Wednesday afternoon (pictured) as they practiced their aerobatic moves above RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire

Defence Minister Johnny Mercer said engine failure was suspected as the cause of the crash, reported the BBC.

An MoD spokeswoman said in a statement: 'Safety is our paramount concern.

'The RAF has decided to temporarily pause Hawk T1 operations as a precautionary measure, while investigations are ongoing.'

The pilots were found about half a mile from the main crash site having safely ejected.

Devon and Cornwall Police said the crew were treated at the scene after ejecting and were then flown by air ambulance to Derriford Hospital in Plymouth.

They remain in a stable condition 'without significant injury', police said.

The Red Arrows were seen soaring across the sky on Wednesday afternoon as they practiced their aerobatic moves in their famous 'nine ship' formation above RAF Scampton.

Training for the team was supposed to be taking place in Britain until mid-spring, before moving overseas to a location with more predictable, settled weather.

The double-seater aircraft is an advanced jet trainer which also plays the role of a light attack fighter jet, and is the same model of jet as used by the Red Arrows (file photo)

Fire crews were picking up the wreckage which was scattered through woodland yesterday

A helmet was found nearby, after the two pilots were taken to hospital for treatment. They remain in a stable condition in hospital

A parachute from one of the pilots could be seen caught in a tree after the incident yesterday

The jet crashed at around 9.40am on Thursday at a field in the St Martin area of Helston, shortly after taking off

The MoD previously said: 'Two pilots are being checked by medics after ejecting from a Royal Navy Hawk aircraft from 736 Naval Air Squadron during a flight from RNAS Culdrose.

'An investigation will begin in due course. We won't be providing further detail at this time.'

Eyewitness Layla Astley said: 'I saw the plane flying low over our house, I heard a clunking sound, it flew on over our fields and then there was a loud crack and we saw two pilots ejecting.

The high risk job of a Red Arrows pilot Joining the Red Arrows is the pinnacle of many a pilot's career - but the job also carries high risks. The fatal crash in March 2018 that killed engineer Corporal Jonathan Bayliss was the first major incident since 2011, when two members died. Flight Lieutenant Sean Cunningham, 35, was killed at RAF Scampton, Lincolnshire, after being accidentally ejected from his Hawk T1 while he conducted pre-flight safety checks as his plane was on the ground. The South-African officer, who grew up in Coventry, was thrown 300ft and his parachute failed to deploy during the incident on November 8, 2011. Three months earlier, Flt Lt Egging, 33, died after crashing at the Bournemouth Air Festival. An inquest heard he may have succumbed to G-force impairment before attempting to correct his course in the moments before the impact. P rior to 2018, there are 15 other reported crashes involving Red Arrows since 1969, which have involved 10 fatalities. The first death, in 1969, involved a pilot flying into trees while practising. In the worst tragedy to hit the display team, Flt Lt Euan Perreaux, Flt Lt John Lewis, Flt Lt John Haddock and Flt Lt Colin Armstrong were killed when two Gnat aircraft collided mid-air at RAF Kemble, Gloucestershire, in 1971. Two more pilots were killed in 1978 and another in 1988. But there were no more fatalities until the 2011 deaths. Advertisement

'I watched as their parachutes opened. I then saw the plane bank left and over the top of a hill before hearing a very loud bang. There was no smoke or fire and I hear from locals that thankfully no-one was seriously hurt.'

Police warned any members of the public finding debris from the jet that they should not touch it and should instead contact the force.

Chief Inspector Pete Thomas said: 'This continues to be a complex scene which has been managed by emergency services throughout the day.

'My thanks go to those who responded so rapidly this morning and who have worked together effectively to progress the investigation.

'We would ask the public to continue to keep their distance from the area whilst the investigation continues, and enquiries are carried out.'

The investigation will be handed over to the Royal Navy in due course.

Ejection seat manufacturer Martin-Baker said it was the first Royal Navy ejection in 18 years.

The company wrote on Facebook: 'A Royal Navy Hawk aircraft from 736 Naval Air Squadron crashed this morning during a flight from RNAS Culdrose. Both pilots ejected successfully.

'This is the first Royal Navy ejection in 18 years with the last being Martin-Baker's 7,000th ejection back in 2003.'

It follows the Government unveiling plans under which a vast slew of fighters, transport aircraft, trainers and helicopters will be phased out over the next few years.

The RAF is to lose 114 manned aircraft under the defence review which was announced earlier this week.

They will be replaced by the next generation of unmanned fighting platforms, including long-range Protector aircraft and 'swarming drones' that work alongside conventional attack aircraft.

The changes were set out in a defence command paper that includes 3billion for new vehicles, long range rocket systems, electronic warfare and cyber capabilities.

Titled 'Defence in a Competitive Age', it sets out how forces will spend more time deployed overseas to support allies and deter hostile powers such as Russia, which was identified in the Integrated Review as the 'most acute threat' to the UK.

It sets out plans to retire the RAF's fleet of 14 Hercules C-130 transport aircraft, 24 Typhoon fighters, the four aircraft of the Royal Flight, 36 Hawk training jets, and seven E-3D Sentry early warning aircraft, plus 20 Puma and nine Chinook helicopters.

Crash investigators arrived at the scene yesterday to determine what happened to the aircraft

Emergency services at the scene of the crash where the Navy jet came down on Thrusday

A Cornwall Air Ambulance helicopter in a field adjacent to the crash site on Thursday
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - A fuel tank at an oil facility in Saudi Arabia caught fire after being struck in an attack by Yemen's Houthi rebels, officials said Friday, an attack that came on the sixth anniversary of the kingdom's entry into Yemen's yearslong civil war.

FILE - In this Aug. 22, 2020 file photo, tribesmen loyal to Houthi rebels raise their weapons during a protest against the agreement to establish diplomatic relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, in Sanaa, Yemen. Saudi Arabia announced a plan Monday, March 22, 2021, to offer Yemen's Houthi rebels a cease-fire in the country's yearslong war and allow a major airport to reopen in its capital, the kingdom's latest attempt to halt fighting that has sparked the world's worst humanitarian crisis in the Arab world's poorest nation. (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed, File)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - A fuel tank at an oil facility in Saudi Arabia caught fire after being struck in an attack by Yemen's Houthi rebels, officials said Friday, an attack that came on the sixth anniversary of the kingdom's entry into Yemen's yearslong civil war.

The assault at Jizan in southwest Saudi Arabia near the border with Yemen came came during what Saudi defence officials described as a barrage of eight bomb-carrying drones launched by the Houthi rebels.

A Houthi military spokesman later claimed a series of attacks on several Saudi military sites and oil facilities, some acknowledged by the kingdom and others not.

The kingdom has faced an increasing number of such assaults and the tempo hasn't slowed since it offered a cease-fire deal to the Houthis on Monday.

The attack in Jizan, some 970 kilometres (600 miles) southwest of Riyadh on the Red Sea, struck a distribution facility just after 9 p.m. Thursday, the Saudi Energy Ministry said in a statement carried by the state-run Saudi Press Agency.

The attack resulted in a fire in one of the terminals tanks, the statement said, without elaborating. The attack left no casualties.

Saudi Arabia did not specifically identify the area struck. However, Jizan is home to a new refinery and port facilities for the energy giant Saudi Arabian Oil Co. The refinery, with a capacity of 400,000 barrels a day, sent its first shipment abroad last year. Jizan also is transliterated from Arabic as Jazan by Aramco.

Jizan and its new refinery long have been targeted by Yemen's Houthi rebels in their campaign against the kingdom. However, satellite pictures from Planet Labs Inc. taken Friday morning and analyzed by The Associated Press did not immediately appear to show any damage at that facility.

In a televised speech, Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yehia Sarie claimed that the rebels targeted several Aramco sites in the cities of Jizan, Ras Tanura, Yanbu and Rabigh with 18 drones and eight ballistic missiles. Sarie also claimed the rebels launched another salvo of 12 drones and eight ballistic missiles at King Abdulaziz Air base in Dammam, as six drones also struck military sites in Asir and Najran provinces.

The operation has successfully fulfilled its objectives, Sarie said. We affirm that we are ready to carry out a more severe and more cruel military operation in the coming period.

The kingdom did not acknowledge a wave of attacks at the scale. Claims and counterclaims between the kingdom and the rebels have been common throughout the war.

Benchmark Brent crude rose to over $63 a barrel in early trading Friday after the attack. Energy prices have risen recently off growing demand as coronavirus vaccinations increase and Egypt's Suez Canal remains closed due to a massive container ship wedged across the vital waterway.

The Saudi-led coalition entered Yemens war on March 25, 2015, as the Houthis threatened to take Yemens port city of Aden and completely overrun the countrys internationally recognized government. The Saudis promised that the offensive  the brainchild of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman  would be over in short order.

Six years later, the fighting rages on. The war has killed some 130,000 people, including over 13,000 civilians slain in targeted attacks, according to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Project. Tens of thousands of children have died of starvation and disease.

The war also has turned into a regional conflict, with the Saudis using U.S.-made weaponry in internationally criticized airstrikes killing civilians, and Iran being linked to weapons used by the Houthis to target the kingdom.

On Monday, Saudi Arabia offered a new cease-fire proposal to the Houthis. It made two concessions to the Houthis in the plan while not offering everything the rebels previously wanted. The first involves reopening Sanaa International Airport, a vital link for Yemen to the outside world that hasnt seen regular commercial flights since 2015. Officials did not immediately identify what commercial routes they wanted to see resume.

The second would see taxes, customs and other fees generated by the Hodeida port while importing oil put into a joint account of Yemens Central Bank. That account would be accessible to the Houthis and Yemens recognized government to pay civil servants and fund other programs, officials said.

The Saudi government and the Yemeni government it backs have accused the Houthis of stealing those funds in the past.

The Houthis did not outright reject the offer, though its officials said they wanted both the airport and Hodeida port reopened without restrictions. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday praised the arrival of four fuel ships to Hodeida on a call with the Yemeni Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalik Saeed as a way to mitigate the fuel shortage facing the country and get much needed help to the people of Yemen.

Associated Press writer Noha ElHennawy in Cairo contributed to this report.

Follow Jon Gambrell on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jongambrellAP.
Those figures by themselves are strikingly inadequate for understanding the reach of gun violence. Having someone taken through gun violence, surviving gun violence oneself, even hearing gunshots tears at our basic sense of safety, of security and of self. Research has found that surviving or being exposed to gun violence survival is associated with an increased risk of symptoms linked to PTSD (including anxiety and depression) in both urban and rural contexts; short-term decreases in reading ability, vocabulary and impulse control; unemployment and substance use; and even shifts in friendship formation  toward protection-seeking and avoidance.

This trauma has a broad toll, unevenly borne. More than 240,000 students (including a disproportionate number of Black students) have experienced gun violence at school since the 1999 Columbine shooting, while socioeconomically underserved communities of color disproportionately bear the brunt of gun violence. Black boys and young men ages 15 to 34 are more than 20 times more likely to die of gun homicide than their white counterparts.

While gun trauma most certainly shapes the aftermath of shootings, it also shapes our day-to-day decisions and sensibilities far beyond specific acts of gun violence. Gun trauma is part of the fabric of American society, intersecting with the cruel rules of racial inequality and prejudice to shape where we choose to live (if we are lucky enough to have that choice), how parents talk to their children about the possibility of gun violence, how kids think about their schools as places of learning and places of danger, and whether the police are viewed as protectors or yet another source of gun violence.

Many people recognized that the lull in mass public shootings during 2020 brought on by the pandemic response would eventually end. The violence that we have seen in the past two weeks in the Atlanta area and Boulder points us to a different kind of gun debate  one that recognizes the cyclical nature of gun trauma while also recognizing that many gun policies are also counterproductive. Policies that purport to end the trauma of gun violence by increasing the punitive surveillance of individuals with mental illness, increasing police presence and surveillance of students at schools or bringing more people into contact with the criminal justice system may ultimately create more, if different, trauma.

This trauma-violence cycle cannot break itself  but certainly has the power to break us. Between the two of us, we authors have spent nearly a decade and a half researching guns in America, studying the media that cover guns, the police who enforce gun laws, the gun sellers and instructors who make a living from firearms, the gun carriers who embrace guns as tools of safety and the gun violence survivors whose lives are irreparably remade through gun violence.
The high-level group on trade and investment support under the Intergovernmental Turkmen-Russian Commission on Economic Cooperation discussed issues relating to development of trade and economic cooperation between Turkmenistan and Russia at the eighth meeting in the online format.

The delegation of Turkmenistan was headed by Deputy Minister of Trade and Foreign Economic Relations Kerim Kurbanov. The Russian delegation was led by Deputy Minister of Economic Development Dmitry Volvach.

The sides reviewed the draft Program of Economic Cooperation between Turkmenistan and the Russian Federation for 2021 - 2023. Special attention was paid to creating conditions for better mutual trade and cooperation in industry, energy and the financial sector, including partnership between financial regulators and commercial banks of Turkmenistan and Russia.

 TURKMENISTAN.RU, 2021
KALININGRAD, Russia -- A Russian woman serving a prison sentence on high treason charges has started a hunger strike to protest against being put in solitary confinement for complaining about beatings, her lawyer says.

Antonina Zimina's lawyer told RFE/RL on March 26 that her client has been on hunger strike for four days in a detention center in Kaliningrad, the capital of Russia's far western exclave of the same name.

In late December 2020, Zimina and her husband, Konstantin Antonets, were found guilty of spying for Latvia.

Antonets was handed a 12 1/2-year prison sentence. The couple has denied any wrongdoing ever since they were first arrested in July 2018.

Ziminas lawyer, Maria Bontsler, said she was sent to seven days of solitary confinement on March 22 for "covering the observation hole on the door of her cell from inside and refusing to sign a registry of cleaning shifts," a routine procedure for inmates who are required to clean the premises.

Zimina covered the observation hole while she was changing her clothes and refused to sign the registry because a guard who beat her in the past brought it for signing, according to Bontsler.

The lawyer added that the real reason behind Ziminas placement in solitary confinement is most likely the complaints she voiced to officials of the Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN) last week about her beatings by guards.

"The next day, she was called to the detention center's operative department and instructed to sign documents retracting her statements. Now they are threatening to sue her for libel," Bontsler said.

Zimina's father, Konstantin Zimin, told RFE/RL that he was not allowed to see his daughter when he came to the detention center on March 26.
Mar. 25A Hagerstown woman was granted bail Thursday after being charged with sexually abusing a teenage resident of the Department of Juvenile Services facility where she was an employee.

Jessica Margaret Irving, 33, of Hagerstown, has been charged with three counts each of sexual abuse of a minor and sex offense of a juvenile detainee, according to the Frederick County State's Attorney's Office.

In Frederick County Circuit Court, Judge Richard Sandy granted Irving a $5,000 secured bond, to be paid at 10 percent, for her release. Online court records show bail was posted Thursday. She will undergo pretrial supervision and cannot have any contact with the victim or minor children.

The defense attorney, who attended the bail review hearing virtually, requested Irving's release, noting she lives and works in the area and will soon give birth. The defense attorney's name was not listed in online court records.

Irving was recently indicted for allegedly abusing the teen between January through March of 2020 while he was a resident of the Victor Cullen Center in Sabillasville, the criminal indictment reads. He was 17 at the time of his release March 23, 2020. The center is a hardware secure treatment facility for male youths. Maryland State Police learned of the alleged sexual abuse April 16, 2020, from DJS, the state's attorney's office said.

Irving allegedly sexually abused the teen six or seven times while he was in the facility and would frequently kiss him while he was in a treatment program, according to the state's attorney's office.

Assistant State's Attorney Lindsey Carpenter asked that Irving be held without bail due to the nature of the charges, noting Irving was in a position of authority when the alleged abuse occurred. Additionally, Carpenter said Irving had contact with the same teen after he was released. Irving reportedly contacted him on social media, picked him up from his home on two occasions and drove together to another location, where they had sexual contact, the state's attorney's office said in its statement.

Irving faces charges specifically for the alleged abuse that occurred while she was a staff member and the teen was at the facility. She does not face charges for the sexual contact they reportedly had outside the facility, according to the state's attorney's office. The age of consent in Maryland is 16, but state law prohibits a juvenile services employee from having sexual contact with a confined child.

Follow Mary Grace Keller on Twitter: @MaryGraceKeller
New Delhi, March 26 : There was little impact of the 'Bharat Bandh' called by farmer organisations on the vehicular movement in the city on Friday.

Private vehicles or public transport such as auto rickshaws, cabs and buses were plying normally.

Rahul Raj, who uses his own vehicle to commute to work, said that he has not witnessed any impact of bandh as traffic is normal and he was caught in jams like any other day at a major intersection.

Vehicular movement is normal in around Delhi University North Campus, Azadpur, Model Town, Kamla Nagar, in many parts of Ring and Outer Ring Road.

Govind Narayan, an auto driver, said that he is picking up and dropping passengers like he was on Thursday. "Business is normal." Several farmers unions under the banner of Samyukta Kisan Morcha have given a call for 'Bharat Bandh' to mark four months of their ongoing protests at the borders of the national capital.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
By Rosalio Ahumada, The Sacramento Bee (TNS)

A Sacramento police officer suspected of sending explicit messages to a teenage girl on a social media app has resigned and was arrested Wednesday after a two-week investigation.

Daniel Donahue, who worked for the Sacramento Police Department for about two years, was arrested on charges related to inappropriate communication with a minor, according to a department news release. Police said Donahue worked as a patrol officer.

CBS Sacramento said the 15-year-old girls family reported she got hundreds of texts from the officer, some with nude photos.

The Sacramento Police Department does not and never will tolerate this criminal behavior from our officers, Police Chief Daniel Hahn said in the news release.

The investigation into Donahue began March 9, when the Police Department received a complaint alleging Donahue was participating in inappropriate communication through a social media app with a 15-year-old girl, police said.

The department launched a criminal and administrative investigation into the allegations. Police said the initial investigation determined that there was factual basis behind the allegations. Officials said Donahue was then placed on administrative leave, which temporarily removed his authority as an officer.

Detectives conducted further investigation into the allegations of misconduct, including serving search warrants at his home, his personal vehicle, his workspace and electronic devices, according to police. During the investigation, Donahue resigned from the department.

Police said the detectives obtained an arrest warrant for Donahue based on evidence uncovered during their investigation. He was arrested Wednesday and will be booked at Sacramento County Main Jail. Detectives and the departments Internal Affairs Division will continue to follow up on the investigation, according to the news release.

Hahn said the police department will continue to work with the girl in this case and he apologized for what he says Donahue did while working for his department.

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STEM

Cybersecurity Education in NC Gets Funding Boost

In order to accelerate education programs in cybersecurity, computer science, privacy and artificial intelligence, Cisco is donating more than $600,000 in both capital and resources to multiple institutions in North Carolina. The goal: To help bridge the digital divide and build up the pipeline of cybersecurity talent in the state.

"By connecting our own researchers and developers with academia, governments, customers, and industry partners we hope to facilitate the collaboration and exploration of new and promising talent and technologies with strong societal, technological, and business impact," explained Anthony Grieco, VP and trust strategy officer for Cisco, in a blog post. "We must give young people in our communities the proper exposure to these pertinent global challenges and arm them with new skillsets throughout their educational journeys."

Among the programs receiving support:

"Cybersecurity is a team sport," said Grieco. "When a community rises, we all rise. We are honored to support these important programs, ensuring that the next generation of talent has cybersecurity expertise and is a priority for all."
Apple Trade-In Policies have been updated for the iPhone lineup, and it now accepts Google Pixel 4a and 5, along with the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 to be turned over and exchange with its smartphone to get discounts on Thursday, March 25. Purchasing an iPhone and getting a discount is not limited to trading in previous versions of the iPhone, as it now accepts Android phones.

There are certain parameters on how a phone condition can be accepted by technology companies, and be given credit based on its state and age, in exchange for the latest smartphone device in the market. Most trade-ins go way beyond the early barter policies, especially as there were no currencies or monetary values available.

Apple trade-ins before are only allowing iPhones to be exchanged for the latest smartphone, which is an exclusive one, and it gives the company to sell the refurbished phone easily as they do not need to market another device. Moreover, the need to sell it to another retail company or refurbished seller was avoided by the Cupertino company, until now.

Read Also: SpaceX SN11 Starship Test Launch Postpones for Friday or Next Week Despite Road Closures-Why?

Apple Trade-in Policy Updates, Androids Now Applicable

According to Apple's Trade-In website, users can now "turn in the device you have, to the one you want," and it is accurate, as the company opened up its doors to the trade-in of Android smartphones. The list of applicable Android smartphones is comprehensive, particularly as it presents the value to be discounted as either a direct purchase discount or an Apple Gift Card.

The trade-in website now has an intuitive interface that can make a pre-assessment via the computer and user knowledge on what the smartphone's condition is, which then determines its trade-in value and discount. This is beneficial for people who are already planning to trade-in their Android smartphones, and even iPhones for a new device.

Samsung Galaxy, Google Pixel Trade-In Estimates

Samsung Galaxy Note 20: $425

Samsung Galaxy Note 10: $260

Samsung Galaxy Note 8: $75

Samsung Galaxy S20+: $305

Samsung Galaxy S20: $230

Samsung Galaxy S10+: $250

Samsung Galaxy S10: $180

Samsung Galaxy S10e: $190

Samsung Galaxy S9+: $145

Samsung Galaxy S9: $125

Samsung Galaxy S8+: $100

Samsung Galaxy S8: $80

Google Pixel 5: $350

Google Pixel 4 XL: $200

Google Pixel 4: $170

Google Pixel 3 XL: $80

Google Pixel 3a: $70

Other prices can be seen via the Apple Trade-in website and get its model and condition to be pre-assessed by Apple so that users can have an idea of the value of their smartphones before going to the physical stores. The process can also be done online, and have the phones shipped, with the purchase and discount applicable via the Apple Gift Card codes from the assessment.

Related Article: Apple macOS Big Sur 11.3 Beta 5 Suggest the Arrival of Two New iMacs to Be Released Later This Year!

This article is owned by Tech Times

Written by Isaiah Alonzo

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
BEYOND WRESTLING SIGNATURE SERIES EPISODE 5 ON INDEPENDENTWRESTLING.TV REPORT

By Adam Cardoza on 2021-03-26 09:34:00

Beyond Wrestling Signature Series: Episode 5

3/24/21 - Streaming on IWTV.LIVE

Last time on Beyond Wrestlings Signature Series -

This week continues both Greatest Rivals Round Robin, as Tony Deppen and Wheeler Yuta have unfinished business stemming from their time on The Masked Wrestler but also to determine who wont go home with a 0-3 record in the tournament (if you count The Iron Match, Deppen is already 0-3 in this venue). Both sides of the Tag Tournament For Tomorrow Semi-Finals will both be contested tonight as well. Beyond owner Denver Colorado (the man, not the place) is your host. Rich Palladino is your announcer. Paul Crockett, since alive and breathing after a recent encounter with Dan Maff in Northeast Wrestling, and Sidney Bakabella are on commentary.



The Conduit of Karma Kaia McKenna vs The Russian Dynamite Masha Slamovich



Masha showing power and aggression (and a disrespectful slap) early but McKenna gets the wrist and tries to wraps it up for the submission. McKennaa with a head scissors in deep but Masha with a flash pin for two. McKenna blows a kiss and hit a bulldog for two. Masha with a fireman carry takeover and a loud slap to the abs. Masha with a dropkick against the rope for two. Masha dropping clubbing blows but McKenna picks the ankle, small package for two. Masha is done with this and rains blow to the knee before sitting into a half crab with a hair pull. McKenna is up but caught with a belly to belly...for ONE. McKenna stunned with a headbutt but jacks the jaw to rock Slamovich. Kenna drops Masha with a back elbow, monkey flip and a ROUGH flying transition into a rings of Saturn style sub. Masha gets her foot to the rope, and hits a spinning back fist to crumble McKenna. Masha locks in a cloverleaf and a dazed McKenna weakly taps out of instinct.



Winner: Masha Slamovich

Ephemera (Edith Surreal & St. Jackson Dupont) vs Milk Chocolate (Randy Summers & Brandon Watts) (TFT Semi-Finals)

Milk Chocolate argue over who has to face off against Edith Surreal. Summers gets drags right to the canvas, sending him scrambling for the rope immediately, screaming get off get off get off. Summers resorts to a gut kick to get the takedown but winds up trapped in Surreal long limbs again. Summers wants a test of strength...Surrreal gets those hands a drags Summers down into a STF with a fishhook. Watts gets a knee shot to the back and Summer finally drops her with a discus lariat. Watts keeps Dupont and the ref busy while Summers works more damage from the outside. Summers faceplants Surreal on a suplex attempt and double stomps. Dupont keeps getting held back by the ref, leaving Surreal open for so much double team heat. Dupont finally gets a shot in on Watts and Surreal makes the tag. Dupont with a cross body, enziguri, diving clothesline and top rope dropkick. Watts needs to save Summers after that flurry. Dupont cracks the skulls of Milk Chocolate, Surreal in to bulldog Summers but only a two. Watts cuts off Dupont, Summers with a spin out Flatliner to Surreal for two. The ref is distracted with Dupont again, Watts with a handful of powder into Surreals eyes and rolls her up for the pin.

Winners: Milk Choclate

40 Acres (Tre LaMar & PB Smooth) vs The Bird & The Bee (Willow Nightingale & Solo Darling) (TFT Semi-Finals)

Solo gets that leg quick and drags Tre down for flash pin attempt. Tre trying to out grapple her but she gets the headlock and wont let it go. Willow gets the tag and hits a senton for two. Tre with an up & over but PB meets her in the corner with a boot to the face. The big man tags in, big worlds strongest slam with a hair pull for two. 40 Acres with a snake eyes/shotgun dropkick combo but Willow is still alive. Paul Crockett makes a point about 40 Acres using some dirty tactics to keep Willow grounded and Bakabella calls him a Karen. Willow makes some space and tags in Solo to beat the heck out of Tre, honey steamer suplex and a pumphandle suplex for two. Solo locking for the sharpstinger but LaMar knows thats a dangerous place to be, he escapes and hits a Pele kick to get PB in. Willow gets the tag but walks right into a Showstopper. Smooth wraps up the arms of Willow but Solo cuts that off right away. Smooth double teamed but escapes a double pin, LaMar with a high angle elbow drop to Solo for two. Solo wraps Tre into the Sharpstinger while Willow hits a dragon screw on Smooth to send him to the floor. Tre is trapped, tap out!!!



Winners: The Bird & The Bee

Greatest Rivals Round Robin Match 5: Tony Deppen vs Wheeler Yuta

Deppen is still a little sore at Yuta for the low blow that cost him his win at The Masked Wrestler semi-finals. Yuta uses the anger at him to drag Tony into multiple technically bad spots full of pain. Deppen keeps coming and Yutas counter game is on point. Yuta gives Deppen a noogie from a headlock just to rub in that disrespect. Deppen gets a hold of the arm, Yuta wantsa springboard drag but flies into an armbar. Deppen in control of that limb and trying to wrench it from Yutas body. Yuta is trying to twist and flip out of it but Deppen is tenacious. Deppen gets caught on a springboard and Yuta crotches him on the top rope, using the rope to wreck the knee of Deppen further. Spinning toe hold and a figure-four too torture Tonys knee further. Yuta is confident in his reach advantage and taunting Deppen with the pain hes inflicting. Bakabella sounds like he needs a sweat towel for how much hes loving this new aggressive side of Yuta. Yuta want a PK to the knee but Deppen trips him into the buckle. Deppen wants a springboard codebreaker but falls into a sharpshooter. Deppen is screaming but drags them to the bottom rope. Deppen is able to get shots in to create space but hes hurting his own knee at this point....but Tony is ANGRY. Deppen and Yuta trading shots in the center, Yuta spines Deppen out with a slap....but gets trapped in an octopus hold. Quick pin trades. Yuta settling up a Shattered Dreams? Vicious corner dragon screw! Yuta with a figure-eight variant and Deppen is screaming. Deppen with a few quick pin attempts, tries to lock in a cloverleaf but just double stomps Yuta in the damn throat. Deppen comes running with a knee but Yuta dodges. The ref stays out of danger but misses Yuta with a low blow from behind. Yuta pulls Deppen down to a knee bar and Tony taps



Winner: Wheeler Yuta



And thats it for Episode 5 of the Signature Series! Another power hour of all killer, no filler from Beyond. Masha/McKenna would have been a great WWR main event in another timeline. While it was odd that Dupont was on the sidelines for almost all of that match, this was a great showcase for how good Edith Surreal is right now. Bird & Bees victory sets up a final bracket between them, a former TFT winner, and Milk Chocolate who have been in the most TFT tag tourneys....and never won. And like, do I NEED to tell you that Yuta/Deppen ruled? Yes, it very much did. This was the angry, predatory Wheeler Yuta we saw today, stalking and picking Deppen apart. Deppen is no slouch either, as hes had an incredible showing through all of his matches....just you know, losing. This was super solid. Watch it. NEXT WEEK is the final episode of the Signature Series! On deck we have Robo the Punjabi Lion vs A Very Good Professional Wrestler, Matthew Justice vs SLADE, the TFT Finals of Milk Chocolate vs Bird & Bee, and the GRRR finals of Chris Dickinson vs Matt Makowski (both at 2-0, this is for the win!). Until then!

If you enjoy PWInsider.com you can check out the AD-FREE PWInsider Elite section, which features exclusive audio updates, news, our critically acclaimed podcasts, interviews and more by clicking here!
Migrant workers from Bihar arrive at the Anand Vihar Railway Station in New Delhi June 15, 2020, to board a Shramik special train to their home state amid Unlock 1.0 or phased relaxation during the fifth phase of the nationwide lockdown. (IANS photo)
The Chief Executive of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, Mr Sulemanu Koney, has appealed to the government to take a second look at the withdrawal of state security personnel from mining sites.



He said the withdrawal was creating insecurity in the mining sites and their host communities, and could erode investments and also reduce the competitiveness of companies operating in the country within West Africa.



In an interview with the Daily Graphic after a closed-door meeting officials of the chamber held with the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Mr Samuel Abu Jinapor, in Accra last Tuesday, Mr Koney said although appreciable progress had been made in the sector, a lot more ought to be done to deter crime and effectively safeguard critical installations in ensuring that the country remained the frontrunner of mining investments in the region.



Police engagement



He said while the government had remained committed to providing adequate security to protect investments in the mines, there would be the need for specialised training for such officers to advance the level of protection since mining sites had serious threats that could not be repelled by internal security arrangements.



We have had some engagements with the Inspector General of Police (IGP) and are also in the middle of signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the deployment of personnel given that illegal miners also continue to encroach on the concessions of companies, Mr Koney said.



Competition



Mr Koney, who was also worried that recent policy developments were eroding the countrys competitiveness relative to other countries within the sub-region, expressed a wish that a more beneficial relationship could be bridged between the sector and the government to ensure steady returns, as well as the state also making good returns on its natural endowments.



Burkina Faso, he noted, became the largest beneficiary of planned exploratory investments in 2019 with an estimated capital of $132 million, making that country becoming a hotbed for mining investments in the last four years.



He said the countrys enviable record of being the preferred destination for mining investments had become precarious owing to unwarranted taxation and uncertain policy environment.



In view of the developments, it behoves on the duty bearers to fashion out policies that will not only reposition Ghana as a preferred destination but also a jurisdiction with a competitive return on mining investments in the sub-region, Mr Koney said.



Permits



Touching on delays in the review and approval of permits by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other allied agencies connected to mining, Mr Koney emphasised that they were negatively impacting raising investment capital for projects.



He said every major activity of the sector required one permit or the other, but added, there is no predictability around their issuance for investments to come in or continue, and multinational firms are often forced to rout their investment opportunities elsewhere.



The chamber, he said, would continue to liaise with the EPA on the introduction of a permit tracker technology to allow for a remote for the review of applications.



He appealed to the minister to complement the chambers efforts so that together with the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, the human resource of the EPA would be improved.



Collaboration



The minister, in a brief interaction with the media, said the familiarisation visit was to collaborate in building a sustainable mining industry.



One fundamental engagement of this meeting is that the chamber and the ministry have resolved to hold consultative meetings to ensure more beneficial agreements between government and the sector, Mr Jinapor said.

Source: graphiconline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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PIETA, the national suicide and self-harm prevention charity, says it has delivered 8,236 hours of counselling in its Limerick centre since 2019 - helping 1,208 people .

Counselling services have remained available throughout lockdown with phone, video and face-to-face appointments being offered to people in the Limerick centre - in compliance with Covid-19 health and safety guidelines.

According to the charity, the opportunity to provide counselling over the phone or through video has allowed for Pieta Limerick to be much more accessible to clients where transport and distance may have kept some people from picking up the phone to make an appointment.

The centre is located in Ard Aulin, Skehacreggaun, Mungret and is open five days a week. It provides free counselling to those experiencing suicidal ideation or engaging in self-harm. It also offers counselling to those bereaved by suicide.

Speaking about the support that Pieta offers the people of Limerick, Nora Conway, Clinical Manager said: The number of hours of counselling we deliver reflects the huge needs for counselling in the area. We know that there is a demand for our services in this area, particularly in light of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. We want people to know that we are here if they need us."

Ms Conway added: "Those wishing to make an appointment are advised to call 0818 111 126 for further information. For those unable to attend the centre, we will continue to offer video and phone counselling until it is safe and appropriate for them to attend in-person.

Pieta provides in-person counselling in 20 centres across Ireland. It offers free counselling services to those experiencing suicidal ideation, bereaved by suicide, or engaging in self-harm.

It also operates a free 24-hour helpline and text service. As 80% of Pietas funding comes from the public, support is vital to help continue this lifesaving work.

Last October, it launched a nationwide free video counselling service to help bridge the gap for those unable to access in-person services due to lockdown restrictions. All services are provided free of charge and no referral is needed.

For more information, see pieta.ie.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-26 18:31:34|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, checks military training while inspecting a mobile corps of the People's Armed Police Force in Fujian Province, March 24, 2021. (Xinhua/Li Gang)

FUZHOU, March 26 (Xinhua) -- President Xi Jinping has stressed strengthening military training and combat readiness to enhance the capabilities to fulfill missions and tasks while inspecting a mobile corps of the People's Armed Police Force.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, inspected the corps in east China's Fujian Province on Wednesday. Enditem
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The United Nations Security Council North Korea sanctions committee is due to meet on Friday, at the request of the United States, over Pyongyang's launch of two suspected ballistic missiles into the sea near Japan, a spokesperson for the U.S. mission to the United Nations said.

The move suggests a measured response by U.S. President Joe Biden's administration to North Korea's first tests since he took office in January. Attempts by the Biden administration to reach out to North Korea have so far been rebuffed, according to U.S. officials.

Earlier on Thursday, Biden said the United States remained open to diplomacy with North Korea in spite of its missile tests this week, but warned there would be responses if North Korea escalates matters.

When North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles a year ago, Britain, Germany, France, Estonia and Belgium raised the issue behind closed-doors in the U.N. Security Council at ambassador level and then the European members condemned the tests as a provocative action in violation of U.N. resolutions.

In contrast, the United States asked for Friday's meeting of the sanctions committee, comprised of lower-level diplomats from the 15 council members, to discuss the latest launches.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged Pyongyang to renew its diplomatic engagement with all parties concerned and to work for peace and stability, U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq said on Thursday.

"Diplomatic engagement is the only pathway to sustainable peace and complete and verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," Haq said.

North Korea's mission to the United Nations in New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Since 2006 North Korea has been subjected to U.N. sanctions, which the Security Council has strengthened over the years in an effort to target funding for Pyongyang's nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

Story continues

Typically, China and Russia - which along with the United States, Britain and France hold veto power on the Security Council - have viewed only a test of a long-range missile or a nuclear weapon as a trigger for further possible U.N. sanctions.

North Korea has not tested a nuclear weapon or its longest-range intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) since 2017, ahead of an historic meeting in Singapore between leader Kim Jong Un and former U.S. President Donald Trump in 2018.

However it has maintained and developed its nuclear and ballistic missile programs throughout 2020, helping fund them with some $300 million stolen through cyber hacks, according to independent U.N. sanctions monitors.

(Reporting by Michelle Nichols and David Brunnstrom; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Daniel Wallis)
Igor Dodon, Moldova's ex-president and the current chairman of the Party of Socialists, believes that there are no grounds for the dissolution of the country's parliament at the moment, since the parliamentary majority has a candidate for prime minister

CHISINAU (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 26th March, 2021) Igor Dodon, Moldova's ex-president and the current chairman of the Party of Socialists, believes that there are no grounds for the dissolution of the country's parliament at the moment, since the parliamentary majority has a candidate for prime minister.

On February 23, Moldova's constitutional court ruled that President Maia Sandu must hold consultations on cabinet formation with lawmakers. Sandu nominated Igor Grosu, the leader of the pro-EU Party of Action and Solidarity, as the candidate for the prime minister. Grosu's appointment could not be confirmed due to absence of quorum at a parliamentary session. The Socialists, who hold a majority in the parliament with the help of Pentru Moldova faction, proposed Ambassador to Russia Vladimir Golovatyuk for the top cabinet job.

Sandu has invited parties to convene on Friday to discuss the dissolution of the parliament.

"I don't know why Sandu is sure that the parties will convene today ... There are a lot of issues on the agenda, I am not sure that consultations will take place. Our position at these consultations, whenever they take place, is that now there are no grounds for dissolving the parliament, because the parliamentary majority has a candidate for prime minister," Dodon said in a video address released on Facebook.

According to him, law violations while attempting to dissolve the parliament may lead to a situation when lawmakers will be forced to declare an attempt at usurpation of power.

Dodon also believes that early parliamentary elections in the country could not be held before August due to the difficult epidemiological situation related to COVID-19.
Now working on the Nairobi Expressway project, XCMG has exported over 2,000 units of heavy machinery equipment to Kenya

NAIROBI, Kenya, March 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- A fleet of cranes and excavators, along with rotary drilling rigs and asphalt plants from XCMG (SZ. 000425), the leading Chinese construction machinery manufacturer, are carrying out an important role on the Nairobi Expressway project which will connect Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in the east of the city and Nairobi-Nakuru Highway in the west when completed. These machines bring the amount to over 2,000 units of equipment since XCMG began exporting to support infrastructure construction in Kenya, which is now taking shape.

"We see huge potential for African countries and China as part of our mutually complementary growth. We have experience in construction technology and high-end construction equipment so everyone can benefit," said Jiansen Liu, VP of XCMG. "We are very proud of the Africa and China friendship and cooperation."

XCMG was among the earliest Chinese construction companies to enter the African market. To expand its sales operation in Kenya and bring well-rounded service to local clients, XCMG established a subsidiary company in Nairobi in 2011, providing not only high-quality products to aid Kenya's rapid infrastructure development, but also comprehensive aftersales services.

Across the continent, XCMG's equipment is widely seen in major construction projects, such as the Djibouti harbor, the Burka-Mille road section of Kombolcha-Bati-Mille route in Ethiopia, the Nyayo National Stadium in Kenya among others. 198 units of XCMG equipment joined the construction of Kenya's Mombasa-Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway project, as well as nearly 1,000 units of equipment totaling US$150 million to build the Dangote refinery project in Nigeria.

XCMG now owns six subsidiaries and has established over 30 spare parts service centers in Africa. With more than 30 level-1 dealers, the company's sales and service network now covers nearly all African countries south of the Sahara with elite business managers and service engineers providing professional sales support, aftersales and spare parts services to clients.

Additionally, XCMG has been running a series of public welfare projects in Kenya, Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, among others, including mosquito net donations launched in 2018, the XCMG scholarship program and the African water cellar project to relieve water shortages in dry seasons since 2016, leading XCMG to win wide praise and extensive recognition for supporting Africa.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1474825/XCMG_Asphalt_Mixing_Plants_Are_Use_Nairobi_Expressway_Project_Kenya.jpg
(JNS)  Anti-Zionism, the rejection of self-determination for Jews in their ancestral homeland, has gained considerable ground in recent years, sparking debate about whether it is just another manifestation of anti-Semitism.

Anti-Zionists contend that anti-Zionism is a political position rooted in progressive values and principled advocacy for Palestinians whom they consider the rightful heirs to the Holy Land. Charges of anti-Semitism, they say, are just cynical smears meant to muzzle legitimate criticism of Israel, while real anti-Semitism is limited to far-right, white supremacists and neo-Nazis.

It is instructive, therefore, to compare the language and rhetoric used by prominent anti-Zionist organizations, politicians, journalists and activists to the classic anti-Semitic tropes disseminated by Nazis in the prelude to and during the Holocaust.

Nazi propaganda was the first weapon employed by Hitler and his Nazi party in the battle to transform public opinion, vilify Jews and pave the way for the Holocaust. It incorporated classic anti-Jewish blood libels and medieval anti-Semitic fabrications of Jews being agents of the devil seeking supremacy over non-Jews. These were amplified with canards about Jewish racism, criminality, deviousness, greed, wealth, and corruption.

The same themes are used by current-day anti-Zionist activists. While Nazi propagandists demonized Jews as a collective, anti-Zionists substitute Israel or Zionists as the largest and most prominent, modern-day collective of Jews.

A recent CAMERA study compares language from Nazi propaganda sources to statements by prominent anti-Zionists across seven themes: 1) Jewish supremacy; 2) racism; 3) criminality and murder; 4) deviousness, lies and slander; 5) tumors and parasites; 6) money and influence; and 7) Zionism.

The trope of Jewish supremacy and conquest was a mainstay of Nazi indoctrination. The old anti-Semitic canard about Jews seeking to dominate and control the worlds non-Jews was popularized in the fraudulent Protocols of the Elders of Zion and was resurrected by the Nazis who promoted it as incontrovertible truth.

It was presented as the primary evil to be defeated. This trope has become the backbone of current anti-Zionist propaganda, most recently with the controversial position paper of the Israel-based NGO BTselem.

The notion of Aryan racial superiority and purity was central to Nazi ideology and lauded as its aspirational goal. At the same time, the Nazis projected the evil and immorality of their ideology onto the Jews, whom they falsely accused of harboring the same objectives. Modern-day anti-Zionists continue the pattern of projecting this immorality onto Israel and Zionism.

The theme of Jewish criminality and murder was used in Nazi Germany to frighten the non-Jewish populace and justify the eradication of Jews. A similar canard that replaces the Jew with Israel or Zionists is repeated by modern-day anti-Zionists.

The Nazis portrayed Jews as devious schemers who lulled their unsuspecting victims into a false sense of security, lied about their actions and slandered their opponents. The same themes permeate anti-Zionist rhetoric.

While Nazi propagandists characterized Jews as subhumanrodents, vermin and particularly as parasites that take over and poison the bodies and lives of non-Jews, modern-day anti-Zionists translate parasites as cancer that invades and destroys its host.

The Nazis accused Jews of wielding money as a corrupting influence to gain power and control over non-Jews. Anti-Zionists use the theme to attack political contributions from Jewish philanthropists and supporters of Israel as a corrupting influence.

The Nazis cast Zionism as illegitimate, a subterfuge, and the Arabs as the rightful owners of the land. Anti-Zionists today do the same.

That some Jews engage in it  often offered as proof that anti-Zionism is not anti-Semitism  also finds precedent under the Nazi regime. There were Jews on the fringes (for example, the Verband nationaldeutscher Juden, League of National German Jews) in pre-war Nazi Germany, who helped agitate against Jews, as well.

Nazis, ironically, projected their own sins onto the Jews: They aspired to Aryan racial purity, while accusing Jews of being the racists. They were guilty of genocide and heinous crimes against humanity, while accusing Jews of being criminals and murderers.

They lied, slandered, incited and ensnared the Jews with deviousness, while accusing Jews of those behaviors. They acted as a malignancy that took over and extinguished Jewish life, while accusing Jews of infiltrating the body like parasites.

And, just as the Nazis projected their own brand of evil onto the Jews in order to demonize them, modern-day anti-Zionists often use Nazi analogies to describe Israel, following their lead yet again.

Ricki Hollander is a senior analyst at CAMERA, the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America.
A united Ireland is firmly on the agenda, whether many of us like it or not, and debates on flags, emblems, and what to do about Stormont and those who inhabit it are dominating the conversation.

But for all the romantic notions of a united Ireland, it's almost guaranteed that the bulk of the conversation will be incredibly boring.

Any watery eyes at the thought of the tricolour being flown over buildings in Belfast will be quickly overridden by the watery eyes when confronted with the cost of a trip to the doctor or a three-bedroom house in the new, much more expensive, Ireland.

One thing unites the North: The NHS

There is much conversation about conversation when it comes to Irish unity: We must begin dialogues, we must articulate our concerns and further explore shared values, we must pontificate about pontification until we're blue and red and green in the face. But when it comes down to the meat of it, all of this will pale in comparison to the bread-and-butter issues that people care about.

First and foremost, the uniting force in Northern Ireland, the one entity that unites Tiger's Bay and the Bogside, is the NHS.

Unionist or nationalist, neither or inbetweener, it is almost guaranteed that any mention of a united Ireland will quickly lead to a conversation about the free for all, cradle to the grave, prince or pauper, health service.

Tributes to health workers north and south in the last year include this mural on Ballyregan Rd in East Belfast. The scale of public health provision in Northern Ireland, worth 5.3bn pre-Covid, must inform the debate about Irish unity. Picture: Brian Lawless

Day-to-day spending on the health service in Northern Ireland, pre-Covid19 (2018/19) was over 5.3 billion (6.19bn), just under half of all departmental public spending in Northern Ireland.

A further 220m for the Northern Ireland Executive to deliver essential health care was announced this week, on top of the additional 1.3bn that the executive is already receiving through the Barnett formula for 2021-22 to fight the coronavirus and sustain livelihoods and keep businesses running.

It's already been noted that this funding model is unsustainable, and it's well known that Northern Ireland's health service was at a crisis point even before the pandemic hit.

Day-to-day realities

The North has the longest waiting times in the UK. In September 2019, a record 306,180 people  one sixth of the population  were on a waiting list. In the worst-affected areas, people are waiting up to four years for the first surgery appointment, according to the Royal College of Surgeons.

In the second quarter of 2019, 41.3% of inpatient waiting times exceeded 52 weeks  and in the last five years, more than 22,000 people died while waiting for treatment, an investigation by the Belfast Telegraph found.

All this wait and worry while, in terms of spending, the amount expended on Northern Ireland is higher than the UK average  and, for all its faults, there are few who would gladly give it up and pay 60 per GP visit just to say Ireland is united.

So where does this leave the Republic?

South of the border, the health service has been the albatross around the neck of successive governments for years.

Waiting lists are forcing those who have the money to pay for it into private hospitals, as the two-tier healthcare system continues unabated, while Slaintecare, for all its cross-party support, dies a death in the wilderness.

Now that the idea of a poll on Irish unity is being considered, it's worth remembering that in Scotland in 2014, when things got real and the question of independence was put to the people, the debate swiftly became dominated by questions about pensions, healthcare, and currency. Picture: Andrew Milligan/PA Wire

How would any new state deal with an additional 1.885m people, their numerous waiting lists, and their 42 NHS hospitals and five private hospitals?

What would happen to the thousands of dedicated NHS staff with their NHS pensions and the most vulnerable in society who depend on their services?

Bored yet?

This is just one boring question among a hundred more boring questions that will need to be answered before everyone starts singing A nation once again.

In the spirit of unity, both the Tanaiste Leo Varadkar and Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald are correct on this topic. Varadkar is right when he says that setting a date for a border poll is wrong. And McDonald is right that the conversation has started, and it would be irresponsible for the Government to ignore it.

Undertaking research and analysis on things like welfare services, health, and housing is not about rubbing our unionist neighbours' faces in it  it's an insurance policy.

Consistent polling suggests that unity is only getting more popular as Northern Ireland's demographics change, and the charge levelled against the Irish Government will be that they sat on their hands when real work could have been done.

A heaving civil service, a welfare state, and a housing crisis will all have to be dealt with, while most of the conversation revolves around our cultural differences with our unionist neighbours.

You can't eat a flag and, when it boils down to the national question, most won't want to.

Learn from Scotland and Germany

Those who studied the Scottish independence referendum will know that questions over pensions, healthcare, and currency dominated the debate, in a lead-up many thought was rushed. A lack of preparation and a lack of solid answers on boring questions allowed misinformation to fill the gap.

Likewise, in Germany, after their reunification, the absence of a proper debate on the household issues left some East Germans unhappy.

Free healthcare  which was a staple in the German Democratic Republic  was not adopted in the unified Germany and, far away from the jubilant scenes of the Berlin wall crumbling, many East Germans were left bitter, with many social issues left to fester.

Within a year of unification, the number unemployed rose above 3m as services that operated in East Germany were cut after reunification  much like Ireland north and south is likely to see if the border is ever dissolved.

These are all issues we must face down before we even consider setting the date.

A border poll will be costly, divisive, and disruptive  as all polls are. But to waltz into it without the homework done would be worse and, as a fragile peace process hangs in the balance, irresponsible.

The question of a border poll is now a real one. But avoiding the boring and complicated conversations about access to services does everyone, north and south, a disservice.
Researchers have begun studying the use of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in children and hope to have results in the second half of 2021.

Pfizer dosed its first healthy children earlier this month as part of a global Phase 1/2/3 continuous study to further evaluate the safety, tolerability and immunogenicity of the vaccine in children aged 6 months to 11 years old, according to an announcement on the companys website.

If the vaccine is determined to be safe and effective in children, and endorsed by regulators, Pfizer hopes to have authorization to begin vaccinating youth by early 2022.

Pfizers vaccine was already granted emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in mid-December following recommendation from a group of independent experts that its benefits outweigh the risks for individuals 16 years and older.

The latest study will include approximately 4,644 children ages 6 months to 11 years old in the U.S. and Europe. Children younger than 6 months old could be subsequently added to the study once an acceptable safety profile has been established, Pfizer says.

Study subjects are broken into three age groups: 5 to 11 years old, 2 to 5 years old, and 6 months to 2 years. The children involved in the study will receive two doses spaced approximately 21 days apart, as is the recommended schedule for adults.

As of the end of the day Wednesday, Michigan had administered 1,963,611 doses of the Pfizer vaccine, and more than 3.81 million doses combined of the three available COVID-19 vaccines.

In Michigan, 30.3% of the states 16 years and older population has received at least their first of two recommended doses for the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, or has received their only necessary Johnson & Johnson shot.

Moderna also began administering doses of its vaccine to kids 6 months to 12 years old earlier this month, with participants receiving a pair of dose ranging from 25 micrograms to 100 micrograms.

Modernas study plans to enroll about 6,750 children in the U.S. and Canada. The doses will be administered four weeks apart, as is the case for adults receiving the shot.

Children dont commonly have severe or fatal cases of COVID-19, though there have been rare cases. In Michigan, there have been 85,408 known cases of COVID-19 in the 0-19 age group (13%). There have been six total deaths in the 10 to 19 age bracket, according to state health department data.

However, kids have played a significant role in the latest case surge in Michigan.

During the majority of the pandemic, 0 to 9 year old kids accounted for four cases per day and 10 to 19 year olds accounted for 12.3 per day. Since March 6, the youngest group has accounted for 9.2 cases per day, and the 10 to 19 year olds for 30.5 cases per day. Thats a 131% increase in daily new cases for 0 to 9 year olds, and a 147% increase for 10 to 19 year olds.

Pfizer notes online that vaccinating children will contribute to societys protection against COVID-19 since youth ages 15 years and younger account for approximately 26% of the global population.

Read more on MLive:

COVID-19 pandemic hit seniors hard. Could it lead to a rethinking of how we care for the elderly?

COVID-19 cases in Michigan nursing homes drop 96%, deaths drop 99% since late December

Michigan recovered 56,000 leisure/hospitality jobs in month after dine-in ban ended

Pregnant, breastfeeding mothers pass COVID-19 antibodies to babies, study finds
(Natural News) UPDATE: Bois State University told The Daily Wire Thursday that despite Wilson identifying himself as a student and an associate professor at the school, he is not a current student nor employee of the university.

(Article by Amanda Prestigiacomo republished from DailyWire.com)

Original story:

A Black Lives Matter activist in Boise, Idaho, has been arrested in connection to a vandalized statue of former President Abraham Lincoln.

Terry Joe Wilson, 37, was arrested late Tuesday night after a warrant was issued for his arrest last week, The Idaho Statesman reported.

Wilson has identified himself online as an associate professor at Boise State University and has been described by the press as the Boise Black Lives Matter chapter spokesman.

Both physical and electronic evidence were reportedly used to identify suspects in the vandalism incident, which occurred in February.

[T]he bronze statue of Lincoln in Julia Davis Park  known as Seated Lincoln  vandalized with feces, paint and signs, The Idaho Statesman reported. Parks and recreation staff were able to clean the statue, which was not permanently damaged.

The suspect fled from officers when he was first approached for his arrest, the Boise Police Department said. When he was tracked down, Wilson was found in possession of a firearm, marijuana, and drug paraphernalia.

Officers chased after Wilson and were able to stop him and take him into custody, at which time Wilson was found to be in possession of a firearm, marijuana and drug paraphernalia, said a press release from the department. Wilson was taken to the hospital and was medically cleared before being booked into the Ada County Jail.

Wilson was charged with several misdemeanor counts, including injuring monuments, ornaments and public improvements, resisting and obstructing officers, possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia, The Idaho Statesman reported.

An account for Wilson describes himself as an associate professor at Boise State University.

On Wilsons Instagram page, one captioned photo from November railing against fascist Donald Tump and neoliberal Joe Biden identifies himself as a student & faculty at the university. The post, which also includes support for Black Lives Matter, reads as follows:

Like the fascist @realdonaldtrump, the neoliberal @joebiden wants to increase police funding despite decades of research to support the position that police do not prevent crime. In-fact policing perpetuates crime & criminality with the support of the courts and corrections. As a student & faculty, I take matters on campus very seriously, not only for the safety of our students, but staff and faculty. The discussion around contemporary policing needs endless improvement, b/c the decision not to impeach current ASBSU President over concerns of anti-blackness under the guise of public safety is an absolute travesty. This is not over, as this should be taken very seriously b/c contemporary policing is a matter of public health. Therefore, shame on boisestateuniversity marlenetromp, as @angel_cantu6 should have been impeached. Black Lives Matter?? #fuck12 #ACAB #ASBSU#fuckwhitesupremacy#fuckbigcitycoffee @astridwilde#blacklivesmatter #blmboise #blm#blacktranslivesmatter

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Exegesis Joe (@exegesisjoe)

In an August 2020 report on a protest at the home of Council President Elaine Clegg, The Idaho Statesman described Wilson as the Boise Black Lives Matter chapter spokesperson.

Activists with the Boise chapter of Black Lives Matter drew chalk figures with chalk blood on the sidewalk while demonstrating in front of Council President Elaine Cleggs North End home, the report said.  They also drew what appeared to be chalk outlines generally associated with homicide investigations on the sidewalk in front of her house. The outlines had red smears over where the hearts would be.

The report added: Terry Wilson II, the spokesperson for the Boise chapter, said in a phone call the demonstration at Cleggs home was because she was one of the four council members who voted to approve Mayor Lauren McLeans 2021 budget. The 2021 budget allocates more money for the Boise Police Department, even though the overall budget decreased from 2020.  Wilson said the chapter wanted to hold Clegg accountable for her vote, which he called bad policy.

More arrests in connection to the vandalism incident are expected to be forthcoming.

Read more at: DailyWire.com and BlackLies.news.
Sterling Seacrest Partners, Inc. and Pritchard & Jerden announced they will merge and operate as Sterling Seacrest Pritchard. According to the company, the merger makes it one of the largest privately held, independent insurance brokerages in the southeastern United States.

The newly merged firm will employ over 300 insurance agents and service team members with eight offices in Atlanta, Birmingham, Columbus, Little Rock, Savannah, and Tampa.

David Paddison, president of Sterling Seacrest Partners, said the merger doubles down on the value proposition of an independent, privately held employee owned platform which we believe balances and aligns the interests of our clients, our carriers, and our colleagues.

Sterling Seacrest Pritchard will offer clients a risk management and employee benefit program platform.

Sterling Seacrest Partners CEO John Miller said the merger provides its team the ability to continue providing client advisor driven service strategies.

The merger will officially take effect on April 1, 2021.

Sterling Seacrest Partners is a full-service, broker-owned risk management and insurance brokerage firm serving the commercial, professional and personal needs of clients across a range of industries. With 190 employees at seven southeastern locations, the firm specializes in healthcare, construction, transportation and logistics, manufacturing, real estate, technology and other professional services.

Established in 1960, Pritchard & Jerden is a full service, independently-owned insurance brokers based in Georgia and serving clients globally.

Topics Mergers Agencies
Federal officials are "anxious" over new modelling showing an increase in daily COVID-19 cases, which they say comes at a bad time with several religious holidays nearing, and people wanting to gather with families.

Federal officials are "anxious" over new modelling showing an increase in daily COVID-19 cases, which they say comes at a bad time with several religious holidays nearing, and people wanting to gather with families.

Data shows severity indicators and daily cases are back on the rise as variants of the virus continue to spread in parts of the country, with incidence highest among young adults.

Approaching spring holidays may make spread tougher to contain, says Canada's chief public health officer, noting that the country also saw a sharp rise in cases following Christmas.

Dr. Theresa Tam says daily cases have increased more than 30 per cent over the past two weeks, with an average of 29 deaths reported daily.

The Jewish holiday of Passover is this weekend while Easter follows a week later. Ramadan, the Muslim holy month of fasting, begins April 13.

"Every time we hit a holiday period, we're always a bit anxious," Tam said in a press conference Friday. "Passover, Easter, Ramadan, (these are) times when families and churches and other gatherings typically occur."

Tam says rising cases indicate we're in a "very tight race" between vaccines and variants of concern, which make up an increasingly high proportion of new cases in several provinces.

All six provinces west of the Atlantic region are currently experiencing, or likely to experience, a resurgence in cases "in the coming days and weeks," she noted, adding that jurisdictions need to clamp down on rapid spread quickly.

"We want to make sure (holiday gathering) does not happen right now," she said. "(It's) not the time."

The data released Friday by the Public Health Agency of Canada shows that while the number of cases has declined in Canadians aged 80 and older, incidence rates are highest among young adults aged 20 to 39.

Tam says infections among younger, more mobile and social age groups pose an ongoing risk for spread into high-risk populations.

Some of the decrease in incidence rates among older Canadians is a result of vaccine efforts, Tam said.

Canada administered more than 190,000 vaccines on Thursday, the most since the rollout began in mid-December, and 11 per cent of the country's adult population has now received at least one dose.

Procurement Minister Anita Anand said Friday that Canada was seeing a surge in deliveries that's expected to continue, despite recent export restrictions from the European Union.

Anand says six million more doses of COVID vaccines are scheduled to flow into Canada over the next three weeks, matching the six million doses that have arrived in the country since the approval of the first vaccine in December.

"We are closely monitoring the global environment, including export restrictions in a number of jurisdictions," Anand said. "Our officials across numerous departments as well as our suppliers are working ahead of time to ensure that Canada's vaccines continue to arrive in our country."

Despite the surge in vaccine supply, Ontario Premier Doug Ford expressed continued frustration with his province's stock from the federal government.

People line up at a COVID-19 testing clinic Wednesday, March 24, 2021 in Montreal. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz

He said Ontario has received word that a shipment of Moderna doses expected this week will not arrive until next week.

"I've been very complimentary and collaborative with the federal government, but enough's enough," he said. "This is becoming a joke. We need more vaccines."

Ford also slammed the federal government for not providing enough information about the arrival date of further Oxford-AstraZeneca shots expected soon.

Anand announced earlier Friday, however, that 1.5 million doses of AstraZeneca, procured in a deal with the United States, are scheduled to arrive Tuesday.

Anand also said Moderna has upped its delivery frequency from every three weeks to every two weeks, and reiterated that "at least" one million Pfizer-BioNTech shots will be arriving in Canada every week through the end of May.

The influx in vaccines comes as variants continue to spread across the country, however.

Tam said more than 7,100 cases of variants of concern have been reported across Canada, with B.1.1.7, first identified in the U.K., making up 90 per cent of those cases.

Tam cited data from Ontario that she says shows the B.1.1.7 variant has led to a 60 per cent increase in hospitalizations, 100 per cent increase in ICU admissions and a 60 per cent increase in the risk of death.

"These severity indicators can be seen across all age groups of the adult population," Tam said. "It is a very important set of information that should drive home to all of us why it is important to maintain these (restrictive) measures."

The Ontario Hospital Association said Friday that the third wave is threatening the province's ICU capacity as the number of severely ill patients approaches a previous peak.

Meanwhile, Quebec's government-mandated public health institute says more transmissible variants will represent the majority of new infections in the province by the first week of April.

Some provinces have recently loosened restrictions despite rising variant activity,including Ontario, which increased its indoor dining capacity to 50 people in most regions and will allow hair salons and outdoor fitness classes to reopen in regions that are under lockdown.

Quebec reopened gyms in parts of the province on Friday, and places of worship in those areas are allowed once again to welcome up to 250 people indoors.

Manitoba this week also announced the limit on outdoor gatherings is to go up to 25 people from 10, and a 50 per cent capacity rule for retail outlets is to max out at 500 people rather than 250.

Tam says there's "merit" in provinces taking regional approaches with their restrictions, but notes that "up-and-down measures" may not be the best way to combat spread.

"If there are detections that this activity is ramping up, then definitely don't relax," she said. "Try and keep that even keel until the vaccines have gained much more of acceleration in terms of coverage."

 With files from Canadian Press reporter Shawn Jeffords.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Friday, March 26.

Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version erroneously reported that Dr. Theresa Tam was citing U.K. data that showed an increase in severity of illness linked to the B.1.1.7 variant. In fact, she said she was referencing data from Ontario.
Two people were seriously injured in Marshall County early Friday morning when the car they were in struck a sink hole.

Sabrina Sue Davis, 24, of Fyffe was injured when the 2013 Toyota Corolla she was driving hit the sink hole on Alabama 227 near Monsanto Road in Marshall County, according to Alabama Law Enforcement Agency.

Troopers said a passenger in the car also was injured. That persons name has not been released.

Neither Davis nor the passenger were using seat belts, and both were taken to a hospital for treatment, troopers said.

The Marshall County Sheriffs Office described one of the crash victims as pregnant. Troopers did not include that detail in their report.

The Alabama Department of Transportation said the sink hole is about 15 feet by 10 feet wide and about 5 feet deep.

The roadway is blocked from Old 227 Road to Highway 62.

ALDOT said Thursdays heavy rain caused the sink hole, and that it will be monitored this weekend to see if additional rain worsens the problem.
SJC Chairman Ruben Vardazarian told RFE/RLs Armenian Service on Friday that judge Mher Petrosian submitted his application on March 25 evening.

Petrosian, an administrative court judge, is examining a claim filed by Colonel-General Onik Gasparian, who was dismissed from the post of Chief of the General Staff of Armenias Armed Forces earlier this month.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian asked the president to sign his draft decree on Gasparians dismissal after the chief of the Armed Forces General Staff and four dozen other generals and high-ranking officers called for his resignation over mishandling last years war in Nagorno-Karabakh.

President Armen Sarkissian twice refused to sign the draft decree, but did not refer it to the Constitutional Court in due time either, thus paving the way for Gasparians dismissal by virtue of law, a legal term used when decrees come into effect due to procedures rather than an officials signature or an official bodys ratification.

Gasparian filed a lawsuit with an administrative court against the prime minister and the president. On March 17, the court ruled that Gasparian shall continue to be in his official capacity until his case is heard and a decision on it is made.

On Thursday, however, it became known that citing incorrect grounds, the administrative court did not accept the lawsuit of Gasparian regarding his dismissal. Gasparians lawyer said the decision will be appealed at the Civil Court of Appeal.

Vardazarian said that Petrosian expressed concern about possible pressure that could be put on him, but did not refer to any specific case. The SJC head declined to give details, but said that the SJC did not see any grounds or real threats to be concerned about.

Some recent media reports suggested that National Security Service (NSS) officers tried to enter the office of the judge after his decision was published. They quoted the judge as saying that the NSS stopped its actions only after he contacted the SJC.

Later, the SJC said that it forwarded a copy of Judge Petrosians letter to the Prosecutor-Generals Office.

On March 18, the office of Armenias prime minister insisted that Gasparian was no longer performing his duties as chief of the Armed Forces General Staff as he had been dismissed from the post by virtue of law.

The constitution does not provide for the possibility of revising an act that entered into force by virtue of this constitutional norm, it said.

Four days later, on March 22, Prime Minister Pashinian said that Lieutenant-General Artak Davtian became the new chief of the General Staff of the Armenian Armed Forces by virtue of law despite the fact that the president twice refused to sign his appointment.

President Sarkissian did not refer Pashinians draft decree on Davtians appointment to the Constitutional Court.
Western KY Leads State in Low COVID Cases

By West Kentucky Star Staff

PADUCAH - As a whole, western Kentucky is faring better than the rest of the Commonwealth as to the low number of recent COVID cases.According to the latest report card from the Kentucky Department for Public Health, our four Mississippi River counties - Ballard, Carlisle, Hickman and Fulton - have moved into the state's "green zone" with less than one new case per 100,000 population. They are the only counties in the entire state to reach that level of low virus spread over a 7-day rolling average.Many neighboring counties are nearly in the green zone. Counties with new cases averaging less than 10 per 100,000 ("yellow zone") include:Calloway 2.9Livingston 4.7Crittenden 4.9McCracken 6.3Graves 7.3Marshall 8.7Caldwell County is in the state's "orange zone" of under 25 per 100,000 with this week's rate of 17.9.Only Lyon County is still in the "red zone" of over 25 cases per 100,000. Their incidence of 52.2 is almost entirely because of a recent COVID outbreak at the Kentucky State Penitentiary.Only seven of the state's 120 counties are still in the red zone.On the Net:
The reform of corporate governance of defense industry enterprises is very important for Ukraine's national security, Ukroboronprom Director General Yuri Husev has said.

"Reform of corporate governance in the defense industry is crucial for Ukraine's national security, its ability to defend democracy and sustainable movement towards the Euro-Atlantic integration," Husev said at a press conference on March 26, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

According to Husev, the issue of reforming the management of state-owned enterprises has been discussed for many years. Over this period, these enterprises have only accumulated debts.

"The corporatization of Ukroboronprom and the concern's enterprises will allow us to create a 100% new and modern defense holding, which will fundamentally differ from the current management model and this is extremely important for us," said the head of Ukroboronprom.

According to Husev, he expects the adoption of bill No.3822 "On peculiarities of reforming of state-owned enterprises of the defense and industrial complex" at second reading, which, in addition to the corporatization of Ukroboronprom, opens a number of opportunities for defense enterprises. In particular, the document provides for the introduction of a management system of the defense industry in line with international standards and contains preventive measures against corruption risks and direct political influence on the industry.

As Ukrinform reported, on January 29, the Verkhovna Rada passed at first reading the bill On peculiarities of reforming of state-owned enterprises of the defense and industrial complex, necessary for the reorganization of the state concern Ukroboronprom.

iy
MANSFIELD, Texas, March 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Republican Congressional candidate Dan Rodimer (TX-06) will be speaking in Laredo, Texas on Friday, March 26, 2021, in an effort to stop illegal immigration and protect the United States' southern border. He is using his speech to outline his plans to stem the surge of migrants coming across the southern border.

Republican Dan Rodimer is tackling the border crisis. Congressional Candidate for TX-06 Dan Rodimer pictured in suit and tie.

A key policy issue for Rodimer is the ongoing crisis on the southern border. "The safety and security of our country and its citizens is of primary importance to me, and I will do everything I can to make sure that Americans, especially Texans, remain safe and secure from illegal Immigrants."

"This entire border situation is due to the failed policies of the Biden Administration. We are going to the border this week to show our fellow Americans  and Texans  that we will no longer stand for such egregious actions on our southern border. The people who I will represent in my district need a fighter. I am willing to stand up to the radical left and stand up to Speaker Pelosi when I am elected," said Rodimer.

The Rodimer campaign partnered with a group named Women Fighting For America to put on the event.

Rodimer will be announcing his solution to the Border Crisis, called the "Angel Act" to write into law a modern border solution based on Trump's "Remain in Mexico." It will also prevent cartels from taking advantage of our border and using human trafficking as a revenue source.

"Yesterday, Biden called himself a 'nice guy' at the border. There's nothing 'nice' about what he is doing. The Biden administration has created a cash incentive for human traffickers. This needs to stop now. That's why I'm running for Congress - to protect families," said Rodimer.

The Rodimer campaign cites the increase in border crossings mandated by Biden in his executive order issued on January 21 that rescinded the "Remain in Mexico" policies or Migrant Protection Protocols that President Trump's administration had put in place.

"It's time that we write a border policy into law that puts Americans first. We are pro-legal immigration, and we want people coming to this country that want to build it with us. It's dangerous to flood the border during a pandemic with illegal immigrants and that's exactly what Pelosi and Biden are doing," said Rodimer.

The campaign will further discuss his plan to stop illegal immigration at an event called "Women Fighting for America" being held in Laredo, Texas from 11:00 AM  6:00 PM CDT. Rodimer will be speaking at 3 PM CT.

Learn more about Dan Rodimer at danrodimer.com

Media Contact:

Press Secretary

409.795.0488

[email protected]

SOURCE Dan Rodimer For Congress
Stephen Kenny is refusing to categorise the Republic of Irelands World Cup qualifier against Luxembourg as a must-win game.

Ireland head into the Group A showdown at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday evening as hot favourites despite having not won a competitive game since June 2019, when they beat minnows Gibraltar 2-0.

However Kenny, who is still awaiting the first victory of his reign after nine attempts  Ireland lost their opener 3-2 in Serbia on Wednesday night  is not piling any added pressure on to his players.

Asked if the game was a must-win affair, he said after a lengthy pause: Well, it depends on your grasp of mathematics, but anything is possible.

Its important that we win the game. We want to win the game. Must-win  what is that? Is it an adjective? What does must-win mean?

We want to do well and were going to be very determined to try and win the game, that is our objective. The players attitude is exceptional.

We played very well the other day and were disappointed to lose. We want to win the game against Luxembourg and we will try everything we can.

Defender Dara OShea, however, was less circumspect when asked a similar question.

The 22-year-old said: The result is the only thing that matters. Theyre World Cup qualifiers, youve got to win games. Were not winning games, its as simple as that.

It comes at a good time after Wednesday. Its a great time to put things right and put three points on the board.

Kenny, who will be without Brighton striker Aaron Connolly after he returned from Belgrade with a foot injury, has been happy with some of the performances under his charge, but has admitted he now wants more than mere plaudits.

He said: Im disappointed as a manager that we have not won one of the games, but overall, our performances in the Euros in Slovakia or World Cup qualifier in Serbia have been two exceptional performances against good teams and away from home.

We played very, very well and completely differently than Irish teams would have done in the last decade away from home against good nations. We controlled a lot of the games in both cases.

What we have to try and do is make them winning performances. I dont plaudits for losing games.
Theres still time for a lot to change: If the organizers of the recall effort reach the signature threshold, the vote to recall Mr. Newsom and to choose his successor  both would be done on a single ballot  probably wouldnt occur until near the end of the year.

That recall effort is being led by Orrin Heatlie, a conservative and a former sergeant in the Yolo County Sheriffs Department, who as recently as last year shared anti-vaccination and anti-L.G.B.T.Q. views online. But the endeavor has the backing of a number of deep-pocketed political action committees, most of them right-leaning.

Randy Economy, a political consultant and talk-radio host, serves as the lead adviser to Recall Gavin Newsom, the group organizing the effort. He said the governors behavior and demeanor had made the recall necessary. Its because of Gavin Newsom himself, and the way he conducts himself every day since hes become governor, Mr. Economy said in an interview. Its all been more about his image and self-aggrandizing, as opposed to fixing the problems.

Mr. Newsoms approval rating isnt nearly as low as Gov. Gray Daviss was in 2003, when voters ousted him in a recall. Arnold Schwarzenegger, running as a moderate Republican, was the beneficiary of that effort, winning the recall election and going on to serve as governor for more than seven years.

California politics are different  and decidedly more Democratic  than they were 18 years ago. Democrats now have a 2-to-1 advantage in terms of voter registration across the state. Just because there is a Republican-led effort does not mean that a Republican will be the one to ultimately benefit. Mr. Economy, who volunteered in 2016 for Mr. Trumps presidential campaign but has also worked for Democrats in the past, insisted that his teams goal was not partisan in nature.

Our job is not to pick the next governor; our job is to make sure that this governors recalled and removed from office, he said.

The state is light on prominent (let alone popular) G.O.P. politicians, and some ambitious Democrats already appear ready to run through the open door. All of which points to a possible irony: Even if it were to become only the second successful recall effort in California history, the push  led by conservative interests  could ultimately lift up another Democrat, possibly one to the left of Mr. Newsom.
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey took his love of cryptocurrency to the next level this week, showing off a clock that displays cryptocurrency prices.

Dorsey was in front of the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Thursday, one of several prominent tech figures talking about social media disinformation, especially in regards to the Capitol attack.

But he was appearing remotely, the way most congressional hearings are held during the pandemic.

Because of that, people watching the stream could see empty glass bottles behind Dorsey's head, as well as stacks of plates and bowls and something that looked like a clock beside him.

During his appearance at the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Thursday, Jack Dorsey's BlockClock Mini (circled) was put on full display for cryptocurrency lovers

Pictured: The BlockClock Mini being sold on the Coinkite website for $399

According to Gizmodo, the device read '1952,' at one point, which could be interpreted as military time (though it wouldn't have been accurate based on the timing of the hearing).

But then, the numbers switched to '676274,' which is not a time.

The device is a BlockClock Mini, which is being sold online by Coinkite for $399.

The 30x10cm device can 'track prices from exchanges, see blocks as they are published by miners and connect Opendime to display balance, fiat value, and deposit QR codes,' according to its description.

Some people on Dorsey's social media platform couldn't help but to laugh at the bizarre background item.

'Its the number of Fs hes given today,' said one user.

'Forget the clock....look at dude's cult leader head,' said another, pointing to Dorsey's unkempt appearance.

What are NFTs? What is a NFT? A Non-Fungible Token (NFT) is a unique digital token encrypted with an artist's signature and which verifies its ownership and authenticity and is permanently attached to the piece. What do they look like? Most NFTs include some kind digital artwork, such as photos, videos, GIFs, and music. Theoretically, anything digital could be turned into a NFT. Where do you buy them? At the moment, NFTs are most commonly sold in so-called 'drops', timed online sales by blockchain-backed marketplaces like Nifty Gateway, Opensea and Rarible. Why would I want to own one? There's an array of reasons why someone may want to buy a NFT. For some, the reason may be emotional value, because NFTs are seen as collectors items. For others, they are seen as an investment opportunity similar to cryptocurrencies, because the value could increase. When were NFTs created? Writer and podcaster Andrew Steinwold traced the origins of NFTs back to 2012, with the creation of the Colored Coins cryptocurrency. But NFTs didn't move into the mainstream until five years later, when the blockchain game CryptoKitties began selling virtual cats in 2017. Advertisement

The device, which almost looks like a doomsday clock, fits into the larger narrative of Dorsey's obsession with cryptocurrency.

The CEO's Twitter bio is short and succinct, simply reading '#bitcoin' with the symbol at the end.

Earlier this week, Dorsey sold his first ever tweet - 'just setting up my twttr' - as an NFT for just over $2.9million.

The non-fungible token (NFT) - a unique digital asset that has exploded in popularity in 2021 - was purchased Monday by Sina Estavi, the CEO of Malaysia-based blockchain company Bridge Oracle.

The sale came two weeks after Dorsey listed the tweet from March 21, 2006, on a platform called Valuables, which auctions off tweets as NFTs.

He said in a tweet on March 9 that he would convert the proceeds from the auction into bitcoin and donate them to people impacted by COVID-19 in Africa, quickly garnering bids of at least $88,888.

On Monday, Dorsey announced that he'd donated more than $2.787million-worth of Bitcoin to Give Directly's Africa fund.

In January, Christie's became the first major auction house to put up a piece of digital artwork carrying a token.

The piece entitled 'Everydays - The First 5000 Days' by Beeple sold for $69million.

Dorsey is also teaming up with rapper Jay-Z on a new Bitcoin fund, with plans to move the cryptocurrency into India and Africa.

'JAY-Z/@S_C_ and I are giving 500 BTC to a new endowment named trust to fund #Bitcoin development, initially focused on teams in Africa & India. Itll be set up as a blind irrevocable trust, taking zero direction from us. We need 3 board members to start,' Dorsey tweeted on February 12.

A week later, he revealed that over 6,600 people applied for board seats and that interviews would begin soon.

The 500 Bitcoin they gave to the fund was worth approximately $24 million at the time.

According to Variety, Dorsey's other company, payment-processing Square - which recently bought a majority stake in Jay-Z's TIDAL - has been able to support Bitcoin for more than three years.

Dorsey's Twitter profile prominently shows off his love for all things Bitcoin

Dorsey listed his famous first post (pictured) from March 21, 2006, on a platform called Valuables, which auctions off tweets as NFTs

On Monday Dorsey announced that he'd donated more than $2.787million-worth of Bitcoin to Give Directly's Africa fund

Twitter is also exploring the possibility of paying employees using Bitcoin.

Dorsey and Jay-Z may be facing an uphill battle in helping usher in a new era of cryptocurrency in India.

Reuters reports India is planning on proposing a law that will ban cryptocurrency and fine traders and holders of the digital currency.

The law would make possession, issuance, mining, trading and transferring of assets a crime in the country.

Holders of cryptocurrencies would have up to six months to liquidate their assets before fines begin to kick in.

Mining and trading of cryptocurrency is also illegal in China, although possession of cryptocurrency is not.
press release

One month after I wrote to the Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD), Thoko Didiza, to urgently intervene in the case of Mpumalanga farmers, who are at various stages of being evicted from their farms, the Minister is yet to respond or take action despite making promises to reconsider all pending farm evictions across the country.

Yesterday I was in the Gert Sibande District of Mpumalanga where I met with some of the affected farmers to give them feedback on the DA's efforts to get their cases resolved. This was a follow-up visit to the meeting that I had with them on the 29th of September 2020. The issues that they raised then, and which remain unresolved to this day, include:

The Department has started a selective issuing of 30-year lease agreements in the District;

Allegations started to emerge that some of the Department's officials were demanding bribes before contracts could be signed;

There was no platform for mediation of disputes, after some farmers received "eviction notices". This forced them to write to the Director General and Minister, sometimes with lawyers' letters, but no response was forthcoming; and

Some farmers complained that officials kept records of contracts, but no records of these lease payments were kept.

The general consensus among the farmers that I met with yesterday was that the fact that these issues have remained unresolved has left them with the distinct impression that the DALRRD is dead set on evicting them from their farms at all costs.

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Using the input that I obtained from the farmers, the issues that I will be taking up with the Department include seeking clarity on:

What criteria was used to agree to lease renewals for some farmers while denying others?

What, if any, investigations have been conducted into the allegations of bribery, especially now that the Department is trying to pin corruption on an official who has passed on?

Why did the Department renege on the 2015 promise made by Gugile Nkwinti to farmers in the Provinces that their lease agreements will be renewed, and they won't be required to pay anything?

Just as we stood against the unjust eviction of Ivan Cloete, we will not allow DALRRD to intimidate farmers using flimsy excuses to evict them from their land. Successful agriculture operations take years to build and the Department should not be disruptive to the efforts of emerging black farmers.

Local Government Elections are coming up in 2021! Visit check.da.org.za to check your voter registration status
Oil prices fell sharply dropped as mounting lockdowns in Europe blunted the potential impact of crude cargoes backing up outside the blocked Suez Canal.

Futures fell as much as 6.1pc in New York yesterday in the wake of declining equities and a stronger dollar, which reduces the appeal of commodities priced in the currency. Meanwhile, work to re-float the massive ship thats stuck in the canal continued without success on yesterday in Egypt.

Read More

A recent increase in coronavirus cases is also curbing demand. The US reported the most new cases on Wednesday since February 12, while European countries have tightened restrictions recently. Volatility has risen to the highest since November. That leaves little to stoke immediate optimism ahead of a full-fledged economic reopening from the pandemic.

Equities are down, people are concerned about the broader picture in the global economy and oil prices had already gone a long way, said Peter McNally, global head for industrials, materials and energy at Third Bridge.

Theres pent up demand for travel, whether it be air or road. That is still coming. But in the near-term theres a few hurdles we need to clear before we get to that point.

Oil is up nearly 20pc this year.
Sengerema  In honouring the fallen fifth President, Dr John Magufuli, Sengerema Secondary School administration plans to build a tower at the school bearing the ex-president's image.

President John Magufuli taught at the school in 1982 and 1983, which was his first recruitment in the public service, as a teacher.

The school also has pledged to emulate the ex-president's hardworking spirit in order to produce many youth with characters of the fallen Tanzanian leader.

Speaking to Mwananchi Digital from the school yesterday, the school's headmaster, Mr Zacharia Kahema, said the late Dr Magufuli left a record of hard working and integrity.

"When he was teaching here, Dr Magufuli used to collect exercise books for negligent students and ensured that they quickly changed and improved their performance in class.

He spent most of his time in the school laboratory doing scientific experiments," he said.
A number of lobby groups in Eldoret have raised concerns over increasing cases of bodaboda riders being accused of defiling minors.

They observed that majority of the riders capitalise on the vulnerability of minors by offering them free rides to school.

Nick Omito, from Centre for Human Rights and Mediation, has cautioned parents against trusting riders to transport their children to schools.

He was speaking in Eldoret following an incident where a Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exam candidate failed to sit the test -- which ended on Wednesday -- after she was allegedly defiled by a bodaboda rider.

The 13-year-old girl said she met the rider who confronted her, grabbed her and took her to a thicket where he defiled her.

"I was on my way to school at around 6.30am when the bodaboda rider attempted to entice me with Sh50 which I refused. Upon refusing his offer, he hit me with his elbow; I became unconscious only to find myself in a farm," narrated the traumatised girl.

The victim's mother said she found her daughter traumatised in Eldoret.

Something unusual

The shocked mother added that upon examining her daughter, she realised that something unusual had happened to her.

"I was shocked when teachers called me and informed me that my daughter had not reported to school," said the mother.

She took her to a local hospital and she was later referred to the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital.

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A hospital report indicates the girl was defiled.

Mr Omito said his centre has embarked on a programme to offer psychosocial support to the victims of defilement. He decried the increase of such cases in Eldoret.

Turbo Sub-County Deputy Commissioner Mohammed Mwabudzo said all cases of defilement are treated with a lot of seriousness, citing the one involving the KCPE candidate.

Investigations

But Mr Mwabudzo said that his office has little information about the incident but promised to liaise with the police for further investigations into the matter.

"We are going to furnish the police with more information as soon as we get it to enable them carry out investigations on the matter because it is their mandate," said Mwabudzo.

Uasin Gishu County Police Commander Ayub Ali said they have already embarked on investigations into the incident.

While addressing bodaboda riders in Eldoret last year, the national Bodaboda Association Chairman Mubadi Kevin cautioned his members against engaging in criminal activities.

Mr Mubadi said that any rider involved in criminal any activity such as defilement must face the full force of the law.

He said that the association will not protect criminals disguised as bodaboda riders.

"We will not allow a few individuals in this sector to continue tarnishing our good name. Anyone found engaging in criminal activities amongst us must be dealt with according to the law of the land," said Mr Mubadi.
In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is still recommending against travel  even for those vaccinated  citing the risks of catching and spreading the virus while away from home. And ultimately, the course of the virus will determine what travel looks like across the world. But heres what we know about how European countries are preparing to restart tourism.

I want to go to Europe this summer. Who will let me in?

Last summer, when the United States reported more coronavirus infections and deaths than any other country, Americans were barred from entering the European bloc for vacation.

There have been a few exceptions: Turkey has been letting U.S. citizens enter if they produce evidence of a negative Covid-19 PCR test before departure, as has Croatia, and several countries that are not members of the European Union, including Albania and Armenia.

As the number of cases has risen in Europe, and vaccination has been sluggish, several European Union countries have gone back into lockdown. France, Belgium and Portugal have reintroduced stringent measures that restrict nonessential travel, even from within the bloc and within what is known as the Schengen Zone, which includes nonmember countries that allow free movement across their borders.

Right now, in some European countries, it might feel like you are in the middle of a storm, which is how we felt in the U.K a couple of months ago, said Gloria Guevara Manzo, chief executive and president of the World Travel & Tourism Council, a forum that works with governments to raise awareness about the travel industry.
POTTSVILLE  Cheyanne Sensenbach arrived late Thursday for her sentencing hearing, but that did not stop a Schuylkill County judge from sending her to state prison for participating in a fentanyl-distribution conspiracy in August 2019 in Shenandoah.

Sensenbach, 27, of Schuylkill Haven, must spend 18 to 36 months in a state correctional institution, Judge James P. Goodman ruled. He recommended that she participate in the state drug treatment court program while behind bars.

She has a drug problem and these are drug charges, said Goodman, who advised Sensenbach to address her drug problem and get her other cases resolved.

Goodman also sentenced Sensenbach to pay costs, $100 to the Substance Abuse Education Fund and $113 restitution to the state police crime laboratory in Bethlehem, and submit a DNA sample to law enforcement authorities. He made the sentence effective at 9 a.m. April 1.

At the end of a one-day trial over which Goodman presided, a jury deliberated less than an hour on Feb. 8 before finding Sensenbach, formerly of Shenandoah, guilty of conspiracy.

Shenandoah police charged Sensenbach with helping to arrange the sale of $30 worth of fentanyl in a controlled buy on Aug. 15, 2019.

Sensenbach was 25 minutes late for Thursdays hearing, which then lasted approximately 10 minutes.

Goodman imposed the sentence recommended by Assistant District Attorney Jennifer N. Foose, who emphasized the dangerousness of the drug the defendant helped to sell.

Fentanyl is one of the most dangerous drugs out there, she said.

Eric J. Filer, Lehighton, Sensenbachs lawyer, asked for a county prison sentence for his client, noting that she has health problems.

She has been working to address those problems, he said.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP)  Only two years after historic flooding along the Missouri River ravaged parts of Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas and Missouri, officials are now dealing with what's shaping up to be one of river's driest years.
The on Friday said except in some locations in Punjab and Haryana, the called by farmer unions protesting the Central agri laws had "almost zero impact" on rail services across the country.

In the morning, protestors had squatted on railway tracks at 44 locations across the two states which led to four Shatabdi trains being cancelled, 35 other passenger trains detained and the movement of 40 goods trains affected, according to a northern railway spokesperson.

"Barring some limited number of trains in Punjab and Haryana, the bandh has had almost ZERO impact across the nation. Other than in these two states, around five to six trains were delayed for some time. Less than 0.5 per cent of trains impacted nationally. Trains are running smoothly," said Railway spokesperson D J Narain.

The 44 locations where train movement has been disrupted fall under the Delhi, Ambala and Ferozepur divisions of the The norther railway spokespern, however, said that now things have normalised.

The Samkyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) has called for the bandh from 6 am to 6 pm to mark four months of the farmers' agitation at Delhi's three borders -- Singhu, Ghazipur and Tikri.

Thousands of farmers, mainly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur borders demanding a complete repeal of the three farm laws and a legal guarantee for minimum support price on their crops.

(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.)
After the de-occupation of Crimea, the rights of land owners violated by the occupying Power will be fully restored.

Seven years after the beginning of the occupation, Russia continues persecuting and punishing those residents of the Crimean Peninsula who rejected Russia-imposed citizenship. Starting from 20 March 2021, all non-Russian citizens are banned from owning land plots in almost the entire peninsula, with the exception of several districts, Permanent Representative of Ukraine to International Organizations in Vienna Yevhenii Tsymbaliuk said at the OSCE Permanent Council meeting on March 25.

He emphasized that Ukraine strongly condemned the relevant decree by the President of the Russian Federation as an illegal act by the occupying Power, which violates international humanitarian law. This forcible deprivation of property is legally null and void: after the de-occupation of Crimea, the rights of land owners violated by the occupying Power will be fully restored, the Permanent Representative of Ukraine said.

He noted that Putins cronies and local so-called officials had stolen private enterprises and land plots in Crimea in pursuit of additional income after the occupation. Russias own model of governance, in which business success heavily depends on loyalty of its owner to the corrupt regime, was imposed on the occupied Crimea. We have already informed participating States on some of such cases, for instance last December on the illegal sale of the Ukrainian Masandra Concern to a subsidiary company of Rossiya Bank, controlled by Mr. Yurii Kovalchuk, one of those Putins cronies, Tsymbaliuk said.

In this context, the Ukrainian diplomat informed the delegations that President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky had enacted the decision of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine on restrictive measures against 26 foreigners and 81 legal entities, including a number of companies located in Crimea, in particular, the abovementioned Masandra Concern. Thieves must not benefit from their actions. We call on participating States to stick to the policy of non-recognition of Russias attempted annexation of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, including through sanctions, the Permanent Representative of Ukraine to International Organizations in Vienna added.

As reported, on March 20, 2021, Russian President Putin's decree banning foreign citizens from owning land came into force in most of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, temporarily occupied by Russia. The decree affects Ukrainian citizens who refused to receive Russian passports.

Restrictions are imposed on land ownership in 19 municipalities of Crimea (out of 25), including Yevpatoria, Kerch, Yalta, Sudak towns. The ban also applies to 12 municipality districts of the city of Sevastopol. Land ownership in Simferopol, Dzhankoi, Krasnoperekopsk, Bilohirsk, Krasnohvardiyske and Pervomaiske districts was not banned.

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The WA-Queensland border remains open but any arrivals who visited locations in Brisbane also visited by the states latest community COVID-19 case must get tested immediately and self-quarantine for 14 days.

WA Health Minister Roger Cook unveiled the states response to the latest outbreak on Friday afternoon but denied the softer approach, compared to previous east coast outbreaks, was a result of a stepdown of hard border policies post-election.

Anyone who has entered WA from Queensland since March 20 and has visited the nine potential exposure site locations must isolate.

Based on health advice, anyone who has visited these specific locations must go and be tested immediately and self-quarantine for 14 days from the time they were at the high-risk location, Mr Cook said.
Shehnaaz Gill Grooves To Allu Sirish And Heli Daruwalas Track Vilayati Sharaab In Canada; Watch

The very talented Darshan Raval and Neeti Mohan recently collaborated for a special track full of masala, titled Vilayati Sharaab. Starring South actor Allu Sirish and the gorgeous Heli Daruwala, the music video has set the internet on fire and has already become a chartbuster. Well, among many other celebrities, Bigg Boss 13 fame Shehnaaz Gill has also appreciated the song and took to her social media handle today to shower love on the team.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Shehnaaz Gill (@shehnaazgill)

Shehnaaz, who is currently in Canada, grooved to Vilayati Sharaab on the streets and left us in awe with her killer dance moves. In the video shared by her, the actress is sporting a simple white crop top paired with blue baggy jeans. She looks absolutely stunning in this no-makeup, cool and casual look. However, the highlights of this clip are her elegant moves and her charming smile. Along with the post, Punjabs Katrina Kaif wrote: Loving this #vilayatisharaab.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Shehnaaz Gill (@shehnaazgill)

The beauty was last seen in rap star Badshah and Uchana Amits music video Fly, which was shot in Kashmir. Currently, Shehnaaz is busy shooting in Canada for her upcoming film Honsla Rakh, co-starring the very handsome Diljit Dosanjh and the wonderful Sonam Bajwa. Their film will release on 15th October this year.
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 and even Moonlight Serenade.

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With this wide variety of songs  and the account's large following  it seems the account has succeeded in their mission, proving that any song can align with the iconic dance.

Yet every experiment, even when as seemingly foolproof and thorough as the aforementioned, still requires an effective peer review, a task I took upon myself for the sake of science. When independently testing the theory in preparation for this article, putting my music library on shuffle and executing the '90s dance craze to every song that popped up, I found, unsurprisingly, that the Macarena theory holds up, the dance jiving with a whole host of musical stylings from The Black Keys, Justice, Mac Miller, and even Stevie Nicks. The only song to fail the Macarena assessment? !!!!!!! the 13-second vocal track/potential Invisalign advertisement kicking off Billie Eilish's 2019 debut studio album, When We All Fall Asleep Where Do We Go? Yet I'm sure with enough analysis, studying the nuances of Eilish and her brother/producer, Finneas's respective vocal cadence and the interaction's natural pauses well beyond the level it ever should, the "song" could perhaps become somewhat Macarena-able.

So folks, remember if you ever find in yourself in a situation -- a bar, a birthday party, a high stakes dance battle  where you have to bust a move but you're not quite shure how, the Macarena will (probably) always have your back.

For more internet nonsense, follow Carly on Instagram at @HuntressThompson_, on Twitch.tv @HuntressThompson_ and on Twitter @TennesAnyone.
New Delhi: Sub-Inspector Priyanka became the first woman personnel of Delhi Police to be a part of an encounter in central Delhi which led to the arrest of an alleged gangster and his associate, police claimed on Thursday.

The encounter took place at Pragati Maidan here and led to the arrest of Rohit Chaudhary (35), carrying a reward of Rs 3.5 lakh and his accomplice Parveen alias Titu, carrying a reward of Rs 2 lakh, they said.

Both suffered injuries in their legs during the encounter and were taken to the RML hospital from where they were discharged after treatment, they said.

The police claimed that SI Priyanka was the first woman personnel of the force to be a part of an encounter.

According to the police, during the cross-firing, a bullet hit the bullet-proof jacket of ACP Pankaj while another bullet fired by accused the bullet-proof jacket of Priyanka, the first Delhi Police woman personnel to be part of an encounter team, the officer said.

At a press conference, Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime) Shibesh Singh said the woman SI was an integral part of the team from the very beginning right.

"She played an important role and was part of the tracking team," he said.

Priyanka joined the Delhi Police in 2008 and has been working in the Crime Branch for the past two years. Before joining the unit, she was posted in the district unit, a police officer said.

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Pandemic stimmy offers a nice deal for cowtown purveyors of the plague cure.

Read more . . .

Nearly 50 health centers in Kansas and Missouri will receive close to $187 million to fill gaps in access to the COVID-19 vaccine as part of President Biden's American Relief Plan, a more than $1.9-trillion relief and stimulus package Congress passed earlier this month.
Sanaa, March 26 : Yemen's Houthi militia announced on Friday that it has unleashed a series of attacks against Saudi Arabia.

In recent weeks, the oil-rich Kingdom has been the target of increasing drone and missile attacks by the Houthis, reports dpa news agency.

Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Serae said on Friday the group launched 12 offensive drones and eight ballistic missiles targeting facilities belonging to Saudi Aramco.

Six other drones were launched as part of a major operation against military sites in the Saudi border regions of Najran and Asir, Serae added.

"This operation has successfully fulfilled its goals," he said, without giving details.

Serae said the attacks marked the start of the seventh year of the Saudi-led offensive in Yemen.

A Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis said late Thursday that it had intercepted eight explosive drones launched by the rebels towards targets in the Kingdom.

Two universities were among the targets.

Saudi Arabia said a projectile attack on Thursday on an oil distribution station in the border region of Jazan had sparked a fire without causing casualties or damage.

A source at the Saudi Energy Ministry condemned the attack, saying it targets stability of energy supplies to be shipped globally, the official Saudi news agency SPA reported.

The latest attacks come days after Saudi Arabia announced a ceasefire proposal aimed at ending Yemen's war.

Yemen has been roiled by a devastating power struggle since late 2014.
Even if you got your hands on a big, fat free sandwich at Mannys Deli in Chicago  thanks to an anonymous donor sponsoring a free sandwich day on Tuesday for anyone wearing a mask  you might consider buying one if possible. Sure, its a good bet at Mannys, best known for their corned beef, but you could also choose from one of the dozens of great delis and restaurants across the city and the suburbs.
Report details human rights violations in US

China Daily) 17:49, March 25, 2021

Expert points out huge bias among American media in coverage of China

China's State Council Information Office issued a report on human rights violations in the United States in 2020 on Wednesday that condemned the double standards and hypocrisy of the US on human rights.

The Manhattan skyline is seen behind Calvary Cemetery in New York, the United States, on Jan. 18, 2021. (Photo: Xinhua)

"The US government, instead of introspecting on its own terrible human rights record, kept making irresponsible remarks on the human rights situation in other countries," the report said.

It said that incompetent pandemic containment in the US has led to tragic outcomes, citing data that by the end of February, the US, home to less than 5 percent of the world's population, accounted for more than a quarter of the world's confirmed COVID-19 cases.

The US also accounted for nearly one-fifth of the global deaths from the disease. More than 500,000 US residents lost their lives due to the virus, data showed.

The report said that disorder in the US democratic system led to political chaos, further tearing US society apart, with people's confidence in the US democratic system dropping to the lowest level in 20 years.

Ethnic minority groups suffered systemic racial discrimination. African Americans were three times as likely as white people to be infected with the virus, twice as likely to die from it, and three times as likely to be killed by police, it said.

The 15,000-Chinese-character document also mentioned continuous social unrest threatening public security in the US, growing polarization between rich and poor aggravating social inequality, and the US' trampling of international rules, resulting in humanitarian disasters.

The report urged the US to show humility and compassion for the suffering of its own people, drop hypocrisy, bullying, "Big Stick" and double standards, and work with the international community to build a community with a shared future for humanity.

Chang Jian, a professor of human rights studies at Nankai University in Tianjin, said, "By releasing the report, China is not interfering in the internal affairs of the US, but presenting the real human rights situation in the US to the public."

Chang said, "Although China has made progress in the development of human rights, including poverty reduction and rights protection, some countries constantly smear China's human rights situation for political gains, regardless of their own deteriorating human rights situation."

Though media are independent in the US, there is a huge bias among them in reporting on China, he said, adding that they are full of criticism while reporting on epidemic prevention measures in China.

Zhang Wei, a professor of human rights studies at China University of Political Science and Law, said the US withdrew from international organizations when the organizations refused US manipulation. Zhang cited the example of the US announcing its withdrawal from the World Health Organization in July amid the worst time of the global fight against COVID-19.

He said this also shows that the US is not adopting democratic methods to solve the problems of the international community and is not fighting for human rights and freedoms as it says it is.

(Web editor: Hongyu, Bianji)
YEREVAN, MARCH 26, ARMENPRESS. Russian Ambassador to Armenia Sergei Kopyrkin hopes that the Sputnik V vaccine against COVID-19 will soon be delivered to Armenia.

During a meeting with the reporters today the Ambassador said very active works are being carried out on this direction.

It is approaching the practical implementation stage. I hope it would be possible to conduct the deliveries very soon. In any case, as an Embassy we are assisting it with all possible means, he said.

As for the possibilities of producing the vaccine in Armenia, the Ambassador said Armenias ministry of health and the Russian investors are cooperating over this matter.

I do not have concrete information about that, but I know that this topic is under very active discussions and I hope the vaccine will be delivered to Armenia very soon, he said.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
Spain is once again facing international pressure to recognize the independence of Kosovo. This time it is the European Parliament which has again asked Spain to recognize the landlocked Balkan state as an independent country, along with putting the same request to four other European states that have not yet done so. The European Parliament has affirmed that Kosovo's independence is "irreversible" and, in addition, the Union has reaffirmed "the credibility of the European commitment to the enlargement process" - which would bring the new country into the EU.

The call made to the five countries - Spain, Greece, Slovakia, Cyprus and Romania - was included in a report which the Parliament approved today, on Kosovo's accession to the EU. These are the only European states that still fail to recognize the country's independence, after its unilateral proclamation of independence, made in 2008.

"Kosovo's independence is irreversible and its recognition would be beneficial for the normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia and would improve and consolidate stability in the region and facilitate the European integration of both," said the German Green MEP, Viola von Cramon-Taubadel, author of the report.

PP and Podemos vote against

The report was passed with 471 votes in favour, 109 against and 104 abstentions. The positions of the Spanish parties were an odd mixture, with the report being passed although the PP and Podemos voted against it, while the PSOE and Ciudadanos chose to abstain and far-right Vox voted in favour, in line with the vote of its parent group in the European Parliament. According to Podemos parliamentary sources, it makes no sense for the European Parliament to ignore the sovereign decisions of countries like Spain while approving one like this on Kosovo's European integration.

"It applies both to Kosovo and Catalonia"

"Spain's problem is not with Kosovo", said Catalan pro-independence MEP Clara Ponsati in the debate. "It is a problem with Catalonia".

The exiled MEP referred to the ruling of the International Court of Justice asserting that Kosovo's Unilateral Declaration of Independence had not violated Serbia's sovereignty. The court concluded that the adoption of the February 17th, 2008 declaration of independence did not violate international law, Security Council resolution 1244 or the constitutional framework, the ruling said. This ruling "established that international law does not prohibit unilateral declarations of independence. This applies to Kosovo but also to Catalonia," Ponsati said.

Ponsati argued that Spain does not recognize Kosovo because it aims to prevent anything from "threatening its sacred unity." "The EU cannot have a single position with Kosovo because Spain is obsessed with the idea that unity is more sacred than democracy and human rights," she added.

In the opinion of the pro-independence leader, the EU's solution with this issue is for Spain to recognize the right to self-determination of Catalonia, which is the only obstacle preventing the government of Pedro Sanchez from then recognizing Kosovo as well.
Hi, my name is Scott C. Waring and I wrote a few books and am currently a ESL School Owner in Taiwan. I have had my own UFO sighting up close and personal, but that's how it works right? A non believer becomes a believer when they experience their first sighting. You witnessed it, your perceptual field changes, so now you need to share it.





I created this site to help the UFO community get a little bit organized. I noticed that there was a lot of chaos when searching for UFO sighting reports, so I hope this site helps. I wanted to support those eyewitnesses who have tried to tell others about what they have seen, yet were laughed at by even closest of friends.





More and more each day the governments of the world leak bits and pieces of UFO information to the public. They have a trickle down theory in hopes of slowly getting citizens use to the idea that we are not alone in universe and never have been. The truth is being leaked drop by drop until one day we look around and find ourselves neck high in it.





The discovery of alien species in existence is the most monumental scientific event in human history, suppression of that information is a crime against humanity.





About me:

I live in Taiwan. I OWN MY OWN ENGLISH SCHOOL, AND ONCE HAD 5 SCHOOLS.

Am Former USAF at SAC base (flight line).

Age: 42

Educ: BA in Elem ed. Masters in Counseling ed.





I had two UFO sightings, (30+bus size orbs) in military and in 2012 personally saw the UFO over Taipei 101 building on New Years Day (and recored it).
MORE business leaders are pressing John Howell to support a proposed law to help tackle climate change.

A growing number of local companies are calling on the Henley MP to support the Climate and Ecological Emergency Bill in Parliament.

The latest figures to join the campaign by pressure group Greener Henley include Niki Schafer, chairwoman of the Henley Business Partnership, Tom Davies, chief executive of Henley pub company Brakspear, and David Rodger-Sharp, who owns two jewellers shops Lawlors bakery.

The private members Bill, introduced by Green MP Caroline Lucas, would enshrine the UKs commitments on climate change under the Paris Agreement into law.

It would ensure the country reduces greenhouse gas emissions to limit global heating to no more than 1.5C, account for our entire carbon footprint in calculating emissions and include measures to actively conserve and protect ecosystems.

The Bill also calls for the establishment of citizens assemblies to give ordinary people a say.

Mrs Schafer says businesses understand the need for more government regulation as, although it woulc be difficult to adapt at first, this would be more effective than leaving them individually responsible.

She says the initial inconvenience is a small price for saving the planet.

Mrs Schafer said: It will also create opportunities as these exist in any situation  just look at how businesses have adapted to the coronavirus pandemic.

Businesses and working professionals must get behind this so it isnt just seen as the preserve of rebels and green types as we can all agree that something needs to be done.

Our customer base also wants to see action so we must make clear to the Government that were ready for regulation. Its the only way because, left to their own devices, people will always be tempted to take shortcuts.

In an ideal world, people want to be free to do whatever they like but the stakes are too high. As David Attenborough put it, the economy and ecology need to come face-to-face.

Were hosting this years United Nations climate change conference so we should set an example and set ambitious targets. Reaching net zero carbon by 2050 isnt good enough  it needs to be 2030.

We can either procrastinate and only take action when we have to, which will be painful and lead to many deaths and extinctions, or we can try to make the most of things while were still on that tipping point. You can only put your fingers in your ears for so long.

Mr Davies said: Weve been running pubs since 1779 and hope our business will thrive and prosper not only now, but for generations to come.

In order to do this, we must safeguard our most precious asset, a thriving natural world, which is why we support the CEE Bill.

We believe it will spur on the changes that are needed to protect the planet for our children and grandchildren.

Mr Rodger-Sharp said: People in Henley care a lot about this, which is a good thing.

It isnt easy for any business to make changes but we have to accept that we only have one planet and one chance to reverse some of these awful things that are going on with the climate and the natural world.

Theres definitely consumer demand for greener products and businesses will need to adapt in order to stay relevant. Its not a bad thing if it makes us think more carefully about the impact of our actions.

We certainly feel a responsibility to be as green as we possibly can.

Other supporters include baby food manufacturer Ellas Kitchen, of Rotherfield Greys, and boating firm Hobbs of Henley.

Mr Howell has said he wont vote for the Bill, which almost 100 MPs support to date, because it has imperfections that make it unviable and efforts to launch citizens assemblies in Canada havent yielded results.

He accepts climate change is the all-important issue of the day but says the Government is on track to address it through measures like generating more electricity from renewable sources.

Businesses can sign up to the open letter by emailing ceebillalliance.oxford@gmail.com

 The Bill was due to have its second reading in the House of Commons today (Friday) but this has been postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Born under a lucky star, Google honours Slovakias first Roma writer

Elena Lackova was the first Slovak author to write about the Roma Holocaust.

Elena Lackova, Slovakia's first Roma writer, at her graduation in Prague. (Source: Pamet naroda)

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When the writer Elena Lackova graduated from university in 1970 and defended her master's degree at the Faculty of Arts, Charles University in Prague, she was almost 50 years old and the grandmother of nine grandchildren.

She thus became one of the few Slovak Roma women to obtain a university degree. But her ambitions did not end there.

"So, Roma! Only now do I really belong to you and I will do everything to prove that the Roma are also human," she said to herself at her graduation ceremony.

Lackova is the most important Roma personality in Slovakia. She dedicated her entire life to the development and enlightenment of the Roma community. She was the first Roma writer to become a member of the Slovak Writers' Association.

25. Mar 2021 at 8:15 | Jana Alexova
[March 26, 2021] Prudential Financial releases first Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Summary Report

Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE: PRU) has released an Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Summary Report, which highlights sustainable actions by the company related to its environmental footprint, diversity and inclusion, talent and governance. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210326005088/en/ Our Commitment to Transparency: Representation Data (Graphic: Business Wire) The report, published alongside Prudential's 2020 Annual Report and Proxy Statement, includes newly released representation and pay equity data, which detail the composition of the company's U.S. workforce by race, ethnicity and gender, as well as corresponding compensation metrics. "This ESG Summary Report underscores the importance of a robust reporting framwork to fulfill our company's purpose of solving the financial challenges of our changing world," said Margaret "Peggy" Foran, chief governance officer and corporate secretary for Prudential Financial. "Additional transparency provides investors, employees, customers and communities with the ability to even more clearly gauge Prudential's progress toward our goal of being a sustainable and fully inclusive company."



The ESG Summary Report includes enhanced disclosures around: The status of the operational and investment targets set by Prudential's Global Environmental Commitment.

The makeup of Prudential's U.S. workforce by race, ethnicity and gender by job category, including both representation and pay equity data.

Actions associated with the company's nine commitments to racial equity, which will serve as a baseline against which to measure the company's progress going forward.

How the company is tying executive compensation to the achievement of inclusion and diversity performance targets. Prudential's ESG Summary Report was created as a supplement to other disclosures available on Prudential's website, including the company's annual Sustainability Report, published each June, which provides details about Prudential's ESG strategy, framework and performance.

About Prudential Financial Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE: PRU), a financial wellness leader and premier active global investment manager with more than $1.5 trillion in assets under management as of Dec. 31, 2020, has operations in the United States, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. Prudential's diverse and talented employees help to make lives better by creating financial opportunity for more people. Prudential's iconic Rock symbol has stood for strength, stability, expertise and innovation for more than a century. For more information, please visit news.prudential.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210326005088/en/

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Thursdays severe weather is causing areas to flood all across North Alabama.

A parking lot in Fort Payne was completely underwater around 6 Thursday night. Craig Shelton, the maintenance supervisor for the DeKalb County Commission, came right over when he heard about it to check a building he works on, because this isnt the first time this areas been underwater.

I was concerned it might be as bad as it was last year, and it would be more damage, but we got a little lucky, Shelton said.

While the building he works on was spared, the mayor of Fort Payne, Brian Baine, says many areas were not.

There was large amounts of water that came down today in a little bit of time, and when it does that, theres nowhere for it to go. Weve had a lot of flooding all across town, he said.

Thursday night, all of State Road 35 by Lookout Mountain was covered with water, and a car was stuck by Airport Road and State Road 35.

The city of Fort Payne has all its public safety crews working to keep the roads as safe as possible. Shelton says the only thing to blame for all this flooding is Mother Nature itself.

The city has already done a lot of work on this creek behind this property here, and its helped a lot. We just had an unusual amount of rain and the ground was saturated, he said.

Mayor Baine asks everyone to please be patient with their crews as they start working on the damage from this storm. He also asks you to be careful if you see water across a road, and to avoid flooded areas at all costs.
The Oscar Meyer Wienermobile rolls into Connecticut this weekend  and its bringing a friend.

The hot dog on wheels joins the Planters NUTmobile, a legume-shaped vehicle, at stops across the state Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Find them at the Groton Municipal Building (295 Meridian St., Groton) March 26 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.; the Childrens Museum in West Hartford (950 Trout Brook Drive) March 27 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and at the Goat Stroll at Lyman Orchards in Middlefield (32 Reeds Gap Road) March 28 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The NUTmobile will be giving away nut samples, and the Wienermobile has its classic Wiener Whistles.

Both mobiles have more than 80 years of history traveling the country, according to a news release, and are operated by recent college graduates who are hired to drive for a year.


For two decades, Texas corporate executives have discussed creating their own justice system - business courts staffed with seasoned judges who have deep experience handling complex commercial disputes, from contract disputes to shareholder lawsuits.

The court would be modeled after the Delaware Chancery Court, whose specialization and expertise in business law has convinced more than two-thirds of Fortune 500 companies  and tens-of-thousands of companies of all sizes  to incorporate there. Previous efforts in Texas, however, failed because of opposition by elected state judges. who questioned the need for another layer of courts, and trial lawyers, concerned that cases would be decided by judges, instead of juries.

But Gov. Greg Abbott revived the idea of business courts for Texas this year when he included funds in his proposed budget for fiscal 2022 for a commercial court system. He said it would attract more companies to Texas and away from Delaware, which generates hundreds of millions of dollars in revenues from companies incorporating there.

Rep. Brooks Landgraf, R-Odessa, recently introduced HB 1875, which would create a standalone statewide business court system in which the governor would appoint judges who would handle commercial disputes over $10 million.

The goal of the proposal is to make the Texas courts as predictable in high-stakes litigation as the Delaware Chancery Court. The Delaware court, a direct descendant of the High Court of Chancery in Great Britain centuries ago, has five judges who decide business cases, which they can fast-track because they dont have criminal or family law matters on their dockets.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Enterprise Products wins key court battle of pipeline firms

This legislation is absolutely critical to the development of the Texas economy, said former state Rep. Jason Villalba, who is supporting the Landgraf bill. We need this as part of our future growth.

There are differences between the proposed court established by HB 1875 and the Delaware Chancery Court. Unlike Delaware, where judges alone decide cases, Texas business courts would allow juries to determine facts and issue judgments, as they do in other civil cases.

Under Landgrafs bill, the governor would appoint seven trial judges with statewide jurisdiction every two years. The judges would have at least a decade of experience handling complex commercial litigation. Only four of the judges could be from the same political party. The state Senate would confirm the appointments.

Landgrafs proposal also would create a new business court of appeals to operate separately from regional appellate courts  a move many lawyers see as a response to Democrats winning control of the Texas appellate courts in Dallas and Houston during the past two elections. No other state, including Delaware, has a court of appeals that focuses only on business matters.

Personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits, litigation brought under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act or cases against government entities as parties would still be decided by the state district courts.

Landgraf did not respond to requests for comment.

Ghost of Pennzoil

Corporate leaders say they fear getting hit with large jury verdicts in Texas courts and many of them still point to Pennzoils $10.5 billion judgment against Texaco in 1985 for interference in Pennzoils efforts to buy Getty Oil  a verdict that led to Texacos eventual bankruptcy.

Of course, much has changed during the past 35 years. Texas passed several so-called tort reform laws that severely limit the ability of plaintiffs to obtain large damage verdicts. In addition, voters elected an all-Republican state Supreme Court that has a pro-business reputation.

Villalba, a lawyer at the corporate law firm Foley & Lardner, said special business court judges are needed because Texas district judges have crowded dockets and dont have the time or the expertise to deal with large, complex commercial lawsuits in a speedy manner.

When you are dealing with billions of dollars and thousands of jobs are on the line, you dont want to be rolling the dice, said Villalba, who is working with Landgraf and the Texas Business Law Foundation, a Dallas nonprofit that advocates for the corporate legal community. There needs to be a judicial ecosystem in place that better handles these types of cases.

Austin appellate lawyer Evan Young, who helped draft the bill, said that most states have business courts. Many national and global companies that have relocated to Texas still choose to litigate their disputes in Delaware.

Why are they often incorporated in Delaware and not in Texas? It isnt because of the charms of Wilmington or even Rehoboth Beach, Young said. It is for legal reasons that go back deep in history. It isnt even that Delaware  or other states  law is so good or clear. Texas business and commercial law is excellent, now more than ever.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Handshake in New York led to courtroom drama in Texas

Delaware has earned a pro-business reputation, he said, because it has invested in its court system by having a small group of truly world-class business judges to focus on business cases.

Those judges have developed expertise and meaningful precedents, he said, and they can resolve cases with blinding speed.

Try, try again

More than two-dozen states have some form of commercial dispute courts, according to the National Center for State Courts. Pennsylvania is the most recent to pass legislation to create commerce courts, which will be formed by the judges in each local jurisdiction.

Corporate law leaders in Texas first proposed creating a business court in 2002. The initial plan did not include any role for juries or a special appeals court for commercial disputes.

But the initiative went nowhere because trial lawyers opposed the elimination of juries and sitting district judges were against it because it took some of the most interesting cases away from them.

The effort for business courts resurfaced in 2015 when then Rep. Villalba introduced a bill similar to HB 1875 and added jury trials to his proposal. The legislation has been reintroduced every session since, but has yet to make it out of committee.

Sen. Nathan Johnson, D-Dallas, said he doesnt think the bill creating a business court has any chance of passage in the legislative session,

I dont want Texas becoming Delaware, said Johnson, who sits on the Senates Jurisprudence Committee. Texas is a real state with real businesses. Explain to me exactly what the current court system is lacking. This legislation doesnt do anything but try to give the governor the control over our courts.

Jeff Tillotson, a Dallas trial lawyer who represents businesses in high stakes litigation, said the Landgraf bill would make commercial disputes less predictable because appointed judges serve only two terms. He also said the new judges could issue opinions that directly conflict with decisions made by constitutionally elected district judges, which would cause chaos in the judicial system.

The next governor will appoint all new judges and then the judges in the middle of my cases change, he said. That reduces predictability. This seems to be a solution in search of a problem that doesnt exist.

Tillotson also questioned the timing of the proposal to take jurisdiction in big cases away from the state appellate courts in Dallas and Houston, which turned Democratic during the past two elections.

It is hard to see it any other way than playing politics, he said.

Fair treatment

Young said a dedicated business court with only seven trial judges instead of the hundreds of elected district and county-court-at-law judges would mean fewer conflicting opinions in corporate law. providing clarity for decision-makers in businesses. The same is true, he said, with the proposed appellate court.

Former Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Wallace Jefferson said the state needs to examine whether the current system of justice is working proper and not necessarily think about creating a whole new court system for big businesses  a position taken privately by many elected Texas judges, who are reluctant to speak out on the question.

We need to realize that if a company that can pay lawyers millions of dollars feels they are not being treated fairly, Jefferson said, then what about the poor person in the court system who cannot afford a lawyer at all?
Border Patrol agents apprehend about two dozen illegal immigrants in Penitas, Texas, on March 11. 2021. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)

Plurality in New Poll Want Illegal Immigrants Held Until Court Hearings

A plurality of respondents to a new poll say they want illegal immigrants detained in holding centers until their court hearings.

Crossing the border into the United States is illegal. Many border crossers claim asylum, which requires a court hearing.

President Donald Trump curbed the so-called catch and release programwhich allowed illegal immigrants to remain in the country while awaiting immigration proceedingsrequiring detained illegal immigrants be transferred to Immigration and Customs enforcement custody.

Illegal immigrants who didnt claim asylum were returned to their home countries under Trump era policies. Those who claimed asylum were made to wait in Mexico until their claims were heard in court.

President Joe Biden last month reinstated the catch and release policy last month, one of a number of significant immigration changes hes made since taking office.

Poll respondents were presented with three possible responses to a question about whether illegal immigrants should be released or held as they await hearings in immigration court.

The most popular answer at 46 percent (pdf) was holding the immigrants in detention centers until their hearings. Another 36 percent said they prefer the illegal immigrants be released into the country. The rest werent sure.

Holding aliens was more popular with men, older Americans, and white respondents. Republicans overwhelmingly favored the option, with 46 percent of Independents, a plurality, supporting it. Most Democrat respondents wanted immigrants released as they await their trial.

The survey (pdf) was conducted by Scott Rasmussen for Just the News.

The 1,200 respondents were polled using multiple methods from March 18 through March 20. The margin of error was plus/minus 2.8 percentage points.

Any person who crosses the border into the United States without legal status must go to court to make their case as to why they can stay.
My error of judgement only becomes clear on the far side of Dernaflaw. Diggers and trucks bob over mounds of soil down the hill to my left.

Where once there were handy left turns, now sit red 'Road Closed' signs and the parked cars of construction workers.

Traffic has slowed to a crawl, its path carefully corralled by an endless row of orange cones as it snakes its way towards the Maiden City.

I should have gone through Feeny.

When I finally descend down the steep incline of Claudy's Main Street, the village is busy. The clock on Eakin's Corner towers over the street.

At some point over the last year, at approximately 1.20pm, the clock has stopped. Its stalled hands project a sad intrigue.

Above the street, the ragged remains of what may once have been a banner hang from an overhead electrical wire. A painted black bull welcomes customers to O'Kane's Meats.

In front of me, the street stretches further down the hill into the Faughan Valley. Wisps of smoke from distant houses billow into the air.

A lady rounds the corner at the crossroads, slipping on a face mask. Customers nip in and out of Centra and Spar, as if duty-bound to visit both.

I make my way down the hill, passing Macon's Bar, another of the county's watering holes sitting in solemn anticipation of a return to business.

Road works are an all-too-common sight in Claudy at the minute.

An elderly woman opens her door and shuffles onto the step, peering up the hill as if waiting for someone.

Across the bridge, two black horses eye me suspiciously as I stop to take a photograph of the GAA pitch at the bottom of the hill.

They walk the boundary of the fence in tandem with me as I continue down the hill, before galloping off at speed, scattering a peacefully grazing flock of sheep in the same field.

Back in the village, there are excited voices as the pupils of St Colmcille's Primary School file out, parents ushering them into cars as the lollipop man patrols the pedestrian crossing.

P1 to P3 have just finished their first fortnight back in the classroom, with the older children following suit yesterday. Excited voices happy to be back.

New homes are being built next to the school, with a sign proclaiming a site across the road has also been procured.

The brakes of an ageing Nissan Micra scream in protest as the line of school traffic inches its way back down the hill through the village.

Behind a clear plastic screen in Eleanor's cafe, Irene McElhinney is missing the unpredictable buzz of company.

I'm a chatty wee doll. I like to meet people, have them in for their tea or coffee and hear what's going on with them, she tells me.

Whenever the mobile homes were going and the houses in Donegal, they would have been calling back and forth, or the people across in the garage, but obviously those things have changed.

We have been open the whole way through. You find if you don't open for customers that have been coming all year, you feel you're letting them down.

CHATTY: Irene McElhinney is missing the buzz of a full bakery.

People have got used to Covid restrictions after a year of altering their behaviour, but despite the ongoing vaccination programme, there is still an element of fear among more elderly residents.

There are a few older ones that would only come in here and maybe wouldn't go to supermarkets, because of the guidelines and the rules, says Irene.

Because this is a home bakery, it's naturally that wee bit quieter, but with the goings on, but you did have the social aspect here where they would have come in and had their tea.

We know it's not going to be the same, but you try and keep on smiling and keep going with what we have. Trade is different during lockdowns.

The pandemic is like a scar, it has left its mark in a way. It's the simple things that we've always done that we miss.

Further down the hill, Sally McEleney is more bullish about the situation. The local florist, originally from Derry City, offers a blunt answer when I ask how things have been.

Horrendous, she says.

The latest lockdown has been much worse than the first for the simple reason that I don't think small businesses are being looked after.

When you think you can go into Tesco, or Home Bargains and all around, people are bumper to bumper on top of one another, it's just horrendous.

If I ordered something in Argos now, I can collect it in Sainsbury's cafe, and people are queued up to get their click and collect, but you can' t come in that door to me.

I can only take phone calls and deliver. I'm in cleaning up today, but I can't let anyone through the door.

The restrictions have also meant the usual upturn in business from Valentine's Day and Mothers' Day has been stifled.

I had to switch my phone off because I just couldn't cope with the demand, being deliveries only, she tells me.

I missed all the last minute customers I normally would have had for Mother's Day and Valentine's Day.

I can safely say it's not worth my while opening, but I love my work and that's what brings me in. I didn't want to let any of my regular customers down.

Like Irene, the absence of people and company has taken its toll on Sally.

The people in Claudy are lovely, they really take to you, and you don't want to let them down. With it being a village, they're all very close, she says.

I'm really looking forward to having my customers coming in the door again and having a nice chat and getting all my wee plants outside for the Spring time.

As well as that, they're very faithful and they support local. It's very important, but they can't get a chance to support me at the minute.

Maureen McGonigle is upbeat about the future.

Maureen McGonigle, from McGonigle's Opticians, says there has been much more activity around the village recently.

"Although people are continuing to try and keep themselves and families safe they are trying to get on with a relatively normal life whilst still respecting the Covid 19 restrictions," she says.

"As with all optometry practices in Northern Ireland we were o it able to see emergency patients in the first lockdown but since the end of June 20 we are also able to see patients for essential services."

Maureen says the practice had to work to put some of their patients at ease, with some concern over the close contact aspect of the situation.

"We have found that particularly for those patients who were shielding the appointment at our practice may be their first medical appointment," she says.

"Although initially anxious about being out, they are very reassured to see that we have all the necessary safety measures in place to ensure their continued safety."

As the situation eases, Maureen already has one eye on family gatherings.

"From a personal point of view I am really looking forward to regaining our family connections and being able to gather as a family to celebrate important family events such as birthdays," she tells me.

Praying for an end to lockdown at the local chapel.

There is plenty of chat from the people of Claudy, but like everywhere else, an unspoken plea for help is weaved into their conversation.

People have dug in hard over the last year, but the hole at this stage is vast, the climb out an almost vertical scramble on loose earth.

They want it done. Over with. Consigned to history.

I point the car downhill and head home through Feeny.

Even during a pandemic, no one wants to be sitting in traffic on the A6.
The leopard is perhaps one of the worlds most beautiful creatures. The spots on its body are even romantically called rosettes. However, in several countries, the leopard faces either ecological or local extinctiona worrying phenomenon.

In Leopard Diaries: The Rosette in India, Sanjay Gubbi, a scientist, conservationist and writer who has studied and documented the leopard for nearly a decade, gives a sneak peek into this fascinating creatureright from its food habits to how the young are reared. With a doctorate in leopard ecology and conservation, the self-taught conservationist has won several awards, including the Whitley Award (popularly known as the Green Oscars) in 2017. The author, who spent three years labouring to bring out this book, is also the recipient of the Co-existence Award, the Carl Zeiss Conservation Award.

Belonging to Tumkur District in southern Karnataka, which is part of the Deccan Plateau and is rich in dry area wildlife including leopards, Sanjays fascinations with the leopard began very early in life. I grew up in leopard country. To me, leopard is a perfect carnivore. Its grace and agility and its stealth and camouflage abilities make it a captivating large cat, explains Sanjay. This has fascinated me immensely.



However, despite its captivating beauty, leopards, which are found widely in India, are in trouble because of various threats. Hence, if we need to find support for leopard conservation, we should reach out to the general public, policymakers, media and social media influencers, points out Sanjay. Besides, we need to get the attention of young conservation enthusiasts who are being misguided by soap opera, reality show kind of conservation activities.

Sanjay hopes is book will get a few wildlife biologists enthusiastic about engaging with real-world conservation. Merely writing a nice scientific paper will not save wildlife. I hope the three years I put in authoring this book will help motivate people into wildlife conservation in whatever little manner possible, he adds.

Noting concerns

According to Sanjay, leopards didnt receive due attention for decades, although there is some focus on this large cat these days. Biologists from civil societies and government institutes have started to carry out studies to understand leopard populations although these are mostly focused on protected areas. However, leopards are found in big numbers outside the protected area network, states Sanjay, whose study was the first in the country to undertake a comprehensive survey researching leopard populations in protected areas, reserved forests, agricultural landscapes and leopard habitats not protected under any laws. I hope the study can be replicated in other parts of the country to get a good understanding of leopard numbers, so that it helps design management plans for their conservation.



Leopard Diaries is based on Sanjays research, conservation work and observations from leopard habitats. His research had a multifaceted approach and includes camera trapping to understand leopard populations, occupancy surveys for understanding their distribution and drivers, studying human-leopard conflict, and policies towards leopard conflict. It has taken my team and me nearly a decade and we intend to continue this in a much longer term, he says.

The ecologist still believes that wildlife in India is still a matter of concern. In fact, according to him, changes are more sudden since the last decade.

More and more wildlife habitats have been taken over by ill-planned development, laws and policies have been diluted, and this has reversed the centuries-old culture and tradition of a country that prioritised nature and wildlife conservation, points out Sanjay.



When asked about what his future holds for him, Sanjay says, Conservation is a lifelong journey and I hope to walk along that path as long as my legs take me.

In particular, Sanjay wishes to see a network of protected areas across the Western Ghats in Karnataka all interconnected. That would mean one could get into the Bannerghatta National Park near Bangalore and walk out of Bhimghad Wildlife Sanctuary, which borders Maharashtra and Goa. This will give a vast area for tigers, elephants, hornbills and dholes; moreover, many other smaller species will also find a chance for long-term survival. It will also help water flow in our rivers and streams, and I am sure it will give people a better place to live.
Addis Abeba  The U.S. Senate has on March 24 passed a bipartisan resolution on Ethiopia. The resolution calls on "the Government of Ethiopia, the Tigray People's Liberation Front, and other belligerents to cease all hostilities, protect human rights, allow unfettered humanitarian access, and cooperate with independent investigations of credible atrocity allegations pertaining to the conflict in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia."

Speaking after the passage of the resolution, Senator James E. Risch said: "I am glad the committee came together today to pass a number of important pieces of legislation."

Senator Risch also thanked Senator Ben Cardin of Maryland and eight other members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for partnering with him on S. Res. 97, a bipartisan resolution on Ethiopia. "While Ethiopia's transition faces significant challenges, passage of this resolution sends a bipartisan signal to Ethiopia, our allies, and our own government that the withdrawal of Eritrean forces, the cessation of hostilities, and getting Ethiopia back on track to achieve a once-in-a-generation democratic transition are priorities for the U.S. Senate," he said.

"The congressional support is expected to give the executive room to engage", said a diplomat who spoke to Addis Standard on the significance of the resolution. "It's significant and symbolic. It also positions Congress to recommend further punitive measures like visa restrictions," for example, the diplomat said on conditions of anonymity.

The passage of the bipartisan resolution came one day after the government sanctioned Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC/Commission) has released its preliminary report in which it confirmed earlier reports by international human rights organizations Amnesty and HRW. EHRC's preliminary report detailed "grave human rights violations and an attack against civilians in Axum city, Tigray region."

Transatlatic shared concern

Similarily, on the side of the NATO summit in Brussles, EU High Representative/Vice-President, Josep Borrell, and the U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, "shared their concern about the continuing humanitarian tragedy and human rights violations and abuses in Tigray," according to a statement released by the EU. "They discussed a variety of measures to support unhindered humanitarian access, investigations of human rights violations and abuses, a cessation of hostilities, and the immediate withdrawal of Eritrea from Ethiopian territory."

Furthermore, the two principals "called on all parties to show flexibility and move promptly to resume productive negotiations" on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) in the coming weeks. Both have "expressed concern over increased tensions between Sudan and Ethiopia and encourage both countries to resolve their difference through peaceful means."
More than half the adults in the UK have now been vaccinated. This phenomenal achievement is testament to the efforts of the NHS and GPs around the country.

But it is absolutely crucial that everyone gets a vaccine when their time comes. The two vaccines currently being administered in the UK have met strict standards of safety, quality and effectiveness set by the independent Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

But, as with any new medicine, people may have questions they would like answered. Below, experts provide answers to some of the most common ones.

It is absolutely crucial that everybody gets the vaccine when their time comes

I am young and fit, so why do I need it? I wouldn't be expected to have the flu jab  why is this any different?

Dr Farzana Hussain

Dr Farzana Hussain, a GP in Newham, East London: 'Covid is not like flu. Young people don't get long-term side effects after flu and they don't die from flu; it's mainly the elderly that die. While for Covid, if you're younger, you are less likely to die, but various factors such as ethnicity can put you more at risk.

'There is also a phenomenon we are seeing more of  long Covid. This is a horrid illness. We also want to protect everyone  unless we all protect ourselves, we're just not going to get the immunity we need for our society.'

I've had Covid, so have the antibodies. Why should I have the jab?

Dr Hussain: 'What we don't know is how long that immunity lasts after you've been infected, and, of course, we know there are lots of variants. It's still important for people to have the vaccine  it will give you better immunity for much longer.'

I've been called up for the vaccine, but want to wait for more people to have it to ensure it is safe. Is this wise?

Dr Raghib Ali

Dr Raghib Ali, Senior Clinical Research Associate at the MRC Epidemiology Unit, University of Cambridge and a frontline NHS doctor: 'Millions of people have taken the vaccine around the world.

'We don't need to wait any longer  we know it's safe.

'Some people get short-term side effects such as fever, fatigue or tiredness. In my case, I experienced some of these for a couple of days.

'I've seen the alternative, which is getting Covid and potentially ending up in intensive care or dying.'

Was the vaccine tested on all sectors of society to ensure it is safe for everyone? Were people from ethnic minority backgrounds in the trials?

Dr Ali: 'Vaccine trials have been carried out all over the world, in Asia, South America, China and Africa. So people of every background have taken part in these trials, including ethnic minorities in the UK. We know that it works in all ethnic groups. The other point is that our immune systems do not really vary based on ethnicity.'

I've seen in the press that there have been some really severe allergic reactions. How do I know this won't happen to me?

Dr Ali: 'Severe allergic reactions are very rare  there have only been a handful of cases. As long as you do not have an allergic response to the ingredients themselves, it is safe to take the vaccine.'

Is the vaccine safe for people with underlying conditions such as diabetes, heart disease or asthma, and will it interact with my medication?

Dr Ali: 'It's perfectly safe in people with diabetes, heart disease and asthma  there are no increased side effects and it does not interact with any medications used to treat these conditions. If you are concerned, ask your doctor.'

Can I ask my doctor for a specific Covid jab? Is it right that some have worse side effects than others? Was the testing of some more rigorous than others?

Dr Ali: 'No  both the Pfizer-BioNTech and Oxford University-AstraZeneca vaccines are effective, equally well tested and equally safe. There is also no evidence that the side effects from one vaccine are worse than for another. The most recent study from Public Health England on the effectiveness of vaccines shows that they provide a high level of protection, and reduce the number of people needing hospital treatment and the number of people who die from Covid.'

Why is there a gap between the required two doses?

Dr Ali: 'The interval is based on advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation and the UK's Chief Medical Officers. Data from clinical trials show that a 12-week gap is best for the Oxford vaccine, and is also fine for the Pfizer vaccine. This saves more lives overall than we could do by giving two quick doses to half as many people.'

Reverend Dr Temi Odejide

The vaccine was developed so quickly  I don't understand how they've managed to make a vaccine for such a new illness?

Reverend Dr Temi Odejide, resident pastor of House on the Rock London, a Christian church, and a qualified medical doctor: 'If you talk to people in this field, you understand that, yes, the vaccines were produced extremely quickly, but none of the safety processes were compromised.

'Technology has also advanced significantly, so we can now produce vaccines at scale much faster than before.'

I accept that the trials have shown the vaccine to be safe, but how do I know that dangerous side effects won't show themselves in a few years' time?

Dr Nikki Kanani

Dr Nikki Kanani, a GP in South West London and medical director of Primary Care for NHS England: 'Our confidence comes from knowing how other vaccines behave. We are vaccinated all the time, either in childhood or when we go abroad.

'When side effects occur, they usually happen within 24 hours or a few weeks, rather than years.

'Plus, scientists have been testing the vaccines for months and using them in the real world since December.

'All the data show that serious side effects are very, very rare.'

Do the vaccines protect against new variants?

Dr Kanani: 'Everything that we've seen so far says that they do, probably to differing extents. We also know that over time all viruses change, which results in the need for new vaccines  as happens every year for flu  and that scientists will be able to tweak them relatively quickly.'

Dr Sonya Babu-Narayan

Do religious groups endorse the vaccine?

Dr Sonya Babu-Narayan, Associate Medical Director at the British Heart Foundation: 'People ask if the vaccine is compatible with their religion, and many religious leadershave said yes.

'The British Islamic Medical Association considers all types of the vaccine as recommended, as does the Muslim Council of Britain, the British Sikh community, the Church of England and the Catholic Church.

'There is also a letter from 80 Jewish doctors in the UK to confirm that the vaccines do not contain ingredients considered non-Kosher.'

Professor Jacqueline Dunkley-Bent MBE

I am aged 21, and one day want to have children. Is there any evidence that having the vaccine could affect my fertility?

Professor Jacqueline Dunkley-Bent OBE, England's Chief Midwifery Officer: 'There is no evidence nor any reason why the vaccine could impact fertility.'

Is it safe to have the vaccine if I am breastfeeding?

Professor Dunkley-Bent: 'Yes, absolutely you can take the vaccine.

'We've got no evidence that there's any risk associated with giving a non-live vaccine while breastfeeding.'

'HAVING THE VACCINE HAS BEEN LIFE-CHANGING' Auditor Mary Adeson, 34, from south London, is a carer for her mother. 'Having the vaccine has been life-changing for me. My anxiety level had been off the scale. 'I'm a carer for my mum who has a mental-health disorder. This is a responsibility I share with my siblings. I've been caring for her for a long time, and I'm very conscious of the impact it has on my own wellbeing. 'In addition to this, I have an underlying health condition that causes me to have difficulty breathing. The Covid symptoms suggest I could die a painful death if I get it.' Happy to have had the vaccine: Mary Adeson, 34, is a carer for her mother
The ED's Delhi branch conducted searches at two premises of Archana Bhargava, former chairperson-cum-MD of United Bank of India and also former executive director of Canara Bank, on the basis of a CBI FIR against her in the disproportionate assets case.

As per the FIR (first information report), she amassed disproportionate assets to the tune of Rs 3.63 crore when she held senior positions in many public sector banks.

The searches aimed at tracing the proceeds of crime and to unearth the documentary evidence showing acquisition, routing, layering and projection (as legitimate assets) of the said proceeds of crime that amounts to money-laundering.

As a result of searches, the ED (Enforcement Directorate) recovered certain incriminating documents and electronic evidence, reinforcing the case against Bhargava.

She is also being investigated in another case under Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, in respect of a CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) FIR against her in 2016. The FIR pertains to use of Kolkata-based shell companies to layer the proceeds of crime into the accounts of Rank Mercantile Private Limited (RMPL), a company owned by her husband and son. Further investigation is on in the case.

Also read: United Bank of India ex-CMD Archana Bhargava booked by CBI in disproportionate assets case
NOTE: This story was updated to include a response from Ron Weiser.

ANN ARBOR, MI - Some members of the University of Michigan Board of Regents are calling on fellow regent Ron Weiser to resign after comments he made as the head of the states Republican Party.

The calls for his resignation came following comments made by Weiser during an event for the North Oakland Republic Club Thursday, March 26, when Weiser called Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Attorney Dana Nessel and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson the three witches and said the GOP needs to make sure they are ready for the burning at the stake. Weisers comments were captured in a video shared on social media.

Weiser also referenced the concept of assassination when asked what could be done about Reps. Peter Meijer and Fred Upton, who voted in favor of impeaching former Republican President Donald Trump.

Other than assassination, I have no other way other than voting them out, OK? Weiser said Thursday.

We happen to live in a democracy where officials are elected by the people. The only way you can change the leadership is to get out and vote.

Regent Mark Bernstein said Weisers comments about Whitmer, Nessel and Benson were sexist and dangerous, disgusting and damaging to the state and UM in his call for Weiser to resign.

Bernsteins statement is included below:

His reference to Governor Whitmer, Attorney General Nessel and Secretary of State Benson as the three witches is blatantly sexist. Suggesting that the work of a political party should enable burning these three women at the stake is even worse. His reference to the assassination of members of Congress in the context of political rhetoric should have no place in any society. And Regent Weisers partisan effort to restrict our students right to vote damages democracy.

This isnt and shouldnt be a partisan issue. Its about rejecting violent, reckless rhetoric.

Our job as regents is to be responsible stewards of the University of Michigan. In doing so we must protect democracy, honor public service and support our students. Regent Weiser has failed to do so. Our University and the people of this state deserve better. He should resign.

Regent Jordan Acker also called on Weiser to resign, referring to Weisers language as reckless and dangerous.

Comments about removal by assassination are a literal attack on our Democracy, and are incredibly dangerous in light of the January 6th insurrection at the Capitol and the FBI-thwarted attacks on our Governor, Acker said on social media Friday. Furthermore, sexist language referring to the Governor, Attorney General, and Secretary of State as witches has no place on our campus. This language and behavior is incompatible with service to the University of Michigan.

Given that, the only appropriate response, and the best thing for the University of Michigan, is for Ron Weiser to resign.

While regent Denise Ilitch didnt specifically call on Weiser to resign, she spoke out against physical threats by elected or political leaders on our Board or in our State.

Despite any differences among its eight members elected by the States voters, we have worked constructively on advancing the institution without destructive politics getting in the way, Ilitch said on social media. That is why it is so disturbing to learn of the repugnant language used by a member of our Board when addressing a political group. His use of violent imagery crosses a line that is inconsistent with what should be our shared values. There should be no place for physical threats by elected or political leaders on our Board or in our State.

Weiser responded to the backlash late Friday saying his comments were being taken out of context, noting he does not plan to resign from the Board of Regents.

While I should have chosen my words more carefully, anyone who knows me understands I would never advocate for violence, Weiser said on social media. Ive spoken with Rep(s) Upton and Meijer personally. My off-the-cuff comments received more scrutiny from the media and leftists in the last 24 hours than the governors handling of COVID, the deaths she caused in nursing homes and unemployment issues impacting too many hard-working Michiganders to this day.

In response to Weisers comments, Nessel joked on social media that she Whitmer and Benson were witches who magically decrease Covid spread, increase voter turnout and hold sexual predators accountable without any help from the legislature.

As a gay, Jewish woman, I have long since learned to respond to hateful rhetoric with humor, Nessel said on social media. But as a prosecutor, I know these remarks are certain to inspire further death threats which will eventually be acted upon. Ron Weiser will surely react with shock & deny any culpability.

The Michigan Democratic Party also called on Weiser to resign from the Board of Regents in a statement from Party Chair Lavora Barnes Friday.

Republicans in Michigan have used our state as a breeding ground for national extremism, Barnes said. Last year, militias plotted to kill and kidnap the Governor, which was a dress rehearsal for the January 6 storming of our nations Capitol. Instead of seeing that as a wakeup call that the violent rhetoric needs to stop, those in positions of power like Ron Weiser continue to embolden the fringes at all costs. As a member of the University of Michigans Board of Regents, he oversees millions of taxpayer dollars. Its clear his comments do not reflect the values of the universitys board, faculty, and student body. His statements are not only sexist, but markedly dangerous and will only serve to damage the institutions reputation. We call on him to resign immediately.

READ MORE:

Whitmer vetoes $652 million in COVID-19 spending again, citing lack of negotiation

Michigan COVID-19 hospitalizations among younger adults hitting same levels as previous peak

How government meetings changed during the COVID-19 pandemic
According to police, a worker at an Atlanta grocery store heard "clicking noises" that sounded like someone was loading weapons inside a restroom stall. Then he found a rifle that looked like an AR-15 leaned against the wall.

A heavily armed man at a grocery store in Atlanta was arrested

The sharp-eyed Instacart employee is credited with aiding cops in stopping an armed man wearing body armor and carrying a half-dozen firearms from roaming around the Publix convenience store on Wednesday. The latest information can be found in Atlanta police incident reports published on Thursday. The sources don't go into detail about the man's motives, AP News reports.

According to a police report, the worker, Charles Russell, "heard clicking sounds from the bathroom stall, sounded like someone was shooting firearms. Russell immediately alerted a store manager, advising him to dial 911.

Two officers from the Atlanta Police Department came. One took a rifle from his police car, donned a ballistic mask, and stormed the shop, seemingly startling the armed man when he emerged from the bathroom around the corner.

The officer wrote in his report, "I immediately told the accused to put his hands up and not move, to which he complied." "When the accused saw us so close to him, he was surprised."

Police Detective Seeks Divorce, Discovered Wife With Another Man During the US Capitol Riot

Rico Marley, 22, was then arrested without firing a weapon. The officer wrote that the pistols he had were fully loaded with bullets in chambers, and a revolver was also fully loaded. The officer then searched into Marley's bag and discovered a loaded AR-15-style rifle and a loaded shotgun, although the suspect was carrying body armor.

On Thursday, Marley waived his original court appearance. Five charges of unlawful attempt to commit a crime and six counts of possession of a weapon during the commission of a felony have been filed against him, police said. Marley was also undergoing a psychological assessment, as per the prosecutors. It's unclear if he has legal representation.

Russell told WSB-TV that seeing the man in the store's bathroom reminded him of the mass shooting at a King Soopers grocery store in Boulder, Colorado, on Monday, which left ten people dead. Russell told the TV station, "It should have prevented anything." Marley was apprehended just days after eight people were fatally shot at three massage parlors in Atlanta.

This is a picture I obtained of the 6 guns, and ammo, found on the 22 year old suspect at the Atlantic Station Publix today. Police have said he was found with 5 but there appears to be one more handgun. Intentions of the suspect are still unknown. https://t.co/gMZBvbwWT8 pic.twitter.com/kQG9VgSfOx  Matt Johnson (@MattWSB) March 25, 2021

Police have been trying to find out what Marley wanted to do with the guns. Before police arrived, there were no rumors of Marley aiming or using a weapon.

Boulder Massive Shooting Suspect: Probe Reveals He Has a Mental Condition, Family Issues

The arrested armed man added to anxiety in Atlanta

The shooting occurred just three miles from the scene of one of last week's incidents that left eight people dead. Two days later, a man attacked a grocery store in Boulder, Colorado, killing ten people. The spotted armed man sparked fresh waves of unease in Atlanta and intensified national fears of copycat crimes.

There is no proof that the armed man arrested at the grocery store was motivated by the two mass shootings. However, Jillian Peterson, an associate professor of criminal justice at Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota, expects a resurgence in such attacks following nearly a year without such events in the United States.

Last week's mass shooting in Atlanta, in which a lone gunman opened fire at three massage parlors, killing eight people, including six Asian women, may have "flipped this switch back on." It may also inspire others to commit similar massacres, according to Dr. Peterson.

On Thursday, University of Kentucky police arrested a man in the school's Chandler Hospital parking lot, causing yet another scare, the New York Times reported. He was dressed in body armor and armed with several weapons. He was suspected of having two explosive devices in his vehicle, as per the police report.

Texas Roadhouse CEO Decides To End His Life Due to 'Unbearable' COVID-19

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In 2018, The Chicago Reporter announced in an article that over 160,000 eligible low-income students were denied the Illinois Map Grant in 2017. This is a grant intended to help people like me who otherwise would not have a chance for a higher education. Also, cuts in funding that affect state housing programs may displace several families in the years to come is an issue close to heart that I intend to oppose even after I am no longer personally affected.
The Lagos State High Court in Ikeja, on Friday, sentenced Charles Ihenetu to 15 years imprisonment for defrauding his victim of N16 million.

The convict was said to have defrauded Emmanuel Amechi by deceiving him into investing the sum of money in a petroleum business deal.

According to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr Ihenetu deceived the victim that bonny light crude was onboard a vessel, Kaveri Spirit, bound for Ghana from Nigeria.

In May 2018, he was arraigned alongside his firm, V-Choice International Company Nigeria Limited, on three counts of conspiracy to obtain money by false pretence.

The commissions statement by its spokesperson, Wilson Uwujaren, stated that the trial judge, Mojisola Dada, convicted the defendants of the offences in a judgment on Friday.

The held that the evidence presented before the court, showed Ihenetu to be a pathological liar.

She added that his testimony in the dock and documents tendered by his defence team showed that everything was calculated to swindle the victim in a non-existent transaction.

While she jailed him 15 years, she ordered that the company be wound up.

The judge also ordered him to make a restitution of the N16 million proceeds of the fraud to the victim.

Read the statement in full:

EFCC Press Release

Court Jails Man 15 Years For N16m Oil Fraud In Lagos

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Lagos Zonal Office, has secured the conviction and sentencing of a businessman, Charles Ihenetu, to 15 years imprisonment before Justice Mojisola Dada of a Special Offences Court sitting at the Lagos State High Court, Ikeja, Lagos.

The convict was arraigned on May 16, 2018 alongside his company, V-Choice International Company Nigeria Limited, on a three-count amended charge bordering on conspiracy to obtain by false pretence and obtaining money by false pretence.

The offences are contrary to Section 8 (a) and 1 (3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act, No 14, 2006.

He pleaded not guilty to the charges prompting a full trial, which commenced on July 1, 2018.

The prosecution, led by A.B.C. Ozioko, told the Court that Ihenetu was a member of a syndicate that connived to defraud his victim, Emmanuel Osaduwa Amechi, of the said sum, having deceived him to invest in a purported petroleum business involving bonny light crude, onboard a vessel, Kaveri Spirit, bound for Ghana from Nigeria.

Amechi, who paid the money in three tranches to the defendants, had, in October 2015, petitioned the EFCC, after he realised that he had been duped.

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The petition was subsequently investigated and the charges filed against the defendants.

To prove the case, the prosecuting counsel, Ozioko, called four witnesses and tendered several documentary evidence against the defendants.

After the prosecution had closed its case, the defence filed a no-case submission, which was later dismissed by the Court.

He was, therefore, ordered to open his defence.

The defence, subsequently, called only one witness, Ihenetu.

Delivering her judgment today, March 26, 2021 Justice Dada held that Ihenetu, based on the evidence before the Court, was a pathological liar, whose testimony in the dock and documents tendered by the defence showed that everything was calculated to swindle the victim in a non-existent transaction.

Justice Dada also held that the Court was satisfied that the prosecution had proved the charges beyond reasonable doubts and sentenced him to 15 years from the date of his remand, May 16, 2018.

The court ordered that the company be wound up and that no property should be left.

Justice Dada further ordered that the sum of N16 million be restituted to the victim.

Wilson Uwujaren

Head, Media 7 Publicity

26 March, 2021
Angola, IN (46703)

Today

Mostly clear skies this evening will become overcast overnight. Low near 60F. Winds light and variable..

Tonight

Mostly clear skies this evening will become overcast overnight. Low near 60F. Winds light and variable.
One of Sydney's most iconic bakeries has started to sell indulgent chocolate chip hot cross buns just in time for Easter.

Pasticceria Papa, an Italian restaurant chain that operates three shops across Sydney's west and Eastern Suburbs, has built a reputation for intricate specialty cakes and European pastries.

But the prestigious bakery has shown it's not above traditional favourites by creating a new range of hot cross buns, historically served on Good Friday in Commonwealth countries including Australia, New Zealand and the UK.

Iconic Sydney bakery Pasticceria Papa is serving chocolate chip hot cross buns just in time for Easter

The bakery has built a reputation for its intricate speciality cakes (pictured) and European pastries, but its latest release proves it's not above old-fashioned favourites

The buns can be topped with everything from fresh fruit and cream to bacon or Nutella, but Papa's chocolate twist on the classic could be enjoyed just as they are.

While the buns have not yet been added to the bakery's online menu, it's likely they will be sold in all three stores at Bondi Beach, Five Dock and Haberfield.

A photo of the buns has drawn dozens of 'likes' since it was uploaded to Papa's Instagram feed.

And they're not the only ones dreaming up alternative takes on Easter treats this year.

Last week, rival Sydney bakery Banksia Bakehouse unveiled its 'hot cross croissant', a fusion of the classic croissant and hot cross bun crafted from dough moulded into a cube that's crisscrossed with lashings of white icing.

The two-in-one sweet is stuffed with a rich cinnamon cream and Australian sultanas

The two-in-one sweet, which is stuffed with a rich cinnamon cream and Australian sultanas, was developed as a 'special Easter treat' different to the traditional fare stocked in supermarkets across Australia.

'With hot cross buns appearing in shops right after Christmas, we didnt want to create a traditional-style bun as we felt customers would be tired of them by the time Easter actually came around,' Banksia baker Chris Sheldrick said.

The croissant will be available from April 1 until April 30, when a new tranche of drool-inducing desserts will be rolled out at the popular bakery.
Classes were interrupted and students evacuated March 17, after the Kingstree Middle Magnet School of the Arts received a bomb threat. Bomb threats are always taken seriously and they trigger a chain of events that can include assistance from multiple law enforcement agencies and could potentially cost taxpayers millions of dollars in a single day.

Photo by Michaele Duke
Government's plan to develop dedicated railway freight corridors on public private partnership (PPP) model and monetise the operational sections of corridor announced in the Budget 2021-22 by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has hit a funding model roadblock.

A top government source told Business Today that file on PPP model for dedicated freight corridor was sent to NITI Aayog almost two months back. Inter-ministerial deliberation between NITI Aayog, Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Railways on the funding model for freight corridor PPP and freight asset monetisation has remained inconclusive since then, according to the source.

He also pointed out that the Ministry of Railways is consulting the Rail India Technical and Economic Service (RITES) to suggest monetisation models for the commissioned sections on the freight corridor. "There is no progress so far," the top source pointed out.

ALSO READ: This year most challenging for Indian Railways, showed its resolve to fight back: Piyush Goyal

Emphasising on railway projects like the dedicated freight corridor (DFC), FM Sitharaman had said in the Budget speech: "Railways will monetise dedicated freight corridor assets for operations and maintenance, after commissioning. The Sonnagar-Gomoh Section (263.7km) of Eastern DFC will be taken up in PPP mode in 2021-22. Gomoh-Dankuni section of 274.3km will also be taken up in short succession."

Dedicated freight corridor is an exclusive freight route for uninterrupted and faster movement of goods, containers and parcels and other commodities. Two corridors, between Delhi and Mumbai (Western DFC) and Ludhiana and Dankuni (Eastern DFC) spanning over 3,000km, have been in construction since 2006.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated two stretches totaling 650km on the corridor in quick succession in December and January.

It is these operational sections of the DFC that the Ministry of Finance has proposed for asset monetisation in the Budget. Also, Railway Ministry's plans to implement Sonnagar-Dankuni section on PPP mode found a mention in the budget. The project will come up at an investment of over Rs 15,000 crore.

Sources close to the development have, however, told Business Today on condition of anonymity that even though asset monetisation and PPP have been elaborately laid out in the Budget, the government is finding it difficult to finalise a funding model for the same.

ALSO READ: Indian Railways suffers loss worth Rs 38,017 crore in passenger earnings

A government source close to the development told Business Today, "NITI Aayog, Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Railways have held several rounds of discussion on the model for freight corridor asset sale and PPP sections of the freight corridor. No final decision has been taken yet."

Being asked what is the key hurdle in the funding plan for freight corridor PPP and asset sale, a Railway Ministry source pointed out that the key issue is how to hard wire the security and safety aspects in the PPP model.

"Railway operations and maintenance requires a lot of safety related practices. It is currently being deliberated how to hard wire those aspects in the concession agreement," the Railway Ministry source said.

"Also, a number of questions are open ended currently. For example, what will be the eligibility for a prospective bidder with regard to safety and what will be the revenue sharing in the concession agreement if the maintenance is done by the Indian Railways," the Railway Ministry source pointed out.

For the PPP section on the freight corridor, various models are being examined. Two of them being design build finance maintain and transfer (DBFMT) and design build, finance operate maintain and transfer (DBFOMT).

ALSO READ: France's Alstom to deliver 14 more high-power locomotives to Indian Railways
WASHINGTON  He reflected on his reputation as a nice guy and a decent man. He talked about how his great-grandfather set sail on the Irish Sea to make the difficult journey to America. He observed that politics is the art of the possible.

In his first formal news conference since taking office, President Biden offered an early glimpse of the man who inhabits the Oval Office and how he is approaching the presidency so far. Unlike President Donald J. Trumps hot-tempered blowups or President Barack Obamas extended answers of professorial cool, Mr. Biden was the sober political veteran comfortable with thinking out loud, talking personally and conversationally, and showing occasional impatience before a roomful of reporters.

When he received a question he did not like, such as whether he expected to run in 2024 against Mr. Trump, he shrugged it off with, I dont know where you guys come from, man. But Mr. Biden did say he expected to run again, with Vice President Kamala Harris at his side.

After nearly four decades in politics, including eight years as vice president, he showed himself as a student of the office. Its a matter of timing, he said when asked about his legislative priorities. As youve all observed, the successful presidents better than me have been successful in large part because they know how to time what theyre doing. Order it. Decide priorities. What needs to be done. To that end, he cited his $3 trillion infrastructure bill as the next major initiative.
By Jonathan Stempel

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A U.S. judge said on Friday Deutsche Bank AG may sue two offshore funds for allegedly reneging on an agreement to sell the German bank $1.6 billion of claims in the bankruptcy of swindler Bernard Madoff's namesake firm.

Deutsche Bank had accused the Kingate Global Fund and Kingate Euro Fund, which funneled client money to Madoff before his Ponzi scheme collapsed in 2008, of having "sellers' remorse" for agreeing to sell the claims at 66 cents on the dollar in 2011, only to see their value later rise substantially.

In refusing to dismiss the lawsuit, U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos in Manhattan pointed to language that the agreement was "firm, irrevocable and binding," though a formal contract was never signed and much time had passed.

"Here, two sophisticated parties agreed of their own free will to be bound," Ramos wrote.

Ramos said Deutsche Bank can also pursue a claim that the Kingate funds acted in bad faith by filing for protection under Chapter 15 of the U.S. bankruptcy code in September 2019 to escape possible litigation by the bank.

Lawyers for the Kingate funds did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A spokesman for Deutsche Bank declined to comment.

In June 2019, the Kingate funds agreed to return $860 million in a settlement with Irving Picard, the court-appointed trustee liquidating Madoff's former firm, Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC.

Madoff, 82, is serving a 150-year prison term.

The case is Deutsche Bank Securities Inc v. Kingate Global Fund Ltd et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 19-10823.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Richard Chang)
Burma Protest Fatalities at Hands of Myanmar Military Regime Now Stand at 327

Two people are arrested while their hands being tied behind their backs during a crackdown against an anti-regime protest at Tanintharyi Region's Myeik Township on Friday.

The deadly numbers keep climbing.

After seven more people were killed by security forces of Myanmars military regime on Friday and late Thursday night, the countrys protest-related death toll has reached 327.

As of early evening Thursday, the death toll stood at 320 people killed by the security forces of Myanmars military regime, according to the Assistance association for Political Prisoners (AAPP).

But four more were shot to death Friday, and three others were killed late Thursday night, bringing the current total to 327.

On Friday, security forces seized ambulances before opening fire on anti-regime protesters and bystanders in Tanintharyi Regions Myeik Township.

At least four people were killed and at least two dozen were injured during the deadly crackdown. Several protesters were arrested.

Local residents told news media that security forces used two ambulances owned by the fire service department during the assault on protesters.

A rescue worker told The Irrawaddy on Friday that the anti-regime demonstrations were attacked Friday afternoon after they raised the black flag.

Videos show the body of an anti-regime protester being loaded onto a military truck and several people being beaten by security forces while being loaded onto a prison transport vehicle.

On Thursday night, two people were killed by security forces during a crackdown on night-time anti-regime protests in Yangons South Dagon Township. Several people were also injured in the shooting.

In addition, one man was shot dead and at least seven people were injured by gunfire from security forces against the residents in Sagaing Regions Tamu Township on Thursday night.

Amid the intensified deadly crackdowns, tens of thousands of people across Myanmar have been taking to the streets day and night to show their defiance of the military regime.

Meanwhile, thousands of government staff and employees from the countrys essential business sectors are taking part in the nationwide civil disobedience movement by defying the military rules.

You may also like these stories:

Myanmar Coup Leader Snubbed by Karen Rebel Leader Over Killing Protesters

How Myanmars Security Forces Murder Children Through History

Names and Faces of the Youngest Victims of Myanmar Regimes Brutality
The de facto US ambassador in Taiwan on March 25 said that the United States and Taiwan are natural partners when it comes to semiconductors and it is a priority for Washington to promote cooperation. Washington has viewed the self-ruled island as a tech-powerhouse and an essential part of its strategy to shift the global supply chains away from China especially for technology and chip companies.

While speaking at the major ceremony for the new chip fabrication plant Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp in central Taiwan, Brent Christensen, director of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) on Thursday said that he was there to restate the U.S. governments focus on supply chain security.

AIT director said, Both President Biden and President Tsai have rightly identified the semiconductor industry as a key strategic priority, not only for economic innovation but also national security.

The United States and Taiwan are the globes most natural partners in the semiconductor supply chain with an abundance of companies across the value chain, and it will continue to be an AIT priority to support this cooperation, he also said.

US-Taiwan cooperation against Chinas unfair policies

Christensen also noted the launch of the US-Taiwan Economic Prosperity Partnership Dialogue of 2020 as a way to further elevate the coalition between both Washington and Tapei and combat the unfair economic and investment policies of China. China has always considered Taiwan as its own breakaway province and has repeatedly warned of using force against the elements that demand Tapeis independence. However, Taiwan officially recognises itself as the Republic of China (ROC) even though Beijing has said Taiwansindependence means war. The Democratic and self-ruled island lived under the constant threat of invasion by China.

He said, In addition to the Biden Administrations focus on securing supply chains, last year marked launch of the U.S.-Taiwan Economic Prosperity Partnership Dialogue (EPPD). Through this new mechanism, the United States and Taiwan will reinforce existing areas of economic cooperation, forge new economic ties, and build a coalition to counter the PRCs unfair economic and investment policies.

Image credits: AP/Unsplash
Parts of Cape Cod are seeing a resurgence of COVID-19, prompting the regions largest school district to move back to online learning amid clusters of new cases.

The average percent positivity in Barnstable over the last 14 days was an alarmingly 7.49%  more than four times the state average  according to the latest community-level data from the Department of Public Health. Barnstable is classified by the state as high risk for spread of the respiratory infection.

Percent positivity in Yarmouth, which is also at the highest risk for viral spread, was 5.88% over the last two weeks, which is more than double the state average.

Cape officials have been sounding the alarm in recent days, noting that most new cases are clustered in the mid-Cape region.

Daily new case numbers in #BarnstableCounty are moving upward again, following a major decline since the holiday season surge, the Barnstable County Department of Health and Environment tweeted last week. The case increases are most prominent in the mid-Cape region.

Daily new case numbers in #BarnstableCounty are moving upward again, following a major decline since the holiday season surge. The case increases are most prominent in the mid-Cape region. Please stay vigilant with mask wearing and all precautions. pic.twitter.com/YcaguXbmO6  Barnstable Co Health (@BCHDCapeCod) March 19, 2021

Barnstable Public Schools  the regions largest school district  shifted to remote learning on Thursday after several dozen students and staff members tested positive for COVID-19, the Cape Cod Times reports.

The spike in cases on Cape Cod comes just weeks after officials opened the regions first large-scale vaccination site, located at Cape Cod Community College in West Barnstable.

The number of cities and towns across Massachusetts at the highest risk for COVID infection rose to 32 on Thursday, up from 20 last week. New cases statewide have risen for several weeks after a monthlong decline.

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Gautam Buddha Nagar: The Uttar Pradesh Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) has issued a show-cause notice to top real estate company Supertech for not completing the project on schedule. As many as 36 projects of Supertech are registered with the Noida authority.

Promoters associated with these projects have so far failed to complete the projects on time, according to the RERA's board, which held a meeting on Friday, to discuss these incomplete projects.

The builders failed to submit their application to extend the registration of their projects despite the end of the timeline. There have been many complaints in the authority on behalf of allottees.

RERA has identified 20 such projects whose registration is over. The extension certificate of the 5 projects has also not been issued as the builders failed to pay their penalty.

Zee Media has come to know that as many as 2454 buyers have lodged their complaints against the builder in RERA, which has also issued notices in this regard.

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U.S. President Joe Biden, in his first press conference, Thursday, has tried to minimize the current situation at the U.S.-Mexico border when he said that "nothing has changed" when it comes to the number of unaccompanied children coming to the United States.

Border Patrol agents have arrested about 100,000 migrants last month at the U.S.-Mexico border, which was an increase of 26 percent from January and 170 percent from a year ago, according to a Breitbart News report.

Biden has reversed certain Trump-era immigration policies such as the "Remain in Mexico" program and was trying to create a way for citizenship for undocumented immigrants and fast-track citizenship for farmworkers.

On the other hand, former U.S. President Donald Trump has restrictive immigration policies such as the building of the wall on the southern border to stop immigrants from illegally entering the U.S.

Meanwhile, Biden retains his stand of believing that the situation at the border has not changed, saying "As many people came - 28% increase in children to the border in my administration; 31% in the last year in 2019, before the pandemic - in the Trump administration," as quoted by an Associated Press report.

Statistics from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection beg to differ, claiming that they encountered 9,457 unaccompanied migrant children in February, which is a 61 percent increase from January, not 28 percent.

READ MORE: Biden "Limits" Sharing of Info About Migrant Surge, Officials Claim

Migrant Influx

One illegal immigrant in Tucson, Arizona said that he recently crossed the southern U.S. border due to Biden being the president and not Trump.

The migrant said that he would definitely not cross the border if Trump were the president, according to The Federalist report.

The migrant said that one of the main reasons of his illegal crossing was the violence in their country, adding that the second thing was Biden.

Biden said that he would not apologize for undoing immigration policies imposed by the former president, saying that it undermined "human dignity."

He also noted that the U.S. was expelling the huge majority of migrants, which includes families due to a COVID-19 public health order.

"I make no apologies for ending programs that did not exist before Trump became president that have an incredibly negative impact on the law," he was quoted in a West Central Tribune report.

Meanwhile, some Democrats have scrutinized the conditions of the migrant facilities where the minors are being used, clamoring for a faster release of the children to relatives or sponsors.

Republicans say the president encouraged migrants to cross illegally when he scraped some of Trump's immigration policies.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell tweeted that people listen when politicians spend a two-year campaign calling for a "porous border" and "amnesty."

Border Protection released data stating that on Mar. 17 only 15 percent of family members caught were expelled.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said that the United States is currently working with Mexico to increase its capacity to receive expelled families.

READ NEXT: Texas Gov. Abbott Places Troops in Borders Amid Immigration Crisis

WATCH: Biden discusses how the U.S. is addressing migrant children at the border - from PBS NewsHour
Former President Donald Trump and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. Leah Millis/Reuters/Cliff Owen/AP

Amazon is playing offense, not defense, with a new PR strategy as union discussions heat up.

The company on Friday accused a union leader of taking "alternative facts to a whole new level."

Amazon has slammed multiple progressive politicians on Twitter this week.

See more stories on Insider's business page.

Amazon is taking a combative new approach with its public-relations strategy as workers continue to try and unionize.

"Stuart Appelbaum, Chief Disinformation Officer of RWDSU, in an attempt to save his long declining union, is taking alternative facts to a whole new level," an Amazon representative said on Friday in a statement to CNN's Sara Ashley O'Brien. The statement O'Brien posted on Twitter said it was from Max Gleber, an Amazon spokesperson.

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Amazon confirmed the veracity of the statement to Insider but said it "should have been attributed to Drew Herdener, Amazon's Vice President for Worldwide Communications. Please feel free to use his statement in your article attributed to him."

Its workers in Bessemer, Alabama, are in the process of voting to join the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU). Amazon has been described as aggressively anti-union and has highlighted worker benefits such as its minimum wage of $15 an hour.

"Alternative facts" is a phrase made famous by the Trump advisor Kellyanne Conway in 2017, when she told "Meet the Press" that "Sean Spicer, our press secretary, gave alternative facts." Trump, meanwhile, is known for accusing critics of spreading "fake news."

Amazon has been mirroring Trump's press strategy in other ways, such as by criticizing a number of progressive politicians on Twitter.

The company has been sparring with Sen. Elizabeth Warren for multiple days.

"One of the most powerful politicians in the United States just said she's going to break up an American company so that they can't criticize her anymore," Amazon tweeted on Friday.

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Warren previously hit back at Amazon after it said she made tax policies it followed, tweeting in part that she would fight "to break up Big Tech so you're not powerful enough to heckle senators with snotty tweets."

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Amazon also picked a fight with Sen. Bernie Sanders, which culminated with Dave Clark, who serves as CEO of worldwide consumer at Amazon, tweeting that Sanders should "save his finger wagging lecture until after he actually delivers in his own backyard."

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Earlier in the week, Clark said in a statement to Insider: "I often say we are the Bernie Sanders of employers, but that's not quite right because we actually deliver a progressive workplace for our constituents: a $15 minimum wage, health care from day one, career progression, and a safe and inclusive work environment."

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In a third Twitter spat, Amazon faced off against Democratic Rep. Mark Pocan. Pocan had tweeted: "Paying workers $15/hr doesn't make you a 'progressive workplace' when you union-bust & make workers urinate in water bottles."

"You don't really believe the peeing in bottles thing, do you? If that were true, nobody would work for us," Amazon replied.

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Eight Amazon drivers told Insider this week that they had peed in bottles while delivering packages because of the company's strict time limits. Some drivers said they had also pooped in bags, while one said she struggled to find time or space to change her menstrual pads while working.

Amazon did not respond to multiple request for comment on workers urinating in bottles, which drivers described as a common practice. The company declined to comment on its criticism of politicians on Twitter or its use of the phrase "alternative facts" in a statement beyond correcting the representative's name.

Celine McNicholas, the director of government affairs at the Economic Policy Institute, told Insider Amazon likely denied the "pee bottle thing" in an effort to be seen as a progressive employer amid the Alabama union drive.

"I think it is probably the only play that they have - to say this is not the reality," McNicholas said. "Because the reality is shameful and disgusting."

Read the original article on Business Insider
NEW DELHI: In a major development, the Supreme Court on Friday (March 26, 2021) set aside the December 2019 ruling of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) that had directed the reinstatement of Cyrus Mistry as Tata Sons chairperson.

The top court also set aside the appointment of N Chandra as executive chairperson.

The order was passed by the apex court bench of Chief Justice of India, SA Bobde and Justices AS Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian. The bench allowed the appeal filed by Tata Sons against the NCLAT judgement and dismissed the appeals filed by Mistry and Shapoorji Pallonji Group (SP Group).

"We find all the questions of law are liable to be answered in favour of the appellants, Tata Group and the appeals file by the Tata Group are liable to be allowed and Shapoorji Pallonji group is liable to be dismissed," the top court said.

The order of NCLAT dated December 18, 2019 is set aside, the Supreme Court added. Both Tata Sons and Mistry had challenged the December 18, 2019 order of the NCLAT which had ordered the reinstatement of Cyrus Mistry as the Chairperson of Tata Sons Limited.

The Supreme court had on January 10, 2020, stayed the NCLAT order.

The NCLAT, in its December 2019 judgment, had held that the proceedings of the Board meeting of Tata Sons held on October 24, 2016 removing Cyrus Mistry as Chairperson was illegal. It had also directed that Ratan Tata should not take any decision in advance which requires majority decision of the Board of Directors of Tata Sons or a majority in the Annual General Meeting.

Mistry took over as Chairman of Tata Sons, in December 2012 and was removed from the post on October 24, 2016 by the majority of the board of directors of the company.

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Like most Bay Area cities, Berkeley has seen very little new housing built for decades. Now, the city needs to figure where nearly 9,000 new units of housing might go to meet state mandates.

On Thursday, the City Council voted to start that process. The council directed the city manager to spend 18 months creating a plan that includes exploring allowing multi-unit buildings in certain parts of Berkeley, building middle-income housing and prioritizing transit corridors like the Ashby and North Berkeley BART stations for new homes. The city doesnt have to ensure that the new homes are built by 2030, but it needs to zone for them by the deadline.

The vote, which was unanimous, comes nearly a month after the City Council vowed to end single-family zoning by 2022. Thursdays decision directs city staff to look at allowing duplexes, triplexes and fourplexes in neighborhoods that once had single-family zoning.

To address the housing crises and root out systematic racial and economic segregation, we literally can no longer afford to prop up arbitrary walls of exclusion, Vice Mayor Lori Droste told The Chronicle. We must build bridges and homes for our next generation.

Droste said the process would focus on equity, community engagement, affordability, tenant and anti-displacement protections and public safety. She acknowledged that while it may be easy to zone for that many homes, seeing it come to fruition is another question. With high construction costs and difficult approvals, both affordable and market-rate developers have struggled to build in Berkeley and elsewhere.

Voting to update zoning is just the first step in a long process, including hiring a consultant, that city staff will have to undertake.

The Berkeley City Council has really taken the biggest step, which is demonstrating the political will to take on such a contentious issue, said David Garcia, policy director of UC Berkeleys Terner Center for Housing Innovation.

Many Bay Area cities will likely go through a similar process. Every eight years, the states Department of Housing and Community Development kicks off a process that outlines housing development goals, but those goals are seldom actually met. This year, the state determined that the Bay Area must allow for about 441,100 units of housing from 2022 to 2030  an enormous jump from the past cycle, when the Bay Area had to plan for roughly 188,000 units.

The Association of Bay Area Governments then determines how 441,176 units are divided among different cities, said Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguin in his newsletter.

Berkeleys goal is 8,934 units of housing by 2030, nearly 6,000 more units than the past cycle  an ambitious plan that experts and advocates say must focus on equity and protections of existing units. The state determines how many units should be very low-income, low-income, moderate and above moderate.

Garcia said the next part of the process is more technical and includes analyzing current zoning to see what design elements need to be modified. It requires spending a lot of time to understand which existing rules might make allowing more housing difficult.

The project  funded by state, county and city funds  will cost $540,000.

Any changes to zoning plans should prioritize the creation of units for low-income and very low-income people, said Jay Kim, co-deputy director at East Bay Community Law Center. Kim encouraged Berkeley to involve community land trusts to preserve affordable homes.

In addition, the city also must engage the communities that will be impacted the most by the changes, she said.

You have to center the communities that have been impacted the most and in Berkeley, its longtime Black residents and Black community members, Kim said, adding that strong tenant protections are key in preventing displacement.

Her sentiment was echoed by the Rev. Sophia DeWitt, a program director at the East Bay Housing Organizations. DeWitt said during Thursdays public comment that focusing development on transit corridors will be good for affordable housing and climate change goals.

DeWitt said the city should allow for more in-law units and use a recent $135 million affordable housing bond to help more projects.

In addition, DeWitt said Berkeley should move forward with an ordinance Arreguin introduced in 2020 called the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act, which would give tenants the first right of refusal to purchase the home they live in if it goes up for sale.

DeWitt was among 250 people who spoke during public comment.

Leah Simon-Weisberg, chair of the citys rent board, said the board believes any upzoning proposal must include protections to prevent the demolition of rent controlled or deed-restricted housing and anti-displacement measures.

Other speakers endorsed the move, recounting the difficulty of trying to find housing in Berkeley. Barnali Ghosh said she was frustrated that some of her friends have been priced out of the city.

We need options for all kinds of families and people, Ghosh said.

The council is expected to vote on a new zoning plan by December 2022.

This is the beginning of a long process and I think the fact that so many people are coming forward bodes very well for the future of the process, said council member Sophie Hahn. The more people who participate, the better its going to be.

Sarah Ravani is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: sravani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SarRavani
(Newser)  While Prince Albert II of Monaco can empathize with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, that doesn't mean he agrees with their decision to air their grievances to Oprah. While he knows the pressures they likely experienced, "this type of public display of dissatisfaction, to say the least, these types of conversations should be held within the intimate quarters of the family," the 63-year-old told the BBC Thursday in a rare interview. He reiterated that he can see where the couple is coming from, but said he was still "a little bit" bothered by them putting it out into "the public sphere." It wasn't the right forum, he said, but he did wish Harry the best.

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In related news, People reports Lifetime is producing its third film about the royal couple: Harry & Meghan: Escaping the Palace is expected to bow in the fall. And in the latest on the Oprah interview itself, a spokesperson for Harry and Meghan clarifies to the Daily Beast that the couple's "official/legal wedding" was indeed held on May 19, 2018. Meghan sparked uproar with her claim to Winfrey that they actually got married secretly three days prior, but the rep says that was just an exchange of "personal vows." (Read more Prince Harry stories.)
State Sen. Bob Archuleta (D-Pico Rivera) during a Senate debate at the state Capitol on Aug. 29, 2019. (Robert Gourley/Los Angeles Times)

A former employee of Sen. Bob Archuleta (D-Pico Rivera) is alleging that he sexually harassed her and retaliated against her in a lawsuit she filed against the lawmaker, the California Senate and the state of California.

The lawsuit, filed by an unnamed "Jane Doe" on March 18 in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleges that in 2019 she was subjected to unwanted sexual advances by Archuleta, who made inappropriate comments about her breasts, "intimated" his desire to date her, and attempted to grab her hand in public.

Her lawyers alleged that no action was taken when she reported his behavior to her supervisor and that she was retaliated against for rebuffing his advances.

Archuleta denied the allegations and said he "would never knowingly mistreat or disrespect a female employee" and believes in her right to come forward.

"Bottom line: the lawsuit filed manufactures a whole new layer of gratuitous allegations, which were not raised until litigation was chosen as the way to go  and which are completely and categorically false," he said in a statement. "I look forward now to disproving those allegations in court."

Iris Salem, one of the attorneys for the plaintiff, said her client devoted 14 years of her career to public service,  which she alleged was derailed through no fault of her own.

"Our client is incredibly brave to come forward," Salem said.

Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) said the allegations "are troubling, to say the least." She said some of the complaints detailed in the lawsuit were never disclosed to the Senate or its investigative unit.

"Obviously, this is a serious matter  and the Senate will continue to take it extremely seriously," she said in a statement. "As representatives of the people, we wont just continue to lead, we will lead by example, deploying every possible action and safeguard to ensure our Senate workplace is a safe and supportive environment for all.

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The unnamed plaintiff said in the lawsuit that she had worked for the senator for five months when the unwanted advances began.

The lawsuit alleges that in July 2019, Archuleta insisted they go to an Intercontinental Hotel for cocktails after a fundraiser at the Miro Restaurant in downtown Los Angeles. The woman alleges in the suit that she felt forced to go because he had driven her to the event.

The lawsuit alleges that Archuleta insisted on holding her hand as they stood to leave and that he became angry when she pushed his hand away. In the car on the way back to his district office in Norwalk, she alleges that he complimented her breasts, compared her body to that of other women, and made additional inappropriate comments, according to the lawsuit.

The plaintiff alleges that in the office the following day, Archuleta grabbed her arm and angrily reprimanded her, which he later referenced as "our first fight."

The suit also claims that the senator called the plaintiff into his office months later and said he heard rumors that he had been seen holding her hand near the Capitol and that she told others she viewed him as "disgusting."

In another instance around October 2019, the plaintiff alleges that Archuleta stepped inside the staffer's office, closed the door and berated her when she declined to carpool with him to an event.

The plaintiff states in the lawsuit that she subsequently told the chief of staff in the office that "she was tired of the senator's harassment that she had endured," that Archuleta had "mistreated me over and over" and that she was not OK with his behavior. No action was taken, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit alleges that after the woman rejected the senator's advances, her role within the office "vastly diminished," which she describes as a form of retaliation. She said she was given a verbal warning for being "insubordinate," the first in her 14-year career in the Legislature, for not attending an event when she had been approved to take the day off in October 2019.

The woman alleges that she disclosed in that same conversation with the chief of staff that Archuleta had sexually harassed her. She also alleges that she said she was under physical, mental, and emotional duress and "needed time to heal before she could report the sexual harassment and that she would seek therapy."

The complaint claims that Erika Contreras, secretary of the Senate and the head of its human resources department, reached out to the woman in December 2019 and said she "heard the senator has been inappropriate with you." The plaintiff alleges that she told Contreras the senator grabbed her arm and asked for her help as a mediator, but no mediation took place.

The Legislature's Workplace Conduct Unit did not reach out to the plaintiff about her claims of harassment until last June, according to the complaint.

Atkins said in a statement that the allegations in the case "were immediately and properly referred to the independent Workplace Conduct Unit (WCU) for investigation at the time."

"Because the complainant has since chosen to pursue litigation before the investigation could be completed, it is now on hold," Atkins said.

Atkins did not say if the investigation was paused when the lawsuit was filed last week or at an earlier point when it became clear that the plaintiff intended to file a lawsuit. She also did not comment on the plaintiff's claim in the lawsuit that the unit first reached out to her six months after Contreras allegedly contacted her in December 2019.

Similar to legislative proceedings and other business early in the pandemic, the units investigations were also delayed during the transition to remote work last year, according to the Pro Tems Office.

The plaintiff said in the lawsuit that she resigned on Sept. 10 after she learned that she could be required to go back to the office during the pandemic to work one-on-one with Archuleta and "as a result of a heated exchange" with her chief of staff over her concerns.

The former employee is seeking unspecified damages for discrimination, harassment, sexual harassment, whistleblower retaliation, and failure to prevent harassment, discrimination and retaliation.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
After a long winter and emotionally burdened by a pandemic that continues one year later, consumers are likely eyeing springtime with some hope. For merchants and brands, Vic Drabicky, chief executive officer of January Digital, this is the time to key into their needs and fuel their optimism.

Drabicky, whose firm offers media, data analytics and strategic consulting, said retailers and brands should roll out campaigns immediately and infuse it with what consumers need right now: joy. And they also need to meet the consumer where they are, which is increasingly on paid social and connected TV. For the spring and summer, the messaging is as important as the channel where it is delivered.

More from WWD

Brands need to find ways to bring customers joy, Drabicky said, adding that the past year has been challenging, and apparel retailers should not only offer the right fashion, but present it with positive messaging.

For marketing executives, Drabicky said the past year created significant headwinds for them in regard to developing impactful campaigns simply because of the pandemics unpredictability. Companies have to be agile in their marketing. We may think we know what the future is going to bring. But consumers have developed new habits, which will be lasting. So, brands and retailers need to have not just one marketing plan, but two or three while also being flexible and ready to adjust.

When asked about the accelerated digitalization of fashion apparel and retail, Drabicky described it as a significant challenge, and found that brands tended to do two things in response. They broke into two categories with one group immediately doing product and marketing testing while the other group just retreated back, taking a more conservative approach.

The more nimble and agile companies that tested outperformed the conservative companies, hands down, and across the board, the CEO noted.

Aside from testing often and being agile, Drabicky said brands need to diversify their digital marketing efforts, which means looking at connected TV [CTV] and paid social, he said. With CTV, the channel is affordable and allows for more creativity versus traditional TV. Drabicky said the same creative used for YouTube can be used for CTV, and can even be done in-house.

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In a blogpost earlier this month penned by Tierney Wilson, managing director of January Digital, Wilson noted that CTV has become as impactful as (if not more than) any other marketing channel at engaging customers in a digital forward environment.

Wilson noted that while there are misconceptions that CTV has infinite barriers to entry, the channel is as accessible to brands as any other performance media channel, such as paid search or paid social. She wrote that the targeting and measurement capabilities, in tandem with no upfront investment requirements, makes CTV a must for any brand looking to push their digital marketing strategy and capitalize on a channel that enables audience-first targeting.

According to January Digital, there are more than 84 million households who are streaming CTV, which is six million more than cable TV subscribers

Drabicky said due to all of these changes in the market, shifts in consumer behavior and the accelerated digitalization of the industry, companies need to consider putting digital channel spending into the core of their marketing plans.
We join our colleagues and partners at the Manitoba School Boards Association (MSBA) in denouncing the Manitoba governments plan to abolish school boards.

We join our colleagues and partners at the Manitoba School Boards Association (MSBA) in denouncing the Manitoba governments plan to abolish school boards.

This legislation is an unacceptable attack on local community-based democracy and will hinder the ability of families to navigate the public education system and support student success and well-being. This is particularly disappointing as we start to turn the corner on a pandemic year in which trustees and education staff across Canada worked extremely hard and collaboratively to ensure students continued to receive world-class education in both the classroom and at home.

Trustees play an important role in publicly funded education. They are the crucial link between the school board and the communities they serve. Trustees are of their community, they live in their community and they advocate for it.

Centralizing this important local voice will remove local decision-making and the voice of parents will be drastically reduced. In all boards, trustees work toward the goals of achieving excellence, ensuring equity, promoting well-being and fostering high levels of public confidence in education.

I strongly urge the Manitoba government to rethink its decision and meet with members of the MSBA to begin a dialogue about a new way forward that ensures continued support of local democracy in public education.

Concerned citizens should check out the MSBAs excellent Local Voices, Local Choices campaign at mbschoolboards.ca.

CATHY ABRAHAM, president

Ontario Public School Boards Association
Shacks set alight after a taxi was stoned during protests in the Delft area, Cape Town

Widespread protests for basic services have disrupted parts of Cape Town all week.

On Thursday, taxi drivers went after protesters in an informal settlement in Delft.

Shacks were set alight and a man beaten.

A taxi spokesperson warned protesters that they will take action when their vehicles are stoned.

At least two shacks were set alight and a man was injured after taxi drivers pursued protesters in Delft, Cape Town, on Thursday. Taxi drivers also threw stones at shack windows.

This came after a taxi transporting people was apparently stoned in the area during protests for basic services and a stop to evictions.

A taxi driver told GroundUp the vehicle belonged to the Cape Amalgamated Taxi Association (CATA) and it was transporting people from Nyanga. However, Victor Wiwi of CATA said no such incident was reported to it.

Residents from the recently established Winnie Mandela informal settlement had blocked Delft's main road, Symphony Way and the N2 near Robert Sobukwe with rocks and burning tyres on Thursday

Police used rubber bullets to disperse the protesters, who would repeatedly run into the informal settlement to regroup.

GroundUp saw a group of about 15 men carrying stones and sticks chase after the protesters in the informal settlement.

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The men were the taxi drivers from the Nyanga taxi rank (which falls under CATA) and the Khayelitsha rank (which falls under CODETA - the Congress for Democratic Taxi Association).

They beat a man, who managed to get away. His shack was stoned. Some of the men went after him and apparently set fire to a shack later.

The remaining men went searching through the settlement, asking women where their husbands were and asking for one individual by name who they said was the protest leader and responsible for stoning the taxi.

Directed to his shack, they kicked in the door and torched it. The man was not home.

Chief Mtati of CODETA said no taxi stoning incident was reported to it either. "We do not have a problem with the protest but the way it is done is wrong and it also affects us. Our private cars have been stoned and when we take action they are not going to like it," said Mtati.

Ward 20 PR Councillor Nondumiso Sono (ANC) said no decision has been taken by the City to evict the Winnie Mandela shack dwellers. Sono said schools were closed by protesters and learners were forced to return home.

Since Monday, there have been numerous protests in Cape Town for basic services, held under the banner of Intlungu yaseMatyotyombeni Movement (meaning the pain of living in shacks).

Western Cape Minister of Community Safety Albert Fritz said one person was hit by a car and killed, and four officers were injured in violent protests on Wednesday.

Fritz said protests had affected communities in Khayelitsha, Belhar, Kuilsriver and Kraaifontein. He said the protests jeopardise service delivery.
Jacob Blake, the 29-year-old Black man who was shot seven times by a White police officer who was responding to a domestic incident on August 23, 2020, has sued the officer for excessive force in federal court, records show.

The lawsuit, which only names Kenosha, Wisconsin, Officer Rusten Sheskey as a defendant, argues that the shooting 'was undertaken with malice, willfulness, and reckless indifference to the rights' of Blake.

Blake survived the shooting but was left paralyzed from the waist down. The lawsuit notes that Blake 'has suffered and will continue to suffer physical and emotional damages.'

CNN has reached out to Sheskey and the Kenosha Police Department for comment but did not immediately hear back.

The suit asks for damages 'in a fair and just amount sufficient to compensate [Blake] for the injuries he has suffered, plus a substantial sum in punitive damages.'

Kenosha County District Attorney Michael Graveley announced in January that neither Sheskey nor the other two officers would be criminally charged for their actions. Blake was not charged in the incident either.

CNN reported that Sheskey told investigators shortly after the incident that he used deadly force during the chaotic encounter because he was afraid Blake, while attempting to flee the scene, was trying to kidnap a child in the backseat of the vehicle he was driving.
A bill that would have banned municipalities from imposing exorbitant fees that restrict many out-of-towners from using public beaches will die without a vote or a public hearing this year.

Rep. Cristin McCarthy Vahey, D-Fairfield, co-chairwoman of the Planning and Development Committee, confirmed this week that her panel wont act this session on the measure, which also would have prevented communities from barring out-of-town visitors exclusively to prevent COVID-19 spread at their beaches.

McCarthy Vahey said her panel has its hands full this session with two other controversial issues, municipal zoning reform and affordable housing, and simply couldnt tackle one more hot-button topic before its reporting deadline of April 5.

Weve certainly seen tremendous interest and public involvement in measures raised that address the need for more affordable housing in Connecticuts suburbs, she said.

But McCarthy Vahey quickly added that the beach access debate is worthy of conversation. There are very real issues of access, and we recognize the municipalities had questions and concerns about investments and costs. There is an important discussion to be had there.

That discussion wont go away any time soon, Rep. Roland Lemar, D-New Haven, who introduced the beach access bill, said Wednesday.

I personally will not let it go away, and Im certain other organizations will not, said Lemar, whose efforts quickly earned praise from the Connecticut chapters of the NAACP and the American Civil Liberties Union.

Im embarrassed that the will of the General Assembly is not to move forward this year with action, he said.

Lemar says Connecticuts shoreline and beaches are a core asset that have benefitted from millions of dollars of public investments in clean air and water and park development programs, and every resident should have an opportunity to enjoy them.

But some shoreline communities, particularly in Connecticuts affluent southwestern corner, say parking is limited at municipal beaches and residents should have priority over visitors from out-of-town.

They also say some communities invest heavily in their beaches, relying on more than revenues from parking fees and access passes to pay for maintenance and amenities.

Lemar and other critics counter this argument is an excuse to price poor urban residents  and particularly racial and ethnic minorities  out of their beaches.

Westport, an affluent Fairfield County community, made headlines three years ago when local officials set the prices for a seasonal beach parking pass at $50 for residents  and $775 for visitors from most other towns. Residents of neighboring Weston pay $375.

David McGuire, executive director of the Connecticut ACLU, said when Lemar introduced his bill that fair beach access is an issue that has haunted Connecticut for too long, with most restrictive policies grounded in politics, not health science.

We know Connecticut has a long history of shoreline towns using a number of different policies to keep a number of people off their beaches, he said, adding that a lot of times, these policies are nothing more than thinly veiled racist policies.

And Scot X. Esdaile, president of the Connecticut NAACP, said, Westport should be ashamed of themselves. In this day and time, Connecticut should not be involved in this level of discrimination.

Gov. Ned Lamont, a wealthy Greenwich businessman, has stayed out of the beach access debate.

The governors office took no position on Lemars bill when it was introduced in early February. And when asked about the measure Wednesday, Lamonts communications director, Max Reiss, said the governors office had reviewed the bill but had no position.

The Lamont administration, through the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, had proposed an alternative measure that would have authorized DEEP to study any [beach] fees or other means of limiting access that disparately impact any such potential visitor based on residency and report back next January.

DEEP Commissioner Katie S. Dykes testified this week before the Planning and Development Committee that the policies of the state Coastal Management Act are not as clear and explicit in promoting public access to municipal beaches as they could be.

But, like the governors office, the department did not comment on Lemars proposal to immediately prohibit beach access fees based on residency.

McCarthy Vahey said this week she expects the study measure will be voted upon, but added some who oppose the higher beach fees were irritated at the idea that an analysis was needed.

I think there are many folks who have the sense that we already know what needs to happen, she said.

Lemars bill also would have prevented communities from selectively banning non-residents from beach use in response to pandemic. A handful of communities closed their beaches to non-residents last summer to reduce crowd size and ensure social distancing amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Lemar said the solution should have been to limit overall attendance  but not by excluding out-of-town visitors.

Fairfield, which charges non-residents $250 for a seasonal beach pass  versus the $25 residents pay  temporarily blocked out-of-towners from its shores last summer.

Lamonts home town of Greenwich also restricted beach access to out-of-towners last year on grounds of coronavirus containment, and it set prices in 2019 that charge non-residents $150 for a seasonal beach pass, while residents pay $35.

Lemar said he expects the policies could trigger public protests or legal challenges this summer.

Legislators cannot run away from this issue, he added. Publicly, not a single person is willing to justify the behaviors of a lot of communities.
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By KEVIN FREKING and HOPE YEN

Associated Press

WASHINGTON  Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is warning that the country's infrastructure needs exceed $1 trillion and that other countries, namely China, are pulling ahead of the U.S. with their public works investments, a scenario he describes as a threat to our collective future.

Buttigieg appeared before a House panel Thursday, part of an opening gambit to sell Congress on President Joe Biden's infrastructure plan. Congress just passed a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill, but Buttigieg told lawmakers that a broader economic recovery will require a national commitment to fix and transform America's infrastructure.





. . .
Earlier this year, Sir Kazuo Ishiguro, one of our greatest writers, expressed anxiety that young authors were being forced into self-censorship out of fear of being trolled by the anonymous lynch mobs of the politically correct.

He said that he felt safe himself, because he was already well-established: It may be an illusion, but I think I am protected.

Ish may be more protected than I am by the fact that he is not white. I, too, am established and we are the same age but, for years now, I have felt that I have had to self-censor.

Louis De Bernieres writes that he feels he has had to self-censor as part of 'cancel culture'

This is mainly out of consideration for my editors, who display mild panic at every sign of political incorrectness.

I dont know whether or not they actually are wokesters  I rather doubt it  but I think they might be terrified of those who are.

Everyone dreads being trolled by the Pharisees who pray in public, our social-justice and identity warriors.

I refer to the kind of people who force students to take unconscious bias exams in which you have to admit to things of which you are not guilty because otherwise you dont pass; to those who have cancelled or no-platformed both our most influential modern feminist (Germaine Greer) and our most popular storyteller (JK Rowling) in order not to be triggered, and to be safe.

British novelist Louis De Bernieres

Even Lionel Shriver, who has been an outspoken critic of political correctness, admitted last week that she had agreed to remove dialogue from her forthcoming book after being told it was othering  something one academic has defined as treating people from another group as less human than ones own group.

I have had my own laughably insignificant experience of being cancelled. Some time ago, thanks to the success of my novel Captain Corellis Mandolin, I was made patron of The British Banjo, Mandolin And Guitar Federation but, after I wrote a letter to The Times about the attitudes of Scottish nationalists in January, some snowflakes from north of the border complained and I was promptly fired.

Even though I was warned not to write this article by a well-meaning friend, I decided to go ahead because my partner insisted that I must. She is full of the dread of what will become of us if there is no resistance.

My own fears have roots in the past. My parents are both dead now, but they were proud of having struggled through World War II because our freedom of speech and thought were thereby set in stone.

In fact, we didnt become truly free until the Lady Chatterley trial, when Penguin was found not guilty of obscenity after publishing D. H. Lawrences sexually explicit novel about a love affair between an aristocratic woman and her gamekeeper.

Ever since then, we have steadily been losing ground. I think I might have lived at the best time in our cultural history, set up for freedom by my parents generation, and dying just in time not to see us spiral back down again into a stultifying intellectual and moral captivity.

My theory is that the older people in publishing, of whom there are no longer very many, may have become over-sensitive to the passions of younger members of staff.

These have come through the humanities departments of universities that have, since the 1990s, been steadily taken over by petit bourgeois armchair revolutionaries who have never used a shovel in their lives.

JK Rowling has been cancelled or no-platformed writes Mr De Bernieres

These are the kind of people who hounded the writer and philosopher Roger Scruton for being conservative, drove Laurence Fox out of the acting profession (as he revealed in this newspaper on Wednesday), and have recently ganged up in their hundreds against Kathleen Stock, a professor of philosophy at the University of Sussex, for stating that she thinks there is a biological basis to sex difference.

This terrible sin is known as essentialism, which is taboo over all issues of race, gender and diversity, except in the case of white middle-class male heterosexuals (WMCMH), who are quintessentially evil and the cause of all thats wrong in the world.

I first became aware of these tendencies in the 1990s, when English Literature departments in Canada became obsessed with post-colonial studies. Suddenly, people were studying works not because of their intrinsic literary merit, but because of who wrote them and where they came from.

Its easy to fall into this kind of mistake. In my 20s, I fell in love with the work of a small posse of Latin American writers and, so, for ten years, read nobody but Latin Americans. One day, I suddenly realised that I had been loyally hoovering up any old dross as long as it was from Latin America.

Lawrence Fox (pictured) has alleged that he has been driven out of the acting profession

This kind of thoughtlessness has now extended in every direction, and ideology routinely trumps quality. Any and everything has to be problematised.

Cultural theory is taught as if it were fact, by people who say its a fact that there are no facts, but only texts.

The whole world is construed not as an empirical shared reality but as a text whose reality is dependent upon the standpoint of the reader.

So if you think a horse is really a car you are still perfectly sane if you walk round and round it looking for the doors and headlights, and you are exceptionally correct if you happen to be from the tiniest of tiny minorities.

The concept of intersectionality means you get many more gold medals in the Oppression Olympics if you can find ever more recondite niches to occupy. There are an awful lot of boxes to tick these days, and those from the greatest number of oppressed minorities get to be the winners.

There is a comical struggle for the moral high ground in all this, reminiscent of the circular firing squads of the socialist Left in the past. The point of these studies and this critical theory is to privilege minorities at the expense of the mainstream culture that has allegedly oppressed them, and it is a dog-eat-dog competition to assert oneself as the most downtrodden.

God help you if you are a WMCMH and you want to open your mouth and speak, perhaps to suggest that maybe ones sex and sexual orientation are not socially constructed, and to confess that no one has been able to discover any unconscious bias in the sewers of your psyche.

Germaine Greer, pictured has also been 'cancelled' according to Mr De Bernieres

The more you cant find it, the more its there, of course. Thats how deeply structural and systemic it is.

Connected with all this, which I think began in American universities many years ago, is the attempt to proscribe all appropriation of other peoples cultural experience. What this amounts to is that you cant write about being a woman in a kitchen unless you actually are a woman in a kitchen. You cant wear a Mexican sombrero to a fancy dress party.

It means that Paul Simon suffered hideous flak for his Gracelands album, one of the greatest ever created, because he exploited South African musicians, who then went on to become successful and beloved all over the world.

It means telling Eric Clapton, one of the greatest blues guitarist who has ever lived, that he shouldnt be playing the blues, and that he exploited BB King by making an album with him.

It means accusing me of Orientalism for writing a novel that is now used for teaching Ottoman history in Turkish universities. Luckily, the offence of Orientalism is one that almost no Orientals give a damn about.

Stone, 63, made her comments while appearing on SiriusXMs Just Jenny show to promote her new book The Beauty of Living Twice

Bob Dylan is said to have answered a critic who accused him of appropriation by looking at him as if he were mad, and saying: Thats how it works.

Its true; all art is related to all other art; all books are made of other books. Any artist knows that theft is of the essence. Without theft nothing new is created.

You steal what you want without shame or permission, and you make it new and original through your own talent. If some academic heretic-hunter tells you otherwise, the only response worthy of an artist is to give them the finger.

Irrationality and bad logic are at the heart of the matter. I have even read somewhere that logic is to be deplored because of its white male heteronormative origins. The unintentional insult to women worldwide is apparent.

In informal logic, there is something known as the genetic fallacy. This consists in appraising the worth or truth of a statement on the grounds of its origin.

If it is raining, only an idiot would deny it just because it was, for example, Adolf Hitler who pointed it out. If it is not raining, only an idiot would say that actually it must be, as it was an oppressed person who just said it was.

Thus, only a philistine would make their students study something because it was written by a particular type of person, rather than because it is excellent. There is no excuse for taking Chaucer off a reading list because of who and what he was.

The canon became the canon because of its excellence. The point is to add to it, not signal your piety by substituting someone else just because you think they were from a disadvantaged minority.

These days: Television host Daryl Somers (pictured) says he does not believe his classic variety show, Hey Hey It's Saturday, would be shown on television today. Speaking to The Daily Telegraph , the 69-year-old said today's 'cancel culture' would shut the program down

It is a great testament to the public that it keeps the arts flourishing in our civilisation with very little assistance from the universities, which for years have been abandoning the cultural transmission model of education. On reflection, giving our culture back to the people may even be a good thing, because it is clearly not safe in the hands of academics.

The trouble with grievance and victimhood studies is that they cannot thrive without creating, exaggerating, and cementing division, like the vulture that cannot thrive without a corpse.

You have to tell someone they are oppressed so they can get angry about it and become your disciple. Every time they fail, or something goes wrong, or somebody is curt to them, you tell them to blame institutional prejudice and unconscious bias.

Why bother to try when youve been educated to believe you havent got a chance? When pessimism and hopelessness have been drummed into you?

Its true that its massively harder for a black person to get a good job than an equivalently qualified white person, but you dont do anyone any favours at all if you persuade people that its actually impossible, and that any person of another race who is being nice to you, actually despises you.

Sadiq Khan, pictured, is an example of someone 'who might have been told that they didnt have a chance, but must have waved the idea away with contempt' Mr De Bernieres writes

Luckily, we have fine exemplars of people who might have been told that they didnt have a chance, but must have waved the idea away with contempt. Sadiq Khan, Rishi Sunak, Priti Patel, Diane Abbott, Ben Okri, Floella Benjamin, David Lammy, Kwasi Kwarteng, and Nadiya Hussain. The Nobel Prize-winning poet and playwright Derek Walcott, author and broadcaster Lemn Sissay, Cabinet Office minister Alok Sharma, and Labour frontbencher Tan Dhesi

The list is so long that one would lose heart attempting to exhaust it. None of them got to the top of the tree by playing the victim.

The lesson we should have learned from Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela is that, when all the shouting has died down, there is only one race and only one identity. The point is to stop shouting. To deny their message, and even to make a living out of that denial in the comfort of a university, strikes me as treachery.

Once I was in a pub talking to a young black woman, who said: I dont understand all this fuss about identity. Were all just human, arent we?

She saw the delight in my eyes, and we did a high five.
ROME, MAR 26 - Food delivery riders went on strike for better pay and conditions across Italy on Friday. The strike was called by the "Rider X i Diritti" (Riders For Rights) network. It was confirmed despite a deal last week between trade unions and the Assodelivery delivery-firm association on a framework protocol for legality and against gang mastering. The strike is taking place in 30 cities and the slogan is "Nessuno ordina, nessuno consegna" (No one orders, no one delivers). The riders, in fact, are asking consumers to support the strike and boycott food delivery platforms for a day. In Naples delivery riders let off flares and blocked traffic in the city centre. The centre-left Democartic Party (PD) and its putative partner the populist 5-Star Movement (M5S) came out in support of the strike. They said they would work to see workers' dignity and rights guaranteed. (ANSA).
Toronto, March 26 : Aerobic exercise may reduce several hemodialysis-related symptoms experienced by patients with kidney failure, a new study finds.

The study indicated that aerobic exercise lessened several hemodialysis-related symptoms, including restless leg syndrome, symptoms of depression, muscle cramping, and fatigue.

"We found that as little as 20 to 30 minutes of aerobic exercise two to three times per week seemed to improve several common symptoms in people undergoing hemodialysis and make them feel better," said researcher Clara Bohm, from the University of Manitoba in Canada.

"There have been very few rigorous, well-designed studies published that look at the effect of exercise on symptoms in people undergoing hemodialysis, and larger studies that use standardized measurement tools are needed to help us determine the effect of exercise on common symptoms in these patients more clearly," Bohm added.

Hemodialysis is a procedure where a dialysis machine and a special filter called an artificial kidney, or a dialyzer, are used to clean blood.

According to the team, undergoing hemodialysis to treat their kidney failure doesn't always reduce these symptoms, and it can sometimes make some symptoms worse.

Importantly, people receiving hemodialysis have noted that finding effective treatments for hemodialysis-related symptoms should be a research priority.

For the study, published in the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, the research team searched the medical literature and analyzed all relevant studies investigating the effects of aerobic exercise on dialysis-related symptoms.

The search uncovered 15 randomized controlled trials, with different studies looking at restless leg syndrome, sleep disturbance, symptoms of anxiety and depression, muscle cramping, and fatigue.

The researcher said that there are many hemodialysis-related symptoms for which the effect of exercise has not been studied, and most people included in published trials were men with relatively high levels of physical function.

"Future studies need to include people with diverse characteristics, particularly more women, elderly individuals, and people with low functional status, to see if exercise has similar effects," Bohm said.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Unaccompanied minors are loaded into a U.S. Border Patrol transport van after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border, in Hildalgo, Texas, on March 25, 2021. (John Moore/Getty Images)

Biden Administration Converting Third Convention Center to Illegal Immigrant Holding Facility

President Joe Bidens administration is going to use a third convention center to house unaccompanied youth.

The Freeman Expo Center in San Antonio is being converted to an Emergency Intake Center for children unlawfully who cross the southern border without an adult.

Up to 2,400 children can be housed at the facility, according to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and its Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR).

The Emergency Intake Site will provide ORR with needed capacity to accept children from Customs and Border Protection (CBP) into its care where they can be safely processed, cared for and either released to a sponsor or transferred to an appropriate ORR shelter for longer-term care. The Emergency Intake Site is intended for use as a temporary measure, the agency said in a statement obtained by The Epoch Times.

The administration has already reached deals to house up to 1,400 unaccompanied youth in the San Diego Convention Center and up to 2,300 youth in the Kay Bailey Hutchinson Convention Center in Dallas.

Additionally, officials have opened at least five other locations to hold the children, and the Pentagon accepted requests to keep thousands of youth at Fort Bliss and another several hundred at Joint Base San Antonio Lackland. In total, ORR operates over 200 facilities and programs in 22 states. Theres also a plan to send family units to hotels, with taxpayers footing the bill.

Bexar Countys manager didnt immediately return an inquiry. Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff, asked about facilities possibly being used to house immigrants, told reporters on Tuesday that no agreement had been reached yet.

We do have facilities there. Theyre climate control. Theyre large. But we are talking about, how will we handle security? Who would be the food provider, who will actually be managing the place? Itd be pretty much our job to, if we do it, to coordinate with them and to make the space available, but no agreements been reached yet. Were just now talking about a possible contract, he said.

The United States saw a jump in illegal border crossings in February, including an increase of over 3,600 unaccompanied minors from the month before. Officials have struggled to deal with the increase, with overcrowded conditions in Border Patrol facilities exposed through leaked photographs.

An overflow facility in Donna, Texas, in an undated photo. (Courtesy of Rep. Henry Cuellars office)

Bidens administration stopped expelling unaccompanied minors who unlawfully enter the country, a reversal of the Trump-era utilization of Title 42 powers to send them back to their home countries. The powers are used in a bid to prevent COVID-19 from entering the country through illegal immigrants.

Biden told reporters in Washington that under the previous administration, unaccompanied minors would starve to death after being expelled from the country.

No previous administration did that either, except Trump. Im not going to do it. Im not going to do it, he added.

Stephen Miller, a top immigration adviser to Trump, called the accusation spectacularly false and a grave smear on our border agents.

Illegal immigrants were returned to Mexico and unaccompanied youth were returned to their countries of origin to be reunited with their families, Miller wrote on Twitter.

This humane policy from President Trump brought unaccompanied minor numbers to record lows. Bidens disastrous decision to exempt minors from Title 42, and to stop the at-home reunification process in favor of domestic resettlement, single-handedly created this crisis, he wrote.

A reporter had referenced a 9-year-old boy who claimed to have traveled without adults to the United States from Honduras. The reporter said they reached the boys mother by phone. She said she sent her son to America because she believed Bidens administration isnt deporting unaccompanied minors.

Biden asserted some minors will ultimately be deported. The judgment has to be made whether or notand in this young mans case, he has a mom at home; theres an overwhelming reason why hed be put in a plane and flown back to his mom, he said.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  The Rosebank father of two young children who was seriously injured in a shocking gunshot accident has been transferred to Northwells Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan, his family and friends told the Advance/SILive.com.

A prominent real estate agent on the borough, Joseph Tsomik was being shown an antique gun by a relative in New Jersey on March 10 when it accidentally went off  striking him in the neck and leaving him paralyzed, the Advance/SILive.com reported.

He was initially rushed to St. Josephs University Medical Center in Paterson, N.J., said his wife, Monalisa, but a myriad of issues prevented a transfer to a hospital that could perform the highly-sensitive surgery he requires.

But after days of waiting, he was transferred to Lenox Hill Hospital to his familys relief.

He is in good hands and I fully trust his medical team, said his wife. I know he is strong, and I believe in him.

Joseph Tsomik, his wife, Monalisa Tsomik, and their children. (Family photo)

However, in the interim, Joseph Tsomik developed pneumonia that has to be treated before doctors at Lenox Hill can consider the next course of action in his recovery, his family and friends told the Advance/SILive.com.

The setback, though, is not discouraging his friends and family from believing in his ability to push toward recovery.

Joe, honestly, is the most positive person I know, said Gary Papirov, an Annadale resident and his real estate partner. Were not just business partners, were best friends for the past 20 years.

A highly-acclaimed realtor on Staten Island, Tsomik is deeply missed on the Island both as a friend and a partner, Papirov said.

Its taken a big toll on all of us, he noted. Its a very, very tragic situation.

Surgeons will discuss the next course of action in his treatment next week, according to his family and friends. A GoFundMe has been made in his name to support the expenses his family will face as a result of his injuries.

Were at the very, very beginning of a long road, said Papirov.
(JNS)  Two events of religious and historical significance that very nearly took place last week point to a deeper layer in Jordan and Saudi Arabias struggle for guardianship of Islamic holy places on Jerusalems Temple Mount. Israel has now been dragged into this struggle against its will.

Jordanian Crown Prince Hussein, King Abdullahs son, was about to enter the gates of the Temple Mount on March 10 to perpetuate Jordans formal status as the Muslim worlds guardian of the site. However, the visit was canceled at the last minute, supposedly due to a disagreement over security arrangements. From the Jordanians perspective, this public flag-raising was urgently necessary given the unrefuted reports that another crown prince, from Riyadh, was engaged in negotiations with Israel on whether to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. When it comes to talks with the Saudis, the Temple Mount is also a priority.

As an Islamic power that already controls Mecca and Medina, the two holiest sites in Islam, Saudi Arabia has shown increasing interest in gaining a significant foothold at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, Islams third holiest site. Riyadh is looking to create a new status quo at the site and is willing to invest tens of billions of dollars in Jerusalem and the Temple Mount and agree to some form of normalization of ties with Israel to this end.

In return, Saudi Arabia wants a senior role, alongside Israel, in running the mount, instead of or alongside Jordan, among other things. Riyadh is poised to reap huge dividends from such a move. It will gain control of the three holiest sites in Islam, while ensuring the defeat of President Recep Tayyip Erdogans Turkey, who has been unrelenting in his attempts to liberate the mount from Israel.

Jordan, for its part, is furious at the very notion Saudi Arabia could be given a role at the site. The Hashemite dynasty lost its role as the keeper of Islams holy sites in Mecca and Medina after World War I. Secondary guardianship over Islams holy sites in Jerusalem was its consolation prize. This status was also reserved for Jordan within the framework of its ties with Israel following the 1967 Six-Day War.

Jordan continued to be involved in the religious management of the mount through the Jordanian Wakf. It earned recognition for its senior status on the mount through the framework of the peace treaty signed with Israel in 1994 and its active and opinionated involvement in a series of issues concerning the site, from the renovation of walls and joint exercises with Israeli rescue forces on the mount to a veto on Israeli plans for the area around the Temple Mount, including the replacement of the Mughrabi Bridge and the removal of construction debris from the Little Western Wall.

When then-Saudi King Khaled dispatched emissaries in the 1980s to offer Prime Minister Menachem Begin a fortune for the development of a new Middle East in return for a Saudi flag being installed on the Temple Mount, Begin responded by kicking them out. Things have changed. Netanyahu and his officials are involved in talks on the possibility of affording Riyadh status on the site. This began when plans were being made for former U.S. President Donald Trumps so-called deal of the century and continues to this very day.

Israel has become a kind of traffic cop on the mount. It tries, sometimes unsuccessfully, to look out for its own status as a sovereign, while at the same time regulating the opposing interests of various Arab and Muslim figures.

For Jordan, which affords us a quiet eastern border and extensive bilateral economic and security ties, the mount isnt just a historical symbol but the anchor that guarantees the stability of the kingdoms rule; a rule against which radical Islamic forces often rise. And so, Israel finds itself straddling the divide, maneuvering in the inter-Islamic struggle between Amman and Riyadh, sometimes acting to please the Jordanians, at other times, looking to please the Saudis.

Until the time comes when another decision is required  and that day may be soon approaching  Jordan is still Israels preferred partner on the Temple Mount. This remains the case even though Amman needs Israel no less and maybe even more than Israel needs Amman.

Nadav Shragai is a veteran Israeli journalist.

This article first appeared in Israel Hayom.
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A satellite image taken above the Red Sea have revealed the true extent of the traffic jam building up behind the cargo ship that has lodged itself in the Suez Canal.

Some 200 vessels are now backed up at either end of the narrow waterway, waiting for the stricken Ever Given - a container ship as long as the Empire State Building is tall - to be moved so they can pass.

Images taken by a passing satellite show more than 50 vessels at anchor in the Gulf of Suez, one of two 'fingers' at the northern end of the Red Sea, where it enters the canal which leads to the Mediterranean.

In the top left-hand corner of the image the Ever Given can be seen, wedged diagonally across the channel in much the same position where it got stuck three days ago after the captain lost control during a sandstorm.

Shipping companies are now facing up to the stark reality that the disruption is likely to drag on for a long time, meaning they may have to re-route their vessels around Africa with at least one - the Hyundai Prestige - already diverted around the longer route.

But that has brought security concerns, with captains of the vessels - laden with billions of dollars-worth of cargo - fearing they will be sitting ducks for pirates, particularly in waters off east Africa where they are known to operate.

The US Navy's Fifth Fleet, which operates in the Red Sea, say a number of shipping companies have reached out to them in the last two days about security in the region amid fears they could be attacked taking the longer route.

Zhao Qing-feng, office manager of the China Shipowners Association based in Shanghai, told the Financial Times that vessels choosing to go the African route will have to take on additional security to ensure they are safe.

Meanwhile Willy Lin, chair of the Hong Kong Shippers Council, said an international coalition of naval warships might have to be brought in to protect cargo vessels if the crisis drags out.

There is still no indication of how long it might take to free the stricken tanker as workers try to dig up to 15metres below the vessel using excavators and dredgers in an attempt to refloat it.

Shoei Kisen, the Japanese owner of the Ever Given, optimistically predicted today that the ship will be freed from the canal tomorrow - despite a team of Dutch experts brought in to assist the rescue saying the operation could take 'weeks' and canal authorities refusing to give a time-frame.

A satellite image taken above the Gulf of Suez where it leads into the Suez Canal (top left) shows at least 50 large ships at anchor as they wait for a stricken container ship to be freed from where it has lodged in the narrow waterway

Canal workers have today resumed their efforts to free the stranded Ever Given, using dredgers and diggers to burrow some 52ft down into the banks of the canal in an attempt to refloat her

Satellite images taken today reveal the Ever Given - leased by shipping firm Evergreen - is still stranded in much the same position it was left on Tuesday after crashing

The Taiwan-owned MV Ever Given is pictured today still lodged sideways and impeding all traffic across the waterway

Another image, taken by a Russian satellite, exposes the scale of the engineering challenge posed by the stuck Ever Given, which is easily visible (left) even when compared to neighbouring towns

A huge container ship blocking the Suez Canal is threatening to delay shipments to the UK, with electronics, clothes, furniture and toys all likely to be affected

If efforts to refloat the boat fail, then workers will have no choice but to bring in specialist cranes and start offloading cargo stacked more than 100ft tall on its deck in order to lessen the ship's weight.

The only alternative to using the canal is to sail around the Cape of Good Hope, at the southern tip of Africa, adding 14 days and 5,000 nautical miles to the journey.

Hyundai Merchant Marine has already diverted the Hyundai Prestige, sailing from Southampton to Thailand, around the route, while shipping firms in Singapore and Tokyo said similar calls were 'imminent'.

James Wroe, head of liner operations at the Asian branch of the world's largest firm Maersk, said the call is a 'roll of the dice' - with firms being asked to bet on how long the crisis will take to resolve itself.

Analysts who spoke with MailOnline warned that a prolonged blockage of the canal could drive up the price of new cars by causing a shortage of computer chips, and cause shipping costs to spike - heaping pressure on Covid-hit businesses which could ultimately be passed to consumers as lockdowns ease.

Simon Macadam, senior global economist at Capital Economics, told MailOnline that a delay of several weeks would drive up shipping rates - which are already at 'unprecedented' levels due to the Covid crisis - piling pressure on hard-hit businesses who would be expected to swallow the increased costs in the short-term.

However, he added that those costs could eventually be passed along to customers later in the year as Covid lockdowns ease and business owners try to recoup their losses.

The cost of renting some tankers for voyages from the Middle East to Asia has jumped 47 per cent over the last three days Anoop Singh, Singapore-based head of tanker analysis at Braemar ACM, told the Wall Street Journal.

Similar price hikes could hit Europe-bound routes as shipping firms run low on vessels with many stuck in the canal, while those which are free are forced to sail around Africa.

Avoiding the canal by sailing around Africa can add $450,000 in costs per voyage, Mr. Singh added.

Meanwhile Douglas McWilliams, deputy chairman of the Centre for Economics and Business Research, warned that a lengthy blockage is likely to cause a shortage of computer chips - with several weeks' worth of supplies thought to be caught up in the unfolding drama.

That could mean price hikes in products which use a lot of chips, potentially adding 70 to the price of a new car while having a knock-on effect on other electrical goods.

Oil markets were one of the first to react on Wednesday as the price of crude spiked 6 per cent, before falling back today as demand slumps amid the Covid pandemic.

Another analyst who spoke to MailOnline on condition of anonymity said an outage of two weeks or more could potentially cause shortages in stores as ships are routed around Africa, increasing their journey time by 14 days.

A source involved in the UK shipping trade added that it they are being warned it could take up to three weeks to clear the backlog of ships building up around the canal, even if the stricken ship is removed soon.

Canal workers are attempting to dig out sand from around the bow of the ship which is embedded in the eastern wall of the canal, and may have to dig tens of feet to allow the ship to refloat. Meanwhile tugboats and dredgers are working at the rear of the vessel to free the stern against the western wall. If those efforts fail, specialist cranes will have to come in to help remove some of the cargo - with containers weighing up to 33 tons each

The canal provides the shortest possible route for ships travelling between Asia and Europe, with the only alternative being to sail around the Cape of Good Hope - adding 14 days and 5,000 nautical miles to the journey

Kate Harding, chief executive of trade data firm Coriolis Technologies, warned that the risks to global trade are 'absolutely enormous'.

A longer-term issue, one analyst told MailOnline, is disruption to global shipping schedules that could drag on for weeks even after the canal is unblocked.

Ports typically run tight operations with strict time-slots for loading and unloading cargo to make sure containers don't pile up and to ensure a smooth supply of goods across the world.

But with ships piling up around the canal, whenever the waterway is unblocked it will cause a glut of vessels to arrive at ports all at once.

That will mean delays in getting ships unloaded and then re-loaded as there are only a limited number of specialist cranes that can deal with vessels of this size, knocking schedules out of whack.

There is still no indication of how long the ship make take to free, with Japanese owners Shoei Kisen KK saying it is still 'too early to tell'.

Mr Berdowski compared the ship to 'an enormous beached whale' and warned workers might have to start offloading cargo in order to reduce its weight and get it floating again.

'We can't exclude it might take weeks, depending on the situation,' he told Dutch media. 'It's an enormous weight on the sand. We might have to work with a combination of reducing the weight by removing containers, oil and water from the ship, tug boats and dredging of sand.'

Excavators are trying to dig out the vessel's dolphin-nose bow which has lodged in the eastern wall of the canal, while dredgers and tugboats try to shift its stern which is jammed against the western side.

Estimates of the value of cargo come from analytics firm Lloyd's List, which believes $5billion-worth of containers are sent westwards through the waterway each day. The value of eastbound traffic is slightly less, at $4.5billion.

The cargo makes up about 12 per cent of oceangoing trade each day, including around 10 per cent of oil and gas shipments.

As the backlog builds, costs for Ever Given's owners - Japanese firm Shoei Kisen KK - and their insurers will mount in what could turn out to be the world's most expensive traffic jam.

Industry experts warned the bill will likely total millions of dollars, even assuming the vessel can be moved quickly.

Insurers could find themselves on the hook for costs incurred by shipping firms whose routes are delayed, plus from Egyptian authorities which make almost $6billion each year charging companies for use of the canal.

The costs of the rescue operation will also fall on insurers, along with any damage the ship sustains while it is being salvaged, analysts said.

Attempting to head-off criticism, the ship's owners issued an apology today - saying they are 'extremely sorry' for the 'tremendous worry' that the accident has caused.

The firm said it is cooperating with its technical management company and the local authorities to get the ship afloat, but 'the operation is extremely difficult.'

'It is potentially the world's biggest ever container ship disaster without a ship going bang,' one shipping lawyer, who declined to be named, said.

Meanwhile Nick Sloane, a salvage master who helped refloat the Costa Concordia cruise ship after it ran aground off the coast of Italy, said rescuers' best chance of moving the vessel will come on Monday when tides will be at their highest point.

If that window is missed then it will take another two weeks for the opportunity to present itself again, he told Bloomberg. 'This is definitely not a quick refloat operation,' he added.

It is thought the accident happened after the ship's captain and two Egyptian pilots sent on board to help guide the vessel became blinded during a sandstorm with high winds that sent the vessel off course and caused it to get wedged around 7.45am on Tuesday.

Ships are anchored outside the Suez Canal in Ismailia, Egypt, wait to be able to pass through the canal after it was blocked

Shipping data shows the extent of the traffic jam building up which is straddling two continents and currently involves some 150 ships (position of the Ever Given is marked with a white circle)

While a gust of wind seems an unlikely culprit, it turns out that the Ever Given has past form of crashing during high winds, after being involved in an accident in the German port of Hamburg in 2019.

In February that year, the cargo ship was manoeuvering into port when a strong gust of wind pushed it off course and into a docked passenger ferry, Bild reports

The ferry, named Finkenwerder, was completely written off in the accident while three crew members were treated for shock - though thankfully there were no passengers on board.

Tracking data from Marine Traffic has revealed the extent of the jam, comparing a typical day last week with traffic yesterday, with ships piling up at either end of the waterway.

Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement, the company that manages the Ever Given, said the ship's 25-member crew were safe and accounted for after the accident.

Canal service provider Leth Agencies said at least 150 ships were waiting for the Ever Given to be cleared, including vessels near Port Said on the Mediterranean Sea, Port Suez on the Red Sea and those already stuck in the canal system on Egypt's Great Bitter Lake.

Cargo ships already behind the Ever Given in the canal will be reversed south back to Port Suez to free the channel, Leth Agencies said. Authorities hope to do the same to the Ever Given when they can free it.

Evergreen Marine Corp, a major Taiwan-based shipping company that operates the ship, said in a statement that the Ever Given had been overcome by strong winds as it entered the canal from the Red Sea. None of its containers had sunk.

An Egyptian official, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to brief journalists, similarly blamed a strong wind.

Egyptian forecasters said high winds and a sandstorm plagued the area on Tuesday, with winds gusting as high as 30 miles per hour.

An initial report suggested the ship suffered a power blackout before the incident, something Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement denied on Thursday.

'Initial investigations rule out any mechanical or engine failure as a cause of the grounding,' the company said.

Tuesday marked the second major crash involving the Ever Given in recent years.

In 2019, the cargo ship ran into a small ferry moored on the Elbe River in the German port city of Hamburg. Authorities at the time blamed strong wind for the collision, which severely damaged the ferry.

The closure could affect oil and gas shipments to Europe from the Mideast, which rely on the canal to avoid sailing around Africa. The price of international benchmark Brent crude stood at more than 63 dollars a barrel on Thursday.

The Ever Given, built in 2018 with a length of nearly 400 meters, or a quarter of a mile, and a width of 193 feet, is among the largest cargo ships in the world.

It can carry some 20,000 containers at a time. It previously had been at ports in China before heading toward Rotterdam in the Netherlands.

Opened in 1869, the Suez Canal provides a crucial link for oil, natural gas and cargo. It also remains one of Egypt's top foreign currency earners.

In 2015, the government of President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi completed a major expansion of the canal, allowing it to accommodate the world's largest vessels.

However, the Ever Given ran aground south of that new portion of the canal.

This stranding marks just the latest setback to affect mariners amid the Covid crisis, with hundreds of thousands of people having been stuck aboard vessels due to the pandemic.

Every day the canal is blocked means 10 per cent of oceangoing trade cannot move as it should, with 50 ships being added to the massive traffic jam building up around the canal (pictured)

Why is the Suez Canal so important? The Suez canal, which is around 120 miles long links the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean and is the shortest shipping route between the Atlantic and the Indian Ocean. Before the canal, shipping from Europe either had to go overland or risk going around Cape Horn and the South Atlantic. In April 1859, construction of the canal officially begins, much of the work financed by France. It was opened for navigation on November 17, 1869 for vessels from all countries, although the British government later wanted to have an armed force in the area to protect shipping interests having picked up a 44 per cent stake in the canal in 1875. The Suez Canal links the Red Sea and the Mediterranean providing a short cut from the Indian Ocean to the Atlantic From then, while nominally owned by Egypt, the canal was run by Britain and France until its until its nationalisation in 1956 . The nationalisation by Nasser saw Britain and France launched an abortive and humiliating bid to recapture the vital waterway. The canal was shut briefly following the attempted invasion. However, in 1967 the canal was shut for eight years following the Six Day war with Israel. Due to the instability in the region, the canal remained closed until 1975 - its longest ever closure, as the waterway had been mined and some vessels had been sunk in the main channel. The Suez Canal is actually the first canal that directly links the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea. In 2015 a new section of the canal opened, allowing vessels to traverse the waterway in both directions at the same time. Future plans will see the two-lane system extended across the entire network- doubling current capacity of the canal. The largest cargo vessels pay more than $325,000 in tolls to traverse the canal. On average about 40-50 cargo vessels use the canal on a daily basis in a trip that takes around 11 hours, as speed along the waterway is limited to about 9kts to prevent the banks of the canal getting washed away. Along the canal there are emergency mooring slots so vessels can pull over if they are suffering a mechanical issue. When the canal first opened, the channel was approximately 26 feet deep and 72 feet wide at the bottom. The surface was between 200 and 300 feet wide to allow ships to pass. By the 1960s, dredging of the canal increased the depth to 40 feet and widened the waterway to allow larger vessels. Now, the minimum depth of the canal is 66feet, though this is been increased to 72 feet - allowing even larger vessels. Advertisement
Jonkoping County, March 26: Unknown persons placed a severed head of wild boar on a copy of Quran in Sweden's Vetlanda town yesterday. According to local media reports, police launched an investigation and are treating the incident as a hate crime and incitement against an ethnic group. No suspect was identified or arrested in connection with the incident. Sweden Riot: Violence Erupts in Malmo After Anti-Muslim Leader Rasmus Paludan Stopped From Entering 'Quran-Burning' Rally; Here's What We Know So Far.

A copy of Quran with a severed head of wild board on it was found was found in a parking lot in a residential area of Vetlanda. Upon noticing it, people started gathering after which cops were alerted. By the time cops arrived at the scene, many onlookers had already gathered, local media reported. Police seized the holy book and discarded the boar head as rubbish. Outcry in Sweden After Drive-by Shooting Kills 12-year-old.

Law enforcement officers intend to get fingerprints of suspects from the seized copy of the Quran. No one at the scene saw any suspects who could possibly be linked to the incident. Police urged people to come forward if they have any information related to the incident. "Many people were very upset when we arrived at the scene," police press spokesperson Bjorn Oberg told the newspaper Dagens Nyheter.

The incident comes barely a month after a 22-year-old Afghan man stabbed three persons. Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven called the act "heinous" but asserted that it had nothing to do with immigration. The prosecution had also ruled out a terror motive.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 26, 2021 02:33 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
As state lawmakers in Austin wrap up the latest legislative session, Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday threatened to withhold their pay by vetoing a line item in the states budget because a Democratic walkout killed his priority elections bill. No pay for those who abandon their responsibilities, Abbott tweeted. Should the governor veto Legislature funding?

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Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-26 16:24:55|Editor: huaxia

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-- For centuries, Tibet was ruled by feudal serfdom under theocracy. Millions of serfs were subjected to cruel exploitation and oppression until the democratic reform in 1959.

-- Over the decades, the heroic Anmaixi Village has embarked on a new journey and life there has improved beyond the former serfs' wildest dreams thanks to the strong leadership of the Communist Party of China.

-- The whole village shook off poverty in 2017, and the per capita net income reached 14,600 yuan (about 2,240 U.S. dollars) last year.

by Xinhua writers Norbu Tsering, Liu Xinyong, Xue Wenxian



LHASA, March 26 (Xinhua) -- "Today's happy life is something I never dreamed of in the past," said Changchub Lhamo, 76, sitting in her three-story house in the city of Qamdo, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region.

Her elder brother, Nyima Gyaltsen, was among the 14 serfs in Anmaixi Village who were killed by a gang of rebels some 62 years ago, not long before the campaign of democratic reform in Tibet. On Sunday, Tibet will mark the 62nd anniversary of the democratic reform that abolished serfdom.

Over the decades, the heroic village has embarked on a new journey and life there has improved beyond the former serfs' wildest dreams thanks to the strong leadership of the Communist Party of China.

Photo taken on March 18, 2021 shows a portrait of Changchub Lhamo in Anmaixi Village of Qamdo, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Sun Fei)

SACRIFICE FOR A WORTHY CAUSE

For centuries, Tibet was ruled by feudal serfdom under theocracy. Millions of serfs were subjected to cruel exploitation and oppression until the democratic reform in 1959.

Serfdom is the most brutal form of slavery in the feudal society. It is a barbaric and backward social system in terms of economic development, political democracy or human rights protection. By the 1950s, the very existence of feudal serfdom had violated the development trend of human history.

Despite the peaceful liberation of Tibet in 1951, the democratic reform there was not completed until 1959, as the central government adopted a circumspect attitude and a rather lenient policy, patiently waiting for Tibet's ruling class to carry out reform.

Aerial photo taken on March 19, 2021 shows the Anmaixi Village of Qamdo, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Sun Fei)

Serfs of Anmaixi Village lived in an abyss of misery before 1959 and were eager for the democratic reform that had been completed in other ethnic minority areas across China.

They delivered supplies to the People's Liberation Army (PLA), helped the PLA collect intelligence and transport scouts on cowhide boats across the Jinsha River.

A gang of rebels were irritated and arrested more than 60 serfs on Feb. 1, 1959, threatening to push nine young serfs off a cliff by the river.

"At that time, my brother Nyima Gyaltsen was among them," Changchub Lhamo recalled with tears in her eyes.

"After the rebels pushed him off the cliff, my brother struggled to climb back with blood all over his face, and they ruthlessly pushed him into the Jinsha River," she said.



Aerial photo taken on March 18, 2021 shows the farmland of Anmaixi Village, Qamdo, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Sun Fei)

Changchub Lhamo could not help but burst into tears while recalling the gruesome killing of her brother and other serfs by the rebels, hiding her face in her hands.

She and other serfs who survived had no time to collect the bodies of their loved ones, but were driven away from their homes.

They wandered away from home, begged, lived in caves, and survived on wild herbs and wild fruits.

"How I wished I had been a worm that could get into the soil, or a bird that could fly in the sky," said Changchub Lhamo.

"When would the ordeal end?" she said.

TOWARD A PROSPEROUS FUTURE

In March 1959, reactionaries from the upper class working in the local government of Tibet staged an all-out armed rebellion in Lhasa. The rebellion ran counter to the will of the people of Tibet and the current of history.

In response, the central government decided to dissolve the local government of Tibet and quell the rebellion, and at the same time mobilized the people of Tibet to begin democratic reform.

That was when Changchub Lhamo and her family bid farewell to the begging days and returned to their village. They received a house, some land, as well as cattle and sheep.

In 1974, her son Samten was born. After China embarked on the journey of reform and opening up in 1978, Changchub Lhamo's husband soon seized the opportunity of doing business, setting an example for his fellow villagers.

"Our family might have been the first to save as much as 10,000 yuan in the village back then," Samten said.

"Our house has been built and rebuilt four times, from a one-floor adobe-brick house to a two-story house and then to a three-story building. Home appliances and living facilities have also been upgraded. Life is getting better and better," he said.



Samten, standing near an excavator, briefs reporters on the local road construction in Anmaixi Village of Qamdo, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, March 18, 2021. (Xinhua/Chen Shangcai)

Just like his father once did, Samten became a village official in 2018. He led the villagers in building amenities and repaired a road which made it much more convenient for villagers to pick matsutake.

"The promise of the Party to give us a happy life has long been realized," Changchub Lhamo said.

With 455 villagers, Anmaixi Village now has 13 private cars and 17 trucks for transportation.

The whole village shook off poverty in 2017, and the per capita net income reached 14,600 yuan (about 2,240 U.S. dollars) last year.

Changchub Lhamo talks with her daughter-in-law at her home in Anmaixi Village of Qamdo, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, March 18, 2021. (Xinhua/Sun Fei)

"My brother has gone, but it's all for a worthy cause," said Changchub Lhamo.

"If there is any regret in my heart, it's just that though our lives are getting better and better, my brother is not here to enjoy the good days with us," she said. Enditem (Chen Shangcai and Sun Fei also contributed to the story) (Video reporters: Sun Fei and Liu Xinyong; Video editor: Xue Yanwen)
On Saturday, March 27th, 2021, from 6:00 pm, BPW Concordia SXM in collaboration with BPW Barbados and BPW Dominica, will be hosting a discussion under the theme: CHOOSE TO CHALLENGE: Lets work together for an egalitarian world

The objective of this event is to bring men, women, and various organizations from the Caribbean together to discuss gender equality and other forms of discrimination.

Our objective is also to create a unified platform to help foster partnerships between various organizations across the Caribbean that will help promote progress in achieving an egalitarian world.

The panelists include (in alphabetical order of first names):

Ms. Abigail Christmas, Founder Perfect In My Own Skin organization (Dominica)

Mr. Anderson Langdon, Head of Family Planning (Barbados)

Ms. Cassandra Richardson, Co-Founder Wild Flower Institute (DSXM)

Mrs. Danielle Chance-Glasgow, Founder United Womens Book (FRSXM)

Mr. Fabian Sargeant, President of the Mens empowerment network support group to champion the cause of men. (Barbados)

Ms. Helene Micot, President of Soroptimist and Le Manteau (womens shelter FRSXM).

Ms. Lyndell Danzie-Black, Managing Director of Cerulean (Guyana)

Mr. Phoenix Belfield, Economist (Dominica)

Mr. Ralph Cantave, Journalist, Entrepreneur, Advocate (DSXM)

Ms. Ramona Riley, President of Prominent Womens organization (DSXM)

Ms. Shara Edwards, BPW Dominica

Ms. Silveria Jacobs, Honorable Prime Minister of St. Maarten

Ms. Valerie Damaseau, Honorable 1st Vice President of the Collectivite of St. Martin

Ms. Vanessa Fraser, Director Safe Haven organization (battered womens shelter)

Persons can join us via Zoom using the following connection information:

Registration Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUpcuupqjgiH9P95JSz1z3tSJD1MZlFjRb8

Meeting ID: 814 5214 3857

Passcode: 735678
Rafe Spall will play the most famous lawyer in literature  Atticus Finch  in a stage adaptation of Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird.

Finch defends a black man falsely accused of raping a white woman in America's segregated South in the 1930s.

The play, by Oscar-winning writer Aaron Sorkin, was a huge hit on Broadway and will run at the Gielgud Theatre in London's West End from March next year; nearly two years after it was originally set to open.

Rafe Spall will play the most famous lawyer in literature  Atticus Finch  in a stage adaptation of Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird

The adaptation will not be a 'Xerox copy' of the Broadway production starring Jeff Daniels (pictured) in 2018, Aaron Sorkin said

An initial opening date this June has had to be moved back, owing to industry uncertainty.

As Cameron Mackintosh, who owns the Gielgud, observed only yesterday, it will be many months before the theatre industry can resume anything approaching 'normality'.

He has gifted another 1 million (he gave 2 million last year) from his Mackintosh Foundation to the Theatre Artists Fund.

Rhys Ifans had been set to play Finch, but a commitment clash meant he had to withdraw.

Ed Harris (pictured) took over the part from Daniels before New York theatres went dark

The play, by Oscar-winning writer Aaron Sorkin (pictured), was a huge hit on Broadway and will run at the Gielgud Theatre in London's West End

In the play, Finch defends a black man falsely accused of raping a white woman in America's segregated South in the 1930s

When I spoke to Sorkin in Los Angeles, he told me his searing adaptation of the 1960 landmark novel will not be a 'Xerox copy' of the Broadway production, which originally starred Jeff Daniels in 2018. (Ed Harris took over the part, before New York theatres went dark.) Sorkin said the London show would be an opportunity to do it 'all over again, new'.

The book (and the 1962 film, starring Gregory Peck) are revered  though even ardent fans might concede there is hateful racism in the fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama, which Atticus doesn't acknowledge, because he sees the good in 'all of his friends and neighbours', as Sorkin put it.

When he first made changes to the hallowed tome, he was determined not to 'do a Harper Lee impersonation'. He did not want his play to feel 'like a museum piece'  it doesn't.

The book by Harper Lee (and the 1962 film, starring Gregory Peck, pictured) are revered

But, in the three years since then, 'some tectonic things have happened all over the world'. Those sensibilities were already rippling through Sorkin's work, but, in light of events such as the Black Lives Matter protests, and the downfall of a racist American president, further adjustments may be necessary.

'It's entirely possible I could be sitting in rehearsal in London, watching, and thinking that there's something that should resonate here,' he told me.

The casting of 38-year-old Spall is a masterstroke. He knows his way around a southern accent, having played an Alabama district attorney in Just Mercy. And he's one of the best actors of his generation, with leading stage and film roles (Hot Fuzz!); plus starring parts in TV's The Salisbury Poisonings and Trying (with terrific Esther Smith), the second season of which runs on Apple TV+ from May 14.

Spall knows his way around a southern accent, having played an Alabama district attorney in Just Mercy

Sorkin, along with the play's director Bartlett Sher and producer Scott Rudin, sealed the deal with their leading man in the past few days. 'I'm meeting him on Zoom soon,' he told me.

Sonia Friedman, who is producing the show at the Gielgud, where it begins previewing from March 10, 2022 (with an official opening on March 31) told me there will be education and community initiatives, with 500 tickets a week available for 5-10.

Tickets go on sale from April 6. Existing ticket holders will be contacted about their bookings, which will be transferred to a new date, plus details on how to exchange and other options.

Jenny Seagrove (in between rehearsing to play Ian McKellen's mum Gertrude in Hamlet) and Martin Shaw will return to the Theatre Royal Haymarket for a four-week socially-distanced run (from May 19) in A.R. Gurney's Love Letters.

The pair gave nine performances before the third lockdown.

'They were desperate to say goodbye,' producer Bill Kenwright told me.

Jenny Seagrove and Martin Shaw will return to the Theatre Royal Haymarket for a four-week socially-distanced run (from May 19) in A.R. Gurney's Love Letters (pictured)

Surely it is some kind of sign that business as usual is returning, as I hear rumours of high-decibel discord behind the scenes of a new musical.

Tears, tantrums . . . the whole kit and caboodle. I bet opening dates will shift.

Samantha Barks and Ramin Karimloo will star in a feature film version of Laurence Mark Wythe's 2006 musical Tomorrow Morning, about one couple's relationship, playing out on parallel timelines.

Samantha Barks (left) and Ramin Karimloo (right) will star in a feature film version of Laurence Mark Wythe's 2006 musical Tomorrow Morning

Director Nick Winston, making his film debut, told me Barks and Karimloo will be required to age ten years as their stories unfold (and rewind).

A stage revival had been planned for this year, but Winston and producer John Danbury decided on a big-screen version instead, incorporating several new songs by Wythe.

Omid Djalili, Fleur East and Harriet Thorpe will also star in the film, which shoots on locations in Wapping, East London, in May and June.
Pro-life, pro-abortion activism labeled as domestic violent extremist threat in US intel report

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A report declassified last week by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security named both pro-life and pro-abortion activists on a list of domestic violent extremist groups.

The March 1 report, compiled by the Director of National Intelligence, concluded that domestic violent extremists (DVEs) who are motivated by a range of ideologies and galvanized by recent political and societal events in the United States pose an elevated threat to the homeland in 2021. The document included a list of categories of domestic violent extremists but did not mention any specific group or organization by name.

Abortion-related domestic violent extremists, defined as DVEs with ideological agendas in support of pro-life or pro-choice beliefs were listed as one of the categories of domestic violent extremists identified by the intelligence community. The report maintained that mere advocacy of political or social positions, political activism and use of strong rhetoric may not constitute violent extremism, and may be constitutionally protected.

More broadly, domestic violence extremists were defined as U.S.-based actors who conduct or threaten activities that are dangerous to human life in violation of the criminal laws of the United States or any state; appearing to be intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population; and influence the government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping.

While pro-life activists generally carry out their advocacy peacefully, there have been instances of violence committed against abortion providers, advocates and clinics.

In 2015, Robert Dear opened fire on a Planned Parenthood in Colorado Springs, Colorado, killing three people and injuring several others. He told police no more baby parts, referring to undercover videos documenting Planned Parenthood officials discussing the sale of aborted babies organs, tissue and limbs.

In 2009, noted abortionist George Tiller was murdered as he attended church in Kansas. Scott Roeder was arrested for the crime and his ex-wife alleged that he was very vocal about his anti-abortion views while stressing that she never thought he would go this far.

Even before the motive of the shooter was revealed, pro-life groups were quick to condemn the slaying of the abortion provider. The pro-life group Susan B. Anthony List described Tillers murder as an anti-life act, with its President Marjorie Dannenfelser asserting that the rights of one human being can never be honored by diminishing or ignoring the rights of another.

Additionally, someone named Scott Roeder had left comments on the pro-life website Operation Rescue, comparing Tiller to a Nazi death-camp doctor, who needs to be stopped before he and those who protect him bring judgment upon our nation. Operation Rescue explained that Roeder had never been a member, contributor, or volunteer with the organization, and that thousands of people post on the websites public forum on a daily basis.

Other examples of anti-abortion violence include the 1997 bombing of an Atlanta, Georgia-area abortion clinic and the 1999 arson of a South Dakota Planned Parenthood. While the attacks against pro-abortion activists and clinics have received a great deal of media attention, pro-life protesters have also been subject to acts of violence.

In 2015, an abortion supporter threw a Molotov cocktail at two pro-life protesters gathered outside a Planned Parenthood in Texas. The perpetrator had previously testified against Senate Bill 1, a measure designed to limit abortions after 20 weeks gestation. According to World Net Daily, she claimed during her testimony that unwanted pregnancy occurs in victims of rape from the ages of 9 to 90.

In 2009, pro-life activist Jim Pouillon was murdered as he held a pro-life sign depicting an aborted baby in front of a high school in his Michigan hometown. A former city councilman testified that in the days leading up to the murder, the shooters mother had called him multiple times to complain about Pouillon in a tone that he described as evil and nasty.

The former congressman also said that she told him she wanted to send her boys over to go see Jim and commented after the murder that I have solved the citys problem, my son has shot Jim Pouillon. The judge overseeing the case refused to let the jury hear the former congressmans testimony, which he characterized as hearsay. Then-President Barack Obama, an outspoken supporter of abortion, condemned Pouillons murder, saying that whichever side of a public debate youre on, violence is never the right answer.

Just as abortion clinics have faced violence, so too have pro-life pregnancy centers. In 2016, a pro-life pregnancy center in New Mexico was set on fire. In 2019, a pro-life event at a Minnesota college had to be evacuated because of a bomb threat.

While no one was seriously injured at the Minnesota pro-life event, the perpetrator left behind a stink bomb that can cause nausea and headaches, eye irritation, a loss of smell, pulmonary edema, and even death. People seated near where the stink bomb was located began to feel sick, and were coughing and feeling light-headed while at least three people reported headaches and chest irritation.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), upon analysing the scrubbing data, has found that as many as 80 entities, including State Bank of India, HDFC Bank, Punjab National Bank, and Axis bank, were not complying with the regulators mandate.

said lapses can be attributed to lack of due care and diligence by principal entities, telemarketers, and aggregators. In a note on Friday, the telecom regulator said: It has been informed that principal entities, including major banks like State Bank of India, HDFC Bank, Punjab National Bank, and Axis Bank, are not transmitting mandatory parameters like content template IDs, PE IDs, etc, even in those cases where content templates have been registered, while sending such messages to the TSP (telecom service provider) for delivery.



Sufficient time had already been given to principal entities/telemarketers, and other entities to comply with the regulatory framework, it said.

It appears, the regulator said, that a few entities were not only indifferent but also not serious enough in complying with the provisions of the regulations, thereby causing inconvenience to consumers. This should not and cannot be allowed to continue.



The regulator said the enforcement of its regulations was vital because the delivery of non-compliant messages allowed fraudulent miscreants to conveniently misuse the message delivery system for cheating and defrauding customers.

It said principal entities and telemarketers should fulfil the regulatory requirements before March 31, 2021, to avoid any disruption in the communication with customers from April 1. Regulatory bodies, such as RBI, Sebi, IRDAI, central and State government departments, and other autonomous bodies and other establishments have been asked to impress upon principal entities under their jurisdiction to follow the regulatory requirement strictly.

The issue concerning pesky calls gathered steam a fortnight ago on March 9 when the telecom regulator suspended the newly-implemented norms for commercial text messages for one week, following major disruptions in SMSes and one-time password (OTP) deliveries for banking, payment, and other transactions.

On March 12, it gave three days to entities like banks, e-commerce firms, and others for complying with the rules, failing which they were to be barred from sending out commercial communication to customers.

It also allowed telecom operators to start the process of scrubbing and prepare a database of messages that do not comply with norms. The latest norms, based on blockchain technology, aim to curb unsolicited and fraudulent messages. The norms require bonafide entities sending commercial text messages to register message headers and templates with telecom operators. SMSes and OTPs, when sent by user entities (banks, payment companies), are checked against the templates registered on the blockchain platform  a process called SMS scrubbing.

Telecom operators had said that payment firms and other entities did not do the needful, even as the norms came into effect.

The process was published by under the Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations (TCCCPR), 2018, on July 19, 2018, and the regulations came into force on February 28, 2019. Those which did not comply with regulation were to be filtered out through scrubbing.
SPRINGFIELD  City officials celebrated the resumption of the Hampden County Sheriffs Department patrolling Forest Park during the summer, calling it the rare program that is mutually beneficial, has produced immediate results, and doesnt cost anyone anything.

In a press briefing Friday, Mayor Domenic Sarno, Sheriff Nick Cocchi, Police Commissioner Cheryl Clapprood and parks director Patrick Sullivan all hailed the continuation of the program, saying it helps to protect and restore the crown jewel of the citys park system.

Forest Park is a gem. And people from all walks of life, all areas of Western Massachusetts, come here, said Sarno.

He said he received nothing but positive feedback about the deputies, saying they increase peoples sense of safety when they go to the park.

We did it last year to rave reviews. Rave reviews, he said. The people love it.

He credited the Cocchi and the Sheriffs Department, and Clapprood and the Police Department, for agreeing to work together in the park partnership.

Were very fond of this partnership, Cocchi said. Were just here for the hospitality. Were going to get out of our cars, walk around and make sure everyone is having a good time, and that they feel safe.

This will be the third summer deputies have been deployed to the park. Deputies will be in uniform, use marked cars and have the power of arrest. They report to Clapprood in the Police Department.

Beginning April 4, and continuing through Nov. 30, deputies will patrol Forest Park daily over two shifts, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and from 2-10 p.m.

Cocchi said the program is wrapped into his regular operations budget and is not costing the city or the taxpayers anything.

The deputies assigned to the park are paid their regular wage, not overtime. Because the population of the county jails has declined, particularly over the past year due to COVID-19 releases, the manpower needs there are not the same and he can spare people to cover the park.

This is just a reassignment of resources. Theres no cost to the city, theres no cost to the taxpayers, Cocci said.

Sullivan said the effect of the deputies in the park has been remarkable over the last two summers, and he expects it to continue.

The park used to have volunteer rangers, but that program was discontinued years ago. Police would regularly swing through on patrol, but it was not the same as having a permanent presence, he said. In the years before the sheriffs program started, an increase in disruptive behavior among some park-goers had caused attendance to drop, he said.

In my opinion, people had stopped coming to the park because of what people were seeing, because of nuisances that destroyed the park experience, he said. Now our numbers are increasing back.

The park is averaging 1,000 paid entrances per day, and he expects that number to go up in the summer.

Clapprood said the police would include the park in their regular patrols but would not be able to have officers deployed there all the time. And in the event of an emergency elsewhere in the city, the officers patrolling the park would respond, leaving the park with no police protection.

Having the deputies stationed in the park, with access to the police radios, ensures people are protected, and that the police can be quickly apprised of any emergency in the park.

Clapprood and Sullivan each said the deputies made few arrests and issued few citations last year. Clapprood said it was perhaps a combined dozen or so.

But each said their value goes beyond traditional quantifiable police measures. Their presence alone encourages people to obey the rules and allows others to feel safe.

If someone is playing a radio too loud, deputies ask them to turn it down. If a child falls off a bike, they provide first aid.

Its security and hospitality. Its their presence that stops the activity, Sullivan said.

And its that presence that makes people feel safe and then you get more people, Clapprood said.

Related content:
In Person Myanmars Military Must Be Held Accountable: Shan Armed Group Leader

The Myanmar Armed Forces Day parade in 2018 / The Irrawaddy

Myanmars military must be held accountable for its crimes against humanity, and the sooner the better, warned a leading ethnic rebel leader. No one trusts the Myanmar army, Yawd Serk, chairman of the Shan armed rebel group the Restoration Council for Shan State (RCSS), said on the eve of Armed Forces Day, which falls on Saturday. The junta is illegal and unconstitutional, and all 14 members of the State Administrative Council (SAC) should be indicted for their complicity in the unnecessary deaths of more than 300 innocent, unarmed civilians, he said.

In an extensive interview, the Shan leader expressed abhorrence at the behavior of the Myanmar troops, while pointing out that ethnic communities living in the border areas had experienced this sort of brutality for more than 50 years. He said the RCSS supported the movements that have sprung up all over the country in opposition to the military takeover and, critically, indicated the Shans willingness to work with them.

He emphasized that the root cause of the current crisis was the 2008 Constitution, saying it should be scrapped and replaced by a federal democratic constitution. Until then, he said, there could be neither freedom nor lasting peace. But he was also careful to dampen expectations that the RCSS or other ethnic groups would be rushing to provide physical support to the protest movementthough they now clearly have a common enemy.

The Tatmadaw (Myanmars military) has shown its true colours, he said, describing them as terrorists and accusing the military of breaching the peace pact it signed with the RCSS. The Shan leader said his group had suspended all senior-level contact with the military since the coup on Feb. 1 and would not be attending the Armed Forces Day parade in Naypyitaw on Saturday, though they had been invited. We told them were unavailable, quipped Yawd Serk.

Most of the other ethnic groups that signed the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) with the U Thein Sein government in October 2015 have also opted out of the Naypyitaw event. The Karen National Unionthe other major ethnic group amongst the NCA signatorieshas also just released its response to the juntas invitation, which is even more hard-hitting, demanding that the military withdraw troops from civilian areas, release all prisoners, roll back all laws and changes introduced by the coup leaders that violate human rights, return to the barracks and renounce politics, commit to the creation of a Federal Union, and allow international intervention to mediate a transfer of political power to a unity government.

One of the major non-signatories to the ceasefire pact, the Kachin Independence Organization, is also not attending. This is a significant blow to military leaders efforts to portray themselves as the saviors of the country, and casts doubts on their claim to be able to bring peace to the country in the next 12 months, during the military governments declared state of emergency.

Armed Forces Dayformerly known as Resistance Dayis the Tatmadaws premier anniversary celebration, commemorating the day on which the Burmese army launched its resistance campaign against the Japanese occupation in 1945, which then grew into the liberation and independence movement. This year, a colossal celebration is planned, according to military-run media.

Of course, nothing could be further from the truth than the scenario of peace, stability and growth that the military plans to celebrate. Since the coup, the country has descended into chaos and violence, as the countrys security forces ruthlessly try to crush the opposition, protests and civil disobedience movement. More than 300 people have been killed in the nearly eight weeks since the military seized power, while more than 2,000 activists, protesters and journalists are in prison.

It should now be known as the Myanmar armys day of shame, Dr. Sa Sa, the special envoy to the international community appointed by the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), said in a recent interview. The committee was formed by elected MPs to Myanmars Union Parliament (Pyidaungsu Hluttaw). The Tatmadaw should no longer be called the Army of Myanmarthey have failed to protect the people and the countryinstead they have become the attackers, they have become the enemy of the people, they have terrorized 54 million people since Feb. 1, he said.

Its terrorizing the people, its waging war against the people, its killing the people, he said. Its the army that is committing crimes, not our leaders [referring to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and other National League for Democracy leaders]  They must be made accountable for their crimes against humanity.

The CRPH plans to press ahead with lodging cases against Myanmars military at the International Court Justice (ICJ) and the International Criminal Court (ICC)the two top international human rights court, both based in The Hague. After the CRPH forms an interim national unity government at the end of the month, it plans to sign the Treaty of Rome to allow it to present its case to the ICC, according to Dr. Sa Sa.

The Tatmadaw must be held accountable for their crimes against humanityand while the CRPH aim is good, the difficult [part] is how to make it happen, said Yawd Serk. But it needs to happen quickly, he insisted, as the credibility of the CRPH is on the line.

The RCSS has not broken off relations entirely with the junta; the liaison office in Taunggyi continues to operate and there are the usual bilateral talks on technical issues, such as troop movements, skirmishes and disputed boundary demarcation. But political discussions and talks have been suspended till further notice, he said. There have been no high-level telephone calls or exchanges. The Shan leader has even refused to take telephone calls from the juntas top generals: Senior General Min Aung Hlaing and Vice Senior General Soe Win.

At issue is the fact that the Myanmar military has breached the NCA, something that requires a response, he said. The NCA is not dead yet, he said, adding that the breaches need to be addressed and punished.

Yawd Serk went on to explain the key breaches of the NCA: since seizing power illegally, the military has begun killing unarmed civilians, which is unacceptable and contravenes the NCA, and cannot be allowed to happen with impunity; furthermore, the peace agreement specifically prohibits troops being stationed or quartered in temples, a provision the Tatmadaw has also ignored.

From the RCSS perspective, this is an illegal and illegitimate government, and its behavior entirely unacceptable, he said. But above all they have broken the trust.

While the Shan leader made no bones about where he and the RCSS stoodwith the people against the armyhe was less enthusiastic about its support for the CRPH and even less for its much-vaunted proposal for a Federal Army. Its guarded support, he suggested.

We are having informal talks, communicating and sharing information, he explained, but added that beyond a few declarations on Facebook, the CRPH had offered few details on its vision for a unity government, an administrative structure or a new federal constitution. He said the RCSS was watching the committees moves but doesnt recognize the CRPHat the moment at leastbut we are talking, we are talkingso there is informal recognition. He added, But we need to be convinced of the authority and the credibility of the CRPH.

Understandably for the RCSS leader, the crucial issue is that of federalism. Both sides need to agree what federal principles are, he said, and as yet there had been no such discussion. Our concern is that its a flash fireand will quickly go out, he said.

In order to agree on a federal constitution, the CRPH and the RCSS would have to come together and talk about federalism and the constitution, he saidif the committee announced a statement without proper consultation, then that wouldnt be particularly helpful. But that could be a basis for further discussion, the RCSS leader said, adding that more talks and consultation are needed. They should talk to us before they release their statement, he suggested. If they release a draft constitution without having consulted us, that would not be acceptable  everything needs to be discussed in talks before that stage.

The EAOs have done a lot of work already on federal and democratic principles, and already have an agreed draft constitution, including separate individual state constitutions, he explained. That should be the basis of any talks about creating a federal state, Yawd Serk said.

The Shan leader said that while he understands the present time is volatile and fraughtmade all the more difficult because of COVID travel restrictions and the regimes disruption of the internet and mobile phone communicationshe recognizes that a new era may be dawning in which the ethnic groups and Myanmars pro-democracy political parties can craft a new constitution that could lead to a genuine federal democracy.

It isnt time for an interim governmentthere should be a long-term government, Yawd Serk said. Comprehensive and inclusive talks are needed before further statements are issued, he said. In the roadmap he envisages, the first stage would be those talks, involving the CRPH, the ethnic political parties and the ethnic groups, including the EAOs. This he expects to take up the next three months.

The next stage would be talks focused on federalism and the constitutioncoming together, talking together and coming to an agreement. At that point the formation of a Federal Army would be discussed: How do they want to set it up? What would be its organization and its structure? Only then would the implementation of a federal government and administration begin to be worked out. That must include power sharing arrangements with local administrations and communities, he insisted.

We want real and lasting peace: not just to stop the shooting, said Yawd Serk. And a federal constitution is the crucial starting point; then it is step-by-step.

But if there isnt Federalism, then we will fight for independence  and we will surely win, he warned.

You may also like these stories:

Myanmar Regime Murdering the Hopeful Future of the Country in the Streets: Ex-US Ambassador

Twin Brother of Young Protester Slain by Myanmar Security Forces Calls for Justice

Family of Police Crackdowns Victim Urges Rooting Out Dictatorship
A woman who lost both her parents in a Libya-sponsored IRA bombing has spoken of the hurt caused by years of government delays to secure compensation.

Margaret Veitch's parents William and Agnes Mullan were among 12 people murdered in the 1987 Enniskillen bombing.

At 73 years old, she is now the same age as her parents when they died.

She told the Belfast Telegraph she had been re-traumatised this week after the UK Government refused to publish a Foreign Office report by William Shawcross which examined whether frozen Libyan assets in the UK could be used to compensate victims.

Two victims' groups also spoke in stark terms of how dozens of people they represent have since died without ever getting redress.

"My father and mother were murdered by the IRA and what we got was nothing. All our British Government did for us was to bury them," Mrs Veitch said.

"As far as I'm concerned, we haven't even had an acknowledgement of what we've lived through.

"We lived through 35 years of utter violence, and now my parents are dead 34 years.

"Why are other citizens more valued, like the French, Germans and Americans (whose governments compensated victims for Libyan sponsored terrorism)?

"It all goes back to the fact that they don't care about us and they definitely don't care about Northern Ireland."

She added: "Innocent victims like us have been cast aside and I can't describe the pain of a report coming through, but they won't even tell us, the victims, what's in it.

"I've been hurt that badly I can't be hurt anymore and I can't understand why we can't be told the truth. As British citizens we're being treated diabolically."

On the financial aspect, she said: "I hate talking about money and compensation because money will never bring my parents back, but I do think it's hurtful that they treat victims differently."

Kenny Donaldson of the Lisnaskea-based victims group, South East Fermanagh Foundation, said he knew of at least 30 people of those who originally sought compensation for Colonel Gaddafi sponsored terrorism had died.

Since then, he estimated that up to around 1,000 people in Northern Ireland should be eligible for compensation as a direct result of Gaddafi sponsored IRA terrorism.

Taking the Enniskillen bombing as an example, he said around 15 family members of victims have died before getting closure.

"With Libya, all that's been talked about is the financial element. But if you were to talk to the Enniskillen families, they would say that this is first and foremost about accountability," he said. "They feel that British citizens are treated so badly in comparison to Americans and French and Germans.

"You have a situation where Americans - one was murdered and others injured in the Harrods PIRA bomb - those people have been dealt with in terms of the compensation package the US fought for.

"UK citizens who were murdered or injured in the exact same incident have not been compensated. It's farcical that the payment depends on your nationality."

Jonathan Ganesh was injured in the IRA's London Docklands bombing in 1996.

The Docklands Victims Association still represents around 170 families affected by Gaddafi sponsored terrorism, not including 43 people it represented who died over the last seven years.

"That includes people who have unfortunately taken their own lives," he said. "You wouldn't believe how many phone calls I had this week from Northern Ireland, Manchester and Warrington. People we represent are heartbroken. One person even thought the announcement was a bad dream at first.

"I have underlying health conditions of my own now. I didn't realise that my injuries at the time would come back to haunt me later, and I'm one of the younger ones so God knows what the rest of them are going through.

"I'm still going to do all I can, but where do we go from here? It would be far better for the Government to say, 'You're never going to get compensation, we've been wasting your time for the last 14 years'.

"That would be better than raising our expectations."

Mr Ganesh said he met William Shawcross last February and believed him to be sincere.

"Mr Shawcross's words at hearing (this week) in response to the Government statement... he was 'surprised and disappointed'.

"I felt his words illustrated his concern as I felt during our meeting that he was actually attempting to find a way forward."

This week, Mr Shawcross told a Westminster committee that Foreign Secretary Dominic Rabb had not spoken to him since he submitted his report in March 2020.

The Government has now ruled out using 12bn of frozen Libyan assets in the UK, including the tax profits, to compensate victims. It has also said it won't use other public funds to compensate victims while it convinces Libya to make any payments.
Tiger King star Jeff Lowe, 53, is on the mend after he suffered a stroke while visiting a casino in Oklahoma on March 18.

Lowe's wife Lauren says he wasn't breathing when she found him in their room at the WinStar World Casino around 3 a.m., according to TMZ.

Although she dialed 911 for help, she claimed: 'I thought he was dying in my arms.'

Health scare: Tiger King star Jeff Lowe is recovering after suffering a stroke on March 18 at the WinStar World Casino in Oklahoma, TMZ reported on Friday

According to Lauren, EMTs on the scene determined that Jeff had suffered a stroke and airlifted him to a hospital in Denton, Texas.

Ultimately, it sounds as if their speedy work was able to limit the most debilitating effects of the stroke to leave him in a strong position to recover.

He's now back at home after a three-day hospital stint, but he's having difficulty with his speech and motor functions.

His wife claims that doctors haven't yet been able to determine the cause of his stroke despite running extensive tests.

Scary: Lowe allegedly wasn't breathing when his wife found him in their hotel room late at night, and EMTs determined he'd had a stroke

The lack of certainty has led to her to think that Jeff may have been the victim of foul play.

She says the couple had gone out for a dinner date at the casino the evening of March 17, just hours before his stroke.

A man that neither of them knew allegedly approached them and claimed to not only know them, but also to know their usual drink orders.

Although Lauren said he was a total stranger to them, the main stayed near them as a crowd of Tiger King fans gathered to take selfies with them.

Creepy: Lauren now thinks a strange man who came up to their table that night may have drugged Jeff. He claimed to know them and and their drinks of choice, though he was a stranger

She says the couple now believe that the mystery man may have spiked Jeff's drink while they were occupied with the fans.

However, the blood and urine tests have all come back negative for common drugs.

Jeff and Laura spoke to TMZ again later on Friday morning to detail their ordeal and expand on their drugging theory.

Laura claimed that she sipped some of Jeff's drink during the evening and didn't feel well afterward.

Suspicions: Jeff reportedly 'crashed' on the ride back to their hotel, and Lauren said she felt ill after sipping his drink

She also said that Jeff was out of it during their ride back to their hotel room.

He was reportedly 'acting out of sorts' once they were up in the room, and when she returned after briefly leaving she found him turning colors after his heart had stopped, leaving her fearful that he was dead.

Jeff wasn't able to remember the stroke, but he did add that 'it's just odd' in reference to the strange man who came to their table.

Jeff is best known for his appearance in Netflix's hit true-crime docuseries Tiger King, which made the jailed zookeeper Joe Exotic into a sensation.

No answers yet: So far, tests of his blood and urine haven't revealed any common drugs or a cause for the stroke; still from Tiger King

Claim to fame: Jeff is best known for his appearance in Netflix's hit true-crime docuseries Tiger King, which made the jailed zookeeper Joe Exotic into a sensation; still from Tiger King

He made a name for himself as a tiger breeder and the owner of the Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park, which featured a large assortment of big cats.

His career came crashing down in 2019, when he was charged with 17 federal counts of animal abuse and two counts of attempted murder.

He was convicted and is currently serving a 22-year sentence in federal prison.

Lowe was featured in the documentary when Joe was forced to turn over his zoo to him.
The Department of Health is to undertake a review of all cases where dossiers on children with autism who were involved in legal actions against the State were kept.

Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said on Friday that some files were clearly kept following the allegations that emerged in an RTE Investigates programme this week.

Taoiseach Micheal Martin earlier called on Minister Donnelly to review the policy which saw his department create dossiers on special needs children and their families.

Some files clearly were kept, as was reported on Prime Time, and this is exactly why I've instructed the Department today to conduct a detailed review of all of the cases Health Minister Stephen Donnelly

Speaking on Friday, Mr Donnelly said: It is absolutely vital that parents and that those using our health system or social care services can fully trust them.

Its a system thats there to support them and protect them.

I watched the Prime Time investigates programme last night.

The allegations being reported on are very serious, and I am treating them as such.

So today Ive instructed the department to do a very urgent, and a very detailed review of all of the cases involved and look at all of the allegations as they pertain to the behaviours, covered in the covered in the programme.

We need to assess the facts, that work well continue through the weekend and continue into next week.

He told RTE News: Some files clearly were kept, as was reported on Prime Time, and this is exactly why Ive instructed the department today to conduct a detailed review of all of the cases, because we need to know.

We need to have the facts, we need to know when the periods are that are involved, what the cases are, and how many of these cases the allegations made pertain to and in what way.

The RTE investigation claimed the Department of Health has been secretly using information from private doctor consultations to create dossiers on children with autism who were involved in legal actions against the State, without their parents knowledge.

We've written to Minsters Stephen Donnelly and Anne Rabbitte asking for an urgent meeting to discuss the findings from RTA Investigates on the Department of Health's collection of dossiers on autistic children. #https://t.co/RcJzFROV5X  AsIAm.ie (@AsIAmIreland) March 26, 2021

The revelations were branded a grievous breach of privacy and trust between it (the State) and some of our most vulnerable citizens by the Autism charity As I Am.

In a letter to Mr Donnelly on Friday, the charity said: This information was, the programme outlines, accumulated over time from private clinical consultations with families who were preparing legal action against the State in relation to insufficient educational support for their children.

Highly sensitive data pertaining to these childrens medical and educational records informed these dossiers contents, gathered without their families knowledge or consent.

Items including psychiatric assessments and school report cards on at least 48 children were contained within these documents; actively collated and shared to aid the Department with a covert legal strategy to leverage against litigating families during allegedly dormant court cases.

The letter calls for parents to be informed if their data is being held by the Department and for a dedicated support line, staffed by counsellors, to be set up for those affected.

I would like to reassure all parents, families and interested parties that the department has never unlawfully held sensitive medical and educational information of children involved in dormant court cases Robert Watt, Department of Health

On the passing of childrens medical records to the department, Mr Donnelly said: Certainly any parent who is going to see a clinician is fully entitled to the view that the the session that their child is having with that clinician, be it a psychologist, a occupational therapist, whatever it is, that that is confidential.

Secretary General at the Department of Health, Robert Watt, wrote an open letter on the subject on Friday, in which he acknowledged with regret the distress that headlines from this programme has generated.

He added: I would like to reassure all parents, families and interested parties that the department has never unlawfully held sensitive medical and educational information of children involved in dormant court cases.

The Minister for Health is regularly named in litigation, and one of the duties of the Department of Health is to manage cases effectively on behalf of the state, which sometimes includes review of sensitive information in order to settle or defend a case.

It adds: We take the allegations made last night extremely seriously and the Taoiseach has today announced that a multi-disciplinary team will now be formed to consider the issues raised with the aim of understanding fully what happened here.

We will remain in contact with stakeholders and families affected over the coming weeks and provide an update on progress in due course.
KALAMAZOO, MI  A Kalamazoo woman charged in an April 2020 fatal hit-and-run pleaded no contest Wednesday for failing to stop at the scene of the crash.

Marquisha Canda, 20, was driving a vehicle near the intersection of Ada Street and North Westnedge Avenue, when the vehicle struck and killed 46-year-old Anita McClendon. After briefly pulling over a short distance down the road, she left the scene, according to the police report.

Related: Woman, 46, killed in Kalamazoo hit-and-run remembered as charismatic

Canda pleaded no contest Wednesday, March 24, to one count of failure to stop at the scene of an accident resulting in serious impairment or death. She will be sentenced May 24 in Kalamazoo County Circuit Court.

As part of the plea agreement, a charge of operating a vehicle without a license causing death was dismissed, Kalamazoo County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Scott Brower told MLive.

The court entered into a Cobbs agreement with the defendant to serve no more than 60 days in jail, with credit for time served, followed by probation, Brower said.

Any drivers license sanctions would be imposed by the Secretary of State and were not included in the agreement, he said.

Related: Charges filed a second time against Kalamazoo woman accused in fatal hit-and-run

A Michigan State Police trooper who testified at an Aug. 6 preliminary hearing in the case stated that upon investigation of the undercarriage of Candas vehicle, there was body tissue and blood found. He also testified there was damage to the undercarriage of the vehicle consistent with McClendons injuries.

According to her autopsy report, obtained by MLive through a Freedom of Information Act request, the cause of McLendons death was multiple injuries  among them fractures to all her ribs, her bilateral clavicle and two vertebrae. In addition to numerous other bruising and hemorrhaging, McClendon also had lacerations to her right and left cardiac atria, ascending aorta, lungs and liver, according to the report.

McClendon had been laying in the road prior to being run over, according to testimony by an officer who said he viewed surveillance footage from the nearby North Pole Party Store. The video was not introduced as evidence in court.

A memorial for McClendon grew quickly in the parking lot of the party store the day after the crash.

Also on MLive:

Portage Northern upsets shorthanded Kalamazoo Central in boys hoops district semifinals

Report shows 39% of Kalamazoo County households not financially stable in 2019

COVID-19 pandemic hit seniors hard. Could it lead to a rethinking of how we care for the elderly?
RETAIL and wholesalers of fish have experienced shortage of the product as fishermen here have suspended fishing activities as the nation mourns the demise of President John Magufuli. In an interview, a resident of Muungano Street and a fish wholesaler, Ms Christina Edward, said there had been a decrease on the business chain, something which has affected her trade.

"Fishermen have suspended fishing due to the mourning period. I used to buy fish worth between 100,000/- and 300,000/-. However, the situation has totally changed and the business is slowing," she said. For her part, a fish retail seller, Ms Zuhura Benedicto, complained that her business was on the decline as fishermen mourn the death of President John Magufuli.

"Indeed, during this mourning period where the whole nation is grieving for the loss of President Magufuli, there has been a decline in fish business. For instance, there has been a decrease in profit that I used to earn before the tragedy. I used to generate up to 5,000/- as profit, now I only get 2,000/-," she said.

A fish gallbladder (bondo) buyer at Chato central market, Mr Halfani Mrisho, revealed that due to the mourning period, his business has dropped due to non-availability of fish sold at the market.

"Around the market we used to receive plenty of fish. This situation favored my business. I would buy gallbladders worth between 200,000/- and 300,000/-. Now, the business trend has changed," he said.

"We should be tolerant as we know that everyone is grieving. Obviously the situation will go back to normal after the burial ceremony," he added.
(Natural News) A Border Patrol agent has opened up about the inhumane conditions inside an overcrowded migrant facility in south Texas. The agent, known by the pseudonym Carlos, made the revelations to The Epoch Times on condition of anonymity, for fear of reprisal.

According to Carlos, many of the family-unit holding cells smell like vomit and urine. In the cells that hold unaccompanied minors, fights break out regularly. Sexual assault between the migrants also happens all the time, and Border Patrol agents are afraid of reporting it for fear of being blamed for letting it happen. Many diseases have also spread around the facility, including the flu and the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19).

Any diseases that are in there, its being kept in there, like a petri dish, said Carlos. The smell is overwhelming.

At the facility Carlos works at, around 80 migrants are squeezed into cells only 24 feet by 30 feet in size. Many cells have rooms that are divided only using sheets of plastic.

Many Border Patrol agents like Carlos have become increasingly frustrated by the deteriorating conditions in the migrant processing facilities. Agents like himself are being overworked. Only one or two officers per shift are assigned to control groups of between 300 to 500 migrants.

One of Border Patrols main problems now has to do with the sheer number of unaccompanied minors. The law requires Border Patrol to prioritize children who cross the border without a parent and to transfer them to the care of the Department of Health and Human Services within 72 hours of their arrival at the migrant facility.

Were getting them out of here as quickly as possible, but we are so overwhelmed right now, said Carlos. It used to be easy to get them out in 72 hours. Not anymore. Theyre staying here for 10, 12 days. Its horrible.

Since 2020, over 33,000 unaccompanied children have been apprehended, according to statistics from Customs and Border Protection. Border Patrol officials even expect to apprehend more than 80,000 minors by the end of 2021, surpassing the 80,634 minors apprehended in 2019.

Our manpower is being depleted because we need to go babysit these people, move them as fast as possible to release them into the country, said Carlos. Its ridiculous. We have no backup. Were losing more than were catching, and its no secret. (Related: As border crisis worsens, over 118,000 migrants got away from Border Patrol in less than six months.)

Our defenses are down, he added. So, if theres anybody that we should be worried about, they know this is the time to come in. They know it.

10,000 illegal immigrants currently housed in migrant facilities

The situation at the border has gotten so overwhelming that even Democrats are speaking out against Bidens policies. Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas 28th District shared a series of photos taken from a CBP temporary overflow facility in the small town of Donna in southern Texas.

In the photos, migrant children are being kept in pods that have a 260-person occupancy. These pods are separated from each other with thick sheets of plastic, and one pod reportedly had more than 400 unaccompanied male minors when the picture was taken. Cuellar said the children staying in the facility were dealing with terrible conditions.

Border Patrol is doing the best they can under the circumstances, said Cuellar. But the agency is not equipped to care for kids and need help from the administration.

The representative added that the U.S. has to do something to discourage kids and their families from coming to the U.S.

We have to work with Mexico and Central American countries to have them apply for asylum in their countries, said Cuellar.

As of Saturday, Mar. 20, CBP had around 10,000 migrants in custody, with nearly half of that being unaccompanied minors. The current situation in the border is difficult to know because the Biden administration has officially restricted media coverage at migrant housing facilities like the one in Donna.

Learn more about the latest border crisis, and what the administration of Joe Biden is doing in response to it by reading the latest articles at BorderSecurity.news.

Sources include:

TheEpochTimes.com

NationalReview.com
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The Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation (CHRR) has asked the Ministry of Civic Education and National Unity to publicize information relating to the proposed National Peace Commission Bill.

The human rights body has further asked the ministry to conduct wide consultations with all critical stakeholders, including victims of human rights abuses of past regimes, on the latest version of the Bill before it is tabled in Parliament.

CHRR executive director Michael Kaiyatsa stresses that this is critical in the development of a law that will serve all Malawians.

Kaiyatsa has made the sentiments in a statement he issued on Wednesday.

"CHRR considers the development of the National Peace Commission Bill as a sign that the government is committed to promoting unity and peaceful co-existence in the country.

"As such, there is an urgent need to make sure that everyone, including the victims past human rights abuses, have an opportunity to share their perspectives while there is still time, and before the bill is finalized," he says.

Kaiyatsa has further urged the government to ensure that there is support and political will so that the proposed National Peace Commission Bill should be successful in achieving sustainable peace and unity in the country.

He says one way to achieve this is through wide consultations with all critical stakeholders.

"In this regard, CHRR is concerned that there has not been sufficient public input or consultation on this Bill. Our interaction with communities shows that they know nothing about this Bill, which raises concern that the government is going ahead with this Bill without really talking to the people that are going to be directly or indirectly affected by it," emphasizes Kaiyatsa.

He cautions the government against pushing the bill without seeking people's input, warning that this will backfire.

"Consulting the people who will be affected by the Bill to make sure that they know what this proposed legislation is all about, that they understand what is it is and that they see the merits of it, is consistent with section 12 (1) (a) of the Republican Constitution of Malawi, which clearly states that "All legal and political authority of the State derives from the people of Malawi and shall be exercised in accordance with this Constitution solely to serve and protect their interests," continues the statement.

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To this effect, Kaiyatsa has reminded the government about Section 12 (1) (c) of the same Constitution of Malawi, which states that "the authority to exercise power of State is conditional upon the sustained trust of the people of Malawi and that trust can only be maintained through open, accountable and transparent Government and informed democratic choice".

"Our belief is that before any law is passed in parliament citizens ought to be consulted democratically in a transparent, Inclusiveness, accessible and open manner in order for the citizens to provide their interests to any public policy issue before it is made either into law or policy. Ensuring that the Bill is properly and publicly scrutinized is therefore also important considering the nature and possible implications of this Bill on efforts to achieve sustainable peace and unity in this country and to heal the wrongs of past regimes," he emphasizes.

The Minister of Civic Education and National Unity Timothy Pagonachi Mtambo assured that all the stakeholders will be consulted before the Bill is taken to Parliament.
Associate housing minister Marama Davidson today announced funding support for new initiatives that will prevent and reduce homelessness across New Zealand.

The project will be launched in Rotorua as well as in Whangarei, Auckland, Napier/Hastings and the Hutt Valley.

Over $4 million has been allocated to projects that address homelessness in local communities, Davidson says.

This is the first round of funding from the Governments $16.6 million Local Innovation and Partnership Fund, which is a key part of our Homelessness Action Plan.

The fund allows Government to partner with local providers or organisations who are doing innovative mahi to reduce homelessness in their area. The initiatives funded in this first round have a strong focus on Maori, rangatahi and the rainbow community.

They offer new and tailored strategies to disrupt the cycle of homelessness for communities experiencing discrimination and isolation.

For example, one of the recipients, Rainbow YOUTH, will partner with the housing and homelessness sector in Auckland to reduce the barriers LGBTQIA+ face when accessing mainstream housing services, says Davidson. Another, a partnership between Te Taiwhenua o Heretaunga Trust and Whatever It Takes in Hastings and Napier will provide support, positive relationships and connection using tikanga Maori to assist people whove experienced long-term homelessness and move people into permanent housing.

We have inherited a homelessness crisis that has been decades in the making, we know that homelessness disconnects people from their community, and has long-term impacts on health and well-being, Davidson continues. Addressing homelessness is a key priority for this Government, the projects funded today build on the knowledge, strengths and connections of local organisations and people.

Were pleased to work together with our community partners to ensure that homelessness in New Zealand is prevented where possible, or is rare, brief and non-recurring.

Round two of the Local Innovation and Partnership Fund is expected to open in mid-2021. The full list of successful applicants for round one funding is below.

Successful Local Innovation and Partnership Fund grant recipients

 Takiri Mai o Te Ata Collective in partnership with Petone Budget Service Inc

 Te Taiwhenua o Heretaunga in partnership with Whatever it Takes Trust

 RainbowYOUTH in partnership with Te Ngakau Kahukura and Auckland Council

 One Double Five Whare Awhina Community House in partnership with Mahitahi Hauora, Whangarei Youth Space, Ngati Hine Health Trust and Pehiaweri Marae

 Kahui Tu Kaha in partnership with Auckland Council Auckland Housing First Collective, South Pacific Pride, Arohanui ki te Tangata and Northland Urban Rural Mission

 Te Taumata o Ngati Whakaue Iho Ake Trust in partnership with Manaaki Ora Trust

 Lifewise in partnership with Auckland City Mission.
Lady Gaga's mother has revealed that 'everyone is doing as well as they can' after the dognapping crisis last month.

The pop star's dog walker Ryan Fischer was shot last month while trying unsuccessfully to save two of her pets from abduction.

Ryan survived, the dogs have been returned to Gaga, and her mother Cynthia Germanotta briefly discussed the current situation on Good Day New York this week.

Family resemblance: Lady Gaga's (right) mother Cynthia Germanotta (right) has revealed that 'everyone is doing as well as they can' after the dognapping crisis last month

'I mean under the circumstances everybody's doing as well as they can and on the path toward healing,' Cynthia shared on the chat show.

The news comes weeks after Gaga's French bulldogs Koji and Gustav were returned to her following their abduction.

In horrifying footage that went viral online Ryan screamed for help and was shot by dognappers who made off with Koji and Gustav in late February.

At the time of the robbery Ryan was walking not only Koji and Gustav but also Gaga's other dog Asia who managed to escape.

'In recovery': The pop star's dog walker Ryan Fischer was shot last month while trying unsuccessfully to save two of her pets from abduction

Ryan's family said his 'doctors expect him to make a full recovery,' and the Mirror reported Gaga would pay his medical bills.

After the robbery Gaga offered $500,000 'no questions asked' for the return of Koji and Gustav, in a move criticized by law enforcement experts who pointed out that a financial incentive may inspire copycat celebrity pet abductions.

She got the dogs back after a Good Samaritan found them tied to a pole and brought them to the police, law enforcement insiders revealed to TMZ.

In early March Ryan posted an Instagram update saying he had undergone 'a very close call with death' and including pictures of himself in the hospital.

With her babies: The news comes weeks after Gaga's French bulldogs Koji and Gustav were returned to her following their abduction

He expressed his 'gratitude for all the love I feel from around this planet' and added: 'I felt your healing support! Thank you.'

Gaga is currently in Italy filming Ridley Scott's upcoming movie House Of Gucci in which she stars opposite Adam Driver.

Adam plays onetime brand chief Maurizio Gucci and Gaga plays his ex-wife Patrizia Reggiani who was convicted of ordering his 1995 murder by a hit man.

When a reporter asked her why she used an assassin instead of doing the job herself she joked: 'My eyesight is not so good. I didn't want to miss.'

In character: Gaga is currently in Italy filming Ridley Scott's upcoming movie House Of Gucci in which she stars opposite Adam Driver

Patrizia, who was paroled in 2016, told the Italian wire service ANSA: 'I am rather annoyed at the fact that Lady Gaga is playing me in the new Ridley Scott film without having had the consideration and sensibility to come and meet me.'

She argued that 'It is not an economic question' as 'I won't get a cent from the film' and insisted: 'It is a question of good sense and respect.'

In 2019 Patrizia was asked about Ridley's film by RAI and said she was unhappy that her daughters would have to relive 'the situation of their father.'
In an unsurprising move by the Biden administration, the president ordered the reversal of the Title X Rule that prevents the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) from blocking millions in taxpayer funding to clinics that provide legal abortion, including Planned Parenthood.

The Title X Rule was previously issued by the HHS in February 2019 under the Trump administration, barring the use of taxpayer money to fund organizations that perform, promote, refer for, or support abortion as a method of family planning.

According to the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), not only is the United States being led by HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra who is "the most pro-abortion HHS Secretary ever," he is also set to administer the reversal of the defunding of at least $60 million in taxpayer funding to abortion clinics such as the largest in America, Planned Parenthood. The report reveals that funding is set to be handed over to Planned Parenthood by the end of the year.

"The Biden administration may go down as one of the most pro-abortion, pro-Planned Parenthood administrations in American history," the ACLJ stated. "President Biden has already taken steps to once again make working Americans pay for international abortions."

WND reported that Planned Parenthood is never without cold, hard cash as it proudly declared a staggering $618 million in government support, which goes to paying for about 355,000 abortions and lives lost annually because its parents and the medical professionals considered it a "fetus" and not a "baby."

President Biden boldly declared during his campaign that he would continue funding abortion providers if he is elected and he is now taking action to fulfill that promise.

What the "most pro-abortion" administration in U.S. history calls "undue restrictions on the use of federal funds" placed by former President Donald Trump is now reversed and set to further funnel in millions of taxpayer dollars into organizations such as Planned Parenthood to provide "necessary healthcare," terms used by the White House in their statement.

The Biden administration argued that Title X Rule hindered "federal family planning funding" for a number of women's healthcare providers, making it harder for them to "receive complete medical information," in other words, abortion.

ACLJ argues that while Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers have the right to express themselves, they "shouldn't be able to force the American people to pay for it-especially not when they're recommending killing innocent unborn babies." The Biden administration, on the other hand, has found a formidable ally in their pro-abortion advocacy as Health Secretary Xavier Becerra, the former California attorney general, is described by Yahoo! News as "best known for his longtime radical support for legal, unlimited abortion."

Now, the $60 million more funding provided by the Biden administration to Planned Parenthood will be able to support the establishment of more facilities across the country. But conservative states are fighting back. WDEF reported that in Chattanooga, Tennessee, some hundred people gathered in the Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul on Wednesday to condemn Planned Parenthood's plans to open up in the area.

"We don't need them here to do community education or health education. Chattanooga has federally qualified health centers. They have pregnancy resource centers. They have plenty of locations available to low income women," the Basilica's Pro-Life Ministry Director Deirdre Cooper said. "We don't need Planned Parenthood."
At least four people were killed and scores injured in violent protests on Friday set off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's arrival in to celebrate its 50th anniversary of independence.

The casualties happened after students from a prominent madrasa or Islamic school and members of an Islamist group clashed with police in the southeastern district of Chattogram.

Alauddin Talukder, a police official at the Chattogram Medical College Hospital, told reporters that five people with injuries were taken to the hospital and four of them died during treatment. Further details could not be confirmed immediately.

Local media reported that members of the Islamist group Hefazat-e-Islam, which has a network of Islamic schools, attacked government structures, including a police station and a land office, at Hathazari area in Chattogram before police took action.

At Dhaka's main mosque, clashes broke out between groups of demonstrators and police dispersed the crowd by using tear gas and rubber bullets injuring scores of people, officials and witnesses said.

The protesters also set fire to offices of a railway station in eastern district of Brahmanbaria, disrupting train communications.

Modi's two-day visit, his first abroad since the coronavirus pandemic began, will include commemorating 100 years since the birth of Bangladeshi independence leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the father of current Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

In recent weeks, demonstrators in have urged the Indian leader not to visit. They also have criticised Hasina for inviting him.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The sense of desperation and decay hits you in the most unlikely places, especially on the Champs-Elysees itself  the famed thoroughfare acknowledged as the most beautiful in the world.

But today there are piles of rubbish, vagrants with nobody to beg from, and lines of high-end shops, cafes and restaurants with security grills permanently pulled down.

And like everywhere else in the French capital, graffiti is commonplace. The most popular slogan is: Macron, demission! or Macron, resignation!.

These words became particularly pertinent this week, when Emmanuel Macron  at 43 the youngest president in recent French history and by no means the least arrogant  made a rare admission of incompetence.

Ministers constantly blame the so-called British variant for the spike. But it is Macron & Cos failure to control the crisis that has seen the emergence of strains from South Africa and Brazil

Discussing the EUs failure to implement a vaccine strategy, he said: We didnt shoot for the stars. That should be a lesson for all of us. We were wrong to lack ambition  the madness... to say, Its possible, lets do it!.

There was no hint of an apology. In fact, he later said he had no mea culpa to offer, no remorse, no acknowledgement of failure.

And while praising America for its vaccine policy, he did not mention Britain  a nation he has taken to bashing since the 2016 referendum to leave the EU. This is despite the UK rolling out 46 doses of Covid-19 vaccine per 100 people, compared to just 13 for France.

Now the death toll is approaching 100,000 in France, infection rates are exploding to 65,000 cases a day, and the number of patients in intensive care is at a four-month high of more than 4,500.

As a third wave threatens to engulf us, the capitals wards are so overcrowded that patients are being evacuated by helicopters to other parts of the country for treatment, and 80 per cent of non-Covid procedures have been cancelled.

Ministers constantly blame the so-called British variant for the spike. But it is Macron & Cos failure to control the crisis that has seen the emergence of strains from South Africa and Brazil. From this weekend, France is on Germanys list of high-risk destinations and Britain may follow suit.

Many of the less advantaged are dealing with the consequences of a collapsing economy and wondering if it will recover.

Walk around French cities and you are certain to come across crowds shouting for him to quit. Foremost are the Gilets Jaunes  or Yellow Vests. They started in 2018 calling to end fuel price rises. Buoyed by Macrons concessions, they made more demands, including Frexit  Frances EU exit

Macron, a former banker and finance minister, is acutely aware of the crippling economic and social problems created by the pandemic. Queues at food banks are a common sight, and there has been a 45 per cent increase in demands for state aid since 2019.

He justified his reasons for not locking down in January as Britain did because of education. But schools may not remain open much longer as infection rates among pupils have risen from 9,000 to 15,000 in one week.

As for the month-long lockdown restrictions announced a week ago, their enforcement during daylight hours is a joke.

Large groups congregate along the Seine and in parks and squares. Social distancing is seldom maintained, and many do not bother with masks.

It is only at night that a curfew ensures that the City of Love and Lights is quiet. Police ask those on the streets for the piece of paper that justifies their presence.

If you do not have one, the fine is 135 (115), and arrests of those considered a threat to public order are frequent, especially in suburbs where there has been an explosion of gang fights.

Macrons inability to institute a coherent coronavirus resistance programme intensifies the sense of crisis. On top of the EUs failure to procure sufficient vaccines and initiate a rollout, excessive red tape  for which France is notorious  is a factor here.

Large groups congregate along the Seine and in parks and squares. Social distancing is seldom maintained, and many do not bother with masks

To this, we must add the traditional French mistrust of vaccines. Macrons political posturing over the Oxford-AstraZeneca jab has fuelled suspicion. In January, he dismayed health officials when he claimed the Oxford jab was quasi-ineffective in the over-65s. This month, French experts decreed it was in fact suitable for everyone.

When concerns were raised about a possible link to blood clots in a small number of patients, Macron appeared to seize on this to further spread distrust in the jab, which was temporarily suspended.

When the European Medicines Agency gave it the all-clear, its use in France was restricted to over-55s, despite a lack of substantive evidence to support this.

Such farcical U-turns led a despairing Professor William Dab, Frances former director of public health, to say there had been a divorce from science under Macron. Half-hearted lockdowns and the lack of coherent test-and-trace meant the battle against contamination is lost, he said.

The damage has been done. According to one poll, almost two-thirds of French people think the AstraZeneca vaccine is unsafe.

Macron is guilty of blatant politicking over vaccines, putting the health of millions at risk. So why has he done it? The answer is a mix of vanity, personal ambition  and hatred of Brexit which, he once told me, he regards as a crime.

In the vaccine war he saw his chance to be a general. And his ultimate goal is clear. He views himself as the only candidate to succeed Germanys Angela Merkel as de facto leader of the EU and the greater federal project.

UK success in going it alone in the vaccine race emphasises the failings of the bloc, which he cannot stomach.

Ill defend Europe, the common destiny the peoples of our continent have given themselves, the new Napoleon, has said. How hollow that seems after nearly four years of chaos in France.

Macron has his eye on re-election next year, but his initial promise as an energetic independent politician is wearing thin. He is increasingly seen as a shallow egotist without the vision or management skills to implement change  and Covid has amplified that.

Walk around French cities and you are certain to come across crowds shouting for him to quit.

Foremost are the Gilets Jaunes  or Yellow Vests. They started in 2018 calling to end fuel price rises. Buoyed by Macrons concessions, they made more demands, including Frexit  Frances EU exit.

Much of their early success was the result of violent street protests that saw large areas of Paris vandalised at a cost of millions.

I stood on the Champs-Elysees watching buildings being set on fire by furious hordes as Macron skulked in the Elysee Palace.

Devoid of ideas or authority, he simply hoped that the problem would go away.

As a metaphor for his handling of the worst health and economic crisis faced by the EU, it could not be bettered. And now things look to get worse  much worse.

Nabila Ramdani is a journalist, broadcaster and academic specialising in Anglo-French issues, Islamic affairs, and the Arab world.
The Network of Financial and Tax Reporters (NFTR) Gambia Chapter on Wednesday convened a day's sensitisation for its members on ECOWAS protocols and its related treaties in respect to Inter-state Road Transit Barriers in the sub-region.

Held at the GCCI conference hall in Brusubi, the event was supported by The Gambia Revenue Authority (GRA).

Welcoming the participants, Abdoulie Nyockeh, president of NFTR -Gambia Chapter, said the forum would accord members the opportunity to have in-depth knowledge on what the ECOWAS protocol entails in order to effectively report on issues affecting cross-border trade.

He commended the management of GRA and stafffor supporting journalists to better understandECOWAS Protocols to be able to effectively report and disseminate information on the subject.

The support, he added, would go long way in enhancing the capacity of journalists on issues relating to transit and cross-border issues.

"I have no doubt that at the end of the forum, journalists will be equipped with the requisite knowledge on the ECOWAS Protocols."

He outlined that The Gambia is a tax-based economy, further underscoring the importance of tax in any nation's development.

"Without tax, forget about development. Therefore, payment of rates and taxes should be a collective responsibility for all us as patriotic citizens."

The primary objective of the NFTR, he added, is to ensure that there is a transparency in the payment of taxes especially among government, business community and the tax authority.

"I believe this forum is geared toward establishing a strong partnership between journalists, public and private sectors and to map-out the way for forward for a better Gambia."

The network, he reminded, is a non-profit making entity that is established to purposely promote and complement government's effort in creating awareness not only on the importance of but timely payment of taxes.

Alagi Jeng, acting secretary general of Gambia Banker's Association, hailed the network for its steadfastness in complementing government's efforts in awareness creation.

Since the inception of the Network, he observed that many activities have been implemented in partnership with GBA.

He therefore challenged journalists to be more committed to the network, describing it as one of the most vibrant networks in the country.

NFTR members sensitised on ECOWAS Protocols

By Sanna Jallow

The Network of Financial and Tax Reporters (NFTR) Gambia Chapter on Wednesday convened a day's sensitisation for its members on ECOWAS protocols and its related treaties in respect to Inter-state Road Transit Barriers in the sub-region.

Held at the GCCI conference hall in Brusubi, the event was supported by The Gambia Revenue Authority (GRA).

Welcoming the participants, Abdoulie Nyockeh, president of NFTR -Gambia Chapter, said the forum would accord members the opportunity to have in-depth knowledge on what the ECOWAS protocol entails in order to effectively report on issues affecting cross-border trade.

He commended the management of GRA and stafffor supporting journalists to better understandECOWAS Protocols to be able to effectively report and disseminate information on the subject.

The support, he added, would go long way in enhancing the capacity of journalists on issues relating to transit and cross-border issues.

"I have no doubt that at the end of the forum, journalists will be equipped with the requisite knowledge on the ECOWAS Protocols."

He outlined that The Gambia is a tax-based economy, further underscoring the importance of tax in any nation's development.

"Without tax, forget about development. Therefore, payment of rates and taxes should be a collective responsibility for all us as patriotic citizens."

The primary objective of the NFTR, he added, is to ensure that there is a transparency in the payment of taxes especially among government, business community and the tax authority.

Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Gambia West Africa Legal Affairs 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.

"I believe this forum is geared toward establishing a strong partnership between journalists, public and private sectors and to map-out the way for forward for a better Gambia."

The network, he reminded, is a non-profit making entity that is established to purposely promote and complement government's effort in creating awareness not only on the importance of but timely payment of taxes.

Alagi Jeng, acting secretary general of Gambia Banker's Association, hailed the network for its steadfastness in complementing government's efforts in awareness creation.

Since the inception of the Network, he observed that many activities have been implemented in partnership with GBA.

He therefore challenged journalists to be more committed to the network, describing it as one of the most vibrant networks in the country.
College Student Stabbed to Death by Roommate in Northern China, Police Calls It Suicide

A boy student died a violent death in a dorm building in a financial college in northern China, according to state media reports. Authorities say it was a suicide, a call that has drawn skepticism on social media.

On March 23, bloody images were circulated online involving a boy lying on the ground on his belly at the Zhengzhou Institute of Finance and Economics in Henan province. The scene was unbearably brutal.

On March 24, the colleges publicity department expressed that the male lying in blood in one of the images was a sophomore from their school and was somewhat under depression. School authorities determined that the case is an alleged act of self-harm after preliminary investigation, according to Chinas news portal Sohu.

On March 25, the Zhengzhou Public Security Bureau issued a notice, claiming that the incident was a suicide, and eliminated the possibility of homicide. It also called on the public to refrain from spreading rumors about the death.

However, official accounts drew wide suspicion on social media.

A netizen with the name of Internet User from Mars said on NetEase: Stabbing ones own neck. What nonsense.

It cant be killing himself, another netizen responded. Must be a fight between fellow students over a grudge. The school purposefully calls it a self-killing to fend for its reputation.

A social media Weibo user The Sky Is Darkening expressed: Mainstream society is inclined to distance you from such violent incidents. However, an innocent person will have to pay the cost of his life to maintain social harmony. This shows the evil of the whole society.

Another named Round Peanut raised his concerns in a Weibo post: Speechless. OMG. All you know is to suppress it as a PR crisis. Schools tend to point to depression or suicide whenever a campus incident breaks out. Cant you see its a living creature? Dont you feel sorrowful?

Source: Dorm Fight Escalates into Bloodshed

In an interview with the Chinese-language Epoch Times, a source revealed details behind the death.

At first it was a joke, though there was disharmony among roommates in the dorm, he recalled.

Soon afterward, it evolved into a physical conflict.

According to the source, the fight moved from a big dorm to another dorm, involving five or six students. Some had slight injuries.

The roommates were pulled apart and the fight ended. However, later, one of the guys went into a fury and picked up a knife and stabbed the victim.

As to why school administrators lied about the death, the source thought they wished to downplay the tragic event.

It was rumored online that administrators were worried that the accident would hurt the confidence of would-be students in their school.

The Epoch Times cannot identify the statement independently.

Nobody dares to report [the truth]. Whistleblowers are afraid to invite trouble to themselves. Now that the family of the victim dont hold a sign to protest, negotiations might be underway between them, said the source.

The source also expressed that violence does occur in the school, and that administrators always use all possible tools to block bad news and minimize its after-effect.

Not clear how many get killed or raped in a year, the informant continued. Its a common thing to hush up a death or a rape [in the school]. In some cases, [school authorities] will promise you an opportunity to be admitted to a masters degree program without having to take an entrance examination like other candidates. So, no truths will come out. This could be called an unspoken rule in the collegeall administrators join the coverup. After all, the school is rich and powerful and can say whatever it likes.

Local media outlets in the city of Zhengzhou take hush money, too, the source added.
A strip of land between the surfing meccas of Gracetown and Prevelly in Western Australias South West is set to be renamed Yebble after a Noongar hero who helped rescue passengers and crew from a 19th century shipwreck.

The recognition of the exploits of Samuel Yebble Isaacs, by literally putting his name on the map, is the latest instance of a broader movement in the state to commemorate historical Aboriginal figures and reconsider colonial place names which ignored the existing First Nations names for locations.

Samuel Yebble Isaacs.

The Shire of Augusta Margaret River voted on Wednesday night to request WAs Geographic Names Committee rename parts of the Gracetown and Burnside regions  which do not include townsites and mostly consist of Crown and reserve land, Ellenbrook Homestead, and Meekadarribee Falls  to Yebble.

The proposal was first raised by the Undalup Association after it wrote to the shire and Landgate.
WILLIAMSPORT -- A former Allenwood Federal Penitentiary inmate has admitted he participated in a tax refund scheme from behind bars that defrauded the Internal Revenue Service out of nearly $110,000.

Eric J. Judkins, 46, of Nashua, N.H., pleaded guilty Friday in U.S. Middle District Court to a charge on conspiracy to defraud the United States.

The scheme, which operated between January 2011 and October 2012, involved the submission of 80 fake income tax forms, Assistant U.S. Attorney Geoffrey W. MacArthur said.

Judkins and Larry Paul Benavides, 45, of North Versailles, Allegheny County, were the ringleaders of the scheme that involved others who were not charged, he said.

Benavides pleaded guilty last year in federal court in Pittsburgh to the same charge but has not been sentenced.

The scheme involved filling out 1040EZ tax forms containing inflated income amounts and false information about employment and withholding, MacArthur said.

Completed forms with the name and signature blocks left vacant were sold to other inmates for a percentage of what they received in refunds, he said.

People outside of the prison who had power of attorney would cash the refund checks for the inmates, he explained. Eleven of the claims sought refunds in excess of $4,000, court documents show.

Judkins remains free pending sentencing although his record includes assault and escape charges.

Through an oversight Judkins was not detained when he was released from prison in April 2019 nor was he directed to contact his probation officer since he was on supervised release, MacArthur explained.

Since the supervised release snafu was corrected, Judkins has stayed out of trouble and agreed to work with the IRS in trying to recover the money, the prosecutor said.

Judge Matthew W. Brann reminded Judkins he still is on supervised release and any violation could result in his incarceration.
Care Guide Cover While our website has long been a valuable resource for C. diff patients and their caregivers, we want to provide all the key information in one place.

Peggy Lillis Foundation for C. diff Education & Advocacy (PLF) today announced the online publication of its new C. diff Care Guide. The Care Guide provides patients with C. difficile infections and their caregivers wide-ranging information about the disease, its treatment and its long-term impacts in accessible language.

When our late mother, Peggy, was fighting for her life against this preventable infection, me and my brother were scouring the Internet for information on C. diff, said PLFs Executive Director Christian John Lillis. Unfortunately, what we found was either outdated or in the form of medical and scientific literature that was not easy to understand. While our website has long been a valuable resource for C. diff patients and their caregivers, we want to provide all the key information in one place.

The Care Guide was funded by Bio-K+, a division of Kerry. The Guide includes easy to understand information on topics C. diff patients frequently ask about, including how C. diff is spread, getting an accurate diagnosis, treatment options for primary and recurrent C. diff, preventing C. diff spread in the home, and socio-emotional impacts of recurrent C. diff.

According to Michel Sirgent, Senior Vice President of Bio-K Plus, C. diff infection is still a life-threatening challenge facing hospitalized and long-term care patients as well as those at risk in the community. Bio-K+ is relentless in its pursuit of helping health professionals across North America become more aware of and adopt improved prevention practices. Our work with C. dif goes back almost 20 years to our very first randomized clinical study. We are extremely proud to partner with the Peggy Lillis Foundation for this critical initiative.

Carol Raye, a C. diff survivor and member of PLFs Board of Directors said, When I was diagnosed with C. diff in 2011, there were very few resources for patients with information on the disease and how to cope with being infected. I lived alone and had no one to be my advocate, so I had to search the internet to find out what was happening to me and how to care for myself. Luckily, I had been a medical secretary in my youth and could filter through the Journals of Microbiology and discover things to make life somewhat more tolerable. All of the research, along with the effects of the disease, were exhausting. If there had been a one-stop information resource like the PLF "C. diff Care Guide", I believe that I would have sought the right help faster, learned what to do at home, and not have spent 6 months suffering before finding the right doctors to beat it.

The Care Guide is now available with free registration at PLFs website: http://www.peggyfoundation.org.

About Peggy Lillis Foundation for C. diff Education & Advocacy

Founded in response to the April 2010 death of 56-year-old kindergarten teacher, Peggy Lillis Foundation for C. diff Education & Advocacy (PLF) is the leading national organization dedicated to combating C. difficile infections through educating the public, empowering advocates and shaping policy. For more information visit http://www.peggyfoundation.org.
A TikTok star has revealed that she is getting her hairline microbladed to boost her confidence after her birth control pill caused her hair to fall out.

Hannah Jarrah, 20, from Huntington Beach, California, opened up about her first of four sessions in a video earlier this week, showing what her hair part looked like before and after the treatment.

'I'm getting my hair microbladed today. Yeah, you heard that right. Hairline. Microbladed. It's like what they do on the eyebrows but they are going to do on here,' she said, pointing to the top of her head.

Scroll down for video

Before and After: Hannah Jarrah, 20, from Huntington Beach, California, revealed on TikTok that she is getting her hair microbladed, showing off the results from her first treatment (right)

Treatment: Microblading simulates the appearance of hair using deposits of cosmetic tattoo pigments under the first layer of skin. It can cost anywhere from $700 to $2,000 per session

Candid: Hannah explained she is getting the treatment because her birth control pill caused her hair to thin and fall out Birth control can cause hair loss in some women

Microblading simulates the appearance of hair using deposits of cosmetic tattoo pigments under the first layer of skin.

While the treatment is typically done on sparse eyebrows, a growing number of people have been asking to have it done on their heads to beef up their receding hairlines.

Microblading can cost anywhere from $700 to $2,000 per treatment, depending on how large the area is, but Hannah was excited to report that it should last about three years.

'Let me tell you why I'm doing this. So basically birth control f**ked my hair up,' she explained, sharing a photo of the thinning hair on the top of her scalp.

Birth control can cause hair loss in women who are sensitive to the hormones in the pill or who have a history of hormone-related hair loss, according to Healthline.

Process: The TikTok star shared footage of herself during the microblading session

More to come: Hannah seemed impressed with the results when she showed off her hairline in front of the camera

It causes hair to move from the Anagen (growing) phase to the Telogen (resting) phase too soon and for too long, which can lead to large amounts of hair falling out. This type of hair loss is known as telogen effluvium.

'It's getting a lot better, but it is still something I'm really insecure about,' Hannah told her 583,000 followers of her hair loss.

'It's actually a huge accomplishment for me that I'm even talking about this on the internet because it's something that I just kept to myself for a really long time. But heard about this treatment, and I thought it would be perfect for me.'

Hannah shared footage of herself getting the treatment and sitting under a red light when it was done. She explained that she can't wash her hair for three days, but she promised to keep her fans updated.

However, she seemed impressed with the results when she showed off her hairline in front of the camera.

Honest: Hannah has worn hats and scarves to cover the top of her head. She said that while her hair is growing back, it's a source of insecurity for her

Words of wisdom: 'If you choose to do something like this in the future, have it come from a place of love,' she advised her fans

'So my hair looks dark black right now because there is ink in it still,' she said. 'But this is what it is looking like right now.'

A number of women commented on the video, saying the same thing had happened to them and they're plagued by insecurity.

'You made me feel less alone. I am struggling with the same thing and my hair looks the same way. Thank you for your vulnerability,' one person wrote.

'To the girls out there with hair like mine. I KNOW how easy it is to beat yourself up mentally,' Hannah responded. 'I promise you are beautiful and you will never truly feel confident in your hair til you learn to love it as it is.

'And if you choose to do something like this in the future, have it come from a place of love,' she added.
By Juliet Kigongo

The Family Court in Kampala will today decide on where the remains of lawyer Robert Aldridge Kasango, alias Bob, will finally be buried.

This follows a petition by the late lawyer's wife Nice Kasango Bitarabeho and children, who sought powers to have Kasango buried in Gweri Village, Fort Portal City contrary to Kasango's mother's wishes to have him laid to rest at his ancestral home in Tororo District.

During the hearing on Tuesday, Ms Bitarabeho told court that the couple acquired land in Fort Portal and it was her husband's wish to be buried there upon his death.

She also said Kasango had denounced his Tororo family on allegations that they had planned to kill him while he was still young.

FILE: Kasango burial standoff to be resolved in court

She said every time she would ask Kasango about his father, he would break down and cry, saying since his mother had several husbands, he was not sure who his father was.

However, Ms Rosie Kabise, Kasango's mother, said he was born in Busoga to a Musoga but was raised by his step father Okello Bonneventure of Tororo.

She said her late son had sent her money to buy land in Tororo where he should be laid to rest.

The third witness, Mr Michael Esau Opiiri, who testified as a neutral person, told court that it is against the Japadhola culture and tradition for Kasango's body to be buried at his in-law's place in Fort Portal.

He said since Kasango's grandfather was a Musoga but chose to be buried in Tororo, he should be buried that side at the ancestral tombs.

Background

Kasango succumbed to heart complications on February 27 at Luzira prison, where he was serving a 16-year jail sentence.

After his funeral service on March 2, mourners from Tororo grabbed the coffin containing the body of Kasango, put it on a truck and fled towards Tororo but were later intercepted by police.
BENGALURU (PTI): The ISRO is embarking on a mission of a different kind by taking the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST) to a much higher, futuristic research orbit.



The Bengaluru-headquarteted space agency is striking a partnership with the IIST  something similar to the JPL- Caltech model in the United States.



JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory) is federally funded by US space agency NASA and managed by Caltech (California Institute of Technology).



To coordinate joint research activities between ISRO centres and IIST, akin to the Caltech-JPL model, a dedicated framework has now been put into place, with CBPO (Capacity Building Programme Office) located at ISRO headquarters in Bengaluru as a focal point.



An Advanced Space Research Group has been created to identify application-oriented research projects of importance to ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) centres and matching with the interests of IIST faculty.



An Empowered Overseeing Committee has been constituted to review and approve the proposals.



CBPO Director, P V Venkitakrishnan told PTI that under the initiative, "very advanced, totally new and futuristic projects"  nothing that has been done by ISRO  would be taken up.



"Twenty-eight to 30 projects have been identified," he said.



It's a mix of two-years, 3-5 years, and seven-year projects that would be pursued by IIST faculty.



Thiruvananthapuram-based IIST, an autonomous institution under the Department of Space (DoS) and a 'Deemed to be University', is similar to Caltech, according to him.



Asked about the time-frame by which he expects the partnership to reach the JPL-Caltech level, Venkitakrishnan said: "We are expecting within eight to ten years. That is our ambition, our aim".



It was noted that NASA's JPL, founded by Caltech faculty, is the leading centre for the robotic exploration of the solar system.



It also conducts Earth-orbit and astronomy missions.



JPL's workforce includes a diverse population of scientists, engineers, technologists, developers, communicators, designers, safety experts and business administrators.



Venkitakrishnan said through the Post-doctoral fellowship programme offered by IIST, ISRO wants to attract more and more talent towards space research.



He also said that the Union government has been requested to accord 'Institute of National Importance' status to IIST.



Once approved, various ISRO centres would become constituent learning centres, allowing IIST to have a wider off-campus, he said.




Cortical Dynamics Update

Perth, Mar 26, 2021 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Cortical Dynamics Limited is very pleased to announce that its "Project Analgesia Investigation" using the Brain Anaesthesia Response Monitor (BARM(TM)) has been accepted by the Medical Device Partnering Program (MDPP) of Flinders University.Led by Professor Karen Reynolds, the MDPP has a strong track record of research excellence and commercialisation experience. The MDPP leverages the capacity of their research organisation, the Medical Device Research Institute (MDRI), and facilitates partnerships across industry and government connecting the MedTech ecosystem and turning ideas into proven concepts.It is supported by the Marshall Liberal Government through the Department for Innovation and Skills, and nationally through MTPConnect's $32 million Researcher Exchange and Development within Industry (REDI) initiative made possible by the Medical Research Future Fund.The Ideas Incubator provides successful applicants with 250 hours of research and development assistance, as well as 30 hours market intelligence, furthering products in medical device development pipeline. At the end of the project, all results, data, prototypes and any generated intellectual property are released unencumbered to the applicant with future steps required to commercialise the device. The focus of the collaboration will be further investigation of the Cortical Input component (CI or pain) of the BARM(TM) technology.About BPH Energy Limited

BPH Energy Limited (ASX:BPH) is an Australian Securities Exchange listed company developing biomedical research and technologies within Australian Universities and Hospital Institutes.

The company provides early stage funding, project management and commercialisation strategies for a direct collaboration, a spin out company or to secure a license.

BPH provides funding for commercial strategies for proof of concept, research and product development, whilst the institutional partner provides infrastructure and the core scientific expertise.

BPH currently partners with several academic institutions including The Harry Perkins Institute for Medical Research and Swinburne University of Technology (SUT).
State lawmakers will soon hold public hearings at the Texas Capitol on legislation that would make voting more difficult and confusing for Texans. Many of the proposed bills are aimed directly at ways Houston and Harris County improved voting access. Although state and federal courts upheld innovative practices such as drive-thru voting and 24-hour voting in 2020, the governor, lieutenant governor and some legislators now want to make them illegal in future elections.

These bills not only stifle local innovation, but they also aim to decrease voting hours and limit the number of voting machines in urban counties where more Black and Hispanic voters reside. They would force disabled voters, many of whom do not have access to health care, to provide a certified doctors note to vote by mail. They seek to inflict criminal penalties on voters and election workers and make in-person voting less safe.

Its already harder to vote in Texas than any other state  if these bills become law, Texas would be codifying the most regressive and oppressive election policies since the racist Jim Crow era. Following the killing of former Houston resident George Floyd, companies across America stood up in denouncing racism and embracing inclusivity and equity as corporate values. These proposed laws are in direct conflict with those values.

Throughout my time as chief elections officer for Harris County in 2020, my office worked with partners in the business and faith communities to administer an election that was safe, secure and accessible despite the pandemic. We were proud to team with the Rockets to turn Toyota Center into a massive walk-in and drive-thru voting center where thousands of Texans exercised their constitutional right and civic duty.

We increased voting centers and hours throughout the county and decreased wait times. Harris County saw its highest voter turnout in history, and both major political parties saw dramatically increased participation.

Its disappointing and discouraging to learn that many of these innovations would be eliminated under the proposed voter suppression bills, and its downright upsetting to learn that legislation would also add barriers to voters of color and those with disabilities.

Businesses have recently taken a stand for social justice, and they shouldnt remain silent while these regressive, undemocratic proposals make their way through the state Legislature. Homegrown Texas companies, as well as those that have relocated headquarters here, have been vocal about fighting inequality, and many were active in supporting voting efforts in 2020. This fight is just as important. And this fight is winnable.

Similar legislation has made headlines in Georgia. After voters  Black voters in particular  turned out in record numbers in the 2020 presidential election and 2021 Senate runoffs, state lawmakers began efforts to eliminate voting on Sundays, when Black churches typically hold souls to the polls programs. They also sought to eliminate no-excuse absentee voting, which was permitted in 45 states in 2020. (Texas, unsurprisingly, was not one of them.)

The business community did not sit silently. The Georgia Chamber of Commerce issued a statement declaring that the right to vote is one of the most sacred rights of a U.S. Citizen, that free enterprise thrives when democracy is secured, and upholding the American ideal of free and fair elections.

Georgia-based companies like Coca-Cola and Home Depot aligned themselves with the chambers position, and their efforts appear to have borne fruit. Although Georgia lawmakers enacted a number of voting restrictions, Sunday voting and no-excuse absentee voting were left intact.

Here in Texas, companies such as H-E-B, AT&T, CenterPoint and Pizza Hut have taken recent stands for social justice and against racism. Joining the fight for voting rights is in line with their values and is in the best interest of their employees and customers (not to mention our state and our country).

Its also in the best interest of their bottom lines. Voters are customers too, and consumers are becoming more aware of and attracted to companies that support their values. Polls show that pro-democracy measures and stronger voting rights are deeply popular with the public.

Opposing measures that hurt Texas voters isnt complicated. It makes sense for our democracy, it makes good business sense and it makes common sense. But time is not on our side. The Texas Houses voter suppression bill has already been brought up by the Elections Committee, and the committee adjourned without hearing testimony from hundreds of Texans. Its companion bill in the Senate is not far behind. I hope that Texas corporations will use their power to amplify the voices of their employees and customers. The future of our democracy depends on it.

Hollins is the former county clerk of Harris County.
A complaint against the BBC has been upheld after Adrian Chiles failed to debunk a hospital matron's scaremongering claim that she had a 'whole ward of children with Covid'.

The broadcaster was criticised for its interview, during which Laura Duffel suggested the second wave was causing a surge in youngsters hospitalised with the virus.

But the BBC has now conceded the claims made on Radio 5 Live's show Chiles on Friday created an 'inaccurate impression' that wrongly worried parents.

The nurse told the radio host on January 1: 'It was minimally affecting children in the first wave but we have a whole ward of children here and I know some of my colleagues are in the same situation with whole wards of children with Covid.'

The King's College Hospital matron also said the surge in cases was 'much scarier' than in the first wave.

Laura Duffel (pictured left) suggested to BBC Radio 5 Live host Adrian Chiles (right) on January 1 that the second wave was causing a surge in youngsters hospitalised with Covid

Dr Ronny Cheung, a consultant at a London children's hospital, said he was not accusing the nurse of lying, but that it was 'very important it is not misconstrued for worried parents'

A listener complained that the show spread misinformation about the general incidence and severity of Covid infections among young people, fearing Ms Duffel's remarks could make parents too scared to send their children back to school.

In a Twitter thread Dr Ronny Cheung, a consultant at a London children's hospital, said Ms Duffel's comments were 'irresponsible in the extreme'.

He wrote: 'I've been the on call consultant in a London children's hospital this week - this is simply not true, and irresponsible in the extreme - frightens parents, fuels Covid-deniers. Covid is rife in hospitals, but not among children.

'We have enough to deal with without this garbage.'

The leading pediatrician added he was not accusing the nurse of lying, but that it was 'very important it is not misconstrued for worried parents', adding children were getting Covid, they just weren't 'being admitted in great swathes'.

He said: 'They are not all getting seriously ill and being admitted in great swathes, and that is corroborated by my colleagues across London.'

Dr Cheung is clinical director of the Healthy London Partnership Child Death Overview Panel Transformation Programme and the child health representative on the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Indicators Advisory Committee.

The day after the broadcast, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health issued a statement saying: 'As of now we are not seeing significant pressure from Covid-19 in paediatrics across the UK.

In a Twitter thread Dr Cheung, a consultant at a London children's hospital, previously said he was not aware of 'whole wards' of children with coronavirus

He later claimed he was not accusing the nurse of lying, but that it was 'very important it is not misconstrued for worried parents', adding children were getting coronavirus, they just weren't 'being admitted in great swathes'

Ms Duffel is a vocal campaigner for nurses who has appeared on Good Morning Britain on a number of occasions, once to talk about paying 1,440 to park outside her place of work

Ms Duffel defended herself against backlash online following the interview, as others accused her of lying about having a ward filled with children with coronavirus

'As cases in the community rise there will be a small increase in the number of children we see with COVID-19, but the overwhelming majority of children and young people have no symptoms or very mild illness only.'

Ms Duffel - a vocal campaigner for nurses who previously appeared on Good Morning Britain to talk about paying 1,440 to park outside her place of work - previously defended herself against backlash online, as others accused her of lying about having a ward filled with children with coronavirus.

She wrote: 'I'm not trying to scare people. But people should know that this wave is not isolated to the older generation.

'If I save a single life through making people think twice before mixing with others surely it is worth sharing what we are dealing with day in day out in hospitals.'

The BBC has now conceded the claims made on Radio 5 Live's show Chiles on Friday created an 'inaccurate impression' that wrongly worried parents (file photo)

It later emerged that the 'interviewee had been speaking on the basis of very small numbers in her own hospital', the BBC said.

The corporation's executive complaints unit (ECU) concluded: 'The programme-makers had not sought to establish the number of children involved or the severity of their symptoms.'

It said that, 'while appreciating the difficulty of obtaining a corroborating medical view on a public holiday', it was 'concerned that remarks on a topic of such concern to parents, and which appeared at odds with what was generally understood to be the case, had been included in the broadcast without more scrutiny (and further circulated on Twitter).'

The ECU added: 'The programme published another tweet the following day which included the statement from the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health.

'The ECU thought this an appropriate step to have taken, but it did not address the inaccurate impression likely to have been given to listeners to the programme the day before.'
The driver of a stolen SUV who struck an 11-year-old boy as he chased after an ice cream truck on Wednesday has been caught on camera speeding away from the scene without offering aid.

Shocking surveillance footage of the hit-and-run in Los Angeles' Historic South-Central neighborhood was released by the LAPD.

The victim, identified by family as Frank Portillo, is in stable condition at a local hospital as he recovers from severe injuries, KTLA News reports.

Footage shows the boy running along the sidewalk trying to catch up with a passing ice cream truck.

The boy appears to look both ways as he crosses the street before being struck by the SUV and sent spinning down the street.

Scroll down for video

Police released surveillance footage of the moment Frank Portillo, 11, is struck by a hit-and-run driver

The driver of the SUV exits the car to look at the boy before re-entering his car and fleeing the scene without helping the boy or calling police

Family confirmed the identity of the victim of the hit-and-run as 11-year-old Frank Portillo

The driver of the SUV immediately exits the car to look at the boy.

But moments later he is seen re-entering the vehicle and reversing away from the scene at speed without helping the boy or calling police.

Police are searching for the driver of the gray or beige 2002 Chevy Tahoe, which was reported stolen out of Rampart Division on March 21, 2021.

Officers described the driver as a Hispanic male in his 30's anywhere between 5- foot-9 and 6 feet tall.

Police are searching for the driver of the SUV that struck 11-year-old Frank Portillo (pictured)

Family of Frank Portillo,11, said he is in stable condition after suffering severe injuries

The family of 11-year-old Frank Portillo say he is in stable condition as he recovers from being struck by an SUV

Police are searching for the driver of the gray or beige 2002 Chevy Tahoe SUV bearing the California License Plate No. 6SEZ288

Los Angeles Police are offering up to $25,000 for information leading to the to the arrest and conviction of the suspect in the case.

Anyone with information about this hit-and-run incident can contact Central Traffic Division detectives at 213-833-3713, or the divisions watch commander at 213-833-3746.

Those who wish to remain anonymous can contact the L.A. Regional Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477, or go directly to www.lacrimestoppers.org.
UTICA, N.Y.  YWCA Mohawk Valley is recognizing eight local women through its annual Salute to Outstanding Women.

One woman is chosen in each category, to be awarded for their professional achievements or work in the community.

The following women have been selected as honorees:

Education: Dr. Meredith Madden

Entrepreneur: Ari Gaeta

Healthcare: Shannon Cayea

Human & Public Service: Stephanie Dulak-Eghigian

Outstanding Youth: Maria Htoo

Professions/Business Industry: Laura Powers

Social Justice: Dawn Carter Laguerre

STEAM: Maria Smith

The women were chosen as honorees in 2020, but due to the coronavirus pandemic, the reveal and luncheon were postponed.

This years event will be held virtually on Thursday, April 22, at noon.

For more information on the honorees or tickets, click here.
Fertilizer producers say from three blending plants operating at 40 per cent capacity in 2016, Nigeria today has 44 fertilizer blending plants most of which are operating at full capacity.

President Muhammadu Buhari Thursday in Abuja said a new basic chemicals platform worth $1.3billion that will produce ammonia and fertilizers in Nigeria will be ready for commissioning in the coming months.

Speaking at an audience with Fertilizer Producers and Suppliers Association of Nigeria (FEPSAN), President Buhari said the new plant will be built in partnership with the Kingdom of Morocco.

"His Majesty, the King of Morocco and I, have agreed to extend the current Phosphate supply agreement between the Kingdom of Morocco and Nigeria.

"We both believe that to consolidate and expand on the successes recorded thus far, we must secure raw material supplies to our blenders.

"Furthermore, to improve the balance of trade between Nigeria and Morocco, the two countries have signed an agreement to develop a $1.3 billion Basic Chemicals Platform in Nigeria that will produce Ammonia, Phosphoric Acid, Sulphuric Acid and various Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium (NPK) and Diammonium Phosphate (DAP) fertilisers using Nigeria's gas reserves, " he said.

The President added that the new plant when completed would complement the existing Dangote and Indorama Chemicals facilities that produce urea, ammonia and other industrial raw materials.

"When we combine these projects with the existing 44 blending plants, Nigeria will indeed become a regional and global fertiliser powerhouse," he said.

On the activities of the FEPSAN, President Buhari expressed delight on the progress they have made over the past five years, saying that despite the country going through recessions during the period, investments in the fertiliser and agricultural inputs sector continued to grow.

"Though many investors chose to take their monies out of Nigeria, you continued to invest. Today, we are seeing the fruits of your smart, long term and patriotic decisions.

"This is why all Nigerians should be proud of the personal commitments and sacrifices you all made in getting us to where we are today.

"Another commendable trait worth mentioning is that all your investments have been balanced between urban and rural Nigeria. These are the types of investments needed to address the unemployment and security challenges our nation is facing today," he said.

He assured them that the Federal Government would continue to ensure a conducive business environment for these investments to flourish.

On the issue of security, the President expressed concern that the lack of employment prospects and opportunities in most rural communities had remained a major contributor to insecurity.

He noted that for decades, previous Government policies have focused on urban development at the expense of rural inclusion.

"In the last four years, we have worked hard to bridge some of these economic imbalances through our various agricultural and financial policies to attract employment opportunities to rural areas.

"As we continue to expand our security operations to bring an end to these challenges, it is important to note that peace and prosperity can only be sustained if we collectively and actively support investments that take opportunities to our rural citizens.

"I, therefore, urge our governors, bankers, investors and entrepreneurs to look beyond our cities when it comes to investments.

"As we have seen from Nigeria's five-year fertiliser revolution, if investors are willing to endure the short term 'start-up' pains, they will surely benefit from long term sustainable and substantial gains," he said.

The President commended Governor Muhammad Badaru Abubakar of Jigawa State, Mr Thomas Etuh and his FEPSAN team, the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority, security and intelligence agencies and all Federal and State Government agencies for their collaboration in making the project possible.

"I will also use this opportunity, on behalf of Nigerians, to thank my brother and friend, His Majesty, the King of Morocco for being with us during this difficult but exciting journey.

"This mutually beneficial partnership between our two countries is a true example of how intra-Africa trade and partnership should work," he said.

In his remarks, Thomas Etuh, FEPSAN President, recounted that in their first meeting with President Buhari five years ago, he gave the association a mission to reduce Nigeria's reliance on import, enhance fertiliser availability and affordability and create jobs over a 4-year period.

"Today, 4 years later Mr President, I am proud to inform Your Excellency, and indeed all Nigerians, that mission is accomplished," he said.

Mr Etuh told President Buhari that from 3 blending plants operating at 40 per cent capacity in 2016, today Nigeria has 44 blending plants most of which are operating at full capacity.

Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Nigeria Governance Food and Agriculture 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.

"From focusing on one fertiliser blend (NPK20:10:10) in 2017, today, we have countless numbers of crop-specific blends coming up across the country.

"From being reliant on imports, today over 60 per cent of raw materials used in fertiliser production are locally sourced.

"From having fertiliser scarcity which led to rationing, today any farmer can buy as many bags as he or she wants.

"As a matter of fact, some farmer associations even give customised orders for their specific crops. On behalf of the Nigerian farmers we wish to thank Mr President for empowering them," he said.

The FEPSAN leader added that from being an unbankable sector that was on the verge of bankruptcy, the members of the association in the last 3 months alone have been able to raise bank guarantees and funding of close to N100 billion.

"Mr President, just 4 years ago, FEPSAN used to beg for money. Today Sir, the banks are begging us to take their money," he said.

Femi Adesina

Special Adviser to the President

(Media & Publicity)

March 25, 2021
India needs to focus on predictability and preparedness of projects, in order to make the full use of overseas development assistance (ODA) offered by Japan, an official from International Cooperation Agency (JICA) said on Friday.

"We need accountability for our Japanese taxpayers. We also need good preparedness on land acquisition, environment impact assessment, budget, and a detailed project report...Coordination should also be given high priority," said Sakamoto Takema, Director General, South Asia department,

He also said that it is crucial for India to maintain good track record for projects as has accountability to tax payers in

Sakamoto was speaking at a webinar on ODA to India organized by the International Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER).

"We can work together to address Indias private sectors concerns in sectors such as infrastructure, regulations and human resources, creating a balanced society for sustainability by focussing on environment, gender, vulnerability. The same can be achieved through innovation of technology in the social and technology sector," he said.



ALSO READ: JICA extends Rs 3,717 cr loan for developing Metro Phase 2 in Bengaluru

is the world's largest bilateral development agency, with India being it's most prominent partner in the world.

India has been the top recipient of yen loans from Japan since 2003 surpassing China, which had been holding that position for many years. Over the last decade, Japan has committed a total of Japanese Yen 3.1 trillion for a wide variety of infrastructure projects in India.

Japan is closely working with India in the north eastern region, with biodiversity conservation and forest management in Sikkim, support to the water supply and sewage projects in Guwahati. JICA is also involved in the north east road network connectivity across Assam and Meghalaya, among other important initiatives at Tripura, Manipur, Mizoram and Nagaland.

As the largest recipient of Japans ODA, India has become an important strategic international partner to Japan. Japan being the largest source of ODA for India supports the strategic vision of Japan extending its reach further in ASEAN and the South Asia region.Japans ODA can
They face a long bus ride before reaching their final destination, perhaps several.

But after what Karina Aguirre and her two children had been through this last month to get here, it is clear that will not stop them.

The 23-year-old from Suchitepequez, a southwestern region of Guatemala, paid $10,000 to a coyote (people smuggler) and spent 45 days walking and riding in buses and trucks, before they were able to enter the US.

Now, her eyes flash as she ponders the prospect of a new life for her and her youngsters, and the chance to reunite with her mother, who left when she was five.

It was a difficult journey, she says. I will be happy to meet my mother. And for her to see my children.

In the last few weeks, as hundreds of migrants have entered the US, many of them taking the opportunity presented by changes enacted by Joe Biden, who was determined that the most vulnerable seeking asylum should have their cases determined while waiting in the US rather than Mexico, the bus station in Brownsville has acted as both a transport hub and makeshift processing centre.

Every day scores, if not hundreds, are dropped by Customs and Border Patrol agents. And hundreds board buses bound for cities such as as Dallas and Houston. From there, many will change buses and meet up with relatives in places such as Indiana and Florida.

Aguirre is heading to Florida where her mother lives, and where she hopes she can find a new start, a proper job for herself, and school for her children, a daughter and a son.

I want to find a proper profession, she says. In my country, there is so much poverty, and violence.

The bus station, more properly La Plaza at Brownsville Terminal, is an elegant structure, styled on architecture of a previous century, and is edged by palm trees. Today, the area where people wait for the buses  not the air-conditioned interior  is packed with people such as Aguirre.

Many are sleeping on the floor, or resting on seats, their eyes often dropping shut as though they were weighted with heavy stones. Everyone appears ready for a good long sleep.

Alonzo Edgardo, 35, is with his wife, Miralda, and two-year-old son, Kelvin, and came from El Salvador. There are too many problems there, and the pandemic has made it worse, he says. Right now, there are no vaccines. And there are no jobs.

They are scheduled to travel to New Jersey, where their sponsor, his wifes aunt, lives. They do not know how long the bus ride will take, and seem less than delighted when they are told it will take them no small time to get where they are going.

To help them arrive in better health, and with some degree of comfort, charities such as Team Brownsville, and the city government, have been working to provide food, clothes and other essentials.

 Children in custody inside Texas migrant centre

The city has also contracted with a clinic to carry out Covid testing. The number of people testing positive is very low. Less than one per cent, says a nurse, who asks not to be named. The children are a little nervous. But the adults are fine with it.

Javier Guajardo, who usually works for Good Neighbour Settlement House, a homeless charity, is overseeing the efforts of volunteers who provide the migrants with backpacks filled with a blanket, snacks and toiletries. It can get cold on the buses.

Cindy Claudia works with a group of mainly women, known as the Angry Tias and Abuelas of the Rio Grande Valley, that operates on both sides of the border to help those in need.

She says some of the volunteers refer to the bags and items as Dignity Packs. They contain some toiletries, but we are trying to give these people back their dignity, which has been taken away by the way our government has treated them, she says.

Almost all of the migrants are from Central America, though volunteers say a number of those arriving at the border in recent days and weeks set off originally from Cuba.

The decision by the Biden administration means officials have been releasing many migrants before they have court dates for their asylum cases. Individuals are required to contact the authorities when they arrive at their relatives home.

The update in arrivals, something that has spiked several times since 2014, often in response to political changes in the US, has created the first major test for Biden, who was elected vowing to oversee a more humane immigration policy than Donald Trump.

On Thursday, at his first official press conference since becoming president, he defended his policies and denied claims that his comparatively softer attitude was encouraging more migrants.

It happens every single, solitary year. There is a significant increase in the number of people coming to the border in the winter months of January, February, March. It happens every year, he said. By the way, does anybody suggest that there was a 31 per cent increase under Trump because he was a nice guy? And he was doing good things at the border? That's not the reason theyre coming.

Hundreds of men, women and children are setting off from the Brownsville bus station (AFP/Getty)

Donal Jose Valle says the reason he has come to the US has nothing to do with Biden, or the time of year.

Rather, the 36-year-old says he, his wife and two children from Managua, in Nicaragua, set off on a journey that took them 36 days, because of the situation in their own country.

In Nicaragua, President Daniel Ortega is likely to seek another term in November, despite growing disquiet. In 2018, more than 100 people were killed in clashes with the police.

Last month, the UN high commissioner for human rights, Michelle Bachelet, said new laws adopted by Nicaraguas government were undermining fundamental freedoms.

My office has documented 117 cases of harassment, intimidation and threats by police officers or pro-government elements against students, peasants, political activists, human rights defenders and organisations of victims and of women, she said.

Valle is emotional as he explains why he has had to leave. The situation has become steadily worse, he says. Ortega is now like a dictator, like Somoza, he says, referring to Anastasio Somoza Debayle, the late dictator ousted by Ortega and his Sandinista rebels in 1979. He was assassinated the following year in Paraguay.

Aguirre is traveling first to Houston on a pale blue bus, operated by the El Expreso Bus Company. The driver is Alejardo Saldana. He says in the last few weeks, he has been driving hundreds of migrants as they embark on new lives, new beginnings. It is very good for these people, he says.

Aguirres bus is due to leave at 11.30am, and as the departure time nears, a queue of travellers line up, tickets in their hands.

The young woman and her children take a seat on the upper desk, not far from the front, the youngsters looking out of the glass. At 11.40am, Saldana takes his seat, reverses the bus out of the bay, and the gate to the terminal swings open to let him pass.

There are some waves from the passengers, and then the bus is gone.
Chime Biologics has built the world's first GE KuBio modular bio-manufacturing facility in Wuhan Bio-Lake Biotech Industry Development Zone of China (China Optics Valley). The facility complies with global quality standards of ICH, FDA, EMA and NMPA. With its state-of-the-art facility and rich experience in bio-manufacturing, Chime Biologics provides one-stop integrated solutions to support the dynamic needs of the rapidly evolving bio-pharmaceutical industry from early drug development to late stage clinical and commercial cGMP production. Since 2016 Chime Biologics has been maintaining a success rate of 100% in bio-manufacturing and providing various customers with top-quality biopharmaceutical products.

In order to meet the increasing demands for CDMO services from various customers, Chime Biologics has already started the second phase of its facility expansion to increase the total manufacturing capacity to more than 140,000L within the next 5 years.

"The successful completion of this financing round will further accelerate the capacity expansion process of Chime Biologics," said Mr. James Huang, the Executive Chairman of Chime Biologics. "With the rapid growth of China's biologics market and the surging demand for CDMO service, Chime Biologics will further leverage on its world-class quality system and commercial-scale manufacturing capabilities to continue providing our customers worldwide with first-class CDMO services."

Mr. Andrew Ng, the Managing Director and Head of Healthcare of VMS Group said, "We are very impressed by the manufacturing track record and fast-growing customer base of Chime Biologics. With our investment and strategic supportwe strongly believe Chime Biologics could expand its production and business rapidly, and become one of the leading CDMO players both in China and the global arena in the near future."

"It is the great honor of Chime Biologics to have the trust and recognition from internationally renowned institutional investors. We will continuously build up advanced technology platforms and more capacities to better serve our customers, and also welcome biologics partners from all over the world to come here, exchanging experiences and seeking for developments together," said Dr. John (Xianfang) Zeng, CEO of Chime Biologics Limited.

About Chime Biologics

Chime Biologics is a world-class CDMO with operations in China that provides customer-centric and cost-effective outsourcing services for biopharmaceutical development and manufacturing. Its world's first GE KuBio facility is located at Wuhan's Bio-Lake biotech industry development zone of China, with clear path to expand the total capacity up to 140,000+ liters in the near future. Chime Biologics is ISO 14001:2015 and ISO 45001:2018 certified, and is committed to uphold the highest degree of integrity. Since 2016 Chime Biologics has been providing customers with clinical materials for pre-clinical and clinical stages globally and supporting their production at various scales from 50L, 200L, 500L to 2,000L across IND-enabling studies to late-stage process development, scale-up, process characterization and process performance qualification. Since then, Chime Biologics has been providing clinical supply to over 20 countries worldwide.

About VMS Group

VMS Group is a leading multi-strategy financial group, providing asset management (private equity, real estate and structured finance), brokerage and corporate finance advisory services. VMS Private Equity specializes in growth capital, with a focus on China-related investments in healthcare, technology, media, telecom (TMT) and consumer sectors. VMS healthcare practice focuses on the next innovative companies around the globe that could resolve unmet clinical needs across medical treatment, diagnosis and general health management. As of today, VMS Group has successfully completed more than 100 investments both onshore in China and offshore around the world since inception, and currently manages total assets in excess of USD 3.8 billion .

About Fidelity International

Fidelity International offers investment solutions and services and retirement expertise to more than 2.5 million customers globally. As a privately held, purpose-driven company with a 50-year heritage, we think generationally and invest for the long term. Operating in more than 25 countries and with $706.3 billion in total assets, our clients range from central banks, sovereign wealth funds, large corporates, financial institutions, insurers and wealth managers, to private individuals.

About Panacea Venture

Panacea Venture is a science-focused venture capital firm focusing on investing in and incubating early stage life science companies with disruptive and breakthrough technologies and discoveries that can potentially address huge unmet medical needs and enhance quality of life. Our investment is focused and precise.We take very hands-on approach to our portfolio companies, often acting as members of the founding team. Also we bring in significant experience, expertise, resource, and network. Panacea Venture manages both USD fund and RMB fund, and has an operation office in Shanghai, China. Our investment teams are located in Europe, US and China covering most major life science hubs.

Media Contact:

Phone: +86-027 8787 9208

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Chime Biologics
Many have expressed feelings that their congressional representative rarely, if ever, visits their part of the district and seems to only care about concerns of residents in the more urban sections of the 1st District. Over the years, resentment about representation may have hardened some of these suburban and rural constituents into enthusiastic GOP voters.
Michigan reported 5,030 additional coronavirus cases and 20 new deaths Friday, March 26.

The state is averaging 3,678 new COVID-19 cases and 22 new deaths per day over the last week. This marks fifteen days of day-over-day increase in the weekly average for cases and the third day the average has exceeded 3,000 cases.

This is also the highest seven-day average since Dec. 19.

Since the pandemic began, Michigan has reported 647,899 confirmed cases and 16,004 deaths related to COVID-19. The state has also reported 70,556 probable cases and 1,019 probable deaths, in which a physician and/or antigen test ruled it COVID-19 but no confirmatory PCR test was done.

(The above chart shows Michigans 7-day rolling average of new confirmed coronavirus cases. You can put your cursor over a bar to see the number. You also can click on the option just below the headline to see the actual number of new cases reported by day.)

Seventy-nine of Michigans 83 counties reported new cases on Friday, with the exception of the Upper Peninsula counties of Gogebic, Luce, Alger and Ontonagon.

Counties with the most new cases remain in southeast Michigan, including Wayne with 905, followed by Macomb with 775 and Oakland with 654. Other top reporting counties included Kent with 298, Genesee with 195, St. Clair with 168, Ingham with 167, Ottawa with 156, Washtenaw with 147 and Kalamazoo with 112.

Eleven counties reported new deaths. Wayne reported six, while Macomb reported four. Oakland reported three and Lapeer reported two.

The following counties reported one new death: Kent, St. Clair, Jackson, Monroe, Midland, Arenac and Mecosta.

(The above chart shows Michigans 7-day rolling average of deaths involving confirmed coronavirus cases. You can put your cursor over a bar to see the number. You also can click on the option just below the headline to see the actual number of new deaths reported by day.)

Hospitals statewide were treating 1,843 patients with confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, the latest day data was available, including 379 patients in the ICU.

Of the 48,000 diagnostic tests processed on Wednesday, 10.6% came back positive for SARS-CoV-2. Current data shows the positivity rate has exceed 10% for five days.

The average positivity rate over the last seven days is 9.3%, nearly double the 5% recommended by health officials for opening schools and economies.

Note: The chart below rounds up to the nearest whole number

As of Thursday, Michigan had administered more than 3.91 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine. This includes about 2.52 million first doses and about 1.39 million second doses. The Moderna and Pfizer vaccines recommend two doses administered weeks apart, but the Johnson & Johnson vaccine only requires one dose for full immunization.

Case reporting

First is a chart showing new cases reported to the state each day for the past 30 days. This is based on when a confirmed coronavirus test is reported to the state, which means the patient first became sick days before.

You can call up a chart for any county, and you can put your cursor over a bar to see the date and number of cases.

(In a few instances, a county reported a negative number (decline) in daily new cases, following a retroactive reclassification by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. In those instances, we subtracted cases from the prior date and put 0 in the reported date.)

The next chart below shows new cases for the past 30 days based on onset of symptoms. In this chart, numbers for the most recent days are incomplete because of the lag time between people getting sick and getting a confirmed coronavirus test result, which can take up to a week or more.

You can call up a chart for any county, and you can put your cursor over a bar to see the date and number of cases.

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.
(Natural News) Pfizer executives are making plans to raise prices on their experimental covid vaccine once the pandemic messaging ends. When the World Health Organization claims the pandemic is under control, Pfizer still has plans to profit from covid-19 every year, into perpetuity. A virtual conference hosted by Barclays revealed the ill-gotten plans of investors and top Pfizer executives, as they continue to plot their next business moves.

In the virtual conference, Carter Lewis Gould, a senior analyst for Barclays Biopharma Equity Research, referenced a conversation with Pfizer executives that took place in the summer of 2020. According to the transcribed conversation, the Pfizer executives are looking forward to jacking up the price of their vaccines once the pandemic becomes endemic and is labeled a seasonal illness.

Experimental vaccines and PCR tests for coronavirus are designed for perpetual profits, not public health

The emergency use pandemic vaccines are not designed to eradicate covid-19 completely. According to former Pfizer executive Dr. Michael Yeadon, the study designs for the new vaccines are fraudulent and do not properly diagnose covid-19 using the Sanger Sequencing method. This false advertisement of vaccine efficacy allows Pfizer to gain emergency use approval from regulatory agencies around the world, even as people continue to get sick (and sometimes die) after vaccination. Despite its promises of efficacy, this medical fraud will fail to prevent respiratory infections and will ultimately drive the need for more vaccine updates and more boosters, guaranteeing profits for Pfizer and other vaccine makers long term. This is also why coronavirus PCR testing is being incorporated as a rite of passage on airlines, events, cruises, etc. The tests (and all their false positives) guarantee a set number of covid-19 cases that will enable continuous media fear campaigns that will ultimately be used to feed the need for routine, seasonal vaccination.

Gould questioned the business plans of Frank A. DAmelio, CFO & executive VP of global supply for Pfizer. DAmelio said Pfizer anticipates a significant opportunity for their vaccines from a pricing perspective once the situation turns from a pandemic situation to an endemic situation.

From the mouth of DAmelio:

So if you look at how current demand and current pricing is being driven, its clearly not being driven by what Ill call normal market conditions, normal market forces. Its really been driven by kind of the pandemic state that weve been in and the needs of governments to really secure doses from the various vaccine suppliers, DAmelio explained. So what we believe, what I believe is as we move from a pandemic state, from a pandemic situation to an endemic situation, normal market forces, normal market conditions will start to kick in.

DAmelio said that the vaccines efficacy is a factor that will become very important. If the efficacy is low, then there will be opportunities to sell booster shots. He said that booster ability will also be a very important factor. He said efficacy, booster ability, and clinical utility present a significant opportunity for our vaccine from a demand perspective, from a pricing perspective, given the clinical profile of our vaccine. He said theres more to come here because the pandemic will ultimately be declared endemic, providing more opportunities for Pfizer to profit long term.

Pfizer executives planning to introduce seasonal mRNA vaccines for coronavirus and influenza

The federal government has already redistributed multiple billions of dollars in taxpayer money to Pfizer so Americans can get free covid-19 vaccines. Pfizer walked away with $1.95 billion in taxpayer dollars last July after contracting with the federal government. In December, Pfizer inked another $2 billion deal, as taxpayers were forced to subsidize the experiment further.

Once the CDCs phased rollout of the vaccine is complete, the Department of Health and Human Services will decide whether to continue on with pandemic messaging. The current nominee to head the department, Xavier Becerra, will be pressured to end pandemic messaging so Pfizer and other vaccine makers can profit indefinitely. After the CDCs phased vaccine rollout is complete, Pfizer will need a new way to guarantee a revenue stream, and they are positioned to capitalize.

According to transcripts between Pfizer executives and investors, the vaccine maker is also looking to get into the flu vaccine market using experimental mRNA vaccines for influenza strains. In January 2021, the WHO updated their recommendations to labs around the world, instructing them to lower the cycle count for PCR tests in order to lower the number of false positives. As this new policy sets in, the number of covid cases will come down, clearing the way for the pandemic to be declared a seasonal illness. As the vaccinated continue to seek hospitalization for respiratory illness, Pfizer and the rest of the vaccine industry will continue to exploit the world population with new mRNA updates and calls for mandatory vaccination via vaccine passports and the stripping exemptions. Its a vicious cycle of fraud, malfeasance and human exploitation.

Sources include:

CBSNews.com

NaturalNews.com

DocumentsCloud.org

NaturalNews.com
The editor-in-chief of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) has been put on leave after a tweet that stoked backlash.

An independent committee that oversees the journal started an investigation and, on Thursday, said Dr Howard Bauchner will be replaced by an interim editor pending results of the probe.

On February 24, a tweet from the journal's official account read: 'No physician is racist, so how can there be structural racism in health care?'

The tweet was promoting a podcast episode featuring two white doctors discussing how structural racism worsens health outcomes and what health systems can do to address it, JAMA said in an online description.

However, it sparked an outcry from other medical professionals, who called the tweet and podcast 'cringeworthy' and 'appalling.'

JAMA removed the podcast earlier this month and Bauchner issued an apology.

Dr Howard Bauchner (pictured), editor-in-chief of the Journal of the American Medical Association, was placed on administrative leave on Thursday after a tweet from the journal's account read: 'No physician is racist, so how can there be structural racism in health care?'

JAMA said the tweet was promoting a podcast episode featuring two white doctors discussing structural racism

'The decision to place the editor-in-chief on administrative leave neither implicates nor exonerates individuals and is standard operating procedure for such investigations,' the independent committee said in a statement.

JAMA's executive editor, Dr Phil Fontanarosa, will serve as interim editor.

'It's a reasonable first step but it should not be seen as mission accomplished,' Dr Raymond Givens, a black cardiologist in New York, said on Friday.

He has been a vocal online critic of a lack of diversity among editors of JAMA and other prominent medical journals.

The AMA's chief equity officer, Dr Aletha Maybank, who is black, called the JAMA tweet and podcast 'absolutely appalling.'

Dr Brittani James, a black Chicago physician who co-founded the Institute for Anti-Racism in Medicine, accused the journal of 'whitesplaining racism.'

The podcast was billed as a discussion for skeptics and featured two white doctors: a deputy journal editor and a physician who runs a New York City health system.

The episode, designed for doctors, was first posted last week and was billed as a discussion for skeptics.

It included comments that racism is illegal and a term that should be avoided because it evokes negative feelings.

'Structural racism is an unfortunate term,' said Dr Ed Livingston, the deputy editor, said on the podcast.

'Personally, I think taking racism out of the conversation will help. Many people like myself are offended by the implication that we are somehow racist.'

Livingston later resigned at Bauchner's request and JAMA created a new associate editor position for someone with expertise in racism in health care.

The tweet and the podcast sparked an outcry from other medical professionals, who called both 'cringeworthy' and 'appalling'

The Chicago-based American Medical Association owns and publishes JAMA and had called the podcast 'wrong' and 'harmful.'

It has no editorial control over JAMA's content but Bauchner reports to the oversight committee.

Only one of the seven oversight committee members is black and the editorial boards of JAMA and other leading medical journals are mostly white, Givens noted.

'Without diversity, you don't know what you don't know,' he said.

'With such a non-diverse panel of people, you have all these blind spots that allow these podcasts to go from execution to publication without anybody saying: "Wait a minute, this is ill-advised."'
Dublin, March 26 : Irish Deputy Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said that "a lot more countries" will be added to the government's list that requires incoming passengers to stay in mandatory hotel quarantine.

Varadkar made the remarks on Thursday while briefing members of the lower house of the Irish Parliament about the Covid-19 situation in the country, Xinhua news agency quoted the RTE broadcaster as saying in a report.

Mandatory hotel quarantine is one of the latest measures taken by the Irish government to battle the pandemic that has so far claimed nearly 4,700 lives in the country since its outbreak in early 2020.

Under the measure, which will take effect at 4 a.m. on Friday, all those who arrive in Ireland from high-risk countries and regions listed by the Irish government will have to face a 14-day quarantine at a designated hotel at the cost of their own for accommodation and food.

Currently, a total of 33 countries and regions, mostly from Africa and South America, are placed on the high-risk list.

Diplomats, aircrew and marine crew are among those who can be exempted from such a quarantine so long they can meet the other public health requirements of Ireland, according to a guidance issued on the government's website.

The high-risk list is subject to change at short notice, said the guidance, adding that those who come from high-risk areas will have to pre-book their rooms at government-designated quarantine hotels and pre-pay for their stay.

Violators of mandatory hotel quarantine rules could face a fine of 2,000 euros ($2,355) or one-month imprisonment, or both, according to local media reports.

Ireland has reported a total of 232,758 coronavirus cases, while the death toll stood at 4,631.
The Zanu-PF Central Committee member and Mutare-based businessman Esau Mupfumi has filed a US$5000 defamation lawsuit against fellow party member Pamela Razemba at the Bulawayo High Court.

Mupfumi claims Razemba who is the party's Mutare Central Proportional Representative Member of Parliament defamed him on 7 March 2021 during the party's district meeting held at Mutare Queens Hall.

Razemba is alleged to have uttered to Mupfumi: "Uri benzi. Wajaira chidofo chekuma bhazi (You are a mad person. You are used to the uncivilised ways of bus operators)," reads part of the summons filed at the High Court.

Mupfumi claimed Razemba uttered the words in the presence of Mutare district leadership who included chairpersons and Central Committee members.

"The statements by defendant are malicious, wrongful and defamatory of the plaintiff. The statements were made with the intention to defame plaintiff and to injure his reputation as he is a respectable member of the Central Committee of Zanu PF," the court papers read.

"The statement was understood by the present members and was intended by the defendant to mean that plaintiff is a dishonest and disreputable person. That the defendant pays interest at the prescribed rate on the sums mentioned above from the date of issue of summons to date of full payments," further reads the summons in possession of NewZimbabwe.com.

Mupfumi want the defendant to pay the costs of the suit on attorney and client scale. Razemba has 10 days after service of the summons to file her opposing application.

Mupfumi is being represented by Dube, Tachiona and Tsvangirai Legal practitioners.
THE province has set aside $5 million for teacher ideas to improve student outcomes using innovative instruction models or by addressing either student well-being, school transitions, family engagement, impacts of COVID-19  or a combination of the above.

THE province has set aside $5 million for teacher ideas to improve student outcomes using innovative instruction models or by addressing either student well-being, school transitions, family engagement, impacts of COVID-19  or a combination of the above.

The province announced Thursday details of the long-awaited Teachers Idea Fund, which is now open for applications.

Teachers, school staff and leaders can apply for upwards of $25,000 to pilot a project that could take place over a period as long as one school year.

Manitoba Education plans to allocate $25-million for such projects over a five-year period.

"We are committed to listening and supporting those who are on the front lines in our schools and classrooms. We know their expertise is critical to student success," Education Minister Cliff Cullen said in a news release Thursday.

The release states ideas that advance achievement among Indigenous students, newcomer students, students with special learning needs and French-language instruction are "encouraged."

Nathan Martindale, vice-president of the Manitoba Teachers Society, said Thursday he doubts teachers have much time or energy to focus on applying for the fund, at present.

Martindale said teachers want to relax and unplug over the spring break, amid a stressful year during the COVID-19 pandemic and after the recent revelation of Manitobas plan to overhaul public education.

"Well wait and see what comes of it, but its not something that they consulted the society on and, frankly, we have bigger concerns. Were still waiting for the province to address the high levels of child poverty," he told the Free Press.

The province is touting a new education governance model that replaces elected school boards with a centralized education authority as the key to improving student outcomes. Critics claim there is no evidence to support the move and poverty must be addressed to improve Manitobas standardized test scores.

The first round of successful applicants for the Teachers Idea Fund, who require approval from their school administrator to apply, will be announced in June.

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @macintoshmaggie
It should be pointed out that both Ryan and her protagonist are autistic (although the character is never identified as such in the book). Nonetheless, the novel is not about autism per se; it just happens to be about a person with autism.

It may seem quite cramped and claustrophobic to be in the company of a single person over the duration of such a limited period, but as the title suggests, theres an entire world within this womans room thats captured in her desultory, perambulatory musings.

At the start of Madeleine Ryans debut novel, a young, unnamed narrator in Melbourne is about to join a party, and the narrative stays with her the entire time as she prepares for, attends and then leaves the gathering. We are privy to her intimate stream-of-conscious thoughts over the course of a night.

The distinction may seem negligible but its an important one. Her neurodiverse ways of seeing and thinking and behaving are just one part of her identity and certainly one that informs her experiences, but shes a multidimensional  not a reducible  character.

Credit:

As she navigates her environment, readers eavesdropping in her head can tell that shes an overthinker, self-analytic and self-aware. We meet her donning a red kimono and shiny black heels and if it seems as if shes wearing a costume, she probably is. My dream is to leave people wondering and nothing more, she says, and later, Mystery is my favourite accessory. Freely admitting that she finds connections with her own species difficult, she is far more at ease with her constant companion, her beloved cat. After all, he is always clear about his needs and there are no lies and subtext.

A Room Called Earth is visceral and voluptuous. The woman has an abiding interest in her immediate surroundings and takes us into the pleasures of her bath routine (oils, essences, peony rose petal), of cooking and eating, or being grounded in nature. We get the sense that she likes order and ritual and that theres a soothing balm in the sanctity of private spaces, in the patterns of behaviour.

The narrative is dry, acerbic and droll in turns, and though she comes across as confident, shes also not afraid to confess her lack of understanding about what troubles her. Theres certainly an artlessness, an honesty to her that can be endearing or frustrating at turns.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  The NYPD said three more incidents have been added to a Staten Island burglary pattern that has targeted commercial vehicles from the North to South shores of the borough since late last year.

On Thursday, police released new surveillance images of an individual sought for questioning in connection with the spree  taken just days ago on March 21, when it was reported someone broke into a 27-year-old victims commercial vehicle parked on Harold Street in Willowbrook and removed power tools, according to a written statement from the NYPDs Deputy Commissioner of Public Information.

The individual drove away in a gray Chrysler sedan, the police statement said.

Over a month earlier, between Feb. 5 and Feb. 8, police said an unidentified individual broke into a 24-year-old victims vehicle in the vicinity of Ilyssa Way and Arthur Kill Road in Arden Heights and removed a camera, the statement said.

A separate incident occurred on Feb. 4, at around 5 p.m., when an unknown perpetrator broke into a 55-year-old mans commercial truck and removed power tools, police said.

Those three recent incidents cap off a pattern that includes at least 16 other burglaries that targeted mostly work trucks  netting tens of thousands of dollars worth of construction tools.

Police confirmed to the Advance/SILive.com that multiple people are being sought in connection to the incidents.

A pair of trucks outside Qasim Mohmoods home were broken into as part of a borough-wide burglary pattern. (Photo provided to Advance/SILive.com)

Qasim Mohmood, a Meiers Corners resident, was one of the victims of the spree. A pair of his work trucks were burglarized right in his driveway on Perry Avenue, prompting him to install security cameras around his home.

I never had to put them up before, he said in an interview with the Advance/SILive.com.

One truck was broken into before multiple power tools and a center console were removed, according to Mohmood. The other truck, we dont know how he got in.

He speculated that whoever took the equipment kept an eye on his trucks beforehand and knew when they would be left unattended and likely already had means to sell the tools, which he said would be otherwise difficult to unload.

For his business, Mohmood said the stolen tools will be difficult to replace in the short-term, especially when business has been affected by the pandemic.

The string of burglaries is continuing the tough streak over the past year, he said.

Just miles away, one of Anthony Kennys trucks was parked four days later on Caswell Avenue, near Willowbrook Road in Willowbrook, when it had thousands of dollars of tools taken from it around 7 p.m.

Kennys company, Cam Energy Heating & Air Conditioning, serves the five boroughs, he said in a phone interview with the Advance/SILive.com, and the burglary of one of his vehicles nabbed a good 12 grand, though police estimated that total was closer to $20,000.

One of Kennys workers who drives the truck said he was not sure how the truck was broken into.

Brand new cordless jackhammers, drills and Sawzalls were taken from the back of the truck, along with a Rigid300 pipe threader  worth almost $4,000 alone.

Officials previously told the Advance/SILive.com that burglaries involving trucks and commercial buildings are among the most prevalent in the borough and increased significantly during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Police data shows a spike of burglaries on the Island compared to last year, with the North and West shores being hit the hardest.

Anyone with information in regards to this pattern is asked to call the NYPDs Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the CrimeStoppers website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM, on Twitter @NYPDTips. All calls are strictly confidential.
UPDATE: Authorities said later Friday morning the standstill ended with police shooting the suspect.

Authorities say a person accused of armed robbery drove a stolen police cruiser to Quincy early Friday and is now refusing to leave the car, leading to a response from Massachusetts State Police crisis negotiators and causing traffic to be shut down.

The stolen Rockland police cruiser is stopped on the Burgin Parkway, and the man is refusing to get out, state police said Friday morning.

Along with crisis negotiators, the state police Special Tactical Operations (STOP) team is at the scene, authorities said.

Police activity ongoing on Burgin Parkway Quincy. Armed robbery suspect who stole a Rockland cruiser is stopped and refusing to get out the vehicle. MSP STOP Team and crisis negotiators on scene. Area is closed down to traffic/public at this time. Will update when appropriate.  Mass State Police (@MassStatePolice) March 26, 2021

The area is closed to traffic at this time, state police said in a tweet around 8 a.m.

Exit 42 at the parkway near Quincy Center and the Quincy Adams MBTA station are closed, according to authorities.

Please seek an alternate route, Quincy police said in a tweet shortly after 6:30 a.m.

No further information was released by authorities.
Turkey offers to send vessel to Suez Canal Latest sign of improved relations with Egypt

(ANSAmed) - ISTANBUL, MARCH 26 - More signs have been seen of warming relations between Turkey and Egypt after a recent resumption of diplomatic relations, which were interrupted after the 2013 removal of Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi.



Morsi was part of the Muslim Brotherhood and was supported by Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan.



Ankara on Friday offered its support to Egypt for the moving of a giant container ship blocking the Suez Canal by saying that it was prepared to immediately send an emergency response vessel.



"Our ship Nene Hatun is one of the few in the world able to carry out such an operation. The teams are ready," said Turkish Infrastructure and Transport Minister Adil Karaismailoglu. "We offered to help them. If they say yes, we will send aid." (ANSAmed).




Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar said he spoke with his Russian counterpart Sergey Shoigu during which they discussed measures to prevent ceasefire violations in Syria's Idlib province.

"We have agreed to take measures to maintain the ceasefire," Akar told reporters on Thursday about the phone conversation.

Noting that the discussion was "constructive", the Minister said "we aim permanently to hold the ceasefire in the region", reports Xinhua news agency.

On Monday, expressed concern to the Russian envoy in Ankara over recent attacks in Idlib.

Akar also informed that more than 200 terrorists had been eliminated in anti-terror operations mostly in northern since March 1.

Ankara and Moscow agreed in 2018 to turn Idlib into a de-escalation zone where acts of aggression are expressly prohibited.

The two sides agreed on a protocol on March 5, 2020, to initiate a ceasefire and to observe it through a joint patrol mission on the M4 highway, Hurriyet Daily News reported.

Idlib is home to around 4 million Syrians and some armed terror groups.

is concerned about a fresh massive humanitarian influx as a result of the Russian-Syrian military offensive in the region.

--IANS

ksk/

(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.)
They're ambassadors for Tourism Australia's new Holiday Here This Year campaign to encourage Australians to travel domestically.

And Hamish and Zoe Foster Blake have travelled to the Top End, joining forces with Matt Wright, the star of National Geographic's hit show Outback Wrangler.

Zoe, 40, shared several photos on Instagram on Thursday of her family getting up close and personal with crocodiles in the Northern Territory.

Campaign: Hamish and Zoe Foster Blake got up close and personal with crocodiles while filming a new Australian tourism advert on Thursday. Pictured with their children, Sonny, six, and Rudy, three, and Outback Wrangler host Matt Wright

'And here we are at Top End Safari Camp with Mr Outback Wrangler himself, @mattwright. Let's croc 'n roll,' the multi-millionaire skincare mogul wrote.

'Matt took us in the air boat to soak in the beauty of these NT rivers and lagoons, which are gloriously full after a solid wet season.

'Ripping afternoon. Kids can't believe what they saw (or the heat). Thanks Matt!'

Hamish, 39, also shared a glimpse of how the couple's children, Sonny, six, and Rudy, three, were enjoying the experience.

Familiar face: The Blakes joined forces with Matt Wright, the star of National Geographic's hit show Outback Wrangler

Sightseeing: 'Matt took us in the air boat to soak in the beauty of these NT rivers and lagoons, which are gloriously full after a solid wet season,' Zoe wrote on Instagram

How cute is this! One of the Blakes' children looked a little frightened by the crocodiles

The Lego Masters host uploaded a picture of Sonny standing just metres from a four-metre crocodile, with Matt standing nearby.

'4m croc. Open gate, Interested child. [Matt] says it's fine. Not pictured: Dad trying to play it cool,' he captioned the post.

Earlier this week, the Blakes were spotted filming a TV spot for Tourism Australia in Port Douglas, the Cairns Post reported.

'Never hath a beer tasted better': The couple enjoyed a cool beer after a day of croc watching

Travelling: Earlier this week, the Blakes were spotted filming a TV spot for Tourism Australia in Port Douglas, the Cairns Post reported

They met with Tourism Port Douglas and Daintree chief executive officer Tara Bennett, TPDD chairman Cam Charlton and Leanne Coddington, as well as Tourism and Events Queensland's Martina Neidig-Quinlan, on Wednesday.

'Dinner in Port Douglas with the kids to top off a 100/10 day,' Zoe told her 779,000 Instagram followers.

'My main thought as I took a quiet moment to really take in this view today was: this place exists. And we get to see it,' she added, referring to the Great Barrier Reef.
A Brazilian man with an upside-down head revealed his fear of catching up COVID-19, as he worried that it might kill him.

Claudio Vieira de Oliveira from Monte Santo suffers from a rare condition called arthrogryposis multiplex congenita. The illness affects his joints that also has left him with muscular atrophy in his legs, and his arms are stuck by his chest, The US Sun reported.

According to Daily Mail, the COVID-19 has brought Vieira de Oliveira's usually busy life to a pause, giving up many of the activities he loves to do.

Vieira de Oliveira said he has been isolating at home for over a year to remain safe from COVID-19. The Brazilian man said he hoped to get back on track in the next month.

"I've never had difficulties, my life is normal. I'm in full-on quarantine because this COVID is very aggressive, it's lethal, so we're scared. I'm being over twice as careful," he told Brazilian news site GI.

The Brazilian man noted that he only leaves the house for things that only he can do in person, like banking.

Vieira de Oliveira, who already released a DVD and an autobiography, has spent over two decades working as a motivational speaker.

READ NEXT: Boy With Rare COVID-19-Related Disease Makes Remarkable Recovery

Claudio Vieira de Oliveira and COVID-19

Despite the physical condition, Claudio Vieira de Oliveira noted that he has never experienced difficulties in most of his entire life, and he deemed his life as normal, 7News reported.

Doctors believed that he would not survive past 24 hours, but he is now 44 years old. Also known as Claudinho, Vieira de Oliveira said he never let his condition be in his way since he was young.

He started walking on his knees since he was seven years old, and his mom taught him how to read and write at home. The Brazilian man also said he has no difficulty in seeing, eating, drinking, and breathing.

The Brazilian Man and His Activities

Claudio Vieira de Oliveira, who volunteers with the Alegra-te Christian educational project for vulnerable children, told local media that he already missed being a motivational speaker.

"I'm missing it so much. I've got a speech in the municipality of Bezerra, in the state of Pernamubco," he said. "If the pandemic eases, he noted that they would go ahead. His talk is booked for April 28. The Brazilian man hoped he could do his talks again "and live for many years."

Arthrogryposis Multiplex Congenita

Also called AMC, the arthrogryposis multiplex congenita usually affects the joints of the legs and arms, according to the National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD).

The AMC's symptoms are present at birth. The condition targets the joints of an individual, making them permanent in a bent or straight position.

The condition completely or partially restricting one's movement of the affected joint. The cause of AMC is still unknown, but some cases reportedly occur as part of rare genetic disorders that are inherited.

READ MORE: Some People Fell Ill With Rare Blood Disorder After Getting Their First COVID-19 Vaccine

WATCH: Management of Arthrogryposis - From Global HELP Organization
Nairobi  The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) says it is working on a post-Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) alliance that will have clear ideological positions on issues affecting Kenyans.

The National Assembly is yet to commence debate on the BBI Bill which has so far received approval from 43 County Assemblies and later went through public participation.

ODM released the statement on the day when FORD Kenya, KANU, Wiper, and Amani National Congress (ANC) formally announced the formation of One Kenya Alliance which they said will help champion BBI and unity.

The new alliance brings together Musalia Mudavadi, Moses Wetangula, Kalonzo Musyoka and Gideon Moi's parties.

"The new alliance will have younger and fresh blood with clear ideological positions on the issues of the day," the Raila Odinga-led party said through a statement.

ODM Secretary General Edwin Sifuna said the party will involve diverse Kenyans free of tribal affiliations as has been witnessed during formations of previous parties.

"As a party, we are done with the fading breed of tribal politicians whose singular focus over the years has been on what they can extract from our sweat, and from the country," the party said.

While announcing the formation of the One Kenya Alliance, the party leaders noted that the new formation will be 'breath of fresh air from the toxic politics that this country has experienced before."

"We want to give Kenyans hope during this difficult period... the economic hardships are hurting all of us... and we need unity... . we stand here to tell Kenyans that if you thought there was no alternative please know that in this One Kenyan Alliance, there is hope," the leaders said.
In this Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2017, file photo, people walk in a snowfall at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N.J. Rutgers University says it will require that all students be vaccinated for the coronavirus before arriving for classes in the fall of 2021. (AP Photo/Mel Evans, File)

Rutgers University will require that all students be vaccinated for the coronavirus before arriving for classes in the fall, the university said Thursday.

The federal government's assurance of vaccine supply for all Americans prompted Rutgers to make the decision, the university said in a statement.

Brian Strom, chancellor of Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences and executive vice president for health affairs, said the vaccine is the key "to the return of campus instruction and activities closer to what we were accustomed to before the pandemic."

"The COVID-19 vaccines have proven to be safe and effective in preventing serious illness, hospitalization and death," Storm said in the statement.

The university said students may request an exemption from vaccination for medical or religious reasons. Students participating in online-only classes will not be required to be vaccinated.

Students enrolling at Rutgers who are under 18 will be advised to receive the Pfizer vaccine because it's approved for people age 16 and up, the university said.

Faculty and staff are strongly urged to receive a vaccination, a university official said in the statement.

Rutgers said it has received approval from the state of New Jersey to administer vaccines on campus to faculty, staff and students once vaccine supplies are available to the university.

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 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
[March 26, 2021] Quirch Foods Announces Expanded Environmental, Social and Governance Commitment

Quirch Foods today announced an expanded commitment to Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) principles and practices. In 2020, the company launched a CEO-led executive steering committee to define and oversee plans to achieve long-term, strategic and data-driven goals to address a range of social and environmental issues and build customer and consumer trust. Quirch Foods's specific ESG initiatives include: Active participation in roundtable discussions of supply chains with National Fisheries Institute (NFI) and Fishery Improvement Projects (FIPs), and formation of relationships with other leading global groups committed to regulating, preserving and improving global sourcing. Increasing to 98% the proportion of Farm-Raised seafood sourced from Better Aquaculture Practices (BAP)-certified fisheries. Working with manufacturers to convert retail packaging to recyclable materials to reduce waste. Quirch Foods intends to package over 90% of all of its brands in eco-conscious packaging by 2028. These commitments build on past successes and continued efforts to position Quirch Foods as a global leader in terms of sustainability within the food space. In the past year, for example, the company reduced its food waste by 57% through enhanced vigilance and systemic management. Additionally, the company has sponsored employee volunteer events engaging with local foods banks for food donations.



"Leading by example is a big part of our culture," continued Grande. "As we move forward, we have a robust plan to continue pursuing real solutions to help address climate change, improve food sourcing and energy preservation as a company, and creating an innovative, conscious and diverse workplace promoting equal opportunity, with a zero tolerance for discrimination."

Quirch Foods has been owned by affiliates of Palladium Equity Partners, LLC, a middle market private equity firm with nearly $3 billion in assets under management, since 2018. Palladium supported Quirch Foods' purchase of Butts Foods in May 2020 as well as the merger with Colorado Boxed Beef in October 2020. About Quirch Foods Quirch Foods is a food distribution company servicing ethnic and national grocers as well as foodservice distribution customers across the United States, the Caribbean, and Central and South America. Quirch Foods operates approximately 480 refrigerated trucks and over 2.2 million square feet of distribution space among 21 facilities in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Illinois, Texas, Washington, Oregon, and Puerto Rico. Quirch Foods is the exclusive distributor of High River Angus, McKinneys Beef, Panamei Seafood, Diamond Reef seafood, KikiriQuirch, Jackson Farms, Mambo Foods, and is a licensed distributor of Certified Angus Beef and Chiquita frozen fruits. Through IQ Foods' Suspended Fresh program, customers leverage innovative technology and processes to buy and store proteins for a later delivery, with the product arriving fresh, never frozen. Quirch Foods operates through a family of well recognized companies. For more information visit quirchfoods.com, coloradoboxedbeef.com, pacfoods.com, ejfoodsnw.com, buttsfoods.com, greatfishco.com, helmsmanfreightsolutions.com, and phoenixfl.com. To learn more about our brands, visit: highriverangus.com, panamei.com, diamondreefseafood.com, and mambofoods.com. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter (News - Alert) , Instagram, LinkedIn, or call (800) 458-5252. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210326005045/en/

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In this March 17, 2021 file photo, family members attend the burial service of a relative who died from COVID-19, in the Chalco cemetery on the outskirts of Mexico City, amid the new coronavirus pandemic. As Mexico approaches 200,000 in officially test-confirmed deaths from COVID-19, the real death toll is probably higher due to the country's extremely low rate of testing. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano, File)

As Mexico surpassed 200,000 test-confirmed deaths from COVID-19 Thursday, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador framed ramped-up vaccination efforts as a race against time.

The president prepared to call out more military, state and local personnel to spur the vaccination effort as more doses arrive, including a shipment of 1.7 million AstraZeneca shots the United States has "loaned" Mexico.

Mexico's total 200,211 confirmed COVID-19 deaths announced Thursday trail only the United States and Brazil, countries with larger populations. The real death toll is believed to be drawing closer to 300,000, due to the country's extremely low rate of testing.

"I think it is more. I think, for example, that the numbers on the news are not correct, I think it is higher," funeral home worker Benigno Clemente Zarate said of the death toll.

Zarate said he has tended to multiple deaths in a single household.

"We have had some jobs where two or three people have died in the same household, in the same family," he said.

The Mexican government stopped publishing numbers on excess deaths at the end of 2020. The last time the numbers were reported was at the start of January, before the worst of the second wave of deaths hit.

In this May 27, 2020 file photo, a street dog sleeps amid the tombs at the San Nicolas Tolentino Pantheon cemetery as workers make space for more burials in the Iztapalapa neighborhood of Mexico City, amid the coronavirus pandemic. As Mexico approaches 200,000 in officially test-confirmed deaths from COVID-19, the real death toll is probably higher due to the country's extremely low rate of testing. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte, File)

But authorities in Mexico City have published excess death figures through the end of February, and they show that January's deaths were almost 46% higher than in the city's first wave in June.

It is a dance of figures. Mexico's Health Department acknowledges almost 220,000 'estimated' COVID-19 deaths as of mid-March, but that estimate is not based on excess death reports and probably doesn't include the considerable number of people who die at home in Mexico.

Mexico City was among the hardest-hit cities in the world. Mexico City's 9 million inhabitants suffered 38,627 deaths; with only 7.1% of the country's population, the capital has had 19.3% of the country's total deaths.

While large, closely packed cities with intensive mass transit systems may have suffered more across the globe, Mexico City also has far better health care facilities than the rest of the country. Still, the capital saw about 430 confirmed COVID-19 deaths per 100,000.

In this March 17, 2021 file photo, a cemetery worker, donning a skull tattoo on his hand, holds a cigarette during the burial service of a person who died from COVID-19, in the Chalco cemetery on the outskirts of Mexico City. As Mexico approaches 200,000 in officially test-confirmed deaths from COVID-19, the real death toll is probably higher due to the country's extremely low rate of testing. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano, File)

The human toll is overwhelming.

Patricia Silva Caudillo, 46, went to a dusty cemetery on the eastern edge of the city to bury her husband, construction worker Pedro Capilla, 51. Capilla, a diabetic, was getting dialysis treatment at a local hospital where he was apparently infected with COVID-19.

"He was everything to me," said Silva Caudillo. "He was my companion, my support."

Raquel Diaz also came to the cemetery to bury a relative. "This has left a lot of pain, a lot of tragedy, it has left so many people orphaned or widowed," Diaz said. "I don't think this pandemic has brought anything good."

Lopez Obrador said Thursday he views it as a race against time to get all people over 60 vaccinated with at least one dose by the end of April, before a possible third wave hits.

"We have to avoid any rebound, an undesired, extraordinary situation of a rebound in infections like those that are occurring in some other parts of the world," Lopez Obrador said. "We do not want a resurgence."

In this June 4, 2020 file photo, workers in protective gear as a precaution against the coronavirus, remove a coffin that contained the remains of a person who died from the coronavirus, at the crematorium inside the San Nicolas Tolentino cemetery in the Iztapalapa borough of Mexico City. As Mexico approaches 200,000 in officially test-confirmed deaths from COVID-19, the real death toll is probably higher due to the country's extremely low rate of testing. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte, File)

In this April 29, 2020 file photo, Aurora Azamar reacts after learning that her mother died, believed from complications related to the coronavirus, outside a public hospital in the Iztapalapa neighborhood of Mexico City. As Mexico approaches 200,000 in officially test-confirmed deaths from COVID-19, the real death toll is probably higher due to the country's extremely low rate of testing. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano, File)

In this Nov. 18, 2020 file photo, workers ride their horses in the Valle de Chalco municipal cemetery, mostly reserved for those who have died from the coronavirus, on the outskirts of Mexico City. As Mexico approaches 200,000 in officially test-confirmed deaths from COVID-19, the real death toll is probably higher due to the country's extremely low rate of testing. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte, File)

In this June 24, 2020 file photo, crematorium workers burn the coffins that contained the remains of people who died from the coronavirus after their cremation at the San Nicolas Tolentino cemetery in the Iztapalapa neighborhood of Mexico City. As Mexico approaches 200,000 in officially test-confirmed deaths from COVID-19, the real death toll is probably higher due to the country's extremely low rate of testing. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte, File)

In this Jan. 10, 2021 file photo, a patient in an isolation pod is moved from an ambulance into the COVID-19 treatment center at the Dr. Carlos MacGregor Sanchez General Hospital in Mexico City. As Mexico approaches 200,000 in officially test-confirmed deaths from COVID-19, the real death toll is probably higher due to the country's extremely low rate of testing. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)

In this Jan. 11, 2021 file photo, Araceli Ramirez holds the stuffed toy bear she made from a shirt that belonged to her father who died from the coronavirus, in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. Ramirez, who had the bear made from a warm winter shirt her father loved, said "I can talk to the bear, express what I didn't tell him, and feel like he is with me." As Mexico approaches 200,000 in officially test-confirmed deaths from COVID-19, the real death toll is probably higher due to the country's extremely low rate of testing. (AP Photo/Christian Chavez, File)

In this Oct. 27, 2020 file photo, workers wearing full protection gear amid the new coronavirus pandemic, lower a coffin into a grave in an area of the San Rafael municipal cemetery set apart for people who have died from COVID-19, in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. As Mexico approaches 200,000 in officially test-confirmed deaths from COVID-19, the real death toll is probably higher due to the country's extremely low rate of testing. (AP Photo/Christian Chavez, File)

In this May 25, 2020 file photo, Maria Del Carmen Acero Camacho, center left, embraces one of her nieces as she is reunited with her family after 21 days in the hospital battling COVID-19, in the Iztapalapa borough of Mexico City. Acero returned home weak, but vivacious, recounting to her family the kindness and encouragement of the nurses who cared for her, as well as the devastation of watching fellow patients dying around her. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)

In this April 22, 2020 file photo, Marisela Briseno, right, and Mario Briseno, grieve for their relative Manuel Briseno Espino, who died from complications due to COVID-19, after family members brought his ashes back to the home where he lived with three generations of his offspring, in the Iztapalapa borough of Mexico City. As Mexico approaches 200,000 in officially test-confirmed deaths from COVID-19, the real death toll is probably higher due to the country's extremely low rate of testing. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)

In this Feb. 18, 2021 file photo, a medical team ascends steps up a hillside to reach the home of Maria del Socorro Fuentes to administer a shot of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine, in rural San Lorenzo Acopilco on the outskirts of Mexico City. As Mexico approaches 200,000 in officially test-confirmed deaths from COVID-19, the real death toll is probably higher due to the country's extremely low rate of testing. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)

It is unlikely that Mexico's approximately 6 million vaccines delivered so far have played much of a role in the statistical reduction in deaths in recent weeks, and it is unclear how many Mexican will take the shots.

The Mexican government has been widely using two Chinese-made vaccines, but suspicion remains due to a lack of information on their effectiveness, something that could encourage already widespread skepticism.

In a March 6-9 poll, only 52% of the 1,000 Mexicans surveyed said they were willing to get vaccinated, according to the GEA-ISA polling firm; 20% said they weren't sure, and 28% said they would not get vaccinated. The poll had a margin of error of plus-or-minus 3.1 percentage points.

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 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Accused tells court that:

-MK Allieu beat and threatened to shoot him

-spent three days in the toilet without food and water

Ibrahim Bah, who was alleged to have sexually abused and conspired to murder 5-year-old Khadija Saccoh, on Wednesday, March 17th,told the court that during the course of investigation, a senior police officer at the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) headquarters in Freetown, Superintendent Mohamed Kurugba Alliue, beat and also threatened to shoot him had it not been for the law.

He reiterated that Superintendent Mohammed Kurugba Alliue was very harsh with him during the investigation, adding that at a particular point in time, he instructed a junior police officer to lock him up in the toilet where he spent three days without food and water.

"My lord, M.K Alliue told me and Alex Nallo that we raped the deceased. He slapped me and took out his pistol and threatened to shoot me dead if it was not for the law. He also instructed one of the police officers called Munu to lock us up in the toilet where we spent three days without food and water," he said.

He said Mohamed Kurugba Allieu never gave him the chance to explain himself and that he always shouted at him and called him a liar.

He said on Saturday, 20th June,2020, after the post mortem examination on the remains of the deceased, he went home and decided to rest.

He said later some police officers from the Lumley Police Station went to their 25 Spur Road residence and conducted a search.

He said while on the search process, one of the police officers received a phone call and thereafter arrested him.

He said he was taken to the Lumley Police Station, where they obtained statement from him and later transferred him to the Criminal Investigations Department Headquarters in Freetown.

He told the court that he spent a month in detention at the CID headquarters before he was charged to court together with his mother for the offences of conspiracy and murder.

"At one night, I was attacked by ulcer and Alex Nallo tried to call for help, but the officers on duty at that time said it was not their business," he narrated.

He said the investigating officers later asked him to admit to the allegations with the promise that they will help him solve the issue, but that he declined and maintained his stance of not guilty.

He said at the end of the investigation his fingerprint was taken for test, but later he was told that the result was negative.

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He said although Police Officer Munu later told him that the fingerprint proved negative, he told him that police will still charge him to court because many eyes were focused the matter.

Ibrahim Bah, who was alleged to have sexually abused and murdered 5-year-old Khadija Madinatu Saccoh, has on Wednesday, March 17th, denied all the charges brought against him.

He further told the court presided over by Justice John Bosco Allieu that,he never sexually abused or killed her own sister.

"I know the deceased in this trial, she was my sister. My lord, I did not rape and killed the deceased and I will never rape and kill my sister," he reiterated.

He identified the first accused, Mariama Sajor Barrie, as his biological mother, and the deceased as her sister and recalled the date of incident at 25 Spur Road in Freetown.

He said after the incident, he was arrested and accused of killing her sister, an allegation he consistently denied throughout the four statements he made to the police.

Mariama Sajor Barrie and Ibrahim Bah are currently standing trial on two count charges of conspiracy to murder and murder contrary to law.

State prosecutor Joseph Sesay alleges that both accused on Wednesday 17, June 2020 at Spur Road in Freetown conspired with unknown persons and murdered Kadija Madinatu Saccoh.

Trial continues.
The commerce department on Friday said that the government is 'closely monitoring' the impact of the blockage at the Suez Canal.

According to the government's assessment, total backlog at the waterway is likely to be cleared in a week' time. The commerce ministry's logistics division on Friday chalked out a four-point strategy to handle the situation at a meeting with other departments and bodies concerned.

"It was noted in the meeting that over 200 vessels are waiting on the North and South sides of the Suez Canal and about 60 vessels are getting added to the queue on a daily basis. If two more days are taken before the efforts result in clearance of the canal (digging on both sides, extra barges being added on every high tide, tugboats, etc. to straighten the stuck vessel), the total backlog created would be about 350 vessels. It is estimated that this backlog should take about a weeks time to clear out," an official statement said.

The meeting was also attended by the ministry of ports, shipping and waterways, ADG Shipping, Container Shipping Lines Association (CSLA) and Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO).

Towards this, FIEO, and other associations will jointly identify cargo, particularly perishable cargo, for its priority movement. They will work with the shipping lines for the same.

"CSLA assured that the freight rates according to existing contracts will be honoured. A request has been made to the shipping lines to maintain stability in freight rates during the period of this crisis," it said, adding that the situation is 'temporary' and is unlikely to have a long-lasting impact on trade.

Once the blockage is over, some bunching is expected at JNPT, Mundra and Hazira ports. Ministry of ports, shipping and waterways will issue an advisory to these ports so that they efficiently handle the situation during the forthcoming busy period.

"Shipping lines were advised through CSLA to explore the option of re-routing of ships via the Cape of Good Hope. It was pointed that such re-routing usually takes 15 additional days time," it said.

Blockage of the Suez Canal since 23rd March is seriously hitting This route is used for and worth $ 200 billion to and from North America, South America and Europe. It includes petroleum goods, organic chemicals, iron & steel, automobile, machinery, textiles & carpets, handicrafts including furniture, leather goods, among others.
Thats why my own support for the right to filibuster, like Bidens, has weakened. I still believe that our democratic republic works best when lawmakers from both parties find ways to compromise and meet somewhere in the happy middle for the benefit of all Americans. Ah, yes, I have a dream. But reality keeps getting in the way.
B+H Asia director of planning Steven Townsend discussed critical disruptors for building healthy and sustainable cities in an uncertain future

At the virtual seminar held in Ho Chi Minh City with a parallel live online session, B+H Asia director of planning Steven Townsend discussed critical disruptors including climate change, urbanisation, and the digital revolution that will affect how people build healthy and sustainable cities in an uncertain future.

Townsend also showed that with 70 per cent of the population living in coastal areas and low-lying deltas, Vietnam is highly exposed to riverbank and coastal flooding and is one of the worlds most vulnerable countries to the effects of climate change. Last years abnormal typhoons cost Vietnam $1.3 billion in damage and killed at least 192 people. An estimated 7.7 million people in nine provinces, including 2.5 million children, were affected  with hundreds of thousands of houses flooded, damaged, or destroyed.

Tom Hook, B+H global director of Planning and Landscape, shared integrated strategies and new planning principles designed to test solutions for future flexibility, adaptability, and resiliency when shaping spaces, communities, and the cities of tomorrow.

Regarding B+Hs approach to planning, Tom noted, One of B+Hs fundamental planning principles is blending biomimicry with planning and landscape design to uncover new models that are shaped to last by harnessing free energy, redundancies, and cyclical processes.

Hook continued to explain that the creation and maintenance of man-made systems, products, and processes often require a great amount of energy. Biomimicry uses natural systems to inspire innovation by addressing challenges, reducing the environmental impact of development, and maintaining a sense of social responsibility.

At the webinar, Quan Nguyen, the companys director of Planning and Landscape in Vietnam, used the example of 200-hectare Hamlet Waterfront Development in Dong Nai province as a prominent urban planning project case study that applied biomimicry principles to create a resilient community.

A biomimetic approach preserves the environment by working with the forces of nature to create a greater level of sustainability and resiliency. Through phased planning and development aimed at increasing access to and within the site via waterways, linear parks, streets, and walkways, the long-term vision positions the development as an active urban centre, Nguyen said.

Under the engaging discussion, global and Vietnamese experts shared their viewpoints on the effects of climate change, urbanisation, and the digital revolution on livelihoods and the need to rethink how cities are built based on relationships, nature, and the built environment.

Attendees included local and international academia; practitioners, scholars, and students in architecture, urban design, and planning; Vietnamese planning experts; professional planners from Singapore Planning Institutes, and more besides.

The event, jointly hosted by B+H and the University of Economics - Institute of Smart City Management at in Ho Chi Minh City, provided the attendees with essential information and statistics on holistic planning strategies and solutions for building tomorrows healthy, sustainable, and resilient communities. The session was moderated by Dr. Trinh Tu Anh, director of the institute.

Last year, B+H and ISCM established a strategic collaboration with the aim to enhance training programmes, and research and development initiatives towards smart city building, as well as to address urban issues through real-world applications. The seminar was a component of an ongoing relationship formed to encourage the type of knowledge sharing that contributes to more resilient and healthy city design.

As one of the first Canadian design firms to establish a presence in Vietnam in 2010, B+H embraces opportunities to work with trusted partners and clients in designing innovative solutions and services that will elevate the quality of design and construction in the country. Notable large-scale urban planning projects B+H has carried out in Vietnam include Song Chanh Riverside Eco-Urban Town, Eco Urban Development Southwest of Ba Ria, Tam Da Smart City, Phu Yen River Tourism Town New City, and Kien Thuy Eco Urban Development, to name a few.
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Britain's oldest submarine has sailed into her home part for the last time after a 35-year career that saw her complete a record-breaking 11-month control, and her captain sacked for a lockdown-busting BBQ.

HMS Trenchant hoisted her paying off pennant - an age-old tradition - as she arrived at Plymouth Sound as she is to be de-commissioned later this year.

A number of her crew went up top to line the casing, while Tugs Faithful and Adept sprayed a water salute over the submarine in recognition of her long and esteemed service in the Royal Navy.

HMS Trenchant is a Trafalgar-class nuclear-powered submarine, launched in 1986 by war hero Vice Admiral Sir Arthur Hezlet - he was the commander of the original HMS Trenchant submarine during World War Two.

Together with the Astute class HMS Trenchant make up the Royal Navy's hunter-killer submarine force.

During her 35-years on patrol there have been many highlights of her service, two of which have been her ice-patrols.

In 2016, the boat punched through the ice and emerged on the surface of the Arctic Ocean, making nearly a decade since a British boat had carried out this manoeuvre, re-generating the Submarine Service's under ice capability.

In 2018 in the harsh environment of the North Pole HMS Trenchant broke through the ice in an exercise with the US Navy - literally sitting on top of the world.

The submarine also completed a record-breaking 11-month patrol in which she sailed 38,800nm, visiting six different ports in the process.

These were: Fujairah, UAE; the British Indian Ocean Territory  Diego Garcia; the Kingdom of Bahrain; Aqaba, Jordan; Souda Bay, Crete; and Gibraltar.

Britain's oldest submarine has sailed into her home part for the last time after a 35-year career that saw her complete a record-breaking 11-month control, and her captain sacked for a lockdown-busting BBQ

Tugs Faithful and Adept sprayed a water salute over the submarine in recognition of her long and esteemed service in the Royal Navy

HMS Trenchant is a Trafalgar-class nuclear-powered submarine, launched in 1986 by war hero Vice Admiral Sir Arthur Hezlet - he was the commander of the original HMS Trenchant submarine during World War Two

A number of her crew went up top to line the casing as the submarine arrived at Plymouth Sound on Thursday afternoon

During her 35-years on patrol there have been many highlights of her service, two of which have been her ice-patrols

In 2016, the boat punched through the ice and emerged on the surface of the Arctic Ocean, making nearly a decade since a British boat had carried out this manoeuvre, re-generating the Submarine Service's under ice capability

In 2018 in the harsh environment of the North Pole HMS Trenchant broke through the ice in an exercise with the US Navy - literally sitting on top of the world

HMS Trenchant's key characteristics Length: 85.4 m (280 ft) Beam: 9.8 m (32 ft) Speed: Over 30 knots (56 km/h), submerged Range: Unlimited Armament: 5  21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes with stowage for up to 30 weapons Advertisement

The submarine has also not been without controversy, after it emerged last April that commander John Lewis was sacked for organising a barbecue for his crew amid the coronavirus lockdown.

Commander Lewis was relieved of his command of HMS Trenchant and assigned other duties after he was placed under 'administrative investigation' over concerns about his judgement.

The submarine captain was placed under investigation by the Royal Navy after he was filmed hosting a 'rave-themed barbecue' at Devonport naval base in Plymouth following two months at sea.

It was reported at the time that he had been sent home on leave and faced dismissal after what was understood to be a 'terse exchange' with his superiors.

They were reportedly unhappy he was seen countering their orders in front of junior crew.

Lewis had been told to scrap the homecoming celebration as it was deemed 'inappropriate' while Britain was on lockdown in the fight against the coronavirus.

A shocking clip of the incident was captured in the first week of April when the submarine had returned to its base in the Naval dockyard at Devonport following a patrol of several weeks.

Despite effectively self-isolating underwater, the 150 crew were told they had to do the same at home for a further two weeks.

Commander Lewis reportedly arranged the barbecue and disco as a morale booster before shore leave.

Commander Lewis has been relieved of commands of HMS Trenchant and will be assigned other duties after a Royal Navy investigation into the gathering (Pictured: the barbecue)

'The commanding officer decided that it would help cheer his men up after a long time at sea,' an insider told MailOnline.

'It was his way of letting them blow off steam after weeks at sea where they had been self isolating anyway. They were told on their return they had to self isolate for a further two weeks.

'Unfortunately, some people higher in command saw this as a lapse of judgement given that most of the UK has been in lockdown and not allowed to have BBQs. It wasn't seen as the right choice to throw a BBQ.

'Senior officers take a dim view of a commander countering an order in front of junior members of the crew.'

Bosses were said to be particularly appalled that he allowed crew to film the event and post it to social media where it was picked up by an insurance comparison website.

Many of the crew can seen looking on bewildered with their hands in their pockets as the disco blares out music.

Two decades earlier, the submarine was also involved in a tragedy when it snagged the nets of the fishing vessel Antares in the Bute Sound in Scotland, which resulted in the deaths of four crew members.
(@ChaudhryMAli88)

Moscow, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 26th Mar, 2021 ) :Russian conservationists hailed Friday a rare sighting of an Amur leopard mother with three cubs in the Far East as proof of the efficiency of the country's efforts to boost the population of the endangered species.

Scientists in a Russian national park located in the Primorye region on the border with China obtained the stunning images using a remote camera trap.

The video footage shows the feline family standing on top of a hill in the Land of the Leopard National Park.

In the video, the young mother, identified as Leo 117F, is seen spotting a mystery animal and then leaving the scene, apparently walking closer towards it.

Soon her cubs also discover the animal and begin to watch their mother's interaction with the "intruder" intently, the park said. None appeared to be afraid.

Ivan Rakov, spokesman for the national park, said it was the first time that Leo 117F, who is believed to be four years old, had been caught on video with her cubs.

"We've discovered that she has been able to raise a family," Rakov told AFP from the Pacific port city of Vladivostok.

"This is her first litter." He said raising three cubs at once in Russia's taiga was no mean feat and required a "lot of space and a lot of food.

" Amur leopards are considered to be the rarest of the world's big cats. They can climb trees and their spot patterns are unique like people's fingerprints.

- 'Major success' - Rakov said the video footage showed that the fight against poachers and a series of other steps taken in recent years to boost the population of the threatened species had borne fruit.

Over the past 20 years the number of Amur leopards in Russia has grown to around 100 from 35.

"This is one more piece of evidence that measures taken by the Russian state to preserve the world's rarest big cat are working," Rakov said.

The population of the big cats had returned essentially "from the dead." "It's a major success for Russia," said Alexei Kostyrya, rare species projects coordinator at WWF Russia's Amur branch, pointing to the country's joint conservation efforts with China.

"There are now much fewer poachers," he added.

Rakov said that about 40 of the animals have "dual citizenship" and roam freely between Russia and China.

Established in 2012, the national park is also home to other big cats including the Amur tiger and the lynx.
Taylor Swift just helped a mum impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic with a generous $50,000 donation.

Taylor and her mum Andrea donated the exact goal amount of a GoFundMe dedicated to Vickie Quarles, the mother of five daughters whose husband died of COVID-19.

The pages goal was set at $50,000. It has now surpassed $62,000.

In a message posted to the GoFundMe page, Vickie Quarles expressed her gratitude to everyone who had donated, including the Swift family:

I would like to especially say thank you to Andrea and Taylor Swift for your thoughtfulness and generosity from our homestate of Tennessee.

She went on to share that the Swifts had sent her a "sweet personal note" that "warmed my heart."
Ramco Primary School with their Malaise insect photo trap. Credit: Ramco Primary

Four primary schools in regional South Australia have been involved in the discovery and naming of new species of wasp as part of a trial of a new citizen science project led by the University of Adelaide.

The discoveries, published in journal Zootaxa, were made as part of Insect Investigators, a project which connects school students with insect taxonomists, who study the relationship between insects.

Project lead and author of the research paper Dr. Erinn Fagan-Jeffries at the University of Adelaide's School of Biological Sciences said: "Insect Investigators provides students with opportunities to document their local insect biodiversity."

"We trialed the project at four schools in regional South Australia and were delighted with its success.

"Each of the schools ran a Malaise trap, which catches flying insects such as wasps and flies. I then sorted through the samples collected to find specimens of wasps that were unknown," says Dr. Fagan-Jeffries.

"We were able to determine that each of the schools had collected a species of wasp that was unknown to science, so the students then worked with me to learn about the process of describing the new species and decided on names."

The four schools involved included Macclesfield Primary School in the Adelaide Hills which found its new wasp in the reserve adjacent to the primary school. The new species was named Glyptapanteles drioplanetus, meaning 'bush wanderer."

Choeras ramcomamorata. Credit: Dr Erinn Fagan-Jeffries

Waikerie Primary School in the Riverland named its new species Miropotes waikerieyeties after Waikerie's YETies (Youth Environment Team) who ran the insect trap. Ramco Primary School, also in the Riverland, named its Choeras ramcomarmorata, which combines the place name Ramco with the Latin word for 'marbled'  because the colouration of the wasp resembled polished marble stone.

Cowell Area School, on the Eyre Peninsula, chose the name Dolichogenidea franklinharbourensis for its species, naming it after the district council Franklin Harbour.

Dr. Fagan-Jeffries said: "With less than 30 percent of our native insects named and described in Australia, it's increasingly important that we all work together to document our flora and fauna."

"The idea behind this project was to create opportunities for school students and their wider communities to be involved in the process of taxonomy, particularly for species discovered in their local area.

Glyptapanteles drioplanetus. Credit: Dr Erinn Fagan-Jeffries

Miropotes waikerieyeties. Credit: Dr Erinn Fagan-Jeffries..jpg

Dolichogenidea franklinharbourensis. Credit: Dr Erinn Fagan-Jeffries..jpg

"We hope, as with all citizen science projects, it inspires them to be more curious about the world around them as well as offering a hands-on, meaningful way to contribute to scientific research.

"Although Insect Investigators is a trial project, it is hoped that it might be possible to expand the program to involve more schools and look at a wider number of insects in the future.

Explore further New wasps named after biscuits and Doctor Who aliens

More information: Erinn P. Fagan-Jeffries et al. Four new species of parasitoid wasp (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) described through a citizen science partnership with schools in regional South Australia, Zootaxa (2021). Journal information: Zootaxa Erinn P. Fagan-Jeffries et al. Four new species of parasitoid wasp (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) described through a citizen science partnership with schools in regional South Australia,(2021). DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4949.1.4
Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa, 21, of Arvada, identified by police as the suspect in a mass shooting at King Soopers grocery store, poses for a county jail booking photograph in Boulder, Colorado, (Photo : Department/Handout via REUTERS)

A judge in Boulder, Colorado, on Thursday ordered a 21-year-old man accused of fatally shooting 10 people at a supermarket to be held without bail while he undergoes a mental health assessment requested by his lawyers.



Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa faces 10 counts of murder and an attempted murder charge stemming from the rampage on Monday at King Soopers grocery store in Boulder, some 28 miles (45 km) northwest of Denver.



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Appearing at a hearing in Boulder County court, Alissa affirmed that he understood his rights under the law and understood that he would be held without bail, as ordered by Judge Thomas Mulvahill.



Prosecutors may file additional charges against Alissa in the coming weeks, District Attorney Michael Dougherty told the judge.



Defense lawyers for Alissa requested that the suspect undergo a full mental health assessment, which would likely push back his preliminary court hearing by a couple of months. Alissa waived his right to a preliminary hearing within 35 days to allow time for that assessment.



"We cannot do anything until we are able to fully assess Mr. Alissa's mental illness," said Kathryn Herold, a defense attorney for Alissa. Herold's previous clients include a Colorado man who pleaded guilty to murdering his pregnant wife and two young daughters in 2018 (https://reut.rs/2NS39F3).



Another public defender representing Alissa, Daniel King, defended the gunman who killed 12 people in a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, in 2012.



The bloodshed at King Soopers was the nation's second mass shooting in less than a week, after a gunman fatally shot eight people at three Atlanta-area day spas on March 16.



The two attacks have reignited a national debate over gun rights and prompted President Joe Biden to call for new legislation from Congress. A bill intended to impose stricter background checks and ban certain types of semi-automatic rifles has stalled amid Republican opposition.



On Monday afternoon, Alissa arrived at the grocery store carrying a handgun and wearing a tactical vest, according to an affidavit. Six days earlier, he had purchased a Ruger AR-556 pistol, a weapon that resembles a semi-automatic rifle, the affidavit said.



The supermarket, still a closed-off crime scene, has turned into a memorial site, with people leaving flowers, candles and condolence messages outside. Boulder Mayor Sam Weaver told CNN on Thursday that the city was looking into creating a more permanent memorial nearby.



Among the victims were store employees, a grandfather-to-be and a Boulder policeman who was first on the scene. The attacks terrorized the community and felt all too familiar in a state that has experienced some of the most shocking episodes of gun violence in U.S. history.



Darcey Lopez, a King Soopers employee who hid in a cabinet beneath the cheese-wrapping station in the store when the gunman opened fire on Monday, is still reeling from the horror she lived through.



"I still hear the gunshots in the store - it's just something that kept playing over and over in my mind for about the first 24 hours. Now it's at night. It's really bad at night," Lopez said.


New Delhi:

A BSF jawan was killed in firing by Pakistan in Arnia area of RS Pura sector of Jammu and Kashmir on Friday.

The Pakistanis troops violated ceasefire by resorting to firing on Indian posts in morning. The BSF jawan constable Brijendra Bahadur Singh succumbed to injuries. A civilian also got injured in the incident.

On Thursday, two Pakistani soldiers were killed in retaliatory action by the BSF, after three Indian jawans were injured in unprovoked firing and shelling by Pakistani troops along the international border (IB) and the LoC in Jammu and Poonch districts of J&K on Wednesday.

BSF jawan killed in firing by Pakistan in Arnia area of J&K's RS Pura, identified as Ct Brijendra Bahadur Singh. One civilian also injured.  ANI (@ANI) September 15, 2017

"Unprovoked firing by Pak forces on BSF posts across Jammu IB injured 3 BSF troopers (in Poonch & Jammu districts yesterday)," the Border Security Force (BSF) had said in a tweet.

#Visual of BSF Constable Brijendra Bahadur Singh killed in firing by Pakistan in Arnia area of Jammu and Kashmir's RS Pura pic.twitter.com/fhVCJNvJBV  ANI (@ANI) September 15, 2017

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In a unanimous decision written by Justice Paul Thissen, the Minnesota Supreme Court overturned Francois Momulu Khalil's 2019 conviction of third-degree criminal conduct after he allegedly raped a drunk woman

A person who is sexually assaulted or raped while drunk is not considered 'mentally incapacitated' if he or she consumed drugs or alcohol voluntarily, the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday.

The opinion stems from the case of Francois Momulu Khalil, a Minneapolis man who picked up an intoxicated woman outside a bar after she was refused entry in 2017.

The woman testified that Khalil took her back to a house and raped her after she passed out on a couch.

In 2019, Khalil was convicted of third-degree criminal sexual conduct involving a victim who was impaired.

But, in a unanimous decision written by Justice Paul Thissen, the state Supreme Court said the legal definition of 'mentally incapacitated' does not apply to a person who became inebriated voluntarily.

To meet the definition, the alcohol must be administered to the person against his or her will.

As a result of this ruling, Khalil's conviction has been overturned and he has been granted a new trial.

In a unanimous decision, the high court said the legal definition of 'mentally incapacitated' does not apply to a person who became inebriated voluntarily and to meet the definition, it must be done against his or her will. Courtesy of KSTP

According to Minnesota Public Radio, Khalil met the victim not long after she consumed five shots of vodka and a prescription narcotic outside a bar in the Minneapolis neighborhood of Dinkytown in May 2017.

The woman was allegedly refused entry for being too drunk, and Khalil invited her and a friend to a party.

Court documents state Khalil and two men drove the women to a house in Minneapolis, but there was no party occurring.

The woman testified that she blacked out on a couch in the home and she woke up as Khalil was in the process of raping her, Minnesota Public Radio reported.

In 2019, Khalil was convicted of third-degree criminal sexual conduct and sentenced to five years in prison.

But the Minnesota Supreme Court said the state's definition of mentally incapacitated in this case 'unreasonably strains and stretches the plain text of the statute' because the victim was drunk before she met her attacker.

Writing for the 6-0 court decision, Thissen said the meaning of the statute is clear and 'we apply that meaning and not what we may wish the law was or what we think the law should be.'

Thissen noted in the opinion that the Minnesota Legislature is 'institutionally better positioned than courts' to amend the statute.

Some officials say they are worried about the ramifications of the ruling.

State representative Kelly Moller (pictured) has introduced a bill to amend the sexual conduct statute to include anyone who consumed drugs or alcohol, voluntarily or not

Democratic state Rep Kelly Moller told the Associated Press it shows the urgent need to update Minnesota's criminal sexual conduct statute, including by closing what she calls the intoxication loophole.

She has introduced a bill to amend the statute to included anyone who is intoxicated whether or not they consumed drugs or alcohol voluntarily.

'Victims who are intoxicated to the degree that they are unable to give consent are entitled to justice,' Moller said.

'Minnesotans who experience unthinkable trauma deserve to see the Legislature take action on this immediately.'

Background in the opinion states that 'nearly half of all women in the United States have been the victim of sexual violence in their lifetime - including an estimated 10 million women who have been raped while under the influence of alcohol or drugs.'

Khalil's attorney, Will Walker, told Minnesota Public Radio that he was pleased with the high court's decision.

'They adopted our arguments, Walker said.

'They adopted the opinion of the 30-page dissent from the Court of Appeals, and my arguments from the trial court and came out with the correct ruling. And we're very, very pleased about that.'

Khalil, now 24, has been serving his sentence at Faribault state prison, but Walker expects him to be released soon.
TUCSON, Ariz., March 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Mister Car Wash's presence in El Paso continues to expand with the March 26 opening of its newest location at 8950 Dyer Street. This newly built Express Exterior location in northeastern El Paso, along Dyer St., near Hondo Pass Drive, is one of three new stores the company opened in El Paso since 2019, bringing to 230 the total number of Mister Car Wash employees in the Sun City.

"We're excited to add this new store to the El Paso region and give our Unlimited Wash Club members ever more options," said Kyrie Manquero, General Manager at the new Hondo Pass store. During her 12-year history with the company in El Paso she has cultivated many customer relationships and in her new role she hopes to inspire team members in providing excellent customer service.

Manquero's Mister Car Wash career began in 2009 as a part-time customer service representative and she quickly discovered a passion for training new team members. She started putting together training sessions and was soon promoted to training specialist and moved to the company's Tucson headquarters to support newly acquired stores. She returned to El Paso to complete the company's Manager in Training program. Now, she's ready to take on the exciting challenge of running a new store by building what she calls a "rock star team."

"Leadership is about inspiring everyone to work together as a team and helping people grow and develop," Manquero said. "I'm fortunate to be with Mister who cares about its team members like family, and who has given me opportunities to become a better version of myself. Now I have the chance to do that for my team," she continued. "We're really looking forward to welcoming our customers to this new store with our signature smiles and shining service, and to meeting all the new members of our Unlimited Wash Club family!"

Hours of operation are Mondays  Saturdays from 7:30 am - 7:00 pm and Sundays from 8:00 am - 6:00 pm. For more information about the new location, please visit www.mistercarwash.com/location/hondo-pass

Join the Mister Car Wash team

Candidates interested in joining the Mister Car Wash team can apply online at careers.mistercarwash.com. New team members will receive a wide variety of benefits including competitive pay, paid-time-off earned from day one, generous benefits and free car washes.

About Mister Car Wash

Headquartered in Tucson, Arizona, Mister Car Wash (www.mistercarwash.com) is an equal opportunity employer operating 344 car washes nationwide. The Mister Car Wash brand is anchored in quality, friendliness and our commitment to creating memorable customer experiences. Our people are what make us successful and allow us to achieve these high standards. We continue to focus on recruiting and retaining top talent, developing best-in-class training programs and investing in employee benefits to cultivate a positive company culture.

Contact:

Megan Everett

Sr. Director, Communications

Mister Car Wash

[email protected]

520.615.4000 ext. 154

SOURCE Mister Car Wash




TOKYO, Mar 26, 2021 - (JCN Newswire) - In 2018, the Fujitsu Group joined the international initiative "RE 100"(1) and aims to increase its use of renewable energy in the electricity used in its domestic and international properties to 40% or more by 2030 and 100% by 2050. To date, Fujitsu's introduction of renewable energy has been focused primarily in Europe and the United States, where supply is abundant. However, expanding the introduction of renewable energy in Japan remains an important issue.As a flagship model for these efforts in Japan, Fujitsu's Kawasaki Main Office, the Fujitsu Group's largest facility, will be fully powered by renewable energy from April 1, 2021, with a view to introducing this system on a full scale at its locations throughout Japan. This latest effort accounts for approximately 5% of the Fujitsu Group's electricity consumption in Japan.Through this and other activities, Fujitsu will continuously contribute to the decarbonization of its operations, as well as its customers and society, adapting proactively to the unprecedented threat posed by climate change, as set forth in its medium- and long-term environmental vision.(1) RE 100 (Renewable Energy 100)An initiative run in partnership with CDP by The Climate Group, an international NGO. Made up of companies aiming to use 100% renewable energy. As of March 10, 2021, 50 Japanese companies were participating.About FujitsuFujitsu is the leading Japanese information and communication technology (ICT) company offering a full range of technology products, solutions and services. Approximately 130,000 Fujitsu people support customers in more than 100 countries. We use our experience and the power of ICT to shape the future of society with our customers. Fujitsu Limited (TSE:6702) reported consolidated revenues of 3.9 trillion yen (US$35 billion) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2020. For more information, please see www.fujitsu.com.Source: Fujitsu LtdCopyright 2021 JCN Newswire . All rights reserved.
LOS ALAMOS, N.M., March 26, 2021--New research has demonstrated that a magnetic uranium compound can have strong thermoelectric properties, generating four times the transverse voltage from heat than the previous record in a cobalt-manganese-gallium compound. The result unlocks a new potential for the actinide elements at the bottom of the periodic table and point to a fresh direction in research on topological quantum materials.

"We found that the large spin-orbit coupling and strong electronic correlations in a system of uranium-cobalt-aluminum doped with ruthenium resulted in a colossal anomalous Nernst conductivity," said Filip Ronning, lead investigator on the paper published today in Science Advances. Ronning is director of the Institute for Materials Science at Los Alamos National Laboratory. "It illustrates that uranium and actinide alloys are promising materials to study the interplay among a material's topology and strong electron correlations. We're very much interested in understanding, tuning and eventually controlling this interplay, so hopefully one day we can exploit some of these remarkable responses."

The Nernst response occurs when a material converts a flow of heat into an electric voltage. This thermoelectric phenomenon can be exploited in devices that generate electricity from a heat source. The most notable current example is the radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs) that were developed in part at Los Alamos. RTGs use heat from the natural radioactive decay of plutonium-238 to generate electricity--one such RTG is currently powering the Perseverance rover on Mars.

"What's exciting is that this colossal anomalous Nernst effect appears to be due to the rich topology of the material. This topology is created by a large spin-orbit coupling, which is common in actinides," Ronning said. "One consequence of topology in metals is the generation of a transverse velocity, which can give rise to a Nernst response as we observe. It can also generate other effects such as novel surface states that may be useful in various quantum information technologies."

The uranium system studied by the Los Alamos team generated 23 microvolts per kelvin of temperature change--four times bigger than the previous record, which was discovered in a cobalt-manganese-gallium alloy a couple of years ago and also attributed to these sorts of topological origins.

###

The paper: "Colossal anomalous Nernst effect in a correlated noncentrosymmetric kagome ferromagnet," by T. Asaba, V. Ivanov, S. M. Thomas, S.Y. Savrasov, J. D. Thompson, E. D. Bauer, and F. Ronning in Science Advances, https:/ / advances. sciencemag. org/ lookup/ doi/ 10. 1126/ sciadv. abf1467

The funding: U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences, Materials, Los Alamos National Laboratory LDRD, National Science Foundation.

About Los Alamos National Laboratory

Los Alamos National Laboratory, a multidisciplinary research institution engaged in strategic science on behalf of national security, is managed by Triad, a public service oriented, national security science organization equally owned by its three founding members: Battelle Memorial Institute (Battelle), the Texas A&M University System (TAMUS), and the Regents of the University of California (UC) for the Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration.

Los Alamos enhances national security by ensuring the safety and reliability of the U.S. nuclear stockpile, developing technologies to reduce threats from weapons of mass destruction, and solving problems related to energy, environment, infrastructure, health, and global security concerns.

LA-UR-21-22781
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-26 08:42:59|Editor: huaxia

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WELLINGTON, March 26 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand welcomed 31,870 new citizens in 2020, down from 44,413 in 2019, and the decrease was due to the effects of COVID-19, showed the new data released by the country's Department of Internal Affairs.

Australia is still the most common country of birth for people born outside New Zealand to gain citizenship. Just over 5,200 Aussies became Kiwis in 2020, either because they had a parent who is a citizen or they migrated to New Zealand. The Britain came second, with 5,199 new Kiwis, followed by India with 2,970, according to the data released Thursday.

General Manager Services and Access at the Department of Internal Affairs Julia Wootton said there are various ways people can become citizens. The easiest way is to be born here. Or people can become citizens "by descent" - they have a parent who was born in New Zealand - or "by grant" where they have migrated to New Zealand and applied for citizenship.

"In 2020, we gained 31,870 new foreign-born Kiwis, 11,436 by descent and 20,434 by grant.

"Over the past few years we've seen a decrease in the number of people gaining citizenship by grant, although 2020 saw a significant drop due to COVID-19."

"While we don't collect data on why people do or don't apply to become citizens, we believe that the drop in citizenship numbers is due to the disruption that COVID-19 has caused worldwide. We forecast that this will continue to be the case this year too," said Wootton. Enditem
BOSTON (JTA) - On the eve of Passover during the Depression, a juggler in ragged clothes is invited into the home of a poor family that has a bare Seder table. It's a poignant scene in "The Passover Guest," the captivating debut picture book by author Susan Kusel, a longtime Judaica librarian who was inspired by a classic Yiddish tale, "The Magician," by I.L. Peretz.

By lovely coincidence, readers have that rare opportunity to enjoy another retelling of the beloved story in a new publication of "The Magician's Visit," adapted by Barbara Diamond Goldin, with new illustrations by Eva Sanchez Gomez. The original 1993 edition was among the earliest books by Goldin, now one of the country's most acclaimed writers of Jewish children's books.

A different Seder table takes center stage in "The Four Questions," where a bespectacled lion reads from a Haggadah at a lavish ceremonial meal with guests that include a zebra, a young monkey and other whimsical animals. The gloriously illustrated book is a new edition of the 1989 classic by the late artist Ori Sherman with text by the acclaimed novelist and poet Lynne Sharon Schwartz.

These are some of the standouts in this spring's crop of engaging new children's books for Passover, the eight-day Festival of Freedom that begins this year on the evening of March 27.

Other titles feature lighthearted humorous stories and a lively interactive family Hagaddah with tips for this COVID-19 era, when many Seder guests may be joining remotely.

"Baby Moses in a Basket"

Caryn Yacowitz; illustrated by Julie Downing

Candlewick; ages 3 to 7

In simple rhyming verse, Yacowitz reimagines the biblical story of baby Moses as his mother sets him adrift in a basket on the Nile to save him from harm from the Egyptian Pharaoh. The river's creatures protect baby Moses until he is discovered by Pharaoh's daughter. Downing's beautifully colored double-page illustrations of a wide-winged ibis, a hippo, crocodile and an escort of butterflies bring the story to life.

"Seder in Motion: A Haggadah to Move Body and Soul"

Rabbi Ron Isaacs and Dr. Leora Isaacs; illustrated by Martin Wickstrom

Behrman House; all ages

Here's a lively family Haggadah that encourages Seder participants of any age to feel a personal connection to the Passover story. The engaging style follows the traditional order of the Seder and features Jewish customs from around the world along with thought-provoking questions. There are plenty of tips to include Remote guests.

"Meet the Matzah: A Passover Story"

Alan Silberberg

Viking; ages 3 to 5

In this playful and zany story, the award-winning cartoonist Silberberg sets the humorous action in an imaginary classroom where the "students" are types of breads. Alfie Koman, a shy matzah, tries to retell the story of Passover, but the school sourdough, Loaf, takes over and stirs trouble. Alfie must decide whether to leave his hiding place to confront the mean-spirited Loaf. Expect lots of laughs from Loaf's made-up version of the Ten Plagues (among them no WiFi and broccoli for dessert).

"Matzah Craze"

Jamie Kiffel-Alcheh; illustrated by Lauren Gallegos

Kar-Ben; ages 4-9

At Noa's multicultural school, the kids like to swap what's in their lunch boxes. But during Passover, when Noa has an unusual looking cracker - her matzah - she explains to her friends that she can't swap. In Kiffel-Alcheh's delightful rhyming story, the spunky Noa, with copper-toned skin and frizzy red hair, figures out how to share her favorite ways to eat matzah.

"The Great Passover Escape"

Pamela Moritz; illustrated by Florence Weiser

Kar-Ben; ages 4-9

It's the eve of Passover at the Biblical Zoo in Jerusalem, and Elle the elephant and Kang the kangaroo are eager to find a way to escape and find a Seder. Their friend Chimp answers their Passover questions and joins the adventure. Will the trio get past the locked zoo gate and find a ritual meal? Pamela Moritz's humor-filled story is embellished with Florence Weiser's brightly colored illustrations.

"The Passover Guest"

Susan Kusel; illustrated by Sean Rubin

Neal Porter Books/Holiday House; ages 4 to 8

Set in Washington, D.C., in 1933, during the Depression, Kusel's warmhearted story takes its inspiration from Uri Shulevitz's version of Peretz's Yiddish tale "The Magician," which she loved as a child. On the eve of Passover, a young girl named Muriel wanders around her favorite sites in the nation's capital. She's in no hurry to go home because her family does not have enough money for a Seder.

At the Lincoln Memorial, Muriel is enchanted by a juggling magician dressed in rags. When the stranger turns up at her family's door and is invited in for Passover, their bare table miraculously fills with an abundance of food for the Seder. Could the mysterious guest have been Elijah? Sean Rubin's vibrant, expressive illustrations pay tribute to Marc Chagall, Rubin writes in an artist's note.

"The Magician's Visit"

Based on a story by I.L. Peretz; adapted by Barbara Diamond Goldin; illustrations by Eva Sanchez Gomez

Green Bean Books; ages 4-8

In this masterful retelling of Peretz's Yiddish tale, Goldin takes readers back to an old world shtetl. In the days before Passover, a stranger dressed in rags mesmerizes the villagers with his spellbinding magic. When he turns up at the door of a couple who have become too poor to make their own Seder, the magician produces a wondrous and full table. May they partake in this Seder? the couple asks. And who is the stranger, who has disappeared when they return. Gomez's colorful illustrations capture the era and the magic of the story.

"Moses Could Have Been Selfish"

MJ Wexler

MJ Wexler Books; ages 3 to 7

In this simply told rhyming story, Wexler retells the story of Moses and the Exodus from Egypt in an accessible style for young kids, emphasizing standing up against injustice. Questions at the end encourage discussion.

"The Four Questions"

Illustrated by Ori Sherman; text by Lynne Sharon Schwartz

Levine Querido; ages 8 and up

In this exquisite pairing of text and art, Sherman and Schwartz captivate readers - kids and adults - with the Four Questions traditionally recited by the youngest child at the beginning of the Seder. The lavishly illustrated book is a new printing of the original first published in 1989.

Like the Seder itself, the book has the air of mystery and intrigue. Schwartz answers the Four Questions with a lyrical narrative of the Passover story and its rituals. Sherman fills the bordered pages with gloriously colored illustrations of whimsical elephants, monkeys, fish, goats and birds. Turn the book upside down for a view of the Four Questions written in Hebrew calligraphy and other illustrations.

A back page note by Ori Z. Soltes, a scholar of Jewish art, explains that Sherman's dazzling art carries forth traditions from hieroglyphics to illuminated Jewish manuscripts and the centuries-old painted murals of Eastern Europe's wooden synagogues.
ANN ARBOR, MI  University of Michigan students are planning a vigil for the victims of the Atlanta shooting.

UMs United Asian American Organizations, which is a coalition of more than 25 Asian-American student groups on campus, is holding a vigil and rally at 7 p.m. on Friday, March 26 at 435 State St. at Angell Hall. The vigil is in response to the killing of eight people, primarily Asian women, at Atlanta-area spas.

Anna Dang, president of the organization, aims to create an environment of grieving and healing, as well as a space for political action.

This tragedy of the shooting is such a culmination of the fact that theres a lack of protection for our most vulnerable communities, namely here, Asian-American women who are workers. That links to histories of racism and exclusion, history of a lack of treatment of workers in our society, Dang said.

Information on the event is available on their Facebook page.

Having this vigil shows that first of all, these lives lost were not disposable and they are important to a large group of people, but also the political message of: you need to pay attention to this intersection of identities because this terrible thing happened, Dang said.

Organizers will also stream the vigil on Facebook Live, urging those who feel sick to stay home. Attendees are also asked to wear a mask and those without a face covering will be given one. Organizers will also have a de-escalation team present to mitigate potential conflicts.

The Michigan legislature on Thursday, March 18 passed a resolution condemning hate crimes against Asian American and Pacific Islanders. Sen. Stephanie Chang, D-Detroit, and Rep. Ranjeev Puri, D-Canton, proposed the resolutions in response to the shootings in Atlanta.

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The political battlefield has been heating up in West Bengal ahead of the first phase of the Assembly polls. Right from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah to Union Ministers, many star campaigners of the Bharatiya Janata Party have been taking on Chief Minister Mamata Banerjees ruling Trinamool Congress. Recently, another leader, Manoj Tiwari hit out at the CM after his roadshow was blocked by the police.

Manoj Tiwaris roadshow blocked by police

Manoj Tiwaris appearance at a roadshow in Raghunathpur brought out scores of locals to catch a glimpse of the actor-politician. Within moments, one could see police officials coming up to the Delhi Member of Parliament's vehicle, and attempting to talk to him to stall the roadshow. Tiwari was seen trying in a minute-long conversation with the policeman amid the cheering crowds in the video posted on Twitter.

Reacting to the gesture, Tiwari wrote, This is the right way to do it, Didi. BJPs win is certain.

He, later, went on to campaign at the Garbeta region and posted a video of the gathering of 'lakhs of people.'

A few days ago, another actor-politician of the party Ravi Kishan had alleged that despite permission, his helicopter was not allowed to land in Bengal.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath and Home Minister Amit Shah were among the others who addressed rallies in West Bengal on Thursday while taking digs at Mamata and TMC.

The first phase of the Bengal elections kicks off on Saturday, March 27. The state will go back to polls in an eight-phase polling process. The results are slated to be announced on May 2.
NEW YORK - The New York attorney general's office has partnered with Manhattan's district attorney to investigate Stephen Bannon for the alleged fundraising scam that prompted his federal pardon in the waning hours of Donald Trump's presidency, according to people familiar with the matter. The move adds prosecutorial firepower to a criminal case widely seen as an attempted end-run around the former president's bid to protect a political ally.

Investigators employed by the state attorney general were deputized to work as prosecutors with the team led by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr., D, whose investigation of Bannon began shortly after his pardon was announced in January, these people said. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.

"The AG is working hand-in-hand with the DA's office in leading this investigation," one person said. New York Attorney General Letitia James, D, "has been looking at Bannon for a while," the person added.

James has built a reputation, in part, around her promises to hold Trump and his associates accountable for alleged misdeeds, and she sued his administration several times over policy decisions that affected New Yorkers. It was not immediately clear whether the scope of her interest in Bannon, who helped engineer Trump's 2016 election victory and later served as White House strategist, goes beyond his alleged role in what federal prosecutors characterized last summer as a lucrative ploy to defraud donors of a private effort to expand the U.S.-Mexico border wall.

Vance's investigation is focused on the same allegations charged in Bannon's federal indictment, people familiar with the investigation said.

Bannon, along with three others, was indicted in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on charges of stealing funds from their "We Build The Wall" campaign. Federal prosecutors alleged he pocketed more than $1 million after representing to supporters that all funds collected through the effort would be used for wall construction.

Bannon denied any wrongdoing, as did the others. They have not been charged with any crimes by state authorities, but the ongoing federal case does not preclude that from happening.

Bannon's attorney Robert Costello did not respond to a request for comment. Spokespeople for Vance and for James declined to comment.

Trump's pardon, a one-page document bearing a Justice Department seal, clears Bannon of "offenses charged" in the border-wall donation drive and "for any other offenses" that could be charged in connection to it.

Presidential pardons do not apply to state investigations.

Such collaboration between the attorney general and the district attorney is rare. The two law enforcement officials are overseeing separate inquiries into Trump and his business dealings, investigations focused on whether the values of certain assets were manipulated to gain tax benefits and favorable loan rates in violation of the state law, but it is not believed the two agencies are coordinating. While Vance is considering whether to bring criminal charges against Trump and his business associates, James is pursuing a civil investigation.

The former president has dismissed both matters as politically motivated.

As state attorney general, James has original jurisdiction over money laundering cases in New York, one person familiar with the collaboration between her office and Vance's said, while the district attorney can prosecute any criminal offense suspected of occurring in Manhattan. It is possible Bannon could face criminal prosecution and potential civil action, although it is not clear whether such a consideration has been discussed.

Vance, a third-term elected prosecutor, will not seek reelection this year, so it is likely that any case against Bannon - or Trump - would be overseen at the trial stage by his successor.

It is also unclear whether federal prosecutors in Manhattan are assisting state investigators in their Bannon inquiry. A spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office declined to comment.

Bannon's three co-defendants in the federal case did not receive pardons from Trump, and the U.S. attorney's office in New York is preparing for trial against them. Federal prosecutors are fighting the formal dismissal of Bannon's indictment, arguing to a federal judge that Trump's pardon does not mean the case has to be wiped from the docket, only that federal proceedings against him cannot go forward.
The final results from Israel's fourth election in two years show a nation deeply divided over whether Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should remain in office.

Netanyahu and his right-wing allies fell short of winning a parliamentary majority, according to a final vote count released on Thursday.

The Prime Minister and his allies captured 52 seats, compared to 57 held by his opponents, with neither alliances winning enough to form a government.

The final results from Israel's fourth election in two years show a nation deeply divided over whether Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (pictured on Wednesday) should remain in office

Israelis vote for party lists rather than candidates, and seats in the 120-member Knesset are assigned based on the percentage of the vote.

No single Israeli party has ever won a 61-seat majority, so an aspiring prime minister must assemble a ruling coalition.

That often means courting fringe parties or even those on the other side of the political spectrum, offering ministries, official positions, budgets or other favors in return for their support.

The negotiations usually take several weeks. If no one is able to assemble a 61-seat majority the country will go into an unprecedented fifth election later this year.

The fourth election in just two years brought a stinging rebuke for Netanyahu, the most dominant figure in Israeli politics in a generation. Adding to the pain, he lost ground to former partners who vowed never to sit in a government with him again.

Under Israel's fragmented political system, Netanyahu could still try to reach across the aisle and cobble together a governing coalition.

But the makeup of the new parliament will make that extremely difficult, giving his opponents the upper hand in coalition talks. It's also quite possible Israel will go into a fifth election later this year.

'It is clear that Netanyahu does not have a majority to form a government under his leadership,' said Gideon Saar, one of the former Netanyahu allies who now oppose him. 'Action must now be taken to realise the possibility of forming a government for change.'

Netanyahu and his right-wing allies fell short of winning a parliamentary majority according to a final vote count released Thursday. Pictured: A man walks past an election campaign billboard featuring a picture of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

Israeli election commission's final results PRO-NETANYAHU, 52 seats Likud (right-wing): 30 Shas (ultra-Orthodox): 9 United Torah Judaism (ultra-Orthodox): 7 Religious Zionism (far-right): 6 ANTI-NETANYAHU, 57 seats Yesh Atid (centrist): 17 Blue and White (centrist): 8 Yisrael Beitenu (secular right): 7 Labor (left-wing): 7 New Hope (right-wing): 6 Joint List (Arab left-wing): 6 Meretz (left-wing): 6 NOT COMMITTED, 11 seats Yamina (right-wing): 7 United Arab List (Arab Islamist): 4 Advertisement

In the middle were two undecided parties: Yamina, a seven-seat nationalist party headed by a former Netanyahu lieutenant, and Raam, an Arab Islamist party that won four seats.

Neither Naftali Bennett of Yamina nor Mansour Abbas of Raam has committed to either camp.

Yet deep divisions in both the pro-Netanyahu and anti-Netanyahu blocs could make it difficult for either side to secure a majority with them.

'Israel is experiencing its worst political crisis in decades. It's apparent that our political system finds it very difficult to produce a decisive outcome,' said Yohanan Plesner, president of the Israel Democracy Institute.

'This is as a result of inherent weaknesses in our electoral system, but it's also because of the Netanyahu factor.'

Tuesday's vote was widely seen as a referendum on Netanyahu's leadership style and fitness to rule while under indictment. 'Israelis are split right down the middle on this question,' Plesner said.

Netanyahu's supporters see him as a statesman uniquely qualified to lead the country. He campaigned on his management of the country's successful coronavirus vaccination program and diplomatic agreements reached last year with four Arab countries.

His opponents, however, say Netanyahu is untrustworthy and has bungled many aspects of the coronavirus crisis. They also say he should not be running the country at a time when he is on trial on multiple corruption charges.

The evidentiary phase, in which a series of former aides are to take the stand against him, is set to begin on April 5.

Yesh Atid party leader Yair Lapid delivers a speech following the announcement of the first exit poll results for the Israeli Parliamentary election, at his party's headquarters in Tel Aviv, Wednesday, March 24, 2021. Yesh Atid won the second-highest number of seats

Thursday's results set the stage for weeks of uncertainty as the country's figurehead president, Reuven Rivlin, consults with party leaders to see if they can agree on a candidate who can cobble together a new governing majority.

Merav Michaeli, whose centre-left Labor party won seven seats, declared victory for the anti-Netanyahu camp. 'Now it is time to form a government,' she told Channel 13 TV.

That may not be so simple. The anti-Netanyahu camp includes a diverse array of parties ranging from leftist Arab factions to hard-line nationalists opposed to cooperation with them.

One option floated on Thursday was the possibility of using their slim parliamentary majority to pass legislation that would disqualify an indicted politician from forming a new government, a measure aimed at barring Netanyahu from office. Several parties said they were leaning in that direction.

Netanyahu is on trial for fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in three cases. He has denied any wrongdoing and has dismissed the charges as a witch-hunt by a biased law enforcement and media.

His opponents accuse him of leading the country into repeated elections in hopes of winning a parliament that would grant him immunity from prosecution.

According to the final results released by Israel's election commission, Netanyahu and his allies captured 52 seats, compared to 57 held by his opponents, with neither alliances winning enough to form a government.

Dani Dayan, a member of Saar's New Hope party, said he wasn't thrilled about pursuing a 'personalized' law but said it was worth considering.

'Netanyahu has made such a mishmash between his lawsuit and the needs of the state. Therefore, there's room for debate on the matter,' he said.

Netanyahu's Likud party issued an angry statement comparing his opponents to the clerical leadership in Iran, which vets candidates for office. 'The `change bloc' is just a nice way of saying an 'anti-democratic bloc,' Likud said.

Despite the charges against him, Netanyahu's Likud party received around a quarter of the votes, making it the largest party in parliament.

A total of 13 parties received enough votes to enter the Knesset - the most since the 2003 election - leaving the parliament divided among a host of midsize parties representing ultra-Orthodox Jewish, Arab, secular, nationalist, and liberal factions.

For Netanyahu to secure a majority, he would likely need to bring in both Bennett, who leads a party popular with hard-line Jewish nationalists, and Abbas, whose party is inspired by the regionwide Muslim Brotherhood movement. Bennett has ruled out an alliance with Abbas.

Merav Michaeli, whose centre-left Labor party won seven seats, declared victory for the anti-Netanyahu camp. 'Now it is time to form a government,' she told Channel 13 TV

In another blow to Netanyahu, Bezalel Smotrich, an ally of the prime minister and head of the far-right Religious Zionism party, said Thursday that 'a right-wing government will not be established with support from Abbas. Period. Not on my watch.'

Netanyahu will also try to look for individual lawmakers on the other side of the aisle to 'defect' and join him.

That, for now, looks like a longshot given the hostility toward the prime minister.

Bennett, Saar and Avigdor Lieberman, leader of the secular nationalist Yisrael Beitenu party, are all former Netanyahu confidants who had messy breakups with the prime minister.

Benny Gantz, leader of the Blue and White party, formed a power-sharing deal with Netanyahu last year, only to see it quickly disintegrate amid nonstop infighting.

Netanyahu's opponents will also explore various possible combinations that could secure the required 61-seat majority. This could include luring Netanyahu's ultra-Orthodox allies and even disgruntled members of Likud.

Mansour Abbas, leader of the United Arab List (Ra'am), attends a conference in the northern Israeli city of Tamra on March 23, 2021. Ra'am won four seats in the election

The mind-boggling array of possibilities means that weeks of uncertainty most likely lie ahead, with a chance of an unprecedented fifth consecutive election if an alternative coalition cannot be found.

Late Thursday, Yair Lapid, whose centrist Yesh Atid party finished second with 17 seats, announced he had met with Michaeli and 'discussed options for cooperation to build a coalition for change.'

It said they agreed to 'meet again and continue discussions.'
President Donald J. Trump and his millions of supporters had high hopes for the process that was about to begin on January 6, 2021 in the Capitol Building.

Starting at 1 P.M. that day and continuing over the next 12 to 16 hours in front of millions of viewers worldwide, Congress would begin an extensive examination of evidence presented by Trump's congressional allies of voter irregularities in the battleground states of Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Arizona, Wisconsin, and Nevada that they believed cost Trump the election.

A cornucopia of statistical data, video clips, and affidavits gathered by pro-Trump investigators would show that in these battleground states, tens of thousands of people voted more than once, thousands of non-residents cast ballots, and states sent multiple absentee ballots to individual voters at the same address.

Importantly, the presenters would show how the use of untested voting techniques such as mass mail-in balloting and unsupervised signature-matching contributed to these abuses.

Moreover, the global audience would learn that state attorneys general, governors, and state courts, not state legislatures, instituted these changes to voting laws, in clear violation of Article 1, Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution.

Trump's team believed that this evidence would pressure Congress to consider setting aside these electoral slates supposedly won by Biden.

Even if the Democrat-dominated Congress ignored the evidence and certified Biden's victory, the exercise would likely generate significant national public support for passage of election integrity laws that limit mail-in voting and mandate voter identification.

Trump and his congressional allies had the political winds at their backs. By December, a large plurality of Americans had been exposed to enough information about 2020 voter irregularities to be convinced that election fraud had placed Joe Biden in the White House.

The morning of January 6, tens of thousands of Trump-supporters gathered at the Ellipse to hear President Trump describe for them and for the millions in the TV audience the evidence Trump's congressional allies were about to present.

We all know what happened next. Demonstrators gathered 1.5 miles from the Ellipse were somehow able, inexplicably, to breach the Capitol Building barricades and enter the building itself.

As a result of the ensuing chaos at the Capitol, any hope that legislators and a global audience of millions would hear definitive evidence of voter irregularities in the 2020 presidential election was dashed. Within minutes, the mainstream media and Democrat leaders created an implausible narrative that President Trump had incited a riot that disrupted a congressional session Trump believed would expose electoral shenanigans that deprived him of victory.

Let us pause here for a moment. The millions who follow crime news; the exploits of real-life investigators such as Jack Paladino; or even the fictional adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Miss Marple, Hercule Poirot, and Nero Wolfe know that the first step in a criminal inquiry is establishing motive.

An investigator examining the mysterious events of that day  say, a special counsel  would first focus on determining who benefited most from the disruption of a session of Congress providing Trump's allies the platform for presenting their evidence to a global audience.

If anyone were to quote to Nero Wolfe the New York Times' allegation that an "insurrection" was "inspired by President Donald J. Trump's false claims of a stolen election," Wolfe would undoubtedly respond with his famous retort: "Are you a dunce, or do you take me for one?"

Wolfe would remind all that since President Trump realistically viewed this session as the final chance to demonstrate that the 2020 election results were tainted by widespread voter irregularities, he had a major stake in ensuring that nothing interfered with Congress's work that day.

Who then benefited from an incursion into the Capitol Building that prevented this disclosure of voter fraud evidence?

Undoubtedly, liberal progressives nationwide were thrilled that Trump was deprived of the opportunity to prove to the world he, not Biden, won the 2020 election. Equally delighted would be the secret "cabal" of Democrats, never-Trump Republicans, Big Tech, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, union bosses, and BLM, which, according to Time, had been feverishly working together since 2019 to "influence perceptions, change rules and laws, steer media coverage and control the flow of information" to ensure Trump's defeat in 2020.

But motive alone does not prove guilt. We must determine who also had the means and opportunity to frustrate the efforts of Trump and his allies.

As speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi shares responsibility for Capitol security. On February 15 Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and other Republicans sent a letter to Nancy Pelosi asking her why Capitol Police chief Sund's January 4 request for National Guard support was rejected, and whether Pelosi had had conversations with Sund about his request.

On March 5, Rep. Jerry Carl (R-Ala.) told a reporter that Pelosi "should have played a larger role because she is ultimately responsible for that security." Carl insisted that while he did not believe "she would encourage" the Capitol fracas, "I think she left security very, very weak for obvious reasons."

Pelosi was not alone in enabling the incursion that day. Media accounts and congressional reports document the failures of FBI, Capitol, and D.C. police and Defense Department leaders to act on intelligence reports of potential mayhem at the Capitol on January 6 and provide adequate security to prevent breaches that day.

We still don't know why President Trump's requests to deploy 10,000 National Guard troops in D.C. prior to Jan. 6 were consistently rejected or how FBI director Christopher Wray could possibly be unaware of a Norfolk field office report's warning of "specific appeals for violence, including a call for 'war' at the Capitol" on January 6.

Don't expect Pelosi's "9/11-style" commission, chaired by left-leaning anti-Trumper Army lieutenant general Russell Honore, to take a deep dive into any of these questions. The wording of her charge to the commission to investigate a "domestic terrorist attack upon the United States Capitol Complex" that interfered with "the peaceful transfer of power" clearly signals to the commission that its members focus on the false narrative that Trump's speech incited an insurrection.

Such diversionary tactics will only delay a thorough investigation of the incursion. Citizen-journalists and investigators are examining evidence and raising questions about the unusual events that day. The lawsuit recently filed by the family of Ashli Babbitt, the young war veteran killed by a still unidentified Capitol Police officer, promises to reveal even more about how protesters were able to enter the Capitol Building.

The upcoming government trials of the Capitol protestors could backfire on the DOJ if defense attorneys begin asking questions about the inexplicable failure of Capitol police and ultimately the FBI and Pelosi to prevent the incursion.

The DOJ, perhaps mindful of this potential trap of its own making, has now asked the courts for a 60-day delay to build a case against the "insurrectionists."

The future of the American republic and the liberties we enjoy therein depends on uncovering the truth about that day. The media and the Democrats are using their baseless narrative blaming Trump and his supporters for the incursion as a pretext for militarizing swaths of Washington, D.C. and passing a domestic terrorism bill designed to intimidate critics of government policies and define future political rallies and protests as potential acts of insurrection.

And Big Tech uses it to justify stifling attempts to share with the American citizenry evidence of voter irregularities originally scheduled for public dissemination on January 6, even as Arizona and Georgia open new investigations into voter fraud in the 2020 elections.

America needs an independent entity, perhaps a special counsel, to thoroughly investigate the events of that day and hold accountable those government officials and agencies whose actions either intentionally or unwittingly enabled the chaos at the Capitol.

And let us pledge as a nation to adopt the strictest voting standards and banish forever questionable procedures that only invite widespread citizen mistrust in the electoral process. Only then can we restore Americans' faith in our election system, the bedrock of our democracy.

Sociologist Michael G. Zey, Ph.D is the author of Ageless Nation, Seizing the Future, and The Future Factor. Prof., Montclair State University (retired). www.zey.com. twitter.com/futurist3000 and also Facebook.

Image via Pxhere.
YEREVAN -- Armenias Constitutional Court has ruled that a criminal case against former President Robert Kocharian must be dropped, ending a legal saga over a deadly crackdown on protesters more than a decade ago.

The high court on March 26 found invalid an article of the Criminal Code under which Armenias second president was being prosecuted.

Court Chairman Arman Dilanian said Article 300.1 of the Criminal Code regarding overthrowing the constitutional order runs counter to two articles of the constitution. The decision is final.

The ruling means Kocharians case must be terminated, according to the ex-presidents lawyer Aram Vardevanian.

Prosecutors did not immediately comment.

Kocharian, who served as the South Caucasus country's president from 1998 to 2008, was accused of violating the constitutional order by sending police to disperse postelection protests in Yerevan in 2008. Eight demonstrators and two police officers died in the clashes.

The ex-president, who is also accused of taking bribes in a separate case, has rejected the allegations against him as political retaliation by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian. Kocharian was released from detention in June 2020 after paying a record $4.1 million bail.

Pashinian was one of the organizers of the 2008 protest and was ultimately jailed until being released in 2011 under a government amnesty.

Pashinian came to power in 2018 after leading massive demonstrations that ousted his predecessor.

The high court verdict comes as Armenia prepares for early parliamentary elections in June, triggered by opposition demands Pashinian step down over his leadership during a six-week war with Azerbaijan over the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region, which ended in what many Armenians felt was a humiliating defeat.

Kocharian, a native of Nagorno-Karabakh, was one of the leaders of the region's separatist forces and was Nagorno-Karabakhs first de facto president between December 1994 and March 1997.

In January, Kocharian said he would participate in any early elections.
China makes major progress in protecting its wetlands

People's Daily Online) 09:37, March 26, 2021

China has made great strides in enhancing wetland conservation and restoration over the past years, with over 52 percent of its wetland areas now coming under protection.

China ranks first in Asia and fourth in the world in terms of wetland area, with a total of more than 800 million mu (53.3 million hectares). The countrys wetland area expanded by more than 200,000 hectares between 2016 and 2020. The country has also established a national wetland protection system composed mainly of national parks, wetland nature reserves, and wetland parks.

Photo taken on Oct. 23, 2020 shows the autumn view of Xihai Wetland Park in Beijing, capital of China. (Xinhua/Luo Xiaoguang)

In January 2021, a draft law on wetland protection was submitted to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature, for first review. The legislation on wetland protection will help with the establishment of a complete legal system to guarantee wetland protection, said Gao Hucheng, chairman of the NPC Environmental Protection and Resources Conservation Committee.

In 2018, six Chinese cities, among a total of 18 global pioneer cities, were recognized for their exceptional efforts to safeguard their urban wetlands at the 13th Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands.

Since the end of 2018, 93 aquaculture ponds and 20,000-meter dikes have been removed in the part of the West Dongting Lake National Nature Reserve in central China's Hunan province, and 86.4 hectares of wetlands, 200 hectares of habitats for birds, and 533.3 hectares of vegetation have been restored.

Since mid-February, the Liaohekou National Nature Reserve in Panjin city, northeast China's Liaoning province, has become a destination for migratory birds. At present, more than 200,000 migratory birds of 50 species have been observed in the reserve thanks to the conservation efforts.

"In recent years, we have demolished coastal aquaculture ponds, restored 5,726.6 hectares of wetlands and expanded 17.6 kilometers of natural coastlines," said Xu Wei, head of the citys forestry and wetland protection administration.

While protecting the wetland ecology, China has also developed tourism through the appropriate use of wetlands, creating job opportunities and bringing prosperity to local residents.

Nearly 10,000 villagers living near the Longji terraced fields national wetland park in Longsheng county, south China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, were lifted out of poverty thanks to revenues from the park and subsidies from the local government.

Chinas wetland parks contributed 53.6 billion yuan ($8.21 billion) to regional economic growth and directly created 47,000 new jobs, according to the National Forestry and Grassland Administration (NFGA). In 2019, Chinas national wetland parks received 385 million visitors.

Over the next five years, China will continue to intensify its efforts in wetland protection, aiming to bring 55 percent of its total wetland area under protection. The country will carry out a range of key wetland protection and restoration projects and build and restore 18,800 hectares of mangrove forests, said an official with NFGA.

(Web editor: Hongyu, Liang Jun)
Georgia State Rep. Park Cannon (D) was released on bond late Thursday after being arrested and forcibly removed from the Capitol for attempting to knock on the door of Gov. Brian Kemp (R), who was in the process of signing a sweeping GOP-sponsored bill to curb voting access.

Why it matters: The video of Cannon's arrest went viral Thursday night, as Georgia again became ground zero for the national debate over voting rights.

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The big picture: The bill Kemp signed is one of dozens of voting-rights rollbacks making their way through state GOP legislatures, an effort that President Biden on Thursday labeled "sick" and "un-American."

The Georgia law imposes new ID requirements, limits the use of ballot drop boxes, and changes early voting hours, among other things. Kemp said at the signing that it will ensure Georgias elections are "secure, accessible and fair."

Democrats in Congress have named the "For the People Act," a landmark piece of federal legislation that would expand voting rights, reduce money in politics and limit partisan gerrymandering, as a top priority to counter Republicans' voting restrictions, which some have likened to "Jim Crow in new clothes."

The state of play: Cannon was charged with obstruction of law enforcement and disrupting a session of the Georgia General Assembly, after she knocked on Kemp's door and called on him to sign the bill in public.

Sen. Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) visited Park in Fulton County jail after she was detained.

What we have witnessed today is a desperate attempt to lock out and squeeze the people out of their own democracy, Warnock, who was elected to the Senate in January, said outside the jail. We are going to take this fight to give the people their voices back.

What they're saying: "Hey everyone, thank you for your support. Ive been released from jail. I am not the first Georgian to be arrested for fighting voter suppression. Id love to say Im the last, but we know that isnt true," Cannon tweeted after midnight.

Story continues

"But someday soon that last person will step out of jail for the last time and breathe a first breath knowing that no one will be jailed again for fighting for the right to vote."

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The term badging has a variety of meanings, and here we are talking about what people badge with to signal status, membership or affiliation with a particular community, movement or organisation...
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In commemoration of the 2021 World Oral Health Day, Colgate, the worlds leading and the most chosen toothpaste brand, collaborated with the Nigeria Association of Dental Students and the Nigerian Medical Students Association to reach out to 44 locations in rural communities across 31 states in Nigeria.

At each location, activities started in the early hours of the morning with oral health sensitization walk; Colgate team, dental students and medical students combed densely populated areas around the activation points such as the markets and residentials raising awareness about preventing dental cavities and the importance of ensuring a good oral hygiene practice. Afterwards, everyone had the opportunity to visit the Colgate Dental Checkup stand to have their mouth screened at zero cost by licensed and certified dentist.

In Abuja, the team visited Paiko community, Gwagwalada, engaging families, market women and children and conducted household calls to preach the message of adopting a good oral care habit in alignment with the 2021 theme Be Proud of your Smile.

According to the Chief Executive Officer, Colgate Palmolive Tolaram, Girish Sharma- we are particularly excited about this years World Oral Health Day campaign as it holds the potential to transform the lives of many across the nation.

Colgates partnership with the Nigeria Association of Dental Students and the Nigerian Medical Students Association made the impact even more far-reaching as it facilitated the possibility of simultaneously combing through the nooks and cranny of over 44 communities across 31 states in a day.

Although the target population reach for this exercise is over 18,000 for both adult and children, however, this syncs seamlessly with Colgates 2021 goal of touching more than 2million people through its Free Dental check-up camps present in nine states across Nigeria.

Oral care is a very important aspect of the human overall health and wellness, and preventing cavity is one of the cardinal parts of enjoying a good oral health. It is, therefore, imperative to create awareness around oral care.

We are committed to proffer effective solutions to the spread of tooth cavities as well as aggressively promoting preventive oral care in Nigeria which is why we decided to go national with the campaign to deeply penetrate the rural communities ensuring they also benefit from the free dental screening opportunity.

According to the president of Nigerian Association of Dental Students, Michael Adejumo, We embarked on this campaign to support our brand, Colgate, and to enhance publicity on good oral care habits across every state in Nigeria and around the world.

WOHD is celebrated throughout the world on March 20 each year, with a wide range of awareness-raising activities organised by dentists, dental students, and National Dental Associations (NDAs). It offers the dental and oral health community a platform to take action and help reduce the global disease burden of oral disease.
Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Vikram K Doraiswami said that Bangladesh is one of India's most important neighbours and that Prime Minister Narendra Modi visit to the country highlights the same.

Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Vikram K Doraiswami has said that Bangladesh is one of India's most important neighbours. He further said that Prime Minister Narendra Modis visit to Bangladesh highlights the same. Speaking to ANI, he said, "The PM's visit is intended to signal that we have travelled together for 50 years and we need to look ahead for another 50, which would be about more joint ventures, trade and investment.

He further said, The criticality of Bangladesh is that it is one of our most important neighbours, one of our most important relationships is clearly flagged by the Prime Minister who chose to come here despite continuing pandemic. Ahead of the visit, the Indian Prime Minister put out an official statement in which he expressed pleasure over his visit to the neighbouring country. "I am happy that my first official visit after the outbreak of the pandemic will be to our neighbouring country with which India shares deep cultural, linguistic and people to people ties.

The Indian commissioner to Bangladesh termed Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as a hero for Indians. He said, As mentioned by our prime minister Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman is a hero for Indians too. It is a matter of commemoration together. In Bangladesh the celebration of the birth of Bangabandhu and 50 years of our bilateral relationship, there is so much common, therefore it is a joint celebration. Joint celebration is trying to showcase the importance we place to this piece of history as the bedrock of our relationship.

Guest of honour at 50th Independence Day

Bangladesh is celebrating its 50th year of Independence on March 26 this year, and PM Modi is going to grace the occasion as the guest of honour. Besides PM Modi, the heads of state and government from Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and the Maldives will also be present at the celebration. The invitation for the same was extended to PM Modi last year, as per the Foreign Minister of Bangladesh who back then had said, "We would love to see Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi join the celebrations of the 50th anniversary of our Independence.

PM Modi was to visit Bangladesh last year as well to participate in the Mujib centenary celebration, but the visit was cancelled keeping in mind the COVID-19 pandemic. The PM is also supposed to hold bilateral consultations with PM Hasina, and there are talks of several Memorandum of Understandings to be signed between the heads of the two countries. Apart from this, he will also call on the President of Bangladesh H.E. Md. Abdul Hamid and will be called on by Foreign Minister of Bangladesh Dr A.K. Abdul Momen. This is going to be PM Modi's first trip abroad after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

(Image Credits: PTI)
Not for distribution to U.S. newswire services or for dissemination in the United States



TORONTO, March 24, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Giyani Metals Corp. (TSXV:EMM, GR:A2DUU8) ("Giyani" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has today closed its previously announced bought deal equity financing (the "Offering"). A total of 16,916,500 units of the Company (the "Units") were issued at a price of C$0.68 per Unit for gross proceeds of C$11,503,220, which included the exercise in full of the overallotment option granted by the Company to the Underwriters (as defined below). Each Unit consists of one (1) common share (each, a "Common Share") and one half of one () Common Share purchase warrant (each whole Common Share purchase warrant, a "Warrant"). Each Warrant will entitle the holder to purchase one Common Share at an exercise price of C$1.00 per Common Share until September 24, 2022.

The Offering was co-led by Cormark Securities Inc. and Beacon Securities Limited (together, the "Underwriters"). In connection with the Offering, the Underwriters received a cash commission equal to 5.5% of the gross proceeds of the Offering. Giyani also issued an aggregate of 930,407 broker warrants to the Underwriters that entitle the holders thereof to purchase Common Shares until September 24, 2022 at a purchase price of C$0.68 per Common Share. The Units were offered by way of a shortform prospectus dated March 19, 2021 (the "Prospectus") in each of the provinces of Canada, except Quebec.

The net proceeds of the Offering will be used for drilling, a demonstration plant (pilot plant), completion of a feasibility study, basic engineering and front end engineering and design, prepayments for long lead order items, additional staffing costs and other general corporate purposes, as further described in the Prospectus.

The Offering is subject to the final acceptance of the TSX Venture Exchange.

Robin Birchall, CEO of Giyani Metals Corp. commented:

"We are delighted with the outcome of the bought deal equity financing and would like to thank the Underwriters for their sterling performance for the Company. The Company is now very well capitalized to progress towards the completion of the Feasibility Study and further on towards the next steps of basic engineering, front-end engineering design and pre-payments for long lead order items."

About Giyani

Giyani Metals Corp. is a mineral resource company focused on the development of its K.Hill, Lobatse & Otse manganese oxide projects in the Kanye Basin, Botswana, Africa. The Company's flagship K.Hill project is a near-surface deposit currently going through a feasibility study to produce high-purity electrolytic manganese metal and manganese sulphate, both key cathode ingredients for batteries in the expanding electric vehicle (EV) market.

Additional information and corporate documents may be found on www.sedar.com and on the Company's website: https://giyanimetals.com/.

On behalf of the Board of Directors of Giyani Metals Corp.

Robin Birchall, CEO

Contact:

Robin Birchall CEO, Director

+447711313019

rbirchall@giyanimetals.com

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange (the "TSXV") nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

The securities described herein have not been registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), or any state securities laws, and accordingly, may not be offered or sold to, or for the account or benefit of, persons in the United States or "U.S. persons," as such term is defined in Regulation S promulgated under the U.S. Securities Act ("U.S. Persons"), except in compliance with the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities requirements or pursuant to exemptions therefrom. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the Company's securities to, or for the account of benefit of, persons in the United States or U.S. Persons.

Forward Looking Information

This press release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements in this news release, other than statements of historical fact, that address events or developments that Giyani expects to occur, are "forward-looking statements". Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects", "does not expect", "plans", "anticipates", "does not anticipate", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "potential", "scheduled", "forecast", "budget" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could", "should" or "might" occur. Specific forward-looking statements and forward-looking information herein includes receipt of TSXV final approval for the Offering and intended use of net proceeds of the Offering.

All such forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of the relevant management as of the date such statements are made and are subject to certain assumptions, important risk factors and uncertainties, many of which are beyond Giyani's ability to control or predict. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based on estimates and assumptions that are inherently subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. In the case of Giyani, these facts include their anticipated operations in future periods, planned exploration and development of its properties, and plans related to its business and other matters that may occur in the future. This information relates to analyses and other information that is based on expectations of future performance and planned work programs.

Forward-looking information is subject to a variety of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which could cause actual events or results to differ from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking information, including, without limitation: inherent exploration hazards and risks; risks related to exploration and development of natural resource properties; uncertainty in Giyani's ability to obtain funding; commodity price fluctuations; recent market events and conditions; risks related to the uncertainty of mineral resource calculations and the inclusion of inferred mineral resources in economic estimation; risks related to governmental regulations; risks related to obtaining necessary licenses and permits; risks related to their business being subject to environmental laws and regulations; risks related to their mineral properties being subject to prior unregistered agreements, transfers, or claims and other defects in title; risks relating to competition from larger companies with greater financial and technical resources; risks relating to the inability to meet financial obligations under agreements to which they are a party; ability to recruit and retain qualified personnel; and risks related to their directors and officers becoming associated with other natural resource companies which may give rise to conflicts of interests. This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect Giyani's forward-looking information. Should one or more of these risks and uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in the forward-looking information or statements.

Giyani's forward-looking information is based on the reasonable beliefs, expectations and opinions of their respective management on the date the statements are made, and Giyani does not assume any obligation to update forward looking information if circumstances or management's beliefs, expectations or opinions change, except as required by law. For the reasons set forth above, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. For a complete discussion with respect to Giyani and risks associated with forward-looking information and forward-looking statements, please refer to Giyani's financial statements and related MD&A, all of which are filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com .

GIYANI METALS CORP.

www.giyanimetals.com TSX.V-EMM
New Delhi [India], March 26 (ANI): All personnel of the will be on the ground on Thursday as part of arrangements made by the police force for the called by farmer unions against the central farm laws.

Speaking to ANI, Chinmoy Biswal, Public Relations Officer, said security arrangements include Police Control Room (PCR) vans, Quick Response Team (QRT) vans and motorcycle patrolling teams.

" has made adequate law and order arrangements in view the bandh call given by farmers. The entire Delhi Police will be on the ground. We are fully prepared; all district authorities have been directed to put all their men on the ground for patroling from the morning itself," Biswal said.

"We are fully prepared to ensure that the normal life is not affected. All our motorcycle patrolling teams, PCR vans and QRT vans will be on the ground so that no untoward incidents take place," he added.

Moreover, Delhi Police has made adequate preparations at the borders of the capital, where farmers have been protesting for four months.

"We have taken adequate measures at the borders as well. Barricades and pickets will be in place so that no person with ill intention cause disturbance and enter the city," the Delhi Police Public Relations Officer said.

The Bandh call was given by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) on the completion of four months of farmers' struggle at Delhi. They have demanded the repeal of the three agricultural laws, law on MSP and procurement, cancellation of all police cases against farmers, rollback of "electricity bill and pollution bill" and for reducing prices of diesel, petrol and gas.

In a statement, the farmer union said "all minor and big roads and trains will be blocked" and "all services will remain suspended except for ambulance and other essential services".

It said various farmers' organisations, trade unions, student organizations, bar associations, political parties and representatives of state governments have supported the protest call.

The protest will be held from 6 am to 6 pm. "All shops, malls, markets and institutions will remain closed under complete All minor and big roads and trains will be blocked. All services will remain suspended except for ambulance and other essential services. The effect of will be observed inside Delhi as well," the release said.

The SKM also appealed to "protesting citizens" to make the protest successful while being peaceful.

"Protesters are advised to not get involved in any kind of illegitimate debate and conflict. It is a result of the patience of the farmers that the movement has gone so long that we are constantly getting success," the release said.

Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) president Rakesh Tikait had on Tuesday had said that farmers agitating against the Central farm laws would not be divided and they may have to go to the capital and breach barricades again.

Farmers have been protesting at the different border of Delhi since November 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.)
HARTFORD  Connecticut restaurants would be able to continue outdoor dining and entertainment through March of 2022, under bipartisan legislation unanimously approved Thursday in an otherwise sharply divided House of Representatives battling over control of the states reopening.

In a bitter, nearly two-hour debate, Republican attempts to take away some of Gov. Ned Lamonts emergency powers failed in a partisan, 90-50 vote. Despite the rancor, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle quickly agreed to make it easier for restaurateurs to continue serving customers outside.

The bill would let cities and towns close off streets and sidewalks, and food and drink services expedite bureaucratic obstacles, including time-consuming zoning requirements and special-event permits from the state Department of Transportation. It continues social distancing and mask guidelines.

To Republicans including House Minority Leader Vincent Candelora, of North Branford and Senate Minority Leader Kevin Kelly of Stratford, the restaurant agreement was proof that the General Assembly can comb through the 90-plus executive orders Lamont has issued over the last year, taking back its role in setting policy for the state.

There is no reason we cant do the same for all other executive orders. We dont need to extend the governor's powers today. We need to get to work, Kelly said in a statement earlier in the day. Candelora, during a mid-afternoon news conference on the steps of the Capitol, waved a thick printout of potential portions of executive orders that he said could be dropped.

Democrats said now is not the time to invite the sort of chaos that would come from floor debates about details of the reopening. And Paul Mounds, Lamonts chief of staff, in a letter to Kelly on Thursday said that a variety of federal programs could be halted, including federal food services and emergency reimbursements, could become at-risk if Lamonts emergency declarations were to prematurely disappear.

To act otherwise could unnecessarily jeopardize the funding to which Connecticut is entitled, Mounds wrote, stressing that no other states have lifted their emergency declarations.

Covid has changed the way we all interact with the world, said state Rep. Cristin McCarthy Vahey, D-Fairfield, co-chairwoman of the legislative Planning and Development Committee, who introduced the restaurant-relief bill at about 5:45 p.m.

The restaurant extension was aimed at helping perhaps the hardest hit industry in the state. State Rep. David Rutigliano, R-Trumbull, who owns several restaurants, said Lamonts orders to ease outdoor dining helped save jobs and businesses.

Our industry has struggled, he said, detailing the 130,000 workers who suddenly became unemployed and the hundreds of businesses that have closed for good. The single lifeline we had last year, it turned out, was the extension of outdoor dining. I believe it was the single thing weve done to save these small family-owned businesses. Something actually worked out, even in this awful year.

I love it, said Gov. Ned Lamont, when informed of the impending House action during his mid-afternoon news conference on the pandemic. The bill, approved 141-0 after a 15-minute discussion, moves to the Senate, which may met as soon as next Tuesday.

These relaxed rules could be the start of a new Connecticut tradition that increases activity in our towns, Lamont said in a statement after the 6:10 p.m. vote. One positive outcome of this unfortunate pandemic has been that weve been thinking about new, creative ways to offer activities outdoors, including at restaurants. Expanded outdoor dining has created a vibrancy in many of our neighborhoods in ways that we havent seen before, all while supporting locally owned, small businesses.

The two months when Connecticut shut down dining entirely were some of the darkest days ever faced by our industry, said Dan Meiser, chairman of the Connecticut Restaurant Association, after the quick House debate and vote. Collectively we worked with state and local officials to change parking lots, sidewalks, and even roads into dining areas. This should continue in 2021, so that our industry can plan ahead, keep our doors open, and continue on the long road toward recovery to the benefit of local economies throughout Connecticut.

A year after restaurants were asked to close their doors, and we watched more than 600 restaurants close, moving this bill forward is a positive step in the right direction, said Scott Dolch, executive director of the association.

The speedy bipartisan cooperation in the House followed a sometimes acrimonious debate on the extension of Lamonts emergency powers until May 20, as Republicans charged that Democrats let Lamont usurp the duties of the legislature.

The emergency powers had been scheduled to expire on April 20. The governor and majority Democrats said the pandemic continues to rage, but they would use the extra weeks to review which of the 93 executive orders is no longer needed.

This is not about analyzing what has been done up to now, said Candelora, who complained that Republicans have not been consulted on the road ahead. Its about going forward.

When did we give the governor the power to enact these executive orders? asked Rep. Tom ODea, R-New Canaan.

This legislature, this body and by extension the people we represent, replied Rep. Mike DAgostino, D-Hamden, who brought out the bill.

The governors powers were extended by a smaller group of 10 legislative leaders, though a Superior Court judge later said in a ruling that the entire General Assembly should have voted on the extensions.

I would submit that the governor has overstepped his authority because we have allowed him to, ODea charged.

A GOP amendment that would have ended Lamonts emergency powers on May 1 failed 89-50.

House Majority Leader Jason Rojas, D-East Hartford, summing up the debate just before the final vote, said public officials throughout the state have had to be flexible over the last year.

This has not been easy on anyone, Rojas said. Were in a much better place than a year ago, six months ago, even a month ago. We cannot let up just yet. The spread of variants are happening. Its still unclear of what our supply of vaccine will be. We still face considerable financial liabilities related to the pandemic. We must continue to be ready to respond to ever-changing conditions in the pandemic that no one was familiar with a year ago. 

kdixon@ctpost.com Twitter: @KenDixonCT
Thousands of women who work at Asda are celebrating after victory in a long-running equal pay lawsuit against the supermarket.

The Supreme Court ruled that lower-paid staff who work on the shop floor can compare themselves with higher-paid workers in warehouses. This has been a contentious issue and the 44,000 claimants in the case argue it is sexist.

Most of those who work in supermarkets are women and receive up to 3 less an hour than those who work in depots  who are mostly men. The case has been dubbed 'Made in Dagenham for the 21st century'  in reference to the famous strikes by women at the Ford factory in the 1960s.

Driving change: Asda shop floor workers who are often paid less than those working in depots

Wendy Arundale, who worked at Asda for 32 years, said: 'I loved my job, but knowing that male colleagues working in distribution centres were being paid more left a bitter taste. It's not much to ask to be paid an equal wage for work of equal value.'

There is still a long way to go, as yesterday's decision does not mean the women behind the lawsuit have won the right to equal pay. But it means they are now free to take further action against Asda to demand changes.

The next hurdle will be to prove that their work is of equal value in terms of skills and training to those who work in depots.

If judges rule this is the case, a tribunal would then weigh up if there were reasons other than sexism behind the pay rates. If the claimants win the case, they could be in line for 10,000 to 20,000 in compensation each and Asda could have to pay out hundreds of millions of pounds.

The company, which is one of Britain's 'Big Four' supermarkets, argues it has already paid the right rate for the job and that both men and women work in supermarkets and warehouses.

Champion: Sally Hawkins stars in Made In Dagenham

The case will be a blow to Asda's new owners, the billionaire Issa brothers, who completed their 6.8billion takeover last month from US grocery group Walmart.

The Supreme Court's decision could also have a knock-on effect for other firms and could cost the industry an estimated 10billion. It has been closely watched by Asda's rivals, including Tesco, Morrisons and Sainsbury's, which are all facing equal pay claims.

Battles over pay have also hit other sectors  with Deliveroo and Uber workers wrangling in court about their rights.

Anne Pritam, partner and employment lawyer at Stephenson Harwood, said: 'It would be difficult to underestimate the significance of this judgement which will send shock waves far beyond Asda.' Pritam added: 'It is a watershed moment for the rest of the retail industry.'

The GMB Union, which has members who are taking part in the case, said it was 'amazing news and a massive victory for Asda's predominantly women shop floor workforce'.

An Asda spokesman said: 'This ruling relates to one stage of a complex case that is likely to take several years to reach a conclusion. We are defending these claims as the pay in our stores and distribution centres is the same for colleagues doing the same jobs regardless of gender.'
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has come under severe criticism from both the opposition and the public for holding an in-person meeting with his media team despite being infected with the novel coronavirus, according to a media report on Friday. Khan, 68, tested positive for the coronavirus on Saturday last, just a couple of days after receiving an anti-COVID vaccine. First Lady Bushra Bibi also tested coronavirus positive the same day.

Khan received the first shot of the Chinese-produced Sinopharm vaccine, the only anti-COVID jab available in Pakistan, on Thursday as part of the nationwide anti-coronavirus vaccination campaign which is underway in its first phase. The criticism of the prime minister began soon after a picture of the meeting was posted on social media by Information and Broadcasting minister Shibli Faraz and another lawmaker Faisal Javed, who attended the meeting.

The picture showed Khan, clad in a grey tracksuit and joggers, sitting in a room on a sofa at some distance from his media team comprising Faraz, Javed, Yousuf Baig Mirza and Zulfiqar Abbas Bukhari. According to the Dawn newspaper, Khan presided over the meeting at his Banigala residence on Thursday. The opposition said the prime minister himself violated standard operating procedures despite the third wave of the dreaded disease and called for registration of an FIR against all those people who attended the meeting for violating the standard operating procedures (SOPs).

Interestingly, none of the government's spokesmen could defend the prime minister adequately on his act of chairing a meeting during the quarantine period and many of them avoided to engage media personnel over the issue, the report said. In messages posted on social media platforms, people wondered whether it was necessary for the prime minister to hold an in person meeting. They asked why he did not chair the meeting through one of the many video conferencing applications available.

According to the SOPs formulated by National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) - the main national body set up to control the pandemic - a COVID-19 patient has to be quarantined for nine to 14 days. However, Prime Minister Khan attended the meeting only four days after testing positive for the disease.

When contacted, Planning and Development minister and NCOC Chairman Asad Umar said the SOPs only suggested precautions and participants of the meeting were sitting at a reasonable distance from the prime minister. He, however, admitted that it was better to avoid such meetings during the quarantine period. Yousuf Baig Mirza, who was among those present at the meeting, rejected the criticism and said the meeting was held after taking all precautionary measures as per the SOPs.

We did not touch each other and all of us were wearing masks. We did not take anything to eat and drink and sat with a reasonable distance from the prime minister during the 45-minute meeting, he said. Meanwhile, Pakistan Medical Associations general secretary Dr Qaiser Sajjad said patients suffering from COVID-19 should not meet people.

Commenting on Khan's meeting, he said: There are chances of transmission of coronavirus. If it is necessary to hold meetings, the prime minister should use the option of video conferencing as the virus rapidly spreads in closed areas. Pakistan Muslim League-Nawazs information secretary Marriyum Aurangzeb said Khan violated the SOPs and gave a message to the entire nation that there was no need to follow them. The heads of states and governments should set examples for the public. But here the prime minister is himself encouraging people to violate the SOPs, she was quoted as saying by the report.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
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The winter storm that put most of Texas in a deep freeze last month likely chilled labor markets as well.

The Texas Workforce Commission reported Friday that unemployment rates across its 26 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) ticked higher in February.

The Midland MSA  which includes Midland and Martin counties  reported an unemployment rate of 8.3 percent, up from 8.2 percent in January and well above the 2.3 percent recorded last February.

Odessa had an unemployment rate of 11.9 percent, up from 11.7 percent in January and more than triple the 3.3 percent the MSA saw in February 2020. Odessa came in just below the 12 percent reported by McAllen-Edinburg-Mission.

Keith R. Phillips, assistant vice president and senior economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, said in a statement that February unemployment was likely impacted by the winter storm, which may have delayed some new businesses from opening and temporarily shut down some businesses due to storm-related damage.

Willie Taylor, chief executive officer of the commissions Workforce Solutions Permian Basin, said the region remains above whats considered full employment.

Oil and gas is still trying to make its way back, he told the Reporter-Telegram in a telephone interview.

Its going to be a slow, grinding process, he said of recovery in the labor market.

We need to get the message out that things are turning around and encourage people to take jobs, Taylor said. The fact is, in the long run, unemployment benefits will run out.

He said the number of residents filing unemployment insurance claims is well below the peak seen last March and April and his office is placing people in the job market. He sees demand for electricians, welders, plumbers, medical workers and those with commercial drivers licenses who can work as truck drivers.

I encourage everyone, if theyre drawing unemployment and have the time, to look at the training opportunities at the local colleges and upgrade their skills, Taylor said.

Despite the February decline, the Dallas Fed forecasts statewide job growth of 6 percent for the year, down from 6.5 percent in earlier forecasts but as long as COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations continue to decline, job growth should continue to strengthen.

Midlands civilian labor force held steady at 97,123, down from 97,355 in January. The number of employed fell to 89,090 from 89,327 while the number of unemployed inched up to 8,033 from 8,028.

Midland added 300 jobs from January to February for a nonagricultural job count of 93,300. The gains were led by a 400-job increase in the Leisure and Hospitality sector, followed by 200 new jobs in the Professional and Business Services sector and 100 additional jobs each in the Trade, Transportation and Utilities and the Other Services sectors.

The dominant sector, Mining, Logging and Construction, shed 400 jobs during the month while the Education and Health Services sector lost 100 jobs.

For the 12 months from February 2020 to February 2021, Midlands civilian labor force has plunged by about 13,000 while the number of employed has fallen by about 15,500 and the number of unemployed has jumped by 5,500.

Midland has lost 19,800 jobs over the year, led by 11,600 jobs lost in the Mining, Logging and Construction sector. Trade, Transportation and Utilities has shed 2,800 jobs, followed by Professional and Business Services losing 1,800 jobs. The Manufacturing and the Leisure and Hospitality sectors have each lost 1,000 jobs over the year. The Education and Health Services and the Other Services sectors have each lost 600 jobs, followed by Financial Activities, down 500 and the Information sector, losing 300 jobs. The only sector to show job growth was the Government sector, which added 400 jobs.

Statewide, the unemployment rate inched up to 6.9 percent from 6.8 percent in January. The state also lost 27,500 nonagricultural jobs, the first decline in 10 months.

Amarillo continued to report the states lowest unemployment at 5.1 percent, followed by Austin-Round Rock and College Station-Bryan at 5.6 percent each. The highest rate was in McAllen-Edinburg-Mission at 12 percent.

Midland Unemployment

January 2021 8.2 percent

January 2020 2.4 percent

February 2021 8.3 percent

February 2020 2.3 percent

Preliminary numbers for February with January numbers in parentheses:

Amarillo 5.1 (4.9)

Austin-Round Rock 5.6 (5.4)

College Station-Bryan 5.6 (5.5)

Abilene 5.9 (5.7)

Lubbock 5.9 (5.8)

Sherman-Denison 6.0 (5.7)

Waco 6.3 (6.1)

San Angelo 6.5 (6.4)

Dallas-Plano-Irving 6.7 (6.4)

San Antonio-New Braunfels 6.8 (6.6)

Tyler 6.9 (6.6)

Fort Worth-Arlington 7.0 (6.7)

Texarkana 7.0 (6.6)

Wichita Falls 7.1 (6.9)

Killeen-Temple 7.4 (7.0)

El Paso 8.3 (8.0)

Longview 8.3 (8.1)

Midland 8.3 (8.2)

Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land 8.4 (8.2)

Laredo 8.6 (8.3)

Victoria 8.6 (8.3)

Corpus Christi 9.4 (9.2)

Brownsville-Harlingen 10.9 (10.5)

Beaumont-Port Arthur 11.8 (11.6)

Odessa 11.9 (11.7)

McAllen-Edinburg-Mission 12.0 (11.9)
Bengaluru, March 26 : Karnataka Milk Federation chairman Balachandra Jarkiholi on Friday suggested that his brother, Ramesh Jarkiholi should not apply for bail at any given point of time.

Reacting to reporters, Jarkiholi said that when everything has come out, now is not the right time for him to approach a court to seek bail. "He is the first complainant in this case, let the investigations be completed. He should face this with his chin up, let him not apply for the bail at this juncture," he said.

While Ramesh Jarkiholi told reporters that they knew this would happen long ago. "Now she has played her card, now we will get chance to play ours. Game begins, it will have many twists and turns," he said.

When asked about Congress leader Sivakumar's role, Jarkiholi took everyone by surprise saying that it was not right on his part to speak about his 'one time old friend'. "I know he has gone through lot of hardship to reach this position (KPCC president), he should remain in this post. I want him to see very high positions in the days to come," he said, taking everyone to surprise.

While his attention was drawn to BJP seeking Shivakumar's resignation, the beleaguered leader countered it stating is it? "I do not want to ask his resignation, he is an old friend, I wish him all the best in his future," he said.
Mumbai, March 26 : Pallavi Joshi won the National Award as Best Supporting Actress for husband Vivek Agnihotris "The Tashkent Files", while the director took home the award for the same film in the Best Dialogues category.

This is Pallavi's second National Award. She had earlier received a Special Jury Award at the 1994 ceremony for her role in "Woh Chhokri'. For Vivek Agnihotri, this is the first time he has been given a National Award.

"There is no ego clash between me and Vivek. Rather we feel proud of each other's achievement. I know it is quite natural in a patriarchal society and the kind of social conditioning men have on the achievement of their wives, but since the beginning of our journey our equation as a couple was different," Pallavi told IANS.

She continued: "When I married him, I was quite a popular face on TV and there were times when we would go to restaurants and my fans will walk up to me and ask Vivek to click my picture with them. So, yes, as a wife it did cross my mind that I hope my fame does not hurt his male ego. But with time I realised it never did." "This was my second National Award and Vivek's first, and I was happier for him. I think as mature individuals we also understand that when you are an actress, the chances are there that your face would be more recognised than that of a filmmaker. I know he feels proud of me. We both are talented but differently -- like Vivek could be a very bad actor and I could be a very bad film director. I don't think it is fair to set the parameter of someone's talent, based on fame. I think that goes for every couple who are successful in their own right. Especially for men feeling proud of your wife should not hurt your ego," she added.

Pallavi being the producer of the film also mentioned how the National Award gives validation to the film, considering it received criticism from many quarters in the media and the audience upon release.

"Look, you can like, dislike or even be critical about a film, but there is a difference between critiquing and ridiculing a film. There was a section of people who refused to even watch the film because it is made by Vivek. There are people who said that the film is a 'laughing stock' and absolutely 'disgusting'. With the award that we got for 'Best Dialogues' it only shows that their words were wrong and they all tried to do nothing but sabotaged the film," Pallavi claimed.

Asked if she and Vivek Agnihotri faced such a situation because of their political ideology, and Pallavi said: "Yes, and I'll explain how. Differences of opinion and healthy debate are part of a democracy and that has always existed. But things have changed post-2014. Just because Vivek and I openly said we admire the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a section of people even within our fraternity give us the cold shoulder. You critic a film or an actor based on their skill set, why base it on their political ideology?" "Abusing people on social media, ridiculing their work -- is this a true expression of freedom? I do not abuse and will never do such a thing to anyone even though their political ideology differs from mine. That is how my mind function," Pallavi signed off.

(Arundhuti Banerjee can be contacted at arundhuti.b@ians.in)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Arizona Governor Doug Ducey Slams President Joe Biden's decision in tapping Vice President Kamala Harris to oversee the issues in the U.S. Border. Biden recently tapped Harris to lead the White House in responding to the border's "huge problem."

The border situation the Biden administration is handling has been receiving a bipartisan backlash for weeks. Republicans have criticized how the current administration handles the ongoing uptick of migrants in the U.S. border, according to an Arizona Republic report.

ALSO READ: Kamala Harris Laughs When Asked if She Has Plans to Visit the Border

Arizona Governor on Kamala Harris

Ducey dubbed Vice President Kamala Harris to be the "worst possible choice" in addressing the growing rate of migrant children trying to seek asylum in the U.S. Mexico border, according to a Business Insider report.

"At no point in her career has [Harris] given any indication that she considers the border a problem or a serious threat," said Ducey. The statement of the Arizona governor came hours after President Biden has announced VP Harris' role in alleviating the migrant children and other border crises.

Biden dubbed Harris as the excellent choice in leading the efforts of the administration in the borders. Harris will also work to make it safer for migrants to apply for asylum and other legalities in the migrants' home country, according to The U.S. Sun report.

"I've been governor under three presidents, and this is by far the worst situation we've seen," said Ducey. Ducey also pointed out that the President has made "the exact opposite" of his intention in showing that he is taking the border issue seriously.

Ducey continued to argue that Biden should have tapped someone with a greater experience and passion if he wanted to address the situation in the border effectively and efficiently.

Harris' assignment to be the White House's point person for immigration follows the revelation of the Customs and Border Patrol's apprehensions. The said apprehensions by the agents encompass 100,000 in February alone. It was dubbed to be a 26 percent surge in the previous month.

VP Kamala Harris on her assignment

Meanwhile, VP Kamala Harris expressed her gratitude towards President Joe Biden for believing in her in addressing the border issue.

In line with the surge of migrants, Harris is expected to work with Mexico and the Northern Triangle to monitor and address the movement of migrants trying to seek asylum on the southern U.S. border.

Harris cleared that people should not enter the border. However, she believes that the law must be enforced. Harris also highlighted the importance of addressing the root causes that drives people to go to the Southern borders.

"It's not her full responsibility and job, but she's leading the effort," said Biden emphasizing that the best thing to do is to put someone in the post who will not make people wonder if that is also the sentiments of the President.

Arizona Governor Ducey's remarks about Kamala Harris being the White House Key person on the border are aligned with the criticism of the Republicans with Biden. For weeks, Republicans have been voicing out their opinions regarding the unaccompanied migrant children's surge.

RELATED ARTICLE: Lawmakers Urge Biden Admin to Grant Media Access on Border Facilities

WATCH: Biden tasks Harris with diplomatic efforts to stem migration amid growing border influx - from PBS NewsHour
BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - French stocks rose modestly on Friday on economic recovery hopes. Underlying sentiment remains cautious amid rising Covid-19 cases across the continent, with the European Commission warning that the European Union is at the start of a third wave of the pandemic. France has extended partial lockdowns to three more areas of the country, with president Macron warning the 'the next few weeks will be tough.' German chancellor Angela Merkel signaled that she would be declaring France a 'high-risk Covid area.' The benchmark CAC 40 rose 22 points, or 0.4 percent, to 5,974 after closing 0.1 percent higher the previous day. Total SE edged higher as oil prices rebounded on the news that the Suez Canal may stay blocked for at least another week, squeezing global supply. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
Chennai, March 26 : A first of its kind in India, an integrated project to make value added products out of banana stem has started taking shape in Maharashtra with allotment of about 57 acres in Jalgaon district, said officials associated with the project.

The project is to process the banana trunk or pseudo-stem to make fibre yarn, sap water and other products.

"We have been allotted 57.12 acres in Bhusawal in Jalgaon district in Maharashtra and work on the 300 tonnes per annum (tpa) plant has begun to make value added products from banana plantation," Vinay Gupta, Chief Executive Officer, Gencrest told IANS.

The plant is expected to start production this July with tenders for various works being issued. There are plans to scale it up to 5,000 tpa, he added.

"We will extract banana fibre, liquid nutrients, products for bio-gas, acoustic materials and stem powder. Presently the plan is to use G9 banana variety as it gives 1 per cent fibre," Gupta said.

"The partners for marketing the products have been identified. We have initiated discussions with Government of Karnataka. So things are progressing fast," M. Annadurai, former space scientist who headed India's first Moon and Mars space mission told IANS.

Annadurai is now the Vice President, Tamil Nadu State Council for Science and Technology, Chennai and Chairman, National Design and Research Forum, Bangalore.

Queried about the demand, Gupta said it is encouraging as the research and development (R&D) tests carried out in some corporates have been successful.

According to Gupta, another 5,000 tpa banana fibre plant is being planned in Tamil Nadu.

Presently, the banana growers are having disposal problems with the pseudo-stem and incurring heavy expenditure on the disposal without getting any income.

"Banana crops can become like sugarcane in terms of byproducts-fibre yarn for textiles, sap for nutraceuticals and fertiliser, balance waste for acoustic panels and bio-fertiliser," Annadurai said.

Nothing goes waste in the case of sugarcane as its juice is used for making sugar/jaggery, ethanol, the bagasse is used for making paper or fired in a boiler to generate power.

One of the problems in utilising the full potential of the banana plantation is the absence of an automatic plant to process the trunk.

There are small manually operated machines that extract banana fibre to make products like textiles and other handicrafts.

To solve the problem, the faculty and students of the Kancheepuram based Institute of Information Technology, Design and Manufacturing IIITDM have designed and built an integrated machine that can peel, press and extract banana fibre from the pseudo-stem.

In the process the machine also separates the core stem that can be processed as ingredients for making biscuits, ice cream and others.

"The concept to realisation of the integrated machine took just three months and three days for our team," Dr. M. Raguraman, Assistant Professor at IIITDM had told IANS.

The trunk peels are pressed to extract the excess water or sap. The water rich in potassium can be used for making nutraceuticals, bio-fertiliser or bio-ethanol. The core stem can be pressed to get the stem juice and the remaining fibre can be dried and powdered to be used in making biscuits and ice cream, he said.

According to him, a manually operated banana fibre extractor can give only 15 kg raw fibre per day but the IIITDM designed machine can give an output of about three ton per day.

After extracting the raw fibre yarn, sap, the balance waste or pith can also be used for making acoustic panels. Lab scale testing of the acoustic panel made with banana pith has been made. The panels can also be used in high end car interiors, Raguraman said.

The Mumbai-based Gencrest has developed a process using enzymes to convert raw banana fibre yarn into textile grade yarn.

Banana fabric is a sustainable green apparel of the future and an alternative solution to synthetic and other resource intensive fabrics like cotton.

India is the largest banana producer producing about 25 million tonnes out of about 8.30 lakh hectares under cultivation.

The major banana producer states are Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala, Karnataka and Maharashtra.

"In Tamil Nadu alone, about five lakh tonnes of banana stems are cut and thrown away as waste," Annadurai said.

According to Raguraman, Tamil Nadu government has allotted five acre land for a pilot project in Tiruchirappalli.
Arlington Musgrove, Minister of Immigration, Citizenship, Labour and Employment Services, made it clear he knew nothing about which Minister Gonsalves had said in parliament.

Arlington Musgrove, Minister of Immigration, Citizenship, Labour and Employment Services has denied that there has been any discussion with Vincentian authorities on the hiring of 200 Vincentians at the new Sandals Beaches Resort in Turks and Caicos (TCI).





During the March 16 Session of Parliament, Finance Minister Camillo Gonsalves announced that at least 200 Vincentians in the hospitality sector would have the opportunity to work at the new resort as referred, in the coming months.





Gonsalves said that his government had concluded discussions with Sandals Resorts International regarding the issue.





According to the Finance Minister, the expectation was that these workers will gain experience and familiarity with the Beaches brand and standards, and that these individuals may eventually rotate back through the various Sandals resorts until being redeployed here.





He said that the management of Sandals had indicated that a new government had been formed in the Turks and Caicos and that they were in the process of working out matters relating to work permits for the foreign workers.





But in his statement released to the media on Monday 22nd March, Musgrove stated that while this may be the plan for the officials here in St Vincent and the Grenadines, that was certainly not the plan for that countrys government, especially now when there were so many Turks and Caicos Islanders who were unemployed.





"I can assure you that we have not had any discussions along these lines and in the event we do, we will always look out for the betterment of our people first, he said in the statement.





He referred to a message that was being circulated about 200 Vincentians to be employed there saying that the workers were to be placed at various properties on a temporary basis.





"With that being said, we must look at a reciprocal arrangement for our people so they too can benefit from such an exchange where they would leave the Turks and Caicos Islands and be posted on a temporary basis at other Sandals Beaches properties to further enhance their overall growth and development.

It was his intention to arrange a meeting with Beaches TCI to discuss the matter further, following which an update would be provided, Musgrove said.
The (NPCI)  the umbrella entity for digital payments in India  has come out with guidelines on capping the volume of transactions that third-party application providers (TPAPs) can process on the Unified Payments Interface (UPI).

It has been kept at 30 per cent so that players in this space do not monopolise the market, which is the case right now.

NPCI had said that the volume of transactions that TPAPs can process on the UPI platform should not exceed 30 per cent, during the preceding three months, on a rolling basis, effective January, 2021.

Also, existing players with higher market share, in terms of volume of transactions, will have two years to comply with the directives.

In a communication to players, the NPCI has said it will monitor the volume cap of the TPAPs and sound an alert to them once it reaches the thresholds that it has decided.

So, when market share of the TPAP reaches 25-27 per cent, NPCI will reach out to them and the payment service provider (PSP) banks through an email, which they have to acknowledge.

On exceeding the 27 per cent market share, a second alert will be sounded by NPCI to the apps and the banks by way of email or letter. This time, both the players will have to provide evidence of action in compliance with the volume cap.

Consequently, on breaching the 30 per cent volume cap, the TPAP and PSP bank have to stop onboarding new customers and provide an undertaking with regard to compliance of the volume cap.

The alerts are passed on to the TPAPs and PSP bank to ensure they take remedial measures, the NPCI said.





The existing UPI apps, which have breached the 30 per cent volume cap, will have two years to comply with the standard operating procedure (SOP) and the NPCI will review it on a half yearly basis starting January 2022.

The volume cap for TPAPs is effective from January this year. Also, the NPCI has started reporting a UPI apps value and volume on the NPCI website.

The suggested measures in this SOP will also encourage new players to increase their volumes in UPI so as to even out the distribution of market share among all participants, NPCI said.

A Paytm spokesperson said, NPCI has taken a welcome decision that would help in the healthy growth of the whole ecosystem. This guideline ensures that UPI will not be dependent on any single player. Paytm has been the largest digital payments platform, processing over 1.2 billion transactions monthly. It provides all digital types of payment methods, including wallet, UPI, cards and banking services.

In case NPCI decides to give exemptions to the TPAPs, it will last only for six months. During that period, if NPCI finds out that the market share of the TPAP has breached the volume cap, then it may be asked to immediately moderate the on-boarding of new customers along with a plan to remedy the noncompliance.

Also, during the exemption, the TPAP can adopt new customer acquisition methods in a moderate manner, if permitted. But, if the customer acquisition process continues without moderation, NPCI will issue a notice to stop the process.

The provision of exemption will ensure that existing users are not put to inconvenience and new customers on-boarding are also not fully shut as mentioned in the SOP, the NPCI said.

If NPCI is of the view that market share of the TPAP is reducing due to moderation in the customer acquisition process and it may take the TPAP longer to comply with the volume cap, then it may offer additional time.

If the breach is not remedied during the exemption, then NPCI reserves the right to levy penalty or block  from its central UPI system  the new user on-boarding customers for the concerned TPAP.

In January 2021, PhonePe had processed 968.72 million transactions worth Rs 1.91 trillion. Google Pay, on the other hand, has seen a fall in transaction volume since November last year.
State Rep. Park Cannon, D-Atlanta, is placed into the back of a Georgia State Capitol patrol car after being arrested by Georgia State Troopers at the Georgia State Capitol Building in Atlanta, Thursday, March 25, 2021. Alyssa Pointer/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed a sweeping election reform bill into law Thursday.

As he announced the bill, Democratic Rep. Park Cannon was filmed knocking on Kemp's door.

Cannon was arrested and charged with obstruction as a result of the incident.

See more stories on Insider's business page.

Georgia state Rep. Park Cannon was arrested on Thursday and charged with felony obstruction as Georgia's Gov. Brian Kemp signed a controversial new voting reform bill into law.

Cannon was detained after knocking on Kemp's door.

Kemp, a Republican, was announcing the signing of the bill over a live stream when he was interrupted by Cannon, a Democrat. Cannon's arrest was also captured during a live stream, as the lawmaker was joined by others who came to the state Capitol in Atlanta to protest the bill.

According to a statement provided to Insider from Georgia State Patrol, Cannon continued to knock on the door after police told her to stop.

"She was advised that she was disturbing what was going on inside and if she did not stop, she would be placed under arrest," the statement said. After knocking more, police said she was again told she would be arrested for obstruction and removed from the building.

Videos posted on Twitter showed the moment of the arrest. Cannon can be seen talking with a police officer who is standing between her and the door. She takes a step back from the door, before again stepping up to knock and is immediately arrested by two officers.

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Others present immediately begin protesting the arrest, with one asking, "Under arrest for what? For trying to see something that our governor is doing?"

"Our governor is signing a bill that affects all Georgians, and you're going to arrest an elected representative?" the person said.

Police said Cannon was moved to the Fulton County Jail and charged with obstruction of law enforcement, a felony, and preventing or disrupting General Assembly sessions or meetings of members, a misdemeanor.

Story continues

US Sen. Raphael Warnock of Georgia visited Cannon while she was being held in jail, his office told CNN.

Cannon's office didn't immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Just after midnight, she posted on Twitter: "Hey everyone, thank you for your support. I've been released from jail. I am not the first Georgian to be arrested for fighting voter suppression. I'd love to say I'm the last, but we know that isn't true."

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The controversial election reform bill signed by Kemp expands early voting in most counties and mandates identification for mail-in voting, among many other changes.

It also bans volunteers from delivering supplies, including food and water, to voters waiting in long lines and prohibits most uses of mobile voting buses.

Have a news tip? Contact this reporter at kvlamis@insider.com.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Shares of Kalyan Jewellers India were trading at Rs 80.3 at 10:08 IST on the BSE, a discount of 7.7% over the initial public offer (IPO) price of Rs 87.

The stock was listed at Rs 73.9, a discount of 15.06% to the IPO price. So far, the stock hit a high of Rs 80.9 and low of Rs 73. On the BSE, 12.63 lakh shares were traded on the counter so far.

The IPO of Kalyan Jewellers India was subscribed 2.61 times. The issue opened for bidding on 16 March 2021 and closed on 18 March 2021. The price band for the IPO was set at Rs 86-87 per share.

The qualified institutional buyers (QIBs) category was subscribed 2.76 times. The retail individual investors category was subscribed 2.82 times. The non-institutional investors category was subscribed 1.91 times.

The issue comprised of equity shares aggregating up to Rs 1175 crore, which comprises of a fresh issue of up to Rs 800 crore and an offer for sale (OFS) of up to Rs 375 crore.

The OFS comprises of sale of equity shares worth Rs 125 crore by one of the promoters T.S. Kalyanaraman and sale of equity shares worth Rs 250 crore by an investor shareholder Highdell Investment. The post issue promoter's shareholding in the company would decline to 60.53% from 67.99% while that of Highdell would fall to 26.36% from 32.01%.

Ahead of the IPO, the company on 15 March 2021 finalised allocation of 4,04,48,275 equity shares to anchor investors at Rs 87 per share, aggregating to Rs 351,89,99,925.

The company proposes to utilise Rs 600 crore from the net proceeds from fresh issue of equity shares to fund its working capital requirements and rest for the general corporate purpose. The company expects that listing of the equity shares will enhance visibility and brand image and provide liquidity to shareholders.

Kalyan Jewellers is one of the largest jewellery companies in India in terms of revenues. The company was established by the founder and one of the Promoters T.S. Kalyanaraman in 1993 with a single showroom in Thrissur, Kerala. The company has since expanded to become a pan-India jewellery company, with 107 showrooms located across 21 states and union territories in India, and also have an international presence with additional 30 showrooms located in the Middle East as of 31 December 2020. All of the showrooms are operated and managed by the company.

The company designs, manufactures and sells a wide range of gold, studded and other jewellery products across various price points ranging from jewellery for special occasions, such as weddings, which is the highest-selling product category for the company, to daily-wear jewellery.

On a consolidated basis, the company reported a net loss of Rs 80.49 crore and revenue of Rs 5516.70 crore in the nine months ended on 31 December 2020.

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
San Francisco, March 26 : Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg refused to own up any responsibility for the January 6 attack on the US Capitol as he put the blame on former US President Donald Trump for his "words" and the people involved in the assault for "their actions".

In his first appearance before the US Congress since the January 6 attack, Zuckerberg on Thursday also blamed the people for spreading misleading content.

At the hearing with the House Energy and Commerce committee, lawmakers pressed the Facebook CEO to own up some responsibility for the attack for facilitating the organisation of the attack.

"How is it possible for you not to at least admit that Facebook played a leading role in the recruitment, planning and execution of the attack on the capitol?" asked Democratic Representative Mike Doyle.

Zuckerberg said that "the responsibility lies with the people who took the actions to break the law and do the insurrection".

"Secondarily, also with the people who spread that content, including the president but others as well, with repeated rhetoric over time, saying that the election was rigged and encouraging people to organize, I think that those people bear the primary responsibility as well." In his opening remarks Zuckerberg said that the company believes "Congress should consider making platforms' intermediary liability protection for certain types of unlawful content conditional on companies' ability to meet best practices to combat the spread of this content".

Besides Zuckerberg, Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey also faced questions related to misinformation and safety issues plaguing their online platforms during the hearing extending up to over five hours.
Power lines connected to the Snowy hydro electric scheme are seen running through Kosciuszko National Park as record snowfall impacts the region on August 23, 2020 in Kosciuszko National Park, Australia. (Brook Mitchell/Getty Images)

National Wind Farm Commissioners Role Expanded to Oversee Transmission Projects

Australias National Wind Farm Commissioners role will be expanded to cover new major transmission projects from Friday.

Andrew Dyer, who took office in 2015, will now be known as the Australian Energy Infrastructure Commissioner and will help to resolve complaints and concerns about transmission projects regarding the design, planning, construction, and operation phases. He will also assist industry and government to adopt best practices when deploying projects.

Transmission investment is crucial to the security and affordability of our grid, Energy Minister Angus Taylor said in a press release.

As these critically important transmission projects take shape, we want to ensure that any concerns community members have are heard and resolved in the appropriate way, and the Commissioners expanded role will facilitate this.

An example is the concern over Hume Link, a Government-supported transmission project which will transmit power from Snowy Hydro south of Canberra to the main electricity grid.

The communities through the Riverina, New South Wales, worry that the proposed route will endanger flora and fauna.

Minister for Energy Angus Taylor reacts during Question Time in the House of Representatives at Parliament House on February 02, 2021, in Canberra, Australia. (Sam Mooy/Getty Images)

This comes at a time when the US Department of Energy will fund a commercial-scale test for an energy-storing technology in partnership with the Australian Solar Thermal Research Initiative (ASTRI).

Developed with input from CSIRO, the Australian National University, and the University of Adelaide, this technology converts sunlight into stored thermal energy, which can then be used to power turbines and generate electricity on demand at any time.

Australian research is opening up new ways to generate clean electricity and reducing emissions around the world, said Minister Taylor in a press release, noting that the Biden Administration has also announced a target on low-cost energy storage.

Zero emissions, dispatchable energy sources like concentrated solar thermal storage will be needed to back up increasing shares of renewable energy.

A pilot-scale facility in Newcastle, built by CSIRO, will be tested for the first time in the coming weeks.

Australia and America are currently collaborating closely on climate issues after agreeing to establish a joint working group for cooperation on low emissions technologies in January. Prime Minister Scott Morrison was recently even forced to end a press conference early after receiving a call from John Kerry, Bidens special envoy for climate.

AAP contributed to this report.
Researcher John Kindervag published a paper about a decade ago that argued administrators of sensitive computer networks shouldnt trust anyone on their networks, regardless of their title.

Its not good enough simply to try to keep bad guys out of your network, he argued. You also have to put strict limits on the people already inside, thus the shorthand for the security model: zero trust.

People told me I was crazy, Kindervag said of the 2010 report. But the cybersecurity approach has slowly gained followers over the years, as government agencies and private businesses have been continually pummeled by computer hacks.

Now, in the wake of two massive cyber-attacks that exposed glaring deficiencies in US defenses, government officials and cybersecurity practitioners are saying zero trust may be the way to stop the cyber mayhem. In February, the National Security Agency issued guidance urging the owners of networks related to national security and critical infrastructure to adopt zero trust.

In many existing computer networks, once an individual has logged into the system, they can move freely and access information without further verification. Its what some cybersecurity experts describe as a castle and moat approach, protecting perimeter security by investing in firewalls, proxy servers and other intrusion prevention tools and assuming activity inside the castle walls is mostly safe.

Also read: Microsoft updates Defender Antivirus to mitigate Exchange server vulnerabilities

Zero trust takes a different approach, assuming that anyone that logs on is suspicious and preventing them from moving freely through the system  such as accessing the other devices and networks connected to it  without authenticating their credentials for each additional connection.

In other words, zero trust reduces or prevents lateral movement and privilege escalation, said George Kurtz, the chief executive officer of the cybersecurity firm Crowdstrike Holdings Inc., speaking at a February Congressional hearing.

The embrace of zero trust has occurred in part because of US failures to prevent major breaches linked to Russia and China. For example, following the 2015 revelation that Chinese hackers had breached the US Office of Personnel Management, stealing sensitive security clearance data on millions of Americans, a congressional report called for adding the zero trust model to government networks. But so far, more than a half a decade later, zero trust remains an aspirational goal across much of the US government.

But calls for zero trust accelerated in recent months after suspected Russian hackers compromised popular software from Texas-based firm SolarWinds Corp. In that highly sophisticated attack, which was disclosed in December, the hackers inserted malicious code into updates for SolarWinds software, which was received by as many as 18,000 of its customers. At least nine government agencies and 100 private companies were targeted by the hackers for further infiltration.

The other major cyber-attack, disclosed this month and linked to China, exploited vulnerabilities in Microsoft Corp.s software for email. Hackers used flaws in the code of Microsoft Exchange to break into tens of thousands of organizations, according to cybersecurity experts.

Zero trust may not have blocked the hacks, experts said, but they likely would have limited the damage. At the very least, the security measure would have have given the US a better chance to detect the attackers movements, keeping them from traveling as freely across government and private sector networks.

At a March 18 hearing on the SolarWinds attack, US Chief Information Security Officer Christopher DeRusha said he is working with US government agencies to implement zero trust because it prevents adversaries from the kind of privilege escalation that was demonstrated in the SolarWinds incident. In addition, Microsoft, which has advocated for zero trust, found that targeted victims in the SolarWinds attack whose systems had embraced the model were more resilient following the attack, according to the companys director of identity security, Alex Weinert.

But adopting a zero trust model can be costly and time-consuming. In extreme instances, it may require organizations to rip out existing computer equipment and replace it  to make certain there isnt any malware hidden deep inside the network.

Read more: At least 10 hacking groups using Microsoft software flaw

If US government investigators cant pinpoint each agencys exposure to the malware, it may be forced to assume that most every department within the federal government has been compromised. This scenario would produce the daunting, perhaps impossible task of purging all malware from federal networks, said John Bambenek, a cybersecurity investigator. Eradicating the Russian malware would require agencies to rip and replace their network infrastructure.

But given the persistent threats from adversaries, the US government may not have years to find a fix. As a result, a more likely outcome for its networks may be some sort of compromise, adding zero trust where possible and relying on less drastic cybersecurity fixes elsewhere, including encrypting data, fully staffing cyber positions and ensuring that only a small number of individuals have access to highly sensitive information.

Zero trust is the buzzword du jour, said James Lewis, who serves senior vice president and director of the strategic technologies program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. But he added that ripping out and replacing networks seems impractical. We havent done the basics. So, why immediately go to the nuclear option?

Since publishing his paper, Kindervag, who now works at the cybersecurity company On2it, which describes itself as zero trust innovators, has continued to promote his approach across the public and private sector. But he, too, recommends a gradual approach.

You dont secure a road by ripping out a road and putting a new road in. You figure out how to put stoplights in, or you figure out how to change the exit ramps, he said. We need to do the same thing with networks and not do things that will never happenbut do things that we can accomplish using the people and technologies we have today.
Gardai are seeking the public's help in tracing the whereabouts of a missing teenager from Blackrock, Co. Dublin.

Dylan Phoenix (15), has been missing from the Blackrock since March 12, 2021.

He is described as being 5'10" tall (182cm), with brown hair, of normal build with blue eyes.

Read More

When last seen, Dylan was wearing a Black North Face jacket and grey tracksuit bottoms.

Anyone with information on his whereabouts are asked to contact Gardai in Blackrock on 01 6665200, or the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111.
A human rights activist has accused police and judicial officers at the High Court in Mbale District of mismanaging a case of attempted murder of a 16-year-old girl.

It is alleged that in July last year, Derrick Kuloba,25, allegedly waylaid the victim and chopped off her right hand for reportedly rejecting his marriage proposal.

The victim was a Senior Two student at Bushiyi Christian Comprehensive Secondary School in Bushiyi Sub-county and a resident of Nabooti Village in Nakatsi Sub-county, Bududa District.

The suspect was later released under unclear circumstances.

Ms Mariam Mwiza, the executive director of Overseas Workers Voice Uganda, a human rights organisation, accused police changing the charges.

"I condemn the actions of police. They twisted the case from attempted murder to defilement yet there was enough evidence to condemn the suspect to attempted murder," she said.

Ms Mwiza said the victim's mother went to Mbale regional police headquarters and filed a complaint which led to the summoning of the file from Bududa Central Police Station but the suspect was again released.

"A new case of attempted murder was opened and the suspect was rearrested and produced in Mbale High Court on December 17 last year, where he was once again released on a court bail under unclear circumstances," she said.

"Since then, the judges have been without genuine reasons, postponing the case hearing until mid-February when the court told the family that their case had been referred to Manafwa Magistrate's Court," Ms Mwiza added.

She appealed to the office of Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to help the girl get justice.

"I also appeal to Lt Col Edith Nakalema, the head of State House Anti-Corruption Unit, to investigate the corruption tendencies of the offices," Ms Mwiza said.

She added that several reports, including that of Transparency International, have consistently ranked the police as the most corrupt institution in the country.

A January 29, 2021 letter addressed to the Resident State Attorney, Office of the DPP Mbale regional office, signed by Ms Juliet Khainza, the victim's mother, states that the accused was granted bail without her notice.

"The accused person to our dismay, was granted bail on December 17 last year without our notice yet on December 10 last year when we appeared in court, court did not sit," the letter reads in part.

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Ms Khainza asked the suspect to foot the victim's medical bills, pending judgment, saying her family had become financially handicapped.

However, Mr Solomon Muyita, the Judiciary principal communications officer, dismissed allegations of bribery.

"Did they have evidence that our officers received bribes? If they have, let them bring it and we take action," Mr Muyita said.

He said DPP charged the suspect with attempted murder, contrary to the claims.

"At first, the suspect was charged with defilement but it was dropped and he was charged with attempted murder," he said.

Mr Rogers Taitika, the Elgon region police spokesperson, urged the aggrieved family to be calm, saying the matter is still in court.

"The investigations were done and the file forwarded to Resident State Attorney for advice. The suspect was charged with attempted murder and defilement," Mr Taitika said.
Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services Encourages Consumers to Review Insurance Policies During Reading Month

Media Contact: Laura Hall, 517-290-3779, halll17@michigan.gov

Consumer Hotline: 877-999-6442, Michigan.gov/DIFS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 25, 2021

(LANSING, MICH) March is Reading Month and the Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services (DIFS) is reminding Michiganders to read their insurance policies to make sure they have the right coverage for themselves and their families.

March is an ideal time to read your insurance policies and other documents to make sure that your insurance coverage works for you and your family, said DIFS Director Anita Fox. It is important to review your policies before a disaster occurs so that you dont find yourself without the coverage you need or expected.

Whether its homeowners insurance, car insurance, health insurance or life insurance, insurance touches nearly every part of a consumers life. Understanding your insurance policies is the key to making sure you are protected and getting the most from these vital coverages. This March, Michiganders should be sure to review these important coverages, including:

Auto Insurance: Under Michigans new auto insurance law, drivers may now choose the level of Personal Injury Protection (PIP) medical and Bodily Injury Liability (BI) coverages that meets their needs and budget. It is important to make sure that the BI and PIP medical levels documented in the insurance policy are correct and continue to meet consumers needs and budgets. Consumers should also ensure that family members who opt out of or are excluded from PIP medical coverage continue to have the required health coverage. Otherwise, they may be left without medical coverage in the event of an auto accident. Additional information is available at Michigan.gov/AutoInsurance.

Homeowners Insurance: The spring flood and severe weather season is nearly here, and many homeowners do not know that flood damage is not covered by most standard homeowners insurance policies. There are certain insurance coverages, including federal flood insurance, that homeowners would need to purchase to have coverage for flooding or water and sewer back-up resulting from storms or other natural disasters. Consumers should contact their insurance agent or company to discuss their coverage needs.

Health Insurance: Until Aug. 15, a special enrollment period for Marketplace health coverage is open for Michiganders who need to purchase or modify their health insurance. The American Rescue Plan, recently signed into law by President Joe Biden, increases and expands Marketplace subsidies to help consumers afford health coverage. In some cases, these subsidies could provide low- or no-cost coverage for the whole year. To review coverage options and subsidies, or to enroll, consumers can visit the Health Insurance Marketplace at HealthCare.gov or call the Marketplace Call Center at 800-318-2596 (TTY: 1-855-889-4325).

If you find something in your insurance policy that you dont understand, you can always reach out to DIFS, said Fox. DIFS is available to answer any insurance questions you may have, and to help you resolve any concerns or complaints you might have.

Educational resources, sample insurance forms, instructional videos and a schedule of virtual town hall events are available for Michiganders at Michigan.gov/DIFS. In addition, DIFS continues to operate its dedicated consumer hotline with calls being answered Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Consumers can call 877-999-6442 for assistance.

The mission of the Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services is to ensure access to safe and secure insurance and financial services fundamental for the opportunity, security, and success of Michigan residents, while fostering economic growth and sustainability in both industries. In addition, the Department provides consumer protection, outreach, and financial literacy and education services to Michigan residents. For more information, visit Michigan.gov/difs or follow the Department on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn.

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AG Nessel partners with Wayland Police Department to bring Human Trafficking charges against two individuals

AG Nessel partners with Wayland Police Department to bring Human Trafficking charges against two individuals

Kelly Rossman-McKinney 517-512-9342 Attorney General

March 26, 2021

LANSING - Two individuals from the Grand Rapids area were arraigned on charges related to human trafficking, Attorney General Dana Nessel announced today. Robert Henry Grigsby, 51, of Wayland, and Vanessa Anne Phillips, 39, of Grand Rapids, allegedly conducted a criminal enterprise comprised of prostitution and sex trafficking of numerous women in Grigsby's home in Wayland, and other locations throughout the greater Grand Rapids area. Grigsby was arraigned in the 57th District Court in Allegan County. Grigsby is charged with: One count of Forced Labor/Commercial Sex (Sex Trafficking), a felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison;

Two counts of Accepting Earnings of Prostitution, a felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison;

Two counts of Transportation for Prostitution, a 20-year felony;

One count of Conspiracy to Conduct a Criminal Enterprise, a 20-year felony. Phillips was also arraigned in the 57th District Court in Allegan County. Phillips is charged with: Two counts of Forced Labor/Commercial Sex (Sex Trafficking), a felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison;

Two counts of Accepting Earnings of Prostitution, a felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison; and,

One count of Conspiracy to Conduct a Criminal Enterprise, a felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison. "Those who seek to exploit vulnerable individuals are willing to set up shop anywhere. The dedicated officers of the Wayland Police Department knew that when they initiated and pursued their investigation," said Nessel. "Our partnerships with local law enforcement agencies like the Wayland Police Department make it possible to pursue these predators wherever they are operating in Michigan." The investigation was initiated by the Wayland Police Department, which recognized the nature and scope of the alleged activities after receiving training on human trafficking. Wayland Police began an investigation into a human trafficking operation being conducted out of a Wayland residence in October 2018. The investigation uncovered evidence of commercial sexual activity and transporting women for illegal activities from which the accused allegedly profited. "Thankfully crimes like this do not occur in Wayland very often. However, the Wayland Police are fortunate to have experienced officers and investigators who are up to the task," said Chief Mark Garnsey. "The Wayland Police would like to thank the Attorney General's Office for the time given to this case, and their relentless persistence in helping us bring two human traffickers to justice.

"The Wayland Police wish to thank the Human Trafficking Task Force consisting of the Michigan State Police and the FBI. I would also like to add that at least one of these victims has taken the opportunity to turn her life completely around. The fact that we were involved in positively impacting the lives of others, and rescuing them is something we are very proud of," added Garnsey.

Since 2011, the Department of the Attorney General has provided training to more than 1,000 professionals and filed charges against more than 30 individuals for human trafficking - all leading to arrests. It has successfully convicted 24, with cases against several additional defendants currently pending. The department is also home to the Michigan Human Trafficking Commission which works to direct state policy on human trafficking.
There's little as excruciating as biting into a cold ice-cream and feeling an awful jolt of pain, especially if you've been a bit lax in the dental hygiene department.

Researchers from the US and Germany have finally gotten to the root of this pain  identifying the specific cells in teeth, odontoblasts, that sense cold temperatures.

These cells are abundant in special cold-sensitive proteins that are responsible for letting the brain know when you're eating or drinking something chilled.

According to the team, developing drugs to target these sensors specially could eventually pave the way to new treatments for cold-sensitivity.

Furthermore, the findings also finally explain an age-old home remedy for toothache, clove oil, which happens to contain a chemical that blocks the cold-sensing protein.

Cold sensitivity is often more extreme among people with cavities, where part of a tooth's protective enamel becomes worn away by films of bacteria and acid.

It is estimated that roughly 2.4 billion people  about a third of the world's population  have untreated cavities in their permanent, or 'adult', teeth.

There's little as excruciating as biting into a cold ice-cream and feeling an awful jolt of pain, especially if you've been a bit lax in the dental hygiene department (stock image)

The researchers  led by neurobiologist David Clapham of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in Maryland  did not originally set out to study teeth.

Instead, their work was focussed on so-called 'ion channels', pores in the membranes of cell that act as gates to molecules.

When these channels detect a given signal such as a chemical message or temperature change, they respond by either clamping shut or opening wide.

The latter case lets ions flood into the cell, creating an electrical pulse that travels to other cells and allows the body to communicate information.

Some fifteen years ago, the team determined that one such ion channel  TRPC5  was highly sensitive to the cold. It was unclear, however, where TRPC5 was used.

The researchers were able to rule out its operation in the skin, at least, publishing in a 2011 paper that mice that lacked the ion channel were still able to feel the cold.

After that, they 'hit a dead end', explained team member and electrophysiologist Katharina Zimmermann, who was originally a member of Professor Clapham's lab but now works at the Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nurnberg in Germany.

Inspiration ultimately came, however, when the team was having lunch. Teeth are another area of the body with cold sensitivity  and one that, at that point, worked in a way that was not entirely clear.

Experts from the US and Germany have finally gotten to the root of this pain  captured in this artwork  identifying the specific cells in teeth, odontoblasts, that sense cold temperatures

The main theory for how teeth sense cold involved tiny canals inside the teeth that contain fluid that moves when the temperature change.

It was thought that perhaps nerves could sense the direction of this movement, and thus signal whether a tooth was hot or cold.

'We can't rule this theory out,' Professor Clapham said. However, he added that there was no direct evidence in support of it either.

The problem is that fluid movement in teeth is particularly hard to study  as accessing the inner workings of teeth involves cutting through tough layers of enamel and dentin without pulverising the soft pulp that such protects.

As Professor Zimmerman grimly explained, sometimes teeth being studied in this way 'just fall to pieces.'

Teeth are particularly hard to study, the team explained, as accessing their inner workings involves cutting through tough layers of enamel and dentin without pulverising the soft pulp that such protects. Pictured: a cross section of a a tooth. Odontoblasts can be found located between the pulp cavity and the surrounding layer of dentin

Despite these challenges, when Professor Clapham and colleagues examined teeth from human adults, however, they found that they did indeed contain TRPC5 ion channels, as they had formerly guessed.

Moreover, TRPC5 is more abundant in teeth with cavities, which are notoriously more sensitive to cold than their healthy counterparts.

To investigate further, the team performed experiments on live mice  recording their neural activity as they teeth came into contact with an ice-cold solution.

In regular mice, the team found that the chill sparked nerve activity. However, mice that lacked TRPC5 or had been treated with a chemical that blocked the ion channel did not react in the same way, suggesting TRPC5 is key to cold sensing in teeth.

The team traced the location of TRPC5 to a specific type of cell in teeth, 'odontoblasts' (pictured here in green) which can be found between the pulp and the surrounding dentin

The team also found that one other ion channel in teeth, 'TRPA1', also appears to play a role in responding to cold temperatures.

Finally, the team traced the location of TRPC5 to a specific type of cell in teeth, 'odontoblasts', which can be found between the pulp and the surrounding dentin.

When someone bites down into a cold ice cream  especially if they have cavities and exposed dentin  it is these cells packed with TRPC5 that pick up on the cold sensation and send pain signals shooting off to the brain

The full findings of the study were published in the journal Science Advances.
Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Announces Sanctions on Relevant UK Individuals and Entities

2021/03/26

The United Kingdom (UK) imposed unilateral sanctions on relevant Chinese individuals and entity, citing the so-called human rights issues in Xinjiang. This move, based on nothing but lies and disinformation, flagrantly breaches international law and basic norms governing international relations, grossly interferes in China's internal affairs, and severely undermines China-UK relations. The Chinese Foreign Ministry has summoned British Ambassador to China to lodge solemn representations, expressing firm opposition and strong condemnation. The Chinese side decides to sanction the following nine individuals and four entities on the UK side that maliciously spread lies and disinformation: Tom Tugendhat, Iain Duncan Smith, Neil O'Brien, David Alton, Tim Loughton, Nusrat Ghani, Helena Kennedy, Geoffrey Nice, Joanne Nicola Smith Finley, China Research Group, Conservative Party Human Rights Commission, Uyghur Tribunal, Essex Court Chambers. As of today, the individuals concerned and their immediate family members are prohibited from entering the mainland, Hong Kong and Macao of China, their property in China will be frozen, and Chinese citizens and institutions will be prohibited from doing business with them. China reserves the right to take further measures.

China is firmly determined to safeguard its national sovereignty, security and development interests, and warns the UK side not go further down the wrong path. Otherwise, China will resolutely make further reactions.
Stars of the binge-worthy Israeli Netflix hit series Fauda will be joining Jewish National Fund-USA, the Orlando community and thousands of supporters across the country for the organization's annual Breakfast for Israel on April 18 at 10:30 a.m. While participants may have to BTOB (bring their own bagel) to this year's virtual "breakfast," JNF-USA promises to deliver the same high-quality, star-studded complimentary event that community members have become accustomed to since the first annual Breakfast for Israel dazzled event goers in 2003.

"JNF-USA's Breakfast for Israel is sure to be a much-looked-forward-to event on the communal calendar," said Nina Oppenheim, JNF-USA Orlando Breakfast for Israel co-chair and member of JNF-USA's Orlando Board of Directors. "This year, we're hosting a vibrant celebration in honor of Yom Ha'atzmaut as we bring our community together to ensure a bright, prosperous future for the land and people of Israel and Jewish people everywhere."

"We're thrilled to be able to host this event in the Orlando community and look forward to hosting it in-person again in the coming years when life returns to normal after the pandemic," added Jim Riola, JNF-USA's national Breakfast for Israel co-chair and member, JNF-USA Orlando Board of Directors.

According to The Wrap News Inc., "Despite the language barrier, Fauda (chaos in Arabic), somehow managed to break out of the dark corners of Netflix's foreign-language section and get noticed by both Hollywood heavy-hitters and New York Times TV critics." Guests who attend JNF-USA's 2021 Breakfast for Israel will hear from Fauda celebs, Tsahi Halevi who plays Naor and Rona-Lee Shimon who plays Nurit, live in studio - with Yoav Limor, a veteran military correspondent who has been covering the Middle East conflict for the last 33 years, moderating the interview and Q&A session. Today, Limor is the host of a morning show on Israel's Channel 2 Keshet, a defense commentator for Israel Hayom daily newspaper, and a regular contributor on i24 News.

Eyal Nevo Rona-Lee Shimon

"Whether in-person or virtually, JNF-USA has seen attendance at Breakfast for Israel events across the country skyrocket year after year, as hundreds of supporters from coast to coast come together to support the land and people of Israel," said Meril Salzburg, president of JNF-USA's Orlando's Board of Directors. "This year, we're expecting record high participation in Orlando and beyond. After all, who doesn't love Fauda?"

In addition to her career as an actress, Shimon is a trained ballet dancer who studied at the National Ballet Academy in Amsterdam. She also has extensive experience in Israeli theater, having performed the roles of Velma Kelly in Chicago, Anita in West Side Story, and Sally Bowles in Cabaret. In addition to his role in Fauda, Halevi also starred in the drama film "Bethlehem," which won an Ophir (Israeli Oscar) for Best Picture and he reached the finals in the first season of "The Voice Israel."

This event is free. Register at jnf.org/bfiorlando. For more information, contact Uri Smajovits, executive director, Major Gifts, Northern Florida at 727-536-5263, ext. 890 or usmajovits@jnf.org.
[March 26, 2021] Ping An Signs Strategic Cooperation Agreement with Shenzhen Stock Exchange

HONG KONG and SHANGHAI, March 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd. (hereafter "Ping An Group", HKEX: 2318; SSE: 601318) has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Shenzhen Stock Exchange (hereafter "SZSE"). Representatives of both parties including Peter Ma, Chairman of Ping An Group, Jessica Tan, Co-CEO of Ping An Group, Wang Jianjun, Chairman of SZSE, and Li Hui, Deputy General Manager of SZSE, attended the signing ceremony. The strategic partnership will focus on fintech innovation, diversified financing channels, technology exchange and collaboration, and will help demonstrate the capital market's function of serving the real economy. OneConnect will facilitate the strategic cooperation on behalf of Ping An Group. Peter Ma, Chairman of Ping An Group, said that the strategic cooperation established between Ping An Group and SZSE at the start of China's national 14th Five-Year Plan is of profound significance. The strategic cooperation is an important milestone for the Ping An to deliver on its "finance + technology" and "finance + ecosystem" strategies, by working with SZSE to build a digital ecosystem in the capital market. Jessica Tan, Co-CEO of Ping An Group, said she believes that technology will play critical role in developing an influential ecosystem in the global capital market. This cooperation between Ping An and SZSE will support the innovation and development of fintech in the capital market, she said. Ye Wangchun, Chairman and CEO of OneConnect, said, "On the basis of this cooperation, OneConnect will fully demonstrate its functions as a market platform and its ability to lead the development of financial industry technology as it supports SZSE in building an open and collaborative digital system for the idustry."



As a leading technology-as-a-service platform for financial institutions in China, OneConnect had served nearly 700 banks and more than 100 insurance companies as of the end of December 2020. Ping An Group also signed a fintech strategic cooperation agreement with the HKEX Group in September 2019, with OneConnect leading on behalf of the Group. The two parties continue to work together in the fintech field. SZSE is a national securities trading venue approved by the State Council of the People's Republic of China. Serving the real economy and supporting the national strategy, the SZSE strives to build an innovative capital center and a world-class exchange. SZSE places great importance on the fintech innovations and applications in the capital market. It promotes the development and progress of fintech to serve the real economy.

About Ping An Group Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd. ("Ping An") is a world-leading technology-powered retail financial services group. With over 218 million retail customers and 598 million internet users, Ping An is one of the largest financial services companies in the world. Ping An focuses on two over-arching domains of activity, "pan financial assets" and "pan health care", covering the provision of financial and health care services through our integrated financial services platform and our ecosystems; in financial services, health care, auto services and smart city services. Our "finance + technology" and "finance + ecosystem" transformation strategies aim to provide customers and internet users with innovative and simple products and services using technology. As China's first joint stock insurance company, Ping An is committed to upholding the highest standards of corporate reporting and corporate governance. The Group is listed on the stock exchanges in Hong Kong and Shanghai. In 2020, Ping An ranked 7th in the Forbes Global 2000 list and ranked 21st in the Fortune Global 500 list. Ping An also ranked 38th in the 2020 WPP Kantar Millward Brown BrandZTM Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands list. For more information, please visit www.group.pingan.com and follow us on LinkedIn - PING AN. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ping-an-signs-strategic-cooperation-agreement-with-shenzhen-stock-exchange-301256698.html SOURCE Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd.

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President Biden has made it his mission to reinvigorate Americas alliances and mobilize them for a new purpose: competition with China.

The big picture: Biden views U.S.-China competition as the paramount foreign policy challenge of our time, and he considers Americas alliances to be its most significant advantage over Beijing.

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The state of play: Shortly before Biden took office, the EU and China sealed an investment pact  over Biden's tacit objections  that seemed to augur poorly for the prospects of a united trans-Atlantic front on China. Things have changed dramatically.

Beijing's furious response this week to EU sanctions over its abuses in Xinjiang  coordinated with the U.S., but limited in scope  could imperil the ratification of that trade pact.

Meanwhile, the U.S. and EU yesterday announced a new forum to coordinate on China policy.

What they're saying: Secretary of State Tony Blinken lingered on the China challenge during remarks at a NATO gathering on Wednesday, noting that Beijing was actively working to undercut the rules of the international system and the values we and our allies share.

Blinken added that the U.S. wouldnt force our allies into a us or them choice with China  something allies feared Donald Trump was attempting to do  but said it was time for Western alliances to demonstrate what they stand for, namely human rights and democracy.

China was also on the agenda when Biden met virtually with the leaders of the EU member states this afternoon.

Between the lines: European leaders are growing increasingly suspicious of Beijing, but most remain wary of a prolonged struggle that would pit the EU against its top trading partner.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, for one, has focused more on economic synergies with China than on systemic rivalry.

Some NATO allies, meanwhile, would rather the alliance keep its attention focused on Russia.

Blinken weighed his words carefully in Brussels, noting that "our allies have complex relationships with China that wont always align perfectly."

Story continues

But he argued that if like-minded democracies could work together to develop technology and infrastructure, and to set the rules of the road on trade, "we can outcompete China or anyone else on any playing field."

In what might be described as an "all democracies on deck" approach, Blinken said America's various alliances shouldn't operate in "siloes" but pool their various strengths.

One area of increased cooperation could be intelligence. The Five Eyes  Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the U.K. and the U.S.  who spent decades sharing intelligence on the Soviet Union, have already become a major thorn in Chinas side, notes Axios China reporter Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian.

And while there's little desire in Europe to join an "anti-China bloc," there's a clear willingness to enter "issue-based coalitions" on everything from economic practices to human rights, says Andrew Small, a senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund.

Those coalitions will also involve America's allies and partners in Asia. Blinken made a point to travel to South Korea and Japan earlier this month before sitting down for a frosty meeting with Beijing's top diplomats.

Biden also convened the first leader-level gathering of "the Quad," an informal partnership with Australia, India and Japan.

That grouping first met in 2007, but it's grown much closer as its members  particularly Australia and India, which once worried that the club might antagonize China  have butted heads with Beijing.

A similar trend may now be on display in Europe.

The other side: That's a worrying prospect for the Chinese government, which has already lashed out at U.S. attempts to form enclosed small cliques" in Asia and had seen the U.S.-Europe rift as a major benefit of the Trump era.

Behind the scenes: Chinese officials come through Europe and pretty much say, look, theres a lot that we can swallow, we just dont want to see you team up with the United States. If you do that, its going to be a problem,'" Small says.

While China can look at the trend lines in terms of competition with the U.S. and feel relatively confident, he adds, "If its China taking on the U.S. and its partners and allies in a kind of loosely coordinated manner, then China is still massively on the back foot.

While China has built relationships with countries all over the world, they appear shallow when compared to the decades-old U.S. alliances.

Before the EU, U.S., U.K. and Canada announced their sanctions over Xinjiang, Beijing trumpeted the fact that 64 countries had backed a statement at the UN supporting Beijing's actions there.

Yes, but: The statement did not actually list the countries that signed on, a UN spokesperson tells Axios.

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Former Minnesota Representative Michele Bachmann hosted a seven-hour conference on election fraud on Tuesday at Virginia's Regent University.

Bachmann, who was formerly a Republican presidential candidate, hosted the "Analyzing American Election Integrity" conference as Regent University Graduate School of Government Dean.

WND reported that Bachmann presented "overwhelming evidence" of fraud during her seven-hour conference, noting polls saying nearly half of Americans still do not believe that President Joe Biden won the November 2020 elections.

Bachmann said the university served as "forum for letting speakers put evidence out" and clarified that whatever the speakers said was "their opinion, not ours" so that people can "decide for themselves" on the issue.

"Let people decide for themselves: Was this a true and legitimate outcome or not? And I'll tell you the evidence was overwhelming that it was not. People want truth and they want justice," Bachmann said as per WND on Wednesday.

She said people, "even among the presenters," are "overwhelmingly grateful" for the conference, General reaction to the event was "profound," such that online viewers actually watched three-fourths of the presentations as per her university IT team.

"Even among the presenters, you got a sense of how joyous they were that there was a free space, a safe space where people could speak freely about what they had observed about the election, what their research found about the election," she told WND.

WND said Bachmann hopes more people will be able to appreciate the conference now that it is available in their website that include videos of each of the panel discussions.

Dr. Ben Carson, who delivered the Keynote Address, said that the presidential elections last November "Was a national disgrace and the media still refuses to tell the truth about it." He pointed out that the courts "haven't looked at the evidence" despite the fact that there was "plenty of fraud." He raised that simply speaking on the need for honest elections "causes all kinds of uproar today."

As per WND, presenters during the conference included former White House trade adviser Peter Navarro, election experts Hans von Spakovsky and John Fund, former US Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson, Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, and The Gateway Pundit Founders Jim and Joe Hoft, among others high ranking government officials and legal counsels.

The conference included two panel discussions: "An Effort to Correct the Irregularities or Institutionalize Them?" and "Is Voter ID A Solution?". The first panelists comprised Fund, Spakovsky, and Ashcroft. While the second panelists comprised former Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, Wachtel Missry Managing Partner William Wachtel, Retired North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Robert Neal Hunter, Jr., and former Department of Homeland Security Civil Rights Division former Head Patricia Nation.

While Navarro presented a three-part report on evidence gathered from the "six battleground states he believes Trump won" and the Hofts tackled the topic "Evidence of Vote Fraud" and presented footage compiled "from among the 1,700 articles" published on elections on election night at TCF Center, Detroit.
In a virtual ceremony on March 25, the National Book Critics Circle announced the winners in six categories for its annual awards honoring the best books of the previous publishing year. Books published by Harvard University Press won two of the awards, while books published by Big Five publishers won the remaining awards.

The winners in each category are as follows:

In addition, Raven Leilani won the John Leonard Prize for a first book, judged by voting members of the NBCC, for her novel Luster (FSG). As previously announced, the $1,000 Nona Balakian Citation for Excellence in Reviewing went to Jo Livingstone, a staff writer at the New Republic, and the Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award went to the Feminist Press, which celebrated its 50th anniversary last year.

During the ceremony, which was streamed online, authors were visibly moved and used the occasion to remark on recent events. In her acceptance speech for the John Leonard Prize, Leilani said that the award came after a year that surpassed her "wildest dreams," but also contained "insurmountable grief."

Jo Livingstone said that they found hope in other writers, as we appear to be "living through the end of the world." Jamia Wilson, former editor and publisher of Feminist Presswho moved to Random House in Januarynoted: "Research studies have shown the person most likely to read a book in any form today is a college-educated Black woman." She added that she was reminded of "how important it was to be doing this work today." This moment was followed with a montage of literary luminaries, including Molly Crabapple and Michelle Tea, honoring the press as Bikini Kill's "Rebel Girl" played.

Maggie O'Farrell dedicated her award to the late Knopf editor Sonny Mehta. francine j. harris, moved to tears by her win, cited the lasting influence and mentorship of previous generations of Black women poets, and noted the passing of poet Adam Zagajewski earlier this week.

The most intense moment came when Cathy Hong Park, visibly moved at winning, dedicated her award to the eight people murdered in Georgia last week. This is for their families, and this is for all of the Asian women, the women in the sex industry, in the service industry, the migrant workers, the factory workers, the mothers and daughters who have come from homelands riven by empire, who have labored and struggled and died in the shadows of American history," she said. "Your hardship and spirit will not be in vain. We will remember you. We will fight for you. Your lives are not expendable. You will be remembered.

David Varno, president of the board of the NBCC (and PW's fiction reviews editor), remarked: This culmination of a year of reading was a joyous and deeply moving occasion, from the intimate readings by thirty of the finalists to the emotional and powerful acceptance speeches from the winners, all of whose work demonstrates literary excellence and cultural and political relevance."

This article has been updated with further information.
Appointment

26 March 2021

Starwood Capital Group ("Starwood Capital"), a global private investment firm focused on real estate and energy investments, today announced it has hired Jared Melnik as a Managing Director and Head of Hotel Acquisitions for the Americas. In his new role, Mr. Melnik will be responsible for sourcing and executing acquisition opportunities in the hospitality and leisure industries. Mr. Melnik, who will be based in the firm's New York office, began his new role on March 22nd.

Mr. Melnik joins Starwood Capital after 15 years at KSL Capital Partners, a travel and leisure focused investment manager, where he most recently served as Principal and member of the Investment Committee. In that role, he oversaw equity and debt investments in both hotels and leisure operating companies. Mr. Melnik led the implementation of investment strategy and opportunity sourcing, and partnered with portfolio company management to drive operational improvement. Prior to KSL, Mr. Melnik was an investment banker at Merrill Lynch.
by Cdr. Bud Slabbaert

We have a challenge on our hands but being able to handle a challenge creates strength. Employment is needed for a healthy economy since it creates buying power and enables us to afford the things we want. We also need to create a brain-gain, whereby well-educated Caribbeans return home and bring the expertise and knowledge that we need. We need a unique global sustainable industry development with a secure return of investment!

My suggestion is to develop large floating platforms. Why not grow coffee beans? Because coffee beans are a commodity. People on the land pick the beans and some others do the packaging. They work hard but make little money. Brokers and speculators on commodity markets abroad are making the big money. Producing commodities doesnt create talent; no skills needed, thus no specialized teachers needed. Forget commodities. We need something specialized, highly valued and significantly priced whereby we can deal and negotiate directly with the client. It should be made in the Caribbean. It should involve employees from all levels of educational backgrounds. It should inspire young people and open training opportunities. You may think that building large floating platforms or even mega-platforms is the idea of a dreamer or someone from a different planet, for one because the Caribbean does not have mega-space for building mega-platforms.

Nothing that is mega, is built out of one piece. There is an option to build in modules; the more modules attached to each other, the more mega a structure becomes. No accurate cell count has been done but estimates of the number of cells in a human body vary from five to 68 trillion. A trillion is 1,000,000,000,000. Even when you were born and your mama held you in her arms, you were already a bundle of 1-5 trillion cells. Im thinking of a float that consists of only 20-400 modules. It will take more individual parts and components to put float together for a particular function. An Airbus 380 is constructed of approximately only three million (3,000,000) parts. Major structural sections are built in France, Germany, Spain, and the UK and are done in sixteen cities with accessories that are imported from various parts of the world. Eventually, the A380 is assembled in one location.

The Wright Brothers ran a bicycle shop and built the first flying gadget that was called an aircraft. Imagine in their day and age if they had suggested that future planes will be built out of 3 million parts and carrying more than 800 passengers, they would have confined the Bros at Happy Acres and fed them three times daily with a teaspoon. My point is not to put limitations on what can or cannot be done. If construction is done modular, how can the modules be brought to other Caribbean islands? If it is a floating component, use a tugboat! And if it should go beyond the Caribbean, then what? How do most imports come to the Caribbean? By container ship! So, what is the option to export our modules? When built in container size sections, they can be shipped from the Caribbean all over the world. At their destination port they can even be loaded on truck or train and become a floating solution in land locked lakes. It will take Caribbean engineers to travel abroad and supervise the assembly.

Who is going to figure that all out? In a human body there is a department on the top floor called the brain. For our project we are going to create something similar, and we will call it Research and Development Center. Isnt that what the brain does: observe, find out, react, and act? To put our brain together we need the equivalence of neurons. Specialists will become our neurons. Where will we find them? There are some exceptionally talented people in the Caribbean. If they are willing and able to subscribe to the mission and vision of the project and they have the passion and creativity to turn challenges into opportunities and further into results, they may be just the right people. There are well educated Caribbeans in various parts of the world who may want to return and contribute with the knowledge and experience they have acquired abroad. To make it complete, we also need the talents from non-Caribbean. They may be our guests for a short time; we may like them so much that we want to hold on to them a bit longer. Once we have the highly intelligent human resources on board, we can start training others in our community. It is not going to happen in a wink. Call it a plan for now but, the sooner the initiative is started, the sooner results will come.

Why would I want to invest in the Caribbean? Was the question how the story started? Either you are closing your eyes to a situation you dont wish to acknowledge or, you are not aware of the caliber of opportunity that is growing here. We are in the process of growing Human Capital. I put Human Capital in the category of Own Capital. Own capital funds are generally a condition for outside financiers. Without sufficient responsible own capital resources, outside capital givers are not ready for payment. With the Research and Development Center, we are creating a vault of Own Human Capital. Great, now we have a group of geeks restrained in a room and call it our brain center. What enlightenment are we confronted with next?

Whether building floats in one piece, modules, or container-sized segments, where will it be done? A wharf is needed. It doesnt have to be huge if things are built-in modules. It requires engineers, but we cannot have all Chiefs and no Indians, so, we need jacks of different trades which means that there will be new employment opportunities of various kinds. I have made impact studies in the past; trying to put a figure on the socio-economic impact that activities of an operation have. Its difficult if there is no operation yet. One can do some guessing that is so intelligent that it becomes quite realistic. Just some brief points here. Additional employment creates more buying power. A new industry means that suppliers and service providers are needed. Some of those services will be developed by entrepreneurs of the island. We develop a unique global industry; due to the uniqueness, companies from abroad may wish to be closer to the action and set up a representation. That is what is called cluster development and those clusters also have a socio-economic impact. They are amplifiers, pumping more decibels in an existing composition.

I invented the expression Management by Innovation since it wasnt found yet in MBA-coursework. It is my concept by which management aims to develop and maintain a leadership position in the market by actively looking for new ways and questioning existing ways internally and externally. It is totally different than Management by Numbers which I consider to be Management for the Ruthless and utterly unintelligent. I see it as the most effective way to get rid of the most brilliant and dedicated minds. The result of managing a business by the numbers is that engagement, creativity, and innovation get lost. It looks for saturation, like consuming large portions of fattening food and becoming obese. It is about out-proportioning to gain weight. It may be a great concept for managing a Japanese Sumo wrestling team but let it be known that the life expectancy of a Sumo is at least 10 years shorter than the average Japanese male. They develop diabetes, high blood pressure, and are prone to heart attacks. The stress on their joints causes arthritis.

With the intelligent concept of Management by Innovation, I dare to say that the Caribbean could become a hub of science and technology. Gosh. If we are becoming so freaking smart, maybe we can do more with it, you might think. Yes, you can hold intellectual property rights and get royalty payments from newly developed technologies and innovations, while enjoying being with your family in the Caribbean.
GCI, the largest telecommunications provider in the state, is planning to move all of its call-center operations out of Alaska and will contract with a third-party vendor to provide the service from the Philippines.

The move will start this summer, according to a report in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner on Saturday.

The company, which provides cable television, internet, cell and wired telephone services in Alaska, has had a hard time filling its call-center jobs, said Heather Handyside, vice president for corporate communications at GCI.

Currently, GCI's operation in Anchorage is set to ru...
Burma Arsonists Target Headquarters of Myanmars NLD

Anti-regime protesters show solidarity with the NLD in front of the partys headquarters in February.

The headquarters of the National League for Democracy, the party led by Myanmars ousted leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, was attacked with Molotov cocktails early on Friday morning, but no serious damage was reported.

Nearly all of the partys leaders, including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, have been detained for more than a month by the regime.

CCTV camera footage caught at least three men throwing the incendiary devices into the partys headquarters at around 4:15 a.m. before running away, causing the entrance gate some minor damage.

Residents in the neighborhood helped put out the fire before firefighters arrived.

Shortly after the Feb. 1 coup, the NLD headquarters near the Shwedagon Pagoda was raided by junta troops during nighttime curfew hours. The offices properties, including documents and computer hard disks, were confiscated, the NLD said at the time.

U Soe Lay, an NLD official based at the headquarters, said the party tried to filed a case at Bahan Police Station.

But we still havent been able to officially file a case, as there were no senior officials there to accept the case, he said.

He speculated the attack may have been committed by someone who had a grudge against the party and its electoral success.

He added that no progress had been made on a legal case filed by the party over last months raid on its office.

Under Daw Aung San Suu Kyis leadership the party won a landslide victory in the general election in November last year. The military alleged massive electoral fraud during the polls to justify its coup.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has been detained since the takeover. The junta has targeted her with a number of absurd charges while also launching graft probes against her. Since the coup, many other NLD members have been arrested and some have been killed in custody.



You may also like these stories:

History Rhymes Tragically in Myanmar

Myanmar Regime Arrests NLD Members for Seeking Explosive Training

Myanmar Protest Death Toll Hits 270 as Regime Intensifies Assaults
Syracuse, N.Y.  Counties and pharmacies are increasingly offering Covid-19 vaccines to people as young as 18 who arent eligible under the states regulations.

The state Department of Health this week issued new guidance requiring vaccine providers to give extra doses to any adults rather than throwing out doses at the end of the day. Every clinic must keep a waiting list of people to be called in case it appears there will be too many opened vials for the number of appointments scheduled.

If no eligible individuals are able to be vaccinated, vaccinate any consenting adult, the new rules say. This exception is ONLY for the purpose of ensuring vaccine is not wasted and must be reported to NYSDOH.

Under the states eligibility criteria, Covid-19 vaccines are restricted to those 50 or older, people living in certain group settings, anyone with specific underlying medical conditions, and workers whose jobs put them at greater risk of contracting the novel coronavirus.

Healthy adults who dont meet the professional or medical criteria cant book appointments through the regular online or phone systems. They can now, however, add their name to a waiting list and get called, generally the same day or the day before, to come fill an empty slot.

Madison County on Wednesday opened its waiting list to people 18 or older. Oneida County also allows anyone 18 and up to register. Onondaga County today dropped its minimum age for extra doses to 30.

Madison County spokeswoman Samantha Field said the countys three vaccine clinics often have no-shows  people who get sick or have something come up, for example  so clinic workers call people from the wait list throughout the day. Those people are given appointments for their second doses before they leave, Field said.

Were only calling if we have an extra doses or we have doses that are available after we have vaccinated those who are currently eligible, Field said. We have yet to waste a dose and we dont plan to waste any doses.

Pharmacies also have waiting lists, and appointments are often made the same day someone calls or signs up. Sue Little, of Liverpool, called the Walgreens on West Onondaga Street in Syracuse a couple weeks ago to see if her husband, who didnt yet qualify under the state guidelines, could get the shot.

They said, come in at 2:45 that day, Little said. He went, he got the Pfizer vaccine, and they set up his second appointment.

Little spread the word to friends and family, and 25 to 30 of them have gotten vaccines the same way, often the same day or within a day of getting on the waiting list. She said, though, that pharmacies were hit-or-miss: Some told her they wouldnt give shots to anyone who didnt meet the eligibility requirements.

A state health department spokeswoman said there was no data readily available to show how many people had gotten vaccines through waiting lists in Central New York.

Clinics also have to carefully count how many shots they have and make sure theyre all used. Each Moderna vaccine vial contains 10 doses; Pfizer vials holds six doses each. Once the vials are open and the vaccine is in the syringe, shots have to be given quickly. Pfizer and Moderna vaccines must be administered within six hours; Johnson & Johnson, two hours.

To get the extra doses at pharmacies, youll have to call each store to get on its individual list. Here are the links to add your name to waiting lists in nearby counties:

Onondaga County

Madison County

Oneida County

MORE ON COVID-19

Tens of thousands of Covid vaccine slots remain open: When will NY expand eligibility?

Biden doubles Covid vaccine goal to 200 million doses

Onondaga County urges SU students to get vaccine against Covid-19 if theyre eligible
Patna, March 26 : Days after brutal assault on the opposition legislators in Bihar Vidhan Sabha, SK Singhal, the Director General of Police (DGP) of Bihar, clarified no undue power given to the police force through the police amendment bill passed in Bihar Vidhan Sabha on Tuesday.

"The police amendment bill is meant for Bihar Military Police (BMP) which is now renamed as Bihar Special Armed Force (BSAF). It is similar to Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) responsible for providing security to strategic and tourist places like Maha Bodhi Temple in Bodh Gaya and Darbhanga airport," Singhal said on Thursday.

Singhal, along with RS Bhatti, director general of BMP and Chaitanya Prasad, additional home secretary of Bihar came forward before mediapersons in Patna to explain the points of police amendment bill.

Prasad clarified that this bill allows BMP personnel to apprehend any persons involved in terrorist or disruptive activities inside the notified premises where they are given responsibility of security.

"This bill allows BMP personnel to apprehend persons caught in criminal activities in places where they deployed. Soon after the arrest, there is a provision to hand over that person to nearby concerned police stations for investigation. There is no such rule in this bill to allow the police department to arrest a person on the basis of this bill," Prasad said.

RS Bhatti, the DG of BMP said: "Under the rule 9 of police amendment act, the BMP personnel will have to hand over (apprehended individual) to the police in minimum time. If any police personnel is present at the time of arrest, BMP will hand over the accused to him immediately or escort them to the nearest police station. BMP will also submit an allegation report to concern police stations about under what circumstances, accused are nabbed so that appropriate IPC sections will be imposed on accused in FIR." Reacting to the assault on opposition legislators, DGP Singhal said that Vijay Sinha, the Speaker of Bihar assembly had called the police.

"With the permission of the Speaker, police personnel entered the Vidhan Sabha building and acted on his direction. Bihar police went there to assist the marshals," Singhal said.

"Bihar Vidhan Sabha comes under the jurisdiction of the Speaker. Any kind of investigation will start only after his direction. If anyone thinks about the police's high-handedness, the Speaker has to direct us for investigation and we are ready to do the same," Singhal said.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
By SA Commercial Prop News

William Nicol Drive was named after the Dutch-Reformed minister and Transvaal administrator at the time of its construction.



William Nicol Drive, which connects Diepsloot with affluent suburbs such as Fourways, Sandton, and Hyde Park, to be renamed Winnie Madikizela Mandela Drive.

The City of Johannesburg (COJ) announced its plans to rename William Nicol drive to Winnie Madikizela Mandela drive.

Meanwhile, the property node along William Nicol Drive is fast becoming the most sought after commercial real estate in the province.

In a notice published on social media on Wednesday (24 March), the City said that the proposed re-naming is in terms of its approved policy on the naming of streets and other public places.



It further called for comments or representations from interested and affected people or parties.



William Nicol Drive was named after the Dutch-Reformed minister and Transvaal administrator at the time of its construction. Madikizela-Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist and politician, and the second wife of president Nelson Mandela.

The proposed name change has been over a year in the making, and City mayor Geoff Makhubo said that the road would be renamed in time following the public participation process and confirmation with Madikizela-Mandelas family.



In February, Arts and Culture minister Nathi Mthethwa announced a number of name changes in the Eastern Cape which he indicated were for transformation purposes.



The minister said that the transformation of the naming landscape in South Africa is a critical component of the heritage landscape as a whole.



There was a need for the name changes as this is part of a government programme to transform South Africas heritage landscape. The names of places we live in reflect the identity and cultural heritage of the people of South Africa, he said.



Mthetwa said that prior to the changes, the Provincial Geographical Names Committee conducted public consultations on all the names that were changed.



The South African Geographical Names Act provides for objections within 30 days from members of the public in instances that they are not happy with the gazette name changes, he said.
REDDING, Calif.  Six people were arrested Thursday afternoon after authorities served a search warrant at a residence commonly complained about to police.

On March 25, around 4:45 p.m., the Redding Police Department served a search warrant at a residence in the 5600 block of Mountain View Drive. Police said this residence has been the source of numerous citizen complaints of suspected narcotic activity in recent months.

A total of fourteen people were detained at the residence. After completing a search of the house, police said six people were arrested.

The charges ranged from possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of a controlled substance, outstanding warrants, possession of methamphetamine, probation violations and possession of methamphetamine for sale, according to Redding police. A total of 38.4 grams of methamphetamine was also located.

Clinton Roach, 43, of Redding, Brian White, 50, of Redding, Ann Beck, 67, of Manton, Patrick Borges, 68, of Redding, William Dunlap, 52, of Redding and Elizabeth Roberson, 42, of Redding were the subjects arrested for various respective charges at the location, police said. The remaining people contacted were released from the scene.
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Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-26 09:59:56|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, March 26 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese mainland reported no new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases on Thursday, the National Health Commission said on Friday.

Eleven new imported COVID-19 cases were reported on Thursday, said the commission in its daily report.

One new suspected case arriving from outside the mainland was reported in Shanghai. No new deaths related to the disease were reported, it added.

On Thursday, thirteen COVID-19 patients were discharged from hospitals following their recovery.

By the end of Thursday, a total of 5,243 imported cases had been reported on the mainland. Among them, 5,082 had been discharged from hospitals following recovery, and 161 remained hospitalized. No deaths had been reported among the imported cases.

The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases on the mainland reached 90,147 by Thursday, including 163 patients still receiving treatment.

A total of 85,348 patients had been discharged following recovery on the mainland, and 4,636 had died of the disease.

There were four suspected COVID-19 cases on the mainland as of Thursday, and 3,682 close contacts remained under medical observation.

Thursday also saw reports of 31 new asymptomatic cases, including 30 arriving from outside the mainland. No asymptomatic cases were re-categorized as confirmed cases on the same day.

A total of 251 asymptomatic cases, 250 of whom were imported ones, were under medical observation.

By the end of Thursday, 11,428 confirmed COVID-19 cases, including 204 deaths, had been reported in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), 48 cases had been reported in the Macao SAR, and 1,012 cases, including 10 deaths, had been reported in Taiwan.

A total of 10,994 COVID-19 patients in the Hong Kong SAR had been discharged from hospitals after recovery, 48 had been discharged in the Macao SAR, and 971 had been discharged in Taiwan. Enditem
Help charity spread the 'cuddly wuddly love'

An initiative by a Manx Blind Welfare has seen the charity inundated with donations of beautiful cuddy toys.

The Societys Cuddly Wuddly Adoption Club gives pre-loved toys a new lease of life and an opportunity to find a new forever home. The charity takes donations of toys received at its Douglas-based charity shop, The VIP Store, and gives them a spa day, a new name and an official adoption certificate. They are then free to be adopted for a small fee, with all monies received staying on-Island to support the work of Manx Blind Welfare Society.

Manx Blind Welfare Society Office Manager Kerry Healey: We are so grateful for the donations of toys we have received since the launch of The Cuddly Wuddly Adoption Club, and we now have the most wonderful collection of toys ready for their new owners. Now, it is just a case of pairing them up with their new loving families!

If you know anyone that would love some cuddles from one of our special cuddly friends, whether thats a little girl or boy, a grandparent, auntie or sister  anyone at all - please get in touch. All we request is for the new owner to take the Cuddly Wuddly Adoption Club pledge to be kind, protective, loving and faithful to their new friend.

Weve already sent a good number of Cuddly Wuddlys out across the Island and on longer Cuddly missions in the UK.
Women have been gang-raped at gunpoint and men forced to rape their own family members amid a wave of horrifying sexual violence in Ethiopia's Tigray region, the United Nations has been told.

Wafaa Said, aid coordinator in Ethiopia, told member states that more than 500 rape cases have been reported at five medical centres in the northern state - but that the true number is likely to be far higher.

'Women say they have been raped by armed actors, they also told stories of gang rape, rape in front of family members and men being forced to rape their own family members under the threat of violence,' she said.

Women are being gang-raped in front of their families and men are being forced to rape their relatives amid violence in Ethiopia's Tigray region, UN warns (file image)

It is just the latest tale of terror to emerge from Tigray since Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced a government offensive against regional leaders in November last year.

Ahmed, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, said the assault was aimed at the TPLF party which had ruled Ethiopia for three decades until 2012 and continued to control the Tigray region, defying his attempts to bring it under federal control.

But the attack, which also dragging in soldiers from neighbouring Eritrea, has unleashed a wave of ethnic violence that has seen civilians indiscriminately killed, with hundreds of thousands displaced and left without food.

'Most of the internally displaced people left with nothing more than the clothes they were wearing,' Said told the UN on Thursday.

'They are generally traumatized and tell stories of the difficult journey they took in search of safety. Some reported walking for two weeks and some as far as 300 miles,' Said said on Thursday.

Ethiopian and Eritrean soldiers have been waging a five-month war against regional leaders in Tigray, unleashing a wave of ethnic violence that has targeted civilians (file image)

'Of the people who traveled with them, some were reportedly killed particularly youngsters, people were reportedly beaten, women were subject to rape, some were pregnant and delivered on the way losing their babies.'

The United Nations has raised concerns about atrocities, while U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has described acts carried out as ethnic cleansing.

Ethiopia rejected Blinken's allegation.

This week, Abiy acknowledged for the first time that atrocities such as rape had been committed and said any soldiers committing crimes would be punished.

But some of the worst atrocities have been blamed on soldiers from Eritrea, meaning Abiy's ability to act against them is limited.

The Ethiopian government attacked Tigray in November last year after accusing regional leaders of an assault on a military base, plunging the border region into chaos

Dozens of witnesses in Tigray have told Reuters that Eritrean soldiers routinely killed civilians, gang-raped and tortured women and looted households and crops.

Eritrea has not responded to queries on reports of atrocities.

In a major announcement on Friday, Aiby said that Eritrean soldiers have agreed to leave the region - just five days after he acknowledged for the first time that they were even there.

'Eritrea has agreed to withdraw its forces out of the Ethiopian border,' Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said in a statement on Twitter the day after arriving in Eritrea's capital, Asmara, to meet President Isaias Afwerki.

The Ethiopian National Defence Force will take over guarding the border area effective immediately, Abiy said.
By the end of March 2020, COVID-19 had forced nearly all U.S. public schools to close. Now, one year later, its safe to reopen them.

Thats the conclusion reached from an analysis of over 130 studies on the issue from the U.S. and 190 countries. These studies include medical research and the practical experiences of educators who have opened and worked in schools over the past year.

Some schools are already open: about one in three school districts now offer fully in-person instruction.

But great differences exist across districts. Small districts (with three to five schools) are much more likely to be open than large ones (12 or more); 44 percent of small districts offer fully in-person instruction, compared with 23 percent of large districts.

Differences include a political divide on reopening. Districts in counties that voted for Joe Biden have three times the percentage of fully remote districts compared to counties that voted for Donald Trump.

There is wide variation across states, too. Six states have no fully remote districts  Connecticut, Florida, Nebraska, Nevada, Utah, and Wyoming. California has the highest proportion of school districts where students are learning only remotely: 59 percent offer no options for in-person or hybrid instruction.

The new report clearly argues that theres no longer any medical or safety reason to continue school closures. It covers many topics, including risks for children and teachers, transmission issues, and the impact of openings on community spread. It provides answers not available a year ago when schools closed and offers a roadmap for how to resume in-person instruction safely.

There are three key findings.

First, we now know that closings impose major costs on students and society that must be balanced against public health benefits. For example, children now face greater personal health risks and mental health challenges. They also suffer severe learning loss  especially children of color  leading to lower future wage earnings. Parents also suffer severe hardships: more than 2 million mothers have left the workforce to care for their children.

Second, the vast majority of research shows that children make up a small share of COVID-19 cases, develop less severe illness, and have lower mortality rates. Attending school does not increase risk to children, especially if health procedures are followed.

In addition, evidence suggests that schools mirror the transmission rates of their communities. Schools themselves dont appear to drive community transmission.

And while high school students are more likely to contract and spread infection, there is much less risk in grade school children.

Third, protective measures such as mask wearing, physical distancing, increasing hygiene, and improving ventilation lessen risks for students and school staff. COVID-19 vaccinations, symptomatic testing and isolating of potentially infected individuals, and asymptomatic COVID-19 screening tests offer additional preventive benefits.

Some children, faculty, and staff do face higher risks due to preexisting health conditions and other factors. They should have additional accommodations to protect them, including the option to teach or learn from home.

The COVID-19 public health crisis has led to a national education crisis. But if we follow the evidence, schools can reopen without endangering educators, families, students, or the community.
Farmers blocked highways and other key roads at many places in Punjab and Haryana, and squatted on railway tracks at several locations disrupting road and rail traffic as part of their nationwide protest against the Centre's new agri laws.

According to the Samkyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), which is spearheading the farmers' stir, said is being observed from 6 am to 6 pm to mark four months of the farmers' agitation at Delhi's three borders -- Singhu, Ghazipur and Tikri.

Shops remained closed at several places in Punjab. At a few places in Haryana too shops were shuttered in support of the

Public and private transport remained off the roads in Punjab.

In neighbouring Haryana, State Transport Minister Moolchand Sharma told PTI that Haryana Roadways bus services will be suspended in those districts where it is felt that it is not conducive to operate them in view of the farmers' protest.

"Bus services are otherwise functional in Haryana," he said.

Since morning, farmers in the two states gathered at several highways and roads, including in Bathinda, Ludhiana, Amritsar, Patiala, Mohali, Rohtak, Ferozepur, Pathankot, Jhajjar, Jind, Panchkula, Kaithal, Yamunanagar and Bhiwani districts.

Farmer union leaders said they were allowing ambulances and other emergency vehicles as well as marriage processions to pass.

In view of the 'Holla Mohalla' festival at Sri Anandpur Sahib, vehicles carrying devotees were being allowed to commute. The protesters have even arranged 'langar' for the devotees at the protest sites.

Haryana BKU leader Gurnam Singh Chaduni, in a video message on Friday, appealed to the protesting farmers to ensure the smooth passage of essential supplies or even sick persons travelling in private vehicles or those travelling in neighbouring areas.

"We have to protest peacefully," Chaduni said.

The had its effect on rail services in Punjab and Haryana.

Protesters squatted on railway tracks at several locations, including in Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Ferozepur, Ambala, Jind, Jhajjar, Panchkula and some other districts in the two states, leading to disruption of rail traffic.

Some of the protesters blocked the Ambala-Delhi highway near Ambala Cantonment badly affecting the service on the route.

A group of protesters squatted on railway tracks near Shahpur village, around five kilometres from Ambala Cantonment, due to which all the trains running between Delhi and Saharanpur were stranded, railway officials said.

At Karnal railway station, the New Delhi-Katra Vande Bharat Express was stranded due to blockade by farmers in Ambala.

"Due to the pandemic, one is going through difficult times. Now, to remain stranded at a railway station for hours with small children is quite difficult. Trains on this route should have been cancelled for today to avoid passenger inconvenience," said a woman passenger travelling with her two children.

The agitating farmers blocked several key roads, including Chandigarh-Delhi, Amritsar-Delhi, Hisar-Delhi and Bhiwani-Delhi highways. They parked their tractors and other vehicles in the middle of the carriageways.

They also blocked the Ambala-Rajpura Highway on the Haryana-Punjab border near Shambhu barrier, and the Ambala-Hisar Highway near Ambala City.

The protesters, many of them carrying placards, squatted on key roads and raised slogans against the BJP-led government at the Centre. There were sit-ins at toll plazas in several places.

In Amritsar district, a group of farmers held a shirtless protest and raised slogans demanding the repeal of the farm laws. In Ludhiana, Punjab's industrial hub, some markets including on Gill Road, Ghumar Mandi, Clock Tower, cloth market and Akal Market remained shut while in Mohali too most markets were closed.

Traffic on highways passing through Haryana, including Ambala and Chandigarh, was comparatively less as many avoided travelling during the Bandh hours. However, at many places, long queues of trucks and other heavy vehicles could be seen on roads.

Police personnel were deployed in adequate strength to maintain law and order, officials said.

Farmer leaders in the state appealed to shopkeepers and traders to keep their shutters down during the bandh. Several unions representing commission agent also extended their support to the protest.

The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, an apex gurdwara body, has also announced to keep its offices and institutions closed for the day.

Earlier, in view of the Bharat Bandh, Samyukt Kisan Morcha, an umbrella body of protesting farmers' unions, appealed to the protesters to remain peaceful.

Thousands of farmers, mainly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur, with their main demand being complete repeal of the three farm laws and a legal guarantee for the minimum support price on their crops.

So far, there have been 11 rounds of talks between the protesting unions and government, but the deadlock has continued as both sides have stuck to their stand.

In January, the government had offered to suspend the farm laws for 12-18 months, which was rejected by the farmer unions.

(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.)
NORWALK  The Norwalk Fire Department on Thursday announced a new process for administering entry-level firefighter exams after the previous exam was marred by allegations of cheating.

At a news conference at Norwalk Fire Headquarters, Fire Chief Gino Gatto said the department has begun accepting applications for a new class of recruits as part of the overhauled testing procedure.

We invite men and women to join the rich tradition of our fire department, and the nearly 140 firefighters who work every day to serve and protect our city and its residents, Gatto said in a statement. Being a Norwalk firefighter is a challenging job, but it is equally rewarding.

The announcement comes several months after the city cut ties with the Connecticut Firefighter Testing Consortium, a collection of at least 15 other municipalities that aimed to streamline the often paperwork-intensive and costly application process.

The decision to leave the consortium was made after an investigation determined Chris King, the departments then-assistant fire chief, had likely leaked the consortiums test questions and answers to his son. King, who resigned last year amid the investigation, has denied the accusations.

The ensuing controversy prompted city leaders to reform the testing process. The department has since hired the consulting firm Morris & McDaniel to administer the new exam at a cost of $67,500.

We just didnt feel comfortable that the field was level for all applicants and, therefore, based on our concerns about the internal process, we decided to step out of the consortium and give a new exam, Mayor Harry Rilling, a member of the citys Fire Commission, said in December.

Rilling, who spoke at Thursdays news conference, described the newly launched recruitment effort as a critically important process for the department. He said the department is relying on community leaders and local clergy members to help boost the number of applications.

What we are trying to do here is partner with the community to attract a pool of candidates who are demographically similar to the city of Norwalk, Rilling said. We want a diverse pool of candidates.

Assistant Fire Chief Albe Bassett said the department is seeking to fill a dozen open positions. Individuals interested in becoming a firefighter have until May 10 to fill out an online application. The fee is $25.

The written test, which is followed by an oral exam, is scheduled to be held in late May. The starting salary for a new firefighter is $65,476 a year.

Bassett said the company administering the test will issue study guides to applicants. He encouraged anyone remotely interested in the job, including people with no previous experience in a related field, to apply.

Were going to teach you everything you need to know about being a firefighter, he said. Theres nothing you need to know coming in.
Murewa  The family of murdered Tapiwa Makore have rejected a state assisted funeral to bury the remains of their departed son who died in September last year.

He is set to be buried Saturday at the Makore family home.

The family, which has been seeking closure for the last seven months following the gruesome murder of Tapiwa then aged seven years, said they will use the little resources they have to bury him rather than to have officials come with food and prepared speeches when they have unanswered questions.

Beular Musupai, the family spokesperson, said the Makore's were seeking closure over how Tapiwa died, full police investigations, trial and conviction of the arrested, and not the state to assist them in burying Tapiwa.

"What is more painfully as a family is, we are burying the remains of Tapiwa without his head which is a first in our family and community to lay to rest a half body," a tearful Musupai said.

"This is the 7th month since his death and our queries have not been answered by the relevant authorities, why it has taken so long to concluded investigations.

"Doors have completely been shut in our face as we seek to find answers on investigations. So as a family we have agreed that we do not need any state assisted funeral to bury the remains of our child without his head.

"What is so important about the state assisted funeral at this hour of burial. We do not need any assistance to bury his remains. We will use the little resources that we have. For seven months, where has the state been and it wants to assist us now when they cannot assist with answers on how the investigations are going."
JSW Steel, the largest steelmaker in the country, has engineered Bhushan Power & Steel Ltd's (BPSL) acquisition outside its balance sheet, which will help in reducing the impact of debt on the former's books. The steelmaker, which has Rs 51,800 crore of net debt, has acquired bankrupt BPSL by paying Rs 19,350 crore to its financial creditors.

JSW Steel has taken most of the loans (about Rs 10,800 crore) through a special purpose vehicle (SPV), which will be merged with BPSL. So this major portion of debt will reflect only on the balance sheet of BPSL, and it will have to service it on its own.

JSW Steel has invested Rs 5,087 crore equity in a holding company, Piombino Steel Ltd (PSL), which has got around Rs 1,000 crore worth equity from JSW Shipping also. JSW's equity contribution comes from its cash reserves. PSL also raised Rs 2,500 crore from banks as debt. The holding company will own 100 per cent stake in BPSL.

The deal structuring will also help JSW Steel to bring a strategic investor in holding company PSL. JSW Steel has retained its recent acquisitions like Monnet Ispat and Asian Colour Coated also as separate entities outside its operational ambit for these strategic advantages in debt and investments.

Also read: JSW Steel acquires remaining 26.45% stake of JSW Vallabh Tinplate

Seshagiri Rao, Joint Managing Director and Group CFO, JSW Steel, told BT that strategic investments in BPSL's holding company will be decided only after the Supreme Court order in the case related to Enforcement Directorate's claim in BPSL's assets. The Enforcement Directorate (ED), which investigated money laundering case against the previous management of BPSL, is fighting the case in the apex court.

Since the Supreme Court verdict in ED case is pending, JSW Steel concluded the deal with some riders. It had proposed to conclude the transaction on the condition that banks would provide indemnity to JSW Steel if there is an adverse ruling. The apex court also told the creditors to keep the transaction amount in an escrow account for returning it to JSW Steel if the order is not in their favour.

Apart from volume addition, JSW Steel sees geographical advantage in acquisition of BPSL. The company currently serves the eastern and northern markets in the country from its plants is Vijayanagar (Karnataka), Dolvi (Maharashtra) and Salem (Tamil Nadu). Seshagiri Rao said BPSL, which has plants in Chandigarh, Mohali, Kolkata and Odisha, will be able to serve the eastern and northern markets better. In addition, BPSL will be able to access raw material from captive iron mines of JSW Steel in Odisha. BPSL, which has a capacity of 3.5 million tonnes per annum, generated over Rs 8,000 crore revenues in the last financial year.

This is the largest acquisition in the history of JSW Steel, the company's Chairman Sajjan Jindal said in a letter to the employees.

Also read: JSW Steel to kick start production at new Dolvi, Vijayanagar plants in H1 2022
New York: More than 500 rape cases have been reported to clinics in Ethiopias Tigray region, the United Nations said, warning that due to stigma and a lack of health services the actual numbers were likely to be much higher.

Women say they have been raped by armed actors, they also told stories of gang rape, rape in front of family members and men being forced to rape their own family members under the threat of violence, Wafaa Said, deputy UN aid coordinator in Ethiopia, said in a briefing in New York.

Orthodox Christian Tigrayan refugees who fled the conflict pray in front of a church at Hamdeyat Transition Centre in Sudan near the Ethiopian border. Credit:AP

She said at least 516 rape cases had been reported by five medical facilities in Mekelle, Adigrat, Wukro, Shire and Axum.

Given the fact that most health facilities are not functioning and also the stigma associated with rape, it is projected that actual numbers are much higher, she added.
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Bottle-conditioned beer is something Dana Koller had been wanting to take on for a while now.

But the process is complex and time-consuming. The pandemic shutdowns allowed Koller to focus on creating the special beers at his brewery, Kaktus Brewing Co. in Bernalillo.

These (have) been under kind of research and development, if you will, for the past year, for almost 12 months, maybe even a little bit more, Koller said. Theyre a pretty delicate product. And so we wanted to make sure we got it right before we release them. And so now were proud to say that we are confident and releasing them, you know, and super-excited to kind of move forward with them. Theyve been definitely a process.

ADVERTISEMENTSkip



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Bottle-conditioned Imperial Stout, English Ale and Barley Wine are available for purchase at Kaktus. All three bottle-conditioned beers are limited in quantity and cost $16 per bottle. Cases also are available for purchase.

The flavor profile changes as each bottle ages, but there are some distinct qualities each contains.

The Imperial stout, I mean, virtually no matter what, youre going to get some beautiful coffee notes, Koller said. Because its a roasted malt, youll have kind of that dark chocolate, slightly coffee, but a little bit more kind of caramel or like softening to it. And so it will feel actually very silky. The body of it will be very silky and really smooth.

Koller described the English Ale as liquid bread.

Its the easiest way for me to explain it, Koller said. It has a lot of characteristics of, you know, you really get the barley flavor. You get just enough hops to really taste the hops, but to balance the alcohol in it. Its a slightly higher alcohol content, but because of the aging process, it softens it a little bit more. And thats the one thats going to really appeal to whiskey drinkers that like that kind of barley and kind of woody flavors.

The Barley Wine is slightly sharper and slightly more alcohol-forward. It has a sharp intensity on the front end and pairs well with food.

Creating bottle-conditioned beer is an intricate process.

We go through your normal brewing process, Koller said. We go through that entire process, and then at the end, instead of just going straight to full fermentation and into the kegs, what we do is we take the product and we put them into each individual bottle, and theres currently no machinery that can do this. Every bottle is done by hand. And so we fill the bottles and then we implement a little bit more proprietary sugars and yeast to the bottle to allow it to go through whats called secondary fermentation. During that secondary fermentation, this bottle is capped kind of like Champagne. And what ends up happening is this becomes a live beverage.

Once the bottle is capped, it goes through a secondary fermentation.

Its breaking down all those sugars, producing slightly more alcohol, but also natural carbonation, Koller said. So unlike forced carbonation out of the tap, or in most beer bottles, theres absolutely zero forced carbonation in this. And its all natural.  This allows for the product to be a little higher alcohol content, which is kind of nice because it has such rich flavors.

The decision to make bottle-conditioned beer was to give Kaktus an edge in the local brewery scene.

I think its always important to stay competitive in the market, Koller said. And during this closure, we realized that if we really want to shine as a New Mexico brewery, its not about how big we are, how small we are, you know, its really what were the best at. And so we wanted to come out with a product that not only targeted the current brewery industry, but we wanted to come out with a product that really encouraged people that are big wine drinkers or whiskey drinkers, that really enjoy that culture of those two. We wanted to come out with a product to capture their attention and to get them to realize that beer could be just as romantic and classy and delicate as well and age-able.

KAKTUS BREWING CO.

WHERE: 471 South Hill, Bernalillo

HOURS: Opens at 2 p.m. Thursday through Sunday. Information, visit facebook.com/KaktusBrewingCompany.
The New York Yankees are banking on Jordan Montgomery returning to the form which made him an American League Rookie of the Year candidate in 2017. His manager that year was Joe Girardi, now the skipper for the Philadelphia Phillies. And Girardi thinks Montgomery is a sure thing in 2021. Per Newsday:

I think that first year youre coming back from Tommy John, youre looking for your command, [but its usually] velocity that comes back and the command doesnt come back until later, Girardi said. So I think hell have much better command of all of his pitches and I think hes going to have a big year. ... I just think what we saw was real. Sometimes what you see in spring training isnt real, but what we saw from him in spring training was real. And I believe hes going to be a successful big-league starter for a long time.

Introducing Yankees Insider: Get exclusive news, behind-the-scenes observations and the ability to text message directly with beat writers

As a rookie, Montgomery went 9-7 with a 3.88 ERA in 29 starts.

But arm problems limited him to a total of eight appearances in 2018 and 2019.

Last year, the southpaw struggled during the coronavirus-shortened 60-game season, going 2-3 with a 5.11 ERA in 10 starts.

However Montgomery has been all-business this spring, with a 0.90 ERA in three Grapefruit League appearances.

Get Yankees text messages: Cut through the clutter of social media and text during games with beat writers and columnists. Plus, exclusive news and analysis every day. Sign up now.

Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a subscription.

Mike Rosenstein may be reached at mrosenstein@njadvancemedia.com. Tell us your coronavirus story or send a tip here.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-26 18:57:37|Editor: huaxia

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ULAN BATOR, March 26 (Xinhua) -- The Mongolian economy is expected to recover in 2021, according to the World Bank's latest economic update for the East Asia and Pacific Region released on Friday.

As stimulus measures prop up domestic demand, the adverse impact of the global economy recedes, and businesses and consumers adjust to the new norm in the post-pandemic era, Mongolia's economy is projected to rebound to 6.8 percent in 2021, and pick up further to 7.2 percent in 2022 and 7.1 percent in 2023, the World Bank said.

A sizable economic stimulus program launched by the Mongolian government is likely to fuel investment and non-mineral sector output through targeted policy loans, the bank said.

Moreover, global economic recovery and rising commodity prices are expected to foster foreign direct investment and production in the country's mining and other mining-dependent sectors, including transportation.

However, the bank warned that further surges in COVID-19 cases globally and domestically could seriously undermine the recovery.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Mongolia's gross domestic product fell by 5.3 percent in 2020 year on year, the first contraction since 2009, according to the country's National Statistics Office.

As of Friday, Mongolia has confirmed 6,332 COVID-19 cases, with nine deaths. Most of the confirmed cases were locally transmitted and detected in the capital Ulan Bator, which is home to over half of the country's population of 3.3 million.

The country has launched a national vaccination campaign in late February, with the aim of vaccinating at least 60 percent of its total population. About 257,000 people have been vaccinated so far, according to the health ministry.

Earlier in February, the Mongolian government announced a comprehensive plan involving 10 trillion Mongolian tugriks (3.5 billion U.S. dollars) in the coming three years to protect public health and revive the virus-hit economy. Enditem
Phill Magakoe/AFP via Getty Images

The Plainview-Hale County Health Department will host two COVID-19 vaccination clinics next week to disburse its allocation of Moderna doses. One clinic is set to be open late.

The vaccine clinics are set for Tuesday from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. and Thursday from 2-7 p.m. at the Ollie Liner Center, 2000 S. Columbia.
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[March 26, 2021] Raise Green Engages IBM to Build a Solution to Support Solar Developers and Climate Entrepreneurs

ARMONK, N.Y. and SOMERVILLE, Mass., March 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- IBM [NYSE: IBM] and Raise Green, an impact investment marketplace for clean energy projects, announced their collaboration to develop Raise Green's software solution deployed using Red Hat OpenShift on IBM Cloud, intended to empower any entrepreneur to start their own community solar energy businesses. Today marks the rollout of the latest Beta version of the Originator Engine, following the initial launch announced last year. To help address the growing urgency of climate change, Raise Green came to IBM Global Business Services (GBS) with a need that the parties developed into the Originator Engine  a groundbreaking digital tool that customers, investors, and ecosystem partners can leverage to create, finance, build, and run new solar businesses. "Everyone has a role to play in tackling climate change in an equitable way. Countries have committed to act, technologies are ready, and policies are moving in the right direction, but it's not happening fast enough," said Franz Hochstrasser, CEO and co-founder of Raise Green. "Raise Green is designed to empower communities tired of waiting for action on climate and social impact. IBM is helping us bring this innovation to life by designing a smooth user experience that makes starting a new busiess straightforward while enabling us to expand into areas beyond solar like template microgrids, energy efficiency, electric vehicle charging, urban farms, and affordable housing."



Raise Green engaged IBM GBS to help build a digital experience that would empower climate entrepreneurs to start and finance their businesses and local climate projects by removing obstacles and equipping them with tools and resources. A team of IBM design and technology specialists worked with Raise Green to co-create, develop and deploy a proof-of-concept for the Originator Engine in just eight weeks through the IBM Garage  IBM's approach to fast-tracking innovation at scale, to help transform organizations from the inside out. The Originator Engine uses Red Hat OpenShift and is deployed on IBM Cloud for all of Raise Green's services. IBM Cloud is the industry's most open and secure public cloud. The Originator Engine combines multiple database standards, allows companies to create filings for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and offers investment opportunities through the Raise Green Investor Marketplace. The Originator Engine is designed to automate the process of creating and completing legal and financial documents by taking thousands of pages and converting them into streamlined and easy to use templates.

"The collaboration between Raise Green and IBM serves as a meaningful response to the question of how to get involved in the fight against climate change," said Debbie Vavangas, Global Lead, IBM Garage. "To address the growing need for an innovative solution, Raise Green wanted to embrace cloud-based and agile methodologies which not only can accelerate the creation of a new digital experience for climate entrepreneurs but also gives Raise Green the flexibility to evolve digital capabilities for future growth." For more information about the Originator Engine, visit https://www.raisegreen.com/ About Raise Green Raise Green is the first marketplace in the U.S. for local and inclusive impact investment with verifiable and demonstrable environmental benefits. Through the platform, anyone can be an originator of their own community solar project. On Raise Green's investor marketplace, anyone (individuals and institutions) can invest in community-focused climate resilience projects across a varied range of project scales and minimum investments. Early investors in Raise Green are veterans of the renewable energy industry and project financing. Investors can derive value while at the same time creating quantifiable impacts in local communities, as well as receiving financial returns if the project is successful. About IBM For further information about IBM Global Business Services, visit: https://www.ibm.com/services

For further information about IBM Garage visit: https://www.ibm.com/garage Media Contacts

Charlotte Bergmann

IBM External Relations

Charlotte.Bergmann@ibm.com View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/raise-green-engages-ibm-to-build-a-solution-to-support-solar-developers-and-climate-entrepreneurs-301256714.html SOURCE IBM

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A British spy plane has monitored Russian war games in the Arctic where Moscow says it has completed initial tests on a new hypersonic missile, local media says.

An RC-135W Rivet Joint reconnaissance jet flown by the RAF is said to have circled the skies near where the Kremlin's Admiral Gorshkov frigate sailed off Russia's northern coast this week.

The Gorskhov has carried out at least four test launches of the new 6,100mph Zircon missile, which is expected to go into service next year and which defence chiefs boasted had 'hit the bullseye' in testing.

Vladimir Putin sees the Mach 8 Zircon as his missile of choice to target US cities in the event of a nuclear conflict, it is claimed.

The Zircon hypersonic cruise missile is launched from the Russian frigate Admiral Gorshkov last year in tests which coincided with Vladimir Putin's 68th birthday

An RC-135W Rivet Joint reconnaissance plane (file photo) operated by the RAF is said to have circled the skies near where Russia was carrying out war games this week

The Gorshkov was expected to fire the Zircon this week, although defence chiefs confirmed only that supersonic Oniks missiles had been fired from the frigate.

The missiles hit a target off Novaya Zemlya, where a large area of water was declared 'forbidden to navigate for all vessels' in Arctic waters.

A military source told Russian state news agency TASS: 'Flight trials (of the Zircon) from Admiral Gorshkov have been completed successfully.

'A total of four launches have been made. All missiles hit the 'bullseye'

Trials of the Zircon missile are planned to be finished in 2021, while mass production of the new weapon is expected to commence in 2022, reported TASS.

It was the second time in a week that a British spy plane had buzzed an area of the Barents Sea to snoop on Russian missile tests, the Barents Observer said.

Tests of the Mach 8 missile from a submarine are also expected soon.

The hypersonic Zircon missile is fired out of a hatch in the upper deck of a Russian frigate during testing in the White Sea last year

Putin has previously described the Zirkon - also known as Tsirkon - as 'truly unparalleled  in the world'.

The first Zircon test launch of the missile from the Gorshkov was staged in early October and seen as a 68th birthday present for Putin.

More test launches followed in November and December.

A radiation leak during a military accident which killed two people and wounded six in 2019 was thought to have taken place during testing on the missile.

Radiation levels temporarily soared 20 times above the normal level in Severodvinsk, 18 miles from the weapons testing site at Nyonoksa, according to Greenpeace.

Vladimir Putin (pictured in Moscow on Wednesday) has previously described the Zirkon - also known as Tsirkon - as 'truly unparalleled in the world'

Dmitry Kiselyov, the host of Russian news show Vesti Nedeli, showed a map of the US on screen with targets he claimed that the Kremlin would hit in a nuclear war.

Kiselyov, seen as a top Putin propagandist, said the Zircon missile could hit the targets in less than five minutes.

Putin has claimed that the West was seeking to steal secrets relating to Zircon and other state-of-the-art Russian weapons such as the Avangard.

Oniks missiles were also fired at a target near the Novaya Zemlya archipelago which was once a Soviet nuclear testing ground, said the defence ministry.

Two Russian Northern Fleet logistics support ships - Elbrus and Ilya Muromets were also in position southwest of Novaya Zemlya.

Earlier Zircon tests were made from the White Sea, twice hitting floating targets and once a land-based target.
Standard Chartered Zimbabwe has contributed US$1 million to the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and Oxfam for programmes providing emergency relief to communities impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

At least US$500 000 went to the IRC to provide healthcare supplies, infection prevention and control measures, and risk communication to communities, while US$508 000 has been donated to Oxfam for the provision of emergency food aid to vulnerable communities.

Said Standard Chartered Bank Zimbabwe board chairman Lovemore Manatsa: "Standard Chartered in Zimbabwe is proud to contribute to the IRC and Oxfam programmes that reach the most vulnerable people in our communities. By working with these organisations, we are able to support the delivery of rapid and effective emergency relief that aims to address some of the key challenges created by the Covid-19 pandemic."

Country director, International Rescue Committee Mr Zvidzai Maburutse said: "Nearly a year on from the beginning of the global Covid-19 pandemic, Zimbabwe is battling a spike in Covid-19 cases and deaths, fears of a new variant, and the devastation that tropical Cyclone Eloise has caused in recent weeks to Covid-19 mitigation and containment measures. This 'triple threat' is endangering the lives of Zimbabwe's population.

"The IRC in Zimbabwe is working not only to prevent and respond to the spread of coronavirus within vulnerable communities, but to meet our clients' other immediate needs. Critical support from partners like Standard Chartered enables the IRC to continue its life-saving work and ensure the safety of our staff."

Oxfam country director in Zimbabwe Mirjam van Dorssen, said the organisation was pleased with its partnership with Standard Chartered Bank.

"We are proud to be in this partnership with Standard Chartered Bank as it has enabled us to fight hunger among vulnerable Zimbabweans who have been affected by droughts and the Covid-19 pandemic. Ensuring access to food is a key aspect of the support provided by SCB as the project provides poor communities with the power to buy food on a need basis and decrease vulnerability to future shocks."
There have been an awful lot of movies made not just about World War II but about the days leading up to it. So new angles can be hard to find. How about this: a Nazi girls school in a seaside town in England in the 1930s?

Such a place did exist: the Augusta Victoria College at Bexhill-on-Sea. Its school badge contained both a Union Jack and a swastika. It was here that daughters of the Nazi elite went for finishing. Out of this peculiar fact, Eddie Izzard, whose family hails from Bexhill, determined to forge a film; Izzard not only stars in Six Minutes to Midnight but is also one of the writers of the screenplay as well as an executive producer.
Obvious: Keeping it Simple

New Fragrances

David Frossard, niche master behind the development of French perfume brands such as Frapin and Liquides Imaginaires, through the company Differentes Latitudes, launched at the end of 2020 a new line called Obvious, with seven fragrances that are simple, direct, and environmentally responsible.

Sustainability and affordable prices are the key elements of the Obvious concept. The fragrances are not meant to be revolutionary; they just want you to feel good and not spend all your money on a bottle. 100ml of eau de parfum cost 110 EUR. All the fragrances are based on a single note, and the names reflect exactly that choice. The seven scents were created by perfumers Amelie Bourgeois and Anne-Sophie Behaghel from Flair Studio, Paris. They are made in Grasse, France, focusing on natural ingredients, but adding synthetics. Each fragrance is centered on a note that is enhanced and embellished: Un Bois, Un Musc, Un Patchouli, Un Poivre, Une Fleur d'Oranger, Une Rose, and Une Vanille.

"Today, the luxury industry cannot ignore the need to protect our planet. Beauty lies in simplicity. A beautiful perfume needs no explanation, wearing it is an obvious choice. A fragrance is chosen to be in harmony with the wearer. This is what makes it beautiful to others. Obvious is beautiful and good for you, others, and the planet", says the brand. As for the conscious approach, they say, "we have opted to use environmentally responsible raw materials when at all possible. Whether in the essences, in which we prefer natural ingredients to synthetic alternatives, in our organic alcohol for the dilution process, in the bottle made of recycled and recyclable glass, in the cork tops made from wine cork production offshoots (without plastic inserts), or, naturally, in the external packaging which is entirely made of recyclable paper and no cellophane. We are offering a perfume at a fair price that supports a production chain of suppliers who are committed to a sustainable development approach despite demand still being so low in the luxury sector. Our suppliers are selected with the utmost care, and we promote short supply chains."

UNE VANILLE

TOP NOTES: Tonka bean absolute from Venezuela

HEART NOTES: Black vanilla absolute from Madagascar

BASE NOTES: Globalide, Muscenone (clean macrocyclic musks)

UNE ROSE

TOP NOTES: Italian Bergamot Essence, Florida Grapefruit Essence, Mexican Yellow Tangerine Essence

HEART NOTES: Bulgarian Rose alcoholate, Egyptian Geranium Essence

BASE NOTES: Indian Pink Pepper Extract, Indian Cardamom Essence

UNE FLEUR D'ORANGER

TOP NOTES: Mandora Essence from Cyprus, Italian Bergamot Essence, Orange Bigarade Essence from Spain, Sweet Orange Essence from Spain

HEART NOTES: Petitgrain Essence from Paraguay, Petitgrain Lemon Tree Essence, Tunisian Neroli Essence

BASE NOTES: Madagascar Ginger Essence, Orange Blossom Absolute from Tunisia

UN POIVRE

TOP NOTES: Indian Black Pepper Essence, Indian Pink Pepper Extract, French Caraway Essence

HEART NOTES: Egyptian Violet Leaf Absolute, Madagascar Ginger Essence, Ceylon Cinnamon Essence

BASE NOTES: Indian Amyris Essence, Haitian Vetiver Essence

UN PATCHOULI

TOP NOTES: Tonka Bean Absolute from Venezuela

HEART NOTES: Pure Patchouli Essence from Indonesia, Virginia Cedar Wood Essence, Australian Sandalwood Essence

BASE NOTES: Tolu Balm of Peru, Moroccan Cade Wood Essence

UN MUSC

TOP NOTES: Italian Bergamot Essence, Madagascar Ginger Essence

HEART NOTES: Indian Amyris Essence, Haitian Vetiver Essence, Iranian Galbanum Essence

BASE NOTES: Globalide, Helvetolide, Ambrettolide, Muscenone (clean macrocyclic musks)

UN BOIS

TOP NOTES: Italian Bergamot, Asian Black Pepper Essence

HEART NOTES: Ambroxan (Sage Isolate), Virginia Cedar Wood Essence

BASE NOTES: Indian Papyrus Wood, Malaysian Gurjum Balm Essence, Haitian Vetiver Essence

Obvious is sold in Paris at perfume bar Liquides (owned by Differentes Latitudes) and Le Bon Marche, as well as in several perfume shops in France, Monaco, Belgium, and the USA, as well as online.
Key dates

Here is a timeline that the Kern High School District looks to implement when returning students for in-person instruction next month:

 April 6, 2021  All mild/moderate students with disabilities who have not yet returned; remaining ROC/CTEC students

 April 12, 2021  All seniors at all school sites

 April 21, 2021  All freshman at all school sites

 April 28, 2021  All sophomores and juniors at all school sites
A Covid-19 situation at the National Insurance Board (NIB) led to late pension cheques this month, says Social Development Minister Donna Cox. And the ministry yesterday apologised for any inconvenience caused to pensioners and other recipients of social welfare as a result of the late payment of benefits.
People are urged to donate online for the Irish Cancer Societys Daffodil Day taking place today Friday March 26th.

This will be the second year in a row where Covid-19 has restricted the usual community spirit and cheerfulness normally associated with collections across the country.

The charitys flagship fundraiser would usually see thousands turn out across the country to fundraise and sell the iconic daffodil pins.

However, with collection buckets silent for the second year in a row, people are being asked to support Daffodil Day online or by phone.

The Irish Cancer Society normally raises in the region of 4million when traditional events are able to take place.

However, last year the charity saw a 2million drop in income from the event after it was cancelled just days before it was due to take place.

Each year more than 40,000 people in Ireland hear the words you have cancer.

Over 9,000 people will lose their lives to the illness each year.

Meanwhile, 200,000 patients and survivors in Ireland are living after cancer.

The Irish Cancer Society provides advice, support and practical help for anyone affected by cancer.

To mark the day, shops, buildings and landmarks all across Ireland have turned yellow for Daffodil Day including Dublins Convention Centre, Liberty Hall, Eyre Square in Galway, Merchant's Quay in Limerick and Cork City Hall.

Viewers can also tune in to a Late Late Show Daffodil Day special on RTE 1 at 9.35pm tonight, which will feature some very special guests, including Westlifes Shane Filan who tells of the heartbreak of losing both parents to cancer within 10 months of each other; and Jedward, who will honour their Mum who died from cancer in 2019, by shaving off their legendary quiffs.

Speaking on Daffodil Day, Irish Cancer Society Acting CEO Conor King said: Every year the people of Ireland rally together and stand in solidarity with cancer patients. Today, on our most important Daffodil Day yet we may not be together, but we can still show our support for the cancer community 

Despite the challenges of the last year the Irish Cancer Society is still here for people affected by cancer; through the cancer nurses on our Support Line, our Daffodil Centre staff, our dedicated Volunteer Drivers to bring people to chemotherapy and our Night Nurses, who provided more nights of precious end-of-life care than ever before.

By donating at donate.cancer.ie, or supporting any of the other fundraisers happening today you are helping to ensure that we can continue to be there for anyone who needs it.

This year marks Boots Irelands 4th year of sponsoring Daffodil Day. Through the partnership, Boots is committed to increasing awareness, supporting people affected by cancer and promoting cancer prevention. Boots 89 stores located nationwide will be raising vital funds by selling Daffodil pins in store and hosting virtual fundraisers across the country.

If you have concerns or questions about cancer, or to learn more about support services available in your area, contact the Irish Cancer Society Support Line on Freephone:1800 200 700

To donate online go to https://donate.cancer.ie/

To donate via phone callsave 1850 60 60 60
Suddenly Jesus met them and greeted them, saying: Rejoice (see Mt 28:9).



It is the first word of the Risen One after Mary Magdalene and the other Mary discovered the empty tomb and came across the angel. The Lord meets them to transform their mourning into joy and to comfort them in the midst of affliction (see Jer 31:13). He is the Risen One who wants to resurrect the women to a new life and, with them, all of humanity. He wants us to begin to participate from now in the resurrected condition that awaits us.

An invitation to joy could seem like a provocation, and even like a bad joke in the face of the serious consequences we are suffering from Covid-19. Like the disciples at Emmaus, some could think of it as a gesture of ignorance or irresponsibility (see Lk 24:1719). Like the first disciples who went to the tomb, we have been living surrounded by an atmosphere of pain and uncertainty that makes us wonder: Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb? (Mk 16:3). How can we deal with this situation that has completely overwhelmed us? The impact of everything that is happening, the serious consequences that are already being reported, and those things which we have glimpsed, the pain and mourning for our loved ones, all have the capacity to disorient, distress and paralyze us. It is the heaviness of the tombstone that imposes itself on the future, and that threatens, with its realism, to bury all hope. It is the heaviness of the anguish of vulnerable people and elderly people who are going through quarantine in total solitude; it is the heaviness of those families who cannot now put a plate of food on their tables; it is the heaviness of health personnel and public servants feeling exhausted and overwhelmed ... that heaviness that seems to have the last word. However, it is moving to highlight the attitude of the women of the Gospel.

Faced with doubts, suffering, perplexity in the face of the situation and even with fear of persecution and of everything that could happen to them, they were able to keep going and not be paralyzed by what was happening.

Out of love for the Master, and with that typical, irreplaceable and blessed feminine genius, they were able to confront life as it came, cunningly circumventing obstacles in order to be close to their Lord. Unlike many of the apostles who fled as prisoners of fear and insecurity  who denied the Lord and escaped (see Jn 18:25-27)  they [the women], without evading reality or ignoring what was happening, without fleeing or escaping ... they knew how to just be and to accompany others. The first women disciples, in the midst of darkness and grief, loaded their bags with perfumes and set out to anoint the buried Master (see Mk 16:1). Recently, we too, like them, have been able to see many who have sought to anoint others, through co-responsibility: they have offered care, and have avoided putting the lives of others at risk. Unlike those who fled with the hope of saving themselves, we witnessed how neighbors and family members set out with effort and sacrifice, to stay in their homes and thus curb the pandemic. We were able to discover how many people who were already living and suffering the pandemic of exclusion and indifference continued to strive, to accompany each other and to sustain themselves so that this situation is (or was) less painful. We saw anointing poured forth from doctors, nurses, supermarket shelf stackers, cleaners, carers, people who transport goods, agents of law and order, volunteers, priests, women religious, grandparents and educators and many others, who had the courage to offer everything they had, to bring some care, calm and courage to the situation. Although the question remained the same: Who will roll away the stone from the tomb? (Mk 16:3), all of them did not stop giving what they felt they could give, and had to give.

It was precisely there, in the midst of their cares and concerns, that the women disciples were surprised by an overwhelming announcement: He is not here, he is risen. His anointing was not an anointing for death, but for life. Their watching and accompanying the Lord, even in death and in the midst of great despair, had not been in vain, but had allowed them to be anointed by the Resurrection: They were not alone, He was alive and preceded them on their way. Only this overwhelming piece of news was able to break the cycle which prevented them from seeing that the stone had already been rolled away; and that the perfume poured forth could diffuse further than the reality which threatened them.

This is the source of our joy and hope, which transforms our actions: Our anointings, dedication ... our watching and accompanying in all possible ways at this time are not, and will not be, in vain; they are not a dedication to death. Every time we take part in the Passion of the Lord, we accompany the passion of our brothers and sisters; living that same passion too, our ears will hear the novelty of the Resurrection: We are not alone, the Lord precedes us on our way, removing the stones that block us. This good news made those women retrace their steps to look for the apostles and the disciples who remained hidden, so as to tell them: He reawakened to that same life (naturally in a new form) which death has destroyed.[1] This is our hope, the hope that cannot be stolen, silenced or contaminated. The whole life of service and love that you have given in this time will pulse again. It is enough to open a crack so that the anointing that the Lord wants to give us expands with an unstoppable force and allows us to contemplate the reality of suffering with a renewing outlook.

And, like the women of the Gospel, we too are invited again and again to retrace our steps and allow ourselves to be transformed by this announcement: the Lord, with his newness, can always renew our life and that of our community.[2] In this wasteland, the Lord is committed to the regeneration of beauty and the rebirth of hope: Behold, I am doing something new: right now it is sprouting, dont you see it? (Is 43:19). God never abandons his people, he is always close to them, especially when pain becomes more present.

If we have learned anything in all this time, it is that no one saves himself. Borders fall, walls collapse and all fundamentalist discourse dissolves before an almost imperceptible presence that manifests the fragility of which we are made. Easter summons us and invites us to remember His presence, which is discreet and respectful, generous and reconciling, capable of neither breaking the cracked reed nor extinguishing the wick that burns weakly (see Is 42:23); so that the new life that He wants to give us all, might pulsate. It is the breath of the Spirit that opens horizons, awakens creativity and renews us in fraternity to say I am present (or here I am) before the enormous and imperative task that awaits us. It is a matter of urgency to discern and find the pulse of the Spirit to give impetus, together with others, to dynamics that can witness and channel the new life that the Lord wants to generate at this concrete moment in history. This is the favorable time of the Lord, who is asking us not to conform or content ourselves, let alone justify ourselves with substitutive or palliative logic, which prevents us from sustaining the impact and serious consequences of what we are living. This is the right time to find the courage for a new imagination of the possible, with the realism that only the Gospel can offer us. The Spirit, who does not allow himself to be locked up or manipulated by fleeting or fixed schemes, modalities and structures, invites us to unite to his movement, which can make all things new (Rv 21:5).

In this time we realized that it is important to bring the whole human family together to seek a sustainable and integral development.[3] Every individual action is not an isolated action, for better or for worse. It has consequences for others, because everything is interconnected in our common house; and if it is the health authorities who order confinement in the house, it is the people who make it possible, aware of their co-responsibility to curb the pandemic. An emergency like that of Covid-19 is overcome with, above all, the antibodies of solidarity.[4] A lesson that will break all the fatalism in which we may have immersed ourselves, and this will allow us to feel once again as creators and protagonists of a common history and, thus, to respond together to so many evils that afflict millions of people around the world. We cannot afford to write present and future history by turning our backs on the suffering of so many. It is the Lord who will ask us again: Where is your brother? (Gn 4:9), and in the way we respond, may the soul of our peoples be revealed to us.

This is the reservoir of hope, faith and charity in which we have been born, and which, for so long, we have anesthetized and silenced. If we act as one people, even in the face of other epidemics that threaten us, we can make a real impact. Will we be able to act responsibly in the face of the hunger that so many suffer, knowing that there is food for all? Will we continue to look the other way with a complicit silence in the face of those wars fueled by desires for domination and power? Will we be willing to change those lifestyles that cause so many to suffer poverty, and promote and find the courage to lead a more austere and human life for a fair sharing of resources? Will we, as an international community, take the necessary measures to curb the devastation of the environment or will we continue to ignore the evidence? The globalization of indifference will continue to threaten and tempt us in our journey... May we find within us the necessary antibodies of justice, charity and solidarity. We must not be afraid to live the alternative  the civilization of love. This is a civilization of hope: against anguish and fear, sadness and discouragement, passivity and tiredness. The civilization of love is built daily, uninterruptedly. It requires a committed effort by all. For this reason it requires a committed community of brothers and sisters.[5]

In this time of tribulation and mourning, I hope that, where you are, you will be able to experience Jesus, who comes to meet you, greets you and says: Rejoice (see Mt 28:9). And may this greeting mobilize us to invoke and amplify the Good News of the Kingdom of God.

(Vida Nueva Magazine, 17 April 2020)

This English translation has been carried out by LEV staff.

------

1 Romano Guardini, The Lord, Gateway Editions  Regnery Publications, Washington, DC 1996, 473.

2 See Apostolic exhortation Evangelii gaudium, 24 November 2013, 11.

3 Encyclical letter Laudato si, 13.

4 Pontifical Academy for Life, Global Pandemic and Universal Brotherhood. Note on the Covid-19 Emergency, 30 March 2020, 5.

5 Eduardo Pironio, Dialogo con laicos, Patria Grande, Buenos Aires 1986.


Files Application for Revocation of Cease Trade Orders

TORONTO, March 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - Champignon Brands Inc. (the "Company"), (CSE: SHRM) (FWB: 496) (OTCQB: SHRMF), announced today that it has filed a new Listing Statement with the Canadian Securities Exchange ("CSE") which contains disclosure regarding the acquisition of AltMed Capital Corp. ("AltMed") (the "Transaction"). The Transaction constituted a reverse takeover of Champignon by AltMed.

The Company today has also filed an application with the British Columbia Securities Commission and Ontario Securities Commission (the "Commissions") requesting that the Commissions revoke their cease trade orders against the Company. The Company's Common Shares were cease traded by the Commissions for (i) content deficiency in the Company's material change report dated April 30, 2020, and (ii) failure to provide periodic financial disclosure for the interim period ended June 30, 2020.

On March 11, 2021, the Company filed (or refiled, as applicable) interim financial statements and management's discussion & analysis for the interim periods ending March 31, 2020, June 30, 2020, and September 30, 2020, respectively, as previously announced by the Company (see news release of March 11, 2021). On March 15, 2021, the Company filed a Notice of Change in Corporate Structure pursuant to Part 4 of National Instrument 51102  Continuous Disclosure Obligations and on March 22, 2021 the Company filed interim financial statements and management's discussion & analysis for the period ended December 31, 2020.

The Listing Statement and financial reports referenced above are available under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Champignon Brands Inc. (https://champignonbrands.com) is a medical solutions company that aims to reduce the illness burden of brain-based mental disorders (e.g., major depressive disorder). Its operations are primarily focused on (i) owning and operating multidisciplinary clinics providing treatment for mental health disorders and (ii) research activities related to discovering and commercializing novel drugs and delivery methods.

Champignon develops ketamine and psilocybin derivatives and other psychedelic products from the Company's IP development platform. Champignon, through its wholly-owned subsidiary, the Canadian Rapid Treatment Center of Excellence Inc., currently operates multidisciplinary community-based clinics offering rapid-onset treatments for depression located in Mississauga, Toronto and Ottawa.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

"Dr. Roger S. McIntyre"

Dr. Roger S. McIntyre

Chairman & CEO

The CSE has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the accuracy or adequacy of this release.

Forward-looking Information Cautionary Statement

This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws. All statements that are not historical facts, future estimates, plans, programs, forecasts, projections, objectives, assumptions, expectations, or beliefs of future performance are "forward-looking statements."

Forward-looking statements include statements with respect to the lifting of the existing cease trade orders by the Commissions and the reinstatement of trading in the Company's Common Shares on the CSE. There is no guarantee that the cease trade orders will be revoked.

Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "estimates", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. Such forward- looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, events, or developments to be materially different from any future results, events or developments expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, among others, the Company's requirements for additional financing, and the effect of capital market conditions and other factors on capital availability, the Company's limited operating history and lack of historical profits; competition; failure of treatments to provide the expected health benefits; unanticipated side effects; dependence on obtaining and maintaining regulatory approvals, including acquiring and renewing federal, provincial, state, municipal, local or other licenses; developments and changes in laws and regulations, including increased regulation of the Company's industries and the capital markets; economic and financial conditions; volatility in the capital markets; engaging in activities that could be later determined to be illegal under domestic or international laws; failure to obtain the necessary shareholder, government or regulatory approvals, including that of the CSE; and failure to retain, secure and maintain key personnel and strategic partnerships including but not limited to executives, researchers, clinicians, customers and suppliers. These factors should be considered carefully, and readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements.

Although the Company has attempted to identify important risk factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other risk factors that cause actions, events or results to differ from those anticipated, estimated or intended. Additional information identifying risks and uncertainties that could affect financial results is contained in the Company's filings with Canadian securities regulators, which are available at www.sedar.com. There can be no assurance that forward looking-statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in forward-looking statements. The Company has no obligation to update any forward-looking statement, even if new information becomes available.

SOURCE Champignon Brands Inc.

Related Links

https://champignonbrands.com/


Fuzhou: A blessed and beautiful city in southeast China

People's Daily Online) 14:42, March 26, 2021

The Three Lanes and Seven Alleys scenic spot bears the essence of Fuzhou, a famous cultural and historical city with a long history of several thousand years.

It has been praised as the living fossil of the Lifang System of ancient China

and is considered to be a metaphorical mirror for peering into half of the early modern period of Chinese history.

The skywalk in Fuzhous Fudao is surrounded by mountains and waterways, while being fully integrated into local ecological landscapes, and represents Chinas longest pedestrian walkway built to serve the leisure and fitness needs of its citizens. Fudao skywalk is hailed as the most beautiful urban forest walkway in China.

(Web editor: He Zhuoyan, Liang Jun)
Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 30 giorni fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili.

The global flame retardant apparel market size is expected to reach USD 5.11 billion by 2027 according to a new study by Polaris Market Research. The report Flame Retardant Apparel Market Share, Size, Trends, Industry Analysis Report, By Product (Inherent, Treated); By Type (Woven, Non-Woven, Knitted), By Clothing Type (Durable, Disposable); By End Use; By Regions; Segment Forecast, 2020  2027 gives a detailed insight into current market dynamics and provides analysis on future market growth.

Manufacturers are using new technologies to develop garments with properties such as flame protection, durability, and comfort owing to the increasing demand from the industrial sector, driving market growth. Manufacturers have developed multi-utility apparels for wide range industries. Apparels of this type offer flame retardant, chemical protection, and cut protection. This offers high growth opportunity for the market growth.

Download Sample Copy : https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/flame-retardant-apparel-market/request-for-sample

Manufacturers of protective clothing in North America and Europe need to comply with government regulations and standards enforced by associations such as OSHA. Governments in emerging economies are trying to establish stringent health and safety regulations and create an effective safety awareness programs for worker safety. As a result, the demand for flame retardant apparels is expected to witness growth across the regions.

Asia Pacific is expected to witness fastest growth over the projected period owing to the expansion of various several end-use industries such as automotive, manufacturing, and construction. In addition, the increasing number of production facilities in countries such as India and China is expected to further drive demand. Therefore, demand for protective apparels is anticipated to rise significantly driving the demand for flame retardant apparels. Recently, however, workers have started to purchase their own protective gear from online stores. Workers can choose from a wide variety of brands that comply with their companys guidelines.

Get Discount on this Research Report : https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/flame-retardant-apparel-market/request-for-discount-pricing

Companies such as Honeywell Safety, Bulwark, Seyntex N.V., Fristads, Marina Textil S.L., DEVA F-M. s.r.o., Koninklijke Ten Cate N.V., Portwest Ltd., Lakeland Industries, and National Safety Apparel Inc. are some of the key players operating in the concerned market.

The market is fragmented with few major players operating across the regions. Companies such as Lenzing AG, Honeywell International, Bulwark, Kermel, 3M, W. L. Gore & Associates GmbH, and Dupont are few of the companies present across the globe and majorly provide flame retardant apparels and fabric.

Read More : https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/flame-retardant-apparel-market-size-worth-5-11-billion-by-2027--cagr-6-7-polaris-market-research-301212413.html
Brazil surpassed the grim milestone of 300,000 COVID-19 deaths on Wednesday. In each of the countrys states and regions, the Brazilian population has witnessed a brutal waste of lives, the result of the criminal indifference of its ruling elite.

We have yet to complete three full months of the year 2021, but in this brief period more than 100,000 Brazilians have lost their lives to COVID-19. The toll of the pandemic has escalated very rapidly since the year began, with the average number of daily infections jumping from 36,000 to more than 77,000. They are still on an upward trend, with a record of 100,158 infections recorded on Thursday.

The rampant advance of the virus throughout the country has provoked Brazils greatest health and hospital collapse in [its] history, according to the public health institution Fiocruz. Thousands of critically ill patients are waiting for an ICU bed on waiting lists that total approximately 900 people in Parana, 750 in Greater Sao Paulo, 700 in Minas Gerais, 500 in Rio de Janeiro, 500 in Ceara, 400 in Goias, and hundreds more in practically every state in Brazil.

Residents place roses on mattresses symbolizing COVID-19 victims, during a protest against the Government's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

Doctors are already being forced to choose who will receive treatment and who will be left to die. But there are imminent threats that the depletion of hospital supplies, including medical oxygen and intubation medications, will seriously compromise the ability to care for even those who have managed to secure a hospital bed.

The prospects for the coming weeks are terrifying. If immediate measures are not taken, researchers at Fiocruz have warned that Brazil will by April reach an average of 4,000 to 5,000 deaths per day.

But Brazils catastrophe has an impact far beyond its national borders, which the coronavirus needs neither a passport nor a visa to cross. On Wednesday, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) warned of the devastating threat posed by the growing pandemic in Brazil to neighboring South American countries.

The regions in Venezuela, Peru, and Bolivia that border the northern part of Brazil have reported serious increases in cases in recent days. On Brazils southern border, Paraguay is facing a hospital collapse, and Uruguay, which had exceptionally low numbers during the first wave of the pandemic, is suffering a rapid escalation of infections and deaths.

The efforts of the governments in these countries to wall off their populations with border controls and restrictions on the entry of Brazilians are seriously undermined by the deep cross-border integration of economic and social life. Moreover, the more infectious Brazilian P.1 COVID-19 variant, a major factor in the explosion of cases in Brazil, has already spread widely to neighboring countries, as well as to other parts of the world.

The failure to exert any control over the spread of the pandemic in Brazil has led not only to an accelerated reproduction of this virulent strain but is turning the country into an open-air laboratory for the generation of other COVID-19 mutations, and possibly even a new virus, an even more infectious and lethal SARS-CoV-3.

A recently published study by researchers at the Fiocruz COVID-19 Genomic Surveillance Network identified relevant mutations in 11 sequences of SARS-CoV-2 coming from five different Brazilian states. The scientists conclude: These findings support that the ongoing widespread transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in Brazil is generating new viral lineages that might be more resistant to neutralization than parental variants of concern.

The ominous dangers posed to the Brazilian and world population by this catastrophic evolution of the disease are treated with the crudest contempt by Brazils fascistic President Jair Bolsonaro. He continues to pursue his governments murderous herd immunity policy to its ultimate consequences, demanding that Brazilians stop whining about mass death and get back to work.

Bolsonaro is fighting to ensure that no measures to contain the spread of the virus conflict with the economic interests of Brazilian capitalism. Reaffirming his dictatorial threats, he warned that his government and his army are preparing harsh measures against any lockdown decree, in order to guarantee the right of the people to work.

To force workers into super-infected workplaces, he relies, above all, on the immense economic pressures placed upon the masses. The explosion of unemployment, rising food prices, and the cutting of emergency aid by the government is imposing unprecedented levels of social desperation upon every section of the working class.

According to Getulio Vargas Foundation (FGV) researcher Daniel Duque, over the past year, 22 million more Brazilians fell into poverty. Three out of 10 Brazilians are living under some degree of food insecurity. In the favelas, the poor working class neighborhoods in Brazils urban centers, 68 percent of residents have no money for food, as indicated by a poll from the Favelas United Center (CUFA).

The combination of unbearable economic hardship and the immeasurable suffering caused by the pandemic are fueling an explosive growth of social opposition in Brazil. In recent days, strikes and protests have broken out among teachers, oil workers, bus drivers, app delivery workers and other sections of the working class. Workers are demanding workplace safety, livable wages and political change.

Sensitive to this threat from below, sections of the capitalist elite fear that Bolsonaros policies will provoke a social and economic explosion calling into question their class domination over society.

That position was exposed in an open letter by economists and businessmen criticizing Bolsonaros handling of the pandemic. Among its signatories are former ministers and former presidents of the Central Bank, the head of Brazils biggest meatpacking corporation and the chairman of the board of Itau Bankthe largest financial conglomerate in the Southern Hemisphere. Joining them was the author of the economic program of the pseudo-left Socialism and Freedom Party (PSOL).

The letter stated that as long as the pandemic is not controlled by competent federal government action the economic recession will not be overcome. Its recommendation, repeated over and over, is that the government spend the least possible amount required to contain a social explosion.

Its first and central demand is the acceleration of the purchase and distribution of vaccines. Thus far only six percent of the population has received a first dose. The letter claims that the vaccine cost-benefit ratio is on the order of six times for every Real spent on purchase and application. Next, it advocates the free distribution of masks and government encouragement of their use, affirming that it would have a low cost compared to COVID-19 containment benefits.

While proclaiming that the need for a lockdown must be evaluated, the letter expresses extreme concern about the scope of activities covered and its duration. It asserts that the best combination is one that maximizes the benefits in terms of reducing virus transmission and minimizes economic effects. The same standard is applied to financial aid, which should be lean and focused on the most affected sectors of the population.

The letter also makes a virulent attack on school closures, claiming that the criminal experience of reopening schools in Sao Paulo, which caused thousands of infections of educators and students and dozens of deaths, was proof of the relatively low level of infection in schools.

This supposed opposition within the ruling class to Bolsonaro is a complete fraud. None of what is proposed guarantees an effective containment of the pandemic. While posing cosmetic differences with Bolsonaros policies, this program is founded upon the same hostility to the determinations of science and the interests of preserving lives.

This same essential program finds political expression in the rotten alliance, widely celebrated in the bourgeois media, between the Workers Party (PT) and the Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB), the traditional party of the Brazilian right, materialized in the National Governors Forum. The governors represented in this body have kept all economic activities open in their states and promoted the homicidal reopening of schools. With the single difference that they do not attack the use of masks and vaccines, as Bolsonaro does, they bear the same criminal responsibility for the COVID-19 disaster in Brazil.

This is also, fundamentally, the program of the trade unions, which has acted as arms of the corporations to keep them operating regardless of the risks to workers and society as a whole. The unions have systematically sabotaged workers struggles for the closure of businesses and schools. These organizations have also responded with nervousness to agitation among their ranks and, like the bourgeois sector behind the open letter, demanded the acceleration of vaccinations for their workers so that capitalist exploitation can return to normal.

Combating the catastrophe created by the pandemic requires an independent working class program, which points in a radically different direction.

Instead of a partial lockdown, based upon a cost-benefit analysis weighing profits against human lives, the working class must fight for a shutdown of all activities that are non-essential to society. Those activities that are maintained should operate under workers control and with the aid of scientists and health professionals to ensure workers safety. A full incomenot starvation bonusesmust be provided for all working families.

The implementation of this program is required to save the lives not only of working people in Brazil, but of their class brothers and sisters all over the planet.

The global nature of the COVID-19 pandemic proves the necessity of the abolition of the capitalist nation-state system. The struggles of the workers in Brazil must be united with those of the international working class to stop the spread of the coronavirus and to implement socialist measures, including the expropriation of the financial oligarchy and the ending of private ownership of the means of production to make way for a scientifically organized and democratically controlled world economy that places human lives over profit.
HALCOTT  State Police are searching for a suspect in a domestic incident who led police on a chase and later allegedly drove toward an officer in Delaware County, causing him to fire his weapon.

Police were called to the incident in the town of Halcott in Greene County on Thursday at about 4:59 a.m. when Bahji Green fled in a vehicle before troopers arrived, troopers said. Troopers in Delaware County spotted Green, 29, and tried to pull him over, but called off the pursuit.
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

Certain everyday household items can pose a threat to pets' health, says Susan Nelson, clinical professor at the Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine. Here are some items and situations pets owners can watch for.

Human over-the-counter and prescription medications are a common cause of poisoning in pets. Nelson said it is important to remember that pets, especially dogs, are not very discriminating about what they eat. It is not uncommon for dogs to swallow human medications, like anti-anxiety pills or pain medication, such as aspirin, ibuprofen or acetaminophen, while they are chewing on a bottle. This accidental ingestion can lead to gastrointestinal issues, organ failure and possibly death.

Owners often give human medications to their pets, such as aspirin or ibuprofen, to help control their pain. Unfortunately, many of these medications are highly toxic to pets. Nelson said to always consult with your veterinarian before giving any type of human medication to your pet.

"If your pet does accidentally consume human medication, call your veterinarian first or a pet poison control hotline before taking any type of action when this happens," Nelson said. "Know the name of the medication the pet swallowed and how much they ingested, if known, as that can make a big difference on treatment recommendations. Sometimes we will advise owners to induce vomiting at home, but it is done on a case-by-case basis as inducing vomiting in some instances can cause more harm."

Nelson also warns pet owners to be cautious of any flavored medication their pet may currently be taking. These medications are made to smell and taste good to make them easier to give to pets. If left out, they will often be consumed all at once, which can possibly be harmful to a pet.

Many human foods are dangerous for pets. Some of the top foods on this list are chocolate, raisins, grapes, macadamia nuts, onions, garlic and yeast-based bread doughs, according to Nelson. Additionally, foods, candies, mouthwashes and other medications that contain the artificial sweetener xylitol are also toxic to pets and can cause life-threatening low blood sugar and liver failure.

"Be aware of moldy and spoiled food, too," Nelson said. "Keep trash cans covered because pets are very good at getting into them and eating something they shouldn't."

Commonly used products like bleach, all-purpose cleaners and other disinfectants can cause chemical burns on pets' skin and can be toxic if ingested. Nelson said this often happens because pets come into contact with the cleaner after the bottle spills on them, or they walk on a freshly washed floor or bathtub. Virus- and germ-killing household sprays can be toxic to cats when ingested, so it should be used very cautiously in households with cats.

"The best way to prevent such burns and toxic ingestion is to make sure surfaces are completely dry before letting pets on them and to tightly re-cap cleaning product bottles after using them," Nelson said. "Just as with children, don't forget to put such products away where pets can't get to them and always remember to read the warning labels and instructions on all household cleaners before using them."

Other common household toxins that owners might not think about are things like batteries, cigarettes and certain houseplants. If a pet ingests batteries, including button batteries, the battery acid can cause serious burns to their mouth, esophagus and stomach, Nelson said. They can also cause intestinal obstruction.

Common houseplants like philodendron and dieffenbachia are toxic to pets if ingested. Lilies can be especially dangerous to cats. It is a good idea to know what plants you have, both in your house and your yard, and if they are toxic to pets.

"Another thing to worry about is secondhand smoke," Nelson said. "Cats with owners who smoke are twice as likely to develop malignant lymphoma than cats with non-smoking owners. Be aware of cigarette butts that are left out because pets can develop nicotine poisoning if these are ingested."

Antifreeze is another potential danger for pets, especially for those who spend a lot of time outdoors or in the garage, Nelson said. Sometimes antifreeze will leak from a car onto the floor or into an existing puddle of water and pets may unintentionally drink it. A small amount of ingested antifreeze can be fatal to a dog or cat, causing the kidneys to shut down.

"Always keep antifreeze tightly sealed and out of reach from pets," Nelson said. "You also should check your vehicle frequently for antifreeze leaks. One should always make sure their pet has fresh drinking water available. The temptation to drink antifreeze, however, will still be there, so prevention is key."

Cannabis, or marijuana, has been legalized in many states now and veterinarians in these states are seeing a large increase in the number of pets with marijuana toxicity. Pets are more sensitive to the effects of the THC in marijuana and Nelson said it can be easy for your pet, especially dogs, to consume a toxic amount.

If your pet does come in contact with a dangerous material and you cannot reach your veterinarian, or your veterinarian is not familiar with the specific toxin or medication, Nelson recommends calling the Pet Poison Helpline 24/7 Animal Poison Control Center at 855-764-7661, or the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Animal Poison Control hotline at 888-426-4435.

Explore further Veterinarian shares tips for a bite-free quarantine
Manitoba RCMP officers need COVID-19 vaccine priority due to the risks they face on the job and to help protect the people they come into contact with, says the national union representing RCMP officers.

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Manitoba RCMP officers need COVID-19 vaccine priority due to the risks they face on the job and to help protect the people they come into contact with, says the national union representing RCMP officers.

"This is the only way to ensure the safety of our officers and the communities they serve," National Police Federation president Brian Sauve stated in a press release.

The union represents approximately 1,000 RCMP officers in Manitoba, including those in Westman detachments.

Local RCMP officers are responsible for enforcing health restrictions and therefore at a higher risk of contracting the virus, said Bobby Baker, the unions director for the Prairies. Baker is a Winnipeg-based RCMP officer.

Federal guidelines from the National Advisory Committee on Immunization call for police officers to get priority access to vaccination in phase two of the rollout, Baker said. At this point, though, Manitoba doesnt have police officers on the list.

As well, the spread of COVID-19 variants and interaction with the public mean RCMP officers are more susceptible to becoming infected, he said.

"Their unique roles are different from most occupations because of the inability to socially distance and the settings they have to work in," Baker said.

Vaccinating police officers also ensures staffing numbers stay stable in the event of another large-scale outbreak, according to the union.

As variants of COVID-19 spread around the country, and to some extent in Manitoba, Baker said it is even more important to vaccinate RCMP officers, who often have to travel around the province during their shifts.

A provincial spokesperson said Thursday the vaccine eligibility criteria continues to expand, but police officers arent currently on the priority list.

"At this time, age and some underlying medical conditions continue to be the greatest risk factors for serious outcomes from COVID-19. And while the supply of vaccine is slowly increasing, we must still make very significant and difficult decisions about how to allocate this life-saving intervention," an emailed statement reads.

"This is the same message we delivered to representatives from law enforcement when we met with them last month."

 dmay@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @DrewMay
The challenge facing unionism  the greatest since partition  is that its most dangerous political/constitutional threat is from a British government that appears keener to assuage the concerns of the EU, Irish Government and nationalism in Northern Ireland, rather than prioritising, protecting and promoting unionisms position within the United Kingdom.

Its a challenge that presents unionism with its greatest modern dilemma. How does it persuade the government to address and resolve its fears of being cast adrift from the UK and pushed ever closer to the EU and potential Irish unity? More importantly, is there a line it will not cross in the cause of shoring-up its constitutional status quo?

In a piece for this newspaper on March 5, I wrote: Unionism/loyalism must tread with care because there is no easy or obvious route to victory. Worryingly, a section of loyalism seems determined to ignore caution. The Loyalist Communities Council (LCC), an umbrella organisation representing three loyalist paramilitary groups, has told Boris Johnson it no longer supports the Good Friday Agreement (GFA); and wont, until the NI Protocol  which places a sea border between Northern Ireland and Great Britain  is removed.

David Campbell, chairman of the LCC, claims DUP leader Arlene Foster assured them she will collapse the Executive if the protocol isnt removed. That would mean a new crisis for the Assembly, just over a year since it was rebooted after a three-year hiatus. The DUP has denied Campbells claim  which he is standing over  but has yet to issue an unambiguous statement guaranteeing not to bring it down.

The DUP is desperate to prevent a rift developing between the LCC and mainstream unionism, fearful any gap could be filled by a new generation of hardline loyalist paramilitaries who mightnt shrink from renewing violence.

The problem for the LCC is it mostly represents the old men of loyalism, who probably dont know much about the younger elements. The latter have their own way of communicating and organising through social media; they are, almost certainly recruiting; and its likely they have access, albeit limited, to weaponry. They also tap into a deepening sense of isolation, abandonment and resentment from a post-GFA generation that believes Sinn Fein always gets it way.

Read More

Earlier this week, the LCC said it wouldnt cooperate with the police at loyalist gatherings in Belfast and elsewhere. That makes the polices job much more difficult  and it may also indicate the LCC isnt certain of its own ability to control the gatherings in the first place. Again, that raises the possibility that control of the streets in loyalist areas will be mostly in the hands of people the police, intelligence services and LCC dont know very much about.

Meanwhile, the DUP has internal problems, with Fosters authority challenged daily and the flow of anonymous briefings and leaking against her swelling. An Irish Language Act (to which she signed up in the New Decade New Approach in January 2020) is also becoming a big problem.

She says she wont veto legislation, yet there is considerable evidence key players in her party believe it to be unsellable to unionists while the protocol remains in place. If she backtracks, Sinn Fein would probably collapse the Executive. If she agrees to it, she could well be toppled and replaced by someone less flexible.

Interspersed with this is evidence of a widening gulf between the unionist/loyalist faction that wants to get rid of the GFA once and for all, collapse the Assembly completely and deliberately worsen the relationship with Dublin: doing more harm to unionism and the Union in the long run than the protocol.

I was struck by a comment made by NI Secretary of State Brandon Lewis last week: If the unionist community feel that the Protocol is breaching the GFA and moving away from the spirit of it, then were in quite a dangerous place in terms of stability of not just the Executive but the north-south institutions.

But hes not offering an alternative. The British government accepts there is a real threat from both old and new generations of loyalists (accompanied by destabilising factionalism across unionism). That said, the government may also have calculated bowing to unionism would create greater problems with republican dissidents/SF/Dublin/EU. Anyway, why do favours for people you dont really care about and who threaten the peace process applecart?

I fear unionism/loyalism is heading towards a tipping point. It would be unwise to force the UK government to choose between unionist interests and the interests of broader British policy.

It would be unwise to make Johnson choose between unionism and a reasonably amicable relationship between London and Dublin. Unwise too, to make Johnson choose between ditching the protocol (and wrecking his broader agreement with the EU) or protecting unionist interests. And stupid to force him to make a choice between the interests of rebooted English nationalism (from which hes winning votes) and the interests of NI unionism (from which the Conservatives get less than 1pc of support).

Unionism/loyalism must not pick a fight it cannot win. It must not reach the point where political threats morph into street violence and terrorism. No one  and I really do mean no one  should dismiss the possibility of a descent into chaos if mainstream unionism allows itself to be manoeuvred into a no-win situation.

Im not an alarmist by nature, but maybe the ringing of a bell will focus attention on the very real risks the present haphazard, seemingly make-it-up-as-you-go along strategy, carries with it.
Washington, DC  Today, the House Foreign Affairs Committee voted unanimously to send House Resolution 245 to the House Floor. The resolution calls for renewed, decisive, and robust international collaboration and coordination to fight COVID-19 across Africa and was introduced last week by Congressmember Karen Bass, who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Africa.

I want to thank my colleagues for supporting this resolution, said Rep. Karen Bass. We all want this pandemic to be over, but this simply cannot happen unless we act in collaboration and coordination to fight COVID-19 throughout the world. Renewed, strategic, respectful, and focused approach to U.S. policy toward Africa will lay the foundation for long-term post-COVID-19 recovery. We must seize this renewed sense of urgency to create momentum around African-designed and led sustainable strategies that will increase its resilience to the next global challenge and contribute to its prosperity.

The resolution expresses that the United States House of Representatives:

Reaffirms that decreasing the spread of COVID-19 in Africa is in the national interest of the United States; Calls on the international community to ensure equitable global distribution of personal protective equipment to keep African healthcare workers safe; and Urges African governments to prioritize education, including by strengthening electrification infrastructure, internet access, and technology to advance and facilitate learning amid the challenges posed by COVID-19.

Read the amended resolution here.

Last week, the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa also hosted a hearing on addressing COVID-19 on the continent. Watch here.

Media inquiries: Zach Seidl  Zachary.Seidl@mail.house.gov
Highlights An industry veteran tweets Indian IT engineers at mid-level are earning Rs 12 lakh Rs 36 lakh per year.

The tweet has started a debate about IT engineer salaries in India.

The tweet notes that high salaries are hurting startups.

There is a saying - never ask a man his salary. But how about revealing it on Twitter. Deepak Abbot, an industry veteran and founder of India Gold, which allows users to get loans against gold through an app, has recently sparked a debate about the salaries of Indian IT engineers with a tweet. In his tweet, which has attracted reactions from several groups of people, Abbot says that it is getting difficult to hire and retain good Indian IT engineers because the salaries are now too high and job offers plenty.

In his tweet, Abbot also says that this situation has made it difficult for startups to hire Indian IT engineers because unlike earlier when engineers could be attracted to a job and retained through stock options (ESOPs) now they prefer cash and often hop jobs to get salary increase in a short time.

Abott on Twitter posted a WhatsApp chat with another startup founder discussing the current state of junior and mid-level engineers and their perception on salaries. He wrote, "State of engg hiring in this short chat I had with another founder. It isn't easy to retain or hire engineers. At junior level almost no one values ESOPs, they all need cash."

The screenshot shows the two discussing the case of a couple of engineers. The person Abbot was talking to noted that recently he increased the salary of an engineer in his firm from Rs 15 lakh per annum to Rs 22 lakh and that now the same person was considering leaving because he got an offer with annual package of Rs 40 lakh. In one more instance, another engineer got a 3X raise from Rs 12 lakh to Rs 36 lakh.

"Almost all of them are leaving for 1.5X-2X... Junior level all 2X. Tough hai market," notes the chat screenshot posted by Abbot.

His screenshot has set the talk going. Many who are not IT engineers noted that these salaries are way too high compared to what people in other industries get. "Massive FOMO happening. Kaash thoda aur coding padh leta college me," one Twitter user quote-tweeted what Abbot posted.

In replies, many more are in agreement with Abbot. Apparently the issue seems to be one related to startups where IT engineers that have top skills are in much demand. "Ridiculous CTC's in India. No one understands long term commitment. Been through this roller coaster, my advice (is to) keep a healthy churn, retain and reward people who believe in the long term. Because there is always the unicorn who will offer 2x everytime," noted a user in reply to Abbott.

How much IT engineers earn in India

There is a possibility when Abbot highlights high-salaries he is specifically talking about the start-up scene where "rock star" engineers are in demand not only within the Indian startup ecosystem but also by startups based outside India.

"With remote work, talent can finally start looking at getting salaries compared to their global counterparts. A new normal for tech salaries for Indians is going to be established. And obviously switching can take one so far, you do hit a ceiling in that," said another Twitter user in reply to Abbott.

But exactly how much IT engineers, who are not part of the startup ecosystem, earn? Their salaries are probably lower. While there is no specific data that can be taken at face value, a quick look at Glassdoor, a website that lets people report their salaries, shows that IT engineers usually earn less than the figures discussed in the chat posted by Abbott.

Glassdoor notes that the average salary of an IT engineer in India is Rs 6,92,585 per year. Although much depends on the company where the person is working, and his or her experience level.

The average monthly base salary for an IT engineer at Google India on Glassdoor is Rs 9,68,926 on the basis of 3 people who reported their salaries. Depending on the experience, it ranges between Rs 6,81,720 to Rs 28,89,579. For Tata Consultancy Services there are 22 reports on the website and they note that the average salary for an engineer is around Rs 5,00,000 per year. Similarly, the average salary of an engineer at Ericsson in India is around Rs 5,62,041. For Cisco India there are records of 68 employees with an average salary of Rs 11,40,017.

In the self-report section on the Glassdoor, we see that there are many mid-level and junior IT engineers in India who are earning between Rs 5 lakh to Rs 20 lakh per annum.

Although these salaries are not as high as what Abbot's tweet implies, these are still quite high compared to average remuneration in India. According to a research by a website called Picodi.com in 2020, India had an average household income of Rs 3,93,600 per annum. So, an IT engineer with an annual compensation of Rs 40 lakh effectively earns 10X then what an average Indian household will earn in a year.
A joint meeting of the Security Councils of Armenia and Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) was held Friday in Yerevan, co-chaired by Armenias Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Artsakh President Arayik Harutyunyan.

Addressing the meeting, Prime Minister Pashinyan stated, in part:

For the second time this week we have held discussions with representatives of the Artsakh government. I wish to inform you that yesterday we had a very productive discussion. As a result, it was decided to make a proposal for the implementation of a program worth about 110 billion drams and on construction of necessary infrastructure in Artsakh. The program will be implemented through the All-Armenian Fund Hayastan in the following proportion: as of today there are 58 billion drams in the Funds accounts, which was collected during the last fundraising, and the Armenian government will provide AMD 52 billion.

That is, we will have a capital of 110 billion drams, with which we will carry out housing construction and implement necessary infrastructure programs. We made several more decisions, according to which we need not only to implement the provisions of the roadmap I published on November 18 on the restoration of natural life in Artsakh, but also to implement development programs in Artsakh in order to ensure satisfactory rates of socio-economic development in Artsakh.

I think the decisions that were made yesterday can provide a solid foundation for this development. Today we will have discussions with the members of the Security Council. We will discuss issues related to security and our strategic vision for the future. I am convinced that todays decisions should also play an important role in our future actions and their implementation.

Greeting the meeting participants, President Harutyunyan noted that the decision made at the joint meeting held on March 25 to provide 110 billion drams for housing construction and restoration of infrastructures in Artsakh will be of key importance in resolving humanitarian problems in Artsakh and its further development.

We have already implemented several projects, specific activities and planning for the construction of about 4,000 homes. Projects for construction of 2 thousand more houses will be developed over the next few months. These projects take into account todays realities. At the same time work is planned on allocation of plots of land, further employment of the population. We also discuss modern models of cooperation, the President of Artsakh said, expressing confidence that all issues high on the rehabilitation agenda will be solved through joint efforts.
Business Reporter

The first open pit blast has been successfully detonated at Eureka Gold Mine ahead of production resumption, Dallaglio Investments have said.

Eureka Gold Mine is one of the several previously dormant mining assets that have benefited from the New Dispensation's call for investment under President Mnangagwa's Zimbabwe is open for business drive.

Reconstruction works at the mine were commissioned by the President in 2018 as part of a grand strategy to maximise on the country's economic endowment and driving the economy towards an upper middle income economy by 2030.

Since then, Dallaglio Investments have splurged millions in a bid to return the mine to full production which is expected to start in the third quarter of this year.

In an interview with The Herald Finance and Business, Dallaglio Investments' Business Improvements Specialist Loveness Chiyanike, said the successful blast marks a huge milestone in the mine construction.

Ms Chiyanike also expressed confidence that the mine is on course to achieve its reopening timeframe this year a development that will go a long way towards the attainment of the mining sector's US$12 billion 2023 milestone.

"We have had our first blast (at Eureka) and we are really excited about it," said Ms Chiyanike.

"We are still inspecting the pit and we have so far observed that it went well and we are looking forward to having our second blast on Saturday.

"Everything around the reopening is going on as planned and its exciting times ahead for us," she said.

Eureka was forced to shut operations after running into viability problems two decades ago with capital at the centre of the mine's troubles.

The first blast was preceded by the delivery of two state of the art heavy duty gold mills on site in February.

Dallaglio Investments' splurging of capital into Eureka comes as the miner has confirmed that exploration week have shown that the mine has a resource base worth over US$1 billion.

The expected resumption of full production at Eureka could see Daglallio -- which also owns Pickstone Peerless Mine near Chegutu -- boost its production to about 4 tonnes per annum.
BEIJING (Reuters) - Tencent-backed Waterdrop said on Friday it would shut down its online healthcare mutual aid programme at the end of March amid China's tightening of financial technology regulations.

Waterdrop's mutual aid programme, which provides users with a basic health plan covering various types of critical illnesses and participants share the risk of becoming ill and bearing the medical cost, has served 80 million users, mostly in smaller cities in China, it said in a statement.

One of the leading providers in the mutual aid industry, besides Waterdrop, is Ant Group's [688688.SS] Xiang Hu Bao, which was launched in 2018 on Alipay and has since accumulated hundreds of millions of users. Others include ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing.

Chinese food delivery giant Meituan shut down its online mutual aid service in January.

China's Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) has said since late last year that all financial activities needed to be overseen by regulators and all businesses needed to be licensed to operate. Mutual aid platforms are not licensed by the CBIRC.

Waterdrop, that counts Tencent, reinsurer Swiss Re, Boyu Capital and Meituan as investors, was valued at about $2 billion in a funding round last August. It has been planning a U.S. IPO to raise about $500 million, IFR has reported.

Founded in 2016, Beijing-headquartered Waterdrop runs three core businesses  Waterdrop Insurance Mall, Waterdrop Mutual and Waterdrop Crowdfunding.

(Reporting by Yingzhi Yang and Ryan Woo in Beijing; editing by Jason Neely)
There was a whole lotta lyin (and cheatin) goin on at the lectern when President Biden turned up for his first press conference yesterday. Michael Goodwin takes up the lyin in his New York Post column. His friends among the media made sure that they kept the degree of difficulty low. Biden was among friends. Michael Goodwin takes up these leading features of Bidens performance in his New York Post column this morning. Goodwin bluntly calls it a sickening spectacle.

The leading feature of the spectacle was Bidens infirmity. Flagging Goodwins column the cover of the New York Post duly noted it.

The historian and journalist Dominic Green concisely captured this aspect of the spectacle in Spectator column  whole thing here  at 4:06 p.m. (Eastern) yesterday afternoon: The White House is no longer the home of democracy. Its a reality TV series in a care home.

And yet the infirm gentleman at the lectern required special assistance . The assistance came in the form of handy cheat sheets published in 14-point type labeled The President, just in case he forgot who he is or failed to summon his talking points from the vasty deep on his own power.

You can see the the cheat sheets in the Daily Mail and in the New York Post.

The Daily Mail includes helpful headshots of Bidens friends in attendance, again just in case

RedStates Nick Arama offers more of both the cheat sheets and the headshots via Twitter.

The substance of Bidens remarks was, if anything, worse than his apparent infirmity. Goodwin takes up this point as well. A sickening spectacle concisely captures it.

UPDATE: In his daily Examiner column, Byron York calls it An embarrassing day for the White House press corps. It was certainly that and more.
opinion

Since 2020, South Africa has become the world's champion in the call for equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines. On multilateral platforms the South African government has been clear in its call for equitable and universal access to COVID-19 medical products and treatments - not only for South Africa, but for the rest of the continent too.

The South African government has, at least in its rhetoric at high-level political gatherings, spoken out against vaccine nationalism and challenged the historically dominant power dynamics of pharmaceutical manufacturers. To support these statements, the South African government has together with India jointly proposed a patent waiver on COVID-19 health technologies at the World Trade Organisation's (WTO) Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPS) Council. Along with the need for agreements to enable technology transfer and investment in local pharmaceutical production capacity, this patent waiver could allow countries to scale up the manufacturing of COVID-19 vaccines by issuing compulsory licenses to generic manufacturers.

The WTO TRIPS council will vote on the proposed intellectual property waiver on 10 or 11 March 2021.

Opponents of the proposal including the European Union, United Kingdom, United States, Brazil, China, Switzerland, Australia and several other countries with strong local pharmaceutical lobbies - claim that voluntary licensing measures are a more appropriate measure to secure sufficient supply of vaccines.

Voluntary licensing measures - where a pharmaceutical company who owns the intellectual property voluntarily licenses another company to produce a medicine - will not only respect the sanctity of intellectual property, the opponents argue, but these voluntary measures will enable sufficient supply of vaccines and medicines.

While voluntary licensing agreements between pharmaceutical companies (like the one negotiated between AstraZeneca and Serum Institute of India) may increase the supply of vaccines in part, it is unlikely that this will meet the huge global demand soon enough. Many pharmaceutical companies will not enter into voluntary licensing agreements, and even for those who may, voluntary licensing agreements tend to be geographically limited, or contain conditions to curb competition.

Such clauses limit the ability of these agreements to achieve the widespread coverage needed to achieve global population immunity. Activists have also argued that relying on the charitability of pharmaceutical companies - who have already demonstrated their profit-seeking motives by allowing richer countries to buy up global supply - is unlikely to secure equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines and medicines.

Opponents of the proposal also state that existing provisions (known as TRIPS flexibilities) can be used for lower-income or middle-income countries to circumvent patents and get the vaccine doses that they need. TRIPS flexibilities among others allow states, in exceptional circumstances, to issue compulsory licenses to generic pharmaceutical manufacturers without the consent of patent holders.

But TRIPS flexibilities are notoriously difficult and time consuming to implement, and are done on a case-by-case basis for specific medicines or manufacturers. Many countries have in the past undermined the use of these flexibilities by imposing restrictive trade agreements, or through blatant threats and political pressure. South Africa has never managed to successfully issue a compulsory license for any medicine.

Negotiations at the @wto continue in February and March on the #TRIPSWaiver.

A year into the pandemic, we urgently ask for change NOT charity to address shortages in #COVID19 medical tools!

Ask governments to put lives first.#NoCovidMonopolieshttps://t.co/auF5sDkv90 pic.twitter.com/emH5qChzGf

- MSF Access Campaign (@MSF_access) March 8, 2021

But there seems to be a disjunct between promising and progressive commitments of the South African government on the international stage and the domestic legal framework on intellectual property.

South Africa has a painful history of patents obstructing access to medicines. Strides taken to improve access to medicine through challenging intellectual property (IP) rights have been ad hoc and limited to specific diseases or medicines. While the government's international statements are important and necessary, more sustained change is needed at the domestic level to make sure that people can equitably access the medicines they need.

Multilateralism and international solidarity

Along with the patent waiver proposal at the WTO, South Africa has endorsed several high level commitments to fair, universal and equitable access to COVID-19 therapeutics, diagnostics, medicines and vaccines. Both President Cyril Ramaphosa and Minister of Health Dr Zweli Mkhize made statements in support of this at the World Health Organization's World Health Assembly, an extraordinary summit of the G20, the UN General Assembly, UNAIDS, an extraordinary summit of the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States, a special gathering of the European Commission on the global response to COVID-19, and at a Virtual China-Africa Summit on COVID-19 - to name a few.

While the patent waiver proposal would allow for compulsory licensing, South Africa was quick to join and participate in the leadership of international initiatives which pool patents and allow for voluntary license. These initiatives include the Access to COVID Tools (ACT) Accelerator, and the COVID-19 Technology Access Pool (C-TAP) - both frameworks facilitated by the WHO to share intellectual property, increase global partnership and collaboration, and secure financing for fair distribution of vaccines.

At the African Union (AU), South Africa has also developed regional frameworks for the continent not to "be left behind" in the race for vaccines and their distribution, "Call[ing] for an equitable and timely distribution of vaccine supply within the African continent". President Cyril Ramaphosa presided over a digital conference on Africa's role in vaccine development and access between 24 and 25 June 2020, where the Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) Consortium for COVID-19 Vaccine Clinical Trial (CONCVACT) was launched and a continental strategy for a COVID-19 vaccine was adopted.

The strategy "recognis[ed] the barriers that intellectual property, including patents, trade secrets and other technological know-how has posed to timely introduction of affordable vaccines in developing countries in the past" and "not[ed] that there is an urgent need for countries to make full use of legal and policy measures... to ensure monopolies do not stand in the way of access to COVID-19 vaccines".

As a central player in the drafting of this strategy and in the rollout of vaccines to the whole continent, South Africa is clearly "talking the talk" about equitable access to vaccines and medicines in the global arena. But more work needs to be done domestically to give these promising statements substance.

Domestic landscape not conducive to equitable access to medicines

Fix the Patent Laws - a coalition of over 40 patient advocacy groups and health-based civil society organisations - has written twice to the Presidency and the Department of Trade and Industry and Competition (DTIC) since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic to highlight concerns with South Africa's current IP system and the implications for COVID-19 vaccines and other medicines.

The history of the battle for antiretrovirals to treat HIV has shown that patent regimes can either be crucial in realising the right to access healthcare and health products, or act as barriers to equitable, affordable access to medicines. As it stands, our patent system does not examine patent applications to determine whether they meet strong patentability criteria, and simply grant patents on application.

This has resulted in many patents being unwarranted: some drugs under patent here are not patented anywhere else in the world. Our patent system allows 'patent evergreening' - where the period of patent protection is extended and keeps the prices of medicines artificially high for extended periods of time, which has limited access to life-saving medicines. Activists are adamant that government must reform our patent system.

The coalition has urged the Presidency and DTIC to publish new legislation adhering to the recommendations of the Intellectual Property Policy Phase I which was adopted by Cabinet in 2018.

This policy aligns with global public health policies and best practice, but the DTIC seems to drag its feet when with publishing new legislation. It is critical that Bills be published for public comment and expedited into law not only to strengthen South Africa's efforts to make sure that COVID-19 vaccines and treatments can reach all the people but importantly also to increase access to medicines generally at home.

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Concretizing gains made now and the future of access to medicines in South Africa

The South African government has acknowledged, through its joint-proposal at the WTO, that special measures are needed to facilitate access to medicines, prevent deaths and relieve pressure on the health system. But COVID-19 is not the only health crisis to which these measures should apply.

While the patent waiver at the WTO is a bold move from the South African government for our country and others in the Global South, the waiver would only exist for the duration of the pandemic, and only in relation to COVID-19 medicines. Real patent law reform domestically would save lives in South Africa now and for years to come.

Patent law reform could help to give cancer patients affordable and equitable access to medicines, people living with HIV greater access to second or third line antiretrovirals, increase the supply of contraceptives and push down the prices of drugs for drug-resistant tuberculosis.

Not only is this possible, but it is a constitutional imperative. Over and above promoting the rights to equality, dignity and access to healthcare and medicines, new legislation would save lives, relieve pressure on healthcare workers and ease the strain on our public health system. And it cannot wait any longer.

*Chaskalson is a Communications Officer at SECTION27. SECTION27 is a member of the Fix the Patent Laws coalition.

Note: This opinion piece is written by an employee of SECTION27. Spotlight is published by SECTION27 and the Treatment Action Campaign, but is editorially independent, an independence that the editors guard jealously. Spotlight does not endorse or reject the views expressed in this article.
Hudson, NY (12534)

Today

Thunderstorms early, then variable clouds overnight with still a chance of showers. Low 62F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%..

Tonight

Thunderstorms early, then variable clouds overnight with still a chance of showers. Low 62F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%.
Police officers have been accused of deliberately intimating a lawyer on his way to court and scaring him so badly he fled through the Magistrate's exit.

The solicitor had been on his way to represent an outlaw motorcycle gang member in a case against NSW Police Strike Force Raptor - the elite bikie-fighting unit. The lawyer was so shaken that the hearing was adjourned.

The abuse of power was detailed in the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission's report which was made public late on Friday.

The Law Enforcement Conduct Commission slammed Strike Force Raptor (pictured, stock image), an elite NSW Police unit, for intimidating a lawyer, scaring him off a case against them

The lawyer, a principal in his own criminal law firm, first noticed a police car driving past his house at 6.30am on May 28, 2019 - the day he was due in court to represent the bikie against Strike Force Raptor, the report said.

Being on good terms with local police in his country town, he waved - but they didn't wave back.

At 7am he reversed out of his driveway onto the empty street and noticed police were following him.

They pulled him over less than 10 minutes away at a nearby Beaurepaires tyre shop, and identified themselves as being from Strike Force Raptor.

The Raptor officers asked for his drivers license - which he had forgotten.

On his way home to get his ID, the Raptor officers stopped him again to conduct a 'roadworthiness check' on his vehicle.

They repeatedly pulled the front seatbelt before claiming it was not retracting.

They then opened the bonnet and told him they could see an oil leak, then defected him for oil leaks, seat belt defects and window tinting, forcing him to walk home in his socks and thongs.

The lawyer's client was an outlaw motorcycle gang member, and he was representing him in a case against Strike Force Raptor, an elite NSW Police unit set up to tackle the scourge of bikie crime. Pictured: Rebels bikies in Sydney, 2009 (stock image)

Rattled, he took a taxi to work - but the police followed his taxi, checking it after he arrived at work with their flashing lights on, the report said.

At 8.30am, his client arrived, telling him the police were 'doing laps' outside his office.

This worried the lawyer so much he took a back exit from his office to a solicitor friend who rang the regular police - but they said they could not do anything.

He was so shaken that when he appeared before the Magistrate to represent his client against Strike Force Raptor, she adjourned the matter.

When he left the courtroom, five to 10 Strike Force Raptor officers were waiting.

This intimidated the lawyer so much he fled the court by the Magistrate's private exit, with her permission.

A group of between five and 10 Strike Force Raptor police were waiting outside court, scaring the lawyer so much that he left by the Magistrate's private exit with her permission

He then told his client that he should not represent him anymore - and the client hired another lawyer, the report said.

Integrity Commissioner Lea Drake found that a senior Strike Force Raptor officer had ordered two other officers to 'target, interact and harass' the lawyer so that he did not make it to court, and also intimidated his female friend.

The Commissioner found that the officers' conduct towards the lawyer was 'disgraceful', inventing breaches in order to target him.

'When misused, targeting can create a hostile relationship between the police and citizens who would otherwise have no animosity towards the police,' the Commissioner wrote.

'The Commission is concerned about the sense of entitlement that can develop in an elite strike force and was demonstrated by this conduct.

'Such limited strategies can become unrestrained and unlawful. If you are an elite, are you bound by the rule of law and the policies of the NSW Police Force or are you bigger, better, harder and more entitled?

Outraged Greens MP David Shoebridge (pictured) wrote a summary of the entire report on Twitter on Friday night, vowing not to let the matter rest

'The task of these officers is to enforce the law. If the unlawful conduct engaged in by these officers is allowed to continue and be condoned because of some imagined higher purpose, there can be no good to come from it for the people of New South Wales.'

The Commissioner wrote that while Strike Force Raptor had been successful in disrupting criminal activity, it could not be allowed to harass people.

'However, unlawful conduct must not be condoned or covered up.'

Greens MP David Shoebridge was beside himself on reading the report and slammed the conduct within it late on Friday, summing up the story in an outraged Twitter thread.

'Lawless,' he wrote.

'This is seriously lawless behaviour by a number of police acting in concert and its close to unbelievable .... We (will) not leave it here I can assure you. Seriously unbelievable.'

A spokesman for NSW Police said the release of the report had been 'noted' and its contents and recommendations would be 'considered'.
Two men on a motorbike alert people and anti coup protesters as armed security forces arrive to crack down on a demonstration in Mandalay, Myanmar, March 23. AP



Myanmar's security forces have killed more than 300 people in attempts to crush opposition to a Feb. 1 coup, with nearly 90% of victims shot dead and a quarter of them shot in the head, according to data from an advocacy group and local media.



A junta spokesman said 164 protesters and nine members of the security forces had been killed as of Tuesday. Reuters could not independently verify all the accounts.



The killings have drawn outrage and prompted some sanctions from Western countries, including the United States. The use of lethal force against civilians had also been condemned by some Southeast Asian neighbours, which tend to be restrained in their criticism.



"Crimes against humanity are committed daily," said the non-profit Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) group, which has been recording the deaths as well as nearly 3,000 people arrested, charged or sentenced since the coup.





An anti-coup protester flashes the three-finger sign of defiance as he walks past burning tires in Yangon, Myanmar, March 24. AP
A pregnant woman and her passenger were hospitalized early Friday after they crashed into a caved-in portion of a Marshall County road.

The hole was so big it took up all of one lane of Highway 227 which leads from the Dekalb County town of Fyffe into Guntersville State Park. The opening is reported to be about 12 feet wide.

A woman was hospitalized early Friday after a 12-foot wide hole opened up on Highway 227 in Marshall County. (WAAYTV Twitter)

Marshall County sheriffs Assistant Chief Deputy Steve Guthrie said the woman was taken to Marshall Medical Center North.

Alabama State Troopers identified the woman as 24-year-old Sabrina Sue Davis, 24, of Fyffe. She was driving a 2013 Toyota Corolla that struck the sinkhole. Davis and her passenger were not using their seat belts, trooper said. The investigation is ongoing by the Alabama Law Enforcement Agencys (ALEA) Highway Patrol Division.
India's local language microblogging platform Koo has stronger networks compared to Twitter, a new study has found. Currently available in seven languages, Koo hit headlines last month when ministers and political leaders said they were going to move to the country's homegrown microblogging platform.

"The Koo network has a noticeably high local clustering coefficient of 0.561, that represents how well connected the neighbourhood of a vertex is. This indicates a strong modular structure in the network, presumably due to Koo only catering to audiences from a single country. In contrast, Twitter, which caters to worldwide audiences, only had an average local clustering coefficient of 0.072 during its early years in 2009, indicating much weaker communities," said the study, titled "Koo: The new king? Characterising India's emerging social network".

According to network scientist Jerome Kunegis, clustering is an important property of social networks, as people tend to have friends who are also friends with each other, resulting in sets of people among which many common people existHe further explains that the clustering coefficient is a real number between zero and one that is zero when there is no clustering, and one for maximum clustering.

The current study was undertaken by students Asmit Kumar Singh, Chirag Jain, Rishi Raj Jain, and professor Ponnurangam Kumaraguru from Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology, Delhi and Jivitesh Jain and Shradha Sehgal from the International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad, examined 4 million users on Koo.

The study found that the app saw an influx of users in August 2020, around the time it won the Aatmanirbhar Bharat App Innovation Challenge Award. However, of the 4 million users that the study analysed, 1.9 million joined Koo in the first two months of 2021 alone .The app, which was earlier called "Ku Koo Ku," claims to have a total of 4.7 million users as of this week.





The major spike in users was seen around 10 February 2021, when the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology posted a tweet promoting Koo, and many prominent government figures started joining the platform.



Gender dynamics

Of the 18.1 per cent of the users who specified their gender on their profile on Koo, 92.1 per cent, or 699,083, identified as male, while only 7.5 per cent, or 58,996, identified as female and 0.36 per cent or 3,236 identified as others.

However, female users were found to be more active, in terms of the number of average likes at 103.6 and average rekoos at 21.7. Female users also, on average, have more followers at 632.9 compared to male users with an average of 117.0 followers and users identifying with the other category with an average of 283.45 followers.

Language dynamics

The study examined 75,091 user profiles with location information, and Bengaluru was the most frequently mentioned city with 141,469 users. Notably, 44.2 per cent users use Hindi while 51.2 per cent post content in the language, followed by English language users at 23.8 per cent and 25.9 per cent of content are the most popular languages.

Top mentions and likes



Top mentions of the profiles on the platform were not all well known names, unlike These were television news channel Republic, followed by Minister of IT and telecom Ravi Shankar Prasad, profiles called kisanektamorcha, ErpENlk_BArt, piyushgoyal, mayank, and leledirect.com.

Another study conducted by University of Michigan's Arshia Arya, Dibyendu Mishra, Joyojeet Pal in February, called "Koo and the attempt to create a nationalist Twitter," had examined the political and network effects of the new platform.

"It is also important that while Koo is currently dominated by accounts strongly aligned with the BJP, this was not the case earlier. This new-found homophily in the Koo crowd arguably served as a driver of early engagement, though in the longer run, this risks becoming an echo chamber," the study's authors had noted.
(Newser)  As of April 15, any Californian over the age of 16 will be able to sign up to get vaccinated against COVID-19. Those over age 50 can sign up even earlier, as of April 1, NBC News reports. "The light at the end of the tunnel continues to get brighter," Gov. Gavin Newsom tweeted Thursday in announcing the news. Some replied incredulously to his tweet, noting they're already eligible to be vaccinated in the state and can't get an appointment, but starting next month California expects to be getting 2.5 million doses a week for the first half of April and more than 3 million doses a week for the second halfcurrently, it is only receiving 1.8 million doses a week. Newsom's administration expects it to take several months to vaccinate everyone in the state who wants to be vaccinated. Currently, anyone over 65 can be vaccinated, plus those in certain types of work or with certain medical conditions.

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"In just a few weeks, therell be no rules, no limitations, as it relates to the ability to get a vaccine administered, Newsom said at a press conference. This state is going to come roaring back." Some counties have already opened up vaccine access to broader categories than the state as a whole allows. More than 15 million vaccinations have been administered in the state of more than 40 million. States including Mississippi, Alaska, and Georgia have already opened up vaccines to everyone (other than kids under 16, for whom there is not yet an approved vaccine); Texas and Indiana will do so next week, and states including Michigan, Florida, and North Carolina also plan to do the same by next month, Reuters reports. President Biden called on all states to do so by May 1. (Read more coronavirus vaccine stories.)
An array of events marked here on Thursday the 700th anniversary of the death of Dante Alighieri, widely considered the "father" of the Italian language.

More than 100 events were held across the country to honor Dante's memory on March 25, decreed as a National Day ("Dantedi") last year.

"His coherence must be a model for us," Italy's President Sergio Mattarella said in an interview with the country's leading daily Il Corriere della Sera, highlighting the "universality" of Dante's figure.

"Although I'm not fully convinced of the opportunity to actualize historical figures and to compare the medieval country to what Italy is today, I think we must emphasize his (Dante's) ability to transcend his own times and provide teachings that are forever valid," he explained.

Mattarella said that Dante has been "a point of reference and a source of inspiration for generations of Italians, regardless of their specific situation across the different centuries and ages."

Dante was a poet, a renowned scholar and a philosopher. He was born in Florence in 1265. He is primarily known as the author of The Divine Comedy, an epic poem divided into three books of equal length and considered by critics and historians to be the pre-eminent work in Italian.

The largest celebrations on Thursday were held in Florence, Verona and Ravenna, the three Italian cities that hosted and protected Dante during his turbulent life. Florence was his birthplace; in Verona, he stayed after fleeing Florence and that is where his descendants still live; and he spent his last years in Ravenna, where his tomb is also located.

In the city of Parma (Italy's Capital of Culture in 2020-2021), a complete series of illustrations of The Divine Comedy was on display, and an exhibition in Forli brought together depictions of Dante's image by ancient and modern artists.

All events on Thursday were restricted and many were held online only due to the coronavirus measures currently in force in the country.

The celebrations will continue throughout the year with numerous conferences, lectures, readings and shows. These will include another major exhibition at the sumptuous Scuderie del Quirinale museum in Rome in October, fully devoted to the first (and darkest) book of Dante's Comedy, the Inferno (Hell).

Thursday's official ceremonies peaked in the evening with a recital at the Quirinale presidential palace, where Academy Award-winning actor Roberto Benigni read a section (or "Canto") of the Paradiso -- The Divine Comedy's third book -- to a limited audience, which included President Mattarella and Culture Minister Dario Franceschini.

"The celebrations to mark seven hundred years since Dante Alighieri's death bring to a closure a three-year period of initiatives... commemorating three great personalities of the Italian culture: Leonardo, Raphael and Dante," Franceschini said.

"The three of them had and continue to have a huge influence on our contemporary thought," the minister said, "although Dante is undoubtedly the most universal and transversal, capable as he was of striking imagination in multiple creative forms: from theater to music, from figurative art to writing, from cinema to dance."
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UBA America, the United States subsidiary of Pan African financial institution, United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, has pledged its continuous commitment to facilitate trade and investment between North America and the African continent.

Speaking on Thursday from the Banks office in New York, the Chief Executive Officer, UBA America, Sola Yomi-Ajayi, disclosed that the banks major focus and strategy is to enable the flow of development capital, in line with its commitment to supporting companies achieve their aims of international trade between both continents.

UBA America is the only sub-Saharan African bank licensed to operate a bank in the United States of America (USA) and armed with the fact that its parent company, UBA Group, has operations in over 19 African countries and major financial capitals, continuously hinging on its pan-African strength and global connectivity to support African and international businesses.

Speaking specifically on the subsidiaries activities and how UBA America has worked to solidify ease of operations of businesses, multinationals and parastatals in diaspora, Ms Yomi-Ajayi explained that the bank ramped up its services and invested in necessary technology needed to propel business growth of these organisations.

She said, At UBA America, we deliver treasury, trade finance, and correspondent banking solutions to a broad range of customers, including Sovereign and central banks; Corporates, Financial institutions, Foundations and Multilateral and development organisations.

Overtime, we have leveraged our knowledge, capacity, and unique position as part of the international banking group  UBA Plc  as we seek to provide exceptional value to our customers around the world, Ms Yomi-Ajayi said.

With its specific focus on being an enabler of international development organisations, she noted that UBA and indeed UBA America has been working with corporate entities, financial institutions and development organisations on the continent, across the banks footprints, leveraging digital banking solutions to meet their needs.

Continuing, she said, Our focus viz-a-viz our presence in the US is to support American institutions that are operating in Africa. We work with these institutions to achieve their Corporate Goals on the continent, through the provision of innovative Trade, payments, correspondent banking and treasury solutions.

It is no wonder therefore that UBA Americas CEO, Ms Yomi-Ajayi, who has headed the banks United States operations for several years, was appointed alongside 10 other members into the of United States Export-Import Bank (US EXIM) Sub-Saharan Africa Advisory Committee. Among other activities, the committee is expected to advise the EXIM Board on the development and implementation of policies and programmes designed to promote itss activities in sub-Saharan Africa.

United Bank for Africa Plc is a leading Pan-African financial institution, offering banking services to more than twenty-one million customers, across over 1,000 business offices and customer touch points, in 20 African countries. With presence in the United States of America, the United Kingdom and France, UBA is connecting people and businesses across Africa through retail; commercial and corporate banking; innovative cross-border payments and remittances; trade finance and ancillary banking services
Hong Kong: Post Easter class arrangements set

Kindergartens, primary and secondary schools can arrange for more students to return to campuses on a half-day basis after their Easter holidays, with the number of students capped at two-thirds of the total.

The Education Bureau made the announcement today after taking into account the latest developments of the COVID-19 epidemic, health experts' advice and the preparedness of schools.

It expects that schools can arrange for students of each level to take turns to return to school so that all students will have the opportunity to have on-campus schooling and interactive learning with other students to enhance their physical and psychosocial development.

Secondary schools can arrange for students of individual levels to attend face-to-face classes either in the morning or in the afternoon for no more than a half day.

Primary schools can arrange for students of individual levels to attend face-to-face classes in the morning only.

For kindergartens, those operating morning sessions or afternoon sessions can arrange for students to return to school for half-day lessons in the morning or afternoon.

Those operating whole-day sessions can arrange for students to attend face-to-face classes either in the morning or in the afternoon.

The bureau will issue letters to inform schools of the detailed arrangements next week.

In accordance with the existing arrangements, for an individual school that can arrange for all its teachers and staff to take regular COVID-19 tests, the bureau will consider allowing the school to arrange whole-school resumption of half-day face-to-face classes based on its actual situation.

At present, the fees for the testing services at the community testing centres for teachers and staff have been waived.

This story has been published on: 2021-03-26. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Military members and federal employees past, present and future are probably familiar with the company Booz Allen Hamilton. The global IT consulting firm has more than 27,000 employees and serves untold numbers of federal government contracts.

Now its reaching out to the Fayetteville, North Carolina, community by training service members in the latest information technology disciplines.

In a partnership with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundations Hiring Our Heroes initiative, Booz Allen Hamilton has created the first-ever Military/Technology (Mil/Tech) Corporate Fellowship to service members in the Fayetteville area.

The idea is to upskill transitioning veterans to prepare for new careers in artificial intelligence, data analytics, data science software and cloud computing. Booz Allen Hamilton began its Mil/Tech Workforce Initiative in 2020 to help veterans transition into new future focused career fields.

For service members, the program not only offers the hands-on training in emerging computer technologies, its also part of the Department of Defense SkillBridge program. SkillBridge provides military benefits and pay for the last six months of an enlistment while the transitioning service member attends a partner training program for their new post-military career.

Jay Dodd is a vice president at Booz Allen Hamilton and a leader in the Fayetteville office. He spent the past 20 years at the firm. Before that, he was leading infantry as a colonel in the U.S. Army. He believes the program is one of the best opportunities to get into emerging tech careers.

This allows us to help service members explore and create pathways into cyber, IT, artificial intelligence and future workforce technologies, Dodd says. Even if they dont get on at Booz Allen, they will understand the cyber workforce perspective, where they want to go and how to get there.

Besides Fayetteville, Booz Allen Hamilton participates in joint ventures with Hiring Our Heroes in Colorado Springs, Honolulu, San Antonio, San Diego, Tampa (Florida) and the Washington, D.C., area. Eligible veterans are limited by geographic proximity to Booz Allen Hamiltons Fayetteville office, but this opportunity is open to Fort Bragg, Pope Field and even Camp Lejeune. This is the first time such a program is being offered in the North Carolina area.

Dodd says Booz Allen Hamilton started the Fayetteville program to capitalize on the military-connected talent pool that the region has to offer.

Booz Allen Hamiltons 12-week fellowship program provides hands-on, in-person technical training on the real-world work being done from the companys Fayetteville office. The separating veterans will join a staff of more than 400, half of which are former military members, spouses, Guard and Reserve members.

Hiring Our Heroes was started by the Chamber of Commerce Foundation in 2011. It provided separating veterans with not only hands-on training in a potential new career, but also professional development in the civilian workforce. Hiring Our Heroes also offers opportunities for military spouses.

The Booz Allen Hamilton Mil/Tech fellowship in Fayetteville is not a job pipeline, as there is no job placement at the end of the program. What it does instead is allow for the newly -- trained fellow to meet people and integrate into the workflow of the office -- a kind of hands-on networking.

But that doesnt mean theres no possibility for getting on at Booz Allen Hamilton once the fellowship ends.

If they like us and we like them and we think theyd be a good fit, theres a definite possibility of joining the team, Dodd says. About 30% of Booz Allens overall workforce are military-affiliated. We recognize the skill and experience that veterans bring to the table.

Those interested in applying for the Mil/Tech Fellowship can visit BoozAllen.com/MilTech.

-- Blake Stilwell can be reached at blake.stilwell@military.com. He can also be found on Twitter @blakestilwell or on Facebook.

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Be sure to get the latest news about post-military careers as well as critical info about veteran jobs and all the benefits of service. Subscribe to Military.com and receive customized updates delivered straight to your inbox.
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Governor Eniola Ajala of Lagos State has called for the provision of more infrastructure for schools, particularly the ones that produced the winner of the New Era Spelling Bee Competition.

Ms Ajala, while holding an extraordinary Exco meeting with the State Executive Council at the Exco Chamber with her cabinet members on Friday, thanked Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olus administration for the honour bestowed on the winners of the school competitions.

She commended Governor Sanwo-Olus administration THEMES agenda and how the efforts of the governor in handling the COVID-19 pandemic.

She enjoined students to be focused determined, prayerful and committed in order to overcome their challenges in life.

Ms Ajala appealed to Governor Sanwo-Olu to provide more infrastructure in schools that produced winners of the competition, adding that her parents, who she commended for bringing her up properly, should be rewarded also by the Lagos State Government.

The one-day governor is an honour bestowed upon the winner of the spelling competition, a contest between public schools across the state.

Speaking while receiving Miss Ajala, who is the winner of the 2018 New Era Spelling Bee Competition and her cabinet members at the Lagos House, Ikeja, Governor Sanwo-Olu said the competition is about excellence to encourage students and youth population in Lagos State.

Members of the cabinet of the governor, who is a student of Lafiaji Senior High School, Lagos Island were Grace Ikhariale of TinCan Island Senior High School; Tolu (Deputy Governor); Oluwatosin Akinbodewa of Iworo Ajido Senior Secondary School, Badagry (Speaker); Eunice Adedotun of Agbede Senior School, Ikorodu (Commissioner for Education) and Ekene Ezeunala of Meiran Community High School (Chairman, House Committee on Education).

Governor Sanwo-Olu who commended the Ministry of Education as well the Office of Education Quality Assurance in the ministry for their efforts and tenacity in improving the education sector, urged students in various schools in the state not to rest on their oars to be the best and be committed to reaching their goals in life.

The governor applauded Ms Ajala for demonstrating confidence, knowledge, eloquence and pride. He admonished her and others to be steadfast and not to allow the little feats they got to get to their heads.

He promised to fulfil the requests made by the governor, among which were rewards for teachers, principals and infrastructural improvement in schools.

Governor Sanwo-Olu also appreciated former First Lady of Lagos State and the founder of New Era Foundation, Oluremi Tinubu, who is currently representing the Lagos Senatorial District in the National Assembly, for initiating the Spelling Bee Competition.

He said the competition, which started 20 years ago, was not about race or tribe and is an excellent platform available to students of public schools in Lagos.

Speaking with journalists at the event, the Director-General, Office of Education Quality Assurance, Abiola Seriki-Ayeni, said the winners of the Spelling Bee competition will be sponsored on a tour to Finland.

To prepare for the Spelling Bee Competition takes a lot; it takes perseverance, hard work and consistency, and that is what we expect our students to be able to do to prepare them for the future.

It is good to know that all the winners of the One Day Governor and Spelling Bee Competition have succeeded in their various areas. We have people that are now lawyers, Ph.D holders, medical doctors and professionals in other areas. We have those who are currently employed in Lagos State Government, she said.
Students wait to board buses to return home after the government announced temporary closure of all educational institutionsi as COVID-19 cases continue to increase, at a bus station in Hyderabad on March 25, 2021. (NOAH SEELAM / AFP)

Hyderabad: Telangana continued to witness an upward trend in COVID-19 cases with 518 new infections being reported, a record high this year, taking the tally to 3,05,309, while the death toll rose to 1,683 with three more fatalities, the state government said on Friday.

The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) accounted for the most number of cases with 157, followed by Medchal Malkajgiri and Rangareddy districts with 44 and 38 cases respectively, it said in a bulletin, providing details as of 8 PM on March 25.

The bulletin said 204 patients recovered from the infection on March 25.

The cumulative recovered cases stood at 2,99,631, while 3,995 were under treatment.

The bulletin said 57,548 samples were tested on March 25.

Cumulatively, the number of samples tested was 99,03,125.

The samples tested per million population was 2,66,069, it said.

The recovery rate in the state was 98.14 per cent, while it was 95.1 per cent in the country, it said.

The case fatality rate in the state was 0.55 per cent, while it was 1.4 per cent at the national level, it said.
TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / March 26, 2021 / Gratomic Inc. ("GRAT" or "The Company") (TSXV:GRAT)(OTCQX:CBULF)(Frankfurt:CB82) is pleased to announce that its common shares have been approved for trading on the OTCQX in the United States under the symbol (OTCQX:CBULF). Trading commences today. Investors in the US can find current financial disclosure and Real-Time Level 2 quotes in US currency for Gratomic on www.otcmarkets.com.

The OTCQX Best Market is for established, investor-focused U.S. and international companies. To qualify for OTCQX, companies must meet high financial standards, follow best practice corporate governance, and demonstrate compliance with applicable securities laws. Graduating to the OTCQX Market from the OTCQB Market marks an important milestone for companies, enabling them to demonstrate their qualifications and build visibility among U.S. investors.

Arno Brand, Gratomic CEO & President commented "we are very pleased to be graduating to the OTCQX Market after only commencing trading on the OTCQB in mid-December 2020. This will provide our valued US investors with greater liquidity and execution services through OTCQX. It will also help us to build our visibility among US investors. This is an important step in the evolution of the Company."

About OTC Markets Group Inc.

OTC Markets Group Inc. (OTCQX: OTCM) operates the OTCQX Best Market, the OTCQB Venture Market and the Pink Open Market for 11,000 U.S. and global securities. Through OTC Link ATS and OTC Link ECN, we connect a diverse network of broker-dealers that provide liquidity and execution services. We enable investors to easily trade through the broker of their choice and empower companies to improve the quality of information available for investors.

About?Gratomic?Inc.?

Established in 2014,?Gratomic?is focused on the proposed production of low-cost mine to market carbon-neutral, eco-friendly, high purity vein graphite to be provided to the EV and Energy Storage supply chains.?Gratomic?is anticipating full operational capabilities in 2021.?

Gratomic?is in the process of solidifying its plans for?micronization?and?spheronization?of its clean?Aukam?graphite. This significant milestone is a small, additional step in the Company's proposed eco-friendly processing cycle and is intended to allow it to meet ideal North American battery grade standards for use in Li-ion battery anodes.?

The Company plans to deliver mine-to-market traceability and guaranteed quality control. This will be accomplished by providing documented tracking on all graphite generated at its flagship?Aukam?Graphite Project. The tracking will begin at?Aukam?and will be verified at every stage during transport.?

Two off-take purchase agreements are currently held for lump-vein graphite sourced from?Gratomic's?Aukam?Graphite Project in Namibia, Africa. Fulfillment of the contracts is anticipated to begin in Q1 of 2021. The agreements exist with TODAQ and?Phu?Sumika.?

TODAQ is an innovative?deeptech?company that can containerize assets, transactions & markets, and will partner with?Gratomic?on its mine-to-market commodity tracking and trading. Containerized assets are verifiably unique, keep an immutable record of who has owned them, have embedded smart logic, can be transferred P2P, and are interoperable with any system.? Asset owners enjoy stronger ownership control, value retention when trading, and ability to prove authenticity in seconds.?

?Phu?Sumika?is a large global graphite supplier to battery and lubrication companies.?

Gratomic?Inc. is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol GRAT, on the OTCQB under the symbol CBULF and on the Frankfurt Exchange under the symbol CB82.?

For more information: visit the website at www.gratomic.ca or contact:?

?Arno Brand at?abrand@gratomic.ca or 416 561-4095?

Subscribe at?gratomic.ca/contact/ to be added to our email list.??

"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."?

Forward Looking Statements:

This news release contains forward-looking statements, which relate to future events or future performance and reflect management's current expectations and assumptions. Such forward-looking statements reflect management's current beliefs and are based on assumptions made by and information currently available to the Company. Investors are cautioned that these forward-looking statements are neither promises nor guarantees and are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause future results to differ materially from those expected. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and, except as required under applicable securities legislation, the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances. All of the forward-looking statements made in this press release are qualified by these cautionary statements and by those made in our filings with SEDAR in Canada (available at?www.sedar.com)

SOURCE: Gratomic Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/637542/Gratomic-to-Trade-on-OTCQX
The Supreme Court Friday directed the governments of Punjab, Haryana and others to continue with the status quo on supply of water to till April 6, making it clear that the supply should not be reduced to the capital which is facing a shortage.

A bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde said it will take up the matter after the Holi break on April 6.

We had passed order of status quo yesterday. We would like it to continue. Supply of water to should not be reduced. We will take it up on Tuesday on reopening, said the bench also comprising Justices A S Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian.

Senior advocate Shyam Divan, appearing for Haryana, submitted that they have not reduced the supply of water.

During the hearing, senior advocate Vikas Singh, appearing for one of the parties in the matter, claimed that water level has gone down by six feet.

The top court, which ordered the status quo on Thursday till today, was hearing an application filed by Jal Board (DJB) which has sought directions to the Haryana government to cease the discharge of untreated pollutants into the and release sufficient water to the capital.

The top court had issued notices to Haryana, Punjab and Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) and asked them to file their responses on the application.

DJB's counsel had said that water level has fallen in the capital.

Haryana's counsel had submitted however that full level of has been made.

DJB's counsel had argued that according to Haryana, they are doing some repair work and that canal repair works should not be done in the months of March and April when the water demand is at its peak.

In its fresh application filed in the top court, the DJB has said that direction be issued to Haryana government to release the water to avert a potential severe crisis in the national capital.

It has claimed that Haryana government has reduced the supply of raw water to Delhi, resulting in shortage of in the national capital.

DJB chairman Raghav Chadha had said in a statement earlier this month that regular fall in the level of the Yamuna, especially during summers, along with the discharge of pollutants that cause rise in ammonia levels, is a matter of grave concern.

The DJB had said that Delhi is facing a potential severe water crisis due to high ammonia levels in the and the continuously depleting water level at Wazirabad barrage, which supplies drinking water to the Wazirabad, Okhla and Chandrawal water treatment plants.

Raw water is sourced from the Yamuna and is drawn at Wazirabad barrage, it had said, adding that the quantity and quality of raw water at Wazirabad Barrage is dependent on the release of water by the Haryana government.

Haryana supplies water to Delhi through the Carrier-Lined Channel (CLC), Delhi Sub-Branch (DSB) and the Yamuna. The CLC and DSB supply water from Hathni Kund via Munak canal and Bhakra Beas Management Board.

At present, Delhi receives 479 million gallons water a day (MGD) against 609 MGD from Haryana. Besides, Delhi draws 90 MGD groundwater and receives 250 MGD from the Upper Ganga Canal.

The normal level of the Yamuna near Wazirabad Pond should be 674.50 feet but it has dropped to 670.90 feet.

The fall in the water level at Wazirabad pond has affected water production at Wazirabad, Okhla and Chandrawal water treatment plants which supply drinking water to central, north, west and south Delhi.

As per the DJB, currently, Haryana through CLC canal is supplying only 549.16 cusecs against 683 cusecs and Delhi Sub-Branch canal is supplying 306.63 cusecs against 330 cusecs.

The treatment capacity at Wazirabad and Chandrawal water treatment plants has dipped by 30 per cent. The same has reduced by 15 per cent at Okhla WTP, he had said.

On January 19, the top court had sought a report from a committee, set up by the National Green Tribunal (NGT), regarding the recommendations made by the panel for improving the water quality of and the extent to which authorities have implemented them.

The NGT had on July 26, 2018 constituted the monitoring committee comprising its former expert member B S Sajwan and former Delhi chief secretary Shailaja Chandra on the cleaning of and had directed it to submit an action plan in this regard.

The apex court had on January 13 said that pollution-free water is a fundamental right which a welfare state is bound to ensure, and issued notices to the Centre, CPCB and five states including Delhi and Haryana on the issue.

The top court, while appointing senior advocate Meenakshi Arora as amicus curiae, had directed its registry to register the suo motu case as 'Remediation of polluted rivers', and said it would first take up the issue of contamination of the

(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.)
Press Release

March 26, 2021 Pangilinan to FDA: Explain use of unlicensed logistics firm in return of 7,500 vaccine doses from Bicol THE Food and Drug Administration (FDA) should explain how an unlicensed logistics company using defective thermometer was allowed to deliver AstraZeneca vaccines causing 7,500 doses to be returned to the Department of Health, Senator Francis "Kiko" Pangilinan said Friday. Citing the law creating the FDA (Republic Act 3720) and the law strengthening and rationalizing its regulatory capacity (RA 9711), Pangilinan, who caused Senate Committee of the Whole hearings on the government's vaccine roll-out with his Senate Resolution 594 in December 2021, said the FDA authorizes logistics companies to transfer and distribute vaccines. Section 11(k) of RA 3720, as amended by RA 9711, prohibits: "The manufacture, importation, exportation, sale, offering for sale, distribution, transfer, or retail of any drug, device or in-vitro diagnostic reagent; the manufacture, importation, exportation, transfer or distribution of any food, cosmetic or household/urban hazardous substance; or the operation of a radiation or pest control establishment by any natural or juridical person without the license to operate from the FDA required under this Act." "Sabi ng DOH, ngayong raw, malamang na umabot na ng 700,000 Covid cases natin at 100,000 ang active cases. Tapos mababalitaan nating maaaring nasayang ang libo-libong doses ng bakuna dahil pinayagaan ang hindi lisensyadong logistics company ang mag deliver nito (According to the DOH, today our Covid cases is most likely to breach 700,000 and the active cases, 100,000. Then we get reports that thousands of doses of vaccines may be lost because an unlicensed logistics company was allowed to deliver them)," said Pangilinan. "Kailangang may managot (Somebody should be accountable)," he said, noting that the law punishes violators with up to 10 years of prison time and up to five million pesos in fines. On Wednesday (March 24), news reports said at least 7,500 doses of British-made AstraZeneca vaccines that were sent to Bicol for the region's health-care workers were sent back to the DOH office on Sunday (March 21) because these had been packed in containers with defective thermometers. "Ang ibang bansa ay kontrolado na ang pandemya. Ang Taiwan, walang 1,000 ang Covid cases, di hihigit sa 10 ang namatay. (Other countries have been able to control the spread of Covid. Taiwan does not have 1,000 Covid cases and not 10 people have died due to the disease). Yesterday, a member of my staff lost his father due to Covid. They were unable to admit him in time because all nearby hospitals have reached maximum capacity," Pangilinan said. "Yung kwento niya, kwento sa maraming bahagi ng bansa. Nawala ng magulang ang anak, nawalan ng anak ang magulang. Mga mahal sa buhay. Katrabaho. Kaibigan. (This is a story echoed in many places in the country. Where children lost their parents, and parents lost their children. Loved ones. Colleagues. Friends)," he added. After the Senate hearings were able to clarify the timelines and other performance indicators for the vaccine roll-out, Pangilinan reiterated that government must focus all its power and might on managing and controlling the spread of Covid. Pangilinan noted that FDA, in line with its power to set standards, itself issued FDA Circular No. 2021-003 or the Revised Guidelines on the Cold Chain Management for Pharmaceutical Products and Establishments. This circular sets standards for, among other things: storage and transport of time- and temperature-sensitive pharmaceutical products; checking the accuracy of temperature control and monitoring devices; qualification of refrigerated road vehicles; temperature-controlled transport operations by road and air; qualification of shipping containers; transport route profiling qualification; and temperature and humidity monitoring systems for transport operations. "The FDA and the IATF (Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases) must determine if the logistics company involved committed acts in violation of Section 11 of RA 9711," Pangilinan said. "The matter must be investigated and if warranted the logistics company be blacklisted," he added.


New YMCA Community Hub in Norwich dedicated New YMCA Community Hub in Norwich dedicated

A new YMCA Norfolk Community Hub on Aylsham Road in Norwich has been dedicated by the Bishop of Norwich in the run-up to its grand opening.

The Rt Rev Graham Usher, Bishop of Norwich, was welcomed on Thursday March 25 to dedicate and commission the brand-new YMCA Centre as one of the first visitors to the building since its recent completion.



The visit signifies the culmination of YMCA Norfolks ambitious project to bring a multi-purpose Community Hub to the city, which commenced in 2019 after planning approval and financial support was granted by Norfolk County Council.



Tim Sweeting, YMCA Norfolk Chief Executive, said: It was a fantastic privilege to show Bishop Graham around our new centre alongside our President, General the Lord Dannatt GCB CBE MC DL, and Lady Philippa Dannatt, Lord-Lieutenant of Norfolk.



Our new building is one of which we are extremely proud and are beyond excited to open its doors to the public, to share YMCA's community-enhancing mission with members of the Norwich and Norfolk community.



We are confident that our nursery, cafe, soft play and staff offices will bring an abundance of hope and a sense of community to the area - a vision shared by all staff and supporters of YMCA Norfolk."



Bishop Graham was met by Tim and Phillip Macdonald (Chair of Trustees), alongside Lord and Lady Dannatt to be given a tour of the purpose-built facilities - including Muddy Puddles Nursery, a 90-place Ofsted registered nursery, which officially opens on April 12.



The nursery will provide a mix of funded and non-funded places to ensure that families from less advantaged backgrounds are able to enjoy the childcare facilities, helping YMCA Norfolk to fulfil the mission of the project to bring a long-lasting and sustainable presence to support the local community in this under-resourced area of the city.



As part of the Bishop Grahams visit, he was among the first to see the newly-installed Explorers Soft Play Centre, designed for children to enjoy playing in a safe area adjacent to the community-focused cafe, Williams Kitchen.



Bishop Graham said: It was my delight to dedicate YMCA Norfolks new community hub this morning. May it flourish as it demonstrates the love of Jesus in supporting young people and families to build firm foundations and experience life in all its abundance.



The Cafe forms the centre of the Hub, which visitors will enter into directly, intended to provide a welcoming and safe space for all members of the community - where they can enjoy high-quality food and drinks. In addition, the Hub is the new base for the YMCA Norfolk offices, enabling staff members and the management team to also be based on-site.



During the visit, Bishop Graham and Lord and Lady Dannatt were able to meet and discuss the potential impact of the building in the local community with staff members who have played in key role in enabling this project to go ahead.



Full Covid-19 restrictions were in place to ensure everyones safety during the visit.



Pictured above is the dedication of the YMCA Norfolk Community Hub by the Bishop of Norwich.




Liver leaves (Hepatica nobilis). Credit: Anke Jentsch

Blue is the favorite color of more people in the world than any other, and the "blue flower" is considered a symbol of romantic longing. In nature, however, there are only a few plant species whose flowers contain blue color pigments. An international research team led by Bayreuth ecologist Prof. Dr. Anke Jentsch has investigated the reasons for this. One important factor is the great chemical effort required to produce blue dyes, however differing color perception of pollinators also plays a role. For bees, all the shades of blue assume a more conspicuous share in the colourfulness of flowers than they do for the human eye. The study was published in Frontiers in Plant Science.

The interdisciplinary research team has compiled a multitude of findings on the color blue in the world of flowering plants, and systematically correlated them for the first time. An evaluation of data from the TRY Plant Trait Database, one of the world's largest databases of plant traits, revealed that only seven percent of all flowering plants worldwide are perceived as blue by the human eye. Further, distinguishing between the flowering plants native to Europe according to pollination type is most revealing. Among the plant species that are mainly pollinated by wind or rain, there are virtually none that appear blue to humans. In contrast, the flowers of 7.5 percent of all flowering plants that are mainly pollinated by insects or birds present themselves as blue to the observer. "This difference suggests that the color perception of pollinating organisms has significantly influenced the development of flower color over the course of evolution. It is therefore worth investigating the question of how flowers are perceived by their respective pollinators, and what interactions are triggered by this," says Prof. Dr. Anke Jentsch, Professor of Disturbance Ecology at the University of Bayreuth.

All abuzz over blue flowers

It has long been known that insects, birds and bats, which are essential for the reproduction of many species of flowers, are sensitive to different color spectra than humans are. The human eye contains three types of photoreceptors that respond to red, green, and blue light. Bees, on the other hand, have a reduced sensitivity to red colors, are less able to distinguish between yellow and white, but do perceive color patterns from the ultraviolet range. Blue tones are among the areas of the spectrum accessible to them which they perceive with particular intensity. "Bees therefore see the colourfulness of flowering plants quite differently from other pollinator groups or from us humans. They are particularly attracted to blue flowers," says Jentsch. "From an ecological point of view, we should actually rewrite the identification books. Since Charles Darwin and Carl von Linne, human perception of flower colors has been used to distinguish between plant species, even though it is not human perception of color, but the interaction of plants with pollinators that is relevant for evolution."

A competitive advantage for flowering plants

The attraction of the color blue for bees, however, raises the question of why only comparatively few of the plant species pollinated by insects and birds have developed blue flowers. Here, too, the researchers propose a complex answer. The production of a blue flower pigment is very complicated for plants. Six different coloring substances, so-called anthocyanins, and six corresponding molecules are involved in the chemical process, which together with metal ions form special ring structures. Only those species that have to prevail in fierce competition for pollinators make this great effort. This is particularly the case in some high mountain areas, for example in the European Alps or in the Himalayas. Here, the climatic living conditions are particularly unfriendly for insects and other pollinators. For flowering plants, on the other hand, which are native to very species-rich grasslands or meadows and often have to survive on nutrient-poor soils, blue flowers represent an important unique selling point. In competition with other species in their immediate vicinity, they are particularly conspicuous, so that pollinators are attracted to them even from larger distances.

Blue flowers in danger

The scientists warn that the loss of land in wilderness areas and cultivated landscapes, as well as the intensification of agriculture, in many cases not only contributes to insect mortality, but also further reduces the already low proportion of blue flowering plants. "There are numerous indications that the expansion of agricultural land, the use of artificial fertilizers, frequent mowing, and intensive grazing are all detrimental to species-rich vegetation. Thus, there is a danger that blue flowers will almost completely disappear from the landscape," says Dr. Justyna Giejsztowt from New Zealand, a research associate at the Disturbance Ecology research group in Bayreuth.

Art as inspiration for research

The study was originally inspired by the 1920 poem "Fragmentary Blue" by the US nature poet Robert Frost. It deals with the relationship between the vast blue sky and the blue tones in nature that occur only in small fragments. Conversations about these lyrical reflections and the exchange of ideas about their own observations of nature on different continents provided the impetus for systematic research. The authors begin their publication with a tour d' horizon through cultural history, in which they point out the worldwide ubiquity of the color blue in painting, literature, and religionstarting with ancient Egypt and Christian art in the Middle Ages, all the way to 20th century Impressionism.

More information: Adrian G. Dyer et al. Fragmentary Blue: Resolving the Rarity Paradox in Flower Colors, Frontiers in Plant Science (2021). Adrian G. Dyer et al. Fragmentary Blue: Resolving the Rarity Paradox in Flower Colors,(2021). DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2020.618203
Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta has instructed the entire cabinet and members of his executive office to take Covid-19 vaccinations.



The directive "to lead by example" was confirmed by his chief of staff Nzioka Waita









As the Government scales up the roll out of the national #COVID19Vaccine program , H.E the President has directed his entire Cabinet & Executive Office to lead by example & get the jab! Received mine this morning under the watchful guidance of the @MOH_Kenya vaccination team. pic.twitter.com/oTV10NU4OV

 Nzioka Waita (@NziokaWaita) March 26, 2021

The East African country is in the midst of a deadly third wave of infections and reported its highest daily number of new infections on Wednesday.The doctors' union on Tuesday said the country had run out of ICU beds as it deals with the surge, with healthcare workers among those admitted at various hospitals.The country has so far confirmed more than 126,000 coronavirus infections and 2,092 deaths.

Source: BBC









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Police Identify Body Found in Calloway County

By West Kentucky Star Staff

CALLOWAY COUNTY - The Kentucky State Police have identified the woman whose body was found in Calloway County Friday morning.Detectives say they have confirmed the identity of a woman found in a roadside ditch near the Cherry Corner area of southern Calloway County.The woman's identity is not being released at this time as authorities attempt to notify her family. More information will be released at a later time.Previous story:The Kentucky State Police are requesting the public's help with a suspicious death investigation in Calloway County.Detectives are requesting the public's help with identifying a body located Friday morning in a roadside ditch by a passerby near the Cherry Corner area of southern Calloway County.The person is described as a white woman between 25-years-old and 35-years-old. She is approximately 6 foot 1 inch tall, about 310 pounds, with light brown and blondish hair. She was wearing purple framed glasses with a white Murray State University T-shirt, black Capri pants, and blue crocs.Anyone with information is asked to contact Kentucky State Police Post 1 at 270-856-3721 or anonymously at 800-222-5555.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-26 06:17:28|Editor: huaxia

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) meets with visiting Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Ankara, Turkey, on March 25, 2021. (Photo by Mustafa Kaya/Xinhua)

ANKARA, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday met with visiting Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, pledging to build closer ties with China and deepen bilateral cooperation.

Congratulating the Communist Party of China (CPC) on the 100th anniversary of its founding, Erdogan said the Justice and Development Party, the ruling party of Turkey, looks forward to enhancing its communication with the CPC and contributing to the cooperation among the political parties around the world.

Turkey attaches great importance to developing its relations with China, the Turkish leader said, stressing that his country is firmly against any form of terrorism and hopes to build closer ties with China.

By publicly getting the jab of China-developed COVID-19 vaccine, he has shown to Turkish citizens as well as the whole world the safety and effectiveness of the Chinese vaccine, said Erdogan, adding that Turkey wants to deepen its vaccine cooperation with China and explore the potential of conducting such cooperation with a third party.

Turkey looks forward to increasing Turkey-China high-level exchanges, boosting mutual trust, promoting the synergy between China's Belt and Road Initiative and Turkey's "Middle Corridor" plan, enhancing cooperation in the fields including interconnection and intercommunication, infrastructure construction and investment, seeking more balanced development of bilateral trade, and encouraging local currency settlement, said the Turkish president.

He added that Turkey values China's five-point initiative for achieving the security and stability in the Middle East and is willing to deepen communication and coordination with China on regional affairs.

Wang conveyed the greetings from Chinese President Xi Jinping to Erdogan.

He told the Turkish leader that China has found a development path that fits its own conditions and is now opening up the new journey to comprehensively building a modern socialist country.

China is willing to share its experience in state governance and deepen friendly cooperation with Turkey, said the Chinese diplomat.

Marking the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the diplomatic ties between the two nations, China is ready to make joint efforts with Turkey to implement the important consensus reached by the heads of the two states, and take the bilateral ties onto a track of healthy and stable development, Wang said.

He highlighted the need for the two countries to continue to understand and support each other on the issues related to core interests, and insist on not interfering in each other's domestic affairs.

Wang pledged to continue China's help to Turkey in its fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

He added that, in the context of deepening the synergy between China's Belt and Road Initiative and Turkey's "Middle Corridor" plan, the two nations should strengthen cooperation in the high tech sectors including 5G technology, artificial intelligence, big data and digital economy, and steadily push forward cooperation on major projects to seek win-win results.

Wang promised that China will encourage more Chinese enterprises to import quality products from Turkey and increase their investment in Turkey.

As two important emerging economies, China and Turkey should solidify their unity and cooperate on deepening party communications, safeguarding the development rights of each other, and protecting the common interests of the developing countries, said the Chinese diplomat.

Earlier on Thursday, Wang met with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu. Enditem
Nikolai Korchunov, the Russian Foreign Ministrys Ambassador at Large, and Russia's Senior Arctic Official to the Arctic Council, spoke with Arctic.ru correspondent Kristina Khramtsova about high-priority aspects of this countrys chairmanship of the Arctic Council in 2021-2023.

Question: What aspects will Russia prioritize during its chairmanship of the Arctic Council?

Nikolai Korchunov: First of all, we want to bring the Arctic Council closer to the expectations and needs of specific people, namely, the Arctics population. Rather than transforming it, we dont want it to become an elite club for representatives of governments and narrow experts on various matters alone. We will make sure that various matters being reviewed by the organization will be seen as important by the Arctics population and indigenous ethnic groups.

This is why we advocate the subject of sustainable development, and this is also why we hope that we will be able to support traditional activities of indigenous ethnic groups and their lifestyle during Russias chairmanship. We consider this to be a highly important job.

We will also support projects in the field of education, including academic mobility, and we will support contacts between young people of Arctic states in the most diverse areas, including those between young members of indigenous ethnic groups.

The chairs primary task is to ensure the responsible implementation of functions while promoting and reviewing previously agreed items on the agenda. All of them should be developed, one way or another, during Russias chairmanship.

Question: During its chairmanship of the Arctic Council, will Russia proceed from its national priorities or will it focus on the interests of all the Arctic Council countries?

Nikolai Korchunov: The chairs of the Arctic Councils should address common tasks, and not just those of the Russian Arctic. While dealing with these, we will, naturally, accomplish those on our national agenda. I can assure you that all the planned work proceeds from the Russian Arctics domestic needs as well as its requirements.

Question: How do sanctions affect Russias work in the Arctic Council?

Nikolai Korchunov: Sanctions do not directly affect our work, but, of course, they exert an indirect impact.

In 2014, our Arctic Council partners decided to stop financing various projects by the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development. Of course, we had trouble borrowing loans for implementing important and significant projects in the field of sustainable development, including those facilitating the development of the Russian Arctic.

Of course, these decisions impair our production modernization efforts, those aiming to upgrade energy and power-generating enterprises, in the field of minerals extraction projects, as well as production of essential materials which are crucial for energy transition. We draw the attention of our partners to this fact.

Nevertheless, the Arctic Council has another agenda where we can jointly work on matters not covered by various anti-Russia sanctions and restrictions.

Question: Will the Councils agenda include expanded Arctic navigation?

Nikolai Korchunov: Today, Russia, as well as other Arctic Council countries, finds it extremely important to promote the Arctic navigation agenda because this agenda is currently under pressure, and primarily from the environmentalist organizations.

In 2018, Ocean Conservancy, an NGO with its headquarters in the US, launched a campaign opposing Arctic navigation. A number of major container haulers, as well as consumer goods manufacturers, namely, companies making brand clothing for the European market, joined the campaign. As a rule, this clothing is manufactured in Asian countries and delivered to Europe.

Question: Does work in this direction also help develop the Northern Sea Route?

Nikolai Korchunov: Yes, we find it highly important to work with our partners and to jointly expand the Arctic navigation system as a single whole. Work on this task will help promote the Northern Sea Route as part of the Arctic navigation system. This is why we also initiated a project to develop a sustainable Arctic navigation system. In effect, this implies sustainable navigation that does not impact the ecology and Nature.

We will consistently promote this project, and we will also promote various tasks, stipulated by the relevant decisions to develop the Northern Sea Route, within its framework.

Question: You have noted that many environmentalist organizations oppose navigation in the Arctic. Is this pressure justified?

Nikolai Korchunov: It is hard to say. One should provide scientific data showing whether this pressure is justified.

As compared to the Northern Sea Route, an additional seven to ten days are needed to deliver an Asian consignment to Europe via the Suez Canal. Consequently, ships navigating the Northern Sea Route would generate fewer toxic emissions, and the anthropogenic impact would be reduced.

Regarding ecology or biodiversity, this problem exists everywhere, including the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean and the Arctic. In the first place, we should address it in the context of global risks and use the relevant scientific data.
Supergiant Games' acclaimed roguelike Hades stole the show at the 2021 BAFTA Games Awards last night, taking home five awards including the Best Game prize.

The deity-stuffed dungeon crawler grabbed the awards for Artist Achievement, Best Game, Game Design, Narrative, and Performer in a Supporting Role (Logan Cunningham), making it the biggest winner on the night.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Sackboy: A Big Adventure, and The Last of Us Part II each nabbed two BAFTAs, with Naughty Dog's long-awaited sequel winning the EE Game of the Year award -- which was the only award voted for by the public.

Other notable winners include Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Kentucky Route Zero: TV Edition, and Ghost of Tsushima, which grabbed the Music, Original Property, and Audio Achievement awards.

Dreams also emerged victorious in the Technical Achievement category, while Media Molecule studio director Siobhan Reddy was honored with the prestigious BAFTA Fellowship.

The full list of winners can be found on the BAFTA Games website.
Donald Trump Jr. arrives with his father President Donald Trump after landing aboard Air Force One at General Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on July 12, 2019. (Carlos Barria/Reuters)

Wyoming Senate Rejects Election Changes Pushed by Donald Trump Jr.

Wyoming senators this week voted down a measure that would have implemented election changes, including adding a runoff if the winner of a primary race failed to secure a majority of votes.

The state Senate voted 15-14 on Wednesday to reject Senate File 145.

The legislation was backed by the Wyoming Republican Party and critics of Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), including Donald Trump Jr.., one of former President Donald Trumps sons.

Adopting a run-off approach would ensure that the winner of the Primary receives more than 50% of the vote in order to advance to the General Election. A run-off assures that the prevailing candidate will best represent the values of the majority of Wyoming Republicans, the state GOP said last month.

Trump Jr. recently alleged that Cheneys allies were trying to kill the bill. A spokesperson for the congresswoman told news outlets that she was not, and did not have a position on it.

Cheney stoked opposition when she became the highest-ranking Republican to vote to impeach Trump in January while he was still in office.

State Sen. Anthony Bouchard, a Republican, has since announced a primary challenge to the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney. Bouchard voted for the legislation on Wednesday.

Republican Conference Chairman Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) speaks during a press conference at the US Capitol in Washington on Dec. 17, 2019. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)

Cheney received 39 percent of the vote in a nine-way GOP primary in 2016.

Thats not exactly what you would call a mandate, state Sen. Bo Biteman, a Republican who sponsored Senate File 145, said on the floor before the vote. Thats the why. Theres a lot of people out there that dont think that thats right. They want to send our nominee off to the general election with a mandate of the majority of the party support. Thats the why, simple as that.

State Sen. Ed Cooper of the GOP said he wasnt sure whether there was a valid reason for election reform.

If there is, then lets do it right, he said. Lets do an interim study.

Im not sure that the three cases that the sponsor cited out of the last 65 elections is enough to justify a runoff election, he added.

During a committee hearing earlier this month, Mary Lankford, representing the Wyoming County Clerks Association, said the estimated cost of holding a runoff election was $1.1 million. That funding would need to be allocated, she said.

After Lankford and others expressed concern about the legislation taking effect during the 2022 primary elections. The bill was amended to delay the switch to Jan. 1, 2023.
A YOUNG man told a garda he would "ram his head off the road" and that it was "not a threat, it's a promise", it has been alleged.

Ryan Bambrick (22) is accused of making the threat while gardai were carrying out a search in west Dublin.

The case was adjourned by Judge David McHugh when it came before him at Blanchardstown District Court.

Mr Bambrick, of Chaplain's Terrace, Clondalkin, is charged with obstruction and threatening to kill or cause serious harm to a garda.

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The court heard the offences were alleged to have happened at Somerton Close, Newcastle Road, Lucan, on August 6 last year.

Unemployed

Garda Sergeant Walter Sweeney said the DPP directed summary disposal of the case at district court level subject to the issue of jurisdiction being considered by the judge.

Outlining the prosecution's case, he said it would be alleged gardai were conducting a search at 8.25pm when the accused made threats to the officer in the presence of other members who were conducting the search.

It was alleged he told the garda he was going to "ram your head off the road".

When told he had threatened the garda, it was alleged he replied: "It's not a threat, it's a f**king promise."

Judge McHugh accepted jurisdiction, allowing the case to remain in the district court.

He granted free legal aid after defence barrister Jennifer Jackson said Mr Bambrick was unemployed.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi who is on a two-day visit to Bangladesh, on Friday enquired about the health of the President of India Ram Nath Kovind. As per a tweet posted on his official account, he called President Kovind's son Prashant and enquired about his health, and prayed for his well-being.

PM @narendramodi spoke to Rashtrapati Ji's son. He enquired about the President's health and prayed for his well-being.  PMO India (@PMOIndia) March 26, 2021

Earlier on Friday, Union Defence Minister paid a visit to the hospital President Kovind is presently in to enquire about his well-being.

President Kovind experiences chest discomfort

President Kovind complained of discomfort in the chest on Friday and was immediately rushed to the Army Hospital (Research And Referral). As per a medical bulletin released by the hospital thereafter, he is in a stable condition but is still under observation. Routine check-ups are being conducted in the meanwhile.

President Ram Nath Kovind visited Army Hospital (R&R) following chest discomfort this morning. He is undergoing routine check-up and is under observation. His condition is stable: Army Hospital (R&R)



(file photo) pic.twitter.com/A5hfrA3HXW  ANI (@ANI) March 26, 2021

It is pertinent to mention here that President Kovind was doing just fine and was performing his official duties earlier in the day, which included extending greetings to his counterpart Abdul Hamid and the people of Bangladesh on the country's 50th Independence Day.

"On behalf of the people of India and on my own behalf, I extend warm greetings and felicitations to Your Excellency, the Government and the people of Bangladesh on the occasion of your National Day. India and Bangladesh are celebrating 50 years of our exemplary and unique bilateral ties," Kovind had said.
Geisha entertainers at a hot spring resort near Tokyo are asking for financial aid as demand for their performances plummets due to the pandemic.

A group of the traditional entertainers presented a letter to officials of the Kanagawa prefectural government on Thursday.

There is usually high demand for their performances at gatherings at local inns in the Hakone area. But geisha associations there say revenue dropped 80 percent in 2020 compared to the previous year.

In addition to the financial assistance, the geisha are asking the local government to organize events where they can display their skills.
Nairobi  The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) now says the drastic decision by Kenya to close Dadaab and Kakuma refugee camps is ill-timed.

In a statement, the UN agency said the decision will have impact on the protection of refugees in Kenya, and has also cited the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hours after Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiangi on Wednesday said there is no room for negotiations, the agency committed to "continue with dialogue with the Kenyan authorities on this issue."

"We urge the Government of Kenya to ensure that any decisions allow for suitable and sustainable solutions to be found and that those who continue to need protection are able to receive it," UNHCR said in a statement.

Matiangi had called a meeting Tuesday with the UNHCR officials where he communicated Kenya's position, and declared that "there is no room for further negotiations."

But the UNHCR said it stands ready to support the Government of Kenya in continuing and further strengthening the work that is ongoing to find solutions that are orderly, sustainable and respect refugee rights.

Further, the agency committed to support the Government in continuing and further strengthening the work that is ongoing to find solutions that are orderly, sustainable and respect refugee rights.

This is the latest attempt to close the two camps in years, with the government citing national security concerns, over reports that they have been used as a breeding grounds for terrorism.

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"UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is grateful to the people and Government of Kenya for generously hosting refugees and asylum-seekers for several decades and recognize the impact this generosity has had," reads the statement.

There have been similar efforts to close the two camps, that culminated to a voluntary repatriation programme in 2014, that saw a spontaneous return to Somalia.

Since 2014, Dadaab population has drastically reduced from a high of 466, 683 in 2011, when the civil war in Somalia had worsened.

In November 2013, a Tripartite Agreement had been signed by the Government of Kenya, the Federal Government of Somalia and UNHCR, to provide a framework for the voluntary return of Somali refugees from Kenya.

A pilot project was officially launched on December 8, 2014 with the six months of the pilot phase ending on June 30 2015, to support refugees opting to voluntarily return to Somalia.

During the pilot phase, 2,588 returnees were supported to return to three designated areas- Kismayu, Baidoa and Luuq.

At the end of the pilot phase, the Tripartite Commission endorsed a strategy and four-year operational plan to support refugees and to continue with voluntary return.

After the success of the pilot phase, 6 more return areas were included. They are Mogadishu, Beletweyne, Afgooye, Balad, Jowhar and Wanylaweyn.

Currently there are 12 designated areas of return that include Belet Hawa, Diinsor town and Afmadow.

Globally, UNHCR says there are more than two million Somalis are currently displaced by a conflict that has lasted over two decades.
Switzerland: Maryam, 10, is happy to be reunited with her brother Abdualrahman in Thun, Switzerland after he was separated from the rest of the family at the Syria-Turkey border.  UNHCR/Mark Henley

In the report Family reunification practices in Finland the Finnish Refugee Advice Center (FRAC) provides an analysis on the current legal framework, policies and practices regarding the right to family reunification for refugees and beneficiaries of subsidiary protection in Finland. The new study, commissioned by UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, also identifies practical, legal and financial obstacles to accessing family reunification.

The findings are based on the examination of legal framework and policies as well as a number of concrete court cases, and it focuses in particular on income requirements in order to be granted access to family reunification as well as the rights of children to a family life. The study concludes with five key recommendations which aim to ensure a more human rights sensitive interpretation of the legal framework on family reunification in Finland.

Reuniting with family members is crucial for refugees and others granted international protection to rebuild their lives, be able to integrate into society and contribute to their host country. Family reunification can therefore benefit not only the family concerned, but also the wider society. At the same time, family reunification is an important safe and legal pathway to access protection, says Henrik M. Nordentoft, UNHCRs Representative to the Nordic and Baltic Countries.

It is UNHCRs hope that the report just published by FRAC as well as other report and studies will contribute to a continued dialogue with the Finnish Government, and within the region more broadly, to strengthen meaningful and timely access to family reunification. To this end, UNHCR reiterates its recommendations to Finland on strengthening refugee protection which were put forward in March 2019. The recommendations call for gradually improving access to efficient family reunification procedures.

With wars, conflict and displacement separating families across the world, sometimes for years or even decades, family reunification is sometimes the only way for refugee families to be reunited. And with 85 per cent of the worlds refugees hosted in developing regions, family reunification is also a tangible way for states to better protect refugees and share responsibility with large host countries.

Finland has a long tradition of providing sanctuary to persons in need of international protection, and the country is a key partner to UNHCR. The country has received considerable praise not only for its commitment towards quality asylum proceedings but also more broadly for the role it plays in responsibility sharing globally.

UNHCR will continue to engage actively and constructively with partners and authorities in Finland in its continued efforts to strengthen refugee protection and looks forward to contributing towards on-going discussions to this end.

The right to family life forms one of the most basic human rights. Family reunification enables refugees to enjoy this right, safely and legally, without the need to undertake dangerous journeys to unite with their loved ones. This is especially important for many women and girls. We are in UNHCR looking forward to continue the constructive dialogue with Finland on this and other important issues, says Henrik M. Nordentoft.

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March 27, 1916

(No paper March 26, 1916)

HE GUARDS BILLIONS; WAS BORN IN AUBURN

We never believed that a man existed who could tire of the sight of money, but such a person does and he once lived in Auburn. Maj. Alfred R. Quaiffe, for 31 years custodian of the vaults of the treasury in Washington, is the man. A sum of about $20,000,000,000 has passed through the vault in the 31 years which the major has guarded them.

Major Quaiffe, who celebrated his 80th birthday last Tuesday, was born in this city. He is a veteran of the Civil War, a Libby prisoner and a treasury employee for over 50 years. All of his fellow employees in the treasury remembered the major with bouquets on Tuesday.
An Alabama TV weatherman who was tracking a massive tornado learned live on-air that his house was in the direct path of the storm and stepped away to text his wife to ensure she made it to shelter.

ABC 33/40 meteorologist James Spann was in the middle of warning residents of Shelby County to take the shelter on Thursday as deadly twisters ravage the state.

But he had to step away when he realized that the storm he was watching was heading directly for his own home and his wife Karen.

As the broadcast switched to a live feed of the tornado, Spann can be heard saying: 'What I'm doing is texting my wife to be sure she's in the shelter.'

Reporters in the ABC 33/40 newsroom managed to contact his wife, who told them: 'Oh, it's a miracle. A huge tree just missed our house!'

She added: 'It's unbelievable! There is so much damage everywhere.'

Scroll down for video

Spann confirms to viewers after returning to the broadcast that his home was struck by the storm 'the reason I had to step out, we had major damage at my house,' he said

Spann later shared a photo of his backyard to viewers 'It's been a rough day. Very rough day.'

As the broadcast switched to a live feed of the tornado, Spann can be heard saying 'What I'm doing is texting my wife to be sure she's in the shelter'. James and Karen Spann are pictured.

After passing the broadcast over to his colleague, Spann returned and offered viewers an update on his wife and home.

'The reason I had to step out, we had major damage at my house,' he said. 'My wife is okay, but the tornado came right through there and it's not good, it's bad. It's bad.'

Later in the broadcast Spann shared a photo of the damage the storm caused to his backyard.

'I'll shoot straight with you guys, that's my backyard,' he told viewers. 'It's been a rough day. Very rough day.'

He shared that his wife sheltered in place and was safe.

Spann said that although there was damage to the backyard, his home was intact.

'My wife got the warning, she had a plan, she was in the shelter and she's fine,' he said.

'Obviously our landscaping is going to be a lot different now. We lost a lot of trees. We've had obviously some shingle damage, but the house is intact, it's OK.'

Spann reassured viewers that his wife was safe but that his property suffered damage from the passing storm

The storm caused severe damage to properties in Greensboro, but Spann said his own house was not damaged

Alabama meteorologist James Spann switches to a live feed of the storm as he text his wife to make sure she was in shelter

When the Spanns built their home, James had insisted it have a strong storm shelter that could withstand tornados, according to ABC 33/40.

Spann asked viewers to help those who had faced severe loss in the wake of the storm.

'My ask is that you consider helping those that are homeless tonight, that have lost their homes. those that have relatives who lost their lives, that are in the hospital tonight.'

A total of eight tornadoes have been confirmed in Alabama, according to the National Weather Service

At least five people have died as a result of the storms, including a family-of-three.

The confirmed deaths were in Calhoun County, in the eastern part of the state, where one of multiple twisters sprang from a 'super cell' of storms that later moved into Georgia, said John De Block, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service (NWS) in Birmingham.

The Storm Prediction Center on Thursday afternoon had issued a 'particular dangerous situation' tornado watch until 8pm CT for about 5.5 million people in parts of Alabama, northwest Georgia, Mississippi and southern Tennessee.

The advisory is issued when there's high confidence that multiple strong tornadoes of EF-2 strength, which has wind speeds of 111 to 135mph, or higher will occur in the watch area.

Spann tweeted 'Had a scare today. As I often say, tornadoes happen to real people, at a real place, at a real time.'

Spann later went on Twitter and offered an update on his home and thanked people for their kindness.

'Many thanks to all of you who have reached out to me; a tornado produced damage at our home today,' he tweeted. 'My wife was home when it hit, but she got the warning, was in our in-home shelter, and is fine. While we lost many trees, the home is intact and we will be not have to 'rebuild'.'

'Please consider helping others across the state who have much more serious damage.. some have lost their homes and are homeless tonight. Thanks again for your kindness.' his tweet read.
A plane with 140 passengers on board was struck by lightning while landing in the midst of a large storm in Central America.

A camera located in the cockpit of a Boeing 737 flying above Panama captured the terrifying moment the bolt struck the nose of the aircraft, which was descending to land, Newshub reported.



The pilots were stunned by the sudden lightning strike only yards outside their window in almost complete darkness.



As per local reports, fortunately, no damage was done to the planes fuselage nor any passengers or crew were harmed.

Also read: Video: Plane Flying In Stormy Weather Over London Struck By Three Bolts Of Lightning

ViralPress

Lightning strikes happen quite often but its special to capture one on video. I was just recording the flight during the storm, the person who filmed said.



A person associated with the flight shared the video, however, wanted to remain anonymous.

Also read: Guatemalan Woman Just Captured A Stunning Of Video Of An Upward Lightning, Here's Why It Occurs

ViralPress

It was reported that the video was taken last week on board a Boeing 737 MAX aircraft.



Tocumen International Airport is the busiest airport in Panama and services flights from over 20 airlines including Air China, Air France, American Airlines, Copa Airlines, Delta, United and Lufthansa.

Also read: Triple Times Rare: Double Rainbow And Lightning Captured In The Same Picture And We're In Awe!
On a rainy day in Sydney, it feels completely appropriate to be writing about Clarice Beckett. She was an artist for whom the ideal atmospheric conditions were overcast, a bit misty. Her work is all about the weather. As a subject, it couldnt be more commonplace, but it transports us into a realm of indistinct forms that haunt the imagination. Its not often I feel the urge to visit the same show on three successive days, but Clarice Beckett: The Present Moment at the Art Gallery of South Australia, is one of those rare, inexhaustible exhibitions.

Weve had periodic glimpses of Becketts talent since 1971, shortly after she was rescued for posterity by Rosalind Hollinrake. There was a touring show in 1999, when the venues included Sydneys S. H. Ervin Gallery. The present survey, the largest ever devoted to the artist, will be seen only in South Australia  which is an excellent reason to consider Adelaide if youre itching to get back on a plane soon.

Clarice Beckett, Bathing boxes, Brighton, 1933 Credit:Art Gallery of South Australia

The facts of Becketts life may be told in short order. She was born in 1887 into a well-heeled, middle-class family. She had a passion for art and literature and would go on to study drawing under Fred McCubbin at the National Gallery School, then spend nine months attending the independent art school run by the outspoken Max Meldrum. It was an experience that would help mould her technique and views on art, although not so much as many have presumed. Although Beckett had admirers, she turned down several offers of marriage and would end her life living at home in the bayside suburb of Beaumaris, having spent years looking after her invalid mother.

In 1935, shortly after her mothers death, Beckett caught double pneumonia and passed away at the age of 48. What happened next is just as tragic, as her father burnt paintings that he didnt consider finished or good enough. Her sister, Hilda, would store the remaining 2000 canvases in an open-sided shed in the countryside near Benalla. When Hollinrake tracked them down in 1970, only 369 were salvageable. The weather and the possums had laid waste to the rest.
(@ChaudhryMAli88)

TEL AVIV (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 25th March, 2021) The Israeli Defense Ministry on Thursday announced signing an agreement with the Slovakia Defense Ministry for the supply of 17 radar systems by Israel Aerospace Industries.

"In a celebratory ceremony held today in Bratislava, the Israeli and Slovak Ministries of Defense signed a first-of-its-kind agreement between the two countries for the procurement of 17 radar systems produced by [Israel Aerospace Industries]," the ministry tweeted.

According to the aerospace manufacturer, the deal is worth approximately 148 million Euros ($174.7 million).

The agreement is also said to include transfer of technology, as well as industrial cooperation.
LUCKNOW: The Army Medical Corps (AMC) center in Lucknow will celebrate its foundation day on March 30. The main highlight of the event would be Munna Havaldar - a goat of Marwari breed, which will lead its band contingent in the march past.

The animal is considered very auspicious for the corps and serves as the official mascot of the AMC band for several decades.

The story of Munna Havaldar is very interesting too. On April 16, 1951, nearly 70 years back, a goat of the Marwari breed was introduced in the Army. Back then, Jivajirao Scindia was the Maharaja of Gwalior.

When the Maharaja's army merged with the Indian Army, the band was also merged with the AMC.

At the time of the merger, Havaldar Munna, a black Marwari breed goat from Rajasthans Barmer, was gifted to the Indian army by the Maharaja. The AMC adopted the goat as its band mascot.

Since then, Munna Havaldar has been serving the AMC as a 'non-commissioned officer'. The goat, which is the eighth mascot currently serving the AMC, will remain in service for the next two years.

After the end of its tenure, another goat of the Marwari breed will be appointed by the AMC as its band mascot to continue the 70-year-old tradition.



Havaldar Munna is considered extremely ''auspicious'' for the medical corps and is present in all important ceremonies, including the passing out parade, the attestation parade of newly inducted jawans etc.

Importantly, Havaldar Munna leads the marching band contingent of the AMC.

Live TV
Actor Amber Heard delivers a statement as she leaves the High Court in London, Britain (Photo : REUTERS/Simon Dawson)

London's Court of Appeal on Thursday refused Johnny Depp permission to challenge a verdict last year that concluded the Hollywood actor was a "wife beater", meaning his attempt to restore his reputation will shift to U.S. legal action.



In November, High Court judge Andrew Nicol ruled against Depp, star of films including "Pirates of the Caribbean" and "Edward Scissorhands", after he brought a libel case against the Sun tabloid newspaper.



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After three weeks of hearings last summer, Nicol concluded Depp, 57, had violently assaulted his ex-wife, actress Amber Heard, 34, during a tempestuous five-year relationship, putting her in fear of her life.



"As we have said, it is not easy to persuade this court to overturn the findings of a trial judge on purely factual questions," the two Court of Appeal judges said in their judgment.



"We do not believe that there is a real prospect of it being prepared to do so in this case."



Last week, Depp's lawyers said Nicol's ruling was "plainly wrong" and asked to rely on new evidence which they said showed Heard's claim she had donated her divorce settlement to charity was "a calculated and manipulative lie".



But the Court of Appeal said the hearings before him last summer were fair, his reasons were thorough and there had been no error of law. Depp's lawyer said he would now focus on a U.S. case he has brought against Heard.



In her evidence to the London High Court, Heard said Depp would turn into a jealous alter ego, "the monster", after bingeing on drugs and alcohol and had threatened to kill her.



She detailed 14 occasions of extreme violence when she said the actor choked, punched, slapped, head-butted, throttled and kicked her, with Nicol accepting 12 of these accounts as true.



"We are pleased - but by no means surprised - by the court's denial of Mr Depp's application for appeal," a spokeswoman for Heard said, saying her evidence was "overwhelming and undeniable".



The Sun said the decision vindicated the evidence Heard gave, saying it had been confident that permission to appeal would be refused.



The libel case has already damaged Depp's career, as he was asked to leave the "Fantastic Beasts" franchise, the movie spin-offs from the "Harry Potter" books and films, days after Nicol's verdict.



However, he has also filed a $50 million defamation lawsuit against Heard in a Virginia court over an opinion piece she wrote in The Washington Post, and that case is ongoing.



"The evidence presented at last week's hearing further demonstrates that there are clear and objective reasons to seriously question the decision reached in the UK court," Depp's British lawyer Joelle Rich said in a statement.



"Mr Depp looks forward to presenting the complete, irrefutable evidence of the truth in the U.S. libel case against Ms Heard where she will have to provide full disclosure."


Ethiopian refugees fleeing clashes in the country's northern Tigray region, rest and cook meals near UNHCR's Hamdayet reception centre after crossing into Sudan.

Eritrea will pull its troops out of Ethiopia's northern Tigray region, the Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said on Friday, suggesting a potential breakthrough in the drawn-out conflict that has seen atrocities committed against civilians.

Abiy faces mounting pressure to end fighting in which both Eritrean and Ethiopian troops have been accused of abuses, including mass killings and rapes.

Abiy, winner of the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize, sent troops into Tigray on 4 November, blaming the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), for attacks on army camps.

For months both Addis Ababa and Asmara denied that Eritrean troops were active in Tigray, contradicting accounts from residents, aid workers, diplomats and even some Ethiopian civilian and military officials.

Abiy finally admitted Eritrea's role before parliament earlier this week, flying to Asmara on Thursday to meet Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki.

During that visit "the government of Eritrea has agreed to withdraw its forces out of the Ethiopian border," Abiy said in a statement posted to his Twitter account Friday.

On Discussions with President Isaias Afwerki pic.twitter.com/xN50NmKdob

- Abiy Ahmed Ali  (@AbiyAhmedAli) March 26, 2021

"The Ethiopian National Defense Force will take over guarding the border areas effective immediately."

Eritrean information minister Yemane Gebremeskel did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.

Tens of thousands dead over 20 years

Ethiopia and Eritrea fought a border war beginning in 1998 that left tens of thousands dead and resulted in a two-decade stalemate.

Abiy won his Nobel for initiating a surprise rapprochement with Isaias after taking office in 2018, but Eritrea and the TPLF remained bitter enemies.

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In his speech to parliament on Tuesday, Abiy said the "Eritrean people and government did a lasting favour to our soldiers" during the conflict in Tigray.

His statement on Friday noted that the TPLF fired rockets at Asmara multiple times, "thereby provoking the Eritrean government to cross Ethiopian borders and prevent further attacks and maintain its national security".

Abiy has acknowledged that Eritrean troops took over areas along the border, including trenches dug during the border war, after they were abandoned by Ethiopian soldiers.

Rights groups and Tigrayan residents have described a much deeper Eritrean presence.

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have accused Eritrean troops of killing hundreds of Tigrayans in a November massacre in the town of Axum.
A Chicago hospital executive has resigned after it was revealed he offered early vaccines 72 employees at Trump Tower where he owns a $2.7 million condo.

The resignation of Anosh Ahmed, chief operating officer of Loretto Hospital, has sparked calls for the removal of the hospital's president George Miller - who took responsibility for the vaccinations, news site Block Club Chicago reported.

Ahmed had given 72 employees of former President Donald Trump's downtown hotel early access to the vaccine on March 10 and March 11 even though city guidelines do not make hotel employees eligible for the jab until March 29.

Ahmed had previously bragged about vaccinating Eric Trump on the same day he vaccinated the Trump Tower workers before later claiming that it was a joke, the outlet revealed.

'On behalf of the Board of Trustees, I want to thank Dr. Ahmed for his contributions to the Loretto Hospital community and we wish him the best in his future endeavors,' said board chairman Edward Hogan in a statement obtained by Washington Post.

Anosh Ahmed, chief operating officer of Loretto Hospital, resigned he offered early vaccines 72 employees at Trump Tower where he owns a $2.7 million condo

His resignation has sparked calls for the removal of the hospital's president George Miller - who took responsibility for the vaccinations

Ahmed was seen posing in a photo with Eric Trump in a photo obtained by Block Club Chicago.

'Vaccinated Eric Trump,' he said after sharing the photo in a text message in which he also called Trump a 'cool guy.'

DailyMail.com has reached out to the Trump Organization, which owns the tower, for more information and additional comment about the vaccination of its employees.

Block Club Chicago also revealed that Ahmed had vaccinated workers at luxury shop Geneva Seal, which sells them for tens of thousands of dollars, and Maple and Ash, a high-end steakhouse where reservations require a $100 deposit.

Hospital executives also held a vaccine event in February at a suburban church attended by Miller - where more than 200 people got the jab.

Loretto Hospital's statement said Miller authorized the vaccinations and that the Trump employees, who were 'predominantly black and brown,' had requested the vaccination event, according to the Washington Post.

'We were, at the time, under the impression that restaurant and other front line hospitality industry workers were considered 'essential' under the City of Chicago's 1B eligibility requirements,' Miller said in his statement.

'I now understand, after subsequent conversations with the Chicago Department of Public Health, that we were mistaken.'

More than 100 people have since signed a petition calling for Miller to be removed from his role.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot has called for an independent investigation at Loretto Hospital and said she was 'disappointed' that people had been given the coronavirus vaccine early.

'We have a finite amount of vaccine in the city. We've been really, really careful to make sure that we're using it in a way that prioritizes the most vulnerable people who are most at risk and most at risk of spreading it,' she said in a news conference.

She added: 'We just can't have something like this happen again.'

Earlier this month, it was revealed that a luxury travel booking agency had quietly dropped all Trump Hotels and resorts listings from its elite 'invitation only' services - including the Chicago hotel.

Virtuoso Travel, a Texas-based agency specializing in luxury and experiential vacations, dropped all of former President Donald Trump's hotels that were considered partners, Zenger News revealed.
Importantly, McCarthy dedicates some plainspeak to the unquenchable, unmistakable bittersweetness of Black life, too. Consider, for instance, as he notes in Language and the Black Intellectual Tradition, how the abolitionist David Walker responded to the antebellum suggestion of sending Black people back to Africa: America is more our country, than it is the whites  we have enriched it with our blood and tears, he wrote in 1829. The greatest riches in all America have arisen from our blood and tears:  and will they drive us from our property and homes, which we have earned with our blood? Black Americans would not be driven from their property and homes and sent anywhere. To the contrary, they would, over time, acquire homes and properties that were once denied them.

These acquisitions were, are, a kind of appropriation, a laying of claim. And appropriation has been a key form of Black resistance not only materially but also artistically. In the first essay in the book, The Masters Tools, McCarthy takes as his primary example Kehinde Wileys 2005 painting Napoleon Leading the Army Over the Alps, which depicts a Black man in contemporary urban attire posing on a horse as the French emperor  a remix of Jacques-Louis Davids 1801 portrait of Bonaparte Crossing the Alps. Then theres the Spanish slave Juan de Pareja, who upon gaining his freedom put brush to canvas as if he too were a member of the royal court, just like his former owner, Diego Velazquez. And in their 2018 music video for Apeshit, Jay-Z and Beyonce actually hold court in the Louvre, an act alone that requires a reconception of the masterpieces therein. Harnessing the instruments of power to a distinctly insurgent posture, McCarthy writes of their subversion, is not only done to protest discrimination; it also signals the intervention of a new intelligence, a spirit in the process of discovering the true extent of its untapped potential.

Written language, of course, is another such instrument of power, whose potential, when fully tapped, begets such authors as Colson Whitehead, John Edgar Wideman, Claudia Rankine, Terrance Hayes, Phillis Wheatley and Toni Morrison. McCarthy offers close reads of them all, but Morrisons moral and social criticism and the Black humanist tradition in which she wrote are the underpinning of this collection. Its distinctly evident in the title essay, wherein McCarthy argues against monetary recompense for slavery. Black American music has always insisted upon soul, the value of the human spirit, he writes. Its a value that explicitly refuses material boundaries or limitations.

Here he engages in direct conversation with Ta-Nehisi Coatess 2014 essay A Case for Reparations, although the rebuke is mild; McCarthy agrees with Coates that even if its not money, something is owed to the descendants of enslaved people. Less mild is McCarthys criticism that as an intellectual working in the Black radical tradition, Coates has fallen short. In reference to Coatess fatalism, McCarthy writes: Like all those who have taken up the pen to strike at Americas racial injustice, he is also the inheritor of a proud tradition that has relentlessly and defiantly believed that we have it in our means to break the spell of oppression, and that speaking truth to power is not an act of despair, but one of candescence. It is not enough to diagnose social ills, McCarthy says; one must emphasize our resourcefulness in overcoming them.
Asda bosses are waiting for a ruling on a Supreme Court equal pay fight with store workers.

More than 40,000 Asda store workers, about two-thirds of whom are women, have brought equal pay claims after complaining that staff working in distribution depots unfairly get more money.

Asda bosses say store jobs are not comparable to distribution centre jobs.

Store workers, who are represented by law firm Leigh Day, have made sex-discrimination claims.

They say store workers have historically got less because most store workers are women, and most distribution depot staff are men.

Lawyers representing store workers say distribution depot workers get between 1.50 and 3.00 an hour more.

(Victoria Jones/PA)

Supreme Court justices were asked to consider whether Asda store workers are entitled to compare themselves to distribution staff for equal pay purposes.

Judges considered arguments at a hearing in July and are due to deliver a ruling on Friday.

Lawyers say the ruling will have implications for supermarkets, and other retailers.

The litigation began some years ago.

In 2016, an employment tribunal decided that store workers were entitled to compare themselves to distribution staff.

That decision was upheld by Court of Appeal judges in 2019. Asda bosses then appealed to the Supreme Court.

Lawyers say the store workers fight will not end, even if Supreme Court justices rule in their favour, and the litigation could run on for years.

They say the next stage would involve an employment tribunal deciding whether specific store and distribution jobs were of equal value.

If judges decided that different jobs were of equal value, the litigation would then enter a third stage.

Lawyers say an employment tribunal would then consider whether there were reasons  other than gender  why people working in stores should not get the same pay rates as people working in distribution centres.

Store workers bringing claims are members of the GMB union.
Panaji, March 26 : Goa Health Minister Vishwajit Rane on Friday expressed concern about the rising number of Covid-19 cases, conceding that there was need to control large gatherings and functions.

Rane's comments come at a time when more than two dozen personnel working in an offshore casino tested positive for Covid-19.

"It is my personal view. After a meeting with doctors yesterday and what I understood, slowly cases have started going up. We have reached 184, we need to keep cautious.We need to keep control on gatherings and functions. All this is being discussed as we speak," Rane said.

The Health Minister, however, dodged questions from media persons, as to whether the offshore casino would be notified as a micro containment zone in view of the detection of cases amongst its staffers.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-26 21:46:54|Editor: huaxia

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ULAN BATOR, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Strong winds and heavy dust and snow storms are hitting the western provinces of Mongolia and reducing visibility, the country's meteorology and environmental monitoring agency said Friday.

Wind speeds are reaching 18-24 meters per second in the western parts of the country, Batbold Tsogtbaatar, a meteorologist at the agency, told Xinhua.

The strong winds and dust storms are expected to reach central parts of the country by Friday night, said Tsogtbaatar.

In addition, the meteorological phenomenon is expected to continue in the eastern and Gobi parts of the country in the next two days.

"This time, the intensity of the strong winds and dust storms is relatively weaker than previous strong dust and snow storms that hit large parts of the country, but it is still a 'dangerous' level," Tsogtbaatar said, urging citizens, especially nomadic herders and drivers, to take extra precautions against possible disasters.

Ten people, mostly herders, lost their lives due to heavy dust and snow storms that swept through large parts of Mongolia in mid-March. Enditem
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Market Reports on Saudi Arabia Provides the Trending Market Research Report on Bottled Water in the United Arab Emirates under Soft Drink category. The Bottled Water in the United Arab Emirates is projected to exhibit highest growth rate over report offers a collection of superior market research, market analysis, and competitive intelligence and industry reports.

The lockdown led to an increase in demand for bottled water in the early stages of the lockdown in March whilst consumers were stockpiling essential food and beverages. As the weeks went on and consumers felt reassured about product availability, bottled water volume sales stabilised in April. On-trade volume sales declined steeply during 2020 as a consequence of the mandated closure of cafes, restaurants and other foodservice establishments.

Bottled Water in United Arab Emirates report offers a comprehensive guide to the size and shape of the market at a national level. It provides the latest retail sales data (2016-2020), allowing you to identify the sectors driving growth. It identifies the leading companies, the leading brands and offers strategic analysis of key factors influencing the market  be they legislative, distribution, packaging or pricing issues. Forecasts to 2025 illustrate how the market is set to change.

Product coverage:

Carbonated Bottled Water, Flavoured Bottled Water, Functional Bottled Water, Still Bottled Water.

Request a free sample copy of United Arab Emirates Bottled Water Market Report @

http://www.marketreportsonsaudiarabia.com/marketreports/sample/reports/356972

Data coverage:

market sizes (historic and forecasts), company shares, brand shares and distribution data.

Why buy this report?

* Get a detailed picture of the Bottled Water market;

* Pinpoint growth sectors and identify factors driving change;

* Understand the competitive environment, the markets major players and leading brands;

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Table of Contents

Bottled Water in the United Arab Emirates

LIST OF CONTENTS AND TABLES

KEY DATA FINDINGS

2020 IMPACT

COVID-19 boosts off-trade volume sales of bottled water during the lockdown

Population growth, hot climate and health concerns underpin product area expansion

Masafi maintains its lead in value terms as Al Ain gains ground

RECOVERY AND OPPORTUNITIES

Health-oriented products anticipated to gain popularity in bottled water

Packaging innovation to be increasingly used to differentiate brands

Leaders in bottled water form a regional working group to ensure quality standards

CATEGORY DATA

Table 1 Off-trade Sales of Bottled Water by Category: Volume 2015-2020

Table 2 Off-trade Sales of Bottled Water by Category: Value 2015-2020

Table 3 Off-trade Sales of Bottled Water by Category: % Volume Growth 2015-2020

Table 4 Off-trade Sales of Bottled Water by Category: % Value Growth 2015-2020

Table 5 NBO Company Shares of Off-trade Bottled Water: % Volume 2016-2020

Table 6 LBN Brand Shares of Off-trade Bottled Water: % Volume 2017-2020

Table 7 NBO Company Shares of Off-trade Bottled Water: % Value 2016-2020

Table 8 LBN Brand Shares of Off-trade Bottled Water: % Value 2017-2020

Table 9 Forecast Off-trade Sales of Bottled Water by Category: Volume 2020-2025

Table 10 Forecast Off-trade Sales of Bottled Water by Category: Value 2020-2025

Table 11 Forecast Off-trade Sales of Bottled Water by Category: % Volume Growth 2020-2025

Table 12 Forecast Off-trade Sales of Bottled Water by Category: % Value Growth 2020-2025

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

COVID-19 impact on soft drinks

COVID-19 country impact

Company response

Retailing shift

Foodservice vs retail split

What next for soft drinks?

CHART 1 Soft Drinks Off-Trade Volume Sales Growth Scenarios: 2018-2025

CHART 2 Soft Drinks On-Trade Volume Sales Growth Scenarios: 2018-2025

CHART 3 Soft Drinks Impact of Drivers on Off-Trade Volume Sales: 2017-2025

CHART 4 Soft Drinks Impact of Drivers on On-Trade Volume Sales: 2017-2025

MARKET DATA

Table 13 Off-trade vs On-trade Sales of Soft Drinks (RTD) by Channel: Volume 2015-2020

Table 14 Off-trade vs On-trade Sales of Soft Drinks (RTD) by Channel: % Volume Growth 2015-2020

Table 15 Off-trade vs On-trade Sales of Soft Drinks by Channel: Value 2015-2020

Table 16 Off-trade vs On-trade Sales of Soft Drinks by Channel: % Value Growth 2015-2020

Table 17 Off-trade vs On-trade Sales of Soft Drinks (as sold) by Category: Volume 2019

Table 18 Off-trade vs On-trade Sales of Soft Drinks (as sold) by Category: % Volume 2019

Table 19 Off-trade vs On-trade Sales of Soft Drinks by Category: Value 2019

Table 20 Off-trade vs On-trade Sales of Soft Drinks by Category: % Value 2019

Table 21 Off-trade Sales of Soft Drinks (RTD) by Category: Volume 2015-2020

Table 22 Off-trade Sales of Soft Drinks (RTD) by Category: % Volume Growth 2015-2020

Table 23 Off-trade Sales of Soft Drinks by Category: Value 2015-2020

Table 24 Off-trade Sales of Soft Drinks by Category: % Value Growth 2015-2020

Table 25 Sales of Soft Drinks by Total Fountain On-trade: Volume 2015-2020

Table 26 Sales of Soft Drinks by Total Fountain On-trade: % Volume Growth 2015-2020

Table 27 NBO Company Shares of Off-trade Soft Drinks (RTD): % Volume 2016-2020

Table 28 LBN Brand Shares of Off-trade Soft Drinks (RTD): % Volume 2017-2020

Table 29 NBO Company Shares of Off-trade Soft Drinks: % Value 2016-2020

Table 30 LBN Brand Shares of Off-trade Soft Drinks: % Value 2017-2020

Table 31 Distribution of Off-trade Soft Drinks (as sold) by Format: % Volume 2015-2020

Table 32 Distribution of Off-trade Soft Drinks (as sold) by Format and Category: % Volume 2020

Table 33 Forecast Off-trade vs On-trade Sales of Soft Drinks (RTD) by Channel: Volume 2020-2025

Table 34 Forecast Off-trade vs On-trade Sales of Soft Drinks (RTD) by Channel: % Volume Growth 2020-2025

Table 35 Forecast Off-trade vs On-trade Sales of Soft Drinks by Channel: Value 2020-2025

Table 36 Forecast Off-trade vs On-trade Sales of Soft Drinks by Channel: % Value Growth 2020-2025

Table 37 Forecast Off-trade Sales of Soft Drinks (RTD) by Category: Volume 2020-2025

Table 38 Forecast Off-trade Sales of Soft Drinks (RTD) by Category: % Volume Growth 2020-2025

Table 39 Forecast Off-trade Sales of Soft Drinks by Category: Value 2020-2025

Table 40 Forecast Off-trade Sales of Soft Drinks by Category: % Value Growth 2020-2025

Table 41 Forecast Sales of Soft Drinks by Total Fountain On-trade: Volume 2020-2025

Table 42 Forecast Sales of Soft Drinks by Total Fountain On-trade: % Volume Growth 2020-2025

GLOBAL MACROECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT

GLOBAL INDUSTRY ENVIRONMENT

DISCLAIMER

SOURCES

Summary 1 Research Sources

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A convicted felon sold six guns from a Virginia pawn shop in New Jersey, federal authorities said.

Markell Pooler, 26, of Norfolk, Virginia, met with a confidential informant in Woodbury on Dec. 10, 2020 and then again on March 3, according to charging documents from the U.S. Attorneys Office in New Jersey.

Pooler is charged with one count of dealing in firearms and two counts of possession of firearms by a convicted felon following his arrest Thursday.

Investigators from the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms learned on Dec. 1 that Pooler bought guns from pawn shops and modified them with lasers and extended magazines before reselling them in South Jersey.

In the days before the Dec. 10 sale, Pooler exchanged text messages with a confidential informant and sent photographs of the three guns with a selling price of $3,200, authorities said.

The guns included a Glock model 21, .45-caliber pistol loaded with 11 rounds of ammunition; a Smith & Wesson model 39-2, 9mm pistol with 8 rounds of ammunition and a Sarsilmaz model SAR-9, 9mm pistol, with a large-capacity magazine which was loaded with 17 rounds of ammunition.

The Glock was bought at a pawn shop in Virginia Beach.

In March, Pooler again contacted the confidential informant and arranged the sale of a FMK model 9C1, 9mm pistol; a Taurus model TH 9C, 9mm pistol and Ruger model 57, 5.7 x 28 pistol, court papers say.

Law enforcement witnessed both sales after setting up surveillance, authorities said.

Pooler was previously arrested in Virginia on Feb. 22, 2013 and later convicted of grand larceny of a firearm, court papers state. He has never possessed a federal firearms license, authorities said.

Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JGoldmanNJ.

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Mumbai, March 26 : Actress Taapsee Pannu donated platelets to an elderly woman, and Tillotama Shome on Friday tweeted praising her for the act. In reply, Taapsee tweeted later the same day to share a "big hug" in return.

"Least I could've done. Not everyone gets a chance to save someone's life. Bigger than any other achievement for me. big hug n u keep spreading love like always," wrote Taapsee.

Tillotama had earlier tweeted how her friend's grandmother was in the need of platelets, and Taapsee reached out to help.

"I have never worked or hung out with @taapsee but I was aware of how hard working she is!! I was however, unaware of how incredibly humane she is. Going beyond an RT to actually offering to donate her platelets. You are gold!! I wish you my best and admire your strength," went Tillotama's tweet earlier on Friday.

She had also mentioned in one of her tweets: "My friend's grandma needed platelets and she offered to donate even though she doesn't know me or my friend, that's not humane? Anyway. Wishes for your good health, nothing is more precious."
Easter camps for children have been blacklisted by public health officials amid concerns that play dates, St Patrickss Day parties and Mothers Day celebrations have been fuelling the spread of Covid-19.

It comes as Covid-19 spread remains volatile and the overall situation high risk.

Moving between play dates, Patricks Day parties, Mothers day parties where more and more people are coming together... they are not appreciating the risk of onward transmission, HSE public health specialist Dr Miriam Owens said. Children are reflecting what is in the community. What seems to be happening in the community is people are getting tired and feel it is time to relax. But it is not time to relax.

Dr Owens was speaking at last nights Covid-19 briefing where Professor Philip Nolan, who tracks the virus, revealed there was a four- to six-fold increase in children under 12 referred by GPs for testing.

There has been a 40-50pc increase in cases in young children since February but he said just a fraction was linked to schools.

I know it is a controversial thing for me to say, but simply because things are happening at the same time  because they are happening concurrently  does not imply a direct cause-and-effect relationship.

Asked about advertisements for Easter camps for children, deputy chief medical officer Dr Ronan Glynn said he would appeal to organisers not to hold them and to parents not to get their children involved.

Earlier, Prof Nolan warned the current spread of the virus was either static or potentially disimproving.

The situation remains volatile and one of high risk, he added.

Three more deaths and 606 new cases were reported yesterday. The National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) meets on Monday to make recommendations to Government for re-openings on April 5, but the signals last night were that they will remain cautious.





Read More

The message was that another two months and a significant roll-out of Covid-19 vaccine is needed before there is room for significant easing of restrictions.

Dr Glynn again held out hope of what vaccination can bring with the promise of a return to the kind of normal living not experienced since 2019.

However, the difficulty in getting people to stick with it is seen in a new ESRI survey showing that in January one in 20 people has been visiting other peoples houses.

But in the week ending March 14 this rose to one in 10.

Read More

He said while it showed the vast majority of people were following public health advice, it did represent a significant change. Dr Owens said public health doctors were finding instances where people were meeting up for a game of cards.

Parents were meeting up outside the school gates and creches more than they had been.

The return to school also means parents were able to meet up with others during the day, she added.

The reopening of classes also led to a signal that more people returned to the workplace.

Asked to comment on earlier remarks by Tanaiste Leo Varadkar that pushing daily case numbers down is not a prospect because of the infectious UK variant, Prof Nolan said that while it was hard to see, we have proven we can do this.

We did better three or four weeks ago when we managed to keep our contacts a bit lower, he said.

There were 312 people with Covid-19 in hospital yesterday, including 75 in intensive care.

The number of intensive care admissions is declining slowly.

Prof Nolan said he was looking to hospitals where there was a constant number of 20 to 25 admissions a day.

This is an indicator of the level of disease in the population separate to testing.

For me this is the strongest indicator that we are in a static or disimproving situation.

The HSE is worried a rise in cases will lead to another increase in admissions.

The deaths indicator stabilised again after falling, with around 50 to 60 fatalities a week. There has been a slight increase in deaths in the community. The good news is there has been a near-disappearance of virus in residential settings and this must be linked the vaccine.

Meanwhile, Dr Lorraine Nolan, of the Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA), said 5,500 reports of suspected side-effects from Covid-19 vaccines had been notified

She said most were transient and expected. We have three safe and effective vaccines, AstraZeneca, Pfizer and Moderna, and we will shortly add the Johnson & Johnson vaccine to increase the roll-out of protection against this highly transmissible disease.
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According to new market research report " Cloud Services Brokerage Market by Service Type (Integration & Support, Migration & Customization, and Automation & Orchestration), Platform, Deployment Model, Organization Size, Vertical, and Region, - Global Forecast to 2025" , published by MarketsandMarkets , the Cloud Services Brokerage Market size is expected to grow from USD 5.9 billion in 2020 to USD 12.9 billion by 2025, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 16.8% during the forecast period. The flexibility and agility of cloud-based models would support the IT service needs of enterprises.

The leading CSPs/hyper scalersMicrosoft, IBM, and AWSare expected to increase their CAPEX primarily for data center expansion to support the increasing workload for their internal and external stakeholders. The increasing volume of data generation in websites and mobile apps, rising focus on delivering customer-centric applications for driving customer satisfaction, and growing need to control and reduce Capital Expenditure (CAPEX) and Operational Expenditure (OPEX) are a few factors driving the growth of the emerging technologies. The emerging technologies, such as big data, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Machine Learning (ML), are gaining traction, which is ultimately leading to the growth of the Cloud Services Brokerage Market globally.

Browse and in-depth TOC on Cloud Services Brokerage Market

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The sudden shutdown of offices, schools, colleges, and physical retail stores has massively disrupted operations; this has led to an increase in the demand for digital workplace tools and services, such as Zoom, Slack, Blackboard, Lynda, Canvas, Google Classroom, AnyMeeting, and Moodle. AWS, Microsoft, and Google host and manage all applications in a public cloud environment. Increased spend on cloud services by select industries due to COVID-19. Industries such as IT and ITeS, telecom, online retail/commerce, media, and BFSI, are expected to increase spending on cloud-based services to sustain their business. Highly regulated and cash-rich industries, such as BFSI, are also expected to move selective workloads to public cloud environments.

The market is expected to be driven by the need of cloud migration and customization

Cloud migration services have gained popularity as enterprises across the globe continue to migrate workloads from on-premises infrastructure to cloud environments for better operational efficiency and cost savings. The demand for cloud services has surged in recent times due to COVID-19, and many enterprises across the regions have shifted enterprise workloads on cloud environment. Therefore, CSB vendors specializing in migration and customization services are in high demand. Cloud brokers offer customization services to the customers as per business needs, which provides better-bundled offerings facilitating higher returns on cloud investments.

Increased security capabilities and customized costing in private cloud-based services is driving the adoption of private cloud-based deployment

A private cloud is a computing model that offers a proprietary environment dedicated to a single business entity. A private cloud provides extended and virtualized computing resources. This deployment model enables a company to have better control over its data and reduce risks, such as data loss and issues related to regulatory compliance. The private cloud is used in banking and financial institutions, large enterprises, and government organizations, where only authorized users can access the system. The acceptance of private cloud deployments for enterprises with compliance concerns is due to its security and control benefits. Service providers offering hosted private cloud address significant essentials of compliance with regulations, such as HIPAA and PCI. Some of the popular private cloud providers are VMware, DXC, Dell EMC, Oracle, IBM, and Microsoft.

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North America to dominate the global Cloud Services Brokerage Market in 2020

North America has been continued to dominate the CSB market in terms of revenue and is expected to have the largest market size among regions in the CSB market as the organizations are shifting toward cloud-based solutions and services with the increasing adoption of digital business strategies. This trend is expected to continue during the forecast period. North America is a mature market due to the presence of various players offering CSB. Enterprises are increasing their budgets to accommodate CSB, which is favoring the growth of the Cloud Services Brokerage Market in North America. The US and Canada are the top countries in North America, which contribute to the CSB market. The US, being a major economy, holds a significant market share due to the countrys technological advancements and the inclination toward innovation and the adoption of new technologies. Organizations have invested substantially in advanced technologies to gain a competitive advantage and increase business productivity. The Cloud Services Brokerage Market is expected to grow steadily as enterprises are adopting cloud-based solutions and services at various levels as a part of their strategy to sustain themselves in the market and achieve improved business functioning.

The Cloud Services Brokerage Market includes major vendors, such as Accenture (Ireland), IBM (US), VMware (US), Jamcracker (US), ActivePlatform (Belarus), Arrow Electronics (US), Cloudmore (Sweden), Wipro (India), DXC Technology (US), iPortalis (UK), Cognizant (US), InContinuum (Netherlands), Flexera (US), BitTitan (US), OpenText (Canada), CloudFX (Singapore), Proximitum (UK), Eshgro (Netherlands), NEC (Japan), AWS (US), CloudSME (Germany), Shivaami (India), NTT Data (US), Infosys (India), TCS (India), Pax8 (US), Oracle (US), Fujitsu (Japan), Microsoft (US), Capgemini (France), and Doublehorn (US).

The major players have implemented various growth strategies to expand their global presence and increase their market shares. Key players such as Accenture, IBM, VMware, Jamcracker, and ActivePlatform have majorly adopted many growth strategies, such as new product launches, acquisitions, and partnerships, to expand their product portfolios and grow further in the CSB market.

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A judge has approved a 15,000 settlement offer for a child whose face broke out in a red angry-looking rash after having been cleaned with baby wipes bought in an Aldi store.

Barrister Esther Earley told Judge John OConnor in the Circuit Civil Court today that the Mamia baby wipes packaging had stated they were fragrance free, mild, gentle, dermatologically tested and hypoallergenic.

Ms Earley, who appeared with Harringtons Solicitors for Cole Doyle and his mother, Diane Geraghty, of Balcurris Park West, Ballymun, Dublin 11, said the wipes had been manufactured and sold by Aldi.

She told the court that the wipes had been bought by Coles mum in Ballymun Aldi store in January 2017 when Cole was only four and after his father had used them to clean his face he had developed a very unpleasant allergic reaction to them.

His skin was very sore and peeled as a result of a red angry-looking rash that spread across his face, but it settled down after a number of weeks Ms Earley said.

He had been taken to his GP, Dr Charles Smyth, who had recommended a soothing and healing treatment for the boy.

Judge OConnor, who heard that the boy had developed a mild psychological reaction to the appearance and use of wipes, approved a 15,000 settlement offer from Aldi Stores (Ireland) Ltd, which had conceded liability in the case.

In a list of settlements by defendants in eight road accident claims on behalf of minors under the age of 18, Judge OConnor today approved offers totalling 136,000. They averaged 17,000 and ranged from 10,000 to 25,000.

This article was amended on March 26, 2021
HOLLAND, MI  A parent-led group is asking Holland Public Schools to consider removing its police officers from district buildings, arguing the role has a negative impact on students of color.

The group Community Action for Reform and Equity (CARE) is arguing the presence of school resource officers (SROs) contribute to the school-to-prison pipeline that funnels minority students into the criminal justice system.

CARE is made up of district parents and community members. The coalition is asking the school district to consider reallocating funds used for the officers to focus on creating a positive school environment.

The initiatives CARE is putting forward are not anti police; this is about promoting the best practices to support our students and schools, group leaders told MLive in a statement.

There are clear concerns about the presence of police in schools given our nations history of racial injustice and of racially biased police practices, but our primary concern is the best use of public resources for the betterment of the kids in our schools.

Holland parents Dan Carter, Jill Russell and Chris Theule-VanDam spoke on behalf of the group at a Holland Board of Education meeting last week, where they presented board members with their suggestions to remove officers from buildings.

A growing body of research on the school-to-prison pipeline in America shows how police officers in schools have a disproportionate, negative impact on kids of color, the parents wrote in a letter to the school board.

We are asking Holland Public Schools, as a majority minority school system, to be aware of and respond to this research.

The letter is signed by around 100 Holland parents, former teachers and community members.

Like many public schools in Michigan and across the county, Holland and other West Michigan schools have had police officers and sheriffs deputies roaming their campuses for years.

But amid calls for police reform triggered by the death of a George Floyd, there has ben more scrutiny of the use of law enforcement at schools. Floyd, a Black man, died in Minneapolis on May 26, 2020 after a white police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes, prompting protests nationwide against police brutality and systemic racism.

Kalamazoo Public Schools has also faced calls to remove school resource officers. A petition was started last June to get the school board to remove them from two high schools. But after months of debate, the school board voted in December to renew the districts one-year contract with the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety and the Kalamazoo Township Police Department.

RELATED: Kalamazoo school board votes to keep police officers in schools

In Holland, the parent-led group pointed to the suspension and expulsion rates at Hollands middle and high schools, available publicly through state data, questioning why Holland has higher disciplinary rates than other schools.

State data shows Hollands suspension and expulsion rates are higher than those of neighboring schools, schools with similar student characteristics, and the Michigan average.

As parents and community members we would like to see the expulsion and suspension rates broken down by race and ethnicity of each of these three schools for the past 5 years, the group said in its statement to MLive.

We believe that access to this information and accountability to it will help to resolve issues around systemic racism and work to eliminate the school to prison pipeline.

But Superintendent Brian Davis said Hollands police officers are not involved in disciplinary action against students. He said discipline is left to school administrators.

Instead, the role of the districts police officers is to develop relationships with students, serving as a bridge between school, home and the Holland community, Davis said.

They help us teach our curriculum, they read with kids, they help to resolve conflicts, they help to find bicycles that are lost or stolen, Davis explained.

They just do so much for us, and thats different than what you will see related to the school-to-prison pipeline, where theyre involved with discipline. Ours dont do that.

The school district has two full-time school resource officers  one at Holland Middle School and one at the Holland High. The positions are supported through an agreement between the district and the Holland Department of Public Safety, which Davis said costs the district between $50,000 to 60,000 annually.

The group argued those funds could be better used in a way that positively impacts students.

In their letter, parents suggested three ways the funding spent on school resource officers could be used:

Training school staff to ensure a safe environment.

Hiring community intervention workers or behavior interventionists.

Hiring restorative justice coordinators.

We have parents from the district who would love to help make this change, the letter said. And with the hiring of our new (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) director, Taran McZee, it seems like now is the time to move in this direction.

Hispanic and Latino students make up just under half of the districts student population, or 47% of its 3,079 students. Around 10% of the districts students are African American and 35% are white, state data shows.

Davis said the district has already implemented many of the resources suggested. He said the district provides annual training to staff on restorative justice, and also has many community partnerships that coordinate social and emotional health and counseling for students and their families.

Oftentimes, the school resource officer is engaged in that work, and helps to share background information that they might know about whats been happening in the community, or with the family or the relationship that theyve developed with that young person, Davis said.

Davis said he thinks the calls from the community group have opened up an opportunity to inform the public about the positive role that officers play at Holland Public Schools.

The superintendent said he is open to reviewing the districts current policies, because he believes some community members may not fully understand how officers operate within the schools. Davis said he especially wants the public to understand that Hollands officers dont discipline students.

I think its a great opportunity to review, to understand what the practices are that do exist, to explore and look at alternative ideas, but I think it begins with a common and shared understanding of what are we currently doing, he said.

Davis said a group of school officials will share information about Hollands resource officers at the next school board meeting, as well as topics like what the school-to-prison pipeline is, and how Hollands suspensions and expulsions have actually decreased over the past several years.

The next school board meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday, April 26, according to the district website.

There will be an opportunity for our board to hear that, and to ask questions about that, and thatll be a public meeting where individuals can participate and the public can engage in that, Davis said.

More on MLive:

Use of student seclusion and restraint draws criticism, questions for Saline schools

See how much your Michigan school district is getting from latest stimulus

COVID-19 pandemic still teaching Michigan schools lessons a year later
South Africa: SA invests R18.9 million in two nanosatellites

The Department of Science and Innovation (DSI) has invested about R18.9 million in the development of two nanosatellites, a move that will increase maritime domain awareness in South Africa.

According to DSI, this is the first initiative in the country, which seeks to provide communication services to the maritime industry.

The funding was channelled through DSIs Technology Innovation Agency (TIA) to the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT), an institution that is playing a leading role in growing space science and technology in South Africa.

The statement said the university has developed cutting-edge nanosatellites and cube satellites (CubeSats) over the years, demonstrating advanced technological capabilities in the country's space industry.

South Africa needs a more strategic and coordinated approach to ensure optimal surveillance of the waters off its coast, including shipping movements within the country's exclusive economic zone, the department said, adding that it will promote improved maritime domain awareness and enhanced maritime security.

The two maritime industry nanosatellites will be powered by "M2MSat" technology, in the form of cutting-edge VHD Data Exchange System (VDES) software-defined radios for machine-to-machine (M2M) communication.

A software-defined radio (SDR) system uses software for the modulation and demodulation of radio signals, performing significant amounts of signal processing in a general-purpose computer.

The technology brings flexibility, cost-efficiency and power to drive communications forward, with wide-reaching benefits, the department explained.

The technology will also enable the delivery of complex analytics and ubiquitous positioning of high-value assets, as well as mission-critical services, at a lower cost than the deployment of traditional satellite systems.

Developed as a collaboration between CPUT and local company Stone Three Communications, the M2MSat technology advances the state of the art in space innovation, significantly improving on the technology on-board CPUT's ZACube-2 nanosatellite, which was launched in 2018.

In South Africa, the department said, the space industry ecosystem  including supporting space engineering programmes, human capacity development, infrastructure investments and technological innovations  is part of the high-end infrastructure sectors that are critical to the country's economic recovery.

The development and commercialisation of the M2MSat platform will position South Africa as a key contributor of innovation in the space sector globally, feeding into the space value chain, growing partnerships with industry, and fast-tracking the creation and exploitation of space knowledge and innovation.

Meanwhile, plans are underway to develop Denels Overberg Test Range (OTR) in the Western Cape as a facility to launch future CubeSats developed by the CPUT.

Earlier this month, researchers and students at the University of KwaZulu-Natals Aerospace Systems Research Group successfully launched two-hybrid rockets as part of the Phoenix Hybrid Sounding Rocket Programme.

The successful launch saw one of the test rockets travel 17.9 km into the air achieving a new African hybrid rocket altitude record, a significantly huge success for South African engineering and the development of African satellite rocket launch capability.

The second rocket made more than 10km altitude with a payload from CPUT.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2021-03-26. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.


In the forests of southeastern Myanmar, aid workers say the army was shooting and arresting people long before last months military overthrow.

These largely unseen activities continue. In the countrys rural southeast, the army has forced as many as 8,000 ethnic Karen people to flee their homes. International aid groups say it is the worst problem there in nearly 10 years.

The Karen are now living in the jungle. Many are worried about their health and security. There does not appear to be a way for them to return to their villages.

The crisis in this area has been forgotten since the government campaign against those protesting the overthrow that removed the government of Aung San Suu Kyi.

The crisis is a reminder of the force Myanmars army has long used against civilians, especially the countrys ethnic minorities.

The Karen National Union (KNU) is the leading political organization for the Karen people. It works to meet the needs of the displaced by providing food, security and housing.

But Padoh Saw Taw Nee said they cannot do it forever. He is the head of the KNUs international department. He answered questions from reporters by email. The international community should reach out with humanitarian assistance to these people who are in need as soon as possible, he said.

The Karen are among more than 12 ethnic groups in Myanmar that have been asking for greater independence from the central government. Myanmar, earlier known as Burma, became independent from Britain in 1948.

At times, some of the ethnic groups have had armed conflict with the government; in recent years, many have reached an uneasy ceasefire. They were in talks with Suu Kyis government, but failed to reach an agreement before she was removed by the army.

The army has aggressively expanded its influence in at least two parts of Karen state since 2017. It has built new bases and roads to control the area. Aid organizations there say army activity and the number of soldiers have increased recently.

The Karen have their own armed force, the Karen National Liberation Army. It has fought against the government, causing government troops to bomb local villages.

Aid agencies say the 8,000 people who fled to the jungle are safe. They are trying to build shelters and open schools.

The Free Burma Rangers is a humanitarian group that has been bringing in aid since the attacks began. Its founder and director, Dave Eubank, is a former member of U.S. Special Forces. He organizes medical aid and food for villagers. He spoke to the Associated Press (AP) by telephone.

He said that stopping attacks by Myanmars troops provides security and survival. They are most important. But the Karen also need food, medical aid and shelter, he added.

In 2012, the Karen National Union signed a ceasefire with the government, but the government has ignored it.

Burma expert David Mathieson told the AP that the Karen have always understood that the army is a threat.

When you live in these areas of ongoing armed conflict you know exactly who you are dealing with and you know that you cant trust them, he said.

This is the military trying to subjugate the entire country once again, he added.

Im Susan Shand.

The Associated Press reported this story. Susan Shand adapted it for Learning English. Mario Ritter, Jr. was the editor.

________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

jungle  n. a thick forest in areas near the Equator of the Earth

subjugate  v. to defeat and gain control of someone or something through the use of force

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Mann has been involved in the venture capital marketplace for over 25 years and brings a wealth of experience to the team in a variety of areas

Inc (TSXV:LKY) (OTCPINK:LKMNF) (FRA:LKY) announced late Thursday that Steven Cozine has resigned as the companys corporate secretary and that Diane Mann has been appointed to replace him, effective March 1.

Mann has been involved in the venture capital marketplace for over 25 years and brings a wealth of experience to the team in a variety of areas, the company said. Her career began in the investment industry and over the years, she has worked with several mining resource companies, primarily in executive administration, corporate communications, and special project coordination.

Mann is skilled at supporting complex organizations through periods of constant and rapid growth through the proper application of strategic communications, stakeholder liaison and project management.

"We are pleased to be adding Ms. Mann to our corporate team as we move forward with our ongoing exploration activities in Ecuador, CEO Francois Perron said in a statement. Her knowledge and expertise in handling corporate matters and working with executives and directors are well established. We would also like to thank Mr. Cozine for his service to over the past few years and wish him well in his future endeavours."

Lucky Minerals also announced that Perron has been granted 700,000 stock options, which are subject to the terms and conditions of the company's stock option plan and are exercisable at a price of C$0.10 per share until March 25, 2026.

Contact Andrew Kessel at andrew.kessel@proactiveinvestors.com

Follow him on Twitter @andrew_kessel
On Feb. 23, the Zionist Organization of America sent a letter to Penguin Random House to complain about the anti-Israel bias in former President Barack Obamas memoir A Promised Land. The organization has yet to hear back, says ZOA National President Morton Klein.

Having received complaints from our supporters and conducting our own review, we are deeply concerned about the factual inaccuracies, material omissions and outright falsehoods contained in Obamas book, the letter states, which was co-signed by Klein, ZOA Chairman Mark S. Levenson and Susan B. Tuchman, director of the Center for Law & Justice.

The letter says that given the book would have enormous reach and influence, it should have been subjected to the most scrupulous fact-checking possible. In the case of Obamas discussions of Israel, it says, this was not the case and goes on to list 15 Obama falsehoods.

The letter calls on the publisher to fix the errors and omissions.

We hope that the book publisher respects the truth and integrity and we want him to have the portion of Israel rewritten to only have accurate facts and to release any new editions with a changed accurate chapter about Israel, Klein tells World Israel News.

We would like the publisher to ask Obama to rewrite those portions about Israel that are filled with lies, he said.

Klein notes the chances the publisher will agree are very small.

They would do it if other Jewish groups spoke out but not a single Jewish group that Im aware of has complained about this book. Its not only deeply troubling but it enables the publisher not to have to worry about the anti-Israel lies in the book, he said.

The ZOA lists the distortions it wants corrected, citing chapter and verse from Obamas book and then providing a detailed refutation. For instance, in Obama Falsehood #7, the ZOA says the former president writes that The Palestine Liberation Organization arose after the Six-Day War, as a result of Palestinians living within the occupied territories 

The ZOA points out, The PLO arose three years before the war, in 1964 

In Obama Falsehood #9, the ZOA says Obama makes it appear that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon sparked the Second Intifada by visiting the Temple Mount in September 2000, calling it deliberately provocative and a stunt that enraged Arabs near and far.

Obama Falsehood #15 states:  just about every country in the world considered Israels occupation of the Palestinian territories to be a violation of international law 

The fact is, there is no consensus that the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria are illegal. Numerous legal authorities affirm the legal right of Israeli communities to be there.

It is inaccurate to refer to Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem as Palestinian territories. In fact, Israel has the right to these areas under international law, including the San Remo Resolution, the British Mandate, the Anglo-American Treaty of 1924, and UN Charter Article 80. Jews have lived in these territories since ancient times, except from 1948 to 1967 when Jordan illegally occupied them and expelled the Jews. These territories never belonged to Jordan or to the Palestinian Arabs who never had sovereignty or sovereign rights there, or in any part of what was known as Palestine.

The ZOA says, as has been admitted by the Palestinian leadership since, that the Second Intifada was planned by PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat well in advance of Sharons visit.

Klein says the book violates the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliances definition of anti-Semitism.

Hes saying things that are untrue about Israel. When you have one lie after another about Israel, thats anti-Semitism. Does he have any complaints about Abbas and the Palestinian Authority? The PLO? No, Klein said.

He has one line of distortion after another that hurts Israel. He has no lies and distortions that make Israel look better than they deserve, he said.
Korea is set to ban outdoor liquor advertising. The Ministry of Health and Welfare announced the decision on Thursday and said it is sounding out public opinion. The ban will become effective in late June.

The ban includes roof-top billboards, banners and posters.

Liquor ads will also be banned from video-on-demand, IPTV and other online broadcasts from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., just as they are on TV.

Liquor manufacturers complain that the ban is excessive. One staffer at a liquor company said, "Stores selling alcohol are reeling from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and we worry that business conditions will get even worse."
WASHINGTON  Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Friday appointed Maj. Gen. William J. Walker, the commander of the District of Columbia National Guard, as the House sergeant-at-arms, a move that will place the security of both chambers of Congress in the hands of accomplished military leaders after the deadly Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

General Walker will become the first Black person to lead security in the House in its 232-year history.

General William Walker has proven to be a leader of great integrity and experience who will bring his steady and patriotic leadership to this vital role, Ms. Pelosi said in a statement. His historic appointment as the first Black American to serve as sergeant-at-arms is an important step forward for this institution and our nation.

Ms. Pelosi added that General Walkers experience would be an important asset to the House, particularly in light of the Jan. 6 insurrection.
Almost three weeks after a 34-year-old man from Northborough was killed in a hit-and-run crash, authorities are asking for the publics help as part of their investigation.

Ian A. Dalgliesh was killed March 7 in a hit and run in Bridgewater, authorities said, and police continue to search for the driver involved in the fatal crash.

Police responded to a crash at 12:40 a.m. on March 7 at the intersection of Auburn and Summer Streets after a passing driver noticed an unconscious man in the roadway.

Upon arrival, officers discovered the man displayed obvious trauma, authorities said. The Bridgewater Fire Department rendered aid, but Dalgliesh was pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said.

An investigation has determined that Dalgliesh was struck by a vehicle, the Plymouth District Attorneys office said.

Anyone with information or who was in the area of Auburn, Flagg and Summer Streets between 11:30 p.m. and 12:40 a.m. on March 7 are urged to contact Bridgewater police detectives at 508 697 6118 or the Massachusetts State Police at 508 894 2600.
As Britain at last begins to emerge from the pandemic, our country desperately needs a spirit of unity and solidarity.

But the inflammatory row at Batley Grammar over a teachers use of the Prophet Muhammads image in a religious studies class threatens to undermine social cohesion  not just in Yorkshire but across Britain. Unless sensitively handled, the fall-out could escalate racial tensions between Muslim communities and the white working class.

As angry protests outside the school feed the negative stereotype of intolerant Islamic fundamentalism, there is a real danger of a backlash from extremist groups such as Britain First.

As a British Muslim, I have found the saga profoundly depressing. Given my faith, I understand the hurt that many pupils and parents will have felt at the teachers decision to show a picture of the Prophet, whose representation is regarded as sacrilegious by many Muslims.

The inflammatory row at Batley Grammar (pictured) over a teachers use of the Prophet Muhammads image in a religious studies class threatens to undermine social cohesion  not just in Yorkshire but across Britain

It has been reported that the image was the infamous one taken from the satirical French magazine Charlie Hebdo that sparked a blood-soaked massacre in Paris in 2015.

Pictured, Dr Rakib Ehsan is an independent researcher and writer on culture issue

But the crucial point is that nothing is yet certain about the context of the lesson, how the topic was introduced, or what the teacher even said.

Most of those now fiercely denouncing the teacher do so from a position of ignorance.

Whatever the truth about the image, however, nothing can justify the climate of brutal intimidation which has subsequently enveloped the school.

The response has been reckless and disproportionate. In an episode that should have no part in modern, pluralistic Britain, the teacher has not only been suspended, but has now been given 24-hour police protection. It is unlikely that they will ever work again at the school. Head Gary Kibble should have been far more robust in defending his colleague. Instead, he made a craven apology for causing offence. While recognising that religious beliefs should be treated with respect, I think this ultra-defensive approach is badly misplaced. Britain is a democracy, not a theocracy.

Even though more than 70 per cent of its pupil intake are Muslims of south Asian heritage, Batley Grammar is not in any sense an Islamic institution. On the contrary, it is a classic English state school, with roots stretching back to the 17th Century, funded by taxpayers of all faiths and none.

Despite the indignation of the demonstrators, it is not the duty of such a school, in a secular education system, to accommodate every kind of religious sensibility.

In fact, Batley Grammar has a responsibility to promote dialogue, critical thinking and openness so its pupils are equipped to become informed and inquiring citizens in a democratic society.

What makes the furore so worrying is that demonstrations seem to have been hijacked by the hardliners, many of whom appear to be young men with no real connection to the school. Some Batley parents have spoken privately of feeling intimidated. Little wonder given the disgraceful, incendiary behaviour of Mohammad Sajad Hussain, of local charity Purpose of Life.

Despite the indignation of the demonstrators, it is not the duty of such a school, in a secular education system, to accommodate every kind of religious sensibility

Pandering to the worst instincts of the mob, he put out a statement that revealed the name of the teacher, then compared the use of the Prophets image to an act of terrorism.

Those who seek to whip up hatred in Batley are playing a horrifically dangerous game, given that French teacher Samuel Paty was decapitated in the suburbs of Paris last year, after being accused falsely, it turned out  of insulting the Prophet in a class.

Needed now are sober reflection, willingness to compromise and recognition that schools should be free to deal with a wide range of materials, some of which will be controversial.

Tragically, the zealots want to head in the opposite direction. Britain abolished its blasphemy laws in 2008, decades after they had fallen into disuse. But now there is a concerted attempt to bring them back in practice for Islam, by presenting any criticism of the faith as a form of Islamophobic hate speech.

Needed now are sober reflection, willingness to compromise and recognition that schools should be free to deal with a wide range of materials, some of which will be controversial

That has already happened in Scotland, where justice secretary Humza Yousaf recently forced through a draconian law that effectively criminalises any rhetoric or conduct that can be portrayed as stirring up hatred. In all but name, this amounts to an anti-blasphemy statute.

Before some Muslims demand the same in England, they should understand that this country has been remarkably successful in welcoming newcomers of non-Christian faiths. A recent survey found that 76 per cent of British Muslims feel free to practise their religion.

That finding makes a mockery of the fundamentalists self-pitying narrative of victimhood and Islamophobia. The opposite is true, as I myself have found. Britain is a land of astonishing generosity, and for all its flaws, it remains one of the most successful examples of a modern pluralistic democracy in the world.

That will be lost if we cave in to hardline demands for the erosion of democracy. That is the road to resentment and discord. Batley must not be the precursor to such a disaster.
Bill Gates said the world will not return to normal, with no traces of the COVID-19 pandemic, until the end of 2022.



The billionaire philanthropist made the prediction on Thursday during an interview with Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza and television broadcaster TVN24.



'This is an incredible tragedy.



'We can measure the economic cost but we probably can't even measure the loss of learning, the suffering from the restrictions that we've had to put in place, to keep the deaths from being even higher.



'The only good news here is that we can now see an end.



'We can see vaccines, almost all of which have worked, to a large degree are finally getting out, so we can see the end is in sight.



'[In the US], probably by the end of the year, the vaccinations will be high enough that the numbers won't hit zero but they'll start to come down, school will be back in session.



'Until we get rid of it for the entire world, we'll still have some restrictions on bans on public gatherings, but even that by the end of 2022, if we all work together, we should be completely back to normal,' he said.



He was promoting his book, How To Avoid A Climate Disaster.



He also said that had some 'investments' been made early on by the international community, the scale of the pandemic could have been avoided.



'Well the most important thing is that people like myself who warned that we have this risk and for a small cost, a level of investment, we could avoid this problem.



'Well the most important thing is that people like myself who warned that we had this risk and for a small cost, a level of investment, we could be ready and avoid this problem.



'Those investments were not made. Among those are the idea of being able to very quickly diagnose people.



'Fortunately a technology called PCR allows us to do a test, a very accurate test, and if in the early stage of a pandemic you test enough people, and then quarantine those who test positive, you can avoid this exponential growth that forces you to shut down so much activity.'



Gates added that while some countries successfully contained the virus, others failed;.



'A few countries like Australia, South Korea, New Zealand did that very, very well.



'Sadly, most of Europe, South America and the US did not so we suffered an incredible problem.



The numbers got very, very large. And even the trade offs, how we handled it, were very difficult.

Source: Dailymail









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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Queen Letizia looked stylish in a houndstooth jacket during the second day of her visit to Andorra.

The Spanish Queen, 48, opted for a business casual look with a Carolina Herrera jacket she first wore in February to visit the Spanish School Maria Moliner with King Felipe VI, 53, this morning.

The couple arrived in Andorra yesterday for their first state visit to the principality since Felipe VI became King in 2014.

Last night, the couple put on a chic display for a state dinner marking their arrival, with Letizia wearing a stylish nude-coloured feather top with black ribbon belt.

Today, the pair hit the ground running and met with pupils and staff of a local Spanish school during a socially distanced visit where they both wore masks.

Queen Letizia of Spain, 48, opted for a stylish houndstooth motif jacket for a day filled with engagements in Andorra, on the second day of her and King Felipe's visit to the principality

She wrapped up in a jacket with a fine houndstooth grey-on-grey detail, which she teamed with an oversized black vinyl belt and a black scarf.

The royal paired the fitted jacket with a pair of black trousers, which she wore with black flat sandals from Hugo Boss.

Her hazelnut locks bounced on her shoulders in a glossy and healthy blow-dry, and she kept make-up to a minimum, sporting only a dash of mascara and eye-shadow.

Letizia picked a practical outfit today, left, after stunning in a structured outfit last night with a nude-coloured feathered top, right

King Felipe looked dashing in a blue suit paired with a pink shirt and red tie.

Last night, as the first day of their visit culminated in a state dinner, Letizia stunned in a feathered bustier top.

The Spanish queen turned heads as she arrived for an official dinner at Andorra Park Hotel.

She paired her nude, feathered top with smart black trousers and stiletto heels and a matching clutch bag.

Letizia wrapped up in a black scarf, left, to face the morning breeze of Andorra. She looked confident in flat sandal shoes, right

Wearing her brown hair in a loose bun, the royal put safety first in a face mask and added glamorous makeup - including lashings of mascara and subtle eyeshadow.

The loose hairstyle complemented the structured outfit and gave the monarch a cool and relaxed appearance.

The two day trip marks the couple's first trip outside of Spain since the start of the pandemic, with state visits previously off the cards for Europe's royals due to travel restrictions.

Queen Felipe VI opened for a blue suit with a light blue shirt and red tie for the event this morning

Felipe VI and Letizia met with pupils and chatted with their in the school's playground during their visit. The children were waving Spanish flags

Letizia paired the jacket with an oversized black vinyl belf, and sported a natural makeup, with just a dash of mascara and eye-shadow

It is also the first time Felipe and Letizia have visited Andorra since the Monarch's enthronement in 2014, following his father King Juan Carlos's abdication.

The trip comes ahead of Andorra's presidency of the Ibero-American Summit of Heads of State and Government in April, which King Felipe will also attend.

Andorra is one of the smallest states in Europe. It is an independent European co-principality situated among the southern peaks of the Pyrenees Mountains and bounded by France and Spain.

Letizia last wore the gown on February 16 as she attended an exhibit at the National Library in Madrid, opting to style the look with a black cape coat for the visit.

Letizia of Spain, stunned as she arrived for an official dinner at Andorra Park Hotel during the first day of her state visit to Andorra last night. Pictured, with Patrick Strzoda, representative of the French President

The Spanish monarch opted for a stylish beige feather top with black waist-tie detail, which she paired with smart black trousers and stiletto heels

The stylish royal paired her outfit with a timeless pair of stiletto heels and matching clutch bag
JACKSON, MI - Jeff Beal understands that attracting high-end talent in a profession with a shrinking number of qualified candidates is tough under any circumstances, let alone during a global pandemic.

Thats why Jackson Public Schools is looking to sweeten the deal by offering new teachers up to $10,000 in incentives if they choose to work in the district.

JPS is offering successful applicants a one-time sign-on bonus of $500 to cover moving fees, followed by a one-time cash bonus of $5,000 after the completion of their first year in the district. Additional bonuses of $2,500 and $2,000 are offered at the successful completion of teachers second and third years with the district, respectively.

By the end of their third year, Beal said the district has a good idea if it is going to keep a teacher on board. In Michigan, teachers are eligible for tenure after five years, but they are required to have three successful evaluations, making those first few years mission critical for many young teachers, Beal said.

When youre looking at hiring as many teachers as were going to be hiring in the next several weeks, I dont want to end up in August or September hoping someone is going to walk through the door, Beal said.

We intend to be very aggressive in the marketplace because quite frankly, less folks are going into education as a field and the colleges and universities are churning out less students. We want to make Jackson Public Schools a first-stop destination for all of the blue-chip talent out there.

JPS is looking to hire around 30 teachers between now and Aug. 1, Beal said. Every year, the district anticipates around 10 to 12 retirements, he said, while about 10 to 12 jobs currently are open for next year already.

JPS is planning to hire another eight to 10 positions in an effort to reduce some class sizes, acknowledging the need for social distancing in the classroom with the continued presence of COVID-19 in the community, Beal said.

The bonuses are JPS way of differentiating itself in an increasingly competitive job market that is seeing fewer teachers candidates applying for openings, Beal said.

That has been a growing concern, not just at JPS, but really across the state and country for a very, very long time, Beal said. When I got my teaching job back in the 90s, there were dozens of applicants for every position. Today, we could have one, two or maybe zero applicants for a position. Ive got a couple of open positions right now were actively pursuing that have been open all year.

With JPS targeting five days of in-person instruction for the fall, Beal said it is important the district has the staff to accommodate the district, acknowledging the COVID-19 pandemic will still be an issue.

Teacher shortages are prevalent at JPS and throughout the state, Beal said, which is symptomatic of the current employment landscape beyond education.

I think thats part of the challenge we run into in the labor market, all around, he said. Theres not a day that goes by that Im not looking for bus drivers. Those support staff positions are every bit as vital to us as any of the others, because they help to make our district run.

Several early childhood organizations and all 15 local schools in the Jackson County Intermediate School District are expected to participate in a one-day virtual job fair the ISD is hosting with Michigan Works! Southeast from noon to 5 p.m. on April 28. More details on the job fair will be available as the event draws closer.

Like Michigan and the rest of the nation, we are facing a teacher shortage, said Kaci Babineau, Jackson County Intermediate School District marketing and special projects coordinator. Schools are having a hard time finding qualified candidates and a lot of people are retiring. We thought having all of us in one place would make it a great benefit for job seekers looking to get into the education field.

Ultimately, Beal believes the education field is still rewarding and offers a competitive wages. JPS teacher salaries start at more than $40,000 and pay into the low-$80,000-range.

What we recognize is that the education system as a whole has kind of been beaten up by politicians on both sides of the aisle about fixing something that needs to happen, he said. School districts are responsible for the health and wellbeing of folks with their activities outside of school in an area we cant control. Theres a lot of pressure out there that would tell people this isnt a great profession, but I would argue that its a phenomenal profession.

For more information on teacher and other job openings at JPS, visit the districts website.

READ MORE:

Help wanted: Teacher shortage hits Michigans schools

Michigan teachers cite pay and respect as key to addressing teacher shortage, report says

Student failure rates drive in-person learning increase at Jackson Public Schools
Georgia State Representative Park Cannon Arrested for Knocking on Governor Kemps Door During the Signing of Controversial Voting Bill

Democratic State Representative Park Cannon was arrested on Thursday for knocking on Georgia Governor Brian Kemps door; the proceedings happening in Kemps office were about new limitations on mail-in voting. The legislation will heavily impact Black voting in the State; as it seems to lean towards expanding access to in-person early voting, Cannon said she was arrested for fighting voter suppression, according to NPR news.

The bill has been persistently disputed because it would marginalize voting within the Black community, where their strength was reflected in November and January elections, the State was led by Black voters. Lawmakers have been at odds about the initiative for a number of months.

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According to NPR news, Cannon is being charged with obstructing law enforcement by use of threats or violence in addition to disrupting a federal meeting and its members. There has been no clarification of what was conversed between the state trooper and Cannon.

The previously noted source stated that there are several videos capturing the arrest; Cannon is heard repeatedly stating that she is a state lawmaker. In the video, she is seeing being pulled away and she continues to identify herself as a Georgia State Lawmaker and requests the reason she is being arrested.

NPR uses a quote from the video, Cannon is recorded stating, There is no reason for me to be arrested, I am a legislator. The news and images of her arrest went viral on all social media platforms. NPR reflected on Georgias constitution which states, lawmakers shall be free from arrest during sessions of the General Assembly except for treason, felony or breach of the peace.

Cannon was booked at a Fulton County local Jail and held for $6,000 bond according to NBC; by 11 p.m. she had been released according to the information by attorney Gerald A. Briggs, who spoke to supporters and media agents outside the jail where Cannon was located. According to the previously mentioned news source, Griggs confirmed that Cannon did receive bruising from the arrest. Another lawmaker, Senator Raphael Warnock of Georgia visited Cannon when she was held.

Cannon responded to the incident via Twitter on Friday, showing gratitude towards her supporters and she stated, I am not the first Georgian to be arrested for fighting voter suppression. Id love to say Im the last, but we know that isnt true. Attorney Griggs confirmed that the charges against Cannon will be challenged.

According to the Washington Post, Facebook Live captured Cannon knocking on the door of Kemps office, as he was holding a news conference about the SB 202 bill. The legislation is designing a set of restrictions on how ballots will be casted and counted in Georgia.

The Georgia governor looks to sign it into law and would reduce the use of drop boxes and enact the use of new ID requirements for mail-in voting. Washington Post captured a statement from Tamara Stevens, an activist who captured an incident Thursday night, She wasnt banging on the door, a capitol officer came over and said, Dont knock on my door, and shes like, Well, are they in there signing the bill? and hes like, Dont knock on the door. And it was at that point that I started filming.

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The charges were confirmed by the Georgia Department of Public Safety, and according to the Washington Post, Senator Raphael G. Warnock elaborated on the contempt of Cannons arrest during a highly controversial bill that affects Black voting. The previously noted source captured a statement from Warnock, What we have witnessed today is a desperate attempt to lockout and squeeze the people out of their own democracy, Warnock continued, We are going to take this fight to give the people their voices back.

The bill is now signed into law, among other restrictions, handing out food and water to voters standing in line by a third party is now a criminalized act. Washington post unearthed more of the Cannons tweets on Friday, Cannon stated via Twitter, Who  and what  are they protecting when they work this hard to suppress our vote?

Lawyer Gerald Griggs is looking to challenge the felony offenses against Cannon, Washington Post said he noted on Twitter the previously mentioned Georgia State Constitution that legislators are not to be arrested during sessions of the General Assembly.

According to the law enforcement that detained Cannon, it was shortly after 6:30 p.m. when Cannon is seen beating on the door of the governors office. The video captures Cannon using normal force to Knock on the door.

Washington Post captured this statement from the police, This door is marked off with stanchions and a Governors Staff Only sign, Rep. Cannon went inside the stanchions and began knocking on the door as Kemp was holding a news conference inside.

She did not touch anybody! She did not say any slanderous words, According to Washington Post, Georgia state Rep. Erica Thomas (D) stated in favor of Cannon, Youre going to tell me that you arrested a sitting state representative for nothing

The SB 202 is coming in a timely manner, as it seems to be the aftermath of the last election; the former president challenged the authenticity of the 2020 voting results in the states that he lost, including in Georgia. Kemp aligned himself with Trumps allegations of voting, calling them common sense, according to the reports by NBC. The law is looking to tighten up voting by putting restrictions on in-mail voting along with other micro nuances that will affect the turnout.

The law allows electors to challenge the eligibility of unlimited voters and they are to hold hearings on such inquires. In the next 10 days, it will block the use of mobile voting and prevent local government from accepting specified grants from private practices, according to the Washington Post.

More of Cannons words were captured on Twitter, Washington Post quoted her tweet, On Twitter, Cannon had called the bill Jim Crow in a suit and tie, it selectively removes all of the levers Trump was unable to pull to overturn the will of the people of Georgia.
The management of the Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ) has granted amnesty to students it asked to defer their courses for failing to register for the first semester of the 2020/2021 academic year.



They can now register and write their end of semester exams, however, they have five working days, starting Thursday, March 25, 2021 to complete the process.



The management of the Institute on Tuesday, March 23, 2021, issued a directive to all students who failed to pay their fees before the school's registration deadline to defer their courses.



Following the directive, a number of the affected students on Wednesday morning, March 24, 2021, besieged the campus of the Institute to demand a reversal of the directive.



Rector of the Ghana Institute of Journalism, Professor Kwamena Kwansah-Aidoo



Professor Kwamena Kwansah-Aidoo, Rector of the Ghana Institute of Journalism



The students on Wednesday morning went to the school for lectures but were met with locked gates at the two campuses of the institute located at Osu-Ringway and Dzorwulu. There were police personnel on the campuses to ensure law and order as the number of the affected students continued to increase at the gates.



The decision to lock the gates, according to the security personnel at the school, was an order from above.



But the management in a statement on Thursday afternoon, March 25, 2021, reacting to the appeals by the affected students, said Management has listened to students' plea and accepted the apology rendered by students in good faith.



Pre Order Ghana Year Book 2021

The statement adds: Leadership, therefore, grants a general amnesty to all students to complete their registration. Affected students should immediately produce their receipts at the Academic Affairs registry to complete registration processes.



Below is the statement



GHANA INSTITUTE OF JOURNALISM



MEDIA RELEASE



GENERAL AMNESTY TO NON-REGISTERED STUDENTS



1. Management of the Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ) has magnanimously granted all students who failed to register for the first semester of the 2020/2021 Academic Year an opportunity to register and write their end of semester exams instead of deferring their programmes. Management took this decision today, Wednesday 25 March 2021, based on a petition received from student leaders yesterday and the engagement with the said students who rendered an unqualified apology on behalf of demonstrating students who had issued threats, untruths and insults against Management.



2. We wish to place on record that Management had consistently engaged with students about payment of fees and registration since 2018, when students embarked on a demonstration on a similar issue. Since then, Management has continually served notices to students and extended registration deadlines with no penalty and provided opportunities for students with difficulties to utilise the institutions processes in resolving their issues to enable them register.



3. Students embarked on a demonstration on Tuesday, 23 March 2021, without first notifying Management and discussing their difficulties and this was rather unfortunate.



4. Management has listened to students' plea and accepted the apology rendered by students in good faith. Leadership, therefore, grants a general amnesty to all students to complete their registration. Affected students should immediately produce their receipts at the Academic Affairs registry to complete registration processes. This opportunity to register shall expire in five (5) working days from today, on Thursday, 1 April 2021. Any other student who has a special case should contact the Registrar's office to avail themselves of any opportunities available for students with exceptional circumstances or difficulties. Accordingly, examinations scheduled to start on Monday, 29 March 2021, are rescheduled to Tuesday, 6 April 2021. The Academic Affairs registry shall release a new examination timetable in due course.



5. Management wishes to reiterate that it has at all times operated a humane and open-door policy by listening to students and granting many extensions. We are committed to working with students to achieve academic excellence in a spirit of cooperation, dialogue and mutual respect. Students should therefore not hesitate to approach Management with their issues and desist from resorting to demonstrations as a first resort without first engaging with leadership and without provocation.



As an institution with a vision and mission to achieve academic excellence comparable to any other global higher education institution, we shall continue to commit to international best practices in higher education administration. We, therefore, wish to remind students and all other stakeholders that GIJ is granting this amnesty to students for the last time. The Institute shall religiously enforce its registration policies at the beginning of the next academic year. Students who have difficulties in registering for financial or other reasons should approach the Institute and enter suitable arrangements in line with its policies to help build a culture of respect for academic integrity, policies and procedures and the overall sustainability of GIJ.



7. We entreat all affected students to take advantage of this amnesty and register.

Management wishes all students good luck in their examinations.





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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No doubt many Americans have welcomed Bidens holier-than-thou stance toward Putin. But an overarching reality is routinely hidden in plain sight: Everyones survival on this planet hinges on Washington-Moscow conflicts not spinning out of control.

by Norman Solomon

Last weeks outbreak of rhetorical hostilities between the White House and the Kremlin has heightened the urgent need for a summit between Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin. The spate of mutual denunciations is catnip for mass media and fuel for hardliners in both countries. But for the world at large, under the doomsday shadow of nuclear arsenals brandished by the United States and Russia, the latest developments are terribly ominous.

Whatever you think of Bidens assertion during an ABC News interview that Russias President Putin is a killer -- and whether or not you think the label might apply to Biden, given his pro-war record -- the existential imperative of U.S.-Russian relations is to avert a nuclear war. Bidens claim during the same interview that Putin does not have a soul indicates that much of the new presidents foreign-policy thinking is stuck in a cold-war rut.

No doubt many Americans have welcomed Bidens holier-than-thou stance toward Putin. But an overarching reality is routinely hidden in plain sight: Everyones survival on this planet hinges on Washington-Moscow conflicts not spinning out of control.

Lets face it: Biden is playing to the domestic anti-Russia gallery in the U.S. media and defense establishment, while making a dangerous mockery of his own claims to be a champion of diplomatic approaches to foreign affairs.

Diplomacy is back at the center of our foreign policy, Biden said when he spoke at the State Department in early February. Those whove been heartened by such statements during the first two months of Bidens presidency should insist that he live up to that vow by meeting with the head of the Russian government.

But its now clear that much more is needed from Biden than just willingness to sit down with Putin. Biden also needs a major attitude adjustment. He would greatly benefit from pondering what happened in a small New Jersey town for a few days in the early summer of 1967.

Keep in mind that at the time, the Soviet Union was in the iron grip of Communist Party leader Leonid Brezhnev and Premier Alexei Kosygin, who saw to it that freedom of the press or the right to publicly dissent did not exist inside their nation. Compared to those days, Russia under Vladimir Putin in 2021 has far more freedom in terms of media, politics and society as a whole.

The Soviet repression and violation of human rights didnt stop President Lyndon B. Johnson from trying to reduce the chances of the world blowing up. He engaged in real summitry with Kosygin. Their extended talks on the campus of Glassboro State College gave rise to what became known as the Spirit of Glassboro.

That spirit signified only a limited breakthrough. It did not prevent the next years Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, or the continuing horrific American escalation of the war in Vietnam. Yet it was genuine diplomatic dialogue -- at the highest levels of government -- and it decreased the chances of nuclear annihilation.

In the process, LBJ wouldnt have dreamed of proclaiming his Soviet counterpart a killer or declaring him to be without a soul. After more than a dozen hours of direct talks, Johnson stood next to Kosygin and, in effect, made a plea for safeguarding human survival. We have made further progress in an effort to improve our understanding of each others thinking on a number of questions, Johnson said.

Fifty-four years later, with mutual hostility now at fever pitch in Washington and Moscow, such understanding is essential. But President Biden is not showing that he has the wisdom to seek it.

A former U.S. ambassador to the Soviet Union, Jack F. Matlock, wrote last month that the vital interests of both countries are endangered when their governments treat the other as a threat, or worse, an enemy, rather than as a potential and necessary partner. He noted that the shared challenges include dealing with threats posed by nuclear weapons, pandemics, global warming and ever more destructive technologies if used in warfare.

Matlock, who served as the top American envoy in Moscow from 1987 to 1991, added: Presidents Biden and Putin now have the opportunity to find ways to cooperate in dealing with global threats, and encouraging others to do so as well. That would constitute a new operating system, suited to the threats of the present and future rather than replaying follies of the past.

No matter how much we might wish to forget or deny it, we are tied together -- as a matter of survival -- by a fraying thread of relations between the United States and Russia.

For those in the USAs government, media and general public who dont want a Biden-Putin summit to happen, I have a simple question: Do you want to reduce the chances of nuclear war? Assuming the answer is yes, any opposition to such a summit is illogical at best.

If the leaders of the two countries with more than 90 percent of the worlds nuclear warheads cant have a summit meeting and talk with each other, were in trouble. Real trouble.

Norman Solomon is the national director of RootsAction.org and the author of many books including "War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death." He was a Bernie Sanders delegate from California to the 2016 and 2020 Democratic National Conventions. Solomon is the founder and executive director of the Institute for Public Accuracy.
It will take 26 years to close Australias gender wage gap, according to new research that shows women in some industries such as sales and community services may never reach income parity with their male colleagues.

As the Liberal Party debates the possible introduction of quotas to lift the number of women in Parliament, the same research also reveals businesses that target gender inequality are bringing more women into their executive suites and closing their pay gaps faster than those that do not.

Senior team leader with infrastructure consultancy business AECOM, Sarah Caruana says women are less likely to push their accomplishments and skills when it comes to arguing for their pay. Credit:Justin McManus

The research compiled by the Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre and the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) shows that over the past seven years the total remuneration pay gap fell to 20.1 per cent from 24.7 per cent.

At that rate of fall, the pay gap on total full-time remuneration wont be closed until 2046.
LONDON - China slapped sanctions on several British politicians and organizations Friday after the U.K. joined the European Union and others in sanctioning Chinese officials accused of human rights abuses in the Xinjiang region. The U.K. responded by accusing China of violating human rights on an industrial scale.

Residents wearing masks pass near a H&M store in Beijing on Thursday, March 25, 2021. China's ruling Communist Party is lashing out at H&M and other clothing and footwear brands as it retaliates for Western sanctions imposed on Chinese officials accused of human rights abuses in the northwestern region of Xinjiang. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

LONDON - China slapped sanctions on several British politicians and organizations Friday after the U.K. joined the European Union and others in sanctioning Chinese officials accused of human rights abuses in the Xinjiang region. The U.K. responded by accusing China of violating human rights on an industrial scale.

In the latest salvo in its full-bore response to Western criticism, China sanctioned four British institutions and nine individuals, including prominent lawmakers who have criticized the treatment of the Uyghur Muslim minority in Xinjiang. It said they would be barred from visiting Chinese territory and banned from having financial transactions with Chinese citizens and institutions.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry said the censure imposed earlier this week by the EU, the United States, Britain and Canada was based on lies and disinformation, flagrantly breaches international law and basic norms governing international relations, grossly interferes in Chinas internal affairs, and severely undermines China-U.K. relations.

China does not stir up trouble, but China is not afraid when others do, Yang Xiaoguang, Chinas charge daffaires in London, said at a news conference.

Residents wearing masks pass by government propaganda with slogans some of which read "Forever follow the Party" and "China's Ethnicities One Family" in the city of Aksu in western China's Xinjiang region on Thursday, March 18, 2021. China on Friday announced sanctions on British individuals and entities following the U.K.'s joining the EU and others in sanctioning Chinese officials accused of human rights abuses in the Xinjiang region. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

China is not the first to shoot, neither will we be passive and submissive to threats from the outside," he said. "Todays world is not the world of 120 years ago. The Chinese people will not be bullied."

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson condemned Beijings move, saying the sanctioned individuals are performing a vital role shining a light on the gross human rights violations being perpetrated against Uyghur Muslims.

Freedom to speak out in opposition to abuse is fundamental and I stand firmly with them, he tweeted.

The latest sanctions and the harsh tone of comments from Beijing officials reflect China's increasingly tough diplomacy under nationalist leader Xi Jinping, who has pledged to uphold China's interests at any cost. Over recent days, China has blocked already highly limited BBC broadcasts into the country and put two Canadians on trial in apparent retribution for that country's detention of an executive of Chinese telecoms giant Huawei.

At a daily news briefing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying accused the U.S., the U.K., allied nations and portions of the Western media of collaborating to subvert Chinas unity and development.

A Chinese paramilitary police officer stands guard outside the British Embassy in Beijing, Friday, March 26, 2021. China has announced sanctions on British individuals and entities following the U.K.'s joining the EU and others in sanctioning Chinese officials accused of human rights abuses in the Xinjiang region. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

For a lengthy period of time, the U.S., U.K and others have felt free to say whatever they like without allowing others to do the same, Hua said. Those days are over and the West will have to gradually get used to it, Hua said.

China has rejected all criticism over its policies in Xinjiang, along with its crackdown on opposition figures in Hong Kong and threats against Taiwan, the self-governing island democracy China claims as its own territory. It has shrugged off U.S. sanctions against officials accused of squelching democracy in Hong Kong and angrily denounced a British plan to offer a path to residency and citizenship to millions of citizens of its former colony.

British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said China's sanctions were not going to stop the British government from speaking up about the industrial-scale human rights abuses taking place in Xinjiang.

He urged Chinese authorities to allow United Nations representatives into Xinjiang to verify facts if it wants to rebut claims of rights abuses. China says diplomats are welcome in the region but only under Beijing-imposed conditions.

The sanctions list names U.K. legislators Iain Duncan Smith, Tom Tugendhat, Neil OBrien, Tim Loughton and Nusrat Ghani, House of Lords members David Alton and Helena Kennedy, lawyer Geoffrey Nice and academic Joanne Nicola Smith Finley. It also includes a British parliamentary research group, a think-tank and a law firm that have criticized Chinese policies in Xinjiang.

Conservative lawmaker Tugendhat said the sanctions on British politicians were a violation of our sovereignty.

He said Britain wanted to to business with China but accused Xi and a small cabal of leading their country in the wrong direction.

I really do want Chinas voice in the world," Tugendhat told The Associated Press. "But the reality is, Chairman Xi isnt interested in that. What hes interested in is his own pocket.

Ghani, a Conservative member of Parliament who is of Muslim heritage, said she would not be intimidated by Beijing's move, which she called a wakeup call for all democratic countries and lawmakers.

China's sanctions are the latest move in an increasingly bitter row over Xinjiang, where Beijing is accused of detaining more than 1 million members of Uyghur and other Muslim minority groups, using forced labour and imposing coercive birth control measures.

Chinese state TV called Thursday for a boycott of Swedish retail chain H&M as Beijing lashed out at foreign clothing and footwear brands following Mondays decision by the 27-nation European Union, the United States, Britain and Canada to impose travel and financial sanctions on four Chinese officials blamed for abuses in Xinjiang. Cotton and other agricultural products form a major component of the local economy in vast but thinly populated Xinjiang.

Companies ranging from Nike to Burberry that have well-established presences in China were also targeted online, with some Chinese celebrities saying they were severing endorsement deals.
The natural habitat  forest  of the St. Vincent Parrot could be devastated by an explosive eruption of La Soufriere. (Picture Courtesy Nature Picture Library)

by Sheron Garraway





While there are obvious concern about human displacement should there be an explosive eruption of the La Soufriere volcano, the local Forestry Department is uneasy about the displacement of another living being - the Amazona Guilldingi, i.e. the St. Vincent Parrot, the National Bird of SVG which enjoys protection by the state.





As of 2010 there were about 800 birds in the wild and an undisclosed number in captivity, some for breeding purposes.





Many will recall the toll the 1979 eruption of La Soufriere had on the population of the parrot.





Given that volcanologists on the ground have already cautioned that the over 4,000 feet La Soufriere volcano, which has been effusively erupting since November 2020, could become explosive, the safety of the parrot and its habitat have attracted a more focused eye of the Director of Forestry Fitzgerald Providence and his team.





Speaking with THE VINCENTIAN, Providence said while the immediate region of the volcano is not one of the prime habitats for the St. Vincent Parrot, the birds use forested areas adjacent to the volcano, e.g. Richmond and Upper Rabacca Valley areas.





He said, according to documentation related to the 1979 eruption, the parrots instinctively moved out of the area, but over the ensuing decades there have been signs of them returning.





As for the present, Providence confirmed that the effusive eruption has shown no real threat to the parrot, because they dont typically use the area affected.





The Director noted that the Vincy Parrot, like other animals/wildlife, seem to have ways of sensing the danger that nature can pose, better than humans, so they would typically relocate.





Notwithstanding their inherent abilities, Providence expressed great concern that an explosive eruption will affect the parrots food supply, when the volcanic ash covers fruits on which they feed.





He referenced research conducted in Montserrat, which determined that the teeth of the bats eroded because they were eating the fruits covered in the volcanic ash.





But he also alluded to the natural cycle in which the rain washes off the ash from the fruit, the ash adds nutrients to the soil, which in turn ensures the growth of trees (including fruit tress).





Noting that La Soufriere has always been flourishing with vegetation, Providence said that his Department was doing more monitoring of the vegetation as it dies near the dome and the slopes of the crater.





It is, in the natural cycle of things, that the vegetation would die but it would regenerate, and with its re-growth wildlife return.





Providence was quick to lament that deforestation by humans remains the Parrots worst enemy.

Against that backdrop, he highlighted his Departments celebration of International Day of Forest, March 21, 2012, under what he described as an appropriate theme: Forest Restoration - A Path To Recovery And Well-Being.





He stated passionately, "We must always seek to conserve the forests and when we go into them, we should take nothing but pictures and leave nothing but footprints. The forests can impact us - particularly in the watershed areas because the water flows from ridge to reef. What you do in the forest affects all the way down to the watershed and then to the reef where we get our fish. If we destroy the forest we destroy many livelihoods.





Providence also impressed that nature recreation for locals and visitors could boost tourism. He underscored that one such nature recreation site - the Vermont Nature Trail, an area of protection of the parrot population - was so impressive that it was dedicated under the Queens Commonwealth Canopy in 2016 when Prince Harry visited.
Two California teenagers who admitted to beating their classmate to death have been sentenced to probation.

In September 2019, the teens attacked 13-year-old Diego Stolz in the yard of Landmark Middle School.

Cellphone video showed Stolz being punched repeatedly before falling and hitting his head on a pillar.

The 14-year-olds, whose names have not been identified, 'made admissions' to charges of involuntary manslaughter.

On Friday, they were released back into the custody of their parents.

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Diego Stolz, 13 (pictured), was punched repeatedly at Landmark Middle School in Riverside, California, in September 2019. During the attack, he fell and hit his head on a pillar, losing consciousness, and and was declared dead nine days later

The 14-year-olds, whose names have not been identified, 'made admissions' to charges of involuntary manslaughter. Pictured: Stolz during the attack

A judge ruled on Friday that the pair will have to undergo 150 hours of community service, enroll in therapy and attend a character-building program, reported the Press-Enterprise.

During his ruling, Riverside County Superior Court Judge Roger A Luebs rejected the Probation Department's recommendation for jail time.

The defendants each spent 47 days in juvenile hall and Luebs said he felt locking them up with adult criminals would be harmful, according to KABC.

He said that he was required by law to give the least restrictive sentence to juvenile defendants but to still make sure they are rehabilitated.

'These kids have not had enough experience delivering empathy. You guys are not the center of the world and you guys need to start figuring that out,' Luebs said during his ruling, the Enterprise reported.,

The boys are due back in Juvenile Court on June 25 for a progress report and have be warned that if they do not comply with the terms of their probation, they will be sent back to juvenile hall.

Cellphone video filmed by another student captured the teenagers punching Stolz repeatedly, reported the Press-Enterprise.

One of the teens hit Stolz in the head from behind, causing to fall and hit his head against a pillar, losing consciousness.

Despite Stolz now lying on the ground unmoving, the two teenagers continued to punch him.

He never regained consciousness and was pronounced dead nine days later, according to the Press-Enterprise.

Stolz's family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against his attackers and against the Moreno Valley Unified School District.

They claimed that Landmark's Assistant Principal Kamilah O'Connor was told days before the incident that the boys were bullying Stolz, the Press-Enterprise reported.

A judge placed the teenagers on probation and released them back into the custody of their parents. Pictured: Juana Salcedo, Stolz's aunt and guardian, cries during a news conference in Riverside, October 2019

Since Stolz's death, the Moreno Valley Unified School District has changed how it responds to reports of bullying. Pictured; Landmark School, where the attack occurred

The family claims O'Connor promised to suspend the boys but they were at school on the day of the attack.

A month and a half after the violent beating took place, O'Connor and Principal Scott Walker were replaced

At a hearing on March 9, Stolz's aunt Juana Salcedo, who raised him after he was orphaned, read an impact statement in court, reported the Press-Enterprise.

She said she feels like school administrators let him down and that she had taught her nephew not to fight back.

'It's difficult to put into words many emotions and the pain in my heart,' she said, through a translator.

'I will continue to fight for my son. I wouldn't have allowed my son to beat up somebody else.'

Since Stolz's death, the Moreno Valley Unified School District has changed how it responds to reports of bullying, according to the Press-Enterprise.

Administrators are now accountable to follow through on reports and assistant principals - who are in charge of student discipline - have to undergo a new training program.
New York's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate edged up to 8.9 percent in February from 8.8 percent in January, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. Only Hawaii's 9.2 percent rate was higher.

The unemployment rate nevertheless is lower than the 9.6 percent reported Thursday by the state Department of Labor. That rate, up from 9.4 percent in January, wasn't seasonally adjusted.

The BLS rate's 5-percentage point increase over last year was also the second greatest, after Hawaii's 7.1-point gain. The pandemic hadn't yet affected the economy in February 2020.

The relatively high unemployment rates are likely due to the impact of the coronavirus and vari0us travel bans put in place, which disproportionately affected the tourism and hospitality industries.

Most states bordering New York also had relatively high rates. One exception was Vermont, which posted an unemployment rate of 3.1 percent, up from 2.5 percent a year earlier.

Vermont's ski industry may have been better positioned to withstand the pandemic, even though the state implemented quarantine requirements for out-of-state overnight visitors.

New York's ski areas also reported strong business, but it likely wasn't enough to offset tourism losses in New York City.

A separate report this week from the state Labor Department found that from March 14, 2020, through March 20, 2021, more than 600,000 workers in the accommodation and food services sector had filed initial claims for unemployment benefits.

The state Labor Department's jobs report issued Thursday found that the Albany metro  Albany, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schenectady and Schoharie counties  lost 32,400 jobs.

Locally, the largest losses were in leisure and hospitality, down 9,900 jobs, and educational and health services, down 8,200 jobs.

However, there are signs of recovery.

Travelers are starting to book flights again, as more receive vaccinations. Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Friday announced that 3 million New Yorkers have been fully vaccinated. And President Biden on Thursday upped his goal of vaccinated Americans to 200 million during his first 100 days in office.

States are easing quarantine requirements for travelers who have been fully vaccinated.

Locally, tourist venues such as Six Flags Great Escape in Queensbury are planning to operate this season. The theme park is trying to fill 1,500 seasonal jobs.

Still, New York had 1,062,800 fewer jobs in February than a year earlier, a 10.8 percent decline, according to the BLS figures.

The state Labor Department will release local unemployment rates on Tuesday.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-26 18:08:15|Editor: huaxia

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VIENTIANE, March 26 (Xinhua) -- The Lao government will continue to implement preventive measures and monitor people entering the country to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

People entering Laos will be sent to quarantine centers for 14 days and the temperature of each person must be checked, Deputy Director General of the Department of Communicable Diseases Control under the Lao Ministry of Health, Sisavath Soutthaniraxay, told a press conference in Lao capital Vientiane on Friday.

On Thursday, a total of 3,263 people entered Laos through international border checkpoints. Of these, 1,849 people crossed the border with Thailand.

Some 1,223 people entered Laos from Vietnam and 53 from China. A total of 138 people entered the country via the Wattay International Airport in Lao capital Vientiane.

The National Taskforce Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control announced that it has been monitoring 3,237 people at 35 accommodation centers across the country.

The total number of COVID-19 confirmed cases in Laos remained at 49 and 45 patients have recovered.

Laos reported its first two confirmed COVID-19 cases on March 24 last year. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-26 18:54:57|Editor: huaxia

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Yan Mingyou teaches a song to students at Zhuwan Primary School in Zhuwan Township of Dingyuan County, Chuzhou City, east China's Anhui Province, March 23, 2021. Yan Mingyou, 92, is still at the post of teaching music at rural elementary schools. Retiring as a rural teacher in 1990, Yan has been volunteering to teach music to students in rural schools. Back to 1953, Yan left the army and returned to his hometown Zhuwan Township in Dingyuan County. He gave up a better job at local government and chose to work in rural schools, teaching various subjects like politics, music and the Chinese language. In 1990, Yan retired after nearly 40 years of hard teaching work. Considering local rural schools lacked full-time music teachers, Yan, who should have enjoyed his retirement life, volunteered to give music lessons to students in different schools, and stuck to the position for the following more than 30 years. Yan is good at playing a variety of musical instruments. In order to enrich the teaching content, he attended piano training classes during summer vacation in Beijing at his own expense for three consecutive years when he was in his 70s. Yan also donated some of his savings to rural schools by purchasing music equipment and provided financial assistance to poverty-stricken students. Yan said for those left-behind children in rural schools, music was not only simply a song for them, but also a means to express their emotion and a way to build up their self-confidence, which may eventually inspire their dreams. (Xinhua/Liu Junxi)
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has arrested a Chadian lady, Vivien Tarmadji, at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuj...

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has arrested a Chadian lady, Vivien Tarmadji, at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja, while trying to board an Ethiopian airline flight 911 en route Addis Ababa-Italy with 234.35 grams of heroin concealed in her private part.

Tarmadji who runs a saloon business in Italy since 2016 upon her relocation to the country via Libya was nabbed by vigilant narcotics agents during an outward clearance of the airline at the boarding gate after being scanned.

A statement by the Spokesperson of NDLEA, Femi Babafemi, on Friday, said, under interrogation, she claimed she was contacted by a man who called her from Italy to collect the drug from one man who delivered the illicit substance to her in a hotel she lodged in Lagos early in the morning before she took her flight to Abuja same day for onward journey to Italy.

She further claimed that the man brought 50 wraps of heroin for her to swallow but she couldnt, and as such, she decided to insert 18 wraps into her private part and returned the remaining to the man that brought the drug to her in the hotel.

Tarmadji said she came into Nigeria to raise money to pay for her house and shop rents which had expired in Italy, as life has been so difficult since the coming of the COVID-19 pandemic.

She said the owner of the drug was to pay her 10,000 Euro on the successful delivery of the drug to Italy.

Also, another trafficker, Okojie James from Oredo Local Government Area of Edo State has also been arrested while boarding Turkish airline flight en route Abuja-Istanbul-Cyprus.

Babafemi said, A number of illicit drugs including 1. 549kg of Cannabis Sativa; 223.80grams of Tramadol; 192.34grams of Rohypnol; 214.05 grams of Flunitrazepam, all of which were concealed in tins of Bournvita and milk, packed in a bag of foodstuff were recovered from him.

During interrogation, he claimed his friend, Mr. Elvis who resides in Cyprus asked him to collect the luggage for him. According to him, Elvis sister sent the luggage to him in Abuja from Benin through a transport company, Big Joe Motors.

He said he was into shawarma and indomie business in Benin before Elvis invited him to Cyprus claiming that he got him admission to school there.

The Commander, Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja Command of the NDLEA, Kabir Sani Tsakuwa, said while Okojie James was arrested last Saturday, Vivien was nabbed on Tuesday 23rd March, 2021.

He added that both suspects would soon face prosecution.

Meanwhile, the NDLEA operatives at the NAHCO export shed of Murtala Mohammed International Airport, MMIA, Ikeja in Lagos seized an abandoned five cartons of green leaves suspected to be KHAT with a gross weight of 105.70 kilograms.

Chairman/CEO of NDLEA, Brig. General Mohammed Buba Marwa retd has commended men and officers of the two airports Commands and challenged them to continue with the offensive action to secure Nigeria from the damaging effects of the drug scourge.
Where does the power of fandom go from here? For years, devoted followers of Zack Snyder, the director behind Man of Steel and Batman vs. Superman, have been clamoring to see his version of 2017's Justice League. That film, which united DC's major superheroes, was meant to be just as significant for comic book fans as Marvel's Avengers. But, following the tragic death of his daughter, Snyder announced that he would be leaving the film in the middle of production to tend to his family. Joss Whedon, who spearheaded the Avengers films, was brought onboard to finish the project. The theatrical version of Justice League, a Frankenstein's monster born from two very different artists, flopped with critics and fans alike.

That brings us to Zack Snyder's Justice League, a four-hour-long recut meant to capture the director's full vision. Depending on how you look at the film, which premiered on HBO Max last week, it's either a miracle or a warning. It exists primarily because fans demanded it. That led Snyder and his cast to join the call, and made WarnerMedia take notice when it desperately needed new streaming content. The Snyder cut didn't actually exist when the campaign began, so WarnerMedia agreed to pay for completed VFX and a few reshoots. That ended up costing the company an estimated $70 million.

What started as a long-shot campaign from some devoted fans ended up being one of the linchpins in HBO Max's content strategy. And judging from the conversation online over the weekend, it seems to have paid off. It's all some pop culture fanatics are talking about, and in a world where grabbing consumer attention is all that matters, that's the best a streaming company can hope for. (HBO has yet to release any stats on how well the movie performed.)

There were plenty of Snyder fans who genuinely just wanted to see his take on the film, and some who helped raise over $156,000 for suicide prevention. But the road to the Snyder Cut's release was also paved with abusive social media posts and death threats against film critics and Warner Media employees. As Vanity Fair Hollywood reporter Joanna Robinson (and my occasional podcast co-host) points out, "Former DC Film chief Geoff Johns left the platform entirely after receiving endless Twitter attacks, and director James Gunn, who was hired to write and direct a Suicide Squad sequel for the studio, discovered that his new gig came with at least one death threat from a user with a Batman avatar."

Fans managed to will the Snyder cut into existence, but the director and WarnerMedia haven't done much to acknowledge the toxic side of the community. The film's release could be seen as a validation of the worst elements of fandom. The situation reminds me of when Bioware decided to alter Mass Effect 3's ending after a vocal fan uprising. But that was 2012, and the online response was relatively tame compared to what the #ReleasetheSnyderCut campaign unleashed. There was also the near-complete rejection of the original Sonic design from the recent live-action film, which was delayed by several months for a retooling.

HBO Max

At a minimum, the response to Sonic the Hedgehog wasn't born out of toxicity. And it's yet another example of how online fan communities can influence creative work. We saw a more extreme example with the release of The Last Jedi, which was also reviled by a vocal group of Star Wars fans who directed their online hate toward director Rian Johnson and co-star Kelly Mary Tran. As Vanity Fair's Robinson notes, it's hard not to draw a line between those responses and the way director J.J. Abrams completely changed Johnson's narrative with his follow-up, The Rise of Skywalker, and pushed Tran's character out of the main plot.

The initial critical response to Zack Snyder's Justice League was almost universally positive. (It now sits at 73 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, compared to 40 percent for the Whedon cut.) Many reviewers said the film was a vast improvement from Whedon's take, but there was little mention of the toxicity that made this cut possible. I won't deny that there's more to like, especially with the additional footage featuring Ray Fisher's Cyborg, but I wouldn't call it a great film. It certainly wasn't one that deserved to be over four hours long. (Personally I'd love to see a shorter cut of the Snyder cut, henceforth known as the Snyder buzzcut.) I could write an entirely separate piece on the baffling decision to present the film in an almost square 4:3 aspect ratio, which is meant for enormous IMAX screens, not the wide TVs we've all got at home. But I fear this film has sapped up too much of my energy already.

Justice League won't be the last creative work dramatically influenced by fandom demands  fans are already clamoring to "Release the Ayer Cut" of the reviled Suicide Squad, though WarnerMedia was quick to say that won't happen. Moving forward, I hope creators, the studios supporting them, and the critics looking at the final work consider the totality of those conversations. There are positive ways to influence change for any piece of pop culture, but shouting at each other on social media, not to mention sending death threats, shouldn't be normalized.
Scottish church leaders overjoyed as judge rules church ban 'unlawful'

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Church leaders in Scotland are celebrating after a judge ruled that the Scottish government acted unconstitutionally by making in-person services a criminal offense during the lockdown.

Scotland imposed far tougher restrictions on churches than the rest of the U.K., which allowed in-person services to continue during the current lockdown.

Handing down judgment on Wednesday, Lord Braid said the Scottish rules were a disproportionate interference of Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

"It is impossible to measure the effect of those restrictions on those who hold religious beliefs," he said.

"It goes beyond mere loss of companionship and an inability to attend a lunch club.

"The fact that the regulations are backed by criminal sanctions is also a relevant consideration.

"Were the petitioners to insist on manifesting their beliefs, in accordance with their religion, they would be liable to be met with a fine of up to 10,000, a not insignificant penalty.

"The above factors all point toward the conclusion that the regulations have a disproportionate effect."

He also concluded that online worship was not real Christian worship, and that it was not for the Scottish ministers to "dictate to the petitioners or to the additional party, that, henceforth, or even for the duration of the pandemic, worship is to be conducted online."

"That might be an alternative to worship but it is not worship. At very best for the respondents, in modern parlance, it is worship-lite," he said.

The 27 church leaders came from different denominations, among them the Church of Scotland and Free Church of Scotland, and included a number of independent churches.

The Rev. William Philip, senior minister at the Tron Church in Glasgow, who was among the church leaders taking action, said: "We are very pleased that Lord Braid has recognized how essential gathered church worship is to our communities and to Scotland as a whole.

"From the outset we have recognized the serious decisions the Scottish ministers had to take in response to the pandemic. However, its approach to banning and criminalizing gathered church worship was clearly an over-reach and disproportionate and if this had gone unchallenged it would have set a very dangerous precedent.

"However well intentioned, criminalizing corporate worship has been both damaging and dangerous for Scotland, and must never happen again.

"There is an urgent need for a message beyond that of just health and safety: a message of hope and salvation, and Jesus Christ is the only hope that dispels all fear, death included. Now is the time as we begin to exit the current lockdown for the church in Scotland, and across the U.K., to provide the spiritual leadership that is so desperately needed."

Christian Concern, which supported the church leaders, called the victory "unprecedented."

Andrea Williams, chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre, said: "Over centuries, Christian worship has been regarded as a fundamental freedom in the nations of the United Kingdom. During this pandemic, for the first time in history, our governments chose to criminalize gathered church worship.

"We are thankful and relieved that the High Court in Scotland has recognized this dangerous interference with our God-given right to engage in worship for exactly what it is, and ruled it unconstitutional. The fundamental principle of freedom has prevailed with a strong dash of good old common sense."

Churches in Scotland were due to reopen on Friday as the country eases out of lockdown, but Lord Braid ruled that the judgment has immediate effect.

Canon Tom White, who joined the legal action with the support of ADF International, said the verdict showed the court "understood the essential need to protect not only the physical and material health of our society but also its spiritual needs and therefore overturned the disproportionate, unnecessary and now deemed illegal blanket ban on public worship."

"This decision highlights the significance of the church's role in the very fabric of our society," he said.

"Now, we can trust that our fragile and damaged communities will never again be left without the church as a source of hope, comfort, and vital spiritual nourishment in times of crisis.

"I'm grateful to all across Scotland and beyond who have offered their financial support for my case, and who have faithfully prayed with me for church doors to be reopened.

"Thanks be to God for this wonderful news."

Originally published at Christian Today
Flags of Taiwan and the United States are placed for a meeting between U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce speaks and with Su Chia-chyuan, President of the Legislative Yuan in Taipei, Taiwan on March 27, 2018. (Tyrone Siu/REUTERS)

Taiwan, US to Strengthen Maritime Coordination After China Law

TAIPEITaiwan and the United States have signed their first agreement under the Biden administration, establishing a Coast Guard Working Group to coordinate policy, following Chinas passing of a law that allows its coast guard to fire on foreign vessels.

The new government of U.S. President Joe Biden has moved to reassure Taiwan that its commitment to the island is rock solid.

The defacto Taiwanese ambassador to the United States, Hsiao Bi-khim, signed the agreement in Washington on Thursday, her office said in a statement.

It is our hope that with the new Coast Guard Working Group, both sides will forge a stronger partnership and jointly contribute even more to a free and open Indo-Pacific region.

U.S. Acting Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Sung Kim was at the signing ceremony, the office said.

The American Institute in Taiwan, which handles U.S. ties with the island, said the United States supported Taiwans meaningful participation and contributions to issues of global concern, including in maritime security and safety.

Taiwan is upgrading its coast guard with new ships, which can be drafted into naval service in the event of war, as the island deals with increasing encroachments from Chinese fishing boats and sand dredgers in Taiwan-controlled waters.

While the United States, like most countries, has no formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, it is the islands most important international backer and arms supplier for its defense systems.

China passed a law in January that for the first time explicitly allows its coast guard to fire on foreign vessels, causing concern regionally and in Washington. China has rebuffed those worries.

Taiwan Premier Su Tseng-chang said on Friday that Chinas new law had shocked the region and that those with common values based on liberal democratic values needed to work together to protect peace.

This unilateral request for the coast guard to use force will cause great tension and pressure on neighbouring countries, he told reporters.

China also has maritime sovereignty disputes with Japan in the East China Sea and with several Southeast Asian countries in the South China Sea.

By Ben Blanchard
Advertisement

There are few sights on Earth's landscapes as awe-inspiring as a volcano - active or dormant.

And a new book underscores this, offering 'a visual celebration of the most impressive, infamous and active volcanoes from all corners of the globe'.

Volcano, by Robert J Ford (www.amberbooks.co.uk), takes the reader on an eye-opening photographic tour from Hawaii to Chile and from Portugal to New Zealand, taking in phenomena that, as Ford says in his introduction, are reminders of Earth's raw power.

He writes: 'We humans have felt for centuries that we have mastery over our world  transforming it to suit our needs and ways of life. Yet our planet now and again sends reminders that we are but residents upon its back.

'Volcanoes are the most powerful of these, which humans snuggled up against over time as we expand our built environment into every corner of the natural world.'

Scroll down to see MailOnline Travel's pick of the pictures in the mesmerising tome...

PUYEHUE-CORDON CAULLE, RANCO PROVINCE, CHILE: A stunning photograph of one of this century's most colossal eruptions. Ford writes: 'Puyehue-Cordon Caulle in the Southern Volcanic Zone is a complex of two volcanoes: Puyehue and the fissure system of Cordon Caulle. After 51 years of inactivity, in 201112, it exploded in what became the biggest eruption of the 21st century so far. An estimated 100million tons of ash, sand and pumice were ejected, some of which circled the globe, reaching other parts of South America, South Africa, Papua New Guinea, Australia and New Zealand'

LAGOA DE SANTIAGO, SETE CITADES, SAO MIGUEL ISLAND, AZORES, PORTUGAL: 'The Lagoa de Santiago fills one of the cones that arose in the caldera of the Sete Citades Massif, an ancient stratovolcanic complex at the western end of Sao Miguel Island,' writes Ford. 'The caldera is dominated by the twin lake of Lagoa das Sete Citades (seen in the background), which is said to have been created by the tears of two young lovers forbidden to see each other by the king'

MOUNT ST HELENS, WASHINGTON, USA: 'The landslide that preceded and triggered the blast of pyroclastic material in the 1980 eruption,' writes Ford, 'was caused by the collapse of the entire north face of the mountain after an earthquake and carried with it debris that covered an area of 62 square km (24 sq miles) with many metres of rubble. It was the largest landslide in recorded history and left a clear view into the volcano's crater for the first time'

OL DOINYO LENGAI, TANZANIA: 'Ol Doinyo Lengai varies between eruptions of liquid lava that form lava lakes and fountains (known as effusive eruptions) and explosive eruptions that create large cinder and ash cones,' writes Ford. 'An episode of the latter type in 2007 spewed ash thousands of metres into the air, which also fell on the surrounding countryside, forcing local residents to flee with their livestock. Explosive eruptions continued into 2008, building a cone over 100m (330ft) high that encircled a steep-sided crater'

MOUNT VESUVIUS, CAMPANIA, ITALY: This volcano poses a deadly threat to millions. Ford writes: 'Mount Vesuvius, part of the Campanian Volcanic Arc, dominates the Bay of Naples and the population centres lying within its reach. It is these nearby settlements that make Vesuvius one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world, with three million people in Naples near enough to be threatened by an eruption and the mountain being the only mainland European volcano to have erupted in the past 100 years (1944 being the last incident)'

DEVILS TOWER, WYOMING, USA: It's a volcanic tower that's out of this world, having made an appearance in Steven Spielbergs Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Ford reveals that this 264m (867ft) geological feature is considered sacred by Northern Plains Indians and is thought to have been formed 'by an intrusion of magma into surrounding sedimentary rock' and 'would only have become a visible landmark when all the sedimentary material eroded away'. Ford adds: 'Some believe, however, that Devils Tower is all that remains of what was once a huge explosive volcano'

BARDARBUNGA VOLCANIC SYSTEM, VATNAJOKULL NATIONAL PARK, ICELAND: Baroarbunga is a stratovolcano located under the Vatnajokull ice cap (known as a subglacial volcano), Icelands biggest,' explains Ford. 'During the 201415 eruption, the emptying of Baroarbunga's magma chamber saw a subsidence of its caldera by around 65m (213ft), which also caused a sinking of the surface of the glacier under which the volcano sits'

COTOPAXI, COTOPAXI PROVINCE, ECUADOR: 'Cotopaxis biggest known eruptions were in 1742, 1744, 1768 and 1877,' reveals Ford. 'The latter three events destroyed Latacunga town on each occasion. During the 1877 eruption, pyroclastic flows on all sides of the mountain melted the entire ice cap to cause lahars [mudflows] that travelled more than 100km (62 miles) to the Pacific Ocean. Modern eruptions threaten flash-melts of the new glacier and lahars that pose a great risk to the land and population nearby'

TEIDE, TENERIFE, CANARY ISLANDS, SPAIN: The summit of Teide is the highest point in Spain and the islands of the Atlantic at 3,718m (12,198ft). It rises out of the caldera of another giant volcano that helped birth Tenerife, reveals Ford. He continues: The island was created through the accretions of three large shield volcanoes that formed their own small landmasses. Between these another volcano, Las Canadas, formed, joining all four together in a small island, which then grew over the millennia. Las Canadas later collapsed to create the caldera, out of which Teide grew over the course of the last 160,000 years

ZENDAN-E SOLEYMAN, WEST AZERBAIJAN PROVINCE, IRAN: 'The hollow cone of Zendan-e Soleyman is a 107m- (351ft) tall ancient extinct volcano formed of mostly calcium sediments,' writes Ford, 'with the remains of various temple buildings surrounding the peak. Its crater, 65m (213ft) wide and 85m (279ft) deep, was filled with water centuries ago but has long since dried up. The mountain takes its name  "the Prison of Solomon"  from the biblical king Solomon, after a local legend that tells how the Hebrew king imprisoned monsters within the mountains deep cone'

MAZZARO, SICILY, ITALY: This stunning picture shows a smoking Mount Etna looming over the ruins of Teatro Antico di Taormina, an ancient Greek theatre. Ford adds: The mountain consists of two volcanoes: a shield volcano that began erupting here about 500,000 years ago sits under a 35,000-year-old stratovolcano. Etna experiences a variety of eruption styles, including violent Strombolian explosions and frequent lava flows

PITON DE LA FOURNAISE, REUNION ISLAND, INDIAN OCEAN: This shield volcano on Reunion Island, a French departement, is one of the most active volcanoes in the world, reveals Ford. He continues: 'Its name translates as "peak of the furnace", an indicator of how often it erupts, the most recent instance being in October 2019. Despite this, it is a popular tourist site, with visitors able to access the peak. A shield volcano is one with a low, broad profile with shallowly sloping sides that has been built up over time by repeated emissions of relatively fluid lava (usually basaltic). Shield volcanoes are characterized by their low explosivity and lack of pyroclastic material'

MOUNT DAMAVAND, IRAN: At 18,405ft (5,610m), Damavand is Asia's highest volcano. It first erupted almost 1.78million years ago, reveals Ford. He continues: 'After a number of eruptions around 600,000 and 280,000 years ago, which helped create its steep cone of ash and lava flows, Damavands last one was around 5300 BC. The volcano is topped by a small crater and there are adjacent fumaroles, hot springs and mineral deposits, which imply Damavand could be considered as a potentially active volcano'

MISTI, AREQUIPA, PERU: 'The long history of eruptions from Misti and its neighbour volcanoes, Chachani and Pichu Pichu, has made the soil extremely fertile and the surrounding area one of the most agriculturally productive in Peru,' says Ford. 'Residents of Arequipa have also made use of a local white volcanic rock called sillar to construct a significant number of buildings there, which has resulted in Arequipa being nicknamed "the white city"'

MOUNT RINJANI, LOMBOK, INDONESIA: At 3,726m (12,224ft), this is the second-highest volcano in Indonesia. Ford reveals: 'Its caldera was formed by the 1257 eruption of Samalas in one of the largest volcanic events since the end of the last ice age 11,500 years ago, and which may have triggered a period of global cooling and failed harvests. Rinjanis caldera is filled by Segara Anak lake, which itself saw the emergence of a cone now known as Gunung Baru Jari in 1994 and 1995 eruptions, the lava from subsequent eruptions of which has filled a part of the lake'

ANAK KRAKATOA, KRAKATOA ARCHIPELAGO, SUNDA STRAIT, INDONESIA: Ford writes: 'The third of the four major explosions of the 1883 Krakatoa eruption was heard as far as 4,780km (2,970 miles) away, with its pressure wave travelling around the Earth a number of times. This was said to have burst the eardrums of sailors 64km (40 miles) away. Bodies were washing up on the shores of East Africa up to a year later

DIAMOND HEAD, OAHU, HAWAIIAN ISLANDS, USA: This breathtaking picture shows Diamond Head, a volcanic tuff or ash cone, a volcano born when magma boils water to steam to cause an explosion of ash, rock and volcanic bombs. Ford continues: The resulting pyroclastic material and eruption column fallout build the cone. Diamond Head is part of a stage of volcanism on the island that has created numerous cones and vents and is about 400,000500,000 years old

FUEGO, ANTIGUA, GUATEMALA: 'Typically, eruptions of Fuego were of a Vulcanian nature (small yet violent explosions with dense clouds of ash-laden gas and rock, with both pyroclastic and thick magma flows) and lasted a few hours to several days,' explains Ford. 'From 2002, Fuego began a period of almost constant activity that saw bursts of ash and lava, which culminated in an unexpected eruption in 2018 that buried several villages and killed nearly 200 people'

MOUNT RUAPEHU, TONGARIRO NATIONAL PARK, NORTH ISLAND, NEW ZEALAND: 'A series of very explosive Plinian eruptions occurred at Ruapehu between about 22,600 and 10,000 years ago,' says Ford. 'Since then, only one vent has probably been active, at Crater Lake in the summit region. Major eruptions in historic times seem to occur every 50 years, with the lake filling with warm, acidic water in between'

MOUNT ARARAT, TURKEY: 'Mount Ararat, near the TurkeyArmenia border, consists of two volcanoes,' explains Ford, 'Great Ararat and Little Ararat. Great Ararat is the highest peak in Turkey with an elevation of 5,137m (16,854ft). Ararat is a complex or compound volcano, one that has changed either its eruptive habit or location of the main vent area. The mountain is considered by some to be the resting place of Noahs Ark'
A 97-year-old great-grandmother who is housebound has still not been given a date to receive the Covid-19 vaccine.

Marie Brennan from Clontarf in north Dublin is bedridden, and her family are very concerned that despite their best efforts, they are no closer to getting a date for when she will receive the vaccine.

They say that her advanced age, level of frailty and high care needs have added to increased risk of exposure. On any given day she receives hands-on care from up to eight carers, comprising of family support, private and HSE allocated care hours.

Her daughter Emer Peppard said: We are just looking for a date and clarification from the HSE.

Her mother has a range of age related health issues, and isnt mobile any more.

There are obviously huge complexities with the roll-out of the vaccine, and we understand that, she said. But given her mothers age, they would have expected a date for vaccination to be communicated by now.

Ms Brennan was unable to attend a clinic appointment around six weeks ago when her age cohort were being vaccinated, due to her immobility. She has a twin sister who has received both doses of the vaccine, as she could attend a Dublin clinic.

Her family have made contact with the HSE and relevant authorities, as Ms Brennan has been bed ridden for nine months now, and requires a high level of care on a daily basis.

We are blessed, we do have a large family, she has seven children, Ms Peppard said. However, the family members caring for her are not vaccinated as they would not fall in the higher up categories to be eligible for vaccination.

However, she pointed out that a bedbound person is more susceptible to a range of illnesses, but particularly respiratory illnesses.

The amount of people in every day is being kept to an absolute minimum, but it still is a high volume of people. A member of the family would be there every night and staying in the room with her.

We are not the only family in this position, and it is a wider issue, as to whether there are people being left behind, that might not have a family to speak out for them, she pointed out.

Ms Brennan has 19 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

Ms Peppard added that Ms Brennans GP has been very good to her, and they had received good responses from the local TDs who are trying to get clarity for them on a date. They are hopeful that this will come soon.

The HSE said that approximately 2,200 people over 70 years who are housebound have been referred for a home vaccination by their GP. To date it has completed 685 first doses.

It said in a statement that the vaccination programme for those aged 70 and over who are house bound is an essential component of its vaccination strategy. This programme aims to vaccinate individuals 70 years and older who are not normally able to attend the GP practice / primary care centre for clinical reasons and for whom this difficulty with attendance cannot be resolved by providing transport. For many older people who are housebound, GPs provide home visits for vaccination."

The HSE is also providing additional support for the vaccination of people aged 70 years and older who are house bound where this service cannot be provided locally. GP practices have been provided with guidance on the HSE Home Vaccination Programme for over 70s who are housebound, and they have responsibility for referring eligible patients who require this service.

GPs referring for home vaccination will confirm with eligible patients that they are happy to proceed with vaccination and should inform these patients that they have been referred to be vaccinated through the HSE Home Vaccination Programme.

Read More

This programme of home vaccination will be delivered by HSE National Ambulance Service (NAS) teams. This vaccination programme is occurring in tandem with the general over 70s vaccination programme which is provided by GPs. The programme of home vaccinations for eligible people over 70 years commenced on Saturday March 13 and is continuing.

Individuals who have been registered for home vaccination will be contacted by the National Ambulance Service (NAS) to schedule an appointment to administer the vaccine. NAS will be contacting all referred individuals over the coming weeks to arrange for their home vaccination.

The HSE Home Vaccination Service will be provided on a seven day basis. Following vaccination NAS will contact relevant GPs to notify them that vaccination has taken place and to advise of any immediate concerns or side effects experienced by the patient.
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IT Modernization

VA chief looks at spend, productivity on $16B health record modernization plan

Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough told House lawmakers on Thursday that performance and joint execution were driving the 12-week "strategic review" of the Electronic Health Record Modernization program.

"We're seeing productivity declines bigger than I would have anticipated, but importantly, also continuing longer than I would have anticipated," McDonough told the House Veterans Affairs Committee in his first testimony since being confirmed by the Senate.

McDonough announced the strategic review of the 10-year, $16 billion EHR upgrade on March 19, in the wake of concerns raised by leaders of VA oversight committees from both parties from both Houses of Congress and a critical report from the Government Accountability Office.

The program to replace VA's homegrown VistA health record system to promote interoperability with military health records was launched in 2017 with a sole-source contract to the Defense Departments EHR vendor Cerner.

VA activated the Cerner system at its Mann-Grandstaff Medical Center in Spokane, Wash., at four outpatient clinics and at an affiliated billing and processing center in Las Vegas in October.

"What I want to make sure is that we have success learning from our clinicians and practitioners on the ground in Spokane such that they become advocates as we go to Columbus," which was designated as the next facility for the Cerner system to go live, McDonough said.

"At the end of the day, this is about service provision and outcomes for the vets. The best proxy for that right now is making sure that our practitioners, our clinicians, docs, nurses, [medical support assistants] understand what it means and see its benefit. If they don't, then we're going to be in this box for a long time," McDonough said.

According to a letter from Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), whose district includes Mann-Grandstaff, staff at the facility are "deeply frustrated" with the Cerner system.

"Nurses who go to work every day to serve our veterans should not be driven to tears because software, which was intended to be an improvement, makes their jobs more difficult," Rodgers wrote in a March 17 letter.

Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.), a member of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs and a former chairman of the Subcommittee on Technology Modernization, noted that the program may be leaning too much on Cerner to manage VA's technology systems outside the health record.

"Cerner is an EHR company," Banks said. "It cannot and should not be expected to integrate all of VA systems or fulfill every technological need."

Banks also pressed McDonough for a "revamp" of cost estimates and schedules for the program. VA accelerated the tempo of spending on the project for 2021 in part to deal with infrastructure challenges at VA facilities. According to an agency budget justification, the program requires a near-total refresh of end-user devices and massive upgrades in connectivity and bandwidth.

McDonough also spoke to the need to involve practitioners from the Veterans Health Administration in the development and evaluation process.

"As a general matter, I think that we just need more jointness in the execution of the program so that  the VHA customers have not only a big seat at the table, but also an ability to sit with people at their shoulder, to test and to run this thing," McDonough said.

Despite the complaints and criticism, McDonough said he didn't see the 12-week review as a precursor to a push to "fundamentally change the underlying program in Spokane," but he added that after the review, "if we find something that tells us, well, there's something more fundamental going on here, I'll come to you guys with complete candor and transparency and say, 'This is what we found. This is what we need to do.'"
Joe Bidens first news conference and a sheet of paper to help him get the easy questions from certain reporters. But you cant go take pictures of whats going on at the border until the situation improves, and the bulk of the kids are males between the age of 15 and 17 years old. And he promises that he wont let kids sit on the wrong side of the border and starve to death like the former president did. Heres the deal, man: its all true so just take his word for it. Come on, man, Im Joe Biden !
Dhaka: Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid homage to the martyrs of the 1971 Bangladesh War of Independence against Pakistan on Friday (March 26, 2021) and claimed that they devoted their life towards "preserving righteousness and resisting injustice".

Taking to Twitter, PM Modi wrote: "At the National Martyrs' Memorial, paid homage to the valorous martyrs of Bangladesh. Their struggles and sacrifices are inspiring. They devoted their life towards preserving righteousness and resisting injustice," the prime minister tweeted in both English and Bengali languages," he said, adding, "Also planted an Arjuna Tree sapling."

At the National Martyrs' Memorial, paid homage to the valorous martyrs of Bangladesh. Their struggles and sacrifices are inspiring. They devoted their life towards preserving righteousness and resisting injustice. Also planted an Arjuna Tree sapling. pic.twitter.com/medgw2TT1i  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 26, 2021

As Army bugles played out at the Last Post, PM Modi stood in solemn silence in front of the National Martyr's memorial at Savar.

"I pay my heartfelt tribute to the patriotic martyrs of Bangladesh whose glorious sacrifices enabled the birth of this great Nation. May every visitor to this revered ground honour the sacred memory of the millions who were slain but not silenced. Their valour will continue to inspire future generations to fight injustice and defend the cause of righteousness," Modi wrote in the visitor's book at the memorial.

"On behalf of the people of India, I pray that the eternal flame at Savar remains a lasting reminder of the noble victory of truth and courage over deceit and oppression," he wrote, reported PTI.

Later, the prime minister met with political leaders from both the ruling Grand Alliance as well as opposition parties.

In a statement issued by MEA, the prime minister as part of his two-day visit to Bangladesh, met political leaders from 14 Party Alliance along with the Convener. They held discussions on diverse issues of bilateral relations which will help to strengthen ties between the two nations.

PM Modi also met the community leaders, including representatives of minorities and 'Mukhtijoddhas', the fighters of the Bangladesh Liberation War.

This is PM Modi's first trip to a foreign country since the novel coronavirus outbreak rocked the world.
Veterans and spouses invited to SIUs Boots to Business Reboot webinar April 7

by Christi Mathis

CARBONDALE, Ill.  Boots to Business Reboot, a special entrepreneurship training program for veterans and their spouses is a special online webinar Southern Illinois University Carbondales Illinois Small Business Development Center is hosting next month.

The free workshop, from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on April 7, will provide participants with the information they need to either start a new business or help their existing enterprise grow.

Insights into business ownership, financing among covered topics

Veterans and their spouses will participate in a variety of sessions featuring business experts sharing their expertise about an array of relevant topics.

Sessions will include:

Introduction to Business Ownership  Veterans Edition. Presented by the Illinois Small Business Development staff, the program will highlight the concepts of small business ownership tailored specifically to veterans.

Understanding Markets and Your Competitive Space  by Nic Skovgaard of Alter Ego Marketing.

The Economics of Small Business Startup  by Makeba Butler, director of the Veterans Business Outreach Center.

Financing Your Venture  by Justin Fetcho and Gary Evans of Legence Bank and Robyn Laur Russell of Champion Community Investments.

All current and former military members welcome

The online webinar is free and open to all current active duty military personnel, members of the National Guard and reserves, as well as all interested veterans and their spouses. Register online at bit.ly/b2b0407. The session is limited to the first 25 people to register.

For more information, email vboc@wwbic.com.

The workshop is a collaborative effort from the Illinois Small Business Development Center, a unit of SIUs Office of Innovation and Economic Development, in conjunction with the Veterans Business Outreach Center and the United States Small Business Administration.
Panaji, March 26 : The Goa government on Friday announced the cancellation of the official celebration of Shigmo, a popular indigenous peasant festival, due to rise in Covid-19 cases in the coastal state.

Chief Minister Pramod Sawant told the Legislative Assembly during the ongoing Budget Session, that the SOPs should be followed strictly in public events like festivals and weddings, while also urging hotels not to host large gatherings on the occasion of the upcoming Holi festival.

"The government is cancelling Shigmo due to the rise in Covid-19 cases in Goa... Health comes first, festivals can be held every year," Sawant told the state assembly during Zero Hour. Shigmo can be celebrated in small numbers at local temples, he said.

Shigmo, or Shishirotsava is a spring festival celebrated in Goa. Reckoned as the indigenous variant of the Portuguese-oriented Carnival, the Hindu festival of Shigmo, is marked by the boisterous celebration of colour and music and decorated float parades in various parts of the state.

It is also a notified state festival and is celebrated by the Konkani community.

Sawant also urged hotels against hosting large Holi parties, in the wake of rising Covid-19 cases in the state, where the daily count has nearly touched 200.

"Hotels should enforce restrictions during the Holi festival. No large scale programmes should be announced," Sawant said.

Latest updates on Holi Festival 2021

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- Syndicated from IANS
STOCKTON, Calif., March 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Justin Biedinger was working at Stockton Police Department when he saw an opportunity to revolutionize the way law enforcement agencies do background checks on prospective hires. He knew nothing about designing software or even how to run a business. Biedinger took a leap of faith, and the Guardian software is now helping police departments and sheriff's offices across the country to do more thorough background investigations in far less time. The software helps public safety agencies avoid hiring bad applicants who might show signs of implicit bias, problems with alcohol or drugs, and helps investigators catch applicant dishonesty much more easily. Guardian has brought many law enforcement agencies out of the dark age; they're abandoning their archaic pen-and-paper processes and adopting this efficient, effective solution for better use of taxpayer dollars.

Below is Justin Biedinger's story of how he founded Guardian Alliance Technologies.

Hiring law enforcement officers is serious business. It's not like hiring for most types of jobs. People wearing the badge are expected to exercise sound judgment in all types of situations and some are life-or-death judgment calls. A background investigator is tasked with doing their best to predict an applicant's future actions based on their past actions. That means they need as much information as possible about an applicant. Believe it or not, people like to hide negative information about themselves, so a police background investigation needs to be very thorough. In the past, that meant it could take several weeks, sometimes months, to complete.

I spent my entire career with the Stockton Police Department in Stockton, CA. After spending most of my career in patrol, I entered the background unit. There, I investigated hundreds of applicants. Our background unit averaged over fifteen hundred investigations a year. I was able to see first hand that the manual process was creating challenges and making it difficult to do a thorough investigation in a timely manner. I saw good applicants withdraw from the hiring process because it simply took too long to get hired.

I remember sitting in team meetings discussing how we could do things better, and for about a year, I heard the same complaints about inefficiency and how long the process took to complete a background investigation. I thought there had to be a better way.

Even though I knew nothing about creating software, I started sketching out processes on a piece of paper. Every time I doubted myself, I shoved that piece of paper in a drawer at my desk in the background unit. But every few days, I kept pulling it out and adding to it. I knew it was time to come up with a solution to fix this problem, and thus Guardian was born.

After my own experiences and the information I gathered from my colleagues, I set out to make this process more efficient and cost saving for law enforcement agencies and for the applicants. The Guardian investigation software helps speed up the time it takes to investigate an applicant and it has streamlined the process. I feel the success comes from the fact that the software was created by a real-life background investigator and not someone who has had no real experience hiring law enforcement personnel.

At Guardian, we have set out to revolutionize the way a background investigator investigates an applicant with our proprietary software and the first ever National Applicant Information Center (NAIC).

I am super excited and proud that we at Guardian are improving the hiring process of our law enforcement personnel. We take this mission very seriously and are always looking out for our law enforcement family. We have partnered with some great companies, and our company is growing at our fastest rate ever as more law enforcement agencies and private investigation firms are joining the Guardian Alliance. Please visit our website and request an online demonstration of our software to learn more.

You can also watch a short 2 minute video on Justin's Founder's Story here .

About the author

Justin Biedinger is the founder, president and director of Guardian Alliance Technologies, Inc. and a director of Guardian Alliance Holdings, Inc.

Justin spent four years in the U.S. Navy working in the intelligence community before joining the Stockton Police Department in Stockton, CA, where he worked for 13 years. Justin spent most of his policing career working in different assignments within patrol before joining the background investigation unit to assist in hiring new officers.

Contact:

Holly Cook

Communications Coordinator

Guardian Alliance Technologies, Inc.

[email protected]

O: 415.655.2734 | C: 208.516.0606

11 S. San Joaquin St., Suite 804

Stockton, CA 95202

Media note: Please contact Holly Cook for headshot or interview with Founder Justin Biedinger.

SOURCE Guardian Alliance Technologies, Inc.

Related Links

https://www.guardianalliancetechnologies.com


FILE PHOTO: Demonstrators gather on the spot where Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink was killed, during a commemoration to mark the 12th anniversary of his death, in Istanbul

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - A Turkish court sentenced two former police chiefs on Friday to life in prison for their role in the killing of prominent Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink more than 14 years ago, state-owned Anadolu news agency said.

Editor of the bilingual Turkish-Armenian weekly Agos and then Turkey's best known Armenian voice abroad, Dink was shot dead as he left his Istanbul office in January 2007. After the murder, tens of thousands gathered in central Istanbul to mourn.

In 2011, Dink's assassin Ogun Samast was sentenced to nearly 23 years in prison by a juvenile court. He was 17 when the killing took place. The following January a man named Yasin Hayal was sentenced to life in jail for instigating the killing.

Among those convicted by the court on Friday, former police intelligence chief Ali Fuat Yilmazer received a jail sentence without parole for murder, Anadolu said. Another police chief, Ramazan Akyurek, was also handed a life sentence.

State media said the court ruled that the murder was carried out in line with the goals of a clandestine network linked to U.S.-based Fethullah Gulen, a Muslim preacher whom Ankara accuses of orchestrating an attempted coup in July 2016.

Gulen, who has lived in the United States since 1999 and denies any involvement in the failed putsch, was one of 13 fugitives from justice among 76 defendants on trial in the Dink case. The court did not rule on the case of Gulen and the other 12 fugitives and instead separated their cases.

ULTRA-NATIONALISTS

Various other defendants in the Dink case were given jail sentences on charges including accessory to murder, membership of a terrorist group - due to links to Gulen's network - as well as faking and destroying documents, state media said.

Ankara says Gulen's network had widely infiltrated Turkey's police and other state institutions over decades.

In 2010, the European Court of Human Rights ordered Turkey to pay 100,000 euros ($118,000) to Dink's family in compensation, saying the authorities had failed to adequately protect Dink even though they knew ultra-nationalists were plotting to kill him.

Story continues

Dink had worked for reconciliation between Christian Armenians and Muslim Turks and was repeatedly prosecuted for insulting "Turkishness" over his comments on Armenian identity and the massacres of Armenians by Ottoman Turks in 1915.

($1 = 0.8483 euros)

(Reporting by Daren Butler; Editing by Jonathan Spicer and Gareth Jones)
VPPA Board (l-r standing) Willie (MALAMPA rep), Sele (SANMA rep), Tari (PENAMA rep), Welegtabit (TORBA rep), Robert (SHEFA rep) Sitting from left: DG of Lands Faerua, Chairman Napwatt (TAFEA rep), CEO Tumukon and DG of Trades Joy. DG of MALFFB Moses Amos is on duty-travel while DG of Finance is represented. Photo: MALFFB
The Supreme Court for Friday rejected a plea by an NGO that sought a stay on the issuance of electoral bonds amid the assembly elections in five states. The plea was heard by a three-judge bench led by chief justice of India (CJI) SA Bobde, who ruled that there are enough "safeguards" in place.

The SC bench comprising CJI Bobde, justices AS Bopanna and V Ramasubramaniam said the electoral bonds have been issued periodically since 2018. "Bonds are released on periodical intervals. Have been released in 2018, 2019 and 2020. We do not see any justification for grant of stay on issuance of EBs," the SC bench ruled.

On Wednesday this week, the Supreme Court had highlighted the money received via electoral bonds was being used to fund terror activities and asked the Centre to reveal its strategy to curb the misuse and whether there was any "control" over how these funds could be put to use.

"What is the control of the government on how the money is put to use," the bench asked attorney general KK Venugopal.

During the hearing, the top court said suppose a political party wants to encash electoral bonds and finance a protest, what is the government's control on how this fund is put to use. "The funds can be misused for illegal purposes like terrorism. We would like you, as the government, to look into this aspect," the bench said, adding that political parties may use these funds for activities beyond their political agenda.

"If a political party receives electoral bonds worth Rs 100 crore, what is the assurance that it won't be used for an illegal purpose or fund violence," the bench observed. The bench, however, made it clear that it did not want to get into politics and its comments were not aimed at any particular political party.

Venugopal told the bench that electoral bonds have a validity of 15 days and political parties have to file their income tax return also. The bench also asked, "Suppose, a businessman or anybody goes to buy the electoral bond, do they have to disclose it is white money and do they have to pay tax?".

The top law officer said that buyers have to use white money and the purchase of the electoral bond is through banking channel. "Terrorism is not funded by white money. It is funded by black money," Venugopal said.

Today's ruling comes after reserving the order by the Supreme Court on Wednesday. The plea had sought to ban the issuance of electoral bonds amid assembly polls and on the grounds of pendency of pending PILs against such bonds in the apex court.

Advocate Prashant Bhushan, who was appearing for petitioner NGO Association for Democratic Reforms, said that any further sale of electoral bonds should not be permitted. When Bhushan said that today elections are largely influenced by money, the bench observed, "most people are conscious of the role of money in elections".

On January 20, 2020, the apex court had refused to grant an interim stay on the 2018 Electoral Bonds Scheme and sought responses of the Centre and the Election Commission on an interim application by the NGO seeking stay on the scheme.
The Norwegian government has decided it will require a mandatory quarantine of 10 days for all foreign journalists on assignment in Norway. The International and European Federation of Journalists (IFJ and EFJ) join their affiliate, the Norwegian Union of Journalists (NJ), in its call for an urgent amendment to a measure that will make it almost impossible for foreign journalists to report in Norway.

The NJ, along with national media and editors associations wrote to the government calling for exemptions for foreign journalists on assignment in Norway from the country's Covid-19 regulations.

According to the NJ, the quarantine obligation is problematic because it will make it virtually impossible for foreign journalists to cover news events in the country.

Norwegian press organizations have requested a legal assessment of the quarantine obligation. Lawyers Per Andreas Bjrgan and Jon Wessel-Aas concluded that the scheme is contrary to both the European Convention on Human Rights and the obligations under the European Economic Area Agreement.

In addition, they argue the quarantine obligation constitutes a disproportionate interference with the freedom of the press, fundamental rights and freedom of information.

Apart from the mandatory quarantine, journalists who are not covering live news stories are denied entry into Norway. In effect, the country is now closed to international journalists.

The NJ and press associations urged the government to amend the regulations in a letter send on 25 March to the Prime Minister's Office. They have also asked the Ministry of Justice and Emergency Management to investigate the case, and it has now been referred to the Ministry of Health. The EFTA Surveillance Authority (ESA), which monitors the operation of the EEA agreement, is looking into the matter as well.

IFJ General Secretary, Anthony Bellanger, said: Both the mandatory quarantine for foreign news reporters and the ban to enter Norway for other foreign journalists are disproportionate measures that put media freedom at serious risk. We support NJs call for a speedy solution that guarantees the fundamental right to freedom of information and enables journalists to fulfil their vital role".
Los Angeles Police Department officers at Echo Park on Wednesday night as officials gave closure notices at a homeless camp. (Los Angeles Times)

Less than two weeks after the release of a scathing report on the LAPDs performance during last summers racial justice protests, officers in Echo Park arrested numerous people Thursday, including news reporters, among them James Queally of the Los Angeles Times. Policing angry protests is tense and hazardous work, and its easy for officers to err in the heat of the moment. Yet arrests of journalists as they do their jobs signal that the department has not yet learned its 2020 lessons.

I can understand the concern, LAPD Chief Michel Moore said Thursday night in an interview with a Times editorial writer. Is LAPD mindful and respectful of the role of journalists?

Moore insisted that it is, adding that he had no information suggesting that anyone was detained once they determined that anyone was a member of the media.

It may have helped that Times editors and a Times lawyer contacted the department after hearing of Queallys arrest. But not every reporter doing his or her work has the benefit of a large media organization with a direct line to top police officials.

Describing the events on Twitter, Queally noted that the officers were for the most part polite, despite proceeding to arrest and zip-tie him after he repeatedly told them he was a reporter and showing his LAPD-issued media credentials. Queally was harsher in describing a police sergeant. Supervisors at the scene of news events should be expected to facilitate journalists release once it is confirmed that they are indeed journalists. Instead, Queally said in a tweet, the sergeant didnt care that he was a reporter and said, This is the policy tonight.

Its also LAPD policy to set up an area expressly for reporters, but events move and reporters often have to choose between missing the news by staying in their cordoned-off zones or following the news and risking arrest, injury or worse. So even if police are legally permitted to issue dispersal orders and arrest people (including reporters) who stay on the scene, doing so is unacceptable and undermines journalists ability to keep the public informed.

Story continues

In the wake of the summer unrest and LAPD responses to rowdy celebrations of last years Lakers and Dodgers championships, the departments communications division created a video to be presented at roll call  start-of-shift briefings for officers  on how to identify press at protests. The message doesnt seem to be getting through.

Earlier this month, Des Moines Register reporter Andrea Sahouri was acquitted after being put on trial for failing to disperse during a protest last year. Thankfully, officials in Los Angeles have not generally sought criminal charges against reporters covering protests and other police scenes  with the notable exception of Lexis-Olivier Ray, a freelance journalist reporting for the news website L.A. Taco. Ray wasnt arrested at the time, but police brought his case to the L.A. city attorney for prosecution.

SB 98, a bill in Sacramento to expressly exempt reporters from arrest at protest scenes and allow them to appeal an arrest to a police supervisor, is currently in the Senate Appropriations Committee suspense file, and may or may not continue on its legislative journey this year. Police groups have opposed it.

The bills weakness is that it does not  because it cannot  distinguish which reporters are duly authorized and therefore should be given access not accorded the general public, from those who are not. So regardless of what happens with the bill, police would be wise to up their 1st Amendment game and their communications skills, for their own public relations, even if not for the right of people to be informed and the duty of journalists to inform them.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Workforce

Lawmakers seek clarity on hazy White House pot policy

Past use of pot shouldn't make executive branch employees subject to negative employment actions, 30 House Democrats told President Joe Biden.

Some Biden White House staffers have been subject to suspensions, placement on remote work and been asked to resign after disclosing past marijuana use since the start of the administration. The Daily Beastfirst reported the personnel actions last week, saying that this had happened to dozens of employees.

Five employees have been terminated, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said at a press briefing on Wednesday.

On Thursday, a group of 30 lawmakers wrote to the White House asking the president to undo these actions and take steps to prevent similar occurrences. The letter was led by Reps. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), Don Beyer (D-Va.), Mondaire Jones (D-N.Y.), Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), and Barbara Lee (D-Calif.).

"We ask that you clarify your employment suitability policies, remove past cannabis use as a potential disqualifier, and apply these policies with consistency and fairness," they wrote, saying that they were "dismayed."

The administration had previously signaled that it would waive the usual rules that keep appointees with a history of pot from getting some security clearances, the lawmakers wrote.

Last month, OPM issued guidance on marijuana use. The office instructed agencies to treat previous use of the drug on a case-by-case basis, although continued use can still be a disqualifier. Pot is still illegal under federal law despite movement toward some legalization or decriminalization in states. A Reagan administration executive order on drug-free workplaces, which says that those using illegal drugs "are not suitable for federal employment" is still on the books.

The lawmakers, however, pointed to the legalization of cannabis for adults or medical use in 36 states, including recent legalization via ballot initiatives.

"The American people are demanding a change to punitive and harsh cannabis laws that have always been unequally applied," they wrote.

The lawmakers also pointed to the admission of former President Barack Obama, Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg to using pot in the past.

"Those in the upper ranks of your administration won't face consequences for their cannabis use, and nor should they, but the same standard should be applied across the administration," they wrote. "Your administration should act within its power to stop legitimizing unfair cannabis laws."

The former staffers who were fired had also raised "other security issues," Psaki said on Wednesday.

She pointed to the illegal status of marijuana use on a federal level when asked about why the president can't unilaterally change policies. Psaki also said that the administration has current employees who wouldn't have been able to serve under the policies of previous administrations.

"Because of our efforts to modernize and work with the security service, they're able to serve," she said. "In the past  and I served in the Obama-Biden administration  the rules were actually far more stringent."
US President Joe Biden is planning to run for re-election with Kamala Harris as his running mate.

"I would fully expect that to be the case. She's doing a great job. She's a great partner, she's a great partner," he said when asked about his vice-presidential candidate in the 2024 election at his news conference on Thursday.

A reporter pointed out that former President Donald Trump had set up his re-election campaign soon after taking office but Biden hasn't yet.

"My predecessor need do to," he said and joked, "My predecessor, oh God, I miss him."

He said, "My plan is to run for reelection. That's my expectation."

"I don't even think about (it)," he said about the prospects of facing his nemesis Trump again. "I have no idea if there will be a Republican Party. Do you?"

Turning philosophical, he said: "The way I view things, I've become a great respecter of fate in my life."

He said that his goal is to "change the paradigm. We start to reward work, not just wealth."

He will be 81 years old in 2024.

Having already exceeded the goal of giving out 100 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine before the target day of 100 days in office, he raised the target to 200 million shots.

This was Biden's first news conference and the 64-day lag since taking office was longest of recent presidents.

The hour-long formal encounter with reporters was a marked contrast to the confrontational style of Trump and the reporters. When he entered the East Room of the White House, the reporters respectfully stood up to greet him.

Since he is gaffe-prone when he speaks spontaneously, the encounter was carefully orchestrated with Biden calling up reporters from an apparently screened list on the podium of only reporters from media considered sympathetic to him.

Unlike Trump, who spontaneously called on reporters hostile to him and had it out, Biden did not take questions from anyone from media like Fox News that White House considers unfriendly.

Biden often looked at notes when answering questions.

The few times he raised his voice were when he condemned the Republicans for their opposition to voting rights legislation proposed by his party to expand access to polling.

He said that it is "sick", "despicable" and "un-American".

The selected reporters mostly obliged him with softball the questions.

The only forceful questions that put him on the defensive were about the migration crisis at the Mexico border, where thousands of people are trying to enter the country and children are being held under appalling conditions.

He blamed Trump for the dysfunction at the border and denied that the perception of him as welcoming was driving the surge of migrants.

He quipped, "I guess I should be flattered if people are coming because I'm the nice guy."

But he distanced himself from the assertion that his attitude towards immigrants was bringing in more of them and said the surge "happens every single, solitary year... in winter when it's cooler.

Biden said that Trump "dismantled all the elements that exist to deal with what had been a problem and -- and has been -- continued to be a problem for a long time".

Biden said that most of those coming in were being sent back to Mexico but he was welcoming of children coming by themselves.

"The only people we're not going to let sitting there on the other side of the Rio Grande (border) by themselves with no help are children," he said.

He has been crticised for keeping children in the border patrol custody for longer than the 72 hours mandated by courts.

He acknowledged that some are held in "circumstances that are not acceptable" and said it could be resolved by sending the children to their relatives sooner and by creating more facilities to hold them.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday paid this tribute to the founding father of Bangladesh Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, by writing a piece on him, which has been published by The Daily Star.

In the opening paragraph of his piece, the Prime Minister said, "On a dark morning in August 1975, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his family members were brutally assassinated. His killers wanted to reverse the gains of Bangladesh's independence, for which Bangabandhu had led a heroic struggle. They also wanted to strike a mortal blow to Bangabandhu's dream of building a cooperative, peaceful and harmonious subcontinent."

Imagining a different South Asia with Bangabandhu...



Sharing my piece, published in the @dailystarnews in which I pay tributes to Bangabandhu and recall his insightful thoughts on various subjects. https://t.co/UnxXhYjFf7  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 26, 2021

Remembering the Bangabandhu, PM Modi added, "Bangabandhu's life was a story of struggle. Faced with oppression and brutality, he stood unflinching. Bangamata Sheikh Fazilatunnesa was his source of strength. However, we learn from his Unfinished Memoirs that even she was once moved to point out the risks and pain that his repeated incarcerations brought to his family. Bangabandhu's reply was simplethat he had "no other choice". "

PM Modi's Bangladesh Visit

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has embarked on a two-day visit to Bangladesh to be a part of the neighbouring country's 50th Independence Day, making it his first foreign visit after the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak. He will attend an event at the National Martyr's Memorial and the National Day program on Friday. A day ahead of his visit, PM Modi had said in a statement, "As I leave for Bangladesh tomorrow, I look forward to remembering the life and ideals of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and celebrate 50 years of Bangladeshs War of Liberation, as well as our diplomatic ties." Bangladesh is celebrating its 50th year of Independence on March 26, and PM Narendra Modi is going to grace the occasion as the guest of honour. The heads of state and government from Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, and the Maldives will also be present at the celebration.

(Image: ANI/AP)
SCHOTT remains well on track to deliver vials for more than two billion vaccine doses through 2021

Global specialty glass leader and pharmaceutical packaging supplier SCHOTT has delivered vials to provide more than one billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines. SCHOTT remains well on track to deliver vials for more than two billion vaccine doses through 2021.

The vials were delivered to projects around the world, with a focus on the US, Europe, and Asia. Approximately 90 per cent of approved vaccines rely on SCHOTT vials.

The reaction of the pharmaceutical community to COVID-19 is a testament to the power of scientific progress, said Dr Frank Heinricht, CEO, Germany headquartered SCHOTT AG. Were also working with our government partners to evaluate ways to improve the supply chain and expand production capacity.

SCHOTTs plant in Jambusar, Gujarat is one of the five flagship pharmaceutical tubing production sites, responsible to catering to the vast demand in India and Asia. Owing to the soaring demand for quality glass packaging products, SCHOTT expanded its local tubing production capacity by 20,000 tons within one year. This translates into enough glass for over three billion vials.

Pawan Kumar Shukla, President, SCHOTT Glass, India, said, We are proud to be a part in this fight from India, as a leading contributor of quality glass to ensure successful and safe administration of the COVID-19 vaccines. Despite the challenges faced, our India plant has operated in full capacity within strict safety guidelines, while supporting our global clients and growing workforce.

The success of the COVID-19 response is supported by the companys multi-year, $1 billion global investment in pharmaceutical glass and packaging facilities announced early 2019 in response to rising worldwide demand for safer drug packaging. Despite the pandemic, all expansion projects are on track.
by Kenneth Corbilla

Pope Francis chosen the Archbishop of Capiz as the successor of Luis Antonio Tagle. He had already made him cardinal last November. His first words to the Church of the largest diocese in the Philippines were pray for me. At the recent consistory, he had indicated that his pastoral priorities include the peripheries, education and the defence of human rights.

Manila (AsiaNews)  The Archdiocese of Manila has a new archbishop, Jose Fuerte Advincula, outgoing archbishop of Capiz, Western Visayas.

Pope Francis appointed him yesterday as the head of the largest diocese in the country. In the consistory of 28 November last year, the pontiff had made him a cardinal, the ninth in the history of the Philippines.

Card Advincula, who will turn 69 on 30 March, becomes the 33rd Archbishop of Manila, replacing Card Luis Antonio Tagle, called to Rome in December 2019 to be the prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples.

Born in 1952 in Dumalag, Archdiocese of Capiz, the new archbishop of Manila became a priest in 1976. He studied psychology at De la Salle University in Manila and then Canon Law, at the Santo Tomas University in Manila and at the Angelicum in Rome.

In 1995 he became rector of the St Pius X Seminary in Capiz and served as parish priest in Santo Tomas de Vilanueva in Dao.

On 25 July 2001 John Paul II appointed him bishop of the Diocese of San Carlos in the Province of Negros Occidentale. On 9 November 2011 Benedict XVI moved him to the metropolitan see in Capiz.

He has also been a member of the Commission for the Doctrine of the Faith and of the Commission for Indigenous Peoples of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines.

This is a blessing from God through the Holy Father and to the Archdiocese of Capiz, Card Advincula said in a statement.

This blessing is not only mine but also for the faithful of the Archdiocese of Capiz, and of course for the entire Philippines, he added. I ask the faithful to pray for me as I pray for everyone.

The two priorities of his ministry are presence in peripheral areas and educating young people. The Church has to see to it that the human dignity and the human rights of the people are respected, he said in an interview with Vatican News.

Poverty is one of the reasons why we have social problems, the prelate said, and education is the way to develop the people so that they can earn more in order to live a more decent life.

Manilas Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception greeted the news of the appointment of the new archbishop tolling its bells.

We are happy to welcome our new shepherd in the archdiocese and we are eager to receive him, said Bishop Broderick Pabillo, who served as apostolic administrator of the Archdiocese of Manila for the past year and a half.
An armed and dangerous man is at large after trespassing on a Dauphin County property and stealing two vehicles, including a school van, Pennsylvania State Police said.

Gregory Allen Daniels, 44, was reportedly on a vacant Williamstown Borough property, armed with a handgun and driving a stolen car from South Carolina, according to state police.

When a trooper later approached Daniels in the stolen car, state police said he ignored their commands to get out of the car and fled the scene. A chase ensued and Daniel sped into Weiser State Forest, state police said.

Daniels eventually stopped the car and ran into the woods, state police said. They said the handgun  which he illegally possessed  was found in the car.

State police said Daniels stole a school van just after midnight Friday from the Williams Valley School. Daniels purposely hit another vehicle head-on, rear-ended another before fleeing and eventually abandoning the van later this morning, state police said.

The van was found around 7:30 a.m. at Lukes Trail and Lykens Road in Jefferson Township, Dauphin County. Daniels has not been found as of 9:30 a.m.

Online court records show Daniels is charged a combination of trespassing, theft, driving and firearms offenses, as well as eluding or fleeing an officer.

An arrest warrant has been issued for Daniels. Anyone with information on his whereabouts is asked to call the state polices Lykens barracks at 717-362-8700.

READ MORE: Unique central Pa. police dog sniffs out phones, electronics people dont want officers to find

Police trooper charged with official misconduct, stalking woman after N.J. Turnpike traffic stop
2021-03-25

Maeci

BREXIT  IMPORTANT UPDATES FOR WINE AND ORGANIC PRODUCTS

Yesterday, the UK Government unveiled new rules for importing wine from the European Union to Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales), under which a VI-1 certificate will be required from 1 January 2022. The same applies to organic products, which will require a Certificate of Inspection (CoI) from 1 January 2022.

The official guidance can be found at the following links: guidance on wine imports and guidance on organic produce imports
Burma Myanmars Striking Civil Servants Nominated for Nobel Peace Prize

Anti-regime protesters in Yangon in February call on civil servants to join the civil disobedience movement. / The Irrawaddy

Myanmars civil disobedience movement (CDM) against the military regime has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for 2022 by six academics at the University of Oslo in Norway.

It is the latest attempt to highlight Myanmars fight for democracy since the Feb. 1 coup.

The nomination is recognition of the CDMs role in forging a positive agenda for substantive democracy and peace, said the proposal to the Nobel committee.

The CDM members are risking arrests, torture and death, yet have chosen to fight for their freedom through labor strikes, peaceful assembly and non-violent resistance, said Professor Kristian Stokke, one of the nominators.

The nomination said: [The CDM] strives to create a united stand against the militarys divide and rule tactics and for federal democracy. If successful, this holds the potential of ending Myanmars long legacy of direct and indirect military rule and intrastate armed conflicts.

On Feb. 3 medical staff initiated civil servant strikes by refusing to work under the military regime with rail, transport, education, energy, police and foreign affairs staff joining the movement.

Ambassadors and other diplomats, including the ambassadors to the United Nations, United States and United Kingdom joined the CDM and are supporting the elected lawmakers Committee Representing the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (Union Parliament) or CRPH.

Protesters have banged pots and pans every evening, marched at dawn, held candlelit vigils at night and street performances, painted murals, joined general strikes, arranged protester-free demonstrations with placards and staged silent strikes.

Protesters have called on civil servants to stop working and join the CDM.

The CDM is also being supported by private banks and businesses.

In response, the military regime has carried out brutal crackdowns on peaceful protesters and evicted striking staff from government accommodation.

More than 270 people have been killed by Thursday, largely by firing at protesters.

Dr. Sasa, the CRPH-appointed special envoy to the UN, said on Friday that the Nobel nomination is a wonderful opportunity for the people of Myanmar.

It will give new hope to the people of Myanmar and bring to the forefront their suffering and pain as they stand for justice, freedom and peace, despite the oppressive and brutal actions of the military, said Dr. Sasa.

The CRPH has been urging the international community not to recognize the regime.

Dr. Sasa said the nomination showed the CDM is winning in its fight against the repressive regime, which has committed barbaric atrocities and crimes against humanity with impunity. He said the CDM has captured the worlds imagination with its peaceful resistance to the rule of the men with guns.

By acknowledging the striking civil servants bravery and determination, the nomination showed that the world stood with the peoples struggle for freedom and a better future.



You may also like these stories:

US and UK Sanction Myanmar Military-Owned Conglomerates

World Bank Forecasts 10 Percent Slump in Myanmars Growth

Striking Healthcare Workers Threatened by Myanmar Junta Officials
The Minister designate for Finance, Mr Ken Ofori-Atta says it was unfair that the former Special Prosecutor, Mr Martin Amidu in a report on the Agyapa deal did not include his input, as the sector Minister.



Appearing before the Appointments Committee of Parliament on Thursday, Mr Ofori-Atta expressed concern that his opinion was not captured before Mr Amidu;s reporter went public.



He was responding to a question by the Minority Leader in Parliament, Mr Haruna Iddrisu when he appeared before the Appointments Committee for vetting as the Minister of Finance in President Akufo-Addo's second term in office.



He has been re-nominated for the same Finance portfolio and going through Parliamentary approval as required by law.



Mr Ofori-Atta said the development in the Agyapa issue with how the Special Prosecutor concluded his report without his [Ofori Atta's] was not in the interest of Ghanas democracy.



It was quite a bit of cynicism with the transaction and for me, for the House, for such a report to be put out to the public without us, myself as Minister of Finance having a chance to discuss it, I think its a disservice to our democracy.



A fundamental right that I think we all as a people should be careful about such things and so the speculative issues and the risk associated with most transactions, discussions we are re-submitting to Parliament would enable us to work those things out, he insisted.



Finance Ministry did not break any law



Mr Ofori-Atta insisted at the vetting that they did not flout any law.



I do not feel that we broke any rule, he said.



He was of the view that the Attorney General would be able to give you a fair assessment of that.



For him, such conjectures, you know, are inimical to growth, and it does not help the kind of freedom of policy orientation, and innovation that was required for this country to grow.



He explained that for Ghana to be the largest exporter of gold in Africa, something different must be done within the remit of the Constitution to utilise resources to the benefit of citizens.



That is why we are resubmitting to find out the claims but I think the philosophy of trying to get more equity, trying to leverage our resources, is something that we should all consider, and know that its important for us to transform.

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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Big conglomerates cut 6,300 jobs amid the coronavirus pandemic as their earnings dropped.

Analysis of the business reports of 74 of Korea's top 100 companies shows that their permanent staff stood at 686,205 as of the end of 2020, down by 6,297 from a year earlier.

Offline retailers were hit especially hard. Lotte Shopping cut 2,350 jobs, while Shinsegae's superstore chain E-mart 565 workers. Doosan Heavy Industries, which was hit by the nuclear phase-out, laid off 1,232 people. But Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix's business boomed thanks to high demand for memory chips, so they hired 4,275 and 775 new staff.

Six out of 10 major conglomerates cut back on new hires last year, and their permanent staff dwindled.

The job losses are mainly due to deteriorating earnings and the main force of Korean industries shifting to the IT sector, which employs fewer people. Although the combined sales of the top 100 declined 5.5 percent to W1.5 quadrillion, their operating profits edged up 2.5 percent on-year to W82 trillion.

But without Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, combined operating profits plunged almost 18 percent.

Reliance on the semiconductor industry stretched to jobs. Thirty big companies hired 8,131 new workers, but Samsung hired 4,274 of them and SK Hynix 775, accounting for 62 percent.

Internet companies and game developers, which benefited from the increased time people spent at home in lockdown, also boosted hiring. Although not included in the country's top 100 companies, Naver, Kakao and NCsoft hired a combined 1,214 workers last year.

Kim Jung-sik at Yonsei University said, "We desperately need to nurture the service industry, which has a huge impact on job growth."

According to the Federation of Korean Industries, the country's top 100 businesses account for 63 percent of total sales generated by companies here. Cho Kyeong-yeop at the Korea Economic Research Institute said, "We need to create conditions for key domestic businesses to recover their earnings and make new investments."
This years contest will be held in Rotterdam on May 22 (PA)

Belarus will not be taking part in this years Eurovision Song Contest after failing to submit an eligible entry for the competition.

It was previously reported that a song by the group Galasy ZMesta was rejected by organisers for being too political.

The competition is scheduled to take place in the Netherlands in May.

Statement from the @EBU_HQ regarding Belarus and the Eurovision Song Contest 2021.https://t.co/qvmyjxqAq4 pic.twitter.com/2Au8HKb1Ad  Eurovision Song Contest (@Eurovision) March 26, 2021

A statement on the official Eurovision website from the European Broadcasting Union said: On Wednesday 10 March we wrote to the broadcaster BTRC, which is responsible for Belarus entry for the Eurovision Song Contest, to request that they take all steps necessary to amend their entry to this years event to ensure it is compliant with the rules of the competition.

Following this BTRC submitted a new song, by the same artists, within an agreed timeframe.

The EBU and the Reference Group, the contests governing board, carefully scrutinised the new entry to assess its eligibility to compete.

It was concluded that the new submission was also in breach of the rules of the competition that ensure the contest is not instrumentalised or brought into disrepute.

As BTRC have failed to submit an eligible entry within the extended deadline, regrettably, Belarus will not be participating in the 65th Eurovision Song Contest in May.

Last years Eurovision was cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic.

This years contest will be held in Rotterdam on May 22.
Stung by the poaching of his key lieutenants in various parts of the country by his perceived rivals, Deputy President William Ruto appears to be falling back on his vast voter-rich Rift Valley region.

President Uhuru Kenyatta, former Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka, Baringo Senator Gideon Moi, and Amani National Congress (ANC) party leader Musalia Mudavadi seems to have lately literally pulled the rag under Ruto's feet in areas where he had made major political inroads.

Dr Ruto on Wednesday held a closed-door meeting with Members of Parliament from Bomet County where a raft of issues was discussed on the current and future political moves.

Bomet Senator Christopher Langat, Woman Representative Joyce Korir, MPs Dominic Koskei (Sotik), Beatrice Kones (Bomet East), Gideon Koskei (Chepalungu), and Johana Ngeno of Emurua Dikirr in the neighbouring Narok county attended the two-hour meeting.

Four legislators - Nominated Jubilee Senator Alice Milgo, Brighton Yegon (Konoin), Ronald Tonui (Bomet Central) and nominated MP Wilson Sossion - did not attend as they were said to be engaged in official duties at the time, with the Karen meeting having been called on short notice.

An MP who attended meeting who spoke off record revealed that their discussions revolved around Ruto consolidating his firm grip on Rift Valley and other friendly regions.

"The outcome of the recent by-elections where UDA delivered only London civic ward in Nakuru county while dismally performing in other regions, notably failing to win Kabuchai parliamentary seat and Machakos Senatorial seat, was a major highlight of the Karen meeting," our source said.

Political backyard

"Dr Ruto appeared buoyant with the results, explaining to us that despite the loss, he made major inroads with candidates he barked performing way above that of Jubilee candidates in the last general election," said another MP who attended the meeting.

The DP is said to have told the MPs that even with the state machinery deployed in the by-elections, his perceived opponents going flat out to campaign for several days, UDA candidates performed well despite him (the DP) not joining the Tanga tanga team in wooing voters.

Mr Kiprotich Laitoriat Sirma, a leader from Bomet East constituency, blamed some leaders from South Rift Valley of not doing enough to solidify the DP's support in the region ahead of the next general election.

"Leaders from the region should do the spade work for the DP in their respective regions. While we need to feel his presence on the ground. Dr Ruto should cast his net wider and bring more communities and their leaders to his fold," said Mr Sirma.

"It is a given that Dr Ruto enjoys grassroots support in his backyard, but we should not take it for granted the bid to chip away his block by other presidential aspirants. He needs to assure his people that all is well," he added.

The Karen meeting comes two months after the DP attended a fundraiser in Ndanai trading centre in Sotik constituency, Bomet county where he helped raise Sh4.1 million for boda-boda riders from the area under a revolving fund.

In the clearest demonstration yet that Dr Ruto is keen on consolidating his grip on his political backyard, the DP has brought back Chama Cha Mashinani (CCM) party leader Isaac Ruto into his fold.

Mr Ruto, the first Council of Governors chairman, stood out as the fiercest critic of the DP in the South Rift region, having lost the gubernatorial race to the late Dr Joyce Laboso of Jubilee in the last general election.

Inroads into Ruto's turf

Dr Laboso, a former Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly succumbed to cancer at Nairobi Hospital on July, 29, 2020 after unsuccessfully seeking specialised treatment in Britain and India.

Dr Ruto toured Kipkelion West constituency in the neighbourng Kericho county two weeks ago after shelving rallies in Belgut and Kipkelion East constituencies so as to attend the funeral service of Arthur Kinyanjui, the son of Bahati MP Kimani Ngunjiri.

Earlier, the DP had toured Nandi and Narok counties in what has been seen as an effort to wade off any inroads made by his opponents, especially Kanu's Gideon Moi.

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Mr Moi and his troops, including Kanu Secretary General Nick Salat, Baringo Woman Rep Gladwel Tungo and Tiaty MP William Kamket were in Bomet two weeks ago to drum up support for the Kenya's independence party.

"I am currently focused on development, alleviating the plight of the needy and resettlement of the Mau evictees. Succession politics is not my priority at the moment," said Mr Moi at a rally in Longisa trading centre on March 12.

Kimilili MP Didmus Barasa is one of the latest prominent figures to leave DP Ruto's political corner with a number of those in Mount Kenya region having scaled down their appearances in Tanga Tanga meetings.

Former Mombasa Senator Hassan Omar has been seen lately hobnobbing with Moi, Mudavadi and Musyoka while former Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale and Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria have taken a backseat in the Tanga Tanga team.
Don't take them before a shot to try to prevent symptoms, but if your doctor agrees, it's okay to use them afterwards if needed.

The concern about painkillers is that they might curb the very immune system response that a vaccine aims to spur. Vaccines work by tricking the body into thinking it has a virus and mounting a defence against it. That may cause temporary arm soreness, fever, muscle aches or other symptoms of inflammation  signs the vaccine is doing its job.

Some research suggests that certain painkillers including ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin and other brands) might diminish the immune system's response. A study on mice suggests these drugs might lower the production of antibodies, which block the virus from infecting cells.

Read more: AstraZeneca says vaccine 76% effective in updated US trial data

Other research has found that painkillers might dampen the response to some childhood vaccines, so many paediatricians recommend that parents avoid giving children the medicines before a shot and only if needed afterwards, said Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently updated its guidance to recommend against painkillers before a Covid-19 shot. It says they can be taken afterwards for symptoms if you have no other medical conditions precluding their use, but to talk to your doctor.

If you're already taking one of those medications for a health condition, you should not stop before you get the vaccine  at least not without asking your doctor, said Jonathan Watanabe, a pharmacist at the University of California, Irvine.

Also read: People over 45 years can be vaccinated by July, says SBI report

If you're looking to relieve symptoms after your shot, he added, acetaminophen (Tylenol) is better because it works in a different way than some other painkillers.

If you have a reaction afterwards and need something, take some acetaminophen, Schaffner agreed. He added that the immune response generated by the vaccines is strong enough that any dampening effect by painkillers is likely slight and won't undermine the shots.

The CDC offers other tips, such as holding a cool, wet washcloth over the area of the shot and exercising that arm. For fever, drink lots of fluids and dress lightly. Call your doctor if redness or tenderness in the arm increases after a day or if side effects don't go away after a few days, the CDC says.
Whether you're dining out or welcoming family into your home, these Connecticut restaurants and caterers will make your Easter meal special.
Hyderabad, March 26 : Kankanala Niveditha Reddy on Friday filed nomination as the candidate of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for bypoll to Nagarjuna Sagar Assembly constituency.

Even before the BJP officially announced its nominee, party incharge for the constituency filed her nomination papers for April 17 bypoll.

This came a day after BJP state president Bandi Sanjay Kumar held a meeting with the ticket aspirants in the Assembly segment.

The saffron party was reportedly considering names of Ravi Naik and Kadari Anjaiah Yadav besides Niveditha Reddy. It was said to be waiting for the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and the Congress to declares their candidates.

Niveditha Reddy had contested unsuccessfully as BJP candidate from the constituency in 2018 elections.

Meanwhile, 10 nominations were filed for the bypoll on Friday.

In another development, field assistants under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme are planning to file mass nominations for the by-election to press for their demands. Field assistants' association president Chinta Kripakar said if their demands were not met by March 28, they will file the nominations. He said 300 field assistants were ready to file their papers.

March 30 is the last day for filing nominations for the by-poll, necessitated by the death of sitting legislator Nomula Narsimhaiah of TRS in December last year.

TRS has still not decided its candidate while former minister K. Jana Reddy is likely to contest as the Congress candidate.

In 2018, Narsimhaiah had defeated his nearest rival Jana Reddy of Congress by a margin of 7,771 votes. While Narsimhaiah polled 83,655 votes, Jana Reddy secured 75,884 votes. Niveditha Reddy of BJP could get only 2,675 votes.

The Election Commission of India has already announced that the election will be conducted through Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and Voter-Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT).
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Triangle Equities, the developer of Lighthouse Point in St. George, is embroiled in a legal battle with the projects bonding company after the former contractor filed for bankruptcy protection, greatly delaying the projects completion, the Advance/SILive.com has learned.

Triangle Equities contractor, Hollister Construction Services, voluntarily filed for relief under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the District of New Jersey, according to a company statement in 2019. After that, work halted on the project, which started in 2016.

At the time, Triangle Equities said the company was close to hiring a new contractor to finish the mixed-use project, which calls for a $250 million luxury apartment building to be equipped with retail, office space and a Westin Hotel.

While work was supposed to resume in June 2020, little appears to have been completed at the site since then.

The lawsuit alleges that the projects bonding company, the Kansas City, Mo.-based Arc Insurance Company, failed to facilitate construction of the project after Hollister filed for bankruptcy. Arc Insurance Company had previously signed an agreement assuming accountability for the construction, according to the lawsuit.

Court papers maintain that there hasnt been any progress on site.

Hollister became significantly behind on the construction of the project in 2019, court documents show. The delays led to Hollister filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the lawsuit alleges.

This case arises out of the abject failure and ultimate refusal of Defendant, a compensated performance bond surety, to fulfill its obligations under three bonds it supplied, alleges the lawsuit. In the more than 18 months since the bonded contractor filed for bankruptcy protection, although Defendant acknowledged the bonded contractors default and agreed to take over and complete the work under the bonded contract, Defendant has not performed a single dollars worth of contract work on the residential portion of the project and has performed virtually no work on the retail and parking portions.

When the project broke ground in June 2016, it was initially estimated that the first phase of construction was slated to be complete in December 2017. That has yet to come to fruition.

Since the bonded contractor filed for bankruptcy in September 2019, the surety has failed to progress the Lighthouse Point project in any meaningful way, said Elise Szwajkowski, a spokeswoman for Lighthouse Point. In order to complete the project and deliver this long-awaited and much-needed economic development and new mixed-income housing to the Staten Island North Shore, the project was left no choice but to pursue legal action against the surety.

When the Lighthouse Point project broke ground in June 2016, it was initially estimated that the first phase of construction was slated to be complete in December 2017. That has yet to come to fruition.

Arc Insurance didnt return an Advance/SILive.com request for comment. And the Advance/SILive.com was unable to reach Hollister for comment.

The project, located on the North Shore, calls for a $250 million luxury apartment building to be equipped with retail, office space and a Westin Hotel.

FUNDING POOL

In 2016 the Advance/SILive.com reported that the state approved a $15 million New York Works loan, as well as a $1.5 million loan from the REDC Capital Fund, to fuel the construction of Lighthouse Point. Additional financing for the project was facilitated through the Community Development Financial Institutions New Market Tax Credit Program as authorized by the U.S. Treasury.

The project was also slated to benefit from a $35.5 million New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) allocation from Triangle Equities partners -- United Funds Advisors (UFA), the Goldman Sachs Urban Investment Group (Goldman Sachs) and CCG Community Partners (CCG).

UFA also was providing up to $20 million of EB-5 financing, the Advance/SILive.com previously reported.

PROJECT DELAYS

A partial stop work order was issued by the city Department of Buildings (DOB) in 2019 for inadequate guardrails and housekeeping at the Lighthouse Point site, according to the agencys records.

According to DOB records, the agency was onsite on June 8, 2019, when inspectors partially lifted a previously issued stop-work order to allow the contractors to make repairs to the construction fence, repairs to the sidewalk shed, and to correct work site violations that were found during an inspection, according to an agency spokesperson.

The Lighthouse Point project met the states criteria of essential construction, due to the affordable housing units associated with the project, and the site was allowed to be open during the coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdown, said the DOB spokesperson.

A DOB permit for the new building was renewed on May 29, 2020, and expired on Jan. 1, 2021, according to agency records. Building permits were most recently renewed in January 2021, according to records.

A significant portion of the 16-story apartment building appears to have been erected. In fact, in August 2018, the Advance reported that the residential tower was rapidly rising on the North Shore. And in June, the Advance reported that 80% of the work on Phase I of the project was complete.

LIGHTHOUSE POINT PROJECT SPECS

The Lighthouse Point project calls for more than 23,000 square feet of restaurant, office and hospitality space, including a new 145,000-square-foot, 175-room hotel tower with approximately 15,000 square feet of event space.

Twenty percent of the apartment units will be set aside for affordable housing, which will be rented through a lottery system via the city Department of Housing, Preservation and Development.

PHASE I

The first phase of the project includes residential, commercial space and a 300-space public parking garage.

Businesses coming to Lighthouse Point include: a fresh food market; The Learning Experience, an early education academy for children 6 weeks to 6 years old; Spaces, a co-working space.

PHASE II

The second phase of the project is slated to include the Westin New York Staten Island and 15,000 square feet of event space, according to Triangle Equities.

This part of the project will also include rehabilitation of four historic structures on the site. One of the historic buildings will serve as the base of a Westin Hotel, which will house a restaurant.

The complex is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and one of the buildings is also a New York City landmark.

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As an emergency physician in the largest trauma center in Los Angeles, I'm often asked, "What's the craziest thing you've seen?"

How To Participate Since June 2020, we've asked for your stories about how race and ethnicity shape your life and and published as many of these stories as we can. We call this year-long effort Race in LA. Click here for more information and details on how to participate.

The expectation is gory stories of trauma, or TV-worthy "ER" episodes. Yet for me, these are never what come to mind. It's often the more subtle medical mysteries that have kept me up at night or, as of late, the immense tragedy that has devastated the Latino community of Los Angeles.

Day to day, patients like mine suffer the consequences of inequality out of the public eye. More recently during this pandemic, though, their likenesses have been captured very publicly -- in widely seen photographs posted in news publications and on social media that convey them in their most vulnerable state: critically ill and dying. Some of them in our own emergency department.

"Consent has been obtained," the viewer is reassured. Yet, in my experience, even consent for medical treatment is not as simple as a "yes" response.

'DID MY PATIENT UNDERSTAND?'

My family and I are immigrants from El Salvador. We moved to the United States when I was 10 years old. So I see myself, and my relatives, reflected in my largely immigrant, Latino patients -- many of whom are low income, have limited English proficiency, and have low health literacy and limited access to care.

To many of my patients, I am their primary care doctor, and our large public hospital emergency department is their clinic.

Though not new, their barriers to health and the disproportionate adverse outcomes that result are now more apparent than ever -- and have been well documented in media coverage as the pandemic has raged.

A sign at a COVID-19 testing center in English and Spanish on July 31, 2020 in Los Angeles. Latinos in L.A. County have continued to die at nearly three times the rate of white county residents, even as infections decrease. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

From overcrowded small living spaces, and the inability to carry out their manual labor remotely, to a lack of accurate health information in their language with no primary care available, the odds have been stacked against them.

But back to consent.

For months, I have grappled with the question of informed consent for intubation in such a challenging setting requiring quick decisions -- and for months, as I have followed up on patients I had admitted in critical condition, I've been met with a grim alert of their passing. Only a few made it off the ventilator after months of complications, and even fewer were discharged.

I've asked myself each time: Did my patient understand the disease and the expected outcomes? Did they understand the various means for oxygen support, and what intubation and being on a ventilator means? Did I use the right terms? Did they even have the mental capacity in their condition to understand and consent for anything when their oxygen level was so low?

Oxygen tanks at a local hospital. (Chava Sanchez/LAist)

As with most of my patients in our hospital, I was also speaking to them in Spanish. As a native speaker and trained medical interpreter and researcher, I'm comfortable in my language skills. But the complexity of these conversations remains.

I'm one of only a small number of physicians here who are native Spanish speakers, which means these challenging conversations are often carried out by providers with limited skills, or using semi- to un-trained bilingual staff as ad hoc interpreters.

Fully understanding the limitations to consent for this vulnerable population, seeing media images of patients in such a critical distressed state makes me deeply uncomfortable.

Can these patients or their families truly understand what they are consenting to? I can't help but think of such pictures as voyeuristic. My patients' humanity and suffering is gawked at, but not truly understood, much in the way that images of Black lives being taken by police were traumatically played over and over this past year during the short-lived attention placed on the Black Lives Matter movement.

WHAT MY PATIENTS REALLY NEED

Regardless of good intentions, the photographer's lens yields little more than what some refer to as "trauma porn" -- a misguided activism that does not benefit the subject in any tangible way.

Some might seek a glimpse into the "provider perspective," and I can understand that. But it makes me wonder, would this glimpse into human suffering be so readily possible in communities with majority affluent, white patients? Should we reduce the lives of these complex individuals to provocative pictures on what may be their deathbed to applaud the efforts of what are still largely white saviors? Would we want our own family members showcased in this way?

Medical personnel prepare medication for post-intubation care. Screen shot taken from a residency recruitment video at the hospital where Dr. Hasbun Avalos works. (Courtesy of Oswaldo Hasbun Avalos, M.D.)

I intimately understand the sacrifices that we providers have made in the past year. We've continually shown up, aware of the risk of contracting this deadly disease and passing it on to our loved ones -- many even going months apart from their own young children to avoid that scenario, while others have contracted the virus themselves, or have had family members pass from COVID-19.

But we can't just applaud the providers while so many of our patients have died, and are still dying. Certainly not in a community of disadvantaged patients who have been so disproportionately affected.

This only serves to further silence my community. It is a disservice to shift the focus of the conversation away from those who have most deeply suffered, while this virus claims so many of their lives -- with Latinos dying at close to triple the rate of their white counterparts.

Even as the pandemic "surge" ebbs, more quickly in some communities than others, this disparate death rate remains. Moving forward, what I'd like to see is real action from our government to help the communities that have suffered most: to continue funding unemployment, expand benefits, and increase the number of those covered; rent moratoriums so that people who are vulnerable, poor, and can't work from home don't have to risk exposure in dangerous jobs to avoid homelessness; to improve baseline healthcare access so we can reduce the disproportionate rate of comorbidities that contribute to worse outcomes from COVID-19; and to sharply increase vaccination rates in the communities most devastated.

As a doctor, I don't need more recognition for carrying out my duty. My patients don't need a camera on them while they're dying. We need measures to prevent their untimely, unjust deaths.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Oswaldo (Oz) Hasbun Avalos, M.D. is an emergency medicine physician. He is a nationally recognized medical interpretation and language access researcher and advocate currently practicing in Los Angeles. Having moved to the U.S. from El Salvador at age 10, he has been committed to improving the quality of medical care for patients with limited English proficiency since his undergraduate studies at Stanford University.

Oswaldo has been recognized as a White House Champion of Change by the Obama administration and is the recipient of several awards, including from the American Medical Association. He is also a United Health Foundation Diverse Scholar and a Paul and Daisy Soros Fellow.
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Burma World Bank Forecasts 10 Percent Slump in Myanmars Growth

Anti-regime protesters confront the security forces in Yangon on March 16. / The Irrawaddy

Myanmars economic growth is set to shrink by 10 percent this financial year as military rule hammers one of the regions fastest-growing economies, according to the World Bank.

In December the global financial institution forecast that Myanmars economy would start to recover from COVID-19 by this month.

The World Bank said Myanmar has been heavily affected by protests, strikes, military action, reductions in mobility and disruption to public services, like banking, logistics and internet access.

Myanmar has seen daily protests against the military regime, the coup leaders have restricted internet access, including a shutdown of mobile internet to blackout brutal violence against peaceful protesters across the country. The internet shutdowns affect businesses and consumers, which rely on online access for payments, consumer access and delivery.

Since early February, only military-controlled banks have operated with almost all private banks shutting down as staff participate in the civil disobedience movement, refusing to work under the regime. Myanmars financial sector mainly relies on private bank transactions, meaning most economic activity and almost all international maritime trade has ceased.

The World Bank forecast in December that Myanmars 2 percent growth for the 2020-21 financial year, which ends on Sept. 30. Despite COVID-19, the medium-term outlook was positive with growth estimated to recover to 7 percent due to public investment, a resurgence in manufacturing and productivity gains associated with the adoption of digital technology.

Following the coup, the bank expressed grave concerns, saying military rule was a major setback to the countrys democratic transition and economic development.

The World Bank also put funding for its projects on hold.

You may also like these stories:

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The government has given an assurance that it is speeding up work on the Greater Accra Resilient and Integrated Development (GARID) project to make up for the delays occasioned by COVID-19.



It said the GARID project would improve risks associated with flooding and management of solid waste within the Odaw River Basin in the Greater Accra Region, identified as a key area susceptible to flooding.



The project was expected to have begun in 2020 and end in 2025. But, it could not take off fully as a result of the global COVID-19 pandemic.



The project is being funded from a World Bank loan of an estimated $200 million.



Three Ministers co-ordinating the project: the Minister of Works and Housing, Francis Asenso-Boakye; Minister of Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development, Mr Dan Botwe; and the Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing, Ms Cecilia Dapaah, were present at the opening of the projects first steering committee meeting in Accra yesterday.



Components



The project comprises five interrelated components. These are, improving drainage and flood control within the Odaw Drainage Basin; improving management of solid waste as well as minimising solid waste in waterways and participatory upgrading of low-income communities that are flood-prone.



The other two components are, project management and contingent emergency response.



Activities under component one, to be led by the Ministry of Works and Housing (MWH), include managing floods and improving urban drainage in the Odaw drainage basin through dredging and de-silting of the Odaw channel; Improving the drainage systems, that is, widening of the Odaw river outlet into the sea, and the lining of major drainage channels and construction of selected secondary channels in the Accra Metropolitan Area.



Pre Order Ghana Year Book 2021

Also included are the development of flood water retention areas and improvements in flood response systems by way of providing better infrastructure for flood forecasting and warning systems.



For activities under component two, the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources (MSWR), will oversee improvements in solid waste management at the community-level through the provision of waste bins and skips and technical services for collecting the waste.



Other works include mobilising the communities and raising awareness; applying results-based incentive approach to enhance waste management and good sanitation practices and improving the capacity for managing solid waste in Greater Accra by identifying, assessing and improving waste collection, treatment and disposal facilities.



Commitment



Mr Francis Asenso-Boakye, said the government was committed to preventing further loss of lives and property due to floods.



He said the project also made room for contingent emergency responses to immediate and emerging risks such as disasters, conflicts, epidemics, economic shocks and for situations requiring urgent assistance generally.



He said since the component of the GARID project were triggered by the outbreak of the COVID-19, it was being implemented with support from the Ministry of Health.



"I am very certain that with the holistic approach that is being adopted under the GARID project to tackle the twin challenges of flooding and solid waste management, there will be improvement in the sanitation and flooding situations in Accra. I am appealing to all stakeholders, therefore, to support the project.



Ms Cecelia Abena Dapaah, said the ministrys mandate under the project included working to ensure that people refrained from and did not go back to the bad practices and mistakes that created the problems the project was seeking to address.



That, she said, was critical because the gains to be made under the project would have to be sustained to ensure value for the money invested in the project.



Mr Dan Botwe, said his ministry was committed to the project and was determined to see it succeed.

Source: graphiconline.com









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The ruling published by Constitutional Court Chairman Arman Dilanian says that Article 300.1 of the Criminal Code that concerns overthrowing the constitutional order runs counter to articles 78 and 79 of Armenias constitution that deal with the principles of proportionality and certainty in relation to restrictions of basic rights and freedoms.

Judge Dilanian said that the decision of the Constitutional Court is final and comes into effect upon its publication.

The constitutionality of the penal code article was contested by Kocharian, who faces up to 15 years in prison under the charge, as well as David Grigorian, a lower court judge who ordered the former presidents release from pretrial detention in May 2019, at the same time suspending the case and applying to the Constitutional Court regarding the matter.

Kocharians lawyer Aram Vardevanian told media after the publication of the ruling that since it comes into effect immediately, it means that there is no longer Article 300.1 in the Criminal Code of Armenia.

[Judge] Anna Danibekian will terminate the criminal prosecution under Article 300.1. By virtue of the decision of the Constitutional Court, all the acts that referred to Article 300.1 are no longer in force and are subject to review starting from 2009, Vardevanian said.

The prosecution did not comment on the Constitutional Courts ruling immediately.

To the question of journalists whether Judge Danibekian, who presides over the trial of Kocharian and others, can resist it, Vardevanian said: There is no case for resisting here. There is no Article 300.1 in the Criminal Code anymore.

Kocharian, his former chief of staff Armen Gevorgian and two retired army generals stand accused of overthrowing the constitutional order in the wake of a disputed presidential election held in 2008.

In particular, the matter concerns the alleged use by the Kocharian government of the army to quell street protests.

Kocharian and the three other defendants deny that the military was used in the dispersal of opposition demonstrations in which 10 people were killed.

They all reject the accusations as politically motivated.

Kocharians lawyers also find that since the article was not in the criminal code in 2008, it could not be applied retrospectively against their client.

Kocharian was first arrested and indicted in July 2018, two months after the Velvet Revolution that brought current Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian to power.

Since then Kocharian was twice freed and twice rearrested before the Court of Appeals in June 2020 overturned a lower court judges decision to deny him bail and ordered him freed.

Eventually, Kocharian was freed after paying a record $4.1 million bail set by Armenias Court of Appeals.

In addition to charges related to the 2008 post-election crackdown Kocharian is also accused of receiving a $3 million bribe from an Armenian entrepreneur when he served as president in 1998-2008.
Email Thomas Elias at tdelias@aol.com. His book, "The Burzynski Breakthrough, The Most Promising Cancer Treatment and the Governments Campaign to Squelch It" is now available in a soft cover fourth edition. For more Elias columns, visit www.californiafocus.net
Hong Kongs art auction market is showing signs of springing back into post-pandemic life with the sale Tuesday of the most expensive piece of Western art ever sold at auction in Asia.

Warrior, a painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988), an American artist of Haitian and Puerto Rican descent, was sold at a single-lot Christies auction for HK$323.6 million ($41.9 million), including commissions.

The price surpassed the record set by Gerhard Richters Abstraktes Bild (649-2), which went for HK$214.6 million at a Sothebys auction in October 2020.

The Basquiat auction was livestreamed by Christies in Hong Kong, with bids starting at HK$160 million before closing at HK$280 million when it was sold to an Asian buyer.

Warrior was last offered for sale at an auction in London in 2012, when it fetched around 5.6 million pounds ($7.8 million). The value of the painting has surged over 400% since then.

It has been a dim period in global art sale and auction markets as Covid-19 took its toll. In 2020, global sales of art and antiques shrank by 22% to an estimated $50.1 billion, according to a market report released last week by Art Basel and UBS Group AG.

The report showed that the U.S. market retained its leading position, with 42% of global sales by value. Greater China and the United Kingdom were each well behind with 20%. However, Greater China overtook the U.S. to become the largest public auction market, with a share of 36% of sales by value, according to the report.

Aggregate online sales, nonetheless, reached a record high of $12.4 billion, doubling in value from 2019, the report said. The share attributed to online sales also expanded, from 9% of total sales by value in 2019 to 25% in 2020, the first time the share of e-commerce sales exceeded general retail sales in the art market.

The year 2020 marked a turning point for digital innovation in the art market, said Christl Novakovic, CEO of UBS Europe SE and chair of the UBS Art Board.

The shift to online platforms enabled collecting, increased transparency, and bolstered the market even when national lockdowns forced gallery, live auction and museum closures, she said.

Contact reporter Timmy Shen (hongmingshen@caixin.com) and editor Michael Bellart (michaelbellart@caixin.com)

Download our app to receive breaking news alerts and read the news on the go.

Follow the Chinese markets in real time with Caixin Globals new stock database.
Its been challenging to be outside, but also incredibly rewarding, Marianetti said in an email. We have learned so much about sound and how even the smallest bird chirp can cause a scene to have to be filmed again! We had so much fun and are so grateful that we continue to be able to create and celebrate the arts. Theatre is so important to who we are as people, and we are honored to be able to experience this project and to tell the story of Mathew Shepherd. We must never forget that in these times, the arts are more important than ever; art feeds our souls and nourishes our hearts. We must support each other and lift with love.
A truck driver was transporting more than 120 immigrants who had crossed the border illegally, authorities said.

A tractor-trailer arrived at the Interstate 35 checkpoint during the evening of March 24. A K-9 unit allegedly alerted to possible contraband during the immigration inspection of the driver, a U.S. citizen. Agents referred the vehicle to secondary inspection.
Illegal immigrants listen to instructions at an outdoor Border Patrol processing center under the Anzalduas International Bridge after crossing the Rio Grande from Mexico near Mission, Texas, on March 23, 2021. (John Moore/Getty Images)

GOP Members Say Bidens Statements on Immigration Figures Are Misinformation

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) have singled out some of President Joe Bidens statements from his first formal press conference about immigration numbers and said that his statements were not true.

It happens every single solitary year. President Biden claimed the dramatic increase in migrants flooding our southern border is totally normal for this time of year.  FALSE, McCarthy wrote on Twitter.

He then cited yearly data on border-crossers.

It happens every single solitary year. President Biden claimed the dramatic increase in migrants flooding our southern border is totally normal for this time of year.  FALSE. 2015: 24k

2016: 26k

2017: 18k

2018: 26k

2019: 66k

2020: 30k

2021: More than 100k pic.twitter.com/0jryTDNr2N  Kevin McCarthy (@GOPLeader) March 25, 2021

Graham also said that Bidens remarks were erroneous.

The Trump policies created dramatic decreases in illegal immigration, Graham wrote on Twitter. The changes made by President Biden have created a virtual human tsunami.

Graham asserted that Biden is disseminating stunning misinformation in respect to immigration, further saying that the president doesnt understand the situation at the border and has no recourse to solve the pertaining problems.

With all due respect, this press conference is hard to watch. The misinformation being given by President Biden on immigration is stunning, Graham wrote.

Its clear he does not have the situational awareness he needs to understand what is going on at the border or how to fix it.

The Epoch Times has reached out to the White House for comment.

Biden said in the press conference that people are coming because they know he is a good guy.

I guess I should be flattered people are coming because Im the nice guy. Thats the reason why its happening, that Im a decent man or however its phrased, thats why theyre coming, because they know Bidens a good guy. Truth of the matter is, nothing has changed, Biden said.

As many people came, a 28 percent increase in children to the border in my administration, 31 percent in the last year, in 2019, before the pandemic in the Trump administration. It happens every single solitary year. There is a significant increase in the number of people coming to the border in the winter months of January, February, March. It happens every year, the president added.

According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), border patrol apprehended 100,441 illegal immigrants at the southern border in February, representing a 28 percent increase compared to January.

Whats sad is that President Biden doesnt understand the basics about the current dynamic at the border and the pull factors of illegal immigration, Graham continued.

Earlier this week, former President Donald Trump harshly criticized the Biden administration over its policies at the border.

In respect of the growing number of illegal crossings, Trump told Fox News host Lisa Boothe in a podcast, Theyll be coming up by the millions.

He warned that the situation will likely deteriorate toward more severe levels.

Its nothing compared to whats going to be in a couple of months, Trump predicted. As I said before, you have some very bad hombres coming up and were taking them into our country, and its insane.

They go into our country, we never find them again; they never come back, a very tiny percentage comes back, Trump said, referring to the Biden administrations effective return to the Obama-era catch and release policy in which asylum seekers were released into the interior of the country to await a court hearing, often never to be seen again.

Upon taking office, Biden revoked a number of Trumps executive orders regarding immigration policy, including the orders for Resuming the United States Refugee Admissions Program With Enhanced Vetting Capabilities, Enhancing State and Local Involvement in Refugee Resettlement, and Implementing Immediate Heightened Screening and Vetting of Applications for Visas and Other Immigration Benefits, Ensuring Enforcement of All Laws for Entry Into the United States, and Increasing Transparency Among Departments and Agencies of the Federal Government and for the American People.
Mediaplanet today announces the launch of its cross-platform campaign Future of Higher Education. With the spring semester underway of what has been a highly unusual school year, students, administrators, educators, and parents are all faced with questions about the future of higher education as we know it.

This campaign aims to provide insight into the leading challenges of the past year and presents creative solutions put in place and available going forward for making the higher education experience more seamless and successful. Future of Higher Education serves as a resource for university decision-makers as they plan their 2021 budgets, and invest in leading tools and technologies.

The print component of Future of Higher Education is distributed within todays edition of USA TODAY in the Chicago, Atlanta, Philadelphia/Baltimore, Houston, Detroit, New York, Washington DC, Cincinnati, New Orleans, Dallas, Pittsburgh, Carolinas, Boston, South Florida, Denver, Seattle, and Los Angeles markets, with a circulation of approximately 200,000 copies and an estimated readership of 600,000. The digital component is distributed nationally through a vast social media strategy, and across a network of top news sites and partner outlets. To explore the digital version of the campaign, visit educationandcareernews.com/campaign/future-of-higher-education.

Dr. Sue Ellspermann, president of Ivy Tech, Indianas only full-fledged community college, is featured on the cover of the print publication. Operating in a state that has committed to having 60 percent of its workforce be college-educated by 2025, the decisions Ellspermann and Ivy Tech made over the past year were critical for the success of their students and the state of Indiana.

I think we can be the best partner in the community, Ellspermann said in an exclusive interview. We can partner with employers to understand the programs that they need, and help build the pipeline of workers in those careers. We can partner with community organizations to provide the wraparound support these non-traditional learners need. And we can partner with our community and state leaders to ensure the ecosystem of higher education provides an equitable way for citizens to be students, and to be graduates.

This campaign was made possible with the support of the American Council on Education (ACE), National Academic Advising Association (NACADA), AI in Advancement Advisory Council (AAAC), United Negro College Fund (UNCF), National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO), American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), Phi Theta Kappa, Dr. Sue Ellspermann of Ivy Tech Community Colleges, Dr. Mary Schmidt Campbell of Spelman College, American Campus Communities, Salesforce for Education, Huron Consulting Services, ODonnell Learn, Anthology, AdmitHub, Logan EDU, SHRM, HRCI, Coalition for Adult Basic Education, and USDLA.

About Mediaplanet

Mediaplanet specializes in the creation of content marketing campaigns covering a variety of industries. We tell meaningful stories that educate our audience and position our clients as solution providers. Our unique ability to pair the right leaders with the right readers, through the right platforms, has made Mediaplanet a global content marketing powerhouse. Our award-winning stories have won the hearts of countless readers while serving as a valuable platform for brands and their missions. Just call us storytellers with a purpose. Please visit http://www.mediaplanet.com for more on who we are and what we do.

Press Contact:

Eliana Marzullo

eliana.marzullo@mediaplanet.com


The Netherlands Minister of Defense Ank Bijleveld announced on March 24 during a press conference at the Army Prepositioned Stock-2 Eygelshoven site that the Dutch government has agreed to provide 38 million euros toward facility upgrades and new construction at the U.S. Armys APS-2 site in the Netherlands. Cameron Porter, 405th AFSB Public Affairs Officer, reports.

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Dutch media representatives attended the March 24 press conference where the Netherlands Minister of Defense Ank Bijleveld announced the Dutch government has agreed to provide 38 million euros toward facility upgrades and new construction at the Army Prepositioned Stock-2 Eygelshoven site. (Picture source: U.S. Army/Cameron Porter)

Charge dAffaires and acting U.S. Ambassador to the Netherlands Marja Verloop, also in attendance, echoed Bijlevelds enthusiasm, stating the visit to the APS-2 site and the announcement made by the Dutch Minister of Defense is proof of the close, enduring partnership between the Netherlands and the United States of America, especially as it pertains to defense cooperation and defense security.

Lets not forget the reason why we are all here today, said U.S. Ambassador to the Netherlands Marja Verloop. The Netherlands serves as a critical military mobility and logistics hub for both the United States Army and the entire Alliance. The Netherlands also provides critical support to our military forces stationed here, more than 6,000 U.S. and NATO forces and their family members. Moreover, it serves as a crucial transit corridor via the ports of Rotterdam and Groningen.

The Netherlands serves as a critical military mobility and logistics hub for both the United States Army and the entire Alliance and serves as a crucial transit corridor via the ports of Rotterdam and Groningen, said Charge dAffaires and acting U.S. Ambassador to the Netherlands Marja Verloop.

The modernization upgrades that are underway here at APS-2 Eygelshoven will improve and facilitate NATOs rapid deterrence mission. They will reduce deployment timelines and provide additional combat power for contingency operations across Europe. The APS-2 Eygelshoven site stands as a testament to both the U.S. commitment to European security and also to signal the Netherlands is taking its NATO responsibilities seriously, Verloop said.

Also in attendance at the event was Royal Netherlands Army Commander Lt. Gen. Martin Wijnen, U.S. Army Europe and Africa Deputy Commanding General Maj. Gen. Joe Jarrard, Heaquarters Allied Joint Force Command-Brunssum Deputy Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Kramer, Dutch Material Logistics Command Commander Brig. Gen. Ronald Rietbergen, 405th Army Field Support Brigade Commander Col. Brad Bane, U.S. Army Garrison Benelux Commander Col. James Yastrzemsky, Limburg Province Governor Theo Bovens, Kerkrade City Mayor Petra Dassen, and several other leaders and distinguished guests.

While we cannot stand next to each other, shoulder to shoulder, for this event today due to COVID, we can take pleasure knowing that the U.S. and Dutch partnership and investment in the APS Eygelshoven effectively demonstrates improvement in Alliance readiness and defense capabilities, Verloop said. We are stronger together.

The U.S. and Dutch partnership and investment in the APS Eygelshoven effectively demonstrates improvement in Alliance readiness and defense capabilities. We are stronger together, said Charge dAffaires and acting U.S. Ambassador to the Netherlands Marja Verloop.

Charge dAffaires and acting U.S. Ambassador to the Netherlands Marja Verloop said the Army Prepositioned Stock-2 Eygelshoven site stands as a testament to both the U.S. commitment to European security and also to signal the Netherlands is taking its NATO responsibilities seriously. (Picture source: U.S. Army/Cameron Porter)

Following the announcement and press conference, attendees received an APS-2 Eygelshoven capabilities briefing by the 405th AFSB commander and the commander of Army Field Support Battalion-Benelux, Lt. Col. Aaron Jones.

Once the briefings were complete and the visiting guests received detailed responses to all their questions, they were given the opportunity to walk the site and see the capabilities and readiness posture of APS-2 Eygelshoven, firsthand. It was there they witnessed the amount of work required to store, maintain and care for hundreds of military vehicles and multiple equipment sets.

APS-2 Eygelshoven contains about 450,000 square feet of warehouse space in eight main facilities and about 50,000 square feet of hardstand storage. The workforce at Eygelshoven consists of mainly a combination of Dutch local nationals, who work for the Ministry of Defense, active duty U.S. Army Soldiers and civilian employees, and several U.S. government contractors.

The 405th AFSBs AFSBn-Benelux is responsible for the APS-2 site at Eygelshoven and another APS-2 site at Zutendaal, Belgium. There are several APS-2 sites under the command and control of the 405th AFSB across Europe. Each APS-2 site has the capability to house and maintain about an Armored Brigade Combat Teams worth of equipment as well as engineer, artillery, military police, sustainment and medical capabilities.

The APS-2 program helps to reduce deployment timelines, improve deterrence capabilities and provide additional combat power for contingency operations. APS-2 equipment may also be drawn for use in training and exercises like the upcoming DEFENDER-Europe 21. The APS-2 program enhances U.S. Army Europe and Africas readiness and capability to support the warfighter while simultaneously promoting stability and security in the region.

The 405th AFSB is assigned to U.S. Army Sustainment Command and under the operational control of the 21st Theater Sustainment Command, U.S. Army Europe and Africa. The brigade is headquartered in Kaiserslautern, Germany, and provides materiel enterprise support to U.S. Forces throughout Europe and Africa  providing theater sustainment logistics; synchronizing acquisition, logistics and technology; and leveraging the U.S. Army Materiel Command materiel enterprise to support joint forces.
Prof, Dr. Do Quyet, Director of the Hanoi-based Vietnam Military Medical University made the remarks on March 26 when the second shots of Nano Covax COVID-19 vaccine were given to volunteers during the second trial phase of this home-grown vaccine.

The first-stage trials of Nano Covax vaccine showed that the vaccinated volunteers have had antibodies against the UK variant, he said, adding that phase 2 would allow researchers to see how exactly immunogenic Nano Covax is.

The administration of the second jabs of this phase are expected to be completed at the end of April, according to Quyet.

At the current progress, scientists would be able to submit the preliminary test results to the National Council for Ethics in Biomedical Research in late June or early July for the approval of the third phase of trial on a larger scale, he continued.

The third phase will involve some 10,000 people with half of them given shots of AstraZeneca vaccine and the remainder receiving Nano Covax, he said, adding that it will help compare the side effect and effectiveness of the two types of vaccine.

Quyet expressed his belief that with the method, Vietnam would be able to produce its own COVID-19 vaccine in September.

On the occasion, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam, head of the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control, expressed his trust in those engaging in Nano Covax research and trials.

While urging agencies and forces to press ahead with the research and production of domestic vaccines in line with procedures and standards, the Deputy PM stressed that even though the time would be shortened but no steps would be missed and scientific conditions must be ensured.

The Military Medical University on March 25 began giving the second shots of the Nano Covax in the second trial phase to volunteers, who had received the first jabs between February 26 and March 10. A total of 560 volunteers, including those with mild background ailments such as hypertension, diabetes, and cardiovascular issues, are participating in this phase.

Nano Covax, developed by the Nanogen Pharmaceutical Biotechnology Company, is Vietnams first candidate vaccine to reach the human trial stage.

According to Associate Prof. Dr. Chu Van Men, Director of the Military Medical Universitys Centre for Clinical Trials and Bioequivalence, after receiving the first shots, volunteers exhibited symptoms such as pain at the injection point, a light fever, muscle aches, joint pain, and fatigue, but did not require medical intervention.

The health of the 560 volunteers remains stable, he said, adding that Nano Covax is safe and the volunteers are ready for their second shots.

The second trial phase is being organised simultaneously at the Military Medical University and the Pasteur Institute in Ho Chi Minh City.
SALINAS, Calif., March 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - Mastronardi Produce West is pleased to announce it has been awarded the 2021 Best of Salinas Award in the category of Produce Markets. This prestigious designation is an opportunity to celebrate and recognize the great work of its employees in every aspect of the business.

"We are very proud of this recognition, especially as we heighten our focus on growing as a national leader in produce and continuously serving those who rely on quality, flavorful food  even during the uncertainty of today," says Caitlin Tierney, Business Director, Mastronardi Produce, Western Operations. "We're truly honored to have been recognized with this prestigious award, and we thank our dedicated employees for being the true foundation to our success."

The Salinas Award Program was created to honor and generate public recognition of the achievements and positive contributions of businesses and organizations in and around Salinas. Its mission is to raise the profile of exemplary companies and entrepreneurs among the press, the business community, and the general public.

Receiving this recognition validates that Mastronardi Produce remains a resilient leader who has turned unprecedented challenges into impactful change. With a strategic focus on servicing the Western region, the company continues to make significant inroads into increasing their distribution of fresh and flavorful SUNSET produce in the region, and in their contribution to Salinas and its surrounding communities.

Join one of the best places to grow and make an impact through forward-thinking innovation. View open positions with Mastronardi Produce or to apply online, visit www.sunsetgrown.com/careers.

About Best of Salinas

The Salinas Award Program is an annual awards program honoring the achievements and accomplishments of local businesses throughout the Salinas area. Recognition is given to those companies that have shown the ability to use their best practices and implemented programs to generate competitive advantages and long-term value.

Each year, the Salinas Award Program identifies companies that we believe have achieved exceptional marketing success in their local community and business category. These are local companies that enhance the positive image of small business through service to their customers and our community. These exceptional companies help make the Salinas area a great place to live, work and play.

The Salinas Award Program was established to recognize the best of local businesses in our community. Our organization works exclusively with local business owners, trade groups, professional associations and other business advertising and marketing groups. Our mission is to recognize the small business community's contributions to the U.S. economy.

About Mastronardi Produce Ltd.

A pioneer and industry leader in the gourmet greenhouse industry, Mastronardi Produce grows and markets nationally recognized products under the SUNSET brand, including Campari, Flavor Bombs, and Angel Sweet tomatoes. Mastronardi Produce has been family-owned for over 70 years and prides itself on producing consistently flavorful gourmet tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and berries.

To learn more about Mastronardi Produce, visit sunsetgrown.com or read our past releases.

SOURCE Mastronardi Produce Ltd.

Related Links

http://sunsetgrown.com


Chile has reported its highest daily count of new coronavirus infections since the start of the pandemic despite widespread restrictions and widely praised progress on vaccinations.

The government on Saturday reported 7.084 new cases in the South American nation of some 18 million people, topping a previous record in June. It said COVID-19 has become the country's leading cause of mortality, causing 26% of deaths so far this year.

Chile so far has given at least one vaccine shot to more than 29% of the population and both doses to 15%  far more than in other nations in the region. But Health Minister Enrique Paris said people should remain cautious since population-level immunity isn't likely until about 80% are vaccinated, probably by about the end of June.

Officials said hospital bed usage has reached 94%, with rising numbers among those 60 and below as older Chileans have been inoculated. The medical association said the system has been strained by depression or exhaustion affecting as many as 30% of medical personnel.

The government has imposed supposedly tight restrictions on three-quarters of the country's municipalities and said Saturday it is tightening limits on people entering from abroad, especially from Brazil.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
If anyone establishes a unit price for optimism in the face of a futile struggle, Premier Brian Pallister would be a very rich man indeed.

If anyone establishes a unit price for optimism in the face of a futile struggle, Premier Brian Pallister would be a very rich man indeed.

Pallister's unbridled optimism was on full display Thursday, as the Supreme Court of Canada upheld the federal government's constitutional right to impose carbon pricing in provinces that have no comparable plan.

There was no joy in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ontario, the provinces that tried to strike down Ottawa's carbon tax plan. However, in Manitoba, which has launched a parallel legal action in Federal Court, the Supreme Court defeat was actually good news.

Yes, good news.

JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES If anyone establishes a unit price for optimism in the face of a futile struggle, Premier Brian Pallister would be a very rich man indeed.

"We're optimistic with the decision and the wording in it, that we have a case to make and we're looking forward to hearing the court rule on our own," Pallister told reporters.

Pallister said that while the Supreme Court decision upheld the federal government's right to make laws to address issues of national importance, even if they infringe on areas of provincial jurisdiction, it also affirmed that Ottawa's authority is not "unfettered."

In Pallister's world, this is an important limitation on federal power. In just about everyone else's world, that is an extremely narrow view of the decision.

The mere fact that the high court elected to hear this case is proof the federal government has no "unfettered" power to intercede in areas of provincial jurisdiction. In this case, unfettered means that the provinces have the full right to challenge, and Ottawa must be willing to defend its actions in court.

THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES/Adrian Wyld The Supreme Court was pretty confident (albeit, in a 6-3 split decision) that climate change is "a threat of the highest order to the country, and indeed the world," Chief Justice Richard Wagner wrote on behalf of the majority.

And that is what happened. Ontario, Alberta and Saskatchewan did not want carbon pricing of any kind and were hoping against hope in their own way that the high court would reject Ottawa's policy. When it was over, the Supreme Court was pretty confident (albeit, in a 6-3 split decision) that climate change is "a threat of the highest order to the country, and indeed the world," Chief Justice Wagner wrote on behalf of the majority.

"This context, on its own, provides some assurance that Canada is not seeking to invoke the national concern doctrine too lightly. The undisputed existence of a threat to the future of humanity cannot be ignored."

Pallister's only legal foothold now is to argue that Manitoba's homegrown climate change policy can meet or exceed the federal government's "outcome-based targets," as the court put it. Even though the premier is buoyant to the point of giddiness that he can do that, there are not many who share his optimism.

THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES/Christopher Katsarov Pallister's strategy was to implement a carbon tax in Manitoba that was slightly higher than the floor price ($20 per tonne) set by Ottawa. But, he wanted an agreement Manitoba could keep carbon taxes here at $25 while they rose in the rest of the country to at least $50 per tonne.

The first problem is that Manitoba doesn't have much of a plan. In the fall of 2017, Pallister unveiled his climate plan, which included a $25-per tonne carbon tax and a long list of vague promises about what it would do with the money it collected.

Pallister's strategy was to implement a carbon tax in Manitoba that was slightly higher than the floor price ($20 per tonne) set by Ottawa. But, he wanted an agreement Manitoba could keep carbon taxes here at $25 while they rose in the rest of the country to at least $50 per tonne. Ottawa gave Manitoba the big thumbs-down.

Pallister's reaction was bizarre, to say the least. He pulled the Manitoba plan off the table for reasons that have never been fully explained. Ottawa shrugged, and began charging and collecting tax on Manitoba's behalf and, in the first full year, remitted about $175 million in carbon tax rebates directly to individuals.

JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES From the start, Pallister's goal has been to find a way for Manitobans to pay less carbon tax than residents of other provinces.

Little has happened since then other than Pallister's decision to take his tenuous case to Federal Court.

All of which brings us to today, and Pallister's insistence that a legal setback suffered by three other provinces helps Manitoba in its court challenge.

Manitoba could, in theory, win that challenge, or even get the feds to back down during negotiations, if Pallister could prove that what he wants to do is as good or better than Ottawa's plan. But he can't, because it isn't.

From the start, Pallister's goal has been to find a way for Manitobans to pay less carbon tax than residents of other provinces. Although that's an impressive demonstration of Pallister's capacity to put self-interest ahead of national interests, it's unlikely to be persuasive in Federal Court.

Even this week, when asked what his new counterproposal would be to get Ottawa to approve a madeinManitoba solution, Pallister stuttered and equivocated.

Pallister's green plan, as unveiled, had some good elements, but the premier's failure to make meaningful progress on climate change, and his petulant tantrums over Ottawa's decision to impose a federal tax, leave us without much of a climate change policy at all.

Even this week, when asked what his new counter-proposal would be to get Ottawa to approve a made-in-Manitoba solution, Pallister stuttered and equivocated. If he still has a plan, he can't seem to enunciate it in any detail.

Pallister, no doubt, thinks that continuing to fight Ottawa in court makes him look good. He forgets that the gross majority of Manitobans want less legal wrangling and more action to curb climate change.

dan.lett@freepress.mb.ca
A new report from Safewise, a security product review site, has found that the safest city in California is right here in the East Bay, but no other Bay Area towns made the top 20.

Danville, the incorporated municipality under Mount Diablo that uses "town" in its name instead of "city," topped the list in the study, which sourced property and violent crime metrics from the FBI.

The report found Danville had a violent crime rate of just 0.05 per 1,000 residents and 6.6 property crimes per 1,000 residents.

On a national level, the study also found that while California has a higher violent crime rate than the country as a whole, the rate has decreased slightly over the past year.

Other findings revealed that 56% of Californians said that they feel a high daily level of concern for their safety, and the state ranked second in the nation for fears of gun violence and police violence, and fifth in the nation for concern over violent crimes.

California also ranked second in the country for the highest concern over the coronavirus.

On gun violence, 72% of Californians said it was a top safety concern. The state saw 39 mass shooting incidents in 2020.

Sixty-one percent of residents said they worried about police violence daily, and 25% of Californians use some type of personal protection like pepper spray or stun guns according to the survey.

Danville, a town of about 45,000 residents with a median income of nearly $153,000, won the same accolade last year.

Danville has consistently been ranked the safest city, in our case town, in the state of California. Community safety is our highest priority for all of our residents and businesses, said Danville Mayor Renee S. Morgan in a statement to the San Jose Mercury News.

Other Bay Area cities to make the top 50 safest included Foster City, ranked 24; San Ramon, 25; Hollister, 30; Morgan Hill, 32; Pacifica 40; Martinez, 45; Redwood City at 47 and Pleasanton at 49.

Find the full survey here.
Gulf Avionics, an aircraft maintenance company, is the latest aerospace business to land at the Kerrville-Kerr County Airport.

The subsidiary of Dallas holding company E.H. Caddis and Co. expects to create 50 jobs over the next five years at its new Hill Country headquarters.

The move is going to help really transform the area, said Gil Salinas, executive director of the Kerr Economic Development Council. With some of the activity that were seeing, especially in the aerospace sector, we are now kind of transitioning into an emerging economy.

On ExpressNews.com: Aerospace supplier to create 400 jobs in Kerrville

The company, which isnt receiving local government incentives for the move, specializes in aircraft avionics sales, upgrades, installation and repair, in addition to aircraft maintenance.

A five-person team has already moved into a 7,000-square-foot hangar at the airport, according to Chris Todtenhausen, Gulf Avionics vice president of business development.

The company chose Kerrville because of the many aircraft based in the surrounding areas and low competition from similar companies, Todtenhausen said.

Within 200 miles, theres about 800 jets or private aircraft, he said. In Harlingen, where the company was previously headquartered, the number was between 150 to 200.

On ExpressNews.com: Kerrville aircraft maker shuts down - again

San Antonio International Airport was the companys original target, but hangar space there was in a different price category than what we were looking for, he said. And then we came across Kerrville, and truthfully, the decision became pretty obvious for us pretty quick.

The bucolic Hill Country was another attraction.

We were looking for a niche area that was unique and off the grid, Todtenhausen said. It would be an experience, not just a place to get work done on your aircraft.

Beyond aviation maintenance technicians, the company is also seeking people with woodworking, electronics, engineering, cabinetry, upholstery and other skills for jobs that could pay up to $75,000.

Gulf is the second aviation company to move to Kerrville, which has a population of 23,000 and is roughly 60 miles northwest of San Antonio.

On ExpressNews.com: Accelerator: Cybersecurity SA has happened upon a bit of a problem

In August, North Dakota-based Killdeer Mountain Manufacturing announced plans to expand to Kerrville, potentially bringing 400 jobs over the next 20 years. KMM makes circuit cards, wire harnesses and fiber-optic products for aerospace and aviation companies, as well as the military.

The 92-year-old Mooney International Corp. is also headquartered in Kerrville. The aircraft manufacturer, however, has had a rough go over the last two years, with ownership changes and and layoffs.

Its clear to us that companies are seriously looking at relocating to Kerr County, a rapidly growing commercial hub and home to manufacturers, medical facilities and the aerospace sector, Kerrville Mayor Bill Blackburn said in a statement.

Salinas said the Kerr EDC is in talks with two additional aviation companies.

Theyre very preliminary at this time, but again, a lot of it has to do with Killdeer coming in and then also with Gulf Avionics, he said. Success breeds success, and were starting to see that activity being generated.

Brandon Lingle writes for the Express-News through Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms. ReportforAmerica.org. brandon.lingle@express-news.net
analysis

As the Zimbabwean crisis deepens, many in the media and academic fraternity castigate their countrymen as docile, unable to resolve their perennial economic woes due to a reluctance to speak out against corruption and State Capture. Young people have been on the receiving end of these aspersions.

There is much truth to the claim that Zimbabwe's judicial, legislative and executive branches are captured by corrupt cartels that milk the country's resources for the benefit of the top 1%. However, the argument that young Zimbabweans are docile in their complicity breaks down when subjected to critical analysis. It fails to take account of the heavy yoke of unemployment, poverty, repression and other factors resulting from the malevolence of Emmerson Mnangagwa's presidency.

Young people in Zimbabwe are not a homogenous entity.

Zimbabwe Republic Police officers clash with people who took part in an MDC Alliance-organised Peace March in Harare, Zimbabwe, 16 August 2019. The anti-government march was to protest against the cost of living, unemployment, power and fuel shortages and other issues. (Photo: EPA-EFE / Aaron Ufumeli)

Whereas a significant portion spend much of their time watching unproductive videos on social media, they co-exist with those who speak up about the deteriorating...
Dr Kirstyn James saw firsthand the benefits of telemedicine while doing her geriatric fellowship at Harvard Medical School in Boston.

Working in the Veteran Affairs Healthcare System, shed find herself doing a remote medical consult with a veteran in Cape Cod, who found the three-hour drive to the clinic too onerous. Or with a veteran who had a problem with memory or mobility, making it difficult for them to leave home.

We had a hub-and-spoke team in Boston  we could see patients from all over Massachusetts remotely in one morning, says Dr James, now a consultant in geriatric medicine at CUH.

Such digital solutions to elderly healthcare are set to come into their own as the worlds population ages. The number of people aged 80+ will triple globally in just under 30 years. By 2030, over 60s will comprise one-quarter of Europes population.

With such demographic shifts, costs of elderly healthcare are set to rise  but with less people working for every retiree, how is this sustainable?

New digital technologies  some current, some in the pipeline  will very likely be part of the solution. The 2019 EPTA (European Parliamentary Technology Assessment) report highlights the potential of digital technologies  like e-health and robotics  to contribute to active ageing in a cost-effective manner.

Working in CUH since last August, Dr James has seen  with the pandemic  big progress in HSE rollout of telemedicine facilities. Between August and the end of December 2020, the geriatric medicine tele-health clinic in CUH did 46 consultations. Patients hailed from as close by as Cork City to remote areas of the county, such as Castletownbere, and the wider parts of Munster.

Based predominantly in the emergency department, Dr James offers telemedicine to older people who need follow-up visits. She can do memory tests, inspect skin and feet or notice shortness of breath. If a patients familiar with checking their own weight or blood pressure, Ill often ask them to do these measurements.

She reviews mobility and assesses triggers for falls, for example, dizzy symptoms. Seeing someones mobility in their own home is very useful. When they stand up or turn around I might see a coffee table that they could potentially fall over. If someone calls to their door and it takes the patient a long time to get to the door, or they seem unsteady on their feet, Id be prompted to do certain tests.

With a patient who has poorly-controlled blood pressure, Dr James might ask to see on video how they organise their medicine. I might see itd be easy for them to miss doses or make mistakes. Id then work with the pharmacy to put in place a medication organisation pack.

Benefits of telemedicine

A survey of mobile technology use among 119 older people at CUH found 55% own a smartphone  but just over half didnt intend to use technology for healthcare. Many in Dr Jamess care have now seen the benefits of telemedicine. A doctor doesnt have to wear a mask on a video visit  a great help for patients with hearing impairment. In their own home environment, patients are potentially more at ease  theres no waiting in a waiting room or dealing with stress of car-parking. And family members can join the telemedicine visit  weve had them join from the US.

Dr Denis Curtin, consultant in geriatric medicine.

Consultant geriatrician at CUH Dr Denis Curtin previously worked on a research project around creating a digital health record for people with dementia. The model, he says, could be used for different chronic diseases, and its around keeping all stakeholders involved in the patients care  the patient, caregiver, GP, hospital specialist  in the loop about what has been happening in the patients life health-wise.

At the moment, we have a disconnected healthcare system. Between clinic visits, a patient of mine may have attended their GP several times, been diagnosed with something new and had their medications changed. But very often I wont have access to this information because the patients GP and hospital records arent connected. So Im relying on the patient to give me this, often very complicated, information, explains Dr Curtin.

He illustrates the potential benefits of having a private personal health record, held on a secure internet portal. If a person were to become unwell while on holiday in Donegal and the local hospital wants to know about their past medical history, theyd be able to open up their health record on the secure portal. The patient  and all stakeholders in their care  can access that same information.

He believes the technology could take 10 years to come on stream  navigating privacy/GDPR issues will present a challenge.

Embracing robots

With robotic technology an emerging approach to assisting older adults, the 2019 EPTA report gives the example of socially assistive robots, which they said can enhance older peoples wellbeing. The robot seal Paro has been used in therapies for older people having problems with emotional contact and sleeping in Germany, Japan, Netherlands and Britain.

In 2018, the Alzheimer Society of Ireland (ASI) brought Paro to Ireland to help with delivery of person-centred care at ASIs Orchard Day Care Centre in Blackrock, Dublin. An advanced interactive therapeutic robot, Paro  says an ASI spokesperson  is proven to reduce stress, increase socialisation, stimulate interaction and improve relaxation and motivation for people with dementia.

Challenges to implementing health/social care technologies among older people include lack of broadband and limited digital skills. And a Swiss study cautioned that using robots to replace human interaction could increase the users sense of isolation. The EPTA report says its obvious care of elderly people and their participation in society requires far more than a simple technological fix.

They point to research that shows when developers of technological solutions put the needs of older people first and foremost  rather than focusing on their frailty  elderly people are more likely to accept and use innovative technology.

Generation Tech, free service, Monday-Friday, 8am-8pm, for 65s and over needing help with accessing technology. Phone 01-9633288; email ineedhelp@generationtech.ie.

ALONE offers free technology supports through BConnect programme. Phone 01 679 1032; email BConnect@alone.ie
STAY SAFE, STATEN ISLAND: This story is part of a series examining crime trends in communities across our borough.



STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  A business owner in Port Richmond considering a premature retirement after a violent encounter.

An organized crew burglarizing newly-constructed homes for high-priced utilities.

A pair of suspects swiping expensive tools from work vehicles parked near victims homes.

While the roll out of coronavirus vaccines and a loosening of pandemic-related curfews have sprung hope for a return to normalcy on Staten Island, some community stakeholders say an uptick in certain crimes across commercial and residential sections of the borough adds a layer of uncertainty moving forward.

VERY DISAPPOINTING TO SEE

In addition to commercial burglaries carried out by multiple suspects in different parts of the borough, business owners also are faced with quality of life issues they fear are driving away customers.

Theres a lot of panhandling going on. A lot of negative activity in front of businesses, said Linda Baran, president and CEO of the Staten Island Chamber of Commerce.

In Port Richmond, a business owner was robbed by a man who destroyed property with a hammer and threatened violence toward the merchant and his wife. Frustrated and scared, the owner now is considering walking away from the business, according to a source with knowledge of the incident.

In Eltingville, the manager of a store in a commercial plaza said in November he suspected drug use inside vehicles parked outside of the store. He also recalled a bizarre encounter with a man inside the building.

In August, we had a guy come in and destroy one of our displays, said the 29-year-old manager. His eyes were bloodshot red and he was barefoot.

Interested in a Free Security Survey for your business or home?



Learn about some prevention tips as well as details that could deter burglaries!



Please contact our Crime Prevention Officer 929-343-9332! pic.twitter.com/OypM4aNcYf  NYPD 121st Precinct (@NYPD121Pct) March 24, 2021

Meanwhile, multiple daytime shootings in commercial sections of the North Shore  two of them deemed homicides  have left business owners and consumers shaken.

In December, shots were exchanged between two males at each others vehicles near a large commercial corridor along Forest Avenue. In February, a man was found with multiple gunshot wounds after crashing his vehicle near a popular restaurant in Stapleton. Earlier this month, a 43-year-old man was shot and killed along a commercial stretch of Bay Street.

Police have since made arrests in connection with the two homicides

Its very disappointing to see, Baran said. You want things to be clean and safe. It helps with the businesses success as well.

BREAK-INS, ARRESTS

Contributing to a recent uptick in commercial burglaries over the past several months is the citywide curfew thats left storefronts unoccupied during longer stretches at night, dark corridors and streets void of typical foot traffic, according to law enforcement officials.

NYPD CompStat data indicates 59 burglaries have occurred this year, through March 21, which represents a 7.3% increase from the same time period last year.

The majority of commercial burglaries have involved thieves smashing a window with a rock to gain entry, an NYPD precinct commander explained recently.

Its smash and grab, said Capt. Timothy Wilson, commanding officer of the 122nd Precinct. There is a glass window, they get a rock and they break the window.

Some arrests have been made, while other investigations remain ongoing.

In December, a break-in at Sals Bakery in Richmond Valley caused what the owner described as tens of thousands of dollars in damage, after a male suspect crashed through the ceiling. That case remains under investigation.

In February, police arrested a 39-year-old man accused of raiding an ATM for $39,000 at Central Deli in New Dorp, then busting through a wall to burglarize a restaurant in Mariners Harbor, authorities allege.

Staff at both businesses said this week that despite the set-backs business had returned to normal.

WHERE DO BUSINESSES STAND?

According to a recent survey conducted by the Chamber of Commerce in which a significant portion of Staten Island businesses responded:

47% indicated theyre fully operational but with reduced hours.

25% said that they are entirely back to normal operations.

6% have decided not to reopen.

Said Baran: Most of the concerns weve heard recently have been related to finances and foot traffic.

BLACK-MARKET TIES

As fast as some new homes are being constructed on Staten Island, a seemingly organized crew of burglars is sneaking in and stealing high-priced utilities.

Authorities have watched the crew at work in surveillance footage but have no physical descriptions to work with, and continue to probe how the items are presumably being racketed on the black market, a law enforcement source explained recently.

Some of the more alarming burglaries, however, occurred at homes that were lived in.

Earlier this week, authorities said a 32-year-old man from Bayonne, N.J. was spotted by a woman escaping through a window as she returned to her Charleston home after a weekend away, authorities allege.

In January, an unidentified suspect allegedly entered a Dongan Hills home at about 5:30 a.m. and made-off with a Sony PS4 and other items totaling about $1,000. Police were asking the publics assistance in identifying a man sought for questioning in connection to the incident.

WORKERS BURGLARIZED

Authorities are eyeing a pair of suspects in a pattern of thefts targeting work vehicles in residential neighborhoods across Staten Island.

There doesnt appear to be any connection between the vehicles being targeted, other than the fact theres tools left inside of them, a law enforcement source said recently.

In February, a Willowbrook man was taken for thousands of dollars in equipment for his heating and air-conditioning business that he estimated at a good 12 grand, while police valued the loss at closer to $20,000.

Wanted  Burglary 



Below subject in photo is trying to be identified. On, 03/21/2021, the individual was observed removing tools from Commercial Vehicle parked at 29 Harold St. individual was observed operating a gray Chrysler 300, unknown plate.



Any Info: 718-876-7662 pic.twitter.com/4kVhpPduze  NYPD 121st Precinct (@NYPD121Pct) March 23, 2021

Workers have become easier targets because theyre parking work vehicles at home in lieu of a centralized facility, many of which have been closed due to pandemic-related shutdowns, police have said.

One local contractor said that while hes been able to provide a secure garage for his workers throughout the pandemic, hes had friends whove been targeted in what appeared to be crimes of opportunity.

A broken window here, a broken window there; its happening all over the place, said Mike Sikorski, owner of Staten Island General Contracting in Silver Lake. You know with whats going on in the city, everyone wants to make a few dollars.



STAY SAFE, STATEN ISLAND: Related coverage
In the wake of the Atlanta-area shootings and the significant rise in violence toward Asian Americans, a bipartisan group of 26 governors released a letter Friday morning in solidarity and support for the Asian American and Pacific Islander community.

All 23 Democratic governors have signed on, as well as the governor of the territory of Guam. Govs. Charlie Baker of Massachusetts and Larry Hogan of Maryland are the two Republicans who joined the effort. The letter was released the same day as the Stop AAPI Hate virtual day of action.

"Today, and every day, we stand in solidarity, in support, and in shared resolve with the Asian American community," the letter states. "Hate will not divide our states, territories, and communities. We condemn all expressions of racism, xenophobia, scapegoating, and anti-Asian sentiment."

The governors who signed go on to acknowledge the long history of anti-Asian racism in the U.S., going back to the Chinese Exclusion Act, the imprisonment of Japanese American citizens during World War II and the discrimination against Muslims and Sikhs after the Sept. 11 attacks.

"What is happening to Asian Americans is simply un-American," the letter says. "We condemn racism, violence, and hatred against our AAPI communities, and we must do more to protect, lift up, and support the Asian American community."

Since the shootings on March 16, several of those who signed, including Nevadas Democratic governor, Steve Sisolak, have been holding roundtables with people in the AAPI community and encouraging Asian Americans to continue to speak out about and report hate incidents.

According to Stop AAPI Hate, nearly 3,800 hate incidents against Asians and Asian Americans have been recorded in the past year of the pandemic. A majority of those reported attacks were targeting women.
Ahora | El presidente @FSagasti, acompanado por los titulares del @MTC_GobPeru, @MinjusDH_Peru y @Minsa_Peru, supervisa los avances del puente Comunero II y anuncia la construccion de la Nueva Carretera Central.#AccionesEnLasRegiones

?? En vivo: https://t.co/a7FExdx89i
WESTPORT  Residents and leaders are rallying to speak out against violence toward the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities following the shooting at spas in Atlanta, which killed eight people, most of whom were women of Asian descent.

The peaceful gathering will take place Saturday at 10 a.m. on Jesup Green. Anyone who attends is asked to maintain social distancing and wear a mask.

Both First Selectman Jim Marpe and Schools Superintendent Thomas Scarice issued statements condemning the shootings, and the Board of Selectmen approved a resolution Wednesday morning condemning the hate and violence against Asian-Pacific Americans.

I am heartbroken by the recent surge in the despicable acts that are targeting members of the Asian American and Pacific Island community, Marpe said. An attack on any is an attack on all that we hold dear as a community that embraces inclusiveness in how we govern, and in how we interact with our neighbors. I wholeheartedly condemn such violence.

He said it is important to celebrate diversity in the community and ensure everyone feels safe and welcome in Westport.

About 6 percent of the towns population identifies as Asian, according to U.S. Census data.

Together, we must support and encourage programs and policies that include frank discussions on race and inclusivity, he said. By doing so, we will come to a better understanding and open acceptance of our unique personal qualities. We accept and honor every aspect of the human experience that makes us members of a civil society.

Incidents of anti-Asian hate crimes has reportedly increased this past year, with the Center for Study of Hate and Extremism reporting a surge of nearly 150 percent in 16 major cities they studied.

There have been about 3,800 reports of anti-Asian hate incidents in the U.S. since March 2020, according to Stop AAPI Hate, an initiative created last year to track and respond to incidents of hate against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. It was started by the Asian Pacific Planning and Policy Council, Chinese for Affirmative Action and the Asian American Studies Department of San Francisco State University in response to to the alarming escalation in xenophobia and bigotry resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the coalition.

Scarice said Westport Public Schools denounce all forms of violence, racism, and xenophobia, adding the district is committed to creating an inclusive environment for all students and staff.

On behalf of the Board of Education, and the faculty and staff, I want to affirm that as we stand beside all members of our community, that we particularly show support for our brothers and sisters in the Asian American community, which has experienced a tragic increase in acts of violence and hatred, he said.

The district is currently working on an equity study that will examine its practices. It is also working with community groups, school-based equity teams and curriculum coordinators to incorporate these topics into classroom discussions, he said.

The unspeakable act of violence in Atlanta last week was yet another reminder of the chasm between our world today, and the ideal of the world we envision, Scarice said. The violent loss of life, of any life, is destructive to what we aspire to be as a nation, and to what we aim to build as neighbors.

kkoerting@newstimes.com
A government official surveying a coronavirus vaccine center in Sadang, Seoul, ahead of planned vaccine inoculations on April 1, Thursday. Yonhap



By Bahk Eun-ji



Health authorities remain vigilant against a possible uptick in cases of COVID-19 variants, as the nation's total virus caseload has topped 100,000, just three months since it exceeded 50,000.



Although the increase in the number of new cases reported daily is mainly in the greater Seoul area, the tally is expected to rise further due to sporadic cluster infections across the country.



The country added 494 more COVID-19 cases, including 471 local infections, for Thursday, raising the cumulative number of cases to 100,276, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). Seven more deaths from COVID-19 were reported, increasing the total to 1,716. The fatality rate was 1.70 percent, the KDCA said.



Concerns over a spike in new infections are looming, but in particular, a new "double mutant" variant found in India put health authorities here on alert over quarantine measures, following the launch of the national vaccination program.



While most of the coronavirus variants are more harmful, the double mutant virus is known to be more infectious. It not only spreads faster and causes severe complications, but also possibly leaves vaccines ineffective.



The vaccines against COVID-19 that have been administered in the country and around the world create neutralizing antibodies in the body, and this property blocks the virus from entering the body. However, the double mutant may be able to escape the effect of these antibodies, invalidating the effectiveness of the vaccines.



However, a research team in India reportedly said that the new double variant is not likely to be more deadly nor more inherently transmissible, but further data is needed to be sure.



"As infections in local communities keep increasing, the frequency of the variant cases is also increasing," Kwon Jun-wook, a senior health official, said in a regular virus response briefing, Friday.









As of Monday, 211 people were confirmed to have been infected with the coronavirus variant believed to have originated in the United Kingdom, followed by 30 with the South Africa variant and 8 with the Brazil variant, according to the KDCA.





People receive coronavirus tests at a temporary clinic in front of Seoul Station, Friday. Yonhap
Funeral in the Poleglass area of west Belfast 25th March 2021

Funeral in the Poleglass area of west Belfast 25th March 2021

The PSNI is investigating potential breaches of the coronavirus regulations at a funeral held in west Belfast.

A funeral cortege was observed by officers in the Glenkeen area on Thursday morning.

Around 40 people were reported to be in attendance.

Funerals are currently limited to 25 people, and pre and post-funeral gatherings are not permitted. Under the restrictions, the remains of the deceased may be taken back to private homes, but wakes are not to be held and funeral services in private homes are not to take place. PSNI Chief Inspector Pete Branniganon confirmed the gathering is the subject of a probe. Police officers were in attendance at a funeral in west Belfast [yesterday] morning where evidence of breaches of The Health Protection (Coronavirus) Regulations have been gathered, he said. An investigation is under way, and appropriate enforcement action will be taken in relation to breaches of the Regulations. The funeral is latest in a number of gatherings which have been subject to police investigations, including paramilitary funerals. In January the PSNI said it would investigate a loyalist funeral in Belfast after there were reports of crowds in north Belfast turned out to send off Hugh Hill. That same month there were demands for action to be taken after large crowds gathered at a republican funeral in Londonderry for late IRA member Eamon Peggy McCourt (62). Last summer suspected covid breaches at the funeral of veteran republican Bobby Storey were also probed.
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / March 26, 2021 / Naturally Splendid Enterprises Ltd. ("Naturally Splendid", "NSE" or "the Company") (FRANKFURT:50N) (TSXV:NSP) (OTC:NSPDF) is pleased to announce that Mr. Kris Tarr has accepted the position of VP of E-Commerce with the Company.

Mr. Tarr initially joined Naturally Splendid as an Advisor in November 2020 and increased his role on February 3, 2021, as announced in an earlier news release. With this announcement, Kris increases his role further developing and implementing the Company's e-commerce and social media strategies as VP of E-Commerce.

Kris has worked for globally recognized organizations such as Coca-Cola, Disney, and Nickelodeon. In his career, he has pioneered e-commerce and social media strategies for a wide variety of clients ranging from global corporations to regional enterprises. This range of experience fits well with Naturally Splendid strategies as the process of building out a sophisticated online and e-commerce presence continues.

A survey by Dalhousie University reported that in 2019, barely 4% of Canadians were buying food online. As of April 2020, the report cited that 22% of Canadians are thinking of purchasing food online regularly even after the pandemic crisis is over.

Mr. Kris Tarr states, "I have been at the forefront of e-commerce and digital marketing for over two decades. In my time I have witnessed the shift in consumer trends to online purchases but never as dramatic as the last year during the pandemic. The need to shop safely began the acceleration of this trend. However, I firmly believe now that shoppers have become more accustomed to online shopping, this trend will continue to gain in popularity, and I look forward to bringing my decades of experience to Naturally Splendid to optimize this opportunity".

Naturally Splendid CEO Mr. Craig Goodwin states, "An online strategy has never been more important. Issues like safety, availability, and convenience are increasingly important considerations for a growing number of shoppers. In the time we have worked with Kris, he has exceeded expectations as we continue to build out our e-commerce strategies. We are most fortunate to have Kris leading the team during such a pivotal time as consumer trends continue to drive increased e-commerce transactions".

About Naturally Splendid Enterprises Ltd.

Founded in 2010, NSE operates a Safe Quality Food Level 2 certified food manufacturing facility just outside Vancouver, BC in Canada. The Company has established numerous healthy, functional foods under recognized brands such as Natera Sport, Natera Hemp Foods, CHII, Elevate Me and Woods Wild Bar, and most recently Natera Plant Based Foods, a line of delicious plant-based meat alternatives for the rapidly growing plant-based market segment.

The Company has a myriad of new products and line extensions under development that are approaching launch. NSE, through its joint venture Plasm Pharmaceutical, has been approved for conducting a phase 2 clinical trial approved by Health Canada for treatment of COVID-19.

NSE has also developed proprietary technologies for the extraction of high-demand, healthy omega 3 and 6 oils from hemp.

NSE contract manufacturers for healthy, functional food products and ingredients focusing on plant-based ingredients. The Company provides contract manufacturing services for many healthy food companies, private labeling a wide variety of nutritional food products destined for global healthy food markets.

For more information e-mail info@naturallysplendid.com or call Investor Relations at 604-465-0548 ext.105

On Behalf of the Board of Directors

Mr. J. Craig Goodwin

CEO, Director

Contact Information

Naturally Splendid Enterprises Ltd.

(NSP - TSX Venture; NSPDF - OTCQB; 50N - Frankfurt)

#108-19100 Airport Way

Pitt Meadows, BC, V3Y 0E2

Office: (604) 465-0548

Fax: (604) 465-1128

E-mail: info@naturallysplendid.com

Website: www.naturallysplendid.com

SOURCE: Naturally Splendid Enterprises Ltd.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/637620/Naturally-Splendid-Appoints-VP-of-E-Commerce
The Joint Committee of Parliament examining the Personal Data Protection Bill was given an extension till the monsoon session to submit its report.

The JCP was constituted in Lok Sabha in December 2019 and was expected to submit its report in the budget session.

Meenakshi Lekhi of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) moved a motion seeking extension up to the monsoon session of parliament for the 30-member panel to submit its report. Currently, there are two vacancies in the committee.

"That this House does extend up to the first week of monsoon session 2021 of Parliament the time for the presentation of the report of the Joint Committee on the Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019," the motion read. It was passed by a voice vote.

This is for the fourth time the committee's tenure has been extended, sources said. Earlier, it was given an extension on March 23, 2020, September 23, 2020, and February 9, 2021.

The panel has 19 members from Lok Sabha and nine from Rajya Sabha currently.

The Personal Data Protection Bill seeks to regulate the use of individual data by the government and private companies.

So far the committee has held meetings with Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, Google, Airtel, Jio, Ola, Uber, Google, Paytm among other companies.
City Editor

Tom Roeder is the Gazette's City Editor. In Colorado Springs since 2003, Tom has covered the military at home and overseas and has cover statehouses in Denver and Olympia, Wash. His main job, though, is being dad to two great kids.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gestures as he delivers a speech to supporters following the announcement of exit polls in Israel's general election at his Likud party headquarters in Jerusalem

By Dan Williams

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's prospects of forming a new coalition government after an indecisive election were further complicated on Thursday by a far-right refusal of any prospective parliamentary partnership with an Islamist party.

Partial tallies from Tuesday's ballot showed Netanyahu's conservative Likud and ideologically kindred factions short of a majority in the 120-seat Knesset - raising the possibility he would seek some sort of accommodation with the United Arab List.

While political commentators saw inclusion of the UAL - which was forecast to win four seats - in a Netanyahu-led government as unlikely, some predicted the party might instead pledge not to support any opposition no-confidence motions.

In exchange for such protection from an unlikely ally, Netanyahu would agree on measures to improve conditions for Israel's 21% Arab minority, the commentators said.

But Religious Zionism, an ultranationalist party run by Jewish settlers and forecast to take six seats, indicated Netanyahu could not rely on its support if he reached an arrangement with the UAL, which has pro-Palestinian sympathies.

"No rightist government predicated on UAL will arise. Period. Not (with UAL) on the inside, nor the outside, not through abstention, nor through some other kind of (scheme)," Religious Zionism leader Bezalel Smotrich said on Facebook.

UAL has signalled openness to backing the next government, whether under Netanyahu or his centrist rival Yair Lapid, who with like-minded politicians appears set to control 57 seats.

A Netanyahu-led coalition that includes Religious Zionism controls 52 seats, the partial results show.

"Sometimes coalitions include people who don't really like each other," UAL's Waleed Taha told Israel's Army Radio.

He said his party was not, at this time, "talking about improving our personal roles" - an allusion to cabinet posts.

Story continues

Asked if UAL might, from the opposition, provide ad-hoc parliamentary support for a Netanyahu-led coalition with Religious Zionism, Taha said the onus was on the far-rightists.

"If it is acceptable, to the people that you mentioned, that all of the subjects that we raise are accepted, then it would appear they've have changed their stripes," he said.

Another potential kingmaker, former defence minister Naftali Bennett, whose nationalist Yamina party appears to have won seven seats, has been non-committal on which way it may swing.

Final results in the politically polarised country's fourth election in two years were expected to be announced late on Thursday or on Friday.

(Editing by Jeffrey Heller and Catherine Evans)
press release

Beirut  Abusive Elements Remain; Changes Exclude Domestic Workers

Saudi Arabia introduced labor reforms in March 2021 that will ease restrictions and allow some migrant workers to change jobs without employer consent under certain narrow circumstances, Human Rights Watch said today.

The reforms, however, do not go far enough to dismantle the abusive kafala (visa sponsorship) system. And they exclude migrant workers not covered by the labor law, including domestic workers and farmers, who are among the least protected and most vulnerable to abuse. They allow migrant workers to request an exit permit without the employer's permission for the first time but do not abolish the exit permit, which violates human rights.

"Saudi Arabia has one of the most abusive versions of the kafala system in the region, and the reforms are limited, problematic, and by no means dismantle the kafala system," said Michael Page, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. "Millions of domestic workers and other workers are excluded from these reforms, leaving them entirely at their employers' mercy."

Millions of migrant workers fill mostly manual, clerical, and service jobs in Saudi Arabia, constituting more than 80 percent of the private sector workforce. They are governed by an abusive kafala system that gives their employers excessive power over their mobility and legal status in the country. The system underpins migrant workers' vulnerability to a wide range of abuses, from passport confiscation to delayed wages and forced labor. Despite local media reporting the contrary, the changes do little to dismantle the kafala system, leaving migrant workers at high risk of abuse.

The reforms were first announced in November 2020 as part of the Saudi Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development's Labor Reform Initiative, which aims to "enhance the contractual relationship between workers and employers," help establish an "attractive job market," and "improve the working environment" in the country.

The reforms, introduced as a ministerial resolution and available through the Absher and Qiwa online platforms, only partly address two of five key elements of the kafala system that can keep migrant workers trapped in abusive situations: the need for employer consent to change or leave jobs and to leave the country. But even these changes are limited, and under international human rights law, everyone has the right to leave any country.

As of March 14, the reforms stipulate that migrant workers who fall under the jurisdiction of Saudi Arabia's labor law can change jobs without their current employer's consent after completing one year of their contract or once their contract expires. According to the ministry-issued Labor Reform Initiative (LRI) Services Guidebook, other situations in which a migrant worker can change jobs without conditions include: if the worker's work permit expires; if the worker is not paid for three consecutive months; and if a labor dispute arises and the employer fails to attend two litigation hearings.

The English-language version of the guidebook appears to be an abbreviated version of the Arabic-language one and omits certain important guidelines.

The Arabic guidebook states that the new employer is responsible for paying any costs involved in the job transfer but does not elaborate on how the ministry plans to ensure that vulnerable migrant workers are not forced to incur those costs themselves. The "Frequently Asked Questions" section says that a migrant worker against whom an "absence from work complaint" had been filed cannot benefit from the job change reforms. The English-language version of the guidebook omits this point.

In Saudi Arabia and all other Gulf states, workers who leave their employer without consent can be charged with "absconding" and face imprisonment and deportation. Human Rights Watch research across the Gulf states has shown that migrant workers risk such penalties even when fleeing exploitation or abuse. Some employers file false absconding cases to sidestep their legal obligations to pay wages or to provide food and accommodation.

Under the ministerial resolution, migrant workers, who previously could not leave and re-enter Saudi Arabia without their employer's consent, may now submit an online request for an exit and re-entry visa or a final exit visa from the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development. The guidebook states that they must have a valid residency permit, a duly attested employment contract, and a valid passport. The Saudi authorities may deny exit if any debts or fines are outstanding.

The guidebook also states that the worker, not the employer, must bear any fees related to this visa, which currently costs SR200 (USD 53). According to the Arabic-language guidelines, the employer is notified when the migrant worker submits a request and has 10 days to lodge an inquiry into the request.

The exit and re-entry visa lasts 30 days, and a migrant worker cannot independently request multiple-use visas. Only the employer can extend that time period, and a migrant worker who does not return within 30 days is permanently banned from working in Saudi Arabia. A migrant worker who leaves Saudi Arabia using a final exit visa before the end of their contract is also permanently banned. It remains unclear what criteria the ministry intends to use to determine whether to accept workers' exit requests and whether the employer's inquiry could be used to deny the worker the exit permit.

The Arabic-language guidebook says that the new system for requesting these visas without employer consent does not replace the previous system by which an employer is responsible for issuing these visas for their migrant employees, but simply exists alongside it. This means that migrant workers, especially those in low-paid jobs who are dependent on their employers for accommodation, food, and transportation, and who may not be aware of the reforms or have difficulty accessing online platforms, may not be aware of the reforms or how to benefit from them.

Other abusive kafala elements remain part of the new system. Migrant workers - and their dependents - still must rely on their employers to facilitate entry, residence, and employment in the country, meaning employers are responsible for applying for, renewing, and canceling their residency and work permits. Workers can find themselves undocumented through no fault of their own when employers fail to carry out such processes, and it is the workers who suffer the consequences. Migrant workers will also still need their employer's permission to change jobs if they have not finished their contract or worked less than a year, which is often when they are most vulnerable to abuse, Human Rights Watch said.

In addition, passport confiscations, high recruitment fees, and deceptive recruitment practices are ongoing and largely go unpunished, and workers are banned from joining trade unions or striking.

Over 3.7 million domestic workers face the same serious abuses, including unpaid and delayed wages, long working hours without a day off, passport confiscations, and on top of that, forced confinement, isolation, and physical and sexual abuse. But they are denied all protections afforded to those governed by the labor law, including the newly introduced reforms.

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This is not the first time that Saudi Arabia had claimed it was replacing or abolishing the kafala system. In 2000, it removed the term from its laws and replaced it with language referring to contractual relationships while allowing employers to retain the same powers.

It also introduced labor reforms in 2015 that introduce or raise fines for employers who violate regulations, including prohibitions on confiscating migrant workers' passports, failing to pay salaries on time, and failing to provide copies of contracts to employees. However, the 2015 reforms also did not apply to domestic workers and others excluded from the labor law. Many of the abuses the penalties were meant to deter also remain rampant.

Over the past decade, other Gulf states have also embarked on reform of their notorious kafala systems, with most introducing more significant reforms than those of the Saudi authorities. However, many of the same violations against migrant workers' rights persist across the region, most commonly unpaid and delayed wages and passport confiscations.

"Saudi Arabia's labor reforms seem positive at the outset, but the details show that workers can still be trapped with abusive employers and the change allow exploitative practices against migrant worker to persist," Page said. "The authorities should see these measures as the beginning of a larger overhaul of the kafala and labor system rather than its end."
In case you havent heard, celebrity power couple Kim Kardashian West and Kanye West have officially called it quits. While multiple media outlets have confirmed the couples breakup, neither Kardashian nor West has yet to address their split publicly.

However, in a new interview, Kardashian matriarch Kris Jenner opened up about the pairs separation, sharing how Kardashian West has been doing since ending her marriage to the rapper.

Kim Kardashian West and Kris Jenner attending the 2017 LACMA Art + Film Gala | JB Lacroix/ WireImage

Kim Kardashian West filed for divorce from Kanye West in February 2021

As fans will recall, Kardashian West filed for divorce from West on Feb. 19, 2021, marking the end of their six-year marriage.

The move came a few months after media outlets reported that things were rocky between the pair following Wests controversial presidential rally in July 2020.

As time went on, the couples relationship continued to deteriorate, even though they tried salvaging their marriage by taking family trips and seeing a marriage counselor.

Kim Kardashian West and Kanye West lounging on a couch | Rich Fury/Forum Photos via Getty Images

RELATED: What Are Kim Kardashian and Kanye West Each Getting In Their Divorce?

By the fall, People reported that Kardashian West and West were living separate lives, with the Keeping Up With the Kardashians star in California and the rapper in Wyoming.

Kim has work and projects that are important to her, and Kanye has his, said an insider. Their lives dont overlap much.

Shes in L.A. most of the time and hes spending most of his time as secretly as possible in Wyoming with a team around him, a source added to HollywoodLife. Hes there as much as he can be and loves it there.

Once 2021 rolled around, Kardashian West realized there was no saving her and Wests relationship and decided to legally end their marriage.

But despite filing for divorce from the Life of Pablo performer, the KKW Beauty mogul still wants to co-parent with him amicably as she has requested to share joint custody of their four children: North, 7, Saint, 5, Chicago, 3, and Psalm, 1.

Kim Kardashian West is doing well amid her split from Kanye West, says Kris Jenner

Though Kardashian West has yet to speak on her impending divorce from West, her mother, Kris Jenner, recently revealed how shes doing amid this tough time.

Kims good. Shes good, the KUWTK star shares in a new episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Shes really really busy, working on all of her different projects that shes doing, and I dont know how she does it, with all [my] grandbabies. Shes got a lot of energy, that kid.

RELATED: Is Kris Jenner Behind the Kim Kardashian and Kanye Wests Divorce Rumors?

Jenner adds that the SKIMS founders passion for law has kept her busy amid her breakup from the rapper.

Shes so focused and shes so, like, shes just passionate about the whole thing and everything she stands for, and I see her studying its in her schedule every single day, when I get all the schedules for the kids, the Kardashian matriarch explains. Her study time is all blocked out, so nothing else can get in the way. Im so proud of her.
Burma Names and Faces of the Youngest Victims of Myanmar Regime's Brutality

Children slain by the regimes troops during their violent assaults against protesters since February.

A girl who was just 6 years and 3 months old was shot dead in her home in Myanmar on March 23, becoming the youngest victim among 320 killed by the military regimes forces in 53 days.

The little girls death came just a day after a 14-year-old boy was also shot dead at his home. The killing of two children in their homes in as many days left the whole country horrified.

As of Thursday, the death toll has reached 320, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP).

Since the military coup on Feb. 1, more than 20 children have been killed in Myanmar during deadly crackdowns by the regimes forces on opponents of the coup. Some died during protests, others lost their lives in random shootings and raids on residences. The death toll of minors could climb higher as the ages of several victims could not be confirmed.

We are horrified that children continue to be among the targets of these fatal attacks on peaceful protesters, Save The Children said in an official statement, calling on security forces to end deadly attacks against protesters immediately.

The death of these children is especially concerning given that they reportedly were killed while being at home, where they should have been safe from harm. The fact that so many children are being killed on an almost daily basis now shows a complete disregard for human life by security forces, it added.

Here are brief profiles of 21 of the children slain by the regimes troops during their violent assaults against protesters since February

Pho Htee, 16

March 24, Mandalay Region

He was shot dead when soldiers and police entered his neighborhood and opened fire indiscriminately in retaliation for residents banging of pots and pans, which has become a popular nightly form of protest against the military regime that citizens across the country engage in simultaneously.

-

Khin Myo Chit, 6 years and 3 months old

March 23, Mandalay Region

The little girl ran into her fathers arms when soldiers and police kicked in the door and broke into her family home during a raid in their neighborhood in Chanmyathazi Township of Mandalay region. She said, Ah Pa, I am scared, as she sat frightened on her dads lap. Her sister said the juntas troops told the girl, This is not scared, then shot her. Her father ran to seek medical treatment, but the child died on the way before she could reach a clinic. Her father said her last words were Its too painful. Her 19-year-old brother was also hit and taken away from home during the raid.

Soldiers later returned in an attempt to take away the childs body, but the family had already gone into hiding in fear of exactly that. Khin Myo Chit was buried at a Muslim cemetery with close relatives present on March 24.

-

Tun Tun Aung, 14

March 22, Mandalay Region

The boy was fatally shot in the chest by the regimes forces when he strayed out of the house to fill up water in front of the house while helping his mom with household chores. The killing came during an attack near a low-cost housing complex in Chanmyathazi Township of Mandalay Region. At the time of the shooting, no protests were taking place anywhere near the area. His family had to hold his funeral urgently because troops tried to seize the body.

-

Moe Htet Wyne, 15

March 23, Mandalay Region

He was shot dead. No further details are yet known.

-

Zaw Myo Htet, 16

March 21, Mandalay Region

A high school student, he was shot dead on the night of March 22 by security forces when he was looking around outside a tea shop where he worked in Chanayethazan Township of Mandalay Region. The native of Bago Region came to work as a waiter at the tea shop just two days before his death. He was working to earn money for his family while waiting for school to reopen. His body was taken forcibly the next day by the regimes forces, claiming they needed to conduct an autopsy. Like many others, he was shot in the head.

-

Aung Kaung Htet, 15

March 20, Yangon Region

His neighbors remembered the high school student as a very active boy who had taken part in every anti-regime protest in the area since February. He was shot by soldiers and police in Yangons Thaketa Township when they opened fire on anti-regime protesters in the area who were already dispersing. A bullet pierced Aung Kaung Htets cheek before exiting through his neck. Despite being rushed to a hospital, the boy didnt make it.

-

Thida Aye, 16

March 15, Mandalay Region

The teenager was shot dead in a house in the village of Chaunggyi, Thabeikkyin Township, Mandalay Region, at midday on March 15. The teenager had gone to stay at a friends home after hearing gunshots in the village. But while in the house, the girl was shot twice by a sniper who was on a hill some 1,000 feet from the village, her father said. She died soon afterwards. She was taken to a hospital in Singu Village and buried there as her family feared soldiers would grab the body if they brought it back to Chaunggyi.

-

Yan Myo Aung, 16

March 15, Mandalay Region

He was shot dead when the regimes forces opened fire with live rounds on anti-coup protesters in Myingyan Township of Mandalay Region. He wrote on his Facebook page that he had to fight as he didnt want to live in darkness with no future.

-

Aung Myo Zaw, 17

March 15, Mandalay Region

He was killed when he was shot in the chest by the regimes forces. Security forces had opened fire with live rounds on anti-coup protesters in Myingyan Township of Mandalay region.

-

Min Min Oo, 16

March 14, Mandalay Region

He received a fatal shot to the head while driving a motorcycle on March 14, and his body was taken away by the juntas forces after he was killed. A funeral was conducted for him on March 20, even though security forces have not yet returned his body.

-

Zue Wint War, 15

March 14, Yangon Region

The high school student died on the spot after she was shot in the head during a nighttime raid in South Dagon Township of Yangon Region. Her family shared her handwritten note, which said, If I die in a protest, dont rescue my body and leave it. And Keep Fight. If our revolution [succeeds], I will be happy to die.

-

Hein Htet Aung, 17

March 14, Ayeyarwady Region

The teenager was shot dead by soldiers and police in Pathein Township of Ayeyarwady Region on the night of March 14.

-

Khant Nyar Hein, 17

March 14, Yangon Region

The first-year medical student was shot down on the street by the regimes troops in Tamwe Township while he was taking part in a protest. Another protester tried to save him, but the police dragged his body away. The protester who attempted to save him was also arrested. The body of the teenager, who was an ethnic Chinese, was returned to the family later. He was shot three times. How could he survive that? Im so proud of my son. He hadnt even turned 18 yet, his grieving mother said at the funeral.

-

Kyaw Zayar Htun, 17

March 14, Yangon Region

He was killed after being shot in the eyes and thigh by soldiers and police during a crackdown in front of a high school in Shwe Pyi Thar Township of Yangon Region. He was always on the front lines of the anti-coup protests.

-

Hlaing Jack Maung, 16

March 14, Yangon Region

The grade 9 student was shot dead by soldiers and police during a crackdown on a strike in front of a high school in Shwe Pyi Thar Township of Yangon Region.

-

Kyal Sin Hein, 16

March 14, Yangon Region

A grade 9 student who was always on the front line of anti-coup protests, he was killed after being shot in the head by soldiers and police during a bloody crackdown in Hlaing Tharyar Township. The boys body was taken away by the security forces and was not returned for the funeral.

-

Min Khant Kyaw, a.k.a, Phoe Thae, 17

March 3, Sagaing Region

He was shot in the head during a crackdown on an anti-coup protest in Monywa city of Sagaing Region. The teenager had been volunteering in a rescue group, helping other protesters escape the violent crackdowns in previous protests. He posted a message to his parents three days before his death, apologizing for making them worry while he was away from home with the protests. He wrote that he would fight against the regime until the end because he did not want to live under the militarys boot.

-

Nay Myo Aung, 16

March 3, Mandalay Region

He was killed when soldiers and police opened fire on residents who had assembled to reject the juntas opening of a ward administrative office in Pyigyetagon Township of Mandalay region.

-

Thiha Zaw, a.k.a Naung Naung, 16

March 2, Magwe Region

He was shot dead when the regimes troops came into his ward in Taungdwingyi Township and opened fire.

-

Sithu Soe, 17

February 28, Bago Region

He was fatally shot in the head by soldiers and police in a violent crackdown on an anti-coup protest in Bago Region.

-

Wai Yan Tun, 16

February 20, Mandalay Region

He was shot in the head and died instantly during a crackdown on anti-coup protesters in Mahaaungmyay Township of Mandalay Region. His skull was fractured. Locals reported that he was shot by a military sniper while rescuing wounded protesters who had been shot.

You may also like these stories:

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A litre of petrol also known as Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) may soon sell for N234 per litre, the group managing director (GMD) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Malam Mele Kyari, has said.

He said the new price is being contemplated because the corporation can no longer sustain the monthly subsidy of N120 billion ($263,248 million) in dispensing the product at the current rate. Depending on the location, PMS at present sells for between N163 and N165 per litre.

Kyari gave hint of the new price at the fifth edition of the special ministerial briefings coordinated by the Presidential Communication Team in Abuja, yesterday.

He said the NNPC absorbs the cost differential which is recorded in its financial books.

Kyari said while the actual cost of importation and handling charges amounts to lN234 per litre, the federal government sells it at N162 per litre.

He stated that the NNPC could no longer afford to bear the cost, adding that sooner or later Nigerians would have to pay the actual cost for the commodity.

Kyari said the NNPC pays between N100 and N120 billion a month to keep the pump price at the current level, insisting that market forces must be allowed to determine the pump price of petrol in the country.

According to him, "Today, NNPC is the sole importer of petrol. We are importing market price and we are selling at N162. Looking at the current price situation, the market price could have been between that N211 and N234 per litre.

"The meaning of this is that the consumers are not paying for the full value of PMS that we are consuming and therefore the NNPC is bearing that cost. As at today, the difference is being carried in the books of the NNPC and I can confirm to you that the NNPC nay no longer be in a position to carry that cost.

"That is why early last year, you will recall the full deregulation of PMS and we have followed this through until September when the price shifted above N145, disputes came up between us and the trade unions and the civil societies leading to an engagement between us and organised labour which prevented the implementation of the actual price of the petroleum product at that time.

"These engagements are continued and the objective of the engagement is actually not to prevent the implementation but to make sure there is sufficient framework on ground to ensure that consumers pay for the actual price of this product and that they are not exploited.

"Second, it is to also put some reliefs such that the potential effect of the fuel price increase is not transferred to the ordinary people. Part of this is to deepen the auto-gas programme.

"With auto-gas programme, we will be able to deliver alternative fuel for vehicles including Keke NAPEP so that the price per litre equivalent will probably be half of the PMS at its current price.

"So, as we speak, I will not say that we are in a subsidy regime but we are in a situation where we are trying to exit the underpriced sale of PMS until we come to the full value of the product in the market.

"We want to use this opportunity to tell you that PMS today sells above N200 across our borders and in some places about N500 to a litre. In some countries, the Nigerian fuel is their territory fuel and we are supplying almost everybody in the West African sub-region.

"We cannot continue to afford this because we have our own issues. That's why the eventual exit from this is completely inevitable. When that will happen I don't know but I know that some engagements are going on; the government is concerned about the natural impact of price increase on our transportation and other consumer aspects of our society," he said.

On the exact amount the NNPC is subsidising fuel monthly, Kyari said, "Our current consumption -- evacuation from our depots is about 60 million litres per day. We are selling at N162 per litre. The current market price is N234. The difference between the two, multiply by 60 million litres will give you amount per month.

"This is a simple arrangement you do. If you want the exact figures from our books, I do not have them from this moment but it's between N100billion and N120billion per month. We are putting the difference in the books of NNPC and we cannot continue to bear that.

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"Today, NNPC is the sole importer of PMS. We are importing at market price and we are selling at N162 per litre today. Looking at the current market situation, the actual price could have been around N211 that you mentioned and around N234 per litre.

"The meaning of this is that consumers are not paying for the full value of PMS that we are consuming and, therefore, somebody is bearing that cost. As we speak, the difference is being carried in the books of the NNPC and I can confirm to you that NNPC may no longer be in a position to carry that burden because we cannot continue to do so," he said.

On his part, the minister of state for petroleum, Chief Timipre Sylva, dismissed insinuations that the Port Harcourt Refinery is archaic.

On why the government is investing $1.5 billion on the rehabilitation of refinery when at the same time it is talking of privatisation and commercialisations, the minister said, "I have always said that our refineries cannot survive under the regime of subsidy because you cannot be refining at a cost and selling at a subsidized rate.
A Royal Mint customer charged 143,000 for out-of-stock gold coins in January has received a 15,500 payout after the involvement of This is Money.

The retired college lecturer from Dundee, Scotland, who asked to remain anonymous, was left effectively thousands of pounds out of pocket due to a fall in the gold price between when the order was 'placed' on 16 January and when the coins were actually in stock and shipped in mid-March.

Despite being told by customer services in early February that he should not have been able to place and pay for the order of 100 1oz bullion coins, the Mint initially refused to refund him the difference.

One customer from Scotland purchased 143,000 worth of out-of-stock gold coins in January, but by the time they actually arrived, the Mint was selling them for 9,090 less for a set of 100

It previously told us there had been an 'unfortunate delay in delivery due to stock availability' and the 'price of our bullion products fluctuate in line with live metal prices, and price is fixed at the point the customer confirms the transaction.'

However, after the publication of his story and examples of other customers facing the same problem and continued pressure from our reader, it has now compensated him.

In an email sent on Monday from Andrew Dickey, director of the Mint's precious metals division, our reader was told the Mint was 'keen to ensure we resolve your current unhappy situation as quickly and efficiently as possible.'

It offered him 15,523.58, which covered the gold price drop, the loss of interest which his 143,000 had been earning in his current account, and an extra discretionary payment to reflect the higher price our reader paid to the Mint compared to other UK bullion dealers.

He previously told us he had paid 'approximately 2,000 more for the safety and assurance of the Mint.'

The investment in the coins came from money he inherited from his deceased father's estate.

'I want to thank you for your input helping with my case. Your intervention brought immediate results, a response from the Royal Mint and led to facilitating the refund. This is Money reader

Upon sharing the email from the Mint with This is Money, our reader told us: 'I want to thank you for your input helping with my case.

'Your intervention brought immediate results, a response from the Royal Mint and led to facilitating the refund.

'I have now had the appropriate refund and apology from the Royal Mint.'

A spokesperson for The Royal Mint, said: 'We are pleased to have resolved the issue with the customer, however we don't share specific details of individual cases.

'We review customer queries on a case by case basis, taking into consideration the unique factors.'

Our investigation into the Mint's booming precious metals division, prompted by the email from our reader earlier in March, revealed it had been heavily criticised by customers who had been charged for out-of-stock goods and had their deliveries turn up months late and damaged.

The coronavirus pandemic led to the division's 'busiest period on record at the start of 2020-21', according to its latest annual report, with it seemingly struggling to cope with the volume of orders.

This is Money last week reported on problems affecting customers of the Royal Mint's booming precious metals division which had seen people charged thousands for out-of-stock items

The Mint refused to explain why payments had been taken seemingly on multiple occasions for out-of-stock goods but acknowledged problems with deliveries.

Andrew Dickey told our reader in his email: 'Your experiences had highlighted a number of issues that we recognise as falling below our service expectations for customers.

'I have been in contact with the wider executive here at the Mint and we have taken your points incredibly seriously.'

He added that actions were in progress to 'remedy the issues you have raised with us.'

The Mint continues to receive negative reviews about the delivery of precious metal goods

However the Mint continues to receive negative feedback from its customers. One review left on the website Trustpilot on Wednesday by a woman named Alicia said three precious metal bars she had ordered had been delivered 'with a few dents in them'.

Having sent them back to the Mint in exchange for replacements in mid-March, she was then told no replacement for a 1oz bar could be provided as they were out of stock.

After she asked if she could have the bars she sent back returned and make do with the dents, she said: 'I was told that they would check to see if this is possible.

Your experiences had highlighted a number of issues that we recognise as falling below our service expectations for customers Andrew Dickey, director of The Royal Mint's precious metals divison

'Why was I told I could return the 1oz for a replacement if you were never intending to replace it?'

Overall, after 213 reviews on the site the Mint has a rating of just 2.2 out of 5.

However it pointed out its rating on the separate review website Feefo was 4.7/5.

The Royal Mint previously told This is Money in a statement: 'We have been made aware of issues regarding the delivery of our precious metals products and we are currently working with our courier partners to improve this.

'Customer feedback is very valuable to us and we understand how important discretion is.

'We are currently looking at a number to ways to improve our delivery services to ensure our products are delivered with the same premium precision in which they leave our site.'
MUMBAI: Veteran actress Neetu Kapoor recently went down memory lane while shooting for an episode of Indian Idol 12, held as a tribute for her and her late husband-actor Rishi Kapoor. The special 'Neetu Rishi' episode will be held over the weekend. On the episode, the actress disclosed how her husband, late actor Rishi Kapoor, professed love to her in a unique way. She also revealed that before they got into a relationship, she used to help Rishi impress other girls!

Neetu Singh, who appeared as a guest on 'Indian Idol 12' show, "I was Rishi's wing woman and always helping him in impressing girls, until we started dating. Rishi found me very cute and sweet and we used to call each other Bob." She added that it was actually through a Telegram that he confessed his feelings for her. "He was in Paris whereas I was in Kashmir, shooting, and suddenly I got a telegram from Rishi saying he misses me and loves me," she said.

Neetu also shared that he always found her very cute and sweet and they used to call each other 'Bob', which was a special nickname they gave to each other. Rishi, who was a legendary actor in Indian cinema, passed away on April 30, last year, and left a void in people's hearts. Prior to his demise, Rishi was in New York for his treatment with his wife.The couple got married on January 22, 1980, and share two children together, Riddhima Kapoor Sahani and superstar Ranbir Kapoor.

The couple also starred together in films like 'Zinda Dil', 'Khel Khel Mein', 'Amar Akbar and Anthony', 'Do Dooni Chaar', among several others. The duo first met on the sets of 1974 film 'Zehreela Insaan' and got married in 1980. After their marriage, the actors worked together in films like 'Love Aaj Kal', 'Do Dooni Chaar', 'Jab Tak Hai Jaan' and 'Besharam', which also starred their son Ranbir Kapoor.

Rishi died at the age of 67 in a Mumbai hospital. The actor was diagnosed with cancer two years ago and flew to New York for treatment. Rishi returned to Mumbai in September after having spent almost a year in New York. His last project was the 2019 film 'The Body' which also starred Emraan Hashmi.

On the work front, Neetu will be seen in Raj Mehta's directorial 'Jug Jug Jiyo'. Produced by Karan Johar's Dharma Productions the romantic drama also stars veteran actor Anil Kapoor, Kiara Advani, and Varun Dhawan in the lead roles.
The Senate this week confirmed Katherine Tai as the Biden administrations U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), helping the nation advance its trade agenda and creating opportunities for dairy to expand its own markets worldwide. She was confirmed on a 98 to 0 vote in the Senate.

Ambassador Tai brings deep experience to her new role, having previously served as the chief China enforcement officer at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and chief trade counsel at the House Ways and Means Committee. In the latter role she helped achieve overwhelming bipartisan support for the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).

But even with that experience, Ambassador Tai is facing a very different trade landscape than her predecessors. The COVID-19 pandemic has severely disrupted economic activity around the world and altered the trade landscape. Alongside that, she has inherited from the Trump administration a series of trade disputes with adversaries and allies alike.

The Biden administration has emphasized that its early focus will be on beating COVID-19 and that new trade agreements will have to await domestic efforts to restore the U.S. economy and rebuild infrastructure and global competitiveness. The Biden administration has also emphasized that it will work to ensure that trades benefits are shared broadly and that the costs of trade on American workers are considered carefully.

The potential starting point

Ambassador Tai can be expected to initially focus on rebuilding relationships with U.S. allies so they can better collectively address challenges posed by China, such as intellectual property (IP) theft, state-owned enterprises, and industrial subsidies. Toward that end, she will be working to resolve the long-standing dispute with the European Union (EU) over aircraft subsidies against the backdrop of a wide range of long-simmering concerns with the EU over agricultural trade.

Restoring U.S. leadership at the World Trade Organization also will be on Ambassador Tais agenda. This would involve both ongoing efforts to reform the broken dispute settlement system thats so critical to enforcing global trade rules as well as new initiatives to address China-related issues. Additionally, USTR under Tai undoubtedly will consider the role trade can play in confronting climate change and environmental issues more broadly.

Enforcing existing trade agreements also will be a key focus of Ambassador Tais efforts. In new trade agreements, she is likely to work to include provisions building on the USMCA labor and environment rules and in existing deals those areas are expected to be high-priority enforcement targets.

A solid story to tell

Ambassador Tai will be busy, and many non-agricultural issues will be commanding greater attention from USTR. To claim dairys seat at a crowded trade table, the entire sector will need to speak up early and often with a unified voice to tout its trade needs and explain how advancing them supports the millions of good jobs in the U.S. that rely on dairy.

To lead that effort, the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF), working in conjunction with the U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC), are emphasizing to Ambassador Tai the importance of expanding opportunities abroad for the nearly 32,000 U.S. dairy farms and the more than 3 million American workers whose jobs are supported by their work.

In 2020, the U.S. exported over $6.5 billion in dairy products worldwide. Opening new markets and growing dairy exports requires consistent and fair trade rules to level the playing field that U.S. farmers and dairy manufacturers face around the world.

NMPF and USDEC are leading the effort of ensuring that USTR and USDA focus on priority dairy issues such as:

The enforcement of trade agreements already in place.

Expanding markets through the negotiation of new free trade agreements.

Lowering or removing high tariffs and retaliatory duties.

Removing unwarranted nontariff barriers to trade.

Establishing clear protections for common terms to combat the misuse of geographical indications (GIs).

Advocating for science-based standards and trade rules.

It's a big world out there with a lot of opportunity. To help farmers and dairy manufacturers seize it, we at NMPF and USDEC are looking forward to a productive relationship with Ambassador Tai that will advance the interests of the U.S. dairy industry and of rural America.

The author is the Senior Vice President of Policy Strategy and International Trade at National Milk Producers Federation.

To comment, email your remarks to intel@hoards.com.

(c) Hoard's Dairyman Intel 2021

March 25, 2021
Gas manufacturer have said government should consider waiving taxes on medical and other gases.

The calls comes in the wake of a tax waiver on liquefied petroleum gas, which is mostly used a cooking aide.

Government in June last year waived Value Added Tax on liquefied petroleum gas, which in effect saw prices reduce by at least 10 per cent.

The waiver of the 17 per cent tax sought to encourage dealers of liquefied petroleum gas to reduce the cost to end-user, which in turn would increase demand for cooking gas, especially among homesteads.

However, local manufacturers are now saying, it is time government considered waiving taxes on other important gases such as medical oxygen and industrial gas in order to mitigate shortages and build local manufacturing capacity. At the height of the Covid-19 pandemic last year, government grappled with a shortage of medical oxygen, which resulted in a number of fatalities.

Speaking in an interview, Mr Rajesh Kumar, the Oxygas Limited executive director, said the tax policy on such gases has placed a heavy burden, increasing the costs of production for both producers and end-user.

The taxes, he said, are too high, noting that Oxygas was in final stages of setting up a plant to manufacture argon that is expected to boost local production and capacity as well as reduce prices.

"If the taxes are reduced and we are able to set up a factory here, the prices of heavy gases will reduce by at least 40 per cent," he said, observing that waiving Value Added Tax on liquefied petroleum should be extended to other important gasses such as medical and industrial.

Some of these gases include medical oxygen, medical air, industrial oxygen, acetylene, carbon dioxide and nitrogen. Others are argon, ammonia, hydrogen and helium.

Regulation

According to Mr Kumar, during Covid-19, manufacture of gas helped government to mitigate a crisis by putting on hold the manufacture of gases to only manufacture medical oxygen.

Therefore, he said government must realise the importance of such gases and boost local capacity through incentives such as tax waivers.

Kumar also asked government to take regulation of gas manufacturing seriously to protect local producers against imports and unscrupulous manufacturers.
Chennai, March 27 : Transgenders M. Radha and Bharathi Kannama, who are fighters in their own right, are contesting the Assembly polls in Tamil Nadu to be held on April 6.

Interestingly, there are only 7,246 transgenders enlisted in the voters' list of Tamil Nadu even though 1 per cent of the 6 crore population in the state are transgenders.

Radha is contesting on a 'telephone' symbol from the Mylapore Assembly constituency, while Kannama is in the fray from the Madurai South Assembly seat on a 'pot' symbol.

Radha had contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, garnering 1,042 votes, and the transgender candidate is expecting more than 10,000 votes from the Mylapore Assembly seat this time.

Radha is of the opinion that contesting the polls will make people understand that not only men and women, but transgenders can also step into the battle arena of electoral politics.

"I am contesting as a candidate of the ordinary people, and not just the transgenders. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, I managed to get 1,042 votes. But this time I am expecting around 10,000 votes. As a people's representative, I will work for the downtrodden and marginalised sections of my constituency with special emphasis on transgenders," Radha told IANS.

The transgender candidate added, "I am a cook and I want the members of the transgender community to get jobs so that they don't turn into sex workers or beggars." Radha is pitted against T. Velu of DMK, R. Nagarajan of AIADMK and actor-turned-politician Sripirya of the MNM.

Kannama, who had also contested the Lok Sabha elections in 2014, is fighting the elections this time on the ticket of Puthiya Thalaimurai Makkal Katchi (PTMK) or New Generation People's Party.

Kannama told mediapersons that she wants to highlight the issues faced by the transgender community and that is the reason she is contesting the elections.

Kalki Subramaniam, a transgender activist, artist and poet, told IANS said, "Transgender activists contesting the elections is mere tokenism now. No mainstream political party has provided a ticket to anyone from the transgender community. They can do little but to contest independently as a token representation."
New Jerseys two Democratic U.S. senators have been here before.

U.S. Sen. Cory Booker participated in a filibuster in 2016 to force votes on expanding background checks and preventing individuals on the terrorist watch list from buying guns. The bills reached the floor but Republican senators blocked debate.

And U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez in 2019 marked the first anniversary of the mass shooting at a South Florida high school by introducing legislation banning gun magazines with more than 10 rounds of ammunition.

The two lawmakers joined local officials and gun control activists in Newark Friday to press again for gun legislation following Mondays massacre of 10 people in Boulder, Colorado, and the March 16 killing of eight people at spas in the Atlanta area, both by armed shooters.

We simply cant afford to stand idly by as the deadly epidemic of gun violence continues to plague our nation, Booker said.

Menendez said Americans comprise 4.4% of the worlds population but owned 42% of the worlds firearms.

When it comes to gun violence in America there is absolutely nothing normal about it, Menendez said. There is nothing normal about a country that accepts the routine slaughter of innocent people in their schools, houses of worship, grocery stores and workplaces as just a fact of life. And there is nothing normal about a democracy that time and again fails to respond to the will of the voters who overwhelmingly support gun safety reform.

The U.S. House on March 11 passed two bills dealing with background checks for gun purchases. One would require such checks in all cases, including at gun shows and over the internet, while the other would change current law that allows sales to go through if a background check is not completed within three days.

Both passed largely along party lines, with Rep. Chris Smith, R-4th Dist., one of only two Republicans voting for the two bills.

Senate Republicans have refused to take up similar legislation in the past, but new Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., pledged to act.

This time is going to be different, Schumer said on the Senate floor Wednesday. A Democratic majority in the Senate is going to act. I have committed to putting legislation to expand background checks on the floor of the Senate. We will debate it, we will vote on it.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.

Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JDSalant.

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Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 26)  A Baguio City court heeded the call of youth leaders seeking legal protection from supposed red-tagging by the Philippine National Police Cordillera unit.

Baguio City Regional Trial Court Branch 3 issued a writ of amparo, temporarily banning Police Regional Office Cordillera and all its units from posting any materials accusing the activists as fronts of communist rebels.

The writ of amparo is a legal remedy for protection from threats to a person's life, liberty, and security committed by government actors.

The decision, signed by Judge Emmanuel Cacho Rasing on March 25, ordered the PNP Cordillera and its units to "make no social media or tarpaulin postings, or public postings by any other means, branding/tagging herein petitioners and the organizations they belong to as stated in the Petition as communist terrorists, New People's Army/Communist Party of the Philippines front organizations, NPA/CPP recruiters and other similar content."

The petitioners are Christian Dave B. Ruz, the Regional Coordinator of Kabataan Partylist  Cordillera and convenor of the Youth Act Now Against Tyranny for Baguio-Benguet; Deanna Louise C. Montenegro  spokesperson of the National Union Of Students of the Philippines-Cordillera; Leandro Enrico T. Ponce  current Chairperson of the University of the Philippines Baguio University Student Council; and Keidy M. Transfiguracion  Coordinator of the Cordilleran Youth Center.

Petitioners on March 24 sought a writ of amparo to be shielded from threats allegedly committed by the respondents.

The court also ordered the PNP Cordillera to make a verified return of the writ of amparo within five working days after service of the writ.
Marion Man Arrested on Trespassing Charges

By West Kentucky Star Staff

LYON COUNTY - A trespassing complaint in Lyon County Wednesday led to drug and other charges for a Marion man.A Kentucky State Police Trooper was dispatched to a home on Bill Thompson Road, where 49-year-old Rodney D. McKinney was cited to court on charges of possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia.McKinney and the rest of the group were told not to return to the property.A short time later, deputies received a suspicious person complaint at the same location. Authorities found a vehicle with its hood up, and found some of the same people the troopers had encountered previously, including McKinney.McKinney allegedly told deputies he was rock hunting. The property owner told authorities he did not permit him to be there and wanted him to be removed.McKinney was arrested and charged with second-degree criminal trespassing and improper parking on a traveled portion of a roadway.He was lodged in the Crittenden County Jail.
The weekly toll of coronavirus deaths in Northern Ireland has fallen for the eighth week in a row, the most recent statistics reveal.

The latest figures published on Friday by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (Nisra) show that 15 deaths involving Covid-19 occurred in the week ending March 19.

The statistics put the total number of Covid-19 related deaths that occurred up to the 19 March as 2,893. This compares to the figure of 2,103 which was recorded up to that date by the Department of Health.

Nisra data provides a broader picture of the impact of Covid-19 than the death toll reported by Stormonts Department of Health.

The departments statistics focus primarily on hospital deaths. They only include people who have tested positive for the virus.

Nisra gets its data from death certificates in which Covid-19 is recorded as a factor by a medical professional, regardless of where the death took place. The deceased may or may not have tested positive for the virus.

The Nisra stats also show that 1,901 (65.7%) of those deaths took place in hospital, while 767 (26.5%) took place in care homes. 14 (0.5%) of those deaths took place in hospice settings, while 211 (7.3%) took place in residential addresses.

Of the 1,003 deaths of care home residents involving Covid-19, which also includes those deaths of residents in a hospital setting, 767 occurred in the care home while 236 took place in hospitals. Deaths of care home residents account for 34.7% of all Covid-19 related deaths according to the figures.

The provisional number of total deaths from all causes recorded by the agency as of March 19 was 253, this is 86 less than the previous week. Of those deaths, Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate of 15 registered, showing a fall of 17 from the week before.

Armagh City, Banbridge & Craigavon and Mid-Ulster Local Government Districts have had higher proportions of Covid-19 related deaths (12.2% and 8.2% respectively) compared with their share of all deaths in Northern Ireland (10.5% and 6.5% respectively).

Meanwhile, Ards & North Down and Fermanagh & Omagh both have relatively low shares of registered Covid-19 related deaths when compared to the proportion of Northern Ireland deaths registered in those areas (2.3 and 2.5 percentage points respectively lower than their share of all deaths).
AKRON, Ohio  Police have arrested a 26-year-old man they say snatched a purse from an 89-year-old woman as she sat in her vehicle outside a bank earlier this week.

Justin Smith is being held in the Summit County Jail on a charge of robbery, according to jail records. He also has been charged with a violation of a protection order and contempt of court, records show.

The robbery occurred at about 4 p.m. Monday outside the PNC Bank branch on the 800 block of West Market Street in the Highland Square neighborhood, police say. Smith was seen by a witness waiting outside the bank and watching for the victim, according to police.

When the woman left the bank and got into her car, Smith ran over to the vehicle and reached in over her, taking her purse, police say. The woman was not injured.

Smith was arrested Wednesday afternoon without incident after officers spotted him in the Highland Square area.

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(Newser)  With opposition gathering outside his office, Gov. Brian Kemp signed new voting restrictions into law Thursday less than an hour after they passed the General Assembly. Calling the legislation "Jim Crow 2.0," protesters outside the Capitol said voters were being disenfranchised. A Democratic state representative was arrested and removed by force after she knocked on Kemp's door to try to witness the signing, the Journal-Constitution reports. Supporters, including Kemp, said the legislation would safeguard the integrity of elections. Georgia became the first battleground state to limit voter access since the November presidential election, in which President Biden carried the state over former President Donald Trump, per CNN.

story continues below

The legislation rewrites Georgia voting laws. It adds voter ID requirements, limits the number of drop boxes for ballots, and permits the state to take over local elections. Runoffs will be held more quickly after general elections, leaving as little as one week for early voting. "It's like the Christmas tree of goodies for voter suppression," one Democrat said on the Senate floor. Republicans said the new law would increase trust in the state's elections after Trump's claims of fraud last November, though Georgia election officialsincluding Republicanssay theres no evidence of widespread fraud. Republicans in other states are pursuing similar legislation, and President Biden called such efforts "un-American" on Thursday. He said he'll do everything he can to block them. (Read more voting rights stories.)
She recently revealed that she chose not to breastfeed her son Cree, three months, but was worried about admitting it.

And Kate Ferdinand put on a dazzling display as she posed for a set of glamorous behind-the-scenes snaps from a recent photoshoot on Friday.

Taking to Instagram, the former TOWIE star, 29, looked radiant as she wore a plunging beige vest top and silk pyjama bottoms.

Glamorous: Kate Ferdinand put on a dazzling display as she posed for a set of glamorous behind-the-scenes snaps from a recent photoshoot on Friday

Kate tied her blonde tresses into a neat bun, while she accessorised with a gold bracelet and a small ring situated on one of her fingers.

She opted for a full face of make-up to enhance her stunning features, which included rosy blush and bright red lipstick.

Kate looked radiant as she beamed to the camera and captioned the photos with: 'Such a fun day shooting today.'

Stunning: Taking to Instagram, the former TOWIE star, 29, looked radiant as she wore a plunging beige vest top and silk pyjama bottoms

Hair up: Kate tied her blonde tresses into a neat bun, while she accessorised with a gold bracelet and a small ring situated on one of her fingers

It comes after the reality star opened up about her decision to not breastfeed her son Cree, three months.

The former TOWIE star told how she feels there is 'so much pressure' on women to breastfeed and that she was hesitant to admit she decided to bottle feed instead.

Kate, who shares her son with husband Rio Ferdinand, 42, posted a heartwarming shot of herself feeding the tot and described him as 'the happiest little soul'.

Pretty in red: She opted for a full face of make-up to enhance her stunning features, which included rosy blush and bright red lipstick

She said: 'Me and my bubba. I just love it when he looks at me when I'm feeding him. I chose not to breastfeed Cree.

'For so many reasons and I was worried about admitting it at first as there is so much pressure to breastfeed, but thankfully now I just know that a fed baby is a happy baby and Cree is the happiest little soul and we are so grateful.

'We had a few issues with other bottles for Cree, but @mamababy_uk has been amazing for us as a family.

Candid: It comes after the reality star opened up about her decision to not breastfeed her son Cree, three months

Worries: In a candid post, Kate revealed she was worried about admitting to the fact she does not breastfeed her son

'They give babies the breastfeeding experience because their shape requires the same movement that a baby would use at the breast. They also prevent colic with the vented base. If Cree is happy we are happy.'

The candid snap comes after Kate shared a cryptic post about leading a 'stress-free' life to Instagram on Thursday.

Earlier this month, the new parent recalled crying 'every single day for five weeks' after giving birth to her baby boy as she struggled with her mental health.

She wrote: 'I don't want to be around drama, conflict, or stress. I want to be around happy people, have happy times and a happy life.'

Honest: The former TOWIE star told how she feels there is 'so much pressure' on women to breastfeed that she was hesitant to admit she decided to bottle feed instead

Kate also juggles her career with raising Rio's three children Lorenz, 14, Tate, 12, and Tia, nine, from his relationship with late wife Rebecca Ellison.

Former personal trainer Rebecca tragically passed away from breast cancer aged 34 in May 2015.

In February last year, the self-help author discussed the struggles she overcame when she took on the role of stepmother to Rio's three kids in the BBC documentary Rio and Kate: Becoming a Stepfamily.

The media personality was left feeling tearful for over a month after having an emergency C-section when she gave birth to her first child.

Difficulties: Earlier this month, the new parent recalled crying 'every single day for five weeks' after giving birth to her baby boy as she struggled with her mental health (pictured with Rio)

Since announcing the arrival of her tot, Kate has kept a relatively low profile while she recovers from her C-section at home.

The blonde told Fabulous magazine recently: 'I think I cried every single day for about five weeks.

'You expect to be doing everything you possibly can for your baby and when you cant it was something I really struggled with.

'I was in my own little world, I felt really confused and had lots of anxiety and I didnt think anyone understood.'

Kate added that she was 'all over the place emotionally' because she found it challenging to carry out daily tasks such as putting on clothes, and would need to call out for help if she dropped her phone because she couldn't pick it up herself.
03/26/2021

Photo (c) da-kuk - Getty Images Coronavirus (COVID-19) tally as compiled by Johns Hopkins University. (Previous numbers in parentheses.)

Total U.S. confirmed cases: 30,090,221 (30,015,938)

Total U.S. deaths: 546,915 (545,357)

Total global cases: 125,675,674 (124,971,776)

Total global deaths: 2,757,812 (2,746,581)

CDC sees 7 percent rise in U.S. cases

The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued another warning about rising coronavirus (COVID-19) cases. The agency reports that the seven-day average of cases has risen by 7 percent in the last week.

In addition to new cases of the virus, Dr. Rochelle Walensky said new hospitalizations are up slightly, at roughly 4,700 admissions per day.

I remain deeply concerned about this trajectory, Waleknsky said. We have seen cases and hospital admissions move from historic declines to stagnations and increases. We know from prior surges that if we dont control things now, there is a real potential for the epidemic curve to soar again.

No-mask Texas shows no increase in cases

Health officials, who were critical of Texas for removing a statewide mask mandate two weeks ago, have been watching the Lone Star State for signs of a spike in COVID-19 cases. According to a report in The Wall Street Journal, they have yet to materialize.

Reported infections actually declined after Gov. Greg Abbott lifted the mask mandate, but they have leveled off recently. When Abbott lifted the statewide mask mandate, he also allowed businesses to operate at full capacity, with no limits, starting March 10.

The Journals analysis shows there were about 4,900 confirmed cases on the day Abbott issued the order. The latest numbers show a seven-day average of around 3,400 cases.

Pfizer vaccine being tested on babies and kids

The coronavirus vaccines are being opened up to an ever-wider population, but they will go to people who are no younger than 18 until researchers gather more data. That process has now begun.

Pfizer reports that it has begun testing the vaccine it developed in partnership with BioNTech on children from six months old to 11 years old. Based on the results of the clinical trials, the vaccine could soon be administered to children.

The company said researchers will evaluate the safety and effectiveness of the selected dose levels in the next phase of the trial, with participants being randomly selected to receive the vaccine or a placebo.

Rutgers to require vaccinations for on-campus students

Most businesses are still grappling with the question of whether to require employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19, but Rutgers University has already made that decision as far as its students and staff are concerned.

University officials have announced that they will require all students attending classes on campus in the fall to prove that they have been vaccinated.

In support of Rutgers commitment to health and safety for all members of its community, the University will be updating its Immunization Requirements for Students to include the COVID-19 vaccine, the university wrote in a letter to students and parents. This health policy update means that, with limited exceptions, all students planning to attend in the Fall 2021 semester must be fully vaccinated. In parallel, we continue to strongly urge all Rutgers faculty and staff to get immunized against COVID-19 at the earliest opportunity.

Small business still getting strong consumer support

Small businesses have been devastated by the pandemic over the last 12 months, but it could have been worse. A new survey from Next Insurance shows that 87 percent of consumers say they have consciously tried to patronize small businesses to keep them afloat.

But it hasnt always been successful. The survey also showed that 85 percent report at least one small business near them has closed due to the pandemic. Consumers were most likely to say that a local restaurant they liked had gone out of business.

The most common reason consumers gave for supporting local businesses was to help their neighbors and keep the local economy strong.

Around the nation
Goshen, N.Y.  After being clocked driving over 100 mph multiple times Sunday morning, an 18-year-old was arrested and given 43 traffic tickets, according to the New York State Police.

The chase, which started in the village of Goshen in Orange County, landed the 18-year-old several criminal charges, including first-degree reckless endangerment, third-degree reckless driving and fleeing an officer in a motor vehicle, police said in a news release Thursday. Police did not release the drivers name.

The chase began at 10:12 a.m. on State Route 17 in Goshen, when a trooper saw a 2003 Infiniti G35 being driven east at 117 mph, police said.

The driver of the Infiniti weaved the car through traffic and cut off other drivers before driving off the highway at Exit 129, police said.

A trooper found the car in a park-and-ride lot and began walking toward the car to talk to the driver, they said.

Instead, the driver drove off on Route 17 and then on Interstate 87 as troopers kept chasing the car, police said.

After the Infiniti reached 148 mph, troopers called off the chase, police said.

State police matched the license plate on the Infiniti to another vehicle registered in New York City, police said. Troopers found the owner of the uninvolved car, who was related to the driver of the Infiniti, police said.

New York City police detained the 18-year-old in Queens, and turned him over to troopers in New York City, police said.

The 43 traffic tickets included one for going 117 mph in a 65 mph zone and another for going 148 mph in a 65 mph zone, police said.

The driver was released with a ticket to return to the Goshen Town Court on April 12.

Staff writer James McClendon covers breaking news, crime and public safety. Have a tip, a story idea, a question or a comment? Reach him at 914-204-2815 or jmcclendon@syracuse.com.
Ambassador Korniychuk is ready to assist in organizing a road show of Ivano-Frankivsk business in Israel

H.E. Mr. Yevhen Korniychuk, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to the State of Israel invited the city authorities and business of Ivano-Frankivsk to join the economic activities of the Embassy and expressed readiness to facilitate the organization of a relevant road show. It was stated during an online meeting of the Head of the diplomatic mission with the mayor Ruslan Martsinkiv, the Embassy reported at Facebook.

The state and prospects of cooperation between Ivano-Frankivsk and Israel in various fields were discussed. In particular, the mayor presented the economic and investment potential of the city in the tourism, industrial, processing, energy and agricultural sectors and expressed interest in implementing bilateral projects to modernize the municipal government system, - the statement says.

Ambassador Korniychuk stressed his readiness to assist in organizing a road show of regional business in Israel.

He also invited the city authorities and businesses to join the bilateral economic events held by the Embassy this year, - the Embassy noted.

The interlocutors discussed issues of cooperation in the cultural and humanitarian sphere.

The mayor spoke about the city's interest in the restoration and improvement of Jewish heritage sites in Ivano-Frankivsk. The parties also agreed to work out the possibility of establishing twinning relations between Ivano-Frankivsk and one of the Israeli cities, - the statement says.
Three women have been confirmed dead following a fatal accident in Otuke District Thursday morning.

The accident occurred at Baraliro Village, a few kilometres from Amon-maka bridge on Lira-Otuke road.

This occurred after a Fuso truck, which was transporting traders from Lira City to Oreme market, Ogur Sub-county in Otuke District lost control and overturned, injuring more than 20 people.

According to a survivor, Ms Sarah Ayo, a resident of Lira City West Division, the driver was speeding.

"The truck overturned two times, throwing us in the air and several metres away but thank God that I survived but three of my colleagues died on the spot and several sustained severe injuries," she told Daily Monitor on the telephone.

Mr Geoffrey Abuka, the Otuke District youth councillor, a witness, said the unidentified driver hit a hump.

Mr Abuka said 12 people were taken to Lira Regional Referral Hospital while 11 others with minor injuries were taken to Orum Health Centre IV.

Mr Benard Anyeko Matsanga, the spokesperson of Lira Urban Transporters Association, said he lost a relative in the accident.

"My sister Agnes Awilo is among the three women who lost their lives in that fatal accident," he said.

Mr Matsanga said they were working to identify two other women who died.

The police spokesperson for North Kyoga Region, Mr James Ekaju, confirmed the incident and blamed it on "reckless" driving.

"Three women died in that accident and several traders from Lira who were going to a local market in Otuke District got injured, but the details of those who died and injured are still scanty but the district police commander and Officer-in-Charge traffic are still at the scene," Mr Ekaju said.

He added that the deceased were taken to Lira Regional Referral Hospital for postmortem.
NEW DELHI (PTI): An Indo-Korean friendship park was jointly inaugurated on Friday by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Minister of National Defence of South Korea Suh Wook at Delhi cantonment.



The park has been built to commemorate the contribution of Indian peacekeeping force during the Korean war of 1950-53, officials said.



Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, Army Chief General M M Naravane, Navy Chief Admiral Karambir Singh and Air Chief Marshal R K S Bhadauria were present on the occasion.



The South Korean minister arrived in New Delhi on Thursday on a three-day visit with a focus on boosting bilateral defence and military cooperation.



South Korea has been a major supplier of weapons and military equipment to India.



In 2019, the two countries finalised a roadmap for cooperation in joint production of various land and naval systems.



Wook also visited the National War Memorial and paid tributes to India's fallen heroes.


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The detention drew world attention to her and her works. She said of her imprisonment: Danger has been a part of my life ever since I picked up a pen and wrote. Nothing is more perilous than truth in a world that lies. She was to write over 50 books, including plays, fiction and nonfiction

Some conscious, radical and conscientious women in Nigeria, and males who believe in the equality of all humans, met in 1982 on how to emancipate women. Thus was born the Women In Nigeria (WIN) movement, which was to play decisive roles in campaigning for the human rights of all, especially women. Some of us who joined WIN were influenced by the writings and activism of an unstoppable Egyptian psychiatrist and writer, Nawal El Saadawi who, in September 1981, was detained by the Sadat dictatorship.

She was to joke that she believed President Anwar Sadat when he said there is democracy in Egypt and a multi-party system, under which government could be constructively criticised; she did so and landed in jail. A few weeks into her detention, Sadat was assassinated on October 6, 1981, and the following month, she was set free, and like a bird, flew freely not just in Egypt, but Africa and beyond.

The detention drew world attention to her and her works. She said of her imprisonment: Danger has been a part of my life ever since I picked up a pen and wrote. Nothing is more perilous than truth in a world that lies. She was to write over 50 books, including plays, fiction and nonfiction, mostly on the themes of womens repression and oppression, and what she considered as the opportunistic manipulation of religion to oppress women and the masses, and perpetrate poverty and injustice. Her detention story, which she partially wrote in prison using stubby black eyebrow pencils and small rolls of old and tattered toilet paper, was titled Memoirs from the Womens Prison.

El Sadaawi took it upon herself to bust many myths and attack cultural, social and religious practices that are harmful to women and their emancipation. Her fighting spirit was fired by the assertion of her grandmother that a boy is worth 15 girls at least Girls are blight.

El Sadaawis 1972 book Women and Sex was considered offensive by the state, which sacked her from the Health Ministry. Her truth was too biting to be acceptable. The hypocritical society could not be at ease with a woman who, for example, postulated that: Prostitution means sexual intercourse between a man and a woman aimed at satisfying the mans sexual and the womans economic needs. It is obvious that sexual needs, even in a male dominated system, are not as urgent and important as economic needs which, if not satisfied, lead to disease and death. Yet society considers the womans economic need as less vital than the mans sexual one.

In 1975, she wrote perhaps her best known book, Woman at Point Zero, a nonfiction novel based on the life of a woman on death row at the Qanatir Prison, Cairo. Following Islamist threats to her life, she fled Egypt for the United States in 1988. Eight years later she returned, and when mass protests broke out in 2011 against the Hosni Mubarak government, she was at Tahrir Square, the epicentre of the mass uprising. She said of that uprising: Ive participated in many demonstrations since I was a child. When I was at medical college, I was fighting King Farouk, then British colonisation, against Nasser, against Sadat who pushed me into prison, Mubarak who pushed me into exile. I never stopped. She said women lost out of the Egyptian Revolution, despite their massive participation, and many of them being killed, because: We have the Salafists, Muslim Brothers, religious groups.

She argued that revolutionary action is inevitable against oppressive leaders because the people in power can never be convinced by words or articles and will never give up power by choice. To her, what makes revolutionary thought unique is its clarity and dignity, and its clear grasp of freedom and justice: simple, clear words that are understood without the need for any help from elite writers or thinkers.

El Saadawi argued that religion will forever be misused and that the increasing power of religious groups is proportional to the increasing oppression of women across all religions. In her analysis, after a period of about two thousand years, the greatest crime became, to worship a god other than the God of Moses, whereas injustice became a minor sin. I began to ask myself how this change had come about. Was it linked to a new order in which the female goddesses had been replaced by one male god?

For her, the best society is a secular one; therefore, religion should be denied an official seat. Based on this, she argued that: Education should be totally secular. I am not telling people not to believe in God, but it should be a personal matter, which should be done at home.

She said home is where a woman should be appreciated, safe and protected, creative, and where she is loved, not where she feels imprisoned. The universal teacher taught that the woman should be viewed and view herself as a human being, not an object, which was why she was against makeup and high heels and all that is inherited in the name of beauty. She complained: Whenever I go to New York or any European country, they say: Nawal, why dont you get a facelift? I tell them, I am proud of my wrinkles. Every wrinkle on my face tells the story of my life. Why should I hide my age?

She rejected the Western notion of democracy because: Democracy is not just freedom to criticise the government or head of state, or to hold parliamentary elections. True democracy obtains only when the people  women, men, young people, children  have the ability to change the system of industrial capitalism that has oppressed them since the earliest days of slavery: a system based on class division, patriarchy, and military might, a hierarchical system that subjugates people merely because they are born poor, or female, or dark-skinned.

Age did not mellow her. She said: I am becoming more radical with age. I have noticed that writers, when they are old, become milder. But for me it is the opposite. Age makes me more angry. She lived to write because: Memory is never complete. There are always parts of it that time has amputated. Writing is a way of retrieving them, of bringing the missing parts back to it, of making it more holistic.

On March 21, at about 90, El Saadawi stopped speaking up and writing; from now on, her writings will speak for this matchless Daughter of Iris and Africa. Her ideas will continue to shake the presidential palaces and parliaments of the unjust and strengthen the resolve of the downtrodden to rise and say, no more!

Owei Lakemfa, a former secretary general of African workers, is a human rights activist, journalist and author.
BIRD Aerosystems, the globally renowned developer of Airborne Missile Protection Systems (AMPS) and Airborne Surveillance, Information, and Observation (ASIO) solutions, has been awarded a new contract by the Czech Republic Air Force.

Under the contract, BIRD Aerosystems will provide additional AMPS-MV systems with the patented MACS (Missile Approach Confirmation Sensor) for the Czech Air Forces Mi-17 fleet. This project is a part of the overall modernisation plan of the Czech Mi-17 transport helicopter fleet.

AMPS-MV systems with patented MACS

BIRDs AMPS are already operational on the Czech Air Force Mi-17 helicopters and have been successfully deployed in different conflict zones, including Afghanistan. This contract comes after BIRD Aerosystems having conducted an overall upgrade to the Czechs existing AMPS systems earlier this year, which provided enhanced functionality to the MILDS UV detection sensors and the MCDU Mission computers.

As part of the current contract BIRD Aerosystems will provide the Czech Air Force its AMPS systems with the MACS sensor, which ensures that no false alarms will be detected and the system will react only to validated real threats.

Ronen Factor, the Co-Chief Executive Officer and Founder of BIRD Aerosystems, said We appreciate the confidence placed in our AMPS solution by the Czech Air Force, who decided to purchase additional systems for its Mi-17 fleet. Equipped with BIRDs AMPS-MV solution with the MACS sensor, they can rest assured knowing that their aircraft and crew are safe, even when flying in automatic mode in the most complicated conflict zones.

Airborne Missile Protection System

The AMPS system is known to automatically detect, verify, and foil missile attacks

BIRD Aerosystems Airborne Missile Protection System (AMPS) provides the most enhanced protection for military and civilian aircraft against all known Surface to Air Missiles (SAM), including MANPADS, laser beam rider threats, and radar-guided missiles.

The AMPS system is known to automatically detect, verify, and foil missile attacks through the effective use of counter-measure decoys (flares and chaff) that jam the missiles IR (Infrared) seeker and protect the aircraft.

MACS (Missile Approach Confirmation Sensor)

MACS (Missile Approach Confirmation Sensor) is an advanced semi-active confirmation radar, which significantly reduces the false alarm rate of the overall missile warning system. Queued by a suspected threat, MACS points towards it and performs a doppler-based interrogation to confirm the existence of a valid threat.

By doing so, MACS provides the most effective filtering of all known natural and human-made types of false alarms that are typically detected by electro-optical sensors, and ensures that only real missiles will be declared by the system and reacted upon. Fully operational, BIRDs AMPS-MV with the MACS sensor is provided as a turn-key solution that includes design, installation, integration, certification and support, and is certified by major aircraft manufacturers.
At least 32 people have been killed and 66 injured after two trains collided in southern Egypt, the deadliest such incident in nearly four years.

Dozens of ambulances rushed to the scene of the crash in the southern province of Sohag, the countrys health ministry said.

Videos taken by witnesses showed panicked citizens and police trying to free passengers trapped in the crumpled wagons, some of which had been flipped upside down or lay on their side.

Some victims appeared unconscious, while others could be seen bleeding amid the debris.

Bystanders carried bodies, laying them out on the ground near the site of the accident.

Read more:

The transport ministry said that unknown persons pulled the emergency brake on a train going from Luxor to Alexandria, bringing it abruptly to a halt. Another train heading from Cairo to Aswan then crashed into it just before noon local time. The collision caused two cars from the first train to flip over.

President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi expressed his condolences to the families of the killed and wounded promising them compensation and to bring those responsible to justice. The pain that tears our hearts today cannot but make us more determined to end this type of disaster, he tweeted.

The president also said he had sent the prime minister and relevant ministers to the site of the crash to oversee an immediate investigation. Train crashes and disasters are common in Egypt where the crumbling transport network is woefully neglected and unfunded.

Fridays collision is believed to be the deadliest incident since August 2017 when two passenger trains collided near Alexandria, killing more than 40 people and injuring scores.

A video grab taken from the Egyptian state television station shows people searching for survivors (AFP/Getty)

In February 2019, 25 people were killed and dozens injured in an explosion at Egypts main railway station, after an unmanned speeding railcar crashed into a barrier, setting a fuel tank on fire.

There are no recent statistics, but official figures from 2017 show that year saw 1,793 train accidents occur across Egypt. The deadliest incident in 2002 when more than 300 people were killed as fire erupted in a train travelling from Cairo to southern Egypt.

In 2018, Mr al-Sisi said the government needed around $14bn, to overhaul the run-down rail system. That year a passenger train derailed near the southern city of Aswan, injuring at least six people and prompting authorities to fire the chief of the countrys railways.

Egypt was already reeling from a crisis in the Suez Canal where a quarter-mile long MV Ever Given container ship that ran aground on Tuesday that has held up billions of dollars worth of global commerce and has already driven up the price of oil. It has potentially hampered the recovery of a world economy already battered by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Singaporeexpoonline.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

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PHOTO: Getty Images

SINGAPORE  For seven-and-a-half years, starting from when the girl was between three and seven years old, her biological father sexually abused her, raped her and forced her to perform sexual acts while her mother was away from home.

The 44-year-old Singapore permanent resident did not stop at his daughter.

When her best friend of the same age came by to spend time with his daughter, the man also molested her.

The father pleaded guilty on Friday (26 March)in the High Court to three charges of statutory rape of his daughter when she was between nine and 11 years old. Another 19 charges of a similar nature, such as sexually assaulting his daughter, showing her pornography and molesting her friend, will be taken into consideration for sentencing.

The girl, now 13, and her father, cannot be named to protect her identity. Her mother has since divorced her husband, whom she married in 2004.

'No, I don't want to': Victim

No, I dont want to and its not enjoyable: these were the words that a nine-year-old had to use to get her own father to stop sexually assaulting her, said Deputy Public Prosecutor Yvonne Poon and Lim Ying Min during the mans plead guilty hearing.

The man, who is a European, worked as a product manager here and stayed in a condominium with his wife, their daughter and her baby brother. While the couple married overseas, they moved to Singapore in 2008.

The man first sexually assaulted his daughter when she was between three and seven years old. After watching a television programme about people drowning while swimming, the girl became afraid of showering alone and took a shower with her father. At that point, the man developed a sexual desire to touch the girl.

He realised then that he was a pedophile and there was no turning back. He continued abusing her for the next seven-and-a-half years, with the sexual assaults increasing in frequency after the family moved houses. He knew that the girl did not like the incidents as she would keep her face turned to the side when it happened to avoid looking at him.

Story continues

He would go into the girls bedroom or ask her to enter his bedroom, before locking the door and raping or sexually assaulting her. When the girl expressed reluctance, he would say it would only take a few minutes. The girl often felt she could not protest further as the man was her father, whom she should listen to.

At times, the man would show her pornographic material from his phone or laptop. One of these was a child having sex with her father.

He also molested the girls best friend when the girl went over to play and watch movies. This girl stayed in the same condominium and her parents regarded the man and his wife as close friends.

He kissed the girl on the lips and told her to keep it a secret. Once, as the man, his daughter and her best friend watched a movie in the master bedroom, the man molested both girls at the same time while lying between them. Eventually, the girl stopped going to the daughters house.

The police eventually learned of the sexual assault after the girls best friend made a police report about the mans inappropriate behaviour.

Girl's best friend revealed offences during first communion

In mid-June, as the girl's best friend was preparing to undergo her first communion in her home country, she was asked to confess her sins and revealed the man's offences to her in 2017. Her parents brought her to make a police report when she returned to Singapore.

Police officers went to the unit where the daughter was alone and arrested her father later that day. More pornographic material was found in his electronic devices when they were seized.

The victims mother also informed investigators that in the course of settling the man's affairs after he was arrested, she came across three stories involving child erotica in his email inbox, which he had downloaded and sent to himself.

By the fathers estimate, he had raped his daughter between 10 and 20 times, and forced her to perform oral sex on him more times than he had raped her.

A psychiatric report from the Institute of Mental Health diagnosed the man with pedophilic disorder but stated that his cognitive functioning was not significantly impaired.

The prosecution sought at least 30 years jail and the maximum 24 strokes of the cane, while the mans lawyer, Amarjit Singh, asked for 24 to 26 years jail.

He concedes that what he did was wrong and deplorable, but he is at your mercy, Your Honour, Singh told Justice Mavis Chionh.

The judge adjourned sentencing to 19 April.

Stay in the know on-the-go: Join Yahoo Singapore's Telegram channel at http://t.me/YahooSingapore

More Singapore stories:

17 new COVID cases in Singapore, all imported

Man suffered from 'serious' effects after consuming weigh-loss product: HSA

Singapore received 200,000 Sinovac doses; no 'coercion' or 'external influence' involved
(Natural News) Following an upswell of criticism, drug giant AstraZeneca has revised the efficacy data for its experimental Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) gene therapy injection, which has been exposed for triggering deadly blood clots and death in many recipients.

After lying about the jab to make the injection appear safe and effective, which it certainly is not, AstraZeneca incurred flak all week long, prompting the company to try to save face through more manipulation.

Now, the company claims that its Chinese virus injection is 76 percent effective at guarding against symptoms of the Wuhan flu. Earlier in the week, AstraZeneca claimed that the efficacy rate was 79 percent.

According to the company, which worked in partnership with the University of Oxford to produce and release the jab, there is no need to worry about adverse effects from the injection because it is supposedly being well tolerated by recipients.

Hilariously, AstraZeneca is doubling down on the false claim that its shot is 100 percent effective against severe disease and hospitalization, to quote CNBC. That is right: AstraZeneca wants you to believe that getting injected will totally protect you against ever getting really sick from Chinese germs, even though many already have gotten sick or died as a consequence of getting needled.

It is so obvious that AstraZeneca is cherry-picking data and engaging an anti-scientific deception that even public health officials across the United States are speaking out against the company.

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) announced that AstraZeneca provided an incomplete view of the efficacy data of its injection, though NIAID head Anthony Fauci still insists that it is 100 percent safe and effective.

How many people have died because of Faucis lies?

According to AstraZeneca, the false figures it released were based on a pre-specified interim analysis, which is just a fancy way of saying that the company selected the best looking moment in the trial to present as evidence that the injection works as claimed.

Nobody with a brain is buying anything that AstraZeneca is selling, of course, but the reality is that there are not very many working brains left in America today.

This is really what you call an unforced error because the fact is this is very likely a very good vaccine, proclaimed Fauci in AstraZenecas defense during a Good Morning America segment with Robin Roberts.

This kind of thing does  really cast some doubt about the vaccines and maybe contribute to the hesitancy. It was not necessary.

In other words, Fauci believes that Americans should ignore the data and reject the science, and instead trust him and AstraZeneca to poison them with deadly chemicals that will forever destroy their genetic blueprints  and many Americans are listening to him.

Fauci already has lots of blood on his hands and apparently wants a whole lot more. Since this deceiver clearly has no conscience and is unable to ever tell the truth, it only makes sense that he would contort AstraZenecas lies into a simple misunderstanding.

Not only are Americans being deceived but so are all other nations that agree to participate in this plandemic sham, which includes nearly all nations save for Iran and perhaps a few others  and just look at how our country talks about and treats Iran?

Iranian officials have rightly concluded that Big Pharmas alleged vaccines for the Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) are a genocidal joke. The Middle Eastern country thus refuses to allow its citizens to be experimented on with these deadly gene-modifying chemical cocktails.

To keep up with the latest news stories about Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) deception, be sure to check out Pandemic.news.

Sources for this article include:

CNBC.com

NaturalNews.com

MNNonline.org
analysis

Where have all the chippies gone? Lin Sampson casts her net wide.

The writer supports The Hope Exchange, a group of people who provide food for the homeless in Cape Town. Please help them here

Coming out of a heaving Atlantic sea on a Sat afternoon, I said to my friend, "I am gek for fish and chips." Funny how one's working class background often surfaces on a Saturday arvie.

We searched Camps Bay where incomes rise to Croesian heights, seeking among sleek eateries that offer such exotica as "hand-pulled" greens, searching for an old fashioned chippy.

On my Tamboerskloof neighbourhood page, someone asks, "Has anyone considered opening a fish and chips shop in the hood? Why is this beautiful part of our culture missing in the CBD and surrounds? What I would give for a fresh piece of deep fried hake & slap chips with salt & vinegar close by."

To start gathering string on the subject, I go to Koeberg Road, filled with strange fruit. The chippies (and there are many) are crowbarred between the ubiquitous Thai massage parlours, laundrettes and betting shops. Drugstore cowboys and crusty cod wobblers crack the street corners....
CHISINAU (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 25th March, 2021) Corneliu Furculita, the leader of the Socialist faction in the Moldovan legislature, objected on Thursday to the president's attempts to force a snap poll, saying the majority was against plans to dissolve the parliament.

The Socialists, who control the parliament with the help of the left-leaning Pro Moldova faction, locked horns with President Maia Sandu after she nominated two members of her center-right Action and Solidarity party in a row for prime minister. The opposition rejected both bids and proposed the ambassador to Russia, Vladimir Golovatyuk, for the top cabinet job.

"The parliamentary majority reiterates its support for Vladimir Golovatyuk as a nominee for prime minister.

We announce that we are against the dissolution of parliament. We are open for talks on finding a way out of the political crisis," Furculita said in parliament.

Sandu was elected president in November on a pro-EU agenda. She has been looking to cement her grip on power by triggering a snap legislative election. She has rejected all calls for consultations with the opposition, causing Socialist and Pro Moldova lawmakers to walk out of Thursday's session in protest against the nomination of Action and Solidarity leader Igor Grosu for prime minister.
Workforce

Dismantling the 'old boys' club' at State

A House Appropriations hearing on Thursday explored longstanding diversity and inclusion issues at the State Department, including lower rates of promotion among women and minorities as documented in a 2020 Government Accountability Office report.

"I hope this hearing will be the start of us moving toward bold action, experimentation and implementation to solve this problem," said Chairwoman of the Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs, Barbara Lee (D-Calif.). "How do we dismantle the old boys' club?"

Since assuming his position, Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said that he intends to address the culture around diversity within the agency. Blinken announced the creation of a chief diversity and inclusion officer position at the department in February reporting directly to him.

Several witnesses at the hearing said that addressing the agency's culture around diversity, equity and inclusion will be critical to improving the retention of officers from minority backgrounds.

State Department fellowships bring in quality workers from minority backgrounds, said former Ambassador Nicholas Burns, "but many of them are not given the opportunities in the first 10 years that maybe white officers are being given. That's a true problem."

Changing promotion processes is another way to seed cultural change in the agency, said former Ambassador Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley at the hearing. She suggested that the State Department create specific measurements for diversity and inclusion or equal opportunity principles as a part of performance evaluations.

Former ambassador Harry Thomas discussed the issue of routing black foreign service officers to majority black nations.

"When [Abercrombie-Winstanley] and I joined the foreign service, you had to be pretty much on what they called the 'Black circuit' of Africa and the Caribbean," Thomas said. "That still exists."

Diversifying promotion and selection panels is also core step the agency can take, Thomas said.

All of the witnesses on the panel also pointed to the need for changes to recruitment, such as seeking candidates outside of traditional graduate program pipelines. Many also pointed to Congress' ability to mandate that State Department internships are paid as a way to enable candidates with less resources to still take part in those opportunities.

Rep. Andy Kim (D-N.J.), a former State Department official, tweeted about his experiences at State last week, saying was banned from working on Korea issues because of his Korean-American heritage, he said.

"I had a top secret security clearance. But here was a letter saying we don't trust you," he wrote, saying that these 'assignment restrictions' have also happened to other Asian Americans within the State Department.

At a hearing earlier this month in front of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Blinken said that he was aware of concerns about these types of restrictions, which he says came up when he was deputy secretary of state.

About the Author Natalie Alms is a staff writer at FCW covering the federal workforce. She is a recent graduate of Wake Forest University and has written for the Salisbury (N.C.) Post. Connect with Natalie on Twitter at @AlmsNatalie.



"It's something we are working on," he told lawmakers.
This week, with almost no fanfare in the American media, Communist China and Russia announced that, in July, they will re-up their 2001 pact entitled "The Russian-Chinese Treaty of Good Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation." To those with an eye to history (so forget Millennials and Gen X), this came with a strong chill down the spine.

In August 1939, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union signed a somewhat similar treaty, known to history as the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact or the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. Within a month, those two enlightened states celebrated the treaty by viciously attacking and dismembering Poland. Hitler was then somewhat flummoxed when the British and French decided that enough was enough and declared war on Germany. And the rest, as they say, was history. Over 70 million died in the next six years.

That 1939 non-aggression treaty gave Hitler the free hand he needed to wage war on the West. Although it later proved to be a contract between a viper and a scorpion (for Hitler reneged on the pact, leading to the deaths of more than 20 million Russians), it nonetheless was the final piece that had to fall into place to bring about world war.

While the Russians and Chinese are merely re-signing their existing pact, we are seeing this action following a "softening up" of the West by a pandemic that has gutted economies and helped to force from office Trump, China's only real political opponent on the world stage. He has been replaced by a president of faltering moral, physical, and mental abilities and one, moreover, whose own family likely has compromising arrangements with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

These are incredibly bad times not just to be Taiwanese, but I would also add to be South Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese, Indian, or Australian. They may well be bad times to be American.

If an invasion of Taiwan is imminent, there are two possible scenarios that scare me to my core. The first is that the Biden (Harris? Obama?) administration stands by, does nothing, and sacrifices the freedom of millions of Chinese, as well as ceding control of the South China Sea (and the aforementioned countries) to the CCP.

The second scenario is that, as the British and French did in 1939/1940, the United States, to everyone's surprise, stands up for a fight. Recall that the last time this happened, the French faced utter defeat at Nazi hands, and the British would have, too, except for America's entry into the war. There can be no such savior coming to America's aid in 2021.

What makes the second scenario especially scary is that, from 2008 to 2016, the U.S. military under Obama/Biden was "transformed" into a politically correct institution. The last time I recall anything like that in history was again in the 1930s, when Stalin purged his own military. That led to the Nazi war machine slicing through the Russians in 1940 like the proverbial hot knife through butter. Those events are brilliantly chronicled in Constantine Pleshakov's book, Stalin's Folly.

One can only wonder if Obama/Biden's leftist follies will similarly kneecap the U.S. military of 2021. Four years of Trump could do only so much. When Tucker Carlson raised this issue, he was met with a firestorm of condemnation, making me think that, possibly, he'd touched a raw nerve.

I deeply fear that we are shortly to find out what's become of our military thanks to social justice transformations. All Americans should share that fear. Transgenderism, allegedly systemic racism, and man-made climate change  three topics that cause uncontrolled laughter in Beijing  may soon no longer command center stage in America.

Image: Putin and Xi Jinping. YouTube screen grab.
No geopolitical purpose, political strings behind PLA's COVID-19 vaccine aid: spokesperson

Xinhua) 08:33, March 26, 2021

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)

BEIJING, March 25 (Xinhua) -- The COVID-19 vaccine assistance provided by the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) to some foreign militaries is not out of any geopolitical calculation or attached to political strings, a Chinese military spokesperson said Thursday.

Upon approval by the Central Military Commission, the PLA recently sent several batches of COVID-19 vaccines to the Pakistani, Cambodian, Mongolian and Philippine militaries, according to Ren Guoqiang, spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defense.

This is part of China's efforts to fulfill its international commitments and make its vaccines global public goods, Ren said, adding that the move has been highly recognized and widely welcomed by the international community.

Officials of the recipient countries' governments and militaries have expressed their thanks to China in multiple forms, Ren said.

He said the Chinese military will further work with foreign militaries in fighting the virus, deepen practical cooperation in dealing with unconventional security threats and make new contributions to the building of a global community of health for all and to world peace and stability.

(Web editor: Wen Ying, Liang Jun)
President Joe Biden has named the wife of West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin to a federal commission  providing a benefit to the lawmaker who has been a key gatekeeper for major legislation and nominations.

Gayle Manchin's nomination to co-chair the Appalachian Regional Commission was included Friday at the bottom of a White House release on several appointments to similar panels.

The commission helps award grants and fund projects intended to assist communities in the economically struggling region, which includes parts of Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia, and other parts of coal country and counties spread throughout the Appalachian Mountain region.

West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin is a key player in the 50-50 Senate. President Joe Biden is nominating his wife, Gayle, to co-chair Appalachian Regional Commission

She is described as an educator who ran the Community Service Learning Program and Fairmont State University. It notes that she served as the state's first lady, and on the state Board of Education, while holding other posts, having obtained a Master's degree in Reading.

Another important part of her bio was included in the release. 'While at WVU, Gayle met and married Joe Manchin, III, elected as US Senator from West Virginia, to fill the unexpired term of Senator Robert C Byrd in 2010, and re-elected in 2012, and 2018 for full terms. Joe and Gayle have been married for 53 years and have three children and ten grandchildren,' it says.

Senator from West Virginia (D) Joe Manchin III is flanked his wife Gayle as he is sworn in by Vice President Mike Pence during the swearing-in re-enactments for recently elected senators in the Old Senate Chamber on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC January 3, 2019. Manchin helped move a key nominee through committee Thursday

President Biden demanded action on voting rights and suggested openness to changing the legislative filibuster Thursday

Manchin helped to kill the nomination of Neera Tanden to head the White House Office of Management and budget. But in another demonstration of his sway, he gave his support after holding out for Colin Kahl to a top Pentagon post after holding out.

The tie vote included a 'yes' vote from Manchin, likely saving the nomination and making it possible to bring it to the floor.

His seat in a GOP-leaning state helps Democrats maintain control of the 50-50 senate, although his positions have sometimes drawn fire from the left wing of his party.

Manchin is the only Democratic senator not to cosponsor a massive voting rights bill that President Biden called a top priority at his first White House press conference Thursday.

He has said he likes some of the ideas in the bill but wants to act in a bipartisan fashion  giving him the opportunity to serve as the linchpin in negotiations.

His opposition to nuking the legislative filibuster puts includes him in a small group of Democrats who could hold the fate of the overall Biden agenda in his hands.

The Appalachian Regional Commission awards numerous projects in the region, including education and health care projects in Alabama, business grants in Kentucky, and sewer upgrades in West Virginia.

He is against a $15 minimum wage bill and favors a smaller increase.
The Telegraph

The Duchess of Sussexs writing career could be hampered by a row between Britains biggest bookseller and the UK's most powerful publisher. Her childrens book, The Bench, was expected to be released with great fanfare on June 8, but her publisher Penguin Random House (PRH) has become embroiled in a dispute with Waterstones. The publisher has limited how much credit they extend to Waterstones, effectively limiting the number of books they can buy. Waterstones has responded by pulling PRH titles
 President commends FEPSANs leadership for contributions to agro inputs stability, improved food security

 Nigeria leads in Urea production in Africa

 Sector capacity utilization rises to 1.5 million metric tonnes in 2021, from one million metric tonnes in 2020

 Urea production rises to 6.5 million metric tonnes in 2021, from 3.5 metric tonnes in 2020

President Muhammadu Buhari has said developments in the Nigerian fertilizer value chain is moving the country to becoming a regional and global fertilizer powerhouse.

The president also advised investors to look beyond short-term gains to enable them realise the immense economic and social gains available for themselves and the country.

Speaking during a virtual briefing on the progress of the Presidential Fertilizer Initiative by the President of Fertilizer Producers and Suppliers Association of Nigeria (FEPSAN), Thomas Etuh, President Buhari appreciated the investments that have been made by Nigerians in the fertilizer sector, saying those investments have contributed in lifting rural unemployment.

The President, who expressed confidence in the leadership of FEPSAN under Thomas Etuh, noted the sustained investments by members of the association even during the recessionary period and the Covid-19 lockdown and thanked them for their sacrifices and personal commitments to the economic emancipation of Nigeria through enhanced availability of crop inputs for improved agricultural yield.

He said increased investments in the rural areas are a strong factors that have progressively helped in tackling some of the security issues the country has been witnessing, predicting that the country would witness unprecedented prosperity with sustained investments in peace-building in the rural areas.

Nigerians should be proud of the sacrifices and personal commitments you have made towards the milestones we have so far recorded. The resent recession didnt youre your investments in this sector even when others were taking their investments outside the country. Investments in rural areas tackles unemployment, which is the root cause of the insecurity we have been experiencing in many parts of the country at present, President Buhari noted.

He assured of the disposition of the Federal Government towards providing a favourable investment climate in the country and thanked the King of Morocco for partnering with hi administration towards ending fertilizer scarcity in the country, adding that a recent agreement with the government of the north African country will go a long way in improving the balance of trade between the two countries.

A major highlight of the briefing was the restructuring of the Presidential Fertilizer Initiative to ensure it was fully led by the private sector, who would provide all funding for the procurement of raw materials necessary for fertilizer production in the country.

Earlier during his briefing, FEPSAN President, Thomas Etuh highlighted the initiative, commitment and supportive roles of President Buhari in birthing the Presidential Fertilizer Initiative which commenced the sectoral revitalization process, stressing that the singular initiative has lifted the country from scarcity to availability of the essential agro input.

Mr. Etuh reminded Mr. President of the initial mandate given to FEPSAN members through the PFI programme in 2016 and said the success of the initial mandate is being leveraged to further wider opportunities in the year 2021.

Mr. President, when you invited us for a role in the PFI programme, there were only four blending plants in Nigeria operating at less than 40 percent capacity. But today, we are proud to announce the existence of 40 blending plants in the country, all operating at 100percent capacity. Today, we are proud to announce that all the blending plants in Nigeria source 60 percent of their raw material locally, the FEPSAN President stated.

He informed President Buhari than members of FEPSAN have a combined production capacity for 1.5 million metric tonnes of blended NPK fertilizer in 2021, up from one million metric tonnes in 2020, adding that with the addition of Urea production from the new Dangote refinery in Lagos, Nigeria has earned the enviable status of the biggest Urea producer in Africa.

We are at a level where the country can boast of an annual production of 6.5 million metric tonnes of Urea. With Dangote bringing in a fresh three million metric tonnes to add to the three million being produced by Indorama and the 500,000 metric tonnes from Notore, Mr. President, you can beat your chest and say that you have delivered the country from scarcity to abundance, not only in fertilizer ram materials but also in blended NPK production. Etuh stated.

He revealed that portfolios for fertilizer plant funding in the country that were hitherto considered unbankable are not considered bankable, thanks to the growth of the sector inspired by President Buhari.

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He commended the president for the passage of the Fertilizer Bill by the National Assembly and for the Anchor Borrowers programme that has ensured finance were available or farmers through the Central Bank of Nigeria, saying that the collaborative efforts of the Minister of Agriculture, the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) have worked in favour of the unprecedented growth recorded in the sector.

Mr. Etuh called on President Buhari to direct the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and other security agencies to work with the FEPSAN task force on quality control to monitor the quality assurance standards of blenders and to provide surveillance against the diversion of sensitive raw material by unscrupulous elements.
The Jaiz Bank Hajj Savings Scheme (HSS) has been launched in Bauchi, Gombe and Plateau states as the state governments pledged their support towards the success of the scheme.

The scheme is a product of the bank in collaboration with the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) to ease the hajj process for all Muslims in Nigeria.

Governor Bala Muhammed of Bauchi, who personally launched the scheme in the state for the northeast said the new scheme will make it easier for intending pilgrims to perform hajj in Saudi Arabia.

He urged all to subscribe to the scheme as it has the potential benefit of being a reserve to help grow the economy.

Governor Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe who was represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Professor Abubakar Njodi, said his administration will work with NAHCON and Jaiz Bank so that low-income earners in the state can reap the benefits of the Scheme.

Plateau State governor, Simon Lalong said the HSS is an initiative that will encourage more Muslims to perform Hajj without going through difficulties of securing funding adding that it will also promote discipline and teach intending pilgrims to be financially prudent.

He was represented by his Commissioner of Transport, Alhaji Mohammed Mohmammed.

The Managing Director/CEO of Jaiz Bank Plc, Mallam Hassan Usman said as the scheme will help NAHCON and the various states' pilgrim boards with more funds for early hajj planning.

The scheme can also be the key to making them highly self-sustaining in the long run, he noted.

Chairman and CEO of NAHCON, Barr. Zikirullah Kunle Hassan said the scheme is part of the reforms to make hajj operations in tandem with the global best practice.




By Kim Hyun-bin







The Kumho Petrochemical family rivalry seems to have died down with shareholders taking the side of the sitting Chairman Park Chan-koo, in a leadership dispute led by his nephew Park Chul-wan. All of the proposals by the nephew were struck down during a shareholders meeting at company headquarters in Seoul, Friday.







Shareholders also voted down Chul-wan's reappointment to the board of directors.







The management named Baek Jong-hoon, the head of operations, as their candidate, while Chul-wan named himself for the executive director post.







Kumho Petrochemical Chairman Park Chan-koo





Industry insiders says it is a "complete victory" for Chairman Park to carry on in his position with his company agenda.







The key contingency was in the dividend payouts where the management and Chairman Park came out on top. The chairman proposed to allocate 4,200 won per common share, while his nephew proposed to raise each share dividend to 11,000 won. The management gained 64.4 percent approval from shareholders, while Chul-wan's proposal was rejected with only 35.6 percent in favor.







Just before the vote, Chul-wan claimed the company obtained cash assets worth 800 billion won that would be better to utilize as dividends than to retain the cash. "Our dividend is much lower compared to competitors within the industry and it needs to be realized," he said.







The nephew also proposed to separate the chief executive officer position and board of directors chairman position, which was also fully rejected.







Chul-wan is the son of late Kumho Group Chairman Park Jeong-koo, who was older brother of current Chairman Park Chan-koo.







Park Chul-wan, managing director of Kumho Petrochemical





The so-called "nephew's revolt" ended in a complete victory for Chairman Park with all the nephew's proposals being rejected in the shareholders meeting.







Many predicted the outcome after the National Pension Service (NPS), the world's third-largest pension fund and the second-largest shareholder of Kumho Petrochemical, announced its backing for the sitting chairman earlier this week.






Armenia like occupying powers of World War 2 must assume responsibility, Assistant to the President of Azerbaijan, Head of the Foreign Policy Affairs Department of the Presidential Administration Hikmat Hajiyev shared on his Twitter page.

"Armenia even doesn't have moral rights to put any claims against Azerbaijan after committing inconceivable vandalism/urbucide/ecocide in seized lands against heritage and property of Azerbaijani people. Armenia like occupying powers of WWII must apologize to Azerbaijani people/assume responsibility," he wrote.
It is reported that the Russian New Crown Virus Epidemic Prevention and Control Headquarters released a message on the 25th that based on the principle of reciprocity, Russia will resume international flights with Germany, Venezuela, Syria, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Sri Lanka from April 1.

The flights resumed with Germany are Moscow-Berlin, Moscow-Frankfurt, and St. Petersburg-Berlin and St. Petersburg-Frankfurt. Russia restored routes with Venezuela, Syria, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Sri Lanka are Moscow-Caracas, Moscow-Damascus, Moscow-Dushanbe, Moscow-Tashkent, and Moscow-Colombo.

Affected by the Russia resumes flights with Germany and other 6 countries, the sis2 market is changing rapidly. These changes are indicators of market growth. This year-on-year upward trend in the market indicates that the next February 2021-2026 will show an oval but steady growth. If you are looking for sis2 or buy sis2 in bulk, please send an email to: sales 2 @nanotrun.com .

The price of sis2 continues to be affected by factors such as market growth momentum, various opportunities and challenges. However, during the forecast period from 2020 to 2026, the global sis2 sales market is expected to continue to be above average. The growth rate will continue to increase. It is expected that from today to next week, the price of sis2 will increase to a certain extent.

Due to changes in consumer demand, import and export conditions, and various investigations on the development of sis2, the cost of sis2 is constantly changing. Taking into account the current market macroeconomic parameters, value chain analysis, channel partners, demand and supply, the cost of sis2 will also be affected to a certain extent. It is estimated that the cost of sis2 will increase slightly from today to next week.

However, KMPASS provides high purity sis2 with steady price. In order to feedback to old customers, the company is still in full operations to provide sis2 with competitive price. said Aimee, sales manager of KMPASS.

About KMPASS

KMPASS is a trusted global chemical material supplier & manufacturer with over 12 years experience in providing super high-quality chemicals and Nanomaterials. As a leading nanotechnology development and sis2 manufacturer, KMPASS dominates the market. Our professional work team provides perfect solutions to help improve the efficiency of various industries, create value, and easily cope with various challenges. If you are looking for sis2, please send an email to: sales 2 @nanotrun.com

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Four people in Oregon and 23 in Washington are being monitored for the Ebola virus after returning to the US from West Africa, the Oregon Health Authority said on Thursday.

The individuals had returned from Guinea and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where small outbreaks of Ebola have been recorded.

The state health authority said the four people, who returned to the US in early March, had been in contact with state and local public health departments, as have the 23 in Washington.

Health officials say the risk any of the four has contracted the virus is low, but the CDC has issued a requirement for anyone returning from areas with active outbreak to be monitored for symptoms of the deadly disease for 21 days.

Monitoring will help determine any risk factor of exposure and to ensure their safety, as well as the safety of their families and the community.

Four people in Oregon are being monitored for the Ebola virus after returning to the US from West Africa, the Oregon Health Authority said on Thursday (pictured, health workers attended to an Ebola patient in July 2019)

Symptoms can appear anywhere between two and 21 days after contact with an infected person or animal, but are most likely to appear between eight to ten days after contact (pictured, Guinean health workers prepare to administer Ebola vaccines following an outbreak)

Chief Medical Officer for Health Security, Preparedness and Response at the OHA Public Health Division Richard Leman said: 'We want to make sure these individuals have the support they need to monitor their health, stay in contact with public health officials and safely get help with medical services if it comes to that'.

Ebola can be contracted through blood or bodily fluid exchange in direct, intimate contact.

Symptoms can appear anywhere between two and 21 days after contact with an infected person or animal, but are most likely to appear between eight to ten days after contact.

Initial symptoms, known as 'dry' symptoms, include fever, aches, pains, and fatigue.

'Wet' symptoms, including diarrhea and vomiting, develop later, as the person gets more unwell.

A person would have to be symptomatic, with a high fever for example, to transmit it.

The 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak claimed more than 11,000 lives as it swept across West Africa (pictured, Libera pays tribute to those who died from Ebola in the 2014 outbreak)

Health officials say the risk any of the four has contracted the virus is low. But they will still be monitored to determine any risk factor of exposure and to ensure their safety, as well as the safety of their families and the community

Health officials believe the outbreak stems from a survivor of the 2014 West Africa Ebola epidemic.

The six-year incubation possibly marks the longest time a virus has persisted after the initial outbreak, Fox10 reported.

As of March 24, Guinea had reported 18 cases and nine deaths related to the Ebola outbreak that was first reported in January.

Guinea launched an Ebola vaccination campaign on February 23, 2021, after the fresh outbreak of the deadly disease struck the country.

Officials hope the virus can be eradicated in six weeks.

Following this latest outbreak, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has sent over 30,000 vaccine does to Guinea (pictured, a woman receives an Ebola vaccine in the DRC)

The international organisation has also organised a shipment of vaccines and additional therapeutic support to be sent to the DRC (pictured, a health worker administered an Ebola vaccine to a boy in the DRC)

Guinea launched an Ebola vaccination campaign on February 23, 2021, after the fresh outbreak of the deadly disease struck the country

Officials hope the virus can be eradicated in six weeks (pictured, the emergency drop off at the N'zerekore Hospital, where Guinea's first Ebola cases from this new outbreak were found)

The Democratic Republic of the Congo has reported 12 Ebola cases and six Ebola-related deaths since declaring its 12th outbreak of the virus in February.

Though rare, Ebola can be deadly if it is not treated quickly.

The 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak claimed more than 11,000 lives as it swept across West Africa.

Following this latest outbreak, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has sent over 30,000 vaccine does to Guinea.

The international organisation has also organised a shipment of vaccines and additional therapeutic support to be sent to the DRC.

Following this latest outbreak, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has sent over 30,000 vaccine does to Guinea. The international organisation has also organised a shipment of vaccines and additional therapeutic support to be sent to the DRC
Residents locked inside public housing towers as Melbourne's second coronavirus wave hit are suing the Victorian government saying they were denied access to proper food and medication.

From July 4 last year, more than 3,000 people were shut inside nine apartment towers with little warning and not allowed to leave until either July 9 or 18 - as statewide Stage Four restrictions were introduced.

The entire state was plunged into a full lockdown on August 2.

The lead plaintiff in the lawsuit lodged last week, Idris Hassan, claims that his family were given 'spoiled' food and his son did not have access to asthma medication for four days.

Residents in Melbourne's locked down public housing towers (pictured) in the state's second coronavirus wave hit the state are suing the Victorian government

The lawsuit alleges that the lockdown was rushed, police were 'oppressive' and residents denies access to food and medication (pictured, police at the towers on July 19)

He claims after being provided no groceries for three days they were eventually left four half-frozen sausage rolls on their doorstep, which he could not trust to give to his family, leaving them to survive on beans and nuts in their pantry.

Other claims in the suit include that residents were deprived of fresh air and exercise and that a number of people lost their jobs after they could not go to work.

Other complaints include that the lockdown was 'invalid' and 'degrading'.

The plaintiff allege communal areas were also not cleaned or disinfected, no PPE was provided, and government workers left bins overflowing.

Documents lodged in the Victorian Supreme Court and seen by news.com.au list Victoria's Deputy Chief Health Officer Annaliese van Dieman as the first respondent.

Also listed are Deputy Public Health Commander Finn Romanes, Chief Commissioner of Police Shane Patton, and the state of Victoria.

Victoria's deputy chief health officer and and police chief are named among the respondents in the lawsuit (pictured, a woman leaves the towers on July 19 as the hard lockdown ended)

Residents are suing the Victorian government over the public housing lockdown (pictured: Daniel Andrews speaks to the media during a press conference with Health Minister Jenny Mikakos and Victoria's Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton in Melbourne)

The documents detail allegations that Ms van Dieman was under intense pressure to approve the public health order for the towers as hundreds of Victoria Police officers were being sent to enforce the lockdown.

She was allegedly given just 15 minutes to review and sign the document before she was scheduled to give a press conference alongside Premier Daniel Andrews.

Mr Hassan also claims he and his wife and three children, aged 9, 7, and 4, were not given culturally appropriate halal food or a Somali interpreter to explain the lockdown or enforced Covid testing.

The hearing of the lawsuit in court is yet to be schedule.

A COVID-19 testing sign is seen outside one of the public housing facilities in Melbourne
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 26)  President Rodrigo Duterte has signed into law a bill seeking to slash corporate income taxes and provide better fiscal incentives for certain industries, Malacanang confirmed Friday.

However, the President also vetoed several provisions of the new law.

"I confirm that CREATE law has been signed with some items vetoed," Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said.

The CREATE will reduce corporate taxes from 30%, the highest in the ASEAN region, to 25% for large corporations, and 20% for small and medium enterprises earning 5 million a year.

It also seeks up to seven years of income tax holiday and 10 years of special corporate income tax or enhanced deductions for exporters and key domestic enterprises, which will be identified by the National Economic and Development Authority.

These features aim to help distressed businesses recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and encourage more investors to place capital into the country. Foreign direct investments are a key source of employment for Filipinos, with more capital often expected to generate more jobs.

In his veto message dated March 26, Duterte vetoed nine provisions of the CREATE Act, including increasing value-added tax-exempt threshold on sale of real property. He noted that under the amended Tax Code, only residential dwelling not more than 2.5 million are VAT-exempt to provide relief to buyers of socialized housing and base-level economic housing.

Duterte said the move to increase the exemption to 4.2 million will also benefit those not originally targeted and is also prone to abuse. This may also lead to a revenue loss of 155.3 billion from 2020 to 2030, he noted.

He also vetoed the 90-day period for processing of general tax refunds, since it may be difficult for the Bureau of Internal Revenue to implement and may lead to delayed or erroneous processing of refund claims. He suggested that the Department of Finance and the BIR develop a better process to refund tax in another tax administration bill.

The President also questioned the term "investment capital" that excluded land and operating expenses, which could lead to an underestimation of the country's investment promotion performance. He said it is better to adopt existing measures used by investment promotion agencies (IPA) to evaluate an investment.

Duterte also noted 10 provisions that he considered as redundant incentives for domestic enterprises, which include the mention of special corporate income tax, or SCIT. He said this is redundant, unnecessary, and weakens the fiscal incentives system.

The chief executive also vetoed the provision allowing existing registered activities to apply for new incentives for the same activity, noting that allowing additional 14-17 years of incentives and another 10-year extension for the same activity is "fiscally irresponsible and utterly unfair to the ordinary taxpayer and to unincentivized enterprises."

He also noted that limiting the authority of the Fiscal Incentives Review Board to projects with investment capital of more than 1 billion may affect its oversight function to ensure the proper grant and monitoring of tax incentives.

On some industries mentioned under activity tiers, Duterte said there should be flexibility in the law to ensure it is able to adapt to the changing times. These should not be hard coded so that obsolete industries will not be continuously incentivized.

Duterte also vetoed the provision granting the chief executive the power to exempt any IPA from the new law, saying this could become a highly political tool that could allow future presidents to dismantle decades of studies, disregard discussion based on empirical evidence, and even subvert the will of the Congress."

Lastly, Duterte also questioned the automatic approval of applications for incentives. He noted that this goes against the policy to approve or disapprove applications based on merit, which is the main goal of the reform that is to develop a performance-based tax incentives system.

"Crucial portions of the CREATE Act were intended to be emergency tax relief for struggling enterprises, but we must not lose sight of this reform's long-term objectives" Duterte said. "We must keep this reform's provisions reasonable and not redundant."

In a separate statement, Albay Rep. Joey Salceda, key author of the measure, thanked the President for finally approving CREATE. He assured the public that the core tax reform provisions were retained. He said he will also work with Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III to see what can be done on tax administration prior to the tax filing deadline on April 15.

"CREATE has been created. This is one of the pins of light signaling the end of this dark economic tunnel," Salceda said.
Mound 4 of the Eleke Sazy necropolis in eastern Kazakhstan. Credit: Zainolla Samashev

Generally thought of as fierce horse warriors, the Scythians were a multitude of Iron Age cultures who ruled the Eurasian steppe, playing a major role in Eurasian history. A new study published in Science Advances analyzes genome-wide data for 111 ancient individuals spanning the Central Asian Steppe from the first millennia BCE and CE. The results reveal new insights into the genetic events associated with the origins, development and decline of the steppe's legendary Scythians.

Because of their interactions and conflicts with the major contemporaneous civilizations of Eurasia, the Scythians enjoy a legendary status in historiography and popular culture. The Scythians had major influences on the cultures of their powerful neighbors, spreading new technologies such as saddles and other improvements for horse riding. The ancient Greek, Roman, Persian and Chinese empires all left a multitude of sources describing, from their perspectives, the customs and practices of the feared horse warriors that came from the interior lands of Eurasia.

Still, despite evidence from external sources, little is known about Scythian history. Without a written language or direct sources, the language or languages they spoke, where they came from and the extent to which the various cultures spread across such a huge area were in fact related to one another, remain unclear.

The Iron Age transition and the formation of the genetic profile of the Scythians

A new study published in Science Advances by an international team of geneticists, anthropologists and archeologists lead by scientists from the Archaeogenetics Department of the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Jena, Germany, helps illuminate the history of the Scythians with 111 ancient genomes from key Scythian and non-Scythian archaeological cultures of the Central Asian steppe. The results of this study reveal that substantial genetic turnovers were associated with the decline of the long-lasting Bronze Age sedentary groups and the rise of Scythian nomad cultures in the Iron Age. Their findings show that, following the relatively homogenous ancestry of the late Bronze Age herders, at the turn of the first millennium BCE, influxes from the east, west and south into the steppe formed new admixed gene pools.

The burial of a social elite known as 'Golden Man' from the Eleke Sazy necropolis. Credit: Zainolla Samashev

The diverse peoples of the Central Asian Steppe

The study goes even further, identifying at least two main sources of origin for the nomadic Iron Age groups. An eastern source likely originated from populations in the Altai Mountains that, during the course of the Iron Age, spread west and south, admixing as they moved. These genetic results match with the timing and locations found in the archeological record and suggest an expansion of populations from the Altai area, where the earliest Scythian burials are found, connecting different renowned cultures such as the Saka, the Tasmola and the Pazyryk found in southern, central and eastern Kazakhstan respectively. Surprisingly, the groups located in the western Ural Mountains descend from a second separate, but simultaneous source. Contrary to the eastern case, this western gene pool, characteristic of the early Sauromatian-Sarmatian cultures, remained largely consistent through the westward spread of the Sarmatian cultures from the Urals into the Pontic-Caspian steppe.

An aerial view of Hun-Xianbi culture burials. Both horses and warriors can be identified. Credit: Zainolla Samashev

The decline of the Scythian cultures associated with new genetic turnovers

The study also covers the transition period after the Iron Age, revealing new genetic turnovers and admixture events. These events intensified at the turn of the first millennium CE, concurrent with the decline and then disappearance of the Scythian cultures in the Central Steppe. In this case, the new far eastern Eurasian influx is plausibly associated with the spread of the nomad empires of the Eastern steppe in the first centuries CE, such as the Xiongnu and Xianbei confederations, as well as minor influxes from Iranian sources likely linked to the expansion of Persian-related civilization from the south.

Although many of the open questions on the history of the Scythians cannot be solved by ancient DNA alone, this study demonstrates how much the populations of Eurasia have changed and intermixed through time. Future studies should continue to explore the dynamics of these trans-Eurasian connections by covering different periods and geographic regions, revealing the history of connections between west, central and east Eurasia in the remote past and their genetic legacy in present day Eurasian populations.

Explore further Broad genetic variation on the Pontic-Caspian Steppe

More information: "Ancient genomic time-transect from the Central Asian Steppe unravels the history of the Scythians" Science Advances (2021). Journal information: Science Advances "Ancient genomic time-transect from the Central Asian Steppe unravels the history of the Scythians"(2021). advances.sciencemag.org/lookup  .1126/sciadv.abe4414
COLONIE  Plug Power may be best-known for its hydrogen fuel cells that run fork lifts. But soon the company logo will turn up on Formula 1 race cars and uniforms.

The Latham-based firm has reached an agreement with the French Alpine F1 racing team to have its cars sport the company logos. The partnership is a natural outgrowth of Plug Powers earlier agreement with auto and truck-maker Renault to develop fuel cells to power delivery vans. The logos will appear as soon as this weekend at the Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday and on races going forward.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Maybe all those people stockpiling toilet paper this time last year had the right idea.

The Ever Given, a massive ship currently blocking the Suez Canal, has created a serious traffic jam for other cargo ships that could result in a global toilet paper shortage, potentially worse than the one experienced at the onset of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, according to a Bloomberg report.

Walter Schalka, chief executive officer of Suzano SA, the worlds largest producer of wood pulp, the raw material used to create toilet paper, said that the Suez Canal blockage is causing delays in the companys shipping efforts.

Suzano accounts for approximately one-third of global hardwood pulp supplies, with extended shipping delays having the potential to cause another toilet paper shortage if manufacturers cant get the materials they need, according to Bloomberg.

And the shortages may extend past just toilet paper.

According to the Mirror, the massive cargo blockage could result in shortages of various household items weve come to take for granted, not just toilet paper.

Basically anything you see in the stores [is subject to shortages], Lars Jensen, a container shipping expert from Denmark, told the Mirror.

Its unclear how long the Ever Given will be stuck blocking the Suez Canal, with Peter Berdowski, CEO of the Dutch company Boskalis, which is attempting to move the ship, saying the process could take weeks.

We cant exclude it might take weeks, depending on the situation, Berdowski said in a television interview. It is like an enormous beached whale. Its an enormous weight on the sand.
Dear readers, last time I tried to discuss the impact of the nature and expansion of the educational system on the development of a nation under the heading of "The bottlenecks of Ethiopian overall development." It was published on Sunday 14 February 2021. At the end of that article, I promised to discuss the negative impact of irresponsible and non-visionary politicians on the nations' development.

Politics is a system of leadership and administration and politicians are those persons who exercise and promote their political view on nations and peoples as their political view is right and true. In this regard, most politicians in most developing countries have no broad political perspective that enables the public to climb up to the best development ladder.

Hence, their political view in most cases cannot improve the public life style. Instead of striving to change the life of the public to the best, they become promoters of their own various agendas and involve in different activities mostly having dangerous consequences to the public life and the nation.

To mention a few of their political points of views: some of them have the motto to emerge as wealthier considering politics as business and to achieve this goal they blindly and fully engage in corruption and money laundering activities.

"Transparency international" said that each year 600 billion dollar transits abroad from Africa by African leaders and politicians. To make the environment conducive to their personal interest they are the first to break the laws they have formulated.

Some of them have the agenda to make their ethnic groups supreme superiors on others. Some of them mainly work hard to come into power and rule the peoples towards their political affiliation interest. Some of them work to expand their religious sect doctrines by ridiculing other religions interests.

Some of them make political rallies to take vengeance on their antagonistic groups. Some of them, like Mohamed Gadafi of Libya, dream to rule a continent not a nation. Some of them have the wish to be politicians but do not have even the basic knowledge about the concept of politics.

It is possible to say that all these and other political premises of developing countries' politicians streamed from irresponsible and non-visionary mentality. Such politicians in Africa and other developing countries usually fabricate different obstacles against the overall development progress of their nations. They push and immerse the nations into the dirty political system of oceans and aggravate the socio economic problems of their respective countries and communities.

Such politicians mainly focus on trivial issues such as linguistic, cultural, religious and ethnic differences that are natural. Their political doctrine emerges from the egocentric mentality which says "me and mine" instead of "we and ours."

They have taught human differences not humanity; they have taught how peoples can be detached from their social bondage ; they have taught hate and discriminations among communities; they have taught about the local boundaries but not the importance of globalizations; they have taught how communities can snatch their brothers and sisters' wealth and land and become rich; they have taught how one can harm his fellow persons and damage their lifestyles; they have taught how to conduct aggressions and non-peaceful protests; they have taught peoples how to conquer their neighboring countries and abduct a sovereign nation.

It is quite true that the main cause of African and other developing countries' backwardness especially post-independence Africa leave alone the interference of foreign bodies, is the existence of such irresponsible and non-visionary African politicians.

It is not untrue that once in history the ex-emperor of Central Africa, Bokasa event was eating children's flesh. This information was released from a person who had worked as a food cooker of Bokasa after the fall of dictator Bokasa. So the cruelty of some African irresponsible and non-visionary politicians is to this extent.

Therefore, how dare such politicians having such mentalities in Africa and in other developing countries can lead the public to the best socio economic and scientific development? Most African politicians, when they are in opposition positions, promise the best change to the public but when they become leaders they repeat the past devastative politics in the worst form. Forget what has happened in other African countries and try to recall our own recent history in politics.

The military regime had highly condemned the monarchy of Ethiopia that ruled the country for about 44 years. But while it had taken over the state power from the king of kings it has repeated the political mischief in a very dirty way.

It was quite clear that the military regime basically made a great mistake on the economic development of the country by redirecting the economic progress to the socialist command economy.

By doing so, the military government paralyzed the economic progress of Ethiopia towards entrepreneurship and capital development. Next, solely for the sake of its power the regime killed thousands of prominent intellectuals and left the nation behind bars.

TPLF had worked day and night to agitate the Ethiopian people about the worst scenario of the military regime political system while it was an opposition political organization. But when it came to power this group had committed vast crime on the public which cannot be completed by enumerating in this article.

The TPLF politics mainly has smashed out the good social and cultural norms and values of the Ethiopians; even some social groups have been changed into inhuman due to the bad political brainwash; the sovereignty of the nation has faced high risk; the sense of unity and the peaceful co-existence of various communities has been almost in vanishing stage; the history of the country has been reformulated and distorted.

Ultimately, the forerunners of the dirty politics punished themselves in capital punishment after devastating the infrastructures in Tigray and the Tigrian communities' socio economic stability.

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Dear readers, you see how severe is the impact of irresponsible and non-visionary leaders on the overall development of a nation? Africa is a better endowed continent with natural resources than the other world. But unfortunately the irresponsible and non-visionary politicians who were/are oppositions and leaders have continued making chaos on the continent and making the lives of their communities' miserable time and again.

But we do not deny that Africa has seen a few best persons in politics such as Emperor Menelik II of Ethiopia, Jomo Kenyatta of Kenya, Patrice Lumumba of Congo, Julius Nerrere of Tanzania, Nelson Mandela of South Africa and others.

But these a few best African politicians had no sufficient power to change Africa to the best because of various reasons including the political sabotage of the previous colonizers.

For instance, Patrice Lumumba of Congo was assassinated by the political conspiracy of the Belgium rulers. Apart from this some foreign powers still give support and assistance to the rebels against good leaders in Africa.

To conclude, Ceteris paribus, Africa needs to have highly responsible and visionary leaders to break down the iron chain of poverty and backwardness and to become a developed and civilized continent. Because there is no doubt that the role of visionary leaders is a decisive factor in the development of nations.
The former Royal Furniture building near downtown has been sold to a local trucking company for $1.25 million.

The property at 1900 Main St. was sold to a limited liability company of the same name, headed up by Chris Rinaudo, the owner of Baton Rouge Cargo.
The ballet turned its studio into what its artistic director, Lynn Parkerson, called a jewel box theater; chose dances that kept masked ballerinas socially distanced; and used barricades on the sidewalk to limit audiences.

It was a way to bring some people back to something they love that they enjoyed that they might be forgetting about, Parkerson said in an interview. It did feel like a real performance.

She said that live performances were planned for April and would include ballet members in Pas de Deux, set to Jean-Philippe Rameaus Gavotte et Six Doubles, with live music by the pianist Simone Dinnerstein.

Pop-up concerts have been arranged by the Kaufman Music Center on the Upper West Side, in a storefront  the address is not given but is described on the centers website as not hard to find  north of Columbus Circle.

Those performances, running through late April, are announced at the storefront the same day, to limit crowd sizes and encourage social distancing. Participants have included the violinist Gil Shaham, the mezzo-soprano Chrystal E. Williams, the Gabrielle Stravelli Trio and JACK Quartet.

St. Anns Warehouse in Brooklyn is displaying Julian Alexander and Khadijat Osenis Supremacy Project, public art that addresses the nature of injustice in American society.

The word supremacy is superimposed on a photograph of police officers in riot gear, and there are images by Michael T. Boyd of Sandra Bland, Elijah McClain and Emmett Till.
With some financial security achieved, she began maneuvering back toward roles that didnt make her feel like what she described as an unwitting foot soldier of the patriarchy. She wanted parts that let her touch the weirdness and the wildness and the inner forests of human nature, she said. Parts that let her communicate the essential strangeness of behaving like a person, especially a female person; parts where she never has to apologize for a characters sharp angles and iffy choices.

Milioti loves iffy choices, and she loves thinking through how and why a person might make them. On set or onstage, she will throw herself into the scrappiest, spikiest, ugliest facets of any part, without ego or undue seriousness. (She is known for punctuating somber moments with fart noises or a pirates hook briefly liberated from the props department.)

She wants things to be [expletive] up, Samberg said.

When she did press for Palm Springs, journalists would sometimes ask her why she took the role as Sarah, the nervy, volatile, ultradamaged sister of the bride. She had to make an effort not to roll her eyes  when roles like that come along, every actress worth her Moon Juice wants them. And auditions are a blood bath, she said. Because its so rare, sadly, that a woman gets to play all of those different things.

Milioti didnt have to audition for Palm Springs  the part was hers after a single meeting  or for Made for Love, another role replete in different things. I like to joke that Made for Love was made for Milioti, said Alissa Nutting, an executive producer and the author of the novel the show is based on. Nutting knew that Milioti could do drama as well as comedy, often instantaneously.
Taking note of President Bidens vow to make every adult in the United States eligible for a vaccine by early summer, Rutgers University, in New Jersey, said on Thursday that all students would need to be fully vaccinated against the coronavirus to be allowed to return to campus in the fall.

Adding Covid-19 vaccination to our student immunization requirements will help provide a safer and more robust college experience for our students, the Rutgers president, Jonathan Holloway, said in a statement.

That requirement will apply to Rutgers three main campuses, in New Brunswick, Newark and Camden. Beginning in the fall, students will have to show proof of vaccination before moving into a dorm or attending in-person classes.

According to the university, students may file for an exemption for medical or religious reasons. Those attending fully online or off-campus programs will also be exempt. The university has more than 70,000 students, 81 percent of whom are New Jersey residents.
ATLANTA  Rico Marley walked into a grocery store in midtown Atlanta on Wednesday afternoon carrying a guitar bag.

He headed for the mens room, the authorities said, where he strapped on a bulletproof vest. He then donned a jacket, its pockets full of ammunition, and placed two loaded handguns in a left front pocket and two other loaded handguns in a right front pocket. In the guitar bag, he carried a 12-gauge shotgun, an AR-15 military-style rifle and a black ski mask.

Then he walked out into the store.

Police, tipped off by an alarmed shopper in the bathroom, soon stopped him. But the incident, just three miles from the site of one of the shootings last week that left eight people dead and coming two days after a man stormed a grocery store in Boulder, Colo., and killed 10, sent new waves of unease throughout greater Atlanta and also raised nationwide fears of copycat crimes.

Though there has been no indication that Mr. Marley, 22, who was arrested at the store, was influenced by the two mass shootings, Jillian Peterson, an associate professor of criminal justice at Hamline University in St. Paul, Minn., said she feared a rise in similar attacks after nearly a year without such crimes in the U.S.
Even 41 years on, David Kelsey can recall the anger and burning humiliation he felt as he handed over his army kit to his regimental sergeant major.

After six years serving with the Royal Engineers  including a six-month tour of Northern Ireland at the height of the Troubles in the late seventies - he had been imprisoned for five months, court martialled and was now being discharged with disgrace.

His 'crime?' Kelsey had been spotted at a local gay bar at a time when being homosexual in the armed forces was against the rules - and the final ignominy was to come: 'We need your medal', David, now 60, was told.

That medal was a recognition of what he had done in the name of his country in Northern Ireland - facing daily threats of car bombs and snipers as he undertook roadside and helicopter patrols.

'I had stood in the line of fire in the same way as the straight man next to me,' he says. 'But it counted for nothing.'

David Kelsey was kicked out of the army and court martialled for being gay, after six years of service in the Royal Engineers. Pictured, David today (left) and in uniform (right)

Little wonder his sense of injustice burns to this day  shared by thousands of fellow gay servicemen who were subjected to similarly callous treatment.

Prior to 2000, gay people were not allowed to serve in the military, and those that did and who were 'outed' were not only often imprisoned, but forced to leave and surrender the awards they had won in the line of duty.

In some instances, they were forcibly ripped from their uniforms.

It has taken years of tireless campaigning by gay rights organisations to address what veterans minister Johnny Mercer last week acknowledged was a 'historic injustice'.

Last week, he announced a new scheme in which former members of the military who were ousted for being gay will be able to apply to have their service medals restored.

For David Kelsey and other gay veterans, it is long overdue.

Many have spent a lifetime labouring under the shadow cast by their treatment, which in some instances extended to them being given a criminal record - making it almost impossible for them to find an alternative career.

In the majority of instances  and in language chillingly evocative of McCarthy era America  a mere 'report' about their sexuality was enough to lead to invasive questioning, no-corners-left-unturned investigations and in some instances invasive body searches.

RAF fireman Carl Austin-Behan OBE's commanding officers had little choice but to dismiss him when they learned that he too was gay, despite an exemplary service record during his six years' service. Pictured, Carl today (left) and while a serving member of the military (right)

'A report' was the word David Kelsey, now a Conservative councillor in Bournemouth, remembers was used by the officers who came to arrest him as he prepared the midday meals at his barracks in Hamlyn one summer morning in 1982.

Then just 21, David, who had signed up aged 16 following in the footsteps of his three older brothers, had been spotted coming out of a local gay bar.

Questioned by the military police, he initially refused to co-operate. 'I denied it for three days flat  I thought they had no proof, even though they had done their homework. Then on the third day they produced a statement from a local and I realised that there was nothing else I could do.'

David was placed in a local guard house for five months before he was court martialled in October 1982 by a judge who made clear his belief that David's sexuality had little to do with his ability to be a soldier. Nonetheless bound by the rules, he had no choice but to discharge him in disgrace.

Royal Navy Police officer James Lindsay said he was lucky to avoid being court martialled when he was investigated for being gay during his service in the 1970s. Pictured, James Lindsay today (left) and in 1977 (right)

Those same rules meant former RAF fireman Carl Austin-Behan OBE's commanding officers had little choice but to dismiss him when they learned that he too was gay, despite an exemplary service record during his six years' service which had led to him being given a civilian award for bravery, a commendation from the Commander-in-Chief and a mention in the Queen's Birthday Honours List.

Only a year into his service, aged 20, Carl had heroically rescued a pilot from a fireball that had engulfed his plane - after it crashed onto the runway at RAF Chivenor in Devon, Carl selflessly clambered on top to rescue the second pilot who remained trapped inside after his ejector seat had failed to engage.

'The heat was intense  the mask had melted onto the pilot's face,' he recalls. 'There were bits of debris flying around me  I remember something ricocheted onto my helmet and cracking my visor. Adrenaline just took over.'

Yet despite being garlanded for his courage, when his superior officers learned he was gay - a boyfriend had reported him in the hope it would merely avoid him being posted overseas - his flourishing career was over in a matter of minutes.

'I was gone within twenty minutes,' he recalls. 'I think I was "lucky" that my achievements meant I avoided a court martial, but I'd lost everything I knew  my support network, my comrades, my prospects. And for what?' he asks. To add insult to injury, he was told that while he could keep his award, he could no longer wear it.

It took years for Stephen Close, a former Royal Fusiliers soldier from Salford, to rebuild his life after he was not only discharged with disgrace but put on the sex offenders register after having consensual sex with another soldier as a twenty-year-old. Pictured, Stephen today

Stephen, pictured during his service in Germany, repressed his sexuality for years before losing his virginity with a fellow soldier, which led him to be reported to the higher-ups

Many others were treated in ways that would befit a hardened criminal  especially if they were a member of the military police.

That was the fate of 62-year-old former Royal Navy Police officer James Lindsay who received a call while on leave visiting his parents in Stranraer, Scotland, telling him he had to return to HMS Southampton - the ship where he was head of police - within 24 hours to be 'investigated.'

When he returned, his locker was stripped of all his belongings, his good conduct medal was taken away and he was frogmarched off the ship and placed in a cell in Portsmouth, where he stayed for three months awaiting court martial alongside thirteen other navy officers who had been similarly 'rounded up'.

And all because another 'report' had been made  this one from someone who had seen James in the London gay nightclub Heaven.

He was dismissed from the Navy, leaving his promising career as one of the youngest recruits to the Navy Police in ruins. 'My one piece of luck is they discharged me before my court martial. That meant I didn't get sent to Colchester prison for another six months - they thought as I was in the police my life would truly be made hell if I was jailed,' he recalls.

Elaine Chambers, now 60, became the victim of a witch-hunt after someone made a comment she had 'lesbian tendencies'

Elaine Chambers was 21 when she joined Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps in 1982

In other cases the treatment meted out seems little short of inhumane. It took years for Stephen Close, a 58-year-old former Royal Fusiliers soldier from Salford, to rebuild his life after he was not only discharged with disgrace but put on the sex offenders register after having consensual sex with another soldier as a twenty-year-old.

Stephen had joined the army in 1980 aged 17, posted to Berlin at the height of the Cold War amid a climate of feverish high alert and suspicion. 'It wasn't a case of if the Russians would invade but when,' he says. 'We were often hauled out of bed in the small hours and told to get to our posts. You felt your life was on the line all the time.'

Still a virgin, Stephen had repressed his sexuality until one night in 1983 when he had a liaison with another soldier - his first sexual experience. Within hours he was arrested by officers from the military's Serious Investigations Branch and accused of committing an 'indecent act'.

Paraded around the camp and bombarded with homophobic abuse  he recalls peers shouting for him to be castrated - he was stripped, given an invasive medical examination by an army doctor and his possessions were seized before he was rigorously questioned for hours.

'These guys interrogated terrorists so it wasn't long before they broke me,' he recalls. 'They were pushing chairs over, banging their fists, shouting in my face.'

Stephen was charged with gross indecency and taken into detention in a disused part of the barracks where he was beaten and sexually assaulted by two fellow soldiers. 'They tipped me out of bed, beat me up and slammed my head against a door. I came round to find a guard standing over me.'

Subsequently taken into protective custody - where the guards spat on his meals  Stephen was court martialled in Berlin, and sentenced to six months in Colchester Military Prison in 1983 for sexual assault as both he and his partner were also under the then legal age of consent for homosexual intercourse of 21 (it was lowered to 18 in 1994 and to 16 in 2001).

Carl during his service showing off several awards. In 2016, he became Manchester's first openly gay Lord Mayor after starting a career in politics

That meant that his name was also entered onto the sex offenders register, something Stephen who now works in social housing after years struggling to find employment, describes as 'a noose around my neck that I couldn't loosen'.

The prospect of a criminal record was a terrifying one for all gay recruits, and one which also hung over former army nursing officer Elaine Chambers, 60, who became the subject of an investigation  witch-hunt might be a better word  following a blase comment by a colleague that she had 'lesbian tendencies'.

Within days, Elaine, who had joined Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps in 1982 aged 21, found herself not only under investigation but falsely accused of making an unwanted pass at two colleagues.

'Just being gay in the military was an offence in itself, but I also had to defend myself against this appalling allegation, made by women I had been involved with who were trying to save their own skin,' she says. 'I was terrified.'

Stephen during his service in Germany. It took him years to have his conviction removed from his criminal record and DNA erased from files

The ensuing investigation lasted nearly five months, and saw her private affairs searched over with a fine-toothed comb. 'They went through my letters, tracking down other women in the military with whom I had been intimate. Some of them lost their jobs overnight, including one who had been serving for 22 years.'

In the end, Elaine was told she could either face a court martial or resign her commission. Elaine chose the latter, but says her 'resignation' in January 1988 left her devastated. 'Emotionally it was incredibly damaging. I lost everything and faced being labelled a criminal - and I'd done nothing wrong.'

Elaine went on to build a successful civilian nursing career, but many gay veterans had to turn entrepreneur in order to survive: David Kelsey recalls applying for the police, only to be turned down because of his 'criminal record'. He started his own business instead, running a gay nightclub before moving into local politics.

Carl Austin-Behan had to resort to working nights at a local supermarket as he tried to find his feet, eventually setting up his own promotions company before moving into politics, first as a Labour councillor and then in 2016 as Manchester's first openly gay Lord Mayor.

Meanwhile, James Lindsay initially worked as a bouncer before forging a successful career in management and taking on his own pub.

'A lot of others didn't make it,' he points out. 'Some took their own lives.' And many, like Stephen Close, were haunted by what had happened to them for decades: eight years ago Stephen opened the door of his home in Salford to find two detectives on his doorstep who demanded a sample of his DNA for what they told him was a major swoop on 'serious' criminals.

Using controversial powers under the Crime and Security Act 2010, the police were targeting people convicted of 'serious' crimes prior to 1995 as part of an Operation known as 'Harvest'.

'I was appalled,' he says. 'What had happened would no longer even be considered an offence under current law'.

It has taken Stephen several years to have his conviction - and DNA - removed from the criminal record, and while he has no medal to be returned, he believes that last week's announcement is an important step in restoring the dignity of gay veterans.

It's a sentiment echoed by gay rights campaigners, who point out that the return of awards should be a 'first step' on a journey that will also see ex-military personnel's lost pension rights restored and enduring criminal records overturned.

'While we are delighted by this week's news, gay veterans have had their lives blighted by their treatment and waited too long to have these terrible injustices overturned,' says Craig Jones, of military charity Fighting with Pride. 'There is so much more that needs to be done  and quickly.'

Defence Minister Baroness Goldie said. 'It is deeply regrettable that because of their sexuality some members of the Armed Forces were in the past treated in a way that would not be acceptable today.

'As a result of disciplinary action and their dismissal from service, some personnel forfeited medals that they had earned, and others were denied the opportunity of continued service that could have resulted in the restoration of medals that were forfeited for different reasons.

'I am very pleased now to be in a position to address this wrong and to invite any personnel affected or, in some circumstances, the families of those who are deceased to apply to have their medals returned.

Minister for Defence People and Veterans Johnny Mercer added: 'LGBT personnel have and continue to make significant contributions to the Armed Forces. Our announcement addresses a historic injustice and demonstrates that the military is a positive place to work for all who choose to serve.'
Researchers awarded $13 million contract to create 5G smart warehouse

The Virginia Tech Applied Research Corporation, (VT-ARC) working with the Commonwealth Cyber Initiative (CCI), has won a $13 million Department of Defense contract to develop a 5G-enabled "smart warehouse" at the Marine Corps Logistics Base in Albany, Georgia.

Fast 5G wireless connectivity combined with internet of things sensor networks promises to change how warehouses move and track items to ensure they arrive at their intended destination in a timely manner. It is no easy task; the 5G communications architecture must be adept at navigating a noisy warehouse environment, be quick about it, and have a long battery life to boot.

CCI was critical to the contract, creating the connections to build a team and funding a substantive portion of the proposal development. CCI researchers from Virginia Tech, Old Dominion University, Virginia Commonwealth University, University of Virginia, and George Mason University will collaborate across disciplines, including electrical and computer engineering, systems engineering, wireless communications, modeling, simulation, and analysis to develop the low-latency, resilient, and energy-efficient 5G network for the Marine Corps Logistics Base's smart warehouse prototype. Four industry partners -- Intelligent Automation Inc., PerspectaLabs, Keysight, and B3 Advanced Communications -- are also part of the project.

"The 5G smart warehouse project is a big win for the Commonwealth of Virginia," said Luiz DaSilva, CCI executive director and the Bradley Professor of Cybersecurity at Virginia Tech. "It shows how CCI's mission to unite the state's research capabilities is successful in pursuing large, influential projects. We're excited about what this program means for 5G research and how it helps build the foundation for Virginia to become a global leader in cybersecurity."

Funded by the Commonwealth of Virginia, CCI is focused on research, innovation, and workforce development at the intersection of security, autonomous systems, and data. The statewide initiative includes industry and government partners, 40 institutions of higher learning, and more than 300 researchers.

"VT-ARC is honored to be part of such an important initiative to apply technologies and capabilities that safeguard the nation, the warfighter, and improve the human condition," said John Forte, president and chief executive officer of VT-ARC, during the executive kick-off session.

Sachin Shetty is the project's technical lead and holds dual appointments as executive director of the Center for Secure & Intelligent Critical Systems at the Virginia Modeling, Analysis, and Simulation Center (VMASC) and associate professor in the Department of Computational Modeling and Simulation Engineering; all at Old Dominion University.

The technical team includes:

Lingjia Liu, electrical and computer engineering associate professor at Virginia Tech, working on Distributed Coherent Multiple-Input Multiple-Output enhancement technical development.

Ruixin Niu, electrical and computer engineering associate professor at Virginia Commonwealth University, Distributed Coherent Multiple-Input Multiple-Output enhancement technical development.

Jeffrey Reed, CCI chief technology officer, founder of Wireless@VirginiaTech, and Willis G. Worcester Professor of electrical and computer engineering at Virginia Tech, working on Resilient Distributed Positioning Network enhancement technical development.

Cong Shen, electrical and computer engineering assistant professor at the University of Virginia.

Chunsheng Xin, cybersecurity and electrical and computer engineering professor at Old Dominion University. Kai Zeng, electrical and computer engineering associate professor at George Mason.

The smart warehouse project will put 5G capabilities to the test, Reed said. "Warehouses can be an especially challenging environment for any wireless systems," he added. "We will be leveraging the robust nature of 5G to provide connectivity within the warehouse in support of item location and inventory control."

VT-ARC also will utilize the expertise of Virginia Tech faculty in the Grado Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering to develop the concept of operations for integration of 5G enhancements into the warehouse environment.

The project will utilize the CCI 5G testbed, one of the few in the nation.

"The CCI 5G testbed is a testable and integrative piece across the main milestones of the project. It will serve as an intermediate platform for testing 5G connectivity with the resilient distributed position system before integrating it with the Albany smart warehouse," said Aloizio Pereira da Silva, testbed director. "Also, the CCI 5G testbed will allow the partners working in different subtasks to test and improve the performance of different building blocks before they're put to work at the Albany Warehouse site."

5G can bridge the gap between indoor and outdoor mobile communications, connecting 4G for outdoor use with WiFi for the indoor environment, to help monitor an outbound order that includes goods in-transit that have not yet been received at the warehouse.

5G enabled sensors also can track smaller items, a task too expensive with current technology. Other advantages include 5G's reduced latency means there's little lag time between when a sensor detects information and when it's recognized by the system. This will enable vehicle-to-vehicle communication for automated trucks and warehouse robots. Processing power will be able to move closer to the work, increasing the capability of sensors and mobile devices.

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This story has been published on: 2021-03-26. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Photo: The Canadian Press

A fuel tank at an oil facility in Saudi Arabia caught fire after being struck in an attack by Yemen's Houthi rebels, officials said Friday, an attack that came on the sixth anniversary of the kingdom's entry into Yemen's years-long civil war.

The assault at Jizan in southwest Saudi Arabia near the border with Yemen came came during what Saudi defence officials described as a barrage of eight bomb-carrying drones launched by the Houthi rebels.

A Houthi military spokesman later claimed a series of attacks on several Saudi military sites and oil facilities, some acknowledged by the kingdom and others not.

The kingdom has faced an increasing number of such assaults and the tempo hasn't slowed since it offered a cease-fire deal to the Houthis on Monday.

The attack in Jizan struck a distribution facility just after 9 p.m. Thursday, the Saudi Energy Ministry said in a statement carried by the state-run Saudi Press Agency.

The attack resulted in a fire in one of the terminals tanks, the statement said, without elaborating. The attack left no casualties.

Saudi Arabia did not specifically identify the area struck. However, Jizan is home to a new refinery and port facilities for the energy giant Saudi Arabian Oil Co. The refinery, with a capacity of 400,000 barrels a day, sent its first shipment abroad last year. Jizan also is transliterated from Arabic as Jazan by Aramco.

Jizan and its new refinery long have been targeted by Yemen's Houthi rebels in their campaign against the kingdom. However, satellite pictures from Planet Labs Inc. taken Friday morning and analyzed by The Associated Press did not immediately appear to show any damage at that facility.

In a televised speech, Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yehia Sarie claimed that the rebels targeted several Aramco sites in the cities of Jizan, Ras Tanura, Yanbu and Rabigh with 18 drones and eight ballistic missiles. Sarie also claimed the rebels launched another salvo of 12 drones and eight ballistic missiles at King Abdulaziz Air base in Dammam, as six drones also struck military sites in Asir and Najran provinces.

The operation has successfully fulfilled its objectives, Sarie said. We affirm that we are ready to carry out a more severe and more cruel military operation in the coming period.

The kingdom did not acknowledge a wave of attacks at the scale. Claims and counterclaims between the kingdom and the rebels have been common throughout the war.

Benchmark Brent crude rose to over $63 a barrel in early trading Friday after the attack. Energy prices have risen recently off growing demand as coronavirus vaccinations increase and Egypt's Suez Canal remains closed due to a massive container ship wedged across the vital waterway.

The Saudi-led coalition entered Yemens war on March 25, 2015, as the Houthis threatened to take Yemens port city of Aden and completely overrun the countrys internationally recognized government. The Saudis promised that the offensive  the brainchild of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman  would be over in short order.

Six years later, the fighting rages on. The war has killed some 130,000 people, including over 13,000 civilians slain in targeted attacks, according to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Project. Tens of thousands of children have died of starvation and disease.
Nasa has given Earth the all clear for the next century from a particularly menacing asteroid.

The space agency announced that new telescope observations have ruled out any chance of Apophis smacking Earth in 2068.

It is the same 1,100ft space rock that was supposed to come frighteningly close in 2029 and again in 2036.

Nasa ruled out any chance of a strike during those two close approaches a while ago  but a potential 2068 collision still loomed.

New data confirm Earth is safe from #asteroid Apophis for next 100+ years. Apophis was previously identified as one of the most potentially hazardous asteroids, but new radar observations have ruled that out. Just another day for @NASA #PlanetaryDefense! https://t.co/RMhuLQyHrZ pic.twitter.com/Q5A0RAfFUY  NASA Asteroid Watch (@AsteroidWatch) March 26, 2021

First detected in 2004, Apophis is now officially off Nasas asteroid risk list.

A 2068 impact is not in the realm of possibility any more, and our calculations dont show any impact risk for at least the next 100 years, said Davide Farnocchia of Nasas Centre for Near-Earth Object Studies.

Scientists refined Apophiss orbit around the sun thanks to radar observations earlier this month, when the asteroid passed within 10.6 million miles.

Apophis will come within 20,000 miles on April 13 2029, enabling astronomers to get a good look.

When I started working with asteroids after college, Apophis was the poster child for hazardous asteroids, Mr Farnocchia said.

Theres a certain sense of satisfaction to see it removed from the risk list.
Australian stocks added 0.5 per cent on Friday to cap the markets best week in seven, gaining in four of the five sessions despite fundies declaring the index in no mans land.

The ASX 200 finished the week 1.7 per cent higher at 6824.2 thanks to a series of modest gains, heading into the weekend on a three-session winning streak.

Biotech CSL and telco giant Telstra were among the standout companies across the week but a paucity of local economic data meant the market instead turned overseas for direction.

Wilson Asset Management Leaders fund portfolio manager Matthew Haupt said markets appeared to be in a holding pattern as economies were still in the reopening phase.

The ASX 200 added 1.7 per cent this week - its best in seven. Credit:Erin Jonasson

We are literally in no mans land at the moment, he said.

Everything rallied in anticipation of the recovery, but we havent seen the recovery yet.

Its a totally directionless market and everyone is just waiting for the next trend to submit itself.

Local equities started the week in the shadow of wider European COVID lockdowns and a ricocheting oil price, however the blockage of the Suez Canal by a giant container ship saw these demand concerns give way to supply issues.

The spectre of tax hikes to pay for Joe Bidens massive infrastructure program initially spooked US investors, though improved jobless claims again hinted the worlds largest economy is rebounding more strongly than expected.

Despite a lack of obvious market drivers, Mr Haupt said policy settings clearly remained supportive of equities.

With monetary policy, levers are pushed to the floor, and youve got fiscal pushing through so we are never really going to get that massive selloff unless that economic recovery is challenged, he said.

Which I would say is not happening in any great degree. As long as that holds, equities will go up.

Healthcare stocks cooled off on Friday but were the strongest driver for the ASX across the week, led by biotech CSL.

The company dropped 0.9 per cent to $267.46 in the final session of the week but rose 5.3 per cent since Monday as the first locally-made vaccine shots began rolling out of the companys Melbourne facility.

Telecommunications firm Telstra added another 2.4 per cent on Friday to close at $3.41, taking its weekly gains to 6.2 per cent.

The $40 billion company started the week by announcing plans to establish a new holding company and spin-off its international division into a new subsidiary as it moves to squeeze more value out of its assets.

Insurers were also in the spotlight as heavy rain lashed the countrys east coast, causing widespread flooding.

Damage claims numbering in their thousands began rolling in for IAG, Suncorp, and QBE, as the Insurance Council of Australia declared a catastrophe. All three companies finished the week lower.
The 29th meeting of the Advisory Committee of the Presidents of Ukraine and the Republic of Poland will be held via video conferencing on March 29.

This was reported by the press service of the head of the Ukrainian state.

During the meeting, the parties will discuss the implementation of agreements reached at the level of the Presidents of Ukraine and the Republic of Poland, as well as a wide range of issues of bilateral and regional cooperation, in particular in the security, energy and economic spheres.

The schedule of bilateral contacts at the highest level in 2021 will also be agreed.

The co-chairs of the Committee are Ihor Zhovkva, Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Plenipotentiary of the President of Ukraine in the Advisory Committee, and Krzysztof Szczerski, Plenipotentiary of the President of the Republic of Poland for the establishment of the International Policy Bureau.

As Ukrinform reported, on February 24, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky had a phone conversation with President of Poland Andrzej Duda. The leaders coordinated steps to further counter the Nord Stream 2 project and agreed to involve the international community as much as possible.

ish
A pedestrian was struck and killed Thursday night by a Metro bus in north Houston, officials said.

The fatal crash happened around 11 p.m. on the 10600 block of the Interstate 45 feeder road near West Road, according to a Houston Police Department tweet.

"Investigators are still sorting out the facts of the accident, but no one has been charged or issued a citation," said Tracy Jackson, media director for the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County.

The pedestrian was in the middle of the road, Jackson said.

Houston police handed the investigation to Metro Police, according to OnScene TV.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 26)  The World Health Organization and UNICEF have reviewed the AstraZeneca vaccines sent back from Bicol Region due to a thermometer defect and found them still "potent," recommending their use, the Department of Health said Friday.

"Tinignan ng mga eksperto ng WHO at UNICEF at natest naman nila na itong mga bakuna are still potent and can still be used. Ang nakita talang depekto ay ang temperature logger," Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said in a media briefing.

[Translation: Experts from WHO and UNICEF tested it and found that the vaccines are still potent and can still be used. They found that the defect was with the temperature logger.]

The DOH in Bicol Region sent back 7,500 doses of AstraZeneca doses to Metro Manila after the temperature monitoring device it was shipped with malfunctioned. The vaccines donated through the COVAX initiative co-led by WHO and in partnership with UNICEF registered a temperature of 400 degrees Celsius or beyond boiling point upon arrival in Bicol. A different thermometer, however, showed the sensitive vaccines were transported at 4 degrees Celsius temperature.

AstraZeneca doses are supposed to be stored and transported at normal refrigerated temperature of 2 degrees to 8 degrees Celsius.

Vergeire said the WHO and UNICEF formed a composite team to conduct further inspection. The DOH was also instructed to ensure that suppliers will use temperature loggers that have been pre-approved by the WHO. They will also check where the malfunction happened.

The health official also assured that the rest of the 14,500 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines received and distributed in Bicol were shipped in good condition.
The United States has said it is giving USD 15 million to vulnerable Palestinian communities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip to help fight the COVID-19 pandemic, a sharp reversal from the Trump administration which cut off almost all aid to the Palestinians.

Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield made the announcement at the UN Security Council's monthly Mideast meeting, saying the money from the Agency for Development will support Catholic Relief Services' COVID-19 response efforts in health care facilities and for vulnerable families in the West Bank and Gaza.

In addition, she said, the funds will support emergency food aid to communities in need as a result of the pandemic.

This urgent, necessary aid is one piece of our renewed commitment to the Palestinian people, Thomas-Greenfield said.

The aid will help Palestinians in dire need, which will bring more stability and security to both Israelis and Palestinians alike.

Under former President Donald Trump, the US provided unprecedented support to Israel, recognsing Jerusalem as Israel's capital, moving the US Embassy from Tel Aviv, breaking relations and slashing financial assistance for the Palestinians. The Trump administration also reversed course on the illegitimacy of Israeli settlements on land claimed by the Palestinians. It did restore about USD 1 million during the pandemic last year.

Soon after US President Joe Biden was inaugurated on Jan. 20, his administration announced that it was restoring relations with the Palestinians and renewing aid to Palestinian refugees, a reversal of Trump's cutoff and a key element of its new support for a two-state solution.

Thomas-Greenfield said the USD 15 million in aid is consistent with our interests and our values, and it aligns with our efforts to stamp our the pandemic and food insecurity worldwide.

(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.)
Several other states have also started imposing restrictions on movement of people

Senior officials in the Union health ministry said there is no need to panic as the government has ensured that there is no shortage of Covid-19 vaccines in the country. (PTI file photo)

New Delhi: Due to the big surge in cases again, the Kumbh Mela has been curtailed to one month and Covid negative report has been mandatory for pilgrims. Besides, several states have started imposing restrictions on movement of people and all passengers to Bengaluru will now need to have a Covid-19 negative report from April 1.

The Rajasthan government has issued orders for no functions during Holi and Shab-e-Barat while two-day lockdown is expected to be imposed in Indore on Holi due to rising cases. In Chhattisgarhs Raipur, all tourist places have been shut down and restrictions for Holi have been imposed.

Six states -- Maharashtra, Punjab, Kerala, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh and Gujarat -- are reporting a surge in daily new cases and together they account for 80.63 per cent of the cases reported in the last 24 hours. While Maharashtra recorded 35,952 cases, Mumbai reported 5,504 fresh cases. Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai has decided to take up testing to at least 60,000 per day in coming weeks to contain the spread.

Given the situation in India, the government has decided to pause Vaccine Maitri, its diplomatic initiative, and temporarily put on hold large exports of the AstraZeneca-Oxford-SII vaccine, Covishield. Indias last commercial shipment was to Namibia on March 22 and the last dispatch of free vaccines was to Malawi on March 18. So far, more than 60 million doses of Made in India vaccines have been supplied to over 75 countries, including through COVAX, led by Gavi, the global vaccine alliance.

With the government opening up vaccination for a larger chunk of population over the age of 45, the demand of vaccines at domestic level is expected to rise manifold forcing the Centre to recalibrate its export commitments. Sources said the Indian government wants to first fulfil its domestic commitment before allowing exports of Covishield. India is likely to remove these restrictions after three months or so when more vaccines like Reddy-SuptnikV and others enter the Indian market in a big way.

Indias decision has irked the UN-backed international vaccine alliance Gavi which blamed India for going back on its export commitments. In a statement, Gavi said deliveries of the Covid-19 vaccines to low-income economies will face delays due to Indias decision to halt exports.

However, sources in the government clarified that India has not imposed any ban on export of the vaccines but is only recalibrating supply schedules due to domestic commitment and manufacturing capacity.

We had stated that keeping in view the domestic requirements of the phased rollout, India will continue to supply Covid-19 vaccines to partner countries over the coming weeks and months in a phased manner. This position remains unchanged. We have not imposed any ban on exports of vaccines unlike many other countries. We remain committed to help the world with vaccines, including through COVAX Facility. Given our current manufacturing capacity and requirements of national vaccination programmes, there may be a need to calibrate the supply schedules from time to time. All stakeholders would have to work together to adjust the schedules as required. Only by such cooperation, we can collectively deal with the ongoing pandemic, an official said.

Senior officials in the Union health ministry said there is no need to panic as the government has ensured that there is no shortage of Covid-19 vaccines in the country. So far over 5.31 crore vaccine doses have been administered across the country out of which more than 23 Lakh doses were given in the last 24 hours. These numbers are expected to pick up as the population over 45 years of age goes for the jab.
 Flash

China's top legislator Li Zhanshu held talks with Arthur Lira, president of Brazil's Chamber of Deputies, via video link on Friday, vowing to deepen exchanges between the two legislative bodies in a bid to cement bilateral ties.

Li, chairman of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, said China has always viewed and developed its relations with Brazil from a strategic and long-term perspective, attaching priority to China-Brazil diplomatic relations.

He noted that bilateral practical cooperation in the fields of economy and trade, investment, infrastructure, energy, agriculture and animal husbandry has achieved fruitful results, and the anti-pandemic cooperation has been productive.

The two sides firmly supported each other on issues involving core interests and major concerns, shared extensive common interests on major international and regional issues, conducted close communication and coordination, and effectively safeguarded the solidarity and cooperation of developing countries and emerging economies, Li added.

The relation between the two countries is currently embracing new opportunities, Li said, adding that China is willing to work with Brazil to further strengthen policy communication, as well as bilateral exchanges and cooperation, consolidate the political foundation of bilateral relations, deepen pragmatic cooperation in various fields, and make new progress in advancing China-Brazil comprehensive strategic partnership.

Calling legislative exchanges an important part of bilateral ties, the Chinese legislator said the NPC is willing to work with the National Congress of Brazil and make unremitting efforts to promote the implementation of the consensus reached by the two heads of state and deepen bilateral relations.

Lira said that Brazil also attaches importance to developing relations with China and the two countries have great potential for cooperation in various fields.

Expressing his gratitude for China's assistance to Brazil in providing COVID-19 vaccine and anti-pandemic supplies, Lira said such support reflected the friendly relations between the two peoples and the expanding practical cooperation.

China has effectively controlled the epidemic and carried out international cooperation in the fight against COVID-19, setting an example for the global fight against the pandemic.

Lira said he is willing to strengthen exchanges and cooperation between the two legislative bodies and contribute to the development of bilateral relations.


Canberra, March 26 : Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has confirmed that two Ministers, who are presently on leave amid a sexual assault crisis, will remain after a Cabinet reshuffle.

Morrison said on Thursday night that Attorney-General Christian Porter and Defence Minister Linda Reynolds would "continue to play a very important role" in the government ministry, rpeorts Xinhua news agency.

It comes amid reports that Morrison is set to demote both Ministers in a major cabinet reshuffle.

On Thursday night, he did not rule out moving the embattled ministers to new portfolios.

"I'm working through those issues now. I mean, both of them, as you know, one is on mental health leave and the other one is on physical health leave," he told Network Nine television.

"When I make judgments about those things I will announce them." Both ministers have spent most of March on medical leave after they were caught up in the sexual assault crisis engulfing Morrison's government.

Porter took a mental health leave after identifying himself as the Minister accused of raping a 16-year-old girl in 1988.

He has strenuously denied the allegations.

Reynolds announced she would be taking medical leave on February 24.

It was revealed she called former staffer Brittany Higgins, who alleges she was raped by a colleague in Reynolds' office in Parliament House in March 2019, a "lying cow", for which she has since apologized.

Morrison has sought legal advice from the Solicitor-General about a potential conflict of interest after Porter launched legal action against the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) for its reporting of the historical rape allegation.

"So I'm working through those issues with the Attorney at the moment. He's not returning to work for some another week or so yet and that will be done in time for his return," he told the ABC earlier on Thursday.

ABC has reported that it is expected Michaelia Cash, the Minister for Employment, will take over as Attorney-General and Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton as Defence Minister.
The punch occurred on Wednesday afternoon after a violent felony carjacking in the suburb of New Hope and a police chase through Robbinsdale that ended in north Minneapolis, the authorities said.

Minneapolis police officers had been helping their suburban counterparts, who had stopped a suspect in the carjacking, when a group of residents approached and protested that the officers had the wrong person in custody, the eyewitness video showed. The suspect, another Black teenager, said he had been scared when Robbinsdale police officers led him toward the back seat of a patrol car.

Tensions between the residents and the officers began to escalate, and a Minneapolis police officer punched another Black teenager at the scene during a skirmish, the video showed. The person who recorded the video had been walking away from scene when the exchange happened, so it was not immediately clear what had led the officer to throw the punch.

The teenager hit by the officer was taken into custody, according to the police chief, who said he didnt know whether the young man had played a role in the carjacking. The police did not provide further details about whether the teenager had been charged or the nature of his injuries. The police did not release the names of the teenager who had been punched or the officer who punched him.

Civil rights groups criticized the use of force by the officer.

The M.P.D. is out of control, Sonja Muus, a member of the Racial Justice Network, said in a statement on Thursday. They dont care if they are being filmed or if their body cameras are on. They know they can act with impunity.
Washington: Dominion Voting Systems has filed a $US1.6 billion ($2.1 billion) defamation lawsuit against Fox News, arguing the cable news giant falsely claimed in an effort to boost faltering ratings that the voting company had rigged the 2020 election.

The lawsuit filed on Friday, local time, is part of a growing body of legal action filed by the voting company and other targets of misleading, false and bizarre claims spread by former president Donald Trump and his allies in the aftermath of Trumps election loss to Joe Biden.

Dominion is suing Fox News over its coverage of the 2020 presidential election result. Credit:AP

Those claims helped spur on rioters who stormed the US Capitol on January 6 in a violent siege that left five people dead, including a police officer. The siege led to Trumps historic second impeachment.

Dominion argues that Fox News, which amplified inaccurate assertions that Dominion altered votes, sold a false story of election fraud in order to serve its own commercial purposes, severely injuring Dominion in the process, according to a copy of the lawsuit obtained by The Associated Press.
Bengaluru, March 27 : The BJP in Karnataka lashed out at the state's Congress unit president, D.K. Shivakumar in the sleaze CD case as the audio clip of a woman surfaced, stating the role of 'Mahanayak' has come out in the open.

In a series of tweets in Kannada, the Karnataka BJP tagging Shivakumar, questioned what does he have to say on his role? "A woman taking D.K. Shivakumar's name proved that Shivakumar is fit to stay in Tihar. He was considered to be only corrupt... now it's proved that he is morally corrupt too. He can stoop to any level," the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said.

"...he was part of this game. Now, at least Congress and its Mahanayaki (Sonia Gandhi) must wake up and seek his resignation," the BJP said.

In another tweet, the party has warned that Shivakumar has set the precedence of vengeance politics and he will have to "pay a heavy price" for this.

Shivakumar is yet to react to BJP's charges as well as to the audio clip that surfaced on Friday evening.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has warned veteran Queensland Liberal MP Andrew Laming to raise the standard of his disgraceful behaviour after he was forced to apologise to two women for trolling them on Facebook.

Dr Laming, who was recently filmed skolling a beer while a teenage girl did the same with a bottle of vodka, spoke in Parliament and posted a statement to his Facebook page apologising to the women.

Liberal MP Andrew Laming in Parliament. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Mr Morrison hauled the MP into his office on Thursday and demanded he stop using social media to post trolling comments and apologise to the pair both personally and publicly.

I find it disgraceful and I called him into my office yesterday and told him to apologise and deal with it and he has, the Prime Minister said on Friday morning. He is very clear about my expectations.
UPDATE 1.23PM: The investigation into how a cleaner at the Grand Millennium, referred to as Case A, was exposed to Covid-19 is continuing.

Case A and a household member whose result is under investigation remain at the Auckland quarantine facility, says a statement from the Ministry of Health.

"The household member has returned a second negative test at Day 5, which reinforces the belief that their initial weak positive test was either a false positive or an early and fleeting mild infection that has now passed," says an MOH spokesperson.

"This person continues to be managed as a close contact and is not considered to be a confirmed case at this stage."

All close and casual contacts of Case A have returned negative initial tests. They are due to have their Day 5 tests today and tomorrow. Results of those will come in over the weekend.

Grand Mercure managed isolation facility Auckland

"Yesterday, we announced that as part of investigations into a recent Day 12 positive case at the Grand Mercure managed isolation facility in Auckland, health officials are now looking at the possibility of a transmission within this facility," sayd the MOH.

"Contact tracing teams are contacting the 250 returnees who have left the facility since March 10; asking them to get tested immediately and remain at home until they have had a negative test result returned.

"As at 9am this morning, 193 of those 250 people have been contacted and the remaining people are being followed up today. If you are one of these people, please get in touch with Healthline.

"We also yesterday put in place immediate additional steps including additional onsite testing and exit tests for all returnees leaving the facility. The public health risk from the Grand Mercure is considered low."

Covid-19 reporting

There are three new positive cases of Covid-19 to report in managed isolation.

The seven-day rolling average of new cases detected at the border is five.

The total number of active cases in New Zealand today is 74.

The total number of confirmed cases is 2123.

Since January 1, there have been 41 historical cases, out of a total of 311 cases.



New border case details

Arrival date From Via Positive test day/reason Managed isolation/quarantine location 9 Mar* India United Arab Emirates Around day 15 / contact of a case Auckland 20 Mar* India United Arab Emirates Around day 5 / contact of a case Auckland 21 Mar India United Arab Emirates Around day 3 / routine testing Auckland



*Both cases, part of separate travel bubbles, are contacts of travel companions that have tested positive.

Testing information

On Thursday, 7117 tests were processed.

The seven-day rolling average up to yesterday is 4,44 tests processed.

The total number of tests processed by laboratories to date is 1,875,086.

For up-to-date information on testing locations in Auckland, visit https://www.arphs.health.nz/ and for all testing locations nationwide, visit the Healthpoint website.

NZ Covid Tracer

NZ Covid Tracer now has 2,764,505 registered users.

"Poster scans have reached 231,767,115 and users have now created more than 8,770,858 manual diary entries," says the MOH.

"Its incredibly important we all scan the QR codes wherever we see them, as the more we all scan, the safer well all be. If you cant scan then please keep a record of where you have been. The NZ Covid Tracer app is one way to do this through the manual entry option.

"A reporting error meant Covid Tracer app data in yesterdays media release was incorrect, and QR code scan numbers were under-reported by approximately 300,000 scans. The data reporting is being manually corrected. The data reported today is accurate."

EARLIER:

The Director-General of Health, Dr Ashley Bloomfield, and Quarantine Brigadier Jim Bliss are expected to front media today as they provide the latest Covid-19 update.

The pair are due to be live from 1pm at the Ministry of Health building in Wellington.

A livestream will be available above.

SunLive will provide an update throughout the afternoon for those who are not able to tune into the above livestream.

On Thursday, the Ministry of Heath reported no new community cases, but there were six in managed isolation.

The number of previously reported cases that have now recovered was two. The total number of active cases in New Zealand is 71.

The total number of confirmed cases is 2120.

Since January 1, 2021, there have been 41 historical cases, out of a total 308 cases.
Type 1 diabetes is the most common metabolic disease in children and adolescents worldwide. It can be particularly dangerous as often there is no diagnosis until severe and sometimes life-threatening symptoms have already developed. The new SINT1A study explores the potential of a specific probiotic to strengthen the immune system early-on in children with increased genetic risk of type 1 diabetes, and thus prevent its development.

SINT1A is led by Helmholtz Zentrum Muenchen, and part of the international GPPAD initiative including Prof. Ezio Bonifacio and his team at the Center for Regenerative Therapies Dresden at TU Dresden.

Around one in 300 children and adolescents are diagnosed with the autoimmune disease type 1 diabetes by 18 years of age. Around 90 percent of patients do not have a close relative with type 1 diabetes, meaning the disease can affect any child without a disease history in their family.

People with type 1 diabetes must inject the hormone insulin for the rest of their lives because their own immune system is attacking the insulin-producing cells in the "islets" of their pancreas. Insulin has a vital function, transporting sugar from the blood into the body's cells. The body's own insulin is often the first target of the immune reaction which leads to type 1 diabetes.

Improving the immune system with probiotics In early stages of type 1 diabetes, so-called islet autoantibodies appear in the blood as a result of the immune system attacking the insulin-producing cells. Researchers know from earlier studies that children who develop these antibodies can suffer from imbalances in their intestinal flora in early childhood.

The new SINT1A (Supplementation with B. Infantis for Mitigation of Type 1 Diabetes Autoimmunity) study aims to prevent the occurrence of islet autoantibodies in children with an increased genetic of type 1 diabetes risk by administering a probiotic containing a strain of Bifidobacterium Infantis (activated B. infantis EVC001) together with their daily nutrition. This is hypothesized to promote a healthy and balanced development of the intestinal flora, which is thought to have beneficial effects on the immune system before the first signs of autoimmunity appear.

SINT1A follows the ongoing Primary Oral Insulin Trial (POInT), which administers insulin orally to train and sensitize the immune system at an early stage so that autoimmunity against insulin does not occur.

We believe that the immune system of the oral and gut mucosa is very important for preventing immune-mediated diseases like type 1 diabetes. The POInT study uses the gut (where the oral insulin arrives) to familiarize the immune system with insulin and prevent an autoimmune response against it. SINT1A was designed based on the knowledge that a healthy gut microflora reduces inflammation and this helps the immune system better distinguish antigens that are safe from those that are dangerous." Prof. Ezio Bonifacio, Study Leader, TU Dresden

In this way, the SINT1A investigators want to reduce the chances that children with a high genetic risk of developing type 1 diabetes start immune responses that lead to autoimmunity. "If the results for both studies show what we are hoping for" explains Prof. Bonifacio "we will aim to combine both studies for an optimized synergistic type 1 diabetes prevention strategy. Type 1 diabetes could be transformed from a previously unavoidable fate into a disease that can be prevented."

The SINT1A study will start in April 2021 in multiple European countries as part of GPPAD (Global Platform for the Prevention of Autoimmune Diabetes) - an international initiative to prevent type 1 diabetes. The GPPAD research sites are located in Belgium (Leuven), Germany (Dresden, Hanover, Munich), Poland (Warsaw), Sweden (Malmoe) and the UK (Cambridge, Newcastle).

Newborn screening for type 1 diabetes risk Participation in the SINT1A and POInT studies require proof of an increased genetic type 1 diabetes risk. Newborn screenings allow detecting this risk long before the disease manifestation. The test can be performed with a few drops of blood within the first 7 days of life. Prof. Bonifacio and his team launched a newborn screening program for this purpose in 2016 (which goes by the name 'Freder1k' in Germany). "Together with the strong scientific network of GPPAD, we have been able to examine 245,000 babies in international newborn screenings. In 1.15 percent, we found an increased genetic risk. Early detection is imperative for taking meaningful preventive measures," says Prof. Reinhard Berner director of the children hospital.

Research to prevent type 1 diabetes

The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust is funding the new SINT1A study and the continuation of the established newborn screening with more than US$30 million. "At Helmsley, we are committed to investing in bold ideas," says Dr. Anne Koralova, a Program Officer at Helmsley. "GPPAD is one of our largest investments because it holds so much promise and represents the kind of international collaboration needed for scientific breakthroughs."
By William Schwartz | Published on 2021/03/25

On a recent radio broadcast at SBS Power FM, Hani of EXID made a surprising revelation regarding a certain family member. The largely incidental comment was made in regards to a caller who had mentioned once seeing Hani at a cafe on Ganghwa Island. Hani explained that she was with her family on the island at that time because that was where her brother was stationed during his mandatory military service.

With the topic broached, Hani freely offered up more information about her brother- namely that he had become an actor after finishing his service, and is even represented at the same agency. Hani also claimed to have to ask him for advice regarding acting, despite his being younger, as he has more experience in that department. Eventually Hani finally said his name directly, Ahn Tae-hwan who is currently appearing in "The Penthouse 2" who she fully supports.

Ahn Tae-hwan appears in the drama as the unnamed brother-in-law of Kim So-yeon's character. The role also appears in the first season of "The Penthouse" as necessary during her extended family scenes. Ahn Tae-hwan is a relative newcomer to drama acting, his only other credits being minor named roles from "Mystic Pop-Up Bar" and "Dinner Mate" from 2020. However, his debut was in the music video for the 2017 song Do You Know That Person by Im Chang-jung, which can be seen with English subtitles here.

Written by William Schwartz
SEOUL (Reuters) - A South Korean independent panel created to review prosecution probes has decided to recommend that prosecutors cease investigating Samsung Electronics vice chairman Jay Y. Lee over an allegation of unlawful use of a prescription sedative, a prosecution official said on Friday.

Prosecutors have been investigating Lee after a separate organization, the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, asked prosecutors last year to investigate Lee after receiving a tip in January 2020 that he had been routinely administered propofol, an anaesthetic, at a clinic, Yonhap news agency reported on Thursday.

Lee has denied wrongdoing through his lawyer. His counsel said in a statement on March 11 that all medical procedures he has undergone have been lawful. His counsel, who was not named in the statement, could not be reached for comment on Friday.

While the independent review panel can offer recommendations, prosecutors are not legally bound to follow its findings. The officials who had been investigating the case will take the panel's view into consideration, a spokesman for the Seoul Central District Prosecutor's Office said on Friday.

Yonhap said that 14 experts from fields including legal circles and academia on the independent review panel voted on the recommendation for prosecutors to stop investigating Lee. The recommendation is expected to be made shortly.

Representatives of the review panel were not available for comment.

The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission declined comment, as it is legally bound not to comment on tips it receives.

Samsung declined to comment on the case.

The independent review panel was set up as part of prosecution reform measures taken since 2018 to bolster neutrality by allowing outside experts to review the investigation and prosecution process.

Lee, 52, has been jailed at the Seoul Detention Center since January for a 2-1/2 year sentence for bribery and other charges. He was hospitalised earlier this month for surgery for a burst appendix, Seoul media reported.

He is heir to his father, Samsung Electronics chairman Lee Kun-hee, who died in October.

(Reporting by Joyce Lee; Editing by Frances Kerry)
Find all of the most important pandemic education news on Educating N.J., a special resource guide created for parents, students and educators.

Marie Connor had resorted to getting up in the middle of the night.

After trying in vain to get a vaccine appointment during the day in recent weeks, the learning disabilities specialist in the Perth Amboy school district was waking up at odd hours to log on to her computer to snag an elusive spot at a vaccination site.

It wasnt working.

I dont know all the ways to navigate the computer, said Connor, who has worked in Perth Amboy schools for 16 years on the child study team. I was really, really anxious and frustrated trying to get the appointment on my own.

Then, she got a phone call from her school districts human resources department earlier this week. They had arranged a time for her to get a COVID-19 vaccine Friday at Hackensack Meridian Raritan Bay Medical Center in Perth Amboy. She just needs to show up.

Like a growing number of public school districts in New Jersey, Perth Amboy has made a deal with a local health care provider to give priority access to vaccines to teachers and school staff.

We apologize for the short notice, but certainly welcome the opportunity to quickly get these vaccines in the hands of those who need it the most, Perth Amboy Superintendent David Roman and Mayor Helmin Caba said in a letter to school staff last week, saying some teachers could get their first shots within days.

The school districts in Newark, Paterson, Metuchen, Jersey City and Passaic are among those that have arranged appointments or special vaccination days for teachers and school staff. Several counties, including Essex, Monmouth and Mercer, are also setting aside days for teachers to be vaccinated at local sites.

The efforts, which have helped some teachers get vaccines more quickly, have raised questions as other essential workers and those with health problems still struggle to book appointments on their own. Some teachers have also questioned why some districts are making special arrangements for educators, while neighboring districts are leaving teachers and school staff to hunt for their own appointments.

The New Jersey Education Association, the states largest teachers union, is encouraging districts and municipalities to find ways to make vaccinating teachers a priority, said Steven Baker, the unions spokesman.

Its a good thing that this is happening. Were looking for as many options as possible, Baker said.

Baker dismissed any questions about whether school district employees may be moving ahead of others waiting for vaccine doses. Transportation workers, probation officers, fire inspectors, migrant farm workers and people experiencing homelessness are among those who became eligible for the vaccine in New Jersey last week.

On Monday, warehouse workers, hospitality staff, postal workers, clergy and judicial system employees will be eligible for vaccine appointments, under the state guidelines.

Teachers were originally scheduled to become eligible for the vaccine in New Jersey on March 15. But Gov. Phil Murphy made all educators and childcare workers immediately eligible March 5 after President Joe Biden called for all teachers to have access to the vaccine.

Educators in New Jersey waited longer than educators in the rest of the country to get vaccine priority, Baker said. We believe its appropriate that educators finally have a place in line.

Daniel Hausman, a research professor at Rutgers Universitys Center for Population-Level Bioethics, said the ethics of helping teachers and other school staff get their vaccines faster than others is complex.

In many cases teachers have been able to work remotely and have consequently not had to bear the risks that grocery store workers and bus drivers have had to take. These workers have a strong claim to vaccination for this reason and also because they may be more likely to transmit the virus, Hausman said.

On the other hand, getting children back to school is of the utmost importance, particularly to less affluent families who have not been able to put together a good substitute for face-to-face public education, he added.

Deciding who is right or wrong in prioritizing vaccines is a difficult call, even for a bioethicist, Hausman said.

Im inclined to think that there is a good case for prioritizing the vaccination of teachers, especially elementary school teachers, and reopening elementary schools immediately, he said.

New Jersey has more than 116,000 full-time public school teachers and tens of thousands more support staff, administrators, school bus drivers, custodians and private school teachers. It is unclear how many of them have been vaccinated as Murphy pushes for more schools to reopen.

As of this week, about 90 school districts with about 302,000 students are still all-remote, according to the state education department. Several large districts have not had in-person classes in more than a year.

The remaining 721 districts are either fully reopened, using a hybrid schedule or have various schools using different methods, state officials said.

The governor said Wednesday he plans for all New Jersey public schools to be fully reopened by September with no option for students to continue remote learning.

I want to unequivocal about this. We are expecting Monday through Friday, in-person, every school, every district. Obviously, if the world goes sideways, we have to revisit that, Murphy said.

Pat Paradiso, head of the teachers union in Perth Amboy, said union officials pushed the district to arrange vaccines for school employees after seeing other districts making deals with local hospitals and vaccine sites.

We saw this happening in other districts, said Paradiso, president of the Perth Amboy Federation - American Federation of Teachers. Our staff members have been having such a hard time getting appointments on their own.

After more than a year of remote learning, Perth Amboy is planning to reopen classrooms April 21. That has put pressure on teachers, food service workers, the child study team, administrators and secretaries to try to get fully vaccinated, Paradiso said.

We are very grateful that they are doing this, Paradiso, who has taught in Perth Amboy for 23 years, said of the school districts efforts to make everyone an appointment.

In Mercer County, Walgreens plans to open a pop-up vaccination site in Hamilton exclusively for educators on Saturday and again on April 3. The pharmacy will administer 1,000 first-doses of the Pfizer vaccine each day to exclusively to local school employees who have made appointments, the county teachers union said. Another set of pop-up sites will administer the second doses in three weeks.

The pop-up clinic was arranged by the Mercer County Education Association, the union representing the countys 7,000 teachers and school staff, with the help of the governors office and state and local lawmakers, organizers said. Volunteers will help register people and provide crowd control.

Getting teachers vaccinated as soon as possible will ultimately help keep children and their families from getting the virus, said Grace Rarich, president of the Mercer County Education Association.

We know safety must be the priority. Vaccinating our countys educators and support professionals will not only keep them safer, but will also benefit our students, said Rarich, a middle school science teacher in Pennington.

In Newark, about 2,000 school employees put in requests to be vaccinated before the states largest school district plans to reopen next month for in-person classes. The school district and the city contacted the state health department to secure doses for in-school vaccinations for employees, starting with a March 16 event in the gym at Barringer High School where the first 400 teachers and staff from around Newark got their first shots.

Essex County also set aside special reserved appointments all this week at its vaccine clinic at the former KMart in West Orange for teachers and staff working at public, private, charter and parochial schools. Teachers had to bring their school ID to prove they were educators to get the shots.

The Lakewood school district  one of the few that has had full-time, in-person classes all school year  set up a similar vaccine clinic for its teachers and staff earlier this month. The district partnered with CheMed Healthcare Center, a private, non-profit facility in Lakewood, and Ocean Health Initiatives to give about 400 vaccinations at its first educator clinic in the high school gym.

The goal is to get the entire staff vaccinated as soon as possible, local officials said.

The more people that we can get vaccinated, the better, said Dawn Hiltner, a spokeswoman for the Lakewood Education Association, the local union.

Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a subscription.

Kelly Heyboer may be reached at kheyboer@njadvancemedia.com.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 26)  The Trade Department is not in favor of prolonging the NCR Plus bubble, which involves the temporary closure of certain establishments in Metro Manila and four adjacent provinces until April 4.

"[K]ung tatanungin mo ang DTI, gusto na sana natin na maipa-open na ulit sa April 5," said Trade Undersecretary Ruth Castelo when asked about OCTA Research's suggestion of putting in place tighter restrictions for four weeks to "knock out" the current surge in COVID-19 cases.

[Translation: If the DTI were asked, we'd actually prefer that (economic activity) be reopened on April 5.]

READ: OCTA Research: Four-week MECQ to 'knock out' COVID-19 case surge

The current bubble is only in place for two weeks, a period of time the research group said will only slow down the rise in infections.

Under the bubble, driving schools, cinemas, video and interactive game arcades, libraries, archives, museums, cultural centers, cockfighting and cockpit operations, and social events at accredited establishments of the Department of Tourism are prohibited. Gyms, spas and internet cafes shall also close their doors for the time being.

Restaurants, cafes and other food establishments are prohibited from dine-in operations, with customers only allowed to avail of their takeout and delivery services. While outdoor dining is allowed, only a maximum 50% capacity can be accommodated.
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WASHINGTON  When Sen. Rand Paul clashed with the nations most beloved doctor last week over the need for mask-wearing after achieving vaccination from the coronavirus, he was unsurprisingly castigated by liberals and mocked by his opponents.

But Paul was undeterred, appearing on Fox News this week telling Dr. Anthony Fauci to put up or shut up by providing evidence theres a widespread contraction of the virus from those who have already had it or those who are vaccinated.

There isnt so far  but Faucis case for masks is based on an old Irish proverb: Better be safe than sorry  especially when attempting to emerge from the worst pandemic since the 1918 Spanish flu.

You could look at Dr. Fauci and say, Well, what if the Spanish flu comes back? Shouldnt we wear a mask every year for the rest of our life because someday the Spanish flus going to come back? Thats not science. Thats sort of emotionalism and fear-mongering, Paul argued.

Interviews with an array of medical professionals found that while most see Pauls call for mass mask abandonment premature, many also envision such a scenario taking hold in many parts of the country in just months if vaccinations continue at the current pace.

Paul was wrong to contend theres a virtually zero percent chance a vaccinated person could get COVID-19, they say, especially given the new strains that have emerged. Yet some acknowledge that part of continued mask wearing is designed to create comfort and ease fears among the population, a slight nod to Pauls assertion of a performative aspect to face covering.

Here are the top takeaways from McClatchys conversations with nine leading public health experts about Pauls claims and the future of mask-wearing in an increasingly vaccinated post-pandemic world.

Pauls call comes too soon

With just one in seven Americans fully vaccinated, most epidemiologists said Pauls call for the immunized to ditch masking comes too soon. Kentuckys current vaccination rate is slightly higher than the national average at 14% and its coronavirus cases are on the decline over the last two-week period.

While its true that all three vaccines being administered in the U.S. are highly effective in preventing infection from the original coronavirus, scientists are still awaiting a thorough evaluation about how theyll stand up against variant strains from Brazil and South Africa.

You wont be hospitalized and you wont die as far as we know from these other variants. It looks like youre protected against severe disease, critical disease. But youre not protected particularly well against mild or moderate disease, thats why you wear a mask, said Dr. Paul Offit, the director of the Vaccine Education Center at Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia. The degree in which you dont wear a mask is the degree to which you risk becoming infected with one of those strains. Hes arguing that well, that really hasnt happened because those strains arent that common yet. But they might be.

Added Dr. Zeke Emanuel, an oncologist and bioethicist who serves as a vice provost at the University of Pennsylvania, Yes, fully vaccinated people have been reinfected  the studies show infection rates are down but not zero.

Burden falls on businesses

One practical problem with Pauls position is that allowing people to unmask puts businesses in the tough spot of trying to evaluate those who are vaccinated versus those who are anti-maskers.

If youre working at McDonalds, how are you going to look at peoples vaccine cards? asked Dr. Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at the John Hopkins Center for Health Security.

Dr. Lee Harrison, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, said theres an economic benefit to masking that allows people to feel safer as they walk through a store or into a restaurant.

People are going to be more reluctant to go out if theres a whole bunch of people (out and) they dont know their immunization status. Are they just against wearing masks? Are they not wearing masks because theyre immunized? Harrison noted. Some of the mitigation efforts have pluses and minuses ... Masks have no downside, zero.

Paul isnt entirely wrong when he asserts that masks have become a symbol, but doctors say thats not necessarily a bad thing if it eases peoples mental stress about the pandemic.

Even if you think your likelihood of infection is low, wearing a mask is socially responsible, may help reduce conflict, and promotes norms of public health behaviors, said Dr. Andrew Brouwer, a research scientist at the University of Michigan.

I think it is about giving others peace of mind and this is all temporary until we get to mass vaccination, said Dr. Monica Gandhi, a professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco.

A maskless summer or fall?

Theres a maskless future coming at some point, the question is exactly when.

Many doctors believe it will happen when a four-point criteria has been met: the most vulnerable have been protected, a significant portion of the U.S. population is vaccinated  some experts say 80%  the stress on hospitals has been alleviated and coronavirus cases have dropped significantly.

States and local jurisdictions will undoubtedly set different bars for these standards, and some conservative states like Texas, Alabama and Mississippi already believe theyve been met, having removed their mask mandates in recent weeks.

Dr. Isaac Bogoch, an infectious disease physician and scientist at the University of Toronto, disagreed that America was there yet, but warned that policymakers should be ready to adapt rules for a massively vaccinated population.

When enough people are vaccinated, its reasonable to start lifting those mask mandates, its reasonable to start allowing for larger and larger groups to be gathering in outdoor settings, he said. We will probably get there in the 2021 calendar year.

It was lost inside his pointed back-and-forth with Fauci, but Pauls most salient point, according to some doctors, was the importance of combating vaccine hesitancy with a reward that their life will change for the better.

Some experts are already worrying that vaccine supply will begin to exceed demand as soon as April.

[Pauls] larger point I agree with. If people dont see the vaccine as something thats going to improve their life, theyre less likely to get it, said Dr. Adalja. I do think theres been a lot of underselling of the vaccine. And that kind of messaging was wrong and harmful. If it doesnt help you with your life, why would you want to be vaccinated?

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Jan. 19, 2021, in Washington, D.C. (Alex Edelman/Pool/Getty Images/TNS)TNS

Even as mask mandates begin to relax this summer, they will likely never completely disappear. Businesses that have struggled to hobble through the last year financially may still require them in order to protect their employees from an outbreak that could suddenly shut them down again.

Youre going to have to carry it in your pocket until you know where you have to wear it, said Dr. Adalja.

Others may choose to continue to wear masks in the fall and winter months when influenza cases spike.

Place Kavita Patel, a primary care physician and Brookings Institute fellow in Washington, in that category.

Why? In all my years practicing, I have never seen so little flu, she said.



David Catanese of McClatchy Washington Bureau wrote this story.

2021 McClatchy Washington Bureau. Visit at mcclatchydc.com.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
The peak body for Australias universities could be overhauled and its board restructured following an independent review triggered by chancellors concerns that its relationship with the Morrison government had broken down.

The review recommended Universities Australia, which represents 39 universities, consider appointing independent directors to its vice-chancellor-dominated board and an independent chair to lead it.

Universities Australia chair Deborah Terry said the peak body would consult with its members for deciding whether to restructure its board. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

But the recommendations by education consultant PhillipsKPA are less drastic than the outcomes advocated by some chancellors who privately supported the abolition of the peak body.

Universities Australia was forced to commission the external review of its core functions in December as disquiet intensified among university chancellors that it had failed in its lobbying efforts on key issues. These included advocating the need for a plan to bring back international students and securing the sectors access to the governments JobKeeper wage subsidy scheme.
~ PMs words betray current positions ~

PHILIPSBURG:--- Independent Member of Parliament Christophe Emmanuel has called the spinning of the government in the aftermath of the Council of State advice on the COHO as typically deceitful and said the Prime Minister of St. Maarten leads the pack when it comes to compulsive lying and political spinning.

At the same time, the MP reiterated his own position that St. Maarten should not entertain COHO in any way shape or form. It will never get my support. You can dress up a pig and put lipstick on it, it will remain a pig, the MP said.

Emmanuel said that governments current back-tracking and flip-flopping to speaking now about the trajectory of the COHO and their stance being vindicated by the Council of State advice, is betrayed by their support of everything that is connected to the COHO. Including, he noted, the country package of reforms and the three laws that resulted in income and benefit reductions. Governments position, he continued, is also exposed by the words of the Prime Minister as it relates to COHO.

He said the government thumps their chest and speaks one way on radio and other media to the public to score points, then on the floor of Parliament and in letters to State Secretary Raymond Knops say something completely different. You cannot say oh look we are vindicated, then turn and do everything to facilitate a future construct of the same thing from which you claim vindication, he said.

The MP pointed out that on December 14 the Prime Minister told Parliament that the government of St. Maarten received further clarity as to the limits of the authority of the COHO which will be there solely to assist the ministries with execution and monitor the progress made. The PM said the authority of the COHO is limited by the agreements established in the package of structural reforms concluded between St. Maarten and the Netherlands. The authorities of the COHO, she continued, do not encompass the powers that traditionally and legally belong to the Government or Parliament of St. Maarten.

Remember I called this explanation, which was also reported on verbatim in local press, as a blatant lie since the COHO document clearly pointed to a complete administrative take-over. This has since been verified by the Council of State, Emmanuel said.

Furthermore, the MP reminded that St. Maarten was able to agree with the Netherlands on a possible 15 million euros grant depending on the remaining funds of the Trust Fund by mid-2021. A maximum of 15 million euros will be taken out of the Trust Fund and gifted to the Government of St. Maarten through the COHO for public financial management and tax reform. Again, more acceptance of the COHO by the government, the MP said.

The Prime Minister also said on December 14: The opinion of Parliament was clear with a majority giving support to Prime Minister Jacobs to proceed with the agreements related to the COHO. Emmanuel explained that when the reform entity was first proposed by the Dutch Cabinet in July 2020, the governments of Aruba, Curacao and St. Maarten saw the proposal as a violation of local autonomy.

However, Jacobs told MPs on December 14, and as reported on in The Daily Herald, that the COHO does not derogate the powers of government and Parliament. She said: The COHO does not affect the role of the countries and the COHO will have its own responsibilities, with extremely limited authority to execute of its own volition, said Jacobs. Its authorities are mainly derived from the agreed-upon structural reforms between St. Maarten and the Ministry of [Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations  Ed.] BZK.

The Prime Minister also lauded the discussions with Knops as a new beginning in relations between Holland and St. Maarten. Do you see the deceitfulness and word-play here? The PM obviously read the documents and concluded that the COHO was no threat to St. Maarten. She told the people the COHO was good for the country. This is the trajectory that they have followed for months. All of a sudden the Council of State shows that the COHO is exactly the opposite of everything the PM lied to the people of St. Maarten about and their story changes, MP Emmanuel said.

He also reminded that the COHO was called ambitious by Dutch MPs attending IPKO in January, some of whom questioned if the legislation was vetted. He noted that judging from the comments by MPs within the kingdom, they too were apparently also out of the loop while some also dubbed the COHO and the programs outlined in the country packages as "ambitious and unrealistic" and in some cases "impossible to execute in the timeframes mentioned."

Today, Dutch MPs are again doing the same exact thing and asking Knops why it wasnt vetted prior to even being considered as a viable option. A blind person could see that COHO is heavy-handed and gives too much control to the Dutch and undermines the countries in the Kingdom. Nobody was saying this more than me the past few months, while others sat quietly, and blatantly lied to the public, Emmanuel said.

MP Emmanuel said the public still awaits a feasible study from government about government owned companies and entities and their possible ability to assist financially as well as which exact points St. Maarten indicated to Knops to include in the COHO draft law, as indicated by the Prime Minister. And we are still waiting on the countrys budget, he said.

Additionally, the MP pointed out that by saying government wants to negotiate at this stage and discuss the trajectory of the COHO basically is a submission by government and its supporting MPs to accept the COHO in whatever for it comes. And what about the UN petition? What happens if that comes back in St. Maartens favor? Discussion on trajectory stops? What is St. Maarten going to negotiate now regarding the COHO, that it didnt since July 2020? Only questions from Curacao were included in the Council of State advice. St. Maarten had no questions about the COHO? But today claiming vindication?

He said the public has to guard against being fooled by government. They all had the COHO document just as I did. They want you to believe that they could not see clear violations in it. What they were doing and still are doing is stalling for time. They could have told you that the COHO may suspend all or part of the assistance to St. Maarten at the COHOs discretion.

They could have told you that suspension of assistance can also happen if the relevant government body or company does not implement a project or measure on time, does not implement a project or measure in the manner agreed in the national packages, or fails to provide the data and information or to cooperate. They could have taken a stand. But no, they said nothing and now want to scream vindication after the Council of State advised what any logical thinking person would have while buying time waiting on the UN and talking about trajectory.
Angel Shelton Willis Expected to Serve on Nominating and Governance Committee

Angel Shelton Willis

SPX Corporation Director Nominee

SPX Corporation Director Nominee

CHARLOTTE, N.C., March 26, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- SPX Corporation announced today that its Board of Directors has nominated Angel Shelton Willis, Vice President, General Counsel & Secretary for Sealed Air Corporation, for election to the Companys Board of Directors at its annual meeting of stockholders to be held virtually on May 11, 2021. If elected, Ms. Willis is expected to be appointed to the Nominating and Governance Committee; and, her election would expand SPXs Board to nine members.



In her current role at Sealed Air, Ms. Willis oversees all aspects of that companys global legal and compliance affairs, including commercial transactions, mergers & acquisitions, litigation, labor & employment, intellectual property, ethics and compliance, corporate governance and regulatory matters. Prior to joining Sealed Air in 2019, she served in several leadership roles at Ingersoll Rand Company, including Deputy General Counsel, Mergers and Acquisitions, Finance & Restructuring; and, she served as Corporate Counsel at Cummins Inc.

Were very pleased to nominate another highly-talented leader to serve on our Board of Directors, said Gene Lowe, President and CEO of SPX Corporation. Angel brings a complementary skillset in areas fundamental to our success. In addition to her extensive legal background, she brings deep experience in regulatory, tax, operational excellence, risk management, communications, and corporate governanceespecially in the areas of sustainability and diversity & inclusion. As a sitting General Counsel, she also brings a unique perspective, and we look forward to her contributions as a valued member of our team.

About SPX Corporation: SPX Corporation is a supplier of highly engineered products and technologies, holding leadership positions in the HVAC, detection and measurement, and engineered solutions markets. Based in Charlotte, North Carolina, SPX Corporation had approximately $1.6 billion in annual revenue in 2020 and more than 4,500 employees in 15 countries. SPX Corporation is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol SPXC. For more information, please visit www.spx.com.

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SOURCE SPX Corporation.

Investor and Media Contacts:

Paul Clegg, VP, Investor Relations and Communications

Phone: 980-474-3806

E-mail: spx.investor@spx.com

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/9b6494d1-0352-4822-887b-dc2757f3f88d




Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-26 15:34:18|Editor: huaxia

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LOS ANGELES, March 25 (Xinhua) -- The University of Southern California (USC) on Thursday announced an 852-million-U.S.-dollar settlement to resolve lawsuits from hundreds of women over sexual abuse by the university's former gynecologist George Tyndall.

"USC and the 710 women who filed civil cases in Los Angeles Superior Court involving George Tyndall have reached a global agreement that is fair and reasonable," said the university.

This is reportedly the largest sexual abuse settlement in lawsuits against any university all across the United States.

Combined with another 215-million-dollar class-action settlement approved by a Los Angeles federal judge in 2019, the university has agreed to pay over 1 billion dollars for claims against Tyndall.

Tyndall had worked as the only fulltime gynecologist at the USC student clinic for 27 years. According to an investigation by the Los Angeles Times, complaints about Tyndall's repeated misconduct toward young female patients started in early 1990s, including improperly photographing students' genitals, touching women inappropriately during pelvic exams and making sexually suggestive remarks about their bodies.

The university said the settlement "will end this litigation in state court" and the USC Board of Trustees had ratified the settlement.

"I am deeply sorry for the pain experienced by these valued members of the USC community. We appreciate the courage of all who came forward and hope this much needed resolution provides some relief to the women abused by George Tyndall," said USC President Carol L. Folt in a statement.

"This historic settlement came about through the bravery of hundreds of women and girls who had the courage to stand up and refuse to be silenced," attorney John Manly, whose firm represented 234 of the plaintiffs in the main settlement, was quoted as saying by a local news outlet City News Service.

"The enormous size of this settlement speaks to the immense harm done to our clients and the culpability of USC," the attorney added.

The Los Angeles Times, which first exposed the scandal in 2018, has reported that there was fear that the gynecologist was targeting the university's growing population of Chinese students in recent years, as some of those Chinese students had a limited knowledge of the English language and American medical norms.

USC is a leading private research university located in downtown Los Angeles. A total of 46,000 students were enrolled in the 2020-2021 academic year, including more than 6,000 from China.

According to Deng Law Center in Los Angeles, at least three former Chinese students of the university joined the lawsuits against USC in 2018. Enditem
THE head of the Kenya-based Vosh International Churches, Bishop Dr Winnie Owit has sent her condolences to the government and the people following the death of Fifth Phase Government John Magufuli.

Presenting the greetings on his behalf, in Musoma District, the Deputy Archbishop, Rev Joseph Mtatiro, stressed that the condolences were dedicated to the newly sworn-in President, Samia Suluhu Hassan, the deceased's family as well as all Tanzanians for the loss of President Magufuli who fought against, among other things, religious discrimination.

"On behalf of Vosh churches and followers in Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda and Burundi, I send these condolences to Tanzanians in recognition of the deceased's contribution towards promoting peace and solidarity. "He fought against discrimination everywhere. He sacrificed his life for Tanzanians and propelling the country to attain the middle income economy, before even the allotted time," said the Rev Mtatiro.

He further stated that the Vosh Churches loved the fallen President the way he respected God and became the best worshipper, the situation that promoted worship freedom in the country. Rev Mtatiro noted that the ongoing installation of various major projects, with some being already implemented within a-five-year period of his leadership, proved a good intention of the fallen national leader to his people.

He reiterated that Tanzanians would remember the fallen President Magufuli, who left a unique history, especially in areas of fighting selfishness and corruption, in the public interest.

"The faith of our church is that heaven is a safe place and all who die in God's name are going to the safe rest Revelation 14:13," concluded the Deputy Archbishop
Cairo  Writers, politicians and feminists pay tribute to pioneering activist who died in Cairo aged 89

Writers, politicians and feminists united on Monday to pay tribute to pioneering Egyptian activist Nawal El Saadawi following her death aged 89, vowing her work would live on through the generations she inspired in the Middle East and beyond.

In Egypt, supporters said they would commemorate her with an institute and a prize named after her, while popular actress Boshra Ahmed said she was looking for a production company to make a movie about the trailblazer's colourful life.

Born in 1931, El Saadawi trained as a doctor after rejecting a child marriage.

The author of more than 50 books, she smashed taboos from sexuality and prostitution to female genital mutilation (FGM) - a practice she suffered as a child.

Her writing and political activism made her many enemies over the decades, upsetting governments, religious authorities and hardline groups alike. She told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in 2018 she had received countless death threats.

El Saadawi was jailed in 1981 after criticising President Anwar Sadat and spent nearly two decades in exile during President Hosni Mubarak's rule.

A tweet posted on her official Twitter account after her death was announced said: "I will die, and you will die. The important thing is how to live until you die."

Bestselling Turkish-British writer Elif Shafak, U.S. congresswoman Ilhan Omar and Egyptian-American feminist Mona Eltahawy were among those who paid tribute to El Saadawi, who died in Cairo on Sunday.

"Such a sad loss for our region, our world. Rest in peace, rest in power, sisterhood and books...," tweeted Shafak.

El Saadawi's business manager Omar Ahmed said a fundraising campaign was under way to establish an official institute in her name to raise awareness of women's rights.

"It is only El Saadawi's body that died, but her thoughts and views will last for ever," he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

He said previous attempts to get official recognition for an initiative called the "Nawal El Saadawi Institute for Thought and Creativity" were scuppered because of the writer's outspoken views on religion.

Ahmed said a memorial service would be held in Cairo on Wednesday.

The Women's Center for Guidance and Legal Awareness, an Egyptian human rights organisation, said it would create a yearly award in El Saadawi's name worth 1,000 euros ($1,190).

So sad to learn that Egyptian feminist writer, thinker, activist Nawal El Saadawi has passed away. I can never forget Woman At Point Zero. Such a sad loss for our region, our world. Rest in peace, rest in power, sisterhood and books... #NawalElSaadawi pic.twitter.com/pAjxNqvTuS - Elif Shafak (@Elif_Safak) March 21, 2021

Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Egypt Women Books 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.

The activist, who remained a firebrand until her death, attracted a large following among young people across the Middle East and beyond.

In recent years, she called for women to take their mother's family name, rather than their father's name, and railed against inheritance laws that favour sons over daughters.

She also continued to speak out on FGM. Although Egypt outlawed the practice in 2008, El Saadawi said the government was too scared of Islamic groups to take robust action.

Prominent British anti-FGM campaigner Nimco Ali said El Saadawi had strengthened her own work against FGM.

"#NawalElSaadawi saved my life when I was 13. In her writing I found my voice and faith in the belief that #FGM was wrong, not me," she tweeted. "Her death is a loss to us all."

Winnie Byanyima, executive director of UNAIDS, the U.N. agency for HIV and AIDS, also hailed El Saadawi's influence on feminists in the global south.

"You inspired our generation of Southern feminists. You gave us courage and language to challenge oppression & subordination of women & claim equality ... You changed us. You changed the world," she said on Twitter.

($1 = 0.8378 euros)
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP)  California added 141,000 jobs in February as more than a quarter of a million people returned to the workforce.

The California Employment Development Department said Friday that the state's unemployment rate in February was 8.5%, down from 9% in January.

Employment in restaurants and hotels surged by more than 102,000. That's a reflection of loosening virus restrictions on businesses as more people are getting vaccinated.

California's unemployment rate remains more than 2 percentage points higher than the nation as a whole. But employment numbers could improve in the coming months as the state lifts more restrictions.
The University's Professor Jason Roach will work alongside the National Police Wellbeing Service on a research project that will study to what extent the health and wellbeing of the nation's police officers has been affected by the pandemic POLICE officers have had to overcome new obstacles and deal with challenges of a kind not witnessed before, as a result of the COVID pandemic.

Now, a research project at the University of Huddersfield will provide a snapshot of policing amidst a global pandemic and has been awarded funding from the National Police Wellbeing Service (NPWS) to carry out the research.

The University's Director of the Applied Criminology and Policing Centre, Professor Jason Roach, is to lead a team of researchers that will work with the NPWS exploring to what extent the health and wellbeing of the nation's police officers have been affected.

The idea behind the project originated after Professor Roach recognised how research into the wellbeing of NHS staff working during the pandemic was well documented but, the same couldn't be said for the nation's police officers and their psychological, emotional and physical 'wellbeing'.

Working alongside him will be Dr Michelle Rogerson, Dr Melanie Flynn, Dr Ashley Cartwright plus two PhD researchers Liam Curran and Rebecca McCarthy. Together they will create a survey that will include general questions such as how they felt doing their job during the various phases of the COVID-19 Lockdown.

"For example," said Professor Roach, "during the initial phases when no-one could be outside, the rules of social distancing where clear and easier for police to enforce, 'Stay at home, Save Lives. Protect the NHS', compared to when the relaxing of the rules happened. We'll be asking how they dealt with enforcement in the potential vagueness of it all."

The survey will be disseminated by the NPWS to potentially thousands of police staff across England and Wales.

"The police force as a whole has come on leaps and bounds over the last five years when dealing with staff mental health and wellbeing issues," said Professor Roach. "However, some forces are further down 'the wellbeing road' than others, so we are likely to get different responses from staff from different forces and working in different roles," he added.

The project's second phase will entail conducting numerous interviews with UK police staff, to identify personal accounts of working in policing during the pandemic and to acquire more detailed information relating to findings from the survey.

Professor Roach explains, "while the survey will identify 'the what', we will need to talk with police staff to understand 'the why'."

As well as identifying negative effects impacting on UK police staff wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic, the research team will also be searching for more positive factors relating to how individuals coped with the negative impact on their wellbeing from working during the pandemic. For example, which coping strategies they used, was it exercise and talking with colleagues, or if was there any specific support provided by their police forces.

When the research project is complete, the findings are to be published in an academic paper and presented to the UK College of Policing, to inform the maintaining of police wellbeing in the case of any further COVID or future pandemics.

###
(TNS)  Miami Mayor Francis Suarez believes Elon Musks Boring Company tunnel-makers could build a new mass transit system in Miamis urban core  a considerably larger vision than the original Brickell Avenue tunnel Musk initially proposed. Suarez and other Miami officials visited Musks tunnel system under Las Vegas last week.In a Monday press conference outside city hall, Suarez said the visit helped clarify  and expand  how exactly the tunnels could be used in Miami. Suarezs new vision involves a pedestrian transportation system connecting commuters from Brickell to as far north as Little Haiti, with multiple stops between. According to Suarez, the system would utilize adapted electric SUVs, like Teslas, that transport up to five passengers each through the tunnel system at high speeds. Private passenger vehicles would not be allowed.Musk also owns car maker Tesla. You get in a car, and you go through a tunnel, Suarez said. The system, with an estimated price tag of $10 million per mile, could potentially be paid for entirely by Boring Co. and financed by riders on a user-fee model, Suarez said. That is the model Las Vegas has used, and he said Miami could even piggyback off of Las Vegas procurement bid, which came with a guaranteed maximum price.Suarez noted the carrying capacity of Borings system could be as high as 60,000 per hour  higher than the Metrorails 50,000 people a day. Further savings stem from Musks tunnels being narrower than other common municipal tunnels built for handling auto traffic. Musk, who spoke personally by phone with Suarez last month, has seen mixed results getting approval for his tunnel projects.Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot has dismissed a plan by her predecessor Rahm Emanuel to build a privately financed tunnel system from the commercial Loop district to OHare Airport as a fantasy. But Las Vegas has come to embrace the systems. In addition to a tunnel system that connects guests from one end of that citys sprawling convention center to another at under a mile in distance, local officials have also approved a separate tunnel route connecting the convention center to the Las Vegas Strip. Southern California officials have also approved a four-mile route from a station along its Metrolink to a regional airport. There, cost discussions began at $45 million, but the final proposal submitted by The Boring Co. put cost of construction at $85 million, according to the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin. The convention center tunnel was built in a little over one year, and Suarez said a similar timeline could be expected for Miamis system  though he declined to tie himself to a specific time frame.Addressing whether such a system could be built through Miamis porous limestone bedrock, Suarez said Las Vegas system is built beneath that citys water table and into subsoil that is much denser. So its actually a lot harder to penetrate than it would be here, he said. Asked why this project is a priority for his administration at the moment, Suarez said the proposed system would help meet the citys growth needs going forward, and that the opportunity was too important, and unique, to pass up.Suarez said Boring Co. itself has an interest in building something here as a further endorsement of its technology and proof-of-concept. After seeing it, I even think its a better idea to do something even more comprehensive, he said. Suarez said the next steps would be to further digest their takeaways from the visit and eventually make a proposal to the city council. Ideally, he said, Miami-Dade County officials would also get on board. To those who doubt its feasibility, he has a simple response. Get on a plane and go to Las Vegas and check it out for yourself, he said. Its there. Its real.
As districts prepare to start five days a week of in-person learning, Massachusetts schools have reported 910 new COVID-19 cases, split among 682 students and 228 staff members, detected between March 18 and 24.

This shows a significant increase over last week, when 669 new cases, split between 476 students and 193 staff members, were reported. That case count was higher than the previous weeks report of 523 new virus cases.

Worcester and Boston both reported 10 staff cases, the highest number of educator cases among districts. Student cases in districts were highest in North Attleborough, with 28, according to the report. Braintree had 24 student cases, Barnstable had 22, Framingham had 21.

Of the positives in this weeks report, 672 student cases and 218 staff cases were at local school districts, 10 student cases and five staff cases were at education collaboratives, and zero student cases and five staff cases were at approved special education schools, according to data from the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

Each Thursday, DESE reports COVID-19 cases among students and members who tested positive for the virus within seven days of being inside a school building. This means students learning remotely are not included.

Find numbers for your district or school in this searchable database. If youre having trouble accessing the database, click here.

By early next month, a significant number of public school students will be back in classrooms full-time.

DESE is requiring districts to offer five days a week of in-person learning by April 5 for K-5 students and by April 28 for grade 6-8 students unless the district has received a waiver. Parents, however, can choose to keep students at home for remote learning through the rest of the school year.

The department has said that by April 5, 90% of districts will have their elementary schools fully in-person. By May 3, all elementary schools in the state will have full-time in-person learning.

Boston and Worcester, two of the states largest districts, have received waiver approvals to delay the full-time return for their districts.

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The Massachusetts unemployment rate edged down seven tenths of a percentage point to 7.1%, the state Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development announced Friday.

That 7.1% is the states best unemployment rate since it was 2.7% in March 2020, the last month before pandemic-related shutdowns were felt in the economy.

Massachusetts gained 14,100 jobs in February following a gain of 37,900 jobs in January.

The state lost 325,100 jobs on the year, according to numbers released Friday by the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics and the state Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development.

Local jobless numbers are not yet available for February. But according to the January 2021 numbers, Greater Springfield has an unemployment rate of 8.5%.

The February unemployment rate was nine tenths of a percentage point higher than the national rate of 6.2% reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Unemployment rates were lower in February in 23 states and the District of Columbia, higher in four states, and stable in 23 states, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported.

Hawaii and New York had the highest unemployment rates in February: 9.2% for Hawaii and 8.9% in New York, respectively. South Dakota, 2.9%, and Utah, 3% , had the lowest rates.

The numbers released Friday show that some are dropping out of the workforce altogether.

The February labor force decreased by 11,900 from 3,744,800 in January, as 15,700 more residents were employed and 27,600 fewer residents were unemployed over the month, the state said. The labor force participation rate, the share of working-age population employed and unemployed, dropped two-tenths of a percentage point at 66.3 percent.

The labor force was down 2,400 from the 3,747,200 February 2020 estimate, with 164,900 fewer residents employed and 162,500 more residents unemployed.

On Thursday, the federal and state governments announced that new claims for unemployment compensation surged in Massachusetts to 30,243 for the week ending March 20  up more than 10,000 claims from 19,530 the week before.

This despite new claims for unemployment being down nationally to pre-pandemic levels.

Jobs numbers and employment numbers come from two different sources. Jobs numbers come from a survey of employers. The unemployment numbers come from a survey of households.

Job gains and losses by sector of the economy:
FARMINGTON HILLS, MI -- A South Lyon family is breathing a sigh of relief after being reunited with their dog after he ran away following a car crash. The missing 9-month-old German Shepherd named Bo was found on a porch outside of a home in Farmington Hills by a resident who thought it might be the missing dog shed heard about.

Bo went missing Wednesday afternoon after fleeing from the scene of a rollover crash on I-696 near Halsted Road, leading to many in the area to look for the pup.

According to a post on the City of Farmington Hills Facebook page, a homeowner called police Thursday when she thought shed spotted the dog outside her house. Officer Brian Harbaugh responded to the call and tried to get Bo off the porch by bribing him with chicken. However, the dog would not move.

Harbaugh then reached out to Bos owners, who had been treated and released from the hospital following the crash. The owners traveled to the house, where they were reunited with Bo, who eventually came off the porch.

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The Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland has withdrawn from the Shared Island Unit, set up by the Republic's coalition government to foster good relations, as anger continues to grow among unionists at the Northern Ireland Protocol.

In a letter sent to Taoiseach Micheal Martin on Wednesday, the loyalist fraternity accused the Irish government of showing "scant regard for the views of the unionist community".

"The Orange family will not play any part in a process that masquerades as two neighbouring jurisdictions improving relationships for the benefit of both countries when in reality they pursue an agenda that enforces a Protocol that normalises and 'talks up' the inevitability of a United Ireland," the letter states.

The Irish Government's Shared Island initiative, with a budget of 500m, was set up to work with the Northern Ireland Executive and the British Government to address strategic challenges faced on the island.

It involves unionist outreach and fostering "constructive and inclusive dialogue and a comprehensive programme of research to support the building of consensus around a shared future on the island".

However, withdrawal of support from the largest unionist group involved in the Shared Island project throws the future of the initiative into doubt.

Rev Mervyn Gibson, grand secretary of the Orange Order of Ireland said the letter was in response to the mood among members "getting worse by the day as people realise the reality of what the Protocol means".

"We have withdrawn any engagement with the Shared Island Unit, because it is clear that the government in the Republic is trying to ride two horses, and therefore it has no longer had any genuine outcome.

"People are beginning to see the full implications of what the Protocol means, and I pray and I trust people will not turn to violence, but if we'd no restrictions I think there would be protests on the streets, people are being pushed into a corner."

The move by the Orange Order, which has over 1,000 lodges across the island, will further intensify pressure on both the British and Irish governments to find compromises on Brexit trade arrangements.

Earlier this month the Loyalist Communities Council (LCC), an organisation that represents the views of the UDA, UVF and Red Hand Commando, said in a letter to Boris Johnson that the paramilitary groups would be withdrawing support for the Good Friday Agreement in protest at the protocol. The Orange Order's withdrawal from the Taoiseach's Shared Island unit is designed to send a message to the heart of the Irish government that unionist's anger at the Irish Sea border is growing.

"The current situation regarding the Protocol has, in our opinion, fundamentally damaged relations between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland", the letter states.

"The attitude, actions, and words of members of the Irish Government have shown scant regard for the views of the unionist community in Northern Ireland and an extremely selective regard for the workings of the Belfast Agreement.

"The assurances by Micheal Martin that he sought to work with all to build consensus around a shared future underpinned by the Good Friday Agreement, increasingly rings hollow with our members.

"When the threat of a resurgence of border violence was introduced into the Brexit debate in Europe and talked up by Leo Varadkar, (touting a photo of a Customs Post destroyed by 'Republican' terrorists) and when the ongoing unhelpful comments of Simon Coveney over recent times are placed alongside the strong-arm tactics of your allies in the EU and US it leaves little room for hope that there is any meaningful interest in understanding, let alone addressing, the concerns of our community.

"As an organisation affected by the violence of the past, but which nonetheless had embarked on a journey to build good relations with our neighbours, we feel deeply disappointed by the Irish government's actions in recent weeks and months. We feel that the building blocks of mutual respect and co-operation have been replaced by an attitude of arrogance and indifference."

A spokesperson for the Irish Government said: "The correspondence referred to has not been received as yet.

"The Government has engagement with the Orange Order in a number of areas, and would wish to maintain and further develop that in the period ahead".




A panel of civilian experts decided Friday to recommend that the state prosecution service halt its investigation into the allegation that Lee Jae-yong, the jailed de facto leader of Samsung Group, had taken propofol shots illegally.







The committee of outside experts plans to deliver the opinion, which is not binding, to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office.







Among the 14 members of the panel who took part in the voting, eight opposed the continuation of the probe, and the rest favored it.







They failed to make a decision on whether Lee should be indicted over the suspicion, as they were evenly split over it.







A prosecution team in charge of the case said it would carry out a "comprehensive" review of the results of its investigation so far and the panel's decision.







Lee is suspected of having excessively and illegally taken the anesthesia drug at a plastic surgery clinic in Seoul in 2017 and 2018.







He has denied the allegation, arguing that he used propofol "normally" in accordance with a doctor's prescription.







He requested the case be reviewed by the independent panel to see whether the prosecution's investigation is necessary.







The prosecution service introduced the outside review system in 2018 in a bid to enhance neutrality and fairness in handling cases that are of great public interest. (Yonhap)


Accused fraudster Peter Foster has been granted bail to live in Sydneys east after a court was told there are real issues of jurisdiction to prosecuting him in NSW for allegedly stealing $2 million of the cryptocurrency bitcoin.

Mr Foster, 58, was arrested in dramatic scenes in August last year as he walked along a beach at Port Douglas in far north Queensland. He was then extradited to Sydney to face a warrant for fraud.

He was charged with five counts of publishing false and misleading material to obtain advantage, 10 counts of dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception, and one count of knowingly dealing with proceeds of crime with intent to conceal.

Police allege Mr Foster posed as a man called Bill Dawson when he launched an online scam which resulted in him being transferred almost $2 million in bitcoin by a man based in Hong Kong.
Image Credit: Thermo Fisher Scientific  Environmental and Process Monitoring Instruments

Pharmaceutical manufacturing is an industry which is both exceptionally process-driven and heavily regulated. In the best-case scenario, one mistake in manufacturing can be expensive, and in the worst, it can endanger lives, particularly if a product has already reached consumers.

The industry must comply with various guidelines that have been set out by the Food & Drug Administration (FDA), for example, the Current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP). Product quality is at the core of cGMP, which ensures the appropriate monitoring, design and management of manufacturing facilities and processes.

In addition to the management systems and processes preferred for maintaining the best laboratory testing procedures, cGMP also gives guidance on how to acquire good-quality raw materials. All of the factors play a key role in the safety and success of pharmaceutical products.

Compliance with cGMP is a necessity for manufacturers, and while safety and quality are huge concerns in the pharmaceutical industry, these guidelines do expand the amount of challenges in the manufacturing process.

Accelerating processes and outputs without compromise

Results can be dramatically affected by even a minimal amount of contaminant, and the wide range of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) employed means that verifying raw materials is a crucial step in the production process.

For the verification of materials, samples are typically sent to labs which are outside of the manufacturing floor to a team of highly trained professionals for analysis. This verification process is liable to bottlenecks and leads to frequent stoppages in production even though it is extremely accurate.

Difficulties occur when regulations demand the sampling of a statistical amount of containers for a delivered material (sqrt n+1), but the industry is moving in the direction of the verification of every single container of a delivered material (100 percent material verification).

Although it is a trusted technique, when utilizing 100 percent material verification to strengthen production safety it is vital to consider the size of delivery; this means that facilities may have to verify one drum or 1,000 drums per day.

The bottleneck issue which will be intensified by the collection of batches to test increasingly becoming time-consuming and labor-intensive which will be another obstacle later on in the production line.

Solvent drying is the partial or total removal of a solvent or solvents from an intermediate or API and it happens in a large range of process vessels, including tray dryers, vacuum dryers, and rotary dryers.

In the past testing the success of solvent drying could only be performed when the process was complete which also required outsourcing the testing of samples to an external or separate lab.

It was necessary for the product to re-enter the drying process if a test failed, which would lead to slow production times and the potentiality of over-drying the solvent, resulting in a lost batch.

It is no longer feasible to assign the testing of raw materials and drying samples to external or separate or laboratories because of the sheer number of test batches. Pharmaceutical manufacturers are looking for new tools which can accelerate the process of verification without compromising the accuracy of results.

Technologies rising to the challenge

Technological progress is currently being made in bringing the accuracy and power of the lab to the manufacturing floor. For instance, new spectroscopy technology is eliminating the requirement for facilitating raw material ID, wet chemistry testing, and other analyses to happen on the warehouse floor instead of a lab.

Those in charge of handling the inventory of raw materials and accepting shipments can test a sample quickly by utilizing a user-friendly, portable device for the verification of materials like ionic salts, including sodium chloride and potassium chloride, which are utilized extensively in buffers, injectables, and biologics.

In addition to accelerating raw material verification, analysis of the material in its original packaging means these tools also decrease the risk of cross-contamination and eliminate the requirement to transport the materials through various locations.

Process mass spectrometers can measure individual solvent concentrations in multiple dryer vents precisely and also monitor the drying process at a seperate location in the production line.

By having an advanced understanding of the emissions from APIs on the drying tray, manufacturers can now make fast alterations to temperature and heating durations.

Process mass spectrometers limit the risk of product loss from over-drying when they are utilized properly, and they can also speed up the production process while decreasing the dependence on time-consuming offline testing like Loss on Drying (LOD).

This online method significantly reduces interruptions to the process, enhances batch-to-batch quality, and shortens drying times.

Accelerating innovation through simplification

As is the case with many other industries, technological progress makes the pharmaceutical industry a more productive and much safer workplace.

Manufacturers are able to improve innovation and speed up production times with uncomplicated testing and analysis by assigning their highly technical staff towards R&D and decreasing the dependency on lab testing. The time of factory floor workers can also be better spent while maintaining compliance with cGMP and other regulations.

Acknowledgments

Produced from materials originally authored by O. Dean Stuart and Daniel Merriman from Thermo Fisher Scientific.

About Thermo Fisher Scientific  Environmental and Process Monitoring Instruments

We design and manufacture industry-leading products for Gas & particulate pollutants, Flow, gas and liquid measurement, Process analytical measurements, and Industrial Hygiene.

Technologies have proven to help customers improve efficiency, ensure process and quality control, maintain regulatory compliance, and increase worker safety.

Process mass spectrometers

Maximize product yield and increase profitability with process mass spectrometry analysis. Process gas analyzers are engineered to meet a number of challenging process applications in the petrochemical, iron, and steel, and biotechnology industries. Highly reliable and easy-to-own, Thermo Fisher Scientific process gas analysis technologies deliver faster, more complete, lab-quality online gas analysis and process analytics. Learn More

Process analytical technology/Biopharma

Process Analytical Technology (PAT) is a regulatory framework initiated by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that encourages pharmaceutical manufacturers to improve the process of pharmaceutical development, manufacturing, and quality control.

PAT aims to improve process efficiency by defining Critical Process Parameters (CPP) and monitoring these CPPs to stay within a defined limit, either in-line or on-line to maintain a products Critical Quality Attributes (CQA). Monitoring CPPs with process mass spectrometry gas analysis reduces over-processing, pinpoints contaminants, and increase product consistency. Learn More

Industrial hygiene

Industrial hygiene instruments keep your investments secure, your facilities compliant with local regulations, and your workers safe from leaking pollutants, gases, or toxic vapors. Make sure you have the most updated technology, with access to repair and calibration support to maintain reliable gas monitoring. With our environmental expertise, you can breathe easy knowing your company, workers, and neighboring communities have cleaner, safer, and healthier air quality. Learn More

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Flow measurement

Flow measurement and process control are critical aspects of producing, handling, and transporting hydrocarbons around the world. With our Thermo Scientific suite of flow computers and flow meters, we enable our customers to reduce cost, decrease lost material, automate, and monitor critical points in processes. From field to control room and upstream to downstream, our products provide greater control, confidence, and reliability. Learn More

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EDWARDSVILLE  Granite City High School teacher John S. Manoogian, the long-time director of the schools performing arts program, was indicted Thursday on multiple counts of sexual abuse.

Manoogian, 59, of Granite City, was indicted for seven counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, all Class 2 felonies, and five counts of battery, all Class A misdemeanors.

His bail was set at $150,000.

According to court documents, the alleged incidents occurred between Aug. 1, 2019, and Feb. 25, 2020, involving seven students between 14 and 16. All but one of the incidents allegedly took place at the school, with one allegedly occurring at Manoogians home, according to a press release by Madison County States Attorney Tom Haine.

It takes real courage for a young person to report sexual abuse by a teacher, Haine said. My office will prosecute this case to the fullest extent of the law. Abuse of trust by those placed in responsibility over children has no place in Madison County.

In a written statement, Granite School District Superintendent Stephanie M. Cann stated Manoogian has been on administrative leave since the district was made aware of the allegations in February 2020.

This is a district personnel issue and therefore we cannot give any further comment as such, she said.

According to Haine, the investigation started in February 2020 when three GCHS students came forward with allegations that Manoogian had engaged in acts of sexual conduct. The Granite City Police Department initiated an investigation, with additional students/victims coming forward during the investigation.

Haine credited Granite City Police, the Madison County Child Advocacy Center and Assistant Madison County States Attorney Kathleen Nolan of the Childrens Justice Division for their work during the investigation.
Were all familiar with the little sayings. Man up, be brave, dont cry, be strong. Theyre just some of the things we say to boys when theyre hurting. For all our sakes, and especially for the young women who feel afraid walking home at night, its time to change the message.

As a mother of two boys, the thoughts of my sons harassing another person is enough to keep me awake at night. No mother ever wants to imagine that her son will go out into the world and harass and hurt a woman. But ask a woman and the stories come thick and fast.

Like every woman I know, I am the keeper of these stories, too. Several friends of mine have been raped; several others sexually assaulted.

I dont have a single friend who hasnt had an experience where she felt harassed, threatened or upset by the actions of a man at some time in her life. All of these men were some mothers son.

Thats not to say the responsibility for a huge cultural shift  and that is whats required  is on the shoulders of mothers alone. Theres truth in the saying that it takes a village to raise a child, but home is where most of us are grappling with these stories of abuse and violation that women keep telling. And the stories shouldnt stop being told.

I look at my sons  the eldest will be a teenager in a few months  and, like all parents, I worry about what the cultural messaging of society will do to them.

A patriarchal culture isnt only bad for women, its bad for men too. Toxic masculinity hurts boys in the formative years of their lives. It tells them to shut off the parts of themselves that are soft and open. It tells them this isnt how to be a real man in the world. What worries me is that even though this certainly isnt the messaging theyre getting at home, societys message is all pervasive.

Some years ago a man in his 60s told me about his practise of yoga. I recall he said that, as a man, you dont get to do nice, soft things very often. To do something beautiful with your body  I like that space where I can do these things, he said.

For todays young men is it any different? Society expects them to act a certain way. Rigid notions of manhood are shutting young men down. In the US, a 2017 study of 1,328 men aged between 18 and 30 said they had been told that a real man behaves a certain way.

The atmosphere has become so charged around gender politics that to ask questions about whats going on for boys feels like youre somehow denigrating feminism. It shouldnt be an us-versus-them debate. This discussion benefits all of us.

Read More

Dr Michael C. Reichert, a US-based psychologist and author of How to Raise a Boy, says we are the ones that created boyhood, not our boys. We are the ones managing boyhood, males as well as females. If we want to change the outcomes that boyhood produces we cant look to the boys. We actually have to look to us and the messages we give them, he says.

Raising a child is hard work, but are there things we can do better as parents to equip our boys to be better men in the world? Writing about this last week, Steve Biddulph, one of the worlds best known child educators and author of the seminal book Raising Boys in the twenty-first century, began with a scenario that is deeply challenging for parents.

Your teenage son is at a party. Theres too much alcohol, too few adults. One girl is barely conscious on a couch in a side room, and in the semi-darkness several boys are laughing and tugging at her clothes, egging each other on. Would your son know what to do? Would he do anything? Or worst of all, would he be one of those boys? he asks.

When I ask him for advice around raising boys to be good men, he says empathy and caring have to be the real answers in the long term.

Everything we do with our boys, the tenderness, the boundary setting, without hitting or too much yelling or coldness, and their seeing lots of examples of good and caring men, will set them up to be someone who would never hurt a woman or girl, he says.

But in the mid-teens, its good to have that conversation. If your friends or some other boys look like they might hurt or harm a girl, what could you do? If you are at a party and a girl has too much to drink, how could you keep her safe? In this way, you engage the hero part of every boy. Rather than implying dont be bad, you are saying here is how to be good.

Biddulph points out that the small things are big things. Rather than grump about how untidy he is, teach him to cook a meal for the family once a week so he experiences usefulness and contribution. Engage the hero, he says.

Having some of these conversations that Biddulph is talking about is not easy. A friend of mine who has teenagers gave me a great tip for having the awkward conversations. Wait until youre in the car, she advises. They dont have to make eye contact with you and theres nowhere to go.

Parents cant do everything but theres a lot we can do. We can keep talking to our sons and our daughters. And maybe the next time you hear the phrase boys will be boys, when its used to explain away behaviour thats unpleasant in boys, call it out. Its not fit for purpose. It never was.
Adina has been such a valuable member of our team. Her poise, attention to detail, and willingness to learn have been great assets to both Red Banyans clients and staff, said Red Banyan Chief Operating Officer Robbin Lubbenhusen.

Red Banyan, a crisis management firm focused on managing complex, high-stakes communications issues, has promoted Adina Pollak to Account Executive. Based in the Washington, D.C. office, Pollak will be responsible for managing client accounts, cultivating media relationships and outreach, and assisting with content writing and in-depth research.

Pollak is a 2019 graduate of Tufts University, where she received a BA in History. As an undergraduate, she interned with several Jewish and non-profit organizations, supporting their marketing and outreach.

Adina has been such a valuable member of our team. Her poise, attention to detail, and willingness to learn have been great assets to both Red Banyans clients and staff, said Red Banyan Chief Operating Officer Robbin Lubbenhusen.

Established in 2010, Red Banyan is renowned nationally and internationally as the go-to option for crisis communications. Headquartered in Ft. Lauderdale, Red Banyan also has offices in Washington, D.C., Atlanta, and Los Angeles. Its LA hub was recently launched in September 2020 to better serve celebrity crisis clients and others on the West Coast. Red Banyan also provides litigation support, media relations and other strategic communications services.

Im excited for the opportunity to take on more responsibility and help our clients reach their communication goals, said Pollak. Working at Red Banyan has been such a collaborative and supportive experience, and Im looking forward to continuing my career growth at a top firm.

About Red Banyan

Red Banyan is a specialized communications firm and crisis management firm focused on solving complex, highly sensitive and mission-critical communications challenges. Specializing in crisis communications, corporate public relations, government relations, and legal PR, Red Banyan provides an integrated approach to communications rooted in strategy. Learn more at http://www.redbanyan.com, become a fan on the Red Banyan FaceBook page and follow the firm on Twitter and LinkedIn.
A man accused of killing his girlfriends toddler son  a death he says happened when the two tripped and fell at a Harris County apartment  has been indicted on a murder charge after court records show he likely faked a head wound.

A grand jury indicted Jazemond Evans, 32, this week in the death of Kobe Hardaway  a 19-month-old who died last September after authorities found him unresponsive at an east Harris County apartment complex in the 6400 block of East Sam Houston Parkway.

Evans, who was tasked with caring for the boy as the mother went to the store, said he was holding the child when he tripped over a dog and the two tumbled to the ground, authorities said.

Evans attributed the childs injuries at the time to the fall but authorities found evidence of chronic physical abuse. An autopsy determined that Kobe had brain injuries consistent with shaking and rib fractures that were in the process of healing, according to court records.

Prosecutors also said they believe Evans faked a head injury to fit his tripping narrative.

During the initial investigation, deputies inside the apartment heard a noise from the complex stairwell and rushed out to find Evans bleeding from his forehead. Body-worn camera footage shows the injury was not there when the deputies arrived, according to court records.

A blood sample taken from the stairwell railing was linked to Evans, authorities said.

Evans was charged in December with injury to a child as Harris County Sheriffs Office investigators continued the death probe. Medical examiner records have since deemed the death a homicide attributed to blunt force trauma to the head.

Kobes family could not be reached for comment.

At the time of Kobes death, Evans had been out of the Harris County Jail since February on a personal bond tied to a felony charge of evading arrest with a vehicle. He appeared earlier that week in the 262nd District Court on the charge and was later granted three years deferred adjudication in the case.

nicole.hensley@chron.com
Two floors of the building were evacuated and authorities removed the materials at around 11pm on Wednesday (NBC Chicago)

A 30-year-old MIT graduate has been found dead in an apartment in Chicago surrounded by equipment that could be used to make bombs, authorities have said.

Theodore Hilk was found dead in an apartment in Streeterville, in downtown Chicago, Illinois, on Tuesday night, NBC 5 reported.

Police said they had been called for a welfare check, but discovered the body and detected a strong odour in the apartment, prompting a hazmat response and a partial evacuation of the building.

"A strong odour was emanating from the apartment and officers began getting sick while inside the apartment. So we called the fire department hazmat," Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown said on Thursday.

Two floors of the building were evacuated, a bomb unit was called and authorities discovered and removed the materials using special containers at around 11pm on Wednesday. They were said to have been detonated safely away from the scene.

Read more:

Mr Brown said that the material found can be used to create explosives but it was unclear why it was in Hilks apartment, NBC 5 reported.

"The material that we discovered inside this apartment which, by the way, was pretty disorganised, a little bit of a hoarding situation, but that material is lead azide," Mr Brown said.

"Its a very volatile material, it can be used to create some explosive types of devices. And so we have been very careful, its taken a lot of time but we have disposed of the material from the apartment."

Three different sources told the broadcaster that no assembled explosive devices were found in the apartment.

The MIT graduate is reported to have had very little online presence and police were called after his father contacted police after he had not been heard from in days, police said.

Story continues

Reports said that the 30-year-old appeared to be a brilliant student who had a seemingly promising career in high-tech finance.

A former executive headhunter who helped Hilk get a position with Chicagos Headland Technologies told the outlet he wasnt surprised by the lab found in his apartment calling him experimental.

Patrick Spearman, a business acquaintance of Hilk, told ABC 7 that Hilk wanted to cure cancer.

Everything he worked on was in order and he kept records of everything. Hes the type of person. If hes curious about something. Hes a one-man show. Hes going to be on his own. He doesnt interact with people much, he said.

NBC 5 said that Cook County Medical Examiners office did not release a cause of death and that an autopsy was scheduled for Thursday.

Read More

At least 5 dead as series of tornadoes strike Deep South
THE Angel of death has robbed Tanzania and Africa one of the most dynamic leaders in the continent, Dr John Magufuli.

His efforts to bring development and transform the lives of ordinary Tanzanian will always be remembered and cherished by millions in and outside the country.

Dr Magufuli identified himself as a no-nonsense leader, who demonstrated transparency in his daily activities, his zero tolerance on corruption and all forms of embezzlement of public funds enabled the nation to make big steps within a short period of time.

In his regime, Dr Magufuli will be remembered for always being busy with nation building programmes, laying foundation stones and inaugurating various development projects, which became part and parcel of his life. Few weeks before he was promoted to glory, Dr Magufuli was on record for laying foundation stones and inaugurated various projects worth billions of shillings in Dar es Salaam.

In his most last public events, Dr Magufuli inaugurated the state-of-the-art Kijazi Interchange aimed at easing heavy traffic jams at the busy Ubungo junction make it history. The interchange was constructed by China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC).

Dr Magufuli said the construction of the interchange signals an end to nightmares experienced by motorists, who spent hours in traffic jams. The first interchange in the country was named Kijazi in appreciation of the former Chief Secretary John Kijazi, who died on February 17th, this year.

During the ceremony, Dr Magufuli dissolved the Dar es Salam City Council and promoted Ilala Municipal to a City Council status. The move was aimed at bringing multiple benefits to the country, including improved efficiency in service delivery.

According to some experts and academicians who were reached for comments shortly after the announcement said the restructuring of Dar es Salaam City Council would bring more benefits to the city residents and the nation at large.

However, the restructuring of the city council was among the major actions that the fallen President concentrated on in his last days before he succumbed to heart complications few weeks later. He said that one of the advantages of dissolving the Dar es Salaam City was high running costs, and instead should be directed in providing services in the new City Council.

"Dar City Council was causing unnecessary expenditure ... members of the Full Council were from all municipalities, and each municipality was being represented by three ward councillors. Imagine a City Council Mayor being a Ward Councillor from any of the municipalities and the same time being paid allowance if he attends a meeting at municipal and City Council ...this is double payment," he said.

Dr Magufuli, as usual had repeatedly gave hope to Tanzanians especially the poor ones, who he always expressed commitment to change their lives. For example, at the inauguration of the 51bn/- Mbezi Bus Terminal, the fallen hero said his mission was to see poor Tanzanians enjoying the country's resources.

In the remark, he warned authorities against overlooking and mistreating petty traders at the newly launched ultra-modern bus terminal. With the terminal christened Magufuli Bus Terminal, the Head of State, said government investments should benefit all members of the society and directed relevant authorities to ensure small traders and ordinary citizens are allowed to tap various economic opportunities offered by the imposing facility.

President Magufuli affirmed his government's commitment to implement more development projects for the benefits of the people and the country at large.

He said a total of 18 bus stands were so far constructed across the country to facilitate service delivery within a short period of time, further elaborating that the 2020/25 ruling CCM election manifesto had earmarked a number of other projects to be implemented for the betterment of wananchi.

During the event, Dr Magufuli also ordered the immediate transfer of ownership of the 52 acres of land from the Ministry of Agriculture to Ubungo District Council, for development projects in Kibamba constituency.

As he continued with his weeklong tour in Dar es Salaam region, a day after launching Mbezi Bus terminal, Dr Magufuli inaugurated the Jitegemee House that hosts studios for Africa Media Group (AMG) that airs Channel Ten, Channel Ten Plus, Magic FM and Classic FM.

He assured the public that the government will continue to cherish press freedom by working hard in strengthening rights and responsibilities of the media in the country. He said there has been an increase in the number of media outlets that have been registered in the country, a move that cements the government's commitment in working closely with members of the press.

So far, the number of radio stations also increased from 106 in 2015 to 193 in February 2021 and Televisions Stations to 25. On the same breath, the government also registered 23 online radio and 400 Online TVs, where in 2015 there were none of them. Moreover, government has also issued licenses to 247 daily, weekly and monthly newspapers and other publications.

Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Tanzania Transport 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.

During the inauguration ceremony, Dr Magufuli said the government values the contribution of media sector in the country's development and ordered for smooth flow of information from the government to the public through media. Dr Magufuli also used his three-day tour in Dar es Salaam to lay a foundation stone for the construction of Kisutu Market estimated as over 13bn/-.

The fallen Head of State said shortly after laying a foundation stone that the completion of the modern building should give a relief to small scale traders and bring changes to their economy.

As Tanzanians and Africans witness the burial of a great man at his ancestral Chato home today, it will remain in record that the nation has lost a committed leader, and a true son of Africa. And from what other leaders have been saying, it is obvious, Tanzanians will continue with the race, but should see into it that they achieve his dreams of building a strong nation.
New Delhi:

As Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched his ambitious bullet train project, insisting it would bring convenience and safety, employment and speed, he was bombarded with criticism by friends and foes alike.

The main opposition Congress called the Ahmedabad-Mumbai high-speed train an election bullet train project launched with an eye on the upcoming Gujarat Assembly polls.

BJPs ally Shiv Sena said it might be a dream project of Modi but not for the common man.Its not the time to move forward slowly as time doesnt wait.

The bullet train will bring in convenience and safety, employment and speed, he said as he launched the Rs 1.10 lakh crore venture with his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe in Ahmedabad.

However, ally Shiv Sena was far from impressed.We are getting a bullet train without asking for it. We do not know exactly which problem will this problem solve, the Sena said in an editorial in the partys mouthpiece Saamana.

Pandit (Jawaharlal) Nehru laid the foundation of several projects, from Bhakra Nangal to Bhaba Atomic Research Centre, to ensure the country advances in technology and science. All these projects were needed for the nation, it said.

Does this bullet train fit into the needs of the country? it asked and raked up the issue of agrarian distress in some states.It said the demand for waiver of farm loans was being made for the last several years and that nobody sought a bullet train.

The demand for loan waiver of farmers was being made for the last several years. Nobody sought a bullet train. Modis dream is not of the common man but of the rich and industrialists, the Sena, which shares power with BJP both in Maharashtra and at the Centre, said.

The opposition Congress, too, mounted a scalding offensive against Modi, saying the launch of the venture ahead of the Gujarat election followed a pattern of the prime minister announcing economic packages and projects before state polls.

Senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge accused the Modi government of completely abdicating its responsibility towards the safety of passengers.

He also claimed that the project was conceptualised by the previous UPA government.

It is a matter of deep concern that while the prime minister once again adopted a UPA (government) project, it took him three-and-a-half years to come to this stage of laying the foundation stone. It is only timed with the Gujarat elections in mind...This is nothing but a chunavi bullet train, Kharge told reporters in New Delhi.

He claimed the government had allocated only five per cent of the Rs 1.1 lakh crore required for railway safety despite horrific train accidents taking place in the last couple of years.

Congress spokesperson RPN Singh alleged that the BJP government was ignoring railway safety even though 259 passengers have been killed and 973 injured in 29 major railway accidents since the Modi dispensation assumed office.

They (the government) is unable to set right the faults which are causing ordinary trains to jump the tracks. Imagine what would happen if a bullet train gets off the rails, another Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit said.

However, Abe lauded Modi for being a farsighted leader in thinking of bringing the high-speed train to India.My good friend Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a farsighted leader.

He took a decision two years ago to bring a high-speed train in India and to create a new India, he said.In his speech after the launch of the project, Modi took on those who were criticising him over it.

When earlier I talked about bringing bullet train, they (opposition) used to say when will it be done.

Now that we are bringing it, they are asking Why, he said.Our stress is now on high-speed connectivity which will improve speed, reduce distance and ensure economic progress, he added.

He termed as a big gift from friend Japan theproject, which when completed, would see the train covering the distance of 500 km between the two cities in less thanthree hours instead of the usual seven now.

With PTI inputs

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Emily Mieure covers criminal justice and emergency news. She also leads the News&Guides investigative efforts. She has reported for WDRB TV in Louisville, Ky., WFIE TV in Evansville, Ind., and WEIU TV in Charleston, Ill.
Tenterfield farmer Bronwyn Petrie says her insurance premiums have increased by around 20 per cent since last year and now she no longer insures parts of her farm because its too expensive.

Petries family have owned a cattle and timber property for six generations near the north-east regional New South Wales town that has been hit with devastating fires, the pandemic and now, floods  all in the past 15 months.

The 60-year-old says poor regional fire management combined with the drought saw parts of the town burn that had never seen flames before. She lost farm infrastructure and fencing and now pays around $1800 per month for insurance, up from $1500 the previous year.

Tenterfield was hit by fires and now floods and the residents say premiums are skyrocketing. Credit:AAP

Youve got to pay that before you eat, Petrie says. You pay that with your phone, power, fuel and food before you do anything with your animals or other maintenance.
clintspencer/iStock(MONTGOMERY, AL) -- An extreme weather system tore through Alabama on Thursday, unleashing a series of deadly tornadoes that resulted in the death of at least five people.

The threat didn't abate into the evening hours, sending alarms for "violent," "long-track" twisters.

"Violent" in weather terms, mean tornadoes can unleash winds 166 mph or greater and can hit EF-4 and/or EF-5 status. "Long track" means the twisters can be on the ground for at least 25 miles.

The tornadoes killed at least three people on Thursday in Alabama's Calhoun County. More deaths may be confirmed, as reports of fatalities ad injuries in the Ohatchee area are emerging.

Tiffany DeBoer, spokesperson for the county's Emergency Management Agency, said search and rescue missions are ongoing.

Shelby County Sheriff John Samaniego said the tornadoes completely destroyed homes, causing concern if residents may be buried underneath the rubble.

"Our priority at the moment is identifying those citizens in need of emergency medical attention," said Samaniego. "We will then work with our partnering agencies to provide needed resources to our residents who are displaced. This search and outreach effort will continue throughout the night and into the early morning hours."

Beyond tornadoes, a police officer was struck by lightning in Florence when assisting with flood conditions. The officer survived and reportedly suffered burns to his back.

The system poses a danger not only to Alabama, but Mississippi as well as both states are in the threat zone. Parts of Tennessee, Georgia, Kentucky, Indiana and Illinois are also at risk.
United States President Joe Biden stated on Thursday he would alleviate China from surpassing the US to become the most powerful country in the globe on Thursday. He pledged to invest heavily to ensure America and its order of governance prevails as the quintessential model for the world.

Biden: China Will Not Be Global Leader Under My Watch

According to Biden, he had spent "hours upon hours" with Xi Jinping when he was the US Vice President under former President Barack Obama. He was convinced the Chinese president believed autocracy and not democracy was the key to the future.

In his first news conference, the president remarked, "They have an overall goal to become the leading country in the world, the wealthiest country in the world, and the most powerful country in the world. That's not gonna happen on my watch," reported Insider.

Chinese President Believes in Autocracy

The Democratic president stated he had made it transparent to Xi that his country was not looking for confrontation. He also said China has to act in accordance with international rules for fair trade, fair competition, and respect for human rights. Biden also pledged to invest heavily to ensure the US prevails in the competition between the globe's two largest economies, reported Mothership.

Economist: US Will Remain Richer Than China For the Next 50 Years or More

Meanwhile, according to an economist, the United States will remain wealthier than China for the succeeding 50 years or more. This would be long after the Asian economy is expected to surpass the US to become the global leader.

Chinese and Russian President Embrace Autocracy

The president underscored Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin's similarity for embracing autocracy. According to Biden, "He's one of the guys, like Putin, who thinks that autocracy is the way of the future, (and) democracy can't function in an ever-complex world," reported The Epoch Times.

Third Stimulus Checks To Be Received Starting This Weekend

Biden pledged to challenge China on human and trade rights. He highlighted that the United States needs to invest more in technology, science, and research to remain competitive. He also framed the escalating competition between Beijing and Washington as part of a more vast, global ideological combat between democracy and autocracy.

Holding China Accountable

The US will not be responding to China in isolation. Biden stated he would work with allies of the United States to hold China responsible for its actions. They will also push Beijing to adhere to international rules for fair trade.

GDP Per Capita Compared



The most recent International Monetary Fund data available exhibited China's GDP per capita was forecasted to be $10,582.10 in 2020. This is roughly six times smaller than $63,051.40 in the United States.

According to Simon Baptist, global chief economist at the Economist Intelligence Unit, China will become "the other very large power" along with the US on the world stage. Which country is more powerful is conditional on where they wield that power.



Biden's remarks were reminiscent of those made during his presidential campaign. They come days following the first high-level, in-person talks between Chinese and US officials under his administration in Alaska, where combative public statements led by China laid down their depth of tension.

Biden Directs Vaccination for Adults To Start by May 1



@ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
A man convicted today of stealing a life ring from Craigavon Bridge in Derry has been ordered to complete 80 hours of community service.

Rhys Nash, who is 22 years-old and from Glenowen Park in the city, admitted stealing a life ring belonging to the Royal National Lifeboat Institute on December 11 last year.

Derry Magistrates Court was told that on the night in question police received a call around 4am about a man who had been seen lifting a life ring from Craigavon Bridge.

The man had also been seen taking down a Covid-19 poster on Abercorn Road.

Officers observed Nash with the life ring and the poster near the junction of Abercorn Road and Bishop Street.

When he was spoken to by police, Nash became 'aggressive' and started resisting police as they tried to restrain him.

He was eventually arrested and taken to Strand Road.

While changing into custody clothes, a small bag containing cannabis fell from his pocket.

The court was told that when interviewed later that day in relation to the offences, Nash said he had been drinking earlier in the day but could not remember where he had been.

He admitted putting the life ring around his neck and taking it from the bridge.

He said this was 'not something he would normally do' and he felt 'terrible' because he had known people who had drowned in the river.

He told police the cannabis was for his own use.

Defence solicitor, Paddy MacDermott, described his client's actions as 'stupid, idiotic, drunken' behaviour.

Mr MacDermott said that after he had sobered up, Nash had made full admissions to police and expressed his 'shame' at his actions.

The judge said that the offences committed by Nash 'harm' the local community.

Stealing the life ring in particular was stupid and reckless and could have been extremely dangerous had anybody been in the river that night, she said.

The judge said the 'most appropriate' thing was for Nash to 'put something back into the community'.

He was ordered to complete 80 hours of community service as a 'direct alternative' to a jail sentence.
SEATTLE, March 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Security Properties Residential, the manager of 104 multifamily residential communities located throughout the United States, is excited to announce the following building have earned the Green Globes Multifamily for Existing Buildings certification from the Green Building Initiative (GBI):

Arches at Hidden Creek Apartments, Phoenix, AZ

Avanti Apartments, Las Vegas, NV

Crosspointe Apartments, Kenniwick, WA

Riverpointe Apartments, Richland, WA

The Edge at Traverse Pointe, Henderson, NV

Verona Apartments, Henderson, NV

Avanti Apartments

The certification indicates that the communities have met requirements for energy efficiency achieved through operations and resident best practices, savings that benefit the residents and the planet.

"We are thrilled that our efforts to conserve energy have been recognized by the Green Building Initiative," said Mike Voorhees, President of Security Properties Residential. "Our goal is to provide a healthy and safe environment for our residents  and to maintain a healthy and safe world."

The Green Globes certification was launched in 2004, with the GBI acquiring its global rights in 2017. To qualify for the certification, projects must achieve all minimum requirements for either energy or water. Energy performance minimums include demonstrating 15% or greater energy consumption savings over an established baseline, and meeting three energy minimum requirements. This includes achieving an ENERGY STAR score of 70 or higher (for properties with more than 20 units) or demonstrating a 15% reduction of energy use intensity compared to the national median, or for properties with less than 20 units, demonstrating 15% or greater energy consumption savings over an established baseline; confirming operations and maintenance (O&M) policy to install ENERGY STAR-labeled, Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP)-designated and/or Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers (AHAM)-verified energy-efficient products and appliances when they're being replaced, and putting into place an O&M policy for energy-efficient equipment and products if none exists; and confirming that the local utility or on-site master energy meetings provide at least aggregated whole-project energy consumption data and entering that data into ENERGY STAR portfolio manager.

"Simple changes in behavior can result in huge energy savings," Voorhees continued. "Our residents have contributed greatly to this certification."

About the Security Properties Residential

Security Properties Residential (SPR) is a national property management firm headquartered in Seattle, Washington. SPR was established by Security Properties to more closely manage its assets and subsequently, increase the value of its real estate. Security Properties (SP) is a real estate investment and operating company engaged in the acquisition, development, management, financing, operation, and disposition of multi-family residential property in both the Affordable and Market Rate sectors. The Security Properties Residential portfolio of communities reflects 104 properties encompassing approximately 24,000 multi-family housing units. SPR's largest concentration of units is located in the Puget Sound with over 12,000 units in the region. In addition to Washington, SPR manages in twelve states which include Arizona, California, Colorado, District of Columbia, Idaho, Nevada, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Utah, and Virginia. www.securityproperties.com .

ABOUT THE GREEN BUILDING INITIATIVE (GBI)

The Green Building Initiative (GBI) seeks to be innovative and provide responsive customer service as it collectively moves the needle toward a sustainable built environment. It recognizes that credible and practical green building approaches for commercial and governmental construction are critical in this effort. Responding to the reality that one size does not fit all in sustainable improvements, we sought to create a more tailored approach that takes into account the building's type, purpose, and occupants.

A 501c3 nonprofit organization, the GBI is dedicated to accelerating the adoption of building practices that result in energy-efficient, healthier and environmentally sustainable buildings.

SOURCE Security Properties Residential

Related Links

http://www.securityproperties.com


Giles' Attempted Murder Trial to Begin in August

By West Kentucky Star Staff

A man facing attempted murder and arson charges in Graves County will go to trial in August.

Forty-four-year-old John Michael Giles' jury trial is set for Aug. 10, and is expected to last three days. A review of the case is set for July 26.

MAYFIELD -

On June 5 of last year, Graves County sheriff's deputies arrived to find a mobile home engulfed in flames off Highway 129 near Dukedom. A 911 caller reported that someone had set the home on fire.

Deputies obtained arrest warrants for Giles on charges of 2nd degree arson and possession of a handgun by a convicted felon.

Giles reportedly fled, but was later arrested by Union City police.
(Alliance News) - Sound Energy PLC on Friday said it hasn't signed an agreement on a Moroccan liquefied natural gas plant, responding to local media reports.

Shares in Sound, a Kent-based gas exploration and production company, were down 6.9% to 1.68 pence in London on Friday, after climbing 29% on Thursday.

Sound is in exclusive talks with Italfluid Geoenergy SRL to rent a micro liquefied natural gas plant in the Tendrara field in Morocco. The talks were first announced on December 23.

Negotiations "continue positively and are well advanced", but no agreement has yet been reached. Talks will continue after the exclusivity expires on March 31, Sound said.

By Ivan Edwards; ivanedwards@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2021 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
And there was the time he was home watching the video cam that films the pond when he saw a woman arrive with a large dog crate from which she removed two huge, domesticated ducks. Coyne hurried to the pond to find Honey attacking the interlopers while the womans daughters cried over the fate of their pets. He removed the intruders from the water and gave the woman a stern lecture about the hazards of putting domestic ducks in a pond with wild ducks.
Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size The challenge of dislodging a ship longer than the Eiffel Tower from a remote desert stretch of the worlds most important shipping channel has captivated the world. Teams of specialists and tug boats are struggling to free the 200,000-tonne MV Ever Given from the banks of the Suez Canal, where it has sunk its front five full metres. The scale of the ship, as well as the volume of cargo it holds, are enormous. Blocking the canal, which connects Port Said on the Mediterranean Sea to the Indian Ocean via the Egyptian city of Suez on the Red Sea, has also stopped hundreds of other tankers from reaching their destination through the waterway. Every day that the Suez Canal is out of order is another day that an estimated 1.9 million barrels of oil wont flow to overseas ports and on to local petrol stations. Meanwhile, the dozens of ships carrying cement, crude oil, even live animals are stuck waiting to pass. Work to un-jam the Ever Given could take days, even weeks. Once it is freed, the backlog of other ships could take many days to clear. So while this epic gaffe inspires epic memes, the longer the vessel stays stuck, the bigger and more expensive the fallout. But the problem remains: how do you unstick this massive ship? And why does so much of the worlds shipping rely on this narrow passage of water? First, how did this happen? The enormous container ship ran aground in the Suez Canal on Tuesday, March 23 (Cairo time). The Ever Given, a relatively new ship (three years old) and operated by the company Evergreen (hence the name on the side of the ship), was sailing from China to the Netherlands when it happened.

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Evergreen says the ship was suspected of being hit by a sudden strong wind, causing the hull to deviate from the waterway. The operators say the high winds made the Ever Givens stacked containers act like sails. It could take weeks to dislodge the Ever Given vessel in the Suez Canal. Credit:AP What have been rescue efforts so far? A huge yellow excavator, itself about twice as tall as its driver, looked like a childs toy parked next to the ships hulking bow. The front of the ship is wedged about five metres into the canals wall, which is one of the main obstacles to refloating it fully, according to a person familiar with the matter. Workers are dredging the bank to enable them to eventually tow the vessel away. Above: An animation shows tugboats trying to manoeuvre the ship out of the canal wall. Credit:Vessel Finder Salvagers have tried a number of remedies: pulling it with tugboats, dredging underneath the hull and using a front-end loader to excavate the eastern embankment, where the bow is stuck. But the vessels size and weight, 200,000 metric tonnes, had frustrated salvagers as of Friday AEDT. Some marine salvage experts have said nature might succeed where tugs and dredgers have failed. A seasonal high tide on Sunday or Monday could add roughly 45 centimetres of depth to the canal, perhaps floating the ship.

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Those working on the ship may have to lighten it by removing things such as the ballast water, which helps keep it steady while at sea. Fuel could also be unloaded. Who is working on it? After initial efforts, the Ever Givens owner, Japanese firm Shoei Kisen KK, has hired Japans Nippon Salvage to assist in the re-floating, according to a person familiar with the matter. The owners have also called in SMIT Salvage, a legendary Dutch firm whose employees parachute from one ship wreckage to the next, saving vessels often during violent storms. SMIT Salvage is synonymous with some of the most daring naval salvages, including resurfacing a sunken Russian nuclear submarine in 2001, and removing fuel from inside the Costa Concordia cruise ship after it ran aground in Italy in 2012. Above: Explore this live map of ships waiting near the Suez. Its first job will be to work out exactly how entrenched in the wall the ship is, says Boskalis spokesman Martijn Schuttevaer. It will be critical to inspect the vessel and how deeply it is lodged in the embankment, Schuttevaer said. The question is how solidly she has been grounded.

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Workers might have to find a way to lighten the vessels enormous weight so that it can be pulled to a less obstructive position. Peter Berdowski, the chief of the parent company of SMIT, told Dutch TV the operation to free the ship could take days, even weeks. The ships owners said in statement, We sincerely apologise for causing a great deal of worry to ships in the Suez Canal and those planning to go through the canal. Why cant they unload it? Unloading the vessel is considered a worst-case scenario for where it is positioned. Canal authorities said they would try to avoid it. There is no port infrastructure on the stretch of the canal where the ship is stranded, meaning another vessel may have to be brought up to take on containers  which usually contain anything from furniture to televisions  in a laborious operation that could take weeks or even months. How long such a process lasts would depend on how much equipment is around to do the heavy lifting. It can often involve flying in helicopters to remove the crates one by one.

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Wasnt the canal made for big ships? The canal is a vital international shipping passage that allows a route between Europe and Asia thats much faster than sailing around Africa  but it was conceived in the 19th century, when Egypt was under the control of the Ottoman Empire. Construction began at the Port Said end in 1859 and took 10 years, with the project requiring an estimated 1.5 million workers. Loading Although the canal was engineered to handle vessels much smaller than our modern-day behemoths, its channels have been widened and deepened several times, most recently six years ago at a cost of more than $US8 billion ($10 billion). The width of the 193-kilometre-long canal is between 205 metres and 225 metres, according to the Suez Canal Authority. The beached vessel is 400 metres long (the Eiffel Tower is 324 metres high). What if it stays stuck? The canal, which handles about 10 per cent of global maritime commercial traffic, is closed. With more than 100 ships waiting to traverse the canal, it could take more than a week just for that backlog to clear, according to TradeWinds, a maritime industry news publication. A prolonged closure could be hugely expensive for the owners of ships waiting to transit the canal. Some may decide to cut their losses and reroute their vessels around Africa.

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Derrick Jaxns Christian wife rebukes critics as new mistress calls his apology for affairs a sham

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The defiant wife of embattled Christian relationship guru Derrick Jaxn invoked Scripture and the blood of Jesus against critics of their marriage Wednesday, as a newly revealed mistress called him a sex addict and alleged his recent confession of being a changed man is a sham because they had sex only days ago.

I did not come here to play games and to play dress-up. I came here in my battle suit. I came here in the battleground covered in the blood of Jesus. I received the anointing of the warrior and I spill the blood of the enemy, Jaxns wife, Da'Naia Jackson, declared in a broadcast on Instagram Wednesday.

Jacksons response came after critics raised concern online about how she was dressed as well as her mental health when she appeared with her husband in an apology video on Monday, in which the man who helped promote a Black Men Dont Cheat campaign confessed to cheating on his wife of four years with multiple women.

You see a bonnet, I see the helmet of salvation. You see an army green shirt, I see the breastplate of righteousness. I see the belt of truth, I see the sandals of peace, the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God and the shield of faith. And Ive come to the battleground covered in the blood of Jesus to proclaim victory over sin, Jackson declared to her critics, insisting her marriage will survive her husbands scandal.

You came for gossip, I came with the Gospel. You came to blame, I came to slay with the power of the Holy Spirit. And I take authority as my master has given me because behold, I have seen Satan fall like lightning.

I come trampling over snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the powers of darkness that wants to suck up marriage and divide the house of God and divide the men and women of God from each other. Some of you dont understand this because you dont have Kingdom thinking, you dont know Kingdom principles, and you dont know to act and walk in Kingdom glory. With that, I stand boldly on the word of God. And it says touch not my anointed and do my prophet no harm, she said, quoting the book of I Chronicles in the Bible.

On Monday, three days after vlogger Tasha K. released an interview with a woman identified as Candice De Medeiros alleging she had an affair with Jaxn last summer, Jackson appeared with her husband on social media in which he apologized for his behavior and suggested he had turned over a new leaf.

Now that its been made so public, its important that I, first off, let you guys know that I do not stand by those actions. I dont want to encourage anybody to do that. And then secondly, I know that I cannot build a platform preaching certain things, preaching against certain things, and then in my real life, live contrary to that for any amount of time or any length of time to any extent and think that I cant be held accountable," Jaxn said in the video.

His wife also said her husband confessed his sins to her months ago and they had begun work to repair their marriage with the help of counselors and support from men of God. Jaxn also said he had cut himself off from all the women he had extramarital relationships with.

I forgave him. And most importantly, God has first forgiven him, and I also forgive the others as well. And with that, we are free and moving forward. So thats all I have, his wife said Monday.

Shortly after his confession on Monday, however, Jaxns latest mistress, a surgeon identified only as Nikki, told Tasha K. in an interview published Wednesday that she cringed after watching Jaxns recent confession with his wife by his side because they had sex on March 18.

She said the same day he made the apology video, he called her and tried to get her to not speak publicly about their relationship. She is currently prevented from speaking further by a gag order.

He has never came to me religious. This is a new Derrick, said Nikki, who said they met last October.

He reached out to me last night and said if anyone contacts me, for me to [inaudible] hang up and block them. He said all of this was, he was supposed to do an interview with a blogger and he declined the interview and now this blogger is on a smear campaign, she told Tasha K.

She said at the time she received the call, she was unaware of the drama unfolding in his life because she didnt spend a lot of time on social media. After his call however, she discovered what was happening and she was livid.

When he reached out to me last night, his biggest fear was I have cameras in my home and I can prove that he was there. I can prove anything that needs to be proved, she said of their relationship.

She explained that she learned that he was married after she became pregnant with his child in late November. The 32-year-old surgeon said she had an abortion because she was just getting started with her career and wasnt ready for a child.

He never told me he was dealing with other women, she said of Jaxns Monday confession.

She said she asked him what the video with his wife was about and he said he was just trying to save face and that his wife only came to the home to do the video for that purpose. It was also alleged during the interview that he had a deal in the works with megachurch Pastor T.D. Jakes that he was concerned could be impacted by the scandal. The Christian Post could not immediately verify claims of a deal with Jakes.

Nikki said she blocked Jaxn from contacting her now, noting that he cant even get through our gate anymore.

She described him as a sex addict and said he never talked about God when they were together.

He talks about self-control, she said. As far as she knew, his narrative about walking with God, thats not him. That is something that he just picked up because usually, hes talking about investing. Talking about money.

She added that he told her he was a motivational speaker who also speaks at his church. She also noted that he told her he'd been separated from his wife for at least 18 months and had not yet gotten a divorce because his wifes Christian family did not believe in divorce.

He told me that she did not want to divorce because she was from a Christian home and divorce wasnt something, they  believe in, so her parents advised to separate until further notice, Nikki said.

The surgeon also called Jaxn aggressive and speculated that she thinks his wife could have suffered physical abuse during their marriage because of what she experienced with him.

[In] the video, she looked like she was afraid. Hes very aggressive. I basically told him a couple of days before Christmas that he had to leave because he was yelling in my house. And he grabbed me by my arm and was like, Ill leave when I be ready to leave. So Im pretty sure if he roughhouses me  Im pretty sure its worse in their home, Nikki said.

In her video on Wednesday, Jaxns wife said she had the protection of a host of angels.

As I speak the word of God, an innumerable amount of angels, war angels, are being released to fight the good fight on the behalf of all those looking for their freedom. Who are searching for their freedom and do not know to get it. But we overcome by the blood of the lamb and the power of our testimony. And that is exactly what we will do. There is no fire that can burn us. There is no mountain that can stop us. There is no giant that can defeat us because we have Him, our Lord and Savior, she said.
English Portuguese

SUGAR LAND, Texas, March 22, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Industrial Info's Global Project Spending Index for South America during the first two months of this year was higher than the same period in 2020. For the month of February, the index was 3.13% higher year over year.



The Project Spending Index is a monthly indicator that compares the current active spending rates to the previous year in order to get a measure of growth or contraction in the industrial market. The Global Spending Index includes the Power , Oil & Gas Production , Terminals , Pipelines , Petroleum Refining , Chemical Processing , Metals & Minerals industries.



"COVID-19 plant lockdowns and project delays significantly impacted industrial project spending in 2020," said Joseph Govreau, Industrial Info's vice president of research for the Metals & Minerals Industry. He continued: "For the year, industrial companies including power generation, oil & gas, petroleum refining and metals and minerals experienced a 31% decrease in the value of projects starting construction. That appears to be turning around in 2021, as through the first two months of 2021 we seen a 3% increase in project activity this year when compared to last year according to Industrial Info's Global Project Spending Index."



Spending in South America amounted to $120.66 billion in February, up $3.66 billion from the same month in 2020. Total global spending in February was up 9.52%.



South America's Petroleum Refining, Metals & Minerals and Chemical Processing industries posted spending increases last month.



Petroleum Refining spending amounted to $8.1 billion, up 255% from a year earlier. Latin American refining projects being tracked by Industrial Info include the grassroot 340,000-barrel-per-day Pemex Dos Bocas Grassroot refinery, now under construction in Mexico. In Peru, the modernization of the 65,000-barrel-per-day Talara Refinery is progressing.



Metals & Minerals spending in South America totaled $29.6 billion last month, up 2.4%. Chemical Processing spending was $3.3 billion, up 30% year over year.

For more on this article, click here.


Deloitte, a leading global provider of audit, consulting and financial advisory services, said it had played a major role in helping United Arab Chemical Carriers (UACC) clinch the merger deal with United Overseas Group.

A Dubai-based company, UACC was established in 2007 as a shipping business engaged in the international transportation of refined products and chemicals.

It currently owns and operates 20 vessels comprising nine IMO2/3 chemical tankers, two LR1 tankers and nine MR tankers. Additionally, it operates two vessels on bareboat charter.

Shareholders consist of a number of regional sovereign wealth funds, government institutions and prominent family offices.

Deloitte was appointed by the UACC board in October 2018 to support management in the sale of the company. In May last year, Maritime Equity Management (MEM), a management company led by Peter Georgiopoulos, an experienced shipping investor and operator, was selected as the preferred bidder.

Robin Butteriss, Partner, Corporate Finance Advisory at Deloitte Middle East, led this complex, precedent-setting transaction which has been structured as a reverse triangular merger with UOG, a wholly owned a subsidiary of MEM, said the statement from Deloitte.

This will be the first such merger under the Companies Law of the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC).

"We are honoured to have been selected as trusted advisors by UACC as the company embarks on this new chapter, especially as it is the first merger of its kind under the Companies Law of the DIFC," remarked Butteriss.

"This merger highlights the opportunities available in the GCC and wider Middle East market as well as Deloittes Financial Advisorys ability in the Middle East to deliver large complex transactions involving multiple service lines," he added.-TradeArabia News Service
At least 32 people were killed and 84 injured when two trains collided in central Egypt on Friday, health ministry officials said.

The collision happened after the emergency brakes on one of the trains, which were travelling in the same direction, were triggered by "unknown individuals", the rail authority said.

The brakes caused one of the trains to stop and the second to crash into it from behind, it said. The authority is conducting further investigations, it added.

Pictures on local media showed train carriages derailed, several of them badly damaged, above a channel of water.

The public prosecutor's office said it had ordered an investigation into the crash close to the Nile-side town of Tahta, about 365 km (230 miles) south of Cairo.

"The trains collided while going at not very high speeds, which led to the destruction of two carriages and a third to overturn," a security source told Reuters.

The health ministry said in a statement that 32 people had died and that dozens of ambulances were taking casualties to local hospitals. A health ministry spokesman said 84 people were injured.

Egypt has one of the oldest and largest rail networks in the region and accidents involving casualties are common.

Reporting by Nadine Awadalla, Lilian Wagdy, Momen Saeed Atallah and Ahmed Tolba; Writing by Aidan Lewis; Editing by London editing desk.

Also Read: President Ram Nath Kovind visits Army hospital for check-up after chest discomfort

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Education Secretary Gavin Williamson has condemned completely unacceptable protests outside a school in West Yorkshire after a teacher was suspended for showing a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad in class.

At least 50 demonstrators congregated at Batley Grammar School on Thursday, with images on social media showing the crowd partially blocking the road.

The protests were organised after it was claimed a cartoon, reportedly an image previously published by French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, was shown during a religious studies class.

West Yorkshire Police said the street outside the school had been closed for a short time. No arrests were made and no fines were issued.

The schools headteacher, Gary Kibble, apologised and said an investigation had been launched.

Read more:

However, Mr Williamson defended the school, saying: It is never acceptable to threaten or intimidate teachers.

We encourage dialogue between parents and schools when issues emerge. However, the nature of protest we have seen, including issuing threats and in violation of coronavirus restrictions are completely unacceptable and must be brought to an end.

He added that schools are free to include a full range of ... ideas and materials in their curriculum, including where they are challenging or controversial, but that they must balance this with the need to promote respect and tolerance between people of different faiths and beliefs.

Earlier, headteacher Mr Kibble said the school unequivocally apologises for using a totally inappropriate resource in a recent religious studies lesson, adding: The member of staff has also given their most sincere apologies.

We have immediately withdrawn teaching on this part of the course and we are reviewing how we go forward with the support of all the communities represented in our school. It is important for children to learn about faith and beliefs, but this must be done in a sensitive way.

The member of staff has been suspended pending an independent formal investigation.

Charlie Hebdo has long been a subject of controversy, coming under criticism for publishing cartoons considered by some to be racist or Islamophobic. Its Paris offices were stormed by gunmen aligned to Islamic State in 2015, in an attack which killed 12 people.

In October 2020, French teacher Samuel Paty was murdered and beheaded by an Islamist terrorist after he showed a series of Charlie Hebdo cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad during a class on freedom of expression.

Dr Abdul Shaikh, a local academic in Batley and Muslim activist, told PA: I was shocked like many Muslims in the town that Muslim school childrens religious sensitivities were completely ignored by the school teacher who decided to show an offensive image that lampooned the noble Prophet Muhammad.

Police said no arrests were made and no fines were issued during the incident (SWNS)

Every Muslim around the world holds the Prophet in the highest esteem.

I feel that the school should be allowed to complete their investigation in due course and find a fair and adequate solution that satisfies first and foremost Muslim pupils, their parents and the wider Muslim community in Batley.

This situation should not be allowed to happen again for the sake of community cohesion in the area.

However, the National Secular Society branded the protest as an attempt to impose an Islamic blasphemy taboo on a school.

Stephen Evans, chief executive of the society, said: Teachers must have a reasonable degree of freedom to explore sensitive subjects and enable students to think critically about them.

And the schools weak response will fuel a climate of censorship, which is brought on by attempts to force society as a whole to accommodate unreasonable and reactionary religious views.
Then-U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, a Democrat, (R) and then Chinese Vice Chair Xi Jinping talk during an expanded bilateral meeting with other U.S. and Chinese officials in the Roosevelt Room at the White House in Washington on Feb. 14, 2012. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

CCP Adviser Outlines Detailed Plan to Defeat US, Including Manipulating Elections

A leading Chinese professorwho is also an adviser to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)laid out a comprehensive plan for the communist regime to overtake the United States as the worlds superpower.

The professors multi-pronged strategy involves a range of malign actions to subvert the United States while strengthening the Chinese regime. They include interfering in U.S. elections, controlling the American market, cultivating global enemies to challenge the United States, stealing U.S. technology, expanding Chinese territory, and influencing international organizations.

Jin Canrong, a professor and associate dean of the School of International Studies at Beijings Renmin University of China, explained the plan in a July 2016 speech on SinoU.S. Strategic Philosophy. The speech, recently uncovered by The Epoch Times, was given over two full days at Southern Club Hotel Business Class in south Chinas Guangzhou city.

We want to be the world leader, Jin said, explaining Chinese leader Xi Jinpings desire for a national rejuvenation of the country.

Dubbed teacher of the state by Chinese netizens, Jin is a prominent scholar known for his fiery anti-U.S. rhetoric. Hes an adviser to several CCP organizations, including two powerful bodies, the Organization Department and the United Front Work Department, although its unclear how close he is to Xi.

Jin was also a visiting professor at the Gerald Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan, in 2003 and 2007.

The title screen of a propaganda program called How Xi Jinping Led Chinas COVID-19 Battle, from the CGTN archive is seen as it plays on a computer monitor in London, on Feb. 4, 2021. (Leon Neal/Getty Images)

Weakening the United States

The strategy to topple the United States has two broad components: weakening America through both internal and foreign sources; and strengthening the Chinese regimes economic, military, and diplomatic power.

Using a metaphor of a company to illustrate the U.S.China dynamic, Jin likened the United States to a company president and China to a vice president who wants the top job.

The United States is a middle-aged man who is good-looking, has strong capabilities, and support from most employees, Jin said.

[To replace it], we first need to create the conditions to make it easier for the United States to make mistakes. Second, we should make it as busy as possible [dealing with problems], to the extent that it will feel depressed and want to give up. Third, we should become intertwined with the United States, so that it cant attack us.

Jin said the CCP is thinking of many ways to weaken the United States, which he described as a very difficult task. The professor offered four practical tactics.

Manipulating Elections

Jin suggested that the CCP should interfere in U.S. elections to bring pro-Beijing candidates to power. He singled out races for seats in the House of Representatives as an easy target.

The Chinese government wants to arrange Chinese investments in every single congressional district to control thousands of voters in each district, Jin said.

He noted that with the U.S. population standing at about 312 million across 435 congressional districts at the time, there were roughly 750,000 residents living in each district.

The voting rate in the United States is about 30 percent, which means around 200,000 residents in each congressional district vote for the representative in that district, Jin said. Normally, the difference of votes between two candidates is 10,000 or less. If China has thousands of votes on hand, China will be the boss of the candidates.

Jin said Chinas ambition is to control at least the House.

The best scenario is China can buy the United States and change the U.S. House of Representatives into the second Standing Committee of the National Peoples Congress, he said, referring to the committee that oversees the CCPs rubber-stamp legislature.

Controlling the US Market

A container ship berthing at the port in Qingdao, Shandong Province, China, on May 17, 2019. (STR/AFP/Getty Images)

Ramping up Chinese investments in the United States is another way to exert influence in the countrys political system, Jin said, noting that this tactic has the added benefit of enriching Chinese business people and the CCP.

The investment opportunities in the United States are relatively good, he said. The U.S. market is openmore open than the Japanese and European ones. He added that the markets strengths include its size, transparency, and stability.

He said the Chinese regime wants Chinese business people to control the U.S. market and to develop their businesses in the country.

To reach this goal, the Chinese regime tried to negotiate with Washington for a U.S.China Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT). The agreement was actively negotiated for the decade prior to 2017, but fell off the agenda during the Trump administration.

Some U.S. companies want to enter the Chinese market, while the U.S.China Business Council has advocated for the signing of a BIT.

Fostering Enemies of the US

Intercontinental ballistic missiles are launched by the Vladimir Monomakh nuclear submarine of the Russian navy from the Sea of Okhotsk, Russia, on Dec. 12, 2020. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)

Jin said the CCPs strategic task is to make sure the United States has no less than four enemies. Thats how many are needed to stretch U.S. resources while bogging the government down in domestic debates over which threat to prioritize, Jin said.

For instance, before World War II, the United States had two adversaries, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union.

The Americans debated over and over about who is the real threat, he said.

If the United States has four enemies, it will totally lose its direction.

Analyzing the situation as of 2016, Jin concluded that the United States only had three adversaries: Terrorism is definitely an enemy of the United States. Russia looks like another one.  Definitely, the United States treats us [China] as a competitor.  Its not enough.

The professor said that in the past few years, the CCP had tried to cultivate Brazil into an adversary of the United States, but was unsuccessful because Brazil didnt want to be improved.

He said the CCP invested heavily in Brazil in its bid to draw support on global issues, including taking stances against the United States. Xi had visited Brazil in 2014 and agreed to invest in infrastructure in the countrys western region, as well as a railway to link ports in Brazil and Peru.

Jin said the Chinese regime had given up on this approach and was trying to find a new candidate to develop into a U.S. adversary.

Causing International Problems for the US

Jin said the Chinese regime was at a strategic advantage, due to the U.S. role as global enforcer: Whenever there is a crisis in the world, the United States is obligated to intervene to maintain global stability, which, in turn, drains U.S. resources and diverts attention away from China.

As examples, he cited the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, which he described as completely not strategically valuable endeavors that cost the United States $6 trillion and 10,000 soldiers lives.

The result was that the United States wasted 10 years without being aware of Chinas development and let China grow big, he said.

Another possible tactic would be to sell the CCPs holdings of U.S. Treasury bonds to precipitate a debt crisis, he said. According to the U.S. Treasury, China currently holds nearly $1.1 trillion in U.S. Treasury securities.

Finally, engaging in drawn-out negotiations is an effective strategy for bogging down the United States while giving the Chinese regime time to focus on developing itself, according to Jin. During such negotiations, the United States wont take punitive actions against the CCP such as sanctions and, instead, focuses its energy on preparing and carrying out the discussions.

Meanwhile, the Chinese regime, which has no intention of negotiating in good faith, uses the breathing space given to it over the course of the negotiations to solidify its power both inside and outside of China.

Former deputy national security adviser Matthew Pottinger in February warned of the CCPs negotiation traps. He said years of successive formal dialogues between the two sides, such as the Strategic Economic Dialogue allowed the regime to draw out the clock and continue its economic assaults on the United States with impunity.

Strengthening the Chinese Regime

Chinas first self-developed large passenger jetliner, the C919, is presented after it rolled off the production line at Shanghai Aircraft Manufacturing Co. in Shanghai on Nov. 2, 2015. (VCG/VCG via Getty Images)

Jin said the Chinese regime has greatly relied on U.S. trade and investments to spur its economic development over the past four decades. He highlighted four approaches to expand the CCPs economic and political power at home and abroad.

Stealing US Technology

The professor conceded that the CCP has depended on stolen U.S. technology to fuel its growth.

Chinas industry has a large output, but lacks certain technology, Jin said. In the past 30 years, we bought technology, 46 percent of which were from Germany. But the United States has the best technology, but it doesnt sell to us.

Americans think that Chinese hackers steal a lot of their things. This may very well be true.

Jin said key technology for Chinas J-20 fighter jet and DF-41 intercontinental ballistic missile was stolen from the United States.

The regime is also eager to get its hands on U.S. space technology.

In June 2016, Chinas Long March 7 rocket sent an orbital debris clean-up satellite Aolong-1 to space. Beijing claimed that Aolong-1 only brought space debris back to earth, but Jin suggested the satellite had another mission.

The U.S. said that [Aolong-1] was collecting American satellites [from space] and bringing them back to China, Jin said. We can disassemble [the U.S.] satellites and reassemble them into Chinese ones.

Expanding the Regimes Territory

Jin believes the Chinese regime will occupy the whole of the South China Sea and Taiwan in the near future.

The CCP lays claim to almost all of the South China Sea, despite a 2016 ruling by an international court finding that its territorial claims were unlawful. The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, and Taiwan have competing claims in the region. Home to rich fishing grounds and potentially valuable natural resources, the South China Sea is also one of the worlds major shipping lanes.

One of Chinas man-made islands in the South China Sea, May 21, 2015. (U.S. Navy/Handout via Reuters)

Beijing has sought to bolster its claims in the strategic waterways by building artificial islands in the area and building military outposts on them.

In one and half years [in 2013 and 2014, under Xis administration], China has created more than 3,200 acres of territory. The other four claimant states have created only 100 acres in 45 years, Jin said.

He predicted that the CCP would continue to create more features in the South China Sea.

He also boasted about the regimes success in wresting control of the Scarborough Shoal from the Philippines in 2012 with the help of Chinese fishing boats and coast guard vessels.

Even if the Philippines wants the United States to take over the reefs [in the South China Sea], the United States cant guard them, Jin said. If the United States stations an aircraft carrier there, China can simply send 2,000 fishing boats and surround the carrier. The carrier doesnt dare to fire at the fishing boats.

In relation to Taiwan, the CCP has more ways to bring the democratic island under its control, Jin said. The regime views the self-ruled island as part of its territory and has vowed to bring Taiwan under its fold with force if necessary. For instance, the regime could bribe Taiwanese politicians, ban trade and tourism from China, convince the few remaining countries that recognize Taiwan diplomatically to switch to China, block Taiwans participation in international organizations and meetings, and assassinate some Taiwanese in order to instill fear among the populace.

Building Global Influence by Leading Projects

Xis global strategy to bolster the regimes global power has two pillars, according to Jin: the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP).

BRI, also known as One Belt, One Road, is a massive global investment strategy started by the CCP in 2013 aimed at bolstering its economic and political influence across Asia, Europe, Africa, and South America. The project involves investments in infrastructure and natural resource projects in countries across the world. Its been criticized by the United States and other countries as an example of debt trap diplomacy, as it saddles developing countries with unsustainable debt burdens while allowing the regime to export its technology and governance abroad.

The ultimate purpose of BRI is to team up with the industrial power Germany. Then, theres no position of the United States in the worlds industrial playing field, Jin said.

Similarly, Jin said the FTAAP, a free-trade proposal among 21 Asian-Pacific countries, would also open a conduit of influence for the CCP in the region.

The professor also believes that countries receiving loans from the Chinese-backed New Development Bank and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank would then be beholden to the regime, Jin said.

We are building up our circle of friends in the world. We will be more powerful than the United States with more friends, he said. Then, we can tell the United States that we are the only representative of the world.

Influencing International Organizations

Jin also explained the CCPs plan to exert greater influence over global bodies such as the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, the World Health Organization, Interpol, the International Monetary Fund, the International Olympic Committee, and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

The Chinese regimes goal is for all these international organizations to be controlled by China.

We can appoint someone who speaks Chinese [and who represents China] to be its leaders, Jin said.

Qu Dongyu, Chinas candidate to head the Food and Agriculture Organization, addresses FAO members and delegates during the plenary assembly for the director-general election, in Rome on June 22, 2019. (Vincenzo Pinto/ AFP via Getty Images)

During his speech, Jin emphasized that Xi is unlike his predecessors in his ambitions. Previous CCP leaders, such as Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zemin, and Hu Jintao, worked hard to develop the regimes power but didnt dare to use it, he said.

No matter how much power you have, its nothing if you dont dare to use it, Jin said. Chairman Xi dares to use it. [Xis authorities] have the power, dare to use that power, and all of its attacks make the other party bleed.

Xis ambitions, however, cant be revealed to the outside world, the professor said.

When Xi took power in 2012, he urged the country to realize the Chinese dream. That meant becoming a moderately well-off country by 2021, and a strong, democratic, civilized, harmonious, and modern socialist country by 2049.

Jin said that Xis target is actually to replace the United States as the worlds only superpower by 2049.

[Chinese] Ministry of Foreign Affairs keeps saying [at press briefings] that China loves peace. But no reporters at the press briefings believe this, Jin said.
(Alliance News) - Scientists are to look into the effectiveness of the Oxford/AstraZeneca PLC vaccine when delivered using a nasal spray.

The University of Oxford will examine the level of immune system responses generated by the vaccine using this delivery technique, as well as monitoring safety and for any adverse reactions.

Thirty healthy Oxford-based volunteers aged 18-40 will receive the vaccine through an intranasal spray device, similar to many over-the-counter hay fever nasal sprays.

The Oxford-AstraZeneca jab is currently being delivered by intramuscular injection as part of the national rollout.

Sandy Douglas, who is leading the study, said: "Some immunologists believe that delivering the vaccine to the site of infection may achieve enhanced protection, especially against transmission, and mild disease.

"We hope this small safety-focused study will lay the foundation for future larger studies that are needed to test whether giving the vaccine this way does protect against coronavirus infection."

Douglas added: "There are a variety of people who will find an intranasal delivery system more appealing, which may mean vaccine uptake is higher in those groups.

"It might also have practical advantages a nasal sprays have been used successfully for other vaccines, for example the flu vaccine used in UK schools."

Meera Madhavan, lead clinical research fellow at the Jenner Institute, said: "This study will help us to understand the safety of, and side-effects associated with, giving the Oxford/ AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine by nasal spray.

"It is an important first step towards increasing our range of options for curtailing the spread and impact of Covid-19 globally."

Adrian Hill, director of the Jenner Institute, said the results could how effective the vaccine is in preventing disease episodes and asymptomatic infections, possibly helping to reduce transmission.

By Ted Hennessey

source: PA

Copyright 2021 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Senior Health Reporter

There has been a significant response to the national vaccination roll out by the elderly who have been coming forth to get their shots since last week.

Senior citizens made-up the bulk of the people who thronged Wilkins Infectious Disease hospital this week following the extension of the programme to cover those above 60 years of age, people with underlying conditions, teachers, hospitality industry staff as well as other frontline workers who have not been vaccinated.

Although all age groups are at risk of contracting Covid-19, older people have been classified among those who are at high risk of developing severe illness and death if they contract the disease.

Among those who got vaccinated yesterday was former Primary and Secondary Education permanent secretary Dr Sylvia Utete-Masango who commended the increased turnout.

She said the number of those coming forward was a sign that people were now more knowledgeable about the vaccine and their benefits.

"At first we were apprehensive and doubtful about the vaccines but once you get here (at the vaccination centre), it becomes clearer. As you can see the numbers are picking up and people are warming up to the vaccine," she said.

She commended the Government for the efforts to enable citizens to get the vaccine free of charge which she said would help reduce the number of people dying from the pandemic.

Retired nurse Mrs Rosemary Gwata said Covid-19 vaccines are very important and encouraged Zimbabweans to take them.

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"People will ask questions and question the vaccines, but they should know that it is very important to get vaccinated against this Covid-19 pandemic. This is why we made sure that we protected our children when they were young. They received immunisation from day one up to the time when they were grown up. The same thing is now happening with this virus and we are fortunate that there is a vaccine now. Why not take advantage of the vaccine which is being given for free. I am a nurse and I encourage all people to come and be vaccinated," she said

Another retired nurse and wife to the late national hero Dr Tichaona Jokonya, Mrs Winfrieda Jokonya, also received her first jab at Wilkins. She said there was need for more education to convince the masses to come forth and be vaccinated.

"My daughter is a doctor and she has been telling us that if there is a vaccine, we should go for it but we were a bit apprehensive. At the end of the day we realised that this is the way to go. If other people are having it and surviving, then why should we not take it?," she asked.

So far 43 294 people have been vaccinated against Covid-19 as the Government moves to increase the number of people who get the shot. The country has so far received 600 000 doses of vaccines from China. The first 200 000 was donated by the Chinese government and was used to kick-start the rollout.

The second batch consists of another Chinese donation of 200 000 and 200 000 procured by Treasury.

Government has plans to bring in two million vaccines to cater for 60 percent of the country's population to achieve head immunity.
SUEZ CANAL Transit

Phil Jones, manager of Abu Tig marina, asked us to write to him regarding our experiences transiting the canal. Here is out letter:

Phil,

Thanks again. We had a wonderful time in Abu Tig and in Egypt in general. You asked us to let you know how our transit of the canal went.

Overall, the transit was a lot like we expected and perhaps a bit better. Of course, we had heard some very bad stories and felt prepared to deal with what would occur.

We sailed overnight from Abu Tig and arrived at the Suez Canal Yacht Club around 9am. We had been in radio contact with Felix Agency for hours and they did a good job of juggling quite a few boats that were arriving. We got tied up to the buoys quickly and with plenty of help from the yacht club people.

A number of boats had previously reports excessive charges for canal transit. In Abu Tig, at least 5 boats were carefully measured and we calculated the expected charges based on the published formula. We all had these numbers for reference. The measurer was on Sea Witch with a couple of hours of arrival. Although Felix Agency had promised to accompany the measurer, they were not present on our boat or any of the other boats I spoke with that day.

The measurer came down below and sat at my saloon table. He asked me to measure my engine room - width, height and length. No other measurements of any kind were taken. He asked for the numbers from my coast guard doc certificate and also looked at the measurement form I had prepared. I showed him my calculations and the expected amount. He said he "would see".

The previous week, Heartsong III and Nighthawk had transited the canal. Their measurer (no idea if it was the same gentleman or not) had asked them for a watch, sunglasses and a phone. We had cigarettes, money in an envelope and sunglasses prepared. When he went to leave, we gave him the money ($10 USD - all the boats had agreed to not give more than that) and a pack of cigarettes. He politely asked if we had anything "to remember the boat by". We gave him a hat and a picture of the boat. So far, we were content with the process.

Well, nothing happened the rest of the day. No results, bills, etc. We met Achmed from Felix Agency and had a coffee with him. He seemed like a very nice young man. He even showed us a nice local place to each and facilitated the groups transportation, etc.

The next morning, the wind was blowing and the canal was not permitting any vessels to transit. It took until noon for us to find out what was happening. Prior to that, the person from Felix (not Achmed) kept telling people we would transit that day. OK. No big deal.

We had heard from Nighthawk that they had showed up in the morning with the bill and a pilot. Even though the bill was judged excessive by Nighthawk, they paid it because they were told there was no time to discuss/review it. We wanted to avoid this.

We all waited all day with constant promises that the bills would come and we could pay and get everything out of the way for the transit the next day. Despite constant promises, nothing happened. A number of us went to the movies; Achmed accompanied us. I did wonder who was dealing with the Suez Canal Authority but assumed they would probably pull what they did with prior boats.

Sure enough, the "bills" showed up between 9 and 10am the next morning. Actually, Achmed showed up with a "form" that he wrote numbers on in front of me. The amount for Suez Canal Fees (not agent or port fees) was $225, not the $149 I had carefully calculated. I told Achmed this was too high and he said I wouldn't get to transit if I wanted to argue. I knew I could be in for at least a day or two of delays, more Yacht Club Fees, etc. so I agreed to pay it. It was "only" $75 too much. I was never told what the calculations were, the gross tons, etc. I was never given a receipt from the Suez Canal Authority, etc. I talked with Outlandish and Poppy (the boats next to me) and they also were 50% higher than expected. By the way, all of us had precalculated our tonnage. And, our calculations matched the US calculations on our documentation certificates.

Our first pilot was delightful. His name was Halid. After we got used to the fact that he liked to drive very close to the poles on the left side, we relaxed. He was definitely paying attention to where he was going and watching/driving carefully. Our whole group was held up when a convoy was catching us. We anchored in the lake for an hour and had a pleasant conversation with Halid. He had no problems when we asked him to smoke outside the cockpit and to use the facilities over the side. We had expected to be held up at some of the "stations" and asked for cigarettes. We mentioned this to Halid and none of this happened.

We arrived in Ismalia two hours after dark and anchored (the club was full). Halid tried to get a pilot boat to take him off but a friend came by in a dinghy to do it. All the boats had agreed to give the pilots $10. We gave Halid $15 (we thought he was very nice and didn't ask for a thing and gave us great service, a couple packs of cigarettes (we hadn't had to use any at the intermediate stations), some crayons, balloons and toys for the kids (we always enjoy sending stuff to the kids). Halid gave us his phone number and said we should come visit if we get back to Egypt or stay in Ismalia. This was the kind of Egyptian hospitality we had often experienced.

Around 11pm that night, the Pilot/Police boat came by and asked for our crew list. No problem. Then, they asked for cigarettes. We gave them a pack. They asked for more and we explained we were out. Then, they asked for beer. They were getting a bit pushy. We told them we only had one left.

Day 2 of our transit was different. Our pilot was Mohammed, the chief pilot. He was polite and friendly for the first hour. He ask all the right questions to figure out whether we were wealthy or not and made repeated excuses to try and go below. We were uncomfortable with his driving as he did not seem to pay much attention. He weaved all over the place and spent a lot of time writing stuff and keeping track of the other boats. I helped him write down all the boat names, flags, etc. He spent a lot of time yelling into the radio. One minute he was friendly, the next he was yelling or complaining about his job. It seems he was a pilot on large ships where it "was air conditioned, they served great food and he didn't have to drive". He was very upset when we asked him to use the facilities outside and told us he had never been asked to do this. The Red Sea Pilot recommends this so we can assume that most boats do this. But, we simply explained that our toilet was already sealed for our open ocean passage to Cyprus.

Around noon, we served lunch. At that point, Mohammed was going to let me drive so he could eat. I punched the autopilot. After that, he let me "steer" the rest of the way. We were grateful for that.

Mohammed kept asking us to go faster. We were running about 7 knots most of the way, close to max for us. I was burning fuel at a ridiculous rate but was happy at that point to do it and get this guy off my boat. About halfway to Port Said, Mohammed was talking with one of the stations. We got the impression that we were about to stop. I put 5 packs of cigarettes on the table, told him that was what I had left and said that any packs we had to give out came from those 5. About 2 hours south of Port Said, Mohammed told me that if we went faster, we could avoid having to stop. I cranked it up another 100 rpms to maximum safe throttle and made a show of watching the engine temp carefully. We did not stop at any of the stations.

Near Port Said, Mohammed talked with customs and told us we might have to stop. He knew that any cigarettes came out of his stash. He had a heck of an argument on the radio. We eventually put a crewlist and a pack of cigarettes and a small weight in a plastic jar and just tossed these to the customs boat.

We had been told not to give the pilot their "present" until they were getting off the boat. Mohammed kept hinting but we found excuses to delay - check engine, make adjustments to the boat, etc. He asked us if we needed the third pilot and we declined.

With the pilot boat approaching, we gave him his "present" - $10 and the remaining 4 packs of cigarettes. Earlier, he had mentioned that his deaf daughter collected money from other countries. We also gave him a number of small bills from a number of other countries. He tried to hit us up for more but we held firm. No problem. We gave him two packs of cigarettes for the pilot boat. He was good about holding them up and making sure the pilot boat saw them so they wouldn't bump us.

We went out the harbor entrance and, since it was getting dark and we were tired, we anchored with 2 other boats. Just before midnight, we were awakened by a pilot/patrol boat. They were holding their boat 2-3 feet from ours and shining a huge spotlight in my face. I was instructed to contact Port Said control. Control asked what we were doing, I explained and they said that there was no problem. Then, the pilot/patrol boat asked for cigarettes. We actually had one pack left and gave it to them. This wasn't enough for them. They got very insistent and told us they needed a pack for each of the 4 people on the boat. The moved their boat right up against us and wouldn't take no for an answer. I tried to contact Port Said Control on the radio but the pilot boat kept keying their mic and preventing me from contacting them. They then turned off their lights and took off in a hurry but continued to click their mic for 15 minutes as I tried to contact Port Said. We decided we didn't feel comfortable there so we left for Cyprus.

We had dealt with small amounts of baksheesh and even some minor amounts of physical intimidation while visiting Egypt and weren't terribly bothered but what we experienced in the canal transit was excessive and left a bad taste in our mouths. We thoroughly enjoyed the Red Sea and thought about coming back next season but we do not want to deal with the canal.

We recounted our experiences with other boats. Tatanka had no problems with either pilot, only the overcharging in Port Suez. Piquet's pilot insisted on driving the boat into the club in Port Said and ended up hitting the wall. Blown Away II's pilot ran them aground at almost 7 knots while leaved Ismailia. They insisted on going back to the dock and checking the damage. The pilot - Mohammed - tried to get them to sign a paper in Egyptian that supposedly said they were happy with his services. They insisted on not transiting until the next day and insisted on a different pilot.

Overall, it seems that this year's experiences were very similar to what was written up in last year's cruising notes.

Again, thanks for all your help. We really enjoyed Abu Tig and have recommended it highly to next year's group...jpc



Jeff & Gail

Sea Witch


The country yesterday joined the global community to commemorate this year's World Tuberculosis (TB) Day with a renewed commitment to treat all TB cases.



The Ghana Health Service (GHS), which organised the forum, said that had become necessary because although treatment was free, the detection of TB cases declined by 15 per cent in 2020. This meant that more people with the highly infectious disease remained undiagnosed, thus posing a public health threat and undermining strides made in the fight against the disease over the years.



The day is observed every March 24 to raise public awareness of the devastating health, social and economic consequences of TB and step up efforts to end the global TB epidemic.



Globally, it was marked on the theme: The clock is ticking, to convey the message that the world was running out of time to act on the commitments to end TB by 2035, made by global leaders.



Reduction in cases



According to the National TB Control Programme, a unit under the GHS, the 15 per cent reduction in case detection translated in a reduction from 14,691 cases in 2019 to 12,443 in 2020.



We have the needed platform in the country to propel us to achieve the set targets. Our focus now is to re-strategise to improve TB case finding amid the COVID-19 pandemic. We have a robust and a well integrated health system with 132 GeneX machines and 55 digital X-rays in the country to test for TB.



Some of the equipment have been calibrated to also start testing for COVID 19, the Director-General of the GHS, Dr Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, said in a speech read on his behalf at a media engagement in Accra yesterday as part of activities to mark the day.



He said respiratory infection remained one of the biggest infectious diseases that killed in low and middle-income countries, including Ghana, hence no case should be missed.



PEGAS RANA MOTTORS

Dr Kuma-Aboagye said stigma was one of the hindrances in the fight against TB, and that the GHS needed all affected patients to report to health facilities for treatment, which he reiterated was free.



According to him, case detection, a shared responsibility, was critical to eradicating the disease.



He, therefore, appealed to all health workers to be on the lookout for potential cases at the outpatients departments and encouraged all persons coughing, having difficulty in breathing and fever to present themselves for testing and treatment.



He added that the country remained resolute in eradicating TB by 2035, and called for the support of all.



He stated that as part of plans to help eradicate the disease, all TB patients were enrolled onto the NHIS for free and received living support to reduce its catastrophic cost.



I entreat all health workers to be on guard and set up a one-stop screening point to actively screen patients at OPDs and all entry points in our health facilities for TB and COVID-19.



We will also entreat the general public to report to the nearest health facility whenever they experience any of the symptoms, the D-G said.



COVID-19



The National TB Control Programme Manager, Dr Yaw Adusi-Poku, attributed the 15 per cent decline in case detection to the COVID-19 pandemic that caused reduction in OPD attendances for fear of possible infection.



We should also remember that the symptoms of COVID-19, which include cough, fever, chest pains and difficulty in breathing, are similar to TB, he said.



Preliminary results of a pilot study in the Greater Accra Region on testing for both COVID-19 and TB at the same time showed that out of the 206 samples tested from January to March 2021, nine per cent (19 cases) tested positive for TB, while two per cent (four cases) tested positive for COVID-19. TB infection is spread through droplets from an infected person.

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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Landing in Connecticut Friday for the first time, Vice President Kamala Harris hailed the state for being courageous and innovative in helping children during a pandemic that has underscored the need to fight poverty and boost education.

The visit, the last stop on her national Help is Here tour highlighting the $1.9-trillion American Rescue Plan, the nations first female vice president delivered a clear message about children, and the billions of dollars in the plan for the embattled child-care system.

When a child is supported with the infrastructure that lets them know that they are loved ... that lets them know that they are respected, Harris said at a West Haven child care center. These children can and will be anything they choose, and in that way, our future is bright.

After her arrival was delayed by an hour due to fog, Harris was greeted at Tweed-New Haven Airport by top elected officials before she spoke with child-care experts and stressed the importance of helping the next generation. During her visit, Harris even had a chance to eat some of New Havens famous Sallys pizza, delivered by her staff to the center where she spoke.

Noting that 2 million women in the country left the workforce, many because of the responsibilities of motherhood in the pandemic, Harris said the billions of dollars aimed at pulling half the nations children out of poverty is historic, necessary and should be a nonpartisan issue politically.

We are at a moment, I believe that should cause us to have great optimism about what is possible, she said during a 15-minute address to parents, day care workers and educators in the West Haven Child Development Center. And we are all a part of it.

Connecticut was among the few states that focused on the need to keep day care centers open over the last year, particularly those near hospitals so essential medical workers could continue in the front lines helping COVID patients. The state has also attempted to keep open public schools and preschools. About 141,000 laptops were given to school kids and internet hot spots provided to help bridge the digital divide.

As Harris was speaking there, toward the end of a whirlwind visit that included a similar appearance at the Boys & Girls Club of New Haven, Gov. Ned Lamont announced that the state will make two-year, $50 million investment to allow parents enrolled in higher education and approved workforce training programs to access state-subsidized child care through Connecticuts Care 4 Kids Program. Connecticut is one of only three states that excludes parents in higher education and workforce training programs from child care support.

Lamont also announced that he wants to use $210 million in federal COVID relief money to invest in early childhood programs across the state, including $120 million to help child-care businesses that were hit hard by the pandemic.

We are having this conversation to hear about the challenges and crises we are facing in this country that in many ways have been accelerated by the pandemic, Harris said at the Boys & Girls Club.

Then she conceded, proudly, what Republican critics of the $1.9 trillion spending plan have said in opposing it: The massive stimulus bill, which passed with no GOP votes in Congress, is not just about lifting the nations economy out of the coronavirus recession, but also advancing a long social agenda through government programs.

And this is a moment then, as we look at where we are, it is a moment to leapfrog over what otherwise might have been incremental change to actually fast forward in addressing the longstanding issues that have affected our children, Harris said.

We are at such a critical point in our nations history, U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, of Meriden, said of childrens poverty. Its almost like a reset button.

Cardona, Lamont and U.S. Reps. Rosa DeLauro and Jahana Hayes, were among the dozens of people who greeted Harris when she landed at the New Haven airport.

Cardona, who until this year was the states education commissioner under Lamont, cited statistics on child poverty nationwide and in Connecticut on food insecurity.

We know that education can really lift up children out of poverty, he said.

Cardona said the Education Departments job is to provide resources on how this could work, and to get children back learning in-person as quickly and safely as possible in the pandemic.

Harris recognized Hayes, D-5, and DeLauro, D-3, a longtime proponent of funding for childrens programs, and called U.S. Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy her buddies from her days in the Senate.

Harris said she spoke with President Joe Biden in the White House Friday morning.

He said as I was walking out to come to Connecticut, he said, Please tell Rosa I love her, Harris recounted. Some may say he also needs DeLauro, in her new role as chair of the powerful House Appropriations Committee, which oversees all government spending.

Afterward, asked about that moment, DeLauro held both hands to her heart for a silent moment, then said, Eighteen years it took to do this, but we did it, referring to the expanded child care credit in the American Relief Act.

Harris talked about the generational impact of the plans child and family provisions. It is about working people, she said. It is about our economy. The connections between child care and all these other systems are so direct.

She recalled growing up when her mother, a cancer researcher, depended on a neighbor, Regina Shelton, to help watch Harris and her sister while her mother was working.

She could not have done that work without Ms. Shelton, Harris said, stressing how all working parents need help raising children. She wanted to talk with the group about how they are measuring the pandemics impact on mental health and poverty.

In the centers residential neighborhood, people stood on the front porches and at the end of the block, where they were kept by police, and waved and cheered.

Inside, Harris, Cardona and DeLauro also visited a classroom of preschoolers, a sporting small masks as they waited for her on a colorful carpet.

This is the best part of my day talking to you all, Harris said crouching down to speak to the children.

How do you like being the Vice President? one out-spoken girl named Galya asked Harris.

I kind of like it, Harris told her.

Editors note: an earlier version of this story misspelled the preschoolers name who spoke to Harris. That error was corrected.

Staff writers Mark Zaretsky and Julia Bergman contributed to this report
Paris, March 27 : France has accused the UK of "blackmail" over its handling of the coronavirus vaccine exports, amid continuing tensions over supply chains.

Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian was asked whether the EU had been "scammed" by sending millions of doses to the UK while its own rollout stuttered, the BBC reported.

"We need to build a co-operative relationship," he told France Info radio. "But we cannot deal this way." France has called for the EU to implement tougher export controls.

Vaccine rollouts have started sluggishly across the bloc, and the EU has blamed pharmaceutical companies - primarily AstraZeneca - for not delivering its promised doses. AstraZeneca has denied that it is failing to honour its contract.

The EU is expecting to receive about 30 million AstraZeneca doses by the end of March, less than a third of what it was hoping for.

The UK's vaccination drive, meanwhile, has so far been more successful than that of the EU's 27 member states.

On Thursday, following a virtual summit where EU leaders discussed vaccine supplies, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the bloc was the "region that exports most vaccines worldwide" and invited other countries to "match our openness".

She also said AstraZeneca must "catch up" on its deliveries to the EU before exporting doses elsewhere.
Syracuse, N.Y.  A Syracuse woman accused of killing a 93-year-old woman at the Skyline Apartments admitted to the murder before the body was found, a Syracuse police detective wrote in documents filed in court.

Victoria Afet, 23, was arraigned Thursday evening on charges of first-degree murder and first-degree burglary.

She did not appear at her arraignment Thursday night and her defense lawyer Susan Carey entered a not guilty plea for her.

Afet is accused of killing Connie Tuori on Feb. 26 in Tuoris apartment in Skyline, police said.

Afet admitted to the murder before Tuoris body was found, Syracuse police detective Matthew LaLonde wrote in a felony complaint filed in Syracuse City Court. The admission was not made to a police officer, Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick said Thursday.

At Afets arraignment, defense lawyer Susan Carey attempted to have the portion addressing Afets admission struck from the criminal complaint. Carey said the complaint -- which does not elaborate on who Afet made the admission to or what she said -- was not specific enough.

After a brief recess, the judge allowed the statement to be kept in the complaint.

Police believe Afet followed Tuori into her apartment Feb. 26 just before 3:30 p.m. Video footage shows Afet walking into the apartment and then walking out two hours later, LaLonde wrote. Afet used Tuoris key fob, according to LaLonde.

The felony complaint filed by LaLonde does not say what Afet took from Tuoris apartment.

Later that day, Afet was arrested on charges of driving a stolen car. She was ticketed and released.

Two days later, Afet was jailed after being arrested in another stolen car case, state police have said.

That timeline means Afet was free for roughly two days after the murder. During that period, she may have spent time in Tuoris apartment, but was not believed to be living there full-time, the DA said.

Other people could be seen on video coming in and out of the apartment, according to Fitzpatrick.

Afet was officially homeless at the time of Tuoris death, though tenants at Skyline said she was a regular presence in the building, roaming the lobby and hallways at will.

Afet has a lengthy history of arrests, including a robbery charge stemming from an attack on a 74-year-old at Skyline on Feb. 18, records show. A judge released her the next morning. Tuori was believed to have been killed a week later.

Afet remains jailed now with no bail. If convicted of first-degree murder, Afet faces a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole.

Read more

Accused Skyline killer followed 93-year-old victim into her apartment, police say. What happened next still a mystery

Woman charged in slaying of 93-year-old woman in Syracuses Skyline Apartments

Skyline murder suspect was accused of attacking other woman, 74, in same building and freed a day later

Skyline Apartments to hire off-duty Syracuse cops for extra security after womans murder

Walsh says hes exploring legal action against Skyline owners: Its public nuisance No. 1

Elderly murder victims family on Skyline squalor: Did they get away with this because who owns it?

Connie Tuori, 93, survived Afghanistan, Antarctica and African safari, only to be killed in her Syracuse apartment

Family IDs 93-year-old woman murdered in Skyline Apartments

Inside Tim Greens Skyline Apartments: Murder, drugs and filth. Tenants, cops say enough is enough

Woman killed at Skyline Apartments on James Street

Police, tenants push football legend Tim Greens firm to fix nightmare apartments

Got a tip, comment or story idea? Contact Chris Libonati via the Signal app for encrypted messaging at 585-290-0718, by phone at the same number, by email or on Twitter.
Syracuse, N.Y.  A DeRuyter man, who was previously convicted on child pornography charges, was sentenced this week to 18 months in federal prison for failing to disclose two email addresses to authorities, according to a federal prosecutor.

Matthew Lamb, 48, was sentenced Thursday in Syracuse after pleading guilty last year to failing to disclose a Yahoo! and a Google email addresses to authorities, as required because he is a registered sex offender.

Following his imprisonment, Lamb will serve a 16-year term of supervised release, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Southwick.

Lamb was required to register as a sex offender because of his federal conviction in 2012 for distribution of child pornography, receipt of child pornography and possession of child pornography, according to authorities.

Lamb was sentenced in late 2012 on December 6, 2012, to serve seven years incarceration in addition to a 20-year term of supervised release on that conviction.

He also admitted Thursday to violating the terms of supervised release. He was also sentenced to a consecutive term of 12-months incarceration for those violations, according to Southwick.

Got a story idea or news tip youd like to share with a Syracuse-area reporter? Please contact me through email, Twitter, Facebook or at 315-470-2274.
Justin Theroux stepped out for his daily walk with his beloved Pit Bull Zuma on Thursday in New York City.

The actor, 49, stuck to his signature look of ripped jeans with a beanie and shades.

He wore a khaki green windbreaker over a matching quilted vest and stepped out in black lace-up boots.

Always the same ensemble: Justin Theroux stuck to his signature look of ripped jeans and a beanie with shades as he walked his beloved pup Zuma in New York City on Thursday

His face mask matched the color of his hat and he held onto his dog with a chunky rope leash.

The Leftovers star was accompanied by a male friend on his post-lunch stroll.

Theroux dotes on the rescue pup whom he adopted in the aftermath of devastating Hurricane Harvey that made landfall in Texas and Louisiana in August 2017, and the two are practically inseparable.

Familiar look: The actor, 49, wore a khaki green windbreaker over a matching quilted vest and his face mask matched the color of his hat

Had company: Theroux was accompanied by a male friend as he held onto his rescue dog with a chunky rope leash

His best friend: Theroux dotes on Kuma whom he adopted in the aftermath of devastating Hurricane Harvey that made landfall in Texas and Louisiana in August 2017

Last month, the first trailer dropped for his upcoming Apple TV+ series Mosquito Coast.

The actor stars as inventor Allie Fox who uproots his reluctant wife and kids from the U.S. to start over in Mexico.

The original story was written by his uncle Paul Theroux and published in 1981.

New project: Last month, the first trailer dropped for Theroux's upcoming Apple TV+ series Mosquito Coast. He stars as inventor Allie Fox who moves his reluctant wife and kids to Mexico
by Mathias Hariyadi

For a second year, Indonesian authorities have banned the mudik, the traditional homecoming tradition associated with Islamic holidays. The exodus usually involves millions of people. No travel between 6 and 17 May. We hope that a certain kind of herd immunity can be achieved by our vaccination programme, says minister.

Jakarta (AsiaNews)  For a second consecutive year, Indonesians will not be able to travel to their home towns for Lebaran, the Eid-al-Fitr holiday. The country's authorities today issued an official order banning the annual exodus due to the ongoing COVID-19 emergency.

Traditionally, the event, known as mudik in Indonesian, involves millions of people every year. In Jakarta, the population can drop from 13 to three or four million leaving streets and roads largely empty.

According to the decree, mudik will be banned from 6 to 17 May. This period is usually a hectic time for traffic management, with officials on alert for at least two weeks before and after the feast day of Eid.

At this time of the year, the prices of airline ticket skyrocket, and malls fill up with millions of people buying clothes and a wide variety of food and drinks for guests or relatives who come to visit.

This year, the atmosphere will be the same as last year. The order came directly from President Joko Widodo, following a cabinet decision, Minister Muhadjir Effendy said.

These rules, Effendy added, must be strictly observed by every Indonesian, whether they are public servants or private sector employees.

In adopting the decision on Tuesday, the cabinet cited the urgent need for the national vaccination programme to achieve the desired results.

We hope that a certain kind of herd immunity can be achieved by our vaccination programme, Effendy explained. Still, even After May 17, people are also advised not to travel or perform outdoor activity.
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FM Sitharaman launches Central Scrutiny Centre to scrutinise user filings

Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday virtually launched Central Scrutiny Centre (CSC), an initiative of Corporate Affairs Ministry, to scrutinise the filings by users under straight through processes. The finance minister also launched the mobile app of Investor Education and Protection Fund Authority (IEPFA). The two initiatives aim to strengthen Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of 'Digitally empowered India'. The objective behind the launch of CSC is to ensure that data quality is uncompromised and free from flaws, Sitharaman said.



Karnataka govt launches 'quarantine watch' amid rising Covid-19 cases

The Karnataka government has launched a new mobile application called Quarantine Watch in Bengaluru to prevent the spread of coronavirus. The app developed by the government will monitor those on quarantine so that they do not violate the rules. Users of the app will need to send photos or selfies to the monitoring team every hour through the app. The selfies would have GPS coordinates that will tell the exact location of the person. The state government said that all the photos sent will be checked by the government photo verification team.

'Should be completely back to normal by 2022-end': Bill Gates on COVID-19 pandemic

Bill Gates has predicted that the world will be "completely back to normal" by the end of 2022, overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic. Stressing that the pandemic has been an "incredible tragedy", the Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist has heightened hopes that the virus could be brought to bay across the world in less than two years. He added that the only good news during these stressful times was the access to coronavirus vaccines.

COVID-19: Second wave may last up to 100 days, says SBI report

The second wave of COVID-19 cases in India can last up to 100 days from February 15 and the total cases in the country are expected in the order of 25 lakh, a research report by the State Bank of India (SBI) said. India is witnessing a second wave of infections from February, with daily new cases and daily tests rising again. Considering the number of days from the current level of daily new cases to the peak level during the first wave, India might reach the peak in the second half of April, the report prepared by the bank's economic research department said.

Steve Jobs' job application letter sells for GBP 162,000 at auction

Apple co-founder Steve Jobs' job application letter, which was filed almost 50 years ago in 1973, was put up for auction on Wednesday and sold for a whopping GBP 162,000 (approx. Rs 1.06 crore). Auction website Charterfeilds had put up Jobs' first job application letter for auction. The single-page job application letter was hand-written by Steve Jobs. The letter does not mention which position Jobs was applying for or the name of the company it was sent to. The document was reportedly the first job application filed by the Apple CEO, according to India Today.



Centre working on proposal to construct double-decker flyover in Jamshedpur: Nitin Gadkari

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Thursday said that the Centre is working on a proposal to build a double-decker flyover in steel city Jamshedpur to reduce traffic congestion in the city. Replying to a query from Jamshedpur MP Bidyut Baran Mahato during the Question Hour in Lok Sabha, Gadkari also said the total toll collection on national highways is expected to reach Rs 34,000 crore in the financial year ending March 31, 2021 despite farmers' protest on some highways.
Magnachip Semiconductor Corporation (NYSE: MX), the South Korean leader in display and power solutions, today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement with South Dearborn Limited, a company incorporated in the Cayman Islands, and Michigan Merger Sub, Inc., a Delaware corporation, which are investment vehicles established by Wise Road Capital LTD and certain of its limited partners.

Under the terms of the Agreement, Magnachip shareholders will receive $29.00 in cash for each share of Magnachip's common stock they currently hold, representing a premium of approximately 75% to Magnachip's 3-month volume-weighted average share price and approximately a 54% premium to the unaffected closing stock price on March 2, 2021, the last trading day before media reports of third-party interest in acquiring Magnachip. The all-cash transaction has an equity value of approximately $1.4 billion. The transaction is fully backed by equity commitments and not contingent on any financing conditions.

Following the closing of the transaction, Magnachip's management team and employees are expected to continue in their roles, and the Company will remain based in Cheongju, Seoul and Gumi, South Korea. The transaction is expected to be seamless for customers and employees across Magnachip's businesses.

Magnachip's Chief Executive Officer, YJ Kim, said: "This transaction is in the best interests of all of our stakeholders, including shareholders, customers and employees. It will provide an excellent opportunity to accelerate our MX 3.0 growth strategy. Given their deep industry expertise, Wise Road Capital is an ideal partner for Magnachip, and we look forward to working with them as we chart the next phase for our company. We remain grateful to our customers for their trust and to our fellow employees for their unwavering commitment to delivering industry-leading products to customers worldwide."

Wise Road intends to work together with Magnachip's management team to pursue the next step in the Company's growth strategy and transform the Company into a true industry leader in the global display and power markets. Through its additional investment and global network, Wise Road will help Magnachip's growth internationally. Wise Road remains absolutely committed to providing world-class products and services to the Company's customers, while creating a stable environment for the company's employees to grow and thrive.

The Board of Directors of Magnachip has unanimously approved the Agreement and recommends that Magnachip shareholders vote in favor of the transaction. Details of the transaction and the Agreement are included with the Company's current report on Form 8-K, which will be filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission in due course.

The transaction is expected to close during the second half of 2021, subject to customary closing conditions, including the receipt of shareholder and regulatory approvals.

Advisors

J.P. Morgan Securities LLC served as exclusive financial advisor and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, Richards, Layton & Finger, PA and Kim & Chang served as legal counsel to Magnachip. BMO Capital Markets Corp. served as exclusive financial advisor and Hogan Lovells US LLP and Lee & Ko served as legal counsel to Wise Road Capital LTD.
Mayor Linda Tyer, state Sen. Adam Hinds, state Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier join U.S. Rep. Richard Neal in City Council Chambers to discuss the American Rescue Plan. The presser had been planned for outside until rain changed plans. The event was streamed.

Neal Touts County's $41M Portion of American Rescue Plan



Congressman Neal speaks about the American Rescue Plan during Friday's press conference. PITTSFIELD, Mass.  U.S. Rep. Richard Neal stood in Council Chambers on Friday morning to tout the American Rescue Plan that will allocate $34 million to the city of Pittsfield and $41 million to Berkshire County.

Neal was joined by Mayor Linda Tyer, state Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, and state Sen. Adam Hinds.

"Boy, it is so refreshing to have the federal government on our side, I must say that for the entire year of 2020 It felt like communities were on their own in this fight against COVID-19," Tyer said as she opened the press conference.

"There was no national strategy in place that all Americans could embrace, and I know that situation was extremely frustrating to you, Chairman Neal, and how much you care about Massachusetts and the United States, I'm sure you felt hamstrung by a president that was incapable of national leadership but those days are behind us, and only three months into the Democratic presidency and the Democratic-led Congress, you have delivered for struggling communities all across this great nation."

As chairman of the powerful Joint Committee on Ways and Means that wrote Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act and a majority of the new rescue plan, Neal has been in charge of around $1 trillion dollars in spending during these unprecedented times.

"The Ways and Means Committee wrote the CARES Act on a Friday night in the speaker's office myself, Speaker Pelosi and [former Treasury] Secretary [Steven] Mnuchin on the phone," Neal said. "We debated the contours of the CARES Act with the Ways and Means tax staff and health care people in the office with us. We went back and forth until about one o'clock in the morning we met the media outside of the speaker's office. The CARES Act saved the American economy, period."

The committee has pushed for more assistance throughout the pandemic by expanding the $1,400 stimulus package on top of the $600 allocation that passed in December, increasing unemployment benefits with a $300 supplement through September 2021, making child dependent credit refundable so that families have cash flow on a monthly basis, increasing the retention tax credit to encourage employers to keep people working, and expanding the earned income tax credit for single filers.

"In the First Congressional District, 10,400 businesses took advantage of the paycheck loan program to keep the lights on," Neal added. "So I'm hoping that the beauty of the Berkshires, the beauty of Pittsfield, that it'll be renewed very quickly because a lot of this help with $28 billion is going to go to the reopening of our restaurants."

As a person who utilized Social Security benefits as a child, Neal said he is proud of how the legislation came to the aid of the multi-employer pension plans across the United States.

"I've been a big supporter of Social Security, defended it, used the benefit as a child, and in addition, I've looked out for Social Security increasing retirement benefits, security through the tax incentives," he said. "Three million people had their pensions saved, so these are the sorts of conversations that this legislation called forth."

Neal explained that this legislation demonstrates what government does, which is to come to the aid of people who need it. Nine and a half million jobs have not been reclaimed, he added, and ARA bill is about the "trampoline effect" and bouncing back.

"This was a seismic moment and when I cast this vote on the floor, and I don't think I've cast the more consequential vote in my career than the one we did and everybody felt good about it," he said. "I understand creating narratives, but it's legislation that changes lives."

Nationally, there are currently 30 million cases of COVID-19 that have been reported and 545,000 casualties. On a more positive note, the number of Americans now fully vaccinated is heading toward 50 million, which is about 14 percent of the population.

Almost 620,000 cases of COVID-19 cases have been reported in the state and almost 17,000 people died. There have been 3,131,419 doses of vaccine administered, and the number of people who have been fully vaccinated stands at 1,110,000, or 16.1 percent of the population.

Neal reported that President Biden has a "vigorous" goal of administering 100 million vaccinations by May and has recently increased that goal to 200 million. He said that he suspects this goal will be accomplished.

"The infrastructure is the next legislation up," Neal said, citing a phone call he received from President Biden who he said was over the moon about his ideas on the subject. "My attitude is to go big again. And I've been doing calls with the Democratic caucus, getting a lot of advice, incidentally, on how we should do it, the Ways and Means Committee."

Tyer and her team have reportedly already formed a small group of senior leaders to undertake a deeper review of the plan in order to develop policies and create programs and investments in the city.

She assured Neal that this investment in Pittsfield will be "worth their while," explaining a Pittsfield Economic Relief and Recovery Program was established in 2020 with Community Development Block Grant funding that awarded a total of $682,000 to small businesses.

The city also partnered with the Berkshire County Regional Housing Authority to provide funds for rental assistance to struggling residents and supported several nonprofits who provide vital services during the devastating pandemic, she said.

"Pittsfield lost 74 beloved citizens to COVID-19," Tyer said. "Our families and our friends in our city, we are all grieving that loss, and later today we will participate in a communitywide moment of silence for those. Pittsfield is like so many cities and towns across the United States. Pittsfield has been deeply impacted by the pandemic, our city, our businesses, our citizens have and continue to experience tremendous health, economic and community hardship."

Farley-Bouvier was struck by Tyer's comments in saying that Americans felt "on their own" once the pandemic hit. She spoke about "yo-yo dinners" in her own household, which meant that each person had to figure out what they were going to eat themselves, comparing this to what local governments, organizations, school districts, and individuals felt.

"You've got to figure it out yourself because the cavalry isn't coming," she said. "And things have changed over the last several weeks, we don't feel like we're on our own anymore."

Farley-Bouvier also pointed out the importance of representation. Having a congressman who grew up using Social Security reflects that he knows the importance of public assistance to many family's survival, she said.

"He knows what our issues are in Massachusetts and the Northeast," she added. "What it means to represent a rural community, why broadband matters so much, why the west-east train matters so much to this to this region, why the cultural economy is so important for Berkshire County."

Hinds said he couldn't even tell Neal how good it feels to know that the region's needs are understood and to have him making big decisions and writing legislation in Washington.

"The importance of the federal government cannot be overstated and we're seeing direct evidence of that right now," Hinds said. "And I also want to just thank you for making sure this is an anti-poverty bill. This is a working families bill, this is a stronger education bill, it's really amazing, this is a generational shift in the approach on how the federal government is stepping in. And that's because of you."
[March 26, 2021] Magnachip Enters into Definitive Agreement with Wise Road Capital in a Take Private Transaction Valued at $1.4 Billion

SEOUL, South Korea, March 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Magnachip Semiconductor Corporation ("Magnachip" or the "Company") (NYSE: MX), the South Korean leader in display and power solutions, today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement (the "Agreement") with South Dearborn Limited, a company incorporated in the Cayman Islands, and Michigan Merger Sub, Inc., a Delaware corporation, which are investment vehicles established by Wise Road Capital LTD and certain of its limited partners ("Wise Road"). Under the terms of the Agreement, Magnachip shareholders will receive $29.00 in cash for each share of Magnachip's common stock they currently hold, representing a premium of approximately 75% to Magnachip's 3-month volume-weighted average share price and approximately a 54% premium to the unaffected closing stock price on March 2, 2021, the last trading day before media reports of third-party interest in acquiring Magnachip. The all-cash transaction has an equity value of approximately $1.4 billion. The transaction is fully backed by equity commitments and not contingent on any financing conditions. Following the closing of the transaction, Magnachip's management team and employees are expected to continue in their roles, and the Company will remain based in Cheongju, Seoul and Gumi, South Korea. The transaction is expected to be seamless for customers and employees across Magnachip's businesses. Magnachip's Chief Executive Officer, YJ Kim, said: "This transaction is in the best interests of all of our stakeholders, including shareholders, customers and employees. It will provide an excellent opportunity to accelerate our MX 3.0 growth strategy. Given their deep industry expertise, Wise Road Capital is an ideal partner for Magnachip, and we look forward to working with them as we chart the next phase for our company. We remain grateful to our customers for their trust and to our fellow employees for their unwavering commitment to delivering industry-leading products to customers worldwide." Wise Road intends to work together with Magnachip's management team to pursue the next step in the Company's growth strategy and transform the Company into a true industry leader in the global display and power markets. Through its additional investment and global network, Wise Road will help Magnachip's growth internationally. Wise Road remains absolutely committed to providing world-class products and services to the Company's customers, while creating a stable environment for the company's employees to grow and thrive. The Board of Directors of Magnachip has unanimously approved the Agreement and recommends that Magnachip shareholders vote in favor of the transaction. Details of the transaction and the Agreement are included with the Company's current report on Form 8-K, which will be filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission in due course. The transaction is expected to close during the second half of 2021, subject to customary closing conditions, including the receipt of shareholder and regulatory approvals. Advisors J.P. Morgan Securities LLC served as exclusive financial advisor and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, Richards, Layton & Finger, PA and Kim & Chang served as legal counsel to Magnachip. BMO Capital Markets Corp. served as exclusive financial advisor and Hogan Lovells US LLP and Lee & Ko served as legal counsel to Wise Road Capital LTD. About Magnachip Semiconductor Corporation Magnachip is a designer and manufacturer of analog and mixed-signal semiconductor platform solutions for communications, IoT, consumer, industrial and automotive applications. The Company provides a broad range of standard products to customers worldwide. Magnachip, with more than 40 years of operating history, owns a portfolio of approximately 1,200 registered patents and pending applications, and has extensive engineering, design and manufacturing process expertise. For more information, please visit www.magnachip.com. Information on or accessible through Magnachip's website is not a part of, and is not incorporated into, this release. About Wise Road Capital Wise Road Capital is a global private equity firm that invests in leading technology companies. The firm focuses on identifying opportunities in enabling technologies for global urbanization and smart & green life through close cooperation with companies across several main themes, including smart city, intelligent manufacturing and renewable energies. Wise Road Capital strives to build a healthy international ecosystem around these key themes through its investments and its international management team that has a combination of industry and investment expertise. Additional Information and Where to Find It This communication is being made in respect of the proposed transaction involving Magnachip and Wise Road Capital LTD. In connection with the proposed transaction, Magnachip intends to file relevant materials with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), including a proxy statement on Schedule 14A. Promptly after filing its definitive proxy statement with the SEC, Magnachip will mail or otherwise provide the definitive proxy statement and a proxy card to each shareholder of Magnachip entitled to vote at the special meeting relating to the proposed transaction. This communication is not a substitute for the proxy statement or any other document that Magnachip may file with the SEC or send to its shareholders in connection with the proposed transaction. BEFORE MAKING ANY VOTING DECISION, SHAREHOLDERS OF MAGNACHIP ARE URGED TO READ THESE MATERIALS (INCLUDING ANY AMENDMENTS OR SUPPLEMENTS THERETO) AND ANY OTHER RELEVANT DOCUMENTS IN CONNECTION WITH THE PROPOSED TRANSACTION THAT MAGNACHIP WILL FILE WITH THE SEC WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE PROPOSED TRANSACTION AND THE PARTIES TO THE PROPOSED TRANSACTION. The definitive proxy statement and other relevant materials in connection with the proposed transaction (when they become available), and any other documents filed by Magnachip with the SEC, may be obtained free of charge at the SEC's website at www.sec.gov or at Magnachip's website at www.magnachip.com. Participants in the Solicitation This communication does not constitute a solicitation of proxy, an offer to purchase, or a solicitation of an offer to sell any securities. Magnachip and its directors and executive officers are, and certain employees may be, deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies from shareholders in connection with the proposed transaction. Information regarding the names of such persons and their respective interests in the proposed transaction, by securities holdings or otherwise, will be set forth in the definitive proxy statement when it is filed with the SEC. Additional information regarding these individuals is set forth in Magnachip's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020, filed with the SEC on March 9, 2021 and the definitive proxy statement on Schedule 14A for Magnachip's most recent Annual Meeting of Shareholders held in June 2020, which was filed with the SEC on April 29, 2020. To the extent Magnachip's directors and executive officers or their holdings of Magnachip securities have changed from the amounts disclosed in those filings, to Magnachip's knowledge, such changes have been or will be reflected on initial statements of beneficial ownership on Form 3 or statements of change in ownership on Form 4 on file with the SEC. These documents are (or, when filed, will be) available free of charge at the SEC's website at www.sec.gov or at Magnachip's website at www.magnachip.com. Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that are subject to the safe harbor created thereby. Statements that are not historical or current facts, including statements about beliefs and expectations and statements relating to the proposed transaction among the Company and Wise Road Capital LTD are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are often, but not always, made through the use of words or phrases such as "may," "will," "will be," "anticipate," "estimate," "plan," "project," "continuing," "ongoing," "expect," "believe(s)," "intend," "predict," "potential," "future," "strategy," "opportunity" and similar words or phrases or the negatives of these words or phrases. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties, and important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated, including, but not limited to: the possibility that any or all of the conditions precedent to the consummation of the proposed transaction, including, the receipt of shareholder and regulatory approvals, may not be satisfied or waived; unanticipated difficulties or expenditures relating to the proposed transaction; that the transaction may not be completed in a timely manner or at all; the occurrence of any event, change or circumstance that could give rise to the termination of the Agreement; the diversion of and attention of management of the Company on transaction-related issues; legal proceedings, judgments or settlements, including those that may be instituted against the Company, the Company's board of directors and executive officers and others following the announcement of the proposed transaction; disruptions of current plans and operations caused by the announcement and pendency of the proposed transaction; potential difficulties in employee retention due to the announcement and pendency of the proposed transaction; the response of customers, suppliers, business partners and regulators to the announcement of the proposed transaction; and other risks and uncertainties and the factors identified under "Risk Factors" in Part I, Item 1A of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020, and updated in subsequent reports filed by the Company with the SEC. These reports are available at www.magnachip.com or www.sec.gov. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update them in light of new information or future events.







CONTACTS:

In the United States: So-Yeon Jeong Head of Investor Relations Tel. +1-408-712-6151 investor.relations@magnachip.com In Korea: Mina Jeong Managing Partner, Allison Partners Tel. +82 10 6282 0677 mina.jeong@allisonpr.com



Or





Dan Zacchei / Alex Kovtun Sloane & Company dzacchei@sloanepr.com /

akovtun@sloanepr.com







View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/magnachip-enters-into-definitive-agreement-with-wise-road-capital-in-a-take-private-transaction-valued-at-1-4-billion-301256607.html SOURCE Magnachip Semiconductor Corporation

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This article originally appeared on the Texas Tribune.

Sam Webb says hes not against vaccines. His kids are up to date on their vaccines for school, and he got a flu shot a few years ago, the Weatherford truck driver said.

But he wont be getting a COVID-19 shot.

Webb, a former Army medic, is among the thousands of Republicans in Texas and across the country who say they do not trust COVID-19 vaccines and will refuse to get one  even as public health experts and elected leaders say mass vaccinations are the key to a return to normalcy from the pandemic that has plagued the nation for a year.

At the beginning of the nations vaccine rollout, experts warned that people of color, particularly Black and brown people, could be skeptical or fearful about getting vaccinated. But over the past few months, white Republicans have emerged as the demographic group thats proven most consistently hesitant about COVID-19 vaccines.

In Texas, 61% of white Republicans, and 59% of all Republicans regardless of race, either said they are reluctant to get the vaccine or would refuse it outright, according to the February University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll. Thats not an insignificant portion of the states population  over 52% of the states ballots in November were cast for former President Donald Trump.

Only 25% of Texas Democrats said they were hesitant or would refuse to get a COVID-19 shot, according to the poll.

Scientists and doctors stress that vaccines are safe and highly effective at preventing the worst outcomes of COVID-19, including hospitalizations and deaths. No one has died because of the vaccines, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports. Some people may experience short-term side effects, but those effects quickly subside.

But the trend among Republicans is nationwide. A Civiqs poll updated in March indicated that white Republicans make up the largest demographic of people in the U.S. who remain vaccine hesitant with 53% saying they were either unsure about or not getting the vaccine.

"COVID doesnt discriminate between political affiliation. [But] unfortunately, it got politicized from the beginning."

Meanwhile, people of color have shown increased confidence in the vaccine over the past few months. In October 2020, 53% of Black Texans said they would not get a COVID-19 vaccine  a percentage that dropped to 29% when asked last month, according to UT/Texas Tribune polls. By comparison, 43% of Texas Republicans said they would not get the vaccine in October, compared with 41% last month.

Most hesitancy among Republicans stems from a distrust of scientists and an unfounded concern about how new the vaccine is, said Timothy Callaghan, an assistant professor of health policy management at the Texas A&M School of Public Health.

What you do find is that over time conservatives have been more vaccine hesitant than liberals, which you can largely attribute to higher levels of distrust in the scientific establishment among conservatives, Callaghan said. However, the actions of certain political actors over the past few years have sort of intensified those beliefs within the party.

For Webb, he said he thinks its more about Republicans being distrustful of the government, and this has been pushed really hard by governmental authorities.

I'm not against vaccines, Webb said. Im against something that was rushed out so quickly.

Scientists and medical experts say no corners were cut for the COVID-19 vaccines. Built on years of research of coronaviruses, combined with global collaboration and large infusions of funding, COVID-19 vaccines were able to be developed quickly. Each of the three vaccines approved so far in the U.S. underwent clinical trials meticulously reviewed by the Food and Drug Administration.

It wasn't just this brand new thing, said Dr. Philip Huang, Dallas Countys health and human services director. It was built on prior research and development, but it is a great tremendous scientific breakthrough.

Compromising herd immunity

Andrea Norman Harmon, a Springtown resident, said she distrusts the vaccine and is relying on her Christian faith.

I haven't even done any research on it, because in my mind, there's no way that you can 100% convince me that you can tell me what the effects are five years down the road if I take this vaccine today, said Harmon, a conservative. Research shows strong evidence that mRNA vaccines like the COVID-19 vaccines will not cause long-term harm.

Harmon said she does not trust government officials, regardless of party. Shell only get her high school-aged son vaccinated for COVID-19 if it is required for school, although her children are vaccinated for other diseases, she said.

If it's voluntary, and it stays voluntary, I will never take the vaccine, she said. If it comes down to  I have to take it in order to keep my job  I will be in heavy prayer over what I need to do.

That pervasive distrust across such a broad demographic is particularly concerning for public health experts with the goal of reaching herd immunity.

Anytime there are pockets or segments of the population that don't get vaccinated, it creates pockets of vulnerability, Huang said. We want everyone to take this public health measure.

Epidemiologists estimate to reach herd immunity, between 70% and 90% of the population needs to be vaccinated. Because the vaccines arent approved for people under 16, that means virtually all adults in Texas.

Its not only Texas, but we look at some other states where a large proportion of them are Republicans, said Jamboor K. Vishwanatha, founding director of Texas Center for Health Disparities. Its a brutal fact  I mean it's going to affect all, because we will not be able to reach herd immunity. And with all of these new variants that may be coming, COVID may be with us for the long haul.

COVID doesnt discriminate between political affiliation, Vishwanatha added. [But] unfortunately, it got politicized from the beginning.

Political rhetoric

Elected leaders like former President Donald Trump have at times downplayed the severity of the virus while denigrating scientists who urged for increased caution. Trump, who received the vaccine, did so off camera and did not make a strong public push for Americans to get vaccinated.

Tasha Philpot, a University of Texas at Austin political science professor, said Republican Gov. Greg Abbotts messaging has been tepid in its encouragement of Texans getting vaccinated. Abbott received his first dose live on TV, but he also stresses in his public statements that the vaccines are always voluntary, a nod to members of his party who reject the vaccine.

Philpot said Abbotts decision to end most of the states COVID-19 restrictions earlier this month also sent a message to his party: The pandemic is over.

It's a signaling game, she said. I think if the signal had come from a credible source in their eyes, that we would be having a completely different discussion going on right now.

Abbott did not respond to request for comment.

Many Republican officials are attempting to simultaneously appeal to two different crowds  with the Republican party nearly split down the middle on attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccines, she said.

The last thing they want to do is upset their base, said Callaghan, the health policy management professor at Texas A&M. If Abbott came out, full-throated, saying everyone really needs to do this so we can put the pandemic into decline and get back to normal and get Texas back to the way it should be  that might send a different signal to get more Republicans to vaccinate.

Dallas GOP chairperson Rodney Anderson stressed that the Republican Party isnt a monolith  there are many who want the vaccine and there are a variety of reasons some might not want it. However, Anderson declined to share his personal views on the vaccine.

Anderson said most of his fellow party members that hes talked to cite concerns that the vaccine was quickly developed. He said he thinks those who believe in conspiracy theories surrounding the vaccines or virus are in the minority.

But Anderson said GOP leaders like Abbott and others have done an admirable job encouraging Texans of all political leanings to be vaccinated.

The communication at the state level between the governor, lieutenant governor of encouraging individuals [to] get vaccinated, get vaccinated, get vaccinated, has been appropriate and has been effective, he said.

Vaccine acceptance in communities of color

When the vaccine first began rolling out, headlines and polls emerged indicating that people of color, especially Black and Hispanic people, were more hesitant about getting vaccinated than other demographics.

However, over time those numbers have changed. According to the UT/Texas Tribune polls, Black Texans hesitancy dropped by 24 percentage points from November to February.

Among Hispanic Texans, attitudes toward the vaccine diverge based on political affiliation. About half of Hispanic Republicans said they were either against or unsure about getting a vaccine, compared with 34% of Hispanic Democrats who said the same.

Still, a higher percentage of Hispanic Republicans in Texas who were polled said they would get vaccinated than white Republicans.

The UT/TT Poll did not receive a large enough sample of Black Republican respondents to derive meaningful results.

Some initial surveys indicated that there was vaccine hesitancy among people of color, but recent polls are showing that sentiment has largely decreased, Vishwanatha with the Texas Center for Health Disparities said, saying the problem is more about access.

The sentiment that Black and Hispanic people are less likely to want the vaccine is dangerous, Vishwanatha said, because of the disparities that persist. Black and Hispanic Texans already face disproportionately higher rates of dying or being hospitalized after being infected with COVID-19. And according to state data, they are being vaccinated at rates much lower than white people.

By kind of pushing this narrative that Black people don't want the vaccine anyway  it's kind of blurring over the fact that there's this racial divide in terms of the dissemination of the vaccine and who gets who's actually getting access to it, Philpot said.

Also notable is the difference in the root cause of why people of color are hesitant to get vaccinated compared to white Republicans.

The huge difference between those two groups is this unique mistreatment of the Black community by the medical establishment, both historically and in modern times, that gives them additional pause about participating in a new vaccination program, Callaghan said. And that's simply just not a reason why Republicans are hesitant to vaccinate against COVID-19.

Disclosure: University of Texas at Austin has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.
The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources believes a all-hands-on-deck approach is one of the surest ways of eliminating the activities of illegal mining and the wanton degradation of the environment to bring more efficiency in land service delivery.



Mr Samuel Abu Jinapor, during a two-day working visit to the Ashanti Region, reiterated governments commitment to protect the countrys natural resources, when he called on the Asantehene Otumfou Osei Tutu II at the Manhyia Palace.



The President [Nana Addo] has tasked me to go around the country and see to myself the situation on the ground and work on it....the Akufo-Addo government is committed to the fight against illegal mining and will leave no stone unturned in ensuring that mining activities are duly regulated, he said .



The minister also highlighted efforts being made by the government in improving the lands administration system in the country as directed by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.



Whiles promising to justify the confidence reposed in him by being diligent in the discharge of his duties, Mr Jinapor also lauded the Asantehene for ensuring no lands disputes in his region over the years.



I am very impressed with how lands issues are managed in the Ashanti Region, all thanks to the King, he said  adding that, I am ready to learn from the King.



The Lands and Natural Resources minister later met with the Regional Security Council, Forest Industry Association of Ghana and the Regional Land sector officers to engage them on the way forward in protecting Ghanas forests, lands, and natural resources.





Source: King Edward Ambrose Washman Addo/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 U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday expanded the ability of people to sue police for excessive force, ruling in favor of a New Mexico woman who filed a civil rights lawsuit after being shot by officers she had mistaken for carjackers.

The 5-3 decision allowed the woman, Roxanne Torres, to pursue her lawsuit accusing New Mexico State Police officers Richard Williamson and Janice Madrid of violating the U.S. Constitutions Fourth Amendment ban on illegal searches and seizures even though she had not been immediately detained, or seized, in the incident.

The court determined that in order to sue for excessive force under the Fourth Amendment, it is not necessary for a plaintiff to have been physically seized by law enforcement.

We hold that the application of physical force to the body of a person with intent to restrain is a seizure even if the person does not submit and is not subdued, conservative Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the ruling.

Roberts was joined in the decision by the courts three liberals and one of his fellow conservatives, Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Three other conservatives justices dissented. The newest justice, conservative Amy Coney Barrett, did not participate because she had not yet joined the court when the case was argued in October.

In a dissenting opinion, conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch said a seizure under the Fourth Amendment has always been defined as taking possession of someone or something, and he criticized the courts contrary conclusion.

That view is as mistaken as it is novel, Gorsuch wrote.

The case will now return to lower courts, where the officers could seek to have the lawsuit dismissed on other grounds including the legal doctrine called qualified immunity that protects police and other types of government officials from civil litigation in certain circumstances.

In the 2014 incident, four officers arrived at an apartment complex in Albuquerque and approached Torres, who was sitting in a car. Torres said she fled when she saw people with guns approaching, thinking she was going to be carjacked. Madrid and Williamson fired 13 shots between them, hitting her twice in the back as she drove away in her car.

Torres continued driving but was arrested the next day after being treated in a hospital for her wounds. She was convicted of three criminal offenses, including fleeing from a law enforcement officer.

After Torres sued in a federal court in New Mexico in 2016, the judge dismissed the case, saying there could be no excessive force claim because a seizure had not occurred. The Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reached the same conclusion in 2019, prompting Torres to appeal to the Supreme Court.

There is heightened public scrutiny of police conduct in the wake of protests in many cities last year against racism and police brutality. Rulings by the Supreme Court in other cases over police powers are due by the end of June.
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Chinas technological might will change the world in a more fundamental way than Russia, the new chief of NCSC (National Cybersecurity Centre) Lindy Cameron has warned.

The two countries are among four nations of particular concern to the government agency, alongside North Korea and Iran.

In her first speech as chief executive of the NCSC, Lindy Cameron also paid tribute to the bold decision to create a public-facing cybersecurity organisation within GCHQ.

The virtual speech to an audience at Queens University, Belfast, saw Lindy Cameron outline why she thinks all of the UK has a role to play in making the UK the safest place to live and do business online.

During the speech, she suggested that basic cyber hygiene is as important a life skill as knowing how to wire a plug  and that digital literacy is as non-negotiable in boardrooms as financial literacy.

The National Cyber Security Centre  launched five years ago  is now a firmly embedded part of the UK cyber security landscape, and here to stay. Lindy Cameron, NCSC CEO. Read the full speech here: https://t.co/G6rXjAu4DV pic.twitter.com/96mEkZLwRa  NCSC UK (@NCSC) March 26, 2021

Lindy Cameron said:

The cybersecurity landscape we see now in the UK reflects huge progress and relative strength  but it is not a position we can be complacent about.

Cybersecurity is still not taken as seriously as it should be, and simply is not embedded in UK boardrooms.

The pace of change is no excuse  in boardrooms, digital literacy is as non-negotiable as financial or legal literacy. Our CEOs should be as close to their CISO as their Finance Director and General Counsel.

And we want to help them to develop this knowledge, as were all too aware that cyber skills are not yet fundamental to our education  even though these are life skills like wiring a plug or changing a tyre as well as skills for the future digital economy.

The NCSCs CEO also cited examples like recent ransomware cases and the SolarWinds and Microsoft Exchange compromises as showing the real danger the UK faces  and how she envisions the NCSC helping to further increase the UKs cyber resilience.

She also set out her vision of how the NCSC can help to further increase the UKs cyber resilience and usher in a new era of technological ambition, agility and internationalism to make the UK the safest place to live and do business online.

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We had mentioned in last weeks closing report that Nifty, Sensex may try to rally. The major indices suffered a correction this week. The trend of the major indices in the week is given in the table:

On Monday, the indices opened higher but ended with minor losses. On the NSE, there were 1,060 advances, 928 declines and 79 unchanged.

RailTel Corporation won an order worth Rs 153.15 crore from Central Coalfields Limited for the establishment of MPLS-VPN network of higher bandwidth on rental basis for 5 years.

Bharat Dynamics signed a contract worth Rs 1,188.12 crore for the production and supply of Milan-2T anti-tank guided missiles.

Man Industries bagged orders worth Rs 500 crore in both domestic and export markets in oil & gas as well as water segments.

Adani Green subsidiary won a 300MW wind power project in a tender floated by the Solar Energy Corporation of India. The fixed tariff for this project capacity is Rs 2.77/kWh for a period of 25 years.

On Tuesday, the indices opened higher and ended with minor gains. On the NSE, there were 1,115 advances, 776 declines and 79 unchanged.

Adani Port and Special Economic Zone signed an agreement to acquire a 58.1% stake in Gangavaram Port for Rs 3,604 crore and is expected to be completed within 6 months.

Maruti Suzuki India announced an increase in vehicle prices with effect from April 2021. Prior to this, the company had increased its vehicle prices in January this year.

Adani Enterprises subsidiary Adani Road Transport Limited bagged a project in Gujarat under toll operate transfer mode.

KEC International secured new orders worth Rs 1,429 crore across its various businesses.

On Wednesday, the indices opened lower and faced major losses. On the NSE, there were 441 advances, 1,487 declines and 76 unchanged.

The government plans to sell 10% of total paid-up equity of Rail Vikas Nigam via offer for sale route on March 24-25. In case of oversubscription, the government will sell additional 5% shareholding in the company. The floor price for the offer has been fixed at Rs 27.50 per share.

Adani Green signed a share purchase agreement for the full acquisition of two SPVs holding 74.94 MW operating solar projects of Sterling & Wilson.

Hero MotoCorp announced an increase in ex-showroom prices of its motorcycles and scooters with effect from April 1. The price increase across the range of two-wheelers will be up to Rs 2,500, and the exact quantum of the increase will vary on the basis of the model and the specific market.

Adani Road Transport was awarded one more hybrid annuity mode road project from the National Highways Authority of India in the state of Telangana under Bharatmala Pariyojana.

On Thursday, the indices opened higher but continued its decline and ended with major losses. On the NSE, there were 358 advances, 1,613 declines and 61 unchanged.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) booked DHFL promoters for creating more than 2.6 lakh fake home loan accounts. The promoters, who are already in jail, fraudulently availed benefits under PMAY to the tune of Rs 14,046 crores, the agency said. The CBI found that Rs 11,755.79 crore was diverted to these accounts created in the name of shell companies. The acquisition of DHFL by Piramal Group is set to spill over to the next financial year due to legal processes taking longer.

Jubilant FoodWorks has signed a master franchise and development agreement with PLK APAC Pte., a subsidiary of Restaurant Brands International Inc. The agreement will help to establish, own and operate Popeyes Restaurants in India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan.

Escorts division Escorts Agri Machinery announced it increase in prices of its tractors effective 1 April 2021.

On Friday, the indices opened higher but continued its decline and ended with major losses. On the NSE, there were 358 advances, 1,613 declines and 61 unchanged.

Tata group The Supreme Court ruled in the favour of Tata Sons, allowing the conglomerate's appeals against the NCLAT order reinstating Cyrus Mistry as the chairman.

HG Infra was declared the lowest bidder for a National Highways Authority of India project worth Rs 1,060.11 crore.

Godrej Properties announced that it sold more than 275 residences worth Rs 475 crore on the launch day of Godrej Woods in Uttar Pradesh's Noida.

The MCA has issued inspection orders against Godfrey Phillips after a complaint was filed by Lalit Modi's son Ruchir Modi alleging corporate governance issues and malpractices in the company.
TROY  After hearing emotional appeals to reject or amend the citys police reform report, the City Council unanimously gave its preliminary approval in its Finance Committee with the agreement that it would be amended on April 1 to better provide what the community wants.

The seven-member council met for nearly three hours, during which time it heard the Troy Police Reform and Reinvention Collaborative Report condemned for ignoring the concept of systemic racism.

I totally reject this report. The community input was not listened to, Jerry Ford, a member of the Troy Coalition of Black Leaders, told the council Thursday night.

Ford joined other city residents in expressing anger and dismay that the report never stated Black Lives Matter.

The fact this is being used as a starting point, it was pathetic. We had an opportunity to make change, Ford said.

Before the meeting, about 60 people gathered in Riverfront Park including members of social justice groups who spoke about what they see as the failings of the report. Residents were urged to speak at the council meeting.

You need to listen to the community you represent. We are angry. That document screams white supremacy. It does not say Black Lives Matter, said Tasheca Medina of Equality for Troy. Medina condemned members of the police department and racial attitudes.

The report recommended more community outreach, increasing the recruitment of minorities to join the police department, making discipline records available and taking other steps. The report was produced by a 15-member steering committee that held public sessions during the last two months.

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo issued an executive order in June 2020 requiring communities with police departments to write reform plans to improve safety, reduce racial disparities and become more effective. In November, dozens of residents and activists rallied to speak out about their concerns with the citys police reform process. And in January, Troy became the last of the Capital Regions three major cities to go public with its meetings to seek public comment and suggestions for future police department operations.

Rhea Drysdale told the council that, everybody knows city of Troy is the worst city in the Capital Region when it comes to racial justice. And its a nice little hidden truth that Troy makes Albany, Schenectady and Saratoga look progressive.

The Council must adopt the report by April 1 or risk losing that funding for the police department controlled by the state. Drysdale urged the council to edit the report. You have enough time.

The council leaders, Republican Council President Carmella Mantello and Councilman Ken Zalewski, leader of the Democratic majority, agreed their council members would caucus to draft amendments to present at the councils April 1 meeting. Among the topics that council members appeared to agree on was that the police force should hand off as many mental health calls as possible to specialists.

This is a work plan. This is not the end, Mantello said. I view it as a working document that will bring us into the future.
Mumbai, March 26 : In a tough measure, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Friday announced a return to the night curfew regime from Sunday (March 28) across Maharashtra as the Covid-19 'second-wave' wreaks havoc in the state.

As was the case between March and July last year, stringent 'prohibitory orders' would be re-enforced till further notice, even as the CM said that the state did not want to go for another lockdown.

"The number of increasing cases is a cause of concern. I don't want to impose another lockdown. All districts must strengthen their health infrastructure and bed capacity," Thackeray said.

The state recorded its highest ever single-day tally of Covid-19 cases -- 36,902 -- along with 112 deaths on Friday with the progressive tolls touching 26,37,735 and 53,907, respectively, the highest in India.

A detailed notification would be issued soon by the concerned authority. The move came after a review meeting of several ministers, Mantralaya officials, divisional commissioners, collectors, municipal commissioners, police officers, district civil surgeons and the Covid-19 Task Force.

The meeting took stock of the current preparedness to face the 'second wave', the health infrastructure and treatment facilities, besides the status of the Covid vaccination drive in the state.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
The University of The Gambia with support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), on Wednesday launched the Career and Wellness Counseling Center at its Kanifing Campus on MDI Road.

Geared towards providing counseling services to the students of the university, the initiative aims to increase university's success through counseling and guidance from well trained and equipped personnel.

At the same occasion, the UTG also officially opened the main university library which is both traditional and e-library. Officials say the library has standard facilities that will give students the opportunity to access peer review journals, articles, e-books and other academic works.

Speaking at the launch, Prof. Dr. Faqir Muhammad Anjum, UTG vice chancellor, described the event as historic, saying that the University Library and the Center for Career and Well-being are the first of their kinds in the university's history.

The library, he added, has The Essential Electronic Agricultural Library (TEEAL) database machine donated by the University of Cornel in New York that students and lecturers will use to access information on Agricultural Sciences. "The management in fulfillment of its commitment to changing the academic trajectory of this noble institution is happy to announce that UTG Library received some computers from Vrije Universiteit, Brussels and we have subscribed to EBSCO database as it is the case in top notch universities," he added.

In light of this, he said, UTG would be paying a subscription fee of US$27,000 per annum which will allow students to access 7,986 journals and books from 5886 publishers. He went elaborated how this would benefit the teachers, students and researchers.

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Badara Joof, the minister of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology, said the library is both a traditional and e-library which would provide access to a lot of journals and books, audios and videos. "It is not only accessing them, but how meaningful and purposeful you use those materials," he added.

He challenged the staffs of tertiary institutions and their students to link the research work that they do to the development needs of the country, saying "you are linked to Cornell University and you have access to agricultural materials, I will challenge you now to use those materials, domesticate them to the development plan of the agricultural needs of this country."

Tolga Bermek, ambassador of the Republic of Turkey in his remarks, said TIKA contributed to this project by digitalising and modernising the technical infrastructure of the library. Access to information, he said, has improved tremendously with more use of IT and modern management tools such as e-learning, e-books. e-teaching and other methods.

"TIKA has integrated an automation system to the university library, which will help academicians, students and other researchers to access knowledge in an easier and more practical way," he pointed out.

Awa Joof Peters, the UNDP representative, in thanking UTG, revealed the UNDP has signed a memorandum of understanding with the university. She affirmed their continuous support and partnership with the University of The Gambia.
During the summer of 1993, as I drove down I-59 from Hattiesburg, Miss., to New Orleans to do some historical research for my dissertation, I spotted a bumper sticker with a Confederate battle flag that read Dont Blame Me, I Voted for Jeff Davis! It was a play on the bumper sticker that emerged following the election of Bill Clinton in 1992, which read Dont Blame Me, I Voted for Bush! Jefferson Davis, the one and only president of the failed Confederacy, was long dead, but the message was an indication of how much the Lost Cause remained very much alive in the Deep South.

Id grown up in Greensboro, N.C., in the 1970s, and I dont recall such attention to Confederate memory there as I found when I moved to Mississippi to attend graduate school. Now, after a lifetime of studying Southern history, this makes more sense to me, because in the 1990s, Lost Cause sympathies were far more entrenched the deeper into the South one traveled. That has changed significantly in the past 25 years, and especially since 2015, as states across the region, including my home state, have passed laws to protect Confederate monuments as part of an alleged dedication to Southern heritage.

GOP-dominated state assemblies have passed draconian legislation as part of Republicans culture war against Black Lives Matter and racial progress more generally. Much of it is based on propagating myths that the South fought the Civil War to protect states rights (it was to preserve the institution of slavery) and that removing a monument is an erasure of history (it isnt). Even when a cross-section of Southerners petition for removal, theyre prevented from doing so because these state legislatures have usurped local control through so-called heritage protection acts.

As a historian of the American South, I feel a deep responsibility to share the long history of these statues alongside the stories of racial injustice with which they are associated. Its why I often speak to community groups, and also why I decided to write No Common Ground. While my role is not to offer advice on whether a monument ought to be removed, I can assist local governments and organizations in their decision-making processes regarding monuments in their communities by providing the necessary historical context.

I also believe its important that I, a Southern white woman, write and speak about this topic with blunt honesty. Monument defenders cannot dismiss me as a Northern liberal who has invaded the region to tell them what to do. Ive grown up here, too. Maybe that makes me a scalawag in their eyes. But I love this region as much as the next Southerner, who, lets be clear, are not all white. Thats the rub about this Southern heritage argument, because it assumes only white heritage counts.

Ive gotten good at handling the grumbling guysand its mostly menwho lurk in the back of the room when I give talks and then attempt to challenge me. I meet accusations of political correctness with, What you call politically correct, I call the right thing to do. And what about that whole erasing history argument? Heres my response: history is not being erased if a monument is removed. First, no monument ever taught a history lesson. Second, removal does not mean certain destruction. These statues could end up in a cemetery or on the grounds of an art or history museum, where context can be provided. And finally, the history of these statues is preserved in photographs, postcards, unveiling speeches, the minutes of the United Daughters of the Confederacys meetings, and (shocker) history books.

For many historians, speaking the truth based on factual evidence has become hazard duty. Ive received nasty emails, as well as hate mail at my office. A woman wrote an article in a conservative paper that accused me of promoting Southern ethnocide with the goal of destroying true history. Another woman created a flyer describing me as an anti-Confederate historian. Depending on where I speak, Ive requested additional security at my talks.

This does not stop me from being a responsible historian and an even more responsible white Southerner, because the truthnot fearmust win. And Im not ceding ground to Lost Cause myths or apologists.

Karen L. Cox is a historian whose 'No Common Ground: Confederate Monuments and the Ongoing Fight for Racial Justice' (Ferris and Ferris) will be released April 12.
Jessica Rowe and her daughter Allegra, 14, were left traumatised after the former Studio 10 host's $66,000 Volvo exploded in the middle of a busy road in Sydney on Thursday.

And while the incident was shocking, Jessica made light of a funny moment during the ordeal on Friday's Kyle and Jackie O Show.

The 50-year-old revealed there was an embarrassing item that Mev - the bus driver who alerted her to the smoke coming out of her car - helped remove from the boot of her charred car.

Embarrassing item: Jessica Rowe revealed the BIZARRE item she had to remove from her car after it exploded in the middle of a busy road in Sydney on Thursday after picking up her daughter Allegra, 14, from school

Jess first noted that her husband, Nine news anchor Peter Overton, warned her not to tell people about the very awkward item.

But she couldn't help but confess what it was to radio host Kyle Sandilands.

'I do like a costume Kyle - so I had a cat head in the boot,' Jess started.

'Why?' a confused Kyle asked.

'Well, why not?' the blonde beauty responded, as the entire studio laughed.

'Sometimes I like to embarrass my children when I pick them up, so I put the cat head on.'

What is it? Before making the reveal she noted that her husband, Nine news anchor Peter Overton, warned her not to tell people about the very awkward item. Pictured is Jess with Peter

The purr-fect look! But Jess confessed: 'I do like a costume Kyle - so I had a cat head in the boot.' Pictured is Jess with the cat head costume on. In the Instagram post, from 2019, she joked in the caption: 'It's that time again! School pick up time!'

'I tilt my hat to your girls, they are working against the grain just with their own family... Imagine walking towards mum's Volvo and there's mum looking like a giant cat,' Kyle said.

'Yes that's what I do, so luckily I could rescue that from the boot,' Jess added.

Kyle said that Peter likely used the opportunity to ensure the cat head was removed from the car.

She's a fun mum! Explaining the cat head costume, Jessica said: 'Sometimes I like to embarrass my children when I pick them up, so I put the cat head on'. Pictured with Jess with her daughters Allegra and Giselle

Jess also spoke to Studio 10 about her husband Peter's reaction to the traumatising event.

She explained that Allegra was 'hysterical' when she called her father, just before he was due to go on air to present Nine's 6pm News.

'He obviously was just so worried about her and so concerned, so he came home, he didn't read the news last night. He just wanted to give Allegra a hug and give me a hug,' Jess said.

Emotional: Later in the morning, Jess also spoke to Studio 10 about her husband's reaction to the traumatising event. She explained that Allegra was 'hysterical' when she called her father, just before he was due to go on air to present Nine's 6pm News

'The thing is we're all fine, but for him he couldn't believe it. I think for all of he was like "what? What do you mean the car's on fire?"' she added.

The author also noted that they have no idea what caused the car to go on fire.

Co-host Sarah Harris asked if she knew about car's oil, but Jess said: 'Well dare I say I don't do that, Peedee does that,' referring to her husband's pet name.

'I know how to put petrol, but Peedee does all the other stuff so it was all fine and it's been a really good reliable car, up until now,' she said.

Family: Jess said, '(Peter) obviously was just so worried about her and so concerned, so he came home, he didn't read the news last night. He just wanted to give Allegra a hug and give me a hug'

Jess was picking up her eldest daughter from school in Sydney's eastern suburbs on Thursday afternoon when her black Volvo XC 60 began billowing smoke on New South Head Road in Rose Bay.

A passing school bus driver named Mev flagged them down to alert them of the danger and helped the pair escape from the vehicle and flee to safety just as the car burst into flames.

The pair escaped uninjured but were traumatised by the ordeal.

Grateful: Following the incident, Jess updated her Instagram followers telling them she and Allegra were 'safe and sound'

Following the incident, Jess updated her Instagram followers telling them she and Allegra were 'safe and sound'.

She added that they were grateful to all the Good Samaritans who helped them, in particular school bus driver Mev - who warned them to get out of the car just in time.

'Thank you to the thoughtful, fast thinking and kind school bus driver Mev who got us out of the car, called the fire brigade, cleared the road and then stayed to drive us home.

'Thank you to the police and paramedics who are angels. And the tow truck driver! And the mums and dads who stopped to help. We love you.'
Representatives of the Muslim community lay flowers at a floral memorial at the scene of a dramatic siege by Islamic extremist Man Haron Monis which left two hostages dead (William West/AFP via Getty Images)

Australian Spy Chief Stands by Decision to Change Islamic to Religiously Motivated Extremism Label

Australias domestic spy chief is standing by the agencys decision to drop the sensitive term Islamic extremism to religiously motivated violent extremism, saying such activity was not limited to one religion.

Mike Burgess, the director-general of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), did concede, though that Islamic extremism was the leading motivator behind recent terrorist activity.

Theres no doubt thats been a dominant factor in the last 20 years, he told Sky News Australia.

But over the history of this world, thats not actually true. Students of history will know theres other religions that have done vile things in the name of their religiona small subset of the religion, of course, he said. So, it is not actually true.

Also, the reason for change is, for example, those who have this view of involuntary celibacy, the incel movement, that is not a religion, that is something completely different and doesnt fit into the standard categories that weve previously used, he added.

We need terminology that helps us explain what were seeing.

Australian Security Intelligence Organisation ASIO Director General Mike Burgess preparing for his annual speech at ASIO headquarters in Canberra, Wednesday, March 17, 2021. (AAP Image/Mick Tsikas)

Burgess announced the change of terminology during last weeks Annual Threat Assessment in Canberra, saying the label was no longer fit for purpose.

He also revealed that 40 percent of ASIOs caseload is now spent dealing with ideology-based extremism, compared to espionage.

Mark Durie, senior research fellow at the Arthur Jeffery Centre for the Study of Islam, previously told The Epoch Times that while switching the word Islamic for a broader term was done to avoid unfairly maligning the Muslim faith, the new category religiously motivated violent extremism would, in fact, malign all religions.

This will add fuel to the fire of the widespread but false idea that all religions are violent and tend to extremism. It unfairly stigmatises people with faith, Durie said.

It unfairly stigmatises people with faith  Mark Durie, Senior research fellow at the Arthur Jeffery Centre for the Study of Islam

The problem is not extremism (i.e. ideas taken to the extremes), but a groups core ideas, sincerely held. It is not extremism that is the problem, but harmful beliefs and ideological commitments, he said.

I believe that wherever possible, labels should be precise, not general, and specific, he said. A group that claims Islam as its motivation for violence should be called Islamic. But it would be even better to call these Islamic groups jihadist.

ISIS extremists parade down a street in Raqqa, Syria, on Jan. 14, 2014. (ISIS Website via AP)

Meanwhile, in the United States, congresspersons are also grappling with how extremism should be defined.

On Thursday, U.S. Marine Corp reservist and lawyer Michael Berry told the House Armed Services Committee that training manuals used to identify extremism also listed Christians and Catholics.

Among those listed are al-Qaeda, Hamas, and the Ku Klux Klan as groups that use or advocate violence to accomplish their objectives and are therefore rightly classified as extremists, Berry told the committee.

But also included are Evangelical Christianity and Catholicism, who most assuredly do not advocate violence, he added.

At a time of turmoil and instability, during which our nation faces many external threats, [this] message is inappropriate and offensive to our service members and those they defend.

The manual is being used as part of U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austins stand-down of the armed forces to identify extremists in its ranks.
Ma Jianchu, the Chinese ambassador to The Gambia yesterday briefed the media on China's 2021 sessions.

Officials say the China's 2021 sessions is the most important annual political sessions held in Beijing.

The two sessions refer to the yearly plenary meetings of the National People's and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, which are China's top legislature and top political advisory body respectively.

Ma Jianchun, while briefing the media at the Chinese Embassy, said: "The two sessions are centered on promoting comprehensive socio-economic development towards greater prosperity." He added that by reviewing the two sessions, one could keep up with China's development and observe the growing vitality of socialist democracy with Chinese characteristics.

Ambassador Ma Jianchun said the two sessions looked back at the past year's extraordinary achievements.

"The Chinese government and the people have achieved major strategic success in fighting covid-19 and continuously consolidating achievements in curbing the spread of the virus."

According to him, China had resumed a lot of work on its socio-economic development leading to the only major economy that achieved positive growth in the covid-19 ravaged year with a 2.3 percentage of its GDP.

He added: "This year, a new session of FOCAC will be held in Senegal, making further progress to cooperation between China and African countries including The Gambia. China will continue to support Africa's efforts in ensuring public health, accelerating industrialisation, striving for self-generated development, and maintaining peace and stability."
Police are investigating a gang of Russian YouTube streamers who appeared to rape a woman and trash her apartment on camera in return for donations.

The sickening attack happened in the city of Yaroslavl, 150 miles north of Moscow, with footage streamed live to YouTube and Telegram.

The victim, believed to be a 30-year-old mother-of-three, had reportedly been dating one of the yobs - identified as 18-year-old Artem S - before the attack.

A 30-year-old mother-of-three was reportedly drugged and then raped with the assault live-streamed on YouTube as part of a sick 'trash stream'

A gang of teenage jobs including one who was reportedly dating the woman appealed to viewers for donations in return for which they trashed the woman's apartment (pictured)

Footage which is still available online shows the gang laughing and swearing as they tear apart the flat while appealing for donations amounting to 10p or 30p.

For each donation they pledge to cause more carnage - ripping a door off its hinges, breaking a fridge, smashing a toilet, and breaking pots and vases.

Additional footage, which has been removed, allegedly shows members of the group raping the woman, who had reportedly split from her husband before dating Artem.

Medical reports said the woman had been given a 'date rape' drug before the alleged assault took place.

The woman's family are believed to have discovered the sickening footage online before tracking down Artem and his friends and 'beating' them.

Police were also informed of the footage, and have now launched an investigation.

Family members of the woman are also demanding that the yobs pay for the damage they caused to the flat, amounting to far more than their stunt earned them.

The thugs filmed themselves breaking the woman's fridge, destroying her toilet, ripping a door off its hinges and smashing pots and vases

The woman's family reportedly found the footage, 'beat' the boys involved, and have now reported the incident to police who have launched an investigation

Russia has been hit by a number of live stream horror cases, prompting demands for changes in the law to counter the sinister trend.

Last year popular YouTuber Stas Reshetnikov, 30, aka Reeflay, showed his girlfriend Valentina 'Valya' Grigoryeva, 28, dying on livestream after he had 'beaten her' and forced her to stand near naked in subzero temperatures.

He is under investigation for causing grievous bodily harm, and held in detention.

She sustained serious head and facial injuries from beatings and three blows to her face along with 'multiple bruises'.

Russia is considering forcing live streamers to register as individual entrepreneurs, forcing them to pay taxes on donations, but also allowing police to track them.
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Like many parts of London during the Second World War, Vincent Street in Westminster was turned to rubble following a direct hit during the Blitz that destroyed a row of mews houses.

The area, just a short walk from the Houses of Parliament, remained a bombed-out site for 40 years until it was eventually redeveloped into sheltered housing in the 1980s - and, remarkably, two fireplaces remain.

These photographs show how one of the stone hearths on the street still looks almost perfectly intact with its metal grate, having stood there without its house for 80 years since the German bombing campaign.

The old red brickwork that adorned the top of the fireplace can also still be seen, as it remains tucked neatly beside a large gate following the major refurbishment and redevelopment of the surrounding area.

One of the stone hearths on Vincent Street in Westminster still looks almost perfectly intact nowadays with its metal grate, having stood there without its house for 80 years since the German bombing campaign destroyed a row of mews homes

The fireplace remains tucked neatly beside a large gate (centre) following the major redevelopment of the surrounding area

The fireplace (circled) is on a road which was a bombed-out site for 40 years until it was eventually redeveloped in the 1980s

Bomb maps detailing the damage inflicted by the Luftwaffe on the streets of London confirm Vincent Street was hit by a large explosive device - with the key revealing how much of it was 'damaged beyond repair'.

Around the area, a total of 21 properties fell under the category. Images of the fireplace were shared on Facebook on Wednesday by Steven Herd, who wrote: 'Fascinating find. A fireplace in a wall in Vincent Street, SW1.

'There was a row of mews houses here that were lost in the Blitz. The site stayed as a bombed-out site for 40 odd years until it was redeveloped into sheltered housing in the 1980s. Two fireplaces remain.'

The Blitz began on September 7, 1940, and was the most intense bombing campaign ever in Britain. Named after the German word 'Blitzkrieg', meaning lightning war, the Blitz claimed the lives of more than 40,000 civilians.

Bomb maps detailing the damage inflicted by the Luftwaffe on the streets of London confirm Vincent Street was hit by a large explosive device - with the key revealing 21 properties in the area (denoted in purple) were 'damaged beyond repair'

The aftermath of a Blitz bombing raid on the corner of Regency Place and Rutherford Street, which is two roads along from Vincent Street, in 1944

Firemen fighting flames at Regency Place and Rutherford Street in Westminster in 1944 following the bombing

Between September 7, 1940, and May 21, 1941, there were major raids across the UK with more than 20,000 tonnes of explosives dropped on 16 cities. London was attacked 71 times and bombed for 57 consecutive nights.

The City and the East End bore the brunt of the bombing with German bombers using the Thames as their guide. Londoners came to expect heavy raids during full-moon periods and these became known as 'bombers' moons'.

More than one million London houses were destroyed or damaged - and of those who were killed in the bombing campaign, more than half of them were from London.

In addition to London's streets, several other UK cities - targeted as hubs of the island's industrial and military capabilities - were battered by Luftwaffe bombs including Glasgow, Liverpool, Plymouth, Cardiff and Belfast.

A line of wrecked taxi cabs in London's Leicester Square are pictured on November 1, 1940 following a Blitz bombing raid

The police direct people away from danger after arriving at the scene of a Blitz bombing in London on October 19, 1940

Despite the blanket bombing of the capital, some landmarks remained intact - such as St Paul's Cathedral, which was virtually unharmed, despite many buildings around it being reduced to rubble.

Adolf Hitler intended to demoralise Britain before launching an invasion using his naval and ground forces. The Blitz came to an end towards the end of May 1941, when Hitler set his sights on invading the Soviet Union.

Other UK cities which suffered during the Blitz included Coventry, where saw its medieval cathedral destroyed and a third of its houses made uninhabitable, while Merseyside was the most bombed area outside London.

There was also major bombing in Birmingham, where 53 people were killed in an arms works factory, and Bristol, where the Germans dropped 1,540 tons of high explosives and 12,500 incendiaries in a night - killing 207 people.
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A former Chief of Army Staff, Azubuike Ihejirika, a retired lieutenant general, has formally joined the All Progressives Congress (APC).

This is according to a statement issued by Mamman Mohammed, Director of Press and Media to Governor Mai Mala Buni, Chairman APC Caretaker and Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) on Friday in Abuja.

Mr Mohammed said that Mr Buni, who is also the governor of Yobe State, formally received the former army chief into the APC.

Gen. Ihejirika was formally presented to the chairman by Jigawa governor and Chairman APC Strategy and Contact Committee, Alhaji Abubakar Badaru, and Farouk Aliyu, he said.

He quoted Mr Buni as saying that the coming of Gen. Ihejirika into the APC will increase the fortunes of the party in Abia and the South-east generally.

This is a great moment for the party as Gen. Ihejirika and other sons and daughters of the region are coming into the party to deliver the region and bring the South-east closer to the centre.

He added that the party looked forward to more of APC presence in the South-east.

Meanwhile, the Senate Minority Leader, Enyinnaya Abaribe, has accused Mr Ihejirika of working against the overall interest of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that made him chief of army staff.

Mr Abaribe, who represents Abia South Senatorial District, spoke on Magic FM, an Aba-based radio station.

My greatest regret in the entire campaign is seeing General Ihejirika coming to campaign for the APC in Aba, he said.

The same man is supporting a party that has so much disdain for Igbos. Ihejirika is with APC that has pushed out our people to a point that you hardly see any Igbo in the top rank of the military and other forces. It is an unfortunate one.

People are being kidnapped and killed in all parts of the country including the South-east, Abia and Isiukwuato Local Government Area where Ihejirika hails from, yet no APC member from these areas have come up to condemn the killings.

No APC senator from the South-east has called on the presidency to sit up and solve insecurity problems.

(NAN)
When it launched last October, Ireland's Stay and Spend scheme hoped to provide a billion-euro boost to beleaguered tourism and hospitality businesses.

It was also expected to give punters a 270m bonus through tax credits they could claim on receipts for accommodation, meals and (non-alcoholic) drinks.

Six months later, those receipts total just over 9.5m.

Almost 58,000 receipts have been uploaded to the Revenue Receipts Tracker, according to Revenue, with potential tax credits of 1.9m - dramatically short of the figures envisioned.

The scheme was well-intentioned, innovative in its way, and any stimulus was welcome ahead of Ireland's Covid winter. But it was also seen as confusing, convoluted to redeem and strangely limited (visitor attractions, tours or activities were not included).

"It was always too complicated and it excluded so many people," says one hotelier, Michael Yates of the Diamond Coast Hotel in Enniscrone, Co Sligo.

"If you were retired or not working you were excluded as you were not paying tax, which was completely unfair - especially at the time of year when we would see the active retirement segment heading away for a break."

At any rate, it was overtaken by events.

Three weeks after Stay and Spend's October 1 start date, Ireland was in its second national lockdown. A brief December reopening ended in disaster. Far from talking travel, we're now opening quarantine hotels.

Read More

At the time this scheme was devised and launched, there appeared to be a steady downward trend in infection rates and there was an expectation that at least a partial re-opening of the sector could be sustained uninterrupted," Tourism Minister Catherine Martin says.

However, public health conditions beyond our control have clearly prevented that. The stop-and-start nature of the pandemic and its unpredictable consequences resulted in the scheme being completely under-utilised."

For this reason, some of the criticism around the scheme has been unfair  particularly around take-up and amounts claimed, says Austin Hickey, a director at business advisory firm BDO.

However, I would agree that elements of the scheme were unnecessarily complicated in their design and implementation, he adds.

As it stands, Stay and Spend will expire on April 30, likely with a whimper.

Should we get 200 staycation vouchers instead? That's the suggestion of Eoghan O'Mara Walsh, CEO of the Irish Tourism Industry Confederation (ITIC).

"The current scheme has a tax rebate capped at 125 per adult," he says. "Such has been the fall in tourism revenue, I think a redesigned voucher would justify an increase to 200 per adult."

After months of lockdown, a 200 golden holiday ticket sounds peachy. And there is precedent - countries including Iceland, Slovenia and Malta have given residents staycation vouchers in one form or another, and the UK's Eat Out to Help Out scheme gave diners a 50pc discount up to a cap of 10pp per meal last August.

This year, Singapore has issued $100 (63) vouchers to spend on tours, attractions and hotels, and Australia's state of Victoria is running a $200 (129) 'Regional Travel Voucher Scheme'.

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ITIC argues that the Stay and Spend scheme is not fit-for-purpose, and needs to be redesigned as an upfront voucher. Its design is "unnecessarily complex and confusing to the public", Mr O'Mara Walsh says, adding that a new scheme should include tourist attractions, tours and activities and be extended out as far as April 2022.

With tourism and hospitality on their knees, and facing many more months without overseas visitors, events, festivals or normal weddings, "Government must do all it can to stimulate demand from the domestic market", he adds.

"Any form of incentive, be it in the form of a tax credit or voucher, which can stimulate increased demand or consumption in the sector, is likely to be welcomed, adds Austin Hickey of BDO.

"This will be particularly relevant during the last quarter of the year and into 2022 as the sector looks to emerge from the pandemic and when demand is traditionally lower.

"My personal view is to replace it with something much, much simpler," says Andy Greenslade of Clann Hospitality, whose hotels include Celbridge Manor in Co Kildare and the Pillo in Ashbourne, Co Meath. "I think people like to see the saving there and then, instead of uploading as part of a tax return."

"The scheme needs to be scrapped in its current form," is the view of Michael Yates of the Diamond Coast, who says a replacement should be straightforward, and accessible to all adults.

"Everyone loves to receive a voucher... we all use them".

Of course, a staycation voucher would be tricky to get right. Should it go to households or adults? Would pubs be eligible? Would it encourage price hikes?

Ministers have also shied away from the idea, pointing to supports already in place for tourism, including the Covid Restrictions Support Scheme (CRSS) and a recent 55m allocation for strategic tourism.

But others say a new, easily redeemable stimulus is desperately required, would deliver cashflow and tax receipts and, once people can get out and about again, it's likely pent-up demand and household savings would see them spend on top of any voucher, too.

The Department of Finance concedes that Stay and Spend was overtaken by pandemic events. "With the exception of some short periods, public health restrictions had the effect of impeding the operation of the incentive as originally envisaged," it said in a statement. "Decisions on next steps relating to the scheme have yet to be taken.

Any voucher or non-tax-based scheme would be a matter for the Department of Tourism, and Minister Martin says a review has been recommended by the Tourism Recovery Oversight Group.

"I believe this specific scheme should be reviewed - as provided for when it was launched," she adds. "I have urged Cabinet colleagues to give serious consideration to this and other recommendations to facilitate the reopening of the sector.

The countdown to April 30 is on.

NB: This article was first sent as the Travel Insider' newsletter. It's free, curated by Pol O Conghaile, and sent every Wednesday at 7.30pm. You can sign up here.
Bindi Irwin, 22, and husband Chandler Powell, 24, have welcomed their first child together.

On Friday, the young couple announced the birth of their baby daughter, Grace Warrior Irwin Powell, who was born on their first wedding anniversary.

In a lengthy Instagram post, Bindi explained that the baby's two middle names were inspired by her late father, wildlife warrior Steve Irwin.

Baby joy: Bindi Irwin, 22, and husband Chandler Powell, 24, have welcomed their first child together, a daughter named Grace (pictured together)

'March 25, 2021. Celebrating the two loves of my life. Happy first wedding anniversary to my sweetheart husband and day of birth to our beautiful daughter,' Bindi wrote.

'Our graceful warrior is the most beautiful light. Grace is named after my great-grandmother, and relatives in Chandlers family dating back to the 1700s,' she continued.

'Her middle names, Warrior Irwin, are a tribute to my dad and his legacy as the most incredible Wildlife Warrior. Her last name is Powell and she already has such a kind soul just like her dad.'

'There are no words to describe the infinite amount of love in our hearts for our sweet baby girl,' Bindi wrote, after sharing an image of the bub's face

She accompanied the caption with a sweet image of herself and Chandler cradling newborn Grace in a baby blanket.

'There are no words to describe the infinite amount of love in our hearts for our sweet baby girl. She chose the perfect day to be born and we feel tremendously blessed,' Bindi added.

She also posted an image of Grace's first onesie, which had an Australian koala printed on the chest.

'Her middle names, Warrior Irwin, are a tribute to my dad and his legacy': Bindi paid tribute to her late father Steve by referencing him in Grace's middle names

Steve, known to millions around the world as 'the Crocodile Hunter', was filming a documentary when he was fatally stabbed in the heart by a stingray barb on September 4, 2006 in Batt Reef, Queensland. He was 44 years old.

In an interview with the late Larry King in 2018, Bindi admitted that she holds no resentments towards stingrays despite the creatures being responsible for her father's death.

'I don't, I honestly don't It was just a crazy accident that happened,' she said at the time.

Flashback: A young Bindi is pictured with her mother Terri and late father Steve in 2002

Tragedy: Steve was filming a documentary when he was fatally stabbed in the heart by a stingray barb on September 4, 2006 in Batt Reef, Queensland. (Pictured with Bindi in 2003)

'Stingrays are really beautiful animals. Dad loved them, we love them and they are important to our environment. And I know dad would be the first person to say "I love stingrays".'

Bindi first met Chandler in 2013, when the American former wakeboarder went on a guided tour of Australia Zoo in Queensland.

Following their chance meeting, Chandler wrote to Terri to ask her permission to contact Bindi before they embarked on a long-distance relationship.

He eventually relocated to Australia from his home in Florida, and now works at the family's zoo.

Chance encounter: Bindi first met Chandler in 2013, when the American former wakeboarder went on a guided tour of Australia Zoo in Queensland

In July 2019, Bindi and Chandler announced their engagement.

Chandler proposed to Bindi on her 21st birthday, getting down on one knee and presenting her with a stunning diamond ring.

'July 24th 2019. On my birthday I said "yes" and "forever" to the love of my life,' she announced on Instagram at the time.

Happily ever after: Chandler proposed to Bindi on her 21st birthday, getting down on one knee and presenting her with a stunning diamond ring

'July 24th 2019. On my birthday I said "yes" and "forever" to the love of my life,' she announced on Instagram at the time

'Chandler, close to six years ago I fell in love with you and every day since has been a whirlwind of adventure and true happiness.

'I'm so looking forwarding to spending our forever together as your wife. Here's to a lifetime of friendship, purpose and unconditional love. Now let's get married already!'

Bindi married Chandler in a surprise ceremony at Australia Zoo, on Queensland's Sunshine Coast, in March last year.

Just married: Bindi married Chandler in a surprise ceremony at Australia Zoo, on Queensland's Sunshine Coast, in March last year

'Our wedding day wasn't what we planned but it was an extraordinary starting point for our marriage to bloom,' she wrote on Instagram in May last year.

Bindi said the coronavirus pandemic had meant she and Chandler 'had to change our entire wedding'.

She added: 'We changed our wedding date the night before we got married but we were determined to let love win.'

New addition: They announced they were expecting their first child together in August last year. 'Baby Wildlife Warrior due 2021,' she wrote

It's a girl: In September, Bindi revealed she was having a girl, sharing a photo of herself and Chandler with one of Australia Zoo's tortoises, surrounded by pink flowers

They announced they were expecting their first child together in August last year.

'Baby Wildlife Warrior due 2021. Chandler and I are proud to announce that we're expecting!' she wrote on Instagram at the time.

'It's an honour to share this special moment in our lives with you. Though I'm still in my first trimester, we really want you to be part of our journey from the beginning of this new life chapter.

'Baby Wildlife Warrior due 2021. Chandler and I are proud to announce that we're expecting!' she wrote on Instagram at the time

'We couldn't wait to share the news as this beautiful little being has become the most important part of our lives. Your support means the world to us.'

She added: 'Please let me know your best advice and send good vibes & prayers to our little sweetheart. Love & light.'

In September, Bindi revealed she was having a girl, sharing a photo of herself and Chandler with one of Australia Zoo's tortoises, surrounded by pink flowers.

'Baby girl, you are our world. Our beautiful daughter is now about the same size as a hatchling Aldabra tortoise and is as healthy as can be. We can't wait for her arrival next year,' she wrote at the time.
Unveiled today as part of this year's Easter Jeep Safari, the Jeep brand is taking electrified propulsion beyond the paved road with the innovative 2021 Jeep Wrangler 4xe plug-in hybrid. Partnering with Electrify America to create the Jeep 4xe Charging Network, Jeep-branded EV charging stations will be installed at or near the trailheads of Jeep Badge of Honor off-road trails over the next year, allowing owners to take full-advantage of their electrified Jeep SUV.

Jeep 4xe charging stations are scheduled to open this spring at three of the most popular off-road sites and iconic trails for the Jeep brand  Moab, Utah; the Rubicon Trail in Pollock Pines, California; and Big Bear, California.

Additional Jeep 4xe Charging Stations are scheduled to be operational around the country by the end of 2021. The charging stations will be located near Jeep Badge of Honor trails, an industry exclusive off-road rewards program to support enthusiasts looking to earn a Badge of Honor for their new Jeep Wrangler 4xe.

Jeep 4xe Charging Stations will be either directly connected to the power grid or use solar power to generate electricity.

"Electrification opens a new chapter in the Jeep brand story, and it brings an entirely new level of excitement and enjoyment to our enthusiastic owners," said Christian Meunier, Jeep brand CEO  Stellantis. "Key to making Jeep brand the greenest SUV brand is assuring our owners can enjoy the benefits of electric propulsion wherever they go, including the most iconic off-road trails in the country."

Creating the network of EV charging stations at off-road trails coincides with the launch of the 2021 Jeep Wrangler 4xe plug-in hybrid, the most capable, technically advanced and eco-friendly Wrangler ever built. With the Wrangler 4xe, Jeep enthusiasts can explore nature's beauty with zero-emission propulsion that provides instant, trail-conquering torque.

Beyond the Rubicon Trail, Big Bear and Moab sites, other locations for Jeep 4xe Charging Network EV chargers will be announced in the future.

Jeep is working with leading public charging network Electrify America to establish the trailhead charging sites and install the charging equipment. Jeep 4xe owners will be able to login to unlock free charging via a custom mobile app by Electrify America, which also allows drivers to initiate and monitor their charging session.

"It is our goal to provide electric vehicle drivers with the freedom to get to where they want to go  whether it be on a highway or off-road  and we look forward to bringing Jeep enthusiasts along on the journey," said Giovanni Palazzo, president and chief executive officer of Electrify America. "Through the customizable electric vehicle charging offerings of our Electrify Commercial B2B brand, we were able to work with Jeep to identify where their drivers will need charging access most, and make it a reality."

The Jeep 4xe Charging Network trailhead chargers will deliver Level 2 (240-volt) charging. With Level 2 charging, the 17 kilowatt-hour battery pack in the Jeep Wrangler 4xe can be fully recharged in about two hours, delivering 49 MPGe and 21 miles of electric range. Recharge times will be shorter for Wrangler 4xe owners looking to just top off the battery pack before heading out on the trail.

Delivering up to 375 horsepower and 470 lb.-ft. of torque, the 2021 Jeep Wrangler 4xe lets the driver tailor the performance of the hybrid powertrain to best match planned activities, via the E Selec modes.

The E Selec mode options include eSave, which saves the Wrangler 4xe's battery charge for later use by prioritizing propulsion from the 2.0-liter engine. Additionally, the driver can choose between battery saving and battery charging during eSave via the Hybrid Electric Pages in the vehicle's Uconnect monitor.

The 2021 Jeep Wrangler 4xe launched in Sahara 4xe ($47,995 MSRP) and Rubicon 4xe ($51,695 MSRP) trim levels. Prices exclude the available $7,500 federal tax credit, any additional eligible state and local credits, and $1,495 destination charges.

Jeep Wave Customer Care Program

Jeep Wave is a premium owner loyalty program filled with benefits and exclusive perks created to give Jeep owners the utmost care and dedicated 24/7 support. The Jeep Wave customer service program is available to the entire 2021 model-year Jeep brand lineup.

Jeep Wave program highlights include:

Three years of worry-free maintenance at Jeep dealerships, including oil changes and tire rotations

24/7 support via phone or online chat

Trip interruption and first-day loaner coverage

VIP access to select, exclusive Jeep brand events

Electrify America

Electrify America LLC, the largest open DC fast charging network in the U.S., is investing $2 billion over 10 years in Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) infrastructure, education and access. The investment will enable millions of Americans to discover the benefits of electric driving and support the build-out of a nationwide network of workplace, community and highway chargers that are convenient and reliable. Electrify America expects to install or have under development approximately 800 total charging stations with about 3,500 DC fast chargers by December 2021. During this period, the company will be expanding to 29 metros and 45 states, including two cross-country routes, delivering on its commitment to support increased ZEV adoption with a network that is comprehensive, technologically advanced and customer friendly. Electrify America earned the "2020 EV Charging Infrastructure Best-in-Test" award from umlaut, an independent testing & validation company, as published in Charged Electric Vehicles Magazine noting the brand's accessibility and seamless customer experience. Electrify America's Electrify Home offers home charging solutions for consumers with flexible installation options. Electrify Commercial provides expert solutions for businesses looking to develop electric vehicle charging programs. For more information, visit www.electrifyamerica.com and media.electrifyamerica.com.

Jeep Brand

Built on 80 years of legendary heritage, Jeep is the authentic SUV with capability, craftsmanship and versatility for people who seek extraordinary journeys. The Jeep brand delivers an open invitation to live life to the fullest by offering a full line of vehicles that continue to provide owners with a sense of security to handle any journey with confidence. Jeep Wave, a premium owner loyalty and customer care program that is available to the entire Jeep lineup, is filled with benefits and exclusive perks to deliver Jeep owners the utmost care and dedicated 24/7 support.

The Jeep vehicle lineup consists of the Cherokee, Compass, Gladiator, Grand Cherokee, Renegade and Wrangler. To meet consumer demand around the world, all Jeep models sold outside North America are available in both left- and right-hand drive configurations and with gasoline and diesel powertrain options. Jeep is part of the portfolio of brands offered by leading global automaker and mobility provider Stellantis. For more information regarding Stellantis (NYSE: STLA), please visit www.stellantis.com.

Follow Jeep and company news and video on:

Company blog: http://blog.stellantisnorthamerica.com

Media website: http://media.stellantisnorthamerica.com

Jeep brand: www.jeep.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/jeep

Instagram: www.instagram.com/jeep

Twitter: www.twitter.com/jeep

YouTube: www.youtube.com/thejeepchannel or https://www.youtube.com/StellantisNA

SOURCE Stellantis

Related Links

http://www.stellantis.com


A row is brewing between Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) and a private company that wants to develop a separate multi-billion-shilling fishing port in Shimoni at the Kenyan South Coast, on who has the mandate to do so.

Whereas Nexus Marina has proposed to build a fishing port under the public-private partnership model, KPA has told the company that it has the "sole statutory authority" to develop and maintain ports in the country -creating simmering feud which could sink the venture.

"Your interest to participate in the construction and operation of a fishing port at Shimoni should not prejudice the ongoing progress made so far by the ports authority and the government in developing the proposed port at Shimoni," said the KPA letter sent to Nexus Marina's lawyers and signed by KPA's acting Managing Director Rashid Salim.

The letter also states that KPA has "the power, and function to develop, maintain and regulate all ports in Kenya. The said legal provision encompasses every port, whether dedicated to fishing or otherwise."

But Nexus Marina says it has the support of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, which has already issued a "no objection" letter.

"Your privately initiated investment proposal under the public private partnership arrangement should have been pursued in joint consultation with the Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries and National Treasury," says Mr Salim.

Two years ago, President Uhuru Kenyatta toured the Walvis Bay port in Namibia, a strategic harbour settlement with tens of processors and exporters of fish and fish products. He wanted the same for Kenya, and said as much.

Four months earlier, in November 2018, he had hosted the first-ever global Sustainable Blue Economy conference with support from Japan and Canada, and which attracted 16,000 delegates. The target was Kenya's Shimoni port, and the KPA had shown interest in developing a fishing port there.

Back home, President Kenyatta had already appointed General Samson Mwathethe the chairman of the Blue Economy Implementation Committee and the latter had called on the private sector to work with the government to revive the fishing sector.

The Kenyan waters have for years been intruded by foreign trawlers and pirates, who carry out industrial fishing in the waters of less-wealthy countries. They also have a monopoly on the high seas.

But without a surveillance system in Kenyan waters, the entire Blue Economy project could be sinking.

In November last year, KPA sought public comments over its proposed fishing port at Shimoni and among the drawbacks was that the project would interfere with the Shimoni Slave Caves heritage sites. The site would require intense dredging in the Dolphin channel.

However, the need for a fishing port in Kenya is justified by the annual deficit of 365,000 tonnes of fish against an annual demand of 500,000 tonnes. It is estimated that, at the moment, Kenya imports fish worth Sh2 billion despite having a 1,420-kilometre long coastline.

The promoters of the Blue Economy say that unless fish is brought to the shore, no country can develop a proper fishing industry.

In January last year, Nexus Marina wrote to Peter Munya, the Cabinet Secretary for Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, seeking a letter of no objection on their proposed industrial fishing port on its 320 acres, which has a sea frontage of three kilometres.

The firm told the CS that consultants hired by KPA had found the parastatal's 2.5 acres "unsuitable due to the small size of the land and the ownership issues surrounding the land."

"We are of the view that (Nexus Marina's land) is a more suitable location for construction of an industrial fishing port, which can accommodate all ancillary facilities since it has a long beach and its large frontage on the main Shimoni road."

Mr Munya had on June 22, 2020 issued a letter of no objection, saying "the government supports this type of investment that complements (our) efforts, while supporting the Kenyan Blue Economy Strategy ... and also supports our local fishing community."

In its proposal, Nexus Marina says it has engaged several financial institutions, including the African Development Bank and Exim Bank of India for a joint venture under Kukuza Project Development Company.

In a study of the site, Kukuza says Shimoni is strategically positioned and has locational advantage to harvest maximum tuna fish.

"It also has sufficiently flat terrain for construction of various project components," the study notes.

The firm also intends to resettle squatters and give fishermen boats that can go 15 kilometres into the ocean, and are equipped with cold storage and communication systems. The boats are supposed to replace the wooden canoes and Nexus Marina proposes to build a repair workshop for the boats.

While KPA has proposed to build a jetty on its land, Nexus Marina says it will build a floating jetty, for low tide. This is thought to be the biggest innovation in the project.

According to KPA, its new jetty will allow docking of two fishing vessels at a go.

"Phase one will involve the construction of between 85- to 150-metre long jetty (to) allow the berthing of large fishing vessels such as purse seiners and trawlers and ease pressure on the Mombasa port."

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KPA also intends to develop auxiliary infrastructure that includes a cold storage shed, fish auction, market and warehousing, among others.

It is the positioning of the warehouse that has been cited by in the Nema report as problematic since it is close to the Shimoni Slave Caves, which were gazette in 1992 as national monuments.

"The siting of the warehouse on the draft design layout should be ascertained to ensure that it doesn't sit on top of underground cave leading to the sea and which the National Museums intends to rehabilitate," says the report.

The report also says the KPA project is considered important and beneficial, but adds a rider that "there will be negative environmental and social impacts, which will accompany the development of Shimoni port."

The National Environment Management Authority has now asked Nexus Marina to also submit its Environmental Impact Assessment report for review and to allow decision making on whether its project should commence.

At the moment, the quest to build a fishing port at the Kenyan coast is shaping up into a battle between KPA and Nexus Marina.
US President Joe Biden has declared during his first presidential press conference he plans to run for a second term, while insisting China will not overtake America as the worlds most powerful and prosperous nation.

The President will be 81-years-old at the time of the next election and 86-years -old by the end of a possible second term.

In the hour-long press conference he also announced a new goal to administer 200 million COVID-19 vaccine doses by the end of April, doubling his previous goal.

In this episode, Tory Maguire and US correspondent Matthew Knott assess President Bidens press conference debut.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) says it fears that a detained Crimean journalists televised confession to spying on behalf of Ukraine was obtained under torture and has called for his immediate release and the withdrawal of the charges against him.



In a statement on March 26, Jeanne Cavelier, the head of RSFs Eastern Europe and Central Asia desk, expressed concern about the psychological and physical pressure Vladislav Yesypenko has been subjected to.



Cavelier also condemned the ban on access to his lawyer.



Yesypenko, a freelance contributor to Crimea.Realities, a regional news outlet of RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, was visibly pale and had difficulty talking when he made his confession -- one almost certainly obtained under duress -- in an interview for local Russian TV channel Krym24 that seemed more like a police interrogation, the Paris-based media freedom watchdog said.



The interview was broadcast on March 18, eight days after Yesypenko, who has Ukrainian and Russian dual nationality, was arrested in Ukraines Russia-annexed Crimea region.



Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said Yesypenko was suspected of collecting information for Ukrainian intelligence and claimed that an object "looking like an explosive device" was found in his automobile during his apprehension.



The journalist was charged with making firearms, which is punishable by up to six years in prison.



RFE/RL President Jamie Fly has called for Yesypenkos immediate release and also has questioned the circumstances under which Yesypenko made his confession.



"We question the circumstances surrounding this purported confession, which appears to be forced and made without access to legal counsel," Fly said in a statement.



"The Russian authorities have similarly smeared RFE/RL Ukrainian Service contributors with false charges in the past. Vladislav is a freelance contributor with RFE/RLs Ukrainian Service, not a spy, and he should be released."



Ukraine's Foreign Intelligence Service described the arrest as a convenient attempt to distract the attention of the population away from the numerous internal problems of the peninsula" ahead of the seventh anniversary of its forcible annexation, which was marked on March 18.



The U.S. State Department called Yesypenko's arrest another attempt to repress those who speak the truth about Russia's aggression in Ukraine.



Graty, a Ukrainian media outlet specializing in police and judicial abuses, quoted a source at Yesypenkos place of detention as saying he had been tortured, while the lawyer chosen by the journalists family has not been allowed to see him, according to the Crimean Human Rights Group (CHRG).



This suggests that the authorities are trying to cover up evidence that Yesypenko has been subjected to illegal methods of investigation, including physical and psychological violence, the CHRG said.



Yesypenko was detained along with a resident of the Crimean city of Alushta, Yelizaveta Pavlenko, after the two took part in an event marking the 207th anniversary of the birth of Ukrainian poet and thinker Taras Shevchenko the day before in Crimea.



Pavlenko was later released.



Russia forcibly annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in March 2014, sending in troops and staging a referendum denounced as illegitimate by at least 100 countries after Moscow-friendly Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych was ousted amid a wave of public protests.



Rights groups say that since then, Russia has moved aggressively to prosecute Ukrainian activists and anyone who questions the annexation.



Moscow also backs separatists in a war against Ukrainian government forces that has killed more than 13,000 people in eastern Ukraine since April 2014.
Published on 2021/03/26 | Source

Korean documentary re-released today 2021/03/26 in Korea: "Resurrection" (2020)



Directed by Goo Soo-hwan



Original release date: 2020/07/09

Synopsis

The story about seeds of love that Father Lee Tae-Seok planted in Tonj, Africa, blooms into flowers.



Father Lee Tae-Seok died at a young age of 48, devoted to Sudan, Africa.



Doctor? Pharmacist? Civil Servant? About 40 students attended medical school. The surprising thing is that everyone is living the life of Father Lee Tae-seok. The people are happy that this priest is back.



The 100,000-kilometer journey, a year's chase, the impression that human beings become flower to humans is revealed.
Jagran New Medias education portal, JagranJosh.com celebrated the first edition of The Education Awards on March 25th, 2021. The main objective of this virtual ceremony and behind the entire effort was to recognize, applaud and honour Educational Leaders and Teachers who displayed excellence in education during the COVID-19 induced lockdown.

These awards also recognized and awarded meritorious Students who rose against the odds to showcase exceptional academic or extracurricular work during the schools closure. The awards, therefore aimed at felicitating both the stakeholders - Students and Educators  in the education ecosystem who set a personal example of dedication and innovation in the face of adverse circumstances.

In order to salute the efforts of those who have contributed greatly during these time, a separate microsite was created with all the details https://education-awards.jagranjosh.com/ and the voting closed on March 24th. The event was sponsored by Testbook & the results were announced yesterday through a virtual ceremony which was not only very well executed but was also flawless and exhilarating. A special message by the Chief Guest -Honble Minister of Education, Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank took the momentum of the event a few notches higher. Ms Hari Chandana Dasari, IAS - the renowned Social Innovator & Eco Crusador and Mr. Anand Kumar, Founder Super 30 were the Guest of Honour.

There were 3 main categories: Education Leaders, Educators & Students which were further divided into various sub categories. Educational Leaders Awards recognised 3 educational leaders (Principals/Heads of Institutions) who demonstrated excellence in educational leadership during the pandemic were won by Mayanka Sharma, Sarvest Mishra, Anand Kishore.

The category Educators Awards focused on Teachers and the winner in this category are Sumedha Sodhi (Best Initiative (Edutainment  Making Learning Fun), Deepika Kaushik (Best Initiative (For Children with Special Needs [CWSN]), Raminder Kaur Mac (Best Initiative for Mental Health Awareness), Arpit Panjwani (Best Initiative (Grassroots Service)), Ravindra Thakur (Best Initiative Using Social Media), Suman Tripathi (Most Innovative Teaching Method), Dinesh Kunwar Patel (Most Innovative Use of Science & Technology)

Under Students Awards, Young Heroes were celebrated and the winners in this category are Arnav Arora, Kritika Singh (Best Use of Science & Technology), Namya Joshi (Most Creative Online Initiative), Tanmay Gupta (Most Creative Use of Social Media), Arduino Power Meter - Sailesh Kumar, Himanshu Singh & Kunal Tanwar (Most Innovative Educational Project), The Paperless Press - Abhimanyu Rao, Agastya Rao & Mihir Rao (Most Promising Literary Talent), Arushi Arora, Shuban Singh & Tanush Sawhney (Most Socially Relevant Initiative), Ananya Kamboj, The Tale of Humankind - Aniket Gupta & Seher Taneja (Special Award (Popular Choice))

The winner in each sub category were chosen by a special jury with esteemed names like Sharad Vivek Sagar (CEO, Dexterity Global, Social Entrepreneur & Expert at KBC), Dr Bhola Gurjar (Resources & Alumni Affairs, IIT Roorkee), Dr Prashant Mishra ( Dean New Initiatives & External Relations, IIM Calcutta), Dr Madhav Deo Saraswat ( Principal - The Scindia School, Gwalior), Ms Sashi Banerjee (Principal - Shiv Nadar School, Noida), Dr Saumya Sindhwani (Associate Dean, Advanced Management Programs, ISB Hyderabad), Dr Monica Singhania (Professor of Finance, Faculty of Management Studies, New Delhi) and Parikshit Bhardwaj ( Head - Content, Jagran New Media).
Egyptian authorities Thursday announced temporal suspension of navigation in the Suez Canal until the completion of flotation work of the stuck vessel.

Admiral Osama Rabie, Chairman and Managing Director of the Suez Canal Authority has announced today; Thursday March 25th, 2021, that navigation through the Suez Canal is temporarily suspended. That is only until the floatation works of the large Panamanian container vessel EVER GIVEN; that ran aground at the 151 km area (Canal Marking), are complete, the media office of the Suez Canal Authority said in a statement.

EVER GIVEN blocked diagonally Tuesday the important maritime route connecting Asia to Europe after it was knocked off course by strong winds.

The 400-meter long vessel is operated by Taiwan-based Ever Green company.

Egypt authorities launched Thursdays operation to refloat the vessel using eight tugboats, dredgers, and the aid of high tides.

Media, the New Arab reports, were Tuesday banned from reporting on the grounding of the ship heading the port city of Rotterdam in the Netherlands from China, until issuance of the official statement.

A cabinet source, the London-based news outlet reports told its Arabic service on Wednesday that the Suez Canal Authority will conduct an inquiry to ascertain whether the ship had exceeded its maximum capacity.

The salvage operation could take weeks, Peter Berdowski, CEO of Dutch company Boskalis which is trying to free the ship, told the Dutch television program Nieuwsuur.
Fulshear Police Department

Two Fulshear police officers are recovering from severe injuries following a Wednesday plane crash in New Mexico, according to the Fulshear Police Department.

Officers Adam Schoof and Dillon Rice were the only occupants of the plane when it crashed Wednesday morning south of Lordsburg, New Mexico, the department said. The crash was not duty related.
ICICI Lombard, one of the leading non-life insurance companies in India, has launched a Ride To Safety anthem, adding to its long-standing endeavour of bringing about a behavioural change towards road safety in India. The anthem has been sung and composed by the music maestro Shri Shankar Mahadevan. It was unveiled by Shri Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Road Transport & Highways and Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises.

According to a 2018 World Bank report, India accounts for the highest number of road accidents globally, with 1.5 lakh people being killed annually in road accidents. The loss due to these events amount to over 3% of Indias GDP. According to another report released by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways in October 2020, more than a third (37%) of those killed in road accidents in 2019 were two-wheeler riders. Not wearing helmets resulted in the death of 44,666 people (30,148 drivers and 14,518 pillions) i.e. 29.8% of total road accident fatalities in 2019. The growing fatalities call for higher awareness and action towards road safety among the masses.

Given Indias interest in music, ICICI Lombard has opted for an eclectic lyrical storytelling as a medium of expression. The anthem aims to promote the brands ideology towards Ride To Safety, capturing the public's true energy and channelizing it in an anthem. The lyrics of the anthem convey the safety guidelines and the dos & donts while riding/ driving a two-wheeler or four-wheeler.

The Ride to Safety campaign by ICICI Lombard is a nationwide initiative to create an action oriented road safety program, especially among children and parents. Since 2016, over 700 road safety workshops have been held in the metros and other major cities across India, spreading awareness among 200,000+ children and their parents. Further, over 130,000 children and their parents have received ISI-marked child-specific helmets, as part of the exercise. The presence of a road-safety anthem further strengthens the initiatives resolve and enables it to resonate with the masses in a unique and heartfelt manner.

On the launch of the anthem, Bhargav Dasgupta, MD & CEO, ICICI Lombard, said, At ICICI Lombard, we are committed to contribute to the cause of Road safety. The anthem introduced as part of our Ride To Safety program is aimed at amplifying our Road Safety messaging and bringing about a behavioural change among people when it comes to adopting safer road habits. I would like to express my gratitude to Shri Nitin Gadkari ji for unveiling this anthem and lending his support to this important cause. I would also like to thank Shri Shankar Mahadevan for partnering us in creating this unique anthem, that can become a symbol of road safety and effectively persuade vehicle users to demonstrate the correct driving behaviour for their own safety and for the benefit of others.

The anthem is being promoted across ICICI Lombards social media assets and digital platforms along with traditional media such as radio. To increase the anthems visibility, social media influencers will also be involved in the campaign.

ICICI Lombard has always endeavoured to go beyond its business focus and contribute to all stakeholders' wellbeing, including the community at large.
A report by civil society organization, Unwanted Witness, indicates that Ugandans are unaware of their digital rights yet the government is pulling all stops to violate them, writes FRANK KISAKYE.

Digital rights include access to the internet, right to access information from both state and non-state actors right to privacy and protection of collected private data, the right to due legal process in case of digital rights violations, right to equality of all gender, marginalized while online, among others.

The January 2021 report titled; The current state and development of digital human rights and internet governance in Uganda was launched at Hotel Africana last week. It reveals that half of the 547 respondents (58% male, 41% female and 1% other), at least were unaware of digital governance or their digital rights, especially the right to internet, access and affordability.

The Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) sector report 2019 indicates that Uganda internet penetration standards at 37 per cent with over 23 million subscribers but only 5.5 million have active smartphones. About six million users are active users of social media with 50.4 per cent using Facebook, 21.31 per cent on Twitter, 19.89 per cent on Pinterest, 6.53 per cent on YouTube, 1.14 per cent on Instagram and 0.2 per cent on Reddit.

However, Uganda, like Tanzania, Egypt and Ethiopia, has been cited as the topmost countries to experience internet shutdowns in the recent past, suffering communications disruptions on more than one occasion. In these countries, there is also an increasing use of data collection and surveillance tools such as; spyware, CCTV camera, social media monitoring, regressive online content regulation and taxation.

The report notes that this is worrying because many governments are raising surveillance capacity even when there are insufficient independent legal safeguards.

For example, in October 2020, UCC, issued arbitrarily demands to online content producers including bloggers and others to registered and be licensed, a clear desire to contract freedom of expression on the internet. The order was challenged in court by civil society and is before court.

Article 29 of the 1995 Uganda Constitution expresses the right of freedom of media and expression - making every Ugandan have a right to use internet either for expressing one's views or gathering information without any governmental interruptions. Although accessibility to the internet is not denied in Uganda, accessibility is greatly hindered by affordability and restrictions on use, especially social media. Currently, access to Facebook is still blocked by the government since January 13.

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"Most Ugandans do not give attention to the digital rights and they do not know them because there is limited civic education around digital rights; these are new things in the society. Therefore, most people cannot claim what they don't know it belongs to them," one of the respondents said.

A police correspondent from Masaka is quoted in the report as saying; "As the law enforcement officers, we have limited refresh training on digital right since we're often in operations addressing insecurity in the community. The limited understanding and appreciation of these rights often results into operation mistakes, especially when handling digital crimes."

The study indicates that failure to monitor set policies, failure to sensitize people on digital rights, limited knowledge on existence of digital rights, high charges on using social media, gender inequality and the establishment of the OTT tax are some of the factors hindering internet freedoms. More challenges included lack of proper devices for use by people with disabilities, poor internet connection, increased rates of cyberbullying and the inability to afford platforms in terms of maintenance fees.

Digital rights violations according to the report are characterised by; arrests and intimidation of online users, internet blockages, and a proliferation of laws and regulations that undermine the potential of technology to drive socio-economic and political development worldwide.

fkisakye@observer.ug
On the occasion of World Water Day on March 22, One Shared World presented a special session on water conservation and sanitisation for all. Titled as 'Water and Sanitation For All-The fight against pandemics'', the session aimed to explore how the world can come together to solve these issues.

One Shared World, on the occasion of World Water Day on March 22, presented a captivating session titled WASHPAP on Water and sanitation for all: The fight against pandemics. The session witnessed lawmakers, activists, and leaders from different countries and backgrounds come together at a single platform to address several issues that are prevalent in the world today and pledged towards working on a solution.

Jamie Metzl, founder and Chair of One Shared World, Suresh Prabhu, Member of Parliament, Shah Chaudhary, President of Footsteps, Bangladesh and Jack Sim, founder of World Toilet Organisation joined the panel. In his opening statement, Jamie Metzl shared the vision of One Shared World and said, This is a part of our rise and fall together speaker series, where we are exploring not just the great challenges of this moment but also how we can come together as a world to solve these issues.

He further talked about how the organisation as a whole currently stands at a civilisational-turning point somewhat equivalent to 1918, One path forward is the path of exclusion, i.e wall building while the other is of inclusion i.e building bridges, only that second path can allow your species and all of us to thrive. thats what we at One Shared World and the communities within it is all about, he added.

Formed in the earlier days of the pandemic, One Shared World initially aimed at solving issues of the pandemic but later realised that there are these the broader issues, which might have led to a pandemic situation like this. The organisation now aims at building a new framework for global collaboration and problem-solving. It also focuses on the importance of inter-dependence and how this approach can bring the communities together to tackle a global problem that affects people of each and every country in the world.

Talking about the need to have a global approach to solve these pressing issues, Jamie asserted, Addressing the urgent needs of the worlds most vulnerable populations is not and can not be seen as just charity. It can not be seen as wealthier people helping the poor people. Thats not the right framework. Rather, it must be seen as it is and the best we can do is come together for building a safer world for everyone.

Explaining the term WASHPAP, Jamie said that the word is a compound acronym connecting  Wash, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene, where PAP stands for Essential protection, and WASHPAP as a whole is described as an initiative that can be a smart investment to protect our planet from the pandemic and eliminate the possibilities of any future pandemics which may occur. WASHPAP campaign is focused on addressing the issue at every level. An outline plan has been developed by One Shared World where the target is to provide access to sanitation and pure drinking water to as many communities and countries as possible by the year 2030. The campaign #ShareTheWater has been actively running on social media platforms to educate, empower and encourage people to play their part.

Suresh Prabhu, Member of Parliament, former minister for Commerce and the current leader, sherpa of the G20 Summit joined in the conversation as a guest speaker and spoke about the contributions made by his government and the current initiatives that are being undertaken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He talked about several policies that have been brought under Mr. Modis leadership in the past several years which focus on sanitation, drinking water as well as different policies that have been implemented in India which are directed towards educating people and providing them with the necessary resources. When asked about the G20 summit, Mr. Suresh stated, We are at the final stage of ensuring the agenda that will be discussed at the G20 summit this year, We the G20 constitutes of 86% of the population, it doesnt give us power rather it puts us at a position of responsibility and accountability. being a strong nation means, it has to take care of those who are vulnerable.

Mr. Shah Chaudhary, President of Footsteps, an organisation based out of Bangladesh, further pressed on the need to address the sanitisation issue in Bangladesh. He said, Access to Sanitation is a very big issue in Bangladesh, especially in the coastal region. With more refugees coming in from Myanmar, the problem has increased further and this is what the latrine project is trying to address. Our goal is to build various sanitation facilities along the entire coastal belt of Bangladesh so that everyone can be benefitted from this project.

Mr. Shah has been administering sanitation facilities in certain areas of Bangladesh, especially at the refugee camps to ensure that water, sanitation, and healthcare facilities could be provided to those people residing alongside border areas. His initiative called The Latrine Project aims to build over 500 sanitation systems along the coastal belt. currently, around 200 families are benefitting from the project.

Mr. Jack Sim, founder of World Toilet Organisation, further shared his experience of how he left his business twenty years ago to work as a volunteer in several organisations. With his venture, he is only not solve the issues at an individual level but has also created a platform for different cultures to come forward and be a part of the solution. I was troubled when the organisation that I was working in used to call sanitation problem a water agenda. I said we have to decouple it and give sanitation its own centre stage for it to be addressed as a separate issue. The media publishes our work and through its viewership, we are now connected to 2-3 billion people across the world, Mr. Zack stated.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-26 00:24:17|Editor: huaxia

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Aerial photo taken on July 13, 2020 shows an expedition vessel in the South China Sea. (Xinhua/Zhang Liyun)

BEIJING, March 25 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese military spokesperson on Thursday urged certain members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to stop stirring up troubles in the South China Sea.

Ren Guoqiang, a spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defense, made the remarks when asked for comment on the recent dispatch of, or announcement of dispatching, warships to the South China Sea by certain NATO countries for the so-called "freedom of navigation" mission.

China is paying close attention to relevant developments, Ren said.

Thanks to concerted efforts of countries in the region, the current situation in the South China Sea is generally stable, he said, noting that the so-called problem of "freedom of navigation" does not exist.

The region and the international community see that the security risks in the South China Sea are mainly from outside, Ren said. He called on relevant countries to make constructive contributions to regional peace and stability instead of making troubles out of nothing.

"Neither today's world nor China are what they were 100 years ago," Ren said. "China always respects the freedom of navigation and flight in the South China Sea enjoyed by all countries per international law, but firmly oppose any act jeopardizing sovereignty and security of littoral states."

Ren urged relevant countries to safeguard common interests and uphold peace, stability, and prosperity in the region and the world. 
Three days after announcing the birth of her newborn son with husband Nathan Constable, Married At First Sight star Tracey Jewel has revealed her baby's gorgeous name.

Speaking to Daily Mail Australia on Friday, the new mother said: 'Frankie Robert Constable was born at 37 weeks.'

Tracey said she had a 'very long labour' and 'some breathing difficulties, but [is] doing really well now.'

Congratulations! Married At First Sight star Tracey Jewel, 37, has revealed her newborn son's gorgeous name. Speaking to Daily Mail Australia on Friday, the new mum said: 'Frankie Robert Constable was born at 37 weeks'

Her little one weighed in at 3.6 kilos.

On Friday afternoon, the 37-year-old also confirmed some more details about her son's birth alongside a brand new picture of the baby and her family mid-labour.

'Meet our beautiful boy Frankie Robert Constable, born 18th March at 10.34pm,' she said.

Tracey also gave fans an update on her newborn's health post-birth.

'He had some breathing difficulties and a week in ICU after a long difficult labour and a emergency C but we are both recovering really well!

'Hes a strong feisty little man (no wonder with his hard kicks),' she added.

She also thanked followers for their kind words, writing: 'So enjoying our little love bubble x thank you so so much for all your messages of love and support, youre amazing.'

Baby joy: On Friday afternoon, the 37-year-old also confirmed some more details about her son's birth alongside a brand new picture of the baby and her family mid-labour

'Hes a strong feisty little man (no wonder with his hard kicks),' she added.

The reality star, who also has a 10-year-old daughter named Grace from a previous relationship, first announced the arrival of Frankie on Tuesday by sharing a photo of the newborn to Instagram.

'Our Pisces baby has safely arrived! Our hearts are bursting with love. Photos and deets to come soon x,' she wrote in the caption.

'Our Pisces baby has safely arrived! Our hearts are bursting with love. Photos and deets to come soon x,' she wrote in the caption

In the photo, Tracey and Nathan's adorable son slept soundly in his hospital bed, with a sign that read 'I'm here' gently resting on his body.

Tracy's baby joy comes after a difficult pregnancy for the reality star, who was famously married to Dean Wells on MAFS in 2018.

Just last week, the brunette revealed she had been hospitalised with an irritable uterus ahead of her due date.

Love story: Tracey and Nathan (both pictured) are high school sweethearts and recently married in a quaint Perth ceremony

An irritable uterus refers to regular contractions similar to like Braxton-Hicks, but stronger and more frequent.

While not usually harmful, the contractions can be uncomfortable and lead to hospital stays like Tracey's.

'This pregnancy has tested me in a lot of ways,' she wrote on Instagram at the time.

'This pregnancy has tested me in a lot of ways': Just last week, the brunette revealed she had been hospitalised with an irritable uterus ahead of her due date

Hospitalised: Tracey shared this photo on Instagram of herself lying in a hospital bed as she shared details of her rocky pregnancy

She continued: 'Having an irritable uterus, the last week and has been painful and arduous, in and out of hospital overnight stays and being monitored.'

'This is how we hang for now - I know he will come at the perfect time so I'm just going to try and enjoy the last days of pregnancy while navigating the pain and exhaustion,' she added.

Tracey concluded: 'The female human body is truly incredible - women you are warrior goddesses!

Discomfort: An irritable uterus refers to regular contractions similar to like Braxton-Hicks, but stronger and more frequent. While not usually harmful, the contractions can be uncomfortable and lead to hospital stays like Tracey's

The wellness entrepreneur announced her baby joy with Nathan on September 19.

'We're having a baby! We are so happy to share our beautiful news with everyone,' she wrote on Instagram.

'My daughter Grace is going to be an amazing big sister and I'm so so grateful to be experiencing pregnancy and motherhood again with my love Nate x.

New addition! Tracey uploaded a picture of her unborn child's sonogram to announce her pregnancy in September

Tracey and Nathan were married in February in a surprise ceremony.

At the time, she sweetly told Daily Mail Australia that she now has 'everything she's ever hoped for' in a partner and was excited for their future together.

'It was Nathan's first wedding and Ive done it twice before, so we wanted to do the official vows at Perths registry office, Tracey said of her big day.

Smitten: Tracey and Nathan were married in February in a surprise ceremony. At the time, she sweetly told Daily Mail Australia that she now has 'everything she's ever hoped for' in a partner and was excited for their future together

Tracey and Nathan had only become engaged three weeks prior, but she admitted she 'really wanted Nathan's surname' to 'make it official that this is our family now'.

The ceremony itself was attended by close friends and family only, with Tracey's 10-year-old daughter Grace as the flower girl.

Tracey shares Grace with her ex-husband, who she split from in 2012.
The mission he led in World War II would be the last for Army Air Forces Maj. Peyton S. Mathis Jr., commander of the 44th Fighter Squadron.

He clambered aboard a P-38J Lightning to lead a bombing mission on Japanese troops in the northern Solomon Islands and took off from his home base, only to be recalled home because of bad weather at the target.

Somewhere along the way, Mathis lost his right engine and began to run out of time.

His story was told Friday as the Air Force saluted Americans killed or missing in the nations wars, including three who survived captivity in Vietnam who attended the annual Freedom Flyer Reunion at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph.

This years event was a scaled-down ceremony on a runway tarmac rather than Randolphs Missing Man Monument, with fewer people in attendance as a precaution against the coronavirus.

Col. Scott Rowe, commander of the 12th Flying Training Wing, recalled the last flight of Mathis, whose remains were found 70 years after his plane crashed that day in 1944.

Major Mathis elected to remain airborne and circle the field while his squadronmates landed first, Rowe said. While circling, according to eyewitness accounts, his P-38 suddenly straightened up and crashed in the dense jungle.

On ExpressNews.com: For Vietnam POWs, resistance wasn't futile

Rescuers who found the plane partially buried in a swamp couldnt recover Mathis, who was 28, but the Joint POW-MIA Accounting Command found him decades later and contacted Rowe, who was then the commander of the 44th. He presented a folded American flag to Mathiss family in 2015 at a funeral service in Montgomery, Ala.

The reunion at Randolph marks the day Vietnam POWs came home from the war and requalified to fly with the 560th Flying Training Squadron. Fridays event included a flyover by T-38C Talons in a missing man formation and other tributes to the more than 81,700 Americans still missing from World War II, the Korean War, Vietnam War, Cold War, Persian Gulf War and Iraq.

No other nation devotes the time and resources that we do in locating and repatriating servicemen and women from far-away fields of battle, said Rowe, who led the 44th Fighter Squadron at Kadena AB, Japan.

During my time at Kadena, we routinely deployed personnel to assist recovery missions in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, he added. Our folks fought tooth and nail to be selected for these missions because of the unspoken and unbreakable bond between members of the profession of arms.

On ExpressNews.com: Shot down, San Antonio POW saw how the world could be - if not for war

Rowe also cited Gen. George S. Patton, who said, It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather, we should thank God that such men lived.

sigc@express-news.net
Natus Vincere (Na'Vi) and Beastcoast announced on Friday (26 March) that they have withdrawn from the ONE Esports Dota 2 Singapore Major after more of their players contracted the coronavirus and risked exposure to the rest of their teammates.

Three Na'Vi players test positive for COVID-19

Na'Vi previously had two of their players, Bogdan "Iceberg" Vasilenko and Andrii "ALWAYSWANNAFLY" Bondarenko, test positive for the coronavirus, which forced them to enlist team coach Andrey "Mag" Chipenko and Roman "RAMZES666" Kushnarev as substitutes so that they can still attend the Major.

However, Na'Vi said that Mag also tested positive for COVID-19 a few days before the team's flight to Singapore. He had been in contact with the other players on Na'Vi during their boot camp for the Major, except for Iceberg and ALWAYSWANNAFLY who had already been isolated after their own positive cases.

(Illustration: Yahoo Esports, Logos: ONE Esports, Natus Vincere, Beastcoast)

Na'Vi added that Nikola "LeBronDota" Popovic was eager to replace Mag as their substitute for the tournament, but his flight to Singapore was unfortunately cancelled because of technical reasons. To further complicate the team's situation, some of its players who were previously in contact with Mag began to have fevers, one of the most common symptoms for COVID-19.

"The very limited remaining time left the tournament operator only with a connecting flight, during which the player's PCR test would expire. This option increases the risk that the player would be stopped on his way to Singapore. In that case, the team will unfortunately not be able to perform at the championship," Na'Vi said in a statement.

The organisation also explained that the Singapore Major's organisers told them that if at least one of their players tested positive for the coronavirus upon their arrival to the Republic, the entire team would have to self-quarantine.

With the Major starting on Saturday (27 March), the requirement for Na'Vi's players to self-quarantine would mean they could no longer participate in the tournament even if their complete roster was in Singapore. Depending on the length of the self-quarantine period, there was also a chance that the team would not be able to return to their home region in time for the start of the next Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) season.

Story continues

With three of their players contracting the coronavirus and the added risk of missing the start of the next DPC season, Na'Vi ultimately decided to withdraw from the Singapore Major.

The team added that Ramzes had already flown to Singapore before they decided to withdraw from the tournament. Upon his arrival to the country, he will be eligible to stand-in for other teams that are missing a player.

"We wish the best of luck to the other CIS players at the Major, and a speedy recovery to Mag, Iceberg and ALWAYSWANNAFLY. We would also like to express our gratitude to [Ramzes]," said Na'Vi.

Beastcoast's Stinger tests positive for COVID-19

Beastcoast announced that they have also withdrawn from the Singapore Major after team captain Steven "StingeR" Vargas tested positive for the coronavirus in the past week. While StingeR has already been isolated, the team said his teammates may have also been exposed to the virus as they were all in contact as they were preparing for the Major.

The rest of Beastcoast's players have tested negative for COVID-19 and are being monitored closely. However, the organisation said that the incubation period for the virus has cast doubts over whether or not the team would still have a negative test result before their flight to Singapore.

"Safety is our highest priority and we feel that traveling at this time and potentially exposing others would be irresponsible. In accordance to [World Health Organization] guidelines, we will be enforcing a quarantine for all players as a precautionary measure," Beastcoast said in a statement.

While the organisation said that they are "very disappointed that our players will not be able to show their capabilities against the best in the world" in the Major, they would be looking forward to the next DPC season instead.

Other players miss Singapore Major due to COVID-19, health problems

Aside from the players on Na'Vi and Beastcoast, four other players from different teams will also be missing out on the Singapore Major due to positive coronavirus cases and other health-related issues.

Quincy Crew's Arif "MSS" Anwar, and Team Nigma's Ivan "MinD_ControL" Ivanov are both out of the tournament after they tested positive for the coronavirus. Neon Esports' John Anthony "Natsumi" Vargas and T1's Carlo "Kuku" Palad will also not make it to Singapore due to undisclosed health problems. Neon Esports and T1 have not confirmed whether the reason behind their players' absences was a positive coronavirus test or not.

Meanwhile, Virtus.pro's Egor "Nightfall" Grigorenko also fell ill but did not produce a positive test. His team has called up a substitute as a precaution but still intends to participate in the Major with him in the lineup.

The Singapore Major's rules state that players who have tested positive for the coronavirus prior to the event, even if they were able to recover shortly before the team's departure to Singapore, will be unable to play in order to minimise risk of exposure for other players.

Teams participating in the Major have already begun to arrive in Singapore. Foreign teams coming to the republic will not need to quarantine for 14 days, instead being required to take a COVID-19 test and undergo a 48-hour isolation period upon their arrival to the country, and follow a strictly-controlled itinerary during their stay.

In addition, teams that have been eliminated from the Singapore Major are required to leave immediately in order to minimise the risk of further exposure to them and the remaining teams in the tournament.

Format changes following Na'Vi and Beastcoast's withdrawals

Na'Vi and Beastcoast's withdrawals from the Singapore Major has forced a change in format for the tournament, as they were previously given direct seeds in the Group Stage and Playoffs, respectively.

With Na'Vi vacating one of the Group Stage spots, three teams will now advance from the Wildcard Stage according to a statement from Singapore Major organiser PGL. Only two teams were originally supposed to advance from the Wildcard into the Group Stage.

In addition, seven teams will now advance from the Group Stage into the Playoffs due to Beastcoast's withdrawal. Six teams were originally supposed to advance from the Group Stage, with the top two teams there meeting the directly-seeded Playoff teams in the upper bracket.

Since Beastcoast was one of the teams that were slated to start in the upper bracket, the third-placed team of the Group Stage will take their spot. The number of teams that will advance to lower bracket of the Playoffs remains at four, though they are now the fourth to seventh-placed teams of the Group Stage.

The Singapore Major is scheduled to start on 27 March and will run until 4 April. The event will feature 18 teams from the DPC's six regional leagues competing for the lion's share of a US$500,000 prize pool and 2,700 DPC point pool.

For everything you need to know about the ONE Esports Singapore Major, check here.

For more esports news updates, visit https://yhoo.it/YahooEsportsSEA and check out Yahoo Esports Southeast Asias Facebook page.
New Delhi:

A senior US official on Thursday has put to rest India's worries on the H-1B visa programme, which is currently being reviewed by the Donald Trump administration. The official has stated that there are no restrictions in place.

The official also added that about 70 per cent of the visas that were issued under the category of H-1B over the past nine months have been given to Indians. As a matter of fact, 1.2 million Indian visas were adjudicated last year by the US.

The official said that there has been an increase of six percent in year after year in terms of the issuance of H-1B visas and L1 visas are given to Indians. He said that there no restrictions as such but H-1B visa programme is under review.

The issue will not be discussed on the table in the upcoming Ind-US bilateral dialogue on consular relations, according to the official.

Another issue, on the revoking of the Deferred Action for Children Arrival (DACA) programme, will be under discussion in the talks to be conducted on September 27 in Washington. The repealing of the programme has affected over 7,000 Indian-Americans.

United States President Donald Trump had signed an executive order to tighten the rules of H-1B visa programme, in order to stop the visa abuses.

The DACA amnesty programme issued work permits those immigrants who arrived in the United States illegally as children. The official has said that the US processed about 88,000 student visa application in 2016. This is a rise of 15 percent from the year 2015.

At present, about 1.6 lakh students from India are studying in the United States. This is the second highest number of international students in the country after China.

(With PTI inputs)

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
When the pandemic befell Italy and the rest of Europe a little more than one year ago, the United States watched in horror at the images of overcrowded hospitals and morgues filled to the brim.

Desperate governments rapidly implemented national lockdowns to bring the scourge under control. Following suit, the United States also found itself confronting the coronaviruss ravages. Hospitals in New York City quickly reached capacity with the sick and afflicted. Exhausted health care workers were decrying the lack of PPEs and N95s to protect themselves adequately.

One year later, history (with the virus) appears to be attempting a similar rhyme with the added dangers of the more virulent strains growing ever more dominant.

Autoworkers leave the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles Warren Truck Plant in Warren, Michigan [Credit: AP Photo/Paul Sancya]

The US has essentially abandoned every mitigation measure to stem new infections. In this regard, the state of Michigan is quickly becoming the new epicenter for the pandemic. The seven-day moving average across the state has risen nearly four-fold, from a low 1,062 cases per day on February 19 to 3,753 cases a day as of March 24, and continues to accelerate. Yesterday Michigan reported 5,172 new cases. There have been more than 700,000 cases of COVID-19 and 17,000 deaths in the state.

The dramatic turn in the pandemic curve is undoubtedly, and partially, attributable to the more transmissible B.1.1.7 variant, which was first identified in the United Kingdom. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports on its variant tracker that there have been 7,501 reported cases of this variant across every state in the country. In Michigan, 986 cases of the B.1.1.7 variant have been detected, a number that will soon exceed Floridas, which has seen 1,042 cases reported.

Of note, there have been 219 cases of the B.1.351 variant identified in South Africa across 27 states. The P.1 variant corresponding to the strain first originating in Brazil has only spread to 18 states thus far, and 61 cases have been identified.

The main reason for these developments is the lifting of all restrictions and assuming a laissez-faire attitude by the political establishment towards the pandemic. The vaccines have absolved them of all responsibility for the health of their population. In this regard, hospitalization trends are a very troubling development and expose their ruthless disregard for the populations welfare.

With 249 cases per 100,000 over the last seven days, Michigan has the third-highest COVID-19 case rate in the United States. New Jersey with 330 and New York with 279 cases per 100,000 are also areas of significant concern, especially as school reopening has gotten underway and gyms and eating establishments are anxious to open for business.

The Michigan Health and Hospital Association has warned that hospitalization rates for COVID-19 are surging again. What is vexing authorities is that the cases are occurring among younger populations who have the lowest vaccination rates. As of March 1, hospitalizations for ages 30 to 39 have grown by 633 percent, while those aged 40 to 49 have seen an 800 percent rise.

The MHHA remarked that hospitalizations among those 80 years or older are also climbing. But the effect of the COVID-19 vaccines has been notable, with only a 37 percent increase since the beginning of the month for these most elderly patients.

In a press release statement, the MHHA wrote, The correlation between high vaccination rates and lower hospitalization growth rates shows the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccine and how it protects from the risk of severe disease or hospitalization. The data also indicates that, although older adults still have a higher risk of hospitalizations, the percentage of hospitalized patients who are younger than 40 years old has doubled (outpacing older adults), showing that adults of any age are vulnerable to complications from the disease.

The Detroit Free Press indicated that hospital bed occupancy for COVID-19 patients was now at 72 percent. The statewide coronavirus tracker also noted that the bed occupancy for COVID-19 at a dozen hospitals was 90 percent or more. Not even the growing influx of patients into health systems is sufficient to alarm state officials anymore.

Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer, who recently said with regards to the rise in cases and hospitalizations, Its a stark reminder that this virus is still very real and it can come back roaring if we drop our guard, has no plans to tighten any of the restrictions that were eased in recent months.

Dr. Nick Gilpin, medical director of infection prevention and epidemiology for Beaumont Health, said during an update on the pandemic, This is unfortunately becoming a familiar refrain for us here. COVID-19 cases are now rising at a pretty alarming rate throughout Michigan and especially in Southeast Michigan, and we at Beaumont Health are pretty concerned about the trend that were seeing.

Dr. Gilpin noted that most of those admitted at Beaumont for inpatient care are not vaccinated. However, he remarked that most of them are in the over-50 age group. Im not seeing a disproportionate number of young people or other populations that we havent seen thus far. These comments reflect more of a regional outlook but underscore that a vast majority of the population remains at risk. Some 87.3 million people have received one or both doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, representing 26.3 percent of the people. A huge swath of the country is still vulnerable.

During an event hosted by Axios, Dr. Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, speaking frankly, stated, Our only hope right now is that we as a country take this seriously and do whatever we can to limit transmission, as these other countries tried to do. And, yet, at the same time, I sit here and tell you weve never been more open as a country since the very first days of the pandemic.

Expressing his frustrations with the new school opening and social distancing guidelines, he added, The transmission dynamics are going to change, and it wont be quite the same way that it was. We dont care, in the sense that were opening up everything at local, state, and even federal levels.

Currently, the seven-day average for the United States has turned upwards at 58,312 new cases each day. CDC Director Rochelle Walensky admitted during Wednesdays White House COVID-19 briefing that the latest data showed a three percent increase in COVID-19 cases across the country. As she laments about the stall in the pandemic there is only praise for the pace of vaccinations and school reopenings. This rigmarole only confirms she has abdicated all her responsibilities as a public health officer to appease the White House and ruling elites.

The profits that are rolling in behind the pandemic response are jaw-dropping while most of the globe has seen their wages and livelihoods suffer. Hunger has become an existential issue for millions more.

The exuberant Irish trauma surgeon and epidemiologist, Dr. Mike Ryan, Executive Director of the Health Emergencies Programme at the World Health Organization, said it succinctly at their latest press brief on Monday, The formula for this may be boring. It may not be attractive. There are no silver bullets. We have got to get back to strong, comprehensive, strategic approaches to the control of COVID that include vaccination as one of those strategies. Im afraid were all trying to grasp at straws, were trying to find the golden solutions and if we just get enough vaccines and we push enough vaccines into people and thats [somehow] going to take care of it. Im sorry; its not. There arent enough vaccines in the world, and theyre distributed terribly iniquitously.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-26 06:58:51|Editor: huaxia

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United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres addresses the commemorative meeting of the General Assembly to mark the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade at the UN headquarters in New York on March 25, 2021. (Eskinder Debebe/UN Photo/Handout via Xinhua)

UNITED NATIONS, March 25 (Xinhua) -- United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday called on the international community to eliminate the ideas of white supremacy that underpinned the notorious transatlantic slave trade.

Although the transatlantic slave trade ended more than two centuries ago, "the ideas of white supremacy that underpinned it remain alive," the UN chief said at a commemorative meeting of the General Assembly to mark the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade.

"We must end the legacy of this racist lie," the top UN official said at the event that honored the memory of the millions of people of African descent who suffered under the brutal system of slavery and the transatlantic slave trade.

While recalling the resilience of those who endured the "brutal yoke" of slavery, he recognized the trade as creating and sustaining "a global system of exploitation that existed for more than 400 years."

The UN chief underscored the need to address the "pernicious and persistent consequences" of slavery and called for renewed commitments to "a world where all can live in peace with dignity and opportunity."

Guterres also acknowledged the "immense contributions" that the enslaved have brought to culture, education and economies.

"We honor the memory of the victims of the transatlantic slave trade by educating about its history and acknowledging its impact on our world today," he said, urging everyone to "tackle racism, injustice and inequality" and build inclusive communities and economies.

The International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade is a UN international observance designated in 2007 to be marked on March 25 every year. The day honors and remembers those who suffered and died as a consequence of the transatlantic slave trade, which has been called "the worst violation of human rights in history," in which over 400 years more than 15 million men, women and children were the victims. Enditem
FERNIE, B.C. - A Canadian coal-mining company faces the largest fine imposed under the Fisheries Act after pleading guilty to contaminating waterways in southeastern British Columbia.

Teck Mining Company's zinc and lead smelting and refining complex is pictured in Trail, B.C., on Monday, Nov. 26, 2012 THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

FERNIE, B.C. - A Canadian coal-mining company faces the largest fine imposed under the Fisheries Act after pleading guilty to contaminating waterways in southeastern British Columbia.

Teck Coal, a subsidiary ofTeck Resources, is to pay $60 million after a judge on Friday agreed to a joint submission from Environment Canada and the company.

"Teck did not exercise all due diligence to prevent the deposit of coal mine waste rock leachate into the Fording River from settling ponds," federal prosecutor Alexander Clarkson, reading from an agreed statement of facts, said in B.C. provincial court.

Coal has been mined in B.C.'s Elk Valley for decades. Teck Coal purchased the mines in 2008.

By then, court heard, there was already 2.2 billion cubic metres of associated waste rock in piles as high as 100 metres.

The rocks leach selenium and calcite.

Essential to life in small doses, the element selenium in large amounts can cause fish deformities and reproductive failures. Calcite is a mineral that destroys the habitat that trout need to reproduce by coating stream bottoms.

"Prior to 2009, Teck Coal was aware selenium and calcite could be environmentally harmful," Clarkson said. "Teck Coal did not have a comprehensive plan to address the deposit of coal mine waste."

Environment Canada investigators found in 2012 that selenium concentrations were as high as 90 micrograms per litre in the Fording River and up to 177 micrograms in settling ponds at the mines. Both figures are many times higher than levels considered to be safe for river ecosystems.

The corporate logo of Teck Resources Limited is shown. Coal company Teck Coal is being assessed fines totalling $60 million for contaminating waterways in southern British Columbia. The company pleaded guilty to two charges of releasing selenium and calcite into the Elk and Fording Rivers in 2012. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO

Upstream of the mines, selenium concentrations were about one microgram per litre.

In 2020, investigators concluded Teck hadn't done enough to fix the problem and issued direction to the company on water quality. Charges were laid Wednesday.

The Fording River and other streams in the area are home to westslope cutthroat trout, a native species considered endangered. By 2020, Teck's own research showed those fish populations had almost collapsed.

Vickie Thomas of the local Ktunaxa First Nation said her people continue to use and value the area. But the contamination has taken a toll.

"Knowing that fish habitat is impacted by these polluted waters leads to concern for the safety of all the fish as well as for Ktunaxa," she said in court. "The result is an alienation of our people from our lands and waters.

"Fish and fish habitat are critical to the maintenance of Ktunaxa rights. The ability to drink confidently from a mountain stream is an aspect of Ktunaxa rights that all future generations should enjoy."

Teck Coal told court it has spent nearly $1 billion since 2011 in an effort to bring selenium under control and plans another $655 million in spending over the next four years.

It said it has expanded and upgraded water treatment facilities that can handle up to 20 million litres of water a day and remove 95 per cent of the selenium.

"To the Ktunaxa First Nation ... and to our communities in the Elk Valley, we deeply regret these impacts and we apologize," said an open letter from Teck Resources president Don Lindsay.

"You have my commitment that we will not waver in our focus on addressing this challenge and working to ensure that the environment is protected."

Almost all of the fine, $58 million, is to go to the federal Environmental Damages Fund to support projects that benefit the environment. The remaining $2 million is to go to general revenues.

Teck Coal must also remove selenium before it reaches the Fording River and follow requirements on water diversions, mine planning, fish monitoring and calcite prevention.

Lars Sanders-Green of Wildsight, an environmental group that has been following the issue, pointed out that Teck Coal has taken billions of dollars out of the Elk Valley.

"What Teck and other mining companies have learned is not to worry about Environment Canada," he said.

"This is a problem that's been known since 1995. Now it's 2021 and the problem's getting worse."

Sanders-Green said most of the water that flows through the mines is untreated and passes through old piles of waste rock that aren't part of the new system. He noted that Americans are growing increasingly impatient with Canadian regulators allowing selenium to enter water that flows into the United States.

Sander-Green wonders what will happen when coal mining ends.

"We're putting a Band-Aid over it with water treatment. If Teck's spending a lot of money every year to operate a water treatment plant, there's no way they're going to continue doing that once the coal's gone."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 26, 2021.

 By Bob Weber in Edmonton. Follow him on Twitter at @row1960.

Note to readers: This is a corrected story. Previous version said charges laid in October.
analysis

Having previously failed to appear four times, jailed former Crime Intelligence chief Richard Mdluli finally turned up at the Gauteng high court in Pretoria on Friday morning where he and his co-accused face 15 counts of contravening the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act.

The charges against Richard Mdluli cover gross abuse of a police intelligence slush fund. The allegations relate to private trips to Singapore and China, abuse of witness-protection houses, the leasing of Mdluli's private residence to the state to pay his bond and the use of witness protection property for personal use.

Mdluli's co-accused who are his former Crime Intelligence colleagues Colonel Heine Barnard, supply chain manager for the secret fund, and Major-General Solomon Lazarus, who was in charge of the Covert Intelligence Support Unit and chief financial officer of the secret fund, appeared previously while the former top cop stayed away.

Barnard faces an additional charge of defeating the ends of justice.

A report in Daily Maverick describes the indictment against Mdluli as indicating "it was a friends-and-family affair down at his division, filled with travel, luxury homes, cars and clothes - all at the taxpayers' expense".

The case against Mdluli and his co-accused was...
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said a major oil pipeline will be launched in the near future that will enable the country to export much of its oil via the Sea of Oman.

"We have two major projects to inaugurate in the coming months. One is the Goureh-Jask Crude Oil Pipeline that includes 1000 kilometers of pipe laying so that a large part of our oil exports will be transferred from the Persian Gulf to the Sea of Oman," Rouhani said during a ceremony held to launch several infrastructural and economic projects in the countrys Free Trade Zones.

He underlined the importance of the pipeline in terms of political, security and economic aspects.

The pipeline starts at Goureh oil terminal in the southwestern province of Bushehr (on the Persian Gulf coast) and runs to the Jask port terminal in southeast Iran (on the Sea of Oman coast).

Iran began work on Jask oil terminal and the 1000-kilometer pipeline system in late June 2020.

The $2-billion project will enable the country to deliver oil for exports outside the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway through which nearly a third of the global seaborne oil trade is accommodated, Tasnim News Agency reported.
Times Network, Indias premium broadcast network concluded Day 1 of the 7th edition of its flagship property, Times Network India Economic Conclave (IEC) in New Delhi, today. Themed, Indias Decade: Reform. Perform. Transform, the conclave focussed on Indias outlook and vision for the new decade with an aim to unleash Indias potential to supersede the world economic order.

The hallmark platform for economic thought leadership, IEC on Day 1 witnessed a stellar line-up of policy makers, change makers, growth agents, disruptors, and global thinkers, mining actionable strategies to expedite Indias economic growth. M K Anand, MD & CEO, Times Network, delivered the welcome address.

Delivering the inaugural address, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das underscored the need for Indias financial sector, regulators and the emerging FinTech sector to be watchful of risks that could come up as the digital payments boom continues. The increased use of digital payments brought about by Covid-19 could fuel a rise in digital lending in the current decade as companies accumulate consumer data and enhance credit analytics, Das said in this inaugural address at the Times Network India Economic Conclave 2021.

He also pointed to the attention the world has been paying to India's rise in the digital payments arena. Last year, when many other nations were writing cheques to provide stimulus to the people, we in India processed 274 crore digital transactions to provide Direct Benefit Transfers or DBT straight into their bank accounts, said Das.

Union Minister of Law & Justice, Electronics & IT and Communications Ravi Shankar Prasad categorically denied allegations that his government was trying to tamp down criticism on social media and asking for regulation of OTT content. Prasad said the government had only asked social media and OTT platforms to self-regulate. Our view is very simple. It is a soft touch regulatory mechanism, where the government is out of it. Social media, you appoint your grievance officer, you appoint your compliance officer. Add about OTT and others, you appoint your grievance officer and dispute resolution mechanism, he said.

Prasad also pointed out that the same platforms that were accusing the Indian government were following more stringent regulations in places like the US, Europe and Australia.

Union Minister of Road Transport & Highways, Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises, Nitin Gadkari has called for a positive approach towards finding solutions to balance environmental concerns with the need for development. In a session titled Indias Infra Push: Road to Growth, Gadkari said roads had played a prominent role in the infrastructure push of the Narendra Modi government. When this five-year term ends, I can assure you that this countrys road infrastructure will match that of the US or Europe. And we will ensure that this will be the experience whether you go to Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra or Telangana or Andhra Pradesh, said Gadkari.

He said the decision to develop infrastructure in underdeveloped areas was a conscious decision made by his government right at the start and had little to do with external factors like China. India and China are a sensitive matter. Many people live in the border areas without roads. Building roads in these areas has nothing to do with China. It is about our people who live in areas close to the border, he said.

Gadkari also stressed that infrastructure development was a critical component in not only raising economic growth but also in spreading that growth out geographically. He further added that the government hopes to meet the target of building 40 km of road per day despite delays caused by the pandemic.

During a panel discussion titled Women who lead at the India Economic Conclave 2021, the Union Minister of Women & Child Development and Textiles, Smriti Zubin Irani expressed her concern over womens low representation in the STEM industry despite girls consistently performing better than boys at academic level. We have to bring change at the community level if we want women to succeed. Women hold just 15% academic leadership and hardly 22-25% girls progress to technical institutes after school. 57% women feel that they do not receive fair evaluation in scientific communities because of their gender. If this trend continues, the next decade is going to be very tough for women as most of the jobs are going to be in the STEM field.

Lauding the governments swift response to Covid-19, Irani said, During the pandemic, when there was an urgent need to produce PPE kits for the entire country, we churned out 110 companies from zero manufacturing capacity, doing a business of $ 1 billion in a matter of just three months. We did not compromise on even a single international parameter of quality. This is an outstanding achievement.

The 7th edition of India Economic Conclave is presented by IDFC First Bank.
More than a half or 388 public servants out of 759 who were recently investigated own land in addition to the homes they live in. The average value is around W1 billion (US$1=W1,136). Ninety-five of them own land in the greater Seoul area, and 17 in areas earmarked for three large-scale housing projects that are linked to a speculation scandal involving employees of state-run Korea Land and Housing Corporation, which is in charge of building new towns and residential apartments.

Public servants who buy land for purposes other than farming or running their own businesses can only be seen as speculators. Some of them argue that they inherited the land, but they are still holding on it in hopes that the value will rise. Korea is a small, densely populated country with eye-watering land prices, and only 10.4 percent of the population own land in addition to their homes. That means five times more public servants own land than the national average. It also shows that civil servants who have access to inside information on state-led land development projects are quick on their toes to take advantage.

Easy money earned through real estate speculation is regarded as a social ill in this country. It widens the gap between rich and poor and foments social unrest. Land prices across the country surged 36 percent in the first three years of the Moon Jae-in administration. The average annual growth rate is nine times higher than during the Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye administrations. Ordinary citizens, who have become disillusioned by soaring residential property prices, were furious about the windfall gains made by public servants through land investment and the insider scandal involving LH employees.

Land is different from a home. Owning land only for the purpose of waiting for the price to surge only harms the economy because it hinders investment and job creation. The government needs to overhaul the tax system to make it impossible to make a profit from land speculation. Authorities must reflect the market price of real estate in their appraisal prices so that people who own lots of land are taxed properly. The top one percent of the wealthy own 52 percent of private land in the country. This is an abnormal situation.

The government needs to increase the supply of available land for development through deregulation, but it also needs to discourage people from trying to make windfall gains through speculation. This is not a problem that should divide the ruling and opposition parties. This is a problem all Koreans need to solve.


GREEN BAY, Wis., March 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE: ASB) today announced it will release first quarter 2021 financial results on Thursday, April 22, 2021, after market close. The Company will host a conference call for investors and analysts at 4:00 p.m. Central Time (CT) on the same day.

Interested parties can access the live webcast of the call through the Investor Relations section of the Company's website, http://investor.associatedbank.com. Parties may also dial into the call at 877-407-8037 (domestic) or 201-689-8037 (international) and request the Associated Banc-Corp first quarter 2021 earnings call. The financial tables and an accompanying slide presentation will be available on the Company's website just prior to the call. An audio archive of the webcast will be available on the Company's website approximately fifteen minutes after the call is over.

ABOUT ASSOCIATED BANC-CORP

Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE: ASB) has total assets of $33 billion and is one of the top 50 publicly traded U.S. bank holding companies. Headquartered in Green Bay, Wisconsin, Associated is a leading Midwest banking franchise, offering a full range of financial products and services from more than 220 banking locations serving more than 120 communities throughout Wisconsin, Illinois and Minnesota, and commercial financial services in Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio and Texas. Associated Bank, N.A. is an Equal Housing Lender, Equal Opportunity Lender and Member FDIC. More information about Associated Banc-Corp is available at www.associatedbank.com.

FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS

Statements made in this press release which are not purely historical are forward-looking statements, as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. This includes any statements regarding management's plans, objectives, or goals for future operations, products or services, and forecasts of its revenues, earnings, or other measures of performance. Such forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of words such as "believe", "expect", "anticipate", "plan", "estimate", "should", "will", "intend", "outlook", "target", or similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are based on current management expectations and, by their nature, are subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Factors which may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in such forward-looking statements include those identified in the Company's most recent Form 10-K and subsequent SEC filings. Such factors are incorporated herein by reference.

Investor Contact: Ben McCarville

Vice President | Director of Investor Relations

920-491-7059 | [email protected]

Media Contact: Jennifer Kaminski

Vice President | Public Relations Senior Manager

920-491-7576 | [email protected]

SOURCE Associated Banc-Corp

Related Links

www.assocatedbank.com


Vietnams Ministry of Health announced two additional COVID-19 cases on Friday morning, both border jumpers from Cambodia.

The two patients were registered in Hai Phong City in the north and Ho Chi Minh City in the south, the health ministry said in a report.

The first case is a 25-year-old Vietnamese woman who has a registered address in the Mekong Delta province of Vinh Long.

On Monday, she entered Vietnam illegally via Phu Quoc, an island administered by southern Kien Giang Province, on a fishing boat.

She then traveled to Ho Chi Minh City by sea and road.

She went to FV Hospital in the city for a test on Wednesday.

Her test returned positive for COVID-19 on Thursday.

The patient is being isolated for treatment at a makeshift hospital in outlying Cu Chi District.

The other border jumper is a 25-year-old Vietnamese woman who has a registered address in northern Quang Ninh Province.

She made an unlawful entry into Vietnam with the first patient on Monday.

She flew with another person from Phu Quoc to Hanoi on board flight VJ458 the same day. She went on to travel to Hai Phong City in a private car upon landing at Noi Bai airport in the Vietnamese capital.

On Wednesday, she visited Vinmec Hai Phong Hospital for a test.

Her test came back positive for the novel coronavirus on Thursday. Her companion tested negative.

Contact tracing and regional lockdowns are underway to prevent local transmission.

Vietnam requires all international arrivals to be collectively quarantined for 14 days as a precaution against the virus.

The country has recorded 1,603 domestic cases since the pathogen first hit it on January 23, 2020.

Thirty-five patients have died so far, most having suffered critical pre-existing conditions.

Over 42,000 people had been vaccinated against COVID-19 by 4:00 pm on Thursday, the health ministry said on Friday morning.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
Longer lasting and faster to charge, Nissans automated guided vehicles  mobile machines that help workers in factories  are evolving thanks to the second life of Nissan Leaf batteries.

Automated guided vehicles, or AGVs, deliver parts to workers in a car factory. Imagine AGVs as robotic mail carriers, whizzing around magnetic tracks delivering parts when needed as cars are built. This means a worker doesnt waste time searching for a component and can stay focused on installing it. Saving time boosts a plants efficiency.

Car plants are busy places and AGVs have become indispensable. At Nissans Oppama plant, south of Tokyo, there are more than 700 AGVs. Peek inside Nissans car factories around the globe and youll find more than 4,000 AGVs hard at work. Its an orchestra of signals and sensors playing in perfect harmony to avoid bumps on the factory floor.

Nissan was exploring new ways to reuse its Nissan Leaf batteries, the mass-market electric vehicle that has spearheaded the companys journey towards zero emissions since 2010. And the world of Leaf and AGVs merged.

The first-generation Leaf was fitted with a 24-kilowatt-hour battery pack. These lithium-ion packs were made by combining 48 modules. About eight years ago, Nissans engineers found a way to take three of these modules, repackage them and fit them inside an AGV. Last year, they took this idea to a new level by using repurposed battery modules, instead of new ones, to power AGVs.

Nissan, together with 4R Energy, has been a pioneer in giving batteries from electric vehicles a new life in powering its AGVs  because they were not powerful enough anymore to run a car, but perfect for a machine scooting around the factory. This makes electrification of mobility an even more sustainable proposition.

AGVs with the lithium-ion batteries, new or repurposed, charge faster. Plus, workers no longer need to take out the batteries to plug them in. The AGVs simply stop momentarily at the charging station along their route and incrementally top up at each passing. This automation saves a great deal of time.

The repurposed Leaf batteries also last longer. A lot longer. While lead-acid batteries were typically replaced every year or two, the repurposed Leaf batteries are expected to last seven to eight years. Fewer batteries means less impact on the environment and another step towards being carbon neutral.

Our customers benefit too. When used EV batteries become more valuable, trade-in prices rise, says Masashi Matsumoto, who promotes the development of AGVs at Nissans Production Technology Research and Development Centre. With more ways to use batteries, the overall residual value of the Leaf has increased.

AGVs arent done evolving. For now, each machine is bound to the magnetic path laid down for it at a factory. Like a train on a track, it can only travel where the tape allows it. Changing these routes  pulling up tape, laying new tracks and updating computer programmes - takes time and money.

But maybe not for much longer. Just like the Leafs battery allowed AGVs to work longer, developments in autonomous driving could free factory assistants from the magnetic tape. In a far more controlled and predictable environment, the AGVs would need less technology than cars, but could still rely on sensors and algorithms to move around autonomously. Nissan is also researching connected technology to allow AGVs to stay in constant contact with the computer handling their movements.

Using our unique electric-driven and autonomous driving technologies to improve AGVs will bring major innovation to our factories, says Matsumoto. The supply of parts in factories is entering the age of electrification and automation. -- Tradearabia News Service
Eve Fischer, 57, sits alone in the park with her dogs after seeing her usual birthday gathering dashed for the second time due to the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions in Toronto on Tuesday, March 23, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette
Faced with increasing levels of complexity and cost, fund management companies require an efficient mechanism to access a broad network of end investors in a fragmented marketplace. FundSettle already streamlines back office processes by delivering a single point of access for order management, settlement and asset servicing, bringing greater efficiencies and cost savings.

With this transaction, MFEX and Euroclear's complementary businesses are expected to produce significant value through revenue synergies, expanding the client service offering by creating a new funds market utility and a leading global provider of fund services.

Established in 1999, the MFEX Group is headquartered in Stockholm with over 300 employees internationally. Experts in global fund distribution, MFEX offers a complete solution for fund companies and distributors and has assets under administration of EUR 320 billion. Over 350 institutional clients use MFEX to access one of the world's largest range of funds with 80,000 funds from over 960 fund companies.

The parties have agreed not to disclose financial details. The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2021, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals.

Lieve Mostrey, Chief Executive Officer, Euroclear commented: "We are delighted to sign this agreement to acquire MFEX Group. We expect MFEX's broad fund distribution network, along with its talented people, to be very complementary to Euroclear as we continue to enhance our exceptional service, extend our customer proposition and grow our business."

Jean Devambez, Chief Executive Officer, MFEX Group said: "Over the past years, we have together with Nordic Capital invested in our platform and continued to transform the fund distribution proposition. Euroclear is a great strategic fit for the next stage of our journey. By adding our respective strengths, we will be able to build an even better and stronger solution for fund distribution."

MFEX co-founders and Board members, Olivier Huby and Oliver Lagerstrom added: "It has been a privilege to work closely with Nordic Capital and to grow MFEX together. We are delighted for MFEX to partner with Euroclear, which we believe will be a perfect combination for the future."

David Samuelson, Board member of MFEX and Principal, Nordic Capital Advisors also commented: "MFEX is a true leader in its field. Since Nordic Capital became a majority owner in 2018, in partnership with the founders, MFEX has experienced continued strong organic growth and executed a series of strategic, value accretive acquisitions. MFEX has developed from being a Nordic leader in its industry to a pan-European leader with an emerging global presence. Nordic Capital is pleased to have been able to support this journey. Now it is the ideal time for Nordic Capital to hand over to Euroclear as the next step for MFEX."

About Euroclear

Euroclear group is the financial industry's trusted provider of post trade services. Euroclear provides settlement and custody of domestic and cross- border securities for bonds, equities and derivatives to investment funds. Euroclear is a proven, resilient capital market infrastructure committed to delivering risk-mitigation, automation and efficiency at scale for its global client franchise.

The Euroclear group includes Euroclear Bank - which is rated AA+ by Fitch Ratings and AA by Standard & Poor's - as well as Euroclear Belgium, Euroclear Finland, Euroclear France, Euroclear Nederland, Euroclear Sweden and Euroclear UK & Ireland. The Euroclear group settled the equivalent of EUR 897 trillion in securities transactions in 2020, representing 276 million domestic and cross-border transactions, and held EUR 32.8 trillion in assets for clients by end 2020. For more information about Euroclear, please visit www.euroclear.com.

About MFEX

As independent experts in global fund distribution, MFEX offers a complete solution for fund companies and distributors. The MFEX Group was established in Sweden in 1999 and is headquartered in Stockholm with offices in Paris, Luxembourg, London, Geneva, Kuala Lumpur, Milan, Madrid, Umea, Hong Kong, Singapore and Zurich. The main supervisory authority is the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority (Finansinspektionen).

Today, MFEX is a pan-European leader with a global presence active in 52 countries on 5 continents with more than 300 employees. The company is divided into four main business areas: Trading and custody, Distribution agreement and rebate collection, Data and fund information and Due Diligence / AML & KYC (Global Fund Watch). More information is available at www.mfex.com

About Nordic Capital

Nordic Capital is a leading private equity investor with a resolute commitment to creating stronger, sustainable businesses through operational improvement and transformative growth. Nordic Capital focuses on selected regions and sectors where it has deep experience and a long history. Focus sectors are Healthcare, Technology & Payments, Financial Services, and selectively, Industrial & Business Services. Key regions are Europe and globally for Healthcare and Technology & Payments investments. Since inception in 1989, Nordic Capital has invested more than EUR 17 billion in close to 120 investments. The most recent fund is Nordic Capital Fund X with EUR 6.1 billion in committed capital, principally provided by international institutional investors such as pension funds. Nordic Capital Advisors have local offices in Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Germany, the UK and the US. For further information about Nordic Capital, please visit www.nordiccapital.com

SOURCE Euroclear

Related Links

http://www.euroclear.com


More than half of Western Australias 1500 hotel quarantine workers are yet to receive their first dose of the coronavirus vaccine, with the state reaching just 17 per cent of its mid-March immunisation target.

The lack of take-up from WAs highest-risk cohort was revealed a month into WAs vaccination program, with 41,600 jabs carried out to Thursday.

Antonia Garza was the first West Australian frontline worker to receive the vaccine.

Department of Health figures showed 41.6 per cent of hotel quarantine staff  including security guards, cleaners and nurses  had taken up the offer to be vaccinated as part of the priority Phase 1A roll-out.

One in every five had received two injections  the amount required to be fully immunised.
HOLYOKE  The City Council will mull over a revised Home Rule Petition that eliminates a special election tied to Mayor Alex B. Morses departure at a special meeting Tuesday, March 30.

After more than nine years occupying Room One, Morse will become the town manager of Provincetown in early April.

On Friday afternoon, City Council President Todd McGee will assume the role of acting mayor at 4:31 p.m., a minute after Morses resignation takes effect.

Because of work commitments and possible conflicts of interest, McGee can only serve as acting mayor for two weeks, making the Home Rule Petition passage critical.

The City Charter specifies a special election must take place if a mayor leaves office with more than six months remaining in a term. City Clerk Brenna Murphy McGee estimated a special election and likely special runoff would cost taxpayers $75,000 to $100,000.

State Rep. Patricia Duffy, D-Holyoke, has stressed to Beacon Hill leaders the importance of expediting the petitions passage. Everyone wants this to move as swiftly and legally as possible, she said.

Once passed by the council and signed by Acting Mayor Todd McGee, Duffy and state Sen. John Velis (D-Westfield) will then submit the petition to the legislature. Duffy does not expect the legislature to approve the petition within the week.

While preventing a costly special election remains a critical component, allowing any city councilor to serve as the acting mayor was hashed out by Barnes and the legislative council. A city councilor would need to secure a simple majority vote to become acting mayor.

Duffy said the sticking points with the petition were not in principle but to clarify language. Through me, there was some back and forth between House counsel and the City Solicitor, but it wasnt contentious, she said. It was clarification points.

The petitions main points remained in place, including letting the winner of the November mayoral race take office immediately instead of waiting for the traditional January swearing-in ceremony.

Duffy said House leadership recognized the City Councils position with Morses resignation and McGees limited commitment. She added the City Council must vote on the revised petition, in effect, a new petition.

Once passed by the council and signed by Acting Mayor Todd McGee, Duffy and State Sen. John Velis, D-Westfield, will then submit the petition to the legislature. Duffy does not expect the legislature to approve the petition within the week.

The legislature passed similar Home Rule Petitions for Boston and Lawrence.

Gov. Charlie Baker must also sign the document. Duffy plans to attend Tuesdays special meeting via a Zoom conference call.
Edison, NJ -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/26/2021 -- A new business intelligence report released by HTF MI with title "COVID-19 Global & China Non-tracking Search Market Research by Company, Type & Application 2015-2026" is designed covering micro level of analysis by manufacturers and key business segments. The COVID-19 Global & China Non-tracking Search Market survey analysis offers energetic visions to conclude and study market size, market hopes, and competitive surroundings. The research is derived through primary and secondary statistics sources and it comprises both qualitative and quantitative detailing. Some of the key players profiled in the study are Qwant, Duckduckgo, Startpage, Peekier, Oscobo, Mojeek, Swisscows, DogeDoge, WolframAlpha.



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If you are involved in the COVID-19 Global & China Non-tracking Search industry or aim to be, then this study will provide you inclusive point of view. It's vital you keep your market knowledge up to date segmented by Applications [Social Media, Advertising, Others, Qwant, Duckduckgo, Startpage, Peekier, Oscobo, Mojeek, Swisscows, DogeDoge & WolframAlpha], Product Types [, Search Engine & Meta Search] and major players. If you have a different set of players/manufacturers according to geography or needs regional or country segmented reports we can provide customization according to your requirement.



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Historical year  2015-2020

Base year  2020

Forecast period**  2021 to 2026 [** unless otherwise stated]



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Key Applications/end-users of COVID-19 Global & China Non-tracking Search Market: Social Media, Advertising, Others, Qwant, Duckduckgo, Startpage, Peekier, Oscobo, Mojeek, Swisscows, DogeDoge & WolframAlpha



Top Players in the Market are: Qwant, Duckduckgo, Startpage, Peekier, Oscobo, Mojeek, Swisscows, DogeDoge, WolframAlpha



Region Included are: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific etc



Important Features that are under offering & key highlights of the report:

 Detailed overview of COVID-19 & China Non-tracking Search market

 Changing market dynamics of the industry

 In-depth market segmentation by Type, Application etc

 Historical, current and projected market size in terms of volume and value

 Recent industry trends and developments

 Competitive landscape of COVID-19 & China Non-tracking Search market

 Strategies of key players and product offerings

 Potential and niche segments/regions exhibiting promising growth

 A neutral perspective towards COVID-19 & China Non-tracking Search market performance

 Market players information to sustain and enhance their footprint



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Major Highlights of TOC:

Chapter One: COVID-19 Global & China Non-tracking Search Market Industry Overview

1.1 COVID-19 & China Non-tracking Search Industry

1.1.1 Overview

1.1.2 Products of Major Companies

1.2 COVID-19 & China Non-tracking Search Market Segment

1.2.1 Industry Chain

1.2.2 Consumer Distribution

1.3 Price & Cost Overview



Chapter Two: COVID-19 Global & China Non-tracking Search Market Demand

2.1 Segment Overview

2.1.1 APPLICATION 1

2.1.2 APPLICATION 2

2.1.3 Other

2.2 COVID-19 Global & China Non-tracking Search Market Size by Demand

2.3 COVID-19 Global & China Non-tracking Search Market Forecast by Demand



Chapter Three: COVID-19 Global & China Non-tracking Search Market by Type

3.1 By Type

3.1.1 TYPE 1

3.1.2 TYPE 2

3.2 COVID-19 & China Non-tracking Search Market Size by Type

3.3 COVID-19 & China Non-tracking Search Market Forecast by Type



Chapter Four: Major Region of COVID-19 & China Non-tracking Search Market

4.1 COVID-19 Global & China Non-tracking Search Sales

4.2 COVID-19 Global & China Non-tracking Search Revenue & market share



Chapter Five: Major Companies List



Chapter Six: Conclusion



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- What are different prospects and threats faced by the dealers in the COVID-19 Global & China Non-tracking Search market?

- What are the strengths and weaknesses of the key vendors?



Thanks for reading this article; you can also get individual chapter wise section or region wise report version like North America, Europe or Asia.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-26 17:38:17|Editor: huaxia

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WINDHOEK, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Namibia on Friday launched the commercial use of biomass after running pilot projects, a move that will improve power generation and empower communities in the country's villages.

Director of Forestry of Namibia Joseph Hailwa said the biomass value chains will be created as a way of addressing bush encroachment and restoring degraded rangelands.

The government will strike a delicate balance between the exploitation of encroacher bush resources needed in the production of biomass and energy production to maintain a balanced ecosystem, Hailwa said.

While the biomass production marks a significant commercial move for the country, the ban on the exploitation of sensitive forestry resources has been maintained, he said. Enditem
In the spring of 1975, three Downing Street officials wandered across the main square in Bonn, mulling over a plan to murder the British prime ministers closest friend and confidante, Marcia Williams. Harold Wilsons formidable and controversial secretary had helped him dominate British politics for 20 years. To the consternation of his critics, Wilson had ennobled her as Baroness Falkender the previous year but now the distinguished trio saw her as a toxic liability who threatened to destroy his health, premiership and legacy.

Ever since Wilsons recently hushed up heart scare, his personal physician and concerned friend Joseph Stone, had become obsessed by a disturbing notion: murdering Marcia might just be in the national interest. Dr Stone was flanked by Joe Haines, Wilsons bruiser of a press secretary, and Bernard Donoughue, the head of the Downing Street policy unit. When Stone had first sounded them out by suggesting it may be desirable to dispose of her. Weve got to get this woman off his back, and, Perhaps, we should put her down, he had been deadly serious.

In Bonn, Stone again outlined how he could safely dispense with Marcia without arousing suspicion. As Lady Falkenders doctor, he proposed to slip her a lethal quantity of her prescribed tranquilliser and then write up the death certificate as an accidental overdose. In Dr Stone, the trio may have had the means and opportunity of ridding Wilson of this bothersome woman, but its only by tracing the couples emotional co-dependency back over two decades that you can begin to understand the motive.
Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas has introduced legislation to remove what he describes as 'divisive' and 'anti-American' ideas from military training.

Cotton's bill introduced Thursday comes amid a debate about how critical race theory, also known as CRT, has influenced U.S. institutions, Yahoo! News reported.

The U.S. Navy has recommended service members read books by high-profile 'antiracist' authors Robin DiAngelo, who penned 'White Fragility,' and Ibram Kendi.

Kendi's book, 'How to be an Antiracist,' explicitly endorses discrimination as a way to counter systemic racism.

Recent media coverage has noted the spread of CRT ideas in schools.

Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas has introduced legislation to remove works promoting critical race theory from military training

Cotton describes works by authors such as Ibram Kendi, above, as 'divisive' and 'anti-American'

Author Robin DiAngelo penned 'White Fragility,' a book also mentioned by Cotton as having 'no place in our military'

Cotton said the military's strength depends on troop unit and their 'knowledge that America is a noble nation worth fighting for.'

The legislation would specifically ban theories claiming the U.S. 'is a fundamentally racist country' or that '[a]n individual, by virtue of his or her race, is inherently racist or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously.'

'Critical race theory teaches that race is a person's most important characteristic, and that America is an evil, oppressive place. That idea may be fashionable in left-wing circles and college classrooms, but it has no place in our military,' Cotton said.

'Not only will such racist ideas undermine our troops' faith in each other, they'll also erode their trust in our country's guiding principles,' Cotton said. 'The United States military shouldn't be promoting such divisive, un-American ideas.'

Ibram Kendi's book, 'How to be an Antiracist,' explicitly endorses discrimination as a way to counter systemic racism

'Antiracist Baby,' a book by writer Ibram X. Kendi and illustrator Ashley Lukashevsky

The bill's text says the legislation should not be construed as restricting free speech or preventing service members from accessing materials advocating the theories.

The legislation could face difficulties in a Senate with a 50-50 split between Republicans and Democrats with independent allies. In the event of a tie, the deciding vote would be cast by Vice President Kamala Harris.

If the legislation passed, the measure would likely be rejected by President Joe Biden, who has moved to undo former President Donald Trump's ban on CRT trainings.

Republican Reps. Doug Lamborn of Colorado and Vicky Hartzler of Missouri sent a March 11 letter to Adm. Michael Gilday expressing concern about books on the Chief of Naval Operations Professional Reading Program reading list, Fox News reported.

In addition to Kendi's 'How to be an Antiracist,' the books to which they expressed opposition included Michelle Alexander's, 'The New Jim Crow,' and 'Sexual Minorities and Politics' by Jason Pierceson.

'All three books reinforce the view that America is a confederation of identity categories of the oppressed and their oppressors rather than a common homeland of individual citizens who are united by common purposes and fidelity to the ideals of the Declaration of Independence and codified in the Constitution,' Lamborn and Hartzler said in their letter to Gilday.

Republican Rep. Doug Lamborn of Colorado, pictured, and Rep. Vicky Hartzler of Missouri sent a March 11 letter to Adm. Michael Gilday expressing concern about books on the Chief of Naval Operations Professional Reading Program reading list
A voter casts her ballot in St. Louis, Missouri. Photo: Michael B. Thomas/Getty Images

Last August, Missouri voters ignored the states Republican leadership and voted by referendum to approve Medicaid expansion, the sixth Republican-controlled state to do so. Now, Republicans appear out for revenge. On Thursday, the House Budget Committee rejected a bill that would have allowed the state to spend $130 million in state funds and $1.6 billion in federal money to pay for the programs expansion, the Kansas City Star reported.

Republicans say the state just cant afford the cost. The bill, state representative Dirk Deaton claims, would give free health care, government health care to able-bodied adults who can do it for themselves. Its unclear how Missourians could perform their own surgeries or triage themselves in case of an accident, but Deaton did not elaborate in his public comments. Another Republican, Sara Walsh, says her own rural voters had rejected the bill. I dont believe it is the will of the people to bankrupt our state, she objected.

Walshs constituents supposedly dont want the bill, but 53 percent of the state does  and thats what matters. Thats how democracy works. Missouri voters passed Medicaid expansion in a free and fair election, and Republicans are telling them that their votes dont matter. Writing this feels a bit rote, even repetitive. Republicans do X anti-democratic thing is now its own genre of article. But the party has its habits. There was an election in Missouri. Republicans are defying the results, as voters once defied them.

So did Paul LePage, the former Republican governor of Maine. A vehement opponent of Medicaid expansion, LePage repeatedly tried to block expansion of the program from coming into effect. By the summer of 2018, hed vetoed five expansion bills, and spent the last weeks of his term-limited administration filing legal action to try to stop expansion again. (His Democratic replacement, Janet Mills, promised to implement expansion on day one of her term, and did.) Theres an obvious thematic relationship between LePage, and Republicans in Missouri. They share an antipathy for welfare for Medicaid expansion in particular, but a secondary tendency also joins them: Power is the only force that matters. The same force is present in Georgias new elections bill, which makes it a crime to offer food and water to voters in line, and restricts the use of provisional ballots and drop boxes.

What Missouri Republicans are saying to constituents is really quite simple: Their votes arent important. So did LePage. So are Georgia Republicans, albeit in a different way; all three efforts have a suppressive character. Its not much of a leap from Missouri to Georgia, where Republicans are taking measures to restrict the vote altogether. Why vote at all if the party that controls your state will just ignore your decision? The fate of Missouris Medicaid expansion may next be decided by a court; as was the case in Maine, a judge could order the state to fund the program. Even if that happens, a deeper problem would remain. The rot in the GOP runs so deep that there appears to be no immediate remedy, no compromise, no room for cooperation. Tell Joe Manchin theres no reasoning with a political party that isnt interested in democracy.
Illinois still has a long way to go, but these two changes in outlook signal to investors that Illinois is heading in a better direction, Mendoza said in a statement. The ratings agencies make clear that Illinois using its funds from the American Rescue Plan to pay down debt is the most responsible path forward for the states finances and the best way for the state to achieve an upgrade in its ratings.
Mumbai, Mar. March 26 : In what is interpreted as a retaliatory measure, the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) has initiated the first steps to counter a suspected nexus of certain officials with the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party intended to defame and destabilise the Shiv Sena-Nationalist Congress Party-Congress government in Maharashtra.

For starters, the Mumbai Police lodged a first information report to probe the leak of a report marked 'Top Secret' by the former Commissioner, State Intelligence Department (SID) Rashmi Shukla.

Taking a serious view, the Cyber Crime Cell of Mumbai Police Crime Branch lodged the FIR against unknown persons under relevant sections of the Official Secrets Act, 1923, Indian Telegraph Act, 1885 and Information Technology Act, 2008.

Certain sections of the leaked report, marked 'Top Secret' in various pages, had been distributed to the media by BJP Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis while raising the issue of alleged corruption in the matter of transfers/promotions in the police department, and claiming that it was ignored by the MVA.

The development came a day after state Chief Secretary Sitaram Kunte submitted a 5-pager Status Report to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on the allegations levelled in Shukla's leaked report of Aug. 28, 2020 vis-a-vis the factual position.

In his report, Kunte categorically mentioned how she had misused the phone-tapping permissions, apologised for making the erroneous (SID) report, sought permission to withdraw it, expected a lenient view since she was not in a proper frame of mind after the recent demise of her husband due to cancer and her children's education, and since she was a woman with the recent traumatic experience, the (MVA) government sympathetically decided against pursuing the matter further.

Surprisingly, an official pointed out how, after Shukla opted for a central posting, her 'Top Secret' report suddenly came into the public domain through Fadnavis, compromising the names of various top officials, ministers, etc.

Reacting to the developments, Fadnavis defended himself by saying he had released only a couple of pages, and the other sensitive portions were 'leaked' by NCP Minister Nawab Malik to the media.

In a vicious counter-attack, Malik said "Fadnavis is perturbed" after the FIR was lodged today under the three acts since Shukla had illegally tapped phones of certain people and her report was absolutely baseless.

"That report was based on some private conversations between individuals, and the then Additional CS Kunte had questioned her on the alleged transfers mentioned in the report which had not taken place," Malik said.

He demanded to know the antecedents of a person reportedly very close to Fadnavis, virtually lived in the CM's home, was regularly seen hanging around in various ministries, the CoP and DGP, the Municipal Commissioner office and had first tweeted about the (SID) report.

Malik dismissed Fadnavis' charge that he and another minister Jitendra Awhad had prepared the Status Report and Kunte merely signed on it as blatantly false.

Vasantrao Naik Sheti Swavlamban Mission President Kishore Tiwari shot off a letter to the CM demanding a thorough probe into an alleged 'BJP-Babu' nexus including retired IAS-IPS officers, which was attempting to stage an 'Operation Lotus' and topple the MVA government.

Accorded a MoS status, the VNSSM chief pointed out how several corrupt retired officials, including some of their family members, continue to occupy prime positions in government, semi-government or top corporates, and allegedly collude with the BJP to dislodge the MVA government.

Similarly, the Congress state President Nana Patole is understood to have cautioned the government about a handful of officers in key positions whose intentions could be suspect, allegedly leak out sensitive details to the Opposition, and must be weeded out.

"All such persons must be exposed, investigated for their illegally amassed wealth, tried and sent to jail This rot has set in during the five-years of Fadnavis rule and was never witnessed before in Maharashtra's history," Tiwari added.

(Quaid Najmi can be contacted at: q.najmi@ians.in)
All three members of Schuylkill County's state House delegation have joined in the calls for Schuylkill County Commissioner George F. Halcovage Jr. to resign.

In a letter emailed Friday, state Reps. Joe Kerwin, R-125, Lykens; Jerry Knowles, R-124, Rush Township; and Tim Twardzik, R-123, Butler Township, told Halcovage they believe "it is in the best interests of all involved  including you, your family and the people of Schuylkill County  that you resign from office immediately. We urge you to focus your efforts on these allegations and caring for your family, without the continued distraction and spectacle of holding office in county government."

Noting removing him as commissioner would involve an impeachment process carried out by the Legislature, they wrote, "We are hopeful that you comprehend the urgency of this situation and avoid the specter of such proceeding."

The lawmakers' letter was made public just a few hours after top Schuylkill County Republican Committee leaders urged Halcovage to resign in the wake of allegations he sexually harassed four female county employees at the courthouse.

"The severity of the allegations and intensity of the federal lawsuit (preclude) Commissioner Halcovage from effectively executing his duties to the citizens of Schuylkill County," the letter reads in part.

County Chairman Howard D. Merrick Jr., Vice Chairman Robert Bylone, assistant chairmen Mary Labert, Larry Padora and Ben Wiessner, and Secretary Carolyn Bonkoski signed the letter.

The letters increase the pressure on Halcovage to leave the office he first obtained in 2011, when he and Frank J. Staudenmeier won back the majority on the board of commissioners for Republicans. He was reelected in 2015 and 2019.

They follow by one day a letter signed by the six female Republican row officers  Clerk of Courts Maria T. Casey, Recorder of Deeds Ann Dudish, Register of Wills Theresa Gaffney (whose name was originally and inadvertently left off the letter), Treasurer Linda L. Marchalk, Prothonotary Bridget McGowan Miller and Acting Controller Sharyn Yackenchick  all asking Halcovage to resign.

An internal investigation concluded that Halcovage committed the alleged acts and would have been fired if he were not an elected official. As an elected official, however, he cannot be fired; the only was to remove him from office is impeachment by the Legislature.

On March 16, the four employees filed a federal lawsuit against Halcovage, the county and other county officials asking for unspecified compensatory and punitive damages. They alleged Halcovage harassed them and, on at least one occasion, forced sexual contact.

The committee leaders wrote that Halcovage has lost the ability to serve.

"A dark cloud hovers over our courthouse and all the hardworking, honorable men and women serving the citizens of Schuylkill County," the letter reads in part.

Hugh A. Reiley, chairman of the Schuylkill County Democratic Committee, released a statement Friday saying he welcomes the GOP committee's statement and also urges Halcovage to resign.

"The Schuylkill County Democratic Committee condemns all sexual harassment and assault, and we support all victims," Reiley's statement reads in part.

Gerard J. Geiger, Stroudsburg, Halcovage's lawyer, could not be reached Friday for comment on the matter.
(In First Look, we pay a quick visit to a new restaurant or bar in Central New York to give readers an idea of what to expect. Our food critics might visit these places eventually and give us their take, but we want to highlight whats new in our area. If you know of a new place, send an email to cmiller@syracuse.com or call/text me at 315-382-1984.)

DeWitt, N.Y.  The first thing that hits you when you walk into the Peachtree Sandwich Company is the smell. Actually, youll be bombarded with myriad smells, smells that will make you twice as hungry as you were when you first entered.

First youll smell the house-cured bacon in the smoker. As you walk past the grill, youll catch the freshly ground chuck-brisket combo searing on the grill. When you finally reach the counter to order, youll catch a whiff of the roasting turkey. Finally, while youre waiting for your food, youll hit the scent of house-cut fries going into a takeout box next to strips of smoked brisket.

Then youll grow frustrated on the way home as those smells coming from your to-go containers fill your car.

You like that? David Anastasio asked from behind the counter. Thats the smell of the South, and I think youre going to enjoy it.

Apparently a lot of people enjoy Davids food. He opened Peachtree Sandwich Company in the shopping plaza at 4461 E. Genesee St. last Wednesday, and the foot traffic has increased each day.

How he got started

David got hooked on the restaurant industry as a teenager while working as a dishwasher at TGI Fridays near his DeWitt home. He earned a bachelors degree at the Culinary Institute of America and then a master of management in hospitality degree from Cornell. Thats where he met his wife, Holly, who also got her hospitality degree.

They moved to New York City, where he worked in restaurants and later operated corporation cafeterias on Wall Street, cafeterias with 500 employees that would rival some five-star restaurants.

They decided to move back to Central New York and start a family. He worked for the Byrne Dairy Corp., where he overhauled the sandwich service at its growing stable of convenience stores. During the pandemic, by the way, Davids sandwich program helped Byrne Dairy double its food sales.

I originally had a plan to open a full-scale restaurant, but thats when I realized I could create a really good lunch menu, he said. And thats when I found this place.

This spot used to be the Treasure Hut antique store. Its located near the previous home of the All-Night Eggplant diner and the now-closed Pickles Kosher Deli.

David created a Southern-inspired menu influenced by all his visits to Hollys home state of Georgia during their courtship.

He cures his own bacon and smokes his own brisket. He also grinds his own meat for the burgers and chili, using 75% chuck roast and 25% brisket. (That makes it juicier than frozen ground beef, he says.)

The Burger done Sanford Style at Peachtree Sandwich Company in DeWitt. It's a house-ground burger with cheddar, lettuce and tomato on a toasted brioche roll. To make it Sanford Style, they top it with brisket, bacon, coleslaw and the comeback sauce.Charlie Miller | cmiller@syracuse.com

HIs visits down South also inspired his restaurants name. Everything in Georgia is Peachtree, he said. Peachtree Avenue. Peachtree Hospital. Peachtree Corners.

He and his wife have two daughters, and he asked them and their friends to paint what they think a peach tree looks like. Those works of art line the wall that leads to the counter.

David says he never wanted to be a chef. He still doesnt. He originally wanted to become a teacher. That explains why he trains his employees how to make all the food, not just serve it. Three weeks ago, they didnt know how to make bacon. They didnt know how to grind beef. They didnt know how to make bread from scratch. Now they do, he said. I tell them that if youre not learning something from me every day, then Im not doing my job.

It also explains why all of the employees are so polite and seem so enthusiastic.

You must try ...

The Turkey ($10): Believe it or not, the star of this sandwich isnt the turkey breast David roasts before opening for the day. Its what surrounds the meat that makes this a top-notch sandwich.

David learned how to make focaccia bread and has since perfected his recipe. They now make five huge loaves each morning without the help of a mixer. Its slightly dense but airy, and its seasoned with salt, pepper and rosemary. Its the first thing you taste when this sandwich meets your mouth.

Dont get me wrong, the rest of the sandwich is tasty. Its packed with turkey and blanketed with provolone, arugula and his Alabama white sauce.

The white sauce is also worth noting. Its Dukes mayonnaise (I would NEVER use Hellmanns mayo! he said.), vinegar and a bunch of herbs.

The Turkey at Peachtree Sandwich Company in DeWitt.Charlie Miller | cmiller@syracuse.com

House-cut fries ($3): Plenty of restaurants around here make their own house-cut fries, and they do them with varying levels of success. Oftentimes they come out soggy with no crisp and little flavor. David finally figured it out after trying four different approaches.

He cuts 80 russet potatoes first thing in the morning. He deep-fries the sticks for five minutes at a low 300-degree temperature. That softens the potatoes just how he likes it.

Once Peachtree opens for the day, they jack up the oil in the fryer to 350 degrees. When a customer orders fries, the cook drops them in for three minutes. That builds a crispy coating around the softened fries. Its the best of both potato worlds, he said. The inside almost tastes like mashed potatoes, but theyre really crispy on the outside. He seasons the fries with kosher salt.

They were so good that I bought three orders on my second visit, and I asked for a cup of his Comeback Sauce. Thats like his white sauce but its spicier and has a sweet tang. It makes you want to come back, David said.

Yes, it does. And yes, I will.

Owner David Anastasio seasons the homemade fries at Peachtree Sandwich Company in DeWitt.Charlie Miller | cmiller@syracuse.com

The Bacon ($10): This sandwich is basically a gourmet version of the BLT. Were not talking thinly-sliced bacon you find at Wegmans. This is Davids own bacon that he makes right here.

David cures 5 pounds of pork bellies a few times each week. The salt in this process draws moisture out through osmosis, and the meat draws it back in. Once its cured, it goes into the smoker at 165 degrees. He slices it thick, probably an eighth of an inch. And when it hits the flattop grill, it doesnt shrink or shrivel up like mainstream bacon.

Its a pain in the rear, but it tastes so much better, he said.

The bacon ultimately finds its home between two slices of toasted sourdough bread, lettuce, tomato and herb mayo.

The Bacon sandwich at Peachtree Sandwich Company in DeWitt.Charlie Miller | cmiller@syracuse.com

As if you needed to bring any more calories home from the Peachtree Sandwich Company, David includes a cube of fudge with each sandwich. This isnt just any chunk of chocolate fudge. Holly Anastasio owns her own fudge-making business, Southern Roots. She makes this for Peachtree everyday.

Ive now gotten six pieces of fudge, and I can honestly say it goes best with the bacon.

Every sandwich comes with a piece of fudge made by Holly Anastasio, the wife of the Peachtree Sandwich Company owner.Charlie Miller | cmiller@syracuse.com

The Details

The venue: Peachtree Sandwich Company, 4461 E. Genesee St., Syracuse. (315) 883-0005. You can order in person, online or over the phone.

Hours: 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday-Saturday (They will be opening for dinner soon.)

Credit cards? Yes

Access to disabled? Yes

Parking: Yes

****

MORE CNY FOOD

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Hidden Gems of CNY

Charlie Miller finds the best in food, drink and fun across Central New York. Contact him at 315-382-1984, or by email at cmiller@syracuse.com. You can also find him on Twitter @HoosierCuse.
San Francisco school board members, in a vote of no confidence, stripped their colleague Alison Collins of her role as vice president over racist tweets against Asian Americans.

The board also removed Collins from a role on any committees. Board members Jenny Lam and Faauuga Moliga, who authored the measure for the action, called for Collins to resign, saying she has failed to accept responsibility for her words.

The vote came less than a week after Collins critics unearthed a thread of tweets from 2016 in which she used a racial slur and said Asian Americans had used white supremacist thinking to assimilate and get ahead. Nearly 5,000 people have since signed a petition calling for Collins resignation, joining public officials, including the mayor and 10 supervisors.

Supporters say Collins was unfairly targeted by right-wing activists and should be forgiven.

Over the weekend, Collins said the tweets, posted two years before she was elected, were taken out of context. She apologized for the pain she caused but has not removed the tweets.

Twitter screenshot

The board approved the no-confidence measure with a 5-2 vote, with Collins and board President Gabriela Lopez dissenting.

This continues to harm and divide our communities, Lam said during the meeting. We need to move forward to govern this district.

Moliga said Collins tweets were not only hurtful, but racist.

After Commissioner Collins graceful resignation, we would be left with the task of repairing and restoring the dignity and respect that we all deserve, Moliga said. History may forget your names, but it will never forget your actions.

Collins declined to address the tweets or the content of the resolution. She said board members circumvented standard process and Lopez to put the measure on the special meeting agenda.

Yet board policy allows for four board members to place an item on the agenda without the presidents approval, which occurred in this case.

This resolution distracts from priority matters, said Collins, referring to reopening schools and replacing outgoing Superintendent Vince Matthews. This resolution does nothing to enhance our team. I reject the attempts to mischaracterize me as a person and as a member of this board.

Lopez has opposed efforts to oust Collins from the board.

Dozens of people, many emotional, spoke during public comment, some supporting Collins, but a majority supported the resolution and called for her resignation.

I have no confidence in Commissioner Collins leadership and ability to represent our students and families, said parent Lisa Tsang. I dont believe her apology is sincere and she should resign.

Board members Matt Alexander, Kevine Boggess, Mark Sanchez and Lopez condemned the tweets, but did not call for Collins to resign. Instead, they said they supported a restorative process.

The San Francisco Berniecrats also oppose those calling for Collins resignation, said Brandee Marckmann, co-chair of the group.

COVID Resources Coronavirus Map Tracking COVID-19 cases across the Bay Area and California.

Supporters of Collins said the rediscovery a week ago of the tweets by people supporting a recall of board members Collins, Lopez and Moliga was politically motivated.

This attack on Collins is deeply political and you can hear it in the comments of many people here tonight, said Brandon Harami. I think Collins should make a stronger apology, but after months of her being attacked by right wing groups and trolls, I do not blame her for being defensive.

Virginia Marshall, from the Alliance of Black School Educators, chastised the board Thursday.

This is not how we resolve conflict, she said. The students are watching.

In her tweets, from December 2016, Collins said the string of messages was part of an effort to combat anti-black racism in the Asian community and at my daughters mostly Asian Am school.

She then asked: Where are the vocal Asians speaking up against Trump? Dont Asian Americans know theyre on his list as well? Collins had tweeted. Using asterisks in references to the racial epithet, Collins continued, Do they think they wont be deported? profiled? beaten? Being a house n****r is still being a n****r. Youre still considered the help.

Staff writer Emma Talley contributed to this story.

Jill Tucker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jtucker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jilltucker
KLAMATH FALLS, Ore.  The senior leadership of Oregon Tech on Thursday dismissed calls for university President Dr. Nagi Naganathan to resign, days ahead of a scheduled "no confidence" vote among the school faculty.

Salary negotiations between the OIT administration and the faculty union reached an impasse earlier this month, prompting a mandatory "cooling-off" period for both sides to sharpen their proposals ahead of mediation.

A few days later, OIT's Faculty Senate unanimously passed a resolution calling for Dr. Naganathan to resign, accompanied by a 9-page report compiling grievances against the university president  many of them claiming that he and other senior administrators acted unilaterally against school policy, allowed faculty pay to stagnate while raising salaries for administrative staff, and failed to maintain transparency in situations that would have involved faculty input under previous leadership.

"The intent of the report is to articulate how Dr. Naganathans leadership has caused persistent and ongoing issues that affect Oregon Tech faculty and the student body it serves, and to enumerate those issues to the best of our ability," the Senate Executive Committee wrote in the preamble to its report. "While every point of this document may not be correct to the last detail, in part due to lack of transparency of budgets and administrative decision-making processes, we believe that the overwhelming body of evidence supports these broad and extensive areas of deficiency in Dr. Naganathan's leadership."

The Faculty Senate resolution also scheduled a "no confidence" vote for the wider full-time OIT faculty if Dr. Naganathan did not resign. According to the Faculty Senate's President, Professor Don McDonnell, the vote is set to begin next Monday and last through Friday.

In response to the Faculty Senate resolution, OIT's senior leadership issued a lengthy statement rebutting the Senate's claims and making clear that Dr. Naganathan would not be resigning.

"The Senate is the body empowered to support and encourage respectful debates and exchanges of ideas on Oregon Techs academic mission," the administration wrote. "However, the recent actions of the Senate including the chaotic and embarrassing public display of their grievances are not aligned with the above. These actions are unacceptable, and we will not allow such actions to damage the future of the university, hurt the reputation of faculty and staff, and jeopardize the success of our students."

According to OIT's senior leadership, the Faculty Senate overstated its role in the university's structure of "shared governance," and its report contained inaccuracies or lacked sufficient detail for grievances to be addressed, along with accusations of fiscal mismanagement that were "at the least unprofessional, if not unethical and borderline defamatory."

The OIT statement did not directly address the upcoming vote of no confidence, but called on the faculty union to continue negotiations with administrators during the cooling-off period. The two sides are scheduled to meet on April 1 with a state-appointed mediator.

"Oregon Tech will continue to act in good faith and be open to negotiations and unity of purpose," OIT said.

Professor McDonnell said that the results of the no confidence vote will be passed on to the OIT Board of Trustees.
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A Baltimore woman who was last seen alive on Tuesday leaving a bar with a group of friends after celebrating her 26th birthday has been found dead in the city's harbor three days later.

The Baltimore Police Department announced in a Facebook post that the body of Tara Payne, known to her loved ones as Savannah, was recovered in the water off of the 1200 block of Dockside Circle in the Canton neighborhood on Thursday.

Police said they believe Payne may have fallen into the water after a bar outing, but the woman's friends and family want to get to the bottom of what had happened that night.

'As far as the investigation, I don't feel it's wrapped up,' Payne's father, Jimmy Payne, told CBS Baltimore. 'Theres little information thats confirmed, but theres a lot of misinformation on Facebook, social media and so forth.'

Tara 'Savannah' Payne (left and right) was last seen alive leaving a Baltimore bar with friends after celebrating her 26th birthday on Tuesday

Divers recovered Payne's body off of the Canton neighborhood on Thursday (pictured)

Her father used to be a Baltimore firefighter, and said he has previously rescued people from the same area.

He added: 'Its surreal to be in the same spot where I have rescued people and helped bring people home.'

An autopsy will be performed on Payne to determine her cause and manner of death.

Payne was last seen emerging from Southern Provisions Bar & Kitchen on O'Donnell Street at around 1.30am on Tuesday.

Kwame Rose, who was at the bar with a separate group, recalled seeing Payne during her birthday festivities.

'Everything seemed normal,' he told WJLA. 'I remember there were friends....I remember women; that was the thing... There were no random guys there that night.'

Prior to her disappearance, Payne was seen emerging from Southern Provisions bar on O'Donnell Street

Police say they believe Payne may have fallen into the water. An autopsy will be performed to determine her cause and manner of death

Payne's aunt said her car was found where she had parked it on Boston Street and her purse was still inside.

Colin Koogle, a friend of Payne's, said he is still struggling to understand what went wrong on the night of her birthday party.

Payne's father, retired Baltimore firefighter Jimmy Payne, his daughter loved the beach, her brother and the family dog, Taco

'I dont know what the hell happened and that right there is not where she should have been,' he said while pointing in the direction of the harbor where police divers had recovered his friend's body.

Payne's father described his daughter as a loving and giving person who loved her brother and the family dog, Taco.

'Everyone loved her and she loved everyone,' Jimmy Payne said.

He told CBS Baltimore that his daughter loved the beach, and he will now remember her there. He said: 'I know shes at peace and shes at the beach'.

The case is being investigated by the Baltimore Police Department's homicide detectives, as is customary when there are questions about a missing person.
The H&M clothing store is seen in Times Square in Manhattan, New York, U.S., (Photo : REUTERS/Mike Segar)

At least one Chinese online retailer appeared to drop H&M's products amid social media attacks on the Swedish company for saying it was "deeply concerned" about reports of forced labour in the farwestern region of Xinjiang.



The European Union, United States, Britain and Canada on Monday imposed sanctions on Chinese officials accusing them of human rights abuses in Xinjiang. China retaliated with sanctions on European lawmakers and institutions.



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H&M had previously said in a statement it was "deeply concerned by reports from civil society organisations and media that include accusations of forced labour" and that it did not source products from Xinjiang.



Activists and some Western politicians accuse China of using torture, forced labour and sterilisations of Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang. China denies the accusations, says it is providing vocational training and that its measures are needed to fight extremism.



It was not immediately clear why an old statement from H&M, which media had reported last year, about the cotton-producing region was back in the public eye.



H&M's official store on Alibaba's Tmall, an e-commerce platform, was not accessible on Wednesday. The official People's Daily reported that searches for H&M products on platforms JD.com and Pinduoduo no longer showed any results. Reuters was unable to determine if such products were previously available.



Alibaba, JD.com, and Pinduoduo did not immediately respond to requests for comment.



China is H&M's fourth-biggest market with sales of 9.75 billion Swedish crowns ($1.13 billion) in the 12 months through November 2020.



"Spreading rumours to boycott Xinjiang cotton, while also wanting to make money in China? Wishful thinking!" the Communist Youth League, the youth wing of China's ruling party, said in a post on the Weibo social media platform.



In another post, the League referred to remarks made by China's top diplomat, Yang Jiechi, at a combative meeting with his U.S. counterparts last week in Alaska, where, referring to various U.S. actions, he said the Chinese people "won't swallow this".



Xinjiang cotton "won't swallow this", the League said.



Actor Huang Xuan said on his official Weibo social media page he had terminated his contract as a representative for H&M, saying he opposed "slander and creating rumours".



H&M also said in its original statement it would phase out its relationship with a Chinese supplier accused of forced labour.



A graphic in a commentary from the official CCTV that slammed the company for its stance said that "H&M you are no longer at all fashionable".



Some people on Weibo called for H&M to leave China and for a boycott.



"It is so shameless to smear Xinjiang and we don't buy your products," one person said.



H&M China said it respected Chinese consumers and that it was committed to long-term investment and development in China.



H&M does not source cotton directly from any supplier, it added.



"H&M Group has always managed our global supply chain in an open and transparent manner, ensuring that our suppliers worldwide comply with our sustainability commitments such as the OECD Guidelines for Responsible Business Conduct and do not represent any political position," it said in a statement.



The editor-in-chief of the state-run Global Times newspaper, Hu Xijin, urged Western companies to be "highly cautious" and not to "suppress China's Xinjiang".



To do so, he said in a social media post, would "undoubtedly arouse the anger of the Chinese public". He did not single out any companies.



($1 = 8.6271 Swedish crowns)


DGAP-News: BP p.l.c. / Key word(s): Personnel

BP p.l.c.: bp announces non-executive director retirement



26.03.2021 / 09:30

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.



press release







26 March 2021





bp announces non-executive director retirement





In accordance with the requirements of listing rule 9.6.11(2), BP plc ("bp") today announces that, as referred to in the notice of its Annual General Meeting to be published today, Professor Dame Ann Dowling will retire as non-executive director of bp at the conclusion of bp's Annual General Meeting on 12 May 2021. Dame Ann's retirement will be in addition to the previously announced retirement at the same time of Brendan Nelson.



Helge Lund, chairman of bp, said: "Ann has made an enormous contribution to bp and its board over the past nine years. Her commitment, expertise, rigour and - above all - her passion for engineering have been inspirational, both for the board and for the company as a whole. On behalf of the board, I thank Ann for her service. We have benefitted greatly from her counsel."





Further information:



bp press office London, bppress@bp.com, +44 (0)7831 095541 In accordance with the requirements of listing rule 9.6.11(2), BP plc ("bp") today announces that, as referred to in the notice of its Annual General Meeting to be published today, Professor Dame Ann Dowling will retire as non-executive director of bp at the conclusion of bp's Annual General Meeting on 12 May 2021. Dame Ann's retirement will be in addition to the previously announced retirement at the same time of Brendan Nelson.Helge Lund, chairman of bp, said: "Ann has made an enormous contribution to bp and its board over the past nine years. Her commitment, expertise, rigour and - above all - her passion for engineering have been inspirational, both for the board and for the company as a whole. On behalf of the board, I thank Ann for her service. We have benefitted greatly from her counsel."bp press office London, bppress@bp.com, +44 (0)7831 095541 This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.

26.03.2021 Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP - a service of EQS Group AG.

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.



The DGAP Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements, Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases.

Archive at www.dgap.de


Three out of New Jerseys 10 most heavily traveled structurally deficient bridges are in Hudson County, data from the Federal Highway Administration shows.

Of the 198 bridges listed by the federal agency in Hudson County, 16 are classified as structurally deficient, or given the poor condition rating.

That rating does not mean that bridges are in danger of collapsing, only that repairs are needed.

One of the challenges to maintaining bridges in good repair in a state like New Jersey is our location, state Department of Transportation spokesman Stephen Schapiro told NJ Advance Media. We have some of the heaviest truck traffic in the nation, and the weather  snow, ice, and fluctuating temperature  can cause wear and tear, particularly on bridge decks.

Hudson Countys deficient bridges include the Route 495 viaduct over Route 1&9 and Paterson Plank Road, which is the second-busiest deficient bridge in the state and 65th in the country, with an average of 157,250 cars crossing it daily.

The bridge, which is more than 80 years old, has been in the midst of a $95 million repair project since 2017. Construction is slated for completion later this year.

The Route 495 bridge over Route 3, just west of that, is the eighth busiest deficient bridge in the state, with an average of 108,630 vehicles passing over daily. A Route 3 bridge over the Northern Secondary Railroad and an on-ramp to 495 is among the states busiest as well, carrying 113,235 drivers on an average day.

All three North Bergen bridges are rated in poor condition by the federal agency, though they are also all undergoing repairs.

As of 2020, Hudson County is home to roughly 3% of the states 502 structurally deficient bridges.

But the states bridges have seen improvement in recent years. Thanks in part to gasoline tax increases since 2016, the number of deficient bridges in the state has been on a steady downward trend.

Some of New Jerseys gas tax money also funds grant program to help counties repair or rebuild their bridges. That fund has grown to $47.3 million from $25 million a year.

New Jersey ranks 21st among the 50 states with 7.4% of its 6,801 bridges rated as deficient, Federal Highway Administration statistics show. A year ago, 7.7% of the states 6,786 bridges were rated as deficient.

It looks like New Jersey has made some really good progress, said Alison Premo Black, chief economist for the American Road and Transportation Builders Association, an industry group. I would certainly think that additional resources have helped that situation.

Other bridges in poor condition in Hudson include the East 32nd Street bridge over the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail tracks in Bayonne, the Route 139 bridge in Jersey City a mile west of the Holland Tunnel, and the Baldwin Avenue bridge over the railroad and PATH tracks in Jersey City.

NJ Advance Media Staff Reporters Jonathan D. Salant and Larry Higgs contributed reporting.
Authorities in the southern Vietnamese province of Binh Duong have fenced off a local street after a Chinese man tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

D35 Street at the Vietnam-Singapore Residential Area in An Phu Ward, Thuan An City was sealed off from 9:00 pm on Thursday.

The identity of the Chinese man has not been publicized, but initial information showed that he has been living in Binh Duong since before the 2021 Lunar New Year holiday.

The 44-year-old foreigner underwent a COVID-19 test at the Pasteur Institute in Ho Chi Minh City on Thursday morning to prepare for his flight back to China.

The result came back positive for the novel coronavirus later the same day.

He has not been confirmed as a COVID-19 patient by the Ministry of Health.

The Chinese man said he had headed to Moc Bai International Border Gate in the southern province of Tay Ninh a few days earlier and had made close contact with a Cambodian person.

Competent authorities have tracked eight people who came into direct contact with the Chinese national.

They have been quarantined and had their samples collected for COVID-19 testing.

Vietnam has documented 2,579 COVID-19 cases so far, with 2,265 recoveries and 35 deaths.

The Ministry of Health on Friday morning confirmed two new patients who are both border jumpers from Cambodia.

They were registered in the northern city of Hai Phong and Ho Chi Minh City.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
Victorian Minister for Mental Health, Martin Foley at a press conference at Treasury Theatre, in Melbourne, Australia on July 13, 2020. (Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)

Victoria Eliminates Local Transmission of Covid-19 After 28 Days

Victoria appears to have eliminated local transmission of the coronavirus after going four weeks without any new transmission of the virus.

The Victorian Health Department confirmed the milestone on Friday, following another 13,800 tests and said that 28 days with no new infections means the virus has been eliminated from the community, given that timeframe represents two 14-day incubation periods.

It comes as restrictions are set to significantly ease from 6 pm on Friday.

Victorians will now be able to have 100 visitors at home, up from the previous cap of 30, while public gatherings can double from 100 to 200.

Masks will no longer be required in retail settings, though Victorians will still need to wear them on public transport, in taxis and rideshare vehicles and in aged care facilities and hospitals.

Density limits will be eased at casinos, nightclubs and karaoke venues from one person per four square metres to one person per two square metres, bringing the venues into line with cafes, pubs and restaurants around the state.

People enjoy outdoor dining at Tusk Cafe in Prahran on October 28, 2020 in Melbourne, Australia. (Daniel Pockett/Getty Images)

The 50-person cap on dancefloors will also be scrapped and offices will now be able to increase their capacity from 75 percent to 100 percent. Although they will have to maintain a density limit of one person per two square metres in all areas.

International flights will also resume to the state from April, 8.

Overseas flights havent arrived in Melbourne since Feb. 13, after hotel quarantine workers contracted the UK strain of the coronavirus from travellers at the Holiday Inn near the Melbourne Airport.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA  NOVEMBER 23: People are seen at Melbourne Airport checking in for flights to New South Wales on November 23, 2020 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Daniel Pockett/Getty Images)

The outbreak, which grew to 24 cases, triggered a five-day lockdown.

The states active cases have now dropped to zero, for the first time since Dec. 10 last year.
OTTAWA - In defiance of a House of Commons committee, the president of the Public Health Agency of Canada still won't explain why two government scientists were fired 18 months after being escorted from Canada's highest-security laboratory.

A view of the National Microbiology Laboratory is seen in Winnipeg, Tuesday, May 19, 2009. The president of the Public Health Agency of Canada is refusing to explain why two Canadian government scientists were let go 18 months after being escorted from Canada's highest security laboratory. THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods

OTTAWA - In defiance of a House of Commons committee, the president of the Public Health Agency of Canada still won't explain why two government scientists were fired 18 months after being escorted from Canada's highest-security laboratory.

Iain Stewart had been given a deadline of Friday to provide an explanation to members of the special committee on Canada-China relations for why PHAC terminated the employment of Xiangguo Qiu and her husband, Keding Cheng, in January.

Instead, he sent the MPs a letter saying that the Privacy Act does not allow him to share "employment or labour-relations matters concerning public servants."

Questions about an RCMP investigation into the two Canadian government scientists should be directed to the Mounties, Stewart added.

The pair were escorted out of the National Microbiology Laboratory (NML) in July 2019 over what was described at the time as a possible policy breach and administrative matter.

In his letter Friday, Stewart linked their departure to a "number of review processes" initiated by PHAC in 2018, "relating to possible breaches of security protocols at the NML."

The Winnipeg lab is Canadas highest-security laboratory, designed to deal safely with deadly contagious germs such as Ebola.

PHAC has previously said the pair's escorted exit had nothing to do with the fact that four months earlier, Qiu had been responsible for a shipment of Ebola and Henipah viruses to China's Wuhan Institute of Virology.

In his letter, Stewart said the pair "have had no access to PHAC facilities, infrastructure or assets" since July 2019.

Their employment was officially terminated last Jan. 20, and ever since, PHAC has steadfastly refused to reveal why. Stewart cited the Privacy Act in his letter to MPs.

"The Privacy Act does not expressly contemplate the provision of personal information to parliamentarians about employment or labour relations matters concerning public servants," he wrote.

However, Conservative MP Garnett Genuis said opposition members of the committee have no intention of letting the matter go.

Together with Bloc Quebecois MP Stephane Bergeron, they have forced an emergency committee meeting to be held next week.

At that meeting, Genuis said he will introduce a motion to compel PHAC to hand over to the committee all documents related to the two scientists, without any redactions. The motion will call for the parliamentary law clerk to vet the documents to determine what, if anything, needs to be blacked out for security or privacy reasons.

"We're certainly not going to let this go," Genuis said in an interview.

"Clearly, there's something more here ... We've clearly got a problem here and we're going to follow it up in a pointed way."

At a testy committee meeting earlier this week, Stewart said he would explore the option of providing an explanation to committee members in confidence. His letter Friday did not mention that option or why it has evidently been ruled out.

Genuis said witnesses can't simply ignore orders to provide information to Commons committees, which he argued "bear certain features in common with a court ... there is a requirement to respect motions."

"Parliamentary committees aren't just a group of people getting together to talk about a topic. They have particular powers as a function of the fact that we're a democracy and our institutions should be subject to democratic oversight."

The governing Liberals have been using procedural tactics to block opposition demands for more ministerial aides and civil servants to testify at committees examining the WE Charity affair and allegations of sexual misconduct in the senior ranks of the military.

On Thursday, government House leader Pablo Rodriguez accused opposition parties of an "abuse of power" and declared that aides will be instructed not to appear at committees in future, on the principle that it's cabinet ministers, not their staffers, who should be held accountable.

However, in the case of the PHAC president, Liberal committee members went along earlier this week with a motion ordering Stewart to explain the firing of the two scientists by mid-afternoon Friday. That motion, introduced by Genuis, passed unanimously.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 26, 2021.
BANGALORE, India, March 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Home Medical Equipment Market is Segmented by Functionality (Therapeutic Equipment [Home Respiratory Therapy Equipment, Home IV Equipment, Home Dialysis Equipment, and Other Home Therapeutic Equipment), Patient Monitoring Equipment [Blood Glucose Monitors, Blood Pressure Monitors, Holter Monitors, Peak Flow Meters, Apnea Monitors, Heart Rate Monitors, Baby Monitors, Electronic Thermometers, and Coagulation Monitors], and Mobility Assist & Patient Support Equipment (Wheelchairs, Mobility Scooters, Walking Assist Devices, Medical Furniture, and Bathroom Safety Equipment) and Distribution Channel (Pharmacies, Retail Medical Stores and Online Retailers). The report covers global opportunity analysis and industry forecast from 2020 to 2027. It is published on Valuates Reports in the Medical Device & Equipment Category.

The global home medical equipment market size was valued at USD 30,545.34 Million in 2019, and is estimated to reach USD 56,457.87 Million by 2027, registering a CAGR of 6.1% from 2020 to 2027.

Major factors driving the growth of home medical equipment market size are:

Home medical equipment is safe, convenient, cost-effective, and suitable environments for patients within their home for chronic diseases. Increase in incidence of chronic diseases and considerable rise in geriatric population across the globe.

Technological advancements in-home care medical equipment, such as smaller size, portability, and ease of access, help to drive market growth.

View Full Report: Global Home Medical Equipment Market

TRENDS INFLUENCING THE GROWTH OF HOME MEDICAL EQUIPMENT MARKET SIZE

An aging population and changes in societal behavior are contributing to a steady increase in chronic health problems.

Technological advancements in-home care medical equipment is expected to increase home medical equipment market size. Technological advancements have enabled manufacturers to create smaller and easy use home medical equipment, which is expected to increase their adoption. Furthermore, new technologies such as needle-free diabetic care, medication administration equipment, and durable medical equipment , such as medical beds and lift chairs, propel the home medical equipment market size.

Moreover, the increase in the rising healthcare cost is expected to fuel the growth of the home medical equipment market size. Home medical equipment has saved the patients from the costs involved in clinical testing procedures or continuous monitoring which has provided the necessary growth to this market in economically weaker economies.

Get Free Sample: Home Medical Equipment Sample Report

HOME MEDICAL EQUIPMENT MARKET SHARE ANALYSIS

Based on functionality, the therapeutic segment accounted for the largest home medical equipment market share in 2019 and is anticipated to continue its dominance throughout the forecast period. This dominance of the therapeutic segment is attributed to the increase in usage of therapeutic products for home care, such as home respiratory therapy products and ventilators.

Based on region, North America is expected to hold the largest home medical equipment market share during the forecast period. North America's Dominance is attributed to the surge in chronic diseases such as asthma, diabetes, high blood pressure, and others in this region. However, due to an increase in disposable income and a rise in awareness of the benefits of homecare medical devices, Asia-Pacific region would exhibit the highest CAGR of 7.4% during 2020-2027.

Based on functionality, Mobility Assist & Patient Support Equipment is projected as one of the most lucrative segments. And by distribution channel, Retail Pharmacy is projected as one of the most lucrative segments.

Customized Report for Home Medical Equipment Market

HOME MEDICAL EQUIPMENT MARKET SEGMENTS

By Region

North America

U.S.



Canada



Mexico

Europe

France



Germany



UK



Italy



Spain



Netherlands



Norway



Russia



Sweden



Switzerland



Rest of Europe

Asia-Pacific

Japan



China



India



Australia



South Korea



New Zealand



Taiwan



Thailand



Rest of Asia-Pacific

LAMEA

Brazil



South Arabia



South Africa



Chile



Columbia



Egypt



Iran



Israel



Turkey



Venezuela



Rest of LAMEA

Regional Report for Homecare Medical Equipment Market

By Functionality

Therapeutic Equipment

Home Respiratory Therapy Equipment



Continuous Positive Airway Pressure Equipment





CPAP Machines







CPAP Masks & Related Interfaces







CPAP Accessories





Oxygen Delivery Equipment





Oxygen Concentrators







Home Liquid Oxygen Containers







Oxygen Cannula







Other Home Oxygen Delivery Equipment





Ventilators





Nebulizers





Humidifiers



Home IV Equipment



IV Pumps





IV Administration





IV Accessories



Home Dialysis Equipment



Home Peritoneal Dialysis Product





Home Hemolysis Product



Other Home Therapeutic Equipment



Home Physical Therapy Equipment





Home Negative Pressure Wound Therapy Devices





Home Braces & Related Products





Home Enteral Feeding Products





Home Automated External Defibrillators





Home Muscle & Nerve Stimulators

Patient Monitoring Equipment

Blood Glucose Monitors



Blood Pressure Monitors



Holter Monitors



Peak Flow Monitors



Apnea Monitors



Heart Rate Monitors



Baby Monitors



Electronic Thermometers



Coagulation Monitors



Others

Mobility Assist & Patient Support Equipment

Wheelchairs



Manual Wheelchairs





Powered Wheelchairs

Mobility Scooters

Walking Assist Devices



Walkers & Rollators



Canes & Walking Sticks



Crutches

Medical Furniture

Lift Chairs



Medical Beds



Stair Lifts



Medical Furniture Accessories

Bathroom Safety Equipment

Bars, Grips & Rails



Shower Chairs



Elevated Toilet Seats



Commodes

By Distribution Channel

Hospital Pharmacies

Retail Pharmacies

Online Retailers.

Leading companies covered in this report:

Abbott Laboratories,

B Braun Melsungen Ag,

Baxter International Incorporated,

Becton,

Dickinson and Company,

General Electric Company,

Hill-Rom Holdings Incorporated,

Johnson & Johnson,

Medtronic plc,

Smith & Nephew plc.

The other companies that provide home medical equipment are

Arkray Incorporated,

Carefusion Corporation,

Invacare Corporation,

Medline Industries Incorporated,

Omron Corporation,

Resmed Corporation,

Smiths Group plc.

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SIMILAR REPORTS

- The Durable Medical Equipment (DME) Market is Segmented by Type Personal Mobility Devices, Bathroom Safety Devices, Medical Furniture, Monitoring and Therapeutic Devices, by Application Nursing Homes, Hospitals, Home Healthcare and by various regions.

- Home Therapeutic Equipment Market is Segmented by Type Home Respiratory Therapy Equipment, Home Dialysis Equipment, Home IV Equipment, by Application For Children, For Adults and by various regions.

- Patient Monitoring Devices Market Size was USD 25,768.56 million in 2019, and is projected to reach USD 44,861.56 million by 2027 at a CAGR of 4.4% from 2020 to 2027.

- Mobility Scooter Market is Segmented by Type Class 2 Scooter, Class 3 Scooter, by Application Residential, Commercial and by various regions.

- The Electric Wheelchair Market Size was valued at USD 2.9 Billion in 2019, and is expected to reach 5.8 Billion by 2027, registering a CAGR of 9.7% from 2021 to 2027.

- Medical Furniture Market Size is projected to reach USD 5401.9 Million by 2026, from USD 5219.5 Million in 2020, at a CAGR of 3.2% during 2021-2026.

- Pharmacy Retailing Market Size was USD 1547950 Million and it is expected to reach USD 2246050 Million by the end of 2026, with a CAGR of 5.4% during 2021-2026.

- Wearable Medical Device Market Size is expected to grow from USD 9,540.99 Million in 2019 to USD 23,662.32 Million by the end of 2025 at a CAGR of 16.34%.

- Portable Medical Electronic Products Market Size is projected to reach USD 10180 Million by 2026, from USD 9928.1 Million in 2020, at a CAGR of 2.4% during 2021-2026.

- Smart Home Healthcare Market Size is projected to reach USD 13840 Million by 2026, from USD 5938.5 Million in 2020, at a CAGR of 15.1% during 2021-2026.

- Home Healthcare Market Size is projected to reach USD 362550 Million by 2026, from USD 234980 Million in 2019, at a CAGR of 6.3% during 2021-2026.

- CPAP Machines Market is Segmented by Type Fixed Pressure CPAP Device, Auto Adjusting CPAP Device, by Application Household, Hospital, Others and by various regions.

- Oxygen Delivery Equipment Market is Segmented by Type Oxygen Masks, Nasal Cannulas, Venturi Masks, Non-rebreather Masks, Bag-valve Masks, by Application Asthma, COPD, Cystic Fibrosis, Respiratory Distress Syndrome, Pneumonia and by various regions.

- Oxygen Therapy Devices Market Size is expected to grow from USD 2,006.42 Million in 2019 to USD 2,806.20 Million by the end of 2025 at a CAGR of 5.75%.

- Residential Ventilation Systems Market Size will reach USD9253.9 Million USD in 2025, growing at a CAGR of 4.9%.

- Home Nebulizer Market Size is projected to reach USD 1975.5 Million by 2026, from USD 939.3 Million in 2019, at a CAGR of 13.2% during 2021-2026.

- Household Ultrasonic Humidifier Market is Segmented by Type Tabletop, Portable, by Application Indoor, Outdoor and by various regions.

- The Negative Pressure Wound Therapy Device Market is Segmented by Type Single-Use NPWT Devices, Conventional NPWT Devices, by Application Hospitals & Clinics, Ambulatory Surgery Centers, Home Care Settings and by various regions.

- The Automated External Defibrillator (AED) Market Size is valued at USD 680 Million in 2018 is expected to reach USD 1040 Million by the end of 2025, growing at a CAGR of 5.6% during 2019-2025.

- Heart Rate Monitors Market Size is projected to reach USD 17160 Million by 2026, from USD 12400 Million in 2019, at a CAGR of 4.7% during 2021-2026.

- Clinical Electronic Thermometers Market is Segmented by Type Oral Electronic Thermometers, Axillary Electronic Thermometers, Rectal Electronic Thermometers, Typmanic Electronic Thermometers, by Application Drug Store, Hopital, Clinic and by various regions.

- The Positive Airway Pressure Devices Market Size is expected to grow from USD 1,491.95 Million in 2019 to USD 2,134.89 Million by the end of 2025 at a CAGR of 6.15%.

- Baby Monitors Market Size is expected to grow from USD 1,473.56 Million in 2019 to USD 1,846.62 Million by the end of 2025 at a CAGR of 3.83%.

- Medical Bed Market Size was USD 1354 Million and it is expected to reach USD 1392.9 Million by the end of 2026, with a CAGR of 0.4% during 2021-2026.

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A YOUNG man told a garda he would ram his head off the road and that it was not a threat, its a promise, it has been alleged.

Ryan Bambrick (22) is accused of making the threat while gardai were carrying out a search in west Dublin.

The case was adjourned by Judge David McHugh when it came before him at Blanchardstown District Court.

Mr Bambrick, of Chaplains Terrace, Clondalkin, is charged with obstruction and threatening to kill or cause serious harm to a garda.

The court heard the offences were alleged to have happened at Somerton Close, Newcastle Road, Lucan, on August 6 last year.

Garda Sergeant Walter Sweeney said the DPP directed summary disposal of the case at district court level subject to the issue of jurisdiction being considered by the judge.

Outlining the prosecutions case, he said it would be alleged gardai were conducting a search at 8.25pm when the accused made threats to the officer in the presence of other members who were conducting the search.

It was alleged he told the garda he was going to ram your head off the road.

When told he had threatened the garda, it was alleged he replied: Its not a threat, its a f**king promise.

Judge McHugh accepted jurisdiction, allowing the case to remain in the district court.

He granted free legal aid after defence barrister Jennifer Jackson said Mr Bambrick was unemployed.








Siriporn Niamrin, 49, saw a strange lump after a heavy downpour on the coast of Nakhon Si Thammarat, southern Thailand. Thinking it might be worth a little money, Siriporn pulled the lump back to her house, about 500 meters from the beach, on February 23rd.

She talked to her neighbors and was shocked to discover the material could be whale vomit - an important ingredient, known as 'ambergris', used in making perfumes like Chanel No5.

Checking Its Authenticity

To check its authenticity, Siriporn and her neighbors were holding a bare fire to some of its parts making it to melt. Then it solidified again after cooling.

Her neighbors said the bad smell could also be an indication that the woman saw an actual chunk of ambergris. The oval lump weighed 7 kg, was approximately 12 inches wide and 24 inches long.

Based on the past sale prices, the Ambergris mass would give an estimated value of approximately 186,500. Siriporn is now expecting experts to come to her home to confirm that the lump is actually ambergris.

The woman said that she had real ambergris, It can help her community once she finds a buyer. She's overjoyed that she saw the great show and hopes it makes her earn money as she has kept it safe in her house and she has even asked the city officials to come and have a look.

Also Read: Rare Whale Vomit Considered As Floating Gold, Costs $70,000; Will It Endanger Sperm Whales?

The Role in the Fragrance Industry

Its value depends on its role in the fragrance industry as high-end perfumes from houses like Chanel and Lanvin use it to fix fragrance to human skin, according to National Geographic.

The substance is produced by sperm whales when the bile ducts in the gastrointestinal tract make secretions to facilitate the passage of large or sharp objects.

These whales vomits the mucilage that congeals and floats on the surface of the ocean. A 200lb lump was sold a few years ago for a whopping 1 million.

Last year, a fisherman was walking by the beach when he spotted several rocky lumps washed up on a beach in Nakhon Si Thammarat, southern Thailand. Naris Suwannasang and his family members tested the surface of the Rocky lumps by burning it with a lighter, making it melt immediately.

The Biggest Whale Vomit

According to Naris, the blocks weighed 220lb - or 100kg - clearly making it one of the biggest whale vomit found. In 2019, another fisherman discovered a 14lbs piece of Ambergris as he was walking along a beach in southern Thailand.

Jumrus Thiachot, 55, kept it his shed and continued to work, earning close to 400 baht (10.25) a day. When officials from the local government came to his home, they affirmed the waxy lump was absolutely whale vomit.

Also in 2016, Alan Derrick and his son smashed a smelly rubbery rock spotted on the beach in Morecambe in Weston-super-mare, Somerset, for 65,000.

Related Article: Fisherman Finds the "World's Largest Blob of Whale Vomit"

For more news, updates about ambergrises and similar topics don't forget to follow Nature World News!
Tunis/Tunisia  Tunisia reaffirmed its unwavering support to a peaceful solution of the Libyan conflict, reiterating its willingness to "provide all forms of support to the brotherly Libyan people in their endeavour for peace, stability, reconstruction and the establishment of the foundations of the rule of law."

Participating on March 24 in the regular session of the UN Security Council on the development of the situation in Libya, the Permanent Mission of Tunisia to the United Nations in New York stressed the imperative for all stakeholders to undertake to organise legislative and presidential elections on the set date (December 24, 2021) in order to ensure the passage from the transition phase to that of sustainable institutions.

The mission pointed out in this regard, the importance of the Security Council's support to the political process in Libya to ensure that the elections will be organised in the best possible conditions, said Friday a Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Migration and Tunisians Abroad press release.

Special Envoy of the UN Secretary General on Libya and Head of the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) Jan Kubis described President Kais Saied's visit to Libya on March 17 as "the first of its kind in years at the level of a Head of State."

Besides, Kubis commended the progress of the Libyan political settlement, citing in particular the vote of confidence granted by the Parliament to the government of national unity and the choice of the members of the executive power, and this in compliance with the roadmap of the preparatory phase for the comprehensive solution, adopted during the meeting for the Inter-Libyan Political Dialogue held in Tunis in November 2020.
Manchester Center, VT (05254)

Today

Thunderstorms this evening, then cloudy with rain likely overnight. Low near 60F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%..

Tonight

Thunderstorms this evening, then cloudy with rain likely overnight. Low near 60F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%.
China has announced sanctions on British officials and also targeted Swedish clothing retailer H&M in a spiralling dispute over complaints of abuses in the Xinjiang region.

A statement from the Chinese Foreign Ministry said a sanctions regime imposed earlier this week by the EU, the US, Britain and Canada was based on nothing but lies and disinformation, flagrantly breaches international law and basic norms governing international relations, grossly interferes in Chinas internal affairs, and severely undermines China-UK relations.

Beijing sanctioned four British institutions and nine individuals, including prominent legislators who have criticised the treatment of the Uighur Muslim minority. It said they would be barred from visiting Chinese territory and banned from financial transactions with Chinese citizens and institutions.

China does not stir up trouble, but China is not afraid when others do, Yang Xiaoguang, Chinas charge daffaires in London, said at a news conference.

H&M products have been removed from major e-commerce platforms including Alibaba and JD.com following calls by state media for a boycott over the firms decision to stop buying cotton from Xinjiang. That damages H&Ms ability to reach customers in a country where more than a fifth of shopping is online.

Shockwaves spread to other brands as dozens of celebrities called off endorsement deals with Nike, Adidas, Burberry, Uniqlo and Lacoste after state media criticised the brands for expressing concern about Xinjiang.

Tencent, which operates games and the popular WeChat message service, announced it was removing Burberry-designed costumes from a popular mobile phone game.

H&Ms approximately 500 stores in China did not show up on ride-hailing app Didi Chuxing or map services operated by Alibaba and Baidu, and its smartphone app disappeared from app stores.

It was not clear whether companies received orders to erase H&Ms online presence, but Chinese enterprises are expected to fall in line without being told. Regulators have broad powers to punish companies that fail to support official policy.

The ruling Communist Partys Youth League launched attacks on Wednesday on H&M following the European Unions decision to join the US, Britain and Canada in imposing sanctions on Chinese officials blamed for abuses in Xinjiang.

On Friday, the Chinese government announced penalties against nine Britons and four institutions. They are banned from visiting China or having financial transactions with its citizens and institutions.

Expand Close Iain Duncan Smith (Jeff Overs/BBC/PA) / Facebook

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Whatsapp Iain Duncan Smith (Jeff Overs/BBC/PA)

The nine Britons are former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith, Lord David Alton, Tory MPs Neil OBrien, Tim Loughton and Nusrat Ghani, Labours Baroness Helena Kennedy, barrister Geoffrey Nice, academic Joanne Nicola Smith Finley, and the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Tom Tugendhat.

The four institutions are the China Research Group, the Conservative Party Human Rights Commission, Uyghur Tribunal and Essex Court Chambers.

More than a million members of the Uighur and other predominantly Muslim ethnic minorities have been confined to detention camps in Xinjiang, according to foreign governments and researchers. Authorities there are accused of imposing forced labour and coercive birth control measures.

The Chinese government rejects complaints of abuses and says the camps are for job training to support economic development and combat Islamic radicalism.

State media accused H&M and other brands of improperly profiting from China while criticising it. That prompted Chinese retailers and internet companies to distance themselves from the Swedish retailer, though other brands still were available on e-commerce platforms.

It was unclear why China targeted H&M, whose expressions of concern about Xinjiang have been similar to those of other companies, but its home country of Sweden might be seen by Chinese leaders as more susceptible to pressure due to its small size.
Sunday is Minoru Yasui Day in Oregon.

Despite this annual honor, enacted by the Oregon Legislature five years ago, the late Min Yasui is not particularly well-known in his native state. But his impact has been widely felt.

President Barack Obama awarded Yasui a posthumous Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015, pointing out that Min never stopped believing in the promise of his country despite facing dire injustices. He never stopped fighting for equality and justice for all.

Minoru Yasui first came to public attention on March 28, 1942, when he decided to step out into the streets of Portland after dark.

With the United States newly at war with Japan, a curfew had been established for everyone of Japanese descent. From 8 p.m. to 6 a.m., Japanese aliens and Japanese American citizens had to be in their residences. At all other hours, they could not be more than five miles from their homes.

Yasui, a 26-year-old University of Oregon law-school graduate, knew this new law was unconstitutional. He was determined to create a test case in court.

Minoru Yasui (National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift in loving memory of Minoru and True Yasui)copy photo by Mark Gulezian/NPG

So he strolled the streets late on that Saturday night. A couple of beat cops spotted him but did nothing. Finally, just before midnight, Yasui barged into the downtown police headquarters waving his birth certificate, demanding that officers do their duty.

Run along home, son, or youre going to get into trouble, an officer told him.

But Yasui refused to go home, and so he was arrested.

It was not an intelligent thing to do, hed later say of his curfew challenge. It was a matter of idealism.

The consequences proved extreme. Yasui had his citizenship temporarily stripped from him, and he served nearly a year in solitary confinement at the Multnomah County Jail. (The jail cell that held him recently has been donated to the Japanese American Museum of Oregon.) When Yasui finally was freed, he still wasnt free. President Franklin Roosevelts Executive Order 9066 required virtually all Japanese Americans to be held in internment camps for the duration of World War II. So the military transported Yasui to an Idaho camp, where he joined thousands of other Americans imprisoned because of their Japanese ancestry.

Internees at the Minidoka Relocation Camp in Idaho during World War II.

Yasui would spend the rest of his life fighting for civil rights for all Americans.

We are born into this world for a purpose: to make it a better place for our having been there, he would say.

Born in Hood River in 1916 to Japanese immigrants, Yasui earned bachelors and law degrees from UO. In 1939 he became possibly the first Japanese American lawyer admitted to the Oregon bar.

Prejudice against Japanese Americans didnt suddenly appear in the U.S. with the advent of World War II. It had been around since the first Asian immigrants arrived in the country.

In Feb. 1940, nearly two years before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Yasui made his case for acceptance in his community. The headline in The Oregonian: We, Too, Please, Are 100 Per Cent Americans.

We nisei are American citizens, and we think of ourselves only as Americans, he felt compelled to state.

The cell where Minoru Yasui was held, photographed in 2019 at the old Multnomah County courthouse. The cell has since been relocated to Japanese American Museum of Oregon. Motoya Nakamura/ Multnomah County. The Oregonian

As an example of his Americanness, he said he had visited Japan for the first time only a few years earlier.

It was all strange to me, and I must have seemed strange to the Japanese, he said in the article. Anyway, they thought I was Chinese.

Two years later he was back in the local newspapers.

Alien in Toils For After Hours, The Oregonian titled its article this time. The Oregon Journal used a racial slur in its headline about the young lawyer testing the curfew law.

Yasui, as he had pointed out in the 1940 article, was not an alien, but most Americans now considered that hair-splitting. The Journal argued that Yasui had been a paid agent of Japan until the day of Japans attack on Pearl Harbor.

The Journal was referring to a clerk position hed held at Chicagos Consulate General of Japan, after hed found Portland-area legal jobs closed to him. Yasui resigned from the consulate the day after Pearl Harbor and reported for duty at the nearest Army induction center.

But even though Yasui was an Army Reserve officer in good standing (via the Reserve Officer Training Corps program in college) and the military was desperate for officers, he was turned away.

He reported again -- and again and again -- at various Army bases and offices between Chicago and Portland, and each time he was immediately rejected.

Minoru Yasui sits behind his desk in 1981. (Photo By Dave Buresh/The Denver Post via Getty Images)

Back in Hood River, he discovered that the FBI had arrested his father, a fruit farmer, as an enemy alien. Locals were now boycotting the familys long-standing business. The little town on the Columbia River, the journalist Alan K. Ota later wrote, would earn a reputation among Japanese Americans for one of the most virulent strains of haiseki -- hatred of Japanese -- in the United States.

Yasui set up a one-man law practice in Portland (in the lobby of a rundown building in Japantown), where he focused on helping fellow Japanese Americans protect themselves and their property as anti-Japanese prejudice spiked in the region and increasingly was codified.

Then came Yasuis arrest and subsequent conviction for flouting the military curfew. After his appeals failed (Oregon federal district court Judge James Alger Fee ruled that the Portland lawyer brought the test case to embarrass the military authorities of the United States), Yasui landed at the Minidoka War Relocation Center, one of 10 concentration camps housing tens of thousands of prisoners during World War II.

Thirty-six blocks of barracks stretching three miles housed Japanese-Americans internees at the Minidoka Relocation Center during World War II.

Japanese Americans had started arriving at the isolated Idaho camp when only the barbed-wire fencing had been finished. They stepped onto the train platform, choking on dust, stunned by the nothingness rolling out before them.

I know people who got off the train and cried, Yasui said in 1985 when he returned to the Minidoka site. He remembered row after row of tarpaper shacks. Looking around at what was left 40 years later, he noted that government officials now said the internment policy had been wrong.

Yes indeed it was wrong! he bellowed.

He was still outraged, four decades later. He never would get over it. But he also was proud, he said, that the men, women and children imprisoned solely for their ancestry had not been broken by the experience.

The resiliency of the people [held at Minidoka] could not be overcome by this harsh environment, he declared.

After the war, Yasui moved to Denver, where he set up a law office that his daughter Holly would recall as a proverbial hole-in-the-wall in the heart of downtown Denvers Skid Row. Early on, many of his clients were Japanese Americans who had lost everything during their wartime imprisonment. One client gave him a live turkey as payment.

Yasui took on leadership positions with the Japanese American Citizens League and became a founding member of the Urban League of Denver. He later served as executive director of the Denver Commission on Community Relations. Because he had such strong relationships with other minority groups, writes the National Park Service-backed Densho Encyclopedia, he was credited with preventing race riots [in Denver] during the turbulent civil-rights era of the late 60s.

There are few great men in our country who are totally unselfish in their commitment to fairness and justice, another Denver activist, Helen L. Peterson, would say after his death. He was one.

Yasuis civil-rights work was an obsession that took up much of his time for decades, but Holly Yasui has called him a great dad: loving, attentive and generous. Min and his wife True raised three daughters. (Holly has admitted that during the Vietnam War she and her father disagreed about draft dodgers. He believed every American should serve when their government called on them; he had encouraged his fellow internees to volunteer or register for the draft when, late in World War II, the Army launched an all-Japanese unit, a test case of its own.)

Minoru Yasui never did put his World War II experiences behind him, because he didnt want to.

This shall never happen again, he would declare time and again in speeches.

His advocacy helped lead to the 1988 bipartisan Civil Liberties Act, which provided $20,000 in reparations to surviving internees and declared that the wartime camps had been the result of race prejudice, war hysteria and a failure of political leadership.

Yasui also spent years fighting to overturn his 1942 conviction after he discovered the government had invented evidence that called into question the loyalty of Japanese Americans.

In 1984, two years before Yasui died at 70, the federal district court in Portland vacated his conviction.

 The Japanese American Museum of Oregon is co-sponsoring a Zoom event on Saturday to celebrate Minoru Yasui Day. The featured speaker will be U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono of Hawaii. The event will include a short documentary about Yasui.

-- Douglas Perry

dperry@oregonian.com

@douglasmperry
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas, March 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - Uranium Energy Corp (NYSE: UEC) (the "Company" or "UEC") is pleased to report our Executive Vice President Scott Melbye, and current President of the Uranium Producers of America, presented testimony at the Full Committee Hearing on Nuclear Energy for the Senate Committee on Energy & Natural Resources on March 25, 2021.

A link to watch the video of Mr. Melbye's testimony and the full text are below:

https://www.uraniumenergy.com/usuranium/

"It is an honor to testify before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. I am a second-generation American uranium miner, current President of the Uranium Producers of America and Executive Vice President of Uranium Energy Corp, with operations Texas and Wyoming.

I have 36 years of experience in every facet of the international nuclear fuel cycle from the production and global marketing of uranium to its use as clean-energy fuel in the Palo Verde Nuclear Station near Phoenix, Arizona.

This is an exciting time for nuclear, which is already providing electricity to 1 in 5 American homes and over half of our nation's carbon-free power. Nuclear power can work hand in hand with other green technologies, like wind and solar, to help advance the American clean energy revolution. But the United States must re-establish its global nuclear leadership, including a robust nuclear fuel cycle that has been eroded by Russia, China, and state-owned uranium entities in recent years.

America is dangerously close to losing our uranium fuel industrial base:

We lack a domestic enrichment capacity free of control by foreign powers;

The sole U.S. conversion facility in Illinois has been idle since 2017 and will restart operations in 2023;

we are nearly completely dependent on foreign uranium imports  state-owned entities in Russia , Kazakhstan , and Uzbekistan are supplying almost half of the fuel used by America's reactor fleet.

Chinese state-owned entities are capturing large portions of global uranium mining capacity, taking supply out of the free-market and putting it under Beijing's control.

Uranium is also required for naval propulsion and nuclear deterrence, the pure essence of what it means to be a critical mineral. The 93 small modular reactors in our fleet of 82 aircraft carriers and submarines have defended our interests safely and reliably since the 1950's. These reactors must rely on U.S. origin uranium which is unobligated to the controls of foreign nations and we need to retain our ability to independently refuel them. TVA's tritium production and Department of Defense micro-reactors have similar domestic uranium requirements. Absent a renewed commitment to America's nuclear fuel cycle, we are jeopardizing our defense capabilities and our clean energy goals.

Russia and China fully leverage energy dominance to their geopolitical advantage. They are playing a long game in a way America is not, using their nuclear energy clout to strengthen geopolitical ties with energy-starved countries around the world. America is also risking its seat at the global nonproliferation table.

The similarities to our rare earth mineral dependance on China are startling, but it doesn't have to be this way and it isn't too late. We have over one billion pounds of uranium in known and likely deposits in the United States. With 21st century conventional mining practices and environmentally friendly in-situ uranium recovery technology, the modern uranium mining industry is very different than was the case in the 1950's. We are highly regulated, and embrace (for many reasons) the world's highest health, safety, and environmental protection standards. We are cost-competitive globally but for the price undercutting tactics of state-owned companies.

With swift action to implement the strategic uranium reserve, the Department of Energy can take advantage of the licensed infrastructure and human resources we still have on standby.

Congress recently appropriated 75 million dollars for the uranium reserve on a bipartisan basis and with the support of nuclear utilities. It is crucial the Department move quickly to begin purchasing uranium this year. This will preserve the industrial base, guard against global supply disruptions, and create a source of U.S.-origin uranium for defense needs. We urge Congress to grant the full funding recommended over the next ten years by the interagency Nuclear Fuel Working Group led by the Department of Energy. 150 million dollars a year is a modest investment considering it will preserve the nuclear fuel cycle in the U.S. instead of ceding it to Russia, China, and their allies.

In closing, I applaud this Committee for exploring ways to advance America's nuclear leadership and capabilities in support of clean energy goals, national security, and our global competitive presence. I look forward to taking any questions that you may have."

About Uranium Energy Corp

Uranium Energy Corp is a U.S.-based uranium mining and exploration company. As a leading pure-play American uranium company, UEC is advancing the next generation of low-cost and environmentally friendly In-Situ Recovery (ISR) mining uranium projects. In South Texas, the Company's hub-and-spoke operations are anchored by our fully-licensed Hobson Processing Facility which is central to our Palangana, Burke Hollow, Goliad and other ISR pipeline projects. In Wyoming, UEC controls the Reno Creek project, which is the largest permitted, pre-construction ISR uranium project in the U.S. Additionally, the Company's diversified holdings provide exposure to a unique portfolio of uranium related assets, including: 1) major equity stake in the only royalty company in the sector, Uranium Royalty Corp; 2) physical uranium warehoused in the U.S.; and 3) a pipeline of resource-stage uranium projects in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Paraguay. In Paraguay, the Company owns one of the largest and highest-grade ferro-titanium deposits in the world. The Company's operations are managed by professionals with a recognized profile for excellence in their industry, a profile based on many decades of hands-on experience in the key facets of uranium exploration, development and mining.

Stock Exchange Information:

NYSE American: UEC

WKN: AJDRR

ISN: US916896103

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Except for the statements of historical fact contained herein, the information presented in this news release constitutes "forward-looking statements" as such term is used in applicable United States and Canadian laws. These statements relate to analyses and other information that are based on forecasts of future results, estimates of amounts not yet determinable and assumptions of management. Any other statements that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance (often, but not always, using words or phrases such as "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", "plans, "estimates" or "intends", or stating that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and should be viewed as "forward-looking statements". Such forward looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such risks and other factors include, among others, market and other conditions, the actual results of exploration activities, variations in the underlying assumptions associated with the estimation or realization of mineral resources, the availability of capital to fund programs and the resulting dilution caused by the raising of capital through the sale of shares, accidents, labor disputes and other risks of the mining industry including, without limitation, those associated with the environment, delays in obtaining governmental approvals, permits or financing or in the completion of development or construction activities, title disputes or claims limitations on insurance coverage. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements contained in this news release and in any document referred to in this news release. Certain matters discussed in this news release and oral statements made from time to time by representatives of the Company may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and the Federal securities laws. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, it can give no assurance that its expectations will be achieved. Forward-looking information is subject to certain risks, trends and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. Many of these factors are beyond the Company's ability to control or predict. Important factors that may cause actual results to differ materially and that could impact the Company and the statements contained in this news release can be found in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. For forward-looking statements in this news release, the Company claims the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The Company assumes no obligation to update or supplement any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy securities.

SOURCE Uranium Energy Corp

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JFS Orlando welcomes their newest board member, Kimberly K. Harris.

Originally from Richmond, Va., Harris grew up in a large blended family. I really grew up accustomed to the idea of family being what you make it, she explained. When her father and stepmother moved to the Tampa area, she decided to stay in Richmond for college, attending the VCU-MCV School of Allied Health and later working for Virginias state public health laboratory in the Immunology & Virology department. But both her personal and professional lives have been something of a winding road, as she has also worked in retail, construction customer service, and small business office management/bookkeeping.

When my husband and I found out we were expecting our first child, I knew I wanted to take some time to stay home with our baby, she said. She didnt want to go back to a traditional 9 to 5 work format, so instead dedicated her time to volunteering locally, including the JCC preschools Parent Advisory Committee, the planning committee for the JAOs Annual Gala fundraiser, and a local pet rescue and community education organization called The Pixel Fund. Additionally, Harris is a vendor at a local vintage/antique decor market, Wirewood Market in Altamonte Springs, where she gets to channel her personal hobby of antiques shopping and her creativity into a small business.

Harris first learned about JFS when she moved into the neighborhood directly behind it. Not only did driving past it several times per day encourage her to want to help out, but so did her own personal struggles.

When my son was a newborn he was always hungry and it felt so overwhelming. As I would feed my baby for what felt like the millionth time in a day, I would think of how awful it would feel to have a hungry child and not enough money to feed them.

So Harris began picking up extra food at the grocery to donate and hosting food drives for her sons birthdays. She also learned about the agencys other programs. JFS offers such knowledgeable and really hands-on assistance to people who are economically and socially drowning, and that has got to be truly the heart of tikkun olam. Repairing the world, one person or one family at a time.

During her time in the Bornstein Leadership Development Program, Harris learned how to meld her previous years of professional experience and her recent years of mom experience into something relevant to add to the Jewish communitys nonprofit organizations. After graduating from the program, she asked to join the JFS Board of Directors. I think JFS is an organization doing deeply meaningful work for our community and I am really inspired by that, she explained. Every time I have been in the building over the last several years, I have seen and heard and felt how committed the staff is to helping people; and not just helping, but helping compassionately. The clients that come to JFS for assistance retain their dignity, and that is really special. I just want to get involved and see if I can contribute even a little to that cause.

Established in 1978 as a non-profit human service agency, JFS Orlando provides social programs and services to children and families of all faiths in the Central Florida community. JFS supports efforts to prevent hunger and homelessness as well as providing mental health counseling. For more information on JFS and its programs, please visit http://www.JFSorlando.org or follow them on social media @JFSorlando.
Young rangers devoted to protecting forests in east China's Jiangxi

People's Daily Online) 09:52, March 26, 2021

Photo shows Chen Liangliang (R), Zou Hongyan (C) and Tang Yong walking along a route at the Jiulingshan National Nature Reserve in Jing'an county, east China's Jiangxi province, March 18. (Photo/Xinhua)

Getting up at 7 a.m., Chen Liangliang began his day by trudging up a mountain in east Chinas Jiangxi province to monitor animals and plants in the forest. Throughout the year, the man spends almost 150 days dedicated to the protection of green spaces.

Located in Jing'an county, the Jiulingshan Nature Reserve covers an area of 11,541 hectares. Qingshan station within the nature reserve, where Chen works, protects about 4,000 hectares of forest, with the longest forest route having a length of 24.7 kilometers.

"Weve discovered protected animals such as Chinese mergansers, macaques, leopard cats and silver pheasants in the forest, which made me realize that my job is meaningful," said Chen, who has been a lover of wild animals and plants since his childhood and wants to become an expert in this field.

"We have learnt to enjoy solitude during our work," said 29-year-old Tang Yong, who started working at the remotest station on the reserve in 2017. Since there is no cell phone signal on the mountainside, Tang keeps himself occupied by reading a book about animals and plants during off-duty hours.

Before every patrol, Tang has to purchase daily necessities that can support him for a full duration of two weeks.

I once spent more than half a year patrolling back and forth over 100 times along a 3-kilometer route to collect plant specimens, and now I can recognize common animals and plants in the forest, the man said, believing that he is qualified to participate in the reserves research missions.

Zou Hongyan, a young woman responsible for nature education at the reserve, often offers children lessons in the forest with the hope of teaching them to respect and protect nature. "I am pleased to find out that, in these two years, they can recognize many plants and animals," said Zou.

(Web editor: Hongyu, Liang Jun)
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Friday received her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi and rolled out the red carpet to welcome him on his two-day official visit.

Sheikh Hasina received the Indian leader at the tarmac of the VVIP terminal of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in the capital at around 11 a.m.

The Indian Prime Minister was accorded a guard of honour by a contingent comprising personnel from the Bangladesh Army, Navy and Air Force at the airport.

Several Ministers, State Ministers, and high-ranking civil and military high officials were also present at the airport.

From the airport, he visited the National Memorial in Savar where he paid rich tributes to the victims of the Liberation War of Bangladesh to commemorate country's 50th Independence Day.

From Savar, he will go to the Bangabandhu Memorial Museum and lay wreath at the portrait of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the Father of the Nation

Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen will call on Modi at the Presidential Suite of the Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel at 3.30 p.m.

Modi will then attend celebratory events at the National Parade Ground as Guest of Honour where he he is slated to deliver a speech.

Hasina will preside over the event while President Md Abdul Hamid will attend as chief guest.

A family member of Father of the Nation will also speak on the occasion.

After the Parade Ground programme, the two Prime Ministers will inaugurate the Bangabandhu-Bapu exhibition at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre (BICC) that will showcase the life and legacies of the two great leaders.

On Saturday, Modi will leave Dhaka for Shyamnagar in Satkhiraand visit Jeshoreshwari Temple, dedicated to the Goddess Kali.

Modi will then visit Tungipara in Gopalganj to pay homage to Father of the Nation at Bangabandhu Mausoleum Complex.

He is scheduled to plant a sapling there and sign the visitors' book.

After his visit to the Bangabandhu Mausoleum Complex, Modi will reach Orakandi Thakurbari and offer prayers at the Matua temple.

Modi will pay tribute to Harichand Thakur (1812-1878), the founder of the Matua community.

Orakandi is the holiest place for more than five crore people of Matua community living in Bangladesh and Indian state of West Bengal.

Upon his return from Gopalganj, the Indian Prime Minister will arrive at the Prime Minister's Office and hold talks which will be followed by delegation's level meeting.

The two Prime Ministers will virtually inaugurate different projects and witness signing of agreements.
The prime minister has offered to meet Brittany Higgins anywhere she chooses, should she wish to talk.

Scott Morrison said he was happy to meet with the former Liberal staffer, who alleges she was raped by a colleague inside a ministerial office.

'We've always sought to respect her privacy and her wishes on this,' he said on Friday.

'I could also appreciate why she wouldn't necessarily meet in Parliament House, that would be totally understandable.

Brittany Higgins, who alleged she was raped in Parliament House, has welcomed Prime Minister Scott Morrison's offer to come to talk about how to change workplace culture

'We can arrange to meet in other cities.'

He said Ms Higgins had not expressed an interest in meeting with him but has since said she did not know that was on offer.

'I was never made aware that the Prime Minister was willing to discuss my concerns about how my assault was handled,' she said in a statement to Nine News.

'I welcome the opportunity to meet the Prime Minister to discuss how the workplace culture in Parliament House can be improved.'

The prime minister has meanwhile instigated an inquiry into whether his office was briefing journalists against Ms Higgins' partner in an attempt to discredit and undermine her.

His chief of staff has spoken to a 'direct and primary' source who witnessed the alleged backgrounding.

He thanked the confidential informant for coming forward but would not say when any action would be taken.

'With anything as sensitive as this, it's important it follows a proper process to look into these matters,' Mr Morrison said.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison offered to meet Ms Higgins 'anywhere' she feels comfortable

'It's not appropriate for me to give a running commentary on each step of that process.

'Australians should know that we are taking this extremely seriously and following up on all of that information that has been provided to us.'

Labor asked every day for two weeks whether the prime minister's staff had backgrounded against Ms Higgins' loved ones.

Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese said it was disappointing Mr Morrison took action only after somebody came forward with first-hand information, rather than seeking out an answer himself.

Ms Higgins also wrote to the prime minister's chief of staff requesting an investigation, saying the backgrounding was reported to her by various sources at multiple media outlets.

'He should ask his office and just say what happened with the undermining of Brittany Higgins' loved ones,' Mr Albanese said.

Ms Higgins was allegedly raped in Parliament House by a colleague

The prime minister is seeking a circuit-breaker after being criticised for his tone-deaf response to a national debate about the treatment of women.

The conversation was sparked by Ms Higgins coming forward last month to allege she was raped by a colleague in 2019.

There have since been rape accusations levelled at Attorney-General Christian Porter, which he denies, and revelations of a toxic workplace culture in Parliament House.

The horrific allegations have engulfed the Morrison government and started a wider debate about sexual discrimination, harassment and abuse.

The prime minister has admitted repeatedly failing in his tin-eared response to the national movement and conceded he failed to grasp the depth of anger about violence against women.

He has also admitted people in his government failed Ms Higgins after she reported the alleged rape in parliament.

Mr Morrison will try to clear the air by reshuffling his frontbench line-up in coming days.

But shifting Mr Porter and Defence Minister Linda Reynolds, who had to apologise for calling Ms Higgins a 'lying cow', to other portfolios is unlikely to satisfy those demanding accountability.
Burma Myanmar Coup Leader Snubbed by Karen Rebel Leader Over Killing Protesters

The KNU leader Padoh Saw Mutu Say Poe (left) and Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing (right) during the third Union Peace Conference in Naypyitaw in July 2018. / The Irrawaddy

Myanmars oldest and most prominent ethnic armed organization, the Karen National Union (KNU), is refusing to meet with the countrys coup leader Senior General Min Aung Hliang unless his troops stop killing civilians and grant freedom to all detainees arrested following the coup.

KNU leader Padoh Saw Mutu Say Poe says the group will meet the Tatmadaw (Myanmar military) leader only when the Tatmadaw implements its demands, reflecting the wishes of people in Myanmar, according to the letter in response to the military dated March 22. Last week the military invited the KNU to hold further talks on the peace-building process.

Prior to the February military takeover, the KNU chairman was known for his warm relations with the countrys military. The rebel group signed a ceasefire deal with the Tatmadaw in 2012 and was a signatory to the nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA) in late 2015.

The conditions set by the Karen armed group are likely to push Min Aung Hlaing into a corner. His troops have been struggling to cope with nationwide popular resistance. Since February, more than 270 people have been killed by regime forces across the country.

In the countrys north, an ethnic Kachin armed group, the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), has taken over the militarys strategic outposts and resumed fighting, expressing opposition to the Tatmadaws deadly assaults on protesters.

Making matters more complicated, despite its leaderships peace deal with the military, some KNU troops, like Brigade 5, have never stopped armed engagement with the military.

In his reply, Padoh Saw Mutu Say Poe said the KNU found it totally unacceptable for the soldiers and police [to engage in a military-style] action, intimidating, attacking and killing peaceful protesters nationwide.

Such events have damaged our countrys reputation, and caused great pain and suffering for our people, the response read.

The KNU urged the military to withdraw riot police squads and troops deployed against the anti-coup protesters, to withdraw troops deployed in the ceasefire areas, to declare a nationwide ceasefire and implement it, and to end its active engagement in politics.

It also urged the military to accept international mediation and a transfer of power to a National Unity Government, a goal set by the ousted National League for Democracy government shortly before last years November election.

The group calls for the release of detainees held since the military seized power on Feb. 1 and the dropping of charges against them. Among those detained are the countrys President U Win Myint and State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

Few ethnic armed organizations (EAOs), including the KNU, have publicly denounced the military coup. However, public pressure has been mounting on the EAOs to shun work with the military and stand with the people. Myanmar has more than 20 EAOs that have held ceasefires talks with the civilian governments in the past nine years.

Following the coup, the military regime formed its new peace negotiation committees on Feb. 17. The central one is dubbed the National Solidarity and Peace-making Central Committee (NSPCC). The peace-making and peace negotiation committees under the central committee are reaching out to the EAOs, including the KNU, in an effort to maintain ceasefires and achieve peace. It also extended its truce until the end of March.

The KNU and some other EAOs have also rejected the regimes invitation to attend the Armed Forces Day on Saturday, March 27. KNU said they will only attend ceremonies that reflect dignity, humanity, justice and freedom for all.

You may also like these stories:

How Myanmars Security Forces Murder Children Through History

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Mr Buhari says the revolution of rice production across the country is the product of his administration's clear-sighted policy on agriculture.

President Muhammadu Buhari has described the revolution in rice production across the country as a product of his administration's policy and the diligent execution of it by institutions of state such as the Central Bank of Nigeria.

The president spoke at the commemoration of the national rice festival and the flag-off of the North-east 2021 and 2nd cycle 2021 dry season rice cultivation programme and 2020 wet season harvest aggregation and sales of paddy rice to millers held in Gombe State.

Represented by the Kebbi State Governor, Atiku Bagudu, Mr Buhari expressed gratitude to the CBN for solving the problems of financing in agriculture and state governors for championing the cause of rice production and other agricultural commodities.

He commended the Governor Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe State for reviving the cotton value chain for which the state was once known for.

The president said despite limited resources, his administration had achieved monumental results in the agricultural production and its value chain, saying a lot of infrastructural projects that will galvanize economic activities were being undertaken across the country for the benefit of all Nigerians.

In his remark, Mr Yahaya said but for the policy direction of the president and the sound support of the CBN, the heaps of rice pyramids on display would not have been possible.

"The pyramids are back and we are happy to see this and let me recall that only in January the Management of Central Bank with the National Cotton Association were here in Gombe and they kick-started the aggregation process of cotton farmers who equally paid the facilities they took in kind to signal the return of cotton production."

He said the state was a shining example in the anchor borrower programme of the Central Bank of Nigeria, owing to the fact that farmers in the state were poised on taking advantage of the programme to boost agricultural production and eventually pay in kind facilities obtained to maintain sustainability.

He added that his state had a favourable climatic condition for the production of sorghum, sesame seeds, and other agricultural commodities, making it a perfect destination for agriculture revolution in the North East sub-region.

"Gombe is an agrarian State, with 85% of our people engaged in farming activities. Agriculture is therefore an important source of livelihood to our people and the bedrock of our economy.

"Gombe has tremendous potentials in rice production. We have three major Dams in Dadin Kowa, Balanga and Cham. We are working with UNIDO to tap into those potentials for both irrigation agriculture and hydropower generation.

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"Our government is working on the Gombe State Industrial Park in Dadin Kowa. The park has a huge Agricultural Industrial Park section that is geared towards commercial production and processing of agricultural products," he said.

He added that the support farmers in the state got from the CBN enabled them to produce enmass, leading to the realisation of the rice pyramid on display at the tanker bay along Gombe/Bauchi road.

He also commended Mr Buhari for displaying leadership in the nation's march towards food sufficiency, as the nation can now boast of eating what it produces and produces what she eats.

On his part, the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, said since the anchor borrower programme was launched by the president some five years ago, it has become a game changer in Nigeria and will ultimately help in achieving some of the goals of the government's economic sustainability plan.

He said under the wet season farming, CBN/RIFAN Partnership will finance 221,000 farmers to cultivate 221,000 in 22 states, adding that this number, the region will have 44,807 farmers to cultivate over 44 hectares representing over 20 per cent of the total number of farmers and hectares respectively.
Photo: CTV News

Canada has hit a milestone in its COVID-19 vaccination drive and the federal government says it expects to deliver at least 1.5 million more doses within the next week.

Dr. Howard Njoo, deputy chief public health officer, said Thursday that the country had surpassed the 10 per cent mark of residents over 18 receiving at least one shot.

"To date, over 4.3 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in Canada," Njoo said in Ottawa. "This marks an important milestone, with more than 11 per cent of eligible adult Canadians ... having received at least one dose."

Njoo said that includes 60 per cent of people older than 80 and 19 per cent between 70 and 79. More than 60 per cent of adults in the three territories have received their first shot, he said.

Meanwhile, the federal body that advises how vaccines are deployed said it's reviewing a Vancouver study that found long-term care residents had a weaker immune response to their first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine than younger healthy adults.

The National Advisory Committee on Immunization chair Dr. Caroline Quach said experts are looking at the research, which found a weaker antibody response among older recipients but did not measure whether seniors were more likely to fall sick or die.
By Benjamin Jumbe

The NRM secretariat has once again expressed concern over the jostling for the positions of Speaker and Deputy Speaker of parliament.

In a statement issued this morning, the partys director Communications Emmanuel Dombo said this jostling has reached unprecedented and unacceptable levels.

He says he has been directed by the NRM Secretary General to remind the members about the existing legal framework and the general expectations under the NRM code of conduct, and the need for NRM members to remain united in preparation for the challenges ahead.

He says it is this cohesion that will enable the NRM to deliver on its promises as we secure the future of the people of Uganda.

Dombo adds that once modalities for providing guidance by the Central Executive Committee are concluded, the concerned members will be notified.
[March 26, 2021] Performance Food Group Company Highlights Effort to Address Food Insecurity

Performance Food Group Company (PFG) (NYSE:PFGC) recently made a $50,000 donation to World Central Kitchen (WCK), adding to the hands-on support PFG's family of companies provided after the destructive winter storms in Texas in February. "Fighting food insecurity has long been a part of PFG's corporate social responsibility focus," said George Holm, Chairman, President & CEO. "We are proud to support the mission of World Central Kitchen in fighting hunger and the work of all the amazing staff and chefs, including WCK founder Chef Jose Andres, who serve so much more than a fresh meal to those in need." In February, PFG worked with WCK to supply food for Kids' Meals Inc. in Houston, a nonprofit organization serving preschool children facing hunger due to poverty. With PFG's hands-on support, WCK was able to provide 42,000 meals over a week following the destructive winter storms. Kids' Meals regularly serves about 7,000 daily meals to children under age six, and recently started to provide meals to older children when it can to address increased needs associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. "We had a critical need after the storms, and we are grateful to WCK and Performance Food Group for stepping in," said Beth Harp, CEO at Kids' Meals Inc. "Since 2006, we have delivered more than eight million free, healthy meals to the doorsteps of Houston's hungriest preschool-aged children and provided families with resources to help end the cycle of poverty. We appreciate receiving support like this at a time of such great need, and it helps us move another step closer to achieving our mission to end childhood hunger." WCK, a nonprofit that uses the power of food to nourish communities and strengthen economies in times of crisis and byond, quickly jumped into action after snow, ice, and freezing temperatures swept across Texas. Multiple PFG divisions worked together to quickly mobilize when WCK reached out. Performance Foodservice - Houston secured product, Vistar provided truck and driver assistance, and Performance Foodservice in Temple and Dallas helped get product to Houston to meet this need. Associates from sales, procurement, operations and many other areas all contributed to PFG's quick response.



"We appreciate the support PFG offered in Texas," said Josh Phelps, WCK's Director of Relief Operations. "Their immediate and thorough response to our activation request highlights their alignment and belief in our mission and the power of food. PFG's additional financial donation will further support our work to provide nourishing meals for communities in need." About Performance Food Group

Built on the many proud histories of our family of companies, Performance Food Group is a customer-centric foodservice distribution leader headquartered in Richmond, Virginia. Grounded by roots that date back to a grocery peddler in 1885, PFG today has a nationwide network of over 100 distribution facilities, thousands of talented associates and valued suppliers across the country. With the goal of helping our customers thrive, we market and deliver quality food and related products to over 200,000 locations including independent and chain restaurants, schools, business and industry locations, healthcare facilities, vending distributors, office coffee service distributors, big box retailers, theaters and convenience stores. Building strong relationships is core to PFG's success - from connecting associates with great career opportunities to connecting valued suppliers and quality products with PFG's broad and diverse customer base. To learn more about PFG, visit pfgc.com. About Kids' Meals Inc. Since 2006, Kids' Meals has been making and delivering free, healthy meals directly to the homes of hungry children. Since inception, it has given more than eight million free meals to food insecure children in 42 Houston-area zip codes. Kids' Meals is a first-responder to children under age six facing debilitating hunger due to extreme poverty. Its mission is to end childhood hunger by delivering free healthy meals to the doorsteps of Houston's hungriest preschool-aged children and through collaboration provide their families with resources to help end the cycle of poverty. Learn more at kidsmealsinc.org. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210326005051/en/

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Watalii Lane is a not-so prominent lane in Nairobi. However, the lane that straddles Hilton Hotel plays a key role to the five-star international hotel.

The lane, though a public road, is out of bounds for Tom, Dick and Harry. It is only used by select few.

This is after Kenya suffered a series of terrorist attacks around 2013 necessitating different installations in the capital city to take necessary precautions.

It is for this reason that Hilton Hotel's management applied to the Nairobi County government for permission to control usage of the lane, a request which was granted by City Hall.

Granted permission, Watalii Lane became a restricted road used only by VIPs, the hotel's customers and few others who must prove why they want to use the lane.

"The barriers across the lane was put before Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) came in. It was when there were series of terrorist attacks in the country and five-star hotels in the city became key strategic targets because of being frequented by foreigners, especially whites," said NMS Transport, Roads and Public Works Director Engineer Michael Ochieng.

Traffic movement

He said the application by the hotel to have the traffic movement along the lane restricted was granted on security grounds since the lane was rarely used by public service vehicles.

Mr Ochieng explained that since the lane passes so close to the hotel, it offers easy and close access to the hotel increasing its vulnerability to attacks if movements are not controlled.

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As a result, the hotel has been allowed to erect barriers to control movements along it to the extent that only those with business in the hotel access it.

"The lane is not part of Hilton Hotel but they have been allowed to control it since the road accesses the hotel and nothing else. Passing close to that hotel makes occupants vulnerable to any attack. And when a terrorist attack happens, it will affect everyone even those not in the hotel," he said.

He said the barriers have not inconvenienced motorists in the city as there are alternative routes if in any case, one wanted to use the lane.

"If you want to use that lane then you are most probably hotel user but if you want to run away from traffic there is an alternative route which is by going around the hotel," he added.
Fresh spices and fruits on display at a market in Abuja, Nigeria

Nearly 60,000 people in Swaziland (eSwatini) face starvation or death without immediate action, Save The Children reported.

They are among more than 347,000 people in the kingdom who face acute food shortage and need urgent humanitarian assistance. This includes about 180,000 children.

The population of Swaziland is about 1.2 million people.

Save The Children said 'nearly 60,000 people [are] experiencing emergency levels of hunger, meaning that without immediate action, they could face starvation or even death'.

In a statement, Save The Children said, Swaziland had experienced a rapid deterioration in food availability over past months due to coronavirus (COVID-19)-related job losses, high food prices, and erratic rainfall leading to a poor harvest at the end of 2020.

It reported, 'The latest figures show that 31 percent of the population is now suffering from the food crisis, a markedly worse situation than the last hunger assessment in 2019, when 18 percent of the population was experiencing severe hunger.'

Save the Children has launched an emergency programme with the Swazi National Disaster Management Agency and plans to scale up its response to ensure critical food packages and nutritional supplements reach children and their families.

The agency is urgently calling on donors to release funds to support the emergency response and stave off a hunger crisis.

Save the Children's Executive Director in eSwatini, Dumisani Mnisi, said, 'The situation in eSwatini has been rapidly deteriorating and it's finally reached a tipping point.'

Mnisi added, 'We are calling on the international community for support as we rally together to face this challenge.'
The Registrar-General's Department has reiterated its decision to delete all dormant companies from its database to clean up the register.

This follows two earlier notices issued on May 12 and on December, 18, 2020 in the media and on the Department's website respectively, informing companies about the intended cleanup of the Department's register.

In a final notice to companies issued and signed by Mrs Jemima Oware, the Registrar-General, and copied to the Ghana News Agency, in Accra, the Department said companies had up to June 30, 2021, to comply with the directive.

It explained that the Department's database was over-bloated with names of 740,628 dormant companies registered between 1963 and 2011 (Legacy database), with only 70,346 of them being updated into the Department's database.

It noted that the remaining companies had neither ever filed their Annual Returns nor re-registered with the Department.

"More so, only 266,765 companies have filed their Annual Returns out of the total 524,006 registered companies in the new Company database (eRegistrar) since 2012 to 2020 which renders the rest of the companies not in good standing with the Department."

Provisions under Section 289 of the Companies Act 2019, (Act 992) says a company can be stricken off the Register due to the failure of the company to file its Annual Returns on time or due to a change in the company's Registered Office and Principal Place of Business without notifying the Registrar of Companies timeously.

The Companies Act further mandates the Registrar of Companies to notify the General Public with three notices after which a grace period of three months would be given to make all the mandatory filings after the final notice.

"After the expiration of the three months from the date of the notice, the names of the Companies/Partnerships that have still failed to comply with the moratoriums granted would be stricken off the register and the company would be deemed dissolved," the statement added.

It said companies must, therefore, take the necessary steps to act on the final notice, as the Department would deem those who failed to update their records as not "carrying on business or not in operation and unless the cause was shown to the contrary."
Britain's top black female police officer has been appointed to lead Scotland Yard's probe into sex attack claims at some of the UK's leading schools.

Commander Dr Alison Heydari has been tasked with co-ordinating the force's response to an onslaught of allegations against pupils at the prestigious secondaries.

The senior officer, who has more than 20 years of policing experience, will assess complaints made to police  which so far relate to pupils from at least two schools  before deciding whether to launch a criminal investigation.

Britain's top black female police officer has been appointed to lead Scotland Yard's probe into sex attack claims at some of the UK's leading schools

In an indication of how seriously the matter is being taken at Scotland Yard, last night Dr Heydari met senior officers for a Gold Group meeting to determine the force's response to the complaints.

It came as the London Oratory became the second top school to report an alleged sex crime to the police.

Girls in Dulwich 'predators' protest Pupils at a leading girls' school protested yesterday against the alleged 'rape culture' of their neighbouring boys' college. Placards saying 'Educate your sons' and 'My dress does not mean yes' were pinned to the James Allen's Girls' School (JAGS) gates by pupils wearing red  a colour that has become synonymous with the campaign. More than 100 red ribbons were also tied to the gates, each representing one 'abuse survivor' who attended the school. The Year 12 pupils were protesting against what they claim is a 'breeding ground for sexual predators' at neighbouring Dulwich College. An open letter to the boys' college featuring almost 250 testimonials from girls, most of whom were former or current JAGS pupils, was published last weekend. A statement from JAGS said: 'This was a profound and moving event. As a school, we are committed to challenging unacceptable behaviour.' Dulwich College did not respond to repeated requests for comment. Advertisement

The prestigious state secondary, which counts Euan and Nicky Blair as former pupils, followed Dulwich College in south-east London.

Meanwhile, Highgate School in north London has brought in Dame Anne Rafferty, a recently retired Court of Appeal judge, to investigate alleged 'rape culture' after a pupil walkout earlier this week.

The new Children's Commissioner, Dame Rachel de Souza, backed heads taking a tough approach.

She told the BBC's Newsnight: 'All schools have these guidelines, and they should follow them and escalate any issues to social care and to the police that are concerning.'

Many of the country's most prestigious schools have been plunged into crisis after being named and shamed in an online dossier of pupil-on-pupil abuse on website Everyone's Invited.

Hundreds of institutions have been accused of complacency in the face of harassment, sexual assault and even rape.

Despite the difficulties in responding to anonymous complaints, the Independent Schools Council said its members are reporting incidents to the police where appropriate.

Chief executive Julie Robinson said schools were committed to 'taking this issue very seriously'.

A London Oratory School spokesman said: 'It is completely unacceptable that anyone should be subject to sexual assault or harassment of any kind and we do not, and will not, tolerate it.'

It came after Dulwich College, which charges 44,346 a year for boarders and counts Nigel Farage, Ernest Shackleton and PG Wodehouse among its alumni, reported two alleged sexual offences to the police and disciplined other pupils guilty of more minor infractions.

Dr Heydari is seen as one of the Metropolitan Police's rising stars, leading on neighbourhood policing and community engagement.

The married mother of two daughters has carried out doctoral research on domestic abuse.

She has said: 'Getting justice for victims of crime and helping them find a voice... is always extremely rewarding.

'This has made a huge difference to individuals and communities and has helped to restore trust and confidence in policing.'

It came after Dulwich College, which charges 44,346 a year for boarders and counts Nigel Farage, Ernest Shackleton and PG Wodehouse among its alumni, reported two alleged sexual offences to the police and disciplined other pupils guilty of more minor infractions

Pupils at a leading girls' school protested yesterday against the alleged 'rape culture' of their neighbouring boys' Dulwich College. Placards saying 'Educate your sons' and 'My dress does not mean yes' were pinned to the James Allen's Girls' School (JAGS) gates by pupils wearing red  a colour that has become synonymous with the campaign

Picture of the protest signs attached to James Allen's School Fence yesterday

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson commented: 'Schools should be places where all children feel safe and are protected from harm, and the allegations of sexual abuse that we have seen over recent days are abhorrent.

'Where schools do not meet the strict safeguarding standards that we have in place, we will always take action.'

Yesterday, the Everyone's Invited project decided to stop publishing the names of schools for fear of them receiving a 'disproportionate' amount of blame, Schools Week reported.

The publication said its analysis found that only 50 state schools were facing complaints on the website, compared to around 400 private schools.

Met detectives have been trawling the accounts posted on Everyone's Invited to identify crime victims since they became aware of the website on March 12.

Scotland Yard's lead for rape and sexual offences, Detective Superintendent Mel Laremore, said: 'We take all allegations of sexual assault very seriously.

'We understand the complex and varied reasons why many victim/survivors do not contact law enforcement, but I want to personally reassure anyone who needs our help that we are absolutely here for you.'
With the deadline for the vote on the unionization of the Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama only days away, the US trade unions, with the support of the Democratic Party and allied pseudo-left groups, are going all out to urge workers to cast a yes vote for representation by the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU).

The unionization drive at Amazon takes place amid growing anger in the working class over the criminal mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic by the ruling class and government that has cost more than 550,000 lives in the US. Amazon workers have been forced to work grueling schedules throughout the pandemic, while thousands of workers contracted the virus, with many succumbing.

Terrified of this anger and fearful of the prospect of the development of an independent movement of the working class outside the control of the trade unions and the Democratic Party, the AFL-CIO and even right-wing Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio have thrown their support behind a top-down effort to impose the RWDSU on Bessemer Amazon workers.

RWDSU President Stuart Appelbaum

The organization that Amazon workers are being asked to vote for is not a vehicle for carrying forward a struggle against the oppressive conditions at Amazon. It has time and time again shown itself to be a pliant tool of management that seeks to stifle and suppress resistance by workers to the horrific conditions they face.

A look at the background of RWDSU President Stuart Appelbaum is instructive. He is a longtime state operative, deeply embedded in the Democratic Party and the AFL-CIO bureaucracy, including the overseas operations of the AFL-CIO conducted with the aim of subverting workers resistance to tyranny and oppression.

Appelbaum has served as RWDSU president since 1998 and also serves as an executive vice president of the United Food and Commercial Workers. He sits on the executive council of the AFL-CIO, where he is co-chairman the federations International Affairs Committee. He is also a vice president of the New York State AFL-CIO and a member of its executive committee.

Highly placed within Democratic Party, he is a member of the Democratic National Committee where he serves on the DNCs Executive Committee and is co-chairman of the DNCs Resolutions Committee and is also chair of the DNC Labor Council.

The RWDSU website notes: Appelbaum served as a delegate to the 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016 and 2020 Democratic National Conventions and an alternate delegate to the 1992 Democratic National Convention. He served as a member of the Electoral College from New York in 2008, 2016 and 2020.

These connections further underscore the fact that the Amazon unionization drive in Alabama has very much the character of a state operation. This is not the first time Appelbaum has played such a role. According to a report in the New York Times , in 2011 the AFL-CIO called Appelbaum back from Tunisia to assist in a new assignment, an operation aimed at derailing the spreading Occupy Wall Street movement.

Noting the role of Appelbaum in 2011 as an AFL-CIO emissary to Tunisia following the toppling of dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, WSWS writer David Walsh pointed to the role of various right-wing AFL-CIO labor fronts, including the notorious American Institute for Free Labor Development, in promoting the reactionary aims of US imperialism. This included the support for coups in Brazil, Chile and Argentina and the attempted subversion of the Sandinistas in Nicaragua. A similar operation is now underway against the government of Venezuela.

Walsh wrote, The AFL-CIO continues to run filthy operations around the world through such organizations as the American Center for International Labor Solidarity (ACILS), or Solidarity Center, 96 percent funded by the US government. The ACILS is a constituent element of the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), a conduit for government funds that used to be funneled covertly from the CIA.

Appelbaum sits on the board of Freedom House, a right-wing anticommunist group that served as a conduit for CIA propaganda during the Cold War. In 1988 Noam Chomsky and Edward S. Herman wrote in their book Manufacturing Consent that Freedom House interlocks with various ultraright outfits and U.S. government bodies such as Radio Free Europe and the CIA. It has long served, they wrote, as a virtual propaganda arm of the government and international right wing.

Also on the Freedom House Board of Trustees is Diane Villiers Negroponte, wife of John Negroponte, ambassador to Honduras during the 1980s. In that capacity he played a key role in overseeing the murderous CIA-backed contra operation against neighboring Nicaragua that claimed 50,000 lives.

According to the RWDSU, Appelbaum is also on the board of the Latino Victory Fund. He is an officer of two global union federations: IUF (International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers Associations) and UNI (Union Network International).

In addition, he is president of UNI Global Commerce embracing 160 unions worldwide. Among other activities UNI Global has been active in soliciting multitrillion dollar investment funds to back the unionization drive at Amazon.

Appelbaum is the president of the Jewish Labor Committee, a pro-Israeli lobby within the American trade unions. In this capacity, he seeks to give a slightly progressive gloss to the ongoing Israeli oppression of the Palestinians.

His resume raises the question, what kind of genuine workers organization would tolerate such a figure as its leader?

The record of the RWDSU itself answers this. There is no indication that it has improved the lives of the oppressed and impoverished sections of the working class it organizes, including poultry processing workers in the US South. In many poultry plants, members of the RWDSU make even less than the paltry $15 an hour paid by Amazon.

In a posting in April of last year reporting COVID-19 infections at poultry processing plants, the WSWS noted, The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) oversees barbaric conditions at Tyson factories in the US South. At the Tyson plant in Camilla, Georgia, three workers have died of COVID-19 infection. The plant appears to be the center of a coronavirus outbreak in the Albany, Georgia area, which leads the state in infections. As of this writing the plant was still in operation.

A Tyson beef plant in Goodlettsville, Tennessee and another Tyson poultry plant in Shelbyville are at the center of COVID-19 outbreaks in that state. The Goodlettsville facility employs about 1,600, and Shelbyville has about 1,000 workers. As of Monday, there were 79 cases at the Shelbyville plant and 120 at Goodlettsville.

Workers described lax to nonexistent safety conditions inside the plants and a union that is in the pockets of management. The Shelbyville plant is set to close this weekend for three days for cleaning. Meanwhile, the RWDSU has praised Tyson for protecting workers while keeping the plant open.

Speaking to World Socialist Web Site reporter Zac Corrigan, Chris, a former worker at the Tyson Shelbyville, Tennessee facility, said, Most people there work over eight hours a day and night. There are no masks to protect us. There was no being six feet apart from people.

They cook food for the workers there, and the people that cook it dont wear masks over their faces.

When asked about what measures the RWDSU and management were taking to protect workers, he said, While I was there, they werent doing anything about it.

The reality is that the unionization drive at Amazon in Bessemer is not a grassroots campaign arising from the workers but a top-down effort aimed at imposing a pro-company union that will maintain labor peace in the face of mounting opposition by Amazon workers to the conditions they face.

As the World Socialist Web Site and the International Amazon Workers Voice have explained, regardless of the outcome of the unionization vote next week Amazon workers face the necessity of building genuine, democratic workplace organizations to fight for their interests. The fight for workers basic demands, such as the right to a safe and healthy workplace, fully paid medical and retirement coverage and an end to poverty-level wages, poses a direct confrontation with the capitalist profit system.

The International Amazon Workers Voice and the Socialist Equality Party are leading the fight for the building of independent rank-and-file committees at schools, auto plants, logistics facilities and other workplaces across the US and internationally to conduct a unified struggle.

This is what the Biden administration and the supporters of the Amazon unionization drive fear above all and what they are seeking to forestall by imposing the RWDSU.
A man sits after receiving a dose of AstraZeneca's coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine administered by a medical personnel from a mobile unit in the village of Ognen, Bulgaria, Feb. 25, 2021. Reuters



Bulgaria on Friday temporary halted inoculations with the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine until the European medicine regulator produces a written statement dispelling all doubts about the vaccine's safety.



"Until all doubts are dispelled and as long as the experts do not give guarantees that it does not pose a risk to the people, we are halting the inoculations with this vaccine," Prime Minister Boyko Borissov said in a statement.



Bulgaria joined Denmark, Norway and Iceland, who had temporary suspended the rollout of the AstraZeneca vaccine amid reports that blood clots had formed in some who had received the shot.






Melissa Di Donato: "As leaders, there is a time to speak out and take a stand when abhorrent decisions are made. That time is now."

German open source vendor SUSE has become the most prominent FOSS organisation to add its voice to the push for Free Software Foundation founder Richard Stallman and the entire FSF board to resign.

In a related development, the Free Software Foundation Europe, a sister organisation of the FSF, said it did not agree with Stallman's joining the board again.

SUSE has put its name as a company to the letter calling for Stallman to resign.

We are better than this. The world deserves better. As leaders, there is a time to speak out and take a stand when abhorrent decisions are made. That time is now. I am disappointed by the decision of the FSF and stand firmly against all forms of misogyny and bigotry.  Melissa Di Donato (@mdidonato1) March 25, 2021

In a tweet, SUSE chief executive Melissa Di Donato said: "We are better than this. The world deserves better. As leaders, there is a time to speak out and take a stand when abhorrent decisions are made. That time is now.

"I am disappointed by the decision of the FSF and stand firmly against all forms of misogyny and bigotry."

Stallman announced he was rejoining the board at the FSF's annual LibrePlanet conference on 19 March. He had stepped down from the position of CEO in 2019, following controversy over remarks he made about the victims of the late Jeffrey Epstein, an American financier and convicted sex offender.

An FSFE statement said: "We learnt through a public announcement that Richard Stallman is again part of the board of directors of the Free Software Foundation, one of our independent sister organisations. We disapprove of this step that came without any message of remorse or willingness to change.

"...as a legally and financially independent organisation, in which Richard Stallman has not had any decision-making powers, we call for his resignation from all FSF bodies."

Another big open source organisation, The Document Foundation, which looks after the office suite LibreOffice, said it had suspended the FSF's role on its advisory board and stop any collaborative activity with the body until a solution was found to the Stallman issue.

TDF said in a statement it had asked the FSF for details of the issue and a statement that confirms the organisation's commitment to TDF's core values.

"We are all perfectly aware of the consequences also for our project, given that the FSF is a member of our advisory board, TDF said.

"We clearly expect a strong evidence that the FSF found a proper solution to the severe impact their actions have had on the global free software community.

"We will suspend FSFs membership in our advisory board and cease any other activity with this organisation and their representatives, until the situation is healed."

Meanwhile, the list of individuals who signed the letter has grown to 2286 as of this writing.

Additionally, the head of the Debian GNU/Linux project, Jonathan Carter, called for discussion on a general resolution on signing the Stallman letter as an organisation to be reduced to a week.

Another Debian developer, Sruthi Chandran, who ran for the post of leader in 2020, has suggested that the organisation adopt a position statement similar to that issued by the FSFE, rather than the open letter.

iTWire has contacted the FSF for comment on what it intends to do in the face of this campaign.

Well-known security practitioner Katie Moussouris, the chief executive and founder of Luta Security, was one of the first to call out Stallman on Tuesday.
The first black Bachelor Matt James cheered himself up by attending the grand opening of Virgin Hotels Las Vegas alongside other reality TV stars on Thursday night.

The 29-year-old commercial real estate broker played blackjack beside The Real Housewives of New Jersey star Melissa Gorga and her husband Joe.

Matt then posed for a few pictures on the casino floor with the happily married 42-year-old.

Gambling man: The first black Bachelor Matt James cheered himself up by attending the grand opening of Virgin Hotels Las Vegas alongside other reality TV stars on Thursday night

Big money! The 29-year-old commercial real estate broker played blackjack beside The Real Housewives of New Jersey star Melissa Gorga (L) and her husband Joe (M)

The Gorgas then hit the patio to chat with Don't Be Tardy star Kim Zolciak-Biermann and her husband Kroy.

Meanwhile, Saved by the Bell star Mario Lopez had fun gambling at a table lined with coronavirus shields.

Also spotted happily gambling at the Paradise, NV venue formerly known as Hard Rock Hotel was Selling Sunset star Chrishell Stause.

Aside from Vanderpump Rules' Toms - Tom Sandoval and Tom Schwartz - none of the small-screen celebs were protecting themselves and others by wearing face masks.

Cameras everywhere! Matt then posed for a few pictures on the casino floor with the happily married 42-year-old

Commiserating: The Gorgas then hit the patio to chat with Don't Be Tardy star Kim Zolciak-Biermann (2-R) and her husband Kroy (L)

Everyone else in masks: Meanwhile, Saved by the Bell star Mario Lopez had fun gambling at a table lined with coronavirus shields

As of Thursday, there have reportedly been 302K confirmed COVID cases in Nevada (233K in Clark County) leading to 5,215 deaths.

James seemed a bit somber showcasing his big burly beard while clad in a black beanie, matching jean jacket, skinny jeans, and leopard-print high-tops.

The CBRE Group associate's Vegas sighting came six days after he wiped all evidence of The Bachelor from his Instagram page.

Matt only kept one post about the ABC dating competition - his February 22 statement regarding Chris Harrison 'stepping aside for a period of time' as host.

Roll the dice! Also spotted happily gambling at the Paradise, NV venue formerly known as Hard Rock Hotel was Selling Sunset star Chrishell Stause

Cheers! Aside from Vanderpump Rules' Toms - Tom Sandoval (M) and Tom Schwartz (R) - none of the small-screen celebs were protecting themselves and others by wearing face masks

No smile: James seemed a bit somber showcasing his big burly beard while clad in a black beanie, matching jean jacket, skinny jeans, and leopard-print high-tops

The 49-year-old presenter wrote February 13 he was 'ashamed' for 'excusing historical racism' regarding season 25 winner Rachael Kirkconnell, who attended a Kappa Alpha 'plantation-themed ball' at Georgia College in 2018.

The resulting scandal lead to James splitting with the 24-year-old graphic designer a month before the After the Final Rose special aired on March 15.

'As someone who grew up in the South, it takes me to a place that I don't often like to think about. I wasn't okay,' the North Carolina native explained.

Over it: The CBRE Group associate's Vegas sighting came six days after he wiped all evidence of The Bachelor from his Instagram page

Casualty: Matt only kept one post about the ABC dating competition - his February 22 statement regarding Chris Harrison (L) 'stepping aside for a period of time' as host

Tacky: The 49-year-old presenter wrote February 13 he was 'ashamed' for 'excusing historical racism' regarding season 25 winner Rachael Kirkconnell (pictured), who attended a Kappa Alpha 'plantation-themed ball' at Georgia College in 2018

'Rachael might not understand what it means to be black in America': The resulting scandal lead to James splitting with the 24-year-old graphic designer (L) a month before the After the Final Rose special aired on March 15

'It was in that moment and the conversation that I had, that Rachael might not understand what it means to be black in America. It's heartbreaking. If you don't understand that something like that is problematic in 2018, there's a lot of me that you won't understand. It's as simple as that...You know what was a long time ago? Plantations.'

Matt currently shares an apartment at One Manhattan Square with fellow Wake Forest University alum Tyler Cameron, who competed on the 15th season of The Bachelorette.

It's worth noting that out of the 25 seasons of The Bachelor, only three couples are still happily married - most notably Sean Lowe and Catherine Giudici.

Roommates: Matt currently shares an apartment at One Manhattan Square with fellow Wake Forest University alum Tyler Cameron (L, pictured July 31), who competed on the 15th season of The Bachelorette
The essay below by Leon Trotsky was first published in French as a preface to the book by C. Tales, La Commune de 1871. It was written in the town of Zlatoust, on February 4, 1921, in the lead up to the 50th anniversary of the Paris Commune. At the time of writing, Trotsky was the head of the Red Army in the Soviet Union, which had been established by the 1917 October Revolution. He reviews the similarities and differences between the revolutions of 1871 and 1917. The English translation reproduced below was published for the first time in The New International, March 1935.

* * *

Each time that we study the history of the Commune we see it from a new aspect, thanks to the experience acquired by the later revolutionary struggles and above all by the latest revolutions, not only the Russian but the German and Hungarian revolutions. The Franco-German war was a bloody explosion, harbinger of an immense world slaughter, the Commune of Paris a lightning harbinger of a world proletarian revolution.

The Commune shows us the heroism of the working masses, their capacity to unite into a single bloc, their talent to sacrifice themselves in the name of the future, but at the same time it shows us the incapacity of the masses to choose their path, their indecision in the leadership of the movement, their fatal penchant to come to a halt after the first successes, thus permitting the enemy to regain its breath, to reestablish its position.

Cannons transported by the Communards to Montmartre hill in Paris after the army tried to seize them on March 18, 1871.

The Commune came too late. It had all the possibilities of taking the power on September 4 and that would have permitted the proletariat of Paris to place itself at a single stroke at the head of the workers of the country in their struggle against all the forces of the past, against Bismarck as well as against Thiers. But the power fell into the hands of the democratic praters, the deputies of Paris. The Parisian proletariat had neither a party, nor leaders to whom it would have been closely bound by previous struggles. The petty bourgeois patriots who thought themselves socialists and sought the support of the workers did not really have any confidence in themselves. They shook the proletariats faith in itself, they were continually in quest of celebrated lawyers, of journalists, of deputies, whose baggage consisted only of a dozen vaguely revolutionary phrases, in order to entrust them with the leadership of the movement.

The reason why Jules Favre, Picard, Gamier-Pages and Co. took power in Paris on September 4 is the same as that which permitted Paul-Boncour, A. Varenne, Renaudel and numerous others to be for a time the masters of the party of the proletariat. The Renaudels and the Boncours and even the Longuets and the Pressemanes are much closer, by virtue of their sympathies, their intellectual habits and their conduct, to the Jules Favres and the Jules Ferrys than to the revolutionary proletariat. Their socialist phraseology is nothing but an historic mask which permits them to impose themselves upon the masses. And it is just because Favre, Simon, Picard and the others used and abused a democratic-liberal phraseology that their sons and their grandsons are obliged to resort to a socialist phraseology. But the sons and the grandsons have remained worthy of their fathers and continue their work. And when it will be necessary to decide not the question of the composition of a ministerial clique but the much more important question of knowing what class in France must take power, Renaudel, Varenne, Longuet and their like will be in the camp of Millerandcollaborator of Galliffet, the butcher of the Commune ... When the revolutionary babblers of the salons and of parliament find themselves face to face, in real life, with the revolution, they never recognize it.

The workers partythe real oneis not a machine for parliamentary maneuvers, it is the accumulated and organized experience of the proletariat. It is only with the aid of the party, which rests upon the whole history of its past, which foresees theoretically the paths of development, all its stages, and which extracts from it the necessary formula of action, that the proletariat frees itself from the need of always recommencing its history: its hesitations, its lack of decision, its mistakes.

The proletariat of Paris did not have such a party. The bourgeois socialists with whom the Commune swarmed, raised their eyes to heaven, waited for a miracle or else a prophetic word, hesitated, and during that time the masses groped about and lost their heads because of the indecision of some and the fantasy of others. The result was that the revolution broke out in their very midst, too late, and Paris was encircled. Six months elapsed before the proletariat had reestablished in its memory the lessons of past revolutions, of battles of yore, of the reiterated betrayals of democracyand it seized power.

These six months proved to be an irreparable loss. If the centralized party of revolutionary action had been found at the head of the proletariat of France in September 1870, the whole history of France and with it the whole history of humanity would have taken another direction.

If the power was found in the hands of the proletariat of Paris on March 18, it was not because it had been deliberately seized, but because its enemies had quitted Paris.

These latter were losing ground continuously, the workers despised and detested them, the petty bourgeoisie no longer had confidence in them and the big bourgeoisie feared that they were no longer capable of defending it. The soldiers were hostile to the officers. The government fled Paris in order to concentrate its forces elsewhere. And it was then that the proletariat became master of the situation.

But it understood this fact only on the morrow. The revolution fell upon it unexpectedly.

This first success was a new source of passivity. The enemy had fled to Versailles. Wasnt that a victory? At that moment the governmental band could have been crushed almost without the spilling of blood. In Paris, all the ministers, with Thiers at their head, could have been taken prisoner. Nobody would have raised a hand to defend them. It was not done. There was no organization of a centralized party, having a rounded view of things and special organs for realizing its decisions.

The debris of the infantry did not want to fall back to Versailles. The thread which tied the officers and the soldiers was pretty tenuous. And had there been a directing party center at Paris, it would have incorporated into the retreating armiessince there was the possibility of retreatinga few hundred or even a few dozen devoted workers, and given them the following instructions: enhance the discontent of the soldiers against the officers, profit by the first favorable psychological moment to free the soldiers from their officers and bring them back to Paris to unite with the people. This could easily have been realized, according to the admissions of Thiers supporters themselves. Nobody even thought of it. Nor was there anybody to think of it. In the midst of great events, moreover, such decisions can be adopted only by a revolutionary party which looks forward to a revolution, prepares for it, does not lose its head, by a party which is accustomed to having a rounded view and is not afraid to act.

And a party of action is just what the French proletariat did not have.

The Central Committee of the National Guard is in effect a Council of Deputies of the armed workers and the petty bourgeoisie. Such a Council, elected directly by the masses who have taken the revolutionary road, represents an excellent apparatus of action. But at the same time, and just because of its immediate and elementary connection with the masses who are in the state in which the revolutionary has found them, it reflects not only all the strong sides but also the weak sides of the masses, and it reflects at first the weak sides still more than it does the strong: it manifests the spirit of indecision, of waiting, the tendency to be inactive after the first successes.

The Central Committee of the National Guard needed to be led. It was indispensable to have an organization incarnating the political experience of the proletariat and always presentnot only in the Central Committee, but in the legions, in the batallion, in the deepest sectors of the French proletariat. By means of the Councils of Deputiesin the given case they were organs of the National Guardthe party could have been in continual contact with the masses, known their state of mind; its leading center could each day put forward a slogan which, through the medium of the partys militants, would have penetrated into the masses, uniting their thought and their will.

Hardly had the government fallen back to Versailles than the National Guard hastened to unload its responsibility, at the very moment when this responsibility was enormous. The Central Committee imagined legal elections to the Commune. It entered into negotiations with the mayors of Paris in order to cover itself, from the Right, with legality.

Had a violent attack been prepared against Versailles at the same time, the negotiations with the mayors would have been a ruse fully justified from the military standpoint and in conformity with the goal. But in reality, these negotiations were being conducted only in order to avert the struggle by some miracle or other. The petty bourgeois radicals and the socialistic idealists, respecting legality and the men who embodied a portion of the legal statethe deputies, the mayors, etc.hoped at the bottom of their souls that Thiers would halt respectfully before revolutionary Paris the minute the latter covered itself with the legal Commune.

Passivity and indecision were supported in this case by the sacred principle of federation and autonomy. Paris, you see, is only one commune among many other communes. Paris wants to impose nothing upon anyone; it does not struggle for the dictatorship, unless it be for the dictatorship of example.

In sum, it was nothing but an attempt to replace the proletarian revolution, which was developing, by a petty bourgeois reform: communal autonomy. The real revolutionary task consisted of assuring the proletariat the power all over the country. Paris had to serve as its base, its support, its stronghold. And to attain this goal, it was necessary to vanquish Versailles without the loss of time and to send agitators, organizers, and armed forces throughout France. It was necessary to enter into contact with sympathizers, to strengthen the hesitators and to shatter the opposition of the adversary. Instead of this policy of offensive and aggression which was the only thing that could save the situation, the leaders of Paris attempted to seclude themselves in their communal autonomy: they will not attack the others if the others do not attack them; each town has its sacred right of self-government. This idealistic chatterof the same gender as mundane anarchismcovered up in reality a cowardice in face of revolutionary action which should have been conducted incessantly up to the very end, for otherwise it should not have been begun.

The hostility to capitalist organizationa heritage of petty bourgeois localism and autonomismis without a doubt the weak side of a certain section of the French proletariat. Autonomy for the districts, for the wards, for the batallions, for the towns, is the supreme guarantee of real activity and individual independence for certain revolutionists. But that is a great mistake which cost the French proletariat dearly.

Under the form of the struggle against despotic centralism and against stifling discipline, a fight takes place for the self-preservation of various groups and sub-groupings of the working class, for their petty interests, with their petty ward leaders and their local oracles. The entire working class, while preserving its cultural originality and its political nuances, can act methodically and firmly, without remaining in the tow of events, and directing each time its mortal blows against the weak sectors of its enemies, on the condition that at its head, above the wards, the districts, the groups, there is an apparatus which is centralized and bound together by an iron discipline. The tendency towards particularism, whatever the form it may assume, is a heritage of the dead past. The sooner French communist-socialist communism and syndicalist communism emancipates itself from it, the better it will be for the proletarian revolution.

* * *

The party does not create the revolution at will, it does not choose the moment for seizing power as it likes, but it intervenes actively in the events, penetrates at every moment the state of mind of the revolutionary masses and evaluates the power of resistance of the enemy, and thus determines the most favorable moment for decisive action. This is the most difficult side of its task. The party has no decision that is valid for every case. Needed are a correct theory, an intimate contact with the masses, the comprehension of the situation, a revolutionary perception, a great resoluteness. The more profoundly a revolutionary party penetrates into all the domains of the proletarian struggle, the more unified it is by the unity of goal and discipline, the speedier and better will it arrive at resolving its task.

The difficulty consists in having this organization of a centralized party, internally welded by an iron discipline, linked intimately with the movement of the masses, with its ebbs and flows. The conquest of power cannot be achieved save on the condition of a powerful revolutionary pressure of the toiling masses. But in this act the element of preparation is entirely inevitable. The better the party will understand the conjuncture and the moment, the better the bases of resistance will be prepared, the better the force and the roles will be distributed, the surer will be the success and the less victims will it cost. The correlation of a carefully prepared action and a mass movement is the politico-strategical task of the taking of power.

The comparison of March 18, 1871 with November 7, 1917 is very instructive from this point of view. In Paris, there is an absolute lack of initiative for action on the part of the leading revolutionary circles. The proletariat, armed by the bourgeois government, is in reality master of the town, has all the material means of powercannon and riflesat its disposal, but it is not aware of it. The bourgeoisie makes an attempt to retake the weapon of the giant: it wants to steal the cannon of the proletariat. The attempt fails. The government flees in panic from Paris to Versailles. The field is clear. But it is only on the morrow that the proletariat understands that it is the master of Paris. The leaders are in the wake of events, they record them when the latter are already accomplished, and they do everything in their power to blunt the revolutionary edge.

In Petrograd, the events developed differently. The party moved firmly, resolutely, to the seizure of power, having its men everywhere, consolidating each position, extending every fissure between the workers and the garrison on the one side and the government on the other.

The July Days in Russia, 1917. The photo is of the Nevsky Prospekt, Petrograds main street, on July 17, just after the troops of the Provisional Government have opened fire on the demonstration.

The armed demonstration of the July days is a vast reconnoitering conducted by the party to sound the degree of close contact between the masses and the power of resistance of the enemy. The reconnoitering is transformed into a struggle of outposts. We are thrown back, but at the same time the action establishes a connection between the party and the depths of the masses. The months of August, September and October see a powerful revolutionary flux. The party profits by it and augments considerably its points of support in the working class and the garrison. Later, the harmony between the conspirative preparations and the mass action takes place almost automatically. The Second Congress of the Soviets is fixed for November 7. All our preceding agitation was to lead to the seizure of power by the Congress. Thus, the overturn was adapted in advance to November 7. This fact was well known and understood by the enemy. Kerensky and his councilors could not fail to make efforts to consolidate themselves, to however small an extent, in Petrograd for the decisive moment. Also, they stood in need of shipping out of the capital the most revolutionary sections of the garrison. We on our part profited by this attempt by Kerensky in order to make it the source of a new conflict which had a decisive importance. We openly accused the Kerensky governmentour accusation subsequently found a written confirmation in an official documentof having planned the removal of a third of the Petrograd garrison not out of military considerations but for the purpose of counter-revolutionary combinations. This conflict bound us still more closely to the garrison and put before the latter a well-defined task, to support the Soviet Congress fixed for November 7. And since the government insistedeven if in a feeble enough mannerthat the garrison be sent off, we created in the Petrograd Soviet, already in our hands, a Revolutionary War Committee, on the pretext of verifying the military reasons for the governmental plan.

Thus we had a purely military organ, standing at the head of the Petrograd garrison, which was in reality a legal organ of armed insurrection. At the same time we designated (communist) commissars in all the military units, in the military stores, etc. The clandestine military organization accomplished specific technical tasks and furnished the Revolutionary War Committee with fully trustworthy militants for important military tasks. The essential work concerning the preparation, the realization and the armed insurrection took place openly, and so methodically and naturally that the bourgeoisie, led by Kerensky, did not clearly understand what was taking place under their very eyes. (In Paris, the proletariat understood only on the following day that it had been really victoriousa victory which it had not, moreover, deliberately soughtthat it was master of the situation. In Petrograd, it was the contrary. Our party, basing itself on the workers and the garrison, had already seized the power, the bourgeoisie passed a fairly tranquil night and learned only on the following morning that the helm of the country was in the hands of its gravedigger.)

As to strategy, there were many differences of opinion in our party.

A part of the Central Committee declared itself, as is known, against the taking of power, believing that the moment had not yet arrived, that Petrograd was detached from the rest of the country, the proletariat from the peasantry, etc.

Other comrades believed that we were not attributing sufficient importance to the elements of military complot. One of the members of the Central Committee demanded in October the surrounding of the Alexandrine Theater where the Democratic Conference was in session, and the proclamation of the dictatorship of the Central Committee of the party. He said: in concentrating our agitation as well as our preparatory military work for the moment of the Second Congress, we are showing our plan to the adversary, we are giving him the possibility of preparing himself and even of dealing us a preventive blow. But there is no doubt that the attempt at a military complot and the surrounding of the Alexandrine Theater would have been a fact too alien to the development of the events, that it would have been an event disconcerting to the masses. Even in the Petrograd Soviet, where our faction dominated, such an enterprise, anticipating the logical development of the struggle, would have provoked great disorder at that moment, above all among the garrison where there were hesitant and not very trustful regiments, primarily the cavalry regiments. It would have been much easier for Kerensky to crush a complot unexpected by the masses than to attack the garrison consolidating itself more and more on its positions: the defense of its inviolability in the name of the future Congress of the Soviets. Therefore the majority of the Central Committee rejected the plan to surround the Democratic Conference and it was right. The conjuncture was very well judged: the armed insurrection, almost without bloodshed, triumphed exactly on the date, fixed in advance and openly, for the convening of the Second Soviet Congress.

A session of the Second All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies

This strategy cannot, however, become a general rule, it requires specific conditions. Nobody believed any longer in the war with the Germans, and the less revolutionary soldiers did not want to quit Petrograd for the front. And even if the garrison as a whole was on the side of the workers for this single reason, it became stronger in its point of view to the extent that Kerenskys machinations were revealed. But this mood of the Petrograd garrison had a still deeper cause in the situation of the peasant class and in the development of the imperialist war. Had there been a split in the garrison and had Kerensky obtained the possibility of support from a few regiments, our plan would have failed. The elements of purely military complot (conspiracy and great speed of action) would have prevailed. It would have been necessary, of course, to choose another moment for the insurrection.

The Commune also had the complete possibility of winning even the peasant regiments, for the latter had lost all confidence and all respect for the power and the command. Yet it undertook nothing towards this end. The fault here is not in the relationships of the peasant and the working classes, but in the revolutionary strategy.

What will be the situation in this regard in the European countries in the present epoch? It is not easy to foretell anything on this score. Yet, with the events developing slowly and the bourgeois governments exerting all their efforts to utilize past experiences, it may be foreseen that the proletariat, in order to attract the sympathies of the soldiers, will have to overcome a great and well-organized resistance at a given moment. A skillful and well-timed attack on the part of the revolution will then be necessary. The duty of the party is to prepare itself for it. That is just why it must maintain and develop its character of a centralized organization, which openly guides the revolutionary movement of the masses and is at the same time a clandestine apparatus of the armed insurrection.

* * *

The question of the electability of the command was one of the reasons of the conflict between the National Guard and Thiers. Paris refused to accept the command designated by Thiers. Varlin subsequently formulated the demand that the command of the National Guard, from top to bottom, ought to be elected by the National Guardsmen themselves. That is where the Central Committee of the National Guard found its support.

This question must he envisaged from two sides: from the political and the military sides, which are interlinked but which should be distinguished. The political task consisted in purging the National Guard of the counter-revolutionary command. Complete electability was the only means for it, the majority of the National Guard being composed of workers and revolutionary petty bourgeois. And in addition, the motto electability of the command, being extended also to the infantry, Thiers would have been deprived at a single stroke of his essential weapon, the counter-revolutionary officers. In order to realize this plan, a party organization, having its men in all the military units, was required. In a word, electability in this case had as its immediate task not to give good commanders to the battalions, but to liberate them from commanders devoted to the bourgeoisie. Electability served as a wedge for splitting the army into two parts, along class lines. Thus did matters occur with us in the period of Kerensky, above all on the eve of October.

But the liberation of the army from the old commanding apparatus inevitably involves the weakening of organizational cohesion and the diminution of combative power. As a rule, the elected command is pretty weak from the technico-military standpoint and with regard to the maintenance of order and of discipline. Thus, at the moment when the army frees itself from the old counterrevolutionary command which oppressed it, the question arises of giving it a revolutionary command capable of fulfilling its mission. And this question can by no means be resolved by simple elections. Before wide masses of soldiers acquire the experience of well choosing and selecting commanders, the revolution will be beaten by the enemy which is guided in the choice of its command by the experience of centuries. The methods of shapeless democracy (simple electability) must be supplemented and to a certain extent replaced by measures of selection from above. The revolution must create an organ composed of experienced, reliable organizers, in which one can have absolute confidence, give it full powers to choose, designate and educate the command. If particularism and democratic autonomism are extremely dangerous to the proletarian revolution in general, they are ten times more dangerous to the army. We saw that in the tragic example of the Commune.

Leon Trotsky leading the Red Army during the Civil War following the Russian Revolution

The Central Committee of the National Guard drew its authority from democratic electability. At the moment when the Central Committee needed to develop to the maximum its initiative in the offensive, deprived of the leadership of a proletarian party, it lost its head, hastened to transmit its powers to the representatives of the Commune which required a broader democratic basis. And it was a great mistake in that period to play with elections. But once the elections had been held and the Commune brought together, it was necessary to concentrate everything in the Commune at a single blow and to have it create an organ possessing real power to reorganize the National Guard. This was not the case. By the side of the elected Commune there remained the Central Committee; the elected character of the latter gave it a political authority thanks to which it was able to compete with the Commune. But at the same time that deprived it of the energy and the firmness necessary in the purely military questions which, after the organization of the Commune, justified its existence. Electability, democratic methods, are but one of the instruments in the hands of the proletariat and its party. Electability can in no wise be a fetish, a remedy for all evils. The methods of electability must be combined with those of appointments. The power of the Commune came from the elected National Guard. But once created, the Commune should have reorganized with a strong hand the National Guard, from top to bottom, given it reliable leaders and established a regime of very strict discipline. The Commune did not do this, being itself deprived of a powerful revolutionary directing center. It too was crushed.

We can thus thumb the whole history of the Commune, page by page, and we will find in it one single lesson: a strong party leadership is needed. More than any other proletariat has the French made sacrifices for the revolution. But also more than any other has it been duped. Many times has the bourgeoisie dazzled it with all the colors of republicanism, of radicalism, of socialism, so as always to fasten upon it the fetters of capitalism. By means of its agents, its lawyers and its journalists, the bourgeoisie has put forward a whole mass of democratic, parliamentary, autonomist formulae which are nothing but impediments on the feet of the proletariat, hampering its forward movement.

The temperament of the French proletariat is a revolutionary lava. But this lava is now covered with the ashes of skepticismresult of numerous deceptions and disenchantments. Also, the revolutionary proletarians of France must be severer towards their party and unmask more pitilessly any non-conformity between word and action. The French workers have need of an organization, strong as steel, with leaders controlled by the masses at every new stage of the revolutionary movement.

How much time will history afford us to prepare ourselves? We do not know. For fifty years the French bourgeoisie has retained the power in its hands after having elected the Third Republic on the bones of the Communards. Those fighters of 71 were not lacking in heroism. What they lacked was clarity in method and a centralized leading organization. That is why they were vanquished. Half a century elapsed before the proletariat of France could pose the question of avenging the death of the Communards. But this time, the action will be firmer, more concentrated. The heirs of Thiers will have to pay the historic debt in full.
To learn more about The Alabama Education Lab and to get alerts about future work and events, sign up for its newsletter, Ed Chat. See recent stories here.

Alabama families whose children missed out on school meals this year while learning at home could receive hundreds of dollars in May if an application for federal help is approved.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has made pandemic EBT benefits, or P-EBT, available, providing nearly $7 a day to every school-aged child who qualifies. If a child has attended school remotely all year, since August, families could get more than $800 per child.

School districts are trying to get the word out to families who have not yet filled out eligibility forms.

Some people have lost their jobs and they might qualify now when they wouldnt have before, said Danielle Turk, the state Department of Education director of child nutrition programs. Getting a form to a child and the child getting it to the parent and then getting it back to the school, thats not easy for a school system to accomplish.

Those qualifications include children whose families are eligible for free- or reduced-price meals and whose school buildings were closed for at least five consecutive school days because of the pandemic.

If a school or district participates in the Community Eligibility Provision, forms do not have to be completed, but mailing addresses should be verified.

P-EBT benefits may be used at any store that accepts SNAP and can be used to purchase SNAP-eligible food items, according to the state Department of Human Resources.

School meals have been free for all students this year, and while thats good for kids, it means that families may not have filled out the income eligibility forms they would have completed in years past, Turk said. Families should work with school officials to make sure their address and eligibility information is up to date.

The benefits count backward to August 2020; a child learning fully remotely could receive $122.76 for each month their school was remote, while a child learning in a hybrid model would receive less. The state has proposed sending benefits in two rounds, dependent on the months a child qualified.

The department of human resources application to the USDA is awaiting approval. If approved, P-EBT cards could go out as early as May, according to a spokesperson for DHR.

The state estimates that as many as 470,000 children could receive the benefits, for a total price tag of more than $400 million.

The money is for children who are enrolled in school in grades K-12 and are eligible for free or reduced-price meals. For the 2019-20 school year, around 445,000 Alabama children, or 62% of all students in schools, are eligible.

Last year, the USDA program sent $5.70 per day to each eligible child.

School districts are asking families who have not already submitted forms to send them in by April 16.

PARENTS: IMPORTANT INFORMATION. DHR will be rolling out additional P-EBT cards for students this Spring. Please... Posted by Madison County Schools on Friday, March 26, 2021

Update alert Bessemer City Schools' Families do not have to complete any forms. Our district is apart of the CEP... Posted by Bessemer City Schools on Monday, March 29, 2021

Updated: 3/29, 9:40 a.m. to clarify that students attending schools which participate in the Community Eligibility Provision do not have to complete income eligibility forms, added Bessemer City Schools Facebook post.

Updated: 4/6 2:07 p.m. to reflect the deadline extension (from the end of March to April 16) for families to submit eligibility forms.
Sheskey and two other Kenosha officers were trying to arrest Blake on an outstanding warrant when a pocketknife fell from his pants during a scuffle. Blake said he picked it up before heading to a vehicle to drive away with two of his children in the back seat. He said he was prepared to surrender once he put the knife in the vehicle.
Last week the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development (DWD) announced a partnership with 18F, an office within the General Services Administrations Technology Transformation Services, to modernize its unemployment insurance (UI) system.The partnership follows a long legislative process that approved the overhaul of the states UI system after complications about funding stalled a decision DWDs current system uses the 60-year-old COBOL language, and the outdated system caused public concern as the COVID-19 pandemic created an unprecedented number of unemployment claims.Between March 2020 and January 2021, DWD received 8.8 million unemployment claims, which surpassed the total number of claims of the previous four years combined by 1.6 million, according to Gov. Tony Evers in his State of the State address In January 2021, Evers called a special session to help fix the states unemployment system. In his address, he acknowledged modernization should have happened sooner but that there was not another moment to waste.Since the beginning of this pandemic, we saw an unprecedented influx of unemployment claims, Evers said. It exceeded the number of claims even during the Great Recession.The state responded to the massive number of claims by increasing the size of its UI team, Evers said. State employees from other divisions or agencies were reassigned, and new workers were hired to help with the increased workload. The UI division had about 500 employees at the beginning of the pandemic and increased that number to over 1,800. DWD worked diligently to pay more than $4.6 billion in UI benefits to Wisconsin residents.But the bottom line is that our unemployment system isnt designed to handle the massive numbers of modern days, which has contributed to delays in processing claims, required more time to implement new federal programs and made it harder to get benefits out the door, explained Evers.According to Evers, both Republicans and Democrats share the blame for the lack of upgrades to the antiquated system. For over a decade, legislators knew the system needed upgrades to be able to handle an economic crisis, but instead, the Legislature passed laws that made it more difficult for people to access this assistance. The COVID-19 pandemic brought matters to a turning point.This past year brought to bear the inaction of my predecessors and members of this and previous legislatures who avoided their responsibility for far too long, Evers said in his address. Well, Ill tell you this: Its gone on long enough.The UI project will have a tight timeline. A project of this type tends to take more than a year "to lay out the requirements," as stated by DWD Secretary-designee Amy Pechacek in a press release.The department is on an aggressive timeline to begin a full-scale modernization of the UI system, so weve worked to start this project as quickly as possible, said Pechacek. Building on DWDs success over the past four months, we are taking a nimbler approach to modernization that can provide faster results with the federal funding that is available.The project is made possible through $2.4 million in federal funding made available on March 8. On March 16, DWD signed a $1.2 million contract with 18F to develop the details of the project. DWD signed a Memorandum of Understanding on March 9 with U.S. Digital Response (USDR), a nonprofit focused on helping governments respond to critical public needs. USDRs involvement includes no-cost preliminary consulting services and assistance outlining a framework, goals and plans.The involvement of 18F will especially help with bringing the necessary expertise to the acquisitions process. Using modular contracting, with a focus on user experience, 18Fs solicitation package will ultimately bring a qualified vendor team no later than 10 weeks after the projects start. The agile acquisition strategies are intended to help de-risk the process while staying on the timeline.Modular contracting is an approach that allows teams to pivot to the solutions users need, said 18F Acting Deputy Director and Acquisitions Director Ashley Owens in a press release. Focusing on the user, we hope to provide an approach for DWD that can be replicated and scaled.In the first phase of the project, DWD is looking to better serve the publics needs with an integrated cloud-based communications center with 24/7 responsiveness. The solution will benefit DWD by offering an easy-to-use platform for agents and management. It also allows for scalability as the programs needs change and expand.As Evers tweeted on March 19, the new UI call center is expected to be launched this fall to connect Wisconsin residents with the help they need.Government TechnologyGoverning
A Legendary Story of two Korea War's Veterans

In a middle summer, two young people married in a beautiful oceanside city in the United States of America. This marriage brought a legendary story about their grandfathers, one lives in the US and the other one in China. Although they live in different countries and the two countries have the different social systems, the two elderly people have similar experiences. They are two veterans who had served in the US military and the Chinese military, respectively. They joined in the Korea War from the 1950s to 1953s. After the war, they all turned their career in the geological field. They might never expect that their grandchildren could marry in the US after 70 years. Just because of this marriage made two opponents at the war become one family. The details of the story are given in the following paragraphs.

Bride and Her Grandfather

The bride was born and raised in the US. Her ancestors immigrated to the United States from Europe. The girl was higher educated. With her parents' support, she had gone from primary school through undergraduate school to graduate school. After graduating from a law school, she started her career. Now, she is a teacher.

The bride's grandfather served in the US military in 1950. In that time, the Korean north-south war had broken. The American government sent the troops to the battlefield of Korea to support South Korea. He was sent there too and worked on the military training program.

After the war, he retired, enrolled in a university for advanced education, and earned a degree, majoring in geological science and technology. Since then, his life has turned into a new page. As a geologist, he became a big traveler moving from one state to another one to explore petroleum. And eventually, his company located in a seaside city. So far, he has worked in the geological field for six decades so that he accumulated plenty of experience.

Last year at the age of 88 years, he got a CV-19 virus and had a fever for 11 days. Fortunately, he recovered very well. The doctor persuaded him not to work anymore, otherwise his life would be in danger. Anyway, he loves his job and still hopes to go back to work after the pandemic. It is incredible, a strong and optimistic man.

Groom and His Grandfather

The bridegroom is a new immigrant. At the age of 13, he moved to the United States with his parents from China. In this greatest country, he completed primary education, undergraduate education, and graduate education. Now, he is accepting professional training.

The groom's grandfather served in the Chinese military in 1950. In that time, the Korean north-south war had broken. The slogan of the Chinese government was, Aid North Korea to protect Motherland." As a soldier, he was sent to the battlefield of North Korea and worked in the Department of Logistics Services, transporting weapons and foods & clothing to the front line.

After the war, he retired from the military. And the government provided him two options for his future career, Choose to study in a university or to work in a company?" He chose to work in a geological company, which was run by the government and provided particularly good benefits to workers. He worked in the group of the logistics services to supply equipment and construction materials to drill platforms. He had moved from north China to south China with the company. He was diligent and hardworking, and dedicated to the company for three decades until he retired at age 50. The government settled him in a beautiful riverside city in his later years.

Several years ago, he fell ill and was hospitalized. The government gave him a very generous treatment in honor of him, a Korean War's veteran. He got advanced nursing care without paying any expenses. The government even paid an amount of money to his family for taking care of him. This old veteran spent his last time surrounded by his family and friends. When he heard his grandson married to a beautiful American girl in the US, he was happy and excited. After six months, he left this world peacefully at the age of 86.

Neither one of grandfathers would have expected such a legendary coincidence in the changes of history. 70 years ago, they were opponents at the war and fought for their individual country. After 70 years, they even become a family due to their grandchildren's marriage. The best wishes to the couple for a happy life. Also, the best wishes to the bride's grandfather for good health in life and to the groom's grandfather for rest in peace.
In 1919, the term 'biotechnology' was coined by the Hungarian agricultural engineer Karl Ereky.1 Fermentation is a vital element of biotechnology is utilized to create a large variety of key products over a number of industries, including:

Pharmaceuticals: antibiotics, prophylactics, vaccines, hormones such as human insulin

antibiotics, prophylactics, vaccines, hormones such as human insulin Biomaterials: biodegradable, energy-efficient plastics

biodegradable, energy-efficient plastics Bioenergy: bioalcohol fuels based on low value, non-food based feedstocks

bioalcohol fuels based on low value, non-food based feedstocks Animal nutrition: feed supplements, amino acids

Online process analytical technology (PAT) has grown in popularity in the biotechnology industry in recent years. Many fermentation scientists have been using Thermo Scientific process mass spectrometers as PAT tools since the early 1980s.

These tools can quickly and precisely monitor the composition of gas streams into and out of bioreactors and fermenters. Other essential fermentation products include food additives, vitamins, and industrial enzymes.

Fermentation

The term fermentation is used by microbiologists to describe the production of a product by utilizing the mass culture of a microorganism. The product could be the microorganisms own metabolite, a foreign product, or even the cell itself (biomass production).

Microorganisms that carry out their metabolism via oxygen are known as aerobic microorganisms. Some microorganisms exist which can substitute sulfate or nitrate for oxygen, enabling them to grow in the absence of oxygen and these are known as anaerobic microorganisms.

Types of fermentation process

Fermentation processes fall into one of three key categories outlined below.

Batch fermentation

Prior to being incubated in the fermenter, a sterilized nutrient solution is inoculated with microorganisms. Oxygen will be added together with base or acid to control the pH during the fermentation if the microorganisms are aerobic.

Typically, cell activity will lead to constant alterations in metabolite concentration, biomass concentration, and composition of the culture medium.

Fed-batch fermentation

In fed-batch fermentation, a substrate is added in increments as the fermentation progresses. This process is an enhancement of the closed batch process.

Continuous fermentation

An open system is put in place, with sterile nutrient solution constantly added to the bioreactor, while an equivalent volume of converted nutrient solution with microorganisms is harvested off of the system at the same time.

Historically, both fermenters and bioreactors have been designed for repeated use, meaning that it was necessary to sterilize the vessel carefully between batches to avoid possible contamination.

Single-use vessels have recently become more common, thus eliminating the requirement to manage time-consuming and costly sterilization schedules. A HyPerforma 50 liter Single-Use Bioreactor (S.U.B.) from Thermo Scientific is shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1. Thermo Scientific HyPerforma 50 L Single-Use Bioreactor (S.U.B.). Image Credit: Thermo Fisher Scientific  Environmental and Process Monitoring Instruments

While this particular instrument is utilized in mammalian cell culture fermentation, it is also available in 100, 250, 500, 1000 and 2000 liter models, ensuring consistent scalability over a large range of applications.

Thermo Scientific also provides Single-Use Fermentors (S.U.F.) of 30 and 300-liter sizes which are ideal for utilization in bacterial or fungal fermentation. There are three types of host organism which are suitable for fermentation processes:

Microbial

Microbial organisms which are suitable for fermentation processes include molds and yeasts like Saccharomyces cerevisiae (Brewers yeast). These microorganisms are considered to be safe and so have been in use for many years.

This makes product approval using microbial organisms much easier and they are able to generate high product volumes relatively inexpensively.

Bacteria

Bacteria that are suitable for fermentation processes include E coli, Bacillus and lactic acid bacteria. These bacteria provide numerous advantages, including high cell densities, fast growth, and cheap substrates.

They are fairly simple to cultivate and scale up, but a large amount of these bacteria are considered to be unsafe as pathogens. This can make product recovery a lot more tricky.

Mammalian

Chinese Hamster Ovary (C.H.O.) cells and hybridomas are two of the mammalian organisms which are suitable for fermentation processes. These organisms can produce highly dedicated products in active, highly specific forms, for instance, interferons, vaccines, monoclonal antibodies and recombinant therapeutic proteins.

These organisms need more complex production routes than bacterial and microbial processes. In addition to being more sensitive to shear and stress, the cell lines are less robust.

Thermo Scientific Gas Analysis Mass Spectrometers have been used with bacterial and microbial processes for more than 30 years. Interest has grown in mammalian cell culture more recently, as these provide the potential for revolutionary advances in vaccines, gene therapy, and monoclonal antibodies.

While the needs of mammalian cell fermentation processes pose key challenges for an off-gas analyzer, mass spectrometers from Thermo Scientific have already proven to be invaluable in improving the understanding of mammalian cell cultures and increasing yields.

The need for gas analysis

It is crucial that the state of the culture in any fermentation is monitored as it is the health of this culture that dictates the formation of unwanted by-products, the conversion rate of nutrients, and in the worst case scenario, the onset of poisoning.

Analysis of respiratory gases being fed into and removed from the fermenter provides an ideal way to characterize the fermentation process.

This non-invasive technique enables the effective monitoring of the fermentations physiological state, including growth kinetics and substrate consumption. It can also help to establish the most effective point at which to stop the process to ensure maximum yield.

Why use mass spectrometry for gas analysis?

A number of fermentations are characterized by small changes to oxygen and carbon dioxide concentrations at key phases of the fermentation, for instance when the nutrients and microorganisms exist in equilibrium during the lag phase.

So, in order to capture these subtle changes, it is crucial that the method used for measuring off-gas is capable of fast, accurate analysis.

The speed of M.S. makes it perfect for these types of fermentation applications, but it is crucial that speed is not at the expense of accuracy because precise data collection is also vital or the technique will fail to record small changes in concentration.

There are two assumptions that are common but untrue regarding fermentation applications. The first is that only the quantification of oxygen and carbon dioxide in off-gas is required to make the first steps towards process control and the second is that it is possible to acquire enough accuracy using only discrete measurement technology.

External biology will lead to ongoing differences in the sparge gas. Humans and animals consume O 2 and generate CO 2 when they undergo respiration, but during daylight hours, plant photosynthesis also consumes CO 2 while generating O 2 .

Depending on where they currently are within the regeneration cycle, twin-tower desiccant dryer systems will either absorb or regurgitate CO 2 .

These effects are summarized in Figure 2, which shows an example of night and day variations in sparge gas levels of O 2 and CO 2 . These measurements were collected by utilizing a Prima PRO process mass spectrometer over a 24 hour period.

An accurate comparison of effluent gas and sparge gas is the only way that accurate pre-screening for potential contamination can only be achieved. Accurate comparison is also needed to provide real-time information around culture respiration and the availability of nutrients.

Figure 2. Example of day and night variations in sparge gas levels of CO 2 and O 2 measured with Prima PRO over 24 hours. Image Credit: Thermo Fisher Scientific  Environmental and Process Monitoring Instruments

Benefits of aagnetic sector MS

Two varieties of M.S. have been used to monitor fermentation processes. These are magnetic sector, which sees charged particles separated in a variable magnetic field, and quadrupole, which sees charged particles separated in a variable R.F. field.

Thermo Scientific has over thirty years industrial experience in the production of both magnetic sector and quadrupole mass spectrometers. Rigorous testing has established that the magnetic sector-based analyzer provides the best performance for fermentation off-gas analysis.2,3

Magnetic sector analyzers provide many advantages. These include:

Improved Accuracy

Improved precision

Long intervals between required calibrations.

Resistance to contamination

Depending on the complexity of the mixtures and the gases under analysis, analytical precision is usually between two and ten times better than a quadrupole analyzer.

Signal intensity can be seen as a flat top peak at any specific position on a magnetic sector analyzer, which means that a minor drift in the mass scale will not lead to a change in signal intensity. As they supply rounded peaks, this is not the case with quadrupole mass spectrometers.

The magnetic sector analyzers which are used in Thermo Scientifics Prima range of mass spectrometers are laminated, which enables them to scan at speeds equivalent to those of quadrupole analyzers while supplying a distinct combination of rapid analysis and high stability.

The fast and extremely stable analysis of an unlimited number of user-defined gases is permitted using this technique. The excellent long-term stability of magnetic sector M.S. is confirmed in Table 1.

Table 1. Analysis of compressed air cylinder over 7 days by Prima BT magnetic sector MS. Source: Thermo Fisher Scientific  Environmental and Process Monitoring Instruments

Nitrogen %mol Oxygen %mol Argon %mol Carbon dioxide ppm Mean Std dev Mean Std dev Mean Std dev Mean Std dev Day 1 78.0807 0.0028 20.9459 0.0026 0.9337 0.0003 396.84 1.31 Day 2 78.0767 0.0023 20.9494 0.0023 0.9342 0.0003 397.46 1.25 Day 3 78.0761 0.0024 20.9500 0.0023 0.9342 0.0003 397.34 1.28 Day 4 78.0798 0.0023 20.9469 0.0023 0.9337 0.0003 396.31 1.31 Day 5 78.0777 0.0030 20.9487 0.0028 0.9339 0.0003 396.76 1.34 Day 6 78.0741 0.0023 20.9518 0.0022 0.9344 0.0003 397.47 1.27 Day 7 78.0750 0.0023 20.9512 0.0022 0.9342 0.0003 397.23 1.30

In the example shown here, a Prima BT benchtop gas analysis mass spectrometer was configured to analyze argon, nitrogen, oxygen, and carbon dioxide in a cylinder of compressed air. This analysis was carried out for seven days continuously, with no recalibration or interruption.

The analysis time was set at 5 seconds and the day-to-day mean values for carbon dioxide were found to vary by 1 ppm or less, while day-to-day mean values for nitrogen and oxygen were found to vary by 0.005 %.

Figure 3. Long-term stability data from Prima BT magnetic sector MS. Image Credit: Thermo Fisher Scientific  Environmental and Process Monitoring Instruments

Rapid multistream sampling

A fast, reliable means of switching between streams is needed for monitoring multiple bioreactors using M.S. Yet, solenoid valve manifolds include too much dead volume, while rotary valves suffer from poor reliability.

In order to address these issues, Thermo Scientific has developed the unique Rapid Multistream Sampler (R.M.S.). The instrument supplies an unparalleled combination of reliability and sampling speed to facilitate sample selection from up to 64 streams.

Stream settling times are fully user-configurable and application-dependent and the R.M.S. provides digital sample flow recording for each individual stream chosen. This feature can be used to trigger an alarm if the sample flow drops, for instance, if a filter in the sample conditioning system becomes blocked. The R.M.S. is also heated, ensuring a quick response to even the most sticky volatiles.

Respiratory quotient

Respiration is the term that is employed to describe the process whereby an organism oxidizes food to generate energy. The Respiratory Quotient (R.Q.) is a crucial control parameter within the fermentation process.

R.Q. is the ratio of the Carbon Dioxide Evolution Rate (C.E.R.) to the Oxygen Uptake Rate (OUR). The complete calculation of R.Q. is shown in Table 2. A high R.Q. confirms the production of high levels of CO 2 , which confirms that the metabolism is working at high efficiency.

Table 2. The respiratory quotient for fermentation off-gas analysis. Source: Thermo Fisher Scientific  Environmental and Process Monitoring Instruments

CER

(CO 2 Evolution Rate) = (%Volume of CO 2 out  flow out) - (%Volume CO 2 in  Flow in) OUR

(O 2 Uptake Rate) = (%Volume of O 2 in  flow in) - (%Volume O 2 out x Flow out) RQ

(Respiratory Quotient) = CER/OUR

R.Q. is also a great way to identify and control the carbon source that is currently being metabolized. For instance, if the carbon source is composed of glucose or other carbohydrates, the R.Q. would theoretically be one.

C 6 H 12 O 6 + 6O 2  6CO 2 + 6H 2 O

In this equation, the production of biomass or product formation is not covered; it only relates to combustion. So, the R.Q. for glucose is unlikely to be 1.00; it could be around 1.04.

Establishing R.Q. accurately depends on determining the ratio of the flows in and out of the bioreactor successfully. Scanning MS can easily establish this ratio as it can measure N 2 and Ar as well as CO 2 and O 2 .

A minimum of one of these two gases will be inert to the process, which means that it can be used to correct for any humidity change that happens as the dry air feed gas is bubbled through the fermentor liquid.

Errors will be introduced into the headspace data without this correction because of dilution by the additional water vapor.4 Table 3 includes the R.Q. calculation using nitrogen as the flow correction. Thermo Scientifics GasWorks software can also calculate R.Q. as a standard feature for a fermentation application.

Table 3. Respiratory Quotient calculated by MS. Source: Thermo Fisher Scientific  Environmental and Process Monitoring Instruments

= {CO 2 out x (N 2 in / N 2 out)}  CO 2 in _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ O 2 in  {O 2 out x (N 2 in / N 2 out )}

Data from an E. coli fed-batch fermentation is shown in Figure 4. Thermo Scientifics M.S. can be utilized to measure carbon dioxide, oxygen, argon and nitrogen in both inlet and outlet, in addition to having the ability to calculate R.Q.

A reagent is introduced to induce cells at temperature to change from multiplying to expressing the chosen product.

Figure 4. Off-gas and RQ data generated by MS from E. coli fed-batch fermentation. Image Credit: Thermo Fisher Scientific  Environmental and Process Monitoring Instruments

Analysis of volatiles

In off-gas, respiratory gases are not the only species of interest which can be found. Volatile organics such as ethanol, ethyl acetate, methanol and even hydrogen sulfide can be seen at ppm levels in the headspace and the analysis of these volatile organics can provide vital information on the well-being of the fermentation.

Some technical challenges are posed by the analysis of volatile organics and these must be circumvented if the analytical data is to be meaningful and useful. For instance, measurement of the CH 2 OH+ fragment at mass 31 is required for the measurement of trace levels of ethanol and methanol.

It should be considered that there is an extremely large peak at mass 32 from the percentage levels of O 2 in the vent gas. In order to carry out an accurate measurement of trace alcohol levels the tail from the 32 peak should be corrected.

The intensity of the tail from O 2 at mass 31 compared with the intensity of the peak at mass 32 is around 0.02 %. The signal at mass 31 would be equivalent to around 40 ppm if the concentration of O 2 was around 20 %. During calibration this interference is recorded to allow the proper correction in any subsequent analysis.

This interference level on a quadrupole M.S. is much higher and variable, leading to excessive uncertainty in low level ethanol measurement. Essentially, a low level ethanol signal would be lost in the noise from the oxygen peak.

The measurement is highly reproducible by utilizing a magnetic sector instrument with ethanol and methanol quantifiable with a precision as low as 10 ppm. Data collected from an S. cerevisiae fed-batch fermentation is shown in Figure 5.

Figure 5. Off-gas and RQ data generated by MS from S. cerevisiae fed-batch fermentation. Image Credit: Thermo Fisher Scientific  Environmental and Process Monitoring Instruments

The MS from Thermo Scientific measures carbon dioxide, oxygen, nitrogen and argon in the inlet while measuring ppm levels of ethanol in the headspace in the outlet. It also calculates R.Q. Ethanol is consumed as the initial carbon source; then, in order to express the desired product this is switched over to glucose.

At the very beginning of the fermentation, precision is lower as the volume of oxygen consumption is low and the signal-to-noise ratio is correspondingly low. This timeframe where the cell count is extremely low is known as the lag phase. As the organisms begin to multiply precision improves quickly.

The standard performance specifications for the Prima PRO magnetic sector M.S. from Thermo Scientific are shown in Table 4. Precision is the standard deviation seen over 16 hours. The extremely high precision of 0.05 % relative over 16 hours for oxygen should be noted.

Including stream switching time the analysis time is 30 seconds per stream for all six components. Analysis time decreases to 10 seconds per stream if ethanol and methanol are removed from the analysis.

Table 4. Example of a standard performance specification for Prima PRO Process MS. Source: Thermo Fisher Scientific  Environmental and Process Monitoring Instruments

Component Concentration range

%mol The precision of analysis by Prima PRO

(single standard deviation)  Nitrogen 0  100 0.005 %mol Oxygen 0  100 0.005 %mol Argon 0  1 0.001 %mol Carbon dioxide 0  10 0.1% relative or 0.0003 %mol* Methanol 0  1 2% relative or 0.001 %mol* Ethanol 0  1 2% relative or 0.001 %mol*

*-Whichever is greater

Mammalian cell culture

Feed gas composition is fairly constant in bacterial and microbial fermentation as it is either air or air enriched with oxygen. However, in mammalian cell fermentation, the feed gas composition is a continually changing mixture of numerous compounds, for instance, oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide.

Feed gas concentration ranges are also very different, for instance carbon dioxide can vary from tens of parts per million to tens of percent. The use of an overlay gas introduces more complications as the overall inlet gas composition will be a mixture of sparge gas and overlay gas.

Another factor which could contribute to carbon dioxide levels in the outlet is using sodium bicarbonate as a pH buffer. All of these factors contribute to a difficult set of needs for the off-gas analyzer if the instrument is to supply meaningful online data.

This is particularly crucial if it is to effectively complement off-line data like metabolite concentration and viable cell count data. Figure 6 supplies details on how a magnetic sectors speed and precision affect its ability to provide this valuable data.

In the following example, a Prima BT was employed to monitor two 5 liter bioreactors where modified Chinese Hamster Ovary (C.H.O.) cells were being utilized to express monoclonal antibodies.

The MS analyzed inlet and outlet gases for O 2 , CO 2 , N 2 and Ar in each bioreactor. Glucose levels, cell count (both viable and total), lactate levels and were also analyzed off-line. There was only one inlet for each bioreactor (sparge gas) which fed a combination of O 2 , CO 2 , N 2 and Air.

In order to control pH, carbon dioxide was used, while oxygen feed was utilized to control the dissolved oxygen. Including settling time, M.S. cycle time was 15 seconds per point. To allow for a reduction in noise caused by perturbations in sparge gas concentrations they were averaged across 99 readings.

As there was not much activity at the start of the run, Figure 6 shows data from 100 hours onwards. Bio 1 shows a very different inlet CO 2 profile despite both bioreactors being controlled with the same controller. This was because large volumes of CO 2 were injected to adjust pH.

Figure 6. On-line CO 2 inlet and outlet data and off-line Viable Cell Count data from two mammalian cell culture bioreactors. Image Credit: Thermo Fisher Scientific  Environmental and Process Monitoring Instruments

Bio 2s more stable CO 2 profile resulted in a higher Viable Cell Count with an extended culture duration. In subsequent runs the control strategy was altered which led to increases in VCC levels and extensions in culture durations.

Scale-up from laboratory to bulk production

Typically, manufacturing processes begin with cell cultures grown in a laboratory. Cells will be transferred sequentially to increasingly large fermenters, ultimately being moved into production vessels which can hold up to 20000 liters of cells and growth media.

It is crucial that the precise environment needed by specific cells remains healthy and growth is maintained. The collection of precise off-gas analytical data is needed at each stage of the scale-up process, from laboratory to pilot plant and eventual bulk production.

It may be necessary to use separate M.S. analyzers in the laboratory and the plant in some applications, while in others a single mass spectrometer equipped with an appropriate R.M.S. multi-stream inlet will be enough to monitor all of the fermentors.

Figure 7. Prima BT process development MS. Image Credit: Thermo Fisher Scientific  Environmental and Process Monitoring Instruments

To attain a smooth transition throughout the various stages of scale-up it is crucial that results from the two analyzer platforms correlate. Figure 7 shows an example of a mass spectrometer suitable for fermentation process development, the Prima BT, while Figure 8 shows the Prime PRO, an example of a mass spectrometer suitable for production process monitoring.

Figure 8. Prima PRO process MS. Image Credit: Thermo Fisher Scientific  Environmental and Process Monitoring Instruments

Both of these systems use Thermo Scientifics magnetic sector analyzer for high precision multi-component gas analysis, while each system can also supply the distinctly reliable Rapid Multistream Sampler.

Summary

For fermentation off-gas analysis, magnetic sector mass spectrometers have demonstrated the highest levels of precision. These instruments have been efficiently monitoring fermentor off-gas at a variety of leading biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies around the globe for many years.

The magnetic sector analyzer combines excellent stability with high speed, lending itself to this demanding application perfectly.

Thermo Fisher Scientifics gas analysis M.S. product range includes the Prima BT and Prima PRO, both of which offer fast, precise off-gas analysis through each stage of fermentation and cell culture processes, whether these are in a pilot plant, laboratory, or during bulk production.

The Prima PRO can monitor over 60 bioreactors with no compromise in sterility, while the Prima BT offers an ideal benchtop solution for smaller-scale bioreactors because of its ability to be configured with 15 samples and 6 calibration ports.

The extremely precise, comprehensive gas composition measurements which were supplied by each of these models can be incorporated into an A.P.C. system with ease. It is possible to achieve significant process control improvements very quickly, usuallly within a day or two of a start-up.

References

M.G. Fari, U.P. Kralovanszky, The founding father of biotechnology: Karoly (Karl) Ereky. Int. J. Hortic. Sci., Vol 12, n.1, p.9-12, 2006. David Pollard, Jens Christensen, Vent Gas Analysis, Encyclopaedia of Industrial Biotechnology: Bioprocess, Bioseparation and Cell Technology 2010, John Wiley & Sons. Joseph S. Alford, Bioprocess control: Advances and challenges, Computers & Chemical Engineering Volume 30, September 2006. P.C. van der Aar, A.H. Stouthamer, H.W. van Verseveld, Possible misconceptions about O2 consumption and CO2 production measurements in stirred microbial cultures, Journal of Microbiological Methods Volume 9, Issue 4, June 1989.

Acknowledgments

Produced using materials originally authored by Graham Lewis from Thermo Fisher Scientific.

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Maximize product yield and increase profitability with process mass spectrometry analysis. Process gas analyzers are engineered to meet a number of challenging process applications in the petrochemical, iron, and steel, and biotechnology industries. Highly reliable and easy-to-own, Thermo Fisher Scientific process gas analysis technologies deliver faster, more complete, lab-quality online gas analysis and process analytics. Learn More

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Process Analytical Technology (PAT) is a regulatory framework initiated by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that encourages pharmaceutical manufacturers to improve the process of pharmaceutical development, manufacturing, and quality control.

PAT aims to improve process efficiency by defining Critical Process Parameters (CPP) and monitoring these CPPs to stay within a defined limit, either in-line or on-line to maintain a products Critical Quality Attributes (CQA). Monitoring CPPs with process mass spectrometry gas analysis reduces over-processing, pinpoints contaminants, and increase product consistency. Learn More

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Industrial hygiene instruments keep your investments secure, your facilities compliant with local regulations, and your workers safe from leaking pollutants, gases, or toxic vapors. Make sure you have the most updated technology, with access to repair and calibration support to maintain reliable gas monitoring. With our environmental expertise, you can breathe easy knowing your company, workers, and neighboring communities have cleaner, safer, and healthier air quality. Learn More

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Online sulfur analyzers replace expensive and time-consuming laboratory sampling. Get fast responses and wide measurement ranges of trace sulfur and total sulfur in flare gas, liquid, and vapor for reliable emissions monitoring. Learn More

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Flow measurement and process control are critical aspects of producing, handling, and transporting hydrocarbons around the world. With our Thermo Scientific suite of flow computers and flow meters, we enable our customers to reduce cost, decrease lost material, automate, and monitor critical points in processes. From field to control room and upstream to downstream, our products provide greater control, confidence, and reliability. Learn More

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A 17-year-old boy has been accused of brandishing a knife at his father during a row at their home in Dublin.

The teenager made no reply when charged, the Dublin Childrens Court heard.

Garda Michael Dowling told Judge Bernadette Owens it was alleged the boy produced a kitchen knife and pointed it at his father in a threatening manner.

However, he was not close enough to injure him.

Read More

It was alleged the teen then put it down of his own accord.

He was remanded on bail to appear again in May when he will have to say how he intends to plead.

The judge ordered gardai to provide disclosure of evidence to the defence.
A former postal employee has been sentenced to serve three years on probation for workers compensation fraud.

Christine ONeill, 61, of Johnson City, New York, was sentenced by Senior United States District Judge Thomas J. McAvoy for defrauding the U.S. Postal Service and U.S. Department of Labor of $46,287 by making false statements and representations to obtain federal workers compensation benefits.

ONeill falsely represented that she was not employed, self-employed or involved in any business enterprise during periods of time in 2015 and 2016 when she was collecting federal workers compensation benefits.

She was receiving benefits based on a claimed injury to her back that she said made her unable to perform any work functions for the Postal Service. However, ONeill ran her own company, Chris Cookies and Cakes, preparing and delivering cakes and cookies to customers during the times she collected benefits.

Agents videotaped ONeill selling baked goods at a local craft fair during the course of their investigation and bought baked goods from ONeill who provided the undercover agent with a business card.

This case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Geoffrey J. L. Brown.

Source: U.S. Attorneys Office, Northern District of New York

Topics Workers' Compensation Fraud New York
Under the terms of the settlement agreement, MSN Pharmaceuticals, Inc. may not sell a generic version of Movantik in the US until October 1, 2030 (subject to US FDA approval) or earlier under certain circumstances

RedHll added that the settlement with MSN does not end the company's ongoing litigation against the other two ANDA filer

Ltd. ( ) has announced a resolution to patent litigation in the US in response to a generic version of Movantik (naloxegol) which the company acquired the global rights to, excluding Europe and Canada, from in April 2020.

In a statement, the company said RedHill Biopharma Inc., AstraZeneca AB and AstraZenca Pharmaceuticals LP and have entered into a settlement and license agreement with MSN Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and MSN Laboratories PVT. LTD. resolving the patent litigation in the US in response to MSN's Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) seeking approval by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to market the generic version of Movantik, a treament for opioid-induced constipation in adults.

Under the terms of the settlement agreement, MSN may not sell a generic version of Movantik in the US until October 1, 2030 (subject to US FDA approval) or earlier under certain circumstances.

READ: RedHill Biopharma provides opaganib treatment under compassionate use exemption for several Swiss patients suffering from coronavirus pneumonia

RedHiill said the parties to the settlement agreement have also agreed to file a stipulation and order of dismissal with the US. District Court for the District of Delaware which will conclude this litigation with respect to MSN.

As required by law, the parties will submit the settlement agreement to the US Federal Trade Commission and the US Department of Justice for review.

The company added that the settlement with MSN does not end RedHill's ongoing litigation against the other two ANDA filers.

RedHill is a specialty biopharmaceutical company primarily focused on gastrointestinal and infectious diseases. Aside from Movantik, RedHill promotes the two other gastrointestinal drugs - Talicia for the treatment of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection in adults; and Aemcolo for the treatment of travellers' diarrhoea in adults.

RedHill's key clinical late-stage development programs include: (i) RHB-204, with an ongoing Phase 3 study for pulmonary nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) disease; (ii) opaganib (Yeliva), a first-in-class SK2 selective inhibitor targeting multiple indications with a Phase 2/3 program for coronavirus (COVID-19) and Phase 2 studies for prostate cancer and cholangiocarcinoma ongoing; (iii) RHB-107 (upamostat), a serine protease inhibitor in a US Phase 2/3 study for symptomatic COVID-19, and targeting multiple other cancer and inflammatory gastrointestinal diseases; (iv) RHB-104, with positive results from a first Phase 3 study for Crohn's disease; (v) RHB-102 (Bekinda), with positive results from a Phase 3 study for acute gastroenteritis and gastritis and positive results from a Phase 2 study for IBS-D; and (vi) RHB-106, an encapsulated bowel preparation.

Contact the author at jon.hopkins@proactiveinvestors.com

Disclaimer: This content has been provided pursuant to an agreement under which RedHill Biopharma pays an annual fee to the publisher. (https://www.proactiveinvestors.com/pages/terms)
The Crown Custodian, Her Majesty Margareta, stated on Friday, in a ceremony that took place in the Hall of Honor of Peles Castle in central Sinaia, 140 years since the proclamation of the Kingdom of Romania, that it is the duty of the Crown to carry forward the ideals of the modern Romanian state's founders, according to AGERPRES.

"We are together to celebrate 140 years since the proclamation of the Kingdom of Romania. March 26 is a fundamental day in our country's modernisation process. In 1881, Romania had a visionary and forward-looking constitution, a sovereign with European aspirations and values, diplomatic ties with the great powers of the world, solid foundations in economy, defense, education and culture. Today, the Crown, just as the civil society and government, has a historical duty to carry forward the ideals of the founders of the modern Romanian state. Like my ancestor, King Carol I, I wish to say today, 140 years after the proclamation of the Kingdom: no one will be able to prevent the development of Romania. May God help us!" said the Custodian of the Crown.

The ceremony was also attended by the Minister of Culture, Bogdan Gheorghiu, who recalled that this year marks 100 years since the birth of King Mihai of Romania, the moment being marked by the ministry through a partnership with the Peles Royal Heritage Association and the city of Sinaia.

Signed on September 22, 2020, the collaboration protocol provides for the creation and placement of the statue of King Mihai I of Romania in the city of Sinaia.

The Minister of Culture also reiterated the involvement of the Romanian state in the preservation, conservation and restoration of the patrimony of the Peles Castle ensemble.
Nairobi  President Uhuru Kenyatta has ordered his entire Cabinet and members of the Executive to lead by example and get vaccinated against Coronavirus.

State House Chief of Staff Nzioka Waita on Friday tweeted a photo of him getting the Oxford Astrazeneca jab.

"As the government scales up the rollout of the national COVID-19 vaccine program, the President has directed his entire Cabinet and Executive office to lead by example and get the jab. Received mine this morning under the watchful guidance of the Ministry of Health vaccination team," he tweeted.

Whereas the Head of State is yet to receive the jab himself, the move is likely to spur confidence among Kenyans who have been hesitant to get the jab over safety issues raised in Europe where most countries have stopped its use after reports of blood clots.

This is a departure to what the Cabinet had ratified last month that only front-line workers including those in the medical sector, security and teachers should first get vaccinated during the phase one of the exercise.

Deputy President William Ruto on Thursday urged Kenyans to get vaccinated and promised to get the jab soon himself once he gets the opportunity this even as he stressed that the jab will go a long way in reducing the worsening COVID-19 situation in the country.

"It is important for Kenyans to get vaccinated; I urge every Kenyan to get vaccinated because it is through the vaccination that we will be able to reduce the severity of the disease and perhaps our fatality rate will decline," he said

Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Coronavirus Kenya 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.

The Ministry of Health on Thursday also urged political, religious and community leaders to take the COVID-19 vaccine so as to boost confidence among Kenyans.

COVID-19 Vaccine Taskforce Chairperson Willis Akwale said the government will give priority to elderly persons aged 58 years and above.

The appeal followed concerns by a section of Kenyans, especially on social media, who questioned why leaders including President Kenyatta his deputy Ruto and Governors are not leading by example in getting the jab.

"The Ministry of Health calls upon all political, religious and community leaders to take the vaccine so as to boost confidence in the overall vaccination process among vaccination target groups," Akwale stated.

There has been speculation on both the efficacy and safety of the vaccine thus creating hesitancy even among frontline workers.

Since the vaccination exercise was launched in the country three weeks ago, only about 60,000 people, mostly frontline workers, have been vaccinated. Few political leaders have publicly presented themselves for vaccination.

Kenya received 1.02 million vaccine doses at the beginning of March shipped in by UNICEF as part of the global COVAX alliance, which aims to provide equitable access to vaccines for all countries around the world.

The vaccines were availed free of charge as the Kenyan government did not incur any cost in procuring and transportation.
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Clashes broke out Thursday night between officers from the Los Angeles Police Department and at least 100 protesters who were trying to stop police from clearing out Echo Park's homeless encampment.

A newly installed fence surrounded the popular Los Angeles park Thursday after authorities moved in to evict residents of the large homeless encampment despite protests by the people who live there and their supporters.

Only a few tents and about a dozen people remained by evening along the grassy banks of Echo Park Lake, where tents had proliferated for months during the coronavirus pandemic, sparking concerns about trash, drugs and violence.

Residents argued that the complaints were overblown and the encampment offered a community setting for people without means who have nowhere else to live.

Police gave people until 10.30pm Thursday to leave so that the city could perform what officials said were necessary repairs to the site.

But just after 11pm, the LAPD tweeted that an unlawful assembly had been declared in the area of Lemoyne and Park Avenue 'due to a large crowd who is utilizing high-intensity lights in an attempt to blind officers and prevent them from performing their duties and/or defend themselves if needed'.

Clashes broke out Thursday night between officers from the Los Angeles Police Department and at least 100 protesters who were trying to stop police from clearing out Echo Park's homeless encampment

Officers started arresting protesters after they declaring an unlawful assembly and warning those who remained that they would be detained for misdemeanors

Police gave people until 10.30pm Thursday to leave so that the city could perform what officials said were necessary repairs to the site

But just after 11pm, the LAPD tweeted that an unlawful assembly had been declared in the area of Lemoyne and Park Avenue 'due to a large crowd who is utilizing high-intensity lights in an attempt to blind officers and prevent them from performing their duties and/or defend themselves if needed'

A demonstrator holds a sign during a protest in the Echo Park section of Los Angeles on Thursday night

A demonstrator sets up a tent in front of police in the Echo Park section of Los Angeles on Thursday

Demonstrators lock arms trying to prevent police from advancing in the Echo Park section of Los Angeles on Thursday

Demonstrators huddle in front of police in the Echo Park section of Los Angeles Thursday night

A protester holds an 'ACAB' sign in front of police officers during an eviction of the homeless encampments at Echo Park Lake Thursday night

L.A. Times crime reporter @JamesQueallyLAT being taken into custody earlier. We all got boxed in. James and I were trying to stick together. @LATACO pic.twitter.com/l6TWtXRjow  Lexis-Olivier Ray (@ShotOn35mm) March 26, 2021

Video making its round on social media showed the protesters being kettled by police officers.

Some demonstrators were seen yelling in the faces of police as officers surrounded them, refusing to let them leave.

Police tweeted that a 'dispersal order has been given at Lemoyne & Park. A designated protest zone has been established on Glendale Blvd north of Park for the Echo Park incident.'

A short time later, police said that 'every person remaining present at the place of any riot, rout, or unlawful assembly, after the same has been lawfully warned to disperse, except public officers and persons assisting them in attempting to disperse the same, is guilty of a misdemeanor'.

An LA Times reporter tweeted that his colleague was among those arrested Thursday night.

The clashes followed a confrontation late Wednesday night, when authorities showed up to install the fencing.

Several hundred people, including advocates and homeless residents, faced off against a line of police wearing riot helmets. Protesters carried signs that said 'dignity, not displacement' and 'we need long term solutions'.

The encampment had overtaken areas surrounding the lake, an oasis-like locale where locals and tourists normally stroll and picnic on the lake's banks, which include a towering fountain and a view of the downtown skyline.

Protesters and police officers clash during an eviction of homeless encampments at Echo Park Lake, amid the outbreak of the coronavirus disease in Los Angeles

Protesters are detained by police officers during an eviction of the homeless encampments at Echo Park Lake

Police tweeted that a 'dispersal order has been given at Lemoyne & Park. A designated protest zone has been established on Glendale Blvd north of Park for the Echo Park incident

Protesters were seated on the ground after being arrested

Police march toward demonstrators in Echo Park as they move in to make arrests

Police ordered protesters to leave the area before 11pm, and declared an 'unlawful assembly' shortly after, arresting those who remained in the park

A demonstrator sets up a sleeping bag in front of police and in the middle of a street Thursday night

Earlier on Thursday, several protesters demonstrated along Sunset Boulevard in response to the removal of a homeless encampment in Echo Park

A large crowd of protesters gathered on Lemoyne St, down the street from Echo Park Lake earlier on Thursday

The lake has been featured in many movies, including the Oscar-winning Chinatown in 1974.

The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority said its outreach workers had moved 44 people into housing on Monday and Tuesday, mostly into hotel rooms under the state-funded Project Roomkey program aimed at providing shelter for those most at risk during the coronavirus pandemic.

Mitch O'Farrell, a city councilman whose district includes the park, said earlier on Thursday that the homeless people who left the park have been offered temporary housing, and at least 166 people had already been sheltered.

'We have had a very successful housing operation that began in January,' O'Farrell told reporters earlier Thursday. He said the city has contracted with the nonprofit Urban Alchemy to help homeless residents clean up their campsites and move.

Antonia Ramirez, who said she has been homeless for 20 years, vowed to stay at her camp site at Echo Park Lake and risk being arrested. Ramirez, who said she has lived at parks in Los Angeles and in neighboring Orange County, said she moved in days earlier.

'I'm not leaving. I will be arrested, and I will spend my time in jail,' said Ramirez, 60.

Her fellow tent-dwelling residents argued the growing encampment had provided a secure place for homeless people during the public health crisis.

Valerie Zeller said she doesn't want to accept assistance from the city because of shelter restrictions that include curfews.

'I care a lot about this park,' she told ABC 7. 'I pick up trash every day for two hours at least.'

Zeller said she plans to move onto a nearby sidewalk.

Kelvin Martinez, an organizer with the advocacy group Street Watch LA, accused city officials of 'bad faith communication'.

He said requests for services during the past year were largely ignored until the sudden announcement that the park would be closed.

'The city's strategy is to displace these people into dark corners, into hiding, under overpasses. As long as they're not visible in a public place like a park,' Martinez said.

No timeline was provided for the closure, which O'Farrell's office said was necessary to make 'extensive repairs' to lighting and plumbing at the park and for general 'public safety improvements'.

Thursday night's demonstration follows one held on Wednesday when police officers removed demonstrators in Echo Park

Police were confronted by protesters on Wednesday night as they moved in to disperse a homeless encampment

Los Angeles city contractors install a temporary fence around Echo Park Lake's perimeter in Los Angeles early Thursday

Los Angeles Police officers (right) and demonstrators face-off on the Echo Park Lake's perimeter in Los Angeles late Wednesday

The encampment has been the site of drug overdoses, assaults and shootings, with four deaths in the park over the past year, according to a statement from O'Farrell's office.

The location of the encampment in the fast-gentrifying Echo Park neighborhood gave it a high profile, but it was not unique for the metro Los Angeles area.

Tents can be found throughout the city and region despite an array of state and local programs aimed at sheltering people and transitioning them to permanent housing.

A January 2020 count by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority reported that there were more than 66,400 homeless people living in Los Angeles County - by far the largest single concentration in the state.

That included more than 41,000 people within Los Angeles city limits. Both figures were up more than 12 per cent from the previous year. The annual count was canceled for 2021 because of the pandemic.

Among the major legal actions on the issue is a federal court lawsuit filed by a group of business owners, residents and community leaders called the LA Alliance for Human Rights.

The lawsuit accuses the city and county of failing to comprehensively address the desperation that homeless people face - including hunger, crime, squalor and the coronavirus pandemic.

US District Judge David Carter, who is overseeing the case, called parties to a hearing in a Skid Row parking lot last month and said that if politicians can't provide solutions, he wants to explore what powers the court has to order and oversee remedies.

Invoking the 1950s civil rights case Brown vs. Board of Education, Carter said there is strong precedence of the federal courts acting 'after a long period of inaction by local government officials'.
A judge has rejected a request by a former police officer to change the venue of his trial in the killing of Breonna Taylor.

Brett Hankison's attorney argued the jury pool in Jefferson County, Kentucky, has been tainted by an 'avalanche' of negative publicity, ABC News reported.

Jefferson County Circuit Court Judge Ann Bailey Smith ruled that moving trial at this point is premature, but cautioned she remains open to granting the request if it becomes apparent an impartial jury cannot be seated in Louisville.

Hankison was indicted in September on three felony counts of wanton endangerment for firing errant shots that penetrated a wall in Taylor's apartment and entered a neighboring residence occupied by three people.

Hankinson pleaded not guilty to the charges and is scheduled to go on trial in August.

Emergency room technician Breonna Taylor was killed emergency room technician in her home on March 13, 2020, by Louisville, Kentucky, police officers executing a search warrant

Former Louisville police officer Brett Hankison was indicted in September on three felony counts of wanton endangerment for firing errant shots that penetrated a wall in Taylor's apartment. His attorney requested the upcoming trial should be moved, arguing the jury pool in Jefferson County, Kentucky, has been tainted by an 'avalanche' of negative publicity

Defense attorney Stewart Matthews said it would be nearly impossible for the former Louisville Metro Police Department officer to receive a fair trial in Jefferson County.

Oprah Winfrey paid for numerous billboards to be erected calling for Hankison and two other white officers to be indicted for the shooting of the black emergency room technician in her home on March 13, 2020.

Louisville police officers executing a search warrant used a battering ram to enter the apartment where Taylor, 26, was inside with her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker.

Police were investigating two men they believed were selling drugs out of a house far from Taylor's home. A judge signed a warrant allowing a search because police said they believed one of the men had used the apartment to receive packages, The New York Times reported.

Walker later told the police he feared the loud banging at the door was Taylor's ex-boyfriend trying to break in. After the police knocked the door off its hinges, Walker fired his gun once, striking Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly in the thigh. The police responded by firing several shots, striking Taylor five times.

Taylor received no medical attention for more than 20 minutes after she was struck, The Courier-Journal of Louisville reported, citing dispatch logs.

Hankison fired 10 rounds blindly into the apartment, investigators said.

Jim Lesousky, a prosecutor with the state attorney general's office, asked the judge to deny the request to move Hankison's trial.

Lesousky noted a jury was successfully seated on Tuesday in the murder trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin for the death of George Floyd, a case that generated the same level of protests and pretrial publicity, if not more.

Matthews, the defense attorney, argued the publicity, protests and statements by national celebrities portraying Hankison as a 'murderer' have snowballed so much that an unbiased jury cannot be found in Jefferson County, which U.S. Census data indicates is the most diverse in Kentucky.

Oprah Winfrey paid for numerous billboards to be erected around Louisville calling for Hankison and two other white officers to be indicted for shooting Taylor

The billboards quote Winfrey as saying, 'If you turn a blind eye to racism, you become an accomplice to it'

The billboards erected around Louisville encourage residents to 'demand that the police involved in killing Breonna Taylor be arrested and charged.' They quote Winfrey as saying, 'If you turn a blind eye to racism, you become an accomplice to it.'

Matthews also argued public disclosure of Hankison's termination letter from the police department, in which former police Chief Robert Schroeder said Hankison used deadly force by 'wantonly and blindly' firing into Taylor's apartment, 'most certainly lends an unfair and unsubstantiated air of credibility to the charges' against Hankison.
Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size Rajiva Madugalle and his partner Olga still remember the excitement and trepidation of quitting their jobs and borrowing against their family home to fulfil a dream of owning their own business. In early 2017, after extensive research, they decided to enter the booming laser hair removal and botox industry and forked out hundreds of thousands of dollars for a Laser Clinics Australia (LCA) franchise. We took the plunge and gave up two good jobs, uprooted our two young daughters and drove down to Melbourne, leaving behind our family and friends and our property in Sydney, the couple says. Before signing up, the couple sought financial advice from their accountant, who was impressed with the financials provided by LCA. The slick marketing pitch of taking on the world under a 50/50 partnership model that supported and trained its partners was the clincher. Yet just two years later, they were up to their eyeballs in debt. Their marriage was on the rocks, Rajiva was suffering depression, anxiety and drinking excessively. Olga says she was also depressed as she battled to keep the family together. They struggled to pay the bills, including royalties and other fees owed to LCA, which had been sold to private equity juggernaut KKR soon after the couple had bought in. Rajiva and Olga are among the many aggrieved franchisees The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age have spoken to as part of a two month investigation into LCA, the largest operator in Australias $4.5 billion a year laser hair removal and cosmetic injectables industry. Most requested anonymity due to confidentiality agreements and fears of retribution. LCA franchisees say the company has gouged them on costs for equipment and supplies, while forcing them to conduct aggressive discounting that makes it difficult for them to cover their costs and has conditioned customers to expect unsustainable prices. At the same time, they say head office has not provided franchisees with adequate support.

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Owners of 52 of the firms franchised clinics have now lodged a 140-page letter of dispute and are seeking compensation of more than $80 million from LCA. If mediation fails, the dispute is likely to end up in court. It is the latest controversy to hit the $180 billion franchising sector, which has been subject to multiple federal parliamentary inquiries following major scandals at prominent chains such as Dominos Pizza, 7-Eleven and Pizza Hut. KKR takes control LCA franchisees say the chains original founders, former actuary Babak Moini and legal IT expert Alistair Champion who opened the first clinic in 2008, were passionate about the business and responsive to their franchise partners. Things started to unravel when the founders sold down their stake to Sydney private equity firm Archer Capital in 2014. Then in 2017, KKR bought 100 per cent of the chain for $650 million. Famously referred to as barbarians at the gate, the historic American private equity giant replaced some key people at LCA with people who didnt understand the business. It ramped up the rollout of clinics from 60 to more than 160, expanded into New Zealand and the United Kingdom, making LCA the biggest non-surgical aesthetic network in the world. (The LCA network includes 123 franchises in Australia, company owned clinics and clinics overseas). But while this rapid expansion took place, it also cut back on support. KKR turned a multi-pronged strategy of sales promotions into prolonged and systemic price discounting. Franchisees say this created expectations from customers of prices that are not sustainable in the long term. Leaked documents and a procession of insiders, including current and former LCA franchisees and staff, say the focus of the private equity giant is to fatten up the network for a trade sale or ASX listing, regardless of the impact on individual clinics.

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They point to the recent successful ASX listing of rival Silk Laser Australia at $3.45, which valued the 53 franchised and company-owned clinics at $162 million. Its shares have since soared to $4.61 as demand for laser, injectable products and skin care booms. The non-surgical aesthetics industry is forecast to grow from $5.4 billion to $7.8 billion by 2024 and KKR wants to capitalise on its investment. Multiple franchisees told The Age and Herald they bought into the network believing it was a 50/50 partnership with LCA. Yet under KKR, LCA effectively calls the shots with little consultation with its partners or support. It became all about winning at any cost, one franchisee says. We are treated just like we are just a number, to shut up and do what you are told, another franchisee taking part in the action says. We went from passionate people to feeling trapped and we cant get out. The claim for more than $80 million in compensation is based on the estimated mark-ups LCA allegedly receives from products and laser machines sold to franchisees, the cost of discounting on the business and some of the fees flowing into a marketing fund which costs franchisees 3 per cent of sales. According to the notice of dispute, the marketing fund fails to adequately show where money is being spent. The document cites a recent federal court case that found Ultra Tune contravened the Franchising Code by failing to provide adequate disclosure to marketing expenditure.

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The dispute notice also highlights the damage to the business of systemic and sustained price discounting. It estimates that half of the trading days over the past two years involved product and services discounts of up to 50 per cent. Some discounts mean the services offered by franchisees barely cover their costs. For instance offering laser Brazilian/Underarm hair removal at a 50 per cent discount barely covered the cost of the room. A 30-minute dermabrasion at a 50 per cent discount didnt cover the overall cost of the service, according to calculations sent to head office by a franchisee. To go on was not the right option for us financially, mentally and emotionally. We realised that we were standing alone Rajiva and Olga Madugalle The latest promo being spruiked on social media is a 50 per cent off laser hair removal and skin treatments. Internal sales figures reveal that in January this year LCA customers forked out more than $14 million on laser hair removal, $6.8 million on injectables like Botox and fillers, $2.1 million on skin treatments and $2.1 million on the LCA-owned Skinstitut range of products, owned by KKR. LCA and KKR were sent a list of 22 detailed questions for this story. LCA declined to respond to the questions, citing impending mediation, but said it strives to maintain a positive, supportive relationship with its franchisees. It had acted lawfully and professionally and fully compliant with its franchise agreement and the Franchising Code of Conduct. LCA directly co-invests in each franchise, so LCA has an interest in the profitability of each franchise, as well as gross revenue, it said in a statement. LCA is even more motivated to see each individual franchise succeed, as it is sharing the risk on each franchise.

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It said during extended lockdowns during the pandemic last year it supported its franchisees in a number of ways including waiving management fees, saving each clinic $1000 a week, and a credit of $8500 against royalty fees per franchise agreement. Shortly after the questions for this story were sent, LCA fired off a letter to franchisees, clinic managers and support staff warning them to expect a media story in coming days and a reminder that if they were approached for comment by media, do not comment and direct any queries to head office. Waving the white flag In November 2019, Rajiva Madugalle and his partner Olga put up the white flag and negotiated an early exit, trying to get something back for the hundreds of thousands of dollars they had invested. To go on was not the right option for us financially, mentally and emotionally. We realised that we were standing alone, our partner, the franchisor, did not stand next to us to support our clinic through this, the couple said. Part of the problem for them was competition as LCA continued to open clinics in close proximity to their clinics, which cannibalised sales and contributed to the underperformance of their business. This coupled with near-constant discounting meant sales promotions lost their potency and made it difficult for the franchise to stay afloat. A confidentiality and non-disparagement clause prevents them saying much but some in the network said when the business struggled, they received little support from their joint venture partner.

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Arizona is dropping all of its remaining restrictions to slow the spread of COVID-19 and opening vaccine eligibility to all residents 16 and older, Governor Doug Ducey said.

'In Arizona, we never did a shutdown, so its impossible to have a grand reopening,' he said.

'Instead, we are continuing to take reasonable, safe and sensible steps.'

It comes on the heels of 10 straight weeks of declining daily infection rate in Arizona. The state now has one of the lowest rates of new cases per capita in the nation.

The pattern there is not unlike what was seen in Florida. Both states had massive surges in COVID-19 cases in the summer, finally instated some restrictions (although they were less stringent than many other states') and have managed surprisingly low rates of infection.

But Florida is now seeing a spike in Covid cases, realizing Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) director Dr Rochelle Walensky has articulated in recent weeks.

Some Arizona officials fear that Ducey has set the state on the same course, while others see the decision to drop restrictions as a much-needed return to normalcy.

'In Arizona, we never did a shutdown, so its impossible to have a grand reopening' Arizona Governor Doug Ducey said in a statement announcing his executive order ending restrictions

Arizona has seen 10 weeks of dramatic declines in daily infections, and is now seeing only about nine new cases per capita per day

Ducey described the decision to lift restrictions as the welcome result of having them in the first place.

'The measures put in place last summer allowed Arizona to fight back COVID-19. I want to thank the local leaders who supported these efforts with their own measures, and the businesses who implemented them,' he said in a statement announcing his executive order to remove restrictions.

The state will now allow events of 50 or more people - without government approval - and requirements for businesses to remain open will now only be recommendations.

Arizona was among the few hold-out states that never issued a mask order, so it does not have one to lift.

And Ducey said he trusts his constituents will continue to take precautions, without being ordered to do so.

Historically, things haven't really played out that way when restrictions have been relaxed - including in Arizona.

Deaths have fallen drastically, though more slowly. The state saw 32 new fatalities on Thursday

When the weather warned and COVID-19 cases fell across much of the nation last summer, Arizona was among the dozens of states that relaxed its restrictions.

It paid dearly for those few weeks of freedom, becoming one of the top hot spots in the country.

At the height of Arizona's summer wave, nearly 5,500 people tested positive in a single day (June 29 - although that peak would be eclipsed by January's, when Arizona saw 12,412 new cases in a single day).

'The risk of another surge is real. The governor clearly cares a lot less about the people of Arizona than his political future,' said Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego.

Ducey and other state officials also cited the accelerating rollout of vaccines as setting the stage for rolling back restrictions.

But Arizona has a middling rank for its vaccination rate.

Just shy of 15 percent of it population has been fully vaccinated and 25.8 percent have had a first dose.

That's about in line with the national average, but well below the rate of New Mexico, which leads the nation with 20.6 percent of its population fully vaccinated. One third of New Mexico residents have had at least one shot, according to tracking to Bloomberg.

Eligibility for vaccination is also now expanded to anyone 16 or older, per the executive order Ducey issued Thursday.

But the state won't immediately have nearly enough supply to meet the demand, which is set to explode.

And only about 11 percent of the population has previously tested positive for COVID-19, meaning the state is a long way from being outbreak-proof.

'Relaxing these guidelines could counteract the great results we have had in the past weeks. I want normalcy but I also want herd immunity from #COVID19,' State Rep. Cesar Chavez, a Democrat from Phoenix said.
U.S. President Joe Biden answers a question during his first press briefing in the East Room of the White House in Washington on March 25, 2021. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)

Biden Announces Goal of 200 Million COVID-19 Vaccine Shots by the End of First 100 Days

President Joe Biden on Thursday said his new goal is to get 200 million COVID-19 shots administered by the end of his first 100 days in office.

We will, by my 100th day in office, have administered 200 million shots in peoples arms. Thats right: 200 million shots in 100 days, Biden said during a press conference.

 I know its ambitious, twice our original goal, but no other country in the world has even come closenot even closeto what we are doing. And I believe we can do it.

Biden before entering office said his goal was to get 100 million shots administered by the time hed been in office for 100 days.

That goal was reached around day 60.

As of March 25, the United States has administered 133.3 million COVID-19 shots.

COVID-19 is the disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus.

Two of the three authorized COVID-19 vaccines require two doses; the other, Johnson & Johnsons, is a single shot.

Approximately 47.4 million Americans have been fully vaccinated against the CCP virus. The others are still waiting for a second dose.

Constance Klein receives the Moderna vaccine at the Lestonnac Free Clinic in Orange, Calif., on March 9, 2021. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

The pace of vaccinations has steadily risen since late last year, when drug regulators authorized vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer.

The United States is vaccinating between 16 and 20 million people a week, Centers for Disease Director Rochelle Walensky told reporters earlier this week.

And this means that we are closer to resuming activities we love to do with those we care about the most, she said.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, a top medical adviser to Biden, has estimated that at least 70 percent of Americans need COVID-19 vaccines before herd immunity is reached.

Critics note that Fauci doesnt include people who have recovered from the disease. Recovered persons have antibodies that in the overwhelming majority of cases prevent reinfection.

With no more than a handful of reports of people getting it again  theres every indication that having been infected with it provides strong, natural immunity, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), a doctor, recently told reporters.

Herd immunity can be reached through vaccination or naturally acquired immunity, according to a previous definition from the World Health Organization.

The vaccine supply could soon be bolstered by a fourth shot. AstraZeneca officials say they plan to file for emergency use authorization soon, using data from a phase 3 clinical trial.

The British companys shot has been approved in a slew of countries, though many suspended use this month after reports of post-vaccination blood clots and deaths.

The shot is safe and effective, the European Unions drug regulator announced on March 18.

Bidens administration sent roughly 4 million AstraZeneca shots the government had purchased to Mexico and Canada last week.
Ruling in favour of Infrastructure Leasing and Finance Limited (ILFS) units, the Supreme Court on Friday directed Haryana Shehari Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP) to deposit within three months 80% or Rs1,925 crore of total debt due of over Rs2,400 crore, into an escrow account.

The bench of justice DY Chandrachud, justice MR Shah and justice Sanjiv Khanna, says, "The deposit into the escrow account shall continue to be maintained in escrow, subject to any order that may be passed by NCLAT or any competent statutory authority, and shall not be appropriated by the escrow bank without specific permission."

"Both parties - IL&FS' special purpose vehicles (SPVs) Rapid Metro Rail Gurgaon Ltd (RMGL) and Rapid Metro Rail Gurgaon South Ltd (RMGSL) and HSVP - have the liberty to refer any disputes relating to other rights, as well as those arising from the audit report commissioned by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) for determining the debt due, to arbitration," the SC says.

IL&FS had won the two-phased Gurgaon Metro Project - that were developed through its subsidiary SPVs - RMGL and RMGSL - in 2009 and 2013, respectively for the development of Metro rail link from Sikanderpur Station on M.G. Road to NH-8 and from Sikanderpur Station on M.G. Road to Sector 56, Gurugram.

Both the contracts were terminated by RMGL and RMGSL on 7 June 2019, to take effect from 8 September 2019, after the expiry of 90 days, whereas, HSVP terminated both the contracts on 26 August 2019.

In a release, IL&FS says, "Due to multiple unmet obligations by the HSVP - under the concession agreement IL&FS SPVs had terminated the concession agreements in September 2019 and demanded certain termination payments due to them under the concession agreement."

HSVP, however refuted the contention of IL&FS SPVs and challenged the matter in High Court of Punjab and Haryana.

After hearing both the parties, in September 2019 the HC ruled that operations and maintenance of the metro link be handed over to HSVP. It also directed CAG to carry out financial audit of total debt due after which HSVP would pay 80% of debt due (as determined by CAG) in the escrow account within 30 days of submission of CAG report and sought that all other disputes to be settled through arbitration.

IL&FS says, as per the orders from the HC, in October 2019, its SPVs handed over the project to the Haryana government unit.

Auditors appointed by CAG submitted their report on debt due and determined the same at Rs2407 crore. The report was taken note by Court on 28 September 2020.

Despite CAG submitting the audit report in compliance of the HC order, HSVP refused to meet its obligations and pay the compensation as ordered vide the HC order, while raising several objections to CAG audit reports and not complying with HC order. IL&FS then decided to approach the apex court.
Now Open

26 March 2021

Hyatt House Rochester / Mayo Clinic Area is pleased to celebrate the 172-room hotel's opening. Owned by PEG Companies and managed by In-Group Hospitality: A PEG Company, Hyatt House Rochester / Mayo Clinic Area is conveniently located in Rochester, Minn., and provides guests the service and convenience of hotel living with the casual comforts of home. The hotel adds value to the City of Rochester as the first ever Qualified Opportunity Zone project, as part of the Destination Medical Center initiative to revitalize the downtown area and fills the need for extended stay accommodations for Mayo Clinic patients and their families.

Hyatt House Rochester / Mayo Clinic Area is situated just blocks from Mayo Clinic and Saint Mary's Hospital, Mayo Civic Center, University of Minnesota Rochester, Winona State University-Rochester, Heart of the City, and the future Discovery Walk. The hotel is surrounded by shopping, dining, and retail, as well as city parks and bike trails, including Central Park.

Hyatt House Rochester / Mayo Clinic Area offers:
(Natural News) Royal Caribbean has announced that it will begin cruising to the Bahamas and Mexico this June, but passengers who wish to sail the high seas will be required to present proof of vaccination for COVID-19 before boarding. This will effectively ban health-conscious individuals who are unwilling to get questionable vaccines from sailing.

In a statement, the cruise operator announced that passengers can start booking cruises on Adventure of the Seas on March 24 for sailings that will begin on June 12 from the ships new home port in Nassau, the Bahamas.

For the new itineraries, which will be departing through August, all adult passengers must be vaccinated, while those under the age of 18 will be required to provide proof of a negative coronavirus test result within 72 hours of boarding. The ships crew members are fully vaccinated, according to the cruise line.

The president and CEO of Royal Caribbean, Michael Bayley, said: The vaccines are clearly a game-changer for all of us, and with the number of vaccinations and their impact growing rapidly, we believe starting with cruises for vaccinated adult guests and crew is the right choice.

However, he conceded that the requirements may change in the future, adding: As we move forward, we expect this requirement and other measures will inevitably evolve over time.

Guests will also be required to adhere to the travel requirements of the Bahamas, which include presenting a negative PCR test prior to traveling and testing again after arriving.

The move is being met with resistance, with calls on social media for the cruise line to be boycotted on account of the new requirement.

On Twitter, the founder of Americas Frontline Doctors, Dr. Simone Gold, tweeted: WOW: @RoyalCaribbean cruises is now requiring you to get an experimental vaccine to book a cruise with them. I will be boycotting the company instead. Who else is with me? #BoycottRC.

The tweet attracted more than 8,300 likes and 2,600 retweets. Similar posts can be found across social media, along with many users vowing to boycott all companies and venues that require people to get this largely untested vaccine before doing business with them.

Like many businesses, the cruise industry came to a grinding halt last year in the midst of the pandemic. A no sail order was issued by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on March 14, 2020 because of the possibility of cruise ship travel introducing and spreading the illness.

Cruise outbreaks were behind at least 111 crew and passenger deaths and had an impact on 87 ships, according to an investigation by the Miami Herald.

Right now, a level 4 warning is in place against cruise travel by the CDC. The agency recommends that everyone avoid traveling on cruise ships, including river cruises, throughout the world because of the high risk of COVID-19.

Last week, Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava sent a letter asking the CDC to allow cruising to return in the U.S. by July 4. The port of Miami is currently working on setting up a permanent COVID-19 testing lab.

Move raises lots of questions

It comes as no surprise to see companies putting these vaccine mandates in place, although it is disappointing and sets a scary precedent. What other vaccines will people need to travel in the future?

And even if you are willing to accept that cruise lines do not mind losing the business of the many Americans who will not be getting the vaccine, the requirement makes little sense when you consider the fact that none of the currently available vaccines are fully effective, nor do they prevent people from carrying and transmitting the virus.

In addition, children  who will not be vaccinated  might present negative test results when they arrive, but they could easily pick up the virus while visiting ports and pass it around to others (or from fellow vaccinated passengers who may shed the virus). Theres a chance that at least some vaccinated adults on the ship could get sick since the shots do not offer 100 percent protection. In other words, this approach isnt nearly as foolproof as these cruise lines want passengers to believe.

Sources for this article include:

TheEpochTimes.com

MiamiHerald.com

Newsweek.com
KYODO NEWS - Mar 26, 2021 - 20:44 | All, Japan, Feature

At least 93 foreigners residing in Japan were granted permission to bring their same-sex spouses to the country under a special visa between 2013 and 2020, the first such government survey showed Friday.

The spouse of the foreigner with residential status, both from countries where same-sex marriage is recognized, was permitted to stay in Japan under a "designated activities" status of residence, which is granted in consideration of individual circumstances, according to the Immigration Services Agency of Japan.

With the institutionalization of same-sex marriage accelerating overseas since the 2000s, the Japanese government in October 2013 began to allow foreigners with residential status to bring their same-sex partner to Japan based on "humanitarian reasons."

In order to be eligible, the couple must both be nationals of countries where same-sex marriage is recognized. However, the same visa cannot be used to grant residence status to a partner of a Japanese national, an inconsistency which is likely to spark debate.

Under the current system, a foreigner who marries a Japanese national of the opposite sex is eligible for a spousal visa, and foreigners who move to Japan can bring their opposite-sex husband or wife under a dependent family visa.

On March 17, the Sapporo District Court made history when it became the first court to rule that the government's failure to recognize same-sex marriage is unconstitutional as it violates the right to equality. Japan is the only Group of Seven country that has not legalized same-sex marriage.

At a House of Councillors committee meeting in November 2018, then Foreign Minister Taro Kono criticized the current system as "clearly off," saying he would raise the issue about Japanese nationals not being able to bring their same-sex spouse to Japan with the Justice Ministry. However, no revisions to the law have been made to date.

When asked about the ministry's response on Monday, Justice Minister Yoko Kamikawa simply stated, "I would like to listen to various opinions and consider what we can do."

Twenty-nine countries and territories, including the Netherlands, the United States, South Africa and Taiwan, recognize same-sex marriage, according to Tokyo-based campaign group Marriage for All Japan.

Related coverage:

Mie becomes 1st Japan pref. to ban outing of sexual minorities

Japan court says not recognizing same-sex marriage unconstitutional

38% of LGBT people in Japan sexually harassed or assaulted: survey
Astronomy and photography fans are getting a final reminder to enter the Reach for the Stars competition, organised by the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS).

The competition, seeking the best astro-photographs taken in Ireland over the period 1st January 2020 to 31st March 2021, will close for entries on 2nd April 2021.

Commenting on the entries received to date, Professor Peter Gallagher, Head of DIAS Astrophysics, said: The standard of entries to date has been excellent. It is fantastic to see so many people in Ireland interested in astronomy and capturing beautiful images of the night sky.

There are a number of exciting opportunities for people to capture quality images in the coming weeks, before the closing date  Mars is still visible in the evening sky, while Mercury, Jupiter and Saturn occupy the morning sky. There will also be a Supermoon on 28th March  the fourth brightest of the 12 full moons occurring this year.

I would encourage people to get out with their cameras or phones over the next few weeks. Whether you are an amateur or a professional, anyone with an interest in astronomy can enter. Our only stipulations are that entrants must be over 18; they must have taken their photograph on the island of Ireland during the time period specified; and  obviously  their photograph must depict something of astronomical interest.

Prize Package

Entries to the Reach for the Stars competition will be judged by Professor Gallagher, along with Brenda Fitzsimons, Picture Editor of The Irish Times; John Flannery, Vice-President of the Irish Astronomical Society; and Martina Quinn, Managing Director of Alice PR & Events.

Entrants may submit up to three images to the competition, and the deadline for entries is 5pm on Friday, 2nd April 2021.

The winning entrant will receive a prize package that includes:

Publication of their images on the DIAS and Irish Times websites;

A VIP tour of DIAS Dunsink Observatory  with the opportunity to peer through Irelands largest refractor telescope.

A 500 voucher for photographic / telescopic equipment; and

A 12-month Premium Digital subscription to The Irish Times.



DIAS also intends to stage an exhibition of the winning and highly commended images, if circumstances allow.

Commenting on the competition, Dr Eucharia Meehan, CEO and Registrar of DIAS said: We are running the Reach for the Stars competition as part of the DIAS80 programme of events, marking 80 years since DIAS was established, and we are delighted with the response to the competition to date. There have been some really impressive entries, depicting a huge variety of astronomical scenes  from images of the moon and the night sky to nebulae, aurora borealis and sunsets.

This competition is building on DIASs legacy as a leader in space research. DIAS Dunsink Observatory is one of Irelands most important scientific sites and has been recognised by the European Physical Society as a site of historical significance. We are delighted to be including a VIP visit to the observatory as part of the competition prize package, so that we can share some of the behind the scenes with astronomy fans.

DIASs Reach for the Stars competition is being run in partnership with The Irish Times, and is sponsored by Alice PR & Events. The Irish Astronomical Society are initiative supporters.

Further information, including the competition guidelines and entry form, is available at https://dias.ie/ reachforthestars.
(gulfnews.com) - Dubai plans to take the global initiative to put an end to hand-carried gold on airline flights, and thus deal a major blow to smuggling of the precious metal. If passengers are still intent on carrying gold  other than the jewellery they wear  then these should be duly declared before they board. Such plans are still in their very formative stage, but according to Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Executive Chairman of DMCC (Dubai Multi Commodities Centre), its high time a start gets made.
France bears overwhelming responsibilities over the 1994 genocide in Rwanda and was "blind" to preparations for the massacres, a report by historians said Friday, while adding there was no evidence Paris was complicit in the killings

Paris, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 26th Mar, 2021 ) :France bears overwhelming responsibilities over the 1994 genocide in Rwanda and was "blind" to preparations for the massacres, a report by historians said Friday, while adding there was no evidence Paris was complicit in the killings.

The conclusions of a report by a historical commission submitted to President Emmanuel Macron concluded there had been a "failure" on the part of France over the genocide that saw 800,000 people, mainly among the ethnic Tutsi minority, slaughtered between April and July of 1994.

"The research therefore establishes a set of responsibilities, both serious and overwhelming," it said, noting the central role played by former president Francois Mitterrand in policy on Rwanda at the time.
New Delhi: The Bihar School of Examination Board (BSEB) on Thursday (March 25) will be announcing the results for class HSC board examinations or BSEB Inter Result 2021 at 3 PM today. The Bihar School of Examination Board (BSEB) made an announcement about these results on its official website on Thursday (March 25) night. Last year, the results were announced on March 24, 2020.

Minister for education and parliamentary affairs, Vijay Kumar Chaudhary will be having a press meeting where he will announce the 12th board examination results 2021.

On Thursday (March 25) The Bihar School of Examination Board (BSEB) activated a link on its official website biharboardonline.bihar.gov.in in order to check the results online. However, later the official sources confirmed that the results are yet to be declared.

Last year, the passing percentage for the science stream was 77.39 per cent, for the commerce stream it stood at 93.26 per cent and for the humanities stream, it stood at 81.44 per cent. In 2020, BSEB had announced intermediate results in just 25 days. As per the reports, a total of 80.44 per cent of students in Arts, Science and Commerce streams had passed the examination that year.

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On Feb. 24, FBI Special Agent Michael Livingood, who works in the Economic Crimes Squad at the agencys Boston field office, talked with a 60-year-old woman living Englewood, Ohio about her troubling experiences on the internet.

The woman, who remained nameless in court records, recalled meeting a man named Scott Midkiff at the start of January 2020. He sent her a Facebook friend request. She accepted. And thats where the trouble began.

The two started chatting over WhatsApp and Google Hangouts. Midkiff said he was serving in the United States military, based in Afghanistan. Shortly after their conversations began, Midkiff started asking the woman for money, claiming he needed the funds to be released from service and travel back to the U.S., according to a criminal affidavit filed by Livingood earlier this week.

So, she sent him wire transfers and cashiers checks, amounting to $72,000, the court records said. Midkiff told the woman he would move to be with her after he returned to the United States and then pay her back all the money she gave him. However, the pleas for more cash just kept on coming, and Midkiff was nowhere to be seen.

[The woman] stated that Midkiff always came up with another reason to ask for money. At one point, Midkiff claimed to be in jail, and needed money to be released, Livingood wrote in the affidavit. She refinanced her home to provide funds to Midkiff.

All of what Midkiff said, including his identity, turned out to be a lie, according to the FBI. The person the women met over social media was not the military man he claimed to be, rather, federal authorities say, a 36-year-old Nigerian man named Osakpamwan Henry Omoruyi, living in Canton, Massachusetts.

Omoruyi is one of six men charged in three criminal complaints this week in connection with an expansive multimillion-dollar online fraud schemes that spanned from Boston, Massachusetts to Portland, Oregon. Some of the scams, like the Ohio case, centered on romance. Others involved the abuse of pandemic unemployment benefits, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office.

Across the series of romance and unemployment conspiracies, which started as early as 2017, more than $4 million in fraud proceeds were deposited into accounts the six men are accused of controlling, the prosecutors office said.

Romance scams occur when a criminal adopts a fake online identity to gain a victims affection and trust, the U.S. Attorneys Office explained. The scammer then uses the illusion of a romantic or close relationship to manipulate and/or steal from the victim.

The Englewood woman was one of just a number of victims scammed into sending money to the accounts and debit cards allegedly controlled by the defendants.

Authorities say from January to March of last year, she sent Omoruyi three cashiers checks worth tens of thousands of dollars via Fedex.

On Feb. 13 of last year, Omoruyi is accused of depositing one check worth $14,000 into a Rockland Trust account under his name. According to the affidavit, employees at the commercial bank questioned him about the transaction, and he responded saying he had known the woman giving him the money for more than two years and had her phone number.

When the Englewood woman was contacted, she reported she had never met Omoruyi and did not know anyone by his name. She eventually did a reverse image search on the internet and found the photographs the man had sent to her claiming to be of him, according to the records.

The photographs Midkiff had sent of himself belonged to someone else, the affidavit stated.

Also named as defendants in the complaint against Omoruyi were his 34-year-old brother, Osaretin Godspower Omoruyi, and 32-year-old Macpherson Osemwegie, who lives in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Boston. The three men were charged with conspiracy to commit bank fraud.

The second complaint charges Mark Arome Okuo, a 41-year-old Nigerian man who lives in Canton, and 36-year-old Florence Mwende Musau, a Kenyan national living in the same town, with conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud.

Mike Oziegbe Amiegbe, a 42-year-old Nigerian man living in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston, was charged in the third complaint with one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud.

The U.S. Attorneys Office said the six men carried out their schemes with fake passports under numerous aliases used to open bank accounts in and around Boston and then collect the proceeds of the romance scams.

Bank of America, J.P. Morgan Chase, Citizens Bank, Santander Bank and TD Bank were among the banks the men are accused of opening fraudulent accounts at, according to authorities.

The defendants then allegedly executed large cash withdrawals from those accounts, often multiple times on a single day and generally structured in amounts less than $10,000, in an effort to evade detection and currency transaction reporting requirements, the prosecutors office said.

Court records detail how the accounts were also used to collect fraudulent pandemic unemployment benefits in the names of Massachusetts beneficiaries who did not apply for such benefits.

Earlier this month, an FBI surveillance team said it saw Osemwegie traveling to six Walmart locations across Eastern Massachusetts and using multiple Green Dot cards to withdraw $15,150 in cash.

According to records received from Green Dot, the funds on those cards came from unemployment payments in the names of others, the affidavit said.

Authorities say Osemwegie is linked to at least 16 different bank accounts. Hes accused of using four fake passports, all of with separate identities, and sending some of the fraud proceeds to family members in Nigeria and to buy a house in the country.

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Bihar BSEB result 2021: The Bihar School of Examination (BSEB) will declare the class 12th intermediate result on Friday (March 26), on its official website - biharboardonline.bihar.gov.in. The board conducted Class 12 exams from February 17 to 24, 2021.

This year around 13.5 lakh candidates had registered for the BSEB intermediate examination this year, out of which, 7.03 lakh candidates were boys and 6.46 lakh are girls.

Bihar Board 2021 class 12th result will be announced at 3 pm, by State Education Minister Shri Vijay Kumar Chaudhary, in the presence of BSEB chairman Anand Kishor. The result announcement will take place at the Bihar Vidyalaya Examination Committee auditorium in Patna. BSEB will become the first education board in India to announce board exam results in 2021.

Earlier, BSEB had released class 12th inter answer key on March 13, while students were allowed to raise objections till March 16, 2021.

BSEB Class 12th Result 2021:

BSEB will be announcing class 12th results for all the streams (Science/Commerce/Humanities) on Friday (March 26) by 3 PM. Students can check the official website or visit the official Twitter handle of BSEB for the latest updates.

How to Check Result Online:

Step 1: Visit the official website- biharboardonline.bihar.gov.in

Step 2: Click on the link class 12th result 2021 and choose your stream.

Step 3: Enter your credentials.

Step 4: Click on Submit.

Step 5: Save and download the result for future reference.

Students can also check the result via SMS:

Step1: Type message: BIHAR12 ROLL-NUMBER

Step2: Send this message to 56263

Step3: Save the result for future reference

BSEB Class 12th Result 2021: Passing Criteria

In order to pass the Class 12 inter exam, students need to score a minimum of 33 percent of total marks in the theory paper of each subject. Those unable to secure the passing percentage will have to reappear in a compartment exam. Dates of which will be out soon once the result is declared.

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The Prime Ministers office is dealing with complaints that one of its staff backgrounded the media against Ms Higgins and her partner, adding to the tally of reviews and inquiries about sexual harassment and assault. The head of Mr Morrisons department, Phil Gaetjens, has paused an inquiry into what the Prime Ministers office knew about the alleged rape of Ms Higgins, while the government is checking on staff who may have shared videos of a solo sex act in a Liberal MPs office. With the government being challenged on so many fronts, Mr Morrison will shift Attorney-General Christian Porter to a new job in cabinet to avoid conflicts of interest on legal affairs while he sues the ABC for defamation over its coverage of a claim he raped a woman in 1988, a claim he denies. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video Defence Minister Linda Reynolds will also be moved within cabinet due to health concerns, with Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton tipped to replace her and Government Services Minister Stuart Robert named as a potential appointment to home affairs.

Liberal MPs Bridget Archer and Russell Broadbent have called on the government to hold a summit on women, an idea also backed by Queensland Womens Legal Service chief Angela Lynch who says they need an immediate plan of action. The planned event is meant to include federal and state leaders as well as dozens of others, along the lines of a summit held in October 2018. One of the options for the government is to broaden the event to other policies, given the calls on Mr Morrison for action on harassment and discrimination. Loading The Council of Australian Governments National Summit on Reducing Violence Against Women and their Children prepared the ground for a $328 million spending program announced in March 2019.

That spending runs out next year and will have to be replaced by a fifth national action plan, to be discussed at a new summit and agreed in draft form with the states in the months ahead. Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack will tell the federal Nationals conference on Saturday the Parliament has been mired in the behaviour of those who do not represent our values and that had been gut-wrenching for all. Behaviour of this nature needs to stop. We need to respect each other, why we have been sent to Canberra and what we were sent here to do, he will say, according to an excerpt of his draft speech. No person, should ever feel unsafe in their workplace. No person should tolerate harassment or behaviour they feel inappropriate. We can all do better and we must do better.

The Morrison government is following up information about the identities of staffers involved in obscene acts in Parliament House but has not yet confirmed who they are. One staff member was sacked on Monday night after Ten News reported he and colleagues had shared lewd images and videos, including of himself performing a sex act on a female MPs desk. The Prime Minister said on Friday the government now had some information regarding the other people involved but he wouldnt provide a running commentary on the investigation. Loading This is a very serious issue and I want to thank the individual who we reached out to and asked them through an intermediary to come forward and be able to give us information, he said.

With anything as sensitive as this, its important that follows now a proper process to look into these matters. Australians should know that were taking this extremely seriously and following up on all of that information that has been provided to us. At least one of the people involved is believed to have left employment in Parliament House before the reports became public. A person identifying themselves as the whistleblower who spoke with Ten News has said on Twitter they have been in contact with Finance Minister Simon Birminghams chief of staff and the office of Labor frontbencher Kristina Keneally regarding the reports. Ms Higgins made a formal complaint to Mr Morrisons chief of staff on Thursday claiming his office was briefing journalists against her and her loved ones.

Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video Mr Morrison told Nines A Current Affair someone who had witnessed the so-called backgrounding had also spoken with his chief of staff. Were now dealing with that through the way you deal with complaints against staff members in this place, he said. This is not something I would ever condone. He has offered to meet Ms Higgins if she wishes. Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese accused Mr Morrison of not giving a straight answer about the matter.
With the Covid-19 pandemic continuing to grip the world, Justice and Correctional Services Minister, Ronald Lamola, has joined calls for a waiver of intellectual property rights tied to COVID-19 vaccines.

"The world is an interconnected society and therefore, we share a common fate. It is against this background that we call for the waiver of intellectual property rights tied to COVID-19 vaccines. Not only is 'vaccine apartheid' morally indefensible; it deepens global inequalities and erodes our ability build a truly global community," said the Minister on Thursday.

Lamola made these comments during the Greek National Day and the Bicentennial Anniversary of the Greek Revolution on Thursday.

"It would be remiss of us not to acknowledge that these momentous celebrations are marred by the advent of COVID-19, which has sparred no nation. Now more than ever, we are called upon by our endangered future to deepen our historical ties and form a united front against vaccine apartheid or nationalism," said the Minister in his virtual address.

The Minister wished President Katerina Sakelaropoulou, the government, the people of Greece and the diaspora well on their 200th celebration of the Independence of the Hellenic Republic.

"The continued presence in and commitment to this land of ours of an estimated 45 000 Greek-South Africans, stands as testimony to the shared values and common destiny that we share as governments, cultures, and democratic civilizations.

"It can thus be rightly expected of us to continue the reaffirmation and search for closer cooperation, as we seek to address the global challenges that face our planet and our peoples," he said.

Lamola noted that the celebration coincides with South Africa's Human Rights Month.

"As we celebrate this very important month of our nascent democracy, we do so in the name of our stalwart and heroine, Mme Charlotte Manye Maxeke.

"Like Laskarina Boubourina, Charlotte Maxeke is a heroine of our struggle. We can without a doubt say without the contributions of Maxeke and Boubourina alike, our nations may have been remarkably different to what they have become today," said the Minister.

South Africa, he said, commends the people of Greece for their commitment to building a society anchored on democracy.

"I have no doubt that as we celebrate 25 years of constitutionalism, we will look to you for insights on how we continue to entrench constitutionalism, democracy, and the rule of law as a framework for a better society," said Lamola.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 26, 2021) - Iconic Minerals Ltd. (TSXV: ICM) (OTC Pink: BVTEF) (FSE: YQGB) (the "Company" or "Iconic") announces that the Company has received Phase I funds totaling USD $1,600,000 and Nevada Lithium Corp. ("Nevada Lithium") has now obtained a 20% interest in the joint venture on the Bonnie Claire Property. Iconic, through its wholly owned subsidiary, Bonaventure Nevada Inc. ("Bonaventure") granted Nevada Lithium the option (the "Option") to earn up to a 50% interest in the Bonnie Claire lithium property located in Nye County, Nevada (the "Bonnie Claire Property"). See the news release dated December 15, 2020. Pursuant to the Option Agreement, Nevada Lithium may exercise the Option in three stages by funding USD $5,600,000 in cumulative exploration expenditures on the Bonnie Claire Property on or before October 1, 2021.

Bonnie Claire Property

The Bonnie Claire Property is located within Sarcobatus Valley, which is approximately 30 km (19 miles) long and 20 km (12 miles) wide. Quartz-rich volcanic tuffs containing anomalous amounts of lithium occur within and adjacent to the valley. Drill results from the salt flat have included lithium values as high as 2550 ppm Li and a 1560 foot (roughly 475 meter) vertical intercept that averaged 1153 ppm Li. The current 43-101 report on the project notes that, with a cutoff grade of 600 ppm Li and average grade of 1,027 ppm Li, one square mile contains an inferred resource of 5.025 billion kilograms Li (though this is a resource, not a reserve, and has not yet proven economic viability). The gravity low within the valley is 20 km (12 miles) long, and the current estimates of depth to basement rocks range from 600 to 1,200 meters (2,000 to 4,000 feet). The current claim block covers an area of 74 km2 (28.6 mi2) with potential for brine systems and further sediment resources.

Story continues

Qualified Person

Richard Kern, Certified Professional Geologist, a qualified person as defined by Canadian National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this news release. Mr. Kern is not independent of the Company as he is the Chief Executive Officer of Iconic.

On behalf of the Board of Directors

SIGNED: "Richard Barnett"

Richard Barnett, CFO and Secretary

Contact: Keturah Nathe, VP Corporate Development (604) 336-8614

For further information on Iconic, please visit our website at www.iconicminerals.com. The Company's public documents may be accessed at www.sedar.com.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian and U.S. securities legislation, including the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein including, without limitation, statements with respect to the Option, the Joint Venture, the amount of the Offering, the expected use of proceeds from the Offering and the future business plans and exploration 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: "will", "believes", "expects", "anticipates", "intends", "estimates", "plans", "may", "should", "potential", "scheduled" or variations of such words and phrases and similar expressions, which, by their nature, refer to future events or results that may, could, would, might or will occur or be taken or achieved. In making the forward-looking statements in this news release, the Company has applied several material assumptions, including without limitation, that investor interest will be sufficient to close the Offering, that market fundamentals will result in sustained precious metals demand and prices, the receipt of any necessary permits, licenses and regulatory approvals required for the Option Agreement and the future development of the Company's projects in a timely manner.

Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. Such risks and other factors include, among others, operating and technical difficulties in connection with mineral exploration and development activities, actual results of exploration activities, including on the Bonnie Claire Property, requirements for additional capital, future prices of lithium and gold, changes in general economic conditions, changes in the financial markets and in the demand and market price for commodities, lack of investor interest in 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, risks relating to epidemics or pandemics such as COVID-19, including the impact of COVID-19 on the business, financial condition and exploration and development activities of the Company, 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 of the TSX Venture Exchange in respect of the Option Agreement and the Offering, 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 the Canadian Securities Authorities. All of the Company's Canadian public disclosure filings may be accessed via www.sedar.com and readers are urged to review these materials, including the technical reports filed with respect to the Company's mineral properties.

Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any of the forward-looking statements in this news release or incorporated by reference herein, except as otherwise required by law.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/78695
European Council President Charles Michel speaks during a video conference with the leaders, during an EU summit in Brussels, Belgium, on March 25, 2021. (Yves Herman/Reuters)

EU Turns up Heat on AstraZeneca as New COVID-19 Wave Surges

BRUSSELSEU leaders voiced frustration on Thursday over a massive shortfall in contracted deliveries of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines, as a third wave of infections surged across Europe.

European Council President Charles Michel speaks during an EU summit video conference, as seen on screen at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, on March 25, 2021. (Michel Euler/Pool via Reuters)

With inoculation programs running far behind those of Britain and the United States, the blocs executive warned that vaccine exports by the British-Swedish company would be blocked until it delivers the shots it promised to the EU.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen delivers a joint press conference with the European Council President at the end of the first day of a European Union (EU) summit over video conference at the European Council Building in Brussels, Belgium, on March 25, 2021. (Aris OIkonomou/Pool via Reuters)

We have to and want to explain to our European citizens that they get their fair share, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told a news conference after a video-conference summit of the European Unions leaders.

The company has to catch up, has to honor the contract it has with the European member states, before it can engage again in exporting vaccines, she said.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel gives a statement after a video conference of EU leaders at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany, on March 25, 2021. (Michael Kappeler/Pool via Reuters)

Of 300 million doses due to be delivered to EU countries by the end of June, AstraZeneca aims to deliver only 100 million.

That has contributed to a stuttering start to vaccination rollouts. As of March 23, Britain had administered nearly 46 shots for every 100 people, compared with under 14 per 100 in the 27-nation bloc it left last year, according to figures compiled by the website Our World In Data.

This week, the European Commission unveiled plans to tighten oversight of vaccine exports. This would allow greater scope to block shipments to countries with higher inoculation rates.

French President Emmanuel Macron delivers a press conference after a European Council summit held over video-conference, in Paris, France, on Feb. 25, 2021. (Thomas Coex/Pool via Reuters)

The EU is divided over whether to take a tougher line on vaccine exports by companies that do not meet contractual commitments. French President Emmanuel Macron made it clear he was fully behind it.

Its the end of naivety, he told a news conference after the summit. I support the fact that we must block all exports for as long as some drug companies dont respect their commitments with Europeans.

Quarrel With Britain

Europes troubled vaccine rollout has led to a quarrel with Britain, which has imported 21 million doses made in the EU, according to an EU official. Britain says it did a better job negotiating with manufacturers and arranging supply chains.

The EU says it should share more, notably to help make up the shortfall in contracted deliveries of AstraZeneca shots.

Brussels and London sought to cool tensions on Wednesday, declaring they were working to create a win-win situation and expand vaccine supply for all our citizens.

Highlighting the EUs difficulties, U.S. biotech Novavax is delaying signing a contract to supply its vaccine to the bloc, an EU official told Reuters on Thursday, due to problems sourcing some raw materials.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said he and other leaders hoped the stricter approach to vaccine exports would not be applied, and warned of broader consequences if it is.

Von der Leyen, seeking to counter accusations that the EUs threat of export blocks amounted to vaccine nationalism, presented slides showing that 77 million vaccine doses had been shipped from EU plants to over 40 countries since the start of December.

She said the EU would still hit its target to have 70 percent of adults inoculated by the summer and noted that, although a third wave of infections was underway, mortality increases were slower than the spread of the virus due to vaccinations of the elderly.

By Philip Blenkinsop and Jan Strupczewski
On Monday, March 29, the meeting of the Advisory Committee of the Presidents of Ukraine and Poland will be held via videoconference, the presidential press service of Ukraine said on Friday.

"The meeting will discuss the state of implementation of the agreements reached at the level of the presidents of Ukraine and the Republic of Poland, as well as a wide range of issues of bilateral and regional cooperation, in particular in the security, energy and economic sectors," the President's Office said.

They said it is also planned to agree on a schedule of bilateral contacts at the highest level in 2021.

"The committee is co-chaired by Deputy Head of the President's Office of Ukraine, authorized by the President of Ukraine in the Advisory Committee, Ihor Zhovkva, and authorized by the President of the Republic of Poland on the establishment of the International Policy Bureau Krzysztof Szczerski," the office said.
Taormina Film Fest to be broadcast live in Sicilian cinemas For the first time as attempts made to revive industry

(ANSAmed) - TAORMINA, MARCH 26 - In its 66th edition, the Taormina Film Festival will run from June 27 to July 3 and will focus on inclusion and support for the film industry.



For the first time, some of the films in the festival will be seen at the same time in the Teatro Antico and Sicilian cinemas as will the gala events and the opening and closing ceremonies.



Sicilian cinema-goers will also be able to see the shows and informational parts prior to the film screenings that will be held in the theatre.



The event was organised in collaboration with the a national association for regional cinema owners ANEC, which brought together several cinemas in provincial capitals and other locations to foster the sharing of the most important parts of the festival and enable the Sicilian public to feel the 'magic' of cinema after a long break.



The initiative is an attempt to get the territory involved but also an urgent need to revive cinemas and the industry in general after a difficult season.



"Brining Teatro Antico into Sicilian cinemas, " said Francesco Alo, Alessandra De Luca, and Federico Pontiggia in a statement, "is bringing the 'seventh art' back where it belongs . We are proud of this initiative and and return to the future." The Sicilian ANEC chief , Sino Accursio Caracappa, added that "we were enthusiastic to see the recaching of an agreement with the Taormina Film Fest, which in this phase of relaunching the sector, constitutes an important part of strengthening relations with the public." (ANSAmed).








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In the wake of COVID-19 pandemic affecting global trade including oil and gas, the Network of Practicing Non-oil Exporters of Nigeria, NPNEN, and other stakeholders, yesterday, demand deliberate government policies to change narrative in non-oil exports.

This was the position of stakeholders at NPNEN Annual Non-oil Export Conference, Exhibition and Awards 2021 (NPNEN-NECA 2021) with theme 'Rebuilding Nigeria Economy through Non-oil Exports: A Strategic Imperative' held in Abuja, which was attended by private sector players, relevant government regulatory ministries, departments, committees and agencies.

The President, NPNEN, Dr Ahmed Rabiu, in a welcome address, maintained that non-oil exports remain the only solution to drive Nigeria's economic growth and development including job creation and industrialization.

He added that the conference is an annual event that brings stakeholders together in the non-oil export sector including Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, MSMEs, exporters, banks, insurance companies, and others.

According to him the impact expected from the conference is to help grow and liberalize markets and business settings as NPNEN has been in the lead to assist MSMEs, exporters and others to grow and also in the implementation of policies in the non-oil sector.

However, he said there are issues to be tackled in the export business; market access, finance, regulations, and others.

He decried the long stay and delay of cargo at the nation's ports, which has serious ripple effects on export business.

He also said NPNEN is ready to work with relevant government agencies to realise the objectives of operators in the non-oil sector.

He said: "it is the responsibility of all of us to make the Nigerian economy competitive; to explore the opportunities in the African Continental Free Trade Area, and also being the largest in terms of population, largest economy in Africa, we have so much of the gifts of nature including agriculture, solid minerals.

"Competitiveness is about bringing the price down, raise the quality to surpass others and rose to the international standards."

Meanwhile, the Programme Manager, PDF Bridge, Dr Titilola Akindeinde, in a keynote address, said Nigeria should take advantage of the pandemic and position herself in global trade as far as non-oil export is concerned.

Akindeinde further stated that Nigeria is well place in AfCTA, because this has opened new vista for the Nigerian non-oil export business to expand the economy.

She said, "Although diversification has been a long-conceived ambition of successive administrations in he last four decades or more, it is now time to move form aspiration to taking decisive steps towards rebuilding this economy on a more solid foundation beyond oil.

"Economic diversification is no longer an ideal aspirational state for the Nigeria economy, but rather an imperative for sustainable economic growth. The pandemic, despite the hardship it brought upon the entire world also opened some windows of opportunities for developing countries like Nigeria to reposition themselves in the global non-oil trade space.

"In addition, the newly created African Continental Free Trade Area, AfCTA, has opened another window of less stringent conditions for trade among 54 economies that have signed the agreement.

"The AfCTA presents expansive regional market covering 55 countries with 1.2 billion people and cumulative Gross Domestic Product, GDP, of $3 trillion."

However, she (Akindeinde) highlighted some challenges that affect MSMEs' participation in non-oil export including dominance of informal operators; complex trade systems and processes; limited inter-agency coherence; information and capacity gaps; and limited access to markets and finance.

In her recommendations, to tackle the issues affecting MSMEs she said, "On formality in the MSME space, operators should be strategically reached and integrated into the formal system to enable them to access business related development incentives to grow their business and the non-oil export sector.

"On business environment complexities, trade processes and systems, simplicities, harmonization and automation of export processes and businesses in general is required. Trade regulators are encouraged to place trade facilitation above revenue generation to effectively build economic prosperity on non-oil export.

"On inter-agency coherence, it is important for trade support institutions to collaborate and work with private sector with one focus on mind- process improvement and facilitation rather than excessive regulation. One-stop process points are required to create efficient, effective, and profitable environment for non-oil exports.

"On capacity, MSMEs in the non-oil export eco-system should be targets of comprehensive and easily accessible capacity build programmes particularly in the areas of compliance to regulations and standards, requirements for access to finance, and export readiness and access to export market.

"On access to markets and finance, structures that enable foreign market linkages are required including systems of aggregation of MSMEs and linking them to structures that facilitate access to foreign market without unnecessary difficulties. Financial systems should give special consideration to the MSMEs by customizing finance strategies that suit their peculiarities in Nigeria.

"Implementation of these recommendations often requires active collaboration between public and private sectors. However, despite the importance and potentials of the MSMEs in these interactions, their voices and concerns remain inadequately considered in the design of policy and processes that impact their export businesses."

She added that, "Having identified this gap, the PDF took the lead in supporting MSMEs' participation in the non-oil sector by creating institutional linkages between the exporter groups and the policy makers."

It will be recalled that the PDF was the brain behind the registration of NPNEN on March 3, 2020, which made it became a special purpose vehicle created to unify the voices of underrepresented groups in the non-oil export space.

Meanwhile, the Chairman, Board of Trustees, BoT, Prince Adetokunbo Kayode, stressed the need for

Export is sector of the economy, and there is internal trade and external trade-export is the external trade. What we are saying is that government should take a strong command in guiding the external trade and make sure it works.

"Today, when we say we are the largest economy in Africa is because we making money form oil-how many of are contributing to that oil; the white man comes drills the oil and ships it abroad and make money, but gives us little percentage of it.

"We don't add any value to it, we don't do petro-chemicals, gas, but the one we are used to that we have total control over is agriculture, solid minerals and services.

"How do we get these three sectors into export trade? We had all these complaints a and all is about government because there are hundreds of government agencies working in parallel, while all of them can sit together with what we call a single window.

"So it is the inefficiency of the system, lack of collaboration and coordination that is the main challenge including infrastructure. For instance you want to export groundnut you have to fill 20 documents. There are too many roadblocks.

"Secondly within the export sector there are several sectors that depend on each other. Government needs to help articulate it so people can key into the value chain.

"This conference is to help the government to develop a clear policy. Policy that identifies value chains, various government agencies to work together and make them understand that they must collaborate to develop the export products, develop value chains of export products from their sources to the ports then shipping, develop policy as to funding.

"NEXIM Bank gives money to the Chinese. They have access more than the average person. NEXIM Bank said they gave 90 per cent of money to MSMEs, what is the actual money you gave to MSMEs? They said they only gave three per cent to big companies, how much did they give to these companies?

"All over the world, export funding is for your own people. There is a mistake in our law that allows a foreigner register his own company here to be domestic, if you are a foreigner you want to register your own company here go to the Export Processing Zone which is a separate regime. Why should an Indian go to NEXIM to get funding, which we cannot do in India NEXIM, and in India you cannot register 100 per cent, but 40-60.

"Why is Apapa Port still full of people, why not use technology to make it easier? All these clearing and forwarding is to be done online", he said.

Meanwhile, during the panel discussion which was moderated by Dr Olumuyiwa Alaba, a Trade Policy Expert with PDF Bridge, most of the panelists said there is need to change policy strategy and come up with deliberate approach that would tackle bedeviling bottlenecks experienced by exporters over the years for smooth, seamless and stable business atmosphere that facilitates export trade.

One of the panelists, Ebube Chukwujekwu said, "For years now we have tried to optimise the export expansion grant and move away from what the law stipulated. I will give three examples Bio-Exporting Incentive Act, and the EEG supposed to be a cash grant-it is a cash incentive.

"The EEG supposed to go to manufacturers of exportable products. We added semi-manufactured goods and raw materials to it, and for some good reasons that pathway will be allowed.

"Now my grouse is that why don't we go back to the laws, amend the laws rather than building old something that do something that is illegal upon an existing law?"

In another response, the Director, Commodities and Export Department, Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Suleman Audu, said that, "Now that we have the AfCTA, how do we take advantage of these areas of opportunities? What do we want to do in terms of policy? There are always issues around Nigeria's trade policy and other policies including sectoral.

"Nigeria also has opportunity to respond to all these barriers created. We are currently looking a new trade policy. The last trade policy was in 2012 that I think is obsolete.

"The trade policy we need now is the 21st century that takes into consideration all these circumstances including the digital economy, e-commerce MSCs, investments, and others.

"We cannot formulate trade policies without the other agencies that are also connected. We have to have consultation with all the stakeholders.

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"We don't have any ministry that regulates services in Nigeria but the Ministry still coordinates that. Service is very constructive and encompassing.

"We are active in collaboration with parastatals. Every three months we engage the heads of parastatals and we are soon going to that again."

A representative from National Action Committee on AfCTA, Francis Anatogu who was represented by Ugochukwu explained what the committee has been doing to bring Nigeria on board in regional trade, "What we are doing is reaching out to various stakeholders and bringing them on board.

"We are engaging stakeholders to known the essence of this to understand what it is including what they are experiencing and facing; engage the supervising agencies to understand what we are providing and to articulate this into a document then present to Nigerians. We have done a lot of validation exercises and workshops which profit stakeholders.

"There is a great opportunity Africa provides and we want to use AfCTA as platform to prepare Nigeria for that.

Another panelist, Dr Hart said, "Nigeria is stock in its old ways despite AfCTA, if care is not taking Nigeria maybe the third bottom of the ladder that will benefit from AfCTA. I have read a lot about AfCTA even before the President was convinced to sign the document.

"Nigeria has a huge opportunity in AfCTA but is it going to add to our GDP? No! We do not have the infrastructure in place to catch up the opportunities because Nigeria is stock in its old ways.

"It is in Nigeria you will go to the ports as a business; go around the ports where things are working, the rail system is connected to the inland dry ports such that goods go straight to the inland dry ports.

"In US, UK and India where there are functioning dry ports, a business man does not need to go to the ports. Nigeria is stock in its old ways and it is going to affect us for a long time.

"Look at Nigeria and look at AfCTA, Nigeria is placed on the most advantageous position by God Almighty in the map of the world. Nigeria is not taking advantage of international treaties on trade routes."

He also lamented that Nigeria is not using opportunities in inland dry ports, which he called on government to look at the transport sector critically, "We are to look inwards by using the inland dry ports to grow and expand our economy because inland dry ports are catalysts to grow the Nigerian economy.

"A lot needs to be done in logistics, and remove all unnecessary bottlenecks and we need to come up with deliberate policies to fix these problems."

Vanguard News Nigeria
SAO PAULO, March 25, 2021 /PRNewswire/ --

GOL LINHAS AEREAS INTELIGENTES S.A.

SMILES FIDELIDADE S.A. C.N.P.J./M.E. 06.164.253/0001-87

C.N.P.J./M.E. 05.730.375/0001-20 N.I.R.E. 35.300.314.441

N.I.R.E. 35.300.493.095

GOL Linhas Aereas Inteligentes S.A. ("GOL"), (NYSE: GOL and B3: GOLL4), the largest domestic Brazilian airline, and Smiles Fidelidade S.A. ("SMILES") (B3: SMLS3) supplementing the information disclosed in the Material Fact dated February 12, 2021 ("Material Fact"), inform the following:

1 Withdrawal Rights

Withdrawal Rights on the Merger of SMILES Shares

Pursuant to articles 137 and 252, paragraph 2 of Law No. 6,404, dated December 15, 1976, as amended ("Brazilian Corporate Law"), the merger of shares issued by SMILES into GOL Linhas Aereas S.A. ("GLA" and "Merger of SMILES Shares") shall entitle SMILES and GLA shareholders to withdrawal rights. Withdrawal rights are guaranteed to shareholders who own shares issued by SMILES uninterruptedly, from February 12, 2021 (the disclosure date of the Material Fact) to the reference date for definition of SMILES shareholders who shall receive the shares issued by GOL, to be disclosed in due time, after the periods to exercise the withdrawal rights and the option for the exchange ratio elapse ("Date of Consummation"). Shareholders who did not vote in favor of the Merger of SMILES Shares, who abstained from voting or who did not attend the respective Special Shareholders' Meeting, and who expressly state their intention to exercise the right of withdrawal, may exercise the respective right within the term of 30 days starting on March 30, 2021 (inclusive) and ending on April 28, 2021 (inclusive) ("Withdrawal Right Term"). Since GOL was the sole shareholder of GLA on the date when GLA's Shareholders' Meeting passed a resolution on the Merger of SMILES Shares, there shall be no dissenting shareholders nor withdrawal rights within the scope of GLA as a result of this phase of the reorganization.

Pursuant to Article 264, paragraph 3 of the Brazilian Corporate Law, dissenting shareholders may opt between (i) the reimbursement amount set forth in Article 45 of the Brazilian Corporate Law, in accordance with SMILES financial statements as of December 31, 2019, corresponding to R$9.71 per share, without prejudice to the right to prepare a special balance sheet; or (ii) the amount assessed pursuant to Article 264 of the Brazilian Corporate Law, corresponding to R$19.60. It should be clarified that the exercise of withdrawal rights shall refer exclusively to all shares. Therefore, dissenting shareholders shall not be allowed to exercise their options on part of the shares they own.

Withdrawal Rights on the Merger of GLA Shares

Pursuant to Articles 137 and 252, paragraph 2, of the Brazilian Corporate Law, the merger of shares issued by GLA into GOL ("Merger of GLA Shares") shall entitle GLA and GOL shareholders to withdrawal rights. Withdrawal right shall be guaranteed to shareholders who own shares issued by GOL uninterruptedly, from February 12, 2021 (the disclosure date of the Material Fact) to the Date of Consummation, who did not vote in favor of the merger of GLA shares, who abstained from voting or who did not attend the respective Special Shareholders' Meeting, and who expressly state their intention to exercise the right of withdrawal, within the Period of Withdrawal Right. Since, GOL was the sole shareholder of GLA on the date when GLA's Shareholders' Meeting passed a resolution on the Merger of GLA Shares, there shall be no dissenting shareholders nor withdrawal rights within the scope of GLA as a result of this phase of the reorganization.

Regarding the withdrawal rights of GOL shareholders, considering that GOL's shareholders' equity is assessed according to the method set forth in Article 45 of the Brazilian Corporate Law (without prejudice to the right of preparing a special balance sheet) and the method set forth in Article 264 of the Brazilian Corporate Law, the value was negative and the reimbursement amount is zero. It should be clarified that the exercise of withdrawal rights shall exclusively refer to all shares. Therefore, dissenting shareholders shall not be allowed to exercise their options on part of the shares they own.

At the end of the period for exercising the withdrawal right, the companies shall issue a notice in compliance with Article 137, paragraph 3 of the Brazilian Corporate Law, containing information on the withdrawal exercised ("Confirmation Notice").

2 Procedure for Exercising the Withdrawal Right

Shares kept with Itau Corretora de Valores S.A.

Dissenting shareholders whose shares are kept with Itau Corretora de Valores S.A. ("Bookkeeper"), who wish to exercise the right of withdrawal, within the Period of Withdrawal Right, should contact the Shareholder Service Channel through the following numbers:

Capitals and metropolitan regions: (11) 3003-9285

Other locations: 0800-720-9285

For account owners: (11) 4004-4828 (options 3-6-3)

Service hours are on business days, from 9am to 6pm.

The following documents should be delivered to the Bookkeeper:

Individuals: (a) Identification Document (RG), (b) Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (CPF), (c) proof of address, and (d) letter of request signed by the dissenting shareholder, with acknowledgment of signature by similarity, requesting the withdrawal, which must contain the shareholder's personal and bank details for payment of the refund and the number of shares held by the dissenting shareholder in relation to which the withdrawal right shall be exercised.

Legal Entities: (a) original and copy of the bylaws and minutes of the election of the current executive board, or of the consolidated articles of organization in effect, (b) proof of registration with the National Register of Corporate Taxpayers (CNPJ), (c) Identification Document (RG), Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (CPF), and proof of address of their agents, and (d) letter of request signed by the dissenting shareholder, with acknowledgment of signature by similarity, requesting the withdrawal, which must contain the shareholder's personal and bank details for payment of the refund and the number of shares held by the dissenting shareholder in relation to which the withdrawal right shall be exercised.

Investment Funds: (a) original and copy of the last consolidated regulations of the fund, duly registered with the relevant body, (b) original and copy of the bylaws and minutes of the election of the current executive board, or of the consolidated articles of organization in effect, of the director and/or manager of the fund (depending on the person authorized to appear and vote at shareholders' meetings related to the assets held by the fund), (c) proof of registration with the National Register of Corporate Taxpayers (CNPJ) of the fund and director and/or manager of the fund, (d) Identification Document (RG), Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (CPF), and proof of address of their agents, and (d) letter of request signed by the dissenting shareholder, with acknowledgment of signature by similarity, requesting the withdrawal, which must contain the shareholder's personal and bank details for payment of the refund and the number of shares held by the dissenting shareholder in relation to which the withdrawal right shall be exercised.

Shareholders who are represented by a proxy shall deliver, in addition to the documents referred to above, the respective power of attorney with an acknowledged signature, which should have been granted less than one year before to a proxy with special powers to exercise the withdrawal right and refund request.

Shares Held in Custody with the Central Assets Depository.

Dissenting shareholders whose shares are held in custody with the Central Assets Depositary of B3 S.A. - Brasil, Bolsa, Balcao, who wish to exercise the right of withdrawal shall, within the Period of Withdrawal Right, must express their interest in the right of withdrawal through their respective custodians, contacting them sufficiently in advance to take the necessary measures.

3 Date and Method of Payment

Payment to the dissenting shareholders shall be made through the data registered with the custodian institutions or according to the bank details that should be provided in the refund request as stated in item 2 above. The date and method of payment shall be informed to the market within due time.

4 Exchange Ratio

Due to the distribution of dividends approved by SMILES on March 25th, 2021, in the amount of R$ 500,000,000.00, the exchange ratio will be automatically adjusted in accordance with item 2.1 of the Protocol and Justification, so that, for each SMILES common share, SMILES shareholders shall receive (a) an installment in national currency in the amount of R$5.11 (related to the redemption of GOL redeemable Class B preferred shares), adjusted pursuant to the provisions of the Protocol and Justification draft; and (b) 0.6601 GOL preferred share ("Base Exchange Ratio"), adjusted pursuant to the Protocol and Justification.

However, SMILES Shareholders shall be guaranteed a period of seven business days, to be informed in the Confirmation Notice, to opt for an Optional Exchange Ratio ("Optional Exchange Ratio Period"), by which, for each SMILES common share, SMILES shareholders shall receive (a) an installment in national currency in the amount of R$18.51 (related to the redemption of GOL redeemable Class C preferred shares), adjusted pursuant to the Protocol and Justification; and (b) 0.1650 GOL preferred share ("Optional Exchange Ratio"), adjusted pursuant to the Protocol and Justification, at the discretion of SMILES shareholders.

SMILES SHAREHOLDERS THAT DO NOT ELECT THE OPTIONAL EXCHANGE RATIO SHALL AUTOMATICALLY MIGRATE IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE BASE EXCHANGE RATIO.

Information for exercising the option for the Optional Exchange Ratio, the establishment of the base date for determining the shareholders who shall migrate to GOL's shareholder base, as well as the credit date for the shares and payment of the redeemable preferred shares shall be timely disclosed in the Notice of Confirmation.

4.1 Fractions of GOL Shares issued as a result of GLA Merger

Any fractions of GOL preferred shares as a result of the exchange ratio on the Merger of GLA Shares shall be grouped in whole numbers to be subsequently sold in the spot market managed by B3. The amounts received from this sale shall be made available to SMILES shareholders that held the relevant fractions on the Base Date, in proportion to the interest they held in each share sold, pursuant to a notice to be timely disclosed by GOL.

More detailed information on the corporate reorganization is available on the CVM (http://www.cvm.gov.br/) and B3 (http://www.b3.com.br/pt_br/) websites, or on the GOL's investor relations website (http://ri.voegol.com.br) or on Smiles' website (http://ri.smiles.com.br), or through the contacts below.

GOL Investor Relations

[email protected]

www.voegol.com.br/ir

+55(11) 2128-4700

Smiles Investor Relations

[email protected]

ri.smiles.com.br

+55 (11) 4841-1820

About GOL Linhas Aereas Inteligentes S.A.

GOL serves more than 36 million passengers annually. With Brazil's largest network, GOL offers customers more than 750 daily flights to over 100 destinations in Brazil and in South America, the Caribbean and the United States. GOLLOG's cargo transportation and logistics business serves more than 3,400 Brazilian municipalities and more than 200 international destinations in 95 countries. SMILES allows over 16 million registered clients to accumulate miles and redeem tickets to more than 700 destinations worldwide on the GOL partner network. Headquartered in Sao Paulo, GOL has a team of approximately 14,000 highly skilled aviation professionals and operates a fleet of 128 Boeing 737 aircraft, delivering Brazil's top on-time performance and an industry leading 20-year safety record. GOL has invested billions of Reais in facilities, products and services and technology to enhance the customer experience in the air and on the ground. GOL's shares are traded on the NYSE (GOL) and the B3 (GOLL4). For further information, visit www.voegol.com.br/ir.

About Smiles Fidelidade S.A.

Smiles started as a single loyalty program but has evolved into its current coalition model, which features several unique characteristics that allow for the accrual and redemption of miles from GOL flights and its international partner airlines, as well as Brazil's leading commercial banks, including co-branded cards issued by Bradesco, Banco do Brasil and Santander, and a vast network of retail partners. The current model works through (i) the accrual of miles by members when they purchase airline tickets with GOL or other partner airlines or products and services from business and financial partners; Smiles miles being acquired through the loyalty of these customers to those businesses, and (ii) award redemptions by members when they exchange their miles for flights on GOL and other partner airlines or products and services offered by commercial and financial partners. Our primary sources of revenues come from (i) redeemed miles revenues, represented by tickets and awards in our network of airline, commercial and financial partners, (ii) interest income between the date the miles were accrued and the date they were redeemed, and (iii) breakage revenues if issued miles expire without being redeemed.

SOURCE GOL Linhas Aereas Inteligentes S.A.

Related Links

http://www.voegol.com.br/ir


Melbournes former lord mayor Robert Doyle has been found to have committed serious misconduct of a sexual nature against a woman at a dinner awards ceremony while he was chairman of Melbourne Health.

The Department of Health released a statement on Friday finalising an investigation by Charles Scerri, QC, into the former leader of the Victorian Liberal Party. The investigation stemmed from allegations first revealed in The Age in 2018.

Robert Doyle pictured at the Melbourne Health function in 2016.

The conduct varies in degree of seriousness, the report said. Some of the conduct could be described as over-familiar, rude, obnoxious or sleazy. In that category were inappropriate comments that Mr Doyle made about the complainants appearance.

However, some of the conduct was serious misconduct of a sexual nature within the scope of [the] investigation. This included touching the complainants inner thigh, close to her groin and the complainants lower back.
A Kerry man has received a prison sentence of eight years with 18 months suspended for raping a young woman as she slept in her own bedroom.

The Central Criminal Court heard Conor Quaid (26) was in the victim's home on the night because he was a trusted family friend. Justice Mary Rose Gearty said that he abused this trust and noted that he has not shown any remorse since.

Quaid of Monaree, Dingle, Co Kerry had pleaded not guilty to rape at a place in the county on June 10, 2018. After a seven day trial a jury at the Central Criminal Court found him guilty by a majority verdict of ten to one.

The court heard that Quaid had travelled to the home of the victim after a night out drinking in a nearby town. The woman had stayed in that night, wasn't drinking and had gone to bed early.

Quaid went to her bedroom and raped her while she was curled up asleep, Justice Gearty said.

The woman later told gardai that she woke up to find someone raping her but she didn't know what was happening at first and she froze.

When she realised what was taking place she turned her head and saw Quaid and said what the hell are you doing. She told him to get out of her room and Quaid jumped up and left the room and the woman then realised her pyjama bottoms and underwear had been removed while she slept.

She was struggling to make sense of what had happened and the next day she sent a message via Facebook to Quaid accusing him of raping her, Tom Rice SC, prosecuting, said. He told the court that Quaid's replies to these accusations were accepting of his guilt.

Mr Rice said that Quaid knew that the victim was home alone on the night as her family were away on holidays. He said that while he was a family friend he had not received express permission to enter the family home that night.

After his arrest Quaid denied that sexual intercourse had taken place but said that there had been consent to a certain level of sexual activity.

Micheal Bowman SC, defending, said his client has a medical history of alcohol dependency and that since this offence he has made efforts to address this.

He said his client's father is a retired garda and his family would be well regarded and well thought of. He handed in a number of testimonials which he said were evidence that his client is a hard working, honest man for whom this offence was out of character.

Justice Gearty said that there is no evidence that Quaid's alcohol addiction were such that he didn't know what he was doing and that there was evidence from before the attack that he was attracted to her.

He wanted to have sex with her and he did so at a time when he longer cared whether she consented or not, she said, noting that while Quaid has accepted the verdict of the jury he has not accepted her version of events.

In a victim impact statement, read by Detective Sergeant Ernie Henderson, the woman said that the attack has left her feeling powerless.

You (Quaid) did whatever you liked. I had no choice on that night. You made me feel like I was worthless, she said.

She said before the rape she was a happy outgoing person but she now struggles with panic attacks, guilt and shame on an ongoing basis. She said she tried to return to her third level studies but couldn't concentrate and has since dropped out of college.

She described having to deal with intrusive thoughts of the attack on a daily basis, as well as nightmares and panic attacks. She said everybody in the locality knew about the rape.

I know some people held me responsible and that is difficult when I am the victim, she said.

Mr Rice said that there is almost universal knowledge of the case in the locality and that while the victim does not want to be identified she wants Quaid to be identified.

Justice Gearty said that the victim had a right to security in her own home and that Quaid violated the sanctity of her home. She said the reason he was there and knew where the victim slept was due to his position as a family friend and that he had abused this trust.

She imposed a sentence of eight years and said the court had little scope to reduce this because of the absence of a guilty plea or of remorse. She did suspend 18 months on condition that he be of good behaviour for three years after his release and stay away from the victim in perpetuity.

She said she was taking into consideration Quaid's relative youth, his lack of previous offending, and the fact that he has struggled and overcome an alcohol addiction.
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With a strong balance sheet, Creso is well-placed to take advantage of complementary acquisitions and opportunities should the US proceed with the federal legalisation of cannabis.

The company anticipates listing on the US OTC in quarter two of 2021.

( ) (FRA:1X8) has secured firm commitments from institutional, professional and sophisticated investors to raise up to A$18 million through the issue of around 94.7 million new fully paid ordinary shares at A$0.19 per share.

The placement was heavily oversubscribed and strongly supported by a range of local and international groups including Australian businessman John Langley Hancock, S3 Consortium Holdings Pty Ltd and independent global fund manager L1 Global Master Opportunities Fund, among others.

It will be undertaken in a single tranche and the company also intends to seek shareholder approval to issue placement participants one option for every four shares issued which will be exercisable at A$0.38 each on or before a date that is 12 months after the date of issue.

Well-funded to progress near-term initiatives

Creso Pharma non-executive chairman Adam Blumenthal said: We are extremely pleased to have generated such strong interest and support for the placement and I would like to welcome a number of new investors to the register.

The board and management would also like to thank new and existing shareholders for their commitment to Creso Pharma.

The placement was very well bid and leaves Creso Pharma well-funded to progress a number of near-term revenue-generating initiatives.

EverBlu Capital acted as lead manager to the placement.

Advancing nutraceutical product sales

Funds will be deployed to undertake psychedelic clinical trials upon completion of the Halucenex transaction, advance sales of nutraceutical products globally and increase marketing of cannabis products through Canada.

Blumenthal said: Key short-term focus will include finalising the acquisition of Halucenex and undertaking clinical trials.

Importantly, the acquisition provides the company with access to another lucrative vertical and potential revenue stream.

We will also be ramping up our nutraceutical division and preparing for the anticipated legalisation of cannabis in the US through our Canadian operations.

Board and management look forward to providing shareholders with regular updates on progress over the coming months.

The clinical trials will explore the efficacy of psychedelic molecules on a range of mental health conditions such as depression and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and open up another lucrative vertical.

Looking forward

Funds will also be deployed to expand the companys current nutraceutical offerings, scale-up operations at its wholly-owned Canadian subsidiary Mernova Medicinal Inc, in line with recent increasing demand for Mernovas products, and progress a dual listing on the OTCQB in the US.

The OTC market listing is expected in quarter two of 2021 and will provide greater access to the North American investment community.

Further, with a strong cash balance, Creso is well-positioned to attract new partners and explore complementary acquisition opportunities that may arise, ahead of the pending federal legalisation of recreational cannabis in the US.
Something about a motorist struggling to negotiate a tight parking space or narrow gateway brings the rubberneckers out in full force.

Now imagine that scenario multiplied on a global scale as the world watches the Ever Given container ship wedged in the Suez Canal, holding up hundreds of ships, millions of tonnes of cargo and billions of euro worth of trade.

The captain is in charge of a 200,000-tonne vessel but the burden of the publics gaze undoubtedly feels heavier.

Sooner or later, the ship will be freed and normal business will resume, but environmentalists are hoping not all eyes will turn away.

The 150th anniversary of the canals opening in late 2019 prompted scrutiny of what it has done to a natural landscape it literally cast aside.

Growing research warns that creating a two-way channel between very different bodies of water, the Red Sea and Mediterranean, has produced one-way traffic in bad news for the Mediterranean side.

Hundreds of species of fish, jellyfish and crustaceans that lived tough lives in the saltier Red Sea have swum, hitchhiked or been swept away in the currents northwards and flourished in the more hospitable Mediterranean waters.

They have overrun native species, damaged local stocks, grazed marine plant life bare and present a hazard to leisure activities and tourism.

The problem has been observed for years but expanding the canal to create parallel channels along one of its busiest sections in 2015 appears to have escalated the takeover.

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As climate warms, making the Mediterranean more like home, only better, the problem is expected to worsen. The climates growing volatility also presents risks to the Suez and its port communities.

A sudden sandstorm is blamed for the Ever Given going awry and while storms are common in the region, the frequency of severe events seems to be increasing.

A worst in 30 years storm in 2015 was quickly outdone when a similar one happened in 2019 and again last year.

Egypts National Strategy for Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk Prevention anticipates storms will worsen, thoroughly undermining the logic of building 400m megaships that can cause mayhem by veering a few degrees off course.

Rising sea levels are also a concern. Suez may be man-made but it is vulnerable to the same forces as coastal waters, and wave height is monitored closely and continually.

The canal contributes to the fragility of the natural defences, constant dredging and land-filling, stressing the surrounding lands.

Then theres the question of what the canal is used for. Its a vital route for Middle East oil exporters  huge ships powered by fossil fuels to transport fossil fuels is a perfect, painful example of the activities behind climate breakdown.

Speculation of oil shortages due to the delays is premature and Ireland is unlikely to have to dip into the 90 days of emergency supplies held by the National Oil Reserves Agency.

But the Ever Given is carrying consumer goods from Asia for European stores, as are many of those stuck behind it, so deliveries will be affected.

Enterprise Ireland is watching the situation closely, and not for the curiosity value.

Currently there are no significant impacts reported by Enterprise Ireland-supported companies, its spokesman said.

However, as international supply chains are vital to Irish exporters and manufacturers, we are monitoring the situation and hope a technical resolution is found quickly.
The government is looking at a new timeline for disinvestment and financial bids will be invited in the coming days, Union minister said on Friday.

Noting that there is no choice but to either "privatise or close" Air India, he said the government will have to keep the airline running till it gets divested.

"We are looking at another timeline now, what is called data room for prospective bidders to look at... that is opened up, 64 days for the financial bids to come in. After that it is the question of taking a decision and handing over the airline," the Minister of State for Civil Aviation said.

He was speaking at a session at the Times Network India Economic Conclave.

The government has started the process to sell its entire 100 per cent stake in that has been in losses since it merged with Indian Airlines in 2007.

"...There is no choice, we either privatise or we close the airline. We run a loss of Rs 20 crore every day despite making money now. Because the mismanagement has resulted in a cumulative debt of Rs 60,000 crore," Puri said.

"I don't have the capacity to keep going to Nirmala ji and say please give me some money," he said in an apparent reference to seeking funds to run Air India from the finance minister.

He also noted that earlier attempts at were not successful because the attempts were half-hearted.

Puri also spoke about the domestic civil aviation sector, which is recovering from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

"If we had not seen the virus raising its ugly head again, I would have opened up domestic civil aviation 100 per cent by April 1 in the summer schedule... The total revival of the sector in terms of domestic aviation, opening up, has been delayed by 15-20 days," the minister said.

He also took a dig at the Congress for their criticism over privatisation of airports.

"I am talking about Confused Congress Politician (CCP). One of the better things they did was the privatisation of the two airports (Delhi and Mumbai) for which they can legitimately claim credit. Delhi and Mumbai airports are success stories," Puri noted.

According to him, privatisation of Delhi and Mumbai airports resulted in revenues of Rs 29,000 crore for AAI (Airports Authority of India) between 2006 and 2020. That is the money used to privatise Tier II and III airports.

(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.)
Not too long ago somebody commented about the snow melting and now we can see all the garbage. One of the things I do to help is when I walk my dog I take an extra bag and pick up trash that I see. Ive done this for years and years in Palos Hills. I do this for Mother Earth and I do it for my community. If you get a chance to do that, pick up a little trash and do it for Mother Earth and your community, and I think youll feel better at the end of the day.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-25 23:51:26|Editor: huaxia

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Airport workers unload the China-aided COVID-19 vaccine at the Carthage International Airport in Tunis, Tunisia, March 25, 2021. Tunisia received on Thursday a batch of COVID-19 vaccine donated by China and delivered aboard a military plane of the Tunisian Ministry of Defense. (Photo by Adel Ezzine/Xinhua)

TUNIS, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Tunisia received on Thursday a batch of COVID-19 vaccine donated by China and delivered aboard a military plane of the Tunisian Ministry of Defense.

"China is the first country to provide a vaccine donation for Tunisia," Chinese Ambassador to Tunisia Zhang Jianguo said at the Carthage International Airport in Tunis, capital of Tunisia.

"We are convinced that these vaccines will contribute to controlling the epidemic situation, the recovery of the economy in Tunisia and the protection of the health of Tunisians," Zhang said.

"Today, humanity is fighting against COVID-19 ... The vaccine is the priority of the moment and remains a critical element of the anti-epidemic cooperation of the international community," the Chinese ambassador noted.

Meanwhile at the airport, Tunisian Minister of Health Faouzi Mehdi expressed gratitude to China for sending "large quantities of Sinovac vaccine against COVID-19 as a donation."

"This is the third vaccine against COVID-19 that our country has received after Sputnik V and Pfizer ... It will be of great benefit to us to speed up the vaccination process," the minister said.

Cooperation with China "goes back a very long time in various fields," Mehdi added. Enditem
Shares of Tata Group companies were in demand after the Supreme Court on Friday ruled in favour of Tata Group, junking appeals by Cyrus Investments.

Tinplate Company of India (up 5.7%), Tata Motors (up 4.36%), Tata Power (up 4.36%), Tata Investment Corporation (up 3.08%), Tata Chemicals (up 3.05%), Titan Company (up 3%), Tata Coffee (up 2.84%), Tata Communications (up 2.75%), Tata Metaliks (up 2.58%), Tata Elxsi (up 2.22%), Tata Consumer Products (up 2.05%), Voltas (up 2.05%) and TCS (up 0.92%) advanced.

Meanwhile, shares of Pallonji Group's Sterling and Wilson Solar tumbled 4.09% to Rs 261.25.

A Supreme Court (SC) bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde and also comprising Justices A S Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian ruled in favour of the Tatas in their battle with the Mistry group by setting aside the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) order which had re-instated Mistry on Tata Sons' board and had termed current Chairman N Chandrasekaran's as ''illegal".

The country's apex court also rejected Mistry group's plea against the conversion of Tata Sons into a private company. The bench also refused to entertain Mistry group's plea for fair compensation for their 18.5% stake in Tata Sons saying the value of Mistry's stake will depend on valuation of Tata Sons assets and that it would not get into determining what should be a fair value.

SC's verdict in nearly five-year-old case puts an end to the corporate war between Tata Group and the Mistrys. A legal tussle erupted between the two sides after Cyrus Mistry was removed from Tata Sons' chairman post in October 2016. While the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) sided with the Tatas, the NCLAT had termed Mistry's removal as illegal. The NCLAT in its 2019 order reinstated Mistry as Tata Group chairman and also termed N Chandrasekaran's appointment to the chairman's post of the over $100 billion salt-to-software conglomerate as illegal. The Tatas then moved SC seeking to overturn the NCLAT judgement.

Tata Trusts, which owns 66% stake in Tata Sons, is chaired by Ratan Tata, the patriarch of the Tata group, while the Mistry family owns 18.4% stake in the company.

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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Britain's supply of second vaccine doses is heading into troubled waters as deliveries of both Pfizer and AstraZeneca's jabs are in danger of being stopped by foreign governments.

India has banned exports of the AstraZeneca jab being made at the Serum Institute so it can use them for its own citizens, delaying a shipment of five million doses bound for the UK.

And EU officials are poised to stop shipments of Pfizer vaccines - which the UK needs to complete second doses for around 10million people by mid-June.

Insiders say AstraZeneca's supplies can be made entirely in the UK and the five million-dose boost from India was not critical to meeting government targets, meaning the delivery from India may be a disappointment rather than a crisis.

But all of the country's Pfizer doses are made in factories in Europe - the firm and its partner BioNTech have major facilities in Belgium and Germany - and international shipping is vital to make sure people get their second doses.

More than 12million Pfizer doses have already been used in Britain and the NHS needs almost the same number again by June to make sure everyone gets their booster jab within three months, as promised by the government.

Medics have already stopped giving out the vaccine to first-time patients so it can prioritise all the Pfizer supplies - which are now in danger of grinding to a halt - for existing patients' second doses.

BBC Newsnight editor Mark Urban suggested in a tweet that 'nearly 20m' doses of Pfizer's jab have been delivered to the UK already - but officials and the company itself have been tight-lipped about numbers. Any fewer than 22million doses delivered means there is still a second dose deficit because 10.9m people have had a first dose of the jab.

No10 today insisted that Britain is still on track to hit its vaccination targets even in spite of supply troubles.

A senior government source said: 'We are confident in vaccine targets, offering first doses to all over-50s by April 15 and all adults by July 31, as well as second doses.' There are understood to be around 12million doses due to be delivered in April.

But now there is a prospect of open-ended delays to the jabs with political tensions rising and other countries facing yet more increases in infections.

India is in the grip of a second wave and holding vaccines from the Serum Institute so it can immunise its own one billion citizens, and cases are surging again in parts of Western Europe, where the rollout has been less successful than in Britain. As a result, politicians are trying to cling to vaccine supplies to use them on their own unprotected citizens.

And Moderna's vaccine, which is expected to be the third and latest addition to the UK rollout from next week, will have to be imported from Europe, too, although it is manufactured in Switzerland which isn't part of the EU.

The UK has already stopped giving out the Pfizer vaccine to first-time patients so it can prioritise all the supplies - which are now in danger of grinding to a halt - for existing patients' second doses

PFIZER SECOND DOSES AT RISK

The biggest concern around vaccine export arguments is the prospect of interruptions to Britain's plans to give people their second doses of the Pfizer vaccine.

Britain is totally reliant on deliveries from Belgium and Germany to be able to use Pfizer's jab, whereas it makes AstraZeneca's at home in England and Wales.

How badly would the UK's vaccine drive suffer if the EU blocked exports? If the European Union blocked all exports of coronavirus vaccines made on its turf, Britain could remain self-sufficient and still get jabs to the entire population. However, it could come under pressure on second dose supply because it relies on importing Pfizer's jab from Belgium. WHICH VACCINES ARE MADE IN THE EU? The Pfizer/BioNTech jab is currently the only vaccine used in the UK but manufactured in the EU, at the company's plant in Puurs, Belgium and BioNTech factories in Germany. AstraZeneca's jab is made at home in England and Wales. Moderna's  which will become available in about two weeks' time at the start of April  is produced in Switzerland, which is not an EU member and so not under von der Leyen's jurisdiction. CAN WE RELY ON ASTRAZENECA? The good news is that the UK has ordered so many doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab  100million  that in a worst-case scenario it could immunise the entire adult population (around 50million people) using that one alone. And the majority of these can be made in England and Wales, although ministers had hoped to boost it with imports from the Netherlands and India, which are now facing problems. WHAT ABOUT PFIZER SECOND DOSES? The bad news is that around 11million people have already had at least one dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, and the majority of them are still waiting for a second jab, which are likely only to come from within the EU. Even if all the 2.8m second doses given in the UK so far were all Pfizer, the country still needs more than eight million extra doses to hit that target. And it also hopes for another 14million so it can immunise the total 20million for whom doses were ordered. The UK has already stopped giving out the Pfizer vaccine to first-time patients so it can prioritise all the supplies - which are now in danger of grinding to a halt - for existing patients' second doses. Pfizer and the UK Government have both refused to comment on the supply chain but deliveries were already expected to be smaller in April. Pfizer declined to comment on its supply chain but said: 'In the UK, we are continuing to liaise closely with the Government to deliver the 40million doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine that we have committed to supply before the end of the year and can confirm that overall projected supply remains the same for quarter one (January to March).' Advertisement

If the European Union successfully stopped Pfizer and BioNTech shipping the vaccine to the UK in order to give the doses to its own citizens, Britain could be left without the second doses it has promised to millions of people.

At least 12million doses have already been used in the UK and there is a stockpile and incoming supply of second doses - half a million second doses were given out this week, with most of them Pfizer jabs.

But the NHS relies on rolling stock rather than a backlog big enough to cater for all the second doses, meaning supplies must keep coming.

In total 10.9million people had Pfizer for their first vaccine by March 7, meaning they must all get another dose of it by June 7 at the latest.

Even if all the 2.8m second doses given in the UK so far were all Pfizer, the country still needs more than eight million extra doses to hit that target.

Neither Pfizer nor the UK Government have confirmed how fast the company is supplying the vaccine to Britain, nor what its target is for the end of March.

Ministers have refused to confirm details of the UK's vaccine supplies out of fear of causing outrage among other nations that don't have as many. As a result, the supply problems are largely playing out behind closed doors except for comments from foreign politicians.

The UK is not without leverage in this situation, because it makes critical components of the Pfizer vaccine at a factory in England, meaning it has the power to disrupt other countries' supplies if it were cut off. British politicians are desperately trying to avoid confrontation on the matter.

Speaking on Good Morning Britain today, Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick said he was 'confident' that the UK would have enough vaccine to meet its goals.

He said: 'We're getting our vaccines from multiple manufacturers, from all over the world with complex international supply chains  none of them are reliant on any one factory or any one country.

'What I can assure your viewers of is our absolute commitment and confidence that we will be able to deliver on the targets that the Prime Minister has set out, so there is no reason to worry  the vaccine programme will continue and it is going to continue to be a world-leading one.'

On Sky News he added: 'There are elements of the vaccines being produced in the UK  there are elements being produced in parts of the European Union and indeed all over the world. We are working with the Serum Institute, for example, in India.

'So it is critical for all countries that there is the free flow of medical products, including vaccines, across international borders.

'It would be very damaging if countries started to pull up drawbridges and prevent vaccines, medicines or elements of them from crossing international borders, and the UK strongly opposes that.'

MODERNA COMES INTO PLAY IN APRIL

Moderna's vaccine is also expected to come in from Europe from next week and into April, adding a third dimension to Britain's jab rollout with 17million doses on order.

That jab, which is almost identical to Pfizer's but the UK's deal was struck too late to get early access, will provide enough vaccine to immunise 8.5million people over the summer.

Although it's coming from the continent, Moderna makes its vaccine in Switzerland, at a factory in Visp - and Switzerland is not a member of the European Union.

This means it is unlikely that any row with the European Commission or other countries in the bloc will be able to affect the Moderna supply chain directly from that plant, regardless of whether it is flown or driven through Europe.

DRIVE-THROUGH VACCINE CENTRES TO BE SCALED UP FOR SUMMER The UK will make greater use of drive-through vaccination centres in the coming months, according to NHS sources. Some areas already have facilities where people can get a jab through the window of their car but these could become a more common feature of the rollout later this year when the programme is expanded to younger adults, iNews reports. Under-50s are expected to be invited for their vaccinations after mid-April, the target date for reaching everyone in the priority groups, which include over-50s, health and care workers and people with long-term illnesses. Currently most people get their vaccine by going to a purpose-built vaccination centre, hospital or GP surgery, but the drive-through centres could make the process faster and easier and potentially reduce the risk of the virus spreading. Dr Emily Lawson, head of England's vaccination programme, said in an NHS report this week: 'Convenience of access should support uptake and so we are introducing additional innovative delivery modes.' Advertisement

There is, however, a factory in Madrid, Spain, that is involved with the 'fill and finish' bottling process after the vaccine has been manufactured. Exports from here may be considered EU products and under the jurisdiction of the Commission, but Britain's exact supply chain is not yet clear.

ASTRAZENECA CAN BE HOMEMADE

And on another more positive note, supplies of the AstraZeneca vaccine in Britain may be hurt by the export ban from India - five million had been expected in the coming weeks - but they should not be impacted by the EU's actions.

Only a tiny proportion of the 14million AstraZeneca doses given out so far in the UK were made in Europe - a small batch of unknown size delivered at the very start of the rollout in December.

A second ad-hoc shipment has since arrived in Britain from a factory in the Netherlands - which likely triggered the current row with the European Commission - but these vaccines have not yet been used.

The size of the shipment has been kept secret by the Government and Halix, the firm that sent it, and the MHRA confirmed it has not yet approved the batch for use in Britain.

AstraZeneca claims it can make two million doses per week in the UK to supply exclusively to the NHS.

While the EU has demanded that some of these doses be sent to its own nations, this does not appear to have happened so far.

In a bid to boost its own production of the crucial vaccine, which is the cheapest one available, the European Medicines Agency today finally listed the Halix factory in the Netherlands as an approved supplier so the millions of doses it is churning out can be legally used.

It also approved a new manufacturing site in the German city of Marburg and more flexible storage conditions for the BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine.

The UK Government's vaccination targets and lockdown-ending plans are understood to be based on a rollout that keeps pace with AstraZeneca's domestic production, meaning imports from India or the Netherlands can boost the programme but delays outside the country shouldn't slow it down significantly.

This chart shows how the AstraZeneca supply chain looks across Europe. The Keele, Oxford and Wrexham plants are the main suppliers to the NHS but the Government also imported some from a facility in the Netherlands

Although India confirmed it would control vaccine supplies to make sure its own citizens were provided for, a government source said it had not imposed any ban on vaccine exports 'unlike many other countries,' and that it would continue to supply doses in phases.

ASTRAZENECA VACCINE ROW HASN'T PUT PUBLIC OFF THE JAB The suspension of the AstraZeneca vaccine by some countries over blood clotting concerns had no impact on the UK public's intention of getting the jab, new research suggests. Several European countries including France, Germany and Italy suspended use of the vaccine last week, although they later said they would resume its rollout after the European Medicines Agency regulator concluded it is 'safe and effective'. University of Stirling researchers compared data about people's attitudes towards the vaccine from March 12-15, before the row reached its peak, with that from March 17 - after it had come to a head. They found no drop in intentions or attitudes towards getting the jab. On Monday March 15, researchers found 83.3 per cent of respondents said they intended to receive the vaccine. On March 17, the figure was higher at 86.1 per cent. Dr David Comerford, of the university's Behavioural Science Centre, said: 'We found no effect of the press stories on intentions to take the vaccine or on intentions to refuse it. Furthermore, there was no change to the perceived costs and benefits of being vaccinated. 'This is not to say that the UK public were not concerned by the news. Google Trends data shows increasing search activity for the terms 'vaccine' and 'safe' as the AstraZeneca suspension story was unfolding, but that concern did not translate into mistrust of the vaccination programme in the UK. 'In fact, a record number of people took the vaccine on the following Saturday, March 20.' Source: Press Association Advertisement

'We remain committed to help the world with vaccines, including through the COVAX facility,' the source told Reuters.

However, a health ministry source told The Times: 'Other countries will get supplies only if there are vaccines left over after keeping enough for our own population.'

Deliveries will be delayed in March and April 'as the government of India battles a new wave of Covid-19 infections,' said GAVI, an alliance of countries, companies and charities that promote vaccination.

This disruption, which has led to Britain having to deal without a delivery of five million doses it planned to receive from India next month, was the original reason behind the slowdown expected from next week.

In a letter to vaccine clinics, hospitals and GPs last week, NHS chiefs said: 'The Government's Vaccines Task Force have now notified us that there will be a significant reduction in weekly supply available from manufacturers beginning in the week commencing 29 March, meaning volumes for first doses will be significantly constrained.

'They now currently predict this will continue for a four-week period, as a result of reductions in national inbound vaccines supply.'

The letter adds that inviting people for jabs who are not in the top nine priority groups is 'only permissible in exceptional circumstances'.

But a new, potentially more troubling development, has unfolded since then as the European Union has threatened to cap exports of jabs from factories on its land.

The UK has been importing millions of doses of Pfizer and BioNTech's vaccine from their factories in Belgium and Germany and has around 10million people who need a second dose of the jab by mid-June.

French foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian took a swipe at the British strategy today and said: 'The United Kingdom has taken great pride in vaccinating well with the first dose except they have a problem with the second dose.

'You are vaccinated when you have had both doses. Today there are as many people vaccinated with both in France as the United Kingdom...

'You can't be playing like this, a bit of blackmail, just because you hurried to get people vaccinated with a first shot, and now you're a bit handicapped because you don't have the second one.'

As a result of Britain's vaccination slowdown, some mass vaccination sites have announced they will close temporarily in April because they won't have enough stock to keep going.

Vaccine centres in Devon, Cornwall and Kent are among those to have confirmed they will 'have to pause' during the month-long slowdown. If the rest of the country follows suit, it could see all 150 mass vaccination sites shut.

Mass coronavirus vaccination sites across the UK have announced they will close temporarily next month due to looming supply issues. Vaccine centres in Devon, Cornwall and Kent are among those to have confirmed they will 'have to pause' during the month-long slowdown. If the rest of the country follows suit, it could mean all 150 mass sites will shut

The UK's vaccine rollout has surged far ahead of the EU's leaving the bloc under huge pressure to explain why

The focus of the rollout will turn to ensuring there are sufficient vaccine stocks to dish out crucial second doses, with staff at mass hubs around the country expected to be redeployed.

Local vaccination centres have also been told to close unfilled bookings from March 31, with the supply constraint expected to last throughout April.

The NHS has called on over-50s to book their first vaccine appointment while they still can before Monday, or risk facing delays.

GPs will continue contacting eligible patients on their lists, but some vaccination sites including Westpoint, near Exeter, have revealed they will shut between April 1 and 11. All of Kent's five mass vaccination centres, for example, are set to close 'for a number of weeks' from next month.

The pause in Britain's vaccine drive will mean that fewer Britons are vaccinated when No10 starts to reopen the economy on April 12 - but ministers have insisted the timetable will not be affected despite predictions of an 'exit wave' of Covid cases as society opens up.
The inadequate government funding for local content production and the further development of the film sector is the biggest hurdle stopping or slowing down the Namibian Film Commission in achieving its mandate.

The commission's CEO, Florence Haifene, said one of the ways to address the issue is to increase funding to the NFC by the government to carry out its mandate, which is to support and develop the local film industry.

"The NFC has made great strides with its current budget allocation; however, better budgets will assist in tripling our efforts with more targeted development for the different filmmaker groups. Some are upcoming and others are quite established," shared Haifene.

She added that bigger budgets would mean more support towards animation, TV and web series as well as indigenous low budget films, while support would be earmarked for filmmakers operating in the 14 regions of the country, through the establishment of film hubs, which would be a one-stop-shop for any creative within the film space.

"This content would then have its mini-festivals in these regions, which will potentially raise the profile of the film sector and what it would contribute to regional development. A bigger budget will further allow us to be able to have a Namibian International Film Festival, something which we have seen a need for the industry," stated Haifene.

In terms of international exposure, she said the country's film locations were aggressively marketed in the past until 2018 through international locations magazines and online platforms as well as the attendance of international festivals, which allowed it to enjoy big foreign production's attention.

"The major Oscar wins of the film Mad Max: The Fury Road in 2016, the biggest big-budget film shot on location, also greatly advanced the country's ratings as a great film location," recalled Haifene.

Since 2018, the marketing budget had tremendously reduced, which did not allow for much marketing, although the commission still enjoyed the spin-offs until Covid-19 occurred last year.

Producer, writer and director Joel Haikali said film remains the only profession in the country and the world with "so many benefits and caters to a lot of sectors all at once".

"You need a location, which needs to be paid for; you need people to build structures, and you need music, designers for clothing, extras and actors. When a story is told about the Kavango River or the dunes at the coast, it, in turn, promotes the country as a whole as a tourist destination."

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Haikali feels it is a mistake that the film industry has been neglected; the least supported and incentivised.

"It's about time we look at the industry as an ecosystem and a value chain. When you have this sector functioning, you will have jumpstarted the economy; you will be pushing your culture - you are pushing your creative expression; you are pushing all the other industries to work together."

Florian Schott believes priorities in politics shifted amidst the pandemic. He thinks it's unlikely that the Namibia Film Commission (NFC) will have more funds available for films this year.

"They do what they can - but of course, in the current situation, film is not a priority for the government. So, I don't think the situation is going to get better this year in terms of funding," he stressed.

The director of Baxu and the Giants said he is hopeful for the Namibian film industry because streaming channels such as Netflix taking notice.

"Platforms such as these are an opportunity not only to screen at some festivals but you can bring your film directly to 200 million people. If we get a chance to tap into that market - and Baxu and the Giants being bought by Netflix is, of course, the first step - the future looks bright for Namibian film," he explained.
During a period when far-right, white nationalist, and anti-Semitic extremists have been parading and brawling on the streets of American cities, storming and looting the U.S. Capitol, and even murdering Jews in their places of worship, debating the definition of anti-Semitism might seem to be a trivial and pedantic academic exercise. Yet it has become a hotly contested, politically controversial issue, not only in the United States, but also in other Western democracies, including Germany and the United Kingdom.

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The focus of the controversy is a brief working definition of anti-Semitism, initially published by a European Union agency in 2005 for the purpose of classifying and tracking incidents of anti-Semitism in EU countries. The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, an intergovernmental body, formally adopted this working definition in 2016. Since then, the IHRA definition, as it has become known, has been officially adopted or endorsed by more than 30 governments, including the United States. When President Trump issued an executive order on combating anti-Semitism in December 2019, it explicitly directed all U.S. federal agencies to consider this definition, particularly when enforcing anti-discrimination laws, such as Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. There have also been bills introduced in Congress seeking to codify the IHRA definition into U.S. law, which the American Civil Liberties Union and other civil rights organizations have so far succeeded in blocking due to their concern that the definition could be used to censor or chill free speech.

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This concern is well-founded.

To be sure, the IHRA definition highlights numerous real examples of anti-Semitism. Dehumanizing and demonizing Jews; denying or minimizing the Holocaust; believing in the existence of an international Jewish conspiracy; and claiming that Jews collectively control governments, the media, the economy, or other social institutions are all clear cases of anti-Semitism, as is any rhetoric about Israel that recycles those long-standing myths and conspiracies. In its own words, Using the symbols and images associated with classic anti-Semitism  to characterize Israel or Israelis could constitute anti-Semitism. By explicitly recognizing that contemporary anti-Semitism can focus on Israel, rather than just Jews, the IHRA definition provides a more up-to-date understanding of anti-Semitism.

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In practice, however, the IHRA definitionspecifically some of its examples pertaining to Israelhas been misused to target pro-Palestinian advocacy, especially on college campuses. Scholars, students, activists, and even artists have been branded anti-Semites (even when they are Jewish) for opposing Zionism, advocating for a Palestinian right of return, or promoting the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions campaign against Israel. Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo even used the IHRA definition in an attempt to label Oxfam, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch as anti-Semitic because of their criticism of Israeli government policies and practices toward Palestinians.

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Using the IHRA definition to smear or silence critics of Israel not only threatens freedom of expression and academic freedom, as its own lead author Kenneth Stern has warned, it also undermines the fight against anti-Semitism as charges of anti-Semitism are devalued and increasingly perceived as politically motivated.

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This weaponization of the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism has been facilitated by its ambiguity. Although it does not simply equate anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism, or label all criticism of Israel to be anti-Semiticas some opponents of the definition assertits vague, conditional wording is open to misinterpretations and misuse. Its conditional phrasingthat criticism could, taking into account the overall context cross the line to anti-Semitismis too often forgotten, or even purposefully ignored. Some of its examples relating to Israel are particularly prone to such problems.

It states, for instance, that applying double standards by requiring of [Israel] a behavior not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation could be anti-Semitic. This has often been interpreted to mean that any individual or group that denounces or protests Israeli human rights violations, rather than those of another country, has a double standard and is therefore guilty of anti-Semitism.

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IHRAs concern about criticizing Israel by a double standard opens up almost any criticism of Israel to that charge. Yes, there are worse human rights violators than Israel in the world, but people can also have many reasons to focus on one country or issue over another. Was it an unacceptable double standard for American politicians to focus on the cause of Soviet Jewry in the 1970s, or on South Africa in the 1980s, despite the existence of far worse injustices all over the world? These were issues that moved Americans for a variety of reasons. Moreover, no two states are exactly alike. How can anyone possibly critique or take up a cause anywhere in the world by this standard? Must they focus all over the world in order to justifiably focus on any of it?

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No definition is perfect; and any definition of anti-Semitism, like racism, is bound to provoke some disagreement because it is such a complex, multifaceted phenomenon. It cannot simply be reduced to hate or prejudice or discrimination. And since anti-Semitism can, indeed, sometimes surface in criticism or protest of Israel, it is particularly difficult to clearly specify when opposition to Israels policies, or even to its existence, is anti-Semitic and when it isnt.

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Rather than regard the IHRA definition as the final word on the fraught question of what contemporary anti-Semitism consists of, we should instead take it as a starting point. Indeed, it was never intended to be a definitive definition of anti-Semitism (nor, for that matter, was it intended to be codified into law). It literally calls itself a working definition. Unfortunately, for many, it has become a kind of holy text, carved in stone, which must not only be adopted, codified, and enforced, but treated as sacrosanct and unassailable.

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As scholars of anti-Semitism and modern Israel, we think the IHRA definition can be refined and improved (like any definition), and given its potential for abuse, we believe that this task is both necessary and urgentespecially since Secretary of State Antony Blinken has recently said that the Biden administration enthusiastically embraces the IHRA definition.

Thats why we have joined with 200 other scholars and experts from around the world to endorse the Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism, the product of over a years work by an international consortium of leading scholars on anti-Semitism.

In the words of its authors, the JDA seeks to provide a usable, concise, and historically-informed core definition of antisemitism with a set of guidelines. In doing so, it aims to strengthen the fight against antisemitism by clarifying what it is and how it is manifested, while also protecting a space for an open debate about the vexed question of the future of Israel/Palestine.

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The JDA is far more specific than the IHRA definition in detailing what does and does not constitute anti-Semitism vis-a-vis Israel and criticism of it. Being more detailed, it is therefore less susceptible to misuse. It overcomes IHRAs ambiguity by offering specific examples of criticism that crosses the line to anti-Semitism and criticism that in most cases does not, establishing clearer parameters and guidelines.

For example, applying the images or negative stereotypes of classical anti-Semitism to Israel, holding Jews collectively responsible for Israels behavior, demanding that Jews publicly condemn Israel or Zionism just because they are Jewish, or denying the right of Jews in the state of Israel to live with equality are all deemed anti-Semitic.

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In contrast, supporting the Palestinian demand for justice and equality, advocating a one-state or binational solution to the conflict, criticizing or opposing Zionism as a form of nationalism, or any evidence-based criticism of Israelincluding comparisons to cases of colonialism or apartheidare not on the face of it anti-Semitic. The same is true of supporting boycott, divestment, and sanctions against Israel, which are, it notes, commonplace, non-violent forms of political protest against states.

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In short, the JDA acknowledges that criticism of Israel or protests against it can be anti-Semitic, but it also makes clear that it is not necessarily anti-Semitic to boycott Israeli products, critique the ideology of Zionism, or oppose Israels self-definition as a Jewish state, even if many Jews might find these positions highly objectionable. It is likewise not necessarily anti-Semitic to criticize Israel unfairly or inaccurately. As the JDA puts it: Criticism that some may see as excessive or contentious, or as reflecting a double standard, is not, in and of itself, antisemitic. In general, the line between antisemitic and non-antisemitic speech is different from the line between unreasonable and reasonable speech.

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No doubt, the JDA, like the IHRA definition, will elicit controversy and criticism, especially from those who insist that all anti-Zionism is inherently antisemitic or that the BDS movement is incorrigibly anti-Semitic. Since there is fierce disagreement about thisincluding among Jews themselvesit is highly unlikely that there will be a broad consensus in favor of any definition of contemporary anti-Semitism.

This is another reason why the Biden administration and U.S. lawmakers should resist the pressure to codify any definition of anti-Semitism into law. While it is necessary to have a definition of anti-Semitism for the purposes of recording and monitoring anti-Semitic incidents, and certainly for educational purposes, such a definition should not be used to enforce anti-discrimination laws or to advance a political agenda, as the Trump administration did with the IHRA definition.

The JDA will certainly not be the final word on this vital subject, but it is, we believe, an important step forward.
[March 26, 2021] MSCI Completes Private Offering of $500 Million 3.625% Senior Notes Due 2030

MSCI Inc. (NYSE: MSCI), a leading provider of critical decision support tools and services for the global investment community, announced today that it has successfully completed its private offering of $500.0 million aggregate amount of its 3.625% senior unsecured notes (the "Notes") due 2030 (the "Offering"). The Notes constitute a further issuance of, are fully fungible with, rank equally with and form a single series with the $400.0 million aggregate principal amount of the 3.625% senior unsecured notes due 2030 issued on March 4, 2020. The Notes will mature on September 1, 2030. MSCI intends to use the net proceeds from the Offering, together with available cash, for the pre-maturity redemption or repurchase of all $500.0 million aggregate principal amount outstanding of its 4.750% senior unsecured notes due 2026 (the "2026 Notes") pursuant to the indenture governing the 2026 Notes (the "Redemption"). MSCI expects to recognize additional expenses associated with this Redemption of the 2026 Notes and exclude such amounts from the calculation of adjusted earnings per share. The Notes were offered only to (i) persons reasonably believed to be qualified institutional buyers in reliance on Rule 144A under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act") and (ii) certain non-U.S. persons outside the United States pursuant to Regulation S under the Securities Act. The Notes have not been registered under the Securities Act or any state securities laws and therefore may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act and applicable state securitieslaws. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy the Notes, nor shall it constitute an offer, solicitation or sale in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale is unlawful.



About MSCI Inc. MSCI is a leading provider of critical decision support tools and services for the global investment community. With over 50 years of expertise in research, data and technology, we power better investment decisions by enabling clients to understand and analyze key drivers of risk and return and confidently build more effective portfolios. We create industry-leading research-enhanced solutions that clients use to gain insight into and improve transparency across the investment process.

Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements relate to future events or to future financial performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by the use of words such as "may," "could," "expect," "intend," "plan," "seek," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "predict," "potential" or "continue," or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements because they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that are, in some cases, beyond MSCI's control and that could materially affect actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. Other factors that could materially affect actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements can be found in MSCI's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (" SEC (News - Alert) ") on February 12, 2021 and in quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K filed or furnished with the SEC. If any of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or if MSCI's underlying assumptions prove to be incorrect, actual results may vary significantly from what MSCI projected. Any forward-looking statement in this press release reflects MSCI's current views with respect to future events and is subject to these and other risks, uncertainties and assumptions relating to MSCI's operations, results of operations, growth strategy and liquidity. MSCI assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise these forward-looking statements for any reason, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by law. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210326005351/en/

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KYODO NEWS - Mar 26, 2021 - 06:05 | All, World

The U.S. military on Thursday corrected a statement calling the waters into which North Korea fired two ballistic missiles as the "East Sea," a label pushed by South Korea, to the "Sea of Japan."

"Last night's statement should have referred to the Sea of Japan or waters off the east coast of the Korean Peninsula," the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said. Tokyo has been asking the United States for a correction, saying that the Sea of Japan is "the single internationally-established name."

"The United States has not changed its position on using Sea of Japan as the sole approved name for the geographic feature," the Indo-Pacific Command said.

In the initial statement confirming North Korea's missile test on Thursday morning local time, Capt. Mike Kafka, public affairs officer of the Indo-Pacific Command, said the launches were made "into the East Sea."

Japan and South Korea, whose relationship has been marred by territorial and wartime history disputes, have been at odds over the name of the body of water between Japan and the Korean Peninsula.

Seoul has called for the adoption of "East Sea," claiming the name "Japan Sea" or "Sea of Japan" came into use under Japan's 1910-1945 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.

Tokyo, meanwhile, says the Sea of Japan, which became established in Europe around the end of the 18th century, has been upheld by the United Nations.
The Department of Science and Innovation (DSI) has invested about R18.9 million in the development of two nanosatellites, a move that will increase maritime domain awareness in South Africa.

According to DSI, this is the first initiative in the country, which seeks to provide communication services to the maritime industry.

The funding was channelled through DSI's Technology Innovation Agency (TIA) to the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT), an institution that is playing a leading role in growing space science and technology in South Africa.

The statement said the university has developed cutting-edge nanosatellites and cube satellites (CubeSats) over the years, demonstrating advanced technological capabilities in the country's space industry.

"South Africa needs a more strategic and coordinated approach to ensure optimal surveillance of the waters off its coast, including shipping movements within the country's exclusive economic zone," the department said, adding that it will promote improved maritime domain awareness and enhanced maritime security.

The two maritime industry nanosatellites will be powered by "M2MSat" technology, in the form of cutting-edge VHD Data Exchange System (VDES) software-defined radios for machine-to-machine (M2M) communication.

A software-defined radio (SDR) system uses software for the modulation and demodulation of radio signals, performing significant amounts of signal processing in a general-purpose computer.

"The technology brings flexibility, cost-efficiency and power to drive communications forward, with wide-reaching benefits," the department explained.

The technology will also enable the delivery of complex analytics and ubiquitous positioning of high-value assets, as well as mission-critical services, at a lower cost than the deployment of traditional satellite systems.

"Developed as a collaboration between CPUT and local company Stone Three Communications, the M2MSat technology advances the state of the art in space innovation, significantly improving on the technology on-board CPUT's ZACube-2 nanosatellite, which was launched in 2018."

In South Africa, the department said, the space industry ecosystem - including supporting space engineering programmes, human capacity development, infrastructure investments and technological innovations - is part of the high-end infrastructure sectors that are critical to the country's economic recovery.

"The development and commercialisation of the M2MSat platform will position South Africa as a key contributor of innovation in the space sector globally, feeding into the space value chain, growing partnerships with industry, and fast-tracking the creation and exploitation of space knowledge and innovation."

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Meanwhile, plans are underway to develop Denel's Overberg Test Range (OTR) in the Western Cape as a facility to launch future CubeSats developed by the CPUT.

Earlier this month, researchers and students at the University of KwaZulu-Natal's Aerospace Systems Research Group successfully launched two-hybrid rockets as part of the Phoenix Hybrid Sounding Rocket Programme.

"The successful launch saw one of the test rockets travel 17.9 km into the air achieving a new African hybrid rocket altitude record, a significantly huge success for South African engineering and the development of African satellite rocket launch capability."

The second rocket made more than 10km altitude with a payload from CPUT.
OAKLAND, Calif., March 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Blue Shield of California, as the state of California's third-party administrator, today announced it has reached its target for the expansion of the State's COVID-19 vaccine provider network a month ahead of schedule. California now has capacity to administer more than 4 million doses a week to help save more lives. The increased capacity also includes a growing number of providers, local health jurisdictions, Federally Qualified Health Centers and pharmacies, including Walmart.

The increased capacity from the creation of a single statewide network supports Gov. Gavin Newsom's plan for Californians, 50-years of age and older, to be eligible to receive COVID-19 vaccines beginning April 1. Starting April 15, everyone 16-years of age and older will be eligible to receive COVID-19 vaccines.

"The anticipated increase in vaccine supply from the federal government in the coming weeks and the state removing age eligibility tiers in April is giving all Californians much-needed hope," said Paul Markovich, president and CEO, Blue Shield of California. "This is exactly why we've been working so hard to transition to the new centralized vaccine network  one that is only limited by the amount of vaccines we receive. This is the way we can save more lives, beat the pandemic and reopen our society."

California's enhanced vaccine network has grown to more than 270 providers with the infrastructure to deliver vaccinations at more than 2,100 sites across the state, helping to ensure all eligible Californians have equitable access to the vaccines, especially those in communities hardest hit by the pandemic.

The network continues its focus on reaching the state's most vulnerable communities including rural areas and areas California has identified as high priorities for vaccine availability to meet equity goals (lowest quartile Healthy Places Index).

During the March transition period, the providers already administering the vaccine will continue to receive doses to ensure vaccines are available to as many Californians as possible.



The latest list of participating vaccine providers can be found at this link.

To view more of Paul Markovich's comments, click the video link here.

Blue Shield is a nonprofit health plan that's answering the call by the state to support its vaccine distribution efforts to help save lives. The health plan is working closely with each county, their public health leaders, and state officials to build a vaccine network to help meet the state's goal to ensure all Californians have access to the vaccines equitably, efficiently and as quickly as possible.

The health plan is taking on this effort at cost without making a profit from the state. Blue Shield is not charging the state for its staff time devoted to this effort. It will only bill the state actual expenses to support the network up to the limit of the contract.

About Blue Shield of California

Blue Shield of California strives to create a healthcare system worthy of its family and friends that is sustainably affordable. Blue Shield of California is a tax paying, nonprofit, independent member of the Blue Shield Association with over 4.5 million members, over 7,500 employees and more than $21 billion in annual revenue. Founded in 1939 in San Francisco and now headquartered in Oakland, Blue Shield of California and its affiliates provide health, dental, vision, Medicaid and Medicare healthcare service plans in California. The company has contributed more than $150 million to Blue Shield of California Foundation in the last four years to have an impact on California communities.

For more news about Blue Shield of California, please visit news.blueshieldca.com.

Or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, or Facebook.

CONTACT: Erika Conner

Blue Shield of California

510-607-2359

[email protected]

SOURCE Blue Shield of California

Related Links

www.bcbs.com


Teachers have raised serious concerns on the credibility of the just-concluded Standard Eight national exams after it emerged that nearly half of the questions in the English Language paper had been lifted from two books and a test that had been sold to a number of schools in February.

An analysis by Nation yesterday revealed that the Kenya National Examinations Council (Knec) lifted an entire section from a Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exam prediction paper that was set and sold to schools by Distinction Educational Publishers.

The same test appears in Distinction KCPE English, a book published by the same company, raising queries on Knec's attention to detail in setting exams.

Key words omitted

The title is not among the course books approved by the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development, but is bought and used by schools that can afford it.

In KCPE Prediction Cloze Test -- the section that was lifted -- candidates were given a passage that had some key words omitted for them to fill to test their language skills.

In the KCPE test done on Monday, candidates were given the same test to choose the best alternative from the given choices.

The section in question carried 15 marks -- a substantial amount in a national exam that determines secondary school admissions.

The Nation has established that several schools across the country, the majority of them private, bought and administered the KCPE prediction exam in February, giving them an advantage over their public counterparts that could not afford the tests.

But their head start didn't stop there. The comprehension section of the same English paper, question 39 to 50 with 11 marks, had also been lifted from another book with answers, Key English, Volume 2, authored by A.S. Sandhu.

This title, too, is not among the course books the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development approved for schools.

The revelations came a day after the KCPE tests ended, prompting sharp reactions from teachers and other education stakeholders who now want answers from Knec.

"This is a national exam, which is supposed to take care of all learners, regardless of whether [or not] they're from private or public schools.

How can Knec lift content from a best-selling book?" a teacher who spoke to the Nation in confidence posed.

Another teacher said the exam gave an advantage to several schools that bought and administered the prediction exams in February and to those that were using Mr Sandhu's book.

"When you see such kind of an exam, it raises the issue of credibility on the part of Knec," he said.

Other teachers said they were wondering if Knec contracted the publishers of the books and their examiners to set the English paper.

Teachers of English, who spoke to Nation, said the Cloze Test and the comprehension section are meant for spontaneity and should not, ideally, be lifted from content learners have already been exposed to.

"These sections are meant to test learners' competence in language skills and grammar," a teacher said.

An English examiner told the Nation that subject panels of members from Knec, the Education ministry and universities set the tests.

"They set many different questions, which are later moderated for quality. What happened in the KCPE paper is laziness of the highest order," she said.

"For that Cloze Test section, they are supposed to develop their own original content. It's meant to test whether the learners have transferred the language skills learnt in the classroom and not to regurgitate what they have crammed."

Distinction Educational Publishers Managing Director Henry Onyonka said they also learned after the exams were done that Knec had lifted the passage from their book.

"If Knec lifted content from our books and prediction papers, we don't have any business with them. Our books have been in the market for the past three years," he said.

Mr Onyonka said the company sets the KCPE prediction papers from their books to prepare candidates for their final exams.

Beyond reproach

The director also said he had also noted similar questions in the Social Studies paper, among other subjects.

"This is not an uncommon incident as in the past years, teachers always set exams from past papers and revision books," he said.

Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers secretary-general Akelo Misori said setting of national exams should be beyond reproach and fair to all candidates.

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"Even though exams are set from learning materials available for learners, for Knec to have similar questions to a previous predicted paper makes the whole process incredible," he said.

His Kenya National Union of Teachers counterpart Wilson Sossion said exam predictions, especially for language papers, should not have similar content with the Knec exams.

"When a similar passage is predicted and it appears in the Knec exams, then it shows there was leakage," he said. "Credibility and reliability of our National Exams is terribly tarnished!"

When Nation sent sample questions to Knec acting Chief Executive Officer Mercy Karogo yesterday morning, she said she would give an official "expert response".

She, however, had not responded by the time Nation went to press.

When he spoke after the last KCPE paper was done on Wednesday, Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha said no exam malpractices were reported in the exams.

The CS also warned that schools that will be found to have cheated will face dire consequences.
China sees robust growth of smart appliance market

By Wang Jingyue (People's Daily Overseas Edition) 09:05, March 26, 2021

A 5G-based robot makes coffee at the Mobile World Congress 2021, Feb. 23. (People's Daily Online/Long Wei)

China's smart home appliance industry embraced rapid development in recent years. Around 82.4 percent of Chinese families used smart appliances last year, up by 15.1 percentage points from 2019, according to data analytics firm All View Cloud.

Today, vacuum robots are freeing people from the daily grind of household chores; smart locks allow people to unbolt the doors with their fingerprints; intelligent speakers can play not only music, but also radio dramas upon voice command.

"We'll have a peace of mind even when our kids and parents are home alone," said a woman surnamed Wang living in Chaoyang District, Beijing who has recently installed a smart camera at home. The device enables her to see what happens in every corner of her house on a mobile application when she's out, and she can even speak to her families through the camera.

According to statistics, China is home to a total of 5,759 firms related to smart speakers.

Smart appliances enjoy a very high reputation among Chinese consumers. Liu Qian, associate researcher with China Center for Internet Economy Research, Central University of Finance and Economics, explained that smart appliances, aiming to make home management more efficient, can tangibly improve the life quality of users.

"With the application of 5G technology, as well as the integration of artificial intelligence and internet of things, the functions of these appliances will be further enhanced, thus attracting more consumers," she said.

A man surnamed Pan from Guigang, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, was planning to buy a smart phone for his family. "I thought my parents wouldn't agree, but the result was exactly the opposite," he said.

In the era of internet, which features efficient and highly connected logistics networks, smart appliances are no longer exclusive to citizens in first- and second-tier cities. They are more and more accepted by users from lower-tier markets, including Pan's parents.

According to a recent report issued by Tmall, an e-commerce platform under Alibaba, Chinese families in third- and lower-tier cities are now major consumers of smart appliances and moving forward at an accelerated speed.

It indicated a change in the consumption demand of many residents, said experts. Consumers, most of whom were pragmatists in the old days, are focusing more on whether products can improve their life quality. This marks a change of consumption value, and also reflects people's attitude toward smart appliances.

(Web editor: Hongyu, Liang Jun)
The Plenary of the House of Representatives has slapped Montserrado County district #10 Representative Yekeh Kolubah with 30 days suspension for his direct and deliberate egregious behaviour constantly being exhibited against the Liberian Presidency on a daily basis

A bitter critic of President George Manneh Weah, Rep. Kolubah is a member of the opposition Collaborating Political Parties, CPP.

His suspension follows a communication sent to plenary by ruling Coalition for Democratic Change Representative Thomas P. Fallah of Montserrado District #5.

In his communication to plenary Thursday, Rep. Fallah prayed the body that the behavior being exhibited against the Liberian Presidency daily by Rep Kolubah should no longer be accepted or condoned as pleasant, if they are to maintain the sanctity and prestige of that sacred institution to show case the integrity of its members.

According to him, Rep. Kolubah's disregard for constituted authority and the rule of law over the past years since his ascendency to the National Legislature has demeaned the image of that institution and the hard earned integrity of its members.

"Mr. Speaker and distinguished colleagues, the role of discipline in any instruction like ours requires that an action be taken in the case of nonconformity to be able to deter any unethical behavior of a member or members who will want to conduct themselves in manner that will bring disrespect to this Noble institution", Fallah added.

Rep. Fallah continued that he has on so many occasions confronted Rep. Kolubah on the manner in which he (Kolubah) addresses the Liberian Leader but he had refused to listen.

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Fallah explained the recent profanity ranted on the President by Rep. Kolubah was on March 19, 2021 at the Capitol Building in an interview the opposition lawmaker granted with FDKTV, where he referred to the President as "Dog."

Rep. Yekeh Kolubah was given an opportunity to respond to charges brought against by his colleague, but he chose to remain silent.

For his part, Grand Gedeh County Electoral district#2 Representative George S. Boley described the unbecoming behavior of his colleague as unbearable, warning that nobody can scare anyone in the country, and if anyone tries anything, there is news for them.

"Mr. Speaker, we need to take a vote on this, Mr. Speaker call for the vote", Rep. Boley, a former warlord deported from the United States for arming child soldiers in Liberia, urged.

Lofa county electoral district#2 Representative Juide F. Weih then called on the leadership of the House to take seize of the matter, but was rejected by her colleagues.

Meanwhile, ruling party lawmaker Acarous Moses Gray prayed for a motion for reconsideration, which will be tested following return of the House from Easter Break.
China has mapped out its social and economic development priorities for the coming five years and the decades beyond in a recently released development blueprint, and analysts believe the country's consistency on policy will help stabilize and boost the global market prospects.
When the Toyota Corolla Cross made its debut in the Philippines, we were the only one brave enough to call the design, sloppy. Naturally,...
New Braunfels, TX (78130)

Today

Thunderstorms likely. High 73F. Winds ENE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%..

Tonight

Scattered thunderstorms early, then mainly cloudy overnight with thunderstorms likely. Low 66F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%.
Sam Carroll had time on his hands.

Early last year after the Covid-19 pandemic hit, the longtime head brewer lost his position at North Portlands Occidental Brewing, so what else to do but start making barbecue in his backyard. Soon, the tasty distraction turned into a new career focus  Carroll and two friends started laying out plans for a Hood River barbecue truck the trio hopes to someday turn into a restaurant.

In two weeks, Grasslands Barbecue makes its local debut with a pop-up at Northeast Portlands Level Beer. That will follow Grasslands first event this Saturday at White Salmon Bakery, in the Washington town across the Columbia River from the city of Hood River.

Im excited  Ive been excited for long time, Carroll said Thursday. Today the positive anxiety hit me, but Im ready. Everything is good to go.

The idea for Grasslands sprouted when Carroll was talking with Drew Marquis, a friend since their days at the University of Oklahoma. Marquis, whose food career included restaurants in Dallas as well as a butcher apprenticeship in Tuscany, Italy, suggested bringing in Brendon Bain, a longtime Seattle area chef who had worked in the Tom Douglas family of restaurants there, as well as Salumi cured meats.

The trio settled on Hood River as home. They sketched out a business plan, started the process of buying a food truck and worked with the city on possible locations. For this summer and fall, Carroll said, Grasslands will set up along Hood Rivers Waterfront Park, along the same stretch as pFriem Family Brewers and Ferment Brewing Co.

Carroll, who was let go from Occidental after production tanked because of the pandemic, has been managing the business side for Grasslands, while Marquis and Bain get recipes dialed in. But once they open the truck window, its going to be all hands on deck and a lot of long nights and hard work, he said.

They have extensive kitchen backgrounds, Carroll said. All of my barbecue experience is my backyard hobby.

The founders plan is to reinvest, get bigger equipment and smokers, then start to look for a plot of land or an old building in which to open a brick-and-mortar space in a few years. Carroll said the goal was to stay in the Columbia River Gorge initially.

Carroll could eventually return to the brewhouse as well, as the group has not ruled out a small-scale brewery to support a restaurant.

Grasslands Barbecue is a new venture from former Occidental Brewing head brewer Sam Carroll (left) and two friends, Drew Marquis (middle) and Brendon Bain.Courtesy of Grasslands Barbecue

But for now, its all about pop-ups while the trio waits for the June delivery of its barbecue truck, which is being customized now. Carroll said Level was a perfect spot to introduce Grasslands to Portland.

The guys at Level are awesome, and theres room for us to spread out there, Carroll said. And I thought hopefully all my friends would be able to make it out if we did it in Portland.

The spread will include a full menu of brisket, sausage and pulled pork.

Were grinding our own sausages, Carroll said, and well have cheese grits, collard greens that we mix with yellow eye beans  its incredible  and of course Texas-style white bread.

Carroll said the Grasslands founders were in it for the long haul.

I like both of these guys quite a bit, he said. We talk about how we might be doing this for the next 35 40 years. Thats something I look forward to.

If You Go

Grasslands Barbecue at Level Beer

Saturday, April 10

11 a.m. until close (or the food runs out)

5211 N.E. 148th Ave.

Grasslands Barbecue pop-up at White Salmon Bakery

Saturday, March 27

5 p.m. until close (or the food runs out)

80 N.E. Estes Ave., White Salmon, Washington

-- Andre Meunier; ameunier@oregonian.com

Subscribe to Andres text service and get ongoing alerts about beer releases and news from the Portland and Oregon beer scene. And check out Andres beer reviews on Untappd, where hes andremeunier13, and follow him on Instagram, where hes @oregonianbeerguy.
The currencies said to have been recovered from the money laundering suspect are contained in three bags

The Federal Government tendered three bags of naira and other different types of foreign currencies as evidence in the money laundering trial of a former top officer of the Nigerian Air Force, Umar Mohammed, at the Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday.

Mr Mohammed, a retired air commodore, was a member of the defunct presidential investigative committee on procurement of arms and equipment in the Armed Forces, set up by President Muhammadu Buhari shortly after assuming office as President in 2015.

The currency notes tendered against Mr Mohammed on Thursday comprised different denominations of naira, U.S. dollars, CFA francs, Barbados dollars, Caribbean dollars, and Trinidad and Tobago dollars.

Testifying as the first and only prosecution witness in the case, a State Security Service (SSS) official, Stephen Olatubosun, who produced the currencies in court, said the monies were recovered from Mr Mohammed's residence.

Mr Olatunbosun was led in evidence by the lawyer prosecuting the case on behalf of the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Magaji Labaran.

Money counted

News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the trial judge, Inyang Ekwo, had on Wednesday, ordered that the currencies be counted with a counting machine at the office of the Deputy Chief Registrar (Litigation) in the presence of all the parties to ascertain the total amount before being tendered as exhibits.

At the resumed trial on Thursday, the prosecution counsel, Mr Labaran, told the court that the parties to the case had complied with the court order.

"My lord, we have done the needful at the office of the Chief Deputy Registrar (Litigation). The currencies were counted and are in three bags labelled Bag A, Bag B and Bag C," Mr Labaran said.

Also, the defence lawyer, Hassan Liman, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, confirmed that the parties to the case were duly represented during the counting of the money.

Breakdown of currencies

The prosecution witness, Mr Olatubosun, an official of the State Security Service (SSS), identified the three bags of currencies in his evidence-in-chief.

"There are three bags - two black and one brown. They are labelled as Bag A, Bag B and Bag C, respectively with the currencies sum attached to them," he said.

Giving a breakdown of the amounts in each of the bags, the witness said Bag A contained 529, 400 dollars and Bag B had 499, 800 dollars.

Mr Olatubosun added that Bag C contained different currencies of dollars including naira notes.

According to him, Bag C contained N1,200,000 in N1000 notes; N100,000 in N500 note; 957 US dollars; 2, 570, 000CFA and another rap of 5, 000CFA.

He also said Bag C also had 46, 500CFA; 20, 000CFA; 4, 000CFA, 50 Barbados dollars; another 70 Barbados dollars containing 10 bundles; five pieces of Caribbean dollars; seven pieces of Trinidad and Tobago dollars, five pieces of Trinidad and Tobago dollars and another 60 Trinidad and Tobago dollars in a wrap.

CBN for safekeeping

Mr Ekwo, after admitting the three bags of currencies in evidence, ordered the Chief Registrar of the court to keep the bags at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) pending further order of the court.

During cross-examination by defence lawyer, the witness said he was not part of the teams that either visited the retired officer's residence or took his statement.

He, however, said based on the report of the SSS officers who carried out the operation, "the source of the currency is from the defendant."

Mr Olatubosun said although he did not personally investigate the defendant, to the best of his knowledge, Mr Mohammed "is a businessman."

Prosecution's case closed, defence to file no-case submission

After the cross-examination, the prosecution announced that it would be closing its case with Mr Olatubosun as its only witness.

Mr Liman, the defence lawyer, then informed the court that the defendant would be applying for a no-case submission.

The judge, Mr Ekwo then granted the defence's application to enter a no-case submission.

He gave the defence 21 days to file the no-case submission and seven days to the prosecution from the day of being served by the defence to file its counter-submission.

The judge also gave two days to the defence from the day it is served with the prosecution's counter-submission to further respond should it have any need for it.

The judge adjourned the matter April 27 for adoption of the no-case submission addresses.

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Charges

The News agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Mr Mohammed and his company, Easy Jet Integrated Service Ltd, are being prosecuted on three counts of money laundering, illegal possession of firearms and possession of classified documents without lawful authority.

He and his company were accused of accepting $1,030,000 in cash from a firm, Worldwide Consortium PTY Ltd "as payment for flight services" without going through a financial institution as required by the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act.

The government also accused him of having in his possession, at his No: 4 Lungi Close, Mississippi, Maitama, Abuja home, "classified/official documents without lawful authority and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 1(1)(b) of the Official Secret Act and punishable under Section 7(1)(a) of the same law.

Mr Mohammed was also accused of being in illegal possession of two pump action guns (marked: SBSG Magnum 397 and SBGS Interpress 09-1573) between June 1, 2011 and June 19, 2016 without valid licences thereby committing an offence contrary to Section 4 of the Firearms Act 2004 and punishable under Section 27(1)(b)(i) of the Act."

(NAN)
Farmers have reacted to PETA UK's call on social media for 'whistle blowers' to come forward against the British dairy industry.

The activist group's full page advert was seen in the North Wales newspaper Daily Post this week.

The advert 'encourages' the public to 'submit evidence of animal welfare violations including split hooves, untreated mastitis and untreated lameness'.

"ATTN: We want to lift the lid on cruelty in the dairy industry," PETA UK said on social media with a photo of the advert attached.

"We're calling on whistle-blowers to come forward with reports of cruelty to cows on UK dairy farms."

Dozens of high-profile industry figures and social media users debated the nature of the advert, and whether it was reasonable and valid.

Because obviously if there is a serious animal welfare concern, my first thought would be to inform @PETAUK, who will just use the situation as promotional material to justify a vegan lifestyle, rather than reporting it to @RSPCA_official who will actually do something about it. https://t.co/5aVVxSYbxD  Lizzie Wilson (@pigwigpress) March 24, 2021

We need to expose & eliminate poor #AnimalWelfare, but it must be evidence-based.

?? How many people would recognise untreated mastitis?

?? Could your non-ag friends understand signs of distress in cattle?

?? What is inappropriate calf housing to the average High St shopper? https://t.co/bXXylk6U5t  Dr Jude Capper ?????? (@Bovidiva) March 24, 2021

Some social media users defended the advert, as farmers 'should support whistleblowing against bad practice'.

There are vets who are on farm almost weekly,they are far better placed to give an opinion on welfare than peta requesting everyday people to make judgments on an industry they have very little understanding off.  Steve Evans (@Evsthetractor) March 24, 2021

I would argue RSPCA are for that. Also you have the joy of people calling police et al to report cows are outside in the rain, pigs 'screaming' at feeding time etc. There are enough problems of reports made out of spite/personal vendettas  Ed Barker (@edbarkerAIC) March 24, 2021

Gareth Wyn Jones, a high-profile sheep farmer from North Wales, said it was the newspaper - based in the same region as him - that he was 'shocked' with.
Stories behind BCI ceasing sourcing cotton from China's Xinjiang over forced labor rumors

Global Times) 08:15, March 26, 2021

The Global Times has learned that the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI), a non-governmental organization that aims to promote better standards in cotton farming, has suspended licenses to companies in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, a move that may deal a blow to related industries in the region.

BCI's decision has been made right when the anti-China forces in the US and some Western countries are making concerted efforts to slander China's policies in its Xinjiang region. Are there any links between BCI's decision and anti-China forces' efforts? What is the reality for Xinjiang's cotton-related industries?

At the end of 2020, the Global Times reporters went to many companies in the textile and cotton-related industries in the Bayingolin Mongolian Autonomous Prefecture and the Aksu Prefecture and found that the so-called forced labor allegation is a presumption of guilt made by the anti-China forces overseas to smear the region. The Global Times reporters also learned that to cooperate with anti-China forces, the headquarters of the BCI overruled, for no reason at all, the conclusion made by BCI's office in Shanghai of "there is no forced labor in Xinjiang" after several field reviews.

The cotton gins in a coat factory in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region

Hitting the pause button

On March 12, 2020, Zhang Biao, chief manager of a company named Zhongwang in Yuli county of the Bayingolin Mongolian Autonomous Prefecture received an email from the BCI.

It said that given the "current complicated international environment", the BCI decided to suspend giving licenses or certificates from 2020 to 2021 in China's Xinjiang region. The organization will update its standards during the suspension period to better deal with the environment.

This email and its contents confused Zhang as his company has been one of the companies with which BCI's cooperated in Xinjiang for years and the reasons for suspending the licenses for "updating the standards" sounded disingenuous.

In responding to the Global Times's questions on further explaining the reasons and what was meant by "complicated international environment," BCI's Shanghai office did not give a clear answer and it said the email was penned by the headquarters office in English, and the Shanghai branch translated it into Chinese and sent it to companies in Xinjiang.

As an international NGO, which was registered in Geneva of Switzerland with its head offices in Geneva and London, BCI's licenses have significant meaning to Chinese companies. According to an introduction from its website, BCI is the largest cotton sustainability program in the world. At the end of 2019, BCI had more than 1,840 members, spanning the entire global cotton supply chain from farmer organizations through to retailers and brands. In 2019, BCI Retailer and Brand Members sourced more than 1.5 million metric tons of Better Cotton, including brands such as H&M, Adidas, and Nike.

"The value of BCI's certificate depends on who are your target customers. If your customers are all BCI retailers and brand members, then its certificate and licenses are very important because with no certificate, you cannot sell your products to these companies," Zhang told the Global Times.

Zhang's company joined BCI's program in 2015. "A yarn company in Jiangsu Province is the supplier for IKEA. According to IKEA's standard, only materials that meet BCI's standards can be used for its suppliers. We are helping the Jiangsu company to plant, collect and produce cotton under the BCI standards."

The sudden suspension of cooperation from the BCI has caught many companies in Xinjiang which have joined in its programs off guard and caused losses. A company named Haoxing, which runs cotton-buying businesses in Xinjiang, has cooperated with BCI for a long time.

Gao Ruinan, a manager of Haoxing, told the Global Times that BCI's suspending cooperation has caused losses amounting to 14 million yuan (2.14 million) for the company. "The major blow is on the sales channels. Many companies in other places in China have recognized the BCI standards in recent years and the suspension has put great pressure on the company's sales."

However, not all companies suffered great losses. Liu Wenxin, a manager from Zhongliang company in Yuli county, told the Global Times that "suspending the licenses may be a great shock to us many years ago as many of the yarn companies we are doing business are using cotton under BCI standards. But after 2018, we have expanded the futures contracts, which have limited the impact."

Echoing Liu, Zhang said that for cotton-producing companies, the influence of BCI's suspending licenses in Xinjiang is "under control" as the greater impact was on the downstream portion of the industry chain - the yarn companies.

A local man drives a forklift truck in a trading company at Yuli county, Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

Reasons that cannot tell

Aside from the loss by companies in Xinjiang, BCI's suspension decision also hurt the image of Xinjiang's cotton.

BCI's principles stress minimizing the harmful impact of crop protection practices, promote water stewardship, care for the health of the soil, enhance the biodiversity and use of land, care for and preserve fiber quality and promote decent work.

Many companies in Xinjiang firstly joined the BCI programs aimed to enhance their planting and collecting of cotton.

Li Chengjun, head of the Taichang Agricultural Company, still remembered their signing of the agreements with BCI in 2013. "We are large farms and wanted to learn advanced agricultural technologies, for example on how to reduce cost while increasing yields. When they talked about 'decent work' at that time, I was confused by the phrase. Finally, I figured it out - the rules are nothing new from what we already have in our Labor Law."

Li thought the BCI's principles were good and some terms it used were different from what they had already used and practiced.

"After signing the agreement, BCI conducts a review every two years and we are also asked to conduct a self-assessment. No problem has been found in these past years," Li told the Global Times.

Many other companies reached by the Global Times also confirmed that their cooperation with the BCI had been smooth until the arrival of the email on suspensions. Requests for further explanations have not been answered.

All these seemed to suggest "updating standards" is circumlocution with BCI which still has unrevealed reasons while anti-China forces are hyping them as "forced labor."

For example, the infamous BBC cited anti-China "scholar" Adrian Zenz in a report aired in December 2020, saying that "new evidence suggests that upwards of half a million minority workers a year are also being marshaled into seasonal cotton-picking under conditions that again appear to raise a high risk of coercion."

On December 12, 2020, the US Department of Homeland Security also announced that US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) personnel at all US ports of entry would detain shipments containing cotton and cotton products originating from the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC) based on "information that reasonably indicates the use of forced labor."

Seeing is believing

The anti-China forces in the US and Western countries have made moves and to cooperate with them, the reports on Xinjiang's cotton related industries in the Western media have already preset similar scenarios - a bunch of workers from ethnic minorities being forced to pick cotton in the fields or working in dirty plants; they have meager wages and may suffer punishments for small errors this were the images that BBC and some Western media tried to portray.

What is the truth? The Global Times has learned that cotton-related industries cover agriculture, the processing industry, and even the service industry - which are complicated but with clear development patterns. The only procedure that may involve a large number of laborers is collecting cotton.

One big mistake made by the BBC in its December report is to say half of a million people were being "forced" to pick cotton by hand while in fact machines have been largely used in Xinjiang.

Industry insiders in Xinjiang told the Global Times that it is impossible to finish collecting cotton in Xinjiang within December if few machines are being used. But the companies the Global Times have visited in December had finished the collecting and finalized the initial processing of the cotton.

Cotton textile industry in Xinjiang has realized large-scale mechanized operations, with only a small number of workers in the factory.

Mutalip Zeyap, a 35-year-old resident in Luntai county, would come to work at the Guoxin company from September to December every year since 2017 and his colleagues liked to call him "A Mu."

A Mu is responsible for security in the plant - he needs to check the machines when cotton is fed in to be deseeded.

"My work is quite easy as machines are doing most of the work. I only need to make sure the machines operate well," A Mu said while cleaning cotton fibers from the machines.

A Mu said that he learned how to fix these machines after coming to work at the company. "At first, I made many mistakes but my team leader never admonished me for that, instead, every time he asked me whether I was injured or not. He always said that the machines can be fixed later but I cannot get injured."

In responding to whether ethnic workers in the company are "forced" to work in the company, A Mu seemed angry. "Why did they say we are forced? We come here voluntarily to earn money. We also have the right to live a better life through our work!"

Lu Chunjian, a legal representative of the company, told the Global Times that there were long lines when the company recruits workers in spring. "Some villagers rent a car to drive them to apply for the jobs. Some villagers who fail to be employed even cry. They want to work here. Those we employed in 2015 have earned the money to buy new cars this year."

Aside from the cotton processing companies, how about the working environment in downstream companies?

Take the Taichang Yarn Company in the Korla as an example. A few workers have been found in the large plant with more than a dozen spinning machines working together.

The ethnic minorities account for 95 percent of the total number of its workers at Taichang Yarn Company. It offered free accommodations for all workers and child care.

The Global Times reporters saw the payrolls of workers after getting permission from workers and found that most of them can earn more than 4,000 yuan a month. An employee named Rushangul also had her first contract sighed in 1990 with the company. The copy of the contract has been and will be kept in the company forever as "every employee is respected here," a member of the managing staff told the Global Times.

Li Chengjun from Taichang told the Global Times that he used to communicate with BCI staff about where the "indecent work" called by the BCI is practiced. "They said that for example, India. Some owners of the farms asked workers to serve them as a lord, for example, help the owner to wipe their face with towels."

"This thing would not happen here - we wouldn't dare to make employees wipe our faces; we would like to wipe our employees' faces to please them so they can work here longer," Li laughed.

"I told the BCI staff that their principles of 'decent work' are an unnecessary move in China as we have the overall regulations and laws to protect workers' rights and interests. And considering the current situation in the labor market, companies are working so hard to recruit and maintain capable employees," Li said.

Arbitrarily Overturning

It is obvious that "forced labor" accusations are ignorant and malicious presumptions of culpability without verifiable facts. All the companies the Global Times has reached which had been in cooperation with BCI, have confirmed that no such thing as "forced labor" has been found in BCI's previous reviews in Xinjiang. But why did the NGO suspend offering certificates in China's Xinjiang region?

The Global Times has learned that soon after anti-China forces started to hype "forced labor" topics, cotton-related companies in Xinjiang have conducted self-assessments and surveys.

The BCI Shanghai office told the Global Times that the BCI's review includes self-assessments, reviews from partners, and reviews from the BCI and third-party review organizations. Only those who passed all these reviews can get the certificate from BCI. "For the past eight years, all partners of BCI in Xinjiang have passed all reviews under the standards of Better Cotton and no forced labor or coercive labor that violated the Better Cotton principles have been found."

However, the head office of the BCI overruled the investigation and conclusion of the Shanghai office and member companies' self-assessments and instead continued to carry on the surveys and rectification.

When pushing for the investigation, the head office also cited a large amount of disinformation spread by anti-China organizations, including the US-based World Uyghur Congress and the Human Rights Watch, making the so-called investigation untenable on credibility and authenticity.

On October 21, 2020, BCI announced on its website to cease all field-level activities in China's Xinjiang region.

"By suspending its activities in China's Xinjiang, BCI lost 90 percent of its business in China. It is cutting its own limbs off," an industrial insider told the Global Times.

BCI's move was driven by pressure from outside as well as other interests. The Global Times has learned that many BCI council members are representatives from BCI brand members from the US and various European countries. Since member fees are the main financial source for BCI, brand members including Nike, LEVIS, or GAP from the US have significant influence. The US Agency for International Development was once a council member.

The industrial insider told the Global Times that employees of BCI's Shanghai office have been under great pressure since 2019. "The US may want to kill two birds with one stone - by pressuring BCI, it could slander China's Xinjiang and also squeeze BCI's market to promote its own standards on cotton industries."

In responding on whether the current situation would ease, the insider said that "it depends on the international political situation."

(Web editor: Meng Bin, Liang Jun)
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi landed in Bangladesh for a two-day visit, his first since the coronavirus outbreak. PM Modi reached Dhaka at around 10:30 in the morning, where his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina received him at the airport to welcome him. He participated in the 50th anniversary celebration of Bangladesh's Independence.

Bangladesh completed 50 years of Independence from Pakistan and the hero of the war was Sheikh Mujibur Rehman. In 1975, Sheikh Mujibur Rehman, the hero of Bangladesh's independence, and his family were brutally murdered in his own country. At that time, Sheikh Hasina, his daughter was in Germany.

Zee News Editor-in-Chief Sudhir Chaudhary on Friday (March 26) analysed the significance of this day for Bangladesh and how Mohammad Ali Jinnah's mistake led to the creation of the country.

In the year 1948, during his first and last visit to East Pakistan, Jinnah had made the mistake by declaring openly that Urdu will be the official language of the whole of Pakistan.

Jinnah believed that Islam followed by Sindhi Muslims, Punjabi Muslims, Pathans and Bengali Muslims would be able to unite under the common language Urdu.

But in doing so, he made a big mistake when he did not understand the mood of then East Pakistan as Bengalis felt their identity was under threat.

Sheikh Mujibur Rehman was born on March 17, 1920 in the village of Tungipara in Gopalganj district of Bengal. He became a part of active politics in 1940, when he joined All India Muslim Student Federation. This was also the time when the Lahore session of the Muslim League first passed a resolution from India about a separate nation from Pakistan and then Mohammed Ali Jinnah was leading it.

In the year 1949 the East Pakistan Awami League party was formed. The formation of this party was also important because Mohammad Ali Jinnah had visited East Pakistan a year earlier and then he had announced that Urdu would be the official language of Pakistan. This led to a major political conflict.

Sheikh Mujibur Rehman was challenging the fact the government was being run from West Pakistan. He also won the provincial election in East Pakistan in 1954 and reached the Legislative Assembly, further, in 1956 he was also the Minister of Industries and Labor of East Pakistan.

However, in 1958, when the then President of Pakistan, General Ayub Khan implemented martial law in the whole country then the feeling of disatisfaction and despair in East Pakistan increased considerably.

At that time Sheikh Mujibur Rehman was also arrested and remained in jail till 1961. However, after his release he continued to oppose martial law and he was arrested again in 1962.

In Sheikh Mujibur Rehman's journey from a leader to being called the 'father of Bangladesh' his struggle never really ended.

In 1975, Sheikh Mujibur Rehman was the Prime Minister of Bangladesh and there was a lot of dissatisfaction against him in the Army. As a result of this, on August 15, 1975, some troops of the army conducted an operation against him in Dhaka. Sheikh Mujibur Rehman had three houses in Dhaka and the army raided them all and killed him and his family.

However, after the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rehman his daughter Sheikh Hasina was given political asylum in India under Indira Gandhi's rule. Hasina had moved to Delhi with her family.

Friday's event on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Bangladesh was dedicated to its brave son and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was rendered emotional as she remembered the whole story.

(Alliance News) - UK insurer Aviva PLC on Friday said it sold its Aviva Poland unit for EUR2.5 billion in cash to German peer Allianz SE, shedding the last of its non-core operations.

London-based Aviva, which provides savings, retirement and life insurance products, said it will now focus on its "strongest businesses" in the UK, Ireland and Canada where it has "leading market positions" and strong growth potential.

For Munich-based Allianz, the acquisition makes it the fifth largest insurer in Poland, doubling its revenue there. Allianz said it also is set to become the second largest insurer in central and eastern Europe in terms of operating profit.

"We are delighted to further strengthen visibility of the Allianz brand in Central Eastern Europe and pursue our successful growth strategy in the region," commented Allianz Chief Executive Officer Oliver Bate. "By combining our insurance and digital expertise and strong investments in technological innovation, customers will benefit from our innovative products and outstanding services."

The deal values Aviva Poland at EUR2.7 billion in total, from which was subtracted a EUR200 million dividend payment.

The business comprises Aviva's interests in life insurance business in Poland and Lithuania and its Polish general insurance, asset management and pensions businesses. It also includes Aviva's 51% shareholding in life and general insurance joint ventures with Spain's Banco Santander SA. These are Santander Aviva TUnZ and Santander Aviva TU, respectively.

Aviva Poland generated GBP130 million in IFRS profit after tax in 2020. It had an IFRS net asset value of GBP400 million on December 31, meaning a GBP1.8 billion uplift in value from the sale price, Aviva said.

Aviva said the proceeds of the sale will raise its Solvency II cover ratio by 13 percentage points.

The sale of Aviva Poland is the eighth divestment Aviva has announced in the past eight months under the streamlining strategy of Chief Executive Officer Amanda Blanc, and Aviva said the deal successfully concludes the planned refocus of the company's portfolio.

Blanc became CEO in July, having joined the Aviva board in January 2020. She is the former CEO of EMEA & Global Banking Partnerships at Zurich Insurance Group AG.

Blanc said on Friday: "The sale of our Polish business is an excellent conclusion to the refocusing of our portfolio announced just eight months ago. The sale of our eight non-core businesses will generate total cash proceeds of GBP7.5 billion. We have made significant progress with our debt reduction plan and in due course we will make a substantial return of capital to shareholders. Our strategic focus is now on our strongest businesses in the UK, Ireland and Canada where we have leading market positions and strong growth potential."

Aviva shares were up 1.0% at 404.00 pence early Friday in London. Allianz shares were up 1.0% at EUR214.50 in Frankfurt.

By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2021 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Pilibhit : , March 26 (IANS) Four tiger cubs have finally been rescued from the Pilibhit Tiger Reserve (PTR), almost 12 days after their mother died.

On March 14, a field forest team had found a two-day old carcass of a tigress and four cubs around it. But before the cubs could be rescued, they had strayed off and forest officials were worried that they may have fallen prey to other carnivores or may have died of starvation.

It is only when a tiger cub is eight months old that it can survive on its own. Any time before that, it needs its mother and can only go up to eight days without being fed.

A combing operation was launched, with 25 camera traps installed around the area where the carcass had been found but the cubs were not found.

The operation was abandoned on March 18.

Deputy Director of PTR Naveen Khandelwal said: "A forest patrol team, on Wednesday, saw pug marks of tiger cubs about one kilometre from the area where their mother had died. After a few hours of search, we found them alive and well, hiding within the shrubs in the core forest's Mala range." After the rescue, they were hydrated with essential electrolytes and fed goat milk. "We did not, however, weigh them because we wanted to minimize contact. We did not want to frighten them too much with unfamiliar touch," Khandelwal said.

The cubs, on Thursday, were moved to Lucknow zoo for better care.
Exam boards have warned that students may try to cheat the new grading system by submitting work that is not their own.

Schools have been told to take measures to ensure that private tutors are not giving 'inappropriate levels of support' to students when they are completing their schoolwork, which could form the basis of their final grades this summer.

In light of the coronavirus pandemic and the cancelation of standard exams, teachers in England are handing grades out to GCSE and A-level students based on the quality of their work throughout the year.

Teachers will be able to draw on a range of evidence when determining grades including mock exams, coursework and assessments using exam board approved questions.

Teachers will be able to draw on a range of evidence when determining grades including mock exams, coursework and assessments using exam board approved questions.

These materials can be set as a test, remotely if required, or as a class or homework activity.

It comes after a huge backlash over grades awarded to GCSE and A-level students last year that were based on algorithms, which left many pupils with lower results that expected, meaning that some missed out on university places.

Exam boards have warned that incidents where students have submitted plagrised or 'fabricated' work will be treated as malpractice.

Earlier this week, Ofqual, which regulates qualifications, examinations and assessments in England, earned that exam boards may be able to intervene where allegations of parents or students placing inappropriate pressures on teachers to submit higher grades is evident.

The Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) has added that exam boards should be informed of students who are 'inappropriately [attempting] to pressure' teachers over their grades.

Education Secretary, Gavin Williamson, said the guidance will support schools and colleges and 'maximise fairness for our young people' who are taking GCSE and A-level courses

Credible allegations will be dealt with under the JCQ's suspected malpractice policies and procedures which could lead to students losing marks or being disqualified.

The guidance reads: 'It is possible that some students may attempt to influence their teachers' judgments about their grades. Students might attempt to gain an unfair advantage during the centre's process by, for example, submitting fabricated evidence or plagiarised work.'

'Awarding organisations will be investigating instances where it appears evidence is not authentic.'

Headteachers have expressed concern that schools and colleges have just 12 weeks before grades are submitted to exam boards, adding that the wait for detailed guidance on awarding grades was 'frustrating'.

Credible allegations will be dealt with under the JCQ's suspected malpractice policies and procedures which could lead to students losing marks or being disqualified.

Headteachers are concerned that schools and colleges only have 12 weeks before they must submit grades to exam boards, adding that the wait for detailed guidance on awarding grades has been 'frustrating'.

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) said: 'It is frustrating that schools and colleges have had to wait for detailed guidance on awarding grades for nearly three months since the Education Secretary cancelled exams and promised that contingency arrangements just needed some fine-tuning.'

He added that the 'vast majority of parents and students are very supportive of their schools and colleges and would not dream' of influencing their grades through pressuring teachers.

Incidents where students have submitted 'fabricated' work will be treated as malpractice

'But we need the small minority who may be inclined to over-assert their viewpoint to respect the fact that teachers and centres will be making professional evidence-based judgements in a way which is designed to ensure all students are treated fairly and equally,' he said.

Paul Whiteman, General Secretary of school leaders' union NAHT, said the union remains disappointed in the three month wait for guidance, and added that 'it would have been far better for the government to discuss and consult on a 'plan B' much earlier to avoid unnecessary confusion and worry for students.'

Philip Wright, director general at JCQ, said that the JCQ has worked with Ofqual and the Department for Education to ensure the guidance has been published as quickly as possible following a consultation.

Education Secretary, Gavin Williamson, said the guidance will support teachers, schools and colleges and 'maximise fairness for our young people'.

'We trust teachers in their decision-making and students can be confident that they will receive grades that enable them to progress to the next stage of their lives,' he added.
A state court employee accused of threatening to slaughter prominent Democratic politicians was denied bail Friday after prosecutors alleged that he beat up his cellmate at Brooklyns federal jail.

Brendan Hunt, 37, a former Occupy Wall Street activist turned Trump supporter, was in jail on charges related to online death threats against Nancy Pelosi, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Chuck Schumer when he got into a series of incidents at the Metropolitan Detention Center, the feds say.

Hunts trouble culminated in him assaulting his bunkmate on Feb. 24 and getting pepper sprayed by guards, said prosecutors.

After the cellmate was handcuffed, officers saw Hunt punch his cellmate as he is handcuffed in the back of the cell and the officer then sprays the [pepper spray], said Brooklyn Assistant U.S. Attorney David Kessler.

Video of the incident played in court shows officers approaching Hunt and dosing him with pepper spray. The video didnt show Hunt attacking his cellmate.

I thought this was going to show the moment of the assault, said Brooklyn Federal Judge Pamela Chen. But that is not what I saw. What I saw was an officer spraying Mr. Hunt after he refused to be handcuffed.

Hunt and his lawyers denied that he beat his cellmate, and say guards pepper sprayed him as retaliation for refusing to sign paperwork that said his use of the jail commissary was restricted.

Hunt, an assistant court analyst for the Office of Court Administration, said the dispute about his commissary being restricted led to the violent incident.

The lieutenant came to and told me to put the pen and paper on the ground, which I did, and told me to come to the door, which I did, he opens the slot, I look down and he pepper sprays me right to my face, Hunt claimed in court Friday.

Chen said she could not determine which narrative about the incident was true, but that it did not matter because of other violent episodes as well as refusals to comply with jail officials.

Story continues

In one instance, Hunt refused to take a tuberculosis test. In another, he called a female correctional officer a fking b---h when she asked if he needed psychological help.

He also texted his cousin that he would stab the her kid after the cousin unfriended Hunt on Facebook.

Hunt also had the cops called on him by his parents in two separate cases in 2010 after the family got in physical altercations relating to Hunts use of marijuana.

All those incidents come on top of the undisputed charges that Hunt posted online threats just days after the Capitol riots calling for Trump supporters to return to Washington D.C. and slaughter these motherf-----s, referring to Schumer, Pelosi and other Democratic members of congress.

The so called inauguration of this motherf---er Communist Joe Biden . . . [T]hats probably the best time to do this, he continued in the social media screed. [T]heyre gonna come after us, theyre gonna kill us, so we have to kill them first. ... If anybody has a gun, give me it, Ill go there myself and shoot them and kill them.

His father, Jonathan Hunt, is a former Queens Family Court judge.

Chen declined to release grand Hunt bond, meaning he will remain jailed as his case proceeds in court. He has a trial date in April.

Mr. Hunt doesnt seem to have a respect for authority, whether its in the jail, his father or his family, Chen said. I think this person poses a threat to his community and the legislative community.
South Africa: Peer Review Mechanism remains a priority

While the COVID-19 pandemic has caused great suffering on the African continent and around the world, the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) remains as a priority for countries on the continent, says President Cyril Ramaphosa.

It has claimed the lives of millions of people, devastated economies and destroyed livelihoods, President Ramaphosa said.

Chairing the 30th African Peer Review Forum of Heads of State and Government, President Ramaphosa said the pandemic has placed systems of governance and service provision under significant strain, pushing resources and capabilities to the limit.

Under these conditions, and as we work to rebuild in the wake of COVID-19, the African Peer Review Mechanism [APRM] takes on even greater significance. The APRM mission to promote the African Unions shared values of democratic governance and inclusive development remains a priority, President Ramaphosa said.

President Ramaphosa assumed the chair of the APRM in February 2020.

In his virtual address on Thursday, the President said the APRM is a firm statement of the resolve of African countries to strengthen effective governance, democratic practice, the rule of law and social and economic development.



It is an important part of our effort  as individual states and as a continent  to tackle instability, conflict, corruption and maladministration. The APRM team, in collaboration with members of the African Governance Architecture Platform, produced the Africa Governance Report 2021 on African Governance Futures to 2063, said the President.

The National Governance Report team validated a toolkit for producing National Governance Reports with Member States.

The team worked with the Kenya APRM National Secretariat on virtual training and preparatory activities for the first pilot National Governance Report.

The development phase of the pilot Kenya National Governance Report was launched virtually on 9 October 2020.

Meanwhile, the APRM Monitoring and Evaluation team held a virtual capacity building workshop and developed a continental training programme on the integration of APRM National Programmes of Action into national development plans.

Member States that participated included South Africa, Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, Benin, Niger, Mauritius, Nigeria, Djibouti and Egypt.

The Research and Monitoring and Evaluation teams completed 55 country profiles for the Governance Atlas, using the APRM Electronic Questionnaire tool.

The APR Forum is a Committee of Participating Heads of State and Government of the Member States of the African Union (AU) who have voluntarily chosen to accede to the APRM. This authority is the highest decision-making body in the APRM.

The APR Forum has ultimate responsibility for oversight of the APRM organisation and processes, for mutual learning and capacity building, and for exercising constructive peer dialogue and persuasion.

The 30th Summit of the Forum has among other items, welcomed the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) as the newest Member State to accede to the APRM.

The Summit also conducted the peer review of Liberia, discussed reports on targeted reviews of Sierra Leone and Zambia, receive a briefing on Sudans governance gap analysis and receive an update on progress in Nigerias second review process.

Kenya and Mozambique made presentations on the implementation of their national programmes of action.

The African Peer Review Mechanism was established in 2003 as a specialised agency of the African Union (AU) that serves as a platform for sharing experiences and reinforcing best practices towards political stability, accelerated economic growth and regional and continental integration as well as sustainable development.

It further seeks to foster change in underlying deficiencies in governance and socioeconomic development processes among member states.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2021-03-26. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
When the Senate on Thursday voted to extend the nearly $1 trillion Paycheck Protection Program, there were few dissenters for a pandemic-relief program that lawmakers say has sustained tens of millions of small-business jobs.

Yet many economists say the jobs claim is exaggerated. And in reality, almost a year after the popular program's launch, Congress, the Biden administration and even small-business advocates have no firm estimate of how many jobs it saved. Federal watchdog agencies say the data isn't available, and academics offer a wide range of estimates for how much the extraordinary influx of spending  $961 billion was appropriated for PPP  supported the economy during the pandemic.

"No one has a really good answer," Project on Government Oversight senior policy analyst Sean Moulton said.

That raises questions about how efficiently taxpayer funds were used in the Trump-era program, which has distributed more than 8 million forgivable business loans worth $718 billion since its launch last April. That concern will be heightened by the multitrillion-dollar rescue packages that President Joe Biden and congressional Democrats have pushed for the economy.

The Senate voted 92-7 on legislation to extend the program by two months, sending the bill off to Biden for his signature following House passage last week. The program has proved to be hugely popular because the government-backed loans delivered by thousands of lenders can be converted into grants if businesses maintain their payroll in the short term. Keeping workers paid was the priority. Congress later changed the rules to allow businesses to spend more of the funds on other expenses, meaning the program may have had a bigger effect helping firms stay afloat.

Some of the low-end estimates of PPP's jobs impact suggest that each job "saved"  those otherwise at risk of disappearing  might have cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Story continues

"It wasn't like throwing it into a giant pit and setting it on fire," said David Autor, a MIT economics professor who estimates that 2.3 million jobs were saved as of early June of last year, when half a trillion dollars had been approved for release. "It got transferred. It just wasn't necessarily very well targeted."

That matters because, while the economy is expected to rebound this year, the U.S. is still down about 9 million jobs compared to the month before Covid-19 shut down much of the country. Small businesses employ nearly half the American workforce, according to the Small Business Administration, which runs the PPP.

"The jobs numbers are consistent with the PPP having limited employment effects," said University of Chicago associate professor of finance Eric Zwick, who estimates 3.5 million jobs were saved.

To be sure, academics disagree on the impact of the program.

One estimate by University of Maryland finance professor Michael Faulkender put the number of jobs saved in May at 18 million. Faulkender led the Treasury Department team that implemented the program with the SBA.

The discrepancy between Faulkender and other economists is related to different data sources they use. Researchers who have found relatively limited employment effects did so after comparing businesses that were eligible for the PPP to larger firms that could not access the program. Faulkender instead compared counties where businesses received PPP loans early versus those that received the funds later.

PPP funds relieved pressure on state unemployment insurance systems, which faced huge operational challenges, Faulkender said. He also points to the fact that the U.S. avoided losing jobs at all last May, when some economists were expecting 20 percent unemployment.

"We did not see the depths of what we could have seen and we recovered faster than we otherwise would have," he said.

Economists who question the PPP's impact say that it wasn't narrowly targeted enough at businesses and workers that most needed the aid. Congress didn't do that until December, when it tightened eligibility requirements before the PPP relaunched in January to focus support on the smallest, hardest-hit firms. But before lawmakers did that, they also loosened the program's rules so that businesses could spend more funds on expenses like rent rather than payroll.

"It gave a lot of money to firms that did not really need it," said John Friedman, a Brown University economics professor, who estimates that the PPP preserved 1.3 million jobs from April through August. "This money could have been spent in other, better ways to support families during the pandemic or address the public health issues."

Federal watchdog agencies say the true effects of the program are difficult to measure. The SBA asks businesses to disclose their employee headcount and how they spent funds when they apply to have loans forgiven, which businesses have several months to file, but the agency has not yet disclosed job numbers for the 2.1 million loans forgiven so far. Congressional aides say they have not received the data, either.

In January, the Small Business Administration's inspector general said in a report that the agency did not require borrowers to provide data on employees they kept and that it "cannot accurately report jobs retained by PPP borrowers." The Government Accountability Office, an oversight arm of Congress, says reliable "jobs saved" information isn't available in the SBA's data.

"SBA officials and national leaders do not have enough information to make informed decisions or determine to what extent the PPP met national program objectives," the SBA inspector general said.

Even with growing questions about the program's impact, lawmakers from both parties and the Biden administration say it continues to play an important role in supporting the economic recovery. The PPP extension that the Senate passed Thursday  following a 415-3 House vote on March 16  would delay the program's application deadline to May 31 from March 31 without adding new funds. The SBA says $79 billion is still available to lend and will likely last through mid- to late-April.

The White House was also unable to provide analysis on jobs preserved thanks to PPP. National Economic Council deputy director Bharat Ramamurti said: "Theres value in keeping businesses going that are suffering from the pandemic through no fault of their own.

"We have tried to implement the program in a way that really maximizes the efficiency of every dollar weve been given," he said.

Senate Small Business Chair Ben Cardin (D-Md.) said he has heard from business owners throughout his state that the PPP was "essential in keeping their doors open and their employees on payroll during this pandemic."

"While the program could have better targeted underserved and minority businesses, overall, it has been a lifeline for millions of small businesses throughout this country, who have used their ingenuity and creativity to survive this economic crisis," he said.

Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer, the Missouri lawmaker who negotiated the latest PPP extension as the top Republican on the House Small Business Committee, said recently on the House floor that the program "assisted or saved" 50 million jobs from April through August. It reflects a figure that the Trump administration released last year on the number of employees that PPP borrowers reported having when they applied.

In an interview, Luetkemeyer said he hadn't seen estimates that the number of jobs saved was far lower. In his view, the 50 million figure represents "the number of jobs impacted."

Luetkemeyer said the PPP has helped businesses facing a long recovery get "back on their feet more quickly and save those jobs so they don't have to downsize and they can continue to give services to people in their communities."

House Small Business Chair Nydia Velazquez (D-N.Y.) said the topline numbers "show the massive scope and reach of the program and just how many small businesses PPP has helped." But she said the most important metrics for her are ones that show the extent to which loans are reaching vulnerable businesses. She cited the average loan size, which is about $64,400 for this year's round of PPP compared to $101,000 last year, indicating that smaller businesses are taking advantage of the program.

"The spread [in estimates of jobs saved] tells its own story," one Senate Small Business Committee Democratic aide said. "No one really knows what's going on at this point."
 Flash

Another 6,397 people in Britain have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 4,319,128, according to official figures released Thursday.

The country also reported another 63 coronavirus-related deaths. The total number of coronavirus-related deaths in Britain now stands at 126,445. These figures only include the deaths of people who died within 28 days of their first positive test.

Nearly 29 million people in Britain have been given the first jab of the coronavirus vaccine, according to the latest official figures.

Also on Thursday, British lawmakers voted to extend the government's emergency COVID-19 legislation for another six months.

The 2020 Coronavirus Act was passed by 484 votes to 76 with a majority of 408, paving the way for British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's "roadmap" out of lockdown.

On Feb. 22, Johnson announced his long-anticipated "roadmap" exiting the lockdown, the third of its kind since the start of the pandemic. The March 8 reopening of schools was first part of the four-step plan which is expected to see all legal restrictions in England being removed by mid-June.

Also on Thursday, National Health Service (NHS) England Chief Executive Simon Stevens recommended lowering the COVID emergency alert level due to reduced pressures on the health service.

Because of "much reduced acute pressures on the health service", Stevens said he recommended "that we reduce the national alert level across the health service from level four to level three and that would take effect today".

The reduced hospital admissions are due to "both declining infection rates across the community and the impact that's now being felt from the vaccination programme", said Stevens.

Experts have warned Britain is "still not out of the woods" amid concerns over new variants and the risks of the public breaching restriction rules.

To bring life back to normal, countries such as Britain, China, Russia, the United States as well as the European Union have been racing against time to roll out coronavirus vaccines.
The first of the plants is an operational 123 megawatt (MW) combined cycle co-generation power plant that is owned and operated by Angthong Power Company Limited and located in the 'World Food Valley' industrial estate in Ang Thong, Central Thailand.

The second and third plants, each with 140 MW capacity, are greenfield operations that are currently under construction and will enter into service in 2023. They are also located in the 'World Food Valley' industrial estate. The licences for these power plants are owned by B.Grimm Power (Ratchaburi) 1 Limited and B.Grimm Power (Ratchaburi) 2 Limited.

The three acquisitions are subject to Singha Estate's shareholders' approval at its Annual General Meeting on 23 April 2021.

Mr. Chutinant Bhirombhakdi, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Singha Estate PCL, said, "We have secured these rights under very attractive terms. They are an important part of the jigsaw that will make Singha Estate into one of Thailand's foremost property, power generation, and engineering services companies, while tripling revenues to around US$ 646 million in three years."

Mrs. Thitima Rungkwansiriroj, Chief Executive Officer, Singha Estate PCL, said that Singha Estate is pursuing a strategic broadening.

"We are developing the business across four, connected platforms. It's an approach that makes Singha Estate unique and opens up much wider commercial opportunities than would be possible as a pure property development company. It also gives us greater competitiveness through complementarities, commonalities and integration, as well as greater stability through portfolios that have different business cycles, different risk profiles, and an ability to generate recurrent income.

"The emergence of many extra-large-scale development projects in Thailand and Singha Estate's integrated approach that combines hospitality, residential, commercial and industrial property development with power generation and related innovative businesses will give us unrivalled advantages in capturing some of these huge, new opportunities," she said.

Mrs. Rungkwansiriroj added, "Licences for power generation plants of this size are a very rare commodity in Thailand, so we are especially pleased to have secured exclusive rights to a substantial stake in three important power plants. They will give us an immediate and sure-footed presence in this sector."

She added that 270 MW, or close to 70% of the combined output of the three power plants, is already pre-sold at guaranteed prices, assuring sustainable, recurring revenues for Singha Estate.

The three power plants are expected to generate around US$ 242 million in revenues in 2024.

Mrs. Rungkwansiriroj said, "Singha Estate has a draw-down facility with banks so we need only put up minimal capital for these businesses, and at the tail end, under a 'back-end equity' arrangement."

Singha Estate has a low net debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96 and access to Bht 25 billion in credit facilities.

Singha Estate's commercial property businesses include 140,000 square metres of commercial office and retail space contributing approximately 15% of its total revenues in 2020. It has 39 hotels and resorts with 4,600 keys across five countries, contributing approximately 24% of revenues. And, it has 23 residential development projects that include single-detached-houses, townhouses, and condominiums under the Santiburi, The ESSE, and brands, contributing 57% of its revenues.

According to Mrs. Rungkwansiriroj, Singha Estate aims to enter local and global partnerships that will bring competitive expertise and additional global reach.

For more information, please contact:

Investor relations - Maysenee Ratnavijarn

Tel: +6692 417 5491

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Singha Estate
Pianist William Youn / Courtesy of Bom Arts Project





By Park Ji-won







Poster for William Youn's piano recital / Courtesy of Bom Arts Project

Pianist William Youn, or Youn Hong-chun, is one of many who missed out on chances to perform last year. Up to 50 performances of the Germany-based artist were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of those were to be held in Europe.







Instead of feeling depressed, he made the most of his time to expand his artistic horizons by reflecting on himself and restoring his health which had been diminished by frequent touring.







"Before the pandemic, I was traveling most of the time. I had to meet different people every day and slept in hotels. I continued to add to my repertoire. But last year, I did not practice when I didn't want to. I read a lot of books over the year and restored my health physically and mentally. I am still worried about the upcoming performances because I had no routine last year, but I am also excited to perform on stage because it is not an obligation but a joy."







With the themes of "mirror" and "death" in the titles of his current repertoire and the theme of "A Psalm of Life," he is set to comfort Korean audiences in upcoming recitals at the Daegu Concert House on March 30 and at the Seoul Arts Center April 16. He will be playing Mozart's "Rondo in A minor, K.511," Liszt's "Dante Sonata, S.161/7" Ravel's "Mirrors" and Schubert's "Piano Sonata No.21 in B-flat Major, D.960."







"I hope the audience can enjoy my recital with two perspectives. First of all, I picked the keyword mirror. I have been reflecting on myself because of COVID-19. I had to spend time with myself at home because I had no concerts. I looked at myself and my music and thoughts as if looking into a mirror. Also, I think Schubert and Mozart had introduced their emotions into their music. So I matched their works with Maurice Ravel's Mirrors," Youn said during an online press conference on Monday.







"Also, I chose the keyword death, which many would think something dark. Because of the pandemic, many were saddened by the death of their loved ones. But what I learn from it is that all life ends. So we need to focus on the present and spend a meaningful time now. Mozart wrote Rondo in A minor, K.511 after losing his close friend, and Piano Sonata No.21 in B-flat Major is Schubert's last work, which is, however, not sad at all. Through these repertoires, I hope audiences can overcome the current sad situation and find some comfort from the music."







Youn, 2011 winner of the Bavarian Art Prize, has been described by music critics as a "genuine poet" thanks to his sophisticated interpretation of songs on his albums. As the only international musician of Sony Classical, he has been releasing albums of Chopin, Schumann, Schubert, Mozart and Brahms. He is also planning to release the complete works of Schubert by 2023.







"I was thinking of recording the complete works of Schubert for piano after Mozart. But one day, the president of Sony Classics came to see my concert. He asked 'why don't you record the complete works of Schubert?,' which was a surprise." He recorded the piece at Schloss Elmau, a hotel located in the Bavarian Alps in Germany.







"Oftentimes, it is tough for musicians to complete a recording because it is hard to have proper meals or get a decent sleep. However, Schloss Elmau, which was temporarily closed for the pandemic, opened their door for me. I was able to record the album under very good conditions thanks to their hospitality."







He will be also performing at Tongyeong International Music Festival on March 26 to 28 for "Dear LUNA."


Volunteers will be packing food boxes on March 27-28 at the Global Medic distribution centre/warehouse at Cloverdale Mall in Etobicoke

TORONTO, March 26, 2021 /CNW/ - Volunteers from the International Development and Relief Foundation (IDRF) will be partnering with Global Medic this weekend (Saturday, March 27 and Sunday, March 28) to package some 3,000 emergency food boxes for Canadian families in need as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Each box will contain 20 pounds of food, which can last the average family for several weeks. Once packed, the boxes will eventually be distributed via community food banks and centres in Toronto, Calgary, Montreal and Vancouver with the support of Air Canada and Volvo Cars Canada.

Funding for the food distribution campaign is being provided by the United Way.

The two-day packing event will take place at the Global Medic distribution centre/warehouse at Cloverdale Mall, 250 The East Mall, Toronto, in compliance with COVID-19 precautionary measures.

Interested media are invited to attend and record the food packing initiative. Spokespeople are available in person or by phone prior to, during and after the initiative. Photos and raw video footage can also be obtained by request.





SOURCE International Development and Relief Foundation

Cision

View original content: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/March2021/26/c5423.html
A Tawny-Bellied Seedeater within the habitat it shares with the Ibera Seedeater. Credit: Sheela Turbek

Not all species may travel the same path to existence, at least according to new findings from the University of Colorado Boulder and collaborators.

This new research, out today in Science, looked at a newly discovered, endangered songbird located only in South Americathe Ibera Seedeaterand found that this bird followed a very rare evolutionary path to come into existence at a much faster pace than the grand majority of species.

By comparing this bird to a closely related neighbor (the Tawny-Bellied Seedeater) in the same group (the southern capuchino seedeaters), the researchers determined that genetic shuffling of existing variations, rather than new random mutations, brought this species into existenceand their own behaviors are keeping them apart.

This species is one of only two known examples across the globe to have traveled this path, challenging the typical assumptions of how new species form.

"One of the aspects of this paper that makes it so cool is that we were able to address this question of how the Ibera Seedeaters formed from multiple different perspectives," said Sheela Turbek, a graduate student in ecology and evolutionary biology (EBIO) at CU Boulder and the study's lead author.

"Not only did we collect on-the-ground data on who mated with one another and the identity of their offspring, but we also generated genomic data to examine how similar these two species are on a genetic level. We then zoomed out further to look at where the Ibera Seedeater fits in the context of the broader capuchino group."

"Many studies will address one of these aspects or questions but not combine all of these different pieces of information into a single study."

The southern capuchino seedeaters are a group of recently evolved songbirds found throughout South America that is branching rapidly, with many of its species in the early stages of evolution. This family is best known for the dramatic variation with the males in terms of songs and plumage color, while the females are largely indistinguishable even to the most familiar researchers.

The Ibera Seedeater, the most recent member of this family, was first discovered in the remote, swampy grasslands of Ibera National Park in northern Argentina by study co-authors Adrian S. Di Giacomo and Cecilia Kopuchian from Centro de Ecologia Aplicada del Litoral, Argentina, in 2001, and then described in scientific literature in 2016.

In that national park, though, are six other closely related species of capuchinos, including the Tawny-Bellied Seedeater, that breed closely beside each other. These species, despite occupying the same environment and eating the same food, rarely interbreed.

And so, researchers wondered whyand howthe Ibera Seedeater even came to be.

They explored these questions in two ways: First, they looked at how this new species may have formed by examining the ways in which its DNA differs from the Tawny-Bellied Seedeater, and second, looking at what mechanisms might be preventing it from interbreeding with the other species that occur in the park.

The Ibera Seedeater, an endangered songbird, acting aggressively toward a fake bird as part of the behavioral experiment conducted by Turbek. Credit: Sheela Turbek

To do that, Turbek went down to Argentina for the breeding season for three years, staying two and a half to three months at a time, searching for and monitoring nests, collecting blood samples from adults and nestlings, and then, in the final year, performed a behavioral experiment to see whether plumage or song played a roll in terms of species recognition.

"The field work involved in collecting the assortative mating and behavioral data is extraordinarily hard, which is why these kinds of datasets rarely exist. This study and publication are a testament to Sheela's skill and hard work in the field," said Scott Taylor, an assistant professor in EBIO at CU Boulder, an author on the paper, and Turbek's advisor.

What they found is that the two birds are closely related genetically, only distinguishable by the genes involved in plumage coloration. As well, they found that the males responded most aggressively to songs and plumage variations aligning with their own species.

This all means that the species could very well reproduce and hybridizethey just choose not to, therefore reinforcing their own reproductive barriers.

On a broader level, though, when comparing the Ibera Seedeater to other capuchino species, the researchers found that the Ibera Seedeater shares genomic variants with other capuchinos in these regions, but the variants have been shuffled to form a unique combination, which, the researchers argue, could be an evolutionary shortcut that most likely underlies much of the diversity among the different subspecies of this family.

"This is a really beautiful story about a process that we have never seen in quite this way before," says co-author Irby Lovette, director of the Fuller Evolutionary Biology Program at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

"The classic and most common evolutionary model for new species is the accumulation of genetic mutations when those species are separated by a geographic barrier over perhaps millions of years. But here we found that genetic shuffling can happen quickly and without geographical isolation. It's almost like 'instant speciation.'"

Leonardo Campagna, a research associate at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the senior author on the paper, agrees:

"This is the clearest example in birds of how reshuffling of genetic variation can generate a brand-new species."

The only other organism where this type of evolution has been seen, according to Turbek, is a group of fish found in Africa called the Lake Victoria cichlids.

"It's interesting to see this mechanism operating in something as different as birds," Turbek commented.

While this study focused in part on the role of male behaviors, the researchers are very interested in taking it one step further, examining the role that female choice may also play in reproduction.

"There are many more questions that we have to address," Turbek said.

Explore further Birds of a feather do flock together

More information: Sheela P. Turbek et al. Rapid speciation via the evolution of pre-mating isolation in the Ibera Seedeater, Science (2021). Journal information: Science Sheela P. Turbek et al. Rapid speciation via the evolution of pre-mating isolation in the Ibera Seedeater,(2021). DOI: 10.1126/science.abc0256
Amanda Holden took cues from the incoming season on Friday when she strutted out of Global Radio's London offices in a spring-inspired floral dress.

With her long legs on full display, the Heart FM host, 50, looked radiant in the French Connection mini, teaming the thigh-skimming number with a denim jacket and chic white heels.

Amanda wore her bright blonde hair loose, and accessorised with a pair of oversized black sunglasses and white handbag as she wrapped up a day at the office.

Spring-read: Amanda Holden, 50, looked leggy in a thigh-skimming floral mini dress and white heels as she left the Heart FM radio studios on Friday

Sharing another peek of her gorgeous dress on Instagram, Amanda showcased its beautiful silhouette, revealing it featured a plunging neckline and sweet puffed sleeves.

Amanda's stylish exit comes shortly after she hopped around the Heart FM office in a bunny suit alongside co-host Ashley Roberts, 36.

In celebration of Easter, the blonde bombshells flaunted their toned pins as they posed for snaps.

Lovely: With her legs on full display, the Heart FM host looked radiant in the French Connection frock, teaming the thigh-skimming number with a denim jacket and chic white heels

Their festive zip-up suits featured hoods with bunny ears and were teamed with knee-high white and pink socks with heeled boots.

The two hosts posed with a carrot each, as Amanda nibbled on hers while posing for the camera.

Although they were a week early for the beginning of the Easter weekend, their snaps appeared to be linked to the KitKat Easter Bunny 2021 campaign.

While posing next to the branded rabbit hutch, Ashley joked: 'We downsized the Playboy mansion.'

Stylish: Amanda wore her bright blonde hair loose, and accessorised with a pair of oversized black sunglasses as she wrapped up a day at the office

Thigh-skimming: Sharing another peek of her gorgeous dress, the mother-of-two showcased its beautiful silhouette, revealing it featured a plunging neckline and sweet puffed sleeves

The KitKat Big Bunny Hutch sees five bunnies compete for the public's affection to be crowned the KitKat Easter Bunny 2021.

Ashley continued her Easter-themed puns as she captioned a snap of herself and Amanda: 'Serving up Bunny hunni #eggcellent.'

While she also added she was 'feeling egg-stastic'.

Hoppy Easter! Amanda Holden and Ashley Roberts were up to their old tricks once again as they donned tiny pink bunny costumes to celebrate Easter on Friday

While posing next to the branded rabbit hutch, Ashley joked: 'We downsized the Playboy mansion'

The duo are no strangers to larking about at work and regularly post videos and snaps of themselves having a whale of a time in the office.

Ashley also made sure to catch the attention of onlookers once more as she departed work on Friday in double denim.

She looked typically chic in a denim jacket, matching straight-leg jeans and a brown ribbed top as she sauntered through Leicester Square after a busy day at work.

Friday feeling: Ashley also made sure to catch the attention of onlookers once more as she departed work on Friday in double denim
It has been about one month since Peoples United Bank announced it is being acquired in a $7.6 billion deal with upstate New York-based M&T Bank, and already some customers of the Bridgeport-based financial institution say they are considering taking their accounts elsewhere.

Some grumbling from customers is expected when a bank is acquired by a larger institution. But news of the Feb. 22 transaction also came on the heels of Peoples decision to end its relationship with grocery giant Stop & Shop.

I thought I would leave when that happened, but now Im definitely going to a credit union, said Cheshire resident Ruth Harlow.

For more than two decades, Peoples United has operated branches in many Stop & Shop locations around Connecticut. The supermarket branch closures wont begin until 2022, but Peoples United customers are bemoaning the loss of a convenient way to do their banking.

I have been thinking of moving away from them for some time now, said Greg Colonese of Wallingford. If they continue to restructure and close branches, Im out. Its all about money and what their bottom line is. Customers seem to come second or third in a lot of places now.

John Rosen, an economics professor at the University of New Haven, said the normal rate of customers leaving a bank thats being acquired  known in the industry as churn  is about 8 percent of its total customer base.

That number is not trivial, Rosen said. But individuals talk a good game, and having to take the time to fill out forms and get new ATM cards is inconvenient.

Carl Casper, executive vice president and chief operating officer of North Haven-based Connex Credit Union, said Peoples United customers have already contacted his staff about switching their accounts.

Its not in the hundreds, but Id say weve fielded several dozen inquiries, Casper said.

When making the decision to switch banks, Casper said consumers must weigh the decision carefully. It really depends on how the bank that is doing the acquiring handles the conversion, he said. If they do it well, then fewer people switch to another bank. But if it is done poorly and account numbers are lost, its a different story.

Consumers must weigh the risks of getting lost in the shuffle against the inconvenience of switching to a new bank. Its a lot easier than people probably think, Casper said. It is not without some friction, but its a lot easier than it used to be.

When bank mergers occur, Casper added, merger partners always insist that the conversion will be seamless. Banks always come in with that attitude, he said. But when the dust settles, theyre going to do what they want.

Supermarket branches represent roughly 50 percent of Peoples total presence in Connecticut, according to John Carusone, president of the Bank Analysis Center Inc., a Hartford-based industry consultant.

Carusone said the Peoples United-M&T Bank merger may have negative implications for Connecticuts economy as a whole.

Most important decisions at a bank are made where the boss chair is, which in this case is in Buffalo, not Bridgeport, Carusone said. Connecticut is losing its largest institution. When a merger occurs, the bank that is being acquired no longer controls its own destiny.

Peoples United is Connecticuts largest homegrown bank, with a 15.2 percent market share and 172 in-state branches, according to 2019 data from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

Carusone also said Peoples United shareholders were short-changed by the terms of the merger. The price was adequate, but only adequate, not what one would expect for one of the premier retail banking franchises in New England, he said. The entire [merger] package looks a little thin for what might have been expected for a bank like Peoples United. It wouldnt surprise me if some shareholder lawsuits didnt come out of this.

Rosen, the economics professor, said a lawsuit over the terms of the Peoples United-M&T Bank merger is certainly a possibility.

It happens every now and then, Rosen said. But stopping the freight train after it has left the station is kind of hard.

Carusone said one factor that makes legal challenges a distinct possibility in this case is that 72 percent of Peoples United shares are owned by institutions.

Those people like to get paid, he said. These terms are likely to be viewed as acceptable, but certainly lackluster.

Peoples United has been involved in several mergers that resulted in shareholder lawsuits.

In 2017, Long Island-based Suffolk Bancorp had to seek a settlement with a shareholder before a merger with Peoples United could proceed.

And in 2019, when Peoples United acquired First Connecticut Bancorp Inc., it faced a class action lawsuit by shareholders of the corporate parent of Farmington Bank before the deal ultimately went through.

This time, if no shareholder lawsuits materialize, Carusone said another possibility is that a rival bank could counter M&T Banks offer with a better deal for Peoples United shareholders.

Rosen said he thinks the Peoples United board of directors probably made the best deal they could at the time. They must have a reason they didnt think they could get a better deal. he said. Id be surprised if they were wrong.

Officials with Peoples United and M&T Bank did not respond to requests for comment on the terms of the merger agreement.

Another impact the proposed Peoples United-M&T Bank merger could have on Connecticuts banking landscape is the proliferation of additional mergers, according to Rosen and Carusone.

After Peoples United, the largest bank with a headquarters in Connecticut is Waterbury-based Webster Bank.

Im sure they are having lots of analysis done of whether they need to tie up with somebody big, Rosen said. The reason banks merge is to build a more efficient operation.

Carusone said the proposed merger does put pressure on Websters board to make certain it is generating long-term value to shareholders at a level which is higher than what comparable takeover terms for Peoples or similar institutions are being offered.

Kelly Raskauskas, a Webster Bank spokesperson, said her banks primary focus remains on our overall performance, organic growth and our transformational project discussed at our last earnings call.

On that call with industry analysts, John Ciulla, the banks chief executive officer and chairman, discussed Websters growth strategy. Ciulla said the banks focus is exploiting its expertise in certain market segments like Health Savings Accounts.

If there were a really, really compelling opportunity in HSA or from a whole bank perspective that had great strategic and financial merits to it, obviously, we would look at it, Ciulla said. But I will tell you that this bank right now... is completely focused internally at making sure that we drive value, that we take care of our customers and take care of our own business.

Ciulla said Webster is also investing in revenue growth drivers that leverage our differentiated businesses.

These include accelerating growth in new and existing commercial banking segments, improving sales productivity, enhancing non-interest income through treasury and commercial card products and driving deeper relationships across all lines of business, he said. Additionally, we continue to invest in technology to provide better digital experiences for our customers and bankers to further improve customer acquisition and retention rates.

luther.turmelle@hearstmediact.com
Bertrand Tavernier, a French director best known in the United States for Round Midnight, the 1986 film that earned Dexter Gordon an Oscar nomination for his performance as a New York jazz musician trying to get his life and career on track in Paris, died on Thursday in Sainte-Maxime, in southeastern France. He was 79.

The Institut Lumiere, a film organization in Lyon of which he was president, posted news of his death on Facebook. The cause was not given.

Mr. Tavernier made some 30 features and documentaries and was a regular on the film festival circuit, winning the best director award at Cannes in 1984 for A Sunday in the Country, what Roger Ebert called a graceful and delicate story about the hidden currents in a family headed by an aging painter living outside Paris.

Mr. Tavernier had worked primarily as a film critic and publicist until 1974, when he directed his first feature, The Clockmaker of St. Paul, the story of a man whose son is accused of murder. The movie, more character study than crime drama, quickly established him in France and drew praise overseas.
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President Muhammadu Buhari has described the revolution in rice production across the country as a product of his administrations policy and the diligent execution of it by institutions of state such as the Central Bank of Nigeria.

The president spoke at the commemoration of the national rice festival and the flag-off of the North-east 2021 and 2nd cycle 2021 dry season rice cultivation programme and 2020 wet season harvest aggregation and sales of paddy rice to millers held in Gombe State.

Represented by the Kebbi State Governor, Atiku Bagudu, Mr Buhari expressed gratitude to the CBN for solving the problems of financing in agriculture and state governors for championing the cause of rice production and other agricultural commodities.

He commended the Governor Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe State for reviving the cotton value chain for which the state was once known for.

The president said despite limited resources, his administration had achieved monumental results in the agricultural production and its value chain, saying a lot of infrastructural projects that will galvanize economic activities were being undertaken across the country for the benefit of all Nigerians.

In his remark, Mr Yahaya said but for the policy direction of the president and the sound support of the CBN, the heaps of rice pyramids on display would not have been possible.

The pyramids are back and we are happy to see this and let me recall that only in January the Management of Central Bank with the National Cotton Association were here in Gombe and they kick-started the aggregation process of cotton farmers who equally paid the facilities they took in kind to signal the return of cotton production.

He said the state was a shining example in the anchor borrower programme of the Central Bank of Nigeria, owing to the fact that farmers in the state were poised on taking advantage of the programme to boost agricultural production and eventually pay in kind facilities obtained to maintain sustainability.

He added that his state had a favourable climatic condition for the production of sorghum, sesame seeds, and other agricultural commodities, making it a perfect destination for agriculture revolution in the North East sub-region.

Gombe is an agrarian State, with 85% of our people engaged in farming activities. Agriculture is therefore an important source of livelihood to our people and the bedrock of our economy.

Gombe has tremendous potentials in rice production. We have three major Dams in Dadin Kowa, Balanga and Cham. We are working with UNIDO to tap into those potentials for both irrigation agriculture and hydropower generation.

Our government is working on the Gombe State Industrial Park in Dadin Kowa. The park has a huge Agricultural Industrial Park section that is geared towards commercial production and processing of agricultural products, he said.

He added that the support farmers in the state got from the CBN enabled them to produce enmass, leading to the realisation of the rice pyramid on display at the tanker bay along Gombe/Bauchi road.

He also commended Mr Buhari for displaying leadership in the nations march towards food sufficiency, as the nation can now boast of eating what it produces and produces what she eats.

On his part, the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, said since the anchor borrower programme was launched by the president some five years ago, it has become a game changer in Nigeria and will ultimately help in achieving some of the goals of the governments economic sustainability plan.

He said under the wet season farming, CBN/RIFAN Partnership will finance 221,000 farmers to cultivate 221,000 in 22 states, adding that this number, the region will have 44,807 farmers to cultivate over 44 hectares representing over 20 per cent of the total number of farmers and hectares respectively.
Prime Minister on Friday went from Delhi to Dhaka on a new custom-made VVIP aircraft, using it for the first time on a foreign journey.

The prime minister is on a two-day visit to Bangladesh.

India and Bangladesh are currently celebrating the golden jubilee of the 1971 war victory. India had defeated Pakistan in December 1971, which led to the creation of Bangladesh.

The B777 aircraft, which has registration number VT-ALW, was delivered by Boeing to the Indian government in October last year.

The aircraft, which has call sign AI1 or Air India One, departed from Delhi around 8 am and landed at the Dhaka airport around 10.30 am on Friday, government officials said.

Another custom-made B777 aircraft, with registration number VT-ALV, was also delivered by the American aircraft giant to the Indian government in October last year. Both custom-made planes are to fly only president, vice president and prime minister of the country.

These two aircraft were part of Air India's commercial fleet for a few months in 2018 before they were sent back to Boeing for retrofitting for VVIP travel.

The B777 planes have state-of-the-art missile defence systems called Large Aircraft Infrared Countermeasures and Self-Protection Suites.

(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.)
Virus Outbreak Airlines (Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Liberals. Guns. Hyundais. These are among the topics of an angry rant about the San Francisco Bay Area from a Southwest Airlines pilot caught on a hot mic earlier this month.

On March 13, on a publicly accessible air traffic control radio feed, Twitter users noticed a pilot communicating with the tower at San Jose Airport began going off, bashing San Francisco, the travel siteOne Mile At A Time reported.

The audio recording only captured one side of the conversation, but the pilot can be heard going on about liberal f**ks, f**king weirdos, probably driving around in f**king Hyundais, and how You dont have balls unless youre f**king rolling coal man.

The pilot was later confirmed to be an employee of Southwest. The airline says it is"fully addressing the situation internally."

"Our corporate culture is built on a tenet of treating others with concern and dignity and the comments are inconsistent with the professional behavior and overall respect that we require from our Employees," they said in a statement to the San Francisco Chronicle, which first reported the pilots employer. "This situation was an isolated incident involving a single employee and not representative of the nearly 60,000 hardworking, respectful people of Southwest Airlines."

Read more:

Rolling coal, for those uninitiated, is a method of modifying diesel vehicles to up the amount of fuel that goes into the engine, sending out plumes of black and grey exhaust. The practice is not only polluting, but often used to troll liberals and environmentalists. Some coal rollers refer to their cars as Prius Repellant, after the popular Toyota hybrid.)

The hot mic is just the latest time in recent days the famously liberal Bay Area has come under fire. Even some Democrats in the state complained after the San Francisco school board decided in January to strip the names of figures like former president Abraham Lincoln.

But perhaps a good old fashioned workplace rant is a sign were returning to pre-Covid normal, from many months of extreme passenger bad behaviour on flights, where countless viralvideos captured people having meltdowns and being ejected from planes for refusing to wear a mask.
The village of women that has embraced, supported and loved my children and me reflects everything about Houston.

They are Black, white, Latina, Native American and Asian. They come from varied experiences, different countries and religious faiths. They have extended their hand and hearts beyond their community to touch mine. This is incredibly important because too often we stick to our own kind, even in a city as diverse as ours.

Watching the recent reports of the killing of eight people, mostly women of Asian descent, in Atlanta, I found myself feeling sick to my stomach. It was similar to the feeling I had in learning of the murders of Breonna Taylor, Trayvon Martin and the many other Black men and women. Though officials have been reluctant to call the Atlanta shooting racially motivated, anyone who has experienced racism knows it is.

Whether its Black lives or Asian lives, racism is racism. Hate is hate.

MORE FROM JOY SEWING: Like Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, interracial couples in Houston find race still matters

Battling this war against racism is complicated. In part because it requires reaching across racial lines to understand what its like to walk in someone elses shoes and be a genuine friend with someone who doesnt look like you.

Im fortunate to consider the village of women, including Mandy Kao, a Hong Kong native who was raised in Canada, my friends. I met Kao on a work assignment to write about her efforts to empower refugee families in Houston. I was drawn to her positive energy and her genuine heart for helping others.

Shortly after we met, she invited me for foot massages in Chinatown. In turn, I invited Kao and her husband, William, to a small party at my Third Ward home. Not only did they come, but they were among the last to leave.

In the decade in which our friendship has blossomed, Kao has taught me more about the plight of immigrant and refugee women and children than I could ever learn on my own. Weve traveled to New York Fashion Week together, celebrated birthdays, met for dinners with our children and worked to help young immigrant girls find their place in the American dream.

Likewise, she has heard my stories of racism and inequality that have kept me awake a night. Not once has she dismissed my experience with, Surely, you must have misunderstood. Not once has she dismissed me with, I dont see you as Black  a statement that is one of the ultimate offenders because I am Black.

I like to share my culture, Kao said. Im proud to be Asian and also like to learn about other people who are not like me. It makes our lives richer. I know there is racism among Asians against each other and other races. A lot of it is fear. I think one step is to have friends who dont look like you.

Though studies show many children tend to have interracial relationships in school, they racially segregate by adulthood. Many people go their entire lives without ever getting to know, really know, someone of a different race beyond the one at work. This tends to be more common among white people.

Comedian Chris Rock joked about it in his 2009 standup routine, but theres truth in his words: All my Black friends have a bunch of white friends. And all my white friends have one Black friend.

Developing that level of trust in an interracial friendship can be challenging because of the history of racial segregation (in both schools and neighborhoods), said Beverly Daniel Tatum, a psychologist and author of Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? and Other Conversations About Race.

Its hard to learn about the implications of race, privilege and racially motivated violence without real friendships. They are the bridge to racial understanding and empathy. Then there are those awful stereotypes that seep into the consciousness and prevent friendships from forming. For Asian women, its being the submissive model minority. For Black women, its being the angry, poor, single mother. Both groups are often hypersexualized.

Most people growing up in U.S. society have been exposed at some level to the cultural messages of assumed white superiority and negative stereotypes about people of color. So making friendship connections often requires both parties at some point to engage in conversation about those assumptions and those stereotypes, and those conversations may cause discomfort, Tatum said.

At Rice University, the Rice Chinese Student Association led a GoFundMe campaign, Asian Youths for Black Lives Matter, raising more than $4,000 for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund in June. The students wrote: In light of the recent instances that brought the long history of police violence against Black people to the forefront of our attention, we feel compelled to engage with Chinese and Asian communities beyond Rice to stand in unity and show our support and solidarity.

Since the pandemic began, there has been a rise in racially motivated attacks on Asian Americans. Women of Asian descent have reported 2.3 times more incidents of violence than Asian American Pacific Islander men, according to a Stop AAPI Hate report, which compiled nearly 3,800 hate incidents reported since March 2020.

Sydney Dao, who was born in Laos and moved to Houston with her family at age 5, said she wept for the women killed in Atlanta, and was touched when a Black colleague emailed her expressing compassion and concern.

MORE FROM JOY SEWING: When this couples Third Ward house burned during the freeze, neighbors came through.

It made me also think about all of my (Black) friends who I didnt reach to and check on when George Floyd was killed, Dao said. It is so important to have diversity among your friends. I have a deeper understanding of the suffering of the Black community because my friendships. I feel like Im part of the fight.

Dao serves on the board of the Houston Asian Chamber of Commerce and is working on behalf of the organization to bring awareness to the rise in anti-Asian hate acts.

She is also my friend who has introduced my children to Vietnamese food and comforted me about the stress of parenting young children. She even showed me how to pack a go bag with parenting essentials, including wipes, diapers, snacks, small picture books and bottles of water, that I didnt even know I needed.

Personal connections are how we can truly overcome racism, she said.

Each of us has the ability to change the narrative about race and how we view each other. Interracial friendships are crucial to our understanding how racism and hate can tear at the soul of our nation.

Still, some question whether people across racial lines can truly be friends. Definitely, said Tatum.

I have such friendships and know other people who do as well. However, I recognize that they are not easily forged and our capacity to form them is determined in part by proximity and our willingness to engage with the historical and contemporary meaning of race in our society, she said.

So real friends can, and should, talk about race.

joy.sewing@chron.com
If it werent for the coronavirus, Mardi Gras Indian fans would be getting ready for the annual Super Sunday Mardi Gras Indian marches that usually take place over the next few weeks. To stand on the curb watching fantastically colorful, feather-coated figures pass by, to the sound of rattling tambourines and age-old chants, is one of the most singular and spectacular New Orleans experiences.

Theres no question about that. The question is, should we be calling them Mardi Gras Indians? Other terms, such as Black Masking Indians and Black Indians are in use as well.

The elaborately beaded, feathered suits worn by New Orleans maskers may have been inspired by traditional Native American dress, but they are an expression of African heritage, too. Deciding on the most appropriate label to apply to the custom is complicated. The answer depends on whom you talk to.

Big Chief Bo Dollis Jr.

Its up to your preference, said Bo Dollis Jr., of the Wild Magnolias tribe. All the time that I was coming up, it was always Mardi Gras Indians, he said.

After Katrina, when many Mardi Gras Indians had been displaced by the flood, Dollis began hearing other terms, like Black Masking Indians, he said. Those labels may have become more prevalent during the Black Lives Matter era, to emphasize that Mardi Gras Indian masking is an expression of Black culture, he said.

Dollis, who is 40, said that the difference in terminology may be generational, with younger people adopting the less well-known terms. But, he said, I was brought up on Mardi Gras Indians. Im more old-school and thats the way I keep it.

Queen Dianne Honore

Dianne Honore of the Yellow Pocahontas tribe is new to Indian masking. She sewed her first suit last year and debuted it in a small, socially distanced, outdoor gathering on Mardi Gras morning 2021.

Honore said she prefers the term Black Indian. The phrase Mardi Gras Indians was applied to the tradition somewhere along the line, because most people only saw Black Indian maskers on Mardi Gras, she said. But the term hasnt always been as prevalent.

When she was a child in the 1960s, we said Indians, Honore said. Back then, she said, the maskers were part of close-knit neighborhood communities. She believes the use of the phrase Mardi Gras Indians was part of the popularization of the practice that came later, as the Black Indians suits and songs became more broadly known.

Big Chief Dow Edwards

Dow Edwards, of the Timbuktu Warriors tribe, said he uses interlocking, interchangeable terms, from Black Masking Mardi Gras Indians to, simply, Mardi Gras Indians.

There are many currents flowing with the titles, and I dont think there can be any one definition of the culture, he said. Its like a gumbo, with new things added to it, as people try to define themselves in the moment.

Its hard for an outsider to get it right, because we, inside the culture, use different terms, he said. Each tribe has its own individual way of doing it.

Edwards, 59, thinks that early on, newspapers described maskers as Indians, then later the phrase Mardi Gras Indians took hold. The label was convenient, but it didnt fit perfectly with the phenomenon, because it didnt acknowledge the Black aspect of the custom.

Edwards said that hes heard alternate terms to Mardi Gras Indian being employed more over the past 12 years or so. But the various titles all go back decades. Edwards pointed out that a film titled Black Indians of New Orleans, which is considered the first documentary of the phenomenon, was released way back in 1976.

Big Chief Demond Melancon

Demond Melancon, of the Young Seminole Hunters, said that the term hed like to see adopted by the public and the press is Black Maskers.

Melancon, 42, said that in 1992, when he began masking, You were an Indian. But now, he said, the culture needs to evolve into what it really is. Its been a hidden culture for 250 years and you have to know where it really comes from.

A lot of maskers in New Orleans use their suits to pay homage to the Native Americans who provided refuge to freedom-seeking Blacks during the era of slavery. But the masking culture actually comes from Africa via those enslaved people, he said.

The narrative needs to change, he said. We need African stories in the schools and we need African stories in the streets.

Melancon pointed out that the label Mardi Gras Indians may be instantly understood in New Orleans, but outside of the city and to out-of-towners it can be unclear. We get profiled as Indians, he said. People ask us, What are you, Cherokee?

Melancon said hed like to avoid that sort of misunderstanding.

+4 Mardi Gras Indian suit appears at site of former Jefferson Davis statue in New Orleans Canal Street commuters heads swiveled on Mardi Gras morning at the sight of a magnificent Mardi Gras Indian suit standing on the spot once oc

Big Chief Darryl Montana

Darryl Montana of the Yellow Pocahontas tribe, said that use of the term Mardi Gras Indians probably has something to do with the community you came from.

We never called ourselves Mardi Gras Indians, said Montana, 65, who has masked in the 7th Ward neighborhood for more than 50 years. They were just called the Indians.

The label Mardi Gras Indian wouldnt have made much sense in his community, he said, because the pre-Lenten holiday was called Carnival. The term Mardi Gras was reserved to playfully describe anyone wearing a costume. People would say, I see you, Mardi Gras, he said. But the prefix wasnt applied to Indians.

The description Mardi Gras Indian is too narrow, in Montanas view. Since Black maskers take to the streets on St. Josephs night, as well as Mardi Gras morning, why arent they called St. Joseph Night Indians? he asked rhetorically.

Montana acknowledges that the term Mardi Gras Indian is convenient and has become broadly understood. The horse is already out of the stable, he said. But he views it as a sort of inauthentic brand name and prefers the term Black Masking Indians.

+11 Mardi Gras Indians have tambourines blessed, remember Tootie Montana as Carnival begins Tambourines rattled and popped around the life-size, bronze statue of the late Big Chief Allison Tootie Montana in Armstrong Park on Wednesd

Professor Kim Vaz-Deville

Kim Vaz-Deville is professor of education and former associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Xavier University of Louisiana. She is also the co-curator of the Mystery in Motion: African American Masking and Spirituality in Mardi Gras at the Louisiana State Museum on Jackson Square. Plus, she is a Black Masking Indian with the Golden Feather Hunters tribe.

I guess people have to call them something, Vaz-Deville said of the widespread use of the term Mardi Gras Indians. I know it was for identification, but its a term that came about from transculturation, when different marginalized cultures met and new practices formed.

The terminology was different in the 1970s, she said. I grew up here, and I remember when they were just Black Indians.

The term Mardi Gras Indians is problematic. Were dealing with layers of misnaming, she said. For example, Vaz-Deville pointed out that Native Americans werent really from India in the first place, so the term Indians is commonplace but incorrect.

Such misnomers are a continuation of the afterlife of colonialism and imperialism, she said.

Vaz-Deville said she prefers the term Black Masking Indian, because its where contemporary practice usage is moving.

+20 A Mardi Gras Indian exhibit to be featured at Louisiana State Museum; see dates, ticket prices The shouting and the rattling of tambourines may be absent in 2021, but the spirit of New Orleans' Mardi Gras Indians persists. Spirit is the 

Big Chief Tyrone Casby Sr.

Tyrone Casby Sr., of the Mohawk Hunters, serves as secretary of the New Orleans Mardi Gras Indian Council, which represents 15 of the roughly 60 tribes. Casby, 67, said that he and the council prefer the term Mardi Gras Indians.

Thats who we were in the 1930s, he said.

Casby said he doesnt intend his opinion as a knock on anyone else, but he finds some of the other terms confusing, such as Black Masking Indians. Im already Black, he said, its understood.

Casby suggests that fans of the Mardi Gras Indians take an ecumenical approach to describing the custom. When possible, he said, use the term that the individual masker chooses.

Ask them what theyd like to be called and call them that, he said.
Mumbai: A metropolitan court here has issued summons to the producers of the film 'Gangubai Kathiawadi' as well as actor Alia Bhatt in connection with a criminal defamation complaint.

The summons was issued last week by Metropolitan Magistrate, Mazgaon, but the detailed order was made available on Wednesday. The film is based on a novel by S Hussain Zaidi and Jane Borges, and is being being produced by Bhansali Productions.

The summons was issued to Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Bhansali Productions, the authors and Bhatt. A defamation case was filed by Babuji Shah through lawyer Narendra Dubey.

Shah, the adopted son of Gangubai Kathiawadi, said chapters in the novel on his mother were defamatory, tarnished her reputation and infringed upon the right to privacy and self-respect.

Shah, in his complaint, said Kathiawadi was a social worker who fought for the rights of sex workers and lived her life with dignity and respect.

The court, after hearing the submissions, said, "Even if it is considered that she was a prostitute, that does not mean that anybody has permission or write to show or mention her as a prostitute in public."

It further said no consent was obtained from Shah prior to the publishing of the novel or the release of the promotional trailer.

"To portray the image of deceased Gangubai without consent of family members amount to defaming her image," it added.

Finding that there are sufficient grounds to proceed against the accused, the court issued a process returnable on May 25, 2021.
The Andalusian government moved quickly this week to approve and roll out a direct aid package for small regional firms with up to 20 staff and the self-employed worst hit by the Covid-19 economic crisis.

On Monday regional ministers agreed with representatives of the business community and trade unions a package of measures worth 732 million euros regionally, and by Tuesday the regional cabinet had approved the spending of the first 372m euros of this. The money will come from a mixture of regional and European funds and the majority of the spending will be on direct aid. A further 100m of it will be signed off next week.

Of the eventual 732m euros there will be 585m allocated to help "maintain employment and economic activity". Another 107m is aimed at protecting the most vulnerable. A further 40.4 million will be set aside to hire 1,700 more staff "to respond to the flood of requests and procedures".

Regional ministers are asking Madrid to publish as soon as possible the requirements for its national-level direct aid package to avoid regional incompatibility with any future Spain-wide aid.

The Junta de Andalucia aid includes grants upwards of 3,000 euros for firms in worst-hit sectors plus subisidies of around 505 euros per month for up to four months per employee to stop their furloughing turning into redundancy. A 210-euro payment will also be made direct to those workers who were on full furlough in March and April.
Houston is home to a booming arts scene that's continuously expanding, and award-winning artist Reginald Adams is one of its many contributors.

Each of his pieces plastered around the Bayou City and beyond represents a message of equality, highlighting important moments and figures in Black history, per PaperCity Magazine's Nicole Betts. From murals to installations, they can all be found in historic and under-served communities.

Adams' Houston works are best viewed in the style of a self-guided tour, per Betts, and Adams recommends starting with "Freedmens Town Labyrinth" at 307 Valentine Street.

ARTSY AND AWESOME: Internationally renowned artist creates landscape art to pop up in the fields around Round Top

This project really changed my life, in the sense that it was my first public work where I immediately saw the positive impact it had not only on the individuals who helped me create it, but also on the community, he said, as reported by Betts.

From there, head on over to Midtown's Breakfast Klub, where Adams celebrates both Barack and Michelle Obama as well as George Floyd.

The "I Cant Breathe" in honor of Floyd is Adams' most recent work, painted last summer shortly after the former Third Ward native lost his life in Minneapolis police custody. Floyd's death sparked a nationwide movement and wide-spanning protests.

You can then move on to the historic Emancipation Park to take a look at "Elements of Change Monuments," which are made of mosaic panels and honor the four original founders of the park: Jack Yates, Richard Brock, Richard Allen and Elias Dibble.

Lastly, Adams' "Sacred Paths" mural can be found in Third Ward at Columbia Tap Trail. The mixed-media mural depicts eight African American activists and was inspired by stained glass church windows, according to Adams' website.

Reginald Adams

Adams' next project will be placed in Galveston on Juneteenth, per Betts. It'= will be located at the same site where General Gordon Granger famously proclaimed that more than 250,000 slaves were free in Texas on June 19, 1865.
Tamil Nadu Minister and (AIADMK) leader D Jayakumar said that expelled AIADMK leader will not be re-inducted in the party and asserted that no opinion poll can affect party's victory.

Jayakumar, who was campaigning in the Royapuram area in Tamil Nadu on Thursday said, "AIADMK stands with the people of Tamil Nadu in all aspects. No opinion poll can affect our victory."

"We never trade money to lure the voters. My supporters are campaigning with me in the scorching sun," he said.

When asked about Sasikala, the minister said, "My stand is the same as the party's that she will not be taken back."

The AIADMK has so far ruled out accommodating her or her nephew TTV Dhinakaran-led Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam in the party or in the alliance led by it.

Speaking to ANI, Jayakumar said, "We will win the constituency with the Tamil majority."

Ruling AIADMK is contesting the poll in a pre-poll alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Paattali Makkal Katchi (PMK).

The 234-members Tamil Nadu assembly elections will be held in a single phase on April 6 and the counting of votes will be done on May 2.

(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.)
BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - German automotive and industrial supplier Schaeffler AG (SCFLF.OB) said on Friday that it was widening its range of powertrain electrification solutions for commercial vehicles, thus taking major strides in meeting climate and sustainability goals. Matthias Zink, CEO Automotive Technologies, Schaeffler, said, 'The commercial vehicle sector is facing major challenges. We are bringing our considerable systems expertise in the field of commercial vehicles for shaping how the world moves. The fact that we won two major contracts recently shows that we are on track to being a preferred technology partner for our customers in this sector.' The company said that it has secured a volume production order to build electric motors for a commercial vehicle company, beginning 2023. The 800 V motor being designed by Schaeffler can offer a continuous output of 180 kW and a maximum torque of 950 Nm. This motor is very crucial in the electrification of commercial vehicles and bringing down carbon emissions. The company added that it has also secured a volume production order for hybrid modules, which allow for the recovery of braking power. This power can then be reused to charge on-board systems like new exhaust gas treatment plants, thus reducing the carbon footprint. The production for this model will begin in 2024. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
Hyderabad, March 26 : Telangana's Minister for Industry and Information Technology K.T. Rama Rao on Friday said the policies of the central government seem to be disincentivizing and demoralizing for a performing state like Telangana.

Stating that Telangana's contribution to national GDP is 5 per cent, he said Telangana needs to be encouraged and needs to be made a part of Central sponsored schemes.

KTR, as the Minister is popularly known, shared his thoughts during a virtual fireside chat on 'States to watch out for in the next decade' at India Economic Conclave 2021 organised by Times Group.

KTR, who is also working president of Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), said slogan of cooperative federalism between the Centre and states are not being converted into actionable point.

He said the spirit of team India will serve good if words are translated into action.

"We assumed office six years back when NDA Government assumed office in Delhi. Sadly, the slogans are not being converted into an actionable point," he said.

When India's apex body NITI Aayog recommended to the Government of India to provide monetary support of Rs 24,000 crore for Mission Bhagiratha, Telangana did not get 24 paise. Except praises, Telangana never got any monetary support, he said.

"Telangana is a new state and at the time of State formation, Telangana was assured of many incentives such as industrial corridors, ITIR, a Steel plant, however none of those promises were fulfilled. The stronger the states emerge, the stronger our country will be," said KTR.

"If India has to prosper over the next one decade and transform into a powerhouse, economics should supersede politics," he added.

KTR observed that in a federal republic like India, the Center should support the states and have to work together. The government of India has to realize that giving proper support to a state which is performing will ultimately help the country.

KTR also highlighted that Hyderabad is the vaccine capital of the world. "We are a city of international importance and ship out vaccines to 70-80 countries. While we produce 35 per cent of global vaccines from Hyderabad, our vaccine testing lab is 1,200 km away in Kasauli. Telangana produces 35 per cent of the country's turmeric, but the board is promised to other states," he added.

Pointing out that the defence and aerospace industry is a strategic sector and Telangana is home to several defense labs, he said the state had requested the Government of India to launch a defense industrial production corridor between Hyderabad and Bengaluru, but it went to Bundelkhand.

KTR also said that the government should play the role of a big brother and 'bring us all into one room, has to ensure we work together as a team, and has to support us but it's not happening now, unfortunately.' "Telangana is a performing state which is contributing to the growth of the nation and its time the Government of India should take us into confidence and work together," he added.

The Minister said that Telangana focuses on sunrise sectors like IT, life sciences, defence, aerospace, textiles, and logistics. He also mentioned that India has immense opportunities to be a global player in these sectors.

"If India and progressive states like Telangana start thinking and start planning on scale, to compete with large manufacturing countries like China, we need to set up large industrial parks and industrial corridors which further translate into economies of scale for our manufacturers," he said.
A Johns Hopkins professor has slammed Dr. Anthony Fauci for denying that the United States is approaching herd immunity amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Dr. Marty Makary, who is also a Fox News contributor, told Brian Kilmeade on Thursday that 'it's not healthy for a small group of people' to be making all the health decisions for Americans.

'I don't think it's healthy for a small group of people to be making all the public health recommendations. It's good to have multiple voices,' Makary said.

He claims that the low rate of reinfections and high percentages of people showing antibodies indicate that the United States is approaching herd immunity through both vaccinations and natural immunity, which he claims Fauci has ignored.

There have been more than 133 million vaccines administered in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As of Thursday, there have been 30,076,486 total infections with 546,507 deaths from COVID-19.

The Johns Hopkins professor slammed Fauci's track record throughout the pandemic and for initially missing the mark on how the virus is transmitted, the effectiveness of masks and mitigation.

Dr. Marty Makary said on Thursday slammed Fauci's track record throughout the pandemic and for initially missing the mark on how the virus is transmitted and effectiveness of masks

Makary blasted Fauci, pictured, for being 'around' for Sars-CoV-1 but missing the mark on Sars-CoV-2

'His job is to prepare us for a pandemic and tell us how to manage it. He mostly missed the pandemic for the two months prior, never prepared us, was wrong on masks,' Makary said.

'We should have known that but the aerosolized transmission because Sars-CoV-2 behaves like Sars-CoV-1. That was aerosolized droplets as well. He was around for that.'

During the segment, Makary explained why he believed Americans have already started to reach herd immunity.

'After you get the infection, your body develops antibodies. These are the same antibodies the vaccine is trying to trigger and create,' Makary said.

'When you have circulating antibodies, that means have you protection from the infection.'

The San Francisco Chronicle reported earlier this month that about 38% of Californians had antibodies against the coronavirus, according to figures presented during a virtual meeting hosted by the California Medical Association.

During the webinar, researchers said that 45% of people in Los Angeles have these antibodies. The Bay Area and greater Sacramento region each recorded 32% of the population with COVID-19 antibodies.

Makary pointed to this data as evidence that Americans are approaching herd immunity.

'That's why infections are down 95% in Los Angeles over the last 10 weeks, their positivity rate is down to 1.6% right now,' Makary said.

Los Angeles County saw just 608 new cases and 66 deaths reported on Thursday, according to the health department's website.

'Reinfections are very rare. That means, naturally immunity is real,' Makary said.

Former President Donald Trump also blasted Fauci in an interview on The Truth With Lisa Boothe podcast on Monday

A chart shows total confirmed infections rates have steadily declined in February and March as the country reached 30,076,486 total infections

A chart shows total confirmed death rates have steadily declined in February and March as the country reached 546,507 total deaths

A map shows states where coronavirus numbers have increased as the United States counts 546,507 total deaths and 30,076,486 total infections

A chart shows the total number of new United States coronavirus infections since the start of the pandemic

A chart shows the total number of United States deaths per day from the coronavirus since the start of the pandemic

However, not all health experts agree with the implied assessment that reinfections should not be taken seriously.

Last month, Kaiser Health News published an article noting that 'U.S. health officials may be overlooking an unsettling subgroup of survivors: those who get infected more than once.'

According to a global reinfection tracker, there have been 66 confirmed reinfections worldwide with just two deaths after reinfection.

'That sounds like a rather insignificant number. But scientists' understanding of reinfection has been constrained by the limited number of U.S. labs that retain COVID testing samples or perform genetic sequencing,' Kaiser Health News reported.

'A KHN review of surveillance efforts finds that many U.S. states aren't rigorously tracking or investigating suspected cases of reinfection.'

Makary, however, said that Fauci telling people that 75% to 80% of the population needs to get vaccinated neglects the percentage of people who have natural immunity.

'You cannot have a need for 75% to 80% of the population get vaccinated to get to herd immunity and half the population with natural immunity currently. Both cannot be true,' Makary argued.

Makary told Fox News that the United States has hit herd immunity already for healthcare workers.

'We are there in nursing homes right now. Cases are down 98%,' he said.

Last month, a New York Times analysis showed that new cases and deaths in nursing homes have fallen dramatically 'since the arrival of vaccines' and are 'outpacing national declines.'

'Herd immunity is not binary, it's not all or nothing. It's gradual slowing and we have seen it now in North Dakota. They have probably hit herd immunity,' Makary said.

He added that the nation will reach herd immunity in April or May - even as younger people continue to get 'mostly asymptomatic and mild cases.'

Former President Donald Trump also blasted Fauci in an interview on The Truth With Lisa Boothe podcast on Monday.

'I thought rather than firing him, you know, I listened to him but I didn't do what he said because, frankly, his record is not a good record,' Trump said.

'I like him personally. He is actually a nice guy. Is he a great promoter. He is really a promoter more than anything else.'
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - March 26, 2021) - Canadian Manganese Company Inc. (the "Company" or "CMC"), is pleased to announce it has entered into an agreement with Maximos Metals Corp. ("Maximos") to create a new Technology Metals company with an immediate strategic focus on the advancement of CMC's Woodstock manganese property in New Brunswick to produce high purity electrolytic manganese metal and/or high purity manganese sulphate monohydrate for the growing battery metals market.

Private Placement Financing $5 Million

In connection with the transaction, CMC will complete a non-brokered, private placement equity financing (the "Financing") through an offering of Subscription Receipts at a price of $0.30 per flow-through receipt and $0.225 per non-flow-through receipt, of which CMC has already received subscriptions for a minimum of $5 million, led by key supporting investors, including certain Maximos insiders, Clarion Finance Pte Ltd. and Commodity Capital.

Each Subscription Receipt will ultimately be converted to one common share of CMC upon completion of the proposed transaction.

Maximos Agreement

CMC has entered into a definitive agreement (the "Amalgamation Agreement") with Maximos and CMC's wholly owned subsidiary, ("CMC Subco"), to complete a three-cornered amalgamation, which will result in Maximos becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of CMC, and the shareholders of Maximos becoming shareholders of CMC.

Transaction Highlights

CMC's vision is to create a diversified technology metals company through a disciplined growth strategy with an emphasis on stakeholder value creation and the development of industry-leading sustainability programs

Advanced large, carbonate hosted, manganese deposit in New Brunswick with NI 43-101 defined resource and completed PEA, with demonstrated flow sheet for production of various high purity manganese products

Focus on manganese, which has been identified as a critical mineral by both US and Canadian governments

Global evolution of electric vehicle (EV) and battery technologies combined with mounting geopolitical support provides unique opportunity to create a North American based leader in the production of battery-grade manganese

Dominant land position, strategically located adjacent to Trans-Canada Highway and near US border, with multiple resource expansion areas, including other deposits with historical resources

Additional exposure to key technology metals - Nickel, Copper and Cobalt sulphides, via Maximos' nickel cobalt exploration claims in Labrador and its investment in Spark Minerals Inc. that holds the Londonderry and Trident properties in Nova Scotia with potential for iron-oxide-copper-gold (IOCG) type mineralization

Supportive shareholders underpinning concurrent financing to provide strong cash position of over $5 million include key Maximos insiders, Clarion Finance Pte Ltd. and Commodity Capital.

Strategic Focus on Battery Manganese and Critical Minerals

CMC's immediate strategic focus will be the advancement of its wholly owned Woodstock manganese property in New Brunswick, Canada. The Woodstock property hosts the near-surface, Plymouth carbonate-hosted manganese-iron deposit ("Plymouth") which contains an Inferred Resource of 44,770,000 tonnes grading 9.85% manganese, on which a positive Preliminary Economic Assessment with supporting National Instrument 43-101 Technical Report ("PEA") was completed in 2014 to evaluate a potential open pit mining and processing facility.

CMC's Woodstock property also hosts two adjacent outcropping manganese deposits, the North Hartford and South Hartford deposits, each of which hosts historical, non NI 43-101 compliant, uncategorized resources, including 51.2 million short tons (46.5 million tonnes) averaging 10.9% Mn (manganese) and 13.3% Fe within the 1North Hartford deposit, and 50 million short tons (45 million tonnes) grading 8% Mn and 12% Fe within the 1South Hartford deposit.

The Plymouth deposit, together with the North and South Hartford deposits, are believed to represent the largest accumulation of manganese carbonate (rhodochrosite) in North America and collectively one of the largest manganese carbonate deposits in the world outside China.

Manganese has been defined by the Canadian and US governments as a critical mineral that is essential for national defense, aerospace, technology, and energy that is highly susceptible to supply interruptions due to the lack of domestic production.

Manganese is a key component in the formulations of the cathode material used in high-performance lithium-ion batteries, and in utility bulk energy storage facilities, which are expected to create strong demand for high-purity manganese products. Manganese at the Woodstock Plymouth Deposit predominately occurs as a manganese carbonate which is preferred, relative to higher-grade manganese oxide feed materials, for production of high-purity manganese metals.

As the Woodstock PEA was focused on the potential for electrolytic manganese metal production, the current program will seek to update the PEA for the production of both high purity manganese metal and high purity manganese sulphate monohydrate for the battery industry. Concurrently, CMC proposes to undertake several programs to advance various project categories to a prefeasibility level of study, including: Product Market and End-User Market Assessment; Process Development and Advanced Metallurgy; Infrastructure Evaluation and Preliminary Environmental Assessment and Engagement.

Additionally, CMC plans to undertake a drilling program to further define the Plymouth deposit (currently open in several directions) as well as, explore the adjacent North and South Hartford properties.

About the Transaction

Under the terms of the Amalgamation Agreement an aggregate of 59,683,564 CMC Shares will be issued to holders of Maximos shares on the basis of 0.555625 of a CMC Share for every common share of Maximos (the "Exchange Ratio"). In addition, 9,500,000 Maximos stock options and 8,000,000 Maximos warrants will be cancelled, and the holders will receive equivalent options or warrants of CMC with necessary adjustments to reflect the Exchange Ratio.

Immediately after the Closing, assuming the issue of 20 million CMC Shares pursuant to the Financing, CMC will have approximately 140,000,000 shares outstanding, of which the shareholders of CMC including new investors will own approximately 57% and the former shareholders of Maximos will own approximately 43%, each on an undiluted basis.

The Amalgamation, which is an arm's length transaction, is subject to the receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals and approval by Maximos shareholders. It is anticipated the closing of the transaction will occur in the second quarter of 2021.

It is anticipated that following the completion of the transaction, two nominees of Maximos and two new independent directors will be appointed to the Board of Directors of CMC.

In connection with the execution of the Amalgamation Agreement, Maximos has provided an unsecured, interest free, loan of $250,000 to CMC, which loan will be repayable on demand if the transaction is not completed.

ABOUT MAXIMOS METALS

Maximos was incorporated pursuant to the provisions of the Canada Business Corporations Act on May 17, 2017. Led by a team with over 50 years of combined relevant international finance, geopolitical and resource development experience, Maximos focused on the identification of new mineralized areas with the use of the proprietary NanoSpectra technology. Over the past three years under this stakeholder partnership and incubation model, Maximos has worked directly with companies (both public and private and governments accumulating a portfolio of interests (asset and equity-linked)) across commodities and jurisdictions.

Maximos holds a 100% interest in the Maximos Nickel Property which consists of nine discontinuous mineral Licenses (024907M to 024915M) covering a total area of 336 km2 in north western Labrador on which Maximos completed a diamond drilling program in late 2017 and early 2018.

Maximos also holds a majority equity ownership of Spark Minerals Inc., that holds iron oxide copper gold mineral licences in Nova Scotia and which recently announced a proposed reverse takeover transaction with Mongoose Mining Ltd.

The information contained or referred to in this press release relating to Maximos has been furnished by Maximos. Although CMC has no knowledge that would indicate that any statement contained herein concerning Maximos is untrue or incomplete, neither CMC nor any of its respective directors or officers assumes any responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of such information. Investors are cautioned that, except as disclosed by CMC, any information released or received with respect to the transaction may not be accurate or complete and should not be relied upon.

ABOUT CANADIAN MANGANESE

Canadian Manganese is a Canadian mineral development company aiming to become a supplier of high-purity manganese metal products for the rechargeable battery industry.

Canadian Manganese holds the Woodstock manganese property In New Brunswick containing the Plymouth manganese-iron deposit that hosts an Inferred Resource of 44,770,000 tonnes grading 9.85% manganese and on which a positive preliminary economic assessment, NI 43-101 technical report was completed in 2014.

Qualified Person and Technical Report

Paul Moore is the Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 who has approved the scientific and technical information relating to Canadian Manganese's Woodstock property contained in this News Release.

The 2014 Mineral Resource Estimate for the Plymouth Mn-Fe deposit was prepared by Mercator Geological Services as disclosed in the Technical Report issued in July of 2014 as a Preliminary Economic Assessment [Preliminary Economic Assessment on the Woodstock Manganese Property, New Brunswick Canada. Effective Date: July 10, 2014. Prepared by Dharshan Kesavanathan, P.Eng., Laszlo Bodi, P.Eng., Michael Cullen, M.Sc., P.Geo., Mike McLaughlin, P.Eng., Stephanie M. Goodine, P.Eng., and Wenchang Ni, P.Eng.]. (Technical Report filed on SEDAR under the profile of Canadian Manganese's parent company, Buchans Resources Limited, at www.sedar.com and on the Company's website).

Historical Estimates:This News Release contains historical estimates, including estimates of the quantity and grade for deposits referred to as the North Hartford and South Hartford deposits. These historical estimates are based on data obtained and prepared by previous operators and neither CMC nor its predecessors have located original assay sheets or details of the estimation methodology, nor the key assumptions or parameters, underlying the estimates. A qualified person has not done sufficient work to verify or classify the historical estimates for the North Hartford or South Hartford deposits as current mineral resources. CMC is not treating these historical estimates as current mineral resources in accordance with NI 43-101, and these estimates should not be relied upon.

For further information:

investors@CanadianManganese.com

John F. Kearney: Chairman & Chief Executive +1 416 362 6686

Danesh Varma: Chief Financial Officer + 44 (0)77409 32766

Matthew Allas: President and CEO, Maximos Metals Corporation +1 647 338 3748

Additional information on Canadian Manganese Company Inc. is available at www.CanadianManganese.com

CAUTIONARY STATEMENTS

This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities in any jurisdiction. Completion of the transaction is subject to a number of conditions. There can be no assurance that the Transaction will be completed as proposed or at all.

ANY SECURITIES REFERRED TO HEREIN WILL NOT BE REGISTERED UNDER THE U.S. SECURITIES ACT OF 1933, AS AMENDED (THE "1933 ACT"), AND MAY NOT BE OFFERED OR SOLD IN THE UNITED STATES OR TO A U.S. PERSON IN THE ABSENCE OF SUCH REGISTRATION OR AN EXEMPTION FROM THE REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS OF THE 1933 ACT.

Notice regarding forward-looking statements:

This press release includes forward-looking statements regarding CMC, Maximos, and their respective businesses, which may include, but is not limited to, statements with respect to the completion of the transaction, the terms on which the transaction is intended to be completed, the expected use of the net proceeds from the Financing, the ability to obtain regulatory and shareholder approvals, the proposed business plan of Maximos and the resulting issuer and other factors. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "is expected", "expects", "scheduled", "intends", "contemplates", "anticipates", "believes", "proposes" or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases, or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. Such statements are based on the current expectations of the management of each entity. The forward-looking events and circumstances discussed in this press release, including completion of the transaction, may not occur by certain specified dates or at all and could differ materially as a result of known and unknown risk factors and uncertainties affecting the companies, including risks regarding the mining industry, failure to obtain regulatory or shareholder approvals, economic factors, the equity markets generally and risks associated with growth and competition. Although CMC and Maximos have attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results to differ from those anticipated, estimated or intended. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed. Except as required by applicable securities laws, forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made and CMC and Maximos undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/78660
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-26 04:35:44|Editor: huaxia

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UNITED NATIONS, March 25 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations is trying to contact humanitarian workers caught up in Mozambique attacks while on stand-by to aid residents of Palma town, a UN spokesman said on Thursday.

"We always make sure that our presence on the ground, our staff and related aid workers, are protected," said Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. "In this case, there were several aid workers in the area when the attacks started. We're communicating with all relevant contacts to ensure that these aid workers are able to safely leave the area."

The United Nations is concerned about the violence in Cabo Delgado Province, Haq said. The attacks, reportedly starting Wednesday, are forcing families to flee their homes and leading to a rapid deterioration of the region's humanitarian situation.

The United Nations stands ready to support the people and the government of Mozambique in urgently addressing affected populations, the spokesman said.

Published reports characterize the rebel attacks on Palma, near a 20-billion-U.S. dollar international gas project, as vicious. Beheadings were reported.

Save the Children said on its website that an 11-year-old boy was beheaded while his mother and three siblings hid in nearby woods. Enditem
Tripoli, March 26 : The Foreign Ministers of Italy, France and Germany visited Libya's capital Tripoli and met with the war-torn country's newly-appointed Prime Minister, Abdul Hamid Dbeibah.

The meeting on Thursday discussed the return of European countries and flights to Libya, strengthening European diplomatic presence in Tripoli, and addressing illegal immigration, according to a statement issued by the Government of National Unity (GNA).

The statement also said the officials exchanged views on various issues of common interest and preparation for the upcoming Libyan elections later this year, reports Xinhua news agency.

"The delegation conveyed to the Prime Minister the keenness of their countries to consolidate stability in Libya, due to its great importance in the stability of the neighbouring countries and the Mediterranean basin, and that this visit is a unified European message to support the efforts of the Government of National Unity," the statement said.

The Foreign Ministers, comprising Luigi di Maio (Italy), Jean-Yves Le Drian (France) and Heiko Maas (Germany), highlighted readiness of their countries to provide support and assistance to the Libyan Government of National Unity to fulfil all its obligations regarding many issues of priority, the statement added.

The Libyan Prime Minister expressed gratitude for the position of Germany, France, Italy and all European partners for their support to Libya, expressing willingness of his government to strengthen cooperation and friendship with all countries in order to enhance Libya's role in achieving security and stability in the region and the world.

The UN-sponsored Libyan Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF) recently selected a new executive authority for the country.

Moahmmed Menfi was appointed as the President of the Presidency Council along with the new Prime Minister, whose government was granted confidence by the House of Representatives earlier this month.

The new government's main task is to hold general elections in the country on December 24, 2021, as agreed by the LPDF.

Libya plunged into chaos after the fall of late leader Muammar Gaddafi's government in 2011, witnessing prolonged conflict between the eastern-based Khalifa Haftar-led Libyan National Army (LNA) and the UN-recognised Government of National Accord in the country's west.

Due to the protracted armed conflict, political and economic crises and the coronavirus pandemic, nearly 1.2 million people, including over 348,000 children, require humanitarian assistance in Libya, according to the Unicef.
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The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has reassured of hitch-free conduct of Saturdays Aba North/South federal constituency bye-election in Abia State.

Joseph Iloh, the state INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), said this when he spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Umuahia on Friday.

He said the commission was fully prepared for the conduct of the election across the 609 polling units in the two local government areas of the constituency.

We have taken possession of all sensitive and non-sensitive materials and we have started deployment.

We promise that we will take our materials to all the polling units tomorrow (Saturday) by 8 a.m. and voting starts by 8:30 a.m. and stops by 2:30 p.m.

We are appealing to everyone who wants to vote to come out, enter the polling booth early enough to enable him cast his vote.

We are expecting everyone to please give us maximum cooperation, he said.

Geoffrey Achibie, head of department, Voter Education, said the office was fully prepared while appealing to politicians and voters to behave well and be orderly.

We have done the awareness, and voter publicity. We have met with the stakeholders and the candidates have signed a peace accord.

We are COVID-19 compliant because we are supplying the voters with sanitisers and face masks, he said.

Six political parties, including Action Alliance, All Progressives Congress, All Progressives Grand Alliance, Allied Peoples Movement, National Rescue Movement and Peoples Democratic Party will feature in the election.

(NAN)
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-25 21:45:25|Editor: huaxia

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The government of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on Tuesday expressed firm opposition and strong condemnation of the European Union (EU)'s unilateral sanctions against some individuals and entities in Xinjiang.

The regional government said the sanctions turned a blind eye to facts, gravely violated international law and basic norms governing international relations and seriously interfered in China's internal affairs, adding that the decision made by the EU is a piece of waste paper.

An official in Xinjiang said that the Xinjiang regional government invited EU envoys to visit Xinjiang many times, but they delayed the visits in every possible way for various reasons.

Produced by Xinhua Global Service
EUGENE, Ore.-- Millions of people in the Pacific Northwest witnessed lights streak across the sky Thursday night, leaving onlookers wondering what they could be.

Videos of the lights were posted on social media from Canada to Corvallis and everywhere in between. Many speculated it was a meteor shower, a satellite, or even a UFO. The National Weather Service in Portland suggested the lights were from The Falcon 9. The National Weather Service retweeted astronomer Jonathan McDowell who said the launch failed to make a deorbit burn and reentered the atmosphere after 22 days in orbit.

The National Weather Service said this is not an official answer but it fits the bill. They are waiting for confirmation about what these lights were from their own sources.

KEZI 9 News reached out to the North American Aerospace Defense Command, the government agency that controls the air space over Canada and the United States, they said the information they have aligns to the National Weather Service.
YEREVAN, MARCH 26, ARMENPRESS. The ministry of emergency situations reports that several roads are closed or difficult to pass across Armenia.

The ministry told Armenpress that the roads leading to the Amberd Fortress and Lake Kari in Aragatsotn province are closed.

The Vardenyats Pass is closed for trailer trucks and difficult to pass for the remaining vehicles.

The Georgian side informs that the Stepantsminda-Lars highway is closed.

Drivers are urged to use snow tires.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
Reopening

26 March 2021

To mark its reopening on 17th May 2021, The Langham, London debuts a new initiative inviting guests to 'Stay and Do Good' by booking one of five new packages: Future, Empowerment, Care, Together and Heal.

The Langham, London has handpicked ten worthwhile charities dedicated to supporting local and national communities each inspired by the namesakes of the packages. Upon guests booking their preferred package, The Langham, London will donate 25 per room, per stay, or 100 per suite, per stay, divided equally between the two charities selected in each.
Trump: Mainstream Media Asked Softball Questions at Biden News Conference

Former President Donald Trump on Thursday said White House reporters during President Joe Bidens first press conference asked him strange and softball questions.

They were strange questions and they were asked in a very interesting way. It was like softballs, like youre throwing softballs up. And its just a different world, nobodys seen anything like it, Trump told Fox News.

During the press conference, Biden took about 30 questions from corporate news outlets. He did not appear to take any questions from conservative-leaning outlets.

Trump noted that even Fox News didnt get to ask a question.

Its very sad to watch, actually. Theyre feeding him questions, theyre easy questions. I noticed Peter Doocy didnt get to ask a question today, Trump said, referring to Fox News White House correspondent. And there could be no difficult questions, and theyre ready to rip the microphone away if somebody did get a little bit testy.

Look, the whole thing is ridiculous, he said. You know it and so do I.

Photos that were taken at Bidens press briefing show one card with facts about U.S. infrastructure, and another with headshots of what appeared to be the reporters in attendance. The press briefing was limited to about 25 reporters.

Throughout his candidacy and presidency, Trump often pilloried mainstream news outlets such as The New York Times, NBC, CNN, and others, noting that they depended on him and his personality for ratings.

This is a press that we have to be very, very smart to get around, but they dont cover bad things if it happens to be bad for Democrats. Its pretty amazing. You take a look at some of the coverage and some of the travesty thats taking place at the border, and the coverage is not commensurate, Trump said earlier this week in an interview on The Truth with Lisa Boothe.

The former president, referring to the massive surge of illegal immigrants at the border, added: If you look at NBC, ABC, CBS, and of course CNN and MSNBC, and seeif you look at some of those networksits just not covered. Its covered so little. Its amazing. And its a massive story because its going to destroyits going to destroy our country.

Later in the Thursday interview, the former commander-in-chief said he prefers not to be on Twitterhis favored social media platform for years and one he used with devastating effectivenessand instead now prefers to release statements. Twitter permanently suspended Trumps account in early January following the Jan. 6 riots at the Capitol.

I almost like it better, I think I do like it better, Trump said.

Trump did not say whether he plans to run for president in 2024 and did not elaborate on his plans.

Biden told reporters Thursday that he expects to run for reelection with Vice President Kamala Harris on the ticket.

The answer is yes, my plan is to run for reelection, Biden said during the news conference. Thats my expectation. 

Im a great respecter of fate. Ive never been able to plan four and a half, three and a half years ahead for certain, he said in a follow-up question.
Major General Nick Welch has been jailed at Bulford Military Court for 21 months

The highest ranking officer to be court martialled for more than 200 years was today jailed for 21 months after cheating taxpayers of nearly 50,000.

Major General Nick Welch has been jailed at Bulford Military Court for 21 months after he was convicted of fraud by falsely claiming more than 48,000 in allowance to pay for his children's school fees.

The 57-year-old abused the Continuity of Education Allowance (CEA) to send two of his children to boarding schools in Dorset until he was reported by a 'frustrated' Colonel neighbour.

Welch, who was Assistant Chief of the General Staff based at the Ministry of Defence's headquarters in London, had claimed he couldn't afford the school fees, even on his 'lofty' salary of 120,000-a-year.

Welch had claimed he and his wife Charlotte, 54, were living in Putney, south-west London. But freelance consultant Mrs Welch in fact spent the majority of her time at the family's 800,000 country home in Dorset.

It comes after Army Major Lloyd Hamilton, who was awarded an MBE for his charity work, was sacked from the forces after illegally claimed taxpayers' money to send his children to one of the UK's most expensive boarding schools.

Welch was caught after an anonymous tip from neighbours claimed he and his wife were never at their London address.

But the complaint was dismissed at the time by Mrs Welch, who told her friend the Colonel who reported them must have been 'daunted' by her husband's rank

She wrote in a text message: 'Perhaps they are daunted by Nick's rank, all of their husbands are two or three ranks below.'

As well as the custodial sentence to be served in a civilian prison, Welch was retrospectively dismissed from the Army, meaning he will not be able to benefit from the rank of retired major general.

He was also ordered to pay back the fraudulently claimed money.

Judge Advocate General Alan Large said Maj Gen Welch 'knew from the outset' that he was not entitled to the allowance.

The 57-year-old, pictured in Afghanistan with then-Prime Minister David Cameron, had denied fraud

Welch making an address during Exercise Trident Jaguar at the Joint Warfare Centre in Stavanger, Norway in 2015

Major General Nick Welch falsely claimed 48,000 to pay for his children's boarding schools

He claimed 48,388 between December 2015 and February 2017 to put them through the 37,000-a-year Clayesmore School (pictured) and 22,500-a-year Hanford School

The four-week trial heard that Welch lied about how much time he and his wife spent at their Dorset home, just 15 minutes' drive from his children's schools (Hanford School pictured)

Major General Nick Welch: Glittering career of the retired British Army officer awarded OBE in 2006 Decorated: Major General Nick Welch Major General Nick Welch left the Army in 2018 after an illustrious career which spanned more than three decades. He joined the military as a Second Lieutenant in 1984, eventually rising through the ranks to become a two-star general. In that time he served as Commander of the The Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire regiment and of the 7th Armoured Brigade based in Bergen-Hohne, Germany. Maj Gen Welch was awarded with the Queen's Commendation for Valuable Service in recognition of 'gallant and distinguished services in the former Yugoslavia' in 2005 and received his OBE in 2006. He has served in Afghanistan - where he was second in command of British and US troops in Helmand province - Germany, Northern Ireland and Belize. In 2014 he was appointed Chief of Staff of the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps. In 2015, he became Assistant Chief of the General Staff, the highest ranking Army officer working in the Ministry of Defence in London. In this role Maj Gen Welch would have been earning around 120,000 a year. He held this post until 2018. He retired from the military a year later to enter the private sector, becoming Chief Operating Officer of Bournemouth Arts University, Dorset. Advertisement

Welch retired a two star general in 2019, having served in Afghanistan, Germany, Northern Ireland and Belize.

He had been awarded a number of medals, including for his service in Northern Ireland, Afghanistan and for long service with good conduct.

Judge Advocate General Alan Large said the panel of senior officers sentenced Welch, who is the most senior officer to face court martial since 1815, 'on the basis the defendant behaved dishonestly throughout'.

Judge Large told Welch today: 'A disciplined organisation such as the Army relies on those in rank and authority to set an example and to be beyond reproach.

'The higher your rank, the more important it is that you uphold the values and standards of the Army in which you serve and when an officer of the rank of major general offends as you have, the potential to erode discipline and undermine morale is considerable.

'We have no doubt you understand that your rank of major general and role as the assistant chief of general staff are factors which aggravate the offence and require recognition in the sentence.

'You ignored multiple warnings which aggravated your offence; your good character and exemplary conduct mitigates the sentence.'

The court heard that Welch had joined the Army in 1984 and had served for more than 33 years when he retired in 2018 from his position as the assistant chief of general staff at Ministry of Defence (MoD) headquarters in London.

Judge Large said: 'In stark contrast to the events leading to your conviction in this trial, you had a highly successful military career, served your country with distinction on operations and you were a fine ambassador for your service and nation.'

The verdict means Welch, who was previously awarded the OBE, is the most senior officer to be found guilty at a court martial since Lt Gen John Murray in 1815.

Lt Gen Murray was hauled before a military court in Winchester accused abandoning 18 siege guns during the siege of Tarragona in 1813.

He was found guilty of a single charge 'that he unnecessarily abandoned a considerable quantity of artillery and stores', and admonished by the court.

The court martial panel took five hours to find Welch guilty of a single count of fraud yesterday. He stood stony faced and showed no emotion as the verdict was delivered.

The four-week trial heard that Welch lied about how much time he and his wife spent at their Dorset home, just 15 minutes' drive from his children's schools.

He claimed 48,388 between December 2015 and February 2017 to put them through the 37,000-a-year Clayesmore School and 22,500-a-year Hanford School.

Prosecutor Sarah Clarke QC had said Maj Gen Welch's offence was especially serious because 'the higher the rank the greater the degree of culpability'.

She added that because Maj Gen Welch was in a position of 'trust, power and responsibility' and committed the fraud over a 'sustained period of time' of about 15 months it raised the seriousness of the fraud.

Throughout this period, she said Maj Gen Welch, who had a glittering career and was awarded an OBE, 'failed to respond to warnings and change his behaviour'.

Major General Nick Welch pictured here in 2015 as part of Exercise Trident Jaguar

Sarah Jones QC, mitigating, said it was the 'pride of his life' to be an officer in the British Army and described the father of three as 'an officer of outstanding ability who did the job he had a vocation to do'.

After Colonel Jeremy Lamb complained to the Army, Welch ordered his wife to drive up to London the following morning.

The court heard Mrs Welch promised to put on a show of living at the property and would be 'out and about and very sociable all week'.

Mrs Welch was said to only spend around one in three days at the residence in Putney.

The Continuity of Education Allowance is offered by the Ministry of Defence to help fund 90 per cent of the education of military families' children when they relocate on assignment, as long as their spouses live with them, a practice known as 'serving accompanied'.

Welch (pictured in 2014), told the hearing that his understanding of the rules was that his wife had to be staying where he was staying in order to comply with the definition of accompanied service

General Kim Yo-Hwan, Army Chief of Staff of the Republic of Korea with Maj Gen Welch (rught) in 2014

Welch's barrister, Sarah Jones QC, argued the CEA system and the 90-day rule were a 'mess' and not strictly enforced by the MoD administrators.

MBE-winning major, 47, who blamed 'mid-life crisis' for defrauding Army out of 13,000 to keep his children at 50,000-a-year boarding school when marriage broke down is sacked from the forces An MBE-winning major who blamed his 'mid-life crisis' for defrauding the Army out of 13,000 has been sacked from the forces. Major Lloyd Hamilton, who illegally claimed taxpayers' money to send his children to one of the UK's most expensive boarding schools, argued his 'special domestic circumstances' were enough to prevent dismissal. The 47-year-old Royal Engineer, who has an MBE for charity work, was stationed in Cyprus when he duped the MoD by illegally claiming for private school fees. Hamilton was only eligible for the allowance as long as his Cambridge-educated IBM manager wife Liz was living with him. But after the breakdown of their marriage she stayed at their 500,000 four bedroom home in Hamble, Hampshire. Hamilton continued to claim the cash to send his two children to the 49,875 a year Queen Elthelburga's Collegiate in Yorkshire but last month was convicted of fraud. Advertisement

Welch was given character references by senior military commanders including former commander Joint Forces Command, General Sir Richard Barrons, who said he believed the defendant was of 'unimpeachable integrity'.

Describing the impact of the sentence, Miss Jones said: 'It will shake the foundations of the man and what he has achieved and what he has failed in two things he cared about most, for his career is brought to an ignominious end and his family life has been shattered as his children are distraught and his wife puts a brave face on things.'

Prosecutor Sarah Clarke told the court that Welch used his rank to deceive the Army as 'who is going to question the word of a Major General?'

The QC accused Welch of lying and 'attempting to manipulate' the figures regarding his family's locations in order to cover up his dishonesty.

He has since taken a post as chief operating officer of Bournemouth Arts University. But today the university said Welch had left his post as chief operating officer 'with immediate effect.'

The judge said the sentence was reduced from three years to 30 months because of his good character and then reduced to 21 months due to the four year delay in proceedings.

Following the hearing an MoD spokesman said Maj Gen Welch will serve at least half of his sentence before being released on licence, saying: 'Retired Major General Nicholas Welch OBE was convicted of fraud by failing to disclose information.

'He was sentenced to 21 months' imprisonment half of which will be custodial and he will then released on 12 months licence.'

'This allegation of fraud was investigated by the Royal Military Police with results passed to the Service Prosecuting Authority. It has been proven in this case that Retired Major General Nicholas Welch OBE did commit fraud and he has been sentenced accordingly.'

In another case, Royal Engineer Lloyd Hamilton allegedly misused taxpayers' money to pay for their education while he was stationed abroad.

A court martial heard the 47-year-old father of two, who was based in Cyprus at the time, was only eligible to claim the allowances as long as his wife Liz was living with him.

But following a breakdown in their marriage Mrs Hamilton, an IBM manager, remained at their private 500,000 four bedroom home in Hamble, Hampshire.
The photo shows the Russian 9M729 land-based cruise missile and its vehicle-mounted launcher, among other equipment, exhibited at Patriot Park in Kubinka outside Moscow on January 23, 2019. The US kicked off the process to pull out of the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) on the grounds that the 9M729 missile violates the INF treaty, while Russia has denied the US's allegations for many times. (File photo from Xinhua News Agency)

By Guo Xiaobing

There have been some conspicuous changes in the field of international arms control this year, with a series of arms control treaties or agreements likely to be renewed or restarted. This has, to some extent, curbed the severe erosion of the international arms control system in the past few years.

However, all sorts of conflicts are still fermenting in nuclear disarmament, non-proliferation and regional nuclear hot issues. So, the international arms control situation is far from optimistic.

Nuclear disarmament in the US and Russia  structural conflicts to solve, hard nuts to crack

With the changed political situation in the US, the downward spiral of international arms control has been primarily halted. Soon after Biden was sworn in as US president, he held a phone talk with his Russian counterpart, and both leaders agreed to renew the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START ), the only remaining arms control treaty between the two countries. Washington and Moscow have some common grounds on bilateral nuclear disarmament.

However, they are not likely to make any substantial progress in this field in a short period.

First, the US and Russia have structural conflicts in various areas, ranging from geopolitics, human rights to cyber security. The Biden administration views Russia as a major rival and has been taking a tough stance toward it.

Second, the two countries have many hard nuts to crack regarding nuclear arms control. For instance, Moscow insists on including missile defense in bilateral strategic security dialogue because strategic offensive and defensive weapons are inseparable. Still, Washington refuses to restrict the development of missile defense systems. Washington wants to talk about tactical nuclear weapons, citing Moscows disproportionate superiority in the field, but Moscow refuses to respond to that.

Third, the Biden administration needs more time to adjust its nuclear strategy. Bidens nuclear approach differs widely from his predecessors, and the revised strategy wont be out until the end of the year. As a result, the US-Russia strategic security dialogue will hardly make any substantial progress within this year.

Nuclear non-proliferation  old barriers gone, new conflicts on

The Treaty on the Non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT ) is an important cornerstone of the international non-proliferation system and a vital part of the post-WWII global security system. It holds a review conference every five years. Judging from the current situation, the 10th NPT review conference scheduled for this August holds both good and bad news to offer.

The good news is that the roadblock causing the last conference to fail has been removed. The 9th review conference held in 2015 didnt yield a final document; four years later, it was successfully held again in November 2019 and adopted a political declaration and a final report, which cleared the way for the next NPT review conference.

The bad news is that some non-nuclear states dont fully understand the role played by nuclear weapons in maintaining strategic stability and have made too radical demands. It is a crucial mission of all contracting parties to further advance the three pillars of the NPT treaty , namely nuclear disarmament, nuclear non-proliferation and peaceful use of nuclear energy, in a balanced way, and truly enable the NPT to play its role in preserving international peace and promoting human development. All parties need to make united efforts toward that goal.

Iran nuclear deal  mounting obstacles despite softened attitude of US and Iran

Of all the regional nuclear hot issues, the Iranian nuclear issue is most likely to see new changes. The Biden administration has taken an active attitude toward returning to the deal and claimed it would rejoin the agreement as long as Tehran strictly abides by it.

But its not easy for Washington to go back to the agreement, given that the White House is facing strong resistance at home to relaxing the sanctions on Iran. There is a slew of technical difficulties that prevent Iran from fully performing the deal in such areas as uranium enrichment and stock and R&D of the new centrifuge.

Moreover, Iran will have its presidential election in June, and the hawkish forces are gaining ground at home, which will bring new uncertainties to the bilateral dialogue. Its foreseeable that even if both sides have the will, the process of restarting the Iran nuclear deal will be a thorny journey with bargaining overtures every step all the way.

(The author is director of the Institute of Arms Control and Security Studies , China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations)
Sergio Ramos had a funny first half against Greece on Thursday.

The Spain captain never looked comfortable, misplaced six of his 12 attempted passes, and he didn't return after the break.

His operated knee remains under surveillance, but it wasn't the reason for his substitution. Luis Enrique simply wanted to manage the defender's minutes, and the hope is for him to play in each of Spain's games during this set of internationals.

Ramos had only played in Real Madrid's matches against Elche and Atalanta after returning from injury.
[March 26, 2021] Unitholders Approve Changes to First Asset-Branded Mutual Funds

CI Global Asset Management ("CI GAM") today announced that unitholders have approved proposed changes to its First Asset-branded mutual funds, including two fund mergers and the introduction of fixed administration fees. The changes, which were first announced on January 18, 2021, were approved at unitholder meetings held on March 25, 2021. Fund mergers Unitholders and securities regulators have approved the following two fund mergers (the "Mergers"): The merger of First Asset Utility Plus Fund into Signature Global Infrastructure Fund, and

The merger of First Asset Canadian Dividend Opportunity Fund into CI North American Dividend Fund. On or about April 16, 2021, First Asset Utility Plus Fund and First Asset Canadian Dividend Opportunity Fund will be terminated and unitholders will receive the equivalent dollr value of securities in the equivalent series of the corresponding continuing funds. The Mergers will not result in a taxable disposition for unitholders, but the terminating funds may pay a distribution when the mergers take place.



In each case, the terminating and continuing funds have the same CI GAM portfolio management teams. Both First Asset Utility Plus Fund and Signature Global Infrastructure Fund are managed by Kevin McSweeney and Massimo Bonansinga, and both First Asset Canadian Dividend Opportunity Fund and CI North American Dividend Fund are managed by Peter Hofstra. In addition, the management and administration fees of the continuing funds are lower than the management fees and operating expenses of the corresponding terminating funds. CI GAM is undertaking the Mergers to reduce duplication in its fund lineup and to create larger, more efficient funds with increased potential for diversification opportunities. The costs and expenses associated with the Mergers are being borne by CI GAM and not the funds.

Fixed administration fees Unitholders of First Asset Canadian Convertible Bond Fund and First Asset REIT Income Fund also approved the adoption of fixed administration fees for the funds. Effective on or about April 16, 2021, CI GAM, as manager, will be responsible for the operating expenses of each fund, other than certain expenses, in exchange for the payment by each fund of a fixed administration fee. As a result, the management expense ratio ("MER") of each fund series will consist of the management fee, the fixed administration fee, certain expenses and applicable taxes. The benefits to unitholders of fixed administration fees include greater predictability and transparency of the MER for each fund, as well as protection from potential increases in future operating expenses. CI GAM first implemented fixed administration fees in 2005 and the practice has since become widely used within the Canadian fund industry. About CI Global Asset Management CI Global Asset Management is one of Canada's largest investment management companies. It offers a wide range of investment products and services and is on the Web at www.ci.com. CI GAM is a subsidiary of CI Financial Corp. (TSX: CIX, NYSE: CIXX), an independent company offering global asset management and wealth management advisory services with approximately $236.5 billion in total assets as at February 28, 2021. Commissions, trailing commissions, management fees and expenses all may be associated with mutual fund investments. Please read the prospectus before investing. Mutual funds are not guaranteed, their values change frequently, and past performance may not be repeated. This communication is provided as a general source of information and should not be considered personal, legal, accounting, tax or investment advice, or construed as an endorsement or recommendation of any entity or security discussed. Individuals should seek the advice of professionals, as appropriate, regarding any particular investment. Investors should consult their professional advisors prior to implementing any changes to their investment strategies. CI Global Asset Management is a registered business name of CI Investments Inc. CI Investments Inc. 2021. All rights reserved. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210326005404/en/

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Fifteen school districts switched from remote to hybrid learning this past week, as Gov. Phil Murphy has begun to push districts to bring students back into classrooms following a year of coronavirus-related school closures.

As of Monday, March 22, 534 districts were hybrid, 90 remote, and 143 were fully in-person. Forty-four districts have different educational formats for different schools. The number of in-person and hybrid districts remained flat this week, while the number of fully remote dropped by nine. Although the totals of remote and in-person schools stayed the same, 28 schools changed formats.

This week breaks a seven-week streak of more schools bringing more students back into classrooms. Murphy has said called for all districts to switch to either hybrid or in-person learning, announcing this week that some schools could relax social distancing measures.

Although 18% of districts are fully in-person, those schools educate just 7% of New Jersey students, as all the states largest districts remain remote or hybrid.

Its not clear if the number of students in each learning format takes into account students electing to learn remotely in districts offering in-person learning. A spokesperson for the Department of Education did not immediately have that information available.

Some schools have remained entirely remote since last March, while other districts have changed formats as virus conditions have changed. Parents have also been given the choice to keep students virtual even if their district reinstitutes in-person learning.

Districts have cited concerns about the viruss spread as the main reason for choosing to remain remote; at least one district has said it intends to stay virtual through the end of the year, and a number of large districts say they will remain remote until mid-April.

There have been 205 outbreaks and 947 cases of the coronavirus linked to schools in New Jersey. For cases to qualify as an outbreak, they must be confirmed to have been transmitted in the classroom or during academic activities. All 21 counties have seen an in-school outbreak.

Teachers are now eligible for the coronavirus vaccine, and some districts, including Edison, have begun partnering with health agencies to distribute vaccines to teachers. No vaccine has been approved for children under 16, although studies have begun on younger children.

The following 28 districts made changes to their learning formats this week. The list provided by the Department of Education is self-reported by the districts, spokesman Mike Yaple said.:

Woodcliff Lake School District: Hybrid to Remote Clinton-Glen Gardner School District: Hybrid to Remote Monmouth Regional High School: Hybrid to Remote Hanover Township School District: Hybrid to Combo Wharton Borough School District: Hybrid to Remote CHANCELLOR ACADEMY: Hybrid to Remote Jackson Township School District: Hybrid to Combo Toms River Regional School District: Hybrid to Combo South Bound Brook Public School District: Hybrid to Remote Bergen Arts and Science Charter School: Remote to Hybrid North Arlington School District: Remote to Hybrid Norwood Public School District: Remote to Hybrid Hope Community Charter School: Remote to Hybrid Bridgeton City School District: Remote to Hybrid Hudson Arts and Science Charter School: Remote to Hybrid The Ethical Community Charter School: Remote to Combo The Learning Community Charter School: Remote to Combo Lebanon Township School District: Remote to Hybrid NEW ROAD SCHOOL OF PARLIN: Remote to Hybrid Classical Academy Charter School of Clifton: Remote to Hybrid Clifton Public School District: Remote to Hybrid John P Holland Charter School: Remote to Hybrid Paterson Charter School for Science and Technology: Remote to Hybrid Prospect Park Public School District: Remote to Hybrid Alexandria Township School District: In-Person to Combo Howell Township Public School District: In-Person to Combo Little Silver Boro School District: In-Person to Combo Middletown Township Public School District: In-Person to Combo

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Katie Kausch may be reached at kkausch@njadvancemedia.com. Tell us your coronavirus story or send a tip here.
International March of the Living will hold a Virtual March on Holocaust Remembrance Day led by Israel's President Reuven Rivlin, Holocaust survivors, Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion, Jewish Agency Chair Isaac Herzog, KKL Chair Avraham Duvdevani and Rabbi Israel Meir Lau.

Among the Holocaust survivors participating are those who survived due to the selfless acts of medical professionals. Participants in the Virtual March from across the globe were filmed using innovative 3D technology so they appear to be marching along the traditional March of the Living route at AuschwitzBirkenau.

As a tribute to the medical professionals who risked their lives during the Holocaust, numerous medical associations around the globe, including the World Health Organization, as well as those on the forefront of the fight against COVID-19 will participate in this virtual program. Among those marching will be doctors, nurses and paramedics. Also marching will be Israel's Coronavirus Commissioner, Prof. Nachman Ash, second generation to doctors during the Holocaust who is today leading physicians on Israel's medical front against Covid-19; Prof. Idit Matot, director of Anesthesia in Tel Aviv's Ichilov Hospital; Galia Rahav, head of the Infectious Disease Unit and Laboratories at Sheba Medical Center; Magen David Adom Director General Eli Beer; and Haim Freund, CEO of Ezer Mitzion - who is marching with his mother, Holocaust survivor Tzipora Freund.

The Virtual March will air on Thursday April 8, at 8 a.m. EDT/ 2 p.m. Europe/ 3 p.m. Israel and will be followed immediately by an online memorial ceremony with the first torch of remembrance lit by President Rivlin.

Israel's President Reuven Rivlin said, "We all have a duty to pass on the memory of the Holocaust to future generations, not to forget, not to let it be forgotten. During this pandemic we are prevented from stepping on the accursed earth, saturated with the blood of six million of our people. Yet, we have vowed never to forget or let go. Technology allows us, each and every one of us, to participate in the March of Living without leaving home, while contributing to the commemoration of the Holocaust and its victims. We must harness all the tools at our disposal to fight racism, anti-Semitism, attempts at denial. We must continue marching."

One of the most moving aspects of the March of the Living is the opportunity for participants to memorial plaques with personal messages on the train tracks at Birkenau. The public is invited to participate and have their personal message virtually placed against the backdrop of the infamous train tracks at the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp. Individual plaques and messages can be placed via a dedicated minisite at https://nevermeansnever.com.

"The fact that this is the second year that we will not march in the March of the Living on Holocaust Remembrance Day at the site of the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camps is difficult," said March of the Living World Chair, Dr. Shmuel Rosenman and March of the Living president, Phyllis Greenberg Heideman "However, will never stop the work of remembrance. This year we found a unique way to hold a virtual march in a way that brings us as close as possible to a feeling that cannot be explained in words. We will be in Auschwitz-Birkenau in spirit and soul, and we will be joined by millions of people around the world."

Jewish Agency Chair Yitzhak Herzog stated, "The 'March of the Living' connects between those who learned about the Holocaust firsthand and those who did not; between the generation of survivors that is disappearing, and the younger generation that grew up around the world not knowing firsthand the story of the Holocaust and the struggle of the Jewish people as well as the predatory powers of racism and anti-Semitism."

International March of the Living is the largest annual international Holocaust education program which, until the Coronavirus outbreak in 2020, has taken place in Poland and Israel without interruption, since its inception in 1988.

To date, close to 300,000 International March of the Living participants have marched en masse along the 3.2-kilometer path from Auschwitz to Birkenau, in tribute to the greatest loss in the history of the Jewish people and all humanity.
New York, March 26 : An international team of scientists has found evidence that SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for Covid-19, infects cells in the mouth.

While it is well-known that the upper airways and lungs are primary sites of SARS-CoV-2 infection, there are clues the virus can infect cells in other parts of the body, such as the digestive system, blood vessels, kidneys and, as this new study, led by scientists at the US National Institutes of Health and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, shows, the mouth.

The potential of the virus to infect multiple areas of the body might help explain the wide-ranging symptoms experienced by Covid-19 patients, including oral symptoms such as taste loss, dry mouth and blistering.

Moreover, the findings, published in the journal Nature Medicine, point to the possibility that the mouth plays a role in transmitting SARS-CoV-2 to the lungs or digestive system via saliva laden with virus from infected oral cells.

A better understanding of the mouth's involvement could inform strategies to reduce viral transmission within and outside the body.

Taken together, the researchers said, the study's findings suggest that the mouth, via infected oral cells, plays a bigger role in SARS-CoV-2 infection than previously thought.

"When infected saliva is swallowed or tiny particles of it are inhaled, we think it can potentially transmit SARS-CoV-2 further into our throats, our lungs, or even our guts," said study co-author Kevin Byrd, Assistant Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill at the time of research.

Byrd is now a Research Scholar at the American Dental Association Science and Research Institute.
1. Roads. The citys roads are a mess. Significant resources are needed to fix them.

2. Public safety. The crime rate is too high. Police pay and resources come first.

3. More city programs. The city must invest more in city programs and services.

4. Comprehensive plan. The city needs to focus on rebuilding and rebranding.

5. Cut city spending. City officials must get serious about trimming the budget.

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Hennes & Mauritz AB outlets appeared not to show up on Apple Maps and Baidu Maps searches in China on Friday after the fashion retailer found itself at the center of an escalating spat over human rights in the contentious region of Xinjiang.

Users in Beijing reported that any searches for H&M in either Apple Maps on the iPhone or Baidu Maps returned no results. Competing retailers, such as Uniqlo outlets, continued showing as usual. A similar search in Google Maps showed over a dozen H&M locations in the capital or its vicinity, though that service is only accessible to locals via the use of a virtual private network that skirts a state ban on products from the Alphabet Inc. unit.
Kenya and Africa in general need increased investment, job creation, trade and development to play their rightful roles in the global response to climate change.

This is according to Dr Martin Kimani, Kenya's Permanent Representative to the UN, who took part in a virtual gathering of UN Security Council Permanent Representatives, hosted by US President Joe Biden last week.

Dr Kimani spoke about the Free Trade Agreement that Kenya is currently negotiating with the US, describing it as the kind of paradigm-shifting initiative that will allow it to successfully cope with the threats of climate change.

He also welcomed the Biden administration's advanced engagement in the Horn of Africa region.

Political volatility

While also noting the need for an inclusive and stable democratic society, the envoy decried the increasing political volatility in the region, citing the winner-takes-all approach that he said is threatening peace and security and drawing the attention of the United Nations Security Council.

"Kenya is acutely aware of the tough compromises required to resolve political conflict and build an inclusive and stable democratic society," he said.

"Kenya's experience, particularly as recently reflected in the Building Bridges Initiative, is an example of successful resolution of political division", as championed by President Uhuru Kenyatta and opposition leader Raila Odinga, following their March 2018 'handshake'.

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Kenya is an elected member of the UNSC for the 2021 to 2022 period. One of its priorities is improving regional peace and security through better global-regional linkage and innovation.

Dr Kimani added that Kenya is ready to strengthen its relationship with the US government under President Biden's leadership.

Biden's promises

In his address, the US President announced that the United States intends to formally join the United Nations Group of Friends on Climate and Security.

President Biden also reaffirmed his country's commitment to values-based global leadership and reengagement with international institutions, the UN in particular.

A statement from the White House said he reiterated the importance of global partnerships in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, improving global health security and ensuring nations drive an equitable and sustainable economic recovery.

He also noted the need for the UNSC's action on regional crises in parts such as Burma, Ethiopia, Libya, Syria, and Yemen.

Special Presidential Envoy on Climate John Kerry and Principal Deputy National Security Adviser Jon Finer also took part in the meeting.

They briefed the group on US priorities regarding climate change and regional security issues, respectively.
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By Angelo Amante

ROME (Reuters) - Italy will fail to met an EU target of vaccinating 80% of citizens aged over 80 by the end of March, a leading health institute said on Thursday, questioning the vaccine policies of many local health authorities.

Some 4.4 million people aged over 80 live in Italy, and just 19.1% of them, or 846,000, have received the recommended double dose, while 27.4% had received an initial COVID-19 jab, the report by the Gimbe institute said.

"The percentage of those who have had twin shots puts Italy at the bottom of Europe," Gimbe president Nino Cartabellotta told Radio24.

The European Union has said at least 80% of the bloc's over 80s should be vaccinated by the end of March, while a minimum 70% of the adult population should be vaccinated "by summer 2021".

The release of the Gimbe data came a day after Prime Minister Mario Draghi complained that Italy's 20 regions were not all following government directives to give priority to older people, who are most at risk from coronavirus.

"Some (regions) are neglecting their elderly in favour of groups that proclaim priority, probably on the basis of some influence," Draghi told the Senate, adding that this disparity was "very difficult to accept".

Like the rest of the European Union, Italy kicked off its vaccination campaign at the end of December, focusing initially on hospital workers and healthcare staff.

Delayed arrivals of promised vaccines, coupled with doubts over whether the AstraZeneca shot was suitable for pensioners, meant the campaign to safeguard the elderly started much later.

"We will not meet the (EU) target because the vaccination of the over 80s began in mid-February and because the regions have administered doses to groups not included in the (government) plan," Cartabellotta said.

Magistrates, lawyers and university professors are some of the professions that have jumped to the head of the queue in a number of regions, regardless of their age.

Story continues

Overall, Italy's vaccination campaign is progressing in line with the EU average, but the government wants to more than double the daily number of jabs by the end of April as it battles to halt a third wave of infections.

On Wednesday, Italy reported 460 coronavirus-related deaths and 21,267 new infections. It has registered over 106,000 deaths since its outbreak emerged in February last year, the second highest toll in Europe after Britain.

(Additional reporting by Crispian Balmer; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)
The former San Francisco lab tech arrested in Utah after allegedly driving with an evidence bag of methamphetamine and pills will face charges in California as well, San Francisco prosecutors said Thursday.

Justin Volk, a veteran forensic lab analyst at the San Francisco Medical Examiners Office until his firing last year, has been charged with theft and possession of stolen property, both misdemeanors. Volk, 40, surrendered to police Thursday morning.

Volks August arrest raised serious questions about the security and quality standards of the Medical Examiners Office and forced prosecutors to review thousands of cases to determine whether any cases he worked on may have been tainted.

When we first learned of Mr. Volks misconduct, my office worked quickly to review all convictions in cases in which he was involved, District Attorney Chesa Boudin said in a statement. In addition to ensuring conviction integrity, we are now seeking to hold Mr. Volk accountable for violating the trust the public places in those who handle evidence related to criminal cases.

Volk did not return requests for comment.

Prosecutors said Volk stole drug evidence from the Medical Examiners Office and had that stolen property in his possession between June 14 and Aug. 31  when Volk was arrested in Ivins, Utah.

After what appeared to be a routine stop for speeding, deputies conducted a search of the vehicle and found an evidence bag inside a piece of luggage which contained a large crystal looking item and smaller bags of a crystallized substance and white powder substance, police said. A separate bottle contained 14 pills later identified as acetaminophen and hydrocodone.

The evidence bag had been marked and labeled by the San Francisco Medical Examiners Office, prosecutors said, adding that Volk had unrestricted access to the offices evidence room. A later investigation from the San Francisco District Attorneys Office confirmed that the substance inside the evidence bag was methamphetamine.

Prosecutors in November publicly released a list of more than 800 cases that Volk had worked on that required further scrutiny. The cases included prosecutions for driving under the influence, rapes and murders spanning over a decade.

A spokesperson for the District Attorneys Office said prosecutors were still reviewing all of the cases Volk may touched, sharing that information with defense attorneys.

An inventory of the Medical Examiners Office ordered following Volks arrest found that the office failed to ensure proper handling, tracking and documentation of drug evidence, according to an October report by the City Controller.

The San Francisco criminal case comes in addition to Volks legal woes in Utah, where Volk was charged with possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.

The prosecutor handling Volks case in Utah did not return a request for comment Thursday.

Megan Cassidy is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: megan.cassidy@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @meganrcassidy
A MAN described as the black sheep of his family was high on drugs when he broke into an electronics shop in Edenderry and stole 13,960 worth of goods.

Judge Keenan Johnson told Robert Kelly, 34, that he could be sent to jail for five years for the burglary but instead he remanded him in custody until December 21 next and ordered him to avail of drug treatment services while in prison.

Mr Kelly admitted breaking into the Fone Geek store, JKL Street, Edenderry, between September 17 and September 18 last year.

Garda Denis Glennon told Tullamore Circuit Court that the owner Ali Raza made a complaint to gardai that he had left his premises on September 17 and locked up but the following morning he noticed the front door and a window were damaged.

Ten phones, eight laptops, memory sticks, phone holders and other items were taken and the till was open, with 150 cash missing. The hard drive had been pulled out of the CCTV system.

Garda Glennon said he found CCTV at a number of other locations on the street, including two pubs and an off licence and he identified Robert Kelly.

On the footage it appeared he had blood coming from a cut on his hand and he could be seen rubbing the cut with a paper and placing the paper in a bin outside Fone Geek. Garda Glennon said he retrieved the paper and gave it to the scenes of crime unit.

A scenes of crime garda also saw blood on a broken window pane and numerous other surfaces, including a window sill and door latch, along with the cash register. Swabs were sent to Forensic Science Ireland and there was a DNA match with Mr Kelly from the cash register.

Mr Kelly was arrested in Capel Street, Dublin on October 4 last and brought to Tullamore Garda Station for interview where he made a number of admissions about the break-in even though he could not remember it because he was out of his head on drugs.

Though he was originally from Fr Paul Murphy Street, Edenderry, he had been staying in a number of hostels in Dublin and on the day of the offence he had taken tablets and heroin. Asked where he sold the equipment he stole, he said somewhere in Dublin and he had received a few hundred euros for it. He remembered breaking the window and stealing the goods because he needed money for drugs and he would be okay if he had methadone.

Garda Glennon said the accused had 41 previous convictions and had been sentenced to three years at Limerick Circuit Court for a weapons possession offence in 2018.

He also had previous convictions for theft and burglary dating back to 2008 for which he had also been jailed.

Replying to defence counsel Suzanne Dooner, BL, Garda Glennon said Mr Kelly was out of jail for a year and a half at the time of the Fone Geek offence and had a chronic heroin addiction.

He agreed the accused was the black sheep of a large and very respectable family in Edenderry and could be very decent and respectful.

Ms Dooner said Mr Kelly was one of 10 children and would even describe himself as the black sheep. He left school not long before the Junior Certificate and was detained in St Patrick's Institution shortly afterwards.

Addiction seemed to be the root cause of his problems and at the time of the latest offence he had been asked to leave home because of his drug taking and because his family feared the people he was involved with. He ended up sleeping rough and for a period was staying in a tent in the Phoenix Park.

He was going to be put on suboxone instead of methadone and he wanted to turn his life around and show his parents that he could change.

Ms Dooner also said the accused's brother was prepared to give him work if he dealt with his addiction.

She said Mr Kelly, who had been in custody since February 4, was not a violent man but it was accepted he had a litany of previous convictions.

The court had earlier heard the businessman and only recently opened the shop which was burgled and the insurance he had was for a different store nearby.

Judge Johnson said he was hugely concerned that he needed to be compensated for the loss he had suffered which was huge for someone starting off in business.

It's quite clear that drugs are his problem. As a consequence of his addiction he has spent most of the last 17 years out of jail and this is a complete aberration in his family, said Judge Johnson.

He said that must be a huge upset to his family but nevertheless they continued to support him and the man had a girlfriend who was in court too.

In addition to ordering him to engage with drug treatment services, he said he would have to take out a loan of 14,000 and take up an offer of a job from his brother.

If he did not take the opportunity the court was offering him he would serve five years in jail.

You have to look at this as an opportunity Mr Kelly to do the right thing, said Judge Johnson.

The accused was remanded in custody at the Midlands Prison until December 21 next and at that stage the judge will consider imposing a suspended sentence.
Louis Theroux has been pictured meeting Carole Baskin for a new documentary - a decade after he first filmed with the now-jailed Tiger King star, Joe Exotic.

The documentary maker, 50, and big cat enthusiast, 59, were seen together on set of Louis Theroux: Shooting Joe Exotic, in a socially-distanced snap tweeted by Mindhouse Productions on Thursday.

Carole, owner of the Big Cat sanctuary, is set to appear in the upcoming BBC Two feature length special, to explore what happened ten years after Theroux's documentary America's Most Dangerous Pets in 2011.

'At last!': Louis Theroux was pictured meeting Carole Baskin for a new documentary on Joe Exotic, named Louis Theroux: Shooting Joe Exotic in a picture shared on Thursday

Sensation: Louis first encountered the charismatic but troubled Exotic, 58, nine years before he shot to worldwide fame in Netflix series Tiger King: Murder, Madness, and Mayhem (above)

In the tweet, Mindhouse Productions, a documentary production company founded by Louis Theroux, wrote: 'At last! @louistheroux finally meets @carole_baskin, a decade since first filming with Joe Exotic.

'A brand new documentary (with confirmed title) Louis Theroux: Shooting Joe Exotic. Coming soon to @BBCTwo and @BBCiPlayer'

Theroux first encountered the charismatic but troubled Joe Exotic, 58, in 2011 - nine years before he shot to worldwide fame in Netflix series Tiger King: Murder, Madness, and Mayhem.

Now, Exotic, formerly the owner of the GW Exotic Animal Park, is serving a 22-year prison sentence after being convicted of plotting a murder-for-hire against rival Carole Baskin, owner of the Big Cat sanctuary.

On set: The documentary maker, 50, and big cat enthusiast, 59, (left) were seen together on set in a socially-distanced snap tweeted by Mindhouse Productions on Thursday

He's back: Louis announced plans last month for a new Joe Exotic documentary for BBC Two, a decade after he first met the now-jailed Tiger King star (above in America's Most Dangerous Pets in 2011)

Regarding his new documentary, Louis said in a statement: 'This is one of those quintessentially American stories, taking place in the heartland of Oklahoma, with a cast of characters almost too colourful and larger-than-life to be believed.

'I spent eight or nine days filming at the park back in 2011, over the course of three separate visits. I'd forgotten how much we shot until I went back into the footage during lockdown.

'It's extraordinary how much was there. Since then the story just got stranger and bigger, and in going back at the end of last year I uncovered a real-life drama that took me in directions I never could have expected.'

The 90-minute documentary special is yet to receive a confirmed air date on BBC Two.

Clare Sillery - BBC's head of commissioning, documentaries, history and religion - added: 'In this follow-up to Louis' revelatory first-look at the life of Joe Exotic in 'America's Most Dangerous Pets', viewers will be taken even more deeply into the weird world of one of America's most notorious figures.

'This feature-length special will be full to the brim with never-before-seen footage and brand new interviews with those on all sides of the Joe Exotic story.'

Louis has previously spoken about his time filming with the former zoo owner, telling The Sunday Times he had 'no idea' the big cat breeder would be involved in a murder-for hire case, and simply thought he was 'pretty weird'.

Louis revealed: 'It was hard to dislike the man himself, maybe because he seemed neither to be hiding many of his misdeeds nor to take himself too seriously.'

Rival: The British filmmaker revealed that even back then, Joe was obsessed with nemesis Carole Baskin (pictured), owner of the Big Cat sanctuary

Take two: He has previously spoken about his time filming with the former zoo owner, saying had 'no idea' the big cat breeder would be involved in a murder-for hire case, and simply thought he was 'pretty weird'

And the British filmmaker revealed that even back then, Joe was obsessed with Carole even when filming his own documentary.

He said: 'Joes grudge against Carole preoccupied him when we filmed. He would rant about her, mentioning his belief that shed had one of her husbands killed.'

But despite the on-going feud and Joe's quirky personality, Louis said he never could have predicted that he would end up being caught up in the murder-for-hire case.

Tiger King became a worldwide sensation on Netflix as it chronicled the lives of big cat owners Joe Exotic, Carole Baskin and Doc Antle.

Exotic has served roughly two years of a 22-year sentence after he was convicted on 17 federal charges in 2019 for animal abuse and an attempted murder-for-hire plot on Baskin.
michael barbaro

From the New York Times, Im Michael Barbaro. This is The Daily.

[music]

Today, It started with a picture posted on the internet and ended in an extravagant cryptocurrency bidding war.

[archived recording]

Now to the latest trend thats sweeping the internet, the skyrocketing prices for digital art sold as NFTs. NFT, and that stands for nonfungible token.

michael barbaro

My colleague Sabrina Tavernise speaks with columnist Kevin Roose about digital currencies newest frontier, his unexpected role in it, and why it actually matters. Its Tuesday, April 13.

sabrina tavernise

So Kevin, I realized how little I understood about your world when I saw this headline of yours in the paper. And Im going to read it to you right now. So it says, why did someone pay $560,000 for a picture of my column? So tell me about that.

kevin roose

Well, actually, that is a little outdated because the exchange rates have fluctuated since I published that column. So someone actually paid $725,000 for a picture of my column.

sabrina tavernise

So youre saying you sold something that everybody can read online, basically for free, for hundreds of thousands of real dollars?

kevin roose

Yeah, I mean, I would like to think that all my columns are worth at least $725,000. But that might have been an anomaly. But that is the world of NFTs for you.

sabrina tavernise

So Kevin, where does the story of NFTs begin?

kevin roose

So the story of NFTs really starts with the story of cryptocurrencies and, in particular, with Bitcoin, which began all the way back in 2008. During the financial crisis, there was a mortgage meltdown. The Federal Reserve was bailing out banks and printing all this money, trying to stabilize the economy. And in the middle of all this, this mysterious paper appeared on a cryptography email listserv. And it was written by someone calling themselves Satoshi Nakamoto. And it proposed this new form of digital money called Bitcoin. And the technology that sort of powered Bitcoin, the infrastructure that allows Bitcoin to work becomes known as the blockchain.

sabrina tavernise

So explain both of those to me. How during that work?

kevin roose

OK, you know how money, regular money, is controlled by a central bank. The Federal Reserve manages the United States dollar. And the Federal Reserve basically has free reign to do whatever it wants with the dollar. It can decide how many dollars there should be, like whether we should print more money or not, based on how much they think the dollar should be worth. So its this very centralized system where the government, politicians and institutions have a lot of control over money, this thing that affects all of us. So what Satoshi Nakamoto proposed was a totally decentralized system. And in this system, there are a finite number of units. There will only ever be 21 million bitcoins, and no more can ever be created. So everyone knows exactly how many there are, how many there will be. And people can just buy them with regular money and spend them anywhere that accepts Bitcoin. And instead of the supply and the value of bitcoins being controlled by a central bank or a government, Bitcoin is controlled by a piece of software called a blockchain. And at a very simple level, a blockchain is a network of computers all over the world, thousands of them. And they keep track of every Bitcoin transaction ever made. So every time a Bitcoin is bought or sold, that transaction gets recorded in this shared global database, kind of like a Google spreadsheet or something. And anyone with an internet connection can go back and see every change thats ever been made to this database in a very public, and transparent, and permanent way. So no one person or institution controls this thing. Its just this permission-less, distributed computer network that people who are into Bitcoin think is actually more trustworthy than banks that can be manipulated by politicians and governments.

sabrina tavernise

Got it. So this is ultimately about trust and transparency coming off the distrust people developed after the 2008 financial crisis. And that felt like institutions were manipulating things behind the scenes. Whereas here, theres no wizard behind the curtain, no shadowy figures, no politicians, as you say doing, the manipulating. Its just a bunch of computers that no one controls.

kevin roose

Yeah. Its essentially taking this giant financial system that is based on human decisions, and political considerations, and global economies and its just replacing it all with computer code.

sabrina tavernise

OK, so Kevin, Nakamoto creates this whole new system of buying and selling and tracking those sales. But so then what happens? What do people do with it?

kevin roose

Yeah. So this paper appears on this obscure cryptographic listserv. And then Satoshi Nakamoto, whoever he, or she, or they are, disappears. And people sort of take this idea of Bitcoin and they run it. Early on this is sort of an experimental weird community of people who are really into this new form of money. And theyre just playing around with it. I mean, theyre testing out the technology. And Bitcoin, at the time, is worth basically nothing. I mean, each Bitcoin is worth a tiny fraction of a cent. So theyre doing things like buying pizza.

man

When I say Bitcoin, you say what?

man 2

Pizza.

kevin roose

So there was this programer in Florida who sort of famously bought two pizzas from Papa Johns for 10,000 Bitcoin, which, at the time, was worth about $25.

man 2

I just told people I wanted a pizza and I want to pay with Bitcoin. I didnt want a gift card. I didnt want some weird exchange. I want to give you Bitcoin and you give me pizza.

kevin roose

People start developing new ways to spend Bitcoin. People are sending it to each other instead of sending a Venmo payment or a PayPal payment. Some people are buying clothes with it. Some websites start accepting it as a form of payment. It becomes this viral phenomenon that people are very excited about.

man 3

Now its starting to actually gain some traction.

kevin roose

And as it gets more attention and people get more excited about it, The price of Bitcoin keeps rising.

[archived recording]

Bitcoins are booming.

kevin roose

It reaches $5,000 a Bitcoin and then $10,000 a Bitcoin. And now its up well past $50,000 a Bitcoin.

[archived recording]

Cash is no longer king.

sabrina tavernise

And the reason why the price of Bitcoin keeps going up and up is because there are a finite number of bitcoins, so people are willing to pay more and more to acquire the limited number of them.

kevin roose

Exactly. And so as thats happening, people are starting to create other different cryptocurrencies. Some of them are very serious, like Ethereum is a new one that pops up. But there are also joke coins. And people call them shit-coins sometimes. Theres a Dogecoin, which is like reference to this meme. Theres a Dentacoin, cryptocurrency for dentists. Theres Potcoin, which is the cryptocurrency for cannabis enthusiasts. Theres even Bitcoen, which is the Jewish crypto-token. So all of these start springing up. Most of them are worth absolutely nothing. But then theres this quieter movement building, of people who are using blockchains as a base technology to build lots of other things, things like tracking the rights to photography online. So like if youre a photographer and you want to get credit and get paid, when your photos are used, you could attach that information to a blockchain, where it would be permanently and publicly available for people to see. Like, this photo belongs to Sabrina. This one belongs to Kevin. And when these photos get used, they get paid this much.

sabrina tavernise

Thats really interesting. That seems huge, actually.

kevin roose

Yeah, it becomes a way to track the ownership and the ownership history of lots of different kinds of digital goods. And so one big moment for cryptocurrency comes when this other blockchain, Ethereum, allows you to create one of a kind goods, goods that cant be exchanged for other goods. If you have a Bitcoin, it doesnt really matter whether you have one Bitcoin or another Bitcoin. Its all Bitcoin. But what Ethereum allows people to do is to say this is a one-of-a-kind asset. And it cant be exchanged for any other asset. It is unique.

sabrina tavernise

So its like a deed to a house or something?

kevin roose

Its like a deed to a house or a certificate of authenticity that you might get if you buy a rare antique or something. Ethereum allows you to kind of say this thing is mine and theres only one of them. And I can track its ownership forever. And anyone can go on the internet and see that I own this thing. And this becomes known as the nonfungible token, or NFT.

sabrina tavernise

Nonfungible?

kevin roose

So fungible just means you can exchange one of it for any other one of it. So dollars are fungible because I can trade you $1 and I have the same spending power with your dollar as I had with my dollar. Something like an artwork is nonfungible because theres only one of them. So if I have a Renaissance painting, Im not going to trade you for a poster of that painting because mine is the original. Its more valuable. And why would I give you my painting?

sabrina tavernise

Right.

kevin roose

And so basically, people are discovering this ability to create just one of something on the internet. Before this, things that were on the internet were just infinitely copyable. If you had a song or a photo, you could copy and paste that any number of times. And every copy would be exactly the same and totally indistinguishable from every other copy. But what the Ethereum blockchain allows people to do is to stamp these digital objects with sort of a certificate of authenticity to say this is the original of this item. And you cant copy or fake the digital signature that is sort of attached to that item.

sabrina tavernise

Can I ask a really stupid question at this point?

kevin roose

Sure.

sabrina tavernise

Is the NFT the thing or is the NFT the digital stamp of authenticity of the thing?

kevin roose

Great question. It is a token that represents a thing. When you have an NFT of an image or a video clip, the NFT is not the image or the video clip itself. Its the certificate of authenticity that attaches to that thing and links to it.

sabrina tavernise

OK, I think I understand. With NFTs, you can still make a copy. But this allows us to know which one is the original, which one exactly. And we can assign value to that original and see the whole story of buying and selling that original item.

kevin roose

Exactly. Its a way to keep track of ownership and where something came from.

sabrina tavernise

OK, so Kevin, there are these things, nonfungible tokens, or NFTs. What do people do with them?

kevin roose

So for a while people are just sort of thinking about the theoretical possibility of NFTs. And then in about 2017, people actually start creating them. So the first NFTs are kind of these crypto art projects. Theres this thing called crypto punks, which is this set of cartoon characters that people started treating as digital action figures. And other people would take memes, like popular graphics, and turn them into NFTs and sell the NFTs, this thing that represented, like, this is the one true version of this meme. And then last year, they really exploded.

[archived recording]

Youve got songs, music videos, memes, even tweets of Lindsay Lohans face all becoming NFTs.

kevin roose

People started buying NFTs of sports videos.

[archived recording]

: Our next guest is the first NFL player to get involved in the NFT craze, launching a new line of exclusive digital trading cards this morning. And I am proud to be launching the Rob Gronkowski Championship Series NFT collection. Tom Brady announced hes launching an NFT company called 

kevin roose

A clip of LeBron James dunking became an NFT and was sold for more than $200,000. Jack Dorsey, the CEO of Twitter, sold his first ever tweet as an NFT for $2.9 million.

[archived recording]

I dont know about you, but this sounds nuts. Where do you hang the NFT in the living room, you know what I mean? Like, over the mantle?

kevin roose

And earlier this year, the biggest NFT sale ever happened. Christies, the auction house, auctioned off a collection of digital art by this digital artist named Beeple for $69 million. And that was sort of 

sabrina tavernise

$69 million?

kevin roose

Correct.

[archived recording]

Thats more than most Picassos, Monets or Warhols. The beautys in the eye of the NFT beholder here, Carl.

kevin roose

And all of a sudden its like, wow, this is a real market. People are really willing to pay for these tokens, these digital certificates of authenticity. And theres a lot of money to be made here. So I thought to myself, why should LeBron James and Jack Dorsey have all the fun? Why cant I make and sell my own NFT?

sabrina tavernise

So Kevin, you see this world of NFTs kind of going crazy, gaining traction. And you, Kevin Roose, a New York Times journalist, decide to sell an NFT yourself. So what do you do? Whats the first thing you do?

kevin roose

So I decided that I would write a column explaining NFTs. And that I would turn that column into an NFT and sell it. And whatever I made would go to the Neediest Cases Fund, which is the New York Timess charity. So I wrote the column. And then I had a graphic created of the column. And I took that graphic, the picture of my column. And I then did whats called minting an NFT. I actually created the NFT and put it on the blockchain. And then it was ready to be sold.

sabrina tavernise

And what happens once you get the NFT on the blockchain? I mean, is there like, I dont know, confetti or balloons or something that appear on your screen? Like, what does it look like?

kevin roose

Yeah, Jack Dorsey shows up at your house and gives you a bag full of cash. No, it basically just says this thing lives on the blockchain now. It is here. And once you have the NFT, then you have to actually set up the auction to sell it. So the auction is not run by humans. Theyre run by software. You have some choices to make. So one thing you can do when youre selling it left is to set a royalty, essentially saying that if someone buys it for $100 and then resells it for $200 to someone else, the artist, the person who originally uploaded that, can get a portion of that sale forever. And thats sort of built into the code of the auction.

sabrina tavernise

So that would essentially allow you to continue to make money each time the thing is sold, right?

kevin roose

Yes. And thats part of what makes NFTs really attractive to artists. Because if youre selling physical paintings, you sell it to someone, they resell it to someone else for a lot more money, and you dont get a cut of that as the artist. But with NFTs, you can build it into the code that every time its resold, forever, the artist, the original person who uploaded the file, can get paid a fraction of that.

sabrina tavernise

Right. Its a really big difference.

kevin roose

You can also set a minimum acceptable price, so like, what is the lowest amount of money I would be willing to sell my NFT for? And I was feeling pretty optimistic. I thought maybe someone out there, some New York Times reader, will have some Etherum burning a hole in their digital wallet and theyll decide my column is worth half an Ether, about $850. So I set the minimum price and I listed the auction and simultaneously published my story about the auction. And so then it was just on the blockchain up for sale.

sabrina tavernise

OK, so what happens?

kevin roose

So immediately, my colleagues start joking about the fact that no ones going to bid on my dumb NFT. Theres a Slack thread with some of my colleagues where theyre sort of betting on how much its going to sell for. The consensus is that its not going to go for much. So I list it in the morning. And at first, there are just a couple of bids. Someone bids the minimum, $850. And then theres $1,000, then $1,200. And Im going, OK, were going to make some money here. And before I went to bed that night, I checked again. And the top bid had risen to more than $30,000, which was like mind blowing to me. I was like this picture, this NFT, is now worth more than basically anything else I own.

sabrina tavernise

Crazy.

kevin roose

And Im thinking, this is insane. This is going to make a great story. Can you believe it, $30,000 for a picture of my column? Then I wake up the next morning and the chaos starts. So the auction is supposed to last for 24 hours. And in the last, I would say, hour of that, a bidding war breaks out. It started going up, and up and up. It went to $98,000, then $143,000, then $277,000.

sabrina tavernise

Wow.

kevin roose

And I was just watching my computer screen and refreshing, and just agog. I was like, is this real? Like, am I being pranked here? So in the final minutes of this auction, it went from 100 Ether, which was about $160,000, all the way up to the final sale price, which was 350 Ether, which, at the time, was about $560,000, but is now about $725,000.

sabrina tavernise

Kevin, it is crazy. I mean, no offense, but your column, in my mind, it is not worth the price of a nice house. I mean, its a good column. But you know, house, column, house, column.

kevin roose

No, I mean, I generally have decent self-esteem. And even I was like, there is nothing Ive ever written is worth this much money.

sabrina tavernise

But also, Kevin, especially when I can read it for free online.

kevin roose

Yes, I mean, that was the thing that was so crazy is like, you could go on nytimes.com and read this entire thing for free. And I just stared at my monitor just laughing uncontrollably, just totally in shock about what had happened.

sabrina tavernise

So Kevin, who bought this? And more importantly, why did someone buy your column for the price of a nice house, a really nice house?

kevin roose

Id like to think they just have good taste. But more realistically, the winner of the auction  I dont know for sure who it is  but their username was 3F Music. And they appear to be a music production company based in Dubai. And they are a prominent NFT collector. And so I did reach out to 3F Music. I also reached out to a number of other people who bid on the auction. And I asked them why. And for some of them, especially the early bidders who are bidding relatively small amounts of money, they thought of this as just a fun transaction that might get them some publicity. So I should say, in addition to the NFT of this column, I also said that I would write a follow-up column about the auction and feature the winner. And so I think for some of them, it was like, this is a price Im willing to pay to get into The New York Times. But then, at a certain point, I would say like around $10,000 or so, I started to hear other explanations. And some of them were basically saying this was a speculative investment. So they were bidding on this NFT because it was the first NFT created by The New York Times. And you know, theres sort of like a status attached to the first of something. And so they thought if NFTs become a huge industry, then owning the first one from The New York Times, I might be able to resell that for more money later on. I also talked to some people who said that this was essentially like an ideological statement for them. I talked to one musician who actually bid on my NFT who said that he had grown up in the era of Napster when songs were first able to be copied and distributed on the internet for free. And piracy became a huge problem, and that blockchain technology. And NFTs had changed that by basically allowing digital goods to have scarcity, which is what gives physical goods their value. So this musician said, basically, that collecting NFTs was less about owning the actual NFT, but more about sort of signaling optimism and belief in this new ownership model.

sabrina tavernise

Right. So you have the speculators, you have people who are trying to invest, but you also have people who care about art and intellectual property who are trying to make a statement, which I think is pretty interesting. But also, I mean, $500,000 is just so much money. So was there some deeper reason for this purchase, do you think, I mean, not only your column, but these other crazy high prices for sort of seemingly cheap things?

kevin roose

Its a great question. And there are a lot of possible answers. You know, wealth inequality is obviously part of the equation, the fact that there are people with this much disposable income. And one of the artists I talked to who bid on the auction actually said, you know, this isnt actually that strange in the offline world. Rich people spend vast sums of money on things of dubious value all the time. They fly off to art fairs. They spend millions of dollars on sculptures and pieces of art for their walls. Or maybe they dont even have the art on their walls, maybe its just theyre trading pieces of art that live in a warehouse somewhere. And so all they really have is the knowledge that they own a thing.

sabrina tavernise

Right. Its like a new Birkin bag or owning a Warhol.

kevin roose

Exactly. And I think that for some people who are investing tons of money in an NFTs, we cant underestimate the role that just emotion and status and bragging rights play in all of this.

sabrina tavernise

OK, that kind of brings us all the way back to the very beginning, Kevin, because the point you just made about NFTs and how they operate, its kind of similar to how weve always valued things. So Im wondering, if you go back to the conversation about the blockchain, we were thinking about what Nakamoto was trying to solve for. He wanted to fundamentally change the financial system and how it works. But did he succeed? Or has he just created some different system in which we operate basically in the same way, with the same kind of human emotion motivations? Did he just create a thing to covet or did he actually do something truly new?

kevin roose

So I think there are sort of two ways to look at something like NFTs. On one level, I think, yes, as you said, its just taking something that existed offline, this concept of scarcity, of having one of something and having that quality of scarcity be the thing that gives an object its value. And youre translating that onto the internet, where it really hadnt existed before. So even if NFts are just a way of kind of replicating the scarcity that objects can have in the offline world, thats an incredibly valuable thing. But I think theres this other change happening, this generational transformation thats happening as more of our lives move onto the internet. I mean, we spend so much time in the offline world sort of curating our surroundings, putting art on our walls, figuring out what car to drive, what house to buy, what neighborhood to live in, expressing ourselves through the consumption of scarce goods and building identities around the physical objects that we own. And now, with NFTs, that aspect of life, kind of figuring out what to buy to signal who we are and what we value, that can also be online. Maybe the thing that gives you status and identity is not a physical object, maybe its a token on the blockchain.

sabrina tavernise

Thanks so much, Kevin.

kevin roose

Thank you for having me.

[music]

michael barbaro

Heres what else you need to know today. [ARCHIVAL RECORDING] This appears to me, from what I viewed and the officers reaction and distress immediately after, that this was an accidental discharge that resulted in the tragic death of Mr. Wright. As outcry and protest grew over the shooting of Daunte Wright, an unarmed black man killed during an encounter with police officers in a suburb of Minneapolis, local officials said that the officer who shot Wright appeared to have done so by accident. After stopping Wright for a traffic violation, police in the city of Brooklyn Center discovered there was a warrant for his arrest. According to police, Wright stepped back into his car, triggering a struggle with officers. A video of that encounter, recorded by the officers body camera, shows that she repeatedly yelled taser before discharging her gun and immediately expressed surprise after shooting Wright. [ARCHIVAL RECORDING] As I watch the video and listen to the officers commands, it is my belief that the officer had the intention to deploy their taser, but instead shot Mr. Wright with a single bullet. The shooting occurred less than 10 miles from the courtroom where former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin is on trial for the murder of George Floyd. And on Monday, the Biden administration urged the governor of Michigan, Gretchen Whitmer, to lock down her state to slow what has become the nations worst outbreak of COVID-19 infections. But Whitmer remains resistant and instead called for a surge in vaccinations in Michigan.

gretchen whitmer

When you have an acute situation, an extraordinary number of cases like we have in Michigan, the answer is not necessarily to give vaccine in fact, we know 

michael barbaro
One year ago Thursday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued an executive order requiring nursing homes to take COVID-positive patients back into their facilities  a directive thats been heavily scrutinized by the public and local leaders.

More than 15,000 nursing home residents have died since the start of the pandemic last March, thousands more than the state health department initially reported. A January report from the New York State Attorney Generals Office found that the numbers were underreported by about 50%.

Sen. James Tedisco, R-49, joins other state leaders in calling for March 25 to be designated We Care Remembrance Day in honor of those who lost their lives from COVID-19.

We remember that every life lost was more than just a statistic, these individuals were someones spouse, parent, grandparent and sibling and they deserve justice. This day should be set aside moving forward as a day of solemn reflection in New York State for all those souls who needlessly lost their lives, said Tedisco.

Tedisco also plans to introduce a bill to take away Cuomos executive powers. The governors ability to make new executive orders was recently limited, but he can still change existing orders.

Today I will be putting a bill on the floor, an amendment to actually take away his emergency powers, said Tedisco. The bill passed several weeks ago couldn't place the fact that those 60 executive orders, he can amend any one of those; he still has control of all of those.

The federal government and state AG are investigating the Cuomo administrations handling of nursing homes, and reporting of subsequent death data throughout the pandemic.
NEW YORK (AP)  For nearly two decades, Juan Tapia, head of maintenance at Our Lady of Sorrows, has taken pride in the upkeep of the Roman Catholic church he considers his second home. But in recent months, hes made it his mission to scrub every corner.

The experience of all those deaths we had to live through makes me want to do my job with great care, because I dont want anyone to get infected, said Tapia, who sometimes wears a hazmat suit to sanitize the pews between services.

More than 100 congregants of the parish in the mostly Latino Corona neighborhood of Queens died of COVID-19, many of them in the early days of the pandemic. And Tapias family was not spared.

Tapias son, Juan Jr., had worked with him at the church. The son was diagnosed with lung cancer before he contracted the virus that infected the whole family; he died on May 6, the anniversary of his baptism more than 20 years before. He was 27 years old.

No family should have to go through this, said his father.

The depth of the sorrows of Our Lady of Sorrows has become apparent in the months since this nearly 150-year-old church was a major hotspot in New York Citys roaring coronavirus contagion. Its pastor says the numbers of cases and deaths went underreported early on because church officials lacked accurate information and many people feared the stigma surrounding the illness.

Many are undocumented, lack access to health care and share crowded apartments that make them vulnerable to infection. The crisis has been exacerbated by record job losses and growing food insecurity.

But the church has helped lead the way out of those dark times, setting up a free COVID-19 testing site outside and resuming indoor confessions once it was safe  thanks partly to Juan Tapias dedication to disinfecting the wooden confessional. More recently he sanitized the palm fronds that will be used on Palm Sunday, the beginning of Holy Week.

Faith has made the difference here for our people ... because this church is really the epicenter of the social life and of the spiritual life in this neighborhood, said the Rev. Manuel Rodriguez, the pastor.

Story continues

At 17,000 congregants, Our Lady of Sorrows is the largest parish in the Diocese of Brooklyn, which also oversees churches in Queens. Rodriguez said up to 1,000 people typically filled each of 12 Sunday Masses before in-person services halted in March 2020, when the city shut down to contain the fast-spreading virus. Many in the parish  including its former pastor, Monsignor. Raymond Roden  fell ill at the pandemics onset.

Away from their church, parishioners suffered in silence. Tapia said when he and his wife contracted the virus, they feared spreading it to their already weak, cancer-ridden son.

We couldnt even give him a glass of water, a cup of tea, a hug, he said. Isolating in their bedroom, they relied on one of their daughters to take care of him.

They still dont know if he caught COVID-19 at the hospital or if they passed it on to him. Almost a year later, his wife still cant speak about the death of their youngest child and only son.

This pandemic has left such a mark on us that nothing will be the same, Tapia said.

Rodriguez was brought in from another parish in late June and in short order reopened the church, on July 4. I thought to myself, if we keep this church closed one more day, people here, theyre simply going to start falling apart.

Since there was a limit on gathering inside, he rented a huge tent that was put up in the parking lot for outdoor Mass and confession.

Confession gives you the opportunity to have a one-on-one encounter with the people, so thats really healing, Rodriguez said. The church also organized food drives and bought new cameras to improve the livestream quality of its Masses.

Operating seven days a week out of a van, the testing site came about thanks to Helen Arteaga Landaverde, a longtime parishioner and former student of the churchs school who founded the Plaza del Sol Family Health Center in Corona. Rodriguez sought her help after another priest tested positive, and she contacted the NYC COVID-19 Test & Trace Corps to get it up and running.

The mobile unit has become part of the church  its Sunday, and now its like, oh, were going to go to church and were all getting tested together as a family,' Arteaga said. It brings down the anxiety ... and it also normalizes that getting tested is not a bad thing.

Arteaga contracted the virus in April and credits nearby Elmhurst Hospital with saving her life. When she recovered, she became the hospitals new CEO. Surviving COVID-19 has helped her better understand the needs of the hospitals patients and members of her congregation.

When you even say COVID, you feel this heaviness in our church. You feel this thing of, `How are we going to overcome this because its still here? Arteaga said.

But now we have the tools: We have our faith, we have the vaccine and we still have daily breath to keep moving.

On the first Sunday of spring, hundreds in masks turned out for indoor Masses as many more listened on loudspeakers outside, bowing their heads or kneeling on the stone steps. People waited in line to be tested, and vendors sold shrimp ceviche, clothes and ice cream.

Maria Quizhpi said she was praying for the soul of her father, Manuel Quizhpi, who died at 59 from COVID-19 on April 9.

The whole family contracted the virus. At one point Quizhpi became so weak that she fainted in the kitchen of their apartment; her husband administered mouth-to-mouth resuscitation as her 17-year-old daughter and 9-year-old son watched in horror.

Every time I come here, I thank God for saving my moms life, said Melani Morocho, the daughter.

The family is grateful to be able to gather at the church alongside others who also mourn loved ones.

It left a huge void for us, Quizhpi said. But were still happy, glad because we have another opportunity to live and grow closer to God.

___

Associated Press religion coverage receives support from the Lilly Endowment through The Conversation U.S. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
Hagerstown Housing Authority closes in on end of McCleary Hill project

After objections from neighbors, the Hagerstown Housing Authority's McCleary Hill project is done its first phase. Officials held an open house.
Doughnuts and coffee pair as well together as nearly any other breakfast food.

One half of that connection at the DCU Center will be ending this weekend.

Reign Cafe will end operations at the arena after this weekend, owner Tam Le told MassLive. Glazy Susan, which also occupies the space will continue to expand in the location.

Reign Cafe opened at the DCU Center in September amid the pandemic. It represented Les second location. Reign Drink Lab is located in Dorchester.

The pandemic really did throw a wrench into everything, Le said. I had these thriving restaurants in Dorchester and Quincy. Everything was like a machine. The assumption was there was no reason to believe that that was ever going to change.

Amid the pandemic, Le closed his restaurant in Quincy for six months and Reign Drink Lab was closed for several months.

I felt like I was neglecting them, Le said of his restaurants in the Boston area while trying to open Reign Cafe in Worcester.

Le was also a key member of opening Chashu Ramen + Izkaya on Franklin Street. The time at both restaurants and the commute between Worcester and Boston became too much for Le to sustain.

While Le focuses on navigating his locations in Eastern Massachusetts out of the pandemic, he also wants focus on being a father.

The business itself is doing great, Le said. The financial gain is there. Great investment. Great business. I love the location and everything about it.

For that reason, hes extremely excited for the opportunity ahead for Glazy Susan.

I see so much potential for them, Le said. Theyre already doing great. I can see them growing even bigger. So its like wins all across the board.

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The media have been paying much attention to the new Ukrainian antiship Neptune missile of late. Some observers in Kiev claimed it can completely neutralize the Russian fleet in the Black Sea. It is impossible to ignore the claim, TASS military observer Dmitry Litovkin writes.

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The Neptune land-based cruise missile system (Picture source: Ukraine Army General Staff)



Little is known about Neptune. However, it is clear that it resembles Russian Kh-35 antiship missile. In Soviet time, Luch Design Bureau in Kiev dealt with the missile. The engine had to be produced by Motor Sich and the final assembly done by Kharkov Aircraft Plant. However, the Soviet collapse killed the project. Ukraine inherited all the design documentation and did not lose or sell it in 1990s.

Neptune is not something new. Compared to the Russian Kh-35 (not with the latest Kh-35U), it is truly dangerous. Ukrainian Navy Commander Rear Admiral Alexey Neizhpapa said Ukraine plans to deploy three Neptune battalions on the Black Sea coast. Tactical Missiles Corporation CEO Boris Obnosov said the new Russian Kh-35U missile considerably differs from the previous one. It has another engine and a bigger fuel reserve. The range increased to 260 km as a result. Experts believe the new missiles can operate in a group. The Ukrainian missile is incapable of it.

Former chair of the Ukrainian Security and Defense Council Alexander Turchinov claimed Neptune cruise missiles can ruin the Crimean bridge across Kerch Strait in several minutes. They will also destroy Russian warships of any class in the ports of the Black and Azov Seas. Naturally, there is such a possibility. However, Turchinov and other Ukrainian experts ignore the fact that they will have to fight against a modern operational and strategic formation of the Russian Navy in Crimea. In Soviet time, it was in charge of the Black and Mediterranean Seas and even the Indian Ocean. The current ambitions are modest, but still large-scale.

Crimea and its main Navy base in Sevastopol comprise the strategic center of the Black Sea theater of warfare. Russia controls all the developments in the region from there. There are the Moskva missile cruiser of project 1164 with antiship Basalt P-500 missiles, blue-water frigates of project 11356 with Kalibr cruise missiles, and several Buyan-M-class corvettes of project 21631 with cruise missiles. There are also six diesel-electric submarines of project 636.3 armed with Kalibr missiles. In 2021, the Black Sea fleet has to receive Karakurt-class corvettes of project 22800.

The naval force is protected from the air by Su-24M frontline bombers, Su-24MR reconnaissance aircraft, and Su-30SM multirole fighter jets. S-400 and Pantsir air defense systems have gone on combat duty. The coastline is defended by Bal batteries with antiship Kh-35 missiles and Bastion with Onyx missiles. They can strike at sea and ground targets.

It is yet to be clarified where Ukraine plans to deploy Neptune missiles and which sea areas it wants to block, TASS military observer Dmitry Litovkin writes.

The Neptune missile system is a land-based cruise missile system with an anti-ship missile, designed to defeat battleships such as cruisers, destroyers, frigates, corvettes, landing ships, tank landing ships and transports, which operate independently and in naval groups and landing units, as well as coastal radio-contrast targets, amid favorable and adverse weather conditions, at any time of day and year, under active fire and radio-electronic counteraction of the enemy.

The missiles are designed to be located in transport and launch containers (TLC) with dimensions of 5,300  600  600 mm. The length of the missile itself with an accelerator of 5,050 mm. TLC with a rocket with a cross-shaped hard wing can be placed on terrestrial, marine or air carriers.

The system is designed to defeat combat surface ships and transport vessels from the structure of shock groups (convoy) or moving individually with a displacement of up to 5,000 tons.
Credit: Judy Blomquist/Harvard Staff

Collins English Dictionary, Merriam-Webster Dictionary, and the Oxford English Dictionary, the three main English-language dictionaries, added social distancing to their lists last year, a product of the coronavirus pandemic that swept the globe in 2020.

But the practice of "maintaining a greater than usual physical distance" goes back to the 14th century, when ships arriving to Venice during an outbreak of the Black Death were forced to quarantine, or sit at anchor, for 40 days. The measure aimed to protect the city from the bubonic plague, which killed an estimated 25 million people in Europe.

It may have been the earliest public health measure ever recorded, said David Jones, M.D. '01, Ph.D. '01, the inaugural A. Bernard Ackerman Professor of the Culture of Medicine, Faculty of Arts and Sciences and the Faculty of Medicine. But there may have been even earlier measures, as suggested by biblical accounts of communities expelling people with leprosy from their towns and villages.

"Humans have been dealing with epidemics for a very long time, and for millennia, they have had a series of informal practices by which they responded to these threats," said Jones, who is trained as a psychiatrist and historian of science. "Isolation, quarantine, and other measures that we now call social distancing have been part of people's intuitive reactions to protect themselves from infectious diseases."

Examples of such precautions may also be found in Colonial history. In 2004, Jones wrote a book about epidemics that decimated Indigenous populations in Colonial America. During his research, he came across an account of a 18th-century meeting between British soldiers and Indigenous leaders in North Carolina that was called off by the Natives for fear of contracting smallpox.

"American Indians had intuitions about how to respond to these menaces," said Jones. "And often they used what we would now call social distancing: They would leave from the afflicted areas."

But it wasn't until the early 19th century that local governments in the U.S. began formalizing public health laws and regulating quarantine and isolation.

Now, even as COVID-19 vaccines are being rolled out across the country, experts still advise social distancing, along with wearing masks and avoiding gatherings, to stem the spread of the disease. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, has urged people to continue wearing masks and following social distancing guidelines even after getting vaccinated. Vaccines are not a "substitution for public health measures," Fauci said, but "a complement to public health measures."

Those public health measures were called "non-pharmaceutical interventions" during the 1918 influenza pandemic, estimated to have killed about 675,000 people in the U.S. and about 50 million around the world. The strategies were intended to reduce transmission of disease by banning indoor public gatherings, closing schools, churches, and theaters, and requiring that infected people be placed in quarantine or isolation.

To hammer the message home to the general public, newspapers of the era ran public-service ads cautioning people to cover their faces when coughing or sneezing, wear masks, and avoid gatherings. Towns and cities published notices of local quarantines and "flu bans," and ordered assemblies or gatherings to cease "until further orders." One such announcement included two warnings: "Do not stand close to another person while conversing," and "Avoid crowds, especially within doors."

Analyses of 1918 public health responses found that interventions in U.S. cities helped reduce influenza transmission and lower mortality rates when they were implemented early in the pandemic. In a 2007 article, researchers examined data from 17 U.S. cities and included a graph that compared the mortality rates of Philadelphia and St. Louis, based on the timing of social-distancing measures. Philadelphia, which waited more than two weeks after the first cases were reportedeven allowing a city-wide paradereported 748 deaths per 100,000. St. Louis, which rushed to ban public gatherings two days after the first cases were detected, ended up with 358 deaths per 100,000.

During the Spanish Influenza epidemic, Seattle conductors would not allow riders to get on trolly cars unless they were wearing a mask. Credit: National Archives

Historians and epidemiologists agree that the early application of social-distancing measures helped reduce mortality rates during the 1918 pandemic, but their implementation proved difficult. In a 2010 article, historian Nancy Tomes of Stony Brook University found that social distancing in big cities posed a "massive public health challenge" due to resistance from businesses afraid of losing revenue and from workers who feared losing their jobs.

The role of social distancing was even more central to the 1918 pandemic than it is today, said Erez Manela, who studies modern U.S. history. "Today we have ventilators, antibiotics, and vaccines," said Manela. "All of that was off the table back in 1918. Social distancing was really most of what they had back then."

As the nation struggled to react to the so-called Spanish flu pandemic amid World War I, the response was left to cities, towns, and counties. President Woodrow Wilson, who apparently caught the flu, didn't lead a government response, and both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health were years from being founded. What is most striking is that once the epidemic ended, it was quickly forgotten, a fact that was highlighted in the book "America's Forgotten Pandemic: The Influenza of 1918" written by historian Alfred Crosby more than 30 years ago.

In the book, Crosby wrote that the pandemic was remembered by individuals who lost loved ones, but it wasn't memorialized at the societal level in art, literature, or public policy.

"There is no Influenza Day that we celebrate," said Manela. "Crosby thought that the main reason why the influenza pandemic was forgotten was because it coincided with the war, even though the pandemic was much deadlier, in retrospect, than the war. The war covered up the influenza pandemic."

Now, officials are taking a different approach. On Feb. 22, President Biden held a memorial as the country reached the grim milestone of 500,000 deaths, a number that is creeping up on the U.S. toll from the 1918 pandemic.

History holds lessons, said Manela, but only if people remember it.

"The lesson is that people need to pay attention, both those who make decisions about budgets and preparedness and those who elect them, because this pandemic was known in advance," said Manela. "We could have been prepared for it had we cared to do so."

For Jones, another big lesson from the 1918 flu, the deadliest pandemic in history, is the value of social distancing and other public health measures to control the spread of infectious diseases.

"In 1918, this was a disease that, to the extent that it was controlled, it was done entirely by public health measures of social distancing," said Jones. "Some skeptics may say, "There were 50 million deaths around the world. Why would you even suggest that social distancing was helpful?" A lot of people died. We're not going to deny that. Social distancing did not cure the disease and did not prevent it. Mortality was still appalling, but it would have been worse if not for public health measures."

According to John Hopkins University on Tuesday March 16, so far COVID-19 has infected more 120 million people and killed over 2.6 million around the world. Nearly 30 million confirmed cases have been reported in the U.S., with more than 530,000 deaths.

In an article published in the New England Journal of Medicine, Jones appraised the situation with a sober warning, "The history of epidemics offers considerable advice, but only if people know the history and respond with wisdom."

Explore further People gave up on flu pandemic measures a century ago when they tired of them  and paid a price
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The stars of The Mauritanian have defended the film against criticism that it is a white-saviour movie.

Kevin Macdonalds legal drama tells the true story of Mohamedou Ould Slahi, who after 9/11 was tortured and imprisoned by the US without charge in Guantanamo for 14 years.

It stars Tahar Rahim as Slahi, Jodie Foster as Nancy Hollander, the lawyer who fought to bring Slahis case to light, and Benedict Cumberbatch as Lt Col Stuart Couch, a US military prosecutor who refused to proceed with Slahis prosecution after concluding that his incriminating statements were the result of torture.

Hollander and Couch have been highlighted as characters who could fit into the white saviour profile and some have criticised The Mauritanian for letting the US off the hook by portraying them as the heroes.

Read more:

Film critic Brian Tallerico said The Mauritanian centres on the white saviours of the captured prisoner instead of the prisoner himself as Macdonalds film ventures further into its revelations about torture and injustice, Salahi himself gets lost in the storytelling, tragically becoming another face in the crowd of abused prisoners.

Foster has since defended the film, telling The Guardian: It doesnt feel like a white-saviour movie to me. And I think the filmmakers were pretty careful about that. This is Mohamedous story, told from his perspective. There are moments where we shift out of his perspective in order to, in a documentary way, give the points of view of the other characters.

Speaking about her character specifically, she added: But I dont think that Nancy Hollander is letting America off the hook; Nancy Hollander is somebody who challenges the system from within it and were lucky to have her Nancy is the person who got Mohamedou to write the book and, in the end, the book is the only reason that he got released.

Cumberbatch also disputed that The Mauritanian lets the US off the hook, telling the publication: I sort of get the point. But I just dont think we live in that world, do we, of black-and-white goodies and baddies? If you really want someone to shout at, should we have Donald Rumsfeld do a walk-on? And Dick Cheney? Maybe even some people in the Obama administration?

Despite Obama pledging to close Guantanamo Bay, it is still operating to this to day.

The Mauritanian comes to Amazon Prime Video on 1 April.
Seth Rogen is addressing claims that actress Emma Watson stormed off the set of his 2013 disaster comedy This Is The End.

He was asked to set the record straight on a Tumblr post written by a film extra, who had alleged that Watson refused to partake in a scene where Danny McBride  who played a cannibal in the film  had to walk Channing Tatum on a leash as his gimp.

The 38-year-old funnyman and writer/director of the film confirmed the incident's truth in conversation with British GQ, but told the publication there are 'no hard feelings' between them.

Addressing the rumors: Seth Rogen, 38, addresses claims that Emma Watson, 30, 'stormed off' the set of his 2013 disaster comedy This Is The End after refusing to do a scene she thought was politically incorrect; pictured 2020

Not having it: An extra on the film reported that the Harry Potter star refused to partake in a scene where Danny McBride  who played a cannibal in the film  had to walk Channing Tatum on a leash as his gimp; pictured 2019

Rogen said: 'I mean, I don't look back on that and think, "How dare she do that?" You know?'

'I think sometimes when you read something, when it comes to life it doesn't seem to be what you thought it was. But it was not some terrible ending to our relationship,' he shared.

He acknowledged that 'she was probably right,' with regards to the political incorrectness of the the scene in question, but overall added 'It was probably funnier the way we ended up doing it.'

The Superbad star noted that the Harry Potter darling was nothing but supportive overall, and the film went on to become a big success.

Signing off: Rogen shared in the interview that Watson ended up being very supportive of the film in the end despite her hesitance about the scene, him adding 'she was probably right'

Controversial scene: The scene in question was one of the film's most memorable parts, Tatum removing his leather wrestling mask to reveal he was McBride's sex slave

'She came back the next day to say goodbye. She helped promote the film. No hard feelings and I couldn't be happier with how the film turned out in the end.'

The comedy is about an apocalypse unfolding at a Hollywood party thrown by James Franco, where stars including Watson, Jonah Hill and Jay Baruchel all play heightened versions of themselves.

Another feat that Rogen had opened up about on Andy Cohen's SiriusXM radio was how he managed to get the Magic Mike performer to play a leather-clad sex slave in the first place, proving his comedic and convincing prowess over email.

The email sent to Tatum read: 'The gimp is wearing a wrestling mask, and when he pulls it up we would love nothing more than for it to be you underneath ... Please don't take this the wrong way or be insulted by this. We just think it's a great joke and you would be great doing it.'
In the two years since graduation, 23-year-old Thaddea Graham, from Co Down, has appeared in the Sky One dystopian drama Curfew alongside Sean Bean, Billy Zane and Miranda Richardson, and in the four-part BBC comedy Us, based on the bestselling book by David Nicholls.

It's not a bad body of work for the relative newcomer to acting, who trained at the Arts Educational School in London.

Now, she is playing a leading character in the new supernatural crime drama The Irregulars, released on Netflix today.

The series is loosely based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories, and is set in Victorian London but with a twist. The Irregulars are a gang of young misfits from the streets who are manipulated into solving crimes for the sinister Doctor Watson and his elusive partner, Sherlock Holmes.

Thaddea plays Bea, the 17-year-old de facto leader of the gang, who takes care of her younger sister and strives to keep their best pals out of trouble.

As a dark force emerges, it'll be up to her and the rest of the Irregulars to save not only London, but the rest of the world.

As roles go, it's pretty meaty, and Thaddea's ability to light up the screen has obviously not gone unnoticed in the industry.

Yet, she still puts her meteoric rise down to luck, and admits to suffering from imposter syndrome. "I graduated from drama school two years ago. I've been very lucky since then," she tells me from her home in London, where she's based.

"I met the right people at the right time. None of this would have been possible if it hadn't been for my agent, who I met when I was still at drama school.

"She took a chance on me. She saw something in me that I didn't, and that really encouraged and helped me.

"When the adults were on set - and by that I mean Royce Pierreson (Watson) and Henry Lloyd-Hughes (Holmes) - we were like, 'Oh God, the adults are here. We have to be good now'.

"Some of that comes from imposter syndrome, from being so young. I've only been out of drama school two years now, and sometimes I feel like there's been a mistake, like they can't have given this to me.

"I feel a little bit guilty, because I know how many people are trying to make it this industry, so I wanted to soak up everything they [Henry and Royce] did, their knowledge and experience. I could learn from them because I don't have that much experience myself."

While the former Bloomfield Collegiate pupil is a self-confessed fan of Agatha Christie's Miss Marple and a lover of mysteries, she had never read a Sherlock Holmes book or watched any television adaptations before securing the role of Bea.

The Baker Street Irregulars make only the briefest of appearances in the novels, so she treated show creator Tom Bidwell's scripts as her "Bible".

"I did have a look to see if I could find out anything about the Baker Street gangs, but while the scripts are heavily planted in that universe, our story is very different," she says.

"I remember when I first saw the script in the audition, the scenes were between me and my younger sister Jessie (Darci Shaw), so they were nice, sisterly chats, or with Billy (Jojo Macari), so they were friendly banter.

"Then, when I read the full episode, I was like, 'What the heck? This is horrific, gritty, supernatural stuff'.

"It was a treat to realise who Bea was and what kind of world we were entering. It was such a gift to be given a role like that with so many sides to explore and so many different genres mashed together - horror, comedy, pure drama, even a little bit of romance."

The Irregulars was filmed in Liverpool, and sees the street gang investigate a series of grisly paranormal attacks.

In the opening episode, the friends, who live in the damp cellar of a London pub, are faced with a deadly villain, the Birdman. Spoiler alert: if, like Thaddea, you suffer from ornithophobia, look away now.

"I'm terrified of winged animals," she admits. "I mean, I was really facing my biggest fear there, so when Bea is running away, looking terrified, that's not acting. I'm not that good."

One scene, involving a victim of the birds, was particularly demanding, but the hair and make-up teams on the set surpassed themselves.

"To see that, to have that image in front of you, is quite awful and surreal... you have a visceral reaction to it," Thaddea says.

"Having that team around us certainly made our jobs easier."

The original Baker Street gang was made up of boys, so the actress was delighted the group leader in the show was a girl.

She hopes the gender reversal is something that will inspire other young women.

"What Tom has done to modernise and bring the story into our world today is just so reflective of life and how it's so diverse in so many ways," she says.

"What I love about this show is that nobody questions that the leader of the gang is a girl. It doesn't matter, because the leader is the right person to do that.

"But my favourite quality about Bea is her heart and her empathy for other people.

"I think that her power and strength are so important to see on screen. They give everyone watching that visual of seeing a woman lead.

"Seeing representation of all kinds is really important. It makes you, as an audience member think, 'There is space for me. I could do that too'. That's empowering for young people, for everyone, to see."

Throughout the series, Bea goes on a journey of self-discovery and self-acceptance, and realises she's not alone.

Her friends are her family, and she learns to let other people in, although opening up to others and making herself vulnerable terrifies her.

Thaddea says that she is guarded when it comes to her private life but, unlike Bea, tends to wear her heart on her sleeve.

"When you've one hundred people around and you're sitting on a floor in Victorian dress, crying, that can be very exposing," she tells me.

"But the strength comes from knowing that the people around you have your back and make you feel safe to open up like that.

"Bea learns to let herself become more vulnerable and to not let her ego get in the way. I found that quite inspiring."

Speaking of Victorian dress, Thaddea was expecting to be kitted out in a corset and frock for her new role, so she was thrilled to find out that, much like the script and language used in the show, her costume was quite contemporary.

For practical reasons, and to help bulk out her tiny frame, she donned lots of layers, heavy trousers and braces. The costume has an "almost punky vibe" to it.

"It's pretty cool and different. I'm bulked up, partly because I'm small," Thaddea says.

"They had to make me look sturdier, so it would be believable that I could fight.

"Also, these are kids are living in a cellar with a sewer running through their house and it's freezing, so they've accumulated what they can for heat and for protection."

Filming took place over a year, and in that time, the cast, which also includes McKell David as Spike and Harrison Osterfield as Leopold, bonded and became good friends.

The plethora of Irish pubs in Liverpool made Thaddea feel at home - and home is where she would dearly love to work, surrounded by familiar accents and locations.

Earlier this year, she spent a day filming on the set of Stacey Gregg's movie Ballywalter, starring Patrick Kielty in his big-screen debut. She enjoyed the experience and is now keen to repeat it.

"Being able to drive myself to work past places that I grew up in felt surreal to me," she says.

"My job and home are two very separate things in my mind. I've never really worked professionally in Northern Ireland before, so driving myself to work was a magical moment.

"I think it's human nature to want to fit in and belong, and that's how I felt on that set. I wasn't the odd one out anymore with the funny vowels."

What type of production would she like to be cast in?

"Anything at all," she replies. "It's so nice to hear your stories being told by someone local rather than someone coming in.

"Anyone who isn't from here trying to tell a Northern Irish story just sticks in the word 'wee' and somehow thinks that they're done."

The Irregulars starts today on Netflix
Justice Minister Park Beom-kye speaks during his visit to a manufacturing factory in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, Friday. Yonhap



Justice Minister Park Beom-kye on Friday tried to encourage migrant workers to undergo coronavirus testing freely, reiterating that undocumented foreigners can also get tested without fears of crackdown.



He visited Ansan, an industrial city with a large expat population near Seoul, to inspect workplace conditions, coronavirus testing and government support systems for foreign residents.



"There are so-called illegal immigrants among foreign workers, and if they hide for fear of crackdown, it would contribute to the spread of COVID-19," he said during a visit to a manufacturing factory in the city.






by padre Nikhil Gomes*

The father of the nation, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, was a man of incredible courage who always stood up for equality, dignity and justice. His ideal vision has always been to transform this nation he called home, Bangladesh, into Sonar (Golden) Bangla, where every citizen would lead a life of dignity, respect and fulfilment.

Dhaka (AsiaNews) - On this day in 1971, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman signed a declaration making East Pakistan the sovereign and independent country of Bangladesh

It sparked the nine-month long Bangladesh Liberation War which claimed the lives of between 300,000 to 3 million people, with hundreds of thousands of women raped. Although the casualty figures are disputed. Millions more were displaced.

The struggle for Bengali rights started shortly after Pakistan gained independence as a country with two in contiguous territories known as West Pakistan (todays Pakistan) and East Pakistan (todays Bangladesh).

The refusal to accept Bengali as a state language of Pakistan in the early years after Partition, economic disparity between the two parts, the hegemony of the West Pakistani ruling elite over Pakistan, martial laws, and a demeaning attitude towards Bengali culture and the Bengali population soured relations between the two parts.

After a nine-month war on 16 December 2071, Bangladesh got independent. This is a memorable history for the nation.

If we look in our country, then we can see Pope Francis' words that after fifty years our country is a unique natural beauty and modern nation that strives to join unity of language and culture with respect for the different traditions and communities within it. This, he continued, is one of the legacies which Sheikh Mujibur Rahman left for all Bangladeshis.

The Father of the Nation Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, was a man of incredible courage who always stood for equality, dignity, and justice, Bangabandhus (friend of Bengal) love and devotion for his country was always his first priority, and his ultimate vision was always to transform this nation he called home, Bangladesh, into Sonar (Golden) Bangla, where every citizen of the country would lead a life of dignity, respect, and fulfilment.

We became independent because of Bangabandhu's sacrifice. He has gone through a non-communal Bangladesh. Where people of all religions will get equal status, will enjoy equal rights.

He has thought of all the people of our country. He called for a war of liberation and under his great leadership the country became independent.

Now our present Hon'ble Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the worthy daughter of Bangabandhu, is working to build a modern state. So, we all need to be aware and help her. This country is ours, this soil is ours. So we have to move forward with the cooperation of all.

In the 50 years of independence, Bangladesh has come a long way in development such as economically, culturally, educationally and it is a great achievement for the country.

Although the independent was took place for a secular country where all faith people can practice their religion, but faith minority people often face persecution. In the name of religion, Islamist militancy activities are increasing in this country. Father of the nation Sheikh Mujibur Rahman didnt want such kind of nation. Government already control this radicalism, but mass people also should be aware regarding this issue.

Since we are celebrating the golden jubilee of Bangladesh's independence so let us try to build unity, love and peace among the people of our country.
Meteorologists flipped their lids when they found out that a summer stormmore common to temperate latitudeshad produced a lightning strike just 32 miles from the North Pole on Aug. 13, 2019. Never before had lightning been detected so close to the top of the world, and the event was duly inscribed in the Guinness Book of World Records.

This seeming fluke may not be a novelty for long. Not only did the number of Arctic lightning detections triple from 2010 to 2020, the numbers rose in tandem with global average temperatures over the same period, according to a paper published Monday in Geophysical Research Letters.

Lightning strikes (called strokes in the jargon) emit radio waves that bounce between the ground and the ionosphere and propagate around the world. The North Pole strike was picked up by stations as far away as Tahiti and New Zealand. Over the last decade, the number of Arctic strokes grew by hundreds of percent, said Robert Holzworth, professor emeritus of Earth and space sciences at the University of Washington. When he and his colleagues made the connection to temperature data, I thought, Well, this really clinches it,' he said

Thunderstorms may be yet another indicator of changing conditions in the Arctic, where sea ice is vanishing, permafrost is thawing, and surface temperatures are rising at twice the global rate. Holzworth was quick to point out, however, that more study is needed to explain the apparent relationship between Arctic storms and temperatures. In different regions, in different places, there are plenty of factors involved, he said.

So far theres little agreement among scientists as to how climate change will affect lightning globally. Zachary Labe, a postdoctoral researcher at Colorado State University, agreed that the paper only suggests a correlation. It does not appear to provide evidence of why they would be physically related, he said.

But researchers elsewhere are addressing that question. A pair of recent papers from scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research and Paris Sciences and Letters University concludes that in a high-emissions scenario, Alaskan storms would triple this century. A second paper shows that Arctic storms and resulting events like flooding and lightning can be analytically derived from basic physical laws.

Holzworth offers his contribution as a data point in a rapidly shifting world: You can make your own conclusions about it. Its certainly increasing over this 10-year period, he said. If it continues on this path, therell be a lot more in another half a degree centigrade.

Communities and industries operating in the high Arctic may need to increase their attention to lightning risk. Thousands of people die from lightning strikes every year. Its good for more people to become aware of the danger from lightning, Holzworth said. Every country should have lightning warning systems available.

Copyright 2021 Bloomberg.
Media union leader Rana Muhammad Azeem, secretary general of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), received a death threat after exposing a mafia gangster in a television appearance. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joins its Pakistan affiliate to call for an urgent investigation into the threat.

Media union leader Rana Muhammad Azeem, secretary general of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), received a death threat after exposing a mafia gangster in a television appearance. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joins its Pakistan affiliate to call for an urgent investigation into the threat.

The PFUJ said on March 26 that its Secretary General Rana Muhammad Azeem received death- threat from a gangster after exposing mafia in a recent TV talk-show broadcastedon 92 News Channel. Earlier ,the Karachi-based Urdu newspaper had published the warrant notice against Rana Muhammad Azeem on February 28 leveling allegations of criminal conduct against the secretary general of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ).



The PFUJ said threats to working journalists had become more common in Pakistan despite repeated protests and activism by journalists. It also accused the Pakistan government of failing to provide security to the journalists.

PFUJ president, GM Jamali, said: Journalists are duty bound to expose gangsters and other anomalies in the society and authorities have responsibilities to provide security to the journalists. Therefore, authorities in the Punjab province and Federal government must take action and arrest gangster in next 24 hours. Otherwise the PFUJ launches country-wide protest.

IFJ said: The IFJ demands independent investigation on the case.
Brides took Insider on their journeys to find their wedding gowns. Trinity Photography/Ingrid Lepan

As part of Insider's wedding series, "The One," brides shared how they found their wedding outfits.

They told Insider about their budgets, almost-buys, and why they fell in love with their ensembles.

The brides proved that gowns, suits, and two-pieces can all be beautiful wedding looks.

Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

Hattie O'Hara tried on 12 dresses before falling in love with this colorful gown.

Hattie O'Hara tried on 12 gowns. Hattie O'Hara

O'Hara knew she wanted a nontraditional wedding dress, imagining that she would wear a dress with a unique structure or fun cutout.

She didn't imagine herself in something colorful until she tried on this bright-yellow skirt, paired with a simple, shiny top.

"The color was perfect," O'Hara said. "There was just enough texture to the skirt, and it felt bridal but definitely not too sweet."

"I will look back on this dress as a highlight of my wedding forever," O'Hara said of the gown.

O'Hara's dress had a yellow skirt. Katie Jewell Co.

She also said she knew the dress was the one because it felt like a reflection of her personality.

"It made sense for how I understand myself as a whole person, and not just a bride," O'Hara told Insider.

You can read more about O'Hara's journey to find her wedding dress here.

Mariel Swan fell in love with the second dress she tried on.

Mariel Swan only tried on two dresses. Mariel Swan

Swan had seen the Morilee couture gown online before she went shopping, and it was exactly what she had been imagining herself in on her wedding day.

RK Bridal had the dress in stock when she went shopping, and it was even better when she tried it on in person.

The gown's full skirt, intricate detailing, and stunning sleeves were everything Swan had been hoping for.

"It was my dream dress," Swan told Insider of the princess-style gown.

Swan had feathers added to her gown's skirt. Trinity Photography

"It was exactly what I wanted," she said. "Everything about it was just perfect for me."

Swan added feathers to the skirt to make the dress unique, which made it slightly more expensive than it would have been otherwise. She also paired the dress with a crown to elevate the look even further.

Story continues

You can read more about Swan's journey to find her wedding dress here.

Sabina Leybold wanted a dress that could blend two cultures together.

Sabrina Leybold originally shopped for her dress online. Sabina Leybold

Leybold hoped her wedding dress would fit well with her husband's Indian culture. She also wanted something comfortable, and she imagined herself in something more casual.

After trying on dresses she ordered online, Leybold went to a store and fell in love with this fitted Willowby By Watters gown.

The gown's delicate detailing "felt like it could toe the line" between Leybold and her fiance's cultures, as she told Insider, and the cutout on the back was a fun addition.

After a few custom alterations, the dress was perfect for Leybold.

Leybold's gown was the perfect mix for her blended wedding. Swiger Photography

Leybold had to have the dress taken in, and she also removed the train, as she felt it would be too big for the small wedding she planned to have.

She ended up having to postpone her wedding, but Leybold and her now-husband got married at home. She's saving the dress for her eventual celebration.

You can read more about Leybold's journey to find her wedding dress here.

Sarah Shine wanted her wedding dress to be sleek and feminine.

Sarah Shine picked a dress with a thigh-high slit. Victoria and Sarah Shine

"I definitely wanted a slit, but I wanted everything to be lace and have a really low neckline and thick straps," she told Insider.

This Paloma Blanca dress ticked nearly all of her boxes. The dress had a silk skirt with a high slit, a delicate lace bodice with spaghetti straps, and a plunging neckline.

"This is exactly what I was looking for," she said of the gown.

Sarah's wife Victoria, on the other hand, surprised herself by falling in love with a strapless gown.

Victoria Shine didn't originally want a strapless dress. Victoria and Sarah Shine

Victoria thought she wanted a dress with straps, as she didn't want to have to adjust her gown throughout her wedding celebrations.

But this Mikaella gown by Paloma Blanca, which featured head-to-toe lace and a sweetheart neckline, ended up being the perfect dress for her.

It also had a removable skirt that allowed Victoria to have two looks on her wedding day.

Both brides found dresses that felt like them.

Both brides found dresses that suited them. A Sweet Focus

Sarah loved her dress because of its look and how comfortable it was. She was able to dance effortlessly during the reception, giving her the freedom she needed to celebrate to the fullest.

Victoria knew her dress was the one because of how confident she felt while wearing it. "I'm super self-conscious," she told Insider. "But I put this dress on, and I just felt so good about myself, which is very, very rare."

The Shines were also able to find dresses that coordinated without seeing each other's gowns ahead of the wedding.

Their dresses coordinated. A Sweet Focus

Both brides bought their gowns at Kleinfeld Bridal in New York, and they used the same consultant who ensured their dresses would go together.

"We were worried Victoria's was going to be white or mine was going to be stark white and then it would have clashed," Sarah said. But their consultant, Shay, made sure they fit perfectly.

You can read more about the Shines' journeys to find their wedding dresses here.

Kiaya Demonbreun fell in love with her dress from a photo before trying it on in real life.

Kiaya Demonbreun's dress was fitted. Kiaya Demonbreun

Demonbreun had loved Pronovias dresses for years, and she had seen this fitted gown with a lace bodice online months before she went shopping.

She even showed it to her now-husband in a photo, and he loved it. When she finally tried on the gown in person, Demonbreun knew it was the dress for her.

"It was just perfect," she said. "It was elegant."

"It was just the best dress that I could wear that would be me in a wedding dress," Demonbreun told Insider.

The keyhole back was a fun addition. Sacia Matthews Photography

She felt like it mixed her traditional roots with her chic sensibilities.

"A little bit of fun and flirty up top, but very traditional. And it's very contemporary at the same time," Demonbreun said.

"There were at least five other Pronovias dresses that I think I adored separately," she added. "But in that one dress, all of them combined into one."

You can read more about Demonbreun's journey to find her wedding dress here.

Carla Nasui found her dress with the help of a creative member of her entourage.

Carla Nasui had a skirt custom made for her dress. Carla Nasui

Nasui had seen this sparkly Pnina Tornai gown in a magazine ahead of actually going shopping, and she was drawn to the unique fabric and low back. But she initially disliked the dress when she tried it on in person, as the detachable skirt was only a half skirt.

Luckily, Nasui's godmother suggested she spin the skirt to see what it would look like as a full ball gown, and the bride was instantly in love.

"It was a game-changer," she said of the dress. "I absolutely loved it when I saw it like that."

Nasui decided to get a custom-made overskirt for the dress, which would give her two looks for her wedding day.

"I absolutely love, love, love that decision," Nasui said of getting a custom alteration on her skirt.

The skirt was removable. Ingrid Lepan

The custom look was perfect for her destination wedding, giving her a wedding dress that was both classic and modern.

Plus, the fact that the skirt was removable ensured she wouldn't be uncomfortable throughout her wedding day. "My skirt was actually 16 pounds, which was really hard to walk in," Nasui told Insider. "But that's why I was thankful it was removable."

You can read more about Nasui's journey to find her wedding dress here.

Beatriz Iglesias was able to create her perfect wedding dress using separates.

Beatriz Iglesias' dress featured separates. Beatriz Iglesias

Iglesias had loved Chantel Lauren's Mae dress for years, but she knew she wanted something slightly more traditional for the ceremony portion of her wedding day.

When she found Lee Ann Belter's collection of separates, she knew she could have two looks that would fit her vision.

She paired a simple white skirt and a lace top together for the ceremony, and she switched into the blue skirt for the reception.

"I felt like it was really me," Iglesias told Insider of the colorful skirt.

The blue skirt was her favorite. Rustic White Photography

"I definitely had a completely different vision than where I landed, but I feel like I stayed true to the themes I liked, like lace and the color," Iglesias said, explaining that the dress she chose was really different than what she had imagined for herself.

"If your vision that you've always had in your head isn't what you like, try not to fight it," she said.

You can read more about Iglesias' journey to find her wedding dress here.

Helena Howard fell in love with a lace dress with a transparent bodice and tulle skirt.

The bodice is transparent. Ayeh Khalatbari and Mischa Durrant

The sleeves sat off the shoulders on the Milla Nova Elle dress. Howard had the dress custom-altered so it was backless, and the bodice sparkled thanks to small glass beads sewn into the lace.

"The lace detailing on top was what sold me on the dress," Howard told Insider. "It's Italian lace with what they call 3D glass beading for the flowers."

Her husband is Italian, so the design of the dress was even more meaningful to her.

Howard said the dress made her feel "like a princess."

She felt beautiful in the dress. Ayeh Khalatbari and Mischa Durrant

The dress made her feel beautiful, and she was comfortable in it, which she advises brides prioritize as they look for a wedding dress.

It also fit well with her wedding venue, as she and her husband were married in an outdoor church.

"I think my dress fit in so beautifully with the flowers and the leaf detail," she told Insider.

You can read more about Howard's journey here.

Janal Montagna could picture herself in this ball gown thanks to its royal look.

The gown had a large skirt. Janal Montagna

Montagna was having a destination wedding in Croatia, and she wanted her gown to make a statement.

The Ysa Makino dress stood out from the other gowns she tried on because of the sleeves and the color. The gold detailing made it look ornate, while the mesh on the sleeves ensured the dress was comfortable.

"It was so different and contemporary, but so classic all at the same time," she said of the dress.

"It was everything I didn't even know I wanted and needed in the most important dress I would wear," Montagna told Insider.

It was everything she wanted. Fabijan Drnas and Katija Zivkovic

"The royal feeling, the floral work, the beading, the ball-gown silhouette, the sleeves, and that gold color just made me think Croatia," she said.

Montagna also had more crinoline added into the skirt to give it a fuller look, which made the dress weigh 35 pounds.

"It was magical," she said of wearing the dress.

You can read more about Montagna's journey to find her wedding dress here.

Sandra Kim opted for a modern wedding dress.

The pearls drew her to the gown. Sandra Kim

She had been hoping to find a dress that was off-the-shoulder and long-sleeved, and this unique Danielle Frankel gown fit the bill.

But it was really the unique, Baroque pearl buttons lining the center of the dress that showed Kim it was the one.

"I'm a really big pearl person," Kim told Insider. "All of my jewelry and accessories have gold and pearl. And when I saw this dress with a line of pearls going down the middle, I was immediately in awe."

"It was literally the look that I envisioned," Kim said of the gown.

Kim felt like herself in the dress. Lucy Douglas "LUCIE Weddings | @lucieweddings"

She had the train lengthened to give the gown a more dramatic look, and she kept her jewelry minimal to let the dress speak for itself.

The dress had so many elements that made Kim feel like herself. It was everything she wanted.

You can read more about Kim's journey to find her wedding dress here.

Aly Schneidman decided to look pretty in pink on her wedding day.

The pink color drew her in. Aly Schneidman

Schneidman had been planning on wearing something modern with clean lines to her wedding, but her vision for her dress totally changed when she found this Monique Lhuillier gown.

The ruched skirt, asymmetrical train, low back, and soft pink color were dynamic and one-of-a-kind.

"I went for pink and poofy, but I'm not super girly and I'm not into poofy dresses normally," Schneidman said. "But my dad kept saying 7-year-old-me would have been so proud of this dress."

"I just felt the prettiest I had ever felt in my whole life," Schneidman told Insider of the look.

The dress made her feel beautiful. The Edges

The gown surprised her, but it ended up being everything she wanted in a wedding dress.

"I just really felt like the best version of me instead of a magazine bride," she said. "It was super comfortable and lightweight."

You can read more about Schneidman's journey to find her wedding dress here.

Sanjana Rishi bucked tradition by wearing a suit to her Indian wedding.

She wore a suit. Sanjana Rishi

As a result of the coronavirus, Rishi and her husband decided to throw a ceremony together in just two weeks.

She had always wanted to wear a suit to her reception, but the change of plans led her to show off a pant look at her ceremony.

"I love suits on women," Rishi said. "There's something powerful about them."

A vintage, pre-owned Gianfranco Ferre suit was the perfect wedding look for her.

Rishi liked that the ensemble was beautiful and eco-friendly.

The outfit was environmentally friendly. Sanjana Rishi

Rishi paired the suit with a friend's bustier and borrowed jewelry, as well as a more traditional headpiece to nod to her culture.

By shopping vintage and borrowing accessories, she was eco-conscious with her wedding day look as well.

"I have loved thrift shopping for many, many years, and buying secondhand is, in my opinion, one of the very best ways to shop ethically," she said. "It made sense to me to combine something vintage with something that celebrates local craft, like the veil or the jewelry."

You can read more about Rishi's journey to find her wedding outfit here.

Molly Burchett and Blake Ballard also found bridal looks under a time crunch.

They planned their wedding in just 10 days. Liz Osban Photography

The longtime couple decided to elope, and they had just 10 days to throw the event together.

They decided they wanted to wear wedding dresses to the event despite the short timeframe.

Ballard picked a long-sleeved, lace gown with a transparent back at David's Bridal. Burchett, on the other hand, ordered her high-neck dress from Anthropologie that featured a keyhole cutout.

The brides felt beautiful, but they were most happy with how comfortable the dresses were.

They switched into boots. Liz Osban Photography

"I felt really confident in it because even though I ordered it really quickly, it's still very much exactly what I wanted," Burchett said of her gown.

They both wore heels to the ceremony, but they switched into boots to be more comfortable later in the celebrations. They found gowns that reflected who they were as people.

You can read more about Burchett and Ballard's journey to find their wedding dresses here.

Alyssa Higgins found a dress that was comfortable to wear in her wheelchair.

She bought the first dress she tried on. The Ramsdens

Higgins' spine was broken during her birth, so she's used a wheelchair her entire life.

When she was shopping for her wedding dress, she needed to find a dress that would be comfortable to wear while sitting and would accommodate the trach tube that connects her to her ventilator.

Higgins fell in love with the first dress she tried on, a form-fitting Martina Liana. The dress was covered in delicate lace, and it dipped low in the bodice, accentuating Higgins' cleavage without calling too much attention to her trach tube.

She was also able to use leftover fabric from the dress to cover her ventilator.

The dress made Higgins feel beautiful and comfortable.

The dress kept her warm. The Ramsdens

First and foremost, Higgins felt like a beautiful bride in her dress. But the dress was also good for her physically.

"It kept me warm, to be honest," she said of her gown, which was made from a heavy material. "I'm very cold with my spinal cord injury all the time, so it was actually really nice to have something thick."

You can read more about Higgins' journey to find her wedding dress here.

A removable skirt won Alexa Persico over.

She loved the dress as soon as she saw it. Alexa Perisco

Persico was hoping to find a dress that offered two looks for her wedding day, and a 2018 Love by Pnina Tornai dress with a detachable skirt was a perfect fit.

The dress is covered in head-to-toe sparkles, and the neckline dips low and has a transparent layer of fabric to keep the straps together.

Persico told Insider she knew it was the one for her as soon as she saw it.

"I felt like a princess, but I also felt like myself," Persico told Insider of how the dress made her feel.

She felt like herself in the gown. Felix Feygin/Fred Marcus Studio

The skirt created a dramatic look, but Persico was able to remove it during her reception so it was easier to move around.

Persico shined in the gown, and a coordinating Pnina Tornai veil added to the look.

"I think the biggest mistake a bride can make is having too many people with them while dress shopping because everyone will have a different opinion," she said. "At the end of the day, you have to wear what is going to make you happy."

You can read more about Persico's journey to find her wedding dress here.

Lizzie Boudreau favored a pant-look for her wedding.

Lizzie Boudreau wore a Gabriela Hearst set to her wedding. Morgan Hydinger

Boudreau told Insider she hoped her wedding look would feel like a modern iteration of an ensemble Grace Kelly would wear.

She tried on a few wedding gowns, but none of them felt like her.

When she stumbled upon a matching Gabriela Hearst set made up of an off-the-shoulder top and coordinating pants, Boudreau fell in love. The pants had a built-in train that gave the modern look a bridal edge.

She bought the set without even trying it on.

Boudreau said the ensemble was a beautiful and comfortable wedding look.

Boudreau loved the outfit. Morgan Hydinger

"I felt great," Boudreau told Insider. "I was thrilled at how everything looked. I was super comfortable."

The bride paired the outfit with white heels and a statement headpiece that gave the modern look a classic feel.

"It's totally just the aesthetic and the energy that I wanted to portray on my wedding day," she added.

You can read more about Boudreau's journey to find her wedding outfit here.

Georgianna Hagl had her heart set on wearing a gown with a bow on it.

Hagl wanted a bow on her wedding dress. Georgianna Hagl

Hagl married her high school sweetheart, who had a crush on her since she wore bows in her hair during their youth. Wearing a wedding dress with a bow on it felt like the perfect way to nod to their shared history.

After trying on four dresses, Hagl decided a Sareh Nouri gown with a removable bow was perfect for her wedding day.

The V-neckline and trumpet skirt were sleek and simple, while the bow, which could be worn in multiple places on the gown, gave Hagl flexibility with her look.

The dress also had buttons down the back of the gown, a detail Hagl loved.

"It was perfect," Hagl told Insider of her gown, which offered multiple looks for her wedding day.

She wore the bow in multiple places. Alice Shoots People

"I just loved it," Hagl said. "I loved the silhouette. I loved that the buttons went all the way down."

She wore the bow on her shoulder during the ceremony, and she moved it to her hip to make dancing easier during the reception.

"I had never thought about putting it on my shoulder, but once it was, it was everything I wanted," she said.

You can read more about Hagl's journey to find her wedding dress here.

Samantha Viola created a one-of-a-kind wedding dress by combining two gowns.

Samantha Viola combined two gowns. Samantha Viola

Viola wanted a sexy, beachy look for her rooftop wedding in New York, but she also wanted to make a statement when she walked into her ceremony.

Combining two Pnina Tornai gowns was the perfect solution for Viola. A lace, sheer dress that was form-fitting was the base of her outfit.

To add some drama to the outfit, Viola wore a full, tulle skirt over the gown for her ceremony.

"I was so happy that I had those two styles," Viola told Insider.

She felt beautiful in both dresses. Robert Carlo

The big skirt made her feel like a "princess," while the sheer gown was exactly what she dreamed of when she pictured her wedding dress.

"I felt beautiful," Viola said of how she felt in her dress. "I felt like it flattered my body type. It felt very bridal, but also not like the classic bride that everybody looks like."

"I felt so beautiful," she added. "It was my dream dress."

You can read more about Viola's journey to find her wedding dress here.

Katya May selected a short, chic dress for her intimate wedding.

May wore a short gown. Katya May

May knew she wanted a nontraditional look, and the short gown fit the vibe she was going for.

She was drawn to the long sleeves and high-neckline on this Harriette Gordon dress. It also had button detailing on the cuffs and a ruffled hemline.

"It was fun, different, and not ridiculously expensive," May told Insider of why she chose the gown.

A long veil made the dress look more bridal.

She wore black shoes. Chloe May

The contrast of the short gown and the veil made the outfit even more striking, as did black shoes.

"I couldn't have been happier with the overall look," May told Insider of her wedding ensemble. "I loved my dress with the veil together."

"I just think it was perfect," she added.

You can read more about May's journey to find her wedding dress here.

Karen Lima stunned in a sheer, sparkly gown at her wedding ceremony.

Lima wore a sheer dress to her ceremony. Juliana Kneipp

Lima didn't try on any wedding dresses when she was engaged. Instead, she saw this gold Kyha Studios dress on Pinterest, and she ordered it as soon as she was able to track down the designer.

"The moment I saw it, I was like, 'Oh my gosh, I want to get married in this dress,'" Lima told Insider.

The sparkly dress had a low neckline, and it was completely see-through and backless. Lima wore a nude slip underneath the dress.

"The moment I saw it was just magical," Lima told Insider of seeing herself in the dress on her wedding day.

Lima changed into a backless slip dress for her reception.

She changed into a slip dress for the reception. Juliana Kneipp

Although she loved her gold dress, Lima wanted to be able to dance with ease at her reception.

She changed into a sleek Jot Losa gown for the reception. Losa is a friend who gave Lima the dress as a wedding present.

Although it was different, the reception dress had a similar tone to Lima's first dress thanks to the backless design.

Lima's ceremony dress was heavy because of the beading, so she was grateful to have something lighter for the reception, she told Insider.

You can read more about Lima's journey to find her wedding dress here.

Ally McGown wore two custom Pnina Tornai dresses to her wedding.

She wore two custom gowns. In Focus Pro Photography, Inc.

McGown is the boutique manager for Pnina Tornai at Kleinfeld in New York City.

When it was time for McGown to get married, Tornai designed two custom dresses for her.

The off-the-shoulder gown had a cat-eye neckline, a tight bodice, and a full, lace skirt. A tulle, cross strap in the back completed the look, and the sleeves could be removed.

"I loved how romantic it was," McGown told Insider of the ceremony dress.

The second dress was covered in bling and had a keyhole back.

McGown wore a second wedding dress. In Focus Pro Photography, Inc.

The satin, mermaid-style gown was covered in crystal embellishments. The low neckline and open back gave the dress a sexy feel.

The second gown made McGown feel "really, really confident and good," she told Insider.

Plus, the outfit change was a surprise to her husband, which made the dress even more special to McGown.

You can read more about McGown's journey to find her wedding dresses here.

Madison Taylor found a wedding dress that looked just like a gown she sketched before shopping.

Madison Taylor found her dream dress. Madison Taylor

Before she even started trying on dresses, Taylor, who works in fashion, drew her ideal wedding gown, which had a full skirt and was covered in flowers.

Taylor ended up buying a Kleinfeld-exclusive Pnina Tornai dress at a sample sale that looked almost exactly like her sketch.

The dress was too big for Taylor, but she was able to get it altered so it fit her perfectly.

"It was perfect," Taylor told Insider of the gown.

The dress was covered in flowers. J. Brynnae Photography

The A-line dress had a corset bodice and was covered in delicate flowers. The off-the-shoulder sleeves were made of flowers too.

A sheer, long train completed the look.

Taylor said she was "elated" that she found something that fit her vision so well.

You can read more about Taylor's journey to find her wedding dress here.

Bijon Vaughn chose the same dress Beyonce wore to her vow renewal for her wedding.

Beyonce wore the same dress. Bijon Vaughn

Vaughn chose a form-fitting Galia Lahav gown after recognizing it from photos of Beyonce.

The dress had sheer cutouts on the thighs, as well as a see-through back panel.

Detailed embroidery covered the bodice, and Vaughn had romantic, sheer sleeves added to the gown for her ceremony. She removed the sleeves for more flexibility at her reception.

"I love the fact that it was a little sexy with the illusion," Vaughn told Insider.

Bijon told Insider that her wedding dress made her feel like "a million bucks."

She felt beautiful in the dress. Gareth Davies Photography

The gown, which gave her two looks in one, was the perfect combination of sexy and elegant, as Vaughn told Insider.

"I felt beautiful," she said. "I felt like a woman. I felt classy. I felt timeless, but I still felt young and vibrant."

You can read more about Vaughn's journey to find her wedding dress here.

Alex Throckmorton rocked a strapless, floral gown at her wedding.

Alex chose a nude gown. Feather and Twine Photography

As Alex and her wife Paige planned their Parisian-themed wedding, Alex wanted two things out of her dress: a non-traditional look and a floral element.

A nude Watters dress covered in flowers was exactly what Alex was looking for. The full trumpet skirt contrasted with a daring cutout on the bodice.

"I knew it was just meant to be," Alex said of the gown. "It was really dramatic and not your traditional wedding dress."

Paige Throckmorton's green suit complemented Alex's gown.

Paige wore a custom suit. Feather and Twine Photography

Instead of a dress, Paige decided to get Bykowski Tailor and Garb to make her a custom tuxedo for the wedding.

Paige had always wanted a custom suit, and she had been admiring the brand's work for some time before the wedding. It was the perfect occasion to make her dream a reality.

Paige and her sister designed the green, three-piece suit together. The pants and jacket were solid toned, but the lapel and vest were covered in flowers, like Alex's dress. Paige had a custom shirt made to match the ensemble as well.

"I loved getting to pick out the different materials," Paige said of designing her suit.

The floral elements tied the Throckmortons' outfits together.

The outfits worked together. Feather and Twine Photography

The Throckmortons didn't show each other their outfits ahead of the wedding, so they were happily surprised their outfits worked so well together.

"I was blown away by how beautiful she was," Paige told Insider of her wife. "I feel like our outfits just really complemented each other, but Alex stole the show."

You can read more about the Throckmortons' journey to find their wedding outfits here.

Devon Stewart Bacher opted for a chic jumpsuit for her mini-mony.

Devon Bacher wore a jumpsuit. Sasithon Photography

Bacher was originally supposed to have a big wedding in August of 2020, but she and her husband had to postpone the celebration.

They still decided to get married on their original wedding date, tying the knot with just their immediate families in attendance on the Brooklyn Bridge.

The gown Bacher selected for her big wedding wouldn't work for the smaller ceremony, so she decided to wear a white Jonathan Simkhai jumpsuit from Intermix instead. She originally planned to wear the jumpsuit to her rehearsal dinner.

The jumpsuit had a scoop neck, a chunky belt, and wide legs with cutouts that gave it a modern touch. It scooped low in the back.

Bacher told Insider she felt like the ensemble balanced retro and modern aesthetics.

She paired the jumpsuit with a pearl-covered veil.

The veil completed the look. Sasithon Photography

Bacher paired the look with a pearl-covered veil, a statement ponytail, and a pearl choker. The veil transformed the ensemble into the perfect bridal look.

"It made me feel on top of the world," Bacher said of the outfit, adding that it made her feel "powerful."

You can read more about Bachers' journey to find her wedding outfit here.

If you are in the process of shopping for your wedding dress or have photos from when you shopped and want to talk to Insider for a story, get in touch at sgrindell@insider.com.

Read the original article on Insider
It is part of the second phase  for which plans are not ready yet  that the city will extend Commons Drive through the development, making the road run from Montgomery Road to the Route 59 train station. It is seen as a main artery through the far East Side to help relieve traffic on Route 59.
An amendment to the Finance Bill has allowed a wholly-owned special purpose vehicle (SPV) of an offshore fund to transfer securities to an International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) fund in Gujarat, while also enabling the IFSC fund to issue units either to investors in the offshore fund or to the offshore fund itself. This, said experts, will make it easier for Mauritius funds investing in India to shift to the IFSC.

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Lord Pabitey, a Disease Control Officer of La Bawaleshie Polyclinic who absconded after allegedly stealing and selling 26 Vials of COVISHIELD has been arrested.



Pabitey who appeared before an Accra Circuit Court on Friday has been remanded into lawful custody to reappear on April 1.



Last week, the National Security arrested three persons for their alleged involvement in the stealing and sale of COVISHIELD vaccines belonging to the Government of Ghana.



Stephen Dzisenu, a 37-year-old Disease Control Officer of the Greater Accra Regional Hospital is said to have stolen 36 vials of COVISHIELD and Lord Pabitey, a Disease Control Officer of the La Bawalashie Polyclinic, also allegedly stole 26 vials of COVISHIELD.



Cosmos Allotey a 42-year-old Occupational Health and Safety Officer, is said to have received the stolen COVISHIELD from Pabitey and Dzisenu.



Allotey allegedly administered the vaccines at a cost of GHS200.00 per jab.



Joseph Knight Gaisie, a Project Assistant and a former Laboratory Technician at the Greater Accra Regional Hospital is also being held for abetment of crime.



Dzisenu, Gaisie and Allotey  were on March 19, remanded into lawful custody by the same court to reappear on April 1.



During todays sitting, Police Chief Inspector Simon Apiorsornu said they were in court for Pabitey to be remanded pending further investigations.



On March 19, this year, Police Detective Sergeant Frederick Sarpong, the prosecutor, prayed to the Court presided over by Mrs Afua Owusuaa Appiah, not to take the pleas of the accused persons as investigations were ongoing and efforts were underway to arrest other suspects.



The accused charges were not read out to them. However, the facts of the case were read out in open court.



Police Detective Sergeant Sarpong said accused persons, when granted bail, may not only interfere with investigations but other witnesses.



He said from the facts, other persons involved were yet to be arrested and prayed the Court to remand them.



Lawyers of the accused persons prayed for bail, saying their clients were servants of the Republic and they would not interfere with investigations.



The facts as presented by the prosecution were that the complainants were National Security Operatives.



The prosecution said during the first week of March this year, the operatives received intelligence that some health officials had been stealing and selling the COVID-19 vaccines brought in by the Government of Ghana.



Detective Sergeant Sarpong said through intelligence, Alloteys name was mentioned and his phone number obtained as the one who injects the COVID-19 vaccines for a fee.



He said the complainant contacted Allotey and feigned interest in buying some of the COVID-19 vaccines, so he charged the complainant GHS200.00 per vaccination.



The prosecution said on March 16, 2021, Allotey was arrested when he was invited to Labone in Accra to inject the complainant at a fee of GHS200.00.



He said when Allotey was searched, eight COVISHIELD vials, eight used COVISHIELD, 173 pieces of 0.5 ml unused injection syringes and cotton were found on him.



The prosecution said during interrogation, Allotey mentioned Dzisenu and Pabitey as his source.



He said Allotey led the National Security operatives to arrest Dzisenu and Gaisie.



The prosecution said Allotey, in his investigative cautioned statement, admitted buying 36 of the vials of government procured COVISHIELD vaccine at the cost of GHS18,000.00.



According to him, Allotey further said that, he sold 20 of the vials of COVISHIELD at a cost of GHS16,000.00 and later returned 15 vials to Dzisenu.



The prosecution said Allotey said he also bought 26 vials of the COVISHIELD from Pabitey at the cost GH4,800.00.



Mr Sarpong said Dzisenu in his cautioned statement, mentioned Gaisie as the one who aided and facilitated the sale of the stolen COVISHIELD vaccines to Allotey.

Source: GNA









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(Newser)  New York lawmakers have reached an agreement with Gov. Andrew Cuomo that would make recreational marijuana legal in the state. Officials said the change should help eliminate a longtime inequityBlack and Hispanic people are arrested on minor marijuana charges much more often than white people arewhile setting up a $4.2 billion industry that will create thousands of jobs. "For me this is a lot more than about raising revenue: It's about investing in the lives of the people that have been damaged," said a Democratic lawmaker who's led the legalization effort for years. Cannabis use would be legal for anyone over 21, the New York Times reports, and New Yorkers will be able to grow up to six plants at home for their own use. The system will have to be set up before legal sales can begin, which officials expect to be at least a year from now.

story continues below

An Office of Cannabis Management, which also would take over the state's medical use program, would issue licenses covering each step of the process: farming, processing, distribution, dispensaries, and retail "consumption sites," per CNN. Those sites would be lounges where marijuana may be consumed but alcohol may not. The office will have a social equity mandate to try to grant half of the licenses to people hurt in the past by drug laws, as well as to businesses owned by women and minorities. A 13% sales tax, to go to state and local governments, will be instituted. The plan includes a series of new criminal penalties for the unlawful possession and sale of cannabis. A Democratic supporter in the state Senate said New York will have a system that "assures people who buy the product that they are buying a legitimate product from legitimate companies." Neighboring New Jersey approved new laws last month, after voters passed a constitutional amendment to legalize marijuana in November. (Read more marijuana legalization stories.)
Cabinet has approved the Coronavirus (COVID-19) COVAX vaccine procured by United Nations International Children's Fund (UNICEF) under the World Health Organisation (WHO) and targets to voluntarily vaccinate 3.7 million Zambians aged above 18 years.

The Cabinet has approved that Zambia should, for a start, participate in the free Coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccination procured by the UNICEF in Zambia under the WHO, with a target of 83, 676, 791 Zambians.

Chief Government Spokesperson Dora Siliya and Health minister, Jonas Chanda separately confirmed this yesterday.

In a statement, Ms Siliya who is Information and Broadcasting Services minister said the 3, 676, 791 people translating into a coverage of 20 per cent of the 46 per cent eligible population, or 8, 438, 118 people out of Zambia's total population of 18, 383, 955.

This followed a Cabinet meeting which was chaired by President Edgar Lungu on Wednesday to deliberate on Zambia's acquisition, deployment and financing of COVID-19 vaccine after the Government approved, in principle, to adopt the COVID-19 vaccine programme.

She said that that the other 4, 761, 327 eligible Zambians would be covered later by the Government and other mechanisms, saying Cabinet resolved to follow the WHO-recommended age of 18 years and above.

Separately, Dr Chanda said Cabinet also approved that vaccination prioritisation would be frontline health workers and police, other security personnel, teachers, traditional leaders, clerics and immigration officers who were essential to maintaining core society functions.

"The public is hereby informed that Government received expert advice that these for now be targeted are persons aged 18 years and above... because these are the global norms for all vaccines that are available," said.

He added: "In conclusion, Cabinet decided that the administration of COVID-19 in Zambia be done on a voluntary basis. There will be no mandatory vaccination... but with informed decision-making... the President emphasised the need for transparency, accountability, integrity to ensure the safety of Zambians."

To Page 2CABINET has approved the Coronavirus (COVID-19) COVAX vaccine procured by United Nations International Children's Fund (UNICEF) under the World Health Organisation (WHO) and targets to voluntarily vaccinate 3.7 million Zambians aged above 18 years.

The Cabinet has approved that Zambia should, for a start, participate in the free Coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccination procured by the UNICEF in Zambia under the WHO, with a target of 83, 676, 791 Zambians.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-26 23:38:04|Editor: huaxia

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DUBLIN, March 26 (Xinhua) -- As of Friday, all travelers arriving in Ireland from 33 countries and regions deemed "high risk" for COVID-19 transmission will have to complete a 14-day mandatory quarantine at a designated facility, according to the Irish government's previously announced decision.

The 33 countries and regions include 17 in Africa, 14 in South America as well as Austria in Europe and the United Arab Emirates in Asia, according to a guidance published on the Irish government's website.

The list of high-risk countries and regions, which is subject to change at short notice, can be found on various websites of the Irish authorities, including the Department of Foreign Affairs, said the guidance.

Travelers from high-risk areas must pre-book their rooms at the government-designated facilities and pre-pay for their accommodation and food online, it said, adding that the standard charge for an adult for the 14-day quarantine is 1,875 euros (2,211 U.S. dollars).

Those who do not arrive from high-risk areas but fail to provide a negative COVID-19 test result based on a sample collected no more than 72 hours before arrival in Ireland will also have to be quarantined for 14 days.

The first batch of hotels designated by the Irish government for the purpose of mandatory quarantine are all located in Dublin, including two nearby Dublin Airport and two in the city center, with more hotels to be designated if needed.

The Irish Times, a major daily newspaper in Ireland, quoted public health officials as saying that as of Friday morning a total of 69 people had made bookings at designated hotels. Of them, 32 are due to arrive in the country before the end of March.

Diplomats, aircrew and maritime crew, among others, can be exempted from the 14-day mandatory hotel quarantine if they can meet other public health requirements of the Irish government.

Those who refuse to be quarantined or leave the designated hotels for mandatory quarantine earlier than they should will face a fine of 2,000 euros or one month in prison -- or both.

The Irish Department of Health on Thursday night said that over 230,000 people had been infected with COVID-19 in Ireland since the outbreak of the pandemic in early 2020 and to date, nearly 4,700 people have died from the virus.

The department also said that as of March 22, a total of 690,449 COVID-19 vaccine doses had been administered in Ireland and over 186,000 people had been fully vaccinated, accounting for about four percent of the country's population.

As the world is struggling to contain the pandemic, vaccination is underway in an increasing number of countries with the already-authorized coronavirus vaccines.

Meanwhile, 267 candidate vaccines are still being developed -- 83 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 March 23. (1 euro = 1.18 U.S. dollars) Enditem
Drama unfolded again in the Chambers of the House of Representatives when one of them, (lawmakers) was thrown out of regular session due to improper dressing .

Sergeant-At-Arms, General Martin Johnson was ordered by House Speaker, Bhofal Chambers to have Montserrado County district number ten lawmaker, Yekeh Kolubah escorted out of session because of his dress code.

The decision to have Representative Kolubah thrown out of session on Tuesday was reached following an observation by Montserrado County electoral district five Representatives, Thomas Fallah.

In his observation to the Speaker, the CDC representative said that the House of Representatives is not a place for a lawmaker to dress anyhow he or she feels. Representative Fallah went on to state that his colleague, Representative Kolubah was not properly dress, saying his indecent dressing breaks the rules of the House of Representatives.

After few minutes, he returned in a coat.

On returning to session, Representative Kolubah did not show any sign of being embarrassed for being sent out by his colleagues of equal rank, but was heard speaking saying," Mr. Speaker, I am properly dressed now."

Hon. Kolubah is a strong critic of president George Weah and in most instances, insults him.
Police have charged a 40-year-old man in relation to a number of recent security alerts in Co Armagh.

The man, who was arrested on Friday, has been charged with a range of offences including four counts of making explosives under suspicious circumstances, two counts of causing an explosion likely to endanger life and two counts of attempting to cause an explosion along with a number of driving offences.

He is expected to appear at Newry Magistrates court tomorrow.

As is usual procedure the charges will be reviewed by the PPS.

Police confirmed on Thursday that two crude devices capable of causing serious harm were found in the villages of Camlough and Maghery.

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An operation into the devices began following their discovery on Monday.

Meanwhile, a security operation in Keady was carried out on Wednesday, March 17, following the discovery of a suspicious object.

Read More

The PSNI believe all three incidents are linked.
Vaccines Will Become Available to All in Mid-April, Newsom Says During Orange County Visit

All California residents aged 16 and older will be eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine April 15, Gov. Gavin Newsom said during a Santa Ana press conference.

Beginning April 1, those aged 50 and up will be qualified for the shot, Newsom said. Right now, the vaccine is only available to those deemed high-risk of contracting the virus, or those in danger of suffering serious health complications as a result of it.

In just a few weeks, therell be no rules, no limitations as it relates to the ability to get a vaccine administered, Newsom told reporters.

As of March 25, the state is also loosening restrictions in inoculating family members of residents who are eligible to get the vaccine.

Effective today, regardless of your age, regardless of your preexisting condition, if someone comes in, eligible under the existing rules, but with a family member, we will accommodate the family member, no questions asked, Newsom said.

Vaccine supply in California has been widely limited, with residents struggling to find appointments, but Newsom said thats about to change.

While the state received 1.8 million doses last week, it will begin receiving 2.5 million doses per week within a few weeks.

Newsom said this is positive news for those who have been waiting their turn, including Newsom himself, who will be eligible April 1 as he is above 50 years old.

I look forward to getting the best shot, and the best vaccine is the next one available, whatever that vaccine is, he said, encouraging those eligible to sign up for an appointment.

As of March 23, the state passed the threshold of administering 15 million doses of the vaccine, and is currently closing in on 16 million, Newsom said.

Theres not just a light at the end of the tunnel, theres a bright light at the end of the tunnel, he said. Thats close to 6 million more than any other state in the country. We are administering more doses than all but five other nations in the world.

The only current restriction is manufacturing supply, he said.

Newsom said that by the end of April, the state will be capable of administering 4 million doses per week.

The governor also discussed how the state has seen positive results after committing 40 percent of new vaccines to underprivileged communities.

We were the first and the most bold state in America, to lay a marker with that 40 percent, to commit to a cause to truly be accountable, and more transparent to delivering in communities large and small all across the state, and were seeing progress every day on that goal, he said.

We are not walking away from our equity, quite the contrary. Well continue to double down on all of those equity frames  we truly want to flood those areas.  Thats the commitment again of reinforcing an equity mindset in a meaningful and demonstrable way.

Newsom said the state is on its way to a green tier, but didnt give details as to what that would mean for eligible counties. Currently, the yellow tier is the least restrictive tier as part of the states Blueprint for a Safer Economy.
Foreign Minister Dee-Maxwell Saah Kemayah, Sr., has disclosed that President George Manneh Weah is supportive of the proposed schedule date for the Mano River Union (MRU) Summit, which is expected to be hosted in Monrovia from May 20 - 30, 2021.

According to a Foreign Ministry release, Minister Kemayah made the disclosure on Wednesday, March 24, 2021, when the Secretary General of the Mano River Union (MRU) Ambassador Medina Wesseh paid him a courtesy call to discuss issues relating to the Mano River Basin.

Foreign Minister Kemayah lauded Prof. Alpha Conde, President of the Republic of Guinea and current chair of MRU for accepting President George Manneh Weah's request to host the MRU Summit in Liberia.

According to the Foreign Ministry release, the Liberian Foreign Minister indicated that, while in Cote d'Ivoire representing President Weah, he had a series of meetings with some diplomats and government officials from MRU states on several bilateral and multilateral issues.

"While it is true that you are a Liberian, on the Secretariat, I like to on behalf of the Ministry welcome you and members of your team from the MRU Secretariat to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs," he stressed.

"We are pleased with the level of work you are doing and the level of engagement with the MRU Secretariat; we can see the level of engagement and the enthusiasm you have brought to the MRU Secretariat," Minister Kemayah told Madam Wesseh.

He also indicated that Liberia has already started preparation for the summit, noting that the Minister of Finance and Development Planning, Hon. Samuel Tweah and the Minister of State for Presidential Affairs, Hon. Nathaniel McGill are fully involved with the preparatory work in order to make this historical event a success.

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He used the occasion to inform the MRU Secretary General that Liberia will settle all of its obligations to the union. Minister Kemayah further disclosed that Liberia will do the necessary mobilization in terms of provision of logistics as host of the MRU Summit.

For her part, Madam Wesseh thanked the Minister of Foreign Affairs and commended him and his government for his instrumentality and innovation which she said have led the MRU leaders to reach a decision to hold the summit in Liberia.

She called on both Ministries of Finance and Development Planning and Foreign Affairs to coordinate activities and collaborate on issues, as part of preparation for the upcoming MRU Summit.

Madam Wesseh stated that as the summit gets underway, she looks forward to seeing Liberia presenting a position that borders on the country's foreign policy objectives such as peaceful coexistence and good neighborliness.

Madam Wesseh noted that as the Secretary General of the Union, she wants to see the reemergence of Liberia's leadership of the MRU, stating that she likes to see Liberia showcase its hospitality during the upcoming MRU Summit in Monrovia.

During the meeting with the Liberian Foreign Minister, Madam Wesseh presented a dossier, which contained proposed dates and venue for the upcoming meeting and the lodging of the participants, considering the distance of the venue and current traffic for review by Minister Kemayah.
With Israel in the process of forming a government and Palestine facing elections in the coming months, has said the community must use this phase to focus on how to encourage the parties back to "meaningful negotiations" for achieving a peaceful solution to the dispute.

Israel and Palestine have been in conflict for decades over various political issues such as borders, refugees and the control of Jerusalem. The two-state solution has for decades been the primary focus of efforts to achieve peace in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.The two-state solution has for decades been the primary focus of efforts to achieve peace in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

has consistently called for direct peace negotiations between Israel and Palestine, based on a global consensus on the end-goal of a two-state solution, India's Permanent Representative to the United Nations Ambassador TS Tirumurti said at the Security Council briefing on the Middle East (Palestine) on Thursday.

He said the upcoming months will witness government formation in Israel and elections in Palestine.

The first Palestinian elections in 15 years are slated to begin in May.

The community must use this phase to focus on how to encourage the parties back to meaningful negotiations with the goal of achieving a peaceful solution to the dispute, Tirumurti added.

Voicing appreciation for the efforts by the Quartet and other countries towards resuming direct negotiations between the parties, Tirumurti said will support all efforts, including the peace conference called by President Mahmoud Abbas, that attempt to achieve a just, lasting and comprehensive resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. New Delhi stands ready to contribute constructively to such efforts, he said.

Tirumurti said resolution 2334 adopted by the Security Council calls for advancing the two-state solution through negotiations as well as to reverse negative trends on the ground, which includes settlements.

We urge parties to refrain from all unilateral measures that vitiate conditions necessary for promoting peace and instead focus on bridging the trust deficit. He noted that Resolution 2334 also calls for preventing all acts of violence against civilians, including acts of terror, and for both parties to refrain from provocative acts of incitement and inflammatory rhetoric. These will create conditions for launching credible negotiations on all final status issues, he said.

UN Special Coordinator Tor Wennesland told the Council expressed deep concern over the continued Israeli settlement expansion, particularly into highly sensitive areas, which entrench the Israeli occupation, erode the possibility of a contiguous, independent and viable Palestinian State and further threaten the prospect of achieving a two-State solution.

The solution would establish an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel two states for two peoples. In theory, this would win Israel security and allow it to retain a Jewish demographic majority (letting the country remain Jewish and democratic), while granting the Palestinians a state.

Urging Israel to cease the advancement of all settlement activity immediately, Wennesland reiterated that settlements have no legal validity and constitute a flagrant violation of international law.

Wennesland further said that Palestinian unity is essential for progress and free, fair and inclusive elections throughout Gaza and the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, are a first step.

I am encouraged by the steady advance toward the holding of Palestinian elections and urge the parties to carry on their dialogue and overcome remaining differences.

The international community must continue, throughout the process, to support Palestinian efforts to restore democracy and legitimacy to their national institutions. This includes the deployment of observation missions despite COVID-19 challenges.

Tirumurti welcomed reports of agreement between Palestinian parties on the technicalities for the upcoming legislative elections, including a code of conduct intended to preserve the transparency and integrity of the election process.

We encourage all parties to continue the dialogue and resolve other pending issues to ensure the smooth conduct and conclusion of the Parliamentary, Presidential and National Council elections, he said.

Tirumurti added that resumption of civil and military coordination between Israel and the Palestinian Authority is a welcome step, noting that this along with regular and timely transfer of PA's entitled tax revenues will alleviate the humanitarian situation in West Bank and Gaza.

India strongly supports a negotiated solution resulting in a sovereign, independent, and viable State of Palestine living within secure and recognized borders, side by side at peace with Israel, he said.

Taking note of the efforts by Government of Israel to facilitate the transfer of vaccines to Palestinian territories, India welcomed efforts of member states and various UN agencies in supporting the Palestinian Authority's preparedness to receive and administer vaccines, including through the COVAX facility.

India has voluntarily contributed USD 15 million to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) over the past three years and has committed another USD 10 million for 2021-2022.

(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 honourable body would have done greater justice to the Justice if they had considered making the proceeding as transparent as an example the apex court expects from other institutions and lesser mortals. (Photo: PTI)

India welcomes the initiation of the process by which Justice N.V. Ramana will be formally declared the next Chief Justice of India, with the current CJI Justice Sharad A. Bobde recommending the name of the senior-most judge after him, to the post. The elevation of Justice Ramana, when he takes office as the 48th CJI, after the incumbent leaves office on April 23, is yet another example of the maturity and independence of the Indian judiciary. After an illustrious career as a judge in more than one high court, and then as a judge of the Supreme Court, Justice Ramana deserves his rise to the highest chair in the Indian judiciary by the dint of his wisdom, brilliance, objectivity and hard work.

In clearing the way for the elevation of Justice Ramana, an in-house procedure of the Supreme Court has also wisely rejected a complaint by the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, against him in a case relating to the Amaravati land scam. It was extremely crucial not to set any precedent, which would have enabled an easy hijack of the chair in future by any self-interested party or group. However, the procedure adopted by the Honble Supreme Court in handling the complaint of chief minister Jagan Mohan Reddy, was kept strictly confidential and declared not liable, in nature, to be made public.

As several wise judges of the Supreme Court have pronounced, the procedure adopted in arriving at a decision is of often far greater significance to the ethos of instructions than the decisions themselves, and wise right decisions must still stand the test of transparency and fairness test of the procedure.

The halo of the Supreme Court could have risen further if the procedure by which the way was paved for the next CJI considered taking into confidence the ordinary citizen crucial enough to be made a yardstick.

The mature decision of naming Justice Ramana as the next CJI, which was so apt, given an unimpeachable candidature as his, should not have taken the risk of leaving room for even an iota of doubt over the procedure adopted in bringing in the only second Telugu speaking CJI into office.

The honourable body would have done greater justice to the Justice if they had considered making the proceeding as transparent as an example the apex court expects from other institutions and lesser mortals.
President Muhammadu Buhari, represented by Kebbi governor Atiku Bagudu, launched the sales of rice paddy to millers in the Northeast sub-region, on Thursday, in Gombe.

Reports have it that the occasion also signalled the launch of the 2020/2021 dry season rice cultivation and wet season harvest aggregation in the sub-region.

Bagudu said the event was the third one hosted by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN, after Niger and Kebbi states.

"This is indeed an important achievement and acknowledgement of the CBN, under the leadership of Godwin Emefiele and his team", he stated.

He said the CBN had, within the last five years, solved the problem of financing in the agriculture sector and shown to the whole world that " we can do it, and confidence is gradually returning to the Nigerian Economy. "

Bagudu said the achievement so far recorded in rice production as was being witnessed, was in line with the Federal Government's policy on agriculture to boost food security, provide employment and diversify the economy.

"This is a great testament to the resilience, energy and responsiveness of Nigeria's farmers, organized under RIFAN, and supported by millers and input providers.

Also read: Reps reject N10,000 Visa Clearance charge for Nigerians

He commended RIFAN for responding to the initiative and the policy measures undertaken by the government to improve the agriculture sector and make farming profitable.

The representative of the president added that the pyramids of rice displayed would be sold to different millers and that would create jobs for the youths.

He commended Gov. Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe for his passion for agriculture, as well as Gov. Mohammed Badaru of Jigawa state, for his presidential fertilizer initiative which showed that even without oil, Nigeria would survive.

In his speech, CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, commended RIFAN for the campaign which resulted in the success of the agricultural revolution.

"It is heartwarming again to see our effort towards sustaining food efficiency. Food production has now turned into improvement, whereby we now move from state to state to celebrate our success in agricultural development.

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"Before today, we have been to Niger State where we also launched paddy rice pyramids, also in Kebbi State and today we are here to launch 13 rice pyramids with cumulative of over 200,000 50kg bags of rice", Emefiele said.

He called for more private sector investments in the agricultural value chain.

"It is also encouraging that the event presents a different narrative reporting that most farmers were unable to go to their farms due to insecurity.

"In the last five years, since the introduction of the Anchor Borrowers Programme, it has become a game-changer for financing smallholder farmers in Nigeria; we have achieved a lot, especially economic diversification, with emphasis on agricultural revolution," the CBN governor added.

He said Nigeria had achieved a lot towards self-sufficiency in the production of food items within the shortest possible time, while commending Bagudu, as the vice-chairman of the Food Security Council, for his efforts that resulted in major successes.

Emefiele explained the CBN had financed over 3 million farmers, who cultivated 21 commodities on 3.9 million hectares of land through 21 participating financial institutions in the 36 states of federation and FCT.

Vanguard News Nigeria
INDUSTRIALISATION was one of the main agenda for the fifth government under the late President John Magufuli that has set a roadmap for both economic growth and employment opportunities across the country.

Dr Magufuli rallied for construction of new industries and reviving of dormant factories as he believed that industrialisation was key to poverty eradication and building of an independent nation. From 2015 when President Magufuli assumed power, over 8,000 industries were established in 26 regions in Tanzania mainland.

It is on record that Dr Magufuli advocated for home based solutions, and he encouraged people to consume home produced products, a move that discouraged importation of products that are manufactured in the country with high quality.

Realising that unemployment is a global pandemic, Dr Magufuli opted for industrialisation as an agenda with the main aim of creating jobs which will then improve household incomes, and try to lift a substantial portion of Tanzanians from extreme or moderate poverty.

It is through this agenda that farmers benefit by selling crops to local industries, and it is through this process where a number of employment opportunities have been created for Tanzanians. Dr Magufuli has always reiterated that industrialisation and infrastructural development of Tanzania held the key for transformation of the country. He urged wananchi to think big and beyond parochial issues.

The fallen Head of State always reminded Tanzanians that their country was resource rich but that citizens were yet to benefit from the same, and called for removal of barriers in doing businesses and establishing industries. His vision also went beyond Tanzanian borders.

Dr Magufuli who has been referred to as a true son of Africa and Pan-Africanist by fellow heads of state also rallied for industrialisation at regional level. Addressing the 4th session of the 1st EALA meeting in 2018, Dr Magufuli said the EAC must add value to its raw materials.

"Look at the Republic of South Sudan, it has loads of oil while Tanzania on its part has various natural resources, including livestock, forests and minerals among others. "We as a region are rich - but we do not feel the trickle-down effect. Why?" he pondered! He said the region should add value by processing raw materials in order to create employment and build stronger, efficient and better economies.

With a population of over 170 million people, Dr Magufuli saw great opportunities in the EAC region that could create fast economic growth. "Let's use this opportunity to produce and sell within our region, we must be proud of our own products and services," he noted.

According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Global Employment Trends for Youth 2020 report, the global youth unemployment rate is 13.6 per cent, there is considerable regional variation, from under 9 per cent in Northern America and sub-Saharan Africa to 30 per cent in Northern Africa. Unemployment is more prevalent among young women in most sub-regions.

Significantly, young people are three times as likely as adults (25 years and older) to be unemployed. Although this is partly because their limited work experience counts against them when they are applying for entry-level jobs, there are also major structural barriers preventing young people from entering the labour market.

Dr Magufuli's vision was to establish as many industries as possible so as to provide employment to Tanzanian youth and make sure poverty is eradicated. To ensure investors and ordinary Tanzanians are attracted to the business, the fallen head of state encouraged them by scrapping a number of levies and assured there are good environments of establishing both large and small industries.

Launching the 50bn/- leather industry in Morogoro last month, Dr Magufuli ordered the Ministry of Industry and Trade to review the current 80 per cent export levy imposed on raw hides and skins with a view of raising it to 100 per cent to protect local leather manufacturers.

Dr Magufuli also directed the ministry to see how it can exempt local leather industries from paying import levy on chemicals used to process leather products. "Our focus should be to create a conducive investment environment for both local and foreign investors," he said.

According to the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries, Tanzania currently has 33.4 million head of cattle, 21.29 million goats and 5.65 million sheep. Dr Magufuli translated the big number of livestock into a big economy by establishing meat and leather processing industries.

Eyeing the global historical trends, in 2008, the World Bank and Commission on Growth and Development identified 13 countries with success stories, which had achieved high and sustainable economic growth since the 1950s. The countries have witnessed a 7 per cent growth in GDP per capita per annum for over 25 years.

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10 out of the 13 countries included Malaysia, Republic of Korea, China, India, Vietnam, Brazil, Thailand, Japan, Taiwan, Indonesia and Singapore, all had similar features of manufacturing led growth, thus President Magufuli's vision on pushing for industrialisation focused on changing the country's economy.

During the State funeral held at Jamhuri Stadium in the capital City-Dodoma, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation, Prof Palamagamba Kabudi said Dr Magufuli has completed his mission by showing the proper way that Tanzanian leaders and wananchi should take ahead of building a strong nation.

He said the fallen head of state has managed to build over 8,000 industries in just one term of his leadership, building a number of schools, hospitals, health centres, dispensaries, roads, bridges and many others. Prof Kabudi said Dr Magufuli has also set a strong foundation based on building an indep
The current head of state, Volodymyr Zelensky, continues to lead the presidential rating, according to results of a survey conducted by the Rating sociological group on March 23-24.

According to the study, if the presidential elections were held in the near future, then Zelensky would be supported by 24.7% of those who intend to vote and made their choice.

Some 13.9% would vote for fifth president of Ukraine, leader of European Solidarity Petro Poroshenko, 12.6% would choose leader of the Opposition Platform - For Life party Yuriy Boiko, and 11.8% would vote for leader of the Batkivshchyna All-Ukrainian Association, Yulia Tymoshenko.

The leader of the Strength and Honor party Ihor Smeshko is supported by 7.7% of voters, ex-Prime Minister Volodymyr Groisman - by 5.2%, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Dmytro Razumkov - by 3.8%, leader of the Radical Party Oleh Liashko - by 3.7%, ex-MP Yevhen Murayev - by 3.7%, leader of the Civil Position party Anatoliy Hrytsenko - by 3.3%, former Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk - by 2.8%, leader All-Ukrainian Union Svoboda Oleh Tiahnybok - by 1.6%, Holos party leader Kira Rudyk - by 0.5%.

The rating of trust in politicians is also headed by President Zelensky, who is trusted by 45% of respondents, and 52% do not trust him.

In turn, 30% trust Tymoshenko, 67% do not trust her; 25% trust Poroshenko, 73% do not trust him; 23% trust Boiko, 59% do not trust him, 14% do not know him; the former president of Georgia Mikhael Saakashvili is trusted by 23%, not trusted by 61%, not known by 11%; some 15% trust one of the leaders of the Opposition Platform - For Life party, MP Viktor Medvedchuk, 71% do not trust him, 11% do not know him. Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal is trusted by 15%, not trusted by 53%, almost a third didn't heard of him; NSDC Secretary Oleksiy Danilov is trusted by 6%, not trusted by 15%, some 77% do not know him.

The survey was conducted using the CATI (Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing) method based on a random sample of mobile phone numbers. Audience: the population of Ukraine aged 18 and over in all regions, except for the temporarily occupied territories of Crimea and Donbas.

The sample is representative in terms of age, sex and type of settlement. Sample population: 2,500 respondents. The error of representativeness of the study with a confidence level of 0.95: no more than 2.0%.
MPs and peers hit with sanctions by Beijing for speaking out about human rights abuses in China have vowed to redouble their campaigning efforts.

The Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary both declared their solidarity with nine China critics in Britain who were on Friday slapped with sanctions in response to similar moves enacted by the UK over the treatment of the Uighur people in Xinjiang.

Tory MPs Sir Iain Duncan Smith, Tom Tugendhat, Neil OBrien, Tim Loughton and Nusrat Ghani, peers Lord Alton and Baroness Kennedy and barrister Geoffrey Nice and academic Joanne Nicola Smith Finley were singled out by Chinas Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

But in a joint statement, five of the sanctioned parliamentarians said they would continue to advocate on the behalf of groups oppressed by the Chinese regime.

Todays sanctions have unmasked the Chinese Communist Party, said former Conservative Party leader Sir Iain, ex-ministers Ms Ghani and Mr Loughton, and the two peers.

These actions are not only an attack on us as individuals but an attempt to stifle the free and open debate that is at the heart of our parliamentary democracy.

Intimidation will only serve to encourage us to redouble our efforts.

We will continue to advocate on behalf of the Uighurs, Tibetans, Hong Kongers and all other persecuted groups in China.

These are the true victims of the Chinese governments authoritarian rule, not us.

Dr Smith Finley said she had been sanctioned for ongoing research speaking the truth about human rights violations against Uighurs and other Turkic Muslims in Xinjiang.

I have no regrets for speaking out, and I will not be silenced. I would like to give my deep thanks to my institution, Newcastle University, for its staunch support for my work and its ongoing commitment to academic freedom, social justice and inter-ethnic equality, she said.

Mr Tugendhat, chairman of the Commons foreign affairs committee, called the action by the Far East powerhouse an attempt to subvert the democracy and sovereignty of the British people.

Boris Johnson said those sanctioned were performing a vital role in highlighting abuses and that he stood firmly with them.

The MPs and other British citizens sanctioned by China today are performing a vital role shining a light on the gross human rights violations being perpetrated against Uighur Muslims, the Prime Minister tweeted.

Freedom to speak out in opposition to abuse is fundamental and I stand firmly with them.

Chinas top diplomat in London, charge daffaires Yang Xiaoguang, was given a dressing down after being summoned to the Foreign Office.

Minister for Asia Nigel Adams told him Beijings move was unwarranted and unacceptable and would not distract attention away from those very violations taking place in Xinjiang, the department said.

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Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab told broadcasters Britain would not be deterred from speaking up against what he called industrial-scale human rights abuses taking place in Xinjiang, branding Beijings move a sign of weakness.

In an earlier statement, he called for China to allow UN human rights inspectors into the province to verify the truth, a move backed by Sir Iain and his colleagues.

The Government says survivor testimonies indicate more than a million people have been detained without trial in Xinjiang, with widespread claims of torture, rape and sterilisations in the internment camps.

Chinas Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Friday that the nine sanctioned Britons and their family members will be prohibited from entering China and Hong Kong and that Chinese citizens and institutions will be prohibited from doing business with them.

The groups affected are the China Research Group, the Conservative Party Human Rights Commission, Uyghur Tribunal and Essex Court Chambers.

It comes in response to Mr Raab this week announcing a package of travel bans and asset freezes against four senior officials and the state-run Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps Public Security Bureau (XPCC PSB), in an internationally co-ordinated move with the US, Canada and European Union.

The Chinese Embassy in the UK rejected claims of human rights violations against the Uighurs, arguing they were the lies of the century and based on fabricated evidence designed to demonise China.

A spokesman told a press briefing on Friday China was strongly opposed to British sanctions, adding: Human rights in Xinjiang cannot be defined by a few satellite images, fake reports cobbled together by people thousands of miles away.

Shadow foreign secretary Lisa Nandy called the sanctions a move intended to silence and intimidate those who are critical of Beijing.

The sanctions on Conservative MPs, a Labour peer and others, wont have a major impact on them in particular in relation to them having huge business dealings or stakes in China, the Labour MP told BBC Radio 4s World At One.

But nevertheless it is a warning shot which is designed to silence and intimidate those who criticise the actions of the Chinese government.
The mother of a British backpacker who was brutally stabbed to death in a hostel while doing her mandatory farm work has written a book calling for an end to the abuse and sexual exploitation of the system's participants.

Mia Ayliffe, then just 21 years old, was stabbed to death by French tourist Smail Ayad in Home Hill in 2016 after working in a Queensland cane field to extend her visa.

Rosie, Mia's mother, has since dedicated her life to improving regulations, standards and communication around the government scheme to ensure a similar situation doesn't happen again.

Her book, 'Far from Home', tells her story from the horrific moment she found out her daughter had been killed to coming to Australia and confronting the reality of life without her only child.

'I spent days mopping tears off my MacBook,' Mrs Ayliffe told news.com.au.

'It was as tough as I thought but it was incredibly cathartic and it has been part of my journey to recovery in a way that I'd never imagined.'

Mia Ayliffe (pictured), then just 21-years-old, was stabbed to death by French tourist Smail Ayad in Home Hill in 2016 after working in a Queensland cane field to extend her visa

Mrs Ayliffe says the main aim of the book was as a tribute to her daughter and her lasting legacy

Rosie Ayliffe (pictured right with Mia left) has since dedicated her life to improving regulations, standards and communication around the government scheme

Mia lost her life on August 23, 2016 after Ayad allegedly dragged her from bed just before midnight. He was believed to have an obsession with the young Brit.

Another man, Tom Jackson, was also killed by Ayad heroically coming to the aid of Mia.

Ayad had legal charges dropped against him after a court ruled he had an unsound mind; instead sentencing him to 10 years in a psychiatric facility despite reports from witnesses in the hostel that he called Mia his 'wife' and regularly spoke of his sexual attraction to her.

Upon coming to Australia to return her daughter's body to England, Rosie Ayliffe was inundated with stories from other foreigners who had undergone their own trauma while working on farms to extend their tourist visas.

'I now understand that there's a dark side to the backpacker culture - that people can find themselves at risk just like my daughter did,' Ms Ayliffe told the ABC in 2017.

'I want to see regulation of the 88 days. I want a central body which distributes backpackers among farms that are certified.'

Mia lost her life on August 23, 2016 after Ayad (pictured) allegedly dragged her from bed just before midnight. He was believed to have an obsession with the young Brit

Mrs Ayliffe says the main aim of the book was as a tribute to her daughter and her lasting legacy

Another man, Tom Jackson, was also killed by Ayad heroically coming to the aid of Mia at the Home Hill Hostel in 2016

Australia introduced its Modern Slavery Act in 2018, a legislation aimed at preventing the physical, emotional and sexual abuse of workers including that of backpackers undergoing mandatory visa farm work - something Mrs Ayliffe is ecstatic to have seen.

'It means that my daughter, and the brave man who tried to save her life, did not die in vain,' she told News.

Mrs Ayliffe says the main aim of the book was as a tribute to her daughter and her lasting legacy.

'I want to memorialise Mia, and our relationship, that was a big part of it, and to express how I feel about her,' she said.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 26, 2021) - Spey Resources Corp. (CSE: SPEY) (OTC Pink: SPEYF) ("Spey Resources" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that Nader Vatanchi has been appointed CEO and director of Spey Resources. Mr. Vatanchi has spent the last nine years in finance, starting with Edward Jones and IG Wealth Management in 2012 where he spent a combined six years before selling his business to pursue his entrepreneurial goals.

Mr. Vatanchi graduated with a bachelor of arts in criminology from Simon Fraser University. Currently, he serves as CEO of Musk Metals Corp. (CSE: MUSK), CFO of Triangle Industries Ltd., a reporting issuer, as well as a standing director of Forty Pillars Mining Corp.

The board of directors has accepted the resignation of Marshall Farris from the board and from the position of CEO as Marshall intends to focus on his growing Exempt Market Dealer business, Ascenta Finance Corp. The Company would like to thank Mr. Farris for his service and wishes him well in his future endeavors.

Spey Resources also announces a private placement where it will issue up to 4,000,000 units of the Company (the "Unit(s)") priced at $0.10 per Unit for aggregate gross proceeds of up to $400,000. Each Unit will be comprised of one common share and one non-transferable common share purchase warrant. Each warrant will be exercisable at $0.22 for a period of one year from the date of issuance. The proceeds form the private placement will be used to advance Spey Resources' Silver Basin and Kaslo Silver projects and for general working capital purposes.

Closing of the financing will be subject to CSE approval and subject to a statutory 4 month hold period.

The Company also announces that it has granted incentive stock options to directors, officers and a consultant of the Company to purchase up to 1,050,000 common shares in the capital of the Company pursuant to the Company's stock option plan. The options vest immediately upon grant and are exercisable into common shares at $0.105 per share until March 25, 2026.

About Spey Resources Corp.

Spey Resources is a Canadian mineral exploration company which holds an option to acquire a 100% undivided interest in the Silver Basin Project located in the Revelstoke Mining Division of British Columbia as well as an option to acquire a 100% interest in the Kaslo Silver project, west of Kaslo BC. For more information, please visit the Company's public disclosure at www.sedar.com and www.speyresources.ca.

For more information, please contact:

Nader Vatanchi CEO, Director

nader@speyresources.ca

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements: Certain disclosure in this release may constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation. In making the forward-looking statements in this release, the Company has applied certain factors and assumptions that the Company believes are reasonable. However, the forward-looking statements in this release are subject to numerous risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause future results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such forward- looking statements. Such uncertainties and risks include, among others, financing risks, delays in obtaining or inability to obtain required regulatory approvals and the use of the proceeds from the Private Placement. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company does not intend, and expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to, update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES. ANY FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH THIS RESTRICTION MAY CONSTITUTE A VIOLATION OF U.S. SECURITIES LAWS.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/78712
A senior NIA agent, Aziz Hydara, yesterday, while testifying before the TRRC implicated current Minister of Interior, Yankuba Sonko and Ebrima Jim Drammeh, director of Operations Drug Law Enforcement Agency, saying they supervised the modification and falsifications of dairies containing entries of the alleged killed West African migrants.

Sonko was the Crime Management coordinator, the Gambia Police Force at the time, while Drammeh was the director of Operations of the National Intelligence Agency.

Hydara, who appeared before TRRC in connection with his involvement in the taskforce, which assisted ECOWAS/ UN investigators, explained that as then head of the Investigations Unit of the NIA, he was contacted by Ebrima Drammeh alias Jim Drammeh to be part of the taskforce. According to him, they met at Sonko's Office where they were briefed that there would be UN/ECOWAS joint investigations.

"I was not part of the taskforce as explained, we were a supporting team to the UN/ ECOWAS investigators," he clarified.

"In a meeting at former Interior minister's office, we were told that we would be facilitators to the investigators. I later understood that the whole essence was to make cover-up. I said this because I'm not aware of bringing any document."

He claimed that the diaries were re-written and Yankuba Sonko, Malamin Ceesay, Numo Kujabi, and Nfally Jabang were present, adding that entries in those dairies were transferred to a new dairy.

At this juncture, Faal told him that the minister of Interior, Yankuba Sonko testified before the Commission and said he was not aware that the dairies were doctored. Hydara however responded that Sonko lied.

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He alleged that Ebrima Jim Drammeh and Nfally Jabang were always eager to enforce the government decision; adding that members of the taskforce feared Nfally Jabang because he reports to former President Jammeh.

Mr. Hydara said Yankuba Sonko was in control of the taskforce and knew that the dairies were doctored; he participated in the process.

On whether he was aware of the presence of the investigators, Hydara said he heard about their arrival in the country but not at the time when he was at Kairaba Police Station.

"Prior to the arrival of the ECOWAS/ UN investigators, they removed all the entries of the movements of the West African migrants. That was to cover-up the facts. Ensa Badjie made them believe that this was loyalty to the country. Former Minister, Ousman Sonko told the investigators that Yahya Jammeh would compensate them."

Testifying further, Hydara said he was again called by Jim Drammeh to meet him around the Jeshwang Cemetery, where he found ongoing exhumations. The witness said Jim Drammeh further informed him of his journey to Ghana.

Mr. Hydara recollected that the remains of four bodies were taken to Ghana with the delegation from The Gambia government led by Dr. Mariatou Jallow, the then Foreign Affairs Permanent Secretary, Mawdo Touray, Malamin Ceesay, and himself.

He further testified that the then Ghana Foreign Minister Nana Akufo-Addo insisted he wouldn't receive them because The Gambia government lied that they killed only two Ghanaians.

Hydara said he regretted participating in the cover-up and apologised to all victims; adding that he is not aware of US$500,000 compensation paid to the Ghana government.
COVID-19 vaccination for foreigners in Beijing started

People's Daily Online) 16:46, March 26, 2021

Xinhua File Photo.

Acting on the State Council's instruction, Beijing has started COVID-19 vaccination for foreign nationals in the city.

Foreign nationals within the age group specified below may, following the principle of voluntary participation, giving informed consent and assuming personal responsibility for risk, take COVID-19 vaccine.

The following are answers to TEN most asked questions by foreign nationals in Beijing:

Q1 What is the age requirementfor COVID-19 vaccination?

Foreign nationals at the age of 18 and above in Beijing are eligible for COVID-19 vaccination.

Q2 What type of vaccine will be used?

China's domestic inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccines will be used, and two doses are required.

Q3 How to make an appointment for vaccination?

Foreign nationals who wish to be vaccinated may check notices issued either by their employers or their residential community offices, and take vaccine in a planned way. Generally, foreign nationals working in Beijing should make appointments through their employers; foreign teachers and students in colleges and universities should make appointments through such institutions, and other foreign nationals in Beijing should make appointments through their residential community offices. After appointments are made, foreign nationals may take vaccine nearby as arranged by local district authorities.

Q4 What documents should be provided for vaccination?

Foreign nationals should provide valid documents when making appointments and present their passports and valid residence permits at the vaccination site. Please make sure that relevant documents are valid on the date of taking the second dose.

Q5 What papers should I sign?

Before taking vaccine, you should sign both a form of informed consent and a statement of bearing personal responsibility for all risks associated with vaccination. Please take necessary precautions and inform the vaccine giving personnel of your health condition so that they can decide whether you can take vaccine.

Q6 Should I pay for the vaccine?

Foreign nationals who have joined Beijing's social medical insurance scheme may take vaccine free of charge by presenting due insurance document on the vaccine taking site. Those who have not should currently pay a charge of 93.5 RMB per dose.

Q7 What care should I take after taking vaccine?

You should stay at the vaccine taking site for 30 minutes of observation and may then leave if you have no adverse reaction. Keep the injection point dry on the day of vaccination and maintain personal hygiene. You should immediately seek medical help and alert the vaccine provider if you develop a persistent fever.

Q8 How do I get the vaccination certificate?

Beijing Health Kit (Jian Kang Bao) mini-app for people from outside the country will soon have a new feature of printing the COVID-19 vaccination certificate, which foreign nationals may access after taking the second dose.

Q9 Do I need to wear a mask after being vaccinated?

Vaccination will produce immunity from COVID-19 and greatly reduce infection risks. However, no vaccine is 100% effective; some people may have insufficient antibodies after taking vaccine and they can still be vulnerable to infection, especially when an immunologic barrier is not yet created. So it is important that you should wear masks, wash hands regularly, and keep social distance.

Q10 Do I still have to take nucleic acid test after being vaccinated? Can my vaccine taking certificate substitute for nucleic acid test report?

Vaccine taking can reduce infection risks, but no vaccine is 100% effective. When necessary, foreign nationals should still take nucleic test as required.

Related Reading: Shanghai to offer COVID-19 vaccines to foreign residents starting March 29

Source: Foreign Affaris Office of the People's Government of Beijing

(Web editor: Guo Wenrui, Liang Jun)
(JTA) - Jewish groups are rallying in support of Asian Americans following a string of murders Tuesday at massage parlors in Atlanta that left eight people dead, including six Asians.

Police in Georgia say the 21-year-old suspect may have been motivated by hatred of women and not anti-Asian bigotry. But in the wake of reports of rising levels of anti-Asian harassment and violence amid the coronavirus pandemic, the attack is likely to exacerbate the community's fear regardless of the alleged gunman's motives.

"It's clearly going to have an effect on the psyche of the Asian-American community," Dov Wilker, the regional director for the American Jewish Committee in Atlanta, said in an interview. "Anti-Asian hate crimes have been on the rise nationally, and this will put the community on edge."

Wilker said he was working with other local Jewish groups to put out a solidarity statement. He was also reaching out to Asian-American partners who joined local Jewish groups in pressing for the passage last year of a state law that would enhance penalties for hate crimes, as well as to the Japanese and Korean consulates in the city.

Leslie Anderson, the director of the Atlanta-area Jewish Community Relations Council, said the Jewish community has worked with local Asian-American communities on a range of legislative and social justice issues.

"We don't know yet if it's a hate crime," she said. "Given the rise of violence against the Asian American-Pacific Islander community, it certainly fits in with that pattern."

Anderson said the Jewish community was also seeking to comfort Asian Americans within the Jewish community.

"Our hearts go out to them, we are concerned about them and making sure they're OK," she said.

Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff, who is Jewish, also cited the recent spike in anti-Asian violence.

"While the motive for last night's terrible violence remains under investigation, I express my love and support and stand in solidarity with the Asian American community, which has endured a shocking increase in violence and harassment over the last year," he said in a statement.

The Asian-American community has substantially increased in the Atlanta area in recent years, driven in part by the expansion of manufacturing plants owned by Asian corporations. Asian groceries and restaurants now dot suburbs that once were the domain of white conservatives.

"Deeply disturbed by the horrific attack in Atlanta," Jonathan Greenblatt, the Anti-Defamation League's chief executive, said on Twitter. "While there is still much we don't know, we do know this: alarm bells have been ringing, hate toward the #AAPI community has been rising - and it is our civic and moral duty to speak out to #StopAAPIHate."

David Harris, CEO of the American Jewish Committee, made a similar pledge.

"As hate crimes targeting Asian Americans continue to rise, this Jew won't be silent," he said on Twitter. "As Asian Americans are attacked and, yes, killed, this Jew won't be silent. As the larger fabric of our diverse society is threatened, this Jew won't be silent."

The Reform movement's Religious Action Center noted the aftereffects of violent attacks that target minorities.

"In the aftermath of these horrific attacks that appear to have targeted women of Asian descent, we continue to stand with and pray for the Asian-American and Atlanta communities, especially the families of the victims and all those who suffered trauma," its director, Rabbi Jonah Pesner, said in a statement.

The Orthodox Union decried the attack and called for unity. "Americans of all faiths and ethnicities must join together to do everything we can to put an end to hate and help our neighbors, especially as we work together to defeat the COVID-19 pandemic," it said in a statement.

In October, the ADL issued a study showing a dramatic increase in anti-Asian sentiment online following President Donald Trump's tweet that he had tested positive for the coronavirus. Trump had repeatedly referred to COVID-19 as the "China virus" because of its origins in the Wuhan province.

The National Council of Jewish Women said the attack could only be understood in the context of attacks on women and minorities.

"That last night's horrific attack targeted women of color working low wage jobs is no coincidence and is the direct result of systemic racism and misogyny," NCJW said in a statement. "Women of color are the most likely to suffer the consequences of racism, misogyny, and white supremacy and women are most at risk to become victims of deadly violence."

A leading progressive Jewish group, Bend the Arc, released a statement Wednesday echoing that charge.

"This is a national crisis fomented by politicians who have chosen to point fingers and spread fear instead of taking action to keep everyone safe from the pandemic," the group said. "Their words and rhetoric are once again echoing in gunshots, as they have in Pittsburgh, El Paso, and most recently in the halls of the Capitol building, and they must be held accountable. As Jews, we know that freedom and safety for any of us depends on the freedom and safety of all of us."

HIAS, the leading Jewish immigration advocacy group, drew a line between the attack and bigoted rhetoric.

"While the investigation into these killings has just begun, it seems that misogyny also motivated these murders," it said in a statement. "As we have seen time and time again, hateful attitudes and speech can lead to horrific violence."

The Jewish Democratic Council of America, a partisan group, noted the access to guns.

"The nexus between white supremacy, guns and violence against women constitutes a national emergency," the group said in a statement. "This act of unspeakable hate in Georgia is the latest in the rise of violent attacks and vitriolic rhetoric targeting Asian Americans."
Dublin Ambulance Service staff get ready for the first client at the pop-up Covid-19 testing centre at Tallaght Stadium. Photo: Colin Keegan/Collins

THE number of cases of Covid-19 among the over-85s has fallen by nearly a half over the past two weeks following vaccination, Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said.

He also said there had been a significant decrease in the number of elderly people being hospitalised with Covid.

Our Covid-19 vaccination programme is also having a spectacular impact on hospitalisations of older people.

In January, 11pc of people hospitalised with Covid-19 were residents in long-term residential care.

That has now fallen from 11pc to just half of 1pc. Given this really encouraging data, it is no surprise that public support for vaccines in Ireland is very high, he told the Dail.

There are now strong expectations that around one million doses of four different vaccines will be delivered here next month although the HSE said it still had to confirm delivery schedules.

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The first doses of the one-shot Johnson and Johnson vaccine are due next month but the greater number will not arrive until May and June.

Mr Donnelly said: In April, we are due to receive approximately a million vaccine doses. That will be approximately the same amount received up to the end of this month.

In May, and then again in June, we are also due to receive around a million vaccines a month. As always, this is dependent on the pharmaceutical companies delivering to the agreed amounts. If they do, then four in every five adults can be offered either one or two vaccine doses by the end of June.

HSE chief Paul Reid said it was hoped to administer between 95,000 and 105,000 vaccinations next week.

Among the over-70s, 75,000 to 80,000 vaccines will be administered, with 15,000 to 20,000 due for people with underlying illness who are at very high risk if they get Covid-19. A further 5,000 vaccines will be given to people in long-term care.

Mr Reid said a delivery of 100,000 doses of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine was expected next week, although as few as 9,600 doses were delivered last week.

Around 750,000 doses will have been administered by the end of the week with well over 500,000 first doses given out already.

Around 250,000 doses will have been given to the over-70s by the end of this week.

About 17,500 of the 30,000 people whose vaccinations were postponed while the European Medicines Agency investigated a number of blood clots in those who got the AstraZeneca vaccine have now received the jab.

There was an initial non-attendance of around 10pc for the vaccine, despite the watchdog saying it is safe, but this has waned.

Minister of State at the Department of Health Mary Butler said that, by the end of this week, 740 people over 70 who were housebound would have been vaccinated.

The first dose has been completed in Dublin city and county, the north-east and the midlands, and vaccination has commenced in the south-east and will continue there this week.

In the coming weeks, the programme will expand to the west and south of the country. All first doses are expected to be administered throughout the country in early April.

The HSE said there were 10 National Ambulance Service staff carrying out the housebound vaccination but they were only able to do around 14 vaccinations a day due to the requirements of the vaccine.

Around 11,000 people are now trained to administer vaccines.

A number of vaccination centres are in operation but the vaccine will also be administered in hospitals, through GPs and later though pharmacists.

The HSE defended the application process for vaccinators, which has been criticised as overly-detailed.

Chief operations officer Ann OConnor said the application form could be filled out in an hour and it was essential to ensure people had the right skills for the job.

Meanwhile, Northern Ireland leaders have said they would consult with medical advisers over plans to reopen society in light of the slower vaccine roll-out here.

The vaccination programme in Northern Ireland passed 800,000 doses this week, around 45pc of the population.

That compares with around 13.2pc who have been vaccinated in this country.

This has led to concerns over travel between the two jurisdictions if Northern Ireland begins to lift restrictions before a majority of people in the Republic have been inoculated.

First Minister Arlene Foster said: "This is something we will take advice from our medical advisers on.

We need to be very clear as to what happens when most of our population is vaccinated, if it is still the case that the Republic of Ireland is further behind.

"We will of course be looking at these issues as they come before us."
90% of Africas cultural heritage currently lies outside the continent, including the Benin Bronzes in the British Museum.

The university said on Thursday that the sculpture had left Nigeria in an "extremely immoral" manner.

The University of Aberdeen says it will return a Benin Bronze to Nigeria within weeks, the first institution to do so more than a century after Britain looted the sculptures and auctioned them to Western museums and collectors.

The university said on Thursday that the sculpture had left Nigeria in an "extremely immoral" manner, leading it to reach out to appropriate authorities in 2019 to negotiate its return.

The bronze, which depicts the Oba of Benin, was part of a haul of thousands of religious and cultural treasures taken when British forces looted Nigeria in 1897, and will be sent back "within weeks."

In a statement, the institution, which has had the bronze since 1957, said the "punitive expedition" of 1897 was one of "the most notorious examples of the pillaging of cultural treasures associated with 19th-century European colonial expansion."

"Thousands of metal and ivory sculptures and carvings were looted by British forces in 1897 during the destruction of Benin City in present-day Nigeria by a British military expedition," the university said

It added that many of the soldiers and administrators involved sold Benin objects to museums or private collectors. Others were later given as gifts to museums or sold at auction or by art dealers.

"Over the last 40 years there have been growing calls for the return of such items, which have become symbols of injustice," the university said.

George Boyne, the Principal and Vice-chancellor of the university, said the decision was in line with Aberdeen's "values as an international, inclusive university", adding that keeping the bronze would have been wrong.

"It would not have been right to have retained an item of such great cultural importance that was acquired in such reprehensible circumstances. We therefore decided that an unconditional return is the most appropriate action we can take, and are grateful for the close collaboration with our partners in Nigeria," he said

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Meanwhile, the Nigerian government has welcomed the development saying the reaching out by the University of Aberdeen and "eventual release" of the "priceless antiquity" is a step in the right direction.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, said other holders of Nigerian antiquity ought to emulate this to bring fairness to the burning issue of repatriation.

The Director-General of the National Commission for Museums and Monuments, Abba Tijani, noted that "the world looks forward to further release of other purloined Nigerian antiquities to the Nigerian nation. Not just Benin bronzes, but the Ife, Nok, Esie, Owo and other Nigerian ancient arts. We welcome collaborations and agreements of all sorts. We love the fact that others cherish these great art-works. International travelling exhibitions of these art-works is part of what we offer the world."
Elon Musk did not or have not owned any apartheid emerald mine business, and so did his family. This is what he clarified in a recent tweet after getting massive questions and queries among fans from a recent article. The Tesla CEO was listed under "The Onion's" satire piece about "The Richest Person In Every State and How They Made Their Money."

The information listed has Elon Musk under the state of Texas, which is his new base for most of his businesses and where the CEO's family relocated after spending most of their days on the west, sunny side, California. Moreover, in The Onion's article, there were no explanations as to what Elon Musk did, only saying "Elon Musk: Apartheid."

This was because a lot of people believed that the Apartheid Emerald Mine business of Elon Musk was owned by his father, and has been a family business, thus contributing to the creation of his subsequent businesses. However, this is not true, and Elon Musk clarified this statement via Twitter, calling articles sourced from "The Onion" to be false, on Thursday, March 25.

Read Also: SpaceX SN11 Starship Test Launch Postpones for Friday or Next Week Despite Road Closures-Why?

Elon Musk Apartheid Emerald Mines Is False, Clarifies via Twitter

According to Elon Musk's lengthy thread (@elonmusk) about clearing out his name, their family did not own any businesses about Apartheid or Emerald Mines, which were infamous for their oppressive and racial stand. Moreover, Elon Musk explained on this thread how he earned his money, which all pointed out to his early days in university.

1/2

This article is false.

- I arrived by myself in Canada in 89 with ~CA$2500

- Paid my own way through college, ending with ~$100k student debt

- Started 1st company with no funding & just one computer I built

- Theres no evidence whatsoever of an emerald mine  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 25, 2021

Musk revealed that he moved out to Canada in 1989 and he was alone in a foreign country with only 2,500 Canadian Dollars, fresh from South Africa where he was born and spent his early days.

Musk then added that he went to college and paid for his tuition, but owed as much as $100,000 student debt after completing his studies. Additionally, Elon Musk started his company, X.com, and PayPal, with a computer that he built, and did not have any funding while starting, suggesting everything was from the ground up. Musk's story is one of the most unique for CEOs in the country, in which he got everything for himself, saying that there was no evidence of any family mine businesses.

Elon Musk Suggests to Read the 'Accurate' Version of His Life

On the thread, the Tesla CEO also said that he and his brother are currently paying for financial assistance and support for his father, together with the extended family, who are dependent on Elon Musk for 20 years. Linked under his Twitter thread is another tweet that links to an article that was written about him from Saving Journalism, which he said was more accurate.

2/2

My father & his extended family have been dependent on financial support from my brother & me for over 20 years.



This article is actually accurate: https://t.co/eVpCX9V1NB  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 25, 2021

Here, the article talked about the different misleading information written by Business Insider that suggested the emerald mine business of Elon Musk, in which the Tesla CEO did not reach out for a comment. The "legit" article talked about how Elon Musk and his father's relationship were estranged, and that there was no evidence of any emerald mines.

Related Article: Tesla Giga Berlin Expansion Pushes Through-Calls out ZDF Info for Fake Tweets Presented to 'Villainize' Elon Musk

This article is owned by Tech Times





Written by Isaiah Alonzo

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.


WERDOHL (dpa-AFX) - The Thiele family will remain committed to the company as the main shareholder of Vossloh through a planned family trust, Vossloh said in a statement.



The family informed Vossloh that Mr. Thiele's stake in Vossloh, held through holding companies, will be contributed into a family trust as specified in his will. Julia Thiele-Schurhoff, daughter of Heinz Hermann Thiele, will continue to hold her stake in the holding companies. Therefore, the Thiele family continues to hold 50.09% of Vossloh shares.



Heinz Hermann Thiele, 79, was a German businessman, and the chairman of Knorr-Bremse AG, a German automobile brakes manufacturer, and chairman of Vossloh. He died on 23 February 2021. He was also the largest shareholder in the German carrier Lufthansa AG, at the time of his death. With a net worth of $20.2 billion, he was the fourth richest person in Germany at the time of his death.



Formally, the deceased's holding shares will initially be held by his wife Nadia Thiele and will be contributed into the family trust in accordance with Mr. Thiele's last will. The establishment of the trust is due to be completed by the end of this year and will be implemented by the executor and long-term confidant of Heinz Hermann Thiele, auditor and tax advisor Robin Bruhmuller. Until then, the shares will be subject to executorship.



Heinz Hermann Thiele has closely accompanied Vossloh for almost a decade, since 2011 as shareholder and from 2013 to 2017 as Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Vossloh.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

VOSSLOH-Aktie komplett kostenlos handeln - auf Smartbroker.de
Jaipur, March 26 : : Crossing the state's borders, Rajasthan's phone tapping dispute has reached Delhi as Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat has lodged a complaint in the crime branch of Delhi Police in this case.

Police sources in Delhi confirmed that a complaint was received from Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat at the Tughlak Road Police station, one week ago, in connection with the phone tapping issue. The complaint was transferred to Delhi Police Crime Branch.

However, as Shekhawat is in Bengal at present hour, his statement could not be collected, said his team in Jaipur.

Shekhawat, in his complaint, has accused unknown police officers and Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot's OSD Lokesh Sharma, for allegedly tapping phones of public representatives and tarnishing their image.

Sources said that Delhi Crime Branch has appointed Satish Malik as the investigating officer.

They confirmed that the statement of Rajasthan state Parliamentary Affairs Minister Shanti Dhariwal has been made the basis of the formal complaint where Dhariwal admitted that the audio was made viral by the Chief Minister's OSD.

Shekhawat in his complaint said that the viral audio has damaged his reputation and disturbed his peace of mind.

His complaint further said that on 17 July 2020, many media groups of the country had aired the purported audio of a phone conversation between Sanjay Jain and Congress MLA Bhanwarlal Sharma which showed phone tapping was done without the permission of the Home Department.

The then ACS had said that he has no information about phone tapping and hence it was clear that phones were taped in an illegal manner.

The issue of phone tapping had been haunting the Gehlot government since the former deputy CM Sachin pilot opened a rebellion against CM.

In July, three audio tapes were released by the Gehlot camp after this rebellion in which purported negotiation between Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and Congress MLA Bhanwarlal Sharma was recorded.

The other tape claimed to be the voice of MLA Vishvendra Singh. However, the source and authenticity of these audio tapes remain disputed as Shekhawat continues to deny it being his own voice in the audio tape.A On the other hand, Congress leaders are demanding Shekhawat to give a voice sample. Recently, in response to a question in the Legislative Assembly, the Government accepted that the phones were tapped after getting clearance from the officer of the competent level. The BJP created a ruckus in the Legislative Assembly on this issue.

Minister Shanti Dhariwal, while replying in the Legislative Assembly on the phone tapping case, had admitted that the audio regarding the MLA horse-trading was made viral by the Chief Minister's OSD. He said - the Chief Minister's OSD received audio on WhatsApp and he sent it to a WhatsApp group, so what was the crime? However, the origin of audio remains disputed and there are no answers as to where did the audio come from? Hence the state government is facing allegations of phone tapping.

The matter was also raised in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha recently.

Shekhawat on March 15 had said that People of Rajasthan are raising a question - why was the phone tapping done using the government machinery to placate the internal rift of the Congress Party? "Why did the Congress government use the administration in its own interest? This is an "illegal" process. Democracy murdered," he alleged.
A juror in the trial of a world champion kayaker and his brother charged with trying to import cocaine into Australia is concerned about being followed outside court.

Olympic silver medallist Nathan Baggaley and his younger brother Dru Baggaley are accused of being involved in a plan to get 650kg of cocaine - valued at up to $200 million - from a foreign vessel hundreds of kilometres off the NSW coast.

Proceedings were adjourned early on Friday afternoon after jurors raised concerns with Brisbane Supreme Court Justice Ann Lyons.

One juror believed they were followed on Wednesday evening while walking to the train station, despite changing course, she said.

Dru Anthony Baggaley (left) and Anthony Draper (right) are seen on a vessel with navy personnel as they are arrested for alleged drug smuggling

'Most of us have a sense of when we are being followed and clearly this juror felt that,' Justice Lyons added.

Jurors were also concerned about a group of 'young men' staring at the jury for extended periods earlier in the trial.

Justice Lyons said she had asked for closed circuit television to be viewed as part of an investigation into what occurred.

She told jurors to consider on the weekend whether they are still able to be impartial.

'If it's clear you can't be impartial then it's appropriate for a juror to be discharged,' Justice Lyons said.

Earlier on Friday Dru Baggaley, 39, told the court another man, Anthony Draper, asked him to buy a boat and get it ready to meet a ship from Indonesia that would bring tobacco to be sold in Australia.

Olympic silver medallist Nathan Baggaley (pictured) and his younger brother Dru Baggaley are accused of being involved in a plan to get 650kg of cocaine

Dru Baggaley said Draper was a 'very likeable character' who provided $100,000 cash for the rigid-hulled inflatable boat (RHIB), which Baggaley could keep to start a whale-watching business.

'(Draper) alluded to the fact ... he'd been involved in this type of thing before,' Baggaley said.

He said Draper was 'panicking' when the pair were at the boat ramp at Brunswick Heads about 9.30pm and said: 'Mate, you're f***ing coming with me whether you like it or not.'

Baggaley said he told Draper that was 'never the agreement', he had work in the morning and gets seasick, but the other man insisted.

Draper warned he would tell 'dangerous people' involved in the importation of the tobacco worth more than $1 million where his family lived, he said.

'(Draper's) basically said ... I'm going to be held responsible for all this s*** and people are going to come after my family and me if I don't come on board,' he added.

Earlier on Friday Dru Baggaley (pictured), 39, told the court another man, Anthony Draper, asked him to buy a boat and get it ready to meet a ship from Indonesia that would bring tobacco to be sold in Australia

Draper, 56, earlier told the court he flew from Sydney to Coolangatta at Dru Baggaley's request on July 30, 2018.

Draper said he thought the pair were going a couple of kilometres offshore to pick up 'smoko' which he thought was marijuana.

They met up with a 'big red boat' with 'South American people', some holding guns, on board, Draper testified.

He and Baggaley loaded a 'substantial' number of black packages, thrown from the larger vessel, onto the RHIB, he said.

While Draper yelled 'no more pot' because there might be 'too much' for the small boat, the foreign men referred to 'cacao'.

Footage shows the pair throwing packages into the sea when approached by a navy patrol boat. They were arrested by police before reaching the mainland.

Black bags allegedly filled with almost 650kg of cocaine were seized by Queensland Police

The court heard Draper testified as part of an undertaking made when he received a reduced sentence during earlier court proceedings.

The prosecution alleges Nathan Baggaley also had a 'key role' in the importation, saying he bought the RHIB for $100,000, got it ready and covered its registration number in heavy duty black tape before the trip out to sea.

But Dru Baggaley told the court on Friday he roped in his brother to help with the RHIB purchase because he 'didn't have enough time'.

Nathan Baggaley's barrister Anthony Kimmins told the court the prosecution's case against his client was based on circumstantial evidence that did not prove he was involved in the alleged attempted importation of the cocaine.

The men both pleaded not guilty to a single count of attempting to import a commercial quantity of cocaine into Coolangatta on the Gold Coast between December 2017 and August 2018.

Dru Baggaley is expected to continue giving evidence on Monday.
An investigation by Vice World News and The Detail revealed 25,021 stop and searches were carried out here, with just 6% leading to an arrest

The PSNI had one of the highest rates of stop and search in the UK last year.

Only the Metropolitan and Merseyside forces used the power more in 2019/20.

An investigation by Vice World News and The Detail revealed 25,021 stop and searches were carried out here, with just 6% leading to an arrest.

However, it was still a 5% drop in the number of stop and searches compared to 2018/19.

They can be carried out under ordinary policing powers and under terrorism and security legislation.

In 2020 the majority in the UK involved those aged 18-24 (46%), with 4% leading to arrests.

Those aged 13-17 were stopped 2,940 times, 12% of the overall figure.

Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) people were stopped 1,026 times (4.1%) despite making up just 1.8% of the population. The Travelling community was also disproportionately affected.

Commissioner for Children and Young People Koulla Yiasouma said the issue had been "a cause for concern for a number of years" here.

"Many young people believe they are discriminated against when they are stopped and searched or questioned and are treated with disrespect," she said.

"This may not only exacerbate an already tense situation but has implications on how young people view the police, which can impact young people's confidence in the PSNI, especially if they are victims of crime in the future.

"I remain unconvinced that stop and search is an effective policing tool."

SDLP Policing Board member Dolores Kelly said the outcome from stop and searches was "very poor" and expressed concern about police being able to carry out searches "without reasonable suspicion" in relation to counter-terrorism work.

She also criticised the failure to record the community background of those stopped.

"There has been a reluctance from the PSNI to be open and transparent around their stop and search and there is a challenge around confidence in policing," the MLA added.

The DUP's Mervyn Storey said his party was "strongly supportive" of the power and noted its use and complaints had declined.

"At the same time we recognise the need for robust governance arrangements for use of stop and search," the MLA and Policing Board member added.

"The investment in an additional 1,956 body-worn video cameras is extremely welcome and it is appropriate that these must be worn by officers during these searches.

"The PSNI have also established a stop and search working group for children and young people and we support a balanced approach in this particular area."

PSNI Chief Superintendent Sam Donaldson said officers used the procedure only when necessary and police recognised it was a "sensitive issue", with processes put in place to ensure the power was used fairly and proportionately.

He said in 2019/20 the PSNI's outcome rate was 1% higher than England and Wales, and that while arrests were lower here, community resolution outcomes were 3% higher and summonses 5% higher.

He also noted: "The Policing Powers Development Group has already identified potential issues in terms of ethnicity and has carried out a quality assurance exercise to ensure that these particular incidents had the required reasonable grounds."
Londons Court of Appeal yesterday refused Johnny Depp permission to challenge a verdict last year that concluded he was a wife beater, meaning his attempt to restore his reputation will shift to US legal action.

In November, High Court judge Andrew Nicol ruled against Mr Depp, the star of films including Pirates of the Caribbean, after he brought a libel case against The Sun newspaper.

After three weeks of hearings last summer, judge Nicol concluded that Mr Depp (57) had violently assaulted his ex-wife, actress Amber Heard (34), during a tempestuous five-year relationship, putting her in fear of her life.

As we have said, it is not easy to persuade this court to overturn the findings of a trial judge on purely factual questions, the two Court of Appeal judges said in their judgment.

We do not believe that there is a real prospect of it being prepared to do so in this case.

Read More

Last week, Mr Depps lawyers said Judge Nicols ruling was plainly wrong and asked to rely on new evidence they said showed Ms Heards claim that she had donated her divorce settlement to charity was a calculated and manipulative lie.

However, the Court of Appeal said the hearings before Judge Nicol last summer were fair, his reasons were thorough and there had been no error of law. Mr Depps lawyer said he would now focus on a US case he has brought against Ms Heard.

In her evidence to the High Court, Ms Heard said Mr Depp would turn into a jealous alter-ego, the monster, after bingeing on drugs and alcohol and had threatened to kill her.

She detailed 14 occasions of extreme violence when she said the actor choked, punched, slapped, head-butted, throttled and kicked her, with Judge Nicol accepting 12 of these accounts as true.

We are pleased  but by no means surprised  by the courts denial of Mr Depps application for appeal, a spokeswoman for Ms Heard said, saying her evidence was overwhelming and undeniable.

The Sun said the decision vindicated the evidence Ms Heard gave, saying it had been confident that permission to appeal would be refused.

The libel case has already damaged Mr Depps career, as he was asked to leave the Fantastic Beasts franchise, the movie spin-offs from the Harry Potter books and films, days after Judge Nicols verdict.

However, he has also filed a $50m (42.5m) defamation lawsuit against Ms Heard in a Virginia court over an opinion piece she wrote in The Washington Post, and that case is ongoing.

The evidence presented at last weeks hearing further demonstrates that there are clear and objective reasons to seriously question the decision reached in the UK court, Mr Depps British lawyer Joelle Rich said in a statement.

Mr Depp looks forward to presenting the complete, irrefutable evidence of the truth in the US libel case against Ms Heard where she will have to provide full disclosure.
An abortion flyer in South Africa - some of these services are described as unsafe by activists.

Johannesburg  An investigation into the practice of telling women that about 'Abortion pill reversal' (APR) - a controversial treatment first developed by a California-based family physician - has revealed that a American anti-abortionists are promoting it to women across the world, including Nigeria, Uganda and South Africa.

Its proponents claim that high doses of progesterone, taken after the first pill - mifepristone - recommended for medical abortion, can 'reverse' the abortion, according to openDemocracy.

A U.S. trial to test the effectiveness and safety of APR was halted in 2019 after some participants were admitted to hospital with severe haemorrhaging. Global experts say that it is unproven - and unlikely - that taking high doses of progesterone is effective in stopping a medical abortion, according to openDemocracy.

The organisation's Tracking the Backlash project led reporters from 20 countries to call a 24/7 hotline run by US anti-abortion activists.

The undercover reporters posed as pregnant women who had taken the first abortion pill known as mifepristone but were no longer sure they wanted to go through with the termination of pregnancy. Once they made the first contact with the proponents of the treatment, their contact information was taken, passed on to an operator, who then sent them a consent form from Heartbeat International. Once the reporters signed the consent form, the US operators connected them to local doctors willing to prescribe the treatment or sent them dosage instructions to take either to local hospitals and pharmacies or to local anti-abortion 'crisis pregnancy centres.

According to openDemocracy, a South African doctor told one of the reporters posing as a patient to go to any pharmacy, call him from there and he'd then email them the necessary prescription. Heartbeat International, the U.S. group, passed the reporter's contact information to Doctors for Life, a local anti-abortion group, which then connected the reporter to a doctor in Durban and another in Johannesburg.

Reporters in Nigeria and Uganda were sent dosage instructions by email and referred to local anti-abortion groups to get help obtaining the medication.

While in Uruguay, a doctor told a reporter there is "no reason for fear" and that "there are studies" proving that this 'treatment' works, though it is not "standard practice", and in Mexico, a doctor who described himself as an "APR volunteer" emailed a reporter a handwritten prescription including his medical license number.

Reactions to openDemocracy findings

Women's health and rights advocates have reportedly called for urgent action in response to openDemocracy's findings of the spread of "Abortion Pill Reversal" (APR) around the world.

"The problem is that there is no evidence to support that the 'abortion pill reversal' works and telling women that it does is misleading and wrong," said Dr Margit Endler M.D. PhD, an obstetrician/gynaecologist, researcher and senior lecturer at the Women's Health Research Unit of the University of Cape Town said in the report.

"I definitely think that giving the 'treatment' without seeing the patient personally is not recommended. Who would be ultimately responsible for the outcome of this pregnancy and foetus?" said Dr Judy Kluge, a consultant gynaecologist at the University of Stellenbosch Faculty of Health Sciences in South Africa.

Dr Eddie Mhlanga, who trains health workers for South Africa's Department of Health, said that the doctor who prescribes the second drug in the knowledge that the first drug had been taken, will have to take responsibility for any possible short and long-term complications that may occur. He advised that "the best time to change one's choice is best before taking the mifepristone."

Mina Barling, director of external affairs at the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) said this is "another terrifying example of just how well-funded, and how radicalised this anti-woman movement is." There is an "increasing, global threat to women's health, dignity and lives" from such groups, Barling warned: "It's critical that governments do more to regulate and restrict the dissemination of such initiatives."

Pamela Merritt, executive director of U.S. Medical Students for Choice, called the findings particularly "outrageous" and "horrific" during the Covid-19 pandemic. "We are at a time when it is absolutely critical for people all over the world to be able to trust their local healthcare providers," she said, calling this 'treatment' "a direct violation of the oath that every physician takes.

Associate Director of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) Katherine O'Brien, said she was "surprised" to learn that doctors in the UK were prescribing this "dangerous treatment" and that "it's not good enough to say 'if you stop bleeding, go to A and E'  especially in the middle of a pandemic". She added: "The GMC - which is the body that registers and regulates doctors in the UK - has the power to strike off clinicians if they've been found to be guilty of malpractice and I think this is a very serious case."

UK MP, Nadia Whittome, said "I am shocked that this is taking place in the UK. Women should not be used as guinea pigs by anti-abortion activists. The hotline needs to be shut down immediately."

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A spokesperson for the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) told openDemocracy that it was aware of the U.S. study into this 'treatment' that was halted as it was "associated with a high risk of serious bleeding and consequently dangerous for women, as well as ineffective".

Munira Wilson, another UK MP and Liberal Democrat spokesperson for health said "It is completely unacceptable. Regulators must investigate this as a matter of urgency and put a stop to this harmful practice."

Elizabeth Nash at the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive health research group in the U.S., called it "incredibly distressing, that this kind of misinformation is being exported around the world." She warned: "Because this is so new in the UK it sounds like the government and medical societies haven't been able to put together information so providers realise that this process is not one that they should be engaging in."

Catalin Tenita, a Romanian member of the European Parliament for the Chamber of Deputies told openDemocracy that "the promotion of an abortion reversal pill, with scientifically unproven effects and no substantial studies proving the lack of risks, is a highly worrying issue." He believes it is "abuse", and that the doctors and nurses who participate "violate the deontological principles of their profession".
Tamil Nadu: Govt backtracks from Kanyakumari Transhipment project

March 26,2021 | Source: Sify

The Shipping and Port Ministry of the Government of India is backtracking from the much celebrated transhipment project in Kanyakumari amid stiff opposition from local fishermen community. The fisherman are worried that with the commencement of the project, there would be a sharp decline in the catch thus affecting their livelihood. The Port Trust has already withdrawn the expression of interest it had called for construction of the Private, Public, Participatory (PPP) model of Transhipment project. The Kanyakumari transhipment project has become a major election issue in Tamil Nadu after the Tuticorn port had released advertisements in major news papers calling for Expression of Interest from private players for the construction of the port. The Union government had planned to construct an international transhipment hub in the PPP mode in the area between Kovalam and Thenthamarakulam. The central government had initiated the process to complete the project in three stages. Several organisations including many fisherman organisations had come out on the streets against the transhipment project at Kanyakumari.



It may be recalled that an office for the proposed Transhipment project was opened in Kanyakumari before the 2019 general elections. In the 2019 polls, Congress candidate H. Vasanthakumar had promised the people of Kanyakumari that if he was elected he would not allow the construction of the port. The then Union minister of state for Shipping, Pon Radhakrishnan was the NDA candidate from Kanyakumari Lok Sabha elections in 2019. He was trounced by Vasanthakumar by a margin of around 3 lakh votes from the constituency which he had won by around 1 lakh votes in 2014. After the passing away of Vasanthakumar, Kanyakumari is facing a bypoll and Pon Radhakrishnan is locking horns with the son of late Vasanthkumar, Vijay Vasanth who has promised the electorate that he would not allow the building of the Transhipment project. Sensing political reversals in the Kanyakumari, Colachel, Nagercoil and adjacent assembly seats, the ruling AIADMK has also distanced itself from the project with Dalavai Sundaram categorically ruling out the project in Kanyakumari. BJP leader and Lok Sabha candidate of the party for Kanyakumari by-elections Radhakrishnan told IANS: "Projects which the people don't want will not be foisted upon them and as there is stiff opposition to this project and Government of India will not go ahead with this."
During its Satellite India event held on Friday, GitHub announced that it was launching three new programs for students, developers and startups at the code hosting and collaboration platforms two-day virtual event.

GitHub COO Erica Brescia said that the first program is aimed at developers in the country called the GitHub Open Source Grants program, which will offer 1 crore in grants to open-source extremely valuable projects that set the bar high for innovation in the country and further the goal of increasing contributions to open-source software around the globe, the company stated.

GitHub COO Erica Brescia said India was now the fastest growing country in the world by open source contribution. (GitHub)

In a country where software developers are constantly updating themselves and eager to put their skills to good use and contribute to open source projects, GitHub says that last year, the number of students that participated in its GitHub Campus program increased by a whopping 142 percent. Meanwhile, its Student Developer Pack saw over one lakh signups and over a hundred colleges in India adopted the companys campus offering.

The company will now offer GitHub Externships in the country, to give students a chance to interface with companies in the country by facilitating fellowship programs so they can gain skills and the ability to succeed in an enterprise environment. This will benefit students joining companies fresh out of college who want to know more about the organisations they want to work for in the future.

During a discussion held after the event, GitHub India's country head Maneesh Sharma explained that the company's partnerships with colleges and higher educational institutions would help students who wanted to get started with open-source technology software, through summer programs. Sharma also said that the company had seen contributions from Indian users in projects including but not limited to  machine learning, data warehousing, development of Android and other operating systems and much more.

The third program launched by GitHub on Friday was actually an extension of its successful Github Accelerate program that was launched last year and saw almost 200 startups (including AirMeet, Kawa Space, and ClearQuote) sign up for the pilot program. The company is now extending GitHub Accelerate to startup accelerators, incubators and more venture partners - which means the programs eligibility has now been widened to accommodate over a thousand new startups this year.

The company launched three new programs for students, developers and startups in India. (GitHub)

Brescia also stated that over 1.8 million new developers from the country had joined GitHub over the past year, which brings the number of developers on the platform from India up to 5.8 million. But the platforms metrics have shown an uptick in other areas too  contributions from Indian users on GitHub rose by 75 percent over the past year as opposed to 40 percent for the rest of the world, the company stated.

This announcement follows GitHub's recent partnership with National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) as part of the latters FutureSkills program, which is working towards upskilling the current IT workforce, with a goal of two million from the current workforce and another two million from those fresh out of college. GitHub says this will bring the Student Developer Pack and the Campus Program to teachers, institutes and students, that are affiliated with NASSCOM, while those startups who are part of NASSCOMs incubator initiatives will also be able to access the GitHub Accelerate program.

The company has also dubbed India the fastest growing country on the platform in terms of contributions made to open source projects, after one million developers from the country created their first repository on the platform. While the company is yet to touch the 6 million mark in terms of Indian developers on the platform, it said that it expects the number to rise to 10 million by 2023.
New Delhi: Ahead of the first phase of the upcoming West Bengal Assembly elections on Saturday (March 27), a blast occurred at the Trinamool Congress (TMC) office in the Joypur area of Bankura district on Friday.

Around five people have been injured in the blast at the TMC office. The injured have been taken to a hospital in Hooghly.

Joypur is among the 38 seats that will go to polls in the first phase on March 27.

The Superintendent of Police (SP) informed that no casualties were reported in the blast, as per reports. The probe is going on, the SP added.

The TMC has blamed rival Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the blast. The ruling party has alleged that BJP carried out the blast to threaten TMCs cadres.

Meanwhile, BJP has condemned the blast and accused TMC of conspiracy. The BJP alleged that the blast occurred when TMC workers were making bomb inside the party office. The tension is high in the area since the incident.

The police and central paramilitary forces have been increased in the area to avoid escalation of violence before the elections.

West Bengal will go to polls in eight phases beginning from March 27. The counting of votes will take place on May 2.

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A rise in yields for long-dated sovereign bonds will result in near-term losses for the Asia Pacific (A-Pac) as they recognise valuation changes on their available-for-sale (AFS) bond portfolios, according to Ratings.

But the capital impact should be manageable for most rated banks, it added. said the capital impact of revaluation adjustments on Indian will be modest in 1Q 21, but some public sector with thinner capital buffers could face additional capital pressures should yields continue to rise.

Correlation between banks' valuations of AFS securities and changes in domestic yields has historically been strong in some A-Pac markets as gains and losses are marked to market in the quarter they occur.

said the latest data suggest that banks in Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Taiwan have the largest AFS securities portfolios and display particular sensitivity to changes in yields.

In Indonesia and Malaysia, for example, AFS revaluation losses were equivalent to 10 to 15 per cent of operating income when yields rose by 50 basis points or more, resulting in a correlation coefficient of nearly 90 per cent during 2012-16.

Yields in Hong Kong, Indonesia and Malaysia have recently risen in line with those in the United States. Fitch said they are likely to remain aligned with potential future increases in US yields in the near term with banks in these systems facing associated portfolio valuation losses.

Revaluation adjustments may be milder for Hong Kong banks which invest heavily in local exchange fund bills. Banks in Taiwan should be more insulated too, partly reflecting surplus domestic liquidity.

Core capital ratios for Fitch-rated banks in Hong Kong, Indonesia and Malaysia remain adequate to absorb minor declines in regulatory capital stemming from yield-driven portfolio revaluations.

(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.)
Les membres du Cabinet ont pris note que le gouvernement va offrir un cash grant aux patients pour lachat dappareils auditifs, chaise roulotte, de la levee de linterdiction de peche de La Cambuse a Mahebourg ainsi quentre Bois des Amourettes a Trou dEau Douce, de faire construire des drains dans diverses localites, que lAgricultural Marketing Board sera le seul importateur de pomme de terre en oignon en 2021 entre autres.

1. Cabinet has agreed to the Ministry of Social Integration, Social Security and National Solidarity providing cash grant, instead of assistance in kind, to beneficiaries of assistive devices, namely wheelchairs, hearing aids and spectacles. The new measure would have the following benefits:

(a) eligible beneficiaries would be able to procure assistive devices as and when required from any supplier;

(b) beneficiaries might top up the amount provided by the Ministry of Social Integration, Social Security and National Solidarity to have an assistive device of their choice;

(c) the cost involved in the procurement exercises would be eliminated; and

(d) there would be a timely delivery of services to those in need of assistance devices.

2. Cabinet has agreed to the lifting of the ban on in-lagoon fishing activities from La Cambuse to Mahebourg and from Bois des Amourettes to Trou dEau Douce, as from

29 March 2021. The latest results of seawater analysis in March 2021 have revealed no oil and grease, no Total Hydrocarbons and no Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in seawater samples collected along the shoreline and in-lagoon from La Cambuse to Trou dEau Douce.

Cabinet has also agreed to the maintaining of the restriction on fishing activities including collection of baits in the region from Pointe Canon to Vieux Grand Port. In view of the ongoing wreck removal operation, fishers would not be allowed within the defined radius of 500m from the wreck removal site. The fishers would not be allowed to collect baits in the region from Pointe Canon to Vieux Grand Port, including from mangroves.

3. Cabinet has agreed to the implementation of four drain projects at Montagne Blanche,

Flic en Flac, and Anse Ally as well as Port Sud Est in Rodrigues, and for the National Development Unit to have recourse to consultancy services for two regions namely, Clemencia and Riviere Noire to mitigate flooding in High Risk Flood Prone Areas.

4. Cabinet has agreed to the Agricultural Marketing Board being the sole importer of potatoes and onions and that no import permits be issued to other importers for year 2021.

After liberalisation of import of potatoes and onions, an upward trend in price on the market has been noticed. Currently, the price of potato and onion is fixed in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and with a view to protecting consumers from unscrupulous sellers.

5. Cabinet has taken note that in view of the national confinement and in order to alleviate the financial burden of consumers, the CEB and CWA would waive surcharge on unpaid bills during the period of confinement and an additional moratorium of up to four months would be provided for payment of bills, following the lifting of the confinement. There would be no disconnection of supply during the moratorium period. Moreover, payment facilities would be given to consumers, on a case to case basis.

6. Cabinet has agreed to the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding on Academic and Research Cooperation between the Ministry of Blue Economy, Marine Resources, Fisheries and Shipping and the Indian Maritime University, Republic of India. The Memorandum of Understanding caters for development and implementation of joint programmes and projects in undergraduate, postgraduate and extended education as well as training in maritime sector and exchange of experience and data in the areas of education, training and research.

7. Cabinet has taken note that Mauritius would benefit from grant funding of USD14M from the Green Climate Fund following a proposal made by the Agence Francaise de Developpement in favour of the Indian Ocean Commission. The proposal is in respect of a project for Building Regional Resilience through Strengthened Meteorological, Hydrological and Climate Services.

8. Cabinet has agreed to make a contribution of USD50,000 to the Malagasy Government through the World Food Programme following an appeal made for international aid for the population of the Grand Sud of Madagascar which is currently affected by the severe drought. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has launched the Flash Appeal for donations in order to raise USD75.9M. This fund is intended to finance the most urgent needs of 1.14M people in districts of the Grand Sud of Madagascar.

9. Cabinet has taken note of the situation of the COVID-19 pandemic prevailing across the world. With regard to Mauritius, as at 26 March 2021, 881 cases of COVID-19 had been registered. There were currently 231 active cases of COVID-19 in Mauritius, out of which 218 are local cases and 13 imported cases. Contract tracing exercises and random testing are being carried out in accordance with the established protocol. The public should observe strict sanitary precautions.

Cabinet has also taken note of progress in the implementation of the national

COVID-19 vaccination programme.

10. Cabinet has taken note of the reconstitution of the Training and Employment of Disabled Persons Board with Mrs Cassim Maria Magdalena as Chairperson.

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Lee Myeong-young, senior member of SK Innovation board committee, speaks during this year's annual shareholders meeting at SK Group's headquarters in downtown Seoul, Friday. Yonhap



By Kim Yoo-chul



A senior executive at SK Innovation (SKI), the battery affiliate of SK Group, has reiterated that it would not accept the demand from LG Energy Solution (LGES) to possibly settle a blockbuster legal battle that could jeopardize SKI's business in the United States.



"I would say it's still unclear what types of intellectual property was stolen from LGES' standpoint from the final verdict by the United States International Trade Commission (USITC). For SKI's side, the ITC's final decision is regrettable as the commission accepted claims raised by LGES, which we think are ambiguous," Lee Myeong-young, a senior member of SKI's board committee, told shareholders at the company's shareholders meeting held in downtown Seoul, Friday.



Stressing the safety of SKI-manufactured batteries, Lee said SKI will try hard to protect the best interests of its shareholders and boost corporate value from the forthcoming legal procedures related to the dispute. "Let's be clear that it's unacceptable for us if our competitor's offer will significantly cripple SKI's business competitiveness in the United States," Lee said.



SKI plans to move forward with constructing a battery plant worth $2.6 billion in the U.S. state of Georgia if U.S. President Joe Biden does not use a 60-day presidential review period to overturn the decision.



The USITC ruled in favor of LGES over SKI by admitting that LGES' intellectual property in batteries was stolen. The US ITC ruling allowed some exemptions, permitting SKI to import components for domestic production of batteries for Ford's EV F-150 program for four years, and for Volkswagen America's MEB electric vehicle line for two years.



LGES said it was seeking 3 trillion won in monetary compensation from SKI by saying the compensation type will vary from equity swap, cash and royalties. SKI said it can't accept LG's offer as it still believes it didn't steal LGES' intellectual property.



The USTR is reviewing the specifics of the USITC's final ruling until April 11, and will report its final assessment of the case to President Biden. Citing SKI's investment and hiring plans in Georgia, SKI is asking Biden to veto or alter the USITC decision.



Hours after SKI's shareholders meeting, LGES said in a statement asking SKI to open up the specifics of lists included in the USITC's final ruling. "USITC clarified in its final ruling that 22 LGES trade secrets were stolen, while SKI was intentionally involved in erasing relevant evidence," according to the LGES statement.



"Such specifics are only accessible to legal representatives of each side. If SKI accepts our request, then that will help both of us determine precisely which trade secrets were stolen and used."




SMALL to Medium Enterprises in Africa have the potential to contribute over US$2 trillion combined to the Gross Domestic Product under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), a standards and systems certification body for Southern Africa said yesterday.

The new market, created under the AfCFTA agreement is estimated to be as large as 1,3 billion people across Africa with a combined Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of US$3,4 trillion.

Under the AfCFTA, trading began on January 1 this year.

Speaking by telephone, Business Standards and Systems Certification (BSSC) executive director Mr Sabastian Zuze said riding on account that a majority of businesses across Africa are largely Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs), the coming of board of the AfCFTA sets the tone for them to contribute to the bulk of Africa's GDP.

"If you look at the US$3,4 trillion and given the fact that in Africa, 70 percent and if not more of businesses fall under the SMEs sector, we are looking at over US$2 trillion GDP contribution coming from the SMEs," he said.

Mr Zuze said under the AfCFTA the SMEs sector has the potential to contribute the bulk of employment and skills development on the continent.

As a regional standards and systems certification organisation, Mr Zuze said BSSC was coming in to equip SMEs with the knowledge on how to trade successfully in such a big and competitive market.

Presently, the firm has footprints in 13 of the 16 countries in Sadc, operating in countries such as Zimbabwe, South Africa, Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia, and Zambia.

"As BSSC, we are coming in to equip them to be able to trade in such a broader market because the market dynamics are changing.

"The consumer is asking for value added goods for certain type of products and level of standards and systems of assurance for products to get confidence from the consumers," he said.

Mr Zuze said by virtue of being the world's biggest market, AfCFTA addresses market share size, which is one of the major limiting factors to trade.

He said BSSC was not only there to assist SMEs conform to standards and systems, but looks at a broader perspective on how enterprises can identify and access the continental market.

"The first thing to understand is that SMEs are going to benefit from the AfCFTA by also accessing a bigger market.

"One of the limiting factors in terms of trade is the size of the market; the bigger the market, the bigger you can grow your business.

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"When the market is big, it also means SMEs can manage the risks better. Sometimes there is one market where there is turbulence but in other parts of AfCFTA, a business can actually realise that the markets are performing better so the enterprise is cushioned against risks in the market," he said.

Mr Zuze said BSSC also assists SMEs with the requirements to penetrate particular markets and trade sustainably so that businesses can get meaningful returns and improve the socio-economic economic levels of African countries.

So far, a total of 36 countries have signed and deposited their instruments of AfCFTA ratification with the African Union Commission chairperson.

Of the 55 AU member states, only Eritrea is yet to join.

Some of the countries from Sadc that have deposited their instrument of ratification, which would pave way for their full participation in the continent-wide market include Mozambique, Malawi, Namibia and Zambia.

Under the AfCFTA agreement, among other prerequisites, member states are required to submit Tariff Offers (schedule of tariff concessions).

The schedule will show the preferential tariffs per year to be applied on imports coming from the African continent, with the aim of eventually eliminating the tariffs and thus promoting intra-African trade.
A new report says South Sudanese journalists, rights activists and opposition members living outside the country are still at risk of being harassed and even killed by South Sudanese authorities, most notably by the National Security Service (NSS) intelligence agency.

The 43-page report, "No Refuge: South Sudan's Targeting of Refugee Human Rights Defenders," was compiled by Ireland-based rights group Front Line Defenders and contains testimonies from 14 South Sudanese human rights defenders living in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.

Adam Shapiro is the Frontline Defenders head of communications. He told VOA's South Sudan in Focus that when human rights defenders leave South Sudan to seek refuge, there is no guarantee of safety for them.

"The picture painted by the research leaves no doubt. South Sudan's NSS is able, and more than willing, to try to silence civil society even when human rights defenders leave South Sudan. The agency is responsible for the creation of a climate of fear and distrust among refugee human rights defenders in neighboring countries," Shapiro said.

The report documents instances of surveillance, both digital and physical; disruption of peaceful activities; attempts to kidnap and deport human rights defenders to South Sudan; and the sharing of information with South Sudan embassy personnel, for the alleged objective of targeting those activists.

South Sudan in Focus reached out to government officials for reaction to the report but did not get a response.

In perhaps the most notorious case, human rights lawyer Samuel Dong Luak and opposition member Aggrey Idri Ezbon were kidnapped in Nairobi in 2017. A 2019 U.N. report said the abductions were carried out by South Sudan's Internal Security Bureau. The report said Luak and Ezbon were flown to Juba and executed - something the South Sudanese government has repeatedly denied.

In January 2020, the U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctioned Taban Deng, one of South Sudan's vice presidents, for his alleged involvement in the case. It said Deng reportedly arranged for Luak and Ezbon's disappearance and deaths.

Shapiro says the international community has a role to play by reminding South Sudan's government of its core responsibility to protect its citizens against all forms of abuses in the country. He says the Front Line Defenders will engage South Sudanese diplomatic missions abroad, as well as authorities in Kenya and Uganda where South Sudanese rights activists have faced attacks.

"We do believe that the government of South Sudan has obviously the responsibility to protect and guard the human rights of its citizens, but also to ensure that human rights defenders and civil society in the country can operate freely and carry out their work without fear of reprisal, intimidation, harassment, abuse and imprisonment," he said.

In the past, South Sudan's senior government and military officials have dismissed reports of serious human rights violations committed by some members of the NSS and the South Sudan People's Defense Force (SSPDF), which is the national army.

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"If you believe the [South Sudan] authorities, everything is copacetic, everything is fine and well in South Sudan and nobody should have any complaints. We know that is not true, we have documented, other organizations have documented, and the U.N. has documented what is going on in South Sudan," Shapiro said.

On Wednesday, the United Nations Human Rights Council renewed the mandate of the commission on Human Rights in South Sudan. Several international rights watchdog groups have praised the move to extend the mandate of the commission for another year.

Nyagoah Tut Pur is Human Rights researcher for South Sudan. She says the international community must continue to report the atrocities committed against civilians in South Sudan.

"The renewal of U.N. Commission of the Human Rights in South Sudan's robust investigatory mandate is key to ensuring accountability for grave violations in South Sudan and ending the ongoing cycles of abuse," Pur told VOA.
Farm Business Options Webinar - Driving Diversification Through Social Media

Event Time 11am

Venue Online



A weekly webinar, Farm Business Options, will feature news, views and interviews on current topics relevant to farm business diversification in Irish Agriculture.

Website content and social media will raise the profile of your business. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube are the most prevalent social networking sites, with LinkedIn, Pinterest, Snapchat and Whatsapp also popular among different demographics. The rise in popularity of these digital platforms means they have large audiences with whom farmers can have direct conversations.

Barry Caslin will be joined by Lisa Dunphy from Green Acre Marketing to discuss Social media business options.
Until recently I wouldve been surprised to see that question raised at CT. We might disagree about what religious liberty entails or how it should be acquired or used, but the value of free religious exercise has long been assumed across political lines in American evangelicalism and the United States as a whole.

But a series of recent comments from pastor and theologian John MacArthur reject that value in vehement terms. Its an about-face for MacArthur personally, but the more pressing question to me is whether his new perspective will spread. The view he outlines includes some truth, but it recklessly jettisons longstanding and important Christian convictions.

Last summer, when lawsuits proliferated over Californias unusually strict pandemic limits on in-person worship, MacArthur and his Grace Community Church (GCC) in Los Angeles were all about religious liberty. An August statement from Jenna Ellis, an attorney defending GCC, decried LA Countys [clear defiance of] the Constitutions mandate to protect religious liberty. MacArthur himself cited the First Amendment in an interview on Fox News. And a July statement from GCC elders, though explicitly declining to make the constitutional argument, still embraced religious liberty and argued any church closure order is an illegitimate intrusion of state authority.

Half a year later, MacArthur was adamantly opposing religious freedom from the pulpit. His first sermon to include this theme came on January 17:

I dont even support religious freedom. Religious freedom is what sends people to hell. To say I support religious freedom is to say, I support idolatry. Its to say, I support lies; I support hell; I support the kingdom of darkness. You cant say that. No Christian with half a brain would say, We support religious freedom. We support the truth!

MacArthur continued on January 24:

Now I told you last week that I do not believe as a Christian that I can support strongly freedom of religion, because that would be to violate the first commandment, right? Have no other gods. You say, Well, doesnt the church need freedom of religion to move forward? No. In no way does any political law aid or hinder the church of Jesus Christ. We are a separate kingdom.

He returned to the topic again on February 28:

I said I couldnt fight for religious freedom because that would be fighting for Satan to be successful, because every single religion in the world except the truth of Christianity is a lie from hell. You say, Well, isnt religious freedom important for Christianity? No, its meaningless.

And in a State of the Church address on March 3, MacArthur said defending religious liberty is fight[ing] for idolatry and looking for alliances with Satan.

Ive quoted MacArthur at length here because this is strange, new territory for an evangelical figure of his influence. Theres been a debate among political conservatives for several years about the value of religious liberty and classical liberalism more broadly. Participating evangelicals, like writer and attorney David French, are typically pro-freedom, arguing that for all its flaws, its the best weve got.

Christians dont need the government to expedite the gospel.

MacArthur now seems to disagree. Some of what hes said is quite right, of course: The kingdom of God is distinct from the kingdoms of the world, and legal favor isnt necessary to spread the gospel and grow the church (though it can certainly help). As an Anabaptist, I wholeheartedly endorse MacArthurs assertion that Christians dont need the government to expedite the gospel.

Article continues below

MacArthurs also correct in his repeated contention that the Bible doesnt advocate democracy. Indeed, the wide difference between our governance and that of the ancient Near East is a big reason it can be so difficult to define faithful Christian interaction with the state millennia later. Nevertheless, theres a long Christian tradition of supporting religious liberty, particularly in contexts like ours where the government solicits our opinion and purports to reflect our will.

In the third century, the Christian theologian Tertullian argued for religious freedom to an official in Carthage. We are worshippers of one God, he wrote. You think that others, too, are gods, whom we know to be devils. However, it is a fundamental human right, a privilege of nature, that every man should worship according to his own convictions.  It is assuredly no part of religion to compel religionto which free will and not force should lead us.

Religious liberty received fresh attention after the Protestant Reformation, when new denominations were persecuted by fellow Christians. Roger Williams, the founder of Rhode Island as well as the first Baptist church in what is now the United States, took up the cause after he was banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony for his strange opinions.

An enforced uniformity of religion, Williams argued in 1644, confounds the civil and religious, denies the principles of Christianity and civility, and that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. Moreover, Williams added in a prudential note, curtailing religious liberty backfires: Sooner or later it occasions civil strife, he warned, and ravishing of conscience, persecution, hypocrisy, and lost opportunities for the gospel. Freedom of religion must be universal, he insisted, evento borrow MacArthurs phrasefor the Devils lies. Baptists like Russell Moore still echo Williamss thinking today, insisting Christs kingdom is built not through government power but by the open proclamation of the truth (2 Cor. 4:2, NASB).

MacArthur was unclear about what he thinks would happen without religious liberty. At one point he said laws have no effect on the kingdom of God. At another he said that without religious freedom, the only religion thatll be punished is Christianity. Elsewhere, he said, the more supportive our government is of religious liberty, the more persecution will be ramped up for Christians. Meanwhile, his claim that religious freedom sends people to hell suggests he envisions Christianity enshrined as bland state religion in a post-liberal United States.

That confusion is why Ive chosen these two examples from church history, penned as they were in very different contexts: Tertullian was a Christian in a persecuted church appealing to an official hostile to Christianity; Williams was speaking to Christians wielding the sword against siblings in Christ. My own view is that were moving from a situation more like Williamss to one more like Tertullians. An irreligious majority is comingor is already here, depending on how you measure it. Religious liberty is increasingly viewed with suspicion, seen as a ploy for special privileges or a way to deprive others of their rights.

That perception makes judicious, irenic defense of religious liberty a needful and urgent work. It would be incredibly foolish to abandon the cause of religious freedom, especially now. MacArthur is right that Gods kingdom doesnt require that freedom to grow. But what pitiful kingdom he must imagine if he thinks Satan [will] be successful if people can worship as they choose.

Bonnie Kristian is a columnist at Christianity Today.

[ This article is also available in Francais. ]
Prime Minister has said that the assassination of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1975 deprived the region of the destiny that could and should have been "ours to share" as he asserted that it was time to once again chart a bold ambition for partnership between India and Bangladesh.

In an opinion piece titled Imagining a different South Asia with Bangabandhu' published in The Daily Star newspaper on Friday, Prime Minister Modi promised that India will remain Bangladesh's partner as they jointly march towards the golden future for which Bangabandhu, and millions of patriotic Bangladeshis, and indeed thousands of Indians, gave their all.

"The assassination of the Father of Bangladesh deprived the region of the destiny that could and should have been ours to share," Modi said.

"As we look back on Bangabandhu's life and struggle, I ask myself, what could our subcontinent have looked like, had this modern-day giant not been assassinated?" wrote Modi, who is visiting Bangladesh on his first trip to a foreign country since the outbreak of the coronavirus.

Modi said the Bangabandhu's killers wanted to reverse the gains of Bangladesh's independence, for which he had led a heroic struggle.

"They also wanted to strike a mortal blow to Bangabandhu's dream of building a cooperative, peaceful and harmonious subcontinent," he said.

Despite unflinching commitment to his cause, and despite all the persecutions he suffered, Bangabandhu retained a generosity of spirit that is a mark of true greatness, Modi said, adding that the Bangladeshi leader's progressive belief in fairness, equality and inclusiveness is captured in the words he wrote in the 1950s, "I know at least this much: no one should be murdered because he holds views different from mine."



"In him, we saw a tall leader whose vision went beyond the narrow confines of physical borders and social divisions. That is why we join our Bangladeshi sisters and brothers in celebrating Bangabandhu's memory in this very special Mujib Borsho," Modi wrote.

Modi said that with Bangabandhu at the helm, Bangladesh and the region would have evolved along a very different trajectory.

"A sovereign, self-confident Bangladesh, at peace with its neighbours, bearing friendship to all and malice towards none, was rising fast from the ashes of a painful war. If this had continued, perhaps India and Bangladesh could have achieved many decades ago some of the accomplishments that we were able to reach only recently, Modi said.

Citing the example of the 2015 Land Boundary Agreement between India and Bangladesh, Modi said that had Bangabandhu been at the helm longer, this achievement may have come much earlier.

"With the spirit of the Liberation War energising us, and with Bangabandhu as the guiding star, this region, at least the Bay of Bengal area, might have been in a different reality now," he said.

Modi said that he firmly believes that the two countries are once again striving towards a destiny that the Liberation of Bangladesh had once augured for the region.

"It is time to once again chart a bold ambition for our partnership, as Bangabandhu would have done. With the spirit and enterprise of our people as our Bhagya Vidhata, the dispenser of our shared destiny, such a future is closer than ever," he added.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
JAILED fashion magnate Peter Nygard is not receiving special treatment, Manitoba Justice officials have insisted in the face of nagging questions about his enhanced phone access while in custody.

La Liberte Manitoba / Tadens Mpwene Peter Nygard appears at a bail hearing in January.

JAILED fashion magnate Peter Nygard is not receiving "special treatment," Manitoba Justice officials have insisted in the face of nagging questions about his enhanced phone access while in custody.

One Winnipeg defence lawyer Thursday dismissed that claim as "preposterous."

"I have never, ever had one of my numerous clients given access to a phone right in his cell," said the lawyer, speaking on condition of anonymity. "(The claim) is absolutely preposterous that he is not getting special treatment."

Nygard, 79, has been in custody since Dec. 14, first at the Winnipeg Remand Centre and most recently at Headingley Correctional Centre, following his arrest on a provisional extradition warrant.

He faces possible extradition to the United States, where he has been charged with nine counts of sex trafficking and racketeering for offences that span decades and involve dozens of alleged victims.

In a court affidavit, provided by jail assistant superintendent of security Todd Schreyer, Nygard has a cell for three inmates to himself, with a television and exclusive access to a phone from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. each day.

"No other cell at (the jail) has similar phone access," Schreyer said in his affidavit.

Nygard is being treated no differently than any other inmate in his circumstances, a Manitoba Justice spokesperson said in an email statement to the Free Press late Wednesday.

"Mr. Nygard is not receiving special treatment, nor has he been granted special privileges as asserted in the media," the spokesperson said.

Nygard is in protective custody and does not have the same access to phones and televisions as other inmates do in common areas of the jail, the spokesperson said.

"As a matter of necessity to ensure safety, this individual has been placed in a cell that has been used in the past, and will continue to be used for those requiring isolation for the purposes of protective custody," the spokesperson said. "The individuals safety was the main consideration in this placement, although his cell and many others have a fee-for-service landline telephone and television."

A Manitoba Justice spokesperson did not respond to followup questions Thursday, including whether any other inmate in segregation has telephone access in his cell.

The defence lawyer source said inmates who are in protective custody are allowed to call only their lawyers, and only once per day.

Said another defence lawyer: "Peters got it pretty good right now," with access to "luxuries not usually afforded to other inmates."

The difference for Nygard, the lawyer speculated, is that he is not being held in custody for any crimes alleged to have been committed here.

"Hes not being punished  hes being protected," the lawyer said.

The Manitoba Court of Appeal is considering whether Nygard can be released on bail.

Queens Bench Justice Shawn Greenberg denied Nygard bail last month. She ruled that security and monitoring measures proposed by Nygard  to satisfy justice officials he would not flee from a $1-million home on John Bruce Road in Winnipeg  would not prevent him from tampering with alleged victims or witnesses by phone, or having someone do it on his behalf.

A new bail plan put before the Court of Appeal proposes to install sophisticated monitoring software on all of Nygards cellphones and electronic devices that would alert a monitoring service of any suspect communications.

Nygards lawyers have argued they need to meet with him regularly to prepare their case, something that is not possible under pandemic restrictions. They also say Nygard is in failing health and at greater risk of dire medical consequences should he contract COVID-19 while in custody. With the pandemic, more inmates are spending time in segregation, when they are only provided 30 minutes to access a phone, said lawyer Karl Gowenlock.

"The idea that they be given a phone  my jaw dropped when I read that," Gowenlock said.

"To be fair, I cant think of another instance of someone being in jail on remand of that age and frailty" he said. "Maybe he should get special treatment just for that."

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca
Keith Krach, former U.S. undersecretary for economic growth, energy, and the environment, speaks during the 2019 Concordia Annual Summit in New York City, on Sept. 24, 2019. (Riccardo Savi/Getty Images for Concordia Summit)

American Investors Need to Stop Funding China Inc to End CCPs Genocide: Former Senior Officials

Now is the time for all Americans to take action to stop the Chinese regimes genocide against Uyghur Muslims, a state-led crime reminiscent of the Holocaust, said former State Department officials Keith Krach and Ellie Cohanim.

The genocide designation was made by then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in January over the Chinese regimes persecution against Uyghurs in the far-western Xinjiang region. The persecution has included forced sterilization, forced abortion, torture, forced labor, and the removal of children from their families.

Meanwhile, more than one million Uyghurs are currently detained inside Chinas internment campsfacilities that the Chinese regime has labeled as vocational training schools.

On Monday, the United States, Canada, the UK, and the European Union unveiled coordinated sanctions against Chinese officials responsible for the Chinese Communist Partys (CCP) oppressive policy in Xinjiang.

Were very happy to see governments take the right approach. But weve also laid a plan for every American, so that every American can take action today, Cohanim said in a joint interview with Krach on The Epoch Times American Thought Leaders program.

The sanctions are the right approach because the CCP can only understand strength, according to Cohanim.

Cohanim previously served as U.S. deputy special envoy to monitor and combat anti-semitism, and is now a visiting fellow at the U.S. nonprofit Independent Womens Forum.

Keith Krach is the former undersecretary of state for economic growth, energy, and environment.

This is the time to stop it. If we dont, then its going to continue. And its going to spread, Krach said.

In a recent op-ed on Newsweek, Cohanim and Krach drew parallels between the Holocaust and the CCPs repression in Xinjiang. One similarity, they wrote, is the CCPs dehumanization of Uyghurs, which is reminiscent of how the Nazis portrayed Jews before sending them to concentration camps.

Were seeing these exact same tactics practiced by the Chinese Communist Party, where theyre calling the Uyghur religion a communicable plague. They describe the Uyghurs themselves as malignant tumors. And theyve described the Uyghurs as being similar to weeds, and that you must use chemicals to get all of them, Cohanim told The Epoch Times.

She added: This kind of language is so incredibly reminiscent of the horrible language of the Nazis [against the Jews].

Emptying the Cash Register

Americans can stop funding the CCP by not investing in Chinese companies with ties to Beijing or the Chinese military.

The sound of emptying the cash register will be heard loud and clear on the other side of the world in Xinjiang, the op-ed said.

Krach said, Whats really sad is that the average American investor is unknowingly financing the Chinese Communist Party. He said that passive investments in index funds, mutual funds, or ETFs that in turn invest in Chinese companies have contributed to Chinas human rights abuses, surveillance system, or military development.

Cohanim encouraged American investorssuch as people who have savings in a pension fund, investments in a mutual fund, or those who donate to a foundation or a university endowment fundto contact their fund managers and brokerage companies to demand transparency over their investments.

If your broker or the fund representative is not willing to share information about where youre invested, then it might be time to look elsewhere, Cohanim added.

Under the Trump administration, many Chinese companies were slapped with U.S. sanctions over their roles in enabling Beijings repression in Xinjiang, aiding the Chinese military by taking part in the CCPs military-civil fusion strategy, and militarizing the South China Sea.

Currently, 44 Chinese companies have been identified by the Pentagon as Communist Chinese military companies (CCMCs), including telecom giants China Mobile, China Telecom, and China Unicom. A State Department fact sheet shows that these 44 companies have over 1,100 subsidiaries.

In November, then-President Donald Trump issued an executive order banning U.S. investment in these 44 companies and their subsidiaries.

Aside from average American investors, Krach said that corporations and organizations that have a powerful voice also have a responsibility.

For example, Krach called on the Swiss-based World Economic Forum (WEF) to put CCPs persecution in Xinjiang on the agenda of its meetings.

I couldnt even see it on their websitetheir list of topics. Ive been going there for 20 years, Krach said, referring to the WEF.

The WEF will hold a special annual meeting in Singapore for four days beginning on May 25.

Krach also called on the ESG communityinvestors that emphasize strong environmental, social, and corporate governance conduct in their investmentsto speak up about the persecution in Xinjiang. For corporate chief executive officers, they should make sure that their supply chains are clean, he added.

For business leaders, Krach said that conflicts of interest affect corporate responsibility. Since many companies have large stakes in the Chinese market, they dont want to upset the Chinese authorities out of fear of retribution.

I believe nobody should bend the knee to the Chinese Communist Party. We clearly have the moral high ground here, Krach said.
opinion

A. A. Gadzama canvasses the need to beef up security in schools

The menace of banditry, particularly the abduction of school pupils across the country, has worsened insecurity in the country in recent years. Some states in the Northern parts of the country especially Zamfara, Katsina and Kaduna have in the last one year become the epicentre of acts of banditry and hostage takings, with many post primary schools regularly raided. In addition to these acts of criminality are the raiding of communities and abductions. There have also been attempts to assassinate prominent personalities like the recent attempts on the Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom, that would have plunged the country into serious upheavals. In other parts of the country especially Borno and Yobe States, these acts of lawlessness are compounded by attempts by insurgents to regroup and launch fresh attacks on several communities.

It is not surprising that the President and Commander-in-Chief has repeatedly warned that acts of lawlessness by individuals and groups would be severely dealt. Unfortunately, the warnings have fallen on deaf ears. The persistence of acts of lawlessness has left the government and the security forces with no option than to resort to reprisals. Some communities have similarly resorted to self -help in the face of continuous attacks and seeming lack of action by security forces and the government.

The failure to arrest the deteriorating security situation in the country could be attributed to several factors by any discerning mind. These include failure of governance, leadership and law enforcement. The inability of the government to meet its obligations to the citizenry also plays some role in almost all cases. The proof of these are indications that some of the attacks are fueled by disenchantment in the citizenry. Compounding the situation is the spill over of political animosity among the political elites in their quest for supremacy. In some cases, communities and students have found themselves caught in avoidable conflicts. Without doubt, a larger percentage of some cases of banditry and hostage taking in the country are driven by economic interests. For example, in parts of the North, cattle rustling and theft are the main driving forces of attacks and abduction of students from schools. Other reasons in recent years are the breakdown of communal control at the local level and loss of relevance of traditional institutions and the general rise in crime. But by far the major motivating factor responsible for rise in violent criminal acts in the country is the absence of decisive actions by the government that could serve as deterrence. There have been observations that the payment of ransom is the major reason behind most cases of the invasion of schools and the abduction in most communities. Unfortunately, this is a dilemma facing the government, the security forces and the parents of pupils.

The rise in criminality in the country can be associated with what is perceived as systematic decline in security enforcement and collapse of security in the country. There are also acts that have political undertones that translate into raids and hostage taking. Some of the current security threats in the country are plain acts of veiled sabotage, orchestrated to discredit the government in power. Masterminding acts of criminality and insecurity are apparently old strategies employed to discredit President Muhammadu Buhari and the present leadership in the country. Some of the raids on schools and attacks on communities are also driven by political differences between groups. It is therefore not surprising that there is a strong coincidence between political groups in the country and the spate of banditry. The sad thing is that there is the likelihood of the trend continuing or intensifying in the coming months. The other reason it would be hard to overlook is the brazen acts of criminality by non-state acts like the herdsmen. As a matter of fact, these groups are behind most invasions and abduction of school children in the country in the past one year. A critical examination of raids and hostage taking in the country reveals greed and the temptation to benefit from ransom as a factor. Some criminal acts are emboldened by absence of decisive actions from the government and security forces. It is counter- productive that the most drastic punishment meted on those behind raids on schools and abduction of school children is appeasing them with pats on the back from political leadership. It is unfortunate that despite the gravity of raids and kidnap incidents, the heaviest punishment culprits have been given is inviting the culprits to the negotiation tables. The approach definitely ends up encouraging the criminal groups.

An informed analysis of recent acts of banditry also implicates proliferation of dangerous weapons as another driving factor that compounds the deteriorating security situation in the country. The country is incidentally a popular destination for dangerous weapons. Some dangerous weapons most often fall into the hands of criminal elements. Investigations by security forces reveal other users of dangerous weapons to include perpetrators of inter and intra group conflicts who often source them from leakages in official armouries facilitated by unscrupulous security operatives.

Also known to play very crucial role in arms proliferation are the country's porous borders. Intelligence sources reveal that the quantum of dangerous weapons smuggled across the country's porous borders is enormous. This is the reason there are arguments that violent crime in the country cannot be checked without dealing with the free flow of dangerous weapons and foreigners at the country's borders.

Many who are conversant with the country's security challenges and inadequacies in recent years have pointed out that weaknesses in the country's security architecture and practices are other contributory factors that lead to kidnapping of students, etc. This underscores the importance of a critical review of the entire security architecture and procedures in schools in the country. For example, school premises should under no circumstance be thoroughfares or places for trading in any form. Also, the grazing of livestock within school premises should be disallowed throughout the country. There is also the need for an ECOWAS sub-regional approach to dealing with the issue.

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It is also necessary to beef up vigilance and security presence in schools to prevent compromising security, as schools are soft targets that could easily be monitored by criminal elements. The other weakness that needs to be addressed is doing away with the practice of recruiting worn out ex-service personnel as security guards in schools. In the light of the current state of insecurity in schools in the country, the recruitment of agile and able-bodied persons should be explored. A system of close supervision should in addition be employed. Also, security guards in schools should be adequately paid and be put through basic security drills to enable them know how to handle security eventualities. It is gladdening that the menace of raid on schools and the kidnapping of school children are currently issues of critical examination at the National Institute of Security Studies.

This article is intended to help underscore the importance of stopping the current invasion of schools and taking students hostages in the country. As reiterated in a seminar recently, political leadership especially state governors should in addition resist the temptation of negotiating the payment of ransom to criminal groups involved in such activities. Appeasing criminals in any form will only embolden them.

Gadzama OFR, mniis Chairman, National Institute for Security Studies
NASHVILLE  The Tennessee Department of Commerce & Insurances (TDCI) Securities Division today announced that it is sponsoring the EVERFI Financial Literacy Bee, taking place April 1-15, 2021. The EVERFI Financial Literacy Bee is a nationwide financial literacy challenge for high school students.

As many families across the country are struggling financially in the wake of the pandemic, from unemployment to career shifts to a reduction in income, the EVERFI Financial Literacy Bee provides an opportunity for students to learn the critical importance of saving and budgeting for short-term and long-term financial goals.

In these times of financial uncertainty for many Americans, the Tennessee Department of Commerce & Insurance is especially committed to engaging our communities, increasing financial literacy and driving impactful change, said TDCI Commissioner Carter Lawrence. We are proud to be supporting parents and students through the Financial Literacy Bee and we hope this opportunity will encourage family conversations about important financial topics and positive financial habits.

The virtual challenge features four short digital lessons followed by a capstone essay contest in which students share a short-term or long-term savings goal and outline their plan to achieve that goal. Winners of the EVERFI Financial Literacy Bee will receive a total of $20,000 in college scholarships.

The pandemic shined a bright light on the financial vulnerability of most Americans with 40 percent of American consumers reporting that they had trouble paying at least one bill or expense in 2020, said Ray Martinez, co-founder and president, EVERFI. Weve always been committed to helping students increase their financial literacy and during this historic time we are also working to help parents feel more comfortable having dinner-table conversations about money. The Financial Literacy Bee is a fun way for students to learn important strategies to increase savings.

By competing in the challenge, participating students will gain new skills to create a personalized financial decision-making framework that they can apply to their lives now and in the future. Topics include how to save, set financial goals, budget and invest.

Investor education is an important focus for the Securities Division, said Assistant Commissioner Elizabeth Bowling. Not only do we want Tennessee students to have opportunities for aid with continued education expenses, we want to educate them on the importance of investing early and investing wisely. The pandemic has shown us that its important to be prepared for the unexpected and strong financial habits started at an early age are key for a solid financial foundation in the future.

To learn more about the EVERFI Financial Literacy Bee visit our website.

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Dancehall artist Bobby 6ix has used the downtime of the pandemic to write and record enough music that today, March 26 he can proudly drop his debut EP God Bless.

The artist, like so many in the Dancehall fraternity, found avenues for making money drying up as the pandemic continued to overwhelm the Jamaican economy. He ensured that he kept himself active on the scene and released an impressive 10 songs in 2021 alone.

Coinciding with the release of the EP, Bobby dropped visuals for Make Money.

He spoke with the Jamaica Star about his seven-track project, one that he feels sure will propel him into the limelight of the genre.

Da quarantine thing yah did set a way innu but we good out here. Every dancehall artiste love to drop track after track. It help yuh fi stay relevant and keep people attention on you. But it also very important to put out projects. Mi deh a di stage now weh me a see more and more say a good body of work can go a far way and me think me have enough songs can really put a good project out there, he said.

The purpose of his album is two-fold. On the one hand, he wanted to keep himself busy but on the other hand, he wanted fans to realize what a remarkable force he intends to be in Dancehall.

Mi have reality songs, positive songs, girl songs, every kinda song yuh can think of. Di people dem never request this but mi see say me can dweet. The opportunity come up and mi just grab it. Mi take this business yah very serious innu, he said.

He noted that he thinks there has been a decline in appreciation for Dancehall on the local market in recent times. He used his group 6ix as an example of that decline. Many fans have questioned the silence of the group which some feel could be blamed on the absence of the charismatic group leader Squash, from the island since late 2019, the fact that they are being barred by the police from performing at many shows, and of course the pandemic.

While he acknowledged that the group had slowed down, he gave the assurance that they are still working together.

The title of the EP is God Bless and thats what the 6ix is, we bless by the Almighty. So all when it seem like nuttin nah gwaan inna di camp, things always a gwaan and doors always a open, he added.

The fact that they are low-key right now is in no way indicative that the group is disbanded, he continued. Not because unu nah see we nuh mean say we nah work. The work a put in same way. We have songs, we still a drop videos. The 6ix is still real out here, no mistake about that, he said.

In 2019, the Montego Bay-based group, raised eyebrows in the industry as many hailed them as the next big force in Dancehall. The group which includes star members like Chronic Law and Daddy1 seem to be persevering behind the scenes even if their activity has been noticeably missing.

You take in Bobbys new EP below.
A former governor of Tamaulipas, Mexico on Thursday pleaded guilty in a Texas court for taking over $3.5 million in bribes for government contracts, which he then laundered in the United States.

Tomas Yarrington Ruvalcaba, 64, was the governor of Tamaulipas from 1999 to 2005. Yarrington walked into U.S. District Judge Hilda Tagle's courtroom shortly before 1 p.m.

The former governor was facing eight charges, which included alleged involvement with drug cartels from 1998 through 2013. He pleaded guilty to the money laundering count in a plea agreement for federal prosecutors to drop the other seven charges, Seattle Times reported.

Yarrington's plea was accepted, and sentencing would be at a later date. He pleaded not guilty to the charges in 2018, after several years of avoiding authorities, according to MYRGV News.

READ NEXT: Ex-Jalisco Cartel High-Ranking Member's Body Found Wrapped in Plastic on Park Bench

Charges Against Yarrington

Charges against him include Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) conspiracy, conspiracy to import cocaine and marijuana into the U.S., and conspiracy to launder monetary instruments.

He was also facing charges with committing false statements to financial institutions, conspiracy to commit bank fraud, aiding and abetting, and conspiracy to structure transactions to avoid the reporting requirement.

The U.S. government initially accused Yarrington in 2012 of laundering money to the Los Zetas and Gulf Cartel drug cartels during his time as governor, Mexico News Daily reported.

He was also accused of receiving bribe money from individuals and private companies in Mexico while he was governor and during his Mexican president campaign in 2005.

The government believes that over $3.5 million from those bribes was laundered in the U.S. by purchasing real estate and other personal property, including vehicles.

Yarrington was also believed to take out loans and buy property under borrowed names. Yarrington admitted that one of the illegally purchased properties was a condominium in Port Isabel, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Texas.

Yarrington has agreed to forfeit the said property. Prosecutors had been pushing other property forfeitures. However, they were dismissed due to the plea agreement.

Money laundering has a maximum sentence of 20 years. However, the government has agreed to recommend a reduced sentence between 108 and 135 months, equating to eight or 11 years in prison.

"As part of the plea, Yarrington admitted he accepted bribes from individuals and private companies in Mexico to do business with the state of Tamaulipas while he served as governor," the statement of the Attorney's Office read.

From 2007 and 2009, the government alleged that the former governor was involved in the drug trafficking business.

Angela Dodge, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Houston, refused to comment on why no drug-related charges were included in the plea despite prosecutors believing that Yarrington has ties with the cartels.

Yarrington also acknowledged that it was against Mexico's law to take bribes and bury the $3.5 million bribe money in the U.S. through buying real estate, cars, and other personal items.

Yarrington was arrested in Italy in 2017 for using a false passport before being extradited to the U.S.

Tamaulipas

Los Angeles Times reported that Tamaulipas had been an area most favored by organized crime groups, being the fourth most violent city in Mexico.

In 2019, more than two dozen migrants were kidnapped off buses in Tamaulipas, which was not far from the U.S. border.

According to Small Wars Journal, Tamaulipas makes a perfect place for criminal organizations due to weak local institutions, allowing an environment for crime to flourish.

READ MORE: Video Shows Jalisco Cartel Parading' Narco-Tank' in Mexico's Street

WATCH: Fugitive Mexican governor arrested in Italy - From Euronews
Deputy President William Ruto on Thursday, for the first time, said he is prepared to exit the ruling Jubilee Party for the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) as his vehicle of choice in the 2022 presidential elections, citing what he said was a continued bid to ostracise those allied to him at the ruling party.

He also hinted at a possible union with Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) leader Raila Odinga, whom he celebrated as one fighting a similar war in the opposition -- emergence of tribal parties.

Regional leaders

In what seemed like a swipe at the One Kenya Alliance of Amani National Congress (ANC) leader Musalia Mudavadi, Kanu's Gideon Moi, his Wiper Democratic Movement counterpart Kalonzo Musyoka, and Ford Kenya's Moses Wetang'ula, Dr Ruto dismissed what he said was a growing trend of propping up regional leaders to concentrate their parties on their regions.

"Some people think I have problems with Raila. I do not. These differences are political. And there are things I agree with Raila. He is agreed on the need to form national parties and he is facing similar issues (in the opposition) I am facing of regional chieftains. And I want to say this: If anybody wants to partner with us to bring up the hustler, we have no problem. We support, we will work together," said Dr Ruto during an interview with Radio Citizen.

While he had let his allies run the UDA vehicle, and has avoided campaign trails for the just-concluded by-elections, Dr Ruto came out in support of the party, a rebrand of Jubilee affiliate Party for Development and Reforms (PDR), one he said will be the next big thing as Kenya heads towards the next elections.

Different plan

"If it gets to a point where they do not want us to be there in Jubilee, then we must have a different plan. You cannot wait to hit a wall. Going forward, if there is no agreement, then we will plan ourselves with UDA. We have built UDA in partnership with Jubilee. It is not us starting afresh. We are just going on with what we already have," Dr Ruto said at the interview.

Like his allies, Dr Ruto defended his association with UDA, saying since it was an affiliate of Jubilee, there was nothing wrong for him to associate with it.

The ruling Jubilee Party, however, argues that it was disingenuous for the Ruto team to be in both parties at the same time, and that they should resign to seek a fresh mandate in the new UDA party.

"UDA and Jubilee are one. We have a coalition agreement with them and we have been working together. If they break Jubilee, trying to make it a tribal party, we will build UDA as the national party we had hoped Jubilee will be," he said.

"Jubilee now only meets to discipline and chase people. They are always plotting to kick so and so from such and such position for being allied to such and such a person."

UDA, a rebrand of PDR, has five elected leaders in Parliament led by Senate Deputy Majority Leader Fatuma Dullo, who is also the Isiolo senator, as well as Wajir Woman Rep Fatuma Gedi, Tarbaj's Ahmed Bashane, Mark Lomunokol of Kacheliba and Ijara's Sophia Abdi.

Arguing that his vision for a national party was still intact, Dr Ruto said just as they had hoped Jubilee will be the ruling party that was truly national, it was possible to build a similar outfit using the same strategy.

"We created a government and a party like Jubilee because we know we cannot find a national solution without a national party. The experience we had from Jubilee, we will use the same to make UDA a national party," Dr Ruto said.

By-elections

He dismissed as premature the celebrations that UDA had lost in Kabuchai, Matungu and Machakos.

"In Kabuchai, Matungu, and Machakos, UDA was running against tribal parties in those regions.

When I call a meeting of MPs allied to me, there are 150 people who are from all over Kenya. And I know that is how to solve Kenya's problems. We are going a retrogressive way of founding our democracy on tribal political parties led by regional tribal chieftains. Those are enemies of the nation," Dr Ruto said.

Dr Ruto rubbished what he said was an emerging trend of balkanising Kenya on regional blocs whose leaders he said were being propped for leadership.

"We have a sad situation where Kenya is being taken back to regional kingships. So that tribal leaders unite and then lead Kenya. What is wrong with us? As a DP who has seen how and why it is important to bring people together, how do we go back to tribal politics?" Dr Ruto asked.

"Parties are now being pushed to have regional parties and all leaders from those regions pushed to then follow them. But the problem with when you start dividing people, there is no end to it."

He defended his Hustler Nation manta, promising a Sh30 billion empowerment fund that he said will be given to small scale businesses on an interest-free basis, an idea he said will push many into money-making situations, with ability to then pay taxes.

He rubbished those that he said was pushing for a debt restructuring as a solution to the ballooning debt.

"That is not the solution. The solution is to work the economy," he said.

The DP celebrated the Jubilee government's development agenda from 2013, taking credit for what he said was a transformative agenda whose speed he said was derailed by the BBI.

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"I believe we would have done even better had we maintained the speed we had from 2013, post-2018. But I believe there is still time to do the right things. We have built the Standard Gauge Railway, the roads, connected Kenyans to the national grid, and built technical colleges all over Kenya. With the same vigour, I believe we can finish the Big Four agenda that we started," he said.

Election promises

He defended the Jubilee government's delivery of its election promises.

"If we promised ten things, and we have delivered eight, isn't that an impressive performance? That is a A- in an exam, maybe an A," he said.

Dr Ruto asked Kenyans on the frontline fight against Covid-19 to take the vaccine now being administered, even as he dismissed fears that politicians and leaders had run away from the vaccine, saying it was by design, not default.

"We decided as the Cabinet that let us start with frontline health workers, those with the highest level of exposure in their work. It will not have been good for me as DP to be the first, and take the place of a nurse or a doctor that badly needs the vaccination. We want to ask Kenyans that when the vaccine is available to you, go get vaccinated," he said.
Recounting the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War, PM Modi on Friday, recounted his own contribution to the nation's freedom struggle, while addressing the National Day program as its chief guest in National parade Ground, Dhaka. Lauding the Indian Army martyrs' sacrifice, he recounted how he had been arrested in India while staging a satyagraha in solidarity with Bangladesh's liberation. Today marks the 50th anniversary of the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War, which resulted in the formation of Bangladesh from Pakistan.

PM Modi recounts his 'satyagraha' for Bangladesh liberation

Conferring Sheikh Mujibur Rahman with the Gandhi Peace Prize 2020, posthumously, PM Modi said, "I pay tribute to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. I remember those who sacrificed their lives for Bangladesh's liberation war. Today I also salute the brave soldiers of the Indian Army who stood with the brothers and sisters of Bangladesh. A war memorial has been dedicated to heroes of Bangladesh war."

"One of the first movements of my life to join the struggle for the independence of Bangladesh. I and my partners had done a Satyagraha in support of freedom of Bangladesh and was even sent into jail. The atrocities forced by the Pakistan Army disturbed all of us internally and moved us," said PM Modi.

Slamming Pakistan Army's war crimes during the war, he said that 'Operation Searchlight' had stirred the movement in support of Bangladesh in India. Lauding Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's contribution's during the war, he termed him a 'ray of hope'. Remembering late PM Indira Gandhi's leadership, he said that India's support was not just for Bangladesh's liberation, but also a new direction to history.

Lamenting Pakistan Army's war crimes during the war, he said, "Operation Searchlight and its violations has not been discussed enough on global platforms. During this struggle, Bangabandhu was the ray of hope. His resilience and leadership had decided that no force would be able to stop the freedom of Bangladesh."

"Indira Gandhi ji's efforts are known to all. Atal ji also said that we aren't just fighting with people who're laying down their lives in the Liberation War, but we are also trying to give a new direction to history," he added.

PM Modi's 2-day Bangladesh tour

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is on a two-day visit to Bangladesh to be a part of the neighbouring country's 50th Independence Day, making it the first foreign visit by PM Modi after the outbreak of the Coronavirus / COVID-19 pandemic. PM Modi recieved the invitation to be a part of its 50th Independence Day celebrations and to commemorate the birth centenary of the Father of the Nation of Bangladesh Sheikh Mujibur Rahman from his counterpart Sheikh Hasina, where heads of state from Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and the Maldives will also be present at the celebration. Incidentally, Bengal goes to polls on Saturday, amid PM Modi's Bangladesh visit.

Alongside participating in the centenary celebrations, PM Modi is also set to hold bilateral consultations with his Bangladesh counterpart where mutiple Memorandum of Understandings (MoU) are expected to be signed. He will also visit Jeshoreshwari Kali Temple in Ishwaripur area of Shyamnagar and Matua community's Shri Harichand temple at Orakandi Thakurbari on Saturday. Modi is set to spend time with the family of Harichand Thakur, founder of the Matua community in 1812 - this move gains significance as the Matua community is a sizeable community in Bengal, which is up for polls.
Hunter Biden and his family joined President Joe Biden on Friday as he flew to his home in Delaware for the fourth weekend since taking office.

The 51-year-old, his wife Melissa, and their baby son Beau were seen leaving the White House Friday afternoon as they traveled to Wilmington with his father.

Hunter held his 12-month-old son in his arms with Melissa close behind him before boarding Marine One from the South Lawn.

The Bidens flew to the Joint Base Andrews, Maryland where they then traveled to Wilmington on Air Force One.

Hunter Biden and his family joined President Joe Biden on Friday as he flew to his home in Delaware for the fourth weekend since taking office

The family getaway comes just two weeks after the White House press corps criticized the president for his frequent trips home during the coronavirus pandemic

President Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden, left, as carries his son Beau and holds his wife Melissa Cohen's hand before boarding Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland

When Biden landed in Wilmington he spoke to reporters there and was asked about having Baby Beau on board.

'It's really great,' the doting grandfather replied.

The family getaway comes just two weeks after the White House press corps criticized the president for his frequent trips home during the coronavirus pandemic.

Press secretary Jen Psaki later defended the commander-in-chief saying: 'The president lives in Wilmington. It's his home. That's where he's lived for many, many years.

'And as you know, as any president of the United States does, he takes a private airplane called Air Force One to travel there.'

Biden has been open about his love for his home state, where he lived as a senator before being elected vice president in 2008 and where he returned after he left the White House in 2017.

Hunter held his 12-month-old son in his arms with Melissa close behind him before boarding Marine One from the White House South Lawn

President Joe Biden turns back to assist his son Hunter Biden and grandson Beau while boarding Air Force One in a strong breeze as they depart Washington for travel to Wilmington

Biden doted on his grandson after landing in Wilmington later that afternoon

Hunter was also reported to have been splitting his time between California and Delaware before moving into a family home in Venice earlier this year.

The president's embattled son made headlines once again this week after it was reported the Secret Service tried to intervene in a 2018 police investigation involving Hunter and his then-girlfriend, his brother's widow Hallie.

A report published by Politico revealed Hallie threw a gun she'd found in his car into a grocery store trash can because she thought he was going to kill himself with it.

The FBI were called to the scene and both Hunter and Hallie were interviewed by police.

While the pair were being questioned, Secret Service agents went to StarQuest Shooters - where Hunter had purchased the gun - and asked the owner if he'd give them the sale records.

No one in the Biden family was entitled to Secret Service protection at the time but Politico cites unnamed sources who say that agents from the Secret Service offices in Wilmington and Philadelphia kept an 'informal' role in protecting them after Joe left office as Vice President in 2017.

Vice Presidents are not entitled to lifelong Secret Service protection in the way that Presidents are.

The Secret Service told Politico it had no record of any involvement of its officers in the investigation.
Monday night's RTE debate - A United Ireland: What Would It Mean? - hosted by Claire Byrne was an important, if not quite substantive, event. A sort of "just putting it out there" discussion. The real debate won't begin until a border poll is called and that won't happen until both governments are ready to set a date.

The Belfast Agreement is flexibly vague on the conditions required to announce the poll, but flexible enough for London and Dublin to make the call when it jointly suits their agenda, rather than the agendas of some political parties and lobby groups who fear that a long delay will risk losing what seems like the present momentum.

It is clear, though, that the Irish political establishment is preparing for a poll which is now, to all intents and purposes, inevitable.

It's still unlikely to happen before the tail end of the decade (although anything is possible in these increasingly odd times), but I would be surprised if the "mulling over the contents" phase in preparation for an eventual White Paper isn't already well under way.

Sinn Fein, along with a variety of civic nationalist groups, has been hard-pushing the "unity project" for some time; commissioning reports, hosting conferences, lobbying the Irish government and attempting to get some clarity on when and how a border poll can be called.

They've also spent a lot of time trying to persuade small-u unionists and constitutional agnostics that unionism will be accommodated and protected within a "new" Ireland.

But the same effort doesn't appear to be put into exploring and explaining the possible consequences of unity to a southern audience. Their consent is required. Article 3 of the Irish constitution states that a united Ireland "shall be brought about only by peaceful means with the consent of a majority of the people, democratically expressed, in both jurisdictions in the island".

So, winning a border poll in Northern Ireland isn't enough, in other words. It also has to be won in the south, too. And while opinion polls may suggest majority support for unity right now, it needs to be remembered that respondents are answering what might be described as an "aspirational" question.

Many of them may well give another response once a full-scale debate has clarified some of the consequences and challenges of unity.

Unity isn't just about the economy and the righting of perceived wrongs, particularly partition. It's about creating a state - a free, independent, sovereign Ireland - which hasn't existed for centuries. It's also about understanding the myriad political/electoral/societal/cultural consequences flowing from unity and the myriad changes which will be required by unity.

There's another crucial question which will need to be addressed: how do you prevent a repetition of some of the problems which bedevilled Northern Ireland politics for so long?

Since 1921, there hasn't really been a period when unionism and nationalism enjoyed what might be described as a genuinely civil, respectful relationship. That's because they were permanently divided by the "identity" issue. That issue won't disappear simply because partition disappears and Northern Ireland ceases to exist.

Indeed, it could be a few generations before those who presently identify themselves as "Ulster", or British, or UK unionists would be reconciled to Irish unity. Let's not forget, either, that the vast majority of nationalists in Northern Ireland never reconciled themselves to living in the United Kingdom.

That's where the matter of "accommodating" unionism comes into play. Would a united Ireland provide a form of mandatory power-sharing and recognition of the "British dimension" at the heart of the Irish government?

Would they be provided with a veto? Would their minority status in a new state entitle them to political/legal protections not available to the majority? Would they be allowed to have the Union flag in their offices in the Dail? Would statuary and street signage reflect their separate history and culture?

Would there be an Ulster-Scots translation provision in public services? Feel free to add to that list.

Has the southern audience even considered the possibility that a unionist party bloc (and you can be certain that unionists probably will vote as a bloc for a couple of generations) could hold the balance of power in one coalition after another? Or that there will be a price for occupying that role?

I think it's also worth mentioning that the nationalism of Northern Ireland is not the same as the nationalism of the south, meaning that reconciliation may be required there, too.

Building a new nation from scratch is an enormous task: one that should only be entered into after lengthy debate and with very clear signposts for the direction of future travel. Both Brexit and the Good Friday Agreement suffered as a consequence of that lack of debate.

As I say, it's going to be about much more than the economy, the health service (what replaces the NHS), the education system and the currency, essential though all of those issues are. It's also about funding the new state. It's about new burdens for the taxpayer. Again, feel free to add to that list.

The challenges for the southern voter (whose imprimatur is required) are, I think, just as great as the challenges for unionism. Yet it strikes me that a debate, let alone a conversation with them, hasn't even begun.

There cannot be a united Ireland without their approval. It really is that simple. Monday's debate will, I hope, have opened the eyes and ears of its viewing audience to the realities of the issue, rather than to just the rhetoric of those whose minds are already made up.

Alex Kane is a writer and political commentator
Rating: Worth a drive

Chef Jesse Kuykendall is busy these days. Aside from her full-time gig as executive chef for the stylish Latin restaurant Ocho at Hotel Havana, shes launched a taco trailer called Milpa, plans to open a brick-and-mortar restaurant by the same name near Olmos Park and plans to open a Government Hill neighborhood grocery called Bodega Cats.

At the trailer, parked near the gate of Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, the first thing youll see is a bold black-and-white graphic of a striking woman with hoop earrings and a sunhat. Shes based on Kuykendalls mom, a single mother of six who came from Mexico with a work ethic honed by working in the milpas, the fields that were planted, cleared, rotated and left fallow to keep them healthy and fertile for corn, beans, squash and other crops.

Mike Sutter /Staff

The trailer reminds me of when my mom used to take us back to her home in Guanajuato on the train, stopping at little villages and towns and trying their foods, Kuykendall said.

But more than an homage, the trailer and the other businesses are a lifeline for Kuykendall, a backup to guard against the uncertainties of the restaurant life. Those uncertainties were laid bare at the height of the pandemic, when Kuykendall was furloughed from Ocho for seven months. Shes back now, and intends to stay at Ocho even as her side projects take off.

Milpa Location: 1941 N. New Braunfels Ave., 210-913-6728 , Facebook: @MilpaFoodTruck Hours: 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Thursday-Sunday Takeout/delivery: Takeout and shaded picnic table dining available See More Collapse

Kuykendall, or Chef Kirk as shes called, isnt doing all this by herself. Her former sous chef at Ocho, Miguel Rodriguez, is along for the ride as co-owner of Bodega Cats. Hes also a partner at the Milpa trailer and restaurant, joined by co-partners and chefs Manny Olivarez, Anthony Hernandez and Jose Cuevas. Kuykendalls the principal owner, but as shell remind you enthusiastically and often, I couldnt do any of this without my team.

On ExpressNews.com: Slider Provider food truck packing a world of flavor into each tiny burger

Look for the restaurant version of Milpa to open in the next few weeks in the former boxcar home of Mings Noodle Bar at The Yard on McCullough near Olmos Park. Bodega Cats should be open in Government Hill in about two months, with milk, eggs, produce, international snacks, beer, wine, a hot-and-cold sandwich deli in the back and maybe some bodega cats of its own.

The Milpa trailer will keep rolling along, too. Now breathe all that in, then step to the window at Milpa for some great street tacos, pozole and quesadillas.

Mike Sutter /Staff

Best dish: The best foods arent just the ones that taste great; theyre the foods that tell a story. And Milpas tacos arabes ($9.99 for three) tell the story of pork cooked and spiced like shawarma by Middle Eastern immigrants to the Mexican state of Puebla. At Milpa, the aromatic pork falls in tender slices across mini corn tortillas, dressed with cucumber and crema. Kuykendall suggests flour tortillas for an experience even closer to shawarma on pita. Next time.

On ExpressNews.com: Haitian-Asian food truck brings together Korean, Philippine, Haitian flavors in New Braunfels

Other dishes: The trailer menu of tacos, quesadillas and pozoles is just a sample of whats to come at the restaurant version of Milpa, Kuykendall said. Shell add tamales, moles, burritos and more salsas.

Mike Sutter /Staff

Even so, the trailers doing fine, with specialties like a radiant chicken pozole verde ($7.99), freshly grilled street corn dressed with lime and crema ($3.99) and a big half-moon quesadilla frita ($6.99) made with fresh masa folded around dense Oaxaca cheese and fried crispy.

Tacos are an event at Milpa. Beef sweetbreads called mollejas ($8.99) took on a crispy sear over a pliant ivory interior, carne asada ($9.99) walked a satisfying line between fajitas and steak, ground chorizo ($8.99) rippled with orange spice and just the right amount of grease, and spicy mushrooms ($6.99) tasted like a steakhouse side dish scaled down to fit in the palm of your hand.

Tacos are served three to an order on mini corn tortillas doubled up and toasted dusky red on the grill, served with a grilled jalapeno and dressed with pickled onions, cilantro and queso fresco.

msutter@express-news.net | Twitter: @fedmanwalking | Instagram: @fedmanwalking
Gov. Gavin Newsoms appointment of Assemblyman Rob Bonta as attorney general was a victory for Asian American representation at a trying time for the community and, judging by the Alameda Democrats legislative record, for criminal justice reform. Bontas historical significance, progressive credentials and qualifications for the job are considerable.

Bonta also marks the governors third effectively unilateral elevation to an elected statewide post in as many months. That amounts to a remarkable string of setbacks for California democracy.

The appointments, subject to virtually assured confirmation by lawmakers, are a strange way to fill powerful and prominent elective offices in a state that asks voters to decide such minutiae as how to regulate dialysis clinics every few years. Californians are forced to weigh in on all sorts of microscopic matters of municipal governance and, thanks to a likely recall election, could vote for or against Newsom three times in four years. But we wont have a chance to elect an attorney general, secretary of state or U.S. senator until the governors handpicked candidates establish themselves as incumbents, a huge advantage in any election.

The governors trifecta began in January, when he appointed Secretary of State Alex Padilla, Californias top elections official and a longtime Newsom ally, to Vice President Kamala Harris U.S. Senate seat. That created a vacancy in Padillas elected post, to which Newsom appointed Assemblywoman Shirley Weber, D-San Diego. Finally, he picked Bonta to succeed President Bidens newly confirmed heath and human services secretary, Xavier Becerra, who himself had been appointed to succeed Harris as attorney general by then-Gov. Jerry Brown.

Newsom called choosing a senator vexing, but he seems to have embraced his king-making role rather eagerly. He was even caught speculating about his choice to succeed Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who has expressed no intention of resigning.

The jockeying to succeed Bonta in the Assembly has already begun, but that contest will be decided the right way: by a special election. Californias top officeholders would have a more meaningful mandate  and be more likely to serve out their terms  if the governor and the Legislature returned the power to choose them to the people.

This commentary is from The Chronicles editorial board. We invite you to express your views in a letter to the editor. Please submit your letter via our online form: SFChronicle.com/letters.
The South of Scotlands largest community buyout has been legally completed following an ambitious community fundraising campaign.

The landmark agreement of 3.8m for 5,200 acres of land and six residential properties was reached between the Langholm Initiative charity and landowner Buccleuch last October.

The community of Langholm helped achieve this following a six-month fundraising drive which reached its target in the final two days.

With the transfer of ownership finalised, the local community now owns the land for the first time in its history.

Work is to begin on creating the Tarras Valley Nature Reserve to help tackle climate breakdown, restore nature, and support community regeneration.

Margaret Pool, chair of the Langholm Initiative said: We can celebrate as a new era begins for this special land with which our community has such a deep and long-standing connection."

Benny Higgins, executive chairman of Buccleuch, added: To have concluded the sale to the community is a fantastic achievement.

"This was achieved by goodwill and working together, following voluntarily all the relevant guidance and protocols."

Buccleuch has sold approximately 30,000 acres of land during the last decade to farmers and community organisations.

"We will continue to reinvest revenue from land sales into a variety of business projects across the farming, forestry, renewable energy, and leisure and hospitality sectors," Mr Higgins said.

Discussions are continuing between the Langholm Initiative and Buccleuch over another 5,300 acres of land the community wishes to buy, and which could double the size of the new nature reserve.
Washington  The African Lion 21 military exercise is "a great opportunity to strengthen one of the oldest strategic relationships of the United States", with Morocco, said Thursday Maj. Gen. Andrew M. Rohling, Deputy Commanding General for Africa and U.S. Army Southern European Task Force-Africa Commander.

"As we prepare to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the opening of the U.S. Legation in Tangier, the exercise fosters the close and unbroken ties between the United States and the Kingdom of Morocco, America's oldest partner," Rohling said at a phone press call.

African Lion 21, one of the largest military maneuvers in Africa, is scheduled to kick off in June. The exercise will involve thousands of troops from the United States, Morocco and several other countries in Africa and Europe.

The African Lion 2021 program includes multi-domain operations, including a maritime exercise with naval gunfire, an air exercise, a chemical-biological response exercise, as well as humanitarian activities
BRUSSELS and STOCKHOLM, March 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Euroclear has agreed to acquire MFEX Group, a leading global digital fund distribution platform, majority owned by Nordic Capital.

https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/832898/Euroclear_Logo.jpg [https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/832898/Euroclear_Logo.jpg]

The combination of MFEX's innovative distribution platform with Euroclear's FundSettle post-trade operations expertise creates a unique and compelling offering for fund distributors and fund management companies globally.

Faced with increasing levels of complexity and cost, fund management companies require an efficient mechanism to access a broad network of end investors in a fragmented marketplace. FundSettle already streamlines back office processes by delivering a single point of access for order management, settlement and asset servicing, bringing greater efficiencies and cost savings.

With this transaction, MFEX and Euroclear's complementary businesses are expected to produce significant value through revenue synergies, expanding the client service offering by creating a new funds market utility and a leading global provider of fund services.

Established in 1999, the MFEX Group is headquartered in Stockholm with over 300 employees internationally. Experts in global fund distribution, MFEX offers a complete solution for fund companies and distributors and has assets under administration of EUR 320 billion. Over 350 institutional clients use MFEX to access one of the world's largest range of funds with 80,000 funds from over 960 fund companies.

The parties have agreed not to disclose financial details. The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2021, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals.

Lieve Mostrey, Chief Executive Officer, Euroclear commented: "We are delighted to sign this agreement to acquire MFEX Group. We expect MFEX's broad fund distribution network, along with its talented people, to be very complementary to Euroclear as we continue to enhance our exceptional service, extend our customer proposition and grow our business."

Jean Devambez, Chief Executive Officer, MFEX Group said: "Over the past years, we have together with Nordic Capital invested in our platform and continued to transform the fund distribution proposition. Euroclear is a great strategic fit for the next stage of our journey. By adding our respective strengths, we will be able to build an even better and stronger solution for fund distribution."

MFEX co-founders and Board members, Olivier Huby and Oliver Lagerstrom added: "It has been a privilege to work closely with Nordic Capital and to grow MFEX together. We are delighted for MFEX to partner with Euroclear, which we believe will be a perfect combination for the future."

David Samuelson, Board member of MFEX and Principal, Nordic Capital Advisors also commented: "MFEX is a true leader in its field. Since Nordic Capital became a majority owner in 2018, in partnership with the founders, MFEX has experienced continued strong organic growth and executed a series of strategic, value accretive acquisitions. MFEX has developed from being a Nordic leader in its industry to a pan-European leader with an emerging global presence. Nordic Capital is pleased to have been able to support this journey. Now it is the ideal time for Nordic Capital to hand over to Euroclear as the next step for MFEX."

About Euroclear

Euroclear group is the financial industry's trusted provider of post trade services. Euroclear provides settlement and custody of domestic and cross- border securities for bonds, equities and derivatives to investment funds. Euroclear is a proven, resilient capital market infrastructure committed to delivering risk-mitigation, automation and efficiency at scale for its global client franchise.

The Euroclear group includes Euroclear Bank - which is rated AA+ by Fitch Ratings and AA by Standard & Poor's - as well as Euroclear Belgium, Euroclear Finland, Euroclear France, Euroclear Nederland, Euroclear Sweden and Euroclear UK & Ireland. The Euroclear group settled the equivalent of EUR 897 trillion in securities transactions in 2020, representing 276 million domestic and cross-border transactions, and held EUR 32.8 trillion in assets for clients by end 2020. For more information about Euroclear, please visit www.euroclear.com [http://www.euroclear.com/].

About MFEX

As independent experts in global fund distribution, MFEX offers a complete solution for fund companies and distributors. The MFEX Group was established in Sweden in 1999 and is headquartered in Stockholm with offices in Paris, Luxembourg, London, Geneva, Kuala Lumpur, Milan, Madrid, Umea, Hong Kong, Singapore and Zurich. The main supervisory authority is the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority (Finansinspektionen).

Today, MFEX is a pan-European leader with a global presence active in 52 countries on 5 continents with more than 300 employees. The company is divided into four main business areas: Trading and custody, Distribution agreement and rebate collection, Data and fund information and Due Diligence / AML & KYC (Global Fund Watch). More information is available at www.mfex.com [http://www.mfex.com/]

About Nordic Capital

Nordic Capital is a leading private equity investor with a resolute commitment to creating stronger, sustainable businesses through operational improvement and transformative growth. Nordic Capital focuses on selected regions and sectors where it has deep experience and a long history. Focus sectors are Healthcare, Technology & Payments, Financial Services, and selectively, Industrial & Business Services. Key regions are Europe and globally for Healthcare and Technology & Payments investments. Since inception in 1989, Nordic Capital has invested more than EUR 17 billion in close to 120 investments. The most recent fund is Nordic Capital Fund X with EUR 6.1 billion in committed capital, principally provided by international institutional investors such as pension funds. Nordic Capital Advisors have local offices in Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Germany, the UK and the US. For further information about Nordic Capital, please visit www.nordiccapital.com [http://www.nordiccapital.com/]

Logo -- https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/832898/Euroclear_Logo.jpg [https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/832898/Euroclear_Logo.jpg] Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1474566/MFEX_Logo.jpg [https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1474566/MFEX_Logo.jpg]

https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1474566/MFEX_Logo.jpg [https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1474566/MFEX_Logo.jpg]

CONTACT: Euroclear, Craig MacDonald, +44-207-849-0315,craig.macdonald@euroclear.com; Sabine Leclercq, +32-473-33-08-33,sabine.leclercq@euroclear.com; MFEX, Raphael Simon, +33-1-80-87-59-21,raphael.simon@mfex.com

Web site: http://www.euroclear.com/
French authorities placed three more regions under lockdown as the country tries to stop the spread of a growing outbreak.

Hospitals, prisons and nursing homes in Brisbane, Australia, went into lockdown on Friday after a 26-year-old man tested positive for the coronavirus, the first local transmission in the country in more than a week.

Kenya imposed stringent new restrictions on its capital, Nairobi, and in four other counties, after a 52 percent increase in hospital admissions this month.

A top health official in Germany warned that the country could have 100,000 new cases a day amid a new wave of the virus that he said was likely to be worse than either of the first two.

Get the latest updates here, as well as maps and vaccines in development.

The coming vaccine glut

By the end of July, the U.S. government will have had enough doses to vaccinate the countrys entire population, with 70 million doses to spare. Tens of millions more doses are promised to the U.S. in the months that follow.

With many poorer countries yet to receive a single dose, the Biden administration is coming under increasing pressure to figure out what to do with the excess stock, our colleagues Sharon LaFraniere and Noah Weiland report. Its a question that will need to be answered within a matter of weeks, as the long manufacturing process will need to be adjusted if doses are to be sent abroad.

Its not as simple as taking back surplus vaccines from states after theyve inoculated their populations. Federal rules prohibit recalling them, and doses meant to be sent overseas would need to be relabeled and vials must be used within four to six months of being bottled.

Biden administration officials who would like to hold on to the surplus argue that children still need to be vaccinated, though clinical trial results from Moderna for children under age 12 are not expected until next fall. Immunity could also eventually wear off, which could require booster shots, but we dont yet know when or whether that will happen.
The fact checkers at the Washington Post are biased, but not corrupt. They will fact check and correct false statements by Democrats.

But when it comes to rating the false statements  a highly subjective exercise  they are more forgiving of Democrats. They tend to go light on the number of Pinocchios they award Dems, compared to Republicans. And its my impression that they are more inclined to fact check statements by Republicans than those of Democrats.

Which brings us to Joe Bidens performance at yesterdays press conference. Glenn Kessler, the Posts lead fact checker, spared Biden from the awarding of Pinocchios [see UPDATE below]. However, he did identify a series of false statements by Biden.

They included the following (with Kesslers response):

Biden  To hear them [Republicans] complain when they passed a close to $2 trillion Trump tax cut, 83 percent going to the top 1 percent. Kessler  Biden uses a misleading Democratic talking point that has often earned Two Pinocchios. The nonpartisan Tax Policy Center estimated that initially more than 80 percent of taxpayers would get a tax cut, with less than 5 percent getting a tax increase. The top 1 percent received 20.5 percent of the tax cut in 2018. . . . Biden  I also set a goal before I took office, of getting the majority of schools in K through 8 fully open in the first 100 days. Now, thanks to the enormous amount of work done by our administration, educators, parents, local, state education officials and leaders, a recent Department of Education survey shows that nearly half of the K-through-8 schools are open now, full time, five days a week for in-person learning. Kessler  Biden is referring to a survey, released Wednesday, that surveyed schools on the situation in January, just as Biden took office. So the numbers do not reflect anything that has happened on Bidens watch. Moreover, Biden overstated what the survey found. . . . Biden  Well, look, the idea that Im going to say, which I would never do, that if an unaccompanied child ends up at the border, were just going to let them starve to death and stay on the other side  no previous administration did that either, except Trump. Kessler  Biden claimed, without apparent evidence, that children starved to death in Mexico under President Donald Trumps 2019 policy allowing border officers to return non-Mexican asylum seekers to locations in Mexico as their claims are adjudicated in immigration courts. Asked for evidence of such deaths, a White House official referred to reports of widely reported treacherous conditions at camps along the border on the Mexican side that formed as a result of the Trump Administrations use of the Migrant Protection Protocol, more commonly known as Remain in Mexico.. . . . [B]ut none documented the deaths of children by starvation. Biden  If you take a look at the number of people are coming, the vast majority, the overwhelming majority of people coming to the border crossing are being sent back, are being sent back, thousands, tens of thousands of people, who are over 18 years of age and single people, one at a time coming, have been sent back, sent home. Were sending back the vast majority of the families that are coming. Kessler  Almost all single adults are turned away, so Biden started off in accurate territory when he spoke about the overwhelming majority of people and those who are over 18 years of age and single. Then he flubbed [note: or lied] when he added the vast majority of families. Only 41 percent were turned away last month. Biden  Nothing has changed. As many people came  28 percent increase in children to the border in my administration; 31 percent in the last year, in 2019, before the pandemic, in the Trump administration. It happens every single, solitary year. There is a significant increase in the number of people coming to the border in the winter months of January, February, March. It happens every year. Kessler  . . .But the numbers do not spike in the winter every single, solitary year, as he said. In 2017, for instance, apprehensions and encounters with inadmissible migrants declined through the winter. And, as The Washington Post reported Monday, the number of unaccompanied minors arriving at the border could reach a monthly record when March ends. Bidens comparison covers the January-to-February period, but the tables could turn on him by the end of the week. Never before have so many minors arrived so fast, The Washington Post reported. Over the last three weeks, the average number of teenagers and children crossing into the United States without their parents has topped 550 per day, according to the latest government data reviewed by The Washington Post. Border officials are on pace to take in more than 17,000 minors this month, which would be an all-time high.

(Emphasis added)

The Posts Nick Miroff also took issue with some of Bidens false statements. The headline in the paper edition of the Post says that Biden was in error on some facts. The internet version of the article softens it even more, saying that Biden showed imprecision on some facts.

This is Washington Post fact checking in a nutshell. The Post will, on occasion, point to errors by politicians it favors. But when it does , the Post will almost always pull its punches.

UPDATE: Glenn Kessler tells me that the Post tends to award Pinocchios only for full-fledged fact checks, not for round-ups of quick fact checks made in a speech or a news conference (which is what his fact check of Bidens presser was). Kesslers statement accurately reflects the Posts practice, I believe.
China asks Ukraine to properly resolve the conflict issue surrounding the purchase of Motor Sich shares by Chinese investors, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying said at a briefing, answering a question from the RIA Novosti Russian state agency about the reaction to possible nationalization enterprises by decree of the President of Ukraine.

"China asks the Ukrainian side to protect the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises and investors in accordance with the law and properly resolve the relevant issues," Chunying said in a transcript of the March 25 briefing on the Chinese Foreign Ministry's website.

The spokesperson said that the Foreign Ministry was informed about the relevant documents on Motor Sich.
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Christians must change their strategy to keep graphic sex materials out of schools: expert

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Christians must "change their strategy" to keep graphic sex materials out of public schools, an expert has advised, following reports that an Ohio public high school has assigned freshman students to read a slam poetry book about a girl who liberates herself by abandoning her Christian faith and engaging in sexual promiscuity.

According to The Daily Wire, Hilliard Bradley High School, located near Columbus, the state's capital, has assigned ninth-grade English students to read a poetry book titled, The Poet X, in which the main character, named Xiomara, rejects her faith and engages in sexual activities at school as a minor.

Parents of students enrolled at Hilliard Bradley High School must ask their children to opt-out of reading the assigned book if they're opposed to the graphic content, DW added.

In the first two pages of the assigned poetry, the underaged main character Xiomara addresses drug dealers who cat-call her. At one point the drug dealer says that church girls are all freaks.

The book also reveals that Xiomara is pressured to send nude photos of herself to boys.

One of the poems in the book, by Elizabeth Acevedo, a National Poetry Slam Champion, is titled, I Think the Story of Genesis Is Mad Stupid. The book also features descriptions of graphic sex acts, including a poem titled Fingers, which describes masturbation. Another poem, titled Hands, describes Xiomara touching her love interest in a classroom setting. Yet another poem describes the main character and her love interest preparing to have sex.

Aaron Baer, president of the Columbus-based Center for Christian Virtue, said Christians and social conservatives who routinely object to this kind of thing have to change their strategy because as soon as they manage to make a school stop doing something objectionable, like teaching sexually explicit content, theyll find another way to do it.

The reality is that public schools have no meaningful accountability measures in place to stop the sexualization and harm to children," Baer said in a phone interview with The Christian Post on Wednesday. "When a public school is failing and ignoring parents, they get more money from the taxpayers and government. So there is no incentive structure to stop schools from doing this level of harm to children."

This is happening in public schools everywhere  in inner cities, suburbs and rural areas, he stressed. Teachers and administrators have been emboldened to teach such political and sexual curriculum to young people. He believes none of this will stop until universal school choice is a reality nationwide.

I dont care how many people launch campaigns to replace the school board or how many outrage campaigns there are ... until the parents can say, I dont like what youre doing and if you dont stop, Im taking my kid out and youre going to lose the money for them, this will not change, Baer said.

There are no market forces on public schools to make them change. They have no incentive to listen to parents other than to maybe make them go away. What inevitably happens every single time we have a situation like this is, if were able to get the school to stop, within a few years, those parents move on and the school does it again."

The same Columbus-area school district had, in recent weeks, ordered teachers to have students lobby for a sexual orientation and gender identity bill at the state capitol building. We got them to stop, and now theres this [sexually graphic poetry], Baer added.

Theyre not going to stop because there are so many teachers and so many bureaucrats and so many political forces inside the school that until the parents are able to hold the school accountable, its not going to get better. Christians and social conservatives broadly have, for too long, lived in this bubble thinking ... Well, if we could only just take over the school board and fight the curriculum, we could stop this.

Weve done that for 50 years, and were now teaching that Christianity is evil and that boys can become girls. We have failed. We have to go for universal school choice. Anything else is a cop-out.



CP reached out to the Hilliard school district's communications director for comment on this article but did not receive a response by press time.

Donna Senchesak, the director of the Parents for Educational Rights chapter in Ohio and a Hilliard Bradley parent, said in an interview with The Daily Wire that the districts goal was to provide poetry written by non-white authors, though she was confused why the school opted for the graphic content. She withdrew her daughter from the class that was reading the book and said she will continue pushing back against the district on behalf of other parents and students.



I am still fighting for these students and parents even though my daughter does not have to read it anymore, she said.

I am concerned for kids  that they cant handle it.
US and European retail brands in China are facing a dilemma: embrace cotton from the Xinjiang region and come under attack in the west, or reject it and risk a boycott in China.

Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) was blasted by the Communist Youth League and the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) on Wednesday after social media users dug out an undated company statement about accusations of forced labour in Xinjiang where Beijing is accused of repressing Uighurs Muslims.

Calls to boycott the Swedish retailer, which gets 5.2pc of its global revenue in China, quickly spread to include Nike, which has previously said it wont source products from the region due to labor concerns.

Read More

Want to make money in China while spreading false rumors and boycotting Xinjiang cotton? Wishful thinking! the Communist Youth League said in a post on Chinese microblogging website Weibo, referring to H&M. One of the PLAs Weibo accounts called H&Ms statement ignorant and arrogant.

The Communist Partys move to target companies over Xinjiang shows President Xi Jinpings government is seeking to impose real costs for governments and businesses that criticise Chinas human rights record as President Joe Bidens administration aims to unite allies over the issue.

Beijing slapped sanctions on European Union officials on Monday, following coordinated sanctions and statements by the EU, US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

H&M shares fell as much as 4.4pc and Nike fell as much as 5.4pc in New York before the start of regular trading.

At a testy meeting between top US and Chinese diplomats last week, Politburo member Yang Jiechi made extended remarks attacking the human rights record of the US and called on the world to stop interfering in Chinas internal affairs. A foreign ministry spokeswoman called the Xinjiang forced labor allegations malicious lies fabricated by anti-China forces.

Bloomberg


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We are in the midst of what many are calling the Fourth Industrial Revolution, or Industry 4.0. This is a time of disruption, massive change, opportunities, and significant risks. Fortunes will shift, companies will fail, and new companies will rise from the ashes.

Like every revolution before, we will better understand what we can do, and likely do worse concerning work-life balance and family importance. There is also a significant risk for abuse and the loss of our humanity. This last could turn out to be a good thing.

This week, let's talk about where we are in this latest Industrial Revolution and where we'll likely be when this wave ends in 10 to 40 years.

We'll close with my product of the week, a new conferencing camera/speaker solution from Poly.

The First Three Industrial Revolutions

The first Industrial Revolution started in 1760 and is believed to have ended 60 years later. It caused the birth of the middle class, professional jobs at scale, advancements in manufacturing tools (mainly in textiles), agriculture, and mining.

The second Industrial Revolution started in 1871 and lasted for about 43 years. It saw the birth of fast transportation (land and sea), wired and wireless communication, and electricity. Also, we had the emergence of production lines that massively accelerated how quickly and cheaply we could build products for both civilian and military use, which set an industrial foundation for two world wars.

The last Industrial Revolution, which started in the 1950s and ran for the rest of that century, saw the birth of computers, automation, functional robotics for manufacturing, and the digital age's birth and maturity.

Each revolution had profound impacts on labor, power, income, wellness, and work-life balance. The first two revolutions arguably improved wealth distribution, eliminated most royalty, considerabley reduced slavery, and put power into the people's hands in much of the world.

One could argue that the last Industrial Revolution undid a lot of that good. Wealth again migrated from the many back to the few, people gave up their power to companies and governments, and work-life balance declined for most sharply. However, it wasn't all bad, as computing power led to better healthcare, longer life expectancies, improved job safety, greater access to information, and the end of world wars.

The problem with each revolution is they weren't managed. Both the benefits and the harms emerged organically, and with each improvement, the capability to do good or ill was significantly magnified. If you think of technology as a lever, and, stealing from Archimedes, you could move the earth with a long enough lever. The Fourth Industrial Revolution promises to be one mother of a long lever.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution

The Fourth Industrial Revolution has been going on for a while now, arguably starting soon after the beginning of this century with the viable birth of artificial intelligence.

It brings with it the promise of advancements in blending humans and machines with mechanical organ and limb replacements, considerable advancements in machine intelligence (a term I think is more accurate than AI), flying cars, the rise of autonomous machines, massive instrumentation of the civilian population, and a world war. But this world war is a war on pollution and global warming, which is increasingly causing harmful weather events, rising oceans, and the polarization of world views.

It has also resulted in another huge problem that must be an immediate global need to get extended auto insurance protection (I swear if I didn't get calls for this, my phone would rarely ring).

The joke on auto insurance aside, this Industrial Revolution will force us to reconsider who we trust for information, where human ends and machines begin, and visa-versa. It will also require we take a far closer look at work-life balance because we could end up being hardwired to computational resources, potentially having us on the job 24/7 if we aren't careful.

Wondering about sleep? Recent breakthroughs indicate we could likely work while we sleep. Granted, we'll need to work on dream quality because, in most of mine, I seem to be looking for cars in parking lots, classes I'm late for, or agonizing over tests for which I haven't studied.

Robotic advancements are far farther along than most realize, ranging from advanced robotic pets and beasts of burden, to robotic weapons systems; not to mention artificial and quantum brains.

These developments, as they mature, will have significant impact on our lives. (I'm thinking of having my future robot take those damned car insurance calls!)

The level of disruption and danger with this revolution is unprecedented because we create things that can act with a purpose far more quickly than we can.

About half of all jobs are at risk of being automated during this latest revolution, and we are even building robotic mates (fortunately, they still need a ton of work). Even the concept of being a male parent has potentially become redundant (I suggest a conscious effort by men to treat women better before they collectively decide we are no longer needed).

We do have efforts to cool the earth, clean up ocean-borne plastics, and even move us to Mars if we screw up the planet. I still think that it might be better to fix the planet we are on, but what do I know?

Wrapping Up: Advice For Weathering Massive Change

I've just touched on a few of the changes. I haven't talked about flying cars, our move from petro-chemicals to electricity, quantum computing, cyber risks, or space aliens, but what should you do to survive better what is coming?

First, I'd move away from areas on the coast or high human density. Global warming is resulting in rising water and increasing weather events where the land meets that water. Also, avoid areas where there are already extreme weather events and make sure your house is constructed not only to survive the weather of today but the weather as it likely will be in a decade or so.

Consider a forward-looking field that rewards remote work and where constant training is a part of the job. You don't want to become obsolete in the middle of this mess. Pick naturally agile companies, have diversity at the top and the bottom, and pay more than lip service to corporate social responsibility.

Inventory your priorities and factor those into your decisions about family, where to live, what kind of job to do, and the nature of the company you work for or the business you build. Learn to embrace rather than fight change. It's coming; you can't stop it, so you might as well find a path to enjoy that change.

In short, you want to find a relatively stable island of enjoyment that you can preserve while recognizing stability will be impossible. Your goal is to limit the amount of change you'll need to face so you can manage the unavoidable disruptions.

Get used to conservation and work on your antisocial behaviors. We will be in an increasingly connected and transparent world, and making sure you don't have bombs in your digital history will help ensure you have a long and successful career.

One last thing: consider adopting the Flux Mindset, which is a way of dealing with massive change while maintaining a healthy attitude. You'll need it because we are about to enter the period of this latest Industrial Revolution that will be the most disruptive in the world's history. I expect it to be one hell of a ride.

The Poly Studio P15 Video Bar

We've been living on products like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Webex for nearly a year now, and I've been in the search for a better video camera. The Logitech Brio, which has been my go-to camera for years, gets horrible support from Logitech. Many of the Brio's initial features, like advanced green screen capability, stopped working some time ago.

So I got excited when Poly contacted me to look at their new Poly Studio P15, their $599 high-end desktop video conferencing device. My initial impression is that while this camera/microphone/speaker system is expensive, it is the best desktop solution I've so far tested.

The tag line for this product is "look amazing, be amazing," and it delivers. The whole point to a solution like this is to look good on camera, and you can adjust the settings to give yourself a little color, and it not only auto frames you, but it will also use AI to eliminate background noise. You can limit your field of view to hide the mess beside your desk, and it has built-in speakers which aren't bad either.

This video bar sat just fine on my 49-inch Dell monitor, but it's too big and heavy for a laptop. It has a built-in screw mount for a tripod, though, and I'd recommend that you use a tripod with a laptop.

Poly Studio P15 Video Bar

For this price you'd expect to get a good camera -- and you do. It has backlight correction and a decent field of view, which is significant for self-centering. The app is pretty basic but does what is needed; and frankly, too many controls can lead to messing up the image, so I'm ok with it.

It's missing some features that I expect to arrive in high-end cameras, like the ability to render you virtually, apply virtual makeup, or actively make you look younger and better, but no one does that right now.

The Poly Studio P15 is the best personal video conferencing camera I've yet seen, and if your appearance is essential, you should check it out. It is also my product of the week.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ECT News Network.

Rob Enderle has been an ECT News Network columnist since 2003. His areas of interest include AI, autonomous driving, drones, personal technology, emerging technology, regulation, litigation, M&E, and technology in politics. He has an MBA in human resources, marketing and computer science. He is also a certified management accountant. Enderle currently is president and principal analyst of the Enderle Group, a consultancy that serves the technology industry. He formerly served as a senior research fellow at Giga Information Group and Forrester. Email Rob.


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The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has listed conditions for it to resume its air operations to and from Nigeria.

The details are contained in a letter to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Nigeria dated March 24, 2021.

The Nigerian government temporarily banned Emirates Airlines from operating in the country over its continuous refusal to fly passengers without a pre-boarding Rapid Diagnostic Test (RTD).

The ban took effect from midnight on March 17.

Emirate and KLM had in the past few weeks flown passengers into Nigeria but refused to fly passengers out owing to new guidelines introduced as part of measures to curb the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

The UAE government, through its embassy in Abuja, said it has decided to remove the requirement for a Rapid Antigen Test at the airports in Nigeria.

It, however, listed conditions for resuming flight operations.

The country said the number of passengers on inbound flights to the UAE must not exceed 200 passengers for two weeks.

Also, it said only direct flights between the UAE and Nigeria will be allowed.

Passengers need to present a valid negative PCR test conducted within 48 hours before boarding.

The letter said the embassy should be provided with an updated list of the approved PCR test centres by the Nigerian government.

It also emphasised the importance of ensuring the accuracy of the passengers information, contact details, and place of stay during their stay in UAE.
The business world seems to have doubts about the economic viability of the energy transition, a survey by Standard Chartered has suggested.

According to the survey called Zeronomics, as much as 64 percent of the 250 senior executive respondents dont think the energy transition to net-zero emissions is commercially viable when it comes to their company.

This finding, which hints that the energy transition may simply be too expensive for many companies, chimes in with another: that the majority of companies need to invest money that they dont have in their shift to net zero.

Standard Chartered reported that both the executives and the 100 investors among its respondents agreed that lack of sufficient financing was the number-one problem to businesses transition to net-zero, with as much as 85 percent of companies needing medium or high levels of investment for the energy transition. Among heavy polluters, this percentage rises to 91 percent.

The problem is serious because the majority of the industry executive respondents said they expected 60 percent of the funding they needed for their shift to net zero to come from internal sources and the rest from external.

Theres more bad news, too. Less than half of StanCharts industry executive respondents said their companies fully supported the Paris Agreement and its emission targets. However, a majority of 71 percent among industry executive respondents said their companies had net zero plans and expected to make the most progress on these plans between 2030 and 2050.

The delayed progress might have something to do with the lack of standardized measurements for emissions, disclosure standards, and ratings since as many as 81 of the business respondents said such standards would go a long way towards accelerating energy transition efforts. However, according to forecasters, the world needs to make the most progress over the next ten years and not later if the Paris Agreement targets are to be hit.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Credible compiled a list of 20 U.S. metro areas where homes are selling the fastest, using data from Zillow and ranking homes according to the average number of days they were listed before there was a pending sale in December 2020, the most recent month in which data was available for all metros.
SCRANTON  Gov. Tom Wolf visited Scranton Primary Health Care Center on Thursday to praise their work during the coronavirus pandemic and tout Pennsylvanias efforts in vaccinating the states most vulnerable.

During a news conference, Wolf said the federally qualified health center on Wyoming Avenue has worked with great flexibility to get shots in the arms of the elderly and those at greatest risk from COVID-19. He said they offered shots to eligible patients who come to the center for other reasons, have reached out to people who are not patients and have visited senior high-rises to bring them the vaccine.

Theyre working affirmatively and theyre working effectively to vaccinate eligible individuals wherever they are, Wolf said.

Since vaccines against COVID-19 became available late last year, Pennsylvania providers have administered more than 4.6 million doses, fully vaccinating more than 1.6 million people and getting another 1.4 million their first dose. Wolfs office said in a news release Thursday that about 4 million people in Pennsylvania are eligible for the vaccine in Phase 1A and estimated that its reached 75% of them.

Primary Health Care Center CEO Joseph Hollander said the governors visit Thursday was an honor to him and his staff, whom he called rock stars since the beginning of this. Counting first and second doses of COVID-19 vaccine, he estimates nearly 10,000 shots have been administered through the health center.

As of Thursday, nearly 42,000 residents in Lackawanna County were fully vaccinated against the coronavirus and more than 108,000 doses of vaccine had been administered, according to updated figures from the state Department of Health. About 33% of the countys more than 200,000 residents had received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine  the highest rate in the seven-county Northeast Pennsylvania region.

Pennsylvania ranked 26th in the nation for the number of doses administered per 100,000 people, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday. The CDC estimated that 28.1% of the states entire population has received at least one shot, roughly two points above the national rate.

Wolf said the chief constraint remains the relative scarcity of vaccines, but supply is steadily increasing each week.

The Health Department is requiring providers to schedule appointments for Phase 1A-eligible patients by the end of the month, and officials plan to have the rest of Pennsylvania eligible for shots by May 1. Wolf also said they hope to have guidance issued Friday for summer camp operations.

Were rolling this out as quickly as we can and, as we see it, as efficiently as we can, Wolf said.

Wolf was joined Thursday by state Reps. Marty Flynn, D-113, Scranton, and Bridget Kosierowski, D-114, Waverly Twp., as well as Scranton Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti and Lackawanna County Commissioners Jerry Notarianni and Debi Domenick.

Here in Lackawanna County, we are working together to prioritize the health and safety of our residents and I am grateful for all your collaboration, said Kosierowski, who sits on the COVID-19 Vaccine Joint Task Force. I also wanted to thank all the wonderful, willing providers we have here in Lackawanna County. Your work is saving lives and I commend each of you.
Halwani to focus on the development and implementation of organizations future STEAM programming in support of students

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The Possible Project (TPP) announced Gus Halwani as its Vice President of STEAM and Innovation. In this newly created role, Halwani will focus on the development of TPPs STEAM education and technology. This work will include the integration of design, computational thinking and coding, AI, math, advanced manufacturing, materials science, augmented / virtual reality, digital media, arts, and music production across all of TPPs entrepreneurship education and work-based learning programs.

As we expand our footprint throughout Boston, it is imperative we continue to elevate our leadership team with the goal of providing best in class learning opportunities and technology  especially to enhance the STEAM interest, agency, and skills of our students said TPP Co-founder and Executive Director, Becky Levin. Gus is a visionary entrepreneur with a talent for cultivating engagement strategies across education and STEAM settings. His unique and blended expertise within neuroscience, technology, and education will truly add to our program and inspire our students as they explore and pursue post-secondary career paths.

Halwani is the Founder of NeuRace, a startup focusing on brain-machine interactions in motorsports. Prior to joining TPP, he led business development for VictoryRX and consulted with several schools throughout Massachusetts and Florida to evaluate STEAM curriculum and build project-based learning frameworks. While earning his PhD at MIT, Halwani was awarded the universitys IDEA2 Fellowship for proposing a novel translational therapy, and also, presented at global events, including Human Brain Mapping and TEDx.

Halwani shared, I am extremely excited to join an organization committed to education and economic equity for all, one that creates opportunities for youth within their own neighborhood. Looking ahead, I plan on sharing my own experiences within startup and incubator environments to inspire students to map and set out on their own education, career, and life journeys.

About The Possible Project

The Possible Project's mission is to advance economic equity by ensuring young people develop the entrepreneurial spirit, skills, and networks to launch successful careers. Based in Boston, TPP offers high school students a year-round, multi-year entrepreneurship program that includes project-based curriculum, STEAM education, hands-on work experience, and individualized college and career advising.

TPPs young entrepreneurs launch their own companies, learn design and advanced manufacturing, intern with local companies, and map their postsecondary goals and plans. In the process, they develop career readiness, social-emotional, and technical skills, and strengthen their professional identity, preparing them to succeed in any future path they choose.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210325005011/en/

Molly Speed

Molly.Speed@porternovelli.com

978-609-4221

Source: The Possible Project
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Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 26)  China's donation of additional 400,000 COVID-19 vaccines made by Sinovac that recently arrived in the country will mostly be allocated to eligible recipients in areas hit by variants of concern, including Metro Manila, Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said Friday.

"Nagdesisyon na po ang NITAG (National Immunization Technical Advisory Group) na ang pinakahuling 400,000 donated Sinovac doses, karamihan nito ay ibibigay sa pinaka-apektadong ng new variants," Roque announced in a briefing.

[Translation: The NITAG has decided. Most of the 400,000 donated Sinovac doses will be given to those most affected by the new variants.]

He said among the areas that will receive these doses are the NCR Plus (Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal), Cebu, and Davao.

The Philippines previously received a donation of 600,000 Sinovac doses from China and 525,600 shots from British-Swedish manufacturer AstraZeneca through the COVAX facility. COVAX is a global initiative co-led by the World Health Organization (WHO), along with Gavi the Vaccine Alliance, and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI). It aims to accelerate the development and manufacture of COVID-19 vaccines and ensure equitable access to every country in the world. Over half a million local health workers have received either the AstraZeneca or the Sinovac vaccine.

There are three variants of concern: B.1.1.7 which originated from the United Kingdom; B.1.351 from South Africa; and P.1 from Brazil, and they all have reached the country. They carry the N501Y mutation, which appears to make the virus easier to spread than previously known variants. The B.1.351 and the P.1 also have the E484K and K417T mutations, which could evade antibodies, affecting vaccine efficacy.

There is still "little evidence" they cause more severe or critical illnesses, Dr. Nina Gloriani, head of the country's vaccine expert panel, earlier said.

The Philippines so far recorded 223 cases of the variant from the UK, 152 of the variant from South Africa, and one case of the variant from Brazil.

The country also recorded 104 cases of a variant first reported in the Philippines called P.3. The World Health Organization has yet to declare if P.3 is a variant of concern.
Good morning.

Well, the moment many of us have been waiting for has arrived: Californians 50 and older will be eligible to be vaccinated starting April 1 and residents older than 16 will be eligible starting April 15, state officials announced on Thursday, in an effort to reflect the increasing supply of doses from the federal government.

This is possible thanks to the leadership of the Biden-Harris administration and the countless public health officials across the state who have stepped up to get shots into arms, Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement.

Mr. Newsom said in a news conference that the state, effective immediately, would also allow health care providers to use their discretion to vaccinate family members of those who are eligible to be inoculated.

[Track the vaccine rollout state by state.]

According to current estimates, state officials expect that California will be able to get 2.5 million doses per week in the first part of April  a number that will ramp up to more than three million by the second half.
Ukraine will continue to take all measures in accordance with international law to counter the aggression of the Russian Federation, protect the rights of Ukrainian citizens, restore its territorial integrity and ensure that Russia fully compensates for losses caused by its illegal actions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine said on the occasion of the seventh anniversary resolution of the UN General Assembly on territorial integrity of Ukraine.

"The resolution became the first decisive answer of the international community to the beginning of Russia's armed aggression against Ukraine. Expressing strong protest against Moscow's blatant violation of the fundamental principles and norms of international law, The General Assembly named illegal the fake 'referendum' on the status of Crimea and strongly reaffirmed Ukraine's sovereignty, political independence, unity and territorial integrity within our state's internationally recognized borders," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine said in a statement on Friday.

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said, that despite the non-recognition and condemnation by the international community of the attempted annexation, not only has the Kremlin not stopped the temporary occupation of Crimea, but, on the contrary, is exacerbating the situation on the peninsula with particular audacity and extreme cynicism.

"Systematic political persecutions, unjustified searches, detentions and arrests of opponents of the occupation, elimination of independent media, the policy of cultural extermination of ethnic Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars, and blatant discrimination on religious grounds has become the norm of life on the occupied peninsula. Such an aggressive policy is aimed at intimidating the population of Crimea to suppress any manifestations of disagreement with the Russian occupation," the ministry said.

It is noted that, in order to cement its control over Crimea, Moscow grossly violates norms of international humanitarian law, in particular by carrying out systematic relocations of the Russia-loyal population to the peninsula to change its demographic composition, conducting regular illegal elections and military conscription campaigns in the occupied territory, illegally expropriating property in favor of the persons close to the Kremlin's regime.

Through an accelerated militarization the peninsula itself is being transformed into a military base that threatens the security and stability of the whole region, the ministry said.

"Another example of Russia's flagrant violation of international humanitarian law and human rights law was the deprivation of Ukrainian citizens of the right to own land on the peninsula. This step is nothing but an attempt to force them into acquiring the Russian citizenship," the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said.

Russia is also continuing its armed aggression against Ukraine in certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, undermining the fundamental principles of international law, on which international relations, world security and international order are based, the ministry said.

"The approval of the Strategy for De-occupation and Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol [March 11, 2021] and the National Strategy for Human Rights [March 24, 2021] became important steps in this direction. The work of the Crimea Platform, which we are setting up together with our international partners to consolidate the efforts aimed at de-occupation of Crimea, will constitute a key part of this endeavor," the ministry said.

The General Assembly of the United Nations adopted the resolution on territorial integrity of Ukraine on March 27, 2014.
Mitt Romney was awarded the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award for being the only Republican senator to vote to impeach Donald Trump in his first impeachment trial.

'I'm very appreciative of the honor, but also humbled by it,' Romney told NBC's 'Today Show' on Friday.

Trump's first impeachment trial in January 2020 focused on the former president's relationship with Ukraine. Romney was the only Republican senator to find Trump guilty on one of the two impeachment articles. He came under heavy fire from the former president and Trump supporters for his vote.

'I sleep well because I know that I did what my conscience told me was the right thing to do,' Romney said.

He became the first senator to vote to convict a member of his own party, which earned him the honor from the Kennedy family.

Mitt Romney was awarded the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award for his vote to convict Donald Trump in former president's first impeachment trial

Caroline Kennedy and her son, Jack Schlossberg, will present the award to Romney as part of a virtual ceremony in May 2021

The Profile in Courage Award was created by the family of the late President John F. Kennedy to honor public figures who risk their careers by embracing unpopular positions for the greater good.

'I'm humbled by the Kennedy family's recognition today. But I see courage every week from my colleagues in the Senate, many of whom make tough decisions to do what they believe is right even though it may be politically unpopular,' Romney wrote on Twitter.

Kennedy's daughter, Caroline Kennedy, told NBC News that Romney's actions were reminiscent of the lawmakers highlighted in her father's book 'Profiles in Courage.'

'He was willing to risk his career and his popularity within his own party to do whats right for our country and to follow his conscience and Constitution and his impeachment votes,' she said.

Kennedy and her son, Jack Schlossberg, will present the award to Romney as part of a virtual ceremony in May 2021.

Romney's vote didn't matter in the final impeachment tally - there were not enough votes to convict Trump even with Romney's - but it did make Trump's impeachment a bipartisan event which kept the White House from portraying the trial as Democratic partisanship.

His vote also earned him the ire of Trump.

In a speech in the East Room of the White House after he was acquitted, Trump referred to Romney as a 'failed presidential candidate' who used 'religion on as crutch.'

'And then you had some that used religion as a crutch. They never used it before,' Trump said. 'But you know, it's a failed presidential candidate, so things can happen when you fail so badly running for president.'

Romney, a devout Mormon, said on the Senate floor ahead of his 'yes' vote: 'As a Senate juror, I swore an oath before God to exercise impartial justice.'

In Trump's second impeachment trial, held in February after Trump left office, seven Republican senators - including Romney - found the former president guilty of 'incitement of insurrection' in regards to the January 6th MAGA riot. But it was not enough votes to convict Trump as a conviction requires a two-thirds majority in the Senate.

Donald Trump blasted Romney for his impeachment vote, calling him a failed presidential candidate

Mitt Romney became the first senator to vote to convict a member of his own party with his January 2020 vote against Donald Trump

Romney told NBC's 'Today Show' on Friday that there was 'some irony' in his receiving the award, not because of his own 'personal failings from time to time,' he said, but because he previously ran for office against a Kennedy, JFK's younger brother Ted.

He challenged Kennedy for his Senate seat in 1994 and lost the race. Romney later ran for governor of the state and won.

'We became very good friends as time went on and actually collaborated together on a piece of legislation to provide health care to all the citizens of our state,' Romney said, referring to the health-care reform law he enacted in 2006 as governor of Massachusetts.

He added the country needs that kind of bipartisanship.

'I think common ground is the best way to unify the country. I'm afraid if the president of either party instead just follows the demands of the most aggressive wing in his party, you may have that wing satisfied, but the nation has become more divided. You've got to find common ground and work with people in both parties and get answers to issues that are bipartisan,' he said.
HALIFAX, NS / ACCESSWIRE / March 26, 2021 / Namibia Critical Metals Inc. ("Namibia Critical Metals" or the "Company" or "NMI") (TSXV:NMI) is pleased to provide an update on exploration activities on its 95% owned Grootfontein Project.

The Grootfontein Project consists of two large Exclusive Prospecting Licences with a total area of 163,784 ha (1,638 km2) and covers ground prospective for orogenic gold, magmatic copper-nickel (-PGE) and carbonate-hosted lead-zinc-silver-copper-vanadium mineralisation.

The company has launched multiple geophysical surveys to accelerate drill target generation including:

> 2,000 line kilometer helicopter-borne EM survey by SkyTEM Denmark

Ultra-high resolution UAV-borne magnetic surveys by UAS Flightec Namibia

Ground induced polarization gradient array survey and IP/magnetotelluric test surveys over the key gold targets by GSG Namibia

First drill ready targets by end of April

Darrin Campbell, Chief Financial Officer and incoming President as of April 1 stated "We are encouraged by the results from our early-stage exploration activities throughout 2020 and are excited to begin this next phase of exploration on our Namibian gold projects. As one of the largest and longest established exploration companies in Namibia we are well positioned to advance our pipeline of projects."

The Company's Exclusive Prospecting Licenses ("EPLs") prospective for gold are located in the Central Namibian Gold Belt which hosts a number of significant orogenic gold deposits including the Navachab Gold Mine, the Otjikoto Gold Mine and more recently the discovery of the Twin Hills deposit.

SkyTEM survey

SkyTEM Surveys ApS Denmark was contracted for an EM survey with its SkyTEM312FAST system. A total of more than 2,000 line kilometers at 200 m line spacing are planned over the key structural corridors of the Grootfontein project prospective for gold and base metal mineralisation (Figure 1). The project area comprises a flat terrain completely covered with thick calcrete and Kalahari sands. The combined electromagnetic ("EM") and magnetic airborne survey is planned to assist in detailed drill target planning and prioritization.

Survey Area-1 will cover gold anomalies delineated by systematic soil surveys (see Press Release December 14, 2020) including the Highland and Gressenhof Targets at the western contact of the Grootfontein Mafic Complex with Meso- and Neoproterozoic metasediments. The 25 km2 Highlands Target is situated 2.5 km north of the Grootfontein Shear (Thrust) Zone. Gold anomalies are associated with second order structures over strike lengths up to 6 kilometers. Survey Area-1 is located 80 kilometers northeast of B2Gold's Otjikoto Gold Mine (2.8 Moz) similarly positioned to the north of the Grootfontein (Otjohorongo) Shear Zone.

Survey Area-2 will cover the first order structure of the Grootfontein Shear Zone and its corridor of second order structures further to the east and an area directly to the west of the Berg Aukas Mine (2.3 Mt @ 15%Zn+3.9%Pb+0.85%V2O5).



Figure 1: Planned heli-borne EM surveys and key targets of the northwestern Grootfontein Project

Completion of the EM survey is expected by the first week of May.

Following data interpretation by Namibian and Canadian experts, drill targets will be created by mid-May 2021.

UAV Magnetic surveys

Ultra-high resolution magnetic surveys were completed over two areas of the Grootfontein Project by the Namibian drone survey company UAS Flightec (Figure 2).

The survey data reveal highly detailed magnetic anomalies which are assumed to be partly related to pyrrhotite mineralisation.

Modelling of the data by Earthmaps Consulting Namibia is expected to be completed by end of April, when the first reconnaissance RC drilling campaign is planned to start.

IP Surveys

A first area of ground Induced Polarization (Gradient Array IP) was completed over the Rothof target (Figure 2) by GSG Namibia.



Figure 2: Completed ultra-high resolution magnetic and IP survey areas over the Grootfontein Project

The first data set shows generally only moderate chargeabilities which however clearly mark the Grootfontein Shear Zone and second order structures within the mafic rocks of the Grootfontein Mafic Complex (Figure 3).

Final data interpretation and drill target generation is expected by the second week of April 2021.



Figure 3: Result of the first IP survey area at the Rothof Target: The Grootfontein Shear Zone is clearly marked with a zone of higher chargeability. Further, zones of higher chargeability occur along second order structures within the GMC

About Namibia Critical Metals Inc.

Namibia Critical Metals Inc. holds a diversified portfolio of exploration and advanced stage projects in the country of Namibia focused on the development of sustainable and ethical sources of metals for the battery, electric vehicle and associated industries. The two advanced stage projects in the portfolio are Lofdal and Epembe. The Company also holds significant land positions in areas favourable for gold mineralization.

Heavy Rare Earths: The Lofdal Heavy Rare Earth Project is the Company's most advanced project having completed a Preliminary Economic Assessment in 2014 and full Environmental Impact Assessment for a first mining area in 2017. An application has been made for a mining licence at Lofdal. The project is developed in joint venture with Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation ("JOGMEC") who are funding the current CD$4,100,000 drilling and metallurgical program with the objective of doubling the resource size and optimization of the process flow sheet.

Gold: At the Erongo Gold Project, stratigraphic equivalents to the meta-sediments hosting the recent Osino gold discovery at Twin Hills have been identified and soil surveys are progressing over this highly prospective area. The Grootfontein Base Metal and Gold Project has potential for magmatic copper-nickel mineralization, Mississippi Valley-type zinc-lead-vanadium mineralization and Otjikoto-style gold mineralization. Detailed interpretation of geophysical data and regional geochemical soil sampling have identified first gold targets.

Tantalum-Niobium: The Epembe Tantalum-Niobium-Uranium Project is at an advanced stage with a well-defined, 10 km long carbonatite dyke that has been delineated by detailed mapping and radiometric surveys with over 11,000 meters of drilling. Preliminary mineralogical and metallurgical studies including sorting tests (XRT), indicate the potential for significant physical upgrading. Further work will be undertaken to advance the project to a preliminary economic assessment stage.

Copper-Cobalt: The Kunene Copper-Cobalt Project comprises a very large area of favorable stratigraphy along strike of the Opuwo cobalt-copper-zinc deposit. Secondary copper mineralization over a wide area points to preliminary evidence of a regional-scale hydrothermal system. Exploration targets on EPLs held in the Kunene project comprise direct extensions of the cobalt-copper mineralization to the west, sediment-hosted copper, orogenic copper, and stratabound manganese and zinc-lead mineralization.

The common shares of Namibia Critical Metals Inc. trade on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "NMI".

Donald M. Burton, P.Geo. is the Company's Qualified Person and has reviewed and approved this press release.

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.

For more information please contact -

Namibia Critical Metals Inc.

Darrin Campbell, CFO

Tel: +01 (902) 835-8760

Fax: +01 (902) 835-8761

Email: Info@NamibiaCMI.com

Web site: www.NamibiaCriticalMetals.com

The foregoing information may contain forward-looking information relating to the future performance of Namibia Critical Metals Inc. forward-looking information, specifically, that concerning future performance, is subject to certain risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially. These risks and uncertainties are detailed from time to time in the Company's filings with the appropriate securities commissions.

SOURCE: Namibia Critical Metals Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/637628/Namibia-Critical-Metals-Inc-Acceleration-of-Geophysical-Programs-at-Grootfontein-Gold-and-Nickel-Copper-Targets
The National Treasury has developed a schedule over how it will disburse the Sh23.7 billion in National Government-Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF) for the remaining three months of the current financial year.

This came as the MPs during the House special sitting on Thursday last week, threatened to shoot down the Division of Revenue Bill (DoRB) 2021 over the delays in releasing the funds.

The MPs' mood forced the House leader of majority Amos Kimunya on request from a section of the MPs to have the Bill that is critical in dividing revenue between the national and county governments stood down until today.

The NG-CDF money includes the Sh10 billion balance of the Sh41 billion allocated to NG-CDF kitty in the current financial year with Sh13.7 billion in arrears for the 2019/20 financial year.

National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yattani faced with the danger of the collapse of the revenue Bill, gave an undertaking to have Sh2 billion of the Sh10 billion balance for the current financial year, disbursed every week to the NG-CDF board accounts until April 30, 2021.

The arrears for the last financial year is to be cleared by June 27, 2021, three days to the end of the current financial year.

"The National Treasury will endeavor to ensure that this allocation is fully disbursed by June 27, 2021 using the aforementioned disbursement arrangement," Mr Yattani says in the letter of March 18, 2021 to House Clerk Michael Sialai.

The Sh13.7 billion in arrears for the 2019/20 financial year has been included in the supplementary budget for the 2020/21 financial year.

The framework for disbursing the funds, according to Mr Yattani, follows a consultative meeting held on Friday 12, March 2021.

The meeting involved Mr Kimunya, Budget and Appropriations Committee (BAC) chairman Kanini Kega and the National Treasury.

House rules state that if a Bill is shot down, it can only be reintroduced after six months.

During the special sitting last week, the MPs were adamant that they will only consider the revenue Bill if the CDF money is released to the constituency accounts.

"Let us not throw away the baby and the bathwater. I am not sure how the vote will go. This House must make decisions beneficial to the people of Kenya. CDF is beneficial to the people of Kenya," Garissa Township MP Aden Duale noted.

Recent court rulings have dictated that the national government estimates and the Appropriations Bill cannot be passed before the revenue Bill has become law.

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The constitution provides that the National Treasury presents to the National Assembly the national government estimates by April 30 every financial year.

Suna East MP Junet Mohamed noted that "this CDF matter is emotive, it concerns the constituencies."

"We can take some time to agree and come to this House to pass all the laws required to be passed," Mr Mohamed said.

Nominated MP Cecily Mbarire told the House that without CDF, a member of the National Assembly is "useless."

"It is time this parliament reasserts its authority. Put your feet down when push comes to shove. It does not help to use force to push the agenda on this floor. Stop threats. I have never seen members get to the level of where you have to use threats to get money," she added.

Endebess MP Dr Robert Pukose was adamant that until the CDF money is released, the House will not approve any business from the executive.

"We need to have money in our accounts before this matter comes to the House on Tuesday next week. It is possible for them to respond to the needs of these members," said Dr Pukose adding, "the children need classes."
Gandhinagar, March 27 : There are 955 females per every thousand males in Gujarat says the latest National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) data tabled in the state Assembly on Friday.

Replying to a question by Kanti Parmar, the Legislator from Thasra constituency, the Health Minister Nitin Patel, through a written reply, said that the birth rate in the state is 18.03 and the sex ratio is 955 of the state.

The Information was disclosed in the ongoing Budget session of the state Assembly.

According to the information, the urban areas in the state tend to have a more unbalanced ratio as compared to the rural areas.

Considered to be an NRI township, the Anand district is having the lowest male-female ratio which is 726 females per 1,000 males. The highest ratio was reported in Bhavnagar 1,192 females per 1,000 males.

There are two other districts in Gujarat, which are notorious for having the worst Child Sex Ratio, Mehsana (742) and Gandhinagar (766).

Whereas, eight districts in the state, have a healthy CSR. Tapi districts has 1,185 female per 1,000 males followed by Dangs (1,143), Bharuch (1,112), Rajkot (1049), Porbandar (1,045), Dahod (1,013), and Navsari (1,006).

Patel informed the House that social beliefs are the reason for the huge difference in the male-female ratio.

Replying to the question on what was being done to improve the sex ratio, the government said that extensive mass awareness campaigns were carried out in the state and the female foeticide prevention act was strictly implemented.
[March 26, 2021] Taiwan holds 2021 World System Integration Conference, focusing on AI and IoT to Lead Smart City Progression

TAIPEI, March 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The 3rd annual World System Integration Conference in 2021 was held online and it was the first time the forum was held virtual (offline and online). The conference discussed smart city development trends and brought about system integration international cooperation business opportunities. Industrial Development Bureau Deputy Director General Pei-Li Chen at the address mentioned that system integration has become an important industrial development trend in recent years. Industrial Development Bureau is promoting Smart City and Town 2.0 Project, linking international partnership as the goal. SIPA "Online Exhibition" Initiation Responding to post-Covid era, in order to demonstrate Taiwan's diversified system integration smart solutions, Industrial Development Bureau, Ministry of Economic Affairs works with Taiwan's Osense Technology Co., LTD O'EXPO online exhibition solution's "SIPA Online Exhibition Center" to bring System Integration Promotion Alliance Project Office online. The office provides system integration and offline-virtual integration's new type of service, virtualizing offline business discussion processes. At the same time incorporating AI analysis techniques to see user behavior, leading client business discussions, optimizing exhibition results and increasing resolution efficiency. 2021 System Integration Outbound Award The award-winning FETC International CO., LTD. Implemented RFID Multi Lane Free Flow in India's NH-44 highway (rom Delhi to Chandigarh) project scope includes design, construction, operation and maintenance. Potential markets include all highways in India, state highway and other ETC-derived smart city solutions had successfully been duplicated in Thailand.



Glory Technology Service Inc.'s "Manila Metro 3rd Line Renovation and Maintenance Project" is an example where Glory Technology Service Inc. utilized domestic metro and HSR's data transmission system integration experience to demonstrate Taiwan's strength of successfully sending outbound supply chain system. Aside from Thailand and Philippines, this year they also got India's metro system's project, successfully entering the Indian market. Asus Cloud's "AI Cloud System Solution" provides cloud AI solutions. It works with Temasek Holdings Private Limited's Certis Group to assist the establishment of Certis Centre for Applied Intelligence (CCAI), research and develop technological compliance and surveillance and AI applications which turning these into business opportunities. Through continuous updating and optimizing AI pipeline automation process to reach low-latency, independence, compliant, simplified data and security. In the future, this successful model will be duplicated to all clients over the world.

AAEON Technology Inc., with integrated diversified sensory equipment and identification techniques, provides road condition detection services, "AI Road Detection System", IOB products and solution through cooperation with international partners from United States and England. By integrating environmental monitoring devices, identification and wireless transmission technology, data such as air quality, temperature, humidity, snow level detection, amount and kinds of vehicles, and personnel will be sent to a control center platform, effectively monitoring environmental quality. This project was based on England's Slough, a system integration solution which is suitable for cities with a wide application scope. International Cooperation Creating New Game Through SIPA's introduction 5 MOU were signed. Airtree Inc., focuses on aeroponics technology, including agricultural construction, big data, cloud computing, integrating smart aeroponics cloud solution, signed the MOU of smart agriculture cooperation with America's FiO, which specializes in blockchain technology. Airtree Inc. also signed smart cloud farm cooperation with a Singaporean company, Ochlos. Ochlos will find test sites for Airtree's aeroponics cloud technology for plantation processes. Chunghwa Telecom and Philippine's Sung Yuen Construction Corporation cooperated to help implement smart infrastructure in the industrial park, including smart monitoring, smart streetlight, transportation management, industrial park management centeretc. Chunghwa Telecom is continuously duplicating this success story to other new southbound countries, helping local industrial parks with smart vertical integration. Glory Technology Service Inc. signed a metro operation cooperation project with Thailand's CWTel, working to improve Thailand's metro reliability. If the cooperation goes well, Glory Technology Service Inc. will continue this partnership for future bid projects on Thailand's orange line project. C-Link Technology Inc. signed an "AI Smart Transportation Investigation Analysis System" joint project with NIPPON SYSTEMWARE CO.,LTD. This system will be able to put forward preventive smart transportation analysis, resolving traffic congestion and safety issues. This time both parties decided to use AI imagery analysis to combine monitor and drones for road traffic analysis application. WSIC is the platform to continuously bring out Taiwan's smart technology system integration to the world. We work towards "shaping Taiwan to be a reliable system integration brand to the world", also "system integration outbound impression", establishing Taiwan to be a "global system integration solution provider" to the world. SOURCE Industrial Development Bureau (IDB), MOEA

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Early performance issue doomed this DataPath bid

In its fight to keep an incumbent contract, DataPath argued that its past performance on the contract was not properly evaluated and the Army had treated both bidders unequally in the recompete.

Unfortunately for DataPath, the Government Accountability Office didnt agree and denied the companys protest.

Envistacom thus has wrestled away the $234.9 million contract to provide operations and support for several communication systems and networks.

DataPath has held the contract for several years and as described in the GAO decision the early years were rough. The Army ended up changing the scope of the incumbent contract. After that happened, DataPaths performance improved.

In a statement sent to Washington Technology by DataPaths attorney Lee Dougherty of Effectus PLLC, the company said it inherited a troubled contract and now leaves it running flawlessly.

DataPath stands by the challenges it lays out in the protest.

DataPath as the incumbent was the most experienced company submitting an offer, Dougherty said. In fact, it had higher ratings in some areas than Envistacom.

In the end, the two companies had nearly identical technical evaluations and prices that both rounded to $234.9 million. But Envistacoms bid was slightly lower than DataPaths, according to the GAO decision.

With the scores so close, DataPaths earlier challenges on the program are what spelled its doom. The Army identified a medium risk of poor performance given the firms inability to successfully perform the full scope of the incumbent effort, GAO wrote.

GAO also didnt find anything in the procurement record that indicated the companies were treated differently.

Despite the rejection, DataPath isnt giving up on the customer even if it cant continue on this contract. Dougherty said the company looks forward to continuing to work tirelessly to support the Army.

One message from this decision is that it reinforces the critical importance of past performance. DataPath is proud of the work it did. In its eyes, it rescued a troubled contract. But the Army saw a risk.

So you need to make sure that you see your past performance the same way your customer does.
(JNS)  The latest scandal surrounding the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo is noteworthy. This isnt because of the ire that its been arousing, however; righteous indignation is literally and figuratively all the rage during these days of woke.

No, the element that sets this brouhaha apart from its predecessors is the absence of mass murder. Yes, when the ink dries on the current pages of the Paris-based periodical and the Twittersphere moves on to the next hashtag, there wont be any corpses to count.

The current storm involves a lampoon of Oprah Winfreys March 7 interview on CBS with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. Titled Why Meghan quit Buckingham, the March 13 cartoon depicts Markle being kneed in the neck by Harrys grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, with the explanation: Because I couldnt breathe anymore.

The reference was to the May 25 killing of African-American George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer. The insinuation is that Markle, whose mother is black, whisked her husband out of the United Kingdom as a result of her being slowly suffocated by the ostensibly racist royal family.

The former member of the Suits cast even indicated this during her intimate chat with Oprah that was viewed by more than 60 million people worldwide.

She said that when she was pregnant with her now-year-old son, Archie, there were concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he was born. Though neither she nor Harry was specific about the identity of the snoots who supposedly engaged in such discussions, the implication that they took place in the palace was clear, and Charlie Hebdo ran with it.

The caricature is sickening. Parody involves exaggeration, but the picture in question goes beyond over-the-top metaphor.

In the first place, comparing the tribulations of the American actress-turned-British princess to the nearly nine-minute torture of a man who lost his life for trying to pass a counterfeit bill while buying a pack of cigarettes is shameful. Meghans run-ins with the royals is hardly on a par with those that Floyd encountered with law enforcement, particularly when his last such confrontation was with an out-of-control cop.

Indeed, to suggest any similarity between the plights of two people with nothing in common other than pigment (and even that only mildly) is to exhibit the very racism that the publication claims to be battling. Doing so also completely minimizes the horror of the Floyd case, which itself was cynically exploited by the Black Lives Matter movement to spark riots across the United States and beyond.

It was even hailed by Palestinian activists and their far-left apologists as yet another excuse to accuse Israel of apartheid. Talk about the use of disproportional force.

In the second place, painting the Queen as a cold-blooded killer  and a racist one, to boot  is not the stuff of good satire; its merely an expression of poor taste. Even Meghan denied that it was Her Majesty who had made the comment about her unborn great-grandsons future color.

The buzz that followed the infamous interview, with vitriol being spewed alternately at Winfrey herself, at Meghan and Harry and at the royal family, morphed into a deafening roar after the release of the Charlie Hebdo cartoon. The magazine that aims to foment anger over social issues undoubtedly couldnt be happier.

Nor does its staff need to worry about the type of repercussions that it suffered when it dared to take on radical Islam. Those took the form of actual terrorist attacks, such as the slaughter in 2015 of 12 cartoonists and editors.

That the paper regularly mocked all religious and political institutions didnt matter to the jihadists on a rampage, whose crime culminated in the assault on the nearby Hyper Cacher kosher supermarket, where they took shoppers hostage for hours and murdered four Jews.

The Charlie Hebdo office was also fire-bombed in 2011 after it published an issue titled Sharia Weekly. This was five years after the magazine was sued for reprinting a series of controversial Muhammad cartoons that had appeared months earlier in the Danish daily, Jyllands-Posten, and caused a global Islamist outburst.

Indeed, when the cartoons were published in Jyllands-Posten in September 2005  despite the papers editors explaining that their purpose had been to spur debate in Denmark about ethnicity and free speech  incensed Muslims began to riot in Europe, North America, Australia, Africa and the Middle East. At least 200 people were killed during or as a result of these demonstrations; churches and Western embassies were targeted; and Jyllands-Posten illustrators, who were receiving credible death threats, went into hiding.

More recently, in September 2020, Charlie Hebdo republished those cartoons. Two weeks later, a Pakistani refugee in France critically wounded two people outside the magazines former building. When apprehended, the perpetrator told interrogators that he had committed the act out of revenge for drawings.

Given the way in which the world has succumbed to woke pressure  and the fact that political correctness has become so ridiculous as to make satire almost pointless  its incredible that Charlie Hebdo is still cranking out its irreverent editions. That it continues to push the Muhammad envelope when doing so imperils its employees is even more impressive.

Luckily for the staff of the incendiary journal this time around, the most theyll have to endure on the heels of the pathetic Queen-and-Meghan portrait is a slew of disgusted op-eds and social-media posts, and a royal grunt or two of we are not amused.

Its a genuine lesson in freedom of expression that violent radicals have yet to learn, and one that the woke crowd is fast forgetting.

Ruthie Blum is an Israel-based journalist and author of To Hell in a Handbasket: Carter, Obama, and the Arab Spring.
Ralph Gardner Jr. is a journalist whose work has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and The New Yorker. He can be reached at ralph@ralphgardner.com . The opinions expressed by columnists do not necessarily reflect the views of The Berkshire Eagle.
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You may know some popular and authentic apps on App Store and Google play having a large number of downloads and earning a lot of money. Well, there are fair apps and developers that you can trust and enjoy on the internet, but, unfortunately not all of them are trustworthy, there are around 204 scam apps on Apple Store and Google play that have made more than $400 million according to the security researchers from Avast . Now the question is how these scam apps which are also called fleeceware make a lot of money from the App Store or Google, they actually, attract people by giving them free trials but then they change it to high recurring subscription services. These fleeceware apps mostly include musical instruments apps, palm readers, media editors, PDF readers, QR code scanners, camera filters which now a days people like to use.According to the security researchers, more than 71 percent of detected fleeceware apps are on the App Store because the iOS users have to pay for most of the apps they use, but recently Apple took some serious actions against those developers who charge a high subscription but in return, they do not provide any quality services. The Apple Company decided to remove such apps from App Store. There are still around 134 scam apps on App Store with more than 500 million downloads and Sensor Tower made an estimate of the earnings of these apps that these apps made more than $365 million in revenue. However, Google Play has fewer scam apps but still; there are around 70 apps that have earned more than $38.5 million with same number of downloads as they have on the App Store.These scam apps mostly target youngsters because they attract more to the catchy advertisements, some relaxing and playful themes on social media networks and these fleeceware apps promise them the free installation at the beginning or free download but in the end when they download such apps for free, these apps charge a lot of money. According to Avast, these apps have charged more than $3,432 monthly from an individual when their parents noticed the payment records from their credit cards. You cannot mark these fleeceware apps as malware and they have a place on App Store and Google play and these apps even have access to the official advertisement channels and for showing a genuine image of the app, the developer of these app rely on fake reviews.In February, one developer of Apple sued the company for giving a place to these apps on App Store, but App Store and Google play are taking some strict actions against these fleeceware apps by providing more transparency in the in-app purchase and the subscription of such apps will be decided according to the quality of services they provide to the users. However, users should be also aware of such apps which provide a free trial in the beginning and latterly charge such a high cost. Here are the lists of all those fleeceware apps users should avoid or delete from their device to stay on the safe side.
Two bills designed to deal with Floridas crumbling property insurance market have embarked on divergent paths in the state legislature as lawmakers approach the final weeks of the 2021 session.

Senate Bill 76 and House Bill 305, both originally supported by the Florida insurance industry and stakeholders, started off the session essentially as companion bills, but recent changes to the House proposal have stripped away reforms some in the industry say are desperately needed. While both bills advanced in their respective chambers this week, significant compromise will have to occur to give either a chance at becoming law.

Stakeholders have supported SB 76 and HB 305 since the start of session because they say the proposals will help tackle excessive insurance litigation, attorney fee costs, and abuse by predatory attorneys and contractors that is leading to severe losses for carriers and higher rates for consumers.

Every year that we dont address this problem, rates are going to continue to go up, Florida Senator Jeff Brandes told the Senate Rules Committee on Thursday.

Brandes urged his colleagues to support SB76, sponsored by Senate Banking & Insurance Committee Chairman Jim Boyd, also an insurance broker. Among its provisions, the bill would change Florida law so that attorneys fees in property insurance suits are awarded using a lodestar fee instead of the current contingency fee multiplier method, except in rare or exceptional circumstances. The bill also requires claimants give at least 60 days notice to their insurance carrier prior to initiating litigation against them. The notice must include the alleged acts or omissions of the insurer; the insureds demand; and reasonable and necessary attorneys fees incurred by claimants via calculation of the lodestar fee.

The bill would also allow insurers to offer homeowners insurance policies that adjust claims on roofs 10 years old or older on the basis of a roof surface reimbursement schedule.

HB 305 was equal to SB 76, except for the requirement that claimants provide notice of intent to initiate litigation. However, the original version was substituted last week by the bills sponsor, Representative Bob Rommel, for a different version that has changed significantly from when it was first introduced, Rommel told the House Insurance & Banking Subcommittee.

Read More: Citizens CEO: Florida Property Insurance Market is Shutting Down

It doesnt seem any of the stakeholders are extremely happy with the bill, Rommel said of the new version at the hearing on Monday.

The bill substitute no longer includes language authorizing insurers to offer limited roof coverage for homeowners policies through a roof surface reimbursement schedule, nor the attorney fee contingency risk multiplier provision that the industry has said is essential to fixing the problems in the market.

The proposed committee substitute instead:

Places salary limits on Citizens employees.

Includes presuit notice requirements for all residential and commercial property suits not brought by an assignee, including written notice of intent to initiate litigation that specifies the amount of attorney fees and costs incurred by the claimant. The costs would be calculated by multiplying the number of hours a claimants attorney actually worked on the claim as of the date of the notice by a reasonable hourly rate.

Clarifies that the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation has the same authority to examine MGAs that it has to examine insurers.

Establishes that insurers doing business in Florida must provide specific pieces of data regarding litigation of personal and residential property insurance claims to OIR on a quarterly basis.

Allows Citizens Property Insurance Corp. to raise rates a further 1% per year for the next five years, up to 15%, if OIR determines the financial need to raise rates.

Revises the eligibility for residential property owners to obtain coverage from Citizens so that they are not eligible for coverage from the residual market if a policy can be obtained from the private market that is less than 20% greater than the premium for comparable coverage from Citizens. The current amount is 15%.

Prohibits a court from awarding attorney fees to a claimant for services rendered if a suit is dismissed.

The amendment also adds several provisions targeting contractor schemes against homeowners and insurers.

Specifically, it would establish that contractors may not:

Solicit a residential homeowner to file an insurance claim;

Offer an incentive to a residential homeowner for allowing the inspection of the residential property owners roof or for making an insurance claim for roof damage;

Offer or accept any compensation or reward for referral of services for which property insurance proceeds are payable.

Interpret policy provisions, advise an insured about policy provisions, or adjust claims on behalf of an insured unless licensed as a public adjuster.

Provide an insured with an agreement authorizing repairs without providing a good faith estimate of the cost of the repairs.

Enter into a contract with a residential property owner to repair or replace a roof without including notice that the contractor is prohibited from engaging in certain acts.

The reduction of the claims filing deadline from three years to two did survive in the new HB 305 and is also included in SB 76.

Rommel said the Florida insurance market is in crisis and his bill would be an adequate fix without giving the insurance company too much power.

We need to make sure we can attract carriers to the state of Florida that want to do business here, he said. Right now, its very difficult under the current legal environment.

But industry stakeholders say HB 305 doesnt go far enough.

We believe the cost drivers wont be adequately addressed if you cant address the litigation environment, said Michael Carlson, president and CEO of the Personal Insurance Federation of Florida.

Carlson praised SB 76, which passed the Florida Senate Rules Committee on Thursday and now heads to the full Senate.

We are facing a litigation crisis in Florida, Carlson said. Its the consumers who get hit with higher insurance rates at the end of the day when insurance companies have to compensate for litigation factories who drum up lawsuits to win big attorney fee payouts. Were thankful to Senator Boyd and the Senate Rules Committee for getting this bill close to the finish line, and we hope the House companion will include important consumer protections in the end.

Before its passage, Senator Brandes told his fellow lawmakers they must remain committed to the proposals in SB 76.

We have to act, and this is a good bill, Brandes said. As this bill moves forward, I hope this Senate will have the courage of its convictions to stand its ground because our colleagues on the other side have very different ideas about whats to happen. If we dont act, we are failing our constituents. We have to stand our ground here.

Topics Legislation Florida
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Two more Covid-19 infection cases confirmed on Friday morning
A "mid-tier" Kinahan Cartel member never paid tax and was claiming State benefits while laundering tens of thousands of euro in crime cash, the Special Criminal Court has heard.

Lawyers for Sean Ruth today told the non-jury court however that he has since reformed, has "taken his medicine" and won't benefit from going back to prison.

During today's sentence hearing, the court heard that Ruth allowed his bank accounts to be used for money laundering but has disassociated himself from criminal activity since his 2019 release from prison on a firearms conviction.

Ruth was jailed for three years for possession of a .38 Special Calibre "Rossi" revolver and 9mm calibre round of ammunition after he was linked through DNA evidence to the firearm, which was found inside a blood-stained plastic bag.

Earlier this month, Ruth of Stradbrook, Stradbally Road, Portlaoise, Co Laois, pleaded guilty to two crime cash laundering offences. The three-judge court was told today that the 32-year-old has paid the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) over 20,000 and his mother will assist him in discharging the remaining 9,000.

At today's sentence hearing, Detective Garda Paul Kane told prosecuting counsel Fiona Murphy SC that on January 24, 2017, on foot of a warrant targeting organised crime, gardai went to a business premises in Greenogue, Rathcoole, Dublin 24.

Det Gda Kane said gardai intercepted two other men leaving the commercial premises at the business park and a search warrant was executed. Gardai seized 15 firearms, including a Kalashnikov, a submachine gun, and a semi-automatic weapon were found alongside a device to manufacture vehicle registrations, while a stolen forklift and a mobile tracking device were also found.

It was established that DNA matching Ruth's was found at various locations in the premises and he was arrested on May 17, 2017 on suspicion of enhancing the ability of a criminal organisation to commit a serious offence.

According to Det Gda Kane, confidential information was then received by the Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau (DOCB) on May 30 2017, which led investigators to a bank account in Ruth's name at St Canice's Credit Union, Kilkenny. This raised suspicions in relation to money laundering offences, he added.

Ms Murphy said that the Revenue status of the accused man revealed that he didn't pay tax, had never worked as a PAYE employee and claimed over 8,000 in back to work allowances. He had also allowed his bank accounts to be used to launder the proceeds of crime.

Gardai learned that Ruth had two active AIB accounts in 2016. He had 18,045 in one bank account and 32,041.90 in a second bank account, a total of 50,086. The money was also "recycled" from one bank account to another and lodged in cheques and cash. 34,513 of the money came from "an unknown source", said the detective.

CAB had sent him a tax assessment for 34,000 and seized 19,905 from his credit union account. He has an outstanding tax liability of 9,900, the court heard.

On January 12 2018, Ruth was arrested for the offence of money laundering at Mountjoy Prison and conveyed to Finglas Garda station, where he was interviewed on three occasions but nothing of evidential value arose from the interviews.

Ms Murphy told the court that Ruth was a "mid-tier member of a criminal gang" and the maximum sentence for the money laundering offence is 14 years in prison.

The court heard that Ruth has 28 previous convictions which include unauthorised possession of firearm ammunition and two charges of unlawful use of a mobile phone in prison.

Under cross-examination, Det Gda Kane agreed with John Fitzgerald SC, defending, that the prosecution case against Ruth is that he handled the proceeds of crime by other people and knew his bank account was being used in this manner. The accused man's involvement in that criminal organisation was "mid-level", he said.

The lawyer said while the overall figure of 35,172 was undeclared, it was accepted that the majority of Ruth's income came from non-criminal and legitimate sources, which included a bouncing castle business, a power washing company and selling horses.

Mr Fitzgerald said there is an outstanding amount of 9,000 to be paid to CAB and the accused's mother will assist him in discharging that sum.

Counsel said prison life has been an "eye opener" for Ruth and "happily it appears to have achieved the intended effect".

Mr Fitzgerald asked the judges to consider whether it was "a necessary step" to return Ruth to prison and said it would not benefit him. "There is very concrete evidence that he has learnt his lesson in prison and benefited from it," he added.

Mr Justice Tony Hunt, presiding, sitting with Judge Gerard Griffin and Judge Flann Brennan, remanded Ruth on continuing bail until May 17, when he will be sentenced.




Food, Wine, & Dining

By Ls Cohen Published: March 26 2021

Food truck delivers a plethora of pizzas.

Wood fired pizza from a food truck? You may not have asked for it but you got it. Of the many variations of food trucks rolling around Long Island these days, Vincents New York Wood-Fired Pizza truck has arrived on the scene in Setauket to some rave reviews.

The pies they offer span the palette and the region, with names likeThe Brooklyn, with crispy crumbled sausage, broccoli rabe sauteed in roasted garlic, hot cherry peppers, Brooklyn rolled fresh mozzarella and Vincents own red sauce ($18), The Staten Island, with sauteed spinach in toasted garlic and EVOO (extra virgin olive oil for the uninitiated), and just enough ricotta cheese and mozzarella ($18), and The Nassau, with chunky chicken bites, tossed in Vinnys homemade barbecue sauce, melted cheddar Jack cheese and topped with pickled red onions ($20).

Photo: Vincents New York Wood-Fired Pizza Facebook page.

You get the point! Vincents New York Wood-Fired Pizza truck has enough mouth watering flavors to satisfy even the most hard-core Long Island pizza connoisseur.

Check their Facebook page, where they post their weekly schedule every Monday for that week.

On Yelp, Bill S.said that the pizza is Ah-mazing!

"Have you heard of the Traveling Wilburys? he wrote. These guys are the Italian Traveling Wilburys with their bright red mobile truck and wood fired stove. I was going to write a review after I tried every single pizza Vincents offers but it seems the pizza gets better with every visit. No reason to wait, this is the real deal.

Erik Z, from Northport, agrees.

I noticed the truck in an area on 347 near Wireless Rd. (eastbound side) where there are often other food trucks, he said. The other trucks have been good, so I decided to give this one a shot. I'm glad I did. The pizzas here are fantastic.

Location: 384 Mark Tree Rd East Setauket, (631) 991-5766.
Fire crews spent four hours tackling a substantial farm blaze in Powys which resulted in the death of 16,000 chickens.

Crews were called to the farm, located near Welshpool, at around 11:30pm on Thursday (25 March).

The blaze ripped through a metal shed measuring 262ft (80m) by 66ft (20m).

Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service confirmed 16,000 chickens had died.

A second shed, also containing about 16,000 chickens, was unaffected by the incident.

The fire was brought under control by crews in the early hours of Friday morning.

The cost of farm fires in the UK reached a five-year high in 2019, totalling over 49 million, according to the most recent claims statistics by NFU Mutual.

Electrical faults accounted for over half the total last year, followed by arson which rose by 40 percent to 9 million.

How can I reduce the risk of fire?

NFU Mutual has offered farmers and landowners tips on how to lower the risk of fires:

Fire prevention:

 Get electrical systems and equipment regularly inspected by a competent electrician

 Dont overload electrical systems  and avoid using multigang connectors

 Ensure there are sufficient fire extinguishers for the size of buildings and that they are inspected regularly to ensure they are in the right location and condition

 Ensure staff and adult family members know the location of fire extinguishers and how to use them

 Reduce the risk of arson by fencing off straw stacks and farm buildings

 Use CCTV cameras on straw stacks and farm buildings, along with warning signs to deter arsonists

 Store hay and straw away from equipment that could give off heat (e.g. hot vehicle engines, overhead lights) and at least 10m from other buildings

 Put in place an evacuation plan for staff and livestock

 Store petrol, diesel and other fuels in secure areas

 Pre-plan hot works such as welding in clear areas

 Ensure you have safe, designated smoking areas

 Ensure you can direct emergency services to the exact location of fires e.g. download the what3words app which pinpoints specific 3m x 3m locations

 Ask your local Fire and Rescue service to visit to check water supplies and access routes

If a fire breaks out:

 Make sure everyone evacuates the immediate area and remains in a safe location

 Call the Fire and Rescue Service without delay

 If possible, send someone to the farm entrance to direct the Fire and Rescue Service to the fire

 Prepare to evacuate livestock but only if safe to do so should the fire spread
Australia's popular Golden Gaytime ice cream is facing another challenge just days after calls to change it's 'outdated' and 'offensive' name.

A new petition launched on Thursday on Change.org, is demanding Streets and parent company Unilever Australia make a vegan alternative to the popular 62-year-old treat.

Dan Moore, who created the campaign, is pushing for a dairy-free option, and said that should take precedence over an earlier petition that said the ice cream's name must be changed to prevent offence to the LGBT+ community.

'Don't change the name Golden Gaytime, make it vegan,' the post reads.

'It (name) is not offensive to the LGBT+ community.'

A new petition is calling for a vegan alternative of Golden Gaytime ice cream, just days after another campaign said the 'outdated' name should be removed

The new campaign created on Thursday has 91 signatures that claim 'It (name) is not offensive to the LGBT+ community.'

The petition has gathered 91 signatures so far, with respondent's agreeing that 'Gaytime must stay Gaytime'.

'The gays love it! But we do need it to be vegan please. Let's have a vegan gaytime option! Gaytime is iconic and it's happy and wonderful and there's nothing wrong with the name,' one person wrote.

'I'm gay and vegan. I agree with everything this petition is asking for,' another commented.

The campaign follows that of Brian Mc, from Melbourne, who launched a petition to replace the name of the Golden Gaytime, prompting a heated battle with owner Streets over the offensive meaning.

'As a part of the LGBTQIA+ community I believe my sexual identity is owned by me, not a brand and that the outdated meaning no longer applies. Isn't it time for this double entendre to end?' he wrote on the online petition, which has garnered 800 signatures.

Dan Moore, who created the campaign, is pushing for a dairy-free option rather than renaming the iconic dessert

An Aussie man who goes by the name 'Brian Mc' launched another petition to change the popular ice cream's name, and has since started a heated battle against owner Streets

'Under the law they are seen the same, discrimination means being treated unfairly or not as well as others because of a protected characteristic like age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, race or disability.

'It's not my place to tell Streets what to call their re-branded product, but I do feel it's time that the Golden Gaytime is called out for being outdated, especially when Streets is releasing new products and cross promotions in 2021.

Poll Do you think the name is offensive? Yes No Do you think the name is offensive? Yes 17 votes

No 1369 votes Now share your opinion





'Just to be a gay man, even in 2021 is still hard  (we) still have a long way to go to be fully accepted as equals, but if we see an area in life that's not equal, and we are able to change it for the better, why wouldn't you speak up?'

Mr Mc said his aim isn't for the product to be cancelled, but is calling for 'Gay' to be removed from its name.

The ice cream giant issued a statement saying that the first Streets Gaytime was released in Australia was in 1959 'when the word 'gay' had not yet been applied to sexual preference.

'The origin of the Gaytime name was and remains related to having a joyous or happy time and was meant to capture the pleasure that comes with enjoying an ice cream.

'The Gaytime name is not and never has intended to cause offence and your petition is the first that we have been made aware of.'

Streets issued a statement saying that the first Streets Gaytime was released in Australia during 1959 'when the word 'gay' had not yet been applied to gender preference

An Australian who signed the petition claimed the words 'gay and gaytime no longer mean what it used to'.

'Now gay is either 'I'm gay' and not as in happy or 'that's so gay', which is an insult. But either way this ice cream should be called happytime,' they wrote under the petition.

The petition comes just months after Allen's changed the names of its classic Red Skins and Chicos lollies following public backlash.

Red Skins are now known as Red Rippers while Chicos have become Cheekies.

Australia's beloved Red Skins lollies (pictured) have been renamed Red Rippers

A redskin is a slang term for Native Americans in the US, where it it considered offensive, while chico, which is Spanish for 'boy', is also used in a derogatory way.

Coon cheese also changed its name to Cheer, despite it being named after the surname of the man who invented part of the cheese-making process.
An Indian-American man from Texas has pleaded guilty to the charges of USD 24 million COVID19 relief scheme fraud, the US Department of Justice has said.

According to court documents, Dinesh Sah, 55, admitted that he submitted 15 fraudulent applications, filed under the names of various purported businesses that he owned or controlled, to eight different lenders seeking approximately USD 24.8 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans.

Sah claimed that these businesses had numerous employees and hundreds of thousands of dollars in payroll expenses when, in fact, no business had employees or paid wages consistent with the amounts claimed in the PPP applications, they stated.

According to the court documents, Sah further admitted that he submitted fraudulent documentation in support of his applications, including fabricated federal tax filings and bank statements for the purported businesses, and falsely listed other persons as authorised representatives of certain of these businesses without the authority to use their identifying information on the applications.

As the nation was crippled by a global pandemic, Sah fraudulently obtained over USD 17 million in PPP funds intended to help legitimate small businesses and spent that money on luxury cars and multiple homes, said Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicholas L McQuaid of the Justice Department's Criminal Division on Thursday.

As our nation continues to fight this unprecedented virus, the Department of Justice and its law enforcement partners remain committed to aggressively pursuing individuals who exploit COVID-relief programs and to ensuring that these ill-gotten gains are returned, he said.

In his guilty plea, Sah admitted that, based on his false statements and fabricated documents, he received over USD 17 million in PPP loan funds and diverted the proceeds for his personal benefit, using them to purchase multiple homes in Texas, pay off the mortgages on other homes in California, and buy a fleet of luxury cars, including a Bentley convertible, Corvette Stingray, and Porsche Macan, as per the documents.

Sah also sent millions of dollars in PPP proceeds in money transfers. As part of his guilty plea, Sah agreed to forfeit, among other property, eight homes, numerous luxury vehicles, and more than USD7.2 million in fraudulent proceeds that the government has seized to date, they 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.)
For the better part of two centuries, sugar has been the primary conduit of sweetness in cocktails, often in the form of the aptly named simple syrup or dissolved in a cocktail shaker.

Modern bartenders have shaken up the mix in recent years with alternatives like maple or agave syrup, jams and complex custom concoctions. But there is one oft overlooked supporting player thats been in the mixologists arsenal for generations, and it sits in most home pantries: honey.

Its so buttery, said Tiffanie Barriere, an Atlanta-based bartender and consultant. Its my preferred sweetener. If I could put it in every cocktail, I would.

Honey or honey syrup  an easy-to-make blend of honey and water, commonly a one-to-one ratio  doesnt have a home-run drink to its name as famous as the old-fashioned or the margarita. But it has scored a steady stream of barroom base hits over the years. The Bees Knees, a honeyed, Prohibition-era gin sour, still has name recognition today. The Brown Derby, which features a mixture of honey, bourbon and grapefruit juice, was named after the famous Los Angeles restaurant of the same name. And the 1940s saw the rise of the Air Mail, a honeyed daiquiri topped with Champagne.
Having spent 29 years at the helm of the Laredo Chamber of Commerce and 35 years total at the organization, president and CEO Miguel Conchas announced his retirement on Thursday, effective June 30.

Conchas said he began thinking about stepping down toward the latter part of 2019, but the arrival of the pandemic changed his plans.

I said, I cant leave now, Ive got to stick around. So that blew my plans. Now I think were starting to see a little more optimism, things are starting to get better. So I thought it might be a good time, he said.

Conchas was born in Nuevo Laredo and lived there until age 11, when he and his family moved to Laredo. He initially set out to be an educator, and he obtained a masters degree in education from Texas A&I. In 1972, he began his career as an elementary school teacher for Laredo ISD.

But Conchas is also an artist, and he freelanced in commercial art and design. One of his clients was the Laredo Chamber of Commerce, where he would eventually be offered a job as the Director of the Convention & Visitors Bureau. At the time, the CVB  which is under the City of Laredo  was managed by the chamber.

Conchas stayed in this position for six years, then in 1992 was appointed president and CEO of the Chamber of Commerce.

This was a vital time for Laredo, the home stretch before the North American Free Trade Agreement was signed into law. Conchas was part of the cohort of Laredoans promoting the trade deal, which took the chamber to Washington, D.C. for the first time.

It was really fulfilling when the treaty was signed, it really turned around the city. This city really got noticed after 93, with NAFTA. ... Were on the map now, he said.

Nearly 30 years later, this remains the period of Conchas career that he holds most dear. Hes also proud of heading up the Laredo Convention & Visitors Bureaus office in Monterrey, which helped to promote Laredo in an important market.

There are currently 620 members of the chamber, having lost a few businesses due to the pandemic. The most members theyve ever had is 750, Conchas said.

And although the pandemic has been terrible for many local businesses  retailers in particular  Conchas believes Laredo is in a better position now compared to past economic crises. Mexicos peso devaluation in 1976 hurt Laredo more because the city was more dependent on its retail economy at the time, Conchas said. Whereas this year, Laredos international trade industry has remained robust.

Weve had our challenges before. Back in 73 the air base closed here, and people thought that was the end of the world, he said.

Looking toward the future, Conchas believes the chamber will need to focus on modernizing for younger generations.

It cant be the way it was in the past. Just to give you an idea, when I joined the chamber it was coat and tie, every member of the board. It was part of the civic responsibility of businessmen to be part of the Chamber of Commerce, he said. ... But over the years, things have really changed. Young entrepreneurs, they dont really see that as a given. Now we have to work in different ways, we have to really provide a return on investment.

The Laredo Chamber of Commerce board will soon appoint an interim CEO to work alongside Conchas until his retirement. The appointee will be an internal candidate, according to the organization.

We thank Miguel for his outstanding service, leadership and dedication to the Laredo Chamber and our community for over three decades, board chairman Cliffe Killam said in a statement.

Conchas said he looks forward to spending more time with his grandchildren in his retirement.

Julia Wallace may be reached at 956-728-2543 or jwallace@lmtonline.com
NEW DELHI : The Delhi High Court on Friday set aside a single judge order directing the Centre to extend till 2030 its production sharing contract (PSC) with Vedanta Ltd and ONGC to produce oil from the Barmer oil field in Rajasthan.

A bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh allowed the central government's appeal against the single judge's order of May 31, 2018 order in favour of Vedanta, formerly Cairn India.

The detailed judgement is yet to be uploaded on the high court's website.

The central government had claimed that the PSC with Vedanta will fall under the new policy for such contracts. The contention was opposed by the company.

The single judge had held that Vedanta was entitled to extension of its contract, which was to expire in 2020, for a further period of 10 years on the same terms and agreements when it was first entered into in 1995.

While the government's appeal was pending, the PSC was being extended from time to time for brief periods since May 2020.

The May 31, 2018 order had come on Vedanta's plea for extension of the PSC which the company and the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) have with the government to extract oil from the Barmer block in Rajasthan.

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CHICAGO, March 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Hilco Global announced that for the third year in a row, it will provide two scholarship opportunities for students living in Chicago's Little Village community. The Hilco Scholarship Program called "Hilco Scholars," is now accepting applications at www.HilcoScholars.com for qualified candidates who are attending or planning to attend one of the City Colleges of Chicago. The application process runs now through May 2, 2021, and the scholarship will be awarded prior to start of the Fall 2021 semester.

"Offering this program for a third year demonstrates Hilco Redevelopment Partners' continued support to our neighbors in the Little Village community," said Roberto Perez, Chief Executive Officer of Hilco Redevelopment Partners. "Every year the students we support continue to amaze me and we are honored to be part of their educational journeys."

"The Hilco Scholars program was an opportunity I couldn't turn down," said Rudy Cordero, a former Hilco Scholar recipient. "When I started applying to college, I was worried about the financial strain on my family. Since receiving the scholarship, I've gone on to pursue further education at Yale, and I couldn't have done it without this program."

The 2021 scholarship will be awarded to two students living in the Little Village neighborhood who are pursuing a degree in a skilled trade program at one of the seven City Colleges of Chicago. It will be awarded each academic year and is renewable for up to two years, provided that the students continue to remain in good academic standing and meet eligibility criteria. The scholarship award can be used for education-related expenses including tuition, fees, books, and equipment needed to complete the degree program.

About Hilco Scholars Program: The Hilco Scholars program will be available to students for the Fall 2021 semester.

Candidates must reside in Chicago's Little Village neighborhood (60608 or 60623 zip codes)

Little Village neighborhood (60608 or 60623 zip codes) Candidates must reside in the City of Chicago and be eligible for in-district tuition rates.

and be eligible for in-district tuition rates. Preference will be given to candidates interested in pursuing an associate degree in a skilled trades area of their choice at any of the seven colleges including manufacturing and engineering; construction management; transportation, distribution, and logistics; and information technology.

Candidates must be high school graduates or have received their GED.

The program is being managed by OFIC and along with Hilco leadership, will make the final selection of the scholarship recipients. Please visit the Hilco Scholars landing page at www.HilcoScholars.com for more information and to start the application process.

About Hilco Redevelopment Partners (HRP): HRP (www.hilcoredev.com) provides a single integrated solution to maximize the value of industrial sites. As an industry leader in redeveloping large industrial projects, HRP is a trusted partner and principal investor that creates exceptional value by developing and managing mixed use projects, state-of-the-art warehouses, fulfillment centers and industrial facilities located near major transportation hubs, ports, and strategic infrastructure assets. HRP's facilities are developed to meet our customer's needs by locating in markets with strong labor pools near major population centers. HRP is an operating unit of Hilco Global (www.hilcoglobal.com), a privately held diversified financial services company and the world's preeminent authority on maximizing the value of assets for both healthy and distressed companies. Hilco Global operates as a holding company comprised of over 20 specialized business units that work to help companies understand the value of their assets and then monetize that value.

SOURCE Hilco Redevelopment Partners

Related Links

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DUBLIN, March 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Semiconductor (Silicon) Intellectual Property (SIP) - Global Market Trajectory & Analytics" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

With Innovation Being the Biggest Loser Amid the COVID-19 Crisis, Semiconductor Intellectual Property (SIP) Market Plummets by -8.6%



The global market for Semiconductor Intellectual Property (SIP) is expected to plummet by -8.6% in the year 2020 and thereafter recover and grow to reach US$ 7.8 billion by the year 2027, trailing a post COVID-19 CAGR of 6.2% over the analysis period 2020 through 2027.

Semiconductor IP (SIP) refers to reusable design aspects including chip layout, and cell among other components used in manufacturing advanced Integrated Circuits (IC). IP rights are generally held by a company with patent over a specific design for the chip. The patent holder licenses its technology to companies engaged in the manufacture of the specific chip type. Companies engaged in providing IP licensing are referred to as chipless semiconductor companies.

The increasing complexity of chips driven by technology advances is regarded to make new chip manufacturing extremely time consuming for a semiconductor manufacturer. Increasing shift towards smart and connected devices along with the growing emphasis on miniaturization trend has led to advances in component designs, which are generally patented inventions. Even during the pre-COVID-19 period, IC design productivity failed to keep pace with Moore's Law marking the emergence of a design gap.

The industry is currently striving to improve performance of traditional silicon-based semiconductor ICs, while simultaneously decreasing consumption of power, size and cost of transistors. Implementing of advanced semiconductor process nodes of sizes below 20nm (nano-meter), however, requires high investments owing to the increasing cost of fab. As a result, research on nodes of 20nm and below is dominated by established companies with significant resources and scalability required for development.



The transition to mass producing such components entails the need for IP partnership among semiconductor companies and technology developers. ICs (integrated circuits) available today use millions of transistors to enable the integration of numerous functions, requiring the use of several patented inventions. The demands adequate valuation of IP for integrating the price into the cost of devices using such technologies.

However, the cost of IP has a low target price for consumer devices, while the number of functions embedded adds to the pressure on license fees and royalty rates. Licensing of intellectual property has been a prevailing practice in the semiconductor industry which encompasses licensing of technology, process, and/or patent, along with design IP.

The trend is primarily driven by the increasing complexity of chip development caused by the myriad inputs required in developing a chip for general or specific purpose. Licensing of IP also reduces the capacity gaps in manufacturing; expediting the time-to-market for such components. Therefore semiconductor manufacturers opt to license technologies of existing designs which can be modified to build new chips.

Combining of IP blocks allows the creation of ASICs (application specific integrated circuits), SoCs (system-on-chips), as well as ASSPs (Application specific standard products), which allow production of chips used in automobiles, mobile devices, televisions and music players, among several others. SIP remains critical for designing complex system ICs & for accelerating time-to-market, reducing time-to-volume & increasing end-product value.



COVID-19 has reduced consumer demand for electronics and has halted all industrial investments in non-essential electronics technology. The electronics industry is a complex assembly sector and over the decades, the push for cost reduction, performance optimization, faster time-to-market, speed of innovation, do more with less principle and an increasingly narrower window of opportunity have encouraged modularity of the value chain.

The current pandemic has exposed the risk of heavy reliance on China for electronic intermediaries. Outbreak of the virus in the country, lockdowns & travel restrictions imposed, closure of non-essential manufacturing plants, trade bans, restrictions on movement of goods, have together disrupted the global supply chain leaving electronics manufacturing struggling to cope with raw material shortages. Electronics supply chain already in state of flux in the pre-pandemic period by the U.S. and China trade and tariff war has been pushed into crisis with little preparation at the start of the pandemic in January 2020.

With most electronic raw material supply dependent on Southeast Asian countries and China, over 75% of companies witnessed shipment delays which in the month of April rose to 3 to 5 weeks. The overall velocity of the value chain to perform and fulfil orders has reduced significantly. In addition, the pandemic has disrupted supply chains causing massive damage for manufacturing companies reliant on China for supplies. These supply chain disruptions will step up the pressure to decouple from China.

Rethinking supply chains will spur the movement of production out of China, including for electronics. Consumer electronics manufacturing, followed closely by automotive and industrial electronics remain the worst impacted. With companies cancelling and delaying modernization plans and with IT budgets slashed, industrial electronics is also feeling the pain of the general slowdown.

With most electronic companies expected to witness decline in sales and profitability, the semiconductor industry also remains impacted and likely to face short-term financial hardships. The global market for semiconductor IP against this backdrop is expected to decline by -8.6 in 2020.

Slammed with poor business climate and dwindling new orders, semiconductor industry is the midst of a painful slump. With innovation index of semiconductor and electronic product companies plummeting, electronics design productivity gap is increasing.

Key Topics Covered:



I. METHODOLOGY



II. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY



1. MARKET OVERVIEW

Impact of Covid-19 and a Looming Global Recession

Falling Consumer Confidence Impacts Sales of Automotive and Consumer Electronics

COVID-19 Pandemic Storm Warrants New Strategies to Help Semiconductor Leaders Secure New Lease of Life

Semiconductor Trends for Specific End-Use Categories

Survival Strategy Adopted by Companies to Overcome the Pandemic Shock

An Introduction to Semiconductor Intellectual Property (IP)

Classification of Semiconductor IP by Form Factor, Type and Design

Key End-Use Markets for Semiconductor IP

Semiconductor Intellectual Property (IP) Market: A Prelude

Semiconductor IP Business Models

The Role of Foundries in IP Environment

International IP Protection Laws: An Overview

Outsourcing of Specialized Functions Set to Alter Semiconductor Industry Landscape

System-on-A-Chip (SoC): A Dynamic Technology in Semiconductor IP

The Technology Roadmap

Advancements in SoCs Spur Intellectual Property Market

Anticipated Long Term Gains for End-Use Industries & Technological Advances Create Hotbed for Growth of Semiconductor IP Market

Processor IP & Consumer Electronics: Cash Cows of Global Semiconductor IP Market

Prominent Trends and Market Drivers Shaping Semiconductor IP Market

Asia-Pacific : The Linchpin for Growth

: The Linchpin for Growth Competitive Scenario

The Semiconductor Industry Value Chain

ARM: The Leading Semiconductor IP Provider

Semiconductor IP Vendors Target M&A Activity & Innovations to Corner Market

Recent Market Activity

Select Global Brands

Global Competitor Market Shares

2. FOCUS ON SELECT PLAYERS (Total 71 Featured):

Achronix Semiconductor

Arm Holdings

Cadence Design Systems, Inc.

CAST, Inc.

CEVA, Inc.

Cobham Gaisler AB

CORTUS

Digital Blocks, Inc.

Dolphin Integration

Dream Chip Technologies GmbH

eMemory Technology Inc.

EnSilica Limited

Eureka Technology, Inc.

Faraday Technology Corporation

Imagination Technologies Limited

Intel Corporation

Lattice Semiconductor

OpenFive

Rambus Inc.

Renesas Electronics Corporation

Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (SMIC)

Synopsys, Inc.

Transpacket AS

VeriSilicon Holdings Co., Ltd

Wave Computing, Inc

Xilinx, Inc.

3. MARKET TRENDS & DRIVERS

COVID-19 Crisis Creates Ripples in Dwindling Global Semiconductor Market

Unprecedented Fallout of COVID-19 Calls for Changes in Production & Operations in Semiconductor Industry

Digital Transformation Drive Augurs Well for Future Growth of Semiconductor IP Market

Technology Trends Drive Semiconductor IP Market

Nanoelectronics Accelerate Advancements in Semiconductor Design, Offering Opportunities for SIP Market

The 3D Age and the Need for 3D-IC Integration to Increase Design Complexity: Business Case for SIP

Moore's Law Spurs Miniaturization Trend

Evolution of SSD Storage Prompts Memory IP

Rise of Quadcore and Octacore Processors Augurs Well for Processor IP

Miniaturization Trend Requires Electronic Chip Designers to Overcome SiP Issues

Select Technology Innovations

Growing Functionalities of Chips Drive Silicon IP Integration

Pre-manufactured ASICs and Flash- and SRAM-Series of FPGAs

Wearable Technology to Promote Processor IP

IoT Ecosystem to Promote Advances in Semiconductors: High-Growth Area for IP Licensing

Rising Demand for Smart/Connected Devices Prompts the Need for Smart Sensors: Potential Opportunity for SIP

Verification 3.0: Addresses SoC Verification Challenges Promotes Verification IP

Rising Design Costs Spur 3rd Party Semiconductor IP

Shift to Digital Power Management ICs Augurs Well

Proposed Transition to 450mm Silicon Wafers to Benefit Market

Consumer Electronics: Major End-Use Market

A Return to Economic Normalcy Will Reignite Growth Drivers in the Consumer Electronics End-Use Sector

Deceleration in Smartphone Market Induces Slowdown in Demand

Relevance of Advanced Semiconductors in Automotive Electronics Augurs Well

Rising Industrial Automation to Drive Demand for IP

Expanding Role of Electronics in the Healthcare Sector Bodes Well

Expanding Applications of SoCs to Drive Future Growth

Time-to-Market Pressure to Support Adoption of Semiconductor IP Licensing

Cloud Adoption Fuels Cloud Equipment: An Opportunity Indicator for Semiconductor IP

Issues with IP Compatibility Raise Concerns

IP Detection Poses a Challenge

Lack of Standardization in IP Cores

4. GLOBAL MARKET PERSPECTIVE



III. MARKET ANALYSIS

GEOGRAPHIC MARKET ANALYSIS

IV. COMPETITION

Total Companies Profiled: 150

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/ib9868

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]



For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900



U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907

Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716

SOURCE Research and Markets

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For the third consecutive year a state panel Friday asked the Legislature to provide $86 million per year for 10 years to expand early childhood education.

The Louisiana Early Childhood Care and Education Commission said without the spending 114,000 children will lack access to quality programs that prepare them for kindergarten.

The effort is called "LA B to 3," which means birth to age 3.

The Legislature in 2019 approved $20 million to widen access to pre-kindergarten seats for four-year-olds and for a small number of three-year olds.

LSU opens Early Childhood Education Institute; 'A call to action' LSU officials on Thursday held a virtual ribbon cutting ceremony for the school's new Early Childhood Education Institute.

Backers noted that the state is getting about $775 million for child care from the $1.9 trillion federal stimulus bill approved earlier this month.

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"However, we know that the state must put together a plan now for how it will fund early care and education at the appropriate levels once the stimulus funding runs out," state Sen. Beth Mizell, R-Franklinton and co-chair of the commission said in a statement.

The group also wants the Legislature to provide nearly $4 million in matching funds to go with that amount in local dollars for the Early Childhood Education Fund for the 2021-22 school year, and to identify a permanent funding source for that match.

State Superintendent of Education Cade Brumley said only 40% of children in Louisiana enter kindergarten ready to learn.

"While we embrace the short-term solution provided through stimulus funds, Louisiana should consider investment for the long-term funding solutions," Brumley said.

The commission includes state lawmakers, educators, officials of child care groups and higher education leaders.
The Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das on Thursday reiterated that RBI is fully committed to use all policy tools to secure a robust recovery of the economy from the debilitating effects of the pandemic. He was speaking at the Economic conclave organised by a private media house. He said that the collective endeavour resulted in stabilisation of the financial sector and provided necessary liquidity support to maintain the flow of credit in the economy. He noted that maintaining the health of the banking sector remains a policy priority.

As I have stressed on several earlier occasions, the strength of a banking system depends on building its capital base while at the same time focusing on corporate governance and ethics-driven compliance culture. Banks and NBFCs need to enhance their skillset to identify risks early, measure them, mitigate the risk proactively and build up adequate provisioning buffers to absorb potential losses. They should also augment their internal stress testing framework with severe but plausible stress scenarios. Upgradation of IT infrastructure and improving customer services together with cybersecurity measures are other key issues which also need attention.

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Dublin is filled with reminders of men who achieved great things, but not so many women.

Ways to rebalance that took a literary step forward yesterday with the unveiling of plans for Mary Lavin Place, the first public space in Ireland named after an Irish female writer.

The quarter-acre square, with a commemorative plaque to the respected writer, will be completed in 2024 as part of the Wilton Park office development beside the Grand Canal in Dublin 2.

It will also be home to a reimagining of the famous Dublin landmark Parsons bookshop on Baggot Street bridge, which closed in 1989.

Parsons was a haunt for Irelands literary figures including Patrick Kavanagh, Brendan Behan and Mary Lavin, who lived on nearby Lad Lane.

The decision by IPUT Real Estate to honour the writer  who has been on the Junior Cert English syllabus for years with short stories like The Story of the Widows Son and Brother Boniface, was announced yesterday on the 25th anniversary of her death.

Only a very small number of significant public spaces are named after women in the country.

Immortalised in statues around the capital are Countess Constance Markievicz on Townsend Street to the fictional Molly Malone character on Suffolk Street. Theres a statue to Catherine McAuley, founder of the Sisters of Mercy, on Baggot Street, while the Anna Livia monument  a name which flowed from the pen of James Joyce  now resides in its new home at the Croppies Memorial Park on Wolfe Tone Quay. In 2014, Dublins newest bridge linking Marlborough Street with Hawkins Street was named after trade unionist and 1916 insurgent Rosie Hackett. A shortlist of five names  two women and three men  was considered by city councillors and Rosie was chosen.

A female streets map published by The Rag collective plotted the streets named after women between the canals in Dublin. Out of 578 streets, 32 are named after women, 308 after men, 22 after families and 216 after geographical features.

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Many of the street names have connections to British royalty, from Queen Street to Empress Place, Victoria Street and Victoria Quay. Henrietta Street and adjoining thoroughfares were named after Lady Henrietta Somerset who became the Duchess of Grafton. Adelaide Road was named after the wife of William IV.

The streets and lanes bearing variations of Mary and Anne were linked to the mother of Jesus, and her mother. There are many streets named after St Catherine, a scholar from the fourth century, and St Brigid in the form of Bride Street. Mercer Street was named after Mary Mercer, founder of the hospital for the sick and poor.

Meanwhile, the bridge linking Arran Quay and Ushers Quay was once known as Queens Bridge, after the wife of George II. It was subsequently renamed after Queen Maeve of Connacht from Irish mythology and later renamed after Lieutenant Liam Mellows who was executed during the Irish Civil War.

The announcement of plans for the new space with literary connections was attended by a group of Mary Lavins grandchildren and great grandchildren yesterday.

Adam Peavoy, grandson and spokesperson for the Lavin family said they were delighted to support the naming of Mary Lavin Place at Wilton Park. This important new public space for Dublin is a very welcome recognition of Marys contribution to literature and marks her significance as one of Irelands great writers.

Asked what her grandmothers response would have been to the naming, author Kathleen MacMahon, the oldest of Marys eight grandchildren said: I assume she would have been thrilled. Grandmother could be relied on for one thing, and that was to come out with something original. What that might have been, we do not know.

Kathleen said they were hugely proud of her. "I think shes the first woman writer to have a public space named after her in the city. She did operate in what, at the time, was a mans world.

"There were a small number of tremendous women writers  herself, Kate OBrien, Elizabeth Bowen  but they were very small in number and I think it has been a long time for their rightful place in the canon to be recognised and I think this cements that in the city.

Born in America, Mary raised her three daughters in her mews at Lad Lane which, between 1958 and 1981, was a literary hub, where writers such as Frank OConnor, Sean OFaolain and John McGahern regularly gathered.

Niall Gaffney, CEO of IPUT Real Estate, said: Mary Lavin Place would be a lasting monument to celebrate her work and life and would cement her legacy in the minds of generations to come.

To mark the naming, the company commissioned a short film featuring Irish actor Cathy Belton reciting one of Marys poems, Let Me Come Inland Always.
The subway protest, even if spontaneous, is illegal under the state of alert, said on Friday the Minister of the Interior, Lucian Bode, in northwestern Oradea, according to AGERPRES.

He specified that he actually asked the Ministry of Interior (MAI) to enforce the law, stressing at the same time that it is unacceptable for "someone to be mocking hundreds of thousands of Romanians".

Asked about measures that the MAI structures can take in the context of the subway strike, Lucian Bode said that he had been talking to the Minister of Transport since Thursday evening, when he had information about a meeting of trade unionists, and on Friday morning he also discussed several times with Prime Minister Florin Citu.

"We have law enforcement currently deployed, but for me it is very important, on the one hand, to ensure public order, to restore law and order, but at the same time it is very important to solve this problem. From my point of view, there is no other solution than dialogue," the minister said.

He added that the main objective of the MAI structures is to convince those involved in the spontaneous labor dispute to observe the law.

"The law is very clear: such actions can not take place, even if they are spontaneous, under state of alert. There are health protection rules that are being broken at this time and, consequently, we have the obligation to convince the approximately 450 - 500 Metrorex employees, who are currently participating in this protest, to comply with the law," Bode said.

He said that, at the same time, he called on the MAI structures to mobilize more units to get citizens to comply with health protection rules in surface public transport stations, which are overcrowded amid the subway strike.
Brussels, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 26th Mar, 2021 ) :The European Union warned Thursday it would block certain coronavirus vaccine exports, while President Joe Biden doubled his goal for doses administered in the US by the end of April to 200 million.

British-Swedish drugmaker AstraZeneca could be among the pharmaceutical companies hit first as EU chief Ursula von der Leyen warned that her bloc would not allow Covid vaccine exports to the UK and other countries until the firms make good on their own promised deliveries.

"I think it is clear that first of all the company (AstraZeneca) has to catch up, has to honour the contract it has with the European member states, before it can engage again in exporting vaccines," von der Leyen told a news conference.

The focus of the latest row is an AstraZeneca plant in the Netherlands, which Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government claims as part of the British vaccine supply chain.

As the EU met via videoconference Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron aligned himself with von der Leyen, despite some countries' -- including the Netherlands and Belgium -- hesitancy to impose an embargo.

"The supply chains are so intricate, they're so intertwined, so it's not automatically a good thing if this new instrument is to be applied," Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said, citing the example of a Belgian plant making BioNTech/Pfizer vaccines that relies on raw materials from Britain.

Von der Leyen released updated figures on how many vaccine doses the bloc has exported -- 77 million to 33 countries since December.

By contrast, 88 million doses will have been delivered in the 27-nation bloc by the end of this week, also since December.

But estimates for the second quarter of this year showed that 360 million doses should be delivered from BioNTech/Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson.

In contrast to Europe's woes, vaccinations in the United States -- the world's top economy and hardest-hit country in the pandemic -- have been storming ahead, with Biden raising his goal for shots in arms during his first 100 days in office from 100 to 200 million.

"I know it's ambitious, twice our original goal," he told his first press conference since taking office on January 20.

"But no other country in the world has even come close -- not even close -- to what we are doing, and I believe we can do it." The AstraZeneca situation became even more complicated when the company was forced to review its US trials and then slightly revise down the jab's efficacy at preventing symptomatic Covid from 79 percent to 76 percent, after an American agency raised concerns about what it called outdated information.

It remains 100 percent effective against severe Covid, it added.

The shot was hailed as a breakthrough because it is cheaper and easier to store and transport than other vaccines.

AstraZeneca is also one of the main vaccines used in the Covax project, which supplies poorer countries with jabs, and is facing export delays in India where it is produced by the Serum Institute.

A co-founder of the global scheme to provide vaccines for poor people said Thursday that India was delaying exports of much-needed jabs.

The Gavi alliance, a Covax co-founder, said deliveries of vaccines to lower-income economies will face delays because of a "setback" in obtaining export licences from the Indian government.

A Gavi spokesman said the licence delays "are due to the increased demand of Covid-19 vaccines in India".

The vast country recorded more than 50,000 new coronavirus cases on Thursday for the first time since November and is struggling to keep up with its own faltering vaccine drive at home.

- Grim milestones - The widening gap for vaccine access complicates the world's eventual exit from the pandemic through a global immunisation drive, as third waves sweep through several countries and force governments to reimpose tough anti-virus restrictions, including Germany, Poland, France, Belgium, Austria and the Netherlands.

Central and Eastern Europe have been particularly hard-hit, with Ukraine posting a record number of Covid fatalities for the third straight day and Hungary registering the world's highest death rate per 100,000 inhabitants over the last week.

Brazil surpassed 100,000 new Covid-19 cases in one day Thursday, the latest grim record the country has marked as the second-hardest hit country in the world behind the United States -- and just one day after the country hit 300,000 total recorded deaths since the start of the pandemic.

And third-hardest hit country Mexico surpassed 200,000 coronavirus deaths Thursday.

The bleak milestone comes despite a decline in new cases and deaths in recent weeks, following a surge in January that pushed many hospitals to the breaking point, though health officials worry about the potential of another wave after Easter.

- 'Together again' - The pandemic has claimed more than 2.7 million lives worldwide, hammered the global economy and left much of humanity under punishing restrictions.

But in some parts of the world, vaccinations have brought joy back after a tough year.

"We were just waiting to be all together again because we were really sad to be divided like that, floor by floor," said Lydie, a 91-year-old retirement home resident in France's Val-de-Marne, where vaccinations have allowed an easing of curbs.

"There was no joy. Now it's very good. We are happy."
Twenty-two communities in IhitteUboma Local Government Area of Imo State on Thursday, declared an end to Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in the area.

The Chairman of Imo traditional institution in IhitteUboma, Jude Uwalaka, made the declaration for the abandonment of FGM in the local government area.

The traditional ruler said the declaration was in line with the states anti FGM law (2017).

Mr Uwalaka thanked the support partners, the United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF) and the National Orientation Agency (NOA) for their enduring solidarity to the course.

He said anyone who violated the law would be duly prosecuted and punished as a deterrent to intending perpetrators.

We, the 22 communities in IhitteUboma have reached a consensus to declare on this day that FGM is prohibited and abolished from our land in accordance with the Imo anti FGM law (2017).

As law abiding citizens, we shall hand over for prosecution anyone who flaunts this declaration as the practice is now prohibited in IhitteUboma, the traditional ruler said.

The UNICEF Chief of Field Office, Enugu, Ibrahim Conteh, lauded the communities for taking the decision, saying it was a demonstration of civil obedience and adherence to extant laws.

Mr Conteh, who was represented by Benjamin Mbakwem, a UNICEF consultant for FGM in Imo and Ebonyi states, described the practice as a component of violence against women and girls.

He commended the communities for taking what he described as a bold step, while urging the leaders to sustain the momentum.

We have been supporting the implementing partners through advocacy and community mobilisation to enhance social norms for the abandonment of FGM, and today we are most elated that the results are positive.

UNICEF is in solidarity with the 22 communities of IhitteUboma and we kindly urge that this momentum be maintained and the resolutions sustainably implemented, he said.

Also speaking, the NOA director in Imo, Vitus Ekeocha, described the declaration as the most decisive step by the communities in the campaign to end FGM and commended them for their collective willingness.

What we are witnessing here today is the outcome of various engagements and advocacy meetings with critical stakeholders on the negative health and psycho-social consequences of FGM on the female folk.

This public declaration marks a great milestone in the history of Ihitte Uboma people and we commend the traditional rulers, religious, youths and women leaders for this step in the right direction, he said.

The Commissioner for Women Affairs in the state, Nkechinyere Ugwu, appealed to residents of the communities to remain law abiding and fight FGM until the end.

The Chairman of the local government area, Chike Omemgbe, thanked the support partners for their cooperation and pledged to establish a taskforce to monitor implementation of the declaration.

The event was attended by representatives of the 22 communities in the local government area, traditional and religious leaders.

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A Texas mom, 33, has died of COVID-19 after her entire family of seven, including her newborn baby, contracted the virus last month.

Victoria Gallardo, of Cypress, died March 16, exactly six weeks after she first tested positive for the virus, leaving behind her husband Armando and their five young children.

Her death was announced on a GoFundMe page set up to help her grieving family which told how Gallardo 'fought this battle to her very last breath.'

The mom-of-five, who had no known underlying health conditions, is one of more than 48,000 Texans who have died since the virus started ravaging America one year ago.

A Texas mom, 33, has died of COVID-19 after her entire family of seven, including her newborn baby, contracted the virus last month. Victoria Gallardo with her husband Armando and Amanda, 9, Liliana, 7, Catalina, 6 and 3-year-old Christian

Victoria Gallardo, of Cypress, died March 16, exactly six weeks after she first tested positive for the virus

Gallardo tested positive for COVID-19 back on February 2, just days after she gave birth to her baby daughter Gianna, who is now seven weeks old.

Her husband Armando told ABC 7 earlier this month the entire family had taken the virus seriously and worn masks everywhere, with his wife even wearing gloves inside their own home.

But the couple's nine-year-old daughter Amanda fell ill with COVID-19, after showing symptoms at school.

Soon, the entire family-of-seven had contracted the virus including baby Gianna who was just 11 days old at the time.

Armando said they were worried the newborn wouldn't make it.

'She developed a really high fever, didn't want to eat, was sleeping a lot,' he said.

'We became so worried. We didn't think she was going to make it at all.'

Gallardo (pictured with her three older daughters) leaves behind her husband Armando and their five young children

Her death was announced on a GoFundMe page set up to help her grieving family which told how Gallardo 'fought this battle to her very last breath'

But Armando and the five children - Amanda, 7-year-old Liliana, 6-year-old Catalina, 3-year-old Christian and Gianna - all recovered while Gallardo's condition deteriorated.

The virus soon developed into pneumonia and Gallardo ended up in ICU in a critical condition and was put into a medically-induced coma.

Armando vowed not to give up even after being told by hospital staff that there was nothing further they could do to save his wife.

'It breaks my heart when the doctor says there's nothing else they can do. She's not done,' he said earlier this month.

'There's no way. We're not giving up.'

Armando also posted a heartbreaking video on Facebook on March 9 where he pleaded with people to wear masks as he continued to hope for his wife's recovery.

'It's hard to view your loved one like that. So I suggest people continue to wear masks,' he said.

Armando posted a heartbreaking video on Facebook on March 9 where he pleaded with people to wear masks as he continued to hope for his wife's recovery

Gallardo sadly lost her battle with the virus last Tuesday leaving behind her young children, husband, mother Victoria Guadalupe Valladares, brother Carlos Rene Valladares and sister Genesis Nicole Valladares.

'Even though many family, friends & others prayed for her recovery, we recognize that she is now healed; just not in the manner we expected,' read the GoFundMe.

'Armando and Victoria's primary aim was to provide their children with the utmost love, while teaching them valuable lessons and creating long-lasting and cherished experiences.'

The GoFundMe had amassed $35,000 in donations Friday.
(AP)

The White House is deeply concerned with the arrest of a Georgia lawmaker who was forcibly removed from the states Capitol as Governor Brian Kemp signed sweeping ballot restrictions into law.

I think anyone who saw that video would have been deeply concerned by the actions that were taken by law enforcement to arrest her, White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters on Friday. The largest concern here  is the law that was put into place.

After her release from jail on Thursday night, Georgia Rep Park Cannon has vowed to combat voter suppression, as an outpouring of support and outrage across the US has followed her arrest.

I will not stand by while our voting rights are threatened across this state, the state I swore an oath to represent with integrity, honesty, and respect for the millions of people who live and work in this community, Democratic state Rep Park Cannon said in a statement on Friday hours after her release from a Fulton County jail.

Widely shared video of her arrest shows Ms Cannon, who is Black, handcuffed with her arms behind her back after she was removed as Governor Kemp announced his signature on the Republican-backed legislation, which transfers election oversight from election officials and into the hands of Republican lawmakers, reduces the number of places where people can vote and makes it a criminal offence to provide food and water to people waiting in voting lines, among other provisions that disproportionately target Black voters.

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Voting is a constitutional right guaranteed to every person over the age of 18 born not only in Georgia but in every corner of the United States, Ms Park said. To limit that right is to go against our Constitution and the ideals of the Founding Fathers that Conservative Georgians hold so dear.

Story continues

She added: So it confuses and concerns me that those same conservative lawmakers that are now fighting so hard to limit and suppress the voting rights of all Georgians, but specifically Black and brown voters, a population of voters who have historically been disenfranchised in this state.

Georgia is not alone  dozens of GOP-backed bills in at least 43 states have proposed tightening restrictions on ballot access, from strict voter ID laws to eliminating early voting periods and absentee voting, fuelled by the false narratives of widespread voter fraud and irregularities in 2020 elections promoted by former president Donald Trump.

US Senator Raphael Warnock  one of two Democratic senators from Georgia elected in recent elections  said her arrest marked a very sad day for the state of Georgia.

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What we have witnessed today is a desperate attempt to lock out and squeeze the people out of their own democracy, Mr Warnock told reporters outside a Fulton County jail on Thursday night.

Ms Park faces one charge of obstructing law enforcement officers by use of threats or violence and a second charge of disrupting a general assembly session or other meeting of members. In video footage, she can be seen repeatedly asking police why she is being arrested and telling them she is a state lawmaker.

Georgias state constitution provides that lawmakers shall be free from arrest during sessions of the General Assembly except for treason, felony or breach of the peace.

This effort to silence the voices of Georgians who stood up in a historic election in November and January will not stand, Mr Warnock said. The goal of voter suppression is to demoralise the electorate to people dont even bother to try. ... Theyre trying to fix something thats not even broken. We should be making it easier for people to vote, not harder. The people arent asking for this. This is democracy in reverse. Rather than people choosing their politicians, politicians are trying to cherry pick their voters.

Mr Kemp announced on Thursday that theres no doubt there were many alarming issues with how the election was handled, and those problems led to a crisis of confidence in the ballot box here in Georgia, despite several audits and hand counts of Georgias election results finding no evidence of widespread fraud or other issues that impacted the outcomes or conditions of elections.

State election officials across the US, including in Georgia, as well as the Justice Department and FBI have all reported no evidence of significant election fraud, and most bills offered up by Republicans  such as cutting down on early voting hours and limiting locations to turn in ballots  do not appear to do anything to combat it.

President Joe Biden, who was the first Democratic presidential candidate to carry the state since 1992, condemned Republican-led restrictions on voting rights as un-American and sick.

The House of Representatives has passed a massive elections bill, the For The People Act, that if signed into law would be the largest piece of voting rights legislation since the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

That bill aims to standardise voting access at ballots in every state and territory, eliminate long-standing barriers to voting and allow candidates with smaller platforms to wield more political power, among other provisions. It would effectively nullify the state-level bills currently pending in legislatures.

But it faces a murky path in the US Senate, despite aggressive support from Democratic lawmakers and Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who has repeatedly said that failure is not an option when it comes to voting rights.

Under current Senate rules, the bill needs at least 10 GOP senators to join Democrats to clear the chambers 60-vote threshold for legislation.
In a bid to control the spread of the coronavirus in the country, the government plans to establish a Covid-19 taskforce in every village to accelerate awareness.

Dr George Upenytho Duguum, the commissioner of health service at the Ministry of Health, said the strategy is aimed at increasing awareness, building trust and also to enforce compliance with Covid-19 standard operating procedures (SOPs).

"The strategy is part of phase IV response to further suppress the virus and delay the entrenchment of infection spread in the communities," he said.

Dr Upenytho made the remarks while flagging off an orientation meeting of the National Community Engagement Strategy for Covid-19 response at the Tororo District headquarters on Wednesday.

The meeting was organised by the Ministry of Health with support from World vision.

He said the village taskforce will reinforce the parish, sub-county and district taskforces in government's effort to eliminate Covid-19.

"The village taskforce will also help in accelerating the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) long after Covid-19 has gone," he said.

The Resident District Commissioner (RDC), Mr Nickson Owole, applauded the ministry for coming up with the initiative, saying it is the best medicine for reducing Covid-19 community infections.

"Some of the community members have been hiding some of their relatives suspected to be suffering from Covid-19," he said.

However, the Tororo District health officer, Dr David Okumu, said they are registering a decline in infections in the district.

"For the past two weeks, only two people have tested positive. This implies that there is reduction in infections," he said.

On the Covid-19 vaccination exercise,

Dr Okumu, however, said there is poor response towards Covid-19 vaccination exercise especially among the targeted workers.
A former Houston Bank of America employee is facing felony charges for allegedly taking customers' phones to access intimate personal content.

Prosecutors say Juan Esteban Ramirez tricked at least two 20-year-old women into giving him their cellphones so he could text their nude photos to himself, per KPRC2's Jacob Rascon. And it's "highly unlikely" they were his only victims.

Screengrab courtesy of Jacob Rascon via KPRC2

One of the women walked into the branch located at 7770 Hwy 6 N. on September 14, 2020, in search of a new debit card. She wasn't sure how to look up her account information, as reported by Rascon, so she unlocked her phone and handed it to Ramirez for help.

DID YOU KNOW? Gov. Abbott signs bill outlawing unsolicited nude photos

From there, Ramirez allegedly went into the victims photos app and sent himself approximately 16 images of the victim nude or wearing underwear only," as reported by Rascon. He attemped to cover his tracks by deleting the texts, but the victim later noticed the messages on her smart watch and filed a police report.

What I think is particularly dangerous about Mr. Ramirezs behavior is that he is creating victims that are unsuspecting, said Assistant District Attorney Keaton Forcht, as reported by Rascon. Mr. Ramirez, in this case, is placed in a position of trust as a bank employee, and hes exploiting that trust.

In the second incident, which happened the same week, the victim and her parents walked into the branch with questions about her bank account  and Ramirez allegedly stole her photos in the same way, but with a new and threatening twist.

In this case, he actually texts that victim from his personal cell phone and threatens her and says he has those pictures from her cell phone, said Forcht, as reported by Rascon. She felt threatened by the way he was speaking to her and felt as though he expected something from her in exchange for the privacy of those texts.

Ramirez has been charged with unlawful disclosure of intimate visual material and is out on a $1,500 bond.
A year ago, many state and local officials targeted a new normal as a finish line to the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Friday, speaking at an executive forum hosted by the Associated Industries of Massachusetts, Senate President Karen Spilka altered what the state should strive for in the aftermath of the pandemic.

As we recover from this pandemic, we have a rare opportunity, but I believe its also an obligation, a responsibility of the legislature to question the status quo and reimagine our path toward back to better, Spilka said.

While Spilka discussed the many ways Massachusetts was able to persevere through COVID-19, the senate president representing the 2nd Middlesex and Norfolk district, said the virus also exposed many longstanding inequities in the state.

Spilka highlighted the calls for racial equity in the wake of the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. She touched on equal educational opportunities for all children in the state and exposed gender inequity in the workplace saying women returned to work after the pandemic at wages similar to that after the 2009 recession.

A full decade of progress built by a lot of hard work, for many women a lifetime of progress, is gone, wiped out in the space of a year, Spilka said. I have to say that gives me chills and goosebumps.

Spilka said a return to better should include childcare. The pandemic, she said, left many families without solutions when children were forced to learn from home.

The pandemic has exposed how crucial childcare is to our states infrastructure, Spilka said. Its just as important as our transportation system or whatever else people use to get to work.

Coming out of the pandemic, Spilka envisions Massachusetts doubling down on public transportation to facilitate the process of getting to work for families.

My goal is to get people out of their cars and into public transportation, Spilka said. The senate is really committed to continuing to work on policies that will help change peoples behavior.

Rising out of the pandemic better than before requires funding. Spilka said in many ways Massachusetts was prepared for a crisis similar to the one experienced over the last year.

Spilka credited the legislature for its work following the economic crisis of 2009. Moves made more than a decade ago prevented the state from making substantial cuts, which Spilka said other states around the country have experienced.

We really worked over this last decade since the last major recession to make sure that our economy was versatile and diverse and was hopefully able to weather another recession, Spilka said. Im really proud of what weve been able - working together - to accomplish.

Massachusetts can set lofty expectations out of the pandemic due in part to increasing funds annually to the states rainy day stabilization fund, Spilka said.

I think we would all agree it most certainly is rainy now, Spilka said.

The idea of emerging out of the pandemic stronger than before is one Democrats began echoing during President Joe Bidens campaign, which included the slogan Build back better.

In Worcester on Thursday, U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern echoed the sentiments Spilka shared on Friday.

Congressman Jim McGovern spoke at the weekly COVID presser in Worcester about the American Rescue Plan.

People come up to me and say I cant wait to get back to normal, McGovern said. I respond by saying, Normal wasnt good enough.

Many of the objectives Spilka set out to accomplish will be aided by the $1.9 trillion American Rescue plan.

McGovern said Worcester alone will receive $115 million and its schools will receive $81 million.

The bill also is responsible for Americans receiving stimulus checks and created $28 billion in grants for restaurants and bars.

The bottom line is a lot of the challenges that have been exacerbated and highlighted by the pandemic, they existed before the pandemic, McGovern said. This plan recognizes that things cant go back to normal, we have to do much better.

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South Africa: Queen Mantfombi to act as Zulu nation regent

KwaZulu-Natal Premier Sihle Zikalala has welcomed the announcement that Her Majesty Queen Mantfombi Dlamini will act as regent of the Zulu nation during the interregnum.

This is until an official successor is named, AmaZulu Prime Minister, Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi, said on Wednesday at KwaKhethomthandayo Royal Palace.

This comes after King Goodwill Zwelithini KaBhekuzulu, 72, passed away on 12 March after battling with his health for a while.

Buthelezi also declared three months of mourning.

The Royal Family as the custodian of our customs and values continues to receive the necessary support from the government of KwaZulu-Natal, Zikalala said on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the provincial government is working together with the stakeholders to avail appropriate resources to assist the Royal Family through this period of history and transition.

On behalf of the provincial government and the people of KwaZulu-Natal, Zikalala thanked everyone who conveyed their own sense of loss at the passing of the King and sent words of comfort to the Royal Family and the people of the province.

We remind the people of KwaZulu-Natal that the Royal Family is still in mourning and we must afford them space as a family to mourn His Majesty during this sad time. We wish Her Majesty, the Zulu Royal Council and the entire Royal Family peace and comfort during this period, said Zikalala.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2021-03-26. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
India and Bangladesh: New agreement to increase trade

by Fakhrul Islam

March 26,2021 | Source: Prothom Alo

Bangladeshs exports to India are six times more than that of its exports to six member countries of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). Bangladesh imports highest number of goods from India after China. Now both countries have begun talks on signing a comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA) to enhance trade relations. In fact, Bangladesh proposed the agreement focusing on the challenge during graduation from LDC (least developed country) status. Experts said if such deal is signed in addition to improving connectivity, trade between Bangladesh and India will increase. The World Bank has released a report titled Connecting to Thrive: Challenges and Opportunities of Transport Integration in Eastern South Asia this month. The report said, today bilateral trade accounts for only about 10 per cent of Bangladeshs trade and a mere 1 per cent of Indias trade. Bangladeshs exports to India could increase by 182 per cent and Indias exports to Bangladesh by 126 per cent if the countries signed a free trade agreement. Improving transport connectivity between the two countries could increase exports even further, yielding a 297 percent increase in Bangladeshs exports to India and a 172 percent increase in Indias exports to Bangladesh, the report added.



What will the new agreement cover?



According to the sources at the commerce ministry, talks on signing the Bangladesh-India comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA) began last year. A study will be carried out on it in six months. The government has allocated Tk 9 million (90 lakh) to Bangladesh Foreign Trade Institute (BFTI) to conduct the study. A 10-member advisory committee headed by commerce secretary Md Jafar Uddin has been formed to facilitate the process. The committee held its first meeting at the secretariat on 23 March. Sources said the BFTI presented an introductory report the meeting. India also submitted a similar report to the commerce ministry. The introductory report has underscored what the study will cover. The BFIT study will cover analysis of all types of agreements between Bangladesh and India, the state and potential of roadways, waterways, railway and airways, and analysis on trade statistics of both countries since independence. According to the meeting sources, the study will also cover other issues including how bilateral trade is being disrupted because of tariff and non-tariff barriers, how to make customs station more efficient and how to make Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) more effective to increase trade. The advisory committee will hold its next meeting in the last week of the next month. Negotiations will open after both countries conduct the studies separately. These will be reviewed. Amendments will be made. Then finally the agreement will be signed. According to commerce ministry sources, India signed CEAP with Sri Lanka in 1998, Singapore in 2005, South Korea in 2009, New Zealand, Australia and Indonesia in 2010-11 and Thailand in 2015. Regarding this, commerce secretary Md Jafar Uddin said India is our tested friend. Its normal that India as a big country will give us a bit more. However, export to India may face a little blow after (Bangladeshs) graduation form LDC status. That is why the CEAP is being signed. The study on CEAP will be completed in six months. Then both countries will negotiate. Once the CEAP is signed, alternative export opportunities to the country (India) will also emerge, he added.



Export doubles in 10 years



In the outgoing fiscal year, Bangladesh exported goods worth USD50.5 million (5.05 crore) to Pakistan, USD 46 million (4.6 crore) to Nepal, USD38.4 (3.84 crore) to Sri Lanka, USD 5.76 million (57.66 lakh) to Afghanistan and 4.35 million (43.56 lakh) to Bhutan. In total, Bangladesh exported goods worth a little over USD150 million (15 crore) to six SAARC countries. So Bangladeshs export to India was six times more that of export volume to these six countries in last fiscal. India is ninth largest export destination for Bangladeshi products. Records of export in July-January of the 2020-21 fiscal shows, export to India will exceed the last fiscal. According to Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), Bangladeshs export to India stood at USD1.24 billion (124 crore) in 2018-19 fiscal, USD1.09 billion (109 crore) in 2019-20 fiscal. Goods worth USD860 million (86 crore) were exported to India in seven of the current 2020021 fiscal. Records of the EBP data show, Bangladeshs export to India has more than doubled compared to last 10 years. Bangladesh exported goods worth USD512.5 million (51.25 crore) in 2010-11 fiscal. In fact, Bangladeshs export to India increased after the country announced duty free access except for arms and drugs in 2011. The duty free export facility came to effect after then-India prime minister Manmohan Singhs state visit to Dhaka. Like export to India, imports from the country are also increasing. Records of Bangladesh Bank show, Bangladesh imported goods worth USD4.58 billion (458 crore) in 2010-11 fiscal. Imports increased to USD8.62 (862 crore) in 2017-18, but dropped to USD7.64 billon (768 crore). According to the data from Bangladesh Bank, the trade gap with India was USD4.07 billion (407 crore) 10 years ago. It rose to USD 7.75 billion (775 crore) in 2017-18 fiscal, but dropped to USD4.67 billion (467 crore) in 2019-20 fiscal. The trade gap isnt rising as imports from India have increased and exports from Bangladesh, too, have risen significantly. Trade remains almost stagnant as it was 10 years ago. Bangladesh mainly exports products including readymade garments, jute and jute-processed products, leather-processed products, plastic products, fish, soft drinks, copper and edible oil while goods including rice, raw cotton, onion, motor vehicles, boilers, machinery, milk, dairy products, electronic products and iron were imported from India.



Indian loan and grant



According to sources at the Economic Relations Division (ERD), India is one of the largest development partners of Bangladesh. India has promised Bangladesh three LOCs (line of credits) worth 7.36 billion (736 crore) against 46 projects for 10 years from 2010. Bangladesh receives this credit to implement various development projects including road, railways, water transportation and port, power, information and technology, health and technical projects. However, the Exim Bank of India has released USD8 million (80 crore) to date. Bangladesh signed a deal worth USD1 billion with India under the first LOC in 2010. Later, India provided a grant worth USD140 million (14 crore) to the Padma Bridge project from this fund. Some 15 projects were financed by the remaining USD860 million (86 crore). Twelve of 15 projects have been implemented. Indian prime minister Narendra Modi first visited Bangladesh in June 2015. At that time, he announced the second LOC worth USD2 billion (200 crore). Later on, both countries signed agreement on it. Fifteen new projects were taken by this fund. Two projects have been implemented by the fund released so far. The third LOC worth USD4.5 billion (450 crore) was signed when prime minister Sheikh Hasina visited India in April 2017. Another 16 projects were financed by it. Distinguished fellow of the non-government research organisation Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) Mustafizur Rahman told Prothom Alo that Bangladeshs exports to the country (India) had crossed USD 1 billon for the first time because of duty free facilities. However, the duty free facility will no longer be in effect after graduating from LDC status. Bangladesh has to prepare from now and both countries must find an alternative together, he added. Mustafizur Rahman further said a comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA) can be that alternative that may consist of three things  trade, investment and connectivity. However, Bangladesh has to be prepared to make some concessions if the CPEA is signed, he added.

 2021 Prothom Alo.
Gaborone  The world and its leaders have only a year left to achieve the United Nations Political Declaration on Tuberculosis (TB) commitments.

Urgent actions and investments are therefore required to get back on track, says Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr Edwin Dikoloti.

Botswana, he said, needed to accelerate its multi-sectoral TB response, recognising that the country fell short of meeting the United Nations high level meeting targets for ending the disease by 2030.

He was speaking in Gaborone Monday during the launch of the national stop TB partnership and TB survivor network forum.

The minister said strengthening accountability for the TB response would contribute to quicker progress towards the targets.

About the partnership, he said it would provide an enabled environment to track commitments made, hold government accountable and provide networks of people affected with TB to be equal partners in decision making processes.

"This platform is a voluntary alliance between organisations drawn from different sectors of society including government, civil society and private/corporate sector who commit to work collaboratively towards the TB response, in which all partners contribute from their core competencies, share risks and responsibilities and benefit by achieving their own, each other's and the overall goal," he said.

Dr Dikoloti said he had no doubt the partnership would achieve more than his ministry could have achieved on its own.

Source : BOPA
Awon Boyz, a documentary that portrays the life of the everyday Nigerian street hustler will premiere on Netflix, on Wednesday, April 14, 2021. The 38 minutes flick was created by Lagos based production company, Zero Degrees and directed by Tolulope Itegboje.

The documentary, which was originally released in 2019 draws the audience into the life of the people popularly called "area boys", while also providing a never seen before view of what it is like to live on the streets of Lagos. The documentary tells an all-encompassing story of freedom, missed opportunities, love and self-belief of 8 young men.

Awon Boyz was shot over a month across 3 locations. It's the first time the story of this class of Nigerian citizens is being told through a personal, human lens.

According to executive producer Steve Babaeko, "This story gives the audience a front row view of what it is like to live on the streets of Lagos. It's a very insightful piece of art that paints a vivid picture of what life is like on the streets for the people who actually live it. It's a very important story and we're grateful that we get to help tell it to the world."

According to the United Nations, the major cause of homelessness and street living in developing countries is poverty. And in Lagos, one of the most populous cities in Africa, and Nigeria's commercial hub, living on the streets has become the day job of many, fuelling an ecosystem of artisans, beggars, traders, urchins, and many more. As one of the featured area boys in the documentary rightly pointed out, a sizeable number of the people on the streets are graduates who have looked for jobs with no success. "They try to hustle, but the way is not pure. Or after hustling, the police stops them and collects all the money. So the area boy thinks to himself, the government has robbed me."

The documentary will premiere on Netflix on April 14, 2021, two years after a cinema premiere that attracted industry heavyweights and celebrities

Shot on the streets of Monkey Village, a slum in the highly residential area of Opebi, Oshodi and the New Afrika Shrine, Ikeja, the documentary is the first of many, and part of a plan, according to Babaeko, to bring fresh perspectives to often stereotyped people and events on the African continent.
"70 Years of The Korea Times" is an account of the English daily's seven decades of history, starting from its founding during the Korean War. The limited edition was published recently to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the newspaper's establishment in 2020. Korea Times photo by Kang Hyun-kyung









By Kang Hyun-kyung







"70 Years of The Korea Times (1950-2020)" offers an extensive historical account of the struggles of Korea's oldest English-language newspaper  from its birth amid the gunfire, chaos and ashes of the Korean War to the present day  to bridge Korea and the outside world.







The special edition was released recently to celebrate the English daily's landmark 70th anniversary last year. It provides a fascinating, detailed account of what happened in the newsroom, as well as how those debates affected the paper's tone and coverage of milestone events that shaped Korea's modern history.







With the inclusion of black-and-white photos illustrating the past and present of the newspaper and its people, the 380-page report is full of "exclusive, unknown stories" about the newspaper, as it shares some behind-the-scenes stories about its newsroom.







The newspaper's 70 years of history has been marked by twists and turns since its establishment.







While the two Koreas were at war, then-President Syngman Rhee felt the dire need for there to be an English newspaper that could inform people outside of Korea about what was going on inside the country. His awareness and support for the creation of The Korea Times was critical.







"It was President Rhee who was most vocal and active in the creation of the English daily from the onset of the war. Before taking power, he had been in exile in the United States for a long time and was fully aware of the significance of English media outlets," the book reads.







With Rhee's full support, Helen Kim, who was tapped by Rhee in August 1950 to lead the wartime Public Affairs Ministry as minister, took the initiative to found an English daily.







Having earned her master's and doctoral degrees in the United States, Kim had an extensive network of academics as well as influential figures, both in Korea and the United States. She teamed up with several professors from her alma mater, Ewha Womans University, where she had served as president prior to her taking the helm at the ministry, to form the preparatory committee responsible for finding writers and raising money to finance the publication of the newspaper. Their months of hard work eventually led to the publication of The Korea Times' first edition on Nov. 1, 1950.







In the first edition, the paper declared its mission in a front-page editorial: "The Korea Times is born today with these objective, intention and duty to help the world get acquainted with Korean culture."







The paper's founding philosophy was destined to be tested. Journalism is guided by fairness, balance and justice. Considering these principles, it is no surprise that a newspaper that was born with the mission to "promote" the country for overseas readers soon faced a dilemma, due to conflicts of interest between its founding mission and its pursuit of impartiality as a media outlet.







Depending heavily on financial support from the government, the paper was asked to curry favor with the Rhee government. In journalism, however, siding with a certain political force is tantamount to suicide. The voices of journalists are needed to raise criticism of the government if it is heading in the wrong direction.







If journalists turn a deaf ear to this call from society, their fates will be doomed, as readers will lose trust in their reporting.







Page 262 of "70 Years of The Korea Times (1950-2020)" explains the English newspaper's recent reorganization towards transforming into a leader in online journalism. Korea Times photo by Kang Hyun-kyung





The Korea Times' journalists were grappling with the direction of coverage in May 1952 when President Rhee was in the course of taking actions towards solidifying his presidency into a dictatorship. He declared wartime martial law and put some 50 opposition party politicians behind bars to consolidate his power and win reelection. Historians labeled the series of Lee's abuses of power during that year the "Political Turmoil of Busan," as the southern port city was South Korea's wartime capital while Seoul was occupied by the invading North Korean army.







Inside the newsroom, there was heated debate about whether the paper should stand up against the Rhee government or stay silent. Back then, it was a tough decision to make, mainly because the newspaper hinged on financial support from the Rhee government for its operation.







After rounds of debate, the journalists finally agreed to follow the path of journalism, although this decision might endanger the Rhee government's financial support for the paper.







Then-Managing Editor Hur Heyon took the initiative to shift the paper's stance from that of an ally of the wartime government to that of a critic, so as to stop Rhee from abusing the authority of the presidency.







His decision was backed by his boss, Helen Kim. Kim, The Korea Times' CEO at the time, as well as the publisher of the newspaper and once Rhee's confidant, was determined to resist the president's authoritarian decisions. She gave reporters the green light to write whatever was in the interests of justice and that would serve the best interests of the paper, as such information was the readers' right to know.







Under the auspices of Kim, The Korea Times ran a host of stories critical of Rhee, his repression of opposition candidates and his political maneuvering to stay in power.







Embarrassed and at the same time angered, the Rhee government cut funding for The Korea Times, causing the paper to experience financial difficulties.







The paper's arduous journey for freedom of the press came at a price. But it didn't give in, and instead kept going ahead with its constructive criticism of the government.







The 1952 incident signaled a starting point for The Korea Times in its decades-long pursuit of freedom of the press, as an independent newspaper free from political influence.







The management's courage to stand up to the dictatorship turned out to be the right move. The paper won the trust and hearts of the public.







"70 Years of The Korea Times (1950-2020)" tells the story of the English newspaper's tumultuous journey to earn freedom of the press and freedom of expression against steep odds.







While the paper's independence from political influence has been a challenge, particularly during the authoritarian regimes, contemporary obstacles to freedom of the press stems from the unchecked power of capitalism and the tyranny of the minority.







At times, a small number of vocal people try to dominate public opinion, exaggerating what happened and the consequences in order to stoke fear, influence public policies and shape the tone of public discourses.







Media outlets' heavy reliance on corporate ads and sponsorships produces another significant challenge that can threaten the freedom of the press.







How might a newspaper ensure its integrity and independence from corporate financial influence, gaining trust from readers as, "the premier trustworthy global media outlet as well as the winner of digital era," as stated frequently in management speeches and written addresses?







The Korea Times anniversary book raises this key question.






On Wednesday, the US Department of Education hosted a National Safe School Reopening Summit, bringing together figures from the Biden administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and handpicked school district superintendents, union officials, teachers and students to advance the ruling class campaign to reopen schools before the pandemic is contained.

The three-and-a-half hour event, chaired by Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, had an Orwellian and highly contradictory character, in which the various speakers distorted science and sought to sugarcoat the reckless drive to reopen schools. Everyone at the summit participated remotely, with only one occupant visible on each screen, in stark contrast to the packed classrooms into which educators and students are being sent.

The current state of the pandemic and the horrific experiences of mass death and suffering over the past year were glossed over with vague references to trauma, while every speaker referred to school reopenings as safe and scientifically based. The entire event was designed to suppress science and chloroform educators and the broader population into accepting the reopening of schools.

In this March 2, 2021 photo, socially distanced, and with protective partitions, students work on an art project during class at the Sinaloa Middle School in Novato, Calif. U.S. (AP Photo/Haven Daley, File)

This campaign takes place under conditions in which more than 1,000 people continue to die from COVID-19 every day in the US, as the seven-day average of daily new cases climbs upwards of 58,000, as the vast majority of the population remains unvaccinated, and as more infectious and lethal variants of the virus spread uncontrolled throughout the country.

In pursuing the full reopening of schools across the US, all of these officials and institutions ignore the fact that over 3.34 million children have been infected with COVID-19 in the US. They disregard the most rigorous scientific research, which clearly proves that schools are major vectors for the spread of COVID-19 and keeping them closed is a pillar of any program to contain the pandemic and save lives.

First lady Jill Biden opened Wednesdays summit with a pre-recorded video, stating, Over the last year, educators have done so much to keep that connection alive. But teaching virtually just, it just isnt the same. In my class, students dont chat with each other like they used to. She added, There are some who have questioned whether or not educators want to go back to school. Of course we do!

This was followed by a propaganda video showing opened schools, which included footage of teachers roughly one foot away from students, as well as lines of students within three feet of each other, in clear violation of the CDCs unscientific social distancing recommendations.

Screenshot from propaganda video showing in-person learning and violation of CDC's 3-foot distancing rule

Cardona then spoke, noting proudly, The National Center for Educational Statistics share that over 45 percent of our elementary and middle schools offer in-person learning daily, about 75 percent, or three-quarters of our schools, are offering some form of in-person learning, including hybrid. Thats a great start. He quickly added, We must continue that so every school, K-8, offers in-person learning five days a week.

Highlighting the twisted way in which the Democratic Party is using identity politics to unsafely reopen schools, Cardona stated, We know there are inequities to in-person learning. Only 28 percent of black students are going to school in-person daily, 33 percent of Latino students are doing it, and only 15 percent of our Asian students are going to school in-person daily. Thats compared to half of white students that are doing it daily throughout our country.

To address this inequity, Cardona stressed, America, that is our charge to safely reopen schools as quickly as possible. The American Rescue Plan provides $130 billion to help get this work done. With that money, we can address these inequities that I just talked about. With that, we can safely reopen our schools, and we have to act wisely and with urgency to get it done.

Wednesdays summit coincided with the release of $81 billion of the $122 billion in funding allocated to K-12 public schools by the relief package passed two weeks ago. Funding allocations are dependent upon school districts publishing a plan for the safe return to in-person instruction and continuity of services within 30 days of receiving funding. With the aim of maximizing the time that parents can be sent back to work in the summer months, roughly 20 percent of these funds must be reserved for learning recovery, including summer school and extended-day programs.

Miguel Cardona at the National Safe School Reopening Summit"

Cardona then introduced CDC Director Rochelle Walensky, who provided further incriminating evidence of the way in which the CDC has distorted science to suit the political agenda of the Biden administration.

Walensky gave an extraordinary explanation for last weeks revision to the CDC guidelines, stating, In our original strategy, we recommended that physical distancing should be at least six feet between people based on available evidence at the time. And to no ones surprise, we quickly heard that this was a challenge for many schools, given their current physical layout and the number of children in some school communities. Since the initial release, CDC scientists have been actively reviewing the latest science and conducting their own studies to expand the evidence base, including that evidence on physical distancing.

Walensky was unable to contain her laughter when she then added, We are grateful for them moving so quickly to produce new evidence that we could act upon. Last Friday, in light of a series of studies recently published, CDC updated its recommendation for physical distancing between students in classrooms.

The rest of the summit involved panels with other CDC officials, as well as superintendents, union officials, teachers, students and others from Cleveland, New York City, Tulsa, and Cajon Valley, California.

Most notably, the panel on New York City involved United Federation of Teachers (UFT) President Michael Mulgrew, whom Cardona asked how he was able to facilitate reopening the largest school district in the US.

Mulgrew replied, The biggest problems we had in the beginning were, New York City was hit so hard so quickly, that as we started to plan for reopening, we were facing the reality that more and more of our school-based staff was dying. So it was really tough for us. We knew we had to focus on the anxiety and fear that so many people were facing at that point in time. While we were doing our work in July, New York City was getting close to 30,000 people who had died, so this was a real strategic piece to realize that you had to deal with this.

Mulgrews reference to the mass deaths in New York City last spring and summer, which he framed as simply a mental hurdle that had to be overcome to reopen schools, was the only explicit reference to death throughout the entire summit. He neglected to mention the role that he and New York Citys Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio played in keeping schools open one year ago as the pandemic took hold in the city, which led to the infections and deaths of numerous educators. He also omitted the fact that over 20,000 students and staff have officially tested positive for COVID-19 since schools reopened, itself a significant undercount given the districts totally inadequate testing program.

Another pre-recorded video was later given by American Federation of Teachers (AFT) President Randi Weingarten, in which she said, Teachers know that kids do best in school and in-person. School is where we can best nurture, teach and connect with our students. We just want to be safe. Thats why the AFT has been working to safely reopen schools since they closed, releasing our first school reopening road map last April.

Throughout the past year, Weingarten, the AFT, and the National Education Association (NEA) have been the principal actors in allowing schools to reopen unsafely, doing nothing to mobilize their millions of members to fight for fully-funded remote learning, workplace accommodations, or any of the demands of educators. Last month, Weingarten revealed that she spends 15 hours a day on the phone with the White House, the CDC, local union heads and local politicians, orchestrating the nationwide campaign to reopen schools.

To close the meeting, a pre-recorded video of President Biden was played, in which he injected fervent nationalism into the meeting, stating, Any nation that out-educates us is going to out-compete us. Everything our nation will be tomorrow depends on how we deliver for our young people today. Biden concluded with the mandate, They need the eye-to-eye contact, they need to be with you in classrooms. It's critically important. I think we can do this. We have to. We have no choice.

Despite the unrelenting propaganda issued by the corporate media, both big business parties, the CDC, the teachers unions, and all the institutions of the capitalist class, there is enormous opposition among educators, parents and workers to the reckless reopening of schools and nonessential workplaces. The Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committees, which exist in multiple cities and states across the US and globally, are fighting to consciously organize this opposition. We call on all those opposed to this policy to join and help build this network of committees today .
In the wake of Februarys winter storm, Warren Buffetts Berkshire Hathaway is asking Texas lawmakers to approve a plan to add $8.3 billion worth of power plants.

In a March slideshow presentation, Berkshire has proposed adding about 10,000 megawatts of natural gas plants and emergency gas storage to the state grid operator, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas.

Tilman Fertitta: Fourth 'blank check' company begins trading

Berkshires proposed company, called the Texas Emergency Power Reserve, and could be operational by winter 2023, according to the slides.

More than 100 people died as more than half of ERCOTs power generation capacity was knocked offline as power was cut to millions of Texans amid frigid temperatures during last months freeze.

We really want to make sure that this never happens again. So, were really wanting to partner with the state, Chris Brown, chief executive officer of Berkshire Hathaway Energy Infrastructure Group, told Bloomberg News. The proposal is simple: state residents should have a reliable source of backup power.

The additional capacity from the proposed plants would help form a more robust power grid, providing enough energy that no customer would be without power for more than three hours.

The proposal, if approved by state regulators, would pay the company a 9.3 percent rate of return on investment, which would be covered by electricity customers.

The proposal would cost less than winterizing the states power generators or creating a so-called capacity market where generation units are paid to provide supplies in future years, according to Berkshire Hathaway.

The plan was first reported by the Dallas Morning News.

Andy DeVries, a utility analyst at CreditSights, told Bloomberg, We see little to no chance of Texas approving that Buffett proposal.

marcy.deluna@chron.com
A British actress has claimed a casting director referred to her 'exotic talent' and told her 'I can't understand the English coming out of your mouth' when they met during a Bafta diversity scheme.

India Eva Rae, who appeared as Candice in the Channel 4 series On The Edge, was among 21 young actors selected for the Bafta Elevate initiative in 2019.

The Bafta website says the scheme helps talent from underrepresented groups progress their careers, while tackling 'the issue of diversity in our industry as a whole.'

But Ms Rae, who was homeless when she landed her breakthrough role in 2019, claims Elevate was merely a 'PR exercise' put in place to 'clean up' Bafta's image following backlash over a lack of nominee diversity in 2017.

The hashtag #BaftasSoWhite had trended on Twitter after it emerged all the nominees in the Best Actor and Best Actress categories for that year were white.

India Eva Rae, who appeared as Candice in the Channel 4 series On The Edge, was among 21 young actors selected for the Bafta Elevate scheme in 2019

The actress, in her 20s, told the BBC she met a casting director through the Elevate scheme, who made racist comments and referred to her as an 'exotic talent.'

She said the woman told her: 'The advice I have is more about you understanding what you need to meet when you're going up as a lead exotic talent in these rooms with our British talent.

'I've been listening to you my darling ... I can't understand the English coming out of your mouth.'

The actress added she is 'proud' of her ethnicity and 'coming from a background of poverty'. She said: 'I'm really proud that you can be homeless and someone like Channel 4 and the BBC can recognise your talent.'

Ms Rae, who spent her childhood in and out of care, claims she turned to an Elevate mentor for support following the alleged comments.

She claims she was told she would 'never work again' if she reported the incident.

Bafta told the BBC it did not receive complaints about either allegation, adding it would have taken the claims 'extremely seriously' had they been reported.

In a statement, it added: 'We know first-hand from very many people who have been part of the initiative that they have really benefitted from it, and for some it has been truly career-changing.'

Ms Rae was selected for the programme following her appearance in Adulting (above), one of three short films in the On the Edge anthology

Amanda Berry, Chief Executive of Bafta, added they were aware Ms Rae had a 'negative experience' with a casting director

Amanda Berry, Chief Executive of Bafta, said they were 'made aware Ms Rae had a negative experience with a casting director as [she] mentioned it in passing during a session with another actor.'

However, she was 'not aware' the incident took place during the Elevate scheme.

According to the Bafta website, Elevate participants 'receive a bespoke 12-month programme of support including networking opportunities, introductions, tailored panel discussions, masterclasses and workshops focused on professional development.'

Ms Rae was selected for the programme following her appearance in Adulting, one of three short films in the On the Edge anthology.

The film focused on the blossoming relationship between a young neurodiverse woman, played by Ms Rae, and a young man who had lost his way in life.

The actress alleged that when she tried to raise concerns about the Elevate initiative with Tim Hunter, Bafta's Head of New Talent, she was told her place on the scheme could be at risk.

However, those at the British Academy Film Awards say Ms Rae misunderstood Mr Hunter. They said if a formal complaint is lodged, participation may be paused to ensure the complainant is adequately supported.

In a statement, Bafta told MailOnline: 'Bafta Elevate was created in 2017 and has supported over 50 talented individuals from under-represented groups in progressing their careers, and to help tackle the issue of diversity in our industries as a whole.

#BaftasSoWhite row over lack of diversity in leading actor nominations Bafta has faced criticism for its lack of diversity for several years, most recently in 2020 when #BAFTAsSoWhite again trended on Twitter following the announcement of all-white acting nominations. Ms Berry admitted she was 'very disappointed' in the 73rd British Academy Film Awards shortlist after not a single actor of colour was nominated in the major acting categories. The lack of diversity was slammed on social media after it emerged Margot Robbie had been nominated twice in the Supporting Actress category for performances in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and Bombshell. Critics were furious Lupita Nyong'o had not been nominated for her role in Us. The 2020 shortlist also saw Jennifer Lopez, 51, who is of Puerto Rican heritage, miss out on a nomination for her acclaimed role in Hustlers. Bafta had earlier been criticised for a lack of diversity in its 2017 nominations, after which the Elevate scheme was launched. There was particular fury over the decision not to nominate actor Denzel Washington for Best Actor for his role in the acclaimed film Fences. Instead, all the Best Actor nominees were white: Jake Gyllenhaal, Andrew Garfield, Casey Affleck, Viggo Mortensen, and Ryan Gosling. It was the same for Best Actress, where Amy Adams, Emily Blunt, Emma Stone, Meryl Streep and Natalie Portman were in the running but Viola Davis, who earlier won a Golden Globe, missed out. Campaigners had descended on the event with placards a year earlier, as they branded the film industry 'male, pale and stale'. Advertisement

'We know first-hand from very many people who have been part of the initiative that they have really benefitted from it, and for some it has been truly career-changing.

'In one isolated incident, an Elevate participant has voiced some concerns over comments made to her.

'BAFTA condemns bullying, harassment, racism and discrimination of any kind and we take allegations of this nature incredibly seriously and will investigate urgently.

'We go to great lengths to ensure our programmes are as inclusive and accessible as possible for everyone who takes part, whatever their specific support needs are, and have responded to and want to resolve the participant's requests in this area'.

Ms Rae spent her childhood in care, and by her teenage years she was homeless and surviving on the support of food banks.

'I had no connections in television or the arts, and was regularly told by agents that 'the parts just aren't there' for girls like me,' she previously said.

She made her theatre debut in 2019, starring in Ageless at the Lyric Theatre in Hammersmith.

The actress appeared in the Channel 4 sitcom Maxxx last year, written and directed by O-T Fagbenle - who recently appeared in The Handmaid's Tale and Black Widow.

She made her breakthrough in 2019, when she landed the role of Candice in Adulting.

'Channel 4 and BlackLight Television were incredibly nurturing and supportive through the whole process' she said previously.

'It never mattered that the only thing I could bring to the table was raw talent and a passion to tell the story.

'They let me spread my wings as an actress and really sink my teeth into a complex, beautiful, three-dimensional character.'

Bafta has faced criticism for its lack of diversity for several years, most recently in 2020 when #BAFTAsSoWhite again trended on Twitter following the announcement of all-white acting nominations.

Ms Berry admitted she was 'very disappointed' in the 73rd British Academy Film Awards shortlist after not a single actor of colour was nominated in the major acting categories.

The lack of diversity was slammed on social media after it emerged Margot Robbie had been nominated twice in the Supporting Actress category for performances in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and Bombshell.

Critics were furious Lupita Nyong'o had not been nominated for her role in Us.

The 2020 shortlist also saw Jennifer Lopez, 51, who is of Puerto Rican heritage, miss out on a nomination for her acclaimed role in Hustlers.

Bafta had earlier been criticised for a lack of diversity in its 2017 nominations, after which the Elevate scheme was launched.

There was particular fury over the decision not to nominate actor Denzel Washington for Best Actor for his role in the acclaimed film Fences.

Instead, all the Best Actor nominees were white: Jake Gyllenhaal, Andrew Garfield, Casey Affleck, Viggo Mortensen, and Ryan Gosling.

It was the same for Best Actress, where Amy Adams, Emily Blunt, Emma Stone, Meryl Streep and Natalie Portman were in the running but Viola Davis, who earlier won a Golden Globe, missed out.

Campaigners had descended on the event with placards a year earlier, as they branded the film industry 'male, pale and stale'.

Earlier this month, the Baftas unveiled an extremely diverse nominations list for 2021 - with 16 out of the 24 acting nominees coming from ethnic minority groups.
MoneyTV with Donald Baillargeon television program, Copyright MMXXI, all rights reserved. MoneyTV does not provide an analysis of companies' financial positions and is not soliciting to purchase or sell securities of the companies, nor are we offering a recommendation of featured companies or their stocks. Information discussed herein has been provided by the companies and should be verified independently with the companies and a securities analyst. MoneyTV provides companies a 3 to 4 month corporate profile with multiple appearances for a cash fee of $6,950.00 to $11,995.00, does not accept company stock as payment for services, does not hold any positions, options or warrants in featured companies. The information herein is not an endorsement by Donald Baillargeon, the producer, publisher or parent company of MoneyTV.

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
Romania OKs holding Easter celebrations despite virus surge View Photo

BUCHAREST (AP)  Romanian authorities announced Thursday that Easter celebrations in the deeply Christian country will go ahead in person this year, even though Romania is battling a surge of COVID-19 infections that is threatening to overwhelm its hospitals.

The announcement came after Prime Minister Florin Citu of the National Liberal Party met with religious representatives to discuss potential solutions for worshipers to observe Easter celebrations and attend church during the pandemic.

The solution that we are going with is to adapt the timeframe of restrictions so believers can physically attend the Resurrection Service or the holidays of each religious group and still respect health and safety rules, Citu said.

Romania is one of Europes most religious countries. About 85% of its more than 19 million people identify as Orthodox and around 4.5% are Catholic. Easter this year falls on May 2 for the Orthodox and April 4 for Catholics.

The Easter Service is one of the most important dates in the Christian calendar. On the night of the Resurrection, Romanian Orthodox worshipers attend a service at midnight when they receive the Holy Light.

The Easter announcement came as Romania this week reported its highest number of daily COVID-19 infections in three months and hospital intensive care units recorded their highest numbers of patients since the start of the pandemic. Romania has recorded over 22,700 deaths in the pandemic.

There is a limited amount of political battles any government can pick during COVID-19 times in order to stay popular, Radu Magdin, a Bucharest-based political analyst, told The Associated Press. Preventing physical Easter in an Orthodox country in times when people need safety but also hope is not one of those.

Last year social distancing rules were enforced during Easter and Romanians could not attend church. To allow the services to go ahead this year, social distancing and mask-wearing will be required, authorities said.

Romania currently has a nationwide curfew from 10 p.m. until 5 a.m. and on Friday tighter lockdown measures will take effect.

The prime minister also said he used Thursdays meeting to urge religious authorities to support Romanias vaccination campaign, which has delivered more than 2.6 million vaccines shot so far.

Vasile Banescu, a spokesman for the head of the Romanian Orthodox Church, Patriarchate Daniel, said that social distancing measures will be strictly followed during the Easter services.

By STEPHEN MCGRATH
San Francisco, March 26 : A member of the US Congress called out Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey after he tweeted a cryptic poll apparently to vent his frustration over the format of a congressional hearing on misinformation and extremism.

At the hearing with the House Energy and Commerce committee, lawmakers on Thursday grilled the top executives of Facebook, Twitter and Google.

As the tech CEOs were effectively made to give answers to some complicated questions in simple "Yes" or "No" format, Dorsey posted a Twitter poll with the question: "?" that had two answers to pick from: either a "Yes" or "No." His post attracted the attention of US Representative Kathleen Rice.

"Mr. Dorsey, what is winning ? yes or no ? on your Twitter account...poll?," asked Rice.

"Yes," Dorsey answered simply.

"Hmmm," Rice admonished.

"Your multitasking skills are quite impressive," she said in a tone that actually seemed to convey the opposite.

In his opening remarks at the hearing, Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone said that Facebook, Google and Twitter "failed to meaningfully change after your platforms played a role in fomenting insurrection, in abetting the spread of Covid-19, and trampling Americans civil rights." The hearing came in the aftermath of the January 6 attack on the US Capitol.

"And while it may be true that some bad actors will shout fire in a crowded theatre, by promoting harmful content, your platforms are handing them a megaphone to be heard in every theater across the country and the world. Your business model itself has become the problem," he said.

"The time for self-regulation is over. It is time we legislate to hold you accountable."
Nigerias Finance Minister, Zainab Ahmed, in 2019 acknowledged the country had a revenue problem. Mrs Ahmed made the comment while defending the 2020 budget before the National Assembly, where she sought approval for a loan to finance a 4.97 trillion deficit in the budget.

Some argued that the ministers statement was a denial of the huge debt problem the government grappled with, and that it was only meant to play down the unhealthy loan habits and wasteful spending of the government. Yet, some believe the ministers position that our dependence on declining oil revenue is the problem, not debts in itself.

Debates as this begs the question: Is Nigerias revenue woe owing to its limited sources of revenue? History suggests no. In times past, the countrys economy thrived relying on several sources of revenue generation. The advent of crude oil, however, saw the gradual neglect of other sectors as revenue sources for the country.

While the government consistently speaks of reforms to halt the countrys over-dependence on oil revenue, the budgets show the government has its eyes fixated still on oil revenue for survival. The federal government indicated in its budgets from 2010 to 2014 that it expects over 60 per cent of the revenue that will fund its spending to come from oil sales. While it budgeted lower in 2015 and 2016, it has since resumed an increasing reliance on oil to fund its budgets, from 51 per cent in 2017 to 66 per cent in 2019.

Though Nigerias budgets are made in expectations of high oil revenue, records show that the country has consistently not been able to generate its proposed target of oil revenue annually.

Why is Nigerias Oil Revenue Falling when Crude is sold at a higher price?

As projected from the Federal budgets, the selling price of crude oil indicates how much revenue Nigeria intends to generate from crude oil for the year. However, the final selling price is not determined by Nigeria, the seller, but out in the international oil market.

Fortunately for the country, data from the Budget Office and CBN shows that crude oils final average selling price was higher than the projected price in the budget, except in 2015, and ordinarily, these would have meant higher revenue from oil in all the other years than the oil revenue budgeted.

Prices of Crude Oil Annually

Year Projected Price Per Barrel ($) Average Annual Price Per Barrel ($) Difference in Price ($) 2010 67 81.45 14.45 2011 75 115.18 40.18 2012 72 113.34 41.34 2013 79 110.95 31.95 2014 77.5 98.88 21.38 2015 53 52.85 -0.15 2016 38 46.07 8.07 2017 44.5 54.32 9.82 2018 51 72.58 21.58 2019 60 65.49 5.49

Source: Budget Office of the Federation and CBN

Yet, for the higher selling price of crude to translate to higher revenue, the country must produce at least the budgeted quantity as well. As a practice, the country in her annual budget proposes an amount to be sold to generate the predetermined revenue. This quantity is either met or exceeded for the period. Data accessed from Nigerias budget office shows that the government was unable to meet its proposed production target annually, except in 2011.

Quantity of Crude Oil Produced Daily in Nigeria

Year MBPD Projected MBPR Actual Difference in Production (MBPD) 2011 2.3 2.33 0.03 2012 2.48 2.2 -0.28 2013 2.52 2.15 -0.37 2014 2.39 2.12 -0.27 2015 2.28 2.19 -0.09 2016 2.2 1.76 -0.44 2017 2.2 1.89 -0.31 2018 2.3 1.93 -0.37 2019 2.3 2.04 -0.26

Although, on the average, there were shortfalls in the actual production of crude oil daily, there was a higher degree of increase in the products actual selling price. Thus, due to the favourable international price of crude oil, there was supposed to be a net increase in daily revenue in all the years, except 2016, Dataphytes analysis shows.

Year Actual average Revenue per day ($million)



(Actual price*Actual quantity)



A Budgeted revenue per day ($million)



(Budgeted price*budgeted quantity)



B Change in Average Revenue per day ($million)



(A-B)



C 2011 189.77 154.10 35.67 2012 253.40 186.00 67.40 2013 243.67 181.44 62.23 2014 235.22 188.81 46.41 2015 216.55 176.70 39.85 2016 93.02 116.60 -23.58 2017 87.07 83.60 3.47 2018 104.84 102.35 2.49 2019 148.07 117.30 30.77

Surprisingly, while Nigeria has been gaining millions of dollars daily in crude sales more than it budgeted for, the country has been receiving lower oil sales returns from its national oil business handler, NNPC.

The NNPCs published accounts reveal how its management unilaterally deducts substantial amounts from the oil revenue due for the federation account as costs, before handing the balance it so determines to the Federation Account. These defrayed costs include under-recovery costs (oil subsidy), product losses, pipeline management costs, besides others.

This shows that if NNPC reduces its business cost, the expected budgeted revenue can be achieved and even surpassed. Moreover, data indicates that NNPC is one of the state-owned oil companies operating at loss compared to its peers in other countries. In 2019, when other state owned oil companies declared massive profits in hundreds of billions of dollars, NNPC declared a loss of $0.52 billion, that is, 520 million dollars.

Thus, even if the country meets its expected oil production quota and sells crude at favourable international prices, all these may not readily translate into the expected values of oil revenue, until the country, through the NNPC and its subsidiaries, manages its oil business in an efficient manner.

Decreasing Oil Revenue and Increasing Debt Profile

Nigerias budget records over the years show that the federal government has been running all its budgets on deficits. A deficit budget is made when the government expects that its revenue in the new year will not be sufficient to fund its planned spendings. So, the government usually states that it intends to borrow from local and international lenders to fund the deficit, in addition to selling off some of the countrys assets to get money to spend in the present time.

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Source: Budget Office of the Federation, Dataphyte Research

However, in recent times, due to decreasing revenue from NNPCs inefficient management of oil proceeds, and shortfalls from other non-oil revenue sources, the government has actually been experiencing a deficit more than they planned in the budget. This means, while revenue was decreasing more than planned, the government was borrowing much more than they planned. Dataphytes analysis showed a strong positive relationship between decreases in oil revenues and increases in budget deficits, with a 0.83 correlation coefficient.

Year Oil Revenue budgeted (N trillion)



A Oil Revenue Actual (N trillion)



B Budgeted Deficit (N trillion)



C Actual Deficit (N trillion)



D Decrease in Oil Revenue (N trillion)



E=A-B Increase in Deficit (N trillion)



F=D-C 2010 4.264 2.613 1.49 1.09 1.651 -0.41 2011 4.839 3.494 1.14 1.74 1.345 0.60 2012 4.008 3.639 1.14 1.00 0.369 -0.14 2013 4.855 4.116 0.89 1.06 0.739 0.17 2014 4.36 4.083 0.99 0.88 0.277 -0.11 2015 3.377 2.512 1.62 1.53 0.865 -0.09 2016 1.479

Source: Budget Office of the Federation, Dataphyte Research

Furthermore, Dataphytes analysis found a 0.71 correlation between Nigerias decreasing oil revenue and increasing budget deficits between 2010 and 2019. This means there is also a positive relationship between the degree of decrease in Nigerias oil revenue and the degree of increase in the countrys debt burden.

Although it may not be conclusive to say that this decrease in oil revenue is the main cause of the countrys growing debts, Nigerias ten year trend (2010-2019) shows strong links between the governments revenue and its loan habits.

Lessons Learnt

An overhaul of the NNPCs operations is inevitable to position it for efficient and competitive business. This will enable increased revenues accruable to the federation accounts and minimizes revenue leakages.

Moreso, Nigeria has the potential of improving her revenue position if it looks beyond oil to other non-oil taxes. As it stands, the tax system does not cover the entire labour force, as less than 30% pay taxes, according to a BBC report. This situation is compounded by the fact that not less than 65% of her working population works in the informal sector. This accounts for her inability to meet the required standard of 15% tax revenue to GDP, and reporting 6.1% tax revenue in 2019.

The Medium-Term Economic Framework (MTEF) may also incorporate expenditure benchmarks, rather than identifying only revenue benchmarks. This will regulate government expenditure, which will in turn improve the budget deficit situation, and by extension, reduce the countrys debt burden to the overall benefit of the citizenry.

Support for this report was provided by the Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalism (PTCIJ) through its Natural Resource and Extractive Programme..
FCW Insider: March 26, 2021

Lauren Knausenberger, the Air Force's CIO, said since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the service had increased focus on telework and improving base connectivity.

The White House has fired at least five staffers after their disclosure of previous marijuana use and some lawmakers urging the White House to clarify its policies and take into account a growing nationwide movement supporting legal pot.

President Joe Biden has said cybersecurity will be a top priority for his administration, but two senior positions focused on the issue remain either vacant or held by an acting official.

Quick Hits

*** Gen. Paul Nakasone, the chief of U.S. Cyber Command and the National Security Agency, told lawmakers on the Senate Armed Services Committee that he had recently provided a notification to Congress that he would carry out an offensive cyber operation. The remarks came in response to a question from Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) who asked the general about whether those notifications were being provided to lawmakers specifically for cyber operations. The White House has not yet announced any formal retaliation against the suspected Russian agents who carried out the campaign against SolarWinds and the company's customers including nine federal agencies, but has told reporters it is preparing executive orders in response to its investigative findings regarding the breach.

*** Alethea Predeoux was tapped by the Office of Personnel Management to serve as director of the agency's Office of Congressional, Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs. Predeoux comes to OPM from the American Federation of Government Employees, where she was legislative director.
Apple recently shared the good news for Google Pixel and Samsung Galaxy users. The Cupertino-based company will now accept trade-ins for the said smartphones.

If Android phone and Google phone users accept the trade-in, they will receive cash credits towards purchasing a new Apple product of their choosing.

Apple Trade-In Program for Google Pixel and Samsung Galaxy Users

According to MacRumors, Apple is now accepting trade-in phones from Google and Samsung for their latest program. Google Pixel 5 users can trade-in their smartphones from the company and receive $350 credits, while Google Pixel 4a and the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 are up to $180 and $425, respectively.

Also, Apple is accepting other variants from Google Pixel and Samsung Galaxy for their latest trade-in. These includes:

Samsung Galaxy S20+ - $305

Samsung Galaxy S20 - $230

Samsung Galaxy S10+ - $250

Samsung Galaxy S10 - $180

Samsung Galaxy S10e - $190

Samsung Galaxy S9+ - $145

Samsung Galaxy S9 - $125

Samsung Galaxy S8+ - $100

Samsung Galaxy S8 - $80

Samsung Galaxy Note 10 - $260

Samsung Galaxy Note 8 - $75

Google Pixel 4 XL - $200

Google Pixel 4 - $170

Google Pixel 3 XL - $80

Google Pixel 3a - $70

It is important to note that the exact value of the various smartphones will drop as it will depend on the quality and the longevity of the presented trade-in device from user's hands. If the user's phones have scratches, dents, or defects, Apple will examine the damage and make the final decision for how much each user will get.

Also Read: iPhone 13 Rumors Hint Use of Samsung's LTPO Displays: Release Date, Specs and More

Meanwhile, ubergizmo reported that Apple is not considering Samsung Galaxy S21 devices yet for their newest trade-in program, which the publication is not sure why. However, the latest Samsung variant is still fresh in the market and it still has value in its name.

Will There Be an Apple Spring Event This 2021?

In other related news, some rumors are circulating online recently that Apple will most likely have a Spring Event this month. The majority of this speculations claim that the said event will launch the rumored iPad Pro and mini-LED display technology. The leaks have stated that the upcoming tablet will premiere during the first quarter of 2021.

However, 9to5Mac said that this Apple Spring Event is unlikely to happen. In previous years, Apple events always fall on the same months every year, with WWDC in June, an annual event in the Fall, and most years, a second Fall event would take place to focus on a new Mac release. Meanwhile, Apple events always fall on September, October and November.

On the other hand, Spring Events are hard to predict from Apple, as the tech giant has always focused on the late quarter of the year to unveil new tech from that they would be releasing in the suceeding months. To recall, Apple announced last year the new iPad Pro, Magic Keyboard and MacBook Air via press release in March.

Related Article: New Apple iPad Pro Coming in April: Better A14X Processor, Improved Camera Teased!
The government has ensured the timely release of allocations to the Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC), the body charged to monitor the responsible use of oil revenue and resources in the country.



Government since 2017 has ensured that, unlike in the past, the budgetary allocations of PIAC have been released to enable it undertake its activities. In 2020, for example, an amount of GH3.1 million was given to PIAC, with GH2.35 million set to be released for this year, in spite of the pandemic, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, stated.



The President disclosed this when he launched the 10th anniversary of PIAC in Accra yesterday.



Independent checks from PIAC indicated that the committee in a timely fashion to support their programmes, received GH1.34 million in 2017, GH3.54 million in 2018; GH2.94 million in 2019 and GH3.09 million last year.



Indeed, the committee utilised part of its 2018 budgetary allocation to procure its current office building at East Legon, in Accra, which brought an end to the era of evictions and threats of eviction by landlords.



For as long as I remain President, support to PIAC will be forthcoming and on time, President Akufo-Addo stressed.



Make information symmetrical



President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo urged the Ministry of Finance and PIAC to resolve the delay in transmission of information between them.



He observed that the delay chiefly emanated from distortions in the deadlines of reporting obligations of the two institutions, which he stressed, must be addressed.



Pre Order Ghana Year Book 2021

The President explained that the delay in information exchange had sometimes stoked unhelpful controversy and called for an amendment of the relevant provisions in the Petroleum Revenue Management Act, 2011 (Act 815) to help resolve the situation.



Rekindle meeting



He urged the Ministry of Finance and PIAC to rekindle their quarterly meetings to ensure that issues of mutual interest and concern were addressed through dialogue.



The President appealed to PIAC, in its publications, to help provide the general public with a better understanding of how petroleum resources were managed.



The committee should also clarify its position on matters swiftly should it be misconstrued in the media space, President Akufo-Addo stated.



Assurance



Let me reiterate the fact that the government is fully committed to supporting PIAC, and will help it ensure that petroleum revenues are well managed for the benefit of all Ghanaians, the President assured.



Objective



The Petroleum Reverence Management Act (PRMA) states that PIAC must monitor and evaluate compliance with the Act by the government and relevant institutions in the management and use of petroleum revenues and investments and provide space and a platform for the public to debate on whether spending prospects, management and use of revenues conform to development priorities as provided under the Act.



It is also charged to provide independent assessment on the management and use of petroleum revenue to assist Parliament and the Executive in the oversight and the performance of related functions.



Applause



Speaking before launching the 10th anniversary, President Akufo-Addo noted that by all accounts, PIAC had succeeded in attaining the objective for which it was established, saying I applaud, on behalf of government and the people of Ghana, successive heads and members of PIAC for this. For long may this continue.



Revenue



The President encouraged PIAC that as it celebrated its 10-year milestone, the committee must double its steps in engaging the government and relevant stakeholders, and help work towards the economic transformation of the country through the efficient use of hydrocarbon resources.



President Akufo-Addo gave an assurance of the governments considerable interest in all of its activities, expressing the hope that the co-operation between the government and PIAC would be deepened further in the coming years for the goal of a united, progressive and prosperous Ghana.



Oversight



The Chairman of PIAC, Professor Kwame Adom-Frimpong, said a major achievement of PIAC had been its role in legitimising government commitment to improve governance in the countrys oil and gas sector.



Also, the committee had effectively exercised oversight responsibility of managing and evaluating the management of Ghanas petroleum resources.



He said the PIAC had produced two reports each year in line with the legal requirement and raised critical issues of transparency and accountability in Ghanas oil and gas sector.

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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Kenosha Officer Rusten Sheskey shot Blake seven times in August during a domestic dispute, leaving him paralyzed. Blake, who is Black, was holding a pocketknife that had fallen from his pocket during a scuffle with police. Sheskey has not been charged, but Blake filed a civil lawsuit this week accusing him of using excessive force.
A court in Nkhata Bay has found two people guilty of gruesome murder of a person with albinism.

The High Court, sitting in Nkhata Bay, has convicted the two people for killing Yasin Kwenda Phiri, a person with albinism at Katende Trading Centre in the district in December, 2018.

Kwenda was during the night of December 31, 2018 gruesomely murdered by unknown assailants in his house, witnessed by his son who was nine years old at the time.

Seven suspects, including the two convicts, Frank Mkweni Khonje, 21 and Bonzo Chirwa, 54 both from Traditional Authority Fukamapiri in the district, were arrested following police investigation.

During plea, the convicts denied the charge, prompting the State to parade nine witnesses.

After looking at the evidence presented by both State and defence witnesses, the court found insufficient evidence that led to the acquital of the other three suspects.

Judge Justice Dorothy Degabriel found Khonje and Chirwa guilty while the other two were acquitted, citing insufficient evidence.
Intelligent.com, a trusted resource for online degree rankings and higher education planning, has announced the Top 50 Nursing Programs for 2021. The comprehensive research guide is based on an assessment of 171 accredited colleges and universities in the nation. Each program is evaluated based on curriculum quality, graduation rate, reputation, and post-graduate employment.

The 2021 rankings are calculated through a unique scoring system which includes student engagement, potential return on investment and leading third party evaluations. Intelligent.com analyzed 171 schools, on a scale of 0 to 100, with only 50 making it to the final list. The methodology also uses an algorithm which collects and analyzes multiple rankings into one score to easily compare each school.

Students who pursue any one of these programs can expect to gain employment much quicker in comparison to candidates without a degree. In addition to accessibility and cost, the steady job growth in this market is one of the many reasons Intelligent.com researched and ranked the Top Nursing Programs. To access the complete ranking, please visit: https://www.intelligent.com/best-nursing-programs/

2021 Nursing Programs featured on Intelligent.com (in alphabetical order):

Alcorn State University

Augusta University

Bemidji State University

Binghamton University

Briar Cliff University

California State University Stanislaus

California State University, Dominguez Hills

California State University, San Marcos

Campbellsville University

Central Carolina Technical College

Chicago State University

Columbus State University

Dakota Wesleyan University

Drexel University

Duquesne University

Fairfield University

Farmingdale State College

Fayetteville State University

George Mason University

Georgia Southwestern State University

Goldfarb School of Nursing, Barnes-Jewish College

Idaho State University

Immaculata University

Jacksonville State University

Johns Hopkins University

Lake Area Technical Institute

Lees-McRae College

Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center

Midway University

MIdwestern State University, Texas

Molloy College

New York University

North Carolina Central University

North Dakota State University

Northwestern Oklahoma State University

Pearl River Community College

Saint Mary of the Woods College

Sam Houston State University

Seattle University

Texas A&M International University

University of Arkansas, Pine Bluff

University of California, Irvine

University of California, Los Angeles

University of Iowa

University of North Dakota

University of North Georgia

University of Saint Francis

University of Tennessee, Chattanooga

Weber State University

West Liberty University

About Intelligent.com

Intelligent.com provides unbiased research to help students make informed decisions about higher education programs. The website offers curated guides which include the best degree programs as well as information about financial aid, internships and even study strategies. With comprehensive, user-friendly guides and hundreds of program rankings, Intelligent.com is a trusted source among students and prospective students. To learn more, please visit https://www.intelligent.com/.
An 'astonishing' deficit of data about how the global boom in educational technology could help pupils with disabilities in low and middle-income countries has been highlighted in a new report.

Despite widespread optimism that educational technology, or 'EdTech', can help to level the playing field for young people with disabilities, the study found a significant shortage of evidence about which innovations are best-positioned to help which children, and why; specifically in low-income contexts.

The review also found that many teachers lack training on how to use new technology, or are reluctant to do so.

The study was carried out for the EdTech Hub partnership, by researchers from the Universities of Cambridge, Glasgow and York.

They conducted a detailed search for publications reporting trials or evaluations about how EdTech is being used to help primary school-age children with disabilities in low- and middle-income countries. Despite screening 20,000 documents, they found just 51 relevant papers from the past 14 years - few of which assessed any impact on children's learning outcomes.

Their report describes the paucity of evidence as 'astonishing', given the importance of educational technologies to support the learning of children with disabilities.

According to the Inclusive Education Initiative, as many as half the estimated 65 million school-age children with disabilities worldwide were out of school even before the COVID-19 pandemic, and most face ongoing, significant barriers to attending or participating in education.

EdTech is widely seen as having the potential to reverse this trend, and numerous devices have been developed to support the education of young people with disabilities. The study itself identifies a kaleidoscopic range of devices to support low vision, sign language programmes, mobile apps which teach braille, and computer screen readers.

It also suggests, however, that there have been very few systematic attempts to test the effectiveness of these devices. Dr Paul Lynch, from the School of Education, University of Glasgow, said: "The evidence for EdTech's potential to support learners with disabilities is worryingly thin. Even though we commonly hear of interesting innovations taking place across the globe, these are not being rigorously evaluated or documented."

There is an urgent need to know which technology works best for children with disabilities, where, and in response to which specific needs. The lack of evidence is a serious problem if we want EdTech to fulfil its potential to improve children's access to learning, and to increase their independence and agency as they progress through school." Nidhi Singal, Professor, Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge

The report identifies numerous 'glaring omissions' in the evaluations that researchers did manage to uncover. Around half were for devices designed to support children with hearing or vision difficulties; hardly any addressed the learning needs of children with autism, dyslexia, or physical disabilities. Most were from trials in Asia or Africa, while South America was underrepresented.

Much of the evidence also concerned EdTech projects which Dr Gill Francis, from the University of York and a co-author, described as 'in their infancy'. Most focused on whether children liked the tools, or found them easy to use, rather than whether they actually improved curriculum delivery, learner participation and outcomes.

Attention was also rarely given to whether the devices could be scaled up - for example, in remote and rural areas where resources such as electricity are often lacking. Few studies appeared to have taken into account the views or experiences of parents or carers, or of learners themselves.

The studies reviewed also suggest that many teachers lack experience with educational technology. For example, one study in Nigeria found that teachers lacked experience of assistive technologies for students with a range of disabilities. Another, undertaken at 10 schools for the blind in Delhi, found that the uptake of modern low-vision devices was extremely limited, because teachers were unaware of their benefits.

Despite the shortage of information overall, the study did uncover some clear evidence about how technology - particularly portable devices - is transforming opportunities for children with disabilities.

Deaf and hard-of-hearing pupils, for instance, are increasingly using SMS and social media to access information about lessons and communicate with peers; while visually-impaired pupils have been able to use tablet computers, in particular, to magnify and read learning materials.

Based on this, the report recommends that efforts to support children with disabilities in low- and middle-income countries should focus on the provision of mobile and portable devices, and that strategies should be put in place to ensure that these are sustainable and affordable for parents and schools - as cost was another concern that emerged from the studies cited.

Critically, however, the report states that more structured evidence-gathering is urgently needed to ensure EdTech meets the UN's stated goal to 'ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning for all'. The authors suggest that there is a need to adopt more robust research designs, which should address a full range of disabilities, and involve pupils, carers and teachers in the process.

"There is no one-size-fits-all solution when working with children with disabilities," Singal added. "That is why the current lack of substantive evidence is such a concern. It needs to be addressed so that teachers, parents and learners are enabled to make informed judgements about which technological interventions work, and what might work best for them."
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Gary Piazza has been named the department head and professor for the Auburn University Harrison School of Pharmacys Department of Drug Discovery and Development. A highly respected cancer investigator with more than 30 years in the field, Piazza comes to Auburn after 10 years at the Mitchell Cancer Institute at the University of South Alabama.

We are extremely excited to welcome Dr. Piazza to the Harrison School of Pharmacy family, said Dean Richard Hansen. He is an established leader and innovator in his field and will enhance cancer research within the Harrison School of Pharmacy and Auburn University.

In his most recent role, Piazza served as professor of oncologic science and pharmacology, program director of chemoprevention and experimental therapeutics and chief of the Drug Discovery and Development Research Center at South Alabamas Mitchell Cancer Institute. With his wealth of experience in cancer research, Hansen is enthusiastic about his addition to the schools faculty.

Dr. Piazza has a rich history in leading drug discovery teams throughout his distinguished career, Hansen said. With the knowledge and experience his team brings, we have the opportunity to enhance and develop our work and really accelerate our aspirations in this area.

For Piazza, the environment at Auburn, along with its commitment to education and research, were motivating factors to move his lab to the Plains.

I believe the position at the Harrison School of Pharmacy has the potential to provide an outstanding environment to grow my research program, Piazza said. It will also allow me to have a positive impact on others, especially by mentoring junior faculty and students. I am excited to join the Auburn Family, with its high standards for education, research and its entrepreneurial spirit.

Piazza is a 1981 graduate of Dominican University in Chicago, earning a bachelors degree in biology and psychology. He then moved to Alabama and completed a doctorate in pharmacology from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, or UAB, in 1985.

Upon graduation, Piazza completed postdoctoral training at the Fox Chase Cancer Center in 1987. He then served as a research assistant professor at Brown University from 1989-91.

Piazza entered the pharmaceutical industry with the Proctor and Gamble Company in Cincinnati as a staff scientist from 1991-95 and as director of biology with Cell Pathways Inc. in Denver from 1995-2001. He then returned to academia as director of pharmacology at the Institute of Drug Development and adjunct associate professor at the Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio from 2001-03.

From 2003-11, Piazza joined Southern Research, where he served as the principal investigator and program director for a National Institutes of Health Molecular Libraries Screening Center and adjunct professor at UAB until 2011. From there, Piazza moved to his most recent appointments at the University of South Alabama.

With extensive experience and expertise in the field, as well as a familiarity with peer institutions in the state, Piazza is excited for potential collaborations and growth within the department.

For the past 20 years, I have worked with many talented scientists across the state at UAB, South Alabama and Alabama, and feel I know the drug discovery and development landscape in the state quite well, Piazza said. I hope to continue these local collaborations as well as with other investigators throughout the world with the intent of not only strengthening my research, but also to bring in others from the Department of Drug Discovery and Development.

The diverse expertise in pharmaceutical research is a clear strength of the department that could lead to tremendous synergy within the state and for Auburn to become a world-class leader in the field of drug discovery and development.

Piazza has been awarded numerous National Institutes of Health/National Cancer Institute grants as a principal investigator with at least three R01sNIHs research project grant programrunning concurrently since 2011. He has a broad research background in cancer biology with interests in anti-cancer drug discovery and development.

He has more than 130 publications to his credit and is an inventor on numerous patents. Three distinct classes of experimental anticancer compounds emerged from this research that are in various stages of preclinical development. The compounds selectively inhibit the activity of oncoproteins, such as RAS or -catenin that are mutated and drive numerous malignancies, including colon, lung, ovarian, breast and pancreatic cancers. Piazza is also a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors and co-founder of ADT Pharmaceuticals LLC.

Joining Piazza in his move to Auburn will be his lab research team, including Yulia Maxuitenko, Adam Keeton, Xi Chen and lab manager Kristy Berry.

The Department of Drug Discovery and Development at the Harrison School of Pharmacy is a diverse and dynamic unit that focuses on several therapeutic areas, including diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, infectious diseases, neurodegenerative disorders and oncology. Investigators are generating lead molecules with therapeutic potential, elucidating mechanisms of disease, optimizing drug delivery strategies and studying drug disposition.

The department is comprised of more than 20 faculty members in the fields of pharmacology, pharmaceutics and medicinal chemistry with labs located in the Walker Building and the state-of-the-art Pharmacy Research Building.
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Authorities have expanded their search for a suspect sought in connection with the shooting death of an 8-year-old girl in Louisiana earlier this week.

Treyce Bryant was killed about 8:30 p.m. Monday when she was riding in a vehicle with her mother and a male. Houma Police Chief Dana Coleman said a light-colored sedan was following them on a residential street and, a short time later, opened fire on the vehicle in which Treyce was riding.

The little girl was struck and rushed to a nearby hospital where she was pronounced dead. She just was an innocent person at the wrong place at the wrong time, the Houma chief said. There are so many things in life that were just taken away from her and her family as a result of two adults having a disagreement and not being able to settle their disagreement by having conversation.

Warrants were issued Wednesday for Davonta Verret, 23, for first-degree murder and two counts of attempted first-degree murder. Authorities have not identified the male that was in the same car as Treyce but said that man and the suspect had been feuding.

A vigil in Treyces memory will be held tonight at the Terrebonne Parish Courthouse.

Coleman said detectives believe Verret has ties to cities other than Houma, which is why he is appealing to anyone in the southern region who might know of his whereabouts. They believe he could be anywhere between Louisiana to Georgia, or even beyond. Authorities said Mobile is one of the possibilities.

Anyone with information should call their local police department or 800-743-7433. Tips can also be shared using the website www.crimstoppersbr.org. All calls are confidential and could result in a cash reward of up to $1,000.
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In a meeting plagued by live stream technical difficulties, the leaders of Los Angeles County's public transit agency Thursday granted $36 million in additional funding to the law enforcement agencies contracted to patrol its system.

In the same vote, they called on L.A. Metro to invest at least $40 million in next year's budget for public safety and homelessness initiatives that aren't tied to armed police enforcement.

Back in Feb. 2017, the agency awarded five-year contracts to the Los Angeles Police Department, L.A. County Sheriff's Department and Long Beach Police Department, totalling more than $645 million. With Thursday's vote, that amount was boosted to more than $681 million (that doesn't include a contract with a private security firm or Metro's own armed security personnel).

Metro officials say the additional funding is necessary "to address the unprecedented challenges associated with homelessness, COVID-19 pandemic and increased, evolving safety and security requirements in Los Angeles County."

Dozens of community activists and transit advocates spoke out against the added funding during the meeting, urging the board to not give law enforcement another cent. And when those contracts end in 2022, they're asking Metro's leaders not to renew them, but rather reinvest those millions in community-based safety and social initiatives.

Many cited incidents and data showing that police disproportionately target and cite Black riders on Metro's system.

A recent report from the activist group Alliance for Community Transit-Los Angeles, or ACT-LA, analyzed Metro's current public safety practices, which the authors argue "have been used to police the mobility of Black people, Indigenous people, and other people of color (BIPOC) and reinforce inequities through gentrification, displacement and access to housing."

LAPD officers patrol Union Station. (Courtesy L.A. Metro)

Metro data obtained by the group showed nearly half of citations from law enforcement are to Black riders, who make up about 18% of Metro's overall ridership. Reporting from the Long Beach Post in July showed that Black riders accounted for 62% of fare evasion citations while representing 21% of transit ridership in that city.

L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti, who chairs Metro's board, called the report "very impressive" and said the current law enforcement contracts "got out of control," but that agency leaders have been "put in a position where we can't undo that overspending."

A few who addressed the board were in favor of upping the funding for law enforcement agencies, citing safety concerns of some Metro employees and riders, but the vast majority of speakers called on Metro's leaders to not give police more money.

"I'd like to think that you all are better than this," one speaker said. "Everyone on this board reflects on and makes statements in support of families when their loved ones are murdered by police. But this vote today lets the movement know that the jury is still out on what you really believe."

HOW THAT NEW MONEY MIGHT BE SPENT

Metro staff had initially requested roughly $111 million in additional funding for policing through the end of the contract period, which expires in June 2022, but that was amended to $36 million through Dec. 31 of this year.

The board also approved an amendment that calls on Metro to invest at least $40 million in its upcoming budget (FY 2021-22) on new approaches to its public safety and homelessness strategies. That includes:

$20 million for a "transit ambassador program," modeled after a program launched in the Bay Area. The goal is to staff Metro stations, buses and trains with unarmed personnel who can help riders.

$1 million for elevator attendants at Metro stations.

$1 million for a "flexible dispatch system" so homeless outreach workers, mental health specialists, and/or ambassadors could respond "in appropriate situations."

$5 million for blue light security boxes.

$2 million to provide short-term shelter for homeless riders.

$5 million for "enhanced homeless outreach teams and related mental health, addiction, nursing, and shelter services."

Those initiatives and others will be studied by Metro's new Public Safety Advisory Committee, which was created in the wake of sustained demonstrations calling for racial justice and new approaches to public safety.

Metro spent the past several months recruiting for the 15-member committee, and its first meeting is scheduled for April.

Garcetti and other board members emphasized the need to move more quickly on the new initiatives, which the amendment will allow them to do.

"We don't need two years to figure it out," Garcetti said during the meeting. "We don't need to wait to get our feet wet until there's a perfect proposal that a majority votes on. We need to be doing this every day, every week, every month and moving forward -- because the time is now."

CHALLENGING 'FLAWED ASSUMPTIONS'

LAPD officers patrol an L (Gold) Line station. (Courtesy L.A. Metro)

In its recent report "Metro as a Sanctuary," ACT-LA analyzed Metro's current public safety strategy, which the authors said is "based on flawed assumptions and results in profoundly harmful racial profiling and criminalization."

The report presents alternatives to armed police enforcement on the system, including transit ambassadors, fareless transit, investments in affordable housing, and better, more frequent bus service.

ACT-LA's work to reimagine public safety means "reevaluating how we deal with fear," said Asiyahola Sankara, the group's justice campaign manager. Part of that means challenging the assumption that more police on the system means all riders will feel safer, he said.

Metro board member and County Supervisor Janice Hahn noted that divide in Thursday's meeting.

"Single white women feel safer with uniformed law enforcement being present, but there is a certain part of our communities that feel the exact opposite -- for good reason," she said. "Many times people of color feel unsafe just by the sight of a uniformed officer."

Based on the most recent surveys, about 8% of Metro bus riders and 21% of rail riders are white, while nearly 90% of bus riders and 75% of rail riders identified as people of color.

(James Bernal for LAist)

The increased presence of police officers and Sheriff's deputies in recent years is unnecessary, given the rate of serious and violent crimes happening on the system, Sankara said.

Law enforcement officers spend most of their time addressing nuisance and code of conduct violations, while a small fraction of contacts lead to felony and misdemeanor arrests, according to ATC-LA's report.

"It's like prescribing five years of chemotherapy for a runny nose," Sankara said. "The treatment just doesn't match the disease."

Sankara pointed to the 2017 death of Cesar Rodriguez, who died during a struggle with Long Beach police officers. Rodriguez had been stopped by the officers because his TAP card did not show proof of fare payment. That turned into a physical struggle, which resulted in Rodriguez being fatally injured when he was pinned between the station platform and an arriving Blue Line train.

"Cesar Rodriguez's story points to not an isolated incident, but a total misorientation of how Metro as an agency creates safety for its riders," Sankara said. "The policing contracts are resting on the assumption that increasing the visibility and the presence of armed police officers will create a safer experience for all riders."

One way to avoid having police stop riders for fare checks would be to make the system free, something Metro is currently exploring. The current proposal is for low-income riders to travel for free starting in 2022, then expand free fares to include K-12 students that August.

"That would be a climate justice slam dunk ... but Metro's not putting two and two together and connecting how that in and of itself would be a safety measure," Sankara said. "Fare disputes are actually the number one cause of assaults on bus drivers, and eliminating fares would be potentially one of the strongest measures Metro could take to prevent attacks on bus drivers."

There's also the homelessness crisis, which is on full display at Metro stations and on its transit lines. The current model for interacting with people experiencing homelessness is tethered to policing, but Sankara and other activists say it's time to change that.

"A police officer is not a social worker," he said. "A police officer is not a housing provider and should absolutely not be Metro's primary, secondary, tertiary approach to connecting homeless riders to housing."

A 2020 report commissioned by ACT-LA looking into alternatives to policing on transit found that, if the goal is to connect homeless people with services and housing, homeless outreach workers are notably more effective than police officers.

Citing Metro data from September through Nov. 2019, researcher Ma'ayan Dembo found that 1% of the unhoused people on Metro contacted by law enforcement received housing, compared with 27% of people contacted by homeless outreach workers from PATH. The data also showed that 28% of unhoused people contacted by police received services, compared with 48% of those contacted by PATH.


Sources say Mr Bawa tabled a three-point request in his discussions with the top officials.

The chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Abdulrasheed Bawa, has held separate meetings with the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Tanko Muhammad, and the President of the Court of Appeal, Monica Dongban-Mensem, in his first official interactions with the judiciary arm of government since assuming office in February.

PREMIUM TIMES learnt that the meetings, held at Mr Bawa's instance on Tuesday, are part of his efforts to enlist the support of the judiciary in the fight against corruption.

Officials of the EFCC, the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal, who are privy to the details of the meetings, shared the major highlights of the discussions with PREMIUM TIMES on Thursday.

'Three-point request'

The officials, who spoke with our reporter on the condition that they would not be named because they were not authorised to talk to the media on the matter, said Mr Bawa tabled his concerns about Nigerian courts' handling of corruption cases at the meetings with the jurists.

Mr Bawa reportedly made three major points at the meetings, one of them, an appeal to his hosts to impress it on judges to be strict in the application of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), 2015 to remove the delays often suffered by the criminal cases, particularly, the high-profile corruption matters.

He then appealed to them to designate courts to handle exclusively corruption and financial crimes, an arrangement he believes will boost speedy hearing and determination of such cases.

The third point reportedly made by the EFCC chairman has to do with the setback often caused by indiscriminate transfer or elevation of judges to higher courts.

A criminal case no matter how far it has gone automatically begins afresh once the judge handling it is elevated to the Court of Appeal. Sometimes, the transfer of judges from one division of a High Court to another, leads to cases starting afresh.

The ACJA, welcomed in 2015 as a revolutionary legislation that would transform the criminal justice system by removing agelong obstacles to its smooth flow, made provision empowering High Court judges that have been elevated to the Court of Appeal to return to the lower court to conclude their part-heard criminal cases.

But the Supreme Court, in a February 2020 judgment on the corruption case involving a former Governor of Abia State, Orji Kalu, nullified the said provision in section 396(7) of ACJA as being unconstitutional.

"The EFCC chairman urged the CJN, as the head of the Nigerian judiciary, to ensure that when judges are being elevated, the cases being handled by them are taken into account. He added that trial judges should also not be transferred in a way that would jeopardise their part-heard criminal cases. He also requested that the time of retirement of judges should also be taken into consideration while assigning cases to them," a source told PREMIUM TIMES.

'Positive responses'

Our sources said both the CJN and President of the Court of Appeal, "gave positive responses", promising to address Mr Bawa's requests.

The request by Mr Bawa for the judiciary to designate some judges to handle solely corruption and financial crimes cases is not new.

The immediate-past CJN, Walter Onnoghen, in a major reform drive, in September 2017, directed heads of various courts to designate judges to handle, exclusively, corruption and financial crimes cases.

He also, in his capacity, as the chairperson of the National Judicial Council (NJC), set up the Corruption Financial Crimes Cases Trials Monitoring Committee (COTRIMCO), to monitor the progress of cases being handled by those courts.

The EFCC, at the time , also issued a statement quoting then acting chairman of the commission, Ibrhaim Magu, as commending Mr Onnoghen for introducing the then new policies.

But the policies, which never developed fully, died with the exit of Mr Onnoghen under controversial circumstances in 2019.

Poor enforcement of ACJA

The Supreme Court has in a landmark judgment in a case involving a PDP official, Olisa Metuh, invalidated the provision of section 306 of ACJA prohibiting the granting of stay in criminal proceedings.

But trial courts have largely been weak in the implementation of other provisions of the law such as the ones relating to adjournments.

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Meetings confirmed

When contacted by PREMIUM TIMES for his comments on Thursday, EFCC's spokesperson, Wilson Uwujaren, confirmed the meetings Mr Bawa had with the CJN and the Court of Appeal president.

He said "they are routine meetings a new chairman of the commission usually holds with critical stakeholders involved in the fight against corruption".

"It is the usual practice for the new EFCC chairman of the commission to interface with critical stakeholders in the fight against corruption, and the judiciary is a critical stakeholders in the fight against corruption," Mr Uwujaren said.

Our correspondent also tried to speak with the CJN's media aide, Ahuraka Isah, but he could not be reached as his telephone line remained switched off for hours.

But the Director, Press and Information, Supreme Court, Festus Akande, told PREMIUM TIMES he could not confirm the meeting "because he had been out of the office".
PHOEBE ATUKUNDA | For one year now, Local Governments (LGs) in Uganda and the rest of the world have had to operate amidst challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, several activities such as council meetings were grounded, LGs were required to retain a lean staff structure of not more than 30% of staff while the rest worked from home, and key decisions such as budget approval were made by the business committees which was irregular according to the provisions of the Local Governments Act CAP 243 as amended.

It was also reported by the Permanent Secretary (PS) Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development that 36 districts had failed to submit draft budget estimates and work plans and performance contracts for the FY 2020/2021 within the required timeline.

The PS in his letter to LG Accounting Officers dated April 15, 2020, further noted that "Notwithstanding the inconveniences associated with the COVID-19 Pandemic, the statutory timelines still stand and therefore, this requires all local governments to institute administrative measures to ensure continuity of work, especially regarding the finalisation of the budget for the FY 2020/2021, among other critical activities".

The experience from the last year has brought to the fore the use of e-government at the local government level to exploit the power of Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) to help transform the accessibility, quality, cost-effectiveness of public services and to revitalize the relationship between citizens and public bodies.

Local e-government has the potential of extending services to local communities by providing online means for people to get together and communicate in a non-commercial environment in ways more relevant to government. It provides government agencies with the opportunity to offer new and enhanced services to the public, increase the involvement of communities in policymaking and improved service provision.

ICTs and other related telecommunication and digital networks are a major driving force in building information societies and economies around the world. Increasingly recognised as a new factor in improving existing governance practices, the main benefit of technology-based e-government systems is seen in the building of a fully-fledged open information society by providing a wide range of online public services, fostering mutually effective public-private partnerships, and enhancing democracy among others. ICTs are bringing about major changes in the way local and regional authorities operate, interact and communicate internally or with other administrative entities, enterprises, and citizens.

The use of ICT tools can solve other challenges of LGs in terms of political and managerial leadership, thus enhancing citizen engagement and participation. The government has made progress towards establishing the regional communication infrastructure. Through its agency, NITA-U, the government has found ways to deliver public services more efficiently and effectively by incorporating e-governance in districts. Local governments, as service delivery units, are the closest governmental units to the citizens thus, the application of ICT tools at this level will facilitate effective and efficient service delivery.

Indeed, the Central Government has made substantive progress in making sure that each local government in Uganda has a website. The benefits of ICT as discussed above notwithstanding; a lot is still lacking to achieve the full potential of e-government at the local government level. For example, a quick look at most local government websites, one notices that they are neither updated regularly nor linked to websites of relevant MDAs. Also, information on some LG websites is not cross-checked to ensure they are correct for example, a look at Bududa district website, one notices that it has information as old as 2018 and under the section of "overview of the district", it displays information related to Mukono district https://bududa.go.ug/lg/overview.

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To make e-government with its desired associated benefits a reality; there is a need to invest in improving on the current ICT infrastructure and adapt to the use of ICT tools at the local government level. There is also a need for training of LG personnel with appropriate skills for effective utilisation. Local e-government, therefore, becomes a political device adopted to ensure good governance at the grassroots level through which government and citizen's relationships are facilitated to ensure better performance and enhance good governance that is generally characterised by participation, transparency and accountability.
Fifty teams of intrepid Kiwis crammed into their beloved Minis yesterday, hoping to complete an epic 2350km journey from Paihia to Invercargill to raise money for children in need.

The Pork Pie Charity Run for KidsCan loosely follows the route taken by the Blondini Gang in the 1981 Kiwi classic Goodbye Pork Pie.

Its a true test of endurance for the cars and their drivers, says organiser Tracey Brake. Weve got Minis from 1964 with 850cc motors. Travelling long distances in a classic Mini is a bit like being a marble in a biscuit tin. But it is so much fun.

There are moments which take your breath away because the country is so stunning, and moments when you think, Are we there yet? That rattles getting worse! To get to the finish line you need a finely tuned sense of humour, a chiropractor on speed dial and an AA Plus membership - thats vital.

The teams come from all over New Zealand, and left Paihia on Friday March 26, travelling through Auckland, Taupo, Wellington, Christchurch, Franz Josef, and Queenstown before reaching Invercargill on Wednesday March 31.

The biennial event began in 2009. The 2019 run raised more than $290,000 for KidsCan, which provides children living in hardship with food, jackets, shoes and health items, so nothing stops them from learning.



We get to have fun while were doing something really important. If we can pull this off in a pandemic and achieve our target for the kids Ill be so proud. Its so incredibly special, says Tracey. This year were also looking forward to bringing what business we can to those towns which are really suffering from a lack of tourism.

KidsCan is New Zealands leading charity dedicated to helping Kiwi kids affected by poverty. We help the one in five children experiencing hardship by providing food, jackets, shoes and health products to 829 low-decile schools and 110 early childhood centres across New Zealand. With these basics, kids can participate in learning and have the opportunity for a better future.



KidsCans founder and CEO, Julie Chapman, will be driving the final leg for Team KidsCan with the charitys ambassador Jordan Watson, A.K.A. How to Dad.

Were so grateful to be the recipient of this wonderful, quintessentially Kiwi roadie, says Julie. Its been an incredibly difficult year for vulnerable families around New Zealand who have been hardest hit by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Their children need our support more than ever, and Id urge anyone who can support these crazy teams to please donate what you can - it makes such a difference.



En route, the Minis will visit Hampton Downs Motorsport Park, cruise through Horopito Motor Wreckers - Smash Palace, and test their small engines with laps of Highlands Motorsport Park in Cromwell. A full itinerary is attached.



Visit www.kidscan.org.nz and for more information: www.porkpie.co.nz

To donate to a team: https://porkpie2021.gofundraise.co.nz/cms/home

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/porkpiecharityrun
Another warm March weekend is in the forecast, complete with 70-degreee weather and some cool rain.
THE fallen iconic Tanzanian President, John Pombe Joseph Magufuli has left a bunch of achievements and great landmarks on water projects across the country.

Being among the crucial social service, the government under Dr Magufuli threw all its weight to improve access to the service, this time targeting to hit the 85 per cent mark for rural areas and 95 per cent in urban areas in terms of water accessibility in urban areas by the year 2025.

The government in collaboration with development partners has invested heavily on water projects in its grand continued efforts to improve access to the service across the country. The most recent project on the water sector that the late Dr John Magufuli did was in January this year when he inaugurated the 617bn/- water project to benefit 1.2 million Tabora residents.

The project that involved laying of water pipes on an area covering 281 kilometers in length from Lake Victoria was a continuation of the government's initiative to supply water from the lake to places with high demand of the precious liquid. The mega 617-billion water project in Tabora, funded by a loan from the Indian government, will benefit residents in Tabora, Nzega and Igunga districts.

As he launched the project, the late President Magufuli said project contractors managed to complete its construction within the agreed time, noting that construction work started in August 2017 and was completed in February 2020.

"Tabora had a special contribution to the liberation of this country, that is why I did not hesitate to endorse 617bn /- to implement this project. To bring water from Lake Victoria to here (Tabora) is not an easy task," the late President Magufuli stated, insisting that that was the biggest project to be implemented in this country.

Its inauguration came barely a day after President Magufuli had launched IsakaKagongwa water project worth 23.17bn/- in Shinyanga region, which also supplies water from Lake Victoria. Known by his nickname as the bulldozer, he instructed the Water Ministry to ensure that it supplied water from the project to residents of the three districts and extend the services to other districts of Urambo, Sikonge and Kaliua by using 25bn/- saved during the implementation of the project.

In the 2020/21 budget, the government earmarked 16.5bn/- for implementing water projects in Tabora region. In his speech to dissolve the National Assembly in June last year, the late President Magufuli stated that during his reign, 1,423 water projects had been implemented, of which 1,268 were in rural areas and 155 in urban areas.

"Apart from the major project of water supply from Lake Victoria to Nzega, Tabora and Igunga, others are the Arusha Water Project as well as the project to deliver water to 28 cities which is being completed at a cost of 1.2tri/-," he listed.

The projects were part of the promises made by the ruling party in its 2015-2020 election manifesto. K i s a r a w e - K i b a m b a project The project involved the construction of a water tank with storage capacity of six million litres a day, which serves Kisarawe District and its environs.

According to statistics, the area requires only 1.2 million litres per day for its residents. The Dar es Salaam Water and Sewerage Authority (DAWASA) Chief Executive Officer, Cyprian Luhemeja said the Kisarawe-Pugu project completion marks the beginning of extension of water services to Pugu area and would cost 7.3bn/-.

After the fifth phase government made reforms in the city water authorities, they now allocate 47.5 per cent of revenues, which is also directed towards financing their schemes.

"The extension of this project will see water supply and improvement of the service provision to other areas, including Ukonga, Segerea, Banana and others" said Mr Luhemeja.

Expansion of Upper Ruvu water project The completion of the expansion work at the Upper and Lower Ruvu water treatment plants brought a total volume of water pumped into the city to 586 million liters, up from 390 million liters that were being pumped from the Lower Ruvu plant per day.

The project is part of DAWASA's plan to address water woes in the commercial capital, Dar es Salaam and nearby communities in the Coast Region. The Exim Bank of India funded the 178 million US dollar (over 350bn/-) project that involved expansion works at the Upper Ruvu water intake, treatment plant and laying of water pipes and construction tanks to supply the precious liquid.

Same - Mwanga - Korogwe water project This was among the grand projects implemented in the northern part of Tanzania, covering some parts of Kilimanjaro and Tanga regions. Implementation of the project was funded by the government in collaboration with Arab Bank for Development in Africa (BADEA), OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID), Saudi Fund and Kuwait Fund at the cost of 300m US dollars.

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The project was expected to be completed in September 2020; the ministry of water said the project is aimed at solving water woes in some 38 villages in Same and Mwanga districts (Kilimanjaro region) as well as others in Korogwe District Council in Tanga.

Upon completion, the project will produce 103.7 million litres per day while the current demand is 78.4 million litres per day covering a population of 438,931 people in the three districts, 246,793 in Same, 177,085 in Mwanga and 15,053 in Korogwe. Water improvement project in 28 cities The government has secured a 500/- million loan from the government of India through the Exim bank in India for implementing a project of improving water service in 28 cities in mainland Tanzania and one city in Zanzibar.

The project is estimated to have a capacity of serving about 4 million citizens at the beginning before later on increasing the capacity to 6 million people by 2040 in the 28 cities.

The government through the ministry of water has expressed commitment of continuing implementing and coming up with new projects across the country, the aim being addressing water woes in Tanzania.
WAYLAND, MI -- A man and woman are accused of sex trafficking women at a Wayland house and locations in Grand Rapids, police said.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and Wayland Police Chief Mark Garnsey announce the charges Friday, March 26 following an investigation lasting more than two years.

Authorities announced charges against Robert Henry Grigsby, 51, of Wayland and Vanessa Anne Phillips, 39.

Police said they allegedly conducted a criminal enterprise comprised of prostitution and sex trafficking of numerous women in Grigsbys home in Wayland, and other locations throughout the greater Grand Rapids area.

The investigation began in October 2018, Garnsey said, and police eventually discovered there were more than 14 woman who had been victims.

The women ranged in age from their 20s to 40s, he said.

In some cases, the suspects used drugs to keep women in what was described as a prostitution ring.

Grigsby and Phillips are charged with forced labor/commercial sex trafficking, accepting earnings of prostitution and conspiracy to conduct a criminal enterprise.

Separately, Grigsby is charged with transportation for prostitution.

Police said they were arraigned Friday.

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Britain could see near-record breaking temperatures for March next week as the mercury gets up to a sweltering 75F (24C) after the outdoor rule of six returns  but not before a brief cold snap begins tonight.

The hottest weather is expected in South East England next Tuesday with the highs closing in on the all-time UK record temperature for the month, which was 78.1F (25.6C) on March 29, 1968 in Mepal, Cambridgeshire.

Next Monday is also expected to be warm with highs of 66F (19C) expected on the day that England's third coronavirus lockdown is partially eased, with people allowed to gather outside in groups of six again.

The upbeat forecast means next week is almost certain to bring the warmest day of 2021 so far, beating the current UK high of 66.2F (19C) which was set in Edinburgh just over a week ago on March 18.

The mercury is set to stay above average for the time of year until at least Wednesday, with signs that it may then fall slightly with forecasters adding that there are 'some hints that it might just turn a little bit colder' for Easter.

However the Met Office also said chilly air is sweeping in today behind an active weather front bringing strong winds and heavy rain, turning wintry tonight with the 'potential for some sleet and hail just about anywhere'.

Snow is possible over hillier parts of the country including Exmoor, Dartmoor, the Pennines and Scotland with up to 4in (10cm) expected in the western Highlands, while the start of tomorrow could also bring a widespread frost.

A woman walks her dog beside the daffodils around the base of Warkworth Castle in Northumberland this afternoon

People are caught in a sudden downpour of heavy rain as they cross the Millennium Bridge in London today

A pedestrian covers their head with a newspaper in the wind and rain at Parliament Square in London today

A woman holds onto her umbrella as people are caught in a downpour as they cross Millennium Bridge in London today

A man struggles with an umbrella in the wind and rain in London today ahead of a cold snap at the start of the weekend

Met Office chief meteorologist Andy Page said: From Saturday we are going to see a change in weather across the UK, with the northern and southern parts of Britain experiencing quite marked differences.

'The northern half of Britain will see strong winds and heavy rain, especially in parts of Western Scotland where a yellow warning for rain will be in force for 48 hours from 6pm on Sunday evening.

A band of heavy rain is sweeping across the country today

'However, in sheltered central and southern parts of the UK, weather conditions will be much calmer with temperatures climbing in the March sunshine to highs into the low 20Cs, with the possibility of 24C (75F) in South East England by Tuesday.'

Met Office meteorologist Aidan McGivern said: 'A taste of winter as we begin this weekend, but it really is the snappiest of cold snaps, because it doesn't last long before milder air rushes in from the West.'

He said this will bring heavy rain for some places but 'very little rain for other places', adding that the cold air will sweep across on Friday 'behind an active weather front which will bring some heavy rain and strong winds'.

Mr McGivern added: 'Behind this we've got an awful lot of showers, some very lively downpours arriving from the West and North West during Friday, and they turn increasingly wintry on Friday night as temperatures fall away.

'There's the potential for some sleet and hail just about anywhere, and a dusting of snow, I wouldn't be surprised, over any hillier parts of England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland.'

Temperatures will get up to 12C (54F) tomorrow and could reach 15C (59F) on Sunday before rising further into next week

Forecasters MetDesk revealed this temperature map for next Tuesday showing highs well above 70F (21C) in the South

He said the most significant snow accumulations will be over the Pennines and Scotland, above 1,000ft (300m) where 2in (5cm) is expected, and for the West Highlands above that area about 4in (10cm) in places.

He continued: 'A cold start on Saturday, a widespread frost, watch out for those icy stretches where we've had the showers coming through overnight, but some bright weather around, some sunshine.

'Actually the showers don't last long, they quickly fade away through Saturday morning, remaining there for a time in Northern England, but otherwise it's largely going to be increasingly dry and bright with plenty of sunny spells breaking out across eastern parts of the UK.

'Still some thicker cloud further West, increasingly thick through Saturday afternoon, a few showers of rain for South West England, Wales and Northern Ireland, but it stays dry and bright in the East.'

Sunrise above the Port Of London Authority's Royal Terrace Pier on the River Thames near the Kent town of Gravesend today

Thickening cloud from the west drifts in as this morning's sun rises above the Ro-Ro Cargo ship Meleq near Gravesend today

He said that after the chilly start, temperatures will recover slightly and be back to 9C (48F) to 12C (54F) which is around average for the time of year.

Six in ten Britons 'don't know whether clocks go forward or back' this Sunday Six in ten Britons are unsure whether the clocks go forward or back this Sunday, a poll has found. Around three-quarters experience body clock confusion due to the national clock change, while a similar number told how they had previously woken up suspicious of their digital devices automatically updating. Four in ten said they often needed to check the time with friends or family just to be sure about the change. The study of 2,000 British adults, commissioned by Meantime Brewing to launch its new Spring Forward pale ale, also found about half of people do not know the history or meaning behind daylight saving hours. The clocks go forward this weekend, from 1am to 2am on Sunday, entering what is known as British Summer Time (BST) or Daylight Saving Time (DST). The change began in 1916 as a way of saving electricity during the First World War by adding an extra hour of light to the day. Advertisement

Mr McGivern said: 'Winds easing for a time, but as this weather comes in, the winds increase, the isobars pack together, weather fronts pushing in quickly.

'These weather fronts contain much milder air but they contain an awful lot of rainfall as well, so some heavy rain pushing into north-western parts of the UK during Saturday night and that then toppling its way southwards.

'After a wet start for Scotland and Northern Ireland it turns a bit drier and brighter with showers following. But the rain is going to stall across parts of North West England into wales, the South West as well.

'It's going to be generally on and off in lower parts of the country, but over the higher parts of North West England, Wales, Dartmoor and Exmoor, it could well be a wet day throughout Sunday.'

He continued: 'Further South East the rain doesn't reach here, some bright weather and temperatures on the rise - we're looking at 14C (57F), 15C (59F), perhaps higher if we get some cloud breaks.

'This wind coming in from the South West (is) a big change compared to how we start the weekend. And there'll be some brightness in the east of Scotland away from the showers further west.

'But the rain perhaps relentless through North West England as well as parts of Wales, especially over the hills, and there is a real risk that it will continue to mount up through Monday and the start of Tuesday.'

Met Office meteorologist Alex Deakin added that the next ten days 'could be, certainly in terms of temperature, a bit of a rollercoaster ride', adding that there are 'some hints that it might just turn a little bit colder' for Easter.

And a spokesman for forecasters MetDesk tweeted: 'Temperatures sneaking into the 20s on Tuesday? Increasing confidence of some warm weather in the South midweek. But don't bank on it lasting into the Easter weekend.'
LONDON (dpa-AFX) - The Bank of England urged banks to support the economy by lending to productive businesses as the Covid-19 continued to pose challenges for both households and businesses. According to the summary of the Financial Policy Committee meeting, the UK banking system is resilient to keep supporting households and businesses. Banks have more capacity to lend as the BoE reduced the cushion of capital that banks need to hold to absorb potential losses. The FPC observed that businesses will need more support in the months ahead even as the UK economy recovers. Further, the FPC said it remained committed to working with EU authorities towards a safe and open financial system. Close cooperation between regulatory authorities is essential to manage financial stability risks. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
Srinagar, March 26 : Jammu and Kashmir Police said on Friday that they have solved the terror incident case which occurred a day ago in Srinagar outskirts in which a sub-inspector and a jawan of the CRPF were killed and 2 others injured.

Sharing the details with the media today, Vijay Kumar, IGP (Kashmir zone) said, "A sad incident occurred yesterday in which two of our colleagues were martyred Aand 2 others were injured.

"Both Srinagar district police and Bandipora district police worked overnight to solve the case.

"We have solved the case, one terrorist involved in this attack has been identified as Muzaffar Ahmad Mir of Malura village and second is Nadeem Abrar Bhat, code name Abu Abrar, commander of LeT, resident of Narbal of Budgam district. He is cousin of Muzaffar.

"Abrar went to Muzaffar's home three days back and told him to give him some OGW support so that he can carry out a terror attack.

"Muzaffar introduced Abrar to Javaid Ahmed Sheikh of the same village. Javaid is a timber dealer. Three of them carried out a recce of the area on March 24. The terror incident took place yesterday (Thursday) afternoon.

"We mobilized our sources and Bandipora police nabbed Javaid when he was trying to escape from a car. Some empty cartridges were also recovered from the car. He was interrogated and based on his revelation, we arrested Muzaffar. A maruti car number HR1O Q 6583 used in the tremor attack was seized.

"Two OGWs, Muzaffar and Javaid have been arrested. Abrar escaped from the hideout during the joint operation by police and the CRPF on Thursday.

"We will soon neutralise Abrar. He was carried to Sumbal area of Bandipora Adistrict in the car by Javaid".

Two CRPF troopers, a sub-inspector and a constable were killed and 2 other troopers injured in the terror attack on Thursday in Lawaypora outskirts area of Srinagar.
The internet was supposed to set us free. Yet in the past two decades, authoritarian regimes have quickly adapted long-held tactics to the digital age, leveraging social mechanisms and mores to maintain their grip on captive populaces. While the internet and social media revolutions may have empowered activists to better resist dictatorial overtures, they have equally handed new tools to anti-democratic despots to more effectively stamp out dissent through the use of digital surveillance, disinformation and outright denying internet access to their people.

In 2019 alone we saw 1,706 days of internet access disrupted and 213 internet shutdowns in 33 different countries, Moira Whelan, Director of Democracy and Technology at the National Democratic Institute, said during a recent SXSW 2021 panel discussion.

These network shutdowns often happen around protests, around elections  particularly ones that are flawed  as well as during instances of police violence where the authorities do not want images of their police brutally putting down a peaceful protest broadcasted not only to their own citizens but to people all around the world, Adrian Shahbaz, Director of Technology and Democracy at Freedom House, said during the panel.

People are losing access not only to things like social media, but oftentimes if the internet is out, they can't go to ATMs, they can't access educational materials, even certain phone or television services. Online banks lose the ability to operate, businesses lose the ability to communicate with their customers and suppliers, he continued. You name it, this affects every industry.

Dictatorial regimes have traditionally relied on limiting the flow of both external and internal information  and therefore influence  to maintain control over their citizens. For example, in 2000, Chinas autocracy instituted a policy of cyber sovereignty, essentially state control over the internet, dubbed the Golden Shield Project , which officially sought to enhance the effectiveness and responsiveness of its national police force. That initial program eventually metastasized into what has become known as  The Great Firewall , a nation-level break between domestic and international web traffic with CCP censors in full control over what online information Chinese citizens have access to. They have all sorts of laws and technical infrastructure in place to scrub the internet of anything that could be deemed sensitive which could get people thinking independently about the Chinese Communist Party or how things should be run, Shahbaz said. Of course, numerous online tools exist which enable Chinese citizens to circumvent their governments censorious policies.

Stringer . / reuters

For example, during Sudans widespread protests against the autocratic Bashir regime and demands for civilian rule, which lasted June 3, 2019, to July 9, 2019, authorities disabled access point name, or APN, in the mobile data network  effectively turning off internet access for the Sudanese people. Researchers have estimated the economic damage of that internet shutdown at around $1 billion, or around 1 percent of the country's GDP, Shahbaz said.

I think we've seen throughout history, regardless of whether or not the internet exists, it'd be the case over and over again that dictators are willing to put their power and their desire for control above all of those other aspects of the well being of their societies and of the well being of their citizens, Laura Cunningham, President of the Open Technology Fund, added. We're just seeing that same pattern play out now in the digital age. This tactic can also been seen in Myanmars recent military coup, where the countrys military junta shut down Facebook, which some 40 percent of the nations population  some 22 million people  relies on for news services, in an effort to stymie protests.

The ongoing COVID pandemic has further exposed these practices around the world. A group called Chinese Human Rights Defenders, for example, documented nearly 900 cases of people being punished for sharing otherwise innocuous material regarding COVID-19 within just the first six months of the crisis, Shahad noted. Weve also seen a proliferation of tracking technologies spread under the guise of COVID-19 contact tracing.

Buoyed by their domestic efforts to remold the internet into their own authoritarian images, many nations including China, Russia and Iran are now seeking to expand their illiberal policies to the global network. That includes everything from banning VPNs to censoring websites and leveraging emerging surveillance tech to monitor and repress minority groups outside their national borders. Up until the Trump administration, the US  both the government itself and NGOs  has traditionally pushed back against such anti-democratic overtures.

Journalists and their sources are also routinely targeted by repressive authorities and in the case of three female Afghan journalists earlier this month , targeted for outright assassination. I think it really helps to highlight the very real risk that a lot of journalists are taking every day around the world, literally risking their lives, Cunningham said during the panel. Especially for a lot of women journalists, that is very much the case.

I think technology is making those [efforts] even more complicated and a lot harder as well, she continued. Being a journalist, just the title in and of itself in a lot of the countries we are talking about, is going to put you under intense scrutiny and very likely surveillance. That can include both physical surveillance such as being tailed or having their and their familys homes staked out to electronic eavesdropping, malware and spyware incursions, as well as online harassment and stalking.

NurPhoto via Getty Images

When writing a story, you're going to have to communicate with sources, Cunningham noted. Most of those sources are probably in very sensitive situations themselves and you're now putting yourself in a place where you not only have to communicate with them, but you're responsible, to some extent, for protecting their safety and their privacy as you engage with them. As such, using and maintaining secure online communications technologies is vital. Otherwise, you are exposing not only yourself but other vulnerable individuals and groups in the process.

Even the information itself, gleaned from these vulnerable sources, can attract unwanted attention from an authoritarian government. We think of it  from a technical perspective  as kind of a honeypot. Cunningham explained. You have this information, and that is going to be a likely target of your government ... that information needs to stay safe not just for your story, but for the individuals who are impacted by the data or the information that you have.

And even if a journalist is successful in their attempts to collect this information, formulate it into an article and publish it, their government can still strike back  censoring the post itself or knocking the outlets entire website offline. Personal retribution is common as well, often taking the form of arrest, asset and equipment seizure, assault or murder. As such getting these stories heard becomes a huge challenge now in the digital age when most people are relying on the internet or mobile technologies in order to access news and information, Cunningham lamented.

It's horrifying to me frankly to see so many women journalists who are publishing amazing investigative journalism exposing horrible human rights abuses, only then to be harassed online by either government trolls or non-state actors, she continued. We're seeing women journalists who are being personally attacked and threatened for the work that they are doing.
Ioan Gruffudd's estranged wife Alice Evans has spoken out about the impact their ongoing divorce has had on their children.

Taking to Instagram on Friday, the actress, 49, said their daughters Ella, 11 and Elsie, seven, 'cry every day' as she accused Ioan, 47, of 'abandoning them'.

Back in January, Alice, revealed that they were breaking up after 20 years in a shock Twitter statement and accused the actor of 'mentally torturing' her.

'Their dad abandoned them': Ioan Gruffudd's estranged wife Alice Evans has spoken out about the impact their ongoing divorce has had on their children on Instagram on Friday

Alice has taking to social media regularly to update fans on the split and, in her most recent post, shared a picture of an columnist article on her page, which slammed the actress for opening up about her split from Ioan so publicly and commented on how it could affect her daughters in the years to come.

Hitting back, Alice said her daughters have no idea about her and Ioan's public profile and 'probably never will'.

She penned: 'You know what they ARE upset about though? That their Dad walked out and abandoned them out of the blue. Without explanation.

'Yes that's what they cry about every day. Will their Dad ever come back and play in the pool or the yard with them? Will they ever have a family again?'

Family: Taking to Instagram, the actress, 49, said their daughters Ella, 11 and Elsie, seven, 'cry every day' as she accused Ioan, 47, of 'abandoning them' (pictured in happier times)

Drama: She penned: 'You know what they ARE upset about though? That their Dad walked out and abandoned them out of the blue. Without explanation'

Explaining why she has been so vocal about her split, she continued: 'I choose to share the details of my divorce because a) I am lucky enough to possess the gene that enables me to not give a s**t about what people think of me and b) I have realised that there are thousands, if not millions of women out there going through the same thing, who, during this endless pandemic, believe that they are completely alone. I want them to know they are not.

'Peace and love Alice. Xxx'

MailOnline has contacted Ioan's representatives for comment.

Family: The estranged couple married in 2007 and share daughters Ella, 11 and Elsie, seven, together (pictured in June 2018)

Fury: Last week Alice accused the actor of 'winding the s**t up me' as she posted a vitriolic video about their 'collaborative divorce' talks

Last week Alice accused the actor of 'winding the s**t up me' as she posted a vitriolic video about their 'collaborative divorce' talks.

She said: 'I have been served with a petition for divorce and it's came out of the blue and I won't cry. But we've been 20 years together, we have two amazing kids. I don't know why.

'At the moment we're doing something called collaborative divorce which is somewhere between a really kind way of doing divorce and a phenomenal scam.

'Because in one way it's "okay, let's hear what you would want and take it to the court afterwards" and in another way it's like, people in the acting business will know when an agent says to you "we just can't find you the roles".

'It's a bit like, I'd like my daughter to stay with me on Saturday nights, "it's just not within our possibilities".

Explosive: Back in January, Alice. 49, revealed that they were breaking up after 20 years in a shock Twitter statement and accused the actor, 47, of 'mentally torturing' her (pictured 2016)

The star then accused Ioan of misleading her with collaborative divorce, adding: 'And then I read nothing is binding in collaborative, absolutely nothing.

'So if I want my daughter to stay one more night in my house, the court hasn't said anything so I can do it. So my husband is winding the s**t up me, saying what he says is the law, well we haven't got to the law yet.

'Lawyers aren't the law. Lawyers are there to f*** the law. That's what I always said. Anyway I may have some more thoughts later

Ioan's divorce papers cite irreconcilable differences as the reason behind his split from his wife of 14 years, Alice.

Uncertain: It is 'unclear' whether Ioan and Alice signed a prenuptial agreement or if the actress will ask for child or spousal support (pictured in happier times)

Fury: Alice also claimed her young daughter had been devastated by the news and appeared to allude her husband had a new love. There is no suggestion Ioan has been unfaithful

The couple met on the set of 102 Dalmatians in 2000, when Alice was in a relationship with Pablo Picasso's grandson Olivier.

The pair became engaged six years later after she gave him an ultimatum about their relationship, and tied the knot in an intimate ceremony in Mexico in September 2007.

Ioan recently stepped out without his wedding band for the first time.

The document, which was filed Los Angeles Superior Court on March 1, also reveals the former couple separated on New Year's Day - a month before they went public with their relationship status.

Her view: 'At the moment we're doing something called collaborative divorce which is somewhere between a really kind way of doing divorce and a phenomenal scam', she said

She said: 'So if I want my daughter to stay one more night in my house, the court hasn't said anything so I can do it. So my husband is winding the s**t up me, saying what he says is the law, well we haven't got to the law yet'

The British-American actress recently called the Fantastic Four actor a 's**t' for allegedly blindsiding her and going forward with legally ending their marriage in now-deleted posts.

The papers state the exes are in a 'collaborative process and intend to resolve all issues including spousal support by written agreement' - which mirrors their joint statement about their shock break-up.

Last month, they said: 'As you can imagine, this is an incredibly difficult time for our family and we remain committed to our children. Thank you for respecting our privacy.'

Still friends: In February, Alice insisted she and the actor 'are still friends' and confirmed that they were pressing ahead with discussions over a 'legal separation' (pictured in 2018)

Split: In January, Alice claimed the actor had walked out on the family in a shock Twitter statement, in which she accused the Liar star of 'mentally torturing' and 'gaslighting' her

In January, Alice said the actor had walked out on the family in a shock Twitter statement, in which she accused the Liar star of 'mentally torturing' and 'gaslighting' her.

The Blast claims that it is 'unclear' whether Ioan and Alice signed a prenuptial agreement or if the actress will ask for child or spousal support.

News of the split came following Ioan's return from Australia, where he has been shooting season three of Harrow alongside Ella Newton, 30, and Anna Lise Phillips, 46, who plays his ex-wife.

Ioan has spent three long spells in Australia filming the TV drama Harrow.
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An elderly couple has been left 'devastated' after a huge seven-storey apartment block was built right beside their heritage home - as they blast the construction company responsible and claim the council has buried its head in the sand.

Giuseppe and Adelaide Garofano, 84 and 76, immigrated to Australia from Italy following World War II and bought the Hurstville home in Sydney's south shortly after.

The house has been rented out in recent years, with the latest tenants forced to leave because of the construction of what was supposed to be a three-storey block of units next door. It has since become a seven-storey 'eyesore'.

The Garofanos say Vortex, the construction company involved, have repeatedly changed the original and agreed upon plan, and have regularly accessed and damaged their property as a part of the build.

Doriana, the couple's daughter, said the matter had been referred to Fair Trading but during the hearing they discovered the site manager had formerly worked for the institution for 40 years, something they believe is a conflict of interest.

They say their local council, Georges River, has told them the matter is out of their hands and that the couple are 'very worried for their safety'.

'They want to take my land from me,' Adelaide Garofano told Daily Mail Australia.

'My land is not for sale.'

Giuseppe and Adelaide Garofano (pictured) immigrated to Australia from Italy following World War II and bought their home in Sydney's south shortly after

A new apartment block has been built right on their doorstep despite constant rejections of designs and amendments from the Garofanos

Pictured: The Garofanos federation Hurstville home before Vortex demolished the house next door and built the apartment block at the center of an ugly dispute

Vortex began construction on the 73-unit block in 2018, with the Garofanos calling the period since 'three years of hell'.

They say their recent tenants, who had a newborn baby, moved out of the house after calling the Garofano family 'morning, noon and night distressed by the construction'.

The Garofanos say they initially let the tenants live rent-free because of the ongoing construction, before they eventually moved out and into emergency housing.

The view from the Garofano's front door - straight into the wall of the new construction block

The Garofanos say Vortex may be responsible for damage to their roof which led to recent rainfall caving it in and making it unsafe to enter

The Garofanos say the unit block, particularly with its huge, ugly wall, has completely devalued their property

Council and Vortex officials have regularly proposed amendments to the plans and made requests to the Garofanos for access and understanding - all which have been rejected by the family.

A dispute over damage of the roof has been ongoing for years - the family believe the damage was largely the result of Vortex resting scaffolding and a crane platform on their roof, while Vortex say the damage was there before construction began.

The Garofanos say they were offered $1.2million for the house from Vortex well after the construction had began - an offer they rejected.

Construction began on the apartment block in 2018, a period since the Garofanos have described as 'three years of hell'

Chunks of orange glue has oozed through and hardened on the wall above the front door

The wall has turned the entrance of the Hurstville home into a dark alley

Adelaide Garofano (pictured) has to walk down a narrow alley way alongside the ugly wall to reach her front door

The Garofanos say that the zoning for the land is low residential and that buildings cannot exceed three storeys - the Vortex building is seven.

They also say there should be a three-metre gap between the dividing line and a property of this height - the Vortex building is instead built right on the diving line; right on the Garofanos doorstep.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Georges River Council and the NSW Department for Planning for clarification on zoning laws.

Doriana Garofano says the site is 'disgusting' and said the conditions are 'inhumane'.

'We can not live our lives like this,' she told Daily Mail Australia.

'It's devalued mum's property completely. It's ruined us completely.'

The Garofanos say Vortex employees have accessed their property without their permission on numerous occasions

The Garofanos home before the Vortex construction overwhelmed their quaint federation house

The huge wall has cast a shadow over the Garofano's house and backyard, and the structure of the front of the house has began cracking due to instability.

There are huge metal bolts sticking out from the side of the wall, leftover from scaffolding, and large amounts of orange glue has oozed out and hardened.

She says the State Emergency Service have told them the home is not safe to enter after the recent torrential rain caved in the roof. The house has been taped off as a result.

'It's destroyed her livelihood,' Doriana said.

'Stop putting people through such grief.'

Huge metal bolts stick out of the roof leftover from scaffolding that was used on the site

Vortex used crude wooden structures to hold up fencing on the Garofanos walkway to their front door

Adelaide Garofano and her husband Giuseppe bought their Hurstville home in the 1950s

The Garofanos say Vortex will require a further eight to 10 weeks to finish the wall and require access to their property.

Their main complaint lies with what they say is a total lack of assistance from Georges River Council.

They say the council has told them they've tried to help but its out of their control, something the Garofanos reject.

'The council only care about building sites to raise prices, not about pensioners who are going to die out in 10 years,' Doriana told Daily Mail Australia.

They say they want answers from the council on who approved changes to initial plans and allowed the construction company to move ahead with plans.

'We are just left with this devalued property, damaged property, a massive wall, no rent, land tax to pay, mum's pension money gone and we're just expected to accept it.'

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Vortex Construction, Georges River Council and local MP Mark Coure for comment.

Mr Coure told Daily Mail Australia he has met with the Garofanos on several occasions to help assist including meetings with Georges River Council and says the matter is now being considered by the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal.

Regarding the residential zoning issue the Garofanos say Vortex have broken, Mr Coure said those approvals were 'under the provision of Georges River Council or the private certifier from Vortex Construction as my office has no role in the determination and assessment of development applications.'

The huge wall has cast a shadow over the Garofano's house and front yard

The front of the house has suffered cracking which the Garofanos say is a result of instability caused by the construction
Veteran Mom With Aggressive Cancer Endures Chemo While Pregnant, Delivers Healthy Son

A former National Guardswoman was diagnosed with aggressive breast cancer during the pandemic; what made the dreadful news more devastating was that she was 10 weeks pregnant at the time.

But in the course of intensive chemotherapy, Constance McDaniel, 30, gave birth to a healthy baby boy. It was proof enough to herself, and anyone else, that she would not be defeated by any hurdle.

The former Soldier, of Appleton, Wisconsin, first noticed the lump in her breast early May 2020, about five weeks into her pregnancy.

I honestly thought it was just a clogged duct, because with my first baby I had a lot when I was breastfeeding, she told CNBC. I didnt think anything of it and thought, well, its probably going to go away.

Constance McDaniel; (Inset) Constance McDaniel (R) during her service in the National Guard (Courtesy of Constance McDaniel)

Five weeks later, McDaniel and her husband, Matt, who share a 2-year-old daughter, Isla, got the crushing news. She had stage 2 triple-negative invasive ductal carcinoma breast cancer.

The expectant mom was scheduled for four cycles of intense A/C (adriamycin cyclophosphamide) chemotherapy, also known as the red devil, she said. There arent many studies when youre pregnant with cancer. So, that was one of the few chemos that you could actually have.

Dealt more hardship, McDaniel lost her hair, then she underwent a mastectomy at 28 weeks.

Despite the ordeal, though, McDaniels unborn son grew healthy and strong. The family welcomed their little miracle six weeks early, naming him Declan.

But the celebration was short-lived.

Constance McDaniel during treatment (L), and with her son Declan (R) (Courtesy of Constance McDaniel)

While I was actually in the delivery room, I had a few more lumps on my [mastectomy] scar, McDaniel explained. They moved me to stage 3 in December due to my aggressive cancer recurring after only three months, and being on chemotherapy that wasnt working.

After genetic testing, McDaniel learned she has a mutation, BRCA1, which puts her at higher risk for breast and ovarian cancers. Doctors recommend that BRCA1 carriers have their ovaries removed by the age of 40.

McDaniel had been part of the Wisconsin Army National Guard for nine years, deploying to Iraq in 2010, where she met her husband. Risking her life overseas to serve her country was one thing. To possibly die when your kids are two and a newborn, its hard, she said. Its definitely really hard.

McDaniels supportive family started a crowdfunding campaign, hoping to ease the burden on their loved ones. They raised over $10,000.

Now, theres hope for her recovery.

Connie will be done with chemotherapy March 26, the family shared. Its been very hard on her body that they had to cut two cycles. After 34 weeks post chemo she will start radiation if her scans are clean (no evidence of cancer).

Former National Guardswoman Constance McDaniel during treatment (Courtesy of Constance McDaniel)

A second mastectomy with a breast reconstruction and possibly removal of her ovaries may follow, however. But the former Soldier is facing the challenges with fortitude. Cancer is not going to defeat me. Its just one small bump in the road, McDaniel said. Its just made me think differently about life. For that, Im grateful.

The now-mom of two, who happens to have a passion for coffee, still dreams of opening her own cafe.

Of her resiliency, she stoically shared , Women are so strong. Ive never known it until I had cancer.

Share your stories with us at emg.inspired@epochtimes.com, and continue to get your daily dose of inspiration by signing up for the Epoch Inspired Newsletter atTheEpochTimes.com/newsletter
Students Seeking Service Opportunities Find Virtual Groove

SLICE connects with Virtual Global Brigades for alternative spring break activities

March 26, 2021

For decades, Carnegie Mellon University has supported alternative spring break opportunities for servant leadership. Student Leadership, Involvement and Civic Engagement (SLICE) helps Tartans travel around the world to lend their skills to communities with limited resources.

Kaycee Palko, senior coordinator of student activities at SLICE, said students typically spend the entire academic year preparing for these service trips, starting with fundraising in the fall and working through a training curriculum that includes topics such as cultural competency, voluntourism and reflection in the lead up to their trip. This year, due to the pandemic, volunteering will look a little different.

"Our students are still motivated to find a way to make a difference," Palko said.

Global Brigades, the international nonprofit that often supports these trips, found a solution for students determined to make a difference in 2021.

Three groups of CMU undergraduate students partnered with Global Brigades to offer remote business, medical and public health service to communities throughout Central America, staggered throughout the spring semester.

"Our students are still motivated to find a way to make a difference."  Kaycee Palko

"It's very telling that in this switch to remote operations, our students didnt give up," Palko said. "Sometimes the students feel like you have to be there in order to make a difference. We are really hoping to expand that perspective and help students learn it's not just about stepping down onto the ground in another location."



Good Business

Sean Gao, a senior with double majors in statistics and business administration, and Carrie Stewart, a junior in social decision sciences and business administration, co-led the virtual business brigade this year. Both students experienced in-person travel to Ghana in previous years, consulting with a cassava processing plant to help solve business and logistics challenges.



"That experience was truly incredible," Gao said. "Being able to go in and really experience a different country's culture  I personally haven't experienced anything outside of ours. And it was really meaningful being able to apply what we learned here at Tepper."



Gao and Stewart decided last May to plan a virtual global brigade experience for 2021. They knew the CMU calendar did not include a week of spring break, so the pair selected a service experience they could complete in January over winter break instead.



"We were actually able to do more of the business side of the service during the virtual project," Stewart said. "At home we have access to Excel and Google which gives us the ability to look up information for the clients. I think we could offer them a really great business workshop."



The business brigade students divided themselves into small groups, and each met virtually with a small business to listen to business plans and discuss challenges. The students then met to plan solutions and presented these to partners in Panama.



Global Brigades partners with Kiva, an organization that provides crowdfunded small business loans. The CMU students also helped their clients create presentations to secure Kiva loans.



Gao's group supported a small computer and printing cafe called Betsy's Copies.



"She needed a finance tracker to chart inflows and outflows of cash," Gao said. "She didn't have an expense tracking sheet so she had no way of knowing how much profit her business was actually making."



Gao's team created an Excel spreadsheet for the owner and designed a logo that could serve as a virtual business card.



"In Panama, most people use WhatsApp as their primary way of communicating, so a virtual business card she could send through that app would be really, really helpful," Gao said.



Many people in rural Panama rely on kiosks to purchase basic foods. CMU students supported a kiosk owner in creating an inventory tracking system for her business.

Stewart's team supported a kiosk owner. Stewart said, "Many people in Panama don't have access to big grocery stores, or don't have cars, so they rely on these kiosks for milk, sugar, eggs, and our partner also sells meat that her husband raises and butchers."

Stewart and her teammates helped create an inventory tracking system for their business partner. "She wanted to purchase a bigger freezer to store more meat, so we helped her calculate which type of loan would be most appropriate based on her profit margins," said Stewart.
Island Records; Cover artwork shot by Dana Trippe

At the stroke of midnight on Friday, Demi Lovato released "Dancing with the Devil," the second single from her album of the same name.

The haunting ballad chronicles Demi's decent into addiction, which began innocently with "a little red wine" that she wanted "every night."

"I told you I was okay, but I was lying," she confesses to her fans in the pre-chorus.

"I was Dancing with the Devil, out of control / Almost made it to heaven, it was closer than you'll know / Playing with the enemy, gambling with my soul / It's so hard to say no when you're Dancing with the Devil," Lovato sings in the chorus.

The second verse describes her introduction to drugs: "a little white line" that eventually became "a little black pipe."

"A painful remedy/ Almost go the best of me/ I keep praying I don't reach the end of my life," she sings.

Lovato then begs her fans to forgive her for Dancing with the Devil.

"It feels absolutely unreal having this out right now, I love you all so so much," she shared on Instagram shortly after.

"Thank you for your support and love this week with the premiere," she continued, referring to docuseries -- also titled Dancing with the Devil -- streaming now on YouTube.

Earlier on Thursday, Lovato revealed the track listing for the new album, dropping April 2:

Prelude

"Anyone"

"Dancing with the Devil"

"ICU (Madison's Lullabye)"

The Art of Starting Over

"Intro"

"The Art of Starting Over"

"Lonely People"

"The Way You Don't Look At Me"

"Melon Cake"

"Met Him Last Night" featuring Ariana Grande

"What Other People Say" (Demi Lovato & Sam Fischer)

"Carefully"

"The Kind of Lover I Am"

"Easy" (Demi Lovato & Noah Cyrus)

"15 Minutes"

"My Girlfriends Are My Boyfriend" featuring Saweeite

"California Sober"

"Mad World"

"Butterfly"

"Good Place"
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a plea seeking stay on further sale of electoral bonds ahead of assembly elections.

A bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde declined to stay sale of the electoral bonds as sought in the application moved by the NGO, Association for Democratic Reforms.

The NGO had also sought stay on sale of the electoral bonds during the pendency of the PIL filed by it pertaining to funding of political parties and alleged lack of transparency in their accounts.

The Centre had earlier told the bench, also comprising Justices A S Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian, that the bonds would be issued from April 1 to April 10.

The NGO had claimed that there is a serious apprehension that any further sale of electoral bonds before the upcoming assembly elections, including in West Bengal and Assam, would further 'increase illegal and illicit funding of political parties through shell companies.'

While reserving its order on the NGO's application, the apex court on March 24 had flagged the issue of possible misuse of funds received through electoral bonds by political parties for illegal purposes like terrorism and had asked the Centre whether there was any 'control' over how these funds were put to use.

The top court had said that the government should look into this issue of possible misuse of funds received through electoral bonds for illegal purposes like terrorism.

"What is the control of the government on how the money is put to use," the bench had asked the government.

"The funds can be misused for illegal purposes like terrorism. We would like you, as the government, to look into this aspect," the bench said, adding that political parties may use these funds for activities beyond their political agenda.

"If a political party receives electoral bonds worth Rs 100 crore, what is the assurance that it won't be used for illegal purposes or fund violence," the bench had observed.

The Centre had told the bench that electoral bonds have a validity of 15 days and political parties have to file their income tax return also.

It had said that buyers have to use white money and the purchase of electoral bonds is through a banking channel.

"Terrorism is not funded by white money. It is funded by black money," the government had said.

The NGO had said there is anonymity about the donor and the Election Commission and the Reserve Bank of India had earlier raised objections on it.

It had also claimed that most of the funds through electoral bonds have gone to the ruling party.

Assembly polls will be held in Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Assam, Kerala and Union territory of Puducherry beginning from March 27 to April 29.

Live TV
MARCH 26: The Rays have placed Anderson on the 60-day injured list and added righty Andrew Kittredge to their 40-man roster, per a team announcement. Kittredge had an opt-out for the end of camp in the minor league deal he signed with the Rays, but hell stay put. He contributed 111 1/3 innings of 4.93 ERA/3.90 SIERA pitching with the Rays from 2017-20.

MARCH 25: The Rays bullpen received terrible news Thursday: Right-hander Nick Anderson suffered a partial tear of his elbow ligament and will likely be out until past the All-Star break, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports. Surgery has not been recommended at this point.

Considering how much the reigning American League champion Rays lean on their bullpen, the loss of Anderson for at least a few months is an especially troubling development. Anderson has been absolutely lights-out dating back to his 2019 debut with Miami, which traded him to Tampa Bay before that seasons deadline.

Now 30 years old, the hard-throwing Anderson was a 32nd-round pick of the Brewers in 2012 who spent time in independent ball before he broke out in the bigs. Anderson owns a stellar 2.77 ERA/2.14 SIERA with a 42.2 percent strikeout rate and a 6.5 percent walk rate across 81 1/3 innings. While Anderson did miss time last year with forearm issues, he dominated over 16 1/3 frames with a measly 0.55 ERA and similarly jaw-dropping strikeout and walk percentages of 44.8 and 5.2, respectively. He wasnt nearly as successful in the playoffs, in which he surrendered nine earned runs on 16 hits and totaled nine strikeouts against four walks in 14 2/3 innings.

Anderson led the Rays with six saves during the regular season in 2020, but theyll have to lean on other end-of-game options until at least sometime in the summer. Diego Castillo, Pete Fairbanks, Chaz Roe and Ryan Thompson are among possible solutions for the Rays, whose bullpen  thanks in no small part to Anderson  ranked third in the majors in ERA a year ago.
(Alliance News) - Ireland began enforcing a mandatory hotel quarantine for travellers arriving in the state from 33 "high risk" countries on Friday in a bid to quash the spread of new coronavirus variants.

The government website said "all passengers arriving into Ireland from designated states... are now required to pre-book accommodation in a designated quarantine facility".

The quarantine a announced by the government two months ago a came into effect at 0400 GMT, the site confirmed.

Earlier this week, the department of health said "the aim of mandatory quarantine is to protect the population from challenges posed by new variants of concern".

Ireland has been hard-hit by a third wave of infections with leaders blaming the emergence of new, more infectious variants of the virus.

Leaders have designated 33 countries as "high risk" a 17 African nations, 14 South American, as well as Austria and the United Arab Emirates.

Travellers from those states will be subject to a two-week quarantine.A

It will also apply to travellers arriving from any nation without a negative coronavirus test, as currently required under government regulation.

After 10 days travellers can be released if they receive a negative test while isolated in the hotel facilities.

Failure to complete the quarantine is a legal offence carrying a fine of up to EUR2,500 and/or six months in prison.

According to latest official figures, 4,631 have died from coronavirus in Ireland.

source: AFP

Copyright 2021 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
The former Peace Council Chairman of the Revolution United Front (RUF),Ambassador Omrie Gulley, has called on Sierra Leoneans to deeply reflect on the causes of the eleven years civil war, offer prayers for those who died in the war and quietly celebrate the achievement of permanent peace in the country.

On March 23rd, 1991 the RUF, led by Corporal Foday Saybana Sancoh fired the first gun shot in the township of Bomaru,Kalahun District. The war, which started in the eastern part of the country, engulfed the entire country, with scores of civilians maimed and killed.In 2002,the war was declared over after several effort by individuals and the international community.

Speaking to Concord Times from London,Ambassador Golley could not take credit as to whether the RUF succeeded in achieving their goals for taking up arms against government for reasons including corruption, nepotism and youth degradation.

"The war had a number of dimensions. There was the RUF,the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC), the Civil Defense Force,and external actors including the Executive Outcome from South Africa. Many parties took part in the war and it's a whole lot of debate as to whether the war was a success or not. Despite the fact that we still have problems, all we need to do now is to celebrate because we have permanent peace. We should use the day as a moment of reflection on the causes of the war and offer prayers for those who died in the war," he said.

He describes the war days a dark period in 'our country's history' and stated that Sierra Leoneans should take onboard the lessons learnt from the war and ensure that the peace is maintained.

Ambassador Golley was a key actor in the signing of agreement between the RUF and the Government of Sierra Leone in Abuja. He was part of the process that brought permanent peace to Sierra Leone.
Update 25 March 2021: subsequent to the publication of this story, Avon and Somerset Police retracted their original claim that some officers suffered broken bones. See further story here.

Seven people have been arrested after 20 officers were injured at a Bristol protest against the governments proposed policing bill, which police said was hijacked by extremists.

Many more will be detained in the coming days as officers examine a large amount of CCTV footage from Sunday night, said Avon and Somersets police and crime commissioner.

Boris Johnson condemned the scenes as absolutely unacceptable and said violence towards police will not be tolerated, as parliament considers proposed laws that would give police heightened powers to restrict demonstrations.

Addressing the House of Commons later on Monday, the home secretary said the protest turned anarchic and violent and suggested all attendees were selfish.

We have been clear that to save lives and fight this pandemic, people must not currently hold large gatherings, Priti Patel said. Too many this weekend selfishly decided that this did not apply to them.

Read more:

The home secretary said lives had been been put at risk with criminal thuggery and disorder caused by a minority, adding: Our exceptional and brave police officers put themselves in harms way to protect the public. For them to face the criminal violence against them while upholding the law is completely unacceptable.

My thoughts are with the injured officers and their family, and I hope that every single member of parliament in this house will join me in condemning the shameful actions of the criminal minority involved.

Thousands gathered across England over the weekend to oppose the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill. The proposed legislation has been labelled draconian by hundreds of legal scholars who fear it amounts to an alarming extension of state control over legal assembly.

But a small minority of demonstrators in Bristol were roundly condemned after footage showed them attacking a police station, setting two police vehicles alight and damaging 10 more, and clashing with officers  two of whom were hospitalised, with broken bones and a punctured lung.

Avon and Somerset Police told The Independent on Monday that 18 other officers were left with injuries as a result, in scenes labelled by mayor Marvin Rees  a critic of the bill  as counterproductive and selfish self-indulgence.

While protesters were eventually met with riot gear, horses, dogs and batons, the forces chief constable insisted that officers had been incredibly patient in policing the demonstration, which he claimed involved a hardcore of serious criminals.

UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 12 May 2021 A couple have wedding photos taken in Westminster, London Getty UK news in pictures 11 May 2021 The sun rises on Coquet Island, off Amble on the Northumberland coast, where as many as 35000 seabirds cram onto this tiny island to breed PA UK news in pictures 10 May 2021 Newly elected for a second term Mayor of London Sadiq Khan during his signing in ceremony at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre on Londons Southbank PA UK news in pictures 9 May 2021 People mill around St. Michael's tower on top of Glastonbury Tor as it is seen through blooming yellow rapeseed on a day of mixed weather in Glastonbury, Somerset PA UK news in pictures 8 May 2021 Wales First Minister Mark Drakeford elbow bumps newly elected MS Labour candidates Elizabeth Buffy Williams, Rhondda, left, and Sarah Murphy, Bridgend & Porthcawl Labour, right, as they meet in Porthcawl, Wales PA UK news in pictures 6 May 2021 A group of five Sisters from Carmelite Monastery in Dysart cast their vote in the Scottish Parliamentary election at Dysart Community Hall, West Port, Dysart PA UK news in pictures 5 May 2021 Leader of the Labour Party Sir Keir Starmer (centre) with West Midlands Metro Mayor candidate Liam Byrne (far right) and Labour Deputy Leader, Angela Rayner (far left) during a visit to Birmingham, whilst on the election campaign trail PA UK news in pictures 4 May 2021 Artists Heather Ackroyd and Dan Harvey stand within 100 oak saplings which form part of a living art installation entitled Beuys' Acorns by the UK-based artist duo, outside the Tate Modern in London PA UK news in pictures 3 May 2021 Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie feeds the Gentoo penguins during a visit to Edinburgh Zoo on the campaign trail for the forthcoming Scottish Parliamentary Election on May 6 PA UK news in pictures 2 May 2021 Chelsea players celebrate their fourth goal during the Womens Champions League semi-final second leg against Bayern Munich, at Kingsmeadow Stadium in south west London. The Blues won the game 4-1, (and the tie 5-3 on aggregate) sending them through to their first Champions League final AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 1 May 2020 Demonstrators during a march through London during a 'Kill the Bill' protest Angela Christofilou UK news in pictures 30 April 2021 Shoppers queue outside Primark in Belfast as shops reopen and hospitality is able to open outdoors in Northern Ireland where lockdown restrictions have begun to gradually ease PA UK news in pictures 29 April 2021 Specialist operators at the Royal Air Force Museum Cosford, near Telford, Shropshire, clean the Hawker Hunter aircraft displayed within the museum's National Cold War Exhibition, during annual high-level aircraft cleaning and maintenance PA UK news in pictures 28 April 2021 Millions of tulips in flower near Kings Lynn in Norfolk, as Belmont Nurseries, the UK's largest commercial grower of outdoor tulips, offers socially-distanced visits to its tulip fields at Hillington to raise funds for local charity The Norfolk Hospice Tapping House PA UK news in pictures 27 April 2021 Paula Laughton checks one of the newly installed Lego models in the new Lego Mythica land at Legoland Windsor Resort PA UK news in pictures 26 April 2021 A red panda rests on a tree at Manor Wildlife park, which reopened its doors as lockdown restrictions continue to ease, in Tenby, Wales Reuters UK news in pictures 25 April 2021 Sheep climb the hillside as flames from a moor fire are seen on Marsden moor, near Huddersfield AFP via Getty UK news in pictures 24 April 2021 Supporters protest against Manchester United's owners, outside English Premier League club Manchester United's Old Trafford stadium in Manchester AFP via Getty UK news in pictures 23 April 2021 People enjoy the warm weather at City Hall near Tower Bridge in central London PA UK news in pictures 22 April 2021 Uyghurs during a demonstration in Parliament Square, London, which is being held ahead of a House of Commons debate, bought by backbench MP Nus Ghani, on whether Uyghurs in China's Xinjiang province are suffering crimes against humanity and genocide PA UK news in pictures 21 April 2021 People walk at the Taihaku Cherry Orchard in Alnwick REUTERS UK news in pictures 20 April 2021 People stand in front of anti Super League banners outside Anfield as twelve of Europe's top football clubs, including Liverpool, launch a breakaway league Reuters UK news in pictures 19 April 2021 Women enjoy sunny weather in Greenwich, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in London, Britain, Reuters UK news in pictures 18 April 2021 Stephen Maguire (right) of Scotland interacts with Jamie Jones of Wales during day 2 of the Betfred World Snooker Championships 2021 at The Crucible, Sheffield PA UK news in pictures 17 April 2021 Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburghs coffin, covered with His Royal Highnesss Personal Standard arrives by Landrover Defender at St Georges Chapel carried by a bearer party found by the Royal Marines during the funeral of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh at Windsor Castle Getty Images UK news in pictures 16 April 2021 Scotland's First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, checks the teeth of "Dentosaurus" during a visit to the Thornliebank Dental Care centre in Glasgow, as she campaigns ahead of the 2021 Scottish Parliamentary Election AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 15 April 2021 Myanmar's former ambassador to the UK, Kyaw Zwar Minn, outside his residence in north west London. The ambassador has been barred from entering the Myanmar embassy in Mayfair after he was removed from office PA UK news in pictures 14 April 2021 People take part in coronavirus surge testing on Clapham Common, south London. Thousands of residents have queued up to take coronavirus tests at additional facilities set up after new cases of the South African variant were found in two south London boroughs. 44 confirmed cases of the variant have been found in Lambeth and Wandsworth, with a further 30 probable cases identified PA UK news in pictures 13 April 2021 The core of the Milky Way becomes visible in the early hours of Tuesday morning as it moves over Bamburgh Lighthouse at stag Rock in Northumberland PA UK news in pictures 12 April 2021 Rebecca Richardson (left) and Genevieve Florence, members of the Aquabatix synchronised swimming team, during a practice session in the swimming pool at Clissold Leisure Centre in north London, which has reopened to the public. Many facilities have reopened in the latest easing of lockdown include pubs and restaurants who can serve outside, non-essential shops, indoor gyms and swimming pools, nail salons and hairdressers, outdoor amusements and zoos PA UK news in pictures 11 April 2021 A pub staff pins up a sign announcing the reopening of the Fox on the Hill pub on Denmark Hill in London EPA UK news in pictures 10 April 2021 The Death Gun Salute is fired by the Honourable Artillery Company to mark the passing of Britain's Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, at the The Tower of London AFP via Getty UK news in pictures 9 April 2021 A man arrives to lay a bunch of flowers outside Buckingham Palace in central London after the announcement of the death of Britain's Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. - Queen Elizabeth II's husband Prince Philip, who recently spent more than a month in hospital and underwent a heart procedure, died on April 9, Buckingham Palace announced. He was 99. AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 8 April 2021 Cousin Pascal ridden by James King clears the chair on their way to winning the 4:05 Pool via REUTERS UK news in pictures 7 April 2021 Deliveroo riders from the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain outside Deliveroo headquarters in London, as they go on strike in a dispute for fair pay, safety protections and basic workers rights PA UK news in pictures 6 April 2021 Waves crash over the walls next to Seaham Lighthouse in Durham PA UK news in pictures 5 April 2021 Lusamba Katalay (third from left), the husband of Belly Mujinga joins activists at a vigil at Victoria station in London to mark the first anniversary of the death of railway worker Belly Mujinga who died with Covid-19 following reports she had been coughed on by a customer at London's Victoria station PA UK news in pictures 4 April 2021 People spend Easter Sunday at Hengistbury Head, Bournemouth Jake McPherson/SWNS UK news in pictures 3 April 2021 A woman looks into the camera as she attends a 'Kill the Bill' protest in London EPA UK news in pictures 2 April 2021 Members of the Bamburgh Croquet club play a game following the easing of COVID-19 restrictions in Northumberland, Britain Reuters UK news in pictures 1 April 2021 A family walks in St Nicholas' Park in Warwick, the hot weather which baked much of the UK this week is set to give way to a chilly Easter weekend. PA UK news in pictures 31 March 2021 A woman adds a heart to the National Covid Memorial Wall in London EPA UK news in pictures 30 March 2021 Jamie Klingler from Reclaim These Streets speaks to the media in Clapham Common, south London, after a review by the Chief Inspector of Constabulary Sir Thomas Winsor concluded that Metropolitan Police officers did not act inappropriately or in a heavy-handed manner at the vigil PA UK news in pictures 29 March 2021 An aerial photo shows people playing tennis at the Mersey Bowman Lawn Tennis Club in Liverpool northwest England on March 29, 2021, as England's third Covid-19 lockdown restrictions ease, allowing groups of up to six people to meet outside. - People in England rushed outside Monday to enjoy sports, picnics and other previously prohibited activities, as the nation entered the second phase of its coronavirus lockdown easing thanks in large part to a successful vaccination drive AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 28 March 2021 A walrus sleeps on the slipway of Tenby Lifeboat station at Tenby, Wales Reuters UK news in pictures 27 March 2021 Demonstrators attend a protest against a new proposed policing bill in Manchester Reuters UK news in pictures 26 March 2021 Gallery technicians display Andy Warhol screenprints Queen Elizabeth II, from: Reigning Queens screenprint in colours, 1985, left, and Queen Elizabeth II, from: Reigning Queens (Royal Edition) screenprint in colours with diamond dust, 1985, right, at Christies auction rooms in London AP UK news in pictures 25 March 2021 A member of staff, in the pool, cleans the bottom of the pool during pre-opening preparation and cleaning of Charlton Lido, south London, following its closure due to lockdown PA UK news in pictures 24 March 2021 Scottish Green Party co-leaders Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater on the local election campaign trail in Edinburgh. PA UK news in pictures 23 March 2021 Care home staff at Westbourne House care home in Sheffield hold a minute's silence during the National Reflection day, The first anniversary of the first UK lockdown Tom Maddick / SWNS

I believe the events of yesterday were hijacked by extremists, people who were determined to commit criminal damage, to generate very negative sentiment about policing and to assault our brave officers, Andy Marsh said.

Officers were very patient. From the initial gathering of around 2,000 to 3,000, which was more than we anticipated, there were about 50 officers engaging with those present and encouraging them to disperse. Many were complying in fairness.

There was a hardcore of serious criminals hidden within those 3,000 people  perhaps 400 or 500 people  and we certainly didnt trigger this.

The officers were incredibly patient, incredibly professional and I pay tribute to them.

The Labour mayor of Bristol, Marvin Rees, said he had major concerns about the law that sparked the protest, saying it could impose disproportionate controls on peaceful protests and freedom of expression.

But he added: Smashing buildings in our city centre, vandalising vehicles, attacking our police will do nothing to lessen the likelihood of the bill going through.

On the contrary, the lawlessness on show will be used as evidence and promote the need for the bill.

Mr Rees said those who decided to turn the protest into a physical confrontation and smash our city have robbed Bristol of its peaceful record in a year rocked by protests.

(Reuters/Peter Cziborra)

On Monday, Mr Rees told BBC Radio 4s Today programme: I am from communities who are disproportionately likely to be on the receiving end of the criminal justice system and receive unfair treatment.

What they have done has done nothing to make me and people like me, safer. This was selfish self-indulgence, self-centred, you know, violence.

And Labours shadow home secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds added: That violence which we saw last night, which was completely unacceptable, does absolutely nothing for the cause of those of us who are making perfectly legitimate arguments about concerns around the policing bill in the way that it seeks to limit protests.

Police estimated that between 2,000 and 3,000 people initially gathered on Bristols College Green to oppose the bill, with many pictured wearing face masks and socially distancing, and Bristol Live reporting a festival atmosphere.

View more

After marching through the city centre, some staged a seated protest outside the Bridewell Street police station, with Chief Constable Marsh claiming that the sitting demonstrators were, by the assessment of my team, looking for a trigger to provoke a violent response.

He added: By about 5.30pm it became clear that whatever we did, we wouldnt be able to avoid a very violent confrontation.

The force said of the arrests that six were for violent disorder and one for possession of an offensive weapon.

A tactical decision was made to deal with these criminals retrospectively and not make a significant number of arrests last night, which would have impacted significantly on our resources at the scene and created a greater risk of damage to property and injuries to the reduced number of officers left to deal with the disorder, Chief Constable Marsh said.

(REUTERS/Peter Cziborra)

He said the force would now launch one of the biggest appeals for wanted suspects that weve ever done, adding that the cost of the investigation, of policing the march, and repairing the damage caused will run into the millions.

Meanwhile, anger remains over the governments proposed legislation, with several online protest events planned in the coming days.

The bill  which critics warn would hand the government the power to clamp down on peaceful protests as it sees fit, including those deemed too noisy or a nuisance  passed its second reading in parliament last week.

While 358 Tory MPs voted in its favour, Labour, the SNP, Lib Dems and Green Party all fiercely opposed it  with Labours Clive Efford describing the part of the bill relating to protests as a Tory-led coup without guns.
Last month, I wrote that right-wing legislatures trying to ban critical race theory from public schools and institutions were a far more direct threat to free speech than whats often called cancel culture.

Some opponents of critical race theory responded that these bans arent meant to prohibit teaching about critical race theory; that they are, rather, meant to protect individuals, especially children, from coerced speech and indoctrination.

C.R.T.s critics arent arguing that no one has the right to talk and write about C.R.T. (particularly among adults on college campuses); they are resisting the implication that C.R.T. is a settled and acceptable dogma, Christine Rosen wrote in Commentary. They also take issue with the way this theory is being imposed on schoolchildren, many of whom have been forced to denounce immutable parts of themselves, such as their skin color and sex, in C.R.T. struggle sessions.

Im willing to concede at least part of what Rosen is saying. I dont like struggle sessions; I think critical race theory as it developed in the academy is intellectually rich, but some of the ways its been adapted by workplace diversity trainers and education consultants seem risible. Rosen referred to a Nevada lawsuit by a Black woman who accused a charter school of making life miserable for her mixed-race son because he rejected certain ideas about privilege and oppression; if the details in it are true, he was seriously mistreated.
The Citizen

Hundreds of mourners turned up at the home of Mr David Mtuwa in Dar es Salaam yesterday to pay their last respects to five family members who lost their lives during a stampede at Uhuru Stadium on Sunday.

Christian (11), Michelle (8), Nathan (6), Natalia (5), Suzan Ndana Mtuwa (30s) and a housemaid Anita Mfikwa (27) died as they went to pay their last respects to the body of former President John Magufuli.

The five bodies with the exception of that of Anita, were buried at David Mtuwas home ground, a grandfather of the four dead-children and a father-in-law of Suzy where the whole family resides.

It was a hard time for Mr Denis Mtuwa as he sought to narrate the ordeal that his two sons (Nathan and Natalia) and his wife Suzan went through before they breathed their last on Sunday.

I married Suzan in 2011 and got our first born, Nathan in 2013. Our second child, Natalia, was born in 2014 and our last born in 2018. I have also lived with our housemaid, Anita, since 2013 until her death, he said.

The vividly sorrowful Mr Denis said after being informed that his wife and family were hospitalised at Temeke Referral Hospital he rushed there.

While there, he searched in the emergency room and patients wards, but he could not find them and was thus told to go and search in the morgue.

I entered the mortuary and found many dead bodies on the ground. I started searching and managed to see the body of my son Nathan, lying on the floor and then my wife (Suzan). I was shocked and felt bad seeing them lying on the floor dead with some injuries on parts of their bodies, he narrated.

I couldnt find the others on the floor and decided to open the morgues fridges where I found the other three bodies (Natalia, Christian and Michelle) all having bruises on their skins.

The situation seems like people had stepped on their bodies, he added.

Anita (housemaid) was nowhere to be found until the two next days where she was found dead at Muhimbili National Hospital (MNH).

I contacted her parents and let them decide on when and where she will be laid to rest, he said.

Read more: https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/news/national/father-of-children-killed-at-magufuli-s-farewell-narrates-ordeal-3337276
Police Commissioner Sireh Jabang said on Thursday the institutions responsible for the administration and security of an election must fulfil their mandate, and they must remain impartial.

"The institutions responsible for the administration and security of an election must fulfil their mandate, and they must remain impartial. Therefore, this training on access to information and elections is timely," she said.

Commissioner said the assurance of impartiality during an election year is essential to the attainment of the participants' confidence and commitment to the electoral process.

She said this during the beginning of a two day forum organized by The Gambia Press Union for the training of staff of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), members of the Gambia Police Force and the Gambia Armed Forces on Access to Information and Elections.

Funded by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) through the Africa Freedom of Information Centre (AFIC) in Uganda, the training is part of a project aimed at "Improving Transparency and Accountability in Electoral Processes in Africa".

It is being jointly implemented in The Gambia by the GPU, in Uganda by AFIC, and in Zambia by the Panos Institute Southern Africa.

"This training comes at a critical time for Gambia. The IEC and law enforcement bodies are critical stakeholders in ensuring access to information in elections for the credibility of the democratic process," Sheriff Bojang Jnr, President of GPU, said in his welcome remarks. "Conducting a successful election depends largely on whether or not there is transparency and accountability in the electoral processes - from the registration of voters to the counting of the election results."

Gambians will head to the polls in December this year to elect a new president, while National Assembly and local government elections are not due until 2022.

John Charles Njie, Chairman of the Civil Society Coalition on Access to Information, said it was important that Gambians work more together to enhance access to information. He said this will allow all stakeholders to play an effective role in the development of the country.

"The collaboration between civil society and the Gambia government, which resulted in a draft access to information law currently before lawmakers, is something we should be proud of," Njie said.

In his keynote address, the Chairman of the IEC, Alieu Momarr Njai, said "the IEC's mandate centres around policies that promote freedom, fairness and transparency."

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"In this regard, transparency calls for the dissemination of timely and accurate information to all stakeholders in the electoral process," he said.

Mr. Njai also hailed the media as playing a very positive role in the success of previous elections, especially in the area of information dissemination. "Whatever is done in the election process is greatly influenced by the quantity and quality of electoral information that voters have been given access to," he said.

Access to election-related information is critical to the integrity of electoral processes in the democratic world.

It empowers the electorate to be well-informed about political processes with due regard to their best interest: to elect political office holders; to participate in decision-making processes on the implementation of the laws and policies, and to hold public officials accountable for their acts or omissions in the execution of their duties

As part of this project, stakeholders like the media, civil society, political parties, parliamentarians, the election management body and law enforcement in The Gambia are being trained to advocate for and implement reforms, as well as monitor the preparation and management of the upcoming elections in line with regional and international norms.
This editorial appears in the March 26, 2021 issue of Executive Intelligence Review.

[Print version of this editorial]

EDITORIAL

The World at a Crossroad

The United States and China share the most important bilateral relationship in the world. The importance of their collaboration was emphasized by the late economist and statesman Lyndon LaRouche throughout the last two decades of his life, in which he organized for a new Bretton Woods credit system to be launched by America, China, Russia, and India leading other nations.

As was clear from LaRouches goal for this bilateral relationship, it cannot be understood purely in terms of those two nations, and it will not be decided solely by their citizens. It urgently involves the peoples of the entire planet.

With notable exceptions, including some useful impulses by President Trump, the United States since World War II has increasingly come to resemble, and to be controlled by, the British Empire against which it fought a revolution over 200 years ago. The nation of Lincolnwhich had demonstrated to the world the power of its American System of economics and a commitment, not to a ruling class, but to the general welfare of its populationis being rotted out from a British-inspired cultural disease.

The illness takes the form of financialization of the economy, degradation of culture, and an assault on the universal principles expressed in the greatest moments of the United Statesboth past and to come.

The expressed interests of the United States Beltway-Wall Street-Silicon Valley oligarchs are not the interest of the nation, nor of the American people.

Over the last few decades, China has produced economic growth at an extraordinary rate, and was able, by its size and sovereignty, to pursue productive credit policies even against countervailing pressures from the institutions of the decaying Western financial system. Today, it is exporting that growth model, and its engineering and manufacturing output, through a great project it calls the Belt and Road Initiative, which itself was shaped by the advocacy for decades by Lyndon and Helga LaRouche, of the Eurasian and World Land-Bridges.

What will be the outcomes of the hours of discussions which were held in Alaska between representatives of the United States and China? That depends on the outcomes of broader decisionsthose of a thinking elite of citizenry around the world.

This past weekend the Schiller Institute and ICLC gathered leaders from the United States, China, Russia, Africa, Europe, the Americas, and South Asia for a dialogue on how to meet the existential crisis facing mankind with the idea of peace through development.

Lyndon LaRouche, always looking ahead to the next 50 years, developed a profound understanding of the inner contours of development, and of the powerful connections among science, culture, and economics. It was demonstrated in his presentation from May 4, 2001, Winning the Battle for the Common Good, watched in this past weekends Panel 2.

Benefitting from the method he advanced, and with the nations and knowledge represented at this conference, we can create the necessary revolution in human affairs to meet our shared challenges as a human race, and to forge a world worthy of the dignity of man, now and in the future.

The full two-day conference, Two Months Iinto the New U.S. Administration: The World at a Crossroad, is viewable here.

We publish in this issue a crucial part of the second panel, The Strategic Crisis Facing the Human Race, as well as Helga Zepp-LaRouches keynote of the entire conference. Presentations from the other panels will be published in future issues.
China in Focus (March 25): CCP Urges Boycott of Global Brands Over Xinjiang

More U.S. and European brands are facing boycotts in China. But not everyone is buying into the Chinese Communist Partys propaganda narrative.

China is ramping up its criticism of the United States to a new level. Its spokeswoman tried to turn around blame over forced labor onto the United States, citing an over 100-year-old photo of black slaves.

The top U.S. diplomat is calling on European allies. He says, only when the West cooperates can they deal with the China challenge. But hes not asking them to choose sides.

The real battleground between Beijing and the West lies in capital and technology. An expert and CEO looks at whether theres still time to change course.

Thousands of workers go on strike in a Chinese city amid poor working conditions and cut salaries.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more first-hand news from China.

For more news and videos, please visit our website and Twitter.
This satellite image from Maxar Technologies shows the cargo ship MV Ever Given stuck in the Suez Canal near Suez, Egypt, Friday, March 26, 2021. A maritime traffic jam grew to more than 200 vessels Friday outside the Suez Canal and some vessels began changing course as dredgers worked frantically to free a giant container ship that is stuck sideways in the waterway and disrupting global shipping. (Maxar Technologies via AP)

A maritime traffic jam has grown to more than 200 vessels outside the Suez Canal and some vessels began changing course as dredgers worked frantically to free a giant container ship which is stuck sideways in the waterway and disrupting global shipping.

One salvage expert said freeing the EverGiven could take up to a week in the best-case scenario and warned of possible structural problems as it remains wedged.

The Suez Canal Authority welcomed international offers to help free the vessel, including one from the US, although it did not say what kind of assistance was offered.

The EverGiven, owned by Japanese firm Shoei Kisen KK, got wedged on Tuesday in a single-lane stretch of the canal, about four miles north of the southern entrance, near the city of Suez.

A team from Boskalis, a Dutch firm specialising in salvage, is working with the canal authority, using tugboats and a specialised suction dredger that is trying to remove sand and mud from around the port side of the bow. Egyptian authorities have prohibited media access to the site.

An attempt on Friday to free it failed, said Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement, the technical manager of the EverGiven. Plans are in the works to pump water from interior spaces of the vessel, and two more tugs should arrive by Sunday, the company said.

In addition to more than 200 vessels waiting near the canal, over 100 ships more were en route to the waterway, according to data firm Refinitiv.

Apparently anticipating long delays, the owners of the stuck vessel diverted a sister ship, the EverGreet, to head around Africa instead, according to satellite data. Others are also being diverted to avoid the canal.

About 10% of world trade flows through the canal, which is particularly crucial for the transport of oil. The closure also could affect oil and gas shipments to Europe from the Middle East.

Captain Nick Sloane, a maritime salvage expert who led the high-profile effort to salvage the cruise ship Costa Concordia in 2012, said extracting the EverGiven is quite a challenge and could take five days to a week.

The EverGivens location, size and large amount of cargo make the operation more complex, Capt Sloane said. The operation should focus initially on dredging the bank and sea floor around it to get it floating again, rather than unloading its cargo, which could take weeks.

Thats because the clock is also ticking structurally for the vessel, he added.

The longer it takes, the worse the condition of the ship will become, because shes slowly sagging, said Capt Sloane, vice president of the International Salvage Union. Ships are designed to flex, but not to be kept at that position with a full load of cargo for weeks at a time. So its not an easy situation.

The backlog of vessels could stress European ports and the international supply of containers, already strained by the coronavirus pandemic, according to IHS Markit, a business research group. It said 49 container ships were scheduled to pass through the canal in the week since the EverGiven became lodged.

Satellite and photos distributed by the canal authority show EverGivens bow touching the eastern wall, while its stern appeared lodged against the western wall.

It was not immediately clear what caused the EverGiven to get wedged, although the canal authority blamed bad weather. GAC, a global shipping and logistics company, said the ship had experienced a power blackout, but it did not elaborate.

Evergreen Marine Corp, a major Taiwan-based shipping company that operates the ship, said the EverGiven had been overcome by strong winds as it entered the canal from the Red Sea, but that none of its containers had sunk.
One person died while four others sustained serious injuries in a road accident at a petrol station in Kendu Bay town, Homa Bay County on Thursday afternoon.

The accident occurred when a truck, whose driver seems to have lost control, rammed into several parked vehicles and motorcycles along Katito-Homa Bay road.

Witnesses said the vehicle that was transporting building materials also hit pedestrians before instantly killing a man who was being served at the petrol station.

North East Karachuonyo location chief Tobias Aduda said the driver of the vehicle was speeding.

According to the chief, the vehicle was traveling down a slope from Oyugis towards Kendu Bay.

Lucky escape

The truck driver, who was among the injured, is said to have approached a junction where the petrol station is situated when he lost control of the vehicle.

"The trailer fell on its side when the driver tried to make a right turn towards Kisumu. The vehicle rolled and hit some shops at the petrol station," Mr Aduda said.

The person who was killed was trying to escape from the scene after he saw the speeding truck approaching.

According to Mr Aduda, the injured victims were lucky to avoid being hit directly by the truck. He said the injured were rushed to Rachuonyo North Sub-county hospital.

Police have commenced investigations into the accident.
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Filmed up to 70 years ago, they are images that show the Queen as few will have seen her.

One set portrays her laughing with her husband, taking a horsedrawn sleigh ride in Canada in 1951.

Unknown to the then 25-year-old Princess Elizabeth, she was only a few months away from losing her beloved father, King George VI.

: A young Queen wearing sunglasses and holding a Cine camera on Christmas Day, 1953 in the middle of a gruelling 6 month tour,

The images will be included in an ITV series, The Queen Unseen, starting on Thursday to mark the monarchs 95th birthday on April 21

Pictured: A young Queen with horses while on a Canadian Tour in 1951: The Queen and Prince Philip took a traditional sleigh ride filmed in colour for a movie called Royal Journey

Other pictures show her in 1953, by now Queen, wielding cameras while on an official tour in New Zealand. And another shows her at Windsor in 1992 with a cow  called Elizabeth  from her herd.

The images will be included in an ITV series, The Queen Unseen, starting on Thursday to mark the monarchs 95th birthday on April 21.

Using unseen home movies, intimate informal archive and recently digitised material from some of the 116 countries she has visited, it aims to show the Queen on holiday, as a mother, wife, cook, animal lover, farmer, and expert horsewoman.

And it will uncover her true passions and some of the unlikely, unknown friendships that she has forged away from the public eye.

Using unseen home movies, intimate informal archive and recently digitised material from some of the 116 countries she has visited, it aims to show the Queen on holiday, as a mother, wife, cook, animal lover, farmer, and expert horsewoman

The young princess and the Duke of Edinburgh are seen covered in snow on their sleigh ride during the official tour

The 1951 footage comes from a documentary movie called Royal Journey, the first colour feature film ever made in Canada  the rushes had to be flown to New York to be developed.

The young princess and the Duke of Edinburgh are seen covered in snow on their sleigh ride during the official tour, while in another shot she pats one of their horses.

One of the 1953 images shows her on Christmas Day in New Zealand, wearing sunglasses and smiling as she holds a cine camera.

There is a camera in her hand again on another picture from the time, when she and Philip were guests of the Governor General of New Zealand, Sir Willoughby Norrie, during a six-month world tour.

* The Queen Unseen documentary airs at 9pm on Thursday 8th April on ITV1
(TNS)  The Oklahoma State Department of Health's contact tracing efforts, which failed to keep pace with the spread of COVID across Oklahoma, did not add to the state's pandemic response, according to a report from a legislative watchdog office.The report issued Thursday by the Legislative Office of Fiscal Transparency says the State Department of Health lacked sufficient contact tracing data to measure the spread of COVID-19, which meant municipal leaders didn't have enough information to make data-driven decisions to respond to the pandemic.The report also criticized the agency's "outdated and overburdened technology platform" as a hindrance to the state's contact tracing efforts and overall response to the COVID-19 pandemic.In a legislative hearing Thursday for lawmakers to hear details of the report, Oklahoma's top health official acknowledged the State Department of Health's technological difficulties, and said most states struggled to keep up with contact tracing due to the sheer number of COVID-19 cases. "The difficulty in this is the sheer number of cases," said Health Commissioner Dr. Lance Frye. "With the current systems in place in the United States, nobody was prepared to approach that in a manner that was manageable, and that they could actually get a good response from."Contact tracing, which is designed to help identify how a virus is spreading, is a key part of any pandemic response. When conducted properly, contact tracing can reduce the spread of disease."Whether global or local, every entity that successfully implemented a contact tracing program did so by gathering and providing data in a way which enabled their stakeholders to make informed decisions regarding their lives and livelihood while managing through the pandemic," according to the report.However, the report concludes that Oklahoma's contact tracers were overwhelmed by the spread of the COVID-19 virus during some of the state's most critical months. From Sept. 24 to Dec. 23, contacts monitored by the State Department of Health decreased by 65 percent while the number of positive COVID-19 cases increased by 205 percent during the same period, according to the report.The report was critical of the State Department of Health's contact tracing efforts, and questioned why the agency didn't make more contact tracing data publicly available.In a survey sent to 40 Oklahoma municipal leaders, nine of whom responded, 89 percent of respondents said contact tracing data from the State Department of Health would have been helpful to determine how best to respond to the pandemic."Better, more specific information on the spread of COVID based on contract tracing would allow us to make better decisions about how to respond locally," according to an anonymous municipal leader cited in the report.Noting the small number of respondents, Health Commissioner Frye cast doubt on the validity of the survey. He also pointed to a slew of other COVID-19 data, including the number of new infections and hospitalizations, the state has publicly distributed for the past year.He also noted that contact tracing is inherently difficult, and many Oklahomans were skeptical of the process.Some COVID-positive Oklahomans were simply unwilling to share details about where they had been and who they had possibly exposed, Frye said. Similarly, some Oklahomans resisted guidance from the State Department of Health, including when they were advised to quarantine."Contact tracing is only as good as the information you receive from people," Frye said.LOFT officials noted more leadership from the State Department of Health could have increased public trust in the contact tracing process.The State Department of Health has also changed to a decentralized approach to contract tracing, which Frye said he believes will be more successful. After setting up a contact tracing hub at the old Shepherd Mall in Oklahoma City, at a cost of roughly $6.7 million, the state shuttered the project toward the end of 2020.Now, the State Department of Health is focused on having contact tracers across the state, working in the communities in which they are familiar, Frye said.The LOFT report suggested boosting the number of contact tracers would have improved the state's pandemic response. Oklahoma had roughly 18 tracers per 100,000 population, but a national association of health officials recommends 30 tracers per 100,000 population would be more appropriate for a pandemic of this size and scope.The LOFT report was also critical of the state's color-coded COVID-19 alert map, saying it communicated inconsistent metrics. LOFT repeatedly asked the agency to justify changing the high-risk triggers for the alert system, but did not receive a direct answer, the report says.A color-coded alert map from the Oklahoma State School Board Association provided more in-depth information to help local school leaders to make decisions about in-person schooling, according to the report.The LOFT report also makes recommendations for state lawmakers and the State Department of Health.LOFT recommended state lawmakers make available discretionary funds to investigate and control the spread of communicable diseases. The entity also recommended lawmakers ensure public trust in contact tracing efforts by prohibiting unlawful dissemination of contact tracing data, presumably through a state law.As for the State Department of Health, LOFT recommended the agency publish and disseminate more outbreak data to help local leaders control the spread of the disease.LOFT also recommended the agency adopt the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's recommendations for contact tracing and work with surrounding states to develop the best practices for collecting and publishing tracing data.The entity also recommended the State Department of Health present to the Legislature a plan to replace the Public Health Investigation and Disease Detection of Oklahoma (PHIDDO) system. The outdated system used to track various COVID-19 metrics has crashed multiple times throughout the pandemic, setting back the state's response to the virus, the report says.The reporting system was never created to handle a pandemic, Frye said. The State Department of Health has been working for the past year to switch, but it's a time-consuming and complex process because the system is connected to so many different aspects of the state's public health infrastructure."I want to flip a switch and get rid of PHIDDO, but it doesn't work like that," he said. "It's a complex disease reporting and information system."
OTHER VOICES: Now is the time for the Senate to recognize there can be no time limit for equality
I do not quite remember where I was. What I vividly recall is that I was just a boy at the time. On March 23, some three decades ago, a ricochet of gunshots, probably from the Russian-made AK47 Kalashnikovs and explosions from Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPGs) jolted the tranquility of a small border town of Bomaru in Kailahun, eastern Sierra Leone. The insanity that started in Bomaru would later engulf the whole country as lives were wasted as horror enveloped the land.

For slightly more than a decade, that cacophony, as the nation was plunged into civil war, was to become the new undesirable way of describing Sierra Leone amid over two decades of one-party rule (the vogue then in the many African States and even beyond).

On that day of the first gunshot, we were made to believe that a deal had gone wrong between rebels fighting from within Liberia and soldiers on our side over the sale of some looted goods, including cars. They had been hoodwinked, it was alleged, and after the dust had settled, the rebels had crossed over to settle scores.

True or not, a few days later, it was headline news on the BBC Focus on Africa. Rebels of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) led by a former photographer and an angry ex-corporal in the Sierra Leone army, Foday Saybana Sankoh, was heard on the programme claiming that he had somewhat started the "father of all battles" to remove the government of the then All People's Congress (APC) led by a retired Major General -President Joseph Saidu Momoh from power.

The authorities at State House were quick to respond to Sankoh's interview claiming that these were minor skirmishes and that the "gallant soldiers" of the country had beaten the rebels back. That was deception.

Obviously, someone was economical with the truth, and poor innocent citizens were caught up in the claims and counterclaims. The truth? Truth was the first casualty of the war.

Outside of official confirmation and in the absence of social media platforms and cellphones then, bush radio (hearsay) was the order of the day. The primary source of credible news was the BBC Focus on Africa or Network Africa programmes. These became the breakfast, lunch, and dinner for us as one could not rely on state media who were very measured with the facts. My good old friend, Sulaiman Momodu, then reporting for the BBC, had his brush with the authorities when the government declared him wanted for reporting on BBC Network Africa that government was minimizing the truth about the war and that rebels were in fact advancing to Freetown.

Before Sankoh's interview on the BBC, then Liberian warlord later turned president and now prisoner, Charles Gbankay Taylor had boasted on the BBC that Sierra Leone was going to taste the bitterness of war for allowing the ECOWAS forces to use the country as a base from which jetfighters were released to bomb National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) territory and kill their chances of overrunning and taking power in Monrovia from a stubborn Samuel K. Doe.

Thirty years after the war, questions still beg for answers. Was it Taylor's threats that led to the war in Sierra Leone? Was it about diamonds? Was it to address issues of corruption, bad governance, nepotism, equal rights, and justice? Or did Sankoh begin the war to revenge his jailing at Pademba Road prisons over alleged claims of his involvement in a coup plot?

What is uncontested was that at that point, the stage was being set for constitutional reforms and for the country to return to multi-party democracy. Prominent politicians like the current Speaker of Parliament, Dr. Abass Bundu, had parted ways with the APC in a government that he served as Foreign and Agriculture Minister respectively to form the Progressive People's Party (PPP). The SLPP was also on the mend and so then was Thaimu Bangura, who left the APC to form his People's Democratic Party (PDP).

While the RUF claimed that their goal was to remove the APC from power, their bidding was done for them by elements of the Sierra Leone Army, who left the warfront on April 29th, 1992, came to Freetown, and toppled the APC. The National Provisional Ruling Council (NPRC) was born.

Yet, the fighting did not stop. Sankoh's RUF gained territory. They captured key diamond-mining towns, including Tongo and Kono. Claims were, they were funnelled to De Pappay (the Big man) in Liberia. Limbs of innocent citizens who had nothing to do with the government in Freetown or probably had never seen the capital city were severed. Women were raped, villages looted clean, and young boys and girls were conscripted into the rebel army.

Estimates indicate that over 50, 000 lives were lost. UNAMSIL (the United Nations Assistance Mission in Sierra Leone) estimated that over 10,000 children were conscripted into the various fighting forces, including the Kamajor civil defence force who fought alongside government forces. A UNICEF report, it is believed, shows that 8,466 children were officially documented as missing between 1991 and 2002. Accounts quoting literature written in 2005 by Sierra Leone's current Ambassador to Switzerland, Dr Lansana Gberie, claims that over two-thirds of the country's population was displaced. Others went to neighbouring Guinea, Liberia and beyond as refugees.

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As a young man, I saw the war firsthand. I know what it meant to be woken up in the early hours of January 6th, 1999, with the sounds of guns and bombs. My entire family was displaced. We had nothing to eat but to depend on others for our daily bread. We returned to Wellington and had to start afresh after our house was set ablaze. We lost relatives in the village, including one of my favourites, Uncle I.B, a pipe-smoking Kenny Rogers fan and a former insurance broker.

Like other compatriots, I had to live with the traumatic experience of the war. Little girls who were abducted, raped, impregnated, and turned to Bush wives by their captors will never forget the war. Amputees will never forget the horror of their limbs chopped off with crude cutlasses and axes. Spare some thoughts for innocent kids turned into child soldiers and given AK47 instead of pens and pencils.

Officially, the war ended in January 2002. But the question is- have we as a country made any serious effort to really address the root causes of the war?

May the souls of all those we lost in the war rest in peace!

N B: The author is a Communications Specialist and the sentiments expressed are entirely his.
A vehicle on fire and a crash on the Pacific Motorway have caused major delays for motorists between Brisbane and the Gold Coast on Friday.

Australian Traffic Network spokesman Ben Mihan said two lanes just after Klumpp Road were closed because of firefighters getting to a vehicle on fire at Upper Mount Gravatt.

Its causing delays back to Mount Gravatt and Mount Gravatt-Capalaba Road, Newman Road and Logan Road are clogged up, he said.

It hasnt helped that a breakdown has occurred at Upper Mount Gravatt on Logan Road.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets the liberation war fighters, the 'Muktijodhas' of Bangladesh on his two-day scheduled visit to the country. He is also expected to hold talks with Bangladesh President Abdul Hamid and take part in a wide range of programmes aimed at strengthening cooperation between the two countries.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off his two-day visit to Bangladesh and arrived in Dhaka on Friday, this will be his first foreign diplomatic visit since the breakout of covid-19 in the country. He is going to attend the celebration of the countrys 50th liberation year from Pakistan and the day also marks the centenary year of the father of Bangladesh, Sheikh Mujibur Rehman.

India and Bangladesh are also celebrating 50 years of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries. PM Modi was received at the airport by Bangladesh PM Sheikh Haseena and was accorded with the Guard of Honour upon his arrival. He is further scheduled to visit the National Martyrs memorial to pay homage to the Bangladeshi soldiers.

PM Modi in his departure statement had underlined that he is elated to visit Bangladesh and to commence his first foreign diplomatic visit since the covid-19 lockdown, to Indias friendly neighbouring country, with which India shares deep cultural, linguistic and people-to-people ties. He also tweeted about his visit and wrote that Bangladesh is an important pillar of Indias Neighbourhood-first policy. Bangladesh was known as East Pakistan till 1971, the country was formed after the India-Pak war.

Updates via Twitter:

India provided 2 mn vaccines as gift & PM Modi, on the 50th anniversary of Bangladesh & 100th anniversary of father of our nation, is giving another 1.2 mn vaccines as a gift. They assured that the contract will be met on time, We would like to buy more: Bangladesh Foreign Min  ANI (@ANI) March 26, 2021

Prime Minister Narendra Modi met 'Muktijodhas', the liberation war fighters of Bangladesh, in Dhaka today pic.twitter.com/avBVi9oLhV  ANI (@ANI) March 26, 2021

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Besides his participation in many programmes which are aimed towards strengthening the diplomatic ties and cooperation between the two countries, PM Modi is also set to offer prayers at Jashoreshwari Kali Temple in Ishwaripur, Bangladesh.

Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dr K Abdul Momen has said more than five-plus instruments and MOUs are likely to be signed between the two countries. he further stated that the main objective of PM Modis visit is to join the celebrations but the two leaders would hold significant talks wherein all the major issues are likely to be discussed.

Also Read:
The ruling elite is determined to continue its profit before lives COVID-19 pandemic policy, which has already claimed over 75,000 lives in Germany alone, at any price. This was underscored by the decision of the federal and state governments on Wednesday to overturn the so-called Easter pause after just one day.

The original decision agreed by the conference of minister presidents and Chancellor Angela Merkel early on Tuesday to extend the Easter weekend by a single day was nothing more than a symbolic act. In the midst of the rapidly escalating and more lethal third wave, one extra day off work would have done nothing to curb the rapidly increasing infections, the spread of virus variants, and a new round of mass death.

Despite this, a storm of rage erupted from big business, the political establishment and media after Merkel announced the Easter pause at a press conference on Tuesday morning. Foaming at the mouth, spokesmen for the major corporations and business lobby groups made clear that they would not accept a single additional day on which assembly lines remained at a standstill and profits were not generated.

Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) together with Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Soder (CSU) and Berlin Mayor Michael Muller (SPD) at the press conference after the Corona summit on March 22nd. (Michael Kappeler/Pool Photo via AP)

Sudden plant shutdowns are inconceivable for an internationally connected economy, stated the president of the Auto Industry Association (VDA), Hildegard Muller. Paint shops and energy centres as well as many others can not just be shut down on command. The president of the Association of Family-owned Businesses, Reinhold von Eben-Worlee, objected, Who will pay for this additional loss? The slogan in the government is obviously, money grows on trees.

Merkel apologised already the following day. There could be no doubt that the idea of the so-called Easter pause was a mistake, she asserted during an official question-and-answer session in parliament. Effort and usefulness must always at least be semi-proportionate. In this particular case, there were far too many questions to be resolved, from the payment of wages to the loss of working hours and the situation in the plants and businesses.

The response was jubilation from the same business lobbyists, politicians, and media outlets who had sharply criticised the chancellor just one day earlier. I think its a sign of strength when one admits to a mistake, enthused VDA president Muller. The fact that the Chancellor so rapidly assumed full personal responsibility deserves great respect, stated the president of the Central Association of German Trades, Hans Peter Wollseifer.

Politicians from all parties spoke along similar lines. Yes, it is good to admit to mistakes. That helps further democracy, said the Green Partys parliamentary group leader, Katrin Goring-Eckhardt. Even Alexander Gauland, the head of the right-wing extremist Alternative for Germanys parliamentary group, celebrated Merkels about-face in his speech as the day when everything changed. Prior to that, the 16 minister presidents, including the Left Partys Bodo Ramelow from Thuringia, apologised and endorsed the new anti-lockdown line.

What this means is obvious. Under conditions of an escalation of the pandemic, threatening more lives than ever before, the ruling elite is moving to end all public health restrictions. It is necessary to emerge from the permanent cycle of lockdowns and open a new chapter, stated North-Rhine Westphalias minister president and leader of the Christian Democrats, Armin Laschet, on Wednesday.

Tobias Hans (CDU), minister president in Saarland, announced Thursday that his state would exit the lockdown immediately after Easter. As of 6 April, more private and public life will be possible, he said. He specifically announced the reopening of cinemas, gyms, and outdoor restaurants. Further openings would follow after April 18.

Merkel explicitly declared her support for the reopening offensive in her government statement on Thursday. The government had agreed a reopening plan with the minister presidents on 3 March that allows for a much greater degree of regionalisation. She is of the opinion that some statesIm thinking of Saarland and Schleswig-Holsteinare using these options correctly.

Merkel and the ruling elite know very well that this course is paving the way for a catastrophe. Leading virologists like Melanie Brinkmann and Christian Drosten warned already in February that a further easing of restrictions could lead to up to 100,000 daily infections in the summer and 180,000 additional deaths among people aged under 60. The total abandonment of lockdown measures would, according to projections, cost up to 1 million lives in Germany.

The reactionary goals being pursued by the ruling elite with their murderous reopening policies are obvious. Firstly, they want to extract the massive sums spent on coronavirus emergency bailouts, which flowed overwhelmingly to the major corporations, banks, and super-rich, from the working class. An additional factor is the aggressive imposition of the geostrategic and economic interests of German and European imperialism.

In yesterdays government statement on the European Union (EU) summit, Merkel informed the parliamentary deputies that Germany and Europe must use the current situation to increase their influence in the global competition between the major powers. We know that Europe cannot stagnate or wallow in the crisis, but that we must rise to the challenges, she stated. One of the issues is for Europe to decisively enforce its digital sovereignty. Its about speed. Its not just about the how, but also the when.

The production and distribution of life-saving COVID-19 vaccinations are also being subordinated to capitalist profit and the geopolitical rivalries between the major powers. We will have to talk about how we can become more independent across Europe. That includes above all the issue of vaccine production, said Merkel. The problem of vaccine distribution is how much can be produced on European territory at this moment? Because we can see clearly: British production sites manufacture for the British market, the United States is not exporting.

While the ruling elite promotes vaccine nationalism and profit-making, only a mere 4.3 percent of the population have been fully vaccinated. Additional billions of euros are not flowing to the funding of a Europe-wide coordinated vaccine campaign, but rather to rearmament and war. On Wednesday, the federal government agreed to increase military spending by a further 5 percent next year, reaching an annual budget of 49.29 billion. On Thursday, parliament approved the extension of the deployment to Afghanistan by another year.

The World Socialist Web Site described the pandemic one year ago as a trigger event that would rapidly intensify the political, social and economic crisis of the capitalist system. In every country, the ruling class is intensifying its push for social spending cuts, the strengthening of the domestic apparatus of state repression, and the rearmament of the military. The murderous drive to reopen everything and promote mass infections is a central component of this policy.

Opposition to this is developing around the world. Workers are organising independent rank-and-file committees to secure safe working conditions and launch a counter-offensive against the attacks on wages and jobs that are being organised by management and the trade unions. Teachers and students are fighting the dangerous return to school. On Wednesday evening, the hashtag #GeneralStrike was the most discussed topic on Twitter for more than three hours.

The organisation of a general strike to impose a real lockdowni.e., to close schools and all nonessential production due to their role as the main vectors for the pandemic with full financial support for workers and small businessesrequires a clear political leadership and perspective.

The Socialist Equality Party wrote a few days ago in its statement, One year of the COVID-19 pandemic: a disaster caused by capitalism:

The pandemic proves the necessity of the abolition of the capitalist nation-state system. It shows that the defense of the most vital interests of society is inseparable from the expropriation of the financial oligarchy and an end to private ownership of the means of production. It makes clear the urgent necessity for a scientifically-managed, rationally-organized and democratically-controlled world economy.

The fight for socialism is a global struggle for a society that prioritizes life over profit, human need over the wealth of the oligarchs and international collaboration over national conflict.

With the de facto ending of the lockdown in Germany, this perspective is more than ever a matter of life and death.
The Beacon Hospital has since apologised for any upset caused by their decision and acknowledged it was not in line with the sequencing guidelines in place from the HSE.

A decision by the Beacon Hospital to give up to 20 leftover vaccines to teachers of St Gerards private school in Bray on Tuesday has been described as extremely annoying by HSE CEO Paul Reid.

In a statement today, Beacon Hospital CEO Michael Cullen acknowledged the hospitals actions were not in line with the sequencing guidelines in place from the HSE.

Under HSE guidelines, all hospitals are instructed to have a standby list constructed using the sequencing document should any additional doses become available on a particular day.

The Beacon Hospital said their decision to select teachers for the excess doses was based on a zero wastage policy and was made under time pressure.

Read More

The hospital declined to comment on why the school was selected for vaccination by the Beacon.

"There are very clear guidelines re-communicated out in early January and on a regular basis, HSE chief Mr Reid told Morning Ireland, reacting to the story which initially appeared in the Irish Daily Mail.

There can be no ambiguity around how you arrange vaccination clinics, how back up lists should be organised in advance.

"It's extremely annoying, it's extremely frustrating for the public - and for myself and the HSE. It's hard for us to reach out and be over all the vaccination processes that are going on. I cannot condone when something like this happens."

The Beacon Hospital said the additional doses came about due to 200 no shows for scheduled appointments of HSE employees as a result of people being double booked at the Aviva.

Beacon Hospital immediately liaised with the HSE, and the majority of these excess vaccines were subsequently used for HSE staff who were redirected to Beacon Hospital throughout the afternoon, the Hospital said.

Late on Tuesday, it became apparent the doses would be left over and a decision was made to administer the left-over vaccine to teachers who were in a position to get to the Centre within the exceptionally short timeframe required, the hospital said .

In a statement, Beacon CEO Michael Cullen apologised for the upset that this decision has caused and said the hospital is updating their approach to our back up list to ensure that this situation does not arise again.

Paul Reid said the HSE expects all services to comply with vaccination programme guidelines and that any leftover vaccines should be utilised in line with a backup list which would be in line with our sequence protocols."

St Gerards school had no comment to make when asked about the administration of the vaccines to their staff.

Read More




Ethnic Uyghurs and activists attend a protest against the visit of China's State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi to the Turkish capital in front of the Chinese Embassy in Ankara, Turkey on March 25, 2021. (Cagla Gurdogan/Reuters)

Uyghur Muslims in Turkey Protest Against Chinese Ministers Visit

ISTANBULTurkey raised the issue of Uyghur Muslims during talks with Chinas foreign minister in Ankara on Thursday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said, as hundreds of Uyghurs protested against the treatment of their ethnic kin in China.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met Cavusoglu and later President Tayyip Erdogan, as around 1,000 protesters gathered in Istanbul, chanting Dictator China and Stop Uighur Genocide, Close the Camps. Some waved blue-and-white flags of the independence movement of East Turkestan, the name by which the movement refers to Xinjiang.

We are here to ask about our families. Why cant we get in touch with our families? Are they dead or alive? Where are they? Are they at camps or outside? said Imam Hasan Ozturk, a Uyghur protester.

China approved an extradition treaty with Turkey in December and with the deal awaiting ratification by Ankaras parliament, activists among some 40,000 Uyghurs living in Turkey have stepped up efforts to highlight their plight, holding regular protests in Ankara and Istanbul.

Cavusoglu has denied that the extradition accord would lead to Uyghurs being sent back to China. He said after meeting Wang that Ankara and Beijing would enhance cooperation against the COVID-19 pandemic and on vaccines.

Uyghurs worries have been fueled by Ankaras dependence on China for COVID-19 vaccines, having received 15 million doses from Sinovac Biotech and ordered tens of millions more. This week, Turkey received 1.4 million doses of the vaccine developed by Germanys BioNTech, the first significant batch of non-Chinese vaccines.

U.N. experts estimate at least a million Uyghurs and other Muslims are held in detention centers in northwest Chinas Xinjiang. The United States said in January the Chinese regime has committed genocide and crimes against humanity by repressing Uyghurs.
NEW YORK, March 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Dairy Derivatives market will register an incremental spend of about USD 202.03 Billion, growing at a CAGR of 5.57% during the five-year forecast period. A targeted strategic approach to Dairy Derivatives sourcing can unlock several opportunities for buyers. This report also offers market impact and new opportunities created due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Download free sample report

Key Highlights Offered in the Report:

Dairy Derivatives Market Procurement Research Report

Information on how to identify strategic and tactical negotiation levels that will help achieve the best prices.

Gain information on relevant pricing levels, detailed explanation on pros and cons of prevalent pricing models.

Methods to help engage with the right suppliers and discover KPI's to evaluate incumbent suppliers.

Get a free sample report for more information

Insights into buyer strategies and tactical negotiation levers:

Several strategic and tactical negotiation levers are explained in the report to help buyers achieve the best prices for the Dairy Derivatives market. The report also aids buyers with relevant Dairy Derivatives pricing levels, pros, and cons of prevalent pricing models such as volume-based pricing, spot pricing, and cost-plus pricing and category management strategies and best practices to fulfill their category objectives.

For more insights on buyer strategies and tactical negotiation levers, Click here.

Key Drivers and Trends Fueling Market Growth:

The pressure from substitutes and a moderate level of threat from new entrants has resulted in the low bargaining power of suppliers.

Price forecasts are beneficial in purchase planning, especially when supplemented by the constant monitoring of price influencing factors. During the forecast period, the market expects a change of 3.5%-5.5%.

Identify favorable opportunities in Dairy Derivatives TCO (total cost of ownership).

Expected changes in price forecast and factors driving the current and future price changes.

Identify pricing models that offer the most rewarding opportunities.

Some of the top Dairy Derivatives suppliers listed in this report:

This Dairy Derivatives procurement intelligence report has enlisted the top suppliers and their cost structures, SLA terms, best selection criteria, and negotiation strategies.

Nestle SA

Groupe Lactalis

Danone SA

Fonterra Co-operative Group Ltd.

Royal FrieslandCampina NV

Arla Foods amba

Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group Co. Ltd

Saputo Dairy Australia Pty Ltd

Dean Foods Co.

To get instant access to over 1000 market-ready procurement intelligence reports without any additional costs or commitment, Subscribe Now for Free.

Table of Content

Executive Summary

Market Insights

Category Pricing Insights

Cost-saving Opportunities

Best Practices

Category Ecosystem

Category Management Strategy

Category Management Enablers

Suppliers Selection

Suppliers under Coverage

US Market Insights

Category scope

Appendix

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With the Dangote Refinery and its monopolistic policy patronised, endorsed, encouraged and approved by the Federal Government, whatever money to be spent on the Port Harcourt Refinery will go down the drain again. The money will just be a waste. The Federal Government has so much money to waste, while the states are dying.

Abracadabra is commonly used as incantation in the performance of magic. Literally, it refers the notion of the-more-you-look-the-less-you-know-or-see. Abracadabra is the best word to describe what is going on in the Port Harcourt Refinery. The Refinery is situated at Alesa Eleme, which is 19 kilometres from Port Harcourt city. I have visited the refinery thrice. Twice I accompanied my two bosses, Alhaji Gidado Idris (GCON) and Chief Ufot Ekaette (CFR), both late Secretaries to the Government of the Federation. My last visit to the refinery was three years ago with a friend, who once worked there. One needs to see the refinery.

The scandal in the Port Harcourt Refinery is so deep that it cannot be uncovered by the most competent investigator in the world. The Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC), is a Nigeria-based oil and gas company primarily specialising in the refining of crude oil into petroleum products. The company is a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

The latest news about the Port Harcourt Refinery is that the Federal Government has approved $1.5 billion for its rehabilitation. The Minister of State for Petroleum, Timipre Sylva, who briefed reporters after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting in which the approval was give, said the rehabilitation will be carried out in three phases of 18, 24 and 44 months. He said the contract had been awarded to an Italian company, Tecnimont SPA, who, according to the Minister, are experts in refinery maintenance. Mr. Sylva said the funding of the repairs will be from many components, including the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), the countrys internally generated revenue (IGR), budgetary provisions, and Afreximbank. The Ministry of Petroleum Resources presented a memo on the rehabilitation of Port Harcourt refinery for the sum of $1.5 billion, and that memo was $1.5 billion and it was approved by council today. So we are happy to announce that the rehabilitation of Port Harcourt refinery will commence in three phases. The first phase is to be completed in 18 months, which will take the refinery to a production of 90 per cent of its nameplate capacity. The second phase is to be completed in 24 months and all the final stage will be completed in 44 months and consultations are approved. And I believe that this is good news for Nigeria.

To many, it is not good news. They call it capital flight. Only Italy will benefit, while Nigeria becomes poorer.

The approval therefore confirms a January 7 report by Reuters that Nigerias state oil firm, NNPC, is in talks to raise around $1 billion in a prepayment with trading firms, to refurbish its largest refining complex at Port Harcourt. According to the report, the money would be repaid over seven years through the deliveries of Nigerian crude and products from the refinery once the refurbishment is complete, the sources said. Cairo-based Afreximbank is leading the financing. Afreximbank is looking into a facility for the refurbishment of the Port Harcourt Refinery. However, the borrower is yet to be determined, a spokesman for the bank said.

On July 27, 2017, the former Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, promised to end fuel importation by 2019, or he would resign from his position. He never resigned and fuel importation did not stop until he was dropped by President Muhammadu Buhari in his second term.

Nigeria has spent over $1.6 billion on the Turn-Around Maintenance of the countrys four refineries, without any sign of improvement since 2000. Nigeria is the fifth largest exporter of crude oil in the world, but spends over $16 million per day importing refined petroleum products. This situation has been attributed to the poor refining capacity of the country. The total utilisation capacity of the refineries was estimated at below 40 per cent of the total installed refining capacity, making them the worst performing refineries in Africa. Dr. Ibe Kachikwu confirmed the poor conditions of the plants during an oil and gas stakeholders meeting in Abuja on Tuesday, July 18, 2017. Our refineries have not been maintained at the same levels that other nearby countries have continued to do theirs. Look at Ghana and Ivory Coast, the same refineries, about the same ages and working at over 90 per cent capacity, he said.

Port Harcourt Refinery, was built in 1965 under the then Prime Minister, Alhaji Abubakar Tafawa Balewa (1912-1966; GCFR). It was commissioned, operated and managed by SHELL BP. The capacity was 35,000 barrel per day. However, its ownership passed to the Federal Government in 1970 under General Yakubu Gowon (85; GCFR). The Refinery was upgraded in 1971 to 60,000 barrel per day.

On November 22, 2019, the House of Representative ordered an investigation into the financial allocations set aside for the Turn-Around Maintenance of the petroleum refineries in Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna, estimated to have cost $396.33 million in four years. The inquiry was initiated following the motion titled, Call for investigation of the $396.33 million allegedly spent in four years on turn around maintenance of the nations three refineries. At the plenary session, Ifeanyi Momah, representing Ihiala federal constituency of Anambra State called for the inquiry, alleging that the amount spent on maintenance of the facilities had not yielded the desired results.

The House also called on the Federal Government to consider divesting a certain percentage of its shareholding in the Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna refineries to competent investors under a transparent and fair bidding process.

Also, the House mandated the Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream) to conduct an investigative hearing into the maintenance expenses made from 2015 to date, while the committee was to submit its findings within eight weeks.

Till today, the report of the so called investigation by the House of Representatives has not surfaced.

Let us take a brief look at the three refineries that we have. The first, Port Harcourt Refinery, was built in 1965 under the then Prime Minister, Alhaji Abubakar Tafawa Balewa (1912-1966; GCFR). It was commissioned, operated and managed by SHELL BP. The capacity was 35,000 barrel per day. However, its ownership passed to the Federal Government in 1970 under General Yakubu Gowon (85; GCFR). The Refinery was upgraded in 1971 to 60,000 barrel per day. The second Port Harcourt Refinery, a deep conversion facility, with an installed capacity of 150,000 barrel per day, was built and commissioned on November 25, 1989 under General Ibrahim Babangida (79; GCFR), bringing the combined capacity of the refinery to 210,000 barrel per day. The refinery, in 2000 under President Olusegun Obasanjo (84; GCFR), operated at about 47 per cent of the total installed capacity. Its turn around maintenance (TAM) was last carried out in 1994 under General Sani Abacha (September 20, 1943-June 8, 1998; GCFR). The old refinery was shut down because the internally generated power was not enough to run the two refineries, and public power was unreliable.

The Warri Refinery was commissioned in 1979 under General Olusegun Obasanjo with an initial capacity of 100,000 barrels per day. It was de-bottle-necked to a capacity of 125,000 barrel per day in 1988. It was further expanded in 1988, with the addition of a petrochemical plant having the capacity to produce 35,000 metric tonnes and 18,000 metric tonnes per annum of polypropylene and carbon black respectively. The last TAM of the refinery was carried out in 1994. The Refinery operated from January to February 2000 at about 10.3 per cent of the installed capacity and was shut down because the main heater blew up. In 2000, four capital projects were identified for optimising the performance of the refinery at a total cost of $220.7 million dollars and N351.15 million.

The Kaduna Refinery was commissioned in 1980 by President Shehu Usman Aliyu Shagari (February 25, 1925-December 28, 2018) with an initial capacity of 100,000 barrels per day. In 1985, under Major General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd.; GCFR), it was de-bottle-necked to 110,000 barrel per day. The refinery was integrated with a petrochemical plant in 1988, which had a capacity for the production of 30,000 metric tonnes of linear alkyl benzene. It was shut down in August 2000 partly to allow for the rehabilitation of its heaters and because the TAM which started in 1998 was yet to be completed. The last TAM carried out before then was in 1992, which means that two consecutive TAMs (1994 and 1996) were not carried out. Eighteen capital projects were identified for optimising the performance of the refinery at a total cost of two billion naira.

The constraints of the refinery were the poor performance of the two other refineries in the country; and inadequate products evacuation facilities. By 2022, the $12 billion Dangote Refinery, being built on 6180 acres of land between the Atlantic Ocean and the Lekki Lagoon, will take off and process 650,000 barrels of crude oil daily.

The refineries are limited liability companies, which should be able to do their production planning, funds projection and procurement. They should also have audited Profit and Loss Accounts and Balance Sheets. The refineries, though limited liability companies, are not run like enterprises, which should pay their ways. They have no Boards of Directors and are tied to the apron strings of the NNPC in a system of inter-locking directorates. They operate by presenting annual budgets and performance target plans to the NNPC, which examines the budgets and makes resources available to them on the basis of requests and availability, and not necessarily requirements. Furthermore, the financial operations of the refineries, whereby they are regarded as contract processors, to who fixed processing fees are paid by the NNPC, and who, in turn, supply the crude oil and consign all the petroleum products to the Pipelines and Product Marketing Company (PPMC) for sale and distribution, do not allow for the proper appreciation of the cost structure and profitability of refining operations.

In 2000, the Port Harcourt Refinery was refining only about 90,000 barrels per day, out of its combined installed capacity of 210,000 barrels per day, since the old refinery was shut down due to haulage constraints on the naphtha and fuel oil tankage.

The major processes used by the refinery to produce petroleum products from crude oil are crude distillation, vacuum distillation, naptha hydro-treating, catalytic cracking and gas concentration. The salable products obtainable from the refinery are liquefied petroleum gas or cooking gas, premium motor spirit or petrol, dual purpose kerosene (aviation/household), automotive gas oil or diesel and fuel oil. The refinery was also said to produce some special products, namely  unstenched LPG for insecticide manufacture, straight run naphtha and propylene rich LPG feed to the Eleme Petrochemical Plant. Product availiability at PHRC was said to be satisfactory, in spite of the ongoing Turn Around Maintenance (TAM), which was commenced in May 2000.

The Port Harcourt Refinery was said to generate its own steam and electrical power. During normal operations, three boilers and three turbo-generators were used to supply the required energy. Evacuation facilities available included 120 storage tanks of various sizes for crude oil, intermediate and finished products; two modern jetties at Okrika each, which also had two berths  an outer berth capable of handling up to 35,000.00 DWT vessels, and inner berth for ships of up to 5,000 DWT; a 55-kilometre pipeline constructed from the NNPC/Shell Bonny Terminal to supply crude to the refinery and road tankers and pipelines. The refinery has modern treatment plants to handle all waste from its operations.

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The constraints of the refinery were the poor performance of the two other refineries in the country; and inadequate products evacuation facilities. By 2022, the $12 billion Dangote Refinery, being built on 6180 acres of land between the Atlantic Ocean and the Lekki Lagoon, will take off and process 650,000 barrels of crude oil daily.

With the Dangote Refinery and its monopolistic policy patronised, endorsed, encouraged and approved by the Federal Government, whatever money to be spent on the Port Harcourt Refinery will go down the drain again. The money will just be a waste. The Federal Government has so much money to waste, while the states are dying. And, this is in a country that has a huge growing population of unemployed youths, while poverty is on the rise daily. And, this is in a country where nothing works, as millions live in fear due to insecurity. And, this is in a country that has the largest number of displaced people in Africa. And, this in a country that is marching backward so fast.

Its so sad.

Eric Teniola, a former director in the Presidency, writes from Lagos.
A decision by India, the world's largest producer of the Covid-19 vaccine to temporarily halt all exports of the AstraZeneca vaccine while prioritising domestic needs, could derail Namibia's fight against the pandemic.

India has temporarily halted the export of Covid-19 vaccines, including millions of doses to the United Nation's Covax facility, from which Namibia had procured vaccine doses.

Namibia has already made an advance payment of N$26 million to the scheme for vaccine doses but not a single procured dose has been delivered to the country. Instead, the country has taken delivery of donated vaccine doses from the Indian and Chinese governments.

In an interview with New Era yesterday, health ministry executive director Ben Nangombe said any disruption in the supply chain of Covid-19 vaccines should be a concern to Namibia.

Some 190 countries under the Covax scheme are according to international reports affected by the temporary export freeze.

However, Nangombe said whether that decision will have an impact on Namibia is yet to be seen.

"We know India produces and distributes vaccines to the Covax facility for countries. For Namibia, we have not received any vaccine yet. We received a communication from the Covax facility that our vaccine [AstraZeneca] will be coming within three weeks. However, any disruption in the supply and distribution chain of Covid vaccine should be a concern to us," Nangombe reacted.

World Health Organization (WHO) Namibia representative Dr Charles Sagoe-Moses was not available for comment yesterday.

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Since January to date, Namibia has been waiting for its first batch of Covid-19 vaccines allocated through the Covax facility. Namibia has allocated a total budget of about N$583 million for Covid-19 vaccines under the deployment and vaccination plan, of which N$485 million will be for the actual procurement of vaccines.

Health minister Dr Kalumbi Shangula said this would enable Namibia to procure vaccines for an additional 40% of the population to attain a 60% vaccination coverage.

China has already donated 100 000 doses of the Sinopharm vaccine and India has also donated 30 000 doses of the Covishield vaccine from the Serum Institute of India.

Namibia started its vaccination campaign last week by targeting mainly frontline workers in the Khomas and Erongo regions. However, by yesterday afternoon only 218 people in the country had been inoculated against Covid-19.

The Covax scheme, which is led by WHO, aims to ensure vaccines are shared fairly among all nations.

According to reports, India's largest vaccine manufacturer, the Serum Institute of India, has delayed shipments of the AstraZeneca jab to several countries in recent days, including the UK and Brazil. India has exported more than 60 million vaccine doses to 76 countries so far, with the majority of these being the Oxford-AstraZeneca jab.

India's decision comes as that country faces a surge in coronavirus cases. On Wednesday it recorded its sharpest daily rise this year, with more than 47 000 new cases and 275 deaths.

The Asian country has also opened up vaccinations for those over the age of 45 from 1 April, and officials expect demand for vaccinations to increase.
To their credit a few reporters tried to nail him down on when hed allow journalists into the detention centers where the lost children are kept. Biden said hed be transparent when he was ready, meaning hed let them in when it was all cleaned up. They seemed satisfied.
Two years ago a case of the finest French wine hitched a ride into orbit in the name of science. It has since returned and now some very important questions are being answered. Namely, "What does wine aged in space taste like?"

In November 2019, Space X delivered a dozen bottles of red wine to the International Space Station (ISS) as part of an experiment spearheaded by Luxembourg start-up Space Cargo Unlimited, according to a press release

SPACE PLANTS: Bacteria found on the ISS could be key to growing plants

The bottles sent weren't filled with just any wine, however. The shipment contained 12 bottles of 2000 vintage Petrus, one of the most expensive vintages in the world.

The experiment was part of Mission Wise, the world's first privately-led space research program.

Nicolas Gaume, co-founder of Space Cargo Unlimited discussed the importance of the mission in a statement.

It was with great emotion that we recovered the twelve bottles of 2000 vintage Petrus in Bordeaux at the beginning of February, intact and having withstood all the constraints of preparation, travel, and storage on the ISS, Gaume said. Of course, the analysis is still in its early stages, but the first findings are very promising for the future of the research program. We are extremely enthusiastic."

The case of the wine spent a total of 438 days and 19 hours aboard the ISS and traveled an estimated 300 million kilometers at an altitude of 400 km. All in zero gravity, of course. The ride was the equivalent of about 300 trips between Earth and the Moon, according to the release.

An analysis of the space-wine recently took place among a panel of 12 experts led by Philippe Darriet from the Institute of Vine and Wine Sciences at the University of Bordeaux.

Some of the distinctions the panelists noted included distinct differences in color. The space wine had taken on a "light brick coloring" with "ruby hues [and] brick-like reflections."

The panel noted that the edges of the wine also showed "shades of brick, slightly more pink along the disk."

The panel of experts sampled the space wine in a blind-tasting where they compared the bottles alongside one that remained on Earth, according to Elva Ramirez with Forbes.

So what did the wine taste like?

The space-aged wine contained "dimensions of sweetness, harmony, and persistence [that] were particularly noted," according to the panelists remarks.

Real differences were noted with both appearance and taste. It was more complicated for the participants to differentiate olfactory dimensions," Emmanuel Etcheparre, co-founder of Space Cargo Unlimited, said.

In addition to the wine bottles, 320 vine canes spent 10 months on the ISS to see the effects on the plants in a microgravity environment. Upon their return to Earth on Jan. 14, the vines underwent "detailed microscopic analysis," according to the release.

Both experiments are being considered essential to future studies, according to Etcheparre and Gaume, co-founders of Space Cargo Unlimited.

Even if it is still premature to provide scientific conclusions, however these first observations validate the uniquely innovative approach of Space Cargo Unlimited, which consists both of using space as a new research environment for the future of agriculture, and capitalizing on the vine and wine, which are an incredible medium for scientific research, as Pasteur demonstrated in the past."
( ) is poised for growth in 2021, with the expansion of its clinical service subsidiary Emerald Clinics, clinical trial planning underway and a strong financial outlook to pursue drug registrations.

Earlier this month the company added a second consulting suite in Perth, doubling its capacity in Western Australia off the back of record patient appointments in January 2021.

The additional clinical capacity will support a wider range of clinical trials and will help deliver on the recently awarded Future Health Research and Innovation Grant.

This expansion will also help improve waiting times and allow more patients to be seen, improving the companys proprietary data asset (Emyria Data) which reflects the real-world clinical experience of more than 3,000 patients on cannabinoid medicines.

Emyria also expanded in Victoria in February, opening a second clinic in Melbourne.

EMD-003 registration trials

Additional clinics will provide insights for Emyria Data which will inform the design and planning of pivotal drug registration clinical trials for the first drug program, EMD-003 - a cannabinoid medicine targeting unmet needs in mental health.

The company is seeking registration as a Schedule 3 medicine and aims to treat psychological distress and the symptoms of anxiety, depression and stress for certain patient populations.

Notably, Schedule 3 medicines are managed by pharmacists and available over the counter without a prescription from a doctor.

EMD-004 trial recruitment

The companys other drug candidate EMD-004 is a cannabinoid-based medicine focused on treating symptoms associated with irritable bowel syndrome - a large unmet need.

IBS is common and affects around 3 out of every 10 people, however in Australia, there are no medicines designed specifically for the condition.

Emyrias observational trial on IBS has ethics approval and recruiting is underway.

Openly remote monitoring platform

The company plans to support strategic development into its remote monitoring platform - Openly - with an application for Class II TGA registration submitted in the December quarter for the platforms smartphone-led heart rate and heart rate variability measurement technology.

These vital sign measures are related to psychological distress which can be early signs of infection or mental health changes and could be important to the development of EMD-003.

Openly will play a central role in a recently awarded $880,000 grant from Western Australias Future Health Research and Innovation Fund, which is intended to boost Western Australias digital health infrastructure and capacity to manage future health challenges like COVID-19.

The grant's aims include evaluating the utility of advanced digital health monitoring in vulnerable patient populations, to improve engagement amongst aged and ethnic populations and to improve mental health evaluation and monitoring for those under remote care.

Openly will also support and monitor patients during the upcoming clinical trials.

Mind Medicine Australia partnership

The company is also working on a design care model describing how psychedelic-assisted therapies could be delivered safely to patients with major mental health concerns.

Mind Medicine Australia will provide the company access to its international network of experts, clinical trainers and treatment model strategies.

The model will start with psilocybin and MDMA-assisted therapies and draw on pivotal research conducted recently in North America and Europe.

Emyria will also apply its remote monitoring technology and lead the construction of a longitudinal data registry which will collect real-world clinical data on diagnoses, concomitant medications, dosing information and patient responses to psychedelic-assisted treatments as measured using validated clinical and patient-reported endpoints.

The data will support ongoing research into the safety, effectiveness and cost benefits of psychedelic-assisted therapies for major mental health concerns compared to current alternatives.

Strong financial position

In December, the company completed an oversubscribed $1.2 million placement to new strategic investors with the aim to accelerate the companys drug development programs.

The investment increased the companys cash position to around $5 million, meaning it is well supported heading into 2021.

Buoyed by this financial and operational strength, the company is focused on advancing the development and commercialisation of its treatments for mental health conditions and IBS and its Openly platform.
Former president Donald Trump has offered an alternative reality of what occurred at the Capitol on Jan. 6 when a mob of his supporters stormed the building, violently attacking law enforcement officers who tried to stop them.

Trump, who encouraged his supporters to fight against the confirmation of Joe Biden's victory by Congress and to march to the Capitol, told Fox News' Laura Ingraham on Thursday night that the rioters posed "zero threat."

"Right from the start, it was zero threat," he said. "Look, they went in - they shouldn't have done it - some of them went in, and they're hugging and kissing the police and the guards, you know? They had great relationships. A lot of the people were waved in, and then they walked in, and they walked out."

Accounts from that day immediately shatter Trump's attempt at revisionist history.

One police officer died after being assaulted during the attack, two others died by suicide days later, another lost an eye and another suffered two cracked ribs and two smashed spinal discs. Many officers suffered concussions and other bodily injuries from being beaten with flagpoles, sprayed with bear spray, punched, dragged and trampled. In all, 140 officers were hurt.

After the attack, acting D.C. police chief Robert Contee said, "I've talked to officers who have done two tours in Iraq who said this was scarier to them than their time in combat."

Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., one of the few Republicans in Congress to condemn Trump for his attempts at overturning the election, was blunt in his assessment of Trump's comments.

"He is an utter failure," Kinzinger tweeted. "No remorse and no regret. It's quite honestly sick and disgusting."

Kinzinger was one of 10 Republicans to join Democrats when the House impeached Trump in January on a charge of "incitement of insurrection." Trump was acquitted in the Senate though seven GOP senators joined Democrats to vote for his conviction.

At a rally before the attack on the Capitol, Trump had told his supporters, "we fight like hell, and if you don't fight like hell, you're not going to have a country anymore," and urged them to head to the Capitol to stop the affirmation of Biden's win.

More than 300 people have been charged since the attack that resulted in five deaths and 130 police assaults. Prosecutors have said they expect at least 400 people to be charged.

Trump is not the only Republican to downplay the severity of the Jan. 6 attack.

Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., said in a radio interview earlier this month that he never felt threatened that day because the people who stormed the Capitol were people who respected police and were acting out of patriotism.

"I knew those were people that loved this country, that truly respect law enforcement, would never do anything to break a law, and so I wasn't concerned," Johnson said.

He then added, "Had the tables been turned and President Trump won the election and those were tens of thousands of Black Lives Matter and antifa protesters, I might have been a little concerned."

Trump's reimagining of the violent rioters is reminiscent of his claim after the white supremacist march in Charlottesville in 2017 clashed with counterprotesters, resulting in one death. Trump said there were "very fine people on both sides."

Even Republicans who condemned the Jan. 6 rioters have been eager to put the incident behind them and have pushed back against Democratic efforts to launch a 9/11-style commission to investigate the events that led up to the attack.

Without bipartisan support, Democratic committee chairs announced Thursday night that the House will be pushing ahead with its own investigation spanning multiple committees.

The committee chairs sent letters to the White House, FBI Director Christopher Wray, Attorney General Merrick Garland, U.S. Park Police, the District of Columbia and other agencies and departments asking for documents and communications before, during and after the attack.
But in those areas (where demand is not high), we didnt want any doses sitting around, Pritzker said Friday at an unrelated event in Chicago. We want to make sure they get into peoples arms as fast as possible, especially if were going to see an uptick here in the numbers. We want to avoid a surge, and so weve tried to jump on top of this as fast as possible.
LAS VEGAS, March 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Jonathan Pappie, President and CEO of VX Global Inc., announced the launch of its Global Capital Markets Platform as of March 24th, 2021. The platform allows clients to organize financial requests and be directed to the correct sources of capital through a unique process utilizing technology, human capital and AI. The VX platform does not engage Crowd Funding or accept Rule CF offerings. The company instead focuses on Reg D Rule C Placements and debt requests by well-prepared companies. VX believes that this will assist the due diligence and presentation needs of the capital markets, as well as provide multiple options for financing.

"Our process is unique in that it is centralizing information for investors and finance personnel by asking the most important questions, so they can take a deeper dive into due diligence and analysis with confidence. We consider ourselves a sophisticated version of the more liberal Crowdfunding platforms," said Jonathan Pappie, CEO. "By using elevation techniques and educating offeree's we are serving both sides by taking away much of the guesswork, and empowering each side with decision making knowledge. We also provide a wide array of sources so that a fit for multiple types of requests pending stage, industry, and need are available."

To date, the company currently carries over 75,000 resources of capital from individual accredited investors to Angel Groups, VCs, Family Offices, Trusts, Hedge Funds, Alternative Financing, Real Estate Investors, and traditional sources such as Banks. Non-accredited investors are not allowed to invest through the platform unless they have been cleared by Counsel.

The Platform utilizes 4 industry engines, internal knowledge, and secondary market data to stay up to date. While the firm acknowledges that not every deal achieves success, they have a strong commitment to beating the national averages by a remarkable percentage. VX will also be implementing a hatchery system so companies can obtain both advisory and financial resources to grow through the system for every as they mature and develop.

For more information please visit:

www.vxglobal.com

"Where Human Capital and Technology Meet."

Contact Person: Jonathan Pappie

Schedule a Meeting

VX Global Inc.

4012 South Rainbow Blvd

ST 522

Las Vegas, NV

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SOURCE VX Global Inc.

Related Links

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ANN ARBOR, MI  A man found guilty of slaying a retired University of Michigan professor in his condo during a home invasion then dragging his body into the basement and setting it on fire more than two years ago will remain in prison.

The Michigan Court of Appeals issued a ruling Thursday, March 25, affirming the conviction of Isom Hamilton who was found guilty of killing retired professor emeritus Robert Sharp during a home invasion in the summer of 2018.

Hamilton, 32, was convicted of felony murder, armed robbery, first-degree arson and mutilation of a body in connection with Sharps slaying June 11, 2018 at his home in the 200 block of Alpine Drive in Ann Arbor.

In being found guilty following a bench trial before Washtenaw County Trial Judge Darlene OBrien, he was sentenced to serve life without the possibility of parole.

We lost everything but our memories of him son of slain UM professor tells convicted killer

Sharp, a professor emeritus of chemistry at the University of Michigan, was found stabbed to death and severely burned under a pile of his charred possessions.

Using a substantial amount of circumstantial evidence collected by Ann Arbor Police Department investigators on the case, then Assistant Prosecuting Attorney John Vella convinced OBrien that Hamilton knew Sharp and executed a plan to rob him on several occasions before killing him when he unexpectedly found Sharp at home.

A look at the evidence that convicted a man of killing, burning retired UM professor

Hamilton argued in his appeal the trial court errored by not allowing his attorneys to withdraw from the case ahead of trial and allowing testimony about a 2012 home invasion he was convicted of into the murder trial.

He also argued the evidence presented against him at trial was insufficient for a conviction.

The appellate court disagreed on all three arguments  mostly.

The court ruled simply having a grievance against his attorneys was insufficient to grant his request for a new court-appointed attorney a week before his trial was scheduled to begin as it would unreasonably delay the judicial process.

The appellate court agreed the trial court was wrong to allow testimony about his prior home invasion conviction from 2012 but deemed that error harmless as it bore little weight on the overall facts that led to his conviction.

There was ample circumstantial evidence apart from the 2012 evidence from which the judge could find that defendant was the perpetrator of the (current) offenses, the court wrote.

Regarding the sufficiency of evidence argument, the court ruled that though the evidence used against him at trial was largely circumstantial, it was more than enough to support a conviction.

Hamilton, who refused to sit down during his sentencing and wouldnt speak to officers working on his pre-sentence report prior to the hearing, maintained his innocence while being sentenced, denying any involvement in Sharps death.

My conviction shows the judicial system is more bias now than it has ever been, Hamilton said at his sentencing hearing. I was convicted on my past and was not properly defended. All I am guilty of is possession of stolen property. This conviction was rigged.

Hamilton was on parole at the time of the killing and had a lengthy criminal record consisting of six felony convictions and 16 misdemeanors to his name, records show.

Hamilton remains incarcerated in the Michigan Department of Corrections.

More from MLive:

Tree removals to cause traffic delays on Dixboro Road in Ann Arbor Township

Student advocacy driving force behind University of Michigan discontinuing fossil fuel investments

Man charged with mutilating body of missing woman found dead in Detroit heads to trial
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-26 09:25:46|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, March 26 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese mainland reported no new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases on Thursday, the National Health Commission said on Friday.

Eleven new imported COVID-19 cases were reported on Thursday, said the commission in its daily report.

One new suspected case arriving from outside the mainland was reported in Shanghai. No new deaths related to the disease were reported, it added.

On Thursday, thirteen COVID-19 patients were discharged from hospitals following their recovery.

By the end of Thursday, a total of 5,243 imported cases had been reported on the mainland. Among them, 5,082 had been discharged from hospitals following recovery, and 161 remained hospitalized. No deaths had been reported among the imported cases.

The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases on the mainland reached 90,147 by Thursday, including 163 patients still receiving treatment.

A total of 85,348 patients had been discharged following recovery on the mainland, and 4,636 had died of the disease.

There were four suspected COVID-19 cases on the mainland as of Thursday, and 3,682 close contacts remained under medical observation.

Thursday also saw reports of 31 new asymptomatic cases, including 30 arriving from outside the mainland. No asymptomatic cases were re-categorized as confirmed cases on the same day.

A total of 251 asymptomatic cases, 250 of whom were imported ones, were under medical observation. Enditem
GREENVILLE  Walt Brashier, for decades one of South Carolina's most-prominent developers, has died and leaves behind a legacy of evangelism and donorship to higher education.

The Fork Shoals native was 86.

On March 27, North Greenville University flew flags at half-staff to honor the school alum who became its most-generous benefactor. The school announced his March 24 death, citing lengthy health issues.

T. Walter Brashier Sr.'s influence on higher education stretched beyond North Greenville and the Upstate.

In addition to his nearly $10 million in donations to the school over the years, Brashier funded initiatives at Greenville Technical College, whose campus in Simpsonville bears his name, and scholarship funds and land donations for Bob Jones University, Anderson University, The Citadel and Charleston Southern University.

First a Baptist minister, Brashier entered the business world and maintained his evangelical roots while stretching his development work across the nation.

In 1972, Brashier made his first donation to North Greenville to fund the construction of on-campus apartments on the Tigerville campus.

He became a friend and prayer partner, North Greenville President C. Fant Jr. said.

Dr. Brashier asked me to come see him the first week of my presidency, and I will never forget that meeting," Fant said in the school's announcement. When he came into the room and greeted me in that sonorous voice, quickly moving to encourage me and share his passion for students, I knew he would be a friend unlike any other."

At Bob Jones, Brashier set up a scholarship endowment aimed toward students who studied for church-specific majors, BJU president Steve Pettit said in a web post following Brashier's death.

"Walt was an incredibly generous man who used the talents God gave him to give God the glory," Pettit said. "Throughout his life, he was a faithful servant of Jesus Christ who served his local church and people around the Upstate. Walts influence will continue to be felt across the Upstate because of his selfless philanthropic efforts at numerous Christian colleges."

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In 2003, Brashier donated land in Columbia worth nearly $2.5 million to The Citadel to establish a scholarship fund that gave first preference to students from the Greenville area.

In response at the time to his interest in advancing students in higher education, Brashier said. "I am just sold on school," according to a university announcement of the gift.

At North Greenville, Brashier donated to the school as recently as December.

The graduate school in Greer is named after his late son, Tim, and a street that connects it bears Walt Brashier's name.

Brashier's early life is detailed in the university's ode to his legacy.

As a teen, Brashier worked at a gas station and funeral home, the latter where he discovered his talent at helping grieving families and preaching during funeral services.

He became a local church pastor and, after graduating from Furman University, graduated the Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and Erskine College.

Brashier became a full-time evangelist and maintained a heavy travel schedule. A friend from another pastorate asked him to join in a real estate venture that turned a profit and prompted him to believe God wanted him to support ministry through business.

He supported the Southern Baptist Radio and Television Commission during its heyday of providing weekly, gospel-themed radio programming.

Brashier attended Scenic Hills Baptist Church in Travelers Rest, where his son Tommy serves as pastor.

Brashier is survived by his wife, Christine; daughter, Kathy Brashier Duncan and her husband, John; two sons, the Rev. Thomas Walter Brashier Jr., and Ted Brashier and his wife, Angela; and more than two dozen grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He was predeceased by his son Martin Timothy Brashier.

No memorial service has been announced yet, according to an obituary posted by Thomas McAfee Funeral Home.
(Natural News) After the horrific shooting in Boulder, Colorado, the mainstream media began to spin a narrative of racial hatred, claiming repeatedly that the shooter was a white male. From the start, the weaponized media began to spread disinformation to paint the white male as the stereotypical terrorist. This disinformation is solely designed to foment hatred toward white men and builds upon years of anti-white indoctrination and racial hatred that is pushed by a radicalized media and higher learning institutions. For years now, racial hatred has been used across the media and in the classroom to denigrate white men and lambaste American culture and now condones BLM riots and their social justice violence toward whites.

Boulder, Colorado shooter was a devout Muslim who targeted white people

This white-man-bad-guy narrative slowly dissipated when the details of the shooting became clear. In fact, the shooter is a devout Muslim migrant from Syria who thought that white America was Islamophobic. The shooter is named Ahmad Al-Issa. The shooter was likely motivated by his religious beliefs which are further fueled by hatred toward white America. The ten victims that he targeted and shot down were innocent white Americans  grocery store workers, local college graduates, Medicare agents, a police officer, and an Orthodox Christian. What was going through Ahmad Al-Issas head as he targeted these people in cold blood?

According to law enforcement, the intent and motivation of the shooter is unclear at this time. His social media accounts, now scrubbed from the internet, revealed his devotion to Islam and his hatred toward American culture. The shooters hatred is so ingrained into him, it doesnt matter what kind of weapon was available or what kind of gun control laws were put in place. Its time to debate the INTENT behind these senseless acts of violence, the poisoning of the mind, and the cultural conditions that lead to this hell.

According to reporter Andy Ngo: The suspect in the Boulder, Colorado mass shooting where 10 were murdered has been identified as Ahmad al-Issa. He was first described as a white male. His social media, which is now deleted, show he was a religious Muslim who posted frequently about Islamophobia.

According to Jack Posobiec of One America News: A Facebook page that appeared to belong to Al-Issa showed that his family had immigrated to the U.S. from Syria. The page featured quotes from the prophet Muhammad as well as posts about mixed martial arts.

Nonstop hatred toward whites breeds conditions for more riots and mass shooting of whites

If the shooter would have taken out ten people with dark skin, the weaponized media would have unilaterally declared the violence was motivated by racism towards blacks. They wont dare apply that narrative in reverse.

In last years national presidential debate, it was Joe Biden who endorsed the falsehood that white police officers unilaterally target and kill people because they have dark skin. The media is nonstop shaming white people for having white privilege  an abstract racial slur. Black Lives Matter protests are heralded as peaceful events, even as churches are burned, officers of the law are attacked, and businesses are looted.

Media pundits praise these acts of malice and terror because white culture has supposedly forsaken black lives institutionally and deserves the hatred they are getting. Corporations have endorsed this movement as well, pumping these BLM movements with cash to continue their rampage of hate. Colleges send the message to young people that white America should be ashamed, denigrated, forced to kneel. Politicians are now devising ways to tax white America, forcing them to pay reparations to the African American community. This constant racial hatred toward white Americans is breeding the conditions for more violent riots, more mass shootings, and the death of innocent white people, in cities across America.

Its time for the media and the politicians to stop blaming inanimate objects and millions of innocent Americans for these acts of hatred and terror. Its time for them to fess up for infusing racial hatred into the culture and into the hearts of the next generation.

Sources include:

TheNationalPulse.com

NaturalNews.com

NaturalNews.com

NaturalNews.com

NaturalNews.com

NaturalNews.com

NaturalNews.com

NaturalNews.com
Care and Feeding is Slates parenting advice column. Have a question for Care and Feeding? Submit it here or post it in the Slate Parenting Facebook group.

Dear Care and Feeding,

My husband and I have a 1.5-year-old daughter and a second baby who just arrived this week. We have a complicated schedule of child care providersa combination of day care and multiple grandparents. Were lucky to make the puzzle pieces fit while we both work full time. A month before my due date, my mother-in-law brought my 6-year-old nephew to our house during her child care shift (not out of necessity, mind you) and to stay overnight without ever consulting me. He had a cold, which again no one told us about, and passed it along to my daughter. As a result, she missed THREE weeks at her day care, which has strict and necessary protocols due to COVID. I was upset that my brother/sister-in-law felt it was OK to send a sick child to another house, let alone the house of a pregnant woman with a young child. I was also upset that we had to pay for three weeks of child care, which we had to scramble to figure out arrangements for. I didnt say anything to them explicitly, but I did make clear the implications this had on our family.

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Fast forward: I have the baby, and my in-laws stay with us for a few days to help with the transition. My brother/sister-in-law ask to visit us on the weekend when the baby is just 5 days old. We order/pay for a bunch of food and get provisions to host, despite being the family with the newborn. A couple of days before, I asked my husband to check with them that everyone was feeling healthy, at which point they said we should reschedule. Upon pushing, we learned both of their children, who attend school and day care, have cold symptoms. I was shocked that they didnt factor into their plans for a visit. My mother-in-law gets upset at me for my strict views on colds entering the house of my newborn and young daughter, despite our experience a month ago, despite being in the middle of a pandemic! I know kids get sick, and its part of life, but this seems especially inconsiderate to me.

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Am I a Crazy Mama Bear

Dear Mama Bear,

Your in-laws have been ridiculously inconsideratewhich you know without me saying anything, but I understand why you may need to hear it from an outside source right about now. It is rude to knowingly bring a cold or other bug into someone elses home in normal times, and, of course, these times are not normal! Unless they somehow lack information about the coronavirus or have bought into misinformation about it, it seems that they are choosing not to take the situation seriously, and that has been to your detriment.

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At this point, I think it is safe to assume that their refusal to adhere to common courtesy or COVID protocol will not change at this stage in the pandemic and that you cannot rely upon them to make the same choices that you would. Feel encouraged to make decisions related to time with them with that in mind. Continue to take measures as you did with this last planned visit and follow your mind, not your sense of loyalty or obligation to folks who have not demonstrated the same toward you. Communicate your needs and decisions clearly to your family and be unwavering in your choices. Good luck to you.

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Help! How can I support Slate so I can keep reading all the advice from Dear Prudence, Care and Feeding, Ask a Teacher, and How to Do It? Answer: Join Slate Plus.

Dear Care and Feeding,

I love my husband. We have been together for 10 years. We have a beautiful 3-year-old girl and are expecting a boy at the end of June. When my daughter was an infant and was having issues sleeping at night as most infants do, he once got up and yelled, Im going to f-ing kill you as he went into her room. I have never seen him act this way, and it scared the living crap out of me. He didnt do anything to her; in fact, when he yelled it, I screamed at him, made him leave her room, and wouldnt talk to him for a few days.

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He apologized, told me he was frustrated and never would hurt her; but after that incident, any time I hear him getting upset or raising his voice, I get scared and immediately jump into the situation and push him away. Hes getting upset with me and keeps saying hes basically stained in my eyes because of what he said. I dont know what to do with another one on the way. I know I need to get over the anxiety I have, but I always feel panic whenever I hear the frustration in his voice. What can I do?

Scared

Dear Scared,

My love, you know as well as I do that scared is not the way you should be feeling in regard to your husband in any capacity, certainly not around parenting. While it is entirely possiblelikely, eventhat this was just one really awful, half-awake outburst from an overwhelmed new parent, it impacted you deeply, if nothing else. (If there is, however, more of a pattern of threatening or volatile behavior than you let on in your letter, please take it seriously and do what you need to protect yourself and your kids.) With a new baby on the way, it is urgent that you all get some counseling to address what happened and how to move forward. Your husband sounds like he could use some help dealing with stress and/or anger, and you say that youve already got issues with anxiety, so I strongly, strongly urge you to make it a priority to address this with a professional so that you may feel safe in your own home again and trust each other to parent as a team. I wish you all the best.

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 If you missed Thursdays Care and Feeding column, read it here.

 Discuss this column in the Slate Parenting Facebook group!

Dear Care and Feeding,

Just a bit of background: Im 30 years old, Im permanently physically disabled, and I will never be capable of working. I receive monthly assistance via SSI, EBT, and Medicaid because I qualify for it due to my disability. I live with my domestic partner/caregivernot marriedand we have three kids. He claims me as a dependent on his taxes each year and files as head of household. Previously with the first two checks, he did NOT receive a stimulus check for me as adult dependents did not qualify. This round, he did receive $1,400 for me as an adult dependent. Our child-free friend is angry and jealous that my partner got more than she did and said that nontaxpayers like me, along with children, shouldnt receive ANY stimulus. I rebutted that comment and reminded her that if they raise the minimum wage to $15/hour, that pathetic little $791/month in SSI wont go as far. As it is right now, the average rent in the U.S. is $1,100/month, and if it werent for my partner/caregiver, I wouldnt be able to rent even a room in somebody elses home. (And subsidized housing is often unsafe and should really be condemned due to the mold and bugs in those places.) I also reminded her of the fact that children dont receive the stimulus, their parents do, and a lot of parents have had to quit their jobs since the pandemic in order to stay home and care for their children due to schools being closed or pay $200 to $300 a week in child care expenses. She really hurt my feelings and made me feel like Im less than because I dont pay taxes and my income never stopped during the pandemic, and I already feel like a lazy, useless welfare queen as it is because I cant work nor take care of myself financially. I wish I could work and didnt have to depend on another person to take care of me. Ive always felt like less than a person.

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Crying in Central Virginia

Dear CiCV,

It breaks my heart to hear that you have been made to feel inadequate because of your disability, and especially to know that someone who is supposed to be your friend may have gone out of their way to do so. You are no less of a person than anyone else, and the fact that you may require support from other people, the government, or any other entity does not change that in any way.

If anyone in this equation is deficient, it is your country. If the U.S. adequately cared for all of its citizens, there would be no reason for you to feel as if you are somehow taking something or being lazy for requiring governmental benefits. You are unable to work, but you require food, clothing, and shelter, which your nation should provide for you; other people who may be in need might find it unfair that you receive more assistance than they do, but that is likely little more than a function of their own lack of understanding about how things work in this country.

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You didnt choose the circumstances of your ability; you are simply surviving them. It may be easier for you to do so if you cut ties with anyone who seems so bothered by you simply existing in the world. You should feel no shame for receiving care, for you arent taking a dime out of anyones mouth and you deserve to be cared for! Wishing you lots of peace and time with better, kinder friends.

For more of Slates parenting coverage, listen to Mom and Dad Are Fighting

Dear Care and Feeding,

My brother, the only close relative I have, cut me off entirely six years ago, and I just found out why. Apparently, he didnt like the way I treated his wife, who got pregnant before they got married and didnt tell him, and who had physical fights with him after the baby was born. She even threatened to take said child away from my brother, and I called her out on it. That is when I became the bad person apparently. I had a child myself after about a year of us not talking and had a super hard time without him.

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He contacted me about six months ago acting like nothing really happened. I decide to forgive him. Things were fine for a bit, but now he claims that Im the one violating his boundaries. My dads a narcissist, and despite our unhealthy relationship, I keep running back to himsomething my brother typically holds me accountable for. He calls me a drama queen who cant let go and told me that if I want to remain in contact with him, I need to cut off my dad. Meanwhile, he cut me off for years with no explanation, and hes still mad at me for standing up to his wife because she was treating him badly. What now?

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F*cked in Oregon

Dear FiO,

Im inferring that there may have been some turbulent emotional times in you and your brothers family lives growing up, and Im so sorry that they are continuing now that you are both parents. About that physical fighting you mentioned, did your sister-in-law and brother put their hands on each other? If so, thats not a matter of confronting her, but of confronting him. If she attacked him on her own, thats a very different storyIm going to assume this was the case, as Id hope you wouldnt hold her solely responsible for a situation in which she was struck by her husband.

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Intervening in anyone elses romantic relationship is a risk that seems to rarely work out well. It does not sound like you and this woman had the sort of connection where you and she could talk about what was going on, and Im wondering if you cursed her out or otherwise further alienated her with your approach. Your brother is your family member, is the person you know and love, and is the one you should have been talking to about what needed to happen with regard to the tumult in his household.

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For that reason, it may be appropriate for you to apologize to him for the events of six years ago, if you havent already. As far as the ultimatum he has given you regarding your dad, I dont know how complicated your history with him goes, but I think that you owe it to yourself to seek out the support of a professional who can help you navigate your feelings about your family as a whole and devise strategies to manage these individual dynamics with your father and brother. Wishing you all the best.

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Jamilah

More Advice From Slate

After a lot of soul-searching, Ive decided to divorce my wife of five years. All we did was fight, and we had little in the way of sexual intimacy. The problem is that my soon-to-be ex-wife just had a baby a few weeks ago. I was thinking about divorce when I found out she was pregnant but decided to stay for the sake of the baby. Its four weeks after the birth, and things are worse. We fight constantly and we havent had sex for almost four months, so last week I finally got the courage to break ties and move into an apartment. The problem? My friends and family say Im horriblethat my wife just had a baby; that were in the miserable newborn stage and of course wed fight; that shes not even cleared by the doctor for sex yet, so of course were not sleeping together. Even my brother says Im being selfish. What do I say to these people?
Nifty futures on the Singapore Exchange traded 150 points higher at 8.40 am, indicating a gap-up start for the benchmark indices on Friday.



Here are the top stocks to track today:



: Shares of and will list at the bourses today. The IPO of Suryoday SFB was subscribed 2.37 times while that of was subscribed 2.61 times.

Somany Home Innovation: French company Groupe Atlantic would invest Rs 68.3 crore in Somany Home Innovation Limited (SHIL) for 50 per cent stake in its water heater business, as per a regulatory filing.

Power Grid Corporation: The company on Thursday said it has acquired Bikaner-II Bhiwadi Transco Ltd (BBTL) which would implement a power transmission project. The entity was acquired for an aggregate value of about Rs 20.50 crore including 10,000 equity shares at par at Rs 10 each along with assets and liabilities of the company.

Mahindra Lifespace: Realty firm Mahindra Lifespace Developers said it has acquired 10.3 acre land in Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR). The company will develop a new residential project in Kalyan.

Punjab & Sind Bank: The company said it has declared its IL&FS NPA account with Rs 399 crore outstanding loan as fraud and has reported it to the Reserve Bank.

Bank of Maharashtra: The company opened six new branches, expanding its network to 1,949 branches. Out of these six branches, which are in Kolkata Zone, one branch is in Port Blair and other five are in West Bengal, BoM said in a statement.

Hathway Cable: Promoters Jio Content Distribution Holdings, Jio Internet Distribution Holdings and Jio Cable and Broadband Holdings to sell up to 33.79 crore equity shares, representing 19.09% of the total equity share capital of Hathway Cable, through an Offer for Sale. The OFS opens for non-retail investors today and for retail investors on March 30.

Den Networks: Promoters Jio Futuristic Digital Holdings, Jio Digital Distribution Holdings and Jio Television Distribution Holdings to sell up to 5.54 crore equity shares, representing 11.63% of the total equity share capital of Den Networks, through an Offer for Sale. The OFS opens for non-retail investors today and for retail investors on March 30.

CG Power: CG Power and Industrial Solutions on Thursday said its board has approved a proposal to liquidate its step down subsidiary CG Sales Network Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Malaysia.

Laxmi Organic Industries: Goldman Sachs India Fund acquired 16.75 lakh equity shares in Laxmi Organic at Rs 155.71 per share and Plutus Wealth Management LLP bought 15 lakh shares at Rs 155.5 per share on the NSE, the bulk deals data showed.

HG Infra Engineering: The company has been declared as L-1 bidder for development of six lane Aluru - Jakkuva section of NH-130-CD road under Raipur-Visakhapatnam Economics Corridor in Andhra Pradesh on hybrid annuity mode, by National Highways Authority of India.

JSW Steel: The company is likely to close the Bhushan Power & Steel (BPSL) deal on March 26, as per a media report. JSW Group is expected to transfer Rs 19,350 crore to financial creditors to close the BPSL deal.

Pharma stocks: Cadila Healthcare, Lupin, Torrent Pharma and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sun Pharmaceuticals will subscribe to a partnership interest in ABCD Technologies LLP. The company will be renamed as Indo Health Services LLP. The acquisition will cost Rs 40 crore each to all the companies.

Engineers India, Oil India: The two companies have entered into share purchase agreement for acquisition of Numaligarh Refinery's equity shares from BPCL. Subsequently, Engineers India will acquire 3.21 crore shares of NRL for Rs 699 crore and Oil India will acquire total 39.84 crore shares of NRL for Rs 8,675 crore.

SBI Life Insurance Company: The company board has declared interim dividend of Rs 2.5 per share for FY21. The record date for the same is April 6.
Edison, NJ -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/26/2021 -- A new business intelligence report released by HTF MI with title "Global Management Consulting Market Research Report with Opportunities and Strategies to Boost Growth- COVID-19 Impact and Recovery" is designed covering micro level of analysis by manufacturers and key business segments. The Global Management Consulting Market survey analysis offers energetic visions to conclude and study market size, market hopes, and competitive surroundings. The research is derived through primary and secondary statistics sources and it comprises both qualitative and quantitative detailing. Some of the key players profiled in the study are FTI Consulting, HCL Axon, Cognizant Technology Solutions, Booz Allen Hamilton, Hitachi Consulting, Hay Group, Capco, Grant Thornton, EY, The Boston Consulting Group, CGI, KPMG, Bain & Company, Fulcrum Worldwide, Accenture, McKinsey, Deloitte Consulting, Capgemini Consulting, IBM, Hewitt Associates, PwC & Ernst & Young.



What's keeping FTI Consulting, HCL Axon, Cognizant Technology Solutions, Booz Allen Hamilton, Hitachi Consulting, Hay Group, Capco, Grant Thornton, EY, The Boston Consulting Group, CGI, KPMG, Bain & Company, Fulcrum Worldwide, Accenture, McKinsey, Deloitte Consulting, Capgemini Consulting, IBM, Hewitt Associates, PwC & Ernst & Young Ahead in the Market? Benchmark yourself with the strategic moves and findings recently released by HTF MI



Get Sample Report + All Related Graphs & Charts @ : https://www.htfmarketreport.com/sample-report/3166990-global-management-consulting-market-1



Market Overview of Global Management Consulting

If you are involved in the Global Management Consulting industry or aim to be, then this study will provide you inclusive point of view. It's vital you keep your market knowledge up to date segmented by Applications [Less than USD 500m, USD 500-USD 1bn, USD 1bn-USD 5bn & USD 5bn+], Product Types [, Operations Advisory, Strategy Advisory & HR Advisory] and major players. If you have a different set of players/manufacturers according to geography or needs regional or country segmented reports we can provide customization according to your requirement.



This study mainly helps understand which market segments or Region or Country they should focus in coming years to channelize their efforts and investments to maximize growth and profitability. The report presents the market competitive landscape and a consistent in depth analysis of the major vendor/key players in the market along with impact of economic slowdown due to COVID.



Furthermore, the years considered for the study are as follows:

Historical year  2015-2020

Base year  2020

Forecast period**  2021 to 2026 [** unless otherwise stated]



**Moreover, it will also include the opportunities available in micro markets for stakeholders to invest, detailed analysis of competitive landscape and product services of key players.



Enquire for customization in Report @: https://www.htfmarketreport.com/enquiry-before-buy/3166990-global-management-consulting-market-1



The titled segments and sub-section of the market are illuminated below:

The Study Explore the Product Types of Management Consulting Market: , Operations Advisory, Strategy Advisory & HR Advisory



Key Applications/end-users of Global Management Consulting Market: Less than USD 500m, USD 500-USD 1bn, USD 1bn-USD 5bn & USD 5bn+



Top Players in the Market are: FTI Consulting, HCL Axon, Cognizant Technology Solutions, Booz Allen Hamilton, Hitachi Consulting, Hay Group, Capco, Grant Thornton, EY, The Boston Consulting Group, CGI, KPMG, Bain & Company, Fulcrum Worldwide, Accenture, McKinsey, Deloitte Consulting, Capgemini Consulting, IBM, Hewitt Associates, PwC & Ernst & Young



Region Included are: North America (Covered in Chapter 9), United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe (Covered in Chapter 10), Germany, UK, France, Italy, Spain, Russia, Others, Asia-Pacific (Covered in Chapter 11), China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, India, South America (Covered in Chapter 12), Brazil, Argentina, Columbia, Middle East and Africa (Covered in Chapter 13), UAE, Egypt & South Africa



Important Features that are under offering & key highlights of the report:

 Detailed overview of Management Consulting market

 Changing market dynamics of the industry

 In-depth market segmentation by Type, Application etc

 Historical, current and projected market size in terms of volume and value

 Recent industry trends and developments

 Competitive landscape of Management Consulting market

 Strategies of key players and product offerings

 Potential and niche segments/regions exhibiting promising growth

 A neutral perspective towards Management Consulting market performance

 Market players information to sustain and enhance their footprint



Read Detailed Index of full Research Study at @ https://www.htfmarketreport.com/reports/3166990-global-management-consulting-market-1



Major Highlights of TOC:

Chapter One: Global Management Consulting Market Industry Overview

1.1 Management Consulting Industry

1.1.1 Overview

1.1.2 Products of Major Companies

1.2 Management Consulting Market Segment

1.2.1 Industry Chain

1.2.2 Consumer Distribution

1.3 Price & Cost Overview



Chapter Two: Global Management Consulting Market Demand

2.1 Segment Overview

2.1.1 APPLICATION 1

2.1.2 APPLICATION 2

2.1.3 Other

2.2 Global Management Consulting Market Size by Demand

2.3 Global Management Consulting Market Forecast by Demand



Chapter Three: Global Management Consulting Market by Type

3.1 By Type

3.1.1 TYPE 1

3.1.2 TYPE 2

3.2 Management Consulting Market Size by Type

3.3 Management Consulting Market Forecast by Type



Chapter Four: Major Region of Management Consulting Market

4.1 Global Management Consulting Sales

4.2 Global Management Consulting Revenue & market share



Chapter Five: Major Companies List



Chapter Six: Conclusion



Complete Purchase of Latest Version Global Management Consulting Market Study with COVID-19 Impact Analysis @ https://www.htfmarketreport.com/buy-now?format=1&report=3166990



Key questions answered

- What impact does COVID-19 have made on Global Management Consulting Market Growth & Sizing?

- Who are the Leading key players and what are their Key Business plans in the Global Management Consulting market?

- What are the key concerns of the five forces analysis of the Global Management Consulting market?

- What are different prospects and threats faced by the dealers in the Global Management Consulting market?

- What are the strengths and weaknesses of the key vendors?



Thanks for reading this article; you can also get individual chapter wise section or region wise report version like North America, Europe or Asia.



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Spotify has announced it is updating its app for desktop and web interface and is bringing a new improved look and feel. The redesign brings a lot of cosmetic tweaks, some features are finding a new place within the app, but the biggest noticeable change is the similarity to the mobile app.

The Swedish company has revealed the new update has been brought after months of debates and development. The Search field is no longer in the status bar - it has made its way on the side, right between Home and Your Library; this means Browse and Radio have been pushed into the three-dot menu in the upper-left corner.

Adding tracks to playlists is also made easier - just a simple drag and drop of the track towards a user-created playlist does the magic.



Spotify redesigned features

One of the best features of Spotify Premium is the ability for users to download their playlists on mobile, and now theyll be able to do this on desktop as well with the addition of a Download button/icon. There are also improved key combinations, which can be opened with Ctrl + ? or Command + ?, depending on the device.

The new redesign is already rolling out to all users globally, but it might take weeks to hit everyone. PC users can download the new app from Microsoft Store or Epic Games Store, while Mac users should head to Spotifys website.

Source
Gregg Gallagher

Backed by more than 15 years of international restaurant executive experience, Gregg Gallagher joins Church's as the new Vice President, Americas. Most recently, Gallagher served as Senior Director, International Business Development at Inspire Brands, leading global development for Arby's, Buffalo Wild Wings, Sonic Drive-In, and Jimmy John's.

At Inspire Brands, Gallagher drove business growth through exceptional franchisee-client relations, negotiated mutually profitable deals, and excelled in cross-cultural sales. Prior to this, Gallagher spent two years at Popeye's Louisiana Kitchen as Director, International Business Development before being promoted to Head of Latin America and the Caribbean. During that time, Gallagher's full spectrum coordination of the new market launch brought Popeye's into Mexico, which included site selection, supply chain, construction management, training and on-site support.

In his new position, Gallagher will leverage his extensive expertise to serve as the leader driving sales through the planning, development, and execution of the Americas international growth strategy.

"Church's is well-known for its legacy of innovative leadership and I'm honored to join a brand that has such a strong international footprint," said Gallagher. "I look forward to contributing to the continued growth of the company by expanding its brand presence and building enhanced franchise relationships."

Cinthia Nehring-Salm

Cinthia Nehring-Salm recently served as Regional Marketing Manager for Church's, where she led the marketing planning and execution for the Americas. In this capacity, she represented 300 restaurants in the largest international region, encompassing Mexico, Puerto Rico, Canada, Honduras, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, St. Lucia, Curacao, and Venezuela. Nehring-Salm is a marketer with over 20 years of experience building major multi-national brands. As a brand builder, she has had the opportunity of working in three sides of marketing: Media, Brand, and Consulting which has giving her a unique vision for building brands.

During Nehring-Salm's more than five years with the brand, the Americas region generated strong and consistent comp sales growth. Her region delivered the strongest comp sales results in 2020, despite the global COVID-19 crisis. Her ability to be nimble and responsive early on with the pandemic, allowed her to generate a steady stream of engaging and well-crafted marketing materials to help the region's franchisees compete during these challenging times.

As Director, International Marketing, Nehring-Salm will be responsible for the design, coordination and direction of all international marketing initiatives for the development and growth of Church's Chicken internationally, with special focus on Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East/North Africa. She will work with Regional Field Directors, Regional Field Managers, and Regional Marketing Managers to analyze business trends and forecast sales. She will also be responsible for designing menu boards, creating marketing plans for entry into new countries, and developing annual marketing calendars, as well as a number of other marketing initiatives.

In addition to functionally reporting to Kevin Corning, EVP International Business, Nehring-Salm will link to the Global Marketing organization, led by Brian Gies , EVP and Global Chief Marketing Officer.

"Cinthia's experience and knowledge will be instrumental as we continue to expand our international business. She has consistently demonstrated her talents in the marketing space and we are very pleased to see her grow with the brand," Gies said.

Additional Promotions To International Leadership

Church's also recently announced the following promotions as they continue to grow their international presence.

Tamer El Sahn, Regional Franchise Director, of Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), has been promoted to Senior Director EMEA. In his new leadership role, Tamer will lead growth of the Texas Chicken brand across the EMEA region.

El Sahn joined the brand as Regional Marketing Manager in 2015 and was promoted to Sr. Regional Marketing Manager in 2019 and to Senior Director, Texas Chicken (EMEA) in 2020. He has worked closely with franchisees, assisted in the positive comp sales growth and expansion into new markets. El Sahn was also instrumental in the brand re-launch for Texas Chicken and Church's Chicken.



El Sahn's other notable achievements include the development of a 5-year growth strategy for the region; led the in-region roll-out of Texas Chicken Mobile App; successfully opened restaurants in new cities in recent months, e.g., Jeddah, Baghdad, and Karachi; and successfully organized engagement platforms such as the Virtual Summit and Quarterly Newsletter.

Ghassan Freih has been promoted to Sr. Regional Franchise Manager for EMEA. Freih joined the brand in 2018 and supported the increase in the number of training restaurants to nine across the region. He successfully opened stores in Baghdad, Lahore and Karachi. Ghassan's new role will include Development and Profitability in addition to Operations and Training.

For the Asia Pacific (APAC) region, Albert Chan has been promoted to Senior Director APAC. In his new leadership role, Chan will lead growth of the Texas Chicken brand across the APAC region.

Chan joined the brand in 2016 as Regional Franchise Manager and was promoted to Senior Regional Franchise Manager (APAC) in 2019. He proved to be integral in leading franchise relations in Thailand, the fastest growing market in the world, and in supporting rapid-growth countries such as Malaysia and Vietnam.

Among Chan's significant accomplishments, he served as project leader for the Cambodia market entry and opened the first store in December 2020 with four more stores in the pipeline. He rolled out remote OER and supported the opening of more than 40+ new restaurants in the region throughout 2020.





"Over the past two years, our international market represented the strongest driver of growth," added Viera. "It is through our leadership that we have been able to achieve and maintain this trajectory. This new team alignment will allow us to better serve and support our franchise partners in these markets and stay the course to reach our shared goals."

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About Church's Chicken / Texas Chicken/ Church's Texas Chicken

Founded in San Antonio, Texas, in 1952 by George W. Church, Church's Chicken is one of the largest quick-service restaurant chicken chains in the world. Church's specializes in Original and Spicy Chicken freshly prepared throughout the day in small batches that are hand-battered and double-breaded, Chicken Sandwich, Texas Tenders, Honey-Butter Biscuits made from scratch and freshly baked, and classic, homestyle sides all for a great value. Church's (along with its sister brands Church's Texas Chicken in the Americas and Texas Chicken outside the Americas) has more than 1,500 locations in 26 countries and international territories. During two national media windows the brand drove sales performance that outpaced the broader QSR category. For more information, visit www.churchs.com. Follow Church's on Facebook at www.facebook.com/churchschicken and Twitter at www.twitter.com/churchschicken

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BEIJING (AP)  China on Friday denounced an agreement between the U.S. and Taiwanese coast guards that underscores growing ties between Washington and the self-governing island democracy.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said the pact violated U.S. commitments to China and called on the U.S. to "be cautious with its words and actions on Taiwan-related issues. Hua also attacked support in Congress for a bill calling on Taiwan to be given status at the World Health Organization. Taiwan's seat at the U.N. was handed to China in 1971.

We urge the U.S. side to ... refrain from sending any wrong signals to Taiwan independence forces, and refrain from encouraging and inciting Taiwan to expand its so-called international space," Hua told reporters at a daily briefing.

The U.S. switched diplomatic relations from Taiwan to China in 1979 but maintains robust economic, political and military ties with the island. Those have grown stronger in recent years as China has upped its threats to use its massive military to annex the island of 24 million, a task Chinese leader Xi Jinping has said must not be left to future generations.

The sides split amid civil war in 1949 and while China demands eventual political unification under Beijing's rule, most Taiwanese strongly favor the current state of de facto independence amid extensive economic exchanges. U.S. law requires Washington to ensure the island has the ability to defend itself and Taiwan remains among the most sensitive issues in relations with Beijing that are at their lowest level in decades.

This weeks agreement also follows Chinas adoption of a new law authorizing its coast guard to use force in areas that China claims as its own territory, a move seen as potentially raising the possibility for conflict in surrounding waters. China's coast guard is considered the region's largest and already operates as an extension of its military in asserting China's maritime claims.

In a tweet Friday, Taiwan's chief representative in the U.S., Bi-khim Hsiao, said the memorandum of understanding with the U.S. was expected to bring closer cooperation in maritime safety, humanitarian rescue, fisheries enforcement and protection of the marine environment.

The U.S. State Department's Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs tweeted that, The U.S. could not be prouder to work side-by-side with such a good friend as Taiwan to tackle the worlds challenges."
Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has signed an agreement with the Government of India, to provide Japanese (ODA) loan amounting toJapanese Yen 52,036 million(approximately Rs 3,717 Crore) for the development of Phase 2 of 'R6, 2A and 2B' of Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL)in Bengaluru.

In March 2006, the first Japanese ODA loan agreement was signed by for BMRCL Phase 1.

Phase1 has an operational rail network of 42.3 Km(East- West line 18.1 Km and North South line -24.2 Km) with 41 stations.

The ridership under Phase 1 is expected to increase from present 0.45 million in 2020 to 4.0 million when Phase 2 begins to operate, a statement said on Friday.

The 80 km rail network (funded by JICA) for Phase 2, covers Line R6 (Nagawara Gottigere, approx. 22.0 km), Phase 2A (Silk Board K R.Puram, approx.20.0 km) and Phase 2B (K R. Puram Kempegowda International Airport Terminal, approx.38. 0 km).

has been supporting in development of major metro projects in the country by providing funds and expertise, it said.

The cumulative loan amount provided by JICA for metro projects in India (including Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata, Mumbai, and Ahmedabad) exceeds 1.3 trillion Japanese Yen (Rs 87,000 crore approximately), it was stated.
Amid a surge of coronavirus cases, the Papua New Guinea (PNG) government implemented a nationwide isolation strategy on March 21. The belated move was a desperate bid to stop an explosive spread of COVID-19 as the number of confirmed cases in the impoverished country has more than tripled in the past month.

On Thursday, PNG reported its largest number of confirmed infections over a 24-hour period, with two more deaths. The National Pandemic Response Controller and police commissioner David Manning reported 351 new cases, raising the national total to 4,109. This is an increase of 1,021 cases over a period of six days. The official death toll has risen to 39, with parliamentarian Richard Mendani among the deceased.

Community transmission of the coronavirus is described by Prime Minister James Marape as rife. The official trend is alarming, but with a total of just 60,680 tests having been conducted in a population of 9 million, the sixth lowest rate in the world, and contact tracing near non-existent, these figures are undoubtedly a vast understatement.

Medical staff of Papua New Guineas Defense Force receiving COVID-19 training last year (Credit: World Health Organization/PNG)

Jonathan Pryke, of Australias Lowy Institute, told the Sydney Morning Herald that residents in Port Moresby are now regularly hearing house cries as people mourn the death of loved ones. You are just hearing anecdotally of people dropping dead right around the country, he said.

Under the PNG governments month-long isolation strategy, movement of people between villages and districts is restricted and mask use in public venues mandatory. Domestic flights are allowed if travelers undertake temperature checks and produce a negative COVID-19 test result. Travel between provinces can continue for essential business, healthcare and returning home.

There is a ban on gatherings of over 10 people and all sporting events are suspended. Nightclubs, hotels and gambling facilities will be closed. Religious gatherings, however, can go ahead with a maximum of 50 people. Schools will be shut.

Manning has stated that compliance with recommended safety measures has been a big challenge. Belinda Kora, a PNG reporter for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, said that many public testing sites are closed because staff members have fallen sick with coronavirus and the costs of private tests remain prohibitive. I am unsure how I will be able to isolate myself or my siblings in our family home if one of us tests positive to this deadly virus, Kora said.

The state-owned Ok Tedi corporation began a two-week suspension at its copper mine in the Western Province, the hardest hit area outside the capital Port Moresby. The Australian government has suspended travel exemptions which had allowed fly-in-fly-out mining and energy workers to travel between the two countries, after several cases appeared in hospital and isolation facilities in Cairns, Northern Queensland.

The PNG governments measures fall far short of the necessary full lockdown required to rein in the rampant virus. Business activities, including retail outlets, markets and shops can open 13 hours a day and restaurants for 15 hours. Government departments and buildings all remain open. Public transport and taxis continue to operate with mask-wearing requirements.

The strategy, which allows for extensive business activity, is consistent with Marapes declaration following a lockdown last July that COVID-19 not only affects us health-wise but also economically. We must adjust to living with the COVID-19 we will not shut down our country again.

The countrys fragile health system meanwhile faces near collapse. National Doctors Association Secretary Sam Yockopua told local media that 35 doctors at PNGs main hospital, Port Moresby General, have tested positive for COVID-19. Last week some 140 frontline staff at the hospital had registered confirmed infections.

The health workforce is fast depleting as staff who test positive are required to isolate for ten days. Hospital wards are overflowing with COVID-19 patients and running out of beds and ventilators. Hospitals and clinics in other parts of the country are facing similar crises. Angau hospital in PNGs second largest city Lae suspended services last week due to a surge in COVID-19 cases.

Port Moresbys Rita Flynn gymnasium is now being used as an extra COVID ward, but it only has a 43-bed capacity. Service provider St Johns is helping set up an extra centre for COVID-19 patients at the Taurama Aquatic Centre, seeking to upgrade the facility to around 300 beds that can manage higher acuity patients.

The government has sourced only 200,000 AstraZeneca vaccine doses from Australia and 70,000 from India and these will not arrive at least until April. The Australian Financial Review (AFR) reported that the PNG government is unlikely to take up an offer of 100,000 doses of the Chinese-made Sinopharm vaccine, which is yet to gain approval from PNG regulators.

The AFR described Australian officials as being vigilant about Beijings offer. However Brendan Crabb, chief executive of the Burnet Institute and an expert in PNG health, said while he was aware of the geopolitical stakes involved, the astronomic increase in PNG infections meant the use of Chinese-made vaccines should not be ruled out.

The Australian government this week sent 8,000 doses of AstraZeneca from Australias stockpile to immunise frontline health workers in PNG. Canberra has also appealed, so far unsuccessfully, to the EU to divert to PNG a million of 3.1 million doses of AstraZeneca that Australia had contracted for but was yet to receive.

The miserable contribution by PNGs former colonial power is a pitiful response to the catastrophe unfolding on its northern doorstep and will do nothing to contain the escalating COVID-19 outbreak. The Australian ruling class never demonstrated the slightest concern for the PNG masses when it ruled over them, and has no concern for them today. While Australian mining conglomerates plunder the country, the PNG working class and semi-subsistence rural villagers live in extreme poverty.

Canberras cynical move is designed to position Australia in the intensifying international vaccine diplomacy conflict. Quad leaders from the US, Australia, Japan and India are seeking to control vaccination logistics for the Asia-Pacific region as part of their moves to strengthen military and strategic ties to confront China and prepare for war.

The Pacifics second local imperialist power, New Zealand, has likewise expressed concern over the worsening situation in PNG but only agreed to assist where we can. On top of $NZ6 million ($A5.5 million) provided in coronavirus support, a NZ Defence Force flight was last week sent to Port Moresby with supplies and emergency equipment for just 1,000 patients.

It is not known when any more vaccines could arrive in PNG under the international initiative known as COVAX, which will purportedly provide doses for free to poorer developing nations. Any rollout has been disrupted by wealthier nations hoarding their own supplies while across most of Asia, Latin America and Africa very few have received a vaccine.

As the WSWS has noted, vaccine nationalism has exacerbated the pandemic. The distribution of the lifesaving medications has been inequitable and chaotic. Low-income countries have asked the WHO to help them procure vaccines and provide scientific and technological support to establish manufacturing capacity in their countries. The US, the UK and the EU have all resisted any such measures.

Researchers at the University of Queensland noted last week that when vaccines do arrive in PNG, poor electricity access means there are serious questions over their safe distribution. Vaccine must be stored at cold or ultra-cold temperatures along the supply chain. Hospitals and medical centres will need stable electricity to power refrigerators to store the doses before they are administered.

Only about 13 percent of PNGs people, however, have reliable access to electricity. This is not an isolated issue. In 2019, about 770 million people globally lived in energy poverty, and the problem has only grown worse due to the COVID pandemic.
But as far as UBS analyst Timothy Arcuri is concerned , the arrival of the Apple Car is just a matter of time, as a recent patent indicates the work on this device advances at a breakneck pace.The patent, called Waveform design for a LiDAR system with closely spaced pulses, describes a LiDAR-based system that would help a potential autonomous vehicle detect objects around it and then send the information to other systems that would help it act accordingly.According to the patent, this new technology allows for the efficient detection of objects that are only tens of centimeters away from the car. At the same time, it can also see those at a longer distance, sometimes even up to hundreds of meters.The Apple Car project, internally codenamed Project Titan, is believed to have reached the phase where Apple is now seeking a partner to manufacture the vehicle.After failed talks with Hyundai, Nissan, and possibly other carmakers, the Cupertino-based tech giant is ready to embrace an approach that has worked perfectly in the case of the iPhone: a contract manufacturer . And by the looks of things, Apple is very close to joining forces with the same company that builds the iPhone.Foxconn, a long-time Apple partner, is getting ready to begin the production of EVs in the United States, and of course, its believed the American tech giant is one of the first to benefit from this expansion.If everything goes well, we should expect a testing version of Apple Car to hit the roads in some two years, while the final vehicle could be ready for prime time in 2024 or 2025 at the earliest.
The domestic equity benchmarks surged to hit fresh intraday high in morning trade. The Nifty was trading just shy of the 14,500 mark. Metals and auto shares rallied while pharma shares corrected.

At 10:22 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 592.61 points or 1.22% to 49,032.73. The Nifty 50 index added 170.60 points or 1.19% to 14,495.50.

Meanwhile, the NSE's India VIX, a gauge of market's expectation of volatility over the near term, slumped 4.19% to 21.75.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index gained 1.24% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 1.05%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 1628 shares rose and 767 shares fell. A total of 157 shares were unchanged.

COVID-19 Update:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 125,431,910 with 2,754,935 deaths. India reported 421,066 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 160,949 deaths, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

India recorded its highest single-day Covid count in over five months on Thursday with 59,118 people testing positive for the virus.

Economy:

The Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das on Thursday reiterated that RBI is fully committed to use all policy tools to secure a robust recovery of the economy from the debilitating effects of the pandemic. He was speaking at the Economic conclave organised by a private media house. He said that the collective endeavour resulted in stabilisation of the financial sector and provided necessary liquidity support to maintain the flow of credit in the economy.

Das said India is on the way to becoming Asia's top financial technology hub with 87% FinTech adoption rate as against the global average of 64%. At present NEFT and RTGS systems are working 24x7 and India is among a few countries that provide the facility to transfer any amount at any point of time.

Supreme Court Judgement:

Tata Group and Shapoorji Pallonji stocks will be in focus. The Supreme Court is scheduled to pronounce on Friday its judgement on the cross appeals filed by Tata Sons and Cyrus Investments against the NCLAT order which had restored Cyrus Mistry as the executive chairman of the over $100 billion salt-to-software Tata conglomerate.

The Supreme Court's decision will also impact Mistry's shareholding as late last year Mistry decided to part ways with the Tata Group and proposed a separation plan. The plan was rejected by Tata lawyers in court.

The Shapoorji Pallonji Group held 18.47% stake in Tata Sons, the main holding company of the Tata Group. 66% of Tata Sons is owned by Tata Trusts, currently controlled by Ratan Tata, the group's former chairman.

Among the Tata Group stocks, Tata Motors (up 3.01%), Voltas (up 2.79%), Tata Steel (up 2.55%), Tata Coffee (up 2.32%), Tata Power Company (up 2.08%), Tata Communications (up 1.77%), Tata Metaliks (up 1.49%), Titan Company (up 1.37%), Tata Chemicals (up 1.29%), Tata Elxsi (up 0.85%) and Tata Consumer Products (up 0.41%) advanced.

Among the Shapoorji Pallonji Group companies, Sterling and Wilson Solar (up 2.84%) and Forbes & Company (up 2.36%) edged higher.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Realty index rose 1.72% to 328.70. The index declined 5.37% in the past two sessions.

Sunteck Realty (up 4.34%), Indiabulls RE (up 4.05%), Godrej Properties (up 3.45%), Sobha Developers (up 2.89%), DLF (up 1.61%) and Oberoi Realty (up 0.79%) advanced.

Stocks in Spotlight:

H.G. Infra Engineering jumped 4.34% to Rs 292.30 after the company was declared as L-1 (lowest) bidder by National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for a road project in Andhra Pradesh, the cost of which is Rs 1,060.11 crore.

Adani Enterprises added 0.82% to Rs 989.60. The company announced its entry into the copper business by incorporating a wholly-owned subsidiary, Kutch Copper (KCL).

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Jerome H. Powell, the Federal Reserve chair, said on Thursday that the central bank was trying to make its economic employee base more racially diverse and he was not satisfied with its progress toward that goal so far.

Its very frustrating, because we have had for many years a strong focus on recruiting a more diverse cadre of economists, Mr. Powell said while speaking on NPRs Morning Edition, after being asked about a New York Times story on the Feds lack of Black economists. Were not at all satisfied with the results.

Only two of the 417 economists, or 0.5 percent, at the Feds board in Washington were Black, according to data the Fed provided to The Times earlier this year. By comparison, Black people make up 13 percent of the countrys population and 3 to 4 percent of the U.S. citizens and permanent residents who graduate as Ph.D. economists each year.

Across the entire Fed system  including the Board of Governors and the 12 regional banks  1.3 percent of economists identified as Black. The Fed has been making efforts to hire more broadly, Mr. Powell said, including by working with historically Black colleges.
The Data Protection Commissioner has contacted the Department of Health following revelations that it engaged in the covert gathering of confidential information about children with special needs who took legal actions to get appropriate educational supports.

According to a whistleblower within the department, sensitive medical and educational information about children, their siblings and their parents was gathered as part of a strategy to defend lawsuits.

Information was assembled in connection with over 40 children with autism whose cases against the State were considered dormant.

This was said to have been done without the knowledge or consent of parents.

The practice was condemned by Professor Conor OMahony, the State rapporteur on child protection, while inquiries have been called for by Inclusion Ireland, the association for people with an intellectual disability, and Sinn Fein TD Pearse Doherty.

Deputy Data Protection Commissioner Graham Doyle told the Irish Independent it had contacted the department with a series of questions and was awaiting a response.

Prof OMahony, an expert on child law, said the practice, which was revealed in an RTE Investigates programme, raised significant ethical concerns and spoke to a broader issue of a deeply embedded culture of denying people their legal and constitutional rights.

Meanwhile, speaking in the Dail, Mr Doherty said the departments actions were at the very least invasive and disproportionate but in reality dishonest, totally unethical and possibly illegal.

Inclusion Ireland described the revelations as a gross breach of trust. It called for the families affected to be notified and for an investigation to be launched by the Data Protection Commissioner.

It is unclear what knowledge, if any, Health Minister Stephen Donnelly had about the practice. Requests for comment were not responded to last night. Tanaiste Leo Varadkar said he had no recollection of it from his time as health minister.

Department of Health civil servant Shane Corr told the RTE programme detailed files were collated drawing on information provided by doctors and schools.

He said the level of information gathered was mind-boggling and that it was easily accessible and searchable by anyone working in the departments division dealing with older people, social care and disability policies.

I saw several notes relating to alcoholism within the family structure. I saw notes relating to siblings of the children that werent relevant. Every type of family information, he told the programme.

Whether the child was prone to violent acts towards its parents, its siblings, its teacher, its doctor. Everything that you would not want to know about the family living beside you was there.

It was drawn from speaking to doctors, it was transcribed and put into Excel sheets and shared with the Department of Education and Science and the HSE.

Mr Corr highlighted the issue to his superiors in a protected disclosure last year.

However, according to the department an external review by a senior counsel found the practice to be entirely lawful, proper and appropriate.

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No breach of the Data Protection Acts was identified and the review did not recommend any change to the departments approach.

In a statement, the department said it had never unlawfully held sensitive medical and educational information of children involved in dormant court cases.

It is normal practice for defendants to litigation to gather and maintain appropriate information in order to obtain legal advice and/or defend the proceedings. This is necessary to protect the public interest and is a normal practice for the management of litigation, it said.

According to the RTE programme, a template letter set out the information sought by the department in Special Educational Needs (SENS) cases. The letter indicates the department looked for service updates from doctors, psychiatrists and social workers on children with special needs and their families who were taking cases. It is said to have explicitly stated that neither the plaintiffs nor their solicitors were to be contacted about the request.

At least one doctor is said to have questioned the legality of the practice when they were asked for information about a patient involved in litigation against the department.

The Department of Education was said to be a co-defendant in many of the cases and shared school reports with the Department of Health over many years.

It told the Irish Independent it was not aware of any instance of inappropriate sharing of information.

It also said it was normal practice for co-defendants in litigation to co-operate and share information between themselves where there is a common interest and such sharing is required for defending such litigation.

However, Prof OMahony said the whistleblowers revelations raised significant concerns regarding compliance with data protection law, as well as ethical concerns regarding the manner in which information was obtained, stored and used.

He said issues needed to be explored further and that even if it were ultimately determined that no laws were broken, that did not make the actions right.

The actions of the Departments of Health and Education are doing harm to children and families by delaying the provision of services for children in circumstances where early intervention is paramount, and burdening parents with both the stress and costs of protracted litigation against the State, Prof OMahony said.

There is an abundance of evidence that children with special needs are often left waiting for years before being provided with the services they need, and that families have to fight every step of the way to access those services.

If the strategy for providing services to children to meet their constitutional entitlements was as sophisticated and well-resourced as the strategy for contesting litigation, much of that litigation would not arise in the first place.
ANDERSON COUNTY, SR 61 Bridge over Norfolk Southern Railway and Market Street in Clinton: SR 61 East is reduced to one lane through this bridge repair project. Motorists should be alert for workers present, changing conditions, lane shifts, and use extreme caution through this area.

ANDERSON COUNTY, US 25/SR 9 Bridge over Clinch River between SR 61 and Carden Farm Drive: SR 9 northbound is reduced to one lane approaching the bridge as crews continue work in this area. Motorists should be alert for workers present, changing conditions, lane shifts, and use extreme caution through this bridge construction project.

ANDERSON COUNTY, US 25/SR 9 at SR 170: Motorists should be alert for workers present, changing conditions, possible lane closures and use extreme caution through this intersection construction project.

BLOUNT COUNTY, US 129 North and South between SR 35 Hall Road and Tyson Boulevard: Motorists should be alert for workers present, possible lane closures and brief stoppages f traffic through this roadway construction project. For project information, go to https://www.tn.gov/tdot/projects/projects-region-1/sr-115-alcoa-highway-hall-road-to-tyson-blvd.html

BLOUNT COUNTY, SR 335 Hunt Road between Ambrose Street and Ramsay Street: Motorists should be alert for possible lane closures at various times as crews install utilities through this construction project. Motorists should be alert for workers present directing traffic and use extreme caution through this area.

BLOUNT COUNTY, SR 33 between Foothills Mall Drive and Henry Street: Motorists should be alert for possible nightly lane closures between the hours of 7 p.m. and 6 a.m. the following morning through this intersection improvement construction project. Motorists should be alert for workers present, changed conditions, and use extreme caution through this area.

BLOUNT COUNTY, US 321 Lamar Alexander Parkway at SR 33 Broadway Avenue: Beginning at 11 p.m. Saturday, March 27, 2021 through 6 a.m. Sunday, March 28, 2021, this intersection will be temporarily closed to traffic and detoured as crews set an overhead sign structure. Motorists should be alert for workers present, follow signed detour routes, and use extreme caution through this area.

BLOUNT COUNTY, US 321 between Jones Avenue and Lamar Street: Motorists should be alert for possible daily lane closures as crews perform roadside work through this project. Motorists should be alert for workers present, slowed traffic, and use extreme caution through this area.

CAMPBELL COUNTY, I-75 North and South between Mile Markers 135 and 142: Motorists should be alert for possible temporary lane closures between the hours of 7 p.m. and 6 a.m. the following morning through this project. Motorists should be alert for slowed or stopped traffic, expect potential delays and use extreme caution through this area.

CAMPBELL COUNTY, I-75 North near Mile Marker 143: Motorists should be alert for possible temporary lane closures between the hours of 7 p.m. and 6 a.m. the following morning on Sundays through Thursdays through this project. Motorists should be alert for slowed or stopped traffic, expect potential delays and use extreme caution through this area.

CAMPBELL COUNTY, SR 63 between Myers Lane and Frontier Road/Woodson Lane: Motorists should be alert for possible temporary lane closures between the hours of 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and/or 7 p.m. and 6 a.m. the following morning through this construction project. Motorists should be alert for slowed or stopped traffic, expect potential delays and use extreme caution through this area.

CARTER COUNTY, US 19E/SR 37 Bridge over the Doe River and Riverview Road: Motorists should be alert for possible lane closures through this bridge repair project. Motorists should be alert for workers present, slowed traffic, and use extreme caution in this area.

COCKE COUNTY, I-40 East between Mile Markers 430 and 433: On Tuesday, March 30, 2021, motorists should be alert for possible temporary lane closures between the hours of 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. as crews perform roadway maintenance activities. Motorists should be alert for workers present, slow traffic, and use extreme caution through this area.

COCKE COUNTY, I-40 East and West between Mile Markers 443 and 447: Motorists should be alert for possible temporary shoulder closures daily as crews perform geotechnical drilling through this area. Motorists should be alert for workers present, slow traffic, and use extreme caution through this area.

CLAIBORNE COUNTY, SR 63 between Old Town Creek and US 25E/SR 32: Motorists should be alert for possible lane closures through this construction project. Motorists should be alert for workers present, expect delays and use extreme caution through this area.

GREENE COUNTY, US 11E/SR 34 both directions between Blue Springs Parkway and Forest Road in Mosheim: Motorists should be alert for lane closures and lane shifts as crews begin the first phase of bridge repair operations. These lane closures will remain in place 24/7 until repairs are complete. Motorists should be alert for workers present, changing conditions, and use extreme caution in this area. This bridge repair project is estimated to be complete on or before October 31, 2021.

HAMBLEN COUNTY, SR 34 near Commerce Blvd.: Motorists should be alert for possible lane closures between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. through this construction project. Motorists should be alert for workers present, slowed traffic, and use extreme caution in this area.

HAMBLEN COUNTY, SR 160 near Commerce Blvd.: Motorists should be alert for possible lane closures between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. through this construction project. Motorists should be alert for workers present, slowed traffic, and use extreme caution in this area.

JOHNSON COUNTY, SR 167 at Log Mile 7.5: Motorists should be alert for single lane roadway with temporary traffic signal through this slide repair project. Motorists should be alert for workers present, slowed traffic, and use extreme caution in this area.

KNOX COUNTY, Various Interstates through Knoxville: On Thursday, March 25, 2021, motorists should be alert for possible mobile lane closures between the hours of 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. the following morning as crews perform roadway maintenance activities. Motorists should be alert for workers present, slow or stopped traffic, and use extreme caution in this area.

KNOX COUNTY, I-40 East near Mile Marker 390.1: On Friday, March 26, 2021, motorists should be alert for possible temporary lane closures between the hours of 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. the following morning as crews perform guardrail repairs. Motorists should be alert for workers present, slow traffic, and use extreme caution through this area.

KNOX COUNTY, I-275 North near Mile Marker 1.3: On Friday, March 26, 2021, motorists should be alert for possible temporary lane closures between the hours of 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. the following morning as crews perform guardrail repairs. Motorists should be alert for workers present, slow traffic, and use extreme caution through this area.

KNOX COUNTY, US 11W/SR 1 Rutledge Pike Bridge over Norfolk Southern Railroad near Harris Road: Motorists should be alert for lane shifts and changing traffic patterns through this bridge repair project. Motorists should be alert for workers present, expect potential delays,and use caution through this area.

KNOX COUNTY, US 129/SR 115 Alcoa Highway between Topside Road and Maloney Road: Motorists should be alert for possible temporary lane closures and lane shifts as crews perform work through this project. Motorists should be alert for new traffic patterns. Motorists should be alert for workers present, reduce speed and use extreme caution through this

area. For project information, go to https://www.tn.gov/tdot/projects/projects-region-1/sr-115-alcoa-highway-little-river-to-maloney.html

KNOX COUNTY, US 129/SR 115 Alcoa Highway between Maloney Road and Woodson Drive: Motorists should be alert for possible temporary lane closures and lane shifts as crews perform work through this project. Motorists should be alert for new traffic patterns. Motorists should be alert for workers present, reduce speed and use extreme caution through this area. For project information, go to https://www.tn.gov/tdot/projects/projects-region-1/sr-115-alcoa-highway-maloney-to-woodson.html

KNOX COUNTY, US 441 Broadway Viaduct between Jackson Avenue and Fifth Avenue: US 441 Broadway Viaduct over Norfolk Southern Railroad in downtown Knoxville is closed for bridge replacement. The Broadway Viaduct will be closed to all traffic for the duration of the project. During the closure, Broadway will be closed from the intersection of Oak Avenue, Worlds Fair Park, and Jackson Avenue to just north of the Depot Avenue intersection. Depot Avenue will also be closed. These closures will ensure the safety of workers and motorists as crews demolish the old bridge and reconstruct the new bridge. Primary and Local Detour Routes around the bridge closure will be in place. For detour routes and project information, go to https://www.tn.gov/tdot/projects/projects-region-1/broadway-viaduct.html

KNOX COUNTY, US 441/SR 71 Chapman Highway between Highland View Drive and Burnett Lane: Motorists should be alert for possible lane closures daily between the hours of 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. through this construction project. Motorists should be alert for workers and equipment present, expect potential delays, and use extreme caution through this area. For project information, go to https://www.tn.gov/tdot/projects/projects-region-1/chapman-highway-evans-to-burnett.html

KNOX COUNTY, SR 162 Pellissippi Parkway West between I-40 and Lovell Road: Motorists should be alert for possible temporary lane closures through this construction project. Motorists should be alert for workers present, reduced speeds, expect possible delays, and use caution through this area.

KNOX COUNTY, SR 162 Pellissippi Parkway West at Hardin Valley Road: Motorists should be alert for possible temporary lane closures through this construction project. Motorists should be alert for workers present, reduced speeds, expect possible delays, and use caution through this area.

KNOX COUNTY, SR 332 Concord Road between Turkey Creek Road and Northshore: Motorists should be alert for possible lane closures daily between the hours of 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. and new traffic patterns through this construction project. Motorists should be alert for workers present, expect potential delays, and use extreme caution through this area. For project information, go to https://www.tn.gov/tdot/projects/projects-region-1/sr-332-proposed-widening.html

LOUDON COUNTY, I-75 North near Mile Marker 80.6: On Friday, March 26, 2021, motorists should be alert for possible temporary lane closures between the hours of 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. the following morning as crews perform guardrail repairs. Motorists should be alert for workers present, slow traffic, and use extreme caution through this area.

LOUDON COUNTY, SR 2 between Loudon Middle School and Carter Street: Motorists should be alert for possible temporary lane closures daily between the hours of 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. through this construction project. Motorists should be alert for workers present, reduced speeds, expect possible delays, and use caution through this area.

ROANE COUNTY, I-40 West between Mile Markers 340 and 344: Motorists should be alert for possible lane closures at various times through this slope stabilization project. Motorists should be alert for workers present, reduced speeds, lane shifts, and use extreme caution through this area.

SCOTT COUNTY, US 27/SR 29 between Industrial Lane and Second Avenue: Motorists should be alert for possible temporary lane closures through this construction project. Motorists should be alert for workers present, expect possible delays, and use caution through this area.

SEVIER COUNTY, SR 71 between US 411 and Macon Lane: Motorists should be alert for possible lane closures daily between the hours of 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. through this construction project. Motorists should be alert for workers and equipment present, expect potential delays, and use extreme caution through this area.

SULLIVAN COUNTY, I-81; US 11E/SR 34; SR 394; SR 126; US 11W/SR 1 in Bristol: Motorists should be alert for increased traffic volumes in the Bristol area this upcoming weekend for scheduled race events. Motorists should be alert for temporary traffic control measures in place for pre-race and post-race traffic flow and follow guide signs accordingly. Motorists should also be alert for increased pedestrian traffic around the speedway and use extreme caution in this area.

SULLIVAN COUNTY, I-81 North & South between Mile Markers 57 and 63: Motorists should be alert for possible temporary lane closures nightly between the hours of 7 p.m. and 6 a.m. the following morning through this bridge repair project. Motorists should be alert for workers present, slow or stopped traffic, expect potential delays, and use extreme caution in this area. This bridge repair project is estimated to be complete on or before May 31, 2021.

WASHINGTON COUNTY, I-26 West near Mile Markers 22.9 and 11.5: On Thursday, March 25, 2021, motorists should be alert for possible temporary lane closures between the hours of 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. the following morning as crews perform guardrail repairs. Motorists should be alert for workers present, slow traffic, and use extreme caution through this area.

WASHINGTON COUNTY, SR 93 between Davis Road and Fire Hall Road: Motorists should be alert for possible temporary lane closures through this construction project. Motorists should be alert for workers present, reduced speeds, and use caution through this area.

WASHINGTON COUNTY, SR 354 Boones Creek Road at I-26: Motorists should be alert for possible temporary lane closures through this project. Motorists should be alert for new traffic patterns and follow new guide signs and pavement markings through this intersection. Motorists should be alert for workers present, expect delays and use extreme caution through this

area.

For information on statewide interstate construction motorists can access the Tennessee Department of Transportation SmartWay website at https://smartway.tn.gov/traffic.

TDOT is now on Twitter. For up to the minute traffic information in Knoxville and the Tri-Cities follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/knoxville511. For statewide travel information follow www.twitter.com/TN511.
March 23, 2021-- A new study published online in the Annals of the American Thoracic Society examines if the source of physician payment for a medical opinion influences whether the physician finds that a coal miner has black lung disease. The study is the first to look at this relationship in the workers' compensation process.

In "Association Between Financial Conflicts of Interest and ILO Classifications for Black Lung Disease," Lee S. Friedman, PhD, associate professor, School of Public Health, Division of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, University of Illinois Chicago and colleagues looked at which party reimbursed B-readers--physicians trained and licensed by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and approved by the U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL) to evaluate miners' chest X-rays during workers' compensation proceedings--and correlated the payments with diagnoses of black lung disease.

"Our findings demonstrate that B-readers who were ever hired by employers were substantially less likely to classify an absence of coal workers' black lung disease (pneumoconiosis) when they were contracted by the USDOL, compared to later classifications when hired by the employer," said Dr. Friedman. "We did not observe this disparity among physicians ever hired by a miner."

These physicians are hired by the USDOL for the initial evaluation. The miner and/or employer (mine operator), at their own expense, then has the option to request a supplemental evaluation if they feel the initial USDOL-funded classification is incorrect. They may pick any B-reader they choose.

The researchers looked at 63,780 X-ray classifications made by 264 B-reader physicians between 2000 and 2013 for U.S. coal miners' black lung claims. Of these, 7,656 court decisions for the period 2002-2019 were used to evaluate financial conflict of interest for each physician.

"The more frequently a physician is hired by an employer to provide a medical opinion on workers' compensation cases for black lung disease, the more likely that physician will not identify black lung disease on a chest X-ray," said Dr. Friedman. "And the more a physician works with a miner on their claim process, the more likely they will identify black lung disease."

Dr. Friedman noted that many miners cannot afford a supplemental evaluation following the evaluation by the B-reader selected by USDOL, so, often, the only additional classification submitted to the court is from the employer. "While bias is present in both sets of physicians, a vast majority of classifications submitted to these courts are paid for by mine operators. The employers will throw a lot of resources at these cases to discourage miners from filing for compensation by making the process protracted and painful."

One-fifth of all classifications submitted to USDOL were made by physicians who classified 95 percent of their cases in one direction - absence or presence of pneumoconiosis. The average B-reader noted the presence of pneumoconiosis in a third of X-rays. The vast majority of the physicians who classified X-rays in a singular direction were hired by employers and were reporting an absence of pneumoconiosis.

These evaluations are done through the Federal Black Lung Program, which is administered by the USDOL and charged with managing claims by coal miners for workers' compensation for totally disabling coal mine dust disease (black lung disease). Earlier reports raised concerns that financial conflicts of interest may systematically bias physicians when they are classifying chest X-rays for the absence, presence or severity of black lung disease.

Dr. Friedman and his colleagues concluded that their analysis demonstrates the need to reduce subjectivity in the classification of chest X-rays for black lung disease. "There remains a need for empirical analyses specific to the workers' compensation system, which is wholly lacking," they state. "All parties involved deserve a compensation system that is objective and expeditious."

They recommend a series of systematic reforms, as discussed in the paper.

###
Bengaluru, March 26 : The Bharat Bandh call given by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), did not create much of an impact in Karnataka on Friday with farmer organisations in the state having divergent views on extending support to the shutdown.

Although pro-Kannada organisations took part in the bandh, the police detained leaders at Town Hall in Bengaluru, where they had planned to gather and take out a protest march.

Besides one or two stray incidents of blocking highways reported from Chitradurga and Koppal districts, the Bandh failed to create much impact till noon, with vehicular movement remaining normal.

Although members of the SKM decided to hold protests across the state, the Karnataka Sugarcane Growers' Association (KSGA) did not support the bandh.

KSGA president Kurubur Shantkumar told reporters his organisation is not taking part in a bandh called by the farmers unions in the state, but extending full support to the nationwide bandh by holding protests against the policies of the state and the Centre.

Shanthakumar, who had been leading farmers' protests in the state, said they have not made adequate preparations for Friday's bandh, or held discussions among various farmer organisations in Karnataka.

One of the farmer leaders told IANS on condition of anonymity that people are already in distress and are fearing another round of lockdown. "The people's mood is not in favour of a bandh anymore. On the contrary, people are fearing that they might be staring at another round of lockdown soon. Under such circumstances, we (farmers organisations) cannot go overboard with our agenda. We need to be sensible. These are tough times, we cannot take people for granted. Therefore, there was no much hype around it this time," he said.

The leader added that farmers in Delhi might think on different lines but here people are not ready to lose even a single day's work. "We have called for bandh four times in as many months, people did stand by us three times. Now it is our time to act sensibly," he explained.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
MEXICO CITY (AP)  Mexico marked the anniversary of the first serious defeat suffered by Spanish conquistadores on Mexican soil Thursday, amid the 500th anniversary commemorations of the 1519-1521 Conquest.

The March 25, 1517 battle of Champoton actually pre-dated the arrival of conquistador Hernan Cortes two years later.

The 1517 expedition led by Francisco Hernandez de Cordoba sailed around the Yucatan peninsula and landed at Champoton, on Mexicos Gulf coast, looking for fresh water. They were met by Chontal Maya Indigenous warriors who attacked the Europeans, inflicting wounds that eventually killed about 50 Spaniards, including Hernandez de Cordoba.

Known by the Spaniards as the Bad Battle, Mexico now wants to call it The Good Battle, similar to the approach the government has taken in renaming famous Conquest sites originally named by Spaniards.

For example, the tree that marked a famous defeat of Cortes in 1520 was known as the Tree of the Sad Night, but Mexico City officials now call it the Tree of the Victorious Night.

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador presided over a ceremony and a re-enactment marking the 504th anniversary of the battle, accompanied by Bolivian President Luis Arce.

Honor to all our Indigenous brothers who gave their lives for the sovereignty of our territory, Arce said.

Lopez Obrador said this ceremony is an homage to the anonymous heroes of the Indigenous resistance who resisted as long as they could the three centuries of oppression under the colonial regime.
press release

The Souillac Hospital is temporarily closed to the public following the detection of positive COVID-19 cases and necessary measures are being undertaken so as to sanitise and clean the hospital. In the meantime, essential services will still be offered to the public in a building adjacent to the hospital and a youth centre in the vicinity.

The Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr Kailesh Jagutpal, made this announcement, this evening, at the daily press briefing of the National Communication Committee on COVID-19, at the Treasury Building in Port Louis. Dr Catherine Gaud was also present.

Minister Jagutpal highlighted that results from PCR tests carried out yesterday revealed five new local cases as follows: four through the contact tracing exercise, and all are linked to the Curepipe cluster; and one person who works as nursing officer at the Souillac Hospital in the dialysis department and who lives in Chemin Grenier.

He underscored that, following the contact tracing exercise and COVID-19 testing at the Souillac Hospital today, 18 additional positive COVID-19 cases were identified: 14 staff members of the Souillac Hospital; one dialysis patient; and three relatives of the nursing officer.

The concerned dialysis patients as well as the staff working with the nursing officer, pointed out the Minister, are quarantined in a hotel. He informed that a sanitary corridor has been installed at the Souillac Hospital so that dialysis patients can continue to be treated before going back to the quarantine centre. Dr Jagutpal also dwelt on the contact tracing exercise and explained how it is carried out.

Death of patient not due to COVID-19

As for Dr Gaud, she informed that the diabetic male patient, aged 48, who contracted the COVID-19 in Madagascar and who was repatriated to receive treatment, passed away today following a myocardial infarction and an ischemia, which is generally caused by problems with blood vessels, with resultant damage to or dysfunction of tissue.

She stressed that two patients currently receiving treatment are still in a severe state and the medical staff is still closely monitoring their situations, before explaining how tests are done following the contact tracing exercise and when positive persons are identified in quarantine centres.

Moreover, Dr Gaud appealed to every person who recently went to Souillac Hospital or who thinks has been in contact with a positive COVID-19 person to call the hotline 8924 or to go to a testing centre at the earliest so as to ensure that they have not been contaminated.
Stories behind BCI ceasing sourcing cotton from China's Xinjiang over forced labor rumors

Global Times) 08:15, March 26, 2021

The Global Times has learned that the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI), a non-governmental organization that aims to promote better standards in cotton farming, has suspended licenses to companies in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, a move that may deal a blow to related industries in the region.

BCI's decision has been made right when the anti-China forces in the US and some Western countries are making concerted efforts to slander China's policies in its Xinjiang region. Are there any links between BCI's decision and anti-China forces' efforts? What is the reality for Xinjiang's cotton-related industries?

At the end of 2020, the Global Times reporters went to many companies in the textile and cotton-related industries in the Bayingolin Mongolian Autonomous Prefecture and the Aksu Prefecture and found that the so-called forced labor allegation is a presumption of guilt made by the anti-China forces overseas to smear the region. The Global Times reporters also learned that to cooperate with anti-China forces, the headquarters of the BCI overruled, for no reason at all, the conclusion made by BCI's office in Shanghai of "there is no forced labor in Xinjiang" after several field reviews.

The cotton gins in a coat factory in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region

Hitting the pause button

On March 12, 2020, Zhang Biao, chief manager of a company named Zhongwang in Yuli county of the Bayingolin Mongolian Autonomous Prefecture received an email from the BCI.

It said that given the "current complicated international environment", the BCI decided to suspend giving licenses or certificates from 2020 to 2021 in China's Xinjiang region. The organization will update its standards during the suspension period to better deal with the environment.

This email and its contents confused Zhang as his company has been one of the companies with which BCI's cooperated in Xinjiang for years and the reasons for suspending the licenses for "updating the standards" sounded disingenuous.

In responding to the Global Times's questions on further explaining the reasons and what was meant by "complicated international environment," BCI's Shanghai office did not give a clear answer and it said the email was penned by the headquarters office in English, and the Shanghai branch translated it into Chinese and sent it to companies in Xinjiang.

As an international NGO, which was registered in Geneva of Switzerland with its head offices in Geneva and London, BCI's licenses have significant meaning to Chinese companies. According to an introduction from its website, BCI is the largest cotton sustainability program in the world. At the end of 2019, BCI had more than 1,840 members, spanning the entire global cotton supply chain from farmer organizations through to retailers and brands. In 2019, BCI Retailer and Brand Members sourced more than 1.5 million metric tons of Better Cotton, including brands such as H&M, Adidas, and Nike.

"The value of BCI's certificate depends on who are your target customers. If your customers are all BCI retailers and brand members, then its certificate and licenses are very important because with no certificate, you cannot sell your products to these companies," Zhang told the Global Times.

Zhang's company joined BCI's program in 2015. "A yarn company in Jiangsu Province is the supplier for IKEA. According to IKEA's standard, only materials that meet BCI's standards can be used for its suppliers. We are helping the Jiangsu company to plant, collect and produce cotton under the BCI standards."

The sudden suspension of cooperation from the BCI has caught many companies in Xinjiang which have joined in its programs off guard and caused losses. A company named Haoxing, which runs cotton-buying businesses in Xinjiang, has cooperated with BCI for a long time.

Gao Ruinan, a manager of Haoxing, told the Global Times that BCI's suspending cooperation has caused losses amounting to 14 million yuan (2.14 million) for the company. "The major blow is on the sales channels. Many companies in other places in China have recognized the BCI standards in recent years and the suspension has put great pressure on the company's sales."

However, not all companies suffered great losses. Liu Wenxin, a manager from Zhongliang company in Yuli county, told the Global Times that "suspending the licenses may be a great shock to us many years ago as many of the yarn companies we are doing business are using cotton under BCI standards. But after 2018, we have expanded the futures contracts, which have limited the impact."

Echoing Liu, Zhang said that for cotton-producing companies, the influence of BCI's suspending licenses in Xinjiang is "under control" as the greater impact was on the downstream portion of the industry chain - the yarn companies.

A local man drives a forklift truck in a trading company at Yuli county, Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

Reasons that cannot tell

Aside from the loss by companies in Xinjiang, BCI's suspension decision also hurt the image of Xinjiang's cotton.

BCI's principles stress minimizing the harmful impact of crop protection practices, promote water stewardship, care for the health of the soil, enhance the biodiversity and use of land, care for and preserve fiber quality and promote decent work.

Many companies in Xinjiang firstly joined the BCI programs aimed to enhance their planting and collecting of cotton.

Li Chengjun, head of the Taichang Agricultural Company, still remembered their signing of the agreements with BCI in 2013. "We are large farms and wanted to learn advanced agricultural technologies, for example on how to reduce cost while increasing yields. When they talked about 'decent work' at that time, I was confused by the phrase. Finally, I figured it out - the rules are nothing new from what we already have in our Labor Law."

Li thought the BCI's principles were good and some terms it used were different from what they had already used and practiced.

"After signing the agreement, BCI conducts a review every two years and we are also asked to conduct a self-assessment. No problem has been found in these past years," Li told the Global Times.

Many other companies reached by the Global Times also confirmed that their cooperation with the BCI had been smooth until the arrival of the email on suspensions. Requests for further explanations have not been answered.

All these seemed to suggest "updating standards" is circumlocution with BCI which still has unrevealed reasons while anti-China forces are hyping them as "forced labor."

For example, the infamous BBC cited anti-China "scholar" Adrian Zenz in a report aired in December 2020, saying that "new evidence suggests that upwards of half a million minority workers a year are also being marshaled into seasonal cotton-picking under conditions that again appear to raise a high risk of coercion."

On December 12, 2020, the US Department of Homeland Security also announced that US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) personnel at all US ports of entry would detain shipments containing cotton and cotton products originating from the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC) based on "information that reasonably indicates the use of forced labor."

Seeing is believing

The anti-China forces in the US and Western countries have made moves and to cooperate with them, the reports on Xinjiang's cotton related industries in the Western media have already preset similar scenarios - a bunch of workers from ethnic minorities being forced to pick cotton in the fields or working in dirty plants; they have meager wages and may suffer punishments for small errors this were the images that BBC and some Western media tried to portray.

What is the truth? The Global Times has learned that cotton-related industries cover agriculture, the processing industry, and even the service industry - which are complicated but with clear development patterns. The only procedure that may involve a large number of laborers is collecting cotton.

One big mistake made by the BBC in its December report is to say half of a million people were being "forced" to pick cotton by hand while in fact machines have been largely used in Xinjiang.

Industry insiders in Xinjiang told the Global Times that it is impossible to finish collecting cotton in Xinjiang within December if few machines are being used. But the companies the Global Times have visited in December had finished the collecting and finalized the initial processing of the cotton.

Cotton textile industry in Xinjiang has realized large-scale mechanized operations, with only a small number of workers in the factory.

Mutalip Zeyap, a 35-year-old resident in Luntai county, would come to work at the Guoxin company from September to December every year since 2017 and his colleagues liked to call him "A Mu."

A Mu is responsible for security in the plant - he needs to check the machines when cotton is fed in to be deseeded.

"My work is quite easy as machines are doing most of the work. I only need to make sure the machines operate well," A Mu said while cleaning cotton fibers from the machines.

A Mu said that he learned how to fix these machines after coming to work at the company. "At first, I made many mistakes but my team leader never admonished me for that, instead, every time he asked me whether I was injured or not. He always said that the machines can be fixed later but I cannot get injured."

In responding to whether ethnic workers in the company are "forced" to work in the company, A Mu seemed angry. "Why did they say we are forced? We come here voluntarily to earn money. We also have the right to live a better life through our work!"

Lu Chunjian, a legal representative of the company, told the Global Times that there were long lines when the company recruits workers in spring. "Some villagers rent a car to drive them to apply for the jobs. Some villagers who fail to be employed even cry. They want to work here. Those we employed in 2015 have earned the money to buy new cars this year."

Aside from the cotton processing companies, how about the working environment in downstream companies?

Take the Taichang Yarn Company in the Korla as an example. A few workers have been found in the large plant with more than a dozen spinning machines working together.

The ethnic minorities account for 95 percent of the total number of its workers at Taichang Yarn Company. It offered free accommodations for all workers and child care.

The Global Times reporters saw the payrolls of workers after getting permission from workers and found that most of them can earn more than 4,000 yuan a month. An employee named Rushangul also had her first contract sighed in 1990 with the company. The copy of the contract has been and will be kept in the company forever as "every employee is respected here," a member of the managing staff told the Global Times.

Li Chengjun from Taichang told the Global Times that he used to communicate with BCI staff about where the "indecent work" called by the BCI is practiced. "They said that for example, India. Some owners of the farms asked workers to serve them as a lord, for example, help the owner to wipe their face with towels."

"This thing would not happen here - we wouldn't dare to make employees wipe our faces; we would like to wipe our employees' faces to please them so they can work here longer," Li laughed.

"I told the BCI staff that their principles of 'decent work' are an unnecessary move in China as we have the overall regulations and laws to protect workers' rights and interests. And considering the current situation in the labor market, companies are working so hard to recruit and maintain capable employees," Li said.

Arbitrarily Overturning

It is obvious that "forced labor" accusations are ignorant and malicious presumptions of culpability without verifiable facts. All the companies the Global Times has reached which had been in cooperation with BCI, have confirmed that no such thing as "forced labor" has been found in BCI's previous reviews in Xinjiang. But why did the NGO suspend offering certificates in China's Xinjiang region?

The Global Times has learned that soon after anti-China forces started to hype "forced labor" topics, cotton-related companies in Xinjiang have conducted self-assessments and surveys.

The BCI Shanghai office told the Global Times that the BCI's review includes self-assessments, reviews from partners, and reviews from the BCI and third-party review organizations. Only those who passed all these reviews can get the certificate from BCI. "For the past eight years, all partners of BCI in Xinjiang have passed all reviews under the standards of Better Cotton and no forced labor or coercive labor that violated the Better Cotton principles have been found."

However, the head office of the BCI overruled the investigation and conclusion of the Shanghai office and member companies' self-assessments and instead continued to carry on the surveys and rectification.

When pushing for the investigation, the head office also cited a large amount of disinformation spread by anti-China organizations, including the US-based World Uyghur Congress and the Human Rights Watch, making the so-called investigation untenable on credibility and authenticity.

On October 21, 2020, BCI announced on its website to cease all field-level activities in China's Xinjiang region.

"By suspending its activities in China's Xinjiang, BCI lost 90 percent of its business in China. It is cutting its own limbs off," an industrial insider told the Global Times.

BCI's move was driven by pressure from outside as well as other interests. The Global Times has learned that many BCI council members are representatives from BCI brand members from the US and various European countries. Since member fees are the main financial source for BCI, brand members including Nike, LEVIS, or GAP from the US have significant influence. The US Agency for International Development was once a council member.

The industrial insider told the Global Times that employees of BCI's Shanghai office have been under great pressure since 2019. "The US may want to kill two birds with one stone - by pressuring BCI, it could slander China's Xinjiang and also squeeze BCI's market to promote its own standards on cotton industries."

In responding on whether the current situation would ease, the insider said that "it depends on the international political situation."

(Web editor: Meng Bin, Liang Jun)
Education department to investigate complaints

Frustrated community members shutdown a secondary school and disrupted another school in Tafuleni, Pietermaritzburg on Thursday.

They are demanding answers about the poor state of the schools.

Some of the windows at the schools are broken and some classes have no desks and chairs, while the grounds are also unkept.

Parents, the school governing body (SGB) and the principal are expected to meet on Monday.

Learners and teachers at Bhekuximba Secondary in Tafuleni location, Pietermaritzburg were forced to leave the school on Thursday morning when a group of residents stormed the place, demanding that the school be upgraded.

The same group then went to the neighbouring school, Bhekamatshe Primary, and removed learners from classrooms. They say the primary school, like Bhekuximba, has been neglected.

Community member Thuli Ngcobo said that Bhekuximba was dilapidated with broken windows with hardly any furniture in some classrooms.

She said some learners were sent home last Friday because there were no desks and chairs for them. "As you can see the grass has not been cut for months. We want an explanation on why our school has become such a mess," she said.

Ngcobo said the poor state of the school has contributed to a significant drop in learner numbers. She said in addition to infrastructure issues, learners were only attending classes twice a week due to Covid-19 restrictions. She said learners are often sent home early when the school has no water.

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"Learners must attend and finish their classes without being sent home because of the problems at the school," said Ngcobo.

Another resident Sakhile Dlomo said learners will not be allowed to return to school until the school's principal addresses their concerns.

"We have tried to speak to the principal but he has not given us any answers. He is not willing to speak to us. The closure of the school today is to draw attention to the Department of Education as well," said Dlomo.

Speaking to the community, Deputy Principal Zanele Xaba acknowledged the residents' concerns and pleaded for learners to be allowed to return to school. But the residents agreed only to let the grade 12s return on Friday.

Three circuit managers from the provincial education department also came to address the community. One of the district managers confirmed that the department had received complaints about the school. She said a team has been elected to investigate.

Several calls to the principal had gone unanswered by the time of publication.

KZN education department spokesperson Muzi Mahlambi said a meeting between the parents, the school governing body (SGB) and the principal is expected on Monday.
Photo: Port of Vancouver

Cruise ships will not visit B.C. ports this year, which will have a significant impact on the local economy.

The Port of Vancouver is Canada's largest port. Typically, it welcomes over 800,000 cruise passengers annually.

"The Vancouver cruise industry is a key contributor to the local economy, stimulating $3.17 million in direct economic activity for each ship that calls at Canada Place, and $2.2 billion of total economic impact," the Port of Vancouver said in an emailed statement.

In February, Transport Canada stated that cruise vessels carrying over 100 passengers will not be able to enter Canadian waters in 2021.

Alaskan cruises comprise the lion's share of cruises that visit Vancouver, with several different cruise lines visiting stops in B.C.

But Alaskan cruises may go forward this year without visiting Vancouver.

Currently, the U.S. Passenger Vessel Services Act prohibits foreign ships from transporting passengers between two different U.S. ports on any vessel other than a U.S.-flag vessel.

"As a general rule, a foreign-flag vessel like Carnivals vessels may transport passengers on round-trip voyages originating in the United States if the vessel stops at a nearby foreign port during the course of its voyage," explains Carnival Cruises.

Virtually all the ships on the Alaska tourism run are foreign-flagged, so they have to stop at a B.C. port.

However, this month, Alaskas congressional delegation introduced the Alaska Tourism Recovery Act, which would change the law to allow the ships to skip the Canadian stops.

The protectionist clause in the U.S. Passenger Vessel Services Act  known as the Jones Act  is 101 years old and considered by some to be an archaic leftover.

The proposal comes weeks after frustrated U.S. politicians penned a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau imploring him to relax restrictions on foreign travel. In it, they comment that the ban on cruises was made without consulting Alaska. They add that losing access to the Canadian port creates "significant disruptions" to the state's cruising season, which will put over 20,000 jobs at risk.

The Government of Canada will continue to evaluate the situation and make changes as necessary to ensure the health and safety of all Canadians. Should the COVID-19 pandemic sufficiently improve to allow the resumption of these activities, the Minister of Transport has the ability to rescind the Interim Orders.
Despite the call for across the country by some farmer organisations, markets stayed open and business was going on as usual on Friday across the country, according to the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT).

The farmers' protests have been continuing at the borders of the capital against the Union farm laws since November 26, 2020.

released a statement and said," has had no impact on trade across the country. It has urged the farmers' organisations to leave their stubborn attitude and talk to the Central government about their problems and resolve them."

is the apex traders organisation representing eight crore traders and more than 40,000 trade organisations across the country.

General Secretary, Praveen Khandelwal, lambasted those political parties who are using the support of farmers for their political gains. This is the time when farmers should show these parties the way out and start a dialogue with the Central government so that their issues can be resolved.

The apex traders' body said the farmers should give up their demand to repeal all the three Union farm laws, instead they should propose amendments to protect their issues in these three It is an established fact that contentious issues can only be resolved through a negotiation process, the CAIT added.

--IANS

msk-skp/khz

(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.)
press release

Tomorrow marks exactly one year since President Ramaphosa announced that our country was going into lockdown in order to buy time to augment our healthcare system and put in place a track and trace programme. This preparation time was initially going to be three weeks, which became five weeks, then months, and eventually a full year. After all this time, we are no more prepared to deal with Covid-19 than we were back then. If anything, we are worse off thanks to a catastrophic failure to procure vaccines.

One year on we are still using lockdowns - or the threat of lockdowns - to slow the spread, as our healthcare capacity is nowhere near what it should be, our track and trace system never properly got off the ground and our vaccine rollout is still non-existent. According to the Ministerial Advisory Committee's Ian Sanne, "Delaying the next surge in coronavirus infections would buy more time to prepare the health system and vaccinate vulnerable people," said committee member Ian Sanne. A year later we are still talking of "buying more time" through lockdowns.

All that this ongoing lockdown - under the cover of the indefinitely-renewed Disaster Management Act - has done is to transfer government's responsibilities onto the citizens, and make them pay a heavy price for government's failures. That price was confirmed in a report just published by the United Nations University's World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER), where it was found that the consequences of lockdowns are especially severe and long-lasting for the most vulnerable South Africans. According to the report, half the people living in informal housing on the fringes of South Africa's urban centres lost their main source of income, two-thirds of them ran out of money for food and one third went hungry during the initial lockdown.

The survivalist strategies of poor South Africans are severely undermined by constant economic disruptions. The cost of any further lockdown will far outweigh the benefit, so other than restrictions on large gatherings - and particularly indoor gatherings - there cannot be justification for any escalation of our lockdown levels.

Using lockdowns to "buy time" comes at a cost that our government, secure in their own guaranteed income, just doesn't seem to grasp. But this is made far worse by the fact that the only way out of this predicament is a fast and comprehensive vaccine rollout, and this has been completely botched. We still don't have a rollout plan and we still don't have the vaccines for such a plan, and this is entirely due to the fact that government only woke up six months after the rest of the world, and then proceeded to blame everyone except itself for this deadly vaccine procurement failure.

To cover up this failure, government is deliberately using vague messaging around its vaccine procurement process that gives no real answers and is simply meant to placate the public and the media. For this reason I have submitted a set of precise questions to the President for which we want precise answers. If we expect citizens to buy into this vaccination effort, they are going to have to trust government, and the only way this will happen is through full transparency and accountability. I have asked the President to respond to these questions by Friday 2 April.

The DA is also considering its legal options to place further pressure on government in this regard and compel them to play open cards. South Africans are heading into a potential third wave of transmissions with no hard information. Even if it is bad news, people need to know what is going on. Vague terms like vaccines "secured for arrival in the third quarter" are essentially meaningless. People need honest answers to these critical questions. I have urged President Ramaphosa to take personal control of this process and to inject a sense of urgency into it. He needs to ensure that there is a workable plan. And he needs to be open and clear with the public, to win back their trust in this most critical of all programmes.

This is the full list of questions we submitted to the President:

Which vaccines have been ordered? How many doses of each vaccine? What are the actual confirmed dates for delivery? Please provide receipts and contracts.

How many calls have you made personally to vaccine suppliers? Which suppliers? What was the outcome?

Please provide proof and dates of all correspondence between your administration (or those acting on behalf of your administration) and each of the vaccine suppliers that have been approached in attempts to procure vaccines.

Please explain why South African production facilities in Nelson Mandela Bay are being used to produce 300 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine by Aspen Pharmacare and yet SA is not going to get a single one of these doses? Why are we not front of the queue since they are being produced here?

When will your government publish a detailed, implementable rollout plan?

Why was no detailed rollout plan prepared last year? And why is there no detailed rollout plan as yet?

When will government's official rollout begin? The current "rollout", as you know, is merely an extension of an existing Johnson & Johnson trial around existing trial sites, and is being run by trial scientists, not by your government.

Why has the Johnson & Johnson vaccine still not been approved for general rollout in South Africa? Why is it taking so long, given that the US Food and Drug Administration has approved it?

Why was the AstraZeneca vaccine sold without being offered to high-risk people on a volunteer basis, given that high-risk individuals have no other options going into the third wave, and given that the AstraZeneca vaccine would still have given them protection from severe disease and death, even if it doesn't stop transmission? Why did you go against the advice of Professor Shabir Mahdi, who ran the clinical trials for the AstraZeneca vaccine here in South Africa, and of the World Health Organisation?

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By which date will all 1.5 million healthcare workers be vaccinated? (Phase 1)

By which date will all those in the high-risk group be vaccinated? (Phase 2)

By which date will the vaccination be available to the general public?

By which date will 67% of the South African population be vaccinated against Covid-19?

In your State of the Nation Address last month, you acknowledged that the vaccine programme is South Africa's top priority. Why then have you delegated this most important of all programmes to your Deputy President, who is widely known to be corrupt?

What has the Deputy President done so far to expedite the process of vaccine procurement and rollout?

Local Government Elections are coming up in 2021! Visit check.da.org.za to check your voter registration status
Betty Gore, 96, was a teenager when she quit college to work on an assembly line making torpedoes. To this day, she recalls the World War II years as the darkest time of her life. Living through the pandemic during lockdown hasnt been pleasant, but the sadness pales in comparison to the misery of that era, she says.

Connie Sellar, an 88-year-old COVID survivor, and her husband attended their grandsons wedding on Zoom last year. It was just one of many hardships she faced over the past year. Still, Sellar says she remains grateful for whatever you give me.

In moments of loneliness over stretches of isolation in the last year, Lilyan Henschel, 89, leaned on her faith. I am too blessed to be stressed, she says. I just give it to the Lord and that is his business.

Life changed for everyone when the coronavirus swept through New Jersey a year ago. But people who live in long-term care facilities experienced the most dramatic and abrupt loss of freedom. Three residents from The Chelsea at Warren, an assisted living facility in Somerset County, recently shared their recollections and their coping strategies after family visits, day trips and group dining abruptly ceased.

The virus decimated long-term care facilities, killing 7,845, one in seven of all residents facilities in New Jersey. Eight Chelsea at Warren residents were among them.

Despite the lockdowns and the loneliness, the death and despair, these women expressed optimism as vaccinations and rapid testing are helping them blaze a path back to the life they once knew.

When all it started in March (2020), we knew very little, said Executive Director Farrah Molfetta. It was scary for us.

Every employee pitched in delivering meals to residents in their rooms and taking blood pressure and temperature checks three times a day, Molfetta said. When the weather warmed, employees walked with residents, one at a time, around the complex.

We took a lot of measures in the beginning to make them feel safe and confident that we were doing everything in our power to keep them safe and keep them healthy, Molfetta said.

Farrah Molfetta, executive director for The Chelsea at Warren, describes how the pandemic upended life at the assisted living facility in Warren Township. March, 3, 2021. Ed Murray | NJ Advance Media for

It quickly became evident that the loss of family visits and daily activities was harmful, she said.

They couldnt leave their rooms, Molfetta said. A lot of them suffered some form of physical decline. Some suffered cognitive decline. So, it wasnt the same resident population we were dealing with pre-pandemic.

But employees said they were also inspired by the resilience among residents.

This is the greatest generation, so to speak, who were quite accustomed to traumas in their lives. Its quite interesting to see their response to this latest tragedy that we have all gone through, said Patricia Banta, the regional director of Health Services for The Chelsea properties in New Jersey and New York. Many did not internalize it, but rather worried more for their families who were out in the community and more at risk.

Death is not a verboten topic in long-term care settings. Counselors and hospice professionals always have been part of the assisted living community to help residents and staff can deal with the loss when a resident dies, Banta said. A photograph of the person is displayed so people can pay their respects. These support services have been available as residents died over the past year, Banta said.

One resident died by suicide in July, according to a state Health Department inspection report. The unidentified man had threatened to jump out of a second-story window, but recanted when he was sent to the wellness center for an evaluation. He followed through on the threat soon after, according to the July 15 report.

The state cited The Chelsea for failing to assess (and) monitor to ensure safety and for not calling 911, as required, when he first made the threat. The facility installed window guards as part of its corrective action plan, the report said.

Banta said she didnt know if this residents emotional state was influenced by the pandemic. She noted that 80% of people over the age of 70 suffer from depression. Its always a concern and something we screen for.

Lunch service at The Chelsea at Warren, a long term care facility, in Warren, N.J. March, 3, 2021Ed Murray | NJ Advance Media for

The lockdown was unbroken for five months, Molfetta said. By mid-summer, communal dining made a gradual return. Chelsea created six sites for outdoor socially-distanced family visits. With the virus in decline in Somerset county and not an infection since January when two staffers tested positive, indoor visits by appointment began March 8.

On Monday, Gov. Phil Murphy announced the rules under which visits must resume inside long-term care facilities.

Beach bound

What Elizabeth Betty Gore remembers most vividly about living through World War II was the darkness.

Gore said she rose before the sun to arrive at the factory where they manufactured The Avengers, the torpedo bomber used in the Pacific theater of the war. She dropped out of college to take a job on the assembly line, and most days it was dark by the time she got home.

The darkness continued no matter what time of day because she lived out on Long Island, where every home was expected to hang blackout curtains, Gore said.

They blacked out all the windows so you didnt have any chance of the submarines having light for the background to light the targets, she said. Everything was blacked out on the East Coast.

The darkness matched the gloom of the times. I was 16 when the war broke out and I was 21 when it was over, she said. I lost all my fun years.

It was a far more distressing time than the coronavirus pandemic, she said.

This will be over before you know it. And we are so well taken care of, Gore said.

Elizabeth "Betty" Gore said she kept busy knitting when the coronavirus pandemic halted all visits and activities at The Chelsea at Warren, an assisted living facility in Somerset County.

Gore and her husband, Edward moved from a condo in Scotch Plains to The Chelsea nearly two years ago, a necessary but hard decision to give up your independence, she said. Her husband of 70 years died months later. Thats when I found out how nice people are here. Everyone was wonderful to me, she said.

The lockdown was often lonely but bearable because she kept busy knitting, (15 sweaters since moving in), doing jigsaw puzzles and googling everything, she said. You learn to fill your day.

What sustains her now is her desire to spend time with her family at her daughters home on the Jersey shore. Gore has five children, 13 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

Even if I have to quarantine when I get back, Im going to visit my daughter for a week or two. She has a house at Barnegat Light. We used to own a home and spend some time at the Jersey shore. Off-season is even better, she said.

To be in her yard and out on her deck. Play with her pup. The things you cant do when you are just in a room. Im determined.

The glass is half-full

Although confined to her room for months, Connie Sellar said she remembered her days being full.

Connie and Jerry Sellar, now residents of The Chelsea at Warren assisted living facility, seen in this undated photo.

She took care of Jerry, her husband of 68 years, who is living with dementia. And she was in bed for two weeks when she caught COVID-19 in April, although the chest pain and fatigue boomeranged weeks later and lingered for a month.

Fortunately, she didnt need to go to the hospital, Sellar said. They took care of me, she said of the Chelsea staff.

She said she also found time for peaceful reflection.

I love my room, Sellar said. I can look out on the grass. I am on the second floor and somebody downstairs has a bird feeder, so I watched the birds all the time. And I watch the weather.

Shes back to enjoying group activities, which were reintroduced gradually, such as movie nights and group crossword puzzle competitions.

Calling herself a glass-is-always-half-full person, Sellar said she recalled the only time she felt really down in the past year was when she spent time in the hospital while she was treated for an infection.

I could not wait to get back here. This is home for me, said Sellar.

She said she longed her three kids and her seven grandchildren but kept in touch with frequent telephone calls. Seeing her grandson get married virtually on a Zoom call was great. We saw the whole thing, heard it. That worked out.

When asked if she was disappointed she couldnt be there in person, she shook her head.

Im an only child. My husband is an only child. I am the one who feels whatever you give me, I am happy with. So I am one of those who is grateful.

I dont like to waste time

When new residents arrive at The Chelsea, they are likely to meet Lilyan Cherie Henschel, an outgoing person and is a member of the welcome wagon.

This is my home and I love it, she said.

Lilyan "Cherie" Henschel tries on a table decoration during lunch service at The Chelsea at Warren, an assisted living facility in Warren, N.J. March, 3, 2021 Ed Murray | NJ Advance Media for

Its entirely possible that if she had a grievance, she wouldnt complain. Thats not who she is.

Theres a spiritual saying I have: God made us to be blessed and I am too blessed to be stressed. It took me years to pray on that one. But it happened finally, said Henschel, her foot in a cast, sitting in a wheelchair. She makes weekly trips to the wound center at Overlook Medical Center in Summit.

I have some medical problems, but it doesnt really matter. This too shall pass.

To feed her spiritual life, Henschel watched a lot of Catholic TV programs during the lockdown because, she said, You might as well be positive with your time. I dont like to waste time. She said she texted with her family and friends to stay close.

She had five children. Her only daughter Nancy died in 2014 after a battle with brain cancer. One of her sons quit his job and took care of her to the end, she said.

Lilyan "Cherie" Henschel, seen in this undated photo, said she has leaned on her faith and the support of her children to sustain her when the federal and state government halted visits at long-term care centers during the pandemic.

All my children are each others best friends. We have a wonderful family, she said.

On Christmas, Thanksgiving, and most recently Valentines Day, she was treated to a whole production outside of signs, silk flowers and gifts.

Yes, there were trying moments throughout the past year, Henschel said. If youve got a positive life to begin with, you will be able to make it through in a positive way.

It isnt that (bad) things dont happen, but when they do, they dont hurt, she added. I just give it to the Lord. And that is his business.

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The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command in a statement Wednesday announcing North Korea's latest ballistic missile launches used the term "East Sea" for the body of water between Korea and Japan.

Until now, it had mostly referred to it as the Sea of Japan, following the U.S. Board on Geographic Names, which upset some Korean patriots. But on Wednesday, Indo-Pacific Command spokesman Captain Mike Kafka said, "We are aware of North Korean missile launches this morning into the East Sea."

The Japanese government protested. Japan's Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Manabu Sakai told a news conference, "Japan's stance on this issue is that 'Sea of Japan' is the one and only official, international name for this body of water." Sakai added, "We have already made our position on this issue clear to the United States and are currently requesting a correction."

It is unknown whether the U.S. has changed its official reference or it was simply a slip of the tongue.


CLEVELAND, Ohio  New Orleans Saints cornerback Marshon Lattimores Thursday arrest on a gun charge was a misunderstanding, according to Lattimores lawyer.

Attorney Marcus Sidoti said in a statement to cleveland.com/The Plain Dealer that Lattimore is cooperating with police.

Mr. Lattimore, a proud Cleveland native with no prior criminal record or history, is fully cooperating with law enforcements investigation of this matter, Sidotis statement said. He was a passenger in a vehicle that was stopped by police and was arrested without incident and was not formally charged. We believe that this was a misunderstanding, and that this will become even clearer as new information becomes available and is shared with the authorities.

Formal charges have not been filed against Lattimore or the three others inside the car. Cleveland police gang unit investigators arrested the group following a traffic stop about 10:30 p.m. Thursday on East 97th Street and Carr Avenue in the citys Glenville neighborhood.

Cleveland police said Lattimore had a loaded gun reported stolen from Euclid, and that they found another loaded gun in the car. The three other men in the car were arrested on gun-possession charges, but have not been formally charged as of 2 p.m. Friday.

Read more from cleveland.com:

RTA wont release of video of officer shoving man with mental illness off rapid stop platform

Plea scrapped for teen charged in fatal shooting of Cleveland police officer and informant

Man charged in deadly shootout at My Friends diner spent 3 years in prison for role in deadly Cleveland Heights bar shooting
(@ChaudhryMAli88)

Brazil's over 300,000 deaths from the coronavirus amount to the "biggest genocide" in the Latin American country's history, former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Friday in a scathing attack on current leader Jair Bolsonaro

Berlin, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 26th Mar, 2021 ) :Brazil's over 300,000 deaths from the coronavirus amount to the "biggest genocide" in the Latin American country's history, former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Friday in a scathing attack on current leader Jair Bolsonaro.

"On Tuesday, 3158 people died of Covid in Brazil. It's the biggest genocide in our history," Lula told Germany's Der Spiegel weekly, adding that Bolsonaro had lied to the Brazilian people about the pandemic.

"We must save Brazil from Covid-19," the former president added, saying that "Brazil will not withstand it if this man continues to govern in this way".

As Brazil surpassed 300,000 deaths from the virus on Wednesday, Lula called on Bolsonaro to apologise to the families of victims.

More than 12 million people in total have been infected in Brazil, including the virus-sceptical far-right President Bolsonaro.

The country has seen record daily infections in the last week and thousands of deaths per day, blamed on a local variant of the virus that is believed to be more contagious.

Lula, 75, led Brazil through an economic boom from 2003 to 2010 as head of the left-wing Workers' Party before being sentenced to a total of 26 years in prison on charges of taking bribes in 2017.

After the corruption conviction against him was annulled earlier this month, recent opinion polls suggest that he is the best-placed politician to challenge far-right incumbent Bolsonaro in next year's elections.

Brazil's supreme court ruled Tuesday that the former president had been convicted by a "biased" judge.

In the interview published Friday, Lula claimed that the conviction was the result of a "pact between the judiciary and some parts of the media" in order to remove his successor and party colleague Dilma Rousseff from office and prevent him from running in the 2018 elections.

Asked whether he would run against Bolsonaro in 2022, the former president said that it was not the time to talk about candidacies.

"Our attention should be focused not on the election, but on fighting the virus and vaccinating the public," he said.
Notes that Absent the Koo Family's Sizable Shareholdings, LG's Spin-Off Would Not Have Been Approved

Highlights That ~50% of Minority Shareholders Voted Against the Spin-Off, Which ISS and Glass Lewis Also Recommended Against

Reiterates Intent to Remain a Long-Term Shareholder and Continue Engaging With LG's Board About Paths to Narrowing the Company's Discount to NAV and Improving Governance

Whitebox Advisors LLC (together with its affiliates, "Whitebox" or "we"), a long-term shareholder of LG Corporation (KRX: 003550) ("LG" or the "Company"), today commented on the results of the Company's General Meeting of Shareholders held on March 26, 2021 (the "General Meeting").

Whitebox voted against the proposed spin-off of a newly created holding company comprised of LG's direct and indirect holdings in LG Hausys, LG MMA, Silicon Works, LG International and Pantos (the "Spin-Off") at the Company's General Meeting. Whitebox's opposition to the ill-conceived transaction and its various concerns related to the Company's lagging corporate governance were validated by leading independent proxy advisory firms Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. and Glass, Lewis Co., LLC, both of which recommended against approval of the Spin-Off. It is clear from the voting results that absent the Koo family's sizable shareholdings, the Spin-Off would not have been approved.

Simon Waxley, Head of Equity at Whitebox, commented:

"Whitebox wants to thank its fellow shareholders for their engagement and feedback in recent months. With nearly 50% of minority shareholders voting against the Spin-Off, we feel investors have sent a very clear message to LG: it is time to modernize the Company's lagging corporate governance and rebuild trust with the marketplace. We believe the Company can take significant steps in this direction by prioritizing the implementation of a long-promised capital management plan, enhancing corporate governance and maintaining consistently transparent investor communications.

We are pleased that, as a result of our engagement in recent months, the Company is now acknowledging its significant trading discount relative to net asset value and the need to improve its environmental, social and governance practices. We are also pleased that LG ultimately acted on our public call to promptly release the General Meeting's voting results. Despite the approval of the Spin-Off, we are hopeful that the Board of Directors now has a better understanding of its shareholders' concerns related to a number of important issues.

Whitebox intends to remain a long-term shareholder of LG and continue engaging with the Company's Board of Directors. We remain confident that LG can transform into a gem of the South Korean economy if its leadership takes the right steps in the months and years to come."

About Whitebox

Whitebox is a multi-strategy alternative asset manager that seeks to generate optimal risk-adjusted returns for a diversified base of public institutions, private entities and qualified individuals. Founded in 1999, Whitebox invests across asset classes, geographies, and markets through the funds, vehicles and institutional accounts we advise. The firm manages approximately $5.5 billion in assets and maintains offices in Minneapolis, Austin, New York, London and Sydney.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210326005438/en/

Contacts:

For Investors:

Georgeson

Cas Sydorowitz Nicholas Laugier, +44 (0) 207 019 7002

cas.sydorowitz@georgeson.com nicholas.laugier1@georgeson.com



For Media:

Profile

Greg Marose Charlotte Kiaie Bela Kirpalani, 347-343-2999

whitebox@profileadvisors.com
More than 30 schools are on the government's radar for planning cheat in the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examinations, which will begin tomorrow.

Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha warned the institutions, which he said are spread across the country, of dire consequences should they commit exam irregularities.

Prof Magoha has in recent days repeatedly said that schools in Homa Bay, Migori, Kisii and Isebania - regions he described as "the headquarters of cheating" - are being closely watched.

"Our monitors will be vigilant. Any centre found to engage in unethical practices will face stern action," Prof Magoha said when he briefed reporters at Manyatta Primary School in Kisumu at the conclusion of the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) examinations.

The minister added that every examination centre would have armed police officers.

He said no malpractices were reported in the KCPE tests but added that some stations were not guarded by armed security personnel.

Armed security personnel

One of the officers is expected to guard the day's unopened examination materials while the other patrols the school.

"In some cases, only one armed police officer was available while others were manned by National Youth Service staff. This went against our directive," the minister said.

He dismissed concerns raised over the safety of teachers who will mark the KCPE and KCSE examinations.

"Do not listen to rumours of teachers being congested in one place without regard to Covid-19 protocols. Should there be an incident that requires attention, we shall deal with it as swiftly as it emerges," he said and ruled out the possibility of reviving regional marking centres as a way of controlling the virus.

Prof Magoha said marking examination papers at one centre makes it easy to monitor the process.

"The marking should be closely monitored to ensure we do not have irregularities," the CS said.

Rogue teachers

Earlier in Busia, Prof Magoha told university students not to collude with rogue secondary school teachers to impersonate KCSE test candidates.

He added that schools intending to use university students have tampered with photographs of genuine candidates.

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"Cheeky centre managers and their collaborators will face the law," he said.

Prof Magoha was accompanied by Busia County Education Director Thaddeus Owuor and County Commissioner John Korir.

The CS announced that the government has released Sh7.5 billion to secondary schools for the administration of the national examination.

Principals have been complaining of not having enough funds to buy items for practical papers and keeping the students in school until the end of the tests on April 21.

Integrity of the exams

Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers Secretary-General Akello Misori on Monday said delaying to release the money could jeopardise the integrity of the examination.

Prof Magoha said the money is in school accounts.

"We don't want to hear teachers have no money for practical examinations," he said.

Prof Magoha said the money wired is 50 per cent of the amount schools expected, adding that the remaining would be dispatched towards the end of April.

He said marking of the KCPE test papers has begun.

"By yesterday, papers delivered on day one had been marked. We expect to complete the marking in a week or two. It should be concluded as soon as possible to allow candidates to know their scores and facilitate the Form One selection," he said.

Reported by David Muchunguh, Victor Raballa and Shaban Makokha
Mr Sylva spoke on the PIB Thursday while briefing State House correspondents at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) currently before the National Assembly will be passed in April, the Minister of State of Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, has said.

Mr Sylva stated this Thursday while briefing State House correspondents at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

He said the bill has already passed second reading in the two chambers of the National Assembly.

He also said public hearings were held while the views of oil communities have also been captured.

The minister said the Executive is ready to give the National Assembly all the necessary support to ensure the bill is passed by April.

Although Mr Sylva is not a member of parliament, the ruling party, APC, also controls the two chambers of the National Assembly.

Senate President Ahmad Lawan has repeatedly expressed his commitment to ensuring a smooth working relationship with the Executive on crucial matters including the PIB which is expected to reform Nigeria's oil industry.

Details later...
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-26 15:57:13|Editor: huaxia

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EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell (1st L) meets with visiting U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken (2nd R) in Brussels, Belgium, March 24, 2021. Blinken paid a visit to the European Commission on Wednesday. (European Union/Handout via Xinhua)

by Ren Ke

BERLIN, March 25 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday wrapped up a three-day visit to Brussels, which was meant for a new chapter of transatlantic relations after four years of tensions under the former Donald Trump administration. However, differences remain.

Despite pledging revitalization of bilateral ties, the two sides failed to resolve some major disputes, like the future of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project that aims to transport natural gas from Russia to Germany directly.

U.S. ATTEMPT TO AMEND TIES

Blinken's visit to Europe was his first since taking office in January. He attended a NATO foreign ministers' two-day meeting in Brussels, and met European Union (EU) officials and his counterparts from the member states.

The U.S. top diplomat underlined the importance of the cooperation between allies, calling the U.S. relations with NATO and the EU crucial.

"I came here," he said, "with one particular focus in mind, and that was to make clear the United States' determination to revitalize our alliances and partnerships."

"This will open a new chapter in the relationship between North America and Europe, and it is a perfect platform to set the direction for the future of our alliance," said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at a press conference on Tuesday.

At their meeting, NATO foreign ministers discussed issues ranging from Russia, Afghanistan to NATO's 2030 agenda, and also prepared for a summit scheduled later this year, which Biden is expected to attend.

Blinken's vision marked a U-turn on the previous administration's stance that NATO was outdated and divided, as well as its clash with EU capitals over taxes, trade and defense spending.

Since taking office, the Biden administration has pledged to revitalize transatlantic relations. As the first U.S. president to do so, Biden in February attended the virtual Munich Security Conference. "America is back, the transatlantic alliance is back," he said.

DIFFERENCES REMAIN

During this maiden visit to Brussels, however, the U.S. top diplomat failed to sidestep some of Washington's major disputes with its allies.

At a joint press conference with Stoltenberg on Tuesday, Blinken openly criticized the Nord Stream 2 project, echoing similar policy of the Trump administration.

"President Biden has been very clear, he believes the pipeline is a bad idea; it's bad for Europe, bad for the United States. Ultimately, it is in contradiction to the EU's own security goals," Blinken said, responding to a German journalist.

The pipeline "has the potential to undermine the interests of Ukraine, Poland, a number of other close partners or allies," he added, referring to "a law in the United States which requires us to sanction companies participating in the efforts to complete the pipeline."

Blinken discussed the issue with his German counterpart Heiko Maas face-to-face on Tuesday night. Later, the German Foreign Office tweeted that the two politicians had a very good exchange of views, without mentioning Nord Stream 2, while the U.S. State Department said Blinken emphasized during the meeting Washington's opposition to the pipeline.

The soon-to-be-completed Nord Stream 2 is designed to transport natural gas through the Baltic Sea. The 1,230-km pipeline is expected to deliver 55 billion cubic meters of gas per year.

Washington criticized the project for making Europe too dependent on the Russian energy, and made it clear that it wants to sell liquified shale gas to Europe. It has imposed sanctions on some European companies taking part in the pipeline's construction. Germany, however, has said that it will not intervene in the completion of the project.

WHAT IS UNCHANGED

"Biden also remains tough," read the title of a commentary published by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper on Wednesday.

"The new President Biden has repeatedly affirmed how valuable and politically important America's alliances are. In this respect, he differs fundamentally from his predecessor, who looked at the allies like a debt collector," it added. "However, some contentious issues survived the change of government; the American criticism of Nord Stream 2 is one of them."

Blinken follows the foreign policy starting from the previous U.S. administrations, Finnish geopolitical analyst Markku Siira told Xinhua.

He said there was no notable change from the turbulent times of former U.S. President Trump and former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Since World War II, Washington has sought to keep Russia and Germany apart, for they would be too powerful for Western hegemons if the two come together, he added.

Defense spending is another contentious issue between the United States and European countries. Washington has accused such NATO states as Germany of failing to contribute 2 percent of its gross domestic product to the military alliance. Germany said it was committed to this goal, but it could not reach it before 2024.

Blinken said Wednesday that this goal remained "crucial," but softened Washington's approach by acknowledging that the allies could "shoulder their share of the burden in different ways."

"The EU keeps following Washington's dictates, even though it will undermine European interests," Siira said. "The Atlanticist current is still quite strong in the European countries." Enditem
The Hamilton County Health Department will expand COVID-19 vaccine eligibility to include all Hamilton County residents ages 16 and up for Pfizer and 18 and up for Moderna and Johnson and Johnson ahead of the state of Tennessees Vaccination Plan.

The expansion of eligibility is an exciting step in immunization efforts across the state, said Hamilton County Health Department Administrator Becky Barnes. With the increase in vaccination supply, we are able to expand COVID-19 vaccine eligibility to all residents 16 and up in Hamilton County, depending on the vaccine manufacturer. We hope to see more residents take advantage of this hopeful opportunity.

The Hamilton County Health Department has also added first dose and second dose Pfizer appointments to the schedule.

First Dose Appointments :

March 31 at Tennessee Riverpark

March 31 and April 1 at CARTA Bus Barn

Second Dose Appointments :

March 31, April 1 and 5 at Enterprise South Nature Park

April 1 and 5 at Tennessee Riverpark

April 5 at CARTA Bus Barn

People who live or work in Hamilton County are encouraged to visit vaccine.hamiltontn.gov to make an appointment online. Those who do not have access to the internet can call the appointment call center to make an appointment over the phone:

First dose appointments: 423-209-5398

Second dose appointments: 423-209-5399

Spanish appointment line: 423-209-5384

All three call center lines are open Monday-Friday from 8AM-4PM. Due to high call volume, callers may experience a busy signal and need to hang up and call back.

The Health Departments general COVID-19 hotline 423-209-8383 is available to connect people to vaccine and testing resources. Hours are Monday-Friday from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. and Saturday 10AM-3PM. Bilingual representatives are available.

Visit https://vaccinefinder.org/ search/ and enter your zip code for a full list of providers and pharmacies offering the COVID-19 vaccine.

Important Information to Know Prior to Appointment

Do not arrive more than 15 minutes prior to your scheduled appointment.

Wear appropriate clothing to get a shot in upper arm

Bring proof of Hamilton County residency or employment

Bring proof of age (16 and Up for Pfizer & 18 and Up for Moderna and Johnson and Johnson)

Minors (16 and 17 years of age) must have a parent/guardian with them to give consent at the time of vaccination.

Print and complete the COVID-19 Vaccine Encounter form for both first and second dose appointments. Click here to download the form: https://bit.ly/3rtuueu. Forms are available on-site, but bringing a completed form to the vaccination site will accelerate the process.

Be prepared to wait 20 minutes after shot

Be prepared for the entire process to take an hour or more

Vaccination Record Card

When patients receive their first dose with the Health Department, they will receive a Vaccination Record Card with the following important information.

The vaccine manufacturer

The date the first dose of vaccine was given

The date the second vaccine dose is due (if Pfizer or Moderna). This date is not an appointment. Patient must schedule a second dose appointment.

Additional Resources

Stay up-to-date on new vaccine appointment information. Follow the health department via their email newsletter and social media accounts, available at this link: health.hamiltontn.org/ AllServices/Coronavirus(COVID- 19)/ConnectWithUs.aspx .

Transportation is available to the vaccination site. Call 423-209-8383 to schedule a ride.
MECOSTA COUNTY  A case of the COVID-19 B.1.1.7 variant has been confirmed in Mecosta County, the District Health Department No. 10 reported Friday.

According to a news release, eight cases have been found in four counties within the DHD No. 10 jurisdiction: five in Kalkaska, one in Mecosta, one in Missaukee and one in Wexford. The cases were identified through routine active surveillance by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.

As of Thursday, Michigan had 986 cases of the variant, second only to Florida with 1,042.

According to health officials, the "B.1.1.7. appears to be more contagious, but so far there is no indication that it affects the clinical outcomes or disease severity compared to the SARS-CoV-2 virus that has been circulating across the United States for months. However, a higher rate of transmission could increase the number of people who need to be hospitalized or who die due to COVID-19 should the new variant begin circulating widely in Michigan."

Now is definitely not the time to relax our prevention efforts to stop the spread of COVID-19 said Kevin Hughes, health director for DHD No. 10. As new cases are climbing and we are all-hands-on-deck to get our residents vaccinated, we urge you to get tested if you have symptoms, and do not wait to hear from us before you isolate if you test positive.

DHD No. 10 urges residents to take precautions to protect against COVID-19.

 Get vaccinated for COVID-19 when available and eligible

 Wear a mask covering your nose and mouth when around others

 Stay six feet apart from others

 Wash hands often

 Ventilate indoor spaces

Health officials encourage individuals who have symptoms of COVID-19, have been exposed to COVID-19, or recently have traveled, to get tested. To find testing locations, visit mi.gov/coronavirustest or call 211 or 888-535-6136, press 1.

For questions, email covid@dhd10.org or visit dhd10.org. To stay informed, sign up for Public Health Alert at dhd10.org/subscribe.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Jagat Prakash Nadda while addressing rallies in Tikakudi assembly and Budalpur, Thiruvaiyar in Tamil Nadu on Friday, listed down the achievements of the BJP-AIADMK alliance in the past few years and reaffirmed that voting the Party in power was the best choice for the State.

Reminiscing the numerous times the party and the party leaders had protected the tradition, culture and regional practices of the State, Nadda leading the campaigns ahead of the Tamil Nadu elections outlined, "When the incident of Karuppar Koottam took place, none other than BJP came forward and launched an agitation."

Looking back to days when PM Modi went to Jaffna in Sri Lanka, he said, "He was the first prime minister to visit the place where the bombardment had taken place and the houses were destroyed. He got those houses re-constructed and not just that, he deputed the External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to go to Sri Lanka to see to it that the rights of the Tamil minorities were protected."

Development under BJP

Highlighting that in the 13th Finance Commission, the State was allotted Rs 90,000 crore, he asserted, "When PM Modi came to power in 2014, the same State got Rs 19,50,000 crore, 500 times more for developmental purposes."

Elaborating on the topic of development, he stated, "Rs 16,000 crore has been allocated for the development of textiles in Tamil Nadu. A defence corridor of Rs 7 lakh crore from Chennai, Hosur, Coimbatore, Trichy and Salem, which will provide jobs to many youngsters, has also been undertaken."

The BJP President also added that Rs 3,770 crore has been allocated for the Chennai Metro while Rs 3,267 crore has been allocated to the monorails. In addendum, Rs 20,000 crore has been allocated for railways. While mentioning these, he did not forget to remind the people, that not one but eleven medical hospitals are coming up in the State.

DMK-Congress- a corrupt alliance

He also took the opportunity to slam corruption in DMK's regime and went on to hit at the partnership of DMK and Congress. Nadda said, "The alliance of DMK and Congress is an alliance of 3G and 4G-The corruption of the Stalin family from three generations and then, the Congress -Gandhi from four generations. If you want to do away with this 2G and 3G scam, you have to make sure that the BJP comes to power."

Denouncing the DMK's chances of being elected to power, Nadda avered that the BJP-AIADMK has earned the trust of the people and that it will return to power in 2021 as well. Hitting out at the dynasty politics of DMK and Congress, Nadda remarked that the politics of 'families' was increasing across the country and that only the BJP is a 'nationalist party' based on the 'norms of democracy'.

"You can see the energy. This shows that the people don't want DMK to come to power and want to re-elect the BJP-AIADMK alliance. DMK is all set to lose. They have got very shallow arguments to give. They dont have any agenda. D stands of Dynasty, M stands for Money and K stands for Katta Panchayat. This is DMK," the BJP President said.

In conclusion, lambasting DMK's alliance, the Congress, he said, "it is a party that has always ignored the local issues and the local sentiments.

Outlining these points, he motivated the people to vote for the saffron party in the elections. Tamil Nadu will hold polls in a single phase in 38 districts on April 6 to elect a total of 234 members to the Legislative Assembly.

Tamil Nadu elections

With AIADMK announcing its state alliance with BJP, the EPS-OPS-led party has declared itself as the 'big brother' in the NDA alliance. Former Jaya aide Sasikala announced her sudden decision to quit politics, thereby ending speculations of her role in the upcoming elections. The AIADMK has also survived a long-running tug-of-war over its leadership with Sasikala announcing her intention to retire from politics, and her nephew TTV Dhinakaran allying his AMMK with the SDPI, Asaduddin Owaisi's AIMIM and Captain Vijaykanth's DMDK.

Meanwhile, in a bid to woo voters, EPS has announced a massive farm loan waiver, free COVID vaccines, Pongal gift and rescinded cases against Jallikattu protestors, anti-CAA protestors, COVID lockdown violators and Kudankulam nuclear power plant protestors. Meanwhile, ex-CM Karunanidhi's successor - DMK chief MK Stalin eyes his maiden CM term as DMK cannot afford to lose a third straight Assembly election after sweeping the state in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls with 38 seats.

image credits: JP Nadda Twitter
Former Adjunct Professor Accused of Vandalizing Lincoln Statue Charged on Multiple Counts

A former adjunct professor from Idaho was taken into custody earlier this week in relation to a vandalized statue of President Abraham Lincoln, authorities confirmed in a statement.

Police arrested Terry Joe Wilson late on Tuesday after prosecutors in the City of Boise, Idaho, issued an arrest warrant for the 37-year-old man accused of damaging public property in Julia Davis Park last month, according to a Boise Police Department press release.

Boise Police officers arrested one of the suspects believed to be involved in an injury to property incident at a bronze statue of Seated Lincoln in Julia Davis Park, said the departments release.

Wilson was charged with multiple misdemeanor counts including injuring monuments, ornaments, and public improvements; resisting and obstructing officers; as well as possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia, police said.

Authorities conducting the warrant were forced to briefly chase Wilson after he tried to flee approaching officers attempting to take him into custody.

Officers chased after Wilson and were able to stop him and take him into custody, at which time Wilson was found to be in possession of a firearm, marijuana and drug paraphernalia, according to the release.

Investigators were able to identify and track the suspect by using both physical and electronic evidence.

Police said after Wilsons arrest, he was transported to the hospital where he was medically cleared before being booked into the Ada County Jail on the listed charges.

Detectives launched an investigation in the February incident after a local park crew found paint, feces, and signs on the statue of the former president.

Defacing a venerated object to provoke an emotional response will not help us rise to our better self, Boise Police Chief Ryan Lee said.

In this image from the U.S. Library of Congress, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln sits for a portrait Feb. 5, 1865. (Alexander Gardner/U.S. Library of Congress via Getty Images)

Wilson has been identified as a former Boise State University adjunct professor and a supporter of the group Black Lives Matter, according to the Idaho Freedom Foundation.

The network reported the suspects Twitter page contains content calling for defunding of the Boise Police Department and other statements from anarcho-communist network Antifa.

The February incident was also addressed by Boise Mayor Lauren Stein McLean, who called any act of vandalism never appropriate and those who commit these crimes must be held accountable.

At a time when our democracy is fragile, this is particularly disturbing as President Lincoln sought to keep our fractured nation together and to address the scourge of slaverylosing his life for it, the mayor wrote.

On the first day of Black History month, its essential to honor those in our community, reflect on our past, and work together for a better future, she continued. This terrible act detracts from progress and is an affront to those who toil daily for civil rights.

From NTD News
Many parents said that Intermediate examinations are slated for May, managements fear that the students would not pay the dues if classes were not held causing revenue loss to them.  Representational image/DC

VIJAYAWADA: At a time when Coronavirus infections are rising by the day, some private junior colleges including residential, are forcing students to return to their respective campuses and attend classes. They are asking parents to clear dues failing which they would not release original certificates of students that are with the management.

As several students had tested positive, some day-scholars stopped attending classes while hostellers were taken away by their parents. After a gap of few days, managements of some colleges have started calling parents to send their children back to the colleges to pursue first and second year courses.

A parent from East Godavari, whose son is an Intermediate first year student at a corporate residential private college in Gudavalli, Vijayawada said, The college is hiding the facts about the spread of the virus in their campus and calling me to send my son. When we contacted students at the campus, they said several students were infected with the virus. We cannot trust the management. Moreover, they are charging Rs 400 for a Covid-19 test in the campus and until the report is out, those tested are allowed to roam free. Hostellers are unwilling to use their pocket money to pay for the test and they are being denied the test.

Another parent from East Godavari, whose son is in Inter second year, said, We have paid Rs 1.60 lakh and no classes were held from April to December due to Covid-19. Classes commenced in January. Now we are getting calls to send my son back to the campus and also to clear pending dues with a threat of withholding the certificates, Class X marks memo that are with them.

Many parents alleged that Intermediate examinations are slated for May, managements fear that the students would not pay the dues if classes were not held causing revenue loss to them. Faculty members from these private colleges admitted that they were also being forced to take classes and if they wanted to take leave on medical grounds, they were asked to show proof of their health condition. They said that they were threatened to miss out on salary if they failed to take classes.

Meanwhile, BIE authorities maintain that they have asked colleges to submit details of Covid-19 tests and their results. They asked the colleges to maintain Covid-19 protocol by ensuring proper sanitation, making the students to wear masks and maintaining social distance.

AP Private Teachers and Lecturers Union state president D. Ambedkar said, Except a few, most private junior colleges are violating Covid-19 norms. There is no social distancing in any classroom. Students coming from long distances could be carrying the virus. We want both the BIE and the state government to step in and take necessary measures.
Tiger King's Joe Exotic and husband Dillon Passage are divorcing after over three-years of marriage.

The docuseries star reportedly learned Passage, 25, is pulling the plug on the relationship via a phone call to the Fort Worth, Texas prison where the 58-year-old former animal trainer is currently serving out a 22-year sentence for plotting to murder rival Carole Baskin.

Exotic - full name Joseph Allen Maldonado-Passage - is heartbroken according to his lawyer Francisco Hernandez, who spoke to TMZ.

Jilted Joe is considering rushing to file a petition to divorce in order to beat Passage, according to one source but another said he is still weighing his options.

It's over: Tiger King star Joe Exotic and husband of three-years Dillon Passage are getting a divorce after Passage dumped the Netflix persona over the phone while Exotic continues to serve out his prison sentence

He reportedly emailed a friend while fresh from the phone call, telling them he feels 'abandoned and alone and just wanted to mean something to someone,' per TMZ.

Though the former owner of the Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park appears upset about the split, Dillon says that there are no hard feelings and he will still support Joe through his prison sentence.

Passage reportedly wants to breakup with Joe because he's grown lonely during his husband's time behind bars and would like to date again.

Maldonado-Passage was previously wed to Travis Maldonado, who accidentally shot himself in the head at Joe's animal park in October of 2017, just two-months before tying the knot with Passage.

Nine-months later Joe would be arrested for his murder-for-hire plot against Carole Baskin.

Tragic: Maldonado-Passage was previously wed to Travis Maldonado, who accidentally shot himself in the head at Joe's animal park in October of 2017, just two-months before tying the knot with Passage

Joe spoke out against his husband earlier this month via an angry tweet that accused Dillon of neglecting him.

He wrote: 'Money destroyed my entire family. I won't allow it to kill my soul. You win, Dillon, [Dillon's manageer] Jeff Duncan, Carole [Baskin.]'

He also made mention of his late husband Maldonado, writing: 'Come March 22nd for Travis's Birthday I am going to keep his promise I made the day he died. I don't need the fame, the money or the bulls***, you can have it all...'

The ex zoo operator wrote in another tweet: '...It's pretty sad to be in prison and still mean f***ing nothing that ya can't even answer a phone. I see where I stand. #justiceforjoeexotic #tigerking.'

Dillon took to Instagram with a lengthy statement in response, which he posted with a photo of himself and his dogs.

Wedding bells: Dillon and Joe tied the knot in December of 2017, just two months after Travis died at 23 years old of an accidental self-inflicted gunshot wound

In response: Dillon took to Instagram with a lengthy statement in response, which he posted with a photo of himself and his dogs

He wrote: 'I wanted to get a post up to address Joe's recent activity on social media. He and I, like everyone in any relationship, go through their ups and downs. This is magnified by the fact that our relationship is very public and the fact that one of his only outlets is social media.

'Unfortunately it isn't the healthiest place to deal with personal affairs and not how I normally handle my relationship challenges.

'Joe is obviously having a difficult time in prison and I don't think any of us can fault him for that. I've never spoken poorly of Joe, through the ups and the downs and through his good and his bad. I see through all of this and recognize and realize it for what it is; a man in prison just trying to do his best.'

The Florida bartender added: 'The presidential pardon we were all waiting for never came and our hopes were dashed. I remain in support of Joe and want to be there for him. At 25, I also need to make sure I'm healthy, both body and mind. I know even though Joe may rant, he wants the best for me as I do for him. I am certain he wants me to lead a full life as all of you do for the people you love.

Three's company: Joe was in a polyamorous relationship with Travis and John Finlay, 36, at the time they had an unofficial three-partner wedding in 2015, before he and Finlay had a falling out

'Social media is not natural to me and if I'm quiet it's usually because I'm working through all of this and processing to the best of my ability. I didn't and don't want the spotlight. I've been thrown into this and just doing my best to support Joe, live my life, and love my dogs.'

He concluded: 'Be gentle to people on social; you never know the challenges they are dealing with and the hardships they carry. There is always a hidden struggle for all of us.'

Dillon and Joe tied the knot in December of 2017, just two months after Travis died at 23-years-old of an accidental self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Behind bars: He was arrested in September of 2018 and later convicted on 17 federal charges of animal abuse and two counts of attempted murder for hire in his plot to kill Baskin

Presidential pardon: The Kansas native requested a pardon from one-term President Donald Trump back in September, sending him a handwritten letter, later suing the Justice Department in December as a last-ditch effort (pictured in August, 2013)

Joe was in a polyamorous relationship with Travis and John Finlay, 36, at the time they had an unofficial three-partner wedding in 2015, before he and Finlay had a falling out.

He was arrested in September of 2018 and later convicted on 17 federal charges of animal abuse and two counts of attempted murder for hire in his plot to kill Baskin.

The Kansas native requested a pardon from one-term President Donald Trump back in September, sending him a handwritten letter, later suing the Justice Department in December as a last-ditch effort.

He most recently hired a new legal team, as they plan to use unaired Tiger King footage to push for a new trial.

Legal action: He most recently hired a new legal team Phillips & Hunt, who previously represented the family of Baskin's missing husband Don Lewis, as they plan to use unaired Tiger King footage to push for a new trial

Attorney John Phillips of Phillips & Hunt, who previously represented the family of Baskin's missing husband Don Lewis, made the announcement in a video on Joe's Twitter.

He said: 'We are honored to announce that Joe has retained our firm. We're going to seek a new trial, and justice in the criminal and civil courts.'

Joe has also promised some juicy secrets in Tiger King: The Official Tell-All Memoir, which is set to set to be published in November.

He told E! News of the book: 'It's going to be a truth-tell book... Everybody that's ever done anything good, it's going to be in there and anybody that's got bones in your closet, you better look out.'
The Something Must Be Done Department is a dangerous place in which to be rummaging in times of crisis. But that is exactly where Taoiseach Micheal Martin and his 26 EU counterparts found themselves last night, via a video link-up to make things even more absurd.

Ireland has no monopoly on lockdown blues and frustration over slow vaccine roll-outs. President Emmanuel Macron has extended French anti-virus curbs on movement, German Chancellor Angela Merkel this week dramatically backtracked on even tougher Easter restrictions, but the same curbs unveiled back in early November remain in place.

Belgian Prime Minister Alexander de Croo, has announced tougher measures around the Easter holidays in an already tight and long lockdown. Changes include the closure again of hairdressers and beauty parlours.

Against this background, shared in principle if not every detail by Ireland, the EU-wide vaccine roll-out is poor, with an average 14pc jabbed to the UKs 46pc. Much of the problem is down to supply  and a distinct view that the UK and the British-Swedish firm AstraZeneca are not playing fairly.

Commission President Ursula von der Leyen updated the 27 leaders in efforts to justify plans to control EU vaccine exports to certain countries and involving certain firms  without naming names.

This year the EU has exported 77 million doses to 44 countries  that compares with 88 million doses used within the bloc  and 21 million EU-made doses went to the UK, which has sent none back.

Read More

France, Italy and Germany want serious export curbs directed at the UK and AstraZeneca. Ireland, Belgium, Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden are among the countries who do not believe the vaccine export curbs are wise and risk backfiring by disrupting global supply chains for medicine manufacturing.

So, they found themselves agreeing something must be done but there was not much accord on precisely what. It is beginning to look like the export controls will be kept as a threat for use in extremis.

In an ideal world, the roundabout outcome should be that a stiff message would be received by London and supplies would improve.

But so far there have just been vague goodwill messages exchanged by the UK and EU suggesting such developments, but no definite outcomes yet.

Irish officials signalled that some good news was coming from Brussels. The revelation that the EUs vaccine czar Thierry Breton will meet each week with his US counterpart was well timed as it coincided with a link-up between the leaders summit and US President Joe Biden. It might help supplies of the one-shot Johnson & Johnson coming soon.

Of 29 million vaccine doses awaiting shipment from Italy, it emerged 16 million will go to EU countries on a population pro-rata basis. Ireland, entitled to 1.1pc, should be in line to get 176,000 doses in due course.

And Euro MEPs agreed to fast-track scrutiny of a proposed certified EU system to restore travel. That might be in place by summer  roll-outs and virus figures permitting.

As of now things are volatile  everywhere.
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After weeks of encouraging declines, coronavirus cases in the U.S. are on the rise again, with the average number of daily infections rising to nearly 57,000 on Wednesday - four percent higher than they were a week earlier, according to a DailyMail.com analysis of Johns Hopkins University data.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated the rise is even sharper: seven percent higher compared to last week.

CDC director Dr Rochelle Walensky is 'deeply concerned' about the possibility of a surge.

'I remain deeply concerned about this trajectory. We have seen cases and hospital admissions move from historic declines to stagnations to increases. And we know from prior surges that if we don't control things now, there is a real potential for the epidemic curve to soar again,' Dr Walensky said during a Friday White House Covid response team briefing.

Another 67,443 new infections were recorded on Thursday, a lower figure than Wednesday's, but still up by nearly three percent compared to March 18. An additional 1,558 Americans died of the infection.

With cases rising over the past two weeks in more than half of U.S. states, America could be at the door of the fourth surge that public health officials have warned about amid loosening restrictions.

But it's the same pattern that Israel saw - until its lightning-fast vaccine rollout squashed the resurgence of coronavirus.

COVID-19 cases may be rising in the U.S., but that is not slowing down America's own vaccine rollout.

The initially chaotic U.S. vaccination campaign is gaining steam. With 2.5 million doses being administered a day - including 2.8 million yesterday - the nation is on track to have 75 percent of the population immunized within four months, according to Bloomberg tracking.

Another 27 million doses of vaccines from three manufacturers - Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson - are slated to be delivered to U.S. states next week as the supply available from the shot-makers increases.

And all but six U.S. states have announced they will expand vaccine eligibility to anyone 16 or older imminently, ahead of President Biden's plan to direct all states to make all adults eligible from May 1.

The question is whether the vaccine rollout will win the 'race' against rising coronavirus cases - especially as variants take hold across the US.

Israel's daily COVID-19 infections (green) continued to surge for a month after its vaccine rollout began, fueled by the UK variant that became dominant there by the end of January, but as the share of its population vaccinated rose to 25%, the vaccine campaign squashed the surge. Cases are on a slight rise in the US as well (brown) but with 2.5 million shots being given a day, the US is on track to follow Israel's suit

More than 8,300 cases of COVID-19 caused by the more infectious B117 variant have been confirmed across the U.S., according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data.

More than 266 and nearly 80 cases have been attributed to the potentially vaccine-evading South African and Brazilian variants.

And homegrown 'variants of concern' that emerged in California and New York are quickly gaining ground, amid fears they are at least 20 percent more infectious and may weaken the effects of vaccines.

The UK's B117 variant was likely dominant in Israel by the end of January, helping to fuel a massive surge despite the country's world-leading vaccination campaign.

Will the U.S. be able to bat back COVID-19 surges as variants take hold?

If the trajectory of Israel's pandemic since it began vaccinating people against the virus is any indication, the answer is most likely 'yes.'

Cases in Israel continued to surge for nearly a month after the rollout began on December 19.

The initial rise was a continuation of an upswing that began in November, according to tracking by Our World in Data.

Between December 19 and the peak of Israel's outbreak on January 17, the number of infections per capita shot up by more than 1,300 percent.

And then daily infections started to free fall, but Israel saw the downward trend reverse twice, briefly.

Now, infections have plummeted by 80 percent since March 6.

By the time the latest decline began in Israel, about half the nation's population was fully vaccinated, and the country was virtually completely reopened - to those fully vaccinated people, who carried 'Green Passes.'

Declines in severe COVID-19 cases and fatalities were apparent almost immediately, and the overall rate of daily infections is now following suit.

The pattern is repeating itself in three other countries that have vaccinated at least a quarter of residents: Seychelles, the Maldives and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The UK, which has given at least one dose to more than 43 percent of its population with its controversial delayed dosing plan is heading in the same direction.

Dramatic downward trends in COVID-19 cases are likely on the horizon for the U.S. - but the nation is not quite there yet.

More than 26 percent of the population has had at least one dose, but just 14.3 percent of Americans are fully vaccinated against coronavirus.

So, for America to get to the magic 25 percent fully vaccinated benchmark when cases begin to decline, according to Bloomberg's tracking, the U.S. needs to give second doses to another 10 percent of its population, about 33 million people.

About half of the U.S. supply shipped each week is dedicated for giving second doses, so it stands to reason that about half of shots administered each day are second doses.

Israel has far out-paced the US's vaccination campaign, but with 2.5 million shots being given a day, America is on track to get 75% of its population immunized within the next four months, and a quarter will be fully vaccinated within about a month

At the pace of 2.5 million shots being given a day, that additional 10 percent of people won't be fully vaccinated for almost another month (approximately 26 days, according to a DailyMail.com analysis).

But that sobering timeline is not stopping some states from reopening. Texas, Mississippi and Florida have dropped virtually all their restrictions to slow the spread of coronavirus - despite the fact that less than the national average of their populations have been fully vaccinated.

Texas has one of the slowest vaccination paces in the country, with just 11.5 percent of its population fully immunized. Only Utah, Washington, DC and Georgia lag behind it among mainland U.S. states.

For the time being, cases continue to fall in large states like Texas, where the daily infection rate has declined by 23 percent over the past two weeks.

A Bloomberg analysis suggests that the declines seen there are 'masking' increases in other states.

Michigan, for example, is seeing a massive surge, with daily infections rising nearly 71 percent in the past two weeks, according to Data USA.

The state joins Maryland, New Jersey and Delaware, in seeing hospitalizations rise for the past week, according to a University of Minnesota analysis.

Inevitably, the decline in coronavirus cases will come as the number of Americans who are fully vaccinated grows.

But between now and then, how many people get sick, are hospitalized or die due to COVID-19 will depend not only on vaccination, but on the same tiresome but tried and true mitigation efforts public health officials have preached for a year: wearing masks, maintaining distance from one another, and hand-washing.
Milind Soman Goes Under Quarantine After Testing Positive For Novel Coronavirus

Actor-model Milind Soman on Thursday said he has tested positive for coronavirus and is currently under quarantine. The 55-year-old actor shared his health update on Twitter. "Tested positive. #Quarantine," Soman wrote.

The actor was last seen on the ALTBalaji and ZEE5 series Paurashpur, which started streaming in December. Earlier in the day, actor R Madhavan also said he has tested positive for COVID-19, adding he was "recovering well".

Farhan HAS to follow Rancho and Virus has always been after us BUT this time he bloody caught up. BUT-ALL IS WELL and the Covid will be in the Well soon. Though this is one place we dont want Raju in. Thank you for all the love I am recuperating well. pic.twitter.com/xRWAeiPxP4  Ranganathan Madhavan (@ActorMadhavan) March 25, 2021

Recently, several other Bollywood celebrities, including Kartik Aaryan, Manoj Bajpayee and Satish Kaushik contracted the virus. On Wednesday, Mumbai reported its highest one-day rise in COVID-19 cases so far with 5,185 new infections, taking the tally to 3,74,611.
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Heres some places where you can find interesting stuff on China. Our Home page is of course a great place to see what weve got for you, but if youd like some more lighthearted stuff, head for Only in China. If youd like some more informative articles, you could go for Business & technology or Life & culture. And if youd prefer something more visual, try China video or China photo.
press release

The DA calls on the South African government to intervene in the Namibian government's refusal to issue travel documents to , who were born in South Africa via a surrogate.

The Namibian Ministry of Home Affairs is reportedly refusing to issue Luhl's infant daughters travel documents as it wants "genetic proof" that Luhl is the biological father of his and husband, Guillermo Delgado's, children. The twins currently have South African birth certificates which recognise both Luhl and Delgado as the parents.

Luhl and his daughters are now unable to enter Namibia due to the homophobic laws of the country which do not recognize same-sex marriages.

The DA calls on the South African government to act on its foreign policy which is centred around the protection and promotion of human rights on the African continent. Ministers Naledi Pandor and Aaron Motsoaledi must use the government's diplomatic channels to stop this discrimination and infringement on the human rights of this couple and other same-sex couples across the continent.

The DA remains committed to ensuring that the rights and dignity of the LGBTQIA+ community of South Africa and the continent is respected and protected. We urge the Namibian government to do what is right.

Local Government Elections are coming up in 2021! Visit check.da.org.za to check your voter registration status
JSW Steel on Friday said it has completed the acquisition of bankrupt Bhushan Power & Steel Ltd (BPSL).

The company paid Rs 19,350 crore to the financial creditors of BPSL, JSW Steel said in an exchange filing.

The acquisition will help JSW Steel establish its presence, especially in flat steel business, in the eastern region of India.

BPSL has an integrated steel unit with liquid steel capacity of more than 2.5 million tonnes per annum in Jharsuguda, Odisha. It also has downstream facilities in Kolkata and Chandigarh. Its turnover during the year ended March 31, 2020 stood at Rs 8,635.14 crore.

JSW Steel's resolution plan for BPSL, which was admitted for insolvency proceeding under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, was approved by the National Company Law Tribunal in September 2019 and National Company Law Appellate Tribunal in February 2020. However, the case was stuck in courts as the Enforcement Directorate had attached BPSL's properties.

However, earlier this month, JSW Steel had reached an agreement with BPSL's lenders that they would refund the amount to the company in case of an adverse ruling against it by the Supreme Court, where BPSL case is being heard.

SBI is the largest lender to BPSL, followed by PNB, ACRE, Canara Bank, among others.

Also read: JSW Steel to kick start production at new Dolvi, Vijayanagar plants in H1 2022
The union representing striking Manitoba Hydro electrical workers targeted power generation and converter stations Thursday.

More than 600 workers employed at power generating stations along the Winnipeg and Nelson rivers, as well as at the Dorsey, Riel, Henday, Radisson and Keewatinohk converter stations, were off the job.

Also impacted was a fish hatchery located in Grand Rapids.

The 2,300 members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 2034 rejected this week a Hydro offer that included two years of wage freezes.

A temporary walkout involving most of the union's workers ended at 8 a.m. Thursday, replaced by the more targeted walk-out at generating and converter stations.

The latter job action is scheduled to end Friday morning. The union has not announced what its next steps will be.

Hydro spokesman Bruce Owen said the Crown corporation has implemented contingency plans to help ensure emergency and essential services continue throughout the strike.

"In areas impacted today, management and supervisory staff are performing essential services. Weve also redeployed staff to support those efforts from other areas of business, and will continue to do so as required," he said.

Both sides reported no new contract talks have been scheduled.
The Ananda Wellness Bliss programme in the Himalayas is a great way to introduce yoga and relaxation into your daily routine, via online appointments. Over the course of 12 one-on-one sessions, I, a near-beginner in yoga, was introduced to a wide range of practices, going from joint stretches to sun salutations and more complicated sequences. I first had to fill out a form about my health habits, from nutrition to digestion and my sleeping pattern. This then led to a one-on-one consultations with one of the spa's GPs, who gave me personalised recommendations following the ancient Indian Ayurveda system. I then had yoga sessions with Head of Yoga at Ananda, Sandeep Agarwalla, who introduced me to the basics of yoga. While nothing beats a trip to the Himalayas, the Zoom sessions were easy to integrate to my everyday routine and a great introduction to yoga.
An archive of pet columns from the UI College of Veterinary Medicine is at vetmed.illinoi.edu/petcolumns. Requests for reprints of this article may be directed to Chris Beuoy at beuoy@illinois.edu.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 26)  The Philippines would have to pay for the COVID-19 vaccines it earlier received for free from COVAX if it fails to justify why some government officials and personalities cut the priority line in the vaccination drive.

This is according to the rules shared by Gavi, the vaccine alliance leading the global COVAX initiative along with the World Health Organization and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations. Gavi was asked to comment on the Philippines' vaccination program, which is being criticized for its failure to ensure that healthcare workers will be the first to get their COVID-19 shots.

Gavi said countries should follow the COVID-19 National Deployment Vaccination Plan they had submitted, and any departure from it will be investigated.

"Variations from the planned prioritization would constitute misuse, unless updates to plans are shared with COVAX and are documented, rationalized and evidence-based," Gavi said in a statement sent to CNN Philippines on Friday.

"If misuse is determined, countries will be held to account and will be required to reimburse COVAX," Gavi added.

The Philippines has received 525,600 AstraZeneca doses from COVAX, which provides vaccines to developing countries to ensure equitable access.

In total, 1.5 million doses have reached the Philippines, including some 1 million doses of the Sinovac vaccine donated by China.

TIMELINE: COVID-19 vaccine deliveries and rollout in the Philippines

The country's 1.7 million health care workers are top priority in the national vaccination plan, followed by senior citizens and people with comorbidities, and other frontline workers. Despite the limited supply of vaccines, however, those who are not medical frontliners, including local and national government officials and personalities have jumped the queue and got inoculated.

The Department of the Interior and Local Government has asked five mayors to explain why they put themselves first in the vaccination. Show cause orders are being prepared against more local officials, the DILG said.

Mayors, governors, and village chiefs were recently moved up in the vaccine priority list, but they can only be inoculated after health workers, senior citizens, and persons with comorbidities.

Earlier, WHO Representative to the Philippines Dr. Rabindra Abeyasinghe warned the Philippines could lose millions of donated doses if it fails to follow the requirement to prioritize health workers and vulnerable sectors.

CNN Philippines' Tristan Nodalo contributed to this report.
Jessops, the camera retailer owned by Dragons' Den's Peter Jones, has filed a notice to appoint administrators after it was badly hit by lockdown restrictions.

The company, which was bought by Mr Jones's PJ Investment Group in 2013, currently employs 120 staff and runs 17 stores.

It has hired insolvency specialists FRP and said it is now considering a Company's Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) restructuring process in a bid to protect its long-term future.

All of Jessops' stores, including its flagship sites in Birmingham and London's Oxford Street, are currently closed until April 12 due to the enforced closure of non-essential shops.

The latest bad news for Britain's high streets comes two days after John Lewis announced the closure of eight of its stores.

MPs said the move was 'devastating' for the future of the High Street, while business leaders admitted they are 'shellshocked' by a move which has put more than 1,400 jobs at risk.

Jessops, the camera retailer owned by Dragons' Den's Peter Jones, has filed a notice to appoint administrators after it was badly hit by lockdown restrictions

Jessops said it has appointed advisers to look at how it can 'carve out a new strategy that will enable the business to continue to compete', despite turmoil on the high street.

A spokesman for the business said: 'No doubt, that will include further growing Jessops' digital offering, as well as considering the opportunities to partner with other retailers to continue Jessops' high street presence.

Retail bloodbath: How the pandemic changed Britain's High Street The High Street has been hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic as people were told to stay inside for several national lockdowns. High Street stalwarts such as Debenhams, WH Smith and Clarks did not escape the bloodbath. In August 228-year-old business WH Smith said a dramatic fall in sales could force them to axe around 11 per cent of its workforce. It was a grim announcement for an already hammered high street after hundreds of jobs were also cut at high street fashion chain M&Co. The chain also announced the closure of 47 stores, taking the number of workers facing redundancy as a result of the Covid crisis above 100,000. Within one week over the summer 651 roles were lost at Byron, 1,700 put at risk at DW Sports, 878 lost at Hays Travel and 1,100 put at risk at Pizza Express. John Lewis cut a further 1,500 jobs, adding to the 1,300 axed when it permanently shut eight stores in July. The retail giant was widely seen as a benchmark for High Street performance in the UK. Lloyds Bank also announced their decision to make 1,070 more staff redundant on top of the 865 earlier in the pandemic. Within the same 24 hours Marks & Spencer also reported its first loss in its 94 years as a listed company. The company had already cut 8,000 staff since March. And Sainsburys also confirmed it would cut around 3,500 jobs across its Argos stores and supermarket meat, fish and deli counters, while Clarks shoes put the jobs of all 4,000 of its store staff on notice as part of its fight for survival. Advertisement

'We are working closely with key suppliers and partners to agree a way forward and PJ Investment Group have confirmed that they stand ready to provide additional funding if a suitable agreement can be reached on sustainably supporting Jessops in the next stage of its development.'

Geoff Rowley, partner at FRP, said: 'Jessops is a long-established British brand, but like many others, it has faced growing online competition, as well as the challenges faced by all high street retailers in operating through the restrictions imposed during the pandemic.

'We are working closely with PJ Investment Group and the wider Jessops management team to consider all options to secure a future for the retailer.'

It comes less than two years after a major restructuring at the chain, which reduced its store estate from 46 sites in a bid to preserve its future.

A spokesman for PJ Investment Group said: 'Since 2013 we've worked hard to support the Jessops brand, and returned the business to profitability in recent years through a complete restructuring and significant investment.

'However, the retail landscape has continued to evolve rapidly, and this process has been accelerated by the impact of the pandemic on the high street.

'Over the last twelve months we have worked closely with Jessops management and assisted them in taking steps to manage the costs throughout the pandemic and have focused on servicing Jessops' customers through our online store.'

Mr Jones has been a star of BBC programme Dragon's Den since it launched in 2005 and is the show's only remaining original investor.

On Thursday, 157-year-old retail giant John Lewis said it will be shutting four department stores in Aberdeen, Peterborough, Sheffield and York, and another four At Home stores in Ashford, Basingstoke, Chester and Tunbridge Wells.

Five of those shops were opened since the 2008-09 financial crisis, while the other three are big department stores that have been at the heart of three big cities - Aberdeen, Peterborough and Sheffield - for many decades.

In January the John Lewis Partnership recorded its first ever pre-tax loss of 517million during the pandemic, having previously announced it would be closing eight stores including its flagship site in Grand Central, Birmingham.

Those towns and cities now face an epic struggle to plug the gaping hole left by John Lewis in their communities, on their high streets and in their jobs markets.

In Peterborough, the 125,000 sq ft store in Queensgate shopping centre - which opened in 1982 and is part of a complex owned by Invesco Retail Estate - was the biggest closure announced by the John Lewis Partnership yesterday.

The company, which was bought by Mr Jones's PJ Investment Group in 2013, currently employs 120 staff and runs 17 stores

Mr Jones has been a star of BBC programme Dragon's Den since it launched in 2005 and is the show's only remaining original investor

Shabina Qayyum, the shadow cabinet member for investment for Peterborough City Council, said: 'This is devastating news not only for the hundreds of employees but for the heart of retail in Peterborough. Clearly this is a watershed for retail.'

Paul Bristow, the Conservative MP for Peterborough, claimed he had urged Dame Sharon White, chairwoman of John Lewis, not to close the store.

'I am extremely disappointed with this decision,' he told the Peterborough Telegraph. 'Dame Sharon called me this morning, shortly after staff were informed.

'I asked her how she could justify this closure given the company's investment in the store and the opportunities within our city.'

In Aberdeen, the 102,000 sq ft store which opened in 1989 was a major voice in the city's 150million regeneration plans. Now, the closest store for locals is 127 miles away in Edinburgh, while a Waitrose alternative is in Stirling, 120 miles away.

The latest bad news for Britain's high streets comes two days after John Lewis announced the closure of eight of its stores

Adrian Watson, chief executive of Aberdeen Inspired, the business improvement district, said of the move to shut the outlet: 'I'm a bit shellshocked.'

He told the Times that the plans would have to be dramatically reworked, adding: 'People travelled from long distances across the Highlands and northeast to come to John Lewis, it brought people into the city.

'This will be a huge challenge for the city centre.'

The British Retail Consortium warned that 'with footfall already having dropped significantly over the last year, even outside of lockdown, both independent stores and consumers will feel the loss of these larger retailer stores'.

Dr Amna Khan, a senior lecturer in consumer behaviour and retailing at the Manchester Metropolitan Business School, today warned that the closure of several major John Lewis sites will have a 'domino effect' on other businesses.

Last week, the Government unveiled a 56million fund to help Britain's ailing high streets.

The money is intended to spruce up shopping hubs and fund beer and food festivals.

Up to 9,000 more pubs are expected to be able to open for dine-out customers on April 12 as cuts to red tape will allow businesses to build marquees in gardens and have tables in streets across England.

There will be a particular focus on seaside towns, which will receive 6million of the funding pot.

Councils can use the money to 'spruce up' their high streets with flower boxes, improvements to green spaces and the removal of graffiti.

Rogue parking firms will also be tackled to allow shoppers easier access to town centres.
ISOFIX

Easy is the name of the entry-level trim, which can be yours from 179,900 pesos or $8,735 at current exchange rates. The Like and Trekking grades are listed from 201,500 and 221,500 pesos ($9,780 and $10,750), making both of them far more affordable than the 500X for the U.S. market.Produced at the Betim assembly plant in Brazil, the Mobi is available in four colors: Cinza Silverstone, Bari Silver, Banchisa White, and Monte Carlo Red. As opposed to the Easy and Like, the Trekking sweetens the deal with a Vulcano Black-painted roof. Covered by a three-year/60,000-kilometer limited warranty and seven years of complimentary roadside assistance, the pint-sized economy utility vehicle comes with a 1.0-liter free-breathing motor.Fire is how Stellantis calls the diminutive powerplant, which develops 69 horsepower and 68 pound-feet (92 Nm) of torque at 4,250 rpm. In other words, youll have to rev until the valves scream for their very lives to get up to speed on the motorway. Connected to a five-speed manual transmission, the mill promises a fuel economy of 4.6 liters per 100 kilometers. In U.S. currency, make that 51.1 miles for every gallon of gas.What do you get as standard? In the case of the base Fiat Mobi Easy, 14-inch steel wheels and black plastic for the door handles open the list. Daytime running lights, two airbags, height adjustment for the steering wheel, air conditioning, anti-lock brakes, electronic brake-force distribution,anchors, and split-folding rear seats further need to be mentioned. The Like trim level upgrades to aluminum wheels, reverse parking sensors, and a 7.0-inch media display.At the very top of the lineup, the Trekking adds body-colored handles, fog lamps, roof rails, cool-looking moldings on the sides, a few stickers, height adjustment for the drivers seat, and a more special design for the wheels. Based on the same platform that underpins the Fiat Panda and Lancia Ypsilon , the Mobi offers up to 19 centimeters (7.5 inches) of ground clearance.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-26 16:12:36|Editor: huaxia

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College student Jennifer Estrada takes part in a rally for gun control and anti-racism, in El Paso of Texas, the United States, on Aug. 7, 2019. (Xinhua/Wang Ying)

Gun control advocates said the Boulder massacre might have been prevented had more strict gun control measures being in effect -- from beefing up background checks to banning assault weapons, over which U.S. politicians regularly spar under the influence of organized interests.



by Peter Mertz

BOULDER, the United States, March 26 (Xinhua) -- The 21-year-old lone suspect in Monday's mass shooting at a Boulder grocery store appeared in court for the first time Thursday.

A defense attorney immediately asked that the suspect, Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa, receive a mental health evaluation before the case proceeds, according to media reports.

This fulfills Colorado legal pundits' initial assumption that his defense lawyers were likely to file a "Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity," defense to spare him from extensive criminal prosecution and dictate his lifelong incarceration in a mental hospital.

As stated by Colorado's Legal Defense Group in a blog just last month, "the insanity defense in Colorado gets defendants acquitted of criminal charges if they suffered from a mental condition that prevented them from 1) knowing right from wrong, or 2) having criminal intent."

Prosecutors vowed to file more charges against the suspect, who is currently facing 10 counts of first-degree murder.

The Aurora theater mass murder almost nine years ago, which cost 12 lives, ushered in a grim wave of such mass shootings in the United States, followed five months later by the killing of 26 people in Newton of Connecticut, including 20 young school children between 6 and 7 years old, by a mentally-ill 20-year-old who later killed himself.

The undeniable links connecting these tragedies are mental health and gun control, with the Boulder tragedy sparking a fury of calls among legislators in Colorado, and across the country, for tighter gun regulations.

Photo taken with mobile phone on June 13, 2016 shows a customer looking on an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle at a shop in Orlando, the United States. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu)

MENTAL ISSUES

Local TV News helicopter cameras captured a shirtless and handcuffed Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa being escorted by police from south Boulder's King Soopers Monday afternoon, an hour after he allegedly stalked the aisles with a modified AR-15 style automatic rifle, killing surprised customers and a police officer who rushed inside to help.

Family members and friends later revealed that Alissa had a long history of uncontrolled violence and paranoia. "In high school, Alissa talked about 'being chased,' about someone 'behind him,' about someone 'looking for him,'" his brother told local media Tuesday.

In 2018, court records showed Alissa was convicted of attacking and punching a white student at Alameda high school, who allegedly taunted him with racial slurs and bullying.

"If he had just had someone to talk to...or even someone close who could have spread the word of his anger...lives might have been saved," Hallie Stuart, a Boulder resident, told Xinhua Wednesday.

Born in Syria, Alissa was raised by well-respected, hard-working immigrant parents into a large family of 11, who noticed their brother's detachment from society after his high school bullying and difficulty in "finding a girlfriend," according to Facebook posts and media interviews.

But, it was Alissa's transparent, consistent paranoia and anger toward the world that somehow fueled his attack, social media posts suggested, ironically paralleling the Aurora theater shooter's mental illness, who suffered from extreme schizophrenia -- and whose own family ignored warning signs until it was too late.

"We need to look at the predictors of violence and address them by intervening early. It's the only way to stop this from happening every six days," said Paul Gionfriddo, president and CEO of Mental Health America in a statement Tuesday, also referring to the mass shooting of eight citizens in Atlanta last week, including six of Asian descent.

On Tuesday, Gionfriddo urged unhappy citizens, especially young Americans, to first call hotlines before contemplating hasty action.

A woman places flowers at a memorial near the Century 16 movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, July 22, 2012. (Xinhua/Yang Lei)

CONTROLS

Gun control advocates said the Boulder massacre might have been prevented had more strict gun control measures being in effect -- from beefing up background checks to banning assault weapons, over which U.S. politicians regularly spar under the influence of organized interests.

"The National Rifle Association (NRA) opposes every tiny measure of gun control because they are driven by greed -- profits over people," bottom-lined Sandy Phillips, a gun control advocate since her daughter Jessi, 24, was killed in the Aurora theater shooting.

The 2017 Small Arms Survey found that Americans owned 46 percent of the 857 million guns existing on Earth, with civilians (84.6 percent) dwarfing state militaries (13.1 percent) and law enforcements' (2.2 percent) stockpiles, and that number had grown by more than 200 million since 2006.

"The Trump hysteria and internal animosity he fomented also fueled gun sales," said Washington political analyst D. Barbour Richardson Wednesday.

With the pandemic closing schools and social gatherings, "mass murders" slowed in number in 2020, but more alarmingly, "shooting deaths in 2020 outpaced the next-highest recent year, 2017, by more than 3,600 killings, concluding one of the most violent years in decades," Time reported.

Last year, more than 40,000 Americans died from guns, with almost 20,000 from "gun violence" and 24,000 from "suicide," the Washington Post reported in January, citing Gun Violence Archive data.

COVID-19 and the protests over police brutality also led to a surge of firearm sales, studies conclude. In 2020, Americans bought some 23 million guns, a 64 percent increase over 2019 sales, said the Washington Post analysis.

In 2020, nearly 300 children under 11 were shot and killed in America, according to Gun Violence Archive data, a 50 percent increase from the previous year. More than 5,100 kids and teens aged 17 and younger were killed or injured in the country last year -- over 1,000 more than any other year since 2014, when the website began tracking it.

Some U.S. politicians reject correlation between mental health and gun deaths. But statistics prove otherwise.

Students of Walter Payton College Preparatory High School protest against gun violence in Chicago, the United States, on March 14, 2018. (Xinhua/Wang Ping)

TAKING CHARGE

The Boulder shooting might have been prevented, had there been more early alerts and preventive measures for mentally ill people, or had there been more strict gun control measures, gun control advocates said.

Ironically, just 10 days before the Boulder shooting, a local judge, appointed by U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper, a Colorado political fixture and leader since 2004, sided with pro-NRA forces to reverse a ban on assault weapons the city had imposed two years before.

Boulder County District Court Judge Andrew Hartman ruled on March 12 that the 2018 ban, which outlawed the possession, sale or transfer of assault weapons and large-capacity magazines, was invalid because it ran contrary to state law.

"The Court finds that the Ordinance's Assault Weapons Possession, Sale, and Transfer Ban is operationally preempted because it materially impedes the state's interest in firearms regulation, and it forbids what state law authorizes," Hartman wrote.

And less than two weeks later, 10 people were killed. Alissa purchased a modified assault rifle on March 16, just after the ban was squashed.

Cries for Hartman's removal echoed throughout social media Wednesday in the wake of the massacre.

"The Second Amendment does not protect assault weapons," said former Boulder Councilwoman Jill Adler Grano, who proposed the ordinance. "There have been hundreds and hundreds of mass shootings in America. This is a long overdue proposal. I think it's time to say enough, not in the city of Boulder," she added.

The NRA issued a celebratory press release earlier this month, after Boulder's assault weapons ban was struck down, and Monday, tweeted a quote from the Second Amendment: The Right to Bear Arms -- a move that was called "callous and insensitive" by gun control groups. 
The race is on, now that Californians age 50 to 64 will become eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine as of April 1. But they will have only two weeks before millions of others can elbow them out of line.

Im thrilled! I went immediately to the MyTurn website to see if its possible to register for an appointment, and discovered that the site has not been updated, said Mark Valentine, 59, a philanthropic consultant in San Francisco, referring to the states online portal where people can sign up for shots. He said he wants to get his quickly because he is desperate to visit his parents in Baltimore. He hasnt seen them in a year and a half.

I guess Ill join the throngs of people who will try to register online, he said.

I do wonder if two weeks is enough to get this age cohort vaccinated, he added.

As of April 1, people over 50 will be able to join the other priority groups already eligible for the lifesaving shot: those at least 65, essential employees, and those with underlying conditions that make them especially vulnerable to COVID-19. But on April 15, everyone else able to get the vaccine  those at least 16 and older  will also be able to sign up.

Many Bay Area residents said their overwhelming feeling on Gov. Gavin Newsoms announcement Thursday is gratitude that vaccines finally are becoming plentiful enough for almost everyone.

Its a global pandemic. I dont mind waiting in line, said Peter Miller, 58, a professional dog walker trailing six dogs Thursday in San Franciscos Pine Lake Park. But at 58, I was getting antsy. I feel Ive been on the cusp of eligibility for a long time.

Another dog walker, Victoria Cameron, 63, said she has also been patient.

There have been so many people at higher risk besides me, she said, giving her poodle, Jimmie, a pat. But she said she is looking forward to her vaccination so she can visit her mother in Minnesota.

This is an exciting time. Im excited to see (the pandemic) start to go away, Cameron said. Its worse than it could have been. I blame Trump for that.

Even though people 50 and older will have just two weeks of priority before the floodgates open to everyone 16 or older, Dr. Lee Riley, an infectious disease expert at UC Berkeley, said the state probably wouldnt be expanding so rapidly if officials didnt expect to have enough supply.

I dont think they want to be caught shorthanded, Riley said, calling Thursdays announcement fantastic news.

We didnt expect to see those 16 and older get their vaccines, or at least become eligible, until May, he said. There are only a few states where they have started vaccinating people above the age of 16, so to be able to do this in a larger state is really encouraging.

Meanwhile, not everyone who is already eligible has had a chance to be vaccinated yet, said Andy Imparato, executive director of Disability Rights California, a group advocating for people with underlying conditions. This group has been able to get vaccinated since March 15.

As the state deals with a swell in demand, I hope they continue to make the investments in equity to get populations who arent accessing it on an equal basis, he said. Im confident that they will keep working at it, but what Im not confident about is that it will happen seamlessly and consistently across the state.

Aaron Carruthers, executive director of the State Council on Developmental Disabilities, agreed and said he hopes that the state can also prioritize the Johnson & Johnson vaccine for those who struggle with severe physical or mental disabilities, as it just requires one shot.

Steve Rubenstein, Trisha Thadani and Nanette Asimov are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: srubenstein@sfchronicle.com, tthadani@sfchroniclelcom, and nasimov@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SteveRubeSF, @TrishaThadani and @NanetteAsimov
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-26 19:40:11|Editor: huaxia

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WASHINGTON, March 26 (Xinhua) -- It's immoral to manipulate any particular family's story to fabricate reports on Xinjiang as Iraq War stories cannot be repeated, Chinese Ambassador to the United States Cui Tiankai said in an interview with CNN on Thursday.

In response to a question raised by CNN anchor Christiane Amanpour about the cable network's so-called investigative story at an orphanage in China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Cui said, "I think it's very unfortunate. It's immoral to take advantage of any particular family situation and manipulate it. This is not true journalism. It's very unfortunate for CNN."

When asked to comment on the CNN story, Cui said, "And also you're talking about media coverage, satellite pictures. I remember all these things happened over the years, for instance, in maybe more than a dozen years ago in Iraq, a few years in Syria, in Libya."

"I still remember you reporting the Iraq War some years ago. So, can people come out and repeat these same stories to the world? No. Because many of the stories were just based on falsehood, were just fabrication," Cui added.

"And it's very unfortunate some people, including some journalists, they start with very strong bias and prejudice. That's their problem. That's how they come to very different conclusions about the particular situation, very much against real facts," said Cui.

In the last few years, more than 1,000 people, including diplomats and journalists, from over 100 countries, many of them Muslim countries, have visited Xinjiang, the Chinese ambassador said, refuting CNN's claim that Xinjiang was closed to international officials and journalists. "What they have seen are real facts."

Cui said the big threat to people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang, until very recently, was terrorist attacks, hurting and killing thousands of innocent people from all ethnic groups.

"It was a very serious threat. There was strong demand by the local people that the government had to do something to stop it. So this has been our priority, to stop the spread of terrorist attacks. Some of them are connected with international groups like ISIS," he said.

"There was mounting terrorist, extremist and violent ideology among the local population. That was also very dangerous. But what we did was not start war there. We did not use missiles or drones. We set up efforts for education and training, helping people to learn more about the law, to acquire good skills to improve their lives, find good jobs," he said.

Now the Xinjiang region has not seen a single terrorist attack in the last few years. "In terms of the population, the Uygur population has more than doubled in the last four decades," Cui said, adding that "So how can people talk about the so-called genocide?" Enditem
Cui: China not looking to rule the world

China Daily) 11:13, March 26, 2021

Cui Tiankai, the Chinese ambassador to the United States, addresses the 15th anniversary and Chinese Lunar New Year gala of China General Chamber of Commerce-U.S.A. in New York, the United States, Jan. 8, 2020. (Xinhua/Wang Ying)

China has never made it a national strategy to replace any other country, and it opposes dividing countries into different camps, Beijing's top envoy in Washington said on Thursday, hours after US President Joe Biden said the East Asian nation aims to be "the most powerful" in the world.

Biden, in his first White House news conference, said China has an "overall goal to become the leading country in the world, the wealthiest country in the world, and the most powerful country in the world".

"Our goal is to meet the growing aspiration of the Chinese people for a better life. Our goal is not to compete with or replace any other country," Chinese Ambassador to the US Cui Tiankai said.

"This is never our national strategy. Hopefully, people could have a better understanding of this," he said when asked by CNN's Christiane Amanpour to comment on Biden's remarks.

Biden also said that the US is "not looking for confrontation" with China, but there will be "steep competition" and insisted China play by the international rules such as fair competition, and that the US would re-establish its alliances, an effort he said he had told Chinese President Xi Jinping is "not anti-Chinese".

Cui said that what today's world wants, and tomorrow's world would want is to join efforts by all countries to build a community of nations for a shared future.

"We don't think any attempt to divide the world into different camps or even build a confrontational military approach, we don't think this kind of approach is a solution. Actually, this is a problem in itself," he said.

Such an attempt will not help the world in dealing with myriad challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, poverty, terrorism and building a more open, inclusive and sharing global economy, according to the envoy.

"So we believe our future lies in the joint efforts to build such a global community, not to divide the world into different camps," he said.

Cui, who was a member of the Chinese delegation to have a dialogue with leading US diplomats in Anchorage, Alaska, last week, said the meeting was "timely" and "helpful" in terms of enhancing mutual understanding.

"I hope this will be the beginning of a long process of dialogue, communication and hopefully coordination between the two sides," he said.

The ambassador said China "very much" stands for open and fair competition, but that is not possible when Chinese companies are discriminated against, with some senior executives detained without any reason, and when there are nationalism and protectionism against international rules and attempts to politicize everything.

"In order to have open, fair competition, I think these past mistakes will have to be corrected first. Otherwise, there's no basis to engage in such competition," Cui said.

As to international rules, Cui noted there are basic norms and rules that every country should follow, such as the fundamental principles for international relations set forth in the first chapter of the United Nations Charter.

The first principle set out in the UN Charter is sovereign equality of all its members, and another principle is the obligation of all the UN members to refrain from threats or use of force against the territory, integrity and political independence of any state.

"So if people are interested in these rules, maybe they should start by reading the charter first. If people really want to show us the power of example, I would suggest they could very well start with their own compliance with all these truly universally agreed principles," Cui said.

The ambassador also noted that China is "always open" for international cooperation, but any such cooperation will have to be based on equality, mutual benefit and mutual respect.

"How can people cooperate with each other, if they don't treat each other as equals? And this is not our problem. This is the problem for the Western countries. They still have to learn how to treat other countries, other races, other civilizations as equals," he said.

During the interview, CNN played a story about several children in China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, who were reportedly separated from their families.

"I think it's very unfortunate, it's immoral, to take advantage of any particular family situation and manipulate it," Cui said. "This is not true journalism. It's very unfortunate for CNN."

The ambassador said he had been to Xinjiang more than once in recent years, and "what I saw is a very different story, a very different picture from their reporting".

"I saw a very different picture from some fabrications on the media. Until very recently, the biggest threat to Xinjiang was terrorist attacks," he tweeted later on Thursday. "We do not start wars or use missiles/drones to fight the influence of terrorist and extremist ideology."

(Web editor: Meng Bin, Liang Jun)
An apple fly in preparation for brain imaging. Credit: Shoot for Science: Deepak Kakara, Dinesh Yadav, Sukanya Olkar, and Parijat Sil.

Apple flies have fascinated scientists right from the mid-19th century, as they are a captivating example of speciation, the beginning of a new species. Correspondence between Charles Darwin and Benjamin Walsh, who observed the apple flies and hawthorn flies in North America, began the rich history of this scientific question in evolutionary biology. When settlers in North America introduced apple trees to the region, what happened within the hawthorn flies to make them shift to this new host plant in the last 300 years?

Continuing the 160-year-old inquiry into the origins of the apple fly, a team of scientists from around the world has just published their research in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B. The researchers span three continents, from the National Centre for Biological Sciences, the University of Trans-Disciplinary Health Sciences and Technology, the University of Notre Dame, Free University Berlin, and Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology. They have been probing the neurological processes which underlie important behavioral changes in the apple fly: preference toward a new host plant and mate choice. These behavioral changes contributed to a rapid shift from hawthorn flies into a derived race of apple-infesting flies.

Hawthorn flies and apple flies are specialist insects, they feed only on a particular fruit, either the hawthorn berries or ripe apples. They also mate on or near the fruit and lay their eggs within it. What is interesting about the apple and hawthorn flies is that each generation emerges with a specific preference for the odor of ripe fruit that they use to locate their host and a strong aversion to the odor of the other fruit. What makes these two races of flies distinct?

An apple fly, Rhagoletis pomonella. Credit: Shoot for Science: Deepak Kakara, Dinesh Yadav, Sukanya Olkar, and Parijat Sil.

Using recordings of electrical activity and imaging the brains of the flies, the team identified that both apple and hawthorn flies use the same brain regions to process odors, but switch the locations of processing. In other words, where apple flies process the main apple odor (butyl hexanoate) is the same location in the brain where hawthorn flies process the major hawthorn odor (3-methyl-1-butanol), and vice versa. Thus, the locations for preference and aversion to fruit odors stay the same, while the odors that are processed there are inverted.

The scientists were able to locate the specific point where this difference emerges. It is at the very first synapse in the olfactory system, called the antennal lobe. "The most surprising part to me was actually seeing olfactory processing be so clearly different between the apple and hawthorn infesting host races. We knew these flies have divergent odor preference behaviors and patterns of genetic differentiation. Now, from this work we know their sensory neurophysiology differs as well," says Cheyenne Tait, the first author of the study.

It is possible that a simple shift in the processing of important sensory information might be a major contributor to the diverse species we see. "We are seeing the stuff of speciation. The origin of new species is one of the great questions that has piqued the intellectual curiosity of humankind. Resolving the question of speciation is of great scientific importance and the ongoing evolution of apple and hawthorn host races of Rhagoletis is connected to life itself, or the origin of new life forms," says Jeffrey L. Feder, an expert in evolutionary biology and one of the scientists involved in the study.

Cheyenne Tait preparing an apple fly for electrophysiological recording. Credit: Shoot for Science: Deepak Kakara, Dinesh Yadav, Sukanya Olkar, and Parijat Sil.

Through the change in the neurological processing of the fruit odor, a change at a species scale can be triggered. Shannon Olsson explains her fascination with the flies, "What is most remarkable to me is the simplicity of the switchthese flies simply changed their minds along with their species. Such a subtle shift in the processing of important sensory information in the brain could be contributing to the change in behavior that helps drive their evolution into new species."

This is not simply a question of the past, or the evolutionary history of one species, "This discovery has important implications for how animals such as insects can quickly adapt and change their behavior to new environments, such as with invasive species, or respond to human-influenced changes in climate or land use," adds Shannon. Many subfields of biology came together for this study to understand more about these two flies. There is more to discover as scientists tackle evolution from new perspectives and with exciting advances in technology that can be used to study these questions.

Explore further The apple maggot flyhow an altered sense of smell could drive the formation of new species

More information: Cheyenne Tait et al, A reversal in sensory processing accompanies ongoing ecological divergence and speciation in Rhagoletis pomonella, Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences (2021). Journal information: Proceedings of the Royal Society B Cheyenne Tait et al, A reversal in sensory processing accompanies ongoing ecological divergence and speciation in Rhagoletis pomonella,(2021). DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2021.0192

Provided by National Centre for Biological Sciences
The construction of Nord Stream 2 will be finalized this year, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Russias gas producer Gazprom Viktor Zubkov told reporters on Friday.

"The active work is underway, with quite a bit remaining to be done," he said. "It will surely be completed this year, definitely," TASS cited Zubkov as saying.

The works have been fulfilled by 90-92%, he noted.

The Nord Stream 2 project envisions the construction of two pipeline strings with a total capacity of 55 bln cubic meters per year from the coast of Russia through the Baltic Sea to Germany. The construction was suspended in December 2019 when the Swiss pipe-laying company Allseas stopped the works due to US sanctions. However, the construction resumed in December 2020. The pipeline is currently under construction in Danish territorial waters.
PHILIPSBURG:--- Collective Prevention Services and Ministry VSA would like to inform the public that COVID-19 vaccinations are now available to anyone 18 years and older.



COVID-19 severely affects those with underlying conditions and/ or those who are 60 years and older. The Minister of Public Health, Social Development and Labour, particularly encourages such individuals to register for the vaccine.



Registration is FREE to all DUTCH SIDE RESIDENTS.

You can register online here: https://forms.sintmaartengov.org/Form.aspx?fid=bc3b856f-b1d4-424d-be01-41a7756cf1d7&v=OGtn05kNmb



Alternatively, you can obtain a paper form and get help with your registration, free of charge, from CPS (weekdays from 08:00  16:00) or the Helpdesks at Cole Bay, Dutch Quarter, and St Peters (weekdays from 08:30  12:30).



Once registered, you will be allocated a time slot for your vaccination on a first-come, first-served basis.



If you have any medical questions about the vaccine, please contact your GP. For general information, call 914.
The stars hit the red carpet for Opera Australia's La Traviata opening night at Mrs Macquarie's Point on Friday.

Leading the arrivals were Married At First Sight stars Cameron Merchant and Jules Robinson, who went along side by side.

The new parents, who welcomed a son six months ago, were enjoying a date night off.

Out and about: The stars hit the red carpet for Opera Australia's La Traviata opening night at Mrs Macquarie's Point on Friday. Leading the arrivals were Married At First Sight stars Cameron Merchant (right) and Jules Robinson (left), who went along side by side

Jules, 38, looked stunning as she showed off her post-baby body in a skin-tight black frock with eye-catching lace inserts at the shoulders, as well as a halterneck design.

She pulled her red hair off her face and opted for dramatic coral lipstick and statement earrings with glistening gemstones.

The former reality star finished her look with a number of rings and a bracelet, while Cameron chose a tuxedo with patent leather dress shoes.

Wow! Jules, 38, looked stunning as she showed off her post-baby body in a skin-tight black frock with eye-catching lace inserts at the shoulders, as well as a halterneck design

Actor Sam Neill and political journalist Laura Tingle attended together, despite having reportedly split last month.

According to a report in The Sydney Morning Herald's Private Sydney, the Hollywood star, 73, and the ABC 7.30 presenter, 59, had quietly gone their separate ways after three years together.

However, it appears the pair had either mended fences or are very friendly exes as they posed together on the red carpet on Friday.

Friendly! Actor Sam Neill and political journalist Laura Tingle attended together, despite having reportedly split last month. Both pictured

Over: According to a report in The Sydney Morning Herald, the Hollywood star, 73, and the ABC 7.30 presenter, 59, had quietly gone their separate ways after three years together

Getting along! However, it appears the pair had either mended fences or are very friendly exes as they posed together on the red carpet on Friday

Laura opted for a classic black dress with a small Peter Pan collar, while Sam looked chic in a tux with a silk tie.

Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott went along with his trendy daughter Bridget Abbott.

The 28-year-old opted for a chic pale orange frock with a retro silhouette, along with a pair of thatched flats.

Cool pair: Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott went along with his trendy daughter Bridget Abbott. both pictured

She wore a pair of glasses with clear frames and had her blonde hair down, while opting for simple earrings and a peachy makeup palette.

Tony, 63, looked smart in a black tuxedo with a matching bow-tie worn with patent leather shoes.

Brooke Boney, 34, turned heads in a show-stopping metallic black gown with a daring deep V-neck.

Glittering: Brooke Boney, 34, (pictured) turned heads in a show-stopping metallic black gown with a daring deep V-neck

Details: The Today show star wore her hair in curls around her face and opted for a smokey eye and nude lipstick

She added a pair of towering stilettos and carried a retro, square mother of pearl clutch.

The Today show star wore her hair in curls around her face and opted for a smokey eye and nude lipstick.

Colin Fassnidge, 45, dressed down for the occasion, with the My Kitchen Rules host choosing jeans and a blazer while his wife Jane Hyland opted for a pretty white dress with pleats and a bolero jacket.

Stunner: Looking fantastic in black was Melissa Doyle, 51, (pictured) with the TV journalist turning heads in a fitted wiggle dress, along with strappy heels

Pretty: She wore her blonde hair down and straight, while opting for a soft, pink makeup palette and rose gold drop earrings

Looking fantastic in black was Melissa Doyle, 51, with the TV journalist turning heads in a fitted wiggle dress, along with strappy heels.

She wore her blonde hair down and straight, while opting for a soft, pink makeup palette and rose gold drop earrings.

Former The Voice Australia host Darren McMullen, 39, chose a slim-fit black suit worn with Zebra-print shoes.

Bright lights: Marcia Hines, 67, (pictured) wowed the crowd in neon yellow wrap dress with a bold pattern in black, orange and white

Sunny: She wore her red hair up off her face, and opted for a warm makeup palette with sunset eye-shadow and berry lip stain

Details: The singer, who also posed with Todd McKenney, 55, added a pair of black heels with a pointed design, as well as a stack of gold bangles and chunky watch

Marcia Hines, 67, wowed the crowd in neon yellow wrap dress with a bold pattern in black, orange and white.

The singer, who also posed with Todd McKenney, 55, added a pair of black heels with a pointed design, as well as a stack of gold bangles and chunky watch.

She wore her red hair up off her face, and opted for a warm makeup palette with sunset eye-shadow and berry lip stain.

Great dame: Ita Buttrose, 79, (pictured) wowed in red, with a sequin cardigan worn over a matching blouse, and dark trousers

Shiny! s. She wore a matching red lipstick, a smoky lavender eye-shadow and complimented her look with glistening earrings, while carrying sunglasses in her face

A fine pair: Colin Fassnidge, 45, dressed down for the occasion, with the My Kitchen Rules host choosing jeans and a blazer while his wife Jane Hyland opted for a pretty white dress with pleats and a bolero jacket. Both pictured

Ita Buttrose, 79, wowed in red, with a sequin cardigan worn over a matching blouse, and dark trousers.

She wore a matching red lipstick, a smoky lavender eye-shadow and complimented her look with glistening earrings.

The media personality completed her look with red nail polish, and carried a pair of designer sunglasses.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 26)  The Philippines must band together with other nations to rally "international pressure" on China' for its continuing illegal acts in the West Philippine Sea, an expert said on Friday.

Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative Executive Director Gregory Poling said the Duterte administration should reconsider its strategy of being warm to China since the East Asian giant has not stopped its incursions in Philippine waters, including the refusal of nearly 200 vessels suspected to be Chinese maritime militia to leave Julian Felipe Reef in the West Philippine Sea. He said the Philippines has not sought help from other nations since Duterte has been in office, but believes it is now the time to do so.

"The Philippines has not really asked for support for the West Philippine Sea issue for the last five years. It is now quite clear that Beijing has not responded positively to President Duterte's pro-China policy," he told CNN Philippines.

If the Philippines can find allies in the United States, United Kingdom, and even India, the country's neighbors in southeast Asia may be empowered to speak up and put "international pressure" on China, he added. Poling said that southeast Asian countries are opting to stay silent due to worries of upsetting China over an issue they believe won't be resolved. But that may change once the Philippines finds allies in powerful nations.

"That's going to have to start with the Philippines' western allies. Get the Europeans to speak out more, maybe the Indians, and then smaller countries in Southeast Asia may feel bold enough to follow suit," he said.

Poling added, "China must be called out for this kind of illegal behavior and be treated as the rogue actor that it really is, in the same way Russia, Iran, Syria have been treated for past violations, otherwise China will continue to behave this way because it pays no price for it internationally."

The US, UK, Australia, Japan, and Canada are just some of the countries that have expressed support for the Philippines as it protested the presence of more than 200 Chinese fishing and maritime vessels at the Julian Felipe Reef, also known as Whitsun Reef, in the West Philippine Sea. It is part of the vast area being claimed by Beijing in the South China Sea but the reef lies within the Philippines' 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone.

For now, Poling strongly believes that the 183 Chinese vessels that remain stationed in the Julian Felipe Reef are not fishing boats as claimed by China, saying the country will continue to gaslight the international community regarding its illegal acts. He also isn't convinced that they will leave Philippine waters anytime soon, based on China's track record of presence in the Spratly Islands.

Should China be believed that the vessels at the reef are merely fishing boats, maritime expert Jay Batongbacal said Beijing can still be held liable.

"China has admitted that is conducting fishing in the Philippine EEZ without our permission, then what is happening is China is sponsoring illegal, unregulated, and unreported fishing in Philippine waters. That is an offense under international law so this could be something that can be pursued in international fora," he told CNN Philippines in a separate interview.

The Philippines' Department of Foreign Affairs on March 21 sent a diplomatic protest and demanded that China "promptly withdraw" its vessels from the country's exclusive economic zone, while the Armed Forces deployed more naval units to the area.
Authorities arrested a Florida school counselor after they said he admitted on tape to sex with one of his students.

DeSoto County youth football coach and school counselor Bruce Blanden Jr., 40, of Arcadia is being held on a $1 million bond after he admitted to having sex with a 16-year-old student, WINK-TV reported.

A report said the sexual relationship began just after Christmas break.

The victim, who reported the relationship Monday, said she had sex with Blanden eight times, including at his home and a football field in Arcadia, WINK-TV reported.

Authorities said they made a controlled call with the victim Tuesday during which Blanden admitted to sex with the student and asked her not to tell anyone.

Hes now facing 10 counts of sexual assault with a minor over the age of 12.

Read the full report on winknews.com.
(Alliance News) - Moody's Investors Service on Thursday has affirmed Dublin-based building materials company CRH PLC's Baa1 long term issuer rating.

The outlook remains stable, the ratings agency said.

CRH's rating is mainly supported by the group's good product diversification, high degree of vertical integration, good geographical diversification, credit metrics, and strong liquidity profile, Moody's said.

However, CRH's rating is constrained by the cyclicality of construction end-markets, ongoing lockdowns still restricting economic activity and weaker market outlooks for some construction sub-segment such as non-residential construction, mergers & acquisitions associated event risk given the company's history of multibillion acquisitions, and increasing shareholder remuneration with higher dividends complimented by share buybacks.

The stable outlook, meanwhile, reflects Moody's expectation that CRH will continue to exhibit relative resilience in its performance and will maintain credit metrics in line with Baa1 rating requirements.

"Today's rating action reflects the company's track record of maintaining strong credit metrics and its sustainably positive free cash flow generation. CRH's performance in 2020 remained resilient despite the pandemic and will likely remain solid as the economy recovers in the next 12-18 months", said Vitali Morgovski, a Moody's assistant vice president.

CRH shares closed 0.2% higher in London on Thursday at 3,279.00 pence each.

By Evelina Grecenko; evelinagrecenko@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2021 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Unusual bright lights appeared over the skies of the US overnight, leaving watchers in awe.

Videos taken from the scene showed people shocked as the lights streaked across the sky and confused about what the lights might possibly be.

Officials and experts say that the lights are most likely the result of debris from a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket burning up as it fell back towards Earth.

While the sight did look like an especially bright and busy meteor shower, none was forecast. And one such rocket that was launched earlier this month was supposed to make its way back to Earth but that appeared to have gone wrong.

Astronomer Jonathan McDowell said in a tweet that the rocket had been part of a Starlink launch and that its deorbit burn  to change its movement so that it would properly burn up  had gone wrong.

The lights were seen across the US Northwest, with videos coming from as far apart as Washington and Oregon.

The National Weather Service in Seattle said that there was no danger to people on the ground and that while it was waiting for further information it believed the objects were the result of the rocket burning up.

Follow live:

While we await further confirmation on the details, heres the unofficial information we have so far. The widely reported bright objects in the sky were the debris from a Falcon 9 rocket 2nd stage that did not successfully have a deorbit burn, the NWS wrote on Twitter.

Based on the observed video, this looks more likely than a bolide meteor or similar object as they would be moving far faster on impact with our atmosphere. There are NO expected impacts on the ground in our region at this time.

In follow-up tweets, it explained what appeared to have gone wrong with the re-entry to make it burn up so spectacularly.

As a follow up to the debris observed earlier. Heres some more info on atmospheric re-entry. Typical manmade objects obtain low Earth orbit at speeds around 17,500 mph. As they re-enter the Earths atmosphere, the angle must be just right. If its too steep, they burn up, it wrote.

If the angle is too small, they risk skimming the atmosphere like a stone on water. Meteors, on the contrary, can easily reach the top of atmosphere at speeds greater than 45,000 mph. In addition, the angle of impact can be very steep...which can incinerate the object quickly.
Leap forward' in risk management of rectal cancer

Rectal cancer, along with colon cancer, is the third-most common type of cancer in the United States, and treatment and surgery greatly affect the quality of life of patients. A multi-disciplinary team at Washington University in St. Louis has developed and tested an innovative imaging technique that is able to differentiate between rectal tissues with residual cancers and those without tumors after chemotherapy and radiation, which could one day help to avoid unnecessary surgeries in some patients who have achieved complete tumor destruction after chemoradiation.

Quing Zhu, PhD, professor of biomedical engineering at the McKelvey School of Engineering, and members of her lab developed a system using a new imaging technique -- acoustic resolution photoacoustic microscopy co-registered with ultrasound (AR-PAM/US) and paired with a "deep learning" artificial intelligence neural network. This technique was better able to determine the presence of residual tumors in treated rectal tumor bed tissues than other types of imaging, such as MRI, which is often unable to discern residual cancer from scar tissue. Results of the research -- the first feasibility study using AR-PAM imaging in patients with rectal cancer previously treated with radiation and chemotherapy -- are published in the journal Radiology March 23.

"Our PAM/US system paired with the deep learning neural network has great potential to better identify patients suitable for nonoperative management and improve patient quality of life," Zhu said. "If we can tell after radiation and chemotherapy which patients may have a good response with no residual tumors, the patient may be able to avoid surgery."

Zhu, also professor of radiology at the School of Medicine, was joined on the paper by doctoral students Xiandong Leng, co-first author with Shihab Uddin, PhD, who earned a doctorate in biomedical engineering from McKelvey Engineering in 2020, and Hongbo Luo; and Sitai Kou.

They conducted a yearlong prospective study of patients with rectal cancer treated at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis by School of Medicine clinicians: Matthew Mutch, MD, the Solon and Bettie Gershman Chair in Colon and Rectal Surgery, chief of the Section of Colon and Rectal Surgery and professor of surgery; and William Chapman Jr., MD, a resident physician in surgery. Zhu said others who contributed significantly to the study were: Steven R. Hunt, MD, associate professor of surgery; Anup Shetty, MD, assistant professor of radiology; Deyali Chatterjee, MD, assistant professor of pathology and immunology; and Michelle Cusumano, study coordinator in the Section of Colon and Rectal Surgery.

Chapman said the team spent more than three years investigating this technology in surgically removed colon and rectum specimens with promising results before developing the prototype for patient studies.

"We hope that improved imaging provided by AR/PAM will significantly improve our ability to discriminate between patients with residual tumors and those who have been completely cured without surgery," he said. "By both avoiding morbid, unneeded surgery and reducing the burden of surveillance testing, photoacoustic imaging could be a leap forward in the current management of locally invasive rectal cancer."

In the study, after completing chemotherapy and radiation, patients underwent PAM/US imaging with a handheld endorectal laser probe developed in Zhu's lab. The probe has a rotating head that allows for a 360-degree image of the rectum, the last 6 inches of the colon. The end of the probe, which takes one image per second, is covered by a small latex balloon inflated with water that allows transmission of the ultrasound and photoacoustic waves to the rectal wall. These waves highlight changes in the vasculature in the tissue and as well as new tumor growth. The imaging procedure added about 20 minutes of time that patients were under anesthesia.

Leng, who has been working on this project since 2017, was instrumental in system and software development, Zhu said. He designed and built the AR/PAM endoscope -- the first of its kind -- and programmed the system to acquire data and process and display images in real time.

"From the very preliminary ex vivo data, my setup clearly disclosed multi-layer structure from ultrasound image and rich blood vessels in the submucosa of normal colorectal tissue," Leng said. "In contrast to normal tissue, malignant tumor bed shows a lack of multilayer structure and blood vessels. This important finding may reveal an important feature accessing patients' treatment response to chemotherapy and radiation therapy."

In the first phase of the study, the team used data from surgically removed tissue specimens from more than 2,000 images from 22 patients to train the neural network, an artificial intelligence-based set of algorithms that operates similar to the human brain, to recognize normal and cancerous colorectal tissue. In the second phase, they used images from the living tissue from 10 patients who had previously undergone chemotherapy and radiation. Several hundred images from five of those patients were used to fine-tune the neural network, and hundreds of images from five patents were withheld for testing.

The deep-learning PAM model, designed and developed by Uddin, correctly predicted the cancerous status of all five of the patients who had undergone imaging, while the MRI images misclassified three out of five patients, and the ultrasound-only deep-learning model incorrectly declared three patients as cancer free.

Mutch said the team is very optimistic about the results.

"This is spectacular news, and it moves us closer in the transition from concept to clinically useful technology," he said. "The hope is that it will allow us to differentiate patients who had a complete response to chemotherapy and radiation from those patients with residual tumor. This will help better determine which patients can be managed nonoperatively versus those who truly need an operation."

Going forward, the team plans to conduct a clinical study to confirm these initial results in a large group of rectal cancer patients who have completed chemotherapy and radiation and will undergo surgery or follow patients after treatment.

###

Leng X, Shihab Uddin K M, Chapman Jr. W, Luo H, Kou S, Amidi E, Yang G, Chatterjee D, Shetty A, Hunt S, Mutch M, Zhu Q. Assessing rectal cancer treatment response using co-registered endorectal photoacoustic and ultrasound imaging. Radiology, March 23, 2021.

https:/ / doi. org/ 10. 1148/ radiol. 2021202208

Funding for this research was provided by pre-R01 funding from the Siteman Cancer Center and the Foundation for Barnes-Jewish Hospital; and the National Cancer Institute R01CA237664

This story has been published on: 2021-03-26. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Kathmandu, March 26

Amid a special function on Thursday, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli announced that the country is now self-sufficient in certain animal products including milk powder, butter, eggs, and meat products.

However, the records of the Department of Customs under the Ministry of Industry tell something different. The departments statistics only accept half of the governments announcement.

The country is self-sufficient on eggs and chicken meat only, but it is highly dependent on others in terms of milk powder and butter, according to the department.

In the first eight months of the current fiscal year (mid-July 2020-mid-March 2021), Nepal imported 93,250 kg butter by spending Rs 496.5 million, records at the department read. Likewise, in this period, Nepal imported 1 million and 182,253 kilograms of milk powder worth Rs 813 million.

Three factories in Chitwan, Biratnagar and Pokhara produce 2,800 metric tonnes of milk powder a year, and it is insufficient to meet the countrys annual demand of more than 4,000 metric tonnes, says Narayan Devkota, the chairman of the Central Dairy Cooperative Association.

Likewise, agriculture expert Krishna Prasad Paudel says the governments announcement only speaks of the situation in Kathmandu and Chitwan only.

Perhaps this is for a cheap popularity, Paudel says, The data do not support this.
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday (March 26) hailed Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's leadership and contribution of the Indian army in Bangladesh's 1971 freedom war as he joined President Abdul Hamid and his counterpart Sheikh Hasina in celebrating the country's 50 years of independence here. He also presented the Gandhi Peace Prize 2020, being conferred by India upon Bangladesh's 'Father of the Nation' Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, to his daughters - Premier Sheikh Hasina and her younger sister Sheikh Rehana.

Speaking at the 50th National Day programme of Bangladesh at the National Parade Square, PM Modi said it was an honour for India to confer Gandhi Peace Prize on Mujibur Rahman.

Modi, who was wearing a 'Mujib Jacket' as a tribute to Bangladesh's Father of the Nation, said that Bangabandhu's leadership and bravery had ensured that no power could enslave Bangladesh.

"This is one of the most memorable days of my life. I am grateful that Bangladesh has included me in this event. I am grateful that Bangladesh has invited India to take part in this function. It is a matter of our pride that we got the opportunity to honour Sheikh Mujibur Rahman with Gandhi Peace Prize," said Modi.

After his arrival, he attended an event at the National Martyr`s Memorial at 10:50 AM in Bangladesh capital Dhaka. Thereafter, Bangladesh Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen called on Prime Minister Modi at 3:15 PM.

Later, he attended the National Day Programme at 3:45 pm. He will also inaugurate Bapu Bangabandhu Digital Video Exhibition at 7:45 pm.

Thank you for tuning in for the live updates of PM Modi's two-day Bangladesh visit:

- Thanking PM Modi for all the support he has provided to Bangladesh, PM Sheikh Hasina said, "In our independence war, we always remember the contribution of India. PM Narendra Modi has graced this occasion, being physically present here as a Guest of Honour. We are honoured to have him here."

- "India has now become one of our best development partners," said Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina at Dhaka.

- "I extend my heartiest thanks to PM Narendra Modi who has consented to grace this occasion even amidst this pandemic," said Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina.

- PM Modi said that India is very happy that Made in India (COVID-19) vaccines are being used by our brothers and sisters of Bangladesh

- The Prime Minister said, "I would like to remind brothers & sisters in Bangladesh with pride, being involved in the struggle for independence of Bangladesh was one of the first movements of my life. I must have been 20-22 years old when I&my colleagues did Satyagraha for Bangladesh's freedom."

- PM Narendra Modi announced Swarna Jayanti scholarship for youths of Bangladesh.

- "The pictures of atrocities that the Pakistan Army inflicted on the people here used to distract us. For many days those pictures didn't let us sleep," said PM Modi at Dhaka.

- "On completion of 50 years of relationship between India and Bangladesh, I would like to invite 50 entrepreneurs of Bangladesh to visit India and join our start-up and innovation ecosystem and meet our venture capitalists," the Prime Minister said.

- "Today in Bangladesh, the blood of those who fought for their liberation & the blood of Indian soldiers are flowing together. This blood will form such a relationship that will not break down under any type of pressure &will not fall prey to any kind of diplomacy," said PM Modi.

- "Today I also salute the brave soldiers of Indian Army who stood with brothers & sisters of Bangladesh in 'Muktijuddho'. I am happy that many Indian soldiers who participated in Bangladesh Liberation War are present at this event today.": PM Modi at Dhaka

- "It is a matter of pride for Indians that we got the opportunity to honour Sheikh Mujibur Rahman with Gandhi Peace Prize," said PM Modi at Dhaka

- Sheikh Rehana, the younger daughter of Bangladesh's Father of Nation Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, received the Gandhi Peace Prize 2020 which has been conferred upon him posthumously.

- Watch live here:

- PM Narendra Modi, with his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina, arrives at National Parade Ground in Dhaka to take in National Day programme.

- PM Narendra Modi interacted with eminent young achievers from different walks of life in Dhaka.

Eminent young achievers from different walks of life interacted with PM @narendramodi in Dhaka. pic.twitter.com/QJ6vleUuTJ  PMO India (@PMOIndia) March 26, 2021

- Prime Minister Narendra Modi met 'Muktijodhas', the liberation war fighters of Bangladesh, in Dhaka today.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi met 'Muktijodhas', the liberation war fighters of Bangladesh, in Dhaka today pic.twitter.com/avBVi9oLhV  ANI (@ANI) March 26, 2021

- Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets the young achievers of Bangladesh.

Dhaka: Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets the young achievers of Bangladesh pic.twitter.com/4Wi5KgcONS  ANI (@ANI) March 26, 2021

- Watch video of Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcome by members of the Indian diaspora in Bangladesh, at a hotel in Dhaka.

#WATCH: Prime Minister Narendra Modi being welcomed by members of the Indian diaspora in Bangladesh, at a hotel in Dhaka. pic.twitter.com/cWttiw1b3X  ANI (@ANI) March 26, 2021

- Without a single bullet, we're achieving our goals. For India, their eastern border is secured because of strong relationship with Bangladesh. For us, land boundary finalised, maritime boundary with India finalised, water sharing of Ganga finalised. Focus of the visit is celebration. Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina & PM Modi have reached such height of diplomatic maturity that we've been resolving all our critical issues through dialogue & discussion, said Bangladesh Foreign Minister.

Focus of the visit is celebration. Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina & PM Modi have reached such height of diplomatic maturity that we've been resolving all our critical issues through dialogue & discussion: Bangladesh Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen on PM Modi's visit to the country pic.twitter.com/QMKbkSEKhw  ANI (@ANI) March 26, 2021

- Prime Minister Narendra Modi signs the visitors' book at National Martyrs' Memorial in Dhaka.

- Prime Minister Narendra Modi plants a sapling at National Martyrs' Memorial in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Bangladesh: Prime Minister Narendra Modi plants a sapling at National Martyrs' Memorial in Dhaka. pic.twitter.com/CSmeICexb2  ANI (@ANI) March 26, 2021

- Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits National Martyrs' Memorial, Savar in Dhaka.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits National Martyrs' Memorial, Savar in Dhaka. pic.twitter.com/MkbyJ58UmV  ANI (@ANI) March 26, 2021

-Prime Minister Narendra Modi being accorded Guard of Honour upon his arrival in Bangladesh. Visuals from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi being accorded Guard of Honour upon his arrival in Bangladesh. Visuals from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka. pic.twitter.com/NJBTa91Va0  ANI (@ANI) March 26, 2021

-Video of PM Narendra Modi and Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina in Dhaka.

#WATCH: PM Narendra Modi received by PM of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina as he arrives in Dhaka on a two-day visit to the country. pic.twitter.com/oSC0f9prV8  ANI (@ANI) March 26, 2021

-Here are some visuals of PM Modi being received at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka.

Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina receives PM Narendra Modi. Visuals from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka. pic.twitter.com/koCCXly5PV  ANI (@ANI) March 26, 2021

- PM of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina receives PM Narendra Modi.

-PM Narendra Modi arrives in Dhaka on two-day official visit to Bangladesh

-PM Narendra Modi embarks on a two-day visit to Bangladesh, his first visit to a foreign country since the COVID19 outbreak

Prior to his departure, Prime Minister Modi said that he looks forward to having "substantive discussions" with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. He will also call on Bangladesh President Abdul Hamid during the visit.

"I look forward to my participation at the National Day celebrations tomorrow, which will also commemorate the birth centenary of the Father of the Nation of Bangladesh, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Bangabandhu was one of the tallest leaders of the last century, whose life and ideals continue to inspire millions," he said in a tweet.

The Prime Minister is also looking forward to visiting Bangabandhu`s Samadhi in Tungipara to pay his respects.

As I leave for Bangladesh tomorrow, I look forward to remembering the life and ideals of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and celebrate 50 years of Bangladeshs War of Liberation, as well as our diplomatic ties. https://t.co/74FLn4MvHB  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 25, 2021

"I am particularly looking forward to my interaction with representatives of the Matua community at Orakandi, from where Sri Harichandra Thakur ji disseminated his pious message. I will be having substantive discussions with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, following our very productive virtual meeting in December last year. I also look forward to my meeting with His Excellency President Abdul Hamid, and to interactions with other Bangladeshi dignitaries," he said.

He added, "My visit will not only be an occasion to convey appreciation for Bangladesh`s remarkable economic and developmental strides under Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina`s visionary leadership, but also to commit India`s abiding support for these achievements. I will also express India`s support and solidarity for Bangladesh`s fight against COVID-19.

Our partnership with Bangladesh is an important pillar of our Neighbourhood First policy, and we are committed to further deepen and diversify it. We will continue to support Bangladesh's remarkable development journey, under Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's dynamic leadership  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 25, 2021

"Bangladesh Foreign Minister on Thursday said the people of Bangladesh welcome the visit of Prime Minister Modi. During his visit, the Prime Minister will also interact with diverse groups of Bangladesh`s polity and society.

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Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-26 22:01:28|Editor: huaxia

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LISBON, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa on Friday thanked the German military medical team who came to Portugal to work for six weeks and helped the country fight against COVID-19.

"It was a magnificent gesture of European solidarity. Thank you very much," the prime minister wrote on Twitter, with gratitude marking the end of the mission that starts on Feb. 6.

Portuguese Assistant Secretary of State for Health Antonio Lacerda Sales also thanked the German team and promised that, if Germany needs it, "Portugal will be present."

"In this global world, we all need everyone. This is faithful proof of the possible and desirable collaboration between European countries," Lacerda Sales said in a farewell speech at Figo Maduro airport in Lisbon.

The German aid came as requested by the Portuguese Minister of Health, Marta Temido, to German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer at the end of January.

In addition to dozens of health professionals, the German military brought oxygen ventilators, infusion pumps, and hospital beds to reinforce treatment for COVID-19 patients in Portugal.

As the world is struggling to contain the pandemic, vaccination is underway in an increasing number of countries with the already-authorized coronavirus vaccines.

Meanwhile, 267 candidate vaccines are still being developed globally -- 83 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 March 23. Enditem
DANBURY  Students wont return to the public schools full-time next month, after all.

Im disappointed, said Superintendent Sal Pascarella, who announced to the school board on Wednesday that the district will stay on the hybrid model.

Administrators had said two weeks ago that they hoped to open the schools full-time to the majority of students in April, but space limitations and other challenges made this too difficult, Pascarella said.

For safety reasons at this point, we think we can just continue in the manner that we are, he said.

The plan is to focus on summer-school programs and to reopen for every student next academic year, he said.

Brian A. Pounds / Hearst Connecticut Media

The decision comes as new COVID-19 cases begin to climb again in the city, although they are still far below the most recent peaks in November and December.

The city reported 127 positive tests taken between March 15 to March 21, although some data from that week is still pending. Thats a nearly 140 percent increase from the week of March 8, when 53 positive tests were collected.

Dr. Jack Fong, the districts medical adviser, blamed this on the relaxing atmosphere in the community, with the state lifting many COVID restrictions on businesses last Friday.

People let their guards down, he said.

School board member Kathy Molinaro said she was let down by the decision.

Its just so disappointing because when you all worked so hard to get the teachers vaccinated, I really thought there was going to be a light at the end of the tunnel, she said. I think it was the train coming down.

Most educators will get their second dose on April 2 or 3 and will no longer need to quarantine if they are exposed to the virus, said Kathy ODowd, health and nursing services coordinator.

But some classrooms or clusters are expected to need to go on distance learning in the near future because of a high number of staff absent for illnesses and quarantines, said Kim Thompson, director of human resources.

As of Wednesday night, more than 215 staff members had called out for Thursday, she said. This week, an average of 50 to 60 staff members have called out sick in the morning, she said.

The most difficult thing for families and parents is going to be getting that robocall at 8 at night saying, Tomorrow your child is on a distance learning model, Thompson said.

Her department is working with the unions to accommodate requests for personal days, she said.

But we may have to say no in some cases, Thompson said. Its going to get rockier here.

Some staff who had health accommodations to work from home are expected to return once they are fully vaccinated, she said.

Thats kind of the Calvary coming, as well, Thompson said.

Reopening challenges

If students returned full-time, the districts medical advisers were worried about cohorts of students mixing and with social distancing in classrooms and on buses.

The district would have been unable to safely fit all of the roughly 12,000 students, so some full-time distance learners may not have been allowed to return.

It was a problem of how we could make those selections and could be an equity issue, Pascarella said.

Other school districts that have opened full-time are not as overcrowded as Danbury, he said.

At the elementary schools, class sizes range from 16 to 24 students, and keeping students socially distanced would have been a problem in 89 classrooms, he said. Students would have needed to switch teachers.

Its a deep concern that we all have, Pascarella said. Changing teachers is not something we would want to do.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week said students should be kept at least three feet apart in the classroom, down from the previous six feet. But distance between staff and students should still be six feet.

Danbury already aims to keep students between three to six feet apart following guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Families traveling for April break and spreading the virus is another concern because the states travel advisory is now recommended, not required, Pascarella said. But the district has not decided whether to move to distance learning for the week after vacation, as New Milford has.

The vaccine will be in full effect for the majority of educators by the end of spring break, but the CDC still recommends those with the vaccine follow travel-related recommendations, ODowd said.

In a thorough examination, with the spacing challenge we have and the rise in the community spread, mixing the cohorts, its best we remain steadfast in what were doing and plan for summer school and plan for opening next year in a very aggressive way, Pascarella said.
The Farmers Market at the Pearl, a long San Antonio staple, is currently in the running for USA Todays 10 Best Readers Choice list 2021naturally in the farmers market category.

With around 50 vendors selling their own locally cultivated produce, products and wares, its clear to locals that the market deserves the national recognition.

While the Pearl itself may possess a boujie reputation, the farmers market offers a thriving and growing space for local farmers and culinary creators to have invaluable facetime with the community. In addition, the market also provides a sunny venue for locals to make an outing out of their produce run, with a variety of artisanal food and beverage offerings to choose from while you stroll.

READ ALSO: After the freeze, Alamo Heights' Shades of Green stays busy

Not to mention the live music, often by talented local artists, which somehow seems to make the thought of natural fruits and vegetables all the more appealing. Theres also always plenty of cute dogs running around, which for me personally is only further incentive to lock eyes with a local farmer.

Through the pandemic, the weekend market has even provided us with some of their vendors most popular items online, available for curbside pickup.

To help the San Antonio farmers market gain national visibility, patrons can vote online here to shoot it into the top ten. https://www.10best.com/

Camille Sauers is a freelance writer based in San Antonio. Find her on Twitter @camillesaccount.

Send her emails to camillefrancissauers@gmail.com.
Banning them would be a fools errand. First, because some 20 million have already been sold, and no one is going to confiscate those. Second, because any attempt to define them allows manufacturers to produce modified versions that are no less deadly. The shooter who murdered 26 people at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012 had an AR-15-style rifle designed to comply with Connecticuts ban on assault weapons.
China said Friday that alleged rights abuses of Uyghurs in the far western Xinjiang region is just a "strategic conspiracy" by the U.S. to contain China, quoting the chief of staff to former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell.

At a daily news conference, the Foreign Ministry's spokesperson Hua Chunying played a video of a speech made by Lawrence Wilkerson, on the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity 2018 Conference, showing his stating that the Uyghur issue is "a strategic conspiracy by the United States to disrupt China."

Hua reiterated that cooperation lives up to the common interests of China and the U.S., after President Joe Biden said that he did not seek "confrontation" with China despite "stiff competition" continues.

Hua also denounced an agreement between the U.S. and Taiwanese coast guards that underscores growing ties between Washington and the self-governing island democracy.

She said the pact violated U.S. commitments to China and called on the U.S. to "be cautious with its words and actions on Taiwan-related issues."

Hua also attacked support in Congress for a bill calling on Taiwan to be given status at the World Health Organization. Taiwan's seat at the U.N. was handed to China in 1971.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
Intel has been trolling Apple for a while now, particularly after Apple took the call to stop using Intel's chips for the MacBooks. Apple is going to use its own in-house silicon for their devices now, starting with the Apple M1 that was used in the last iteration of MacBooks and the iMac.

Intel recently hired Im a Mac actor Justin Long to create new ads that praise the PC. The usual attacks have been on the lines of how Apple MacBooks are limited in terms of colour and variations and how no one really games on a PC.

Also Read: Intel takes on Apple again with new Mac vs PC ads, this time they star the Im a Mac guy

Now, Microsoft has hopped on and has trolled Apple on its lack of form factor.

Microsoft India shared a tweet on March 24 which has a little video that shows off the 2-in-1 Surface device and how it can be used both as a laptop and a tablet.

The 2-in-1 range of Surface devices come with laptop-to-tablet versatility, enabling you work from anywhere, anytime. Sign up for a demo. pic.twitter.com/p9vTM3wMAu  Microsoft India (@MicrosoftIndia) March 24, 2021

While in the words accompanying the video, Microsoft does not say much, the video shows them trying to take off the screen from a MacBook to use it as a tab, like you can do with the Surface Pro device it's being compared to.

Microsoft asks - Hey Bro, can you do this? and goes ahead to stretch the Surface Pro screen, taking it off to use as a tab and then reattaching it again.

As expected, you cannot take the screen off the MacBook, as the video shows, and for Microsoft - that's brownie points. And Microsoft also calls it the BackBook, slamming it for not being versatile, and prompts people to upgrade to Surface.

We haven't seen as many ads from Microsoft attacking Apple as we have seen from Intel yet. Intel is clearly using marketing to get back at Apple instead of actually putting out if their chips are indeed better than Apple's M1. However, with Microsoft stepping in and also trolling Apple now, Intel has one more in its corner.
There is 'no way' former reality TV contestant Suzi Taylor can comply with bail regardless of the conditions imposed, a court has heard.

The ex-Block star appeared in Brisbane Magistrates Court on Thursday accused of breaching bail and failing to appear.

In proceedings on Friday, the Supreme Court heard Taylor was arrested two nights ago when police attended a disturbance.

Suellen Jan Taylor faces 103 charges over an alleged 'honey trap kidnapping'

Former contestant on The Block, Suzi Taylor, has been charged with six breaches of bail

'Police have kindly only charged her with six breaches of bail, it could have been more than 70,' prosecutor Annica Fritz.

Taylor has been on 'every single bail condition available', including curfews, no alcohol and GPS tracking, and there were no further conditions that could be applied to strengthen an order, Ms Fritz said.

'There is no way she can comply with bail,' she said.

Taylor has notched up a long list of legal troubles since surging to fame on renovations program The Block in 2015.

The ex-model, whose real name is Suellen Jan Taylor, faces 103 charges, including extortion and deprivation of liberty over an alleged 'honey trap' incident.

The 50-year-old had been ordered to live with her mother, with whom she had recently reconciled, surrendered her passport and undertook mental health treatment.

On Thursday, defence solicitor Michael Gatenby said Taylor (left) was unable to show cause and would plead guilty to failing to appear and breaches of bail on April 13

But in less than a month, her excessive drinking and alleged refusal to stick to her court-ordered curfew saw her kicked out.

Taylor was then ordered to reside at a Brisbane mental health facility before again being evicted for intoxication.

On Thursday, defence solicitor Michael Gatenby said Taylor was unable to show cause and would plead guilty to failing to appear and breaches of bail on April 13.

She is also due to face trial on the outstanding matters in a separate court.
Americans sit paralyzed, watching the fabric of a representative republic unravel before their eyes, ignoring this chain reaction while happily checking the bank account to see the latest stimulus check's arrival is but one example of national paralysis. Numerous examples have been written about or cried over since the last election. It didnt start there, though.

In the spring of 2020, fivethirtyeight.com published an article about the urban-rural divide and the impact it might have on last Novembers election. They posited that hypothetically deciding the election based on the urbanization index would garner 323 electoral votes for Biden and 215 for Trump. Bear in mind that Nathanial Rakich wrote this hypothetical projection almost seven months before the national election. While questionable outcomes from that debacle are still under investigation, the official electoral results were 306 for Biden and 232 for Trump.

Other organizations and media outlets have investigated the urban-rural divide in recent years. The D.C.-based think tank, Niskanen Center published an article in 2019 lamenting the density divide based on a study by the same name conducted by researcher-writer Will Wilkinson. For the record, Wilkinson was fired from the Niskanen Center in January of this year for incendiary tweets about Vice President Mike Pence.

Wilkinsons findings in The Density Divide present numerous expected tropes as supported conclusions. The executive summary of his report suggests urbanization sorts population on attributes -- ethnicity, personality, and education; and the filtering/sorting dynamic of urbanization has produced a lower-density, mainly white population that is increasingly uniform in socially conservative personality. These read as talking points that euphemistically cover for the inflammatory screed that conservatives vote along racial lines. Its easily debunked by looking at exit polling from the November election, where Trump won the highest percentage of nonwhite voters of any Republican since 1960.

The urban-rural divide in the United States has long been a topic of academic study. It should be self-evident that people from Pocatello, Idaho have differing interests and needs from Newark, New Jersey. The break is not uniform. The divide is not along racial, ethnic, or religious lines. The seams, ripped along dormant perforations, lie along an urban-rural split. Moreover, magnifying the divide into megalopolises and everyone else offers sobering conclusions.

America has nine megalopolis metro areas with a population exceeding six million. The New York-Newark metro has an estimated nineteen million residents. The Los Angeles-Long Beach metro has thirteen million. These two mega-cities have more combined residents than all but one state, California. Understanding the upheavals magnitude is critical to repairing the damage done to America's crumbling foundation as the shining city on the hill.

Setting aside these renowned megalopolises, nine more American metro areas have at least three million residents. That number represents a critical threshold in understanding American politics. There are seventeen states with a smaller population than each of the nine second-tier mega-cities. The resultant cultural chasm of just such a split is not one of red states versus blue states; it is one of traditional values pitted against progressive values. Even the very word progressive carries connotations that reek of a pejorative counter-definition. It subtly implies anything not progressive is somehow regressive. Traditional values are left to fight an uphill battle in the face of progress.

Examining the idea of traditional American values shows that they are under attack. These values are besieged by a hostile legacy media that mocks them. They are undermined by legislative agendas that seek to outlaw their practice. They are belittled by popular shows in a popular culture looking to boost ratings from quick jabs at the leaders elected by traditional-minded Americans. Just last week, a New York judge removed a child from her mothers custody because the mother -- a physician  was not masked while dropping her child off at school. The most American of traditional values -- rugged individualism -- wobbles on the ropes from the pummeling onslaught it receives under a carefully coordinated attack by progressives -- who, of course, know best how others should behave in all circumstances.

The attack on a live and let live worldview is so pervasive that people prefer to riot against a states questionable treatment of detained criminal suspects rather than the states removal of a child from their parents custody. Please do not misinterpret this to mean that states, their law enforcement agents, or any other officials have any right to deny the protection of freedom enshrined from state overreach. States -- via the Fourteenth Amendment -- and the federal government are explicitly bound to honor, protect, and uplift all persons' rights in this country. It is their sworn duty. At the same time, there havent been massive riots -- or any riots, for that matter -- over a state deciding that a licensed physician is now unfit to raise her own child due to actions that did not, in fact, violate state policy. Is this remotely in keeping with traditional American values?

The time to choose has arrived. Americans can decide they dont want to act. They can sit at home, receiving small doles of their own future money, loaned out by a government whose credit rating was downgraded last summer. The stimulus checks may buffer the effects of social control exacted by power-drunk statists who cover up nursing home deaths in the name of emergency powers. The relaxing of mask mandates may afford some return to normalcy for Americans locked inside for the last twelve months. However, any such relaxation of those mandates is bound to produce a short-lived euphoria that will wear off, leaving citizens to wonder what happened to their rights while they were sheltered in place.

Americans can also decide that enough is enough. Traditional values are under such a barrage that they will either be forever cast out of progressive society -- relegated to ostracized groups -- or codified into law as illegal acts against the State. Choosing to act in this regard does not imply violence. Traditionally minded Americans can protest their local, state, and national officials in the same way that progressives have united in decrying those traditional values. Sure, the progressives have the numbers in the big cities. Traditionalists have the numbers in small towns and medium-sized cities. Parades, protests, and rallies can celebrate American values, galvanizing more citizens to wake from their big-government-induced slumber.

It doesnt have to lead to two Americas fighting over the future of this country. The ideals of freedom suggest that all views are welcome and celebrated. It does mean that Americans who practice and preach traditional values need to understand the time to choose has arrived.

Image: Piqsels
Three days after running aground and wedging itself diagonally across the Suez Canal, the Ever Givenone of the worlds largest container shipsremains firmly lodged in place, despite the best effort of the canal authority and a Dutch salvage company to get it unstuck. It now looks like it may take weeks to remove it. In the meantime, traffic is stopped through one of the most critical links in the global supply chain, and some ships are starting to take the long way around Africa.

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To talk about just how bad things could getfor the ship itself, seafarers, the shipping industry, and consumers around the worldI spoke with James Baker, container shipping editor at Lloyds List, the centuries-old London-based journal covering the global shipping industry. Our interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

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Joshua Keating: So, do you have any sense of how long this will take?

James Baker: If its not off by the next high tide on Monday, it could be a while.

Whats so important about high tide?

Were coming up to a spring tide at midnight on Monday, which is the highest water level theyre going to get. When youre trying to float something off, having more water underneath is all the better. Unfortunately, in the Suez Canal theres not a huge amount of tidal range, so it wont be a great help, but its still probably their best chance. After that, it gets more difficult. Were already seeing ships start to diverge around the cape, which means that those carriers think its going to take a while.

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So, if we are looking at days or even weeks longer, what does that mean, big picture, for global shipping?

The impact for shipping is pretty big. Shipping wont stop12 percent of all shipping goes through the Suez Canal, which means 88 percent goes nowhere near itbut effectively what would happen is that ships will have to diverge around the Cape of Good Hope instead. So, if youre bringing stuff from southern China to the East Coast of the U.S., it would normally go through Suez, then the Strait of Gibraltar, then out into the Atlantic. Now, it will have to go through the Strait of Malacca, down under South Africa, and back up, which adds several thousand more miles and another week or so of transport time. Well also probably see more ships coming through Panama from Asia to the East Coast.

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So, its likely well see delays. It will also take ships that are in Europe or the U.S. now longer to get back to China with empty containers to be reloaded, which could lead to a shortage of container equipment. It will add more pressure to the global supply chain, which it really doesnt need at the moment.

Are these delays something consumers could notice, either in terms of higher prices or shortages of some goods in stores?

Im not convinced its going to cause massive problems at the level of the supermarket or the electronics shop, certainly no more so than the problems that are already there because of really high COVID-driven demand. The bottom line over the past year has been that demand shot up while everyone was stuck at home. There was a rush to get goods, especially into the U.S., and so you saw ports like Long Beach getting really snarled up and it was hard to get containers back, which created a vicious cycle of slowdowns.

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So, the situation was already really bad. Whether this could make it worse, its too early to tell. Most consumer goods have a certain amount of slack in the system. Even if shipping rates do go up, if you take a $100 pair of sneakers, the actual ocean freight element of that is literally pennies.

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But there will probably be some shortages. If youre waiting on a new car from Asia, youre probably going to be waiting a while.

Does this look to you like a freak accident, or is someone to blame, either the canal authority or the shipping company?

There are various theories, but until we get the data recorder, we wont actually know what the real cause was. But unless the pilot on board was drunk or not doing his job, I think its most likely it was a freak accident.

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Do you think they should reconsider letting ships of that size through the canal?

Well, theyve been doing it for a long time. Everyones going on about how big the ship is, but this class of ship has been going through the canal for about 15 years without incident. Youve also got a class of ship called the Suezmax, which is the largest oil tanker that can go through there, and theyre massive.

One of the issues is that its very hard to salvage one of these ultralarge ships when something does go wrong. One of the things they may have to do is make it lighter, which means craning off some of the containers. But that things got probably 10,000 containers on it, and the top of that stack is probably 30-odd meters above the waterline. That means bringing whats called a barge crane alongside. Its going to have to have a massive crane on itjust look down at your local waterfront and see the size of the cranes that are designed to work those ships.

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So, when something goes wrong with these big ships, there can be problems. But they bring in a lot of revenue for the Suez Canal, so I dont imagine theyre going to be stopping them anytime soon.

What does this mean for the crew members, either of the ship thats stuck or the ones that have now been delayed, especially given all the strain theyve already been under because of COVID?

Its not good by any stretch of the imagination for the crews, but being stuck for another four or five days or even two weeks is nothing when youve been stuck on board for eight or nine months because of COVID, not being able to disembark from ships to get back home, having to work beyond their contracts. Thankfully, things arent quite as bad now in terms of crew changes.

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But seafarers are used to being out at sea for a long time. Contracts are usually six months. These days theres no girl in every port type thing. The ships only in port for 12 to 24 hours, and the crew are on board the whole time because of security issues.

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Ill admit that like most people, I really only think about global shipping when something goes wrong. Are there any lessons we all ought to take from this?

It does show just how critical the shipping sector is. Ninety percent of all goods are shipped by sea, so this underlines how important this infrastructure is and how important seafarers are to modern life. There used to be this old quip that if there was no shipping, half the world would starve and half the world would freeze, because youd have no food and no energy.

Despite this, shipping will continue. Its a very resilient industry. Theyll find a way around it.
NEW HAVEN  Help is here, U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro said Friday.

That help was not, specifically, Vice President Kamala Harris, who would then arrive in the city following DeLauros remarks.

But she would herald it, as officials gathered to tout the American Rescue Plan, a $1.9 trillion stimulus package aimed to aid families and communities in recovering from the coronavirus pandemic.

U.S. Sens. Chris Murphy and Richard Blumenthal, along with DeLauro and Mayor Justin Elicker, celebrated Harris visit to New Haven, as they stood outside the Roberto Clemente Leadership Academy Friday afternoon and touted the impact of the rescue plan.

The recently-passed bill, along with food assistance, rental aid, funds for municipalities and money for the vaccination effort, among other measures, includes $1,400 checks for people earning less than $75,000 per year and expands the Child Tax Credit from $2,000 to $3,000.

This is a big moment for our city and our state, said Elicker, noting that Harris visit demonstrated the importance of New Haven and the impact of Connecticuts Congressional delegation. Im grateful for our partnership, the folks that are standing behind me, to lead us at this moment when our nation is really struggling.

DeLauro said, Shes here today to put a spotlight on, as we are... the American Rescue Plan, because help is here.

Its putting money in peoples pockets; putting vaccine in their arms; putting kids back to school safely; conquering the pandemic; putting America back to work, said Blumenthal, saying the measure demonstrated the effectiveness of government. There are real-life consequences to this historic step.

DeLauro emphasized the importance of the Child Tax Credit expansion, saying it would lift half of children out of poverty across the country and one-third in Connecticut.

In response to a question, she said she believed the expansion would be made permanent once its impact was felt. The pandemic, she said, along with the Democratic majority, had made the idea more relevant, which she had been pushing for for more than a decade.

First of all, times change: its been an 18-year battle to do this. Times change, the environment changes, the players change... several years ago, nobody was talking about a child tax credit. They thought that this was on the fringe; now, it is the center of public discourse, said DeLauro. I also believe that the pandemic has shone a light on (not only) the health disparities and inequities we have, but the economic disparities and inequities that we have.

Murphy said a family of four in the Hill neighborhood would likely receive an additional $7,600 this year through the plan  life-changing money for many, he said.

And guess where that money is going to go? Right back into this neighborhood... (Harris) is going to be able to see, first hand, the virtuous cycle set off by the American Rescue Plan, said Murphy. We are going to be creative and bold in the way that we spend these dollars to make sure that we lift kids up in the short-term and in the long run.

Blumenthal, in addition to celebrating the stimulus package, said he would talk to Harris about the importance of addressing gun violence, describing it as a public health epidemic.

He said he had spoken earlier in the day to Guilford resident Kristin Song, the mother of Ethan Song, who died from an accidental gunshot at the age of 15.

U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes also issued a statement celebrating Harris visit to the region, saying she was thrilled to welcome Vice President Harris to our state to meet some of the people who have helped our communities navigate this pandemic.

Families and small businesses were hard hit  including the child care industry, where many providers were forced to close their doors, Hayes said in a statement. The American Rescue Plan serves as a vital lifeline for my constituents and these essential businesses. I look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues and the Administration to get people the help they need.

Harris visited the Boys & Girls Club of New Haven for a listening session, then the West Haven Child Development Center Friday.

Gov. Ned Lamont was expected to announce expanded subsidies for child care in Connecticut during Harris visit.

Check back for updates.

william.lambert@hearstmediact.com
Residents of neighbourhoods in Lekki, Lagos, have lamented the poor power supply by Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC) and the losses they have incurred due to the epileptic power supply in the region.

The affected areas, Agungi Lekki, Osapa Lekki, Ologolo Lekki, and Idado Lekki also accuse the electricity distribution company of supplying steady power to rich estates in the neighbourhood, to the detriment of other residents.

Relocating to Agungi Lekki months ago has been a nightmare as I never envisaged this situation of frequent low voltage and unstable power supply here. It affects my business, electrical appliances and all, Nita Edadagbon, a resident of Agungi Lekki, said.

Several business owners and workers in the area told PREMIUM TIMES how they incur losses due to damage of appliances by low or high voltage and extra financial burden fueling their generators.

Background

Poor electricity supply has been a lingering issue in many parts of Nigeria, leaving citizens to source their own supply. Many residents also pay huge electricity bills, an amount not proportionate to the power supply they receive.

Despite being the largest economy in Africa, Nigeria has not been able to generate a power supply sufficient for its over 200 million population.

In a quarterly report published by the Nigerian Electricity Regulation (NERC), the 11 distribution companies (DisCos) in Nigeria received a total of 204,506 complaints from customers in the first quarter of 2020 and another 203,116 complaints in the second quarter, a totally 407,622 complaints in the first half of 2020.

The DisCos customer complaints centred on service interruption, poor voltage, load shedding, metering, estimated billing, delayed connection, among others, the NERC report stated.

The statistics showed that the DisCos received an average of 2,247 and 2,232 complaints per day in the first and second quarter respectively.

Despite the huge potentials to generate power in Nigeria with a capacity of 12,522 megawatts (MW), the country has not been able to generate enough power for its million households.

Lamentations

Residents of Agungi Lekki, Osapa Lekki, Ologolo Lekki and Idado Lekki had earlier written a petition against EKEDC on the poor power supply and other issues.

We are not in the 90s where power supply was not constant, this is 2020 as I believe that EKEDC can actually, do better.

As grade A customers, it is disappointing that we are not satisfied with the daily power given to us also, we spend heavily on petrol and diesel when the prices have gone up drastically.

This has affected our finances coupled with the noise and air pollution when we turn on our generators. We are writing a petition against poor daily power supply, inappropriate time for shedding, frequent low voltage that has damaged our expensive electrical appliances, the petition partly read.

Several residents spoke to PREMIUM TIMES on the difficulties they experience.

People have the thought that people who live in Lekki enjoy adequate power supply but that is not the case, it has been terrible. We have been suffering, Miss Edadagbon said.

She told PREMIUM TIMES that the transformer in the area is not good enough to supply power to the neighbourhood, making the power supply go from bad to worse.

Even when there is a power supply, the fluctuations have damaged our electrical appliances, expensive ones. It has been consistently low voltage and fluctuations here and there. Every day, they keep trying to revive a feeder that supplies power to different transformers in the Agungi area.

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It is very obvious that the equipment is poor, they dont listen to us, we want the NERC to know that we are suffering in Agungi, they want to kill us, we pay so much, she said.

Odunayo, a resident of Ologolo Lekki, said the power supply was good when she moved to the area about eight years ago.

Then, public power supply from PHCN was quite okay, we were having between 14 and 20 hours of power supply on most days. We knew their schedule- the days we are meant to have supply and the days we would not have except a major fault occurred.

For her, the power supply has steadily deteriorated as the area developed and more people come into the neighbourhood.

A lot of buildings and estates have come up recently in the neighbourhood. This would have stretched the existing equipment and facilities of EKEDC servicing this zone which is expected to have expanded to be able to meet up with the increasing number of customers they service but this is not the real situation of things.

Power supply from EKEDC keeps reducing by the day. It has always been from one problem to the other. Their excuses on the platform have always been ranging from load shedding of 33 KVA from TCN, faulty feeders, and low voltage fluctuating between 90 and 200volts, she said.

Another resident of Osapa-Lekki, Anthony Bassey, accused EKEDC of using weak fuses that supply low voltages from transformers to the areas.

Most of the equipment needs to be changed or upgraded to newer ones with a bigger capacity to meet up with the increasing population of this neighbourhood, he said.

People are losing money, a lot of people are working from home due to the pandemic, many businesses run from home and the impact is crazy on the economy of the people who rely on diesel to power their appliances, Chinedu Barns-Nnagbo from Idado-Lekki lamented.

He added that some estates in the neighbourhood have a special arrangement with EKEDC for 20 hours of steady power supply, while others are suffering.

The effect of these estates are also part of it. Their lights are not interrupted, they are getting what they are paying for while the general masses are losing. Electricity is being sold to these estates, Mr Barns-Nnagbo said.

EKEDC reacts

When PREMIUM TIMES contacted Babatunde Lasaki, the spokesperson of EKEDC, he said the company is aware of the issues and plans are underway to correct them.

It is just a matter of weeks, in a few weeks residents will begin to enjoy a relatively stable power supply. It is in the interest of the company as we are losing revenue because residents are not enjoying steady supply, the official said.

He said with the new band structure of the distribution company by NERC, residents of the affected areas are supposed to enjoy about 15 to 20 hours of power supply because they are placed on Band A and B.

The issue is within some isolated areas within the Agungi axis and not the entire stretch of the neighbourhood and we have identified the faults. We have engaged with the residents and resident association of that area.

As regards the complaint they made that some estates are enjoying 20 hours supply, while they are not, it is not so. The problem has to do with some faults in that axis and some of the things we have done so far is to improve the capacity of the injection substation in that axis, Mr Lasaki said.

He added that EKEDC has procured a bigger power transformer that is currently being installed in the area to boost the supply and reduce the intermittent phase of the load shedding as well as the outages residents have been complaining about.

We also released that the topography of that axis is a bit challenged and many people who live in that area, during their construction, the way the installation of their electrical wires are a bit faulty. As a result of that, they have earthing issues, the majority of the houses in that area have earthing issues.

We have engaged with the people and estate authorities to help them rework some of the electricals. We bought a bigger transformer to supply power and we are working with individuals on the rewiring and installation of the wiring., Mr Lasaki said.

Although the problem with electricity supply in the areas have been lingering for over a year, the EKEDC official said in weeks, all maintenance and installation works will be completed.
Egypt train crash leaves 32 dead and 66 injured In southern part of country, minister wants drivers arrested

(ANSAmed) - CAIRO, MARCH 26 - At least 32 people were killed and 66 were injured in a train crash Friday in the Egyptian town of Tahta in the southern governorate of Sohag.



Reports were from the Egyptian health ministry.



Egyptian transport minister Kamel El-Wazir will go to the site of the incident, a source at the railways authority said.



The minister has requested the arrest of the two train drivers and the establishment of a technical committee to ascertain the cause of the clash between the two trains, the source said.



The hospitals of the governorate have also announced a state of alert.



(ANSAmed).




Press Release

March 26, 2021 Statement by Senate Minority Leader Franklin M. Drilon On people cutting the line to get vaccinated This happens when we only have a million or so doses when what we need is at least 140 million doses to inoculate around 70 million Filipinos. The uncertainty that hangs over the supply and delivery of COVID-19 vaccines affect the confidence of the people in the ability of the government to implement an effective and efficient mass vaccination program. People are worried about two things: coronavirus infections are hitting record-high each day and the fact that there is woefully inadequate supply of vaccines. The government must ramp up vaccine supply. It all boils down to supply and demand. Unfortunately, as admitted by the President, hindi pa dumarating yung binili nating bakuna. To achieve herd immunity, about 70 million Filipinos must be inoculated. Yet only less than a million or so doses are being administered today. Further, the credibility of the government to make the Filipinos follow the rules is negatively affected by past incidents, including the reported illegal and unauthorized vaccination of government officials. I leave it to the Department of Justice to determine possible violations when the prioritization provided for in COVID-19 Vaccination Program Act is not followed. On the issue on West Philippine Sea and the China's donation of vaccines No strings attached, please. I call on the government to implement the arbitral ruling. The Department of Foreign Affairs and the Armed Forces of the Philippines should be on their toes and remain vigilant against intrusions.
A man suspected of a rash of car burglaries in Kenner and of violent crimes in multiple jurisdictions was arrested Thursday in New Orleans East, the New Orleans Police Department said.

Keyon Randolph, 22, of New Orleans was booked at the Orleans Justice Center with domestic abuse-aggravated assault, domestic abuse-battery, home invasion, aggravated burglary, simple assault, domestic abuse-child endangerment, aggravated assault with a dangerous weapon, extortion, battery of a dating partner and two counts of criminal damage.

Authorities said they executed a search warrant at a home in the 4600 block of Warren Drive, where they found Randolph and a stolen gun and arrested him. The St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Office assisted in the arrest of Randolph, who was wanted on warrants from Kenner and Livingston Parish.

Kenner and New Orleans police had been searching for Randolph, one of three suspects in a series of car burglaries. Randolph, Samaj Butler, 19, and a 17-year-old boy whose name wasn't released allegedly broke into a slew of vehicles in various Kenner subdivisions over the course of three months. Kenner police arrested Butler and the teen on Wednesday.

Butler is accused of breaking into 20 cars, trying to burglarize six more and stealing two guns during the spree. Authorities said the teen burglarized 24 cars, tried to break into six more and stole two guns and two cars.
Intelligent.com, a trusted resource for online degree rankings and higher education planning, has announced the Top 49 Master's in Organizational Leadership Degree Programs for 2021. The comprehensive research guide is based on an assessment of 186 accredited colleges and universities in the nation. Each program is evaluated based on curriculum quality, graduation rate, reputation, and post-graduate employment.

The 2021 rankings are calculated through a unique scoring system which includes student engagement, potential return on investment and leading third party evaluations. Intelligent.com analyzed 186 schools, on a scale of 0 to 100, with only 49 making it to the final list. The methodology also uses an algorithm which collects and analyzes multiple rankings into one score to easily compare each school.

Students who pursue any one of these programs can expect to gain employment much quicker in comparison to candidates without a degree. In addition to accessibility and cost, the steady job growth in this market is one of the many reasons Intelligent.com researched and ranked the Top Master's in Organizational Leadership Degree Programs. To access the complete ranking, please visit: https://www.intelligent.com/best-masters-in-organizational-leadership-degree-programs/

2021 Master's in Organizational Leadership Degree Programs featured on Intelligent.com (in alphabetical order):

Amridge University

Baker University

Bellevue University

Brandman University

California Baptist University, Online

Campbellsville University

Champlain College

Charleston Southern University

Cleary University

Colorado Christian University

Colorado State University

Colorado State University, Global Campus

Colorado Technical University

Columbia Southern University

Columbus State University

Concordia University, Wisconsin

Crown College

Duquesne University

Eastern University

Gonzaga University

Indiana Wesleyan University

Johns Hopkins University

Lewis University

Lincoln Christian University

Lindenwood University

Messiah College

Michigan State University

National University

North Park University

Northcentral University

Northern Arizona University

Norwich University

Pennsylvania State University

Pfeiffer University

Quinnipiac University

Regent University

Regis University

Saint Joseph's University

Saint Louis University

Saint Mary's University of Minnesota

Southern New Hampshire University

Southwestern Assemblies of God University

Trevecca Nazarene University

University Of Denver

University Of Mary

University of South Dakota

University of Wisconsin, Platteville

Western Governors University

Western Kentucky University

About Intelligent.com

Intelligent.com provides unbiased research to help students make informed decisions about higher education programs. The website offers curated guides which include the best degree programs as well as information about financial aid, internships and even study strategies. With comprehensive, user-friendly guides and hundreds of program rankings, Intelligent.com is a trusted source among students and prospective students. To learn more, please visit https://www.intelligent.com/.
Twitter says misidentifying Muslim Boulder shooter as 'white Christian terrorist' is OK

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The man alleged to have murdered 10 people at a grocery store in Boulder, Colorado, was an anti-Trump Muslim immigrant, but Twitter has stated that tweets calling the suspect white and possibly Christian do not violate its misinformation policy.

On Tuesday, police named Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa, a 21-year-old Syrian Muslim man who had made social media posts critical of former President Donald Trump, as the suspect in the mass shooting.

Alissa was arrested and charged with 10 counts of first-degree murder, including the killing of a police officer who responded to the mass shooting at a King Soopers supermarket. A motive is not yet known.

Before his social media accounts were taken down, The Daily Beast analyzed them and found that Alissa had posted about Islam, his criticism of Trumps immigration policies as well as his opposition to abortion and gay marriage.

On his now-deleted Facebook page, Alissa reportedly stated that he was born in Syria 1999 came to the USA in 2002. Posts about jiu-jitsu and mixed martial arts dominated his page.

Claims that Alissa was an Islamic State sympathizer are still pending further evidence, according to a report by The Federalist.

Before Alissa was named a suspect in the mass shooting, many took to Twitter claiming that the guilty party was white. Some claimed he was Christian. Many online commentators used the incident to bash white supremacy.

Regarding tweets that falsely identified Alissas racial or religious backgrounds, Twitter told Newsweek that such posts were not in violation of misinformation policies. Newsweek asked Twitter specifically about whether a tweet identifying Alissa as a white Christian terrorist violated its policies.

The Tweets referenced are not in violation of the Twitter Rules, a Twitter spokesperson was quoted as saying. We will not take action on every instance of misinformation. Currently, our misinformation rules cover COVID-19 misinformation, synthetic and manipulated media and civic integrity.

Among those claiming the shooter was white was Meena Harris, the niece of Vice President Kamala Harris. She posted a now-deleted tweet alluding to the Atlanta spa shootings, in which the chief suspect was a white Southern Baptist man who killed eight people.

The Atlanta shooting was not even a week ago. Violent white men are the greatest terrorist threat to our country, she posted hours after the Boulder shooting, as quoted by the Daily Mail.

Alissas brother told The Daily Beast that Alissa had a history of violent behavior and was known to be paranoid, claiming that people were stalking him because of his religious beliefs.

When he was having lunch with my sister in a restaurant, he said, People are in the parking lot, they are looking for me. She went out, and there was no one. We didnt know what was going on in his head, explained the brother, adding that he believed the shooting was not a political statement but rather mental illness.

The guy used to get bullied a lot in high school. He was like an outgoing kid, but after he went to high school and got bullied a lot, he started becoming anti-social.

The brother told CNN that high school bullies made fun of Alissas name and his identity as a Muslim.
Researchers have built an algorithm that can capture the emotions that an image evokes. Credit: Piqsels

Experts in artificial intelligence have gotten quite good at creating computers that can "see" the world around themrecognizing objects, animals, and activities within their purview. These have become the foundational technologies for autonomous cars, planes, and security systems of the future.

But now a team of researchers is working to teach computers to recognize not just what objects are in an image, but how those images make people feeli.e., algorithms with emotional intelligence.

"This ability will be key to making artificial intelligence not just more intelligent, but more human, so to speak," says Panos Achlioptas, a doctoral candidate in computer science at Stanford University who worked with collaborators in France and Saudi Arabia.

To get to this goal, Achlioptas and his team collected a new dataset, called ArtEmis, which was recently published in an arXiv pre-print. The dataset is based on the 81,000 WIkiArt paintings and consists of 440,000 written responses from over 6,500 humans indicating how a painting makes them feeland including explanations of why they chose a certain emotion. Using those responses, Achlioptas and team, headed by Stanford engineering professor Leonidas Guibas, trained neural speakersAI that responds in written wordsthat allow computers to generate emotional responses to visual art and justify those emotions in language.

The researchers chose to use art specifically, as an artist's goal is to elicit emotion in the viewer. ArtEmis works regardless of the subject matter, from still life to human portraits to abstraction.

The work is a new approach in computer vision, notes Guibas, a faculty member of the AI lab and the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence. "Classical computer vision capturing work has been about literal content," Guibas says. "There are three dogs in the image, or someone is drinking coffee from a cup. Instead, we needed descriptions that defined emotional content."

Credit: Stanford University

Capturing Emotion

The algorithm categorizes the artist's work into one of eight emotional categoriesranging from awe to amusement to fear to sadnessand then explains in written text what it is in the image that justifies the emotional read. (See examples below. All are paintings evaluated by the algorithm, but which were not used in the training exercises.)

"The computer is doing this," says Achlioptas. "We can show it a new image it has never seen, and it will tell us how a human might feel."

Remarkably, the researchers say, the captions accurately reflect the abstract content of the image in ways that go well beyond the capabilities of existing computer vision algorithms derived from documentary photographic datasets, such as Coco.

What's more, the algorithm does not simply capture the broad emotional experience of a complete image, but it can decipher differing emotions within a given painting. For instance, in the famous Rembrandt painting (above) of the beheading of John the Baptist, ArtEmis distinguishes not only the pain on John the Baptist's severed head, but also the "contentment" on the face of Salome, the woman to whom the head is presented.

Achlioptas points out that, even while ArtEmis is sophisticated enough to gauge that an artist's intent can be different within the context of a single image, the tool also accounts for subjectivity and variability of human response, as well.

"Not every person sees and feels the same thing seeing a work of art," he adds. For instance, "I can feel happy upon seeing the Mona Lisa, but Professor Guibas might feel sad. ArtEmis can distinguish these differences."

Credit: Stanford University

An Artist's Instrument

In the near term, the researchers anticipate ArtEmis could become a tool for artists to evaluate their works during creation to ensure their work is having the desired impact.

"It could provide guidance and inspiration to 'steer' the artist's work as desired," Achlioptas says. A graphic artist working on a new logo might use ArtEmis to guarantee it is having the intended emotional effect, for example.

Down the road, after additional research and refinements, Achlioptas can foresee emotion-based algorithms helping bring emotional awareness to artificial intelligence applications such as chatbots and conversational AI agents.

"I see ArtEmis bringing insights from human psychology to artificial intelligence," Achlioptas says. "I want to make AI more personal and to improve the human experience with it."

Explore further ArtEmis: Affective language for visual art

More information: ArtEmis: Affective Language for Visual Art. arXiv:2101.07396v1 [cs.CV] ArtEmis: Affective Language for Visual Art. arXiv:2101.07396v1 [cs.CV] arxiv.org/abs/2101.07396
On March 19, the Democratic Socialists of Americas magazine Democratic Left published an interview with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in which the Democratic congresswoman and DSA member combines the most lavish praise for the Democratic Party with vicious denunciations of socialism.

The DSA has treated the interview as an important political event. This is the first time their official magazine has interviewed the New York congresswoman, and the interview was carefully prepared before publication. Though Democratic Left editorial board member Don McIntosh conducted the interview on January 26, it was only posted online seven weeks later. The choice of interviewer is also significant: McIntosh is a high-level operative in the AFL-CIO with close ties to the Democratic Party. He is listed as an author on the AFL-CIOs press office website and is a long-time promoter of Democratic politicians and candidates at the NW Labor Press, which he edits.

In the interview, Ocasio-Cortez presents the Democratic Party as having been completely transformed into a working class party. She says the Biden administration and incumbent Democrats are totally reinvent[ing] themselves in a far more progressive direction. Pressure from the left has forced almost a radical change among entrenched Democratic leaders. What is needed, she says, is a turn deeper into Democratic Party electoral politics.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez at SXSW in 2019 (Image Credit: Flickr/nrkbeta)

The only barrier to the Democratic Party establishment achieving perfection is left-wing opposition. This politician who made a career criticizing the Democratic establishment and posturing as an outsider has now transformed herself into the establishments fiercest defender and a most bitter opponent of outside critics.

McIntosh asks, Some on the Left have looked at Bidens record and his difference with the Bernie wing of the party, and they conclude that no progress is going to come out of the Biden administration. Whats your view?

She replies:

Well, I think its a really privileged critique. Were gonna have to focus on solidarity with one another, developing our senses for good faith critique and bad faith critique. Because bad faith critique can destroy everything that we have built so swiftly. And we know this because it has in the past, and its taken us so many decades to get to this point. We do not have the time or the luxury to entertain bad faith actors in our movement.

Such bad faith actors, Ocasio-Cortez says, only betray their disdain for the poor and oppressed by criticizing the president. Ocasio-Cortez adds a noxious dose of identity politics to the old Democratic trick of presenting left-wing opponents as aiding the right:

For anyone who brings that up [i.e., opposition to the Biden administration], we really have to ask ourselves, what is the message that you are sending to your Black and brown and undocumented members of your community, to your friends, when you say nothing has changed?... When you say nothing has changed, you are calling the people who are now protected from deportation no one. And we cannot allow for that in our movement.

The example of protecting immigrants from deportation is an unfortunate selection on Ocasio-Cortezs part. In the weeks since the interview, Biden has suspended the right to asylum and deported tens of thousands of Central American refugees, denying them as much as a court hearing. Perhaps Ocasio-Cortez considers that the 15,000 children presently detained in immigration jails are privileged bad faith actors for opposing their own incarceration.

Ocasio-Cortez saves the most vituperative comments for the genuine socialist opponents of Biden. When asked, What was your path to joining DSA? Ocasio-Cortez responds by repeatedly stressing what makes the DSA distinctive from other socialist groups: We felt like there wasnt this class essentialism, but that this really was a multiracial class struggle that didnt de-prioritize human rights, frankly, I was really impressed.

At the end of the interview, she praises a number of DSA members running for office as Democrats by saying, They are people that you want to be around. And they are not cynical, and they do not engage in more socialist than thou. They are just relentlessly positive.

The reference to class essentialists deprioritizing human rights shows Ocasio-Cortez and the DSA are working in line with a definite political tradition: American anti-communism. Nothing socially progressive can emerge from this morass.

The Democratic Socialists of America has its origins in the 1982 merger of the New America Movement (NAM), a successor organization of the student protest group Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), and the Democratic Socialists Organizing Committee (DSOC), founded by Michael Harrington, who became the chairperson of the DSA upon its foundation.

Harringtons DSOC was explicitly politically rooted in post-war Shachtmanism, the tendency led by Polish-born ex-revolutionary Max Shachtman, while the NAMs predecessor, the SDS, had been the youth wing of the Shachtmanite-dominated League for Industrial Democracy (LID) until the organizations split in 1965.

Max Shachtman joined the communist movement in 1923 and co-founded the American section of the Trotskyist Left Opposition alongside James P. Cannon after the Stalinists expelled sympathizers of Trotsky in 1928.

After breaking with the American Trotskyists in 1939-40, Shachtman drifted far to the right. Under the pressure of the post-war boom, his earlier, principled fight against the Stalinist degeneration of the Soviet Union was transformed into the anti-Marxist position that the Soviet Union was a bureaucratic collectivist regime, and that the bureaucracy was a new ruling class whose human rights violations justified socialist support for American imperialism in the cold war. He rejected the revolutionary role of the working class and ended his career as an adviser of the AFL-CIO and a supporter of the Bay of Pigs invasion and the Vietnam War.

Harrington was a supporter of Shachtman, and both served on the board of directors of the League for Industrial Democracy. At the SDSs founding, Harrington pressed the group to take a more explicitly anti-communist position against the Soviet Union and national liberation movements like the Vietcong: Anti-Communism was Harringtons emotional touchstone, Todd Gitlin writes in The Sixties. He had formed his politics with the brilliant and bitter Max Shachtman.

This orientation primarily served the foreign policy interests of US imperialism. Harrington would later demand that socialist organizations play a pro-American, Cold War, State Department kind of role.

They functioned entirely within the Democratic Party. Harrington, Shachtman and SDS each supported Democratic realignment, which argued that American foreign policy interests could be served by breaking with the southern segregationists from the Democratic Party and reorienting toward the trade union bureaucracy and the upper-middle class. Though Shachtman urged an approach to the AFL-CIO, Harrington called for the adoption of early forms of identity politics. Peter Drucker explains in his book Max Shachtman and His Left:

Mike Harrington became the leader of ex-Shachtmanite Socialists who refused to concede the dominant role in the Democratic coalition to the AFL-CIO. He looked instead for compromises between labor leaders and representatives of New Politics, a loose network of progressives, mostly Latino, feminist, youth, countercultural and anti-war ferment of the 1960s. He drifted away from Shachtmans version of Marxist orthodoxy The differences among Socialists were enmeshed in divisions in the Democratic Party. The realignment strategy, which Shachtman had imagined would allow socialists to work together effectively inside the Democratic Party, turned out to be a formula for forcing them to choose between rival Democratic politicians fighting for primary votes and inner-party offices.

In fact, Harrington formed DSOC in 1973 out of a minority caucus in the Socialist Party of America which criticized the majority for insufficiently supporting Democratic candidate George McGovern in the 1972 presidential election.

From then on, the DSOC and DSA have been engaged in a continuous effort to pressure the Democratic Party from within. The DSAs own website acknowledges the organization waged a Democracy 76 campaign to push Jimmy Carter to the left, it worked in the 1984 Democratic presidential primary, and it worked closely with the Congressional Progressive Caucus throughout the 1990s.

And what does the DSA have to show for a half century of working within the Democratic Party? The party has abandoned any pretense to social reform, it has waged permanent war and overseen a massive growth in social inequality. The realignment strategy paved the way for the Democratic Partys rapid movement ever further to the right. It succeeded in facilitating the Democrats adoption of identity politics, based on doling out privileged positions to corrupt representatives of various racial groups, and a more open acceptance of human rights imperialism.

Ocasio-Cortez and the DSA are carrying forward their pro-imperialist, anti-communist traditions into the 21st century. Their main role, as expressed in the interview, is to serve as gatekeepers of the bourgeois political left, channeling social opposition into the Democratic Party and placing its left opponents beyond the pale. Those who fight to mobilize the working class (class essentialism) for a break with the Democratic Party are cynical bad faith actors who want to destroy.

But the frenzied tone of these McCarthyite attacks betrays a high level of anxiety in leading Democratic Party circles over the growth of social opposition to conditions of massive inequality and the ruling classs response to the pandemic, which has killed over 550,000 in the US alone. Under these conditions, Ocasio-Cortez and the DSA serve as the keystone in the architecture of the capitalist political system. This is a lesson of the reactionary role played by the political tradition that calls itself democratic socialism, which really has nothing to do with socialism at all.
The Michigan Economic Development Corporation is requesting proposals from agencies that can promote travel to the Great Lakes State.
People leaving the country in breach of the Government's holiday ban will not be stopped or arrested by police, a senior officer has confirmed.

Under the new coronavirus regulations coming into force on Monday, people leaving England without a valid reason could face a 5,000 fine.

National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) chairman Martin Hewitt said officers would hand out the penalties to anyone found flouting the rules to go on holiday.

However, he said barring anyone from travelling is a matter for UK Border Force, adding: 'We are not simply going to arrest people because they are trying to leave the country.'

NPCC chairman Martin Hewitt said police will continue to question people about the reasons for their travel in the airport but not stop people or make arrests

Mr Hewitt was speaking to reporters after the release of NPCC data showing 508 fines had been issued by forces in England and three in Wales to people failing to self-isolate after arriving from a country on the Government quarantine list up to March 14.

He said no fines had been handed out by police for breaching regulations around hotel quarantine for those entering from red countries, which came into force on February 15.

He explained enforcement was primarily a matter for Border Force and private security contractors.

Mr Hewitt said police have increased the number of officers in ports and airports, and are continuing to carry out checks of people who should be self-isolating.

NPCC chairman Martin Hewitt says officers will not be making arrests

He said: 'Police will not automatically stop travellers, though officers will continue to question people about the reasons for their travel in the airport terminals or the car park or the other points of entry and exit.

'With the new legislation in relation to travel coming into force on Monday, if officers do discover anyone who is breaching the rules, then we will issue a fine where necessary.

'Whether people become barred from travelling is not a police issue, though, that is for UK Border Force.'

The threat of fines has been extended until the end of June, making foreign summer holidays look increasingly unlikely as a third wave of coronavirus sweeps across Europe.

People travelling without a valid reason could be facing 5,000 fine once the new regulations come into force

A ban on leaving the United Kingdom without a reasonable excuse is included in new coronavirus laws coming into force on Monday

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps is leading a taskforce that will report by April 12 on how and when the ban on non-essential travel can be lifted.

It can be no sooner than May 17 under Boris Johnson's official roadmap.

The travel ban does not apply to those going to the common travel area of the Channel Islands, Isle of Man and the Republic of Ireland unless that is not the final destination.

Earlier this week Neil Ferguson, dubbed Professor Lockdown after telling the government to impose restrictions last March, warned people could be facing another summer at home.

Speaking on BBC Breakfast he said: 'I think we... whilst not everything will be back to normal by the summer, certainly by the autumn, it will feel a lot more normal.'

Meanwhile Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary said their passengers could be forced to wear face masks into 2022.

He said: 'I would imagine at this point in time, we're planning to continue to require mandatory face mask wearing on board our aircraft through the remainder of this summer schedule and next winter's schedule.'

So what ARE reasonable excuses to leave the UK? Travelling for work, study, for legal obligations or to vote

For childcare reasons or to be present at a birth

To visit a dying relative or close friend

To seek medical assistance or appointments

To visit someone in a hospice or care home, but only if a close friend or family

To attend a funeral, get married or to attend the wedding of a close relative

For childcare purposes

For volunteer or charity work

To view houses to buy or rent, to visit an estate agent or a show home, or to move house

If someone does not live permanently in the UK are they are going home Advertisement

Virgin Atlantic announces vaccine passport app trial for passengers flying from Heathrow to Barbados

Virgin Atlantic has become the latest airline to announce a trial of so-called vaccine passports.

Customers on flights to Barbados from April 16 will be invited to use the Travel Pass app to verify they meet the Caribbean islands entry requirements for pre-departure coronavirus testing.

Future versions of the app - developed by airline trade body the International Air Transport Association - will also include coronavirus vaccine records.

Virgin Atlantic said it will seek permission from the UK Government to expand the trial to accommodate customers arriving on flights from Barbados to London Heathrow.

Virgin Atlantic will use the app on flights to Barbados from April 16 and is seeking permission to also use it on the return leg

A number of other airlines are also using the app, including British Airways, Singapore Airlines, Emirates, Qantas and Qatar Airways.

Virgin Atlantic chief customer and operating officer Corneel Koster said: In parallel to the UKs successful vaccination programme and accompanied by a risk-based, phased easing of restrictions, we can see a flightpath to soon allow the safe restart of international travel at scale, in time for summer.

When the skies reopen, rapid affordable testing combined with digital health integration will be vital to streamline and simplify the customer experience, make border health checks manageable and build consumer confidence.

Governments, industry and technology companies need to work together to lead the adoption of digital solutions with global common standards that are accepted at borders.

From next week, passengers flying with Virgin Atlantic to the US will be able to upload their test documents to a website operated by US firm TrustAssure, where they will be checked using automated artificial intelligence technology within two minutes.

Other airlines using the app include British Airways, Singapore Airlines, Emirates, Qantas and Qatar Airways

Once verification is completed, travellers will be sent a QR code enabling them to pass through the airport check-in process.

Overseas holidays are banned due to the UKs coronavirus lockdown, but Boris Johnson said on Wednesday he will make an announcement on April 5 about lifting restrictions.

The Governments Global Travel Taskforce will provide a report to the Prime Minister on April 12 setting out recommendations for how and when foreign holidays could resume.

Under his road map for easing restrictions, the earliest date for travel is May 17.

The EU has already presented plans to issue 'digital green certificates' allowing its 450million people to travel freely across the bloc this summer.
Parents and former students have jumped to the defence of a teacher after he was criticised for telling kids they must wear gender-appropriate clothes at an upcoming school social.

The Year 12 Coordinator at Cardijn College, a Catholic school in Adelaide's south, told parents in an email that male students should not dress as females at the event called 'Ties and Tiaras' at a retreat to kick off the new academic year.

'Dont bother accusing me of being sexist because boys don't wear dresses in normal everyday life,' Michael Herbert said in the email, after some male students had worn female outfits in recent years.

The directive sparked anger among some, with South Australian Greens MP Tammy Franks saying it was an out-of-date viewpoint.

'It's the 21st century, these sorts of things are surely relics of our past,' Ms Franks said.

An unnamed parent interviewed by Channel Seven agreed, saying 'it's very old-fashioned in this day and age, it's not appropriate'.

However parents, students and alumni have defended Mr Herbert, calling him 'the most selfless individual.'

WHAT THE EMAIL SAID

Hello Year 12 A number of people have contacted me for clarification. Women wear shirts and ties in normal life. That will not be a problem on retreat. Don't bother accusing me of being sexist but men do not wear dresses in normal everyday life. That will not be acceptable on retreat. This was the exact issue that was brought to my attention a number of times today. Please email me if you need to comment on your plan. Advertisement

'Though admittedly his wording of the email was blunt, the context behind it is important. Each year he would be asked the same thing by students, Can I dress as a girl? and vice-versa,' said former student Corey O'Dwyer.

'Being a Catholic College, the school disallows cross-dressing at these extra-curricular events, and Mr Herbert would always be the one to hear about these complaints, year in and year out.'

'The email on its own looks bad, but with any sort of context or experience with the man, it is apparent that he is the least likely person at that school to discriminate against people.'

Numerous parents, current and former students told Daily Mail Australia Mr Herbert was 'passionate' and 'inspirational'.

'Hes the most selfless individual Ive ever come across, he would do anything and everything to provide support to his Year 12s,' former student Jonathan Arnold-Janz said.

Mr Dwyer said when Mr Herbert was his homeroom teacher, he provided students with 'endless emotional support.'

'He spent countless hours helping any Year 12 student who came to his office with issues regarding mental health, educational hardships and more,' he said.

Teacher Michael Herbert who wrote this note to Year 12 students, who have defended him

'He is there for anyone who needs him at Cardijn College, regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation.'

The ban on 'cross-dressing' was not enforced on female students, who were allowed to wear traditionally male attire.

'Women wear shirts and ties in normal life. That will not be a problem on retreat,' the email read.

The coordinator at Cardijn College Michael Herbert (pictured) was called 'selfless' and 'kind'

Parent Jacquie Meynell, who has one daughter who has graduated and another currently in Year 11, called Mr Herbert 'a kind, caring and supportive educator' who helped her daughter during a challenging year.

She said she believed the school may have been concerned some students would wear dresses as a joke.

'The students who were planning to wear the dresses were not doing it because the identify as LGBTQI, but rather they were doing it for a laugh,' she said.

'This would then send a message to anyone who does identify as LGBTQI that they are seen as a joke.'

The Catholic school, Cardijn College in Adelaide, does not allow cross-dressing for boys

Supporters said students also signed a contact agreeing to the school's uniform rules before attending.

'The school meets with every student at the point of application and talk to them about the uniform,' said parent Karina Major.

'I have no issues with the uniform and am aware that if there are students that are transgender, uncomfortable in wearing the prescribed uniform the school are flexible around this,' she said.

'I cannot say I have or am aware of any of the male students wanting to dress differently to the intended uniform and am unsure if this would be an option.'

Mr Herbert (pictured centre) has been defended by the school after his email was leaked

The school's uniform policy as stated in its handbook allows girls to wear trousers in winter, but does not indicate that boys can wear skirts or dresses at any time of the year.

The policy also says summer dresses must hit the back of the knee when kneeling or mid-calf in winter, and girls are only permitted minimal jewelry and make-up.

In one photo, Mr Herbert himself donned a dress as he read a book to students at an ATHON fundraising event in 2019, which a graphic by the school said raised at least $16,000.

Scott Stuart (left) with his wife and son Colin, who inspired his dad to fight for gender equality

Author and gender equality activist Scott Stuart said if it is considered discrimination to restrict girls from wearing pants, the same rule should apply when it comes to boys choosing skirts and dresses.

'It doesn't matter if no boys want to wear dresses, or no girls want to wear shorts, the important thing is that they have the right,' said Mr Stuart.

'There are certainly men who don't wear dresses in normal life, but there are also men who do.'

Mr Stuart said schools should allow students to express themselves, but enforce anti-discrimination policies.

'A far better solution would be to simply have a policy that regardless of what you wear, the school does not tolerate anything that is disparaging,' he said.

'There is an enormous difference between a male student wearing a dress to mock other men who do, and a male student wearing a dress because that is how they want to express themselves.'

Mr Herbert (pictured) donned a dress to raise money for a school event in 2019

Despite the support for Mr Herbert from students and parents, principal Paul Rijken still apologised for the email and said the college is 'a place of welcome and inclusion.'

'The intention of the email was never to offend or cause distress to anyone, rather to communicate the dress code for the occasion, a school event,' he said.

'We apologise unreservedly to anyone who has been offended by the email.

'Our old scholars are highly-engaged and empowered to speak up about any concerns they have and we have been in contact with many of them who have shared their thoughts with us.'
UNICEF highlights the damaging impact of total or partial school closures on the education of children in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. The UN agency says the Latin American and Caribbean region is experiencing a crisis that has left 114 million children unable to return to in-person learning in classrooms.

By Fr. Benedict Mayaki, SJ

School closures, either total or partial, owing to the ongoing health emergency currently leave approximately 114 million students in Latin America and the Caribbean without face-to-face school, according to UNICEF.

In a statement released on Wednesday, the UN Childrens fund said that one year after the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Caribbean and Latin America remain the region with the largest number of children missing out on in-person classes in the world.

Covid-19 and school disruptions

In spite of government efforts to ensure continuity of education through virtual platforms, and educational initiatives on radio and television, school disruptions are raising growing concerns about the impact on learning achievements, protection, mental health and the socio-economic prospects of children in the future.

According to UNICEFs estimates, only seven countries in Latin America and the Caribbean have fully reopened their schools with the resulting effect that children in these two regions have lost 158 school days of face-to-face school on average. In twelve countries of the region, schools remain fully closed and, in the others, classrooms are partially closed.

Nowhere else in the world so many children are currently left without face-to-face schooling, said Jean Gough, UNICEF Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean. This is the worst education crisis Latin America and the Caribbean has ever faced in its modern history.

Many children have already lost one year of face-to-face schooling; now they started to lose another school year. Each additional day without face-to-face schooling puts the most vulnerable children at risk of dropping out of school forever, she warned.

Damaging impact on childrens education

During school closures, UNICEF has supported educational support through the provision of distance programs which have benefitted about 45 million students in 24 countries in the region. 9 million children, parents and primary caregivers have also received mental health and psychosocial support.

However, the UN Childrens Fund is concerned that the longer children remain out of school, the less likely they are to return, as an estimated 3 million children in the region are at risk of permanently dropping out because of the pandemic.

Even before the pandemic, many students did not reach basic levels of math, reading and writing skills in elementary and middle school, the statement explained. In fact, a World Bank report indicates that 71 percent of students in Latin America and the Caribbean in lower secondary education may not be able to understand a text of moderate length. Before the pandemic, the figure was 55 percent. The World Bank worries that the number could rise to 77 percent if schools are closed for three more months.

Appeal to governments

While recognizing the efforts of education authorities and governments to mitigate the risks inherent to school disruptions and its impact on children, UNICEF insists that distance learning programs should be continued and scaled-up to reach more children. However, it notes, these will never be a substitute for face-to-face learning in a classroom with a teacher, especially for the most vulnerable children.

We are not asking for all schools to reopen everywhere at the same time; we are asking for schools to be the first to open and the last to close. Several countries in Latin America and the Caribbean have made great progress in prioritizing an urgent and gradual school reopening; now its time for others to follow the same path across the region, added Jean Gough.

UNICEF also welcomed a recent decision of the Ministers of Education from Central America and the Dominican Republic to prioritize the gradual reopening of schools, and called on other authorities in the region to make moves in the same direction.
As deadly storms battered southern states, including Alabama, five people died in a tornado that destroyed houses, splintered trees. Crumpled businesses, blaring tornado sirens, and howling winds swept through areas of western Georgia early Friday.

Strong tornado ripped Alabama and Georgia

According to meteorologists, a massive, dangerous tornado ripped through metro Atlanta's Coweta County about midnight Friday, prompting a tornado warning for the city of Newnan and nearby communities. Several alerts of fallen trees and power lines were received, as per CNBC.

Newnan police requested people to "get off the roads," adding that emergency crews were surveying the area. According to the agency, the storm wiped out Newnan Utilities' phone and internet systems. Still, they were "well aware of downed cables, gas leakage, and several impassable highways," according to the company.

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No deaths were immediately confirmed, according to Newnan Mayor Keith Brady. The powerful storm came after a pair of tornadoes passed through Alabama on Thursday, including one that flew about 100 miles through the state, the officials said.

Calhoun County Sheriff Matthew Wade said five people died in a tornado that destroyed a diagonal path through the county, mainly impacting rural areas, potentially preventing the death toll from being higher. "Our hearts, minds, and hopes are with the victims, and we will do whatever we can to let them know we love them," Wade said at an evening press conference.

John De Block, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Birmingham, said several tornadoes formed from a "supercell" of storms that later passed into Georgia. Due to the damage, many school districts were closed or delayed on Friday. Vast areas of Shelby County near Birmingham, Alabama's largest city, were severely affected.

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Georgia town described as 'war zone' after a tornado

According to FOX 5 in Atlanta, the destruction included destroyed houses and fallen trees. Several residents were injured, and one man died of a heart attack, according to reports. The devastation was characterized as a "war zone" in many social media posts.

Due to extensive storm damage in many parts of the state, Newnan High School tweeted that all Coweta County Schools would be closed on Friday. WSB confirmed that several viewers said the high school was severely damaged.

According to a WSB reporter, the Newnan town square communities suffered the most destruction, with many trees and powerlines down. Early Friday, a series of tornadoes created by early spring "super cell" storms swept across Alabama and Georgia. Tornadoes took the lives of at least five people in Alabama, riddled with wrecked houses, splintered trees, and crumpled businesses.

The severe weather that swept Alabama areas and the area marked the most dreaded part of springtime in the Deep South: tornado season. With electricity knocked out to tens of thousands and residents now tasked with removing debris and rebuilding.

Though Alabama seemed to be the hardest hit by Thursday's tornadoes, forecasters cautioned of dangerous thunderstorms, flash floods, and potential tornadoes from eastern Mississippi to western Georgia and northward into Tennessee and Kentucky. During the night, flash flood warnings and alerts were also issued for the western Carolinas.

In east Alabama, the deaths were confirmed in Calhoun County, where one of the multiple twisters sprang from a "super cell" of storms that later moved into Georgia, said John De Block, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Birmingham.

In addition to the deaths in Alabama, a storm-related death occurred in Mississippi on Wednesday. Ester Jarrell, 62, was killed when a massive tree dropped on her mobile home in Wilkinson County after heavy rain soaked the ground, Fox News reported.

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Hawaii's famed beaches are nearly back to pre-pandemic levels as a spring break surge of travelers floods the islands  and many are coming from states that do not have outdoor mask mandates, which Hawaii does.

The state saw 28,000 travelers enter the state on Saturday, the highest number since March.
U.S. Border Patrol agents assigned to the Laredo Sector arrested several individuals who are actively wanted by law enforcement agencies in separate incidents.

The first incident occurred in the afternoon on March 25, when agents from the Hebbronville Station encountered two subjects at the checkpoint on FM 1017. Due to a K-9 alert, the vehicle was referred to secondary for further inspection. Upon searching the vehicle, agents found a small plastic bag containing marijuana, methamphetamine, and drug paraphernalia.

Both individuals were placed under arrest for further investigation. Records checks on the individuals revealed that the driver, a citizen of Cuba who is in the U.S. illegally, had an active warrant out of McAllen, Texas for burglary. The passenger, a legal resident and citizen of Cuba, had an active warrant out of New Smyrna Beach, Florida for larceny/theft. Both individuals were turned over to Jim Hogg County Sheriffs Department for extradition.

The second incident happened several hours later when Laredo North Station agents encountered two subjects walking in the brush in a ranch north of Laredo. A field interview determined that both individuals are illegally in the U.S. and citizens of Mexico. Both were placed under arrest for further investigation. Records checks determined that one of the individuals is wanted out of San Antonio for assault and was turned over to the Webb County Sheriffs Office for extradition.

These incidents show the lack of regard criminals have for the laws of our country. Agents of Laredo Sector are committed to preventing dangerous criminals from entering our country as well as assisting partner law enforcement agencies when encountering wanted individuals while in performance of their duties.

To report suspicious activity such as human or drug smuggling, download the USBP Laredo Sector app or contact the Laredo Sector Border Patrol toll free at 1-800-343-1994. If you see something, say something.
London, March 26 : The Bank of England (BoE) has unveiled the design of a new 50-pound banknote featuring scientist Alan Turing, who is well known for codebreaking during the Second World War and pioneering work in computer science.

In an announcement on Thursday, the BoE said the banknote will enter circulation on June 23, which coincides with his birthday, Xinhua news agency reported.

The polymer 50-pound note would contain "advanced security features, completing our most secure set of Bank of England polymer banknotes yet", said the BoE.

"I'm delighted that our new 50-pound features one of Britain's most important scientists, Alan Turing," said BoE Governor Andrew Bailey, applauding Turing as a codebreaker, mathematician, developmental biologist and pioneer in the computer science.

The public can continue to use paper 50-pound notes as usual, according to the BoE, adding that "notice will be given at least six months ahead of the date when the old paper 50-pound is withdrawn".

In 2018, the BoE decided to choose the scientist on the new 50-pound banknote.

It received a total of 227,299 nominations, covering 989 eligible characters.

Turing is widely considered to be the father of theoretical computer science and Artificial Intelligence.

But in 1952, he was prosecuted for homosexual acts and two years later just before he turned 42, Turing died from cyanide poisoning.

Queen Elizabeth II granted Turing a posthumous pardon in 2013.
(Reuters) - said its COVID-19 vaccine was 76% effective at preventing symptomatic illness in a new analysis of its major U.S. trial, slightly lower than the level announced this week in a report criticised for using outdated information.

U.S. health officials had publicly rebuked the drugmaker for not using the most up-to-date information when it published an interim analysis on Monday showing the vaccine was 79% effective.

Here are comments on the latest developments:

MENE PANGALOS, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, BIOPHARMACEUTICALS R&D AT IN STATEMENT:

"The primary analysis is consistent with our previously released interim analysis, and confirms that our COVID-19 vaccine is highly effective in adults, including those aged 65 years and over.

"We look forward to filing our regulatory submission for emergency use authorisation (EUA) in the United States and preparing for the rollout of millions of doses across America."

DANNY ALTMANN, PROFESSOR OF IMMUNOLOGY, IMPERIAL COLLEGE LONDON:

"I think one has to just continue to distinguish between the strong, positive, data from the U.S. trial on the one hand, and then the amazing ability of press release messaging to continually rescue defeat from the jaws of victory!

"Notwithstanding tweaks of the past 24 hours, the data look excellent - and the politics a sideshow. For my taste, we continue to be in a life-and-death race to get vaccines out fast in the face of the third wave threat of variants."

DOMINIQUE LE GULUDEC, HEAD OF TOP FRENCH ADVISORY BODY HAUTE AUTORITE DE LA SANTE (HAS):

"We are totally reassured with AstraZeneca's vaccine when it comes to efficacy, even though it looks like the company does not communicate very well."

EYAL LESHEM, DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR TRAVEL MEDICINE AND TROPICAL DISEASES, SHEBA MEDICAL CENTER, ISRAEL:

"The preliminary results from the U.S. study reported today showed that using the protocol in a rigorous clinical trial setting, the AstraZeneca vaccine showed excellent efficacy against symptomatic COVID, very high efficacy against severe and critical disease and against hospitalization, 100%, and excellent efficacy in older people.

"So all this is very good news that attests to the AstraZeneca vaccine's effectiveness."

On prospects for FDA approval:

"It's more of a policy issue than a scientific question. The U.S. FDA has given two very quick approvals for two vaccine types, and they have their standard operating procedure. The question is if the FDA has sufficient workforce and the budget to move again with the emergency approval."

A third vaccine approval "is not expected to dramatically change the situation in the U.S. because they have their doses from Pfizer and Moderna."

BRUCE THOMPSON, PROFESSOR, SCHOOL OF HEALTH SCIENCES, SWINBURNE UNIVERSITY, AUSTRALIA:

"Basically it was a governance issue which is resolved now. We really need to take great satisfaction that all these processes are working to make sure that we know everything about the drug.

"AstraZeneca has given more information and the data is looking fine. It's a very good vaccine."

WILLIAM SCHAFFNER, PROFESSOR OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES, VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE, TENNESSEE:

"I think this will pour some oil on the troubled waters. The vaccine efficacy against severe disease, including death, puts the AstraZeneca vaccine in the same ballpark as the other vaccines.

"The company continues to intend to submit the data to the FDA and its external advisory committee for an EUA which I expect to be granted."

PAUL GRIFFIN, PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA:

"This appears to be a very effective vaccine with no safety concerns. Hopefully, this should now give people the confidence that this vaccine is the right one to continue to use moving forward."

JASON TETRO, INFECTIOUS DISEASE EXPERT IN CANADA, AUTHOR OF "THE GERM CODE":

"This should help secure approval in the United States and increase the trust in this vaccine worldwide."

(Reporting by Reuters staff; Editing by Josephine Mason and Clarence Fernandez)

(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.)
Mohir Cement launches new plant

26 March 2021

Tajikistans Mohir Cement LLC held the official opening ceremony of its new plant in Jaloliddin Balkhi, Khatlon, yesterday, with the ceremony attended by the country's President, Emomali Rahmon.

The facility has a capacity of 600,000tpa and will produce M400 and M500 cements. Cement from the unit is expected to be exported to Uzbekistan and Afghanistan.

Published under
A joint hearing entitled Disinformation Nation: Social Medias Role in Promoting Extremism and Misinformation was held on Thursday by two subcommittees of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and at which the CEOs of Facebook, Google and Twitter testified.

The hearinghosted jointly by the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology and the Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Commercebegan at noon and lasted for more than five hours.

After the respective committee and subcommittee chairpersons gave their opening statements, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Google (Alphabet) CEO Sundar Pichai and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey delivered their prepared remarks. This was followed by statements and questioning of the tech CEOs by dozens of representatives for five minutes each.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg testifies during a House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Thursday, March 25, 2021. (Photo: Screenshot from live stream)

This was the first congressional hearing to ostensibly address the role of online platforms in the January 6 assault on the US Capitol and fascistic coup attempt orchestrated by Donald Trump and congressional Republicans to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential elections. Other topics brought up during the hearing were online information about the pandemic and the COVID-19 vaccines, racist and anti-Asian violence and the growth of teen suicide in the US.

There were also proposals for modifications to the Section 230 provisions of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 that provide immunity for online platforms from third-party content.

To say that none of these subjects was addressed in any comprehensive or clarifying manner during the hearing would be an understatement. Instead, in the longstanding formula for such hearings in the US House of Representatives, the proceeding was used by Democrats and Republicans as an opportunity to advance their respective political agendas.

These positions both call for government regulation of online platforms from slightly different but nonetheless equally reactionary positions. They can be summarized as follows: The Democrats are demanding that social media and internet contentespecially left-wing criticism of the Biden administration considered divisive, harmful and extremistbe directly regulated by the government. The Republicans are demanding that the government intervene to halt supposed discrimination against extreme right-wing and fascist ideology and organizations online and that these be protected by free speech rights.

The Democratic Party position was articulated by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone of New Jersey in his opening statement. Pallone said, The dirty truth is ... the more outrageous and extremist the content, the more engagement and views these companies get from their users. ... The time for self-regulation is over. It is time we legislate to hold you accountable.

The Republican stance was outlined by Ranking Member Cathy McMorris-Rodgers in her opening remarks which included, Youve broken my trust. Yes, because youve failed to promote the battle of ideas and free speech. Yes, because you censor political viewpoints you disagree with. Those polarizing actions matter for democracy.

The absurdity that the House hearing would address the use of social media and online technologies by extreme right-wing groups to organize the January 6 attack on the US Capitol was exposed by the fact that the subject was barely discussed at all. The name Donald Trumpwhose Twitter and Facebook accounts were suspended after the electionswas hardly mentioned other than by Republicans protesting this suspension as censorship.

Even though there is publicly available information that the Proud Boys used social media to recruit members, raise funds and gather military-style equipment prior to January 6, nothing new about this question was reported by the tech CEOs or uncovered by the representatives.

It is not surprising that the role of social media in the fascist insurrection against the US Constitution was not discussed, even though two-thirds of the 26 Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee voted against the certification of the 2020 election results. This vote took place after the Capitol was cleared of the rampaging mob that attempted to stop the vote from taking place and threatened to kill members of Congress and Vice President Pence.

Among those who voted against the certification of the election results, for example, was Republican Representative Steve Scalise of Louisiana, who was permitted to use his five minutes to berate the tech CEOs about fairness and anti-conservative bias.

He demanded that Twitter CEO Dorsey explain why Twitter is continuing to allow a Washington Post article to be shared regarding the taped phone conversation between Donald Trump and the Georgia Secretary of State where the former president said, What I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than [the 11,779 vote margin of defeat] we have, because we won the state.
TASHKENT, March 25 (Xinhua)  A virtual exhibition on the anti-poverty achievements made by China and Uzbekistan has opened here to share Chinese experience in eradicating poverty.

The main goal of the exhibition, which is themed "Striving for a Better Life  Achievements of China and Uzbekistan in Poverty Reduction," is to promote cooperation between the two countries in the fight against poverty, organizers of the event said Wednesday during the opening ceremony.

Chinese Ambassador to Uzbekistan Jiang Yan said that any country striving for development and prosperity must address the problem of poverty, adding that China, as one of the world's most populous countries, has done a great job in reducing poverty and thus achieving historic achievements.

China and Uzbekistan are comprehensive strategic partners in the fight against poverty, Jiang said, emphasizing that China is ready to exchange its practice of passing the "path of poverty eradication" with Uzbekistan and make joint efforts to achieve the common prosperity and well-being of the two peoples.

Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev has described poverty reduction in the country as a state political task in 2020, according to Ilkhom Norkulov, Uzbek first deputy minister of economic development and poverty reduction.

Recalling that the two countries have cooperated and exchanged experience in poverty reduction, with several teleconferences relevant to the theme held, Norkulov said "this exhibition brings together the long-term successful experience of China and the first steps of Uzbekistan in reducing poverty."

Hong Tianyun, deputy head of China's national administration for rural vitalization, the country's competent authority for poverty reduction, said "China is actively exchanging its useful experience with foreign partners, and highly appreciates the enormous efforts made by the Uzbek side to reduce poverty amid negative consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic."

"We are ready to establish contacts with the competent authorities of Uzbekistan on developing policy and consolidating the results of the fight against poverty," Hong said.

(Source: Xinhua)
Islamabad: Pakistan on Friday successfully test-fired a nuclear-capable surface-to-surface ballistic missile with a range of 900 kilometres, the Army said.

The test of Shaheen-1A surface to surface ballistic missile, was aimed at re-validating various design and technical parameters of the weapon system including advanced navigation system, the media wing of the Pakistani army - the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), said in a statement.

The Army's media wing said that the missile has a range of 900 kilometers. Shaheen 1-A with its sophisticated and advanced guidance system is a highly accurate missile system.

The launch was witnessed by senior officials from Strategic Plans Division, strategic forces, scientists and engineers of strategic organisations.

Director General Strategic Plans Division, Lieutenant General Nadeem Zaki Manj, congratulated scientists and engineers on the conduct of this successful test.

He appreciated the technical prowess, dedication and commitment of scientists and engineers, who contributed whole-heartedly in making the missile launch successful. President Arif Alvi, Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee and

Services Chiefs have congratulated the scientists and engineers on successful conduct of the missile test, according to the army.

In February, Pakistan successfully test-fired a nuclear-capable surface-to-surface ballistic missile which can strike targets up to 290 kilometres, the Army said.

The launch of Ghaznavi missile was "culmination of Annual Field Training Exercise of Army Strategic Forces Command," the ISPR had said.
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CHICO, Calif.  FEMA has approved the state of Californias request for a six-month direct housing assistance extension for victims of the Camp Fire, Congressman Doug LaMalfa announced.

LaMalfa previously had asked FEMA for this extension.

Todays extension of temporary housing assistance was the right decision by FEMA as we continue recovering from the most destructive fire in Californias history," LaMalfa said. "Im thankful to FEMA for granting this request. I hope the Biden Administration will work with my office to keep Camp Fire survivors and the entire Ridge on a steady pathway back to normal.

FEMAs approval of a partial extension of direct temporary housing assistance is through September 12, 2021.

All eligible occupants who remain in FEMA Transportable Temporary Housing Units (TTHU) will be charged rent beginning June 1, 2021, during the extension period, according to FEMA. Prior to the end of the period of assistance, FEMA will give a 30-day written notice of the requirement to pay monthly rent to occupants remaining in a FEMA TTHU after the current period of assistance ends. FEMA said it has pledged to work with occupants to determine the amount of rent within their financial ability, up to the HUD Fair Market Rent (FMR). This amount will be based on each households income and current housing expenses.
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

Scientists have identified new genetic clues in people who've had small and often apparently 'silent' strokes that are difficult to treat and a major cause of vascular dementia, according to research funded by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) and published in The Lancet Neurology.

Researchers discovered changes to 12 genetic regions in the DNA of people who have had a lacunar strokea type of stroke caused by weakening of the small blood vessels deep within the brain. Over time, damage to the blood vessels and subsequent interruption to blood flow can lead to long-term disability, causing difficulty with thinking, memory, walking and ultimately dementia.

There are few proven drugs to prevent or treat lacunar strokes. The blood vessels affected are less than a millimetre wide and a lacunar stroke can strike without the person knowing. It's not usually until someone has had a number of these strokes and starts to see signs of dementia that they realise something is wrong.

To date, only one genetic fault has been associated with lacunar strokes. However, after over a decade of research, Professor Hugh Markus and his team at the University of Cambridge working with researchers from around the world now believe their genetic breakthrough holds the key to finding much-needed treatments for lacunar stroke and vascular dementia.

Researchers scanned and compared the genetic code of 7,338 patients who had a lacunar stroke with 254,798 people who had not. Participants were recruited from across Europe, United States, South America and Australia after they attended hospital and had an MRI or CT brain scan.

They discovered that many of the 12 genetic regions linked to lacunar strokes were involved in maintaining the neurovascular unitthe part of the brain that separates the blood vessels from the brain and ensures that nerves function normally. These genetic changes are thought to make the small blood vessels 'leakier', causing toxic substances to enter the brain, and meaning that messages travelling around the brain slow down or don't arrive at all.

The team now plan to test whether new treatments can correct these abnormalities on brain cells in the lab. They hope to begin human clinical trials in the next ten years.

The study also highlighted that high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and a history of smoking are causally associated with an increased risk of lacunar stroke, identifying things that we can immediately tackle.

Professor Hugh Markus, BHF-funded researcher, leader of the study and neurologist at the University of Cambridge, said:

"These small and often silent lacunar strokes have gone under the radar for a long time, and so we haven't been able treat patients as well as we'd like to. Although small, their consequences for patients can be enormous. They cause a quarter of all strokes and they are the type of stroke which is most likely to lead to vascular dementia.

"We now plan to use this new genetic blueprint as a springboard to develop much needed treatments to prevent lacunar strokes from occurring in the first place and to help stave off dementia."

Dr. Matthew Traylor, first author of the study at Queen Mary University of London, said:

"Genetics offers one of the few ways we can discover completely new insights into what causes a disease such as lacunar stroke. It is only by better understanding of what causes the disease that we will be able to develop better treatments."

Professor Sir Nilesh Samani, Medical Director at the British Heart Foundation and cardiologist, said:

"This is the most extensive genetic search to date which truly gets to grips with what cause lacunar strokes. These findings are a significant leap forward and we now have a much greater understanding of the genetics and biology behind what causes the small blood vessels deep in the brain to become diseased.

"Lacunar strokes affect around 35,000 people in the UK each year. This research provides real hope that we can prevent and treat this devastating type of stroke much better in the future."

Explore further Study reveals new link between periodontal and cerebrovascular diseases

Provided by British Heart Foundation
Press Release

26 March 2021

London, UK - The World Travel & Tourism Council's annual Economic Impact Report (EIR) today reveals the full devastating impact of COVID-19 had on the global Travel & Tourism sector last year, which suffered a massive loss of almost US$4.5 trillion.

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The annual EIR from the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), which represents the global Travel & Tourism private sector, shows the sector's contribution to GDP dropped a staggering 49.1%, this compared to the overall global economy which dropped by just 3.7% last year.

Vast losses run up during 2020, paint the first full picture of a sector struggling to survive in the face of crippling travel restrictions and unnecessary quarantines, which continue to threaten the urgent recovery of the world economy.

Altogether, the sector's contribution to global GDP plummeted to US$4.7 trillion in 2020 (5.5% of the global economy), from nearly US$9.2 trillion the previous year (10.4%).

In 2019, when global Travel & Tourism was thriving and generating one in four of all new jobs around the world, the sector contributed 10.6% (334 million) jobs globally.

However last year, as the pandemic ripped through the heart of Travel & Tourism, more than 62 million jobs were lost, representing a drop of 18.5%, leaving just 272 million employed across the industry globally.

These jobs losses were felt across the entire ecosystem of Travel & Tourism, with SMEs, which make up 80% of all businesses in the sector, particularly affected. Furthermore, as one of the world's most diverse sectors, the impact on women, youth and minorities was significant.

However, the threat persists as many of these jobs are currently supported by government retention schemes and reduced hours, which without a full recovery of Travel & Tourism could be lost.

WTTC, which has continually been at the forefront in leading the private sector in the efforts to restore international mobility and rebuild global consumer confidence, has praised governments around the world for their prompt response.

However, the global tourism body fears governments cannot continue to prop up threatened jobs indefinitely and must instead turn to the sector to help its recovery, so it can power the global economic revival by saving businesses and creating much needed new jobs and saving the millions of livelihoods that depend on the sector.

The report also reveals a shocking loss in international travel spending, which was down 69.4% on the previous year.

Domestic travel spending fell by 45%, a lower decline due to some internal travel in a number of countries.

Gloria Guevara, WTTC President & CEO, said: "We must praise the prompt action of governments around the world for saving so many jobs and livelihoods at risk, thanks to various retention schemes, without which today's figures would be far worse.

"However, WTTC's annual Economic Impact Report shows the full extent of the pain our sector has had to endure over the past 12 months, which has needlessly devastated so many lives and businesses, large and small.

"Clearly no one wants to go through what so many have had to suffer during the past difficult 12 months. WTTC research shows the global Travel & Tourism sector alone has been devastated, burdened by an unprecedented loss of almost US$4.5 trillion.

"With the sector's contribution to GDP plunging by almost half, it's more important than ever that Travel & Tourism is given the support needed so it can help power the economic recovery, which will be instrumental in enabling the world to revive from the effects of the pandemic."

The route to recovery

While 2020 and the winter of 2021 have been ruinous for Travel & Tourism, with millions around the world in lockdown, WTTC research shows that if international mobility and travel is resumed by June this year, it will significantly boost global and country level GDPs - and jobs.

According to the research, the sector's contribution to global GDP could rise sharply this year, up 48.5% year-on-year. The research also shows that its contribution could almost reach the same levels of 2019 in 2022, with a further year-on-year rise of 25.3%.

WTTC also predicts that if the global vaccine rollout continues at pace, and travel restrictions are relaxed just before the busy summer season, the 62m jobs lost in 2020 could return by 2022.

WTTC strongly advocates the resumption of safe international travel in June this year, if governments follow its four principles of recovery, which includes a comprehensive coordinated international testing regime upon departure for all non-vaccinated travellers, to eliminate quarantines.

It also includes enhanced health and hygiene protocols and mandatory mask wearing; shifting to individual traveller risk assessments instead of country risk assessments; and continued support for the sector, including fiscal, liquidity and worker protection.

WTTC says the introduction of digital health passes, such as the recently announced 'Digital Green Certificate', will support the sector's recovery.

The global tourism body also urges governments around the world to provide a clear and decisive roadmap, allowing businesses time to ramp up their operations in order to recover from the ravages of the pandemic.

Note: Country and Regional factsheets will be released over the coming weeks.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-26 13:37:47|Editor: huaxia

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JOHANNESBURG, March 25 (Xinhua) -- South Africa is on track with its national vaccination campaign, a senior official said on Thursday.

Following a Cabinet meeting, Acting Minister in the presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni told a briefing on Thursday that phase two inoculation of more than 13 million people including the elderly, the ill and essential workers will be carried out in six months.

"The Department of Health is on track to vaccinate all healthcare workers by the end of Phase one," she said.

Phase one of the vaccination campaign which began in February was aimed at vaccinating over 1.5 million medical workers.

Ntshavheni said that phase three will be implemented over three months between November 2021 to February 2022, aiming to cover the rest of the country's population in the country.

"The vaccination sites for Phases two and three will expand ... to improve the efficiency and the speed of the vaccination roll-out program," she said.

More vaccines were expected to arrive soon. The government has been criticized previously for slow vaccination, with less than 210,000 medical workers having been inoculated. Enditem
Moscow, March 26 : Russia will hold large-scale military parades across the country on May 9 to commemorate the 76th anniversary of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in the Second World War, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said.

More than 12,500 troops, over 190 units of weapons and military equipment, and 76 aircraft will join the main military parade on Red Square in Moscow, Xinhua news agency quoted Shoigu as saying on Thursday.

In addition to Moscow, military parades will be held in another 27 cities of the country, involving more than 47,000 soldiers, about 1,600 units of military equipment and over 200 aircraft, he said.

Celebrations with the participation of troops will be conducted in 377 cities and towns on Victory Day, he added.

Victory Day marks when the Nazi Germany signed an Act of Unconditional Surrender in a suburb of Berlin on the night of May 8, 1945, Berlin time, which was the early hours of May 9 Moscow time.

It marked the end of the 1941-1945 Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union, an integral part of World War II lasting from 1939 to 1945.

The catastrophic war claimed about 27 million lives of people from the Soviet Union, according to official statistics.
India and Pakistan brigade commanders met on Friday and discussed peace along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir. The brigade commander-level meeting took place to take forward the understanding to implement ceasefire decided last month.

In February, both the countries decided to re-implement the ceasefire agreement of 2003 to maintain peace at the borders.

"Post the DGsMO Understanding 2021, a Brigade Commander Level Flag Meeting was held between Indian and Pakistan Army at Poonch Rawalkot Crossing Point on 26 March, 2021 to discuss implementation mechanism as per the understanding," the Indian Army said.

However, there has been no commitment from Islamabad to stop sponsoring terror and launchpads continue to exist, government sources said.

Indian Army Chief General M.M. Naravane said not a single bullet has been fired at the LoC in the month of March.

India and Pakistan have reached understanding to implement ceasefire agreement reached during the talks between Director-General of Military Operations of both the countries over hotline on February 22.

"Our endeavour is to achieve peace and stability which is beneficial for the region and specially for the population residing along the LoC, this is an attempt to bring the violence levels down," the force had stated.

The Indian Army had stated that DGMO of India and Pakistan Army interact regularly over the established mechanism of hotline.

The purpose of the mechanism is to review the situation along the Line of Control, International Boundary and endeavour to achieve observance of all understandings and agreements reached between the two militaries.

The force had stated that Indian Army remains committed to fight the scourge of terrorism. "Acts of terror will not be tolerated and befitting response would await any misadventure," the force said.

"Over the last few years our counter infiltration posture along the LoC has further strengthened and terrorists have found infiltration across the LoC increasingly difficult."

The force said that infiltration of terrorist remains a primary concern. "The ceasefire violence primarily due to the activities of terrorism along and across LoC."

There is trust deficit with Pakistan, Indian Army had stated. The force had pointed : "We have a history of bitter experiences with Pakistan. The peace processes in the past have been derailed either because of acts of terror or Pakistan Army's belligerence. We are live to this reality and We all remain prepared to meet any eventuality. However we remain cautiously optimistic. Peace along LoC is mutually beneficial."
Ahead of a right-wing rally for border security that will be held in Laredo on Friday, several local activists, elected officials and religious leaders gathered virtually to refute the narrative that there is an immigration crisis on the border, and more specifically in the Gateway City.

If you ask me point blank today, Is this a crisis? Are you in crisis mode? I hesitate to use that word because Ive seen crisis before and weve lived through disasters before, and were not there right now, said Pastor Mike Smith, executive director of the Holding Institute, which shelters migrant families in Laredo.

On Wednesday evening, Smith said the shelter received eight people  three families with young children. They were tired but in good health. They came to seek asylum in the U.S. because they fear whats happening in their home country, he said.

Currently, the federal government is enforcing Title 42, where migrants apprehended by Border Patrol are immediately returned to Mexico for fear of spreading COVID-19. The vast majority of apprehensions in the Laredo area are adults, who are expulsed.

All unaccompanied migrant children and some family units, however, are not being sent back to Mexico. Some are sent to shelters like the Holding Institute, some are being held in dedicated processing centers overseen by the Department of Health and Human Services and some are being held in Border Patrol custody. Border Patrol is not allowed to hold children for longer than 72 hours, but it has been doing so recently due to the dearth of proper shelter space. Photos released by Rep. Henry Cuellar this week showed children crowded in a Border Patrol processing center in Donna, Texas.

But Smith said he has seen no unaccompanied minors in Laredo. There are no shelters for children here. U.S. Customs and Border Protection encountered 1,569 unaccompanied children in the Laredo Sector last month, a 20% increase over February 2020, but the surge is much more significant in the Rio Grande Valley, Del Rio and Big Bend sectors.

Activists on Thursday made the case that even if apprehensions are up, that this is a facet of the ebb and tide of immigration to the U.S.

Jenn Budd, a former Border Patrol Agent in San Diego, noted that there have been periodic surges in migration to the southern border over the last several decades, the worst of which was in the year 2000. There were less than half the number of Border Patrol agents in the U.S. then than there are today, she noted.

The data clearly proves that we are at a normal cycle, that the border is still closed and that this second surge, as they like to call it, is just more racism and Border Patrol hype, Budd said.

Councilmember Alberto Torres cited crime data from Laredo Police and the FBI that shows Laredo is safer than many U.S. cities of similar size.

And Laredo Health Authority Dr. Victor Trevino noted that migrants are being tested upon arrival at shelters and again upon their departures. Inflammatory and false remarks about migrants spreading disease feeds into a long history of racism and anti-immigrant hostility, Trevino said.

This is clearly a humanitarian issue, where these migrants should be treated with dignity and respect in line with our laws. Any individual that does test positive has been properly isolated to quarantine appropriately. The positivity rate from this population has been low along the border and had little or no impact in our seven-day positivity rate, he said.

Fridays right-wing rally, called We The People Stand For Border Security, is slated to last for seven hours on Friday, with more than a dozen speakers including Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

Webb County Democratic Party Chair Sylvia Bruni said they should know better than to come to Laredo, which is not in crisis and where no unaccompanied children are being held.

Why in the world are they coming to Laredo? We dont fit the portrait, but theyre still here, Bruni said.

Smith said he hopes the cohort is coming for Laredos food and encouraged them to shop local.

Whoever you are, welcome to Laredo, enjoy your stay, eat lots of Mexican food and shop at our malls, he said.

Julia Wallace may be reached at 956-728-2543 or jwallace@lmtonline.com
Vice President Harris was in Connecticut Friday to speak about new federal funding to support child care and the enhanced child tax credit.

Here's the latest on her visit:
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BARCELONA, Spain  The number of migrants and asylum-seekers who reached Europe in 2020 is the lowest it has been in the past decade, according to a report released Friday by the United Nations migration agency. But deaths and disappearances on sea routes remain alarmingly high with only a small fraction of bodies recovered and victims identified.

Of the 93,000 people who entered Europe irregularly last year, roughly 92% did so via the Western, Central and Eastern Mediterranean Sea, as well as through the Atlantic Ocean off West Africa to Spains Canary Islands, often on unseaworthy boats.

Arrivals in the Canaries, considered part of the Schengen area, increased by 750% last year. The numbers had already picked up before the pandemic following tougher border controls and interceptions on the Mediterranean by North African countries, but COVID-19 seems to have acted as a multiplier of existing factors motivating migration on this route, the report said.

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It added that many migrants previously worked in sectors such as fishing and agriculture that have suffered greatly from the economic consequences of the pandemic.

The sea routes are lethal. The International Organization for Migrations Missing Migrants Project has confirmed the death or disappearances of nearly 2,300 people last year. This number is higher than in 2019 when 2,095 victims were recorded and slightly lower than in 2018 which had 2,344.

The Central Mediterranean north of Libya saw 984 people perish in 2020. Meanwhile, on the Atlantic route to the Canary Islands, at least 849 victims were recorded  more than four times as many as in any of the previous six years, according to the report, Maritime Migration to Europe: Focus on the Overseas Route to the Canary Islands.

The deaths of 300 more Europe-bound asylum-seekers and migrants on the two sea passages have already been documented this year, the IOM said.

In the latest incident in the Canaries, at least three people died Friday after a crowded migrant boat capsized south of the island of Tenerife. Spanish rescuers pulled 41 people from the water with the help of a nearby fishing vessel, and also recovered the bodies of two women and a man, a spokesman with Spains Maritime Rescue Service said.

The spokesman told The Associated Press that rescuers were looking for more survivors in the ocean.

The International Organization for Migration admits its data is incomplete. So-called invisible shipwrecks, when entire boats disappear and leave no survivors, are especially concerning.

Not included in the reports death toll for last year are nine cases of invisible shipwrecks reported in the Atlantic and Mediterranean last year with hundreds of additional potential victims, according to IOM data requested by the AP.

Such cases are extremely difficult to detect, let alone verify, and are yet another indication that the true number of deaths on maritime routes to Europe is far higher than indicated by the available data, the report said.

The Associated Press has most recently come across an example of uncounted deaths after interviewing two survivors who reached the Canary Islands last November. According to them more than 20 people on their boat did not survive the two-week odyssey.

The group of approximately 180 people had departed the town of Joal-Fadiouth in Senegal but ran out of food, water and fuel after the eighth day.

It was horrible, said Babacar Mboup, a former fisherman who was among them. I saw people dying by my side. Their bodies were thrown overboard after they passed away, one by one.

Finally, a Spanish rescue helicopter found their boat drifting 33 miles from the island of El Hierro. When rescuers reached the 158 survivors, only one body remained on the boat. Fearing backlash, those alive did not tell authorities that another 20 people were in the ocean. And so only one death was recorded.

Mboup says he didnt know most of those who died but had alerted the family of one of the deceased whom he did know. His name was Lamine, and he was 28 years old.

___

Follow APs global migration coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/migration
In light of COVID-19, the increased demand being placed on Canada Post, and the unique challenges that have affected horsemen in our region this season, the PEI Harness Racing Industry Association in conjunction with the Maritime Breeders Association will be offering a one time late payment extension until April 9, 2021 for two- and three-year-old horses that were nominated to the following stakes as yearlings:

PEI Colt Stakes (formerly known as the Island Breeders) Lady Slipper Stake Joe OBrien Stake Brian Andrew Memorial Maritime Breeders Stake

The Associations involved with this initiative feel that working together will further their goals for the betterment of the Standardbred Industry in the region as well as promote inclusivity in the racing community.

Payments may be made by credit card only through SC Stakes Online or by calling Amy Davis @ 905-838-3060 ex. 254. Payments can be made between 9:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. AST and will only be accepted until 5:00 pm AST on April 9, 2021.

(PEIHRIA)
[March 26, 2021] The World Took the Digital Privacy Test by NordVPN and Barely Passed it

LONDON, March 26, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The world passed the test of online privacy awareness, but the results are fairly satisfactory. The global score is 65.2 points out of 100. Despite knowing well how to assess and react to online threats (84.2/100) and knowing in theory how to stay safe online (72.2/100), people around the world have very poor cybersecurity habits and do not practice what they preach. When it comes to habits, the score is 47.1 points out of 100. The findings are based on NordVPNs National Privacy Test , which assesses the knowledge in online privacy and cybersecurity of 48,063 respondents from 192 countries. Three aspects were evaluated: habits, theoretical knowledge, and practical skills to react to the threats. Whos the best? NordVPN drilled down into the performance of 21 countries where the number of respondents was the highest and found that Germany is the most advanced country (71.2) on all accounts: they have great online privacy knowledge (78.0/100), absolutely rock the understanding of what not to tolerate when faced with online threats (90.2), and maintain healthy habits online (53.2). Moreover, 9 out of the top 10 performing countries are European, with the Netherlands being the second best (overall score of 69.5/100) and Switzerland the third (68.9/100). These findings confirm the findings by Cousera, which evaluated essential technological skills around the world and found Europe to be the cutting-edge region. The United States, the cradle of BigTech companies dominating the industry of the internet, came 4th in the list with an overall score of 68.5. Americans performed best on knowing how to react and what threats not to tolerate online (87.3/100). This is followed by the general knowledge of the tools and principles of online privacy (76.5). They showed just slightly better digital habits than the average of the rest of the world (49.7). The surprises National performance in digital privacy uncovered 3 major surprises. This concerns countries known for their tech advancement, namely Japan, Russia, and India, that havent made it even to the top 15. What dragged them down was their digital habits. The Japanese, despite being among the most digitally competitive countries, according to the IMD report, performed the weakest in the National Privacy Test. Its overall score is 44.4. This is almost two times lower than Germanys result. The Japanese were the weakest when it comes to digital habits and scored 34.8 points, which is 12.3 points below the global average. Their theoretical knowledge of how to secure online privacy scored 45.3 points, and the awareness of how to react to online privacy threats 57.7 points, with the former being 26.9 points and the latter 26.5 points below the global average. Coursera considers Russia to be a cutting-edge country in terms of technological skills. However, when it comes to the private lives and online privacy of an individual, Russia is below the global average on all accounts, placing it at the 17th position out of 21 on the list. The overall Russian National Privacy Score is 53.6, which is 11.6 points lower than the global average. Russias digital habits scored 36.9 points (10.2 points below the average), the theoretical knowledge of tools and principles of online privacy scored 57.4 points (14.8 points below the average), and preparedness to recognize and react accordingly to online threats scored 74.2 points (10.0 points below the global average). The final surprise was spotted in India. The country is known for its IT talent exports and being the IT support hub for most of the global corporations. Yet India came 19th out of 21 countries in the National privacy Test, scoring 51.2 points (14.0 points below the global average). Indians habits scored 37.0 points (10.1 points below the global average), the knowledge associated with what can make you more private online scored 57.6 points (14.6 below the global average), and the knowledge of what to do when faced with online threats scored 65.2 points (19.0 points below the global average). Habits are the problem The way we lead our lives online makes us either more vulnerable to cybercrime or less so. And the habits we have formed are not that great: 47.1 points out of 100. Brazil has the worst digital habits (33.4/100) among the rated countries. It appears that the world completely ignores Privacy Policies and Terms and Conditions. 41.9% said they proceed without reading and accept everything they are offered, or were not sure if they pay attention to anything. 42.2% said the most important thing to know is whom their data is shared with. When it comes to sharing personal data on social media, people were asked what they allow their friends or followers to see. 15.2% said they allow to see personal details, including email address and full name. 5.9% said they have no issue sharing their current location, while 49.5% assured they dont share any identifiable personal information for the world to see. On a related note, people were asked if they are aware that Facebook can collect personal information on users even if they dont have an account with them. 40.4% had no knowledge about that or at least were not sure if this can be true. Biggest misconceptions The biggest problem we see is the understanding of what does and doesnt make you private online, says Daniel Markuson, digital privacy expert at NordVPN . A staggering 49,0% of people think that clearing their browsing history would wipe away their digital footprint entirely. And this is the biggest deceit we were made to believe. Tracking and surveillance extend way beyond our devices. Your internet service provider knows everything about your life online. The digital privacy expert adds: To be truly private online, one must not only know how to react to threats but also how to prevent them in the first place. Clearing the browsing history will not make you more private, as half of the world thinks. But good habits and comprehensive cybersecurity tools like VPN and an antivirus will. The global ranking of countries by their performance in the National Privacy Test Position Country National Privacy Test Score Digital habits Privacy awareness Risk tolerance World 65.2 47.1 72.2 84.2 1 Germany 71.2 53.2 78 90.2 2 Netherlands 69.5 51.9 75.8 88.6 3 Switzerland 68.9 51.5 75.8 86.9 4 USA 68.5 49.7 76.5 87.3 5 Belgium 68.0 50.5 74.7 86.6 6 France 67.7 48.8 75.1 87.4 7 Denmark 67.6 49.6 73.3 88.0 8 Norway 67.0 49.2 72.2 87.7 9 Spain 67.0 49.6 72.7 86.6 10 Sweden 66.2 47.5 73.5 85.8 11 UK 65.9 47.1 74.0 84.6 12 Italy 65.7 49.8 69.1 85.5 13 Australia 64.6 45.7 71.9 84.2 14 Canada 64.3 45.1 71.5 84.7 15 Saudi Arabia 56.3 41.5 61.9 71.9 16 South Africa 55.3 36.0 60.3 78.6 17 Russia 53.6 36.9 57.4 74.2 18 Brazil 52.1 33.4 56.5 75.2 19 India 51.2 37.0 57.6 65.2 20 Turkey 46.7 33.6 49.4 63.2 21 Japan 44.4 34.8 45.3 57.7



National Privacy Test by NordVPN Methodology

NordVPN launched an open-access survey National Privacy Test in November, 2020. 48,063 respondents from 192 countries responded to 20 questions that evaluated their online privacy skills and knowledge. Drilling down to an individual country level, analysis was performed only on countries where the number of respondents was higher than 400. ABOUT NORDVPN NordVPN is the worlds most advanced VPN service provider used by over 14 million internet users worldwide. NordVPN provides double VPN encryption, malware blocking, and Onion Over VPN. The product is very user-friendly, offers one of the best prices on the market, has over 5,000 servers in 60 countries worldwide, and is P2P-friendly. One of the key features of NordVPN is the zero-log policy. For more information: nordvpn.com . Contact: Skirmante Akinyte

skirmante@nordsec.com



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Lisbon, March 26 : Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa has extended the state of emergency introduced to combat the spread of Covid-19, until April 15 asking for people's "prudence" during the Easter holiday so that the de-confinement is "successful".

The extension of the state of emergency in Portugal was approved by Parliament on Thursday, following recommendations from health experts and negotiations with political parties and civil organisations, reports Xinhua news agency.

In an address to the nation, the President urged the Portuguese to be "sensible" in the coming days so that travels and Easter parties will not cause a further increase in Covid-19 cases, as it happened after the restrictions were relaxed during Christmas.

The period "is a time of intense family reunion", he said, warning that "family gatherings and reunions" need to be avoided for the "protection of life and health".

He said it is necessary to take "these steps so that the number of infected, intensive care and deaths, as well as the indicator of transmission and contagion, do not reverse the trend towards the cooling of the pandemic before the summer".

The President added that the "delay in the supply of vaccines, which required adjustments to the timetable drawn up at the end of 2020" could be overcome in April.
A man described as having an Irish accent and with links to Ireland has featured on BBC One's real-life television crime programme, Crimewatch, as part of a British police appeal to find an escaped prisoner.

Michael Moorehouse (32) is on the run after escaping from prison in 2019 where he had been serving a six-year sentence for burglary.

Surrey Police have said they believe Moorehouse has information about a series of burglaries in the area, and are appealing for the public's help in finding him.

The force tweeted: "Have you seen 32-year-old Michael Moorehouse? Featured on BBC Crimewatch this morning [March 24], we believe he has information about a series of burglaries in Surrey.

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"If you see him or know how we can find Michael, you can direct message us here [on Twitter]."

A description on the BBC's website reads: "Do you recognise this man, Michael Moorehouse?

"He should be serving a six-year sentence for burglary - instead the 32-year-old is on the run after escaping from prison in 2019.

"Police also want to question him about a burglary where eight-and-a-half thousand pounds worth of jewellery was stolen.

"Moorehouse has an Irish accent and links to Ireland and the South East of England - particularly Essex."

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Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-25 22:15:14|Editor: huaxia

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Researchers take a dinghy to make closer observations in the South China Sea, July 15, 2020. (Xinhua/Wang Ziqiang)

The spokesperson said, it is the United States which has actually militarized the area and threatened freedom of navigation, adding that the country, over 8,300 miles from the South China Sea, has built several military bases with offensive weapons around the area, and frequently sent aircraft carriers and strategic bombers throughout the year.



BEIJING, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying on Thursday refuted U.S. allegations of militarizing the South China Sea and undermining the international system.

In response to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken's address at NATO headquarters in Brussels on Wednesday, Hua told a press briefing that labels like "militarizing the South China Sea" should never be pinned on China.

China was not the first one to start construction or deploy necessary armaments in the South China Sea, nor is it the one to deploy the most weaponry. The United States cannot use the so-called militarization to deprive China of the right to defend its own territory, Hua said.

She said it is the United States which has actually militarized the area and threatened freedom of navigation, adding that the country, over 8,300 miles from the South China Sea, has built several military bases with offensive weapons around the area, and frequently sent aircraft carriers and strategic bombers throughout the year.

In his remarks, Blinken said China threatens NATO security, calling for a joint approach to counter China as the country "is working to undercut the international system" and the values the United States and its allies share.

"There is only one system in the world, which is the international system with the United Nations as its core. And there is only one set of rules, which are the basic norms of international relations based on the principles of the UN Charter," Hua said.

Noting that the United States has withdrawn from a number of treaties over the years, Hua said it has now wielded the stick of sanctions, and imposed unilateral and illegal sanctions on other sovereign countries.

"The label of 'undermining the international system' belongs to the United States," Hua said.

"We hope the United States will correctly understand itself and others, abandon zero-sum game and cold war mentality, truly learn to deal with other countries based on equality and mutual respect, and assume the important responsibilities of major powers for world peace and development," Hua said. 
Moscow police official suspected of stealing $330,000

 RAPSI, Vladimir Burnov

11:11 26/03/2021

MOSCOW, March 26 (RAPSI)  A chief of the investigation department of the Moscow Department of Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs is suspected of stealing 25 million rubles ($330,000) seized as part of a criminal case, the police press service reports Friday.

According to the Investigative Committee, the suspect received information on the seized funds which were placed in his safe box after the required investigative actions. Not later than February 2021 he stole over 25 million rubles from it, the statement reads.

A case was opened over large-scale theft.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-26 18:04:18|Editor: huaxia

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DHAKA, March 26 (Xinhua) -- A head-on collision between a passenger bus and a microbus on Friday left at least 17 people dead in Bangladesh's Rajshahi city, some 256 km west of the capital Dhaka, a senior police official said. Enditem
The Swedish retailer stated it was deeply concerned about reports of forced labor in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR). In response to this, Chinas ruling Communist Party has been attacking H&M.

The Communist Youth League on Weibo brought to the fore H&M statement from March 2020, in which the clothing brand said it would stop buying cotton grown in Xinjiang. There has been a growing trend of boycotting Xinjiang Cotton as many foreign brands were apprehensive of human rights abuses on the Uyghur Muslims. However, H& M as well as other Western apparels have been facing a boycott for voicing out their opinion.

The Swedish retailer stated it was deeply concerned about reports of forced labor in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR). In response to this, Chinas ruling Communist Party has been attacking H&M. This development comes in the backdrop of the Western sanctions which have been imposed on Chinese officials who have been accused of human rights abuses in the northwestern region of Xinjiang.

It was on Monday that the European Union, the United States, Britain and Canada jointly announced travel and financial sanctions on four senior Chinese officials blamed for abuses in Xinjiang. On the other hand, China and Russian Diplomats have taken an oath to stand together against Western sanctions by enhancing cooperation and becoming less dependent on the US payments system amidst growing pressure from the Biden administration. Wang Yi and his Russian counterpart, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov held a joint press conference on Tuesday and stated that they would be boosting ties and oppose Western aggression.

Also Read: First under Biden administration: North Korea fires 2 ballistic missiles into the sea near Japan

Also Read: Indian Navy emphasizes on six-nuclear powered submarines; mission to counter China

Not only that, Burberry, Adidas, Nike, and New Balance has been cited by the Global Times which acts as the Chinas mouthpiece. These companies had been cited because of the critical remarks they had made about Xinjiang cotton two years ago. Chinese celebrities such as Wang Yibo announced that endorsement contracts with H&M and Nike may be discontinued.

Chinese social media has erupted against Nike after it remarked of the growing concern about reports of forced labour in Xinjiang and emphasized that it does not use cotton from the region. The Chinese social media has called out its citizens support local brands such as Li Ning and Anta and not Nike or Adidas.

The Trump administration had announced an import ban on all cotton and tomato products from Xinjiang over allegations that they are made with forced labor from detained Uighur Muslims. However, imported products would be imported from China but not raw cotton itself. The US Customs and Border Protection (CBP)made it clear that it would rather import cotton products made in Bangladesh, Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines. Analysts are of the view that the US ban along with the increasing boycott by the Western apparel industry would now result in more demand for raw cotton from India, particularly from the US, Vietnam and Bangladesh and dependency on China would be reduced.

Also Read: PM Modi to visit Bangladesh tomorrow: Delhi-Dhaka to ink pacts bolstering ties
So much has been written over the last five years about how decisive and unconventional leadership of - now the late - President John Magufuli upended politics since his administration came to power in November 2015. But one key area, Foreign Affairs, hasn't received as much scrutiny, in part because the foreign-policy establishment, though tiny, lacks organisation, as well as a culture of open, intellectual debates. In a country such as ours, where the expression of dissent has the potential to ruin future prospects, their choice of silence, which is key for self-preservation, is understandable.

Two key aspects of the late President's political journey seem to have had a sizable influence on his approach towards foreign policy. The first aspect is his political experience. Although he served as a Member of Parliament, and a minister, for about 20 years, he did not have an opportunity to gain significant experience in foreign relations.

The second aspect is the context characterising his early days in office. The late President won a contentious nomination process within his party in 2015 and later that year ran against a revitalised opposition under the candidacy of the influential former Prime Minister, Mr Edward Lowassa.

The circumstances underpinning the President's rise to power meant that he ran the risk of becoming a lame-duck leader. There is no doubt that Dr Magufuli's administration faced a key strategic dilemma from the beginning - either to dismantle the alternative centres of power that had come to limit his authority or accept a significantly reduced mandate, even in comparison with his successor. His determination to tame the opposition, through restrictions on political activities, media space and civil society presented a huge point of schism in relations with 'friends of Tanzania', amongst other groups. Many saw the restrictions as a reversal of gradual but steady democratic reforms that had come to define progress in Tanzania.

A fundamental change that President Magufuli sought to achieve, as far as the strategic direction of Tanzania's foreign policy is concerned, was to stir the country away from a nation that benefited from a great deal of goodwill, based on its gradual embrace of liberal democracy. It seems his aim was to substitute the dominant currency of engagement with friends of Tanzania - 'ideology' - with commerce, in line with the country's new foreign policy, which calls for emphasis on economic diplomacy. He knew that aid dependency gave foreign nations enormous influence and resolved to eliminate this leverage through better revenue collection, and aggressive engagement. This attempt created a lot of tension as traditional donors reallocated and withheld aid, at least for a while,in a bid to obtain concessions.

As a typical 'realist', President Magufuli believed in hard power as embodied by his many speeches.
Pioneer file photo

BIG RAPIDS  The AMVET Post No. 1941 is inviting area residents to join veterans and their families in celebrating National Vietnam War Veterans Day.

The post, located at 320 S. 4th Ave., Big Rapids, will be honoring Vietnam War veterans beginning with breakfast at 9 a.m. on Monday.
A Filipino man who had been experiencing sharp chest pains in cold weather, learned that he had a four-inch-long knife blade lodged in his chest after doing a routine X-ray.

25-year-old Kent Ryan Tomao was more than a bit confused when doctors told him that he had an an object resembling a knife stuck in his chest, very close to one of his lungs. He had undergone an X-ray exam required to apply for a mining job in Agusan del Sur, and never imagined there was anything wrong with him. He told doctors in Kidapawan City that he had sometimes experienced stabbing pains in his chest on unusually cold days, but didnt think too much of them. He certainly didnt think there was a knife blade in his chest.

I always wonder why I feel some pain in my chest when the weather is cold. But I have no idea there is a knife in my chest, Tomao told a local radio station.

Asked if he had any idea how the blade ended up in his chest, Kent told physicians that he had been the victim of a stabbing over a year ago. He was allegedly riding a motorbike one day, last June, when he was attacked and stabbed by a gang of youths. He didnt remember much about the incident, except that he was almost lifeless when he was brought to the hospital, where doctors managed to save him.

Kent had always assumed that doctors performed all the necessary tests before releasing him, and he certainly never imagined they had left a knife blade in his chest. He never had any reason to, as he only experienced chest pains during cold weather.

Despite the shocking discovery, the 25-year-old man said that he has no plans of suing the doctor who treated him after getting stabbed last year, In fact, he even declined to name them, as not to make any problems for him. All he wants now is to have the blade removed so he can apply for that mining job.
Travis Barker has added to his huge collection of tattoos with a tribute to one of his favorite movies, True Romance.

On Thursday, the 45-year-old boyfriend of Kourtney Kardashian, 41, shared an Instagram video showing him working on his right thigh with a tattoo needle, and inscribing the words 'You're so cool!', a line from the Tony Scott-directed movie.

Travis, who has tattoos covering his whole body including his face and all over his scalp, replicated the note that Alabama (Patricia Arquette) wrote for Clarence (Christian Slater) on a hotel napkin in the 1993 movie.

Inked up: Travis Barker tattooed his right thigh with a line from True Romance 'You're so cool!' on Thursday

'You're so cool' is also the title of the love theme by composer Hans Zimmer.

Kourtney showed her approval of her beau's new ink in the comments under the clip as she gushed 'You're so cool!'

Kourtney and Travis clearly have a shared love of the romantic crime, written by Quentin Tarantino.

Back on January 5, before they went public with their relationship, Travis wrote 'you're so cool' on a post that Kourtney shared which featured stills of Arquette and Slater in the movie.

Bold move: Travis, 45, didn't seem fazed as he used a tattoo needle on his own thigh

The rocker replicated the note that Alabama (Patricia Arquette) writes for Clarence (Christian Slater) on a hotel napkin in the 1993 movie

It seems the new couple are already serious about each other, as last week Travis showed off a note from Kourtney which read 'I love you' along with a little heart. The Blink-182 rocker shared it with the world as he put it on his Instagram stories.

The duo aren't hesitating to show their admiration for each other on social media.

Last month Kourtney wrote to him, 'To lots of fun adventures, may we destroy each other completely,' in a note she posted online.

The phrase is a common one between the pair as Travis had also tweeted cryptically a few days earlier: 'May we destroy each other completely.'

Kourtney and Travis started dating earlier this year and confirmed their relationship in February; they have since been seen holding hands on date nights out in public.

You're so cool: Travis' girlfriend Kourtney Kardashian wrote the same quote in the comments under the musician's post

Favorite: Kourtney and Travis have a shared love of the 1993 movie

In a preview for this week's episode of Keeping Up With The Kardashians, Kourtney got grilled on her sex life by sister Khloe, 37.

She asked if Kourtney was involved with anyone or wanted to be - and Kourtney replied in the negative to both questions.

Khloe also asked: 'How many people DM you?' and Kourtney replied: 'Hundreds,' prompting Kim to come up with the idea that 'We can get drunk and go through your DMs.'

Iconic: 'You're so cool' is also the title of the theme by composer Hans Zimmer

'Do you still talk to what's-his-name?' Khloe asked and Kourtney revealed that she 'never' does and does not even think of him - although 'he'll text me once in awhile.'

Kourtney has a co-parenting relationship with her ex Scott Disick with whom she shares her children Mason, 11, Penelope, eight, and Reign, six.

After they broke up in 2016 she had a relationship with the Algerian model Younes Bendjima who is more than a decade her junior.

Travis was previously married to Shanna Moakler, who he shares daughter Alabama, 15, and son Landon, 17, with.
The 2021 MyBroadband Conference will take place on 14 April. This year the event has moved online, which makes it possible for IT and telecoms executives across South African to attend.

The new online format also makes it easy for delegates to listen to speakers and engage with exhibitors.

TV personality Aki Anastasiou will serve as MC for the event and will host interviews with South Africas top ICT executives.

Topics which will be covered at the 2021 MyBroadband Online Conference include 5G, fibre, mobile broadband, mobile devices, IoT, digital transformation, online security, and innovation.

Delegates will also learn more about telecoms network rollouts in South Africa, ICASAs spectrum auction, ISP services, and mobile messaging.

Many companies have joined the conference as partners, including Dell Technologies, SqwidNET, and Fortinet.

Additionally, delegates will be able to engage with DFA, Vumatel, China Mobile, VAS Experts, IT Global, iSphere, Splunk, Obscure, Codehesion, Amdocs, and Africa Data Centres.

Register for free now

Registrations for the 2021 MyBroadband Online Conference are open and you can register for free using the voucher code below.

Register Here: 2021 MyBroadband Conference Website

Voucher Code: Mybroadband2021

The tickets cover all aspects of the event, including access to all presentations and interviews, the expo area, and fun giveaways.
After a considered controversial election in the state, the governor of the state of Georgia, Brian Kemp, signed election bills into law on Thursday, reforming some rules to avoid another crisis in the voting process.

Despite objections raised by some Democrats, GOP state lawmakers were able to pass the bill at a 34-20 vote in the state Senate and 100-75 in the statehouse as they dominate both political scenes. The election reform bill involves the imposition of rules regarding voter identification down to the limitation on the ballot drop boxes.

The said legislation was initially passed in the widely considered 'battleground state' by some political experts since the victory of the United States President Joe Biden. It will set requirements for those individuals to have absentee ballots to have voter identifications which will give state officials to take over the local election boards. Also, there will be limitations in using the ballot drop boxes. Moreover, if an individual will approach voters in line, even the intention will be only giving food or water, it will now be a crime under the new election law.

According to Washington Examiner, the Georgia governor shared after signing the election bill into law that there were significant reforms in the elections that the state needs to avoid alarming issues and election mishandling just like in the past. Kemp also mentioned he does not want another crisis in the public's confidence about the handling of the elections.

ALSO READ: $168,000 Reckless Endangerment Charges Filed Against Colorado Snowboarders After Allegedly Causing Avalanche

The 95 pages of election bills turned into law on Thursday will not allow voters in the state to have the drop boxes in the last four days of an election as it is usually too late to mail the ballots out on time. For absentee voters in the state, they would have to suffice the additional document requirement instead of the signature matching processes. This means that voters need to present their driver's license numbers or other documentation for identity verification.

However, in Georgia, more than 200,000 voters lack state identification or even a driver's license, which is why they need to provide additional proof of their identities. For absentee ballots, it should be requested 11 days prior to the election day, while provisional ballots that were cast in the wrong precinct will be automatically considered as disqualified, ABC News reported.

Furthermore, the bill's final version did not include a proposal to abolish the no-excuse absentee voting, which allowed voters in Georgia to cast an absentee ballot since 2005. Meanwhile, the lawmakers did not include those senior citizens, who are 65 years or older in the mail-in voting restriction because of their physical disability or they're out of town.

On the other hand, voting rights activists opposed the passing of the election bill into law as they have pointed out that it was prompted by the election loss of former President Donald Trump. Protesters even gathered outside the state Capitol in Atlanta, and objected to the said reform by saying that they considered it as 'Jim Crow 2.0,' Associated Press reported.

WATCH: Georgia Governor Brian Kemp signs sweeping GOP elections bill into law - 13WMAZ

RELATED ARTICLE: Bernie Sanders Admits He's Not Comfortable With Trump's Twitter Ban
To receive Steve Gutterman's Week In Russia via e-mail every Friday, subscribe by clicking here. We've updated the format, so dont be surprised if it looks slightly different when it lands in your in-box. And please check your spam folder if you didn't receive it. If you have thoughts or feedback, you can reach us directly at newsletters@rferl.org.

The peculiarities of Putins propaganda were in the spotlight as a Siberian sojourn in sheepskin is captured on camera, while his alleged COVID-19 vaccination is not. Also unseen: imprisoned Kremlin foe Aleksei Navalny, whose lawyers raised the alarm about his treatment, saying he is in severe pain and accusing the authorities of a deliberate campaign to undermine his health.

And as the State Duma passed legislation formalizing Putins option of seeking two more terms as president -- a change that analysts say has emboldened already powerful security agencies and police -- new RFE/RL reports reveal further evidence of far-reaching ties between Russian law enforcement and the criminals its supposed to be catching.

Here are some of the key developments in Russia over the past week and some of the takeaways going forward.

Killer Coda

In the wake of an indirect but acrimonious exchange with U.S. President Joe Biden, Putin traveled to Siberia for a weekend in the woods with Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, as he has done at least once in the past.

The cameras were rolling as Putin and Shoigu drove over snow-covered ground in a camouflaged all-terrain vehicle, drank tea from tin cups at a table in the open air, and checked out what one observer called the defense chiefs bits of old wood collection.

Some of Putins past action-man photo shoots have featured him bare-chested, but in this case more attention was paid to what he was wearing -- a matching shearling coat and pants, lacking only a vest for a three-piece sheepskin suit -- than to what he wasnt.

Putins taiga time-out had apparently been planned earlier: He mentioned it when he challenged Biden to an open discussion -- a debate, that is -- saying that the weekend would be no good but that Friday or Monday would work. Bidens response: Im sure well talk at some point.

As a propaganda exercise, its hard to imagine that Putins weekend activities could help move the needle much on his popularity ratings or hand Russians more confidence about their personal finances.

Propaganda Fail?

For example, such displays seem unlikely to affect the views of the 57 percent of Russian adults under 25, or the 51 percent from 25 to 40, who have decided they dont want him to president after his current term ends in 2024, according to a survey by independent polling agency Levada Center.

But the Kremlin may have seen it as a way to show audiences at home and abroad that Putin has priorities -- namely, his own country -- other than how to respond after Biden was asked whether he thought the Russian president was a killer and answered, Mm-hmm, I do.

Later in the week, Putin missed what many observers agreed was a chance to make a sizable impact with a brief on-camera appearance: More than seven months after he announced that the first of Russias three coronavirus vaccines was approved for use, he was inoculated against COVID-19 on March 23, according to the Kremlin  but not on camera.

Given the trouble his government has had getting Russian citizens behind the idea that they should be vaccinated, and ensuring there are doses on hand when they do, refraining from getting the shot in public seemed hard to explain. It sparked speculation about his motives and whether he was vaccinated at all.

Russia has aggressively marketed the vaccine abroad, signaling even with its name -- a nod to the satellite that stunned the West and heated up the U.S.-Soviet space race in 1957 -- that the Kremlin sees distribution of vaccines as a competition.

But less than 5 percent of Russian adults have received both doses of a two-shot vaccine. In late December, a poll conducted by the Levada Center found that 58 percent of Russians were not prepared to be vaccinated with Sputnik V, which Putin announced on August 11 had received regulatory approval -- the first in the world.

Russia has recorded nearly 4.5 million coronavirus cases since the pandemic began in early 2020 -- fourth in the world after the United States, Brazil, and India, which have much bigger populations.

Distractions

Its official death toll reached 96,612 on March 25, but state mortality statistics indicate that the real number of coronavirus-related deaths is more than 200,000, and some researchers suspect it is still higher.

In any case, Putins appearances and nonappearances may have served to draw attention away from far more momentous developments -- and that may have been the point, at least in part, as it often is.

One such development was a technicality: The State Duma, Russias lower house of parliament, passed a bill that will align electoral legislation with a change that was inserted into the constitution last year, after a choreographed campaign and a controversial nationwide vote, enabling Putin to seek two more six-year terms as president, in 2024 and 2030.

When the constitutional amendments were in the works, heading for certain adoption, political analysts and rights activists predicted that one result would be to embolden law enforcement and security agencies, such as the Federal Security Service (FSB).

At the time, Georgy Satarov, a Moscow think-tank head and former aide to Putins predecessor, Boris Yeltsin, said that the changes figuratively sounded the death knell for the constitution, and that "when the constitution ceases to exist, one thing remains: power."

An array of developments seems to have proved those predictions accurate. Some of them are connected to Navalny, Putins most prominent foe, who was poisoned with a powerful nerve agent in Siberia on August 20, less than two months after the constitutional amendments entered into force.

Navalny was flown to Germany for treatment and was arrested upon his return to Russia on January 17. His jailing, along with anger at Putin and his government over a range of issues, sparked nationwide protests later that month that were the biggest in years -- and were met with one of the harshest police crackdowns in years.

'Torture'

On February 2, Navalny was handed a 2 1/2-year prison sentence on a parole-violation claim he calls absurd, stemming from a conviction on financial-crimes charges he contends were fabricated. And on March 25, lawyers who visited him in prison after several delays said that he was in extremely unfavorable condition, with severe back pain and problems that made his right leg practically nonfunctional.

Navalny had been complaining of sharp back pain for the past month and was denied treatment, lawyer Vadim Kobzev tweeted, accusing his jailers of pursuing a deliberate strategy to harm his health. He asserted that they were essentially subjecting him to torture by lack of sleep and were giving him two ibuprofen tablets daily for the pain -- treatment he said was obvious mockery.

The Russian prison service, in what came across for many as something far closer to trolling than a reliable medical assessment, said that Navalnys condition was satisfactory.

The concerns about Navalnys health and treatment will draw comparisons with the fatal ordeal suffered by whistle-blower Sergei Magnitsky, who died in Moscows Matrosskaya Tishina jail in December 2009 after being denied medical treatment and subjected to abuse that he and rights activists said amounted to torture.

A 2012 U.S. law that enables Washington to impose sanctions on Russians deemed to have committed human rights abuses is called the Magnitsky Act, and other Western countries have passed similar legislation. Earlier in March, under different legislation, the United States and the European Union imposed sanctions on senior Russian officials -- including the FSB director, the prosecutor-general, and the prison service chief -- over the poisoning and jailing of Navalny.

In an Instagram post in which she said that everyone who knows Aleksei knows that he would never complain until the last minute, Navalnys wife, Yulia Navalnaya, wrote that his back problems began a month ago, when he was being held at Matrosskaya Tishina, and had worsened since his transfer to a prison in Pokrov, east of Moscow.

Navalny blames Putin for his near-fatal poisoning and, along with open-source investigative outfit Bellingcat and its media partners, has produced detailed evidence -- including a phone call in which an operative appeared to admit involvement -- indicating that it was carried out by the FSB.

In Cahoots

While the FSB, police, prosecutors, and other law enforcement agencies may be feeling increasingly emboldened, their outsize clout is nothing new: Its been a phenomenon since Putin, a longtime Soviet KGB officer who headed the FSB for a year in 1998-99, came to power months later.

In 1999, before Yeltsin stepped down on New Years Eve and made him acting president, Putin pledged to make Russia into a dictatorship of law. Kremlin critics say what has emerged instead is a country in which law enforcement and organized crime are deeply and seemingly inextricably intertwined.

Two recent RFE/RL reports have added to the evidence of those ties, which span a broad swath of economy sectors and have withstood several campaigns with the stated goal of curbing such corruption.

One describes how a forest ranger at a nature reserve near Lake Baikal helped arrest five suspected poachers -- and found himself facing criminal charges for "exceeding his authority, a turn of events activists say may have resulted from friendly ties between poachers and prosecutors, police, and local politicians.

The other is a detailed and revealing report grounded in a far-reaching investigation that captures the scale and scope of the theft of oil from pipelines in Russia and the role that law enforcement officers play in it.

'Emblematic'

On a smaller scale, theres the article that author and analyst Mark Galeotti, an expert on the Russian security agencies, posted along with a seemingly rhetorical question: How much of Putin's Russia is encapsulated in this story?

Assailants abducted a retired FSB general and tortured him until he led them to his home outside Moscow and dug up seven plastic containers in the yard that held about $5 million in a mix of currencies, the tabloid Moskovsky Komsomlets reported on March 25. Two suspects were caught, convicted of kidnapping and extortion, and sentenced to 10 years in prison apiece.

Meanwhile, with the testimony about containers stuffed with cash, the trial attracted the attention of prosecutors to the retired FSB officers undeclared wealth, which far exceeded the possibilities provided by his state salary and pension. In the end, the authorities seized a safe-deposit box holding $1.1 million and 5 million rubles ($66,000) as well as a house near Moscow valued at 36 million rubles ($475,000).

According to the business daily Kommersant, the retired general argued that his assailants had not taken any money from him. And the defendants claimed their confessions were extracted through torture.
Deputy Minister of Defence of Ukraine Ihor Starobinsky discussed in a phone conversation with Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Minister for the Armed Forces, James Heappey ways to deepen bilateral defence cooperation.

The representative of the British side informed about the content and nature of the recently approved comprehensive strategy of the country for defence, diplomacy and international development. It contains the UK's vision of its place in the present and future world, taking into account new geopolitical realities, including the withdrawal from the European Union, current challenges and the experience of recent regional conflicts, and possible scenarios for countering threats to the UK's security, the press service of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine informs.

The Deputy Minister of Defence of Ukraine informed Mr. James Heappey about the current situation in the Joint Forces Operation area. In addition, the officials discussed the practical implementation of the memorandum on enhancing bilateral cooperation in the military and military-technical spheres signed last autumn by the defence ministers of the two countries and the current state of defence reform in Ukraine.

Cooperation between Ukraine and the United Kingdom is at a high level with the prospect of expansion. It is important that our countries share a common view on the challenges and threats posed by the actions of the Russian Federation. We highly appreciate the political, diplomatic and military-technical assistance provided by the United Kingdom, Ihor Starobinsky said.

He also drew the attention of his British counterpart to the process of introducing democratic civilian control over the activities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

James Heappey expressed the support of the British side for further reform of the Defence Ministry of Ukraine.

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Chinas report reveals hypocrisy, double standards of human rights situation in US: experts

People's Daily Online) 20:34, March 25, 2021

The Report on Human Rights Violations in the United States in 2020 was released on Wednesday by Chinas State Council Information Office. (photo/scio.gov.cn)

As the COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc around the world in 2020, the United States, the so-called city upon a hill and beacon of democracy, saw its own epidemic situation spiral out of control. This was accompanied by political disorder, inter-ethnic conflicts and social division, further adding to the human rights violations in the country, according to a recent report published by China.

The Report on Human Rights Violations in the United States in 2020, released on Wednesday by Chinas State Council Information Office, contains six chapters that lay bare the US double standards and hypocrisy on human rights.

At a briefing on the report on Wednesday, experts noted that the human rights situation in the US has entered a vicious cycle, and called upon the country to move in the same direction as the international human rights cause to truly improve the domestic situation.

Tragic pandemic

An elderly woman walks past a closed movie theater in San Mateo, California, US, Feb. 24, 2021. (Photo/Xinhua)

The report said the COVID-19 pandemic had gone out of control and turned into a human tragedy due to the US governments reckless response, which led to more than 28 million confirmed cases and over 500,000 related deaths.

It astonished us that the US claimed to have the most abundant medical resources and largest healthcare capacity, yet its response to the COVID-19 pandemic was chaotic, causing it to lead the world in numbers of confirmed COVID-19 cases and related deaths, said Chang Jian, director of the human rights study center at Nankai University.

With a population of less than 5 percent of the worlds total, the US accounted for more than 25 percent of all the confirmed cases and nearly 20 percent of the deaths, read the report.

According to the timeline of the COVID-19 pandemic in the US released by media, the then US leaders had repeatedly ignored warnings regarding the risks of the pandemic, while controlling the message and releasing misleading signals to the public. This led to the country losing crucial weeks in preventing and controlling the pandemic, it said.

Amid the pandemic, senior citizens fell victim to the governments incompetent response to COVID-19. Residents in long-term care facilities account for less than 1 percent of the US population, but more than 40 percent of COVID-19 deaths. The U.S. pandemic control efforts were tantamount to state-sanctioned killing, where the old, factory workers, and black and Hispanic Americans were deliberately sacrificed, said The Washington Post, according to the report.

A huge number of nursing home deaths have also been withheld in the US, said Li Yunlong, a professor at the Institute for International Strategic Studies, Party School of the Central Committee of CPC, citing an example of more than 15,000 New Yorkers in care homes having died since the start of the pandemic, while the states health department had logged just over 8,500 fatalities.

Racial discrimination

People take part in a protest against Asian hate in New York, the United States, on March 21, 2021. Eight people, six Asians and two Whites, were killed in shooting incidents in the Atlanta area by a suspect this week. The attacks came amid a troubling spike in violence against the Asian American community during the coronavirus pandemic. (Xinhua/Wang Ying)

The report paid special attention to the systematic racial discrimination suffered by ethnic minority groups.

People of color made up about one-third of all minors under the age of 18 in the United States, but two-thirds of all of the countrys imprisoned minors. African Americans are three times as likely as whites to be infected with the coronavirus, twice as likely to die from COVID-19, and three times as likely to be killed by the police, it read.

The protests triggered by the death of George Floyd, an African American, highlighted not only the issue of police brutality against people of color, but also inequality and racial discrimination in health, education, and employment in the United States, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet was quoted by the report as saying.

The report noted that since the pandemic began, incidents of Asian Americans being humiliated and even assaulted in public have been found everywhere, and some American politicians have purposely misled the public over the issue.

Chang added that there have been nearly 4,000 incidents of anti-Asian racism in the last year, and nearly a third of Asian Americans say theyve been subject to racial discrimination since the pandemic began.

In the US, racism exists in a comprehensive, systematic and continuous manner, covering a wide variety of areas such as employment, education and law enforcement, said Chang, noting that some US politicians associated the COVID-19 with a specific country or country with ulterior motives, which was tantamount to humiliating modern human rights concepts.

Social unrest

People take part in a rally held in downtown San Francisco urging the federal government and lawmakers in Congress to take action to control gun-related crimes. (Photo by Li Jianguo/Xinhua)

The report also touched upon shooting incidents and the gun industry, saying more than 41,500 people were killed in shooting incidents across the United States over the year, an average of more than 110 a day, and there were 592 mass shootings nationwide, an average of more than 1.6 a day.

With regard to gun homicides, the United States has historically reported a rate about 25 times higher than other wealthy nations, it said.

Americans bought 23 million guns in 2020 against the background of an out-of-control epidemic, accompanied by racial justice protests and election-related conflicts, a surge of 64 percent compared with 2019.

Its puzzling that the US government kept making irresponsible remarks on the human rights situation in other countries, while turning a blind eye to the fact that tens of thousands of its own citizens are killed by gunfire every year, said Li Yunlong.

Freedom from want and fear, a vision that former US President Franklin D. Roosevelt articulated 80 years ago, has been challenged like never before. Its fair to say that Americans are living in a state of panic and fear, said Li Xiaojun, an official with the State Council Information Office.

On June 17, 2020, the 43rd session of the UN Human Rights Council held an urgent debate on racism. This was the first time in the history of the Human Rights Council that an urgent meeting on the human rights issues of the United States was held, the report read.

The report from China is not meant to interfere in another country's internal affairs, but to faithfully reveal the true human rights situation in the US, said Chang.

Echoing Chang, Li Xiaojun noted that China welcomes fact-based constructive criticism from others, rather than attacks on its human rights situation using trumped up accusations based on lies, distortions and ideological bias, as the United States has done in its annual report.

(Web editor: Xian Jiangnan, Bianji)
The county received 137 complaints during the periods in which the governor had banned indoor dining. Officials called each business, and they were given a chance to say whether they were complying with the ban. If the establishment stated that it had no plans to stop indoor dining, a site visit was done and warnings were given for places not in compliance. If the business was still flouting the order on the second visit, a citation was given, Mackey said.
Congressional leaders have launched a sweeping investigation into the federal handling of the Capitol insurrection, including security and intelligence failures which allowed pro-Trump extremists to storm the building in a deadly attack as lawmakers convened to certify the 2020 election.

The probe will be overseen by seven House committees after Speaker Nancy Pelosi was unable to secure bipartisan support for an independent review of the incident, which left at least five people dead, as some House Republicans who supported former President Donald Trumps false conspiracy theories about a stolen election refused to back the measure.

In a letter sent to at least 16 federal agencies, from the U.S. Park Police to the White House, lawmakers demanded any communications relating to the January 6th session.

One of those letters, which Politico reported were identical in their requests, was sent to the Justice Department. It read in part: We understand that the Department continues to investigate and prosecute individuals involved in the events on January 6, 2021.

We are happy to work with you to ensure that the document requests in this letter do not interfere with ongoing investigations and prosecutions, the letter continued.

Meanwhile, Mr Trump defended some of his supporters who rioted at the Capitol on Thursday, saying they posed zero threat to the lawmakers who had assembled there to certify the Electoral College vote that confirmed President Joe Bidens victory in the presidential race.

Read more:

Mr Trump complained to Fox News Laura Ingraham that law enforcement was persecuting the Capitol rioters, while nothing happens to left-wing protesters.

The former president did acknowledge that those who stormed the Capitol went in and they shouldnt have done it.

But he added: Some of them went in and theyre, theyre hugging and kissing the police and the guards. You know, they had great relationships. A lot of the people were waved in and then they walked in and they walked out.

More than 300 people have been charged in connection to the riot. Authorities have said they believe at least 100 more could face charges.

The January 6 riot followed a fiery Trump rally outside the White House, in which he urged a mob of his supporters to fight like hell for him at the Capitol. A week later, the House impeached Mr Trump for the second time, but the Senate eventually acquitted him on the charge of inciting the attack.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The boss of the HSE, Paul Reid, has expressed his annoyance and frustration at revelations that teachers at a private school in Bray were given vaccines by the Beacon Hospital.

Mr Reid said it cannot be condoned when something like this happens, referring to how the Dublin hospital gave "leftover vaccines" to 20 teachers and staff from St Gerard's Catholic School.

The private hospital, which is currently being used as a hub to vaccinate frontline healthcare workers, issued the jab to 1,096 HSE staff on Tuesday.

However, they were left with 20 excess doses after a HSE mistake that double booked frontline staff at both the Beacon and the Aviva Stadium.

Within an hour of the school being contacted by the hospital, the staff were at the hospital and all were vaccinated in a short time period.

Speaking on Newstalk Breakfast, Mr Reid said hospitals and other facilities have had very clear guidelines since January about how to use leftover vaccine doses.

Read More

He said: "Theres actually no ambiguity about how backup lists should be identified and prioritised.

Read More

We do want them to have backup lists as we dont want vials wasted. But we do expect all services to stick with our prioritisation and sequencing.

He said cases such as this are "beyond frustration" given the guidelines in place.

He said: Im extremely annoyed and frustrated I cannot condone [it]. It does frustrate the public.

The vial certainly has to be used if theyre open... we all get that.

"But even the preparation for the day does need prioritisation on who you might have on standby and there are plenty of options, legitimately, around what can be done next.

"I don't believe the case of what happened... can be a legitimate rationale when there are other cohorts that could have been prioritised."

Earlier, Sinn Fein Wicklow TD John Brady said an investigation needs to be launched to find out what exactly happened in this case.

He said: "We need to establish who made the decision... why the decision was made to give the vaccine to teachers in a private school."

A spokesman for the Beacon Hospital said that "there were a small number of leftover vaccines drawn up that needed to be used within a short period of time".

He said: "Late on Tuesday evening, in keeping with the zero-wastage policy, this leftover AstraZeneca vaccine was administered to people within the community," the spokesman said.
Senior Court Reporter

A joint venture agreement between a land development company, Augur Investments and City of Harare for the construction of middle income houses in Harare and construction of the Airport Road was done above board with approval from Cabinet, the court heard yesterday.

The process of forming the joint venture went through all parliamentary adjudication processes and was approved resulting in the formation of Sunshine Developments.

Augur Investments revealed this in its opposing affidavit filed at the High Court where Zimbabwe Homeless People Federation (ZHPF), Knowledge Tinashe Kwambana and Warship Dumba are challenging the joint venture agreement.

ZHPF, Kwambana and Dumba filed an application seeking a declaratory order nullifying the shareholders agreement and the agreement signed between City of Harare and Augur Investments.

They also claimed that the agreement were fraudulent and the contracts were against public policy.

City of Harare, Minister of Local Government, Kenneth Raydon Sharpe, Tatiana Aleshina, Michal Van Blerk, Sunshine Developments, Registrar of Deeds, Registrar of Companies were cited as other respondents in the matter.

"There is in existence, a council resolution and minutes authorising Hebert Gomba and Hosiah Chisango to sign deed of settlement. The minister had authority to execute the deed of settlement.

"There is nothing in the deed that offends public policy. The transaction was above board," the firm said in its opposing affidavit.

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Augur Investments said it was only invited as a partner with access to capital with projects that it undertook through the partnership, being granted national project status.

"This was escalated to the parent Ministry, then President's office. The transaction went through necessary parliamentary adjudication process and parliamentary approval was obtained.

"Cabinet and Reserve Bank approvals were also obtained. The project was granted a national project status as appears from the certificate from the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development," it said.

Augur Investments also said it was cleared by the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission of any wrongdoing along with Tatiana Aleshina and Sharpe.

It claimed that it was not even mentioned in the Justice Uchena Land Commission's report on illegal parcelling of land in Harare.

The land development said the cancellation of the Airport Road agreement was caused by a lot of delays in the supply of materials including failure to supply required amounts of gravel and moving of ZESA and TelOne cables.
Chandigarh, March 26 : The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Friday demanded a judicial inquiry into the 'criminal conspiracy' under which underworld don Mukhtar Ansari was given political shelter by being kept as a 'state guest' in a Punjab jail on a trumped up charge for two years.

Welcoming the Supreme Court judgment which directed that Ansari be transferred to Uttar Pradesh to answer for his crimes there, SAD spokesman Daljit Singh Cheema said the verdict has lowered Punjab's image in the country.

"An impression has gone out that the Congress government in Punjab can stoop to any level to extend protection to a criminal. The verdict is an indictment of the state government which has misused its powers to prevent the transfer of Ansari to Uttar Pradesh for two years. The government must answer as to what were its motives to harbor a hardened criminal in its jails and why it went to the extent of spending a huge amount of money to hire top lawyers to oppose Ansari's transfer to Uttar Pradesh," Cheema said.

Cheema demanded that the inquiry should cover all these aspects as well as the 'case' in which Ansari had been arrested and brought to Punjab after a property dealer received a threat from 'one Ansari' on January 7, 2019.

He said despite the vague nature of the complaint, the Mohali police moved with lightening speed to register a case in the matter the very next day, got a production warrant against the gangster on January 12 and presented him in court on January 22.

The SAD spokesman said following this the Mohali police moved into reverse gear and failed to present a challan in the case for 60 days. He said Ansari also did not apply for bail and the state government was content with not only keeping him in jail but also providing one excuse after another to him to prevent him from being transferred to Uttar Pradesh.

Cheema said the conduct of the Punjab government had sent a wrong example. He said if state governments were not ready to cooperate with another how we could expect other countries to repatriate criminals to India.

He said such actions only served to embolden criminals and could lead to a further increase in crime in the state.
Plans call for more domestic coal as tensions with US grow.

Workers shovel coal onto a truck at a coal yard near a coal mine in Huating, Gansu province, China, September 18, 2020.

China's growing concerns over energy security and potential conflicts with the United States may be slowing its efforts to fight climate change, experts and recent reports say.

After more than a decade of rising reliance on imported oil and gas, China's government has been reluctant to acknowledge the country's energy security risks.

In a report to the National People's Congress (NPC) last May, the government's top planning agency pledged to "ensure energy security" for the first time.

The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) promised to "improve our contingency plans in response to major changes in supply and demand at home and abroad."

In its 2021 version of the plan delivered to the NPC on March 5, the NDRC upgraded the terms of its response incrementally.

"We will promote the development of energy transportation routes. strengthen our energy reserve capacity, and improve transportation services. We will refine energy contingency plans, improve our risk and emergency response capabilities, and strengthen energy security and resilience," the NDRC said.

The agency promised to "boost oil and gas exploration and development" and "systematically increase our ability to ensure the supply of coal."

Behind the broad language is a growing concern over China's vulnerability and "the need for higher oil and gas output as security risks rise along essential maritime trade routes," the South China Morning Post said.

The paper cited stronger terms in the draft 14th Five-Year Plan for 2021-2025.

"The core demand for oil and gas should rely on self sufficiency. We should maintain the stable production of crude oil and natural gas and increase output," it said.

But given China's domestic resources and difficult geology, self-sufficiency in oil and gas is likely to prove unattainable.

Edward Chow, senior fellow for energy security and climate change at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said the new plan is unlikely to lessen China's over-dependence on foreign energy any more than the previous plan did.

"Unless there is a breakthrough in domestic production of oil and gas on the scale of the American shale revolution, domestic supply will not keep pace even with modest growth in demand," said Chow.

While China's oil imports climbed 7.3 percent last year, domestic production edged up only 1.6 percent, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported.

China's dependence on foreign oil reached 50 percent for the first time in 2008. By last year, it had grown to over 73 percent.

Domestic gas production did somewhat better last year as output rose 9.8 percent while imports increased 5.3 percent.

But as China's demand for cleaner fuels has grown along with the economy over the past decade, its reliance on foreign gas has followed much the same path as oil, reaching over 42 percent last year.

Politics

China's energy security concerns appear to be driven more by political tensions than import proportions.

The geopolitical landscape has made energy security a "more worrying and urgent problem," said Ma Jun, director of the Institute for Public and Environmental Affairs in Beijing, as quoted by the Morning Post.

"Perhaps the government is more alarmed as it sees a more hostile external environment," Chow said.

Two days of high-level talks between U.S. and Chinese officials in Anchorage, Alaska did little to lessen bilateral tensions or Beijing's concerns.

After the close of talks on March 19, U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said that "we certainly know and knew going in that there are a number of areas where we are fundamentally at odds, ... And it's no surprise that when we raised those issues clearly and directly, we got a defensive response."

At his press conference on Thursday, President Joseph R. Biden was asked about U.S. relations with China and possible responses to trade conflicts and rights abuses.

Biden said he had made clear to President Xi Jinping "that we're not looking for confrontation, although we know there will be steep, steep competition."

The United States is consulting with allies on a range of differences with China, Biden said.

"And so we're going to make it clear that in order to deal with these things, we are going to hold China accountable ... whether it relates to the South China Sea ... or their agreement made on Taiwan, or a whole range of other things," he said.

"China has an overall goal ... to become the leading country in the world," said Biden. "That's not going to happen on my watch," he said.

China's fears of international pressure could have troubling consequences for energy security and global warming as the country raises reliance on its most plentiful domestic energy resource by burning more coal.

Coal consumption rose 0.6 percent last year to 4.04 billion metric tons, Reuters reported, even though coal's share of China's total energy supply fell to 56.8 percent.

Coal production increased 0.9 percent last year after jumping 4.2 percent in 2019, according to NBS data.

The China National Coal Association (CNCA) said the stage is set for another rise in consumption this year.

"Central government has said it will continue to implement a proactive fiscal policy and a prudent monetary policy, and meanwhile offer the necessary supports for economic recovery ... That would push up coal demand in 2021," CNCA said in a statement.

Five-year target

The government has broken with past practice by omitting a five-year target for gross domestic product in its latest plan. It has also set no cap on energy consumption, leaving it free to steer economic recovery without constraints on energy use.

The CNCA said that "annual coal consumption will be kept to around 4.2 billion tons at the end of 2025," the official Xinhua News agency reported.

Some reports interpreted the statement as forecasting consumption growth of 6 percent during the five-year plan period.

"But Beijing's push to secure coal, oil and natural gas supplies will be hard to square with its aggressive climate targets," the Morning Post said.

In the days after the annual legislative sessions, Xi called for incorporating his 2030 target for peak carbon emissions and net-zero neutrality by 2060 into "the overall layout of building an ecological civilization," Xinhua reported.

Addressing a meeting of the Central Committee for Financial and Economic Affairs, Xi urged "perseverance in achieving the goals," Xinhua said.

One day later, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology announced a series of measures to improve energy efficiency and upgrade the industrial sector with new electrical equipment.

But it remains unclear how the calls for reform will be reconciled with the projections of higher energy use and coal consumption over the next five years.

On balance, China's plans have set a course for increases in carbon emissions when it should be cutting.

"Without the energy consumption control target, there's even less in this five-year plan to constrain emissions growth than in the previous ones," wrote lead analyst Lauri Myllyvirta in a posting at the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air.

"As a result, there's no guarantee that emissions growth will slow down, let alone stop, by 2025," said Myllyvirta.

"Overall, the picture is one of very gradual progress in aligning China's energy and emissions trends with the target of achieving carbon neutrality by 2060," he said.

In the six months since Xi's announcement of climate goals, China has yet to clear a path toward achieving them.

Instead, the new five-year plan and its heightened concern with energy security has highlighted opposing forces at work.

"The long-term solution does not lie in subsidizing uneconomic domestic oil and gas production or prolonging the use of polluting domestic coal, but by investing in energy transition away from fossil fuels," Chow said.

"The scale of Chinese efforts in this regard is impressive. However, this will take time to achieve meaningful results, just as it does for the rest of the world," said Chow.

"In the short to medium term, China's energy import vulnerability will remain a major concern for its government," he said.
On March 16, Haley Moore was out walking her one-and-a-half-year-old puppy, Clover, in her Ottawa neighborhood when she passed out and began having a seizure.

Clover broke away from Moore's hold on her collar and walked to the road to block the way of an oncoming vehicle.

When Dryden Oatway saw Clover in the driveway, he pulled over and went to help Moore while the dog searched for further help.

The Moore family is also uncertain what caused Haley's unexpected seizure, but they are glad to hear Clover keeps an eye on her.

Morning Stroll Gone Wrong

After a seizure on their morning stroll, a Canadian woman was rescued by her family's dog, who stopped traffic and got her assistance.

Haley Moore was walking in her Stittsville, Ottawa, neighborhood with her one-and-a-half-year-old shelter dog, Clover, on March 16 when she stumbled and began to seize, according to CTV News.

'All I know is waking up in the hospital, puzzled, like what's going on,' Haley told the news agency.

The quick-thinking dog can be seen checking on Haley and watching as a moving car passes past in a video shown on CTV News.

Related Article: [VIRAL] Labrador Barks Non-Stop to Police, Only to See Her Blind Owner Almost Dead in Ice



Clover Stopping Traffic

The Maremma cross immediately takes action, releasing her leash from Haley's grip and jumping into the middle of the street to block the path of an oncoming vehicle, causing driver Dryden Oatway to come to a halt and assist her.

'It was awe-inspiring.' My route was blocked by the puppy. 'She sort of backed into the road to block my truck,' said the 21-year-old.

'She kept her eyes on [Haley] the whole time she was backing down the lane, didn't look away from her,' he said. 'She maintained her distance from me, but she made sure her owner was healthy, which was awesome.'

As Clover stood guard, Dryden desperately rang a nearby neighbor's doorbell before returning to Haley's care.

Another friend, Danielle Pilon, was immediately attracted to the dog and hopped out of her Jeep to assist.

'You could see [Clover] didn't want to abandon her even though we were with her, so I guess it just came to her that she needed to go home and tell them she needed support,' she told CTV News.

Calling For Backup

According to the outlet, Clover went with neighbors to notify Haley's relatives, and by the time her friends, Randall and Diane Moore, arrived at the scene, she was being treated by paramedics.

'Watching Clover do what she did, ensuring she took care of her human sister to the extreme...she practically put her life on the line for her girl,' Diane said.

The Moore family is also unsure what triggered Haley's unexpected seizure, but they are relieved to hear Clover keeps an eye on her.

Dog's Got Her Back

'If anything happens again, I feel ten times better, and I know she'll be there for me,' Haley said, adding, 'You know how wonderful animals are, and she's a genuinely awesome dog that I adore.'

Also Read: Homeless Man Risks Life to Rescue Animals at a Burning Shelter

For more news about the latest animal trends, don't forget to follow Nature World News
Several areas of Ho Chi Minh City reported rain that lasted nearly 20 minutes from around 5:00 pm on Thursday.

Commuters in Ho Chi Minh City navigate through the rain, March 25, 2021. Video: Chau Tuan / Tuoi Tre

Commuters navigate through the rain in Ho Chi Minh City, March 25, 2021. Video: Chau Tuan / Tuoi Tre

According to local residents, the off-season rain was first recorded in Thu Duc City  an eastern part of Ho Chi Minh City  before moving into nearby Go Vap and Binh Thanh Districts.

The abrupt downpour caught local commuters off guard, forcing many to pull over to find shelter.

Despite lasting only a few minutes, the rain dramatically brought down temperatures in the city.

According to the Southern Region Hydro-Meteorological Center, precipitation was also reported in other southern provinces, with thunderstorms and gale winds documented in certain locales.

Commuters navigate through the rain in Ho Chi Minh City, March 25, 2021. Photo: Chau Tuan / Tuoi Tre

Residents in Ho Chi Minh City take shelter from the off-season rain, March 25, 2021. Photo: Chau Tuan / Tuoi Tre

Off-season rain is expected to return later on Friday along the western border of southern Vietnam.

Meanwhile, a heatwave will maintain its impact on the rest of the area during the day, pushing the highest mercury throughout southeast areas to 34-36 degrees Celsius and beyond, while also driving up the temperature in several locales of the Mekong Delta to as much as 35 degrees Celsius.

Severe heat is anticipated to last until late March or early April, when southern provinces see higher intensity of unseasonal rain.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
The foreign firm that is prospecting for gold in the Lirhanda Corridor has found visible deposits at Isulu in Kakamega County, rousing hopes of a viable mining venture.

Shanta Gold Limited says the exploration effort has returned a wide and high-grade zone of over 23 metres at Bushiangala.

Through an update for January and February, Shanta Gold CEO Eric Zurrin further indicates that the firm has hit high-grade intersections.

The update further says the exploration has seen drill rigs increased to two in the first two months of the year.

The third rig is expected to be added 'shortly" in an effort to establish the presence of the valuable mineral.

Shanta Gold Limited acquired seven gold prospecting licences from Barrick Gold last year and took over the project.

Gold exploration

"Infill drilling of five diamond core holes at Isulu and two others at Bushiangala amount to four per cent of the planned exploration," Mr Zurrin says.

In gold exploration, diamond drilling refers to the process of "impregnating" a drill bit with industrial diamonds so as to break the bearing rock.

Shanta Gold indicates that, through diamond drilling, it has been able to drill 1,538 metres of holes.

Of this, 1,136 metres has been drilled at Isulu, while 402 metres have been drilled at Bushiangala.

"It's encouraging that high grade intersections have been hit in early holes and the company is looking forward to ramping up exploration over the coming months," Shanta says.

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The firm projects to complete at least 40 per cent of the ongoing exploration by the end of the year, with the local community jittery at perceived delays in commencing actual mining.

Residents of Bushiangala and Isulu villages have complained in the past that the exercise is taking "too long".

Lucrative venture

Mr Benard Ludeshi, a community spokesperson, raised concerns over the change of ownership at the firm.

Shanta Gold Limited acquired the lucrative venture from Barrick Gold last year. Barick Gold had in turn acquired the licence from Acacia Mining in 2019, formerly ABG, which had acquired the project from Aviva.

It is estimated that the Lirhanda Corridor has 1.03 million ounces of gold valued at Sh164 billion that could be extracted for 10 years when the actual mining starts.

The West Kenya project spans 1,162 square kilometres..

Shanta Gold notes that the size of the belt is analogous to well-known prolific greenstone belts in Canada and Australia.

It is estimated that the true widths of the mineralised zones are approximately 60 to 70 per cent of the widths intersected in the drill holes.
Hi @JustAChance-- happy to provide some insight on your profile in my comments in blue below:

JustAChance wrote:

Sep 2018: GMAT overall 660: Q45, V35, IR6, AWA 5.5.

Feb 2021: GMAT overall 670: Q45 (54p), V37 (82p), IR4 (33p), AWA TBD (cancelled the score so won't get this, but I wasn't as confident as 2018 for my AWA, but may still get 5+).

Mar 2021 (today): GMAT overall 680: Q48 (67p), V35 (76p), IR8 (91p), AWA TBD (confident i did as good as if not better than 2018, so likely 5.5-6)



I just took the GMAT again today and I improved significantly in quant and IR, but slightly dropped in verbal. I also think my AWA was stronger this time around. Scores will be sent to Darden, Wharton (reach), Fuqua, Tepper, and McDonough in a few days. I don't think i have the mental capacity or time to take the GMAT again so based off my profile provided below I'm wondering:



1) Should i keep my Feb 2021 score cancelled and just report the Mar 2021 (today) score? The only schools that already have my Sep 2018 660 score is Darden and Tepper, so all other schools will just be seeing my Mar 2021 score. I don't think there is too much to be gained from the Feb 2021 score-- as the Q48 from March is much stronger than the Q45 score from Feb and while the V score from Feb is a tiny bit higher I am not sure it helps you that much. However-- see my point 2 below about having proof to support your best superscore is 700-- and to show that you would want to have the Feb 21 score.

2) I recognize this isn't the most competitive total score for some of the schools I'm applying to, but does this better quant focus this time around improve my chances? Is the biggest focus for MBA programs on the quant portion? In my opinion yes-- of course the overall score does matter too-- and if there was a super score then your best would be a Q48 V 37 -- which would be about a 700 so you could mention in an optional letter that your best score in each section-- if scored on same day would be 700 and to do that then it could be helpful to have the Feb 21 score uncancelled.

3) I plan to write a supplemental essay on how I don't believe my GMAT score is indicative of my quantitative ability given my 3.7 overall (3.9 major) engineering gpa, analytical professional experience, and the fact that it's very difficult to study amongst full-time work, personal life matters, and in a pandemic. I also just in general have bad testing anxiety. Do you think this will help? I would avoid saying too much-- almost everyone has to juggle full time work with test prep so I'd avoid that-- but you can say had you had your best V and Q score on the same day you would have a 700 and for that you should keep Feb 21 and Mar 21 scores. Something simple like.... your engineering background, your 3.9 gpa, and your 700 superscore are the support you want to add that you feel confident you can handle the rigor of the MBA program. Simple as that.... leave out all the excuses.



Other Information Relevant to Your Profile: Important to note that I intend to have my company sponsor my MBA and will have highly recognized and respected leaders to support this and write my recommendation letters. Always a plus to have company sponsorship!!! Make sure your recommenders share this too-- as it is more believable when the employer states it also-- and this is absolutely a positive! Congratulations!



Demographics: 26 year old, American, Caucasian, male.



Education: The University of Connecticut, 3.7 GPA overall (~3.9 major GPA), Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering major. Honors include cum laude, 2015/2016 New England Scholar, Deans List Spring 2015 and Fall/Spring 2016-2017.



Other coursework or post-undergraduate education: Six Sigma Green Belt certification and Project Management training



Work Experience: 4 total years of work experience. Plan to apply with >=4.5 years. 2 years six sigma manufacturing process improvement at a Fortune 50 Aerospace & Defense manufacturer. 2 years Big4 supply chain consulting. In both jobs i've been recognized as a high-performer, have several high-impact statements, and have been on a fast promotion track. Again-- your recommenders sharing this-- and specifically how you stood out from peers in excelling in certain projects is all very helpful to make your case.



Extracurricular Activities: A few significant efforts from college, post college, and I've been in a lead position for one of my company's non-profit initiatives for past 2 years.



Post-MBA goals: I love the work I'm doing at Big4 and intend to return there post-graduation. Coming from an engineering undergraduate and professional experience background I know that I have the analytical mindset and drive to be an effective leader. However, I need to develop my strategic visioning and supply chain business acumen so I can establish myself as a respected leader. My goals is to be promoted to a manager in 2 years, in which I will be fully responsible for leading a team(s). I will continue down this path until I establish myself and carve out my own unique swimlane of work in which I can eventually manage as a Partner at the firm.



Target Schools: Wharton (Reach), Darden, Fuqua, Tepper, McDonough, Columbia, Stern (columbia and stern only if i decide not to go supply chain route)

I think for Wharton be sure you know specifically WHY and HOW Wharton helps you reach your goals and that you know HOW you can add value to Wharton. For Fuqua apply early enough that you can schedule your own interview without an invitation, I think your odds at Tepper and McDonough are good and for CBS consider the J Term since you don't really need an internship if you return to your current job and you may increase your odds and with the sponsorship that could really help too. I actually think you have better odds at CBS J Term than Stern. I also think you might consider Kellogg 1Y if you have taken the prereq courses-- check with Kellogg adcom to see about that. Also look at Tuck and for Darden apply in the earliest round. I think with a strong application you have a shot. If you want to reach out to us for more guidance, sign up for a https://www.stratusadmissionscounseling.com/free-consultation/free%20consult with us.

_________________
Privatisation-bound Ltd (BPCL) on Friday said it has sold its entire 61.5 per cent stake in in Assam to a consortium of Ltd and Engineers India and Government of Assam for Rs 9,876 crore.

OIL bought a 54.16 per cent stake to raise its shareholding in the refinery to 80.16 per cent, the company said in stock exchange filings.

Its partner, Engineers India Ltd (EIL) bought a 4.4 per cent stake and the balance 3.2 per cent was acquired by Government of Assam.

The sale of Ltd (NRL) clears the way for privatisation of India's second-largest fuel retailer.

In keeping with the Assam Peace Accord, the government had decided to keep NRL in the public sector. As part of this, was to sell its entire 61.65 per cent stake to state-owned firms.

A consortium of OIL, EIL, and Government of Assam expressed interest in buying the stake.

"A Sale Purchase Agreement has been signed on March 25, 2021 between and the consortium of OIL and EIL for sale of 43.05 crore in NRL to the consortium at a consideration of Rs 9,375.96 crore," said in the filing.

The remaining 2.29 crore equity shares have been transferred to Government of Assam for Rs 499.99 crore.

"Post these acquisition OIL's cumulative equity shareholding in NRL (including pre-acquisition 26 per cent shareholding) is 80.16 per cent," the firm said in a separate filing.

EIL said it paid Rs 699.99 crore for 3.21 crore shares in NRL while OIL bought 39.84 crore shares for Rs 8,675.96 crore.

"Chairman and Managing Director OIL, who is presently a nominee director of OIL on the board of the Target Company (NRL) would be designated as Chairman," it said.

Existing directors nominated by BPCL on the board of NRL would resign and rights of BPCL to appoint directors would be extinguished, it said.

BPCL sold shares in NRL at a price of Rs 217.75 per share, totalling Rs 9,875.96 crore.

NRL operates a 3 million tonnes per annum oil refinery in Assam.

OIL currently holds 26 per cent stake in NRL while Government of Assam has around 12.35 per cent.

Post NRL sale, BPCL would be left with three refineries at Mumbai, Kochi (Kerala) and Bina (Madhya Pradesh).

The government is selling its entire 52.98 per cent stake in BPCL in the nation's biggest privatisation till date.

Vedanta Group and private equity firms Apollo Global and I Squared Capital's Indian unit Think Gas have put in an expression of interest for buying the government's stake.

The sale of NRL is the first step towards the disinvestment of BPCL.

The government has already indicated that it expects to complete BPCL privatisation by the first half of the fiscal beginning April (2021-22).

The sale is key to achieving the Rs 1.75 lakh crore disinvestment target set for 2021-22.

BPCL will give the buyer ownership of around 15.33 per cent of India's oil refining capacity and 22 per cent of the fuel marketing share.

NRL is looking to expand its refining capacity from 3 million tonnes per annum to 9 million tonnes a year at an investment of Rs 22,594 crore. The project is expected to be completed by 2024.

The expansion also involves setting up of crude oil pipeline from Paradip in Odisha to Numaligarh and a product pipeline from Numaligarh to Siliguri in West Bengal.

In the run-up to the privatisation, BPCL last month agreed to buyout Oman Oil Company's shares in the Bina refinery project for about Rs 2,400 crore.

BPCL holds a 63.68 per cent stake in Bharat Oman Refineries Ltd (BORL), which built and operates a 7.8 million tonne oil refinery at Bina. It will buy 36.62 per cent of the equity share capital from OQ S.A.0.C. (formerly known as Oman Oil Company S.A.0.C.) for Rs 2,399.26 crore.

BORL was incorporated in February 1994 to build a refinery at Bina. The unit initially could turn 6 million tonnes of crude oil annually into fuel, which was subsequently raised to 7.8 million tonnes.

(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.)
Gunmen kill 137 people, including 22 children, in raids on Niger villages

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On the deadliest day in Nigers recent memory, over 130 people and nearly two dozen children were killed in a series of suspected Islamic extremist raids Sunday afternoon in a region of Africa where jihadi attacks have become more prevalent in recent years.

The attacks happened along the Mail border in southwestern Niger as unidentified insurgents on motorcycles raided three villages and other hamlets in the Tahoua region, according to government sources.

The initial estimate of lives lost released Sunday was about 60. But that count has since been updated to 137 by the government.

The attackers remain unidentified. But violence in West Africas Sahel region has increased as Al Qaeda and Islamic State-affiliated militants have carried out countless attacks in recent years, displacing many from their homes.

The latest series of attacks came on the day Nigers Constitutional Court announced Mohamed Bazoum the winner of a runoff presidential election, according to The New York Times. He will take office on April 2.

An escalation of attacks has occurred since the February election, the Associated Press reported.

At least 22 children between the ages of five and 17 years old died during Sundays raids on the villages of Intazayene, Bakorat and Wistane, according to the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund.

It is hard to believe that children in the region should live in permanent fear of such attacks. This doesnt have to be their reality, UNICEF regional manager for West and Central Africa, Marie-Pierre Poirier, said in a statement.

Poirier called for the protection of children to keep them out of danger.

The continuing conflict, repeated attacks, and access restrictions due to insecurity and violence are hampering our ability to reach those most in need, including two million children who require humanitarian assistance, Poirier said. Attacks on children and families must stop, once and for all. Enough is enough.

The civilians were fetching water when the attacks occurred on the eve of World Water Day on March 22, UNICEF reported.

The government promised reinforced security measures in the region and an investigation to find the perpetrators.

In treating civilian populations systematically as targets now, these armed bandits have gone a step further into horror and brutality, government spokesman Zakaria Abdourahamane said in a statement read on television Monday, according to AFP.

Niger ranks last at No. 189 on the U.N.s country development ranking.

Dozens more were killed on March 15 when unidentified attackers killed at least 58 villagers in the nearby Tillabery region, including six children aged 11 to 17 last Monday, UNICEF reported.

In January, as many as 100 people were killed in attacks targeting the villages of Tchombangou and Zaroumbareye, also in the Tillaberi region.

Local reports indicated that gunmen on motorcycles split into two groups and attacked the villages simultaneously, with up to 70 people being killed in Tchombangou and 30 in Zaroumbareye, according to the U.N.

The United Kingdom government issued a travel advisory for Niger that said terrorists are likely to carry out attacks. It warns of instability in the Tillaberi region, near Nigers borders with Mali and Burkina Faso. It cited recent attacks in the region.

Attacks could be indiscriminate, the advisory states.

The increasing violence in the Sahel region also impacts neighboring countries like Mali and Burkina Faso as millions have been displaced.

According to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, Nigers Tahoua and Tillaberi regions bordering Burkina Faso and Mali host 204,000 refugees and internally displaced people. The agency warns that civilians are bearing the brunt of increasing attacks in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger.

Niger, Burkina Faso, and Mali in the Sahel are at the epicentre of one of the worlds fastest-growing displacement and protection crises, a statement from the UNHCR reads. The region is already hosting nearly three million refugees and people displaced inside their own country.

Last year, the U.S. State Department created a special envoy position to monitor rising extremism in Africa's Sahel region as Al Qaeda and Islamic State-aligned militants expand their footholds.

The rise in extremism presents a threat to Nigers minority Christian community.

Islamic extremist violence is prevalent, and nearly 99% of Nigers population is Muslim. Though many Christians can worship peacefully, radical Islamists stir up animosity in some regions, according to the global persecution watchdog ministry Open Doors.

The Boko Haram terrorist group, prevalent in Nigeria, is also active in southern Niger and targets the Christian community, according to the charity.

Christians are often discriminated against and have trouble securing employment within the government. They are often denied promotion, Open Doors states.
For the first time, activation of nuclear receptor coactivator 3 (NCOA3) has been shown to promote the development of melanoma through regulation of ultraviolet radiation (UVR) sensitivity, cell cycle progression and circumvention of the DNA damage response. Results of a pre-clinical study led by Mohammed Kashani-Sabet, M.D., Medical Director of the Cancer Center at Sutter's California Pacific Medical Center (CPMC) in San Francisco, CA were published online today in Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

"Our research suggests a previously unreported mechanism by which NCOA3 regulates the DNA damage response and acts as a potential therapeutic target in melanoma, whereby activation of NCOA3 contributes to melanoma development following exposure to ultraviolet light," says Dr. Kashani-Sabet, who collaborated with scientists at CPMC's Research Institute, the University Duisburg-Essen in Germany and the Knight Cancer Institute in Portland, OR for the study.

Epidemiological studies suggest a role for UVR in melanoma causation, supported by whole genome sequencing studies demonstrating a high burden of UV-signature mutations. But the precise molecular mechanisms by which melanoma develops following UVR remain poorly understood, necessitating the identification of additional molecular factors that govern both UV and melanoma susceptibility.

NCOA3 (also known as AIB1 or SRC-3) is a member of the nuclear hormone receptor coactivator family, and regulates gene expression through its interaction with various transcription factors. NCOA3 was initially shown to be amplified in breast cancer, and has a demonstrated oncogenic role in various solid tumors. However, a role for NCOA3 in UVR-mediated melanomagenesis has not been previously demonstrated.

By utilizing a combination of in vitro, in vivo and PDX modelling of melanomagenesis, Dr. Kashani and colleagues assessed the effects of regulating NCOA3 expression in human melanoma cells as well as in melanocytes, identifying multiple oncogenic pathways regulated by NCOA3 in melanoma progression.

Results showed that down-regulation of NCOA3 expression, either by genetic silencing or small molecule inhibition, significantly suppressed melanoma proliferation in melanoma cell lines and PDXs. NCOA3 silencing suppressed expression of xeroderma pigmentosum C and increased melanoma cell sensitivity to UVR. Suppression of NCOA3 expression led to activation of DDR effectors and reduced expression of cyclin B1, resulting in G2/M arrest and mitotic catastrophe.

A single nucleotide polymorphism in NCOA3 (T960T) was associated with decreased melanoma risk, given a significantly lower prevalence in a familial melanoma cohort than in a control cohort without cancer. Additional studies suggest this polymorphism decreases NCOA3 protein production, and is accompanied by increased sensitivity to ultraviolet light--resulting in cell death.

Taken together, these findings are consistent with a model of melanoma initiation whereby elevated NCOA3 expression promotes melanocyte survival following exposure to UVR. This survival advantage enables accumulation of UVR-mediated DNA damage. Over the lifetime of an individual who is susceptible to melanoma, significant exposure to UVR can result in both the high mutational burden and uncontrolled cellular proliferation that characterize the disease. By contrast, these effects are attenuated following expression of the T960T polymorphism, with increased sensitivity to UV-mediated cell death, thereby protecting against the carcinogenic effects of UVR.

Our results demonstrate an unprecedented role for a molecular marker in distinct stages of tumor progression. These results identify NCOA3 as a candidate susceptibility marker for melanoma, as a potential diagnostic marker, as a prognostic marker of melanoma survival and as a target for therapy. We propose a critical role for NCOA3 in UVR-mediated melanomagenesis, and as a rational therapeutic target for melanoma." Dr. Mohammed Kashani-Sabet, Medical Director of the Cancer Center, Sutter's California Pacific Medical Center (CPMC), San Francisco, CA

Skin cancer is the most common type of cancer worldwide. Melanoma accounts for about 1% of skin cancers but causes a large majority of skin cancer deaths. This year, approximately 106,000 Americans will be diagnosed with melanoma.

"We're committed to advancing this research to help guide and inform care for the treatment of Sutter patients with melanoma and other patients worldwide," says Dr. Kashani-Sabet.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogans gradual normalization or unrestrained herd immunity policy implemented since the beginning of March has led to a health disaster. New cases have again reached 30,000, the highest level since December.

The government removed restrictions without imposing an intercity travel ban, based on an unscientific four-risk categorization (low, medium, high and very high) for cities. As more contagious and lethal variants spread across the country, weekend curfews were largely lifted, and restaurants and cafes opened at 50 percent capacity in daytime. The opening up of pre-university schools to in-person education and exams worsened the disaster.

Pedestrians in Kizilay Main Square, Ankara, Turkey, June 16, 2020

Scientists and public health specialists are warning that ending the current limited restrictions will cause a disaster overshadowing even the November-December massacre.

After the government reopened schools for in-person education last autumn, the country saw over 30,000 infections and more than 250 deaths per day during the last two months of 2020. Limited measures, including the closure of schools, reduced the daily number of cases to 5,000 in early February.

In early March, the government made this opening, while scientists and public health organizations called for 14-28 days of full lockdown and a vaccination campaign.

Opposing this homicidal opening policy, the World Socialist Web Site warned that it would create another disaster. These moves are part of a universal back-to-work and back-to-school drive in the interests of the ruling elites at the expense of workers health and lives. It called on workers to struggle for a halt to all nonessential production and schools until the pandemic is contained, with full compensation to all affected workers and small businesses.

As a result of the governments herd immunity policy, however, the Health Ministry reported 29,762 new cases and 146 deaths due to COVID-19 on Wednesday. On March 1, there were nearly 9,000 new cases and 69 deaths. Official data shows 3.1 million cases and 30,462 deaths, including at least 391 health care workers.

These figures underestimate the true losses. According to investigative filmmaker Guclu Yamans calculations, there have been 98,000 excess deaths in Turkey until early March.

The country now stands fifth in the world in terms of new daily cases. Moreover, the test positivity rate surpassed 13 percentcompared to only four percent in the United States, where its ruling elites herd immunity policy has led to nearly 560,000 deaths. The reproduction rate (R0) in Turkey rose to 1.22, according to Prof. Dr. Fatih Tanks calculations, indicating exponential growth in infections.

According to Health Ministry data, the number of serious cases rose to 1,720, with adult intensive care occupancy at 65 percent. Prof. Dr. Bengi Baser pointed out that the mortality rate among serious patients reached its highest level (7.68 percent) to date on March 24 and warned, The situation is serious; the UK variant is wreaking havoc.

On March 10, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca stated, Until today, a total of 41,488 B.1.1.7 (UK) mutants in 76 provinces, 61 B.1.351 (South Africa) mutants in 9 provinces, 2 B.1.427 (California-New York) mutants in 1 province and 1 P.1 (Brazil) mutant detected in Turkey.

According to official data, 87 percent of the population, or nearly 72 million people, live in cities categorized as high risk or very high risk. This means that they live in areas where the incidence rate is over 50 or over 100, respectively, per 100,000. This number is 251 in Istanbul and 508, the highest figure, in Samsun.

Erdogan announced the opening policy, that restrictions would be reestablished if risks grew, but no measures have been taken in this direction. In fact, his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) ignores even the limited restrictions that do exist.

More than 1,000 delegates were bused in to Ankara to attend the AKPs party congress on Sunday. Erdogan held a rally outside the congress hall, and the presence of 1,500 delegates in the hall greatly angered the population. He said, I greet you at a meeting where snowfall destroys all germs.

Responsibility of the ruling class criminal policy, which has caused tens of thousands of deaths and millions of infections, lies first and foremost with the Erdogan government. But the bourgeois opposition parties led by the Republican Peoples Party (CHP) have been complicit in this policy since the pandemic began. They have raised no serious objection in parliament, and they pursue the very same policy in the cities under their control.

The trade unions and pseudo-left groups have totally adapted to the governments herd immunity policy. Education unions make only suggestions to the government as mass anger builds among workers at the reopening of schools. Moreover, the pseudo-left parties that line up behind the CHP remain completely silent and complicit in the face of this murderous policy.

The Turkish health care system faces collapse, as Izmir Medical Chamber chair Lutfi Caml told the daily BirGun, Hospitals in Izmir are now at full capacity. Especially since the beginning of the week, almost all pandemic services and intensive care beds are full.

Referring to the impact of opening schools, Caml warned, If urgent measures are not taken to stop the increase in cases and the number of cases cannot be reduced, it does not seem possible for the health care system to meet this demand.

The Istanbul Medical Chamber published a report on March 23, emphasizing that COVID-19 has become a disease of the working class, due to the governments Wheels should turn, production should continue policy. The pandemic, it added, shows how harmful it is for public health to leave health care to the anarchy of the market via privatization policies.

Moreover, vaccination is progressing slowly in Turkey and internationally. Only 7.2 percent of Turkeys population, or 6.1 million people, have been fully vaccinated as of Thursday, when the distribution of first doses of the vaccine was paused.

Last week, less than 20,000 people daily received the first dose. Amid uncertainty on new vaccine supplies, health care workers went to social media and asked, Where are the vaccines? Moreover, despite the governments promise to vaccinate teachers, the Education Ministry said only 10 percent of teachers have been vaccinated so far.

The pandemic is also aggravating the social catastrophe facing the working class. The short-time work allowance to 1.3 million unemployed workers will expire at the end of this month. According to a recent DISK trade union confederation report, the number of broadly defined unemployed has risen to 9,638,000, or 27.4 percent. In 2020, the number of gig workers employed for less than 40 hours a week rose by 900,000 to 1,251,000.

After President Erdogan sacked the head of the Central Bank last Friday, the Turkish lira lost nearly 10 percent of its value against the US dollar, further raising the cost of living for workers.

Amid this growing economic, social and political crisis, the government, fearing a social explosion in the working class, has been increasingly using anti-democratic measures to divide the working class along national lines and deflect social opposition. Last week, it filed a case to ban the Kurdish nationalist Peoples Democratic Party (HDP).

As the World Socialist Web Site recently underlined, the defense of democratic rights, health care and lives requires the international mobilisation of the working class, based on a socialist program against the herd immunity policies of the ruling class.
On the day that marked the start of everything to come, I was somewhere near the Arctic Circle, taking a lovely hot bath. It was the winter of 2016, and my husband Francis and I were on holiday, hoping to see the aurora borealis.

It was when I tried to dry myself that I suddenly noticed my right foot wasnt wiggling properly. It wiggled a bit. But at best it was a slow waggle. With my unending scientific curiosity in all things that dont quite fit, I casually noted this and got out of the bath.

Over the next three months, it happened a few more times, and I concluded I had a wonky foot. Probably a pulled muscle. No biggy.

With a perfectly reasonable working hypothesis lodged away in my subconscious, my brain relaxed. For a full three months.

Im not dying, I told myself firmly; Im transforming. If I manage to do even just a little of what I know is possible, Ill become the first full cyborg in human history

Until one day, when climbing up to a beautifully preserved Ancient Greek temple on the island of Rhodes, I started to vibrate.

Nothing dramatic, I hasten to add. But a definite occasional tremor in my right leg if I happened to move or sit down in a particular way. Sometimes. Hardly noticeable.

A fortnight later, I consulted a physiotherapist about my wonky foot. He prodded and stretched and took lots of notes. Yes, it could well be a deep muscle strain. Maybe a slight tear. Any other symptoms? I mentioned the tremor.

Aah, he said. Could be nerve damage. Better have an MRI scan.

And so, at 58, I embarked on a seemingly endless fishing expedition, which progressed from MRIs and X-rays to genetic tests and lumbar punctures.

The neurologist I was referred to could see nothing wrong. No brain or spinal tumour. No signs of multiple sclerosis. No motor neurone disease. Not even a pinched nerve.

Leg tremors aside, my life at this point was just about perfect. Id retired in my 40s from my stint as a globe-trotting management consultant, and now took on just the odd project. This meant Francis and I were at last free to fulfil a mutual dream  which was to explore the world over the next two decades.

Eight months went by. My legs were slowly becoming paralysed, and the continued absence of any diagnosis was getting tedious. To my boyish delight, I now began a series of far more obviously high-tech tests, involving proper electronic equipment with flashing lights, electrodes and computer screens  the way Hollywood would do it. The idea was to check the messages between my nerves and my brain.

Habitual scientist that I am, I made an intensive study of the various diseases that were being ruled out, and could soon talk to doctors about them with all the professional jargon. So what happened next was my fault.

I was having my second painful session with the electrodes, at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in London, and chatting with the doctor as one professional to another. As she gave a running commentary of my test results, we discussed the science involved.

Francis was two years older and very bright, but we otherwise had little in common: he was from a working-class background, had left school at 16 and was street-smart and worldly-wise. Nevertheless, over the next two days, we fell deeper and deeper in love. Much later, in 2005, we would become the first gay couple in Britain to enter a civil partnership, which we later turned into a marriage

Aah, bit of denervation here. She was staring at the needle rammed into my calf. Basically, that meant that the single nerve running all the way from my spine to the muscle in my lower leg was breaking down a bit.

Fascinating! I replied. Then she stabbed a needle into my hand and wiggled it around a bit. And thats when she remarked that I had definite denervation.

I understood immediately what that meant. I did have motor neurone disease (MND) after all.

Yes, exactly, she said. Just as if I were a medical student checking a diagnosis.

I already knew the mortality statistics: 30 per cent dead within one year, 50 per cent dead within two years, 90 per cent dead in five years. Most sufferers became almost totally locked in, able only to move their eyes  typically to explore a boring hospital ceiling. They died when they starved to death or could no longer breathe.

After delivering her devastating diagnosis, the doctor suddenly seemed to recall I was a patient. Oh my God! I shouldnt have said that! Im terribly sorry! Are you all right?

I spent the next minute profusely reassuring the guilt-stricken doctor that I was perfectly OK.

The diagnosis had certainly been a shock. But as I lay on the examination table, I was already outlining in my mind what Id need in order to survive.

Despite the general belief that MND is invariably fatal, I knew this wasnt strictly true. When patients can no longer swallow, they can have a feeding tube inserted directly into their stomach.

When they can no longer breathe, an air pump can inflate their lungs. The causes of death arent really medical issues  theyre more like engineering issues. So why, despite this, do so many die so soon?

Maybe they dont know about the technology. Maybe they arent offered it. Maybe they worry about money, and sacrifice themselves for the good of those who remain.

Maybe they just dont want to keep going. But I certainly did.

Fortunately, Francis was as matter-of-fact about the diagnosis as I was. As we walked from the hospital to a museum exhibition of Egyptian artefacts, we agreed that it was a Big Deal. But not as Big a Deal as everyone thought it was.

Later, back at our hotel, I remember thinking: mine must have been one of the least traumatic diagnoses of MND in history. That feeling lasted exactly nine and a half hours . . .

I jolted awake at 3.05am, my heart pounding. It was the first time my subconscious had been given a chance to process the full enormity of my MND diagnosis.

Without warning, I was suddenly overwhelmed with terror. It was the same sense of impotent dread that I forever associated with being 16, waiting to be punished by my headmaster.

Dont be stupid, you delusional, pompous fantasist! I told myself. Trust the statistics  youll most probably be dead in two years. Even if you do last five years, youll be trapped in the ultimate straitjacket of your own living corpse.

I thought of the scientist Stephen Hawking. Yes, hed survived many years, but hed got MND when he was much younger and deteriorated far more slowly. Plus, he was richer and could afford the best 24-hour care.

But Id have a common, average, unexceptional death, and no one would notice  apart from Francis.

Ah, Francis. If I loved him a fraction as much as I claimed, I admonished myself, I wouldnt prolong his suffering. Id save him from having to watch me slowly decay into uselessness until, eventually, I retreated to a place where even he couldnt follow me.

If I really loved him, Id protect him. Otherwise, hed learn to resent me. And then hed put me in a nursing home full of old people and let me die  alone.

After a great deal more of these pitiable thoughts, I finally forced myself to take a deep breath. Calm down, Peter. Think your way through this.

As my breathing slowed, the last echoes of my terror faded away. Instead, I felt a warmth, a sense of power spreading out from my inner core. With my cheeks still prickling from drying tears, I found myself smiling.

OK, I thought, Ive got two years before statistically I should be dead. That means Ive got two years to rewrite the future. And change the world.

I refuse merely to stay alive in a form of living death. Also  a complete revelation to me as the thought distilled  I refuse to leave everyone else with MND behind, traumatised by their two-year death sentence.

Ill deploy both my scientific expertise and the best cutting-edge technology on the planet  not just to keep people with MND alive, but also to alleviate other forms of extreme disability caused by disease, or accident or old age.

This is about helping everyone whos ever felt themselves to be a free-thinking intelligence trapped in an inadequate physical body. This is about changing what it means to be human.

Tonight, I told myself, Francis and I are going to crack open our very best bottle of champagne and well celebrate  and not just because Ill solve the problem of how to survive. Im going to solve how we can all truly thrive.

Well gather an army. Well build a movement. This is rebellion!

Without the intervention of my headmaster at Kings College, an elite independent school in Wimbledon, I might never have rebelled. Without that rebellion more than four decades ago, I might never have ended up studying computers, robotics and artificial intelligence.

And I would almost certainly now be dead.

So let me take you back to a gloriously sunny afternoon in May 1974, when my housemaster marched me to the headmasters study. I had no idea why.

At 16, I loved school. My grades were excellent, I enjoyed acting with the drama society and I was about to become not just a prefect but head of the fencing team.

What happened next remains the most traumatic episode of my life. Do you want to be an abomination, Scott? my headmaster boomed. His unblinking eyes were those of a snake waiting to strike. He was accusing me of being homosexual.

It was the last thing Id expected: although Id been certain of my sexual orientation since the age of 13, Id never acted upon it. My close friends knew, of course  so someone must have gossiped.

You do realise, dont you, Scott, that being a sodomite  the headmaster stressed every syllable  a catamite, a queer  he managed to insert two syllables into queer  is an abomination against God and humanity? It is against all common decency. Its a disgusting perversion of Gods natural order.

My punishment? To encourage me to live a life of moral rectitude, I was banned with immediate effect from the drama society and banned from ever becoming head of fencing or a prefect. In just a few seconds, the headmaster had casually destroyed everything that was important to me.

Back home that night, I tackled my upper-middle-class parents obliquely, saying thered been a school debate about whether homosexuality was an abomination. My mother instantly wanted to complain to the headmaster  Its absolutely criminal exposing boys to that sort of talk. It could really harm them.

My father, who worked at a venture capital firm, said little but agreed with her. My mother went on: Of course homosexuality is an abomination. Rest assured, no one in all of the extended family would ever have anything to do with someone who was homosexual.

She gave an exaggerated shiver. Oh, the shame! I mean for the parents. It must be mortifying for them, with everybody pitying them.

I went to my room, locked the door and cried. That night, I hardly slept. By the end of it, Id come to a decision: I was going to reinvent myself. And every time the Establishment tried to bully me, Id push back.

The very next day, I started dressing flamboyantly  in a stylish navy-blue suit with large-peaked lapels and very wide flares. I wore two-inch heels that took my height to well above 6ft. And I decided to grow my hair.

To replace drama society, I joined the schools computer society  which in 1974 involved going to a polytechnic once a week to learn how to use their IBM computer.

Polytechnic! shrieked my best friend, pretending to be my housemaster. The shame! The shame! They dont learn Latin. They split their infinitives. They cant even spell Oxbridge.

Finally, in an act of supreme rebellion (or, in the words of my housemaster, supreme stupidity), I turned down Oxbridge in favour of Imperial, the only university then offering a degree in computing science.

It was this calculated rebellion that eventually led me to do a masters degree in artificial intelligence and a doctorate in robotics. This led in turn to writing eight books and travelling the world as a management guru with radical new ideas.

Almost five years after the scene in the headmasters study, I found Francis. I was 20, and still a virgin, but felt no pull to the gay scene which I considered a meat market. I wanted romantic love. For life.

In desperation one day, I booked a long weekend at an exclusively gay hotel in Torquay. Most of the guests were ancient and I thought Id made a terrible mistake  until I spotted the red-gold hair and piercing blue eyes of the assistant manager.

In that moment, I fell in love. Francis was two years older and very bright, but we otherwise had little in common: he was from a working-class background, had left school at 16 and was street-smart and worldly-wise.

Nevertheless, over the next two days, we fell deeper and deeper in love. Much later, in 2005, we would become the first gay couple in Britain to enter a civil partnership, which we later turned into a marriage.

My wider family never forgave me. My parents, however, eventually accepted that Francis was the best thing that ever happened to me.

Needless to say, once I left Kings College School, I never darkened its doors again. I did, however, turn down two offers from masters to give me an explicit form of extra-curricular education.

Three other masters, whom I imagined would be safer, invited me to intimate, boozy dinners. By the third, Id become quite used to saying: Lovely dessert but I wont have any sex with the brandy, thank you . . .

Within a few years, I know Ill be fully paralysed. And yes, of course, this is not a future Id have chosen, especially not for my darling husband.

But lets be scientific about this. With high-tech support, so many things are now possible: great communication systems, new high-tech senses and robotic abilities to replace the ones Ill lose.

Then theres artificial intelligence (AI) . . . augmented reality . . . virtual reality . . . With all the super-cool kit of the 21st century, Ill never have to feel isolated or unstimulated.

Ill be able to give a key-note speech through an avatar, and at the same time use a remote-control robot to see and hear whats going on in the room. Ill one day explore fantastical virtual reality worlds with Franciss avatar beside me.

Its all technically feasible; its just that no ones doing it yet. And its my glorious final rebellion.

Im not dying, I told myself firmly; Im transforming. If I manage to do even just a little of what I know is possible, Ill become the first full cyborg in human history.

I dont just want to survive; I want to thrive! Ill be part hardware/part wetware (my body), part digital/ part analogue.

It will be quite literally the experiment of my life.

Adapted by Corinna Honan from Peter 2.0: The Human Cyborg by Peter Scott-Morgan, to be published by Michael Joseph on April 1 at 16.99.  2021 Peter Scott-Morgan.

To order a copy for 14.95, go to www.mailshop.co.uk/books or call 020 3308 9193. Delivery charges may apply. Free UK delivery on orders over 20. Promotional price valid until April 4, 2021.
Although substantial changes arent sudden or even obvious at times, were facing tremendous transformations across the entire automotive industry. As such, traditional sedans are taking a big hit in the face of changing customer preferences towards everything related to crossovers, SUVs, and trucks.With models like the Lincoln Continental, MKZ, or the Fusion already in search of car Valhalla, it was naturally only a matter of time before their Old Continent cousin followed suit. And the rumor mill is, of course, running rampant about the upcoming Mondeo/Fusion Evos successor that will join the high riding club.So, its a sort of consolation when someone takes the Fusion platform to new levels, showing that Blue Ovals series wasnt entirely a mistake; it was just made obsolete by the changing times. Of course, even though this crimson 2017 Fusion Sport unit looks stock on the outside, its actually a proper sleeper said to come with more than 500 horsepower under the hood.Those ponies come courtesy of the hard work performed by tuning specialists, so the 2.7-liter EcoBoost-powered sedan now packs a full bolt-on, reworked MKZ turbos by Revolution Turbos from Ocala, Florida, an E85 tune, and much more. By the way, down below, we also embedded a video from the owner's official YT channel, with dyno proof that its capable of 531 hp and 493 lb-ft (668 Nm) of twist.And we also have some great action, courtesy of the Drag Racing and Car Stuff channel. Which, by the way, lays claim to a possible world record for the Blue Oval sedan during the recent NMRA Spring Break Shootout that took place at the Bradenton Motorsports Park in Florida.Ironically, the other contender is the MKZ brother from the Lincoln mother, and the custom Fusion Sport gaps its sibling bus lengths apart as it reaches the end of the strip with a quarter-mile ET of 11.51 seconds at 116 mph (over 186 kph). Frankly, its a much proper sendoff into the limelight than what Ford had for the series.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday said the BJP will enact laws to tackle the "menace of love and land jihad" in Assam if it is voted to power.

Addressing an election rally, Shah said appropriate laws and policies will be put in place to strengthen Assamese culture and civilisation.

The manifesto also promised it will enforce a deradicalisation policy to identify and quash organisations and individuals fanning communal exclusion and separatism.

"The Congress manifesto is merely a tool for election campaign but the BJP manifesto is meant for implementation," he asserted.

He also accused Congress leader Rahul Gandhi of describing AIUDF chief Badruddin Ajmal as representative of Assam's identity. "He (Gandhi) does not understand Assam and its identity," he said.

Assam's identity is linked to Vaishnav saints Srimanta Sankardeva and Madhavdeva, brave Ahom general Lachit Barphukan who saved the state from Mughal invasion and Bharat Ratnas Bhupen Hazarika and Gopinath Bordoloi, he said.

"We will not allow Ajmal to become a symbol of Assam's identity notwithstanding Congress's efforts to do so. Can the Congress and AIUDF save the state from illegal infiltration?" he said.

"Rahul baba should remember that it was their chief minister Tarun Gogoi who was once dismissive of the AIUDF chief and had asked 'Who is Ajmal?' And now it is the Congress which has joined hands with Ajmal to gather votes," he added.

Calling Gandhi a "tourist", Shah said the Congress leader was seen in the state only for 2-3 days during the elections and then vanishes for the next five years.

There are only three images before the people of Assam--that of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's development and service to people, of Rahul Gandhi's tourism and Ajmal's agenda of infiltration. The people of Assam have to decide what they want, Modiji's double engine for development or Congress-AIUDF's double infiltration, he 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.)
In Gary, Walker, the health commissioner there, said the narrative is generally that people of color are hesitant to get vaccines because of mistrust over how the medical community has treated people of color in the past but hes found that can be dealt with pretty easily with education, including sharing his own story about getting vaccinated.
The mothers with babies in their arms asked the same question over and over as they crossed the bridge that links El Paso, Texas to Ciudad Juarez in Mexico: Where am I? What country is this? A new flood of migrants from Central America is making its way to the United States, emboldened by false news reports back home that US President Joe Biden would now welcome parents with young children.

At the border between the United States and Mexico last week, the migrants dream was extinguished under the watchful eye of US border patrol officers, proceeding in a single-file line making its way back down south into one of Mexicos most dangerous cities. Shuffling in line with their shoelaces removed, they clutched the few possessions they had brought on their long journey: battered cell phones, documents, aspirin packs and wooden crosses.

Vilma Iris Peraza, 28, arrived exhausted, thin and coughing. She could barely walk and soon collapsed on the bridge, holding the hand of three-year-old Adriana. The toddler was as exhausted as her mother, and vomited on the boots of the border agents standing guard by the plaque marking the division between Mexico and the US. They tricked us! They tricked us! Peraza shouted when she recovered some strength. They told us we were going to a shelter in northern United States, they never told us we would be deported.

A migrant family crossing the Rio Grande to turn themselves in to the border patrol in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. Foto: Monica Gonzalez | Video: EPV

Peraza had begun her odyssey two weeks earlier in Honduras. She saw on the news that the Biden administration would now allow women with children under the age of six to enter and get their papers, and to live and work in the United States. Her chance had come. With the aid of a pollero (people smuggler), she crossed through Guatemala into Tabasco State in Mexico, made her way up the countrys spine and all the way to Reynosa, a town in the border state of Tamaulipas. The US was now a 15-minute drive away.

In Reynosa, she waited with other migrants from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador until she crossed the border at the point her smuggler had told her about. She spent just a few hours of freedom in the US before being arrested in the Texan city of McAllen. The migrant detention center was so cold they christened it la hielera (the icebox), and she and her children spent four days there before they were flown to El Paso, Texas, a full 1,200km from where they were detained. On the bridge back to Mexico, the migrants were told to walk in a straight line without stopping until they were off American soil, in daily groups of 150-200 at a time.

Jose Damaso, another Honduran, had a question for the US authorities: Why do they do this to us? He recounted how his fingerprints and phone number were taken, and explained the long journey from the icebox to El Paso. I just want to ask the US government for one opportunity. We came here with the dream of giving our children a better future.

Leaning on the railings with his wife, Norma Lopez, the couple wept with their heads in their hands, as their two children clung to their legs. They tricked us, they tricked us, why are they doing this to us? he repeated. He said he was not permitted a hearing with a judge to explain how they crossed three countries fleeing violence.

None of the migrants interviewed by EL PAIS were informed that they would be sent back to Mexico, and it was often only as they walked over the bridge and saw the Mexican flag that they began to realize everything was falling apart. In many cases these are farmers and peasants who used the value of their homes to borrow between $10,000 and $15,000 to pay the pollero to help them cross the border.

Dont come

Back in Honduras, a message now booms repeatedly from local radio stations. It is a US government ad telling Hondurans: Dont come and put your family and childrens lives at risk. Dont expose yourself to the dangers of the journey. This is a US government message. Its a male voice, and the message is pitched somewhere between supermarket and soap brand advertisements. As if that was not clear enough, Joe Biden and Roberta Jacobson, Coordinator for the Southwest Border, have repeated it several times in recent weeks. The message isnt, Dont come now, its, Dont come in this way, ever, Jacobson told the news agency Reuters in an interview. The way to come to the United States is through legal pathways.

Ingrid and her children Wilber, who is two years old, and Manuel, who is seven, traveled from Tepetengo in Guatemala to Reynosa in Mexico on a 20-day journey. After crossing into the US, they were detained and flown to El Paso, Texas. Monica Gonzalez

The number of migrants attempting to cross the US border has been on the rise since April. The 100,441 people counted in February represented the highest figure for the last two years. Border arrests during the final months of Donald Trumps presidency reached some of the highest levels in a decade, and illegal crossings have skyrocketed since Biden took office. In February, arrests grew 28% over the previous month, and in March the number should hit around 4,000 per day, according to United States Customs and Border Protection. Since October 1, the authorities have recorded more than 396,000 migrant crossings compared to 201,600 during the same period last year.

The Biden administration has faced intense criticism from opposition Republicans claiming that Bidens relaxation of some of Trumps policies has encouraged Central Americans to make the journey. Containment facilities in Texas are overflowing, which has forced temporary shelters to open: a parking lot in El Paso, a convention center in Dallas, a NASA compound in California and a camp in Arizona.

Meanwhile, the number of unaccompanied children has skyrocketed. Although they travel with their parents from Central America, many separate in the hope that they can begin the legalization process rather than return to the poverty and violence from which they fled. In March, 561 unaccompanied children were detained on a single day, breaking the record of 370 minors arrested in May 2019 under Trump. According to the Associated Press news agency, the daily average was 332 unaccompanied children in February, a 60% increase over January.

Between 50 and 100 people are deported from the US every day at the Chihuahua border crossing. Monica Gonzalez

The chaos comes from the confusion of Trumps old policies, which forced Central Americans to claim asylum in Mexico, and the new measures approved by Biden, accepting a trickle of migrants amounting to 50 people daily. Mexicos aggressive response to migrants in transit and a series of natural disasters in the last year have also aggravated the situation for Central Americans. Added to this is a pandemic still in full swing. Mexico decided to close its southern border on March 19 and deployed thousands of National Guard troops and National Migration Institute staff to halt the arrival of Central Americans. Shortly afterwards, Washington announced that it would send 2.5 million leftover AstraZeneca vaccines to Mexico. Both governments say there is no connection, but US pressure on Mexico to help solve the immigration problem is growing.

The legacy of Trumps wall

The wall and border security were the centerpiece of Trumps successful 2016 presidential campaign, and he has returned to the issue frequently since leaving power. Trump leads the chorus of those shouting border crisis, conveniently dispensing with the fact that this trend began when he was still president.

In fact, the upsurge in migrant arrivals has less to do with the change of president than with persistent violence, political instability and two hurricanes, Eta and Iota, that hit Central America in November. Enrique Valenzuela, general coordinator of the Chihuahua State Population Commission, said the expulsions were taking place under the pretext of Covid-19. [They] are being expelled under the so-called Title 42, which is linked to health policy, not to immigration policy, he said. Chihuahua State is where the migrants enter over the bridge from El Paso. As long as the risk of the pandemic exists, they will continue to send people back who enter with the intention of requesting international protection.

Migrant families waiting to be accepted at the Pan y vida shelted in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. Monica Gonzalez

Before Valenzuela finishes his sentence, three more buses arrive at the bridge and nearly a hundred terrified Central Americans are forced to get off and walk in a straight line toward Mexico. They arrive in great distress because they entered with the hope of gaining political asylum, explains Valenzuela, adding that many are unclear about who can enter the US and why. They are deceived by the traffickers and get confused by those who are registered in the Migrant Protection Program, as after waiting up to two years in Mexico, those people have begun to gain access to the US after registering with the United Nations, thanks to the change in the law ordered by Biden.

The Democrats refuse to speak of a border crisis and prefer the euphemism challenge to reassure Americans they have not lost control of the border. They point out that in the year 2000, some 9,000 border patrol agents detained, on average, almost 137,000 undocumented immigrants each month. Between October and February the average was just over 76,000, but the number of enforcement officers has doubled.

At the oldest shelter in Ciudad Juarez, director Father Francisco Javier Calvillo is overwhelmed by a humanitarian task that religious and civil organizations are solving more through sheer determination than money. He isnt sure there is much difference between Trump and Biden after all. The first bangs his fist on the table and threatens Mexico with tariffs to achieve his goal, while the second uses diplomacy and vaccines to achieve the same result: no more migrants coming into the US.
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Global Medical Radiation Detection, Monitoring, And Safety Market is likely to rise at a CAGR of 7.1% over the forecast period from 2016 to 2023.

Market Overview

The global medical radiation detection, monitoring, and safety market was valued at USD 961 million in 2017 and is expected to exhibit rapid growth due to the growing incidence of cancer around the world, the growing awareness among people working around radiating materials, and the increasing level of concern about nuclear products and radiation following disaster such as the Fukushima Daiichi disaster in 2011.

The growing prevalence of cancer has led to growing use of radioactive materials for the treatment of cancer. Radiotherapy has emerged as one of the most promising treatment avenues for cancer, leading to growing use of radioactive substances in the oncology sector.

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This is likely to remain one of the most important drivers for the global medical radiation detection, monitoring, and safety market over the forecast period, as cancer has become a major problem for the healthcare sector in modern times and is likely to remain one of the key challenges facing the healthcare sector in the coming years.

Segmentation:

The global Medical Radiation Detection, Monitoring & Safety Market Size has been segmented on the basis of detector type, monitoring type, safety type, end user, and region.

Based on detector type, the global medical radiation detection, monitoring, and safety market is segmented into gas-filled detectors, organic scintillators, inorganic scintillators, and solid-state detectors. The gas-filled detectors segment accounted for the largest share of the market in 2017.

Based on monitoring type, the medical radiation detection, monitoring, and safety market is segmented into personal dosimeters, environmental monitors, area monitors, radiological material monitors, and others.

Based on safety type, the medical radiation detection, monitoring, and safety market is segmented into full-body protection products, face protection products, and others.

Based on end user, the medical radiation detection, monitoring, and safety market is segmented into hospitals, clinics, ambulatory surgical centers, and others.

Key players:

some of the key players in the global medical radiation detection, monitoring & safety market are,

Mirion Technologies Inc.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.

Sun Nuclear Corporation

IBA Worldwide

Radiation Detection Company Inc.

Biodex Medical Systems Inc.

Ludlum Measurements Inc.

Amray Medical

Infab Corporation

and Fluke Biomedical

Increasing awareness about radiation safety among workers is also likely to be a major driver for the global medical radiation detection, monitoring, and safety market over the forecast period. While the use of radioactive materials in the healthcare sector is nothing new, the handling and treatment of the substances has changed completely compared to earlier, as government regulations and workplace safety regulations have taken it into account and formulated specific rules regarding the use of nuclear materials in the healthcare sector.

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The growing concern about the threat posed by radioactive materials is likely to be a major driver for the global medical radiation detection, monitoring, and safety market over the forecast period.

Regional Analysis:

Regionally, the global medical radiation detection, monitoring, and safety market is segmented into the Americas, Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Middle East and Africa. The Americas dominates the global medical radiation detection, monitoring, and safety market and is likely to remain by far the most important regional market over the forecast period due to the growing prevalence of cancer and the increasing expenditure on R&D of advanced radioactivity protection solutions.

Many major players in the medical radiation detection, monitoring, and safety market are located in North America, giving the region an advantage in terms of adopting the latest technological advances and incorporating them into the day to day functioning of the healthcare sector. Europe is also likely to be a major player in the global medical radiation detection, monitoring, and safety market for this very reason.

Asia Pacific is likely to exhibit rapid growth in the medical radiation detection, monitoring, and safety market over the forecast period due to the growing demand for cancer treatment in countries such as China, India, and Australia.

Intended Audience

Medical radiation detection, monitoring & safety products Manufacturers

Medical radiation detection, monitoring & safety distributors

Hospitals, Clinics, and Association

Contract research organization

Various research and consulting firms

About Market Research Future:

Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.
MORE than 1,500 people took up the offer of a free test at five walk-in testing centres which opened in areas of high virus incidence in Dublin and Offaly yesterday.

A HSE spokeswoman said that each of the five walk-in centres have reported a steady stream of people arriving to avail of the free test.

"This level of activity shows that we are meeting local testing needs, and that people living in the community are keen to do their bit to reduce the spread of the virus," she said.

A high proportion were people in younger age groups.

Queue

The HSE said: "We would like to remind people that if there is a queue at your local walk-in test centre, you are welcome to come back on another time or day.

"Each person tested will receive their test result by text message within 48 hours.

"If a person receives a positive test result, our contact tracing team will phone and start to trace people they have been in contact with to arrange testing to break the chains of transmission."

People who live within 5km of the centres who do not have symptoms and have not had an infection in the previous six months are invited to go for a test.

The aim is to pick up people in the community who are unaware they have the virus.

It is likely the centres will also be placed in other areas as a means of finding people in an attempt to bring down levels of the virus.

Read More

The walk-in centres, led by the National Ambulance service, are open until next Wednesday, from 11am to 7pm.

The locations include the National Aquatic Centre, Blanchardstown, Dublin 15; Tallaght Stadium in Tallaght, Dublin 24; Irishtown Stadium and Grangegorman Primary Care Centre in Dublin; and Tullamore Leisure Centre in Co Offaly.

HSE chief Paul Reid said the walk-in clinics are part of a pilot and the HSE would see how they may be used in other areas depending on the results.

HSE head of contact tracing Dr Greg Martin said one of the biggest issues now is controlling the increased transmissibility of the UK variant.

Battle

He said this is having a huge impact and is being seen in every aspect of the pandemic. "It is almost like a slightly different battle that we are fighting at the moment," he added.

The impact was seen in outbreaks in nursing homes earlier this year and in the greater difficulty controlling outbreaks in the community.

Public health doctors are also seeing an increase in close contacts of infected people recently, which suggests people are mixing more.

It means that everyone needs to double down in their efforts to defeat the virus, he added.

The HSE is afraid of a lag effect due to rising levels of Covid which could see admissions to hospital rise again.

Mr Reid was asked about figures on the HSE site saying just six second doses of Covid-19 vaccine were administered on Sunday.

He said he was not aware of this but it could be due to delays by GPs in registering figures

Speaking at a HSE briefing Mr Reid said there has been a 9pc increase in cases of the virus in the last week compared with the previous week.
leader on



Friday said that "some people in Delhi" are preparing to form UPA-II, which is why the existing needs to be strengthened if the opposition is to fight the BJP.

He made the statement while speaking to reporters in Delhi, a day after he reiterated that NCP chief Sharad Pawar should head the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) that is currently being led by the Congress.

Replying to a question, Raut said the "drama" of forming "third, fourth or fifth fronts" has failed so far, hence the existing needs to be strengthened.

"Some people in Delhi are preparing to form UPA-II. Hence, I am saying this out of concern. The UPA-I has to be strengthened," he said, without specifying who these people in the capital are.

He said the importance of the present-day will reduce if the UPA-II is formed and then the opposition parties will have nothing in their hands.

On Raut's suggestion that Pawar should lead the UPA, Maharashtra Congress leaders had on Thursday asked the leader to desist from making such comments as his party is not even part of the alliance.

When asked about the Maharashtra Congress leaders' comments and its state unit chief Nana Patole also questioning Raut if he is the spokesperson of Pawar, the leader replied, "Maybe. Sharad Pawar is a leader of the country. All know what Sharad Pawar or Uddhav Thackeray are."



Raut said one need not be part of the UPA to speak about it.

"The issue of the UPA is not of a state, but a one. So the people from the state should not talk about it," he added.

The Rajya Sabha member said that discussion needs to be held on strengthening the alliance of the opposition parties if they are to take on the BJP.

"If the (Congress) leaders in Maharashtra are not getting this, then they need to study...they are our colleagues, but they should understand.

"We will give a reply if Sonia Gandhi or Rahul Gandhi are to speak on this issue. But they are not speaking. They are also analysing this (the situation)," he added.

The Parliamentarian also said that Maharashtra Congress leaders should also make it clear whether they think the UPA should not be strengthened.

"Sonia Gandhi is leading the UPA. She has led it in an excellent manner for 17 years. But considering the future politics, the issue needs to be discussed," he 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.)
Abuja  President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday said a new basic chemicals platform worth $1.3b that will produce ammonia and fertilizers in Nigeria will be ready for commissioning in the coming months.

Speaking at an audience with Fertilizer Producers and Suppliers Association of Nigeria, FEPSAN, President Buhari said the new plant will be built in partnership with the Kingdom of Morocco.

The President in a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Chief Femi Adesina in Abuja quoted the President as saying, "His Majesty, the King of Morocco and I, have agreed to extend the current Phosphate supply agreement between the Kingdom of Morocco and Nigeria.

"We both believe that to consolidate and expand on the successes recorded thus far, we must secure raw material supplies to our blenders.

"Furthermore, to improve the balance of trade between Nigeria and Morocco, the two countries have signed an agreement to develop a $1.3 billion Basic Chemicals Platform in Nigeria that will produce Ammonia, Phosphoric Acid, Sulphuric Acid and various Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium (NPK) and Diammonium Phosphate (DAP) fertilisers using Nigeria's gas reserves."

President Buhari further said that the new plant when completed would complement the existing Dangote and Indorama Chemicals facilities which produce urea, ammonia and other industrial raw materials.

"When we combine these projects with the existing 44 blending plants, Nigeria will indeed become a regional and global fertiliser power house," he said.

On the activities of the FEPSAN, the President expressed delight on the progress they have made over the past five years, saying that despite the country going through recessions during the period, investments in the fertiliser and agricultural inputs sector continued to grow.

He said, "Though many investors chose to take their monies out of Nigeria, you continued to invest. Today, we are seeing the fruits of your smart, long term and patriotic decisions.

"This is why all Nigerians should be proud of the personal commitments and sacrifices you all made in getting us to where we are today.

"Another commendable trait worth mentioning is that all your investments have been balanced between urban and rural Nigeria. These are the types of investments needed to address the unemployment and security challenges our nation is facing today."

He assured them that the Federal Government would continue to ensure a conducive business environment for these investments to flourish.

On the issue of security, the President expressed concern that the lack of employment prospects and opportunities in most rural communities had remained a major contributor to insecurity.

He noted that for decades, previous Government policies have focused on urban development at the expense of rural inclusion.

"In the last four years, we have worked hard to bridge some of these economic imbalances through our various agricultural and financial policies to attract employment opportunities to rural areas.

"As we continue to expand our security operations to bring an end to these challenges, it is important to note that peace and prosperity can only be sustained if we collectively and actively support investments that take opportunities to our rural citizens.

"I therefore urge our governors, bankers, investors and entrepreneurs to look beyond our cities when it comes to investments.

"As we have seen from Nigeria's 5-year fertiliser revolution, if investors are willing to endure the short term 'start-up' pains, they will surely benefit from long term sustainable and substantial gains," he said.

The President commended Governor Muhammad Badaru Abubakar of Jigawa State, Mr Thomas Etuh and his FEPSAN team, the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority, security and intelligence agencies and all Federal and State Government agencies for their collaboration in making the project possible.

"I will also use this opportunity, on behalf of Nigerians, to thank my brother and friend, His Majesty, the King of Morocco for being with us during this difficult but exciting journey.

"This mutually beneficial partnership between our two countries is a true example of how intra-Africa trade and partnership should work," he said.

In his remarks, Mr Thomas Etuh, FEPSAN President recounted that in their first meeting with the President five years ago, he gave the association a mission to reduce Nigeria's reliance on import, enhance fertiliser availability and affordability and create jobs over a 4-year period.

"Today, 4 years later Mr President, I am proud to inform Your Excellency, and indeed all Nigerians, that mission is accomplished," he said.

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Etuh told the President that from 3 blending plants operating at 40 per cent capacity in 2016, today Nigeria has 44 blending plants most of which are operating at full capacity.

"From focusing on one fertiliser blend (NPK20:10:10) in 2017, today, we have countless numbers of crop specific blends coming up across the country.

"From being reliant on imports, today over 60 per cent of raw materials used in fertiliser production are locally sourced.

"From having fertiliser scarcity which led to rationing, today any farmer can buy as many bags as he or she wants.

"As a matter of fact, some farmer associations even give customised orders for their specific crops. On behalf of the Nigerian farmers we wish to thank Mr President for empowering them," he said.

The FEPSAN leader added that from being an unbankable sector that was on the verge of bankruptcy, the members of the association in the last 3 months alone have been able to raise bank guarantees and funding of close to N100 billion.

"Mr President, just 4 years ago, FEPSAN used to beg for money. Today Sir, the banks are begging us to take their money," he said.

Vanguard News Nigeria
ILION, N.Y.  The company that now owns the former Remington plant, received the OK Friday to move its remaining assets from its facility in Alabama to Ilion.

The sooner the equipment is moved to the Ilion facility, the sooner Roundhill Group can restart operations and bring employees back to work.

Roundhill Group has 45 days to empty and clean the Huntsville facility in Alabama. Attorneys say the first truck will arrive on April 5, and be loaded by April 12.

Everything must be removed from the Huntsville location by May 14.
Republican Senators Ted Cruz and John Cornyn and Democratic Congressman Joaquin Castro led dueling delegations of lawmakers to the U.S.-Mexico border in Texas on Friday, amid concerns over the surge of unaccompanied minors crossing the border.

Republican Senator Mike Braun of Indiana, who was on the Republican trip, described witnessing an overwhelmed immigration system, overcrowded facilities and a dead body floating in the Rio Grande. His takeaway from conversations with state troopers and the Border Patrol is that the system is overburdened. The U.S. border had a level of immigration that was working previously, he said.

"Now the system has just been swamped," Braun told CBS News in a phone interview, adding, "Resources are just being strained."

Senators were instructed not to take pictures of the facilities, but that didn't stop them.

"Of course we weren't supposed to take any pictures, every senator did," he said.

At the Donna Temporary Processing Facility in Donna, Texas, Braun and the other senators said they witnessed unaccompanied minors and families in spaces that were far more packed than they were supposed to be.

"They were crowded, as crowded as you can be with space available," Braun said.

Braun expressed concern for the hygiene of the children, whom U.S. officials are processing extremely quickly as they come in, he said. Braun said Border patrol agents said some children came in with phone numbers of family members already in the U.S. on their foreheads, in addition to their arms.

Braun didn't go into detail, but described at one point seeing a "dead body floating" in the Rio Grande."

"We saw it," he said.

Cruz said at a press conference on Wednesday that the purpose of the trip was to "see firsthand the crisis that is unfolding" on the border. Seventeen Republican senators are joining Cruz and Cornyn on a tour of a U.S. Customs and Border Protection facility in Donna, Texas. Cruz posted a late-night video to Twitter on Thursday apparently depicting the border, in which he claimed that "human traffickers & cartel members" were "yelling at us across the Rio Grande and preparing to cross."

Story continues

Meanwhile, Castro led a group of six Democratic House members to a Health and Human Services facility in Carrizo Springs, Texas. In a tweet on Friday morning, Castro said that the purpose of his trip was to ensure that children housed in the facility are "treated humanely."

In a press conference after the visit, Congresswoman Barbara Lee predicted that the House will work to come up with more money for shelters like the one in Carrizo Springs.

"I think what we learned today will really inform funding decisions we make as we move forward to make sure the children's health and safety are a priority," Lee said.

Castro told reporters that "nobody should be kept in those conditions," but laid the blame for the situation at the feet of the previous administration.

"We need to be clear about something: President Biden inherited a situation where the previous administration had sought to dismantle the infrastructure for processing asylum seekers and settling asylum seekers in the United States," he said.

Although border facilities are equipped to care for children while case workers try to unite them with parents or relatives in the U.S., there is not enough space to handle the influx of unaccompanied minors due in part to coronavirus restrictions. Many children are being held for over 72 hours, which is beyond the legal limit.

For the most part, journalists have not been permitted to visit Border Patrol facilities to document the conditions. However, one network camera was allowed inside one of the facilities run by the Department of Health and Human Services and located in Carrizo Springs, where Castro's delegation is visiting.

There were approximately 18,000 unaccompanied migrant children in U.S. federal custody as of Friday morning, according to government figures released this afternoon. Nearly 5,500 were being held in Border Patrol facilities, some of which are overcrowded, and 12,500 were being housed in Health and Human Services shelters and influx sites.

The Biden administration has launched a large-scale effort to open more than 16,000 emergency beds for migrant children.

Republicans have blamed Mr. Biden for the surge, claiming that he is encouraging people to cross the border by rolling back immigration policies instated under Mr. Trump. At his first press conference as president on Thursday, Mr. Biden made it clear he has no regret about ending his predecessor's border policies and dismissed the idea that his rollbacks caused the influx of asylum seekers.

"I make no apologies for ending programs that did not exist before Trump became president that have an incredibly negative impact on the law, international law as well as on human dignity," Mr. Biden said. The president also said that all migrants should be turned back at the border, except for unaccompanied children.

The two trips to the border followed a meeting of bipartisan group of senators on Wednesday to discuss a possible legislative solution to reform the nation's immigration system. The gathering, organized by Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, opened lines of communication between both parties to discuss a legislative path forward, aides told CBS News.

Camilo Montoya-Galvez and Jack Turman contributed to this report.

Saturday Sessions: The Weather Station performs "Loss"

Saturday Sessions: The Weather Station performs "Tried To Tell You

Saturday Sessions: The Weather Station performs "Parking Lot"
By: Becki Gray, Carolina Journal

Last year as the seriousness of the Coronavirus began to sink in, when governors issued stay at home orders and only allowed essential businesses to open, fear and panic ensued. We worried about our safety, security, and health and how long this could possibly go on until we flattened the curve. Many businesses worried how they would stay afloat, save their investments and pay their employees. How long would this go on and how deep would the damage be? The federal government was worrying about the same things.

The Paycheck Protection Program was part of the third COVID-19 federal relief package, enacted in 2020 as the Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Security Act. (CARES Act). The small business loans were designed to help businesses keep their employees on the payroll through closures and the economic uncertainty of the global pandemic. The maximum loan is $10 million for a first time PPP loan and $2 million limit for a second loan by the same company. There are no fees or processing charges and there is no personal guarantee or collateral required for the loan.

As of March 7, 2021, 7,555,249 loans have been approved totaling $687,374,564,619, using 5,747 lenders. Some loans are forgivable if the borrower maintains the pre-covid number of employees and compensation and uses the money for payroll costs. Over 1 million PPP loans have been forgiven totaling over $1 billion in loans. PPP loans are available until March 31, 2021. However, the $1.9 trillion federal relief, American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) provides an additional $7 billion for PPP loans and extends the eligibility to include more digital media companies and non-profits.

In NC, about 130,000 companies with 1.27 million employees have received PPP loans, totaling over $12 billion. Large and small companies, non-profits, public, and private entities took the loans. They were all eligible and the loans saved many companies and kept thousands of people employed.

When Congress authorized PPP loans, they allowed two tax treatments; 1) The loans are exempt from the federal income tax and 2) a deduction is allowed for expenses paid using the loan money. Congress intended for the loans to be entirely tax-free; not counting the forgiven loan as income and leaving the expenses deductible as an ordinary business expense. The U.S. Treasury Department sought to remove the deduction for expenses paid, keeping in line with the typical treatment of expenses when paid with tax-exempt income. Congresss intent was clarified when the Consolidated Appropriations Act for 2021 was signed into law. At the federal level, the PPP loans are tax exempt and expenses are deductible.

States have chosen to conform to the federal taxation of PPP loans in three different ways; 30 states conform with the federal treatment by exempting the income tax and allowing the deduction, a few states tax the PPP loan income and do not allow deductions and about 12 states allow one or the otheran exemption or a deduction. North Carolina is one of four states that exempts the income from tax but does not allow for a deduction of expenses, along with California, Hawaii, and Kentucky. We have de-coupled with the federal Internal Revenue Code on this particular expense deduction tax treatment. So when our businesses who have taken a PPP loan pay their taxes this year, they will get an exemption and a deduction on their federal taxes and an exemption but not a deduction on their state taxes. NC regularly de-couples from federal tax treatments  mortgage insurance, tuition, net operating loss, limitation on charitable contributions, are just a few recent examples.

If North Carolina were to change its tax code and allow for the deduction of expenses from the PPP loans, the resulting loss in revenue would be about $600 million over three years; $350 million for the remainder of the current fiscal year, about $200 million less in FY 2022 and $50 million in FY 23. Lawmakers could also make expenses deductible for loans up to a certain amount, like the first $100,000 or $1 million, reducing the price tag and providing more relief targeted to smaller companies.

North Carolina could provide an expense deduction in addition to excluding income from state taxation, but it would require legislation. Lawmakers face tough questions. Is it better tax policy to help businesses who have qualified for PPP loans, keeping their workers employed or would it be better to enact widespread tax relief to all taxpayers? Thats the $600 Million question.

*The John Locke Foundation has not applied and does not intend to apply for a PPP loan.

Source: Answering the $600 million question. - Carolina Journal - Carolina Journal
Prime Minister is set to begin a two-day visit to on Friday, his first to a foreign country since the COVID-19 outbreak.

Prime Minister Modi will depart for at 07:45 am and will arrive in Dhaka at 10:00 am. After his arrival, he will attend an event at the Martyr's Memorial at 10:50 am.

Thereafter, Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen will call on Prime Minister Modi at 3:15 pm.

Later, he will attend the Day Programme at 3:45 pm. Prime Minister Modi will then inaugurate Bapu Bangabandhu Digital Video Exhibition at 7:45 pm.

Prior to his departure, Prime Minister Modi said that he looks forward to having "substantive discussions" with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. He will also call on Bangladesh President Abdul Hamid during the visit.

"I look forward to my participation at the Day celebrations tomorrow, which will also commemorate the birth centenary of the Father of the Nation of Bangladesh, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Bangabandhu was one of the tallest leaders of the last century, whose life and ideals continue to inspire millions," he said in a tweet.

The Prime Minister is also looking forward to visiting Bangabandhu's Samadhi in Tungipara to pay his respects.

"I am particularly looking forward to my interaction with representatives of the Matua community at Orakandi, from where Sri Sri Harichandra Thakur ji disseminated his pious message. I will be having substantive discussions with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, following our very productive virtual meeting in December last year. I also look forward to my meeting with His Excellency President Abdul Hamid, and to interactions with other Bangladeshi dignitaries," he said.

He added, "My visit will not only be an occasion to convey appreciation for Bangladesh's remarkable economic and developmental strides under Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's visionary leadership, but also to commit India's abiding support for these achievements. I will also express India's support and solidarity for Bangladesh's fight against COVID-19."

Bangladesh Foreign Minister on Thursday said the people of Bangladesh welcome the visit of Prime Minister Modi.

During his visit, the Prime Minister will also interact with diverse groups of Bangladesh's polity and society.

(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.)
Sophia (age 1) from Greystones, celebrating the Irish Cancer Societys most important Daffodil Day ever and urging people to donate online for the charitys flagship fundraiser. Photo: Andres Poveda

When spring came, even the false spring, there were no problems except where to be happiest... so wrote Hemingway. Where to be happiest is not one of lifes more pressing problems right now. But the evidence of spring is inescapable . Blue skies turning steely grey in seconds; and hail stones replacing the bright shafts of sunlight in a blink. If the pandemic messed up all else, March is as reliable as ever, for its unpredictablity.

But the irrefutable evidence of its arrival comes today with Daffodil Day; an event that has been lifting hearts and giving hope since its inception in 1988. Ordinarily the streets of the country would be alive with people often clad in yellow, braving whatever treacherous combination of the four seasons March throws at them, as they collected money for the Irish Cancer Society.

But Covid-19 restrictions have meant there can be no street collections.

Today all the fundraising and events will be done virtually, but with the same colour, energy and creativity. Each year 44,000 Irish people get a cancer diagnosis. While treatment and outcomes have never been better, the pandemic has made the work of all those dedicated to preventing, detecting, and managing it so much more challenging. So they are depending on our help more than ever.

Earlier this month Professor Mark Lawler warned of the risk of a cancer epidemic as a direct result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Prof Lawlers stark warning of how the pandemic is wreaking untold damage for Irish citizens and particularly Irish cancer patients needs to be acted on. As he explained, it has caused significant diagnostic and treatment delays.

Read More

This week it was reported how some patients had waited up to a year to report cancer symptoms due to a reluctance to visit GPs over fears of being infected with coronavirus.

Daffodil Day, supported by Boots, is on Friday, 26 March. Use the button below to make a much-appreciated donation to the Irish Cancer Society and receive a month's free premium access to Independent.ie to read more stories of resilience and hope. Anyone with concerns or questions about cancer can contact the support line on freephone: (1800) 200-700

According to Dr Sinead Brennan, the pandemic had highlighted pre-existing weaknesses in cancer services. She issued an appeal for more resources for catch-up screening to reschedule missed or cancelled appointments.

Concerns have rightly focused on waiting lists lengthening and exhaustion and anxiety among staff and patients alike.

This week it was also revealed cancer services will not be fully resumed until the end of this year.

Taoiseach Micheal Martin has pledged in the Dail that the Governments safety net arrangement to use private hospitals during the pandemic would be used to deal with the backlog in non-coronavirus healthcare, including cancer treatment.

But Mr Martin conceded that the virus had put pressure on cancer care services. He said GP referrals for the first 10 weeks of this year amounted to 110pc of last years levels.

For patients, volunteers and health workers these are far tougher times than normal.

As the poet Stephen Levine wrote: To heal is to touch with love that which we previously touched with fear. To all those either healing or caring today, we can but salute you.
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Inne ogoszenia, ktore mogy byc w kregu Twoich zainteresowan:
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday congratulated Bangladesh on its 50th Independence day and recognised the remarkable contributions that the country has made to global development.

Bangladesh is celebrating 50 years of independence and the birth centenary of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. A 10-day programme to mark the twin occasions began on the 101st birth anniversary of Bangabandhu on March 17 and will end through Fridays Independence Day celebrations.

The US and Bangladesh both undertook courageous struggles for independence, said Blinken in a statement.

Read | Human rights groups cry foul over political repression as Bangladesh turns 50

Over the last 50 years, we have cooperated on issues ranging from economic development to peacekeeping, and we have fostered strong people-to-people ties. As a result, our friendship has grown ever stronger. Today, our people are partnering to promote human rights, address climate change, and combat the Covid-19 pandemic, Blinken said.

Just as in the earliest days of our relationship, we appreciate a shared commitment to democratic values and the prosperity and welfare of our people, who are joined in their aspirations to create a better world for our children over the next 50 years, he said.

Also Read | PM Modi pays homage to martyrs of Bangladesh War of Independence

As we work together toward a safe and secure region and a healthy and prosperous future, we recognise the remarkable contributions Bangladesh has made to global development, Blinken said.

Early this week, a group of four influential American lawmakers introduced a resolution in the US House of Representatives to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Bangladeshs independence.

The resolution, introduced by Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez along with Rashida Talib, Jimmy Gomez and Gregory W Meeks, recognises the courage of freedom fighters in the struggle for independence and democracy and expresses support for the principles of democratic governance to which the people of Bangladesh are committed.
Last years war between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region saw the former country afflict a devastating and decisive defeat against the latter through adept usage of sophisticated military hardware that enabled it to avoid becoming bogged down in a costly war of attrition. By doing so, Baku may well have demonstrated how modern military technology such as armed drones can enable small militaries and nations to punch well above their weight on the battlefield, Forbes reports.

Early in the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war, many Armenian soldiers seemingly expected to fight a similar war to the one they had won in 1994. With their large arsenal of Russian-built T-72 main battle tanks covered by a formidable network of highly formidable S-300 high-altitude air defense missile systems, they apparently thought they were bound to prevail or at the very least effectively hold the line.

Instead, the Armenian forces were utterly decimated by their Azerbaijani adversary, which had adequately prepared itself for tomorrows war rather than a repeat of yesterdays war. While there was some understanding prior to the outbreak of war that a static trench defense was precisely what the Azerbaijanis were prepared to fight against, the slow rate of change meant that Armenia ended up with a flood of volunteers trained by veterans of the 1994 war with wooden guns to execute trench defense, wrote Eric Chan in The Diplomat. These forces were then correspondingly demoralized by a way of war that had nothing to do with the old Soviet firepower-attrition method that gave Armenia the victory in 1994. The Armenians were fixed and then destroyed  not just in position, but mentally as well.

Azerbaijan is primarily credited with having achieved this through its use of Israeli-made Harop loitering munitions (also known as suicide or kamikaze drones) and Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 drones, which are armed with precision-guided smart munitions, among other weapons.

Recent reportage outlined how Azerbaijan used the Harop drones to devastating effect against Armenian air defenses. The tactic and its execution was genius in its sheer simplicity. Baku converted vintage Soviet-built Antonov An-2 biplanes into remote-controlled decoys that took to the skies and fooled the Armenian S-300s into activating their radars, thus enabling Azerbaijans Harops to locate and destroy those high-value targets with pinpoint accuracy and efficiency.

At least six of these expensive systems were destroyed in this manner. Video footage released by Armenian officials this month vividly showed just how devastating such Harop strikes were.

With their S-300 aerial umbrella weakened, Armenian ground forces became increasingly vulnerable to more drone strikes. During the conflict, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev credited his armed forces Turkish TB2s with destroying $1 billion worth of Armenian military equipment. That probably wasnt an exaggeration since approximately 240 Armenian tanks were reportedly destroyed. Azerbaijan, on the other hand, lost a comparatively paltry estimated 36!

To add insult to injury, Azerbaijani forces also managed to capture at least 39 Armenian tanks and 24 BMPs.

Baku achieved this impressive feat with relatively small expenditures for these high-tech weapons that enhanced its military arsenal over time. The Israeli weapons it procured between 2006 and 2019 cost it an estimated total of $825 million. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute recently estimated that between 2016-20 Israel accounted for 69 per cent of Azerbaijans arms imports. Its comparatively manic acquisition of Turkish equipment saw it spend $123 million in the first nine months of 2020 that preceded the war.

While a lot of money for a country of Azerbaijans size, these weapons undoubtedly gave it a crucially important technological edge over its Armenian adversary.

Azerbaijans use of such advanced technology to overcome Armenias quantitative forces continued right up until the end of that 44-day war. As the Armenians were losing the strategically-important city of Shusha in the Karabakh mountains, Yerevan apparently wanted to pressure Azerbaijan into implementing a ceasefire by using its weapon of last resort, the Russian-built 9K720 short-range Iskander ballistic missile. Armenia fired one of these missiles at Baku. It never impacted since Azerbaijan had another high-tech piece of military hardware up its sleeve. A Barak 8 air defense missile system, which was jointly developed by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and Indias Defense Research & Development Organization (DRDO), intercepted the Iskander.

A Russian-brokered ceasefire ended the war following devastating territorial losses in the Nagorno-Karabakh for Armenia. It may take some years of retrospective analysis to conclusively determine just how substantively Azerbaijan may have been among the first to demonstrate how in this 21st century, small nations can increasingly deploy such advanced weapons systems to compensate for their size and decisively prevail against otherwise equal or even more powerful opponents.
A North Korean statistical survey of the nation has revealed more than 100 deaths and 13,000 suspected coronavirus cases in the northeastern province of North Hamgyong, undercutting the governments claim that the country remains totally virus-free, sources in the province told RFA.

According to regional statistics the number of patients who died due to suspected coronavirus symptoms is more than 100, a North Hamgyong official told RFAs Korean Service Wednesday.

In Chongjin alone, where the provincial government agencies are located, about 5,400 people have been diagnosed as suspected coronavirus patients, and more than 10 residents died after showing symptoms, said the source, who requested anonymity for professional reasons.

The source said that authorities and residents refer to all patients with coronavirus symptoms as suspected coronavirus patients.

Since the start of the pandemic in January 2020, North Korea has taken extensive measures to prevent the spread of the deadly virus, including the complete shutdown of the Sino-Korean border and the suspension of all trade with China, lockdowns of entire counties and cities, and a ban on travel between provinces.

Pyongyang declared its preventative measures successful in April 2020 as Pak Myong Su, the director of the anti-epidemic department of North Koreas Central Emergency Anti-Epidemic Headquarters, gave a rare interview with foreign media, where he said that not a single person was infected with the virus.

Observers immediately doubted the claim, citing North Koreas crumbling medical infrastructure, the relative ease by which people could cross the Sino-Korean border, and the willingness of the regime to hide the truth from the international community.

Additionally, RFA reported in April 2020 that the government warned the public through health lectures that COVID-19 had at that time been spreading in three specific areas of the country, including North Hamgyong.

The survey conducted by the Ministry of Health earlier this month, which compiled data of suspected coronavirus patients and those who died from related symptoms, revealed some 13,000 cases in North Hamgyong, the most in the entire country.

According to the surveys results, reported to the ruling Korean Workers Partys Central Committee, most of the suspected cases were in the cities, including the provincial capital Chongjin, North Koreas third largest city and home to more than 600,000 people.

The North Hamgyong official said that hospitals "diagnose acute pneumonia for those who die after showing coronavirus symptoms. Everyone, including the family members of the deceased, thinks that they simply died from acute pneumonia."

The authorities say there are no confirmed cases, but they are restricting the movement of the residents much more strongly than before. This is causing the people to experience great difficulties in making a living, but they are warned of severe punishment if they violate movement restrictions while showing suspected coronavirus symptoms, the source said.

Another source, an official of the city of Rason, bordering Russia in the provinces northeast, told RFA Wednesday that the city had more than 6,000 confirmed cases.

There are dozens of people who have died from illness after showing coronavirus symptoms, but hospitals and public health centers only emphasize hand washing, masks, and disinfection with salt water. They dont offer any special treatment or quarantine measures, said the second source, who requested anonymity for security reasons.

In accordance with the orders of the Central Committee, the quarantine authorities, along with the administrative and judicial authorities, are fiercely cracking down on local gatherings and family events, said the second source.

The second source said authorities were using meetings of the local neighborhood watch units to tell the people to limit their movement as much as possible.

Authorities are asking people who show suspected coronavirus symptoms to report to quarantine stations or hospitals without delay, but the residents are hiding their symptoms because they are forced to stay in shabby medical facilities as soon as they come in.

The World Health Organization (WHO) did not respond to RFA inquiries regarding the nationwide statistical survey as of Thursday.

In its March 19 report, the WHO reported zero confirmed COVID-19 cases through March 11.

Reported by RFA, Myungchul Lee for RFAs Korean Service. Translated by Leejin Jun. Written in English by Eugene Whong.
BANGALORE, India, March 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Pest Control Market is segmented by Type (Chemical, Mechanical, Biological, and Others), by Pest Type (Insects, Termites, Rodents, and Others), and by Application (Residential, Commercial, Agricultural, Industrial, and Others). The report covers global opportunity analysis and industry forecast from 2020 to 2027. It is published on Valuates Reports in the Pest Control Category.

The global Pest Control Market size was valued at USD 20.6 Billion in 2019 and is projected to reach USD 30.0 Billion by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 5.2% from 2020 to 2027.

Major factors driving the growth of Pest Control Market size are:

The increasing awareness of public health has compelled people to adopt pest control services regularly at residential and commercial levels.

Implementation of Mandatory Audit Certification & change in climatic conditions has enhanced the demand of the market . Stringent government regulations and increased R&D activities to propel the dependency on bio-based pesticides.

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TRENDS INFLUENCING THE GROWTH OF PEST CONTROL MARKET SIZE

Business and industrial enterprises are increasingly requiring mandatory audits for certifications such as ISO 9001 and ISO 22000. These certifications provide a requirement for pest control to be performed on an annual, half-yearly, or quarterly basis. Businesses that fail to comply with these mandates may face fines or even shut down operations. These mandatory audits and regulations are expected to increase the growth of the pest control market size.

The growth in instances of life-threatening disease outbreaks combined with increasing awareness about public health and cleanliness is expected to fuel the growth of pest control market size. People have been forced to use pest control services at regular intervals in both the residential and commercial levels as pests pose real health threats.

Furthermore, the use of biological insecticides, which have few or no side effects on human health, is expected to provide lucrative growth opportunities during the forecast period.

Toxicity and health-related issues caused by pesticide chemicals, on the other hand, are significant factors limiting the pest control market size. On the contrary, ongoing research and development efforts to increase reliance on bio-based pesticides are expected to provide a lucrative growth opportunity.

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PEST CONTROL MARKET SHARE ANALYSIS

Based on region, the Asia-Pacific pest control market is expected to expand at the rate of 7.9% during the forecast period. China is one of the major contributors to the Asia-Pacific pest control market share. Chinese pest control market key players are pursuing development strategies to boost sales of organic pest control products in the country.

Based on type, the chemical segment was the largest revenue-generating segment in the pest control market and is anticipated to grow at CAGR 4.8% during the forecast period. However, the biological segment is expected to rise with the highest CAGR in the forecast period.

Based on pest type, the insect segment held the largest pest control market share in 2019 and is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 5.0% during the forecast period.

Based on Application, the chemical segment held the largest pest control market share in 2019 and is predicted to grow at a CAGR of 4.8% in the predicted period of time.

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KEY MARKET SEGMENTS

By Type

Chemical

Mechanical

Biological

Other

By Pest Type

Insects

Termites

Rodents

Other

By Application

Commercial

Residential

Agriculture

Industrial

Other

By Region

North America

U.S.



Canada



Mexico

Europe

Germany



U.K.



France



Italy



Spain



Rest of Europe

Asia-Pacific

China



Japan



India



Australia



South Korea



Rest of Asia-Pacific

LAMEA

Brazil



Saudi Arabia



South Africa



Rest of LAMEA

Key players in the global pest control market are:

Anticimex

BASF SE

Bayer AG

Cleankill Pest Control

Dodson Pest Control Inc.

Eastern Pest Control

Eco Environmental Services Ltd.

Ecolab

FMC Corporation

JG Pest Control

Lindsey Pest Services

NBC Environment

Rentokil Initial plc

Rollins Inc.

Syngenta

The Service Master Global Holdings Inc.

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SIMILAR REPORTS :

Agricultural Pest Control Market by Product-Type: Rats Control, Mice Control, Birds Control, Slugs Control, Snails Control, Ants Control, Cockroaches Control, Others, Application: Grains, Fruits, Vegetables, Flowers, Others, by key players , by Regions: North America , Europe , China and Japan , etc.

by Product-Type: Rats Control, Mice Control, Birds Control, Slugs Control, Snails Control, Ants Control, Cockroaches Control, Others, Application: Grains, Fruits, Vegetables, Flowers, Others, by key players , by Regions: , , and , etc. The global Insect Pest Control Market is segmented By Type - Chemical Control, Physical Control, Biological Control, Other, by Application - Commercial & industrial, Residential, Livestock farms, Others, by key players , by Regions: North America , Europe , China and Japan , etc.

is segmented By Type - Chemical Control, Physical Control, Biological Control, Other, by Application - Commercial & industrial, Residential, Livestock farms, Others, by key players , by Regions: , , and , etc. Global Inspect Pest Control Market by Product-Type: Physical Control Methods, Chemical Control Methods, Biological Control Methods, Other Control Methods, Application: Livestock Farms, Commercial & Industrial, Residential, Other Applications, by key players , by Regions: North America , Europe , China and Japan , etc.

by Product-Type: Physical Control Methods, Chemical Control Methods, Biological Control Methods, Other Control Methods, Application: Livestock Farms, Commercial & Industrial, Residential, Other Applications, by key players , by Regions: , , and , etc. Global Residential Pest Control Services Market by Product-Type: Pest Defense Products, Pest Defense Services, Application: Indoor, Outdoor, by key players , by Regions: North America , Europe , China and Japan , etc.

by Product-Type: Pest Defense Products, Pest Defense Services, Application: Indoor, Outdoor, by key players , by Regions: , , and , etc. Global Multiple Pest Control Market by Product-Type: Cockroach Control, Ant Control, Other Pest Control, Application: Household, Commercial, by key players , by Regions: North America , Europe , China and Japan , etc.

by Product-Type: Cockroach Control, Ant Control, Other Pest Control, Application: Household, Commercial, by key players , by Regions: , , and , etc. Global Chemical Pest Control Market by Product-Type: Insecticides, Rodenticides, Others, Application: Residential, Commercial, Industrial, by key players , by Regions: North America , Europe , China and Japan , etc.

by Product-Type: Insecticides, Rodenticides, Others, Application: Residential, Commercial, Industrial, by key players , by Regions: , , and , etc. The global Biological Pest Control market size is projected to reach USD 1621 Million by 2026, from USD 780.8 Million in 2019, at a CAGR of 11.0% during 2021-2026.

size is projected to reach by 2026, from in 2019, at a CAGR of 11.0% during 2021-2026. The global Stored Product Pest Control market is valued at 361.5 Million USD in 2020 is expected to reach 521.1 Million USD by the end of 2026, growing at a CAGR of 5.3% during 2021-2026.

To see the full list of related reports on the Pest Control Market

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Four servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were killed and two were wounded as a result of shelling by Russia-occupation forces near the village of Shumy, Toretsk City Council of Donetsk region on Friday.

"I can confirm that near the settlement of Shumy in Donetsk region, preliminary, as a result of mortar shelling by illegal armed formations of the so-called 'DPR', four of our servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were killed," spokesperson of the Ukrainian delegation to the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) Oleksiy Arestovych told Interfax-Ukraine.

He also added that two more Ukrainian servicemen were wounded as a result of the shelling. The shelling was carried out presumably from 82 caliber mortars.

The names of the victims and their affiliation with the military unit have not yet been announced.

He added that the Ukrainian side made attempts to stop the shelling within the framework of the Joint Center for the Control and Coordination (JCCC).

Currently, according to Arestovych, an emergency internal meeting is being held within the Ukrainian delegation to discuss further actions to prevent the escalation of hostilities from the uncontrolled areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions and the death of the Ukrainian military.

As reported, specific decisions and the official position of the Ukrainian delegation will be expressed approximately in two hours.

The Ukrainian delegation to the TCG expresses its sincere condolences to the families and friends of the killed soldiers.

As reported on the Joint Forces Operation Facebook page, on March 26, the armed formations of the Russian Federation once again violated the ceasefire regime and carried out targeted shelling at the positions of the Ukrainian defenders from 82 mm mortars, automatic grenade launchers and heavy machine guns prohibited by the Minsk Agreements, as a result of which four members of the Joint Forces were killed, and two more were wounded.

The wounded soldiers were promptly provided with first aid, they were taken to a hospital.

"The Ukrainian defenders opened fire in response to the shelling of the Russian occupation forces. The OSCE representatives were notified of the actions of the Russian armed formations through the Ukrainian side of the JCCC," the message said.

In turn, journalist Yuriy Butusov on his Facebook page wrote that the shelling took place at 13:45.

"After the rotation of the 503rd marine battalion, Russian troops sharply increased their activity in the area. The situation cannot but cause concern, this is one of those points where the enemy is constantly conducting shelling from howitzers, mortars and small arms. It was in Shumy that the Russian command in November 2020 demanded an 'inspection' of the Ukrainian defense line. There is a high probability that a Russian attack may follow from Shumy area to capture the forward Ukrainian positions. The situation at the front requires an immediate response from the Supreme Commander-in-Chief and the Verkhovna Rada," he wrote.
Arizona Governor Doug Ducey talks to reporters after meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House in Washington on April 3, 2019. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Arizona Governor Says Vice President Kamala Harris Worst Choice to Mitigate Southern Border Crisis

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey said Vice President Kamala Harris is not the right person from the White House to lead efforts to mitigate the illegal immigration crisis at the U.S. southern border because she has not shown she considers the situation a serious threat.

Vice President Kamala Harris has been put in charge of border security. Shes about the worst possible choice that one could make. At no point in her career has she given any indication that she considers the border a problem or a serious threat, Ducey told reporters March 24.

If President Bidens intent was to show that hes taking this issue seriously, hes really done the exact opposite here. Hes completely trivialized this issue by putting someone in charge who, flat out, just doesnt care, Ducey said.

Arizona shares approximately 350 miles of border with Mexico. According to the immigration watchdog organization Federation for American Immigration Reform, the latest Census data shows that education, medical care, and incarceration for illegal immigrants in Arizona is costing state taxpayers about $1.3 billion per year.

Duceys comments came shortly after Biden announced handing the vice president the role, making her the administrations point person for talks with Mexico and Central American countries about solutions to the migration issues.

During a visit to the border last week, Ducey criticized the Biden administrations response to the surge at the border, which he said has sent mixed messages to those seeking to test Americas immigration laws.

This morning, Bidens DHS Secretary @SecMayorkas claimed, the border is secure. The situation unfolding at the border is a crisis and DC is completely divorced from reality, Gov. Ducey wrote in a Twitter post.

Bringing more details to light about what is happening at the southern border, ABCs chief national correspondent Matt Gutman told the networks This Week program that the situation is worse than it has been for the last few years.

This is unprecedented. Weve never seen numbers like this inside these border patrol facilities, which in some cases are jail-like, in most cases are warehouse-like. This is pretty much twice the number at the peak in 2018-19, and what were seeing in some of these facilities is overcrowding that almost boggles the mind. In one facility in Donna Texasit has a capacity of 250 bedsthere are 3,900 kids inside there, Gutman said. Can you imagine the kind of social distancing they have there, there is none.

Border Patrol agents apprehend a group of illegal immigrants near downtown El Paso, Texas, on March 15, 2021. (Justin Hamel/AFP via Getty Images)

Harris admitted on Wednesday that there is a huge problem at the border.

Well, okay, look, its a huge problem. Im not going to pretend its not, its a huge problem, Harris said while speaking to Gayle King on CBS.

Are we looking at overcrowding at the border, particularly these kids? Yes. Should these kids be in the custody of HHS, the Health and Human Services, instead of the Border Patrol? Yes. Should we be processing these cases faster? Yes. This is, however, not going to be solved overnight, Harris said.

She pointed to policies under the Obama/Biden administration, like the Central American Minors (CAM) Program, which allowed lawfully present parents in the United States the opportunity to request a refugee or parole status for their children residing in the Northern Triangle, that she said was helping stem the flow of migrants.

There are things that we need to do, especially since there was a system in place previously before the last administration, to allow us to process these kids in their country of origin. That was dismantled. We have to reconstruct it, Harris claimed.

The Trump admin had halted the parole program of CAM in August 2017 and the entire program in November 2017 after a U.S. government review found that the vast majority of individuals accessing the program were not eligible for refugee resettlement.

Vulnerable Salvadorans, Hondurans, and Guatemalans were instead able to apply for refugee status under the Protection Transfer Arrangement (PTA) set up in cooperation with the Government of Costa Rica, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and International Organization for Migration (IOM).

Read More United States Signs Asylum Pact With Honduras to Curb Illegal Border Crossings

In a November 2019 interview during her presidential campaign, Harris had outlined to reporters her vision for immigration reform.

One of the reasons Im running for president is to pass comprehensive immigration reform, with a pathway toward citizenship. In my first days in office, I will also, by executive order, renew the DACA protection, not only for our Dreamers but for their families and their parents. And on day one, Im going to shut down those private detention facilities, Harris said at the time.
CLIFTON PARK  Less than two weeks after it reopened after a car slammed through its front window, Dolce & Biscotti Fine Italian Bakery was struck again by a car that careened into the support pole just feet from where the first crash happened.

"We cant make this up," owner and executive chef Mary Baldi-Fron wrote Friday on the bakery's Facebook page "(Yesterday) afternoon another driver slammed into the support structure of our bakery, Dolce and Biscotti ..."

"My entire staff inside cowered for cover as we hear the crash which caused our building to shake wildly from the impact."

Baldi-Fron said the crash was similar to the incident on Feb. 23, when an older woman hit the gas instead of the break. This time, the driver appeared unaware that she hit the building, Baldi-Fron said. But the impact was so loud that tenants from the other side of the plaza ran out to see what happened.

"Fortunately, we just had a truck in front of the building doing deliveries," she said. "The front of the building is just ply wood right now. If someone hit that, they would be back inside."

Baldi-Fron said the staff helped the driver into the business after the crash Thursday afternoon and waited for State Police to arrive. No one was injured she said.

The bakery had been closed from Feb. 23 to March 12, when it reopened even though construction was ongoing. She said since the first crash everyone at the bakery is on edge, "jumping every time a pan drops."

Baldi-Fran worries that these types of incidents will happen as people who enter the bakery plaza are driving fast off of Route 9. And though, she said drivers are entering a two-way road next to the bakery, there is nothing to slow traffic down.

"The biggest issues is the parking area," she said. "They are flying by like they are on Route 9 because they are pulling off of Route 9. We have directional cones out there, but they are running over the cones trying to get close to the bakery. They is no signage, no striping, no crosswalk markers, no speed bumps. People arent paying attention. Today ... a kid just got missed by a car. It happens all the time."

And because she does not own the building, where she just signed a five-year-lease, she has to hope the owner will do something.

Meanwhile, with Easter approaching, the bakery is extra busy, she said. And because of the two incidents, she said she can't put tables outside for her customers.

"Its a free for all," Baldi-Fron said. "Im not going to be able to put tables out there. I dont feel safe. I dont want my customers sitting out front in the summer. It's frightening."
Odontoblasts, the cells that form a tooth's dentin, have a newly discovered function: Sensing cold, which can trigger pain in teeth; but scientists have also found a way to block the pathway to cold-sensitive teeth

BOSTON -- Researchers report in Science Advances that they have uncovered a new function for odontoblasts, the cells that form dentin, the shell beneath the tooth's enamel that encases the soft dental pulp containing nerves and blood vessels. "We found that odontoblasts, which support the shape of the tooth, are also responsible for sensing cold," says pathologist Jochen Lennerz, MD, PhD, one of the paper's senior authors and medical director of the Center for Integrated Diagnostics at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). "This research contributes a new function to this cell, which is exciting from a basic-science standpoint. But we now also know how to interfere with this cold-sensing function to inhibit dental pain."

Teeth that hurt from exposure to cold can occur for many reasons. Many people have experienced intense pain from cold when they have a hole in a tooth from an untreated cavity, for example. But teeth can also become very sensitive to cold from gum erosion due to aging. Some cancer patients treated with platinum-based chemotherapies have extreme cold sensitivity all over their bodies. "A breeze on the face registers as extreme pain in the teeth, which may even cause some patients to stop therapy," says Lennerz.

Tooth pain has been notoriously difficult to study. A tooth's hardness makes it a challenging tissue to study and inducing tooth pain in humans requires opening the tooth. The team of researchers, therefore, conducted experiments on mice whose molars were drilled under anesthesia. Mice with dental injuries manifest pain with their behavior; they drink up to 300% more sugar water than their litter mates without dental injuries, for example. In previous research, the team of investigators had discovered TRCP5, a protein encoded by the TRCP5 gene that is expressed in nerves in many parts of the body. Their earlier discovery allowed the researchers to zero in on TRCP5 as a mediator of pain from cold.

By studying genetically altered mice that did not have the TRCP5 gene, the researchers found that the mice with injured teeth did not manifest the increased drinking behavior and behaved like mice without dental injuries.

"We now have definitive proof that the temperature sensor TRCP5 transmits cold via the odontoblast and triggers nerves to fire, creating pain and cold hypersensitivity," says Lennerz. "This cold sensitivity may be the body's way to protect a damaged tooth from additional injury."

Specifically, in response to cold, the TRCP5 protein opens channels in the membrane of odontoblasts, enabling other molecules, such as calcium, to enter and interact with the cell. If the tooth's pulp is inflamed from a deep cavity, for example, TRCP5 is overabundant, causing increased electrical signaling via the nerves emerging from the root of the tooth and running to the brain, where pain is perceived. When gums recede from aging, teeth can become hypersensitive because the odontoblasts are sensing cold in a newly exposed region of the tooth. "Most cells and tissues slow their metabolism in the presence of cold, which is why donor organs are put on ice," says Lennerz. "But TRPC5 makes cells more active in cold, and the odontoblasts' ability to sense cold via TRPC5 makes this discovery so exciting."

Lennerz confirmed the presence of the TRPCS protein in extracted human teeth, which was a technical tour de force. "Our teeth aren't meant to be cut into ultra-thin layers so they can be studied under the microscope," says Lennerz, who first had to decalcify the teeth and put them in epoxy resin before slicing them and identifying the TRPC5 channels in the odontoblasts.

The research team also identified a pharmacological target for minimizing tooth sensitivity to cold. For centuries, oil of cloves has been used as a remedy for tooth pain. The active agent in oil of cloves is eugenol, which happens to block TRCP5. Toothpastes containing eugenol are already on the market, but the findings of this study may lead to more potent applications to treat teeth that are hypersensitive to cold. And there may be novel applications for eugenol, such as treating patients systemically for extreme cold sensitivity from chemotherapy. "I'm excited to see how other researchers will apply our findings," says Lennerz.

###

Major funding for this research comes from the German Research Foundation and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

Katharina Zimmermann, MD, PhD, is the study's principal investigator and Heisenberg Professor, physiologist and head of the Nociception and Thermosensation Research Group at the Department of Anesthesiology of Friedrich-Alexander University (FAU) in Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany. Lennerz is associate professor of Pathology at Harvard Medical School (HMS). Co-senior author David Clapham, MD, PhD, is vice president and chief scientific officer at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and professor of Cardiovascular Research and professor emeritus of Neurobiology at HMS. Co-first author Laura Bernal, PhD, is a doctoral student in the Zimmermann Laboratory and in the Department of Systems Biology, University of Alcala, Madrid.

About the Massachusetts General Hospital

Massachusetts General Hospital, founded in 1811, is the original and largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School. The Mass General Research Institute conducts the largest hospital-based research program in the nation, with annual research operations of more than $1 billion and comprises more than 9,500 researchers working across more than 30 institutes, centers and departments. In August 2020, Mass General was named #6 in the U.S. News & World Report list of "America's Best Hospitals."
A European Commission spokesperson said on Thursday that Von der Leyen is yet to respond to the written request by Prime Minister Scott Morrison. The EUs own rules state that shipments bound for low and middle-income countries should not be blocked. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has taken aim at the UK. Credit:Bloomberg Emerging from Thursdays virtual European Council meeting, von der Leyen said pharmaceutical companies should not export to wealthy countries unless they are meeting their contractual obligations to Europe. Companies have to honour their contract to the European Union before they export to other regions in the world, she said. And this is of course the case with AstraZeneca.

I think it is clear for the company that, first of all the company has to catch up, has to honour the contract it has with the European member states, before it can engage again in exporting vaccines. She did not say whether this was a new rule or just the commissions preferred outcome. Debate at the summit went late into the night as European leaders argued over distribution of vaccines within the bloc. Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said some countries were receiving more than their fair share at the cost of others. As the leader of a coalition of six countries, he demanded a correction mechanism, raising tensions between capitals from where the leaders were holding their remote summit. When member states have a lot less vaccines available to them than others, then I think this is a big issue for Europe, Kurz said. This could cause damage to the European Union like we havent seen in a long time.

At the end of the summit, the EUs 27 nations were still locked in a dispute over how an upcoming batch of 10 million doses could be allocated to narrow the vaccine gap between member states and the leaders decided to push the talks to a future meeting of their ambassadors. AstraZeneca had planned to supply 180 million doses to the EU in the second quarter but will only deliver 40 million. Pfizer and Moderna are on course to meet their second quarter contracts. Johnson and Johnson - a one shot vaccine - will also be rolled out over the coming months. Europes leaders are increasingly frustrated by the large volume of doses being shipped from Europe to the UK at a time when the continent is experiencing a third wave of infections. About 21 million doses have been sent from Europe to the UK since December 1 but only 1 million were jabs produced by AstraZeneca. The rest were made by Pfizer, which the European Commission is happy with.

Italian Premier Mario Draghi said that EU countries cannot remain helpless in front of the failure of some pharmaceutical companies that are not honouring commitments. He said that European citizens feel like they are being deceived by some drug makers, according to an EU official who relayed the exchange on condition of anonymity. Loading Von der Leyen said Europe had approved 380 export requests to 33 different countries and only one was stopped - the 250,00 doses bound for Australia, after objections from Draghi. About 77 million doses made in Europe had been exported since December 1 - not far short of the 88 million doses delivered to the bloc. Von der Leyen said 18.2 million Europeans - or 4.1 per cent - had been given two vaccine doses for maximum protection.

But of course we all know we could have been much faster if all pharmaceutical companies had fulfilled their contracts, she said. Loading Despite the delays in vaccine deliveries, the EU is still confident of having 70 per cent of its adult population vaccinated by the end of summer. Based on the EUs contracts with manufacturers, the commission expressed confidence that 360 million vaccine doses will be delivered during the second quarter of the year. French President Emmanuel Macron said the EU will be in the position to develop between 2 or 3 billion doses per year by mid-2021. It means we will not only able to fulfil our needs, but also to massively export, and on the long term, he said. By the end of the summer, Europe will be the continent producing the most doses in the world.
However the former staffer, who has asked to remain anonymous, said she also told Mr Nutt that she and another staffer had seen Zumbo with an erection in his trousers in the office in or around September 2014. Mr Nutt strongly denied he heard any allegations of a sexual nature. I want to be clear that at no time was any allegation of sexual harassment or sexual assault made to me by any person subject to the alleged behaviour, he said. I was not aware of any other complaints or expressions of concern by any of the volunteers supposedly involved in these matters, including any allegations of unwelcome attention. Rather, Mr Nutt said the criticisms were about Mr Zumbos general involvement and behaviour in the office, including the man working with volunteers in an internal office with the door closed, which the electorate officer felt was, or may have been, inappropriate.

Mr Nutt said he spoke to Mr Kelly, who assured me that he was not aware of any inappropriate activity and asked if any specific allegation of sexual harassment had been made by anyone supposedly the subject of it. I confirmed that wasnt the case. The former staffer said she also spoke to the Department of Finance about 50 times regarding her complaints over Mr Zumbos conduct, over a period of two years from 2012-14. The Department of Finance is the official employer of MPs staff. The [department] said, Mr Kelly can run his office how he likes. There is nothing that can be done, he can run his office any way he wants, she said. A spokesman for the Department of Finance said: As the Prime Minister has publicly stated, matters reported in the media regarding accusations of harassment in the Member for Hughes office have been referred to the Department of Finance. Finance treats every report of bullying and harassment seriously.

A second former staffer, who worked at Mr Kellys office for five years until 2016, told the Herald that she also witnessed the incident where Mr Zumbo allegedly emerged from the office with a grin on his face, and he had an erection. Frank Zumbo was employing all these young girls. They were coming in the back entrance, and I had seen him with his hands on their hands, and he would sit with his legs apart, while they sat between them, inappropriately close to them, the former staffer said. Then one day, he came out of the conference room giggling and carrying on. He came out with a grin, and he had an erection, she said. I thought, Thats it. Following this alleged incident, both former staffers went on stress and anxiety leave. Separately, in 2017 state Liberal MP for Heathcote Lee Evans said he passed on complaints about Mr Zumbo to NSW Liberal Party secretary Chris Stone in several conversations.

There were concerns about young girls being in the office, along the lines of inappropriate touching, inappropriate hugging, him coming up behind people, all this kind of caper. It was reported up the chain. I know Chris reported it to the whip. A spokesman for the NSW Liberal Party said it had no records of sexual complaints being raised. Mr Evans had raised concerns about Mr Zumbos attendance and involvement in state community engagement, events and programs around the electorate, which was duly raised with Mr Kelly as the party has no jurisdiction over staff matters in MPs offices. Nola Marino, who was the federal whip at the time said: Any discussions that happen in the whips office are by necessity confidential and must remain so.
Allentown police Thursday released a photo of a man they say is wanted in a shooting last weekend in the city.

Isaiah Trevon Brown, 28, of Whitehall Township, is accused of shooting a man following a family-related disturbance, authorities said.

The victim was taken by ambulance to an area hospital with serious injuries following the shooting at about 9:30 p.m. Saturday in the 300 block of Maxwell Street off Hanover Avenue, according to police.

Brown faces charges of attempted homicide and aggravated assault under an arrest warrant obtained Sunday by police.

Police ask anyone with information about Brown to contact the Allentown Police Department at 610-437-7751 or 610-437-7753, or by submitting an anonymous tip at the departments tip411.com account.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com.

Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com.
Reopening hurdles linger for schools, despite rescue funding View Photo

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP)  The latest federal coronavirus relief package includes $81 billion that began flowing to states this week with the goal of helping schools reopen quickly  with one obstacle being that many of the districts problems cant be solved by money.

Many parents want to keep their children home. Teachers have pushed back at reopening plans. And some districts say state guidelines on social distancing keep them from bringing all students back at once.

The money is welcome assistance for districts that have had to spend enormous sums on ventilation systems, laptops and protective equipment. With the end of the academic year approaching quickly, however, many are looking ahead to how to best spend the new money next fall.

For some districts that have yet to bring large number of students back to classrooms, no amount of money can help in the near term.

The Hillsboro School District, one of Oregons largest, plans to begin introducing limited in-person learning for some students this month but cannot bring all students back full time because of guidelines on issues such as social distancing and bus transportation, said Beth Graser, a district spokesperson.

There simply arent people to hire to drive the buses we have, much less the fact that we would need to go through a purchasing process to secure additional buses if we were to increase our fleet to the point where we could feasibly overcome the transportation constraints, Graser wrote in an email.

The money released this week is part of $122 billion included for K-12 schools in the $1.9 trillion virus relief bill. Schools are strategizing over how to use the money over the next couple years to undo the pandemics damage to the pace of learning and students mental well-being.

Nearly half of U.S. elementary schools were open for full-time classroom learning as of last month, according to a survey by the administration of President Joe Biden, who has pledged to have most K-8 schools open full time in his first 100 days in office. While the administration touted the relief package as a way to help reopen schools, officials in some districts say they wont tap into the new funding for months.

In Ohios Youngstown City School District, where about 40% of students are back in classrooms part-time, CEO Justin Jennings doesnt expect the newest federal money to change those numbers before the school year ends.

Thats partly because students already were offered the opportunity to return for in-person learning, and partly because the district doesnt even expect to draw on the latest funding until at least the summer, Jennings said. Then it may go to more protective equipment, upgrading schools air filtration systems and broadband access, and investing in transportation to allow for better social distancing, he said.

About 60 of the 77 large urban districts that make up the Council of the Great City Schools are at least partially open, Executive Director Michael Casserly said, and most of the rest already had plans to reopen by the middle of April. The new funding will help with the return to in-person learning, he said.

Theres a fair amount of money that will go to just efforts to reopen the buildings and make sure that everybody is safe, he said. Those will be one-time expenditures that the school districts will make that wont necessarily build any long-term capacity, but they will help open the doors.

In Hartford, Connecticut, Superintendent Leslie Torres-Rodriguez said she expects the relief money will help the district bring more students back by expanding efforts to connect with families of students who have been absent or disengaged. The district has done close to 4,400 home visits this school year but often has lacked the resources to address the root causes of the problems, she said.

Additional social workers, mental health and wellness supports would be so important and most immediately needed, she said.

Amid signs of slipping academic achievement, the school district in Connecticuts capital is encouraging all students to return for in-person learning on March 29, including some 9,600 students who have opted for virtual learning.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said last week that students can safely sit 3 feet, instead of 6 feet, apart inside classrooms as long as they wear masks. But officials in some districts say that wont allow them to increase the number of days students learn in person unless state governments adopt the same guidance.

If the guidance is permissible, we are excited to be able to do that, said Jeffrey Rabey, superintendent of Depew Public Schools in Buffalos suburbs, where schools are operating with a hybrid model.

One of the biggest obstacles remains parent fears about the spread of the virus in schools, said Andre Perry, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. He said districts have to show parents they are safe, especially in traditionally underserved schools where bathrooms often lacked soap or working sinks before the pandemic.

In Fairfax County, Virginia, where schools last week completed the transition from fully remote to a mix of remote and in-person learning, surveys indicate many families in the states largest district may not want more time in classrooms.

The percentage of parents who say they prefer in-person learning over online has decreased in recent months, down to 47% this month from 56% in October, according to the district, which said parents have to feel prepared and safe sending their kids back.

We are still working on looking at factors that may be able to help bring back additional students in-person in the weeks ahead, a district spokesperson said via email.

In Ohios largest school district, Columbus, most students are back in classrooms part time under a hybrid schedule. Social distancing requirements that put capacity on school buses is one hurdle, and it doesnt make sense to buy hundreds more buses, officials said.

Another hurdle, district treasurer Stanley Bahorek said, is uncertainty about whats ahead and how schools might have to adapt.

Were in a situation where we dont have a choice but to respond to an ever-changing environment, Bahorek said. And thats the perspective that I hope people on the outside consider when they say, Well, why dont they just bring the kids back to school?

___

Contributing to this report were Associated Press writers Michael Melia in Hartford, Connecticut; Kantele Franko in Columbus, Ohio; and Sara Cline in Salem, Oregon. Cline is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

By CAROLYN THOMPSON

Associated Press
Googles latest investment in India is a startup that is helping businesses come online.

One-year-old DotPe, a Gurgaon-based startup, said on Friday it has raised $27.5 million in its Series A financing round. The round was led by PayU, with participation from existing investor Info Edge Ventures and Google.

The young startup, now valued at about $90 million, helps brick and mortar stores sell to customers online and collect payments digitally.

Its a problem that scores of startups in India are solving today, but DotPe has some additional hooks. It helps merchants scan their inventories and quickly establish a log online.

Once the catalog is ready, a business can then make it available on WhatsApp and reach customers there. WhatsApp is the most popular smartphone app in India, with more than 450 million users. DotPe says it also helps businesses get visibility on Google Search.

The startup, co-founded by Shailaz Nag, formerly co-founder and managing director of PayU, also enables neighborhood stores to collect payments from walk-in customers and features tools to offer loyalty points and discounts to customers to boost engagement.

This new partnership will empower businesses to be more discoverable, expand business avenues and conduct commerce like never before, said Nag. Pandemic or not, we are here to reimagine the way offline businesses work and bring the digital revolution to the doorstep of every entrepreneur.

Image Credits: DotPe

DotPe says its platform, which doesnt require businesses to install an app, has amassed over 5 million merchants in the last six months. These merchants are seeing over 38% of daily orders from repeat customers, the startup said.

In a very short time, DotPe has acquired a promising merchant base with its impeccable product experience and innovation, said Anirban Mukherjee, CEO, PayU India.

Sanjay Gupta, VP and Country Head of Google India, said in a statement that the companys investment in DotPe is illustrative of Googles belief in working with Indias start-up ecosystem towards the goal of building a more inclusive digital economy that will benefit everyone.

Story continues

Google announced a $10 billion fund for India last year, its biggest market by users. The Android-maker has invested in several startups in the country, including hyperlocal delivery firm Dunzo, InMobi Group's Glance and DailyHunt.

DotPe said it will deploy the fresh capital to reach more merchants in India and scale its technology stack to meet the growing demand.

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President Ram Nath Kovind was admitted to the Army's Research and Referral (R&R) Hospital in New Delhi on Friday morning owing to chest discomfort.

The President, 75, complained of chest discomfort in the morning and thereafter he was rushed to the military hospital.

The President, who underwent routine tests and was put under observation, is now in a stable condition, the hospital said.

In a statement, the hospital authorities said: "He is undergoing routine check-ups and is under observation. His condition is stable."

Sources said the President will stay in the hospital till the time the entire medical diagnosis is complete. The doctors are taking care of things, said the hospital authority.
The race and age of jurors has a noticeable effect on trial verdicts, American studies indicate, but Canada has no data allowing similar research here.

Colton Fehr, assistant professor at Simon Fraser University's School of Criminology, poses for a photograph at the school in Burnaby, B.C., on Wednesday, March 24, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

The race and age of jurors has a noticeable effect on trial verdicts, American studies indicate, but Canada has no data allowing similar research here.

Experts in Canada said it's imperative to gather such demographic information to better understand systemic biases in the criminal justice system.

One 2012 study in Florida found all-white juries convicted Blacks at a rate 16 percentage points higher than whites. The gap disappeared when the jury pool included at least one Black member, the research found.

"The impact of the racial composition of the jury pool  and seated jury  is a factor that merits much more attention and analysis in order to ensure the fairness of the criminal justice system," the study concludes.

Another U.S. study, in 2014, showed older jurors were significantly more likely to convict than younger ones:

"If a male defendant, completely by chance, faces a jury pool that has an average age above 50, he is about 13 percentage points more likely to be convicted than if he faces a jury pool with an average age less than 50."

"These findings imply that many cases are decided differently for reasons that are completely independent of the true nature of the evidence," it says.

Shamena Anwar, co-author of the papers, said in an interview this week that juries can be highly unrepresentative of their communities as a result of the selection process.

The research, which shows age of jurors and race play a substantial role in verdicts and convictions, indicates demographics "definitely" matter, Anwar said.

As a result, collecting the data was important in understanding that role, said Anwar, an economist who studies criminal justice and racial disparities at the non-profit Rand Corporation.

"If you don't collect it  you don't have access to the problem," Anwar said. "This work shows you that (jury demographics) can have a big impact on (trial) outcomes."

However, a survey by The Canadian Press found provinces and territories collect almost no demographic data of jurors, despite concerns about systemic bias and government promises to address it.

The absence of information makes it all but impossible to discern whether juries reflect the makeup of the community, experts said.

Colton Fehr, an assistant criminology professor at Simon Fraser University, said bias can infiltrate a trial in many ways, but the lack of data makes it difficult to track and study.

"I'd rather know just how bad it is, so that we can try to fix it, as opposed to just not know where things are going wrong," Fehr said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 26, 2021.
A new analytical report states that the mergers and acquisition (M&A) deal-making landscape of the 2016-2020 artificial intelligence (AI) tech space was dominated by US tech giants. Four of the top five acquirers in the space  Apple, Google, Microsoft and Facebook  are companies headquartered in the US, with Apple leading the race. Ireland-based Accenture was the only non-US company to appear in the top five.

Statement by Aurojyoti Bose, Lead Business Fundamentals Analyst at GlobalData: "Apple, Google, Microsoft and Facebook collectively undertook 60 acquisitions in the AI tech space during 20162020 while Apple led the race with 25 acquisitions. AI has remained a key focus area for tech giants and growing competition to dominate the space has resulted in an acquisition spree among these companies."

(To Enlarge, click on image below to View Apple's Acquisitions clearly)

Nicklas Nilsson, Senior Analyst on the Thematic Research Team at GlobalData, commented: "The US is the leader in AI, and the dominance of US tech giants in the list of top acquirers also indicate that these companies have some defined AI objectives. For instance, Apple has been ramping up its acquisition of AI companies, with several deals aimed at improving Siri or creating new features on its iPhones. Machine learning start-up Inductiv was acquired to improve Siris data, Irish voice tech start-up Voysis was bought to improve Siris understanding of natural language, and PullString should make Siri easier for iOS developers to use.

Apple has gone on a shopping spree in efforts to catch up with Google (Google Assistant) and Amazon (Alexa). Siri was first on the market, but it consistently ranks below the two in terms of 'smartness,' which is partly why Apple is far behind in smart speaker sales.

Apple also want to make sure to keep its strong position within wearables. It is the dominant player in smartwatches. The acquisition of Xnor.ai last year was made to improve its on-edge processing capabilities, which has become important as it eliminates the need for data to be sent to the cloud, thereby improving data privacy."
You can listen to the latest episode of Today in Pa at this link, or on any of your favorite app including Alexa, Apple, Google, Spotify and Stitcher. Episodes are available every weekday on PennLive. Feel free to subscribe, follow or rate Today in Pa. as you see fit!

Today in Pa. Daily Podcast | March 26, 2021

The state Supreme Court ruled that secretly recorded audio of a nanny accused of abuse may be submitted as evidence. Federal court has ruled that Chesapeake Energy Corp. must pay Pennsylvania $1.9 million after damaging waterways and wetlands. An ATM exploded in Philadelphia. And one stray dog kept stealing the same stuffed unicorn, so an animal-control officer decided to buy it for him.

Those are the stories we cover in the latest episode of Today in Pa, a daily weekday podcast from PennLive.com and hosted by Claudia Dimuro. Today in Pa is dedicated to sharing the most important and interesting stories pertaining to Pennsylvania that lets you know, indeed, whats happening today in Pa.

Todays episode refers to the following articles:

If you enjoy Today in Pa, consider leaving us a review on Apple Podcasts or on Amazon. Reviews help others find the show and, besides, wed like to know what you think about the program, too.
National Australia Bank has responded to Commonwealth Banks push for a greater share of the lucrative business market by hiring additional bankers, as its new business banking boss brushes off concerns over competition.

CBA has embarked on a business banker hiring blitz over the past 15 months and chief executive Matt Comyn has expressed his desire to grow its share of the lucrative business banking market.

NAB announced on Friday it has added another 134 new small business bankers to its national team of more than 2000 and newly appointed executive Andrew Irvine has spent the past two weeks travelling around the country to meet small business customers.

NAB group executive for business and private banking Andrew Irvine says more competition in business banking is good for customers. Credit: Supplied

Mr Irvine, who became NABs group executive for business and private banking last September after 12 years at the Bank of Montreal, dismissed concerns about CBAs push into business lending. More competition breeds better outcomes for customers. I welcome competition, Im used to competition, I had it in Canada and I expect it here in Australia, he said. I dont really want to talk about other banks.
CANBERRA, Australia  Australias ambassador to Beijing has reportedly described China as a vindictive and unreliable trading partner as Australian officials revealed steep declines in most exports to the nations most important market.

Ambassador Graham Fletcher told a China-Australia business group in an online briefing from Beijing on Thursday he did not know if China was aware of the damage its trade practices were causing in Australia and internationally.

Its been exposed as quite unreliable as a trading partner and even vindictive, The Australian newspaper and Australian Broadcasting Corp. on Friday quoted Fletcher as saying.

Australias Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade did not immediately comment on the accuracy of the media reports.

A diplomatic rift between the free trade partners has worsened since Australia called for an independent inquiry into the coronavirus pandemic a year ago.

Australian exports of coal, wine, barley, cotton, lobsters and wood have either been blocked or severely disrupted, usually for unclear reasons.

China is unlikely to disrupt trade in iron ore, Australias most lucrative export, while production in Australias main rival, Brazil, is compromised by the pandemic.

Due to booming iron ore prices, Australian exports to China fell by only 2% in value in the last six months of 2020, compared to the same period a year earlier, foreign department officials told a Senate committee late Thursday.

But with iron ore stripped out, Australian exports to China would have fallen by about 40%, department official Elly Lawson said.

We have seen quite significant drops in some commodities, Lawson said.

The officials did not place a dollar value on the exports.

The pandemic had a negative impact on Australian exports, but exports had only declined by 22% to the rest of the world outside China, department economist Jennifer Gordon said.

Forty ships carrying Australian coal remained stranded off the Chinese coast, some for several months, department secretary Frances Adamson said.

Story continues

Australian coal exports to India and Japan had increased quite substantially, limiting the fall in overall exports of coal  Australia's second-most valuable commodity  to 8%, Gordon said.

Trade Minister Dan Tehan wrote to his Chinas new Commerce Minister Wang Wentao in January in a bid to establish lines of communication. But Wang had not responded, Lawson said.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Friday welcomed U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinkens criticism, made in a speech in Brussels, of Chinas blatant economic coercion of Australia.

We want to have a positive trading relationship with China and were obviously facing some difficult issues in that relationship and really appreciate the great support weve had from liberal democracies all around the world. None less so than the United States, Morrison told reporters.

Weve always been keen to work through these issues. But while were big on trade in Australia, we dont trade away who we are and we dont trade away our values: ever, Morrison added.

Rod McGuirk, The Associated Press
A babysitter has been jailed for life after inflicting fatal brain injuries on a 21-month-old girl in a 'brutal assault' and then failing to seek medical help for three hours.

Sean Sadler was given at least 20 years behind bars after a court heard the murder of Lilly Hanrahan came after a string of offences due to his 'uncontrollable temper'.

Sentencing at Birmingham Crown Court, Mr Justice Saini said the 32-year-old had made 'shameful and cowardly' attempts to cover up his role in Lilly's death.

Sadler, of Northfield, Birmingham, was convicted this week after jurors heard the 'happy' toddler was shaken and beaten with such violence she had broken bones.

They were also told of his previous convictions, including a vicious attack where he struck his then partner with a dog chain.

Sean Sadler (left) was ordered to serve a minimum term of 20 years after a court heard the murder of Lilly Hanrahan (right) was the culmination of a string of offences linked to his 'uncontrollable temper'

Lilly died in hospital in November 2017, three days after suffering a fatal collapse while in Sadler's sole care.

Before he was sentenced on Friday, the court was told Sadler had four previous convictions for offences of battery, starting with an attack in which he struck his then partner with a dog chain.

The offences, which led to court appearances in 2012, 2014 and 2017, also included an assault outside a social club in which a female victim was punched in the face without warning.

Jonas Hankin QC, prosecuting, said Sadler's previous convictions showed his 'uncontrollable temper against women in every case, people who are vulnerable'.

In May 2012 he was convicted of two counts of battery towards an ex-partner, after an incident in April that year.

Mr Hankin said: 'He grabbed her face and pushed her backwards. Having left the room he came back and pushed her to the floor and punched her in the chest four to five times.

'The following day he returned to the flat, there was an argument, he pushed her to the floor and then he kicked her and punched her in the ribs.

'He then hit her body with a dog chain.' But he said Sadler had not 'learnt his lesson' by 2014, when he was convicted of battery against a woman outside a social club.

Sentencing Sadler at Birmingham Crown Court (pictured), Mr Justice Saini said the 32-year-old had made 'shameful and cowardly' attempts to cover up his role in Lilly's death

Mr Hankin said: 'He punched her in the face without warning, knocking her to the ground causing injuries which required hospital treatment.'

Finally, Sadler committed battery offences against another former girlfriend in March 2017.

Mr Hankin said: 'He was no longer in a relationship with her. He visited her home, there was an argument.

'He would return, grab her right arm, pushed it into her chest, grabbed her left hand, took her mobile phone and threw it across the living room.'

Eight members of the jury which convicted Sadler returned to court to see him being sentenced.

Imposing a mandatory life term, Mr Justice Saini told Sadler he had engaged in 'subterfuge' and 'trickery' to cover up an assault on Lilly committed around a week before her death.

The trial was told Sadler began a relationship with Lilly's guardian in the spring of 2017, becoming a regular visitor to the home and often staying overnight.

The guardian began to notice bruises on Lilly, photographing them from September that year, and alerted the child's nursery so they could monitor her.

Sadler, who denied murder, claimed Lilly had fallen asleep on the sofa after watching television, but that he later called an ambulance when he was unable to wake her.

Mr Justice Saini, who imposed a concurrent three-year sentence for the earlier assault on Lily, told Sadler: 'Mr (Jonas) Hankin QC, for the Crown, was right to describe you as a perpetrator hiding in plain sight.

'You are an accomplished liar. Sadly, you were able to convince (Lilly's guardian) to allow you to have charge of Lilly.

'On one of those occasions when you were meant to be caring for Lilly, you committed a serious assault.

'You delayed seeking medical help for a number of hours and in doing so showed callous indifference to Lilly's suffering. It must have been obvious to you that she was seriously hurt.

'This was a brutal assault, on any view, and you have shown no remorse.'
Jacinda Ardern was once a bright-eyed young student nicknamed 'Aunty Jack' who dreamed of becoming a police officer like her father.

She would have to settle for Prime Minister of New Zealand instead.

The popular leader, now 40, visited her childhood school Morrinsville Intermediate on Thursday to celebrate its 50th Jubilee.

She was shocked to discover her tattooed former woodwork teacher, Stuart King, was still working at the rural school, a two hour drive south of Auckland.

Ms Ardern also shared an old class photo which showed her standing in the back row in her school uniform with a shy smile at the age of 11 or 12.

Jacinda Ardern ringed a photo of herself in this cut-out from her Morrinsville intermediate class photo, circa 1991 - so we didn't have to guess

A for Ardern: The Kiwi Prime Minister presents her old woodwork teacher, Stuart King, with a wooden police car she made in his class way back when she attended Morrinsville Intermediate in the early 1990s

'A particular treat was seeing Mr King - my old wood work teacher who is retiring after 46 years at the school,' Ardern wrote on Facebook.

'I posted a couple of stories about Mr King yesterday and it was so lovely to see how many people remembered him and his sayings (to this day I can hear him saying "pretty crunchy eh" when he was really excited.)'

Ardern said the jubilee was 'a happy excuse to visit.'

'I suspect by the end I bored everyone with my nostalgia.

'Thanks for everything Mr King, and for being so kind about the old car I made in your class and brought back to show you.'

Ardern's photos included her presenting a beaming Mr King with the wooden model of a police car.

According to the 2020 biography, Jacinda Ardern: A New Kind of Leader, Jacinda 'developed a keen eye for unfairness' at Morrinsville Intermediate.

In the biography, Madeleine Chapman wrote Ardern was motivated to 'channel her energy' over seeing poverty and unfairness into joining the Student Council at the school.

'At meetings held in the staff room, young council members, aged between 11 and 13, aired their concerns about the inflating price of Juicies, the frozen drink snack, or their scepticism over safety concerns that prohibited them from riding their bikes the last 50 metres to school.'

'The issues were presented seriously enough, but the earnestness of the young council members' delivery masked the fact that most students applied to the council for one reason and one reason only: to get out of class for a period.'

Stuart King and Jacinda Ardern catch up during her visit to her old school's 50th jubilee. She recounted Mr King 'pretty crunchy, eh?' when he was excited

Long before she was one of the world's most influential leaders, Jacinda Ardern was a precocious young kid with a passion for politics

When she was just 18, Ms Ardern was voted the student most likely to become Prime Minister by her peers.

Other categories include best-looking, friendliest, happiest, sportiest, funniest, loudest and most likely to succeed.

Ms Ardern told Herald Focus she was only voted that 'because I was the only one who cared about politics at school'.

'There's this natural assumption somehow that was where I was going to end up. I thought I was going to be a policewoman.'

But it seems the precocious young woman made no secret of her desire to be leader.

In an interview with her local newspaper in 1997, a young Ms Ardern opened up about her goal to become New Zealand's first female prime minister after being named as the winner of Waikato regional competition of United Nations of New Zealand speech contest.

In the interview she shared how her passion for public speaking could serve her well in politics.

The New Zealand prime minister's tale from humble beginnings to celebrated politician has been documented in a new biography , proving she has always been a voice of the people

An old year book from her time at Morrinsville College in 1998 has resurfaced and shows how even as a teenager she was tipped for greatness

The focus of her speech was Drug Abuse: The Human Scrouge. Ms Adern argued that the UN needed to allocate more resources to combat drug addiction.

Mrs Malcon approached me about the competition about five days before. So the speech wasnt as fully prepared as I wanted it to be,' she said.

And while Ms Adern wasn't able to achieve her dream of becoming New Zealand's first female prime minister - that honour went to her mentor Helen Clark - she has broken several barriers during her time in office.

When she first took office in 2017, she became the world's youngest female head of government at age 37.

She made history as one of only a handful of women who have given birth while in power.

Since then she has been praised for her handling of catastrophic events, including the Christchurch terror attack, the White Island volcano disaster and the coronavirus pandemic.

Growing up, Ms Ardern was a far cry from the no-nonsense leader she has grown to be.

Ms Ardern, who was raised Mormon, is the product of a police officer father and a mother who worked in the school cafeteria.

She grew up being encouraged to dress modestly and stay away from coffee, cigarettes and alcohol.

And while she may not have been a stand-out to her peers, her teachers had always taken note of her. She was known by school staff as someone who would go far.

After graduating from the University of Waikato with a Bachelor of Communication Studies in Public Relations and Political Science, she went on to work under then Prime Minister Helen Clark.

Ms Ardern (pictured at 18) studied public relations and political science at the University of Waikato before working under former Prime Minister Helen Clark

Ms Ardern was pictured donning a black head scarf as a sign of solidarity as she hugged the grieving relatives of the slain victims of the Christchurch Massacre on March 17, 2019

Critics have long compared Ms Ardern's leadership style to that of the former Labour leader, who New Zealand's fifth longest serving prime minister, and the second woman to hold the office.

Ms Ardern then moved to London where she worked as a senior policy advisor for British Prime Minister Tony Blair in the UK Cabinet Office.

Over the years she became known as an advocate for women, children, speaking often about New Zealand's education system.

During this time the Labour party was struggling in the polls. John Key had served a the prime minister for two terms under National.

And the party was looking at an easy third term thanks to the inconsistency of leadership within the Labour Party.

Then leader Andrew Little was unpopular in the polls and there was talk of Jacinda Ardern stepping into the role.

But Ms Ardern was young, she had no desire to taken on the top spot.

In 2014 she said: 'I've seen how hard it is to raise a family in that role'.

In 2015 she stated: 'I don't want to be prime minister'.

Then in 2017, while on her way to becoming the MP for the Auckland electorate Mt Albert, she was elected as the new leader of the Labour Party.

With less than two months before the polls closed, Ms Adern saw an astounding victory, becoming the country's third female prime minister.

She has become New Zealand's most popular prime minister in more than 100 years after leading the country through a series of crises.
Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun, Health Minister Kwon Deok-cheol and other top government officials are getting their AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine shots on Friday.

They decided to receive the jabs to allay concerns over the vaccine's safety following recent reports of blood clots and deaths.

Inoculations of people over 65 started on Tuesday.

President Moon Jae-in was already given his first shot on Tuesday. The same day, Chung said new studies suggested the AstraZeneca vaccine is safe and effective and added, "I will also get the vaccine if it helps to allay concerns."
After a year of remote work unleashed economic devastation in neighborhoods built around the daily flow of workplace traffic, Facebook and Uber are returning to the office, a sign of economic hope for nearby restaurants, shops, transit agencies and office landlords.

Uber is opening its San Francisco offices on Monday. Facebooks Bay Area reopening will begin on May 10 at its Menlo Park headquarters. They are two of the first large Bay Area companies to announce reopening plans after San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties improved to the states orange tier, allowing nonessential offices to reopen.

Facebook will open at 10% capacity as long as health data continues to improve; workers can choose whether to come back. Its Fremont offices are scheduled to reopen May 17, Sunnyvale on May 24 and its two downtown San Francisco towers on June 7.

Employees had been allowed to work from home until July 2, and will now be able to stay remote until one month after offices reach 50% capacity. That will likely be after Sept. 7 for large sites, Facebook said.

Facebook is also reopening offices in Seattle in April and is in the process of reopening offices in Asia.

The company will eliminate some of its key perks for health reasons: There will be no free food and no buses delivering workers to campuses, which could bolster demand for nearby restaurants and public transit. Theres no timeline when food and buses will come back, but Facebook is offering commuter benefits to workers who return. It will not offer food stipends. Facebook has continued to pay more than 4,000 service contractors including food and transit workers despite closed offices and said it will continue to do so.

As we return to the office, we have a number of protocols in place that include testing, physical distancing, wearing masks and other best practices. We continue to work with experts to ensure our return-to-office plans prioritize everyones health and safety, said Chloe Meyere, a Facebook spokeswoman.

The company wont require employees to get vaccinated to return to offices. It will have weekly testing requirements for some offices.

Uber will open its Mission Bay headquarters next week at 20% capacity, on a voluntary basis, becoming the first major employer to return since restrictions lifted. San Francisco is restricting office occupancy to 25% of capacity.

As cities will carefully return to a new normal, so will we, Uber said in a statement to The Chronicle.

Uber drivers, who are classified as independent contractors, have been allowed to operate throughout the pandemic, but office workers were allowed to work remotely until Sept. 13.

Workers will be required to take daily health screenings including temperature checks at home to qualify. The company is increasing cleaning services and requiring face coverings in its four-building complex with over 1 million square feet, enough space for around 5,000 workers before the pandemic.

Uber has around 22,000 global employees and is one of San Franciscos largest employers. Offices in New York have also reopened.

SAP, the German software company, plans to reopen offices in the next few weeks, Silicon Valley Business Journal reported.

Bret Taylor, Salesforces president, said the company would reopen offices soon during a talk on the Clubhouse app on Thursday. A spokeswoman for Salesforce, San Franciscos largest private employer, said there isnt currently a time frame.

Wells Fargo said most workers would continue to stay home until at least May 1.

The absence of in-office meals at Facebook could help local restaurants and shops slowly recover. In San Francisco, Facebook leases all the office space at 181 Fremont, a major hub for its Instagram division, and nearby Park Tower in the Transbay neighborhood.

The area, along with the rest of downtown, has been devastated during the pandemic. Facebook said the public coffee shop in 181 Fremont, Andytown, will remain closed for now.

The owner of Andytown, Lauren Crabbe, told The Chronicle last month that she was eager to return. I miss being around tall buildings, the hustle and bustle of people walking all around you, she said. I hope when everything starts to open we can all get back together.

But 10% office occupancy, rising gradually, may not be enough for downtown restaurants to reopen soon, said Laurie Thomas, executive director of the Golden Gate Restaurant Association, San Franciscos main industry group.

Is there going to be enough volume and buying power? Im not sure its a turning point. Its certainly exciting, positive news, she said. We are very concerned about the downtown corridor. Without customers for our cafes and services ... were kind of dead in the water.

Thomas is urging companies to share information on how many workers will be in the office and on what days to help restaurants plan their reopenings. Those kinds of data points are what we need now to work as a team, she said.

Workers will return as the Bay Areas coronavirus case numbers improve and vaccination efforts accelerate. Californians who are 50 and older are set to become eligible for vaccines on April 1, and everyone 16 or older will be eligible on April 15. More than 40 states have said they will meet or beat President Bidens May 1 goal of making all adults eligible.

Interactive Vaccine Tracker: Latest developments Detailed information about the coronavirus vaccines as it becomes available.

Some Facebook workers will never return. The company is hiring some fully remote workers as some of the pandemics disruptions become permanent. The broader recruitment area will also help feed its voracious growth: The company had 58,604 global employees at the end of 2020, a 30% increase in one year.

I think Facebook will be the most forward-leaning company on remote work at our scale, and weve been working on a thoughtful and responsible plan to do this, CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote last May. It lets us access talent pools outside of traditional tech hubs in big cities  and that should help spread economic opportunity much more widely around the country and world while also helping us build a more diverse company.

He said half the companys workers could be remote within a decade.

The shift to remote work across all businesses is expected to outlast the pandemic. A survey of 103 executives at 72 companies found that 66% plan to have a hybrid work model where workers stay remote part-time. Only 12% of respondents expect to have workers at the office five days a week after the pandemic, according to the survey by Vocon, a New York architecture firm.

Facebook has been one of techs biggest winners during the pandemic, with 2020 net income jumping to $29.1 billion, a 58% increase from the prior year. Unlike smaller tech companies that have cut office space and marketed sublease space, Facebook hasnt reduced any of its Bay Area real estate despite remote work expansion plans.

The company has new offices opening this year in Burlingame for its Oculus virtual reality division and in Sunnyvale. It expanded last year in Fremont. Last August, Facebook leased 730,000 square feet in Manhattan near Penn Station.

Fellow tech giants Google and Amazon have also continued relentless expansion as business boomed during the pandemic. Google said it plans to spend over $1 billion on California real estate this year as part of its $7 billion U.S. growth. Google said employees can stay remote until September and hasnt scheduled office reopening dates. Amazon bought a San Francisco site for $200 million, where it is proposing a new last-mile delivery station.

The industry faces obstacles to continued dominance. Congress, states and regulators are cracking down on big tech, filing numerous lawsuits alleging antitrust behavior and other abuses, which the companies have denied.

On Thursday, Zuckerberg and the CEOs of Google and Twitter testified remotely in front of Congress on misinformation and techs role in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. The independent Facebook Oversight Board will decide whether to permanently ban former President Donald Trump.

Still, with workers coming back to city centers, Thomas of the Golden Gate Restaurant Association said the return of major companies and vaccination progress are major signs for optimism.

Its spring. Its rebirth, she said. Its great.

Roland Li is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: roland.li@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @rolandlisf
Kolkata, March 26 : More than 1,500 anti-war crime campaigners in Bangladesh took to the streets to to press for their demands to attain the recognition of March 25 as the International Genocide Day by the UN.

Professionals including university teachers, journalists, lawyers, writers, doctors, engineers, took part in as many as 34 different protest rallies simultaneously on Thursday evening in university campuses, in front of press clubs, and in front of Shaheed Minars across the country.

Under the banner of "One Bangladesh", a platform consisting of pro-liberation professionals, the protesters carried posters that read "UN should recognise March 25 as International Genocide Day", "We demand an official apology from Pakistan", and "Dear Pakistan, stop smear campaign against 1971 war crimes trials".

Wearing masks and maintaining health protocols amid the Covid-19 pandemic, the demonstrators also lit candles in memory of the 3 million victims and the half a million women violated by Pakistani occupation forces during the nine-month Liberation War of Bangladesh in 1971.

Lashing out at Pakistan's barbaric and gruesome killings, Md. Rashidul Hasan, President of the organisation, said: "Since Bangladesh now celebrates its Golden Jubilee of Independence and graduates from a 'Least Developed Country to a 'Developing Nation', the spotlight is firmly on the genocide that led to its creation in 1971 over 'an ocean of blood'." "We demand the UN take into account the details available in open sources and push Pakistan to disclose its confidential archives to get a fullest possible account of the genocide and then recognise the genocide unleashed upon us as one of the worst of its kind in the history of mankind," said protester Ayesha Zaman Shimu.

"Apart from bringing this issue to the deserved global attention, such recognition will also put under scanner the activities of Pakistan's armed forces to suppress democratic struggles of ethnic minorities the Baloch, Sindhi, Pashtun, and Gilgit-Baltistan Shias," said another protester, Shahnaz Parvin Dolly.

The recognition of the 1971-genocide will complete the loose ends of history-writing in post-colonial South Asia and will also help mount pressure on Pakistan to abandon its policy of using terror and military brutality as an instrument of national policy, according to history professor Muntasir Mamun.

The UN would have thus done a huge service to mankind in general and South Asia in particular by recognizing the 1971-East Pakistan Genocide and Pakistan must be made to come up with a formal apology like the Japanese have for the 1937 Nanking massacre and rapes and the Germans have for the Holocaust, said Barrister Tureen Afroz, who was the lead prosecutor at the 1971 War Crimes Trials .

Her book on the subject is a magnum opus on the brutalities perpetrated by the Pakistan Army in 1971.

The protests were staged just a day before Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi touched down in Dhaka to participate in the country's 50th Independence Day celebrations.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-26 15:35:09|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, March 26 (Xinhua) -- China has launched a campaign to locate missing or abducted children and help them reunite with their families, the Ministry of Public Security said Friday.

The campaign that started in January this year is aimed at finding children who have fallen victims to abduction or are missing over the past four decades, the ministry told a press conference.

Both parents of abducted children and the victims have been encouraged to have their DNA information collected at nearby public security agencies so that their personal information can be recorded in the national DNA database to help find the biological relatives.

The ministry also called on the public to report information involving child abductions to the police and offer assistance in the search for missing children. Enditem
The Florence Police Department says the officer who was struck by lightning during Thursdays severe weather is sore, but doing good.

Officer James Piteo was struck by lightning while placing barricades to combat flooding at the intersection and Chisholm and Gresham roads about 3:30 p.m. Thursday.

Florence Police Department Officer James Piteo Florence Police Department Officer James Piteo

Florence police said a Ranger and other officers were able to provide immediate first aid to Piteo. He was put in the backseat of a police vehicle with a paramedic and rushed to North Alabama Medical Center.

Officer Piteo is still sore, but doing good, the department said in a news release. Officer Piteo and the Florence Police Department would like to thank everyone for their kind words and prayers.
India and Bangladesh must remain vigilant and united to counter threats like terrorism as well as ideas and powers behind such inhumane acts, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday as he hailed 'Bangabandhu' Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's leadership and the contributions of the Indian Army in Bangladesh's 1971 Liberation War against Pakistan.

Addressing the main golden jubilee celebrations of Bangladesh's Independence and the birth centenary of its founder in the presence of his counterpart Sheikh Hasina and President Abdul Hamid, Prime Minister Modi said that both nations possess the power of democracy, with a clear vision to move forward.

"That India and Bangladesh move forward together, is equally important for the development of this entire region," said Modi, who is visiting Bangladesh on his first trip to a foreign country since the Covid-19 outbreak.

"We must remember that we've similar opportunities in fields of trade and commerce, but at the same time, we've similar threats like terrorism. The ideas and powers behind such types of inhumane acts are still active. We must remain vigilant and united to counter them, he added.

Read | PM Modi invites 50 Bangladeshi entrepreneurs to visit India, announces scholarships

Modi recalled the role played by the Indian Army in Bangladesh's freedom war and said the blood of those who fought for their liberation and the blood of Indian soldiers are flowing together and this blood will form such a relationship that will not break down under any type of pressure.

"I salute the brave soldiers of the Indian Army who stood with the brothers and sisters of Bangladesh in Muktijuddo. Those who gave their blood in Muktijuddo, sacrificed themselves, and played a very big role in realising the dream of independent Bangladesh," said

Modi, who was wearing a 'Mujib Jacket' as tribute to Bangladesh's Father of the Nation, said that Bangabandhu had a mesmerising personality and was blessed with an unwavering commitment to further human empowerment. No wonder all sections of society were inspired by him.

His leadership and bravery had ensured that no power could enslave Bangladesh, Modi said, adding that Bangabandhu was a ray of hope for the people of this land and for Indians.

Under his leadership, common people of Bangladesh across the social spectrum came together and became 'Muktibahini', Modi said, adding Bangladesh's Liberation War had support from all corners of India, from all parties, every section of the society.

Also Read | I did Satyagraha for Bangladesh's freedom when I was 20-22: PM Modi

"This is one of the most memorable days of my life. I am grateful that Bangladesh has included me in this event. I am grateful that Bangladesh has invited India to take part in this function. It is a matter of our pride that we got the opportunity to honour Sheikh Mujibur Rahman with Gandhi Peace Prize," he said.

The Gandhi Peace Prize 2020 was conferred on Bangabandhu this week.

Recalling the 1971 war of independence, Modi said the pictures of atrocities that the Pakistan Army inflicted on the people in then East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) used to distract people in India. "I must have been 20-22 years old when I and my colleagues did Satyagraha for Bangladesh's freedom," he said.

The war broke out after the sudden crackdown at midnight past on March 25, 1971 in the erstwhile East Pakistan by the Pakistani troops and ended on December 16. The same year Pakistan conceded defeat and unconditionally surrendered in Dhaka to the allied forces comprising the freedom fighters and the Indian soldiers.

Modi said the efforts of the then prime minister Indira Gandhi and her important role in Bangladeshs freedom war are well known.

He also named several Indian Army officials such as Field Marshal S H F J Manekshaw, General Jagjit Singh Aurora, General J F R Jacob, Lance Nayak Albert Ekka, Group Captain Chandan Singh, Captain Mohan Narayan Rao Samant and others who were instrumental in Bangladeshs freedom.

Modi said the next 25 years are crucial for both India and Bangladesh. "For both our nations, the journey of the next 25 years in the 21st century is crucial. We have descended from a shared heritage, and we are advancing towards shared development. We have shared goals, and shared challenges," Modi said.

He also invited 50 Bangladeshi entrepreneurs to India to get associated with innovation ecosystem and meet venture capitalists.

Modi also invoked Bengali poets and writers Kazi Nazrul Islam and Rabindranath Tagore in his speech to highlight the common heritage of the two countries.

Earlier, the programme began with the religious leaders from Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Christianity reciting prayers from their holy books, projecting a secular image of Muslim-majority Bangladesh.

Also Read | Bangladesh Liberation War martyrs devoted their lives 'resisting injustice': PM Modi

Bangladesh was founded as a secular state, but Islam was made the state religion in the 1980s. In 2010, the High Court held up the secular principles of the 1972 constitution.

Modi was the guest of honour while President Hamid was the chief guest at the function chaired by Prime Minister Hasina.

Meanwhile, at least four persons were killed and dozens injured when some Islamist organisations protesting Prime Minister Modis visit to Bangladesh clashed with police on Friday afternoon.

In Chittagongs Hathazari upazila, at least four persons, including two students, were killed and dozens injured when fired tear shells followed by rubber bullets and shotguns to disperse crowd, the Dhaka Tribune reported.

In Dhaka, at least 50 people, including two journalists, were injured when clashes broke out between a group of protesters, mostly members of Islamist groups, and police in the Baitul Mukarram area on Friday.
Minister of Health Maksym Stepanov welcomes the import of vaccines to the private market, but spoke about the nuances.

"In order to import a vaccine, it must first be registered. We have now adopted a fast registration regime for emergency use. We welcome the import of vaccines by any business to the private market," Stepanov said on the air on the Ukraine24 TV channel.

According to him, in the near future due to the frenzied demand for vaccines in the private market, some countries prohibit the export of their vaccines from the territory where their production is located, despite the concluded contracts and paid funds.

"Therefore, they are sold exclusively to states. We are in constant communication with all manufacturers of vaccines, asking about the possibility of their appearance on the private market," Stepanov said.

The minister also explained the possibility of bringing Cuban vaccine against COVID-19 to Ukraine.

"We must first look at the documents in order to draw conclusions," Stepanov said.
New Delhi, March 28: In sharp contrast to the earlier policy of the Centre-which accommodated all those who in power used to praise India, but turn to cursing it and praising Pakistan when in opposition-Narendra Modis establishment has gone in for a radical change in approach in wiping out this grey area. This is set to change the discourse of politics in Jammu and Kashmir.

After the Pulwama terror strike, the Centre has made it clear with its actions that in politics one would have to be 'either with India or with Pakistan.' This has shrunk the PDP's space beyond imagination.

Article 370 and 35-A, that granted special status to J&K, was struck down in August 2019. The State was bifurcated into the two Union Territories. The Legislative Council was fully abolished. Almost all the prominent Kashmiri leaders, particularly those of the PDP and the NC, were arrested and detained for 8 to 12 months.

Being an 'amphibian' was a qualification for the PDP leaders ever since Mufti Mohammad Sayeed launched his own regional party to undercut Farooq Abdullah's NC in 1999. While the NC was known for its red colour flag and Farooq's anti-militant, anti-Pakistan jingoistic overtures, the PDP was perceived as soft to the separatists, militants and Pakistan. Strategically it chose green as the colour of its flag and once the Muslim United Front's pen-and-inkpot as its election symbol.

The Mufti's sustained campaign over 'human rights abuse' against the security forces and Farooq's counterinsurgent force, the Special Operations Group, coupled with support from New Delhi worked. In 2002, Mufti Sayeed was installed as Chief Minister even as his PDP got only 16 seats in a House of 87 and NC bagged 28. The BJP supported the PDP-Congress coalition.

In 2003, senior PDP leader Abdul Aziz Zargar resigned as Minister of Agriculture when it was reported on the revelations of an accused that the militants who attacked Akshardham temple in Gujarat in 2002, had stayed at his home in Kulgam district. Chief Minister Mufti rejected Zargar's resignation and continued him as a Minister in his Cabinet.

The NC, under Omar Abdullah, regained power and ran a coalition with the Congress from 2009 to 2014. In the Assembly elections in 2014, PDP won 28 seats and forged a power alliance with the BJP in March 2015. PDP's protruding leanings towards the separatists and the militants-beginning with Massarat Alam's controversial release-led to a catastrophic debacle of the PDP-BJP regime in June 2018.

The year 2019 proved to be the worst for the PDP. An unprecedented terrorist strike on Srinagar-Jammu highway near Awantipora, killing 40 CRPF personnel, forced the Centre to affect radical changes in its Kashmir policy. It wiped out the entire grey area that provided unlimited political space to the so-called amphibians ruling the roost since 1999.

The NIA case against the high-flying Waheedur Rehman Para, is for the first time ever that a chargesheet with alleged involvement in a terror case has been filed against someone close to a former Chief Minister.

NIA has claimed to possess evidence of the telephonic conversations between Para, rogue cop Davinder Singh and the actors of a Hizb module who included cop-turned-terrorist Syed Naveed Mushtaq, his brother and six others. Establishment of charges against Para would mean his rigorous imprisonment for several years.

Para has been charged with providing cash worth Rs 5 crore to Hurriyat (Geelani) through hardliner Syed Ali Shah Geelani's son-in-law Altaf Ahmad Shah alias Fantoosh. Other charges include sending money worth Rs 10 lakh to Hizbul Mujahideen and Lashkar-e-Tayyiba commanders and transportation of their arms and ammunition. At least one charge makes mention of ex-CM Mehbooba who, according to the NIA, spoke to 'commander' Syed Naveed Mushtaq at least once over telephone.

The trial has indeed triggered a fresh tribulation for many of the Kashmir politicians, particularly those in the PDP since long. Even as all the charges against Para are subject to judicial scrutiny, evidences and arguments, NIA's action has a potential of changing a political discourse in Kashmir.

(This content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com) --indianarrative/
HOUSTON, March 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Quanta Services, Inc. (NYSE: PWR) announced today that its Board of Directors has declared a quarterly cash dividend to stockholders of $0.06 per share. The dividend is payable on April 15, 2021, to stockholders of record as of April 6, 2021.

About Quanta Services

Quanta Services is a leading specialized contracting services company, delivering comprehensive infrastructure solutions for the utility, communications, pipeline and energy industries. Quanta's comprehensive services include designing, installing, repairing and maintaining energy and communications infrastructure. With operations throughout the United States, Canada, Australia and select other international markets, Quanta has the manpower, resources and expertise to safely complete projects that are local, regional, national or international in scope. For more information, visit www.quantaservices.com.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release (and any oral statements regarding the subject matter of this press release) contains forward-looking statements intended to qualify for the "safe harbor" from liability established by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements relating to expectations regarding the declaration, amount or timing of any future dividends; expectations regarding Quanta's business or financial outlook; and Quanta's ability to deliver increased value or return capital to stockholders; as well as statements reflecting expectations, intentions, assumptions or beliefs about future events and other statements that do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. Although Quanta's management believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. These statements can be affected by inaccurate assumptions and by a variety of risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict or beyond our control, including, among others, market conditions; the effects of industry, economic, financial or political conditions outside of the control of Quanta, quarterly variations in operating results, liquidity, financial condition, cash flows, capital requirements, reinvestment opportunities or other financial results; the severity, magnitude and duration of the COVID-19 pandemic trends and growth opportunities in relevant markets; requirements relating to dividends under Delaware law and the credit agreement for Quanta's senior credit facility; and other risks and uncertainties detailed in Quanta's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended Dec. 31, 2020 and any other documents that Quanta files with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). For a discussion of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, investors are urged to refer to Quanta's documents filed with the SEC that are available through the company's website at www.quantaservices.com or through the SEC's Electronic Data Gathering and Analysis Retrieval System (EDGAR) at www.sec.gov. Should one or more of these risks materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which are current only as of this date. Quanta does not undertake and expressly disclaims any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Quanta further expressly disclaims any written or oral statements made by any third party regarding the subject matter of this press release.

Investors - Kip Rupp, CFA Media  Jenna Jackson Quanta Services, Inc. Quanta Services, Inc. (713) 341-7260 (713) 341-6741

SOURCE Quanta Services, Inc.

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Dhaka, March 27 : The Foreign Minister of Bangladesh, A.K. Abdul Momen, told visiting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday that Bangladesh would continue the 'golden chapter' of bilateral relations between the two countries for the next 50 years.

Modi arrived in Dhaka on Friday on a two-day visit to attend the celebrations of the country's 50th year of liberation from Pakistan and the 100th birth anniversary of its founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the father of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

The Bangladesh Foreign Minister also sought India's strong support in resolving the Rohingya crisis.

Momen told IANS that he thanked the Indian premier for visiting Bangladesh at the time of the Covid-19 pandemic to show respect to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

Momen also thanked the Indian government for honouring Bangabandhu by conferring him with the prestigious Mahatma Gandhi Award.

In reply, Modi said the Indian people believe that Bangladesh's victory is a victory for India as well, Momen added.

"I told the Prime Minister of India that Bangladesh prays for the welfare of all the people in the region," the Foreign Minister said, after paying a courtesy call to the Indian Prime Minister at Hotel Sonargoan in Dhaka.

Momen said that during the meeting, they discussed various issues, including golden jubilee celebrations of Bangladesh's independence, the birth centenary of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and 50 years of India-Bangladesh diplomatic ties.

Other issues that came up for discussion included Bangladesh's graduation to a developing country status from the LDC, Covid-19 cooperation and connectivity.

The Foreign Minister said that Modi assured his country's support to Bangladesh in its journey on the highway of development.

Momen was accompanied by state minister for foreign affairs, Md Shahriar Alam, and foreign secretary Masud Bin Momen.
In order to become a fully licensed NES Health Bioenergetics Practitioner, health and wellness practitioners must go through formal training. This ensures all NES practitioners have the knowledge necessary to provide the extraordinary results bioenergetics can have on individuals.

Due to COVID regulations, the normal live trainings were put to an abrupt halt. As a temporary solution, these required trainings took place over Zoom calls.

These Zoom calls last several hours with a Q&A session at the end. NES Health Practitioners were encouraged to attend multiple sessions, but there was a key component noticeably lacking.

As Steve McCardell, Director of Education at NES Health explains, "These live trainings are more beneficial since we can get hands-on with the miHealth and easily interact with our practitioners."

This Bioenergetix WellNES System Practicum takes place March 26 and 27th at NES Health headquarters in Tampa, Florida. Proper social distancing and COVID-related procedures will be followed during the live training event.

In addition to education on the NES bioenergetics system, practitioners are able to receive valuable training on how to run a successful business and network with like-minded individuals.

"The value of this cannot be understated," says Steve McCardell. "Not only are these events fun, they provide real, actionable tips that can help grow businesses -- whether that's chiropractic, naturopathic, nutritionists, or any other health and wellness modality."

The NES Bionergetix WellNES System is designed to be integrated with other modalities to provide a truly holistic way to address the root cause issue.

Similar events will be added in the near future. Visit http://www.neshealth.com for more information on how to become a NES Bioenergetics Practitioner or find upcoming training dates.
Decarbonising the UK's most carbon-heavy industries, including aviation and construction, could create 1.7 million new jobs by 2030 and ensure the UK achieves its net zero target, new research has claimed.

The 'Greening the Giants' report says that a slim majority of all new jobs in decarbonisation would be created in the north of England, Scotland and the Midlands, areas which are most at risk of jobs losses from the net zero transition.

About 900,000 to 1.3 million new roles could come from energy efficiency and low-carbon heating, 367,000 in the electric vehicles sector and 36,000 jobs in low-carbon power.

The 'Greening the Giants' report says the electric vehicles sector could add another 367,000 jobs by 2030 if the UK government successfully delivers on its net zero target

The report, published by the Conservative Party-linked group Onward, warns that if the Government does not take 'radical action' to decarbonise the UK's 12 most carbon-intensive industries, it will not reach its net zero target by 2050.

These 12 'carbon giants', including agriculture, steel, manufacturing, and power generation, are responsible for 62 per cent of all UK carbon emissions, with the worst offender being Electricity, Gas, Steam and Air Conditioning Supply.

It recommends the government sets up a Net Zero Delivery Taskforce - modelled on the Covid-19 Vaccine Taskforce - with a focus on funding trials of net zero technologies in the research and development stage.

They also advise introducing an industrial Contracts for Difference regime of the kind that exists for the offshore wind and solar sector and has helped slash the cost of renewable energy technologies.

Additionally, all publicly-funded construction projects - except those related to defence - should be required to be zero-carbon, and landfill tax should be raised 100 per tonne by 2022/23 alongside tighter enforcement.

While it notes that carbon-intensive industries are widely distributed geographically, constituencies that belong to the Scottish National Party (SNP), voted to leave the EU, or are so-called 'Red Wall' seats have a higher-than-average exposure to such sectors.

Carbon-intensive industries like the oil and gas industry are heavily concentrated in areas held by SNP constituencies

Only three of the 12 sectors are predominantly located in Remain-supporting areas, including shipping and aviation, the latter of whom has emitted 125 per cent more carbon emissions since 1990 and lacks the technologies needed to decarbonise.

The report's authors admit decarbonisation could be politically challenging in places like Scotland, as the country's oil and gas industry is heavily concentrated in SNP areas, and the Conservative government wishes Scotland to remain in the United Kingdom.

Many of the areas that will experience the most disruption from decarbonisation are also located in more economically depressed areas, such as the Red Wall seats, which has a high concentration of coal and lignite mining jobs.

But it insisted: 'There is no inevitable conflict between levelling up and net zero. With the right policies, the latter can drive the former and the transition can be, if not entirely painless, regionally progressive and economically productive.'

Shipping firms should hold a certain proportion of fuels from zero-carbon sources, says the report

For example, about four-fifths of the reduction in industrial emissions at major sites through hydrogen and over three-quarters from carbon capture and storage technologies could occur in Scotland, the Midlands, and the North of England.

Co-author Ted Christie-Miller wrote: 'The UK has successfully halved its emissions since 1990, but that means the low-hanging fruit have already been picked.

'The next phase will require the wholesale transformation of industries that are integral to our economy and vital for regional jobs. It is essential the Government helps these industries to make the transition, while helping new net zero industries to flourish.

'We need to green the giants of industry through smart regulation and bold industrial strategy, using the energy around COP26 and the recovery from the pandemic to drive a net zero agenda over the next decade that is as ambitious as the pandemic response has been over the past year.'
New Delhi, March 26 : The Supreme Court on Friday issued notice to the Centre on a PIL by BJP MP Subramanian Swamy against the validity of Places of Worship Act 1991, which mandated to maintain character of all shrines in the country, as it was on August 15, 1947.

Swamy, in his plea, argued that the Act of 1991 being unconstitutional is also void ab initio and against the basic structure of the Constitution. A bench headed by Chief Justice S.A. Bobde and comprising Justices A.S. Bopanna and V. Ramasubramanian, sought a response from the Centre on the fresh plea. The top court also tagged the plea with a pending plea of advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay.

The plea, having a student, Satya Paul Sabharwal, as co-petitioner, was argued by Swamy himself. Swamy,80, said the Act is against the basic structure of the Constitution, as it barred any person to approach the top court under Article 32 for enforcement of his or her fundamental rights including the right to religion.

"That the Act of 1991 is a barrier, depriving the Petitioner(s) the right to pray at a place where, due to foreign oppression and invasion a Hindu Temple of a certain significance according to faith and belief of Hindus was/is converted, inviting this Court to interpret in lieu of the well documented history and review in checking the constitutional validity of such Act", said the Swamy's plea.

The plea cited the instance of Kashi Vishwanath temple at Varanasi, one of the twelve Jyotirlingas, which was first destroyed by the army of Qutb-ud-din Aibak, in 1194 CE. In 1669 CE, Emperor Aurangzeb again destroyed the temple and built the Gyanvapi Mosque in its place. Swamy claimed that the remains of the erstwhile temple can be seen at the foundation, the columns and at the rear part of the mosque.

"it is most respectfully submitted that prohibiting the Petitioners from approaching Court with respect to suit or any other proceedings to handover the land of any temple of certain significance hit by Article 25 and 26, in lieu of putting it under the term of conversion or under the concept of Limitation (barred) is wrong and therefore, the Act of 1991 should be struck down as unconstitutional and as ultra vires", added the plea.

The plea argued that the Act is barrier, which deprives the petitioner the right to pray at a place where, due to foreign oppression and invasion, a Hindu temple of a certain significance according to faith and belief of Hindus was converted.
Toronto, March 26, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business (CCAB) President and CEO, Tabatha Bull, issued the following statement today outlining further opportunities to support Indigenous business through this years Budget from the Government of Ontario.

CCAB was pleased to be invited to the technical briefing on the province of Ontarios budget. We welcome the Government of Ontarios focus on economic recovery and the additional efforts to support small business, with additional focus on those in the hardest hit sectors, including tourism.

We especially appreciate the Government of Ontarios commitment to provide every household in Ontario with broadband internet by 2025.

CCAB has continued to highlight that reliable internet is not universally available to Indigenous businesses in Canada. CCAB's research work, Promise and Prosperity: Indigenous Business Survey (2016), found that four in ten either have no internet connection (14%) or a connection on which they cannot fully rely (26%); these problems are more common for Indigenous businesses located on-reserve, and in remote areas.

The Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development has noted that the lack of access to reliable internet makes it more difficult for Indigenous entrepreneurs in remote and rural communities to access business training skills programs. While free online business skills training is widely available, poor internet connectivity hinders its use.

Coupled with increased access to broadband should be a proportional increase in Indigenous ownership and equity stake in Ontarios broadband infrastructure. This solution would build Indigenous capacity and support place-based economic development opportunities and the self-determination of Indigenous peoples.

CCAB will continue to support the construction of resilient Indigenous-owned infrastructure, including broadband infrastructure to support Indigenous self-determination.

About Tabatha Bull, President & CEO, Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business.

Tabatha is Anishinaabe, a proud member of Nipissing First Nation. As CCABs president and CEO she is committed to help rebuild and strengthen the path towards reconciliation and a prosperous Indigenous economy to benefit all Canadians.

Serving the Indigenous community through CCABs commitment to support the Indigenous economy, Tabatha works with government, notably through her role with the federal governments recent COVID-19 Supply Council, and various organizations, committees, and boards on Indigenous economic development.

An electrical engineer, Tabatha informs Canadas energy sector by participating on many boards including Ontarios electricity system operator IESO, the Positive Energy Advisory Council, the MARS Energy Advisory Council, and the C.D. Howe Institutes Energy Policy program.

As a recent appointment to the Catalyst CEO advisory board in Canada, Tabatha collaborates with some of the world's most powerful CEOs and leading companies to help build workplaces that work for women. Also, a member of Queens University Circle of Advisors, Centennial Colleges Indigenous Circle, and a member of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce board, Tabatha is dedicated to diversity and removing systematic barriers to improve business competitiveness across all industry sectors.

About Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business

CCAB is committed to the full participation of Indigenous peoples in Canadas economy. As a national, non-partisan association, its mission is to promote, strengthen and enhance a prosperous Indigenous economy through the fostering of business relationships, opportunities, and awareness. CCAB offers knowledge, resources, and programs to its members to cultivate economic opportunities for Indigenous peoples and businesses across Canada. For more information visit ccab.com.

Attachment

Amanda Charles Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business 647-289-2753 acharles@ccab.com

Source: Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business
The anger of Karen Andrews carried so much heat on Tuesday morning it could have fired up an entire government if there was a way to bottle it and share it around.

Andrews, the Minister for Industry and Science, was livid over the story of a Liberal adviser filming himself masturbating on the desk of a female MP, in another sordid insight into a problem that goes beyond Parliament House.

Karen Andrews anger when she spoke to the media on Tuesday could have fired up an entire government. Credit:Rhett Wyman

There seemed to be years of frustration in Andrews voice as she asked for heads to roll among Liberal staffers who shared the video. The blood seemed to drain from her face as she spoke to journalists in a Parliament House corridor, to the point where she really was white with anger.

Nobody asked Andrews to speak out that morning. The Prime Ministers Office did not send her out to help the boss. She was just fed up. So she chose to speak to Radio National and a gaggle of journalists. Unlike many around her, Andrews was not raised in the hothouse of Parliament House. She never worked as a staffer. She is a mechanical engineer who worked in business before entering Parliament at 50. Perhaps her revulsion was stronger because she had a life outside politics.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) - A Syracuse woman has been charged in the killing of a 93-year-old woman whose body was found decomposing inside an apartment complex last week.

Syracuse.com reports that 23-year-old Victoria Afet pleaded not guilty Thursday to first-degree murder in the death of retired teacher Connie Tuori.

A message was sent to her attorney seeking comment. Police say surveillance footage shows Afet following the woman into her home at the Skyline Apartments on Feb. 26.

Authorities say Tuori had been dead in her apartment for nearly three weeks before police checked on her.
A woman is dead and five others were hospitalized after eating 'bun rieu chay (vegan crab noodle soup) cooked by the deceased victims family in the southern Vietnamese province of Binh Duong last week.

The family of 53-year-old C.N.H. cooked bun rieu chay at a temple about two kilometers from their house in An Thanh Town, Thuan An District, Binh Duong, last Saturday, according to her husband and son.

C.N.H.s 42-year-old sister, C.N.M., and M.s 16-year-old child, P.T.T.T., together with three other women, were among the diners hospitalized after eating the soup.

H., M., and T. were taken to 115 Peoples Hospital, Cho Ray Hospital, and the Childrens Hospital 2 in Ho Chi Minh City, respectively, after exhibiting myasthenia gravis, circulatory failure, and respiratory distress, according to the citys Department of Health.

According to H.s family, a jar of vegan pate had been included in the ingredients. They suspect this was the cause of the incident.

At Cho Ray Hospital, M. was transfered to the neurology department, where she was diagnosed with encephalopathy.

During doctors follow-up, the female patient suffered sudden cardiac arrest and respiratory failure. The doctors were able to revive her.

Afterward, the family asked to take her home where she later passed away.

M.s initial test results had not been directed to Botulinum poisoning, with additional verification and re-examination for final results still underway, Dr. Nguyen Tri Thuc, director of Cho Ray Hospital, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Thursday afternoon.

However, results of toxin tests in the patients urine had previously showed inorganic phosphorus content, which is commonly found in rat poison.

Meanwhile, H. and T. are still in intensive care at 115 Peoples Hospital and the Childrens Hospital 2, respectively, awaiting consultation of doctors from Bach Mai -- a top hospital in Hanoi.

The patients were also given the antidote to Clostridium botulinum, the main agent identified in the vegan pate that allegedly caused the poisoning.

As for the three other women, one case, born in 1979, was hospitalized on Wednesday while the remaining two, born in 1999 and 1978, were admitted on Thursday night at 115 Peoples Hospital.

The two cases hospitalized on Thursday night have been given oxygen and have seen their muscular strength weaken, according to Dr. Tran Van Song, deputy director of 115 Peoples Hospital.

The case hospitalized on Wednesday was also given the antidote to Clostridium botulinum, with her muscular strength having improved.

However, the hospital has run out of the antidote.

The new batch of the antidote to Clostridium botulinum is expected to arrive at the hospital with doctors from Bach Mai.

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Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said Wednesday that his country is committed to give Iran its due share of water under a decades-long bilateral treaty but he stressed that Tehran will have to pay for any additional requirements, Voice of America reports. We will honor our commitments. However, anything beyond the stipulated quota would require discussions, Ghani said in a televised speech after inaugurating the newly built Kamal Khan Dam in southwestern Nimroz border province.

If you give us oil you can then ask for (more) water, or give us something in return, Ghani said. He insisted that from now on, Afghanistan will not give free water to anyone.

There was no immediate comment from Tehran to the assertions made by the Afghan leader. Iran, a lower riparian country, has long objected to the structure of the Kamal Khal Dam, arguing it would severely restrict water flow from the Helmand River into the Iranian border province of Sistan-Baluchistan and will destabilize it..

Afghan officials reject Iranian assessments and describe the project as mutually beneficial. They maintain the dam will help their country manage the water flow and ensure Iran receives its rightful share.

Kabul and Tehran signed an agreement in 1973 that requires Afghanistan to annually release 850 million cubic meters of water to Iran from the nearly 1,300-kilometer-long transboundary Helmand River basin.

However, the treaty was neither ratified nor implemented due to decades of political turmoil and war in Afghanistan, leaving the countrys irrigation and hydropower infrastructure in shambles.

The new dam, constructed at an estimated cost of $110 million, is located in the Chahar Borjak district of Nimroz on the Iranian border.

The construction of the dam started about five decades ago but the outbreak of the Afghan factional conflict in the mid 1970s and subsequent military invasion of the country by the then Soviet Union halted the project until 2011, when it took off again.

Afghan officials said Wednesday the dam, with a capacity to store 52 million cubic meters water, will irrigate 174,000 hectares of agricultural land and generate about nine megawatts of electricity.

Iranian officials are reported to be complaining that Afghanistans damming of rivers has reduced water flow to their country.

Afghan officials allege that Iran has developed close ties with the Taliban insurgency to pressure Kabul to stop construction of the dam.

Afghan state television, in a report aired Wednesday, claimed that during the construction period Taliban attacks had killed and injured 35 people, including security guards and experts associated with the project.

The insurgent group denies the charges, and Tehran maintains its ties with the Taliban are meant to encourage Afghan warring sides to negotiate a political settlement to the countrys long conflict.

Disputes over water between Iran and Afghanistan date to the 1870s when Afghanistan was under British control, according to a recent report by the Washington-based Atlantic Councils South Asia Center. It said a British officer drew the Iran-Afghan border along the main branch of the Helmand River.

In 1939, the Iranian government of Reza Shah Pahlavi and Mohammad Zahir Shahs Afghanistan government signed a treaty on sharing the rivers waters, but the Afghans failed to ratify it, the report noted.
A hot potato: Amazon's workers say that peeing into water bottles is part and parcel of the job, yet the company insists it never happens. The retail giant got into a Twitter spat with Democratic Rep. Mark Pocan, one of many people that took issue with an executive who labeled the firm a "progressive workplace."

The situation began with Amazon consumer chief Dave Clark trying to start an online beef with Sen. Bernie Sanders ahead of the Vermont politician's visit to its Bessemer, Alabama, warehouse today. Sanders' arrival comes as the fulfillment center pushes to unionize.

2/3 for our constituents: a $15 minimum wage, health care from day one, career progression, and a safe and inclusive work environment.  Dave Clark (@davehclark) March 24, 2021

"I welcome @SenSanders to Birmingham and appreciate his push for a progressive workplace. I often say we are the Bernie Sanders of employers, but that's not quite right because we actually deliver a progressive workplace", tweeted Clark. He also lauded Amazon's "safe and inclusive work environment."

Plenty of Twitter users called out Clark on his tweet, highlighting some of the complaints made against Amazon by its workers: firing pregnant women for taking too many bathroom breaks, aggressive anti-union measures, working conditions that are far from safe, and elevators used exclusively for products. Many also noted the numerous incidents of staff urinating in plastic bottles as they don't have time or aren't allowed to go to the bathroom.

Paying workers $15/hr doesn't make you a "progressive workplace" when you union-bust & make workers urinate in water bottles. https://t.co/CnFTtTKA9q  Rep. Mark Pocan (@repmarkpocan) March 25, 2021

Wisconsin congressman Pocan joined in. "Paying workers $15/hr doesn't make you a "progressive workplace" when you union-bust & make workers urinate in water bottles," he wrote.

The Amazon News account then got involved, responding to Pocan with: "You don't really believe the peeing in bottles thing, do you? If that were true, nobody would work for us."

Amazon's denial opened the floodgates. Author James Bloodworth, who worked undercover at the company, tweeted: "I was the person who found the pee in the bottle. Trust me, it happened." He also cited a survey of UK-based Amazon warehouse workers that found 74% were afraid to go to the bathroom during a shift out of fear of missing productivity targets.

Look at the stat and consider the context https://t.co/9bSy3Jv7hC pic.twitter.com/DLlxdb7DV3  James Bloodworth (@J_Bloodworth) March 25, 2021

Elsewhere, Business Insider spoke to five current and former Amazon employees who said peeing in bottles was part of the job due to the strict time constraints placed on drivers and contract workers.

"They keep track of your movements  how many times you stop, how fast you drive," Enrique Sanchez, who worked as a driver for eight months in 2020, told the publication. "Using the restroom in the van is the only option sometimes."

Amazon is used to dealing with PR disasters and bad publicity at this pointthe current fiasco comes soon after reports of its delivery workers being forced to agree to AI surveillance or risk losing their jobs. But with its net income jumping from $11.6 billion in 2019 to $21.33 billion last year, the all-important bottom line isn't being affected.
They Should Have Walked Him: Kale Stevenson's clutch homers spark Post 17 to doubleheader sweep
It was easy to root for Phil Mickelson at the PGA Championship last weekend. The little boy who learned to play golf left-handed by standing opposite his right-handed dad and mirroring dads swing has long been a crowd favorite. He is not only immensely gifted; he is imaginative and willing 
Four elementary schools in Florida received a white powdery substance in the mail accompanied by a cryptic message about punishment that required officers in hazmat gear to intervene, according to federal prosecutors.

Now a 66-year-old former teacher is fessing up.

Maria Bassi Lauro pleaded guilty this month to concocting a hoax involving biological agents and toxins, the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Middle District of Florida said Friday in a news release. She faces up to 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

A defense attorney representing Lauro did not immediately respond to McClatchy News request for comment Friday.

Prosecutors said four schools within an hour or so of Orlando received letters in 2018 from an unknown sender. They included Citrus Ridge Academy and Four Corners Charter School in Davenport, Groveland Elementary School in Groveland and Laurel Elementary School in Poinciana.

All four of the mailings contained a suspicious powder, and three of the mailings included notes indicating they were punishment, prosecutors said in Fridays news release.

Police in hazmat gear were called in response, according to the release. After testing, prosecutors said law enforcement determined the substance was sodium bicarbonate  better known as baking soda.

Investigators later determined Lauro had been fired for poor performance from all four of the schools, according to the release. The recipients of her letters had reportedly played a role in her performance review or termination.

Lauro admitted she had sent the mailings because she was upset with each victim and school, prosecutors said. Additionally, she admitted she sent the mailings with the intent to threaten each victim and cause them to believe he or she had been exposed to a deadly biological toxin.

Lauro was indicted by a grand jury in September 2019 on six counts of making threats and hoaxes involving biological agents and toxins, court documents show.

She was released under a $20,000 bond and awaits sentencing.
From the moonlit foggy film noirs of the 1940s to the sordid crime thrillers of the '70s, to the Golden Gate Bridge-destroying blockbusters of the 2010s, San Francisco's hills have long been a worthy backdrop for Hollywood directors.

Outside of LA and New York, no American city may be a more popular setting in film, and no San Francisco neighborhood is more frequently seen in cinema than North Beach.

Unlike many S.F. neighborhoods, North Beach really hasn't changed its look in 50 years or more  and those Italian cafes, white churches and narrow hills bisected by Columbus Avenue can be spotted in more than 100 movies.

We picked our favorite 10 and mapped them for you. Next time you're strolling around Columbus and Broadway, take some detours to find the corner where an over-sexed Michael Douglas drove up some steps, or where Jimmy Stewart lost his mind.

1. "House on Telegraph Hill" (1951)  1541 Montgomery St.

This eerie noir about a Nazi death camp escapee who takes on a fake identity before becoming embroiled in a whodunit in San Francisco doesn't make much narrative sense, but it does feature some great shots of the creepy titular Victorian looking over North Beach  the historic Julius' Castle restaurant on Telegraph Hill.

As the trailer proudly proclaims: "This is THAT house."

2. "Vertigo" (1958)  900 Lombard St.

Hitchcock's 1958 psycho-noir isn't just the greatest movie shot in San Francisco, it's the greatest movie shot anywhere. The slow-moving masterpiece is somehow both a tense thriller and a meditation on love and loss. It also has more than one very satisfying twists. If you haven't seen it, do that now, and if you have, maybe take a walk by 900 Lombard St.  which James Stewart's Scottie calls home when not spiraling into madness around the streets of San Francisco.

Here are Scottie and Kim Novak's Judy (or is it Madeleine, or Carlotta?) flirting outside the apartment in front of Coit Tower, before things get really weird.

3. "Basic Instinct" (1992)  Kearny Street

Paul Verhoeven's hypersexual and melodramatic neo-noir is probably most remembered for Sharon Stone's Catherine Tramell deciding to be interrogated by the cops sans underwear as Newman from "Seinfeld" sweats it out, but it's also an underrated Hitchcockian cat-and-mouse chase around San Francisco.

Michael Douglas' disgraced (and very horny) homicide detective Nick Curran embarks on a long car chase in the final act, which at one point sees him chasing a Lotus up the steep steps on Kearny Street, between Broadway and Vallejo.

4. "Dirty Harry" (1971)  Washington Square Park

This iconic 1971 San Francisco bloodbath is heralded as one of the greatest crime thrillers of all time, though aspects of it have not dated well. It is thrilling, and does include a lot of crime, but it's also a right wing fantasy with unapologetic fascist tendencies.

Some of the shots of a crime-riddled, paranoid San Francisco are really memorable, particularly the incredible panoramic opening shot that follows Clint Eastwood as he prowls around the top of the Bank of America Building at 555 California St., and the do-you-feel-lucky-punk showdown on Montgomery Street.

North Beach gets its moment when the unhinged killer Scorpio (based on San Francisco's own Zodiac Killer, who was on the loose at the time) threatens to snipe a Catholic priest leaving Saints Peter and Paul Church in Washington Square Park.

5. "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" (1978)  Bimbo's 365 Club

The '70s remake of this horror classic is maybe the scariest movie ever shot in San Francisco. The opening makes Alamo Square feel like a foggy hellscape (with a short scary cameo from Robert Duvall as a priest on the children's swing) and it only gets weirder from there. We won't spoil it here, but the movie is worth watching for the iconic final shot alone.

The old kitchen at the Bimbo's 365 Club on Columbus is the venue for Donald Sutherland finding a rat turd in some soup, as plant people take over the city.

6. "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home" (1986)  Kearny and Columbus

This joyously funny and unconventional '80s Star Trek installment sees the crew of the USS Enterprise land right in the middle of North Beach on Kearny and Columbus, before splitting up to, um, find humpback whales to send their call to an enormous cylindrical probe circling Earth.

Here's Captain Kirk and Spock (played by Leonard Nimoy, who also directed the film) walking confusedly down Columbus, before getting kicked off a bus and strolling past The Saloon on Grant and Fresno Street.

7. "Bullitt" (1968)  Enrico's

This movie features the greatest (and loudest) car chase in cinema history, that somehow barrels from Potrero Hill to the Marina and back through McClaren Park and San Bruno. Steve McQueen's ineffably cool Lt. Frank Bullitt also visits many more corners of San Francisco on foot, hunting down murderous mob hitmen.

In North Beach, he visits an informant at Enrico's, the jazzy Broadway haunt of poets, politicians and people watchers that shuttered in 2006.

8. "Mrs. Doubtfire" (1993)  520 Green St.

Before coming up with the ingenious plan to spend time with his estranged kids as British nanny "Mrs. Euphegenia Doubtfire," Robin Williams' bawdy Mary Poppins rents an apartment in North Beach, at 520 Green St., above Baonecci Ristorante near Telegraph Hill. It was revealed this week that there's apparently an even more vulgar R-rated version of the movie out there somewhere.

9. "So I Married An Axe Murderer" (1993)  1462 Grant Ave.

Mike Myer's S.F.-based black comedy is starting to get the feel of a cult classic (read our oral history of the making of the movie here). One of the most iconic scenes was shot right in the heart of North Beach in what was then Prudente's Italian Deli and is now North Beach Pizza, on the corner of Grant and Union. For the purposes of the meat flinging date scene, the location was turned into "Meats of the World" butcher shop.

10. "Zodiac" (2007)  The Transamerica Pyramid

David Fincher's definitive take on the most famous San Francisco serial killer is a slow burn that sticks with you long after the final ambiguous scene. The famously obsessive director used a clever and evocative technique to portray the passage of time in the middle of the story a time-lapse recreation of the construction of the Transamerica Pyramid from a vantage point somewhere on Columbus Avenue, giving us one of the most satisfying 30 seconds in San Francisco movie history.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-26 22:10:33|Editor: huaxia

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VIENNA, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Austria will be a pioneer in the European Union (EU) in introducing a digital "green pass" to enable safe travel during the coronavirus pandemic, said Health Minister Rudolf Anschober on Friday.

The minister confirmed to journalists that two thirds of Austrians should have received at least the first shot of vaccine against COVID-19 by the beginning of July.

The "green pass" would cover test results and the recovered status of those who have survived COVID-19 by the end of April, and the data from the electronic vaccination certificate should then be added in June, said Anschober.

He called on other EU member states to develop and implement something similar in a timely manner, and anchor a mutual recognition.

Austria reported 3,895 new coronavirus cases on Friday, the highest daily count this year. The death toll rose by 22 to 9,200. A total of 2,151 people are receiving hospital treatment, 463 of them in intensive care, according to the Interior Ministry.

The Alpine country has had a total of 530,288 infection cases so far, data showed. Enditem
The Crowne Plaza Hotel, Northwood, Santry which will is being used as a quarantine hotel for those arriving into Ireland . Picture; Gerry Mooney

The first travellers for Irelands mandatory quarantine regime arrived at their hotel this afternoon, with one appearing to resist securitys efforts to be escorted into the hotel.

Travellers from Dublin Airport were brought to the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Santry in two separate groups, arriving at the hotel just one hour after their flight landed.

One woman, claiming to be Irish, appeared to initially resist securitys efforts to be escorted into the hotel.

The woman seemingly refused to exit the bus for a number of minutes and had to be escorted inside.

Expand Close A traveller enters the Crowne Plaza hotel, Santry, near Dublin Airport Photo: Brian Lawless/PA Wire / Facebook

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The first bus arrived at the hotel at approximately 12.35pm, just one hour after a flight from Dubai landed on Irish soil.

The three passengers on the first bus, a man and two women, arrived at the hotel on a bus escorted by Defence Forces.

A second bus, also escorted, arrived shortly afterwards carrying a total of 17 passengers, including two families.

Defence Forces stood at the entrance to the hotel as the passengers departed the bus.

Hotel security were also on hand to ensure passengers arrived at the hotel safely.

The travellers are required to stay 12 nights at the quarantine hotel.

The Crowne Plaza Hotel is the first facility available to travellers arriving into the country.

The passengers flew into Dublin Airport from Dubai at 11:25am.

Guests will be supervised by private security during their stay and will be permitted to go outside for air and exercise once they present a negative PCR test.

Mandatory quarantine applies to all passengers travelling from, or transiting through, designated high risk states, regardless of nationality, as well as passengers who arrive from any location not in receipt of a negative RT-PCR test taken 72 hours prior of their arrival in Ireland.

Expand Close A member of the defence forces directs a passenger arriving at Dublin Airport from one of 33 high risk countries who will be transported to a mandatory 12-day hotel quarantine Photo: Brian Lawless/PA Wire / Facebook

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Whatsapp A member of the defence forces directs a passenger arriving at Dublin Airport from one of 33 high risk countries who will be transported to a mandatory 12-day hotel quarantine Photo: Brian Lawless/PA Wire

However, once these passengers then provide a negative PCR test they can conduct their quarantine at home.

Travellers are expected to pay for their quarantine service. According to the portal that went live during the week, the rate for a standard package of 12 nights inclusive of all services for one adult is 1875.

The additional rate for one adult sharing or a child over 12 is 625 and the additional rate for a child sharing aged 4-12 is 360. Infants under 3 years of age are free.

The day rate for those entering the country from non-designated states with without a negative PCR test starts at 150.

Minister Donnelly confirmed this week that it is an offence for people to exit the hotel before the official end of their quarantine.

It is an offence to leave, so what would happen is the hotel operator would contact the gardai and they intervene, he said.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 26)  With nearly 10,000 new COVID-19 infections logged on Friday, the country recorded an all-time high for the fifth time in a week, according to the Department of Health's case bulletin.

The country first broke its all-time high on March 19 with over 7,000 new infections that day.

The DOH said there were 9,838 new cases, pushing the total to 702,856. Of this number, 15.5% or 109,018 are active cases, also a new record for the highest number of currently ill patients. At least 95.1% of the active cases have mild symptoms, 3% have no symptoms, 0.7% are in critical condition, 0.8% are severe cases and 0.42% are in moderate condition.

The death toll rose to 13,149 or 1.87% of the case count after 54 more patients died. Meanwhile, 663 others got better, raising the recovery count to 580,689 or 82.6% of the COVID-19 tally.

The DOH said it reclassified 22 survivors into fatalities after validation and removed 29 duplicates, including 14 recoveries. One case that was negative for the coronavirus was also removed from the count.

Among Filipinos abroad, the Department of Foreign Affairs reported 27 new cases, with the total now at 16,067 in 90 countries. Of this total, 3,855 cases have been verified by the DOH, the DFA said. There were 16 patients that recovered while no new fatalities were recorded. The survivor count is 9,738 and the death toll is 1,047, with 5,282 people undergoing treatment.

Positivity rate

The bulletin also posted a positivity rate of 17.3% based on data as of noon of March 25. Positivity rate is the percentage of positive individuals out of all patients tested in a day. The new rate is high since the World Health Organization recommended that the figure should be kept below 5%.

A higher percentage suggests more widespread transmission and that there are likely more cases which have not yet been detected, according to Johns Hopkins University. However, the DOH will still update the rate as seven testing laboratories have yet to submit their data.

The DOH said there were 32,069 patients recently tested, which means that approximately 5,547 people were positive. The department did not include the exact number of positive individuals unlike in previous bulletins.

The department's COVID-19 tracker also gave an updated positivity rate for March 24 at 17.8%, the highest after April 18 last year, when the figure was at 18%. Out of 44,451 people tested, there were 7,921 that were positive.

Where did we go wrong?

Pediatric infectious diseases expert Dr. Anna Ong-Lim said other countries were able to curb the spread of the coronavirus because of their effective contact tracing systems.

She related that the initial plan for the country at the start of the COVID-19 outbreak last year, was to trace at least 37 contacts per individual case but this proved to be difficult. The focus right now should be limiting the people's movement while addressing the gaps in response, Ong-Lim added.

"If there will be some kind of tighter community quarantine imposition, then this has to be tied together with actions that would really resolve the gaps so we don't have to do this once more," she told CNN Philippines' The Final Word.

Amid proposals to abolish the Inter-Agency Task Force, Ong-Lim pointed out that the body was able to get inputs from the health and economic sectors in their decisions, but she stressed the need for coordination.
ATLANTA, GA / ACCESSWIRE / March 26, 2021 / A group of minority real estate investors will headline a speaking tour to share insights into creating generational wealth. The Atlanta event dubbed the Generation Wealth Tour on April 10th represents the kickoff of an eight-city national tour that will crisscross the U.S. this summer, teaching attendees how to build wealth through entrepreneurship. The events are free.

The speakers, on what is being called the "Generation (of) Wealth Tour" or GWT, are investors who accumulated their wealth in a variety of ways, but have a common focus on real estate.

Organizers point out that this is not a real estate only event.

Those interested in attending the event can find more info on their website .

Studies conducted before lockdown indicated black household wealth sat at just $17k, while average white households had net worth ten times that amount, approx. $175k. Recent data indicates this gap has widened in the wake of COVID induced layoffs and evictions, which disproportionately hit black households.

Organizers are banking that as the country opens back up, many will flock to events like GWT, as the memory of COVID motivates families to get their financial houses in order.

The first event takes place April 10th at the Georgia Conference Center.

The full roster of speakers: Alex Saenz, Brandon Rule, Chris Senegal, Max Maxwell, Elijah Rubin, Komichel Johnson, Chris Jefferson, Jimmy Tu, Jordan Morgan, Auctavius Bennett, Vince Harris, Brandon Riddick-Seales and Nasar El-Arabi.

Other tour cities: Houston, Charlotte, Chicago, New York, Washington D.C., Phoenix and Dallas.

For more info or interviews with speakers, contact below:

CONTACT:

David Harding

dave@maxwellhardingagency.com

+1-3107338672

SOURCE: Max Maxwell

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/637634/Financial-Education-Tour-Debuts-April-10th-in-Atlanta
The ABC has boldly declared 'there is no such thing as free speech in Australia' after banning users during a heated discussion about a transgender swimmer on the national broadcaster's Facebook page.

The strident declaration about free speech came after some users were kicked off the page over alleged transphobic and sexist comments.

A page moderator had earlier urged users to be constructive, not nasty, when commenting about an article about a transgender swimmer.

In the article, swimmer Cassy Judy said she became a target for 'hurtful' comments after McIver's Ladies Baths, in Coogee, banned pre-surgery trans women.

McIver's Ladies Baths' decision to deny some transgender women access was the subject of an ABC article which sparked a fierce debate and saw the public broadcaster ban some Facebook users on its page

An ABC Australia Facebook page moderator claimed 'there is no such thing as free speech in Australia' in a heated online discussion on Thursday

The ABC Australia Facebook page moderator posts which have caused a stir

'I feel like it's given license to some people to come out and say things that are quite hurtful to trans women like myself or gender nonbinary people,' she told the ABC.

'Things like ... 'You are what's between your legs'.'

'For me, [the baths] was a place where I went before surgery just to feel accepted and included as a woman.'

An initial moderator post in the article thread asked people to avoid being 'nasty' in response to the article and warned that the page 'will not tolerate any transphobic or sexist commentary'.

'We will be hiding comments and banning users without further notice if you breach our terms'.

It posted a link to the terms, which under the heading 'ABC Online Communities' said it encourages 'rigorous debate and the sharing of diverse opinions' but 'expects community members to treat each other with respect and courtesy'.

The conditions also reserve the right to 'edit, remove or exercise its discretion not to publish' comments if deemed to 'violate laws regarding harassment, discrimination, racial vilification, privacy or contempt' or to be 'abusive, offensive or obscene; inappropriate, off topic, repetitive or vexatious'.

Later on Thursday, the page moderator stated: 'We have deleted and banned users as per ABC's Terms of Use' and again provided the link.

From there, the moderator's message became notably more strident, stating: 'FYI - There is no such thing as free speech in Australia.'

'Hate speech or transphobic comments will not be tolerated regardless if it's your opinion.'

The subject of the ABC article which spurred fierce debate were the views of transgender swimmer Cassy Judy

'If it is your opinion than perhaps you need to educate yourself on equality, empathy and equity.'

The moderator challenged people to make a formal complaint - providing a link - 'If you're 'upset' about your harmful comments being removed and 'your taxpayer dollars'.'

The comments left in the discussion were heated, but appeared to be evenly balanced - some supportive of Ms Judy's statements and view, and some opposed.

Free speech in public forums is complex and depends on the context, however the Australian Human Rights Commission states: 'The Australian Constitution does not explicitly protect freedom of expression.'

Freedom of expression in media is generally accepted, but in a major international statement, is understood to be balanced by responsibility to show 'respect of the rights or reputations of others.'

Daily Mail Australia has reached out to the ABC and to the author of the original article, Monique Schafter, for comment.
At this stage now, my heart has actually come to an end.

These are the words of Limerick man Ian ODoherty, who has bravely shared his story ahead of Organ Donor Awareness

Week, which begins this Saturday, March 27.

Organised by the Irish Kidney Association, organ recipients and those on the organ donation waiting list are encouraged to share their stories to show the importance of organ donation.

Castletroy native, Ian ODoherty, is one of those who decided to share his story.

Currently in the Mater Hospital, the 46-year-old has been on the waiting list for a heart transplant since August 2020. The doctors have still not found a heart that is suitable for Ian after two attempts, but Ian remains hopeful.

Please God, let there be a heart out there for me and for everyone, he said in a video message which was streamed during the launch which took place virtually.

Ian has been ill since he was 26 years old, and 18 years later his heart has come to its end. I cant survive without these machines, he explained solemnly.

He has been stuck in the Mater Hospital since June 2020, with the bare minimum of visitors due to Covid-19. Christmas was the last time I saw my daughter, he said. "Being stuck in here, in a little room 24/7, its very lonely. I miss my daughter, I miss my dog, I miss my own surroundings and my own comforts.

The Irish Kidney Association reports that in Ireland there are anywhere between 550-600 people on waiting lists for organ transplants at any given time. Ian is one of many who suffer in this way.

To highlight the importance of organ donation, 60 public sites around the country are being lit up in green for the duration of Organ Donation Week, which runs from March 27 to April 3.

The Irish Kidney Association decided this year to go with the theme #lifeisagift, pass it on.

Dr Catherine Motherway, an Intensive Care Consultant in UHL, echoed this sentiment during her talk with the Irish Kidney Association during the launch.

The gift of life and the gift of an organ for a recipient is so life-changing and life-altering, said Dr Motherway, who was recently presented with a Limerick Person of the Month award.

Dr Motherway also made a point to acknowledge the heroic acts of those, and the families of those, who donate their organs.

I am so humbled everytime when I ask if their loved one wanted to be an organ donor and they say yes. It is truly amazing that people can do this in very tragic circumstances, she said.

As part of Organ Donation Week, the Irish Kidney Association and Dr Motherway is urging the public to have the conversation with their loved ones about if they would like to be an organ donor.

"At a time of such death and loss, people can give life, Dr Motherway explained aptly.

If you wish to support organ donation the Irish Kidney Association recommends carrying an organ donor card, permitting Code 115 to be included on your drivers licence and having an App on their smartphone.

Organ Donor Cards can be obtained by phoning the Irish Kidney Association on 01 6205306 or by Free-texting the word DONOR to 50050.

You can also visit ika.ie/get-a-donor-card or download the FREE digital organ donor card APP to your phone.
Mumbai: A major fire broke out at a COVID-19 hospital in the Bhandup region of Mumbai on Friday (March 26) morning. At least two casualties have been reported so far in the unfortunate incident. Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Prashant Kadam said that a rescue operation is underway.

The COVID-19 hospital is situated inside the Dreams Mall in the Bhandup region where the fire broke on Thursday (March 25) night.

"Two casualties have been reported in the fire incident. Rescue operation for 76 patients admitted to Covid care hospital is underway. Level-3 or a level-4 fire broke out on the first floor of a mall at 12.30 am. Around 23 fire tenders present at the spot," ANI quoted DCP Prashant Kadam. Two casualties were reported in the early morning.

Maharashtra: Fire breaks out at a hospital in Mumbai's Bhandup; rescue operation on "Cause of fire is yet to be ascertained. I've seen a hospital at mall for the first time. Action to be taken. 70 patients including COVID infected shifted to another hospital," says Mumbai Mayor pic.twitter.com/sq1K29PVhe  ANI (@ANI) March 25, 2021

Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar said that the cause of the fire is being investigated and at least 70 patients, including the COVID Positive, have been shifted to another hospital.

ANI quoted Mayor Kishori Pednekar as "This is the first time I have seen a hospital in a mall. This is a very serious situation. Seven patients were on ventilators. 70 patients have been taken to another hospital. There will be an investigation to ascertain the cause of the fire."

Death toll rises to ten in fire at Sunrise Hospital in Dreams Mall at Bhandup West, says Chief Fire Officer, Mumbai Fire Department.



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AN BORD Pleanala (ABP) has ordered an oral hearing into a proposal to build 179 apartments on the site of one of Ireland's most notorious mother and baby homes.

ABP ruled that clarification was now required on whether the development will encroach on a possible burial site at the former Bessborough mother and baby home in Cork - at one time the largest such facility operated in Ireland.

The oral hearing - to be staged virtually - will take place on April 21.

It is expected that a decision on the proposal will be made in late May or early June.

The application was lodged under the Strategic Housing Development (SHD) process which caters for large-scale residential developments.

MWB Two Ltd last year submitted two proposals - one to City Hall for an eight storey apartment block including 67 residential units in a mix of one and two bedroom apartments.

The second proposal was for a strategic housing development on other lands at Bessborough including three apartment blocks of between five and seven storeys offering a total of 179 residential units under the SHD process.

Last month the eight storey apartment block proposal was rejected.

Cork City Council is understood to have rejected the proposed eight storey apartment block on the basis of its scale and its relationship to the historic lands at Bessborough.

That ruling is currently under appeal.

The oral hearing into the separate 179 residential unit project was ordered by ABP for a number of reasons including concerns that the southern part of the development may encroach onto a potential burial ground.

ABP said clarification on this issue was important and what the implications would be "were remains to be found within areas identified for development.

Part of the development encroaches on an area marked on old maps as the 'Children's Burial Ground.'

Mother and baby home campaigners have argued that such burial sites need to be protected and preserved.

Taoiseach Micheal Martin last January acknowledged he had "deep concerns" over the proposed developments at Bessborough.

There needs to be first of all an examination, and the proper robust identification of the burial sites of all children, he said.

I would have deep concerns about construction going ahead, in the absence of that having been established and protected, and measures taken to protect such a burial site."

Cork's Sinn Fein TD Donnchadh O'Laoghaire said the project was "insensitive" to the site and should not proceed.

Catherine Coffey OBrien, whose mother Christina passed away last January, said a proper investigation of the Bessborough site was now warranted.

We want an independent body to come in and carefully assess the site. We then want the ground handed over to Cork City Council, to protect the site and to preserve it as a graveyard.

She said survivors do not want exhumations or massdisturbance of the site.

Campaigner Ann OGorman said Ireland owed a duty to those who suffered at Bessborough to locate and properly mark any burial plots.

Ms OGorman had a baby girl, Evelyn, at Bessborough but was told that her baby girl had died.

I want to see this investigated properly. We need closure - it would make me so happy to see that done.

Of the more than 900 babies who died at Bessborough or in Cork hospitals having been transferred from the mother and babies home over seven decades, less than 70 have known burial sites.

Bessborough was infamous for its high infant mortality rate.
SALEM, Ore.  Democrats in the Oregon Senate successfully passed a bill on Thursday that would allow local jurisdictions to bar concealed carry in certain public spaces.

Senate Bill 554, which passed the Senate in a 16-7 vote, would authorize the entities in charge of schools, hospitals, government buildings, schools, airports and other public places to adopt an ordinance barring concealed handguns in those buildings and adjoining grounds.

As written, Oregon law gives people with a concealed handgun license (CHL) an "affirmative defense" for possessing a firearm in public, even if guns are otherwise made illegal to carry in that area. If signed into law, SB 554 would allow the removal of that affirmative defense on the premises.

I am a gun owner. Im a military veteran and a former law enforcement officer. That means I have seen  many times  that when a gun is present the situation is more dangerous and the loss of life is more likely, said Senator James Manning, a Democrat who sponsored the bill. Senate Bill 554 does not impact ones ability to get a CHL, but if a public entity decides, they can eliminate firearms on their premise no matter your CHL status, which I believe removes intimidation and leads to a healthier workplace.

If one of the jurisdictions covered by the bill decides to ban guns, the bill requires that notice be posted at all entrances so that it is clearly visible. Violations of these ordinances would have a maximum penalty of five years' imprisonment, a fine of up to $125,000, or both.

The fee due to a county sheriff's office for initial issuance of a concealed handgun license would also increase from $50 to $100, and renewal would cost $75.

Senate Republicans issued a statement decrying the bill's passage, claiming that it would make Oregonians less safe by taking away the ability of "reasonable Oregonians" to defend themselves. They argued that CHL holders are statistically unlikely to commit felonies, and commit crimes less than police officers.

Let me be clear, this radical policy does absolutely nothing to solve gun violence or make communities safer, Senate Republican Leader Fred Girod said. It will make it worse. Democrats have brought forth zero evidence that this will do anything except criminalize responsible Oregonians. At a time when Democrats are advancing ideas that would embolden violent criminals and hamstring police, to simultaneously strip responsible Oregonians of self-defense rights is unconscionable.

The bill now moves on to the Oregon House for consideration.
[Update: After nearly a week, the Ever Given, the mammoth container ship stuck in the Suez Canal, has been freed.]

LONDON  The world got another warning this week about the perils of its heavy reliance on global supply chains. As a single ship ran aground in the Suez Canal, shutting down traffic in both directions, international commerce confronted a monumental traffic jam with potentially grave consequences.

The troubled craft is not just any vessel. The Ever Given is one of the worlds largest container ships, with space for 20,000 metal boxes carrying goods across the sea. And the Suez Canal is not just any waterway. It is a vital channel linking the factories of Asia to the affluent customers of Europe, as well as a major conduit for oil.

The fact that one mishap could sow fresh chaos from Los Angeles to Rotterdam to Shanghai underscored the extent to which modern commerce has come to revolve around truly global supply chains.
With just over a month to the Academy Awards, Australians could be forgiven for being baffled about the contenders for best picture.

Last year a batch of big-name movies were nominated for the top Oscar including Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, The Irishman, Joker, Ford v Ferrari, Marriage Story, 1917, Little Women, Jojo Rabbit and the winning Parasite.

But with the pandemic shutting cinemas and delaying movie releases, this years nominees are more niche titles. All well-made films, all well-worth watching. But much less well-known.

So how do they rate?
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) questions President-elect Joe Biden's nominee for Secretary of Defense, retired Army Gen. Lloyd Austin at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 19, 2021 in Washington. (Greg Nash-Pool/Getty Images)

Rep. Tom Cotton Introduces Legislation to Ban Critical Race Theory in US Military

Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton has introduced new legislation that seeks to ban critical race theory training within the United States military.

If passed, the bill (pdf) introduced on Thursday would prohibit U.S. Armed Forces and educational institutions operated or controlled by the Department of Defense from promoting such racist theories.

The legislation comes amid reports that U.S. Navy officials advised personnel to read books by authors Robin DiAngelo and Ibram X. Kendi claiming white people are inherently racist.

Our militarys strength depends on the unity of our troops and the knowledge that America is a noble nation worth fighting for, the Republican senator said in a press release.

Critical Race Theory teaches that race is a persons most important characteristic and that America is an evil, oppressive place, he said. That idea may be fashionable in left-wing circles and college classrooms, but it has no place in our military.

Not only will such racist ideas undermine our troops faith in each other, theyll also erode their trust in our countrys guiding principles. The United States military shouldnt be promoting such divisive, un-American ideas, he added.

Supporters of the Marxist theory say its necessary to fight against systemic racism, which they claim is prevalent in all of Americas institutions.

The senators legislation, called the Combatting Racist Training in the Military Act of 2021 would specifically ban ideas claiming the United States is a fundamentally racist nation and that certain races are fundamentally oppressive or oppressed.

The move comes after the Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Gilday released the latest version of the Professional Reading Program (CNO-PRP) on Feb. 23, which provides a regularly updated list of recommended books as part of the Navys effort to help develop the professionalism of all sailors.

The admirals list includes books that are overtly political, namely How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi, Sexual Minorities and Politics: An Introduction by Jason Pierceson, and The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander.

These works fall under the rubric of critical race theory, a racial form of Marxist philosophy which should not be allowed to poison our military, Reps. Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.) and Vicky Hartzler (R-Mo.) wrote in a March 11 letter obtained by Fox News.

Cottons bill also noted that the founding principles and belief of the United States is enshrined in the Declaration of Independence, that all humans are created equal and endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights.

The United States commitment to the equal dignity and natural rights of all mankind is the strongest possible defense against racism and oppression of all kinds, the senator wrote in the bill, adding that U.S. Armed Forces should not promote or otherwise encourage anti-American and racist theories that demoralize and divide its members while undermining its mission to bear truth, faith and allegiance to the Constitution.

GQ Pan contributed to this report.

From NTD News
A well-known principal at Sisler High School, George Heshka, has died  two weeks after an arbitrator ruled he was wrongfully suspended from his position of more than 40 years over allegations of misconduct.

A well-known principal at Sisler High School, George Heshka, has died  two weeks after an arbitrator ruled he was wrongfully suspended from his position of more than 40 years over allegations of misconduct.

Heshka, 87, died Thursday morning of complications related to a liver and stomach cancer diagnosis he received earlier this month.

SUPPLIED Heshka, 87, was supposed to return to work Monday, for the first time since Nov. 16, 2020.

He was supposed to return to work Monday, for the first time since the Winnipeg School Division suspended him with pay Nov. 16, 2020, over claims he had created a toxic workplace and tampered with exams. Instead, Heshka was bedridden with severe illness.

An arbitrator ordered the division reinstate Heshka as principal with reasonable restrictions in place, while investigations into the allegations continued.

"The division acted unreasonably in failing to carry out an appropriate balancing of its interests to those of (Heshka)," the arbitrator wrote in his final decision March 9, which outlined the award-winning educators commitment to his career and respected reputation.

WSD did not provide comment, citing personnel matters, but confirmed Heshka was expected at work this week and the division has sent condolences to the family.

"We were all so looking forward to welcoming him back to the place he built," said Carolyn Boyes, who teaches choir at Sisler.

JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Heshka, right, with the Lt.-Gov. Philip Lee after receiving the Order of Manitoba at the Manitoba Legislature in 2013.

Family members and former colleagues describe Heshka as a man who was passionate about social justice and whose love of education was a "calling" rather than a vocation. Heshka became the principal at Sisler in 1980, after 20 years of working as a teacher.

For much of his career, up until recently, he worked seven days a week.

He won numerous awards throughout his career, including an Order of Manitoba, Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, and an honorary doctor of letters from the University of Winnipeg.

During his address to the Class of 2013 at U of W, Heshka spoke about how he had grown up as a poor and illiterate student in the North End, "who raised himself above his class through education," recalls Jon Heshka, eldest of Heshkas two children.

"Thats the ethic and ethos that dad willed Sisler to become."

In 2004, Macleans magazine recognized Sisler  the largest high school in Winnipeg, with a population of more than 1,800 at present  as a leading Canadian high school under his leadership. More recently, the City of Winnipeg named a greenspace in Tyndall Park after Heshka.

JEFF DE BOOY / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Heshka, right, with Sisler High School Co-Presidents Robbie Bautista, left, and Sunny Gosal after Sisler was named one of the best high schools in the nation by MacLeans Magazine in 2004.

"Heshka saw two and three generations of families send their children to Sisler. He was a true iconoclast and a legend in the community," said Madalynne Iannone, a former vice-principal who worked alongside Heshka for 33 years.

In the arbitrators report, Heshka is quoted as saying he had no interest in retiring "early" in his late 50s or early 60s, as is common for principals. "Quite frankly, there remains a lot to be done at Sisler," he told the arbitrator.

Adrian Challis, a friend, former colleague and mentee, said Heshka had "one bottom line."

Heshka saw two and three generations of families send their children to Sisler. He was a true iconoclast and a legend in the community."  Madalynne Iannone, a former Sisler vice-principal

"If you were there for the sake of the student, if the student was the most important person in your job, he would support you," said Challis, adding Heshka challenged both his staff and students with fair rules and expectations.

On the rare occasion he wasnt working, Heshka visited with his son and daughter, Kristin, and enjoyed hiking, canoeing and reading political history.

A Canadian flag flew at half-mast in honour of Heshka on the Sisler grounds Thursday. A photo of the long-time principal, accompanied by the message, "Thank you, Dr. Heshka," and a bouquet of red and white roses were tied to the flagpole.

Former colleagues told the Free Press they will remember Heshka as a lover of cursive writing, who provided tutoring classes to ensure all students were at grade level, provided students with breakfast if they arrived at school hungry, and paved the way for a series of exceptional programs, ranging from dance to cyber defence.

Grade 9 student Harry Emnacen said Heshka was known for being strict  "but the students respected him for that."

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @macintoshmaggie
With few active Covid-19 cases, no new infections, nobody in hospital or Elderly Residential Services with the virus, and a successful vaccination campaign, the Gibraltar government lifted several of its social restrictions last night. The curfew has been abolished, and bars and restaurants may remain open until 2am.

From Sunday, masks will no longer have to be worn outdoors in Main Street and nearby streets, although they will still be obligatory in enclosed public places, shops and on public transport.

Announcing these changes, chief minister Fabian Picardo said: "We are at last leaving behind us our deadliest winter and entering our most hopeful spring. The global pandemic isn't entirely behind us and we must all move forward carefully to safeguard this incredible progress in the weeks and months ahead."
Puritan Medical Products is hiring for all positions, across all facilities. By joining Puritan, job-seekers will be embraced by a family-owned, innovative company with roots in Maine that stretch back more than 100 years.

Today, Puritan Medical ProductsNorth Americas largest manufacturer of COVID-19 testing swabsannounced plans to hire for all positions, launching a new advertising campaign aimed at job-seekers in Maine. With more than 1,200 employees at its Guilford and Pittsfield facilities, the Maine-based companywhich has operated in the state for over 100 yearsplans to add hundreds of more workers to meet demand for testing swabs. This includes positions in engineering, information technology, and operations management, among other departments.

As part of its campaign, Puritan will also expand its business operations into a new office space in Falmouth, which is scheduled to open in Fall 2021. The companys Falmouth location will house new employees and broaden its presence in Greater Portland and the rest of Southern Maine. Puritans campaign is part of the broader Works for ME effort, which encourages job-seekers in Maine to explore careers in trade industries. To boost the states economy, Puritan will donate part of its advertising spend to the Maine Blue Collar Scholarship Foundation, which provides financial assistance to those pursuing a career in the trades.

Our mission here at NEWS CENTER Maine is to make life better for Mainers. Working with companies like Puritan Medical Products supports our Works for ME efforts to motivate prospective students by raising awareness about career opportunities right here in Maine. We are proud to work with these companies that help fund the Maine Blue Collar Scholarship Program, said Adrienne Beaulieu, director of marketing at NEWS CENTER Maine.

Job-seekers interested in Puritan would join a rapidly growing company that is dedicated to cooperation, innovation, and the highest quality of production. As one of the worlds leading manufacturers of swab, diagnostic, and specimen collection products, Puritans can-do spirit has allowed it to grow exponentially in the past year, turning a public-health crisis into an unprecedented opportunity to serve Americans nationwide.

Maines trade industries are in desperate need of local talent, reinvigorating the trades that built our state and America writ large, said David Sands, a spokesman for WorksForME. We are proud to work with Puritan as they respond to the COVID-19 crisis and accelerate production of testing swabs for all Americans. By joining Puritan, job-seekers will be embraced by a family-owned, innovative company with roots in Maine that stretch back more than 100 years.

To schedule an interview, please contact Heather Seavey, Talent & Recruitment careers@puritanmedproducts.com

For more information, please visit http://www.puritanmedproducts.com/careers
Georgia state troopers were captured on video forcibly removing a Democratic lawmaker from outside Brian Kemp's office after she attempted to protest the governor's signing of a bill that overhauls the state's troubled voting procedures.

Kemp drew protests Thursday as he signed into law the sweeping Republican-sponsored overhaul of state elections that includes greater legislative control over how elections are run.

As Kemp delivered his remarks about the bill, he was interrupted by a commotion before a livestream of the event cut out.

Democratic state Rep Park Cannon was arrested by Capitol police amid a protest after knocking on the door of the governor's office during his remarks.

Video captured by a bystander shows Cannon, who is handcuffed with her arms behind her back, being forcibly removed from the Capitol by two officers, one on each arm.

Georgia state troopers were captured on video forcibly removing Democratic lawmaker Park Cannon (left knocking on Brian Kemp's door and right being handcuffed) from outside Brian Kemp's office after she attempted to protest the governor's signing of a bill

As Kemp delivered his remarks about the bill, he was interrupted by a commotion before a livestream of the event cut out. Rep Cannon (pictured in red) was arrested by Capitol police amid a protest after knocking on the door of the governor's office during his remarks

Video captured by a bystander shows Cannon, who is handcuffed with her arms behind her back, being forcibly removed from the Capitol by two officers, one on each arm

She says 'where are you taking me?' and 'stop' as she is taken from the building

She says 'where are you taking me?' and 'stop' as she is taken from the building.

In one clip of the video, Cannon says she's 'not doing anything' as police pull her through a metal detector and out the entrance of the building.

Other women, who appear to be a mix of lawmakers and reporters, are also heard questioning the officers about Cannon being forced outside.

Images from the Associated Press show Cannon being placed into the back of a patrol car. Cannon was charged with felony obstruction of law enforcement, punishable by 1 to 5 years in prison, and with disrupting a session of the General Assembly.

She was being held at the Fulton County jail, said an email from a Georgia State Patrol spokesperson, Lieut W. Mark Riley.

Just before 9.30pm, Cannon's lawyer, Gerald Griggs tweeted that the lawmaker 'is in the process of being released from the jail now'.

Video from the Atlanta branch of the NAACP showed protesters standing outside the jail in solidarity with Cannon.

The clip then shows Sen Raphael Warnock walking in the rain and into the building to 'get Representative Park Cannon', the NAACP said.

Cannon was protesting the signing of the bill, which Democrats and voting rights groups say will disproportionately disenfranchise voters of color.

It is one of a wave of GOP-backed election bills introduced in states around the country after former President Donald Trump stoked false claims that fraud led to his 2020 election defeat.

President Joe Biden called such GOP efforts 'un-American' and 'sick' during a news conference Thursday.

The Republican changes to voting law in Georgia follows record-breaking turnout that led to Democratic victories in the presidential contest and two US Senate runoffs in the once reliably red state.

Images from the Associated Press show Cannon being placed into the back of a patrol car

Cannon was charged with felony obstruction of law enforcement, punishable by 1 to 5 years in prison, and with disrupting a session of the General Assembly

Cannon was released form the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta, Georgia, early Friday morning

Protesters waited for Cannon to be released from the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta

Demonstrators gathered outside the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta late Thursday night and waited hours for Cannon's release Friday morning

Just before 9.30pm, Cannon's (pictured) lawyer tweeted that the lawmaker 'is in the process of being released from the jail now'

'After the November election last year, I knew, like so many of you, that significant reforms to our state elections were needed,' said Kemp, who drew Trump's ire after certifying Biden's victory in Georgia.

Kemp signed the bill less than two hours after it cleared the Georgia General Assembly.

The bill passed the state House 100-75, before the state Senate quickly agreed to House changes, 34-20. Republicans in the legislature supported it. Democrats were opposed.

At his first news conference, Biden harshly criticized Republican moves to limit voting rights.

'The Republican voters I know find this despicable, Republican voters, the folks outside this White House. I'm not talking about the elected officials. I'm talking about voters. Voters. And so I'm convinced that we'll be able to stop this because it is the most pernicious thing.' Biden said.

In Georgia, Democratic state Senate Minority Leader Gloria Butler called the efforts by Republicans 'voter suppression tactics'.

'We are witnessing right now a massive and unabashed assault on voting rights unlike anything we've seen since the Jim Crow era,' Butler added.

The law requires a photo ID in order to vote absentee by mail, after more than 1.3 million Georgia voters used that option during the COVID-19 pandemic.

It also cuts the time people have to request an absentee ballot and limits where ballot drop boxes can be placed and when they can be accessed.

Democratic Rep Rhonda Burnough said the bill is based on lies told by Republicans after November's election.

'Georgians turned out in record-breaking numbers because they could access the ballot,' Burnough said. 'Lies upon lies were told about our elections in response, and now this bill is before us built on those same lies.'

Kemp (center on Thursday) signed the bill less than two hours after it cleared the Georgia General Assembly

African Methodist Episcopal Church Bishop Reginald Jackson announces a boycott of Coca-Cola Co products outside the Georgia Capitol on Thursday in Atlanta. Jackson says Coca-Cola and other large Georgia companies haven't done enough to oppose restrictive voting bills

Ann White of Roswell holds protest signs on the North Wing stairs of the Georgia State Capitol building on day 38 of the legislative session in Atlanta on Thursday

Republican Rep Jan Jones said the provisions cutting the time people have to request an absentee ballot are meant to 'increase the likelihood of a voter's vote being cast successfully,' after concerns were raised about mail ballots not being received in time to be counted.

One of the biggest changes gives the GOP-controlled legislature more control over election administration. That has raised alarms about potential greater partisan influence.

The law replaces the elected secretary of state as the chair of the state election board with a new appointee of the legislature after Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger rebuffed Trump's attempts to overturn Georgia's election results.

It also allows the board to remove and replace county election officials deemed to be underperforming.

That provision is widely seen as something that could be used to target Fulton County, a Democratic stronghold covering most of Atlanta, which came under fire after long lines plagued summertime primary elections.

Republican Rep Barry Fleming, a driving force in crafting the law, said that provision would only be a 'temporary fix, so to speak, that ends and the control is turned back over to the locals after the problems are resolved.'

The law also reduces the timeframe in which runoff elections are held, including the amount of early voting for runoffs.

And it bars outside groups from handing out food or water to people in line to vote.

The law does not contain some of the more contentious proposals floated by Republicans earlier in the session, including limits on early voting on Sundays, a popular day for black churchgoers to vote in 'souls to the polls' events.

It instead mandates two Saturdays of early voting ahead of general elections, when only one had been mandatory, and leaves two Sundays as optional.
SCHENECTADY  The city's Democratic Party is about to begin something it has rarely seen - a wave of primaries for City Council seats.

With the deadline for filing petitions to get on the ballot in the rearview mirror, the field of candidates is shaping up to be the most spirited Democratic primary contest for City Council in years.

All eight registered Democrats who announced campaigns have submitted signatures to the county Board of Elections for ballot access by Thursdays filing deadline.

The eight are vying for five slots.

Ordinarily, three seats of the seven-member body would be on the ballot in November, but the resignations of Leesa Perazzo and Ed Kosiur last month created two additional vacancies.

As a result, the pack this year is broken into two different groups, and registered Democrats will cast ballots for two races on June 22.

One contest is for the four-year terms in which voters will select from a pool of four candidates seeking three seats:

All three incumbents  City Council President John Mootooveren and council members Karen Zalewski-Wildzunas and Marion Porterfield  are seeking re-election.

Damonni Farley is also seeking a seat.

The second race is to fill the two vacancies for the two remaining years on the unexpired terms of Perazzo and Kosiur.

Voters will select two candidates from a field of four: Doreen DiToro, Thearse McCalmon, Haileab Samuel and Carl Williams.

Winners would have to run again in 2023.

Despite the filing deadline, the field isnt cemented.

Democratic City Council candidates need 246 valid signatures for ballot access; Republicans, 75; Conservative Party, 10, and Working Families Party, 6, according to the county Board of Elections.

Yet its common practice for campaign surrogates to challenge the validity of their opponents signatures in an effort to knock them off the ballot.

General objections are due three days after a petition is filed. Those act as placeholders for more specific objections, which can be submitted up to six days after general objections are filed.

Objections and a protracted legal fight could leave the field unsettled for weeks until the county Board of Elections is required to certify the primary ballot by April 28.

This years political climate contains several dynamics that may animate the contest.

And a schism within the city Democratic Committee is emerging. Several members have cleaved off and are supporting DiToro, who was not endorsed by party brass during the interview process earlier this year and declared her candidacy only last Sunday, making her in effect an insurgent candidate going against the five-person endorsed slate.

City Council Majority Leader John Polimeni, who is backing DiToro, downplayed the potential for intraparty strife and declined to comment at length about party dynamics.

I think theres a lot of interest in the positions, Polimeni said.

Mootooveren, Porterfield and Zalewski-Wildzunas have all been endorsed by the city Democratic Committee alongside Williams and Samuel, giving them additional organizational and fundraising muscle.

Democratic officials, who lead a party with a heavy enrollment edge over the Republicans, initially sought to quash a primary by having Williams and Samuel appointed by the City Council.

While Mootooveren and Porterfield wanted to fill the slots, Polimeni, Zalewski-Wildzunas and council member Carmel Patrick sought to keep the seats open in an attempt to kindle the contest.

City Democratic Committee Chair Tom Bellick acknowledged the situation isnt ideal.

This is America, and anyone who wants to get involved, I see it as a positive, Bellick said on Thursday. It makes my job harder, but thats fine.

Im not going to stand in anyones way if they want to run for office, he said. Ill work hard for my endorsed candidates.

Democrats have a 4-1 enrollment edge over Republicans in the city, and over the last two decades, only two candidates with GOP backing, Vince Riggi and Cathy Lewis, won elected office.

Riggi, an independent, was defeated in 2019, flipping the body to all-Democratic control.

The united slate has its organizational merits.

Each of the five endorsed candidates was listed on a single designating party petition, which means a signature from one voter counts for all, making it more difficult for upstarts like Farley, who are operating outside of the party infrastructure, to gain traction.

I got a significant number of signatures over the threshold, Farley said on Thursday. I made a list and checked it twice to keep off any threats of voter suppression.

Farley ran unsuccessfully in 2017 as a Working Families Party candidate after getting knocked off the Democratic line when his signatures were challenged.

DiToro also said she submitted signatures well above the required number.

Im going to campaign like its my job, DiToro said, a first-time political candidate who currently serves as president of the Little Italy Business Association.

McCalmon didnt return a request for comment on Thursday.

However the final ballot shakes out, a larger candidate pool means hopefuls will be scrambling for a smaller slice of the primary electorate, which numbered 16,398 active registered Democrats in the city as of Feb. 21.

The Working Families Party has endorsed Porterfield, McCalmon, Williams and Farley, while Mayor Gary McCarthy is supporting Williams and Samuel, and pledged to financially back the latter with funds from his campaign committee.

Republicans are running three candidates, Kevin Hammer, Vivian Parsons and Brendan Nally, who is making his second bid for a seat after falling short in 2019.

Schenectady County Republican Committee Chairman Chris Koetzle said each more than doubled the signature threshold.

The reaction to that team at the doors was phenomenal, Koetzle said, who touted the diversity of the slate:

Of the three, Hammer is a member of the LBGTQIA community; Parsons is Black, and Nally is in his late 20s.

Theyre more diverse, theyre younger and the bench is getting filled, which Im happy to see, Koetzle said.

Hammer, Nally and Parsons also submitted signatures to appear on the Conservative Party line, as did Mootooveren, Zalewski-Wildzunas and Samuel.

While lack of diversity was initially an animating force in the Democratic contest, those concerns have since been eliminated.

All but two of the Democratic candidates, Zalewski-Wildzunas and DiToro, are people of color.
BAY CITY, MI - A variant of the COVID-19 virus has been detected in Bay County.

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) notified the Bay County Health Department that the MDHHS Bureau of Laboratories identified the COVID-19 variant B.1.1.7 in a Bay County resident as of Friday, March 26, according to a press release from Bay County. The confirmed case is a middle-aged individual that had no known travel history.

The B.1.1.7 variant is thought to have emerged in the United Kingdom and has since been detected in many countries and states, said the health department. Cases of the United Kingdom variant have been observed in neighboring Saginaw and Tuscola counties.

This variant is concerning because it is associated with increased transmissibility. Compared to the wild-type virus, the B.1.1.7 variant is approximately 50 percent more transmissible, leading to faster spread of the virus and potentially increasing numbers of cases, hospitalizations, and deaths. Therefore, additional levels of public health intervention are required once the variant has been identified, said the departments press release.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention variant data, 8,337 B.1.1.7 cases are reported nationwide, with 986 of those from Michigan as of March 26, 2021.

With the high transmission rate of the B.1.1.7 variant and with the upcoming spring break season and the Easter holiday, the Bay County Health Department is stressing the importance of receiving the COVID-19 vaccination. Bay County residents should get vaccinated as soon as it is offered to them and at this time, the COVID-19 vaccines appear to be effective against the variant, said the health department.

The health department is recommending the following actions to protect yourself and others from the B.1.1.7 variant:

Getting vaccinated for COVID-19 as soon as it is available to you.

Wearing a mask around others.

Staying six feet apart from others.

Washing hands often.

Ventilating indoor spaces.

The Bay County Health Department stated that it is continuing to prioritize registrants 50 years of age and older, but that it will accept as many of the current age categories as allowed by the State of Michigan. All Bay County residents, aged 16 and older are encouraged to register and will be sent appointment invitations for other BCHD sponsored clinics in the future.

Bay County residents can register online for the COVID-19 vaccine here and find more information at www.baycounty-mi.gov/health

More from MLive

Bay County sees an increase in COVID-19 cases among young adults

COVID-19 pandemic hit seniors hard. Could it lead to a rethinking of how we care for the elderly?

30% of Michigan adults have received first vaccine dose; see numbers in your county

Friday, March 26, coronavirus data by Michigan county: 37 counties now over 10% positivity rate
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IKEA's supply chain could be disrupted due to the ongoing traffic jam in the Suez Canal as there is estimated to be billions worth of supplies from several major companies being blocked by the ongoing crisis.

A satellite image taken above the Red Sea shows the hundreds of ships building up behind a cargo ship that has lodged itself in the Suez Canal.

Some 250 vessels are now backed up at either end of the narrow waterway, waiting for the stricken Ever Given - a container ship as long as the Empire State Building is tall - to be moved so they can pass.

Containers filled with IKEA products are currently onboard ships in the Suez Canal.

An IKEA spokesman told CNN that it could 'create constraints on our supply chain' if the log jam is not shifted soon.

The company is the first major outlet to express concerns about its supply lines as a result of the crisis.

Rescue vessels work at the site of a container ship trapped on the Suez Canal of Egypt on March 26, 2021. The Suez Canal Authority (SCA) said on Friday that it welcomes cooperation with the United States in dislodging the giant cargo ship

According to Investors , there is nearly 7billion in goods being blocked by the disaster as some ships are forced to reroute around the Horn of Africa

An IKEA spokesman told CNN that it could 'create constraints on our supply chain' if the log jam is not shifted soon.

IKEA said it is considering all options to ensure the availability of products, such as flatpack furniture.

However, IKEA is not the only company affected as yellow bulldozer-maker company Caterpillar Inc is also facing supply-chain problems.

According to Investors, there is nearly 7billion in goods being blocked by the disaster as some ships are forced to reroute around the Horn of Africa.

In an effort to dislodge the ship, a Dutch salvage team was dispatched.

Now the US Navy is sending dredging experts to the area and are expected to arrive by Saturday, CNN sources claim.

In an effort to dislodge the ship, a Dutch salvage team was dispatched. Now the US Navy is sending dredging experts to the area and are expected to arrive by Saturday

The head of the Suez Canal Authority announced that 'the navigation through the Suez Canal is temporarily suspended' until the floatation of the Ever Given is completed. Its floatation is being carried out by eight large tugboats that are towing and pushing the grounding vessel

Space on container ships has been scarce for months because of bottlenecks caused by the pandemic - with the Suez Canal blockage only making things worse.

Walter Schalka, whose firm Suzano SA produces the wood pulp that toilet roll is made from, told Bloomberg that shipping problems had already forced his company to delay some shipments from its South American terminals.

The global container shortage has been driven by a surge in online shopping and a Chinese export boom after the country suppressed the initial wave of the pandemic.

Suzano, which produces around a third of the world's hardwood pulp, already faces exporting less of the raw material than planned in March.

'All the South American players which export through break bulk have faced this risk,' said Schalka, the firm's CEO.

If the wood pulp trade faces significant disruptions, loo roll producers may find themselves unable to make toilet paper unless they have sufficient stocks.

That could ultimately lead to renewed shortages on supermarket shelves a year after a run on loo roll became one of the symbols of the early weeks of the pandemic.

Empty shelves were an early sign of the disaster unfolding in Italy last March, when it became the first country in Europe to go into lockdown to slow the pandemic.

Boris Johnson's official spokesperson said: 'We are working with the authorities to assess the situation, we stand ready to provide any assistance that we can.

'We have not been approached by any UK companies or organisations with concerns about implications for their shipping plans.

'However, some goods destined for the UK may be delayed in transit.'

The waterway is a crucial trade route and, as an island nation with a services-base economy, the UK is heavily dependent on goods arriving at ports.

While much of Britain's imports arrive from Europe and America - and so will be unaffected by the jam in the Suez - a large share comes from Asia through the Canal.

Images taken by a passing satellite show more than 50 vessels at anchor in the Gulf of Suez, one of two 'fingers' at the northern end of the Red Sea, where it enters the canal which leads to the Mediterranean.

In the top left-hand corner of the image the Ever Given can be seen, wedged diagonally across the channel in much the same position where it got stuck three days ago after the captain lost control during a sandstorm.

Shipping companies are now facing up to the stark reality that they may have to re-route their vessels around Africa with at least one - the Hyundai Prestige - already diverted around the longer route.

But that has brought security concerns, with captains of the vessels - laden with billions of dollars-worth of cargo - fearing they will be sitting ducks for pirates, particularly in waters off east Africa where they are known to operate.

The US Navy's Fifth Fleet, which operates in the Red Sea, say a number of shipping companies have reached out to them in the last two days about security in the region amid fears they could be attacked.

Zhao Qing-feng, office manager of the China Shipowners' Association in Shanghai, told the Financial Times that vessels choosing to go the African route will have to take on additional security staff to ensure they are safe.

Meanwhile Willy Lin, chair of the Hong Kong Shippers' Council, said an international coalition of naval warships might have to be brought in to protect cargo vessels if the crisis drags out.

Joshua Hutchinson, general manager ARX Mouldings, a UK-based maritime security consultancy, told The Independent that the ships are 'sitting ducks' - even in their current position.

There is still no indication of how long it might take to free the stricken tanker as workers try to dig up to 52ft below the vessel using excavators and dredgers in an attempt to refloat it.

Shoei Kisen, the Japanese owner of the Ever Given, optimistically predicted today that the ship will be freed from the canal tomorrow during high tide - despite a team of Dutch experts brought in to assist the rescue saying the operation could take 'weeks' and canal authorities refusing to give a time-frame.

A satellite image taken above the Gulf of Suez where it leads into the Suez Canal (top left) shows at least 50 large ships at anchor (right) as they wait for a stricken container ship to be freed from where it has lodged in the narrow waterway

Another satellite image reveals how a suction dredging ship has been brought in to work at the front of the vessel removing sand and mud from around the bow (left) in an attempt to free it

It is hoped that an especially high tide late Saturday will provide the best chance yet of refloating the vessel - with another two weeks until a similar tide returns

Canal workers have today resumed their efforts to free the stranded Ever Given, using dredgers and diggers to burrow some 52ft down into the banks of the canal in an attempt to refloat her

Another image, taken by a Russian satellite, exposes the scale of the engineering challenge posed by the stuck Ever Given, which is easily visible (left) even when compared to neighbouring towns

A suction dredger is moved into position at the front of the Ever Given where it will attempt to remove sand from around the bow of the ship so it can be refloated

Workers are aiming to burrow down up to 52ft below the waterline it the hopes that it will shift the Ever Given off the sand banks and cause it to float, so it can be backed out of the canal

If efforts to refloat the boat fail, then workers will have no choice but to bring in specialist cranes and start offloading cargo stacked more than 100ft tall on its deck in order to lessen the ship's weight.

The extent of the disruption was also revealed in data collected by monitoring site Marine Traffic, which showed how vessels were flowing normally until the ship got stuck - at which point traffic began building up at either end of the canal.

Shares in shipping companies surged off the back of the news, amid a rush to book slots aboard vessels not caught up in the Suez that will drive prices up.

Meanwhile it was confirmed that 25 crew members on board the vessel at the time it crashed, including the captain, are Indian. None are believed to have been hurt during the accident.

Russia has also used the crisis to call for an expansion of the so-called Arctic Passage which is increasingly passable due to climate change, saying it is time 'to develop alternatives to the Suez Canal'.

With each passing day, the crisis threatens disruptions to global trade already hit by the Covid pandemic - with Downing Street warning of delays in getting goods such as electronics, toys and clothes to the UK.

The crisis will also add strain to global supply chains already stretched by rebounding economic activity and tight shipping container supplies, analysts said on Friday.

The blockage comes as shipments have already been disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic and a surge in demand for goods.

Roughly 30 per cent of global container traffic flows through the canal annually. The severed trade route could affect about 10 to 15 per cent of world container throughput while the blockage persists, analysts from Moody's Investors Service said.

'Very high consumer and industrial demand, a global shortage of container capacity and low service reliability from global container shipping companies... has made supply chains highly vulnerable to even the smallest of external shocks,' they said in a note on Friday.

'In that context, the timing of this event could not have been worse.'

Vessel utilisation has been at full capacity on the Asia-Europe trade route because of heavy demand from European importers, with terminals in Europe experiencing labour shortages due to coronavirus-related measures, said Greg Knowler from consultancy IHS Markit.

China overtook the United States as Europe's top trade partner in 2020, underscoring Asia's critical ties to industry and consumers in Europe, which is also the top destination for China's exports outside Asia.

Delays in returning empty containers to Asian exporters will further exacerbate the current shortage of containers, the consultancy added in a note.

The Suez Canal is also a preferred route for U.S. importers of manufactured goods such as footwear and apparel from Southeast Asia and India, they added.

Ships will now have to potentially take the longer route around the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, adding about 7-10 days to their journey, which will push up costs.

As a result, Europe's manufacturing industry and auto sector, including auto suppliers, will be hit hardest, Moody's Investors Service said.

'This is because they operate 'just-in-time' supply chains, meaning they do not stockpile parts and only have enough on hand for a short period, and source components from Asian manufacturers,' the analysts said.

'Even if the situation is resolved quickly, port congestion and further delays to an already constrained supply chain are inevitable.'

They added that alternative modes of transportation are not plausible, as air freight capacity is already tight due to less global air travel while rail transportation between China and Europe is limited and already nearing capacity.

The transport minister of Singapore, the world's top transhipment hub, said on Thursday the blockage in the Suez Canal could temporarily disrupt supplies to the region, and potentially cause a drawdown on inventories.

'My view is that this will cause problems for a lot of countries and industries around the world in the short run,' said Sumit Agarwal, economics professor at National University of Singapore.

Canal workers are attempting to dig out sand from around the bow of the ship which is embedded in the eastern wall of the canal, and may have to dig tens of feet to allow the ship to refloat. Meanwhile tugboats and dredgers are working at the rear of the vessel to free the stern against the western wall. If those efforts fail, specialist cranes will have to come in to help remove some of the cargo - with containers weighing up to 33 tons each

Experts brought in to help with the rescue say workers will have to remove up to 706,000 cubic feet of sand and mud from around the ship - roughly equivalent to eight Olympic swimming pools - to give the ship a chance of moving

The Mashhour, an Egyptian dredging vessel (right), is moved into position at the front end of the Ever Given (left) where it will attempt to suck out sand and mud from underneath

Tugboats are positioned at the rear of the vessel (front left) where they are attempting to shove the ship back into the canal in order to get it moving again

The canal provides the shortest possible route for ships travelling between Asia and Europe, with the only alternative being to sail around the Cape of Good Hope - adding 14 days and 5,000 nautical miles to the journey

Meanwhile Boris Johnson's spokesman said on Thursday that 'goods destined for the UK may be delayed in transit' but added that no company has yet approached the government with concerns.

However, analysts who spoke with MailOnline warned that a prolonged blockage of the canal could drive up the price of new cars by causing a shortage of computer chips, and cause shipping costs to spike - heaping pressure on Covid-hit businesses which could ultimately be passed to consumers as lockdowns ease.

Meanwhile, analysis of UK trade data exposes exports from Asia to Britain which are likely to be affected if the crisis drags on - with furniture, homewares, clothing and footwear among those which could be affected.

Seven out of the top 10 exporters of electrical goods to the UK are Asian countries making them a likely casualty, while almost half of the UK's furniture imports come from the same region.

China alone manufactures almost half the toys imported into Britain which are likely to pass through the canal, and accounts for a similar amount of homewares.

Simon Macadam, senior global economist at Capital Economics, told MailOnline that a delay of several weeks would drive up shipping rates - which are already at 'unprecedented' levels due to the Covid crisis - piling pressure on hard-hit businesses who would be expected to swallow the increased costs in the short-term.

However, he added that those costs could eventually be passed along to customers later in the year as Covid lockdowns ease and business owners try to recoup their losses.

The cost of renting some tankers for voyages from the Middle East to Asia has jumped 47 per cent over the last three days Anoop Singh, Singapore-based head of tanker analysis at Braemar ACM, told the Wall Street Journal.

Similar price hikes could hit Europe-bound routes as shipping firms run low on vessels with many stuck in the canal, while those which are free are forced to sail around Africa.

Avoiding the canal by sailing around Africa can add $450,000 in costs per voyage, Mr. Singh added.

Meanwhile Douglas McWilliams, deputy chairman of the Centre for Economics and Business Research, warned that a lengthy blockage is likely to cause a shortage of computer chips - with several weeks' worth of supplies thought to be caught up in the unfolding drama.

That could mean price hikes in products which use a lot of chips, potentially adding 70 to the price of a new car while having a knock-on effect on other electrical goods.

Oil markets were one of the first to react on Wednesday as the price of crude spiked 6 per cent, before falling back today as demand slumps amid the Covid pandemic.

Another analyst who spoke to MailOnline on condition of anonymity said an outage of two weeks or more could potentially cause shortages in stores as ships are routed around Africa, increasing their journey time by 14 days.

A source involved in the UK shipping trade added that it they are being warned it could take up to three weeks to clear the backlog of ships building up around the canal, even if the stricken ship is removed soon.

Kate Harding, chief executive of trade data firm Coriolis Technologies, warned that the risks to global trade are 'absolutely enormous'.

A longer-term issue, one analyst told MailOnline, is disruption to global shipping schedules that could drag on for weeks even after the canal is unblocked.

Ports typically run tight operations with strict time-slots for loading and unloading cargo to make sure containers don't pile up and to ensure a smooth supply of goods across the world.

But with ships piling up around the canal, whenever the waterway is unblocked it will cause a glut of vessels to arrive at ports all at once.

That will mean delays in getting ships unloaded and then re-loaded as there are only a limited number of specialist cranes that can deal with vessels of this size, knocking schedules out of whack.

There is still no indication of how long the ship make take to free, with Japanese owners Shoei Kisen KK saying it is still 'too early to tell'.

Mr Berdowski compared the ship to 'an enormous beached whale' and warned workers might have to start offloading cargo in order to reduce its weight and get it floating again.

'We can't exclude it might take weeks, depending on the situation,' he told Dutch media. 'It's an enormous weight on the sand. We might have to work with a combination of reducing the weight by removing containers, oil and water from the ship, tug boats and dredging of sand.'

Excavators are trying to dig out the vessel's dolphin-nose bow which has lodged in the eastern wall of the canal, while dredgers and tugboats try to shift its stern which is jammed against the western side.

Satellite images taken today reveal the Ever Given - leased by shipping firm Evergreen - is still stranded in much the same position it was left on Tuesday after crashing

The Taiwan-owned MV Ever Given is pictured today still lodged sideways and impeding all traffic across the waterway

Tugboats positioned alongside the Ever Given hold it in position while workers attempt to dig the bow out of the canal wall

Ships are anchored outside the Suez Canal in Ismailia, Egypt, wait to be able to pass through the canal after it was blocked

Estimates of the value of cargo come from analytics firm Lloyd's List, which believes $5billion-worth of containers are sent westwards through the waterway each day. The value of eastbound traffic is slightly less, at $4.5billion.

The cargo makes up about 12 per cent of oceangoing trade each day, including around 10 per cent of oil and gas shipments.

As the backlog builds, costs for Ever Given's owners - Japanese firm Shoei Kisen KK - and their insurers will mount in what could turn out to be the world's most expensive traffic jam.

Industry experts warned the bill will likely total millions of dollars, even assuming the vessel can be moved quickly.

Insurers could find themselves on the hook for costs incurred by shipping firms whose routes are delayed, plus from Egyptian authorities which make almost $6billion each year charging companies for use of the canal.

The costs of the rescue operation will also fall on insurers, along with any damage the ship sustains while it is being salvaged, analysts said.

Attempting to head-off criticism, the ship's owners issued an apology today - saying they are 'extremely sorry' for the 'tremendous worry' that the accident has caused.

The firm said it is cooperating with its technical management company and the local authorities to get the ship afloat, but 'the operation is extremely difficult.'

'It is potentially the world's biggest ever container ship disaster without a ship going bang,' one shipping lawyer, who declined to be named, said.

Meanwhile Nick Sloane, a salvage master who helped refloat the Costa Concordia cruise ship after it ran aground off the coast of Italy, said rescuers' best chance of moving the vessel will come on Monday when tides will be at their highest point.

If that window is missed then it will take another two weeks for the opportunity to present itself again, he told Bloomberg. 'This is definitely not a quick refloat operation,' he added.

It is thought the accident happened after the ship's captain and two Egyptian pilots sent on board to help guide the vessel became blinded during a sandstorm with high winds that sent the vessel off course and caused it to get wedged around 7.45am on Tuesday.

While a gust of wind seems an unlikely culprit, it turns out that the Ever Given has past form of crashing during high winds, after being involved in an accident in the German port of Hamburg in 2019.

In February that year, the cargo ship was manoeuvering into port when a strong gust of wind pushed it off course and into a docked passenger ferry, Bild reports

The ferry, named Finkenwerder, was completely written off in the accident while three crew members were treated for shock - though thankfully there were no passengers on board.

A huge container ship blocking the Suez Canal is threatening to delay shipments to the UK, with electronics, clothes, furniture and toys all likely to be affected

Every day the canal is blocked means 10 per cent of oceangoing trade cannot move as it should, with 50 ships being added to the massive traffic jam building up around the canal (pictured)

Tracking data from Marine Traffic has revealed the extent of the jam, comparing a typical day last week with traffic yesterday, with ships piling up at either end of the waterway.

Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement, the company that manages the Ever Given, said the ship's 25-member crew were safe and accounted for after the accident.

Cargo ships already behind the Ever Given in the canal will be reversed south back to Port Suez to free the channel, Leth Agencies said. Authorities hope to do the same to the Ever Given when they can free it.

Evergreen Marine Corp, a major Taiwan-based shipping company that operates the ship, said in a statement that the Ever Given had been overcome by strong winds as it entered the canal from the Red Sea. None of its containers had sunk.

An Egyptian official, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to brief journalists, similarly blamed a strong wind.

Egyptian forecasters said high winds and a sandstorm plagued the area on Tuesday, with winds gusting as high as 30 miles per hour.

An initial report suggested the ship suffered a power blackout before the incident, something Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement denied on Thursday.

'Initial investigations rule out any mechanical or engine failure as a cause of the grounding,' the company said.

Tuesday marked the second major crash involving the Ever Given in recent years.

In 2019, the cargo ship ran into a small ferry moored on the Elbe River in the German port city of Hamburg. Authorities at the time blamed strong wind for the collision, which severely damaged the ferry.

The closure could affect oil and gas shipments to Europe from the Mideast, which rely on the canal to avoid sailing around Africa. The price of international benchmark Brent crude stood at more than 63 dollars a barrel on Thursday.

The Ever Given, built in 2018 with a length of nearly 400 meters, or a quarter of a mile, and a width of 193 feet, is among the largest cargo ships in the world.

It can carry some 20,000 containers at a time. It previously had been at ports in China before heading toward Rotterdam in the Netherlands.

Opened in 1869, the Suez Canal provides a crucial link for oil, natural gas and cargo. It also remains one of Egypt's top foreign currency earners.

In 2015, the government of President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi completed a major expansion of the canal, allowing it to accommodate the world's largest vessels.

However, the Ever Given ran aground south of that new portion of the canal.

This stranding marks just the latest setback to affect mariners amid the Covid crisis, with hundreds of thousands of people having been stuck aboard vessels due to the pandemic.

Why is the Suez Canal so important? The Suez canal, which is around 120 miles long links the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean and is the shortest shipping route between the Atlantic and the Indian Ocean. Before the canal, shipping from Europe either had to go overland or risk going around Cape Horn and the South Atlantic. In April 1859, construction of the canal officially begins, much of the work financed by France. It was opened for navigation on November 17, 1869 for vessels from all countries, although the British government later wanted to have an armed force in the area to protect shipping interests having picked up a 44 per cent stake in the canal in 1875. The Suez Canal links the Red Sea and the Mediterranean providing a short cut from the Indian Ocean to the Atlantic From then, while nominally owned by Egypt, the canal was run by Britain and France until its until its nationalisation in 1956 . The nationalisation by Nasser saw Britain and France launched an abortive and humiliating bid to recapture the vital waterway. The canal was shut briefly following the attempted invasion. However, in 1967 the canal was shut for eight years following the Six Day war with Israel. Due to the instability in the region, the canal remained closed until 1975 - its longest ever closure, as the waterway had been mined and some vessels had been sunk in the main channel. The Suez Canal is actually the first canal that directly links the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea. In 2015 a new section of the canal opened, allowing vessels to traverse the waterway in both directions at the same time. Future plans will see the two-lane system extended across the entire network- doubling current capacity of the canal. The largest cargo vessels pay more than 180,000 in tolls to traverse the canal. On average about 40-50 cargo vessels use the canal on a daily basis in a trip that takes around 11 hours, as speed along the waterway is limited to about 9kts to prevent the banks of the canal getting washed away. Along the canal there are emergency mooring slots so vessels can pull over if they are suffering a mechanical issue. When the canal first opened, the channel was approximately 26 feet deep and 72 feet wide at the bottom. The surface was between 200 and 300 feet wide to allow ships to pass. By the 1960s, dredging of the canal increased the depth to 40 feet and widened the waterway to allow larger vessels. Now, the minimum depth of the canal is 66feet, though this is been increased to 72 feet - allowing even larger vessels. Advertisement
He will be forever remembered as the suave and seductive third incarnation of James Bond in seven movies the 1970s and 80s.

And although he died in 2017, Sir Roger Moores acting heritage is living on  in the shape of his 22-year-old granddaughter.

Ambra Moore has landed her debut acting role in a movie, starring in thriller Nemesis about a criminal kingpin in London.

Ambra Moore has landed her debut acting role in a movie, starring in thriller Nemesis about a criminal kingpin in London

Ambra, pictured here with her father Geoffrey Moore, left, plays Kate, the daughter of Billy Murrays crime boss John Morgan, in the film which co-stars Nick Moran and is due for digital release on Monday

She plays Kate, the daughter of Billy Murrays crime boss John Morgan, in the film which co-stars Nick Moran and is due for digital release on Monday.

Julian Glover, Sir Rogers co-star from 1981 Bond film For Your Eyes Only, also makes an appearance in the British gangster film, directed by James Crow.

Miss Moore is the daughter of Sir Rogers son Geoffrey and his wife Loulou. A rising star in the film world, she has already co-produced and appeared in 2017s And The Winner Isnt, a satirical documentary about the Oscars race in Hollywood.

Alongside her father, she travelled around Los Angeles to try to find out what it takes to become an Academy Award winner, talking to industry insiders and filmmakers.

She also kept the family connection to 007 alive by working as an on-set runner on 2015 Bond film Spectre, running errands for its star, Daniel Craig.

But she didnt reveal her identity and left Craig in the dark as to who her grandfather was.

I was on set as a general runner but all my errands revolved around Daniel, she told Hello! magazine in 2019. He didnt know I was Roger Moores granddaughter. He is such a charming man  and a terrific actor.

Following her grandfathers death aged 89 in 2017, Miss Moore and her father co-wrote a song to raise money for Unicef in his honour  he was an ambassador for the United Nations childrens agency  the video for which featured his friends including Sir Michael Caine and Liam Neeson.

He was the most wonderful man, always making a joke with a twinkle in his eye, Miss Moore said of her grandfather.

She said that she would be happy to have a role in a future 007 film  but would rather play a Bond villain than a Bond girl.

Sir Roger Moore was renowned for taking over the James Bond roll from George Lazenby

Ambra, pictured here with her father and grandfather, said the 007 star 'was the most wonderful man, always making a joke with a twinkle in his eye'

Her father Geoffrey is Sir Rogers son from his third marriage to Italian actress Luisa Mattioli.

He also tried his hand at acting and starred opposite his father as a child in 1976 film Sherlock Holmes In New York and in 1990s Fire, Ice And Dynamite. He went on to become a restaurateur and founded the popular Hush restaurant in Londons Mayfair.

His sister Deborah Moore also caught the acting bug after appearing in an episode of her fathers series The Persuaders! as a child and went on to star in 1992s Chaplin and South Kensington in 2001.

But she is best known as the original face of the Scottish Widows insurance adverts in which she appeared between 1986 and 1995.

Sir Roger was married to Miss Mattioli from 1969 to 1993, when a diagnosis of prostate cancer prompted him to leave her and marry Danish socialite Kristina Tholstrup.

He said the early bout of cancer had been life-changing in many ways and had made him re-evaluate his marriage.

The actor, who was to die of liver cancer, played 007 in seven Bond films, including Live And Let Die, The Man With The Golden Gun and The Spy Who Loved Me.
WASHINGTON, March 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Kaster, Lynch, Farrar & Ball trial lawyers have won an important U.S. Supreme Court victory, securing a unanimous opinion that Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) cannot limit the ability of injured individuals to hold manufacturers accountable for defective products by restricting where those lawsuits can be filed.

The closely watched opinion released Thursday in Bandemer v. Ford impacts a wide range of product defect and personal injury litigation. The 8-0 ruling soundly rejects Ford's argument that it could not face product defect lawsuits in state courts if specific vehicles involved in the claims had not been purchased in those states.

"This common-sense ruling means manufacturers like Ford must remain accountable in state courts for the safety of their products, no matter where a specific product is sold," said Kaster, Lynch, Farrar & Ball trial lawyer Kyle Farrar, who played an active role in the Supreme Court arguments and earlier trial and appellate matters. "Ford's attempt to limit where injury lawsuits can be filed would have made it harder to ensure that products are safe and manufacturers are accountable. This is an important ruling for the safety of all products."

In Bandemer, Minnesota resident Adam Bandemer alleges that a defective passenger-side airbag in a Ford Crown Victoria that he was riding in was responsible for a severe brain injury he suffered in a 2015 crash. The justices also heard a companion case with similar facts that originated in Montana state court.

Ford claimed that since the Crown Victoria in the Bandemer lawsuit and a Ford Explorer in the companion lawsuit had been purchased outside the states where the accidents occurred, the plaintiffs lacked jurisdiction to file lawsuits in their home states. Instead, Ford claimed the lawsuits could be filed only in the states where the vehicles were designed or manufactured. State supreme courts in Minnesota and Montana had previously rejected the automaker's arguments.

The cases are Ford Motor Company, Petitioner v. Montana Eighth Judicial District Court et al., case number 19-368, and Ford Motor Company, Petitioner v. Adam Bandemer, case number 19-369, in the U.S. Supreme Court. Mr. Bandemer has been represented throughout the litigation by Kyle W. Farrar, Wesley Todd Ball and Mark Bankston of Kaster Lynch Farrar & Ball LLP.

Based in Ocala, Florida, and Houston, the trial lawyers at Kaster Lynch Farrar & Ball LLP have hard-earned expertise in cases against global vehicle and tire manufacturers over various defects that can cause significant injuries or deaths. The firm is a nationwide leader in securing verdicts and settlements against the world's largest tire and vehicle manufacturers. For more information, visit TheTireLawyers.com.

Media Contact:

Robert Tharp

214-420-6011

[email protected]

SOURCE Kaster Lynch Farrar & Ball, LLP
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

The EU's drug watchdog gave the green light Friday to the Dutch Halix factory to produce AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine, which has been at the heart of a bitter dispute with Britain.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) also granted approval to a Pfizer/BioNTech plant in Marburg, Germany and a manufacturing site for the Moderna vaccine in Switzerland.

Brussels has threatened to block exports to the UK from the Halix plant in Leiden in the Netherlands until drugs giant AstraZeneca makes good on its promised vaccine deliveries to the bloc.

"A new manufacturing site has been approved for the production of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine active substance," the Amsterdam-based EMA said in a statement.

"The Halix site is located in Leiden, the Netherlands, and will bring the total number of manufacturing sites licensed for the production of the active substance of the vaccine to four."

The EMA said the "important" new factory approvals "will increase manufacturing capacity and supply of COVID-19 vaccines in the EU."

EU Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides told AFP that the new vaccines would be delivered from the AstraZeneca plant within days following the EMA decision.

She said it had been made under an "accelerated" process.

"We now expect that vaccines produced by this plant will be delivered to EU member states in the coming days as part of the contractual obligation and commitment made by AstraZeneca to European citizens," she said in a statement sent to AFP.

Some EU countries had been "severely affected by the disappointing reduction in deliveries of AstraZeneca vaccines," Kyriakides said.

"Had it not been for the under deliveries from AstraZeneca, EU vaccination rates could have been almost twice as high," she said.

The Dutch plant has been at the centre of a furious row, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government claiming it as part of the British vaccine supply chain.

However EU chief Ursula von der Leyen warned Thursday that it will ban firms including AstraZeneca from exporting vaccines to other countries until they meet their commitments to the bloc.

While the EU has talked tough, the Netherlands and Belgium, centres of EU vaccine production, are skittish at talk of an embargo, fearful that disruption to global supply chains could hurt other firms' production.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said on Thursday that London and Brussels could agree a deal on vaccine sharing by the weekend "or soon after" to avoid the imposition of an EU embargo.

But he added that he had warned Johnson that the Netherlands would enforce any EU decision to halt Halix exports.

"I explained to him that this is not how this works in Europe and that this is not a bilateral decision between us and the UK," Rutte said.

Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak

 2021 AFP
THUNDER BAY, ON, March 26, 2021 /CNW/ - The Honourable Patty Hajdu, Minister of Health, will be joined by Tracy Buckler, President & CEO, St. Joseph's Care Group and Dr. Janet DeMille, Medical Officer of Health and CEO, Thunder Bay District Health Unit, to announce continued support towards a safe voluntary isolation centre for residents of Thunder Bay and surrounding communities.

There will be a media availability immediately following the announcement.

Date

March 29, 2021



Time

11:00 AM (EDT)

Location

The event will be held on Zoom.

Zoom link:

https://ca01web.zoom.us/j/68330251846

Passcode: 999999

SOURCE Public Health Agency of Canada

Cision

View original content: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/March2021/26/c6093.html
Tourism has emerged as a booming industry and an alternative growth engine for its potential in creating jobs for local people, facilitating foreign exchange earnings and supporting countries' economic growth.

Especially in a country with high youth unemployment, the sector's contribution in job creation is immense.

Ethiopia is one of the most blessed countries with its natural, historic and cultural endowments. Including the eminent destinations, such as the Obelisks of Axum, Fasil Ghebbi, Harar Jugol and the Rock Hewn churches of Lalibela among others, the nation is one among the countries that have registered a number of tangible and intangible heritages under UNESCOs cultural heritage list.

According to Ethiopian Ministry of Culture and Tourism, UNESCO has recognized four intangible and nine tangible a total of 13, Ethiopian heritages; which make the leading country in Africa to inscribe more attractions under UNESCO's list.

Currently, the country is working persistently and is capitalizing on its enormous; but untapped tourism potentials. It is developing, refurbishing and expanding its tourist destinations through expanding the industry in geographic options and establishing new tourist attractions to create productive jobs for local communities and gain high-value from the sector.

Particularly, since the past couple of years, it is unwaveringly intensifying its tourism assets. The renovation of Unity Park, crafted out of the Palace, Entoto Natural Park, Sheger Riverside Project, aimed to beautify the capital Addis Ababa, are the major showcases of the efforts.

In similar manner, the launching of Koysha, Wonchi and Gorgora projects that targets to intensify the spots geographically in a manner they meet the expectations of a broader range of tourists, is the other manifestations of government's commitment. All these development plans were initiated by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

Building on the successes of the already completed projects such as Unity and Entoto Parks as well as Sheger Riverside, the Premier has announced plan to develop the 'Bezawit Palace'- the Palace which was the palace of Emperor Haile Selassie and had been closed for the past four plus decades.

As documents indicate, located about 5km south of the city down and two-and-a-half kilometers south of the Martyrs Memorial, northeast of town, Bezawit Hill is a site of the former summer palace of Emperor Haile Selassie I.

The Bezawit Royal Palace, constructed in the 1950s, is not currently open to visitors and cannot be photographed; but has two magnificent viewpoints from the 1,890 m-high hill, both in front and behind the palace, which offer amazing panoramic views over Lake Tana, the Blue Nile and Bahir Dar. They are great at sunset.

The road to the hill is lined with fragrant Jacaranda plants and flamboyant flame trees. However, no public transport comes near the site, as the documents further elaborate.

The spot offers a spectacular view of the surrounding areas, the Town of Bahir Dar, the islands of Lake Tana monasteries and the Blue Nile outlet.

Near Bezawit Royal Palace and adjacent to the arboretum project lies one of the last remnants of indigenous forest in Northern Ethiopia. The site is home to a large number of birds, python and larger animals such as cheetahs and baboons.

4-2

This is the site that PM Abiy aspires to refurbish and make it one of tourist destinations; thereby enhances the tourism sector.

Addressing the Parliament, last Tuesday, the Premier said that Ethiopia has immense; but untapped tourism potentials. Among others, Bezawit Palace, which was built during the reign of Emperor Haileselasie and located around Bahir Dar, is the one.

The Palace covers a large area of land and was built strategically on a mountainous area during the time of the king. Surprisingly, the site is too green and is one of the Nile basins areas.

"This Palace stayed closed for the past forty or fifty years. Thus, we have decided to turn the Palace to a five-star hotel and we are working on this. It is better to renovate it and gain significant amount of boon than keep it idle."

The green spaces coupled with its natural settings, unquestionably, make the hotel the best one in the world, he added.

As to him, various works are continued to develop the site. The construction of a 380 meters long and four meters wide bay-bridge is underway. Furthermore, the design works that connect Tana Lake with the City of Gondar is ongoing.

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"If we succeeded in renovating Bezawit Palace, connecting it with the Lake Tana and if we can join it somewhere with Gorgora, who else does not desire to visit the area? There are many histories there; Semien Mountain is there. There is also air transport in both towns, Bahir Dar and Gondar. Let us count our blessings and the treasures we possess in our hands and work together to develop them accordingly. If we collaborate, it is possible to make a miracle in the tourism sector" he remarked.

True, Ethiopia is a country endowed with myriads of tangible and intangible heritages that can easily entice the hearts and souls of its visitors. Cities of Ethiopia are also center for a number of numerous hidden treasures. If we value this wealth and step up efforts, we can gain all what we want.

However, such massive development activities cannot be carried out merely by the government. Rather, it requires all hands on deck. Thus, everyone, regardless of any differences, should collaborate and work hard to bring change in the sector.
(CNN)  More than year into the global pandemic, Brazil's government has decided to form a new COVID-19 crisis committee that will now include state officials.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro made the announcement on Wednesday, a day after he promised the nation that 2021 would be "the year of vaccination" for Brazilians.

Brazil is currently gripped by a devastating new surge in cases, with a record-breaking 3,251 new deaths from Covid-19 on Tuesday -- the most deaths the country has ever seen in a single day. Hospitals' intensive care units across the country are overstretched, and some states have warned they're running out of medicines necessary to intubate severe cases.

Bolsonaro, who was fiercely criticized for downplaying the gravity of the panemic, has hinted at a potential shift in attitude. On Tuesday, hours after his newly appointed health minister Marcelo Queiroga was sworn in, Bolsonaro emphasized in a public address that "mass vaccination" would be a priority -- after previously dismissing the urgency of inoculation and even attacking some vaccines.

Following a year of often acrimonious relations and blame between federal and local governments, the new committee will include members of the legislative branch, the Supreme Court, ministers, and six state governors. The federal government did not respond to questions about whether the new committee would replace a similar group composed only of federal-level officials.

Still, not everyone gets a say. State governors who've been political opponents of Bolsonaro, like Sao Paulo governor Joao Doria, have been left out of the committee. On Thursday, Brazil's national association of mayors also wrote a letter to President Jair Bolsonaro asking to be included.

The new committee will meet every week to decide the next steps in dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic, the President said on Wednesday.

States are running low on supplies

Bolsonaro, an outspoken opponent of restrictions on economic activity, has repeatedly clashed with state authorities on how to manage Covid-19 outbreaks.

This week, the country's Supreme Court struck down the President's request to block three state governors from imposing restrictive lockdown measures in their states.

Supreme Court Justice, Marco Aurelio Mello underlined the autonomy governors and mayors have to manage the health crises in their jurisdictions, saying Tuesday that a "totalitarian vision" is not appropriate in a democracy like Brazil and that the president is responsible for "the larger leadership, the coordination of efforts aimed at the well-being of Brazilians."

Meanwhile, public and private health systems in states across the country are straining to accommodate rising Covid-19 case numbers.

On Thursday, the Brazilian Association of Private Hospitals in Brazil warned that stocks of anesthetics used in Covid-19 treatment would only last for "three to four days" in private hospitals. Earlier in the week, a statement posted on the Brazilian Attorney General's website said that six states in Brazil were running critically low on medical oxygen.

General Ridauto Fernandes, logistics director of the Ministry of Health, has said that negotiations are underway to increase the production of oxygen supplies and to install oxygen concentrators -- equipment that draws and concetrates oxygen from the air -- in different parts of the country.

Brazilian variant becomes growing problem

Many recent cases have been attributed to the P.1 variant of the coronavirus, first identified in Brazil's own Amazonas state. A March 4 study from Brazil's Oswaldo Cruz Foundation -- also known as the Fiocruz institute -- estimated that coronavirus variants make up more than half of all cases in six out of eight states it studied.

According to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the same variant has now been identified in 15 countries and territories in South America, North America and the Caribbean.

In a press conference Tuesday, PAHO Director Carissa Etienne highlighted the dangerous potential spread of the virus from Brazil. "Unfortunately, the dire situation in Brazil is also effecting neighboring countries. Cases have risen in Venezuela, particularly in the states of Bolivar and Amazonas which border Brazil," she said.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Sunday called Brazil a "global threat," citing the P.1 variant.

In Uruguay, where cases are also spiking, health officials said this week that they also had detected the P.1 variant.
Footprints discovered in the sand on a Spanish beach were left by a Neanderthal child 100,000 years ago 'jumping irregularly as though dancing,' study shows.

The prints were uncovered due to stormy weather and high tides in June 2020, and were spotted by a pair of biologists walking on the sand.

They stumbled upon what was later revealed to be a Neanderthal watering hole, dating back 100,000 years to the late Pleistocene epoch.

The site, on Matalascanas beach in Spain, sits between Huelva and Cadiz, and is where the ancestors of modern humans would drink, hunt, search for seafood and even let their children play in the water alongside animals.

Palaeontologists from the University of Huelva say this is the earliest known example of Neanderthal footprints on the Iberian peninsular.

Footprints discovered in the sand on a Spanish beach were left by a Neanderthal child 100,000 years ago 'jumping irregularly as though dancing,' study shows

They stumbled upon what was later revealed to be a Neanderthal watering hole, dating back 100,000 years to the late Pleistocene epoch

This image shows a close up view of the sand where the ancient Neanderthals once stood

A FAMILY GROUP OF NEANDERTHALS BY THE SEASIDE Researchers believe the site in Spain was a regular watering hole for Neanderthal communities. The group was made up of a mixture of adults and young people, including at least seven small children. Another 15 were from adolescents and nine left by adults - with the smallest two belonging to a six year old. Most were very close to the shoreline, suggesting they were foraging for shellfish or other food sources. There was also evidence of a small child 'jumping' in a way that could suggest dancing in the sand. Advertisement

There were at least 87 footprints found at the site, including evidence of a Neanderthal child that was jumping and possibly even dancing through the sand.

They were discovered on at a site that has been slowly revealed due to a sand dune eroding, according to study author Eduardo Mayoral.

He says it can be harder to track early Neanderthals as there are often no bones left to date or analyse, so they rely on footprints and other 'fossil records'.

'The biological and ethological information of the ancient hominin groups when there are no bone remains, is provided by the study of their fossil footprints, which show us certain "frozen" moments of their existence ,' he explained.

They reviewed the footprints through 3D models and taking detailed sedimentary analysis to characterise them and the environment they were found.

The footprints had a rounded heel, a longitudinal arch, relatively short toes, and a non-opposable big toe, the team discovered.

'They represent the oldest upper Pleistocene record of Neandertal footprints in the world,' added Mayoral.

Of the 87 footprints 37 were complete enough to reflect the size of the Neanderthal foot, measuring from 5 inches through to 11 inches long.

The site, on Matalascanas beach in Spain, sits between Huelva and Cadiz, and is where the ancestors of modern humans would drink, hunt, search for seafood and even let their children play in the water alongside animals

Of the 87 footprints 37 were complete enough to reflect the size of the Neanderthal foot, measuring from 5 inches through to 11 inches long

This allowed the team to calculate that the people at the 'watering hole' were between 3ft 4 inches and 6ft 1 inch tall, with the majority between 4ft and 5ft. '

'The wide range of sizes of the footprints suggests the existence of a social group integrated by individuals of different age classes but dominated, however, by non-adult individuals,' said Mayoral.

Of the footprints seven belonged to children, 15 to adolescents and nine were left by adults - with the smallest two belonging to a six year old.

The longest four footprints belonged to someone over 6ft, which Mayoral says is significantly higher than the expected maximum height of a Neanderthal, so may be incorrect or have been made by a smaller individual with more movement.

These shows areas where humans and animals would have once stood, the MTS area is the Matalascanas Trampled Area, the name of the beach, and HTS is the Hominin Trampled Surface, revealed after storms and where the Neanderthal once walked

The footprints had a rounded heel, a longitudinal arch, relatively short toes, and a non-opposable big toe, the team discovered

There was a microbial mat, suggesting an area of life, once underwater, as seen in this close up image showing remains of halite moulds, possibly linked to salty water

'The wide range of sizes of the footprints suggests the existence of a social group integrated by individuals of different age classes but dominated, however, by non-adult individuals,' said Mayoral

He said they were able to get a better understanding of the behaviour of the Neanderthal group by studying the positioning of the footprints.

'Neandertals are hunter-gatherers so the reasons for their presence are mainly due to travel, transportation of resources or foraging strategies,' Mayoral added.

Almost a quarter of the group was made up of children, with most of the footprints found at the very edge of what would once have been the watering hole itself.

'This could involve a hunting strategy, stalking animals in the water, probably waterbirds and waders or small carnivores or even fishing or shellfish search of fish or molluscs,' he said.

The findings have been published in the journal Scientific Reports.
Caroline Gholson had often told Andrew Fallon that she wanted him to propose over coffee  in bed.

Coffee in bed is our Sunday morning ritual, said Ms. Gholson, 37, the senior recruiting and development manager in Houston for the law firm Kirkland & Ellis.

The concept of a public proposal, she said, mortifies me.

She left the rest up to Mr. Fallon, 36, a former executive recruiter in Houston with whom Ms. Gholson shares another ritual: pranking, as in playing practical jokes on each other, like the one she played on him five years ago at a spa in Lake Geneva, Wis.

I told Andrew that everyone at that particular spa swims in the nude, Ms. Gholson said. We went to our respective locker rooms and I changed into my bathing suit, then Andrew walked over to the pool, completely naked, under a white robe.
MISSISSAUGA, Ontario, March 25, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Further to its press release dated March 11, 2021, Canada Carbon Inc. (the "Company") (TSX-V: CCB ) announces that it has amended the terms of the debt settlement agreement with the estate of its former Chief Executive Officer, R. Bruce Duncan. As per the terms of the amended debt settlement agreement, the Company has agreed to settle an aggregate of $409,556 of accrued management fees in consideration for the issuance of an aggregate of 2,155,558 common shares in the capital of the Company (the Common Shares) at a deemed price of $0.19 per share (the Debt Settlement).



The Debt Settlement remains subject to the acceptance of the TSX Venture Exchange. The Common Shares issued pursuant to the Debt Settlement will be subject to a statutory four month and one day hold period.

For further information:

Olga Nikitovic

Interim CEO

Canada Carbon Inc.

info@canadacarbon.com

Valerie Pomerleau

Director Public Affairs and Communications

Canada Carbon Inc.

vpomerleau@canadacarbon.com

(819) 856-5678

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.

FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS: This news release contains forward-looking statements, which relate to future events or future performance and reflect managements current expectations and assumptions. Such forward-looking statements reflect managements current beliefs and are based on assumptions made by and information currently available to the Company. Investors are cautioned that these forward looking statements are neither promises nor guarantees, and are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause future results to differ materially from those expected. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and, except as required under applicable securities legislation, the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances. All of the forward-looking statements made in this press release are qualified by these cautionary statements and by those made in our filings with SEDAR in Canada (available at www.sedar.com).
China willing to invite Palestinians and Israelis for talks, says Wang Yi

CGTN) 11:21, March 26, 2021

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi speaks during an interview with Al-Arabiya TV channel in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, March 24, 2021. /Chinese Foreign Ministry

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in an interview with Al-Arabiya TV channel on Wednesday that China is willing to host talks between representatives from Israel and Palestine.

Wang, who started a Middle East tour this week, said China will push the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to comprehensively review the Palestine issue and the two-state resolution when it takes over as president of the UNSC in May.

On vaccine cooperation, Wang said China has provided all-around support to Arab countries, such as sending medical materials including breathing machines, test kits, forehead thermometers, masks and protective clothes.

China has held over 50 video conferences with Arab countries and the Arab Union and dispatched nearly 100 medical experts to eight countries in the region, Wang elaborated.

China is implementing its promise to make vaccines a public product and has exported 17 million doses to the region, he added.

Answering questions related to Xinjiang and Hong Kong, Wang said China highly appreciates the support of 21 Arab countries at the Human Rights Council which concluded this week and is willing to work with Arab and Islamic countries to uphold the principle of non-interference in other countries' internal affairs and safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of developing countries.

Speaking of the Yemen crisis, Wang voiced support for a Saudi initiative announced on Monday to end the war in Yemen and called for implementing the Saudi initiative for a settlement in Yemen as soon as possible.

The Saudi peace initiative includes a nationwide ceasefire and the reopening of air and sea links with the territories held by the Houthi group in Yemen.

(Web editor: Meng Bin, Liang Jun)
Fox News and its powerful owner, Rupert Murdoch, are facing a second major defamation suit over the networks coverage of the 2020 presidential election, a new front in the growing legal battle over media disinformation and its consequences.

In the latest aftershock of Donald J. Trumps attempt to undermine President Bidens victory, Dominion Voting Systems, an election technology company that was at the center of a baseless pro-Trump conspiracy theory about rigged voting machines, filed a lawsuit on Friday accusing Fox News of advancing lies that devastated its reputation and business.

Dominion, which has requested a jury trial, is seeking at least $1.6 billion in damages. Less than two months ago, Smartmatic, another election tech company, filed a $2.7 billion lawsuit against Mr. Murdochs Fox Corporation and named the Fox anchors Maria Bartiromo, Lou Dobbs and Jeanine Pirro as defendants.

In a 139-page complaint filed in Delaware Superior Court, Dominion portrayed Fox as an active player in spreading false claims that the company had altered vote counts and manipulated its machines to benefit Mr. Biden in the election.
Beirut, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 27th Mar, 2021 ) :Lebanese authorities on Friday announced a three-day lockdown over the Catholic Easter weekend in April to try to avoid another surge in coronavirus cases.

The country of over six million people has officially recorded more than 455,000 coronavirus cases and over 6,000 deaths.

Authorities announced a 24-hour curfew from April 3 until the morning of April 6 to cover the Catholic Easter holiday weekend.

The government's coronavirus taskforce warned against "gatherings at home and in closed places... during the upcoming holidays".

Orthodox Christians will celebrate Easter in early May, while Muslims will celebrate Eid al-Fitr, the holiday marking the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan, in the middle of that month.

Coronavirus cases skyrocketed in Lebanon in January after authorities loosened restrictions during the end-of-year holiday season, allowing restaurants and night clubs to remain open until 3:00 am, despite warnings from health professionals.

Hospitals were overwhelmed and authorities imposed drastic restrictions to stem the surge.

"Faced with an expected third wave of the pandemic... it is imperative to bolster hospital capacity, particularly in intensive care units," President Michel Aoun said Friday.

Outgoing prime minister Hassan Diab said a new wave of infections "could be more dangerous than those that came before it".

"Our concerns relate to being able to secure oxygen, electricity, medication and medical equipment during the serious financial crisis the country is facing," he said.

Lebanon's coronavirus outbreak has compounded its worst economic crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war.

A local Currency plunge has made medical imports, including oxygen, more expensive, leading to limited supplies.

The Syrian government Wednesday said it would supply 75 tonnes of oxygen to Lebanon in response to a request for Covid-19 assistance.
Australian beauty lovers are stripping the shelves of a 'game-changing' face cream that promises to leave skin radiant and 'naturally polished'.

Jeju Cherry Blossom Jelly Cream, from cult Korean skincare brand innisfree, recently sold four months of stock in a matter of days, leaving Australian retailers scrambling to replenish it.

The $36 product, which is made with natural sugar beet and cherry blossom from the South Korean island of Jeju, swiftly sold out in-store and on Adore Beauty after US makeup artist Mikayla Nogueira showcased the benefits in a TikTok video.

The clip - which has amassed a staggering 2.8million likes and 14.1million views since it was uploaded online on February 28 - reveals how the cream leaves skin instantly brighter with a remarkably radiant glow.

Scroll down for video

Korean skincare brand innisfree's Jeju Cherry Blossom Jelly Cream (left) sold four months of stock in a matter of days after its benefits were shown in a viral TikTok video (right)

Viewers flooded the comments section with stunned responses, with one writing: 'Paused and added to my cart.'

Another added: 'That jelly cream is a game-changer. I've been using it for two weeks and I've never been more hydrated.'

Dozens raved about the 'magic' of Korean skincare brands, calling them 'the only way to go'.

Along with the best-selling jelly cream, innisfree's Cherry Blossom range - which first launched in Australia in September 2019 - includes a $29 toner, a $27 radiance-boosting lotion and a $36 moisturising cream.

The $36 product (pictured) is made with natural sugar beet and cherry blossom from the South Korean island of Jeju, which leaves skin glowing and radiant

Sydney illustrator 'Charlene's Beauty Sketch' said the collection has worked wonders for her lacklustre skin, particularly the jelly cream.

'I personally have really dull skin and my first impression of the Jelly Cream was super brightening!' she wrote in an Instagram post.

A Singaporean beauty reviewer agreed, describing it as 'the new best friend' of anyone with dry, dull skin.

Innisfree first arrived on Australian shores last year with their first store (pictured) opening in Melbourne in June 2018

'When worn on its own, the cream helps to create a very natural 'your skin but better' look, by brightening and evening out skin tone,' she said.

Innisfree first arrived on Australian shores almost three years ago with their first store opening in Melbourne in June 2018.

The cult favourite came to Sydney's Queen Victoria Building in March 2019 and became an instant hit with residents of the Harbour City.
NASHVILLE, Tenn.  Chief Warrant Officer 4 David Ward, a Culleoka native, will become the Tennessee National Guards sixth Command Chief Warrant Officer in its history during a ceremony in Nashville on March 31.

Ward will assume responsibility from Chief Warrant Officer 5 Ricky Tackett, at Tennessee National Guards Joint Force Headquarters, who served in the position since 2017.

Tackett has been a great advisor and I am deeply appreciative of everything hes accomplished, said Brig. Gen. Jimmie Cole, Tennessees Land Component Commander. I wish him and Judy the best of luck. I look forward to working with Chief Ward and his wife of 24 years, Jennifer. Im confident he is the best person for this position and will masterfully serve our state.

Army Warrant Officers make up the technical foundation of the U.S. Army and the Command Chief Warrant Officer provides senior level counsel to the Land Component Commander and Tennessees Adjutant General on the supervision and training of Tennessees Warrant Officers.

Ward started his military career 36 years ago when he enlisted in the military in 1985 as an Equipment Records and Parts Specialist with the 18th Airborne Corps. Upon leaving active duty in 1988, Ward joined the South Carolina Army National Guards 1-263rd Armor Regiment where he served for 16 years and rose to the rank of Chief Warrant Officer 2. He transferred to the Tennessee Army National Guard in 2004 where he served as the Detachment Commander for the 730th Quartermaster Company and deployed to the Middle East in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Upon his return, he served as a Senior Maintenance Technician with the 176th Maintenance Battalion and as the Logistics Maintenance Manager supervising 18 Field Maintenance Shops, three Combined Support Maintenance Shops, and two Unit Training Equipment Sites across Tennessee. He has also served at Nashvilles Joint Force Headquarters as the Senior Maintenance Officer and the Senior Supply Systems Officer before assuming responsibility as the Command Chief Warrant Officer.

Due to current COVID-19 restrictions and CDC guidelines, participation in the ceremony is limited.
People who received unemployment in 2020 are in for some important tax return changes because of the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill.

The bill made the first $10,200 of unemployment benefits tax-free for households that earn up to $150,000, whatever their filing status. Married couples who file jointly will see $20,400 of tax-free unemployment benefits  $10,200 per spouse  if they were both unemployed.

The IRS said earlier this week that it will automate refunds for people who have already filed their tax returns.

The decision saves some work for those who already filed their tax returns. They will no longer have to file an amended return to reflect the tax-free benefits.

Its also a big deal for those in New Jersey, who were given the option to withhold taxes from their base unemployment benefits but they were not given the same opportunity to withhold taxes from enhanced benefits, such as the weekly $600 payments from the CARES Act. That could have led to an unexpected tax bill for many.

If you have already filed your 2020 Form 1040 or 1040-SR, there is no need to file an amended return (Form 1040-X) to figure the amount of unemployment compensation to exclude, the IRS said on its website. The IRS will refigure your taxes using the excluded unemployment compensation amount and adjust your account accordingly. The IRS will send any refund amount directly to you.

The agency has not yet indicated how quickly that might happen.

New Jersey does not tax unemployment benefits.

The tax-free status of unemployment benefits could also increase the number of people eligible for stimulus checks.

The IRS clarified on Tuesday that the unemployment benefits will not count toward adjusted gross income, the figure used to determine whether people are eligible for stimulus payments. That means more people will be eligible for the stimulus checks.

For example, a married couple with wages of $148,000 and unemployment compensation of $12,000 would normally have adjusted gross income of $160,000, said Neil Becourtney, a certified public accountant with CohnReznick in Holmdel. They not have been eligible for a stimulus payment because there is a cutoff of $150,000 to receive the full benefit. But by excluding the unemployment benefits from adjusted gross income, the couple would be eligible for two $1,400 payments.

If the unemployment compensation would have pushed the taxpayer to a point of being ineligible for a $1,400 stimulus rebate, this provision may therefore provide a double benefit, he said.

The IRS extended the tax deadline for 2020 returns from April 15 to May 17. New Jersey also extended its deadline for most taxpayers, but estimated tax payments will still be due on April 15.

Use our stimulus calculator to see how much you may receive.

Please subscribe now and support the local journalism YOU rely on and trust.

Karin Price Mueller may be reached at KPriceMueller@NJAdvanceMedia.com.
Credit: Image Point Fr/Shutterstock

As we learn more about COVID-19, the accepted narratives about it are constantly being challenged. Initially it was said that children aren't seriously affected by the virus. But while acute infections in children do tend to be milder, there is emerging evidence that, like adults, they are at risk from persisting symptomsin other words, long COVID.

The Office for National Statistics estimates that around 13%-15% of children with COVID-19 have symptoms that last for more than five weeks. In Italy, a recent preprint (an early piece of research yet to be reviewed by other scientists) suggests that more than half of children with COVID-19 have at least one persisting symptom over 17 weeks after being diagnosed. Among them, 43% reported being impaired by their symptoms during daily activities.

Guidance for supporting people with long COVID has been published, but it acknowledges that understanding of how the condition presents in children is limited. Knowledge about this is, however, growing all the time. Here's what we know so far.

How long COVID affects children

Research on long COVID in adults has revealed a long list of symptoms. Early evidence suggests that many of these are also shared by children. In the Italian preprint, symptoms often found in adultssuch as fatigue, muscle and joint pain, headache, insomnia, respiratory problems and heart palpitationswere reported frequently in children.

A separate, larger preprint  which surveyed the parents of children with long COVID, predominantly in the UK and USfound similar results. Across a sample of 510 children, tiredness and weakness (87%), headaches (79%), abdominal pain (76%) and muscle and joint pain (61%) were common. Gastrointestinal symptoms were also reported relatively frequently, as were skin complaints such as rashes.

This paper also suggests a number of neuropsychiatric features may manifest in children with long COVID: 61% of children had trouble concentrating, 46% difficulty remembering information, 33% difficulty processing information and 32% trouble finding the right words when speaking. Unexplained irritability was common too, and may be associated with ongoing inflammation in the brain, though this could also be an understandable response to being unwell.

While many children develop long COVID as an immediate consequence of the virus, the international paper suggests that for some there may be a hiatus between the end of the acute infection and the start of long COVID. One in five of those surveyed had a period of wellness after their infection. The Italian paper also suggests that COVID-19 can have long-term effects in children who are asymptomatic or have minimal symptoms.

Guidance for parents and teachers

The pandemic has affected children and young people in many ways. Some have missed a year of school. Children's mental wellbeing has also suffered, and a reduction in physical activity and fitness is a health risk too. Importantly, children and young people are reported to be fearful about their future. If long COVID is added to this mix, the challenges are immense.

Parents should therefore try not to push children with long COVID to do too much, particularly as exercise seems to contribute to relapses. If you think your child has long COVID, keep notes of symptoms and patterns. You can then take these to consultations with medical practitioners. It may be that you are more aware of long COVID in children than your GP. You can also seek support and information from advocacy groups such as Long COVID Kids.

With children in the UK now returning to school, it's vital that teachers are aware of the existence of long COVID. In particular, it shouldn't be left to parents to provide information to teachers about how their children are affected.

Both should understand that long COVID needs to be considered as a disability of uncertain duration that may last months. Surveying suggests some children have had symptoms for a year that are still ongoing. The symptoms themselves may be diverse and can fluctuate, and may appear months after a coronavirus infection, which could be asymptomatic.

Note that because long COVID can cause a variety of physical symptoms, it may lead to school absences. These, together with neurocognitive effects, such as trouble processing information, poor memory and speech difficulties, may affect academic progress.

While we don't presume to tell schools how to respond to the challenge of long COVID in children, given all of the above, we do have some advice. We believe each child should be assessed as an individual, with individual needs. Because of their symptoms, children with long COVID may require personalized timetables. These could include remote learning, the provision of a room for a nap if needed, and observation and support during PE lessons, with modifications to take account of fatigue. But remember: no one solution will fit all children.

Schools should also know how to arrange onward referrals to appropriate services, such as children's long COVID clinics (if set up) or Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) should anxiety, depression or other mental health symptoms arise that need a specialist approach.

Finally, schools may also need to provide support to families. Parents may struggle managing a child with long COVID, and other family members may also have it. It may be helpful for the school nurse to liaise with the child's GP (after gaining parental or carer consent) about particular symptoms reported, impact on school attendance, mental health symptoms or any safeguarding concerns.

Above all else, school procedures should ensure that children and their families are dealt with and supported compassionately in the face of what is a difficult and uncertain condition.

Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
After dilly-dallying over legalising or banning cryptocurrencies, the Indian government has finally taken an encouraging step towards regulating digital currencies. The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has made it mandatory for companies to disclose crypto trading/investments during the financial year. Experts see it as a positive step and expect the taxation rules to follow through.

"In light of the recent speculation around ban, allowing cryptocurrencies to be a part of accounting practices will definitely put investors at ease as they no longer have to be worried regarding taxation. This is a definite endorsement, and it is good to see that India is not falling behind the global cryptocurrency race. Bringing regulation that provides safety to investors, factors taxation and fosters cryptocurrency as an alternate investment class will be the right step ahead," says Monark Modi, Founder and CEO, Bitex, a global cryptocurrency exchange.

Curbing black money

The accounting of crypto assets will help curb illegal activities and circulation of black money via cryptos. "We are living in an era of enhanced KYC norms and monitoring of financial transactions. That being said, considering cryptocurrencies are in a regulatory flux at the moment and are at times associated with illegal activities such as tax evasion and money laundering, it is only understandable that the government wishes to have visibility on a company's cryptocurrency dealings," says GV Anand Bhushan, Partner at Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co.

Improving corporate governance

It will also improve the corporate governance with more transparent disclosures. "From an organisational perspective, the notification being proposed by the MCA will improve disclosure requirements, usher in more transparency, thereby improving the overall corporate governance architecture of an organisation, while enabling the governmental authorities to monitor cryptocurrency dealings being undertaken by corporations, at the same time. The said notification is, thus, a predictable outcome considering the government's past regulatory responses in this regard," says Bhushan of Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas.

Additionally, the companies will have to find ways to value their crypto assets and disclose all transactions as per regulations. "Companies and other stakeholders will have to deal with the challenges of valuation, identification, nature and completeness of transactions and their disclosures," says Khazat Kotwal, Partner, Deloitte India.

Expected taxation rules

Cryptocurrency transactions are taxable in India in cases where the person earning such gains is an Indian tax resident or where the crypto is said to be domiciled in India.

Talking about how such income should be taxed, Ritesh Kumar S, Executive Director, IndusLaw says: The popular approach on this is to tax the gains as being "Capital Gains"; this is premised on the assumption that the crypto assets are "capital assets" and not traded frequently by the holder of it. However, where the the transaction in cryptocurrency is being carried out as usual trade or business, the income could be taxed as 'Profit & gains from Business'. Therefore at a very generic level, the rule of thumb could be that treatment depends upon the interval of occurrence of income."
Volotea to Connect Gibraltar Airport to Bilbao

The new connection, operational between July and September 2021, will have two weekly frequencies: Tuesdays and Fridays.

Volotea, the airline for small and medium-sized European cities, today announced the launch of a route connecting Gibraltar airport with Bilbao. This new connection will operate twice a week on Tuesdays and Fridays.

The connection between Gibraltar and Bilbao, operated by an Airbus A319, will start on 2 July offering around 8,200 seats between July and September. Volotea will be the only airline to connect Gibraltar with a Spanish city.

"True to our vocation, we want to continue to connect small and medium- sized cities with great flexibility and to do so with maximum safety. We are very happy to be able to announce the opening of this new route that seeks to satisfy a demand that was not being met," commented Carlos Munoz, Founder and CEO of Volotea.

Minister for Business, Tourism, Transport and the Port of Her Majestys Government of Gibraltar the Hon Vijay Daryanani MP said I welcome the announcement made today by Volotea on the start of flights from Bilbao, Spain to Gibraltar for the summer of 2021. I am delighted to see the addition of yet another carrier serving Gibraltar and a new route that opens up a completely new catchment area from another country. I am sure that this announcement will be welcomed by our tourism industry in Gibraltar and our business community, as this service creates further opportunities to attract visitors to Gibraltar. I am also sure that those living in Gibraltar and in the region will welcome the chance to visit Bilbao and its surrounding areas. This will assist in generating even more shared prosperity for this area.

All Volotea routes are available on the website www.volotea.com and in travel agencies.

At the airport and on board its aircraft, Volotea guarantees a safe experience, with strict protocols and sanitary measures certified by Bureau Veritas.

Volotea offers a free deferral of tickets, up to 7 days before departure, for any departure up to 30 September 2021 and confirmed up to 30 April 2021.

Flight schedules are subject to health conditions and restrictions imposed by the authorities of European countries and may be subject to change.

Volotea was founded in 2011 by Carlos Munoz and Lazaro Ros, previously founders of Vueling, and is one of the fastest-growing independent airlines in Europe, increasing year-on-year its fleet, routes served, and seats offered. Since its start, Volotea has carried more than 30 million passengers across Europe.

Volotea is based in 17 European mid-sized capitals: Asturias, Athens, Bilbao, Bordeaux, Cagliari, Genoa, Hamburg, Lyon (opening in 2021), Marseille, Nantes, Naples, Olbia, Palermo, Strasbourg, Toulouse, Venice and Verona. Volotea serves more than 100 cities across 16 countries including Algeria which will be launched in September from France.

In 2020, Volotea signed an agreement with Bureau Veritas, a world leader in testing, inspection and certification, in order to verify the successful implementation of health and hygiene measures. Volotea is the worlds first airline to have its preventive measures against Covid-19 audited by Bureau Veritas.

Volotea is becoming a full Airbus carrier in 2021, by renewing part of its fleet with aircraft from the European manufacturer. The airline, which had planned to perform this fleet unification in 2023, has advanced its plans in order to improve its cost base over the next 2-3 years and increase its network offering, with aircraft that have a higher capacity and a longer flying range. The airline plans to operate a fleet of 35 to 39 aircraft in summer 2021 (versus 36 in Summer 2019).
5,700+ items sold from three states attracted 11,000+ online bidders from 80+ countries

NORTH EAST, Md., March 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - Since moving its auctions to 100% online bidding, Ritchie Bros. has taken advantage of the digital world by bringing smaller auctions together to create bigger online events. With the company's Northeast Regional Event this week, Ritchie Bros. sold more than 5,700 equipment items and trucks stored at sites in Maryland, Ohio, and Pennsylvania for US$55+ million. The two-day auction attracted 933,000+ website pageviews and a 24% increase in watchlists per item.

"Our 2021 online events continue to deliver amazing returns for sellers, with another incredible sales result in the Northeast," said Ryan Funck, Regional Sales Manager, Ritchie Bros. "By combining equipment from our sites in North East, MD; Columbus, OH; and Pittsburgh, PA into one Regional Event we are able to attract a much larger buying audience and achieve strong price performance for consignors. We are driving record demand and encourage interested sellers to contact us and take advantage."

More than 11,000 people from 80+ countries registered to bid in the March 23  24 Northeast Regional Auction. Approximately 91% of the equipment in the auction was sold to U.S. buyers, including buyers from Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania purchasing a combined 35 percent, while international buyers from as far away Australia, Belgium, and Nigeria purchased the remaining nine percent.

"This was my first auction with Ritchie Bros. and they could not have been more helpful," said Ted Korte, Owner of TK Gas Services, which sold more than 130 items in the auction as part of a complete dispersal. "We decided to shut down our company and liquidate our assets. Ritchie Bros. gave me options, never pressured me, answered every question I had, and at the end of the auction, we were very pleased with the results."

Equipment highlights in the auction included a 2008 Manitowoc 14000 220-ton self-erecting crawler crane that sold for US$305,000 to an online buyer from Manitoba, Canada; a 2018 Caterpillar 335FLCR hydraulic excavator that sold for US$175,000 to an online buyer from Tennessee; and a 2020 Kenworth T880 day cab truck tractor that sold for US$140,000 to an online buyer from Pennsylvania. All items were sold without minimum bids or reserve prices.

"Leading up to the sale, we had a ton of interested bidders onsite kicking tires and inspecting equipment in North East, Columbus, and Pittsburgh," added Mr. Funck. "Our multiple physical sites are local hubs with global reach, as we maintain care, custody, and control of assets to help facilitate inspections and provide additional services for both buyers and sellers. The power of our physical and digital footprint working together is a real strength of our offering today."

AUCTION QUICK FACTS: NORTHEAST REGIONAL (MARCH 2021)

Gross Transaction Value (GTV): US$55+ million

Total Registered Bidders: 11,000+

Total Number of Lots: 5,700+

Total Number of Consignors: 730+

Ritchie Bros. will sell more than 60,000 equipment items and trucks in its upcoming auctions, including a Midwest Regional Event on March 30  31 and Timed Auction events in Nashville, TN on March 30 and Sacramento, CA on March 31. The company also has weekly featured online auctions at IronPlanet.com and a daily reserved option with Marketplace-E.

About Ritchie Bros.:

Established in 1958, Ritchie Bros. (NYSE and TSX: RBA) is a global asset management and disposition company, offering customers end-to-end solutions for buying and selling used heavy equipment, trucks and other assets. Operating in a number of sectors, including construction, transportation, agriculture, energy, oil and gas, mining, and forestry, the company's selling channels include: Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers, the world's largest industrial auctioneer offers live auction events with online bidding; IronPlanet, an online marketplace with featured weekly auctions and providing the exclusive IronClad Assurance equipment condition certification; Marketplace-E, a controlled marketplace offering multiple price and timing options; Mascus, a leading European online equipment listing service; and Ritchie Bros. Private Treaty, offering privately negotiated sales. The Company's suite of solutions also includes Ritchie Bros. Asset Solutions and Rouse Services LLC, which together provides a complete end-to-end asset management, data-driven intelligence and performance benchmarking system. Ritchie Bros. also offers sector-specific solutions including GovPlanet, TruckPlanet, and Kruse Energy, plus equipment financing and leasing through Ritchie Bros. Financial Services. For more information about Ritchie Bros., visit RitchieBros.com.

Photos and video for embedding in media stories are available at rbauction.com/media.

SOURCE Ritchie Bros.
Three men are accused of taking part in a gathering of up to 60 masked men in east Belfast

A man who allegedly took part in a loyalist show of strength in east Belfast is not to be with any more than two other people in public, a judge has ordered.

David Matthews was also banned from entering the city as part of strict terms under which he was granted bail.

The 34-year-old is accused of being among a gathering of up to 60 masked men at Pitt Park last month.

Police and prosecutors have claimed 11 residents had to flee their homes on February 2 and shelter in a nearby community centre for up to eight days. The group is believed to be linked to the East Belfast UVF, previous courts were told. Matthews, of Millreagh in Dundonald, faces charges of unlawful assembly and affray in connection with the incident. His 58-year-old father, Stephen Matthews, of Pansy Street in Belfast, and Derek Lammey (56), from Spring Place in the city, remain in custody accused of the same offences. The three defendants deny involvement and have not been charged with any paramilitary offences. With the case against them based on disputed identification evidence from police at the scene, repeated attempts have been made to secure bail. Earlier this week, the High Court refused to release David Matthews to live in Co Down at the home of a man said to have an extensive criminal record. His lawyers then offered a different address in Comber as part of a renewed application. At Belfast Magistrates Court, it was accepted that the proposals raised no geographical issues. District Judge George Conner agreed to grant bail to David Matthews under a number of conditions. The defendant is prohibited from entering Belfast and neighbouring parts of Dundonald and Ballybeen. "He is not to be in the company of three or more persons in a public place," Mr Conner said. Apart from his father, Matthews is barred from contacting anyone arrested or charged as part of the investigation. Further conditions include electronic monitoring and reporting to police three times a week.


A bona fide national treasure must, of course, be prepared to give back to society.

So when Dame Judi Dench was invited to become a Patron of the Countryside Restoration Trust, she leapt at the chance.

Her role at the charity, which campaigns for wildlife-friendly farming, would support two great loves of her life: the British countryside, and the work of her partner, a conservationist called David Mills, who is one of its trustees.

The Oscar-winning actress duly dressed up in her finest rambling gear and posed for photos with fellow Patron Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, declaring herself privileged to be invited to promote the tremendous Trusts pioneering work.

The Oscar-winning actress duly dressed up in her finest rambling gear and posed for photos with fellow Patron Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, left, while Robin Page is seen right

Yet rural Britain isnt always green and pleasant: sometimes, you come across an angry farmer, and occasionally, muck gets thrown.

So it goes that, two years after she agreed to become the CRTs celebrity figurehead, 86-year-old Dame Judi has been dragged into a toxic public dispute.

At the centre of hostilities is one such angry farmer: the formidable Robin Page, a best-selling writer, newspaper columnist, political campaigner and former presenter of the BBCs One Man And His Dog.

Mr Page has devoted much of the past three decades to the charity, which he co-founded in the early 1990s to help undo damage to nature wrought by industrial farming.

Prince Charles, a long-standing supporter and friend of Mr Page, spoke at the Trusts organisations birthday party a few years back. But for how much longer will Mr Page be part of this illustrious organisation?

Today, it safeguards 33 million worth of farmland, covering roughly 2,500 acres, across 18 picturesque sites, and last year alone the Trust received more than 4 million in donations and legacies.

Prince Charles, a long-standing supporter and friend of Mr Page, spoke at the Trusts organisations birthday party a few years back.

But for how much longer will Mr Page be part of this illustrious organisation?

For last week, the 77-year-old conservationist launched a furious attack on all five of his fellow members of the CRTs board, who he accuses of plotting to have him sacked from running it.

Caught firmly in his sights was Dame Judis partner, whom he also accuses of leading this hostile coup.

I love Judi to bits, says Page. Shes wonderful. But her partner David Mills is one of the people agitating against me. We get on famously. But now her fella has decided that he wants to be top dog and so I am being bullied out.

Hostilities between Page, on one side, and Mr Mills and fellow trustees, on the other, have been brewing for some time. But things escalated into outright warfare last Monday, when fellow board members wrote to Page saying they had decided to terminate his paid role as the charitys executive chairman.

A round of mud-slinging ensued, with allegations of highly-abusive behaviour (and worse) aired by both sides.

Robin is behaving like a tyrant, a despot, says Tim Scott, one of the trustees. Hes decided that we are all out to get him, when in fact were simply trying to do our legal duty, to protect the charity and make sure it is run in a way thats legal, which it cant be if hes both a trustee and a paid employee.

In recent days, I gather, complaints were made to the Charities Commission, again by both sides. Page has also re-written his will to remove a bequest to the Trust of the cottage where he lives with wife Lulu, plus roughly 30 acres of meadow that surround it.

Genuinely, this is one of the nastiest disputes Ive ever come across, says one informed source. I cannot see how it can be resolved without seriously damaging the charity. Its all very, very sad.

To fully understand this ugly business  in which, it should be stressed, neither side is beyond reproach  we must wind the clock back almost 30 years to 1993, when Page used a newspaper column to ask for help to preserve a brook where otters had been spotted near to his village of Barton in Cambridgeshire.

Money flooded in, and he bought 20 acres of the site, promising to ensure that it was farmed in a wildlife-friendly manner.

Working with Gordon Beningfield, a renowned wildlife artist, and the conservationist Sir Laurens van der Post, Prince Charless mentor and Prince Williams godfather, he then established the CRT to raise funds to extend this experiment to other corners of rural Britain where industrial farming practices have decimated bird and animal populations.

It would prove a huge success. Today, the Trusts land near Barton covers 400 acres, and is now one of 18 sites it controls.

Things began to unravel, I can reveal, in 2017, when Page fell out with the Trusts then recently appointed chief executive, Sarah Stannage. He became convinced Ms Stannage was somehow collaborating with the TV presenter Chris Packham  who campaigns against shooting and almost all forms of predator control  to place woke animal rights activists into senior roles in the CRT.

Pages fears escalated when he discovered that an employee shed hired had, as her referee, one Mark Avery, who founded an anti-shooting organisation with Mr Packham called Wild Justice. The ensuing row led to both the departure of Ms Stannage and her finance manager in November 2017. Between them, they received redundancy payments of more than 30,000.

It also led to clashes between Mr Page and his fellow trustees, most of whom did not believe any attempted infiltration had occurred. Three quit that year, and another two the year after.

They were replaced by various acquaintances of Page, including (in 2018) Mr Mills, a former farmer who founded the British Wildlife Centre and had become Dame Judis partner following the death of her actor husband Michael Williams in 2001.

The new board decided that, to fill the boots of Ms Stannage, Mr Page would serve as executive chairman of the CRT on a consultancy that paid him by the hour.

However, Pages new day job led to regular clashes with trustees.

With Robin, you either do things his way or no way, says Tim Scott. All the trustees have been hand-picked by him, and most of us have been friends for years, but a common theme is that pretty soon they find themselves being given the Alex Ferguson hairdryer treatment [an angry verbal reprimand].

Earlier this year, a dispute over an article that Page had submitted to the CRTs magazine escalated to a point where he was told that his contract with the charity was in conflict with rules that generally forbid trustees from profiting from their role.

They therefore proposed removing him as executive chairman and giving him a different job instead.

Things then quickly went nuclear. Page hit Twitter: I am being bullied out of the Countryside Restoration Trust by a group of greedy elderly men who simply want to take the Trust away from its members. Astonishing. We are talking about greedy people with enormously inflated egos.

Several CRT members responded with outrage, pledging to quit the organisation, or to remove large bequests to it from their wills.

Page is, for now, sticking doggedly to his guns. So, too, are trustees.

Unless a solution to this impasse can be found, the future of the very worthy charity that Prince Charles and Dame Judi adore is gravely under threat  thanks, one might argue, to one man and his dogma.
CAIRO - Brand-new Kia automobiles, cases of Heineken beer, live animals and billions of dollars of crude oil and other commodities remained stranded in the Suez Canal throughout the day on Friday. Meanwhile, tugboats and dredgers tried to free a grounded container ship that has come to symbolize the perils of a global economy that relies on goods traveling around the world in larger and larger vessels.

The Ever Given, one of the largest container ships ever built, has been stuck in the canal since Tuesday, creating an increasingly expensive traffic jam on both sides of the waterway. Some tankers have already opted to travel around the southern tip of Africa instead, adding weeks to their journeys, through a region known for piracy.

"It just shows you how vulnerable our supply-chain lines are," said Guy Platten, secretary general for the U.K.-based International Chamber of Shipping.

On Friday morning, the canal's service provider, Leth Agencies, said in a tweet that the Ever Given "remains grounded in the same position" with tugboats and dredgers working to dislodge the vessel, which is blocking the flow of an estimated $12 billion in goods.

Meanwhile, the Japanese owner of the ship expressed hope that it could be freed by Saturday night. Yukito Higaki, president of Shoei Kisen Kaisha, apologized Friday for the "great trouble and concern," according to the Japanese financial news website Nikkei Asia.

Egypt's Suez Canal Authority said Friday afternoon that its dredging operations were roughly 87% complete, but navigational safety regulations prevented the dredging ship from moving too close.

The U.S. Navy plans to send a team of dredging experts to the canal to assess the problem, CNN reported.

With some experts predicting that freeing the ship could take weeks, a number of global shipping companies on Friday began seeking alternative routes.

"We're now beginning to see even vessels that had entered the Mediterranean hang a U-turn," Lars Jensen, the CEO of Denmark-based SeaIntelligence Consulting, told The Washington Post.

At least seven tankers carrying liquefied natural gas were diverted, including three steered toward the longer route to Europe via the Cape of Good Hope in southern Africa. Another nine tankers were expected to be diverted if the blockage continues into the weekend, an analyst for data intelligence firm Kpler told the Guardian newspaper.

At least four long-range oil tankers with the capacity to haul 75,000 tons of oil were also possibly headed around the Cape of Good Hope, London-based ship brokering firm Braemar ACM told Reuters, adding that shipping rates have nearly doubled this week "as the market starts to price in fewer vessels being available in the region."

On the ship-tracking service Marine Traffic, several ships could be observed changing course Friday.

Detouring around Africa is likely to add a week or two to most itineraries and hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional fuel costs.

With more ships potentially being diverted to the Cape of Good Hope, piracy could increase. Pirates have long preyed on ships moving in the waters off the Horn of Africa, and the seas off oil-rich West Africa are now considered among the world's most dangerous for shipping.

Over the past two days, the U.S. Navy said it has been contacted by shipping firms from multiple countries concerned about the heightened risks of piracy to ships being rerouted, a spokesperson for the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet, based in Bahrain, told the Financial Times.

"There is a risk there, and it's probably another reason why the ocean carriers will think twice before they actually go around the Horn," said Genevieve Giuliano, a professor at the University of Southern California's Sol Price School of Public Policy.

The Ever Given, operated by Taiwan-based Evergreen Marine Corp., was headed to the Netherlands on Tuesday when it ran aground in the 120-mile-long passage from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean during a dust storm. Exactly how the stranding occurred remains unclear, but experts have speculated that the containers stacked atop the ship could have acted like a massive sail propelling the boat forward in high winds.

Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement, which is responsible for managing the ship's crew and maintenance, has said that an investigation into the incident is underway. But officials have yet to release any details, including who has been questioned. Typically, Suez-based pilots guide the ship through the narrow passage, and the management company has said that two pilots were on board when the boat ran aground.

Continued failure to dislodge the ship could become a source of embarrassment for Egypt, where the canal and its pivotal role in global trade is a source of national pride. The country spent $8 billion in 2015 to widen parts of the canal, but not the section in question.

With more than 200 other ships stuck in the bottleneck, moving the Ever Given will only create a new set of headaches. Many of those vessels will arrive in European ports at the same time, and find they have nowhere to dock.

The unprecedented pileup could strain global supply chains already stressed by the coronavirus pandemic.

On top of the need to shuttle raw materials to industrial manufacturers and pharmaceutical companies, shipping firms are grappling with extraordinary demand for consumer products, which has created a scarcity of empty containers.

"There is this boom we are seeing which has never happened before," said Nils Haupt, a spokesperson for Hapag-Lloyd, an international container shipping company.

Five of Hapag-Lloyd's vessels are stuck near the Suez, including the New York Express, which is locked in the Great Bitter Lake, and the Tsingtao Express, one of many ships waiting in outer anchorage in Port Said.

The containers aboard many of the ships, with goods mostly from China, are destined for consumers in the United States and northern Europe. Treadmills, desks, coffee machines and home improvement supplies are among the shipments as many continue to work and exercise at home, Haupt said.

Just a few days into the blockage, Haupt does not expect the delay to hurt many consumers yet. While more than 200 vessels are in the line to traverse the Suez eventually, several of Hapag-Lloyd's ships are among the many others that have already been rerouted.

While most consumer goods passing through the Suez Canal are headed from China to Europe, the cascading chain of dominoes will eventually reach America. "We're all connected globally," Platten said.

The ongoing crisis highlights how much of the world economy relies on seafarers, some of whom have gone a full year without taking a break or seeing their families because of the pandemic, Platten said.

- - -

The Washington Post's Hamza Shaban contributed to this report.
Company News: Patients can now use their smartphone to pre-register with a practice, manage bookings, access test results and much more.

Sydney, Australia, March 2021 - Leading Clinical and Practice Management Software provider, Clinic to Cloud, has revamped its popular Patient Portal, allowing practices to create more transparency and drive a streamlined patient experience both in the practice and remotely.

Patient engagement is emerging as one of the most important aspects of a medical practice, as the world transitions to the consumerisation of healthcare. Patients can now use their smartphone to pre-register with a practice, manage bookings, access test results and much more, in an effort to create efficiencies at the front desk and a contactless environment for both patients and practice staff.

With more patients and practitioners needing access to health care and health information remotely, Clinic to Clouds Patient Portal has been enabled for any device and is now able to be used on tablets, most browsers, and smartphones.

The infrastructure in the back-end of the Portal has been updated to ensure security, and the Portal also has a new, streamlined look and feel for ease of use.

The Portal gives patients the ability to book, confirm and reschedule appointments within practice guidelines, reducing patient no-shows and lost revenue, and maximising workflows and practice efficiency.

The Patient Portal ensures:

Patients can make appointments, view approved results from pathology and imaging investigations, see fee estimates, invoices, and upload referrals.

Patients are taken from referral to receipt, all through cloud technology.

A contactless patient administration experience.

Patients are empowered to access their clinical information, fill registration forms, upload referrals, receive check-up reminders, and manage appointments, all through the one secure and safe portal.

Patients receive recalls and check-up reminders to help reduce no-shows and boost continuity of care.

Clinic to Cloud, a cloud-based medical software, supports over 7,200 healthcare professionals who service 3.66 million patients.

CEO of Clinic to Cloud, Rafic Habib, says patient engagement is an important offering in which Clinic to Cloud has always supported its customers. The demand from our customers for more features particularly grew in 2020 during and post the pandemic, as doctors and patients were looking for continuity of care in a safe way, he says.

The updates to the Patient Portal ensure practitioners can increase patient engagement in a world where more healthcare transactions are occurring online. Doctors and practice staff have experienced a higher administrative burden during the pandemic, and unless we continue to innovate in this space as we have, the burden will continue. In the meantime, patients are wanting a higher level of transparency from online providers.

I am very proud of the incredible effort my team has put in in the Portals new look and feel making it easier to use, more streamlined, and intuitive. This also assists practices to manage administration more efficiently and cost-effectively.

We have an incredibly passionate team of people, who work tirelessly to offer the best solutions for clinicians and practice staff. We are constantly listening to our customers and providing solutions and upgrades based on their feedback, in order to keep creating efficiencies.

About Clinic to Cloud

Clinic to Cloud is the leading cloud-based Clinical and Practice Management Software in Australia. With a vision to build a connected care ecosystem, Clinic to Cloud supports over 7,200 healthcare professionals who service 3.66 million patients. Clinic to Cloud is dedicated to revolutionising the way practices manage and deliver health care, with industry-leading workflow innovations, multi-device enabled applications and decision support, to help deliver exceptional experiences for practices and patients. Find out more about Clinic to Clouds innovative solutions at clinictocloud.com
RXNT's EHR is recognized by Gartner Digital Markets "Were honored to receive these awards, resulting from outstanding feedback from our EHR customers," says Randy Boldyga, RXNT CEO & President

RXNT, a leading cloud-based ambulatory healthcare software provider, is proud to announce that they have received top honors from healthcare IT review platforms Capterra and Software Advicedivisions of Gartner Digital Markets. Gartners review sites connect potential healthcare professionals with objective data and customer feedback about industry-leading vendors and products.

Capterra has named RXNTs Electronic Health Records software as the #1 Top Performer on their 2021 Shortlist. RXNT also received recognition as a Software Advice FrontRunner and a GetApp Category Leader in the EMR category. RXNT achieved these honors based on positive reviews from a range of clients, including stand-alone healthcare providers and ambulatory medical practices of all sizes and specialties.

Were honored to receive these awards, resulting from outstanding feedback from our EHR customers. During these challenging times in the healthcare community, its rewarding to be able to build software that helps clinicians provide higher quality care to their patients. We pledge to continue to develop innovative and intuitive healthcare technology that enables our customers to better manage the complexities they face every day, said Randy Boldyga, CEO and President of RXNT.

RXNTs intuitive Electronic Health Records software with streamlined workflows, helps automate clinical and administrative work so healthcare practices can operate at peak efficiency. RXNTs suite of software also includes Medical Billing which improves revenue cycle management for faster payments, fewer denied claims, and customizable reporting. The two products integrate seamlessly for optimal data flow and productivity.

About RXNT

Since 1999, RXNT has provided certified, award-winning Practice Management, Medical Billing, EHR, and eRx software to physician practices, healthcare providers, and medical billing companies across the United States. A focus on innovation allows the company to bring the best solutions to market at an affordable cost. Customizable software comes with comprehensive US-based support and training that has achieved a customer satisfaction rate of over 90%. For more information, please visit rxnt.com.

About Gartner

Gartner, Inc. is the worlds leading research and advisory company and a member of the S&P 500. They equip business leaders with indispensable insights, advice and tools to achieve their mission-critical priorities today and build the successful organizations of tomorrow.

Gartners unmatched combination of expert-led, practitioner-sourced and data-driven research steers clients toward the right decisions on the issues that matter most. They are a trusted advisor and an objective resource for more than 14,000 enterprises in more than 100 countries  across all major functions, in every industry and enterprise size.

To learn more, visit gartner.com.

For more information, please contact:

Tom Collinson

Executive Vice President, Business Development

(410) 777-8842

tcollinson@rxnt.com
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Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-26 23:33:57|Editor: huaxia

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RAMALLAH -- Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Ishtaye on Friday welcomed the resumption of U.S. financial aid to the Palestinian Authority, describing the move as "an important step in the right direction."

The U.S. decision "is an important step in the right direction to reshape the (Palestinian) relationship with the U.S. government, which stopped during Trump's term in the White House," Ishtaye said in a statement. (Palestine-US-Financial Aid)

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DHAKA -- At least four people died in Bangladesh after a clash with police in the Hathazari area on the outskirts of the seaport city Chattogram Friday afternoon, Alauddin Talukdar, an official of Chattogram Medical College Hospital, told journalists.

He said on-duty doctors declared the four people dead when they were brought from Hathazari, where activists of religious group Hefazat-e-Islam fought with law enforcers for hours in protest of a foreign leader's visit. (Bangladesh-Protests-Death)

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SOHAG, Egypt -- At least 32 were killed and 66 others wounded as two trains collided on Friday in Egypt's southern province of Sohag, said a Health Ministry statement.

At least 36 ambulances were sent to the scene and transferred the wounded to four public hospitals nearby, according to the ministry statement. (Egypt-Train Collision-Death Toll)

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CAIRO -- The Suez Canal Authority (SCA) said on Friday that it welcomes cooperation with the United States in dislodging the giant cargo ship that has blocked the course of the world's busiest waterway since Tuesday, according to a statement released by the SCA.

The SCA also expressed gratitude for all the other offers of assistance to free the ship, reiterating its keenness to restore maritime traffic in the Suez Canal as soon as possible. (Egypt-Suez Canal-Dislodging)

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MOSCOW -- The Russian Foreign Ministry said Friday that it strongly opposes the European Union (EU)'s politicization of human rights.

"The EU continues to pursue a policy of illegal, unilateral sanctions, which contradicts international law," the ministry's spokesperson Maria Zakharova said at her weekly briefing commenting on the EU position on human rights. Enditem
A BIG thanks to Carl DeGurse (Expertise should guide school plan, March 20) for highlighting some of the folly in the provincial governments Better Education Starts Today (BEST) document and Bill 64. Parent involvement in their childrens education is essential, but its best form is interest in and knowledge about how they are doing, assistance where needed, and unwavering encouragement and support.

Opinion

A BIG thanks to Carl DeGurse ("Expertise should guide school plan," March 20) for highlighting some of the folly in the provincial governments Better Education Starts Today (BEST) document and Bill 64. Parent involvement in their childrens education is essential, but its best form is interest in and knowledge about how they are doing, assistance where needed, and unwavering encouragement and support.

The school community councils described in Bill 64 are the premiers promise to parents to finally give them a genuine participation in, and control over, their childrens education. These are empty and pernicious promises, ones that suggest education is a personal private good and individual family responsibility, that position every parent against every other parent and encourage divisive alliances in school communities, and ones which ensure most parents are left out of any meaningful decision-making, alone and isolated in advocating for their children.

These imagined councils are, at best, deception dressed up as a prize, a fabricated answer to a manufactured problem. Further, to suggest they are to be achieved through individual volunteerism suggests a duty for  and places an obligation on  parents that is impossible for many families to fulfil because of the absence of resources and authority, and guilts them when they are not up to the task.

Its worth proclaiming again that education is everybodys business, for everyones benefit. We adults  indeed, society as a whole  all have a stake in, and something to gain by, the education of every child. Ideally, every child should have a right to have their grandparents, the elders in their community, their caregivers, their neighbours and friends serve as caring, responsible advocates and teachers, in addition to their teachers at school, working with their parents to ensure them the best and most comprehensive educational opportunities.

For children, schooling is not just a matter of their families competing against all others for limited goods. And its not about parents using their children as weapons against a system to address their personal grievances or indulge their own private impulses. Education is not only a private good among other scarce private goods, but also a public good to be gleaned from the abundance of public goods which should be available to all in co-operation with all.

Where these ideals are lost, we find alliances that divide communities, neighbours and former friends  which is not to say that I dont know of effective parent councils. However, all the effective parent councils I know have also welcomed non-parents and have dealt with matters bigger than their own self-interest.

Two most effective parent organizations come to mind  the parents of children for inclusive education and the parents of French immersion students  and both have been successful in lobbying boards and governments, and both have done so with the improvement of the system as well as the welfare of their children in mind.

They will tell you it was hard work and sacrifice and that they did not always agree on the way forward, but that at the end of the day their collective goal brought them together. And local coalitions turned into provincial and national agendas which invited everyone into the tent.

Volunteerism is a noble and important community activity, but education is too important to be left to the unpredictable will and resources of unpaid volunteers. The governments proposal fails to take into account the fact many newcomer parents are reluctant to engage, for language, cultural and knowledge reasons; that many parents simply do not have the time or energy to participate at a meaningful level; and that some are just too busy making a living.

Further, whereas trustees sign oaths of office and make conflict-of-interest declarations, and volunteers in schools often undergo Child Abuse Registry and criminal-record checks, there is no mention of parents responsibilities beyond their own children.

Our current government, espousing the parental involvement imagined in Bill 64, is making a false promise to what is very likely a very small number of disgruntled but not disenfranchised parents. They are ostensibly granted unfettered licence to advise, but nobody needs to heed their advice, whereas under the current system if they could persuade trustees of the reasonableness and rightness of their cases, they were immediately no longer alone but had advocates with collective authority.

And under the proposed system, parents are even further removed from anyone with meaningful discretionary decision-making over curriculum, teacher evaluation, resource allocation and the like. In other words, a bad deal all around.

John R. Wiens is dean emeritus at the faculty of education, University of Manitoba. A lifelong educator, he has served as a teacher, counsellor, work education co-ordinator, principal, school superintendent and university professor.
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The RE teacher who sparked a blasphemy protest at the gates after allegedly showing cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed to students is a 'burly Yorkshire lad' now under police protection, it was revealed today.

The amateur rugby player, who is in his late 20s, had trained to teach in the mid-2010s after going to university in the north of England, and now lives a short distance from his Batley school with his partner.

He had spoken of his experiences as a trainee teacher, saying how it was a 'fantastic' profession that he 'could not wait' to begin, The Telegraph reports.

One neighbour called him a 'nice man', while another called him a 'good, honest, burly Yorkshire lad' who 'always had a smile for us'.

Furious protesters outside the historic Batley Grammar School in West Yorkshire yesterday chanted 'shame on you' as they called for the teacher's removal, following allegations he showed a graphic depiction of the Prophet Mohammed in a lesson about blasphemy.

A police source says the Batley teacher is now receiving protection. They added that there were 'meetings' within West Yorkshire Police about the demonstration, and how best to manage the fallout - including keeping teachers safe.

'Officers have been especially assigned to him,' the source said. 'This is obviously very sensitive. Local Muslims are up in arms and the teacher has not apologised. There is obviously significant risk around the individual.'

Gavin Williamson has condemned the death threats made against a teacher who was suspended for allegedly showing a caricature of the Prophet Mohammed in a religious studies lesson on blasphemy.

The Education Secretary said that the protests outside the historic Batley Grammar School in West Yorkshire yesterday were 'completely unacceptable', after dozens of furious Muslim parents demonstrated and chanted 'shame on you' as they called for the teacher's removal.

Angry parents gather to protest outside Batley Grammar School in West Yorkshire following the incident in an RE lesson

Mufti Mohammed Amin Pandor, a local Muslim scholar, told the crowd in Batley that the teacher has been suspended

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson has now condemned the death threats made against the teacher. A Department for Education spokesperson said: 'It is never acceptable to threaten or intimidate teachers. We encourage dialogue between parents and schools when issues emerge'

It is not yet known what exact image was shown to the children, but parents had claimed they were 'French' caricatures.

This could be a reference to those published by Charlie Hebdo in 2012, which had been used as a justification for the heinous murder of 12 people at the magazine's Paris office.

The teacher is now the subject of great controversy, finding himself in the middle of a row over freedom of speech and offensive material.

There was no sign of him at his home and the car was missing yesterday, following the outbreak of the row.

He is understood to be receiving police protection, after posts on social media named him.

The backlash over his alleged actions come five months after history teacher Samuel Paty was beheaded on the street near his school in a Paris suburb by an Islamic extremist for showing Prophet Muhammad cartoons to his students.

The killing shocked the country and led to a fresh debate about freedom of speech and the integration of France's large Muslim population.

It also brought back memories of a wave of Islamist violence that started with the Charlie Hebdo massacre, sparked by the same cartoons in the satirical magazine in 2015 when gunmen killed 12 people.

Messages had been issued on social media on Wednesday urging Muslims to 'defend the honour of our Prophet Mohammed' by protesting by the school.

Muslim community leaders urged calm. The Ramadhan Foundation's Mohammed Shafiq said: 'We are proud to exercise our civic rights in regards to freedom of speech by standing up against such depictions.

'We do so in peace and reject any violence or threat of violence. We urge all who love the Prophet Muhammad PBUH within the British Muslim community to remember our responsibilities to reject violence and never give in to the narrative that some want to paint us as.'

A West Yorkshire Police officer read out a grovelling apology to mothers and fathers from headteacher Gary Kibble, but this provoked even more fury from those gathered as they called the teacher - who is now believed to be in hiding after he was identified online - a 'danger'.

Parents claimed that the teacher, who the school have not named, showed students a cartoon of the Prophet during a religious education class - and had predicted he would face a controversial reaction.

Though it is not yet known what exact image was shown to the children, parents had said they were 'French' caricatures, possibly referring to those published by Charlie Hebdo in 2012, which were used as a justification for the heinous murder of 12 people at the magazine's Paris office.

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson has now condemned the death threats made against the Batley teacher.

A Department for Education spokesperson said: 'It is never acceptable to threaten or intimidate teachers. We encourage dialogue between parents and schools when issues emerge.

'However, the nature of protest we have seen, including issuing threats and in violation of coronavirus restrictions are completely unacceptable and must be brought to an end.

'Schools are free to include a full range of issues, ideas and materials in their curriculum, including where they are challenging or controversial, subject to their obligations to ensure political balance.

'They must balance this with the need to promote respect and tolerance between people of different faiths and beliefs, including in deciding which materials to use in the classroom.'

Former Conservative Cabinet Minister Sajid Javid also condemned the backlash, writing: 'In this country we are free to peacefully follow, preach or query any religion or none. These are hard-won freedoms that must be upheld by all public institutions. Reports of intimidation in Batley set a deeply unsettling and potentially dangerous precedent.

'President Macron rightly warned about intolerant ''separatism'' two weeks before Samuel Paty was murdered. We cannot afford to wait for another tragedy to tackle extremism and reaffirm our values, as I argued recently.'

In posts to Facebook, the teacher is said to have accepted that pupils at the co-educational free school would tell their parents about the image before then displaying the cartoon to the class.

Police descend on Batley Grammar School in West Yorkshire on Thursday as dozens of furious Muslim parents protest outside

Mufti Mohammed Amin Pandor, a local Muslim scholar, told the crowd in Batley that the teacher has been suspended

The protests in Batley came after a teacher allegedly showed caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad during an RE lesson

Batley Grammar School headteacher Gary Kibble, pictured, has since apologised for the 'inappropriate' resource

An angry crowd had first gathered outside the grammar school at 7.30am on Thursday, causing the establishment to delay its opening and tell pupils to stay home amid chaotic scenes at the gates.

The parents were still protesting at lunchtime, as police began threatening them with Covid-19 fines and shut a road in both directions. Police later said there were no arrests or fines issued.

'Children must learn about faiths - but in a respectful, sensitive way': Headteacher Gary Kibble's full statement 'The school unequivocally apologises for using a totally inappropriate image in a religious studies lesson. It should not have been used. 'The member of staff has also relayed their sincere apologies. 'We have immediately withdrawn teaching on this part of the course, and we are revising how we go forward with the support of all communities represented in our school. 'It is important for children to learn about faiths and beliefs, but this must be done in a respectful, sensitive way. 'The member of staff has been suspended pending an independent formal investigation. 'The school is working closely with our governing body and community leaders to help us resolve this situation, and we continue to do so. 'I know many of you will have questions but we are undertaking a formal process now and it is therefore very difficult for us to be able to answer any of those questions without jeopardising that, but we hope that we can reach a swift conclusion moving forward.' Advertisement

It took until 2.30pm for the demonstration to be cleared by police, a spokesperson for West Yorkshire Police confirmed. MailOnline has asked the school a series of questions, including about what images were shown.

Muslim leader Mohammad Sajad Hussain, founder of a Batley-based charity, said he was 'deeply hurt' by the 'insulting caricatures of our beloved Prophet Mohammed' in an open letter. He said the charity is unwilling to work with or promote the school until the teacher is 'permanently removed'.

Dr Abdul Shaikh, an academic in Batley and Muslim activist, said he heard about the incident on social media on Wednesday night.

Speaking to the PA news agency, he said: 'I was shocked like many Muslims in the town that Muslim school children's religious sensitivities were completely ignored by the school teacher who decided to show an offensive image that lampooned the noble Prophet Mohammed.

'Every Muslim around the world holds the Prophet in the highest esteem. I feel that the school should be allowed to complete their investigation in due course and find a fair and adequate solution that satisfies first and foremost Muslim pupils, their parents and the wider Muslim community in Batley.

'This situation should not be allowed to happen again for the sake of community cohesion in the area.'

Qari Asim, a senior imam at the Makkah Mosque in Leeds, said: 'I sympathise with the parents and pupils because sadly, this is not the first time we have seen offensive images of Prophet Mohammed being used.

'People have a right to express their concerns and hurt but protests can't always achieve what can be achieved through constructive dialogue - fair investigation by the school, in consultation with the parents, should be allowed to take place.

'We do not want to fan the flames of Islamophobia and provoke hatred or division.'

And Mohammed Shafiq, CEO of the Ramadhan Foundation, condemned the teacher 'in the strongest terms' for not considering the 'hurt' he would cause by showing a drawing to children in a religious studies lesson.

He said: 'The World knows the love and respect we have for our Prophet and our hearts are pained tonight to know a teacher working with 70% Muslim pupils didn't consider the hurt this would cause.

'We understand the anger parents have been feeling and as we know this is not the first time under the cloak of freedom of speech our faith is being attacked.

'We love the Prophet Muhammad PBUH more than own lives and this incident has happened which will now be hijacked by those who have an interest in perpetuating an image of Muslims, we will not allow these attacks to go unanswered.'

He added: 'It is alarming that the Department of Education chose to amplify those divisions by attacking the parents and pupils rather than looking how we can come together to have a respectful discussion and seek an end to this issue.'

Mr Kibble, headteacher of the school founded in 1612 by the Reverend William Lee, said the RE teacher has been suspended, and went on to issue a 'sincere' and 'unequivocal' apology. He called the image 'totally inappropriate' and said the school had 'immediately withdrawn teaching on this part of the course'.

In a televised statement, he added: 'It is important for children to learn about faiths and beliefs, but this must be done in a respectful, sensitive way. The school is working closely with our governing body and community leaders to help us resolve this situation, and we continue to do so.'

The RE teacher, who lives with his partner a short distance from the school, was not home today and his car was not parked at the property.

A neighbour told MailOnline: 'He's a nice man. I see him go off to school, but not today or the day before.'

He was described by another neighbour as a 'local lad' who studied close to home and decided to teach in the area he was born and raised.

The neighbour said: 'He's a good, honest Yorkshire lad. Likes his rugby and always had a smile for us.'

The teacher's parents were also not at home.

The National Secular Society branded the protest as an 'attempt to impose an Islamic blasphemy taboo on a school'. Stephen Evans, its chief executive, said: 'Teachers must have a reasonable degree of freedom to explore sensitive subjects and enable students to think critically about them.

'And the school's weak response will fuel a climate of censorship, which is brought on by attempts to force society as a whole to accommodate unreasonable and reactionary religious views.'

Today's protest comes five months after history teacher Samuel Paty was beheaded on the street near his school in a Paris suburb by an Islamic extremist last October after showing Prophet Muhammad cartoons to his students.

The killing shocked the country and led to a fresh debate about freedom of speech and the integration of France's large Muslim population. It also brought back memories of a wave of Islamist violence that started with the Charlie Hebdo massacre, sparked by the same cartoons in the satirical magazine in 2015 when gunmen killed 12 people.

Angry parents gather to protest outside Batley Grammar School in West Yorkshire following the incident in an RE lesson

Batley Grammar School had to delay its opening and told pupils to stay at home amid chaotic scenes at its gates yesterday morning

Mufti Mohammed Amin Pandor, a local Muslim scholar, told the crowd that the teacher had been suspended, which was later confirmed by the school, where almost three-quarters of pupils are from minority ethnic groups.

Muslims make up 41 per cent of the population in Batley, a historic market and mill town in the Kirkless region which was the constituency of Labour MP Jo Cox who was murdered by a far-Right extremist in June 2016.

The latest RE syllabus for the Calderdale, Kirklees and Leeds region, valid from 2019 to 2024, states that pupils should be able to 'give reasons why visual representation of God and the prophets is forbidden - haram - in Islam' by the end of key stage two - but does not specifically state whether teachers should show any of these images.

National guidance from the Department for Education also does not specifically address cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, but says RE must be taught according to 'either the locally agreed syllabus or in accordance with the school's designated religion or religious denomination, or in certain cases the trust deed relating to the school.'

Alumni from the school, which serves Halal-approved food in the canteen, include Innocent Smoothies founder Richard Reed, Ginetta Cars owner Lawrence Tomlinson and prominent 18th century theologian Joseph Priestley.

Mr Kibble wrote in a letter to parents: 'The school would like to thank the parents who contacted us on Monday, March 22 highlighting concerns with a resource used in an RS [religious studies] lesson that day.

'Upon investigation, it was clear that the resource used in the lesson was completely inappropriate and had the capacity to cause great offence to members of our school community for which we would like to offer a sincere and full apology.'

He added that the school had taken 'immediate action' to investigate what had happened, including the removal of the resource from materials and the suspension of that lesson content from the scheme of work.

Mr Kibble continued: 'As an additional precaution, we will undertake a formal review of the RS curriculum to ensure no other resource or statement is inappropriate and take appropriate action as needed.'

The headteacher, who is thought to have been in his role at the school for three years, also told how staff were now investigating the matter 'using formal processes and we are grateful for the support of the local authority'.

With parents gathering outside the school, it sent them all a text message to say: 'Due to the disturbance outside of school, if your child has not already set off please keep them at home as school will be starting at 10am.'

A parent speaks to a police officer outside Batley Grammar School in West Yorkshire yesterday morning after the incident

Mufti Mohammed Amin Pandor, a local Muslim scholar, speaks to the crowd gathered outside Batley Grammar School

Later in a statement to ITV News, Mr Kibble said: 'The school unequivocally apologises for using a totally inappropriate image in a religious studies lesson. It should not have been used.

** Are you a parent of a child at Batley Grammar School? Please email: tips@dailymail.com ** Advertisement

'The member of staff has also relayed their sincere apologies. We have immediately withdrawn teaching on this part of the course, and we are revising how we go forward with the support of all communities represented in our school.

'It is important for children to learn about faiths and beliefs, but this must be done in a respectful, sensitive way.

'The member of staff has been suspended pending an independent formal investigation. The school is working closely with our governing body and community leaders to help us resolve this situation, and we continue to do so.

'I know many of you will have questions but we are undertaking a formal process now and it is therefore very difficult for us to be able to answer any of those questions without jeopardising that, but we hope that we can reach a swift conclusion moving forward.'

The protesters had been demanding the resignation of the teacher, with organisers asking anyone attending to do so in their vehicle. Officers were guarding all school entrances but the protest appeared to be peaceful.

Mufti Mohammed Amin Pandor tells the crowd outside the school in West Yorkshire that he has been speaking to staff

Mufti Mohammed Amin Pandor speaks to the crowd of parents who gathered to protest outside Batley Grammar School

Police block the road leading to the school after parents gathered outside Batley Grammar School Thurssday morning

Parents began gathering at 7.30am outside the co-educational free school in West Yorkshire and could be heard chanting

Police positioned outside the school gates amid the demonstrations taking place at Batley Grammar School Thursday morning

How the death of teacher Samuel Paty in France led to a fresh debate about freedom of speech Five months ago, French teacher Samuel Paty was beheaded on the street near his school in Paris by an Islamic extremist last October after showing cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad to his students. The killing shocked the country and led to a fresh debate about freedom of speech and the integration of France's large Muslim population. It also brought back memories of a wave of Islamist violence following the Charlie Hebdo massacre, sparked by the same cartoons in the satirical magazine in 2015 when 12 people were killed. Mr Paty was beheaded by an 18-year-old man of Chechen descent on October 16. The man was shot dead by police shortly after the attack. On March 9, a girl aged 13 admitted to telling lies about the teacher after an online hate campaign kick-started by her comments. Mr Paty's killing, which happened in the town of Conflans-Sainte-Honorine just outside Paris, sent shockwaves through France and reignited tensions in the country over the strict divide of church and state. President Emmanuel Macron's response defending the cartoons of Mohammed and Mr Paty's actions sparked mass protests and boycotts of French goods in many Muslim-majority countries. Following Mr Macron's comments, three people were killed in a terrorist attack at a Catholic church in Nice on October 29. France has been hit by several major terror attacks in recent years. Its fiercely secular state was founded on the concept of laicite, which separates state institutions - including schools - from the influence of religion. In recent years, this policy has chafed with the reality of France's multi-cultural population, particularly Muslims, some of whom feel they have been unfairly targeted by secularism policies including a ban on the wearing of some forms of Islamic dress in public spaces. Teachers are increasingly on the front lines of this debate. Advertisement

In a video filmed by the Huddersfield Examiner, Mufti Mohammed Amin Pandor, a local prominent Muslim scholar who is director of the Peace Institute, told the crowd outside this morning: 'What has happened in the school, we are appalled.

'Look at what we do as a community, and you'll understand our stance. What has happened is totally unacceptable and we have made sure that the school understands that. The school is preparing a statement.

'So our discussion is they prepared a statement and we weren't happy with the statement, so we said no, the statement needs to be worded in this way. Some people think I tried to stop you guys from coming.

'I don't know where that information is from, so that's between whoever has spread that rumour and Allah. So that's nothing to do with me. This is a democratic country, you can protest. It's your right to protest.

'Somebody called me last night and said there's a protest for tomorrow, what should we do? I said we, as a group, have got a different stance, we want to work with the school. But if anyone wants to exercise their democratic right, you are here. So let's move on. So what's happening?

'The school is going to issue an apology, issue a statement. We have asked for amendments on the statement to say that they are very apologetic and they apologise. All the resources that were used have all been pulled out.

'The teacher has been suspended, the teacher has been suspended. Now then, you cannot sack him. You guys are professional, you know you can't just dismiss someone like that, they have due process.

'So he's been suspended, OK, he's been suspended. Now we've asked for an investigation, an investigation to be independent, and we have asked also that some of us get onto the investigation panel.

'So this is what we've asked for. So whether they do it or not, we can't force them, but they're investigating. And then we're going to work with the school to make sure in future things like this don't happen.'

Commenting on the situation, a woman in her 30s with a child at the school said: 'We are continuing to wait outside the school to try and speak to the headteacher, we want to hear what he has to say.

'He needs to come out, explain what happened, apologise for it and tell us how he will make sure nothing like this ever happens again.

'We feel like he's hiding away and that's not good enough, he needs to show his face. A lot of us have questions for him about how this ever happened in the first place, something clearly went very wrong.

'This image is so offensive to us and, in my opinion, there is no way it could have been part of the curriculum. What happened is very dangerous and we need answers.'

'I am a teacher': People gather at the Place de la Republique in Paris to pay tribute to Samuel Paty on October 18, 2020

People hold a photo of Samuel Paty during a memorial march for him in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine on October 20, 2020

But Dr Paul Stott, associate fellow at the Henry Jackson Society think tank, told MailOnline: 'Secondary schools have a duty to introduce pupils to contentious ideas and debates, as part of a process of teaching children how, rather than what, to think.

Batley Grammar School headteacher Gary Kibble wrote to parents to confirm the issues were being investigated

'Schools in the UK must not concede policy to angry mobs at the school gates or to so-called community leaders.

'The school's censorious approach appears to be the exact opposite of the approach in France, where demands to sanitise classroom discussions by Islamist campaigners were resolutely rejected by the government, following the hideous murder of teacher Samuel Paty.'

The Free Speech Union said it stands 'in solidarity with the teacher at Batley Grammar who has been suspended at the behest of a censorious religious mob'.

Toby Young, its director general, said he is writing to the headteacher to object, copying in Education Secretary Gavin Williamson, and to the local Chief Constable asking him to make sure the teacher is 'protected from intimidation'.

He told MailOnline: 'Schools should be teaching children about the importance of free speech and for the headteacher to give in immediately to the demands of an outrage mob - apologising to them and suspending the teacher concerned - sets a very bad example. No one has the right not to be offended.'

Carole Pattison, cabinet member for learning at Kirkless Council, told MailOnline: 'Batley Grammar is an academy school so the council has a very limited role in its running but we are aware of issues raised by parents this week.

'We are pleased to see that the school has taken swift action to resolve the issues alongside the local community. They have apologised, taken immediate action on teaching materials and they are reviewing the relevant processes.'

A West Yorkshire Police spokesman said at about midday: 'We are aware of a small demonstration at the school, which is still ongoing. Local neighbourhood officers are in attendance.'

Police cordoned off Carlinghow Hill in both directions and the 213 bus service was diverted via Batley Field Hill.

Later, the force spokesman added: 'The demonstration has now ended. We closed the road for a short time. No arrests or FPNs (Fixed Penalty Notices) issued.'

The school, which has 990 pupils, was rated 'good' in its last Ofsted inspection. It used to be an all-boys school until girls were admitted into its sixth form in 1988 and it then became fully co-educational in 1996.

** Are you a parent of a child at Batley Grammar School? Please email: tips@dailymail.com **
Imagine the tension at Ford prison yesterday. Fisherman Jamie Green had only been joined at the open jail by his co-defendant Jonathan Beere on Monday, for what they hoped was their last lap to freedom. Nervously they waited for the most important call of their lives.

They are two of the Freshwater Five, men named for ever after an Isle of Wight cove where 250kg of cocaine was found anchored, tied to a 4ft red buoy back in May 2010  and found guilty of a massive, daring drugs smuggling plot the following year. They were waiting to hear the Court of Appeal verdict on their latest bid for freedom.

Fresh evidence denied to the defence back at the trial at Kingston Crown Court in 2011, they believed, proved Green's boat, the Galwad-Y-Mor, could not have picked up the 11 rucksacks of drugs worth 53million from a passing Brazilian container ship on a dark and stormy night. The bombshell evidence  more of which later  had been the mainstay of the three-day appeal in February.

They are two of the Freshwater Five, men named for ever after an Isle of Wight cove where 250kg of cocaine was found anchored, tied to a 4ft red buoy back in May 2010  and found guilty of a massive, daring drugs smuggling plot the following year (file photo)

The application was brought by Beere, 51 and one of the other members of the Freshwater Five, Daniel Payne. But victory would have meant immediate bail for Green, 52, too.

The men's supporters were optimistic. Outside the Sussex jail, a car was waiting to take them home for the first time in a decade.

But when the call came at 9.30am, the Court of Appeal had turned down the application. The convictions stood.

For Beere, it was particularly tough. His father, John, in his eighties, who had desperately wanted to live to see his son cleared, had just succumbed to cancer on Sunday. Beere, in Covid isolation, has been unable to sit down with his co-defendant. He got the news on the payphone in his 'billet'  as prison wings are known at Ford  from his lawyer, Emily Bolton.

Green heard from his sister, Nicky. 'He was not surprised, but shocked,' she said.

Zoran Dresic, 45, is serving his 24-year sentence back in Montenegro, while Scott Birtwistle, 30, and Payne, 46, have been released on licence. They were sentenced to 18 years and 14 years.

Pictured: Daniel Payne (top left), Zoran Dresic (top right), Jonathan Beere (bottom left), Scott Birtwistle (bottom centre), Jamie Green (bottom right)

Payne recalls the moment everything changed. It came after an ordinary overnight trip in the middle of the English Channel, fishing for crab and lobster  and led to, say the men's supporters, one of Britain's most notorious miscarriages of justice.

'I'd arranged to meet my girlfriend and a few mates at Salty's,' said Payne, who fished with Green since he was 17 and drank in his father's quayside pub. 'Then Jamie came in and asked me to give him a hand carrying some of our catch from the boat back to the restaurant.

'We were walking back along the jetty when they pounced. It happened so quick  how come there were suddenly people jumping on top of me? I thought I was getting murdered.'

It was officers from the Serious and Organised Crime Agency who swooped on them. Payne and Green were arrested on suspicion of conspiring to import a quarter of a tonne of cocaine.

Last month, the Court of Appeal considered critical fresh evidence which, unaccountably, had not been made available at the trial.

Shipwrecked lives of the Freshwater Five accused Jamie GREEN, 52 Operated his own fishing boat for 20 years and supplied London restaurants and fishmongers with crab and lobster. Sentenced to 24 years. A father of three, his wife, Nikki, died from cancer while he was in prison. A final visit to see her in hospital before she died was cancelled at the last moment, but he was able to attend her funeral in handcuffs. He was ready to leave Ford Open Prison in West Sussex yesterday, before news came through the appeal had failed. Jamie Green Jonathan BEERE, 51 A father of three and a grandfather, he was with Green at Ford prison yesterday, when both had to return to their cells. He was a mechanic before buying a scaffolding business in 2001. Alone among the five, he was not on the boat. He had driven Dresic from the mainland to Yarmouth on the Isle of Wight  and that was enough for him to be jailed for 24 years. Jonathan Beere with daughter Maisie Danny PAYNE, 46 He is back on the Isle of Wight working on building sites after serving his 18-year sentence. He had wanted to stay at home with his girlfriend and dog on the crucial night, but hadn't wanted to let the others down. He worked on building sites and took jobs with Green when business was slow. He says of his time in prison: 'Either you learn to deal with it, or you come out feet first, in a coffin.' Danny Payne Scott BIRTWISTLE, 29 He saw Green as a mentor. He was released on licence after completing his 14-year sentence in 2018 and has moved home with his mother Sharon. He told the Mail: 'You try telling a prospective employer you've been in jail for importing drugs. It puts them off.' Scott Birtwistle Zoran DRESIC, 45 Married father of three came to the UK with a false passport. Prosecution said he had come to oversee a drug drop. He was jailed 24 years, but repatriated to serve his sentence in Montenegro. Zoran Dresic Advertisement

While noting there was 'no basis' for suggesting this failure was deliberate, the judges said in yesterday's ruling, that it 'should not have happened', and the failure to disclose this evidence  which according to defence counsel Joel Bennathan QC fatally undermined the prosecution case  was a 'serious and surprising mistake' by the various officials responsible. The prosecution's case had always been, the judges conceded, circumstantial'.

Nevertheless, they were still convinced that the appeal did 'not begin individually or collectively to cast doubt on the safety of these convictions'. Making the appeal's rejection so hard to take is the fact that this case has always depended on establishing exactly where the Galwad was, and when, and what else was happening nearby. These were the very issues covered by the newly-disclosed evidence. At the trial, the prosecution said the Galwad sailed to intercept the course of the Oriane, a container ship from Brazil headed for Antwerp. The drugs were, it said, inside 11 rucksacks.

Having retrieved them from the water, the crew carried on looking for lobsters. Before returning to Yarmouth the following evening, they jettisoned the drugs, leaving them anchored to the seabed below the cliffs of Freshwater Bay. There, they were found the following morning by a local fisherman.

Supporting this, said the prosecution, was data from the Galwad's Olex GPS navigation system which, it was argued, established that the boat had been in the right places at the right times for this version of events to be true.

However, the prosecution also claimed that the Galwad's crew had found and then retrieved the heavy, sodden bags amid 20ft waves, while being buffeted by a gale on a black and moonless night. And all in the space of just two and a half minutes.

The prosecution stressed that Dresic was an illegal migrant, and made play of him trying to make satellite phone calls to Beere  not on the boat  and another man at what it claimed were 'critical' points in the operation.

According to the defence, these calls did not connect, and so could have no significance. Green often took on casual foreign labour so there was no significance in Dresic's illegal migrant status.

Indeed, there has never been any evidence that the drugs had been on the Oriane at all, although there was 'intelligence' that cocaine was being carried up the Channel on a South American ship  hence an intense, SOCA-led surveillance operation, of which more later.

High-tech equipment had failed to detect a single cocaine molecule anywhere on the Galwad.

Two police officers had been stationed on the cliffs overlooking Freshwater Bay, and claimed they saw the crew throwing bags off the boat. They said there were only six or seven  and they were not tied together, as the rucksacks were. They changed their account after the drugs were found.

Most puzzling of all, the spot where the drugs were found in the bay was too shallow for the Galwad to have sailed there.

Almost seven years ago, I acquired the data from the Oriane's own GPS tracking system, which had not been presented at the trial. In the Mail on Sunday, our sister paper, I revealed how this showed that the Galwad never crossed the Oriane's wake at all, as was alleged, and given the tides and currents, would never have been in the right position to retrieve the drugs, had they indeed come from the Brazilian ship.

An application to the Criminal Cases Review Commission was rejected in 2017. But solicitor Emily Bolton, who runs the legal charity Appeal, made an astonishing discovery which appeared to change everything.

In 2018, she forced the Crown Prosecution Service to disclose data gathered by the Electronic Chart Display and Information System, a surveillance tool on board a UK Border Agency patrol boat, the Vigilant. Acting on the unspecified intelligence, Vigilant had been in the Channel, hunting for a South American vessel dumping bags of drugs.

The surveillance evidence  which should have been disclosed before trial  formed the basis of the appeal and gives the most accurate picture of where both vessels were at any time.

Professor David Stupples, a government adviser and expert in electronic intelligence and radar systems, told the Appeal Court that it strengthened the case that the Galwad could not have intercepted the drugs.

This evidence also pointed to another tantalising revelation: that an aircraft, which flew low over Freshwater Bay, was likely a surveillance plane, and if so, that the three people on board saw no sign of the drugs.

This would be odd because they were seen from the air next day, still attached to the red, 4ft buoy.

And most amazingly of all, the surveillance data revealed there was another boat in the area: about half-an-hour after the plane flew off, a high-speed Rigid Hull Inflatable Boat with a draught shallow enough not to have run aground travelled over the area where the drugs were found.

What was it? Who was in it? The authorities later seemed curiously uninterested.

Addressing the judges, Mr Bennathan said the 'major failure of disclosure' that deprived the defence of the ECDIS records at the trial meant 'vital issues' had not been considered by the jury. The convictions should therefore surely be quashed.

But Sir Julian Flaux, sitting with Mr Justice Andrew Baker and Mr Justice Calver, disagreed.

Fresh evidence denied to the defence back at the trial at Kingston Crown Court in 2011, they believed, proved Green's boat, the Galwad-Y-Mor, could not have picked up the 11 rucksacks of drugs worth 53million from a passing Brazilian container ship on a dark and stormy night (file photo)

An expert for the Crown persuaded them the Galwad could have picked up the bags, while any suggestion the high-speed boat in Freshwater Bay had carried the true conspirators was 'speculation'. As for the plane crew's failure to notice the bags, they asserted that this was 'not surprising'.

Even had they won, the toll on the Freshwater Five would have been heavy. 'My twenties were stolen from me,' Birtwistle said.

Green's wife Nikki had breast cancer and she died while he was in jail. As for Payne, he lost his girlfriend  and misses her still. 'Just last night I was talking to my mum and dad, saying how I thought I was going to get acquitted. I shouldn't have expected anything different.' And Birtwistle said: 'I'm numb. So much has come out, and yet they've just disregarded it.'

I began to investigate this case after meeting Jamie's sister, Nicky, more than seven years ago. She has co-ordinated a tireless campaign, but yesterday, she admitted, she felt 'crushed. After this, I just don't where we can take it.'
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 26) With COVID-19 cases in the country still rising, the Catholic faithful are encouraged to find safer, alternative ways to celebrate the upcoming Holy Week.

Fr. Jerome Secillano, executive secretary of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines Public Affairs, on Friday said the group welcomes the latest government resolution allowing once-a-day church gatherings at 10% capacity.

But due to attendance limit and the lingering virus threat, he urged churchgoers and officials alike to come up with different ways to hold the annual religious traditions.

Here are some tips for Filipino Catholics to safely celebrate the Lenten season:

Virtual Visita Iglesia

In an interview with CNN Philippines' Newsroom Ngayon, Secillano said the faithful can still observe the traditional Visita Iglesia and visit seven different churches virtually.

Last year, the CBCP also launched on its website a 360-degree interactive tour of different churches.

Station of the Cross at home

Practicing the Station of the Cross at home is also an option, Secillano noted.

"Hindi naman kinakailangang nagpapalipat-lipat sila ng station," he pointed out. "Ang mahalaga dito, 'yung prayers at tsaka 'yung intentions natin."

[Translation: They are not required to switch stations. Our prayers and intentions are more important.]

Simple sacrifices

Another Filipino tradition for the Holy Week is the "penitensya" or penance.

Secillano said a way to practice this is to make some sacrifices like quitting a vice, among others.

Charitable acts

The church official underscored the importance of helping fellow Filipinos, especially those struggling amid the pandemic.

Online masses until Easter Sunday

Secillano reiterated that masses will be streamed on digital channels and social media pages of different churches until Easter Sunday.

He also reminded the different dioceses as well as those who can physically attend masses to follow minimum health protocols and government regulations.
A TEC to install flash dryer at Kiralyegyhaza Cement for alternative fuels

26 March 2021

To reduce the moisture content of the alternative fuel (RDF) for the kiln, Lafarge Cement Hungary Ltd (LafargeHolcim) has awarded A TEC a contract for the implementation of a new AF concept for the kiln front end at Kiralyegyhaza, near Pecs, Hungary.

The system will enable the plant to feed two parallel AF streams simultaneously. A TEC will provide its innovative flash dryer where material will be dried using residual hot gas from the chlorine bypass system and a satellite burner for firing the material in the kiln. For the second RDF flow, firing in the kiln burner directly, a new AF receiving, handling, and dosing system will be part of A TECs project. The project will be commissioned in the 2Q21.

The 1Mta Kiralyegyhaza cement plant will aim to recycle 100 times more waste than produced during its operation.

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The death of a Le Moyne College student this week has ignited a campus-wide conversation about mental health and prompted changes in how administrators are approaching the social and emotional difficulties of pandemic life.

On Sunday, Cory Gallinger, 20, was found dead in his dorm room, college officials announced in an email to students that day. The third-year student from the Hudson Valley community of Salt Point was pursuing a degree in management, leadership and marketing.

At Le Moyne, Gallingers passing marks the third student death on the tight-knit campus of about 3,000 students since November 2019.

This is not a coincidence, said junior Brendan Perperian. Le Moyne needs to call it what it is. Its a mental health crisis. And we need aggressive action, and policies, and changes.

In the days following Gallingers death, students at Le Moyne held demonstrations calling for improved mental health services.

After a series of forums on campus throughout the week, college administrators Thursday announced plans for improvements, including immediately increased access to counseling.

This is how the Le Moyne community grieved the loss of one of their own this week, and how they hope to protect students in the future.

I am here for you

As news of Gallingers death spread across campus Monday, administrators canceled afternoon classes and organized a vigil. A reported 1,000 people - students, faculty members and administrators - covered the lawn outside the Panasci Family Chapel. Gallingers mother joined the vigil too.

President Linda LeMura spoke to the student body.

Students, hear me well please, she said. We love you. We dont always get the occasion to say that. I know I love you. I am sorry that I am saying it here at this occasion. I am here for you.

Tell us, talk to us, she continued. Tell us when you are hurting. If you think someone else is hurting, tell us.

Many students came to the microphone explaining that they didnt know Gallinger, whose nickname was Sckilla, but he always had a smile on his face when they passed him in the halls. Others spoke of their close friendships with Gallinger, his great love of music, others and how he made such a difference in their lives.

Jim Joseph, dean of the colleges Madden School of Business, shared that faculty said Gallinger was good student, always prepared, positive, simply a nice young man.

He was kind, compassionate and big hearted, he said.

Joseph also told students they are not alone and that help is available.

Mental health is a serious issue, he said. Like physical illness there are varying degrees, but it impacts all of us. And there is nothing wrong with that. It is part of the human condition.

Openly and not stigmatized

As students spoke at the vigil, an online petition calling for improvements to mental health services at Le Moyne gained views and signatures. By Thursday night, the petition on change.org had more than 6,800 signatures.

Similar petitions requesting time off in lieu of the traditional spring break have led to academic calendar changes at Syracuse University, where students will break for two wellness days this semester.

But the Le Moyne petition laid out additional requests from the student body, including more hours at the campus Wellness Center, solutions for safely reinstating social activities like clubs to combat isolation and programs to help students adversely affected by the pandemic.

These solutions are only the starting point to create a campus where mental health can be discussed openly and not stigmatized, the petition reads.

The crisis is not unique to the Le Moyne community. Earlier this week, Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon said that county emergency dispatchers took roughly 1,000 more calls about mental distress during 2020 than they did the year before.

He said the increase stems from the stress and isolation of the pandemic. So far in 2021, mental health calls are up 15% from the already elevated rate in 2020.

Madisyn Massucci led students protesting outside of Grewen Hall on Tuesday.

A day of conversation

The momentum of the online petition carried over to protests on campus on Tuesday.

Students gathered outside Grewen Hall at noon, walking away from classes to share their own mental health struggles.

Were all close friends of the people were losing. This campus is small, we have a small student body. Its very easy to get to know everyone here, said sophomore Madisyn Massucci, one of the student organizers and a friend of Stefano Galante, a student who died in November 2019. They shouldve been given the services they needed to still be here.

Numerous speakers pointed out that the colleges Wellness Center is closed on weekends and it can take weeks to get an appointment. They also discussed the isolation of dorm living during the pandemic.

Students called for more counselors and therapists, an increase in the diversity of the Wellness Centers staff, on-call mental health professionals to assist in crisis situations, and more days off.

The conversation continued at an afternoon forum held at the campus recreation center, where students quickly filled the chairs that were spaced out for social distancing.

I assume the prevailing mood in this room is a mixture of anger and regret, said Sebastian Fredette, who lived in a suite in Foery Hall with Cory Gallinger. The student body has lost yet another friend. I have lost one of my best ones.

Fredette and others urged administrators to consider the stress of being a full-time student who has to work, eat, sleep, do homework, and  somehow in the world of COVID-19  socialize.

You are an institution of learning. You can teach us how to balance every book, the intricacies of our own brains, the ins-and-outs of movie production and advertising, and the way God fits into all of it, said Fredette. But this isnt complex accounting or anatomy. Give us something to eat. Give us more time to work. Give us something a bit closer to compassion. Weve accepted that weve given up the best years of our lives  please dont take all of them.

Students split into groups to discuss changes they hope LeMoyne officials will make to improve student mental services.

Moving forward together

By Thursday afternoon, administrators had responded with plans to make long-term changes to support services on campus that we believe will make a positive difference immediately.

In a a campus-wide email, LeMura outlined a number of actions, including the return to face-to-face counseling, the hiring of additional counseling staff (including an outreach position focused on the experience of Black and other students of color) and allowing student clubs to meet in-person and students to visit other residential halls, while maintaining Covid-safety protocols.

Students will also play a role in a mental health task force to study campus conditions and make recommendations for future initiatives, LeMura said.

I am grateful for the open discussions weve had within our community this week about how we can further care for and sustain each other in the embodiment of our values, LeMura said in a statement to syracuse.com. I am committed to continuing these important conversations to identify and take additional actions to help those in need.

LeMura remarked on the advocacy efforts in an email sent to students at the end of the week.

As always, I am humbled to serve as president of this great college, she wrote. My admiration for the compassion, courage and commitment to making a better, inclusive community that is so evident in you, our remarkable students, has grown profoundly this week.

Where to get help

Contact at (315) 251-0600

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255

Health and Human Resources Referral Line at 211

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YEREVAN, MARCH 26, ARMENPRESS. Foreign Minister of Armenia Ara Ayvazian met with the President of the National Assembly of Artsakh Artur Tovmasyan on March 26.

As ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the MFA Armenia, the interlocutors expressed satisfaction over the close cooperation and regular interactions between respective state bodies of Armenia and Artsakh, which gives an opportunity to make a detailed reference to the issues needing urgent solution.

The key topics of the meeting were the establishment of regional stability, the humanitarian situation in Artsakh and the solution of problems facing the Armenians of Artsakh. Speaking about the issue of preserving the historical-cultural values in those territories of Artsakh that have passed under Azerbaijani control, the sides strongly condemned the Azerbaijani policy of deliberate targeting and demolishment of places of worship and Armenian cultural heritage. The sides emphasized the importance of intervention of the international community and taking practical steps for the preservation of the Armenian historical-cultural monuments.
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

More than 500 million doses of vaccines have been given around the world as of Friday, according to an AFP tally.

In a sign of how the pace is picking up, it took two months for the first 100 million people to get a shot, but just eight days for the last 100 million people.

By Friday at 0900 GMT more than 508.3 million doses had been administered in at least 164 countries worldwide.

Israel far ahead

Israel still leads the race by far, with nearly six out of 10 of its population having received at least one dose. More than half of Israelis have received a second dose.

The rate of infection there, which peaked at more than 650 cases per 100,000 people in January, has plunged to 67.

Next is the United Kingdom (43 percent of the population has received at least one dose), the United Arab Emirates (more than 39 percent), Chile (32 percent), Bahrain (27 percent), the United States (26 percent), Serbia (19 percent) and Hungary (19 percent).

In terms of numbers, the US is way ahead with 133 million jabs given, followed by China with 91 million and India (55.5 million).

European Union countries have given 65 million doses between them to 10 percent of the bloc's population.

Rich/poor divide

Several of the world's poorest countries have started their vaccination campaigns using doses delivered for free under the Covax scheme launched by the WHO, the Gavi vaccine alliance and the Cepi coalition.

But only 0.1 percent of the doses injected around the world were given in these poor countries, home to nine percent of the global population.

In contrast, the richest countrieswhich have 16 percent of humanityhave had 54 percent of the doses.

More than a quarter of all doses given so far (26 percent) were in the US.

Which jabs where?

The vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University has been administered in rich countries as well as poorer ones, notably thanks to Covax of which it is the main supplier. It is also administered in India.

The vaccines produced by US-German Pfizer/BioNTech and the American Moderna are more expensive and harder to store. They are mainly used in rich countries.

Russia's Sputnik V and China's Sinopharm and Sinovac jabs have been administered mostly in their home markets as well as emerging and developing countries.

The American Johnson & Johnson vaccine, the first to require just one dose, has so far only been rolled out in the US and South Africa though it has been approved in Canada and the EU.

Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak

 2021 AFP
The Kogi State Government's COVID-19 risk assessment web and mobile application has stopped working

The Kogi State Government last year spent N90 million on software that the developers now offer for only N300,000. The software, approved by a COVID-19 sceptic, Governor Yahaya Bello, was for tracking coronavirus cases in the state. However, the software is no longer functioning as the developers said they had a contract to host it for only one year.

At a time Nigeria had just recorded over 6,000 cases of COVID-19, the Kogi State Government announced it had developed a software, which is basically for risk assessment.

The state government said the software, which comes in a mobile application and website, was one of its measures to curb the spread of COVID-19 in Kogi.

The software uses the checklist of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) for suspected and high-risk cases to evaluate users.

Financial records obtained by PREMIUM TIMES revealed that the state government procured the software at a cost of N90,720,000.

But checks by our reporter showed that the same software now costs only N300,000 from the same company that developed it for the state government.

An official of the state also admitted that the government actually spent less than a million naira for the project and could not defend the N90.7 million announced expenditure; an indication the declared price was excessively inflated.

Kogi and COVID-19

As of March 2020, when Nigeria had about 6,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19, Kogi and Cross River were the only two states in the country with a zero-case status.

The NCDC had raised an alarm then that the two states were not conducting tests for the virus. For instance, in Kogi, officials deployed by the federal health agency were denied cooperation and controversially sent back.

Asked why Kogi was not conducting tests, Governor Bello, during an interview on Channels TV, said the state had developed a special app to track possible cases of coronavirus infection.

"So far, so good, we have launched an app and if nobody shows any sign or any cause for any test, we would not go out and begin to test anybody. Because there's enough and adequate sensitisation of our citizens. So far, we don't have any testing centres here but there's one in Kubwa in FCT," he said.

Meanwhile, data from NCDC, a year after the first COVID-19 case was recorded in the country, exposed the inadequate testing for the virus in Kogi.

In fact, when the country had conducted over 1.4 million tests and recorded over 150,000 COVID-19 cases and over 1,800 deaths, Kogi had tested less than 4,000 samples, about 0.1 per cent of Kogi's 3.5 million population.

Experts said that explains why the state had not reported a single case and death over 250 days after its record of five cases in July.

Mr Bello, an accountant, had also repeatedly described the deadly disease as a hoax and discouraged the use of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Wonder App

The Kogi COVID-19 risk assessment application, which is in two categories; web and mobile applications, was accessible on www.kogicovid19.com.ng.

Users could download the mobile version for android devices or make use of the website.

Going by its features, users were to fill a questionnaire on the app and from the information provided, health workers could ascertain whether the user has been exposed to the virus and was exhibiting symptoms that warranted further actions.

According to the state government, if a user was a high-risk case, health workers would then trace their location for further engagement.

Although health experts and public affairs analysts questioned the efficacy of the app, the state Commissioner for Information, Kingsley Fanwo, insisted that it was effective in checking for coronavirus cases.

"In fact, we built our self-assessment app hosted at kogicovid19.gov.ng around the NCDC's checklist for 'suspected and high risk' cases and as at last week it has been visited nearly 200,000 times with over 14,000 completed self-assessments out of which only about 60 presented cause for further investigation which then failed to meet the COVID-19 spectrum," he said in a statement issued in April 2020.

However, checks by this newspaper revealed that both the self-assessment portal and the app have been unavailable since the beginning of March 2021.

"Your request looks suspiciously similar to automated requests from spam posting software or has been deemed by a security policy configured by the website administrator If you believe you should be able to perform this request please let us know," the query on both the application and website read.

"Both are even non-functional at the moment. Makes it so hard to access what the value could be. But then, it is some crap! No IOS version, App not functional, website non-functional," Osungbade Wisdom, a tech expert consulted to evaluate the software, told our reporter.

Budgetary allocation

According to the audited COVID-19 response and recovery expenditures submitted in September, 2020, the computer software for COVID-19 response gulped N90,720,000 out of N4.5 billion Kogi obtained from donations, loans and support from the federal government.

The financial records seen by PREMIUM TIMES were certified by the Accountant General of the state, Momoh Jibrin, and the Commissioner for Finance, Asiru Idris.

In the breakdown, the government initially budgeted N150 million for the computer software project but ended up spending N90.7 million, thus saving N59,280,000.

Meanwhile, when this reporter approached Telnet Technology Limited, the Abuja-based technology company awarded the project, it said a similar project will cost N300,000.

This reporter posed as a government official who wanted to replicate the same project in another state.

The Managing Director of the company, Daniel Idakwoji, disclosed that the Kogi State Government only signed a one-year contract with him, citing it as the reason the web portal and mobile application are no longer functional.

But he refused to disclose the amount paid by the state government.

"The contract is even on my table as we speak. The one we signed is for a year hosting and you know is a year already. It has expired."

Upon request, Mr Idakwoji sent a proposal detailing how the company will execute the same project in less than a week.

According to the budget, it will cost N300,000 for a year contract and N425,000 for two years.

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From his portfolio, Mr Idakwoji's company was, in the past, hired to build a couple of websites for the Kogi government, including the Ministry of Health and Governor Bello's personal website.

When contacted, the state Commissioner for information, Mr Fanwo, did not specify the amount spent on the project but claimed it cost the government less than a million naira.

"What we spent was less than a million naira," his text message read.

However, he refused to respond to questions on the software acquired for over N90 million, according to the audited financial report.

The state's commissioner for health, Saka Haruna, has yet to PREMIUM TIMES' enquiries on the project as of the time of filing this report.

Multiple telephone calls and text messages, which were confirmed to have been received by Mr Haruna, were not responded to.

A tech expert and social commentator, Olanrewaju Oyedeji, criticised the Kogi State Government, stating that such projects question the integrity of the administration.

"Installing the application and seeing the error message displayed shows the shoddiness of work done in that regard. Assessing the application deployed by the state and the website puts to question the sum of N90 million said to have been spent on its development.

"This reminds us of the outrage that greeted a similar development by former governor of Lagos State who built a website for a reported N78million.

"Our internal experts at Tech Mirror also analysed the platforms and noted that the price tag on the platform, given the quality, speed, interface and reality check, is questionable."

He said the development shows the extent of wrong handling of projects especially for technical tasks such as applications and website development.
NEWAYGO COUNTY, MI  Moments after a students homemade bomb exploded in a Newaygo High classroom, a teacher told a 911 dispatcher that there was an explosion and they needed immediate help.

Thomas Horling told the dispatcher he didnt know what caused the explosion. He was just told to call 911.

It just happened, he told the dispatcher. I hear people screaming and hollering. It doesnt sound good.

A dispatcher heard a lot of screaming in the background.

The recordings of 911 calls and radio traffic between rescuers at the scene and Newaygo County Central Dispatch on March 8 showed how a chaotic situation unfolded at the high school. MLive obtained the recordings in a Freedom of Information Act request.

Early reports of a possible Chromebook explosion changed to a blast that cost a student the tips of both thumbs and left a teacher and several students with ringing in their ears.

The staff at Spectrum Health Gerber Memorial Hospital prepped for a mass-casualty incident while the state police bomb squad and Muskegon County Hazardous Materials Response Team were called to the scene.

We have literally everybody headed there, a dispatcher told police.

A rescuer said he had several students with ringing in their ears and headaches.

I do have one Priority 1 pediatric with multiple amputations to the fingers from an explosion that happened in the hand, he said.

A rescuer said the student suffered a severe hand injury.

Principal Brad Reybern rushed to the classroom where the explosion occurred and was met in the hallway by a teacher who called 911. Reybern ran to the main office, activated fire alarms and announced on the public-address system that everyone needed to immediately evacuate.

The 16-year-old who allegedly brought the bomb to school  to show friends, testimony has shown  was taken by ambulance to Helen DeVos Childrens Hospital after losing parts of both thumbs.

His father, David Robert Daniel Saylor, 33, of Newaygo Countys Brooks Township, is accused of making explosives with his son in recent months. He is charged with manufacturing explosive devices, a four-year felony, and contributing to the delinquency of a minor, a misdemeanor.

He was scheduled Thursday, March 25, for a preliminary examination in Newaygo County District Court determine if he should stand trial on the felony charge.

But Judge H. Kevin Drake, in a brief hearing aired on YouTube, said a COVID-19 outbreak at Newaygo County Jail prevented moving prisoners in the jail. The hearing was reset for next Thursday, April 1.

The teens grandmother, Kathy Saylor, earlier told MLive that her grandson is very sorry for what happened. Hes very remorseful. He just cant believe what he did and just knows he messed up. He was just showing his buddy and the friction from pulling it out of his pocket -- what did they say, that static electricity -- is what ignited it.

Police, including the state police bomb squad, investigated at the familys house on 95th Street, east of Hess Lake, over the course of three days, police said.

Her grandson was suspended from school pending expulsion.

Kathy Saylor said her son made statements to police to protect his son.

According to the 911 recordings, parents rushed to the scene for their children who had been evacuated and moved to a pickup area. Newaygo police followed the ambulance to DeVos to talk to the 16-year-old who was released from the hospital the next day.

He has not been charged.

Six others were treated for minor injuries.

Related:

Newaygo Schools board president details response to school explosion

Teen in school bomb blast wanted to show explosives to friends, testimony shows

Teen whose homemade bomb exploded inside school knows he messed up, grandmother says

Additional explosive devices found at Michigan home after homemade bomb injures six at school
Chinas push to ensure multinationals toe the line has seeped into the legal sphere after Beijing sanctioned a top British law office  a surprise move that resurrected concerns about the future of Hong Kongs courts.

Beijing this week placed tit-for-tat sanctions on individuals and entities from the European Union and Britain who have taken up the cause of Chinas Uyghur Muslim minority in Xinjiang.

And it fired up a social media-driven boycott of Western apparel brands such as H&M, Nike and Adidas that have declined to use cotton grown in the region over widespread reports of rights abuses.

But Fridays sanctions targeting Britain opened up a new front in Chinas campaign for corporate loyalty.

Among the entities included on the latest blacklist was Essex Court Chambers, a London-based partnership of senior lawyers or barristers.

The announcement sent shockwaves through the legal community in Hong Kong, because those sanctioned are banned from doing business in, or travelling to, the finance hub.

It lit up our phones, even lawyer friends who are not particularly political, a Hong Kong barrister told AFP, requesting anonymity.

 Hong Kongs future 

The reason the latest sanctions rattled nerves is the unique legal status the city holds  a position some fear is at risk.

Unlike Chinas party-controlled courts, Hong Kong boasts an internationally respected common law system that forms the bedrock of its business hub reputation.

Top lawyers from common law jurisdictions, including Britain, operate in the city or are instructed by companies and individuals there.

Last month, four members of Essex Court Chambers published a legal opinion that Chinas actions in Xinjiang offered a credible case of crimes against humanity and the crime of genocide.

In a statement Friday, the chambers in London stressed that the four barristers had taken on the brief at the request of Uyghur rights groups, providing independent legal advice in accordance with their professional obligations and qualifications.

Essex Court Chambers is not a law firm and has no collective or distinct legal identity of any kind, it said, noting that only the four barristers were involved, not the collective at large.

In both Britain and Hong Kong, chambers group self-employed barristers who pool their resources for clerical work and office space. Essex boasts some 90 barristers and has a Singapore office.

But the sanctions go potentially far wider. Lawrence Collins, a former UK Supreme Court judge who currently sits on Hong Kongs Court of Final Appeal, joined the Essex chambers London offices in 2012 as an arbitrator.

Britain is currently reviewing the participation of its judges on the top Hong Kong court, a legacy of the territorys 1997 handover to Chinese rule.

Asked by AFP about repercussions from the sanctions for Collins himself, government officials in London said the review was still continuing.

Representatives for the judge did not respond to requests for comment.

 Clumsy threat 

David Anderson, a senior British barrister at a rival firm, described Essex Court Chambers staff as some of the most distinguished international lawyers in the world.

Its members are all self-employed independent barristers, who will not be intimidated into silence by clumsy threats of this kind, he told AFP.

By severing contact with some of the worlds top experts in international law, the Chinese regime condemns itself.

Julian Ku, an international law expert at New Yorks Hofstra University, said Beijing may not have realised how precedent-setting the inclusion of an entire international legal operation could be.

I get the feeling the UK sanctions were drawn up in haste and without much careful consideration in China, which might explain why Essex Court Chambers as a whole was sanctioned, he told AFP.

Hong Kong and Beijing have dismissed concerns about the citys legal hub status.

But doubts are becoming more vocal, especially after Beijing imposed a sweeping national security law that grants the mainland jurisdiction in some cases.

Chinese leaders have made clear they expect all those involved in running Hong Kong  including judges  to be staunch patriots.

And the Hong Kong Bar Association has been repeatedly slammed by Chinese state media for voicing concerns over the rule of law.

Schona Jolly, chair of the UKs Bar Human Rights Committee, called the targeting of Essex Court Chambers maladroit and self-defeating.

Such a misstep only sharpens the attention of the world on the plight of those in Xinjiang, and heightens the perception that the commitment of the Chinese state to the rule of law, including in Hong Kong, is unstable and hollow, she told AFP.

bur-jit/phz/jz

NIKE

HENNES & MAURITZ

ADIDAS
Aviva, rapidly followed by Aberdeen Standard, has run up the fashionable environmental, social and governance (ESG) flag over the prospective 8.8bn Deliveroo float.

It is good to know these fund managers, along with Legal & General and M&G, are taking seriously their responsibility towards the working conditions of Deliveroo riders. It would be terrific if founder Will Shu was listening.

Before we award them a sainthood it is worth knowing that as of the end of last year Aviva was an investor in Uber, which has just been told by UK Supreme Court to put its drivers on the payroll.

Some of the UK's biggest fund managers have boycotted Deliveroo's upcoming float amid concerns over the working conditions of the firm's delivery riders

It is also disturbing that Aviva has, in the past, been a big backer of New York raider Ed Bramsons Sherborne, which dismembered Electra, a venture capital firm that backed UK start-up technology and waged war against Barclayss investment banking arm.

Aberdeen cites its decision not to hold shares in Boohoo as evidence of ESG credentials. In many ways, for ESG activists to sell the shares is the wrong thing to do. It deprives the funds and their investors of the chance to change matters by engaging with management or speaking out at annual general meetings.

In pre-merger days, the old Standard Lifes governance guru Guy Jubb intervened at the annual meeting of the biggest beasts, including Shell, to expose governance breaches.

Instead of scoring easy media points, it would be far better if UK fund managers spent more time investigating ESG failings.

The destruction of the sacred 46,000-year-old Juukan Gorge cave in Australia by Rio Tinto, which cost both the chairman and the chief executive their jobs, was down to the assiduous work of the Australian Superannuation fund working with First Nation groups.

The idea that Aberdeen Standard should smother itself in piety for not investing in Boohoo should also be resisted. It was brave reporting by Paul Bracchi of the Daily Mail and journalists from The Sunday Times that exposed horrendous conditions in sweat shop textile factories, some of which had familial connections to executive chairman Mahmud Kamani.

It was these investigations which led to the stinging report by Alison Levitt QC and the changes just revealed.

As result of her work, the UK supply chain has been narrowed down to 78 suppliers and 100 audited factories. Previously, it was using 200 main suppliers and 300 sub-contractors.

There is still a long way to go in terms of cleaning up the groups governance and checking the overseas supply chain. But a better course has been set including regular reviews by retired judge Sir Brian Leveson.

None of this was achieved by chest beating.

No Minister

Former prime ministers often take on roles advising finance. Tony Blair has the title of senior adviser to JP Morgan.

John Major, a former banker, does work for Credit Suisse and even Gordon Brown sits on the advisory board of the Pimco bond fund controlled by insurance behemoth Allianz.

The list of political leaders lending their advice to finance firms is used by friends of David Cameron to suggest there is nothing out of the ordinary in his activities.

The former Tory prime minister sought to persuade the Government that Greensill Capital might have a larger role to play in the countrys Covid-19 loan schemes.

There is a very important difference. All of these entities, including Carlyle where John Major used to advise, are tightly regulated, with accounts audited by the top firms and a high level of transparency.

Greensill has none of these characteristics. It is an unregulated shadow bank, with opaque accounts, engaged in financial alchemy with a dangerous dependence on serving one client, the equally complex metals group GFG Alliance.

Greensill failed the smell test. That is why Cameron should not have become involved or asked for special treatment.

Horror film

Cineworld had better hope that lockdown and streaming hasnt killed the appetite for the silver screen, the James Bond movie No Time To Die and huge beakers of popcorn.

A 2.2billion loss in 2020 makes it one of the biggest leisure losers from the pandemic and has left it with a Matterhorn of 6billion of debt four times its current market value.

Any delay in reopening its Regal Cinemas chain in the US next month and Britain and the rest of the world in May could bring down the final curtain.
The federal budget is $23 billion in front of expectations due to strong consumer spending, high iron ore prices and lower unemployment but is still on track for the largest deficit on record.

Figures to be released on Friday by Finance Minister Simon Birmingham show a budget shortfall of $134.6 billion for the eight months to the end of February. At the mid-year budget update, the deficit to the end of February was forecast to be $157.7 billion on its way to a full-year deficit of $197.7 billion.

Finance Minister Simon Birmingham: This is still a huge deficit in anyones language but more people in work is providing a marked improvement to date thanks to lower unemployment payments and more taxpayers. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Through February, the budget deficit increased by only $700 million after rising by almost $18 billion in January.

The improvement is being driven by factors tied directly to the stronger economy.
(Natural News) Time to crank the fear gauge up to 11.

(Article by Tyler Durden republished from ZeroHedge.com)

Following a series of reports warning about mutated COVID strains first identified in Brazil, the US and elsewhere spreading across Latin America, the US and Europe, scientists in India are one-upping them by identifying what they described as a double-mutant strain of the ubiquitous virus.

The double-mutant was identified, along with 770 other strains, gleaned from samples collected across 18 Indian states. Of the 10,787 samples collected, 736 tested positive for the UK variant, 34 for the South African variant and one for the Brazilian variant. The report comes as COVID cases in India are climbing once again after the nation managed to bring numbers close to zero. The country has reported a total of 11.7MM cases, and 160.4K deaths.

While the Indian government insists theres no link between the variants and the surge in cases (India rolled back most of its virus-inspired restrictions on business and movement months ago). India became the fifth country in the world to sequence the COVID viruss genome last January.

Still, a consortium of 10 national laboratories working with Indias government said this week they would monitor the new double-variant, which was traced to Mahahrashtra state. Although scientists said none of the variants appeared to be circulating widely enough yet to be causing the surge in cases, they called on authorities to ramp up testing and ensure new cases caused by the variant are swiftly isolated. In response, the government is ramping up certain restrictions, along with its vaccination drive.

As far as the remaining COVID restrictions are concerned, hundreds of thousands of Indians ignored them last week when they came out to celebrate Holi, a week-long affair commemorating the advent of spring.

But what, exactly, is a double-mutant? A scientist who spoke with the BBC explained why the double-mutation could make the strain more infectious, and more virulent.

A double mutation, virologist Shahid Jameel explains, is two mutations coming together in the same virus A double mutation in the key areas of the viruss spike protein may increase these risks and allow the virus to escape the immune system and make it more infectious, he adds. Spike protein is the part of the virus that it uses to penetrate human cells. The government said that an analysis of the samples collected from Indias western Maharashtra state shows an increase in the fraction of samples with the E484Q and L452R mutations compared with December last year. Such [double] mutations confer immune escape and increased infectivity, the Health Ministry said in a statement. Dr Jameel added that there may be a separate lineage developing in India with the L452R and E484Q mutations coming together. But the government denied that the rise in case numbers was linked to the mutations. Though VOCs [variants of concern] and a new double mutant variant have been found in India, these have not been detected in numbers sufficient to either establish a direct relationship or explain the rapid increase in cases in some states.

Indias Serum Institute is expected to play a major role in supplying the world with enough COVID jabs to vaccinate the entire population of the planet. But given the speed of the worrying surge in cases, Indian states have already begun re-introducing restrictions, including curfews and intermittent lockdowns, to control the spread of the virus. At least two major cities, capital Delhi and financial center Mumbai, have ordered randomized rapid testing at airports, train stations, shopping malls and other crowded areas.

Read more at: ZeroHedge.com and Pandemic.news.
They arrive via comments, direct messages, or tweets. The rape threats, the death threats, the explicit language  the mildest might be slut, whore or bitch  then there is the criticism of appearance, hairstyles, figures and clothing, or the comments that they are lucky to have a job.

Welcome to being a prominent woman in the media, where doing your job draws extreme hatred and work-related threats online, which are usually anonymous.

Thousands attended the Womens March 4 Justice at Parliament House in Canberra earlier this month. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

In a year when sexual assault allegations have engulfed federal and state politics, and thousands of women marched on federal parliament and around the nation to protest sexism and gendered violence, the online threats against female journalists have escalated.

On Twitter this past week, Amy Remeikis, a political reporter for The Guardian, received a rape threat and was called a c---.
SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO / ACCESSWIRE / March 26, 2021 / In 2013, Greg Moran set out to answer a question that no one before him had found an answer to: can automobile usage be made affordable and sustainable in India? Fast forward to today, Moran's Zoomcar app has been downloaded over 25 million times with 5 million active users currently operating in over 45 cities. With 5,000+ vehicles already in fleet, his Zoomcars have driven upwards of 2  billion kilometers in India, and according to Moran, he is just getting started.

India: The Perfect Place For Zoomcar

Home to over 1.3 billion people, India is the largest English speaking democracy, with the largest middle class in the world, yet less than 3% of the population own a vehicle. High upfront costs and limited access to financing options are the obstacles many face to owning a vehicle in India. Zoomcar stands as an attractive option for those seeking the benefits of ownership without the hassle or cost.

Zoomcar is Zooming Past the Competition In India

Zoomcar is dominating the personal mobility sector in India capturing 80% of the market share to date with 58M in gross revenue in fiscal year 2020. Zoomcar is currently the only self drive app that allows a share feature: subscribers can "share back" their car on Zoomcar's short-term rental platform in return for a revenue share, reducing their effective subscription cost by as much as 70%. More importantly, Zoomcar is the only company focusing on both the product and the technology, operating in both the consumer and enterprise sides of the business. Zoomcar's Enterprise SaaS business also monetizes solutions within IoT and white-labelled subscription/rental. Zoomcar has also finalized OEM agreements with Ford, MG Motors, Mihindra, Honda and is in the process of finalizing OEM agreements with Toyota, Nissan, Renault, Tata, Hyundai. This type of subscription based sales offers a new way of purchasing a vehicle in India and this trend is catching on globally with companies like Tesla, Fisker, Ford and Volkswagen releasing subscription programs of their own.

Electric Vehicles in India: Tesla Has Come To Town

Moran is quick to point out how India will benefit from the arrival of large companies like Tesla, Samsung, LG, and Chinese battery maker CATL. These companies will increase supply of necessary materials, infrastructure, and ideas within India. "Battery cost is only going in one direction: down. The efficiency of electric vehicles is only going to get better," says Moran who has pledged to move towards an all electric fleet. Prime Minister Modi is on Moran's side. Several pieces of legislation such as the National Electric Mobility Mission Plan 2020, FAME India, as well as his EV@30 campaign all serve to promote the manufacturing and usage of electric vehicles within India. The focus on electric vehicles in India is desperately needed in order to counteract air pollution and bolster India's manufacturing and infrastructure. "It's not a matter of if, but when," says Moran who estimates it will take about 2-3 years until prices are so affordable the market just takes off. And Zoomcar is poised and ready to take advantage of the paradigm shift that is heading toward India.

India has also committed to generating roughly 40 percent of its power from renewable energy sources by 2030. In order for this to happen, India needs to invest in infrastructure generating companies like Zoomcar that will help India accomplish its goal.

What's Next for Zoomcar: Other Emerging Markets

Moran knows that like India, the emerging markets of SouthEast Asia, North Africa, and South America are facing similar challenges and he believes there may just be similar opportunities. These markets, especially in countries that are young, have a huge growing middle class, are experiencing improvements in education, and are empowered through their phones. "Zoomcar empowers individuals to take care of things without human interaction," says Moran. Zoomcar offers another unique feature within India: home delivery. Customers can order Zoomcar while experiencing the safety and convenience of having it delivered to their door. This feature is especially important for women in these markets where safety is a priority and a concern.

The Visionary Behind The Vision: CEO Greg Moran

Originally from New York City, CEO Greg Moran began his career in finance and private equity. He says he had to learn a lot very quickly when starting Zoomcar in the frenetic India. It took almost two years for Moran to set up Zoomcar and it almost didn't happen. He had to cultivate resilience, empathy, and patience on top of learning aspects of the business that were brand new to him such as tech, production, and data. But the financing and investing never really left Moran. Zoomcar has raised 115M in total equity across institutional & strategic investors and that number is expected to grow exponentially as new investment pours into India.

With the creation of Zoomcar, CEO Greg Moran has revolutionized and redefined personal mobility within India. His forward way of thinking and unique ability to address the needs of the country as a whole show that Zoomcar and Moran are indeed only just getting started.

Disrupt Media

Tony Delgado

Email: info@disruptvip.com

Phone: 12018758684

SOURCE: Greg Moran

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/637636/CEO-of-Zoomcar-Greg-Moran-on-India-Its-Not-A-Matter-of-If-But-When
As Texas prepares to make all adults eligible for COVID-19 vaccines starting Monday, a trio of San Antonio City Council members is trying to force a debate on establishing a one-stop portal for scheduling vaccinations.

The states decision to make all adults eligible will generate a new wave of demand. Since vaccines first became available in December, residents have grown frustrated at the difficulty of making appointments through online portals operated by hospitals, clinics and pharmacy chains. Trying by phone can require hours of redialing.

San Antonio is the only major Texas city without a one-stop vaccine registry. Austin, Houston and Dallas each have systems that allow people to sign up and be notified when an appointment becomes available.

Without a registry, some San Antonio council members fear it will become even more difficult to obtain appointments as the eligibility pool expands.

I think we can do this pretty quickly, District 9 Councilman John Courage said. I think it would alleviate a lot of the frustration and the fear that I believe is still very prevalent throughout the city.

Courage and two other council members  Ana Sandoval and Rebecca Viagran  called for a special meeting Thursday to settle the issue. The council will take up the matter by the end of next week, the mayors office said.

Council offices have been inundated with calls from constituents complaining about problems securing appointments.

We do our best with them, said Sandoval, who chairs the councils community health and equity committee. But saying OK, just be patient when instead we can have a registry  I think we need to explore that option.

On ExpressNews.com: 'The definition of anxiety-inducing' - San Antonio council members weigh one-stop sign-up portal for vaccinations

Major vaccine providers have requested help from the city in identifying vulnerable residents, particularly the elderly and those with underlying health conditions, so they can give them doses, Sandoval said.

More than 434,000 Bexar County residents have received at least one dose of vaccine, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services. About 243,000 residents are fully vaccinated  about 16 percent of Bexar residents over the age of 16.

For months, the citys top health officials have resisted the idea of a citywide registry. They say it would do little to ease peoples anxiety about securing an appointment, given the limited supply of vaccine.

City Council shot down the idea of a registry in February. At the time, Mayor Ron Nirenberg echoed health officials concerns. But on Thursday, he said he was open to revisiting the matter.

I welcome another look at how we can create an effective central registry in Bexar County, Nirenberg said in a statement. The challenge presented by a decentralized distribution process still remains.

Skepticism persists among some health leaders.

A waiting list would not solve the problem, which is that San Antonio is not receiving enough vaccine to meet the demand, said University Health System spokeswoman Elizabeth Allen. Being number 500,000 on the waiting list will do nothing to ease someones anxiety. So they continue to find more waiting lists to join.

University Health, Bexar Countys public hospital system, did create an online registry this week for residents age 80 and up. In all, UH has administered more than 190,000 doses of vaccine.

Michael Charlton, an assistant vice president of UT Health San Antonio, another vaccine provider, said establishing a citywide registry requires significant administration, consistent infrastructure and data warehousing investment.

The citys vaccination hubs are working together cohesively to meet demand whenever made possible by limited vaccine supply, Charlton said.

Baptist Health System, which has five hospitals across the city, created a waitlist to vaccinate its 5,500 employees and their eligible family members, CEO Matt Stone said.

I dont think its unreasonable to have a registry, he said.

The Texas Department of State Health Services is launching an online vaccine scheduler next week to help Texans register for appointments through participating public health agencies.

Metropolitan Health District officials and some council members have expressed doubt that a registry could encompass all of the citys vaccine providers as more groceries, pharmacies and medical practices receive doses. Austins registry, for example, covers only the four vaccination sites controlled by that citys health department.

The problem is we havent really had an opportunity to fully explore what it might look like, Sandoval said.
Her boyfriend Michael B. Jordan is filming his new movie A Journal for Jordan with stunning co-star Chane Adams in New York.

And on Thursday, Lori Harvey looked somewhat subdued as she left celebrity eatery Nobu in Malibu after meeting up with friends.

The 24-year-old daughter of TV personality Steve Harvey was dressed in a gray Chanel sweatshirt and skinny black jeans for her outing.

Missing someone? Lori Harvey looked somewhat subdued as she left Nobu in Malibu on Thursday after meeting with friends while boyfriend Michael B. Jordan films new movie in NYC

Her hair was styled in cornrows and she stepped out in chunky black bovver-style boots.

She carried a black designer purse and wore a black face mask.

She and Jordan went Instagram official in January after months of rumors that they were dating.

Dressed down: The 24-year-old daughter of TV personality Steve Harvey was dressed in a gray Chanel sweatshirt and skinny black jeans for her outing

Casual look: Her hair was styled in cornrows and she stepped out in chunky black bovver-style boots. She carried a black designer purse and wore a black face mask

Lori's famous father told Ellen DeGeneres on the comedienne's daytime chat show Monday that, as hard as he's tried, he can't find anything to dislike about his daughter's actor beau.

'This guy is such a good guy, man,' he said of the 34-year-old Black Panther and Creed star. 'He is one of the nicest guys... I just can't find nothing wrong with him!'

Jordan has been busy this month working on the drama Journal For Jordan which is being directed by Denzel Washington.

And his chemistry with co-star Chante, 26, is palpable.

Romantic: Jordan, 34,is filming A Journal for Jordan with stunning co-star Chane Adams, 26, in New York. The two were spotted kissing as cameras rolled in Central Park on Thursday

On Thursday, the two puckered up for the cameras as they filmed a very romantic scene in Manhattan's Central Park.

Journal For Jordan is based on the 2008 memoir by journalist Dana Canedy, who lost her husband First Sergeant Charles Monroe King in the Iraq War.

King had kept journals of his deployment in which he recorded heartfelt messages for his son Jordan, who was seven months old when his father died in 2006.

'Being directed by the GOAT - Denzel, himself - and being able to work with a very talented cast and actress in Chante Adams, it's something that I've been looking forward to,' Jordan told The Hollywood Reporter last month.

'We're having a blast,' he added, 'and Im getting a masterclass and a crazy education on character development, directing, and producing from Todd Black and Denzel Washington. It's a great thing.'

Joked: Lori's famous father Steve Harvery told Ellen DeGeneres on her chat show Monday that, as hard as he's tried, he can't find anything to dislike about his daughter's actor beau
NURSING HOME ORDER, 1 YEAR LATER: New ferry name announced; boats fcoming soon. Cuomos family member COVID controversy. (Hot Zone) Posted by Staten Island Advance on Thursday, March 25, 2021

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. - It was a bad anniversary day for Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Thursday, while Mayor Bill de Blasio looked to help one of the citys biggest industries emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic.

And in a sign of a return to normalcy, the city announced the name of a new Staten Island Ferry vessel.

Thursday marked one year since the Cuomo administration issued its controversial order that nursing homes must accept COVID-positive patients from hospitals. Cuomo has been accused of hiding the number of pandemic fatalities in nursing homes, a charge that the governor has denied.

De Blasio on Thursday announced that the city would do a special vaccination and COVID testing effort aimed at the citys theater industry in an effort to get Broadway back in business by this September.

The mayor also announced that that third in a line of three new ferryboats would be named after Catholic activist Dorothy Day, a Staten Island resident who is in the process of being made a saint by the Catholic Church.

The third new Staten Island Ferry boat will be named for Dorothy Day, a journalist and social activist who spent her life aiding the hungry and needy. The new boat is expected to arrive in New York sometime in 2022. (Courtesy of NYC Mayor's Office)

The coronavirus pandemic has turned our world upside-down, and we need information like we never have before.

How many new cases were there on Staten Island today? How many deaths? How many people have been released from the hospital?

What are President Joe Bidens plans to end the pandemic? What are Cuomo and de Blasio doing to keep New Yorkers safe?

What other news is top of mind?

More importantly, when are we going to get back to normal, whatever normal is?

Its almost too much to keep up with.

So every day around 4 p.m., Mark and I take to Facebook Live to give you all the information you need. You can then look for this written wrap-up on SILive.com at the end of the day.

Well give you the numbers and all the latest news. Well answer your questions. Well follow up on your news tips.

Well share the good news too, the way that the Staten Island community is coming together in this time of crisis. Or well just share this strange and unique pandemic moment with you, as fellow Staten Islanders.

Were all in this together. Well all get through this together.
Married At First Sight star Samantha Harvey has suffered a major beauty fail.

In a photo posted on her Instagram on Friday, the 31-year-old appeared to have struggled to colour match her faux bronze skin.

The blonde beauty, who had a disastrous stint on the Channel 9 dating show after being paired with Cameron Dunne, donned a streaky brown tan.

Golden girl? Married At First Sight's Samantha Harvey, 31, suffered a major fake tan fail in a selfie shared to Instagram this week

Her complexion looked much darker than the more natural look she sported during the reality show.

Despite the streaky tan, it seems the beautiful mum-of-two was feeling extra confident as she posted a video of herself on her Instagram Stories.

In the footage, she is seen smiling while singing the lyrics 'Sugar Sugar, how'd you get so fly' referencing noughties hit Sugar Sugar, by Baby Bash and Frankie J.

'How I rock up to pick up my kids from private school,' she cheekily captioned the video.

So fly! Despite the streaky tan, it seems Samantha was feeling extra confident as she posted a video of herself singing on her Instagram Stories

And it appears things are picking up for the reality star as she told her 51,000 followers that her new hair extension products had sold out after one day of launching.

Samantha runs multiple businesses, but on Thursday she brought out a new range of hair products for her brand, Kaikora Australia.

'What a week! Launched @kaikora_australia and sold out within a day!' she wrote on Instagram.

She rose to fame after joining this series of MAFS. The single mum was looking for the one, however she chose to leave after a failed marriage with Cameron.

She means business: Samantha runs multiple businesses, but on Thursday she brought out a new range of hair products for her brand, Kaikora Australia

In a commitment ceremony earlier this month, Samantha broke down as she told the experts she hoped for a 'man' in Cameron.

'I came here for somebody real. I came here for a man,' a teary Samantha, said.

'I've really given it my all. I've given this everything,' the blonde continued.

Cameron, 32, admitted that their relationship was 'hard from the start' as he 'switched off early'.
Some foreign nationals in South Africa, their community leaders, human rights lawyers and activists are concerned that their health needs are falling through the cracks. This was compounded during lockdown with some foreign nationals claiming they were refused healthcare and others now concerned they will be excluded from the vaccine rollout.

Access to vaccines

Initially, in January when Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize started public briefings on the country's vaccine rollout strategy, he kept referring to South Africans and citizens in his speeches. In an interview with SABC news, Mkhize said that vaccines will be limited to South African citizens, since the country "does not have the capacity to assist undocumented foreign nationals".

But President Cyril Ramaphosa later said vaccines will be made available to all adults living in South Africa regardless of citizenship or resident status.

Then, at the end of February, Mkhize told MPs in the National Council of Provinces that the government must still draw up plans for vaccination of undocumented foreign nationals. "The issue really is that we need everyone to come through and get registered in the process, and then we will deal with unexpected situations at the point that we have to deal with them," Mkhize reportedly said. "So, we will have to deal with the issue of undocumented citizens as we come across them."

Many not tested

According to the Zimbabwe Migration Support Network (ZiMSN), an organisation representing Zimbabwean nationals in the country, accessing healthcare services is difficult without valid documents, even medical emergencies.

"Hundreds of Zimbabwean nationals with medical conditions were refused treatment by local hospitals and clinics because they don't have proper documents as their permits expired during lockdown," ZiMSN chairman, Chris Mapingure, tells Spotlight. He says some pregnant migrants were charged exorbitant fees to deliver babies in public facilities. Mapingure said they received reports of a Zimbabwean man who was denied surgery in a hospital in Gauteng, and he was told to sign an admission of debt before they would perform any form of surgery.

"Another challenge that migrants encounter when requiring health care services in South Africa is the lack of proper information," said Mapingure. "For example, during the COVID-19 period, there was not any form of communication about foreign nationals, whether they could test in government testing centres. The lack of accurate information about their rights has barred many Zimbabweans from accessing healthcare services, assuming that testing centres were meant only for local peoples," he says.

"Even now the department of health has not yet come up with a clear clarification about vaccination arrangements for foreigners," Mapingure adds. "That alone gives us sleepless nights. Foreigners were also prevented [from receiving] food parcels that were being distributed [by government] with preference given to local citizens."

Mapingure says the South African government must be clear and extend the vaccination roll-out to all who live in South Africa.

Renewing papers

"Everybody in South Africa is entitled to access healthcare regardless of their nationality or documentation status. No one may be refused emergency treatment because everybody may access healthcare," says Jessica Lawrence, an attorney with Lawyers for Human Rights.

"Free healthcare is received by South African citizens, so anybody who goes to public health facilities will be means tested in order to check if they qualify for free healthcare. Foreign nationals are not entitled to free healthcare if they are undocumented. Undocumented persons have to pay for healthcare," says Lawrence.

According to her, many foreign nationals could not renew their permits when Home Affairs offices temporarily closed. "So no one has been able to renew their papers. The Department of Home Affairs instructed that those whose documentation expired during lockdown, are automatically extended until 31 March 2021."

"However, we have noticed that many healthcare facilities don't know about this automatic extension. We are concerned that the lack of communication between government departments will result in foreign nationals being excluded from the vaccine rollout," Lawrence said.

"We believe everybody that is living in South Africa is eligible for vaccination when it becomes available in their communities. We are currently engaging with the Department of Health to ensure that foreign nationals are part of the vaccination programme, including those that are undocumented," says Lawrence.

A 59-year-old Zimbabwean woman who wanted to remain anonymous for fear of victimisation tells Spotlight she has lived in South Africa for the past two decades and has been on chronic medication for the past three years.

"Local clinic nurses don't have problems when assisting foreigners with their medical needs," she says. "Challenges are experienced at referral hospitals, as we are subjected to abuse. I was once turned away at the Port Elizabeth Provincial Hospital because of lack of a valid permit to stay in the country. The snubbing of foreigners at hospitals is discouraging patients from accessing healthcare services with potentially fatal consequences."

'Same Constitutional right'

"We are concerned that the COVID-19 vaccine would be rolled out soon, but the [government] has not referred to migrants in its plan. It is critical that migrants are included in the vaccine roll-out strategy because they form part of the population of this country and they have the same constitutional right as citizens to access health care services," says Sibusisiwe Ndlela, an attorney with SECTION27.

"As members of our population, their participation is the key to achieving population immunity. It would truly be futile to arbitrarily exclude entire categories of persons in our population from being able to access the vaccine when the primary goal is to immunise as many people as possible," says Ndlela.

Ndlela says SECTION27 has been inundated with requests from foreign nationals who have been denied access to healthcare services.

She also points out that according to the Constitution everyone, including foreign nationals, may access health care services. "However, the Minister and the MEC for Health in the respective provinces have the power to determine fees for the services. Under the Gauteng provincial regulations, the migrants who qualify for subsidisation may be subjected to a means test to determine their ability to afford health care services," says Ndlela.

"Xenophobic language and inflammatory as well as reckless comments by public officials suggesting that migrants have overburdened specifically the Gauteng provincial health care system is unproven," she says. "But a more pressing issue is the documentation of migrants, which are periodically issued to them by the Department of Home Affairs. Migrants, who are asylum seekers or refugees are issued visas that reflect their status. However, with the serious backlog at the Department of Home Affairs, migrants often present documents that are no longer valid and are then turned away from health care facilities."

Responses from Western Cape and Gauteng

Western Cape Health Department spokesperson Mark van der Heever says foreign nationals with valid permits are assessed through the means test, the same as South African citizens.

"They would also qualify for certain statutory free services, such as free services to children under 6 years and free maternal care. If the person's permit has expired and is accompanied by a letter from the Department of Home Affairs or a relevant authority, the patient may be considered to be assessed per the means test," he says. "Failing which, the person is treated as a foreign national and is assessed at the maximum rates and is expected to pay for all services received. Payment arrangements can be considered where necessary. All health care services are free at the primary health care [level] irrespective of nationality or permit status."

"The National Health Act makes it very clear that there are limitations to the resources for Healthcare in South Africa," says Motalatale Modiba, spokesperson for the Gauteng Department of Health. "All citizens including foreign nationals are classified economically in terms of the Uniformed Patient Fees Schedule (UPFS) meaning that there are costs associated with access to healthcare resources in the country. Those who can afford need to pay for the services irrespective of geographic origin, but clinics are free to all regardless of their nationality or status."

Spotlight also put the concerns raised to the national health department, but received no response. The Department of Home Affairs spokesperson David Hlabane also did not respond to requests for comment.

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Language barriers

Meanwhile, the national secretary-general of the Somali Community Board of South Africa, Abdirizak Ali Osman, also raised concern over the challenges their members face when accessing healthcare services. Osman says one of the main challenges is that most foreign nationals are not assisted properly because of the language barrier. "In most cases foreigners and locals, they don't understand each other's languages, and that makes it difficult to communicate.

In healthcare facilities where indigenous South African languages are spoken, a migrant may find it difficult to communicate with healthcare workers." Osman said this often leads to communication breakdowns that can affect the quality of healthcare foreign nationals receive. "I think it is high time that the health department considers employing health workers who can speak foreign languages," he said.

Asked about the language problem, van der Heever says: "The department has a dedicated telephonic interpretation service available at all times. Any patient requiring consultation in their mother tongue language can access it by informing the treating health personnel [member] that they require it."

Asked about the approach in Gauteng, Modiba said: "The department is strengthening information system in its facilities by communicating in line with the 11 Official languages and for those who don't understand local languages English, which is an international language, is used to communicate with them."

But according to Osman, the problems go far wider than language. "The majority of foreign nationals never tested for COVID-19 because they were not aware of their legal rights, while others feared arrest or deportation because their papers expired," he says. "We trust that South African healthcare workers will not discriminate when the COVID-19 vaccine is available. We believe in order to combat the spread of COVID-19, the government must treat everyone equally and vaccinate every citizen regardless of their immigration status."

*Note: Sibusisiwe Ndlela from SECTION27 is quoted in this article. Spotlight is published by SECTION27 and the Treatment Action Campaign, but is editorially independent - an independence that the editors guard jealously. Spotlight is a member of the South African Press Council.
Easter camps for children have been blacklisted by public health officials amid concerns that play dates, St Patrickss Day parties and Mothers Day celebrations have been fuelling the spread of Covid-19.

It comes as Covid-19 spread remains volatile and the overall situation high risk.

Moving between play dates, Patricks Day parties, Mothers day parties where more and more people are coming together... they are not appreciating the risk of onward transmission, HSE public health specialist Dr Miriam Owens said. Children are reflecting what is in the community. What seems to be happening in the community is people are getting tired and feel it is time to relax. But it is not time to relax.

Dr Owens was speaking at last nights Covid-19 briefing where Professor Philip Nolan, who tracks the virus, revealed there was a four- to six-fold increase in children under 12 referred by GPs for testing.

There has been a 40-50pc increase in cases in young children since February but he said just a fraction was linked to schools.

I know it is a controversial thing for me to say, but simply because things are happening at the same time  because they are happening concurrently  does not imply a direct cause-and-effect relationship.

Asked about advertisements for Easter camps for children, deputy chief medical officer Dr Ronan Glynn said he would appeal to organisers not to hold them and to parents not to get their children involved.

Earlier, Prof Nolan warned the current spread of the virus was either static or potentially disimproving.

The situation remains volatile and one of high risk, he added.

Three more deaths and 606 new cases were reported yesterday. The National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) meets on Monday to make recommendations to Government for re-openings on April 5, but the signals last night were that they will remain cautious.

The message was that another two months and a significant roll-out of Covid-19 vaccine is needed before there is room for significant easing of restrictions.

Dr Glynn again held out hope of what vaccination can bring with the promise of a return to the kind of normal living not experienced since 2019.

However, the difficulty in getting people to stick with it is seen in a new ESRI survey showing that in January one in 20 people has been visiting other peoples houses.

But in the week ending March 14 this rose to one in 10.

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He said while it showed the vast majority of people were following public health advice, it did represent a significant change. Dr Owens said public health doctors were finding instances where people were meeting up for a game of cards.

Parents were meeting up outside the school gates and creches more than they had been.

The return to school also means parents were able to meet up with others during the day, she added.

The reopening of classes also led to a signal that more people returned to the workplace.

Asked to comment on earlier remarks by Tanaiste Leo Varadkar that pushing daily case numbers down is not a prospect because of the infectious UK variant, Prof Nolan said that while it was hard to see, we have proven we can do this.

We did better three or four weeks ago when we managed to keep our contacts a bit lower, he said.

There were 312 people with Covid-19 in hospital yesterday, including 75 in intensive care.

The number of intensive care admissions is declining slowly.

Prof Nolan said he was looking to hospitals where there was a constant number of 20 to 25 admissions a day.

This is an indicator of the level of disease in the population separate to testing.

For me this is the strongest indicator that we are in a static or disimproving situation.

The HSE is worried a rise in cases will lead to another increase in admissions.

The deaths indicator stabilised again after falling, with around 50 to 60 fatalities a week. There has been a slight increase in deaths in the community. The good news is there has been a near-disappearance of virus in residential settings and this must be linked the vaccine.

Meanwhile, Dr Lorraine Nolan, of the Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA), said 5,500 reports of suspected side-effects from Covid-19 vaccines had been notified

She said most were transient and expected. We have three safe and effective vaccines, AstraZeneca, Pfizer and Moderna, and we will shortly add the Johnson & Johnson vaccine to increase the roll-out of protection against this highly transmissible disease.
ANSONIA  Pre-K students were sent home early Friday after police said they received a tip from the FBI about a person threatening to blow up the middle school.

Police said a search of the building did not reveal anything suspicious, and an investigation later determined the threat was not substantiated.

Ansonia police spokesman Lt. Patrick Lynch said police were notified by the Federal Bureau of Investigations that the agency had received a complaint about a person threatening to blow up the school.

After consulting with the Ansonia Board of Education, a decision was made to send home the Pre-K students, all other students were on a remote learning day, Lynch said. The decision to send the students home was done out of an abundance of caution.

Police searched the school and grounds, including with the use of bomb-sniffing dogs, but nothing was found, Lynch said.

Through the help of state police and the FBI, everyone involved was located and interviewed by law enforcement.

Lynch said the incident began with an ongoing neighbor dispute with one claiming the other threatened to blow up the house and middle school during an argument.

The accused neighbor cooperated with the investigation and denied making any statements about blowing up the school, Lynch said. No evidence was found to substantiate the initial claim and no arrests have been made.
Janene Cates Putman. of Athens, Tennessee, holds a sign during a demonstration outside the Southern Baptist Conventions annual meeting in Birmingham, Alabama, In this 2019 file photo.
ANN ARBOR, MI  After years of student advocacy, protests and calls for action, the University of Michigan will discontinue fossil fuel investments.

The Board of Regents unanimously voted to approve the changes to its $12.5 billion endowment at its Thursday, March 25 meeting. But Regent Mark Bernstein, a leader on the board for climate change action, said it was students who were the driving force behind these changes.

UM students have been thoughtful, well-informed, absolutely relentless, and in the end, successful in moving the issue to the top of the regents agenda, Bernstein said, while calling on leaders at other universities to listen to their students.

They are knocking on your door. Let them in and learn from them, Bernstein said. They will educate you, they will motivate you and they will inspire you to do the right thing.

Students were probably met with negativity and naysayers throughout the process, but they continued to press on with meetings and calls as they saw the impact UM could have in the fight against climate change, Regent Jordan Acker said.

Acker called on students to keep advocating, whether its for climate change or any other topic theyre passionate about.

There will be times that we disagree, there will be times we agree, but through your advocacy, today, you have made our campus a better place and the world a better one, Acker said. Dont ever let anyone tell you that youre too young or too inexperienced to make a difference.

UM students have been pushing the university to change its investment strategies away from fossil fuels. Student groups protested at past regents meetings and blocked executives from leaving a December 2019 meeting in an effort to press UM to commit to carbon neutrality.

Several protesters were even detained at a March 2019 sit-in at the Fleming Administration Building.

In a statement, UMs Climate Action Movement, a group of students, faculty, staff and community members working to push administration to be more sustainable, said the announcement is a victory in many ways, but there is still work to be done.

The regents did not provide a meaningful timeline for divestment, according to the statement. And their classification of natural gas as a sustainable energy investment is utterly unacceptable at a time when we must be doing everything we can to halt all fossil fuel extraction, the statement reads.

We celebrate this as a hard-won victory as a crucial step toward toppling the fossil fuel industry, putting to action the kind of urgent harm reduction necessary to protect ourselves from the worst impacts of the climate crisis and move towards climate justice, the statement reads.

However, this announcement must serve as a catalyst for UM and other institutions to do more; to completely divest from fossil fuels on a rapid timeline, divest from other unethical industries, and reinvest in a rapid, just transition and community resilience.

The regents unanimously voted to make several changes to its investment policy to combat climate change, including:

Transition its endowment  valued at $12.5 billion as of June 30  to ensure the universitys investment portfolio reaches a net-zero carbon footprint by 2050, while maintaining its fiduciary duty to manage risks and maximize risk-adjusted returns.

Shift its natural resource investment to renewable energy investments, including infrastructure and services that support energy efficiency, and emerging technologies that support the transition to a carbon-neutral economy.

Discontinue directly investing in companies that are the largest contributors to greenhouse cases, currently defined as the top 100 public coal companies and top 100 public oil and gas companies as compiled in the Carbon Underground 200 list. UM does not currently hold any direct investments in these companies.

Discontinue investing in funds whose primary focus is oil reserves, oil extraction or thermal coal extraction.

Continue a strategy of not investing in companies that extract thermal coal or extract oil from tar sands. UM has not invested in such companies for the past decade.

After approving the changes, the regents unanimously approved $140 million in commitments to three companies  D.E. Shaw Renewable Investments, Aplomado Partners and Cresta Energy Sustainable Infrastructure  working in renewable energy.

The discontinuation of these investments aligns UM with similar commitments from other top universities in the country, including Columbia, Brown and the University of California, UM President Mark Schlissel said.

A net-zero endowment strategy considers the greenhouse gas emissions from all of the universitys investments, Schlissel said. Substantial greenhouse gas emissions occur outside of the energy sector, and net-zero applies broadly rather than targeting a single industry.

Before Thursdays vote, Bernstein said it wasnt about if the university should do something about climate change, but about what it should do about climate change.

And the answer is everything, Bernstein said. We should do everything possible to tackle this problem. Financially, thats what this policy is about, and operationally, thats what the Presidents Commission on Carbon Neutrality addresses.

Last week, the PCCN released its final report after two years of identifying ways the university can achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions. The report includes 50 recommendations that UM can take to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions across the Ann Arbor, Dearborn and Flint campuses.

READ MORE:

University of Michigans carbon neutrality commission submits final recommendations for net-zero emissions

Future civil rights attorneys gaining experience through University of Michigan initiative

Protesters call for more accountability in fight for racial justice

Professors excited about in-person University of Michigan classes - as long as they get COVID vaccination
?? Ahora | La presidenta del Consejo de Ministros supervisa el proceso de vacunacion contra la #COVID?19 a adultos mayores de 80 anos en San Martin de Porres, Lima.#PongoElHombro ???????? pic.twitter.com/sbnLfFIrkm
They are giving litter-pickers the upper hand in the battle against the ever-growing tide of waste in our countryside.

Drones are being used by a council which looks after some of Britain's finest beaches to speed up its response to rubbish left behind by visitors.

The spy-in-the-sky technology allows officials to create a real-time aerial waste map, identifying hotspots to send its teams out to.

Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council is using the unmanned patrols on a stretch of coastline which was wrecked last year by careless beach-goers.

Drones are being used by Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council to speed up its response to rubbish left behind by visitors. Pictured: Ellie Mackay guides a drone to find litter

Their efforts come as the Daily Mail helps launch Keep Britain Tidy's Great British Spring Clean, asking readers to roll up their sleeves and beat the 900,000 bags of litter 563,000 of you collected during the campaign in 2019.

Britain's first 'smart survey' of litter covered a stretch of the Dorset coastline last week to create a 'treasure map of trash'.

The bird's eye view allows information to be collected on where litterbugs are dropping their rubbish and how it then spreads along the beaches.

The images  and an algorithm which identifies rubbish by type  will provide an invaluable aid to the council's efforts to protect its scenery and wildlife.

Any litter hotspots are noted along the stretch of coast from Sandbanks in Poole, via Canford Cliffs, Bournemouth and Boscombe beaches to Hengistbury Head near Christchurch.

This allows the council to identify where best to provide extra bins or alter street cleaning schedules. Officials hope this will prepare the sands for a bumper summer of tourism as lockdown lifts, with new bins encouraging visitors to dispose of their litter responsibly.

A major incident was declared in June last year when half a million people descended on the Dorset beaches, leaving locals shocked by the waste strewn across the sand.

The spy-in-the-sky technology allows officials to create a real-time aerial waste map, identifying hotspots to send its teams out to. Pictured: The litter is highlighted in yellow by the drone

The council teamed up with environmental charity Hubbub, McDonald's and drone specialists Ellipsis Earth.

Ellipsis Earth's founder Ellie Mackay, who is leading the team of scientists, said the beaches in question are unusual in that, unlike some of the world's most polluted coastlines, the rubbish is not brought in by tides from the sea.

'All the litter that is detected on these beaches has been brought here each day by users and littered and left behind. So that means we can really effectively target the sources of that trash,' she said.

The same technology was used last summer in Sorrento, Italy, and reduced litter by 45 per cent.

Bournemouth councillor Mark Anderson said the authority was 'delighted' to have been invited to take part, adding: 'Litter is everyone's responsibility... visitors should behave responsibly and pick up after themselves.'

Bournemouth beach was voted the nation's favourite in a WWF-UK survey in February.
Russia will take reciprocal actions in respond to sanctions imposed by Canada shortly, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

"We are open for an honest, mutually respectful dialogue, but we will respond harshly and consecutively to hostile actions and personal sanctions," the statement says.

"We plan to take reciprocal actions shortly," TASS cited her as saying.

On Wednesday, the Canadian government imposed sanctions against nine Russian high-level officials due to the situation around opposition politician Alexey Navalny.
For the first time in the history of Ukraine, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has adopted a five-year Public Diplomacy Strategy which sets forth seven areas of activity to promote a positive image of the state.

"This week, at a meeting of the board the Public Diplomacy Strategy was adopted. It is a thorough document, which is adopted for the first time in the history of Ukraine The strategy was adopted for five years. We will develop a positive image of Ukraine abroad and communicate with partners based on it. For the first time in Ukraine, we officially set forth and define seven areas of public diplomacy: cultural, expert, economic, culinary, digital, scientific, educational and sports," Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said at an online briefing on Friday, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

He added that the strategy determined five principles on which public diplomacy would be pursued: project management, innovation, respect for cultural diversity, human-oriented approach and responsibility.

According to Kuleba, the adoption of Public Diplomacy Strategy changes fundamentally three things. "For the first time, a single document systematizes to whom, when and how Ukraine will deliver key messages. For the first time, we will strengthen Ukraines reputation in the world not point by point, but systematically, consistently and holistically For the first time, we introduce five-year planning as the Strategy sets clear and measurable goals and objectives for 2021-2025," the minister explained.

The strategy is based on Ukraine NOW national brand, Kuleba noted.

According to him, the Communication Strategy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was also approved by the Ministrys board for the first time.

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YEREVAN, MARCH 26, ARMENPRESS. UK-based ''Media Defence'' human rights organization has today filed a case at the European Court of Human Rights on behalf of four Armenian citizens following the bombing of the town of Martuni by Azerbaijani forces during the recent armed conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh. The applicants - three journalists who were injured and the brother of a journalist fixer who was killed - allege that as a result of this attack their rights under the European Convention on Human Rights were violated by Azerbaijan, ARMENPRESS was informed from the Freedom of Information Center.



The bombing took place on 1 October 2020 when the centre of Martuni was hit by around 40 missiles over a short period. Four people were killed, and a number of others were seriously injured. Later that day the Azerbaijani government, referring to the bombing, accused Armenia of endangering the lives of journalists and violating international law. In fact, attacks on journalists by Azerbaijani armed forces were a regular occurrence over the course of this conflict. Many journalists reported being harassed and threatened by Azerbaijani armed forces while trying to carry out their journalistic work.



The applicants case is that their right to life and right to freedom of expression were violated by Azerbaijan when they bombed Martuni. These rights are protected by article 2 and article 10 of the Convention.

The applicants are represented by Padraig Hughes and Carlos Gaio from Media Defence along with Armenian lawyer and president of the Freedom of Information Centre Shushan Doydoyan, who said:"This case has a strategic meaning for the Armenian journalistic community. As a result of shelling by Azeri military forces at least six reporters were injured and one fixer was killed in Artsakh in October, 2020. Even though media professionals working in conflict zones have the status of civilians and are protected by international humanitarian law, this principle was not properly respected. Journalists are not military targets, their safety should be guaranteed because they are carrying out their professional duty in the war zone by risking their lives. I am proud to be a part of the legal team which developed this strategic litigation case to demand recognition of the violation of the affected reporters rights and compensation from the Azerbaijani Government.Media Defence Legal Director Padraig Hughes said, The importance of accurate and informed reporting during armed conflicts cannot be overstated, not least because reporting often has an impact on how warring parties behave. This attack prevented journalists from doing their job and was just one part of a number of attacks on the media by Azerbaijan during the conflict. The way in which the conflict was conducted has since been described as showing the future of warfare and we hope the Court decides that that future must include proper protections for journalists so that the quality and independence of the information they are able to provide is not compromised.
Bennington, VT (05201)

Today

Rain likely. Low 62F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%. 1 to 2 inches of rain expected..

Tonight

Rain likely. Low 62F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%. 1 to 2 inches of rain expected.
By Shabana Gupta

guptasha@grinnell.edu

The Grinnell-Newburg Community School District is in the process of implementing what it calls a Culturally Responsive Curriculum Scorecard system within its social studies classes, but potential new legislation could pose roadblocks to such initiatives in the near future.

On March 16, H.F. 802 passed the Iowa State House of Representatives. The bill, which echoes a now-reversed Executive Order from the Trump administration, seeks to limit the ability of public schools and universities to conduct their own diversity trainings for teachers and bans the teaching of so-called divisive topics in the classroom.

Such topics include that the United States of America and the state of Iowa are fundamentally or systemically racist or sexist, and that meritocracy or traits such as a hard work ethic are racist or sexist, or were created by a particular race to oppress another race.

The bill would still allow schools to promote diversity within their curricula, but only so long as it teaches the subject in a way that is not critical of Iowa or the United States.

Dr. Janet Stutz, superintendent of Grinnell-Newburg Community Schools, said that she and other superintendents around the state have not currently developed plans for how to adapt their teaching if the bill passes.

I have no idea where this is going to go, said Stutz. I have no idea.

According to Stutz, part of the reason superintendents have been hesitant to respond to the bill is because it is written in ambiguous language. You can interpret this in a hundred different ways, she said.

For example, Stutz said that the bill is in conflict with state educational standards about understanding the global economy, which includes requiring schools to teach students about power structures and how they interact with history. Given the topics that are labeled as divisive by the new legislation, such as systemic racism and sexism, discourse on power structures could be limited. How do you teach history without talking about that? said Stutz.

If the bill passes the Senate, the Department of Education will then write new procedures that detail what is and isnt allowed to be taught in schools, based on their interpretation of the law. School districts around Iowa would then be required to follow these new procedures.

Although its unclear if H.F. 802 would affect Grinnell-Newburgs plans to increase diversity training and teaching  programs which began around two years ago, long before the new bill or Trumps Executive Order had been announced  Stutz values the districts trainings and doesnt want to see them go.

Were not in the business of creating divisiveness or separating our children. When we do training, our goal is to make sure all children are welcome in the classroom, Stutz said.

Until or if the Department of Education changes its procedures, Grinnell-Newburg will continue with its push to expand diversity awareness and education.

The goal is for you, as an individual, to learn about culture and diversity that reflect the students in your classroom, Stutz said, [so that] when they bring things to the classroom for participation you have some awareness.

The most recent addition to the districts diversity program is a scorecard system, which was introduced to rate the diversity of social studies classes. It began in January of this year.

Lessons are now scored for the diversity of the points of view they include, the diversity of the authors assigned to students to read and the various ways in which course content represents different groups. Teachers are also scored on their choice of material, and the real-life connections that students can make to that material. The overall score rates lessons on their cultural sensitivity, ranging from culturally destructive to culturally responsive.

Grinnell High School social studies teacher Todd Crites said that teachers are currently adapting the scorecard to social studies and using it to help them develop their curriculums. One teacher will present a lesson that they want to improve to the other social studies teachers, and the group provides feedback.

The process of adapting the scorecard to meet our needs has helped me be more reflective about my own teaching, Crites said.

The original scorecard was developed for literature classes. Crites said that Grinnell-Newburg uses the Social Justice Orientation section, the Teachers Materials, and the Guidance is provided section, though they changed the name from Guidance is provided to Teachers lesson includes.

Copies of the scorecard are available in the school district office in downtown Grinnell for anyone interested in reviewing the criteria.

Crites said he appreciates having a list of criteria to evaluate his curriculum. He said it tells him how well I engage students in experiences that help them appreciate cultures other than their own and how effectively I provide students opportunities to take action to contribute to positive change in our community.

Heidi Durbin, dean of students at Grinnell-Newburg High School, said that the school has also brought in more speakers since summer 2020 to talk to students specifically about racism.

Topics that have been discussed by these speakers include the video series Cracking the Code, which gives an overview of systemic racism; what its like to be a Black student or student of color in the classroom; and what teachers can do to improve the student experience.

It is not ours to say this way or that way, its ours to provide kids to have an understanding of whats happening, Stutz said. The goal, she said, is to ensure that kids have that global perspective.
So its not just in the movies where the criminals return to the scene of the crime.

Two New York women accused in a carjacking were nabbed by Secaucus police eight days later  in the same location they took the vehicle, Police Chief Dennis Miller said.

Police responded to a the Embassy Suites Hotel on Plaza Drive at 5:20 a.m. on March 18 after receiving a report that a 2017 Mercedes Benz was forcibly taken from the owner.

A patrol officer saw the carjacked vehicle on Harmon Meadow Boulevard and attempted to stop it, but the occupants, later identified as Lauren Allen and Ebonee Hazelwood, fled toward Route 3. A pursuit of the vehicle was terminated when the Mercedes Benz entered the Lincoln Tunnel and fled into New York City.

The Mercedes Benz was later recovered on Madison Avenue in New York and an investigation by Detective Sean Egan and Police Officer Kristen Bronowich found Allen and Hazelwood came to Secaucus in a Toyota Rav 4 that was stolen from New York City. That stolen vehicle was recovered by Secaucus police in the parking lot of the Embassy Suites Hotel.

Allen, 33 and Hazelwood, 32, were arrested Thursday without incident in the area of the hotel where they stole the Mercedes Benz, Miller said. At the time of her arrest, Hazelwood was found in possession of the key to the Mercedes Benz.

I am proud of the determination to solve this case exhibited by the investigators, Miller said. This case is a representative example of the effort our Detective Division exhibits daily, and I am thankful for that.

Hazelwood was charged with carjacking, eluding, conspiracy to commit carjacking and receiving stolen property, while Allen was charged with conspiracy to commit carjacking and unlawful taking of means of conveyance.
YEREVAN, MARCH 26, ARMENPRESS. On March 25, the 11th Meeting of the Armenia-EU Human Rights Dialogue co-chaired by Avet Adonts, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia, was held via VTC. Among the participants were the representatives of the number of Government agencies and the Human Rights Defender of Armenia, the Armenian foreign ministry told Armenpress.

A broad range of human rights-related issues, as well as the judicial reforms, anti-discrimination policy, working rights, electoral reforms were discussed during the session.

Armenian side has informed the EU counterparts about grave consequences of the Azerbaijani large-scale military aggression against Artsakh, unleashed with the direct support of Turkey. It was underlined that Azerbaijan, in violation of the international humanitarian law, continues keeping Armenian civilians and prisoners of war as hostages and blocking the delivery of humanitarian assistance to the people of Artsakh through the Lachin corridor. Armenian side brought to the attention of the EU colleagues the fact of non-compliance of Azerbaijan with the interim measures of the European Court of Human Rights.
Hudson, NY (12534)

Today

Thunderstorms this evening followed by occasional showers overnight. Low 62F. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70%..

Tonight

Thunderstorms this evening followed by occasional showers overnight. Low 62F. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70%.
CLEVELAND, Ohio  The Moderna and Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines protect pregnant women and newborns, a new study suggests. The Cleveland Clinic opens another vaccination site, and Pfizer begins testing its vaccine in young children.

Cleveland.com is rounding up some of the most notable coronavirus news making headlines online. Heres what you need to know for Friday, March 26.

Vaccines protect mothers and newborns

The Moderna and Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines are highly effective in producing antibodies against the illness in pregnant and lactating women, according to a study by Boston researchers. It is the largest study of its kind to date. The report also demonstrated the vaccines confer protective immunity to newborns through breast milk and the placenta. The study, published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, looked at 131 women of reproductive age (84 pregnant, 31 lactating and 16 non-pregnant), all of whom received the Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna vaccine.

Cleveland Clinic opens vaccination site in Independence

The Cleveland Clinic opened a new vaccination site at the Cleveland Clinic Business Operations Center, 6801 Brecksville Rd., Independence, the hospital system announced Thursday. It is one of seven sites across Northeast Ohio where the Clinic is administering vaccines.

When the Independence site is at full capacity, it will immunize about 1,500 people a day. Hours are 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday to Saturday. Ohioans 16 and older will be eligible to get the shots starting Monday, March 29.

More information about the Clinic vaccination sites is on is website: clevelandclinic.org/covidvaccine

Pfizer begins vaccine trial in children under 12

Pfizer has begun studying its COVID-19 vaccine in more than 4,500 children under 12, the company said Thursday. The two-part trial will first study three dose levels in 144 children age 6 months to 11, Pfizer said. Once an appropriate dose is established for each age group, 4,500 more kids in the United States and Europe will be enrolled in the second part of the trial, which will look at safety and other factors.

Flu shot associated with fewer COVID cases

People who received a flu shot last flu season were significantly less likely to test positive for a COVID-19 infection when the pandemic hit, according to a new study from the University of Michigan. People who did test positive for COVID-19 had fewer complications if they received their influenza shot, the study suggests. The underlying mechanism behind the association is unclear, researchers said.

People who received their influenza shot were also significantly less likely to require hospitalization for COVID-19, although a significant difference in death rates between the two groups was not found. No one in the study tested positive for both infections at the same time.

Biden administration commits $10 billion to fight vaccine inequities

The federal government is committing $10 billion to efforts designed to ensure COVID-19 vaccines are being equitably distributed and boost confidence in the shots, the White House announced Thursday.

The $10 billion in funding comes largely from the American Rescue Plan, the sweeping coronavirus aid package passed by Congress this month. More than half of the funds will go toward community health centers to expand COVID-19 vaccinations, testing and treatment for vulnerable populations, deliver health care services to populations at higher risk of serious illness from the coronavirus and boost the centers operational capacity. Nearly 1,400 centers nationwide will begin receiving the funds in April.

AstraZeneca confirms efficacy of its Covid-19 vaccine

Rejecting sharp criticism from U.S. government scientists, AstraZeneca said Wednesday night that a new analysis of its large U.S.-based clinical trial showed that its Covid-19 vaccine was 76% effective at reducing the risk of symptomatic COVID-19, and 100% effective against severe disease.

Those estimates were just a few percentage points lower than much more sparse results the company released Monday from an earlier analysis of the study. Government scientists warned that AstraZenecas initial release may have used outdated information that could have been overly favorable.

Your coronavirus vaccine questions answered:

Are you contagious if you have side effects from the COVID-19 vaccine?

Are you less immune to the coronavirus if you dont have vaccine side effects?

Can I still get my second dose of coronavirus vaccine if I develop COVID-19 symptoms after the first?

Can you mix and match two doses of coronavirus vaccine from different manufacturers?

Can you request one coronavirus vaccine if you have concerns about the other?

Coronavirus vaccine misinformation permeates social media: Here are the facts to counter six false claims

How will local drug stores keep the coronavirus vaccine on site if it needs to be cold? How will they avoid waste?

If Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are for people 16 and older, what does that mean for children? What about minors with pre-existing conditions?

If the coronavirus vaccine is 95% effective, how will you know if youre in the other 5%?

Should cancer patients get the coronavirus vaccine?

Should you get the coronavirus vaccine if youve had a bad reaction to the flu shot?

Should you get the second vaccine if you contract COVID-19 after your first coronavirus vaccine dose?

What if you contract COVID-19 in between your two coronavirus vaccine doses?

Who should skip the second shot of coronavirus vaccine? Weve got answers

Why do I need to keep a mask on if Ive been vaccinated for coronavirus?

Will your COVID-19 vaccine be less effective if you need to wait longer for the second dose?
Mount Maunganui man David Stallard is hitting the streets with his guide dog Jackson today and tomorrow.

Why? He is doing his bit to help raise money and awareness for the Blind Low Vision Red Puppy Appeal street collection.

David says having a guide dog has changed his life.

The 72-year-old is partially blind and deaf, but more importantly, hes an international Lawn Bowls competitor.

Among his tournaments, he has competed around the world at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, 2017 International Blind Bowling World Championships in Johannesburg, the New Zealand Open, and World Masters Games.

He is also a new resident to Tauranga, and is looking forward to joining a local bowls club.

Davids been with his guide dog Jackson for nine years, but is set to go on the waitlist for a new guide dog, as Jackson will soon retire.

It will be the third time he has waited to be paired with a guide dog.

Otter was his first guide dog and before Otter, David wouldnt leave the house on his own. He couldnt even go to the dairy down the road to get a bottle of milk.

Since having a guide dog at his side, David is able to not only go to the dairy down the road, he catches the bus and goes to the mall and the bank  all on his own.

And when it comes to his sport, he has his independence to get to his bowling club.

It costs more than $50,000 to raise and train just one guide dog who support blind, deafblind, or low vision New Zealanders.

Every day, an average of six New Zealanders turn to Blind Low Vision NZ for support with sight loss.

Guide dogs allow these people to retail their independence and move through life safely and confidently. There is no government funding.

As Blind Low Vision NZ Guide Dogs is not government funded we are extremely grateful to everyone who supports our Red Puppy Appeal, says Blind Low Vision NZ Chief Executive John Mulka.

Guide dogs play a life-changing role for people who are blind, deafblind or have low vision, and I want to also acknowledge all the volunteers who help us train guide dogs for people who really need them.

With a street collection goal of $300,000 this year, Blind Low Vision NZ needs 2000 volunteer collectors to join the pack.

Tauranga woman Luci Carter knows first-hand, how vital the collection is for the future of guide dogs.

Shes raised 15 guide dog puppies in her 21 years as a volunteer puppy raiser.

I got involved with Red Puppy Appeal because of the dogs and also because I just wanted to be useful and its such a good cause.

Each dog plays such an important role in peoples lives and thats reflected in the hard work that goes into making sure the dogs are up to it.

Youll see her collecting out in Tauranga during the appeal and she encourages others to join her, saying its a great way to get out of the house to do something a bit different.

Highly valued for the positive and liberating change they bring to a persons life, guide dogs perform an essential role in the life of a blind, deafblind or low vision person.

Tasked with making what could potentially be life or death decisions on behalf of their person, guide dogs have to learn incredibly challenging and sophisticated skills.

For more information visit www.redpuppy.org.nz or call 0800 787 743 (0800 PUPPIES).
Ukrainian-Moldovan political consultations took place at the level of Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine Vasyl Bodnar and State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration of the Republic of Moldova Dumitru Socolan.

This was reported by the press service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.

The interlocutors discussed in detail the state of implementation of the agreements reached during the visit of Moldovan President Maia Sandu to Kyiv in January 2021.

The parties exchanged views on the upcoming political contacts at the highest and high levels. In this regard, Bodnar informed his colleague on the preparations for the inaugural summit of the Crimean Platform, as well as the celebrations of the 30th anniversary of the restoration of Ukraine's independence on August 23-24, 2021.

Priority attention was paid to the implementation of cross-border infrastructure projects, primarily the construction of the bridge across Dniester River near Yampil-Koseuts settlements. The parties positively noted the progress in this matter.

Vasyl Bodnar and Dumitru Sokolan stressed the importance of resuming talks between respective authorities on the range of issues related to the functioning of the Dniester hydro power plant, as well as accomplishing of Ukrainian-Moldovan border demarcation.

The parties synchronized their positions on expanding the legal framework of bilateral cooperation in different areas.

Discussion of the regional security issues, including threats represented by the presence of the Russian military units in the Transnistrian region of Moldova, was in the focus of the consultations.

The deputy minister stressed that Ukraine is determined to continue supporting the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Moldova within its internationally recognized borders, as well as to be an active participant in the Transnistrian settlement negotiation process. "We consider the withdrawal of the Russian troops from the Transnistrian region of Moldova as a matter of national and regional security," Bodnar said.

The sides discussed the steps to strengthen bilateral trade and economic cooperation, outlined a series of joint projects in the energy sector.

Within the context of the humanitarian cooperation, Bodnar asked the Moldovan side to speed up the ratification of the bilateral agreement on cooperation in ensuring the rights of persons belonging to national minorities (signed on December 17, 2009, ratified by Ukraine on October 5, 2010).

The parties also discussed the ways to deepen cooperation with the EU in the context of the two countries' European integration course.

The diplomats exchanged their views on the efforts of both governments to counter the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus epidemic.
A woman suffering with OCD is suing Channel 5 for 100,000 after she found bailiffs picking through her possessions while filming an episode of Can't Pay? We'll Take It Away! in her flat.

Bailiffs told Natasha Lowe they were hauling away 6,000 worth of her goods because of debts allegedly owed by her then-boyfriend Daniel White to his ex-girlfriend.

She was filmed returning to the flat in Woolwich, London, in 2016, to find two bailiffs and a three-man film crew.

In a case filed at the High Court, she is now suing for invasion of privacy by 'misuse of her private information', complaining that her distress was broadcast to 'many millions' of viewers and demanding up to 100,000 compensation.

The episode was broadcast to around six million viewers between 2016 and 2017, it is claimed.

Ms Lowe accepts she did consent to have an interview for the series, but did so believing it would not be broadcast without her permission.

Natasha Lowe is suing for invasion of privacy by 'misuse of her private information' after her face was shown during a broadcast of Can't Pay? We'll Take It Away! Ms Lowe, who has obsessive compulsive disorder, accepts giving an interview to film crews, but argues she expected to be consented before it was broadcast

She says she 'experienced a tightening of the chest and had difficulty breathing' and had to reach for an asthma inhaler after finding two bailiffs and a three-man film crew in her flat shooting an episode of 'Can't Pay? We'll Take It Away!'.

Ms Lowe, who was using crutches due to medical problems at the time, says her OCD 'exacerbated the upset' of encountering five strangers in her own home 'touching her possessions and walking on her carpet'.

Her case has been brought against Channel 5 Broadcasting Ltd, Brinkworth Films Ltd, who make and produce the series, and debt recovery firm Direct Collection Bailiffs Ltd, whose officers entered her home alongside the three-man film crew in February 2016.

But all three companies deny doing anything wrong and say Ms Lowe had no 'expectation of privacy.' She had herself consented to being interviewed on camera, they say.

Ms Lowe says the first she knew of the home invasion was when she received a phone call from her then-boyfriend while commuting to work - telling her that 'bailiffs had attended her flat and were going to seize her possessions unless she could prove that she owned them.'

Lawyers for Ms Lowe say it was unacceptable to show footage of her 'visibly crying, behaving in a way which she would never behave in public, swearing at the (bailiffs) and generally behaving aggressively because she was upset by the way they were handling her possessions and walking on her carpet'

She believes that her home had been targeted because of debts accumulated by her then-partner.

Ms Lowe rushed home already in a 'state of panic', and her anxiety spiralled when she walked in and saw bailiffs sifting through her stuff.

'She had to use a blue asthma inhaler because she experienced a tightening of the chest and had difficulty breathing during the incident,' explained her barrister William Bennett QC in claim documents.

Ms Lowe, then of Pettacre Close, Woolwich, London, says although the TV crew left her home due to her clearly distressed state, the bailiffs continued to film her using bodycams.

'She infers that one or more persons from the film crew watched and/or listened to and/or recorded events occurring inside the flat via a wireless transmission from (the) bodycams,' her barrister William Bennett QC says in documents filed at the High Court.

Can't Pay? We'll Take It Away! couple won 20,000 privacy payout In Natasha Lowe's case, Channel 5, Brinkworth Films Ltd, who make and produce the series, and debt recovery firm Direct Collection Bailiffs Ltd all deny any wrongdoing, saying Ms Lowe had herself consented to being interviewed on camera. However, a 2018 ruling in another case related to the series saw a couple win 20,000 in damages after they were filmed being lawfully evicted from their East London home. Channel 5 had argued that Shakir Ali had lost his privacy rights by agreeing to be interviewed by crews, but a judge not accept this case. According to mediawrites.law, the ruling said Mr Ali was 'not in a fit state to give informed consent,' while adding that the father had consented as it was the 'lesser of two evils,' between giving an interview, or allowing footage of the eviction to be broadcast without his side of the story. Mr Ali, who has two children with his wife, was filmed on the show being lawfully evicted from inside the terraced Victorian house in his pyjamas and on crutches. The episode, which was watched nearly ten million times on Channel 5 channels over 18 months, also featured shots of their bedroom and their children's rooms. In addition the footage showed the landlord's son humiliating the couple and revealed they were jobless and on housing benefit. The judgment said Mr Ali was woken up having been in a deep sleep due to medication he was taking. The footage shows him appearing drowsy and confused. The couple were said to have faced 'significant distress and ongoing humiliation' afterwards. Advertisement

Although she did then consent to being interviewed on camera, Ms Lowe says she did so on the basis that it would not be broadcasted without her consent.

But her misery was then made worse when the programme aired to over six million viewers between September 2016 to November 2017, it is claimed.

Channel 5 ended up putting out two versions of the bailiffs' visit - the first with Ms Lowe's face in view and the second with her features obscured.

In court papers, her lawyers claim she had a 'reasonable expectation' that nothing filmed inside her home would be shown to the outside world without consent.

She was entitled to expect absolute privacy when it came to her home interior and items such as family photos and Valentine's cards, her lawyers say.

It was unacceptable to show footage of her 'visibly crying, behaving in a way which she would never behave in public, swearing at the (bailiffs) and generally behaving aggressively because she was upset by the way they were handling her possessions and walking on her carpet - which partly arose from her OCD'.

'She further reasonably expected that the patronising and humiliating way she was spoken to by the High Court enforcement officers would not be broadcast,' said her QC.

However, in a written defence to the claim on behalf of Channel 5 Broadcasting Ltd and Brinkworth Films Ltd, Antony White QC denies that Ms Lowe's 'private information' was misused.

On arrival at the property, the film crew had been allowed inside by Ms Lowe's partner, but had then left when she returned and asked them to leave, only to change her mind later.

'Around an hour after the claimant returned to her flat, the claimant consented to being interviewed by the film crew and permitted them to re-enter the flat for this purpose,' he says.

'The claimant made it clear to the film crew that she consented to being filmed for this purpose. The claimant appeared to be relaxed and was smiling at the film crew when giving the interview.'

He says it is denied that Ms Lowe was told that the interview would not be broadcast without her consent.

For the debt collection company, Guy Vassall-Adams QC also denies that anything inappropriate was done and that Ms Lowe had consented to being filmed.

She would also have been aware that she was still being filmed and recorded when the film crew were outside as the bailiffs' cameras were clear and obvious on their clothing.

All three companies say there was nothing wrong in broadcasting the material, since it showed matters of 'general interest,' including how debts are enforced by courts.

Papers for the claim have been filed at the High Court, but the case has not yet appeared before a judge.
New Delhi: Protesters squatted on railway tracks at 44 locations across Punjab and Haryana on Friday as part of the Bharat Bandh called by farmer unions protesting against agri laws, leading to disruption of rail traffic.

A railway spokesperson said four Shatabdi trains have been cancelled, 35 other passenger trains were detained and the movement of 40 goods trains was affected by the protests.

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The 44 locations where train movement has been disrupted fall under the Delhi, Ambala and Ferozepur divisions of the railways.

"As of 11 am, kisan agitators are sitting at 44 locations. Total 35 passenger trains have been detained and 40 goods trains are affected so far. Four Shatabdi trains have been cancelled," Northern Railways spokesperson Deepak Kumar said.

Bharat Bandh

The Samkyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) has called for the bandh from 6 am to 6 pm to mark four months of the farmers' agitation at Delhi's three borders -- Singhu, Ghazipur and Tikri.
As more churches return to in-person services, new LifeWay Research reflects on the creative services of COVID-19.

Image: Unsplash/Gabrielle Clare Marino

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, churches responded to serve churchgoers in a variety of ways, and churchgoers are overwhelmingly proud of how their church handled the crisis.

According to Nashville-based Lifeway Research, almost 9 in 10 Protestant churchgoers (86%) say they are proud of how their church has responded during the coronavirus pandemic, with 58% strongly agreeing. Few (9%) disagree.

Inversely, few (12%) say they are ashamed of how their church responded to the crisis. More than 4 in 5 (84%) disagree, with 73% strongly disagreeing.

Some churchgoers, however, are more likely than others to see their churchs handling as shameful. Young adult churchgoers (aged 18 to 29) are more likely to agree (26%).

Pastors have heard their share of second-guessing for how they have handled their churchs response to COVID-19, said Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research. But a large majority of churchgoers agree with their churchs various responses, and few are critical overall.

In-person Services

In January 2021, half of Protestant churchgoers (51%) didnt attend any in-person church services. For some, that was because their congregation didnt gather in person, which has been the case throughout the pandemic.

In late March and April of 2020, fewer than 1 in 10 Protestant churches held in-person services in a given week, according to a previous Lifeway Research study among pastors. By June, however, the majority of churches were gathering in person again. In September, 87% of churches held in-person services, but that fell to 76% of churches in January 2021.

In the latest study, Lifeway Research found attending in person has not been an option recently for almost a quarter of Protestant churchgoers (22%). One in 5 (20%) say their church stopped in-person services months ago and have not resumed, while 2% say they stopped for the first time recently and have not resumed.

Most churchgoers experienced some type of back-and-forth with the availability of in-person services. For 3 in 10 (31%), in-person services stopped at their church for a short period of time and have since resumed. Another 22% say in-person services were halted for much of the year but have resumed. Around 1 in 6 (17%) say in-person services at their church have stopped and started more than once.

Few, only 1 in 20 churchgoers (5%), say their congregation continued to gather in person throughout the pandemic.

The experiences of churchgoers have varied greatly, because their churches have responded differently to the impact of the pandemic on their church and local community, said McConnell. A large minority of churchgoers attend a church that did not offer in-person services for much of 2020. As January illustrates, just because a church offered in-person services does not mean every churchgoer was willing to participate in that way with the coronavirus still actively circulating.

African American churchgoers are most likely to say their church stopped in-person services many months ago and have not resumed (40%). That matches the responses of African American pastors during the pandemic, who have been among the most likely to say their churches were not gathering in person and have been suffering during COVID-19.

In a previous Lifeway Research study, they were the most likely to say the economy is negatively impacting their church and giving has decreased. In a September study, African American pastors were also the most likely to say they had to cut staff pay or benefits (21%) and delete a staff position (18%).

COVID-19 Creativity

Image: Lifeway Research

As regulations and guidelines caused many churches to cancel traditional gatherings, many got creative with the types of services they offered during the pandemic.

More than 4 in 5 churchgoers (85%) say their church offered livestreaming of their worship service. Of those who say their church livestreamed services, 83% participated in it. Only 12% of churchgoers say their church didnt offer livestreaming worship services.

Most of those who say their church offered livestreaming say they placed the video on the church website (55%). Half (51%) said the church used Facebook Live. Around a third (34%) said it was on YouTube. More than 1 in 5 (22%) say it was on a video conferencing tool like Zoom.

Around 3 in 4 churchgoers (76%) say their church posted videos of worship services that could be watched at any time. Among those who say their church provided this, 80% watched a worship service in this way. Around 1 in 7 (15%) say their church did not offer that.

Half of churchgoers (52%) say their church offered online Bible studies for adults. Most of those who say their church offered it (59%) participated in them. Three in 10 (29%) say their church didnt offer them. Adult churchgoers under 50 are more likely to say their church offered online Bible studies and they participated in them than churchgoers 50 and older.

Two in 5 churchgoers (39%) say their church had outdoor worship services. Most of those who say their church offered it (58%) participated in it. More than half of all churchgoers (54%) say their church didnt offer worship services outside during the pandemic.

Three in 10 (30%) say their church had drive-in worship services where attendees remain in the cars. More than half of churchgoers whose church offered drive-in services (56%) participated. More than 3 in 5 (62%) say their church did not offer those types of services. Younger churchgoers, those aged 18 to 29, are more likely to say their church offered drive-in services and they participated in them than churchgoers over 50.

Much like the old childrens song, churches have been inside, outside, upside, and downside during this pandemic, said McConnell. It would be a stretch to say churchgoers have been happy all the time, but amid the variety of approaches and technology used, a majority of churchgoers participated at some point in what their church offered.

Most churchgoers say they participated in some alternative worship services specifically in January 2021. More than half (53%) say they participated in an online worship service at their church. A quarter (25%) took part in a worship service on TV. Fewer say they were part of an online worship service at another church (16%) or listened to a worship service on the radio (9%).
Police delays in disclosing sensitive evidence files linked to the murder of former IRA man Kevin McGuigan have forced the postponement of his inquest.

Coroner Paddy McGurgan expressed frustration at the PSNIs handling of the disclosure process but said he had little choice other than to vacate the scheduled hearing date in May.

Mr McGurgan said pressure on court timetables and his own diary meant the harsh reality was the probe was now unlikely to be heard this year.

Mr McGuigan, a father-of-nine, was shot in the Short Strand in Belfast in August 2015. His murder prompted a political crisis at Stormont amid claims IRA members were involved in the killing.

Expand Close The Short Strand area in Belfast where Kevin McGuigan was shot dead in August 2015 (Brian Lawless/PA) PA / Facebook

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The shooting followed the murder of ex-IRA commander Jock Davison in the Markets area of the city three months earlier.

Mr Davison and Mr McGuigan had been involved in a personal dispute. Police believe Mr McGuigans killers suspected him of involvement in Mr Davisons death.

A preliminary inquest hearing on Friday was told that a police report to the coroner had made clear that detectives had not considered Mr McGuigan a suspect in Mr Davisons murder, though the report added that others did.

The court also heard that Mr McGurgan has asked for a copy of a letter containing Mr McGuigans address that was found in the home of a suspect in his murder.

The full inquest had been listed to start on May 10.

Fridays review hearing was told that the PSNI had now asked for a postponement.

Peter Coll QC, acting for the PSNI, said the scale of the task to process and security check the sensitive case files was larger than had been first envisaged.

He said officers were therefore unable to complete the work ahead of a scheduled pre-inquest hearing at the start of May when the coroner was to consider what material would need to be redacted.

It is with regret that police instructions to me are that in effect that is simply not feasible given the size of the task that they face, he said.

Expand Close Former PSNI chief constable Sir George Hamilton said some IRA members were involved in Mr McGuigans murder (Liam McBurney/PA) PA / Facebook

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Whatsapp Former PSNI chief constable Sir George Hamilton said some IRA members were involved in Mr McGuigans murder (Liam McBurney/PA)

Mr Coll said the PSNI would work over the Easter period to establish a likely, realistic and feasible timescale for the completion of the disclosure process.

Laura McMahon, acting for the McGuigan family, said she had been repeatedly expressing concern over the time disclosure was taking.

Obviously the next of kin are extremely concerned by this information, she said.

Ms McMahon told the coroner the family was now facing the uncertainty of an unknown timeline for the holding of the inquest.

I just want to express their frustration at what has happened and their concern and we would ask you sir to give some intense scrutiny to what is being said by the PSNI and what exactly it is they rely on to come to you at this late stage to move dates that so far have been agreeable to all parties, she added.

Mr McGurgan said adjourning proceedings was preferable to pushing ahead with the May start date without all the relevant material being available to the court.

Im not sure Ive actually got any choice in relation to the matter, he said.

The inquest while needing to be dealt with expeditiously also has to be done correctly.

The coroner said he found the adjournment request troubling.

The more I actually give in terms of allowing for purposeful delays it just never seems to be quite sufficient, he said.

My good will should not be misread in any way, shape or form by properly interested persons, particularly the Crown Solicitors Office.

I am not enamoured by these requests that are coming to me for adjournments at a very late stage.

Agreeing to vacate the inquest dates, Mr McGurgan set a review hearing for May 6.

Mr McGuigans death led then PSNI chief constable Sir George Hamilton to state that the Provisional IRA still existed and some of its members were involved in the murder.

He said there was no evidence the killing was sanctioned by the organisation.

The killing led to a period of instability at Stormont with DUP ministers engaging in a series of rolling resignations in protest at the IRAs alleged involvement in the shooting.
The Ages Nick McKenzie has won the 2020 Graham Perkin Australian Journalist of the year award, the countrys most prestigious individual award in journalism, in a bumper night for the masthead.

The Age won 10 Melbourne Press Club Quill Awards on Friday night, after receiving 34 nominations. It is the second time McKenzie has claimed the top award, after taking home the prize in 2017 with his Age colleague Richard Baker.

Nick McKenzie. Credit:Nine

The judges said McKenzies work with The Age and Channel Nines 60 Minutes shone a powerful light on war crimes, Crown casino and corruption in the ALP and he continues to make a difference, not just by prompting official actions ... but by encouraging other media to investigate issues.

His is quality journalism critical to our democracy.
Seventy-one percent of Ukrainians consider Russia to be an aggressor in relation to Ukraine.

According to Ukrinform, this is evidenced by the results of the poll conducted by the Rating sociological group.

Meanwhile, 22% of Ukrainians hold the opposite opinion. "Most of these people live in eastern regions and vote for the parties of Shariy and Murayev, as well as the Opposition Platform - for Life," sociologists said.

Also, 68% of respondents believe that Ukraine should use all opportunities to return Crimea to Ukraine, while 21% are ready to accept the transition of the peninsula under Russian control.

At the same time, sociologists stated that the number of supporters of Crimeas return to Ukraine had been gradually increasing since 2014.

In addition, according to the poll results, 45% of respondents support the initiative to resume water supply to the temporarily occupied Crimea, 48% - do not support it.

The poll was conducted on March 23-24 among 2,500 respondents aged 18 and over in all regions of Ukraine, except for the temporarily occupied territories of Crimea and Donbas, via Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing.

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In Lucknow, the capital of Indias most-populous state Uttar Pradesh, crowds gathered at three major centers to receive Covid-19 jab, after the city launched a campaign Tuesday that aims to vaccinate over 10,500 people a day. The campaign is part of the state governments drive to vaccinate at least 10 million people this month

Jun 03, 2021 05:20 PM
Leslie Bienen and Kim McGair are correct that 3 feet between students, not 6, is needed to get more students into the classroom (Opinion: States school reopening guidance still keeps too many students at home, March 17). As they pointed out, studies have shown no significant difference in COVID-19 case rates in schools that mandated 3 feet and those that mandated 6 feet. What they dont mention is the elephant in the room: the teachers union. Although schools have safely reopened all across the country, Dr. Anthony Fauci and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have said schools should be open, and pediatricians and epidemiologists have seen disturbing numbers of children with mental health issues, the teachers union in Portland has fought reopening every step of the way.

Portland teachers and the teachers union have long enjoyed strong support from the community. The unions actions over the past year have alienated parents like me, liberal progressive types who have generally supported unions. The school board caved to the union, and the 6-feet rule is now stuck in the contract, even when the CDC is expected to change the guidance to three feet. Middle schoolers will receive a pitiful five hours a week in the classroom. What kind of public education is this?

Instead of presenting the science to its members, union leadership has used hyperbolic language to keep kids at home. The teachers union is failing the students.

Lailah Hamblin, Portland
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The movie "Pretty Woman" came out 31 years ago this week. The films subtitle describes the plot: She walked off the street, into his life, and stole his heart.

People magazine reports some facts you may not have known about the popular film: Burt Reynolds was initially offered the lead role that Richard Gere made famous; the directors son plays a drug-dealing skateboarder in the movie; and the film was originally titled "3000"  the price of one night with Vivian, the prostitute played by Julia Roberts.

Here are some facts the article leaves out: the homicide rate among active female prostitutes is 17 times higher than that of the age-matched general female population; the average prostitute is physically attacked once a month; one study found that 89% of women in prostitution want to escape but are trapped.

An article I hope youll read

The glorification of prostitutes in popular media is just one example of our broken sexual ethic. Yesterday, we discussed our cultures clear rejection of biblical morality with regard to sex outside of marriage. I stated my intention to look today at the practical consequences of the sexual revolution: broken lives, broken homes, and broken souls.

We will do so with the help of the finest article on the subject I have found, one I encourage you to read today.

Steven R. Tracy, Ph.D., is professor of theology and ethics at Phoenix Seminary, where he has taught since 1995. He has also served as a church pastor for 15 years and is the author of seven books and numerous journal articles.

His article on premarital sexual abstinence and the Bible shows clearly that God intends us to abstain from all sexual relations outside of marriage. He counters the argument that the New Testament does not actually condemn non-married adults having consensual sex and the claim that the biblical authors wrote from a pre-modern perspective which need not be accepted wholesale by Christians today.

As he demonstrates, The overwhelming consensus of historical Christian teaching, as well as modern evangelical biblical scholarship, is that sexual relations are only appropriate in marriage.

Five consequences of disobeying Gods word

Tracys article is especially helpful with regard to the consequences of disobeying the biblical ethic regarding premarital sexual relationships. Consider five examples.

One: In terms of marital satisfaction, one of the most widespread modern myths is that couples need to live together before they get married to see if they are sexually and relationally compatible and thus to enhance future marital health and satisfaction. In reality, research shows that couples that live together before marriage have higher infidelity rates, lower marital satisfaction rates, and higher divorce rates than those who dont live together before marriage.

For instance, a study of 1,425 couples found that those who cohabited before marriage reported poorer marital quality and greater marital instability. A study of over 4,000 Swedish women reported that women who cohabit before marriage have an 80% higher marital failure rate than those who did not cohabit with their future spouse.

Tracy adds: This dynamic of cohabitation having a negative impact on subsequent marriage has been replicated in so many different studies that some social scientists have labeled it the cohabitation effect.'

Two: Cohabiting couples are much more likely to physically abuse each other than are non-cohabiting dating couples or married couples. A Department of Justice report notes that unmarried women are almost five times more likely to experience violence at the hands of their sexual partner than are married women.

Three: Cohabitors have been found to be almost twice as likely to be unfaithful to their partner as those who were married.

Four: Sexual abstinence before marriage is the only 100% effective method of birth control, guaranteeing that women will not have to deal with an unplanned pregnancy. Since many researchers consider out-of-wedlock births to be the single most significant factor influencing long-term poverty in America, this is a very significant issue.

Five: Sexually transmitted diseases in the U.S. are among the highest in the industrialized world. In addition to their health consequences, they create a great economic burden, with direct medical costs in the U.S. of $15.5 billion.

Grace is 'supernatural empowerment not to sin'

The consequences of breaking Gods Word are all around us today, from the public health crisis that is our pornography epidemic, to the threat of rising sexually transmitted infections as the coronavirus pandemic lessens, to the explosion of child pornography on the internet.

Once again, Gods word is right. As I have noted in the past, human nature does not change, which means that we still face the same issues our ancestors faced in biblical times. Divine nature does not change, which means that Gods answers to our issues are the same today as when he first revealed them.

Today and every day, His word is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart (Hebrews 4:12).

If you are struggling with sexual temptation or sin, I urge you to act now. Speak with your pastor or another trusted counselor. Develop an accountability relationship with someone who will help you think and live biblically. Take all necessary steps with regard to software and technology protections for you and your family.

If this is not a besetting sin for you, identify those that are. Take them to the cross, claiming Jesus atoning sacrifice as payment for your debt. Ask for his forgiveness and cleansing grace (1 John 1:9). And claim his strength in partnership with others to be holy in all your conduct (1 Peter 1:15).

Randy Alcorn is right: Grace doesnt make people less holy  it makes them more holy. Grace doesnt make people despise or neglect truth  it makes them love and follow truth. Grace isnt a free pass to sin  its a supernatural empowerment not to sin. ... Grace raises the bar  but it also enables us to joyfully jump over that bar.

What bar do you need to joyfully jump over today?

Originally published at the Denison Forum
- Athina Healthcare in a joint venture with Liberty International Tourism Group is launching its Global Medical Tourism Services

NEW DELHI, March 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Athina Global Health (www.athinaglobalhealth.com) in partnership with Liberty International Tourism Group is launching its Global Medical Value Travel services. Under the leadership of Mr. Hanish Bansal, Athina Global Health is now opening its doors to an international populace to provide them with the best preventive and health conducive treatment clubbed with an exploration of the destination country under their domain.

With a vast network of Tertiary Care Hospital and Super Specialty Hospitals, Athina Global Health work speaks for itself. Accessible and immaculate healthcare for everyone being their raison d'etre; Athina healthcare is in a relentless pursuit to provide world-class healthcare to an entirety of the population.

Liberty International Tourism Group is a Global Destination Management Company with a global footprint in 90+ countries. With 30 years of experience under its belt, Liberty International strives to provide ideal travel solutions and impeccable service to its clientele in its destinations.

The joint venture between Athina Global Health and Liberty International was conceived and executed by a healthcare industry veteran, Mr. Hanish Bansal, having worked for more than 20 years in managing a chain of specialty hospitals, and Hospitality veteran, Mr. Prashant Yadav.

The venture is a part of Mr. Bansal's apex goal to provide seamless, and coherent medical treatment along with impeccable tourism and exploration options available for everyone.

"I aspire to bring seamless operation, better patient experience, and world-class healthcare with technology, know-how, and empathy. I aim to bring world-class healthcare closer to people irrespective of where they are through our medical tourism services," Mr. Bansal answered when asked about the new services.

Athina's medical value travel will include end-to-end medical and travel services with fixed-cost packages ranging from economy to deluxe category. Utmost priority will be given to the traveler with all of their hospitals guaranteeing a COVID-free environment.

Spearheaded by Mr. Hanish Bansal, the joint venture between Athina and Liberty International will include partnering with leading surgeons and hospitals in India, Turkey, Malaysia, Korea and Singapore to provide a seamless medical-travel experience to an international clientele.
Earlier in the pandemic, Ellen Lee offered to bring her parents groceries, to protect them from catching the coronavirus while shopping. They refused. Now when she asks, its because shes worried they might get assaulted when theyre out running errands.

They want to be independent, said Ms. Lee, 44, a Chinese-American journalist and mother of three. The way they see it, they are the parent, and their job is to take care of me.

Her parents, who are in their mid-70s, told her theyre taking precautions, going to satellite Chinatowns in San Francisco rather than the main one, and popping in and out to fetch delicacies such as egg tarts and roast duck. Theyll turn it around on me, and say, Youre the one who should be scared, she said, after they pointed out that her neighborhood might be unsafe because an elderly Chinese-American man was robbed and killed a few miles away from her Oakland hills home.

In the wake of recent shootings in Atlanta by a white gunman that left eight dead  six of them of Korean or Chinese descent  and surging attacks against Asian-Americans across the country, families have grappled with how to talk to their elders about protecting themselves.
Despite an unpredictable year, state college students can take comfort in knowing one thing will stay the same: their tuition.

Tuition and most mandatory fees will remain flat at all Connecticut State Colleges and Universities next school year, the Board of Regents for Higher Education voted on Thursday. Schools impacted include CSCUs 12 community colleges, four state universities and Charter Oak State College.

The COVID-19 pandemic has hit Connecticut students particularly hard, Interim President Jane Gates said in a statement. The Board of Regents, recognizing that we cannot ask our students and their families to shoulder a greater share of the burden during these difficult times, made the wise but difficult decision to freeze tuition and most fees for the upcoming academic year.

The plan also reduces fees charged for online instruction at the schools, drops students UPASS fee for unlimited public transit and reduces meal plan costs at Central Connecticut State University.

The institutions within the Connecticut State College and University system are the most affordable, accessible options to get a great education  and we intend to keep it that way, said Gates.

The chair of the board, Matt Fleury, warned that CSCU continues to face fiscal headwinds that could result in future tuition increases.

CSCU plans to merge its 12 community colleges into a more financially sustainable system with streamlined operations and shared administrative costs. At a Board of Regents meeting Thursday, system officials said half of the schools have negative reserves, and 31 percent have seen a decrease in full-time enrollment since 2014.

If the merger is blocked or reversed, Fleury said the savings it has and can achieve would be lost.

Fleury added that several other unknowns could impact tuition after the 2021-22 school year, including state funding, ongoing labor contract negotiations and effects of the pandemic so far unseen.

Our strong position against a tuition increase depends on these things, said Fleury.
The surging third wave of Covid-19 is slowly shutting down both public and private institutions, as the virus holds sway amid soaring deaths and infections.

From national government departments to public sector corporations, county governments to their assemblies, key services are grinding to halt as workers are quietly being sent home.

From Monday next week, the national government and counties will start scaling down their operations as they battle to stop the virus that had killed 2,066 people by yesterday.

The Ministry of Labour and the Public Service Commission (PSC) have already directed public servants to begin rotational work shifts to maintain social distance in the offices. The skeleton staff will only offer critical services, indicating that the public may not be fully served.

In the internal memo signed by PSC chief executive officer Simon Rotich and dated March 21, the commission will start operating at 50 percent capacity beginning Monday.

Scaling down activities

The staff will work on a one-to-two-week shifts in which they will alternate between the workplace and home to reduce crowding and unnecessary human contact.

Last week, the Labour ministry also ordered its staff to scale down field activities as the vulnerable, including those aged above 58 years, work from home.

"... duty rosters (should be) developed to reduce congestion in offices. Government offices should remain open both at headquarters and field offices," a March 18 circular by Labour Principal Secretary Nelson Marwa reads in part.

Private companies in Nairobi, including manufacturers and media houses, have also started scaling down their operations, with some staff ordered to work remotely.

In Nandi, multi-national tea companies have enforced strict regulations including introduction of tea plucking machines and working in shifts to avoid crowding.

These new measures are likely to hit businesses hard as the public braces for lack of some non-essential services in the public sector.

Banned public gatherings

In September, the Kenya Private Sector Alliance released a report showing that 13 percent of businesses that shut during the first and second waves of the pandemic are yet to reopen, as many struggle to recover.

Nyeri County has scaled down operations at its headquarters amid fears of full-blown Covid-19 crisis. The county government has banned public gatherings, meetings, and trainings for 30 days. Also, all food handlers are to be re-tested and will only continue working after being certified Covid-19 free.

Some 1, 364 out of 5,377 tested cases have turned positive since the first case was reported in the county. In Mandera, the county last week temporarily closed the Treasury department for fumigation after a member of staff tested positive for the virus.

County Finance and Planning CEC Ibrahim Barrow Hassan, who succumbed to Covid-19, was working at the same office block and had been engaging ward representatives over a supplementary budget.

Nakuru, Nyandarua, Samburu, Narok and Laikipia counties have also cut down operations.

In Homa Bay, services will be scaled down from next week. Residents seeking services from both county and national government offices have been advised to lodge service requests and file documents online.

Asked to stay away

In Vihiga County, aged workers and vulnerable groups have been asked to stay away.

In Bomet, teachers have been directed to seek services at the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) online or by telephone.

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The resurgence of the virus has sparked panic in Elgeyo Marakwet, with the county government shutting down offices.

"Residents are asked to use alternative channels of communication to seek services within the county offices," said Mr Paul Chemmuttut, the county secretary and head of county public service.

In Uasin Gishu, County Secretary Edwin Bett said they were only offering essential services such as ambulances and revenue collection.

"We are encouraging use of alternative means of communication as opposed to physical interaction such as phone calls instead of visiting the offices or mobile transactions for general services," said Mr Bett.

Reporting by Antony Kitimo, Steve Njuguna, Eric Matara, Alex Njeru, Irene Mugo, Mercy Mwende and Manase Otsialo, Benson Amadala, George Odiwuor, Derick Luvega, Vitalis Kimutai, Barnabas Bii, Evans Kipkura, Stanly Kimuge, Flora Koech, Brian Ojamaa, Gerald Bwisa, Sammy Lutta, Oscar Kakai and Tom Matoke
Los Angeles, March 26 : Hollywood star Scarlett Johansson has admitted she was wrong in hitting back at critics of some of her past opinions, such has her defence of the role she essayed in"Ghost In A Shell".

"Everyone has a hard time admitting when they're wrong about stuff, and for all of that to come out publicly, it can be embarrassing. To have the experience of 'Wow, I was really off mark there', or, 'I wasn't looking at the big picture', or 'I was inconsiderate.' I'm also a person," she told The Gentlewoman magazine, as reported by aceshowbiz.com.

"I'm going to have opinions about things, because that's just who I am. I can be re-active. I can be impatient. That doesn't mix that great with self-awareness," she added.

Johansson had also faced flak for working in two films by filmmaker Woody Allen, who has been accused of sexual abuse by his ex wife Mia Farrow and their daughter Dylan Farrow. Johansson admits learning not to comment about her past roles, films or casting controversies.

"The idea that you're obligated to (speak out) because you're in the public eye is unfair. You didn't choose to be a politician. You're an actor. Your job is to reflect our experience to ourselves. Your job is to be a mirror for an audience, to be able to have an empathetic experience through art. That is what your job is. The other stuff is not my job," she said.
Thanking India's aid in Bangladesh's Liberation War in 1971, Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina on Friday, said that it was an honour that PM Modi was present in person for the 50th National Day celebrations in Dhaka. Expressing gratitude for India conferring Gandhi peace prize 2020 to the Sheikh Mujibur Rehman, she remembered her late father's incarceration during her nation's Independence struggle. Today marks the 50th anniversary of the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War, which resulted in the formation of Bangladesh from Pakistan.

PM Sheikh Hasina thanks India

"When Pakistani started attacking people of Bangladesh then Bangabandhu Sheikh declared Independence. He was then taken to jail. We always remember the contribution of India in the war and I am honoured to have PM Modi here in Bangladesh," said Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina.

She added," I thank the govt of India and Modi in particular for awarding Gandhi peace to Sheikh Mujibur Rehman. I extend gratitude to PM Modi and the people of India for being helpful during the pandemic. The two countries have decided to share several diplomatic programs."

Highlighting the strong Indo-Bangladesh ties, she said that all political parties of India are always united on Bangladesh. Terming India Bangladesh's best development partners, she added that 'self-cooperation and contribution by the people of India can never be forgotten'. Prior to Sheikh Hasina's speech, PM Modi had recounted how he had been arrested in India while staging a satyagraha in solidarity with Bangladesh's liberation and slammed the Pakistan Army's war crimes in 1971.

Lauding Indo-Bangla ties, she said, " All political parties of India are always united in one issue and that is being with the people of Bangladesh. We share Historical, cultural, geographical ties. India has sheltered 1 cr Bangladeshis, who fled from Bangladesh because of the atrocities of Pakistan. By the joint operation of both countries, victory was achieved. A notable number of Indian soldiers sacrificed their lives. Self cooperation and contribution by the people of India can never be forgotten."

She added, "Our relation with India escalated with new heights. India has become one of our best development partners. If we move forward hand in hand, development in inevitable."

In our independence war, we always remember the contribution of India. PM Narendra Modi has graced this occasion, being physically present here as a Guest of Honour. We are honoured to have him here: Bangladesh's PM Sheikh Hasina pic.twitter.com/RyyaO92CpN  ANI (@ANI) March 26, 2021

PM Modi's 2-day Bangladesh tour

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is on a two-day visit to Bangladesh to be a part of the neighbouring country's 50th Independence Day, making it the first foreign visit by PM Modi after the outbreak of the Coronavirus / COVID-19 pandemic. PM Modi recieved the invitation to be a part of its 50th Independence Day celebrations and to commemorate the birth centenary of the Father of the Nation of Bangladesh Sheikh Mujibur Rahman from his counterpart Sheikh Hasina, where heads of state from Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and the Maldives will also be present at the celebration. Incidentally, Bengal goes to polls on Saturday, amid PM Modi's Bangladesh visit.

Alongside participating in the centenary celebrations, PM Modi is also set to hold bilateral consultations with his Bangladesh counterpart where mutiple Memorandum of Understandings (MoU) are expected to be signed. He will also visit Jeshoreshwari Kali Temple in Ishwaripur area of Shyamnagar and Matua community's Shri Harichand temple at Orakandi Thakurbari on Saturday. Modi is set to spend time with the family of Harichand Thakur, founder of the Matua community in 1812 - this move gains significance as the Matua community is a sizeable community in Bengal, which is up for polls.
Rep. Kim Ju-young, third from left, of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, holds a press conference at the National Assembly in Seoul, Thursday, to propose a resolution calling for the abolition of racial discrimination and violence against Asian Americans, while calling on U.S. authorities to guarantee the safety of Asian Americans, including Korean Americans. A total of 80 lawmakers, including Kim, have joined the proposal for the resolution. Courtesy of the Office of Rep. Kim Ju-young



By Jung Da-min



Concerns are growing over anti-Asian American violence in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic. Racism against Asian Americans has been growing after the Chinese city of Wuhan was said to be the origin of the virus, with the global crisis coinciding with geopolitical tension between the U.S. and China.



The shootings in Atlanta, March 16, which killed eight people, are widely seen as constituting a hate crime against the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community. Six of the victims of the tragic incident were identified as Asian and at least four of those killed were of Korean descent.



The incident fueled fear and anger against anti-Asian American violence. Asian American communities in the U.S., along with Asians abroad, have started to raise their voices against such violence.



Korean lawmakers are joining these voices by issuing a resolution calling for the abolition of racial discrimination and violence against Asian Americans, while pressing U.S. authorities to guarantee the safety of Asian Americans, including Korean Americans.



Rep. Kim Ju-young of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, together with 79 other lawmakers, proposed the resolution to the National Assembly during a press conference at the Assembly on Thursday.



"According to a report by Stop AAPI Hate, a website of U.S. human rights groups for reporting hate crimes against Asian Americans, at least 3,795 hate incidents have been reported since March 2020. Racial hate and hate crimes have been on the rise with the outbreak and global spread of COVID-19," read a statement from Rep. Kim's office.



"Racial hate must stop. Now we have to make a difference. In this regard, we urge the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea to pay attention to the cry of 'STOP ASIAN HATE,' which has been raised around the world. The Assembly must pass this resolution to ensure human dignity, as a universal value of mankind, for all people, and to prohibit discrimination based on racial hate."



Asian civic communities have also raised their voices against anti-Asian racism.



The Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA), an international group of Asian American journalists, especially noted that the Atlanta shooting incident, "is inextricably linked to harassment and sexualized violence against Asian women." They cite the Stop AAPI Hate report of nearly 3,800 hate incidents compiled since March 2020, which said that women of Asian descent have reported 2.3 times more incidents of violence than AAPI men.



In its recently published reporting guidance on the Atlanta shooting case, the AAJA has called on newsrooms around the world to cover related cases in order to promote understanding of anti-Asian racism and invisibility.





Screenshot from the website of the Asian American Journalists Association
Georgia State Rep. Park Cannon (D-Atlanta) is placed into the back of a Georgia State Capitol patrol car after being arrested by Georgia State Troopers at the Georgia State Capitol Building in Atlanta, Ga., on March 25, 2021. (Alyssa Pointer/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)

Georgia Lawmaker Arrested at State Capitol Shortly After State Election Reform Bill Signed Into Law

A Georgia lawmaker, state Rep. Park Cannon (D-Atlanta), was arrested on Thursday and charged with felony obstruction of law enforcement and with disrupting General Assembly sessions or other meetings of members.

The incident occurred while Gov. Brian Kemp was holding a press conference after he signed into law a sweeping state election reform bill. As Kemp delivered his remarks he was interrupted by a commotion before a livestream of the event cut out.

Video widely circulated online captured by a bystander shows Cannon trying to knock on the door of Kemps office multiple times before she is handcuffed and forcibly removed from the area by Georgia State Patrol officers.

State Rep. Park Cannon (D-Atlanta) is placed in handcuffs by Georgia State Troopers after being asked to stop knocking on a door that leads to Gov. Brian Kemps office at the Georgia State Capitol Building in Atlanta, Ga., on March 25, 2021. (Alyssa Pointer/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)

Georgia State Patrol spokesperson, Lt. W. Mark Riley issued an emailed statement to media outlets detailing the circumstances surrounding the arrest. The statement was shared in full on Twitter by journalist Hayley Mason.

According to the statement, Cannon was beating on the door to the Governors Office and was told that no one was in the front office and to stop beating on the door.

Cannon then moved and went to the Governors Ceremonial Office door, the spokesperson said in the statement, noting that the door was marked off with stanchions and a Governors Staff Only sign. Despite that, the Democrat state representative went inside the stanchions and began knocking on the door.

Officers at the door then told Cannon to stop knocking on the door, telling her that Kemp was holding a press conference inside. But she continued to knock on the door, after which she was advised that her actions were disturbing the events inside Kemps room, and if she did not stop, she would be arrested.

Cannon retreated for a little bit before walking toward the door and knocking on it again, after which an officer at the door told her to stop for the third time, and said she would be arrested if she continued.

State Rep. Park Cannon (D-Atlanta) is placed in handcuffs by Georgia State Troopers after being asked to stop knocking on a door that lead to Gov. Brian Kemps office at the Georgia State Capitol Building in Atlanta, Ga., on March 25, 2021. (Alyssa Pointer/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)

The statement continued, saying Rep. Cannon refused to stop knocking on the door, after which she was arrested and sent to the Fulton County Jail.

An affidavit for arrest citing Officer E. Dorval said that Cannon did knowingly and willfully hinder [officers of the Georgia Capitol Police Department]  by Use of Threats Or Violence to the person of said officer by stomping on LT Langford foot three times during the apprehension and as she was being escorted out of the property. The accused continued on kicking LT Langford with her heels.

The other affidavit for arrest, also citing Dorval, said that Cannon knowingly and intentionally committed the offense of Preventing Or Disrupting General Assembly Sessions or Other Meetings of Members by knocking the governors door during session of signing a bill.

The affidavits for arrest were shared by a reporter from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Both charges are felony charges. The obstruction of law enforcement charge is punishable by 1 to 5 years in prison.

Cannons attorney, Gerald Griggs, announced on Twitter in the late hours of Thursday that she was released from custody, and he intends to vigorously defend Cannon against the charges. All requests for comment should be forwarded to her attorney, he added.

Griggs is associated with the Atlanta chapter of the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People). He told reporters outside the jail upon her release late Thursday that Cannon sustained bruises during her arrest. He called the arrest an overreach of law enforcement.

Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) at Capitol Hill in Washington, on March 10, 2021. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), who was with Griggs outside the jail, told reporters that Cannon did not deserve this.

What we have witnessed today is a very desperate attempt to lockout and squeeze the people out of their own democracy, he said of Cannons arrest, later adding, I want to know what makes her actions so dangerous.

Warnock noted that Cannon is a parishioner at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, where Warnock was a senior pastor.

The new state election law Kemp signed, S.B. 202, has multiple provisions designed to ensure secure, fair, and accessible elections, according to Republicans and Kemp. However, opponents of the new law, which include Democrats and some advocacy groups, accuse the measure as one that would disproportionately disenfranchise voters of color.

Among the numerous measures in the new law are voter ID requirements for absentee mail-in ballots, measures to ensure dropbox security, a mechanism for the State Election Board to address local counties election problems, and mandatory early voting dates.

Melanie Sun and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Volkswagen has revealed when you can hit the road in its electric Microbus. The 2024 ID.Buzz will be available in the US in 2023, the year after the vehicle first goes on sale in Europe, VW told Car and Driver.

The automaker will offer more versions of the EV in Europe than in North America, namely passenger and commercial variants with short and long wheelbase options. US buyers can only pick up the ID.Buzz in a long-wheelbase passenger format. Eventually, there will be a fully autonomous version of the commercial ID.Buzz in Europe. It'll be the VW Group's first fully autonomous vehicle. However, that variant most likely won't be coming to the US either.

The entry-level ID.Buzz will probably be a rear-wheel-drive model with approximately 200 horsepower, according to Car and Driver. At the higher end, VW will offer an all-wheel-drive version with up to 300hp.

At least in Europe, VW is sticking to its original timeline for the ID.Buzz. It said in 2017 that it had a target release window of 2022. It won't be keeping to that schedule in the US, unfortunately, but at least the company has given some clarity on when it'll arrive.
Theres nothing quite like the peculiar, bone-jarring reaction of a damaged tooth exposed to something cold: a bite of ice cream, or a cold drink, and suddenly, that sharp, searing feeling, like a needle piercing a nerve.

Researchers have known for years that this phenomenon results from damage to the tooths protective outer layer. But just how the message goes from the outside of your tooth to the nerves within it has been difficult to uncover. On Friday, biologists reported in the journal Science Advances that they have identified an unexpected player in this painful sensation: a protein embedded in the surface of cells inside the teeth. The discovery provides a glimpse of the connection between the outer world and the interior of a tooth, and could one day help guide the development of treatments for tooth pain.

More than a decade ago, Dr. Katharina Zimmerman, now a professor at Friedrich-Alexander University in Germany but then completing postdoctoral research in the lab of David Clapham at Harvard Medical School, discovered that cells producing a protein called TRPC5 were sensitive to cold. When things got chilly, TRPC5 popped open to form a channel, allowing ions to flow across the cells membrane.

Ion channels like TRPC5 are sprinkled throughout our bodies, Dr. Zimmerman said, and they are behind some surprisingly familiar sensations. For instance, if your eyes start to feel cold and dry in chilly air, its a result of an ion channel being activated in the cornea. She wondered which other parts of the body might make use of a cold receptor such as TRPC5. And it occurred to her that the most sensitive tissue in the human body can be teeth when it comes to cold sensations.
PITTSBURGH, March 26, 2021 - As evidence mounts supporting the use of monoclonal antibody treatment to reduce hospitalizations and deaths from COVID-19, UPMC and University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine physician-scientists are sharing the health system's experience administering the life-saving medication.

In a report published today in the scientific journal Open Forum Infectious Diseases, the UPMC/Pitt team shares how it quickly established the largest and most equitable distribution network for COVID-19 monoclonal antibody infusions across Pennsylvania. The team today also reported preliminary results confirming the treatment reduced likelihood of hospitalization and death in UPMC patients who received it.

"When administered soon after infection, this treatment can help certain people fight the virus and keep them from progressing to serious illness and death," said Ryan Bariola, M.D., associate professor in Pitt's Division of Infectious Diseases and director of the UPMC Community Hospital Antimicrobial Stewardship Efforts (CHASE) Program. "But administering these infusions comes with logistical challenges, so many health care providers opt not to offer the treatment. UPMC overcame these challenges, and we're dedicated to sharing what we learned with other medical centers, clinicians and the public."

Monoclonal--"mono" means "one" and "clonal" means "copy"--antibodies are a type of medication that seeks the COVID-19 virus in a person's body and blocks it from infecting their cells and replicating. Since late 2020, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration has granted Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) to three monoclonal antibody treatments--one from Regeneron and two from Eli Lilly--which are given through a one-time IV infusion. This is the same type of emergency authorization given to the COVID-19 vaccines being administered in the U.S.

This therapy is most helpful when given early, especially within 10 days of infection in people at highest risk of complications from COVID-19.

The U.S. supply of monoclonal antibodies is taxpayer-funded and given without charge to the institutions that administer it. Preparing for high patient demand, UPMC created a weighted lottery to ensure fair allocation of its supply. However, demand was never high enough to trigger use of the lottery.

"This lower use surprised us, and we're still debating why demand was less than expected," said co-author Donald M. Yealy, M.D., UPMC chief medical officer and professor and chair of Pitt's Department of Emergency Medicine. "It likely had to do with so few health care providers investing in the infrastructure, staff and processes needed to administer the drug. This created lower awareness among both patients and clinicians about the life-saving benefits of monoclonal antibodies."

Initially, eligibility was limited to patients 65 years or older, or to those with a body mass index of at least 35 because those were the people studies had indicated were most likely to benefit. UPMC has since expanded eligibility to younger people with certain medical conditions that place them at higher risk for complications from COVID-19, including children, in compliance with the EUA.

To date, UPMC has treated more than 1,000 patients with monoclonal antibodies at 16 sites across the communities it serves in Pennsylvania and New York. It also provides home infusion services when needed. UPMC ensures that all proper infection prevention protocols are followed, and specifically prevents COVID-19 patients from mixing with other patients at the infusion centers.

"Monoclonal antibodies are a crucial part of the COVID-19 treatment spectrum, bridging the gap between preventive measures--such as masks, social distancing and vaccination--and the various therapies for hospitalized COVID-19 patients," said senior author Mark Schmidhofer, M.D., professor of medicine at Pitt and medical director of UPMC's Coronary Intensive Care Unit. "It's a potentially life-saving option and can keep people out of the hospital if prevention fails."

###

Patients and providers can find out more about monoclonal antibody treatment at UPMC by visiting upmc.com/AntibodyTreatment or calling 866-804-5251.

Additional authors of this research are Erin McCreary, Pharm.D., Tina Khadem, Pharm.D., Graham Snyder, M.D., M.S., Richard Wadas, M.D., David A. Nace, M.D., M.P.H., and Douglas B. White, M.D., M.A.S., all of Pitt and UPMC.

To read this release online or share it, visit https:/ / www. upmc. com/ media/ news/ 032621-bariola-mab-ofid .

Additional Contact:

Danielle Sampsell

Office: 814-889-2622

Mobile: 412-420-9818

E-mail: SampsellD@upmc.edu

About UPMC

A $23 billion health care provider and insurer, Pittsburgh-based UPMC is inventing new models of patient-centered, cost-effective, accountable care. The largest nongovernmental employer in Pennsylvania, UPMC integrates 92,000 employees, 40 hospitals, 700 doctors' offices and outpatient sites, and a 4 million-member Insurance Services Division, the largest medical insurer in western Pennsylvania. In the most recent fiscal year, UPMC contributed $1.4 billion in benefits to its communities, including more care to the region's most vulnerable citizens than any other health care institution, and paid more than $800 million in federal, state, and local taxes. Working in close collaboration with the University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences, UPMC shares its clinical, managerial, and technological skills worldwide through its innovation and commercialization arm, UPMC Enterprises, and through UPMC International. U.S. News & World Report consistently ranks UPMC Presbyterian Shadyside among the nation's best hospitals in many specialties and ranks UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh on its Honor Roll of America's Best Children's Hospitals. For more information, go to UPMC.com.??? ??????

About the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

As one of the nation's leading academic centers for biomedical research, the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine integrates advanced technology with basic science across a broad range of disciplines in a continuous quest to harness the power of new knowledge and improve the human condition. Driven mainly by the School of Medicine and its affiliates, Pitt has ranked among the top 10 recipients of funding from the National Institutes of Health since 1998. In rankings recently released by the National Science Foundation, Pitt ranked fifth among all American universities in total federal science and engineering research and development support.

Likewise, the School of Medicine is equally committed to advancing the quality and strength of its medical and graduate education programs, for which it is recognized as an innovative leader, and to training highly skilled, compassionate clinicians and creative scientists well-equipped to engage in world-class research. The School of Medicine is the academic partner of UPMC, which has collaborated with the University to raise the standard of medical excellence in Pittsburgh and to position health care as a driving force behind the region's economy. For more information about the School of Medicine, see http://www. medschool. pitt. edu .
MOHAWK - State Police said Friday they arrested a Gloversville man after they discovered the body of a Montgomery County resident missing since early March inside his locked-up home.

Brett Insogna, 32, of Gloversville, was charged with second-degree murder, police said.
Fintech first globally, with proceeds from five pieces of iconic Curve digital art to go to Theatre Support Fund+

One year after theatres in London went dark, Curve, the fintech that brings your cards into one smart card and app, has joined with Theatre Support Fund+, to sell five pieces of unique digital art in an online auction for charity. A series of animated Curve branded figures will go under the virtual hammer as Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) today, with online bids invited from all over the world. The auction will end on Friday 9th of April.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210325005924/en/

One of Curve's NFTs that will be auctioned (Graphic: Business Wire)

All proceeds will go to the Theatre Support Fund+, to support the struggling theatre community in London, which was devastated by the impact of Covid. Nearly 40% of theatre and art workers in the UK's capital have been made redundant since the start of the pandemic a year ago.

The online auction kicks off a day before World Theatre Day, which falls on Saturday this year. World Theatre Day was started by the International Theatre Institute in 1961, exactly sixty years ago, to promote theatre in all forms and make people aware of its value to society.

In a first for a fintech globally, Curve has listed digital images of their iconic in-app characters for the auction on the crypto marketplace Rarible.com. NFTs are cryptocurrency tokens which certify ownership of a unique digital file using blockchain technology. The ownership history, item details, and copyright rules are stored on the decentralised network, providing a guarantee of ownership that is unforgeable.

Anyone from the public is able to view the images online, but must connect their Ethereum wallet to bid for the images online.

Curve's founder and CEO, Shachar Bialick, said: "The theatre community is part of what gives London its vibrancy and diversity, a combination that made Curve choose the UK capital as our HQ. I am proud that Curve is working with Theatre Support Fund+ on one of the first examples of using digital art to make a tangible difference to society. NFTs hold genuine promise to change how we think about art ownership and enjoyment as a purely physical experience."

Damien Stanton and Chris Marcus, Co-founders of Theatre Support Fund+, said: "We are excited to be partnering with Curve in its digital online auction to support out of work artists in the UK's theatre industry. In 10 months, and since the UK's first lockdown, the Theatre Support Fund+ has helped thousands of workers in the industry who have had no, or limited work, since theatres shut over a year ago. This World Theatre Day it is important to look forward to what the future holds, but also to take a moment to look back and note the effect the last year has had on those who call the theatre home. Through partnerships such as this, we will be able to support those artists further, until the industry can be back making theatre again."

To bid on the tokens, visit Rarible.com/curveos

Twitter: @theatre_support, @imaginecurve

Instagram: @TheatreSupportFund, @imaginecurve

For more information go to www.curve.com

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210325005924/en/

Contacts:

For media enquiries

Zarina Banu

Email: press@curve.com
China's Corp plans to make (EVs) using Co Ltd's factory, said three people with direct knowledge of the matter, making it the latest tech firm to join the smart mobility race.

The tech firm's stock price was up more than 9% in afternoon Friday trade after Reuters reported the plan. Great Wall's Hong Kong stock rose more than 15% and its Shanghai shares gained by their maximum 10% daily limit.

Xiaomi, one of the world's biggest smartphone makers, is in talks to use one of Great Wall's plants in China to make EVs under its own brand, said two of the people, who declined to be identified as the information is not public.

will aim its EVs at the mass market, in line with the broader positioning of its electronics products, the two people said.

Great Wall, which has not before offered manufacturing services to other companies, will provide engineering consultancy to speed up the project, said one of the people.

Both plan to announce the partnership as soon as early next week, said another person.

and Great Wall declined to comment.

SMARTER VEHICLES

The plan comes as Xiaomi seeks to diversify its revenue streams from the smartphone business which accounts for the bulk of its income but carries razor-thin profit margins. It flagged on Wednesday rising costs from a global chip shortage and reported quarterly revenue below market estimates.

The move also comes against the backdrop of automakers and tech firms working closer together to develop smarter vehicles with technology such as smart cabins and autonomous driving.

Chinese search engine provider Baidu Inc said in January it plans to make EVs using an auto plant owned by Geely - an automaker with aspirations to offer engineering consultancy and contract manufacturing.

Reuters has also reported Apple Inc and Huawei Technologies Co Ltd's respective auto ambitions.

Xiaomi's founder and chief executive, Lei Jun, believes the firm's expertise in hardware manufacturing will help accelerate the design and production of its EVs, one of the people said.

"Xiaomi wants to find a mature automobile manufacturer to provide model infrastructure, enabling its own advantages in mobile internet technology," said Alan Kang, senior analyst at LMC Automotive.

"Xiaomi's advantages in operating systems and home furnishing also bring a lot of imagination for such cooperation in the future."

Alongside smartphones, Xiaomi makes dozens of internet-connected devices including scooters, air purifiers and rice cookers.

The firm plans to launch its first EV around 2023, one of the people said. It will enable its cars to connect with other devices in its product eco-system, the people said.

Baoding-based Great Wall, China's biggest pickup truck maker, this year launched a standalone brand for electric and smart vehicles. It is also building an EV factory in China with Germany's BMW AG.

The automaker sold 1.11 million vehicles last year helped by the popularity of models such as the P-series pickup truck and Ora EVs. It is currently building its first factory in Thailand.

(Reporting by Julie Zhu and Yilei Sun; Editing by Christopher Cushing)
18:55 | Lima, Mar. 25.

Remarks were made at the launch of the report " Water Governance in Peru " by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)

"The report we received today is a great contribution that will allow us to apply public policies focused on proper water management in Peru," Bermudez pointed out.

According to the Cabinet chief, this document will contribute to promoting the integrated management of water resources in the country, as part of the events taking place to commemorate the nation's Independence Bicentennial.

The event included the participation of Environment Minister Gabriel Quijandria





"We have a supply of excellent quality (water), which we hope will serve to formulate and implement better water management policies," the minister stated.





This report, he added, should lead the country to a planning and decision-making process to generate the changes needed to respond to the challenge of managing such a critical resource as water in Peru.
Mike MillerHitmaker Moneybagg Yo delivers his latest single, "Hard for the Next," featuring Grammy-winning chart-topper, Future.

The Daniel Russell-directed visual for the song was filmed in Miami and offers a glimpse into the romantic love story between Bagg and his girlfriend, Ari Fletcher. Bagg and Ari have been together for almost two years and enjoy showering each other with lavish gifts, attention and appreciation, especially on Instagram.

"They say I started somethin' when I had gave you the Lamb' / And all the [stuff] they can't see 'cause everything ain't for the 'Gram," Bagg raps.

Future delivers his melodic vocals on the chorus of Bagg's "Hard for the Next," and on another new track from Diddy's son' King Combs.

King has been going strong to step out of the shadows of his music mogul father releasing previous tracks like "Cartis" and "Love You Better" with Chris Brown. His new track, "Holdin Me Down," finds the New York rapper opening up about his relationship with his longtime girlfriend, Breah Hicks.

Up next is Rod Wave with his latest album, SoulFly. With the exception of Polo G on "Richer", Rods sophomore offering is mostly a solo effort, detailing more of his "Rag2Riches" story on new tracks like "Don't Forget" and "Tombstone." SoulFly follows the success of Rod's 2020 album, Pray 4 Love.

Meanwhile, Chicago rapper Calboy called on the legendary Lil Wayne for his new song and music video for "Miseducation." The title pays homage to Lauryn Hills Grammy-winning debut album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, and samples "Ready or Not" by her 90s group The Fugees. "Feed your soul like Lauryn Hill and some Wyclef / Pray to the Lord, he give me guidance in the right steps," raps Calboy.

Rapper YBN Namir dropped off his latest album, Visionland, featuring tracks with G Herbo, Too Short, E-40, 21 Savage and more, as well as Ty Dolla $ign on "Still (Family)."

And fresh from his Grammy win for co-writing Megan Thee Stallion's "Savage," Bobby Sessions shares the first single from his upcoming debut album, "Cog in the Machine."

By Rachel George

Copyright  2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
Canada has hit a milestone in its COVID-19 vaccination drive and the federal government says it expects to deliver at least 1.5 million more doses within the next week.

Dr. Howard Njoo, Deputy Chief Public Health Officer at Public Health Agency of Canada, speaks during a COVID-19 press conference at the Sir John A. Macdonald Building in Ottawa on Wednesday, Dec. 23, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/David Kawai

Canada has hit a milestone in its COVID-19 vaccination drive and the federal government says it expects to deliver at least 1.5 million more doses within the next week.

Dr. Howard Njoo, deputy chief public health officer, said during a news conference Thursday that the country had surpassed the 10 per cent mark of residents over 18 receiving at least one shot.

"To date, over 4.3 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in Canada," Njoo said in Ottawa. "This marks an important milestone, with more than 11 per cent of eligible adult Canadians ... having received at least one dose."

Njoo said that includes 60 per cent of people older than 80 and 19 per cent between 70 and 79. More than 60 per cent of adults in the three territories have received their first shot, he said.

But he warned those numbers aren't enough to stop the spread as more transmissible variants continue to pose a "significant threat" until more people are vaccinated.

Federal officials said a total of six million vaccine doses have been delivered to the provinces and territories.

"With nearly two million vaccine doses to be distributed next week, we are clearly on track to receive eight million vaccine doses, reaching our objective for this quarter," said Maj.-Gen. Dany Fortin, the military commander who is overseeing the country's vaccine program logistics.

Fortin said he doesn't expect any disruption to shipments of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine from Europe, despite concerns about potential export reductions by the European Union.

He said 1.2 million Pfizer doses are to arrive next week  the same as this week, which was the largest shipment so far.

Another 846,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine are also being delivered, though there was word late Thursday that a batch of nearly 600,000, which was expected to arrive on the weekend, has been delayed until April 1.

Federal Procurement Minister Anita Anand blamed a "backlog in its quality assurance process."

"All of the doses have been manufactured and are authorized for shipment to Canada," she said. "Once Modernas final quality assurance process has been completed, the doses will be released for shipment."

The first 1.5 million Oxford-AstraZeneca doses coming from the United States could also arrive next week, Fortin said, but a date has not yet been confirmed.

Fortin said there's no indication that shipments of vaccine to Canada from India will be delayed, but added those discussions are ongoing.

Media reports Wednesday said India has halted exports of Covishield, the version of AstraZeneca produced at that countrys Serum Institute.

India has already supplied 500,000 of a planned two million doses to Canada, with another one million still slated for arrival in mid-April, followed by a final shipment a month or so later.

Health Canada noted Thursday it has updated the product label for the AstraZeneca vaccine to warn about blood clotting. Dr. Supriya Sharma, chief medical adviser for the federal department, said three cases of blood clotting have been reported out of 300,000 Canadians who have received at least one dose, but none appeared to be linked to the vaccine.

Sharma said she agrees with European health authorities that the benefits of the vaccine outweigh any potential risks, and that all four vaccines approved for use in Canada are considered safe.

Canada's overall infection rate since the pandemic began a year ago is nearing the one-million mark. To date, the virus has killed 22,759 people across the country.

Health officials in New Brunswick are imposing circuit-breaker measures in an effort to contain an outbreak of the infection in the province's northwest.

"We're quite concerned because it is the variant," said Dr. Jennifer Russell, chief medical officer of health. "We have to pull out all the stops to get things under control."

The province reported 30 new cases of COVID-19 for a total of 89 active cases.

In Nova Scotia, there were four additional cases, including two related to travel, for a total of 25.

Ontario reported another 2,380 cases and 17 deaths, but officials noted that number was inflated because of a data catchup.

Quebec reported 945 cases and four more deaths, while Manitoba reported 111 cases and one death.Saskatchewan had 168 new cases and two deaths.

In Alberta, health officials reported 764 cases and three deaths. Twenty-one per cent of active cases were variants of concern.

British Columbia officials said they have seen an increase in cases among people who are 19 to 39 in the past six weeks even as COVID-19 cases decrease in people over 80.

Long-term care residents in British Columbia will soon be allowed more than one visitor and will be able to give their loved ones a hug after more than a year of strict restrictions.

 With files from Kevin Bissett in Fredericton and Laura Dhillon Kane in Vancouver.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on March 25, 2021.
Decades of poaching and shrinking habitats have devastated elephant populations across Africa, conservationists said Thursday, warning that one sub-species found in rainforests was a step away from extinction

Geneva, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 25th Mar, 2021 ) :Decades of poaching and shrinking habitats have devastated elephant populations across Africa, conservationists said Thursday, warning that one sub-species found in rainforests was a step away from extinction.

In an update of its "Red List" of threatened species, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) highlighted the broad deterioration of the situation for elephants in most of Africa.

The number of elephants in the wild in Africa had fallen by more than 86 percent over three decades, and were now considered "critically endangered" -- just a step away from becoming extinct, it said.

The population of the African savanna elephants had meanwhile decreased by at least 60 percent over the past 50 years, IUCN said, with the Red List now listing that species as "endangered".

Previously, elephants on the continent were assessed as a single species considered vulnerable, but not endangered.

"Today's new IUCN Red List assessments of both African elephant species underline the persistent pressures faced by these iconic animals," IUCN chief Bruno Oberle said in a statement.

Just half a century ago, around 1.5 million elephants roamed across Africa, but in the most recent large-scale assessment of population numbers in 2016, there were only around 415,000 remaining.

- 'Wake-up call' - "These are really sharp declines," said Benson Okita-Ouma of Save the Elephants and the co-chair of the IUCN African Elephant Specialist Group.

While the next full assessment of African elephant population numbers is not expected until 2022 or 2023, he told AFP that the declines seen already should really sound "alarm bells".

Elephants will not disappear from Africa overnight, he said, but stressed that "what this assessment is giving us is an early warning that unless we turn around things, we are likely to (see) these animals go extinct".

"It is a wake-up call to the entire globe that we are going down a steep terrain, when it comes to... the viability of these elephants." Experts had agreed it was better to treat African forest and savanna elephants as separate species following fresh research into the genetics of the elephant populations, IUCN said.

Forest elephants are found in the tropical jungles of Central Africa and in various habitats in West Africa, and are thought to occupy currently only a quarter of their historic range.

The largest remaining populations are found in Gabon and the Republic of Congo.

The savanna elephant meanwhile prefers open country and is found in a variety of habitats in sub-Saharan Africa.

- Poaching explosion - Both elephant species had seen particularly sharp declines since 2008, as poaching for ivory exploded.

The problem peaked in 2011, but continues to threaten populations, IUCN said.

Perhaps even more alarming, according to Okita-Ouma, is the ever-increasing destruction of elephant habitats due to expanding land use for agriculture and other activities.

"If we don't plan our land-use properly, moving forward, then as much as we stop poaching and we stop illegal killing of these animals, there will still be other forms of indirect killings as a result of poor land-use planning," he said.

Despite the overall declining trend, Thursday's report highlighted the positive impact conservation efforts can have.

Some forest elephant populations have stabilised in well-managed conservation areas in Gabon and the Republic of Congo.

And savanna elephant numbers have been stable or growing for decades in the Kavango-Zambezi transfrontier conservation area that stretches across the borders of five southern African countries.

"Several African countries have led the way in recent years, proving that we can reverse elephant declines, and we must work together to ensure their example can be followed." Oberle said.

Okita-Ouma said the Covid-19 pandemic was taking a toll on conservation efforts as many countries had seen tourism revenues used to fund protection measures evaporate.

At the same time, he said, the dramatic decline in human activity in many areas had allowed elephants to "recolonise" areas they had previously been driven from.

"During the lockdowns, we have seen animals moving all over, and that is a positive side for the animals."
group on Friday closed the Rs 19,350-crore transaction with lenders to acquire & Steel (BPSL), bringing down the curtain on a corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP) that has stretched over three-and-a-half years.

The transaction was funded through a mix of equity and debt. As part of the payment, a sum of Rs 8,614 crore in Piombino Steel (PSL) was arranged through a mix of equity, optionally convertible instruments and debt. Of this, Rs 8,550 crore was invested in a special purpose vehicle (SPV), Makler, the bidding company. The remaining Rs 10,800 crore was funded through debt.

JSW informed the stock exchanges that following the implementation of the resolution plan, which included payment of Rs 19,350 crore to financial creditors of BPSL and the merger of the SPV, PSL holds 100 per cent equity shares in BPSL. Seshagiri Rao, joint managing director and chief financial officer, JSW Steel, said the company took charge of the asset on Friday.

In a letter to BPSL employees, Sajjan Jindal, chairman of JSW group, said BPSL was the largest acquisition in his firms history. This acquisition not only aligns with our core business and purpose but also establishes our presence and accelerates our growth vision in eastern India, he said. I am aware how difficult it is to build a greenfield steel plant of this size and this asset is indeed a testament to your tireless efforts, he further said.

The deal concluded even as litigations are pending before the Supreme Court because the firm and the lenders wanted to close it before March 31.

The lenders, who waited for a year-and-a-half after the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) approved resolution plan for payment, would stand to realise 41.03 per cent on claims of Rs 47,157.99 crore.

The top creditors are State Bank of India with an exposure of Rs 9,825 crore, PNB with exposure of Rs 7,355 crore (including claims of Oriental Bank of Commerce and United Bank of India after the merger), Canara Bank (Rs 4,018 crore, including claims of Syndicate Bank), Union Bank (Rs 3,497 crore, including claims of Andhra Bank and Corporation Bank), and Asset Care & Reconstruction Enterprise with exposure of Rs 5,275 crore. SBI is expected to recover around Rs 4,000 crore.

BPSL was among the first 12 big-ticket non-performing assets (NPAs) mandated for resolution by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) under the IBC. To close the transaction, most lenders voted in favour of a proposal on March 5 to accept payment according to JSW Steels resolution plan with an undertaking to refund the amount in the event the Supreme Court delivers an adverse order.

The deal would provide for 47.69 per cent of Rs 733.76 crore claims of operational creditors. The 2.5-million tonne (MT) BPSL plant in Jharsuguda, Odisha, would put JSW Steel, which has a capacity of 18 MT, ahead of top steelmaker Tata Steel (20.6 MT), along with the 1 MT Monnet Ispat & Energy (jointly acquired with AION as majority partner). It also gives JSW a foothold in the East.

Jindal in his tweet said, Very proud that with the acquisition of Bhushan Power and Steel, we had made our entry in Odisha-East India and are now the countrys leading steel maker. Rao said plans to commission its 5 MT expansion at Dolvi, Maharashtra, before June 2022. That would increase its capacity to 26.5 MT.
New study led by the University of Helsinki supports the recognition of new species of South American owls, two of them, Xingu Screech Owl and Alagoas Screech Owl, described for the first time.

In early 2021 two new species of screech owls are being described in a single publication as new to science. A multinational team involving researchers from the University of Helsinki, Brazil, and the USA published a detailed study focusing on the morphological, vocal, and genetic variation in a group of screech owls from the Amazon and Atlantic Forest regions of South America, called the Black-capped / Tawny- bellied Screech Owl complex (Megascops atricapilla - M. watsonii). The term "complex" describes the overall uncertainty in the actual number of species in this group of screech owls, which has varied from one to three over the past decades.

"Not even professional ornithologists who have worked on owls for their entire lives would agree about the actual number of species found in this group, so a study like ours has been awaited for a really long time," says Alex Aleixo, head of the research team responsible for the study, and curator of birds at the Finnish Museum of Natural History in the University of Helsinki, Finland.

The new study published in the scientific journal Zootaxa demonstrated the discovery of six different genetic clusters in the Black-capped / Tawny-bellied Screech Owl complex that are also mutually distinguished by song - a strong indication that they are distinct species.

In contrast, as widely documented in owls, plumage color is variable in the complex, with a single genetic cluster for instance containing five distinct color forms ranging from cinnamon to red. Four out of these six genetic clusters had already been previously recognized as subspecies and given taxonomic names, and the new study support instead their treatment as distinct species. However, two of these clusters had never been recognized or described as unique, and thus had never been given a name. Therefore, the authors described these genetically and vocally diagnosable lineages as new species.

252 specimens, 83 tape-recordings, and 49 genetic samples analyzed

Researchers analyzed altogether, 252 specimens, 83 tape-recordings, and 49 genetic samples from across the range of the Black- capped / Tawny-bellied Screech Owl complex in South America. A significant part of specimens material were collected by the research team itself, mainly by nature tour leader and photographer Sidnei Dantas, who spent a good share of his time in graduate school searching for and tape-recording screech owls in South American rainforests. In addition, natural history collections and their materials collected over the centuries were essential to complete the study ?s unprecedented sampling.

One of these newly described species, the Xingu Screech Owl (Megascops stangiae), has its scientific name in honor of the late Sister Dorothy Mae Stang (1931?2005), an American-born Brazilian member of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, who over 40 years introduced small farmers living in the Amazon to sustainability practices. The common name Xingu Screech Owl refers to the area where the new species is found, between the Tapajo?s and Xingu rivers, where Stang was a very active community leader until her killing.

The second new species described in the new study is the Alagoas Screech Owl (Megascops alagoensis), (Fig. 2), named after the state of Alagoas in Northeastern Brazil, where it was recorded for the first time in February 2001, and where most of the known population remains. This new species is known from only five isolated forest fragments in Alagoas and Pernambuco states.

Deforestation is a threat

Both new species of screech owls described by the new study, and a third one, formerly treated as a subspecies, but validated as a new species for the first time i.e., the Bele?m Screech Owl (Megascops ater),, are threatened by deforestation. The Xingu Screech Owl is endemic to the most severely burned area of the Amazon by the unprecedented 2019 fires and the Alagoas Screech Owl should be regarded as critically endangered given the extensive forest fragmentation in the very small area where it occurs. Finally, the Bele?m Screech Owl is endemic to the most deforested sector of the Amazon forest, with well over 80% of the original forest already cleared.

###

New research approaches

The recognition of these new species was only possible due to a combination of the application of modern technologies such as DNA sequencing of specimens and digital audio analytical techniques of recordings archived by natural history collections and citizen science databases. New approaches to studying museum specimens and increasingly accessible digital databases are completely transforming our comprehension of biodiversity, and are revealing the existence of long-overlooked but already threatened new species such as the screech owls discovered in the study published by Aleixo and colleagues.
Weirdest of Weather: Did a Waterspout Dump Fish on Central Oregon Coast in the '90s?

Published 03/24/21 at 12:50 AM PDT

By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff

(Lincoln City, Oregon)  One of the rarest and weirdest of meteorological encounters is a thing called animal rain. Its long been documented throughout history: essentially when a waterspout picks a lot of objects  or in this case critters  and dumps them somewhere else. In most cases, its either fish or frogs that get sucked up into a waterspout or tornado, and then dropped before a stunned set of human eyes. (Water spout in Depoe Bay, photo above courtesy David Galvin. The glowing blobs in the upper right are indoor lights).

Did this happen on the central Oregon coast in Lincoln City in the 90s?

Its entirely possible, but its far from proven. Still, Oregon Coast Beach Connection did have a kind of witness to this, someone who told staff this tale a good five years before the publication was started.

The story comes  ironically  from the family of Christian rocker Larry Norman, who lived the last two decades of his life in Salem. Norman was the first to actually put out records combining Christianity and rock in the late 60s. The idea of an animal rain already has a distinct biblical association, so this becomes more amusing in this context.

His younger brother Charles Norman told the story to then-Statesman Journal music writer Andre Hagestedt, who now runs Oregon Coast Beach Connection. Charles himself is a world-traveled musician, having been a part of high profile bands in L.A. in the 80s, a band called Merchants of Venus that was huge in Europe, and he did some work with Guns N Roses Dizzy Reed. He lived in Salem for a couple of decades and recently moved to Norway.

As Norman recalled, it was in late 95 or 96. He, his brother Larry and their sister were staying in Lincoln City. Apparently, a waterspout offshore dumped a bunch of fish somewhere in Lincoln City. It was the talk of the town that day, Norman recalls, as he encountered numerous people chattering about it all over. He did not see the fish himself, however.

Recently the more exact dates became available, so the question was posed to the North Lincoln County History Museum in Lincoln City and to the Portland office of the National Weather Service / National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Sadly, neither Jeff Syrop of the museum nor Tyler Kranz with NOAA could turn up any evidence. It still remains a mystery, though theres plenty of documentation its happened elsewhere.

The idea of a waterspout causing an animal rain is still met with some argument in the scientific world, but not much. Its largely agreed upon.

According to the Library of Congress, no one has ever seen frogs or fish get sucked up into the air, but scientists know it does happen  along with rocks and other smaller objects.

As a waterspout forms, its spinning column of air  or vortex  gets faster, and surrounding water is pulled into it, creating bands of light and dark. At one point, it starts shooting out water in a ring formation from the base.

With that water getting sucked into it, this can bring other objects or creatures into the mix. As the waterspout loses energy that stuff falls back to Earth. This is what scientists believe creates the frog or fish animal rain situation.

The Library of Congress quotes Professor Ernest Agee from Purdue University as saying hes seen small ponds literally emptied of their water by a passing tornado.

The curious part of this whole animal rain phenomena is that it always rains either fish or frogs  not the two together. Scientist believe thats because it will pick objects of a similar mass and weight.

According to NOAA, waterspouts happen in two categories: tornadic and fair weather waterspouts.

Tornadic waterspouts form over the water or they move from land onto the water, NOAA said. They have largely the same characteristics as a tornado, and are often accompanied by lightning, hail, etc.

Fair weather waterspouts form along the base of developing cumulus clouds and are not associated with thunderstorms. These actually start at the water and begin forming upwards, but they dont usually move very much. If they make landfall they dissipate quickly.

Its the tornadic waterspouts we usually get on the Oregon coast, which can be very destructive. They occur in conjunction with lots of winds and rain or hail. Just like the one in Manzanita in 2016, which cut a near-deadly swath through the town, destroying many buildings and tearing down a third of the trees along the main drag, Laneda. The same day another formed in Oceanside briefly but went nowhere.

These waterspouts are not as massive as regular tornadoes on land, with waterspouts getting interior winds up to 100 mph but tornadoes capable of reaching 300 mph.

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Keywords: Oregon Coast, meteorology, waterspout, tornado, strange news, Washington Coast, travel, Florence, Yachats, beaches, Coos Bay, Westport, Long Beach, Ocean Shores, Seaside, Astoria, Cannon Beach, Manzanita, Rockaway Beach, Newport, Bandon, Pacific City, Lincoln City, Depoe Bay, Reedsport, Port Orford, Gold Beach, Brookings
Long marketed to the public as both the bridge fuel to clean energy and the reliable backup to intermittent wind, natural gas is being questioned by environmentalists, end-users and grid operators alike. In the debate spurred by the near collapse of the Texas electricity grid, chicken and egg questions surfaced about sudden, near-simultaneous natural gas and electricity shortages. The reputation of natural gas for reliability took a stumble. To recover, the industry needs to do a full rethink of how it operates. Texas regulators should too.

The failure of natural gas facilities to fill out a two-page application that would have kept power companies from cutting off their electricity is astounding because it is easy to fix and the issue came up in a previous freeze. Weatherizing equipment is also a potential point of consensus though the matter who pays for added cost is not. Texas natural gas, however, was already facing other major challenges before the winter storm.

The slipshod practice of methane leaking from improperly maintained infrastructure, as well as routine venting and flaring as commonplace practices (technically illegal for over 100 years), is raising questions about whether communities want their homes and livelihoods tied to the fuel. These mounting problems for natural gas  from the supply problems during the storm to its role in climate change  share a basic solution. The answer is better performance.

Natural gas is having an identity crisis. Its not the flashy new kid who gets a pass anymore. The industry needs to meet the high standards asked of it, not rebel against regulation.

Cheniere, a liquefied natural gas exporting firm, is leading the way with a new policy to certify the level of greenhouse gas emissions associated with the export cargoes departing its terminals. Earlier this month, Shell also announced it had delivered a carbon neutral cargo of LNG to Europe via a nature-based offset of sequestered or avoided emissions.

Texas Railroad Commissioner Jim Wright has said the commission would work to limit waivers and allow flaring and venting only as a last resort measure during operational emergencies. It is unclear how and when that policy will come into effect. It does not appear to be consistently applied yet. Moreover, ending extended flaring waivers does not solve the problem of direct methane leakage. Depending on the level of leakage in a particular natural gas production and transmission system, burning natural gas that comes from extremely leaky production facilities can be more environmentally damaging than burning coal.

As it readies itself for energy regulation reform, Texas needs to make a course change. Not only was the lifting of environmental regulations by the Trump administration completely ineffective in preventing American oil companies from losing money, it has left them ill-prepared for pressing climate standards coming in global trade.

The European Unions Methane Strategy, aimed to come into effect by September 2023, introduced measures to cut methane emissions in Europe and internationally and will also apply to energy imports. The EU will use satellites to detect super-emitters and is launching an international methane emissions observatory with the United Nations. The data collected will be applied toward the EUs planned legislation on natural gas import standards.

To get that legislation off the ground, Europe is already asking for early consultation with the Biden administration on EU plans for a carbon border adjustment levy.

EU diplomats, armed with satellite methane monitoring capability, are seeking coordination with the United States and Canada, alongside the United Nations. Among the asks for the future might be an overall ban on venting as well as a ban on routine flaring, which would be a problem for U.S. companies that routinely practice both.

Congress is considering action on the issue. Colorado has already implemented new standards that prohibit oil companies from venting or flaring except to manage emergencies. Additionally, the New Mexico Oil Conservation Commission voted 3-0 on Thursday to require oil and gas operators to capture 98 percent of their natural gas by 2026, restricting flaring and venting for only unforeseen circumstances beginning on April 1, 2022. Now the question is whether Texas has the gumption to follow suit.

Instead of lobbying for waivers, American oil and gas companies might be advised to take an approach of better performance across the board. The industry clearly has work to do on reliability. Some fixes are as simple as filling an outage exemption form. Others involve building climate resilience into equipment and operations onshore in the same way offshore operators prepare for increased hurricane risk. They should also take the European Methane Strategy seriously and end the practice of routine flaring and venting. Europes carbon border adjustments may affect other oil and gas importers. Singaporean, Japanese, South Korean and Thai buyers are already asking LNG suppliers to provide evidence of carbon offsets. Japan and South Korea, two of the largest long-term customers of U.S. LNG, are considering more ambitious national greenhouse gas commitments related to their own natural gas imports, now that they have formally embraced 2050 net zero climate goals.

Myers Jaffe is managing director of Climate Policy Lab and research professor at Tufts University Fletcher School. Kornfeind is a senior at Temple University in Philadelphia. He has previously held positions with the Council on Foreign Relations, Eurasia Group, and the Atlantic Council Global Energy Center.
The summit "got the Chinese attention" on their seriousness in holding Beijing accountable for its actions in the Indo-Pacific region, according to US President

He said on Thursday, "I met with our allies and how we are going to hold accountable in the region. Australia, India, Japan, United States, the so-called Quad, because we have to have democracies working together."

"Apparently, it got the Chinese attention," he said.

Biden held the virtual summit with Prime Ministers Narendra Modi of India, Yoshihide Sugo of Japan and Scott Morrison of Australia on March 12 during which they committed to a "region that is free, open, inclusive, healthy, anchored by democratica-values, and unconstrained by coercion."

He warned that China's plan is to own the future through its investments in science and technology and said the US has to match it.

"We are in the midst of a Fourth Industrial Revolution of enormous consequence," he said.

At his first news conference as president, he made protection and expansion of democracy the high priority of his administration asserting that the competition of the 21st Century is between democracy and autocracy and that it "is what is at stake, not just in Look around the world".

He laid out the future of relations with China, which he described as one of competition rather than confrontation, with an emphasis on human rights.

His strategy to face up to the Chinese challenge, he said, is to reinforce ties with democracies in the effort to make play by the rules and to make the US ready for the "Fourth Industrial Revolution" for which Beijing was making heavy investments.

Biden said that "allegedly, by the time I left office of the vice president, I had spent more time with (Chinese President) Xi Jinping than any other world leader".

He said that Xi does "not have a democratic -- with a small 'D' -- bone in his body, but he is a smart, smart guy. He is one of the guys like (Russian President Vladimir) Putin, who thinks autocracy is the wave of the future (and) democracy cannot function in an ever-complex world".

What "I admire about dealing with Xi is he understands and makes no pretence about not understanding what I'm saying," he said.

Biden said that he made it "clear to him" that "we are not looking for confrontation, although we know there will be steep, steep competition."

"We will have strong competition, but we (will) insist China play by rules: fair competition, fair practice is fair trade," he said.

"As you and your country continues to blatantly violate human rights, we are going to continue to call to attention to the world," he said he told him referring to the clampdown on democracy in Hong Kong and the treatment of the Uighur Muslims.

"No American president would back down on that," he said.

And taking taking a dig at his predecessor Donald Trump, he added, "The moment a president walks away from that, as the last one did, is a moment we begin to lose legitimacy around the world."

He pointed to the risks of China racing ahead in science and technology.

He said, "The future lies in who can, in fact, own the future as it relates to technology, quantum computing, a whole range of things, including in medical fields. And so what I'm going to do is make sure we invest closer to two per cent."

"We're going to invest in medical research -- cancer, Alzheimer's, diabetes, the things - industries of the future - artificial intelligence, quantum computing, biotech. And we're going to make real investments. China is out investing us by a longshot, because their plan is to own that future."

(Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in and followed on Twitter at @arulouis)

--IANS

al/pgh

(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.)
Some students of the Ghana Institute of Journalism(GIJ) went on demonstration to protest a decision by the school's Management.



The Management on Monday, March 22, held a meeting and decided the students who paid their fees after registration deadline to defer their programme.



The students resented the decision stating they are unfairly treated and asked the Management to rescind their decision.



Reacting to the issue on Peace FM's "Kokrokoo", Opanyin Agyekum pleaded with the Management to hold talks with the students to resolve the conflict.



"My prayer is that the school Management must meet with the students to resolve the issue. However, a striking feature about students is that they joke with deadline . . . The best academic is the one who respects deadlines," he said.



Watch video below





Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









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If you want to know the real reason for the increase in homelessness, I will tell you. These are simply my opinions but having previously worked with the homeless population locally, I know what I have personally witnessed.

The worst culprit is Moccasin Bend Mental Health Institute. Here's how it works. When someone within a 200 mile radius of Chattanooga has a mental health crisis or breakdown to the point that police become involved, they are usually brought to Moccasin Bend for a 3-7 day stay. While there they are often given medication to stabilize or make them easier to deal with during their stay. Sometimes the medication is so strong they seem more like zombies even days after their release.

Then they are told to go to one of the local mental health centers for follow up treatment a few days or weeks later. Keep in mind that these folks are severely mentally ill. Many of them refuse to voluntarily take the medication they need to remain stable. After discharge from Moccasin Bend, if they do not have a relative there to pick them up and take them back to their home city, they immediately become Chattanooga residents. So, basically because their discharge plan does not include a bus ticket to go back to the respective home cities, they are now part of our homeless population. The numbers increase every day.

I have met numerous folks who were discharged from Moccasin Bend, Erlanger Behavioral Health and other local hospitals who desperately want to go back to their home cities but have no way to get there. Get a job you say? That sounds good in theory but employers aren't lining up to hire a homeless mentally ill person who is off their medication. If a severely mentally ill patient is brought to Moccasin Bend from Johnson City, Tn., there's a very good chance that they will stay here because in most cases the family is relieved to have them out of their hair, even if just for a while. Even so, the patient would rather be in the familiar city where they at least know their way around.

So, not only are we importing homeless people, we are importing the most mentally ill of the homeless and expecting them to integrate, keep their mental health appointments and take their meds every day, all while living on the streets. Chattanooga has the only mental health hospital from here to Mountain City on the North Carolina border. Knoxville closed their mental health hospital years ago. The numbers of severely mentally ill patients entering our city will increase daily. It's going to get worse as more and more are competing for the small number of available food, housing, temporary shelter and resources.

Moccasin Bend has to do a better job of helping these folks get back home. We do not have enough shelter space to accommodate the homeless we already have.

Jamie Green
Oil product tanker rates have surged almost double since a giant container ship ran aground the Suez Canal on Tuesday, blocking traffic on the vital shipping lane.

The rates for shipping oil products in the Mediterranean region have almost doubled, while shipping companies have started to divert tankers bound for Asia away from the Suez Canal to the longer route around the Cape of Good Hope in Africa.

While efforts continue to dislodge the huge ship the length of the Empire State Building from the Suez Canal, it could be weeks until traffic returns to normal, while nearly three dozen tankers are waiting on either side of the canal to pass through.

The lower availability of tankers has sent rates surging.

The rates for smaller tankers for shipping in the Mediterranean region jumped first, Braemar ACM Shipbroking told Reuters.

Lower availability of tankers would lead to a short-term spike in freight rates for European and Mediterranean loadings if tankers unable to transit the canal fail to meet already agreed laycans and charterers have to opt for a flurry of prompt replacements, oil analytics firm Vortexa said on Thursday.

Though unlikely congestion lasts this long, if it does persists long enough to lead to diversions, longer voyage lengths and an overall increase in tonne-miles would provide further support for freight rates to rise in the short-term, Vortexa analysts said.

Since the Suez Canal was blocked, the rate for renting some tankers for shipping oil from the Middle East to Asia has surged by 47 percent to

US$2.2 million, Anoop Singh, a Singapore-based tanker analyst at Braemar ACM, told The Wall Street Journal.

Meanwhile, signs have started to emerge that some tanker operators are already diverting Asia-bound Suezmax tankers  the largest tanker that can pass through the Suez Canal and capable of carrying up to 1 million barrels of oil  away from the blocked shipping lane.

The Suezmax tanker Marlin Santorini, traveling from Houston to Asia, abruptly change its course on Thursday, and instead of to the Suez Canal, it headed to the Cape of Good Hope, according to Bloomberg data.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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ANN ARBOR, MI  Racial justice. Police misconduct. Fair housing. Voting rights. Discrimination.

These are some of the issues University of Michigan law students are tackling in real-world settings as part of the Civil Rights Litigation Initiative. The eight-student program at the universitys law school works to prepare students to use the law to advance social justice, officials said.

Diane Kee, a third-year UM law student, has worked on a number of cases, including one involving Mya King, who attended racial justice protests in Chelsea last summer. She was ticketed by the Chelsea Police Department for blocking the street while demonstrating, but those charges were dropped in February.

Citing First Amendment, judge dismisses charges against antiracist protesters in Chelsea

Working on that case was important for the CRLI team, Kee said.

Bringing the case through the clinic and having the support from cooperating attorneys through the ACLU I think gave a lot of power and a lot of impact to the work that Mya and other young activists were mobilizing toward, Kee said.

I had taken First Amendment as a class, and to be able to apply the things I learned  drafting the motion, doing an oral argument in front of the court on things that I learned about, and then putting it into practice was really exciting and powerful.

Students have been supporting attorneys representing Detroit Will Breathe, an activist group formed in the wake of George Floyds death last May, as well as litigating fair housing cases in Ann Arbor, Monroe County and Oakland County, according to Michael Steinberg, a UM law professor and director of CRLI.

Students take the lead on the cases, Steinberg said, but his goal is to teach them about being a social justice lawyer and inspire them to make the world a better place.

Its all about the students learning in a way where they can advance social justice and feel empowered, and in a way that they can empower our clients in movements for social justice, said Steinberg, a former ACLU of Michigan legal director.

Solomon Furious Worlds, a third-year UM law student, met Steinberg in 2019 when he was hired as a legal intern at ACLU of Michigan. He heard about CRLI and said he knew it was something he had to be involved with.

Worlds and a few other students are currently working on a case at Ann Arbor Pioneer High School, where a student alleges she and other Black students face a racially hostile environment at the school. Lawyers with CRLI have a number of demands, including making an investigation into the matter more transparent.

This case has reaffirmed for me that every lawyer needs to take cues and listen to the community in which they work, and that good clients really make the case a lot better, Worlds said. I have enjoyed literally every interaction Ive had with my clients and working with them gives me a renewed sense of hope and fills me with life.

Third-year UM Law student Brendan Flynn also took a class with Steinberg that prepared him for CRLI. In that class, he said he learned that being a civil rights lawyer is about problem solving, even beyond what can be achieved in the courtroom. Flynn said he had always thought about civil rights in a historical context and in relation to voting rights, but it wasnt until Steinbergs class and joining CRLI that he realized helping people in their everyday lives can be much broader than voting rights.

With CRLI, Flynn has primarily worked on a case titled Justice InDeed, which is based around racially restrictive covenants  deed clauses that historically prevented people of color from owning properties in cities throughout America.

While those covenants are unenforceable, theyre still a trace of racism, and the project aims to examine the effects of those covenants, as well as housing discrimination and racism in Ann Arbor today, Flynn said.

Researchers map Ann Arbors racist history of housing discrimination

Part of the reason I love being part of a project like that is because its so much bigger than me and knowing that I might continue to have some sort of involvement going forward because Im so passionate about it, Flynn said.

The project is focused on community engagement and education, and that collaboration is important for civil rights litigation, Flynn said. Its part of the reason he will take his experiences with CRLI with him into the professional world.

Civil rights is about fighting for everyone to have the right to live, to work, to be heard, to be happy. Its that fight for people and their every day lives, and what could be more important than that? Flynn said.

READ MORE:

Protesters call for more accountability in fight for racial justice

Professors excited about in-person University of Michigan classes - as long as they get COVID vaccination

Ford partners with University of Michigan in $75M robotics facility
37 robots play crucial role in bringing students in New Mexico schools hard hit by COVID back into the classroom

Blue Ocean Robotics, the manufacturer of the autonomous disinfecting robot UVD Robots equipped with UV-C light, has been selected by Gallup McKinley County Schools (GMCS) in New Mexico to supply 37 UVD Robots to the districts' schools to help fight the Coronavirus and other infectious diseases.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210326005133/en/

Students from GMCS' Twin Lakes School participated in a naming contest for the robot to help with socialization and morale. The school's robot will now be known as Mr. Fox. UVD Robots were originally developed to fight Hospital Acquired Infections (HAI's) and are now deployed in more than 60 countries worldwide in the healthcare sector, the hospitality industry, office complexes and educational facilities, meeting new and heightened expectations for safety and cleanliness. (Photo: Business Wire)

"COVID has taken an extraordinary toll on our community. The safety of our students and staff, developing a plan to bring them all back to school as safely as possible is our primary concern," said Gallup McKinley Superintendent Michael Hyatt. "We wanted a larger, longer-term disinfection solution, adding a layer of protection that would disinfect surfaces and the air in our buildings and help fight COVID, colds, flu and infectious diseases for years to come."

GMCS covers a community with many rural areas facing infrastructure issues that make virtual learning a challenge, approximately 1,500 students have no internet at home. The district also educates many special education students who learn better in the classroom.

"Unlike stationary disinfection robots, the UVD Robot is a fully autonomous robot. It integrates UV-C light to disinfect against viruses and bacteria on surfaces and the air, killing 99.99 percent of microorganisms within approximately 10 minutes in every room it disinfects," said Claus Risager, CEO, Blue Ocean Robotics.

"We selected UVD Robots after rigorous review of numerous disinfecting robots," said Hyatt. "UVD Robots delivered on all of our requirements including technical excellence, maturity and track record, quality of deployment, technical support and maintenance, and overall value."

"We are excited to announce, what we believe is the largest deployment of autonomous disinfection robots in any U.S. school district," said Per Juul Nielsen, CEO, UVD Robots. "We are honored to work with GMCS to go beyond COVID, bringing hospital-grade disinfection to the school district."

Press kit

About

UVD Robots is part of one of the world's leading groups in development of service robots, Blue Ocean Robotics, that includes brands GoBe Robots and PTR Robots. Blue Ocean Robotics is headquartered in Denmark and was recently included on Fast Company's Top 10 of 'Most Innovative Robotics Companies 2021.'

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210326005133/en/

Contacts:

Camilla Almind Knudsen, Blue Ocean Robotics

+45 61 10 02 74

cak@blue-ocean-robotics.com
City authorities are seeking to convert the popular Machakos Country Bus terminus into an underground parking bay.

Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) Director-General, Mohamed Badi, said the planned multi-storey parking will be digitally operated with motorists charged hourly.

The move is part of a bigger project that will see other parking areas in the capital converted into underground parking bays, drastically increasing capacity.

"We are in the process of developing underground parking at Sunken Park and eventually Machakos Bus Park will be turned into an underground parking area," said Major-General Badi.

The NMS boss added that the project will mirror one already implemented by the Holy Family Basilica, where the church put up a multi-storeyed parking bay that has 536 slots. Previously, the space could accommodate 120 cars.

The four-floor parking facility, which opened in December 2019, has a state-of-the-art smart parking solution which can also charge electric vehicles.

"We have seen it is affordable and we are now going to ensure that there's enough underground parking for Nairobi residents," said the Major-General.

"You will come pay through mobile money, leave your car there and it will be parked for you in whichever floor of that building," he added.

On-street parking slots

According to a 2018 Cytonn Real Estate report, parking bays have an average yield of 9.1 per cent due to growing number of vehicles in Nairobi coupled with inadequate public parking spaces, especially in the city centre.

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Motorists usually pay an estimated Sh9,500 per bay per month on average with the lowest being parking bays at Grade C office blocks that charge as low as Sh4,000 in sparsely populated areas like Mombasa Road and as high as Sh13,000 in upmarket areas such as Parklands, Kilimani and Upper Hill.

Nairobi's city centre is the most lucrative with parking bays raking in an average of Sh12,000 a month, Karen (Sh10,862), Parklands (Sh10,500), Gigiri (Sh10,500) and Upper Hill Sh9,500.

Last September, NMS announced that most of the on-street parking slots would be turned into transport corridors for pedestrians and cyclists as part of wider plans to decongest the capital.

In July last year, NMS began automating parking facilities in the county in preparation for the introduction of hourly slots in the CBD.

Sunken Car Park, Nairobi Law Courts Parking, Desai Road and Machakos Bus terminus have already been automated in line with a presidential directive.

City Hall is also seeking to introduce hourly parking to boost revenue and also make it costly to drive to the CBD.

The plan is contained in the Nairobi City County Fiscal Strategy Paper for the financial year ending June 30, 2022.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is using the Texas Freeze to cut the countrys dependence on U.S. gas imports and to garner support for rolling back the energy sectors reforms that his predecessor passed.

Mexicos dependence on U.S. natural gas imports became painfully evident last month when plummeting natural gas exports from the United States to Mexico amid the Arctic cold spell. The resulting gas demand surge caused blackouts in northern Mexico, leaving some 4.77 million households and businesses without power in mid-February.

This has fueled Lopez Obradors rhetoric that strong state involvement in the energy sector would bring about energy independence and will not send Mexicos oil and gas riches in the hands of foreign companies.

The Mexican president is now working to scale back the energy reform from 2013 of his predecessor Enrique Pena Nieto, who opened Mexicos oil and gas industry to private investment for the first time in seven decades.

I will send an initiative to reform the constitution, because I cannot be an accessory to theft, robbery, I cannot accept that individuals harm the public treasury, Lopez Obrador said last week, according to Bloomberg.

Analysts, however, see the presidents plan as nothing more than nationalistic rhetoric. Energy sector laws passed this year, according to analysts, are only alienating foreign companies from Mexico, while state oil giant Pemexstrongly supported by the governmentis focusing on boosting oil production and is not really succeeding in this.

At the same time, the Mexico chapter of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) expects a wave of international arbitrations and lawsuits in the coming weeks after Mexico enacted this month a new law that favors state-owned electricity generation companies over private power firms.

Meanwhile, Mexicos natural gas dependence on Texas is growing.

U.S. exports of natural gas to Mexico, almost all of which are transported by pipeline, rose in the first nine months of 2020, EIA data shows, while exports of natural gas to Mexico by pipeline are the largest component of U.S. natural gas trade, accounting for 40 percent of all U.S. gross natural gas exports in 2019.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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Following controversial comments on racism in medicine made by a deputy editor at JAMA, the editor in chief of the prominent medical journal was placed on administrative leave on Thursday.

A committee of the American Medical Association, which oversees the journal, said Dr. Howard Bauchner would be replaced by an interim editor pending results of an independent investigation. The decision was announced on Thursday in an email to employees.

JAMA is one of the worlds leading medical journals, publishing research that shapes the scientific agenda and public policy around the globe. The controversy began when Dr. Ed Livingston, a deputy editor, said on a Feb. 24 podcast that structural racism no longer existed in the United States.

Structural racism is an unfortunate term, said Dr. Livingston, who is white. Personally, I think taking racism out of the conversation will help. Many people like myself are offended by the implication that we are somehow racist.
We must do more to keep firearms out of the hands of those who will use them to commit murder and crime, he said. I call on our legislators, and my office is more than willing to assist in any way we can, to increase services for those suffering mental illness and create legislation which keeps guns out of the hands of violent individuals, while still respecting the 2nd Amendment.
Residents of Saa Mbaya area in Kahawa West, Nairobi were Thursday treated to a bizarre and horrific spectacle after a woman stabbed three men, killing one of them and leaving the others critically injured.

According to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations(DCI), the three men had engaged each other in a fistfight over the woman identified as Margaret Wambui Wangari.

During the fisticuffs, the woman drew a sharp object and drove it deep into the ear of one of the men, killing him on the spot.

Ms Wambui attacked the other two as well, with witnesses claiming that she started sucking blood that was oozing from one of the men.

Outraged members of the public had reportedly started stoning the suspect before police officers deployed to nearby schools to monitor the ongoing KCPE exams rushed to her rescue.

The wounded men were rushed to the Kenyatta University Hospital Intensive Care Unit (ICU). One of the victims sustained a serious cut on the forehead.

The body of the deceased was moved to Chiromo mortuary as detectives opened a probe into the bizarre incident.
A 53-year-old man is facing felony assault and hate crime charges after he allegedly attacked an Asian American man near the Ingleside neighborhood earlier this month, during which the suspect allegedly used racist slurs and told the victim to get out of my country.

Victor Browns case was initially booked as a misdemeanor, but the San Francisco District Attorneys Office recently elevated it to a felony, according to court records. In a brief court appearance Friday morning, Brown said he was being railroaded and that he had post-traumatic stress disorder.

The charges come amid a wave of high-profile and sometimes deadly violence against the Asian community  in the Bay Area and nationwide  and mounting pressure for law enforcement to treat such incidents as hate crimes.

In an interview with The Chronicle, victim and Army veteran Ron Tuason, 56, described the harrowing events of March 13, when he said the suspect first noticed him from across the street.

Tuason said he had just finished grocery shopping and was at a bus stop near Ocean and Plymouth avenues when the suspect made a beeline for him, disregarding traffic, he said.

Brown allegedly began using racist language against Tuason and, referring to the veterans hat Tuason was wearing, yelled that he, Brown, was a veteran and Tuason was not.

Brown said, Get out of my country, Tuason explained, before using a racial slur intended to denigrate Asian people.

Brown continued, Its because of you theres a problem here, Tuason said. Tuason said he believes Brown was referring to the coronavirus.

Tuason said he tried to de-escalate the situation and didnt want to fight. He was carrying a backpack full of groceries and a cane, not optimal fighting conditions, Tuason said. Plus, Im past that stage in my life.

He said that after Brown knocked his phone out of his hand, he yelled at his attacker, Whats your problem? As Tuason started picking up his belongings, he said Brown charged at him again.

I threw up my left arm to block him and ... he sidesteps my hands to get a clear punch in, Tuason said. He waylays me on the first punch, and I hit my head on a fence and theres a steel pole. So Im literally seeing stars.

Tuason said Brown attacked him after he knocked Tuason over.

I did the best I could, I curled up and tucked up my head (until) passersby assisted me, he said.

Tuason said he called 911 and that police located Brown around the corner from where the attack occurred. Tuason said he identified Brown as the man who attacked him.

San Francisco police said Brown had three warrants for his arrest related to separate alleged crimes: a violation of post-release community supervision in San Francisco, a battery in San Jose and a battery on a bus driver in Santa Clara County.

Now Playing: Video: Caron Creighton

Brown was booked on these three arrest warrants as well as the assault and battery, hate crime enhancement and possession of narcotic paraphernalia charges stemming from the March 13 incident, police said.

In a statement, Deputy Public Defender Syliva Cediel said Brown is a proud father of three children, one of whom is a military veteran.

It was the prosecutors decision to elevate these charges from a misdemeanor to a felony despite no new facts in this case, Cediel said. I ask the public to reserve judgment until all facts come to light.

The San Francisco District Attorneys Office has filed five hate crime cases this year compared to nine in all of 2020, officials said. Hate crimes are charged as enhancements on felonies, and can add up to three extra years on a sentence.

District Attorneys Office spokesperson Rachel Marshall said hate crime allegations can be difficult to prove because they require prosecutors to demonstrate what was going on inside someones head when they committed an offense.

We have to prove not only what someone did but why they did it, Marshall said. Sometimes that can be done, like when racial slurs are used or there is a past history of bias. But many cases lack evidence to show that when someone committed an act they were motivated by bias, so even when we strongly suspect racial bias motivated the act, we cannot prove it.

Tuason said he suffered a black eye and a swollen cheek as a result of the attack. He said hes also experiencing memory loss.

Tuason said he wants justice done, not only for himself but for all of the other victims in the Asian community throughout the country.

At the same time, I want fairness, he said. If he fell through the cracks  and Ive fallen through the cracks in different situations in my life  I dont want him to get the book thrown at him.

Megan Cassidy is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: megan.cassidy@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @meganrcassidy
France and Rwanda have had a stormy, sometimes poisonous relationship since the 1994 genocide.

With a commission of historians due to report on the role Paris played in the central African nation, this a timeline of their fraught relations.

 1990: French go in 

Rwandas Hutu president Juvenal Habyarimana calls for help from France and former colonial power Belgian to fight off Ugandan-based rebels from the Rwandan Patriotic Front (FPR) led by Rwandas current president, Paul Kagame.

Paris sends troops in what is called Operation Noroit in October, officially to protect is embassy and citizens there. But France also secretly helps train the Rwandan army.

 1994: Genocide 

On April 6 Habyarimana is killed when his aircraft is shot down over Kigali.

The next day the genocide begins. From April to July 4 around 800,000 people are killed, most of them from the Tutsi minority, as well as moderate Hutus.

The Tutsis are accused by the Hutu-dominated regime of colluding with the FPR, who had entered northern Rwanda from Uganda in 1990.

Some 500 French paratroopers evacuate more than 1,000 French citizens and foreigners.

 Operation Turquoise 

On June 22 the United Nations gives France the green light for Operation Turquoise, a military operation in Rwanda with humanitarian ends.

The mainly Tutsi FPR accuses France of seeking to save the Hutu regime and the perpetrators of the slaughter.

Some 2,500 French soldiers create a safe humanitarian zone in the south west, effectively hindering the FPRs advance but also allowing fleeing genocide suspects to hide.

On July 4 the FPR seizes the capital Kigali, ending the genocide.

 1998: French probe 

A French parliamentary mission exonerates France from involvement in the genocide in December, but says it bears some responsibility due to strategic errors and institutional dysfunction.

Rwanda insists France is guilty of genocide.

 2006: Relations broken off 

French judge Jean-Louis Bruguiere recommends President Kagame be prosecuted by the UN-backed tribunal trying Rwandas genocide suspects for suspected participation in Habyarimanas assassination. He signs nine arrest warrants for Kagames aides.

Rwanda breaks off diplomatic relations with France. Ties are not restored until November 2009.

 2010: France admits mistakes 

French president Nicolas Sarkozy acknowledges France made mistakes during the genocide.

But he stops short of apologising during the first visit to Rwanda by a French president since the bloodbath.

In September 2011 Kagame makes his first official visit to France.

 2014: French genocide trials 

A French court sentences a former Rwandan army captain to 25 years in prison in the countrys first trial linked to the genocide.

In July 2016 two former Rwandan mayors are sentenced to life in jail in France.

 New Rwandan accusations 

Twentieth anniversary commemorations of the genocide are held in Kigali in April 2014 without a French representative.

Kagame again accuses France of participating in the genocide.

 2018: Detente 

President Emmanuel Macron hosts Kagame in Paris in May, saying the normalisation of relations is under way but will no doubt take time.

In December French judges drop a long-running investigation into the killing of Habyarimana.

The probe had been a major source of tension between the two countries after seven people close to Kagame were charged.

Kagame says he wants a fresh start in relations and has not ruled out the return of a French ambassador to Kigali, a post vacant since October 2015.
LIMERICK City and County Council is considering secure storage bin areas for city businesses which have to leave their refuse collections in laneways.

The information came to light from a question by Independent councillor Elisa O'Donovan, who wanted to know if the local authority would consider identifying suitable locations for secure bin storage in order to comply with the presentation of waste by-laws.

In a written response, Sean McGlynn of the design and delivery department wrote: As part of the Living Georgian Quarter project, lanes have been identified for potential upgrade works including housing or storage units for bins. This is still at concept stage and will be developed in conjunction with the various stakeholders.

Cllr O'Donovan's call was also supported by Cllr Daniel Butler and metropolitan leader, Cllr Sarah Kiely.

It comes after council metropolitan district manager Kieran Lehane warned changing the by-laws to remove bins from laneways in Limerick city centre would impact 150 businesses and 50 apartments.

He also pointed out that in these lanes across the centre, there were on average 17 bins each.

Labour councillor Joe Leddin also saw a notice of motion passed at this months metropolitan meeting, which called on local authority bosses to implement and enforce the existing by-laws to prevent the placement of wheelie bins in laneways, and advise offending businesses to consider alternative waste arrangements.

He said: A lot of us are seeing potential laneways which could really help contribute to the night-time economy as we move into more pleasant weather in the weeks and months ahead. If we are to utilise the potential of these laneways in terms of decorating them and lighting them, or upgrading them in terms of the facades, if that's applicable, in essence, we need cleaning them up for people to facilitate footfall.

Cllr Leddin said: This would make the city centre more attractive for people to come in and walk around the city.

The motion was seconded by Cllr ODonovan, who said: There seems to be a laissez-faire approach to enforcement of by-laws in the city particularly when it comes to the presentation of bins. That is concerning. There are laws there for a reason and they need to be enforced.

While Cllr James Collins warned the presence of litter bins was causing pest control issues and illegal dumping.

Its not fair on the businesses adjacent to the laneway to be a site of storage for the refuse of both streets, he said.

With some food businesses not allowed to keep their bins in their premises, Cllr Fergus Kilcoyne  who runs a pub  suggested a communal bin could be put in place and emptied each morning.

Mr Lehane said while its an offence to store refuse on a public road, under section four of the bylaws, permission can be given to store bins in the laneways.

He said if Cllr Leddins proposal was acted upon, it would have grave consequences for many businesses and their ability to re-open once public health guidelines allow.

This would go against government policy aimed at encouraging the hospitality sector to re-open successfully and would severely impact job creation and the livelihoods of business owners and their staff. Limerick is heavily reliant on the food sector to both drive footfall and attract customers, he stated in a written reply.

Mr Lehane said he would look at the issue again, saying on a walkabout of the city, there were 25 bins in Augustinian Lane, and 30 in Limerick Lane, just off Little Catherine Street.

But, he added: The bins are there because they need to be.
The Office of the President of the City of Borough has honoured the Head of Information at the Permanent Mission of Ghana to the United Nations (UN), Mr Frederick Kofi Ameyaw for his efforts.



Mr Kofi Ameyaws honour was made on March 6, 2021, in the United States of America (USA), a day the Office used to celebrate Ghanaian-American leaders.



According to the citation given to him, the President of Borough also acknowledged him for efforts prior to his appointment as the Head of Information at the Permanent Mission of Ghana to the United Nations.



He was also acknowledged for organizing a meeting between Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia and the Ghanaian business community in New Jersey.

Portions of the citation read, I acknowledge he assumed office in February 2019 and has diligently worked to revamp and rejuvenate the relationship between the Ghanaian community in the tri-state areas of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut by establishing a robust social media platform, bi-weekly media engagements, and continuous outreach.



I also acknowledge him for organising and facilitating the business meeting between the Vice President of Ghana and the Ghanaian business community in New York.



Mr Frederick Kofi Ameyaw upon receiving the honour also expressed his gratitude to the Office of the President of the City of the Borough for the acknowledgement.

According to him, he will use this as a stepping stone to even work harder.



Im grateful for this honour done me and my family and Ghana as a whole. I want to assure the office of the President of the City of Borough that this is going to motivate me to even worker to solidify the relationship between the two countries and bring meaning into our existence and service.

Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
DOE investing in machine learning tools for data analysis

To help researchers better analyze the massive amount of data they collect from their experiments, the Department of Energy is dedicating $29 million to develop new machine learning tools and advanced algorithms that will benefit multiple scientific fields and inform cutting-edge solutions for a variety of complex problems.

Todays scientific facilities, instruments and high-performance computing (HPC) simulations regularly generate terabytes of data -- so much that traditional analysis methods can struggle to interpret the data efficiently. More advanced machine learning tools can identify patterns in data that humans cannot detect, running up to thousands of times faster than traditional data analysis techniques.

As research tools like computers or microscopes have gotten more powerful, the amount of data they can gather has gotten overwhelmingand scientists need new capabilities to make sense of it all, Energy Secretary Jennifer M. Granholm said. Advanced analysis methods will help them unlock the full potential behind all this data, so that we can solve even our most complex challenges.

A number of factors are driving this need. Emerging scientific computing technologies  such as convergence of HPC, massive data, and artificial intelligence/machine learning on increasingly heterogeneous architectures  will require new analysis techniques. Second, the growing use of neural networks that can implicitly learn from massive amounts of training data will likely change the way applications are programmed. Finally, new approaches will be needed to realize the full potential of AI/ML for scientific discovery.

Up to $21 million will focus on high-impact approaches to machine learning under the Data-Intensive Scientific Machine Learning and Analysis program. The principal goal is the development of reliable and efficient AI/ML tools for managing massive, complex and multi-modal scientific data.

Rather than incrementally extend current research, the program aims explore unconventional approaches to solving challenges posed by AI/ML for scientific inference and data analysis, the announcement said. Possible approaches might feature asynchronous computations, mixed precision arithmetic, compressed sensing, coupling frameworks, graph and network algorithms, randomization, Monte Carlo or Bayesian methods, differentiable or probabilistic programming, or other relevant facets.

The remaining $8 million is dedicated to the Randomized Algorithms for Extreme-Scale Science program, which aims to make large datasets easier to understand. Its goal is to explore the use of randomized algorithms, which use random sampling to simplify extremely large datasets for analysis and are much more accurate than current methods.

In this case, DOE said it is looking for algorithms that use some form of randomness in their internal algorithmic decisions to achieve faster time to solution, better algorithmic scalability, enhanced reliability or robustness, or other improvements in scientific computing performance.

Possible research topics include:

High computation and communication complexity and the development of efficient algorithms.

High data dimensionality and finding sparse representations for data from scientific instruments and user facilities.

Better algorithm scalability for low-power, high-performance edge computing.

Improved algorithm reliability and robustness to noise.

This investment will boost scientific breakthroughs and assist the United States with analyzing and solving some of the greatest challenges facing our nation, like climate change, new cures for quality healthcare and cybersecurity, said Rep. Darren Soto (D-Fla.).
All care homes in England have finally been vaccinated against Covid almost four months after the jab rollout began, NHS figures show.

The final outstanding home - unable to be visited for months because of a ongoing coronavirus outbreak - was visited by an NHS team of vaccinators last week.

Officials refused to name it but the milestone means people in all 10,413 eligible care homes across the country have been offered the first dose of a Covid vaccine that could save their life.

At least 94 per cent of them, some 273,685 people, have accepted the offer since the rollout began on December 8. Some may refuse and people who recently had Covid are not allowed the jab until they have recovered.

The Labour Party criticised the Government for not delivering on its promise to vaccinate all over-80s by February but Public Health England said there were 'a number of factors' that delayed medics' abilities to reach some homes.

Although the rollout has gone well for care home residents, there are still concerns about low vaccination rates among staff and the Government is now considering making their jabs mandatory to protect elderly people.

Care home residents are among the people most at risk of dying if they catch coronavirus because they tend to be elderly and have dementia or other serious health problems (Pictured: A woman is vaccinated at a care home in Scotland in December)

NHS data show that while the care home vaccine rollout has gone well for resident, fewer than half of staff have been immunised in some areas  with uptake worst in London  despite jabs being available to them since December

Before the week ending March 21, all but one home had a vaccination team offer jabs to the residents and staff, who are all top of the government's priority list.

Almost all care homes had been reached by the NHS by January 31, when the count was first published, when 10,321 out of 10,413 had been completed, leaving 92.

At the end of February there were just five care homes that hadn't been reached, but it took another fortnight to finish off the list.

Care home residents are among the people most at risk of dying if they catch coronavirus because they tend to be elderly and have dementia or other serious health problems.

More than 41,000 residents have died of Covid in England so far  equal to around one in seven of all those now listed as eligible for a jab.

But more than nine out of 10 of the 300,000 on the patient list have now had at least one dose of the vaccine since the rollout started last year, meaning most will be protected against severe Covid-19.

GOVERNMENT MULLING VACCINE LAW FOR CARERS Care home workers could be forced to get a coronavirus vaccine or quit their job, a leaked document revealed this week. Boris Johnson and Matt Hancock are believed to have pushed for the move amid alarm over the low take-up of jabs among care home staff. Figures show that only around a quarter of care homes in London and around half in other parts of England have reached 'safe' levels of vaccination of staff. A paper was submitted to the Covid-19 Operations Cabinet sub- committee last week to make jabs compulsory for care home staff, according to the Daily Telegraph. If the measures are voted through then England's 1.5 million workers in social care could become legally required to get a coronavirus jab. It presents a major departure from the Government's previous insistence the jab would not be made mandatory. It is also expected to raise anger among staff, with the paper itself warning that the policy could trigger an exodus of staff and even a string of human rights lawsuits. The paper was drafted by the Department of Health and Social Care and is titled 'Vaccination as a condition of deployment in adult social care and health setting'. The key section for care workers reads: 'The Prime Minister and the Secretary of State [for Health] have discussed on several occasions the progress that is being made to vaccinate social care workers against Covid-19 and have agreed  in order to reach a position of much greater safety for care recipients  to put in place legislation to require vaccinations among the workforce.' Advertisement

Labour said it was concerned there are still significant numbers of elderly people not yet reached by the vaccine programme.

Liz Kendall MP, Labours Shadow Social Care Minister, said: 'The Government promised that all over-80s would be vaccinated by mid-February, and yet in some places up to one in four elderly people are yet to receive their jab.

'Many of these people will be frail, living alone, or housebound, and will be extremely worried about missing out on the vaccine.

'Ministers must set out a clear plan to increase uptake, working with care providers, local councils and families to ensure the easiest possible access for those who are yet to be vaccinated.'

NHS England and Public Health England declined to comment on the care home rollout.

PHE said there were a 'number of factors' that could slow down efforts to reach individual homes, with risk assessments needed to minimise the risk of spreading the virus.

NHS England explains in its reports that the care home list 'includes a small number of eligible care homes currently undergoing an outbreak and cannot be visited by a vaccination team as determined by the local authority public health team.'

Care homes have been at the top of the vaccine priority list since it was drawn up by the JCVI (Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation) last year.

Statistics going up to March 21 released by NHS England last week show some areas of London have as little as 80 per cent of their care home residents vaccinated.

The lowest area in the country was Hackney (80.2 per cent) followed by Lewisham (84.3 per cent), which are both in the capital.

Some 13 other areas have seen less than 90 per cent of their care home residents vaccinated.

Getting vaccines out to the homes started slowly because the Pfizer jab, which initially had to be stored at -70C and could not be transported easily, was the only one available until early January.

The fact that it came in huge batches of around 1,000 doses and had to be used quickly after defrosting meant it couldn't be divided into small deliveries so was mostly reserved for large vaccination centres in towns and cities.

Oxford and AstraZeneca's jab approval on January 4 meant the rollout could speed up monumentally because that can be stored at room temperature for a long time.

Although the vaccination of care home residents has largely been a success, attempts to immunise staff in the homes have not gone as well.

Ministers are now considering making it the law for care home staff to get a Covid vaccine because uptake rates are so low they could be putting elderly people at risk.

Only 76.6 per cent of care home workers have taken up the offer of the vaccine in England so far.

But the uptake rate varies wildly across the country, with six areas dishing out jabs to less than 60 per cent of their care home workers.

Just 404 of Lambeth in London's 898 eligible care home staff have accepted the invitation for a vaccine  an uptake rate of just 45 per cent.

Four of the other five areas were also in London: Wandsworth (55.8 per cent), Camden (58.6 per cent), Hackney (59.1 per cent) and Redbridge (59.2 per cent).

Vaccine hesitancy has led the Government to consider making jabs mandatory for care workers.

Pete Calveley, CEO of Barchester Healthcare which already employs a controversial 'no jab no job' policy, said his staff have a 'duty' to get the Covid vaccine to protect their residents from Covid.

He said the human rights of people living in care homes were at stake and staff must protect them.

The firm was one of the first to announce that it would not hire any new carers who haven't been vaccinated and all existing staff must get a jab by the end of April.

Hesitancy is thought to be high among care staff because many of them are from low income or less educated households or black or ethnic minority communities. All of those groups are known to be more likely to refuse a vaccine.

Matt Hancock on Monday admitted mandatory vaccination was 'something we are looking at' and claimed 'many' care homes have supported the proposal.

He scolded carers who have turned down their jab appointments, warning that they 'have a duty of care not to pass on the disease' to frail residents.

His comments came after a leaked paper submitted to the Covid Operations Cabinet committee showed Mr Hancock and Boris Johnson both had agreed to compulsory jabs for care staff.

Mr Hancock told LBC: 'On this one, no decision has been taken, but it is something that we are looking at.

'Because people who are looking after elderly residents in care homes, who we know to be the most vulnerable to Covid, they have a duty of care not to pass on the disease and it is a reasonable question.'

He said 'many' care homes had asked for this to happen, adding: 'There's a legal change that's required and, as you can see, I'm open to that, but no final decision has been taken.'
The Eritreans crossed the border into northern Ethiopia soon after Mr. Abiy launched a military campaign in Tigray on Nov. 4, accusing rebellious Tigrayan leaders of orchestrating an attack on a major military base and trying to topple the federal government.

As the fighting gathered pace, reports of gross abuses against civilians began to emerge from Tigray. Ethiopian soldiers, allied fighters from ethnic Ahmara militias, and fighters loyal to the Tigray Peoples Liberation Front all faced accusations.

But United Nations officials and human rights groups singled out Eritrean troops for many of the worst violations. Last weekend, Mr. Abiy spent five hours in talks with U.S. Senator Chris Coons, who had been sent to Ethiopia by President Biden to convey his alarm at the deteriorating situation.

In a briefing to reporters on Thursday, Mr. Coons said that the talks were forthright at times, and that Mr. Abiy had reiterated his promise to investigate human rights abuses in Tigray, including credible reports of sexual violence as a tool of war.

But Mr. Abiy has fallen short on such commitments before, Mr. Coons said, and the United States intends to keep up the pressure. Its actions that are going to matter, he said.

On Friday a State Department spokeswoman welcomed Ethiopias announcement, calling it an important step toward de-escalation.

In a mark of the impunity that has come to characterize the Tigrayan conflict, Ethiopian soldiers dragged civilians from a bus on a major road in Tigray and executed four of them in front of aid workers from Doctors Without Borders, the group said in a statement Thursday.
Fond memories, friendship and future holidays feature in hospices balloon story

This article is old - Published: Friday, Mar 26th, 2021

Making memories and commemorating loved ones is proving to be a popular theme for Nightingale Houses unique Build A Balloon campaign.

The hospice is building its very own hot air balloon to celebrate 25 years of caring for those with life-limiting illnesses.

After a year of lockdown one family cant wait for their annual holiday gathering in North Wales  so much so its the image on their very own panel as a reminder of good times ahead.

Feet on the beach depicts Val Gillets familys feet on the sand at Tal-Y-Bont, as a timely reminder that it wont be long until they can all holiday together again.





Val of Coedpoeth said: I love this photograph of our feet on the beach, it reminds me of happy times when we could all be together and be a family post-lockdown.

I wanted to sponsor a panel on the balloon to support the excellent work the hospice does in our communities and for me the fond memories we have of us all together on holiday seemed the perfect image. Hopefully it wont be too long until we can get together again.

Val, is also part of a Ladies Wine Group  a group of 14 friends whove been meeting weekly via Zoom since March last year.

The ladies also wanted to sponsor a panel and chose the words Ladies Wine, Flying High Together in 2021 as a symbol of their friendship and optimism for when they meet again face to face.

As a group we often help fundraise for various charities, explained Val.

We all agreed that supporting Nightingale Houses Build A Balloon Campaign would be a great opportunity to celebrate us as a group.

In normal times wed meet every month in someones house but when lockdown happened we started doing our weekly Zoom Calls.

Ladies Wine paid 25 for their exclusive panel but raised a total of 150, with the remainder being made as a donation to Nightingale House.

Sarah Povey, fundraiser for Nightingale House said: The image and slogan Val and her friends have selected for their exclusive panels are great examples of hope and happy times to come.

As so many of our face to face events have been cancelled we believe that our unique Build A Balloon campaign is a great way for supporters to celebrate or commemorate loved ones.

We are grateful for the kind support given by Val and the Ladies Wine Group and excited to see their completed panels on our balloon in the summer.

The Nightingale House Build A Balloon campaign closes on 30 April 2021 and is due to go into production in late spring.

If you would like to sponsor a panel you can go online and complete the form before the end of April.
Photo: Getty Images/iStockphoto

As vaccine supply increases from the federal government, more states are opening up coronavirus vaccine eligibility. This week, California, Texas, Florida, and Georgia  the first, second, third, and eighth most populous states in the nation  announced that they would open up vaccinations to all adults in early April.

By mid-April, at least 21 states will allow all adult residents to sign up for COVID-19 vaccinations: Alaska, California, Connecticut, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and West Virginia. More could soon join: On Friday, Minnesota governor Tim Walz is expected to announce that all adults over the age of 16 can sign up for vaccinations as of March 30. More than a quarter of all Americans have now received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine, according to the Centers for Disease Control, with a little over 14.3 percent of the population fully vaccinated.

In his first national address on March 11, President Joe Biden called for all states to open vaccine access to all adults by May 1. While the presidents initial goal was to administer 100 million vaccine doses by his 100th day in office, he doubled that goal on Thursday. I know its ambitious, twice our original goal, but no other country in the world has come close, he said, at the beginning of his first official press conference. The goal certainly seems possible thanks to the ramping up of vaccine production: At last weeks rate of 2.5 million shots per day, the nation would break past the 200 million mar just before Bidens 100th day on April 30.
South Africa: Protect children's rights

As South Africa commemorates Human Rights Month, Minister of Social Development, Lindiwe Zulu, has emphasised the importance of protecting children rights.

The Constitution and the Childrens Act advocate for childrens rights to be regarded as basic services including the rights to life, shelter, protection, maintenance, education, social security and parenting.

Human rights cannot be complete as long as global trends replicate our country as a centre of violence, rape, abduction, teenage pregnancy, gangsterism and many forms of social ills and abuse encountered by our children on a daily basis, Zulu said.

The Minister was addressing a National Roundtable Webinar on Child Killings on Friday, which she hosted in partnership with the United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF).

The 2019/2020 Annual Crime Statistics presented by the South African Police Service showed that child murders dropped by 7% meanwhile 943 children were murdered and more than 24 000 were sexually assaulted in South Africa.

This states we are an angry and wounded society that needs urgent intervention. We need to do everything we can, prevention is better than cure, Zulu said.

She said all sectors of society need to reflect and introspect on what is not being done right in the cause of prevention.

Child killings cannot be taken lightly as many children lose their lives and future during early stages in their lives, this paints a very bleak picture for us as a country, the Minister said.

Zulu said the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the high levels of inequality, poverty, unemployment and other social ills impacting on the wellbeing of children.

As a result, families wherein children reside were hard hit by the social economic conditions ranging from gender based violence (GBV) and femicide, substance abuse as well as job losses.

Children and families who are already vulnerable due to socio economic exclusion or those living in crowded setting become more vulnerable due to the manifestations of physical and emotional abuse, neglect or the death of family members

Most concerning is when children die and are hurt at the hands of those they trust most as such as their parents, caregivers and family members, she said.

The Minister expressed concern at children losing their lives for ritual purposes. This is an indication that something is completely wrong with our society as we are often unable to take care and protect our children, she said.

The webinar formed part of the National Human Rights Month commemorations which seek to highlight and address the plight of children and their rights to protection.

This year, South Africa is observing the month under the theme: The year of Charlotte Maxeke: promoting human rights in the age of COVID-19.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2021-03-26. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
President Biden on Friday invited 40 world leaders, including Presidents Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and Xi Jinping of China, to participate in a climate summit next month.

The summit will begin on Earth Day, April 22. Like all of Mr. Bidens international meetings so far, it will be held virtually, and a White House announcement said it would be live streamed for public viewing.

That format may ensure a fair bit of public posturing by the leaders on how climate is an issue on which they can all work together  and it eliminates the potential problem of pull aside meetings on other topics with American adversaries. Over the past 10 days, Mr. Biden has called Mr. Putin a killer and said that Mr. Xi did not have a democratic bone in his body. But he has promised to cooperate with them on common challenges.

The summit is part of an effort to get the United States and its partners back on track after Mr. Biden re-entered the Paris agreement, the global pact intended to avert catastrophic global warming. It is his chance to galvanize efforts to reduce emissions, set standards for limiting the warming of the atmosphere, and make good on his promise that efforts to stem climate change can also create jobs.
What We Know About How UM Handled The Hack

What Was The Massive Cyber Attack to Accellion Like?

Who Are The Cyber Criminals Behind the UM Hack?

(TNS)  Hackers targeted the University of Miami in a massive and brazen "ransomware" scheme that at the very least has compromised the personal information of an unknown number of medical patients.The university is just one of a string of businesses, government agencies and schools hit in recent months through Accellion file-sharing software. They include the oil and gas giant Shell, law firm Jones Day (whose clients include former President Donald Trump), the supermarket chain Kroger and the Washington State Auditor's Office, where it impacted more than 1.6 million people.The scope of the data breach at UM isn't clear. The university disclosed the attack in a web posting Tuesday  weeks after several other universities  but refused to provide details. The post downplayed impact: " Accellion had been used by a small number of individuals at UM to transfer files too large for email. The University has since discontinued use of Accellion file transfer services."But cyber criminals posted a few dozen patients' personal information, including their Social Security numbers and physical addresses in some cases, on the internet in the so-called "dark web" often used by digital crooks. Brett Callow, a cybersecurity expert based in Canada, said that amounts to an extortion threat  pay up or we'll expose more of your protected data."It's the equivalent of a kidnapper sending a pinky finger," he said.As of Wednesday, UM had not yet alerted affected patients but said it intended to do so. "Once our investigation and data analysis are complete, we will notify affected individuals under applicable laws," the university said in the Tuesday posting.UM didn't issue a press release about the breach. Instead, it published an email message on a web page it uses for "key institutional emails that are sent out to various UM constituencies." It was unclear who received the Tuesday email message about the cyberattack. At least two UM employees confirmed to thethey got the correspondence, but none of the three patients interviewed reported getting it.William Budd, who has been a patient at UHealth since 1999 and is fighting cancer, said the first time he heard his information had been compromised was when areporter called him Wednesday. Hackers posted his email address and phone number online, but could potentially have more of his personal details and release them in the future."Let me sit down," he told the reporter on the phone. "I feel like I should be sitting down to hear what you have to say."Budd said he hadn't received any emails, phone calls, text messages or letters warning him that hackers had stolen his data. He said that if he had, he would've notified credit bureaus about it and taken other precautions weeks or even months earlier."What bothers me most is nobody from UHealth has contacted me," he said. "That's serious. It's disturbing."Lisa Worley, a spokeswoman for UHealth, didn't respond to requests for comment.The cyberattack was targeted through software produced by Accellion. The California-based company said in a Feb. 1 statement it "promptly notified" all of its customers about the "sophisticated cyberattack" on Dec. 23.A university spokeswoman would not say when the school discovered the attack. It is unclear why UM waited until this week to disclose the breach. The University of Colorado, which got student grades and copies of checks stolen, put out information about the incident on Feb. 12. The Southern Illinois University School of Medicine divulged it March 4.UM's web posting said that based on its ongoing investigation, "the incident was limited to the Accellion server used for secure file transfers and did not compromise other University of Miami systems or affect outside systems linked to the University of Miami's network."The university did not provide information on how many UHealth patients' data may have been compromised or whether other university departments or students records were impacted. It is unclear whether UM received a ransom message or if it paid or was planning to pay the hackers.Responding to questions, Megan Ondrizek, the executive director of communications and public relations at UM, emailed a short written statement that included some of the text in the Tuesday web posting and read in part:"As soon as we became aware of the incident, we took immediate action to investigate and contain it. We also retained leading cybersecurity experts to assist with our investigation. We have reported the incident to law enforcement and are cooperating with their investigation."Accellion, a global cloud provider in Silicon Valley, suffered the hacking attack late last year that bled into the start of 2021. In some ways, the public and private entities affected are still dealing with the fallout.It wasn't a "conventional" attack, said Callow, who works as a threat analyst for Emsisoft, a cybersecurity firm.Usually, hackers get access to information and lock it down or encrypt it. Then they ask for money to give it back, he said. In this case, the attackers stole sensitive information through Accellion to blackmail the organizations.That put victims between a rock and a hard place: They either pay, trusting that cyber crooks will destroy data as promised, or let the data get online. Callow said there's "ample evidence" they retain stolen data and then come back to ask for more money.The method used wasn't the only reason that made the attack unusual. The number of parties affected contributed too."I can't think of any previous incident at this scale," Callow said.The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, a federal U.S. agency under the Department of Homeland Security, issued an alert about the attack on Feb. 24 jointly with authorities in New Zealand, Australia, Singapore and the United Kingdom."Worldwide, actors have exploited the vulnerabilities to attack multiple federal and state, local, tribal, and territorial government organizations as well as private industry organizations including those in the medical, legal, telecommunications, finance, and energy sectors," the statement read."In some instances observed, the attacker has subsequently extorted money from victim organizations to prevent public release of information exfiltrated from the Accellion appliance."To investigate the cyberattack, Accellion hired FireEye Mandiant, a leading cybersecurity forensics firm, which shared the final findings in an 11-page report on March 1.However, "it isn't entirely clear who is responsible for the attacks," Callow, the cybersecurity expert, said.The researchers didn't identify any hackers by name, but said they used a dark website known as "CL0P^_- LEAKS" .onion to release the stolen data.Not much is known about the Clop ransomware gang, other than that they are probably based somewhere in Eastern Europe because they use the Russian language, Callow said. In this Accellion case, an outside group of hackers could have stolen the data and then provided it to Clop."That could've been the work of a third party, and they simply brought Clop on board because Clop has the expertise and infrastructure to run extortion campaigns," Callow said.
City

 Drew S. Strong, 29, transient, Auburn, was charged March 22 with second-degree burglary, seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, petit larceny and possession of a mislabeled dangerous drug.

 Calvin Bacon Jr., 35, 300 Burt St., B704, Syracuse, was charged March 23 with second-degree unlawful fleeing a police officer in a motor vehicle, reckless driving and resisting arrest.

 Charles A. Donato, 42, 96 N. Fulton St., Auburn, was charged March 23 with one count of third-degree possession of a controlled substance, two counts of second-degree using drug paraphernalia and two counts of possession/sale of mislabeled dangerous substances.

 Christal V. Marino, 40, 1021 Renewal Place, Raleigh, North Carolina, was picked up on a bench warrant March 25.

 Anthony J. Panek, 30, 51 Chapman Ave., Auburn, was charged March 24 with second-degree criminal contempt.

 Anthony M. Kelly, 35, 174 Genesee St., Apt. 7A, Auburn, was charged March 25 with second-degree obstructing governmental administration and resisting arrest.

 Joshua L. Sylvester, 34, 3 Mahaney Ave., Auburn was picked up on two bench warrants March 25.
Yves here. The Biden Administration is throwing so many punches on the geopolitical front, and at least in some circles, that belligerence is being called out, that some actions that might be going in a more measured direction may not be getting the attention they warrant. One is the surprising move by the US to have the UN act as lead negotiator in Afghanistan.

By Medea Benjamin, cofounder of CODEPINK for Peace, and author of several books, including Inside Iran: The Real History and Politics of the Islamic Republic of Iran and Nicolas J. S. Davies, an independent journalist, a researcher with CODEPINK and the author of Blood On Our Hands: the American Invasion and Destruction of Iraq

On March 18, the world was treated to the spectacle of U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken sternly lecturing senior Chinese officials about the need for China to respect a rules-based order. The alternative, Blinken warned, is a world in which might makes right, and that would be a far more violent and unstable world for all of us.

Blinken was clearly speaking from experience. Since the United States dispensed with the UN Charter and the rule of international law to invade Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq, and has used military force and unilateral economic sanctions against many other countries, it has indeed made the world more deadly, violent and chaotic.

When the UN Security Council refused to give its blessing to U.S. aggression against Iraq in 2003, President Bush publicly threatened the UN with irrelevance. He later appointed John Bolton as UN Ambassador, a man who famously once said that, if the UN building in New York lost 10 stories, it wouldnt make a bit of difference.

But after two decades of unilateral U.S. foreign policy in which the United States has systematically ignored and violated international law, leaving widespread death, violence and chaos in its wake, U.S. foreign policy may finally be coming full circle, at least in the case of Afghanistan.

Secretary Blinken has taken the previously unthinkable step of calling on the United Nations to lead negotiations for a ceasefire and political transition in Afghanistan, relinquishing the U.S.s monopoly as the sole mediator between the Kabul government and the Taliban.

So, after 20 years of war and lawlessness, is the United States finally ready to give the rules-based order a chance to prevail over U.S. unilateralism and might makes right, instead of just using it as a verbal cudgel to browbeat its enemies?

Biden and Blinken seem to have chosen Americas endless war in Afghanistan as a test case, even as they resist rejoining Obamas nuclear agreement with Iran, jealously guard the U.S.s openly partisan role as the sole mediator between Israel and Palestine, maintain Trumps vicious economic sanctions, and continue Americas systematic violations of international law against many other countries.

Whats Going on in Afghanistan?

In February 2020, the Trump administration signed an agreement with the Taliban to fully withdraw U.S. and NATO troops from Afghanistan by May 1, 2021.

The Taliban had refused to negotiate with the U.S.-backed government in Kabul until the U.S. and NATO withdrawal agreement was signed, but once that was done, the Afghan sides began peace talks in March 2020. Instead of agreeing to a full ceasefire during the talks, as the U.S. government wanted, the Taliban only agreed to a one-week reduction in violence.

Eleven days later, as fighting continued between the Taliban and the Kabul government, the United States wrongly claimed that the Taliban was violating the agreement it signed with the United States and relaunched its bombing campaign.

Despite the fighting, the Kabul government and the Taliban managed to exchange prisoners and continue negotiations in Qatar, mediated by U.S. envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, who had negotiated the U.S. withdrawal agreement with the Taliban. But the talks made slow progress, and now seem to have reached an impasse.

The coming of spring in Afghanistan usually brings an escalation in the war. Without a new ceasefire, a spring offensive would probably lead to more territorial gains for the Talibanwhich already controls at least half of Afghanistan.

This prospect, combined with the May 1st withdrawal deadline for the remaining 3,500 U.S. and 7,000 other NATO troops, prompted Blinkens invitation to the United Nations to lead a more inclusive international peace process that will also involve India, Pakistan and the United Statess traditional enemies, China, Russia and, most remarkably, Iran.

This process began with a conference on Afghanistan in Moscow on March 18-19, which brought together a 16-member delegation from the U.S.-backed Afghan government in Kabul and negotiators from the Taliban, along with U.S. envoy Khalilzad and representatives from the other countries.

The Moscow conference laid the groundwork for a larger UN-led conference to be held in Istanbul in April to map out a framework for a ceasefire, a political transition and a power-sharing agreement between the U.S.-backed government and the Taliban.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has appointed Jean Arnault to lead the negotiations for the UN. Arnault previously negotiated the end to the Guatemalan Civil War in the 1990s and the peace agreement between the government and the FARC in Colombia, and he was the Secretary-Generals representative in Bolivia from the 2019 coup until a new election was held in 2020. Arnault also knows Afghanistan, having served in the UN Assistance Mission to Afghanistan from 2002 to 2006.

If the Istanbul conference results in an agreement between the Kabul government and the Taliban, U.S. troops could be home sometime in the coming months.

President Trumpbelatedly trying to make good on his promise to end that endless war deserves credit for beginning a full withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan. But a withdrawal without a comprehensive peace plan would not have ended the war. The UN-led peace process should give the people of Afghanistan a much better chance of a peaceful future than if U.S. forces left with the two sides still at war, and reduce the chances that the gains made by women over these years will be lost.

It took 17 years of war to bring the United States to the negotiating table and another two-and-a-half years before it was ready to step back and let the UN take the lead in peace negotiations.

For most of this time, the U.S. tried to maintain the illusion that it could eventually defeat the Taliban and win the war. But U.S. internal documents published by WikiLeaks and a stream of reports and investigations revealed that U.S. military and political leaders have known for a long time that they could not win. As General Stanley McChrystal put it, the best that U.S. forces could do in Afghanistan was to muddle along.

What that meant in practice was dropping tens of thousands of bombs, day after day, year after year, and conducting thousands of night raids that, more often than not, killed, maimed or unjustly detained innocent civilians.

The death toll in Afghanistan is unknown. Most U.S. airstrikes and night raids take place in remote, mountainous areas where people have no contact with the UN human rights office in Kabul that investigates reports of civilian casualties.

Fiona Frazer, the UNs human rights chief in Afghanistan, admitted to the BBC in 2019 that more civilians are killed or injured in Afghanistan due to armed conflict than anywhere else on Earth.The published figures almost certainly do not reflect the true scale of harm.

No serious mortality study has been conducted since the U.S. invasion in 2001. Initiating a full accounting for the human cost of this war should be an integral part of UN envoy Arnaults job, and we should not be surprised if, like the Truth Commission he oversaw in Guatemala, it reveals a death toll that is ten or twenty times what we have been told.

If Blinkens diplomatic initiative succeeds in breaking this deadly cycle of muddling along, and brings even relative peace to Afghanistan, that will establish a precedent and an exemplary alternative to the seemingly endless violence and chaos of Americas post-9/11 wars in other countries.

The United States has used military force and economic sanctions to destroy, isolate or punish an ever-growing list of countries around the world, but it no longer has the power to defeat, re-stabilize and integrate these countries into its neocolonial empire, as it did at the height of its power after the Second World War. Americas defeat in Vietnam was a historical turning point: the end of an age of Western military empires.

All the United States can achieve in the countries it is occupying or besieging today is to keep them in various states of poverty, violence and chaosshattered fragments of empire adrift in the twenty-first century world.

U.S. military power and economic sanctions can temporarily prevent bombed or impoverished countries from fully recovering their sovereignty or benefiting from Chinese-led development projects like the Belt and Road Initiative, but Americas leaders have no alternative development model to offer them.

The people of Iran, Cuba, North Korea and Venezuela have only to look at Afghanistan, Iraq, Haiti, Libya or Somalia to see where the pied piper of American regime change would lead them.

What Is This All About?

Humanity faces truly serious challenges in this century, from the mass extinction of the natural world to the destruction of the life-affirming climate that has been the vital backdrop of human history, while nuclear mushroom clouds still threaten us all with civilization-ending destruction.

It is a sign of hope that Biden and Blinken are turning to legitimate, multilateral diplomacy in the case of Afghanistan, even if only because, after 20 years of war, they finally see diplomacy as a last resort.

But peace, diplomacy and international law should not be a last resort, to be tried only when Democrats and Republicans alike are finally forced to admit that no new form of force or coercion will work. Nor should they be a cynical way for American leaders to wash their hands of a thorny problem and offer it as a poisoned chalice for others to drink.

If the UN-led peace process Secretary Blinken has initiated succeeds and U.S. troops finally come home, Americans should not forget about Afghanistan in the coming months and years. We should pay attention to what happens there and learn from it. And we should support generous U.S. contributions to the humanitarian and development aid that the people of Afghanistan will need for many years to come.

This is how the international rules-based system, which U.S. leaders love to talk about but routinely violate, is supposed to work, with the UN fulfilling its responsibility for peacemaking and individual countries overcoming their differences to support it.

Maybe cooperation over Afghanistan can even be a first step toward broader U.S. cooperation with China, Russia and Iran that will be essential if we are to solve the serious common challenges confronting us all.
CNN has not reported or covered the latest implications surrounding Gov. Andrew Cuomo getting priority testing for his family members, including for the network's star anchor and his brother, Chris Cuomo.

While the network released a statement Wednesday to the Washington Post about the host of Cuomo Prime Time getting special access to state-administered COVID-19 tests from his brother, CNN hadn't reported the story on-air or on its website as of Thursday evening.

CNN has been slammed for its 'lack of ethics' after a report claimed that the network's anchor, Chris Cuomo, abused his position as the brother of New York Gov Andrew Cuomo to get a priority COVID-19 test before thousands of others when the state was the epicenter of the pandemic last year.

According to a report from The Washington Post on Wednesday, Gov Cuomo gave family members, including his brother, Chris, special access to state-administered COVID-19 tests in the early days of the pandemic.

CNN has not reported on the latest Cuomo bombshell report that the governor gave his brother priority access to the state's COVID-19 tests as of Thursday evening

In response to the claims, Matt Dornic, the head of strategic communications for CNN, said in a statement on Wednesday: 'We generally do not get involved in the medical decisions of our employees'

CNN's statement drew ire from several people, including conservative writer A.G. Hamilton (tweet pictured)

In response to the claims, Matt Dornic, the head of strategic communications for CNN, said in a statement: 'We generally do not get involved in the medical decisions of our employees.'

'However, it is not surprising in the earliest days of a once-in-a-century global pandemic, when Chris was showing symptoms and was concerned about possible spread, he turned to anyone he could for advice and assistance, as any human being would,' Dornic said in the statement shared by Washington Post media critic Erik Wemple.

The Post, which cited three unnamed people with knowledge of the situation, reported that a top state doctor made house calls to some of the governor's family members or close associates, including his brother and mother, to administer the tests.

Testing on Cuomo's family members came at the height of the pandemic when ordinary New Yorkers struggled to get access to screenings. Cuomo and his mother in 2016

Andrew Cuomo receives a nasal swab Covid-19 test during a news conference in the Red Room of the New York State Capitol Building in Albany, New York, U.S., on Sunday, May 17, 2020

Chris tested positive for COVID-19 early in the pandemic.

Following CNN's statement, several people took to Twitter to blast the network.

'The lack of ethics here from CNN is incredible,' conservative writer A.G. Hamilton tweeted.

'It's not just that Andrew Cuomo abused his position to get friends and family (inc Chris) inaccessible and expedited tests, but that CNN then had Andrew Cuomo do weekly joke interviews with his brother knowing that abuse happened,' he added.

Former MSNBC host, Keith Olbermann shared: 'HOO boy who thought THIS would help?'

Several people blasted CNN for not admitting wrongdoing in the incident

'That is a very bad statement,' another tweeted.

Radio host, Derek Hunter, wrote: 'A long-winded version of 'Don't you know who I am?'

The claims add more fuel to the fire as Gov Cuomo is already facing calls to resign over accusations of sexual harassment or misconduct from at least eight women and disclosures that his administration under-reported nursing home deaths from the pandemic.

The 63-year-old third-term governor has denied the allegations and repeatedly said he would not resign from office.

In a statement, Gov Cuomo's spokesman Richard Azzopardi said: 'We should avoid insincere efforts to rewrite the past. In the early days of this pandemic, when there was a heavy emphasis on contact tracing, we were absolutely going above and beyond to get people testing.'

Those efforts included 'in some instances going to people's homes - and door to door in places like New Rochelle - to take samples from those believed to have been exposed to COVID in order to identify cases and prevent additional ones,' the statement added.

Among those assisted, 'were members of the general public, including legislators, reporters, state workers and their families who feared they had contracted the virus and had the capability to further spread it,' Azzopardi said.
Ahora | El presidente @FSagasti, junto con los titulares del @Minsa_Peru y @MinjusDH_Peru, supervisa el funcionamiento del Laboratorio Regional de Salud Publica, en Pilcomayo, Huancayo.#AccionesEnLasRegiones

?? En vivo: https://t.co/cMozM4oWEr
An estimated 24,000 Manitoba seniors over the age of 80 have yet to get a single shot of the COVID-19 vaccine, even as the age criteria for the life-saving jab is poised to dip below age of retirement.

An estimated 24,000 Manitoba seniors over the age of 80 have yet to get a single shot of the COVID-19 vaccine, even as the age criteria for the life-saving jab is poised to dip below age of retirement.

As of Thursday, at least 30,950 Manitobans 80 or older had received one shot of the COVID-19 vaccine. According to population data from Statistics Canada, thats about 56 per cent of that age group.

"The more we can bring the vaccine to the people, as opposed to bringing the people to the vaccine, thats going to be the best for those oldest age groups and, in particular, the ones who have not been vaccinated already," said Prof. Michelle Porter, director of the University of Manitoba Centre on Aging.

"Its not because theyre hesitant. Its not because they dont want the vaccine. Its all of these other logistical issues that are preventing them."

Statistics Canada estimates there are nearly 42,900 people living in Manitoba who are between the ages of 80 and 89. Based on that population estimate, just 48 per cent of seniors in that age group had received a first dose, as of Thursday.

People 80 or older became eligible for vaccination March 10. Roughly 80 per cent of Manitobans in their 90s have received one shot.

Porter said there are many reasons why uptake may be slower among older populations. However, she suspects a large number are waiting for the vaccine to be offered in a familiar setting, such as a doctors office or pharmacist.

"A lot of people in this age bracket, in contrast to younger people, they would be used to getting a flu shot every year, and so I think a lot of them want to do what they normally do, go to the same places that they normally go to," Porter said Thursday.

"So this unfamiliarity of going to a different place, it being done in a different way, I think is definitely an issue."

The Free Press requested the number of immunizations scheduled over the next three weeks for people age 70 and over, but a provincial spokesman said those figures were not ready to be shared publicly.

Appointments for those over 70 opened March 19.

"Certainly, for some seniors, navigating the website or the call centre can be very difficult. For other folks, they may have competing priorities, other things that are going on in life and it might be hard to get this to the top of the todo list."  Dr. Joss Reimer, medical lead for the provincial COVID19 vaccine task force

While provincial public health officials have urged Manitobans to sign up to receive the vaccine as soon as eligible, the rollout has faced criticism for being inaccessible to some of the most elderly citizens.

Currently, most Manitobans can only get vaccinated at one of the provinces five "super site" clinics or a pop-up clinic staged in rural and remote communities.

For seniors living independently in rural Manitoba, that means co-ordinating travel to an urban centre with a vaccination clinic  sometimes hundreds of kilometres away  or waiting until a pop-up clinic opens in their community.

For others, it can mean relying and waiting on family members to be available to escort them to a clinic.

In February, the Free Press reported the daughter of a 95-year-old Winnipeg man, bedridden and too frail to leave his Osborne Village home, was forced to hire a stretcher service to transport her father to the clinic at the downtown RBC Convention Centre.

"The vaccine is free, but the whole process for someone going to get a vaccine, is definitely not free," Porter said. "We didnt seem to have everything in place to begin with for this more challenging group to get vaccinated, these older age groups."

Porter said the risk associated with leaving home to go to a mass vaccination clinic and the sheer size of the facility may be enough to cause people to hold off on getting their shot.

"For our oldest citizens, its been a pretty daunting thought for people to have to travel to these super sites," Porter said.

MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Dr. Joss Reimer, medical lead for the provincial COVID-19 vaccine task force, acknowledged language barriers, and even concerns about health coverage, may be delaying some eligible people from booking an appointment. (John Woods / Winnipeg Free Press files)

Dr. Joss Reimer, medical lead for the provincial COVID-19 vaccine task force, said Manitoba is planning ways to improve access the vaccine for those who want it but face hurdles in getting the shot.

"Certainly, for some seniors, navigating the website or the call centre can be very difficult. For other folks, they may have competing priorities, other things that are going on in life and it might be hard to get this to the top of the to-do list," Reimer said during a media briefing Wednesday.

"Were working on a variety of mechanisms."

Reimer also acknowledged language barriers, and even concerns about health coverage, may be delaying some eligible people from booking an appointment.

On Wednesday, the doctor said anyone who is living in Manitoba and eligible for the vaccine can receive it, regardless of immigration status, residency, or if they have a Manitoba Health card  and repeated the message in French and Spanish.

"Because theres so many different reasons that people may not sign up right away, we need to make sure that we have many different approaches to try to address all of those different reasons," Reimer said.

She said the province hopes to use part of the next AstraZeneca/Covishield vaccine shipment, which is fridge-stable, to provide to people who cant leave their homes, either in partnership with pharmacies or physicians, or through home care.

danielle.dasilva@freepress.mb.ca
In brief: Think the global chip shortage crisis couldn't get any worse? Think again. Taiwan's worst drought in decades is showing no signs of abating, leading to authorities introducing further restrictions in areas including two major science parkshome to major semiconductor and display companies such as TSMC.

Taiwan is facing its worst drought in 56 years after a drop in rainfall combined with a lack of typhoons in 2020; it's usually hit by three or four tropical storms annually. Minister of Economic Affairs, Wang Mei-hua, recently said the dry spell has not yet impacted TSMC or other companies, but with a typical semiconductor manufacturing facility using two to four million gallons of ultra-pure water per day, it's a precarious situation.

As the drought worsens, officials have issued Taiwan's first red alert on water supply in six years. Authorities will cut water supplies to industrial users in the central counties of Taichung, Miaoli, and Changhua by 15% from April 6, reports Bloomberg. Additionally, tap water will be suspended in the areas for two days per week, but this won't apply to industries.

"The scope of the water-saving plan does include the science parks in Taichung and Miaoli. We would advise those companies that are within the scope that could face a two-day water-outage to reserve water or mobilize water trucks in advance," said Wang Yi-feng, deputy director-general of Taiwan's Water Resources Agency, told Nikkei Asia.

TSMC and Micron both have operations in Taichung. The former said it would increase the amount of water it uses from tanker trucks and that the restrictions won't affect operations, while the latter declined to comment as it is now in a "quiet period."

AUO, Micron, TSMC, and Winbond have fabs in Taichung. Innolux and GlobalWafers have fabs in Miaoli, and Phison has a factory in the country, reports Tom's Hardware. If the drought does start impacting manufacturing at these plants, it will exacerbate the global chip shortage, further reducing availability and pushing up prices of GPUs and displays.

"Like [Innolux], we also have signed contracts with water truck companies, but we see that as the last resort," said Paul Peng, chairman of AUO. "We are prepared. We have a water storage facility underneath each of our plants in Taiwan. Some of the plants have stored up to 10 days of water supply [for our use]."

Taiwan previously said that its tech industry has enough water to last until May. Let's hope the situation is resolved by then.

Center image credit: Romix Image
Bill Gates will now continue the sun-dimming project of Harvard University's experts that he funded. This technique will use millions of tonnes of chalk, spraying them on Earth's stratosphere to block a certain amount of the sun's heat to cool off the planet.

However, analysts and other experts are worried that this method could lead to more severe weather systems. Entrepreneur reported that the sun-dimming project would launch a giant balloon from Sweden.

Scientists will send the balloon 12 miles above the Swedish town of Kiruna. Once it reaches its targeted-height, the balloon will drop 2kg of chalk powder into the stratosphere. Various sources and rumors claim that the first stage of the upcoming experiment will take place this June.

How sun-dimming works

The Daily Mail UK reported that the Harvard University's gigantic balloon would lift 600kg of scientific tools. On the other hand, the chalk dust that it will spray into the stratosphere is expected to create a dust plume several kilometers in length.

Also Read: NASA's Mars Orbiter Captures Breathtaking View of the Red Planet's Frosty Sand Dunes

However, the first part of the experiment is not expected to have any effect on the intensity of the sun's rays that are hitting the Earth since it'll only be 2kg.

Instead, this stage will help the involved scientists and researchers understand the chalk's effects and reactions with the air on Earth's stratosphere. When the experts acquire the data they needed, they will use computer models to determine what would happen if the chalk dust is carried out at a large scale.

This method will help them know if there really are serious negative effects once millions of tonnes of chalk are sent out.

Will sun-dimming be effective?

David Keith, one of Harvard University's applied physics and public policy professors, explained that the chalk dust could replenish Earth's ozone layer. This will happen once the particles react with the molecules that are destroying the ozone layer.

"Further research on this and similar methods could lead to reductions in risks and improved efficacy of solar geoengineering methods," said the Harvard professor.

If you want to know more details about the new sun-dimming project, all you need to do is click here.

For more news updates about other space activities, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes.

Related Article: Elon Musk Starships to Land Before 2030, Mars Base Alpha Plans for Self-Sustanability-But Simulation Shows What He Is Missing!

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Written by: Giuliano de Leon.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-26 10:26:47|Editor: huaxia

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FRANKFURT, March 26 (Xinhua) -- For Schloss Reinhartshausen, a centuries-old wine chateau situated in the Rheingau wine-growing region in Germany, China will be a key market for white wine in the future as its consumers become more sophisticated in wine consumption.

Considering the huge market potential, it is very relevant to have an agreement on geographical indications in place between the European Union and China, the chateau's export manager Alexander Lorch told Xinhua in a recent interview.

Founded in 1337, Schloss Reinhartshausen is one of the oldest wineries in the world. About 90 percent of its vineyards around the chateau are planted with Riesling grapes, to be made into Germany's renowned Riesling wine.

"The origin of Riesling is the most important to the wine itself and to the style, to the character," Lorch explained. "It is important that the consumer is aware of what he is purchasing."

For Lorch, Chinese consumers are becoming increasingly sophisticated, and the country is shifting from heavy red wine consumption towards a more diversified demand. "We see that there is improvement, that there is interest, that there is experiment," Lorch said.

Lorch said he believes there exists a large market for white wine in China. "When you have a very strong red wine consumption by history, and then you start to find there is more than red wine, there is white, there is Riesling, there are other varietals," he said.

Riesling would be a good choice for those who prefer less acidity and more fruitiness, Lorch said, adding that the wine accompanies an assortment of dishes without overwhelming the food.

"The white wines will have a great future, at least in the younger population of China," he said.

Although the German domestic market takes up 60 percent to 70 percent of the chateau's sales, China is becoming its most important export market, according to Lorch.

"It's the most important spirit for all of us at Reinhartshausen to really take the chance and develop step by step the Chinese market," Lorch said.

The chateau has already set foot on China's metropolitan areas including Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, and is expanding. It has also been a frequenter to wine expos in Chengdu and Shanghai before the pandemic.

Lorch said China reopened earlier than other markets in the world after the pandemic lockdowns, another positive factor in its market potential.

He hopes the chateau could welcome Chinese visitors again, possibly from 2022 on, to experience the chateau and the estate. Enditem
UPDATE 3/26/2021 4:09PM- HOUMA, La. (AP)  Louisiana authorities are seeking information throughout the Southeast as they try to find the suspect in the shooting death of an 8-year-old girl. The Terrebonne Parish Sheriff's Office said Friday that 23-year-old Davonta Verret is wanted on a first-degree murder warrant in the death of Treyce Bryant. The girl was struck by gunfire Monday as she rode in a car in Houma. Police there say they believe Verret fired at the car because he was having a feud with a man who was in the vehicle with the child. The Sheriff's Office says Verret has ties to Houston and Atlanta and points in between.

HOUMA, La. (AP)  An 8-year-old girl in southeastern Louisiana is dead after someone opened fire on the car she was in. The police chief in Houma said in a statement posted on the departments Facebook page that the shooting happened around 8:30 p.m. Monday. Police Chief Dana Tymone Coleman says witnesses told police that a light-colored sedan was following a dark colored compact car that the girl was in and someone in the sedan was shooting at the other car. A man and a woman in the compact car then drove to the hospital with the child who was pronounced dead.
Argentina will be suspending flights from Mexico, Brazil and Chile as of Saturday as part of a plan to prevent different strains of the coronavirus from entering the country.

The South American nation announced the move Thursday as it prepares itself for a second wave of infections.

The government said in a statement that the measures include tests and mandatory isolation for citizens who return from other regions.

'Until further notice, regular flights will be suspended from... Chile, Brazil, Mexico,' the statement read.

Argentina as of Saturday will be suspending flights arriving from Brazil, Mexico and Chile as part of an initiative to prevent different strains of the coronavirus from entering the country and to prepare itself for a second wave of the pandemic. Argentina has reported 55,092 confirmed coronavirus deaths and 2,278,115

Workers lower a coffin at Vila Formosa cemetery in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Thursday as family members of an individual who died of the coronavirus observe. Argentina on Thursday announced it will suspend flights arriving from Brazil, Mexico and Chile as part of an attempt to prevent the entry of coronavirus strains from those countries

A group of people carry a coffin of a person in the new section of the San Miguel Xico Cemetery in Valle del Chalco, Mexico, on Thursday. Mexico is one of three countries that was placed on a travel ban list by Argentina's government

A similar policy is already in place for flights from Britain and Northern Ireland.

Data collected by John Hopkins University showed that Argentina had registered 2,278,115 cases of COVID-19 and 55,092 deaths as of Friday.

The government has become increasingly concerned with the state of the pandemic in neighboring Brazil, which has 12,320,169 cases and 303,462 deaths - both figures coming in second to the United States.

Mexico is third in the world with 200,211 coronavirus deaths, and has reported 2,214,542 infections. Chile has documented 954,843 cases and 22,587 deaths.

As part of the Argentine government's preventive plan, returning passenger's will have to provide a negative PCR test before boarding the flight.

Travelers arriving in Argentina will will have to cover the cost of their mandatory tests and a second one that has to be taken seven days later. Furthermore, any individual who has a positive test will be required to cover the cost of their own lodging at a location chosen by the government for the remainder of their quarantine.

A container containing the Russian Sputnik V coronavirus vaccines is transported after it was loaded off an Aerolineas Argentinas flight at an airport in Argentina on Monday. More than 3 million people in Argentina have been vaccinated for the virus

Residents who test negative for the coronavirus will have to comply with an obligatory quarantine at their homes for 10 days.

A total of 3,365,839 people have been vaccinated in Argentina.

Santiago Cafiero, the Chief of the Cabinet of Ministers, would not rule out imposing additional restrictions in the near future, according to newspaper La Nacion.

'The pandemic taught us that we should never be confident,' Cafiero said. 'If tomorrow we have an increase in cases or if we find complicated virus mutations, we will surely take other measures.'

Migration data records show that at least 25,000 Argentine residents are traveling outside of the country at the moment.

'Do they have the right to leave? Yes, but we have the right to tell them that they will have more requirements and that they will have much fewer flights,' said Felipe Sola, Argentina's Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship.

'We advise against people leaving the country. Because the problem is not going to be getting out, the problem is going to be coming back.'
A 97-year-old great-grandmother who is housebound has still not been given a date to receive the Covid-19 vaccine.

Marie Brennan from Clontarf in north Dublin is bedridden, and her family are very concerned that despite their best efforts, they are no closer to getting a date for when she will receive the vaccine.

They say that her advanced age, level of frailty and high care needs have added to increased risk of exposure. On any given day she receives hands-on care from up to eight carers, comprising of family support, private and HSE allocated care hours.

Her daughter Emer Peppard told Independent.ie: We are just looking for a date and clarification from the HSE.

Her mother has a range of age related health issues, and isnt mobile any more.

There are obviously huge complexities with the roll-out of the vaccine, and we understand that, she said. But given her mothers age, they would have expected a date for vaccination to be communicated by now.

Ms Brennan was unable to attend a clinic appointment around six weeks ago when her age cohort were being vaccinated, due to her immobility. She has a twin sister who has received both doses of the vaccine, as she could attend a Dublin clinic.

Her family have made contact with the HSE and relevant authorities, as Ms Brennan has been bed ridden for nine months now, and requires a high level of care on a daily basis.

We are blessed, we do have a large family, she has seven children, Ms Peppard said. However, the family members caring for her at not vaccinated as they would not fall in the higher up categories to be eligible for vaccination.

However, she pointed out that a bedbound person is more susceptible to a range of illnesses, but particularly respiratory illnesses. The amount of people in every day is being kept to an absolute minimum, but it still is a high volume of people. A member of the family would be there every night and staying in the room with her.

We are not the only family in this position, and it is a wider issue, as to whether there are people being left behind, that might not have a family to speak out for them, she pointed out.

Ms Brennan has 19 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

Ms Peppard added that Ms Brennans GP has been very good to her, and they had received good responses from the local TDs who are trying to get clarity for them on a date. They are hopeful that this will come soon.

The HSE told Independent.ie that approximately 2,200 people over 70 years who are housebound have been referred for a home vaccination by their GP. To date it has completed 685 first doses.

It said in a statement that the vaccination programmefor those aged 70 and over who are house bound is an essential component of its vaccination strategy. This programme aims to vaccinate individuals 70 years and older who are not normally able to attend the GP practice / primary care centre for clinical reasons and for whom this difficulty with attendance cannot be resolved by providing transport. For many older people who are housebound, GPs provide home visits for vaccination.

The HSE is also providing additional support for the vaccination of people aged 70 years and older who are house bound where this service cannot be provided locally. GP practices have been provided with guidance on the HSE Home Vaccination Programme for over 70s who are housebound, and they have responsibility for referring eligible patients who require this service.

GPs referring for home vaccination will confirm with eligible patients that they are happy to proceed with vaccination and should inform these patients that they have been referred to be vaccinated through the HSE Home Vaccination Programme.

This programme of home vaccination will be delivered by HSE National Ambulance Service (NAS) teams. This vaccination programme is occurring in tandem with the general over 70s vaccination programme which is provided by GPs. The programme of home vaccinations for eligible people over 70 years commenced on Saturday March 13 and is continuing.

Individuals who have been registered for home vaccination will be contacted by the National Ambulance Service (NAS) to schedule an appointment to administer the vaccine. NAS will be contacting all referred individuals over the coming weeks to arrange for their home vaccination.

The HSE Home Vaccination Service will be provided on a seven day basis. Following vaccination NAS will contact relevant GPs to notify them that vaccination has taken place and to advise of any immediate concerns or side effects experienced by the patient.

The family has now been contacted by the NAS to say a vaccine appointment will be set for next week.
(CNN) -- Astronomers have a new, more complete picture of the supermassive black hole at the center of a galaxy 55 million light-years from Earth -- the first black hole ever to be imaged.

While the first image of this black hole and its shadow was released in 2019, the new image released Wednesday shows the cosmic body in polarized light.

Think about your polarized sunglasses, which help reduce glare and reflections of brightness. Light can also be polarized when it's emitted in hot regions of space near magnetic fields.

In this case, analyzing how the light around this black hole at the center of the M87 galaxy is polarized allowed astronomers a sharper view and the ability to map magnetic field lines near its inner edge. The scientists also discovered that a significant amount of light around the black hole is polarized.

The Event Horizon Telescope collaboration used a global network of telescopes in April 2017 to capture the first-ever picture of a black hole, which the team shared in 2019. It was the first direct visual evidence that black holes exist, the researchers said.

In the new image, astronomers have been able to learn more about how the black hole launches energetic jets of material moving near the speed of light.

These bright jets of energy and matter extend about 5,000 light-years from the center of the galaxy. While most matter near the edge of a black hole falls inside it, some of the matter is able to escape just before and is blasted out in the jets.

They were able to learn about the gas that actually produces the light in the image, as well as how the black hole grows, said study coauthor Jason Dexter, a coordinator of the EHT theory working group and assistant professor at the University of Colorado Boulder.

Multiple studies about the black hole published Wednesday in The Astrophysical Journal. More than 300 scientists around the world contributed to the research.

The role of magnetic fields

"Polarized light tells us about magnetic fields near the black hole, how strong they are and how they connect the black hole's accretion (eating habits) and the jet of plasma it's able to eject out of the entire galaxy," said study coauthor Sara Issaoun, a doctoral student in astrophysics at Radboud University in the Netherlands.

"Magnetic fields are a key element to understanding gas processes and feeding habits of black holes, and this is the very first time we're able to see them at play so close to a black hole event horizon."

The event horizon is defined as the boundary marking the limits of a black hole, which means nothing can cross that threshold and then escape it -- including light.

The gas around a black hole is moving incredibly fast due to the pull of gravity. Speed heats the gas to billions of degrees, causing atoms to separate and forming plasma of loose electrons and protons. These charged particles moving extremely fast create electromagnetic forces, Issaoun explained.

"Magnetic fields created play a role in how the gas moves, how turbulent it is, and how much gas can make it to the black hole and how much gets flung out at nearly the speed of light in an outflow or jet," she said. "The production of these jets of plasma is the most powerful and energetic process in the entire universe and still quite a puzzle to unravel, and we believe magnetic fields play a key role in launching and maintaining this process."

In the polarized image, astronomers realized that the magnetic field is actively pushing back and resisting the motions of the gas that is dragged around the black hole. This means that the magnetic fields at the edge of the black hole are strong enough to help the hot gas resist the pull of gravity.

"Such 'strong' magnetic fields are capable of launching the most powerful jets, and their presence would have important implications for how black holes grow," Dexter said.

8 radio telescopes capture black hole

In the new image, streaks can be seen showing light oscillating in a specific direction that indicate the strength of the magnetic field.

Imaging this activity is no easy feat.

In their attempt to capture an image of a black hole, scientists combined the power of eight radio telescopes around the world using a technique called Very-Long-Baseline-Interferometry, according to the European Southern Observatory, which is part of the EHT. This effectively creates a virtual telescope around the same size as the Earth itself.

The resolution created by this could measure the length of a credit card on the surface of the moon, the researchers said.

The EHT collaboration could also shed more light on the evolution of the black hole over the course of a year, based on the data the team already has collected, Issaoun said. The collaboration will observe the M87 black hole again to gather more information about the black hole and its jet.

"We are now seeing the next crucial piece of evidence to understand how magnetic fields behave around black holes, and how activity in this very compact region of space can drive powerful jets that extend far beyond the galaxy," said study author Monika Moscibrodzka, a coordinator of the EHT polarimetry working group and assistant professor at Radboud University, in a statement.

This story was first published on CNN.com, "New image reveals supermassive black hole's swirling magnetic field"
State Focuses on Student Wellness with Social Emotional Learning Day

State Focuses on Student Wellness with Social Emotional Learning Day

Martin Ackley, Director of Public and Governmental Affairs 517-241-4395 Education

March 26, 2021

LANSING - The mental health and social and emotional learning (SEL) of Michigan students and educators are vital to children's education and to student wellbeing. While always important, they have become more ostensibly so during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Michigan Department of Education (MDE).

Governor Gretchen Whitmer recognizes the importance of SEL with her proclamation designating March 26, 2021 as Social Emotional Learning Day in Michigan. At the same time, it is international SEL Day, a double effort to bring attention to the social emotional and mental health needs of young people and the supportive environments that schools can provide to help students feel emotionally and physically safe.

"Educators are among the most critical sources of connection, education, and support for children," said State Superintendent Dr. Michael Rice. "During the pandemic, these valuable relationships between educators and children have been disrupted, which has led to some children and families becoming more isolated, vulnerable, and in need of support.

"Through SEL, school staff are able to engage children and families to provide the connections that are so profoundly needed," Dr. Rice said.

MDE, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, the Michigan Association of School Social Workers, the Michigan School Counselor Association, and the Michigan Association of School Psychologists affirm the need for SEL as a foundational support to schools, families, and children.

The State Board of Education and MDE have included student health, safety, and wellness as a goal in the state's strategic education plan.

There is a wide range of experiences with SEL across the state that include the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) five competencies of student self-awareness, awareness of others, self-management, relationship to others, and decision-making.

Dr. Rice explained that Michigan educators have long understood the value of working in the social and emotional learning space.

"That said, everything in this space is not SEL as defined by CASEL," Dr. Rice noted. "We must continue to learn more to help our children work through their social, emotional, and mental health challenges and to help them excel in school and in life."

With these important ideas in mind, MDE is encouraging teachers and administrators in school buildings across Michigan to partner in MDE's Children Matter. You Matter. Learn SEL! effort. A free course in SEL is being offered through Michigan Virtual, and MDE has asked that a building leader and at least two to four teachers from every school complete the two-hour training.

This professional development encouragement is an effort of the state's SEL/Children's Mental Health Network, comprised of educators and mental health professionals and started by the department last fall.
BSEB Bihar board result 2021: The Bihar School of Examination (BSEB) will declare the class 12th intermediate result on Friday (March 26), on its official website - biharboardonline.bihar.gov.in. The link will get activated once the results are out.

Bihar Board 2021 class 12th results will be declared by 3 pm at the Bihar Vidyalaya Examination Committee auditorium in Patna. State Education Minister will declare the results in the presence of BSEB chairman Anand Kishor.

Once the results are out, students can check the official website and see their results by logging in their Roll Number and Roll Code as mentioned in the admit card.

BSEB had released class 12th inter answer key on March 13, while students were allowed to raise objections till March 16, 2021.

Earlier last year, the Bihar board had declared the intermediate results in just 25 days. As per the last years data, a total of 80.44% of students in all streams had passed the exam.

BSEB 2021 class 12th result: How to Check



Step 1: Visit the official website - biharboardonline.bihar.gov.in.

Step 2: Click on the link class 12th result 2021.

Step 3: Select your stream.

Step 4: Log in with your credentials

Step 5: Save and download the result for future reference.

Students can also check the result via SMS

Step 1:Type message: BIHAR12 ROLL-NUMBER

Step 2: Send this message to 56263

Step 3: Save the result for future reference

A total of 13.5 lakh students, including 6.5 lakhs girls and 5.4 lakh boys registered for the class 12th board exams this year.

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Union workers at The New Yorker, Pitchfork and Ars Technica said Friday they had voted to authorize a strike as tensions over contract negotiations with Conde Nast, the owner of the publications, continued to escalate.

In a joint statement, the unions for the three publications said the vote, which received 98 percent support from members, meant workers would be ready to walk off the job if talks over collective bargaining agreements continued to devolve. At The New Yorker, the unionized staff includes fact checkers and web producers but not staff writers, while most editors and writers at Pitchfork and Ars Technica are members.

The unions, which are affiliated with the NewsGuild of New York, which also represents employees at The New York Times, have been separately working toward first-time contracts with Conde Nast. In the case of The New Yorker Union, negotiations have dragged out for more than two years.

The core of their demands, the unions said, were fair contracts that included wage minimums in line with industry standards, clear paths for professional development, concrete commitments to diversity and inclusion, and work-life balance. They said in the statement that Conde Nast had not negotiated in good faith.
Girardville

Rangers Hose Company, 6 E. Ogden St., will host an Easter egg hunt for community children up to age 12 on Sunday. The Easter Bunny will arrive at 12:30 p.m. and the hunt will begin at 1 p.m. To register, go to the borough hall or call 570-276-6922 or 570-276-1358.

Gordon

Simpson United Methodist Church, 117 E. Biddle St., will have Maundy Thursday service at 7 p.m. April 1 and the annual Trek of the Cross at 12:15 p.m. Good Friday, April 2, with service at 1 p.m. Anyone wanting to walk in the trek is welcome.

Nuremberg

The Nuremberg Community Players will host a Vinces Cheesesteaks food truck from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday at the theater, 283 Hazle St. The fundraiser will include tricky trays and a 50/50 raffle. For every sandwich sold, $1 will be donated to the Nuremberg Community Players.

Shenandoah

Knights of Columbus Francis Cardinal Brennan Council 618, 201 W. Cherry St., will offer deviled crab or fish meals with pickups from 1 to 5 p.m. Good Friday, April 2. Free delivery will be available in Shenandoah; the deadline to order is Friday. To order, or for more information about pricing and menu, call 570-462-1430 or 570-590-1188.

Tamaqua

Diaper Depot, a ministry of Zion Lutheran Church in partnership with the Greater Philadelphia Diaper Bank, provides free diapers to families in the Tamaqua Area School District or who belong to the parish. DD is accepting new clients. To become eligible, people must present proof of residence and birth documents for the child. Available diaper sizes for children up to age 4 are newborn to 6, 2T-3T boys or girls and 3T-4T boys or girls. New clients must make their requests online at www.ziontamaqua.com. Diaper pickup is by appointment only; diaper requests are verified by return email.
A group known as "Coalition for the Restoration of Liberians 5% Equity (CORLE) has written communications to the leadership of the Liberian legislature advocating for what they called the restoration of the Liberians 5% equity.

In two separate communications addressed to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Senate Pro-Tempore of the Liberian senate, that the October 2019 amendment of the Petroleum Reform Law of 2014; section 36 which replaced the provisions of this section 36 under the 2014 Petroleum Law and grants the 5% Equity in petroleum contracts some Liberian businesses is a violation of Article 7 of the Constitution of Liberia.

Quoting Article 7 of the Constitution, the group said, "The Republic shall, consistent with the principles of individual freedom and social justice enshrined in this Constitution, manage the national economy and the natural resources of Liberia in such manner as shall ensure the maximum feasible participation of Liberian citizens under conditions of equality as to advance the general welfare of the Liberian people and the economic development of Liberia."

At a press conference addressed at the legislature few minutes after their presentation of communications, Ambulah Abutumaga Mamey of Liberia Youth Initiative for Peace & Sustainable Development said, "the 2019 amendment, if implemented, will deny Liberians direct access to their petroleum wealth, now and in the future, subject them to a harsher form of poverty, concentrate wealth in the hands of a few Liberians who are well connected to Government officials and by that, widen the existing inequality gap between rich and poor Liberians."

He added that by such action, the Government of Liberia, under the leadership of the two heads of the legislature will be creating more poverty and inequality as opposed to helping the country alleviate poverty, the professed cornerstone of the Weah Administration's Pro-poor Agenda.

He Ambulah Mamey went on to state that," In view of the foregoing, we petition your Honorable Offices to repeal the said Amendment and restore to all Liberians, our 5% equity right as envisaged under the 2014 Law."

"In effect, we require our lawmakers to reinstate all the provisions of the said section 36 (PART VIII) of the 2014 Petroleum Reform Law as approved on October 5, 2016 and printed into handbills on October 10, 2016"he stressed.

According to the group, the original version of the law is what should be for the benefit of Liberians.

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When asked what is the Coalition For The Restoration of Liberians 5% Equity (CORLE) was, he said it is a non-political coalition of grassroots organizations from across Liberia with a growing membership currently comprising students, youth, teachers, marketers and professionals from the Student Unification Party of the University of Liberia, Liberia Youth Initiative for Peace and Sustainable Development; South-Eastern Region Youth and Student Organization, Western Region Students Associations and Concerned Teachers for the Equitable Use of Liberia's Natural Resources.

We urge you to take immediate action on our petition or we will seek every available remedy under law to restore ALL Liberians' right to Liberia's potential petroleum wealth and by that avert the selfish ploy that is poised to concentrate wealth in the hands of few politically privileged Liberians" He continued.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-26 00:05:15|Editor: huaxia

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A staff member of Sinovac Biotech, a Chinese biopharmaceutical company, displays two doses of COVID-19 inactivated vaccine in prefilled syringes in Beijing, capital of China, Dec. 23, 2020. (Xinhua/Zhang Yuwei)

"In order to facilitate the work and life," China decided to offer vaccinations to foreign journalists in Beijing, according to a document.

TOKYO, March 25 (Xinhua) -- China provided COVID-19 vaccinations to foreign journalists from Japan and other nations on Tuesday, Japan's Kyodo News reported on Wednesday.

According to the report, many foreign journalists and their family members, aged between 18 and 59, received the Sinovac vaccine, which costs 90 yuan (13.8 U.S. dollars), in the Chinese capital of Beijing. They will get the second dose in April.

The report said that before being inoculated, the journalists signed a document saying in English, "No vaccine is 100% effective, and as personal health conditions vary from people to people, some may still be infected or develop symptoms after vaccination."

Another document said, "In order to facilitate the work and life," China decided to offer vaccinations to foreign journalists in Beijing, adding, "Recipients will still need to comply with all the prevention and control requirements after vaccination."

After inoculation, they were required to stay in an observation area for 30 minutes, said the report.

The move came just after Shanghai, another cosmopolitan city in China, announced a COVID-19 vaccine inoculation plan for foreigners.

The municipal authorities announced on Tuesday night that foreigners who meet the requirement will be eligible to take domestic made COVID-19 vaccines, making Shanghai the first Chinese city to publicize an inoculation plan for foreigners. 


BEIJING (dpa-AFX) - President Joe Biden claimed that since the Congress passed the American Rescue Plan, the United States is starting to see 'new signs of hope' in its economy'.



A majority of economic forecasters are now projecting a 6 percent growth in GDP, he said during his first formal press conference since taking office.



Biden cited the fall in the number of people filing for weekly unemployment insurance by nearly 100,000. That's the first time in a year the number has fallen below the pre-pandemic high.



'So there are still too many Americans out of work, too many families hurting, and we still have a lot of work to do. But I can say to you, the American people: Help is here, and hope is on the way,' he told reporters.



Biden said his administration will make sure to invest closer to 2 percent of US GDP in research and investment in science. 'We're going to invest in medical research - cancer, Alzheimer's, diabetes, the things - industries of the future - artificial intelligence, quantum computing, biotech.'



Blaming his predecessor for the growing humanitarian crisis on the southern border, Biden said that former President Donald Trump dismantled all the elements that existed to deal with the migrant crisis. 'And so what we're doing now is attempting to rebuild the system that can accommodate.'



Biden said the overwhelming majority of people coming to the border and crossing are being sent back. 'We're trying to work out now, with Mexico, their willingness to take more of those families back.'



While admitting that he had not been able to unite the Congress, Biden claimed that he had been uniting the country, 'based on the polling data.'



Mentioning China, Biden said, 'We are going to hold China accountable to follow the rules whether it relates to the South China Sea or the North China Sea, or their agreement made on Taiwan, or a whole range of other things.'



Biden said he sees stiff competition with China. 'China has an overall goal to become the leading country in the world, the wealthiest country in the world, and the most powerful country in the world. That's not going to happen on my watch because the United States are going to continue to grow and expand.'



The president made it clear that that North Korea's recent testing of two ballistic missiles was in violation of U.N. Resolution 1718. 'We're consulting with our allies and partners. If they choose to escalate, we will respond accordingly'. At the same time, Biden said he is also prepared for some form of diplomacy.



Biden said the upcoming May 1 deadline to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan will be 'hard to meet.' The president cited 'tactical reasons' for the delay, but emphasized it was not his intention 'to stay there a long time.'



When asked if he has decided to run for re-election in 2024, the Democratic President replied in the affirmative. 'The answer is 'yes.' My plan is to run for re-election. That's my expectation.'



He added that Vice President Kamala Harris will be his running mate. 'I would fully expect that to be the case. She's doing a great job. She's a great partner.'



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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On Friday afternoon they took him down from the cross, as dead as a man can be. On Sunday afternoon he walked most of the seven miles from Jerusalem to Emmaus with two of his disciples. He had broken through the death barrier, and was alive and well once more on planet Earth. For 40 days before withdrawing to the glory where now he lives and reigns he appeared to those who had been his followers and friends. Why? Because he loved them, and wanted them to have the joy of seeing him alive; because he had to explain to them his saving achievement and their role as witnesses to him; and, last but not least, because some of them were in emotional and spiritual distress, and needed the therapy that was uniquely his. All this is reflected in the Emmaus Road story (Luke 24:1335).

Who were the patients to whom the Great Physician ministered there? One was Cleopas (v. 18). The other, not named by Luke, lived with Cleopas, and it is natural to guess (though not possible to prove) that it was Mary, wife of Clopas (John 19:25) and mother of James (Mark 15:40), who was at the cross when Jesus died. (In that case, Cleopas was Alphaeus, Jamess father.) I shall assume that it was husband and wife trudging home that day. They went slowly; most people do on a long walk, and they were sharing perplexity and pain at Jesus death. Their spirits were very low. They thought they had lost their beloved Master forever; they felt that the bottom had fallen out of their world. They were in the shock of a bereavement experience, and hurting badly.

Now picture the scene. Up from behind comes a stranger, walking faster, and falls into step beside them. Naturally they stop discussing their private misery, and there is silence. ...

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EXCLUSIVE: We have footage showing nearly 200 Chinese vessels in Philippine waters. The government has demanded China to withdraw these vessels. But more than that a maritime expert suggests taking the matter to an international court.
(HealthDay)Toxic metabolic encephalopathy (TME) occurs in 12 percent of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 and is associated with an increased risk for in-hospital mortality, according to a study published online March 16 in Neurocritical Care.

Jennifer A. Frontera, M.D., from the New York University Grossman School of Medicine in New York City, and colleagues conducted a retrospective observational cohort study among patients with COVID-19 hospitalized at four New York City hospitals to examine the prevalence, etiologies, and mortality rates associated with TME.

Overall, 12 percent of the 4,491 patients with COVID-19 were diagnosed with TME, of whom 78 percent developed encephalopathy immediately prior to hospital admission. The researchers found that septic encephalopathy, hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), and uremic encephalopathy were the most common etiologies (62, 59, and 28 percent, respectively). Patients with TME were older than those without and more often had dementia or a psychiatric history; they were more often intubated, had longer hospital length of stay, and were less often discharged to home. TME remained associated with an increased risk for in-hospital death when excluding comfort care patients and after adjustment for confounders (30 versus 16 percent; adjusted hazard ratio, 1.24). The highest risk for in-hospital death was seen for TME due to hypoxemia (42 percent of patients with HIE died versus 16 percent of those without HIE; adjusted hazard ratio, 1.56).

"The dramatic effect of common causes of encephalopathy on COVID-19 mortality suggests that we may need more aggressive use of countermeasuresoxygen supplementation, early dialysis in renal failure, and fluids to counter the low blood pressure seen in sepsis," Frontera said in a statement.

Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak

Copyright  2020 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
The Court of Appeal has dismissed an argument by lawyers that could have resulted in drug dealers at the top of a criminal organisation facing shorter sentences than street dealers at the bottom of the chain.

The three-judge court said gardai are correct to value drugs based on how much they sell for at street level, even when dealing with criminals who are at a higher level and selling at a lower per kilogram amount.

Ms Justice Aileen Donnelly, delivering the written judgement on Thursday, said it would be an "absurdity" to suggest a person higher up the chain should face a lesser sentence if caught with the same amount of drugs as a street dealer.

The appeal arose out of the 2018 conviction of Stephen Glynn (41) of Mourne Road, Drimnagh, Dublin 12 who was found guilty under section 15A of the Misuse of Drugs Act for possession of a controlled drug in Drimnagh on November 10, 2015.

Detective Sergeant Brian Roberts gave evidence that the drugs found, diamorphine, had a street value of 34,360. Det Sgt Roberts accepted that there are several markets in the supply of drugs and that for a dealer at the top end the same amount of diamorphine would be worth 10,000.

The Misuse of Drugs Act says that a person convicted of two offences of possession of more than 13,000 worth of drugs for sale or supply must be sentenced to a minimum of ten years. As this was Glynn's second offence under S.15A he was sentenced to that mandatory minimum but with a review after five years. Ms Justice Donnelly said it was accepted that Glynn was cooperative with gardai, made admissions, and was paid just 200 for handling the drugs.

Glynn's lawyers argued that the trial judge should have found that the value of the drugs was not greater than 13,000 and therefore the jury should not have been allowed to bring a conviction under S.15A.

Ms Justice Donnelly dismissed the appeal, saying the proper valuation of the drugs is what they would fetch at street level. She said this interpretation "avoids the absurdity" that a dealer higher up the chain would not be guilty of the more serious s.15A offence whereas the "end dealer" at street level would be guilty of the more serious offence.
When you have a passion for your work, Walter said, you have to accept rejection and move on. Things have a way of working out in the long run. What is meant to be, will be. Its not always in your control. You know, its a crazy business and you just have to have a spiritual feeling about the whole thing  like karma  to get through the rejections. All I can say is, I had my fantasy fulfilled  it took a while!  but Im so grateful to still be employed in a business I love.
The young poet says that her greatest challenge is what made her who she is today

Amanda Gorman refuses to let anything hold her back.

The poet laureate who stunned America with her poem The Hill We Climb, at Joe Bidens inauguration sat down with Oprah Winfrey to discuss how her disability has made her journey far from easy, per People.

I was born early, along with my twin, and a lot of times, for infants, that can lead to learning delays, said Gorman during an upcoming episode of Winfreys Apple TV+. show The Oprah Conversation.

Read More: Amanda Gorman wants to use poetry platform to enter public office one day

One of my delays was in speech and speech pronunciation, and also the auditory processing issue just means I really struggle as an auditory learner.

Oprah chats with Amanda Gorman on her Apple+ show.

Winfrey gifted Gorman with the caged bird-shaped ring and a pair of earrings she wore to the inauguration.

Amanda Gorman is a young woman who stepped into a moment in history with enormous grace and dignity, said Winfrey in a statement. I was enthralled by her youthful spirit from the first moment we met, and very much looked forward to hearing her unpack all that has happened to her the past few months.

Gorman was diagnosed with a speech impediment and auditory processing disorder as a child. She says she struggled with pronouncing shand r.

Specifically r because it is one of the most complex letters in the English alphabet, she confesses. That was something that I would struggle with until probably 20 years of age.

When you have a last name like Gorman, when you are writing poetry  all of the things that constitute my identity  when you go to a school like Harvard, which has two [of the letter r] in it, it leads to all these kinds of roadblocks.

She considers her struggle with speech as her greatest strength.

Im really grateful for that experience because it informs my poetry, said Gorman. I think it made me all that much stronger of a writer when you have to teach yourself how to say words from scratch. When you are learning through poetry how to speak English, it lends to a great understanding of sound, of pitch, of pronunciation, so I think of my speech impediment not as a weakness or a disability, but as one of my greatest strengths.

Story continues

But despite Gormans success she has still been subjected to discrimination.

As per theGrio, A security guard tailed me on my walk home tonight. He demanded if I lived there because you look suspicious, the 22-year-old National Youth Poet Laureate tweeted earlier this month. I showed my keys & buzzed myself into my building. He left, no apology. This is the reality of Black girls: One day youre called an icon, the next day, a threat.

Amanda Gorman, Courtesy of Apple

Gorman is a native of Los Angeles, California.

Several minutes after sharing what had happened to her, Gorman followed up with another tweet: In a sense, he was right. I AM A THREAT: a threat to injustice, to inequality, to ignorance. Anyone who speaks the truth and walks with hope is an obvious and fatal danger to the powers that be.

Gormans tweets quickly went viral and the young poet was flooded with messages of sympathy and support for what she experienced.

Read More: Meghan Markle, Prince Harry surprise poetry class for Black History Month

White House correspondent Yamiche Alcindor tweeted, Amanda Gormans experience is that of so many Black people. Happy she made it home safely. So many others dont.

Additional reporting by Gerren Keith Gaynor

Have you subscribed to theGrios podcast Dear Culture? Download our newest episodes now!

theGrio is now on Apple TV, Amazon Fire, and Roku. Download theGrio today!

The post Amanda Gorman says speech impediment greatest strength during Oprah sit down appeared first on TheGrio.
New Delhi, March 26 : India and Pakistan brigade commanders met on Friday and discussed peace along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir. The brigade commander-level meeting took place to take forward the understanding to implement ceasefire decided last month.

In February, both the countries decided to re-implement the ceasefire agreement of 2003 to maintain peace at the borders.

"Post the DGsMO Understanding 2021, a Brigade Commander Level Flag Meeting was held between Indian and Pakistan Army at Poonch Rawalkot Crossing Point on 26 March, 2021 to discuss implementation mechanism as per the understanding," the Indian Army said.

However, there has been no commitment from Islamabad to stop sponsoring terror and launchpads continue to exist, government sources said.

Indian Army Chief General M.M. Naravane said not a single bullet has been fired at the LoC in the month of March.

India and Pakistan have reached understanding to implement ceasefire agreement reached during the talks between Director-General of Military Operations of both the countries over hotline on February 22.

"Our endeavour is to achieve peace and stability which is beneficial for the region and specially for the population residing along the LoC, this is an attempt to bring the violence levels down," the force had stated.

The Indian Army had stated that DGMO of India and Pakistan Army interact regularly over the established mechanism of hotline.

The purpose of the mechanism is to review the situation along the Line of Control, International Boundary and endeavour to achieve observance of all understandings and agreements reached between the two militaries.

The force had stated that Indian Army remains committed to fight the scourge of terrorism. "Acts of terror will not be tolerated and befitting response would await any misadventure," the force said.

"Over the last few years our counter infiltration posture along the LoC has further strengthened and terrorists have found infiltration across the LoC increasingly difficult." The force said that infiltration of terrorist remains a primary concern. "The ceasefire violence primarily due to the activities of terrorism along and across LoC." There is trust deficit with Pakistan, Indian Army had stated. The force had pointed : "We have a history of bitter experiences with Pakistan. The peace processes in the past have been derailed either because of acts of terror or Pakistan Army's belligerence. We are live to this reality and We all remain prepared to meet any eventuality. However we remain cautiously optimistic. Peace along LoC is mutually beneficial." (Sumit Kumar Singh can be reached at sumit.k@ians.in)
March 25, 2021





Ripple is the name of both a cryptocurrency (XRP) and the network used to transfer this cryptocurrency. The network is a real-time gross settlement system and currency exchange. Among other things, it has become popular as a low-cost way of transferring money from one country to another.







Ripple is built upon a distributed open source protocol and supports tokens representing traditional currency, XRP and commodities. Even tokens representing assets like mobile minutes or frequent flyer miles can be transferred through the network.

After its launch back in 2012, Ripple has become a popular choice among cryptocurrency day traders and investors. This includes both crypto-to-noncrypto traders and crypto-to-crypto traders.

Cost of transfer

Ripple is commonly used to transfer money internationally, e.g. when people work in one country and need to send money back to their family living in another country. Using traditional methods such as Western Union (News - Alert) or bank transfer can be costly, especially if a substantial fixed-fee is added on a fairly small transaction.

Ripple is not free to use, but the fee is small and it is percentage-based instead of fixed-fee.

Coin creation

Ripple coins can not be mined.

The total number of Ripple coins are fixed at 100 billion, according to the Ripple team. Half of them are being made available to users, while the other half is retained by Ripple  at least for now.

Legal issues

In December 2020, Ripple Labs and two of its executives were sued by the U.S Securities and Exchange Commission ( SEC (News - Alert) ). According to SEC, XRP tokens are unregistered securities rather than commodities.

The large digital currency exchange Coinbase delisted XRP on December 28, 2020.

Trading XRP

Just like most other cryptocurrencies, Ripple is a highly volatile currency. This creates some very interesting opportunities for day traders trading Ripple.

Many day traders are especially active around news releases regarding Ripple, since news tend to create a lot of movements that can be exploited for profits.

One interesting element of Ripple is that unlike many other cryptocurrency teams, they do not shun banks. Instead, Ripple actively seek out partnerships with banks and are currently working together with an impressive selection of well-known financial institutions, especially within the field of remittance transfers.

Can I trade XRP using leverage?

Yes, there are trading platforms available online where you can get exposure to XRP using leverage. One example is AVA trading.

Leverage means that you borrow money from the broker to complete a trade. This is of course risky, since you can end up losing more money that you have in your trading account.

Important: Within the European Union, there are rules that limit the size of leverage for cryptocurrency consumer traders.

Understanding XRP & Ripple

Ripple was created by Ripple Labs Inc. Ripple Labs Inc was founded in 2012. Back then, it was known as Opencoin. It changed its name to Ripple Labs in 2015. The company is based in San Francisco, California, USA.

In order to understand the XRP market and how it is influenced, it is a good idea to learn about about the Ripple network and the company behind it  Ripple Lab. Ripple is different from many other cryptocurrency networks, and this has  and will continue to  impact the price fluctuations of XRP. For instance, news that Ripple Lab is entering into a partnership with a major financial institution tends to cause a lot of activity on the XRP market. This is not really something that is likely to happen for a cryptocurrency such as Monero, who tend to separate itself from the traditional banking world.

Background

In the mid-00s, Ryan Fugger  who was then working on a local exchange trading system in Vancouver  began building a decentralized monetary system and called it RipplePay.com. His vision was to create a system that could empower individuals and communities to create their own money.

In 2011, Jed McCaleb started working on developing his own digital currency system, one in which transactions would be verified by consensus. He did not want his currency to use the concept of coin mining utilized by cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin.

In 2012, McCaleb joined forces with Chris Larsen and together they approached Fugger, who eventually gave them the reins for RipplePay. The corporation OpenCoin was formed later that year, and work commenced on the development of the ripple protocol (RTXP) and the Ripple payment and exchange network.




Surprised by the BBC's revealing report, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry was quick to comment by making the most absurd statements which at the same time demonstrate the essence of Azerbaijan's attitude towards Armenian cultural monuments in connection with the destruction of the Armenian Church in Jrakan (Jabrayil), Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh)

On 25 March 2021, BBC News reported on the alleged disappearance of an Armenian church in the Azerbaijani town of Jabrayil. We take such allegations seriously, but strongly refute claims by the Armenian National Commission for UNESCO that any cultural crime was committed.

The Republic of Azerbaijan has repeatedly affirmed its commitment to protecting culture and religious diversity, and it remains unchanged.

The alleged disappearance must be put in context. The chapel in question was unlawfully constructed during Armenias nearly thirty-year occupation of land that is internationally recognized as Azerbaijan, and that was solely populated by ethnic Azerbaijanis prior to the unlawful occupation in 1993, the Azerbaijani MFAs respective statement reads.

In 2017, following the Republic of Azerbaijans appeals to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), Co-Chairs from the OSCE Minsk Group agreed to visit the chapel in Jabrayil. The Republic of Azerbaijan raised grave concerns that the Armenian forces were altering the demographic, cultural and physical character of the occupied territories of Azerbaijan.

Following their visit, the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs concluded that the chapel had been built as part of a military compound in Jabrayil for use by Armenian soldiers.

The chapel cannot be considered a part of Jabrayils cultural history when its construction, reportedly only five years ago, solely served the occupying forces of Armenia, the statement also reads.

In fact, with this statement, the Azerbaijani MFA has indirectly blamed this incident on the OSCE.

This statement fully fits the Azerbaijani trend to "Albanianize" or destroy Armenian monuments.

By the same logic, tomorrow, for example, the destruction of Amaras or the St. Ghazanchetsots church can be explained by Baku by stating they "cannot be considered a part of cultural history."
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Copyright  2021 Albuquerque Journal

Authorities say a man wanted for questioning in the disappearances of three people from Grants was arrested on a warrant Thursday evening in Albuquerque.

Gilbert Gallegos, an Albuquerque police spokesman, said Daniel Lemos, 46, was arrested by the U.S. Marshals Service and will be booked into the Metropolitan Detention Center.

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Grants Police Lt. David Chavez said a detective from Grants is on his way to question Lemos in the disappearances of Jennifer Lannon, 39, Matthew Miller, 21, and Jesten Mata, 40.

The three disappeared from Grants last month and were found dead  along with Randal Apostalon, 60  in Apostalons truck in a parking garage at the Albuquerque International Sunport earlier this month.

Gallegos said Apostalon had been bludgeoned to death and Chavez said authorities are waiting on autopsies to determine how the other three died.

Sean Lannon, 47, the ex-husband of Jennifer Lannon, has been named as a suspect in the slaying of all four and is expected to be charged in the case.

Lannon is currently behind bars in New Jersey in connection with a homicide he allegedly committed there after fleeing New Mexico.

Despite Lannon allegedly confessing to the quadruple homicide, Chavez said they believe Lemos was involved in the disappearances somehow.

Grants police had been looking for Miller, Mata and Jennifer Lannon since earlier in February and, on Feb. 26, said Lemos  a relative of Millers who knew all three  was wanted for questioning.
This year's International Women of Courage Awards were presented to 21 women, seven of whom were killed in targeted attacks in Afghanistan.

Speaking at the Department of State awards ceremony, Secretary Antony Blinken, who was joined by First Lady Jill Biden, said For 15 years, the State Department has given the International Women of Courage award to women around the world who have shown exceptional strength and leadership in advocating for peace, justice, human rights, and gender equality.

Among the women honored was Maria Kalesnikava of Belarus. She and her partners mounted a historic challenge to the 26-year rule of Aleksandr Lukashenka, courageously facing imprisonment in the aftermath of the disputed election.

Phyoe Phyoe Aung is an emerging leader in Burma. Her organization The Wings Institute facilitates youth exchanges between different ethnic and religious groups and promotes peacebuilding and reconciliation.

Another award winner, Maximilenne Ngo Mbe of Cameroon, has promoted human rights and been an outspoken voice among civil society actors, often sacrificing her personal safety, in the push for a peaceful resolution of the civil war in Cameroon.

Wang Yu of China is one of the countrys most prominent human right lawyers and has faced arrest and imprisonment for defending activists.

Julienne Lusenge, of the Democratic Republic of the Congo is a leading female activist in fighting against gender-based violence.

Other award recipients include Mayerlis Angarita of Colombia, Judge Erika Aifan from Guatemala, Shohreh Bayat of Iran, Muskan Khatun of Nepal, Zahra Mahamed Ahmad of Somalia, Sister Alicia Vacas Moro of Spain, Ranitha Ghanarajah of Sri Lanka, Canan Gulllu of Turkey, and Ana Rosario Contreras of Venezuela.

Secretary Blinken noted that women and girls are often the most vulnerable to human rights abuses:

Thats why the equal rights and dignity of women and girls is a foreign policy priority for the United States. When we design our foreign policy with the rights and needs of women and girls in mind, our policy is more effective, more humane, and more likely to make a lasting difference in peoples lives.

Addressing the award winners, Secretary Blinken said, You are making our world more just, stable, peaceful, and free. The United States is proud to be in your corner.
Cement is the backbone of investment. Public and private investments are supposed to be delayed, interrupted and even stopped due to cement shortages. On the contrary, if there is enough cement supply; investments will take a short time to be completed unlike some other internal and external constraints among the owners of the investments.

Therefore, the shortage of chemical and construction inputs will directly and or indirectly harm the country's economy. The demand for cement is growing exponentially. Subsequently, there must be supply as needed. Construction of everything in Ethiopia from one of the mega projects which is the construction of the GERD to the small individual houses requires significant construction resources. In order to meet this demand, cement factories have been invested in various parts of the country.

Responding to the Member of Parliament on the Ethiopian House of Peoples' Representatives 11th Regular meeting Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (Ph.D.) has stated that the government is working exhaustively in order to solve the problems relating to the construction industries.

As to him, three very large companies are on the way to engage in the production of cement. Now they are buying a machine. Accordingly, the country will double its cement production capacity while these three companies start their operation soon. Mentioning that it was possible to bring significant change in exploiting the potential of the existing cement factories in Ethiopia, the premier argues investors should engage in the sector actively.

According to Samuel Halala, Director-General of Chemical and Construction Inputs Industry Development Institute, cement factories in Ethiopia have a production capacity of 350,000 to 380,000 quintals per a day. However, shortcomings in the sector have not been reduced.

He further said that the main problem with cement is the mismatch between supply and demand. Lack of supply in cement production and productivity is an incongruity in demand. Construction work is also on the rise due to the country's rapid economic growth.

Demand for cement has grown significantly as public and private construction projects have grown exponentially, especially in line with the strategy of the reformist government to complete projects. On the other hand, since March 2020, lack of spare parts and shortage of fabrics inputs were happened among the factories due to lack of foreign exchange, he added.

In addition to such problems, the Derba Cement Factory suffered damage in March 2020 while it was into annual maintenance. As a result of the damage, the Derba Cement Factory has not been able to reach full capacity until the last week. The factory was operating in a fragmented manner for the past months.

As to him, there were also landslides and cracks in other cement factories, such as Mugher, Dangote, as well as Derba. This caused problems for their cargo belts, which carried the main input for the cement factories. In addition, there has been a significant reduction in the supply of cement.

To prevent this, the Ministry of Trade and Industry and other stakeholders have conducted a comprehensive study and submitted to the government. Accordingly, efforts have been made to increase the production capacity of cement factories to 85 percent since November 2020. However, most industries could not reach 85 percent production capacity even if such a million dollars were allocated for the sector.

According to Samuel, the damage occurred at the Derba, East and Mugher cement factories coupled with the time it took for repairing and maintaining these factories are the major of the reasons that have created a gap in the market.

However, Mugher and Derba Cement factories have been in production since the month of March. Derba produced and brought about 63,000 quintals of cement to the market before two weeks within a day. Mugher is similarly working to produce 40,000 quintals per a day. The problems faced by the factories are also being solved step by step.

Mesobo Cement Factory left the Ethiopian market in 2020, and after law enforcement, the factory's cars were dispersed. About 40 of the vehicles that were dispersed were recovered.

Recently, Chemical and Construction Inputs Industry Development Institute has conducted a discussion on the comparative inspection report held on cement and paint industries in order to solve the problem phased by the industries. Upon it, 9 of the cement industries and 10 of the paint industries participated in the inspection.

In her opening remarks, Simret Girma, Deputy Director of the Institute's Investment Marketing and Technical Sector, said the audit will be conducted annually to build the capacity of industries and enable them to be competitive in terms of price and quality.

It is a demonstration to improve the potential of the industries through increasing the quality and quantity of their products as well as the discussion and the inspection are also significant for the industries for indicating what needs to be addressed in the future, he added.

According to the director, all the industries should participate in the inspection as it is designed to build the capacity of the industries to make their products competitive parallel with allowing the experienced industry to share its experience with others and fill the gaps.

Dangote has been producing regularly in recent weeks. All of Dangote's products have been sold in Addis Ababa. Based on this small product, it was being sold at an unfair price. However, now that other cement factories are starting to produce and Derba has been producing 60,000 quintals per a day for the last three weeks.

Of course since last week, the supply has increased to 300,000 quintals per day and the price has also improved. He explained that they are working hard to stimulate the market better than before.

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The total number of industries in Ethiopia has a production capacity of 350,000 to 380,000 quintals per day. The director general also said that the government is working to ensure that the distribution is not disrupted.

Meanwhile, the ministry of trade this week has revealed that Mesebo Cement Factory has started its operation since last week. Minister of Trade and Industry, Melaku Alebel, said the Mesebo Cement Factory in Tigray State, which has been shut down for the past four months due to the law enforcement campaign, has started production.

According to the Minister, the price of a quintal of cement in Addis Ababa has dropped to 420 Birr due to the economic malpractice of illegal brokers in Addis Ababa. Melaku further elucidated that the ongoing efforts to increase the volume of cement production in all parts of the country have yielded encouraging results.

He said the return of Mesebo Cement to production will have a positive impact on the price increase. He urged all Ethiopians to play their part in the price improvement.

Confirming that the company has started supplying products to stabilize the cement market, the minister further noted that while cement prices had spiked in recent weeks, following measures taken by the Ministry of Trade, the price has fallen to ETB 420/100kg (US$10.14) from ETB 600 in Addis Ababa.
Starting a Trucking Company? Things to Keep in Mind!

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(Photo : Starting a Trucking Company? Things to Keep in Mind!)

Are you starting a trucking company? It can be quite stressful; however, with the right information at your disposal, you can set up your trucking business in no time at all.

Currently, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the trucking business has faced a huge blow; similar to major industries around the globe. About more than 88,000 people lost their jobs in the trucking business in April 2020 alone. However, the Government has since been issuing guidance to allow essential workers, including truck drivers and others, to work.

In addition to this, the demand for truck drivers and trucking businesses has increased during the pandemic. Apart from delivering medical supplies and equipment to hospitals, trucking businesses are also playing a vital role in making deliveries for consumers. It provides ample opportunities for trucking businesses. Hence, truck drivers are playing an essential role during the pandemic.

https://www.ttnews.com/articles/trucking-rises-meet-unprecedented-challenges-during-covid-19-pandemic

If you are planning to start a trucking business, here are a few things that you must keep in mind:

Business plan

When starting a business, you must have a plan in place. The business plan should outline your business goals, both short-term and long-term. It should also outline the operations of your business. The business plan should also contain information regarding your plan for investment. In addition to this, you must understand the various requirements of your business, including equipment, employees, administrators, etc. You should also come up with an estimate regarding the budget.

Buying equipment

To have your business up and running, you need equipment. Apart from trucks and other vehicles, you may require moving supplies, including dollies, trailers, and others. There are several options for obtaining trucks. With the right amount of capital, you can buy a truck. You also have the option of leasing or renting trucks and other equipment.

Depending on the type of trucking business, you may require specialized trailers to help carry hazardous and toxic material. Other types of trucking equipment include straight trucks, super b, flat deck, and others.

FMCSA registration

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Authority is responsible for ensuring that all trucking companies are registered with the organization. Moreover, the presence of the FMCSA ensures that a trucking company complies with the standards set by the motor authority.

If you are starting a trucking company, you need to have the following documents:

Commercial Driver's License

Commercial driver's license is a must for truck drivers. Before issuing a CDL, the relevant authority will perform background checks. In addition to this, the driver must be of at least 21 years of age to drive a truck. Moreover, there are three categories of CDLs, depending on the type of truck you are planning to drive. These include school trucks, tractors, trailers, etc.

You can find more information regarding obtaining a CDL here.

https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/registration/commercial-drivers-license/how-do-i-get-commercial-drivers-license

USDOT number

The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) number is an essential requirement for most interstate trucking companies. It is a unique number given to a trucking company to ensure that it complies with safety standards. Companies that transport passengers or hail freight require a USDOT number. In addition to this, companies that transport hazardous material also require it.

To check if you require a USDOT number, visit this link.

https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/registration/do-i-need-usdot-number#:~:text=Companies%20that%20operate%20commercial%20vehicles,register%20for%20a%20USDOT%20Number.

MC number

Motor Carrier (MC) number is also required by interstate moving companies, similar to the USDOT number. However, some companies may not require a USDOT number to operate. Companies that transport passengers or transport federally-regulated good (owned by a third-party company) require an MC number.

For more information regarding this, visit the FMCSA website.

https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/registration/get-mc-number-authority-operate

BOC-3 filing

The FMCSA requires BOC-3 filing. A process agent files BOC-3 on behalf of a motor carrier or trucking company. It is also required in case your MC number has been revoked by the FMCSA. In addition to this, BOC-3 filing is essential for trucking businesses in legal matters. The agent acts as an intermediary between the FMCSA and the trucking company, forwarding any legal document to the relevant party.

Conclusion

These are some basic requirements for starting a trucking business. Obtaining licenses and permits from the FMCSA is a crucial step in making sure that you business runs smoothly.

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 2017 University Herald, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
PM Modi, with timely delivery of COVID-19 vaccines, has won the hearts and minds of Bangladeshi residents, the countrys foreign minister AK Abdul Momen said on March 26. His remarks came hours after the Indian leader addressed a crowd in Dhaka commemorating the countrys 50th Independence day from Pakistan. Earlier in January, India had supplied over two million doses of Covishield vaccines to Bangladesh under its Vaccine Maitri programme.

We were worried that we are a densely populated country, so we negotiated with India that if you have developed any vaccine, then please share those with us. PM Modi assured our Prime Minister that if India gets the vaccine then Bangladesh will get them at the same time. He kept his word and with this, he has won the minds and heart of the people," he told ANI in Dhaka.

PM Modi assured our PM that if India develops vaccine, Bangladesh will get it at the same time. He kept his word and with this, he has won the hearts & minds of people. We paid for it in advance: Bangladesh Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen  ANI (@ANI) March 26, 2021

Furthermore, Momen revealed that apart from the already supplied jabs, PM Modi had offered 1.2 million additional doses of coronavirus vaccines as a gesture of goodwill to the country which has been accepted. The Bangladeshi leader revealed that the country had also inked a deal with India for 30 million doses of the vaccine. As a part of the contract, Bangladesh will now buy five million shots every month.

"India did a great job and got lots of points for vaccine diplomacy. There are many pandits abroad who predicted that 5-10 million people will die in Bangladesh due to the spread of COVID-19, so naturally we took all the necessary initiatives. The Indian PM on March 15 called all the leaders of the SAARC countries and came forward to help together because this is a global pandemic. Since it is a global issue, so we have worked together in partnership and collaboration and the Indian prime minister took leadership to join the program. Additionally, our Prime Minister made a call to all the leaders of the world that any vaccine, if developed, should be considered for the public good and be made available for all countries," Momen said.

PM Modi's 2-day visit to Bangladesh

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is on a two-day visit to Bangladesh to be a part of the neighbouring country's 50th Independence Day, making it the first foreign visit by PM Modi after the outbreak of the Coronavirus / COVID-19 pandemic. PM Modi received the invitation to be a part of its 50th Independence Day celebrations and to commemorate the birth centenary of the Father of the Nation of Bangladesh Sheikh Mujibur Rahman from his counterpart Sheikh Hasina, where heads of state from Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and the Maldives will also be present at the celebration. Incidentally, Bengal goes to the polls on Saturday, amid PM Modi's Bangladesh visit.

(With inputs from ANI)

Image Credits: AK Abdul Momen/Twitter/Daniel Schludi/Pixabey/ Narendra Modi/Twitter
Uganda National Examinations Board (Uneb) will today brief 749, 811 Primary Seven candidates ahead of their national examinations on Tuesday.

The briefing conducted by the schools' respective head teachers will take the candidates through the dos and don'ts during the two-day exercise.

Mr Dan Odongo, the Uneb executive secretary, yesterday told Daily Monitor that they registered more candidates in the most turbulent times when schools were abruptly closed in March over coronavirus outbreak and reopened in a phased manner seven months later starting with the candidate classes.

Mr Odongo said Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE) candidature increased by 7.8 per cent and are trying to establish why the numbers went up by almost 50,000 pupils.

"I am only worried about these two days of PLE. The weather has been good so far. We are on our knees asking the Almighty to spare our candidates. About 50, 000 more candidates for PLE registered. People were fearing they will drop out because of Covid-19 and lockdown but it didn't happen. We were surprised to have such a huge candidature. The increase is larger than the normal years. We have decided to do a study and see what is the cause of this," Mr Odongo said in an interview.

This newspaper has established that some parents whose children were in Primary Six were registered when Uneb carried out this year's exercise.

"We have also heard some parents are registering their children who were in P6 because they are already growing up. It is possibly true because the increase in candidature for girls is quite significant. About 53 per cent of the candidates are girls and boys are 47 per cent. Our research department is trying to analyse the data to see what exactly happened," Mr Odongo said.

Speaking during special prayers for PLE candidates at Kampala Parents School, Fr Joseph Luzindana asked Primary Seven candidates to put God first while doing exams.

"We thank the almighty who has helped us pass through the pandemic and also survive because several have passed on but the same God has enabled us come this day. We pray that our pupils pass the exams," he said.

In Jinja, school administrators complained about inadequate preparedness due to the pandemic.

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Primary Seven candidates will start with Mathematics and Social Studies, before winding up with Integrated Science and English on Wednesday.

Mr Bernard Kabambwe, the Iganga Municipal Council school inspector, told Daily Monitor on Wednesday that he is being bombarded with questions on pupils' preparedness for the forthcoming examinations.

"The pupils will be assessed based on what they have covered from Primary One to Primary Seven and so are those in Senior Four (what they covered from Senior One) and Senior Six (what they covered from Senior Five).

Background

In March last year, government closed all schools and tertiary institutions to combat the spread of coronavirus. Government, however, reopened them for candidates and later semi-candidate classes, with other classes set to report in a staggered manner.

According to some school administrators, the pupils were not tested because it would take a lot of time marking the scripts; but based on the little exercises they were given, the schools have a very positive recommendation that they will perform well. Meanwhile, 845 PLE pupils from Lira District did not return to school when they were reopened in October.

Compiled By Patience Ahimbisibwe, Patrick Ebong, Shabibah Nakirigya, Philip Wafula & Charity Akullo
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-26 10:55:26|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday exchanged congratulations with Cameroonian President Paul Biya on the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries.

In his message, Xi said that over the past half a century since the establishment of their diplomatic ties, China and Cameroon have been standing side by side through thick and thin, and the traditional friendship between the two countries has grown stronger with time.

In recent years, the friendly cooperative relations between the two countries have enjoyed a strong momentum of development with deepening political mutual trust and fruitful results in practical cooperation, Xi said.

The two countries have understood and supported each other on issues concerning each other's core interests and major concerns, and have coordinated closely in international and regional affairs, he noted.

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic, China has been working with Cameroon and other African countries to help and support each other in fighting the epidemic, which demonstrated the brotherly friendship between China and Africa that shares weal and woe, Xi said.

Xi emphasized that he attaches great importance to the development of China-Cameroon relations.

He expressed the willingness to work with Biya to take the opportunity of the 50th anniversary of the diplomatic ties to implement the outcomes of the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation and enhance their joint efforts to build the Belt and Road, so as to benefit the two countries and peoples and to make positive contributions to forging a closer China-Africa community with a shared future. Enditem
Facebook has introduced taxes in Kenya effective April 1, 2021.

The social media giant said these taxes will be applicable to advertisers whose 'Sold To' country on their business or personal address is set to Kenya and who haven't confirmed that they are advertising for business purposes.

"Due to implementation of a value-added tax (VAT) in Kenya, Facebook is required to charge VAT on the sale of ads to advertisers that are not advertising for business purposes in Kenya," it explained in a statement.

"All advertisers with a business country of Kenya who has not confirmed they are advertising for business purposes will be charged an additional 16% VAT on advertising services purchased after 1 April 2021."

Facebook said not every Facebook account holder would be liable to a tax deduction but only those who meet the criteria.

In the Ad Accounts Settings of Ads Manager, Facebook said, "you can check the box to confirm whether or not you're advertising for business purposes and responsible for self-assessing and paying VAT in accordance with the Tax Code of Kenya."

If you confirm you are advertising for business purposes, Facebook said it "doesn't add VAT to your purchase of Facebook ads."

Facebook added that VAT would be added whenever you are charged for your ads if you're not purchasing Facebook ads for business purposes.

"Because VAT is added on top of charges, you won't reach your billing threshold faster, but you may be charged more than your billing threshold amount. If you pay for Facebook ads with a manual payment method, VAT is accounted for and applied at the applicable local rate when your ad account is funded to determine the total balance available."

Last year, Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) introduced the Finance Act 2020 Digital Service Taxes (DST) on income from services provided through the digital marketplace in Kenya and will be applied at 1.5 percent on the gross transaction value (exclusive of VAT).

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In a public notice, the taxman noted that an increasing number of influencers do not file tax returns or pay taxes on transactions.

Several businesses have scaled up their presence in digital platforms where they now routinely conduct and conclude transactions.

In recognition of this shift, many jurisdictions around the world have in the recent past enacted tax legislation aimed at taxing the digital economy.

These Regulations aim at ensuring that VAT is charged on taxable services supplied in Kenya through the digital marketplace by Business to Customer (B2C) transactions.

Taxing digital market suppliers in the country became effective on January 2, this year, a move that will see the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) widen its revenue bracket.

Facebook now joins YouTube to deduct taxes for the US government from all channels, even those owned by creators who don't reside in the United States of America.
Addis Ababa  The government of Eritrea has agreed to withdraw its forces out of the Ethiopian border.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is in a two-day working visit to Asmara to explore Ethiopia's cooperation with Eritrea.

The agreement came after Prime Minister Abiy held discussions with Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki during his visit to Asmara.

According to Office of the Prime Minister, the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) will take over guarding the border areas effective immediately.

Ethiopia and Eritrea will continue strengthening their bilateral relations and economic cooperation ambitions, the office said.

Ethiopia and Eritrea will continue building on the spirit of trust and good neighborliness between our two countries as embarked upon in 2018, it added.

In particular, restoring trust-based people-to-people relations among our citizens in the Tigray region and fellow Eritreans across the border is essential.

It is to be recalled on November 4, 2020 the TPLF criminal clique strenuously attacked the Northern Command of the ENDF in a foiled plan to seize power by destabilizing the nation.

Attacking the Northern Command where the nation's largest weapons depot was stationed and mercilessly killing and kidnapping members of the ENDF has drawn the federal government into a military engagement it has been provoked into.

Following the attack on the Northern Command, the TPLF fired rockets into Bahir Dar and Gonder cities.

Similarly, they fired rockets into Asmara, Eritrea thereby provoking the Eritrean government to cross Ethiopian borders and prevent further attacks and maintain its national security, the office noted.
Quality Uptime Services and GridShield have the depth and breadth of experience to provide customized solutions and emergency services to data center customers.

Quality Uptime Services (QUS), a leading independent provider of critical power services, is pleased to announce that it will be expanding its offerings into major metropolitan areas in Canada. QUS has entered a partnership with GridShield, an experienced Canadian-based company headquartered in Ontario. QUS will provide critical power and environmental preventive maintenance and emergency services to data center environments in Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, Vancouver, Winnipeg, Quebec City and Halifax.

Preventive maintenance and repair services to be provided to Canadian customers include:



Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS), Batteries, PDU, RPP, DC Plants, and Switchgear

Generators, ATS, CRAC/CRAH, and Chillers

Infrared, Ultrasonic, High-voltage Testing Services, and Power Quality Audits

24/7 Asset Management and Monitoring

Equipment Upgrades

Through our partnership with GridShield, QUS has immediately gained a substantial presence coast-to- coast in Canada, said John Raio, CEO at QUS. This partnership pairs QUS technology systems, customer service, parts support, and training/testing facility with a locally based team of experienced technicians well versed in the Canadian data center market. It is rare to find a team with GridShields depth of knowledge and diversity of services. I am excited to expand our geographical coverage to support our existing client-portfolio with operations in Canada.

Quality Uptime Services and GridShield have the depth and breadth of experience to provide customized solutions and emergency services to data center customers. This partnership creates best of breed service-solutions across all end markets in North America.

About GridShield

GridShield is a multi-disciplined company offering professional services and solutions to all mission critical environments. The unique synergies created with trusted partners allows for a single point of contact for maintenance and emergency response. GridShield brings extensive knowledge handling national accounts in the Data Center, Healthcare, Telecommunication, and Institutional (for both public and private sectors) markets.

About Quality Uptime Services

Supporting a national client base across all industries, QUS provides UPS and battery preventive maintenance through a team of factory-trained field service engineers. With over 9 million sq.ft. of raised floor under contract and industry-leading customer retention, clients confidently engage QUS to maintain 100% uptime. Follow Quality Uptime Services: LinkedIn; Facebook; Twitter.

For more information on Quality Uptime Services visit qualityuptime.com or contact Frank Monticelli, at (917) 971-6234, fmonticelli@qualityuptime.com.
New Delhi:

A 57-year-old Indian-American doctor has been stabbed to death allegedly by an Indian-origin patient near his clinic in the Wichita city of Kansas.

Psychiatrist Achutha Reddy, who hailed from Telangana, was found dead with multiple knife wounds in an alley behind his clinic in East Wichita on Wednesday, police said.

One of his patients, 21-year-old Umar Rashid Dutt, also an Indian-American, has been arrested and charged with first-degree murder.

Reddy was pronounced dead on the spot by the police, Lt Todd Ojile, section commander of the homicide division at the Wichita Police Department, told reporters at a news conference yesterday.

The incident happened on Wednesday evening. The police received the call around 7.20 pm.

The accused man was found at a country club after a security guard reported a suspicious person sitting in a car in the parking lot with blood on his clothes.

During the investigation, we learned that the 21-year- old suspect was a client of Dr Reddy and had been at the office. The suspect was in the business for a short time. He left and then later came back with Dr Reddy and they went into an office there, Ojile said.

After going to an office, a disturbance was heard. An office manager entered into the office and observed the suspect assaulting Dr ready. She attempted to stop the assault which allowed the doctor to flee the office, he said.

Umar chased the doctor out of his office, and stabbed him multiple times, Ojile said, adding that the reason for the murder has not been ascertained yet.

Also Read | North Korea fires missile over Japan; Tokyo issues alerts to citizens

Umar has been held on USD one million bond. According to Wichita State University, he was a former student and was last enrolled in the spring of 2015.

His tragic loss will be felt by many. In todays world mental health resources are stretched thin. Many looked toward Dr Reddy for help in their times of crisis. As many providers in the mental health profession, he offered hope to many suffering from mental illness, Wichita Police Department said in a statement.

Reddy graduated from a medical school at Osmania University in India in 1986 and did his residency at the University of Kansas Medical Center in 1998.

He specialised in psychiatry. Holistic Psychiatric Services psychotherapist Brenda Trammel described it as a great loss.

Dr Reddy was an amazing, compassionate man that was kind and loving to anyone he met. He had a gift of knowing what each and every one of us needed and gave it freely, she said.

He would often tell me you have to have freedom to live life to the fullest and this is how he lived his life. He thought of himself as our father and his job was to guide us to do well in our lives. He expected the best from all of us and we gave it to him with the same abandon he gave to us, Trammel said.

The Indian American community in Wichita has expressed shock over the incident.

With a heavy heart, we regret to inform our community, that a member of our Wichita Indian Community has lost his life last night. We will provide more information as it becomes available, Cultural Association of India-Wichita said.

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Airport workers unload the China-aided COVID-19 vaccine at the Carthage International Airport in Tunis, Tunisia, March 25, 2021. Tunisia received on Thursday a batch of COVID-19 vaccine donated by China and delivered aboard a military plane of the Tunisian Ministry of Defense. (Photo by Adel Ezzine/Xinhua)

TUNIS, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Tunisia received on Thursday a batch of COVID-19 vaccine donated by China and delivered aboard a military plane of the Tunisian Ministry of Defense.

"China is the first country to provide a vaccine donation for Tunisia," Chinese Ambassador to Tunisia Zhang Jianguo said at the Carthage International Airport in Tunis, capital of Tunisia.

"We are convinced that these vaccines will contribute to controlling the epidemic situation, the recovery of the economy in Tunisia and the protection of the health of Tunisians," Zhang said.

"Today, humanity is fighting against COVID-19 ... The vaccine is the priority of the moment and remains a critical element of the anti-epidemic cooperation of the international community," the Chinese ambassador noted.

Meanwhile at the airport, Tunisian Minister of Health Faouzi Mehdi expressed gratitude to China for sending "large quantities of Sinovac vaccine against COVID-19 as a donation."

"This is the third vaccine against COVID-19 that our country has received after Sputnik V and Pfizer ... It will be of great benefit to us to speed up the vaccination process," the minister said.

Cooperation with China "goes back a very long time in various fields," Mehdi added.

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[ Editor: WPY ]
More than 58 million Made in India coronavirus vaccine doses have reached about 70 countries in the recent weeks

Under India's Vaccine Maitri' initiative, which translates into Vaccine Friendship, the country has been providing vaccines to nations across the world (Representational image: AP)

New York: The 200,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines, announced as a gift by India, will be sent to the UN peacekeepers on March 27 and then will be distributed to the peacekeeping missions.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had announced in February that India will gift 200,000 COVID-19 doses for UN peacekeepers.

Keeping in mind the UN Peacekeepers who operate in such difficult circumstances, we would like to announce today a gift of 200,000 doses for them, Jaishankar said had said while addressing the UN Security Council open debate on the implementation of resolution 2532 (2020) on the cessation of hostilities in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Quoting the Bhagvad Gita, Jaishankar had said Do your work with the welfare of others always in mind.

The 200,000 doses essentially mean that it will be possible to administer the required double doses of COVID-19 vaccines to all UN peacekeepers across missions. According to UN Peacekeeping, as of January 31, 2021 a total of 85,782 personnel are serving in 12 peacekeeping operations across the world led by the Department of Peace Operations.

A total of 121 nations are contributing uniformed personnel to the UN peacekeeping missions. India is traditionally among the largest troop contributing countries to peacekeeping missions.

Sources said the 200,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine will depart Mumbai via Qatar Airways on March 27. The shipment will go to Copenhagen, where it will be safely stored in a facility, re-packaged and quickly distributed to peacekeeping missions for the peacekeepers.

The Oxford-AstraZeneca's Covishield is being manufactured by Pune-based Serum Institute. The SII has collaborated with Oxford University and pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca for making the vaccine.

Covaxin is the indigenously developed vaccine by pharma company Bharat Biotech.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres had said that he is extremely grateful for the gift of 200,000 COVID19 vaccine doses for UN peacekeepers announced by India, the world's biggest drugmaker.

Under India's Vaccine Maitri' initiative, which translates into Vaccine Friendship, the country has been providing vaccines to nations across the world - from India's immediate neighbours to countries in Latin America and Africa - and is a significant source of supply to the COVAX facility.

More than 58 million Made in India coronavirus vaccine doses have reached about 70 countries in the recent weeks.
CLEVELAND, Ohio - While coronavirus cases are surging in many states, especially just to the north in Michigan, the bad news in Ohio is merely that they have leveled off or just inched up a bit over the last couple of weeks.

This raises some important questions.

Why arent case numbers continuing to shrink in Ohio with so many more people being vaccinated each week? Are there pockets of big increases geographically in the state waiting to spread? What role are the more contagious variants of the virus playing? And could this somewhat modest increase in case numbers statewide of late just be the lull before the storm - the return of a fall-like surge in cases across Ohio?

There are indications that the vaccine is beginning to have a real impact in limiting the spread of the virus, yet even with vaccinations started on about 3 million people across the state, 3-in-4 Ohioans have not received a single shot.

Its literally a race between how fast we can get people vaccinated and how fast people are willing to take the vaccine versus the variant. It now looks like we have enough fire power to keep going and going, Gov. Mike DeWine said Thursday, expressing confidence that the worst of the pandemic is within weeks of coming to an end.

Dr. Amy Edwards, infectious disease physician at University Hospitals in Cleveland, said that with 25% of the Ohioans vaccinated so far, thats clearly not enough to turn back variants of the virus beginning to spread.

If Ohio could hold steady in the number of new coronavirus cases for about four to six weeks, the state could get closer to 60% of the population vaccinated and a fourth wave of the virus will be averted, Edwards said.

I dont think anybody thinks thats actually going to happen, and so I think the fourth wave will be driven by these variants, she said.

The good news is that even if those who have been vaccinated contract a variant of the virus, their chances of dying or even ending up in the hospital are extremely rare, Edwards said.

There was a rare jump in cases for Ohio on Friday, as the state reported 2,742 new cases - the highest number for any day since Feb. 23.

Vaccinated individuals who get exposed to the variant, as opposed to the regular variant of COVID, they are more likely to get sick  the vaccine is not as effective  but it does still appear to protect against severe disease and death, even with a variant, she said.

It has become apparent in recent weeks that the vaccines are making a difference in Ohio. The first groups targeted were older Ohioans.

Close to 70% of those age 70 and up have now received at least one dose, in comparison to less than 20% of Ohioans under the age of 50. And older Ohioans are now accounting for smaller and smaller shares of both cases overall and those severe cases that have resulted in hospitalizations.

With an early focus on vaccinating older Ohioans, those people have begun to account for a smaller share of all known coronavirus cases. This chart is based on the month each case was reported by the Ohio Department of Health.Rich Exner, cleveland.com

For example, Ohioans age 70 and up accounted for 10.9% of the cases reported in January, yet just 5.8% of the March cases through Thursday.

Meanwhile the share of cases for those under the age of 30 has grown from 33.1% in January to 37.9% of all Ohio cases reported to date in March. Children under the age of 16 have not been approved to receive vaccines by the federal government, and vaccinations for young adults just recently opened up in Ohio.

More dramatic than the age change in cases has been the shift in hospitalizations. Among all coronavirus patients admitted in January, 49.5% were at least 70 years old. The share of hospitalizations for this age group has dropped to 32.4% for March.

Meanwhile, every other age group - Under 29, age 30 to 49 and age 50 to 69 - now take up larger shares of the hospitalizations.

Hospitalizations by age group in Ohio show a sharp drop for older Ohioans since they became the first group approved to receive vaccines.Rich Exner, cleveland.com

Increases sharper than Ohios are being reported in more than 20 states across the county, with perhaps no better example than neighboring Michigan - going from close to 1,050 cases a day in mid- to late-February to about 3,900 a day recently, according to tracking by Johns Hopkins University.

Is the rapid spread in Michigan starting to show up in Ohio? So far, it does not appear so.

In a comparison of seven-day case totals from March 11-17, when Ohio hit its low for the year, to the seven days through Thursday with slightly larger numbers overall, the county-by-county changes were fairly sporadic across the state - not concentrated in a single region or two.

At least 100 cases were reported in the last week for 23 Ohio counties, offering a large enough sample for a better comparisons than in smaller places with just a handful of cases.

The change in case rates for these counties were generally within a range of plus or minus 20% over the last seven days versus March 11-17. And those with the largest swings were not clustered geographically.

Cases were up 72.6% in Hancock County, the sharpest increase among these 23 counties, while they were down 31.3% in Medina County, representing the biggest drop.

As for Ohios three large counties, cases were up 6.9% in Franklin and 6.6% in Cuyahoga, but down 2.3% in Hamilton County.

Ohio counties with at least 100 newly reported cases in the last week, and how their rate changes compare to the statewide average.Rich Exner, cleveland.com

That leaves the question: beyond new variants, what else could be causing Ohios recent, modest increase?

Dr. Andy Thomas, Ohio State University Wexler Medical Centers chief clinical officer, said COVID-19 fatigue may also be a factor in cases these days, with people taking fewer precautions.

There are certainly people who, as the weather has gotten nicer, have gotten out more. Ive gotten the sense of that COVID fatigue that we talked about in the fall has returned this spring, he said.

Thomas believes variants will also become the predominant form of COVID-19, but he doesnt have a timeline for when that will occur. Hes seen predictions for mid-April or the end of April, but he said he cant be certain, since Ohio seems to be lagging in the spread of variants.

We are nowhere near where Florida is or Southern California in terms of the percent of variants, he said. Its certainly not a secret the variants are coming, and theyre more contagious.

Thomas believes Ohios vaccine strategy in which older Ohioans were prioritized because they are more at risk of hospitalization and death could be key if Ohio has an uptick of infections.

Even though were at risk of seeing an increase in the number of cases, my hope is we are not at risk of seeing a rapid increase in hospitalizations and deaths, he said.

All of which has the governor speaking optimistically, but with caution.

It is going to take all of us, DeWine said. Everybody in every community to encourage everyone to get vaccinated. Were going to move pretty quickly from the point where we didnt have enough vaccine to we do have plenty of vaccine.

Previous coverage

Ohios coronavirus case rate increases; 55 counties on red alert this week

Ohio officials report 1,501 new coronavirus cases: Thursday update

Ohio nursing home coronavirus cases decline again; state now reporting 7,055 deaths
Nairobi  Kenyan authorities have ordered the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) to make plans to close two refugee camps that are home to more than 400,000 refugees, mainly Somalis and South Sudanese. While it's not the first time Kenya has threatened to close the camps, rights groups say the order could endanger refugees' lives.

Twenty-year-old Schadrack Nishimwe, a Burundian living in the Kakuma refugee camp in northern Kenya, fears for his future as the host nation threatens to close the camp.

If this camp is closed, he said, I can lose the peace and education I have here. If I go back home, there is no peace. He added, if I go back, I will be admitted to a lower grade. Forget about the education system. I am not so sure I will be able to continue with my studies.

On Wednesday, Kenya ordered the closure of Kakuma and Dadaab refugee camps, home to at least 400,000 refugees, the majority of them Somalis.

The East African nation gave the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, two weeks to develop a plan to close the camp.

It's not the first time Kenya has threatened to close the Dadaab refugee camp. In 2016 Kenya wanted to close the camp in the northeast of the country for security reasons. It believes the camp is used by the Somali terrorist group al-Shabab to plan and carry out attacks. The plan was blocked by Kenya's high court, which termed it unconstitutional.

Abdullahi Osman, a Somali national, is one of the refugee leaders in the Dadaab camp. He said it's too dangerous for him to go home.

He said it's not possible to go back to Somalia. He says if the Kenyan government wants to take us by force, that's something else, but if we are asked to give our view, there is no safe place to go in Somalia. Many places in Somalia are insecure and there are killings.

Otsieno Namwaya is a senior researcher for Human Rights Watch. He said returning refugees to volatile countries is a dangerous affair.

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"What we should note is that the reasons for which refugees left their countries are still there, the situation in Somalia has not stabilized, a few refugees from South Sudan who are in the camps, the place where they came from the situation has not improved, and Burundi and many others. So for Kenya to come up right now and say they want to take them back, I think that's in the violation of its obligations," said Namwaya.

In a statement Wednesday, the UNHCR said the move will negatively impact refugees' lives, especially coming at the time of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Attempts to reach the Kenyan Interior Ministry, which is in charge of refugee issues, were unsuccessful.

Relations between Kenya and Somalia have been on the decline in recent years, with Mogadishu accusing Nairobi of interfering with its internal affairs. Kenya denies that allegation.

Kenya has been hosting large numbers of Somali refugees since 1991, when Somalia's central government collapsed, and the country descended into civil war.
A couple that sold a historic home in Aiken, along with a parcel of land nearby, for a seven-figure price has taken legal action against the buyer, claiming that he has defaulted on a loan.

But the response and counterclaims from the defendants lawyer maintain that his client has been meeting the terms of the agreement.

It also states that the couple concealed facts that should have been disclosed and made false material representations about the houses condition.

Richard and Carol Amendola filed their lawsuit against Cody Anderson on March 17 in the Court of Common Pleas for South Carolinas 2nd Judicial Circuit.

Anderson is the owner of George Funeral Home and Cremation Center in Aiken.

Last August, he purchased the Constantine House at 3406 Richland Ave. West for $1 million, according to Aiken County land records.

Included in the deal was a parcel of land at 3401 Kings Sport Way.

Anderson told the Aiken Standard that he would be leaving the Constantine House to USC Aiken following his death so it could be used as the residence for the schools chancellor.

At the time, Anderson made a $50,000 down payment, his attorney, John Harte, said March 26.

Greek architect Augustus Edison Constantine designed the Constantine House, which was built in the Kalmia Hill neighborhood in 1935.

The Amendolas lived in the 4,936-square-foot classic Georgian home for nearly 20 years.

According to the Amendolas suit, Anderson promised to pay them $950,000 plus interest at the rate of 4.5% per year during the period of indebtedness.

Under the agreement, the suit states, there would be 77 monthly installment payments of $4,814 apiece, with a final payment of all remaining principal and accrued interest due on April 15, 2027."

Also part of the agreement was a single principal reduction payment of $600,000, according to the suit.

It would be due when properties owned by Anderson at 116 Charles Towne Place in Woodside Plantation and Donald K. Gordon at 56 Cherry Hills Drive in the Houndslake subdivision were sold, the suit states.

Based on the agreement, if those properties werent sold before Aug. 31, 2021, the $600,000 would be due then.

Gordon died last December.

According to the Amendolas suit, even though Andersons property was sold in January of this year and Gordons property was sold in November 2020, Anderson has not paid them $600,000 yet.

As of March 15, the total amount due, including accrued interest, was $939,453.98, the suit states.

The Amendolas are seeking that amount and more, which includes expenses, prejudgment interest based on the statutory rate of 8.75%, attorneys fees and other costs.

Andrew R. Hand, John M.S. Hoefer and Mitchell Willoughby of the Willoughby & Hoefer firm in Columbia are the Amendolas attorneys.

Hand told the Aiken Standard on March 26 that he and the Amendolas other lawyers wouldnt be commenting on the pending litigation and that the Amendolas position would be stated in the filings and the court proceedings.

Harte talked briefly March 26 to the Aiken Standard about Andersons response and counterclaims, which were filed March 25.

The situation, as we see it, is that the property that Cody Anderson bought had numerous major defects, which first of all were not disclosed during the negotiations," Harte said. "Secondly, there were conditions that were misrepresented. We attempted to reach out to the sellers and open a line of communication to try to negotiate. Instead of responding as I expected them to do, which would be to open a discussion outside of court to try to resolve the problem, they filed this foreclosure action, which is without merit.

He (Anderson) is not in default," Harte continued, and we will establish that if we have to go to court. Hopefully, we wont have to go to court, and well get it resolved without that.

Anderson has made the payments as required, Harte said. He has done what he agreed to do. There was an agreement for him to refinance and get a mortgage to cover the entire balance rather than paying it out over time to them (the Amendolas). They are ignoring that agreement and ignoring the payments that he has made. It is very unfortunate theyve chosen that path, but so be it.

Andersons response states that he gave notice of his intent to accelerate the entire amount due by obtaining a mortgage from a bank or lending institution rather than making the $600,000 payment prior to Aug. 31, 2021.

The Amendolas did not object to that course of action and allowed the Defendant to move forward with that process, according to the response.

Anderson believes the Amendolas should be prevented from asserting a default, seeking foreclosure and enforcing the contract, based on his response.

The couple breached the contract by remaining in the home longer than permitted under the contract and by leaving a very large quantity of personal property in the house, the response states.

In addition, the response accuses the Amendolas of fraud, negligent misrepresentation and unjust enrichment.

Also according to Andersons response, the Amendolas told him that the overall condition of the house was sound and would not require repairs or would only require minor repairs.

But in fact, extensive repairs were needed, the response states.

Anderson claims that the Constantine Houses electrical system and wiring, plumbing system and roof all need to be replaced.

There also are other problems, according to the response.
President Volodymyr Zelensky has approved the Military Security Strategy of Ukraine.

The President signed relevant decree No.121/2021, which puts into effect the decision of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine as of March 25, 2021 "On the Military Security Strategy of Ukraine, Ukrinform reports with reference to the presidents press service.

The document provides for the introduction of a comprehensive approach to the defense of Ukraine in the face of a military threat to national security associated with the use of hybrid methods.

"Ukraine's comprehensive defense corresponds to the sovereign inalienable right of every state to self-defense against aggression enshrined in the UN Charter and is not aimed at achieving military parity with the Russian Federation, which would lead to excessive militarization of the state. It provides for maintaining the balance and combination of military and non-military means to ensure the military security of Ukraine, reads the document.

The strategy defines the goals, priorities and objectives of state policy in the military, defense and military construction. The document is aimed at protecting national interests from military threats, repelling and deterring armed aggression against Ukraine, preventing or restraining the enemy from full-scale use of military force against Ukraine, termination of the temporary occupation by the Russian Federation of part of the territory of Ukraine, protection of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine primarily through the implementation of international legal, political and diplomatic, security, humanitarian and economic measures.

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Comal County's COVID numbers continued to decline on Friday with health officials announcing only seven new cases of the virus and 21 recoveries from it.

The county now has 179 active COVID-19 cases with five of those patients in the hospital.

Local hospital use also dipped with those facilities reporting caring for nine COVID patients with three in intensive care and one on a ventilator. That's down from 10 reported on Thursday.

The regional hospitalization rate  the percentage of beds taken up by virus patients in the 22-county region that includes Comal and Guadalupe counties  also continued to drop, settling at 3.75%.

The county's seven-day positivity rate, which marks the percentage of tests with a positive result, also declined as the week went on after a spike that health officials attributed to very low test numbers being reported. The rate for the molecular test was 7.25%, down from 18.4% on Thursday, while the more widespread and inexpensive antigen test was reported at 5.74% down from 10.98% reported Thursday.

On Monday the county will open its vaccine standby list to all adults for the first time.

Previously vaccinations had been limited to people by age, employment or health conditions but the state announced that those restrictions would be lifted on Monday, March 29.

The county's health department says it's ready to deliver shots beyond the more than 20,000 it's already given as additional vaccine becomes available.

Public Health is excited about vaccinating more residents to help fight the COVID-19 pandemic," said Comal County Public Health Director Cheryl Fraser said Thursday.

The state is still urging vaccine providers to prioritize those who are most vulnerable to COVID-19's worst outcomes.

+5 New Braunfels medical workers find challenges, inspiration in pandemic Its been just over a year since the COVID-19 pandemic started in the United States.

In Comal County, where 305 deaths have been attributed to COVID-19 since the pandemic arrived last March, more than half of those deaths, 153, came from patients who were older than 80 years old. There have been 83 deaths among those in their 70s, 39 in their 60s, 22 in their 50s, six in their 40s and 2 in their 30s.

Many of those deaths came last summer as the virus spread inside local nursing homes and long-term care facilities. Those patients were among the first vaccinated after vaccines were approved by the federal government.

On Thursday the county judge said that while the numbers are going the right direction, people should do what they can to make sure that continues to be the case as vaccination efforts speed up.

"The last thing we want to do is get careless and start to see the numbers start trending up again  especially after seeing the progress weve made over the last two or three months," Comal County Judge Sherman Krause said. "Things are getting better but we need to make sure people keep safe distances, keep up good hygiene practices and those sorts of things."

While the state rules allow for people 16 and older to be vaccinated, Comal County's clinics will only be for those over 18 because it is distributing the Moderna vaccine. The two-shot Moderna and the Johnson & Johnson single shot haven't been approved for people under the age of 18. Only the two-shot Pfizer vaccine is cleared for those who are 16 and 17 years old.

Registration will be available at www.co.comal.tx.us. As vaccine becomes available, residents will be contacted to schedule an appointment. Officials said they expect the vaccine availability to improve again next week.

Officials said people can continue to find additional providers through the DSHS Vaccine Information page at dshs.texas.gov/covidvaccine. Grocery stores, pharmacies and hospitals are also offering vaccination opportunities.
Washington to re-open diplomatic channels of communication with Palestine, says U.S. envoy

Xinhua) 14:49, March 26, 2021

UNITED NATIONS, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Washington will "re-open diplomatic channels of communication" with Palestine that has been cut off under the previous Donald Trump administration, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the Security Council on Thursday.

"Since January, our diplomatic engagement has been guided by the premise that sustainable progress toward peace must be based on active consultations with both sides," Thomas-Greenfield told the Security Council video-conference briefing on the Israeli-Palestinian issue.

"To that end, our administration will take steps to re-open diplomatic channels of communication that were halted during the last administration," the envoy added. "Our engagements all have the same aim: to build support for a peaceful solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict."

Thomas-Greenfield, while expressing her country's "continued support for Israel," noted that the United States wishes to "see both Israelis and Palestinians take steps toward a two-state solution."

On the two-state solution, the U.S. ambassador said, "under President Biden's leadership, the United States has recommitted to the vision of a mutually agreed two-state solution, one in which Israel lives in peace and security alongside a viable Palestinian state."

"We believe this vision is the best way to ensure Israel's future as a democratic and Jewish state, while upholding the Palestinian people's legitimate aspirations for a state of their own and to live with dignity and security," she said.

Thomas-Greenfield noted that Biden is restoring U.S. assistance programs that support economic development and humanitarian aid for the Palestinian people.

"Specifically, the United States is pleased to announce today 15 million U.S. dollars in humanitarian assistance to support the most vulnerable communities in the West Bank and Gaza," she added.

Former U.S. President Trump cut hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to Palestinians, and during his administration, diplomatic contacts with Palestinians came to a virtual halt.

After Trump declared Jerusalem the capital of Israel in December 2017, the Palestinian Authority broke off all official relations with the White House and the State Department, though security cooperation continued.

(Web editor: Wen Ying, Liang Jun)
Before Pfister received his supply update, he expected getting 4,780 first doses for the week starting Monday, but he learned 11,520 will be shipped instead. The expected amount of 8,110 doses for the week beginning April 5 remains the same, with 12,152 coming the week of April 12.
CARLSTADT, N.J., March 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Lion Brand Yarn Company, a leading U.S. distributor of knitting and craft yarn, today announced an official partnership with Mental Health America, the nation's leading community-based nonprofit dedicated to addressing the needs of those living with mental illness and promoting the mental health of all. Announced on "Lion Brand Day," the yarn company's premier day to celebrate crafters, the partnership is an integral part of Lion Brand's emboldened 2021 focus on the mental health benefits of knitting and crocheting--activities that have spiked in popularity as people seek out ways to cope with these troubling times.

Lion Brand Yarn Company Launches Partnership with Mental Health America

Mental Health America confirms there is a wide variety of mental health benefits associated with knitting and crocheting, including "lowered blood pressure, reduced depression and anxiety, distraction from chronic pain, increased sense of wellbeing, and reduced loneliness and isolation."

"We're both honored and thrilled to be partnering with Lion Brand Yarn Company, and to be such a prominent component of their pledge to raise awareness about mental health, specifically in the crafting space," said Paul Gionfriddo, Mental Health America's President and CEO. "Their commitment to spreading this message and generating donations for our organization is testament to their goal of improving mental health for as many people as possible."

For the long-term partnership, Lion Brand is aiming to raise funds for Mental Health America and its wide-ranging services, and the "Lion Brand Day" announcement informs the yarn company's vast community about the charitable collaboration. In addition, with lime green as the international color for mental health awareness, Lion Brand will promote the sale of a special kit to encourage its crafters and consumers to create lime green scarves. Proceeds from the kit will go directly to Mental Health America.

In May, during Mental Health Awareness Month, Lion Brand will mount multiple initiatives to benefit Mental Health America, including:

An all-day stitch-a-thon that will take place across Lion Brand's social media channels and throughout its extensive community of crafters, who will be encouraged to donate to Mental Health America.

Email engagements with customers and key retailers promoting the fundraiser.

A "virtual run" with all proceeds benefiting MHA.

A large-scale, knit and crochet Zoom event, when MHA representatives will join participants from far and wide for a special one-hour episode of Lion Brand's daily Facebook Live series, "The Shi Show," which is hosted by Lion Brand ambassador Shira Blumenthal , and is broadcast to nearly 600,000 followers.

, and is broadcast to nearly 600,000 followers. Promote the sale of the lime green scarf kit.

"We're so excited to kick off this incredible partnership with Mental Health America," said Shira Blumenthal, who is also the founder of the Lion Brand-backed anti-bullying campaign #HatNotHate. "The work of Mental Health America aligns with everything we stand for, from Lion Brand's mission to trumpet the mental health benefits of crafting to #HatNotHate's mission to address the short- and long-term mental health effects of bullying. We're more than confident that our crafters will be thrilled to donate to this worthy cause."

"We believe there is an incredible opportunity in 2021 to bring Mental Health America's important message to a larger audience," said Chris Mills, CEO of Lion Brand Yarn Company. "By combining our shared values, our collective supporters, followers and customers, we believe we can make a positive impact in spreading a hopeful and empowering mental health message this year and for years to come."

Furthermore, Mental Health America will be continually interwoven with #HatNotHate's recently launched 2021 campaign, which pledges to collect 100,000 hats from makers and donors to be distributed to schools in October during National Bullying Prevention Month. New appearances from Mental Health America representatives will be scheduled for "The Shi Show," and through it all, Lion Brand and #HatNotHate will be promoting donations to Mental Health America.

ABOUT LION BRAND YARN COMPANY

Lion Brand Yarn Company is a fifth generation, family-owned business, and one of the leading distributors of knitting and craft yarn in the United States, with yarns sold online and at craft chains, discount chains and independent shops across the country. More than 80 different types of yarn can be purchased on LionBrand.com, in addition to tools and accessories. Among the company's recent triumphs are #StitchAroundTheWorld, the largest virtual crafting event in history, and "The Shi Show," a daily Facebook Live series hosted by brand ambassador Shira Blumenthal, who also founded the #HatNotHate anti-bullying campaign.

ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH AMERICA

Mental Health America (MHA) is the nation's leading community-based nonprofit dedicated to addressing the needs of those living with mental illness and promoting the overall mental health of all. MHA's work is driven by its commitment to promote mental health as a critical part of overall wellness, including prevention services for all; early identification and intervention for those at risk; integrated care, services, and supports for those who need them; with recovery as the goal. To learn more about MHA visit www.mhanational.org.

SOURCE Lion Brand Yarn Company

Related Links

http://LionBrand.com


During Joe Biden's first press conference, Yamiche Alcindor, a hard-left activist masquerading as a journalist, threw the ultimate softball question about immigration to Biden. Even with that help, as well as notes from which he read, his answer was a mixture of lies, insults, and fantasy.

Here are a few facts about illegal immigration. The 1990s were a high mark, with a decline beginning after 9/11. They inched up again during the Obama years, but the recession made America less attractive.

At the beginning of the Trump administration, illegal aliens again pushed into America. Once Trump got his wall in place, the numbers started dropping, helped by Trump's insistence that illegal aliens wait in Mexico so they could be processed in an orderly way once they arrived in the U.S. By July 2020, illegal immigration into America was down by 97%, and the illegal narcotics trade had also slowed.

On his first day in office, Biden ended work on the border wall and revoked Trump's executive order ending sanctuary cities. By his second day, Biden's Department of Homeland Security said it would stop both deportations and the "remain in Mexico" program. Since then, illegal immigration numbers are reaching back to the 1990s. Over 15,000 children, a third of whom are unaccompanied by a parent, are now in America.

The illegal aliens are coming because of Biden. Many are wearing Biden t-shirts and waving Biden flags. One man openly admitted that he brought his family because Biden had essentially hung out a welcome sign for illegal aliens.

Although the Biden administration has blocked reporters, news about Biden's internment camps is leaking out. They are incredibly squalid, with people sleeping on floors, lacking food or clean drinking water, having no bathing facilities, and violating all COVID protocols.

With that, let's get to the fantasy press conference. Alcindor opened with the ultimate softball question:

You've said over and over again that immigrants shouldn't come to this country right now. This isn't the time to come. That message is not being received. Instead, the perception of you that got you elected as a moral decent man is the reason why a lot of immigrants are coming to this country and entrusting you with unaccompanied minors. How do you resolve that tension and how are you choosing which families can stay and which can go given the fact that even though with Title 42 there are some families that are staying? And is there a timeline for when we won't be seeing these overcrowded facilities run by CPB when it comes to unaccompanied minors?

Biden's notes were ready. After saying he's "flattered people are coming because I'm the nice guy," he explained that the huge wave of illegal aliens is (a) illusory and(b) taking place because winter is "the time they can travel with the least likelihood of dying on the way because of the heat and the desert[.]"

Biden also blamed Trump for the border crisis, saying Trump had removed all the systems in place for dealing with illegal aliens. That glossed over the fact that Obama started the "kids in cages" approach, although Trump got blamed. It also ignored that Trump didn't need to spend almost $90 million on hotels and turn over army bases to illegal aliens because Trump was enforcing the law as written, helped by the wall and his deal with Mexico.

Having blamed Trump for enforcing the law, Biden announced that his administration would deal with the problem by striking a deal with Mexico for the illegal aliens to stay on that side of the border.

Biden's most surprising announcement was his promise that he's going to send all the illegal aliens back. Speaking of a child, he said, "there's an overwhelming reason why he'd be put in a plane and flown back to his mom." However, he said as a general matter that "they should all be going back, all be going back." Indeed, he said it's already the case that the "vast majority" are being sent back. In fact, it seems that, at most, 13% are being returned to their home countries.

Biden got testy when a reporter asked him about conditions on the border, noting that a facility in Texas is at 1,556% of capacity, with mostly unaccompanied minors there. He huffed, "That's a serious question, right? Is that acceptable to me? Come on."

Despite the media love fest for Biden, the press couldn't have been happy to hear that he has no intention of letting the media near the border until the administration has had a chance to clean up its mess. "I will commit to transparency[.] ... This is being set up, and you will have full access to everything." Translation: We'll be transparent when I have nothing left to hide.

Biden's presentation was a disgrace, for it was an unwholesome mix of ambition, distraction, uglification, and derision, with a strong dose of dishonesty thrown in.

Image: Joe Bidens first press conference. YouTube screen grab.
People in Northern Ireland have "nothing to lose" by booking a summer holiday abroad this year, it has been claimed.

Stephen Torbitt from Reliable Travel in Belfast added that with reservations for 2022 already flying in, prices could soar if would-be holidaymakers leave it too long to make a booking.

He also said the Health Minister and Chief Medical Officer (CMO) "had caused confusion" with "premature statements" warning against foreign travel when "holiday companies are hoping to operate this summer".

"Things are hopefully due to open up from May 17 so I would tell anyone wanting to book for July or August that they have nothing to lose," Mr Torbitt said.

"If you book a summer holiday for this year and it doesn't go ahead, you'll get a full refund, or you can switch the booking to next summer.

"We're already taking a lot of reservations for summer 2022 so if availability becomes an issue, prices will go up. The busier it gets, the more expensive it gets - generally speaking."

Mr Torbitt also said he felt it should be the Executive making decisions on foreign travel and he called for clarity.

Earlier this week, Health Minister Robin Swann and Dr Michael McBride, the CMO, both said that foreign travel should be ruled out this summer. But First Minister Arlene Foster subsequently said it was "too soon" to make a definitive decision.

Sandra Corkin, managing director of Oasis Travel, branded the intervention by Mr Swann and Dr McBride as "unhelpful".

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"People are confused over messaging coming from health officials and the Executive," the travel industry leader said.

"Let's wait until we hear the proper guidelines before making any decisions on foreign travel.

"It's unhelpful for the Minister and CMO to have made their comments ahead of recommendations from the Government's global travel taskforce.

"It's causing confusion when the official Government guidance is due to be issued by Prime Minister Boris Johnson on April 5. If anyone is worried, it'll do no harm to wait until then before deciding what to do."

Ms Corkin also said there are likely to be conditions of entry attached to foreign countries.

"You'll probably need to have been vaccinated or have a negative Covid test for a lot of the places that travel is going to open up to," she said.

"Travel is going to open up gradually. There will be places that you can't go to for a while.

"Nothing has been set in stone but a lot of destinations have indicated that they will require anyone entering the country to be either vaccinated or have a negative Covid test."

Under the current UK guidelines, international travel is banned until May 17. Ms Corkin said the majority of her customers are currently booking holidays for much later this year or for summer 2022.

She added that those still hoping to get away this June and July are waiting until April 5 before booking, although "some customers do want to book now". "I advise anybody booking now to book a proper bonded Atol package that will be fully refundable in the event that the Government advises against travel to that destination," she said.
Yesterday, India, the third worst-impacted country in the world, reported 53,364 coronavirus infections, the highest number in a single-day in more than five months. Its total caseload is now over 11.73 million with a death toll of more 160, 440, even according to under-reported official records.

The rapidly increasing number of infections exposes repeated claims by Prime Minister Narendra Modi that his government has fought the most successful battle against COVID-19.

Rijo John, a health economist and adjunct professor at Rajagiri College of Social Sciences in Kerala, told the India Spend website on March 22 that daily new cases on a seven-day average have risen by 167 percent (from its seven-day average low point in February), while deaths have increased by 71 percent in the same period.

Health workers screen residents for COVID-19 symptoms at Deonar slum in Mumbai, India, Saturday, July 11, 2020. (AP Photo/Rajanish Kakade)

The surge in cases appears to be bound up with new COVID-19 variants. According to the Health Ministry, a new double mutant variant (a reference to two mutations, E484Q and L452R) of the coronavirus has been detected in 18 Indian states. This is in addition to other strains or variants of concern (VOCs) that have also been detected in other countries.

A ministry press release on March 24 said: Since INSACOG [a multi-agency Indian network monitoring genome variations of the virus] initiated its work, 771 VOCs have been detected in a total of 10,787 positive samples shared by States/UTs [Union Territories].

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh told the media on March 23 that 81 percent of the 401 samples sent by his government for genome sequencing tested positive for the highly infectious UK variant.

Maharashtra state, home to Indias commercial capital Mumbai, reported its highest-ever daily cases at 31,855 yesterday. On the same day, Mumbai registered its largest daily tally at 5,190, a massive jump from the previous days count of 3,514. Despite the surge, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Cooperation has not recommended a total lockdown.

Dharavi, a large slum area in Mumbai and home to over 650,000 people, with a population density of 227,136 per square kilometre, has recorded a 62 percent increase in COVID-19 cases so far this month compared to February. Maintaining social distancing and hygienic conditions is virtually impossible in the slum where families of eight to ten members live in 10 x10 feet rooms.

Similar or even worse conditions prevail in many other large cities throughout India. Apart from Maharashtra, 19 other states and Union Territories, including Karnataka, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, have reported their highest number of cases since January.

According to an article in the Indian Express on March 25, in Mumbai over 50 percent of the 13,083 beds at dedicated COVID-19 healthcare facilities are occupied. At least 65 percent of ICU beds are occupied, whereas only 281 of 987 ventilator beds are available, the newspaper reported.

A doctor from the King Edward Memorial government hospital in Mumbai, one of the oldest in the city, told Reuters: If cases continue to rise like this for a week or so, a crisis is imminent.

Addressing a March 17 online meeting of state chief ministers, Modi admitted that infections were rising in many previously unaffected areas. This increase is more than 150 percent in 70 districts of the country in the last few weeks, he said, warning that this could lead to a country-wide outbreak.

Modi did not propose any emergency measures and instead attempted to pass on the responsibility to the state governments, complaining that local administrations were not showing seriousness on the issue of masks.

The prime minister, in fact, has pursued a disastrous herd immunity policy, allowing the virus to spread across the country unchecked. State governments throughout India, taking a lead from Modi, are pursuing the same program.

State governments, Modi cynically declared, need to be serious on test, trace and treat as was being done for the last year.

Contrary to this assertion that Modis government has responded seriously to the pandemic, India, which has a population of about 1.37 billion, has only carried out around 235 million sample tests in the past twelve monthsi.e., only 5.8 percent of the population have been covered.

Modi, moreover, has ruled out a second national lockdown and only some states have imposed limited restrictions. In Maharashtra, the state government introduced some restrictions in Nagpur city between March 15 and 21, but all shops, apart from those delivering essentials, could stay open till 4 p.m., and restaurants until 7p.m.

Exposing the real situation, a senior Maharashtra state government official told Reuters on March 18: We have asked industries there to operate with minimum manpower as much as possible. In other words, there will be no industry closures or any other measures that might harm capitalist profit-making.

While governments and health authorities are attempting to blame ordinary people for the spike in infections, the catastrophe is a direct result of the herd immunity program, as well as meagre health budget allocations over decades by consecutive central and state governments. These policies and the uninterrupted operations of businesses and industries over the past 12 months have benefitted Indias multi-billionaires, major corporations and the capitalist class as a whole.

Modi and Indian health authorities now claim to be conducting the worlds biggest vaccination program, including jabs for people over the age of 60.

The Financial Times reported on March 22, however, that the program excludes millions of vulnerable Indians, who often live for years with undiagnosed diabetes and hypertensionconditions which are both indicators for priority vaccine.

Indias vaccination program, which began in mid-January, has met just 7 percent of its target of administering 500 million doses by July 2021. In order to achieve this target, it must administer 3.65 million shots per day.

The Modi governments ill-prepared COVID-19 lockdown in March last year, which gave the population just four-hours notice, led to the immediate lay off of over 100 million internal migrant workers, most of them from the so-called unorganised sector. The government provided no social support to these workers and their families.

The lockdown was not combined with mass testing, contact tracing or the allocation of billions of rupees in additional healthcare spending, and failed to achieve its declared aims. Millions of workers were thrown into extreme poverty and hunger and hundreds of thousands of small-businesses collapsed.

An Indian Express article on March 24 cited a survey by Azim Premji University (APU) researchers. Based on national data, it revealed that more than half of those who lost their jobs during the pandemic were still unemployed in December. The newspaper also reported that 90 percent of those surveyed reported a reduction in food consumption during lockdown; of them only 30 percent of respondents reported that food consumption was back to pre-lockdown levels in November.
ADDIS ABABA- The Ministry of Women, Children and Youth said that it has envisioned to capitalize on the forthcoming General Elections to enhance women's participation in political decision making and boost their contribution in the democratic process.

Women Affairs Mainstreaming and Ensuring Benefit Director with the Ministry Tesfanesh Tefera told The Ethiopian Herald that they have partnered with political parties, women associations, media and other key actors to boost women's involvement in politics.

Accordingly, lobbies have been set up for all political parties including the ruling Prosperity Party to present their program alternatives thereby enabling voters to choose the party they believe to work for the benefit of women and equal participation in every sector.

The director stated that the ministry has conducted a research in women's participation in politics and leadership positions and find that their involvement is largely unsatisfactory from federal to wereda (district) levels.

The research pointed out that the widespread wrong perception about women's incapability to political leadership as well as women's lack of interest in politics are the major factors for their exclusion from political arena.

"Ethiopian women in the political leadership have demonstrated that they are as effective as men counterparts, but there is still a negative attitude that discriminate women's engagement in decision-making positions;

claiming that politics is men's domain." Noting that increasing women's participation in politics should not be left to a single government entity, Tesfanesh indicated that every relevant stakeholder is expected to play own part to help women overcome the existing obstacles.

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Network of Ethiopian Women's Associations (NEWA) Program Manager Meseret Ali said on her part that strengthening women's participation in politics is one of the key areas the association has been working for.

NEWA has been conducted discussion with women members of various contending political parties on ways to develop their contribution in the political rule.

The network also broadcasted a weekly radio program concerning on women's political participation and representation for six weeks at Fana Broadcasting Network (FBC).

By the same token, NEWA has been discussing with all contending political parties with a view to encouraging the latter to mainstreaming gender in their political programs and giving consideration to women with disabilities.

Meseret further highlighted that the network translated the National Electoral Board's Education Manual of Election Campaign to brail in a bid to communicate the message to visually impaired citizens.

Recently, the African Applicant Woman Leadership Network has been established to help members to exchange experiences and access mentoring services, she noted.
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Nayagarh : , March 26 (101Reporters) Several studies and reports have found that local communities play a big role in conservation, sometimes bigger than the government agencies. A great reminder of this is the Chipko Movement, where women resisted deforestation in Uttar Pradesh (now Uttarakhand). Or, how a tribe in Arunachal Pradesh has prevented the critically-endangered Bugun Liocichla songbird from going extinct.

UN Special Rapporteur Victoria Tauli-Corpuz explained the effectiveness of community-led conservation in a 2018 study, titled Cornered by Protected Areas: "Many (indigenous people and local communities) share an ethical interconnection with nature through their languages, beliefs and practices, reflecting a commitment to respecting and caring for the natural world." A case in point will be the tribal women of Odisha, who have been guarding their forests against smugglers for many decades - voluntarily. Armed with nothing but a stick, women go into local forests in groups of three to six to drive the timber thieves away. If they catch one, they issue a warning and confiscate the produce being smuggled. When matters escalate, they either bring these thieves to the village meeting and demand a public apology or fine or involve an NGO to initiate police action.

This is thengapalli, a practice where every household takes turns to patrol their community forest with a stick (thenga means stick and palli means turn).

'Smuggling reduced, forests revived' Thengapalli started in Odisha's Nayagarh district in the early 1970s but became popular in the 1990s when women came forward to protect forests alongside men.

Cut to the present. Women are solely responsible for keeping vigil on the forests in at least 300 villages in Nayagarh. In the Gunduribadi village of the district, the women-led forest protection committee has rejuvenated at least 500 acres of forest land because the smuggling of timber and other forest produce has reduced.

"We can spot the Giant Indian Squirrel in the Nayagarh belt, which wasn't the case a decade ago. Even the soil moisture retention has improved," Manas Mishra, an environment activist who has studied the forest-dwelling communities of the Nayagarh-Khorda belt, talks of the changes these women have brought.

Thengapalli has spread to other districts as well. The presence of women sentinels in smaller pockets of the Mayurbhanj district, such as Punasia, has brought down the menace of smuggling, and with that, the need for patrolling at night and carrying sticks as their weapon. They provide an extra layer of surveillance to the forests within the Similipal Tiger Reserve in Mayurbhanj. Dhaneswar Mahanta, who works with Vasundhara in the Reserve limits, explains, "The forest department deploys two to five guards per forest. On that, these committees send at least three volunteers through the day." The practice has also crossed over to the bordering state of Jharkhand and has become a case study that is now studied in the schools of Hampshire in England.

'Women depend on forests more' According to Y. Giri Rao, executive director of Vasundhara, a non-profit organisation that documents the forest conservation methods in Odisha, natural resources mean a lot more to women than men. "If the forest cover is depleted, the women would have to walk an extra mile to collect fuel for their daily needs," he gives an example.

This dependence did indeed encourage Sudamani Mahakud to take up thengapalli in her village Punasia. "If I need fuel to cook food, I can take leaves and twigs from the forest. If I need food to eat, the forest can give me greens and tubers. Some trees also have medicinal value. They are a source of food for the cattle as well. What more reasons do I need to protect the forest? I exist because the forest does," shares the 65-year-old, who has been guarding the forests for over two decades.

No sooner did women start protecting local forests, the conflict with the smugglers reduced. "If a group of men would confront smugglers, there were chances [and many instances] of fights. With women, there would only be verbal exchanges. In most cases, the smugglers belonged to neighbouring villages and so they would avoid confrontation with these women," explains Sanjukta Basa, who runs NGO Sangram in the Mayurbhanj district.

But breaking into a male bastion came with its share of pushback. "Since I would visit the police station often, I was labelled an 'undignified girl'. It became difficult for my parents to find me a groom. But it didn't matter to me. I had grown up listening to the stories about forests and I did not want to lose them," says Sabita Naik, who is in her late 40s and has gone from being a thengapalli volunteer to a forest guard in Mayurbhanj.

The rules of patrolling are decided mutually, factoring in when women can take time off from their domestic duties. If three women go for the 6am-9am shift, the second group goes out between 9am and 12pm. This continues till 9pm or 11pm. Guidelines to collect the forest produce are also laid down. For instance, a villager can take bamboo only after getting approval from the village committee.

Communities await forest title These women had taken up forest management long before The Forest Rights Act (FRA) was enacted in 2006. The Act gives these communities the right to use and manage traditionally-held forest lands. Three years later, the Odisha government declared that the forest title holders will get a house under the Indira Awas Yojana (now Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana). "Now people have started getting work under MGNREGA, especially related to forest land development," Rao informs how the Act has given an impetus to the forest conservation movement in Odisha, thengapalli included.

They may have got a push to do better but they haven't got the Community Forest Rights (CFR) yet. According to the data collected by Vasundhara, close to 32, 570 villages in Odisha have the potential to get CFR but only 2,800 applications have been approved and 2,300 titles given.

While the government officials say the delay is mostly due to insufficient documents, activists say the administration is being callous. "We are talking about the rights of people who have been associated with forests for generations. They may not always have the documents. Many of them are not aware of the legalities involved and need guidance," says Bhagyalaxmi, a social activist in the region.

Forest protection can be strengthened if these communities get CFR because their understanding of the forest ecosystem is profound and unbiased, says Rao. Or, as Mahakud puts it: "Forest might be an entity for others, but for us, it is our means of survival. We can't think of a life without it." A reassuring thought this is because multiple reports suggest that when women are involved in conservation activities, the results show.

(This article is a part of 101Reporters' series on The Promise Of Commons. In this series, we explore how judicious management of shared public resources can help the ecosystem as well as the communities inhabiting it.)
Eat me: The cell signal of death

Scientists at the Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences (iCeMS) and colleagues in Japan have revealed molecular mechanisms involved in eliminating unwanted cells in the body. A nuclear protein fragment released into the cytoplasm activates a plasma membrane protein to display a lipid on the cell surface, signalling other cells to get rid of it. The findings were published in the journal Molecular Cell.

"Every day, ten billion cells die and are engulfed by blood cells called phagocytes. If this didn't happen, dead cells would burst, triggering an auto-immune reaction," explains iCeMS biochemist Jun Suzuki, who led the study. "It is important to understand how dead cells are eliminated as part of our body's maintenance."

Scientists already know that dead cells display an 'eat me' signal on their surface that is recognized by phagocytes. During this process, lipids are flipped between the inner and outer parts of the cell membrane via a variety of proteins called scramblases. Suzuki and his team have already identified several of these lipid-scrambling proteins, but some of their activation mechanisms have been unclear.

To solve this, the team used an array of screening approaches to study the scrambling protein called Xkr4. The broad aim was to single out the genes that are active during cell death and to specifically zoom in on Xkr4 and its associated proteins to understand how they interact.

"We found that a nuclear protein fragment activates Xkr4 to display the 'eat me' signal to phagocytes," says iCeMS cell biologist Masahiro Maruoka, the first author of the study.

Specifically, the scientists found that cell death signals lead to a nuclear protein, called XRCC4, getting cut by an enzyme. A fragment of XRCC4 leaves the nucleus, activating Xkr4, which forms a dimer: the linking of identical pieces into configurations. Both XRCC4 binding and dimer formation are necessary for Xkr4 to ultimately transfer lipids on the cell surface to alert phagocytes.

Xkr4 is only one of the scrambling proteins. Others are activated much faster during cell death. The team now wants to understand when and why the Xkr4 pathway is specifically activated. Since it is strongly expressed in the brain, it is likely important for brain function. "We are now studying the elimination of unwanted cells or compartments in the brain to understand this process further," says Maruoka.

###

DOI: 10.1016/j.molcel.2021.02.025

About Kyoto University's Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences (iCeMS):

At iCeMS, our mission is to explore the secrets of life by creating compounds to control cells, and further down the road to create life-inspired materials.

https:/ / www. icems. kyoto-u. ac. jp/

For more information, contact:

I. Mindy Takamiya/Mari Toyama

pe@mail2.adm.kyoto-u.ac.jp

This story has been published on: 2021-03-26. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Chris Ratcliffe, Bloomberg

Gavin Donohue in his commentary, "There's a role for natural gas in the renewable-energy future," March 2, lauded Greenidge as a model of innovation. I will agree with him that conversion from coal to natural gas for a power plant is a good change. And maybe natural gas has a role as we transition to green power sources. But burning natural gas for bitcoin in an inefficient power plant isnt innovative. Its a waste and not the mission of the New York State Climate Action Council of which Donohue is a member.

The website, climate.ny.gov, states: Our future is at stake. That's why New York state is committed to the most aggressive clean energy and climate agenda in the country.
A man who punched and kicked his grandmothers neighbour outside a wine bar has narrowly avoided an immediate jail term.

Tristan Brennan (22), from Charleville Avenue in south Belfast, was handed an 11-month sentenced, suspended for two years, after he admitted wounding his male victim.

Belfast Crown Court was told there was a "lengthy history of issues between the defendants grandmother, who is now leaving her address, and her neighbour.

Brennan and his victim were part of separate groups drinking in the Lisburn Roads Chelsea wine bar on April 28, 2019. Both men left the premises after an argument broke out, with the defendant punching his victim and kicking him while he was on the ground. The court heard Brennan left the scene but returned and was arrested by police. The injured party needed seven stitches to his ear and claimed to be suffering ongoing difficulties as a result of the attack. Passing sentence, Judge Neil Rafferty QC called the attack "disgraceful. "I and my colleagues deal on a regular basis with the tragic situation where young men with alcohol taken engage in violence of this nature," he said. "One punch is thrown and causes minor injury or, in many other cases, a subdural haematoma that leads to death. "The only way to stamp those out is to impose deterrent sentences. He added, however, that the defendants decision to return to the scene, his behaviour with police and a letter of apology he had written spoke volumes about his character. Judge Rafferty also accepted that prior to the attack, Brennan had lived an "unblemished life". He ordered him to pay his victim 1,000 in compensation and said he would be jailed if he committed further offences.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-26 15:08:20|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, March 26 (Xinhua) -- The number of crimes related to schools and campus security in China has fallen for eight years in a row, thanks to strengthened security and law enforcement measures, the police authority said Friday.

Zhang Ming, spokesperson with the Ministry of Public Security, said at a press conference that to date, a total of 250,000 police offices and booths as well as 150,000 security posts have been set up in areas near schools nationwide.

The police and education authorities also worked together and launched a special campaign in this regard last year.

Over the last year, more than 12,700 security risks have been uncovered and rectified in routine checks by the authorities, the spokesperson said. Enditem
Prime Minister on Friday visited the Martyr's memorial at Savar here and paid homage to those who died in the 1971 War of Independence.

On reaching the memorial, Modi also planted a sapling of the Arjuna tree there.

"This sapling has been planted as a mark of respect for the valorous martyrs of Bangladesh," the Prime Minister's Office tweeted.

After planting the sapling, Modi paid homage to the martyrs at the memorial, comprising seven pairs of triangular-shaped walls -- each representing a significant chapter in Bangladesh's history, including the 1952 'Bhasha Andolan' (Language Movement) -- through which became an independent nation from Pakistan.

Sharing a picture of Modi laying a wreath at the memorial, the Ministry of External Affairs tweeted, "Prime Minister @narendramodi paying solemn tribute at the Martyr's Memorial to the brave-hearts of the Liberation War of Bangladesh, for their great sacrifices."



The prime minister also signed the visitor's book at the memorial.

Modi arrived Dhaka on a two-day visit during which he will attend the celebrations of the golden jubilee of the country's independence, the birth centenary of Bangabandhu' Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and hold talks with his counterpart

Modi, who is visiting on his first trip to a foreign country since the outbreak of the coronavirus, was received by Prime Minister Hasina at Dhaka's Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport upon his arrival.

He received a guard of honour at the airport.

(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.)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has embarked on a two-day visit to Bangladesh to be a part of the neighbouring country's 50th Independence Day, making it his first foreign visit after the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak. He will attend an event at the National Martyr's Memorial and the National Day program on Friday.

Imagining a different South Asia with Bangabandhu...



Sharing my piece, published in the @dailystarnews in which I pay tributes to Bangabandhu and recall his insightful thoughts on various subjects. https://t.co/UnxXhYjFf7  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 26, 2021

A day ahead of his visit, PM Modi had said in a statement, "As I leave for Bangladesh tomorrow, I look forward to remembering the life and ideals of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and celebrate 50 years of Bangladeshs War of Liberation, as well as our diplomatic ties."

He added, "Our partnership with Bangladesh is an important pillar of our Neighbourhood First policy, and we are committed to further deepen and diversify it. We will continue to support Bangladesh's remarkable development journey, under Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's dynamic leadership."

Bangladesh's 50th Independence Day

Bangladesh is celebrating its 50th year of Independence on March 26, and PM Narendra Modi is going to grace the occasion as the guest of honour. The heads of state and government from Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, and the Maldives will also be present at the celebration.

India and Bangladesh likely to ink at least 5 MOUs during PM's visit

"The number of MoUs could be more or less but five-plus (instruments are likely to be signed)," said Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dr. A K Abdul Momen. Two sides were still in negotiations over the number of MoUs to be signed after PM Modi's bilateral meeting with his counterpart Hasina on Saturday.

However, Momen said the Indian Prime Minister Modi's main objective was to join the celebrations but the two leaders would hold talks wherein all major issues were likely to be discussed.

PM Modi will hold talks with Hasina at the Prime Minister's Office, where the MoUs are to be signed and a number of projects inaugurated virtually. US Ambassador to Bangladesh Earl Miller is scheduled to read out a letter from President Joe Biden virtually on Friday, at the final grand ceremony at National Parade Square, to be joined by Prime Minister Modi.

(With Agency Inputs)

(Image: ANI/AP)
A 13-year-old girl has been arrested for allegedly stealing her mother's SUV and mowing down and killing two homeless men in arrested in Escondido, California after cops tried to pull her over.

The girl was arrested Thursday but the incident took place in San Diego County's North County region late on the night of February 12, when a white Ford Explorer was pulled over for a potential traffic violation around 11.20pm near the intersection of Mission Ave. and Gamble St.

When the officer approached the car, however, the girl behind the wheel, who had her friend in the passenger seat, slammed on the accelerator in an attempt to evade the cop.

When she tried to make a left turn two blocks later during her escape, she lost control and jumped the curb, hitting a planter in front of the San Diego Gas & Electric transfer facility.

A 13-year-old has been arrested in last month's deadly crash that killed two in Escondido

The crash happened after the girl lost control of her mother's SUV while fleeing the cops

The two victims, Mateo Salvador, 33, and Sofio Sotelo Torres, 51, were sleeping next to a wall that was behind the planter.

One died at the scene of the crash, while another died at the hospital, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Sotelo Torres, known as 'El Gallo,' once owned a tree trimming business, but was forced to close it. His wife and son eventually moved to Texas, while Sotelo Torres stayed behind.

The Mexican consulate is working to return his remains to Mexico.

He was 'a happy person; he was filled with joy,' said Ricardo Aguilar, a family member of Sotelo Torres, according to NBC San Diego.

The 13-year-old suspect attempted to flee the scene of the crash on foot, but was quickly captured.

After the crash, both girls were released to their families, pending the results of the investigation.

When the officer approached the car, however, the girl slammed on the accelerator

The two victims were identified as Mateo Salvador, 33, and Sofio Sotelo Torres, 51

A white Ford Explorer the girl was driving is pictured after the crash

The white Ford Explorer appears to have been heavily damaged after hitting the planter

'Since the tragic event took place, traffic investigators have been working diligently to locate and process evidence, finalize statements from involved parties and witnesses, and attempt to re-create the circumstances surrounding the crash,' said a statement from the Escondido Police Department following the arrest.

'During this time, our investigators have been in communication with the Juvenile Branch of the San Diego County District Attorneys office on the filing of all possible charges.

'Investigators prepared an affidavit for an arrest warrant for the 13-year-old driver and the warrant was issued by the court.'

The girl, who was booked into juvenile hall, has not been identified by police because she is a minor.

The girl is from Vista, California, which is about 13 miles northwest of Escondido. She took her mother's car without her knowledge for the deadly joyride.

She was booked on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter, evading police and felony hit-and-run.

Her passenger is not facing any charges at this time and was not mentioned in the police department's statement.
Minnesota lawmakers have advanced a proposal that would allow recreational marijuana use for adults and automatically expunge minor convictions related to cannabis, inching the state closer toward legalization.

The legislation, authored by Democratic House Majority Leader Ryan Winkler, of Golden Valley, would legalize marijuana use for adults 21 and older and expunge cannabis-related misdemeanor convictions. The proposal would also establish regulations for the production and sale of cannabis and cannabis products, including a nine-member board to oversee the new industry.

The bill passed the House agriculture committee on March 24 on a 8-5 party-line vote and heads to its next stop in the House environment and natural resources committee.

Fifteen states and the District of Columbia have legalized varying forms of recreational marijuana use for adults, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Medical marijuana is legal in Minnesota, though its restrictions are some of the toughest in the country.

As more and more states legalize cannabis, the question is not whether we are able to stop this trend  the question is whether we are well prepared to do this right from the beginning, Winkler testified. This bill is an effort to combine the thoughts, needs, analysis and experience of people from across the country, people from across the state, to get this policy right.

House Democrats launched the push for legalization in February, framing the proposal as a method to addressing racial disparities in a criminal justice system that is more likely to punish Black cannabis users over white ones, despite similar usage rates. The legislation has a good chance of making it through the Democratic House but faces opposition in the GOP-controlled Senate, where Majority Leader Paul Gazelka, of East Gull Lake, has said the issue is not a priority this legislative session.

Michael Chaney, founder of a nonprofit urban farming initiative called Project Sweetie Pie, said social equity and inclusion measures within the bill present the state with a unique opportunity to address inequity in opportunities afforded to Black and Indigenous farmers in Minnesota.

I urge each and every one of you to realize that you can either advance equity and inclusion or you can stall it, Chaney testified. Lets make history here today and move this legislation forward so we can move this legislation forward.

Mohamed Ibrahim is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative.

Topics Cannabis Minnesota
[March 26, 2021] Volta Charging Maximizes Network Installation Efficiency Using Sitetracker

PALO ALTO, Calif., March 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Sitetracker, the project and asset management standard for innovative infrastructure owners and operators such as Duke Energy, Dominion Energy and New Columbia Solar, is proud to announce that electric vehicle station operator Volta Charging has used Sitetracker to double the size of its EV charging station network in a little over two years. Volta will continue to use the Sitetracker Platform to further expand its charging network, which is already the most-utilized free electric vehicle charging stations in the United States. With 80% of its network located in front of essential businesses, Volta's charging stations feature large, eye-catching digital displays that function as a sophisticated media network, providing brands a way to reach millions of shoppers. These sponsor-supported charging stations provide energy to customers who can plug in their vehicles where and when they shop. Property owners and retailers who choose to have Volta charging stations installed report an increase in spend, dwell time and engagement on site. Currently located in 23 states and over 200 municipalities, Volta's ecosystem of partners and drivers have surpassed 90 million free electric miles across the network of charging stations. To manage this rapid growth, Volta has utilized Sitetracker's platform to increase network installation productivity and accelerate time to project closeout. Out-of-the-box features like Trackers and ProjectTemplates have allowed Volta to standardize and streamline their processes, optimize for scale and gain visibility.



"As our business evolved and became more sophisticated, we saw a need to transition from proprietary workflow management solutions to a best-in-class platform that could optimize the management of large project portfolios," said Jon Michaels, Executive Vice President Network Development, Volta Charging. "Through Sitetracker, we've been able to accelerate our nationwide rollout to new locations and partners, all the while maintaining efficient and high-quality operations at our current stations." "This streamlined project management has become all the more crucial as EV adoption becomes increasingly widespread across the country," said Giuseppe Incitti, CEO of Sitetracker. "Volta Charging is serving the hyper-growth EV charging segment. We are proud to partner with Volta and empower their project managers to accelerate project closeout - a key trigger to faster time to revenue."

About Sitetracker

Sitetracker, Inc. is the global standard for deploying, operating, and servicing critical infrastructure and technology. The Sitetracker Platform enables growth-focused innovators to optimize the entire asset lifecycle through native platform inclusions like AI, automation, and actionable analytics. From the field to the C-suite, Sitetracker enables stakeholders to optimize how they plan, deploy, maintain, and grow their capital asset portfolios. Market leaders in the telecommunications, alternative energy, and utility industries  such as Chargepoint, EVgo, Google Fiber, British Telecom, and Vodafone  rely on Sitetracker to manage millions of sites and projects representing over $25 billion of portfolio holdings globally. For more information, visit www.sitetracker.com. About Volta Charging

For over a decade, Volta has been building a nationwide electric vehicle charging network to drive the world forward. Named after Alessandro Volta, the inventor of the electric battery, Volta's award-winning charging stations benefit brands, consumers, and real-estate locations by providing valuable advertising space to businesses and free charging to drivers. Strategically located in places where consumers already spend their time and money, Volta's chargers are among the most used electric vehicle charging stations in the United States. Headquartered in San Francisco, Volta is bringing to communities the means of building a sustainable fueling network for the 21st century. To learn more, visit www.voltacharging.com . In February 2021, Volta and Tortoise Acquisition Corp. II (NYSE: SNPR), a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company with a strategic focus on energy sustainability and decarbonizing transportation, announced they entered into a business combination agreement. Upon the closing of the transaction, which remains subject to customary closing conditions, the combined entity will be named Volta Inc. and remain on the New York Stock Exchange under the new ticker symbol "VLTA". View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/volta-charging-maximizes-network-installation-efficiency-using-sitetracker-301256506.html SOURCE Volta

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The Ghana Federation of Labour (GFL) has called on the Minister of Employment and Labour Relations to convene an emergency National Tripartite Committee meeting to address fallout from the 2021 budget.



The 2021 budget imposed on Ghanaians COVID-19 health levy, road toll increment, sanitation and pollution levy, one per cent increase in National Health Insurance Levy (NHIL), and one per cent increase in Value Added Tax (VAT) flat rate as well as increase in the energy sector levies Act.



Mr Abraham Koomson, GFL Secretary General talking to the Ghana News Agency in Tema described the taxes as insensitive, "these new taxes will impact negatively on the conditions of service and the living standards of workers".



Mr Koomson said failure of government to allow the Tripartite to consider wage adjustment and determine public sector base pay would embolden employers to refuse to negotiate salary and wages increases with the Unions.



"Dissatisfied employees will not commit to high productivity, this is natural consequence," Mr Koomson said.



On what measures the Trade Unions would take should government fail to consult them, he said, when they reach that point they would decide adding that, "but I am very sure government would take us seriously and do the needful to appease the working people who tirelessly work to build the Ghanaian economy".



According to him, across the world, governments had committed to mitigating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the citizenry, but the government of Ghana had done little, leading to the collapse of some industries and job loss among workers.

Source: GNA









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KYODO NEWS - Mar 27, 2021 - 01:29 | All, Japan

Japan is considering extending its sanctions against North Korea, with the aim of keeping pressure on Pyongyang to denuclearize and resolve its abductions of Japanese nationals, a government source said Friday.

The sanctions include a total ban on bilateral trade and forbid the entry into Japan of North Korean-registered ships and vessels that have stopped at a North Korean port.

The move comes after North Korea fired two ballistic missiles off its east coast on Thursday, the first such provocation in a year, in violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions.

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's Cabinet plans to approve the extension in early April before the measures expire on April 13, according to the source.

The Japanese government has been calling for close coordination with the United States and other countries in stepping up pressure on North Korea.

It is also keen to resolve the abductions of Japanese nationals in the 1970s and 1980s, an issue that has been a major obstacle along with North Korea's nuclear and missile development in normalizing relations between Tokyo and Pyongyang.

Japan launched unilateral sanctions against North Korea in 2006, banning imports from the reclusive country and the entry of affiliated vessels.

It has since expanded the scope of the sanctions with ongoing updates, such as by adding a prohibition against exports to North Korea in 2009.
When the humourist Dorothy Parker was told that the dull and ineffectual President Calvin Coolidge had died, she exclaimed: 'But how can they tell?'

Isn't it the same with news that Ford is to stop making the Mondeo? Did anybody even realise that these cars were actually still in production?

To announce the end of something that barely exists is a pseudo-event. Modern life is one long sequence of them.

It would be melodramatic to write a headline saying 'Ford stops making cars'. That is not quite true. Ford is ceasing to make cars like the Mondeo. Not that it was a bad car, but it had become an anachronism, like a pocket calculator or Calvin Klein underwear.

Besides, the social circumstances that created the 'family saloon' no longer exist: the conventional idea of a family is now too often a memory more than a reality.

It is the same with the 'sports car'. Ideal for that top-down, full-throttle blast to the country pub for a few pints and blast home again! Perhaps not.

Ford is to stop making the Mondeo. Did anybody even realise that these cars were actually still in production? Pictured: Businessman stood beside a Ford Mondeo in a travelodge car park

'Station wagon'? Who picks up guests and their bags from a train station? We have Uber for that.

If families want a car, they want a blob-sized SUV. Yes, a cumbersome four-wheel-drive is an absurd choice for many, but the only certainty in the black art of marketing is that consumers are irrational.

If rationality had anything to do with it, we would all be driving Citroen deux chevaux. Here is a car  designed to carry two peasants and 50kg of potatoes at 50km/h  that is cheap, endearing, enduring, comfortable and responsible. And you can't say that of a Lamborghini Urus.

No, forget about horsepower and speed: cars have always been more about social competition and cultural modelling than dynamics. They are reference points for our notions of style, status and desire.

This is why, with an insight as bright as the New Labour dawn itself, Tony Blair, blinking at the brilliance of his coinage, gave us 'Mondeo Man'.

Mondeo Man was New Labour on wheels. He was modern. He had front-wheel drive. He had left behind the baggage of resentment wearily carried by Old Labour class warriors. He had picked up in its place glittering packages of progress and optimism.

Tony Blair, blinking at the brilliance of his coinage, gave us 'Mondeo Man'

He wore Gap chinos, owned his own house, had a statement BBQ and a mobile phone. And he was very likely self-employed.

Perhaps he went to a dental hygienist and a gym. Mondeo Man was to Keir Hardie and the earnest founders of Labour what John Major was to Lord Salisbury. Mondeo Man drank cocktails in Cancun, not brown ale in Brum.

Blair himself knew something of the power of cars to project values. At the time of the 1997 election, his personal car was an awful, unwashed Austin Montego Estate with, as I recall, a hub-cap missing. His image-conscious advisers knew this simply would not do for a victory parade of magnificence appropriate to his achievement.

A regal Jaguar was considered, but rejected as too Tory. Similarly, a Range-Rover was too country. Blair eventually arrived before the Downing Street cameras in a Ford Galaxy. A people-mover with seats that swivelled so you could face in any direction of travel.

Still, the death of the Mondeo is an elegiac moment. Karl Benz might have invented the car, but it was Henry Ford who realised its potential, who democratised it.

Ford, a restless tinker, said he was impelled to create the 'gasoline buggy' to escape the boredom of life on a Midwestern farm. And this vista of escape towards better circumstances was his legacy. When the New Yorker journalist E. B. White wrote about Henry's Model-T, he said to drive it was to feel like a man enthroned.

Ford's decision to axe the Mondeo comes in the context of gigantic structural changes in the car industry. There is China. There is electrification

This democracy of dignified mobility has been a benefit and cost to mankind. Mondeo Man was, perhaps, the last to enjoy Ford's gift of freedom to the full.

The Mondeo has roots deep in British culture. Its predecessor, the Cortina, appeared in 1962. Sold to a generation emerging from the plateau of rationing to explore the uplands of lifestyle, it brought a hint of Detroit vulgarity to Acacia Avenue as its residents prepared to buy The Beatles' first LP.

Unlike the established family saloons of the day, the Austin Cambridge and Morris Oxford, the new Ford was not named after a university town, but after a whizzy Dolomites ski resort. It was aimed at the first package holidaymakers and the brochure featured passport stamps as a motif to demonstrate exotic potential that might be realised by ownership.

So much a part of national life, so much the embodiment of cul-de-sac chic, had The Dagenham Dustbin become that it featured in BBC documentary The Private Life Of The Ford Cortina.

Bank-robbers found its capacious boot a useful accessory to crime, a point made in the film. John Betjeman perfectly caught the car's social position in his verse: 'I am a young executive, no cuffs than mine are cleaner / I own a slimline briefcase and I use the firm's Cortina.'

By 1982, a new set of symbols was required for the sharp-elbowed culture of Mrs Thatcher. This was the ambitious but unloved Sierra, with an aerodynamic profile that was meant to say 'high-technology' but was interpreted as 'jelly mould'.

Ten years later came the Sierra's successor, the Mondeo. It was a car directed at the whole world, not the provinces. For a while, as Blair observed, it was the absolute identification of machine with market. Nearly 20 years later, that market has vanished and Mondeo Man is extinct, or in hiding.

If families want a car, they want an SUV. Pictured: The British car manufacturer Land Rover displays the Range Rover

Ford's decision to axe the Mondeo comes in the context of gigantic structural changes in the car industry. There is China. There is electrification.

The fact that while once young people saw ownership of a car as a route to freedom and self-expression  my own first car was a Cortina and I felt enthroned indeed  today a car is more of an expensive encumbrance that is going to lead to serial and inevitable encounters with authority, from vindictive traffic wardens to sinister surveillance cameras. In this turbulent world, mass-market Ford had a special problem: the rise of premium competitors.

Not one night ever in the last generation did anybody go to bed and dream 'one day I will have a Mondeo'. Ford never possessed even a small sampler jar of that fairy dust. It is many years since the 'prestige' BMW 3-series began to outsell the 'democratic' successor to The Dagenham Dustbin.

Ford's strength, its power, has forever been associated with the ordinary. The blue oval car is for the blue-collar man, even if he has left his work overalls behind.

But what of Mondeo Man himself? A proud and newly independent type, confident and unafraid to express himself through his choice of car . . . or cocktail or trousers. But now he has disappeared.

Mrs Thatcher said there was no such thing as society. Perhaps there never was such a thing as Mondeo Man. Perhaps he was as much a fiction as New Labour.

True, we still express our desires through the products we choose, but cars are fast losing that power of expression. Mobility is a chore, not an adventure.

If there is an evolution of Mondeo Man, it must surely be Tesla Man. Not a man enthroned, but one encumbered by environmental guilt and existential fear. With the passing of the Mondeo and its keeper, something touching and simple has been lost.
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., March 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- CBD startup Zero In On Nutrition is more than just another brand in the flourishing cannabidiol industry. It is a company that is built on family, is focused on community, and is seeking genuine holistic solutions for its rapidly expanding customer base.

Once you've seen how the sausage is made, it's hard to partake in the results. At least, that's how entrepreneur Rocco DiPietro felt when he launched his CBD brand Zero In On Nutrition. DiPietro had spent a portion of his past career in the nutraceutical field and he had seen how sketchy things can get behind closed doors, even in the food and health industry. Cutthroat business decisions, cost-cutting measures, and eroding quality can slowly but surely water down a brand and undermine its products.

When DiPietro and his partners launched Zero In On Nutrition, they had a different standard  a gold standard  in mind. They didn't want to compromise or cut corners in the name of building a business empire. Instead, they chose to put family and community at the heart of their operation.

The goal was simple: to invite their customers into the "family fold," so to speak, by producing the absolute highest quality CBD products on the market. Shallow pitches and quick sales were rejected in favor of building a solid customer base. Customer loyalty was to be cultivated not simply because they offered a great deal or the best price but because the customers actually felt cared for. DiPietro even made sure to include a pure, THC-free option for dogs as well, knowing that canine health was a top priority for many of his customers.

While most CBD brands are currently in the burgeoning market to make a quick buck, Zero In On Nutrition has its sights set on something bigger than short-term revenue or hard-nosed profits. The family and friends that sit at the core of the enterprise have kept their company aimed toward the critical concept of community.

The brand started out as an enterprise dedicated to the holistic betterment of those around them. As it has continued to expand its reach across the United States, it remains firmly committed to, in the words of DiPietro, "creating a healthy and overall wellness foundation for our whole entire demographic."

About Zero In On Nutrition: Zero In On Nutrition was founded by four childhood friends who grew up on the same block. Their growing company's vision is focused not just on providing CBD products, but helping to equip their customers with an essential tool that can "help as many people as we can live a fulfilling and healthy life through our products and the power of CBD."

Please direct inquiries to:

Estrella Godwin

(954) 849-7564

[email protected]

SOURCE Zero In On Nutrition
The Venezuelan Attorney General ordered on Thursday opening a new investigation on former Venezuela's lawmaker opposition leader Juan Guaido, accusing him of seizing 7 billion dollars from Venezuela.

The funds are assets retained by foreign governments as part of the sanctions imposed by the U.S. government against the administration of President Nicolas Maduro, preventing it from making financial and commercial transactions, and also limiting operations with oil and gold.

Attorney General Tarek William Saab called Juan Guaido and supporters a "criminal gang of transnational character."

Saab said the funds are needed by the Venezuelan government to combat the pandemic as well as to run the healthcare system and buy food, as Venezuela faces an economic crisis.

The Attorney General's announcement came a day after President Nicolas Maduro accused the seizure of the 7 billion dollars into foreign banks.

The latest accusation against Juan Guaido mounts up to a long list of charges that he faces.

Guaido proclaimed himself as interim president in 2019 as part of his functions of president of the National Assembly, which did not recognize the presidential elections.

He was backed by the United States and other 60 countries, considering Guaido as the legitimate President of Venezuela.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
Prime Minister Florin Citu affirms that the subway protest is illegal, provoked by a former Social Democratic Party (PSD) deputy who "is losing his sinecures", and announces that he has asked the Minister of Interior, Lucian Bode, to take measures.

"A former PSD deputy, who sees his sinecures disappear, makes an illegal protest. That is what the illegal action that blocked the subway this morning is about. From my point of view, no one is above the law, that's what I conveyed to the minister and he needs to take action. The people of Bucharest must not suffer because a former PSD deputy is losing his sinecures. I conveyed the same message to Minister Bode," the prime minister wrote on Facebook on Friday.

The flow of the subway trains is being blocked, on Friday morning, by a spontaneous protest of some representatives of the 'Unitatea' Metro Free Trade Union (USLM) union in Piata Unirii station, who descended into the tunnel, on the running track, and prevented the timely start, according to the normal schedule, of the passenger trains.

"Currently there are about 600 participants in this protest. It should be noted that the Metrorex employees who were supposed to ensure the running of the trains today went to job as usual. The protest action is illegal, disrupts public order and prevents the normal operation of the train. Metrorex reserves the right to use all available legal means to stop this illegality," Metrorex said in a press release sent to AGERPRES.
Scientists from Johns Hopkins, Columbia and other leading American universities moved with rare speed when a Chinese virologist, Li-Meng Yan, published an explosive paper in September claiming that China had created the deadly coronavirus in a research lab.

The paper, the American scientists concluded, was deeply flawed. And a new online journal from MIT Press  created specifically to vet claims related to SARS-CoV-2  reported Yans claims were at times baseless and are not supported by the data 10 days after she posted them.


press release

Beirut  Prioritize Justice, Accountability Ahead of Vote

The newly confirmed Government of National Unity (GNU) should commit itself to significantly improve human rights conditions in Libya and ensure that elections planned for December 2021 are free and fair, Human Rights Watch said today.

Libya's House of Representatives confirmed the Government of National Unity on March 10 as the country's interim administrative authority, with Abdelhamid Dabeiba as Prime Minister and a three-member Presidency Council headed by Mohamed al-Mnefi. The GNU, backed by the United Nations, replaces the Government of National Accord and the Interim Government in eastern Libya.

"Libya's new government needs to urgently prioritize the rule of law, justice, and accountability, all of which are key to ensure free and fair elections," said Hanan Salah, senior Libya researcher at Human Rights Watch. "The litmus test for the government in the December elections will be whether the authorities can protect freedom of assembly, association, and speech for those participating."

The GNU was sworn in on March 15 despite allegations of attempted vote-buying during political talks, as confirmed by a UN expert report. The new government's core mandate is to conduct elections for a new president and a new legislative authority on December 24. The legal and constitutional basis for holding such elections remain unresolved.

Free and fair elections require an environment free of coercion, discrimination, or intimidation of voters, candidates, and political parties. In addition to protecting free speech and assembly, election rules should not discriminate or arbitrarily exclude potential voters or candidates. The rule of law will require a functioning judiciary able to deal fairly and promptly with election and campaign disputes, such as on registration, candidacies, and results. Election organizers need to ensure that independent monitors have access to polling places.

Five months after the signing of a ceasefire deal that ended more than a year of armed conflict between foreign-backed local parties vying for legitimacy and control of the country, the human rights situation in Libya remains precarious. The country is reeling from mass displacement, civilian casualties, unlawful killings, unexploded ordnance, and destruction of critical structures, including healthcare and child education structures. Hundreds of people remain missing, including many civilians, and the authorities have made grim discoveries of mass graves with dozens of bodies that remain unidentified.

Armed groups operating with impunity as well as the existing authorities have been responsible for systematic violations, including holding thousands of people in long-term arbitrary detention, enforced disappearances, and torture. The authorities arbitrarily detain migrants and asylum seekers who pass through Libya, who then face beatings, extortion, sexual violence, and forced labor in detention centers nominally under the state, and by militias and smugglers.

Restrictive laws have undermined freedom of speech and association in Libya, and armed groups have intimidated, harassed, threatened, physically attacked, and arbitrarily detained journalists, political activists, and human rights defenders. The penal code stipulates criminal penalties for defamation and for "insulting" public officials, the Libyan nation, or flag; and imposes the death penalty for "promoting theories or principles" that aim to overthrow the political, social, or economic system.

The new government should review or revoke Decree 286 (2019) on Regulating Civil Society Organizations, issued by the Presidential Council of the Government of National Accord, which restricts freedom of association and appears to be incompatible with international human rights law, Human Rights Watch said.

Laws on peaceful assembly unnecessarily limit citizens' ability to freely express themselves through spontaneous and organized demonstrations with unduly harsh penalties. The new authorities should ensure that any restrictions on public gatherings are strictly necessary for protecting public order.

The criminal justice system as well as law enforcement and criminal investigation departments around the country are only partially functional. Civilian and military courts operate at reduced capacity, and where they are operational, there are serious due process concerns. Courts currently are in a limited position to resolve election disputes, including registration and results, and law enforcement often lacks the ability or willingness to execute arrest warrants.

Since 2011, only a handful of cases involving people accused of serious crimes have been adjudicated. Trials that took place were marred by grave due process violations, including forced confessions, ill-treatment, and lack of access to lawyers. Prison authorities are often only nominally under the Ministries of Interior, Defence, and Justice, and armed groups operate their own informal detention facilities.

Armed groups have threatened, intimidated, and attacked judges, prosecutors, lawyers, and government officials. In November 2020, unidentified armed groups in the eastern city of Benghazi murdered a lawyer, Hanan al-Barassi, who had spoken out against militia abuses.

The High National Elections Commission, responsible for organizing elections, was established in January 2012 by the National Transitional Council and has a mandate to register voters and conduct elections.

Voter registration should be inclusive, accessible, and ensure that the largest number of eligible Libyans inside and outside the country can register. Libyans held in long-term arbitrary detention without a criminal conviction should also be considered for registration in the absence of any legal basis for disqualifying them. Special provisions should be made for thousands of displaced people and others who are not in their usual place of residence and may not have access to the civil registry. The elections commission should also ensure regular transparent audits of its voter registry.

The legal and constitutional framework for holding elections remains unclear, as the House of Representatives needs to pass an elections law to enable the election commission to hold elections.

Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines NGO Human Rights Libya 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.

Violence that followed the last Libyan general election, in 2014, led to the collapse of central authority and key institutions, notably law enforcement and the judiciary. Unidentified armed men assassinated the prominent human rights activist Salwa Bughaighis in her home in Benghazi on election day and kidnapped her husband, Essam al-Ghariani, who remains missing.

As a party to international human rights treaties, Libya is bound by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, which guarantee freedom of speech, expression, and association.

Libya is also bound by the 2002 African Union Declaration on the Principles Governing Democratic Elections in Africa, which state that democratic elections must be held under "democratic constitutions and in compliance with supportive legal instruments," and under a "system of separation of powers that ensures in particular, the independence of the judiciary."

A draft constitution proposed by the Libyan Constitution Drafting Assembly in July has yet to be put to a national referendum. No date has been scheduled for the referendum.

"The new government faces many challenges, but at the very least it should publicly commit to conditions enabling candidates to campaign freely, have a robust security plan for polling places, an independent audit of the voter registry, and court security to allow adjudication of disputes," Salah said.
Editors Note: This is the sixth story in a series about the anniversary of the border closure.

The closure of the border more than a year ago was done with the intention of limiting the spread of COVID-19 on both sides, but health experts now disagree on when the best time is to reopen.

It was worth closing the borders. All actions taken to prevent COVID-19 infections are worth practicing and implementing, Laredo Health Director Richard Chamberlain said.

Even though the health authorities do state that they believe firmly that the pandemic helped curtailed the infection, Chamberlain states that it is difficult to disprove or prove whether positive cases were contained or were less than had the border been opened throughout the 2020-2021 year because we as sister cites do share populations and may have at different stages in the pandemic.

Laredo Mayor Pete Saenz also believes closing the border was necessary despite the potential harmful impact on the economy.

I say this reluctantly and with mixed feelings because closing the border to tourists and the so-called non-essentials has and continues to significantly affect our economy, our business community, some of whom may no longer recover. On the other hand, saving lives is first and foremost, Saenz said. I believe that when we experienced the devastating two COVID-19 waves, which easily over-exceeded our hospital capacities, it was clear in my mind that keeping the border closed was the right decision. At that time, we definitely could not invite additional risk of infection, much less more people occupying hospital beds which were difficult to secure, or possibly worse, dying.

Resources such as personal protective equipment, testing and treatment were difficult to come by at first for residents of the Gateway City, but this has improved over time.

Dr. Tyler King, a local family doctor who has treated any people with COVID-19, said he is biased on the issue since his wife is from Monterrey, Mexico and all her family still lives there. They moved to Laredo last April with their now 18-month-old daughter and have no family in town.

Never could we have imagined that third bedroom in our apartment, intended for guests from Mexico, would go an entire year without our family being able to drive over here when living only two hours away, King said. This has been so hard on our family not being able to see loved ones who live so close to us. The rest of the country has been able to drive five to six hours to at least see family from a distance, whether from the street or through glass windows. Mexican grandmothers living on the other side cant see their grandchildren living on this side of the river.

In his time off, King has traveled to visit family in Mexico while taking strict safety precautions.

Its a real shame, he said. I should acknowledge that we have driven over to Monterrey a few times to see my suegros (in-laws). They have been quarantining, and we chose them as our singular COVID pod. We all took a calculated risk to see them, and luckily nobody came down with COVID.

Nuevo Laredo resident and independent journalist Oscar Garcia does not agree about the border closure being necessary.

It was something badly planned and with little coordination that the contagions and the waves occurred in practically the same way as if there had not been a closure, Garcia said.

Though there are reports that some people from Nuevo Laredo have been able to travel to the Gateway City for COVID-19 testing or treatment, Garcia claims all of these have been people living in Nuevo Laredo who are American citizens or have some relationship with the U.S.

Mexicans without any relationship with the U.S. have not been able to cross to be treated or tested for COVID-19, only those with dual citizenship or in cases of humanitarian requests, which have been very few people, Garcia said.

Chamberlain said as tests became readily available in the city, Mexican citizens with an appointment for a COVID-19 test were allowed to enter the country.

What we do know is that persons from Nuevo Laredo did use Curative testing services. All positive results were then reported back to the epidemiology team in Nuevo Laredo, Chamberlain said.

With Mexico having less restrictions on Americans traveling into the country, there were examples of people from Dallas, Houston and other parts of the state crossing into Nuevo Laredo to shop. Ricardo Navarro and his family from Houston did some shopping in Laredo and in Nuevo Laredo.

Our family from Mexico tends to take us things from Monterrey and the little mercaditos in Nuevo Laredo every year, but since they could not cross, we can go then and shop over here while we stayed in our hotel, Navarro said. I really believe that this health scare really tilted the normal way people do things, and I think that it did help in a way make sure the U.S. got lower cases than usual, but Mexico with its more relaxed rules could have potentially infected more people as they allowed almost anybody in.

Another example of people traveling to Laredo was healthcare workers such as nurses coming to assist the overburdened hospitals.

Many people came to Laredo to support the health services community, out of town nurses mostly, Laredo Economic Development Corporations president and CEO Gene Lindgren said. Were hopeful that their exposure to our vibrant and unique culture and close-knit community drives more tourism as they spread the word once the border reopens.

Chamberlain anticipates the border will reopen when infections are low, deaths have stopped and vaccinations are up on both sides of the border. He believes it should only happen when both countries confidently have the pandemic under control.

According to Chamberlain, as a public health professional he would always want to do more at the ports of entry to ensure the safety of not only the city but of the state and the nation as well.

King said the time to reopen the border is now as he believes most people are already knowledgeable about the virus and know how to take care of themselves.

From a medical perspective as a resident physician, I think it made sense early on to close the border when there was still so much we didnt know, King said. But once we knew the science around how effective masks can be, I think we should have considered opening sooner using a plan similar to the one suggested by Rep. Henry Cuellar using rapid testing at the border or something to that effect.

Border crossing is vital here in South Texas, not only for the economy but for the way of life and well being. Other leaders in Washington, D.C. generally have no idea how border communities work, and they arent listening to our local elected officials. I also worry that this more recent migrant crisis is going to distract federal leaders and force them to make a political decision on keeping the border closed for even longer. Its really unfortunate.

jorge.vela@lmtonline.com
[March 26, 2021] Molson Coors Reaffirms Key Financial Guidance for Full Year 2021 and Provides an Update on the Impact of the Cybersecurity Incident and Texas Storms

Molson Coors Beverage Company (NYSE: TAP; TSX: TPX) today reaffirms key financial guidance for full year 2021 and provides an update on the impacts to its business resulting from the systems outages caused by a cybersecurity incident previously disclosed on March 11, 2021 as well as the eleven-day closure of the Fort Worth, Texas brewery caused by the winter storms in February 2021. Molson Coors has made substantial progress in restoring its systems following the recent cybersecurity incident. Globally, all breweries are currently producing and shipping products, and are ramping up to near normal operating levels. Despite this progress led by the significant efforts of the Molson Coors team, along with the support of leading forensic information technology firms and other advisors, the Company has experienced and continues to experience some delays and disruptions in its business, including brewery operations, production and shipments in the U.K., Canada and the U.S. Additionally, the cybersecurity incident was preceded by an unprecedented February winter storm in Texas that forced local government authorities to impose energy restrictions, causing the Fort Worth brewery to be offline for eleven days. Lastly, the ongoing on-trade shutdowns in the U.K. due to the coronavirus pandemic continue to be a challenge. All three of these events will negatively impact first quarter 2021 financial results. Molson Coors' President and Chief Executive Officer Gavin Hattersley commented, "Over the past few weeks, we have faced significant and unforeseeable obstacles. While these obstacles will have a negative impact on our first quarter shipments and financial results, we believe the fundamentals of our revitalization plan are strong and our future remains bright. We continue to build on the strength of our core brands, aggressively grow our above premium portfolio, expand beyond beer, invest in our capabilities and support our people and our communities." Notwithstanding these incidents and the uncertainty that remains due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, including the timing and strength of the recovery, Molson Coors reaffirms its key financial guidance for full year 2021 as it continues to expect a mid-single digit increase in net sales revenue in 2021 on a constant currency basis, approximately flat underlying EBITDA in 2021 compared to 2020 on a constant currency basis and a net debt-to-underlying EBITDA ratio of approximately 3.25x by the end of 2021 and below 3.0x by the end of 2022. In addition, Molson Coors continues to expect that its board of directors will be in a position to reinstate a dividend in the second half of 2021. Molson Coors currently estimates that the impacts of the cybersecurity incident and the February winter storms in Texas will shift between 1.8 and 2.0 million hectoliters of production and shipments from the first quarter 2021 to the balance of fiscal year 2021 and will also shift between $120 million to $140 million of underlying EBITDA from the first quarter 2021 to the balance of fiscal year 2021. Molson Coors also expects to incur incremental one-time costs in both our first and second quarters 2021 as a result of the cybersecurity incident. A further update on these matters, and the Company's first quarter results will be provided on its upcoming investor earnings call and webcast on April 29, 2021 at 11:00 am ET. Answers to certain frequently asked questions related to the press release follow: 1. What will the financial impact be to the Company from these incidents? The cybersecurity incident and the February winter storms in Texas will have a negative impact on first quarter 2021 results and we expect between 1.8 and 2.0 million hectoliters of production and shipments to shift from the first quarter 2021 to the balance of the year and will also shift between $120 million to $140 million of underlying EBITDA from the first quarter 2021 to the balance of fiscal year 2021. We expect to incur certain incremental one-time costs reated to consultants, experts and data recovery efforts in both our first and second quarters 2021 as a result of the cybersecurity incident.



2. How will the Company disclose the costs related to the cybersecurity incident in its financial statements and public filings? We expect to incur certain incremental one-time costs related to consultants, experts and data recovery efforts in both our first and second quarters 2021 as a result of the cybersecurity incident. The incremental costs net of related insurance recoveries will be reported in our GAAP financial statements but excluded from underlying results and reported as a non-GAAP item. The timing and recognition of related costs may differ from the timing or recognition of any insurance reimbursement. Any incremental costs associated with the Fort Worth brewery weather incident will be reported through underlying results.

3. What will be the impact to the Company's long-term financial health from the cybersecurity incident? We do not believe the first quarter incidents will impact our long-term financial health or our ability to execute against our revitalization plan announced in October 2019. We believe the impact is short-term in nature and have reaffirmed our key financial guidance for 2021 as we continue to expect a mid-single digit increase of net sales revenue on a constant currency basis in 2021 compared to 2020, approximately flat underlying EBITDA on a constant currency basis compared to 2020 and a net debt-to-underlying EBITDA ratio of approximately 3.25x by the end of 2021 and below 3.0x by the end of 2022. In addition, our current expectation remains that our board of directors will be in a position to reinstate a dividend in the second half of 2021. The Company generates meaningful cash flow each year and we intend to maintain our investment grade rating. 4. What steps were taken in response to the cybersecurity incident? Immediately upon learning of the cybersecurity incident, we activated our incident response plan and communicated with our employees and business partners about the issue. We have also engaged leading forensic IT experts and legal counsel to assist our investigation, restore operations and identify the root cause. We have made substantial progress in restoring our systems and all of our breweries are producing and shipping products. We notified law enforcement and are cooperating in their investigation. We also have notified and are working with all of our relevant insurance companies. 5. Will this impact your innovation pipeline? The impact of the cybersecurity incident and Texas storms on our innovation pipeline have been minimal and we are excited about our launches. The second Vizzy variety pack and Vizzy Lemonade are already in the market, Topo Chico Hard Seltzer and Proof Point are expected to launch on March 29, 2021, as planned, and we expect new variety packs for Coors Seltzer and Topo Chico Ranch Water to follow. About Molson Coors For more than two centuries Molson Coors has been brewing beverages that unite people to celebrate all life's moments. From Coors Light, Miller Lite, Molson Canadian, Carling, and Staropramen to Coors Banquet, Blue Moon Belgian White, Blue Moon LightSky, Vizzy, Coors Seltzer, Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy, Creemore Springs, Hop Valley and more, Molson Coors produces many beloved and iconic beer brands. While the company's history is rooted in beer, Molson Coors offers a modern portfolio that expands beyond the beer aisle as well. Our reporting segments include: North America, operating in the U.S., Canada and various countries in Latin and South America; and Europe, operating in Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Montenegro, the Republic of Ireland, Romania, Serbia, the U.K., various other European countries, and certain countries within Africa and Asia Pacific. In addition to our reporting segments, we also have certain items that are unallocated to our reporting segments and reported as "Unallocated", which primarily include financing related costs and impacts of other treasury-related activities. The company's commitment to raising industry standards and leaving a positive imprint on our employees, consumers, communities and the environment is reflected in Our Imprint and our 2025 sustainability targets. To learn more about Molson Coors Beverage Company, visit molsoncoors.com, MolsonCoorsOurImprint.com or on Twitter (News - Alert) through @MolsonCoors. Forward-Looking Statements This Press Release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. From time to time, the Company may also provide oral or written forward-looking statements in other materials the Company releases to the public. Such forward-looking statements are subject to the safe harbor created by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Statements that refer to future events or circumstances are forward-looking statements, and include, but are not limited to, the Company's expectations regarding the cybersecurity incident, volume, net sales, income and other financial results. In addition, statements that the Company makes in this press release that are not statements of historical fact may also be forward-looking statements. Words such as "expects," "intend," "goals," "plans," "believes," "continues," "may," "anticipate," "seek," "estimate," "outlook," "trends," "future benefits," "potential," "projects," "strategies," and variations of such words and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to be materially different from those indicated (both favorably and unfavorably). These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the ongoing remediation related to the cybersecurity incident, material legal, financial and reputational risks resulting from a breach of our information systems, operational disruptions to key facilities due to the cybersecurity incident, and our reliance on third party service providers and internal and outsourced systems as further described in Part I-Item 1A "Risk Factors", the other factors discussed in Part I-Item 1A "Risk Factors" in the Company's 2020 Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed with the SEC (News - Alert) on February 11, 2021, and those described from time to time in the Company's past and future reports filed with the SEC. Caution should be taken not to place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date when made and the Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210326005398/en/

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YEREVAN, 26 MARCH, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs Armenpress that today, 26 March, USD exchange rate up by 0.81 drams to 529.49 drams. EUR exchange rate stood at 624.37 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate up by 0.02 drams to 6.98 drams. GBP exchange rate up by 5.98 drams to 730.22 drams.

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

Gold price up by 160.82 drams to 29574.92 drams. Silver price down by 8.28 drams to 419.97 drams. Platinum price up by 13.58 drams to 19985.59 drams.
68-Year-Old Woman Dies After Receiving COVID-19 Vaccine: Family

A 68-year-old woman from Kansas died a day after having a reaction to a COVID-19 vaccine, according to family members.

In a Becker Dyer-Stanton Funeral Home obituary, family members wrote that Jeanie M. Evans of Effingham, a mother-of-five, died unexpectedly on Wednesday at the Stormont-Vail Hospital from a reaction to the Covid vaccine.

According to EMS dispatch records, a 68-year-old woman had an allergic reaction at a COVID-19 vaccine clinic site, the Keystone Learning Services center in Ozawkie, at around 4 p.m. on Tuesday, KMBC reported.

The woman had difficulty breathing and speaking, and was injected with an EpiPen, dispatch records indicate. EMS had also asked about the availability of air transport to the Stormont-Vail Hospital.

Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) spokesperson Kristi Zears told The Wichita Eagle that Evans had an allergic reactionanaphylaxisduring a waiting period after receiving the shot. She was transported to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead a day later.

It is not clear whether Evans had underlying health conditions. KDHE did not indicate which COVID-19 vaccine was administered. Three COVID-19 vaccines have been authorized for emergency use in the United States so far: Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson.

Zears noted that Evanss death will be fully investigated in accordance with standard protocol.

Until the investigation is complete, it is premature to assign a specific cause of death, she added.

The Epoch Times has reached out to the department for further clarification on the matter.

Soumya Swaminathan, a clinical scientist with the World Health Organization (WHO) said this month that there is no evidence to suggest a link between any COVID-19 vaccine and deaths.

There is no documented death thats been linked to a COVID vaccine, Swaminathan told reporters on March 15.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) told The Epoch Times in an email that as of March 8, more than 92 million doses of mRNA vaccines for COVID-19 had been administered, with 1,637 deaths occurring following the injections in the United States.

The Epoch Times hasnt been able independently to confirm the CDCs numbers. According to data from the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting Systems (VAERS) website, 1,136 deaths had occurred nationwide as of Feb. 26.

Celia Farber contributed to this report.
Being part of a community gives us a sense of belonging. Close-knit groups help us share a personal affinity and foster persistent growth of each other and ourselves. As we are rolling into a new decade, the importance of communities has become even more tangible. Dire times evince just how indispensable the social aspect is to us, both personally and professionally.

A community can be anything from a physical place to community-based applications like Quora or Github. Those spaces connect like-minded people with similar interests and hobbies.

That is the main reason why lots of aspiring business owners are looking to build community applications. Especially now, when online social platforms are experiencing an unprecedented swell in demand.

This article expands upon the process of building social group apps. We will also look into the main functionality of such solutions and guesstimate the costs.

A short primer on community-based applications

Social mobile apps cater to a particular community and target the audience of it. These platforms update users on local information and news as well as bring people closer. This type of application resonates on a visceral level among users since it allows us to put ourselves out there in the way we want to be seen.

Although these apps rely heavily on a specific location, the community or location could be a vast geographical region or even the whole world. Also, community apps provide more personalization than others thanks to their nature.

When the Internet was in its infancy, all societies resided in web-based forums. Users would create threads to ramble on about a particular subject. In 2021, this concept migrated into local community apps. However, there are some old-school forums like Github and Quora. And they still have an upward trending profile backed up by an avid community of enthusiasts.

Why create social applications, anyway?

At this point, you might be left wondering. Why go the extra mile if Facebook groups and such do an excellent job?

Well, there are some good reasons behind this choice. Community-based apps compare favorably with generic social media platforms thanks to the following differentiators:

Tailor-made functionality

Superior user data privacy

User-friendly politics

Lets take Facebook as an example. This leading social media network was repeatedly slammed for multiple unsavory incidents like selling users' data to third parties. In 2018 the mounting criticism was reinforced once again due to the handling of political content.

In contrast, community-based applications place users at the heart of the solution. Thus, brands can connect with their audience directly and build loyalty. Neighbors who reside in geographical proximity can bridge the communication gap. Social applications also help users receive professional advice and tap into new knowledge areas.

Overall, people build community applications to get an online connection with other users without exposing confidential data to third-party providers.

Now that weve studied the basics, lets see how you can develop social applications and what functionalities you will need.

Guide to building community-based applications

App development is no mean feat. Although you delegate the lions share of work to development teams, you still need to make some critical decisions.

Here they are:

Identify your focal group Some clients can boast a well-established community on Facebook or some other social media. In this case, they are well aware of their target audiences and app needs. But if you are building your community from the ground up, you need to get a clear understanding of your users. For this goal, mull over the following questions: Who are your users?

What hobbies do they have?

What is their occupation?

What are their staples? In any case, avoid hopping on the trendy bandwagon. Instead, your cornerstone should stem from eternal values. This foundation will future-proof your product and make it appealing to a greater number of people. Outline the must-have features All society applications are based on different business needs. Therefore, you should define must-have and nice-to-have features that suit your aim. The "must-have" list refers to a set of basic features. This combination must be enough for community users to test its interface and provide feedback. Although youll have to implement customized functionality, there are some essential features needed for all social apps: User login

User profile

Newsfeed

Notifications

Adding friends

Advanced Settings

Advanced Search Criteria

Push Notifications

Real-Time Messaging

Content Sharing

Audio/Video Chat

Image/Video Editing

News Feed Also, we recommend implementing some bonus features that will add a nice zhoosh to your application. These may include, but are not limited to: Video streaming for setting up a digital event

Google Calendar integration

Fund-raising functionality to collect money

Advanced matching system to connect people with the same interests At this point, you must be wondering - Why do I need two different lists of features? Read on to find out the answer. Request a quote To price the unknown, you need to contact a service provider first. And heres when both lists hit the spotlight. The development team will estimate the time and money spent on building the app's MVP with essential functionality and costs to implement bonus functions further in the development. Choose the design Leveraging top practices for mobile design is essential to get your app in stores and used frequently. If you have a clear vision of the future design, you can share screens and links with your dev team. In case youre clueless about this aspect, hired designers will offer multiple variants of the application UI/UX during the Inception stage. After making the right call, designers will create an app prototype with the app's main screens. Build an MVP A Minimum Viable Product is exactly what its name implies. Its a product in its smallest, least featureful avatar with just enough functionality for users to test the look and feel of it. So once the last feature is up and running, your dev team developers will run the final demo for you to demonstrate the ascetic version of your application. After that, the MVP gets uploaded to the marketplace and is visible to the target audience. The MVP concept allows you to avoid unnecessary costs and provide the solution fine-tuned to users needs and preferences. However, if you dont fancy hiring a development team, there exists another way. Instead of building a social app from scratch, you can create a product using a SaaS platform. This brings us to our next point.

Tailor-made applications vs. using an app builder

When building a successful social platform, you can either fork out for a development team or leverage SaaS platforms. Such services offer several pre-made features and spare your time and effort. SaaS applications run on the SaaS provider's server, and users access them via Internet browser. The user does not buy a SaaS application, but rents it, i.e. pays a certain amount per month for its use.

The SaaS provider takes care of the availability of the application, provides technical support to users, and installs updates. Thus, the user thinks less about the technical side of the issue and focuses on his business goals.

With that said, let's compare both methods.

Custom-built community application

Custom-built product refers to the solution created based on your unique business needs and requirements. Its the right call when you need:

to raise investment

to build a long-term project

better quality and flexibility

bespoke functionality

complete control of your product

integration with external APIs and services

scalability

customized UI/UX

However, its not all unicorns and rainbows. Since your mileage can vary, you can face the following disadvantages.

It guzzles up lots of time. The dev crew will spend from 2 to 5 months creating documentation and delivering your project. But its the best-case scenario. If your project calls for a great number of features, be ready to allocate much more time to the development.

It requires some effort from you. A development team is neither a genie nor a mind reader. First, you need to communicate your requirements, agree on the project scope and support constant contact with the team about its progress.

It needs quite an investment. App development costs vary from $30k to $150k based on the project complexity, functionality, and the number of platforms.

Community-based apps build on SaaS platforms

Applying the philosophy championed by leading website builders, SaaS platforms allow non-coders to build their applications with no hassle. All you need is to drag and drop pre-coded elements. And this option is actually plausible, especially when you:

want to validate your concept

need a quick and standard solution

dont mind limited functionality

have budget constraints

have no technical background

On the other side, if youve made up your mind to use an app-building platform, make sure to factor in the disadvantages:

Lack of scalability. When you are using an app builder provider, you have to use whats already in there. This means your access to features or third-party integrations will be more limited.

Data privacy issues. All the information that users share is kept in the platform's database. Therefore, there is a risk of leaking sensitive data linked with your customers.

Template design. If you are looking to implement a one-of-a-kind look and feel, you should search for another option. SaaS platforms provide a sample design that you cannot change. Sometimes, its possible to fine-tune the app's URL, add a logo, and change the color. But that concludes your coding freedom.

There is no easy answer to whether you should hire a development team or DIY a community app with a SaaS app builder. Your choice should be based on your needs, the apps functionality, and tech requirements.

Now, let's close the files.

The Final Word

Community-based applications are the audience's favorite. The secret behind the surging popularity is the general frustration with social networks that both lack the specific functionality and leak users data into the wrong hands.

Also, social platforms drive value to global communities, brands, neighbors, and enthusiasts.

To build a community-based platform, you don't have to master programming languages and such. You can either hire a development team to create a unique product catered to your needs or land any of the online community app builders.
Living a mere five-minute boat ride from Australia, the villagers of Sigabadaru, in the Western Province of Papua New Guinea, are the countrys closest neighbours.

But the proximity that has helped them trade in vital supplies for decades has, for the past year, been a curse as travel between PNG and the Torres Strait Islands was cut off during the coronavirus pandemic.

Three of the islands closest to PNG  Saibai, Dauan and Boigu (pictured)  have already been visited by vaccine teams. PNG can be seen 5km off the coast. Credit:Brook Mitchell/Getty Images

We are just living like our forefathers or our fathers have lived. We are struggling to survive, village councillor Kebei Salee Koeget says.

The villagers in Sigabadaru (or Sidabadu) make traditional goods  pandanus mats, harpoons, drums, bows and arrows, spears and coconut brooms  which are then sold in the Torres Strait Islands. They take them the four kilometres to the island of Saibai for trade, then use that money to buy supplies such as flour, sugar and fuel.
IT startup DotPe on Friday said it has raised around Rs 200 crore in a funding round led by Naspers firm along with participation from and ventures.

and Ventures are existing investors in the one-year-old startup company.

DotPe co-founder Shailaz Nag told PTI that Ventures has doubled down on its seed investment in the company made last year and has more than doubled its shareholding.

" has come up as a new investor and partner which is good for the whole ecosystem of digitising merchants. We will use the fund to expand the merchant base and build many more products that will help in digitising merchants," Nag said.

The merchants that are digitised by DotPe will be listed in search as well, Nag said.

"In the last few months, we've seen an acceleration in offline players seeking to move their businesses online. We're pleased to back young like DotPe that are supporting India's digital transformation by connecting consumers and merchants through helpful, innovative tools," Google India vice-president and country head Sanjay Gupta said.

continues to be the second biggest stakeholder in the company after DotPe promoters.

"There is not much difference between PayU stake and other investors," Nag said.

DotPe claims to have on-boarded over 50 lakh merchants within six months of launch in September 2020, which includes over 10,000 merchants.

(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 Conference of Directors of Private Pre-Tertiary Schools- Ghana (CODPPTS) says the decision of the Ghana Education Service (GES) to allocate 30 per cent placement of Grade A schools to public schools before the remaining 70 per cent is allocated to all basic schools in the country after the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) is unconstitutional since it creates discrimination in the educational system.



Furthermore, it said it infringed on Article 25 (1) of the 1992 Constitution which provided that, all persons shall have the right to equal educational opportunities and facilities and with a view of achieving the full realisation of that right.



The policy discriminates against Ghanaian children in private schools. It is ironical that public schools that have a higher percentage of qualified teachers would rather perform abysmally and the system rather used to favour those who should have performed better through the 30 per cent quota.



Recommendation



We recommend that adequate resources with effective monitoring and supervision be pursued by the Ministry of Education and the GES to bridge the knowledge gab between public and private schools rather than the discriminatory approach, a statement issued by the conference and signed by its President, Mr Philip Boateng Mensah said.



It called on the Minister of Education, Dr Yaw Adutwum to initiate steps to make the schools where candidates sat the BECE mandatory to validate the school placement/enrolment form.



As the situation stands now, the schools or the clergys signature validates the school placement/enrolment form.



However, where the candidates have not settled their outstanding bills but can easily have a clergy to endorse the form, they (candidates) go away without settling their indebtedness. This is not good for the financial health of the private schools, it said.



It said it was of the firm belief that, the minister would take keen interest in the issues raised and address them to create the enabling environment for private pre-tertiary school operators to work.





We have no doubt that under the leadership of Dr Adutwum, the Ministry of Education will see more pragmatic innovations to continue to improve and sustain quality teaching and learning in our schools, it said.



Commendation



The CODPPTS congratulated Dr Adutwum on his elevation to the position of Minister of Education.



Having been sworn into office by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo after his successful vetting and approval by Parliament, we are of high expectations that Dr Adutwum will not waver in his passion to transform Ghanas education sector into an enviable position to match others globally, it said.



It said the conference wished to see the minister carry the private schools operators along in its quest to transform the education sector, whose products would be well equipped to bring the needed change to advance Ghanas development agenda.



The CODPPTS views his appointment as great news for the education sector which is the bedrock for quality human resource development to propel Ghana into an enviable height in terms of social, political, economic, cultural and technological advancement.









Source: graphiconline.com









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U.S. insurance regulators are close to creating a legal standard for pet insurance that would address long-standing consumer complaints that insurers rarely pay up when their furry friends are not well.

A National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) committee is scheduled to meet on Friday to discuss fine-print provisions about several controversial issues. Among them: determining whether a pets condition is pre-existing and how long customers must wait after buying coverage to file claims.

The committee is preparing for NAICs national meeting in April, where regulators from all 50 states will congregate to discuss top-of-mind issues. The committee is getting closer to presenting the model pet insurance law to those regulators to approve. Then, state legislatures can decide whether to adopt the proposed law or create their own versions.

It is an important development at a time when the pet insurance market is poised to grow.

The pandemic led many Americans to adopt or purchase pets for companionship during extended lockdowns. Dog inquiries on Petfinder, an online pet directory, rose 36% for the year ended January 31, a spokeswoman said.

Less than 3% of U.S. pets are insured, compared to 20% in some European markets, according to IBISWorld. The research firm expects pet-insurance earnings to swell from $1.6 billion last year to $2.4 billion in 2025.

Policies are similar to human health coverage, with annual premiums and deductibles. Rates are typically based on animals ages and care levels. Pricier policies tend to have broader protections.

However, customers who buy insurance are often stunned by rejected claims, facing unexpected restrictions, or companies take aggressive stances about what should be covered.

For instance, Philadelphia-based consultant Chris Arlene pays Embrace Pet Insurance $45 a month to cover his dog, Chance. When Chance swallowed a stuffed animal last year, requiring hospitalization, Embrace initially denied the $1,100 claim, citing a pre-existing condition for eating objects.

I was so emotionally distraught, said Arlene.

He appealed the decision, providing additional information that convinced Embrace to pay, a spokeswoman said.

Experiences like Arlenes are so common that California adopted consumer-protection laws about pet insurance beginning in 2014, and has since reinforced the rules. A pending bill would require insurers to include spaying and neutering in standard coverage.

U.S. insurance regulation is a state-by-state patchwork rather than a federally-managed process. That means NAICs proposal can be influential for states that have been less proactive than California, whose laws provided a mold.

NAICs move is especially important, consumer advocates said, as new entrants have flooded into the United States, hoping to get a piece of the growing pet-insurance pie.

Familiar insurance brands like Nationwide and MetLife Inc offer coverage, sometimes through employee-sponsored benefits programs. Trupanion and PetPlan have become big players, while Lemonade Inc entered the market last year. European insurer Bought By Many just launched ManyPets in Illinois on Thursday.

You have to read the policy carefully, said Robert Hunter, insurance director for the Consumer Federation of America. Ive never been a big fan despite having owned dozens of dogs.

Hunter and others cautioned that NAICs suggestions will not be a panacea for customers expecting pet insurers to cover bills for dogs, cats, ferrets and iguanas who need medical help.

NAIC began working on the idea in 2016, and there is no guarantee states will embrace its proposal quickly, or at all. And insurers may fight claims even with tougher rules.

Pet insurers simply want customers to understand what they are buying, the North American Pet Health Insurance Association said in a March regulatory update. The industry group says a model law could provide consistency but wants a version that allows insurers to remain competitive.

For Gregory Allen, a restaurant worker in Baltimore, the changes may come too late.

Allen got a cat last year after losing his job due to government-imposed business shutdowns. The cat, Sir Purrs A Lot, soon began showing signs of an excessive grooming disorder, which can cause sores and infections.

Despite buying insurance, Allen has paid out of pocket for Sir Purrs A Lots vet visits, first because of a two-week waiting period for coverage and then because his insurer deemed the cats illness a pre-existing condition.

My former therapist said that getting a pet would be really good for my mental health, Allen said. But with him being as sick as he is and having to deal with insurance, its like the opposite of that.
Senior Reporter

With the ICT assembly plant of the Zimbabwe Information Technology Company (Zitco) commissioned yesterday, and the National Data Centre and High Performance Computer Centre already open, all the pieces are now in place for the public sector to develop on-line digital services and move from manual to automated systems, President Mnangagwa said yesterday.

At the assembly plant commissioning, the President said that ministries and departments now had to set the timelines for migration to automated systems, including putting in place the needed ICT staff, since the public sector could no longer be the follower of technological change and playing catch-up all the time.

Zitco in Harare is the first assembly plant for ICT equipment in Zimbabwe. It is a joint venture between TelOne, Chinese company Inspur and a Government-owned entity Flushcord Enterprises. It is assembling desktop computers, laptops, tablets, prepaid electricity meters, smart water meters and other ICT-orientated equipment. This is common practice around the global ICT industry with many companies using a small range of standard common components.

"Government ministries, departments and agencies are directed to set timelines for the migration from manual to automated systems. Equally important is the need for all public entities to ensure that their staff establishments provide for ICT and tech savvy persons. The situation where Government entities are playing catch-up with the ever changing technologies cannot continue."

Ministries and departments should develop online digital services through the exploitation of existing linkages between the National Data Centre, the High Performance Computer Centre and other connectivity networks in which Government has invested.

There was however, need to balance the benefits derived from the ICTs and the risks associated with their use.

The launch of the assembly plant, President Mnangagwa said, was in sync with Government's thrust of innovation, science and technology development and was proof that ICT devices could be manufactured locally.

"The facility will further help to promote technology transfer, foster human capital development, enhance import substitution and provide robust platforms upon which innovation and design can be commercialised."

The President said while Zimbabwe had been under illegal sanctions for the past 20 year the embargo should not distract the country's development efforts.

He said the manufacture of ICT hardware locally should also trigger development of software packages riding on the abundant intellectual capacity in the country.

"The innovation hubs and industrial parks at institutions of higher learning are therefore encouraged to speedily develop appropriate solutions and applications towards the growth of big data economy in tandem with the expectations of the fourth Industrial Revolution," President Mnangagwa said.

Products manufactured at the plant will enable the modernisation and automation of Government systems to propel the national development priorities outlined in the National Development Strategy 1.

Speaking at the same occasion, Minister of ICT, Postal and Courier Services Dr Jenfan Muswere said the opening of the assembly plant was part of efforts to revive the TelOne manufacturing factory which had been lying idle owing to changes in technology.

"This assembly plant has advanced our resuscitation efforts through which we are pursuing other ventures like smart phone assembly, renewable energy manufacturing and electronic waste management among others," he said. Chinese ambassador to Zimbabwe, Mr Guo Shaochun said the opening of the plant was another step by Zimbabwe to modernise its economy. "As your friend we commend Your Excellency's leadership and your Government and we commend the bravery and resilience of Zimbabwe's people," Ambassador Guo said. China would continue assisting Zimbabwe in various fields.

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TelOne managing director Mrs Chipo Mtasa said the assembly plant had already started operating with the first run of 2 500 desktop computers and laptops having already been made.

"It is expected that after the commissioning, Zitco will now be moving towards full production where a production capacity of at least 50 000 and up to 150 000 ICT units can be achieved annually. This production level will be supported by a staff complement of about 100 in-house with at least 300 jobs expected to be created in both upstream and downstream industries."

Defence and War Veterans Affairs Minister Oppah Muchinguri and her Finance and Economic Development counterpart Professor Mthuli Ncube also commended the opening of the factory.
Sri Lanka: 54 Indian Fishermen arrested by Navy, 5 trawlers seized

March 26,2021 | Source: Odisha TV

The Sri Lankan Navy has arrested at least 54 Indian fishermen and seized five trawlers for allegedly poaching in the countrys territorial waters, an official statement said here on Thursday. The Navy arrested the fishermen on Wednesday off the coast of northern and northeastern areas. Having considered the impact of foreign fishermen poaching in Sri Lankan waters on the local fishing community and the sustainability of fishery resources of Sri Lanka, the Navy is conducting regular patrols to curb illegal fishing activities in Sri Lankan waters , the Navy said in the statement. The Navy nabbed a large Indian fishing vessel with 14 personnel on board, about 3 nautical miles off the coast of Kovilan in Jaffna. Two more Indian fishing vessels with 20 personnel for engaging in trawling were arrested about 7 nautical miles off Pesalai, Mannar and 5 nautical miles off the Iranativu Island, the statement said. Two more Indian fishing vessels with 20 personnel were arrested about 7.5 and 8.5 nautical miles off Mullaitivu. The two vessels had trespassed into Sri Lankan waters about 62 nautical miles, crossing the International Boundary Line (IMBL) when the apprehension was made, the Navy said in a statement. The Navy said it had previously informed the Indian authorities when similar incidents of trawling by Indian fishermen were reported.



The illegal entry of foreign fishermen into Sri Lankan waters and the use of prohibited fishing methods like bottom trawling to catch even very small fish has seriously threatened the marine ecosystem and endanger the livelihood of fishermen in the northern part of the island. Fishermen from both countries are arrested frequently for inadvertently trespassing into each others waters. The fishermen issue has become a major irritant in bilateral ties. In January, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar visited Sri Lanka, he met with Fisheries Minister Douglas Devananda and raised the fishermen issue and reviewed bilateral cooperation in fisheries. We look forward to the early return of our fishermen from Sri Lanka, Jaishankar had said. Later, a three-member committee was appointed by the Sri Lankan government which will make recommendations on measures to stop poaching by Indian fishermen inside the countrys waters after four people were killed when an Indian trawler capsized after colliding with a Sri Lankan Navy vessel. On January 18, the Sri Lankan Navy said that they seized Indian fishing trawlers allegedly poaching in Sri Lankan waters, trespassing the IMBL. The Navy said one of the Indian fishing trawlers, with aggressive manoeuvres attempted to evade the scene and collided with the Naval craft in operation and ultimately sank at sea having lost its stability. India also lodged a strong protest with Sri Lanka over the death of four fishermen in a collision between their vessel and a naval craft of the island nation. Also, During his five-day visit to India in February last year, Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi agreed to resolve the long-festering fishermen issue with a humane approach.



345 Gujarat Fishermen Lodged In Pakistan Jails



Meanwhile, the Gujarat government told the Legislative Assembly on Thursday that 345 fishermen from the state are languishing in Pakistani jails, of whom 248 were arrested by the neighbouring country in the last two years. State Fisheries Minister Jawahar Chavda said this in a written reply to a query over fishermen from Gujarat held in Pakistan. As on December 31, 2020, a total of 345 fishermen from Gujarat were in Pakistani jails, he said. Of these, 248 fishermen were arrested in the last two years  85 in 2019 and 163 in 2020  Chavda said in reply to a starred question by Congress MLA Shailesh Parmar. The minister said that the government is taking efforts to get these fishermen released, and submitted the required documentary proofs to the Ministry of Home Affairs for further action after verification of their nationality. In a related question, the minister said that the government has extended Rs 37.70 lakh financial assistance to the fishermen in Porbandar to install GPS in their fishing boats. Fishermen from Gujarat are on several occasions held by Pakistan Maritime Security Agency after they cross the International Maritime Border Line (IMBL) while fishing deep into the Arabian sea. Fishermen from Gujarat districts, such as Porbandar, Gir Somnath and Devbhumi Dwarka, mistakenly cross the maritime border in the Arabian sea and end up in Pakistani jails. The state government has been conducting awareness programmes and also assisting fishermen in setting up GPS to alert them when they come near the IMBL, he said.
Parents have always been stressed  and then the pandemic hit. Mothers, in particular, have been struggling over the past year with the pressures of balancing work, home, health, family and so much more. And then there's homeschooling, which, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, nearly 93 percent of households with school-age children engaged in some form of distance learning due to the coronavirus. With women bearing the burden of a majority of the household labor the invisible tasks too  the collective mental health of moms could be considered a crisis, according to experts. Numbers tell a pretty clear story:

Roughly 9.8 million working mothers in the U.S. are suffering from workplace burnout, which is an increase of 2.4 million reported cases since the pandemic began (Source: Maven and Great Place to Work)

A mere 22 percent of Americans think the government has done enough to support working parents during the pandemic. (Source: Yahoo Life/You Gov poll)

If money wasnt an issue, 56 percent of moms say they would quit their job because of the stress of working and parenting during the pandemic. (Source: Yahoo Life/You Gov poll)

47 percent of working families have lost the child care they used before the pandemic (Source: Pew Research)

Yet it's the personal stories that really highlight the toll the pandemic has taken. Read and watch stories from frontline workers, parenting and mental health experts, celebrities and moms who've been there.

'Schedules are out the window': How frontline moms have coped with parenting during a pandemic

For Dr. Dara Kass, he hardest part of the pandemic, she says, has been the guilt of wondering if the irregularity in her children's days is too much. Are they doing enough? Are we messing things up? Are they getting outside enough? she says. Theres a balance between wondering if youre giving them enough freedom to feel safe or giving them too much freedom that theyre not advancing. Several other frontline moms opened up to Yahoo Life about their experiences balancing demanding jobs, a suddenly changed childcare situation and fears of the virus. While many are hopeful about whats next, they all admit it hasnt been an easy year.

Story continues

Sherri Shepherd and her son. (Photo: Getty Images)

Sherri Shepherd says remote learning has been 'absolutely detrimental' to son's mental health

For Sherri Shepherd, watching her 15-year-old son Jeffrey deal with the isolation he has felt from a year of remote learning has been extremely difficult. It has been absolutely detrimental to Jeffrey's mental health, Shepherd says. I've been very concerned because his socialization has just been taken from him  to watch my child kind of wither because  he has no friends coming over. He really hasn't been able to socialize with friends  you know, normal teenage things, hes not able to do.

The pandemic has worsened the child mental health crisis. How parents are handling it all.

Children, teens and their families across the nation are struggling with feelings of overwhelm, stress and uncertainty during this pandemic and their mental health is suffering, says psychologist and integrative mental health expert Roseann Capanna-Hodge. Increased difficulties with attention, motivation, and learning are prevalent right now due to difficulties with virtual learning, a lack of movement and exercise, and heightened stress.

Anne Gomez Rubin witnessed it first hand with her own son, who spent nearly a year in virtual school  an experience that can be even more isolating for children in an only-child household. During the pandemic, we've spent so much time together, and in some cases, my husband and I have noticed that our son thinks of himself as our equal  meaning that he takes on a lot of adult worries about the pandemic, because that's what he sees us do, says Gomez Rubin. This time has really made me wish he could stay a kid for a little longer without worrying about when his parents will be vaccinated and whether or not his teachers are safe at school.

Candace Cameron Bure says 'parenting never ends' with adult children: 'I have learned so much in the pandemic'

Fuller House star Candace Cameron Bure has three adult children. But amid the pandemic, she still needs parenting advice from her own mom and dad. "Parenting never ends," she says of her grown children who are 19, 21 and 22. "I learned so much in the pandemic about myself, as a mother and as a wife," says Bure. "I've always known that a parent is always their child's biggest example, but all the more in this pandemic because we've all been together and we haven't had those moments to take off for the weekend or go to the gym. I'm a patient person, but I am not a stress-free person. And I show it."

These millennials moved in with their parents once the pandemic hit. One year later, theyre evaluating their independence.

When the pandemic hit and Kahlil Spurlock got laid off, moved back home. "Nobody wants to say that they're moving back in with their parents, right? But New York was way too expensive to live without a job." Kahlil is just one of many millennials who made the tough decision and faced decreased independence, battles over shared space and fights over food. But many learned something too  like David Christopher Lee. "Previously, I was living a life of excess  way too much food and alcohol. I was moving at a million miles a minute. When the parties stopped, I got rid of my FOMO [fear of missing out] and learned that I had everything I need at home," he says. "2020 was my year of self-exploration and balance."

Fashion influencers Chriselle Lim (left) and Paola Alberdi (right) with their kids. (Photos: Courtesy)

Paola Alberdi: 'I suffered with mom guilt all the time'

For fashion influencer Paola Alberdi, COVID-19 completely changed her "business as usual."

"Before the pandemic, I feel like I was super nonstop. I suffered with mom guilt all the time," Alberdi  a mom to a 3-year-old boy Enzo admits. "So when the pandemic hit, I felt like I definitely hit a pause button, which was actually pretty amazing."

Chriselle Lim: Surviving is my biggest quarantine accomplishment as a mom

Like Alberdi, Chriselle Lim, known for her social media platform, the pandemic forced a pivot. Lim, the mom to 6-year-old Chloe and 2-year-old Collette, utilized the changing dynamic of families stuck at home as an opportunity for a new business venture. "When the pandemic first started happening, we're like, 'OK, what are we going to do now?'" Lim says in reference to her daughters no longer having in-person school. "That's how BumoBrain was formed, which is an early childhood education platform for early learners ages one through seven."

'Sometimes I would just ride in silence': Amid virtual learning, moms are missing social interactions, solo time of school drop-offs

Back in the "before times," pre-pandemic, Elizabeth Gillespie, a social media strategist and mom of two living in Westchester County, N.Y., would spend her mornings driving her older daughter, now 4, to preschool before heading into work. It was a hectic routine that relied on help from nearby grandparents, who handled school pick-ups and babysat her younger daughter, now almost 2, but one that, more than a year since her last drop-off on March 13, 2020, Gillespie says she sorely misses. "I mainly miss drop-off for the social interactions that I would have with other parents. Being new in the area, I was trying to meet new people and meet other friends. All of that kind of stopped and we haven't been able to do any of that," she says. Gillespie isn't alone, with other moms saying the break in the day was a form of self-care, time management and me-time.

Reshma Saujani. (Photo: Getty Images)

Weve relied on mothers too much, says Reshma Saujani. It's time we start valuing their work.

Reshma Saujani, Girls Who Code founder and CEO, is on a mission  to get moms back to work. Weve relied on mothers too much and we haven't valued their work enough, so what I'm excited about is that maybe, just maybe for the first time, we can start to really value it, she says. Saujani hopes to do this with her Marshall Plan For Moms, which would include offering direct parents to moms; passing policies like paid family leave, affordable childcare and pay equity; retraining programs to make sure women can fill jobs that exist; and finally, planning to safely reopen schools five days a week. Its a bold plan, but Saujani is determined to see it through and spark these conversations that need to be had. I've gotten a lot of criticism on the left and the right for different reasons, she says. But that makes me excited because it shows that we're on [track] to having a conversation about the unpaid labor that women across the globe offer in society.

'Southern Charm' alum Cameran Eubanks says the pandemic heightened her anxiety: 'It was bad'

When Cameran Eubanks Wimberly's husband, an anesthesiologist  which means "hes literally in peoples airways every day  would go to work during the height of the pandemic, the Southen Charm alum admits she would cry. "I was so worried about him. He would come home, strip his clothes in the garage. It was a crazy, crazy time. It definitely heightened my anxiety," she tells Yahoo Life. "It was bad." The 37-year-old is "fairly certain" she has GAD  generalized anxiety disorder  though she's never been diagnosed "and Im not medicated, but Im pretty self-aware to know that I have it."

Holly Robinson Peete shares her son with autism's accomplishments to give hope to others: 'The possibilities are endless'

One major hurdle Holly Robinson Peete faced as a mom over the past year was helping to support her son R.J. after he temporarily lost his job with the Los Angeles Dodgers as a clubhouse attendant. Robinson Peete witnessed how R.J., who was diagnosed with autism at the age of 3, struggled mentally in those months without his old routine. When he got that job at the Dodgers six seasons ago, it changed his whole world. He became a self-advocate ... he had a group of friends, she says. To lose all of it ... for a whole year was devastating to him.

After helping him through those months, however, Robinson Peete says that R.J. is finally back to work with the team and enjoying some sense of normalcy again. Twenty years ago he was told he would never do anything, Robinson Peete shares. And now when I look at all that he's accomplished, you know, I just want to tell that story to give hope to someone who has a three-year-old, who's getting diagnosed today.

'I'm losing it': Why the pandemic is breaking mothers down

For Alison, an elementary school teacher in California, the coronavirus pandemic, had her battery drained. "I sunk into a deep depression and without time to fill my own bucket, my patience grew thin," she says. "I began fantasizing about leaving my family and the guilt brought sadness, continuing the mean and nasty cycle." Alison boiled over at the least likely place: her annual gynecological exam. "My doctor asked how COVID life was treating me and I said, 'We're all hanging in there!'A beat later, I confessed, 'That was a lie  Im losing it!' and started bawling in her office, my feet in stir-ups." Alison is far from alone. The mental health of mothers has been called a crisis by some experts, leading many to the brink of breakdown.

Kristen Bell on being 'flexible' as a parent: 'Sometimes you've just got to throw away the rule book'

Despite her Hollywood status, Kristen Bell can always be counted on to keep it real. From her marriage to Dax Shepard to her most important role as mom to their two daughters, 6-year-old Delta and 7-year-old Lincoln, the actress and entrepreneur is never not transparent about the highs and lows. It's little surprise, then, that she was an open book when discussing the challenges of parenting during the pandemic. "Obviously the homeschooling was really, really hard," the former Good Place star admitted. "It was really hard. I had this like romantic idea that it was gonna all work out and it did not. Teachers go to school for a reason."

Meena Harris. (Photo: Getty Images)

As a working mother, Meena Harris is trying to survive amidst mess and chaos: 'Im just taking it day by day'

Harris is a mother, a lawyer, a former tech executive, and the entrepreneur behind the popular company Phenomenal, best known for making clothing with a progressive message. She is also a childrens book author and her most recent release, Ambitious Girl, came out earlier this year and was an instant New York Times bestseller. How have we made it work? We just make it work, however messy and chaotic that may be, Harris says about parenting her two daughters and tackling her full-time workload during the pandemic. The silver lining of it is that I'm just getting to spend a lot more time with them. Wimberly, mom to a 3-year-old little girl named Palmer, also weighed in on how motherhood has changed her perspective on her anxiety. I dont want my child to see me as an anxious person, because I dont want her to mimic that, she says. So I try to do better. I try to hold it in. I try to let go. Easier said than done.

Single Black Motherhood blogger Kim Williams has been juggling work, school and her daughter McKinley's remote learning on her own during the pandemic. (Photo: Courtesy of Kim Williams/Miguel Rojas)

Single moms speak out on the challenges of parenting solo in a pandemic: 'There's no one else to go to'

A recurring, and vital, conversation surfacing during the coronavirus pandemic is the disproportionate load of parenting working mothers have been bearing compared to their male partners, scaling back their career commitments or leaving the paid workforce entirely in order to oversee Zoom classes and the largely invisible labor that goes into running a household. But what happens when there is no second income to lean on, or even a second pair of hands to help with childcare and chores as traditional options like in-person school, daycare or even a babysitting grandparent dry up due to the risks of COVID-19? In a time of job insecurity, fragile health and intense school and childcare commitments, single moms aren't shouldering most of the burden  they're shouldering it all.

Drew Barrymore says homeschooling during the pandemic was a complete hot mess

Drew Barrymore is struggling just the same as other parents during the pandemic. "I have so much empathy for parents right now because my kids have been in homeschool for a year and not seeing their friends," she says. "I was doing homeschool with them, trying to upstart the show in the afternoon. And it was a complete hot mess."

The moms of Adam Levine, Alicia Keys, Jonah Hill and Beanie Feldstein on setting Google Alerts and growing closer during the pandemic

The moms of Adam Levine, Alicia Keys, Jonah Hill and Beanie Feldstein  who co-founded the non-profit organization YourMomCares for kidss mental health  all share how the pandemic affected their relationships with their children.

Tia Mowry on conversations with her son, 10, about police brutality: 'It caused him a lot of anxiety'

For Tia Mowry, time at home increased significantly with quarantine and her family had to learn to adjust to the new reality. "When you got everybody in the household with the kids, husband, nobody's stepping away for a break, you have to learn how to talk to one another and communicate," she says. The hardest conversations Mowry had were with her son around Black Lives Matter and police brutality. 'How do you explain that to your children? Do you explain it to your children? Do you have that talk with your children?' are all questions that Mowry and her husband Cory Hardrict had. "We thought it was important to share with our son Cree, who's almost 10 now, what's going on. We're also the parents that allowed him to watch the debates. He showed a curiosity to it, and we wanted to inform him about what was going on."
In an effort to provide relief during the ongoing pandemic, the U.S. Department of Education will continue providing financial resources to colleges and universities through the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund.
CONROE, Texas, March 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- A Montgomery County judge has returned a $1.7 million final judgment against a Golden Chopsticks restaurant in The Woodlands, Texas, for the death of 27-year-old Bobby Joe Johnson, who was walking to his apartment when he was hit by one of the restaurant's delivery drivers.

The final judgment on March 24 from District Court Judge Kristin Bays awarded Mr. Johnson's mother, Telina Wheaton, over $1.6 million individually. In addition, the judgment included $136,323, plus prejudgment interest, and all court costs, for Mr. Johnson's estate.

"The tragedy in this case is that Mr. Johnson's death was preventable. Golden Chopsticks and their driver had a responsibility to the public when delivering food to customers," said Ms. Wheaton's attorney, PMR Law trial lawyer Brent Phelps. "Because of this driver's carelessness and the restaurant's failure to train and supervise its drivers, Mr. Johnson is no longer with us today. We are grateful that the judge agreed with the facts that we presented."

According to the lawsuit, Mr. Johnson was walking to the apartment he shared with his mother around 8:30 p.m. on April 2, 2019, when he was struck by the delivery driver as he crossed the street on F.M. 1488 in Conroe. Mr. Johnson spent two days in the emergency room before he died on April 4, 2019, from a blunt force injury.

The case is Telina Wheaton, individually, and as the representative of the estate of Bobby Joe Nathan Johnson vs. Mingrun D/B/A Golden Chopsticks, Cause No. 20-02-02017, in the 284th District Court in Montgomery County, Texas.

Paranjpe Mahadass Ruemke LLP or PMR Law is driven by compassion and focused on results. The firm has helped thousands of clients receive the compensation they deserve in personal injury litigation and business disputes. PMR Law's priority is to provide personalized attention, professionalism, and tireless representation. Visit: www.pmrlaw.com.

Media Contact:

Sophia Reza

800-559-4534

[email protected]

SOURCE PMR Law

Related Links

http://www.pmrlaw.com


MOUNT PLEASANT  The organizers planning a landside museum at Patriots Point dedicated to recipients of the nation's highest military award gathered for the first of what they say will be annual "Medal of Honor Day" celebrations in Mount Pleasant.

Leaders of the group publicly unveiled their designs for the first time at the event, held at the Charleston Harbor Resort and Marina's pavilion, just down the road from where they plan to eventually build their museum next to the Yorktown aircraft carrier.

Speakers emphasized why they felt it was important to get the project completed soon  and why it should be in Mount Pleasant.

Posters filling the middle of the pavilion recognized the 38 medal recipients South Carolina can claim. One of them, retired Marine Maj. Gen. James Livingston, was one of the key organizers to announce the museum project, which is the second attempt to build a new Medal of Honor facility at Patriots Point.

A previous venture left the Lowcountry in late 2018 and is now building its museum in Arlington, Texas.

First announced in mid-2019, the National Medal of Honor Leadership and Education Center has a target opening date of Memorial Day 2024. It would house a Medal of Honor museum, classroom space, and offices and archives for the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, which has operated from the Yorktown since 1992.

Recently, the society agreed to move its headquarters to the new facility, once certain terms are met, said Tommy McQueeney, who heads the executive committee of the foundation leading the effort

He said the terms mirror an agreement with the Patriots Point Development Authority, which owns the land. They require the museum organizers to raise 75 percent of the construction funds before they can break ground.

McQueeney said his group has been able to continue to make progress during the pandemic, thanks to frequent virtual meetings. It has identified the site it would like to use and has finished designs for the building and the museum exhibits.

The renderings, which were on display March 25 and shared with The Post and Courier in January, show a museum positioned near the Yorktown and the waterfront with two main floors and metal ribbons on one exterior side meant to resemble an American flag waving in the wind. It was designed by Charleston-based architecture firm Glick-Boehm & Associates.

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It will likely cost just about $41.6 million to build, McQueeney said earlier this year, less than half the estimated cost of the museum that went to Texas.

So far, two major pledges from local governments have been secured: $3 million from Mount Pleasant and $5 million from Charleston County, both contingent on whether the project can line up state funding.

Livingston said a nationally recognized, land-based Medal of Honor museum should be in the Lowcountry because of the region's deep historical connections to the medal.

The nation's highest military honor was first awarded during the Civil War, which began at Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor.

Livingston also pointed to Sgt. William Carney, the first African American medal recipient who received the honor for his heroism in battle at Fort Wagner just outside of Charleston, and recipient Ralph H. Johnson of Charleston, a Vietnam War hero and the namesake of the downtown VA hospital.

"We are historically tied at the hip with the Medal of Honor," Livingston said. "And that's the reason the Medal of Honor museum should be here."

Livingston stressed the need to move quickly. Just 69 medal recipients are alive, and only two of them are World War II veterans. The majority served in Vietnam, including Livingston.

McQueeney said the education center component of the name will serve a key function of the mission at Patriots Point, which already is a popular destination for field trips and other student outings.

Students "from across the state and elsewhere," McQueeney said, will get the opportunity to come to the facility's classrooms and "rediscover what it means to be an American patriot."

Mount Pleasant was one of many communities across the country honoring medal recipients on Thursday. March 25, or 3/25, has been designated by Congress as National Medal of Honor Day since 1990. At 3:25 p.m., which was the start time of the local program, a moment of silence is observed to recognize and remember recipients.
A part of the Taiwan-owned MV Ever Given (Evergreen), a 400-metre- (1,300-foot-) long and 59-metre wide vessel, lodged sideways and impeding all traffic across the waterway of Egypt's Suez Canal on March 24, 2021. (Suez Canal Authority/Handout/AFP via Getty Images)

Suez Canal: Enormous Beached Whale Ship Could Remain Stuck for Weeks

The skyscraper-sized cargo ship blocking Egypts Suez Canal like a beached whale may remain stuck for weeks as salvage teams work to free the vessel.

Officials blocked ships from entering the waterway after the MV Ever Given, a Panama-flagged ship that carries cargo between Asia and Europe, ran aground on Tuesday in the narrow, man-made canal dividing continental Africa from the Sinai Peninsula, amid a dust storm and high winds.

Built in 2018, the ship is nearly as long as the Empire State Building is high, with a length of nearly 400 meters (a quarter mile) and a width of 59 meters (193 feet). It is among the largest cargo ships in the world.

This satellite image shows the cargo ship MV Ever Given stuck in the Suez Canal near Suez, Egypt, on March 23, 2021. (Planet Labs Inc. via AP)

The 120-mile-long (193-kilometer-long) Suez Canallinking Asia and Europe without having to circumnavigate Africa, which can take weeksis one of the busiest shipping channels for oil, grain, and other trade in the world, and the stuck vessel threatens to disrupt the system that is already strained by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus pandemic.

We cant exclude it might take weeks, depending on the situation, Peter Berdowski, CEO of Dutch company Boskalis, which is assisting in the operation to free the vessel, told local news station Nieuwsuur.

Berdowski suggested that it is not really possible to pull it loose and that the Ever Given may need to be unloaded.

Its like an enormous beached whale. Its an enormous weight on the sand. We might have to work with a combination of reducing the weight by removing containers, oil, and water from the ship, tugboats and dredging of sand, he said.

The disruption is wreaking havoc on the shipping industry, with shippers attempting to reroute vessels carrying oil, commodities, and consumer goods to avoid being backed up at either end of the Suez Canal.

According to tracking data, some 206 large container ships including tankers are stuck in a massive shipping jam in the narrow waterway through which around 10 percent of world trade flows.

A cargo ship, named the Ever Given, sits with its bow stuck into the wall in Egypts Suez Canal, on March 24, 2021. (Suez Canal Authority via AP)

The iconic shipping journal Lloyds List estimates that goods worth $9.6 billion pass through the canal every day. Lloyds says about $5.1 billion of that traffic is westbound and $4.5 billion is eastbound.

Salvatore R. Mercogliano, a former merchant mariner and associate professor of history at North Carolinas Campbell University, warned that the disruption could have a major knock-on effect for global shipping moving between the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea.

Every day, 50 vessels on average go through that canal, so the closing of the canal means no vessels are transiting north and south, Mercogliano told The Associated Press. Every day the canal is closed  container ships and tankers are not delivering food, fuel, and manufactured goods to Europe and goods are not being exported from Europe to the Far East.

Concerns have also been raised by security experts that vessels idling in the Red Sea, on one side of the Suez Canal, could be targeted amid heightened tensions between the United States and Iran.

Salvage teams from Japan and the NetherlandsNippon Salvage and Smit Salvagehave been appointed by the ships owner to redraw plans with the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) to free the Ever Given.

Evergreen Line will continue to coordinate with the shipowner and Suez Canal Authority to deal with the situation with the utmost urgency, ensuring the resumption of the voyage as soon as possible and to mitigate the effects of the incident, Taiwans Evergreen Marine Corp, which leased the vessel, said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
New Delhi [India], March 26 (ANI/NewsVoir): Cholamandalam MS Risk Services Limited, a part of the Rs 381 billion Murugappa Group, and Denxpert EHS & S Software Ltd., a pioneer in EHS and sustainability IT solutions based out of Hungary, today announced the launch of Denxpert Legal software in India.

Denxpert Legal is a digital tool for regulatory mapping and assurance in matters pertaining to Environment Health and Safety. This solution will help industries comply with legal regulations at both facility and the corporate level.

This program has been supported by the European Union under an innovation program called 'Innowwide' that involves a stringent selection process. The consortium of Denxpert EHS & S Software Ltd. and Chola MS Risk Services had qualified after scoring above 95 per cent in this evaluation.

Denxpert Legal management system was launched by Andras Laszlo Kiraly, Ambassador of Hungary, and Tania Friederichs, Minister Counsellor, Head of Research and Innovation Sector, Delegation of the European Union to India. Denxpert Legal is widely used in over 300 corporates including Fortune 500 companies primarily in Europe and US.

"Being the member of EU, they are honoured to bring in such technology to India through Denxpert EHS & S Software Ltd., Hungary, to contribute to India's drive towards highest corporate social responsibility. I am very sure that the tool will be handier and more useful for not only Indian corporates but also all the stakeholders working for the cause of environmental protection and sustainability. I wish that Denxpert EHS & S Software Ltd., Hungary and Chola MS Risk Services Limited association will provide a value addition to the Indian society through this tool," said Andras Laszlo Kiraly, Ambassador of Hungary, speaking about the launch of Denxpert Legal in India.

"India's rapidly growing economy undeniably requires effective digital functionalities to enable corporates, institutions and environmental groups to stay abreast with the changes in the EHS regulatory environment. I am glad that this proposal was selected on merit over all other projects as part of Innowide under EU council," said Tania Friederichs, Minister Counsellor, Head of Research and Innovation Sector, Delegation of the European Union to India.

"Denxpert Legal is an advanced digital tool from Denxpert EHS & S Software Ltd., Hungary. With our 25 plus years of EHS regulatory assurance consulting experience, we have developed and customised this tool to suit the Indian industry's requirement. As a part of this process, we piloted it at 50 major clients of Chola MS Risk Services across various industrial sectors. We are confident that this tool will help service compliance and regulatory requirement in the Indian market," said Subba Rao, Chief Executive, Chola MS Risk Services Limited.

"Denxpert Legal is an efficient web-based solution for monitoring and complying with the ever-changing legal requirements in the field of Environment, Health and Safety (EHS). We are launching the tool in three variants. While the basic version offers a comprehensive view of the subscribed regulations, the advanced versions involve knowledge sharing through business impact, consultation through assurance audits, workshops and data management," said Szucs Winkler Robert, Manager, Denxpert EHS & S Software Ltd., Hungary.

Cholamandalam MS Risk Services Limited, part of the INR 381 Billion Murugappa Group, is a 50:50 joint venture with the Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Group, Japan, offering comprehensive risk management and engineering solutions. With two decades of experience and over 8500 consulting projects across 42 industrial sectors, the company offers best-in-class services to organizations to optimize their EHS (Environment, Health & Safety) performance and set new benchmarks in safety performance.

For more details, please visit, (http://www.cholarisk.com)

Denxpert Legal is a one stop shop for EHS and sustainability IT solutions. It is a simple and effective solution for monitoring the ever-changing legal regulations and for the in-house EHS-compliance. Denxpert Legal is a professional web surface tool for reducing the risks resulting from legal regulations.

It can be used with an ever-expanding array of functions ensuring compliance with the requirements of the management systems. Project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (Innowwide). The Tool is widely used by more than 300 plus clients in EU. Track the change - & gt; Get Assistance - & gt; Achieve Compliance.

For more details, please visit, (https://denxpert.eu)

Founded in 1900, the Rs 381 Billion (38,105 Crores) Murugappa Group is one of India's leading business conglomerates. The Group has 29 businesses including ten listed Companies traded in NSE & BSE. Headquartered in Chennai, the major Companies of the Group include Carborundum Universal Ltd., CG Power and Industrial Solutions Ltd., Cholamandalam Financial Holdings Ltd., Cholamandalam Investment and Finance Company Ltd., Cholamandalam MS General Insurance Company Ltd., Coromandel International Ltd., Coromandel Engineering Company Ltd., E.I.D. Parry (India) Ltd., Parry Agro Industries Ltd., Shanthi Gears Ltd., Tube Investments of India Ltd. and Wendt (India) Ltd.

Market leaders in served segments including Abrasives, Auto Components, Transmission systems, Cycles, Sugar, Farm Inputs, Fertilisers, Plantations, Bio-products and Nutraceuticals, the Group has forged strong alliances with leading international companies such as Groupe Chimique Tunisien, Foskor, Mitsui Sumitomo, Morgan Advanced Materials, Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile (SQM), Yanmar & Co. and Compagnie Des Phosphat De Gafsa (CPG). The Group has a wide geographical presence all over India and spanning 6 continents.

Renowned brands like BSA, Hercules, Montra, Mach City, Ballmaster, Ajax, Parry's, Chola, Gromor, Shanthi Gears and Paramfos are from the Murugappa stable. The Group fosters an environment of professionalism and has a workforce of over 51,000 employees.

For more details, please visit (https://www.murugappa.com)

This story is provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/NewsVoir)

DISCLAIMER

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Recent arrivals from certain parts of south-east Queensland into NSW are being asked by public health officials to be vigilant and new arrivals will need to fill out passenger declaration forms from Saturday after a young man tested positive to COVID-19 in Brisbane.

Should Queensland Health identify any close contact venues, anyone who attended those venues during the relevant times is prohibited from entering NSW, NSW Health said in a statement on Friday. If they are already in NSW they must immediately get tested and go into isolation for 14 days.

NSW Health has issued a public health alert after Queensland recorded a locally acquired case of COVID-19 in Brisbane. Credit:Getty

Queensland Health on Friday night classified one venue as requiring a close contact response.

Anyone who attended Mammas Italian Restaurant, 69 Redcliffe Parade, Redcliffe, in Brisbanes north-east, between 12.30pm and 3.10pm on March 21 must quarantine at home immediately for 14 days since visiting, even if a negative COVID-19 test result is received, and complete a contact tracing self-assessment if not already contacted by Queensland Health.
The judges of the Sunday Times Best Places to Live list took housing into account as part of their criteria.

And they will have noted the vastly differing house prices of the areas, with Magherafelt's lower house prices a likely selling point.

But back in the housing boom of the years up to 2007, Magherafelt's Mid-Ulster region had higher prices than Holywood's North Down.

According to the Ulster University's house price report, in quarter three of 2007, when the market peaked, the average house price in Mid-Ulster was 292,931, compared to North Down's 279,127.

The rising prices of the housing market at that time affected every part of Northern Ireland. Locations like Magherafelt were marketed on the basis of their relatively manageable commuting distance to the city.

Ulster University's report now puts the average price in Ards and North Down at 203,218, while Mid-Ulster's price is 166,942.

The data from TwentyCi used by the Sunday Times cites an average sale price of 174,950 for Holywood, with an average monthly rent of 695.

Magherafelt's is 135,000, with a monthly rent of 520, while Strangford's is even higher than North Down at 199,950, but with a lower monthly rent than both other locations - 500 per month.

Economists are closely watching the housing market to note the continued effect of the pandemic.

It defied predictions of a crash with an annual increase of 5.3% to an average of 147,593, according to the house price index from Land and Property Services. The new world of remote working could enable people now living in Belfast to move to larger, more affordable homes in places like Magherafelt, while still working for businesses in the city.

Such a trend could mean even greater price increases for those areas.

Tim Palmer, Best Places to Live judge and writer, said: "The trend towards working from home opens up all kinds of opportunities for people who've had to stay close to Belfast or Londonderry/Derry."

That could mean gravitating towards Strangford Lough or Ballycastle, "or looking for value in a place like Magherafelt, which has plenty to offer beside reasonable house prices".

He added: "Affordability is an issue all over the UK, but the way to deal with it is not for places to keep their strengths hidden or even hold back from reaching their true potential. Instead it's to make sure that we're building enough affordable and social housing so that local people aren't ever priced out of the places they think of as home."

Even though Ards and North Down borough isn't the most expensive council area to buy a house, Holywood still has some of our priciest homes.

That's led to the North Down area often being referred to Northern Ireland's 'Gold Coast'.

For example, a four-bed detached home in Magherafelt's Derramore Heights costs 225,000. But a similar four bed detached Old Holywood Road in Holywood is 485,000.

There are plenty of homes in the area with a 1m price-tag, too - something which isn't too frequent in other parts of Northern Ireland.
Kathmandu, March 26 : Tourists flying into Nepal will no longer have to quarantine if they have a negative test result for Covid-19 upon arrival, officials said on Friday.

Previously, visitors were required to undergo a week-long quarantine at their hotel and wait until the fifth day for a Covid-19 test, reports dpa news agency.

"Now, they can have tests as soon as they arrive here," Prem Subedi, a spokesperson of the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoCTCA), said in a statement.

He said that those who test negative for the virus can continue their trips; otherwise, if they test positive, they have to remain at their hotel until recovery.

Before flying to Nepal, visitors are still required to show proof of negative results in a coronavirus test conducted within 72 hours before boarding the flight, or proof that they have received a Covid-19 vaccine.

The new rules seek to attract more visitors during the spring season, especially trekkers and climbers going to some of the world's highest peaks, including Mount Everest.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
A sneaker-clad Latino state senator in Rhode Island is objecting to his chambers jacket and dress shirt edict as a form of white oppression. Female lawmakers in Montana complain proposed rules dealing with skirt lengths and necklines are overly sexist.

And an Iowa state representative wore jeans on the floor last month to highlight the irony of Republican leaders refusing to mandate face masks in the chamber as the coronavirus pandemic rages while still banning jeans and other casual clothes.

With women and people of color elected in larger numbers in many states, legislatures are being forced to confront longstanding dress codes that are increasingly viewed as sexist and racist.

These rules make it OK for us to judge people based on the way they dress or how they look, and I just feel thats super problematic, said Jonathon Acosta, the 31-year-old Democratic state senator from Rhode Island. I assure you that what I wear does not influence the quality of the work I produce.

Rhode Island Democratic state Sen. Jonathon Acosta stands for a photograph on the campus of Rhode Island College, in Providence, R.I. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

The National Conference of State Legislatures hasnt tallied how many legislatures are considering or have adopted rules addressing attire this year. But the Denver-based organization said roughly half of all state legislatures had some sort of formalized dress code in 2019.

Debates over dress have also come up in Congress. Objections from female lawmakers to a longstanding ban on sleeveless tops and open-toed shoes in the House prompted former Republican Speaker Paul Ryan in 2017 to promise a review, though its unclear whether the rule was updated to reflect contemporary standards. Spokespersons for Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi didnt respond to phone and email messages seeking comment Wednesday.

On the other side of the globe, a Maori lawmaker won his battle against wearing a tie in the New Zealand Parliament last month. He derided the tie as a colonial noose and wore a traditional hei tiki pendant instead.

Wearing unconventional clothing can be an effective statement of resistance or solidarity in the political arena, but dress codes also play an important role in preserving decorum, said Rhonda Garelick, a dean at the Parsons School of Design in New York.

That is where the pushback comes from: We dress differently for a funeral from the way we do at a barbecue, she said. Are there other ways to convey difference or resistance while still conveying respect or formality?

The strife over dress codes also reflect a general movement towards more casual, informal dress in modern society, said Richard Thompson Ford, a Stanford Law School professor and author of Dress Codes: How the Laws of Fashion Made History.

When I look at the senator from Rhode Island, he looks more like a tech bro to me than anything else, Ford said, referencing the sometimes derisive nickname for certain workers in Silicon Valley.

The Democrat-controlled Rhode Island Senate approved its new dress code Tuesday, over objections from Acosta and other lawmakers.

The provision, a revision of a policy the chamber has had for decades, requires Senate members and staff dress in proper and appropriate attire, such as blouses, dress slacks and collared shirts with accompanying jacket.

Democratic Sen. Louis DiPalma, who chairs the rules committee that vetted the revised mandates, argued that the dress provision is broader than those in other state legislatures.

Its not about judging how anyone looks, he said. A dress code and decorum are about respecting an institution that is 200-plus years old.

Sen. Gordon Rogers, a Republican from rural Foster, said he supported the attire rules even as he admitted it was difficult to trade in his beloved Chippewa boots for dress shoes and secondhand suits to enter the chamber.

Its not about disenfranchising anybody, the businessman and farmer said to some applause. Sometimes you have to force respect.

But Sen. Cynthia Mendes, an East Providence Democrat, countered that this years dress code is more specific than the chambers previous one, which simply required all persons on the Senate floor be properly dressed.

She also questioned the timing of the new edict, following an election in which more women and people of color were voted into the 38-member chamber in its history.

This is colonization language. The need to remind everyone who is in power. It has always started with what you tell them to do with their bodies, Mendes said. Thats not lost on me.

Acosta, who was elected in November to represent the strongly Latino city of Central Falls, argued that the Senates dress code isnt even widely enforced. Hes been wearing cardigans, joggers and Air Jordan sneakers for weeks without any apparent objection.

Whose sensibilities are being insulted? Acosta asked, purposefully donning a black guayabera, a traditional Caribbean dress shirt, that didnt have a collar for Tuesdays debate.

After the vote, the Brown University sociology graduate student acknowledged that Senate leaders at least removed language imposing the dress code on chamber guests, a concern he and others raised earlier.

But he said the strong opposition to ending the dress code outright only underscores the uphill battle younger, progressive lawmakers face in trying to advance more pressing priorities.

It speaks to how conservative the institution is, Acosta said. Its very difficult to change anything.
Elsa Pataky graced the cover of the latest edition of Sunday Life.

The 44-year-old Spanish actress beamed in a yellow knit midi-dress for the magazine's fashion special.

She displayed her newly brunette hair in the photo shoot, which she complemented with a bronzed makeup look.

Cover girl: Elsa Pataky graced the cover of the latest edition of Sunday Life. The 44-year-old Spanish actress beamed in a yellow knit midi-dress for the magazine's fashion special

'It's been a great experience shooting the cover for @SundayLife and working with this amazing team,' she wrote on Instagram.

In the accompanying interview, Elsa, who shares three children with her husband Chris Hemsworth, said moving to Australia had been the right decision for her family.

'Byron has been beautiful. We made the right decision in 2014 to leave Los Angeles and come to Australia,' she said.

Sea change: In the accompanying interview, Elsa, who shares three children with her husband Chris Hemsworth (right), said moving to Australia had been the right decision for her family

Loving it: 'Byron has been beautiful. We made the right decision in 2014 to leave Los Angeles and come to Australia,' she said

'It's been great for the kids to be in nature, enjoy animals and go horse riding.'

Elsa and Chris moved to Bryon Bay with their children, daughter India Rose, eight, and seven-year-old twin sons Sasha and Tristan, about seven years ago.

They've temporarily moved to Sydney while Elsa shoots the new movie Interceptor and Chris, 37, works on Thor: Love and Thunder.

Hard at work: The Hemsworths have temporarily moved to Sydney while Elsa shoots the new movie Interceptor and Chris, 37, works on Thor: Love and Thunder

The model said there were some downsides to being back in a major city.

She said: 'It's a whole new experience... I can't dress down as much as I do in Byron Bay. We hope to get back there on the weekends.'

Elsa added the couple's children were attending school in Sydney for the time being.
Jose Baselga was born in Barcelona on July 3, 1959, and earned his medical and doctoral degrees from the Autonomous University of Barcelona. He caught the attention of cancer researchers after participating in a medical fellowship at Memorial Sloan Kettering, where he worked with Dr. John Mendelsohn in researching the use of monoclonal antibodies in targeting certain proteins associated with aggressive cancers, including lung and breast cancers.

Dr. Larry Norton, a senior vice president at Memorial Sloan Kettering and the medical director of the hospitals Evelyn H. Lauder Breast Center, quickly took an interest in Dr. Baselga and served as an early mentor. He was an artist, Dr. Norton recalled, adding that he had a driving force within him, and he would focus all of his energies on accomplishing what was necessary to fulfill that vision.

Dr. Baselga returned to Spain in 1996 to found the Vall dHebron Institute of Oncology at Vall dHebron University Hospital in Barcelona. Under his leadership, the center became an international powerhouse in cancer research, testing targeted cancer therapies in early-stage clinical trials. Dr. Baselga became a well-known figure in Spain.

Spain was not known in the world as a cancer research place, Dr. Antoni Ribas, the president of the American Association for Cancer Research, who did his medical residency at Vall dHebron just before Dr. Baselga assumed his role there, said in a phone interview. He put Vall dHebron, Barcelona and Spain on the map of cancer research.

Following a stint from 2010 to 2013 at Massachusetts General Hospital, where he was the chief of the division of hematology and oncology, Dr. Baselga returned to Memorial Sloan Kettering in 2013 to become physician in chief and, later, chief medical officer.

He also held several leadership roles in the world of cancer research, including president of the American Association for Cancer Research and editor of Cancer Discovery and other medical journals.

Dr. Baselga resigned from Sloan Kettering in September 2018 under pressure after The Times and ProPublica, the nonprofit investigative journalism outfit, reported that he had failed to disclose millions of dollars in payments from drug and health care companies in dozens of research articles in The New England Journal of Medicine and other publications.
"The excellent soil sampling results, almost within sight of the headframe of two-plus 2Moz gold mines, is encouraging, said Mark Bolton

( ) said it had fast-tracked the next phase of exploration at its Bassala gold project in Mali after positive results from a completed soil sampling programme.

The next stage, which will see an induced polarisation (IP) survey undertaken, will start this week.

Some 1,200 soil samples were obtained and the findings of the successful programme confirm that two major gold anomalous trends are present.

The zones appear to be continuations of regional mineralisation trends, the company noted.

First detailed sample results are expected in April.

"The excellent soil sampling results, almost within sight of the headframe of two-plus 2Moz gold mines, is encouraging, said Mark Bolton, managing director.

The fact that previous very broad spaced shallow RAB (Rotary Air Blast) drilling has confirmed significant gold mineralisation beneath the soil anomalism significantly adds to the emerging picture of a potentially substantial gold system.

The success of the recent IP survey at our Kalaka project has resulted in the geophysical crew being re-located to this project in order to firm up drill targets for testing.

Results from the IP survey are eagerly awaited, and preliminary planning has commenced securing a suitable drill rig to test the better targets at Bassala."
The Federal Government on Thursday disclosed that it currently subsidies cost of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) with about N120 billion ($263,248 million) monthly.

The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, made the disclosure at the fifth edition of the Special Ministerial Briefings coordinated by the Presidential Communication Team.

He said the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) absorbs the cost differential which is recorded in its financial books.

The Group General Manager (GMD) of the NNPC, Mele Kyari, explained that while the actual cost of importation and handling charges amounts to lN234 per liter, the government is selling at N162 per liter.

He, however, said the NNPC can no longer afford to bear the cost, adding that sooner or later Nigerians would have to pay the actual cost for the commodity.

Kyari, who avoided calling the payment a subsidy, said the NNPC pays between N100-120 billion a month to keep the pump price at the current levels, insisting that market forces must be allowed to determine the pump price of petrol in the country.

Details Later...
Jeffrey Ong Su Aun, the 41-year-old managing partner of JLC Advisors, was first charged on 1 June. PHOTO: JLC Advisors

SINGAPORE  Lawyer Jeffrey Ong Su Aun, who went missing along with some $33 million held in escrow by his law firm and was later caught in Malaysia, applied to have his bail reviewed on Friday (26 March), claiming that he had been in Malaysia trying to resolve the escrow account issue.

Ong, who was the managing partner of JLC Advisors, appeared in court via video-link looking noticeably skinnier and dressed in a white shirt. He was represented by lawyers Tan Hee Joek, Morgan Lee and Kate Loo.

The lawyer first made headlines when he disappeared after the amount was found to be missing. Earlier court documents revealed that he allegedly fled to Malaysia after being pressed to account for the unauthorised withdrawals of client monies by the partners in his law firm on 13 May 2019.

He became uncontactable three days later and a police report was made about his alleged criminal breach of trust on 21 May.

A warrant of arrest for Ong was then issued on 25 May, leading to his arrest by the Malaysian police in a hotel room four days later. Among his possessions was a stolen Malaysian passport belonging to a Malaysian Chinese man, whose face and age were similar to Ongs.

Ong was later repatriated to Singapore and charged at the State Courts on 1 June. He was then remanded, with an order of no bail made on 20 June 2019. He has been remanded for nearly two years.

In total, Ong faces 76 charges, including for criminal breach of trust as an attorney, cheating, and forgery. The total amount involved in the charges is $76 million.

When Ong left for Malaysia, there had been no travel restriction or any warrant of arrest issued against him, said Tan. He said his client had gone to Malaysia to help another man resolve the escrow account issue.

Appearing before District Judge (DJ) Terence Tay on Friday, Tan said, "Your honour's decision will have a profound effect on how the applicant will conduct his defence for the present charges he faces."

Story continues

Both Ong's lawyers and the prosecution, represented by Deputy Public Prosecutors Nicholas Khoo, Esther Wong and Cheng Yuxi, submitted affidavits for the bail review application, with Tan citing from several of the 10 supporting character reference letters provided by Ong's family and friends.

Arguing for bail to be granted, Tan said that Ong's background "strongly points in favour of granting bail".

Ong is a Singapore citizen, who was born and bred in Singapore, studied at the National University of Singapore and later qualified as member of the Bar in 2003. He had no trouble with the law until the present case, said Tan. His parents are retired civil servants and his only elder sibling holds a high senior position in the public service, said the lawyer.

Ong also has a three-year-old son whom he "adores and loves deeply", while other family members and close friends try to keep his morale up with letters and visits, said Tan.

Citing from character reference letters, Tan said the "common theme" in all these letters was that Ong was a "man of his word" with a strong network of family and friends. Coupled with his son, he would likely honour bail conditions should he be granted bail, said the lawyer.

Ong claims to not have personally benefited

Another element of the case was that Ong did not derive personal benefits from his alleged offences, said the lawyer.

"He claimed from day one he never personally benefited from the alleged offences and he has repeated it in (his) affidavits," said the lawyer.

"He disagrees that he confessed to offences. He fully told police what he has done but denied dishonesty and denied it was done to personally benefit himself," Tan said.

On one of the charges, where Ong is accused of embezzling $250,000 from a client's account, he had provided emails that explained what happened to the monies.

While the Commercial Affairs Department had cited examples of Ong allegedly personally gaining from the misappropriation, these were "bare and unsubstantiated" with "no supporting evidence", according to Tan.

As to whether Ong was a flight risk, Tan said that his client was in China around a week before he entered Malaysia where he was arrested.

Ong had taken personal loans of at least $4 million to replenish the escrow account before entering Malaysia. His act of "draining his account" before going to Malaysia, though seemingly suspicious, was related to him buying a cashier's order to pay for stamp duties.

Most people would not flee to Malaysia because of the close cooperation between enforcement authorities in Singapore and Malaysia, Tan said.

"What has happened is that Ong's usual practice when he travels out of the country is, he would bring along his bag of international currencies from his home and when he was found by the Malaysian police he was found with this bag of international currency... about $15,000 in total," he added.

DJ Tay adjourned the case application hearing to 9 April for further oral submissions to be made by Tan. The prosecution is objecting to bail being granted to Ong on the grounds that he is a flight risk. It has yet to make its submissions in court.

The maximum penalty for criminal breach of trust as an attorney is life imprisonment, or a jail term of up to 20 years along with a fine.

For more Singapore news, watch:

Stay in the know on-the-go: Join Yahoo Singapore's Telegram channel at http://t.me/YahooSingapore

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Protesters marched through the streets of Eugene on 6th Ave. Anti-racists protesters met at the Federal building hosted by Black Unity in Eugene, Ore., on March 8, 2020. The group marched to the Community Corrections Center and held their speeches outside. The protests message is to abolish police and is in solidarity for George Floyd. (Kevin Wang/Daily Emerald)
Prince, a member of the hacking group Red Hacker Alliance who refused to give his real name, uses his computer at their office in Dongguan, China, on Aug. 4, 2020. (Nicolas Asfouri/AFP via Getty Images)

CCPs Internet Trolls Are the Worlds Largest Cyber Army

Commentary

In the online world, a group of people endangers the safety and health of the internet, and Chinese netizens call them the cyber triad. Among the groups are the Chinese regimes internet trolls, known as wumao dang in Chinese or 50 cent army.

These internet trolls pose a threat to personal data and national security. They carried out the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)s disinformation campaigns regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, Hong Kongs anti-extradition bill protests, Taiwans 2020 election, the U.S. 2020 election, and other major international events.

The History of the CCPs Internet Trolls

The CCPs internet trolls, described in a study (pdf) as for-hire astroturfers working for and advancing the interests of companies and other actors willing to pay their fees, are one of the largest criminal organizations. Based on the historical data of major search engines, commercial trolls have been emerging on the internet since 2004.

Through an analysis of online data, the CCPs internet trolls can be divided into three stages of development.

The first stage was from 2004 to 2009, during which the CCPs trolls mainly focused on the deletion of posts, sales and promotion, and advocacy of rights on behalf of others.

The second stage was from 2010 to 2013, which was the business development stage of the CCPs trolls. In this stage, its business scope began to expand. Major internet troll companies began to act as public relations agents for individuals, enterprises, local CCP parties, government agencies, and the CCPs nongovernmental institutions, to deal with online crises. During this stage, the 50 cent army, civilian internet trolls hired by the CCP, started to appear on the internet to participate in public events.

The third stage was from 2014 to 2021, when the business transformed for the CCPs trolls. In February 2014, the CCP officially established the Central Leading Group for Cyberspace Affairs, under which is the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), or Office of the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission.

Five business sectors were established to work under the CAC: the Internet Commentary Work Bureau, the Internet Social Work Bureau, the Mobile Network Administration Bureau, the Internet Security Coordination Bureau, and the International Cooperation Bureau. Their responsibilities include internet opinion monitoring, management, control of the CCPs internet trolls, public relations related to internet issues, overseas propaganda, and the CCPs United Front Work Department.

Following the establishment of the CAC, it launched a cyber campaign to consolidate various independent civilian hackers and troll companies under its control. At the same time, the Communist Youth League of China (CYLC) recruited tens of millions of university students to work as part-time internet trolls in major universities across China, and the Central Committee of Political and Legal Affairs recruited millions of detainees in major prisons as full-time cyber trolls. In this way, cyber hackers and trolls have evolved from a guerrilla army into a regular army controlled by the CCP.

Organizational Structure

According to CCP insiders, the CCP attaches great importance to the formation and management of its internet trolls. The CCP has set up special organizations of cyber army governance at all levels of government. Personnel recruitment, training, task assignment, payment, and meetings are all conducted online.

The CCPs internet trolls are composed of the following six categories of personnel: cadres of CYLC, social media influencers, university students, employees of internet companies, prison inmates, and the unemployed. Their pay is based on different job categories and is calculated on the number of posts they have submitted. There are many types of job roles, and the major roles include conveners, technical staff (hackers), writers, online commentators, and public opinion supervisors. The trolls themselves are divided into two major categories: domestic and overseas.

Some of the Chinese Communist Partys army of internet trolls in an undated leaked photo, in Fangzheng County, Harbin City, China. (The Epoch Times)

CCPs Trolls Are Anathema to Chinese Netizens

The Chinese people dare not voice their anger at the CCP for spending huge sums of public money to pay tens of millions of 50 cent army members every year.

In China, major internet portals, at the behest of the CCP, allow the 50 cent army to suppress criticism and stigmatize CCP dissidents, create false public opinion, cover up various crimes committed by the CCP, undermine social order and morality, create the illusion of national prosperity, incite racial and ethnic hatred, maliciously create rumors about other countries, falsify historical truths, and spread messages to fool the public.

Whenever articles by major CCP leaders appear on the internet, the comments are almost always filled with adulation written by the internet trolls. Chinese netizens despise the 50 cent army, but the Chinese regime regards their comments as public opinion.

CCPs Cyber Army Is Like an Infectious Disease

Today, with the globalization of the internet, the CCPs cyber army has long been endangering the social security of countries around the world. In the cyber world, the CCPs online trolls are like an infectious disease, attacking countries all over the world. For example, online hackers attack the websites of key government departments, scientific research institutions, large enterprises, and universities to steal their information. The 50 cent army maliciously attacks and abuses government leaders and anti-communists in other countries.

The Chinese regimes social media influencers implement cultural aggression on the internet. In short, the CCPs cyber army is taking advantage of the freedom of speech in democratic countries to attack other countries.

As early as a decade ago, the United States had included the CCPs cyber attacks as an important issue in U.S.China diplomacy, but the situation is getting worse.

On March 18, the Biden administration held its first high-level dialogue with the Chinese regime in Alaska, where Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Yang Jiechi, a senior CCP foreign policy diplomat, and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. Blinken said that the United States would discuss our deep concerns with actions by China, including in Xinjiang, Hong Kong, Taiwan, cyber attacks on the United States, economic coercion of our allies.

Instead of including the South China Sea and U.S.China trade issues on the agenda, the United States made cyberattacks an important topic of the talks, which shows the extent of harm the CCPs cyber army has done to the United States.

The CCPs cyber army has also launched fierce attacks on U.S. social media.

Twitter said on June 12, 2020, that it suspended 23,750 accounts attributed to the Chinese regime that the social media platform says were involved in a range of manipulative and coordinated activities, and tweeted predominantly in Chinese languages to spread geopolitical narratives favorable to the Communist Party of China (CCP) while continuing to push deceptive narratives about the political dynamics in Hong Kong.

On Sept. 22, 2020, Facebook also removed a network of fake accounts from China that coordinated inauthentic behavior in political discussions through 155 accounts, 11 pages, 9 groups, and 6 Instagram accounts. According to Facebook, their activities originated in China and focused primarily on the Philippines and Southeast Asia more broadly, and also on the United States.

Gu Feng is a former media veteran from mainland China who spent many years reporting on the countrys political, economic, and social issues. He is now living in the United States.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Some of the severe weather Thursday caused flooding in parts of North Alabama.

WAAY 31 spoke with the deputy director of the emergency management agency about the flooding in Colbert County.

Jody Hitt with the Colbert County EMA said they were expecting to see more flooding, especially with the heavy rain coming just a week after storms drenched the area.

In fact, the pouring rain left some backyards, parks and roadways flooded. Even some businesses had the entrances to their parking lots covered by large amounts of water.

Breaks in Thursdays severe weather helped prevent the flooding from being worse.

"Anytime you can get a break, a good long break in it, it starts to reside, recede and go down. That's as long as you don't keep those continuous rounds coming through with laying down anywhere from three to four inches. It always helps when we get a break," Hitt said.

A lot of the main roadways are in good shape for travel, as of Thursday night, but emergency responders say you should still be careful driving.
Progressive Democrats in the House are privately discussing how they can push President Biden for a second spending package substantially bigger than the $3 trillion over a decade floated in various news outlets this week.

Why it matters: These members are attuned to the climate group Sunrise Movement's argument that "the crises we face demand at least $1 trillion per year over the next decade," two sources familiar with the conversation told Axios.

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Sunrise's extremely ambitious proposal  at least $10 trillion  could quickly emerge as a benchmark for House progressives to rally around.

"Progressives feel like this package will define Biden's presidency," one source said, "and that $3 trillion over 10 years feels low, and it may not meet the scope of what we need to do  in particular on climate."

The strategy was discussed during a phone call Tuesday among members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. Several raised concerns about the size of Biden's next spending package, which the president plans to unveil Wednesday in Pittsburgh.

They regard the reported scope of the proposal  which some moderates such as Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) already consider at the far reaches of acceptability  as too small to meet the moment, the source said.

"He should be bold with his opening offer."

Between the lines: Biden's next spending bill will involve a longer, messier and more complicated fight between the ideological factions of the Democratic Party.

In the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package that just passed, there was agreement among Democrats from the beginning it was going to be entirely deficit-financed.

But the next package will likely be more of a running battle. Biden has said he wants to hike corporate and high-income earners' taxes to pay for much of the new spending  which sets up a fight between progressives and moderates.

And the ambitions for the proposal keep expanding  everything from meat and potatoes infrastructure (roads, bridges, ports), to broadband and climate initiatives.

There are also proposals for substantial investment in social welfare, including expansion of the child tax credit, universal pre-kindergarten, free community college and other measures.

Bottom line: "The parameters of the battle will not be locked in at the beginning," said the source familiar with the House progressives' internal discussions.

Progressives will view Biden's announcement next week as an opening framing, "and then Congress is going to have a lot more agency in this fight because it's going to be longer. Congress won't have to act by a certain date."

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Labor is considering expelling Moreland councillor Milad El-Halabi from the party after fraud squad detectives executed a search warrant at his home on Thursday morning and arrested him on suspicion of vote tampering.

And in a further blow for the embattled councillor, acting chief municipal inspector Dr John Lynch said he would consider launching action to stand down Cr El-Halabi in the event that charges are laid against him.

Milad El-Halabi. Credit:Facebook

A Victorian Labor spokeswoman said the party would not tolerate any behaviour by members that compromised the integrity of an election.

We are awaiting further details of the police investigation and any subsequent legal action before any final decision will be made in regards to Mr El-Halabis membership, the spokeswoman said.
Red Sox catcher Christian Vazquez appears to be fine after suffering a scary facial injury in practice before Thursdays game in Fort Myers.

Bostons pitchers were participating in fielding drills Thursday afternoon when Vazquez was struck in the face with an errantly thrown ball. He was scratched from the lineup with what the team called a eye contusion and laceration under his left eye and underwent tests.

We feel like he should be okay, manager Alex Cora said after the Sox lost, 7-4, to the Twins. Obviously, it was kind of scary. Hes going to go through some tests, probably Saturday. Were confident that hes going to be okay for next week.

Cora said he was on the field watching pitchers do defensive drills but was focused elsewhere when Vazquez got hit. The moment was obviously a cause for concern.

I was actually looking at a play and all of the sudden, I saw him down, Cora said. There was a throw made, he had these big glasses and it hit the glasses and got him on the left cheek there.

Assuming all checks out, Vazquez will be behind the plate catching Eduardo Rodriguez next Thursday when the Red Sox host the Orioles on Opening Day.

Just a freak accident, Cora said.

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Nancy Craker-Yahman has always loved scrapbooking. She started her son's military scrapbook a few weeks before he departed for boot camp for the Massachusetts National Guard. But it wasn't until the start of the COVID-19 pandemic that her fire for scrapbooking was reignited while looking through old artifacts with her father, who was in the U.S. Army.

"When things shut down and my workday shortened, I was able to spend additional time with my father. Our time together allowed us to sort through his collection of photographs and family memorabilia," Craker-Yahman said.

"Sifting through his collection, we came across handwritten notes, birth announcements, report cards and school yearbooks. We also located photographs and keepsakes of his time as an officer in the United States Army ... His collection reminded me of the scrapbooks I started for my son."

Many military moms are often searching for ways to support their children during their time in the service. Scrapbooking is just one of the ways Craker-Yahman has done that for her son. It allows her to collect memories and mementos that she knows both of them will cherish for years to come.

"When I tend to my scrapbooking, I can contribute to a set of memory books that our son cherishes," she said.

Scrapbooks are a great way to keep your family's memories alive. For your military son or daughter, keeping a scrapbook of their time in the military, especially the beginning stages, will be something they treasure many years down the road. Here are scrapbook fanatic Craker-Yahman's suggestions for beginning a military scrapbook.

3 Tips for Beginning a Military Scrapbook

Tip #1: Quality matters

Plan to purchase scrapbooks with sturdy covers. These types of scrapbooks make for easy storage. Look for scrapbook pages that allow you to slip in a photograph or news clipping. Album pages should have plastic coverings to protect photos from becoming wet, scratched or damaged. Plan to store your scrapbook collection inside a plastic tub for easy storage and mobility. Michaels and JOANN Fabrics, well-known crafting stores, carry a wide selection of scrapbooking materials as well as military-themed stickers, stamps and patches.

Tip #2: Search for deals

Be on the lookout for scrapbooking merchandise. Sign up to receive online Michaels and JOANN Fabrics weekly circulars to learn the best deals. Locate nearby secondhand military stores because they have a plentiful supply of military stickers and patches that can be incorporated into your scrapbooks.

Tip #3: Must-Haves -- a permanent marker, Scotch Tape and the 5 Ws.

The most important step before placing photographs inside a scrapbook is labeling. Using a permanent marker, plan to incorporate the 5 Ws.

Seal each of the photo notes with clear tape to ensure that the writing doesn't smudge. You can also incorporate sticky labels. One highly recommended website for printing labels is Avery. Avery will take you through the process of creating unique labels that you can adhere to the back of photos or onto the front of your scrapbooking pages. Besides being able to print from the comfort of your own home using Avery, you can choose to incorporate different colors, personalize the style and size of your font and add images.

Craker-Yahman explains that scrapbooking is just as much for her as it is for her son.

"Scrapbooking soothes my soul. It allows my creative side to be further nurtured," she said.

In the end, her time as a military mom has allowed her to take something she loves to do and create special keepsakes for someone she loves to share with their future families.

"Scrapbooking allows me to help tell our soldier's stories to future generations. As a proud military mom, it is of utmost importance that others learn of our son and other military member's dedicated service to their country and its people. A soldier's responsibilities and the personal pride military members feel toward serving should be highlighted, and one clear way to do this is through scrapbooking."

Read the original article on MilitaryFamilies.com.

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New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has claimed that her 2020 primary challenger Michelle Caruso-Cabrera was picked by forces with 'cynical powers' because she's also Latina.

The congresswoman, known as AOC, claimed in an interview with the Democratic Socialists of America publication Democratic Left that unnamed forces chose Caruso-Cabrera to confuse voters.

Her comments came after the progressive publication asked her why she thinks conservatives such as Fox News have worked to make her 'a bogeyman for the right wing.'

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez claimed in an interview with Democratic Left that unnamed forces chose Michelle Caruso-Cabrera to confuse voters

Ocasio-Cortez had demolished Caruso-Cabrera, pictured, in the June 23, 2020 primary with 75% of the vote

'I honestly believe that what was just attempted was: We're going to throw the book at any candidate like this. We're going to make an example out of her for everyone else. And then we're just going to tar and feather her in the press,' she said.

'And then we're going to mount a $3million Democratic primary challenge against her that's bankrolled by Wall Street, that was also a Latina, down to having a hyphenated last name.'

Ocasio-Cortez had demolished Caruso-Cabrera, a former CNBC contributor, in the June 23, 2020 primary with 75% of the vote.

'And it was just the most cynical, disgusting thing,' Ocasio-Cortez said.

She added: 'And not only was it not successful, but we crushed them, just completely crushed them.'

Don McIntosh, who conducted the interview, then commented: 'It was very exciting to see that result.'

Ocasio-Cortez responded: 'It is exciting.'

'They weaponized all the cynical powers of trying to get someone of my ethnicity, trying to even confuse people in terms of the name  Caruso-Cabrera versus Ocasio-Cortez,' she said.

The Democratic Socialist then blasted Caruso-Cabrera for being ''desperately unsuccessful' despite the fact that 'she had TV and camera training and all of it.'

Caruso-Cabrera has since launched a 2021 campaign for City Comptroller to replace Scott M. Stringer, who is now running for mayor of New York City.

A spokeswoman for Caruso-Cabrera told the New York Daily News that 'there were no special forces behind that race.'

'That's not grounded in any reality,' Caruso-Cabrera campaign manager Arielle Confino told the Daily News on Friday. 'She entered that race on her own accord.'

Caruso-Cabrera had faced criticism from progressives during her campaign for accepting contributions from Wall Street executives - spending more than $2million to unseat Ocasio-Cortez.

During the lengthy interview, Ocasio-Cortez also called the Green New Deal 'f****** fun.'

'We have to make Green New Deal something that everyone wants to be a part of. I think people sometimes are dismissive of this, in thinking that its less serious than study,' she said.

'But whos gonna join your book club if it sucks? Whos gonna join your reading group if they feel judged?'

She continued: 'So the important thing we need to do is to really create something, excuse my language, but thats f****** fun.'
US President Joe Biden answers a question during his first press briefing in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on March 25, 2021. Biden said Thursday that the United States will "respond accordingly" if North Korea escalates its missile testing.(Jim WATSON / AFP)

British-Swedish drugmaker AstraZeneca could be among the pharmaceutical companies hit first as EU chief Ursula von der Leyen warned that her bloc would not allow Covid vaccine exports to the UK and other countries until the firms make good on their own promised deliveries.

"I think it is clear that first of all the company (AstraZeneca) has to catch up, has to honour the contract it has with the European member states, before it can engage again in exporting vaccines," von der Leyen told a news conference.

The focus of the latest row is an AstraZeneca plant in the Netherlands, which Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government claims as part of the British vaccine supply chain.

As the EU met via videoconference Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron aligned himself with von der Leyen, despite some countries' -- including the Netherlands and Belgium -- hesitancy to impose an embargo.

"The supply chains are so intricate, they're so intertwined, so it's not automatically a good thing if this new instrument is to be applied," Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said, citing the example of a Belgian plant making BioNTech/Pfizer vaccines that relies on raw materials from Britain.

Von der Leyen released updated figures on how many vaccine doses the bloc has exported -- 77 million to 33 countries since December.

By contrast, 88 million doses will have been delivered in the 27-nation bloc by the end of this week, also since December.

But estimates for the second quarter of this year showed that 360 million doses should be delivered from BioNTech/Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson.

In contrast to Europe's woes, vaccinations in the United States -- the world's top economy and hardest-hit country in the pandemic -- have been storming ahead, with Biden raising his goal for shots in arms during his first 100 days in office from 100 to 200 million.

"I know it's ambitious, twice our original goal," he told his first press conference since taking office on January 20.

"But no other country in the world has even come close -- not even close -- to what we are doing, and I believe we can do it."

- Covax delays -

The AstraZeneca situation became even more complicated when the company was forced to review its US trials and then slightly revise down the jab's efficacy at preventing symptomatic Covid from 79 percent to 76 percent, after an American agency raised concerns about what it called outdated information.

It remains 100 percent effective against severe Covid, it added.

The shot was hailed as a breakthrough because it is cheaper and easier to store and transport than other vaccines.

AstraZeneca is also one of the main vaccines used in the Covax project, which supplies poorer countries with jabs, and is facing export delays in India where it is produced by the Serum Institute.

A co-founder of the global scheme to provide vaccines for poor people said Thursday that India was delaying exports of much-needed jabs.

The Gavi alliance, a Covax co-founder, said deliveries of vaccines to lower-income economies will face delays because of a "setback" in obtaining export licences from the Indian government.

A Gavi spokesman said the licence delays "are due to the increased demand of Covid-19 vaccines in India".

The vast country recorded more than 50,000 new coronavirus cases on Thursday for the first time since November and is struggling to keep up with its own faltering vaccine drive at home.

- Grim milestones -

The widening gap for vaccine access complicates the world's eventual exit from the pandemic through a global immunisation drive, as third waves sweep through several countries and force governments to reimpose tough anti-virus restrictions, including Germany, Poland, France, Belgium, Austria and the Netherlands.

Central and Eastern Europe have been particularly hard-hit, with Ukraine posting a record number of Covid fatalities for the third straight day and Hungary registering the world's highest death rate per 100,000 inhabitants over the last week.

Brazil surpassed 100,000 new Covid-19 cases in one day Thursday, the latest grim record the country has marked as the second-hardest hit country in the world behind the United States -- and just one day after the country hit 300,000 total recorded deaths since the start of the pandemic.

And third-hardest hit country Mexico surpassed 200,000 coronavirus deaths Thursday.

The bleak milestone comes despite a decline in new cases and deaths in recent weeks, following a surge in January that pushed many hospitals to the breaking point, though health officials worry about the potential of another wave after Easter.

- 'Together again' -

The pandemic has claimed more than 2.7 million lives worldwide, hammered the global economy and left much of humanity under punishing restrictions.

But in some parts of the world, vaccinations have brought joy back after a tough year.

"We were just waiting to be all together again because we were really sad to be divided like that, floor by floor," said Lydie, a 91-year-old retirement home resident in France's Val-de-Marne, where vaccinations have allowed an easing of curbs.

"There was no joy. Now it's very good. We are happy."
The News Corp. building on 6th Avenue, home to Fox News, the New York Post and the Wall Street Journal in New York City, N.Y., on March 20, 2019. (Kevin Hagen/Getty Images)

Dominion Voting Systems Sues Fox News for $1.6 Billion Over 2020 Election Claims

Dominion Voting Systems filed a lawsuit against Fox News for $1.6 billion, alleging the cable news company made false claims and defamed the company to boost faltering ratings following the Nov. 3 election.

Dominion argued in its suit that Fox News sold a false story of election fraud in order to serve its own commercial purposes, severely injuring Dominion in the process, according to a copy of the lawsuit (pdf) that was filed Friday.

Previously, the company sued Trump attorney and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, pro-Trump lawyer Sidney Powell, and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell.

Fox, one of the most powerful media companies in the United States, gave life to a manufactured storyline, the lawsuit stated, adding that when Fox was informed by Dominions law firm that legal action was pending, they continued to broadcast about the company.

Those claims were embraced by Foxs own on-air personalitiesbecause the lies were good for Foxs business, Dominions lawyers also wrote, alleging that its employees received threats and harassment.

In a statement to The Epoch Times on Friday, a Fox News spokesperson said, FOX News Media is proud of our 2020 election coverage, which stands in the highest tradition of American journalism, and will vigorously defend against this baseless lawsuit in court.

Another election technology company, Smartmatic, also filed a lawsuit against Fox News, which moved to dismiss the lawsuit last month in a New York court. Smartmatic has stated that its 2020 election participation was relegated to Los Angeles County.

In December, former Fox News host Lou Dobbs and other hosts aired retractions.

There are lots of opinions about the integrity of the election, the irregularities of mail-in voting, of election voting machines and voting software, Dobbs said during a December segment in relation to claims about Smartmatic.

On Monday, Powell filed a motion to dismiss Dominions lawsuit and argued that it was clear to reasonable persons that Powells claims were her opinions and legal theories on a matter of utmost public concern, adding that her statements were protected under the First Amendment.

Reasonable people would not accept such statements as fact but view them only as claims that await testing by the courts through the adversary process, her lawyers said in the motion. Sidney Powell disclosed the facts upon which her conclusions were based. Dominion told Bloomberg News that her motion contradicts her previous claims.

Powells lawyers further argued that Powells claims about Dominion and election fraud post-Nov. 3, 2020, were public announcements, saying they served to disclose the status of cases that were filed in court. Such announcements are routine by lawyers engaged in public interest litigation, including the U.S. Justice Department, Powells lawyers said.

Dominions lawsuit was filed in Delaware, where both companies are incorporated.
Representative James E. Clyburn, a South Carolina Democrat who played an influential role in helping Mr. Biden secure the partys presidential nomination, has also been a major voice highlighting the experience of Black farmers and helped drive the stimulus provisions, according to congressional staff aides.

The funding aims to address longstanding problems with discrimination at the Agriculture Department  particularly its refusal to grant farmers of color the same access to capital that helped tide over white farmers during difficult periods in history. Minority farmers have confronted other issues, like a lack of access to legal services that have complicated farm inheritances, and a lack of public investment in rural communities and on reservations, including in the water supply and roads and transportation to get farm products to market.

Those factors led to a substantial loss of land. While the number of farmers in the United States has fallen sharply over the past century as farms mechanized and more people found work in factories and offices, Black farmers suffered disproportionately.

According to Agriculture Department data, in 1920, the United States had 925,708 Black farmers, making up 14 percent of farmers in the country. But by 2017, only 35,470 of the nations more than two million farms were run by Black producers, or 1.7 percent.

Joe Patterson, 70, whose family has farmed in the Mississippi Delta for decades, said discriminatory lending had forced many Black farmers around him out of business over the years, and led to some lean times for his own family.

When it all boiled down to it, it was a lack of funds that kept the Black farmers down, said Mr. Patterson, who spoke by phone from the cab of a tractor he had pulled over to the side of the road. If we had the same amount of investment that the other farmers had, a lot of Black farmers would still be farming this date.

He added, But because they didnt have those funds, each year would get worse and worse.

Anthony Daniels, a Democrat in Alabamas state legislature who serves on the board of One Country Project, a Democratic group focused on rural issues, said that many Black farmers were still suffering from burdensome debt, and that the stimulus provisions would help them pay off loans and related taxes.
LJUBLJANA (dpa-AFX) - Slovakia's producer prices continued to decline in February, figures from the Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic showed on Friday. The producer price index fell 1.5 percent year-on-year in February, following a 1.1 percent decline in January. The domestic market prices declined 1.4 percent annually in February, following a 0.3 percent decrease in the previous month. Prices for mining and quarrying grew 2.8 percent yearly in February, while those of manufacturing fell 1.9 percent. Prices for electricity, gas, steam and air-condition supply fell 1.1 percent, while those of water supply gained 3.4 percent. On a monthly basis, producer prices rose 0.8 percent in February, following a 0.2 percent increase in the preceding month. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
Photo credit: Volkswagen

From Car and Driver

The 2024 Volkswagen I.D.Buzz will make it to the U.S. market during calendar 2023 after a 2022 launch in Europe, according to Carsten Intra, head of the brand's Commercial Vehicles Division.

The much-anticipated electric descendant of the Microbus will make up to 300 horsepower, and U.S. buyers can only get it with a long wheelbase.



The Buzz will not be available as a work vehicle on the U.S. market but will be outfitted as an upscale people carrier.

It's the cutest van ever, or at least since the 1960s/'70s "love bus," and it should play an important role in popularizing EVs. That's why it's significant that Volkswagen has clarified the release date for the ID. Buzz, which today has been confirmed for a calendar year 2023 U.S.-market launch by Carsten Intra. head of Volkswagen's commercial vehicle division.



Intra for the first time confirmed that the ID. Buzz will come to the U.S. in 2023 as a 2024 model, following the 2022 launch of the ID. Buzz in Europe. Here, the lineup will be somewhat reduced and more upscale.

In Europe, the ID. Buzz will be offered in passenger and commercial vehicle versions and with a choice or short or long wheelbase. The U.S. market gets a reduced portfolio: The ID. Buzz will come only as a long-wheelbase passenger vehicle. But there could be up to three battery sizes. The entry-level model will likely be a rear-wheel-drive version with around 200 horsepower, and there will be an all-wheel-drive top-level version that will make as much as 300 horsepower.

Photo credit: Volkswagen

In Europe, the commercial version of the ID. Buzz will be available as a fully autonomous vehicle (above), but it will come quite a bit later than the regular ID. Buzz and it is unlikely it will ever make it to the U.S. It will be the first fully autonomous VW Group car on the market.

The ID. Buzz will be built in Hannover, Germany, about 35 miles west of Wolfsburg, alongside large and luxurious electric SUVs that will be produced there for different Volkswagen Group brands. We expect to see the first of this so-called "D-SUV" in 2024 for the 2025 and subsequent model years.

Story continues

The ID. Buzz is part of VW's fast-expanding lineup of EVs, which currently includes the Europe- and Asia-only ID.3 and the ID.4 crossover. A coupe version of the ID.4 called ID.5 will soon follow, while China gets an elongated ID.6. Further models are already decided, including a low-slung premium hatchback and Shooting Brake positioned well above the Arteon. However, there will still be conventionally powered VWs, including a next-gen Passat and Tiguan.

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Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada David Lametti delivers a statement on Bill C-7 during a media availability on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada, on March 11, 2021. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)

Justice Minister Defends Bill to Remove Mandatory Minimum Sentences for Drug, Firearm Offences

Justice Minister David Lametti on Wednesday pushed for Parliaments second reading of a bill that would remove mandatory minimum penalties for all drugs and several gun-related crimes.

In February, the Liberal government introduced Bill C-22, which seeks to amend the Criminal Code and the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA) to repeal mandatory minimum penalties (MMPs) for all drug offences and several gun-related crimes.

Under the Canadian Criminal Code, when an offence is punishable by the mandatory minimum penalty (MMP), a judge is required to give a sentence that is equal to or greater than the minimum term for that offence.

If passed into law, Bill C-22 would give judges discretion in sentencing.

For offences such as possession of illegal drugs, judges would be required to consider measures other than imprisonment, such as addiction treatment programs.

On Wednesday, Lametti told the House of Commons that by eliminating these MMPs, Bill C-22 would be able to restore judicial discretion, reduce the time and money spent on needless litigation, and address systemic barriers to equality.

He also criticized the former Conservative government for its alleged reliance on incarceration for less serious non-violation crimes.

Previous Conservative governments would have us believe our communities are safest when we put all criminals behind bars and throw away the key, Lametti said. But that is simply not supported by the evidence.

Lametti argued that prison services would encourage recidivism among lower-risk and first-time offenders. He said alternative conditional sentencing, which allows offenders to keep their jobs and family life, are a better way to enable more effective rehabilitation and reintegration.

Members of the opposition criticized Lametti, saying he was not being transparent about the real impacts of the legislative reform.

Conservative MP Rob Moore said Bill C-22 would eliminate mandatory prison time for drug traffickers, and for the production of harmful drugs such as heroin, cocaine, fentanyl, and crystal meth.

The Liberals would have us believe this is just about simple possession of drugs. In fact, Bill C-22 tells us it is just the opposite, Moore said. These are not people in simple possession of drugs. These are people that are preying, each and every day, on addicts, on people who need help.

Moore said gun-related crimes, which the Justice minister referred to as minor offences, would deserve mandatory prison time in the eyes of most Canadians.

What are these minor offences? They include robbery with a firearm, extortion with a firearm, weapons trafficking, importing or exporting knowing a firearm is unauthorized, discharging a firearm with intent, using a firearm in the commission of an offence, possession of a prohibited or restricted firearm with ammunition, possession of a weapon obtained by the commission of an offence, and possession for the purpose of weapons trafficking, Moore said.

I think most Canadians would be alarmed by the approach the government is taking, he said.
Canadas Sanctions on Xinjiang Officials Should Be Springboard for New Strategy on China

Commentary

In a rare piece of good news on the Canadian foreign policy front, the government has finally taken action that is consistent with its frequently professed enthusiasm for strong multilateralism. Canada, in co-ordination with the United States and the United Kingdom, has decided to impose sanctions on some of the Chinese officials responsible for the ongoing genocide being perpetrated against Uyghur Muslims in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.

Though still naively insisting that the Chinese regime allow meaningful, unfettered access to the XUAR so that impartial experts can observe and report on the situation first-hand, the statement from Global Affairs says the government will work collaboratively with partners to address the dire human rights situation in Xinjiang, including by ensuring consequences for this repression, with a view to ending it.

This is a genuinely encouraging development, especially as the constant calls for effective multilateralism by government officials have been mostly performative. Members of government have often lamented multilateralisms decline in recent years, which usually has come in the form of subtle or direct jabs at the ambivalence of America. They have made these pronouncements while often doing nothing constructive to help reinvigorate these alliances and help fill whatever gaps Washington has been accused of leaving. On the question of China particularly, Canada has made itself out to be an irresolute friend. Indeed, its foreign policy has often been a masterclass in how to undermine ones credibility among both friends and foes.

Notwithstanding the optimism the move to impose sanctions may generate, there is still the broader concern of Ottawas lack of any clear, effective strategy on China and the dire need for one. The governments co-operation on the sanctions is laudatory but is also a direct result of continued pressure put on it by allies and political opposition at home, with parliamentarians from all parties voting unanimously last month to declare the Chinese Communist Partys treatment of the Uyghurs a genocide.

But aside from these specific sanctions and the accompanying rhetoric, the governmenteven with Parliaments acknowledgement of genocidehas yet to present a new strategic vision for China that seriously considers the nature of the CCP, its ambitions, and the resultant epochal challenge it poses to the international order. As of this juncture, Ottawa still clings to the overly accommodationist approach which has gotten us into the many imbroglios in which we find ourselves with China.

The recent show trials of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor demonstrate a spectacle that illustrates a clear picture of both the menace of the Chinese regime and the consequence of Ottawas passivity. In yet another plain display of its character and, indeed, the farcical character of the two Michaels detainment on the charge of espionage, the CCP denied officials from Canada and allied countries access to the court proceedings. Such access would have obviously helped provide insight into the legitimacy of the process and assess the evidence mounted against the accused, which would have of course led to the process being exposed further as the grotesque political charade it is.

In response, the PM and Foreign Minister Marc Garneau have both condemned the lack of transparency around the trials, with Garneau issuing a statement saying the government is deeply troubled and that it continues to work to bring an immediate end to their arbitrary detention. Nothing in this and other pronouncements on the subject has alluded to any strategy they are pursuing or the leverage they might be exploring to help bring this about.

These are the fruits of a failure to think strategically and consider contingencies that might arise in a volatile international landscape. The relationship with China has been construed almost entirely through the narrow lens of economics and other superficial interests, at the expense of crucial things like security and defence.

With a highly influential pro-China business lobby, its difficult for some politicians to think outside of this orthodoxy. Those appointed to high-profile positions related to China are often assessed and praised mainly for their business acumen or connection to China, rather than their diplomatic prowess or experience in dealing with complicated regimes and defending Canadian interests on the world stage.

In an interview with the CBC, former U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton suggested that to respond to the issue of the two Michaels, Canada and its allies should consider sanctions and even threaten possible expulsion of Chinese diplomats from their countries until Kovrig and Spavor are released. He then said the deeper meaning of Beijings conduct is that it should shed light on the regime with which the West will be forced to contend in the decades to come.

What this challenge requires, then, are people preoccupied with questions of grand strategy and how to formulate one according to Canadas interests and capabilities, instead of those who look at China only with their business bottom line in mind.

Hal Brands, an American historian at the Washington-based American Enterprise Institute, has argued that strategy toward China should be rooted in what he calls a regime realism that acknowledges both the nature of power and anarchy in international competition and how the ideology of a regime informs Chinas actions in the international arena.

Moreover, he argues that Chinas actions are in part driven naturally by its position as a rising power in an increasingly anarchic world. The problem is what it seeks to ultimately achieve with its power. Though Brands says China may differ from the Soviet Union somewhat in terms of its commitment to spread its ideology, it has a desire to build a global order in which authoritarian forms of government are protected and even privileged. This can be witnessed in the partners it chooses, its protection of other authoritarian regimes, stifling criticism at home and abroad, and the promotion of its system in contrast to the democratic West.

He concludes that the United States (and by extension, its allies) will not cease being a threat to the CCP without ceasing to be what it isa democracy concerned with the fate of freedom in the world. And China cannot cease being hostile to the US-led international order without ceasing to be what it isan autocratic regime whose strength masks pervasive insecurity. (It should be noted that this is not to advocate for a high-risk regime change policy. Rather, it is just to elucidate the roots of the conflict.)

The reality is that this conflict with the CCP is one of systems, which inevitably makes it one about values. This is what gives it its potential protractedness.

Canada, given its position and stature, will debate the various intricacies of how to manage the China problem on its own terms, and policymakers shouldnt feel as if they have to march in lockstep with whatever Washington does. But the strategy should at least begin with the broad understanding of the regime type in Beijing and how this will make confrontation unavoidable at certain points.

Then proceed accordingly.

Shane Miller is a political writer based in London, Ontario.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
As the world continues to grapple with the pandemic and inch painstakingly toward a new normal with vaccine relief, U.S. health care leaders representing the major industry sections together with several regional health ministers will convene for a half-day virtual conference to explore impacts and innovations to chart the way forward.

Theres no underestimating the value of bringing all these leaders together in one place during this pivotal time for health care, said Steven Ullmann, director of the Center for Health Management and Policy at the University of Miami Patti and Allan Herbert Business School. To learn from their significant insights on how we manage the many aspects that have come out of the pandemic and how best to move forward, offers incredible benefit to us all.

Panelists and speakers will explore a range of health care issuesfrom clinical to policy to financialthat have impacted the industry at both the macro and micro levels.

Donna Shalala, former congresswoman and former president of the University of Miami, and Alex Azarwho both previously served as secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Servicesheadline the last session of the day, Health Care in a Changing Political Landscape.

University President Julio Frenk, a global health expert whose insights have been sought frequently during the pandemic, will introduce the opening panel on Health and Economy in the Americas. The session includes the director of the Pan American Health Organization as well as health ministers from Uruguay and Costa Rica, among others.

In what has become a conference standard, heads of the leading professional health organizations serve as keynote panelists for the second session. Moderated by Pat Geraghty, president and CEO of Florida Blue and GuideWell, presenting sponsor of the conference, the panel will include Susan Bailey, president, American Medical Association; Matthew Eyles, president and CEO, Americas Health Insurance Plans; Joseph Fifer, president and CEO, Healthcare Financial Management Association; Halee Fischer-Wright, president and CEO, Medical Group Management Association; Ernest Grant, president, American Nurses Association; and Lisa Kidder Hrobsky, group vice president, Federal Relations, American Hospital Association.

The conference, celebrating its 10th anniversary, will be offered virtually for the second time. Nearly 1,500 people registered for the gathering held last October, postponed from its scheduled spring date because of the pandemic.

We started as a regional conference and have grown to become a global gathering with significant impacttruly an indication that the issues that we discuss and debate have earned that level of import, said Ullmann, noting that Florida Blue has provided support as a major supporter since the start.

Ullmann highlighted that the online platform has amplified the conferences reach, attracting professionals from business and health care environments around the world and also an increasing number of students.

2021 The Business of Health Care takes place Friday, April 16, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. EDT. For more information, contact healthcare@bus.miami.edu.
Grief stricken mourners carry the coffin of Stacey Knell during her funeral in Belfast on Friday. Picture: Stephen Davison/Pacemaker.

The funeral of a woman who was one of the victims of a double-murder suicide took place in east Belfast on Friday.

Stacey Knell (30) was killed in Newtownabbey by her partner Ken Flanagan (26) last Friday.

Flanagan had earlier murdered his mother Karen McClean at her home in Rathcoole.

He then travelled to nearby Glenville Road, where he slayed Ms Knell before taking his own life.

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The funeral service was private due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Ms Knell was buried at Roselawn Cemetery.

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In a Facebook post her family thanked all those who had offered help and support.

They said: We would once again like to express our profound gratitude to everyone who has rallied round in this awful week.

We will never be able to individually thank everyone enough for what they have done in the last few days, peoples kindness and generosity has been an immense comfort to us all.

We are all absolutely blown away with what everyone has done this week for Stacey and the family and we would just again like to say a massive thank you to each and every one of you who found the time to send a text, set up funds or make a donation towards them, send round food, help with arrangements. We cant thank everyone enough but just know these actions have made this week just a little easier to bear.

Hold your loved ones tight and appreciate what you have, what we take for granted each and every day is nothing short of a blessing to be cherished.

Ms Knell leaves behind a nine-year-old daughter.

Pal Melissa Morrison, who organised a fundraising campaign to help with Ms Knells funeral costs, posted on social media yesterday about her friend, saying: Today you get laid to rest, beautiful.

By last night the crowdfunding appeal had exceeded its target of 2,500, reaching 2,750.

Almost 150 people have so far made donations.

The savage events of last Friday have left the local community stunned.

Detective Chief Inspector John Caldwell said: This was a really shocking and horrific double murder of two women inside their own homes, a place where they should have been safe.

The PSNI is not looking for anyone else in connection with the killings.

The Police Ombudsman is assessing information to determine if the case requires investigation.

It is understood police received a report of safety concerns about Flanagan shortly before the murders.
Murder cases have dominated the list as the Court of Appeal is set to hear 40 criminal appeals in the next two weeks.

Court of Appeal judges Kenneth Kakuru, Muzamiru Kibeedi and Irene Mulyagonja will hear the cases.

The cause-list issued by the Court of Appeal Registrar, Ms Susan Kanyange, shows that 14 of the cases involve murder convicts who are seeking to overturn their convictions and punishments.

The appeals include one in which George William Senfuka is seeking to quash a death sentence handed to him by the High Court while 10 others are seeking the Court's intervention to overturn a life sentence.

According to the cause-list, eight of the appeals arise from the Kololo based Anti-corruption Court, where two of them were lodged by the state seeking to overturn the acquittal of Dr Richard Ndyomugenyi, Dr Myers Lugemwa, and Mr Martin Shibeki on corruption related charges.

The state is also seeking to overturn the acquittal of Onesmas Kamacooko and Joseph Zziwa on the offences of causing financial loss and conspiracy to defraud.

In a statement issued yesterday, Ms Kanyange, said the court has written to all participating advocates informing them to attach relevant authorities to be relied on during the hearings.

"During the hearings, the advocates will only highlight particular areas of interest in their submissions," said Ms Kanyange adding that lawyers representing parties in the session have been directed to file written submissions.

To ensure that Covid-19 standard operating procedures are followed, Ms Kanyange said the prisoners will follow their appeals via Zoom technology while the justices and lawyers will be physically present in court.
Israel's Lapid meets with Lieberman on new government Yisrael Beytenu party head wants law barring any PM indicted

(ANSAmed) - TEL AVIV, MARCH 26 - The Israeli politicians Yair Lapid and Avigdor Lieberman, two of the leaders of a bloc opposed to Benyamin Netanyahu, met on Friday to take stock of the situation after final voting results were released and to form a government that is an alternative to the one under the current prime minister.



The two will meet again in the coming days, including with other leaders of the bloc such as Benny Gatz and Gideon Saar.



Lieberman has meanwhile confirmed his intention to present a law at the Knesst that will prohibit anyone with a current indictment - such as Netanyahu - from forming a government.



Such a law would prevent the current prime minister's participation in any further elections that may be held.



(ANSAmed).




New Orleans, Louisiana--(Newsfile Corp. - March 25, 2021) - Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC ("KSF") and KSF partner, former Attorney General of Louisiana, Charles C. Foti, Jr., remind investors that they have until May 18, 2021 to file lead plaintiff applications in a securities class action lawsuit against Root, Inc. (NasdaqGS: ROOT), if they purchased the Company's securities between October 28, 2020 and March 8, 2021, inclusive (the "Class Period") and/or shares in connection with the Company's initial public offering ("IPO") conducted on or about October 28, 2020. This action is pending in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio.

What You May Do

If you purchased securities of Root and would like to discuss your legal rights and how this case might affect you and your right to recover for your economic loss, you may, without obligation or cost to you, contact KSF Managing Partner Lewis Kahn toll-free at 1-877-515-1850 or via email (lewis.kahn@ksfcounsel.com), or visit https://www.ksfcounsel.com/cases/nasdaqgs-root/ to learn more. If you wish to serve as a lead plaintiff in this class action, you must petition the Court by May 18, 2021 .

About the Lawsuit

Root and certain of its executives are charged with failing to disclose material information in its IPO Registration Statement and Prospectus and/or during the Class Period, violating federal securities laws.

On March 9, 2021, multiple investor news resources reported that Bank of America Securities analyst Joshua Shanker initiated coverage of the Company with an "Underperform" rating concluding that it is unlikely to be cash flow positive until 2027, and that established market players would continue to impede the Company's profitability with superior telematics data and dominant market positions.

On this news, shares of Root fell $0.18 per share, or 1.46%, to close at $12.17 per share on March 9, 2021, representing a total decline of 54.93% from the Offering price.

Story continues

The case is Kolominsky v. Root Inc., et al., 21-cv-01197.

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

lewis.kahn@ksfcounsel.com

1-877-515-1850

1100 Poydras St., Suite 3200

New Orleans, LA 70163

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/78640
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 26)  More private firms have announced free COVID-19 vaccines for employees and their kin, with bold inoculation targets set for 2021.

Ayala Group executives Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala and his brother Fernando said this week that they signed purchase deals for 1 million doses from Moderna and AstraZeneca. Part of the supply will be donated to the national government while the rest will be provided to company employees and offered to their families.

The plan is to start the mass vaccinations on June 1 towards a target of 10,000 shots per day across 20 mega vaccination sites in key cities in the country. The shots will be given by nearly 500 staff from its AC Health subsidiary.

We believe that this amount will be sufficient to inoculate our fellow employees and our families, as well as our communities through our donation to the national government. We expect the first deliveries of these doses between May and June, the Zobel brothers said in a statement.

Some 1,400 frontliners in the groups Qualimed hospitals and isolation centers have been given vaccines as of March 19 using donated AstraZeneca and Sinovac doses from foreign donations, they added.

RELATED: COVID-19 vaccination in workplace should be shouldered by employers, DOLE says

Businessman Tony Tan Caktiongs Jollibee Foods Corp. on Tuesday also announced it is securing vaccines for employees and their dependents, household members, and extended family. It will cover workers across all brands and units: Jollibee, Chowking, Mang Inasal, Greenwich, Burger King, Red Ribbon, Panda Express, PHO24, commissaries, distribution centers, support functions, and the Jollibee Group Foundation.

The Aboitiz Group also committed in early March to provide free vaccines to over 30,000 team members and subcontractors using AstraZeneca doses.

Construction firm DMCI Holdings expects the arrival of over 20,000 Moderna vaccines, while the Federation of Filipino Chinese Chambers of Commerce & Industry is eyeing 500,000 Sinovac doses by April or May.

San Miguel Corporation is also spending close to 1 billion to vaccinate all 70,000 employees and extended workforce for free. Manny Pangilinans Metro Pacific Investments Corp. will also provide free vaccines for over 300,000 workers, qualified dependents, and household members.

Procurement of vaccines with emergency use authorization from the Philippines Food and Drug Administration  so far Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Sinovac, and Sputnik V  is done through tripartite deals involving the private sector, the foreign drug maker, and the national government.

The deal with AstraZeneca involves a requirement to donate half of the doses bought by businesses to the Department of Health, although authorities clarified that this was a requirement sent by the British-Swedish pharmaceutical company and not by the Duterte administration.

READ: Private sector to fund own vaccine rollout  Concepcion

Some private businesses have called on the government to let them import their own vaccines to speed up the mass inoculation and achievement of herd immunity, given the slow pace of state-run vaccinations.

The country has vaccinated 508,332 individuals as of March 23 or three weeks since the first batch of doses arrived, DOH data showed.

RELATED: Duterte says gov't cannot assume liability for vaccines procured by private sector
As technologies become more sophisticated by the day, the global pharmaceutical industry has been shoring up their R&D capabilities

Drug development is considered one of the most critical engines that drives the growth story of pharmaceutical industry. Emerging technologies like artificial intelligence and machine learning, combined with data-reliant predictive analyses, are expected to transform the way pharmaceutical research is done. The penetration and adoption of digital innovations are truly altering the R&D operational models.

Digital revolution: Pacing it up

As technologies become more sophisticated by the day, the global pharmaceutical industry has been shoring up their R&D capabilities through steady inflow of investments and resource developments, especially in emerging markets in the Asia Pacific region. In fact, in India, Novartis has a digital hub called Biome India, which is aimed at establishing a network between Novartis and external partners from across the digital ecosystem. This is the first such hub in Asia and owing to Indias technological capabilities, we have great opportunities to provide patients with digital led solutions. Clearly, there is a digital revolution on the horizon and countries are keenly embracing it to stay ahead of the curve.

Digital in pharma R&D

Consider this: Pharmaceutical research is a high-cost endeavour, costing the industry billions of dollars in drug development research. In contrast, the innovation progress is slow and the introduction of new molecular entities is low. One solution, and possibly a game-changer in pharmaceutical research, is the potential for mining and processing health-data assets such as molecular pathways, DNA mutations, and gene expression, with the help of cutting-edge technologies. The opportunity to combine ever-growing data sources, increasing digital power, and evolving technological sophistication of service providers makes way for a compelling R&D strategy for pharma companies.

Health-specific data is one of the biggest assets of the pharmaceutical industry and healthcare sector, holding immense amounts of information for profiling numerous diseases and unmet medical needs, candidate molecules and patient populations. With the integrated predictive analytics available today, this data can be used for generating invaluable clinical insights to tackle various disease burdens with novel strategic approaches. By assessing and organising this data into structured as well as unstructured datasets, it can be analysed by artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms to uncover complex patterns. At the same time, by evaluating this data, we can also increase our understanding of how to gather datasets from clinical trials in a better manner.

To give some perspective of the immense potential, in Asia Pacific (APAC), spending on augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) was $7.5 billion in 2019, according to IDC Worldwide Semiannual Augmented and Virtual Reality Spending Guide. The purpose of this investment is to ensure that companies are better able to communicate new clinical data and use this data for accurate analysis. Again, the Novartis innovation lab in Hyderabad, India is working with external partners to enable rapid 'proof of concept digital solutions. One example of this is the mixed reality solution to troubleshoot in real time problems in the R&D labs by experts located anywhere in the world which is being developed to improve cycle time and quality of laboratory activities.

Emerging markets which are supported by effective digital ecosystems are implementing innovative technologies for pharmaceutical research with greater efficacy. Consequently, with the increase in the adoption of analytics and automation tools, there is a greater need for talent that can programme and analyse data from these new technologies. It only adds value that countries in the APAC region are home to an immense talent pool, not only in biosciences but also in computer sciences and data analytics. Such advantage will allow for quicker adoption of big data technologies, by integrating with the existing frameworks offered by leading pharmaceutical companies, and even building new ones.

Post pandemic: Shifting industrys focus

Since last year, pharma industry has had to prioritise critical R&D efforts and essential projects in the drug development pipeline, which was also supported by guidelines from regulatory authorities. The disease landscape is certainly changing and the industrys emphasis will be on accelerating the product pipeline to respond to this evolving situation. This means that failures will have to be detected sooner and greater accuracy of targeting will become critical. Here, the use of digital tools will become core enablers for us to gain access to real-time information on clinical trials helping us enhance our understanding of both the efficacy and accuracy of a potential product as well as its side effects.

Evidently, we are going to be in a different place than before this pandemic and the pandemic has accelerated adoption of digital technologies across the board. Today, the nice-to-have digital tools have become imperatives not only for better patient outcomes but also for long-term business success. What is required for us as an industry is not just to accept digital as a simple combination of individual tools but as the silver bullet to reinvent ourselves.

Arno Tellmann, Head, Novartis Global Drug Development (GDD) Centre, India
The San Francisco School Board has voted to strip Vice President Alison Collins of her leadership title after anti-Asian tweets she penned in 2016 were recently unearthed.

In a 'special meeting' held Thursday night, the Board voted 5-2 to pass a No Confidence Resolution against Collins following widespread backlash over her racist tweets.

In addition to revoking her VP title, the Resolution also removes Collins from all committees 'for the duration of her term and effective immediately.'

However, she will still retain her position on the Board, and has resisted calls to resign.

After the meeting, she told the San Francisco Chronicle that the No Confidence Resolution 'distracts from priority matters'.

The San Francisco School Board has voted to strip Vice President Alison Collins of her leadership title after anti-Asian tweets she penned in 2016 were recently unearthed

Collins has come under fire for a series of tweets she posted on December 4, 2016, in which she referred to Asian Americans as 'house n***ers' and said they used 'white supremacist thinking' to get ahead.

'Where are the vocal Asians speaking up against Trump?' Collins asked in her Twitter thread.

'Don't Asian Americans know they are on his list as well? Do they think they won't be deported? profiled? beaten? Being a house n****r is still being a n****r. You're still considered 'the help''.

The Resolution stated that Collins' tweets 'perpetuate gross and harmful stereotypes and leave no room for nuance or potential misunderstanding'.

Five board members voted to pass the No Confidence Resolution, while only Collins herself and one other member voted to block it.

The 'special meeting' on Thursday night was held just 48 hours after hundreds of students and parents at San Francisco schools dialed into a Zoom Board meeting to blast Collins over her 'disgusting' tweets.

Collins - who identifies as black - stated during that meeting: 'I'd like to reemphasize my sincere and heartfelt apologies and I'm currently engaging with my colleagues and working with the community for the good of all children in our district, especially black children who are often left behind.'

She made no specific mention of Asian-American students and parents she had offended with her tweets.

Several of the controversial tweets penned by Collins in December 2016 are pictured

The 'special meeting' on Thursday night was held just 48 hours after hundreds of students and parents at San Francisco schools dialed into a Zoom Board meeting to blast Collins over her 'disgusting' tweets.Collins is pictured middle row far right during a school board Zoom call on Tuesday night

Meanwhile, School Board Commissioners Faauuga Moliga and Jenny Lam both called for Collins to resign on the call - which she did not.

'I am not alone when I say I do not have confidence in Collins' ability to fairly govern a school district that is almost half AAPI with no bias,' Lam stated.

Moliga and Lam led the No Confidence Resolution against Collins on Thursday night.

Collins penned a post on Medium over the weekend, claiming that her 2016 tweets had been taken out of context.

Shortly before she penned the tweets, Collins claimed her daughter had witnessed Asian American students at her middle school bullying a Latino student.

It was a time of processing, of fear among many communities with the unknown of how the next four years would unfold,' Collins wrote.

The unearthing of her tweets comes amid an uptick in hate crimes against Asian Americans across the country.

The tweets were thrust into the spotlight just days after eight people, including six Asian women, were shot dead in Atlanta, Georgia.

Collins is pictured in her official San Francisco School Board head shot

Faauuga Moliga and Jenny Lam led the No Confidence Resolution against Collins on Thursday night

Collins penned a post on Medium over the weekend, claiming that her 2016 tweets had been taken out of context.

Shortly before she penned the tweets, Collins claimed her daughter had witnessed Asian American students at her middle school bullying a Latino student.

It was a time of processing, of fear among many communities with the unknown of how the next four years would unfold,' Collins wrote.

The unearthing of her tweets comes amid an uptick in hate crimes against Asian Americans across the country.

The tweets were thrust into the spotlight just days after eight people, including six Asian women, were shot dead in Atlanta, Georgia.

Collins penned a post on Medium over the weekend, claiming that her 2016 tweets had been taken out of context

Meanwhile, San Francisco's school board has been slammed recently for voting to rename 44 of the city's schools that were alleged to have insensitive names.

The person in charge of the renaming effort admitted he researched the topic on Wikipedia and didn't consult historians.

In January, the board voted 6-1 to strip the schools of their current monikers because they honor 'racist' figures from American history. Schools named after politicians including George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln are now set to be rebranded in the coming months.

Meanwhile, a gay white father of a bi-racial child was denied a spot on the San Francisco Board of Education's volunteer parent committee in February because his race doesn't bring enough diversity to the group.

And the district of 52,000 students has been in a bitter dispute with unions over re-opening of the schools, which have been closed since the height of the coronavirus. Some schools will open April 12, but it's not clear how many.
The second free practice session is over and once again Max Verstappen finds himself on top of the timesheet. The Red Bull Racing driver was the fastest on the Bahrain International Circuit, just like earlier in the day. Lando Norris is the surprising number two on behalf of McLaren, while Lewis Hamilton is on P3.

It will undoubtedly be even quicker during the third free practice and qualifying sessions, but it is clear that Red Bull have a chance to fight for pole position. The same goes for McLaren. Bottas, the other Mercedes driver, was fifth on Friday afternoon. However, it looks like Mercedes still has something up its sleeve.

The midfield is in any case very exciting. The differences are very small, with only Williams and Haas F1 lagging a little behind.

Results second free practice GP Bahrain 2021

FINAL CLASSIFICATION



Plenty of laps under the floodlights on Friday evening, with Max and Lando leading the way #BahrainGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/Zozj4MeMwO  Formula 1 (@F1) March 26, 2021
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Chinese electric vehicle maker Nio Inc on Friday became the latest automaker to temporarily suspend production because of a global semiconductor chip shortage that has shut down plants and resulted in major losses for the sector.



Top automakers such as Ford, Honda, GM and were caught off guard by the shortage even as auto demand picked up during the Covid-19 pandemic, forcing many of them to hold back production.

The chip scarcity is also a result of an increased demand from the consumer electronics industry as people worked from home and played more video games during the health crisis.



Nio, one the main challengers to Inc, which dominates the EV market in China, said it would halt production for five working days at its Hefei plant from next week and cut its first-quarter delivery forecast by as much as 1,000 vehicles.



Shares of Nio, which makes the ES8 and ES6 electric sport-utility vehicles, fell more than 7% in US premarket trading. The company also faces competition from home-grown rivals such as Xpeng Inc.



Nio now expects to deliver 19,500 vehicles in the first quarter, down from a range of 20,000 to 20,500 vehicles it had previously expected.



Sanctions against Chinese technology companies have also played a role in the global shortage of chips.



US automaker Motor had warned the shortage could hit its 2021 profit by up to $2.5 billion, while its larger rival Co expects the crisis to shave up to $2 billion off its full-year profit.



Ford, which was until now assembling its highly profitable F-150 pickup trucks without certain parts, said on Thursday it will idle production of the trucks at a plant in Michigan through Sunday.



GM and Japan's Motor Co Ltd both announced this week they would continue production suspension at plants in North America for the coming weeks.



Swedish truck maker Volvo AB meanwhile said on Tuesday the chip shortage would have a "substantial" impact on its second-quarter earnings, and announced it would implement stop days across its truck manufacturing sites globally beginning in April.


GoFundMe page raises over $45K to pay legal fees for Canadian pastor battling worship restriction charges

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A GoFundMe page recently created to help pay the legal fees for a Canadian pastor who was jailed for not adhering to ongoing worship restrictions in response to COVID-19 has received more than $45,000 in donations.

Pastor James Coates of GraceLife Church in Edmonton, Alberta, who was released from jail last week after surrendering to authorities on Feb. 16, has been in court for disobeying the provinces restrictions that limit in-person worship gatherings to no more than 15% capacity.

The fundraising effort was launched by John Klassen last month, around the time Coates turned himself in to authorities. It has raised over $45,000 as of Friday morning.

Coates has been a rare and refreshing voice of courage in these [unprecedented] times. He has stood on the word of God faithfully, courageously and uncompromisingly as a man of God when all around him men falter and fail, reads the fundraising page, in part.

I'm raising money to benefit Pastor James and Gracelife Church of Edmonton, to do good as Galatians 6:10 exhorts us to, and any donation will help make an impact. Thanks in advance for your contribution to this cause.

Coates faces two counts of violating the Public Health Act and charged for failing to comply with his undertaking condition.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Alberta Health Services have been investigating the church, with the congregation facing allegations that they are violating various lockdown rules, including failing to socially distance attendees or require the wearing of face masks.

Earlier this month, the RCMP filed charges against the church for allegedly holding worship services in February that exceeded the official limit of 15% capacity.

The Church was non-compliant with the Public Health Order in that it was over the allowed capacity. The RCMP members were present for public safety and to support AHS, and did not go inside the church, said RCMP in a March 10 statement.

Investigation continues into the church by AHS and supported by the Parkland RCMP. These charges are now before the court and further comments will not be available.

GraceLife Church explained in a statement on its website that when the pandemic first began, the church shifted to livestream and abided by most of the new government guidelines for our gatherings.

But after the first public health emergency ended, the church returned to normal gatherings last June.

We believe [people] should responsibly return to their lives, stated the church. Otherwise we may not get them back. In fact, some say we are on the cusp of reaching the point of no return.

John Carpay, president of the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms, a Calgary-based law firm representing Coates, said he believes the restrictions on worship were unscientific and unconstitutional and is optimistic about the trial, which is set to begin on May 3.

We look forward appearing in court in May and demanding the government provide evidence that public health restrictions that violate the freedoms of religion, peaceful assembly, expression and association are scientific and are justifiable in a free and democratic country, said Carpay.

Coates stated in an affidavit that the health orders directly contravene the authority of the local church, and the supreme authority of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Danske Bank's new product has a two-year or five-year fixed rate of 4.40% with no product fee

Danske Bank is launching a 95% mortgage for first-time buyers and home-movers as housing market demand grows.

Applicants must be in permanent contracted employment, with an individual or joint income of over 40,000. It applies only to homes with a value of up to 500,000.

Danske Bank indicated that a furloughed employee would be excluded if applying as a sole borrower. But they would be considered in a joint application with someone who was not on furlough,

Bank of Ireland UK launched a 95% offer last week that is also available in Northern Ireland, while Ulster Bank launched a 90% home loan in December.

The deals are part of an easing of mortgage conditions after limits imposed at the outset of the pandemic over fears of a fall in house prices.

Lockdown and home-working has led to growth in the market, with prices rising 5% year-on-year to an average of 147,593.

Danskes new product has a two-year or five-year fixed rate of 4.40% with no product fee.

Aisling Press, managing director of personal banking at Danske Bank, said: As one of the biggest mortgage lenders in NI, we are very pleased to be offering mortgages with as little as a 5% deposit.

Danske Bank is committed to helping NI grow by supporting businesses and our personal customers as they seek to achieve their ambitions. Despite the unprecedented challenges facing our economy, the housing market has remained robust, with demand from prospective buyers at healthy levels.

This new 95% loan-to-value mortgage product brings forward another option for those seeking to realise their aspiration of home ownership.

A spokesman for AIB, another major lender in Northern Ireland, said: In February of this year, we launched a 90% mortgage for first-time buyers, and there has been strong uptake among our customers to date.

We continue to keep our product offering under review.

A spokesperson for Ulster Bank said it had seen strong demand for our 90% mortgage and continues to lend to a wide range of borrowers including first time buyers, home movers and those remortgaging, adding: We continue to keep our product offering under review.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-26 00:11:42|Editor: huaxia

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Photo taken with a mobile phone shows staff unloading China-aided COVID-19 vaccines at the Velana International Airport in Male, the Maldives, March 24, 2021. The first batch of vaccines against COVID-19 and anti-epidemic materials donated by China to the Maldives arrived Wednesday night and were handed over on Thursday. (Photo by Guo Yingbin/Xinhua)

MALE, March 25 (Xinhua) -- The first batch of vaccines against COVID-19 and anti-epidemic materials donated by China to the Maldives arrived Wednesday night and were handed over on Thursday.

Chinese Ambassador to the Maldives Zhang Lizhong officially handed over the Sinopharm vaccines and some syringes to Maldivian Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid and Minister of Health Ahmed Naseem in an official ceremony held Thursday.

Speaking at the event, Zhang said the donation was a sign of the bonds of friendship between China and the Maldives and the donation fulfills China's commitment to making the vaccines as a "global public good."

The vaccine donation bears significance in cooperating to fight COVID-19, winning the battle at an early date, and promoting resumption of normal personnel exchanges and cooperation between China and the Maldives, the Chinese ambassador said.

China is ready to provide more support within its capacity to the Maldivian side in fighting the epidemic and recovering the economy, he said

Foreign Minister Shahid thanked the government and the people of China for contributing to the country's vaccination program, noting that Chinese companies in the Maldives have also contributed to the country's anti-epidemic efforts.

Health Minister Naseem also thanked the chinese government, hoping to strengthen cooperation between China and the Maldives as so to win an early victory over the pandemic.

The Maldives approved China's Sinopharm vaccine for emergency use on March 15. Enditem
Poignant and heartfelt tributes have been paid today to missing American student Annie McCarrick on the 28th anniversary of her disappearance.

Annie was 26-years-old when she was last seen taking a bus to Enniskerry, Co Wicklow on March 26, 1993.

Today, Missing Persons Helpline Ireland posted a message on their Facebook page, to mark the anniversary of her disappearance, and to highlight the fact her father John, who spent years trying to find out what happened to her, died in 2009 with no answers.

The post adds that: Thoughts and prayers are with Annie, her family and friends at this difficult time.

The post has generated dozens of comments from people who remember when she vanished and from those struck by her familys plight.

Always remember her heartbroken Father on t.v & airwaves..to think all this time & nothing - someone out there must know something - cruel world, one person posted.

Time has passed and still no answers thoughts and prayers for the family and hoping someone will come foreward, another person added.

I posted this reply before, I am shocked at how many young women have gone missing in Ireland, this is a very small country how is this possible?

"Prayers for her and her family. Remember someone knows what happened so do the right thing, added another.

Missing Persons Helpline Ireland post also states that it has now emerged that investigators believe Annie was NOT in Johnny Foxes Pub in the village of Glencullen the night of her disappearance and they feel it was a case of mistaken identity.

This is a reference to the last possible sighting of the American student, who has been missing, presumed murdered, for 27 years, which has since been questioned by investigators.

Annie, who had travelled to Ireland to study, was living in an apartment at St Catherines Court in Sandymount with two other friends.

On the morning of Friday, March 26 1993, she told her friends she may go for a walk in the Wicklow or Glencullen area.

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At approximately 11am, she bought groceries from the then-Quinnsworth supermarket on the Sandymount Road.

She returned home with the groceries and they were left on the kitchen table.

Later that day, at 3.15pm, she took a bus from Sandymount to Ranelagh.

Annie then took the number 44 bus from Ranelagh to Enniskerry.

There was no bus from Enniskerry to Glencullen - so she would have had to walk the 6kms to where she was apparently last seen at Johnnie Foxs Pub at Glencullen.

Annie was the first of eight women to vanish in the Leinster area in the 1990s in a series of attacks that were thought to be connected.

Larry Murphy, who was later convicted of rape, was one of the chief suspects in her disappearance and was a person of interest in all seven other disappearances. He has never been charged in connection with Annie's disappearance.

In 2020, US investigators said they had identified the main suspect in her murder .

Michael Griffith, a New York-based lawyer hired by the McCarrick family in the 1990s to assist with the investigation, travelled to Dublin that September to meet with members of An Garda Siochana about the investigation.

"We spent almost two hours talking about the case and we have agreed to share information," Griffith told the Irish Independent.

riffith said that he was hopeful he could finally get justice for the McCarrick family after a number of people contacted him and Kenneth Strange, an ex-FBI agent, with new evidence which could potentially lead to a breakthrough in the 27-year-old case.

"In the case of this person, the details provided could lead to the breakthrough we need. They gave specifics relating to one individual that warrants careful investigation, he said at the time.

Griffith said that he couldn't go into specifics about the information but said that the witness's account tied in with information provided by a separate witness.

Griffith said that the second witness did not formerly give evidence to the gardai at the time of McCarrick's disappearance, but he believes that her evidence is more important than originally thought.

Expand Close Bereaved: John McCarrick photographed in 1994, a year after his daughter Annie went missing. John died in 2009 / Facebook

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Whatsapp Bereaved: John McCarrick photographed in 1994, a year after his daughter Annie went missing. John died in 2009

A woman named Margaret Wogan, who has since died, is believed to have seen McCarrick with a man in a cafe in Enniskerry on the day of her disappearance.

Wogan, who worked in Poppies Cafe in Enniskerry, told gardai at the time that she saw a man approach McCarrick in the cafe and offer to buy her a slice of cake.

She never gave a formal statement about the incident but told her daughter about what she saw. This led the team of private investigators to think that this piece of information could be crucial to solving the mystery of McCarrick's murder.

"The pieces of the puzzle are slowly coming together," Griffith said.

Former FBI agent Kenneth Strange helped Annie McCarricks mother file a complaint with the FBI at the time.

Ive taken a very active interest and Ive been in touch with the gardai, he said last year. I think what we can bring to the table is a fresh set of eyes on a case that has grown stale.

The disappearance is one of the most high-profile cases ever investigated by gardai.

Originally from Long Island, New York, she was studying in Ireland and living in Sandymount, South Dublin.

She was formally reported missing by her mother Nancy who, with her husband John, travelled to Ireland on March 30 that year and spent months fruitlessly searching for their missing daughter.

The McCarrick family have now accepted that she was murdered but her case is still that of a missing person.

If you have any information, please contact the Irishtown Garda Station @ 01-6669600 or alternatively you can contact our confidential helpline number on 1800 911 999.
Chennai, March 26 : The decision of Department of Pharmaceuticals notifying 19 medical devices to be sourced only from Class I local suppliers will be a huge boost for Make-in-India and cut import bill by about Rs 4,000 crore, said a top official of Association of Indian Manufacturers of Medical Devices (AiMed).

On Thursday, the Department of Pharmaceuticals issued an order listing out 19 medical devices including consumables to be sourced from Class I local manufacturers.

The order is applicable for procurement of the listed items by the central government, government companies, states and local bodies under central schemes and central sector schemes fully or partially funded by the Centre.

"This one single strategic action will help boost domestic manufacturing and imports bill reduction by approximately Rs 4,000 crore," Rajiv Nath, Forum Coordinator, AiMed told IANS.

He said Class I local suppliers are the ones whose product have local content of 50 per cent and more.

Nath thanked the Department of Pharmaceutical for using the Public Procurement Order as a Make-in-India enabler while addressing the issue of pseudo manufacturers (those who import and stick the Made in India label).

"Now actual manufacturers who do the real value addition and not just sticking labels or repackaging will get the gain of their investments in India," Nath said.

He said during 2019-20 the import of medical devices was about Rs 41,658 crore.

According to him, bulk of the low cost consumables imports by India are from China.

India imports medical devices from US, Germany, China, Singapore and Netherlands.

During 2019-20 India imported Rs 8,057.71 crore worth of medical devices from the US, Germany (Rs 5,117.53 crore), China (Rs 5,207.46 crore), Singapore (Rs 4,357.46 crore) and Netherlands (Rs 2,393.82 crore), Nath said.

(Venkatachari Jagannathan can be contacted at v.jagannathan@ians.in)
Well-heeled residents surrounding Primrose Hill have demanded the Victorian park be fenced off to stop 'noisy yobs,' taking it over for loud parties at night.

Locals living within a stone's throw of the Grade II-listed public park - first opened to the public in 1842 have fumed over late night gatherings near their homes, which sell for an average of 1.2million.

At a public meeting this week, calls were made to fence off the 62-acre park in north London to stop people getting in - which would cost around 300,000.

Locals in the area, where one-bed homes sell for 500,000 and detached properties start at around 2m - say are sick and tired of putting up with the racket.

The parties have been compared to being like something from 'the Wild West', with hundreds of people turning up to unlicensed parties, where residents claim there was music blaring, drunkenness, drug deals, fighting and shouting at 'all hours'.

Locals around Primrose Hill have compared late night parties to the 'Wild West', claiming there has been music blaring, drunkenness, drug deals, fighting and shouting at 'all hours'

The Royal Parks' director Nick Biddle was even drafted in to address the concerns of residents at hastily-convened meeting on Monday.

Cllr Patricia Callaghan, the Labour councillor for the Primrose Hill ward, said: 'Many of us have campaigned against that idea (of having gates) in the past but times have changed.

'Seeing what's happening now, and believing it's only going to get much worse as we head towards summer, we feel it's necessary that gates are installed.'

She added: 'Our concern is that as well as residents' constant lack of sleep, it's only a matter of time before someone is seriously hurt up there.'

Locals held a meeting on Monday to discuss curbing overnight parties by installing a fence around the Victorian park after young people were seen gathering overnight

Police have fielded numerous complaints from locals - with many saying the parties kick off just after 9pm on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays - often with cars pumping out loud music as they drive the bashes.

Local Sue Johnson, 63, told the Camden New Journal newspaper this week that the situation was 'unbearable'.

She said: 'If police come the sound systems are turned off and they sit there quietly, or leave and congregate back on the streets around before heading back in after the police have gone.

'It's maddening*I've lived here over 35 years and it used to be safe but now it's not very pleasant.'

Councillor Oliver Cooper, leader of Camden's Conservative party, told the meeting: 'It's clear people gathering in the park have a complete sense of impunity. People aren't merely breaching Covid regulation but causing fights and dealing drugs in the open.

Nick Biddle, the Royal Parks' director, said the issue of fitting gates at the 19th century park was now being considered after complaints from locals

'Primrose Hill is being advertised on social media as the place to go if you don't want to be disturbed by police. It's like the Wild West at night.'

Another local, Samuel Beech said: 'You can hear the rave music blaring out as soon as they arrive in their awful cars.

'Then they just go into the park and start playing their boomboxes at ear-splitting levels - they are up to all sorts over there and I'm not sure even a fence would keep them out.

'They should cross the road and go to London Zoo, where they belong.'

Local Sue Johnson, 63, told the Camden New Journal newspaper this week that the situation was 'unbearable'

Police Inspector Richard Berns, said: 'Do I think gates would solve the problem? Yes. But I think that's something park users would need to weigh up against their freedom to use the park when they want.

'And it's simply not a good use of police resources to have officers on the hill 24/7.'

'These are not groups of criminal gangs we're talking about, they're just people, perhaps drinking and with sound equipment but unfortunately large gatherings do have a tendency to attract more unsavoury people and anti-social behaviour.'

Nick Biddle, the Royal Parks' director, said the issue of fitting gates was now being considered, adding: 'The park has been open all night for over 50 years with relatively few public noise issues during that time.

'The current poor behaviour is wholly unacceptable and has almost certainly been driven by lockdown. We welcome the work of the police to enforce the law and deal with offenders.

'We very much hope that as the coronavirus restrictions are relaxed, we will see the park return to normal.'
Report: Kenny McFarland says leaders cant take their eye off the ball

Two thirds of respondents from a Protestant background in the Derry City and Strabane council area feel their culture is always the underdog, according to a new survey.

But there's been a massive increase in the number of young people from the Protestant community who 'feel welcome' in Londonderry, compared to 15 years ago.

The report, due to be launched on Monday, was co-authored by Brian Dougherty and Professor Pete Shirlow and commissioned by Derry City and Strabane District Council. It was led by the Londonderry Bands Forum, which promotes bands in the area, in order to examine Protestant attitudes and concerns.

More than 400 people were interviewed in areas such as Nelson Drive, Artigarvan and Castlederg. A similar 2005 survey was carried out by Queen's and Ulster universities and used as a comparison for the study.

The results show fewer than one in 10 of those surveyed in the PUL (Protestant Unionist Loyalist) community feel their cultural tradition is being protected.

However, the results of the survey suggest increasingly positive attitudes towards the Catholic and nationalist communities overall.

It also shows a 49% increase in the number of Protestants under the age of 24 who feel welcome in the city in which they live, with only small numbers who said they would not visit landmarks such as the Millennium Forum.

There's been a 22% decline in those who do not want to share territory with those from 'other' communities compared with the 2005 survey.

Londonderry Bands Forum chairman Kenny McFarland said the report is an reminder that leaders can no longer "take our eye off the ball".

"We'd a sense that in certain respects many in the Council area, be they decision-makers, movers and shakers, business community and others had become invisible to Protestant concerns and that many within the Protestant community were content to remain invisible," he said.

Vice-chair Derek Moore said as a bandsman of almost 50 years, he is aware his community has a wide range of opinions. "The only problem we have had in the past is that we were content to discuss these issues between ourselves, but not with wider society," he said.
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., March 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Bottled water brand Pure NZ has been turning heads in its native New Zealand for years now. The company delivers a steady stream of bottled water products that are sustainably manufactured directly at the source of a local aquifer outside of the nation's largest city.

Pure NZ has supplied the Land of the Long White Cloud with crystal clear drinking water ever since it was established over a decade ago. The company has managed to deliver naturally filtered pure spring water at the rapid rate of as much as 28,000 bottles per hour due to its ability to "combine an abundant supply with ease of production."

The "abundant supply" part of Pure NZ's recipe for success comes from the company's proximity to the water itself. The enterprise manufactures and fills bottles with some of New Zealand's purest spring water. This happens to be contained in a vast underground aquifer that is located right under the company's bottling factory.

This allows Pure NZ to literally take the water from the source and immediately package it for delivery to customers. This gives the brand a unique ability to control the quality of the liquid itself by cutting out things like transportation and decontamination due to excessive human tampering.

Along with bottling at the source, Pure NZ has managed to ease the production method by building a state-of-the-art bottling facility designed for maximum productivity. This factory utilizes both its enormous size and its automated production capabilities to pump out hundreds of thousands of bottles of water each day. This has put Pure NZ in the driver's seat when it comes to supplying its home country with its own brand of drinkable water. Additionally, Pure NZ also offers private label manufacturing for many of its retail chain partners.

This unique combination of technology and proximity to a natural resource has allowed the company to capitalize on this powerful combination. Pure NZ has become an industry leader that specializes in the high-volume delivery of high-quality water to an ever-increasing audience of both fellow Kiwis and a growing global customer base.

Water has always been an essential part of life on Earth. One can live for weeks without food but only days without water. While H2O, in general, has always been important, though, the finite quantity of fresh, clean water has been highlighted in recent years due to the thirsty needs of a growing global population. Pure NZ is doing its part to address this issue through sustainable sourcing (they even use bottles that are made of recycled plastic), cutting-edge manufacturing, and a desire to bring its aquatic products to as many people around the world as possible.

Please direct inquiries to:

Maris Bradshaw

(954) 349-9847

[email protected]

SOURCE Pure NZ
[Ed. Note: The primary purpose of this post is a link to a portfolio by an American newspaper photographer, and the link appears to be inaccessible from other areas of the world. The video however is available on Facebook at this link: https://www.facebook.com/STLPD/videos/234414541362864 (thanks to Dave_lumb and Sean for this). Mike the Ed.]

-

Photojournalism isn't art. Or rather art photography. It doesn't have the unity of vision of art photography, the subtlety and individuality of purpose or consistency of style. As far as feeling-tone is concerned, sometimes photojournalism clubs you over the head with sentiment. But at its best, there's a vigor to photojournalism that's tough to beatthere's always meaning, and usually, significance. You come away from it with your feathers flustered, feeling like you've been jostled by human contact and touched by the energy of that. You've had an encounter with the world.

It's really nice to be writing this and linking to this when it isn't an obituary, by the way. Too often we only grant a flurry of notice and attentiveness to someone when they die. By which time they are, under most belief systems anyway, unable to appreciate it. Ever notice how death notices are sometimes the first you ever hear of a person? Sad when that happens.

But in this case it's only a retirementMissouri Photojournalism Hall of Fame member J.B. Forbes has retired after 45 years as a photojournalist at four newspapers, most recently as Chief Photographer for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Upside-down Ozzie

As you know, TOP takes (that is to say, I take) the day off on Saturday. It's the day of the week we get the least visits. So I sometimes make an effort to leave you with something to chew on that'll hold you for the weekend.

Perhaps never more so than this. Check out this portfolio and video of some of the highlights of J.B. Forbes' career:

"The stories behind the images: The photos of J.B. Forbes"

Although I never knew his name, I'm amazed by how many of these photographs I know. I have a good visual memory (not so good with names, numbers, or the exact wording of quotesmy editor friend Jim Schley has great retention for exact quotes). I do remember pictures, though. Often for a long time. I'm almost sure I haven't seen upside-down Ozzie Smith since around the time it was taken, but I've always remembered it. I know I've seen many of the photos in this portfolio before. The fireman and the little boy who wouldn't let go of him, with its particularly poignant caption; Spinks landing one on Ali; the prisoners playing dominoes; the girl with the tears in her eyes; that distinctive pose of an energetic candidate Barack Obama; the child holding the AK-47; the young boy watching the couple kiss on the statue; Harry Carey and Jack Buck. I'll bet I haven't seen a lot of these since they were taken, but they're still old friends.

And some new ones, too. I especially like the one of the deer in the graveyard. That scene has a graceful gentleness about it, doesn't it? And the one of the two soldiers on the snowy road with "Santa" in red beside them.

Anyway, this weekend, if you have a spare hour, take a leisurely look through this portfolio and watch the video (I watched in installments). I bet you'll find something to appreciate.

I'm sure we all wish J.B. Forbes a long and productive retirement! Maybe photojournalism isn't artbut hey, art isn't photojournalism, either. :-)

Have a nice weekend! See you on Sunday.

Mike

(Thanks to Ray Hunter)

Product o' the Week:

A fantastically comfortable ergonomic mouse for PC users. Should be considered incompatible with Mac unless you want to use only default settings. Available in regular and small sizes, right and left hand, and wired and wireless. WARNING to Mac users: Do NOT download USBOverdrive! It broke my computer. But really, for you PC users, you won't believe how easy on your hand this mouse is.



The link above is a portal to Amazon, through which most anything you purchase will be credited to TOP. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

And here is a portal to...

Original contents copyright 2021 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)

Featured Comments from:

John Robison: "What a treat. Thanks for that link. My favorite was the night shot of the St.Lewis arch with the snow falling. But really, what a great body of work."

Larry Wilkins: "I think the photo of the coffin of the Franciscan friar, Rev. Valerian Schott, in the grave is just about perfect. Thanks for the link."

DB: "A spectacular portfolio and career. Thanks for posting, Mike."

Hugh Lovell: "A stunning collection of images by J.B. Forbes, many overruning with emotion. Thank you for the link."
Kenya Power has been penalised after one of its transformers exploded and destroyed more than 400 tyres nine years ago, at a Makupa yard in Mombasa.

The electricity company has been ordered to pay Mombasa businessman Ahmed Mbarak more than Sh2 million for the loss and damage he suffered when his business premise was razed by a fire that was started by the faulty transformer.

Mombasa High Court Judge Dorah Chepkwony, while awarding the damages, noted that Kenya Power was negligent and therefore needed to compensate the businessman for the loss he suffered.

"I proceed to award the businessman Sh2 million for the loss and damage that was occasioned to him by the respondent's negligence," said the judge.

In his court documents, Mr Mbarak said that at the time of the incident, his yard had at least 400 second-hand tyres.

He told the court that the incident happened on July 1, 2013, at around 11pm, along Mwangeka Road.

The businessman argued that Kenya Power was liable for the loss he suffered because its property triggered the fire that ended up destroying his business.

Recounting the events of that night, the businessman told the court that he was at Links Road when he received a call from his assistant informing him that the yard, where he stores his tyres, had gone up in flames and the transformer was to blame.

"I instructed my assistant to call one of the staff members to try and put off the fire as I tried to reach the county fire brigade," he said

Mr Mbarak further informed the court that Kenya Power only responded to his calls and managed to contain the inferno after more than five hours.

He said his business suffered because the transformer was one and a half metres from his yard.

Mr Mbarak stated that his yard was fenced, gated and the transformer was near the road.

"The transformer was defective and had been showing sparks and the fuse sparks came into contact with the tyres hence causing the huge loss. The tyres were 400 and I was not able to salvage any," he said.

The businessman assessed the tyres were worth Sh5,000 each, thus estimated his loss at Sh2 million.

He further told the court that the Mombasa Municipal Fire Brigade did a report that confirmed that the loss was connected to the fault in the transformer.

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A firefighter from the county Mr Hamisi Ali, who testified in the case, confirmed that the accident was a result of the faulty transformer

He testified that when they arrived at the scene, they saw electrical sparks emanating from the transformer. The sparks, he noted, fell over to the fence next to the yard causing the tyres to go up in flames.

"We sought assistance from KP to switch off the line to enable us to extinguish the fire with ease, but they did not show up until five hours later when nothing could be salvaged," Mr Ali said.

"I established that the cause of the fire was a short circuit," he added.

However, Kenya Power denied liability, shifting blame to the businessman. The company said that if the accident occurred as alleged, it was due to Mr Mbarak's "negligence, carelessness and recklessness".

Kenya Power neither called any witnesses nor informed the court to adopt its witness statements as part of the trial court's records.

Its case was therefore undefended. The award came as a reprieve to Mr Mbarak, who in 2018 suffered a blow after a magistrate dismissed his claim for damages.

He had first filed this claim for damages before a magistrate court but the same was rejected on grounds that he had failed to prove the value of his destroyed property.

The magistrate did not agree with his contention that his yard had 400 tyres with a value of Sh2 million.

Mr Mbarak then filed an appeal before the High Court, where he successfully pleaded for the damages.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-25 17:48:44|Editor: huaxia

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So-called forced labor in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region is non-existent and entirely imaginary, and the spotless white Xinjiang cotton brooks no slander, a spokesperson of the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said on Thursday. (Xinhua/Lu Ye)

BEIJING, March 25 (Xinhua) -- So-called forced labor in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region is non-existent and entirely imaginary, and the spotless white Xinjiang cotton brooks no slander, a spokesperson of the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said on Thursday.

"We oppose any external forces interfering in Xinjiang-related matters and China's internal affairs. We also oppose sanctions imposed on Chinese individuals and entities based on lies and false information, and on the pretext of so-called human rights issues in Xinjiang," MOC spokesperson Gao Feng said at a press conference.

With regard to the so-called business decisions made by certain foreign companies based on erroneous information, Chinese consumers have responded with concrete actions, said Gao.

It is hoped that these companies will respect the law of the market, rectify their erroneous actions and avoid politicizing business issues, the spokesperson said.

"The Chinese government always welcomes and supports the normal business operations of transnational corporations in China and their efforts to build industrial and supply chains," he said.

"Meanwhile, we welcome foreign companies to come and visit Xinjiang themselves, and stand ready to provide support for companies from all countries to trade and invest in Xinjiang," he added. Enditem
The growing amount of anecdotal and scientific evidence suggesting cannabis can help with anxiety has some people wondering, "Could cannabis also help with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)?"

Its an easy mental leap to make. OCD--an anxiety disorder having to do with excessive orderliness or repeated unwanted thoughts that can be eased by repetitive compulsions--affects 2.2 million people in the United States. It acts on the same parts of the brain that cannabis interacts withmost notably, the CB1 receptors. Its also associated with feelings of stress, obsessive fixation, and paranoiaall of which can, in many cases, be mitigated by cannabis consumption. In a 97% upvoted Reddit post, over 100 users said they felt cannabis or CBD had provided them with relief from OCD.

Researchers are also finding cannabis helps with similar mental illnessesnamely, Tourettes syndrome, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and schizophrenia, Israeli medical cannabis researcher Raphael Mechoulam and cannabis clinician Leigh Vinocur told GreenState. For many patients suffering from these disorders, cannabis eases symptoms by diminishing obsessive, intrusive thoughts.

RELATED: Veterans with PTSD are struggling. Could cannabis help?

But strangely enough, there isnt a lot of solid evidence indicating cannabis diminishes the symptoms of OCD. Though some research has been done on the effects of cannabis on OCD patients, most of it has been through either animal studies and anecdotal reports from small trial groups. And while much of the research is hopeful (one study showed a 60% decrease in compulsions after using cannabis,) the only double-blind, randomized study on the subject showed cannabis had no significant effect on participants suffering from OCD.

Additionally, theres a legitimate fear that THC could heighten paranoia and repetitive thoughts, since it has been known to increase anxiety for certain users.

Case in point, it takes a lot more than a quick Google search to decide if cannabis is right for you if you have OCD. Thats why we took the question to the experts.

According to Dr. Mechoulam, Dr. Vinocur, and Plant Integration Specialist Kathryn Cannon, cannabis has the potential to help people suffering from OCD in two ways:

1. It could be used to compliment SSRIs

Those with OCD are typically prescribed SSRIs, but these serotonin-boosting medications can only do so much. Many patients build up a tolerance to them over time, causing them to lose their effectiveness in curbing intrusive and obsessive thoughts. For some, SSRIs worsen OCD symptoms, or are completely ineffective.

Thats why many in the medical cannabis field see weed as a potential compliment to current treatments for OCD, according to cannabis clinician Leigh Vinocur.

Of all the anxiety disorders, OCD is a very difficult one to treat, Vinocur told GreenState. SSRIs have been the mainstay treatment, but people often stop responding to them. So, most healthcare providers recommended a multi-faceted approach, with other treatments like cognitive behavioral therapy complimenting the medication. People have been looking into cannabis as one such potential compliment to SSRIs.

Vinocur said CBD currently seems to be the preferred cannabinoid for those with OCD since, without the psychoactive effects, it is less likely to induce paranoia and cause OCD to become worse.

People have been looking into CBD mostly as a potential treatment, because of the non-psychoactive nature of it, Vinocur said. Small doses of THC will have a stronger effect and usually wont make the patient become more anxious, but CBD is safest.

RELATED: What to do when you're TOO high

Theres research showing CBD works just as well as THC for patients with OCD. A recent self-reported study showed consuming high concentrations of CBD was correlated with decreasing symptoms of OCD and that, unlike THC, these high concentrations of CBD did not lead to feelings of intoxication for participants of the study.

2. It can help with symptom management

Whether or not cannabis can curb intrusive thoughts, many people inhibited by severe OCD use it as a way to cope with them.

23-year-old caregiver Audrey Pickett says weed is what gives her ability to distance herself from obsessive thoughts that would otherwise significantly decrease her quality of life.

OCD is hard. When I first realized I had it, Id stay up late to quietly clean and skip school or work just to be alone during the day to clean. I hated it. My roommates hated it. It wasnt manageable, Pickett told GreenState. Then I started smoking while I cleaned, and I noticed I was recognizing when I finished, and I was doing things that actually needed to be done, not just things I saw I could do. I found out I could calm those relentless and repetitive thoughts, and it makes me feel much more present in my life.

Pickett said she has tried countless anti-depressants to combat her OCD in the past, but has found natures medicine to be the most helpful when it comes to finding a way to relax.

Plant Medicine Integration Specialist Kathryn Cannon, who works with patients using cannabis for mental health reasons, said this feeling of calm is partly due to the the serotonin-boosting abilities of cannabis.

When a patient finds a strain that is effective, cannabis can reduce anxiety and stress, allowing people with OCD to have more flexibility with their behaviors and experience a reduction in repetitive thoughts, Cannon said. A lot of this is from the impact cannabis has on the chemicals in our brain, such as serotonin.

RELATED: Is cannabis the key to artistic genius?

As previously mentioned, those with OCD run the risk of experiencing intensified symptoms when using THC. If you are considering using cannabinoids of any kind for OCD, Cannon suggests consulting a healthcare professional first, and having a plan in place in case you experience a panic attack.

Whenever you are trying a new strain for treatment, make sure you have a plan in place in case symptoms are temporarily exacerbated, Cannon said. I recommend trying new treatment methods on a day where your routine is typical, and you have someone with you for support. And, its important to speak with your physician about the best course of treatment, and legal options available in your state.

Elissa Esher is Assistant Editor at GreenState. Her work has also appeared in The Boston Guardian, Brooklyn Paper, Religion Unplugged, and Iridescent Women. Send inquiries and tips to elli.esher@hearst.com.
Congress gave final approval on Thursday to a two-month extension of the Paycheck Protection Program, a popular federal loan program for small businesses, as well as giving the Small Business Administration an additional 30 days to process loans submitted before the new May 31 deadline.

The House approved the extension on a 415-to-3 vote earlier this month, and the Senate on Thursday cleared the legislation on a 92-7 margin. The program was set to expire on March 31 without congressional action.

Its clear that the most vulnerable small businesses will need help beyond March 31, so we must pass this extension as quickly as possible, said Senator Ben Cardin, Democrat of Maryland and one of the lawmakers who introduced the legislation. This common sense, bipartisan bill will meet the continued demand for P.P.P. loans.

By extending the program, which was first established in the $2.2 trillion stimulus law passed last March, through May 31, lawmakers gave both lenders and small businesses additional time to adjust to an abrupt overhaul to the program announced by the Biden administration in late February. The changes led to gridlock and uncertainty as self-employed people and the smallest of businesses raced to take advantage of more generous aid freed up by the overhaul.
Recently arrived refugees from Tigray in Ethiopia bring supplies to help set up their shelter in Raquba camp, in Kassala, Sudan (file image).

Alleged serious abuses and rights violations in Ethiopia's Tigray region are to be investigated by the UN, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said on Thursday.

The probe, which will be carried out jointly by the High Commissioner's Office and the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC), is described "as part of the much-needed accountability process for the victims".

The development comes after fighting began in the north Ethiopian state on 4 November last year, between forces loyal to regional power brokers and former national ruling party, the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), and the current national Government forces.

Serious human rights violations and abuses have been reported, the UN rights office said in a statement.

Objective, independent investigation

It pointed to the "multiple actors involved in the conflict and the gravity of the reported violations", and the need for an objective, independent investigation which will start "as soon as possible" and for an initial period of three months.

The agreement by OHCHR and the EHRC to collaborate, is the result of ongoing partnership and engagement, said the statement, "founded on shared objectives to advance and strengthen respect and protection of human rights, as well as accountability for violations of human rights law, committed by all parties" since early November.

WFP emergency support

The World Food Programme (WFP) said on Wednesday that it has begun providing emergency food assistance to vulnerable people across Tigray.

The agency stressed that it urgently needs $170 million to meet critical food and nutrition needs over the next six months. The Ethiopian Government estimates that 4.5 million people need emergency food assistance until late this year and has requested WFP support for around 1.4 million of those in need.

According to the UN Spokesperson's office, WFP noted that the outbreak of conflict in Tigray last November coincided with the peak harvest period, meaning employment and incomes were lost, markets were disrupted, food prices rose, and access to cash and food became limited.

In addition to delivering emergency food assistance in Tigray, WFP has started providing nutrition support for up to 875,000 vulnerable pregnant or breastfeeding women as well as children in the region over the next six months.

WFP is also providing transport and logistics support to the Government and its partners to deliver humanitarian assistance both to and within Tigray Region.
The Government has approved funding of over 300,000 to launch the region's first technology gateway at Dundalk Institute of Technology.

The Tanaiste and Minister for Enterprise Leo Varadkar announced funding of 338,000 to establish the new Enterprise Ireland Technology Gateway for the North-East in DkIT.

The new Technology Gateway will bring together industry and academia in collaboration to work on projects within a certain area of specialisation.

The new Centre for Renewable Energy at Dundalk IT (CREDIT) Technology Gateway is focused on energy efficiency and optimisation and will look at how companies can make both their products and their manufacturing operations as energy efficient as possible.

Local Fine Gael TD, Fergus ODowd, welcomed the Governments approval of the 338,000 fundingto establish the new technology gateway.

ODowd said: This is really positive news for the North East, Gateways have proven to be very effective in other areas where they are already established such as the medical and engineering sectors.

This new Gateway for the North East will focus on EEO (Energy Efficiency and Optimisation), this will essentially study the current manufacturing and operating processes of companies in order to identify and implement more energy efficient processes.

This announcement will also help Ireland achieve its targeted reductions in overall emissions in the years ahead.

This funding will allow DKIT to get the project up and running for an initial two-year timeline with a view to making further funding applications in the years ahead once established.

Dundalk senator John McGahon also welcomed the announcement saying: This is great news for DkIT and will bring together both the academia and industry in a collaborative manner to work on projects with a certain area of specialisation.

It is hoped that the knowledge that is gained from this collaboration in DkIT can then be shared with many other businesses across the country in a positive manner.

The initial funding of 338,000 for two years will allow DkIT to establish and staff the Gateway and with a view to joining the other 15 Gateways in reapplying for funding for a further five years, when a new programme is announced.

Senator McGahon said that this announcement will have a very positive impact on companies in Louth.

As a result of the funding there will be more collaboration and interaction between the Gateway Network and companies.

It is great to see DkIT receiving this funding given their successful history of engagement and I am delighted to see DkiT join the Gateway Network.

Leo Varadkar, announcing the funding, said This new Gateway, based in Dundalk IT will provide a place for industry and experts to work together to look at how companies can make both the products they produce and their own operations more energy efficient.

I hope that the work that they do will find ways of working that can be shared more broadly, with many other businesses across the country.
Colorado Springs, CO (80903)

Today

Sun and clouds mixed. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 76F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Clear skies. Low 53F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph.
EDWARDSVILLE  Moneer Damra was an inspiration to his former nursing students and ROTC cadets at Southern Illinois University, and they are doing their part to make sure he will be an inspiration for others for years to come.

Damra, a 26-year-old student at SIUE, died Jan. 27 at Barnes Jewish Medical Center in St. Louis from injuries suffered in an off-campus shooting on Jan. 14.

The SIUE Student Nurses Association (SNA) is hosting a virtual Trivia Night and Silent Auction at 6 p.m. on Friday, April 9 via Zoom.

Proceeds will support the Moneer Damra Memorial Nursing Scholarship.

We do a silent auction every year to raise money for School of Nursing scholarships and we were supposed to do a trivia night last year, but then COVID struck and it got canceled, SNA President Lindsey James said. This year we wanted to put everything weve got into the scholarship for Moneer and raising money for his family.

We turned it into a virtual trivia night this year and we can host up to 300 participants on Zoom. We have a lot of good trivia categories, so hopefully, there is something for everyone.

Damra, who was a nursing student and a member of the SIUE ROTC program, was transported to a regional hospital with life-threatening injuries after the shooting occurred on the ramp from Illinois Route 157 to Interstate 270 in Glen Carbon.

Two suspects were charged in the shooting incident.

Jacob S. Godoy, 16, was indicted March 18 on two counts of first-degree murder, both Class M felonies. He had previously been charged with two counts of first-degree murder and aggravated battery with a firearm.

Godoy and Jimmy R. Ortiz, 19, of Hazelwood, were originally charged with attempted first-degree murder, but the charges were upgraded after Damra died.

Moneers passing struck a chord with all of us, especially in the nursing community, said James, an Edwardsville High School graduate who is a junior in the School of Nursing. It was so close to home because all of us use that exit every single day. Were hoping that (the scholarship) is something that can provide a glimmer of hope out of a tragic situation.

Anyone can attend the event and admission is free. However, the SNA is accepting donations for the Moneer Damra Nursing Scholarship. For more information or to donate, visit https://www.siueconnect.org/pages/support-pages/moneer-damra-scholarship

All proceeds from the Virtual Silent Auction go to the scholarship as well. To participate in the silent auction, visit https://app.galabid.com/doitlikedamra

Pre-registration for the event is required at https://siue.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJcrduqtrj0jGNWu5lrsAoXtxR716WcLbdvM

For people that cannot participate in Trivia Night, they can still make a donation either through the scholarship link or through the SNA Venmo account at siuesna.

In addition to the Trivia Night and Silent Auction, SIUE will also host a memorial event for Damra on Thursday, May 6 at the Morris University Center.

We dont have any registration set up for that yet, James said. Because of COVID restrictions, there may be a limit on how many people can attend and we dont know yet what that number will be. Were having people from SNA, the ROTC, the Fraternal Order of Police and some faculty members.

People will talk about Moneer and who he was and what were hoping to do to honor him. Were also working on a plaque that will be put up in the Alumni Hall near the School of Nursing. It will be something to honor his memory for years to come.
Price, a postal service employee, said he was on vacation this week and had planned to relax. He has lived in the neighborhood for about seven years but he grew up in Englewood. The block is friendly, mostly a working-class Black community with some Latinos moving in, he said. He could only recall one shooting that had occurred on the block in the time he had lived there, but hearing about gun violence in Chicago wasnt new.
Boris Johnson and Joe Biden last night condemned China after it sanctioned British MPs for exposing what the Prime Minister called 'gross human rights violations'.

Mr Johnson and the US President spoke on the phone to 'express their concerns' over Beijing's move, which came after Britain and the United States imposed sanctions on China.

The Prime Minister said he 'stands firmly' with the MPs and other UK citizens hit by economic sanctions including travel bans after criticising China's mistreatment of Uighur Muslims.

US president Joe Biden, left, and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, right, condemned Beijing's decision to place several MPs on a sanctions list over their criticism of human rights abuses against China's Uighur Muslim population

Iain Duncan Smith, pictured, said that being on the sanction list for standing up for human rights was 'a badge of honour'

A No 10 spokesman said: 'On China, the Prime Minister and President reflected on the significant action taken by the UK, US and other international partners earlier this week to impose sanctions on human rights violators in Xinjiang and expressed their concern about retaliatory action by China.'

President Biden said: 'Well, we talked a lot about climate change, we talked a lot about the need also for Britain and the United States to, to stand together and deal with the whole notion of whether or not NATO stands together, whether we stand united, and whether or not I'd be able to come, and I hope I can, to NATO meeting - I think it's in late June. So we talked about scheduling and when I come over'

'One of the things I suggested we do is - we talked about China and the competition they're engaging in in the Belt and Road Initiative. And I suggested we should have, essentially, a similar initiative coming from the democratic states, helping those communities around the world'

In a further exchange of hostilities, the UK and China summoned each other's ambassadors.

Defiant former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith said being sanctioned was 'a badge of honour', and fellow Conservative Tom Tugendhat, who was also targeted, accused China of a 'direct assault on British democracy'.

Last week, Mr Johnson was accused of going soft on the Chinese after his Government's Integrated Review of defence, security and foreign policy described Beijing as 'an increasingly important partner' rather than an adversary.

But yesterday, his line hardened as he tweeted: 'The MPs and other British citizens sanctioned by China today are performing a vital role shining a light on the gross human rights violations being perpetrated against Uighur Muslims. Freedom to speak out in opposition to abuse is fundamental and I stand firmly with them.'

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said: 'The [Chinese] ambassador here will be summoned and we will explain in very clear terms the position both in relation to the MPs and other figures who have spoken out, but also that we will not be silenced in terms of speaking out about these human rights abuses.'

China has faced international criticism over the internment camps used to hold Uihur Muslims, which Beijing insists are for vocational training

China's charge d'affaires in London hit back, tweeting: 'China was not first to shoot, nor will it be passive or submissive to threats from the outside.' The Uighur are a mostly Muslim, non-Chinese ethnic group living in supposedly autonomous Xinjiang Province, north-west China.

According to the UK Government, survivor testimonies indicate that more than a million people have been detained without trial, with widespread claims of torture, rape and sterilisations in prison camps, where Uighurs are forced to denounce their cultural heritage, language and religion.

Tory MPs Neil O'Brien, Tim Loughton and Nus Ghani, peers Lord Alton and Baroness Kennedy, barrister Geoffrey Nice QC and Newcastle University academic Jo Smith Finley were also sanctioned.

They are now banned from travelling to China, including Hong Kong and Macau, while any property or assets they own in the country will be frozen. Chinese citizens and institutions are also banned from doing business with them.

Four UK institutions China accuses of 'maliciously spreading lies and disinformation' have been hit with the same sanctions: the China Research Group of Tory MPs, the Conservative Party Human Rights Commission, the Uighur Tribunal and legal practice Essex Court Chambers.

The move has been interpreted as retaliation for the UK, US, Canada and the European Union imposing similar sanctions on Chinese officials they deem responsible for human rights abuses.

Beijing has also sanctioned a number of EU officials and European academics.

China expert Charles Parton, who spent more than 20 years as a UK diplomat in Beijing, warned: 'The exchange of economic sanctions sends us into unexplored territory in the UK-China relationship.

'We should prepare for further turbulence.'
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / March 26th, 2021 / LeanLife Health Inc. (CSE:LLP; FSE:LL1, OTCQB:LHLNF) (the "Company") is pleased to announce that effective March 26, 2021, it commences trading on the OTCQB Venture Marketplace ("OTCQB") under the symbol "LHLNF".

Stan Lis, CEO and a Director of Leanlife, states: " Listing on the OTCQB is part of a long-term strategy to introduce our Company to a broader audience. We believe trading on the OTCQB will be beneficial for our shareholders and help us enhance liquidity by providing our current and future American investors with easier access to trade our common shares in the United States."

The OTCQB Venture Market is the premiere marketplace for early stage and developing U.S. and international companies. Participating companies must be current in their reporting and undergo verification and management certification process.

The Company will continue to trade on the Canadian Stock Exchange (CSE) under the symbol: "LLP" and the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in Germany (FSE) under the symbol "LL1".

About LeanLife Health and its Brand Positioning in the Marketplace

The Company is the exclusive distributor of the Iron Energy drink, branded with Mike Tyson. The FoodCare Group, the supplier and manufacturer of Iron Energy, is a market leader in Poland's energy drink market and is a leading brand in the Middle East. We believe, Iron Energy will also appeal to North American consumers and will quickly gain retail and consumer acceptance and trial.

The annual market value of the combined U.S. and Canadian energy drink markets is estimated at over $14 billion (USD). According to Allied Market Research, the global energy drinks market size was valued at $53.01 billion in 2018, and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 7.20% to reach $86.01 billion by 2026.

Capitalizing on the opportunity, LeanLife will offer Iron Energy, a Mike Tyson branded energy drink to the consumers in the United State. LeanLife will be aggressively priced and shelf positioned, to appeal to a broad consumer base. Good market share growth will be expected.

Consumer preference and the increased occasions for energy drink consumption are growing the category. Iron Energy will participate in this phenomenon through category and organic growth. The broad base of health and sport oriented consumers will be attracted to this unique product alternative. Iron Energy is enjoying great success in the European market. We believe Iron Energy will offer a similar success story in North America due to its compelling brand attributes, product taste and energy benefits.

For more information, please see our webswite: www.leanlifehealth.com

or contact:

Stan Lis, CEO

604-764-0518

SLis@LeanLifeHealth.com

Forward Looking Information

Information set forth in this news release contains forward-looking statements that are based on assumptions as of the date of this news release. These statements reflect management's current estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations. They are not guarantees of future performance. The Company cautions that all forward looking statements are inherently uncertain and that actual performance may be affected by a number of material factors, many of which are beyond the Company's control including, the Company's ability to compete with large food companies; sales of any potential products developed will be profitable; the ability to complete sales under the sales agreement. Accordingly, actual and future events, conditions and results may differ materially from the estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations expressed or implied in the forward-looking information. Except as required under applicable securities legislation, the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking information.

THE CSE HAS NEITHER APPROVED NOR DISAPPROVED THE INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN AND DOES NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.

SOURCE: LeanLIfe Health Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/637605/LeanLife-Commences-Trading-on-OTCQB
She celebrated her 44th birthday on Tuesday.

And on Thursday, Keri Russell was spotted enjoying lunch out at an Italian eatery with a female friend.

The actress looked casually stylish as she arrived at the eatery in a beige jacket with brown trim and white cargo pants.

Out to lunch: She celebrated her 44th birthday on Tuesday. And on Thursday, Keri Russell headed to a NY eatery looking stylish in a beige jacket with brown trim and white cargo pants

Russell stepped out in dark red sandals with chunky heels and carried a matching color tote.

Her long hair was loose and she made sure to wear a face mask for her outing.

The former Felicity star lives in the Big Apple with her The Americans co-star Matthew Rhys.

The couple, who got together in 2014, share a son, born in 2016. Russell also has two children from her marriage to Shane Deary from whom she split in 2013.

Had company: The actress met up with a female friend for a meal at an Italian restaurant and the two dined at an outdoor table on the sidewalk

Coordinated ensemble: Russell stepped out in dark red sandals with chunky heels and carried a matching color tote. Her long hair was loose and she made sure to wear a face mask

Russell will next be seen in the horror movie Antlers, due for release later this year at Halloween.

She stars with Jesse Plemons in the set in a small and isolated town in Oregon.

The film centers on a middle-school teacher and her sheriff brother who befriend an enigmatic student (Jeremy T. Thomas) 'whose dark secrets lead to terrifying encounters with a legendary ancestral creature who came before them,' according to IMDb.

Scary: Russell will next be seen in horror movie Antlers, due for release later this year. She plays a teacher whose enigmatic student lead to 'terrifying encounters' with primeval creature
Learning To Live Again: The Lesson Book 2: a gripping read about a group of retired sheriffs who were looking for peace and joy in their retirement, yet instead they discover a chilling unsolved case. Learning To Live Again: The Lesson Book 2 is the creation of published author Randy Getrost, a father of three. He is a man of faith and has seen many challenges in his life.

Getrost shares, Retired Sheriff John Young returned to the plantation he grew up on in South Carolina to find it filled with memories and history that he had to face. He, along with Sheriff Cassie Quince and his mentor Retired Sheriff Buck Branson, uncovered and foiled a gun- and dead-body-smuggling ring.

John has fallen for Cass, and his mentor is falling for Casss widowed mother, Joann. John found redemption and peace with his past and a new zest for life. He is waiting for his brother and his family to arrive at the plantation to make decisions about selling it. His book about his capture of a serial killer is a best seller, and it has allowed John to retire early. It has provided him with financial security but not with happiness. That happiness seems to be possible now, but there are those who would stand in the way of it.

Published by Christian Faith Publishing, Randy Getrosts new book will pull readers into an intriguing mystery tale woven with conflicts of life and love that will keep everyone anticipating every chapter.

View a synopsis of Learning to Live Again: The Lesson Book 2 on YouTube.

Consumers can purchase Learning to Live Again: The Lesson Book 2 at traditional brick & mortar bookstores, or online at Amazon.com, Apple iTunes store, or Barnes and Noble.

For additional information or inquiries about Learning to Live Again: The Lesson Book 2, contact the Christian Faith Publishing media department at 866-554-0919.
A new Consulate General of Ukraine in the United States will open in Houston, Texas, this year.

Such plans were announced by Ambassador of Ukraine to the United States Volodymyr Yelchenko, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"We will open a new consulate general in Houston this year. It was supposed to happen last year, but we were forced to postpone opening due to the pandemic," the diplomat said during an online conference organized by the U.S.-Ukraine Business Council.

The Ambassador stressed that the increase in the number of Ukrainian missions in the US was aimed at taking care of the needs of Ukrainian citizens and businesses. In this regard, Yelchenko thanked the U.S.-Ukraine Business Council which is also making efforts in this area.

As reported, Volodymyr Yelchenko was appointed as the Ambassador of Ukraine to the United States on January 6, 2020. He previously headed the Permanent Mission of Ukraine to the UN. On February 25, 2021, the President of Ukraine appointed Oksana Markarova to the post of Ambassador to the United States.

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Chennai, March 26 : Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K. Palaniswami has promised that extensive development and continuation of projects which were commenced by the AIADMK government over the past 10 years will continue for the next five years if the party is elected back to power.

The Chief Minister was addressing various public programmes at Palani and adjoining areas on Friday after covering Madurai on Thursday.

Palaniswami also spoke extensively on the deteriorated law and order conditions in Tamil Nadu when the DMK was in power. He spoke about the heavy corruption charges against the DMK government in Tamil Nadu and on the jail terms -- DMK leaders A. Raja and Kanimozhi served in the 2G spectrum corruption deals.

Addressing various public rallies across Madurai and Palani, the Chief Minister expressed confidence that the AIADMK-BJP alliance will romp home on the back of development work done throughout his tenure as well as during the period of late Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa.

Palaniswami promised to bring in more water to the state from both Mullaperiyar and Kaveri and stated that farming and industries have to go hand in hand for the development of Tamil Nadu.

Tamil Nadu Minister for Fisheries and senior leader D. Jayakumar who is contesting from the Royapuram assembly constituency told IANS: "The AIADMK government has always stressed on the total and inclusive growth of the state and its people.

"We have stressed importance on education, health, infrastructure, law and order and industrialization in addition to other basic amenities including food, drinking water, power and various welfare measures.

"Our Chief Minister is stressing on these points for developing Tamil Nadu into a model state for the country in terms of development and growth." He also said that for the AIADMK, law and order is a big thing as with poor crime control industrialization is affected.

Palaniswami, while addressing a public meeting in Palani on Friday said, "The law and order machinery of the state will be excellent and I promise the people of Madurai and entire Tamil Nadu that the law and order situation will be properly maintained in the state. Without a proper law and order system, there will not be any industrial growth. We have already invited a lot of industrial majors to the state and this will change the face of Tamil Nadu." Palaniswami had also reminded the people of Tamil Nadu on the DMK cadre's intimidation of shopkeepers and industrialists across the state for money.

The Chief Minister in another public address said "Given the political alliance with the BJP, more support from the central government will be provided to Tamil Nadu.

"I have already promised huge foreign direct investments (FDI) to the state with the support of the central government and the AIADMK government has already conducted several rounds of talks with trade representatives of foreign countries and industries for investments in Tamil Nadu." Both Palaniswami and his deputy, O. Panneerselvam, are focusing their campaigns on development and investments for Tamil Nadu.
To wrap up Womens History Month, Hearst Connecticut Media hosted a virtual event featuring women in leadership roles talking about their lives, careers and tips for other women.

Called Connecticut Women in Leadership, the event featured Alisa Bowens-Mercado, founder of Rhythm Brewing Co.; Wendy Metcalfe, vice president of content and editor-in-chief of the Hearst Connecticut Media Group; and Sara Bronin, an architect, attorney, professor, policymaker and founder of Desegregate Connecticut.

The discussion, streamed over Facebook Live on Tuesday, asked the panelists to talk about the women that inspire them, how they overcame challenges and what advice they have for other women looking to pursue their own goals.

Keila Torres Ocasio, managing editor of the Connecticut Post, moderated the discussion.

A professional salsa dancer/instructor, Bowens-Mercado, joined the craft beer scene in 2018.

I have this quote that if you walk into a room and you are the only one in that room that looks like you, that means youre in the right room, she said. Have the audacity, be audacious to stay there and be fearless.

A craft beer lover herself, Bowens-Mercado set out on a personal quest to offer better beverage options to suit a wider array of palates and founded Rhythm Brewing Co. She made history by becoming the first African American, woman-owned beer brand in Connecticut and the fourth in the country.

Once that happened, it was a win for all of us. It was a a win for the culture, she said.

Metcalfe, who joined Hearst Connecticut Media Group in 2019 as vice president of content and editor-in-chief, reflected on being the first woman to lead the Toronto Sun newspaper.

It wasnt that long ago, so I really shouldnt have been the first, she said. But I looked at it as an opportunity.

Metcalfe is also executive sponsor of Hearsts Diversity Equity and Inclusion Council. She was previously director of content and editor-in-chief at Brunswick News  a Canadian media company comprised of a number of publications, including the award-winning provincial newspaper the Telegraph-Journal, where she also oversaw marketing and reader sales.

The biggest thing is just getting over that fear, she said. We are going to fail, you learn so much from your failures. What do they say about Michael Jordan? Its all the shots he missed.

For me personally, being the only person in the room in some cases is always uncomfortable, said Bronin, a Mexican-American architect, attorney and professor. And part of what Ive had to do to get over that is work harder.

Bronin is also a policymaker specializing in property, land use, historic preservation, and climate change. She advises the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the Sustainable Development Code, serves on the board of Latinos in Heritage Conservation, and leads Desegregate Connecticut.

Its always said some people have to work harder just to sort of prove that theyre the same  and I do see that with Latino women and men in the communities I work in, she said.

Watch a recap of the discussion at facebook.com/ctpost.
Alabaster Co Logo Our hope is that through our company's commitment to excellence, quality, and impact, we would show a more beautiful God to the world.

Inc. magazine revealed that Alabaster Co is No. 16 on its second annual Inc. 5000 Regionals: California list, the most prestigious ranking of the fastest-growing California-based private companies. Born of the annual Inc. 5000 franchise, this regional list represents a unique look at the most successful companies within the California economys most dynamic segmentits independent small businesses.



"We are honored to have made this year's Inc. 5000 Regionals: California!" said Brian Chung, Co-Founder of Alabaster Co. "Alabaster Co first started as an idea to create a beautiful Bible reading experience for today's highly visual generation, and we are grateful for where that idea has taken us today." "We are also thankful to our incredible team," Bryan Ye-Chung, Alabaster's Co-Founder said. "Our hope is that through our company's commitment to excellence, quality, and impact, we would show a more beautiful God to the world.



The companies on this list show stunning rates of growth across all industries in California. Between 2017 and 2019, these 250 private companies had an average growth rate of 535 percent and, in 2019 alone, they employed more than 40,000 people and added nearly $7 billion to the California economy. Companies based in major metro areasLos Angeles, the Bay Area, and San Diegobrought in the highest revenue overall.



Complete results of the Inc. 5000 Regionals: California, including company profiles and an interactive database that can be sorted by industry, metro area, and other criteria, can be found at https://www.inc.com/inc5000/regionals/california starting March 16, 2021.



This list proves the power of companies in California no matter the industry, says Inc. editor-in-chief Scott Omelianuk. The impressive revenues and growth rates prove the insight and diligence of CEOs and that these businesses are here to stay.

Alabaster Co is an art and faith publishing brand, designing Bibles and products for today's visual generation. Founded by two friends, Brian Chung and Bryan Ye-Chung, Alabaster Co explores the intersection of creativity, beauty, and faith. Alabaster Co is headquartered near Los Angeles. For more information, visit https://www.alabasterco.com/



More about Inc. and the Inc. 5000 Regionals



Methodology

The 2021 Inc. 5000 Regional are ranked according to percentage revenue growth when comparing 2017 and 2019. To qualify, companies must have been founded and generating revenue by March 31, 2017. They had to be U.S.-based, privately held, for profit, and independentnot subsidiaries or divisions of other companiesas of December 31, 2019. (Since then, a number of companies on the list have gone public or been acquired.) The minimum revenue required for 2017 is $100,000; the minimum for 2019 is $1 million. As always, Inc. reserves the right to decline applicants for subjective reasons.



About Inc. Media

The worlds most trusted business-media brand, Inc. offers entrepreneurs the knowledge, tools, connections, and community to build great companies. Its award-winning multiplatform content reaches more than 50 million people each month across a variety of channels including websites, newsletters, social media, podcasts, and print. Its prestigious Inc. 5000 list, produced every year since 1982, analyzes company data to recognize the fastest-growing privately held businesses in the United States. The global recognition that comes with inclusion in the 5000 gives the founders of the best businesses an opportunity to engage with an exclusive community of their peers, and the credibility that helps them drive sales and recruit talent. The associated Inc. 5000 Conference is part of a highly acclaimed portfolio of bespoke events produced by Inc. For more information, visit http://www.inc.com.
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MOSCOW  Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has accused prison authorities of failing to provide proper treatment for his back pain and leg problems, saying in a letter posted Thursday that his physical condition has worsened in prison and he now has trouble walking.

Navalny blamed his health problems on prison officials failing to provide the right medicines and refusing to allow his doctor to visit him behind bars. He also complained in a second letter that the hourly checks a guard makes on him at night amounted to sleep deprivation torture.

Copies of his letters to penitentiary officials and Russias top prosecutor were posted on Navalnys website.

The 44-year-old Navalny, who is President Vladimir Putins most outspoken opponent, was arrested on Jan. 17 upon his return 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.

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Last month, Navalny was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison for violating the terms of his probation while convalescing in Germany. The sentence stems from a 2014 embezzlement conviction that Navalny has rejected as fabricated  and which the European ourt of Human Rights has ruled to be unlawful.

My condition has worsened. I feel acute pain in my right leg, and I feel numbness in its lower part, Navalny wrote in the letter. I have trouble walking.

He said that the authorities have given him standard pills and ointment for his pain, but refused to accept medicines earlier prescribed by his doctor.

He accused prison officials of undermining his health with a deliberate denial of due medical assistance.

Russias Federal Penitentiary Service said earlier Thursday that Navalny had undergone medical check-ups the previous day, describing his condition as stable and satisfactory.

But Navalnys lawyer, Olga Mikhailova, said Thursday after visiting him in prison that his right leg is in terrible shape.

Mikhailova said on Dozhd TV that Navalny was taken to a hospital outside his prison on Wednesday for magnetic resonance tomography but wasnt given the results.

She said Navalny had experienced back pain for four weeks, but prison officials also would not permit a visit by his doctor. The lawyer argued that authorities should transfer Navalny to Moscow so he could get better treatment.

Navalnys wife, Yulia, said on Instagram that she doesnt trust the prison medics, and she called on authorities to let doctors who have her and her husbands trust in to see him. She said prison authorities refused to accept a note from Navalnys doctor prescribing some exercises to ease his back pain.

She denounced the treatment of her husband in prison as part of Putins personal revenge.

Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that the Kremlin wasnt following Navalnys condition, referring questions to the penitentiary service.

Earlier this month, Navalny was moved to a prison colony in Pokrov in the Vladimir region, 85 kilometers (53 miles) east of Moscow. The facility stands out among Russian penitentiaries for its particularly strict regime that includes routines like standing at attention for hours.

In a note earlier this month, Navalny described the prison, IK-2, as a friendly concentration camp. He said he hadnt seen even a hint at violence there but lived under controls that he compared to George Orwells Nineteen Eighty-Four.

Navalny, whom prison authorities had earlier marked as a flight risk, said he was subject to particularly close oversight, including a guard waking him up every hour at night and filming him to demonstrate he is in the required place.

He complained about the practice in a separate letter to the chief of the penitentiary service and the top prosecutor that also was released Thursday, saying that the hourly checks amount to sleep deprivation torture.

Navalnys arrest in January triggered a wave of protests that drew tens of thousands of participants across Russia. Authorities detained about 11,000 people, many of whom were fined or given jail terms ranging from seven to 15 days.

Navalnys associates called earlier this week for another mass protest across the country to demand his release from prison. They urged Russians to sign up for a protest on an interactive map and said they would set a date for it when the number of people willing to take part reaches at least 500,000 nationwide.

More than 250,000 have registered on a dedicated website since it opened Tuesday.

Russian officials have rejected demands from the United States and the European Union to free Navalny and stop the crackdown on his supporters.

___

An earlier version corrected the surname of Navalnys lawyer to Mikhailova, not Volkova,
Indore, the worst-hit district in



Madhya Pradesh in terms of COVID-19 outbreak, has reported 612 new infection cases, its highest single-day spike since the pandemic began, a health official said on Friday.

These new cases were reported on Thursday, surpassing its previous high of 595 cases it had recorded on December 1 last year, he said.

Taking serious cognisance of the spurt in cases, the district crisis management committee has decided to increase the night curfew timing by one hour. So the curfew will now begin at 9 pm instead of 10 pm, Collector Manish Singh said.

The administration has also decided to shut all religious places in the city, he said.

Moreover, nobody will be allowed to step out of their houses to celebrate Holi on Monday, the collector added.

Meanwhile, an eight-year-old boy from tribal Jhabua district succumbed to the infection at a private hospital in the city on Thursday night.

"The boy was brought to the hospital in a critical condition after initial treatment in Jhabua. Despite trying our best we could not save him," that hospital's deputy director Dr Amit Bhatt said.

"His lungs were 70 per cent affected at the time of admission," he said.

On Thursday night, Bhopal reported 425 new COVID-19 cases. Considering this rise in cases, the district crisis management committee is set to review the measures to contain the spread of the virus, official sources said.

Fresh guidelines for the state capital will be issued by the evening, they said.

Madhya Pradesh on Thursday reported 1,885 new COVID-19 cases, taking its case tally to 2,82,174.

Nine fatalities increased the death toll to 3,928, an official 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.)
A state appeals court has upheld the New York Police Department's decision to fire the cop who put Eric Garner in a lethal chokehold in 2014.

Daniel Pantaleo acted 'recklessly' by holding the black man in a prohibited chokehold for 9 to 10 seconds, a five-judge panel of the state Supreme Court's Appellate Division ruled.

Garner's dying words of 'I can't breathe' were caught on cell phone footage by witnesses and became a rallying cry among police reform activists everywhere.

The judges on Thursday agreed that the NYPD's decision to fire him in 2019 was an appropriate outcome.

Pantaleo went to court seeking to be reinstated. His lawyer argued that termination was an excessive punishment and that was 'shocking to one's sense of fairness.'

Daniel Pantaleo was fired from NYPD over the 2014 chokehold death of Eric Garner. He went to court seeking to be reinstated, his lawyer saying his termination was an excessive punishment

But the appellate panel rejected that, saying there was 'substantial evidence' to support the conclusion that Pantaleo 'recklessly caused injury to Eric Garner by maintaining a prohibited chokehold for 9 to 10 seconds after exigent circumstances were no longer present, thereby disregarding the risk of injury.'

Garner was arrested in July 2014 for selling loose, untaxed cigarettes in the NYPD district of Staten Island.

Officers, including Pantaleo, wrestled with Garner against a glass storefront window in Staten Island.

Pantaleo placed his arm around Garner's neck with other officers pinning him to the ground.

Bystander video showed Garner gasping the words 'I can't breathe.'

Officers, including Pantaleo, wrestled with Garner against a glass storefront window in Staten Island after accusing him of selling loose, untaxed cigarettes

Following Garner's death in July 2014, a Richmond County grand jury made the decision not to indict Pantaleo.

However, NYPD stripped Pantaleo of his gun and put him on desk duty, where he continued to earn a salary with his pay peaking at more than $120,000 in 2017, city records show.

He was fired by Commissioner James P. ONeill in August 2019 - five years after Garner's death.

The NYPD held off on starting its internal disciplinary process for several years, with officials saying they did not want to interfere with a federal civil rights investigation that ultimately yielded no charges.

However, the head of the city's police watchdog agency, the Civilian Complaint Review board, commended the appeals court for upholding Pantaleo's firing.

'Daniel Pantaleo should never be able to patrol New York City streets again, and now New Yorkers can rest assured that he won't,' CCRB chairperson Fred Davie said.

Messages seeking comment were left with Pantaleo's lawyer and with a spokesperson for the NYPD.
The B.1.1.7 variant of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was first identified in the UK in late 2020 and marked what has been termed the second wave of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in the UK. The B.1.1.7 variant has been associated with increased transmissibility compared to the wild-type variant, and became the dominant strain within months. Anecdotally, though supported by a small number of studies in other countries such as Japan, the average COVID-19 patient requiring hospitalization during the second wave was younger, and less likely to bear comorbidities.

In a paper recently uploaded to the preprint server medRxiv*, clinical and demographic data from across the UK is compared to viral genome sequence data, identifying trends amongst the population affected, and across SARS-CoV-2 strains.

How was the study performed?

Electronic health data regarding COVID-19 patients from five hospital trusts located in London was collected from between the period March 13, 2020, to February 17, 2021, and divided amongst six categories: outpatients, NHS employees, non-hospitalized, hospitalized, hospital-acquired cases, and interhospital transfers. Whole genome sequencing of residual patient samples following PCR testing was performed to obtain the SARS-CoV-2 genetic sequence, and the lineage assigned by computational comparison with known genomes. Age, sex, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, medical history, and other demographic data were also collected for each of the nearly 6,000 individuals included in this study.

The group assigned the first wave as the period from the start of the study until mid-May, when a baseline level of just 5-20 cases per day was reached and maintained for several months until the start of the second wave, in early October. The dividing point between the two waves, then, was said to be July 25, the mid-point. The first wave consisted of 26.3% of the cases, with wave two being almost three times larger.

What trends were observed?

The group noted that there was a slight decrease in the average age of patients in the second wave, being 62 years in the first and 60 in the second. Women were also more common in the second wave, being 41.8% of all cases in the first and 47.3% in the second. Additionally, those in the second wave were less likely to bear comorbidities such as frailty, or have a history of stroke or cancer.

Other comorbidities such as diabetes, kidney disease, hypertension, or cardiovascular disease were equally represented in both waves one and two, while obesity was actually more common amongst COVID-19 patients in the second wave. An equal proportion of patients suffered from hypoxia and other severe SARS-CoV-2 symptoms in both waves.

Patients in wave one were each assumed to be of the non-B.1.1.7 lineage of SARS-CoV-2, as the variant had not yet been discovered by this time. However, data collected during the second wave allowed the group to compare demographic and clinical data related to strain. On average, those with the B.1.1.7 variant of COVID-19 were slightly older, 64 compared to 62, and had no difference in ethnicity, though were more likely to be women. 48% of those with the B.1.1.7 variant were women, compared with 41.8% of those with the non- B.1.1.7 variant being women in the second wave, the same ratio between men and women observed in wave one. Additionally, those with the B.1.1.7 variant were less likely to be frail while being more likely to be obese, as observed in the general trend between first and second waves. 70% of those with the B.1.1.7 variant of SARS-CoV-2 were hypoxic upon hospitalization, compared with 62.5% of those with the non-B.1.1.7 strain. However, biomarkers of inflammation were identical or, in fact, lower amongst those with the B.1.1.7 strain.

The group suggests that this is consistent with the observed enhanced virulence of this strain, and potential increased virulence in females. Indeed, other studies have suggested that females are more likely to require hospitalization and suffer poor outcomes from the B.1.1.7 strain. With regards to the apparently lower rate of frail individuals requiring hospitalization, the group explains that lower nursing home relocation and greater shielding protocols meant that such individuals were less likely to report to the hospital.

Importantly, it was found that despite enhanced social distancing measures and more widely committed mask-wearing coming up to the beginning of the second wave, non-hospitalized COVID-19 patient numbers remained approximately equivalent between each wave. However, the enhanced virility of the now dominant B.1.1.7 strain combined with greater testing capacity likely contributed to these figures, with a larger number of asymptomatic individuals being identified.

*Important Notice

medRxiv publishes preliminary scientific reports that are not peer-reviewed and, therefore, should not be regarded as conclusive, guide clinical practice/health-related behavior, or treated as established information.
A driver in Pakistan has escaped death by mere inches after his brand new car was crushed by a landslide of large boulders.

Rashid Iqbal, 46, was driving three passengers in his new Suzuki when a one tonne boulder suddenly crushed the car, killing his three companions.

The landslide occured on March 24 in the town of Dhirkot in the southern Pakistani region of Azad Kashmir.

Rashid Iqbal, 46, was driving three passengers in his new Suzuki when the a one tonne boulder suddenly crushed the car. He was the sole survivor

A one tonne boulder fell directly on Iqbal's new car, crushing it and killing the three passengers who were with him. The large boulder missed Iqbal's head by mere inches

Locals hurridley stepped in to help and smashed through the car windows with hammers in hopes of saving any survivors.

The driver luckily survived the landslide and only suffered minor wounds to his head

Once locals had spotted the driver, they hacked through the crushed car door with an axe to set him free.

One local held Iqbal's head as they pried the wreckage apart in a bit to save him.

The rescue mission took around two hours.

Iqbal was dragged out from among the rubble and debris and rushed to hospital.

Astonishingly, the driver only suffered minor head wounds.

Iqbal was driving three passengers in his brand new Suzuki when the sudden landslide crushed the car. Locals rushed to the scene in a bid to rescue any survivors

It took a two-hour rescue mission to pull Iqbal from the wreckage. Heavy machinery was required to get the three passengers out, who all died at the scene

Heavy machinery was required to pull the three passenger's out from the wreckage though the three died at the scene.

A witness said: "It was his day to escape. There are good and bad days. It was one of the worst tragedies that befallen upon us after losing three others, you know human life is invaluable."
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-26 20:31:09|Editor: huaxia

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Photo taken with a mobile phone on March 26, 2021 shows people gathering at the site of a train collision in Sohag, Egypt. At least 32 were killed and 66 others wounded as two trains collided on Friday in Egypt's southern province of Sohag, said a Health Ministry statement. (Photo by Ahmed al-Afyouni/Xinhua)

SOHAG, Egypt, March 26 (Xinhua) -- At least 32 were killed and 66 others wounded as two trains collided on Friday in Egypt's southern province of Sohag, said a Health Ministry statement.

At least 36 ambulances were sent to the scene and transferred the wounded to four public hospitals nearby, according to the ministry statement.

A passenger train rear-ended another one with air-conditioning system in Tahta city, 467 km from the capital Cairo, causing three carriages to be derailed, an official security source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

"The accident was horrible, and the people helped the security men find the wounded inside the damaged carriages," an eyewitness said.

Some bodies are still stuck inside the three carriages, he added, without revealing his name. Enditem
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The Portfolio Committee on Public Works and Infrastructure concluded the virtual oral public hearings on the Expropriation yesterday. The committee listened to representatives from organisations and individuals expressing different opinions on the bill.

Ms Pretty Olifant, an entrepreneur from KwaZulu-Natal, supported the bill, saying: "Our family had a land, but lost it through dispossession. When we wanted to claim it, we were ironically told to produce evidence." Her family needs land for traditional medicine and to have the ownership of its natural resources.

A representative of the Transvaal Landbou Unie, Mr Bennie van Zyl, told the committee that farming is an economic activity, part of the free market economy and should be treated as such. The bill will chase away investors, he said, because no investor will invest assets in a country in which they can be taken away without compensation. In his view, this bill will steal their children's future and will bring poverty in its wake. "We need investment and entrepreneurs, not expropriation. The question to be asked is, will the market accept this bill? Or is it a bill that seeks to save the face of the ANC than to make this country prosperous?"

The African National Congress Member of the Western Cape Provincial Legislature, Mr Cameroon Dugmore, said the bill is a tool to redistribute agricultural and industrial land and to bring about land restitution as a means to address the injustices of the past. He lauded the public participation process as a critical undertaking that will give voice to the landless and various sectors of society to ensure that the colonial legacy of dispossession.

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Mr Dugmore called on the publication of the land audit to establish the full extent of land resources, especially in the Western Cape, where land ownership is skewed in favour a white minority that owns 70.7% of the prime urban land.

A representative of the Cape Flats Communities, Mr Faiez Jacobs, is of the view that the bill will address a dream deferred, a dream that is now in the realm of a possibility." As victims of dispossessed families, we still feel the trauma and bear the deep scars of land dispossession. We are here to be seen and be listened to, and for our concerns to be taken into consideration," he said.

The Congress of the South African Trade Unions' representative, Mr Mathew Parks, reiterated that it's the obligation of the state to address the injustices of the past and this bill is a direct response to that. "That is why we need just and equitable access to land. If not, we will be faced with constitutional crisis."

The representative of Agriculture Business Chamber, Mr Theo Boshoff, stated that they support the bill and acknowledge the need for land reform. However, they are of the view that there should be an equitable balance between value and compensation.

The Leader of the House of Traditional Leaders, Mr Sipho Mahlangu, made it clear that they are against any attempt to expropriate communal land under their jurisdiction. "We are of the view that the bill should exempt land in our jurisdiction from expropriation." He also recommended that the Expropriation Authority should not be vested in local government because it can be a source of conflict of interest and defeat its intended objective.

Abel Mputing
Hands with Purple Latex Gloves Holding Marijuana Buds (Getty Images)

In a major shot in the arm for the $4.2bn marijuana industry, New York state officials on Thursday finalised a deal that legalises the recreational drug in the state.

As per an internal memo, this legislation mandates the creation a new Office of Cannabis Management, controlled by the Cannabis Control Board and would eventually allow New Yorkers over the age of 21 to grow their own plants in their homes, and a 13 per cent tax would be tacked on to retail sales for state and local tax revenue, CNN reported, quoting internal sources.

The move is expected to create tens of thousands of new jobs and has the potential to become one of the largest markets in the country.

Lawmakers in Albany struck an agreement with New York governor Andrew Cuomo to legalise cannabis for adults above 21 years.

Officials are hoping that this will put an end to years of racially disproportionate policing that saw Black and Hispanic people arrested on low-level marijuana charges far more frequently than white people, the New York Times reported.

More details accessed by the Times suggest that the deal would allow delivery of the drug and permit club-like lounges or consumption sites where marijuana, but not alcohol, could be consumed.

The legislation to legalise recreational marijuana in New York also allows a person to cultivate up to six marijuana plants at home, indoors or outdoors, for personal use.

Read more:

However, once approved, the sale of marijuana in the state is going to take time. Reports said that the officials first need to write rules to regulate the market and create a new control board that would oversee the industry.

Story continues

Just last month, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed bills to legalise marijuana for those above 21 years in the state and decriminalise possession of limited amounts of marijuana.

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Crystal D Peoples-Stokes, a Democrat who has spearheaded the legalisation effort in the lower chamber for years, told New York Times: A percentage of revenue that is raised will get invested into the communities where the people who suffered mass incarceration come from and still live in many cases. For me this is a lot more than about raising revenue: Its about investing in the lives of the people that have been damaged.

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Meanwhile, for unlawful possession, the new deal also has come up with a range of criminal penalties including a violation for three ounces of flower or 24 grams of concentrated cannabis and a Class D felony for more than 10 pounds of flower or four pounds of concentrated cannabis, local reports said.
NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / March 25, 2021 / Pomerantz LLP is investigating claims on behalf of investors of Gannett Co., Inc. ("Gannett" or the "Company")(NYSE:GCI). Such investors are advised to contact Robert S. Willoughby at newaction@pomlaw.com or 888-476-6529, ext. 7980.

The investigation concerns whether Gannett and certain of its officers and/or directors have engaged in securities fraud or other unlawful business practices.

[Click here for information about joining the class action]

On February 25, 2021, Gannett issued a press release announcing the Company's fourth quarter and full year financial results. Among other results, the Company reported a net loss of $670.5 million, which "reflects a second quarter non-cash write-down related to the second quarter 2020 impairment of goodwill and intangible assets of $393.4 million, as well as a $74.3 million non-cash loss on the derivative associated with our convertible debt and a $43.8 million loss associated with the early extinguishment of debt."

On this news, Gannett's stock price fell $0.79 per share, or 14.08%, to close at $4.82 per share on February 25, 2021.

The Pomerantz Firm, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Paris is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, the Pomerantz Firm pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 80 years later, the Pomerantz Firm continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomerantzlaw.com.

SOURCE: Pomerantz LLP





View source version on accesswire.com:

https://www.accesswire.com/637580/SHAREHOLDER-ALERT-Pomerantz-Law-Firm-Investigates-Claims-On-Behalf-of-Investors-of-Gannett-Co-Inc--GCI




By H.E. Mr. Md. Abdul Hamid

President of Bangladesh





H.E. Mr. Md. Abdul Hamid, Hon'ble President of Bangladesh

Today is March 26, our Independence and National Day. This year we are celebrating the Golden Jubilee of our Independence. On this occasion, I extend my heartfelt greetings and warm felicitations to my fellow countrymen living at home and abroad.



On this historic day, I remember with profound respect the architect of our independent Bangladesh, Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. On the fateful night of March 25, 1971, the invading forces of Pakistan suddenly attacked the unarmed Bangalees. In the early hours of March 26, Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman officially declared the Independence of Bangladesh. We achieved an independent and sovereign Bangladesh through the nine-month-long Liberation War. I recall with deep respect the millions of martyrs who sacrificed their lives in the War of Liberation and we achieved our Independence for their supreme sacrifice. I also recall with deep reverence our Four National Leaders, valiant freedom-fighters, organizers, supporters, foreign friends and people from all walks of life who made contributions to attain our right to self-determination and freedom movement.



We have achieved our great Independence through huge sacrifices. Bangabandhu always cherished a dream of building a happy and prosperous country along with attaining political emancipation. The present government has been rendering untiring efforts in materializing that dream of Bangabandhu. Today, Bangladesh is moving towards the highway of development at an inexorable pace. We have achieved enormous success in various areas of socio-economic development including poverty alleviation, education, health, human resources development, women's empowerment, reduction of child and maternal mortality rates, elimination of gender discrimination and increase in average life expectancy. The rate of poverty has been dropped. Per capita income has tripled over the past decade. The Padma Bridge, being constructed by our own resources, is now completely visible. Works on Metro Rail, Payra Deep Sea Port, Karnafuli Tunnel, Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport's Third Terminal and Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant are also progressing uninterruptedly. In various indicators of economic and social development, Bangladesh has been able to surpass not only the neighboring countries of South Asia, but also many developed countries.





Father of the Nation of Bangladesh Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman

Despite the negative impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the world economy, due to the timely and courageous steps taken by Hon'ble Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the government has been able to maintain economic growth by countering the effects of the coronavirus. A huge amount of remittances sent by expatriate Bangladeshis has made an important contribution to keep the wheel of the economy rolling during this time. The government has announced 23 stimulus packages worth taka 1 lakh 24 thousand crore to keep the wheel of the economy rolling. Arrangements have also been made to provide COVID-19 vaccines. Bangladesh ranks first in South Asia and 20th in the world in the "COVID Resilience Ranking" compiled by the U.S. news agency Bloomberg for successful handling of the coronavirus pandemic, economic revival and maintaining normal livelihoods. Through this, Bangladesh's image has been upheld around the world.



Recently, Bangladesh has received the final recommendation from the United Nations to her emergence from a least developed country to a developing one. It is a unique gift for the nation at the juncture of "Mujibbarsho" and the Golden Jubilee of our Independence. Bangladesh will turn into a developed and prosperous country by 2041 by ensuring continuation of current development process, Insha Allah.



In pursuing our diplomatic objectives, the government has been consistent in upholding the principle of "Friendship to all, malice towards none" as enunciated by the Father of the Nation. Our achievement in the international arena, including the establishment of world peace, is also commendable. Despite being a densely populated country, Bangladesh has set a unique example of humanity in the world by sheltering millions of Rohingyas who have been tortured and forcibly deported from Myanmar. Accommodation has been provided with all kinds of facilities in Bhasanchar for the Rohingyas. Bangladesh believes in a peaceful solution to this problem. I call upon the United Nations and the international community, including Myanmar, to take early and effective measures for a permanent solution to this problem.



In order to achieve the desired goal of Independence, we must ensure people-oriented and sustainable development, good governance, social justice, transparency and accountability. Forbearance, human rights and rule of law have to be consolidated for institutionalizing democracy. National Parliament will have to be turned into the center of hopes and aspirations of the people. The ruling party as well as the opposition should play a constructive role in this regard in the parliament.



Bangabandhu is the source of eternal inspiration for the Bengali nation. The government has extended the period of "Mujibbarsho" till Dec. 16, 2021, to celebrate the birth centenary of the Father of the Nation grandiosely at home and abroad. On the eve of "Mujibbarsho" and the Golden Jubilee of our Independence, with the joint efforts of all, may our beloved motherland become a developed country free from hunger and poverty  this is my expectation on the great Independence Day.



Joi Bangla.

Khoda Hafez, May Bangladesh Live Forever.





By H.E. Sheikh Hasina

Prime Minister of Bangladesh





H.E. Sheikh Hasina, Hon'ble Prime Minister of Bangladesh

Today is March 26  our great Independence Day. Bangladesh completes 50 years today since its independence. I extend my heartiest greetings to the countrymen and expatriate Bangladeshis on the occasion of the golden jubilee of great independence.



March 26 is the day of establishing self-identity of our nation. It's the day of breaking the shackles of subjugation. On this Independence Day, I recall with deep gratitude the Greatest Bangalee of all times, Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, under whose undisputed leadership we have earned our independence. I pay my tributes to four national leaders, 3 million martyrs and 200,000 dishonored women of the War of Liberation. My homage goes to all the valiant freedom fighters, including the wounded ones. I extend my sympathies to those who had lost their near and dear ones, and were subjected to brutal torture during the Liberation War. I recall with gratitude our foreign friends who had extended their support during our Liberation War.



On the occasion of the golden jubilee of independence, colorful programs have been chalked out from March 26, 2021, to Dec. 16, 2021, and the period from March 17, 2020, to Dec. 16, 2021, is being celebrated as "Mujib Year" marking the birth centenary of the Father of the Nation. In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, the Golden Jubilee of Independence and the "Mujib Year" are being celebrated avoiding public gatherings following the protocols of hygiene.



The Bangalee nation had fought against oppression and deprivation of Pakistani rulers' for 23 long years under the leadership of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib. They were compelled to hold general elections in 1970. Bangladesh Awami League led by Bangabandhu won an absolute majority in the elections. But the Pakistani rulers adopted repressive measures instead of handing over power to the majority party representatives. Calling for independence at the then Racecourse Ground on March 7, 1971, Bangabandhu declared, "The struggle this time is the struggle for our emancipation; the struggle this time is the struggle for independence, Joi Bangla." He instructed the Bangalee Nation to resist the enemies.



The Pakistani occupation forces unleashed a sudden attack and started massacring innocent and unarmed Bangalees on the fateful night of March 25, 1971. They killed thousands of people in different places, including Dhaka. Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman formally proclaimed the Independence of Bangladesh at the first hour of March 26, 1971. Bangabandhu's proclamation was spread all over the country through telegrams, tele-printers and EPR wireless. The international media also had circulated Bangabandhu's proclamation of Independence. The first Government of Bangladesh took oath on April 17, 1971, in Mujibnagar with Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as President, Syed Nazrul Islam as Vice President, Tajuddin Ahmed as Prime Minister and Capt. M Mansur Ali and AHM Kamaruzzaman as ministers. The resistance war against the occupying forces began. After nine months of the blood-shedding Liberation War, the final victory was achieved on Dec. 16.



In the 50 years since independence what we have achieved has been achieved by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the Awami League. In just three and a half years of his government, he rebuilt the war-ravaged country. Destroyed roads, bridges, culverts, railways and ports were rebuilt to revive the economy. In 1975, the GDP growth rate exceeded 7 percent. Bangladesh gained recognition from 116 countries and got the memberships of 27 international organizations.



Our constitution was made on the basis of the spirit of the Liberation War under his direction within just 10 months. In just three and a half years, he took war-torn Bangladesh to the list of least developed country. While Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib was advancing to build an exploitation-deprivation-free non-communal democratic "Sonar Bangla" overcoming all obstacles, the anti-liberation forces brutally killed him along with most of his family members on Aug. 15, 1975.



After the assassination of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib, the development and progress of Bangladesh came to a halt. The politics of killing, coup and conspiracy started in our beloved motherland. The assassins and their accomplices promulgated the 'Indemnity Ordinance' to block the trial of this heinous murder in the history.



Getting the public mandate in 1996, Bangladesh Awami League formed the government after long 21 years. After assuming the office, we took the initiatives to establish Bangladesh as self-respectful in the comity of nations. Through the introduction of social safety-net programs, poor and marginalized people are brought under government allowances. We made the country self-sufficient in food production with special emphasis on agricultural production. The Ganges Water Sharing Treaty was signed with India in 1996. We signed the historic Peace Accord in 1997 with the aim of establishing peace in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. By repealing the "Indemnity Ordinance," we started the trial of Bangabandhu's assassination.



Forming government in 2009 in three consecutive terms, Bangladesh Awami League has relentlessly been working to improve the fate of the people inspired by the spirit of the great Liberation War. We are implementing the unfinished works of the Father of the Nation. Today, Bangladesh is self-reliant in food production. The poverty rate has come down from 42.5 percent to 20.5 percent in the last 12 years. Our sovereign rights over a vast area in the Bay of Bengal have been established through the peaceful settlement of maritime disputes with Myanmar and India. The implementation of the Bangladesh-India Land Boundary Agreement has put an end to the protracted inhumane life of the enclave people. The nation has become free from stigma by executing the verdict of the Bangabandhu murder case. The trial of war criminals continues and the verdict is being executed.



We have formulated the Second Perspective Plan for 2021-2041 and adopted the 8th Five Year Plan. We have started the implementation of the 100-year 'Delta Plan 2100' for the first time in the world. Today, the benefits of 'Digital Bangladesh' have been expanded from urban to remote village level.



On the occasion of 'Mujib Year,' some 892,000 homeless people are being provided houses. Seventy thousand houses have already been handed over. Another 50,000 houses are under construction. A total of 9 lakh 98 thousand 346 families have been provided accommodation since 1996. The civic facilities of the city are being delivered to every village. Ninety-nine percent of people are taken under electricity coverage. To keep the economy going offsetting the impacts of the coronavirus, we have so far announced 23 stimulus packages worth Tk 1.24 lakh crore, which is 4.44 percent of our GDP.



The independence earned through supreme sacrifices of millions of people is the greatest achievement of Bangalee Nation. To ensure that the achievement remains meaningful, all have to know the true history of our great Liberation War and respect the spirit of independence. The spirit of the Liberation War has to be propagated from generation to generation.



The persistent efforts of the last 12 years of the Bangladesh Awami League government have brought the final recommendations for Bangladesh to become a dignified developing country on the eve of the Golden Jubilee of Independence. This is a huge achievement for us.



Under the leadership of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib, the brave Bangalees liberated the country through the war of liberation within just nine months. I firmly believe that if this trend of development continues, Bangladesh will soon be established as a developed-prosperous country in the world, Insha Allah.



Let us take oath on this auspicious occasion of the golden jubilee of independence-imbued with the spirit of the Great War of Liberation, we all together will build hunger-poverty-illiteracy-free Golden Bangladesh as dreamt by Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.



Joi Bangla, Joi Bangabandhu

May Bangladesh Live Forever.





By H.E. Abida Islam

Ambassador of Bangladesh to the Republic of Korea





H.E. Abida Islam, Ambassador of Bangladesh to the Republic of Korea
Lucknow, March 26 : Professor R.K. Dhiman, the director of Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS), has tested positive for coronavirus infection.

Dhiman's wife, Dr. Praveena, had tested positive for the infection first and in the process of contact tracing, the professor was also tested.

Incidentally, the doctor couple had taken both the doses of the vaccine against Covid-19.

Dhiman received his first dose of vaccine on January 16 while the second dose was administered to him on February 15.

The director's report came on Thursday evening and soon after, he took to social media to inform about his status.

"My wife and I have tested positive for Covid-19. Two days ago, Dr. Praveena had tested positive. Those who have come in contact with me or with my wife in past seven days may kindly take necessary precautions," Dhiman wrote on his social media account.

Meanwhile, the number of new Covid cases reported in Lucknow on Thursday was 236 while the state reported 836 new cases in the past 24 hours.

Authorities at SGPGIMS claimed that necessary sanitization work of the director's office has been undertaken and contact training and testing of those who came in contact with the couple is underway.

"As many as 25 persons have been tested and reports are awaited," sources said.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Surrounded by multiple screens, an employee in his 20s responds to emails or accomplishes the days tasks under the flickering green light of his laptop camera.

For some employed millennials, this is their new lived reality from 9 to 5  having their job subjected to a video call for close monitoring and verification by their boss, on the other end.

Its been a year since companies have had to shift from physical offices to working from home, and the reach into employees personal space is becoming very real. In a recent Employee Mental Health survey conducted by Premier Value Provider (PVP), the highest levels of critical stress (31%), anxiety (47%), and depression (46%) were recorded last May 2020. Observed predominantly among the younger workforce aged 29 and below (Gen Z and Y), this alarming spike was most prevalent among employees in the manufacturing sector (the making of articles on a large scale using machinery) but also adjacent fields like mass communication and finance.

Mika* a 25-year-old working in digital media, has experienced the spike in tasks reported by advertising creatives and content creators as marketing activities move completely online. She confessed: At the start of the quarantine, I felt like I was working 24 hours a day. Because I was at home, it almost seemed expected that I was available to answer inquiries received on our social media accounts 24/7 all while creating double the amount of content because we wanted to reach as many people as possible while they were online more and could see it. At one point, I felt extremely anxious any time I got any kind of notification because like my heart would beat faster and I felt really tense. I was developing a really unhealthy relationship with both my work and my phone and there was a lot of resentment bubbling inside of me.

Nearing his two-year work anniversary, a financial analyst Karl* grew accustomed to extending until 11 p.m. on work days, What also makes it harder is that it seems like we, as employees, dont have a choice and that were lucky to even still have jobs. As the pandemic wears on, mental health has become an increasingly urgent problem for many companies to address.

And yet its rare to find a company where employees can claim mental health benefits. At present, Mercer found that 38% of health insurance providers in Asia still do not provide plans covering any mental health services while only less than 50% cover in-patient and outpatient treatment for mental health. Some of the services that can be claimed, when they are available, include counseling, psychotherapy, and psychiatric consultations.

"I felt extremely anxious any time I got any kind of notification because like my heart would beat faster and I felt really tense. I was developing a really unhealthy relationship with both my work and my phone and there was a lot of resentment bubbling inside of me."

Contrast that with the demand from the workforce. At his mental health group practice, licensed psychologist Raffy Inocencio shared that he experienced a 30% increase in patients seeking therapy on their own expense in 2020. Of these clients, roughly 40% are working millennials. During the start of layoffs and growing uncertainty, his new patients initially came to him expressing worries of having anger management problems, continuous irritability, and communication issues with the people they lived with at home.

When parents werent working, they were under stress balancing work with their compulsory second job as a teacher to their children undergoing distance learning. In a house where the majority are working, families fight about securing spaces and corners where they can have uninterrupted Zoom calls.

Not having a collective physical workplace has taken a toll on employees. The source for this stress comes from the fact that in the office, there was an unspoken understanding that work would get done. Now, employees feel like this trust was taken away so abruptly, Inocencio said. To [patients], it felt like: if we were working in the office we were expected to work 100% but now that were working from home, were expected to do 200%.

For many, the threat of ongoing unemployment is whats keeping them where they are, even if they are unhappy. Richard*, a 26-year-old brand strategist, described being at the crossroad of leaving his job, Im lucky that the work I do isn't obsolete during this time, but sometimes I know I just stay at work because it's the safe option  and even though I know a lot of different companies also have a lot of clients, I am ironically scared of unemployment and the crippling anxiety of not knowing where to go elsewhere.

Some employees, due to lack of measures around holding space for mental health at work, are forced to just be absent.

That said, the alarming decrease of employees reporting to work, as well as the passage of the Mental Health Act RA 11036 has propelled companies to look into offering mental health care benefits. Currently being piloted are one-on-one counselling and modular masterclasses led by psychiatrists and psychologists to educate managers and upper management on identifying the types of mental illnesses in their teams and their key drivers. The companies who are more proactive in setting up these programs are ones whose population are primarily millennials with a younger median age. These would be the BPOs, big retailers, manufacturers and as of late, a significant number of companies from high-tech industries, Teng Alday of Management Consultancy company Mercer, enumerated. With existing medical insurance programs not covering mental health and illness, Mercer is starting to work with employers Human Resources department and on-site doctors to set up self-funded plans that companies can use to design their own employee assistance programs that fit their budget.

Mercer forecasts that 90% of organizations will have set up new plans to improve employee health and well-being analytics by the end of 2021. With the wide shift to digital, 65% of companies they surveyed in the Philippines plan to address mental or emotional health issues through providing subscriptions to meditation apps and mental well-being platforms paired with the option for on-site counselling. Some companies are even considering the idea to offer virtual tutors to ease the struggles of parent employees in their additional role as a teacher to their children, psychologist Inocencio said. If it affects the effective discharge of your professional duties, then the company has the responsibility to take part in your recovery.

***

*Names have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals interviewed.
Thousands of Form Four leavers in Kilifi County cannot access their academic certificates due to huge fee balances.

Despite repeated orders from the government that no school should withhold students' certificates due to nonpayment of fees, a majority of principals in the county maintained the students had to clear their arrears before being issued with their documents.

The head teachers argued that the students had utilised school resources leading up to sitting their Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exams and must therefore pay up.

The former students fear that, with the re-emergence of cases of student unrest and burning of schools, they are likely to lose their documents.

Kaloleni Member of Parliament Paul Katana said more than 2,000 students in the sub-county were yet to collect their official KCSE results from their respective secondary schools.

"The lack of the crucial documents has made the victims miss out on available job opportunities. I want to tell the government that when you issue any directives you should follow up on the matter up to the grassroots to ensure that it is being implemented by the relevant parties," he said.

The lawmaker lamented that many young people missed out on the just-concluded Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) and National Police Service (NPS) recruitments due to lack of documents.

In Mbogolo village, Chapungu sub-location in Ganze, a group of women appealed to the government to intervene and have their children issued with the documents.

Speaking to nation.africa, the women narrated their struggles to raise money for school fees and other basic needs for their children, saying lack of money was the reason for the huge balances.

The students were allowed to sit for their KCSE examinations, but for years now they have not been able to get their official results and other crucial documents.

Mr Pingano Karisa said his son, a former student at Godoma Secondary School in Ganze, was yet to get his documents after he failed to clear a Sh13,120 fee balance.

His son did his KCSE examination in 2019 and scored a mean grade of C plain.

"I have not managed to clear the fee balance for my son because there is no sustainable job for me to earn a good income to support my family and get extra money for the unpaid school fees," he said.

Mr Karisa, a livestock and crop farmer who depends on his cows and goats for a living, said a drought that has hit the area has led to low productivity.

He added that Gwaseni dam, their only source of water for irrigation, sometimes suffers low water volumes, further affecting their crops.

Poverty

Chapungu has been hard-hit by high levels of poverty attributed to perennial drought. Here, a majority of women depend on charcoal production and tapping of aloe vera fluid for a livelihood.

Ms Elina Safari was unable to clear Sh45,000 for her brother Samsom Wanje Mwaringa, a former student at Mnazimwenga Secondary School in Kaloleni sub-county.

Mwaringa did his KCSE examination in 2018 and scored a mean grade of C plain.

"We were orphaned when my two brothers were two years and four-and-a-half years and I started burning charcoal to raise money to take care of them. Life was tough and I decided to get married to get support to raise my siblings but my husband and I had no stable jobs," she said.

She was unable to take her lastborn brother to Form One after he scored 315 marks in the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) examination in 2017 at Maryango Primary School in Ganze due to financial challenges.

The principal of Mitangani Mixed Secondary School in Ganze, Mr Francis Ouma, told nation.africa that many poor parents have had challenges with fee payment, with most depending on bursaries from the NG-CDF and the Kilifi County government.

The bursary support, he said, has not been consistent, leaving some with fee balances of up to Sh100, 000.

"Some students come and explain their challenges in clearing the fee balances and ask to be given the results to go and further their studies, but the majority do not want to come for the papers. Nobody has blocked them from coming," he said.

The school, which is located in a remote part of Bamba in Mitangani location, is dominated by children from poor families whose parents cannot afford to raise school fees to take them to other schools.

"I have a Form One student who scored over 400 and he was supposed to go to Mang'u High School but his parents could not afford to take him to the school," said Mr Ouma.

Between 2014 and 2019, the fees balances at Mitangani Mixed Secondary School accumulated to Sh12.2 million.

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The school has 122 candidates sitting for KCSE exams and only two have cleared their fees.

Currently, the school has 110 orphans.

Ganze Member of Parliament Teddy Mwambire said the number of affected students is high and some are organising fund-raisers to clear their fee balances.

"The NG-CDF money is not enough for us to help all the students clear their fee balances, but we are supporting individual students through fundraising," he said.

Kilifi branch Kenya National Union of Teachers Secretary-General Jonathan Kenga asked the government and leaders who have been demanding that the students be issued with their documents before clearing their school fees arrears to bail them out.

"How will the schools operate without money while every single operation needs finances? The schools have incurred expenses in the process of providing education to the students and whoever has a debt must clear it. If they were given the services and it was agreed that they would pay school fees, then they must do it. And those leaders who are demanding that the students must be given their results should look for a way of compensating the schools," he said.
Shared value of Western countries is to protect their privileged position: China Daily editorial

Chinadaily.com.cn) 17:54, March 25, 2021

The sanctions the European Union imposed on Chinese individuals and an entity on Monday, over so-called human rights issues in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, on which the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada followed suit, was clearly a coordinated action.

Local residents in Kuqa, China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, pose for pictures in a peach orchard, Feb 24, 2021. (Photo/People's Daily Online)

It has led to some speculation that US President Biden is succeeding in his stated desire to create a coalition "of like-minded partners" to make common cause against China in defense of shared interests and shared values.

Yet given the rhetoric of those involved over the past few years, it is not surprising that they are acting in concert on an issue on which they feel they can safely share a soapbox without treading on one another's toes.

Their act of political arrogance is based on lies and driven by politics. It is exactly what the China-sponsored resolution the United Nations Human Rights Council adopted on Tuesday opposes.

Advocating dialogue and cooperation on human rights based on impartiality and non-politicization, the resolution is a clarion call for an end to the Western countries' clamor on so-called human rights issues.

What China and other members of the international community who uphold the United Nations-centered international system endorse is international relations based on equality and mutual respect, not servility to the West's neo-imperialist diktats.

For the West, human rights are nothing but a pretense for acts that trample on the basic norms of international relations to serve their narrow ends. The rest of the world has learned that whenever the West starts preaching on human rights it is a case of beware Greeks bearing gifts.

It is under the banner of human rights that the United States and its allies have left a trail of destruction and endless humanitarian crises across the world with their meddling in the internal affairs of other countries under the guise of upholding human rights. And their internal situations, as outlined in a report released Wednesday on human rights violations in the US, do not bear close scrutiny.

And that is only in the postwar period. If one looks further back, there are the stains of the genocide of native peoples, slavery and the abuses of their colonialism on the human rights banners they are so eager to hold aloft.

Collecting chicken feathers to make a duster does not alter the lightness of each of the feathers, or make the duster a judge's gavel either. Repeating lies does not change the fact they are lies. China has made steady progress on human rights and it will do better. Development and the realization of human rights are mutually reinforcing.

More than 1,200 diplomats, reporters and religious figures from over 100 countries and regions have visited Xinjiang in recent years, amid the West's allegations of "industrial-scale" "genocide" and "sterilization". Yet what they have found is a peaceful place where people of dozens of ethnic groups and different religions live together harmoniously.

The Western countries like to talk of shared values and imply these are universal values, but while claiming to speak for everyone, the only value they share is maintaining the interests and privileges of a few.

(Web editor: Hongyu, Bianji)
The French army killed six civilians in an airstrike in north-east Mali on Thursday, local officials have claimed.

This is the second time this year that France has been blamed for killing non-combatants in Operation Barkhane, its fight against Islamist militants in Africas Sahel region.

The anti-insurgency operation said the most recent incident, which occurred 37 miles north or In Deliman in the Gao region, had neutralised a group of terrorists.

This strike was ordered after a phase of surveillance and identification permitting the characterisation of the presence of an armed terrorist group, it added in a statement.

However, local officials contested this version of events, saying that six young men between the ages of 15 and 20 had been killed while out hunting birds.

Mohamed Assaleh Ahmad, the mayor of the nearby village of Talataye, said the victims, some of whom were from his family, were wrongly killed.

Read more:

We have seen these airstrikes in the past here. We have never said anything, but this time, it is 100 per cent an error, he told Reuters.

Former Malian politician Souleymane Ag Almahmoud also suggested that civilians had been targeted.

The accusation comes amid growing scrutiny over Frances actions in Mali, with the UN investigating an earlier airstrike made near the village of Bounti on 3 January.

The French military denies any wrongdoing and says two of its Mirage 2000 fighter jets dropped three bombs on a group of 40 armed Islamist fighters, 30 of whom died.

But locals said the victims were not insurgents but were guests at a wedding, according to testimony gathered by Human Rights Watch.

Medecins Sans Frontieres, an international health charity, backed up this allegation, attesting that most of the eight men they treated after the bombing were elderly.

Across the border in neighbouring Niger, gunmen are thought to have killed 137 people last Sunday in one of the bloodiest episodes seen in the unstable region.

French president Emmanuel Macron said his country would not reduce troop numbers in the Sahel in the short-term, seven years after Operation Barkhane started.

Additional reporting by Reuters
RTE broadcaster Mary Wilson has married her partner Hugh Daly.

The Morning Ireland presenter tweeted a beaming photo of herself and the West Dublin GP as they raised a toast the occasion while sitting in the backseat of a limo.

In the photo a clearly delighted Hugh can be seen thrusting a flag out the window that read Just Married.

"So this is what I did today with the wonderful @hapdaly, she posted on Twitter this evening.

So a this is what I did today with the wonderful a@hapdalya #justhitched pic.twitter.com/amb4mLfOrh  Mary Wilson (@Mary___Wilson) March 26, 2021

The mother-of-one from Drangan, Co Tipperary previously told the Sunday Independent Life magazine how she met her now husband by fluke at a funeral lunch and the pair have been together ever since.

She said: I met Hugh over a lunch at a funeral.

"It's when you least expect it. We chatted and he followed up. I had never met him before.

She is a household name in Ireland, having presented RTEs Drivetime programme for 14 years before taking over the helm of the State broadcasters flagship morning news and current affairs show last year.

Prior to that she was RTEs Legal Affairs Editor for a decade after working as a reporter for news and current affairs on both radio and television.

Several of her colleagues in the media tweeted their congratulations and hopes of celebrating with the happy couple once Covid restrictions are lifted, including RTE journalists and presenters Orla ODonnell, Eileen Whelan and Justin McCarthy.




A mother who went on a six-day bender leaving her baby to starve to death took to social media to sell concert tickets on the day the body was found - before campaigning to become a model

Verphy Kudi's daughter Asiah perished in a flat at a 'supported housing' block in Brighton in December 2019 after being left alone for six days with no food or water.

A serious case review has been launched into the 20-month-old baby's death after she was abandoned by her mother who went to London, Coventry and Solihull to celebrate her 18th birthday.

Now, it has been revealed Kudi tried to sell concert tickets on Twitter on the day the baby's body was found. Another tweet showed her attempting to become a Pretty Little Thing model months after Asiah's death.

Kudi's flat was one of eight in a residential complex run by charity YMCA DownsLink to house vulnerable young families on behalf of Brighton City Council.

YMCA DownsLink staff are located at the entrance to the block at all times. Residents with social workers can receive visits but because the flats are independent units YMCA staff do not enter the living areas or carry out regular inspections.

Baby Asiah did not have a social worker. Kudi has repeatedly gone missing since the age of 14 and been the subject of numerous police appeals. MailOnline has asked the council if she had a social worker at the time of her babys death.

Brighton and Hove Safeguarding Children Partnership (BHSCP) - an association of council services, police and NHS - has launched a serious case review into the case.

The mother, now 19, was seen on CCTV leaving the flat on her birthday before attending parties in London, Coventry and Solihull - more than 150 miles away in the Midlands.

A post-mortem examination and forensic tests found that Asiah starved, was dehydrated and developed flu. Her cause of death was given as neglect.

Today, Kudi appeared at Lewes Crown Court to enter a guilty plea to manslaughter as her father watched on. Speaking after the hearing, Muba Kudi, 59, said: 'My heart is so broken. My daughter was missing. She had been missing since the age of 14.'

Verphy Kudi's daughter Asiah Kudi died at an address in the East Sussex city in December 2019 after being left alone for six days with no food or water

Kudi is seen in handcuffs outside Lewes Crown Court, where she was remanded in custody after pleading guilty to manslaughter

A post-mortem examination and forensic tests found that Asiah starved, was dehydrated and developed flu. Her cause of death was given as neglect

Verphy Kudi tweeted this message on the same day her baby's body was discovered, trying to sell concert tickets

A few months later she posted this tweet urging people to support her attempts to become a Pretty Little Thing model

Kudis sister, Aisha Batrane told MailOnline: This whole situation has completely broken my family. It might be entertainment for the rest of the world but its totally shattered us.

We are heartbroken and angry at how Verphy behaved. Verphy had been estranged from the family for quite a long time and we had minimal contact with her.

We have spoken to her and were still not clear what she was doing for those six days, who she was with and why she left like that? Who the hell knows? We cant understand it.

As a family we now want to be left alone to grieve and try and understand whats happened.

This morning, the judge ordered that all social services records relating to the case be disclosed to the defence ahead of sentencing.

The court heard how, after returning home from the party spree in December 2019, Kudi called 999 saying her baby would not wake up.

Asiah was taken to Royal Alexandra Children's Hospital in Brighton but was declared dead on arrival.

Today, Kudi held her hands to her face after the charge of manslaughter was read to her. She spoke only to answer guilty to the charge and confirm her name.

Wearing a plain black top and black trousers with a blue medical face mask, she wiped a tear from eyes as her father looked on from the public gallery.

Muba Kudi - Verphy Kudi's father - sat with his arms crossed throughout the short hearing at Lewes Crown Court.

His daughter waved at him from the dock when court staff pointed him out.

Asiah was born on March 22, 2018 and was only 20-months-old when she died. It is not clear who the baby's father was.

She had been living at the flat in Brighton with her mother where they had been housed by social services since September 30, 2019.

Cameras showed Kudi leaving the building on December 5 at 5.39pm. .

She did not return until December 11, when at 6.06pm she dialled 999 telling a call handler her baby would not wake up.

A few days later, staff at the Brighton mother and baby unit for teen mothers where they had been living contacted police after reviewing CCTV footage.

Data gathered by Sussex Police showed Kudi had been at parties in London, Coventry and Solihull before returning to Brighton.

Kudi admitted the manslaughter of her daughter between December 4 and 12.

Asiah was pronounced dead on arrival at the Royal Alexandra Children's Hospital in Brighton on Wednesday December 11.

Kudi's flat was one of eight in a complex in Brighton (it is pictured in an undated photo)

Today, Kudi spoke only confirm her name and enter the guilty plea. She is seen in a photo posted on social media

Asiah was pronounced dead on arrival at the Royal Alexandra Children's Hospital in Brighton on Wednesday December 11

Judge Christine Laing QC told Kudi: 'You have heard that before I get to sentence you the defence want to get a report on your behalf and a doctor will no doubt make arrangements to see you and interview you over the next few weeks.'

The case was adjourned to a provisional sentencing date of May 28, but Kudi was warned this may be delayed.

Data gathered by Sussex Police showed Kudi had been at parties in London, Coventry and Solihull before returning to Brighton

Brighton and Hove Safeguarding Children Partnership (BHSCP) said: 'We are deeply saddened by the tragic death of Asiah. In our safeguarding role, we will work with our partners to look into what has happened and carry out a Child Safeguarding Practice Review.

'This includes working with our partner Sussex Police to make sure our review is carried out in support of or alongside their ongoing actions in this case.'

YMCA Downslink said: 'This tragedy has shocked us all. Our staff, particularly those who work the complex, have been and continue to be, deeply affected by it.

'Verphy Kudi and her daughter, Asiah had been living at the independent living flats, for 11 weeks, when Asiah died.

'We will be working with the Safeguarding Practice Review to understand any lessons that can be learned from this tragedy.

'Our sympathies and thoughts are with the family and everyone affected by this tragic event.'

YMCA DownsLink was handed a three-year contract worth 336,000 by Brighton council to run the accommodation, starting on Sunday 1 September 2019, Brighton and Hove News reported.

The contact offered a 'medium' level of support for families, with all flats self-contained with their own kitchen, space for staff on duty, and a communal area for group activities.

It is not clear whether any staff visited the unit while Asiah was there alone. MailOnline has YMCA DownsLink.

The baby was not under a child protection plan or assigned to a social worker when she died

Kudi lived in a supported housing complex in Brighton. While she left her baby alone she partied in London, Solihull and Coventry

The service used to be run by Peabody, which still owns the building and currently leases it to the council.

Family Mosaic Housing, which later merged with Peabody, paid 15.5 million for the flats in November 2014.

The Senior Investigating officer, Detective Chief Inspector Andy Wolstenholme, said; 'This was a particularly distressing case for my team and me to investigate, and has caused great sorrow amongst Verphy's family and the many agencies that have supported Verphy and Asiah.

'We note the guilty plea entered in this case, and continue to prepare for Verphy's sentencing in May.'

A council spokesperson said: 'We have been deeply saddened by this tragedy.

'The case is currently the subject of criminal proceedings, and the city's Safeguarding Children Partnership is also conducting a review of the circumstances in to the tragic death of this young child.

'We are undertaking an internal review, which will feed into the partnership review.

'We have fully supported the police investigation, and are committed to working with the Partnership in its review and taking learning from this.

'Asiah was not on a child protection plan and was not involved with social work services when she died.

'It would not be appropriate for us to comment further while the criminal proceedings and reviews are ongoing.'
The mother of Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman, who were killed in a north London park last summer, has said she believes their race meant their deaths were not taken seriously.

In an interview with the BBC, Mina Smallman was asked about the reaction to Sarah Everards death, which has triggered protests and widespread outcry, compared with the relatively muted response to her daughters killings last year.

Ms Henry and Ms Smallman were killed in a park on 6 June after celebrating Ms Henrys birthday in Fryent Country Park, Wembley. Two police officers have been arrested and suspended after allegations they took selfies with the womens bodies.

Ms Smallman, who is the Church of Englands first female archdeacon of black and minority ethnic descent, told the broadcaster that she had reported the sisters as missing but it was a search by the family, not the police, that found the womens bodies.

Asked whether she believed if their race meant there was no urgency in searching for them after the family reported them missing, Ms Smallman said: Oh absolutely, Im convinced. I think the notion of all people matter is absolutely right, but its not true.

Read more:

Comparing the reaction to Ms Everards death  pointing to Boris Johnson, Sadiq Khan and Priti Patel all offering their condolences  Ms Smallman said the two tragic incidents showed a clear difference in the level of outcry.

Ms Smallman told the BBC: Other people in this world have more kudos than people of colour.

From my point of view  all women, women of colour, white women  we are on the same journey, were on a journey to say that we all matter.

However, she said the specific situation of my girls and Sarah shows that they didnt get the same support, the same outcry.

Following the vigils and protests in the wake of Ms Everards death, Ms Smallman said the family has received so much kickback from friends and colleagues who are saying, Excuse me, where was this level of rage and outrage for two of your daughters murdered?

Watching the news after Ms Everard went missing, Ms Smallman said she and her husband just went back in time emotionally, adding: I know what that family, the parents will be going through. It is a hell.

If your child goes missing you deserve the people who are paid to do that job to do it and find out whats happened to them.

A serving police officer has been charged with Ms Everards kidnap and murder, and a separate officer, who was guarding the site where her remains were found, is alleged to have sent a meme about her murder to seven colleagues.

Ms Smallman said: You cant believe to understand what it is to lose a child under those circumstances.

And then to have a further betrayal  the very organisation that is paid, and we have an agreement with, that they will protect us, they will honour us and behave in a way that gives our deceased dignity.

She added: To hear that not only had Sarahs parents lost Sarah, but they had the indignity of someone doing a meme  how heartless.

The Metropolitan Police said in a statement: Our thoughts remain with the families of Bibaa and Nicole following their unspeakable loss.

As part of a wider investigation into various matters, the Independent Office for Police Conduct is considering the actions of police when Bibaa and Nicole were reported missing. This follows a referral from the MPSs Directorate of Professional Standards (DPS).
Over 1.54 crore voters



in the eastern states of West Bengal and Assam will exercise their franchise on Saturday in the first phase of polling to decide the fate of key candidates and whether the former Naxal-affected 'Junglemahal ' area of Bengal will transfer its loyalty to the BJP. Polling in 30 assembly segments in West Bengal, most of which are in Junglemahal region, will be almost a straight fight between the BJP and ruling TMC. The Bharatiya Janata Party feels it has the upper hand in the area as it had managed to win most of the Parliamentary seats in the region in the 2019 general elections. The elections will be held amid tight security with the Election Commission deploying around 684 companies of central forces that would guard 10,288 polling booths housed in 7,061 premises, officials said.

Besides, the state police will also be deployed at strategic locations, they added.

In the first phase, polling will take place amid strict COVID-19 guidelines in all nine seats in Purulia, four in Bankura, four in Jhargram and six in Paschim Medinipur, besides the seven seats in high-stakes Purba Medinipur - the home ground of BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari.

The TMC and BJP have fielded candidates in 29 seats each, while the Left-Congress-ISF alliance has put up candidates in all 30 seats, even as there are "friendly fights" in some.

In Jhargram, 11 paramilitary personnel will be deployed per booth, the highest for any election held in the state so far, officials said. In the other districts, an average of six paramilitary personnel will be deployed per booth, officials said.

"Declaring all 1,307 booths in 1,010 premises as Left Wing Extremist (LWE) areas in Jhargram, we have decided to deploy 127 companies of the central forces only for booth management," an Election Commission official told PTI.

Another 14 companies of central forces will be used as Quick Response Teams (QRTs), one company for the maintenance of strong room and another two companies will be kept reserved as district and sub-divisional striking force, he said.

Altogether, 144 companies of central forces will be deployed in Jhargram for the election, he added. "The central forces will be mainly deployed in and around the booths and the state force will be used for the maintenance of law and order. The constables will be used for queue management," the official said.

With the first phase, polling will be over in two districts -- Purulia and Jhargram.

The Trinamool Congress is fighting in 29 of the 30 seats, while supporting an Independent in the Joypur assembly segment in Purulia as the nomination of its official candidate Ujjwal Kumar was rejected by the EC due to a discrepancy.

The BJP is also contesting the polls in 29 seats, while its ally AJSU Party of Jharkhand fielding a candidate in Baghmundi.

Congress heavyweight Nepal Mahato is the alliance candidate from the seat, even as the Forward Bloc fielded Debranjan Mahato. AJSU Party has nominated Ashutosh Mahato, while the TMC fielded Sushanta Mahato.

As per the official seat-sharing arrangements of the opposition alliance, the Left is fighting in 18 seats, Congress in 10 and ISF two. However, 'friendly fights' between the Left parties and Congress are on the anvil in some seats, including Baghmundi and Joypur, as negotiations could not be concluded.

Among the other notable seats going to the polls in the first phase are Salboni, where the CPI(M) has fielded former minister Susanta Ghosh against BJP's Rajib Kundu and TMC's Srikanta Mahata. Ghosh, the MLA of Garbeta from 1987 to 2016, was in jail in the skeleton recovery case and is at present out on bail.

The TMC has fielded actor June Malia, a known face on the Bengali silver screen, from the Medinipur seat against BJP's Samit Kumar Dash. The Left-led alliance candidate is Tarun Kumar Ghosh of the CPI.

In another significant contest, Santhali actor Birbaha Hansda is fighting on a TMC ticket from Jhargram against BJP's Sukhamay Satpathy and CPI(M)'s youth leader Madhuja Sen Roy.

The seven seats in Purba Medinipur -- Patashpur, Kanthi Uttar, Bhagabanpur, Khejuri, Kanthi Dakshin, Ramnagar and Egra -- will also be closely watched in a prestige fight between the influential Adhikari family which has gone over to the BJP and the TMC.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee campaigned in a majority of the seats going to the polls in the first phase with her nephew and TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee touring the rest, asserting that they would not let Bengal to be ruled from Delhi or Gujarat, in an apparent reference to the BJP and the prime minister.

The BJP's charge was led by PM Narendra Modi who took part in multiple rallies over the last few weeks. Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP's national president JP Nadda also canvassed the areas, which are marked by the forests and because of that the region is identified as Jungle Mahal.

The BJP has promised a "Sonar Bangla" if it forms government in the state, while the TMC has been campaigning on the works done by the Mamata Banerjee government in the last ten years. In Assam, among others, Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, Speaker Hitendranath Goswami, and Assam state Congress chief Ripun Borah besides several cabinet ministers from the ruling BJP and Asom Gana Parishad, will be in the fray in 47 of the state's 126 assembly seats.

Most of these seats will likely witness triangular contest between the ruling BJP-AGP alliance, the Congress-led opposition grand alliance and the newly formed Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP).

The state will have three-phase assembly elections on March 27, April 1 and 6.

Altogether 264 candidates, including 23 women, are in the fray.

Polling will begin at 7 a.m and conclude at 6 p.m, with the timing extended by an hour to ensure COVID protocols are followed, officials said.

Central forces will assist the state police in maintaining law and order during the polling, a senior police officer said without divulging their numbers. The official said there will be enough security personnel to cover all polling stations.

Patrolling has been intensified and strict vigil is being kept in all vulnerable areas.

(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.)
An Edinburgh University professor shared information with a fake Russian spy in a bid to discredit a non-profit group investigating Syrian war crimes.

Epidemiologist Paul McKeigue had been attempting to expose details about the Commission for International Justice and Accountability - which works to collect and preserve evidence of potential crimes committed in Syria.

He asked a source he knew as 'Ivan' to help him gather evidence that the Cija's director, Bill Wiley, worked for the CIA, the BBC reported.

It later emerged that messages Mr McKeigue believed to be from 'Ivan' were instead written by members of the Cija, who allegedly took on the 'persona' of a Russian intelligence agent.

Mr McKeigue has insisted he did not do anything wrong during the exchange, claiming he 'kept an open mind' about who he may have been speaking to.

Epidemiologist Paul McKeigue (above) had been attempting to expose details about the Commission for International Justice and Accountability

Throughout the correspondence with 'Ivan', he allegedly shared a draft of a critical report into the Cija he had co-authored with two members of the Working Group on Syria, Propaganda and Media.

The Working Group, which Mr McKeigue is also part of, was established to 'facilitate research into the areas of organised persuasive communication and media coverage, with respect to the 2011-present conflict in Syria including related topics.'

Mr McKeigue says his concern is not with the Syrian conflict or any other foreign policy issue, but 'with the subversion of British parliamentary government by what I now recognise to be a deep state operating partly through private cutouts.'

The conversation with 'Ivan' came about after Mr McKeigue attempted to contact Mr Wiley last February, but the Cija boss recognised the sender's name and decided not to respond.

The Cija, run by Bill Wiley (above), works to collect and preserve evidence of potential war crimes committed in Syria

The Cija works to gather evidence of crimes that are 'beyond the reach of international and domestic justice institutions.' Pictured: Syria

The email had told Mr Wiley that Mr McKeigue and his colleagues were investigating the Cija - which he already knew - and asked questions 'about irregularities in his businesses.'

Hours later, Mr McKeigue received an email from an anonymous source who said: 'My office heard from London yesterday that you have some questions about Syria. Perhaps we can help you get to the truth.'

The pair began corresponding about the Cija and Mr Wiley, and the anonymous sender soon started signing his emails 'Ivan.'

Mr McKeigue said the anonymous sender had 'offered to answer questions about Syria', before taking on the 'persona of a Russian intelligence officer.'

He added: 'As I have no access to official secrets, this did not concern me.

'As a citizen investigator, I cultivate contacts with all sorts of people who have relevant information, including anonymous sources and some identified sources whose activities I do not endorse.'

Currently, documents gathered by the non-profit are being used in a war crimes trial in which a former Syrian military intelligence officer is accused of torture

It was said the fake Russian had made references to his headquarters in Moscow and the English emails had been scattered with spelling mistakes.

However, it later emerged the emails were written by members of the Cija.

The group works to gather evidence of crimes that are 'beyond the reach of international and domestic justice institutions.'

In a statement, Mr McKeigue said: 'In December 2020 I received an anonymous email offering to answer questions about Syria. I wrote back with a few questions, and mentioned that we were investigating Cija.

'The correspondent at this stage did not reveal any affiliation. In response to my question about Cija the correspondent alleged that Wiley is a career CIA officer, and provided a summary of his career.

'From checking open sources I found apparent confirmation of this alleged affiliation, and other indications that Wiley was hiding matters in his background. The correspondent offered to provide more information, so I continued the dialogue.

'After the initial exchanges, the correspondent began to drop hints and eventually declared the name Ivan and the persona of a a Russian intelligence officer. As I have no access to official secrets, this did not concern me.'

He added that the email exchange was a 'clever deception operation,' adding 'the people on the other end found one of my weaknesses: an obsessiveness with digging for information about what I am investigating.'

Mr McKeigue said: 'The people on the other end of this sting managed to get me to reveal information provided by others that was not intended to be shared, along with other information that may have been embellished.

'This was a failure on my part for which I accept responsibility and have apologised to those concerned.

'These emails were not intended to be made public, and they contain casual and offhand comments not written with the care I would use when writing for publication.'
Congressional candidate credits faith for helping him overcome adversities

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A congressional candidate who has spinal muscular atrophy credits his faith for helping him overcome his adversities and promises to serve as an outgoing vessel for the Lord if elected to Congress.

Nick DAgostino is running for the Republican nomination to represent New Jerseys 5th Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives, a seat currently held by Democrat Josh Gottheimer.

DAgostino, 31, serves as the president of his local board of education in northwestern New Jersey and has emerged on the national stage as a motivational speaker and poet. Last year, he wrote and recited a pro-life poem from the perspective of an unborn baby in honor of Mothers Day.

As explained on his campaign website, Nicholas and his twin brother Anthony were diagnosed with a muscle disease called Spinal Muscular Atrophy at 18 months old and were both confined to power wheelchairs at the young age of 6. At 8 years old, Nicholas underwent spine surgery for scoliosis, received a steel rod in his back, developed a malicious staph infection, and spent the entire summer of 1998 fighting for his life."

In an interview with The Christian Post, DAgostino credited his Christian faith for giving him the strength to overcome the difficulties he has faced.

DAgostino, who identifies as nondenominational, told CP that his faith enables him to try to look for my strengths and weaknesses.

I think its been an opportunity, having a visible, sort of tangible disability that people can see to just set an example that just because you have adversity in your life and just because you were dealt some difficult cards doesnt mean that you cant shine and you cant be a light, and you cant glorify God in everything that youre doing, he said.

I hope to bring godly leadership to Washington, DAgostino added. I hope to have the opportunity to use my faith to inspire others, to show them that Christians have a voice in Washington, that you can speak about your faith openly and not be ashamed about it. Obviously, my Christian beliefs will help me to legislate, and I just hope to be an outgoing vessel for the Lord, and I think were working toward that.

I encourage everyone to be open and to be bold in their faith, he continued. Im a Christian, but I believe in everyones right to practice their own beliefs and their own religion. So certainly, my Christian faith will shine through when I speak and when I legislate, but I believe that everybody should have the opportunity to practice their faith.

Believing that God has a plan for everybody, DAgostino maintained that if we lean on Him and we pray about it ... well find clarity. And thats exactly what my wife and I did. We prayed for over a year about whether I should run for Congress or not and found peace in it.

The congressional candidate attributed his decision to run for office to events that have unfolded across the country over the past year, specifically the fact that churches (were) being forced to close down because of lockdowns in many states in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

I dont feel like at any time that the government, the federal government, should be able to take away our right to worship, and neither should the state governments, he asserted. I think just the unrest, seeing the riots and the draconian measures taken to shut down small businesses, I just kind of felt like there was no more time to wait. We need to stand by the Constitution and  try to get freedom back to the people.

DAgostino attributed the volatile national climate to the fact that many people have abandoned God as well as the idea of law and order: When you get rid of God and you get rid of law and order, those are the things that keep a nation together.

He acknowledged that as I talk about God in my campaign and I post Scripture on my social media pages for my campaign, people will tell me, Nick, you need to keep the separation of church and state. It's his opinion, however, that those people have an incorrect understanding of the concept.

Its very important for people to realize that the separation of church and state was not intended to keep people of faith out of government, but it was intended to keep the government out of our faith. I try to explain that to people that the separation of church and state is to prevent the government from telling you what to believe in, but its not saying that a Christian cant serve in office. I think we need more Christians in office; I think we need more godly leaders.

Its time for us to bring God back, back into our schools, back into our lives, back into our country, DAgostino asserted. Believing that fresh faces are needed in Washington, the candidate supports term limits because you have people that have been there for 30-plus years and they just lost touch, they lose touch with their constituency.

In addition to his faith, DAgostino credits his wife of nearly two years, Breelagh, for helping him face lifes difficulties head on. Shes certainly my biggest supporter and I wouldnt be able to do this without her, he remarked. Noting that she goes to every event with me (and) every meeting with me and helps him get ready in the morning, DAgostino described his wife as a blessing from God.

According to the Daily Kos, President Joe Biden beat former President Donald Trump by about 5% in New Jerseys 5th Congressional District in the 2020 presidential election, after Trump beat Hillary Clinton there by about 1% four years earlier. The decennial redistricting process, which will create new congressional districts to reflect the results of the 2020 census, could significantly alter the makeup of the district ahead of the 2022 general election.

Gottheimer, the Democratic incumbent, was first elected to office in 2016 and won his most recent reelection bid by nearly 8% last year. Before that, the district was represented by a Republican.
press release

The Speaker of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature Honorable Ntombi Mekgwe will convene the Legislature's Hybrid House Sitting on Friday, 26 March 2021 @10am.

The Hybrid House Sitting will offer Chairpersons of Committees an opportunity to table their respective Committees' oversight performance reports of the 3rd quarter of the 2020/21 financial year as well as annual reports for the 2019/20 FY of Provincial Government Departments for consideration and adoption by the House.

The proceedings of the Virtual House Sitting can be streamed live on https://youtu.be/Z_E5mrvtPdE or https://fb.me/e/1BHwBVXnh
The entry and exit gates of Tikri border, Bahadurgarh city and Brigadier Hoshiar Singh metro stations, which were closed briefly as a precautionary measure in view of Bharat Bandh, have been opened, officials said on Friday.

The 'Bharat Bandh' has been called by the Samyukt Kisan Morcha, an umbreall body of farmer unions protesting the three contentious Central agri laws. The nationwide shutdown has been scheduled from 6 am to 6 to mark four months of the farmers' agitation on Delhi's three borders -- Singhu, Ghazipur and Tikri.

Taking to Twitter, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) said "Entry/exit for Tikri Border, Bahadurgarh City and Brigadier Hoshiar Singh are now open."



Earlier, the DMRC informed about closure of entry and exit of four metro stations. "Entry/exit for Tikri Border, Pandit Shree Ram Sharma, Bahadurgarh City and Brigadier Hoshiar Singh are close," the DMRC had tweeted.

Thousands of farmers, mainly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur demanding a complete repeal of the three farm laws and a legal guarantee for the minimum support price on their crops.

(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 film Gangubai Kathiawadi starring Alia Bhatt continues to make headlines, but for the wrong reasons. Now, another large matter has fallen upon the films team.

According to TOI, an additional chief metropolitan magistrate court in Mumbai has issued summons to Alia Bhatt and Gangubai Kathiawadi director Sanjay Leela Bhansali regarding a defamation case.

The suit has been filed by Baburao Shah, who is the adopted son of Gangubai. He expressed that according to him the film will show his family in bad light which will be factually incorrect. The films storyline is an adaptation of a chapter from Hussain Zaidis book, Mafia Queens of Mumbai and he has also been summoned in this case.



Reportedly, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Alia Bhatt, and Hussain Zaidi have been asked to show themselves before the court on May 21.

Earlier, Baburao Shah had filed a petition in Mumbai Civil Court to put a restraining order against the film and its trailer but it was rejected.

Heres what people have to say about this-

Bina controversy ke movie nahi bana sakte?  _Ssoni (@Ssoni2004) March 25, 2021

Controversy is to sell the movie.  Varadraj Adya (@varadadya) March 25, 2021

Age old marketing technique of SLB  Manisha Karan (@ManishaKaran1) March 25, 2021

Simply writing disclaimer will not be tolerated by people.  Sandhish Singh (@sandhishsingh) March 26, 2021

Marketing strategy nothing new about it  Rupzee (@RUPZZY) March 25, 2021

This is the same account from where Karan Johar announced on a starkid launch recently. It means it run by bullybood to regulate there PR machinery  Uttam Singh (@UttamSi04109160) March 25, 2021

Old trick of getting popularity.  Being BORING (@BeingB0RING) March 25, 2021

Gangubai Kathiawadi is a film that rotates around the story of a brothel owner. Alia Bhatt is playing the lead in the movie and the film also features Ajay Devgn in a pivotal role. The film is all set to release on July 30.

Not only this, people also slammed Sanjay Leela Bhansali for choosing Alia Bhatt for this role as people felt that her personality is not fit for a strong character like that of Gangubai Kathiawadi.

People also said that she is a versatile actor and has given best for this role but someone who is mature looking would have been better for the role. Some named Vidya while some preferred Bhumi, Tabu, and Priyanka.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments section below!
The Minister-designate for Finance, Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, has refuted claims that Ghanaian taxpayers are worse-off today because the Akufo-Addo-led administration has imposed so many taxes on them.



Responding to questions before the Appointments Committee of Parliament, on Friday, on the second day of his vetting, Mr Ofori-Atta stated that a critical analysis of the taxes abolished during the first term of the New Patriotic Party administration showed that taxpayers were better off now than under the previous National Democratic Congress administration.



"When you look at the taxes we abolished, reduction in electricity and what we have done during this COVID-19 era, clearly on a net basis we have not really hurt the Ghanaian taxpayer, if you compare us to the previous government," he emphasised.



He said Ghana's economy and fiscal health were better in 2019 than in 2016.



"For the past four years, the economy has grown, social protection for the vulnerable has been increased, and the conditions of people have been made better, by the grace of God," he stated.



On corruption, Mr Ofori-Atta said he believed that the Akufo-Addo-led administration had been strong in fighting corruption, increased allocation to all anti-corruption governance institutions and had been firm in protecting the public purse.



"We have also been strong in the fight against COVID-19 pandemic and adding value to our economy in our commitment to transforming Ghana," he added.



In the next four years, the renominated Finance Minister said, he would focus on three key areas - mobilisation of more revenues under property tax, tax exemption and digitisation.



He called for the adoption of positive behaviour towards the realisation of the Ghana Beyond Aid agenda.



Mr Ofori-Atta announced that some funds had been released for the National Unemployment Insurance Scheme to be rolled out.



Additionally, some funds had been released to the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) to make funding for agriculture sustainable.

The leadership of the Appointments Committee asked Mr Ofori-Atta series of questions regarding his family relations, business interests, banking sector cleanup, the Agyapa Royalties Transactions, among others.



The vetting of Mr Ofori-Atta, who returned last Saturday from the United States, where he sought medical attention for COVID-19 complications, was adjourned yesterday after about six hours.

Source: GNA









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A glance at some of the day's highlights from the Proactive Investors US and Canada newswires

( ) has ordered 4,778 additional Bitmain S19 model Bitcoin mining rigs, the company announced Friday. The Salt Lake City-based software and Bitcoin mining company expects to receive 1,298 of the units for deployment this summer and the remaining 3,480 units in twelve equal monthly shipments beginning in November 2021. The rigs are expected to deliver an estimated 740 PH/s (petahashes per second) of additional mining capacity, the company said. To house them, CleanSpark has purchased 48 custom mobile mining data centers.

Inc ( )( )(FRA:JAM1) said on Friday that the biotechnology company has initiated other research projects with Targeted Pharmaceuticals, through its research agreement with the George Mason University NCBID, to investigate the potential benefits of its lead drug candidate ARDS-003 in neuroinflammation and other antiviral applications. In a statement, CEO Dr Guy Chamberland said: "We have initiated this new research agreement to further understand the potential therapeutic benefits of ARDS-003 in treating inflammatory conditions of the brain as well as learning more about the potential use of the drug candidate in other antiviral applications. He added: The partnership with Targeted provides expertise into these areas of drug development that are critical for expanding the potential Return on Investment (ROI) of our lead drug candidate ARDS-003.

Corp ( ) ( ) (FRA:18P) announced it had struck a deal with commodities giant ( ) (OTCMKTS:GLCNF) (FRA:8GC), which will allow it to repay the latter an outstanding debt of around US$5.5 million in shares. The transaction to amend the debt agreement struck in 2019 will eliminate all 's corporate debt ahead of a financing package being negotiated for an expansion to its cobalt refinery in Ontario and frees up the security package associated with the facility, the junior said.

Naturally Splendid Enterprises Ltd ( ) ( ) (FRA:50N) announced Friday that digital marketing veteran Kris Tarr has accepted the position of vice president of e-commerce. In a statement, the company said Tarr initially joined as an advisor in November 2020 and increased his role in February. With this announcement, he increases his role further developing and implementing the company's e-commerce and social media strategies. Naturally Splendid said Tarr has worked for globally recognized organizations such as Coca-Cola Company ( ) (FRA:CCC3), Disney, and Nickelodeon. In his career, he has pioneered e-commerce and social media strategies for a wide variety of clients ranging from global corporations to regional enterprises.

Inc (TSXV:LKY) (OTCPINK:LKMNF) (FRA:LKY) announced late Thursday that Steven Cozine has resigned as the companys corporate secretary and that Diane Mann has been appointed to replace him, effective March 1. Mann has been involved in the venture capital marketplace for over 25 years and brings a wealth of experience to the team in a variety of areas, the company said. Her career began in the investment industry and over the years, she has worked with several mining resource companies, primarily in executive administration, corporate communications, and special project coordination. Mann is skilled at supporting complex organizations through periods of constant and rapid growth through the proper application of strategic communications, stakeholder liaison and project management.

( ) has announced the pricing of an underwritten public offering of 4,146,342 shares of its common stock, first announced on Thursday, at $20.50 per share, before underwriting discounts and commission, with gross proceeds expected to be approximately $85 million. The company said it intends to use the net proceeds from the sale of the shares of common stock for general corporate purposes, including working capital to accelerate the building of finished goods inventory to address increasing customer demand, new technology development, new product development, purchases of technology, expansion of our software offerings, and possible related acquisitions of other firms.

( ) (OTCQB:ESXMF) ( ) has announced that its common shares will commence trading on the OTCQB Venture Market in the US with effect from Friday, March 26, 2021, under the symbol 'ESXM'" in addition to its primary listing on the TSX Venture Exchange under its existing trading symbol 'ESX'. The company is also listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the trading symbol 'EWX1'. Paul Loudon, president and CEO of Essex commented: "We are excited to commence trading on the OTCQB Venture Market. This listing gives us exposure to the US investment community and is an important milestone in our investor relations strategy." In addition, the company has submitted an application to the Depository Trust Company *DTC) to have the its common shares eligible for delivery and depository services with the DTC to facilitate electronic settlement of transfers of its common shares in the US.

Binovi Technologies Corp ( ) said the TSX Venture Exchange has accepted for filing the company's proposal to issue 954,545 shares at 11 cents per share to settle outstanding debt for $105,000 with one creditor.

( ) said the TSX Venture Exchange has accepted for filing the company's proposal to issue 117,647 common shares at a deemed price of 17 cents per share to settle an outstanding debt of $20,000 in connection with services provided by Agora Internet Relations Corp. with one creditor

Ltd ( ) said the TSX Venture Exchange has accepted for filing documentation with respect to its brokered private placement announced January 21, 2021. which will see the issue of 3,225,000 flow-through shares and 784,000 common shares at purchase price of $18.60 per flow-through share and $12.75 per common share with 64 placees

Inc. ( ) (FRA:LL1) (OTCQB:LHLNF) has announced that effective March 26, 2021, its shares commenced trading on the OTCQB Venture Marketplace under the symbol 'LHLNF'. Stan Lis, CEO and a director of Leanlife commented: " Listing on the OTCQB is part of a long-term strategy to introduce our Company to a broader audience. We believe trading on the OTCQB will be beneficial for our shareholders and help us enhance liquidity by providing our current and future American investors with easier access to trade our common shares in the United States." The company will continue to trade on the Canadian Stock Exchange (CSE) under the symbol 'LLP' and on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in Germany (FSE) under the symbol 'LL1'.

( ) ( ) (FRA:N29) has announced that it will be LiveStreaming its CEO, Evan Gappelberg, as a hologram into homes at 10.30am EST on Friday, March 26, 2021. Gappelberg will demonstrates the company's AiR Show livestream human hologram technology. To participate in the livestream experience, please use the following steps: 1. Download the AiR Show App on your mobile smartphone Apple App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/air-showt3d/id1506057681; Google Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.Trick3d.AirShow&hl=en&gl=US; 2. At 10.30 am EST, open the AiR Show app and enter the code: EGLIVE; 3. Follow the directions in the app. Scan your environment to place the livestream hologram of Evan into your space.

( ) (OTCQB:NOVRF), based in Vancouver Canada focused on copper and nickel royalties has announced that Alex Tsukernik, its president and CEO, will present live at VirtualInvestorConferences.com on March 30, 2021, at 11.00am ET. via the following link: https://bit.ly/2O4IcXP. This will be a live, interactive online event where investors are invited to ask the company questions in real-time. If attendees are not able to join the event live on the day of the conference, an archived webcast will also be made available after the event. It is recommended that investors pre-register and run the online system check to expedite participation and receive event updates. To learn more about the event at www.virtualinvestorconferences.com

Virtual Investor Conferences, the leading proprietary investor conference series, has announced the agenda for the upcoming Extractive Industry Investment Options Conference on March 30 and 31.2021. The free conference features presentations and speakers who will address worldwide extractive industry investment opportunities. Participating companies will encompass exploration, development, and production of precious, critical, base, REEs, and strategic metals and materials. The program opens at 9.15am ET, with the first webcast at 9.30am ET on Tuesday, March 30. It is recommended that investors pre-register and run the online system check to expedite participation and receive event updates, which can be done via the following link: https://bit.ly/3cdLLnP. "OTC Markets is proud to host our inaugural two-day Extractive Industry Investment Opportunities conference co-sponsored by Murdock Capital and TAA Advisory, said Jason Paltrowitz, executive vice president of Corporate Services at ( ). "We are pleased to deliver a visibility solution that allows today's industrial mineral leaders to showcase their strategies to a broader investor base. We welcome the contributions of our keynotes and presenters: Christopher Ecclestone, Mining Strategist, Hallgarten & Co; Jeffrey M. Christian, Managing Partner, CPM Group; Jack Lifton, Founder, Technology Metals Research, and Phillps S. Baker, Jr. President & CEO of for this signature event. he added.

( ), the operator of financial markets for 11,000 US. and global securities has announced rthat Gratomic Inc. (CVE:GRAT) (OTCQX:CBULF), an advanced materials company, has qualified to trade on the OTCQX Best Market and has today upgraded from the OTCQB Venture Market. The OTCQX Market is designed for established, investor-focused US and international companies. To qualify for OTCQX, companies must meet high financial standards, follow best practice corporate governance, and demonstrate compliance with applicable securities laws. Graduating to the OTCQX Market from the OTCQB Market marks an important milestone for companies, enabling them to demonstrate their qualifications and build visibility among US investors. Arno Brand, Gratomic CEO & president commented: "We are very pleased to be graduating to the OTCQX Market after only commencing trading on the OTCQB in mid-December 2020. This will provide our valued US investors with greater liquidity and execution services through OTCQX. It will also help us to build our visibility among US investors. This is an important step in the evolution of the Company."

Valeo Pharma Inc ( ) ( ) (FRA:VP2) announced that it will report its financial results and highlights for the first quarter ended January 31, 2021 on Wednesday , March 31 after market close. Valeo will host a conference call to discuss those results and highlights on Thursday April 1, at 8.30am (ET). The telephone numbers to access the conference call are 1-888-231-8191 and 647-427-7450. An audio replay of the call will be available. The numbers to access the audio replay are 1-855-859-2056 and 416-849-0833 using the following access code (5555964). A live audio webcast of the conference call will be available via: https://produceredition.webcasts.com/starthere.jsp?ei=1444812&tp_key=929d96e070
Undoing many of the policies of his predecessor is one of President Joe Biden's top priorities. In early February, Biden even got a little defensive about all the executive actions he was taking in his first days in office to halt policies set by President Donald Trump. "I'm not making new law," he said Feb. 2. "I'm eliminating bad policy."

But as easy as it sounds on the campaign hustings or in a 30-second political ad, it's complicated to overturn rules from earlier administrations. There is one tool, however, that Biden and the Democratic Congress could use to undo the policies the Trump administration left behind. A little-used law called the Congressional Review Act allows a new administration with a like-minded Congress to fast-track the repeal of regulations and other executive actions with simple majority votes in both chambers and no filibuster in the Senate.

So far, though, Congress has made no attempt to use it, and the president has not called for it. And it appears there are no specific plans to do so, at least not on health-related policies.

Time is of the essence when it comes to using the CRA. With a few exceptions, it applies to only those Trump administration policies finalized between Aug. 21, 2020, and Jan. 20, 2021. And it's available for only the first 60 legislative days  those that either the House or Senate is officially working in Washington  of the new Congress. That end date will likely land sometime in April.

KHN is tracking health regulations, guidance and executive orders implemented during Trump's term and whether those policies will continue under the Biden administration.

Trump and the GOP-controlled Congress were not shy about using the CRA to eliminate policies implemented by the Obama administration. Between Feb. 14 and May 17, 2017, Congress passed and the president signed rollbacks of 14 regulations, according to the Congressional Research Service. Before 2017, the 1996 law had been used only once  when the new George W. Bush administration and GOP-led Congress repealed a Clinton-era worker safety rule in 2001.

But experts said it's not surprising that the Democrats haven't followed that pattern this year.

"The CRA is such a blunt instrument," said Daniel Perez, a senior policy analyst at George Washington University's Regulatory Policy Center. "There are other tools at their disposal."

Using the act is also risky. Under its provisions, once a policy is repealed, no administration can issue a "substantially similar" regulation. But how similar is too similar? No one knows, and it's never been tested.

"It's kind of a legal gray area," said Perez.

The Biden administration may well be the one to test that. One regulation repealed by the Republican Congress using the Congressional Review Act in 2017 dealt with the Title X family planning program. The Obama-era rule forbade state health departments from withholding Title X funding as long as organizations were able to provide family planning services. Several states had banned Planned Parenthood affiliates and other clinics that performed abortions from participating in the program. Title X has not, from its inception in 1970, funded abortions, but abortion providers have long participated to provide contraceptive and other health services.

Family planning groups would like to see those state policies blocked once again.

But the failure to use the Congressional Review Act may be about more than just getting organized in time. Many Trump policy changes that Democrats may want to ditch were part of larger regulations that touched a wide variety of subjects and could include policies that Biden's team wants to keep. But Congress can't dismiss only part of a rule.

"The nature of health care rule-making is they tend to be omnibus," said Katie Keith, a health policy researcher and law professor at Georgetown University.

For example, a Jan. 19 regulation finalized by the Trump administration cuts funding for Affordable Care Act marketplace operations and codifies changes that would make it easier for states to create health plans that do not include all the protections offered by the ACA. But those changes are embedded within a much larger regulation required each year to keep the health law operating.

Biden administration officials, rather than try to repeal the entire regulation, will likely rewrite just the pieces they disagree with. That will take significant time and resources. That raises another hurdle the White House has encountered as it tries to change health policy. The Senate has yet to confirm a director for the Office of Management and Budget, and new Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra was sworn in only last week. Both agencies are required for health regulations to proceed.

"My own two cents is this is not the product of a deliberate decision not to use the CRA," said Sara Rosenbaum, a health law and policy professor at George Washington University. "It's more a problem with the messiness they have run into with starting up the new administration. They don't know what they want to do with these rules."

And the transition period was especially tumultuous. Both the Biden administration and the new Congress were delayed in getting organized. First, Trump refused to concede the election  which sparked a mob attack on the Capitol. Then, once it was official that Biden had won, the Senate  now evenly split, 50-50  didn't change hands to Democratic control until Inauguration Day, when Vice President Kamala Harris became the tie-breaking vote. An agreement on how to run the Senate and committees took even longer to negotiate between the Democrats and Republicans. Plus, before two Democratic challengers swept the Jan. 5 Georgia runoffs, most people thought the Senate would remain in Republican hands, so the CRA would not have been a viable option.

Even when Democrats assumed control of the Senate and White House, the early weeks were crowded with an impeachment trial, efforts to get control of the pandemic response and the covid-19 relief bill that passed earlier this month.

It's not too late for Congress to turn to the Congressional Review Act. Keith said one possible use would be on a last-minute Trump regulation known as the sunset rule. It requires HHS to review 18,000 of its regulations, and those not reviewed within a set period will automatically end. A group of health and other interest groups, led by Santa Clara County in California, sued to block the rule March 9.

But congressional action could be a cleaner way to end the rule. "That strikes me as something the Democrats would like to see never come back again," said Keith.
[March 26, 2021] With a Two-Year Revenue Growth of 6,673 Percent, Crestmont Capital Ranks No. 3 on Inc. Magazine's List of California's Fastest-Growing Private Companies

Inc. magazine revealed that Crestmont Capital LLC is No. 3 on its Inc. 5000 Regionals: California list, the most prestigious ranking of the fastest-growing California-based private companies. This regional list represents a unique look at the most successful companies within the California economy's most dynamic segment-its independent small businesses. Speaking on the ranking, Gregory Keleshian, Chief Executive Officer for Crestmont Capital, LLC. said, "I am very proud of all we have achieved over the past few years. I firmly believe our record revenues are due to our steadfast focus on rapid, strategic growth in key markets. Our proven ability to scale our business, by successfully recognizing our client's needs, while reducing operational costs, has allowed us to substantially increase revenue and expand our EBITDA. Thanks to the ongoing diversification of our revenue streams and the solid performance of our lending portfolio, we are confident that we will further enhance our monetization capabilities and remain bullish about delivering sustainable growth moving forward." The companies on this list show stunning rates of growth across all industries in California. Between 2017 and 2019, these 250 private companies had an average growth rate of 535 percent and, in 2019 alone, they employed more than 40,000 people and added nearly $7 billion to the California economy. Companies based in major metro areas-Los Angeles, the Bay Area, and San Diego-brought in the highst revenue overall.



Complete results of the Inc. 5000 Regionals: California, including company profiles and an interactive database that can be sorted by industry, metro area, and other criteria, can be found at https://www.inc.com/inc5000/regionals/california. "This list proves the power of companies in California no matter the industry," says Inc. editor-in-chief Scott Omelianuk. "The impressive revenues and growth rates prove the insight and diligence of CEOs and that these businesses are here to stay."

About Crestmont Capital Crestmont Capital's portfolio of loan products and advisory services offers small businesses resources well beyond those offered by traditional banks. The financial analysts and consultants who make up the lending divisions of Crestmont Capital have assisted in facilitating the capital requirements for tens of thousands of small businesses. For more information about Crestmont Capital, visit www.crestmontcapital.com. About Inc. Media The world's most trusted business-media brand, Inc. offers entrepreneurs the knowledge, tools, connections, and community to build great companies. Its award-winning multiplatform content reaches more than 50 million people each month across a variety of channels including websites, newsletters, social media, podcasts, and print. Its prestigious Inc. 5000 list, produced every year since 1982, analyzes company data to recognize the fastest-growing privately held businesses in the United States. For more information, visit www.inc.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210326005029/en/

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A man who admitted to arranging to meet a 14-year-boy on gay hookup app Grindr has escaped a stint in jail.

Russ Alan Portelli faced Perth District Court on Thursday following his arrest in October after two vigilantes created a fake profile and posed as the teenager before later meeting him in a Kelmscott park, Nine News reported.

The court heard the vigilantes, using the name '4teen', had asked on Grindr: 'You don't mind I'm 14', to which Portelli, under the name 'Daddy 13', replied: 'I'm kool (sic). I love young'.

Russ Alan Portelli (pictured) was handed an 18-month suspended sentence after he was charged with with using electronic communication with intent to procure a person, under the age of 16 years, to engage in sexual activity

Perth District Court heard Portelli had replied 'I love young' after being asked 'You don't mind I'm 14' (mock-up of conversation pictured)

Portelli had also asked 'wanna play now' and said 'show me wot u got babe (sic)', the court heard.

The 61-year-old was confronted in the park by the vigilantes, who alerted police.

Portelli was charged with using electronic communication with intent to procure a person, under the age of 16 years, to engage in sexual activity.

In court, he admitted he tried to meet up with a 14-year-old. The court heard Portelli was a victim of child sexual abuse, suffers post traumatic stress disorder and is cognitively impaired.

The judge ruled Portelli's offending was 'out of character' and most likely a 'one-off', adding he would receive better help in the community where his risk of reoffending could be managed.

Portelli was handed an 18-month suspended sentence, subject to supervision orders and him undergoing treatment.
Mumbai, March 26 : In a much awaited development, JSW Steel has implemented the resolution plan for Bhushan Power and Steel Limited (BPSL) making the payment of Rs 19,350 crore to the financial creditors to acquire the bankrupt company.

Post the transaction, Piombino Steel Limited (PSL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the company, now owns 100 per cent equity share in BPSL.

In a regulatory filing, JSW Steel said a sum of Rs 8,614 crore was arranged in Piombino Steel through a mix of equity issued to the company and optionally convertible instruments issued to JSW Steel and JSW Shipping and Logistics along with debt availed by PSL.

Of the PSL Funds, an amount of Rs 8,550 crore was invested in Makler Private Ltd, a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), through equity and convertible instruments. The SPV also availed short-term loans, it said.

"Pursuant to the implementation of resolution plan, that inter-alia included payment of Rs 19,350 crore to the financial creditors of BPSL and merger of SPV with BPSL. PSL holds 100 per cent equity shares in BPSL," said the filing.

The transaction came through after the lenders of the bankrupt Bhushan Power and Steel earlier this month accepted the condition of the JSW Steel that if the Supreme Court rules against the takeover, the lenders would return the money to the company.

Earlier, the Sajjan Jindal-led JSW Steel wrote to the creditors proposing to deposit the entire amount due to financial creditors as part of its resolution plan in an escrow account, which would be released subject to the conditions of the steel major.

JSW Steel's bid to acquire BPSL had hit a stalemate following Enforcement Directorate's approaching the apex court against the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal's (NCLAT) order to lift the attachment order against BPSL's properties.

The ED has argued that the appellate tribunal has no jurisdiction to unfreeze and approve the sale of an asset attached by the central investigating agency.

The NCLAT approved the JSW Steel's resolution plan in February last year. The ED has attached assets worth more than Rs 4,000 crore of BPSL in connection with its money laundering probe linked to an alleged bank loan fraud by the company's former promoters.

BPSL is an integrated steel unit with liquid steel capacity of more than 2.5 million tonne per annum (MTPA) in Jharsuguda, Odisha. Further, the downstream facilities are in Kolkata and Chandigarh.
MONCKS CORNER  A diver scouring the bottom of the Cooper River found what scientists believe is the fossilized tooth from the largest prehistoric bear to roam North America.

When Eric Proulx, an amateur fossil hunter, found the 3-inch tooth of a giant short-faced bear (Arctodus simus) on March 20 while diving with Cooper River Dive Charters, he didnt think it was that big of a deal.

After all, Proulx had found plenty of fossils over the years while diving the murky waters in lower Berkeley County. Last year, he found an 8-foot woolly mammoth tusk, the jaw from a rare prehistoric cat and dozens of shark teeth.

Honestly, I had no idea what it was, said Proulx, a Fort Mill resident who started to combine his passion for fossils and scuba diving in 2018.

"I honestly wasnt that excited about it at first," he said. "I thought it was a whale or a dolphin tooth. Its crazy because you never know what youre going to find out there.

Proulx took several photos of the discovery and placed them on the Palmetto Paleontological Societys social media page, an online community of professional and amateur paleontologists and fossil hunters.

College of Charleston paleontologist Robert Boessenecker, an expert on prehistoric whales and dolphins, believed it was the tooth from a prehistoric land mammal. Another paleontologist speculated it to be a tooth of an American lion (Panthera atrox), which were mostly found in the Western United States.

The teeth from bears and cats can be very similar, Boessenecker said. Its difficult to tell the difference a lot of times, but I was pretty certain it was a large, carnivorous mammal.

Richard Hulbert, Florida Museums vertebrate paleontology collection manager, later determined the tooth came from a giant short-faced bear.

I can say with 98 percent certainty that its a bear tooth and most likely a giant short-faced bear, said Hulbert, who has studied prehistoric mammals for the past four decades. Its a very nice specimen. Those bears are bigger than any bear living today.

The giant bears first appeared roughly 800,000 years ago in the U.S. during the Pleistocene Epoch, and soon spread in Canada. It is believed that the bear averaged 2,000 pounds and stood 6 feet tall at the shoulder. Fully drawn up, these massive bears could reach up to 12 feet.

The animals became extinct about 11,000 years ago.

These bears are the biggest carnivores that have ever been in North America, Hulbert said.

The swift-moving currents of the Cooper River make it a prime hunting ground for fossils and artifacts.

When they open up the (Pinopolis) dam, it clears out the mud and tends to make things erode faster than in other rivers, Proulx said.

On that chilly March day, Proulx said he found the tooth at the bottom of the river in about 45 feet of water. The water temperature that day was about 58 degrees. Proulx wears a strong video light on the top of his mask to help see in the murky waters.

I had a wetsuit on, and it was still pretty cold, Proulx said. The visibility was about a foot. I just saw something on the bottom and scooped it up.

In the past, Proulx has found 10,000-year-old pottery and glass bottles from the 1700s in the Cooper.

The electrical engineer said he plans to donate the fossil to the South Carolina State Museum's natural history collection.
When Gov. Greg Abbott lifted the state's mask mandate, it became up to businesses to decide whether they wanted to continue with their own policies.

An Instagram page popped up soon after the governor's decision to inform San Antonians of the places that don't require customers to wear a face mask.

Among the nearly 100 businesses UnmaskedSanAntonio has highlighted are gyms, restaurants, salons and retail stores. Many of the establishments encourage patrons to wear masks but will not enforce it.

The social media account has over 2,000 followers. Its creator and followers have praised the locations that give customers a choice.

"I wanted to be an encouragement for other business owners and people that felt the same as I did in that we were ready to be done with the mask, especially those that suffer from anxiety and arent comfortable while wearing it," UnmaskedSanAntonio said in one post.

Among the popular San Antonio locations highlighted by the Instagram page are Bill Miller Bar-B-Q, Torchy's Tacos, Down on Grayson, the San Antonio Zoo, The Rustic and many more.

Soon after UnmaskedSanAntonio's Instagram page went live, a page listing businesses that require masks popped up.

CompassionateSA has a smaller following at only 335 and highlights bars and restaurants such as Hot Joy and The Friendly Spot for continuing with their COVID-19 policies.

taylor.pettaway@express-news.net
FLINT, MI  Flint, Burton and Genesee County collectively will receive $504,074 from the Department of Treasury based on the Michigan Regulation and Taxation of Marijuana Act.

This is the first year that local municipalities and counties will see money generated from marijuana sales tax revenue.

Genesee County holds 10 licenses for marijuana retail stores/ microbusinesses that generated $280,013 from marijuana revenues collected in 2020.

Mark Young, Genesee County Board of Commissioners Chairman, said the money could be used for some of the countys unfunded liabilities.

My hope would be to start looking at the long term unfunded liabilities like the retiree healthcare as we go forward, Young told MLive-The Flint Journal. If we just start dedicating a revenue stream like that to it, it would have the opportunity ... in the long term of making a significant impact on that.

The countys total budget is over $300 million and a nine-member board makes the decisions on how the money is spent each fiscal year. Over the past two years, the countys budget has been in the deficit, Young said.

At one point, we were $10.2 million down as far as revenue to expenses, Young said. Were down at this point in time about $6.5 million down.

The chairman said the county wasnt anticipating the money since its such a new stream of revenue.

The Michigan Department of Treasury announced that it is starting to distribute nearly $10 million in funding to more than 100 municipalities and counties as a part of the Michigan Regulation and Taxation of Marijuana Act. The payments are based on taxes imposed and collected on the sale of adult-use marijuana products in fiscal year 2020.

The revenue generated from marijuana taxes and fees is important to our local governments, State Treasurer Rachael Eubanks said. In this extraordinary time, our staff is working to get those payments to impacted municipalities and counties. Every dollar helps right now.

Burton was given $140,060 in marijuana sales tax revenue from recreational marijuana businesses. The city holds five licenses.

Burton Mayor Duane Haskins recognizes the money is a great addition to the citys budget, but he has a realistic approach about how much the money could impact the area. He noted it costs $1 million to repair one mile of road.

It is additional revenue that we can use - and were hoping we can use that money - we got to get with city council on it, but were hoping that we can use that money to invest in our local streets in our neighborhoods and things like that, said Haskins, noting local roads have been neglected because of funding issues over the years.

Haskins said there arent any big plans in the works because it is unexpected money.

Im hoping we can do great things with the $140,000 even though it wont go that far, he said.

For the state of Michigans 2020 fiscal year, more than $31 million was collected from the 10% adult-use marijuana excise tax. Combined with fees, there was a total of $45.7 million available for distribution from the fund.

Aside from the nearly $10 million in disbursements to municipalities and counties, around $11.6 million will be sent to the School Aid Fund for K-12 education and another $11.6 million to the Michigan Transportation Fund, upon appropriation.

The remaining $12.5 million amount will be used toward start-up and administrative costs, according to a Michigan Department of Treasury press release.

In total, more than $341 million in adult-use marijuana sales was reported for fiscal year 2020.

Flint received $84,003 from its three licenses.

The city does not yet have a specific use for the money, Marjory Raymer, director of communications for the city, said in an email to MLive-The Flint Journal.

The City of Flint legal department is researching the issue to ensure the money is spent appropriately according to law, Raymer said.

Read more on MLive:

Residents in Genesee County community upset over proposed medical marijuana ordinance

This Genesee County marijuana wholesaler supplies free joints to Michigan weed shop for those with COVID-19 vaccine shot

Michigan man lands partnership with marijuana facility after serving more than 20 years on drug charge
Increasing threats of poaching and loss of habitat have made Africa's elephant populations more endangered, according to a report released Thursday by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

The African forest elephant is critically endangered, and the African savanna elephant is endangered. The two species had previously been grouped together as a single species and were classified as vulnerable by the IUCN.

"The matter is very serious" said Rudi van Aarde of the University of Pretoria's zoology department who welcomed the decision of classifying the elephants in two different species, to better understand how each one is affected.

"These species are facing extinction within a reasonable time" that could be as little as 10 years according to some experts, van Aarde said.

The number of African forest elephants has fallen by more than 86% over a 31-year period, while the population of savanna elephants dropped by more than 60% over a 50-year period, according to the IUCN, which rates the global extinction risks to the world's animals.

Africa currently has 415,000 elephants, counting the forest and savanna elephants together, according to the IUCN.

The savanna elephants prefer more open plains and are found in various habitats across sub-Saharan Africa, with Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe having high concentrations.

The African forest elephants  smaller in size  mostly occupy the tropical forests of West and Central Africa, with the largest remaining populations found in Gabon and Republic of Congo.

Criminal networks working with corrupt officials are a significant problem in central and western Africa, van Aarde said.

"The solution is not in catching the poachers, but the solution lies in this entangling syndicate criminal networks that are responsible for taking the ivory out of Africa into the rest of the world" he said.

Sub-Saharan Africa's elephants suffered a huge knock with a spike in poaching between 2008 and 2012.

A worrying trend is that a substantial amount of that poaching occurred in East and Southern Africa where an estimated 100,000 savanna elephants were killed in northern Mozambique and southern Tanzania, during that period, he said.

Experts alerted that Africa's elephants play key roles in ecosystems and economies, and their extinction would bring consequences in the future of the planet.

"The degradation of the landscapes as a consequence of the loss of elephants will also make life better for some species" said van Aarde, species that are carriers of serious zoonotic diseases like COVID, according to him.

Some researchers are working on projects in different countires studying viruses present in wild animals - including bats- which many scientists believe were linked to the outbreak of COVID-19

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
At Clarus, we are committed to making positive impacts in our local communities and are honored to collaborate alongside Vin on the Villano-Clarus Scholarship.  Tom Caporaso, CEO, Clarus Commerce

Clarus Commerce, the only company solely focused on building, managing and optimizing customizable premium loyalty programs for retailers, today announced it has collaborated with The Hartford Foundation to sponsor a scholarship fund for high school seniors who plan to begin pursuing an undergraduate career in 2021.

The joint scholarship will be in collaboration with Vincent Villano, who founded Clarus in 2001, and will be awarded on an annual basis. While this scholarship fund will be dynamic on an ongoing basis, this year, Clarus is focusing on young women who have an academic interest in technology and entrepreneurship.

According to McKinsey, women make up just 19% of bachelors computer and information science degree recipients and 26% of the computing workforce. The Villano-Clarus Scholarship will aim to identify an individual who meets the following criteria:



Graduating high school senior who lives in or attends high school in one of the 29 towns in the Greater Hartford region

Entering a 2- or 4-year college and pursuing an undergraduate degree on a full-time basis

Have achieved academic success in high school and show promise of continued academic achievement at the college-level

In need of financial assistance to attend college

Have been involved with volunteer, community service and/or extracurricular activities

Are female and interested in technology or entrepreneurship

I've always believed that education is a cornerstone not only to personal growth and fulfillment but also to developing a stronger society, said Villano. Unfortunately, it's also become inaccessible for so many in our state and across the country. My hope is that we can help provide much-needed assistance to underserved students in our community and, perhaps, play a small role in helping shape our leaders of tomorrow.

Villano has worked with The Hartford Foundation on similar scholarship opportunities since 2013. The Villano-Clarus Scholarship is a great testament to the ongoing values hes instilled within the company that live on today and inspired initiatives such as Clarus Cares  a program centered around giving back to the local community.

At Clarus, we are committed to making positive impacts in our local communities and are honored to collaborate alongside Vin on the Villano-Clarus Scholarship, said Tom Caporaso, CEO at Clarus. Together, we hope to inspire future leaders who will ignite a passion for continuous learning and service in all of those they interact with.

The deadline to apply for the scholarship is April 1, 2021. The selection process includes the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving Board of Directors approved selection committee through an objective and nondiscriminatory process. Members of Clarus along with Villano will also join the committee.

To learn more about the scholarship and how to apply, click here.

About Clarus Commerce

Clarus Commercewhere customer loyalty meets subscription revenueis the only company solely focused on building, managing and optimizing customizable premium loyalty programs for retailers. The company provides the full suite of services needed for a successful loyalty program, which includes the technology platform, client services, strategy, creative, marketing, analytics, IT and operations. Clarus Commerce was founded in 2001 and is headquartered in Rocky Hill, Connecticut. For more information, please visit http://www.claruscommerce.com.
FILE PHOTO: The Aviva logo sits outside the company head office in the city of London

By Pamela Barbaglia, Stephen Jewkes and Agnieszka Barteczko

MILAN (Reuters) - Italian insurer Generali has nudged up its bid for Aviva's Polish arm, valuing the business at almost 2.5 billion euros ($3 billion), in a last-ditch effort to prevail over Dutch insurer NN, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

London-listed insurer Aviva received three binding bids on March 22 for its Polish operations, with NN submitting the highest offer, which valued the unit at about 2.5 billion euros, the sources said.

German insurer Allianz and Generali - which have existing operations in Poland - were given a final chance this week to improve their bids, the sources added.

Allianz also improved its offer as it sees the Aviva unit as a strategic asset that will give the winner an edge in Poland and central Europe, two separate sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Aviva is expected to enter exclusive talks with one of the three bidders in the coming days, they said.

A spokesperson for Aviva said the British insurer was exploring options for Poland but no decision had been made.

Generali, NN and Allianz declined to comment.

Aviva is the second largest life insurer in Poland after state-owned PZU and the tenth biggest provider of general insurance in the country. Its Polish business also includes two key bancassurance partnerships with Santander and ING.

Generali initially valued the Polish business at just over 2 billion euros only to sweeten its bid on March 24, offering close to 2.5 billion euros, the sources said.

NN immediately offered about 2.5 billion euros, while Allianz improved its initial offer, which was more than 2 billion euros, after the March 22 deadline to keep up with the other contenders, the sources said.

"They wouldn't stop early when they have gone so far," a source familiar with the German insurer's strategy said.

Aviva, whose boss Amanda Blanc is about to complete an ambitious asset divestment programme in Europe, wanted to take advantage of the competitive environment and has given the three bidders an opportunity to make their final offers this week.

Story continues

For Generali, the deal would serve as a springboard to Poland - a market seen by boss Philippe Donnet as core to the company's expansion, with the Italian insurer recently saying it would consider any growth opportunity there.

"Aviva is the real winner in this auction as the price is going through the roof," one of the sources said.

Panmure Gordon analysts initially estimated the sale of Aviva's remaining European assets in Poland and Italy would be worth 2.1 billion pounds ($2.9 billion) overall.

Aviva sold its life insurance businesses in Italy to France's CNP Assurances for 543 million euros on March 4.

It also pocketed 3.2 billion euros from the sale of its French operations to Macif's Aema Groupe in February and an additional 122 million pounds from flipping its 40% stake in a joint venture in Turkey to Ageas Insurance International.

($1 = 0.8470 euros)

($1 = 0.7292 pounds)

(Reporting by Pamela Barbaglia, Stephen Jewkes and Agnieszka Barteczko; additional reporting by Gianluca Semeraro, Carolyn Cohn and Alex Huebner; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle, Mark Potter and Edmund Blair)
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This is the first in a series of stories on how different communities around L.A. County have weathered the pandemic.

You might know Magnolia Park by the Porto's Bakery there, or more recently, the continuing saga of Tinhorn Flats.

Beyond those big names, the neighborhood's identity is based on small businesses -- especially those selling antiques, vintage clothing, memorabilia and specialty books.

Magnolia Park is only about one mile in diameter, in a fairly middle-class part of Burbank. Even within that small area, the pandemic's impact was quite uneven.

Some businesses struggled and survived, others closed for good, and a few actually thrived.

Do not touch Darth Vader. (Chava Sanchez/LAist)

BLAST FROM THE PAST

Larry and Kathy Ross have run the Blast From The Past toy store in Magnolia Park for over a decade. The huge brick building, once a bank, now has a mural of the Mandalorian and Baby Yoda watching over the entrance.

Technically, it's a vintage store. The clientele picking through Ninja Turtle and Power Ranger action figures usually aren't kids, but nostalgia-seeking adults. And in spite of the pandemic, those customers are still coming by in droves.

"I hesitate to say this because I'm aware of how tough it's been for so many people, but our business has increased a great deal," Larry Ross said.

The business didn't turn a profit in its first decade. Then, just in the last year, revenue at Blast From the Past doubled, he said.

"I don't know exactly what to ascribe that to other than there's nothing else to do," Ross said. "Coming into a place that's friendly and nerdy and at least somewhat entertaining can be a huge relief."

Blast From The Past sells vintage merchandise with an emphasis on sci-fi, horror, superheroes and Disney. (Chava Sanchez/LAist)

The store's success is not representative of the neighborhood, he said. Co-owner Kathy Ross, president of the Magnolia Park Merchants Association, knows of five businesses that closed for good in the last year.

That isn't just a pandemic problem. Even before the coronavirus hit, there was a "Save Magnolia Park" campaign. Driving around the area, I saw more than five stores boarded up or empty.

"It's gentrification," Ross said. "Some of those quirky mom and pop-type shops can't make it in the steeper rent world."

The pandemic definitely made things harder, though. The Rosses gestured to a clothing shop across the street. That's the place to go, they said, to see what it's been like for most local businesses.

JUNK FOR JOY

Junk For Joy is not a thrift store, owner Kathleen Lenihan immediately explained. It sells vintage clothing and costumes, including goods from before 1976, when the store opened.

Behind the counter, Lenihan keeps a collection of deadstock sunglasses. That's where a pair featured in Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon A Time In Hollywood came from.

Junk For Joy owner Kathleen Lenihan. (Chava Sanchez/LAist)

"That's the picture the costumer sent to me of Brad Pitt wearing them," Lenihan said, pointing to a printout of a photo taped to the box.

In the last year those big sales, international customers, and even the usual visitors dried up.

"It's a lot slower," Lenihan said. "I'm here by myself. Normally, I would have at least one other employee."

When the pandemic hit, Lenihan shut down for six months and couldn't afford to keep her staff. She reopened in October, but only after giving up half of her space to another business.

"It was painful and stressful and I was anxious through the whole thing," she said.

Musician Tripp Denom said Junk For Joy was his number one choice for assembling a '70s soul outfit. (Caroline Champlin/LAist)

Now, business is gradually starting to come back.

While I visited, a longtime customer and musician named Tripp Denom was putting together a '70s soul outfit for his upcoming album, searching for something Al Green or Teddy Pendergrass might have worn.

"I'm emulating some of my favorite artists that I grew up listening to," Denom said, looking over the outfit in the mirror. "We have these nice brown bell bottoms -- I love these."

Lenihan picked it all out for him (including some fake chest hair, which Denom politely declined). Demon said seeing Junk For Joy make it through the year was a relief.

"This particular store is so unique. Where we are, everybody's a creative," he said. "These places will survive just off of us needing it."

YOGA BLEND

Christy Hicks chose to start her studio, Yoga Blend, in Magnolia Park because it had a small-town feel, like the south, where she's from.

"I owned it and operated it for 16 years ... almost," Hicks said, "It was my baby. It was my everything."

What used to be Yoga Blend is now available for lease. (Chava Sanchez/LAist)

Hicks closed the studio preemptively last March, before the lockdown. It will not be reopening. At first, Hicks tried teaching yoga over Zoom.

"It was a disaster," she said. "Some people went online but some people just didn't want to do that."

When the lockdown started, Hicks lost 75% of her students and revenue overnight. She got a government PPP loan, but it wasn't enough. Worried about keeping up with her lease and loan payments, she started spending her savings to keep it open.

The former Yoga Blend studio space. (Chava Sanchez/LAist)

Eventually reopening at limited capacity didn't seem feasible, financially or emotionally.

"I started thinking about [people] coming in, afraid of each other, afraid to be close, afraid to breathe," Hicks said. "To try to teach that way ... I would feel fraudulent. I would feel like I'm not the teacher that I claim to be."

Imagining that, Hicks got nauseous and threw up.

"That was the answer," she said. "If my body is having this kind of violent reaction to what it would look like if I reopened. I was like, I gotta get out of this. It's not mine anymore."

In June, Hicks gave up her lease and moved back to Tennessee. She's still teaching some yoga classes online, but the Yoga Blend business is over.

She stands by her decision, but misses Magnolia Park.

"Things have changed so much and it just breaks my heart to think of my little gem in L.A., that place that was so special to me," Hicks said.
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A single mother struggling to get by on benefits was less than impressed with the high life after she swapped lives, homes and budgets with a multimillionaire property developer on this week's episode of Rich House Poor House.

Jodie Hannibal, from Hatfield, was employed as youth worker but had to give up work after having her son, Jodieson, now two, as she couldn't afford childcare.

Now surviving on benefits, she has just 53 a week after rent and bills.

On Sunday's episode of the hit Channel 5 show, she swaps lives with entrepreneur Ayo Gordon who lives in a luxury apartment in Battersea overlooking Chelsea Harbour.

A single mother struggling to get by on benefits was less than impressed with the high life after she swapped lives and homes with a multimillionaire property developer on this week's episode of Rich House Poor House. Jodie Hannibal, from Hatfield, was employed as youth worker but had to give up work after having her son, Jodieson, now two, as she couldn't afford childcare. Jodie and Jodieson are pictured

Ayo like Jodie was born to single mum in poverty, grew up on a south London council estate before going into care when his mother went to prison.

But eight years ago he bought his first house in Kent, and now has a property portfolio worth 6 million, and has a mentoring programme to help other young people get financial freedom.

Ayo is joined on the swap by his friend and business partner Patrick, while Jodie was joined by her cousin and best friend Leah.

And while Jodie and Leah are thrilled with their new weekly budget of 1514.61, Ayo and Patrick struggle with their new 53-a-week budget, wondering how they'll be able to feed 'two grown men' on '5 each a day'.

On Sunday's episode of the hit Channel 5 show, she swaps lives with entrepreneur Ayo Gordon who lives in a luxury apartment in Battersea overlooking Chelsea Harbour. He is pictured outside Jodie's house with friend Patrick

After blowing more than 30 on just one day of food, the pair go door to door of local shops offering to wash windows for 3 to earn food.

Jodie's week is full of lavish takeaways, private boat trips, and mentor meetings while Ayo heads to a farm for a dog walk and shops for elderly neighbours.

While she enjoys her takeaway, saying she could never usually get ribs and duck together, Patrick bakes Ayo a potato with baked beans and cheese - but is less than impressed when Ayo doesn't wash up saying the pair are 'living like students'.

Despite enjoying the takeaway, Jodie and Leah aren't too impressed with Ayo's lack of curtains, and Jodie struggles with her final night treat of five-star privately catered meal.

Ayo is joined on the swap by his friend and business partner Patrick, while Jodie was joined by her cousin and best friend Leah (pictured outside their house)

'Jodie is absolutely terrified of the foods, of the looks and the smells of all the different foods,' Leah explains.

'I'm very very nervous but it's an experience so i'll give it a go,' Jodie adds.

Their first course is lobster nuggets with curry mayonnaise and roasted red pepper.

'I don't like it at all.' Jodie says, spitting it out.

Doing his best to make Jodie feel possible the chef explains it's basically just 'posh spam'.

Next she's given raw fish with avocado and chilli, which Jodie doesn't even try.

Ayo and Patrick struggle on their budget of just 53 a week - and end up going door to door to wash windows

'I'm watching Leah squirm like an absolute rat, there's no chance I can try it, I won't even lick it, I just can't do it, it's too much poshness,' she adds.

She enjoys her third course, a rack of lamb, but embarrasses Leah when she cuts off a piece of bread to eat it with.

'Please don't make lamb sandwiches right now Jodie' Leah pleads, 'Hell, you can take the girl out of Hatfield,' she jokes.

The pair enjoy the final course, a creme brulee, although Jodie adds 'it's a bit posh'.

'The only way I'd have a personal chef is if they could nail by shepherds pie recipe,' Jodie adds.

She then asks Leah: 'Do you prefer the food you've had tonight or do you prefer all the food you've had at mine, you know the basic sausage sandwich?'

Leah (right) says she'd pick the posher lifestyle and could get use to the high life, while Jodie prefers her life in Hatfiled (left with Jodieson)

Leah says she'd pick the posher lifestyle and could get use to the high life, while Jodie adds she prefers the sausage sandwich.

While she doesn't enjoy the food, Jodie does take to other aspects of the high life, taking her son on a private boat tour where she enjoys afternoon tea and beer.

Elsewhere she also buys him a tablet, admitting she struggles to even download an app as she wants her son to be computer literate, as well as taking him on a private tour of a local wildlife park.

At the end of the week, Jodie meets with Ayo where he offers to mentor her help her out of poverty.

Incredibly grateful, Jodie accepts the offer but reflecting on the week adds: 'Although they've got the fancy cars and fancy apartment, I still feel like I'm the richer one as I've got my child, and that's better than money can buy.'

Rich House, Poor House, Sunday 28th at 9pm on Channel 5
Abuja  Benue State Governor, Dr. Samuel Ortom, sought an overhaul of his security details during his Wednesday's meeting with the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Mohammed Adamu, THISDAY learnt yesterday.

Ortom, at the meeting, had submitted a petition to Adamu, urging him to investigate the attack on him last Saturday.

Gunmen, suspected to be herdsmen, had shot at the governor and his entourage while returning from his farm in the outskirts of Makurdi, the state capital.

A group, which identified itself as Fulani Nationality Movement (FUNAM), had in a statement, claimed responsibility for the attack.

Ortom met the IG on Wednesday to formally present a petition on the attack.

He had on Tuesday met President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa.

THISDAY gathered that during the meeting with Adamu, Ortom requested that his security details be overhauled.

It was learnt that the security of the governor had become a source of serious concern in view of the rampaging attacks by herdsmen in the state.

Investigation revealed that the governor was under pressure by prominent leaders in the state to overhaul his security following concern that the security operatives in his convoy might be the source of information to his attackers.

A security source told THISDAY that the latest attack on the governor was not the first time his convoy was targeted.

The source said: "The governor has been a target of some people for some time. One group boldly claimed they missed him narrowly.

"Concerned people of the state think he should call for fresh hands around him because somebody close might be giving his attackers information about his movement.

"How did they know in the first attempt that he was in a place near his village? In this second attack, how did the attackers know that he was on his farm and that he was leaving?

"Sometimes, for security reasons, a governor's movement is not always known but these people knew every of his movement.

"This is the issue in Benue. The people want the security around the governor changed and they also want tight security. It will be a big shame if a governor is killed and there are security agents around him."

When asked if the governor discussed the issue of overhauling his security arrangement with the IG, Force Public Relations Officer, Mr. Frank Mba, a Commissioner of Police, denied knowledge of such discussion between the duo.

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"I am not aware of that. Our position has been made in the press statement we issued on the matter," Mba added.

Following the attack, the IG had ordered a full-scale investigation into the incident.

He also ordered the deployment of a team of specialised investigators from the Force Criminal Investigations Department (FCID), Abuja in Benue State to support the Benue State Police Command.

A police source told THISDAY yesterday that the team departed Abuja yesterday.

The IG had ordered the Deputy Inspector-General of Police in charge of the Force Intelligence Bureau (FIB), Tijani Baba, to expedite action on the investigation.

Benue State has had a history of attempts on the lives of its chief executives.

On March 3, 2004, the then Governor George Akume escaped death by a whisker following an attack on his convoy by bandits near Nasarawa-Eggon in Nasarawa State on his way to Kaduna to attend a meeting of the governors of the 19 northern states.

His friend and former Managing Director of Nigeria Airways, Mr. Andrew Agom, who sat beside him in his official Toyota Land Cruiser Jeep, was hit by bullets and died on the spot.

Akume's successor, Senator Gabriel Suswam, was also attacked on March 10, 2014, by suspected herdsmen.

The attackers exchanged gunfire with his security details at Tee-Akanyi village in Guma Local Government Area of the state.
China comprehensively improves level of opening-up

09:10, March 26, 2021 By He Yin ( People's Daily

Photo taken on March 7, 2021 shows a container terminal of Lianyungang Port, east China's Jiangsu Province. (People's Daily Online/Geng Yuhe)

China's steady and constant progress of opening-up is receiving worldwide attention. Recently, the country became the first member of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) to ratify the pact.

This move indicated China' efforts to advance opening-up to a higher level and break new ground in win-win cooperation, mirroring the new journey the country has embarked on to fully build a modern socialist country.

China will practice opening-up on a larger scope, in wider areas and on deeper levels, and leverage the advantages of its super-large market to promote international cooperation, achieve win-win results, steer the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) toward greater success and facilitate the building of a community with a shared future for mankind, said an outline of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) for national economic and social development and the long-range objectives through the year 2035.

It envisions a prosperous future in which China interacts with the world with high-level opening-up, and indicates China's commitment to the promotion of common development while the country accelerates the building of a new development pattern.

China is comprehensively improving the quality of opening-up, promoting trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, deepening the opening-up based on flows of goods and factors of production, and steadily advancing opening-up with institutional guarantees in the areas of management, standards, rules and norms. The country will keep releasing more dividends to the world.

A survey conducted by the US-China Business Council found that nearly 70% of interviewed American companies were optimistic about the business prospects of the Chinese market in the next five years. Another survey done by the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China also suggested that over 60 percent of EU firms ranked China among their top three destinations for new investment. The choice of foreign enterprises fully demonstrates the confidence of the world in the opening Chinese market.

By comprehensively advancing opening-up to higher levels, China is striving for high-quality development of the BRI cooperation. The joint construction of the BRI is an important approach to enhance people's well-being and promote common development, as well as an important platform to build a community with a shared future for mankind.

Under the principle of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits, as well as the approach of open, green and clean cooperation, the BRI cooperation is demonstrating strong resilience and vitality. To turn Belt and Road cooperation into a journey toward common development and prosperity for all is a common aspiration and a firm conviction of relevant parties.

President of the UN Economic and Social Council Munir Akram said that through infrastructure investment, the joint construction of the BRI will lay a foundation for accelerating industrialization and economic development, which will benefit the whole world.

The outline of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) for national economic and social development and the long-range objectives through the year 2035 emphasized that China will hold high the banner of peace, development and win-win cooperation, adhere to an independent foreign policy of peace, and promote the building of a new type of international relations to foster a more fair and equitable global governance system.

China is committed to safeguarding and improving multilateral economic governance system, building a high-standard free trade area network, and fostering sound external environment, which is welcomed by the international society, and marks an important contribution of China to world peace and development.

China's development cannot be successful without the support of the international community, and vice versa is also true. On the new journey, the country will only become more and more open and share more opportunities of win-win cooperation with the rest of the world. To work with China for common prosperity, that is a choice to be made by all countries that welcomes open cooperation.

(Web editor: Hongyu, Liang Jun)
Clemson University is participating in a clinical trial to study the effects of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine in students.

The school also is partnering with a grocery chain to vaccinate employees.

Both announcements were made March 25.

The Moderna trial is capped at 12,000 participants nationwide. Half will receive the vaccine immediately, the other half in four months. The goal is to study "infection, viral shedding and subsequent potential transmission in students."

The eligibility and requirements are stringent. Participants must be between 18 and 26 and not have previously tested positive for COVID-19. They will be tracked for four months or more after receiving the vaccine, and be required to collect daily nasal swabs and submit to a weekly saliva test.

Students can earn up to $750 participating in the trial. More information is available on the Clemson Parent and Family Experience website.

The trial is a joint effort of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, and Department of Health and Human Services.

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"We are pleased to participate in this important study of vaccine effectiveness among healthy college students," Dr. Corey Kalbaugh, Clemson's lead epidemiologist and public health strategist, said in a news release. "The more we vaccinate at our university, the closer we will be to some semblance of normalcy."

Meanwhile, the supermarket chain Ingles is helping vaccinate eligible Clemson employees.

A survey that went out to all Clemson employees indicated more than 1,000 individuals were eligible and wanted the vaccine. Ingles Pharmacies then contacted those respondents to set up an appointment at a nearby location.

As of March 25, 660 Clemson employees have tested positive on campus since June 1, according to Clemson's COVID-19 dashboard. For the current week beginning March 21, Clemson has administered 9,392 tests to students and employees with a positivity rate of less than one percent.

We know every vaccine we administer helps our community as we move closer to herd immunity, and even helps protect those who choose not to receive the vaccine," Ingles Chief Financial Officer Ron Freeman said in a statement.

South Carolina moved into Phase 1B of vaccinations on March 8. So far, the state has given 1.7 million COVID-19 vaccine doses, according to the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control.
(JTA)  British Prime Minister Boris Johnson wished Jewish Britons a Happy Passover in a video message shared Friday on social media that noted with some Yiddish at least one advantage to the Zoom seder.

Johnson acknowledged that the holiday would be celebrated again in isolation for many with the COVID-19 pandemic ongoing, even as Britain outpaces much of the world in vaccinating its population.

Sadly for the second year in a row, this most sociable of festivals is taking place at a time when families and friends and neighbors are unable to come together as they usually would, he said.

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More than a year after the pandemic began, Passover arrives as 44% of the United Kingdoms population has received a first dose of the coronavirus vaccine and infections have plummeted across the country.

While many restrictions remain in place, some are beginning to lift and starting Monday, Britons will be allowed to gather outdoors in groups of six from a maximum of two households. But that comes too late to impact seders, which will be held on Saturday and Sunday nights, and still largely be confined to one household or take place over Zoom.

Heres what he said about the Zoom seder:

Even second time around, its not quite what everyone is used to, but the haroset will be just as sweet and the matzah just as meaningful, the prime minister said. And you get something generations of Jews have dreamed of for millennia: the ability to mute the tables inevitable kvetch.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday (March 26) directed the Punjab government to hand over the custody of gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari, who is currently lodged in Rupnagar jail there, to Uttar Pradesh Police within two weeks.

A bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan and RS Reddy delivered the verdict on the plea of the Uttar Pradesh government seeking a direction to the Punjab government and Rupnagar jail authority to immediately hand over the custody of Ansari to the district jail Banda.

Earlier on March 4, the apex court was told by the Punjab government that the Yogi Adityanath-led government has got no fundamental right to seek Ansari's transfer from Rupnagar jail to the district jail in Banda in Uttar Pradesh.

Ansari, who is lodged in district jail Rupnagar in Punjab in connection with an alleged extortion case since January 2019, also accused in several cases of heinous crimes lodged in Uttar Pradesh.

A gangster-turned-politician, Mukhtar Ansari was voted as an MLA from Mau five times. Currently, he is a member of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLA from Mau in Uttar Pradesh.

Mukhtar Ansari has avoided as many as 26 warrants issued by a Prayagraj court on medical grounds, according to an affidavit submitted before the Supreme Court by the Uttar Pradesh government.

The gangster-turned-politician was sent to judicial custody in Punjab in an extortion-threat case, but he did not apply for bail despite having been entitled to default bail as the statutory 90-day period has lapsed.

Ansari also opposed being shifted to Uttar Pradesh, the state Police have registered 38 cases of heinous crime at a single police station in the Ghazipur district. He has previously been lodged in different jails including Lucknow, Ghazipur, and Mau.

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Mukhtar Ansari has been acquitted in a number of cases. A Delhi court in July 2020, acquitted him in the murder case of Krishna Nand Rai, whose wife wrote a letter to Priyanka Gandhi.
A man authorities say helped torch a Providence police cruiser last summer during a night of vandalism in the city pleaded guilty Thursday, federal prosecutors said.

Nicholas Scaglione, 31, of Cranston, sprayed a flammable liquid into the cruiser, causing a small fire to intensify just moments after he and others unsuccessfully tried to flip the vehicle onto its side, the U.S. attorneys office in Providence said in a statement.

The cruiser was destroyed in the early morning hours of June 2 in what former Gov. Gina Raimondo called an organized attack on the community outside the Providence Place mall.

He pleaded guilty to malicious attempt to damage or destroy a vehicle and faces up to 20 years in prison at sentencing on June 16. He faced a federal charge because Providence police receive federal funding.

Scagliones attorney said he had no comment.

The FBI released surveillance images and video from the scene which led to tips from people who know Scaglione. Police reviewed cellphone messages in which he admitted to helping burn the cruiser and expressed animosity toward law enforcement.

Rhode Island authorities have said Scaglione was part of a mob bent on destruction that coincided with, but was separate from the nationwide protests over the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

Charges against the other suspect are pending.
While banks and other financial institutions offer nomination facility for customers, there is no provision for successive nomination like what the insurance companies provide. Looking at the changing circumstances, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) needs to take a proactive step and introduce successive nomination facilities for financial consumers, says Subhash Chandra Agrawal, a well-known Right to Information (RTI) activist from Delhi.

He says, "Outdated nomination rules in respect of savings parked in banks and government savings-schemes, which are now available through public sector banks (PSBs) also, in addition to earlier post-offices only, are resulting in huge accumulation of public money of deceased account holders in government accounts in case of death of sole nominee in case of bank deposits or on death of any of the joint nominees in case of government savings schemes."

"The situation becomes even more peculiar when spouses of aged couples usually nominate each other as nominees where in case of the death of both, legal heirs may have to go through a cumbersome procedure of getting a succession certificate," the RTI activist says.

Mr Agrawal had filed an RTI query with the RBI seeking information on nomination facility in financial institutions. The reply from RBI shows that only one nominee can be appointed in respect of bank-deposits and lockers under sections 45ZA to 45ZF of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 and Banking Companies (Nomination) Rules, 1985. Unclaimed money of customers is transferred to depositor education and awareness fund (DEAF) introduced by the RBI in 2014.

RBI told the senior activist, "...under the current provisions it is not possible to have successive nominations in a bank account. The respective provisions of the BR Act, 1949 and the Banking Companies (Nomination) Rules, 1985 would require amendments to provide for such nomination."

Mr Agrawal says, the facility of successive nomination exists at the Life Insurance Corp of India (LIC) through form-number 5194 whereby succession automatically passes on to next nominee in case of death of the earlier nominee.

Insurance companies, on the other hand allow successive or alternative nominations for up to three nominees. Section 39 (1) of the Insurance Act, 1938 says, "The holder of a policy of life insurance on his own life may, when effecting the policy or at any time before the policy matures for payment, nominate the person or persons to whom the money secured by the policy shall be paid in the event of his death."

Where nomination is made in favour of successive nominees, i.e., nominee 'A' failing him to nominee 'B' failing whom nominee 'C, the nomination in favour of one individual in the order mentioned is considered by the insurer. After the death of the policyholder, first nomination becomes operative. If first nominee is not alive, then the second one becomes operative. If both the first and second nominees are not alive, then only the third nominee becomes operative.

"This facility is especially of big use in case of aged senior citizens where usually husband and wife make each other the nominee in their insurance policies, due to unawareness of the facility of successive nominations. Successive nomination provides auto-passing of nomination to the next nominee in case of death of aged nominee, which is either husband or wife of the policy-holder," Mr Agrawal says.

The Insurance Act also has a provision where neither the policyholder nor the nominees are alive. Section 39 (5) states "Where the policy matures for payment during the lifetime of the person whose life is insured or where the nominee or, if there are more nominees than one, all the nominees die before the policy matures for payment, the amount secured by the policy shall be payable to the policy-holder or his heirs or legal representatives or the holder of a succession certificate, as the case may be."

Government schemes like senior citizen saving scheme (SCSS), and public provident fund (PPF) provide the facility of joint nomination with the depositor compelled to fix percentage of amount to be deposited amongst nominees in case of death of the depositor.

According to Mr Agrawal, depositors usually have single nominees, and the peculiar situation of claiming deposit-money by legal heirs may be required in case of deaths of both the depositor and nominee, which is quite usual with aged couples.

He says, the same facility should also be provided in all saving-schemes of government and banks including the PPF. At present, PPF provides the facility of joint nomination making it necessary to specify the share of the benefit to each of the joint nominees in case of death of the account-holder. It is not clear what happens to the share of benefit of a nominee in case of deaths of both the account-holder and any of the joint nominees.

The RTI activist contends that statistics and data can prove a very huge amount of unclaimed money of PPF and other savings-schemes of government and banks where funds are not claimed because of tedious and cumbersome process of getting a succession certificate.

He says, "It seems that outdated nomination-policies are deliberately not changed for enriching the RBI and the public-exchequer through unethical means. Central government through an ordinance should urgently replace such outdated nomination policies in respect of different types of deposits, by enacting a unified policy providing the facility of successive nominations as already exists at LIC."

"Better is to make such a successive nomination compulsory in case of all private deposits also to minimise litigations and to prevent a debtor from becoming beneficiary in case of the death of the depositor. Central government and RBI should urgently introduce the facility of successive nominations in all saving schemes of government and banks which should be clearly mentioned in account opening forms," Mr Agrawal added.
After graduating top of his year at the Lyon 3A Higher School of Business and Development, Louis Ferla was in a position to secure any job he liked. Instead, though, he took a year to study Chinese full-time at the National Taiwan University. The attraction to all things Asian continued to direct his path for 17 years, and by the end of the 1990s, there was no shortage of evidence of his desire to immerse himself fully in the cultures to which he was drawn. Unsurprisingly, Louis Ferlas career began in China, followed by Hong Kong: initially in retail, and then more directly in luxury goods and jewellery.

The new millennium brought with it the opportunity to join the Richemont Group. He found his way in through Dunhill, where he became Managing Director for Taiwan and Hong Kong, barely five years after completing his studies. It was a highly formative time, lasting from 2001 to 2006.

Louis Ferla  Vacheron Constantin

After that, a new era began, with a brand to which he was to devote another 11 years of his life  Cartier. Louis Ferla was very familiar with Taiwan, and the Richemont group flagship put him in charge of its subsidiary there. Three years later, he became Regional Director for a zone covering the Middle East, Africa and India, a position which put him on Cartiers Executive Board from 2012 to 2017. During this period, he was also Chairman and CEO of Cartier China (2012-2015), before becoming International Director, Clients and Strategies (2015-2016).

When Louis Ferla returned to Europe  more specifically, Switzerland  it was to take up a new challenge. The position was in Geneva, at the oldest watchmaking Manufacture still in operation: Vacheron Constantin. Louis Ferla became Managing Director, Sales & Marketing in 2016, and then CEO in April 2017. One of his first tasks was to draw staff closer together in a shared vision dedicated to customer satisfaction  as well as repositioning and developing the brands offer, networks and digital initiatives.

*On the occasion of GMT Magazine and WorldTempus' 20th anniversary, we have embarked on the ambitious project of summarising the last 20 years in watchmaking in The Millennium Watch Book, a big, beautifully laid out coffee table book. This article is an extract. The Millennium Watch Book is available on www.the-watch-book.com, in French and English, with a 10% discount if you use the following code: WT2021.

Order now
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

Many tropical cyclone-prone regions of the world are expected to experience storm systems of greater intensity over the coming century, according to a review of research published today in ScienceBrief Review.

Moreover, sea level rise will aggravate coastal flood risk from tropical cyclones and other phenomena, even if the tropical cyclones themselves do not change at all. Models also project an increase in future tropical-cyclone precipitation rates, which could further elevate the risk of flooding.

Researchers at Princeton University, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the University of East Anglia (UEA) examined more than 90 peer-reviewed articles to assess whether human activity is influencing tropical cyclones, including tropical storms, hurricanes and typhoons. The studies showed growing evidence that climate change is probably fuelling more powerful hurricanes and typhoons, a trend that is expected to continue as global temperatures rise, amounting to a roughly 5 percent increase in maximum wind speeds if the globe warms by 2 degrees Celsius.

The influence of climate change on tropical cyclones has been notoriously difficult to separate from natural variability. But an increasingly consistent picture is emerging that suggests human activities are probably influencing some aspects of these extreme weather events, although the exact extent of the human influence is still difficult to determine confidently in today's observations. Many of the observed trends in tropical cyclones are at least qualitatively consistent with expectations from a warming climate.

The ScienceBrief Review, 'Climate change is probably increasing the intensity of tropical cyclones', is published today as part of a collection on critical issues in climate change science to inform the COP26 climate conference.

Observations show that since about 1980, the intensity of tropical cyclones has increased globally, with a larger proportion of powerful cyclones and an increase in the rate at which they intensify, especially in the North Atlantic.

However, century-scale records of landfalling hurricanes and major hurricanes for the continental United Statesas well as tropical cyclone landfalls for Japan and eastern Australiafail to show any significant increase over time.

The mixed picturerevealed by past observations such as theseis one reason why it has been so difficult to unequivocally attribute past changes in tropical cyclone activity to the century-scale build-up of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, which has caused global warming, according to the authors.

Other factors influencing tropical cyclones, including natural climate variability such as El Nino and La Nina events, and changes in air pollution that create local cooling or warming trends over decades, may have influenced the recent trends since 1980. A key research question is how future greenhouse gas-dominated global warming will influence tropical cyclone behaviour over the coming century.

Prof Corinne Le Quere, Royal Society Professor at UEA's School of Environmental Sciences, edited the COP26 special issue of ScienceBrief Review. She said: "There is moderate consensus that climate change is already playing a role in the development of tropical cyclones, but it is early days. In comparison with wildfires, the consensus is already clear that climate change increases the risks, as shown earlier on ScienceBrief Review."

Projections with climate models suggest that with further warming in coming decades, a larger proportion of Category 4 and 5 tropical cyclones will occur globallywith more damaging wind speeds and more extreme rainfall rates. The damage potential of storms will also depend on factors such as the change in storm trajectory, frequency, size, intensity and rainfall. The actual damage from storms will also be influenced by human factors including the location and vulnerability of buildings and infrastructure.

Tropical cyclones could also intensify more rapidly, and move more slowly in some regions, exacerbating extreme rainfall in localised areas. An extreme example of tropical cyclone flooding induced by a stalled system occurred with Hurricane Harvey in Texas in 2017.

Thomas Knutson, Division Leader at NOAA's Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory on Princeton University's Forrestal Campus, led the review.

Gabriel Vecchi, Princeton professor of geosciences and the High Meadows Environmental Institute and a co-author on the study, said: "Larger and more intense tropical cyclones tend to cause more damage than smaller, weaker storms, so shifts toward a greater proportion of intense storms are of concern.

"The intensity of tropical cyclones has increased globally in recent decades, with the proportion of Category 3 to 5 cyclones growing by around 5 percent per decade since 1979.

"It is still difficult to firmly attribute those trends to human-induced climate change because there are also other factors influencing these storms."

There is increased risk of inundation due to rising sea levels, with heavy rainfall projected to intensify due to enhanced moisture in the air as the climate warms.

Observations indicate the latitude at which tropical cyclones reach their peak intensity has been migrating poleward in most basins, raising the potential that those storms could begin to bring greater impacts to locations that may be less well-equipped to respond.

Modelling studies, supported by the theory of potential intensity of tropical cyclones, find that mean intensities are projected to increase by about +5 percent for a +2 degrees C global warming scenario, and near-storm rainfall rates to increase globally by an average of +14 percent.

Maya Chung, a Ph.D. candidate in Princeton's Program in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, said that in coastal regions, higher storm inundation levels will be among the greatest potential impacts of future tropical cyclones under climate change.

She said: "The combination of likely increased storm intensity and rainfall rates and continued sea-level rise will act to increase the inundation risk of low-lying, unprotected regions.

"The total inundation risk will depend on a variety of storm-related factors as well as sea level rise."

Whereas model projections suggest a greater proportion of higher-intensity cyclones, most model studies project the total number of tropical cyclones each year will decrease or remain approximately the same.

The 2020 hurricane season in the North Atlantic had both a high number of named storms and a high number of intense hurricanes, with six storms in Category 3 to 5.

Thomas Knutson said: "It is possible that in the real world, hurricane activity will increase more than suggested by the range of existing studiesor perhaps less.

"Unfortunately, humans are on a path to find out through actually increasing global temperatures beyond levels experienced during human history, and then we will see how things turn out."

Prof Le Quere said: "The impacts of climate change are becoming increasingly clear as new evidence becomes available and because our impact on the climate is also growing.

"Continually assessing the scientific evidence is critical to informing the decisions to be made at the COP26 in Glasgow later this year."

'Climate change is probably increasing the intensity of tropical cyclones', Thomas R. Knutson, Maya V. Chung, Gabriel Vecchi, Jingru Sun, Tsung-Lin Hsieh and Adam J. P. Smith, is published at ScienceBrief.org on 26 March 2021.

Explore further Climate change has been influencing where tropical cyclones rage: study
Princess Sofia of Sweden and husband Prince Carl Philip were spotted leaving Danderyds hospital hand-in-hand after welcoming their third child together today.

The couple, who married in 2015, both put safety first in protective masks, as Prince Carl Philip carried their newborn, who was wrapped up in a light blue patterned blanket, in a handheld car seat.

Clearly besotted already, Princess Sofia, 36, who cut a relaxed figure in a light blue shirt, black jeans and trainers, could be seen gazing down at her little one - before stepping into an awaiting chauffeur-driven car.

The royal, who wore her sleeves rolled up, kept a low profile and completed her casual look with a beige scarf and black cap.

It comes just hours after the royal pair revealed on Instagram they had a third son, a brother to Prince Alexander, four, and Prince Gabriel, three.

The official statement from the palace read: 'The Office of the Marshal is pleased to announce that HRH Princess Sofia on Friday, March 26, 2021 at 11.19 gave birth to a healthy and prosperous son at Danderyd Hospital. Both mother and child are well.'

Princess Sofia of Sweden and Prince Carl Philip were spotted leaving Danderyds hospital hand-in-hand after welcoming their third child together (pictured)

Prince Carl Philip carried their newborn, who was wrapped up in a light blue patterned blanket, in a baby carrier as they exited the hospital today

The new baby is seventh-in-line to the throne and the eighth grandchild of King Carl XVI Gustaf.

Carl Philip, 41, is the only son and second child of Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia.

His older sister Princess Victoria, 43, is the heir to the Swedish throne and he is currently fifth in the line of succession.

Victoria has two children, Prince Oscar, five, and Princess Estelle, nine.

Princess Sofia could be seen clutching a notepad while her husband carried their third son as they departed hospital today (pictured)

Princess Sofia, 36, cut a relaxed figure in a light blue shirt, black jeans and trainers - and completed her look with a beige scarf and casual black cap (pictured)

The royal couple, who married in 2015, put safety first in protective face masks as they headed for home (pictured)

The royal couple could be seen stepping into a chauffeur-driven car as they headed home with their new arrival (pictured)

Carl Philip's younger sister Princess Madeleine has now dropped to eighth-in-line.

She has three children, Princess Leonore, seven, Prince Nicolas, five and, Princess Adrienne, two.

Sofia, 36, and Carl announced they were expecting in December.

In a statement shared by the Swedish royal household at the time, Carl Philip and Sofia said they are 'happy and excited, and looking forward to welcoming our third child'.

Princess Sofia wore her brown hair loose and kept a low profile in a black cap as she stepped inside an awaiting vehicle

Princess Sofia of Sweden and husband Prince Carl Philip put on a loved-up display as they left hospital holding hands, and with their newborn son

Growing family! Prince Carl Philip of Sweden and his wife Princess Sofia have announced they have had a third son. The couple already had two sons, Prince Alexander, four, and Prince Gabriel, three. They shared this family photo after announcing the news

The official statement from the palace read: 'The Office of the Marshal is pleased to announce that HRH Princess Sofia on Friday, March 26, 2021 at 11.19 gave birth to a healthy and prosperous son at Danderyd Hospital. Both mother and child are well.'

In December, the Swedish Royal Family released this photo to mark Sofia's birthday

They later shared a family photo to thank well-wishers for their kind words.

The snap shows Carl Philip and Sofia dressed in festive outfits while posing with their sons in a cosy living room. Just a hint of a baby bump can be seen under Sofia's elegant camel-coloured roll neck dress.

In December Prince Carl Philip and Princess Sofia revealed they had tested positive for Covid-19.

The pair suffered 'light flu symptoms' and isolated at their home in Stockholm with their sons.

It marks the first appearance from the royal since she and husband Prince Carl Philip, 41, were diagnosed with coronavirusi n December

It is unclear exactly when the royal pair tested positive, but a spokesman said Sofia is swabbed as part of her work at Sophiahemmet - a private hospital in Stockholm.

She had previously been pictured donning scrubs while treating coronavirus patients at the hospital amid Sweden's outbreak.

Known as Sweden's real-life Prince Charming, Carl-Philip broke the hearts of royal-watchers across the globe when he announced his engagement to former glamour model and reality TV star Sofia Hellqvist in 2014, four years after news of their relationship first hit headlines.

The couple welcomed their first son, Prince Alexander, in April 2016 and another little boy, Prince Gabriel, arrived in August the following year.

Born as heir to the throne, in 1980 a law was passed which gave his older sister Victoria precedence in the line of succession.
Circle simplifies buying and selling by enabling platforms to accept credit card payments alongside crypto Tweet this

NFTs have seen a meteoric rise in recent months  as platforms like NBA Top Shot skyrocket in popularity (Top Shot has seen a 400% increase in sales over the past 30 days) and digital art becomes mainstream (iconic auction house Christie's recently offered the first purely digital artwork with the auction of Beeple's Everydays for $69M). In February 2021 alone, sales volume across major NFT marketplaces grew nearly 800%, to more than $200M.

"This is not only an important and valuable trend for marketplaces and creators, it represents incredible demand from customers  for collectibles, artwork, moments, and really anything that can be tokenized on the blockchain," said Jeremy Allaire, Circle Co-founder and CEO. "Circle looks forward to supporting the industry  creators, platforms, marketplaces, storefronts and customers  with our solution for enabling a user-friendly, mainstream payments experience with the power of crypto connectivity and USDC."

With Circle's payments and treasury infrastructure, NFT marketplaces and storefronts can create a seamless user experience for buyers and sellers alike:

Build upon Circle's Payments, Payouts and Digital Dollar Accounts APIs to process transactions and use the Circle Account to maintain a scalable treasury infrastructure on the backend, making platform management easier than ever.

Choose to offer traditional and crypto payment options, or abstract crypto entirely from the user  all in service of greater convenience and efficiency alike.

Over the coming months, Circle plans to release a range of features aimed at NFT marketplaces, storefronts and platforms:

Support for BTC & ETH payments. NFT markets will be able to easily accept BTC and ETH as payment and payout methods, allowing both crypto HODLers and new mainstream users to pay with fiat and crypto.

Storage, Custody and Transfer of NFT assets. Circle's digital asset account infrastructure and APIs will enable NFT markets and properties to easily store NFT assets with best-in-class digital asset custody services, while also enabling their customers to transfer standard NFTs in and out of their markets and services.

Treasury and Yield Services. NFT markets are digital asset native businesses, and with funds and treasury accounts held with Circle, NFT developers can take advantage of Circle's new high-yield digital dollar accounts*, enabling idle working capital to earn between 4-8% APY on USDC.

These new areas of focus are just the beginning as Circle continues to build and partner with the leading projects, developers and brands that are innovating in the NFT commerce space.

This comes at a time of explosive growth for USDC, whose market cap is more than $10B and has more than doubled in 2021 alone. Dollar stablecoins like USDC have quickly become the preferred currency of NFT marketplaces and storefronts as they offer a convenient funding source for end users as well as the ability to streamline their operations and stay crypto-native as needed. In the future, Circle plans to expand its roadmap by accepting ETH payments as well as providing custody for NFTs.

For more information, contact our team , and read more about our NFT solution here.

About Circle

Circle is a global financial technology firm that enables businesses of all sizes to harness the power of stablecoins and public blockchains for payments, commerce and financial applications worldwide. Circle's platform has supported over 100 million transactions worth tens of billions of dollars, with nearly 10 million retail customers, over a thousand businesses, while storing and securing more than $5 billion in digital currency assets. Circle is also a principal developer of USD Coin (USDC), which together with Coinbase and the Centre Consortium oversees the standards and protocol for what has become the fastest growing, regulated, fully reserved stablecoin. USDC now stands at more than $10 billion market cap and is adding nearly $300 million net new digital dollars in circulation every week. Today, Circle's transactional services, business accounts, and platform APIs are giving rise to a new generation of financial services and commerce applications that hold the promise of raising global economic prosperity for all through programmable internet commerce. Learn more at https://circle.com

*Service offered through Circle International Bermuda Limited. Offering subject to business approval, geographical availability, and regulatory authorization, and there is no guarantee that the product will become available in a specific timeframe, or to a specific customer group or geography. Service offered through Circle International Bermuda Limited. It is anticipated that Circle International Bermuda Limited will enter into lending arrangements with one or more institutional borrowers, including Genesis Global Capital, LLC. You should carefully conduct your own investigations and analyses in connection with any participation in this product, including its objectives, risk factors, fees, and expenses and the information set forth in these materials. All prospective participants in the products described herein are advised to consult with their legal, accounting and tax advisers regarding any potential participation. Rates are purely indicative and are subject to change pending availability, approval and market conditions. Additional information is available upon request.

SOURCE Circle Internet Financial, Inc.

Related Links

https://www.circle.com


(@FahadShabbir)

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 26th Mar, 2021 ) :Pakistan on Friday extended condolences to the government and people of Egypt one the loss of lives and injuries in a train collusion in Sohag province.

"The government and the people of Pakistan extend sincere condolences to the government and brotherly people of Egypt on the loss of life and injuries in a train collision today, in Sohag governorate of Egypt," Foreign Office spokesperson said in a statement.

At least 32 people have been killed and more than 100 injured in a train crash. Two carriages were derailed and overturned when two passenger trains collided.

Emergency brakes were activated on the train in front by "unknown individuals", causing the train behind to crash into it, media reported quoting Egyptian authorities.

The Foreign Office spokesperson said that Pakistan stood in solidarity with brotherly Egypt in that hour of grief.

"We offer our prayers for the lives lost and wish speedy recovery to those injured in the accident. We also wish that Allah Almighty grants patience and forbearance to the bereaved families," the spokesperson added.
YEREVAN, MARCH 26, ARMENPRESS. Speaker of Parliament of Artsakh Artur Tovmasyan, who is in Armenia on a working visit, met on March 26 with Foreign Minister Ara Aivazian in Yerevan, the Artsakh Parliament told Armenpress.

The post-war economic, humanitarian and other problems in Artsakh were discussed during the meeting. The officials also discussed the ongoing actions for returning the Armenian prisoners of war and hostages from Azerbaijan.

Both sides condemned the destruction of Armenian religious and historical-cultural sites by Azerbaijan.

Coming to the ongoing domestic political developments in Armenia, Speaker Tovmasyan said: Early elections, perhaps, are the best option for any state which is facing a crisis situation. The situation in Armenia itself requires snap parliamentary elections. If you want to have secure Artsakh, we must have sustainable Armenia and strong Artsakh.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
The concept of accountability has been ingrained into almost every part of our society. The examples are numerous  a child may be put into time-out for misbehaving, a student sent to the principal for a violation of rules, and a driver may be given a ticket as a consequence of speeding.

Accountability also has deep roots across the globe. Leading the successful campaign for Indias independence from Britain, Mahatma Gandhi inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world, once saying It is wrong and immoral to seek to escape the consequences of ones acts. In the history of much of the world, accountability has been a central tenet. But this fundamental precept is under attack.

In the highly charged area of criminal justice reform, the war on accountability has reached a new zenith. A federal lawsuit was filed against Harris County, Texas, attacking the treatment of a group of poor people who did not have an opportunity to ask for a reduction from the countys bail schedule. However, the ultimate settlement required the release of almost all misdemeanor defendants essentially for free, except for those charged with a handful of misdemeanor crimes.

Under the settlement terms, defendants are released on a $100 pinky promise, personal recognizance bond, and never see a magistrate. Also, if a defendant misses court, the county has agreed that no action can be taken against them until they fail to appear at least three times.

The settlement has had a profound effect on public safety in Harris County. Criminals essentially have been put in charge and the results have been a disaster. The countys ability to provide justice to victims has been severely damaged. Even before the pandemic shutdown began last March, the number of pending cases for misdemeanor courts had doubled. The backlog has forced the district attorneys office to discount punishments by handing out deferred adjudication like candy for evermore dangerous offenses. In one case, a defendant violated the terms of his probation. However, no one ever filed a motion to hold him accountable for the violations.

Criminals are taking notice that they are not being held accountable and crime is increasing. Crime Stoppers of Houston maintains a list of all the victims who have been murdered by defendants out on personal recognizance bonds. New York state, which also attempted this release model at the start of 2020, found it to be such a disaster that the legislature voted to roll it back, even in the midst of the pandemic.

Our criminal justice system is built on a foundation of accountability. Mental health patients usually get back on their medications because of the involvement of the legal system. Typically, drug users who are arrested and face the threat of criminal prosecution will go to rehab. If rehab fails, they serve time. Social workers cannot be expected to be judge and jury, and lack the authority to order someone to take medications or to stop taking illicit drugs.

There is a name for these kinds of reform efforts and it is anarchy. Put another way, a nation without laws is not a nation. Accountability is the battlefront of a war taking place across our shores at this moment. The stakes are sky-high and if we care about our future, we must not be complacent.

As Gandhi pointed out many years ago, we cannot escape the consequences of our actions. We are living in a perilous time in which we must decide whether to continue to move toward building a society based upon accountability or turn into a society of vigilantes  some fighting for more power, but most fighting for sheer survival.

The choice will decide whether we continue as a nation.

Ken W. Good has written numerous articles on bail reform. He wrote this for InsideSources.com.
CAIRO, March 26  The Suez Canal stepped up efforts on Friday to free a stuck mega vessel, after an earlier attempt failed to end a blockage that has lifted shipping rates for fuel tankers and disrupted global supply chains for everything from grains to baby clothes.

Shipping rates for oil product tankers have nearly doubled after the 400-meter (430-yard) long Ever Given ran aground in the vital trade waterway on Tuesday due to strong wind.

Efforts to free it may take weeks and be complicated by unstable weather, threatening costly delays for companies already dealing with COVID-19 restrictions.

All its 25 crew members, who have remained on board, were safe, in good health and spirits, Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement (BSM), the Ever Givens technical manager said.

The Dutch rescue team had confirmed that two additional tugs would arrive on March 28 to help dislodge the ship after an attempt to re-float it on Friday failed, BSM said.

There have been no reports of pollution or cargo damage and initial investigations rule out any mechanical or engine failure as a cause of the grounding, a BSM statement said.

The Suez Canal Authority (SCA) said efforts to free the ship by tug would resume as soon as dredging operations at its bow to remove 20,000 cubic meters of sand are complete.

In addition to the dredgers already on site a specialized suction dredger is now with the vessel and will shortly begin work. This dredger can shift 2,000 cubic meters of material every hour, said.

The SCA said it welcomed a U.S. offer to help. Turkey also said it can send a vessel to the canal, amid a recent push by Ankara to repair ties with Egypt after years of animosity.

The suspension of traffic through the narrow channel that links Europe and Asia has deepened problems for shipping lines that were already facing coronavirus-related disruptions in supplying retail goods to consumers.

The blockage could cost global trade $6 billion to $10 billion a week, a study by German insurer Allianz showed on Friday.

Ratings agency Moodys expects Europes manufacturing and car parts suppliers to be most affected because they operate just-in-time supply chains.

Even if the situation is resolved within the next 48 hours, port congestion and further delays to an already constrained supply chain is inevitable, it said in a statement.

Impact On Oil

About two dozen ships could be seen from the shores of Port Said on Friday morning, according to a Reuters witness.

Oil prices rose over 3% on Friday as more than 30 oil tankers have been waiting on either side of the canal since Tuesday, shipping data on Refinitiv showed.

However, the delays come at a time of low seasonal demand for crude oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG), which will likely mitigate the impact on prices, analysts said.

Data intelligence firm Kpler said 10 crude oil tankers were awaiting entry to the canal. About 4 million barrels of mostly Kazakh CPC Blend and some Russian Urals were waiting along with tankers carrying Libyan, Azeri and some North Sea crude oil for Asian refiners, traders said.

Egypts SUMED pipeline operator quickly approached crude traders to see whether they wanted to book space in the system but so far, traders prefer to wait to avoid high additional costs.

Analysts expect a greater price impact on smaller tankers carrying oil products, like naphtha and fuel oil, for export from Europe to Asia, if the canal remains shut for weeks.

Around 20% of Asias naphtha is supplied by the Mediterranean and Black Sea via the Suez Canal, said Sri Paravaikkarasu, director for Asia oil at FGE, adding that re-routing ships around the Cape of Good Hope could add about two weeks and extra fuel costs to the voyage.

The blockage is weighing on the already weak Asian gasoil, or diesel, market. More than 60% of Asian exports to the west flowed via the choked Canal in 2020, according to FGE.

Aframax and Suezmax rates in the Mediterranean have also reacted first as the market starts to price in fewer vessels being available in the region, shipbroker Braemar ACM Shipbroking said.

At least four Long-Range 2 tankers that might have been headed towards Suez from the Atlantic basin are now likely to be evaluating a passage around the Cape of Good Hope, Braemar ACM said. Each LR-2 tanker can carry around 75,000 tonnes of oil.

The cost of shipping clean products, such as gasoline and diesel, from the Russian port of Tuapse on the Black Sea to southern France jumped 73% over the last three days to $2.58 a barrel on March 25, according to Refinitiv Eikon data.

The shipping index benchmark for LR2 vessels from the Middle East to Japan, known as TC1, has climbed by a third since last week to 137.5 worldscale points, said Anoop Jayaraj, clean tanker broker at Fearnleys Singapore. Worldscale is an industry tool used to calculate freight rates.

On the crude side, traders have had to pay 10-20% more for replacement tankers but market freight rates have not yet risen as charterers are not ready to commit to higher levels in case the container is freed this weekend, shipbrokers said.

About the photo: This photo released by the Suez Canal Authority on Thursday, March 25, 2021, shows the Ever Given, a Panama-flagged cargo ship, after it become wedged across the Suez Canal and blocking traffic in the vital waterway. An operation is underway to try to work free the ship wedged across Egypts Suez Canal, which further imperiled global shipping Thursday as at least 150 other vessels needing to pass through the crucial waterway idled waiting for the obstruction to clear. (Suez Canal Authority via AP)
Five supporters of a hardline Islamist group were shot dead in Bangladesh on Friday during violent demonstrations across the country against a visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, officials said.

The disturbances came as Bangladesh marked 50 years of independence with rights groups calling for an end to growing authoritarianism including forced disappearances and extra-judicial killings.

Police said four bodies of members of Hefazat-e-Islam, a hardline Islamist group, were brought to Chittagong Medical College Hospital after violence erupted at Hathazari, a rural town where the group's main leaders are based.

Read more: I did Satyagraha for Bangladesh's freedom when I was 20-22: PM Modi

"We got four bodies here. They are all hit with bullets. Three of them are madrasa students and another a tailor," Alauddin Talukder, a police inspector at the hospital, told AFP.

He said at least four other demonstrators were critically injured but did not say who opened fire.

Ruhul Amin, the government administrator of Hathazari town, said up to 1,500 supporters of Hefazat attacked a police station chanting anti-Modi slogans.

"They attacked us all of a sudden," he said, without confirming whether any protesters were killed.

Violence also spread at Jatrabari, a neighbourhood in the capital Dhaka, and in the eastern border district of Brahmanbaria with thousands of madrasa students demonstrating in the two places.

At Brahmanbaria one person was killed during clashes with police, a police spokesman told AFP, adding officers "opened live fire" and lobbed tear gas at Islamists protesting Modi's visit for the independence day celebrations.

Hefazat spokesman Jakaria Noman Foyezi told AFP the deceased was a supporter of the group. He added some 100,000 supporters of the group staged protests in at least 22 cities and towns across the country.

Police also fired tear gas and rubber bullets at over 4,000 madrasa students at Jatrabari, where the protesters barricaded a key highway linking Dhaka with the southeastern region, police said.

"They went unruly and even threw a Molotov cocktail bomb at police," Dhaka Metropolitan Police deputy commissioner Shah Iftekhar told AFP.

Hathazari is home to one of Bangladesh's largest madrasas and is the headquarters of the Hefazat, which was formed in 2010 and is believed to be the country's largest hardline Islamist outfit.

Another Hefazat spokesman Mir Idris accused police of "opening fire" at their "peaceful" supporters at Hathazari.

"There were some 5,000 protesters. They were all Hefazat supporters and they were mostly madrasa students. They were protesting Modi's visit and police actions against demonstrators in Dhaka," he said.

He was referring to other smaller clashes at the compound of the country's largest mosque in central Dhaka after Friday prayers when police fired rubber bullets and tear gas at brick-throwing Islamist supporters.

At least nine of the protesters there were injured, he said.

Hefazat is known for its nationwide network and large-scale protests demanding blasphemy laws in Bangladesh. In 2013 police clashed with tens of thousands of Hefazat supporters in Dhaka, leaving nearly 50 people dead.

Hefazat aside, a diverse range of Bangladeshi groups -- including students, leftist and other Islamist outfits -- have been staging protests over the last few days against Modi's visit.

They accuse Modi and his Hindu-nationalist government of stoking religious tensions and inciting anti-Muslim violence including in the Indian state of Gujarat in 2002 when 1,000 people died.

Modi was Gujarat's chief minister at the time.

On Thursday more than 40 people were injured, including four police officers, during a student demonstration. At least 33 people were detained for violence.

Clashes also occurred at the elite state-run Dhaka University Thursday evening, when pro-government student activists allegedly beat dozens of anti-Modi student protesters.

The former East Pakistan emerged as a new nation in 1971 after a brutal war involving India, which Bangladesh says killed as many as three million and displaced many more.

For decades the nation was ravaged by famines, coups and natural disasters but in recent years under Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina it has boomed economically with GDP per head more than quadrupling since 2000, although the human rights situation has deteriorated sharply, activists say.
A Democratic state representative in Georgia was arrested and removed from the state Capitol Thursday evening after trying to attend a ceremony celebrating Republican Gov. Brian Kemps signing of a new law making it harder to vote. Video of the scene shows Rep. Park Cannon, who is Black, calmly attempting to enter the signing ceremony and subsequent press conference being held in the governors Capitol office. Cannon can be seen approaching and lightly knocking on the closed doors before being intercepted by state troopers. In a brief, subdued encounter that was more a mild-mannered registering of protest than a provocation, Cannon was abruptly handcuffed and hauled out of the Capitol. It took the state troopers all of 50 seconds from the time Cannon first tapped on the door to handcuff and arrest her.

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Meanwhile, inside Kemps office:

I was proud to sign S.B. 202 to ensure elections in Georgia are secure, fair, and accessible. I appreciate the hard work of members of the General Assembly to make it easy to vote and hard to cheat. pic.twitter.com/1ztPnfD6rd  Governor Brian P. Kemp (@GovKemp) March 25, 2021

Cannon was taken from the Capitol, placed in a police car, and held at Fulton County Jail until she was released on bond Thursday evening.

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Why are the State Patrol arresting a State Representative during session? #gapol pic.twitter.com/lzs5EW78t7  Gerald A. Griggs (@AttorneyGriggs) March 25, 2021

The lawmaker was charged with obstruction of law enforcement and disrupting General Assembly sessions, both of which are felonies. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that court documents stated Cannon was charged with  knowingly and intentionally knocking on the governors door during a bill signing and stomping on Officer L.T. Langfords foot three times. The arrest warrant said: The accused continued kicking on LT Langford with her heels.

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Rep. @Cannonfor58 is arrested and lead out of the Georgia State Capitol building by GA State Troopers after being asked to stop knocking on a door that lead to Gov. Brian Kemp's office, while Gov. Kemp was signing #SB202 behind closed doors in #Atlanta #gapol pic.twitter.com/kw5FCrgqEm  Alyssa Pointer  (@AlyssaNo_L) March 26, 2021

The arrest is an affront, as is the Georgia bill passed in response to the 2020 election that Georgia Republicans, for the first time in decades, lost. Despite finding no credible claims of voter fraud or systemic irregularities of any kind in multiple recounts and audits, Georgia Republicans leveraged GOP outrage stemming from Donald Trumps election fraud fiction. The Georgia law is the first restrictive voting law to pass in a nationwide push by Republicans in the name of election integrity. Some of the most noxious parts of the original bill, like requiring an excuse for voters to vote by mail and cutting weekend early voting hours popular among Democrats, were ultimately stripped due to a Democratic outcry.

In addition to a number of inoffensive administrative changes, however, the new law still adds new voter ID requirements for absentee ballots, restricts the use of absentee drop boxes, empowers electors to challenge the eligibility of an unlimited number of voters, and gives state election officials the power to take over local elections boards. The new law also criminalizes distributing food and water to voters waiting in line.

Cannon called the law Jim Crow in a suit and tie.
drnadig/iStockBy WILL STEAKIN and ALEXANDER MALLIN, ABC News

(WASHINGTON) -- As federal prosecutors appear to continue to home in on Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes for his potential role in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, court documents describe further communications between Rhodes and members of the militia group during and after the attack, including an alleged message from Rhodes that suggests he was expecting President Donald Trump to take action during the attack.



Federal prosecutors alleged in the latest filing that Rhodes, identified as "Person One" -- which previous filings in the investigation have described as the Oath Keepers' leader and founder -- had a brief phone call with another Oath Keeper as that person positioned themselves among a group of rioters working to force open the east entrance to the Capitol just minutes before breaching the building.



According to prosecutors, Rhodes, referred to not by name but as "Person One," exchanged a 97-second phone call at around 2:32 p.m. with Florida Oath Keepers leader Kelly Meggs, who's been charged in the Capitol riot conspiracy case, as Meggs and other members of a tactical "stack," dressed in militia gear, pushed through crowds to enter the Capitol.



Minutes later the stack of Oath Keepers forcibly entered the Capitol, according to the court filing.



Rhodes was photographed outside the Capitol building during the riot but no photographs show him inside the building.



He has not been charged with any crime and has denied coordinating or playing a role in the attack on the Capitol. He did not respond to a request from ABC News for comment.



The new evidence is part of prosecutors' effort to keep Jessica Watkins, one of the 10 alleged Oath Keepers charged in the Capitol riot conspiracy, detained until trial. Watkins has asked the court to be released, arguing that those communications, which prosecutors said were exchanged through the encrypted messaging platform Signal, do not contain evidence of a conspiracy to stop the Electoral College certification.



According to the governments recent court filings, the call during the riot came after Rhodes, in previously revealed communications in which he was identified as "Person One," used a Signal group chat titled "DC OP: Jan 6 21," to share with other members a photograph of the Capitol with a caption that read "South side of US Capitol. Patriots pounding on doors."



Soon after, as Oath Keepers and others were inside the Capitol, Rhodes posted a photo showing people at the Capitol and wrote, "Trump better do his damn duty."



Other new messages included in the court filing show Rhodes at 5:50 p.m. asking leaders to "check to be sure you have all your team members. If anyone is missing, post here," and later in the evening sending a long message that served as a rallying cry, comparing the events of Jan. 6 to the Boston Tea Party in 1773.



"We have one FINAL chance to get Trump to do his job and his duty," Rhodes wrote according to prosecutors. "Patriots entering their own Capitol to send a message to the traitors is NOTHING compared to what's coming if Trump doesn't take decisive action right now."



Rhodes went on to say that it was most important for Trump to see the Capitol riot, adding, "I hope he got the message."



The following morning, on Jan. 7, Oath Keeper Joshua James allegedly messaged the group: "Trump concededits over. We lose."



Copyright  2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
Anyone surprised to read that Hunter Biden, the drug-addled princeling son of Cheatin' Joe Biden at the White House, had a gun he shouldn't have had?

Turns out he did, and worse still, the Secret Service apparently tried to cover for him.

That's the news from a good investigative report from Tara Palmeri and Ben Schrekinger of Politico yesterday. It began with this:

On Oct. 23, 2018, President Joe Biden's son Hunter and daughter in law Hallie were involved in a bizarre incident in which Hallie took Hunter's gun and threw it in a trash can behind a grocery store, only to return later to find it gone. Delaware police began investigating, concerned that the trash can was across from a high school and that the missing gun could be used in a crime, according to law enforcement officials and a copy of the police report obtained by POLITICO. But a curious thing happened at the time: Secret Service agents approached the owner of the store where Hunter bought the gun and asked to take the paperwork involving the sale, according to two people, one of whom has firsthand knowledge of the episode and the other was briefed by a Secret Service agent after the fact.

The canny gun storeowner knew enough about regulations to know that the request was illegitimate, as only the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms can make such a request, and he refused to hand the documents over. At the time, he suspected that the gun had been used in a crime, and the Secret Service was trying to retrieve the documents in order to hide Biden's ownership of the weapon.

It's possible it was, given Biden's creepy answer during a later part of the investigation, when Delaware state police were desperately trying to find the actual gun, which had disappeared when Hallie tried to retrieve it from the dumpster:

When a police officer asked Hunter whether the gun had been used in a crime, the officer reported that Hunter "became very agitated with me and asked me if I was intentionally trying to make him mad," according to the report.

In another part of the investigation, Biden told the cops that Hallie had tossed the gun in the trash near the high school because she thought Hunter would use the gun to kill himself, which also is plausible.

(The gun was eventually located when a man who collects recyclables stated that he found the gun during his nightly searches and turned it in to authorities.)

Hunter's denial of drug use, though, which Politico notes is on his gun application, and is a felony offense if false, though rarely prosecuted, isn't quite as plausible. Three years earlier, he had been dismissed from a privileged position as a naval officer for cocaine use, blowing a likely politically linked opportunity that most candidates with his dissolute history never get. Maybe he cleaned up, sure, but the 2018 emails from his abandoned laptop suggest that maybe he didn't, given his private emails about partying hearty.

According to the Daily Mail:

Another exchange, from 2018, shows Biden inviting a friend to The Hollywood Roosevelt hotel in LA, saying he has a "cabana suite" and is "partying like an idiot ass rock star." "Haha sounds ridiculously fun then. I can maybe try to come later," Andrew Boshop wrote. "I'll make your night dude," Biden replied.

Perhaps it was all good drug-free fun at an Old Hollywoodstyle celeb hangout like the Roosevelt, with its scantily dressed hookers and wannabe starlets lining up in the late night in their heels near the valet station  it's a place I've been to many times  but there are reasons to be skeptical.

Plus, Hallie dumped him for some reason. We could speculate that it's not uncommon to dump a drug addict, alcoholic, or other substance-abuser, given the emotional wear and tear on the partner. But of course, it might have been something else.

Hunter's and Hallie's irresponsible behavior in this gun incident is a textbook example of why some people really shouldn't be in possession of guns.

But the Secret Service's behavior is actually worse.

The Secret Service denied ever asking the gun shop owner for his papers and said they had no record of doing it. So the gun shop owner, it seems, didn't experience what he said he experienced and must be some kind of liar. That right there is kind of disgusting.

An unspecified law enforcement official cited by Politico later amended the Secret Service denial to say maaaaaybe they were acting in private capacity:

[T]he alleged involvement of the Secret Service remains a mystery. One law enforcement official said that at the time of the incident, individual Secret Service agents at the agency's offices in Wilmington, Del., and Philadelphia kept an informal hand in maintaining the former vice president's security. The person cited an instance in 2019 when the Wilmington office of the Secret Service called the Delaware State Police to arrange security for a public appearance by Biden.

The Secret Service denied even that, too, which raises questions about their record-keeping. There's hardly a reason to deny that one.

The apparent cover-up, though, is what seems most disturbing. Should anyone have been covering for Hunter Biden after a string of events indicating irresponsible gun ownership? Don't think so. The discarded gun, if it fell into the wrong hands, could have led to a shooting or worse, a mass shooting, at a high school. That is the sort of thing that doesn't affect Hunter, that affects other people. So covering up for Hunter is to absolve him of any potential responsibility. Gun shopowners are always under threat of regulatory supervision, and sometimes actual accountability, for selling guns to bad guys. Hunter, though, would have skated if the Secret Service in this alleged incident, would have gotten its way. One set of rules for them, one set for us.

Here's another problem. Is the Secret Service no longer an apolitical outfit focused on personal protection of political figures, but now partial to protecting and covering up for Democrats? That rather raises questions about whether it adequately protects Republicans. If the Secret Service can't be apolitical, maybe it's time to clean house or get another presidential protective agency. The partisanship involved in apparently protecting the wastrel younger son of Joe Biden, who was out of power and presumably outside Service protection, is boggling.

It's an act that, if true, someone needs to be held accountable for. Denials aren't going to cut it. This action is the height of politicization of a supposedly apolitical organization, and it leaves Republicans wondering. Why the heck should the Secret Service be involved at all in the affairs of the then-out-of-power Bidens? Favoritism, anyone? It's disgusting, and Biden should repay the taxpayers for this misuse of government resources.

It's perfectly plausible that this might be what happened  Hunter Biden has a history of getting around based on his father's connections, because "my name is Biden" as he said of his Burisma involvement. If the Secret Service can't do its job without partisanship, it's time to see about a new agency that can.

Image: Acaben, extracted images, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0.
Mobile money apps are presenting consumers with much more streamlined options for their banking needs. Photo: Le Toan

Since mobile money is still in its concept stage, Vietnamese telecom behemoths Viettel, VinaPhone, and MobiFone are quickly preparing the necessary infrastructure to roll out services once being greenlit by the authorities. The companies are making efforts to break into the new segment as the traditional market has been saturated  and their entrance is expected to create fierce competition while also placing pressure on banks that utilise more established payment methods.

Vietnam has witnessed a booming e-wallet business in the past few years. According to the latest research by Cimigo, MoMo, Moca, and ZaloPay are the top three most popular e-wallets in the two main cities in Vietnam, accounting for more than 90 per cent of the e-wallet market.

In the beginning of 2021, MoMo raised at least $100 million from six global investors. Meanwhile, VNPay has become the second unicorn startup in Vietnam and one of 12 companies in Southeast Asia with a valuation of $1 billion. Other apps have also recorded impressive growth.

Marcin Miller, associate partner of McKinsey Vietnam, told VIR that mobile moneys could impact the payment market on several levels  first is smartphone penetration, and second is the banking distribution network.

That said, there are other methods of cashless payments that are widely available in Vietnam. The pilot will nevertheless help to confirm whether this form of payments resonates with groups that do not have bank accounts or are not already using e-wallets or other cashless payment methods.

Truong Cam Thanh, director of ZaloPay, said it is inevitable for the competition between mobile money service providers and e-wallets to grab a share of consumer wallets.

However, each player has their strategy, market, and consumer target. Mobile money can grow well in remote and rural areas while e-wallet apps will be more popular in urban cities, he said.

Meanwhile, Ngo Trung Linh, general director of VietUnion  the development unit of e-wallet Payoo  said the firm is partnering with other telecom providers to provide mobile top-up services.

Transforming the market

Some experts also argue that the pilot programme likely puts pressure on traditional banks so they need to step up their game to maintain their market share. As telecom providers are likely to re-establish competitive fees leading to more people opening mobile accounts for payments, the earnings of banks can shrink significantly.

However, McKinseys Miller stated that traditional banks still have ample room to play and innovate, as the mobile money programme offers new complementary assets that traditional banks can leverage.

Through partnerships with telco players, banks can introduce new products  such as a top-up services for mobile money wallets  and target new user groups, enabling them to transition mobile money users to fully banked clients. Mobile money cannot replace a full banking offer. Instead it can be an attractive payment method for specific groups of clients, Miller said.

According to Riddhi Dutta, regional director for ASEAN and South Asia at Netherlands-based digital-first banking provider Backbase, Vietnam has a high growth potential and the country remains in the early stages of development for a fintech framework. It is imperative that local firms work with foreign investors and enterprises to access the technology, experience, and capital they need, Dutta said.

With core banking and payment system modernisation being the top priorities among banks, fintechs can take this opportunity to enter the market and partner local banks and enterprises to help scale their innovations.

The partnerships will also allow financial enterprises and banks to embrace the new technology offerings through their new fintech partners to achieve value-creating collaboration, according to Dutta.

Cracking the market

Besides the vast opportunities, there are a number of potential issues for the fledging services. According to a report by the BIDV Training and Research Institute, disposable SIM cards are the most difficult problems for customer identification.

With mobile money, each customer is only allowed to open one primary SIM payment account at one carrier. However, disposable SIM cards are still available in many transaction points despite the effort to curb this problem.

Thus, if the management of disposable SIM cards along with anonymous transactions are not strictly implemented, mobile money could become a channel for laundering and fraud.

There are also other risks like infringement of customer data, security risks, gambling, and others. For service providers entering the mobile money pilot programme, the Backbase representative suggested businesses should provide greater levels of convenience, overcome financial literacy challenges, and improve accessibility to meet the needs of the unbanked and underbanked population.

It is crucial for them to adopt a customer-first mindset and approach to ensure a successful adoption of their digital platforms, Dutta explained.

Choosing the right fintech partner is also essential to ensure these digital banking platforms are resilient and survive the test of time over the next 15 years. These partnerships will only be beneficial when working with the same vision, commitment, and appropriate technology to address the needs of customers, he said.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-26 09:45:24|Editor: huaxia

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CANBERRA, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has condemned the "disgraceful" actions of a government member who attacked constituents on social media.

Scott Morrison on Friday morning said that he hauled Andrew Laming into his office on Thursday and ordered him to apologize in parliament for comments made on Facebook.

"I found that disgraceful and called him into my office and told him to apologize and he did so," Morrison said. "He's very clear about my expectations."

Network Nine news on Thursday revealed that Laming, the member of parliament (MP) for the Queensland electorate of Bowman, used his official Facebook page to abuse constituents.

One victim of his abuse - charity worker Alix Russo - said that the MP accused her of misappropriating charity funds for several years.

"You can't be trusted with other peoples' money. That's why your organization is drying up," Laming wrote.

Russo said that the abuse made her contemplate suicide.

Another woman, Sheena Hewlett who is a teacher and wife of a local councillor, alleged that Laming once hid in bushes and took photos of her at a public park.

Hours before the segment aired Laming issued an apology in parliament.

Opposition leader Anthony Albanese on Friday said that the PM's response was inadequate and called for Laming's removal from parliament.

"Quite frankly, the prime minister's response is totally inadequate, as it always is, as it always is," Albanese said.

"Andrew Laming isn't fit to continue as a member of parliament." Enditem
Darius Kirby, 31, of Riverdale, and Shave Jackson-Spicer, 26, of Joliet, are being held at the Lake County jail, police said. The pair have been charged with the first-degree murder in the killing of Jerry Reid, according to police.
A secondary school in Cardiff has been evacuated and children have been sent home after staff received a 'malicious communication'.

Pupils at Radyr Comprehensive were told to leave the premises 'as a precaution' as officers responded to a call at around 11.15am today.

One parent, whose two children attend the school, said a fire alarm was sounded during break time and the students were told to leave the site immediately.

Police confirmed that 'no objects of concern' were located at the school and 'no-one was harmed'.

On behalf of the school and Cardiff Council, a spokeswoman said: 'South Wales Police has been in attendance at Radyr Comprehensive School and dealing with an ongoing incident relating to a malicious communication received by the school.'





Pupils at Radyr Comprehensive in Cardiff were told to leave the premises 'as a precaution' as officers attended the incident at around 11.15am today

An earlier post from Radyr Comprehensive, which teaches around 1,300 pupils, pictured above

She added: 'The school acted promptly and efficiently and has been evacuated as a precaution.'

A parent earlier said: 'There were around five police vehicles including two vans. We haven't been told what has happened or why the school needed to be evacuated.'

David Lloyd, who lives nearby, added he saw 'lots of police driving towards the school' when he was walking his dog this morning.

He added: 'It's really uncommon so I was baffled but everybody seemed calm. I don't know what has happened but they dealt with the situation quite quickly.'

Police were seen standing guard outside the school, which teaches around 1,300 pupils, after all pupils and several staff members evacuated the building today.

A statement from South Wales Police said: 'An incident at Radyr Comprehensive School earlier today has concluded.

One parent, whose two children attend the school, said a fire alarm was sounded during break time and the students were told to leave the site immediately. Pictured: The scene

Police were seen standing guard outside the school after all pupils and several staff members evacuated the building today

In a letter to parents, the school's headteacher apologised for the 'inconvenience caused'

'The school was evacuated as a precaution following a malicious communication received by the school. No objects of concern were located, no-one was harmed and enquiries are on-going.'

The school previously said in a statement: 'We have had to send all the children home today.

'Further details will be provided later in the day. The buses have been called and children will be boarding soon. Children who walk to school will be leaving the site at 11.15am.'

In a letter to parents, the school's headteacher apologised for the 'inconvenience caused'.

He asked parents to only get in touch with the school if their children are unable to get home.
As soon as she tapped the link, Kristin Thornburg knew something was amiss.

It was earlier this month, and Thornburg, 31, had been strategizing with a friend via text to try to get leftover doses of the coronavirus vaccine. Neither woman was technically eligible yet in the Bay Area, so Thornburg figured the garbage-bound extras were their best hope. Ideally, Thornburg said, they would get on a list to receive a phone call if a local pharmacy or vaccination site had unused doses from no-show appointments.

The friend sent over a link to an unfamiliar page and said she had signed up there. An acquaintance had gotten a vaccine that way, the friend said. Perhaps Thornburg should sign up, too.

But it was not just a way to get leftovers. "At first I thought I had gotten it wrong, because it was obviously an appointment sign-up page," said Thornburg, a business manager at a start-up. After her name, the form asked her to identify which qualifying condition or occupation she had.

Thornburg asked her friend if she'd sent the wrong link. She dodged. "She was like, 'Well, I don't know. I just did it. I'll see what happens.'" When Thornburg pressed her for details about what exactly she had written into the form, she got a shrug emoji in response.

A week later, Thornburg's friend texted her again, excitedly announcing she had gotten her first vaccine dose. "She said, 'It was fine, they didn't even ask me about my job when I got there!'" Thornburg said.

Thornburg was shaken. "I was surprised at how immediate and negative my reaction was," she said. When a close friend "just acts in a way that I wouldn't and feel is strongly wrong in this kind of life-or-death moment or pandemic, it just - it felt almost like a betrayal."

Thornburg wondered, too, if she was alone in feeling personally offended bysomeone else'sline-jumping. Was that even a thing? "I immediately went to Google," she said.

She wasn't, and isn't. Twitter users have been venting all month long about watching their friends and loved ones lie to get the coveted jab: "I'm out here trying to decide if my heart condition is condition enough; my best friend just lied about being pregnant to be eligible," wrote one. "A healthy, 30(-year-old) friend of mine just told me that he lied & claimed a fake medical condition to get the vaccine early. I don't know exactly what to think," wrote another. On March 18, Trevor Noah referred to the coronavirus vaccine on an episode of "The Daily Show" as "that thing you're pretty sure your friend lied to get."

Even public health officials have acknowledged that the existing systems are easy to abuse. California Gov. Gavin Newsom recently described the efforts to prevent vaccine line-cutting as "whack-a-mole every single day."

The rules seem simple enough: For hundreds of millions of people to receive a lifesaving vaccine efficiently, you have to wait your turn. But as many Americans wait, they're watching others exploit the system in plain view. And while some of the moral murkiness of the moment is rooted in the uneven, somewhat haphazard vaccine rollout in much of the country, the truth is that some friends may never see their line-jumping loved ones the same way again.

It's an imperfect system, and every time a shot goes in an arm, we get closer to herd immunity and we all benefit, goes one side of the argument. But when someone jumps the line, one more person who really needs a shot can't get one, goes the other - and it's particularly painfulwhen that person is someone you love.

After learning about her friend's vaccination, Thornburg thought of her mother, a cancer survivor with a fragile immune system who hadn't yet become eligible. "My mom hasn't been in a grocery store since last March," Thornburg said.

Jakub, a 19-year-old college student who's been attending classes remotely from his home near Schaumburg, Ill., felt similarly appalled when he recently saw a Snapchat of two of his local friends, also college students, flashing their vaccine cards. Jakub, who spoke on the condition that he be identified only by his first name to avoid any unwanted publicity for his family or friends, asked how they'd qualified before his girlfriend, who has asthma, or his dad, who has a heart condition.

Jakub's friends texted him back and explained that they didn't have any underlying medical conditions. They'd just said, falsely, that they were smokers (a qualifying condition in Illinois).

He hasn't spoken to either one since. "I left them on read."

The blame for some of the heartache should land partly on the vaccine distribution system, according to Carmel Shachar, the executive director of the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology and Bioethics at Harvard Law School.

Certainly, those perfectly healthy people who lie on their intake forms "should not feel good about themselves," Shachar said. "Ultimately, the prioritization schemes are well-intentioned and do serve a valuable purpose, in that we're trying to find people who are uniquely vulnerable."

But Shachar does sympathize with those tempted to fib about a health problem or use an old address to qualify for a vaccine - especially when different areas have different rules. "The more you finely slice and dice prioritization categories and do certain occupations but not others, the more you risk somebody saying, 'Well, there's no benefit to me for waiting, and the system is not looking out for my interest,' " Shachar said.

Early in the year, for example, New York expanded its vaccine eligibility to include certain categories ahead of neighboring Pennsylvania. A 27-year-old immunocompromised software developer who moved in with his parents in Bucks County, Pa., during the pandemic briefly wondered if he would have to dig out his old New York City ID card and make a two-hour drive if he became eligible there first. (He spoke on the condition of anonymity to keep his health status private.)

In the end, he didn't have to: He stumbled across a pharmacy page that mistakenly granted vaccination appointments in Pennsylvania to pretty much anyone. He managed to secure a shot for himself, his parents and grandmother before the site was taken offline. By the time he received his shot, he was technically eligible. His take: "Huge ethical dilemma, right?"

The moral clashes between Americans over who gets the vaccine in March and who gets it in May seem petty given that many people in other countries aren't projected to get it until 2022. But they've been disruptive nonetheless.

Thornburg isn't sure when she and her friend will start interacting normally again. She certainly isn't ready to just resume their usual lighthearted, GIF-heavy daily text exchange. "I'm still too torn up about it," she said.

But on the other hand, she recognizes that the time she got into a fight about hopping the coronavirus vaccine priority line will soon be a quaint, time-capsule kind of memory. Six months from now, "when everyone I know has gotten a vaccine and I'm not thinking about it as much anymore," Thornburg said, "this will be on the back burner, and we'll still be friends."
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 26)  Fresh stocks of remdesivir and tocilizumab, experimental drugs to treat COVID-19, are set to arrive this month.

Treatment czar Leopoldo Vega on Friday said the government has been in touch with the manufacturers of remdesivir and tocilizumab, and was assured that shipments will arrive in a few days.

"The new stocks are coming by March so we can definitely access that," he said in a media briefing.

The Health department earlier reported that hospitals are running low on stocks. The agency has given hospitals under its direct supervision P5 million each to replenish stocks.

A study published this week showed that the antiviral drug remdesivir shortens the duration of illness for people with higher risk of severe infection.

Tocilizumab, meanwhile, is a repurposed rheumatoid arthritis drug. A number of studies show it helps critically ill patients survive, while others have shown otherwise.
North Korea yesterday test-fired its first ballistic missiles since US President Joe Biden took office, as it expands its military capabilities and increases pressure on Washington while nuclear negotiations remain stalled.

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said North Koreas resumption of ballistic testing threatens peace and safety in Japan and the region, and that Tokyo will closely co-ordinate with Washington and Seoul on the Norths military activities.

South Korean foreign minister Chung Eui-yong, after meeting his Russian counterpart in Seoul, expressed deep concern and urged the North to uphold its commitments for peace.

South Korean officials said the two short-range missiles were fired on the Norths eastern coast and flew 450km before landing in the sea.

This activity highlights the threat that North Koreas illicit weapons programme poses to its neighbours and the international community, said US Indo-Pacific Command spokesperson Captain Mike Kafka.

The launches came a day after US and South Korean officials said the North fired short-range weapons, presumed to be cruise missiles, over the weekend.

North Korea has a history of testing new US administrations with missile launches and other provocations aimed at forcing the Americans back to the negotiating table.

Analysts expect the North to dial up its weapons displays to gain bargaining power, as it angles to get back into stalled talks aimed at leveraging nuclear weapons for badly needed economic benefits.

North Korea has ignored the Biden administrations efforts to reach out, saying it wont engage in meaningful talks unless Washington abandons its hostile policies.

The missile launches followed a trip by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin to Japan and South Korea last week.

Mr Blinken criticised North Koreas nuclear programme and human rights record and pressed China to convince the North to denuclearise.

North Korean state media said leader Kim Jong Un reaffirmed his countrys alliance with China while exchanging messages with Chinese President Xi Jinping, in an apparent response to Mr Bidens efforts to coordinate action on North Korea with his allies.
Scientists hope that a nasal spray vaccine could cut transmission rates because the virus is predominantly passed on from the upper airways.

Coronavirus Article Bar with counter

The pain of having a coronavirus jab could be taken away after Oxford University scientists appealed for participants to test a new vaccine administered by nasal spray.

The team is reportedly aiming to begin a phase one trial of around 30 healthy adults aged up to 40, which could start as early as next week. Participants will receive at least one intranasal dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine, with half the group then randomised to receive a booster dose.

If successful, the trial could extend the reach of the vaccine delivery programme by making it potentially quicker and less off-putting for people with a fear of needles to be vaccinated.

It comes after The Telegraph revealed that children could start receiving the Covid vaccine as early as August.

The annual flu vaccine is already offered to children via an intranasal method as a way to maximise take-up. Scientists also hope that a nasal spray vaccine could cut transmission rates more than injections because the Sars-Cov-2 virus is predominantly passed on from the upper airways.

Dr Sandy Douglas, clinician-scientist and chief investigator of the Oxford study, said: There are a variety of people who will find an intranasal delivery system more appealing, which may mean vaccine uptake is higher in those groups. It might also have practical advantages  nasal sprays have been used successfully for other vaccines, for example the flu vaccine used in UK schools.

A similar spray is being developed for Russias Sputnik V vaccine, the head of the Gamaleya Institute said this week.

Meanwhile, Pfizer has begun early-stage human trials of a non-vaccine pill to treat the first signs of Covid infection, the company announced on Tuesday. If the trials are successful, the pill could be prescribed to people recently infected with coronavirus to block viral replication and stop them becoming seriously ill.
After record turnout flipped Georgia blue for the first time in decades, Republicans who control the state Legislature moved swiftly to put in place a raft of new restrictions on voting access, passing a new bill that was signed into law on Thursday.

The law will alter foundational elements of voting in Georgia, which supported President Biden in November and a pair of Democratic senators in January  narrow victories attributable in part to the turnout of Black voters and the array of voting options in the state.

Taken together, the new barriers will have an outsize impact on Black voters, who make up roughly one-third of the states population and vote overwhelmingly Democratic.

The Republican legislation will undermine pillars of voting access by limiting drop boxes for mail ballots, introducing more rigid voter identification requirements for absentee balloting and making it a crime to provide food or water to people waiting in line to vote. Long lines to vote are common in Black neighborhoods in Georgias cities, particularly Atlanta, where much of the states Democratic electorate lives.
A chilling new docuseries probes whether John Wayne Gacy may have murdered more than the 33 victims he was convicted of killing.

John Wayne Gacy: Devil in Disguise, released Thursday on Peacock, details the serial killer's shocking crimes, which took place in suburban Chicago during the 1970s.

Gacy - who became known as the 'serial killer clown' due to his penchant for dressing up as a circus entertainer - lured his young male victims to his home, before raping, torturing and strangling them.

The remains of 29 victims were found buried in the crawl space under Gacy's property. Four others were dumped in a nearby river.

The depravity of Gacy's crimes shocked the nation, and he was executed in 1994 after spending more than a decade on death row.

But one detective who worked on the case tells producers of the new miniseries that there could be a dozen additional men who Gacy killed.

'I firmly believe there's more,' retired Detective Rafael Tovar states in one episode of Devil In Disguise, streaming now on Peacock.

A chilling new docuseries probes whether John Wayne Gacy may have murdered more than the 33 victims he was convicted of killing. The six-part series, titled John Wayne Gacy: Devil in Disguise, is streaming now on Peacock

10 of Gacy's 33 confirmed victims are pictured.

Investigators carry the remains of a body found beneath the garage floor of the home of John Wayne Gacy on December 22, 1978. All up, 29 bodies were discovered on Gacy's property

Tovar claims that he was transporting Gacy to prison in 1980 when he asked the serial killer about his victims.

'Are there more?' Tovar says he asked Gacy, who responded: '45 sounds like a good number'.

When Tovar quizzed the killer on the whereabouts of the bodies of the additional victims, Gacy is alleged to have replied: 'That's your job. You're the detectives. You got to find out.'

Tovar stated in the documentary: 'We had 33 victims, so that would mean, obviously, there's 12 more somewhere'.

The detective told producers that he spent enough time with Gacy to believe that he was telling the truth.

Meanwhile, Tovar, who retired from policing in 2009, spoke with Fox News about what he believes motivated Gacy to kill.

'I think he liked the power to kill people, the power of death,' he told the news network in an interview on Thursday.

'It made him feel like a god. And I think that just got to him. And he was smart. He got away for a long time... It made him feel powerful.'

Retired Detective Rafael Tovar believes there could be 12 more victims - taking the total number of people Gacy killed to 45

Cook County Sheriff's Police evidence technicians are seen removing of one of the 29 bodies that were found decomposed beneath the house and in the garage area of the home

The documentary additionally features never-before-seen footage of a jailhouse interview Gacy conducted in 1992, in which he denies he is a killer (pictured)

Tovar told Fox News that Gacy never showed remorse for his crimes and was 'obviously a person who had no moral compass'.

'I mean, killing someone for him was like how you would shoo a fly off of your food,' Tovar stated.

'It wasn't something that affected him. When it came time to dig up the basement, I think he was more concerned about us messing up his carpet'.

Tovar also told LRM Online that Gacy was 'an egomaniac'.

Devil In Disguise also includes audio of Gacy admitting to killing another victim.

However, the documentary additionally features never-before-seen footage of a jailhouse interview Gacy conducted in 1992, in which he denies he is a killer.

But Gacy's words in the interview ring hollow, as he had already admitted to killing the 33 people a decade earlier.

The grave of an unidentified victim of John Wayne Gacy is seen at Woodlawn Memorial Park in Forest Park, Illinois. Six of the 33 victims have not been identified

Of those 33 victims, six have still not been identified.

Tovar told Fox News that some of them are likely to have been 'street guys and runaways' whose families never knew they went missing.

Working as a remodeling contractor in suburban Norwood, Gacy began building a reputation as an organizer of parties and parades as 'Pogo the clown.'

According to prosecutors, Gacy would lure young men to his home by impersonating a police officer or promising them construction work.

Once his victims were inside, he would usually put them in handcuffs, claiming he wanted to demonstrate a 'trick' he has learned as a clown.

When the young men were restrained, Gacy tortured and raped them, before strangling them with a knotted rope.

The identified victims were aged between 14 and 22.

The six-part series, titled John Wayne Gacy: Devil in Disguise , details the serial killer's shocking crimes, which took place in suburban Chicago during the 1970s

Investigators were alerted to Gacy after a boy went missing who he had been talking to about construction work.

On searching his home in December of 1978, they found a series of odd items - such as clothes too small for Gacy - and the smell of decay.

Investigators began to find bodies buried in his crawlspace hours after Gacys arrest.

The ranch was torn down as investigators searched for more bodies in 1979.

Gacy was executed by lethal injection in 1994. His last words were 'Kiss my a*s.'
Huntington Beach Officials Debate Suing State Over Mandatory Housing Quotas

Huntington Beach City Attorney Michael Gates recently suggested that the city should consider suing two government agencies over upcoming state-imposed housing mandates, sparking a debate in city council about whether litigation or legislation is a better approach to reducing its allocation.

Gates suggested that the city consider suing the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) and the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) over the affordable housing quotas during a closed session of the city council earlier this month.

Theres not going to be a lawsuit, Councilman Mike Posey told The Epoch Times, adding that the city chose the best path forward by taking no action on Gatess advice.

Posey said the city should resolve the housing dispute through legislation, not litigation. He added that the city attorney had encouraged the council during a closed session to sue over the citys housing allotment without any prompting from any City Council vote.

Gates, the only elected city attorney in Orange County, told The Epoch Times that its his job to ask the council if they want to pursue legal action on such matters.

Any time we are faced with the city having to take a position or make a decision strategically on a legal matter, I have to go to the City Council and get their direction every time, period. As an attorney, its my duty and obligation to not make assumptions about what my client wants, or to inject my own thoughts or views on my client and make a determination as to what they want, Gates said.

The city of Huntington Beach has been embroiled for years in legal wrangles over the states Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA) demands to zone for more affordable housing units in the city. In 2019, the state sued the city for failing to meet its RHNA quotas but later dropped the suit when the city agreed to zone for hundreds of additional affordable housing units in order to qualify for a $650,000 grant.

Huntington Beach is one of many Orange County cities that appealed for lower RHNA allocations at SCAG hearings earlier this year and lost. The RHNA allocations set the zoning quotas for housing for four income levels over the next eight years, beginning in October 2021.

With dozens of bills passed by state legislators in the last few years to address what is universally recognized as an acute housing crisis in the state of California, Posey suggested that chances of winning a lawsuit against the state are slim to none.

Ive had the position since Day One that RHNA is a legislative issue and not a litigation issue, he said. There needs to be legislative fixes in Sacramento to RHNA, and you dont do that by suing SCAG and HCDespecially when the track record of anybody suing HCD and SCAG has delivered zero results.

Since 2017, Posey estimated 65 or 70 bills have passed by the state legislature, and the SCAG region is still short 1.34 million housing units. I think that number is debatable, for sure, he said. I dont think the number is that high.

The councilman, who is a SCAG board member, said that in 2018, Huntington Beachs 3,612 unit allotment was probably short of demand, but I expected that we would end up with a 6,000-unit RHNA in 18, not a 13,000-unit RHNA in 2021. The final sixth-cycle RHNA allocation for Huntington Beach is currently 13,386 units, to be completed by October 2029.

A Lawyers Take

City Attorney Gates said the issue of city versus state control over development isnt policy, but more of a philosophy with regard to governance.

I strongly believe we should have local control, and if our council wants to have a progressive, prolific housing policy, then fine. But make those decisions at the local level and be accountable to the voters, Gates said.

Dont kick the can or punt to the state and then say, Oh well, the states making us do it. No, own your decisions. Fight for that ownership and make those decisions.

The voters should know, and they do know, that Ive been willing to fight for them every step of the way. No fight is too big, no fight is too small. Ive been taking every fight, and weve been prevailing in the vast majority of the fights that we take both in court and outside of court.

Even though charter cities such as Huntington Beach historically havent been subjected to RHNA mandates, weve gone along with them because weve tried to be good stewards in the community, Gates said, adding that the city has done far more than any in the county to update its zoning for RHNA. Weve been heroic.

But lately, the state has amped up its housing goals so high that the city is struggling to meet the massive undertaking of the RHNA quotas, he said. Its too tall an order for the city. Its too big a pill to swallow.

Normally, zoning for RHNA takes most of the eight-year RHNA planning cycle, but now cities have to do it in 180 days, or we could be penalized, Gates said.

Theres a lot of layers to this onion, including the penalties cities must pay if they dont meet their RHNA allocations, he said. State law is very punitive when it comes to cities intentionally not complying with the latest heavy-handed mandate. Depending on the number of violations and the nature of the violations, its something like $10,000 per violation per day.

The Past Lawsuit

In January 2019, Gov. Gavin Newsom and then-Attorney General Xavier Becerra filed a lawsuit against the city of Huntington Beach for failing to meet previous housing quotas after extensive attempts to offer partnership and support from the HCD, according to a media release from Newsoms office.

Newsom had said the state would use Assembly Bill 72 (AB 72), which allowed it to sue cities and counties for willfully defying state housing laws; the Huntington Beach lawsuit was the first such case.

Posey said bad legislation and city policies in 2015 threw the housing element out of compliance, resulting in an epic fail that he had warned about and voted against.

The Kennedy Commission, a nonprofit housing advocacy group, was a party to the lawsuit. After the suit was settled, the group sued the city for $3.5 million in related attorney fees, according to Gates. He called the claim an odd demand, since the organization hasnt won anything in the lawsuit, which has dragged on for nearly six years.

That court hearing is scheduled for April 12, and it could cost the city millions. Were going to find out  if were going to be on the hook for legal fees from the Kennedy Commission, Posey said.

City Councilman Erik Peterson told The Epoch Times that Posey has supported plenty of litigation against state housing policies in the pastbut not lately.

We have a council that doesnt really care about whats going to happen as long as we make the state happy, Peterson said, and that many local politicians just want to kiss babies and cut ribbons and not make hard decisions.

Peterson said he doesnt believe surrendering local control over zoning and development to the state is in the best interest of Huntington Beach residents, and that litigation is a good way to be heardbut the new council has decided to spend $500,000 a year to help the homeless rather than on legal battles against the states housing.

He added that much of the states housing policy centers around climate change, reducing carbon emissions, and reducing vehicular traffic, and hinges on transit-oriented development (TOD) or workforce housing.

We dont want to be in an urban center on the coast, said Peterson. Wed all like to live on the beach in Malibu, but we all cant afford it. The states basically saying anyone who wants to live in Malibu or Huntington should be able to live in Huntington.
The report on Frances role in 1994s Rwandan genocide is given by Historian and Commission chief, Vincent Duclert to French President Emmanuel Macron, at the Elysee Palace, in Paris (Ludovic Marin/AP)

A commission that spent nearly two years uncovering Frances role in 1994s Rwandan genocide concluded that the country reacted too slowly in appreciating the extent of the horror that left over 800,000 dead but cleared it of complicity in the slaughter.

The report said that France bears heavy and overwhelming responsibilities in the drift that led to the killings, which principally claimed victims from Rwandas Tutsi ethnic minority.

Persistent claims that France under then-president Francois Mitterrand did not do enough to stop the genocide have damaged the Franco-Rwandan relationship since the 1990s.

As a result, French President Emmanuel Macron ordered the 15-member commission in May 2019 to shed light on what happened in Rwanda between 1990 and 1994.

Officials in Mr Macrons office said the inquiry was not just about improving relations with Rwanda but with the whole African continent, since other countries also have questions about what France did at the time.

The commissions report apportioned blame to France for failing in its political, institutional, intellectual, ethical (and) moral responsibility, according to officials in Mr Macrons office.

Expand Close Historian and Commission chief on the Frances role in 1994s Rwandan genocide, Vincent Duclert, right, gives a report to French President Emmanuel Macron (Ludovic Marin/AP) / Facebook

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Whatsapp Historian and Commission chief on the Frances role in 1994s Rwandan genocide, Vincent Duclert, right, gives a report to French President Emmanuel Macron (Ludovic Marin/AP)

But the report says researchers found no evidence that French weapons were delivered to Rwanda after the start of the genocide.

It also ruled out accusations of wrongdoing by Operation Turquoise, a French-led military intervention in Rwanda that has been accused of being a failed attempt at propping up the Hutu-led government in Rwanda.

The report further excluded any complicity in genocide by the French, saying there was no evidence of an intention to carry out genocidal actions.

The report found malfunctions in the process of appreciation of the situation and the resulting French government and military decisions.

But the commission made it clear that their report did not seek to vilify individuals.

It was unclear if the report will succeed in improving relations between the France and Rwanda, and in particular satisfy Rwandan President Paul Kagame.

Mr Macron hoped the document would allow a catharsis, enabling France to put to rest claims that had simmered for more than a quarter of a century.
Shipping losses have piled up as massive Panama-flagged cargo ship weighing 200,000 tons become wedged across Egypts Suez Canal and blocked all the traffic in one of the worlds busiest and vital waterways. As per reports, about 12% of global trade passes through the artificial canal that connects the Mediterranean to the Red Sea providing the shortest sea link between Asia and Europe.

Several dozens of ships are currently waiting at the waterway for the Suez Canal Authorities to free the 400-metre-long ship, Ever Given which is operated by the shipping company Evergreen and was set to reach the port city of Rotterdam in the Netherlands from China. The ship has a 25-member crew which the management company said was safe and accounted for. Shoei Kisen Kaisha said all the crew came from India.

How did a 200,000-tonne ship got stuck?

The Suez Canal was originally engineered to handle much smaller vessels than the beached vessel, Ever Given which is one of the worlds largest container ship. As per the New York Times report, the 200,000-tonne ship is about the length of the Empire State Building. But, the channels of the waterway have been widened and deepened several times.

However, poor visibility and high winds made Ever Givens piled up containers act like sails and are reportedly believed to have pushed the massive ship off the course, eventually leading to its grounding on March 23. The ship ran aground and become lodged sideways across the waterway on March 25 morning leaving other ships trapped on either side.

It was not immediately clear what caused the giant container ship to become wedged on Tuesday morning but a global shipping and logistics company GAC reportedly said that the ship had experienced a blackout.

However, GAC did not elaborate and Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement, which manages the Ever Given denies that ship ever lost power. Major Taiwan-based shipping company, evergreen Marine Corp. that operates the ship said in a statement that Ever Given was overpowered by strong winds when it entered the canal from the Red Sea. None of the containers of the giant ship sunk.

How strong were the winds?

An Egyptian official, who spoke to the Associated Press on the condition of anonymity also blamed the strong winds that led to the ship being stuck in the Suez Canal resulting in one of the worst maritime traffic jams. Egyptian forecasters reportedly said that high winds and sandstorm had roiled the area on March 23 and the winds were gusting as much as 50kph or 30 mph. Despite the aggressive winds, it is still not fully clear how it alone pushed a fully laden vessel weighing nearly 200,000 tons.

Is it Ever Givens only crash?

The March 23 incident marked the second major crash involving the Ever Given in recent years. Earlier in 2019, the cargo ship had run into a small ferry on the Elbe River in the German port city of Hamburg. At the time, the authorities had also blamed the strong wind for the collision and it severely damaged the ferry.

How are authorities managing crisis?

The unprecedented crisis caused by Ever Given stuck in the Suez Canal has led to SCA temporarily suspending navigation through one of the worlds busiest shipping lanes until the grounded container vessel MV Ever Given is refloated. Several methods have already been tried including pulling the massive Evergreen-operated container vessel with tugboats, dredging underneath the hull and using a front-end loader to excavate the eastern embankment, where the bow is stuck.

However, as of Thursday night, as per the NYT report, the weight and length of Ever Given have frustrated the salvagers. The closure of the waterway opened in 1869, could affect oil and gas shipments to Europe from the Mideast, which rely on the canal to avoid sailing around Africa.

Several marine salvage experts have said that nature might cause the ship to afloat as all other methods have failed. A seasonal high tide on March 28 or 29 could add around 18 inches of depth to the canal. TradeWinds, a maritime industry news publication said that over 100 ships are waiting to traverse the canal and it could take over a week for the backlog to clear out.

Image credits: AP
With nearly 50 jury cases waiting in the wings as the community passed one year in the coronavirus pandemic, Huron County Courts once again had to suspend jury trials due to the rise in test positivities this week.

Friday it was 22% (positivity), Chief Judge David Herrington said. Now it is the worst its been, according to the numbers in the county. As of yesterday, I directed that we are going to postpone jury selection and jury trials until June 1, because of the high rate of the new infections. It is still raging in the county.

The only good news is the vaccines in my opinion, other than that nothing has changed, Herrington continued, visibly frustrated. This is not just the flu, people are dying."

Herrington said since March of last year, he has been regularly following the data as the coronavirus pandemic has unfolded, and the latest trends have him concerned.

I feel more vulnerable now than at any other time during the pandemic, Herrington said. I really do, and that is because of these positivity rates. I also feel vulnerable because there are many, many people not getting vaccinated. I realize it is a personal decision, but I dont understand why a person would not get vaccinated.

Because the trends were the cause of the suspension of jury trial activity in Huron County, Herrington said he couldnt say when he expects to make a determination to resume the activity.

We really dont know, he said. I wish I could tell you, but as it has gone so far, we had three points in time where we were going to crank it up but then we couldnt do it. We hit the wall.

Herrington said the coronavirus pandemic has had a huge impact on jury trials not only locally, but nationally.

It didnt really slow us down except for jury trials, Herrington said. The reason is because we cant have that many people in the courtroom without it being a health hazard.

Huron County courts, under the direction and guidance of the Michigan Supreme Court, was an early adopter of technology to continue its regular business.

Herrington said early on he realized the seriousness of the coronavirus pandemic and he believed the pandemic could stretch 18 months or more.

As it ramped up, just from reading about it and other pandemics, I figured it would be an 18-month or two-year process, Herrington said. I didnt know whether the courts would be closed that long, but I figured we would be in it for a couple years.

Herrington said unlike some organizations and entities, the Supreme Court was fast to adopt guidelines and provide updates, which enabled Huron County to change the way it conducted business.

We moved fast because we were able to get that information and resources from the Supreme Court, Herrington said. I was completely satisfied and really pleased with how quickly we got organized and dealt with the issue head on with the help we had from the state. We had a lot of guidance from the Michigan Supreme Court and also from the health department.

Herrington said the courts see a lot of members of the public, and he believed that was part of the reason the courts were quick to adopt changes.

Although the court systems have been adopting new technology, Herrington said Zoom was one thing the courts had to acquire to conduct its business.

We did not have Zoom," he said. "That was totally new. We got a few licenses, got it up and running, and the clerks and staff figured it out immediately. It has been great. I see that going on in the future. I think it is here to stay.

Herrington said he wasnt sure if Zoom allowed the courts to proceed at a quicker rate or if it delayed things. While there were occasionally delays with Zoom due to connection errors, Herrington said in person courts can also see similar delays for other reasons, such as a plaintiff or defendant consulting with an attorney.

For a lot of hearings, even bench trials or landlord-tenant cases, its great, Herrington said. It isnt just because it is convenient for us, but the public really likes it and the court users like it because they dont have to take a half-day or day off work. We have many of our Zoom conferences, which are actually court appearances, that are conducted in their cars because they take a break from work.

As court proceedings are conducted by Zoom, Huron County courts, along with others in the state, broadcast the proceedings for the public on YouTube. Herrington has been an outspoken advocate for the publicly broadcasted hearings.

The more people know about the court, the more informed they are going to be, Herrington said.

According to Herrington, the Michigan Supreme Court Administrative Office found that despite the pandemic, courts are still open to the public and because of that court proceedings should be hosted on YouTube.

Herrington said he expects court proceedings to continue being hosted on YouTube after the pandemic is over, as the broadcasts have been well attended and well received by the public.

We havent had any negative feedback in the courts that I am aware of, Herrington said. I am aware of people that watch it, turn it on during their lunch breaks or work breaks. We often have up to 100 people watching at one time and sometimes as little as 35. If those were people in the courtroom, we would have a full courtroom.

That is why I think its important to continue it, he continued. There is an expectation that it should continue and there is no reason it shouldnt. The more people know what happens in court, the better informed they are and the better it is for everybody.

Although he embraces the technology, Herrington said there are instances that it isnt advantageous.

I am not OK with it in jury trials or evidentiary hearings where you really need to have people in your court room, Herrington said.

There are also certain types of cases like criminal sexual conduct, which arent hosted on YouTube because of privacy reasons.

I think it is a good thing, Herrington said. There might be instances where we dont put it on YouTube. When we do that we have to make specific reasons on the record in a written order and send that to the Michigan Supreme Court.

According to Herrington, throughout the pandemic the Huron County District Court has had a backlog of approximately 25 jury trials waiting to be conducted. Herrington said as the deadlines would approach, some of the cases would settle or make an agreement, and additional cases would join the backlog. Circuit court saw similar activity and numbers in the backlog.

Herrington said the good news is there are very few defendants who are currently incarcerated awaiting trial.

The defendants that are incarcerated are charged with violent offenses and have significant criminal histories and its not possible to have a pretrial release order that assures the safety of the public or them coming back to court, Herrington said. There is nobody that is in jail that shouldnt be in jail and that is the way we always like it, not just during the pandemic.

According to Herrington, the circuit court was able to successfully schedule one jury trial, which was settled before the trial occurred, and the district court was able to fully conduct one jury trial, which resulted in a non-guilty finding.

Because of the jury trial court backlog, I have agreed to listen to sentencing agreement proposals, Herrington said. If there is a situation where a defendant will plea guilty but they have to hear the range of their sentence, I am willing to do that in most instances.

Herrington said some times it helps a defendant to hear the sentencing range from the judge before agreeing to enter a guilty plea.

Despite the adoption of technology, the courts are still heavily reliant on the postal service for a lot of their correspondence, such as summons to appear or jury questionnaires.

We still do it by mail, Herrington said. Maybe we can go electronic on that somehow.

Herrington said the delays with the U.S. Post Office have posed some challenges for the courts this past year.

It takes longer by mail, Herrington said. It really is taking a long time to get mail back and forth. One thing we have been doing is using email for a lot of communication with lawyers and defendants.

Herrington said recently Huron County courts signed up for a service through the Supreme Court Trial Services Division, which will allow court parties to sign up for text notifications that would alert them for a court date or Zoom hearing.

People have been really good about showing up in general, but people like it when the court sends an automatic text, Herrington said. We hope to get that up and running soon.

Herrington said it will take more work on the side of law enforcement to collect additional information, such as a cell phone or email address, but it will help people in the long run.

Its actually quite a project to get it from the drivers door, to get the cell phone numbers or email addresses, on a ticket and get it to us, he said. There are mechanics involved, not just the program.

Despite the challenges, Herrington said he believes utilizing the technology is beneficial.

Electronic communication is the way to go, and I would say we are lagging a little bit, but the courts have been very progressive lately as far as technology, Herrington said. I think a lot of it is because of our Chief Justice Bridget McCormick. She has been really all over it.

Although there have been periods of improvements in case numbers in the region at several points in the pandemic, Herrington said the periods havent been sustained long enough to resume full activity. Jury trials are not something that can be scheduled quickly, so improvements in the cases need to be for a prolonged period.

Juries need four or five weeks' notice, so they can schedule their childcare, vacations, weddings and so on, Herrington said. So we try to give them a minimum four weeks' notice. Thats when the summons goes out. Then its three to four weeks after that a trial is scheduled.

The coronavirus case trend has been the most unpredictable thing that courts have contended with, according to Herrington.

Its the only totally non-predictable thing we have worked with, he said. We have followed the guidelines, kept up with our dockets, defendants have been great, and people have been making payments. Everyone has been great.
If any more evidence about the growing popularity of home delivery services was needed, the flotation of Parsley Box has provided it.

The company, which delivers ready meals to the home, is set to float on AIM on March 31, thus ending a month that began with Virgin Wines UK  another home delivery operation  floating on Londons junior market.

Both have another thing in common  they received financial backing from Mobeus Equity Partners, which is enjoying success at the smaller end of the market.

Parsley has priced its initial public offering (IPO) at 200p, giving it a stock market valuation of 83.8million.

Ready to deliver: Meals delivery firm Parsley Box has raised 5m in new capital, some of which was provided by its customers, who typically are from the Baby Boomer generation

The flotation will see the existing owners sell 12million worth of shares, reducing the stake held by directors and connected persons to a still sizeable 32.1 per cent or thereabouts.

The company has also raised 5million in new capital, giving it the firepower to embark on its next phase of growth. Some of this money was provided by Parsley Box customers, who typically are from the Baby Boomer generation. All customers who applied for shares got their full allocation.

The strong demand for our IPO from both blue-chip institutions and our own customers was a real endorsement of our business and the market opportunities that lie ahead of us, said Kevin Dorren, the chief executive officer of Parsley Box.

As the nation looks forward to emerging from lockdown, investors have been looking for lockdown recovery plays, so the full-year results announcement from Accesso Technology was timely.

The company, which provides ticketing e-commerce, virtual queuing and guest experience solutions, is heavily dependent on the theme park and leisure attractions market and so unsurprisingly had an annus horribilis in 2020.

This week, the company revealed that online trading indicates pent-up demand is strong, with eCommerce ticket volumes in the Asia-Pacific region 15 per cent above this time in 2020.

January and February revenues were down 19 per cent on the same period a year ago, which Accesso said was a strong performance given that Covid-19 restrictions are still in place in most regions.

Shares in Accesso were up 16 per cent on the week at around 580p; a year ago they traded at just 186p.

Another company that has been hit hard by lockdowns is Time Out Group, the media and leisure business that made its name telling us all how best to go out and enjoy ourselves.

The shares dived 17 per cent this week as the company pulled out of the planned development of a food court at Waterloo station.

The company said the decision not to back the development did not obviate its need to secure additional funding.

Accesso provides ticketing e-commerce, virtual queuing and guest experience solutions

Another company set to bite the fundraising bullet is cash shell Conduity Capital.

Its shares lost around two-thirds of their value this week after it said that it would not be able to make an acquisition before April 6  the date on which its AIM listing will be cancelled unless it completes a reverse takeover.

The plan is to come back to AIM as a Rule 8 investing company but for that to happen its broker reckons it needs to raise at least 6million.

There was brighter news from the biotech sector, with Proteome Sciences jumping 24 per cent this week on the back of a trading update and Sareum Holdings rising by a similar magnitude after a research update on its SRA737 candidate.

Proteome raised full-year guidance given on January 25, saying profit after tax is now expected to be materially higher, thanks largely to bumper royalty receipts from its licensee, Thermo Scientific.

Sareum, meanwhile, headed higher after it informed the market that researchers from the Institute of Cancer Research will present preclinical data on the combination of the companys Chk1 inhibitor SRA737 with AstraZeneca's WEE1 inhibitor, adavosertib, at the forthcoming American Association for Cancer Research annual meeting.
The job description for a prime minister is a daunting one. A sound grasp of the economy, an aptitude for wielding power and using it in the pursuit of reform, the ability to manage controversy and conflict. There are many other requirements, but there is an often overlooked one: the capacity to understand the moment.

Under a political lens, that relates to a leaders intuitive sense of when an issue or event rises above the usual ruckus of insider Canberra politics. These moments dont come along often, but when they do, they trigger a ripple of debate and discussion in living rooms, at workplace water coolers and, in more recent years, on every digital platform. Everyone has a view, a perspective. Many have lived experience that causes them pain and confusion.

This is one such moment.

Scott Morrison has struggled to connect with those wanting change over discrimination of women. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer

Thanks to the likes of Australian of the Year Grace Tame and former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins, the accusations of rape and sexual harassment within the halls of Canberras Parliament House have set off a wave of debate on the true scale of what women and girls face in our society. Its not confined to any generation, or community group, or workplace.
On Thursday, Grammy winner Britney Spears shared yet another cryptic post with the caption 'RED' - this time with herself rocking red fingerless gloves.

10 minutes later, the Mississippi-born 39-year-old - who boasts 135.7M social media followers - posted a stock shot of a kitten in a red drawer.

The bizarre images preceded prior stock shots of a red fridge and red lips and nails that left Britney's fans scratching their heads searching for hidden meanings.

'RED': On Thursday, Grammy winner Britney Spears shared yet another cryptic post with the caption 'RED' - this time with herself rocking red fingerless gloves

'RED': 10 minutes later, the Mississippi-born 39-year-old - who boasts 135.7M social media followers - posted a stock shot of a kitten in a red drawer

On Tuesday, Spears was wearing a similar bra-baring, black-lace top to the one on Thursday with the caption: 'Twisted Elegance ... introducing RED.'

Moments later, the semi-retired pop star shared a video of herself, only without her hair and make-up done because she was 'in a rush.'

Britney had previously described working on a mysterious personal photo project called 'Project Rose,' but she seemed to have changed it to 'RED' on October 13.

Meanwhile, Spears' former pop rival Jessica Simpson spoke out Thursday about how much she admired her.

'RED': The bizarre images preceded prior stock shots of a red fridge and red lips and nails that left Britney's fans scratching their heads searching for hidden meanings

On Tuesday, Spears was wearing a similar bra-baring, black-lace top to the one on Thursday with the caption: 'Twisted Elegance ... introducing RED'

'You get the idea. RED!' Moments later, the semi-retired pop star shared a video of herself, only without her hair and make-up done because she was 'in a rush'

'RED coming soon!' Britney had previously described working on a mysterious personal photo project called 'Project Rose,' but she seemed to have changed it to 'RED' on October 13

'I admire her ambition, strength and the capability to live unapologetically and authentically,' the 40-year-old clothing mogul told People.

'[I'm] happy that people are supporting Britney.'

Jessica 'chose not to watch' Samantha Stark's unauthorized documentary Framing Britney Spears, which started streaming February 5 on Hulu/FX.

'I didn't want to watch and bring back any of the dark pieces of my personal coming of age in the music business,' Simpson admitted.

Shout out of support: Meanwhile, Spears' former pop rival Jessica Simpson (pictured Thursday) spoke out Thursday about how much she admired her

The 40-year-old clothing mogul told People: 'I admire her ambition, strength and the capability to live unapologetically and authentically. [I'm] happy that people are supporting Britney'

Started streaming February 5 on Hulu/FX! Jessica 'chose not to watch' Samantha Stark's unauthorized documentary Framing Britney Spears

Simpson admitted: 'I didn't want to watch and bring back any of the dark pieces of my personal coming of age in the music business. I have worked through a lot and want to keep moving forward in my own story on my own path'

'I have worked through a lot and want to keep moving forward in my own story on my own path.'

The former Mouseketeer and the Newlyweds reality star both broke out in the early 2000s after finding fame on the small screen, but it's unclear if they ever crossed paths.

Britney's next hearing court hearing for her 13-year conservatorship happens April 27.

#FreeBritney: The former Mouseketeer's next hearing court hearing for her 13-year conservatorship happens April 27 (pictured March 17)

Control: Britney filed legal documents to have her estranged father Jamie (L, pictured in 2006) removed from controlling her 'person' in favor of Jodi Montgomery

Against her will? However, the 68-year-old former building contractor (pictured in 2012) and Bessemer Trust Company are still the conservators of Spears' $59M estate

According to TMZ, Spears filed legal documents to have her estranged father Jamie removed from controlling her 'person' in favor of Jodi Montgomery.

However, the 68-year-old former building contractor and Bessemer Trust Company are still the conservators of her $59M estate.

The conservatorship originally stems from the divorced mother-of-two being put on 5150 involuntary psychiatric hold for five days back in January 2008.
JACKSON COUNTY, Mississippi -- The number of new cases of COVID-19 in Mississippi continued their rapid decline, with total new cases dropping 22% statewide and 41.2% in Jackson County from the week prior.

Data from the Mississippi Department of Health shows that the state totaled 1,894 new cases in the past seven days, down from 2,429 cases the week prior. Deaths rose slightly from 50 to 53, but still well below the minimum of 100 seen in the weeks prior.

Mississippi now totals 304,210 cases and 6,998 deaths.

Locally, Jackson County saw another steep drop in new cases, with a total of 59 for the past week, down 41.2% from the week prior. There were four COVID deaths in the county, up from one the previous week, and the county now totals 12,985 cases and 240 deaths.

Harrison County also continued to enjoy significant decreases, with a total of 116 new cases in the past week, down from 151 the week prior. There was one death in the county, down from five, and Harrison County now totals 17,293 cases and 298 deaths.

Coastwide, new cases decreased by 21.1% from 284 to 224. There were seven deaths, down from 10 the week prior and down from 20 two weeks ago. The Mississippi coast now totals 33,953 cases of COVID-19 and 626 deaths from the virus.

Meanwhile, vaccinations across the state continued their steady rise, with another 176,689 doses administered in Mississippi this past week, bringing the total doses to 1,134,883, with 426,061 people now fully vaccinated, up 75,505 from a week ago.

In Jackson County, there were another 5,569 doses administered, bringing the total to 47,595, although the number of doses administered this week was significantly down from the 6,460 administered during the previous week.

In Harrison County, 7,897 new doses were administered, also down from the previous week, when 9,188 doses had been given. The county now totals 67,814 doses.

The Mississippi coast has seen a total of 127,859 doses administered, representing 11.3% of the statewide total.

Other data from the health department shows 243 persons were hospitalized with COVID-19 as of Friday, down from 282 at the same time last week. Of those, 80 were in intensive care, up from 71 a week ago.

Ocean Springs Hospital reported three COVID-19 patients, with one in ICU, while sister facility Singing River Hospital had four COVID patients, with three of those in ICU.

The MDH now reports 290,537 Mississippians are now presumed recovered from the virus, leaving 6,675 known active cases, down 16.9% from a week ago and down 26.3% from two weeks ago. As noted last week, the number of known active cases of COVID-19 at the end of January was in excess of 50,000.

Total testing stands at 2,585,239 (24,734 in the past week), with the positive rate continuing to remain stagnant at 11.8%.
President Xi Jinping greets local residents on Wednesday while visiting the Sanfangqixiang (Three Lanes and Seven Alleys) historical and cultural area in Fuzhou, capital of Fujian province, during his inspection tour of the province. [Photo/Xinhua] Fujian called on to speed up progress through innovation President Xi Jinping has urged eastern China's Fujian province to make greater efforts to serve and integrate into the country's new development paradigm, so as to contribute to fully building a modern socialist country. Xi made the remark during a four-day inspection tour in Fujian that concluded on Thursday. During the tour, Xi visited Nanping, Sanming and Fuzhou, the provincial capital, where he inspected the province's efforts in environmental protection, healthcare reforms, cultural relics preservation, urban development, rural vitalization and enterprises' technological innovation. He urged the province to make greater progress in stepping up building a modern economic system, to make bolder moves in serving and integrating into the country's new development paradigm, make bigger strides in exploring new approaches for integrated development across the Taiwan Straits, and to make greater breakthroughs in helping the people to achieve a higher-quality life. At a meeting attended by local officials before Xi wrapped up his inspection tour on Thursday, he expressed hope that Fujian would make new achievements in fully promoting high-quality development. Boosting high-quality growth requires comprehensively and precisely implementing the new development philosophy, which features innovative, coordinated, green and open development for all, Xi said. The president urged the province to find its position in building the new development paradigm, try to optimize and upgrade industrial structure, and accelerate the development of the digital industry. Fujian should deeply integrate into Belt and Road cooperation and strive to build the pilot free trade zone as well as the new system of a higher-level, open economy, Xi said. He underlined the need for the province to promote rural vitalization by fostering industries through its unique qualities and advantages, and he urged efforts to improve the rural living environment. Efforts should also be made to improve people's well-being, help residents increase their incomes, and create more jobs, Xi said. As China has vowed it would reach its carbon emissions peak before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060, Xi said that Fujian should work out its timeline and roadmap in a scientific manner to contribute to realizing the goal for reducing carbon emissions. He also stressed the importance of innovation in the country's development and called for efforts to increase support and improve the environment for innovation in order to stimulate its vitality and creativity. During a visit on Wednesday to RICOM, an optical lens company in Fuzhou, Xi said China will give full support to those who are committed to innovation and make contributions to the country. In a talk with company employees, he said innovation is a must for the country to continue making progress during the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) period. Following others' steps is not workable, and the nation must step up its efforts in technological self-sufficiency and self-dependence, Xi said, and it must enable innovation to remain as the core of the overall situation of China's modernization drive and make innovation a national policy. To do so requires people who can seize opportunities with a sense of responsibility and mission and have the ability to do the job well, he added. In Fuzhou, Xi also visited the SanfangqixiangChinese for "three lanes and seven alleys"historical and cultural site. He learned about the local efforts in urban planning and development and urged protecting the historical and cultural relics.


Geneva  Moroccan Association "Vivre Ensemble pour la Citoyennete et le Developpement" (Association Living Together for Citizenship and Development) is among the seven organizations which were granted, on Thursday, the UNHCR NGO Innovation Award for the year 2020.

Each of the award-winning NGOs, whose names were unveiled at a ceremony chaired by the High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi, represents a different region of the world. They were selected from a total of 400 organizations that applied for this award open to refugee-led NGOs.

The Association "Vivre Ensemble pour la Citoyennete et le Developpement", according to its representative at this ceremony Hanin Joha, works to promote the concepts of social cohesion and support for refugees, through activities and cultural events in schools, summer camps, youth clubs and universities in the Kingdom.

Due to the health crisis, the 2020 UNHCR award was dedicated to humanitarian organizations that have developed innovative and creative solutions to provide adequate responses to mitigate the multifaceted impacts of Covid-19.
The Military High Court has sentenced retired Major Habib Mudathiru and two active servicemen of Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) to a 25-year jail sentence after they were convicted for conspiring against an established government, among other charges.

The verdict read on Thursday, March 25, marked an end to the terror trial that began in 2019.

The two RDF soldiers; Private Dieudonne Muhire and Private Jean-Bosco Ruhinda are part of a group of six suspects who were arrested within the country for plotting acts of terrorism against Rwanda.

The others are 25 militants who were extradited from DR Congo alongside Mudathiru. They were also convicted and sentenced to varying sentences.

Mudathiru, who is also the prime suspect in the group, faced the most charges including; treason, intentionally forming and joining a rebel group, conspiracy against an established government or the President of the Republic as well as maintaining relations with a foreign government with the intent to wage a war.

However, the former head of operations in P5, a military outfit linked to Rwandan dissident Kayumba Nyamwasa, pleaded not guilty to the charge of forming a criminal group saying that he was 'just a member who was recruited', and not the group's founder.

Reading the verdict, the presiding judge, Lt. Col. Bernard Rugamba Hategekimana said that one of the charges - conspiracy against an established government or the President of the Republic - is legally punished by a life sentence and that court lessened the penalty based on Mudathiru's collaboration with the judiciary.

"Not just him (Mudathiru), the sentences handed to all people were less than prescribed by law mainly because they were mostly cooperative throughout the trial; they responded well to judges and also worked well with other authorities like the investigative body," said Hategekimana.

He also added that they were remorseful for the crimes they committed, and all this mitigated their circumstances.

On December 8, while giving his final submissions, Mudathiru pleaded for a lenient sentence after military prosecution requested life imprisonment, the highest sentence that is prescribed in the Rwandan penal law.

During the proceedings at the time, Mudathiru thanked the government of Rwanda for the fair treatment, saying his wounds were nursed and that he gets proper treatment for his other medical conditions including diabetes and high blood pressure.

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Mudathiru spent much of the trial sitting owing to the wounds sustained during the operation by the Congolese soldiers against illegal armed groups

According to the judge, Mudathiru's co-accused have all been sentenced to shorter jail terms based on the gravity of their charges.

Two of the militants were handed a 20-year jail term, citing their administrative responsibilities in P5.

Hategekimana also said that a total of 18 people involved in the case were given a 15-year sentence.

Others were handed 8-year sentences, while one civilian who is also a taxi moto operator was given a one-year sentence.

Two other RDF soldiers who were part of the trial were handed a year and six months as well as two years and 6 months respectively.

Court also cleared Corporal Viateur Kayiranga, another RDF soldier, of all the charges and he was set free.
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San Francisco, 26 March 2021: The Report Smart Pole Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Component, By Hardware, By Installation Type, By Application, By Region, And Segment Forecasts, 2021 - 2028

The global smart pole market size is expected to reach USD 26.55 billion by 2028, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. It is projected to register a CAGR of 19.7% from 2021 to 2028. Continued urbanization and the subsequent need to manage assets and infrastructure efficiently are driving the demand for smart poles. The rollout of smart city projects in different parts of the world also bodes well for the growth of the market. According to a study conducted by the Consumer Technology Association, smart city spending across the globe reached USD 34.35 billion in 2020.

Several government bodies worldwide are pursuing initiatives to provide Wi-Fi connectivity in public areas and are deploying smart poles for the purpose. For instance, in February 2018, smart poles offering Wi-Fi connectivity were installed in Kalaburagi, India as part of the efforts to provide free Wi-Fi connectivity for citizens at selected places. Similarly, in February 2020, smart poles featuring the latest technology were installed in London, the U.K. in Hampton as part of the governments digital transformation project to provide Wi-Fi connectivity to citizens.

Smart poles are also being installed for monitoring air quality in the wake of the deteriorating ambient air quality in urban areas in different parts of the world. Several people across the world are suffering from various disorders stemming from the deteriorating quality of the ambient air. Smart poles can potentially play a decisive role in addressing the air quality issues in urban areas by monitoring environmental parameters, such as humidity, temperature, and concentration of fine air particles, and help in assessing the quality of ambient air. The data provided by the smart poles can help the citizens in limiting their exposure to air pollution and the authorities in improving the quality of the ambient air quality.

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic is anticipated to adversely affect the growth of the market. Construction and infrastructure development projects are confronting a slowdown owing to the lockdowns imposed in different parts of the world as part of the efforts to arrest the spread of the disease. For instance, during the COVID 19 situation, the U.K. government had announced the shutdown of construction sites with more than 50 workers. The shutdown of construction sites thereby leads to a decrease in the demand for smart poles requirements.

Access Research Report of Smart Pole Market @ https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/smart-pole-market

Smart Pole Market Report Highlights

The hardware segment dominated the market in 2020. The infrastructure development projects that are underway worldwide are expected to drive the growth of the segment over the forecast period

The controller segment dominated the market in 2020 and is expected to witness promising growth over the forecast period. The government incentives and rebates being offered on the replacement of conventional lamp poles with smart poles as a part of smart city development projects are expected to drive the growth of the segment over the forecast period

The retrofit installation segment dominated the market in 2020. The provisioning of Wi-Fi connectivity and installation of digital signage on existing poles as part of smart city development is expected to drive the growth of the segment over the forecast period

The public places segment dominated the market in 2020. The growing preference for Public-Private Partnerships for the deployment of Wi-Fi networks at public places is expected to drive the growth of the segment

Increasing adoption of smart poles in emerging economies, such as China and India, is expected to create growth opportunities for the market in the Asia Pacific region over the forecast period

List of Key Players in the Smart Pole Market

Acuity Brands

Cree, Inc.

Eaton

Ericson

General Electric Company

Siemens

Signify

Telensa Limited

Wipro

Zumtobel Group

Access Press Release of Smart Pole Market @ https://www.grandviewresearch.com/press-release/global-smart-pole-market
The Left Democratic Front (LDF) in Kerala can be described as 'Lies, Deception, Fraud', said All India Committee (AICC) General Secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala on Thursday while hitting out at the Pinarayi Vijayan-led ruling party ahead of the state assembly elections.

"The LDF can be described as 'Lies, Deception, Fraud. Five years of CPIM-led LDF rule has turned God's own country as the capital of unemployment, corruption, crime and callous health services," Surjewala said while speaking at a press conference in Kochi.

Targetting Chief Minister Vijayan over Kerala gold smuggling case, he said: "The truth is that the self-anointed Captain Pinarayi Vijayan and his team have pushed the state into an abyss of total autocracy, gross unemployment, rampant corruption, uncontrolled crime and pitiable health services. This Captain's team has also won a trophy of Gold Smuggling."

He added that the matter has landed at Vijayan's doorsteps and his Secretary M Shivasankar, and the least that the CM should have done would have been to tender his and his ministers' resignations and submit to a court-monitored time-bound probe.

On the Public Service Commission (PSC) rank holders protest against the state government, he said, "The LDF eclipsed the future of Kerala's youth. PSC rank holders have been protesting against Kerala by rolling on the ground and even taking the extreme step of setting themselves on fire. Many backdoor appointments have plagued the state. The effect of all this is the loss of faith in the government to bring justice."

Speaking about the Rs 5,000 crore EMCC International MoU for deep-sea fishing, he alleged that, under the watch of LDF, Kerala Shipping and Inland Navigation Corporation (KSINC) committed the 'unpardonable sin' of selling the livelihood of Kerala's fishermen to an American company - EMCC International.

"Faced with this Rs 5,000 crore worth of inexcusable crime against the livelihood of fishermen, Pinarayi Vijayan first denied the signing of MoU with EMCC International altogether and later on tried to shirk responsibility by denying its knowledge."

He further said that Kerala needs to move from the politics of deception and divisiveness of LDF to the politics of Progress, Peace and Prosperity with UDF.

"Kerala needs to move from the trust deficit of LDF to the tried and tested trustworthiness of UDF. Kerala needs to move from the betrayal of LDF towards the NYAY-oriented approach of UDF. Kerala needs the leadership of Rahul Gandhi and UDF that everyone can trust to usher the State into a new era of empowerment," he said.

The election for 140-member Kerala Assembly will be held on April 6, the Election Commission had announced.

For Assembly poll 2021, the number of polling booths in Kerala has been extended from 21,498 to 40,771. The counting of votes will take place on May 2.

The tenure of the 14th Kerala legislative assembly will come to an end on June 1, 2021. A total of 2,67,88,268 electors will elect the candidates in Kerala for the 15th legislative assembly.

(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 Sydney pizza shop worker who raped a drugged teenager has lost his bid for bail and will remain behind bars.

It took a jury two hours on Thursday to find Ricardo Audish guilty of three charges of aggravated sexual assault in company in a southern Sydney eatery in October 2016.

Each offence carries a maximum penalty in jail of 20 years.

The NSW District Court heard at the age of 38 Audish took part in the gang rape of a then-18-year-old after she was fed a bong with cannabis which was suspected to have been spiked.

Ricardo Audish, 41, was on Thursday found guilty of three counts of aggravated sexual assault in company following the attack in October 2016

On Friday defence barrister Eugene Wasilenia argued for Audish to be released on bail due to his serious heart condition which requires a medical procedure in April.

But crown prosecutor Kate Nightingale said the charges he was convicted of were serious enough to provide an incentive not to appear before the court if released.

Judge David Arnott said despite Audish complying with his bail conditions for four years following the assault, he agreed there was an unacceptable risk he may not appear for his sentence proceedings.

Judge Arnott noted evidence that Audish had approached his victim two months after she complained to police.

The married man originally denied working at the time of the assault and later said the pair did not have intercourse, but a co-worker's statement and forensic DNA evidence of his semen 'thwarted' these stories, Ms Nightingale told the court.

Earlier in the evening, the woman had consented to sex with her boyfriend in a toilet cubicle, before he told her 'all the other boys want to have sex with you now', to which she replied 'hell no'.

At the age of 38, Audish (pictured) took part in the gang rape of a then-18-year-old after she was fed a bong with cannabis which was suspected to have been spiked

Audish's defence barrister argued for him to be released on bail due to his serious heart condition but Judge David Arnott said there was an unacceptable risk he may not appear for his sentencing proceedings

The victim was 18 when she was drugged before being led by Audish to the back of the pizza eatery where he worked. He then sexually assaulted her against a stack of chairs

The bong made her feel dizzy and lose her memory but she recalls leaning over a stack of chairs while Audish had non-consensual sexual intercourse with her.

After a stranger found her disorientated by the side of the road paramedics were called.

In the safety of hospital, she detailed what had happened.

'They all took turns in me,' she said.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 26)  A maritime expert believes China plans to stay on Subi Reef for the long term based on what it is constructing on the artificial island in the West Philippine Sea.

Maritime expert Jay Batongbacal on Friday said satellite photos show that aside from installing additional radars, China is also building a farm apparently to make it more habitable.

"What's notable is they're also putting in place some kind of farm or agricultural area so they're really staying there for the long haul. They're making the island habitable even though it's completely artificial," he told CNN Philippines.

Satellite images released by US-based tech firm Simularity showed China appears to be laying the groundwork for massive construction on Subi Reef, locally known as Zamora Reef, located just 13 nautical miles away from Philippine-occupied Pag-asa Island, seat of the municipal government of Kalayaan under Palawan province. The photos were taken between November 6, 2020 and March 7, 2021.

"The volume of changes is significant and may indicate the early phases of major construction on Subi Reef," Simularity said in a 15-page report sent to CNN Philippines on Thursday.

The company flagged "possible construction preparation" in at least three sites, while photos from five other areas point to agriculture preparation, island repair, or land reinforcement.

Batongbacal said these construction activities are an indication that China remains undeterred in pushing its claims over Subi Reef, noting that the Duterte administration still remains largely unsuccessful in stopping Beijing's incursions.

"It's an indication really that China is not stopping and nothing the government has done in the past four years has really prevented China or made China change its behavior towards us," he added.

Aside from the Philippines and China, Taiwan and Vietnam are also claiming Subi Reef. In 2016, the arbitral tribunal in The Hague ruled that Subi Reef falls within the territorial sea of Pag-asa Island, but did not address the question on which country has sovereignty ver these areas.

It stressed, however, that China's island-building activities on Subi Reef and six other reefs constitute violations to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea or UNCLOS.

This landmark decision invalidates China's sweeping claim over the South China Sea. It is considered a victory for the Philippines as the tribunal also recognized areas within its exclusive economic zone that China contests. But Beijing rejects the ruling.

Malacanang on Thursday said President Rodrigo Duterte raised the arbitral win in a recent meeting with Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian, along with the presence of over 200 Chinese fishing and maritime vessels at the Julian Felipe Reef, also known as Whitsun Reef, in the West Philippine Sea.

The Department of Foreign Affairs sent a diplomatic protest and demanded that China "promptly withdraw" its vessels from the country's EEZ, while the Armed Forces of the Philippines deployed more naval units to the area.

CNN Philippines senior digital producer Eimor Santos contributed to this report.
(@ChaudhryMAli88)

Tokyo, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 26th Mar, 2021 ) :Tokyo stocks closed higher on Friday, tracking rises in US shares as investors cheered President Joe Biden's pledge to boost vaccination efforts.

The Nikkei 225 gained 1.56 percent, or 446.82 points, to end at 29,176.70, while the broader Topix index rose 1.46 percent, or 28.61 points, to 1,984.16.
(JNS)  It has been suggested that the next prime minister of Israel will be forbidden to annex parts of Judea and Samaria for the next three years due to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus personal commitment to former President Donald Trump on the issue. This ostensible commitment, however, was never ratified by Israels legislature. Does a personal commitment by an Israeli prime minister to a U.S. president tie the hands of succeeding prime ministers?

Not according to the tradition of democratic societies, which aims to avoid executive tyranny, limiting the power of presidents and prime ministers through a system of checks and balances.

For example, international accords reached by U.S. presidents require ratification by two-thirds of the Senate. Therefore, in 2018, Trump was able to withdraw from the 2015 Iran nuclear accord since it was never ratified by the Senate. Moreover, the United States is not committed to the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, which was signed in 1999 by President Bill Clinton but has yet to be ratified by the Senate.

Furthermore, President Gerald Fords 1975 promise to Israels Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin to give great weight to Israels position that any peace agreement with Syria must be predicated on Israel remaining on the Golan Heights did not commit any of the succeeding presidents, since it was not ratified by the Senate.

A similar fate met President Dwight D. Eisenhowers 1957 non-ratified assurance to Israels Prime Minister Levi Eshkol implying U.S. willingness to deploy its military in the face of Egyptian violations of agreements in the Red Sea and the Sinai Peninsula (which triggered the 1967 war).

On June 19, 1967, in the aftermath of the Six-Day War, Eshkol and his Cabinet offered to conclude peace agreements with Egypt and Syria, based on the pre-1967 lines with due consideration to Israels security requirements. Egypt and Syria rebuffed Israels unprecedented, lavish offer. However, this generous Israeli proposal did not preclude Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, who was a member of the 1967 Cabinet, applying Israeli law to the topographically and geographically overpowering Golan Heights in 1981.

Should future Israeli prime ministers have been constrained by the equally reckless proposals, submitted by four previous Israeli prime ministers, of a sweeping retreat from the Golan Heights? Do past careless Israeli peace proposals, which were rejected by Syria, carry more weight than Israeli law and Middle East reality, which has highlighted the erratic, unpredictable, violent and tenuous nature of the Middle East in general and Syria in particular?

In the 2000-01 Camp David and Taba Summits, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak  the shortest-serving Israeli prime minister  overwhelmed Clinton and Yasser Arafat by offering to withdraw from 97 percent of Judea and Samaria, redivide Jerusalem, transfer some parts of pre-1967 Israel to the Palestinian Authority and negotiate a return of some Palestinian refugees. That incredible offer, which would have returned Israel to the pre-1967 nine- to 15-mile sliver dominated by the mountains of Judea and Samaria, was rejected by the Palestinians.

In 2008, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmerts equally reckless peace proposal was rejected by Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas.

Should future Israeli prime ministers sacrifice Israels existential national security requirements  in the volcanic Middle East, which has yet to experience peaceful intra-Arab coexistence  on the altar of past foolhardy non-ratified Israeli proposals?

Rather than refraining from the annexation of the Jordan Valley and the mountain ridges of Judea and Samaria, which constitute Israels most critical line of defense and the cradle of Jewish history, religion and culture, future Israeli prime ministers are advised to follow in the footsteps of Begin.

Begin applied Israeli law to the Golan Heights in 1981, despite his own support of the aforementioned 1967 peace proposal and in defiance of brutal pressure from President Ronald Reagan, including the suspension of a promising defense cooperation agreement. Begins defiance triggered short-term friction and acrimony with the United States, but yielded long-term appreciation for Israels posture of deterrence and enhanced Israels national security.

Yoram Ettinger is a former ambassador and head of Second Thought: A U.S.-Israel Initiative.

This article was first published by The Ettinger Report.
With March 2021 marking the one-year anniversary that the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic, an analysis shows COVID-19 vaccine-related phishing attacks rose by 530% between December 2020 to February 2021. Criminals also set up fake websites of Pfizer and BioNTech steal user credentials, it says.

Unit 42 (the Palo Alto Networks threat intelligence team), which carried out the analysis says it found that vaccine-related phishing attacks rose by 530% from December 2020 to February 2021, and phishing attacks relating to targeting pharmacies and hospitals rose by 189% during that same timeframe.

"Our analysis showed that Microsoft was the brand most targeted by attackers. For example, fake Microsoft pages were set up by attackers to steal credentials from employees at organizations such as Walgreens (US-based), Pharmascience (Canada-based), Glenmark Pharmaceuticals (India-based) and Junshi Biosciences (China-based). We found no evidence that any of these efforts were successful, but are highlighting these cases to make healthcare organizations around the globe aware of this heightened activity targeting their sector, so they can alert employees to be on guard for malicious credential-phishing sites," it added.

At various points during the COVID-19 pandemic, the team saw attackers shifting their focus from one topic to another depending on the current state of events. In the early stages of the pandemic, it says, testing kits and PPE were a significant area of focus for attackers. The focus then shifted to government stimulus and relief programs, before pivoting again to the vaccine rollout, it says adding, "As we have seen, attackers continually adapt to the newest trends. As a result, cybersecurity defences must adapt as well."

Unit42 predicts that as the vaccine rollout continues, phishing attacks related to vaccine distribution - including attacks targeting the healthcare and life sciences industries - will continue to rise worldwide.

In April 2020, the threat intelligence team had reported on a large influx of COVID-19 themed phishing attacks starting in February 2020. With March 2021 marking the one-year anniversary, it decided to revisit the phishing trends we observed in the past year.

"We found that at each step along the way, attackers have continued to change their chosen tactics to adapt to the latest pandemic trends, in hopes that maintaining a timely sense of urgency will make it more likely for victims to give up their credentials," it says.

Starting with the set of all phishing URLs detected globally between January 2020 and February 2021, Unit42 generated sets of specific keywords (or phrases) that served as indicators for each COVID-related topic, and applied keyword matching to determine which phishing URLs were related to each topic.

According to the threat intelligence team at Palo Alto Networks, individuals should continue to exercise caution when viewing any emails or websites claiming to sell any goods or services or provide any benefits related to COVID-19. If it seems too good to be true, it most likely is. Employees in the healthcare industry in particular should view links contained in any incoming emails with suspicion, especially from emails trying to convey a sense of urgency, it added.

Here are best practices suggested by Unit42 to protect from phishing attacks...

For individuals:

 Exercising caution when clicking on any links or attachments contained in suspicious emails, especially those relating to ones account settings or personal information, or otherwise trying to convey a sense of urgency.

 Verifying the sender address for any suspicious emails in your inbox.

 Double-checking the URL and security certificate of each website before inputting your login credentials.

 Reporting suspected phishing attempts.

For organizations:

 Implementing security awareness training to improve employees ability to identify fraudulent emails

 Regularly backing up your organizations data as a defence against ransomware attacks initiated via phishing emails.

 Enforcing multi-factor authentication on all business-related logins as an added layer of security.
Press Release

March 26, 2021 De Lima asks Muntinlupa judge to voluntarily inhibit from drug case Opposition Senator Leila M. de Lima has sought for the voluntary inhibition of Muntinlupa City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 205 Judge Liezel Aquiatan due to clear doubts as to the latter's "impartiality, fairness, moral courage, and integrity." In a 49-page Motion for Voluntary Inhibition filed by her lawyers last March 25, De Lima said she has lost faith on the impartiality of Aquiatan to render justice in one of her two remaining trumped-up drug cases. "This Motion for Voluntary Inhibition, apart from documenting for posterity the unacceptable errors of the Honorable Presiding Judge and her failure to uphold her sworn oath, is intended to give her the chance to ascertain whether she is still fit to continue presiding in this case," the motion stated. "The Honorable Presiding Judge is urged to revisit her conscience. Can she sleep soundly at night, knowing the unjustness of her recent orders with respect to this case and the fact that innocent individuals are, in the meantime, deprived of their freedom?" the document stated. Aquiatan granted De Lima's Demurrer to Evidence in Case No. 17-166, but she dismissed the Senator's Demurrer and bail bids in a Joint Omnibus Order and ordered the trial to proceed in Case No. 17-165 which the Senator is facing with former aide and co-accused Ronnie Dayan. In a 70-page Motion for Reconsideration filed last Feb. 22, De Lima accused Aquiatan of "cherry picking" and asked her to reconsider her earlier decision denying her bid to post bail and junk one of her bogus drug cases. Aquiatan, however, later ruled in a two-page order last March 5 that the court stands with its Omnibus Order to continue with the trial. Considering the blatant errors contained in Aquiatan's Orders in relation to Case No. 17-165, De Lima said she was constrained to file the motion to invoke her right to a fair trial before an impartial judge. "Either she is truly grossly ignorant of the law despite her education and experience or she deliberately went against established principles because she is biased against Senator De Lima and she is acting pursuant to other motivations apart from upholding the rule of law and her mandate to properly dispense justice," the document read. Among the errors that was cited in the Motion include Aquiatan's wrong application of legal principles just to accommodate inadmissible evidence and the unsound theory of the Prosecution and giving wholesale credence to questionable and incredible testimonies without even considering material points raised by the Defense. De Lima further stressed that Aquiatan believed the testimony of NBI intelligence agent Jovencio Ablen, Jr., former Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) officer-in-charge Rafael Ragos, former Bilibid inmate Gerry Valeroso, and Bilibid inmate Nonito Arile wholesale without even assessing the very credibility of these witnesses and their respective stories vis-a-vis the cross examinations conducted by both Accused's counsels. "The Honorable Presiding Judge's failure to consider any part of the cross-examinations of the counsel for both accused renders nugatory all the time and effort devoted by the Defense to scrutinize the witnesses. To repeat, not a single word in the Omnibus Order was devoted to discuss any of the cross-examinations," De Lima said. Likewise, according to the motion, Aquiatan required De Lima to explain the accusation that she received money, even though such never happened. Given the compelling and self-evident evidence on record which the Honorable Presiding Judge chose to ignore, De Lima noted that Aquiatan has provided the impression that she is biased against her and has already prejudged the case. "It is clear that the Honorable Presiding Judge provided a lopsided analysis of the evidence on record in the Omnibus Order. She only chose to entertain and appreciate the narrative weaved by the Prosecution," the document read. "For her to constantly ignore compelling evidence on record in a consistent pattern can only mean one thing: she is not inclined to consider whatever evidence and arguments Accused De Lima may have. She already ignored all the pieces of evidence favoring Accused De Lima," it added. As part of her right to due process, De Lima maintained that she deserves a presiding judge who will dispense justice in this case without fear or favor. "Considering her recent actions, it appears that the Honorable Presiding Judge is not that judge," said De Lima, the most prominent political prisoner under the Duterte regime.
By the time I arrived in Archer City one hot morning in the summer of 2012, strangers were walking the dusty and usually prairie-quiet streets of that otherwise unremarkable town 25 miles south of Wichita Falls. Many carried boxes, satchels or crates and were there, as I was, for what signs posted on dirty storefront windows called The Last Book Sale.

Not many book sales will draw customers from a thousand miles or more, nor draw reporters from a faraway magazine such as TIME, which had sent me to write about it. But not many sales promised to thin a herd of titles nearly half a million strong that had been expertly, lovingly curated over nearly 50 years by a bookman of the stature of Archer City native Larry McMurtry, who died Friday at 84 after perhaps the most illustrious literary career in Texas history.

And bookman was precisely how McMurtry referred to himself  despite such luminous recognition as the Pulitzer Prize for his 1985 novel, Lonesome Dove and a screenplay Oscar for Brokeback Mountain, the astounding story of two cowboys in love set against the unforgiving landscape of mid-century Wyoming.

But he seemed to derive his clearest sense of self from the thrill of the search for books and what he could find inside them.

Sometime in the mid-70s I began to see myself essentially as a bookseller, or maybe just a book scout, he said in his loving memoir of his career as a bookseller, Books: A Memoir. The hunt for books was what absorbed me. Writing was my vocation but I had written a lot, and it was no longer exactly a passion.

In time, he created in Booked Up, his Archer City bookstore, a global reputation as a source of hard-to-find books. By 2012, though, he decided, he told me, that he wanted to dispose of the books before his heirs might have to someday. So he was selling. After I tired of wandering the seemingly endless aisles, I found McMurtry signing autographs dutifully.

He wore a rumpled, open-collar white shirt, red suspenders and untamed, thinning white hair. When he saw me, he motioned to me to sit and sank into a chair.

He was tired and his voice a tad indistinct. He soon surprised me by announcing he was retiring as a novelist. He simply didnt have the mental capacity for the kind of sustained, heroic feats of imagination that had gone into the worlds he had created for his fiction. Its toward the end of my life, he said.

Had he heard, I asked him, that Gabriel Garcia Marquez was retiring, dementia having permanently stilled his pen? I dont know if its as serious as his case, he said, but sometimes I cant remember things from the day before or earlier the same day.

I started to tell him how much his work had meant to me. How, when a college roommate had forced me to watch all six hours of the Lonesome Dove mini-series in one sitting, I had fallen in love with his characters  and went racing to find the novel. But he had heard all that before. In fact, he had told me earlier that he had never watched the highly acclaimed miniseries.

To me, he told me a little sourly, Lonesome Dove is the Gone with the Wind of the West. I had tried to show how wrong, how foolish the romanticized view of the West had been.

As I drove out of Archer City that day, the whole sale had turned gloomy. A sense of an ending on its way was palpable. Three years later, I saw McMurtry again, in the White House. He seemed to sag as he slowly walked to the front of the East Room so President Barack Obama could hang the National Humanities Medal around his neck. When an aide called to say he had no energy for our scheduled post-ceremony chat, I wasnt surprised.

Obama told the crowd that readers saw themselves reflected in McMurtrys characters  no matter how different their circumstances.

In Lonesome Dove he told a story of two ex-Texas Rangers in the late 19th century, and readers learned something essential about their own souls even if they had never been out West or been on a ranch, Obama said.

Perhaps McMurtry never achieved his dream of turning his bookless hometown into a place of books, not permanently anyway. But now that he is gone, the fact that he made more than 50 of his own books has got to mean something. It sure has for this reader, and for others around the globe who will mourn his passing.

Lindenberger is the deputy opinion editor for the Houston Chronicle.
[March 26, 2021] Blueberries Medical Signs Framework Agreement with YVY Life Sciences of Uruguay

TORONTO, March 26, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Blueberries Medical Corp. (CSE: BBM) (OTC: BBRRF) (FRA: 1OA) the Canadian parent of Blueberries S.A.S., the premier Latin American licensed cultivator and producer of medicinal cannabis and medicinal-grade cannabis extracts, (together the Company or Blueberries), today announced that it has signed a Framework Agreement with Mechelen S.A., a subsidiary of YVY Life Sciences (YVY) for mutual development of strains and genetics in Colombia and potentially exporting dry cannabis flower of mutual strains from Uruguay.

This is Blueberries first agreement in Uruguay and the next step in Blueberries international growth strategy under way. In December 2013, Uruguay, became the first country in the world to legalize recreational cannabis, starting a ripple effect throughout the world and particularly in Latin America, which continues to this day. With this agreement, Blueberries will expand its reach to a new jurisdiction, and through the Mercosur Regional Free Trade Bloc, will gain access to Brazil. Latin America, which includes Colombia, Argentina, Peru and Uruguay, is a highly populous potential market, with countries that have recent or pending legislation permitting access to cannabis and CBD oils for medicinal use. YVY is dedicated to the production of dried flowers of medicinal cannabis with their focus on sustainable and high-quality cannabis and hemp cultivation, harvesting their first sustainable crops in April 2020. We are incredibly pleased with the concept of co-developing new cannabis genetics in collaboration with YVY, and with the opportunity to replicate their unique cultivation model that will bring multiple benefits to our operations in Colombia, said Jose Forero, Blueberries President of Latin American Operations, Likewise, we are excited with the opportunity to register our top genetics in other countries. Uruguay is the perfect jurisdiction to start our expansion into new geographies and potentially export dry flower, something that is not yet allowed in Colombia. The Framework Agreement, dated March 24, 2021, has an initial term of five years, with customary renewal clauses and no consideration paid by neither party. It is intended as the first step in the relationship with specific accessory agreements to follow in the coming months. Under the Framework Agreement, Blueberries and YVY will structure collaborative plans, initially starting with mutual development of strains and genetics in Colombia, and consequently registration of those cultivars both in Colombia and Uruguay. This will provide a fast-track opportunity to register Blueberries proprietary genetics in Uruguay, thus allowing the partners to cultivate and export dry flower of Blueberries strains from Uruguay. We are thrilled with this strategic alliance with Blueberries as we venture beyond Uruguay. Our goal is to work closely with Blueberries to replicate YVYs unique cultivation model with small producers in Colombia, producing high-quality and natural products while generating scalable social and environmental impact, said Andrea Krell, Chief Executive Officer of YVY. Our vision is to use the Framework Agreement as the first step in a long-term strategic partnership which will help us quickly take practical steps in developing collaborative projects both in Colombia and Uruguay. About YVY Life Sciences

YVY is a cannabis lifestyle brand comprising of natural and high-quality products, powered by an innovative and unique cultivation model. YVY operations are currently in Uruguay with expansion plans underway in Colombia and Argentina with potenial distribution in Latin America and Europe. YVYs focus and expertise is the cultivation of high-quality cannabis flower, biomass and seeds incorporating genetics R&D and strict quality control. YVY works with strategic partners to manufacture, formulate, and distribute YVY branded products targeting the wellness segment.



For more information about the YVY visit www.yvylifesciences.com, or please contact: Andrea K Krell, Chief Executive Officer

andrea@yvylifesciences.com

Tel: +598 92 151 456

About Blueberries Medical Corp.

Blueberries is a Latin American licensed producer of naturally grown premium quality cannabis with its primary operations ideally located in the Bogota Savannah of central Colombia. The Company is led by a specialized team with proprietary expertise in agriculture, genetics, extraction, medicine, pharmacology and marketing, Blueberries is fully licensed for the cultivation, production, domestic distribution, and international export of CBD and THC-based medical cannabis in Colombia. Blueberries combination of leading scientific expertise, agricultural advantages and distribution arrangements has positioned the Company to become a leading international supplier of naturally grown, processed, and standardized medicinal-grade cannabis oil extracts and related products. Additional information about the Company is available at www.blueberriesmed.com. For more information, please contact: Jose Forero, President, Latin American Operations

jforero@blueberriesmed.com

Tel: +57 310 345 8808 Ian Atacan, Chief Financial Officer

iatacan@blueberriesmed.com

Tel: +1 (416) 562 3220 Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains forward-looking information and forward-looking statements (collectively, forward looking statements) within the meaning of the applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other than statements historical fact, are forward-looking statements and are based on expectations, estimates and projections as at the date of this news 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 news release, forward looking statements relate, among other things, to: commencement of commercial production of CBD-dominant oils and products, successful implementation of full GMP standards at its extraction facility to allow for additional export potential to international markets, achieving additional milestones is contemplated, or at all, ability to expand distribution networks, ability to expand and upgrade the Companys cultivation facilities in Colombia, internal expectations, expectations regarding the ability of the Company to access new Latin American and international markets, the ability to attract and retain new customers, and future expansion plans including development of the cultivation, production, industrialization and marketing of cannabis for commercial and scientific purposes. These forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions and estimates of management of the Company at the time such statements were made. Actual future results may differ materially as 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 materially differ from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors, among other things, include: fluctuations in general macroeconomic conditions; fluctuations in securities markets; expectations regarding the size of the Colombian and international medical cannabis market and changing consumer habits; the ability of the Company to successfully achieve its business objectives; plans for expansion; political and social uncertainties; inability to obtain adequate insurance to cover risks and hazards; and the presence of laws and regulations that may impose restrictions on cultivation, production, distribution and sale of cannabis and cannabis related products in Colombia, Argentina and elsewhere; and employee relations. Although the forward-looking statements contained in this news release are based upon what management of the Company believes, or believed at the time, to be reasonable assumptions, the Company cannot assure shareholders that actual results will be consistent with such forward-looking statements, as there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements and information contained in this news release. 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. Additional information regarding the Company, and other risks and uncertainties relating to the Companys business are contained under the heading Risk Factors in the Companys Listing Statement dated January 31, 2019 filed on its issuer profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein.





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BISHKEK -- Kyrgyzstan says long-standing border issues with Uzbekistan have been "100 percent fully resolved."

Kamchybek Tashiev, the head of Kyrgyzstan's State Committee for National Security, told RFE/RL on March 26 that talks with a group of Uzbek officials led by Prime Minister Abdulla Aripov had ended with the signing of a protocol on the final delimitation and demarcation of the Kyrgyz-Uzbek border.

Tashiev, who led the Kyrgyz delegation at the talks in Tashkent on March 24-25, said that no disputed segments of the border will remain after the protocol's implementation.

The border between the two Central Asian neighbors has been a major bone of contention in bilateral ties since 1991, when they gained independence from the Soviet Union.

Over the past decades there have been numerous incidents along the border, including gunfire.

The situation began to improve following the 2016 death of Uzbekistan's long-ruling authoritarian president, Islam Karimov.

His successor, Shavkat Mirziyoev, has said that improving ties with Uzbekistan's neighbors is a major priority of his foreign policy.
Harish Rao said that no government had earlier considered for well-being of former legislators or had any concern towards them, but Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao felt the need to help them.  DC file photo

Hyderabad: The Legislative Assembly on Thursday passed the Telangana Payment of Salaries and Pension and Removal of Disqualifications (Amendment) Bill, which enhances pensions of former legislators (MLAs and MLCs).

The minimum pension of former legislators has been increased from Rs 30,000 to Rs 50,000 per month, with an upper ceiling of Rs 75,000.

Finance minister T. Harish Rao, who introduced the bill in the house, said that several former MLAs and MLCs were struggling to pay hospital bills, whenever they undergo treatment.

Though there is a provision for sanctioning more funds over the current limit, he said that the process of approvals has become a major hindrance for former legislators during emergency conditions.

Former legislators, who were elected for three terms, will now receive Rs 50,000 pension per month as against Rs 30,000 earlier. Those elected for more than three terms will receive Rs 75,000 pension per month, as against Rs 50,000 earlier.

The bill also seeks to provide financial assistance up to Rs10 lakh for treatment of legislators and former legislators in case of hospitalisation. The legislators and former legislators can avail of this facility for their spouse also.

Harish Rao said that no government had earlier considered for well-being of former legislators or had any concern towards them, but Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao felt the need to help them.

Chief Minister Rao asked officials to bring the amendment bill for the purpose, the finance minister added.
Wellington Drive Technologies is pleased to announce the launch of its latest product innovation, the Connect Monitor, an internet of things (IoT) device designed for easy retrofitting to existing cooler fleets. Wellingtons Connect IoT product range remotely monitors and diagnoses cooler performance, alerts and faults, helping to efficiently manage customer service calls, minimise downtime and time spent on site. These benefits lead to improved beverage sales and increased equipment productivity.

The battery-powered Connect Monitor is a multifunctional IoT sensor explicitly designed for refrigeration applications. Its extensive features include temperature measurement, compressor operation, sales performance, appliance movement detection, and asset location. It also features Bluetooth beacon technology for proximity marketing applications.

The Connect Monitors lithium battery offers five years of life under normal operating conditions, which include fast beacon advertising and low-temperature environments. Monitor is easy to install in the field and can be activated through the Connect Field App, linking it to the Wellington Connect Cloud. The inbuilt data-logger can store up to two months of data, and its patented door swing sensor allows for flexible and discreet mounting inside coolers, freezers, or cabinets.

Wellington has been at the forefront of refrigeration technology for many years, starting with motors, then controllers, before moving into the internet of things (IoT). The Wellington Connect IoT platform has seen phenomenal success, with over one million units shipped to 50 customer organisations across 24 countries.

Please see the link below for details:

WT9447 Launch of Connect Monitor

Source: Wellington Drive Technologies Limited

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NEW HAVEN  It was a lot quieter Thursday at the alleged illegal junkyard at 201 Russell St. in Fair Haven Heights.

The city police and firefighters and the building and zoning inspectors were gone. So were the officials from the state Department of Motor Vehicles and Department of Energy & Environmental Protection  as were the half-dozen tow trucks, two or three TV trucks and the gaggle of reporters and photographers who were there Tuesday.

On Thursday it was just James Fitzmaurice, his two sons and, here and there, some of the owners of vehicles that have been stored on the sprawling, PCB-contaminated property, who will have to get their vehicles  running or otherwise  out (after city firefighters hose down the tires) if they dont want to see them towed.

But the cops and firefighters will be back on Friday, city Building Official Jim Turcio said, though he didnt expect all the vehicles to be off the property until some time next week.

Agents of several city and state agencies  along with a half-dozen tow trucks  converged on the property Tuesday after receiving multiple complaints about an alleged illegal junkyard with more than 100 vehicles on property previously found to be contaminated with PCBs.

Im just hoping for no more surprises, said Fitzmaurice, one of a number of relatives  city officials say it number 12-16 people  who inherited the property after their grandfather, Ralph Coppola, died back in 1997.

City officials have said the propertys owners owe $700,000 in back taxes, dating back for many years  and Fitzmaurice didnt dispute that.

In fact, he said no taxes have been paid on the property since before his grandfather, who had an earlier junkyard shut down after PCBs were found on the property, died.

I could never see paying taxes on land that isnt usable, Fitzmaurice said. $700,000 is insane for a property that I cant even use. They shut me down but they wanted the tax money.

The city sued back in 1997, initially seeking to take the property but ultimately backing off that, Fitzmaurice said. He said he will hire an attorney to try to work out the issue with the city.

One of Fitzmaurices sons, Jesse Fitzmaurice, said that everythings not being towed out of the property. Only inoperable vehicles and ones without plates.

James Fitzmaurice said theres one man in particular  one who allegedly has been taking vehicles apart on the property  who has yet to appear since the authorities showed up. His vehicles likely will end up being towed, Fitzmaurice said.

City assessors records list the propertys owners as James Fitzmaurice Jr. and Bruce Krause, Laura Schoenmehl and Cheryl and Ralph Coppola. The property is appraised at $490,300, with an assessed value of $343,210.

City tax records, which only go back five years, show the owners paid no taxes on the property during that time.

With interest, they owe $27,946 on the 2015 grand list; $21,662 on the 2016 list; $21,413 on the 2017 list; $18,758 on the 2018 list; and $16,157 on the 2019 list  for a total of $105,937 for those years alone.

The property has been described as being of several different sizes.

James Fitzmaurice said its 21.5 acres, including about 11 acres in New Haven and another 10 acres in East Haven. Turcio said its a total of 29 acres. Assessors records list the New Haven portion of the property as 16.91 acres.

Representatives of the DEEP and DMV declined to comment.

City officials said the property had been subject to DEEP cleanup and enforcement action at least as far back as 20 years ago.

City spokesman Gage Frank said the people renting space to store vehicles were unaware the property was under an environmental enforcement order. He said the property owner owes the city $700,000 in back taxes.

The property has been known to be contaminated for over 20 years, Turcio said Tuesday. But in the last year, the heirs apparently have opened up the junkyard again, he said.

Neighbors have called repeatedly and officials previously visited the site about 21/2 weeks ago, Turcio said.

Fitzmaurice has said the contamination resulted from his grandfather accepting scrap metal from a utility commpany years ago, before PCBs were recognized as an environmental hazard. That activity ceased in 1982, he said.

At some point thereafter, the city came in to clean it up, he said.

Fair Haven Heights Alder Rose Santana, D-13, has said she and others have been trying to get the property cleaned up for years  including when houses were built nearby, raising fears of children playing on the property, which is fenced.

mark.zaretsky@hearstmediact.com
Alex Padilla is getting to know the ropes of his new job.

The California senator got into his first Twitter spat with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz this week since arriving in the Senate in January.

The war of words started Tuesday, the same day the Senate Judiciary Committee held its hearing on gun violence.

At the hearing, Padilla, the Democrat who was appointed to fill Vice President Kamala Harris' seat, made the claim that it's easier to buy a gun than vote in many states.

"In a majority of states, new voters are able to obtain a rifle quicker than they're able to cast their first ballot," he said. "It seems to me we have our priorities entirely backwards when it comes to this  when we make it easier to buy a gun than we do to cast a ballot."

Cruz tweeted a clip of Padilla's remarks on Tuesday and called them "demonstrably, laughably false."

"Find me the Dem that says 'its abusive to require a photo ID to buy a gun!'" Cruz went on. "They ALL say that about voting. (Except for the CA gubernatorial recall....)."

Padilla wrote back, "The thing about facts is that saying something is 'laughably and demonstrably false' doesn't make it so. The fact of the matter is that the GOP is actively pushing measures to make it more difficult to vote, while preventing common sense gun safety reforms that could save lives."

The Senate hearing Tuesday on proposals for gun control was scheduled before the tragic shooting left 10 dead in Boulder, Colorado, this week. It is unclear whether any of the bills up for consideration  most of them involving more restrictive background checks  would have made a difference in the Colorado case. A 21-year-old man charged with killing eight people in the Atlanta area last week had purchased a 9 mm handgun hours before the murders, prompting advocates to push for longer waiting periods for purchases.

In brief remarks responding to the Colorado shooting, President Joe Biden urged Congress to move quickly to close the loopholes in the background check system and to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines  an effort that would be even more difficult to achieve politically. According to a police affidavit, the Colorado shooter had purchased an assault rifle six days earlier.

It should not be a partisan issue, Biden said. This is an American issue. It will save lives, American lives.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer vowed Tuesday morning to bring to the Senate floor legislation passed by the House that would require background checks for most gun sales and transfers. He said the Senate must confront a devastating truth after a lack of congressional action on the issue for almost three decades.

This Senate will be different, Schumer, D-N.Y., said a day after a shooting at a crowded Boulder, Colorado, supermarket, killed 10 people, including a police officer. The Senate is going to debate and address the epidemic of gun violence in this country.

While a Senate vote on new gun control would be the first in several years, Democrats do not have the votes to pass any significant reform. They are not even united themselves, as Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., told reporters Tuesday that he opposes the House legislation on background checks.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.
The owls talons were about 2.5 inches long, as well as its beak. The men were trying to help the creature without getting injured themselves, they said. Both men said they were not afraid of the owl, despites its size and hisses. They each own large dogs and described themselves as big men compared to the owl.


WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Oil prices rebounded on Friday amid fears that it could take weeks to dislodge a giant container ship blocking the Suez Canal, one of the world's most critical commodity chokepoints, connecting the Red Sea with the Mediterranean.



Brent crude for May settlement climbed 2.1 percent to $63.23 per barrel, after having tumbled 3.8 percent on Thursday.



U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up 2.4 percent at $59.89 after plunging 4.3 percent the previous day.



Both benchmarks were on track for a weekly loss of about 2 percent amid rising concerns over a third wave of the coronavirus pandemic and slow vaccine rollouts in Europe.



Efforts are ongoing to free the giant cargo ship blocking Egypt's Suez Canal which is estimated to be holding up more than $9bn (6.5bn) worth of goods each day.



Officials stopped all ships entering the canal on Thursday, and a salvage company said the vessel may take weeks to free.



Expectations that the OPEC+ will likely maintain their lower production also supported prices, while the short-term demand outlook continues to get downgraded due to fresh coronavirus lockdowns in Europe.



The European Commission has warned that the European Union is at the start of a third wave of the pandemic.



France has extended partial lockdowns to three more areas of the country, with president Macron warning the 'the next few weeks will be tough.'



German chancellor Angela Merkel signaled that she would be declaring France a 'high-risk Covid area.'



Poland ordered stricter pandemic measures fir the two-week period surrounding Easter after registering a record for daily coronavirus cases for a second consecutive day.



Elsewhere, the Finnish government has submitted a proposal that would see temporary restrictions on movement in the worst-hit areas for 3 weeks.



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This week, College of Charleston President Andrew Hsu announced that the college is partnering with the Medical University of South Carolina to provide an on-campus COVID-19 vaccine clinic for eligible university employees and contractors.

The school has received around 500 doses of the highly effective Pfizer vaccine and began distributing the vaccine on Friday. A second round of the vaccine for participating employees is planned for April 16.

This is a major accomplishment for the administration, showing innovative leadership on the part of President Hsu as we continue to see the devastating impact of COVID-19 in our community. The recent partnership is not novel in our state: Both the University of South Carolina and Clemson also have set up vaccine distribution sites for their campuses.

But Hsus partnership with MUSC is going to get more shots in arms, as we have secured more doses so far than either USC or Clemson. With fewer employees, were inherently doing this more effectively. In addition to the vaccine rollout, President Hsu has promised a more proactive on-the-ground response to curbing violations of face covering and social distancing regulations, which remain in force on campus, and have so far plagued our campus response to mitigating the pandemic.

His announcement comes at a critical time. Gov. Henry McMaster, dizzied with a bout of political theater, recently issued Executive Order 2021-12, mandating all state agencies  including universities  to initiate a full-time, in-person return to the workplace beginning March 15. That's regardless of whether a state employee is vaccinated, regardless of employees' preexisting health conditions and regardless of whether they have safe and stable care for children and other dependents. Coupled with that disastrous order was an easing of statewide mask mandates.

It is refreshing, in this climate, to see local leadership in Charleston actively trying to mitigate the political blunders coming out of McMasters office in Columbia. COVID-19 cases and deaths have slowed since the massive spike in late January and early February, sure, and more and more people are getting vaccinated. But were far from solving the COVID-19 crisis, even if we appear to be in the home stretch of preventing the worst of the deaths.

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In our own university community, for example, cases flatlined for a short period to fewer than five at a time, but in the past week, they have shot back up to around 25 to 30 per day, with around 80 students and employees actively quarantined. People still are getting sick and dying from COVID-19.

The threat is still with us, and as much as the technological solution will help  a historic solution, I might add, as a historian of public health  vaccines will not solve the public health nightmare that is our daily reality. It will take months to get every American vaccinated  longer than needed if this pandemic had been handled in a more effective way from the jump.

Now, maybe more than ever, we need leadership at local, state and national levels to help get us out of the pandemic, and to provide safe spaces, accommodations and flexibility for us to return to any sort of post-pandemic normalcy and keep our humanity.

Hsu, in this way, is helping our community to cross the COVID finish line in a real-life, zero-sum game of life or death, and in a climate where our governor gave up weeks ago.

Over the past year, College of Charleston faculty, staff and students  myself included in the pages of The Post and Courier  have called upon President Hsu to make decisive decisions to help protect our university and our broader community. On this decision, he got it right and deserves praise.

Jacob Steere-Williams is an associate professor of history at the College of Charleston.
Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker signed a landmark climate bill into law Friday after months of back-and-forth debates with legislative leaders.

The climate bill overhauls the 2008 Global Warming Solutions Act and mandates that the states energy emissions fall to 100% of 1990 emission levels by 2050, requiring energy upgrades across several sectors of the economy along the way.

Well be working hard to achieve our ambitious emission reduction targets in a science-based, equitable and affordable manner, Baker said.

The signing comes after lawmakers sent the proposal back to the Republican governor for the third time. The Legislature pushed the climate bill through at the tail end of the legislative session in early January. Baker vetoed the bill, citing the timing restrictions that prevented him from sending it back with proposed amendments.

In its first major move at the start of the 2021-22 session, the Legislature approved and resent the bill to Baker virtually unchanged. Baker returned the bill in early February with several proposed amendments, calling for less stringent sub-limits.

The Senate and House made some compromises but held firm on the sub-limit requirements, meaning the state has to reach the halfway point of its 2050 emissions goal by 2030.

The bill builds on the governors commitment from early 2020 to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 by codifying that goal into state law and solidifying our plans to achieve it in a way that drives equitable and sustainable growth, said Ellen Tomlinson, spokesperson for the Environmental League of Massachusetts.

But how will Massachusetts reach those milestones? A combination of new regulations, offshore wind authorization and clean energy incentives.

The law authorizes the state to direct utilities to buy 2,400 additional megawatts of offshore wind, which Baker said would help expand the wind industry and create jobs. Thats in addition to the 3,200 megawatts of offshore wind power lawmakers have already authorized, the State House News Service reported.

The bill also expands access to solar net metering credits and requires the state Department of Energy Resources to ensure equitable access and energy affordability in any new solar incentive program.

Solar power can cut households electric bills, while at the same time, help fight the devastating effects of climate change, said DeWitt Jones, president of BlueHub Energy, a Boston-based solar energy developer. This new law will invite people of all incomes to be part of the solution by removing some of the key challenges to accessing solar power for homeowners and renters.

A new law will remove barriers in current solar policies that have limited access to affordable, clean, solar energy for low-income households in Massachusetts. The new solar provisions for residents with low incomes, spearheaded by BlueHub Capital, a national nonprofit community finance organization, will ensure everyone in Massachusetts has equitable access to solar energy, regardless of their income or where they live in the state.

State and legislative officials praised the restrictions approved in environmental justice communities. The new law requires the Department of Environmental Protection to conduct an impact report for any proposed project in one of these communities. Depending on the type of project, the report would have to outline whether the proposal would negatively affect air quality, the environment or the communitys public health.

EEA has a list of environmental justice communities, but the climate law explicitly defines what constitutes an environmental justice community.

Perhaps the most contentious part of the bill, which led to disagreements between the Baker administration and key legislators, is the creation of a stretch energy code option for cities and towns. Municipal governments can incorporate net-zero building performance standards into their codes to help drive down greenhouse gas emissions.

The state Board of Building Regulations and Standards is expected to help establish a definition of a net-zero building.
SPRINGFIELD  A lawyer for suspended Springfield Police Officer Gregg Bigda has asked a judge to remove himself from a civil case for allegedly telling an attorney hed have liked to get Bigda alone in a room for five minutes during a criminal case in the mid-1990s.

The judge in question is Hampden Superior Court Judge John S. Ferrara, a criminal defense lawyer before being appointed to the bench in 2011. Ferrara defended a woman in 1996 who was allegedly roughed up by Bigda during the arrest of a younger, male relative.

The woman was acquitted of disorderly conduct, and Ferrara filed an excessive force lawsuit against the police department over the incident. That case was settled, according to court records. The settlement amount was unavailable.

Ferrara allegedly made the remark to Kevin Coyle, a longtime attorney for the police union, during the course of the civil case.

Bigda is now under federal indictment for excessive force in connection with an alleged racially charged beating of a Hispanic teen in 2016.

He also is one of nine defendants in another civil case  one presided over by Ferrara the judge  filed in 2017 by former Detective Steven Vigneault. It alleges Vigneault was unfairly forced out of the narcotics unit  where he once worked alongside Bigda  and ultimately the department.

Vigneault fashioned the lawsuit as a whistleblower complaint alleging on-the-job drinking by Bigda and other narcotics officers, and other misbehavior including filing bogus police reports and abusing suspects.

Vigneault was originally a codefendant in the federal case, but the charges against him were dropped after the teen in question said it was Bigda who kicked him in the face when he was on the ground and it handcuffs. Vigneault said he witnessed Bigda kick the boy, spit on him and bellow, Welcome to white town!

Bigda has denied the allegations and the charges.

In the face of COVID-19 restrictions, Bigdas trial date has been repeatedly put off and is now scheduled for a December start in U.S. District Court.

The motion to throw Ferrara off the civil case is the latest quirky development in an already tangled story. Bigda is named as a defendant along with the city, former Police Commissioner John Barbieri and other onetime co-workers in the narcotics unit.

Bigdas attorney in the civil case has argued the judge cannot be impartial since he allegedly held such animus toward Bigda and used fighting words 25 years ago.

To be sure, the circumstances underlying this motion occurred many years ago. Nonetheless bias, and thus the appearance of bias, does not necessarily come with an expiration date, wrote Bigdas attorney, Stanley Wheatley.

Wheatley declined to comment further for this story.

Vigneaults attorney, Shawn Allyn, filed an objection to Whealeys motion, arguing it is replete in bad faith, and furthermore that Ferrara has already ruled on motions in the case without a fuss from any of the attorneys.

This motion is calculated. This motion is a sham, Allyn wrote.

No hearing has yet been set for arguments.
The eKYC solution is a major turning point in the digital transformation of VietinBanks operations, enabling the bank to provide digital services to customers. Recognising the potential and benefits of eKYC as well as the trend of digital transformation in the banking industry, VietinBank has quickly integrated this solution into the VietinBank iPay Mobile application to optimise user experience.

VietinBank is the first state-owned bank to deploy eKYC for the opening of new accounts. With this solution, customers do not have to go to the transaction points to carry out registration procedures and verify information. They can open an account right on the VietinBank iPay Mobile app anywhere and anytime.

Specifically, customers only need to take a photo of their documents proving citizenship (identity card or passport) and a photo of their face so that the system can check the valid information and open an account to customers immediately.

Customers can now use eKYC to open bank accounts from anywhere

VietinBank has applied the most modern AI technology in the implementation of eKYC such as optical character reader (OCR) and face recognition technology (FAC). These advanced technologies not only ensure reliability and transparency but also help customers open their bank accounts conveniently.

The eKYC solution is an essential platform for banks to carry out digital transformation in the Industry 4.0 era, simplifying the banks procedures to open accounts. At the same time, customers can save time and energy when conducting transactions through the bank.

According to Deputy Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam Nguyen Kim Anh, the implementation of eKYC is a stepping stone for banks to establish relations with first-time customers while developing their digital banking models. The customer identification and verification during the account opening will not only facilitate customers to access and use banking services but also allow banks to expand their customer base and provide safe, convenient, and efficient banking services.

The representative of VietinBank said that, In the digital transformation process, VietinBank always focuses on user experience by constantly updating the latest technologies and striving to offer superior products and services. The application of eKYC has become an inevitable development trend and opened up an opportunity for VietinBank to increase its reach to new customers with the best experience, thereby encouraging users to use digital banking services and making contributions to the national financial inclusion strategy.

The first banking app to adopt "Face-pay" technology in transaction authentication

Along with the roll-out of online account opening, VietinBank has simultaneously applied the "Face-Pay" solution for its payment authentication. With this solution, customers can use face authentication for 100 per cent of their financial transactions on the app.

"Customer can only perform transactions on their accounts with their face only. This is the highlight of the Face-Pay technology deployed by VietinBank on the VietinBank iPay Mobile app, said a representative of the bank.

For transactions worth more than VND100 million ($4,350), users will have to undergo Face-Pay verification

Throughout its development, VietinBank has been constantly upgrading its app ecosystem with more than 130 comprehensive features for financial and consumer services, bringing maximum convenience to customers.

After opening an account and a Vpay card on the VietinBank iPay Mobile app successfully, customers will be able to experience the multi-utility ecosystem, from 24/7 fast transfer, payment reminder feature for various types of bills, phone top-up, periodical transfer, and money transfer schedule, card and booking services such as flight booking, hotel room, train, car, movie ticket, online shopping, and others. All of the features aim to bring new experiences for users.

VNPAY-QR payment is fast and secure

Especially, the QR Pay utility helps customers pay for their shopping bills simply and conveniently through the VNPAY-QR code. Currently, there are more than 100,000 transaction points accepting VNPAY-QR payment nationwide and covering all industries and services.

Win a car by opening an account via eKYC

To encourage more customers to experience the eKYC feature, VietinBank has offered the promotion programme "eKYC  Easy registration  Win a car", which will take place from March 25 to June 22, 2021.

Accordingly, during the promotion period, VietinBank grants VND100,000 ($4.35) to customers who register new payment account packages via eKYC and conduct financial transactions. Customers can enjoy a 50 per cent discount when opening an account with a beautiful number via eKYC. They can also get 50 per cent (up to VND100,000) cash up upon new issuance and online spending with VPAY International Debit Card.

At the same time, customers also have the opportunity to win valuable prizes like a Mazda 3 car, iPhone 12 Promax 128GB, and other cash prizes.

Beside the new iPay version update, customers can easily register new accounts or change to zero-fee account packages right on the iPay Mobile app. The bank features the Premium Account package for priority customers as well as the Smart, Basic, and Plus packages for common customers of VietinBank.

Users can download the VietinBank app from the App Store or Google Play to experience the myriad benefits of eKYC and VietinBank iPay Mobile digital bank and have a chance to win attractive prizes.
Turkey has begun initial talks to procure the Sputnik-V vaccine from Russia, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said, adding Ankara would receive a total of 100 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines from various suppliers by the end of May.

"Initial talks have begun for the procurement of Sputnik-V. This vaccine will be eligible for widespread use following the testing process for its compatibility," Koca said, adding Ankara was in talks with other vaccine providers.

Turkey has until now been using COVID-19 vaccine shots developed by Chinas Sinovac Biotech Ltd and it has carried out 14.39 million inoculations, with 8.18 million people having received a first dose, since Jan. 14 when the nationwide rollout began.

"As of today, we have received 10 million doses of vaccines, which will be filled in Turkey. By the end of May, we expect a total of 100 million doses of vaccines to arrive in Turkey," he said, without specifying where the additional 10 million came from.

In a statement after a meeting with his coronavirus science council, Koca also added that Turkey would be receiving 4.5 million doses of the vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech by early April, Reuters reported.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Friday defended President Joe Biden using a cheat sheet to call on reporters in his first press conference after Fox News' correspondent Peter Doocy complained his network was not on it.

Psaki slapped down Doocy when he asked why Fox News didn't get a question, pointing out she was answering his inquiries at her press briefing and that Biden has taken his questions in the past.

Doocy argued Fox News was the only one of the five network pool of reporters not called on by the president during Thursday's press conference. The five networks are ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, and CNN.

'We noticed,' Doocy said to Psaki, 'starting at the end of the campaign, and then into the transition, and in here at the White House, anytime that the president has an event where he's given a list of reporters to call on Fox is the only member of the five network TV pool that has never been on the list in front of the president and I was curious if that was official administration policy?'

Psaki replied: 'We're here having a conversation aren't we? And don't I take questions from you every time you come to the briefing room?'

'Yes but,' Doocy started.

She quickly interrupted him. 'Hasn't the president taken questions from you since he came into office? Yes or no?'

Doocy got defensive. 'Only when I have shouted after he goes through his whole list and the president has been very generous with his time with Fox. I'm just curious about this list that he's given.'

White House press secretary Jen Psaki defended President Joe Biden using a cheat sheet to call on reporters in his first press conference

Fox News' correspondent Peter Doocy complained his network was not on the list of reporters that President Biden called on his first press conference

Psaki got in the final shot, pointing out she was going to be on the Fox network that weekend.

'Well I would say that I am always happy to have this conversation with you even about the awesome socks you're wearing today.  The president is always happy to take your questions and I'm looking forward to being on Fox New Sunday this Sunday for the third time in the last few months,' she said.

At his first presidential press conference on Thursday, Biden was caught by photographers holding a cheat sheet with the head shot, name and news organization of every reporter at the event.

The list was marked with numbers in order Biden should call on reporters.

Previous administrations also used lists of reporters for presidents to call. Donald Trump was the notable exception. He was often given a list but rarely followed it. Barack Obama, in contrast, used his list to call on reporters. The lists are prepared by the White House press shop.

Doocy went on Fox News after the press briefing on Friday to explain he wasn't complaining to Psaki but asking her about a pattern of behavior on the part of the Biden team.

'We are not asking for anything special. We also don't want to be singled out,' he said.

Fox News was not the only major news organization President Biden did not call on in his 62 minute press conference on Thursday. Neither The New York Times nor Reuters got to ask a question.

Biden also used a list of reporters when he took questions at his campaign Q&As. When he finished his scheduled remarks, he would look over to a press aide who had a list in hand and would call on reporters.

Doocy, at those events, would shout questions to Biden as he was leaving the stage and the then-presidential candidate would often stop to answer him.

'I know he always asks me tough questions, and he always has an edge to them, but I like him anyway,' Biden said in one instance when he stopped to answer Doocy's inquiry.

Images taken during President Joe Biden's first press conference on Thursday showed him using cheat sheets. The 78-year-old Democrat is seen holding one sheet that showed the headshots (pictured) of journalists at the press conference that he planned on calling on

Biden's notes included headshots of reporters with notations apparently indicated the order he planned to call on them

Doocy acknowledged that Biden did take his questions.

'Fox wound up getting a lot of sound bites from the president because when he was done with that list, he would linger around and see what I was going to shout about. That's great,' he said on Fox News on Friday.

Biden often teased the tall Fox News reporter, the son of Fox News host Steve Doocy.

In August 2020, Doocy was in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, when Biden was there. As the then-Democratic nominee speed by him on his bicycle, Doocy asked him if he had picked his vice presidential running mate. 'Yes,' Biden shouted back. 'You.'

But Doocy said he's noticed 'where there is a hard copy in black-and-white list of reporters that are going to get called on, Fox, which is part of a five network TV pool with ABC, CBS, CNN and NBC, has never been on the list and we are the only ones that are part of that five network pool that have not ever been on the list.'
The 2021 Hyundai Elantra is just one sedan currently available at Cocoa Hyundai which shoppers can research on its website.

The car-shopping process can be long and arduous, but the Cocoa Hyundai website provides car shoppers with assistance as they research their next new vehicle. The dealership, which is located in Cocoa, Florida, consistently updates its website with new model research pages dedicated to the various new Hyundai vehicles available at the dealership.

Each of these pages takes an informative approach to a vehicle, or sometimes a comparative approach by pitting the vehicle against a rival model or one of its segment competitors. To present a few examples, for shoppers who might be in the market for a sedan, there are multiple options available at Cocoa Hyundai.

Both the 2021 Hyundai Elantra and Sonata are very popular options, the former of which was completely redesigned for the new model year. Both of these sedans have been on the lineup for many years and have established themselves as excellent options within their respective segments. The pages detail a bit about each models history before diving into some of the pertinent information regarding their specifications and features.

Other available sedans include the compact hatchback 2021 Hyundai Veloster or the subcompact Accent. These pages also cover some of the most important details to consider when shopping for vehicles in their respective segments.

All four pages can be found on the dealerships website, http://www.cocoahyundai.com. Specific questions about any of these vehicles or anything else related to the dealership can be directed to the sales team at 321-631-2444. Cocoa Hyundai is located at 1825 West King Street in Cocoa.
She is one of the biggest stars in Hollywood and has continued shooting films throughout lockdown.

Yet Anne Hathaway took some time with her family on Thursday, as she headed for dinner with her husband, Adam Shulman, and their two children, Jonathan, four, and Jack, one.

The actress, 38, opted for a smart casual look as she sported a red jumper and white trousers, which she layered with a camel coat.

Family time: Anne Hathaway took some time with her family on Thursday, as she headed for dinner with her husband, Adam Shulman, and their two children, Jonathan, four, and Jack, one

Anne, who was wearing a face mask, carried her youngest son in her arms, while her husband walked along holding Jonathan's hand.

Adam opted for a low-key look as he wore a black T-shirt and grey sweatpants, while also covering his face with a black face mask.

The family were also joined by a female companion who was pushing their pram.

Dinner time: The actress, 38, opted for a smart casual look as she sported a red jumper and white trousers, which she layered with a camel coat

It comes after Anne revealed she had to suffer a DIY haircut just like everyone else during the pandemic before filming her latest movie.

The actress admitted she was 'terrified' of using a stylist outside of her working bubble while shooting pandemic themed-film, Locked Down.

Anne said she 'wrongly assumed' that the hair stylist on set in London would be able to cut her hair, but he said it wasn't in his skillset

Scared: The actress recently admitted she was 'terrified' of using a stylist outside of her working bubble while shooting pandemic themed-film, Locked Down

Talking to the Radio Times, Anne said: 'I was so serious about it [coronavirus] that I gave myself a haircut because I realised it had gone too far.

'When I started work on set, I assumed my hair stylist would be able to give me a professional do  but then he informed me that he actually didn't cut hair.

'He asked me if I wanted to have someone else come to set to clean it up, but I was so freaked out by the thought of being in contact with someone outside the filming bubble that I said no. My hair in the film is the hair I cut myself, which felt very 2020.'

While Anne admitted the first few weeks of lockdown were 'scary', she soon realised she was in a fortunate position and was happy to have work to go to.

She said: 'I had food on my table and I wasn't worrying about paying the mortgage. It began to feel disrespectful to people who were going through a harder time, so I learnt to change my focus.'

Anne said that although filming a movie can often feel chaotic, Locked Down was especially fast-paced as they filmed it in just 18 days.

The actress, who co-starred with Chiwetel Ejiofor in the film directed by Doug Liman, said: 'I feel like 2020 was chaotic in so many ways and film-making is also often chaotic, but this project was definitely more chaotic than others.'
Sofia Richie looked absolutely stunning in a chestnut coat and ripped jeans as she stepped out in Hollywood before enjoying a romantic date night.

The 22-year-old model paired her look with a white graphic T-shirt, Nike sneakers, and an orange Bon Bon Whims ring as she soaked up the fresh air on Wednesday afternoon.

Her outing came just hours before meeting up with a potential new beau as she continues to move on from her ex-boyfriend Scott Disick after three years of dating.

Happy: Sofia Richie looked absolutely stunning in a chestnut coat and ripped jeans as she stepped out in Hollywood, before enjoying a date night

Following dinner with her mystery man, who Richie was seen dining with two weeks ago, the pair held hands and looked smitten with each other.

The new couple's romance appeared to be blossoming as they walked hand-in-hand to their car after enjoying a meal in West Hollywood.

For her fun night out, the beauty changed into a long, black leather jacket and a white face mask amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Running errands: The 22-year-old model paired her look with a white graphic t-shirt and Nike sneakers as she soaked up the fresh air on Wednesday afternoon

New man: Her outing came just hours before meeting up with a mystery man as she continues to move on from her ex Scott Disick after three years of dating

She wore her bright blonde hair in a sleek twisted bun and accessorized with a large black handbag, gold hoop earrings and a matching necklace.

Meanwhile, her rumored flame wore a black zip-up jacket, matching t-shirt jeans and sneakers.

She was reported as 'single' in early February, just days after being seen kissing billionaire shipping heir Gil Ofer in Miami.

But, within just a few weeks was seen with her unidentified new partner.

Holding hands: The new couple looked happy in love as they walked hand-in-hand to their vehicle after enjoying dinner together in West Hollywood on Wednesday

At the time, E! News insider said that 'Sofia is currently single despite her rendezvous in Miami. She's been seeing a few people and is truly having fun right now. She doesn't want to be tied down in a relationship and is keeping her options open.'

The source added: 'She's been going on dates with a few people and her friend have been trying to set her up.'

The daughter of Lionel Richie's time with Gil was 'casual,' with the duo going on a few dates: 'She likes him but she truly doesn't want anything serious.'

Staying safe: For her fun night out, the 22-year-old model looked chic in a long, black leather jacket and a white face mask amid the COVID-19 pandemic

Last November, Sofia was seen spending time with Cha Cha Matcha co-founder Matthew Morton, even seen sharing kisses during dates.

They split one month later - in December- with the duo both not 'ready for something serious,' the outlet reported.

Sofia and Disick, 37, split in May 2020 after they were first romantically linked in 2017; he is currently dating the teenage model Amelia Hamlin, 19.
Mar. 26The Clark County Combined Health District and Mercy Health are urging residents to get vaccinated and practice COVID-19 safety guidelines as local hospitalizations have nearly tripled in the last week.

On March 17, nine people were hospitalized for COVID-19 at Springfield Regional Medical Center, according to the CCCHD. On Wednesday, 29 were hospitalized with the virus.

Hospitalizations aren't the only COVID-19 statistic that has spiked in Clark County. On Thursday, the county reported 253.6 cases per 100,000 people between March 10 and Tuesday, according to the Ohio Department of Health. That's the highest COVID-19 incidence rate in the state of Ohio.

As a result of the spikes, the CCCHD and Mercy Health issued a joint statement encouraging residents to mask, social distance, wash their hands and "complete a vaccine regimen."

"Vaccinations, in conjunction with hand washing, mask-wearing and continued social distancing, remains the only way we will be able to successfully manage the COVID-19 virus," Cheif Clinical Officer of Mercy Health  Springfield, Dr. Paul Buchanan said. "Now, more than ever, we must not let our guard down. We will get through this together."

The health district and Mercy Health "strongly recommend" individuals 16 and older schedule a COVID-19 vaccination appointment. Gov. Mike DeWine opened up eligibility for all residents over 16-years-old, regardless of health conditions or occupation, on Monday.

"Everyone, including low-risk individuals, is encouraged to get the vaccine," the statement said.

Vaccination appointments for next week are open at three of Clark County's providers. But none of the providers will be offering the Johnson & Johnson one-shot vaccination, which has been popular and in-demand in the county.

Scheduling is available at the following location:  The CCCHD, in partnership with Mercy Health, is scheduling appointments on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Appointments can be made by calling 937-717-2439 or online at ccchd.com.  The New Carlisle Community Health Center, located at 106 N. Main St., will schedule appointments by phone at 937-543-0310.  Rocking Horse Community Health Center, located at 651 S. Limestone St. will be offering the vaccine by appointment only during varied hours. Rocking Horse patients will take priority. Valid identification and insurance information will be collected. No one will be turned away due to insurance status. To schedule a vaccine appointment, contact 937-525-4521.

Story continues

"We are not out of the woods yet," CCCHD Health Commissioner Charles Patterson said. "Following safety protocols is still our best line of defense against the virus until more people in our community are fully vaccinated."

A new regional coronavirus mass vaccination site could open at the Dayton Convention Center by Wednesday with an expected 5,000 doses a week, Gov. Mike DeWine said on Thursday.

The expected opening day is dependent on when vaccine shipments arrive, the governor said. Dayton was one of 15 locations selected across the state to host a regional mass vaccination site earlier this month.

Other locations include Cincinnati, Columbus, Wilmington, Lima, Chillicothe, Marietta, Zanesville, Youngstown and Maumee. In addition, four mobile vaccination sites are scheduled to operate in Ada, Athens, Steubenville and Mansfield.

The sites are open to anyone in Ohio ages 16 and older. Most will offer the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, but some may also offer the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine.

Ohio is scheduled to receive its largest vaccine shipment so far next week with 571,460 doses set to arrive, DeWine said. The vaccines will be a combination of Johnson & Johnson, Moderna and Pfizer.

On Thursday, Ohio reported 1,501 daily cases, according to ODH. The number is in line with the state's 21-day average of 1,509 cases a day.

"We are seeing a plateau in cases," DeWine said. "Cases were dropping and have leveled out."

Throughout the pandemic, the state has recorded 1,006,171 total cases, according to ODH.

Data on statewide hospitalizations, as well as county-specific data on cases and deaths, was not available on Thursday afternoon as the state's system was down.

"The program that powers the state's COVID-19 dashboard is currently experiencing downtime worldwide," a statement on the state's dashboard said. "There is not an estimated timeline for restoration."

Facts & Figures:

9: Residents hospitalized for COVID-19 at Springfield Regional Medical Center on March 17

29: Residents hospitalized for COVID-19 at SRMC on Wednesday

Source: Clark County Combined Health District
A glance at some of the day's highlights from the Proactive Investors newswire

( ) ( ) said it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with DMG Blockchain Solutions, a blockchain and cryptocurrency technology firm, to launch the first Bitcoin mining pool powered exclusively by clean energy.

( ) signed its first customer agreements for the delivery of its CleanTreat novel water purification system.

(AIM: ORPH) has won a 7.5mln contract to conduct a human viral challenge study for an unnamed biotechnology company.

Bidstack Group PLC ( ), whose technology implants advertising into computer games, said revenues in 2020 topped market expectations and it expects the top-line to continue motoring north in 2021.

( ) welcomed a real-world analysis of ferric maltol (the alternative name for the companys lead drug Feraccru/Accrufer) in people with iron-deficiency anaemia that have inflammatory bowel disease.

( ) said it has applied for admission to trading on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange and cancel its listing on the standard segment of the exchanges main market. The potash development firm said the cancellation is expected to be effective at 8am on April 27, while its AIM admission is anticipated to begin at the same time.

(LON:TXP, ), in its financial results, highlighted a year of significant progress in which the company enhanced its financial position significantly.

( ) said it had fast-tracked the next phase of exploration at its Bassala gold project in Mali after positive results from a completed soil sampling programme.

(LOB:PCF) said customers in forbearance had dropped to just 5% of its loan book with lending overall rising slightly over the most recent five months.

Plc ( ), in its interim results statement, told investors that its business is now extremely well placed to take advantage of the growing trends underpinning the world's transition to a low carbon economy.

( ) said that following its announcement on March 23 and the completion of requisite regulatory checks Brad Taylor has been immediately appointed to the board as chief executive and an executive director.

( ) has released an updated corporate presentation, available on the companys website, summarising and consolidating information that has recently been made publicly available.

( ) announced that the maturity date of its 6.5% senior notes has been extended from May 2021 to 31 October 2026.

( ) said it has granted share awards over a total of 470,977 ordinary shares in the company under its 2020 global share incentive plan.
The average British driver wouldn't make a claim on their insurance for any damage unless the repair bill exceeds 667, research has revealed.

The most common reason for not claiming is because drivers believe the cost of the excess would be higher than the repairs themselves, closely followed by fears that it would bump up future premiums, according to comparison site, finder.com.

In fact, 11 per cent of those polled said they wouldn't claim for anything under 1,000, including two per cent who would pay up to 5,000 worth of damages themselves.

Shockingly, 5 per cent of those polled  the equivalent to 1.83million drivers - say they would never make a claim, despite having to pay for it every year as a legal requirement in the UK.

The average British driver wouldn't make a claim on their policy for any damage under 667

The most common reason for not claiming was that drivers thought the cost of the excess would likely exceed the cost of repairs, with 51 per cent of drivers listing this as their reason to not claim.

Following this, 46 per cent of drivers were concerned that claiming would increase their premiums in the future while 44 per cent were worried about losing their no claims bonus.

A further 22 per cent said they wouldn't submit a claim because it was too much hassle.

On the other hand, almost 8 per cent would claim for any damages worth up to 100 and two per cent of these would claim for any damages, no matter how small the cost of repair.

Overall, the research found that 95 per cent of drivers say they would claim on their insurance if necessary.

The amount of damages before claiming differs significantly for each gender. For women the damages would have to come to 567 before claiming, whilst men would not bother to claim until repairs reached a further 193 - 760 on average.

Similarly, residents in regions around the UK have differing views on this too.

For those living in Northern Ireland repairs would have to cost only 448 before claiming, while at the other end of the scale Londoners wouldn't claim until the damages reached over twice this amount at 921.

The East Midlands had the highest number of residents who said they would never claim on their car insurance, with 7 per cent of residents saying they would do this.

Unsurprisingly, the younger generations are more likely to not claim as a way to avoid increased premiums on already expensive insurance.

Gen Z would wait until damages reach over 1,000 on average before doing so, while 7 per cent of millennials say they would never claim on their car insurance.

Those in the 'silent generation' - born between 1928 and 1945 - are less concerned about these issues and would claim when damages reached 437 on average.

Younger drivers are less likely to make a claim to avoid their premiums rising even higher

Danny Butler, Insurance specialist at finder.com, said: 'If you combine the compulsory and voluntary excess levels with the potential of losing your no claims bonus and facing increased premiums, the long-term financial outlay isn't always worth it for many who suffer a minor accident.

'In addition, there's usually a number of hoops to jump through when making a claim such as using an approved repairer or submitting detailed evidence of your claim.

'However, if you've been unfortunate enough to be involved in an accident, it's still important that you drop your insurer a quick line even if you choose not to claim. You should let them know the details of the event and be clear in the fact that you don't wish to claim on the insurance.

'If you don't notify your insurer, you run the risk of invalidating your insurance which can result in you being uninsured for any future claims.'

The research was based on a survey conducted in March of 2,000 people.

A quarter of claims are made by car owners whose vehicles have been damaged while parked and unattended, figures from one insurer suggest

Drivers hitting parked cars most common accident claim of 2020

Separate research from Admiral has revealed that hitting a parked and unattended car accounted for 26 per cent of all accident claims last year, an increase of more than two per cent compared to 2019.

Claims for being hit in the rear or hitting another driver in the rear accounted for 24 per cent of accidental damage claims over the year, a fall of 3 per cent.

Admiral submitted an FOI request to police forces across the UK to find out if more motorists were caught breaking the rules of the road in 2020, compared to 2019.

It found that, of the police forces who responded to the request, 70 per cent saw an increase in the number of motorists that were either caught speeding, driving without due care and attention, or driving furiously.

In total, 60 per cent of the police forces reported an increase in the number of motorists charged for driving without due care and consideration.

Of those, on average, police forces reported a 46 per cent increase in the number of motorists charged for the offence.

February was the month with the highest increase in motorists caught driving without due care and consideration, with a 150 per cent increase reported in February 2020 compared to February 2019.

The data also uncovered that of the police forces who responded, Surrey had the highest increase for motorists convicted of driving without due care and consideration with a 188 per cent rise last year, compared to 20195.

Meanwhile, 30 per cent of the police forces reported an increase in drivers caught exceeding the statutory speed limit. On average, September was the month with the highest rise in this type of offence.

Of those, on average, police forces reported a 51 per cent increase in the number of motorists charged for speeding.

West Mercia had the greatest spike in the number of motorists caught breaking the speed limit with a 162 per cent increase last year, compared to 2019.

Admiral submitted an FOI request to 45 police forces across the UK and had 33 responses in total.
The armed robbery suspect accused of driving a stolen law enforcement cruiser to Quincy and causing a standstill with SWAT personnel was shot by police Friday morning, according to authorities.

The suspect was shot amid the standstill on the Burgin Parkway, Massachusetts State Police said in a statement. Troopers and medics gave the man first aid at the scene, and he was driven to the hospital by ambulance. Authorities didnt disclose how severe his injuries are.

Theres no threat to the public, state police noted.

The incident remains under investigation by the Norfolk District Attorneys Office and state police.

UPDATE Situation on Burgin Parkway in Quincy resulted in officer-involved shooting of an adult male suspect. Troopers and medics rendered first aid on scene. Suspect transported to hospital by ambulance. Investigation by Norfolk DA & MSP ongoing. Updates when appropriate. https://t.co/7rxF67yUCU  Mass State Police (@MassStatePolice) March 26, 2021

Authorities say the suspect stole a police cruiser in Rockland, drove it to the parkway in Quincy and was stopped near BJs Gas Station, refusing to leave the car.

State police crisis negotiators and the Special Tactical Operations (STOP) team responded to the scene, and the area around Exit 42 at the parkway near Quincy Center and the Quincy Adams MBTA station were closed off to traffic.

The MBTA also requested the Red Line and commuter services be shut down in the immediate area, according to Quincy police.

By around 9:50 a.m., authorities said, the active situation was over.

We will open roads as possible. Investigation will be ongoing. Please be patient, the Quincy Police Department wrote in a tweet.

UPDATE Active situation is over. We will open roads as possible. Investigation will be ongoing. Please be patient. https://t.co/TzjcB4U9B3  Quincy, MA Police Dept (@quincymapolice) March 26, 2021

Related Content:
In a matter of weeks, Alabama's mask mandate is set to expire.

We learned Friday that the Madison County mask mandate has the same expiration date. On Apr. 9, it'll be up to businesses and individuals if they mask up or not.

The topic of masks has always been a divided one, and that's still the case. We spoke with several people at Big Spring Park on Friday, and some were excited to hear about the mandate expiring while others were not.

At Thursday's Huntsville City Council meeting, several citizens chose to speak out against the mandate. That's when Mayor Tommy Battle announced the Huntsville-Area COVID-19 Leadership Team has made the decision to let the county-wide mask mandate expire when the state's does.

That decision was based off the current coronavirus-infection rate and the number of hospitalizations. We reached out to the mayor on Friday and learned city hall and municipal offices will still require masking. However, now, it's up to business owners if they will do the same, or let their customers choose.

Sandra Taylor, a Huntsville resident, said "it's just an act of respect, as well as an act of being concerned about your health."

Another Huntsville resident, Alex Keiningham, said "it's close to very good timing. Another week or two would be better, but at the end of the day, I think it should be up to businesses to really enforce it themselves."

However, one woman said she believes the decision should be entirely up to the individual and not the business.

"I don't necessarily think a business should tell me whether or not I should have to wear one. I feel like that's my own individual right and if someone else shopping in a store would like to wear one, I think absolutely if that makes you feel more comfortable," Brooke Sasso said.

Battle added if coronavirus cases begin to rise again, they can re-instate the mask order.

The biggest concerns among doctors we've spoken to in the past is that this could cause a spike in cases, since we haven't vaccinated enough people.

Only 24% of Madison County's population has received the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine. To reach herd immunity, doctors say it needs to be around 60 to 70%.

The City of Decatur has yet to make a decision of its own. It has a citywide masking ordinance in place right now.

Decatur Mayor Tab Bowling told WAAY 31 that the city council will likely discuss whether or not to lift it this upcoming Monday during a work session meeting.

Mayor Tommy Battle provided the following statement:

"The City of Huntsville supports the consensus of the Huntsville-area COVID-19 leadership team, which looks to our state and local health care experts for guidance. At this time, our community is doing a good job keeping the number of positive cases down, and the team believes we will be able to allow the mask order to expire. This does not mean wearing masks will end. We will continue to mask up in City Hall and municipal offices, and will ask the public to do likewise when coming in to do business. For the community, they will be able to use personal responsibility on whether to wear a mask in their places of business, worship, dining, and congregant settings. Should the number of COVID-19 cases start to rise again, our health care partners reserve the right to reinstate the mask order. We hope our residents will get the vaccine at their earliest opportunity and help keep us on the right track to getting this pandemic behind us."
In an exclusive interview with China.org.cn, director Adam Wingard described how he had always known who would be the ultimate winner in the epic battle between Godzilla and King Kong.

"For me, I feel like I knew who was going to win ever since second grade," Wingard said, adding that he had even argued with his friends in the playground about this very battle and that the argument and proposed outcome had always stuck with him.

When he discovered that Legendary Pictures was planning to film a fight between the two monsters, he promised himself, "I'm going to win that second-grade argument. I'm going to get this movie and do it. And that's exactly what I did."

The result is "Godzilla vs. Kong," which opened on Friday in IMAX 3D and many other formats across China.

"These two monsters are two of the most iconic characters in movie history," Wingard described. "They literally represent the eastern and western origin of special effects cinema, and blockbuster cinema in a lot of ways. I was really excited to be able to put my stamp on that."

Fortunately, he said, he had the full backing of the writers, producers, and crew to bring his vision to life. "In a movie like this, it's constantly evolving. You try everything under the sun, you leave no rock unturned, but who would win the fight that never changed from the start and I'm very happy with the way it turned out," stated Wingard.

The director, best known for helming the cult horror classics "Pop Skull" (2007) and "The Guest" (2014), explained that his love for Godzilla movies began with the release of the old-school original Japanese movies in the 1980s, adding that he was also partial to "Godzilla vs. Destoroyah" (1995), "Because it's got a great, emotional, nostalgic kind of core."

"You know the original Godzilla was a very serious kind of somber movie that's metaphorical about the atomic bomb being dropped on Japan. Then over the years, progressively, Godzilla went from being a bad guy to a good guy, and the movies became more colorful and psychedelic and just wild," he said.

As for his favorite Kong movies, he lists "King Kong" (1976) by John Guillermin as "underrated." He also praised Peter Jackson's 2005 remake of "King Kong" and Gareth Edwards' "Godzilla" (2014) for their success in reintroducing the gigantic monsters to new audiences.

Wingard also revealed that he had rewatched every version of the "Journey to the Center of the Earth" in order to create his own version of the Hollow Earth. He found that each rendition had a similar aesthetic, resembling a large cave with oversized everything. "I thought, I don't want it to feel like that. I don't want to feel like I'm going into the Earth. I want to feel like I'm going to a whole new planet."

Ever since Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures created the cinematic MonsterVerse in 2014, the franchise has proven popular in China. "Kong: Skull Island" (2017), starring Chinese actress Jing Tian, made 1.16 billion yuan in China while "Godzilla: King of the Monsters" (2019), starring Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi, grossed 940 million yuan.

Fan feedback from the premiere and advanced IMAX screenings of "Godzilla vs. Kong" on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively, were enthusiastic, with many stating that only seeing the spectacle on the big screen would do the giant monster fight justice.

"I'm so lucky because not only that I get to make a Godzilla movie, but the fact I get to also make the King Kong film, it's like, how many directors can say that they've done both?" Wingard said. "So it's pretty awesome."
Britains rapid rollout of coronavirus vaccines has revived the political fortunes of Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Now, Mr. Johnsons allies hope the stark disparity between Britains performance and the European Unions will do something perhaps even more challenging: vindicate their larger Brexit project.

Pro-Brexit politicians and commentators are casting Britains vaccine deployment, which ranks among the fastest in the world, as an example of risk-taking and entrepreneurial pluck that comes from not being shackled to the collective decision-making of the 27 member states of the European Union.

With vaccination rates that are a fraction of Britains, threats of export bans on vaccines produced on the continent and churlish statements about British-made vaccines by leaders like President Emmanuel Macron of France, the European Union has seemingly done all it can to make it look like Britain picked the right time to leave.

Boris Johnson is going to have a vaccine dividend, and that will give him a whole new narrative for the summer and beyond, said Matthew Goodwin, a professor of politics at the University of Kent.
We are under the belief that we will continue to get increasing doses of vaccine, Box said, adding that state officials anticipate having enough doses of vaccine available for all Hoosiers by May. But we know that it can be frustrating to have to wait ... please be patient. There will be a vaccine for everyone who wants one.
Adoption of disinfection robots has increased rapidly after the outbreak of COVID-19 . There has been an increase in the sale of disinfection robots by 400-600% across the globe. The novel coronavirus outbreak has also highlighted the inability of conventional techniques in disinfecting and sanitizing a facility, and this factor has rapidly driven the adoption of disinfection robots, as these robots can effectively disinfect hospitals and other public areas with minimal human interference.

Many companies have got a stamp of approval for their products to fight the COVID-19 battle. Approvals for different products further enhances the attention given by end users. Many providers of disinfection services have entered the disinfection robots market, and many more are coming in with their innovative and advanced technologies and software. With the coronavirus outbreak, manufacturers of disinfection robots will be able to cash in on vast opportunities to make their business stand out from competitors by coming up with a broad range of products.

As per PMR analysis, the global disinfection robots market is set to surge at a high CAGR of 27% over the next ten years, expanding 10X in value over the same period of time.

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Companies covered in Disinfection Robot Market Report

Xenex Disinfection Services, LLC

Nevoa Inc.

Ultraviolet Devices, Inc.

Rubedo Sistemos

Blue Ocean Robotics ApS

Bioquell, Inc.

Skytron, LLC.

The Clorox Company (Procter & Gamble)

OMRON Corporation

Fetch Robotics, Inc.

Geek+

Akara Robotics Ltd.

FINSEN TECHNOLOGIES LTD.

TMI Robotics Co., Ltd

SESTO Robotics

OTSAW

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Key Takeaways from Disinfection Robots Market Study

Based on product, with market value share of over 3/4 , UV light robots will be the most profitable segment, due to higher adoption coupled with superior disinfection efficacy as compared to hydrogen peroxide vapor (HPV) robots.

, UV light robots will be the most profitable segment, due to higher adoption coupled with superior disinfection efficacy as compared to hydrogen peroxide vapor (HPV) robots. In terms of technology, fully autonomous robots is the leading segment, owing to higher efficiency and low human interaction while disinfecting as compared to semi-autonomous robots.

North America is the most lucrative region in the global disinfection robots market, with around 45% of the market share, owing to higher adoption of these devices in the region.

of the market share, owing to higher adoption of these devices in the region. As end users, hospitals is most profitable segment with around 2/3 of the market value share, due to higher demand for disinfection robots in order to reduce the risk of hospital-acquired infections.

Increasing demand for disinfection robots to reduce the spread of healthcare facility-associated infections, increasing technological advancements, and growing concerns about maintaining environmental hygiene after the COVID-19 outbreak are some of the factors expected to contribute in propelling the growth of the global disinfection robots market for years to come, says a PMR analyst.

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Key Strategy amongst Market Players

Key players in the disinfection robots market focusing on strengthening their market presence through a variety of advanced technologies and software with the development of new platforms. Manufacturers are highly focusing on developing products to meet every budget of end users. Leading players are trying to provide their products in middle and lower income countries, and local players are focusing on increasing their product reach with the launch of various types of disinfection robots. Market players are focusing on launching facility-specific disinfection robots in order to enhance the efficacy of disinfection procedures and increasing the adoption of their products.

Growing Trends in Disinfection Robots Market Space

Manufacturers in the disinfection robots market space are highly focusing on developing facility-specific disinfection robots for reducing the cost of manual cleaning, such as robots for commercial spaces and offices. Companies are understanding the demands of various end users and are effectively providing their services based on applications. Manufacturers are modifying predesigned medical robots, such as with the use of UV technology. UV light can be combined with mobile robots to make disinfection services autonomous and more efficient. These trends are expected to boost the growth of the disinfection robots market over the forecast period of 2020 to 2030.

What else is in the report?

Persistence Market Research offers a unique perspective and actionable insights on the disinfection robots market in its latest study, presenting historical demand assessment of 2015 - 2019 and projections for 2020 - 2030 based on product (hydrogen peroxide vapor (HPV) robots and UV light robots) , technology (semi-autonomous robots and fully-autonomous robots), and end user (hospitals, clinics & emergency care centers, diagnostic laboratories, pharmaceutical & biotech companies, airports, railway stations, shopping malls, production facilities, office buildings, and others ), across seven key regions.
The following editorial was published in the Seattle Times:

Last year, grocery stores might have run out of toilet paper, but the domestic food supply remained strong. Farmworkers, many of them immigrants who entered the country illegally, harvested fruits and vegetables. They processed meat. They were essential workers. Now they deserve legal protection, and the Farm Workforce Modernization Act would provide it.

U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse, a Republican who represents Central Washington, has joined with Democratic Rep. Zoe Lofgren of California to sponsor the bill. Its core components address the three key players in the agricultural workforce equation.

First, current immigrant workers without legal permission to be in the U.S. would have a path to legal status. That's not citizenship and all it entails. Rather, it's the right to work and be legally in America. Workers would have to go through a background check after having worked a minimum of eight years and up to 18 years depending on how long they've been here already.

Second, potential foreign workers would have easier access to the visas that allow them to enter the country and work in agriculture lawfully. Having more of those H-2A visas, as they are known, would create an opportunity for orderly, secure movement of workers across the border. Again, these would be work visas, not a pathway to citizenship.

Third, farmers and ranchers who employ those workers would be required to do a better job screening them for legal status. They would also receive more financial assistance and have to provide housing.

Newhouse is at the fore on this issue because migrant workers are especially important in Washington. He is not only a grower but was the state's agriculture director under former Gov. Christine Gregoire.

Agriculture accounts for about 12% of the state's economy -- billions of dollars. Immigrant workers keep the sector flourishing.

The bill passed the U.S. House last week with support from nearly every Democrat and from 30 Republicans. The entire Washington delegation supported it. Despite that bipartisan backing, it faces an uphill challenge in an evenly divided Senate, especially with an immigration crisis brewing at the southern border. A similar bill passed the House two years ago and died quietly in the Senate, which was then controlled by Republicans.

Ideally, Democrats and Republicans would work together, compromise and pass comprehensive immigration reform. In the real world, a partisan chasm between the two major parties is preventing that.

Congress might not be able to do the big fix, but it can do this small one. Perhaps with a taste of bipartisan success and compromise on immigration, other progress might become possible. If not, at least America will treat its important agricultural workers much more rationally and humanely.
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) Chairman Rod Sims speaks during an interview with Reuters in Sydney, Australia, on Oct. 31, 2016. (Reuters/Jason Reed)

We Are Running Out of Time, Regulator Warns as Australia Faces Gas Shortfall

According to a new report by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), gas supplies on Australias east coast and southern states are under threat.

During a conference on March 24, ACCC chair Rod Sims brought to attention a looming gas crisiswhich may affect close to 90 percent of Australiansand pointed out we are running out of time to deal with the impending problem.

New sources of supply and related infrastructure will be required to avoid a potential shortfall in supply from 2P reserves in the east coast from 2026, and from as early as 2024 in the southern states, Sims said.

Sims noted that the long-term supply outlook is becoming critically dependent on the development of new projects. However, many of these projects are currently running behind and will not come online in time, if at all, and those that do come online will not be sufficient to avoid the estimated shortfalls the east coast is expected to experience.

We are running out of time, Sims said.

The ACCC indicates in their report that the potential gas scarcity has been influenced by two primary factors: dependence on undeveloped reserves and the fall of gas prices.

The increasing reliance on undeveloped reserves and resources, particularly in the southern states, is likely to face several technical and commercial challenges. This, Sims argues, will create a problem producing and delivering liquefied natural gas (LNG) on time to all areas.

Additionally, falling LNG prices have impacted several spheres of the gas production industry.

Retail gas prices peaked at $22/GJ in March 2017, but since then have declined sharply to $6-$8/GJ in 2020.

This decrease in cost for LNG consumers in Australia is likely influenced by low international gas prices, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the report says.

Financial year average prices are shown for gas market prices in Victoria, STTM hubs in Adelaide, Brisbane and Sydney, and others, between 2011 and 2021. (Australian Energy Regulator)

In response to lowered gas prices and subsequent loss in profitability, several producers have cut upstream expenditure, delaying or halting the development of some new projects.

Specific cases include the delays of both Woodsides $66 billion (US$50 billion) Burrup Hub project off the coast of Western Australia and Santos $7 billion (US$5 billion) Barossa project 300km north of Darwin in the Northern Territory.

Furthermore, a wave of gas reserve write-downs have occurred over the last three years, the majority of which reside in the fields of Queensland.

A write-down occurs when the extraction of oil and gas from a well is no longer economical, with costs of extraction eclipsing those of market prices, resulting in producers ceasing operations on that particular well.

To counter this growing threat, the ACCC outlined several steps it believes will help provide an adequate supply of the natural resource in Australia and lead the country to a more robust gas industry.

One possible solution it offered was to increase exploration and development of new, more economical sources of oil and gas like the private sector Santos Narrabri project, which can potentially supply the gas for half of New South Wales and is awaiting further approval.

A view of Coal Seam Gas wells and a wastewater treatment plant in the Pilliga Forest in Narrabri, Australia, on Feb. 06, 2021. In September 2020, Santos mining company won approval from the Independent Planning Commission (IPC) for the $3.6 billion Narrabri coal seam gas project. (Photo by Brook Mitchell/Getty Images)

The other remedy to Australias gas problem takes the form of the development of LNG import terminals.

Currently, there exist proposals for five (potentially six) LNG import terminals, all located in the southern states.

However, while imported LNG can save the southern states from gas supply issues, the ACCC warned it might come at the expense of higher gas prices due to the addition of tariffs and transportation in the final costings.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo is facing political peril from so many sides that it is getting difficult to keep things straight.

There is the outstanding matter of his administrations handling of the coronavirus in nursing homes. A litany of sexual misconduct allegations from multiple women have led to calls for his resignation and impeachment. Other scandals concern possible political meddling in distributing vaccines, safety concerns at the Gov. Mario M. Cuomo Bridge and special treatment arranged by the governor for family members who needed COVID-19 tests. Revelations about a controversial $4 million book deal hardly help.

The governor has denied wrongdoing in every case, but ongoing probes could make it difficult for him to finish his current term in office or run for a fourth term next year. State Attorney General Letitia James could confirm the worst accusations of alleged sexual misconduct and could expose the governors alleged self enrichment at public expense through the book deal through the two investigations she is now overseeing.

Members of the Assembly Judiciary Committee meanwhile are probing a range of issues as they continue an impeachment investigation that will likely stretch into the summer. That means Cuomos political fate hinges on much, much more than the alleged sexual misconduct and nursing home cover-up that have tended to dominate discussions about the erstwhile pandemic hero. While he is staying afloat for now, there is always a chance of him becoming the first governor in more than a century to be impeached and removed from office.

Here is a list of the current scandals facing Cuomo.

Nursing homes

State lawmakers and others demanded data for months and months and months last year that would show how many nursing home residents died of COVID-19 in hospitals. A lawsuit by the Empire Center for Public Policy compelled the administration to release the data in February and then Secretary to the Governor Melissa DeRosa held a fateful Feb. 10 meeting with state lawmakers when she seemingly confirmed that political considerations were the reason why the administration waited so long to confirm that thousands more nursing home residents died of COVID-19 in hospitals than previously reported by the state. A federal investigation of the matter (and immunity protections granted to nursing homes last year) remains ongoing and state lawmakers have made the issue a top priority for their ongoing impeachment probe.

Sexual misconduct

The most serious accusation against the governor concerns an unnamed aide who says the governor groped her at the Executive Mansion in Albany. Other allegations include unwanted kissing, touching, inappropriate comments, and a toxic workplace in general. A long list of New York Democrats at the state and federal levels have now called for Cuomos resignation or impeachment, but key allies in organized labor, big business and the Black community have said the governor deserves due process. That makes an ongoing probe overseen by James particularly vital to Cuomos efforts to stay in office. A damning report could even turbocharge efforts to impeach and remove him from office.

Gov. Mario M. Cuomo Bridge

The Times Union reported March 7 a cover up of structural problems on the bridge spanning the Hudson River, which opened to traffic in 2018 just before Cuomo was elected to a third term in office. The state Thruway Authority (which operates the bridge) and the Federal Highway Administration have said the public should not worry about the safety of the suspension bridge, but the Assembly Judiciary Committee could include the subject within its ongoing impeachment probe.

Political pressure with vaccines

Members of Team Cuomo often play multiple roles for his administration. Former Secretary to the Governor Larry Schwartz is a good example. His volunteer work for the state response to COVID-19 means he has been a point man for coordinating the distribution of vaccines with county governments. Some local leaders, however, have felt uncomfortable following phone conversations when Schwartz would discuss public health issues before doing a temperature check on their support for the governor during his current political struggles.

Preferential treatment with COVID-19 tests

At a time when many New Yorkers could not get tested for COVID-19, Cuomo reportedly helped family members get special access alongside state officials whose health actually mattered to the public at-large. The state Public Officers Law states that officials cannot give unwarranted privileges or exemptions to themselves or others. Some say that includes dispatching state police to your brothers house in the Hamptons to escort test samples back to an Albany lab. Assembly Judiciary Committee Chair Charles Lavine has said that this issue will join others on the investigatory agenda before the impeachment probe.

$4 million book deal

Cuomo appears to have used gubernatorial staff and resources to write his 2020 bestselling book American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic. That might violate state ethics rules and possibly the Public Officers Law. Team Cuomo says he kept things straight while finishing the project. Yet, reporting shows that top aides might have been editing his book, and a state report on COVID-19 in nursing homes, to maximize fame and fortune alike for the governor. Now that state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli has provided the necessary referral, an investigation led by James into the book deal offers yet another chance to show just how far Cuomo has fallen in recent months.
Nine people were killed Thursday in Myanmar, according to the daily report of the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.

Demonstrators were out in force in a continued show of opposition against the ruling military junta, one day after Wednesdays silent strike left the streets of many cities across the country practically empty.

There were scattered reports of soldiers using force to break up protests in the southeastern city of Mawlamyine and in Hpa-An, the capital of southeastern Karen state. Soldiers also confronted protesters staging candlelight vigils across the country, with reports of at least one man shot and killed.

The AAPP said in the report that at least 320 people have been killed by military forces during the crackdown. One of those killed was a seven-year-old girl who was shot Tuesday when soldiers broke into her home in Mandalay, according to Myanmar Now and Reuters.

The child was reportedly sitting on her fathers lap when the soldiers broke in and demanded to know if everyone in the family was at home. The father said yes, but the soldiers accused him of lying and opened fire, hitting the girl.

The AAPP also said that more than 2,900 people have been arrested, charged or sentenced since the crackdown began. But more than 600 protesters were released Wednesday from Insein prison in the main city of Yangon in an apparent goodwill gesture by the junta.

Associated Press journalist Thein Zaw, who was arrested while covering a street protest in Yangon along with eight other media workers, was among those released.

Agence France-Presse has reported that a Molotov cocktail thrown at the Yangon headquarters of the National League for Democracy party of detained civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi caused a small fire.

AFP quoted Soe Win, an NLD member in charge of the headquarters, saying that when the residents nearby knew about the fire, they called the fire service department to put it out  it was under control by around 5 a.m.

The United States and Britain imposed sanctions on Myanmars ruling junta on Thursday, blacklisting military-controlled businesses.

Today the United States is taking its most significant action to date to impose costs on the military regime, said Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a statement Thursday.

The United States is designating two entities linked to the coup leaders, Myanma Economic Holdings Public Company Limited and Myanmar Economic Corporation Limited.

MEHL and MEC are the two largest military holding companies in Burma, and all shares in them are held and managed by current or former Burmese military officers, regiments, and units, and organisations led by former service members.

Blinken added that Britain would be taking similar actions against MEHL.

Farhan Haq, a spokesperson for United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, issued a statement Wednesday urging the junta to exercise maximum restraint as Armed Forces Day on March 27 approaches. He called for accountability for all the crimes and human rights violations that continue to be perpetrated in Myanmar.

Suu Kyi is facing four criminal charges, including the possession of unlicensed walkie-talkies, violating COVID-19 restrictions, breaching telecommunication laws and incitement to cause public unrest. She has also been accused by the junta of accepting $600,000 in illegal payments.

Suu Kyi was scheduled to appear in court via videoconferencing Wednesday, but the session was postponed until April 1. Khin Maung Zaw, a lawyer for Aung San Suu Kyi, told VOA that police blocked the thoroughfare that led to the courthouse and only allowed two junior lawyers to enter. Khin said the judge told the two lawyers the video conferencing sessions on the docket could not take place.

Wednesdays appearance by Suu Kyi was originally scheduled for March 15 but was called off because of a lack of internet service. Authorities have imposed nightly internet shutdowns for several weeks to prevent any sharing of protests from across the country.

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Junta leaders also justified their coup by saying the November 8 election won by Suu Kyis NLD was fraudulent  an accusation the electoral commission rejected.

VOA is Premium Times syndication partner. We have permission to republish
President Joe Biden is including rivals Vladimir Putin of Russia and Xi Jinping of China among the people he has invited to the first big climate talks of his administration, an event the US hopes will help shape, speed up and deepen global efforts to cut climate-wrecking fossil fuel pollution, administration officials said.

The president is seeking to revive a US-convened forum of the worlds major economies on climate that George W. Bush and Barack Obama both used and Donald Trump let languish.

Expand Close President Joe Biden (Evan Vucci/AP) / Facebook

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It will be held on April 22 and 23.

Hosting the summit will fulfil a campaign pledge and executive order by Mr Biden, and the administration is timing the event with its own upcoming announcement of whats a much tougher US target for revamping the US economy to sharply cut emissions from coal, natural gas and oil.

The Biden administration intentionally looked beyond its international partners for the talks, an administration official said.

Its a list of the key players and its about having some of the tough conversations and the important conversations, the official said.

Given how important  this issue is to the entire world, we have to be willing to talk about it and we have to be willing to talk about it at the high levels.

Mr Trump pulled the United States out of the 2015 UN Paris climate accords as one of his first actions.

That makes next months summit the first major international climate discussions by a US leader in more than four years, although leaders in Europe and elsewhere have kept up talks.
Graves Arson Suspect's Trial Set for September

By West Kentucky Star Staff

Thirty-nine-year-old Mitchell Meyer's jury trial is set to begin Sept. 14, and is expected to last three days. A review of the case is set for Aug. 30.

MAYFIELD - A Graves County man facing an arson charge will go to trial later this year.

The Graves County Sheriff's Office said Meyer, of Lowes, set a truck on fire that was parked in the driveway of a home in May 2019. Deputies said the truck belonged to a third party who was not present at the home. Video footage of the incident allegedly showed Meyer using gasoline and a lighter to set the fire. Witnesses also reportedly saw Meyer taking items belonging to a family member and throwing them into the fire.

Firefighters extinguished the blaze before it was able to reach two nearby homes. The vehicle was a total loss.

Meyer was arrested and charged with 2nd degree arson and 3rd degree criminal mischief.
The Federal Government on Thursday said that the government through the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, will not continue to bear the about N120 billion monthly subsidy burden on the petroleum products.

The government said the burden had become too heavy to bear and that after the conclusion of talks with the organized labour on how to caution the effects of the deregulation of the oil sector, the market forces would be allowed to determine prices of petroleum products.

Speaking during the Presidential ministerial media briefing featuring the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, at the State House, Abuja, the Group Managing Director, GMD, Mele Kyari, said that NNPC currently subsidizes cost of Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, with about N120 billion ($263,248 million) monthly.

The Special Ministerial Briefings coordinated by the Presidential Communication Team.

Kyari explained that the NNPC absorbs the cost differential which is recorded in its financial books, adding that while the actual cost of importation and handling charges amounts to N234 per liter, the government is selling at N162 per liter.

He, however, said that the NNPC can no longer afford to bear the cost and that sooner or later Nigerians would have to pay the actual cost for the commodity.

Kyari, who avoided calling the payment a subsidy, said the NNPC pays between N100-120 billion a month to keep the pump price at the current levels, insisting that market forces must be allowed to determine the pump price of petrol in the country.

On percentage to the host communities, the GMD said that in the last 20 years, the communities have been agitating for 10 per cent of profits from operating companies without putting into consideration what happens when a company decides to declare lost at the end of the day.

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He said the government decided on two and half percent, explaining, "What we did was to zero down the percentage of operational expenditure. If you look at the companies operating in this country, operational expenditure is huge that is why we said two and half percent will be good."

The Minister of State for Petroleum, Timipre Sylva, who avoided answering questions on the agitation from the host communities because he is from the Niger Delta region, however said that the draft bill on Petroleum Industrial Bill, PIB, was already with the National Assembly.

He said that the lawmakers may decide to adjust the percentage as submitted for the host communities.

"Whatever needs to be done, will be done at the National Assembly, the draft bill is before them," the Minister said.

Details later...

Vanguard News Nigeria
Rabbi Nakhshon Yunaev, from Moscow, was eager to come to Baku to run Jewish youth programs in the Azerbaijani capital, despite offers from other European countries, the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and a recent military conflict in the region, The Jerusalem Post reports. Yunaev arrived in Azerbaijan about a month ago. He originally worked at the Moscow Jewish Community Center, where he initiated Yeshivot Erev, a Torah-study program for students and young adults.

Because of the pandemic, we have very small group classes, as well as online classes, but despite the challenge, weve already gotten to know many members of our community," said Yunaev in a press release."Its nice to see plenty of young people at our events who are interested in the Jewish way of life, who want to learn more about our traditions and customs," he said. "We motivate them to look within themselves to find the human traits of helping others, solidarity and brotherhood and try to develop their inner talents. We also organize various seminars, lectures, and Shabbat programs. The scope of our activities is constantly growing," he said."For me, being a shaliach (envoy) means being fully devoted to working with Jewish youth.

Jewish students from Azerbaijan used to participate regularly in seminars and trips in Italy, Spain, Switzerland and the US before the pandemic. A group of young Jews from Azerbaijan and Russian recently visited Dubai.

Yunaev explained that moving to Baku was partially a personal decision. Although I grew up in Moscow, I am a 'Mountain Jew,'" said the rabbi. "I finished my first yeshiva there, then continued my education in Israel and the United States."I received job offers from Germany, Israel, Cyprus, Estonia and other countries where Russian-speaking rabbis are needed, but it was an honor for me be invited to work with the Chief Rabbi of Azerbaijan, Shneur Segal," he said. "I think the locals also prefer to have a rabbi who grew up with the same traditions they grew up with.

Eden, Yunaev's wife, is originally from the Azerbaijani capital and her family still lives there. She now runs a Jewish home and organizes events for girls. The rabbi also decided to move to Baku despite a recent military conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

"My wife's relatives told us about what happened here," said Yunaev. "We know that everybody was ready to help and support each other during those difficult times. It did not stop us from coming here. On the contrary, in situations like these, people need additional support and we are ready to provide it. For us, it was important to know that we were going to help the Jews of Azerbaijan."

Segal's family has known Eden's family for a long time. The chief rabbi called Yunaev one of the "most promising young Russian-speaking rabbis."

"He has the right experience for the job," Segal said. "Of course, it's an advantage that he comes from a family of 'Mountain Jews'  his wife was born and raised in Baku and is a graduate of our school. They understand the local culture, its mentality, traditions and customs, giving them a common language with the local youth. It would normally take a lot of time for a new rabbi to adapt and understand, but Nakhshon was able to get his bearings very quickly.

Azerbaijan is home to the largest Jewish community of any majority-Muslim country.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - A Tennessee Senate panel has advanced legislation requiring school districts to alert parents of any instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity, allowing them to opt their student out of such instruction.

Supporters of the bill argued on Wednesday its needed to strengthen parental rights and rebuffed concerns that it could further alienate already marginalized students.

According to the bill, school districts would have 30 days to alert parents or guardians of upcoming instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity. Families would then have the option to opt their student out of the learning without being penalized.

The proposal is now headed to the full Senate chamber for consideration.
To qualify, applicants must meet the same criteria established to participate in the citys reparations programs. An applicant must have origins in any of the Black racial and ethnic groups of Africa, be a Black resident of Evanston between 1919-1969, or be that persons direct descendant. Applicants also may qualify if they experienced housing discrimination due to the citys policies or practices after 1969, according to city documents.
An 81-year-old Melbourne woman allegedly took an axe to her son's head and suffocated him.

Erica Heddergott faced Melbourne Magistrates Court on Friday charged with murdering her 50-year-old son William at her Greensborough home between November 14 and 16 last year.

She and her son were found by a Meals on Wheels worker, according to court documents.

There was a key in the front door Heddergott was not answering, so the worker entered and found a 'farewell' note in the kitchen, the documents said.

Erica Heddergott faced Melbourne Magistrates Court on Friday charged with murdering her 50-year-old son William at her Greensborough home (pictured)

Investigators (pictured at the scene) said they found an axe partially covered by a blood-stained beanie under the lounge, as well as a cord and duct tape

The son was allegedly lying on the couch with a plastic bag over his head, and his mother on the lounge room floor, teary and conscious but unable to speak, with vomit on her and a small bottle of bourbon.

When the Meals on Wheels worker said an ambulance was on its way, Heddergott allegedly replied: 'I don't want them'.

Investigators said they found an axe partially covered by a blood-stained beanie under the lounge, as well as a cord and duct tape.

William had severe anxiety and depression and had previously lived at a supported residential facility.

It's alleged Heddergott had arranged a funeral plan for William, and tried to cancel his superannuation policy and withdraw the funds ahead of time (pictured, police at the scene)

Staff described him as a gentle and caring man who never got angry.

He moved home with his mother because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

It's alleged Heddergott had arranged a funeral plan for William, and tried to cancel his superannuation policy and withdraw the funds ahead of time.

Heddergott's fitness to face the murder charge was in issue, Friday's committal mention was told.

During a previous virtual appearance last year, she said 'I'm ill, I can't come to court'.

She has been remanded to reappear on June 15 for a further committal mention.

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President Joe Biden on Thursday slammed a slew of Republican efforts to suppress the vote as "un-American" as Georgia's state House and Senate passed a sweeping bill that would vastly limit access to the ballot.

The President, in his first formal news conference since taking office, criticized Republican efforts in multiple states to make it more difficult to vote before and on Election Day. The measures were introduced following former President Donald Trump's lies about a stolen election last November, a strategy Biden described as the "most pernicious thing."

"What I'm worried about is how un-American this whole initiative is. It's sick. It's sick," Biden said.

The President argued that even Republican voters find measures being adopted in many states, including Texas and Arizona as well as Georgia, unacceptable and "despicable."

"I'm not talking about the election officials -- I'm talking about voters. Voters," Biden said in an impassioned reply to a question about the voting rights issue.

The President said that he was trying to figure out how to pass a massive voting rights bill sent to the US Senate by the House. Several Democrats have expressed disquiet about parts of the bill, which Republicans have branded as an unconstitutional power grab by congressional Democrats.

Biden said that he believed current laws being introduced by Republican state legislators to limit voting access and hours were worse than the Jim Crow-era laws that institutionalized racism.

Amid questions about whether he will eventually relent in his opposition to abolishing the Senate filibuster, which requires 60 votes for major legislation and would make passing the voting rights bill impossible, Biden said he had a plan but would not reveal what it was.

"I'm not going to lay out a strategy in front of the whole world and you now," Biden told reporters.

After Biden spoke, the Republican-led Georgia Senate approved the version of a sweeping election overhaul bill that the GOP-led House had passed earlier in the day. The legislation then headed to GOP Gov. Brian Kemp, who signed it Thursday evening, enacting faster-than-expected changes that would restrict voter access in a state that was pivotal in giving Democrats control of the White House and US Senate this year.

The legislation would limit ballot drop boxes to inside early voting locations during voting hours, make giving food or drinks to a voter a misdemeanor, allow for unlimited challenges to voter registrations and eligibility, and grant state officials broad rights, including the ability to replace local election officials. It would also shorten the runoff cycle from the current nine weeks to just four weeks and remove the elected secretary of state as chair of the state election board.

By late Thursday, three voting rights groups had already filed a suit challenging the new law.

Texas, Arizona and a clutch of others states are moving to curtail voting access -- especially in big cities disproportionately favorable to Democrats.

This story has been updated with Georgia's governor signing the bill and a lawsuit being filed to challenge it.
Boxes containing Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccines donated by the Chinese government are seen at Nouakchott International Airport, in Nouakchott, Mauritania, March 24, 2021. Mauritania received on Wednesday the Chinese government's donation of Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine and medical ventilators. (Chinese Embassy in Mauritania/Handout via Xinhua)

NOUAKCHOTT, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Mauritania received on Wednesday the Chinese government's donation of Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine and medical ventilators.

Mauritanian Health Minister Mohamed Nedhirou Ould Hamed welcomed the donation at Nouakchott Oumtounsy International Airport, along with the Charge d'Affaires ad interim of Chinese Embassy in Mauritania, Wang Jian.

On behalf of the Mauritanian government and people, Hamed thanked the Chinese government and people for the donation and supports during Mauritania's fight against COVID-19 pandemic.

"This gesture of friendship and solidarity illustrates the depth of bilateral relations between the two countries in the field of health in general, and in particular, the bilateral cooperation in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic," the minister said.

For his part, Wang Jian said that China's donation of COVID-19 vaccine to Mauritania implements the important consensus between the presidents of the two countries.

"It also shows the longstanding affection of the Chinese people for the Mauritanian people, and opens a new page for the active cooperation of the two countries in public health," he added.

Wang stressed that the Chinese side is willing to work together with the others in order to push forward international anti-epidemic cooperation and to jointly build a global community of health for all.

According to the latest update of Mauritania's health ministry, the country has recorded a total of 17,690 positive cases for coronavirus, including 447 deaths and 16,947 recoveries.

[ Editor: WPY ]
The HCM City People's Committee has proposed developing a regional and international financial center project in the city.

HCM City is considered the most dynamic economic center in the country.

According to municipal authorities, the proposal to the PM was made because the city meets all elements to form a regional and international financial center.

First of all, the city is the most dynamic economic engine in the country, a financial market that has taken steps of stable and solid development, contributing to the development of the macro-economy. The concentration of financial institutions in the city is currently the highest in the country.

In addition, the city is only about three hours by air from Asian economies such as Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, India, China... and further, to Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.

"Those are the best conditions for developing a regional and international financial center in the future," the document stated.

According to the city People's Committee, the formation of an international financial center is inevitable in a modern economy and an expression of a dynamic, developed and integrated country. It is a driving force for economic growth, making an important contribution to elevating the nation to a new position on the world map of developed financial centers.

The proposal to build a regional and international financial center has received the support of the Government and ministries, which defines the city as a special city, a leading economic-financial-service center in the country and the region.

On that basis, the HCM City People's Committee asked the Prime Minister to approve the policy on the citys regional and international financial center project.

If approved, the development of the financial center will be designed in three periods: short, medium and long term.

Ho Van

HCM City plans to turn five suburban districts into urban districts, cities HCM Citys suburban districts of Hoc Mon, Binh Chanh and Nha Be will become urban districts or cities prior to 2025, while two other suburban districts of Cu Chi and Can Gio will be turned into urban ones in the 2025-2030 period.
Donald Trump has claimed he prefers his less frequent news releases after he was banned from Twitter in the wake of the Capitol riot in January.

Since leaving office, Trump has put out a series of tweet-like press releases under the letterhead of The Office Of Donald J. Trump in which he has endorsed favored candidates and repeated his false claims that the 2020 election was rigged.

He told Fox News host Laura Ingraham last night that he preferred his new mode of communication because 'we're no longer constrained by a certain number of characters'.

But he added that he was considering creating his own platform for his army of online followers.

Donald Trump, pictured, has claimed he prefers his new post-White House method of communicating by press release after he was banned from Twitter

Since leaving office Trump has issued a series of tweet-like press releases, including this one on March 10 claiming credit for America's vaccine success

Asked about a possible new platform, Trump replied: 'In my case I have a lot of options, because we have 200million plus followers'.

But he added: 'What I'm doing now, I almost like it better, I think I do like it better.

'We're no longer constrained by a certain number of characters, we're no longer put under the magnifying glass and frankly you do it less, and you can do it better.

'I put out statements now from The Office Of... and the statements are picked up by everybody. It actually works better now.

'With that being said, we may open up our own platform, but the putting out of statements... it gets to everybody, it's been very effective.

Asked if he found he had more time on his hands without Twitter, he said: 'Actually I do, it's very true. And I don't have to be so careful with every word. If I put a comma in the wrong place it becomes like, he doesn't know proper English.

'You have much more time, and actually you can really steer something and focus something on what's very important.

'Twitter has become very boring. A lot of people are leaving Twitter, it's become very, very boring. We're off, and a lot of other people are off.'

Trump's ban from Twitter came alongside permanent suspensions for allies including MyPillow supremo Mike Lindell (pictured) who had backed the false election fraud claims

Trump's account was permanently suspended after he was accused of inciting a mob to invade the halls of Congress in a doomed attempt to overturn the election results.

The official POTUS account also had all its tweets deleted before it was handed over to Joe Biden's administration on January 20.

Other Trump allies to be banned from the site included attorney Sidney Powell, former national security adviser Michael Flynn and MyPillow supremo Lindell.

Some conservatives had favored the self-styled 'free speech' site Parler, but that too suffered a setback when web host Amazon pulled the plug in January.

Parler partially reappeared online later that month with the help of a Russian technology firm.

Twitter has said that Trump's ban from the site is permanent and will remain in place even if he returns to front-line politics by running for the White House in 2024.

Trump has not committed to whether or not he plans to do so, but polls have shown that he would be the favored candidate on the Republican side if he did.

Only one president, the late-19th century Grover Cleveland, has served non-consecutive terms in the White House.

Trump was banned from Twitter after being accused of inciting a mob of his supporters to invade the Capitol on January 6, pictured

President Biden had also not said with certainty that he will run again in 2024, when he will be 81 years old.

But amid speculation that he is laying the groundwork for Kamala Harris to run in 2024, Biden said on Thursday was 'a great respecter of fate' but plans to run.

'My plan is to run for reelection. That's my expectation,' Biden said at his first formal White House press conference last night.

He later pushed back against a reporter's suggestion that his 2024 plans were definite.

'I said, 'That is my expectation,'' Biden said. 'I'm a great respecter of fate. I've never been able to plan four-and-a-half, three-and-a-half years ahead for certain.'

Biden seemed exasperated when asked if he expected Trump to run on the Republican side in four years.

'I don't even think about it. I have no idea,' Biden said, suggesting that Trump may not even be part of the Republican Party.
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President Joe Biden is making no qualms about former President Donald Trump's policies being the root cause of issues that his administration is now scrambling to address.

More than two months into his presidency, at his first news conference since becoming president, Biden blamed Trump for a slew of issues, including a broken immigration system and the US' current diplomatic woes.

Biden's frequent invocation of Trump was noticeable perhaps because his press conference was the first time he spoke at length on a variety of issues his White House is working on, and his relative low-profile compared to Trump.

The press corps also wanted to talk about Trump. Biden was also asked about the possibility of running against Trump in 2024, Trump's plan to pull the US out of Afghanistan and Georgia's law placing new limits on voting -- a direct result of Trump's false claims about election fraud.

The President's frequent mentions of Trump should come as no surprise.

Biden built up a presidential campaign pegged on reversing the Trump administration's policies and countering what he saw as Trump's political divisiveness. His 2020 campaign revolved around the idea that the "soul of the nation" was at stake in the election, and that he would seek to heal a country fractured by Trump's presidency.

No policy area is perhaps as central to Trump's image than his anti-immigration actions.

Biden largely blamed Trump for the current situation on the southern border, where an influx of unaccompanied minors are traveling into the US, despite some indications that unauthorized migrants are coming into the US because of the perception that the new administration will be more lenient.

"It happens every single, solitary year. There is a significant increase in the number of people coming to the border in the winter months of January, February, March. It happens every year," Biden said. "By the way, does anybody suggest that there was a 31% increase under Trump because he was a nice guy? And he was doing good things at the border? That's not the reason they're coming."

The President also blasted the Trump administration's withdrawal of foreign aid funding to deal with the "root causes" of migration and blamed his predecessor for having "shut down the number of beds available" by not funding the Department of Health and Human Services "to get the children out of those Border Patrol facilities."

Despite a recent spike in migrants that is putting the US on track to see the most individuals on the southern border in 20 years, Biden says he's making no apologies for the way he's handling the situation.

"First of all, all the (Trump) policies that were underway were not helping at all, did not slow up the amount of immigration, and as many people coming. And rolling back the policies of separating children from their mothers? I make no apology for that," Biden told reporters.

"I make no apologies for ending programs that did not exist before Trump became president that have an incredibly negative impact on the law, international law, as well as on human dignity," he added.

Trump kicked off his presidential campaign in 2015 by claiming that "when Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best. ... They're sending people that have lots of problems, and they're bringing those problems with us. They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists. And some, I assume, are good people."

He repeatedly used terms such as "killer," "predator," "animal" and "invasion" when referencing immigration issues in front of audiences.

And his administration was responsible for devising some of the most stringent and publicly divisive immigration policies America had adopted, including the so-called "zero tolerance" policy, which resulted in the separation of thousands of migrant families, including those with children.

Trump's blame game

Biden's blame game with Trump is in line with what other US presidents have done after taking office.

President Barack Obama blamed the George W. Bush administration for the financial crisis. And Going back to President Ronald Reagan, nearly every US president has blamed their predecessor for inheriting a poor economy.

That extends to Trump, too.

During his first news conference since taking office, Trump referred to the messes he inherited from President Barack Obama four times.

"To be honest, I inherited a mess. A mess. At home and abroad -- a mess. Jobs are pouring out of the country. You see what's going on with all of the companies leaving our country, going to Mexico and other places. Low pay, low wages," Trump said in 2017. "Mass instability overseas, no matter where you look. The Middle East, a disaster. North Korea, we'll take care of it, folks. We're going to take care of it all. I just want to let you know. I inherited a mess."

Trump went on to express his frustrations about the messes he inherited up until his final weeks in office, but touted his legacy on immigration as a "success story."

"This is a real success story," Trump told US Customs and Border Patrol agents during a speech in front of a section of the US-Mexico border wall in mid-January. "When I took office, we inherited a broken, dysfunctional, and open border. Everybody was pouring in at will. Working alongside the heroes in this great outdoor space, looking at our wall, we reformed our immigration system and achieved the most secure southern border in US history. It is at a level that it's never been before."
DGAP Voting Rights Announcement: QIAGEN N.V.

QIAGEN N.V.: Release according to Article 40, Section 1 of the WpHG [the German Securities Trading Act] with the objective of Europe-wide distribution



26.03.2021 / 22:05

Dissemination of a Voting Rights Announcement transmitted by DGAP - a service of EQS Group AG.

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.



The AFM (the Netherlands Authority For the Financial Markets) has informed us on March 25, 2021 that a notification related to our institution has been released by the AFM. The following notification has been disclosed in the relevant register on the AFM website: Date of transaction: 22 mar 2021

Person obliged to notify: Massachusetts Financial Services Company

Issuing institution: QIAGEN N.V.

Registration Chamber of Commerce: 12036979

Place of residence: VENLO Distribution in numbers Type of share Number of shares Number of voting rights Capital interest Voting rights Manner of disposal Settlement Ordinary share 7.027.724,00 8.530.726,00 Real Real Directly Ordinary share 1.792.463,00 3.628.018,00 Real Real Indirectly -

MFS Investment Management Canada Ltd;

MFS Heritage Trust Company;

MFS Investment Management Company (Lux) S.a.r.l;

MFS Investment Management K.K.;

MFS Institutional Advisors, Inc;

MFS International (U.K.) Ltd;

MFS International Singapore Pte.Ltd

Distribution in percentages Type Total holding Directly real Directly potential Indirectly real Indirectly potential Capital interest 3,82% 3,04 % 0,00 % 0,78 % 0,00 % Voting rights 5,27 % 3,70 % 0,00 % 1,57 % 0,00 %



QIAGEN N.V. is not responsible for the accuracy and correctness of the notification above. The content has been taken from the relevant register of the AFM:

https://www.afm.nl/en/professionals/registers/meldingenregisters/substantiele-deelnemingen/details?id=108643

26.03.2021 The DGAP Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements, Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases.

Archive at www.dgap.de


Chandigarh, March 27 : The 12-hour pan-India shutdown called in support of the farmers' agitation against the three farm laws on Friday evoked a huge response across Punjab and Haryana as normal life was disrupted in these two states, though the situation was almost normal in Chandigarh.

Donning yellow 'dupattas' that represent the colour of martyrs, women protesters hogged the limelight at most places in Punjab's Malwa region that has seen the highest rates of farmer suicides.

Traffic across Punjab and Haryana was badly hit as farmers, farm labourers, commission agents, trade unions and activists of political parties squatted on railway lines and national highways.

However, there was no report of any untoward incident from anywhere in these two states. Emergency medical services were exempted from the blockade.

The activists of several farmer associations were seen asking the traders at different places in the Congress-ruled Punjab and BJP-ruled Haryana to keep their shops and business establishments closed to mark the protest.

Reports of blocking of roads and highways were received from Patiala, Ludhiana, Bathinda, Moga, Hoshiarpur, Jalandhar and other places in Punjab.

Sufficient security arrangements were made in both the states to prevent any untoward incident, a senior police officer said here.

The General Secretary of Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ekta-Ugrahan), Sukhdev Singh Kokri Kalan, said that the truck unions too extended their support to the farmers' bodies.

Expressing solidarity with the farmers, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), which has control over Sikh religious affairs and manages gurdwaras in Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, kept its offices closed.

SGPC President Bibi Jagir Kaur said the Centre should repeal the three farm laws.

The Samyukta Kisan Morcha, a coalition of farmers' unions, said the shutdown was observed at 250 places in Punjab. A protest was also held at Attari, close to the Indo-Pak border.

The Indian Railways said that train services came to a halt at 32 locations, and four Shatabdi Express trains had to be cancelled.

Scores of passengers were stranded at the railway stations in Ambala and Karnal in Haryana as trains were stopped.

Jagdip Singh Aulakh of the BKU (Charuni) said the Karnal-Meerut, Karnal-Kaithal, Karnal-Yamunanagar and Karnal-Assandh roads were blocked in Haryana.

-- Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Prokerala team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed
A local civic organisation has urged Government to adopt a climate change curricula from primary to tertiary education as a way of raising awareness and mainstreaming youth participation in adaptation strategies.

Presenting a Policy Brief to the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Environment, Tourism and Hospitality, Green Governance Zimbabwe Trust (GGZT) advocated for sustainable mitigation and adaption strategies to bridge existing gaps.

"There should be a deliberate attempt for capacity building of parliament for formulation of proactive policies, enhance their monitoring role in the National Adaptation Plan (NAP).

"Climate is a crosscutting issue that affects other social economic and development plans, so there is need for a comprehensive adaptation model with clear prioritization of climate change initiatives.

"We need tailor made plans for the different effects of climate change differently, being led by parliament which knows what happens on the ground. It is important to have even, constituency mitigation and adaption plan at local levels despite the broader strategy and policy," said GGZT Director Frank Mpahlo.

Elizabeth Gulugulu, projects manager for the African Youth Initiative on Climate Change Zimbabwe (AYICC) said building community resilience and promotion of universal education requires that youth are treated as a stand-alone stakeholder.

She said climate change education can stimulate innovations for adaptation including the manufacturing of renewable energy, where youths can also invest and participate.

"We are calling for the mainstreaming of climate change in schools curricula to expand knowledge on adaptation and mitigation initiatives so as to empower local communities to leverage on local resources.

"Young people should be given a platform to participate in climate change decision making, exposure to understand process bridge generation gap, negotiation process should be mainstreamed to youths," she said.

Gulugulu also said the recently adopted Communications Strategy by the Climate Change department should promote specifically packaged and targeted information to specific groups and packaged according to their interests

"Policies should be mainstreamed, translated toned down from technical language to ensure that people understand at all levels," she said.

AYIC, has held consultations with over 600 youths across ten provinces in Zimbabwe including Chipinge and Chimanimani, recommends that government convinces the public and demonstrate practical steps to mitigate against climate change induced disasters.

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Anesu Gumbo, a Hydrology (PHD) scholar at the University of Venda in South Africa said Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) should also be integrated in adaptation measures for local community buy in.

Commenting on the Policy Brief on youth engagement on climate change adaptation, Gumbo said it is was evident that there is an information asymmetry affecting rural communities, which are disproportionately exposed to climate change impacts

"Education is lacking among the youths, more so those in rural communities, while information is available there is apathy of access to information.

"Southern Africa will be the most affected by climate because of high levels of poverty that constrain adaptation and mitigation measures, as climate change puts more pressure on already weak economies. This region is mainly rural where people rely on natural resources to sustain their livelihoods.

"Mitigation is manly for developed nations, they have the capacity to implement these for Africa and developing nations there is advocacy for adaptation activities, that's why the youth voice is important in this conversation," said Gumbo.

The National Adaptation Plan (NAP) process helps countries conduct comprehensive medium- and long-term climate adaptation planning. It is a flexible process that builds on each country's existing adaptation activities and helps integrate climate change into national decision-making.
Manitoba is confident the province's own carbon-pricing plan is better than anything the federal government can do.

Manitoba is confident the province's own carbon-pricing plan is better than anything the federal government can do.

After the Supreme Court of Canada ruled Thursday that the federal governments carbon-pricing legislation is constitutional, Premier Brian Pallister indicated the province will continue its fight and, on Friday, Conservation Minister Sarah Guillemard weighed in.

"We have a plan we know is going to be better for Manitoba and we will continue to advocate for Manitobans," Guillemard said at a press conference to announce $50 million for water and wastewater projects, some of which had been announced in the past.

Ontario, Saskatchewan and Alberta challenged the constitutionality of the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act  the 2018 legislation that created a nationwide minimum threshold level for a carbon tax  and lost. Manitoba signed on as an intervener in the case, which argued that Ottawa had meddled in the provinces ability to develop their natural resources.

In 2019, Manitoba filed a separate lawsuit in Federal Court, which asserts Ottawa had no right to disregard the province's carbon-tax plan for falling short of its minimum requirements.

When asked what Manitoba plans to do if the Federal Court rejects its carbon-pricing plan, Guillemard said she's confident it will be accepted.

"It is fulsome and will address greenhouse gas emissions in comprehensive and multiple different ways," she said.

Manitobas plan outlined a permanent $25 per tonne carbon tax, but the federal benchmark started at $20 per tonne in 2019 and will rise to $50 by 2022. In December, Ottawa announced plans to raise the amount to $170 per tonne by 2030.

Manitoba's plan wasn't just about a carbon tax, Guillemard said.

"Our plan recognized a carbon tax as a tool, not 'the' tool," she said. It's a plan made for Manitoba that included public consultation and feedback, she said.

"The federal backstop was never specific to any region," the minister said. "I'm confident our plan is much better."

The NDP critic said Guillemard should get to work on reducing greenhouse gas emissions in Manitoba and stop wasting money and energy fighting courtroom battles.

"It's disappointing the minister is playing along with the premier's charade instead of actually tackling climate change," said Lisa Naylor. "Manitoba already lost one court battle  we don't need to waste hundreds of thousands of dollars on a second one," she said.

"The minister should be focusing on what families actually want, like a clean, healthy future for their kids and the next generation."

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca
SHASTA LAKE, Calif.  One person is in the hospital with major injuries after a boat crash on Shasta Lake Wednesday, according to the sheriffs office.

It happened before 1 p.m., when authorities responded to a two-boat crash on the Pit Arm of Shasta Lake, near the Arbuckle Flat Campground, according to the Shasta County Sheriffs Office Boating Safety Unit.

Authorities said the first boat, driven by John Stevenson, was traveling west and the other boat, driven by Martin Stapley, was headed in the opposite direction. As both boats were coming to a blind corner, the drivers tried to move out of each others way. However, they both went in the same direction and crashed.

Stapley sustained major injuries and was taken to the hospital. He is currently listed in stable condition, according to the sheriffs office.

The other boat driver, Stevenson suffered minor injuries, along with a passenger who was on Stapleys boat.

The Sheriffs Office said it was determined that operator impairment was not a factor in this collision. As the summer months are approaching, SCSO wants to encourage all boaters recreating on the waterways to familiarize themselves with California Boating Laws.
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A satellite image taken above the Red Sea have revealed the true extent of the traffic jam building up behind the cargo ship that has lodged itself in the Suez Canal.

Some 250 vessels are now backed up at either end of the narrow waterway, waiting for the stricken Ever Given - a container ship as long as the Empire State Building is tall - to be moved so they can pass.

Images taken by a passing satellite show more than 50 vessels at anchor in the Gulf of Suez, one of two 'fingers' at the northern end of the Red Sea, where it enters the canal which leads to the Mediterranean.

In the top left-hand corner of the image the Ever Given can be seen, wedged diagonally across the channel in much the same position where it got stuck three days ago after the captain lost control during a sandstorm.

Shipping companies are now facing up to the stark reality that they may have to re-route their vessels around Africa with at least one - the Hyundai Prestige - already diverted around the longer route.

But that has brought security concerns, with captains of the vessels - laden with billions of dollars-worth of cargo - fearing they will be sitting ducks for pirates, particularly in waters off east Africa where they are known to operate.

The US Navy's Fifth Fleet, which operates in the Red Sea, say a number of shipping companies have reached out to them in the last two days about security in the region amid fears they could be attacked.

Zhao Qing-feng, office manager of the China Shipowners' Association in Shanghai, told the Financial Times that vessels choosing to go the African route will have to take on additional security staff to ensure they are safe.

Meanwhile Willy Lin, chair of the Hong Kong Shippers' Council, said an international coalition of naval warships might have to be brought in to protect cargo vessels if the crisis drags out.

Joshua Hutchinson, general manager ARX Mouldings, a UK-based maritime security consultancy, told The Independent that the ships are 'sitting ducks' - even in their current position.

There is still no indication of how long it might take to free the stricken tanker as workers try to dig up to 52ft below the vessel using excavators and dredgers in an attempt to refloat it.

Shoei Kisen, the Japanese owner of the Ever Given, optimistically predicted today that the ship will be freed from the canal tomorrow during high tide - despite a team of Dutch experts brought in to assist the rescue saying the operation could take 'weeks' and canal authorities refusing to give a time-frame.

A satellite image taken above the Gulf of Suez where it leads into the Suez Canal (top left) shows at least 50 large ships at anchor (right) as they wait for a stricken container ship to be freed from where it has lodged in the narrow waterway

Another satellite image reveals how a suction dredging ship has been brought in to work at the front of the vessel removing sand and mud from around the bow (left) in an attempt to free it

It is hoped that an especially high tide late Saturday will provide the best chance yet of refloating the vessel - with another two weeks until a similar tide returns

Canal workers have today resumed their efforts to free the stranded Ever Given, using dredgers and diggers to burrow some 52ft down into the banks of the canal in an attempt to refloat her

Another image, taken by a Russian satellite, exposes the scale of the engineering challenge posed by the stuck Ever Given, which is easily visible (left) even when compared to neighbouring towns

A suction dredger is moved into position at the front of the Ever Given where it will attempt to remove sand from around the bow of the ship so it can be refloated

Workers are aiming to burrow down up to 52ft below the waterline it the hopes that it will shift the Ever Given off the sand banks and cause it to float, so it can be backed out of the canal

If efforts to refloat the boat fail, then workers will have no choice but to bring in specialist cranes and start offloading cargo stacked more than 100ft tall on its deck in order to lessen the ship's weight.

The extent of the disruption was also revealed in data collected by monitoring site Marine Traffic, which showed how vessels were flowing normally until the ship got stuck - at which point traffic began building up at either end of the canal.

Shares in shipping companies surged off the back of the news, amid a rush to book slots aboard vessels not caught up in the Suez that will drive prices up.

Meanwhile it was confirmed that 25 crew members on board the vessel at the time it crashed, including the captain, are Indian. None are believed to have been hurt during the accident.

Russia has also used the crisis to call for an expansion of the so-called Arctic Passage which is increasingly passable due to climate change, saying it is time 'to develop alternatives to the Suez Canal'.

With each passing day, the crisis threatens disruptions to global trade already hit by the Covid pandemic - with Downing Street warning of delays in getting goods such as electronics, toys and clothes to the UK.

The crisis will also add strain to global supply chains already stretched by rebounding economic activity and tight shipping container supplies, analysts said on Friday.

The blockage comes as shipments have already been disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic and a surge in demand for goods.

Roughly 30 per cent of global container traffic flows through the canal annually. The severed trade route could affect about 10 to 15 per cent of world container throughput while the blockage persists, analysts from Moody's Investors Service said.

'Very high consumer and industrial demand, a global shortage of container capacity and low service reliability from global container shipping companies... has made supply chains highly vulnerable to even the smallest of external shocks,' they said in a note on Friday.

'In that context, the timing of this event could not have been worse.'

Vessel utilisation has been at full capacity on the Asia-Europe trade route because of heavy demand from European importers, with terminals in Europe experiencing labour shortages due to coronavirus-related measures, said Greg Knowler from consultancy IHS Markit.

China overtook the United States as Europe's top trade partner in 2020, underscoring Asia's critical ties to industry and consumers in Europe, which is also the top destination for China's exports outside Asia.

Delays in returning empty containers to Asian exporters will further exacerbate the current shortage of containers, the consultancy added in a note.

The Suez Canal is also a preferred route for U.S. importers of manufactured goods such as footwear and apparel from Southeast Asia and India, they added.

Ships will now have to potentially take the longer route around the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, adding about 7-10 days to their journey, which will push up costs.

As a result, Europe's manufacturing industry and auto sector, including auto suppliers, will be hit hardest, Moody's Investors Service said.

'This is because they operate 'just-in-time' supply chains, meaning they do not stockpile parts and only have enough on hand for a short period, and source components from Asian manufacturers,' the analysts said.

'Even if the situation is resolved quickly, port congestion and further delays to an already constrained supply chain are inevitable.'

They added that alternative modes of transportation are not plausible, as air freight capacity is already tight due to less global air travel while rail transportation between China and Europe is limited and already nearing capacity.

The transport minister of Singapore, the world's top transhipment hub, said on Thursday the blockage in the Suez Canal could temporarily disrupt supplies to the region, and potentially cause a drawdown on inventories.

'My view is that this will cause problems for a lot of countries and industries around the world in the short run,' said Sumit Agarwal, economics professor at National University of Singapore.

Canal workers are attempting to dig out sand from around the bow of the ship which is embedded in the eastern wall of the canal, and may have to dig tens of feet to allow the ship to refloat. Meanwhile tugboats and dredgers are working at the rear of the vessel to free the stern against the western wall. If those efforts fail, specialist cranes will have to come in to help remove some of the cargo - with containers weighing up to 33 tons each

Experts brought in to help with the rescue say workers will have to remove up to 706,000 cubic feet of sand and mud from around the ship - roughly equivalent to eight Olympic swimming pools - to give the ship a chance of moving

The Mashhour, an Egyptian dredging vessel (right), is moved into position at the front end of the Ever Given (left) where it will attempt to suck out sand and mud from underneath

Tugboats are positioned at the rear of the vessel (front left) where they are attempting to shove the ship back into the canal in order to get it moving again

The canal provides the shortest possible route for ships travelling between Asia and Europe, with the only alternative being to sail around the Cape of Good Hope - adding 14 days and 5,000 nautical miles to the journey

Meanwhile Boris Johnson's spokesman said on Thursday that 'goods destined for the UK may be delayed in transit' but added that no company has yet approached the government with concerns.

However, analysts who spoke with MailOnline warned that a prolonged blockage of the canal could drive up the price of new cars by causing a shortage of computer chips, and cause shipping costs to spike - heaping pressure on Covid-hit businesses which could ultimately be passed to consumers as lockdowns ease.

Meanwhile, analysis of UK trade data exposes exports from Asia to Britain which are likely to be affected if the crisis drags on - with furniture, homewares, clothing and footwear among those which could be affected.

Seven out of the top 10 exporters of electrical goods to the UK are Asian countries making them a likely casualty, while almost half of the UK's furniture imports come from the same region.

China alone manufactures almost half the toys imported into Britain which are likely to pass through the canal, and accounts for a similar amount of homewares.

Simon Macadam, senior global economist at Capital Economics, told MailOnline that a delay of several weeks would drive up shipping rates - which are already at 'unprecedented' levels due to the Covid crisis - piling pressure on hard-hit businesses who would be expected to swallow the increased costs in the short-term.

However, he added that those costs could eventually be passed along to customers later in the year as Covid lockdowns ease and business owners try to recoup their losses.

The cost of renting some tankers for voyages from the Middle East to Asia has jumped 47 per cent over the last three days Anoop Singh, Singapore-based head of tanker analysis at Braemar ACM, told the Wall Street Journal.

Similar price hikes could hit Europe-bound routes as shipping firms run low on vessels with many stuck in the canal, while those which are free are forced to sail around Africa.

Avoiding the canal by sailing around Africa can add $450,000 in costs per voyage, Mr. Singh added.

Meanwhile Douglas McWilliams, deputy chairman of the Centre for Economics and Business Research, warned that a lengthy blockage is likely to cause a shortage of computer chips - with several weeks' worth of supplies thought to be caught up in the unfolding drama.

That could mean price hikes in products which use a lot of chips, potentially adding 70 to the price of a new car while having a knock-on effect on other electrical goods.

Oil markets were one of the first to react on Wednesday as the price of crude spiked 6 per cent, before falling back today as demand slumps amid the Covid pandemic.

Another analyst who spoke to MailOnline on condition of anonymity said an outage of two weeks or more could potentially cause shortages in stores as ships are routed around Africa, increasing their journey time by 14 days.

A source involved in the UK shipping trade added that it they are being warned it could take up to three weeks to clear the backlog of ships building up around the canal, even if the stricken ship is removed soon.

Kate Harding, chief executive of trade data firm Coriolis Technologies, warned that the risks to global trade are 'absolutely enormous'.

A longer-term issue, one analyst told MailOnline, is disruption to global shipping schedules that could drag on for weeks even after the canal is unblocked.

Ports typically run tight operations with strict time-slots for loading and unloading cargo to make sure containers don't pile up and to ensure a smooth supply of goods across the world.

But with ships piling up around the canal, whenever the waterway is unblocked it will cause a glut of vessels to arrive at ports all at once.

That will mean delays in getting ships unloaded and then re-loaded as there are only a limited number of specialist cranes that can deal with vessels of this size, knocking schedules out of whack.

There is still no indication of how long the ship make take to free, with Japanese owners Shoei Kisen KK saying it is still 'too early to tell'.

Mr Berdowski compared the ship to 'an enormous beached whale' and warned workers might have to start offloading cargo in order to reduce its weight and get it floating again.

'We can't exclude it might take weeks, depending on the situation,' he told Dutch media. 'It's an enormous weight on the sand. We might have to work with a combination of reducing the weight by removing containers, oil and water from the ship, tug boats and dredging of sand.'

Excavators are trying to dig out the vessel's dolphin-nose bow which has lodged in the eastern wall of the canal, while dredgers and tugboats try to shift its stern which is jammed against the western side.

Satellite images taken today reveal the Ever Given - leased by shipping firm Evergreen - is still stranded in much the same position it was left on Tuesday after crashing

The Taiwan-owned MV Ever Given is pictured today still lodged sideways and impeding all traffic across the waterway

Tugboats positioned alongside the Ever Given hold it in position while workers attempt to dig the bow out of the canal wall

Ships are anchored outside the Suez Canal in Ismailia, Egypt, wait to be able to pass through the canal after it was blocked

Estimates of the value of cargo come from analytics firm Lloyd's List, which believes $5billion-worth of containers are sent westwards through the waterway each day. The value of eastbound traffic is slightly less, at $4.5billion.

The cargo makes up about 12 per cent of oceangoing trade each day, including around 10 per cent of oil and gas shipments.

As the backlog builds, costs for Ever Given's owners - Japanese firm Shoei Kisen KK - and their insurers will mount in what could turn out to be the world's most expensive traffic jam.

Industry experts warned the bill will likely total millions of dollars, even assuming the vessel can be moved quickly.

Insurers could find themselves on the hook for costs incurred by shipping firms whose routes are delayed, plus from Egyptian authorities which make almost $6billion each year charging companies for use of the canal.

The costs of the rescue operation will also fall on insurers, along with any damage the ship sustains while it is being salvaged, analysts said.

Attempting to head-off criticism, the ship's owners issued an apology today - saying they are 'extremely sorry' for the 'tremendous worry' that the accident has caused.

The firm said it is cooperating with its technical management company and the local authorities to get the ship afloat, but 'the operation is extremely difficult.'

'It is potentially the world's biggest ever container ship disaster without a ship going bang,' one shipping lawyer, who declined to be named, said.

Meanwhile Nick Sloane, a salvage master who helped refloat the Costa Concordia cruise ship after it ran aground off the coast of Italy, said rescuers' best chance of moving the vessel will come on Monday when tides will be at their highest point.

If that window is missed then it will take another two weeks for the opportunity to present itself again, he told Bloomberg. 'This is definitely not a quick refloat operation,' he added.

It is thought the accident happened after the ship's captain and two Egyptian pilots sent on board to help guide the vessel became blinded during a sandstorm with high winds that sent the vessel off course and caused it to get wedged around 7.45am on Tuesday.

While a gust of wind seems an unlikely culprit, it turns out that the Ever Given has past form of crashing during high winds, after being involved in an accident in the German port of Hamburg in 2019.

In February that year, the cargo ship was manoeuvering into port when a strong gust of wind pushed it off course and into a docked passenger ferry, Bild reports

The ferry, named Finkenwerder, was completely written off in the accident while three crew members were treated for shock - though thankfully there were no passengers on board.

A huge container ship blocking the Suez Canal is threatening to delay shipments to the UK, with electronics, clothes, furniture and toys all likely to be affected

Every day the canal is blocked means 10 per cent of oceangoing trade cannot move as it should, with 50 ships being added to the massive traffic jam building up around the canal (pictured)

Tracking data from Marine Traffic has revealed the extent of the jam, comparing a typical day last week with traffic yesterday, with ships piling up at either end of the waterway.

Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement, the company that manages the Ever Given, said the ship's 25-member crew were safe and accounted for after the accident.

Cargo ships already behind the Ever Given in the canal will be reversed south back to Port Suez to free the channel, Leth Agencies said. Authorities hope to do the same to the Ever Given when they can free it.

Evergreen Marine Corp, a major Taiwan-based shipping company that operates the ship, said in a statement that the Ever Given had been overcome by strong winds as it entered the canal from the Red Sea. None of its containers had sunk.

An Egyptian official, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to brief journalists, similarly blamed a strong wind.

Egyptian forecasters said high winds and a sandstorm plagued the area on Tuesday, with winds gusting as high as 30 miles per hour.

An initial report suggested the ship suffered a power blackout before the incident, something Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement denied on Thursday.

'Initial investigations rule out any mechanical or engine failure as a cause of the grounding,' the company said.

Tuesday marked the second major crash involving the Ever Given in recent years.

In 2019, the cargo ship ran into a small ferry moored on the Elbe River in the German port city of Hamburg. Authorities at the time blamed strong wind for the collision, which severely damaged the ferry.

The closure could affect oil and gas shipments to Europe from the Mideast, which rely on the canal to avoid sailing around Africa. The price of international benchmark Brent crude stood at more than 63 dollars a barrel on Thursday.

The Ever Given, built in 2018 with a length of nearly 400 meters, or a quarter of a mile, and a width of 193 feet, is among the largest cargo ships in the world.

It can carry some 20,000 containers at a time. It previously had been at ports in China before heading toward Rotterdam in the Netherlands.

Opened in 1869, the Suez Canal provides a crucial link for oil, natural gas and cargo. It also remains one of Egypt's top foreign currency earners.

In 2015, the government of President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi completed a major expansion of the canal, allowing it to accommodate the world's largest vessels.

However, the Ever Given ran aground south of that new portion of the canal.

This stranding marks just the latest setback to affect mariners amid the Covid crisis, with hundreds of thousands of people having been stuck aboard vessels due to the pandemic.

Why is the Suez Canal so important? The Suez canal, which is around 120 miles long links the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean and is the shortest shipping route between the Atlantic and the Indian Ocean. Before the canal, shipping from Europe either had to go overland or risk going around Cape Horn and the South Atlantic. In April 1859, construction of the canal officially begins, much of the work financed by France. It was opened for navigation on November 17, 1869 for vessels from all countries, although the British government later wanted to have an armed force in the area to protect shipping interests having picked up a 44 per cent stake in the canal in 1875. The Suez Canal links the Red Sea and the Mediterranean providing a short cut from the Indian Ocean to the Atlantic From then, while nominally owned by Egypt, the canal was run by Britain and France until its until its nationalisation in 1956 . The nationalisation by Nasser saw Britain and France launched an abortive and humiliating bid to recapture the vital waterway. The canal was shut briefly following the attempted invasion. However, in 1967 the canal was shut for eight years following the Six Day war with Israel. Due to the instability in the region, the canal remained closed until 1975 - its longest ever closure, as the waterway had been mined and some vessels had been sunk in the main channel. The Suez Canal is actually the first canal that directly links the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea. In 2015 a new section of the canal opened, allowing vessels to traverse the waterway in both directions at the same time. Future plans will see the two-lane system extended across the entire network- doubling current capacity of the canal. The largest cargo vessels pay more than 180,000 in tolls to traverse the canal. On average about 40-50 cargo vessels use the canal on a daily basis in a trip that takes around 11 hours, as speed along the waterway is limited to about 9kts to prevent the banks of the canal getting washed away. Along the canal there are emergency mooring slots so vessels can pull over if they are suffering a mechanical issue. When the canal first opened, the channel was approximately 26 feet deep and 72 feet wide at the bottom. The surface was between 200 and 300 feet wide to allow ships to pass. By the 1960s, dredging of the canal increased the depth to 40 feet and widened the waterway to allow larger vessels. Now, the minimum depth of the canal is 66feet, though this is been increased to 72 feet - allowing even larger vessels. Advertisement
Those who have worked with Newark Public Safety Director Anthony Ambrose in his 35-year law enforcement career will tell you hes the quintessential lawman.

He lives for police work, said Essex County Sheriff Armando Fontoura, who selected Ambrose to be undersheriff 14 years ago. ...This is what he always wanted to do. He works at it all the time.

Ambroses last official day on the job will be March 31, when he will retire and hand over the reins to Deputy Chief Brian OHara to oversee a public safety department with more than 900 police officers and 600 firefighters.

But Ambrose, 62, doesnt plan to say goodbye to law enforcement even then. Hell be working for a big consulting company in law enforcement and public administration, he said, declining to name or elaborate on his new gig.

Outgoing Newark Public Safety Director Anthony Ambrose, left, is hugged by the incoming director, Brian OHara, during Ambrose's last ComStat meeting. He is retiring at the end of the month after being in law enforcement since 1986. Thursday, March 25, 2021. Newark, N.J. (Aristide Economopoulos | NJ Advance Media) Aristide Economopoulos | NJ Advance Media

Ambrose was picked by Mayor Ras Baraka in 2015 to lead what was then a newly-formed public safety department that consolidated police, fire and emergency management. He took on the job at a time when the police department was on the verge of entering into a list of reforms known as a consent decree after a federal investigation found a pattern of unconstitutional practices.

I knew that a consent decree was looming, and it was coming, Ambrose told NJ Advance Media. And I like a challenge. I love a challenge. I think thats what drives me.

The position was a bit of a homecoming for him. Ambrose joined the Newark Police Department in 1986 and quickly rose through the ranks to become the youngest police chief in the departments history in 1999 at the age of 40.

Ambrose grew up in the citys North Ward and knew he wanted to be a cop from a young age. He wrote a letter as a child to former Newark Police Director John Redden for a school assignment asking if he could become a cop, but was admittedly turned down at the time.

Respectfully, I must tell you that you are too young, Redden wrote back to Ambrose. A policeman must be twenty-one (21) years of age. It is a pleasure to hear from you, please continue your studies and schooling and when you are of age to become a policeman, I hope you will become successful in your chosen field.

Ambrose would actually drop out of high school (he said he was hanging out with an older crowd who stayed out late and he wanted to do the same) and became a mechanic before he shifted careers and joined the police academy to fulfill his childhood dream. His uncle had been a Newark police officer and he became fascinated by the work when he was five and saw officers on the job during a snowstorm.

I wasnt intrigued by the gun. I wasnt intrigued by the uniform, said Ambrose, who would go on to get his masters degree from Fairleigh Dickinson University. I was just intrigued that they were out there when nobody else was there. And they were just in that car riding around, making sure people were safe. And I thought that was cool.

Bloomfield Public Safety Director Samuel DeMaio went to the police academy with Ambrose and was his patrol partner when they both started out. He remembered the two once stood back to back with each other in 1986 as they responded to a large group that charged at them.

If youre going through a door, hes the guy you want going through with you, DeMaio said.

Former Newark Police Director Joseph Santiago was a mentor to Ambrose, who handled day-to-day operations as chief at the department under his tenure from 1996 to 2002. In 1997, Ambrose learned about ComStat, a computer system that tracks crime trends, from the New York Police Department and brought it to Newark.

That technology  and officers accountability meetings that followed  is still used today and is one factor that has helped reduce violent crime in Newark. The city in 2013 had the nations third-highest murder rate among other large cities with about 111 homicides, but that number has steadily decreased under Ambroses tenure since he became director in 2015.

There were 52 homicides reported in Newark in 2020, according to department data, and overall crime in the city reached a 50-year low in 2018.

But its partnerships with the community and residents that have also helped reduce crime, Ambrose said. Residents and groups can now voice their opinions on police policy, especially after consent decree reforms called for the department to increase public information programs.

Ambrose left his job as police director in Newark after Cory Booker became mayor. From there, he worked in county law enforcement, first becoming an Essex County undersheriff in 2007 and then chief of detectives at the prosecutors office.

Anthony Ambrose is sworn in as chief of investigators for the Essex County Prosecutor's Office by Judge Claude Coleman, left, while Essex County Prosecutor Paula Dow holds the bible at the Veteran's Memorial Court House in Newark on January 28, 2008. Ambrose's mother and family look on to the right. 1/28/2008 PHOTO BY MARK DYE/FOR THE STAR LEDGER

Thomas Fennelly, Essex Countys chief assistant prosecutor, worked with Ambrose in the homicide unit when he was chief of detectives. Ambrose worked on cases like the deadly Short Hills mall carjacking and the killing of 19-year-old Brendan Tevlin, who was shot multiple times in West Orange in 2014.

He was on the forefront of community policing and he always listened to the community and wanted to make sure they had a voice, Fennelly said. Every crime victim is somebodys relative. That was one of the things that motivated him and motivated the men and women who worked with him.

All those NJ Advance Media spoke to who had worked with Ambrose said he had an ability to bring law enforcement at the federal, state, county and local levels together to combat crime.

Officials from all over the state released statements on Ambroses retirement when it was announced last month. New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal said Ambrose oversaw dramatic changes in the culture of the Newark Police Department.

...He exemplified the best in law enforcement collaboration through initiatives such as the Newark Violent Crime Initiative, working with agencies at all levels, including my office, to achieve remarkable reductions in violent crime.

The city is entering a unique time as the coronavirus pandemic continues and the nation is still reeling from the unrest in the wake of George Floyds death in Minneapolis.

Ambroses successor, OHara, will likely need to still navigate how the virus impacts personnel and crime. OHara is starting his job as director weeks before the start of summer, a time when crime usually increases across cities. And while homicides remained almost level in 2020 in comparison to 2019, non-fatal shootings increased.

This past summer, protests in Newark after Floyds death were tense but remained non-violent. OHara will still need to manage any future protests in a city that is historically known for its activism and rallies.

I think weve done a lot of work here, Ambrose said. Im leaving this place better than I found it, without a doubt. And Ill also say its going in the hands of the right team.

Local journalism needs your support. Subscribe at nj.com/supporter.

Rebecca Panico may be reached at rpanico@njadvancemedia.com.
Bob Foley is a Sun Chronicle columnist. Foley, of Mansfield, spent seven years flying F4 planes for the U.S. Marines; 20 years as a middle manager/engineer at Texas Instruments and 13 years as a high school math teacher. His essays are published here each Friday.
Kano  A Federal High Court in Kano, Kano State, has sentenced a 28-year-old man, Abubakar Suleiman, to two years in prison without any option of fine for trafficking 30 women to Libya.

The National Agency for the Prohibition of Traffic In Persons (NAPTIP) charged Suleiman, a residence of Kadawa Miltara quarters in Ungogo Local Government Area of the state, with one-count charge of trafficking in persons.

The prosecution counsel, Abdullahi Babale, told the court yesterday that the defendant on February 10, 2021, conspired with one Salele (a Nigerien) now at large to transferred 30 woman from Edo and Lagos States to Niger Republic through Babura border in Jigawa State enroute to Libya.

He said the defendants deducted N5,000 from each of the women from the N50,000 paid per person from the sponsors in Libya and Niger Republic as commission.

According to the prosecutor, the offence contravened the provisions of Section 13(2) (c) of the Trafficking in Persons(Prohibition) Enforcement and Administration Act 2015.

The defendant, however, pleaded guilty to the charge.

Babale tendered the defendant's statement and one of the victim's statements as exhibits, and urged the court to sentence the defendant according to Section 356 (2) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015.

However, the defence counsel, M. B. Isa, pleaded for leniency on behalf of his client, 'because he is a first time offender'.

"The defendant is married and has five children. We pray the court to temper justice with mercy according to Section 416 (2) of ACJA 2015," he said.

The presiding Judge, Justice Sa'adatu Ibrahim-Mark, sentenced the convict to two years in prison at the correctional centre without any option of fine, and ordered the convict to pay an additional sum of N250,000, failure of which he will serve additional three months in the correctional centre.
Agricultural scientists who study climate change often focus on how increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide levels will affect crop yields. But rising temperatures are likely to complicate the picture, researchers report in a new review of the topic.

Published in the Journal of Experimental Botany, the review explores how higher temperatures influence plant growth and viability despite the greater availability of atmospheric CO2, a key component of photosynthesis. Excessive heat can reduce the efficiency of enzymes that drive photosynthesis and can hinder plants ability to regulate CO2 uptake and water loss, the researchers write. Structural features can make plants more  or less  susceptible to heat stress. Ecosystem attributes  such as the size and density of plants, the arrangement of leaves on plants or local atmospheric conditions  also influence how heat will affect crop yields.

The review describes the latest scientific efforts to address these challenges.

Its important to have an understanding of these issues across scales  from the biochemistry of individual leaves to ecosystem-level influences  in order to really tackle these problems in an informed way, said lead author Caitlin Moore, a research fellow at the University of Western Australia and an affiliate research fellow at the Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Moore led the review with Amanda Cavanagh, another UI alumna now at the University of Essex in the U.K.

Historically, theres been a lot of focus on rising CO2 and the impact that it has on plants, said co-author Carl Bernacchi, a professor of plant biology and of crop sciences and an affiliate of the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology at the university. And it is an important factor, because we are changing that carbon dioxide concentration enormously. But its a small part of the bigger story. Once you throw changing temperatures into the mix, it completely messes up our understanding of how plants are going to respond.

Take Rubisco, the key enzyme that fixes carbon dioxide into sugars, making life on Earth possible, Cavanagh said. Rubisco speeds up as the temperature increases, but its also prone to making mistakes.

Instead of fixing carbon dioxide by binding it to sugars, a key step in photosynthesis, Rubisco sometimes fixes oxygen, initiating a different pathway that wastes a plants resources. Higher temperatures make this more likely, Cavanagh said. At even higher temperatures, the enzyme will begin to lose its structural integrity, making it ineffective.

Excessive heat can also undermine a plants reproductive output. Other heat-sensitive enzymes are essential to the light-harvesting machinery of plants or play a role in moving sugars to different plant tissues, allowing the plant to grow and produce grains or fruits.

If these little molecular machines are pushed out of the temperature range thats optimal, then they cant do their job, Cavanagh said.

When temperatures rise too high, plant leaves open the pores on their surfaces, called stomata, to cool themselves. Stomata also allow plants to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, but when theyre fully open, the leaf can lose too much moisture.

Temperature affects the atmosphere above the plant, Moore said. As the atmosphere heats up, it can hold additional water, so its pulling more water from the plants.

Scientists at Illinois and elsewhere are looking for ways to enhance crop plants resilience in the face of these changes. Moore, whose work focuses on ecosystem-scale factors, said new tools that can help screen plants on a large scale are essential to that effort. For example, satellites that can detect changes in chlorophyll fluorescence in plants can indicate whether a crop is under heat stress. These changes in fluorescence are detectable before the plant shows any outward sign of heat stress  such as their leaves turning brown. Developing these tools may enable farmers to respond more quickly to crop stress before too much damage is done.

Cavanagh, who studies the molecular biology and physiology of plants, said some plants are more heat tolerant than others, and scientists are searching their genomes for clues to their success.

For example, you can look at wild Australian relatives of rice that are growing in much harsher climates than most paddy rices, she said. And you see that their enzymes are primed to work more efficiently at hotter temperatures.

One goal is to transfer heat-tolerant genes to cultivated rice varieties that are more susceptible to heat stress.

Other strategies include engineering structures that pump more CO2 to the site of carbon fixation to improve Rubisco efficiency; altering the light-gathering properties of leaves at the tops and bottoms of plants to even out distribution of sunlight and maintain moisture levels; and changing the density of stomata to improve their control of CO2 influx and moisture loss.

Collaboration between scientists focused on different scales of ecosystem and plant function  from the atmospheric to the molecular  is essential to the success of efforts to build resilience in crop plants, the researchers said.

The world is getting hotter at a shocking rate, Cavanagh said. And we know from global models that each increase in gross temperature degree Celsius can cause 3% to 7% losses in yield of our four main crops. So, its not something we can ignore.

What makes me optimistic is the realization that so much work is going into globally solving this problem, she said.
[March 26, 2021] The CIB and private sector partners to invest CAD $260 million to significantly expand broadband and connect Manitobans in underserved rural communities

Up to 49,000 households to benefit from project Disponible en francais TORONTO, March 26, 2021 /CNW/ - The Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB), Valley Fiber Limited (Valley Fiber) and DIF Capital Partners (DIF) have signed an agreement in principle to invest a total of CAD $260 million to increase broadband through the Southern Manitoba Fibre project. Broadband service is critical to Canadians' daily lives. It is essential for our quality of life, for everyone who owns small businesses, goes to school and wants to stay connected to family and friends. The Southern Manitoba Fibre project involves 2,550 kilometres of fibreoptic cabling, connecting up to 49,000 underserved households with dedicated fibre-to-the-home in rural municipalities. Under the terms of the agreement, the CIB will invest CAD $130 million and DIF will contribute CAD $130 million. Valley Fiber will be responsible for all aspects of construction, installation, operations and maintenance of the new broadband service. The project will also include last-mile infrastructure with underground fibre cables and networking equipment. The service will offer broadband speeds up to 1 gigabit per second, enhancing telecommunications services for residents, businesses and public service delivery. During the construction phase, up to 400 jobs will be created with an additional 50 permanent jobs within Valley Fiber. DIF completed a majority investment in Valley Fiber in April 2020 and ctively works together with the company to further build out its fibre network.



This is the CIB's first investment in broadband, first project in Manitoba and another example of the CIB quickly implementing its $10B Growth Plan by investing in new infrastructure. The CIB, Valley Fiber and DIF expect to reach financial close this spring with construction commencing immediately thereafter. The project is expected to be completed in 2024.

Endorsements I am excited the CIB is making its first investment in broadband and first investment in Manitoba. Our $130 million investment will help Manitobans receive broadband service and create new economic opportunities, support public services like health and education and strengthen rural communities. There is a tremendous opportunity to expand broadband networks and the CIB looks forward to making many more investments which benefit Canadians.

Ehren Cory, CEO Canada Infrastructure Bank I am honored to be working with such with an amazing team who shares our passion on bringing broadband to rural communities through dedicated active ethernet. Together, we are not only leveling the economic playing field but also bringing essential services to underserviced Canadians in Manitoba.

Hank Wall, CEO, Valley Fiber Limited Rolling out fibre broadband to remote locations in Canada will improve many facets of people's everyday life. DIF is excited to partner with the CIB and Valley Fiber on this transformational project. It will provide critical broadband access to many Canadians living in underserviced regions and enable rural communities in Manitoba to participate in the digitalization of the global economy.

Marko Kremer, Head of Americas, DIF Capital Partners The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted how important reliable, affordable high-speed internet is for Canadians. The Canada Infrastructure Bank's partnership with Valley Fiber and DIF Capital Partners will bring high-speed broadband to up to 49,000 homes in Southern Manitoba by 2024 and create up to 450 jobs, benefitting the local economy and building more inclusive communities. This is part of our government's plan to ensure all Canadians have access to quality, high-speed internet services.

Catherine McKenna, Minister of Infrastructure and Communities Access to high-speed Internet is a critical part of our daily lives. As we have witnessed throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Internet access has kept people connected, working, learning, and socializing remotely. But in communities with limited or no broadband access, this has been difficult. With its first investment in Manitoba, the Canadian Infrastructure Bank is demonstrating the importance of broadband projects in creating economic opportunity for individuals and businesses, and in helping people stay connected.

Dan Vandal, Member of Parliament for Saint-Boniface  Saint-Vital Quick Facts The project connects up to 49,000 underserved households with dedicated fibre-to-the-home in rural municipalities.

The CIB is mandated to invest CAD $35 billion and attract private sector investment into new revenue-generating infrastructure projects that are in the public interest and support Canadian economic growth.

and attract private sector investment into new revenue-generating infrastructure projects that are in the public interest and support Canadian economic growth. The investment commitment is subject to final due diligence and approval by the CIB's Board. Learn More: www.valleyfiber.ca

www.dif.eu SOURCE Canada Infrastructure Bank

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By Yusri Mohamed, Gavin Maguire and Florence Tan

ISMAILIA, Egypt (Reuters) - A huge container ship blocking the Suez Canal like a "beached whale" may take weeks to free, the salvage company said, as officials stopped all ships entering the channel on Thursday in a new setback for

The 400 metre Ever Given, almost as long as the Empire State Building is high, is blocking transit in both directions through one of the world's busiest channels for oil and refined fuels, grain and other trade linking Asia and Europe.

Late on Thursday, dredgers were still working to remove thousands of tonnes of sand from around the ship's bow.

The Suez Canal Authority (SCA) said earlier that nine tugs were working to move the vessel, which got stuck diagonally across the single-lane southern stretch of the canal on Tuesday morning amid high winds and a dust storm.

"We can't exclude it might take weeks, depending on the situation," Peter Berdowski, CEO of Dutch company Boskalis, one of two rescue teams trying to free the ship, told the Dutch television programme "Nieuwsuur".

A total of 206 large container ships, tankers carrying oil and gas, and bulk vessels hauling grain have backed up at either end of the canal, according to tracking data, creating one of the worst jams seen for years.

The blockage comes on top of the disruption to world trade already caused in the past year by COVID-19, with trade volumes hit by high rates of ship cancellations, shortages of containers and slower handling speeds at ports.

The world's number one line A.P. Moller Maersk said it was considering diverting vessels around Africa's Cape of Good Hope, adding five to six days to the journey between Asia and Europe. It said time-sensitive cargo could be sent on trains and airplanes, although no decisions had yet been made.

"ENORMOUS WEIGHT"

The SCA, which had allowed some vessels to enter the canal in the hope the blockage could be cleared, said it had temporarily suspended all traffic on Thursday. Maersk said in a customer advisory it had seven vessels affected.

Berdowski said the ship's bow and stern had been lifted up against either side of the canal.

"It is like an enormous beached whale. It's an enormous weight on the sand. We might have to work with a combination of reducing the weight by removing containers, oil and water from the ship, tug boats and dredging of sand."

Dredging work to remove 15,000-20,000 cubic metres of sand surrounding the bow continued after dark on Thursday, in coordination with the team from Boskalis subsidiary Smit Salvage, the SCA said.

The dredging work, which began on Wednesday evening and has involved two dredgers, aims to return the ship to a draft of 12-16 metres at which it could be refloated, the authority said.

(Graphic: Suez blockade - https://graphics.reuters.com/EGYPT-SUEZCANAL/SHIP/gjnvworxbvw/Suez-blockade.jpg)

Japanese shipowner Shoei Kisen apologised for the incident and said work on freeing the ship, which was heading to Europe from China, "has been extremely difficult" and it was not clear when the vessel would float again.

Another official with knowledge of the operation said that was likely to take days. "If you end up in the scenario that you have to remove cargo then you are looking at a time consuming exercise," he said, declining to be named.

A higher tide due on Sunday may help the rescue efforts.

However, the Egyptian meteorological authority is also warning of a "disruption of marine navigation" due to an expected sea storm on Saturday and Sunday, with winds forecast to reach up to 80 kph (50 mph) and waves up to 6 metres high along the Red Sea and the Gulf of Suez.

Roughly 30% of the world's container volume transits through the 193 km (120 mile) Suez Canal daily, and about 12% of total of all goods.

"Every port in Western Europe is going to feel this," Leon Willems, a spokesman for Rotterdam Port, Europe's largest, said. "We hope for both companies and consumers that it will be resolved soon."

CONTAINER CRUNCH

Consultancy Wood Mackenzie said the biggest impact was on container shipping, but there were also a total of 16 laden crude and product oil tankers due to sail through the canal and now delayed.

The tankers were carrying 870,000 tonnes of crude and 670,000 tonnes of clean oil products such as gasoline, naphtha and diesel, it said.

Russia and Saudi Arabia are the top two exporters of oil through the canal, while India and China are the main importers, oil analytics firm Vortexa said. Consultancy Kpler said the canal accounted for only 4.4% of total oil flows but a prolonged disruption would complicate flows of Russian and Caspian oil to Asia and oil from the Middle East into Europe.

The impact on oil prices has been limited so far as the destination of most oil tankers is Europe, where demand is currently weaker due to a new round of lockdowns. [O/R]

(Graphic: Top exporters of crude and products via Suez Canal - https://graphics.reuters.com/GLOBAL-OIL/jbyvrabeope/chart.png)

(Graphic: Top importers of crude and products via Suez Canal https://graphics.reuters.com/GLOBAL-OIL/nmovarbyopa/chart.png)

The deputy managing director of Germany's BDI industry association, Holger Loesch, expressed concern, saying earlier shipping holdups were already affecting output, especially in industries depending on raw materials or construction supplies.

About 16% of Germany's chemicals imports arrive by ship via the Suez canal and the chief economist for the association of German chemicals and pharmaceuticals producers VCI, Henrik Meincke, said they would be affected with every day of blockage.

The owner and insurers face claims totalling millions of dollars even if the ship is refloated quickly, industry sources said on Wednesday. Shoei Kisen said the hull insurer of the group is MS&AD Insurance Group while the liability insurer is UK P&I Club.

(Reporting by Yusri Mohamed in Isamilia, Gavin Maguire and Florence Tan and Roslan Khasawneh in Singapore; additional reporting by Bart Meijer in Amsterdam, Yuka Obayashi and Sakura Murakami in Tokyo, Mark John, Dmitry Zhdannikov, Julia Payne, Carolyn Cohn, Shadia Nasralla and Jonathan Saul in London, Anthony Deutsch in Amsterdam, Michael Hogan in Hamburg and Rene Wagner; Writing by Philippa Fletcher; Editing by Robert Birsel, Aidan Lewis and Alison Williams)

(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: India saw 59,118 new coronavirus infections in a day, the highest single day rise so far this year, taking the nationwide Covid-19 tally to 1,18,46,652.

The active caseload breached the 4 lakh-mark again after around three-and-half months.

Coronavirus

Registering an increase for the 16th day in row, the active cases have increased to 4,21,066 comprising 3.55 per cent of the total infections, while the recovery rate has further dropped to 95.09 per cent, the data stated.

The 59,118 new infections reported in a span of 24 hours were the highest since October 18, 2020. The death toll increased to 1,60,949 with 257 daily new fatalities.

As many as 61,871 new infections were recorded in a span of 24 hours on October 18.

Coronavirus

The number of people who have recovered from the disease surged to 1,12,64,637, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.36 per cent, as per the data.

India's Covid-19 tally had crossed the 60-lakh mark on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19.
What is the point of the pain if Morrison cannot lead his government, and the country, out of this torment? Archer, the first of her party to support the womens march outside Parliament on March 15, has broken down in Parliament several times in the past few weeks. Labor leader Anthony Albanese walked over to her with tissues on Thursday. What worries Archer is that the public debate, launched when former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins went public with her allegation of rape on February 15, is going on so long without a resolution. The past month or so has been very painful, especially for anyone with lived experience, she says. These are difficult but necessary conversations if they begin a process of meaningful change. Otherwise, the risk is that we are continuing to cause pain, and we must recognise that it is very emotionally triggering for many people.

Another Liberal, Lucy Wicks, told Parliament about the impact on her and others of the weeks of stories: These revelations and the instances of the gross mistreatment of women both here and around the nation have brought back some horrible memories for many of us, including me, in my personal life and in the workplace. The frustration is palpable among Liberals and Nationals who want something done but are expected to stand by Morrison while he tries to find an answer. Some women have stopped taking calls from the Prime Ministers office. Why pick up the phone? They do not want to do what Morrisons advisers so clearly need: to put female Liberals in front of the cameras to defend the leader. What they want is a policy. Scott Morrison shed tears this week as he spoke about the women in his life. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Morrisons face revealed the damage to his leadership and his government this week. His press conference on Tuesday, when he shed tears as he spoke about the women in his life, happened only because of the enormous pressure to admit his response over the previous month had been too weak. That moment will be remembered as a turning point. What nobody knows is whether he is on a path to recovery or ruin. The way he turned on the media, in the dumbest brain snap from a prime minister in a press conference in recent memory, only compounded the questions and doubts. Will he ever find the right way forward?

The steps to a solution are not secret. The chief executive of the Queensland Womens Legal Service, Angela Lynch, took them to the government when the March 4 Justice gathered outside Parliament House. Her ideas included stronger targets in the national plan on violence against women, tougher laws against sexual violence, a better court process for victims and more funding for family safety. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video Lynch also asked for a national summit of federal and state leaders with women and experts on sexual violence. Something like this has support within the Liberal party room  Archer wants it, as does Victorian regional backbencher Russell Broadbent. Inside the government, however, it remains a work in progress with no structure, deadline or  so far  ambition. Social Services Minister Anne Ruston tried to have a summit last year but suspended it during the coronavirus pandemic. It is an obvious step for Morrison because it builds on things he has already done. He announced $328 million two years ago for services including the 1800 RESPECT domestic violence hotline, emergency housing and home security for people threatened with family violence.

The mystery is why Morrison has not promised this summit already. It should be held by September to negotiate the next funding round with the states and territories. There is a stubbornness in Morrison, however, that makes it hard for him to announce things others have called for first. Loading Other failures have not helped. One fact that emerged this week was that Attorney-General Christian Porter never met his department officials to discuss the Respect@Work report into workplace sexual assault. Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins delivered that report one year ago. The government response to that report will appear within days. The damage from the delay is already done. There will be new funding and new measures, however, to show the government has woken up to the problem. Morrison took over the Respect@Work response this week, but the fact he did so only highlighted the inadequacy of his ministry. Minister for Women Marise Payne needs more women around her in this portfolio, given she is also Minister for Foreign Affairs. The coming reshuffle of the ministry sets up an opportunity. Morrison wants to move Porter to a new post as well as shifting Linda Reynolds from defence, given the questions over her health. But he could do more to revitalise his team.

Payne, who does not do her fair share of public advocacy in the governments cause, needs more help. The logical solution is a new minister, or assistant minister, on the prevention of sexual assault. The reshuffle will be a moment for Morrison to prove he is listening. To dither any longer will be to doom the government. Ian McAllister, a professor of politics and international relations at the Australian National University, says Morrison is vulnerable to the same backlash from women that helped finish off other prime ministers. Its not looking good at the moment, he says. The gender index moved to minus seven when Julia Gillard became prime minister, as women backed her leadership. Credit:Andrew Meares The Australian Election Study, which McAllister led from 1987 to 2019, shows the danger. Women have become more progressive over decades, but they shift suddenly when leaders offend them. Former prime minister Paul Keating antagonised some with his aggressive style, fuelling a swing to the Liberals in the years before Labor lost power in 1996. When Keating disappeared, it went back to the long-term trend, says McAllister. His index of gender voting shows a return to balance (a figure of zero) in the final years of the Howard government, with two sharp swings over the past decade.

First, the gender index moved to minus seven when Julia Gillard became prime minister, as women backed her leadership. It returned to zero when Tony Abbott won the 2013 election, suggesting women gave him the benefit of the doubt. But it did not stay there long. It turned again, with a figure of minus six, with a swing to Labor among women at the 2016 election. Loading This electoral force really does have the power to make or break leaders. The scale of the shift for Morrison, however, is a live question. Plenty of women are obviously exercised about the allegations swamping Canberra at the moment, but we shouldnt expect that it will change any votes, says Jill Sheppard, senior lecturer at ANU and another expert on the Australian Election Study. We know from AES data that economic security, health and education tend to drive vote choice, and unless gender and the treatment of women remain front of voters minds, that wont change. The governments ham-fisted handling of the issue might undermine voters confidence in their ability to govern effectively, but any effect will probably be concentrated among voters who wouldnt consider voting for the Coalition anyway.

Almost every swinging voter would need to be intensely concerned about this issue for it to have any discernible effect on the Coalitions vote. Its more likely that it adds to pre-existing concerns about Morrisons ability to run an effective and responsive government. Labor has declared Morrison finished. What weve seen this fortnight is a tired, stale government thats unravelling before our eyes, Albanese said on Thursday. Labor education spokeswoman Tanya Plibersek wondered aloud whether Morrisons tears last Tuesday were an act. Labor MP Alicia Payne tears up during House of Representatives business at Parliament House this week. Credit:Getty Images What should alarm Morrison, and all those around him, is that some Liberals agree. There has always been a group of Liberals, let alone critics outside the party, who believe Morrisons public persona is a facade. He can do as much empathy training as he wants but he cant make that come out in any shape or form that looks sincere, says one Liberal MP. This is the beginning of the end of Scotty from marketing.

Is his leadership safe? Morrison laughed off that question from ABC Radio host Sabra Lane on Thursday morning. He is not under threat within his party. Even so, his colleagues can see his feet of clay. The man who won the 2019 election almost single-handedly looks suddenly clumsy. And the men who advise him are not as clever as they thought. Loading Environment Minister Sussan Ley says change is coming. One person cant achieve this change  everyone in this building needs to be part of achieving this change, she said this week. Ley has backed quotas for women and wants a target of 40 per cent women among federal Liberal MPs. But this debate could take years, given the reluctance of Liberal branches to accept a new model. The bigger test is in the community beyond the Parliament, the parties and the politicians. Can Morrison convince women he has a way to help them?

The PM has heard from Australian women loud and clear and I think his press conference this week was a watershed moment, says Katie Allen, the member for Higgins in eastern Melbourne and a paediatrician before she entered Parliament. His speech resonated with me and other women but words are not enough  they have to be followed by action. Hes not the sort of person to have a watershed moment and not deliver. His only way out is a significant policy plan that has enough money to force change in the treatment of women. That means action on discrimination, pay, sexual harassment, sexual assault, rape and violence  inside the Parliament and in the world beyond. Without all this, his tears on Tuesday will be meaningless. National Sexual Assault, Family & Domestic Violence Counselling Line: 1800 737 732. Crisis support can be found at Lifeline: (13 11 14 and lifeline.org.au).
A 23-year-old Berks County man who is charged in a killing last August in Reading stabbed two corrections officers on March 9 at Lehigh County Jail in Allentown, court papers say.

Joewel John Keita, who is now being housed in Berks Countys prison and is from Mohnton, was charged Thursday with four counts of aggravated assault in the Lehigh County crimes, court papers say.

Staff members at the Allentown jail had learned Keita had a homemade knife but didnt find it in a search of his cell while Keita was on a recreation break March 9, the Lehigh County District Attorneys Office said.

Two corrections officers told Keita he would have to undergo a naked search, but he went into his cell instead and slammed the door, court papers say. One of the officers saw Keita throw a shank in the toilet and try to flush it, but the water was still turned off from the previous search, authorities said.

The officers then saw Keita holding a shank and despite being told to give it up, Keita said, Im going to stab everyone, court papers say. When talking failed, pepper spray was deployed, hitting Keita, and he threw the weapon out of the cell, court papers say.

Keita was ordered to put his hands behind his back and walk backward to the front of the cell, which he did, court papers say. But as he reached his destination, Keita turned around and began striking the officers with his hands, court papers say. At that point the officers realized Keita was holding a shank as he punched them, authorities said.

The officers fought back and subdued Keita, court papers say.

One of the officers was treated at St. Lukes Hospital in Allentown for a 14-inch laceration and bruising, while the other was treated for a laceration on his lower right forearm, court papers say.

Keita was arraigned Thursday before District Judge Karen C. Devine on the Allentown charges, court papers say.

Keita is charged with two counts of homicide and related offenses in the Aug. 18 shooting of Miguel Pena-Pena, 26, who died later that week according to WFMZ-TV 69. He is being held without bail on those charges and his bail in the Lehigh County case is 10% of $50,000, court papers say.

It wasnt immediately clear why he was being held in early March in Lehigh County Jail.

Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting lehighvalleylive.com with a subscription.

Tony Rhodin can be reached at arhodin@lehighvalleylive.com.
To the Editor:

Re The Women of the Jewish Resistance, by Judy Batalion (Sunday Review, March 21):

My mother saved her life in 1941 by flirting with the guard at the door of a synagogue that held 100 Jewish people in her town in Lithuania. These included her parents and four younger brothers. They were held there before being taken to be killed in a pit.

My mother figured out a way to involve the guard in conversation, and he ended up asking to meet her outside. The guard turned around and let her out. She never waited to meet him. She ran barefoot into the forest. The next day, she heard the shots that killed her family.

I heard the story as a child. She was saved by a priest and given a Catholic identity.

She mentioned that she had been asked to enter the Partisan group but did not think that she could handle that. She is now almost 100. My father was a Partisan. Many of the acts attributed to women were also carried out by young men, like my father, angry because they lost their families.
DGAP-News: Douglas GmbH / Key word(s): Financing

Douglas GmbH: Announces Pricing of 1,305 Million 6.000% Senior Secured Notes due 2026 and 475 Million 8.250% / 9.000% Senior PIK Notes due 2026



26.03.2021 / 18:00

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.





NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION OR RELEASE, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, TO U.S. NEWS WIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES, AUSTRALIA, CANADA OR JAPAN, OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION IN WHICH THE DISTRIBUTION OR RELEASE WOULD BE UNLAWFUL.

/

March 26, 2021

Douglas GmbH Announces Pricing of

1,305 Million 6.000% Senior Secured Notes due 2026 to be issued by Douglas GmbH and

475 Million 8.250% / 9.000% Senior PIK Notes due 2026 to be issued by Kirk Beauty SUN GmbH

Dusseldorf, Germany-March 26, 2021 - Douglas GmbH (the "Company") announces that it has priced an offering of (1) 1,305 million aggregate principal amount of senior secured notes due 2026 (the "Senior Secured Notes") intended to be issued by the Company and (2) 475 million aggregate principal amount of senior PIK notes due 2026 intended to be issued by Kirk Beauty SUN GmbH (the "Senior PIK Notes" and together with the Senior Secured Notes, the "Notes"). The Senior Secured Notes will bear interest at a rate of 6.000% per annum and will be issued at a price of 100% of the nominal amount thereof. The Senior PIK Notes will bear interest at a rate of 8.250% per annum in respect of cash interest and 9.000% per annum in respect of PIK interest and will be issued at a price of 100% of the nominal amount thereof. The issuance and settlement of the Notes is expected to occur on April 8, 2021, subject to customary closing conditions.

In connection with the offering of the Notes, the Company has entered into a supplemental deed that amends and restates the existing senior secured facilities agreement providing for a new term loan B facility in the amount of 600 million and a new revolving credit facility in the amount of 170 million.

The Company intends to use the proceeds from the offering of the Notes, together with proceeds from borrowings under the 600 million term loan B facility and an equity contribution from existing shareholders to (1) fund the redemption in full of the Company's existing senior secured notes due 2022 and existing senior notes due 2023; (2) repay or refinance all amounts outstanding under the Company's existing senior secured facilities; (3) fund cash on hand; and (4) pay fees and expenses incurred in connection therewith.

For more information, please refer to our announcement published on March 18, 2021, or contact:

Douglas GmbH

Luise-Rainer-Strae 7-11, 40235 Dusseldorf, Germany

Douglas Investor Relations:

Stefanie Steiner

Email: ir@douglas.de

Douglas Press Office:

Eva Kruger

Email: pr@douglas.de

* * *

The offering is being made by means of an offering memorandum. This announcement does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy the Notes or any other security and shall not constitute an offer, solicitation or sale in the United States or in any jurisdiction in which, or to any persons to whom, such offering, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

The Notes and the related guarantees have not been, and will not be, registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act") or the securities laws of any state or other jurisdiction of the United States, and may not be offered or sold within the United States, or to, or for the account or benefit of, U.S. persons (as defined in Regulation S), except pursuant to an exemption from, or in a transaction not subject to, the registration requirements of the Securities Act and applicable state or local securities laws. Accordingly, the Notes and the related guarantees are being offered and sold (i) in the United States only to qualified institutional buyers in accordance with Rule 144A under the Securities Act and (ii) in "offshore transactions" to non-U.S. persons outside the United States in accordance with Regulation S. There is no assurance that the offerings will be completed or, if completed, as to the terms on which they will be completed.

This announcement has been prepared on the basis that any offer of the Notes in any Member State of the European Economic Area (the "EEA") or in the United Kingdom will be made pursuant to an exemption under Regulation (EU) 2017/1129 (as amended or superseded) (the "Prospectus Regulation") and the Prospectus Regulation as it forms part of United Kingdom law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (the "UK Prospectus Regulation") from the requirement to publish a prospectus for offers of the Notes.

The Notes are not intended to be offered, sold or otherwise made available to and should not be offered, sold or otherwise made available to any retail investor in the EEA or the United Kingdom. For these purposes, a retail investor means a person who is one (or more) of: (i) a retail client as defined in point (11) of Article 4(1) of Directive 2014/65/EU, as amended ("MiFID II"); (ii) a customer within the meaning of Directive (EU) 2016/97, where that customer would not qualify as a professional client as defined in point (10) of Article 4(1) of MiFID II; or (iii) not a qualified investor as defined in the Prospectus Regulation and UK Prospectus Regulation. Consequently, no key information document required by Regulation (EU) No 1286/2014, as amended (the "PRIIPs Regulation"), for offering or selling the Notes or otherwise making them available to retail investors in the EEA or in the United Kingdom has been prepared and therefore offering or selling the Notes or otherwise making them available to any retail investor in the EEA or the United Kingdom may be unlawful under the PRIIPs Regulation.

Manufacturer target market (MiFID II product governance; UK MiFIR product governance) is eligible counterparties and professional clients only (all distribution channels). No PRIIPs or UK PRIIPs key information document (KID) has been prepared as the offering is not available to retail investors in EEA or the United Kingdom, respectively.

The distribution of this announcement into certain jurisdictions may be restricted by law. Persons into whose possession this announcement comes should inform themselves about and observe any such restrictions. Any failure to comply with these restrictions may constitute a violation of the laws of any such jurisdiction.

Forward-looking Statements

This announcement may include "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the securities laws of certain applicable jurisdictions. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, all statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this announcement, including, without limitation, those regarding the Company's intentions, beliefs or current expectations concerning, among other things: the Company's future financial conditions and performance, results of operations and liquidity; the Company's strategy, plans, objectives, prospects, growth, goals and targets; future developments in the markets in which the Company participates or is seeking to participate; and anticipated regulatory changes in the industry in which the Company operates. These forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology, including the terms "anticipate", "believe", "continue", "ongoing", "estimate", "expect", "intend", "may", "plan", "potential", "predict", "project", "target", "seek" or, in each case, their negative, or other variations or comparable terminology. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that may or may not occur in the future. Past performance is not an indication of future results and past performance should not be taken as a representation that trends or activities underlying past performance will continue in the future. Readers are cautioned that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and that the Company's actual financial condition, results of operations and cash flows, and the development of the industry in which the Company operates, may differ materially from (and be more negative). The forward-looking statements in this document speak only as at the date of this announcement and the Company and its affiliates expressly disclaim any obligation or undertaking to review or release any updates or revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect any change in its expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any statement is based after the date of this announcement or to update or to keep current any other information contained in this document or to provide any additional information in relation to such forward-looking statements, unless required to do so by applicable law.
Mar. 25NEW LONDON  Police are investigating after receiving a report of possible shots fired early Wednesday morning and finding spent casings in the roadway, New London police Capt. Brian Wright said in an email Thursday morning.

Police received a report about 1:14 a.m. Wednesday of possible shots fired in the Connecticut Avenue area, Wright said. After patrolling the area, officers found spent casings in the roadway in the area of Connecticut Avenue and Lincoln Avenue.

No injured people were reported or located. Wright said police seized evidence and canvassed the area, and the investigation remains active.

No further information was immediately available.

e.moser@theday.com
American culture is a grand mix of the old and the not so old, as we all know. As is true in other cultures, including the island culture here Read more
Digital healthcare reforms on the way

Ten months after the Health and Disability System Review was released in June 2020, it looks like its recommendations for overhauling the health system will be enactedand digital transformation will be a major component of the changes.

In a speech this week, Minister of Health Andrew Little says the government will announce the new structure in April, describing it as the blueprint for how the system will work in the future.

[ Keep up on the latest thought leadership, insights, how-to, and analysis on IT through Computerworlds newsletters. ]

Digital technologies are one of five key shifts taking place. Greater innovation and digital options will see New Zealanders being able to access virtual diagnostic service, access primary care, and have better access to specialist care wherever they live.

Little says the pandemic has been catalyst for change in the healthcare sector, noting that throughout COVID-19 health services have been able to use digital platforms without a reduction in the quality of care. We achieved greater transformation of digital services in a matter of weeks than we did in many years.

The healthcare sector has been a laggard in the adoption of digital channels, as was made clear in the review. It noted that 150 million Eftpos transactions can be processed monthly, and 60% of adult passport renewals can be processed online, but we still have a national healthcare system where people cant do something as simple as update the address thats linked to their National Health Index Number.

Paperless patient record in two years

There are, of course, pockets of change in the healthcare sector. Yesterday, Southern Cross Healthcare announced it has completed the rollout of an electronic clinical notes system, provided by Orion Health, across its network of 15 wholly owned and joint venture hospitals. Its goal is to have a paperless patient record by 2023.

Since the start of the rollout in December 2020, almost 200,000 notes have been logged electronically across its national network. Southern Crosss director of nursing, Carey Campbell, says nurses, who generally write notes every two hours as part of their patient rounds are enthusiastic about the technology, reporting it is faster than the paper-based method.

Implementing digital patient notes is just one part of the innovative end-to-end electronic patient record programme that were developing with Orion Health. The next phase will involve rolling out the paperless electronic vitals solution and developing a medication management solution, Campbell says.

Whare Wananga selects a SaaS studet management system

Meanwhile, over in education Te Whare Wananga o Awanuiarangi, a publicly own tertiary education institution in Whakatane with 6,000 students, has selected UK-based Tribal Group to replace its student management system. Phase one will go live in June 2022.

Awanuiarangi CEO Wiremu Doherty says after the current student management system plateaued, they looked for a system that would improve the student experience for initial enquiry to application and from enrolment to graduation. The core student management system will be hosted by Tribal Cloud and will include business intelligence reporting delivered via third party partner, Panintelligence.

As part of the offering, Awanuiarangi will adopt Tribals Student Engage mobile app as private social network to connect the Wananga community.

NZ e-commerce rocking ahead

Earlier this week, we reported that HP, in an application to the Commerce Commission to enable it to have more control over online sales delivered via a third party, estimates the e-commerce market in New Zealand is worth $4 billion and is experiencing accelerating growth.

The evidence for this is again borne out by two major retailers that are listed on the NZX and that reported their half-year results. The Warehouse Group, whose digital strategy was profiled in CIO New Zealand this month, reported 50.3% growth in online sales and 106.3% growth in click-and-collect fulfilment. Online now makes up 11.9% of total group sales.

Meanwhile, Kathmandu (which includes the brands Rip Curl and Oboz) is seeing a step change in group online penetration, with online now representing 12.7% of direct-to-consumer sales.

This chimes with another major retailer, Briscoes, which last week reported a full-year result that showed online sales grew by almost 80% over the previous year, accounting for almost a fifth of all sales.

2degrees latest telco to tease an IPO

When NZX head of issuer relationships Sarah Minhinnick told Computerworld New Zealand last week that it is seeing the most interest in listing that we have for some time, we hadnt expected a telcobut well take it!

2degrees, which has 1.6 million subscribers in New Zealand, is the latest telco to announce it may list on the NZX and ASX. It is majority owned (73%) by Trilogy International Partners, a company listed on the Toronto stock exchange, which also owns a telco in Bolivia. Trilogy reported its full-year results at the same time as the announcement, breaking out its New Zealand business to show service revenues of $549 million and adjusted EBITDA of $171 million.

Trilogy CEO and chair of 2degrees board Brad Horwitz says the reasons for contemplating a partial IPO are equity markets are strong globally, telecom valuations are attractive, and the New Zealand dollar is at a multiyear high. An equity event in New Zealand would raise primary capital to accelerate growth initiatives at 2degrees as well as enable Trilogy to reduce the debt it incurred while building the 2degrees business, he says.

The listing could take place later this year or early next. But the market wont be holding its breath after two other potential telco listings in recent timesVodafone and Vocuswere snapped up by buyers ahead of an IPO.


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A top American lawmaker has praised India for sending COVID-19 vaccines to African countries, asserting it has shown good faith in humanity. India has made vaccines available to 30 other countries in Africa, Congresswoman Karen Bass said on India's vaccine delivery efforts in Africa during a markup of the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Thursday.

Although there are reports that the Serum Institute of India is suspending major exports of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to the continent, they have shown a good faith in humanity, Bass, the Democratic Congresswoman from California, said as she referred to her recent meeting with India's Ambassador to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu.

India, among others, made a grant in a delivery of 30,000 COVID-19 vaccines to Botswana, she said. During another hearing by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Democracy in Latin America and Caribbean, Organization of American States Secretary-General Luis Almagro praised similar Indian move in the region.

Some countries have been, India for example, provided donations, many donations to Caribbean countries. Of course, this makes countries grateful because when you don't find solutions anywhere else, you find solutions wherever you can in order to vaccinate your people, he said.

That is why I asked during my presentations for a stronger commitment of the United States of America in order to help deliver vaccines to Canada and to Mexico -- you have a third border that is Caribbean countries -- Caribbean countries -- they should be attended too -- they should be taken care of too, Almagro said.

India has so far sent more than 60 million doses of COVID19 vaccines to over 70 countries.

Also read: Mauritius waives off all risks from Serum, Bharat Biotech Covid-19 vaccines

Also read: Pfizer, BioNTech start testing COVID-19 vaccine in children under 12
Intelligent.com, a trusted resource for online degree rankings and higher education planning, has announced the Top 50 Nutrition Degree Programs for 2021. The comprehensive research guide is based on an assessment of 190 accredited colleges and universities in the nation. Each program is evaluated based on curriculum quality, graduation rate, reputation, and post-graduate employment.

The 2021 rankings are calculated through a unique scoring system which includes student engagement, potential return on investment and leading third party evaluations. Intelligent.com analyzed 190 schools, on a scale of 0 to 100, with only 50 making it to the final list. The methodology also uses an algorithm which collects and analyzes multiple rankings into one score to easily compare each school.

Students who pursue any one of these programs can expect to gain employment much quicker in comparison to candidates without a degree. In addition to accessibility and cost, the steady job growth in this market is one of the many reasons Intelligent.com researched and ranked the Top Nutrition Degree Programs. To access the complete ranking, please visit: https://www.intelligent.com/best-nutrition-degree-programs/

2021 Nutrition Degree Programs featured on Intelligent.com (in alphabetical order):

Arizona State University

Benedictine University

Brigham Young University

Colorado State University

Eastern Michigan University

Indiana State University

Indiana University of Pennsylvania

Kansas State University

Logan University

Missouri State University

Oregon State University

Oregon State University

Purdue University Global

Purdue University

Rowan University

Rutgers University

South Dakota State University

Texas Christian University

Texas Tech University

Texas Woman's University

University of Alabama

University of Arizona

University of California, Davis

University of Central Missouri

University of Cincinnati

University of Connecticut

University of Houston

University of Illinois at Chicago

University of Kentucky

University of Massachusetts, Lowell

University of Memphis

University of Minnesota

University of Mississippi

University of Missouri

University of Montevallo

University of Nebraska, Lincoln

University of North Dakota

University of North Florida

University of Northern Colorado

University of Pittsburgh

University of Southern Mississippi

University of Texas, Austin

University of Texas, San Antonio

University of Vermont

University of Washington

University of Western States

University of Wisconsin, Madison

Utah State University

Wayne State University

Western Illinois University

About Intelligent.com

Intelligent.com provides unbiased research to help students make informed decisions about higher education programs. The website offers curated guides which include the best degree programs as well as information about financial aid, internships and even study strategies. With comprehensive, user-friendly guides and hundreds of program rankings, Intelligent.com is a trusted source among students and prospective students. To learn more, please visit https://www.intelligent.com/.
The provincial government is taking the Supreme Court of Canadas upholding of the carbon tax as a win.

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The provincial government is taking the Supreme Court of Canadas upholding of the carbon tax as a win.

On Thursday morning, the court ruled in a 6-3 split decision that the federal carbon tax is constitutional, quashing an appeal filed by the Saskatchewan government after that provinces own Court of Appeal dismissed a constitutional challenge against the tax last year.

Though Alberta Premier Jason Kenney and Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe expressed disappointment in the decision, Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister found a silver lining in the ruling.

Manitoba has its own appeal of the carbon tax in the works after Pallister proposed a flat price on carbon for the province last year that wouldnt see costs rise like the federal plan.

The decision, which was authored by Chief Justice Richard Wagner, states that the federal government can only impose its own carbon pricing on a province that has an insufficient price in place.

"It reaffirms that this is a national issue, an international issue that needs to be addressed," Pallister said during a Thursday morning media conference. "I think it also affirms pretty clearly that the federal government doesnt have an unfettered right how to address it.

"We have a made-in-Manitoba plan. Our plan is more stringent than many of the provinces the federal government said could go ahead with theirs, and Manitobas green plan will work best if we have Manitobans working together on it as we did when we developed it. Were optimistic with the decision and the wording in it that we have a case to make."

The premier argued that the federal plan is damaging to Manitoba because significant portions of the province are rural or northern, so the province is more impacted than provinces with more urban economic bases.

"Also, the federal government has given us zero credit for the billions of dollars that we have been forced to borrow to invest in our green economy and in large part, Hydro," Pallister said.

"Hydro was built by the previous government with the intention of satisfying American markets that simply arent coming to the foreground, so were focusing on developing Canadian markets like the market in Saskatchewan that was somewhat discussed yesterday."

Wednesdays edition of the Winnipeg Free Press featured a story stating that the recent Wall report on Manitoba Hydro had failed to disclose that Manitoba had made two power sales valued at $5 billion to Saskatchewan.

During his media conference on Thursday, Pallister said that allegations his government had covered up the deals were "a frivolous and false accusation."

He also said that like how Manitoba has been successful with public health measures during the COVID-19 pandemic by involving the public in the process, Manitobas green plan will be better and in some cases more stringent than the federal plan because Manitobans and stakeholder groups are building it together.

Asked how Manitobas chances appear to be in winning its appeal, the premier was hesitant to provide a firm answer.

Dan Mazier

"I learned a long time ago that what seems common sense to most people isnt necessarily what happens in a court," Pallister said. "And so Ill only say Im very hopeful."

Dauphin-Swan River-Neepawa Conservative MP Dan Mazier said by phone from Ottawa that he was thankful the Supreme Court came to a decision as several plans and decisions were being held up by the wait.

He was glad the Supreme Courts ruling recognized that there is a spillover of carbon emissions between jurisdictions.

"When you have a carbon tax imposed in one country and you dont have one in another like the United States ... that puts us, our businesses and everything at a disadvantage," Mazier said. "Why would a person come to Canada to invest in if all of a sudden youre under the gun with a carbon tax."

The Conservatives recent online policy convention featured Opposition Leader Erin OToole saying in a speech that the debate on the existence of climate change must end as it is real.

However, the convention also featured a vote in which 54 per cent of delegates voted against adding "We recognize that climate change is real. The Conservative Party is willing to act" to its policy declaration.

The party still wants to axe the federal carbon tax and Mazier said the in-progress Conservative climate plan will propose an alternative solution that will be cheaper for Canadians and businesses as well as a collaborative approach with the provinces.

"If Manitoba has a better plan that meets our federal goals, go for it," he said.

His colleague, Brandon-Souris Conservative MP Larry Maguire, told the Sun that climate change and the environment have long been a concern of his as a politician at the provincial and federal levels as well as being a farmer.

"Emissions are a matter of national concern, theres no doubt about that," said Maguire. "But the Liberal carbon tax is not the way to go. All it does is make the poorest people in Canada pay more."

Maguire said that the process of changing the countrys climate change approach and balancing the budget, if his party were to take power, would need to take place over several years.

Both Mazier and Maguire said they believed the governing Liberals are preparing to call a spring election.

Both men said their party would have its new climate plan ready if an election is called in the short term. Neither MP believed that their partys climate plan, when announced, would put them at odds with grassroots members.

"A Conservative government led by Erin OToole will work with the provinces," said Mazier about carbon measures. "You cant say the same about the Liberals."

A motion proposed by the Conservatives to exempt agricultural producers from being charged carbon tax on grain drying is currently supported by all parties except for the governing Liberals and has reached the committee stage in the House.

 cslark@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @ColinSlark
ART Fertility Clinics

News Summary

Gulf Capital, one of the largest and most active alternative asset managers in Growth Markets, announced today its two-year growth plans for ART Fertility Clinics, the fastest growing provider of fertility treatment services in the GCC.
The Health Ministry confirmed five new Covid-19 patients Friday evening  two illegal entrants and three imported cases.

"Patient 2585" is a 44-year-old Chinese who had entered Vietnam illegally through the Moc Bai Border Gate in the southern province of Tay Ninh on March 23 and went to southern Binh Duong Province, where he tested positive for the novel coronavirus two days later. He is being treated at the provincial General Hospital.

"Patient 2586" is a 26-year-old woman in Kien Thuy District, Hai Phong City. She entered Vietnam illegally at Phu Quoc Island on March 22, flew to the Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi and proceeded to Hai Phong. She tested positive a day later and is being treated at the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases in the capital city.

Patients 2851, 2853 and 2854 were quarantined upon entry at three different ports.

"Patient 2851," a 30-year-old man, landed March 24 at Da Nang International Airport from Japan. "Patient 2853," an 28-year-old woman, who entered Vietnam at the Moc Bai Border Gate on March 26.

"Patient 2854," a 33-year-old man landed March 10 at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in HCMC from the UAE.

On Friday morning, two Vietnamese women who returned home illegally via the southern coast were confirmed positive for the novel coronavirus. The health ministry has listed them as community transmissions.

The new community cases via illegal entrants have raised the risk of a fourth Covid-19 outbreak in the country.

Vietnam has recorded 2,586 Covid-19 cases with 2,265 recoveries and 35 deaths.
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According to a new study published by Polaris Market Research the global artificial intelligence market is anticipated to reach USD 54 billion by 2026. The advancements of robots and the rise in their deployment rate particularly, in the developing economies globally have had a positive impact on the global artificial intelligence market. Augmented customer experience, expanded application areas, enhanced productivity, and big data integration has highly propelled artificial intelligence market worldwide. Although, absence of adequate skilled workforce as well as threat to human dignity are some of the factors that could affect the growth of the market. However, these factors are expected to have minimal impact on the market attributed to the introduction of advanced technologies.

An extraordinary increase in productivity has been achieved with machine-learning. For instance, Google, with the help of its experimental driverless technology has transformed cars including, Toyota Prius. Integration of various tools by artificial intelligence has helped in the transformation of business management. These tools include brand purchase advertising, workflow management tools, trend predictions among others. For example, the Googles voice accuracy technology has 98% of accuracy rate. Furthermore, Facebooks DeepFace technology has a success rate of approximately 97% in recognizing faces. Such accuracy in technologies is further anticipated to bolster the market growth during the forecast period.

Request for a sample of this research report @ https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/artificial-intelligence-market/request-for-sample

Currently, North America dominates the global artificial intelligence market attributed to the high government funding availability, existence of prominent artificial intelligence providers in the region, and robust technical adoption base. Also, the region is expected to continue its dominance during the forecast period. Moreover, the adoption of cloud-based services in key economies, such as the US and Canada, is considerably adding to the market growth in the North American region. The markets in Asia Pacific, MEA and South America region are expected to notice a high growth during the coming years. The growth in Asia Pacific region is attributed to the increasing demand for artificial technologies by the developing economies. Thus, the region is anticipated to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period.

Major companies profiled in the report include Google Inc., Intel Corporation, Nvidia Corporation, Microsoft Corporation, IBM Corporation, General Vision, Inc., Qlik Technologies Inc., MicroStrategy, Inc., Brighterion, Inc., and Baidu, Inc. among others

Complete Summary with TOC Available @. https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/artificial-intelligence-market

Key Findings from the study suggest North America is expected to command the market over the forecast years. APAC is presumed to be the fastest growing market, developing at a CAGR of more than 65% over the forecast period. The artificial intelligence market is presumed to develop at a CAGR of over 55.9% from 2018 to 2026. The high implementation of artificial intelligence in several end-user verticals including, retail, automotive and healthcare is projected to boost the growth of the market over the forecast period. Several companies are making considerable investments to integrate artificial intelligence competences into their portfolio of products. For instance, in 2016, SK Telecom and Intel Corporation signed an agreement for the development of the artificial intelligence based vehicle-to-everything (V2X) technology as well as video recognition.

Artificial Intelligence Market Size and Forecast by Technology Machine Learning Natural Language Processing Image Processing Speech Processing

Artificial Intelligence Market Size and Forecast by End-use Verticals BFSI Transportation & Automotive Manufacturing Healthcare Retail Media & Advertising Others

Artificial Intelligence Market Size and Forecast by Regions North America U.S. Canada Europe Germany UK France Italy Asia Pacific China Japan India Latin America Brazil Mexico Middle East & Africa



Avail discount on this report @ https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/artificial-intelligence-market/request-for-discount-pricing

About Polaris Market Research

Polaris Market Research is a global market research and consulting company. We provide unmatched quality of offerings to our clients present globally. The company specializes in providing exceptional market intelligence and in-depth business research services for our clientele spread across different enterprises. We at Polaris are obliged to serve our diverse customer base present across the industries of healthcare, technology, semi-conductors and chemicals among various other industries present around the world. We strive to provide our customers with updated information on innovative technologies, high growth markets, emerging business environments and latest business-centric applications, thereby helping them always to make informed decisions and leverage new opportunities.

Contact us-

Polaris Market Research

Phone: 1-646-568-9980

Email: sales@polarismarketresearch.com

Web: www.polarismarketresearch.com
The Flemington Planning Board unanimously approved preliminary and final site plans for the revised Courthouse Square proposal this week, pushing forward a major downtown redevelopment project thats been several years in the making.

The latest application for the project, which seeks to revitalize the long shuttered Union Hotel, was presented by developer Jack Cust in September 2020. It downsizes a number of features from his approved 2017 plan, including building heights and retail and parking space.

The plan also preserves the Union Hotel  for which construction has already begun  the Hunterdon County Bank building, and the Potting Shed building, while allotting for the development of separate apartment units and retail space in the downtown Flemington area.

The amended plan was approved and finalized by the borough in the fall of 2020, and the latest round of approvals came on Tuesday.

I think it just goes to show you that a compromised, smaller project was the best way to go, Flemington Mayor Betsy Driver told NJ Advance Media. The scaled-down project is a much better fit for Flemington, and Id like to thank the developer for being willing to compromise on whats going to be built because it has the community buy-in that was lacking in the previous version.

Were very excited that we got the approval, and were looking forward to moving forward, Cust told NJ Advance Media.

Despite the revised proposals steady progress since its introduction last fall, there is still an outstanding lawsuit filed by the Friends of Historic Flemington against the borough in opposition to the approved 2017 site plan.

18 Renovations begin at Union Hotel in Flemington

Im hopeful that the Friends of Historic Flemington will recognize that this is a much better project and consider dropping that lawsuit, Driver said.

The Friends of Historic Flemington told NJ Advance Media their attorney is preparing a settlement proposal to be submitted to the borough this week.

Conditions imposed by planning board

The Planning Board approved the application while adding a number of conditions, including the following:

The project would be in compliance with all requests and recommendations from the board engineers review letter with certain exceptions, the board planners review letter, the board traffic engineers review letter, and the borough fire marshals review letter.

The manner in which movable planters, tables, and chairs in the plaza will be secured and handled and outlined in an operations maintenance manual.

No disturbing of streetscape improvements and, if any, they will be replaced in kind.

A crosswalk will be painted at the end of Chorister Place and across Spring Street at the end of the plaza, and printing and pavers on Main Street between Court Street and the plaza to slow down vehicles.

Applicant shall consent to Title 39 jurisdiction.

Approval by the borough of all necessary rights of way.

Materials for the buildings, crosswalks, and facades are to be approved by the board planner in consultation with the boroughs historic architect.

Applicant must work with the borough in connection with any requests to utilize any space within the project.

The species of trees will be reviewed and final determinations made by the board planner in consultation with the Shade Tree Commission.

Inclusion of some sort of mosaic artwork inlay in the plaza next to Main Street and across from Court Street subject to review and approval of board planner.

The applicant will engage the boards affordable housing administrator for the administration of affordable housing units.

Six parking spaces will be reserved in podium parking and dedicated to the borough police department.

The applicant will comply with the design criteria for glazing and fenestration.

The plan shall be amended to show the actual location of low and moderate income units.

All demolition, development and construction will be conducted so as not to interfere with the 24-hour operations of the borough police department.

Applicant shall provide a primary point of contact to ensure SHPO and all other historical requirements are satisfied.

Lighting on Main Street will match the streetscape.

Consistent signage through the facility to be determined by the board planner.

Applicant will work with board planner to provide additional buffering of shrubs along parking area adjacent to Bloomfield Street.

Applicant will work with the town to provide access to existing borough storm sewer when maintenance is necessary; or, at their discretion, can create an easement to the borough.

Additionally, the Planning Board added one global condition requiring an onsite pre-construction meeting as well as ongoing regular meetings as project construction progresses, throughout which issues including truck traffic, phasing, construction access, storage, staging, coordinating with business and residents, and the restoration of streets will be addressed.

The goal of these discussions is to create a plan for these items that could be referred to going forward, and each conversation will involve the borough engineer, the borough construction code official, and an individual identified as the point of contact for the applicant.

A resolution to approve the preliminary and final site plan will likely be presented to the Planning Board sometime next month, and upon its adoption the site plan will be officially approved.

Community support

Prior to the vote, a number of residents voiced their support for the revised proposal and eagerness to see redevelopment move forward.

Paul Marciano, chair of Flemington Community Partnership, said the organization has surveyed the Flemington community multiple times and concluded that the majority of business and property owners are in favor of the project.

Over the last few years, this has been very challenging obviously for our town. And there have been a lot of things said on both sides. And I would hope that, no matter what the outcome, we could come together as a town and support one another and support the project going forward, Marciano said.

Chris Phelan, president of Hunterdon County Chamber of Commerce, advocated for the project on behalf of the county chamber.

The construction and opening up all up of Courthouse Square will be a catalyst for more commercial investments in the borough, to repurpose and revitalize numerous existing commercial properties, Phelan said. We are confident as a chamber and a business community that as this project comes to fruition, the vitality, commerce, and quality of life for the borough, its residents, visitors, and our region will be realized.

Brian Blake, a Flemington property owner and owner of the Red Vanilla store in Flemington, said its time to move forward with the project.

I think theres objections to the project where people are looking for a the perfect, ideal plan. I dont think there is a perfect, ideal plan, Blake said. The project is a good project. It has been thoroughly negotiated, thoroughly digested, and thoroughly analyzed.

Mike DeLuca, chair of the Shady Tree Commission, said he supported the project but expressed lingering concerns about construction traffic. He also made a number of recommendations, and asked the board to work with the commission as the project moves forward.

The (tree) selections that have been made are really not preferable for this community. We prefer selections to be native, diverse, and resilient to climate change, DeLuca said. And we do recommend the property owner ... be responsible for the maintenance, care, and if needed, replacement of trees.

Project faces some opposition

Individuals also spoke up to oppose the project. Maryellen Costello, a resident of Ringoes, described this project as overkill in the borough and requested it be further scaled back.

It appears to me that the overall size, both physical and financial, of this project relative to the size of Flemington is too big ... I see what looks like a city block being packed into the middle of a small town, Costello said. This Planning Board doesnt seem to be evaluating the sacrifices in terms of three-dimensional space, the current structures that will be demolished, including the historic location of one of our first grocery stores in Flemington at 82 Main, and the tax burden.

Lois Stewart, a member of the Friends of Historic Flemington, offered a number of recommendations to the board. This included minimizing the projects size, adding offsite parking, implementing building exterior changes, and increasing the amount of greenery in the region.

It is my understanding that one of the responsibilities of a Land Use Board is to protect the municipality from inappropriate development. This decision is of such magnitude and there is no time urgency for approval, Stewart said. I ask that you get input from the historic preservation and environmental commissions and take time to discuss all issues in depth in order to make this project a bit better for Flemington.

Joanne Braun, another member of the Friends of Historic Flemington, acknowledged the projects improvement while nonetheless expressing apprehension about its approval.

I have watched this pretty much going on five years now, and experienced the Union Hotel being told it could not be saved, and now we have the facade saved. Being told it would be impossible to save 78 Main Street, and couldnt imagine anyone wanted to demolish four historic buildings, and now we have 78 Main Street saved, Braun said. I just hope and wish that whatever you decide tonight, you use your conscience when voting and you just dont push things through.

Cust previously said construction for the entire project will not be completed for at least another year-and-a-half to two years.

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Caroline Fassett may be reached at cfassett@njadvancemedia.com.
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MINISTER of information and communication technology Peya Mushelenga says it could take a few years before a decision by the Cabinet to merge the Namibia Press Agency (Nampa) and the New Era Publication Corporation (NEPC) can be fully implemented.

He said this in an interview with The Namibian on Wednesday.

Tonateni Shidhudhu, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Finance, this week said the decision by the Cabinet to merge the two organisations was taken to cut out possible duplication of government activities and to avoid unnecessary spending.

Mushelenga said although the Cabinet has already given the go-ahead for the two government-owned media entities to be merged, his ministry does not yet have a working formula on how the two entities would operate once combined.

This formula, Mushelenga said, would take time to develop as the ministry would first need to enlist the services of a consultant to look at the viability of the proposed merger.

He said he would also be required to make a formal proposal to the Cabinet and later to the parliament regarding the proposed merger.

This was because the government would likely be required to repeal laws that resulted in the establishment of the two news entities and come up with new legal structures, Mushelenga said.

"It means we must go back and repeal the laws, if needed, and parliament needs to agree . . . So definitely it won't be this year," he said.

Mushlenga said minister of finance Iipumbu Shiimi should have waited until the law that established Nampa was repealed, before including the proposal in his budget.

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Earlier this week, Mushelenga denied that a decision was taken by the Cabinet to merge the two institutions.

On Wednesday the minister changed his position on the matter, saying a decision was indeed taken "to consider the proposal to merge" the two news entities.

"To consider means for us to look at it and to see whether we can implement the decision . . . but it is not necessarily wrong for the finance ministry to say a decision has been taken.

He added: "That consideration is what will take time, because you must now study and ascertain how you can merge the two . . . "

The minister also denied allegations that he is against the proposed deal to merge the two organisations.

"Why are they saying I am trying to fight the proposal? We have to appoint a consultant obviously . . . and appointing a consultant does not always mean outside, even internally, we have to look at it. We have to look at the laws. We have to involve the drafters and we have to look at how other countries are doing it," he said.

The news entities received a combined subsidy of about N$80 million from the national budget over the past three years.

Nampa currently has 30 permanent employees and about six contract workers.

NEPC employs about 75 people.

The Namibian understands Nampa's annual expenditure, including staff salaries, amounts to about N$30 million.
By Aziz El Yaakoubi

DUBAI (Reuters) - A senior Saudi official denied on Thursday he had threatened to harm the human rights expert who led the U.N. investigation into the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, after the United Nations backed the expert's account of the threat.

Agnes Callamard, the U.N. expert on summary killings, has said that a Saudi official threatened at a Jan. 2020 meeting in Geneva that she would be "taken care of" if she was not reined in following her investigation into the journalist's murder.

She said the remark was interpreted by U.N. officials as a "death threat". The United Nations human rights office confirmed her account on Wednesday.

Neither Callamard nor the United Nations has identified the Saudi official who made the remark. However, the head of Saudi Arabia's human rights commission, Awwad Alawwad, identified himself as the official on Thursday, while denying he had intended any threat.

"It has come to my attention that Ms. Agnes Callamard ... and some U.N. officials believe I somehow made a veiled threat against her more than a year ago," Alawwad tweeted.

"While I cannot recall the exact conversations, I never would have desired or threatened any harm upon a U.N.-appointed individual, or anyone for that matter," he said.

He described himself as an advocate for human rights, and said: "I am disheartened that anything I have said could be interpreted as a threat."

A Western diplomat in Geneva told Reuters the threat allegations should be investigated.

"The credible charges by U.N. officials that a senior Saudi government representative attempted to intimidate a UN human rights investigator with threats of physical violence raise grave concerns about Saudi Arabia's commitment to protecting human rights and deserve a full investigation by proper U.N. authorities," the diplomat said, asking not to be identified.

"DEATH THREAT"

Story continues

Callamard led a U.N. investigation into the October 2018 killing of U.S.-based journalist Khashoggi by Saudi agents at the kingdom's Istanbul consulate. She issued a report in 2019 concluding there was "credible evidence" that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and senior Saudi officials were responsible.

Callamard's allegation that she was threatened was first reported in the Guardian newspaper on Tuesday.

"A death threat. That was how it was understood," Callamard told the newspaper. "People that were present, and also subsequently, made it clear to the Saudi delegation that this was absolutely inappropriate."

U.N. human rights spokesman Rupert Colville said on Wednesday "the details in the Guardian story about the threat aimed at Agnes Callamard are accurate". On Thursday, he provided additional detail, telling Reuters the Saudi official had made the remark interpreted as threatening twice.

"At one point he said: 'I'm taking phone calls from people ready to take care of this if you don't'," Colville said. "And then later on essentially he repeated almost the same thing. He said: 'I know some people who have offered to take care of the problem if you dont. So to us the message was pretty clear."

Callamard has called for sanctions against Prince Mohammed over the killing of Khashoggi. The prince denies any involvement but has said he bears ultimate responsibility as it happened under his watch.

(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva and Aziz El Yaakoubi in Dubai; Writing by Raya Jalabi and Stephanie Nebehay; Editing by Matthew Lewis, Peter Graff and Sonya Hepinstall)
Teachers, staff and students are being forced back into classrooms starting next week in the sister cities of Seattle, Washington and Portland, Oregon. The final agreements between the local districts and unions came quickly after executive action taken by Washington Governor Jay Inslee and Oregon Governor Kate Brown, both Democrats.

Browns March 5 executive order directed school districts to open for students in Grades K-5 on or before the week of March 29, while students in Grades 6-12 must return before the week of April 19. One week later, Inslee issued his emergency proclamation requiring districts to offer in-person instruction by April 5 for students in K-6 grades. Grades 7-12 would open by April 19.

After one year of closure of our schools, the time has come for every child in the state of Washington to have access to on-site instruction, Inslee stated in his press conference at the time. The week prior, he denounced oppositional teachers for being dramatic, claiming, If I had a nickel for every excuse I have heard for not giving our children on-site instruction, I would be a millionaire at this point.

Summer pilot project in Estacada School District. (Estacada School District)

In response to the political pressure exerted by the Democratic Party from the state level all the way up to the Biden administration, the unions worked to quickly carry out their duties and rush through negotiations to arrive at reopening deals that were nowhere complete.

The Seattle Education Association (SEA) reached a tentative agreement on March 20 with Seattle Public Schools (SPS) to restart in-person learning for Pre-K, elementary and certain special education students. The agreement aligns with dates mandated by Inslee with elementary school students returning on April 5. Students who receive intensive special education services, however, are scheduled to arrive even earlier on March 29.

SPS will be reopening via a hybrid model of learning. Under the terms of this model, most students would go to an in-person classroom setting four days per week. The district is still allowing families to choose a 100 percent online learning option. This arrangement means that educators will carry enormous workloads, juggling sets of online and in-person students, while facing the daily risk of contracting the virus even with the few safety measures included in the agreement.

As many teachers have pointed out, there is also no mention of hiring additional nurses, counselors and staff to ensure small class sizes, adequate student support and the enforcement of health and safety protocols.

On March 20, the SEA Board of Directors issued a do pass recommendation, encouraging members to vote in favor of the agreement. While the vote totals have not been released, comments from board members on social media indicate that 12 voted in favor, two voted against, and a few abstained. The membership vote started on Monday and will continue until Friday. Bargaining between SEA and SPS will continue, finalizing the details of the return for Grades 6 and up. It is extremely likely the additional terms of agreement will send secondary students back on the week of April 19, given their commitment to carrying out Inslees orders.

SEA Paraprofessional President and Board Member Marla Rasmussea claimed that her yes vote was about getting those protections in for our students and staff that we have been fighting for through this whole pandemic. Its about solid processes for keeping us safer and serving our most vulnerable populations. We have staff ready to go back. We have families begging us to return, and we have language that will protect us all.

Jesse Hagopian, the longtime head of the Social Equity Educators (SEE) caucus in the SEA who played a critical role in preventing strikes of Seattle educators in 2018 and 2019, has maintained a studied silence on the school reopening plan. A former member of the now-defunct International Socialist Organization (ISO), Hagopian now works as an author and speaker with the ISOs former publishing arm Haymarket Books.

Hagopians Twitter feed is extremely active. He has published multiple tweets each day denouncing standardized testing and its impact on minority students, in particular. He makes no mention, however, of the Seattle reopening agreement, which his union just negotiated and is trying to force passage when membership votes on it next week.

Portland Association of Teachers (PAT) and the Portland Public School board negotiated a return to school plan that will begin April 1. The plan was approved by a majority vote of the PAT membership, although specific details of the vote have not been publicly shared. Students in Pre-K and Grade 1 will return on the first of the month followed by Grades 2-5 the following week. Middle and high school students would return on April 19.

Pre-K through Grade 5 students will be on campus four days a week for two hours and 15 minutes a day. Middle and high school students will be on campus twice a week for two and half hours a day. Safety measures at the schools will be of a minimal character, with COVID-19 testing available only for symptomatic students and staff.

The districts chief human resources officer Sharon Reese acknowledged, The plan you are voting on this evening is not perfect, but it is a meaningful and critical step forward for the district, for our educators and most importantly, students.

One Portland teacher named Anna explained, We didn't get numbers, but the message was [that it passed] overwhelmingly which seemed odd to me as I personally didn't know anyone who voted yes.

The impact on mothers is really bothersome to many, as many, like myself, will have one option and that is to not get paid for the remainder of the school year either using FMLA or unpaid leave, Anna said. There will be CDL positions for K-5 for those who cant return in person, but from what I hear none for MS/HS positions. And being that secondary teachers cant teach elementary (unless they have that TV endorsement too) many/some those jobs will likely go to subs.

Those that are concerned about going back feel really upset by the terms of TA, especially the lack of remote work options/loss of pay. I'm lead rep for our building, and last week was very stressful. I was on the phone with members constantly. We had no time with the TA before some educators were expected back in buildings.

Teachers in Portland were told they simply had no choice but to return to schools when a membership vote was conducted last week. In a series of Frequently Asked Questions for teachers issued by the union, one question asks: What happens if PAT members do not ratify this agreement? The answer: The district has the right to open school campuses and require us to return.  Absent an agreement, the District will be able to act unilaterally on most conditions of a return. A no vote essentially allows our employer to implement what they see fit.

In an attempt to wear down opposition among parents and teachers, the PAT is relying on references to racial and social equity. They claim the return to school agreement addresses the concerns of minority educators, students and communities over a safe return to school, leaving aside the fact that the poor and working class of all races face the greatest risk of catching and dying from COVID-19.

The unions are utilizing many of the same tactics employed by the United Teachers of Los Angeles, Oakland Education Association, Chicago Teachers Union and the like. This is the best we can get, they claim, or, If we reject the agreement, the district will reopen schools anyway and teachers do not have enough support to take action and strike.

These arguments aim to wear down and suppress the enormous opposition to the rush to reopen schools that exists among educators, a large number of parents and the working class in general. As one Seattle teacher said on Facebook, I am voting no. I cannot in good conscience bow to the political pressure that will cause some of our staff and students to catch Covid, which could result in lifelong health issues and/or death. Which one of our colleagues and students are we okay with sacrificing?

In our regular contract (this is only an addendum to that contract), she continued, it states that Employees shall not be required to work under conditions known to be unsafe or hazardous or to perform tasks which endanger their health, safety, or well-being. A pandemic that can kill people qualifies. Our union should be defending that part of our contract and not bowing to political pressure, because where and when does that pressure end?

The rush to reopen schools is a critical component of the broader campaign to eliminate restrictions on economic activity and send all workers back into unsafe conditions, opening the door to a fourth wave of infections and deaths.

As of March 22, the entire state of Washington moved into Phase Three of its coronavirus reopening plan. This allows all indoor spaces to reopen with a maximum of either 400 people, or 50 percent of capacity. It also allows for partial attendance at all outdoor sporting events, and singing can now resume at indoor religious services.

Oregon has adjusted its coronavirus risk levels, with 28 of the states 36 counties now considered to be at moderate to low risk, with six in the high risk category and only two in the extreme category. The moderate risk level classification allows for 50 percent capacity in indoor venues or 100 people, whichever is smaller, with Brown dutifully following these provisions to reopen restaurants, gyms, salons and other businesses.

Further, Governor Brown recently announced that the 100-person limit would not apply to school campuses. Both Oregon and Washington states are now following the new spacing guidelines recently issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), requiring three feet of distance in classrooms rather than the previous six feet of distance.

These policies will have deadly consequences. The risk is not gone, the virus is still with us, explained county public health officer Dr. Jeff Duchin. The vast majority of the population remains susceptible to COVID-19. The viruses that are currently circulating are more effective at spreading from person to person.

He continued, It would be a shame if many people became infected over the next month or two just as vaccines are about to become available widely to most of the population.

There is an alternative to this reckless campaign to reopen schools and the broader economy. Educators are in a position to mobilize a broad struggle of teachers, school staff, parents, students and other sections of the working class to demand the return to online schooling until the coronavirus pandemic is truly contained. This fight is finding expression through the development Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committees across the United States and internationally, including in Oregon, which advance the life-and-death demands of educators completely independent from the Democrats, Republicans and the unions.

The West Coast Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee is meeting this Saturday, March 27, at 2:00 pm PDT, and we encourage all who agree with this perspective to register today to attend.
According to Sen. Tim Scott, the 'woke' crowd cannot stand disagreement. They even sent a death threat to a Democrat who dared dissent. The Left has been on a rampage assaulting Republicans and Democrats with threats. They use fear to get what they want.

Sen. Tim Scott: Come after me

Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) blasted the 'tolerant' liberal left suppression of protest in canceling a Democrat senator. That voted against a proposed minimum wage hike and later got death threats. He called it a sign of 'woke supremacy', reported the Epoch Times.

That is woke superiority in reality. The 'tolerant' liberals' hatred of dissent is to blame. It's a radical description of diversity that eliminates viewpoint diversity.

Scott shared his story and conservative dream for America at the 2020 Republican National Convention (RNC). He was called a member of the coon squad, a ventriloquist puppet by a former NAACP chief.

Scott showed the times in an op-ed for the Washington Post when Left attacked him. He was saying what he thought of the left twistedness. They came after him for contradicting their mainstream liberal narratives.

He stressed that he was a black Republican who supports policies that improve the black community. He added that his minority needs need help the most. Scott made bills to give others a chance to do better. He cited funding for schools to keep running and educate.

Sen. Tim Scott said Republican tax reforms allowed more money on the table for such communities but Biden's tax policies might impact them sooner. It is not about race but it is about allowing anyone to be who they want without fear of canceling.

Sanders Mulls about Defying Parliamentarianism, Force Vote to get $15 Minimum Wage

He has been unfairly ridiculed, and that supporters of the "woke" movement will threaten Democrats. Those who hold opinions that they clash with are not spared.

Democrat Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) got so many death threats as published on Daily Caller. She voted against her fellow Democrats to allow a job-killing minimum-wage hike during the pandemic. She needed to add protection for herself and her partner after the vote. Scott said that he was also threatened by them.

Scott informed that a woke black who threatened deadly harm will be sentenced. The Left is too much like an enforcer for the Democrat agenda. But, they are never called out for the activities conservatives have.

The Arizona Democrat voted with seven Democratic senators against Sen. Bernie Sanders on a procedural vote. The seven Democrat's action prevented the $15 federal minimum wage hike, removed from the passed pandemic relief bill.

Sinema can be seen in a widely shared footage voting 'NO' on Sanders' legislation. She left the front of the room with her thumbs down.

Progressives berated Sinema for having to vote against the minimum wage hike. Many media outlets reporting critical op-eds are commonly recognized as one of the Senate's most moderate Democrats.

Aida Chavez called Arizona senator Kyrsten Sinema "the Senate's newest super villain" in an opinion article. Published in The Nation titled "How Kyrsten Sinema Sold Out." Sen. Tim Scott used what happened to the Arizona Democrat for his point.

Bernie Sanders Says Democratic Party Will Be Nuked in the 2022 Midterm Elections

More DEMS Want Chuck Schumer to End Senate Filibuster Despite GOP Plea

Man Spent 20 Years in Jail Because of Kamala Harris Who Wrongly Convicted Him

@ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Leonie Lowe, David Galloway.

Production has begun on Lune Medias three-part documentary series Could You Survive on the Breadline?, developed and financed by SBS with the support of Screen Australia and Screen NSW.

Filming will take place in Sydney and regional New South Wales.

Lune Founder and Managing Director Leonie Lowe said, Im delighted to be working with the brilliant team at SBS and would like to thank Screen Australia and Screen NSW for their support. The series is another of our concepts developed to help lead conversation and debate on crucial community issues.

We are committed to exploring ways to do things differently, to set in motion change and to deliver award winning work Lune Media is known for.

Could You Survive on the Breadline? is executive produced by David Galloway and Leonie Lowe whose credits include Fight for Planet A, War on Waste, Bullied and Struggle Street. Series Producer is Ashley Davies (Struggle Street S3).

Head of Content at Screen Australia Sally Caplan said, Lune Media have a strong track record of delivering topical information in an accessible way and I look forward to seeing them explore the nuance around financial disadvantage in upcoming SBS series Could You Survive on the Breadline?

Screen Australia and Screen NSW previously announced finance for Lune Medias one-hour documentary Can You Prevent Suicide? (working title) also for SBS which is part of the Australia Uncovered strand to-air later this year. The program will investigate why suicide is happening and reveal what is being done across the country to try and solve the problem.

The documentary was developed by Executive Producer / Writer Paul Scott and is co-executive produced by Jodi Boylan, David Galloway and Leonie Lowe.

Launching over the Easter break is Lune Medias COVID-19 pandemic one-hour specials (2 x 60mins), What the Hell Just Happened? and What the Hell Happens Next? on 10, executive produced by David Galloway, ex-Foxtel production lead Duane Hatherly and director Jodi Boylan.

In other news, Anastacia Gushina-Perri (ex-McEvoy Media and Seven Network) has been promoted to the role of Head of Production at Lune Media.

Related
opinion

We live in a country in which no matter how much noise we make about certain issues that affect the welfare of our fellow citizens, those concerned do not react to what we say!

So, shall we close our mouths, throw our pens and computers away and allow officials to do whatever they like, and expect us to pay them, although they are not responding to our protests about their inaction? That is the question journalists like me often ask ourselves, whenever we seek to draw attention to some evil or other in our society.

I am sure that most Ghanaians, including police officers and prosecution lawyers, would not condone the idea of any person taking a stick or heavy iron instrument and hitting a 72-year-old woman with it. Till she died.

However, in the "civilised" society in which we live, no person can be described as "mad" unless a trained psychiatrist has certified the person to be "mad". So, a person - or persons - have been known to kill a 72-year-old woman in cold blood, and be treated as normal "suspects", with bail facilities. And then, the case can vanish> Into a black hole, from which no answers ever emerge.

We never pause to ask how the decision of the law enforcement agencies is arrived at. In the case of the 72-year-old woman, Madam Ama Hemma, for example, members of her family have been waiting for over ten years for justice to be done for her. Yet her tragic case was prominently displayed on the front page of the Daily Graphic.

Maybe Madam Denteh, who was unfortunate enough to be similarly assassinated at Kafaba, in Eastern Gonja, may fare a little better at the hands of the law. But don't count on it. For the law enforcement section of Ghana's administrative structure is one of the least responsive to public opinion imaginable.

The treatment of alleged "witches" in our society is, of course, a very complex issue. Does the acceptance by many of us of Christianity, Islam and other religions that abhor the existence of "demons", insidiously tie the hands of our law enforcement agencies?

Police and judicial officers do take a solemn oath to treat all citizens as equal before the law. Which means that the treatment accorded to the case of Madam Amma Hemma should have no place in our law enforcement history.

The confusion between ensuring the public good and condoning unclassified "vigilantism" was detected by the British, who enacted a law against "hunting" for witches. A book has been written about this entitled Witchcraft in Ghana.

Yet people still still ask: "A 90-year-old woman? Why is she still alive? "

Asking such irrelevant and, indeed, Godless questions is only one step away from triggering brutal actions that can lead to the death of another human being. Between the 90-year-old and the 50-year-old, who has a better claim to having been "blessed by God with a longer life"?

If God has ordered us, as we can read in the Bible, to "honour thy father and thy mother" so that "thy days may be long in the land which The Lord thy father has given thee", how would He think that someone was doing His "work" if he or she bludgeoned a helpless 90-year-old person to death?

It's complete nonsense! And it's about time for our hypocritical Ghanaian society to wake up to denounce and punish those who do not care to read the Bible or the Koran with any depth, but who apply passages from the Holy Books out of context, to end the precious lives of their fellow citizens.

Look at Boko Haram in Nigeria. How could The Holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon him) countenance the abduction and mass raping of 200 young schoolgirls, as happened at Chibok in April 2014? And the continued repetition of these kidnappings every few months?

A major reason why certain people who profess to be believers in God's word often fall down heavily when it comes to actually practising religion is that they don't observe the most elementary precepts of their own religion.

For instance, Jesus preached "love thy neighbour as thyself" and strongly advised His followers to "do unto others", what they wanted others to do unto them. Yet we see - on videos that become viral - a so-called modern "prophet" with a large following kicking pregnant women in the stomach, or mercilessly whipping young people in public. And empty-headed media outlets continue to fall over themselves giving publicity to the "snake oil" prophecies that these false prophets advertise.

Indifference to other people's feelings amongst religious adherents is, of course, not new. When I was attending primary school, our Presbyterian-trained teachers often loaded a lot of Bible studies and hymn-singing into our time-table.

Well, one day, we were asked by the teacher to close our eyes and engage in "silent prayer". Everything went very quiet as a result. Then, all of a sudden, we heard a loud voice shout in the Akuapem dialect:

Me nkrfo!

Me nkrfo!

Montie m'!"

The unexpected explosion of the voice and the unfamiliar "Biblical" Akuapem accent (we spoke Akyem Twi) convinced everyone that it was God Himself who was speaking! And we fled!

We learnt later, when we were safely outside, that one boy had joined a Pentecostal or Apostolic Church, and was exhibiting to us, the practice of "speaking in tongues!"

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Do you think that boy who spoke with the "Voice of God" cared about the effect his "miracle" would have on the rest of us?

There are many officials in our society who sincerely believe that The Lord has given them the vocation they are engaged in, and who do their utmost to ensure that they carry out their tasks as efficiently as possible. But there are others who seem to possess absolutely no sense of duty.

I am sorry but no-one can convince me that a policeman, or prosecution lawyer, who sits on the docket of persons accused of killing a 72-year-old woman simply because she strayed into a house that was not her own, should be allowed to remain in their jobs.

But who will bell the cat? No probing questions have been asked of the Minister of the Interior, who is responsible for the Police. Neither have any been tabled for the Attorney-General, who is in charge of all prosecutions, to answer. I was hoping that some Parliamentarian would be humanitarian enough inclined to ask the security ministers-designate what they thought of Madam Amma Hemaa's case.

But alas, no!

The case has gone into the Black Hole of Ghana Officialdom.

And there it will stay.

Letter From Afar by

Cameron Duodu
Trump May Visit US-Mexico Border Amid Illegal Immigration Surge, Adviser Says

Former President Donald Trump may visit the U.S.-Mexico border in the midst of a surge of illegal immigration in recent months, suggested advisor Jason Miller in a recent interview.

President Joe Biden in January moved to dismantle several of Trumps immigration-related rules, which some Republicans and Trump have said led to the spike in illegal immigrants and unaccompanied children arriving at the Southern Border.

I could see him doing that, Miller told The Michael Berry Show in an interview on Thursday about whether the former commander-in-chief would visit the border. He added: Not immediately but I could see a trip, some point in the future here, but it is something that President Trump is really concerned about.

During his campaign in 2016, Trump focused heavily on curbing illegal immigration and said he would make the construction of the border wall a key agenda item. In his final days in office, Trump visited the wall in Texas and touted its construction.

Biden in January suspended the building of the wall and said in his executive order that it is wasteful spending. On Thursday, the president claimed that the surge started during the Trump administration and said there are surges every yearnamely during the winter before the hot summer months.

Biden also defended his approach and said the administration is essentially providing humanitarian service. He also asserted that the vast majority of families arriving at the border are being sent back to Mexico.

Were trying to work out now with Mexico their willingness to take more of those families back, Biden said.

In February, a report from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection found that approximately 59 percent of migrant families were allowed to stay in the country pending a final decision about whether they would be deported. About 79 percent of single adults were deported last month, the report found.

I make no apologies for ending programs that did not exist before Trump became president that have an incredibly negative impact on the law, international law, as well as on human dignity, Biden said.

Meanwhile, Miller told Berry that Trump has not visited the wall since he was in office because he wants Biden to fail on his own, adding there is a very fine line between criticizing and showing off. Elaborating further, Miller said Trump told him that the current surge in immigration would not have occurred if he were in office.

Federal officials have been scrambling to provide housing for unaccompanied children who come across the border. This week, Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) released images from a crowded Border Patrol overflow facility in Donna, Texas, saying that the agency needs to turn over the children to Health and Human Services.
Bangladesh: Economy through a turning point lens

by Hossain Zillur Rahman

March 26,2021 | Source: The Daily Star

The economy of Bangladesh has come a long way in the past 50 years. The enduring image of Bangladesh earlier was that of a disaster victim. Fifty years down the line, the country is now globally appreciated as a disaster manager. Several sectors have played an important role in the development of our economy. With that in mind, we recently organised a webinar titled "A Look at Bangladesh's 50 Years Journey: Turning Points of the Economy" on behalf of the Power and Participation Research Centre (PPRC). Many turning points have been positivethe agricultural sector, vibrancy of the private sector, robust role of remittances, globally impactful innovations such as microfinance, oral replacement therapy, conditional cash transfers such as primary and secondary education stipends, etc. These have made significant contributions to the transformation of Bangladesh into a resilient and aspirational society from its very difficult beginnings. Some turning points have not been so positive. The last decade has seen worsening inequality. Nearly one-third of the youth currently are neither in employment nor in education nor in training. Progress in school enrollment has not translated into quality learning. Sixteen percent of employment in the growth-driving ready-made garments (RMG) sector are occupied by external workers. This percentage is significantly higher if one considers the mid-to-higher level managerial jobs. Significant segments of the middle class are struggling to establish sustainable economic foundations for themselves and their families. Even as women have emerged as critical change agents, gender-based violence has become rampant, exacerbated by a seeming culture of impunity. Institutionalised corruption abetted by poor governance norms is shackling Bangladesh significantly below its economic potential. Bangladesh's fifty-year journey is thus truly Dickensian in its complexity. The transformation certainly has been deep and real. But the future increasingly looks less inclusive and uncertain on the challenges of quality completion of the middle-income transition.



Two important chapters of the story of complex transformation relate to agriculture and the private sector. When Bangladesh became independent, agriculture was a means to ensure food security for families, and agricultural work was carried out on one's own initiative. At that time, one crop of paddy was enough for sustenance. Agriculture did not use much modern machinery. Ploughing the fields was the convention then. The irrigation system was largely non-existent. The transformation of this moribund sector is perhaps one of the remarkable turning points of Bangladesh. The transformation was driven by three factors: changes in farming practices, mechanisation, and commercialisation. It was more initiative-driven than policy-driven. The all-weather infrastructurein particular, the LGED's "feeder roads" connecting villages with nearby townsplayed a critical facilitating role in this transformation, as did the stream of crop innovations of our agricultural scientists. So did "remittances" which largely flowed into the rural origins of the migrant workers and injected crucial liquidity into the rural economy. Remarkably, a largely illiterate peasantry embraced the call for modernisation and proved as entrepreneurial as the titans of the RMG industry. However, the farmers of Bangladesh could not play the power game to their advantage in ensuring due share of the fruits of their labour. As agriculture became evermore commercialised, the lion's share of the fruits of agricultural modernisation has increasingly flowed to various categories of middlemen, some categories of whom have also played important economic roles while others have not. It is due to the tireless work of the farmers that the country has achieved self-sufficiency in food today. Even in the ongoing Covid-19 disaster, the country has been able to survive the food crisis only because the farmers have been diligently doing their part, not just in rice but in fish, vegetables, fruits, etc. But the unfortunate scenario is that there have not been comparatively significant changes in the life prospects of the farmers themselves. The problem here is, in fact, a larger one. It is how society, the state, the "bhadroloks" all look at agriculture, and concomitantly at the farmers.



The policy attitude and the attitude of the policy-making elite has always been to see agriculture as a source of food security only, not as a multi-dimensional growth driver in its own right. The policy support to agriculture has always been conditioned by this narrow lens of food security. Neither the state nor the policy elite has imagined the farmer as a legitimate and potential driver of Bangladesh's growth aspirations. The economic shock of the Covid-19 pandemic may yet force a discourse change in this regard but that remains to be seen. Meanwhile, a new and potentially adverse "turning point" looms for the small-holder peasantry. The "middlemen" is increasingly wanting to go beyond the boundaries of being "middlemen" and taking direct control of the agricultural land. How land transactions are playing out in today's rural Bangladesh should be a fascinating and eye-opening study. The private sector, too, looms large in the story of Bangladesh's fifty-year journey. It is important to divide the private sector into two parts. One is the state-aided private sector; the other is the private sector that has developed through its own efforts. The boundary is not water-tight. Both have been there from the beginning. The nineties saw a true "turning point" for the self-driven private sector. The private banking sector came of age. A home-grown steel industry took root. RMG went from strength to strength. Smaller playersthe SMEs, rural non-farm sectorhave been less talked about, but these domestic economy "bottom-of-the-pyramid" entrepreneurs were as critical to the growth momentum as the headline-hugging elite entrepreneurs. My own calculations show the non-tradable sector accounted for nearly two-thirds of incremental growth in the 1990s and 2000s (Hossain Zillur Rahman, 2010: Bangladesh 2030: Strategy for Accelerating Inclusive Growth).



While the private sector remains pivotal to the next phase of Bangladesh's developmental journey, increasingly the internal dynamics of the "private sector" holds the answer to how effective this role is going to be. Earlier, we had the state-aided private sector and the self-driven private sector. Now, there is a new reality. Proximity to power has become as important if not more important than proving one's competitive prowess in the marketplace. And not just proximity to power but actual positions in the high table of power, both formal and informal. Look at the proportion of parliamentarians and even cabinet members with business as profession. In itself, this should not have been a problem if this was a case that the legitimate concerns of a competitive private sector were now directly influencing policy-making. The reality is starkly different. The influencing appears to be less for the growth of a competitive private sector and more for the private benefits of individual interests. Conflict-of-interest situations have become rampant. Lucrative sectors of the economy appear to have fallen under oligopolistic or rentier control. A worrying trend has been the disregard of state capacity for apparent benefits of unclear "private sector" interests. Is this a new "turning point"? Should it be accepted as a "new normal"? Or should we call a spade a spade, and call for the reform of economic governance to enable the competitive private sector to play its due role in taking Bangladesh to its next economic heights? As Bob Dylan said, "the answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind."

 2021 / thedailystar.net
Behind many violent sex crimes, there may be excessive pornography consumption, health experts said on Thursday emphasising that certain types of pornographic content may influence aggression and sexual crime.

According to the experts, watching pornography can result in thinking that this is a way of life, which distorts the perception of reality.

"Excessive pornography can create disinhibition, desensitisation and can also result into thinking that this is a way of life, which distorts the perception of reality," Sameer Parikh, Director - Head of Mental Health and Behavioural Sciences Department, Fortis Healthcare, New Delhi, told IANS.

"It can also bring in a lot of aggressive arousals, which does impact the way an individual looks at sexuality," Parikh added.

The expert said that if this viewing happens at a younger age, where there is a lot of vulnerability to forming beliefs, attitudes and behaviour, there is even more response.

According to Nand Kumar, Professor, Department of Psychiatry, All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS), New Delhi, sexual violence is related to certain types of pornography that may influence aggression and sexual crime, depending upon the content of the pornography.

"Aggressive pornography materials are more likely to precipitate sexual violence and crime. The personality of the person along with duration and frequency of the exposure to pornographic contretemps also colours the sexual violence related to pornography," Kumar told IANS.

A meta-analysis published in the Journal of Communication showed that consuming pornography increases the likelihood of physical and verbal sexual aggression.

The study highlighted that the associations were stronger for verbal than physical sexual aggression, although both were significant. The general pattern of results suggested that violent content may be an exacerbating factor.

"Yes, there is some evidence that suggests there is a correlation between the various acts of transgression, molestation, violence and viewing related to pornography," said Parikh.

"To say that all crimes are related to pornography is not a right way to put it. There are a lot of other factors, but like I said, there is some correlation of pornography as well," he added.

The experts mentioned that the time frame where an individual indulges in pornography impacts the day-to-day function, sleep, work, your academic and social life. And, to treat pornography addiction, one must look into self-correction, behaviour correction including digital detox, involving yourself in different things, taking the help of an expert as well.

On being asked if banning pornographic content can be useful for many, Parikh said, if porn is banned, individuals will find one way or the other to navigate it through loopholes.

"We can rather use media literacy that empowers young people to know the right choice. Make them understand the difference between fake and real. Enable them to understand the importance of their safety, creating more awareness," Parikh said.

"If we talk about sex education, various components can be incorporated in educating the masses on how pornography can affect an individual's sexual behaviour," Parikh noted.
Police arrested Fabio Sementilli's wife Monica, and her lover, Robert Baker, almost five months after the murder of the renowned hairstylist.

The famed beauty executive was brutally murdered in his backyard, with what police initially believed to have been a victim of a robbery gone wrong. Fabio Sementilli was stabbed to death.

The victim was said to have been watching TV at his Woodland Hills, California home on Jan. 23, 2017, when he was attacked from behind, suffering seven stab wounds to the neck, chest, and thigh, People reported.

Monica was believed to have helped her clandestine lover Baker to kill Fabio Sementilli.

Investigators found CCTV footage from a neighbor, which showed two unidentified men hiding their faces with their hoodies. They allegedly ransacked the couple's room and were seen speeding away with Sementilli's Porsche, which was later impounded by police a few miles from his home.

READ NEXT: 13-Year-Old Boy Arrested for Shooting Younger Sister to Death

Investigation on Fabio Sementilli's Death

Initially, the detectives believed that Fabio Sementilli's death resulted from a home invasion burglary gone awry. But their investigation focused closer to home after discovering that the recording equipment and tapes from Fabio's own CCTV cameras were missing, pointing to a possibility of a planned crime.

The Cinemaholic reported that the result of the investigation was still unclear. However, it turned in a different direction after relatives and friends attended a family memorial.

Baker was present at the memorial and was introduced as a friend of Sementilli's wife, whom she had met at the gym. It attracted suspicion, and someone sent a picture of Baker at the memorial to the case investigators.

Investigators then found out that Baker was already registered in their database as a sex-offender. After that, Baker and Monica were arrested and charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder together.

The Trial

During the trial, Monica was represented by celebrity lawyers Leonard Levine and Blair Berk. On the other hand, Baker was with a legal aid lawyer.

Prosecutors alleged that the lovers plotted to kill Fabio Sementilli in order to collect life insurance money worth $1.6 million. They claimed that the two suspects communicated via cell phones regarding their plan of action. They added that the focus of the hearing is on the evidence, particularly citing Monica and Baker's illicit affair.

"The testimony described numerous acts and things they engaged in. It was character evidence... it is not relevant to the issues of guilt or innocence," according to a Toronto Sun report.

The defendant's lawyer then claimed that the evidence did not meet the standard for a trial, saying that some tidbits of her relationship with Baker would harm Monica's ability to get a fair trial. However, Judge Ronald Coen slammed the defense's motions.

"In reading the transcript, it does not appear that this is as salacious as counsel points out... a case is sensational then is surpassed by the next salacious case, and on and on," Coen said in a report.

Both Monica and Baker pleaded not guilty. Earlier this year, a Superior Court judge has vetoed an attempt to drop the special circumstance allegations in the case, which came from recently appointed District Attorney George Gascon as part of his new reforms.

Fabio Sementilli's son Luigi wrote to the court, saying that justice is threatened if special circumstances were to be dropped. The trial is scheduled for April.

READ MORE: 5-Year-Old Girl Dies After Playmate Accidentally Shot Her in the Head

WATCH: Wife Of Slain Stylist Charged in His Murder - Crime Watch Daily with Chris Hansen - From True Crime Daily
Marriot to open 1,000-room hotel in Saudi Arabia's Makkah US chain planning 3 new hotels in Muslim holy city by 2025

(ANSAmed) - NAPLES, MARCH 26 - Confident that the COVID pandemic will come to an end and that tourism will rebound, entrepreneurs in Saudi Arabia are preparing the opening of new hotels for the coming years.



The first will open in the Muslim holy city of Makkah and will have 1,000 guest rooms.



The daily The National reported March 23 that the hotel will be opened by Aloft, an international hotel chain headquartered in the US and part of the Marriott group.



It will be the largest in the world built by the chain.



The Aloft Makkah Taysir was built near the entrance to the Grand Mosque in Makkah and was designed especially to host pilgrims coming for large annual religious events held in the city including the Hajj.



The Marriott also announced two other hotels: one in Riyadh and another in Makkah.



The three hotels will open by 2025. (ANSAmed).




In the winter of 2019, two committees composed of Houston ISD employees, parents and advocates issued recommendations for how the district should tackle two of its thorniest issues: campus funding practices and access to magnet programs.

Some of the proposals would require sacrifice, committee members warned, including the potential closure of low-enrollment campuses and the elimination of magnet funding to elementary schools. Yet other recommendations, such as staffing all schools with essential support personnel and expanding magnet programs to all neighborhood middle and high schools, would offer more opportunities to students with the greatest needs, they said.

Two years later, HISD administrators and school board members have implemented few of the proposals, let alone discussed them at length publicly.

The inaction, local leaders and advocates said, speaks to a pattern in the Houston Independent School District of avoiding difficult but potentially consequential reforms in recent years, leaving the states largest school system mired in a status quo that holds back lower-income children of color.

Despite receiving numerous studies, investigative reports and committee proposals, HISD administrators and board members have not moved swiftly to address multiple challenges. The festering issues include inequitable distribution of resources and programs, declining student enrollment, inadequate support of students with disabilities, lagging employee pay and the long-term viability of small campuses.

The reasons for the paralysis are numerous  a fractured school board, a reticent administration, the ever-present threat of a state takeover, and once-in-a-generation natural and public health disasters  but each reflect how a $2-billion bureaucracy can become stagnant in the face of calls for reform.

Melissa Phillip, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer

It feels like HISD has been in a holding pattern, and any type of substantive change hits a wall pretty quickly, said Jaison Oliver, a community advocate who has urged HISD to implement multiple educational and social justice reforms.

HISD Interim Superintendent Grenita Lathan, who recently announced plans to step down, did not grant an interview request from the Chronicle or respond to written questions for this article.

To date, the slow pace of change has not damaged HISDs standing under the states academic accountability system, which is largely based on student achievement and growth on standardized tests, as well as high school performance metrics.

The district scored an 88 out of 100 rating from the state in 2019, the most recent year for which data is available, outperforming many districts in Texas large, urban cores. HISD also has trimmed its count of failing schools, as determined by the state, from 58 in 2015 to 21 in 2019.

Still, HISD has not made significant progress in other areas.

The district has shown little movement in closing achievement gaps over the past several years, particularly among English Language Learners and students with disabilities. State standardized test data show about 40 percent of Black, Hispanic and economically disadvantaged students scored on grade level in math and reading in 2019, compared to roughly 70 percent of white and non-economically disadvantaged students.

HISDs issues go well beyond test scores, too. Low-rated neighborhood campuses continue to lose tens of thousands of children to magnet and charter schools. Wide student discipline disparities have not closed. And HISDs percentage of students receiving special education services still ranks last among Texas largest non-charter districts.

These documents and reports get put together, binders are passed out, we look and talk about them, and then its really easy to put them on a shelf, HISD Trustee Judith Cruz said. Theres always the next crisis or next big thing, and we forget about all these issues.

Starting at the top

Much of the onus rests on the districts school board and administration, which have not rallied around a clear vision or established a solid framework for advancing reforms.

While most trustees agree on overarching ideals, no governing majority has emerged to push a detailed policy agenda. In addition, well-documented instances of infighting have severely damaged trust among some board members, hurting efforts to hold politically sensitive conversations in the highly diverse district.

Ashton Millet, an organizer for the grassroots advocacy group ONE Houston, described working with the board as a grind, to say the least.

There are times when one part of the board is ready to move forward with solutions, while another part of the board wants more information, and that just slows things down, said Millet, whose organization has pushed for reforms around student discipline and school policing. Getting things onto the agenda and voted on definitively becomes really difficult.

The districts last two superintendents also have had limited success advancing big changes.

During Richard Carranzas tenure as superintendent from mid-2016 to early 2018, HISD launched two notable initiatives: Achieve 180, a campus turnaround model that delivered about $15 million in added funding to historically low-rated schools, and the wraparound services program, which involved hiring dozens of staffers focused on connecting students with social welfare organizations.

YCL, Staff / Houston Chronicle

However, two other Carranza efforts never got off the ground. His proposals to significantly overhaul the districts campus funding model and magnet programs  both of which would primarily benefit students in lower-income neighborhoods  drew resistance and complaints about a lack of detail. Neither proposal received a board vote after Carranza abruptly left to lead New York City public schools.

Over the next three years, Lathan built on Achieve 180 and the wraparound services initiative, while also investing in new mentoring programs.

Yet she has not presented any comprehensive proposals in response to the 2019 campus funding committee. HISD has held no public discussions about closing low-enrollment schools and reevaluating attendance boundaries, even after Lathan acknowledged two years ago that district leaders have to talk about possibilities.

In addition, Lathan has not moved to significantly restructure HISDs campus funding model, though she did add more fine arts teachers and nurses across the district.

Similarly, the superintendent has not acted on many proposals from the committee evaluating magnets, which are specialized programs that often attract students from outside neighborhood school boundaries. About 20 middle and high schools, many located on the citys lower-income northeast and southeast sides, still lack magnet offerings.

Lathans administration did move to eliminate some middle-school magnet entrance requirements. She suggested Wednesday that trustees will hear more about magnet proposals during a board meeting next month.

Its revisiting and saying, OK, based on these recommendations that came out of the committee, were ready to move forward with implementing those recommendations, Lathan told trustees.

State officials, as well as some parents and advocates, also have complained that HISD continues to shortchange students with disabilities, even after multiple warnings over the past decade. A Texas Education Agency investigation documented numerous issues in HISDs special education department, though Lathan refuted those findings.

Hard circumstances, hard work

To be sure, HISDs board and administration have worked under less-than-ideal conditions in recent years.

Fallout from Hurricane Harvey in 2017 and the ongoing coronavirus pandemic shifted HISDs attention squarely to feeding families, addressing trauma and rearranging classes  with long-debated reforms left on the back burner.

In addition, HISD has operated since 2017 under the ever-present threat of severe state intervention, largely tied to chronically low performance at several schools and a Texas Education Agency investigation into multiple allegations of misconduct by current and past board members.

The possibility of sanctions, including the looming threat of the state replacing the entire elected school board, has complicated efforts to craft long-term plans and hire a permanent superintendent.

The instability also contributed to the departure of roughly two-thirds of Lathans top central administrators during her tenure  and Lathan announcing this month that she is leaving HISD to become superintendent of the public school system in Springfield, Mo.

Elizabeth Conley, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer

HISD remains locked in a legal battle with Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath, whose move in November 2019 to oust school board members has been stymied so far by state judges.

District leaders hope the coming months bring some stability, allowing them to tackle lingering challenges.

Board members plan by late spring to hire a new superintendent, who will arrive to find years worth of recommendations for reforms. The Houston Education Research Consortium at Rice University also plans in the coming months to unveil findings from the Equity Project, a deep dive into how resources, programs and opportunities are distributed across HISD.

Its not like we dont know what a lot of the problems are or what to do about it, said the consortiums founder and director, Ruth Lopez Turley. The challenge will be to convene the right people and align our efforts at the state, local and federal level. I know thats not easy to do.

Even after the hiring of a new superintendent, HISDs leadership likely will remain on shaky ground for the time being.

If Morath, a former Dallas ISD trustee who was appointed in 2016 by Gov. Greg Abbott, prevails, he will appoint a new governing board and choose the districts superintendent. If he falters in court, the districts school board could see turnover following elections in November, when five of the nine board seats are on the ballot.

Still, HISD Trustee Sue Deigaard, who served as board president in 2020, remained hopeful that district leaders and the Houston community have laid the groundwork for progress.

Theres an opportunity, Deigaard said, for us to finally move out of status quo, and do some of the heavy lifting on complex matters that are long overdue for us to address.

jacob.carpenter@chron.com
A major challenge linked to land-based facilities for fishfarming is the adequate control of microbial conditions and chemical water quality. The project DigRAS will look into this. This is how future land-based fish farms are going to look like. Credit: AKVA Group

Land-based fish farming offers many benefits to both the fish and the environment. In traditional offshore farms, the fish are vulnerable to sea lice infestation and infectious diseases. Modern land-based aquaculture systems are able to offer local fish products in landlocked countries.

In order to promote more widespread land-based fish farming, researchers are employing international collaboration, artificial intelligence and advanced analytical approaches.

"Norway has a great deal of previous experience in land-based aquaculture in that much of the salmon smolt now living in Norwegian net pens was born and raised in such facilities," says Roman Netzer, a Senior Research Scientist at SINTEF.

"The knowledge that Norway has generated in the field of land-based salmon farming in state-of-the-art Recirculating Aquaculture Systems (RAS) during the last 20 years has been very attractive internationally, especially in connection with the farming of other species. Enclosed land-based facilities of this type in which the water is recirculated enable fish to be produced almost anywhere, and not least close to the market," he says.

An example of this is the Fresh Cooperation facility in Germany that produces fish for local customers in central Europe in so-called 'zero water exchange' (RAS) facilities, which are run on electricity from renewable sources and use sustainable feeds that are free of wild-caught fish components. This type of production system is thus not only eco-friendly but also helps to conserve wild fish populations. Today, while large volumes of fish are transported by air over great distances, RAS facilities offer a sustainable alternative.

However, land-based fish farming is not free of challenges. The sector suffers from mass mortalities and fish meat tainted with an earthy flavor because the biological conditions in land-based facilities are difficult to control and very young fish are sensitive to poor water quality. In the worst cases, many thousands of smolt can die relatively suddenly, which can lead to major losses if we consider the profit that could be generated from the sale of fully grown salmon.

Research drives development

The international insurance sector requeststhat operators make greater efforts to mitigate the problems resulting from biological conditions in the water. This is why a new European research project, called DigiRAS, is currently attempting to address a number of challenges linked to land-based fish farming. The project is being coordinated by SINTEF Ocean and involves the participation of eleven research partners from five different countries. Norway is represented by the research partners Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU), the aquaculture research center LetSea, the technology supplier AKVA Group and SINTEF.

"The project will be looking closely into the farming in RAS facilities of five fish species," says Netzer. "The international project consortium intends to study the microbial communities both inhabiting the fish and in the facilities' water. The aim is to design strategies to improve water quality, develop sensors, and study fish welfare using camera systems and artificial intelligence," he says.

Demanding microbiology

A major challenge linked to land-based RAS facilities today is the adequate control of microbial conditions and chemical water quality. Significant variations may also arise within a single facility. A number of different physical components are also involved, such as mechanical filters, biofilters, degassers for the removal of CO 2 , and the 'tanks' in which the fish are reared.

"This is why effective water treatment and stable microbiological conditions are key to responsible and sustainable production from such facilities," explains Netzer.

As part of the project, the microbial communities both within the RAS facilities and those inhabiting the skin and gills of salmon, Arctic charr, bream, European bass and Seriola will be studied using next and third generation gene sequencing technology.

The project's industrial partners LetSea, Norwegian Fish Farms Tydal AS, Fresh Cooperation and Andromeda Group are supplying the fish for use in the research project and providing their fish farm infrastructure.

"Our aim is to identify the bacteria species that are important for maintaining adequate water quality, and at the same time those that may represent a threat to fish health," says Netzer. "This work is being led by my colleague at SINTEF Deni Ribicic, who is an expert in the mapping of microbial communities in aquatic environments.

Ribicic is working closely with researchers at Bielefeld University in Germany, which offers specialist expertise in sequencing technology and bioinformatics," he adds.

AI and machine vision detecting disease and water contamination

The risk of mass fatalities is very great in seawater rearing facilities. This is because seawater contains sulfate, from which highly toxic hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S) can be formed by the activity of certain bacteria that are commonly found naturally in water and biofilms. The numbers and levels of activity of these bacteria will be analyzed using molecular biological methods such as real-time quantitative and digital polymerase chain reactions (PCR).

"H 2 S, or hydrogen sulfide, has repeatedly been highlighted as the cause of mass fatalities in RAS facilities," says Netzer. "This happens because we currently have no analytical method of identifying H 2 S before the fish display clear signs of toxification, by which time it's usually too late to save them," Roman Netzer says.

"So a key aim of this project is to devise a method that can monitor toxin formation by developing a portable sensor that facilitates accurate H 2 S analyses, even of ultra-low concentrations, based on nanomaterial technology. This work is being headed by our Portuguese research colleagues at INL in Braga," says the researcher.

The project will also be employing underwater camera systems to monitor fish behavior. Discomfort and stress will generally cause the fish to change their behavior in the form of different swimming patterns, or deviations in gill and/or tail-beating frequencies.

"My research colleague Bjarne Kvstad has built an underwater camera system to monitor fish behavior," says Netzer. "By using artificial intelligence, we hope to identify early stage indications of behavioral change in response to worsening environmental conditions," he says.

The aim is to develop an early warning system that sends out an alert in response to water quality changes before the fish become harmed. Researchers are hoping that artificial intelligence will enable them to see at an early stage if the fish are suffering discomfort due to causes such as sulfide toxification. Similar algorithms have already been developed and tested in traditional salmon pens and will now be used to monitor fish in closed RAS facilities.

Netzer adds that for the most part, fish experience good welfare conditions in such facilities, not least because they are free from parasites such as lice, as well as toxic algae with which traditional farmed fish may be afflicted. They also live in an environment where the water quality is tailored to their needs. The health of the fish will also be studied by researchers from the University of Patras in Greece.

Removing earthy taints

A further problem is that fish kept in land-based RAS facilities right up until slaughter often develop meat tainted with an earthy flavor (so-called off-flavor), which is unacceptable to the market. This often means that the fish have to remain for several weeks prior to slaughter in a flow-through tank for 'depuration," which significantly increases production costs. The problem is greatest in species with high fat contents, such as Arctic charr, trout and salmon. According to Netzer, the researchers are convinced that they will be able to resolve this problem as well by designing new water treatment methods in collaboration with a water treatment expert from LUT University in Finland.

Ideal for combined production systems

Another advantage of closed fish farming facilities is that the waste generated can be used as fertilizer in so-called aquaponics systems, involving a combination of aquaculture and hydroponics, or in the cultivation of new bioresources such as bristle worms, sea cucumbers, shellfish or seaweeds.

"We already have examples of how fish farming and vegetable production can be combined," says Netzer. "This is efficient food production and effective exploitation of resources in practice, and is a concept that will be explored as part of a sister project calledSidestreams," he says.

Big Data

Large volumes and a wide variety of data will be generated by the DigiRAS projecteverything from water quality data to DNA sequences and videos. The NMBU will be heading the work to collate these data and ensure that fish farming in RAS facilities can be optimally digitalised to improve operational control. This is where project partner AKVA Group will have an important role to play since this company specializes in aquaculture technologies and related expertise.

Explore further Revealing hungry salmon with sound waves
YEREVAN, MARCH 26, ARMENPRESS. Defense Minister of Armenia Vagharshak Harutyunyan received on March 26 Ambassador of Lithuania to Armenia Inga Stanyte-Tolockiene.

As ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the Defense Ministry of Armenia, issues related to defense cooperation between Armenia and Lithuania were discussed during the meeting. The sides emphasized the necessity of ensuring the dynamic development of the cooperaton established in 2002.

The sides also discussed a broad scope of issues related to the regional security environment, presented the existing challenges and their views on expected regional developments.
Lauria Bible and Ashley Freeman

Michael Swango

D.B. Cooper

Liz Carmichael and The Dale

We all know Unsolved Mysteries was a show that brought light to many cases and put their victims in the spotlight in hopes of solving them.Recently, with the influx of true crime documentaries, many Unsolved Mysteries segments have been expanded into multi-episode documentaries of their own. In this ONTD original series, your resident Unsolved Mysteries junkie goes to the way-back machine for some of my favorite segments from the 1980s classic Unsolved Mysteries.This is one of my pet cases, partially because Lauria and Ashley were very close to my age and lived just a few hours from where I lived at the time.Lauria Bible and Ashley Freeman were best buds. Over the holidays in 1999, Lauria asked her parents if she could stay overnight with Ashley and her family to celebrate Ashleys birthday. What could go wrong with a harmless birthday sleepover, right?Overnight, the Freemans trailer caught fire and burned to the ground. Authorities initially only found the remains of the Freeman matriarch, Kathy, in the rubble. However, after a second glance (once the crime scene had been cleared by the OSBI), Laurias parents were looking through to see if they could find any of Laurias belongings and discovered the body of Danny Freeman, Ashleys father. The girls were definitively not in the fire, however they did find Laurias purse with a few hundred dollars in it. Laurias car was also still in front of the Freeman residence.Initially, the girls were suspected once it was determined that both of the Freeman parents were murdered by a shotgun blast to the head. However, how could two teen girls with no money and no car living in the backwoods of Oklahoma get anywhere and stay hidden for long?FYI, there are a lot of parents that I feel for but I think Jay and Lorene Bible take the cake at absolutely breaking my heart. In one of his interviews, Jay declares that if they ever found the girls, hed raise both of them as his own. Lorene put 200,000 miles on her car, driving all over Oklahoma, trying to find her daughter. These are the parents everyone should want to have - they never, ever, EVER gave up hope that they would find out what happened to their daughter and her best friend.There has FINALLY been some resolution for Laurias poor parents in the past year. Two of the suspects in the murders are already deceased, and one was sentenced to 10 years in prison for accessory to murder. source Im not even going to detail what those poor girls went through. Im just sad that its doubtful that their remains will ever be found.Hell in the Heartland: What Happened to Ashley and Lauria?Streaming on HBO MaxDisappeared: Out of the AshesStreaming on ID On Demand / Discovery +Both of these were produced before the arrests, so theres quite a bit of speculation in them. The four-part documentary really goes into the shady, shady people who were in that area of Oklahoma at the time, the drug scene that Danny Freeman was supposedly involved in, the intrigue with the sheriff's department and the death of Ashley's older brother, and the continued search for the girls, including all of the false confessions made by people over the years.We all want to believe that doctors are saints who always uphold the Hippocratic oath and would never willingly hurt us, right?Well theres always one. This Unsolved Mysteries segment focused on Michael Swango, a brazen white male doctor who managed to convince a lot of people to ignore the giant file of red flags on him so he could continue to provide health solutions for the public at large.Hes accused of poisoning everyone from his patients to his co-workers with everything from ant poison and insecticides to insulin. When the walls closed in on him, he fled abroad and worked in hospitals in Africa.Thankfully, he had to eventually renew his visa and Customs nabbed him as soon as he was back on American soil. He killed at least four people. Its unknown how many people he truly killed. And they showed him zero mercy, and threw him in ADX Florence Supermax for 3 life terms. Hes in there with a bunch of Al-Qaeda guys, the Unabomber, the Boston bomber, the Atlanta bomber and El Chapo. Good riddance.Very Scary People: Dr. DeathStreaming on HBO MaxEven though Donnie Wahlberg is cringe, I kinda like Very Scary People. The interviews they get are really good. They managed to find many of Swangos former co-workers for his documentary.I mean, how much do I need to go into about this case? If youre at all into true crime, you likely know all about this.A man who gave his name as D.B. Cooper at an airline counter (ahhhhh the days before we had to surrender every piece of our known identities and send our shoes through a metal detector just to board an airplane) purchased a ticket from Portland to Seattle. He then proceeds to hijack the plane, demands $200,000 in cash (the equivalent of $1.2 million now) and four parachutes, lets everyone off except the crew and demands the plane fly from Seattle to Mexico City.Somewhere over Oregon, he jumps out of the plane and is never seen again. Some of the bills were found in 1980 by a kid, but none of the rest of the money, nor any trace of D.B. Cooper has ever been found.The Mystery of D.B. CooperStreaming on HBO MaxThis doc goes down every rabbit hole to try to identify the only unsolved hijacking in commercial airline history.BEFORE WE GET INTO THIS CASE, A REMINDER: This was a case featured in 1989. The understanding and acceptance of trans people was not always what it should be.That being said, it was lovely seeing her male co-workers speak with her correct pronouns, even back then. There was also speculation that since she was on the run from the law, she was dressing as a woman not because she was trans, but because it was a disguise. But I digress.This is one of the more interesting cases from UM, not necessarily because of the person, but because of the nature of the crime. Liz Carmichael worked at a company called Twentieth Century Motor Cars, a company that purported to have invented a three-wheeled car called The Dale, which could get 70 mpg.(Dont we all WISH?)This was during a massive oil shortage in the US, so investors lept to invest in the car. However, after extensive investigation, they discovered that the car was a non-entity, and charged Liz with fraud, after which she fled from authorities. Its quite interesting that even after it was exposed that her car could not do what she claimed, that the employees at the company still strongly believed that it could be salvageable, even, as it appeared, no one within the company knew how to, ahem, BUILD A CAR.After they charged her with fraud and raided her home, authorities made a startling discovery: Liz Carmichael was technically male, and under her other identity Gerry Dean Michael, had another warrant out for her arrest.The Lady and the DaleStreaming on HBO MaxThis was an interesting series. They interviewed many of Lizs family members, former car company employees and other journalists regarding the Dale, the mystique surrounding Liz and her lifestyle, the trial and conviction and her post-jail life. It has a very distinct art style too that is very different from any documentary Ive seen (outside of the fabulous Monty Python doc on Netflix).
Becoming the first and only partner in the US and Canada to achieve Advanced Accreditation is a massive achievement for our consulting and implementation teams

Longbow Advantage today announced that the company has achieved Global Advanced Accreditation for Blue Yonders Warehouse Management Solutions (WMS). Today, Longbow is the only U.S. partner that has achieved this level of accreditation and one of only two globally.

This accreditation gives Blue Yonder WMS customers a clear option for a proven partner to help with their WMS projects. It also sets Longbow Advantage apart from other partners in their ability to provide a breadth of resources more deeply knowledgeable in Blue Yonders WMS than anyone else in the market.

Becoming the first and only partner in the US and Canada to achieve Advanced Accreditation is a massive achievement for our consulting and implementation teams, said Alex Wakefield, CEO of Longbow Advantage. Im proud of the work theyve done to cultivate and maintain such deep knowledge of Blue Yonders WMS and Im thrilled about what this means for the ongoing support we provide our clients and, in turn, their customers.

About Longbow Advantage

Longbow Advantage is known for providing high-quality supply chain software implementations and developing the only data services software designed and developed by IT and supply chain experts, Rebus. With Rebus as a robust supply chain visibility platform, Longbow can provide their customers with an unforgettable experience that changes the landscape of how they run their supply chain operations. Longbow provides customers with a deep layer of insight into the real-time workings of the most complex distribution network and consolidates legacy processes with Rebus.


Abhishek Bachchans next The Big Bull is all set to stream on Disney + Hotstar soon. The film which is helmed by Kookie Gulati and backed by Ajay Devgn has been in the news for quite some time. The film is based on the life of Harshad Mehta, the man who took the Bombay Stock Exchange Market by storm in the 90s. Surprisingly Harshad Mehtas story has been told by Hansal Mehta last year with webseries Scam 1992.



Today Kookie Gulati speaks to a leading daily and opens up about how Ajay Devgn wanted Abhishek Bachchan to play the lead role and his take on the comparisons. The director confirms that Ajay Devgn wanted Abhishek Bachchan to play the lead role. He even reasons out that being the producer Ajay Devgn didnt want to star in the film, The character was younger. Plus, he (Ajay Devgn) wouldve taken three years to start shooting (given his date diary). But for Ajay sir, it was about getting the right actor for the part. He believes that an actor shouldnt be cast just because of his stardom; he has to justify the role. Here, I had a star producer who encouraged me to be honest to the story.

Speaking about his films comparison to the webseries, the director says that people will see the difference between the two. He even assures that their take on Harshad Mehtas story was different. Kookie even said to the daily, It was gracious of Hansal Mehta to tweet that, and shower us with love. We are all here to tell personal stories, and encouraging one another is important. Sweet!


WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - With 69,586 new cases reporting on Thursday, the number of people infected with coronavirus in the United States has risen to 30079283. This is more than the 7-day average of 58579.



1270 people died in the same period from the pandemic, taking the national total to 546822. The 7-day average is 1019.



Highest number of deaths - 226 - occurred in California, while most cases - 8683 - were reported in New York.



Meanwhile, the Biden Administration announced a series of actions to expand access to COVID-19 vaccines to the hardest-hit and highest-risk communities across the country.



The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) intends to invest nearly $10 billion to expand access to vaccines and better serve communities of color, rural areas, low-income populations, and other underserved communities in the COVID-19 response.



The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) is planning to provide funding in April to nearly 1,400 Community Health Centers across the country.



The Biden Administration also announced a new partnership with dialysis clinics to provide COVID-19 vaccinations to people receiving dialysis and health care personnel in outpatient dialysis clinics.



Speaking at his first formal news conference since taking office, President Biden announced a target of administering 200 million COVID vaccine shots in people's arms by his 100th day in office.



Biden expressed confidence in meeting the goal of getting a majority of schools in K through 8 fully open in the first 100 days.



More than 100 million payments of $1,400 have gone into people's bank accounts under the American Rescue Plan, he told reporters.



In major developments outside the U.S., a virtual summit of European Union leaders recommended toughening export controls of AstraZeneca vaccine, and urged the pharma giant to speed up its mass deliveries bound for the bloc.



Argentina suspended all incoming flights from Brazil, Chile and Mexico in the wake of a surge in coronavirus cases in those countries.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - An initiative to support the Libyan private sector, with the support of the European Union (EU) aimed at integrating 500 young ex-combatants into the labour market
When my wife and I sat down a year ago to our Passover supper, known as the Seder, it was very different.

Throughout our lives, and for most practising and secular Jewish families across the world, the festival of freedom from slavery in Egypt is the most celebrated.

Gatherings are multi-generational and it is traditional to invite strangers to witness ancient prayers and enjoy the feast. Covid19 changed that and, for the second year, lockdown means a streamlined table.

Leading the way: From the start, AZ made it clear that its jab, at an average cost of $5 per dose, would be available to the first 3billion people to be inoculated at cost price

It has been a year of tragedy in Britain as the death toll surged, and the Anglo-Jewish community has endured more than a fair share of suffering. Yet there are many reasons to be grateful. Near to the top of the list is the excellence of UK life sciences and US-German work by Pfizer BioNTech, which has given a path out of plague for Britain, the US, Israel and other nations which embraced large-scale vaccination.

What is extraordinary is that the gift Britain has given to the world via the Oxford-Astrazeneca vaccine has been undermined by EU squabbling and medical-politics in the US. As this paper has reported, up to 21billion of revenues have been forgone.

Far from being driven by 'greed', as Boris Johnson clumsily claimed, the driving force has been altruism.

From the start, AZ made it clear that its jab, at an average cost of $5 per dose, would be available to the first 3billion people to be inoculated at cost price. That compares with the $28-per-jab that Benjamin Netanyahu personally negotiated with Pfizer's boss Albert Bourla and the $20-$40 price range for other vaccines including Moderna and Johnson & Johnson.

In a pandemic, the vaccine price ought to be irrelevant set against deaths, pressure on health care, the plunge in global output and lost jobs.

Yet it offers insight into why AZ's pricing strategy has been a source of dissonance on both sides of the Atlantic. Documents uncovered by website Politico show that when Brussels climbed on the vaccine bandwagon on behalf of 27 states, it did so with the objective of negotiating the lowest price and maximum accountability. That tipped the scales in favour of buying as much of the AZ vaccine as possible, because it was cheaper and easily distributed, even though the Pfizer innovative RNA-based inoculation was developed in Germany.

What Brussels failed to recognise is that because Boris Johnson's government had tipped 65.5m into the development of the vaccine, and it was first to the post in securing access, it gained exclusivity.

The hugely ambitious EU deal was in second place. That was always going to be awkward for a supply chain in which some manufacture, components and testing was on the Continent. German and French leaders indulged in an act of self-harm when they questioned the efficacy of the AZ vaccine without evidence.

Because so much of the work was being done in the EU, tension was inevitable when the UK's programme raced ahead at a sprint. In the US, Donald Trump's Operation Warp Speed funded the development of six separate vaccines from US pharma. The cost price Astrazeneca jab was always going to be at a disadvantage. The first indication of nationalism playing a role came in September 2020 when Astrazeneca halted its UK trials after a woman patient died of myelitis.

After UK regulators checked the data, the trial was quickly resumed. The same data was submitted to the US and trials there were halted for seven weeks.

Had that not happened, the Oxford vaccine potentially could have been approved ahead of Pfizer.

Then again this week, the US Data and Safety Monitoring Board questioned the AZ efficacy data only to withdraw its objections a couple of days later when the information was updated and presented again.

No one should underestimate the power of the profits motive in American pharma. Vast amounts are spent on lobbying Congress, the Food & Drug Administration and everyone else who will listen.

Astra has been an easy target because it is an overseas company, operating a non-profit model which could undermine the billions of dollars of payback from the US big six.
Burma US and UK Sanction Myanmar Military-Owned Conglomerates

The military-owned Myawaddy Trading and Bank Limited building on Strand Road in Yangon. / The Irrawaddy

The United States and the United Kingdom have imposed sanctions on two military-controlled conglomerates, in their latest move against the Myanmar military regime.

Myanma Economic Holdings Public Company Limited (MEHL) and Myanmar Economic Corporation Limited (MEC) have been sanctioned by the U.S Department of the Treasurys Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). The UK government placed sanctions on MEHL only.

The two conglomerates are a vital financial lifeline for the junta. They control a wide range of businesses in various sectors, including banking, trade, logistics, construction, mining, tourism and consumer goods.

The U.S said that the sanctions are a response to the overthrowing of Myanmars democratically-elected National League for Democracy (NLD) government and the ongoing repression of the countrys people.

Over 270 civilians have been killed by the regimes security forces during crackdowns on peaceful anti-regime demonstrators since the Feb.1 coup.

OFAC said that MEHLs shareholder data shows that profits are systematically distributed to the military, including to those responsible for widespread human rights abuses.

MEHL has 1,793 institutional shareholders, which include regional military commands and subordinate battalions, divisions, platoons, squadrons, and border guard forces. Shares are distributed across the armed forces with no public accountability, creating secret slush funds that the military uses to augment its operational budget, said OFAC.

Andrea M. Gacki, OFACs director, said that the U.S stands with the people of Myanmar and urged the return of its democratically-elected government.

The UK imposed sanctions on MEHL for its involvement in serious human rights violations against the Rohingya and its association with senior military figures.

MEHL contributed funds to support the military during its campaign of ethnic cleansing against the Rohingya in 2017, the UK government said.

Designating MEHL under the Global Human Rights sanctions regime will prohibit funds being made available to any subsidiaries owned or controlled by MEHL, according to the UK.

More than 700,000 Rohingya have fled Myanmar for neighboring Bangladesh since August 2017 to escape military operations that the UN has called a textbook example of ethnic cleansing. The Myanmar military denies that, insisting that the operations were a response to coordinated attacks on security posts in Rakhine State by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army.

UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said that the latest sanctions target the militarys financial interests to help drain the sources of finance for their campaign of repression against civilians.

The international envoy for Myanmars ousted civilian government, Dr. Sa Sa, issued a statement on his official Facebook page saying that he was grateful for the US and UK placing sanctions on military-owned companies that are contributing to the oppression of people in Myanmar.

Dr. Sa Sa said in the statement that the international community must continue to use all the power it has to weaken and stop the junta leaders.

He urged the international community to follow the example of the US and the UK and to cooperate together to impose targeted and tough sanctions against the military regime, including its leaders and military-owned companies and their subsidiaries.

You may also like these stories:

World Bank Forecasts 10 Percent Slump in Myanmars Growth

Striking Healthcare Workers Threatened by Myanmar Junta Officials

Myanmar Regime Threatens Banks That Fail to Reopen With Fines
The Principle Magistrate at Pademba Road Court No.1, Mark Ngegba has on Monday, 22nd March, 2021, slammed 8 months imprisonment on one Saidu Momoh Conteh, a Correctional Service Officer, who was found guilty of trafficking 'Kush' into prison.

The convict had pleaded guilty to the offence during his first appearance before Magistrate Ngegba.

Before he was convicted, the convict had worked in the Carpentry Department of Prisons for nine years. According to the evidence in court, officers who normally report for duty usually go through search and during the course of the search, the convict was suspected to be in possession of a substance in a small plastic hidden in his anus. That substance was discovered to be Kush.

It was also discovered that he was taking the said substance to inmates in the prisons. Before his conviction, the convict had been discharged off his duties at the Correctional Service.

Defense Lawyer, Charlie Israel Williams, in his plea of mitigation, pleaded with the magistrate to temper Justice with mercy.

He said the accused is a young man and a first time offender with no criminal record and that he did not waste the court time by answering to the offense, adding that his client has served the prison department for 9 years.

He further pleaded with the magistrate not to impose a custodian sentence on his client, but a minimal fine that he will be able to pay.

Magistrate Ngegba, however, discountenanced the plea and sentenced the convict to 8 months imprisonment.

Police Constable, 15152 Harold Ballah Turay,was prosecuting the matter.

It could be recalled that the convict was charged to court on one count of unlawful possession contrary to Section 33 (1) of CAP 37 as amended by Section 5 of Act No 6 of 1981.

According to the indictment, the police alleged that the convict on Saturday 30th January, 2021, at the Male Correctional Centre was found in possession of one packet substance (Kush) suspected to have been unlawfully possessed.
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.
Manitobans should brace for an increase in the spread of more infectious coronavirus variants, public health officials say, after dozens of such infections were confirmed Friday.

Manitobans should brace for an increase in the spread of more infectious coronavirus variants, public health officials say, after dozens of such infections were confirmed Friday.

Acting deputy chief provincial public health officer Dr. Jazz Atwal said 46 previously reported COVID-19 cases had been determined to be caused by the more infectious B.1.1.7 mutation, which was first detected in the U.K.

"We are seeing higher numbers of the B.1.1.7 variant. We have seen some unknown acquisition of that," Atwal said. "We have seen small clusters related to a school or two. We have seen some occupations impacted by it as well, so occupational exposures."

Most of the cases were reported in the Winnipeg region and two were found in Southern Health. The single-day spike in known variant cases set a new record, surpassing the 18 reported March 15.

As of Friday, the National Microbiology Lab has confirmed 109 Manitoba cases to be caused by the B.1.1.7 variant and 14 caused by B.1.351, first detected in South Africa. The total number of cases caused by a variant of concern is 123.

Atwal said public health was expecting the number of cases caused by a variant of concern to increase in proportion to total COVID-19 cases as restrictions are eased and more people interact with each other.

The seven-day average for new cases in Manitoba is 93 cases per day.

"As anticipated, once a variant of concern sort of takes hold, we've seen this in other jurisdictions, the proportion of variants of concerns will increase. That's what we're seeing right now," Atwal said.

"Next week, we'll likely see some higher numbers related to that as well on a proportionate basis and an absolute basis."

The provincial government will only announce cases involving a variant of concern after receiving confirmation from the Winnipeg-based NML, a process that can take up to 10 days.

"Roughly 32 per cent of all cases in Manitoba right now are testing positive for a (variant of concern)," Atwal said.

According to the province, on a single day late last week, 32 per cent of COVID-19 cases screened by Cadham Provincial Lab were positive for the B.1.1.7 mutation.

"So we're keeping a sharp eye on it," Atwal said.

Cadham screens positive COVID-19 samples for mutations present in variants of concern, which takes 24 to 48 hours, meaning public health officials are aware of probable variant cases before confirmation from NML.

Atwal said the province will begin reporting cases caused by variants of concern in a more timely manner next week.

On Friday, 116 new COVID-19 cases and three more deaths were recorded in Manitoba.

Of the new cases, 51 were in Winnipeg, 55 in Northern Health, five in Southern Health, two Interlake-Eastern, and three in Prairie Mountain.

On Friday, new public health orders came into effect to allow for gathering sizes of 25 people at outdoor public places and at weddings and funerals, as well as increased capacity limits at retail settings.

For the time being, Atwal said public health is comfortable with the restrictions Manitoba has in place to stem the spread of COVID-19. However, he said, the province may be forced to hold off on further reopening, or even reinstate restrictions, if pandemic metrics take a turn for the worse.

There were 1,169 active cases in Manitoba, with 142 people in hospital (31 in intensive care). The five-day test positivity rate is 4.4 per cent in Manitoba, and 3.6 per cent in Winnipeg.

The deaths announced include: a man in his 70s from Interlake-Eastern; a man in his 60s from Northern Health; and a man in his 70s from Winnipeg.

Meanwhile, Atwal said the mass vaccination site at the RBC Convention Centre in downtown Winnipeg was experiencing substantial delays, after a software malfunction left the clinic short-staffed.

"As soon as the issue was identified, the team began reaching to bring additional staff on site," Atwal said. "We know that some patients are waiting beyond their time of their appointment, and we apologize for that."

The same site also experienced significant delays earlier in the week, after the province began testing a new immunization delivery model on the third-floor clinic. Later, technical issues with the provinces appointment system slowed down client registration.

As of Friday, 173,158 doses of COVID-19 vaccine had been given in Manitoba, about 70 per cent of all product received by the province.

As of Friday, age eligibility criteria had not changed from 65 years old for the general public, and 45 for First Nations individuals.

The province has issued a reminder: anyone who has been in Manitoba for one month or more, including international students, visitors, migrant workers and people providing caregiving to others, can receive the vaccine at no cost if they meet eligibility requirements.

danielle.dasilva@freepress.mb.ca
To the Editor:

Re Georgia Republicans Pass Broad Curbs on Ballot Access (front page, March 26):

A critical pillar of democracy is rule by the majority, which is determined by elections. Republicans have declared war on this aspect of our political system. The Jan. 6 insurrection was a battle in this war, and they lost it. That evening the second battle occurred when the great majority of Republican legislators in Congress voted to not accept the valid results of the presidential election. They lost this battle, too.

They have now initiated a third battle by attempting to pass voting procedures that would disenfranchise certain voters in order to enshrine Republican minority rule. This is clearly a continuation of their insurrection to destroy our democracy and presents an existential threat to it.

Democrats must use every available tool they can muster to win this third battle by passing a strong voting rights bill if our democracy is to survive.

Bruce Shames

New York

To the Editor:

There are indelible images out of my state of Georgia  Gov. Brian Kemp, under a painting of an old Georgia plantation, surrounded by six white men, signing a massive voter suppression bill behind closed doors, while a Black female state representative knocking peacefully on the door is handcuffed and carried away. Wow.
The coronavirus pandemic has caused uncertainty for many businesses, but some have thrived amid the adversity.

The most recent pandemic winners include three young men who have had their bitcoin company valued at 3.8billion after closing a 218million funding round.

Started in a two-bedroom flat in York by Ben Reeves, Peter Smith and Nicolas Cary in 2011, Blockchain.com is the worlds largest crypto-currency wallet, a place where customers can track ownership and receive or spend crypto-currencies.

Blockchain billionaires Ben Reeves, Peter Smith and Nicolas Cary started what is now the worlds largest crypto-currency wallet from a two-bedroom flat in York

It is responsible for 28 per cent of all bitcoin transactions worldwide and the three founders are believed to still hold substantial stakes.

Other high-profile investors include billionaire Richard Branson, Googles venture arm GV and Spotify backer Lakestar.

The valuation shows that crypto-currencies are now being taken seriously as an asset class and the company recently added Jim Messina, Barack Obamas former deputy chief of staff, as a board member to lend it further credibility.

The firm joins a growing list of entrepreneurs who have hit the jackpot during the pandemic.

Brothers John and Patrick Collison's tech company Stripe was valued at 69bn two weeks ag

1. Stripe

John and Patrick Collison are two unassuming brothers from Tipperary in the Republic of Ireland who have taken the world by storm.

Both in their early 30s, their wealth has soared above 16billion after tech company Stripe was valued at 69billion two weeks ago.

Stripe, which provides software so businesses can process payments online, is the most valuable private company in Silicon Valley and there is plenty of excitement about a possible flotation.

The brothers showed early signs that they would grow up to be tech pioneers and by eight years of age Patrick had taken his first computer course at the University of Limerick.

He later attended Massachusetts Institute of Technology, but dropped out, while John attended Harvard.

The company has some notable names on its board, including former Bank of England governor Mark Carney, but sceptics say Stripe has yet to show its revenues or profits and has refused to open its books.

2. Pension Bee

135m windfall: Pension Bee founder Romi Savov

Founded in 2014 by Romi Savova, 35, this company is proof that the best business ideas are always the simplest.

The firm is behind a smartphone app that lets people consolidate their pension savings into one pot and manage them digitally  particularly useful for those who have worked at lots of different companies over the course of their careers.

This week Pension Bee unveiled plans for a 300million float in London, putting Savova in line for a 135million windfall.

Born in Bulgaria and raised in South Africa, the former Goldman Sachs banker had the idea for the business after struggling to move her own pension pot when switching jobs.

While running the company, she has also given birth to two children and has written about the difficulties female entrepreneurs face.

3. Deliveroo

Remarkably the food delivery entrepreneur Will Shu claims he never wanted to start his own company. I never set out to be a founder or a CEO.

I was never into start-ups. Im not one of those Silicon Valley types with a million ideas. I had one idea, he said after the firm confirmed plans to list on the London stock exchange.

The flotation  valued at up to 8.8billion  has set tongues wagging in the City and would be the largest in a decade, since Glencores mammoth 38billion IPO in 2011.

Shu will sell shares in the float worth up to 30.8million and retain a 6.3 per cent stake valued as much as 530million.

But in an early setback, big institutional investors including Aberdeen Standard and Aviva said they would shun the companys shares because of concerns over workers rights.

Deliveroo has responded by saying riders have freedom to choose their hours and analysts believe there would be plenty of appetite for the shares even without the backing of major fund managers.

4. The Hut Group

The Hut Group has wasted no time in becoming a stock market darling, with the retailers shares rising 26 per cent since it floated in September.

Founder and boss Matt Moulding, 48, has already scooped 54million at the float and is in line to take a stupendous 840million payout in the spring, the biggest ever jackpot to a British chief executive.

The Hut Group founder Matthew Moulding (pictured with wife Jodie) has already scooped 54m at the float and is in line to take a stupendous 840m payout in the spring

Mouldings rise is a classic rags-to-riches fairy tale for a boy from the back streets of Lancashire but many are still uncomfortable with his excessive pay, corporate governance standards and lifestyle.

Moulding also comes in for stick for the amount of oiled-up, bare-chested photographs there are of him in the public eye.

Many joke there are more available than of Russian president Vladimir Putin.

5. End

Another success story for two young men in their 30s.

Premium clothing retailer End was snapped up by private equity giant Carlyle Group for 750million earlier this week.

Founded in Newcastle in 2005 by university friends Christiaan Ashworth, 38, and John Parker, 39  the two will now join the ranks of the super-rich after selling their majority stake.

End Clothing founders Christiann Ashworth and John Parker. The retailer was snapped up by private equity giant Carlyle Group for 750m earlier this week

End, which sells brands from Adidas to Gucci, has three stores  in Newcastle, London and Glasgow.

Its largest revenue source is its website, as Ashworth, with his economics degree, and Parker, with his IT degree, realised the power of ecommerce.

The deal is proof of the shift in the retail world from bricks and mortar to online.

6. Moonpig

Moonpig floated in January to little fanfare but made a small fortune for its executives.

Former WH Smith chief and Moonpig chairman Kate Swann netted 7million, while chief executive Nickyl Raithatha got 11million.

Many of the firms 450 staff were also given shares but founder and Dragons Den star Nick Jenkins sold his remaining shares in 2016.

The digital greeting cards maker float shows that the UK tech sector is booming and investors cant get enough during lockdown.

7. Dr. Martens

This punk brand joined the mainstream when it floated in January this year.

The float was cheered by skinheads around the world and saw dozens of Dr. Martens executives and former staff take a multi-million pound windfall.

It was also a particularly lucrative day for the Griggs family who bought the rights to manufacture the shoes back in back in the 50s.

Descendant Max Griggs, 80, and his son, Stephen, 57, owned a 10 per cent stake worth 330million.

Dr. Martens has enjoyed a resurgence in recent years with models Gigi Hadid and Hailey Baldwin sporting them.

The brands come a long way since the Sex Pistols.
Dar es Salaam  Though President John Magufuli is no more, his memory will live forever in the hearts and minds of aviation stakeholders due to his as yet unmatched support for the industry.

The support by the late Magufuli - who succumbed to rare heart complications on March 17, 2021 - ranged from service provision to oversight and surveillance.

Despite the demise of Dr Magufuli, aviation players are bullish about the future of the industry, banking their hopes on the new President, Mama Samia Suluhu Hassan, whom they believe will more than follow in her predecessor's footsteps.

The aviation sector in Tanzania gained an upstream momentum since the coming of the fifth phase regime under the late President Magufuli in November 2015.

Revamping of aviation from the past decades of struggling is attributable to great investment in Air Tanzania Company Limited (ATCL) which opened up national and regional schedules.

The sector's current good shape is also linked with the construction of a Sh705 billion - state-of-the-art terminal III at the Julius Nyerere International Airport (JNIA), regional airports, training and purchasing radars.

Nas-Dar Airco Head of corporate affairs and government relations Evans Mlelwa is expecting that the aviation sector would continue to be part of the national economic ecosystem under the new government led by President Mama Samia.

He expounded that the momentum gained during the Late Magufuli must be sustained and endured by the new government.

"The government should ensure that the aviation economic ecosystem advocates for improved regulations and procedures, logistics, tourism marketing, hospitality, air connectivity, capacity building and trade facilitation," suggested Mr Mlelwa.

This approach by the government, he added, would bring a sustainable air traffic growth.

The latest report has in it that the number of passenger traffic for all airports in Tanzania jumped from 5.2 million when Late Magufuli was assuming the office in 2015 to 6.2 million in 2019.

Nas- Dar Airco is confident that President Samia would ensure the aviation sector accelerates on the pace set by the Late President Magufuli.

Mr Mlelwa proposed to the new government to look at tax and non-tax incentives which will revitalise the ground handling players and investment in cargo facilities.

This, he explained, would help to support the agri-business and look at comparable charges in the aviation sector within the East African Community to increase the country's competitiveness in the region.

Precision Air Chief Executive Officer Patrick Mwanri is of the expectation that the government would continue offering the much-needed support to the aviation sector. He made a plea to the government to issue tax and fee relief for airlines in the wake of disruption caused by Covid-19 pandemic.

The Tanzanian aviation sector is still apprehensive about the effects of the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic on passenger traffic.

"We request the government to consider providing us with tax and fee relief for us to keep surviving," said Mr Mwanri, whose airline is now operating at 40 percent of the pre-Covid capacity.

This, he explained, would help to leverage revenue and lessen the impact of the Covid-19.

The aviation expert with a vast experience of 46 years, Mr John Njawa, is positive the incoming administration under President Mama Samia will see through the improvements in the industry.

"I have some semblance to believe she will want to prove her capability and that she had taken her internship seriously and learnt her lessons appropriately," Mr Njawa exuded his optimism.

ATCL managing director Ladislaus Matindi is expecting the national carrier to receive the same support it used to enjoy from the government.

"I don't see any changes because she (President Samia) is using the same party's election manifesto which late Magufuli and she used to market themselves to the voters (during the October General Election)," said Mr Matindi.

"I see the new President with the same motto--- of having a strong and efficient national carrier."

An aviation expert with a vast experience of nearly 50 years Lawrence Paul is optimistic that as far as Mama Samia was working closely with the late President as her deputy, the aviation sector has remained in the safe hands.

He said late Magufuli was passionate about taking the aviation sector to the apex--- as it used to be in the past.

That is why, he added, within only five years and 114 days of his leadership, he managed to restore the lost glory of the national carrier.

In the past, ATCL had 11 aircraft, before the number dwindled to one in 2015 when Dr Magufuli was taking the office, according to Mr Paul who started working in the aviation sector on June 1, 1971.

The Late Magufuli's administration had purchased new eight aircraft consisting of two Boing 787-8 Dreamliners, two Airbus A220-300 models and four Bombardiers Q400, to make a total number to nine.

According to the government spokesperson, Dr Hassan Abbas, the government has already completed the payments for the other three aircraft; two Dash 8-400 and one Airbus A220-300, to make the total to 12 aircraft.

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In an exclusive interview with The Citizen last month, Dr Abbas said the government under Late Magufuli was planning to purchase the cargo-only aircraft by 2025.

In another development, during Dr Magufuli's regime, Tanzania acquired four radars at Sh67.3 billion---meant for monitoring the entire aviation airspace and eventually increasing the safety and security of the country.

Initially, according to the Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority (TCAA) director general, Mr Hamza Johari, the country had one old and outdated radar which had a surveillance capacity of 25 per cent, leaving 75 per cent of the country unsecured.

Mr Paul, who is the retired Tanzania Air Operators Association (Taoa) executive secretary said: "I am saddened with the loss of the visionary leader who will be remembered for his role in restoring the lost glory of the aviation sector in Tanzania."

"I pray for her Excellency (Mama Samia) to walk on his (Late Magufuli) footsteps."

He is also optimistic she (the Head of State) would tighten the screws on corruption crackdown, discipline at the workplaces and good customer services.

"Late Magufuli was in the forefront to fight corruption. We are not 100 percent free of corruption, but at least, we can say we are in a good shape," noted Mr Paul.
It Really Resembles Gold: The Perfumers on the New Carolina Herrera Perfume

Interviews

Gold Myrrh Absolute, the new fragrance by Carolina Herrera, is a rare take on myrrh and a beautiful, if rather unconventional (youll want to chew on all that dry woodiness) gourmand perfume. We spoke with its creators, Veronique Nyberg and Alex Lee of Mane, and asked the same old questions  in hope of getting all the right answers.

Do you remember the initial brief given to you to create Gold Myrrh Absolute?

V&A: To be honest, we started working on this project long before we were briefed. What we did was analyze what might be the next opus, the next chapter of the Eastern Treasures collection. We researched Middle Eastern perfumery, its practices and essences, the Carolina Herrera customer and his or her interpretation of luxury, and the olfactive notes that had not yet been explored in the collection Instead of a brief, the concept of Gold Myrrh Absolute was born out of earlier research which we used to develop the first fragrance sample. We remember perfectly the day we presented it to the Carolina Herrera team: they loved it. And they loved it unanimously, which is something that does not happen often. They liked its strength, its power, its addictive and opulent scent, the way it reminded them of gold. In fact, all the later adjustments that we made were all aimed at enhancing these sensations.

The way it reminded them of gold  how did you get that particular feeling?

V&A: We selected the main ingredient very carefully, and we knew that myrrh was the right approach to take. The myrrh that we extract in our company Mane is of very high quality, you should see and smell it in its purest form, with the full range of yellow shades: it really resembles gold. That is why we selected it as the base note. Myrrh gives the perfume a golden, shiny and luminous quality, it infuses the formula with depth and color.

How long did you work on this perfume?

V&A: Around one and a half years. Its not just about loving the formula: afterwards comes a period of time when you need to live with it and experience it personally. You need to digest it and understand how it behaves, how it evolves on the skin, and this requires patience. We tested it every day to see if it worked or not, we wore the perfume to test it. Whats more, we can confirm that the Carolina Herrera team wore the fragrance extensively too. They kept asking us for more samples!

Did you create many versions before finding the final shape of the fragrance?

V&A: The first step, and it was a very important step, was the fact that the Carolina Herrera team really liked the initial idea. This was also the start of the brief we mentioned previously: they asked us to get the fragrance much closer to the concept of gold. It had to be more opulent and powerful. First and foremost, Gold Myrrh Absolute is constructed as a Middle Eastern fragrance, and it needed to have a solid and coherent identity. Most of our tests (and we did a lot of tests) focused on perfecting the fragrance, just like a diamond. It had to be polished and shaped to make it more opulent and appealing, and it had to be aligned with the bottle and the name that had been chosen.

Could you tell me a bit more about the creative process of the juice? What steps did you follow?

V&A: When we started working with myrrh, which is the backbone of the fragrance and a multidimensional note, we thought that combining it with vanilla might be an interesting idea. Vanilla is addictive and has become one of the most expensive and exclusive ingredients in perfumery. It reinforced the opulence and the luxury that we were looking for to replicate gold. The next step was to link these two base notes, adjusting them and connecting them at a technical level through licorice and cacao notes that intensified the addictive aspect. We also needed a contrast, something that would invite you to smell the fragrance over and over again, and we needed to increase the longevity of the perfume and its power.

So, the contrast was key to this fragrance?

V&A: Yes. The Carolina Herrera team said that the perfume had to open itself up and breathe much more, and they were right: if you smelt it, it seemed intense, yes, but it was missing that magical touch linked to sillage. We really struggled to achieve it: each time we tried something new, either we lost the addictiveness or the essence of myrrh, or we obscured the vanilla effect. Eventually, we found black pepper (specially extracted through Jungle Essence technology, which sources raw materials that can be sustainable), and it was our salvation. It was the perfect link between all the other ingredients of the perfume: it added freshness, energy, and the contrast and impact needed to give the formula a twist and make it unique.

Which olfactive family does this fragrance belong to?

V&A: Gold Myrrh Absolute is an oriental gourmand fragrance. Its oriental because of myrrh and vanilla, and gourmand because it contains aromas that everyone has smelt or tasted: licorice, vanilla again and cacao as powdered chocolate, which actually evokes the addictive smell of coffee. Myrrh also smells slightly like this, but we did not want to convey coffee with this fragrance.

What about the sustainability of the ingredients? Are they responsibly sourced?

V&A: Yes, one of the things that attracted us to myrrh was that the one we use comes from a desert in the north of Namibia, in southwest Africa, and is extracted by the Himba people. The women from this community mix it with animal fat to create a reddish paste which they spread on their skin, as part of their beauty ritual and because it functions as an insect repellent and sunscreen. Myrrh is fundamental to their daily life, so it is important to buy the harvests from them at a fair price. At Mane, we support them by offering them financial security and promoting their ingredient through the launch of exceptional fragrances. For Vanilla, the company has been a longstanding stakeholder in their country: for many years we have helped to improve the social conditions of the producers and their families. We have developed educational programs (funding a new school that benefits 600 children), health (building a local hospital) and food safety (with a community rice granary). We also promote initiatives to protect their biodiversity. As a company, we have a strong commitment to reforestation: everything that is harvested has to be replanted. As perfumers, the idea that you can create fragrance while indirectly helping a community is wonderful. It is an added extra that we give to everyone who buys Gold Myrrh Absolute: each time someone tries it and smells its ingredients they will be supporting an essential cause.

As for the spirit of Carolina Herrera, how did you translate it into this formula?

V&A: The philosophy of the house is all about sophistication and the tradition of craftsmanship, but with a twist of extravagance that makes the designs even more impressive. We create our perfume according to that mindset: starting with extraordinary notes, we use our creativity to compose them in a modern way. And the final fragrance is always a surprise. These are scents that had never been smelt, they cannot be compared to any fragrances previously created, and they generate a magnificent impact at first sniff.

Gold Myrrh Absolute is the newest chapter of Eastern Treasures, a collection that pays tribute to the ancestral perfumery of the Middle East. From your point of view, what can this fragrance offer to the men and women who wear it in 2021?

V&A: One of the greatest achievements of Middle Eastern perfumery is influencing the world to appreciate the value of fragrance more, the power of scent to make each person stand out from the rest. Gold Myrrh Absolute does this: whoever wears it will not go unnoticed, they will stand out. Its very likely someone will approach them and ask: What perfume are you wearing?. Furthermore, this perfume will please many  its not about gender, its about olfactive love at first sight. It offers a sensorial dimension and a mystical side, an invitation to escape, to feel free  a feeling that is intrinsic to the Carolina Herrera DNA. Besides, its gourmand facet evokes smells and tastes that are etched in everybodys memory.

What has it meant to you to work on the Herrera Confidential collection?

Veronique Nyberg: I had already collaborated with the house on the creation of other fragrances, but Gold Myrrh Absolute is the first Herrera Confidential perfume that Alex and I have crafted together. Its our first baby in the family! (laughs). Here we have been able to explore and understand the Middle Eastern market, to understand it in depth, and maybe for this reason the project has also been a challenge: we have had to live up to these expectations and build a perfume as powerful and unique as the ones created there. Furthermore, it also had to be tied to a color. How do you make something that smells of gold? How do you translate a smell into the opulence associated with gold? It has been a real learning process, and a very enjoyable one: we were supported by the whole Carolina Herrera team from Barcelona and that helped us all move forward in the same direction.

What have you learned about the universe of Carolina Herrera during this project?

V&A: The most beautiful thing has been observing from the inside what the world sees from the outside: this is a house that prioritizes quality and creativity, with the objective of designing beautiful things through passion and optimism. This can be seen in the garments, the perfumes and the teams mindset. They are always smiling and laughing! Working on this fragrance we have really experienced what they call, in Spanish, alegria de vivir.

Do you often experience it in your work, this alegria? Was it a good enough reason to take up work in fragrances?

Veronique Nyberg: For me, it was all about the contrast, which is essential to Gold Myrrh Absolute, its something that I have enjoyed all my life. Since I was a child I have done so many things related to art! I wanted to do it for a living, but I was an excellent student too, so I ended up getting a degree in chemistry. Lets just say that when I discovered perfumery, I found that it allowed me to combine those two things  I saw I could combine my scientific background with the creative side of me that has always been my passion.

Alex Lee: I knew I had to go to the cradle of perfumery to best study the art. I left home, California, for France in 2007 with my sights set on Grasse. I did the traditional path of training in several perfumery schools in the south of France and Paris and eventually the internal training program of Mane to finally become a perfumer.
Commonwealth Bank has disputed a union claim that thousands of staff are owed a sum of $45million for not being given their entitled tea breaks.

The Finance Sector Union says retail bankers at the company are entitled to one paid ten-minute tea break after working three hours and another one after working five hours.

The union claims around 3,000 staff weren't given these breaks, so they are each owed around $15,000 in back pay.

However CBA was disputing the claim.

Commonwealth Bank has disputed a union's claims thousands of staff are owed $45million for not being given their entitled tea breaks

'This is an ambit claim and we haven't seen any evidence to support it,' a spokesperson said.

'If someone makes a legitimate claim we'll investigate it.'

The union's national secretary Julia Angrisano said massive cuts to staff numbers at the highly profitable banks meant CBA was not honouring the 2016 Enterprise Agreement which entitled workers to their breaks.

'This is a claim about tea-breaks but the real issue here is that every bank branch is so short staffed, everyone is run off their feet, without even a moment to have a cuppa,' she said.

'Workers in bank branches are at breaking point because of staff shortages and the effects of being massively overworked.

'No-one should have to work so hard that they can't even take a few minutes for a cup of tea and coffee to recover during a shift.'

The union has made the tea break claim as it also negotiates a 3.25 per cent annual increase in pay for 33,000 CBA staff.

A further 3 per cent pay increase will be delivered the following year, along with an additional three days of leave each year and rostered days off.

CBA has been negotiating with the union over these matters but have been unable to reach agreements on pay and rostered days off.
Courtesy Barbara Higgins

Age is nothing but a number for one New Hampshire teacher who recently welcomed a baby boy into the world.

Barbara Higgins, 57, gave birth to a healthy baby boy named Jack on March 20 after undergoing IVF treatment with her husband Kenny Banzhoff, according to NBC Boston.

"We've beat the odds," Banzhoff, 65, told the outlet. "I'm so proud of her, she's been a trooper through the whole thing."

The couple's new bundle of joy comes five years after they reportedly lost their 13-year-old daughter Molly to an undiagnosed brain tumor.

After Molly's death, Higgins said she couldn't stop thinking about having another child to join their surviving daughter Gracie.

Courtesy Barbara Higgins

"I started having these dreams that I wanted to have a child, and I thought, 'OK, Barb, that's a little crazy," she told NBC Boston.

RELATED: Tenn. Couple's Baby Sets New Record After Being Born from Embryo That Was Frozen for 27 Years

Still, she couldn't shake that thought that welcoming a new baby into the world was a path she was meant to take.

Related: Baby born from 27-year-old frozen embryo

"I attached [the dreams] very much to my grief process, and a couple of years went by where I had this sort of compelling thought in my head that I should have a child," she told the TODAY show. "The dream was pretty consistent."

After finding an IVF clinic in Boston that would treat someone Higgins' age, the couple reportedly decided to move forward with the pregnancy.

Higgins also credited her active lifestyle for a smooth third pregnancy, sharing that she had been weightlifting up until the day she went into labor.

Courtesy Barbara Higgins

"I do a lot of weight training and all of that crazy Crossfit stuff that you hear about," she told NBC Boston.

RELATED: 51-Year-Old Gives Birth to Her Granddaughter After Serving as Daughter's Surrogate

Story continues

As for having a child at 57, which makes her the oldest woman to ever give birth in New Hampshire, according to the Concord Monitor, Higgins said her age wasn't a factor in deciding to have another baby.

Never miss a story  sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

"Nobody can give birth to a baby and know with a certainty that they will see that baby grow up," she told the outlet, adding to TODAY that she was "not concerned about external judgments or factors."

"It's just us and Jack and our day-to-day life. So far so good," she told TODAY. "Who knows how I'll be in 10 years, but who knows how you'll be in 10 years? That isn't something that anyone can predict, and why should Jack not get to be alive just because I'm old?"
International investigation discovers bald eagles' killer

The alarm bells began ringing when dozens of eagles were found dead near an Arkansas lake.

Their deaths--and, later, the deaths of other waterfowl, amphibians and fish--were the result of a neurological disease that caused holes to form in the white matter of their brains. Field and laboratory research over nearly three decades has established the primary clues needed to solve this wildlife mystery: Eagle and waterfowl deaths occur in late fall and winter within reservoirs with excess invasive aquatic weeds, and birds can die within five days after arrival.

But until recently, the toxin that caused the disease, vacuolar myelinopathy, was unknown.

Now, after years spent identifying a new toxic blue-green algal (cyanobacteria) species and isolating the toxic compound, an interdisciplinary research group from the University of Georgia and international collaborators have confirmed the structure of this toxin. The results were recently published in the journal Science.

The cyanobacteria grows on the leaves of an invasive water plant, Hydrilla verticillata, under specific conditions: in manmade lakes when bromide is present. The bacteria--and animal deaths from the disease it causes--has been documented in watersheds across the southeastern United States. This is why it's important for anyone in the outdoors--anglers, hunters, birdwatchers and more--to be aware of the signs of this neurological infection and avoid consuming infected animals.

"We want people to recognize it before taking birds or fish from these lakes," said Susan Wilde, an associate professor of aquatic science at the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources who first discovered the cyanobacteria. In some animals, such as birds, turtles, salamanders and even a beaver, the disease manifests as erratic movements or convulsions. Anglers must be even more cautious, though, as it's impossible to detect toxin in fish without obvious symptoms.

"For fish, it's tough. I would avoid eating fish with lesions or some sort of deformities; we do see affected fish with slow swimming speeds, but anglers won't be able to see that," added Wilde. "We want people to know the lakes where this disease has been documented and to use caution in consuming birds and fish from these lakes."

Wilde and Warnell graduate students studying the cyanobacteria have compiled maps and a list of affected watersheds.

The most recent study details new mapping of the bacteria's genome, a final piece in the puzzle to understand how it develops and survives. Wilde and others have been studying the cyanobacteria since 2001, when bald eagles began dying in Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina. The following decades saw the discovery of the cyanobacteria itself, Aetokthonos hydrillicola (Latin for "eagle killer that grows on Hydrilla"), and connections made between the invasive aquatic plant and the animals that eat it.

But until recently, said professor Timo Niedermeyer of the Institute of Pharmacy at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg in Germany, the origin of the brain-decimating disease was a mystery.

Niedermeyer, who has worked with cyanobacteria natural products for years, wanted to help put the pieces together. He contacted Wilde and offered to collaborate. Samples of Hydrilla collected in the field were sent to him, and his lab cultivated the cyanobacteria in the laboratory and sent them back to UGA for further testing. But the tests came back negative: The cyanobacteria from the lab did not induce the disease.

"It's not just the birds that were going crazy, we were too. We wanted to figure this out," said Niedermeyer. Once again, he had colonized leaves sent to him from UGA.

Steffen Breinlinger, a doctoral student in his research group, then used a new imaging mass spectrometer to investigate the composition on the surface of the plant's leaf, molecule by molecule. He discovered a new substance that only occurs on the leaves where the cyanobacteria grows but is not produced in the cyanobacteria cultures. His investigations into the chemical structure of the isolated molecule revealed five bromine atoms.

"The structure is really spectacular," said Breinlinger. The properties are unusual for a molecule formed by cyanobacteria, and they provide an explanation for why the toxin did not form under laboratory conditions, where bromide isn't present. "We then added bromide to our lab cultures, and the cyanobacteria started producing the toxin."

After almost a decade of testing the isolated molecule and collaboration between the labs in Germany and Georgia, they had their proof: the molecule does trigger vacuolar myelinopathy. The researchers call their discovery aetokthonotoxin, "poison that kills the eagle."

"Finally, we did not only catch the murderer, but we also identified the weapon the cyanobacteria used to kill those eagles," said Wilde.

The neurological disease has not yet occurred in Europe, and no instance of the toxin-forming cyanobacterium has been reported. Humans are not yet known to be affected by vacuolar myelinopathy, although the study did successfully affect chickens with the toxin, and Wilde continues to test fish and waterfowl such as ducks and coots for the disease.

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This story has been published on: 2021-03-26. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Smith Detection has been selected to provide Kuwait International and Heathrow airports with a range of its cutting-edge security technology, to enhance passenger experience by providing efficient safety operations prior to boarding.

For the installation at Heathrow (above), Smiths will supply and integrate checkpoints throughout the airport, featuring HI-SCAN 6040 CTiX computed tomography x-rays for highly detailed 3D images capable of detecting explosives. The system will also enable liquids and electronics to stay in passengers bags during security checks. Furthermore, a fully integrated checkpoint called Checkpoint.Evoplus will combine individual components of a lane into a single, intelligent operational management solution. An iLane automatic tray return system will also be fitted.

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The ECAC EDS CB C3 approved CT systems will enable Heathrow airport to meet the highest regulatory requirements for security. The security revisions and equipment will be installed before a large volume of passengers are expected to travel later on in 2021.

We are delighted to once again be given the opportunity to work closely with Heathrow Airport to provide leading-edge technologies that bring the best security outcomes and passenger experience, commented Smiths Detection president Roland Carter. Both Smiths Detection and Heathrow are focused on intelligent solutions that deliver efficiency, security and resilience; and these new lanes will allow for improvements to be easily integrated as technology develops.

For Kuwait International, the equipment manufacturer will provide 70 Hi-SCAN 6040 CTiX computed tomography x-rays for Terminal 2, which is intended to become an international transit hub and will be able to handle 25 million passengers annually. Kuwaiti Ministry of Public Works will lead the project, while Limak Insaat will work as the primary contractor.

Jerome de Chassey, vice president of APAC and Middle East, Smiths Detection, said, Following on from the successful award of the hold baggage screening equipment last year, we are proud to be continuing this relationship with Kuwait International Airport, providing them with best-in-class screening equipment for their new terminal. The solutions that they have selected are the most technically advanced and are being installed in some of the biggest airports across the globe.
GREENWICH - A flag-raising was held at Greenwich Town Hall on Thursday morning to mark the 200th anniversary of Greek independence.

The event was a lot more festive than last year's ceremony. In 2020, the flag-raising was attended by only First Selectman Fred Camillo and Board of Estimate and Taxation member Karen Fassuliotis. The COVID-19 pandemic had just begun and residents were advised to not gather in crowds.

But a year later, residents were in the mood to celebrate. On Thursday, Camillo said he was proud to mark the accomplishments of the Greek community in Greenwich.

"It was great to see everyone out there," he said. "They're a very proud people and we're very proud of them."
WASHINGTON  Supporters of gun control lashed out at President Biden on Friday for suggesting a day earlier that gun legislation would not be his next priority even after two mass shootings in a week.

Mr. Biden initially said on Tuesday that he did not need to wait another minute to address the epidemic of gun violence, calling on the Senate to pass a ban on assault weapons and to close background check loopholes.

But on Thursday, at the first formal news conference of his presidency, Mr. Biden left gun control proponents dumbstruck and disappointed when he said the key to legislative success was ordering priorities, and that infrastructure  not guns  was next on his list.

Im disappointed he has the nerve and audacity to say hes going to do things in sequential order, said Maisha Fields, the vice president of organizing for Brady: United Against Gun Violence, a nonprofit group. Its out of order to have to bury your child. Its out of order to be shopping for eggs and to have your life disrupted.
The Kogi State Government last year spent N90 million on software that the developers now offer for only N300,000.

The software, approved by a COVID-19 sceptic, Governor Yahaya Bello, was for tracking coronavirus cases in the state. However, the software is no longer functioning as the developers said they had a contract to host it for only one year.

At a time Nigeria had just recorded over 6,000 cases of COVID-19, the Kogi State Government announced it had developed a software, which is basically for risk assessment.

The state government said the software, which comes in a mobile application and website, was one of its measures to curb the spread of COVID-19 in Kogi.

The software uses the checklist of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) for suspected and high-risk cases to evaluate users.

Financial records obtained by PREMIUM TIMES revealed that the state government procured the software at a cost of N90,720,000.

But checks by our reporter showed that the same software now costs only N300,000 from the same company that developed it for the state government.

An official of the state also admitted that the government actually spent less than a million naira for the project and could not defend the N90.7 million announced expenditure; an indication the declared price was excessively inflated.

Kogi and COVID-19

As of March 2020, when Nigeria had about 6,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19, Kogi and Cross River were the only two states in the country with a zero-case status.

The NCDC had raised an alarm then that the two states were not conducting tests for the virus. For instance, in Kogi, officials deployed by the federal health agency were denied cooperation and controversially sent back.

Asked why Kogi was not conducting tests, Governor Bello, during an interview on Channels TV, said the state had developed a special app to track possible cases of coronavirus infection.

So far, so good, we have launched an app and if nobody shows any sign or any cause for any test, we would not go out and begin to test anybody. Because theres enough and adequate sensitisation of our citizens. So far, we dont have any testing centres here but theres one in Kubwa in FCT, he said.

Meanwhile, data from NCDC, a year after the first COVID-19 case was recorded in the country, exposed the inadequate testing for the virus in Kogi.

In fact, when the country had conducted over 1.4 million tests and recorded over 150,000 COVID-19 cases and over 1,800 deaths, Kogi had tested less than 4,000 samples, about 0.1 per cent of Kogis 3.5 million population.

Experts said that explains why the state had not reported a single case and death over 250 days after its record of five cases in July.

Mr Bello, an accountant, had also repeatedly described the deadly disease as a hoax and discouraged the use of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Wonder App

The Kogi COVID-19 risk assessment application, which is in two categories; web and mobile applications, was accessible on www.kogicovid19.com.ng.

Users could download the mobile version for android devices or make use of the website.

Going by its features, users were to fill a questionnaire on the app and from the information provided, health workers could ascertain whether the user has been exposed to the virus and was exhibiting symptoms that warranted further actions.

According to the state government, if a user was a high-risk case, health workers would then trace their location for further engagement.

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Although health experts and public affairs analysts questioned the efficacy of the app, the state Commissioner for Information, Kingsley Fanwo, insisted that it was effective in checking for coronavirus cases.

In fact, we built our self-assessment app hosted at kogicovid19.gov.ng around the NCDCs checklist for suspected and high risk cases and as at last week it has been visited nearly 200,000 times with over 14,000 completed self-assessments out of which only about 60 presented cause for further investigation which then failed to meet the COVID-19 spectrum, he said in a statement issued in April 2020.

However, checks by this newspaper revealed that both the self-assessment portal and the app have been unavailable since the beginning of March 2021.

Your request looks suspiciously similar to automated requests from spam posting software or has been deemed by a security policy configured by the website administrator If you believe you should be able to perform this request please let us know, the query on both the application and website read.

Both are even non-functional at the moment. Makes it so hard to access what the value could be. But then, it is some crap! No IOS version, App not functional, website non-functional, Osungbade Wisdom, a tech expert consulted to evaluate the software, told our reporter.

Budgetary allocation

According to the audited COVID-19 response and recovery expenditures submitted in September, 2020, the computer software for COVID-19 response gulped N90,720,000 out of N4.5 billion Kogi obtained from donations, loans and support from the federal government.

The financial records seen by PREMIUM TIMES were certified by the Accountant General of the state, Momoh Jibrin, and the Commissioner for Finance, Asiru Idris.

In the breakdown, the government initially budgeted N150 million for the computer software project but ended up spending N90.7 million, thus saving N59,280,000.

Meanwhile, when this reporter approached Telnet Technology Limited, the Abuja-based technology company awarded the project, it said a similar project will cost N300,000.

This reporter posed as a government official who wanted to replicate the same project in another state.

The Managing Director of the company, Daniel Idakwoji, disclosed that the Kogi State Government only signed a one-year contract with him, citing it as the reason the web portal and mobile application are no longer functional.

But he refused to disclose the amount paid by the state government.

The contract is even on my table as we speak. The one we signed is for a year hosting and you know is a year already. It has expired.

Upon request, Mr Idakwoji sent a proposal detailing how the company will execute the same project in less than a week.

According to the budget, it will cost N300,000 for a year contract and N425,000 for two years.

From his portfolio, Mr Idakwojis company was, in the past, hired to build a couple of websites for the Kogi government, including the Ministry of Health and Governor Bellos personal website.

When contacted, the state Commissioner for information, Mr Fanwo, did not specify the amount spent on the project but claimed it cost the government less than a million naira.

What we spent was less than a million naira, his text message read.

However, he refused to respond to questions on the software acquired for over N90 million, according to the audited financial report.

The states commissioner for health, Saka Haruna, has yet to PREMIUM TIMES enquiries on the project as of the time of filing this report.

Multiple telephone calls and text messages, which were confirmed to have been received by Mr Haruna, were not responded to.

A tech expert and social commentator, Olanrewaju Oyedeji, criticised the Kogi State Government, stating that such projects question the integrity of the administration.

Installing the application and seeing the error message displayed shows the shoddiness of work done in that regard. Assessing the application deployed by the state and the website puts to question the sum of N90 million said to have been spent on its development.

This reminds us of the outrage that greeted a similar development by former governor of Lagos State who built a website for a reported N78million.

Our internal experts at Tech Mirror also analysed the platforms and noted that the price tag on the platform, given the quality, speed, interface and reality check, is questionable.

He said the development shows the extent of wrong handling of projects especially for technical tasks such as applications and website development.
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According to a new study published by Polaris Market Research the global specialty food ingredients market is anticipated to reach USD 67.76 billion by 2026. The specialty food ingredient sector has outperformed other wider sectors of the food & beverage industry. This is due to the shift in dynamics within the food & beverage industry such as the changing consumer demands for more organic, natural and highly nutritious processed foodstuffs. Several studies have shown that the relationship between the specialty ingredients and processed food industry are evolving due to higher levels of collaborative innovation and product developments to fulfill stringent regulations and new consumer trends. A larger share of the value chain has been dominated by a relatively smaller number of ingredient suppliers, thus creating valuation and margin opportunities globally.

Request for a sample of this research report @ https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/specialty-food-ingredients-market/request-for-sample

These products also add to higher sustainability during processing of food, apart from offering their conventional functions for the food stuff. The components help to increase efficiency in food processing by limiting the quantity of raw material requirements and making the optimum use of it. Moreover, with their nutritional, technological and health related functions these product also offer other advantages such as enhancement of taste, higher food safety, and extended food choices and affordability. These factors have been crucial in considering specialty ingredients an integral part of the food supply and hence demand of these micro and macro constituents of food is expected to surge substantially in the immediate future. Also, the food industry being a innovation driven, the specialty ingredients sector is a key contributor in enhancing the competitiveness of the entire value chain.

Key Findings from the study suggest that the largest share of the market in 2017 was of the Asia Pacific region. The region has been a substantially influential market in supply of these products to the other regions. China is one of the largest industries in the Asia Pacific and also globally with presence of an extensively diverse ingredient manufacturing sector with over hundreds of multinational and national players currently operating in the country.

Browse for full research summary: https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/specialty-food-ingredients-market

Some of the imperative factors for the higher growth of the regional industry include the increasing spending power, burgeoning economies, presence of a youthful population, growing westernization of FMCG market, increasing urbanization and a mounting interest in health and wellness among the consumers. North America is another significant market, which is home to most of the leading multinational ingredient manufacturers. The U.S. is the largest producer of these products in the region with over 85% of the companies concentrated in the country.

Some of the global manufacturers in the market include Cargill Inc., Royal DSM N.V., DuPont, Tate & Lyle, CHR. Hansen Holding A/S, Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), Kerry Group, Ingredion, General Mills, BASF, ABS Food and Givaudan.

Specialty Food Ingredients Market Size and Forecast by Product Type

Functional Ingredients Flavors Emulsifiers Colors Enzymes Others



Specialty Food Ingredients Market Size and Forecast by End-Use Type

Convenience Foods Confectionery & Bakery Food Diary Food Meat & Sea Food Others



Specialty Food Ingredients Market Size and Forecast by Regions

North America U.S. Canada Europe Germany UK France Asia Pacific China India Japan Latin America Brazil Mexico Middle East & Africa



Avail discount on this report @ https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/specialty-food-ingredients-market/request-for-discount-pricing

About Polaris Market Research

Polaris Market Research is a global market research and consulting company. We provide unmatched quality of offerings to our clients present globally. The company specializes in providing exceptional market intelligence and in-depth business research services for our clientele spread across different enterprises. We at Polaris are obliged to serve our diverse customer base present across the industries of healthcare, technology, semi-conductors and chemicals among various other industries present around the world. We strive to provide our customers with updated information on innovative technologies, high growth markets, emerging business environments and latest business-centric applications, thereby helping them always to make informed decisions and leverage new opportunities.

Contact us-

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Email: sales@polarismarketresearch.com

Web: www.polarismarketresearch.com
South Africa: KZN residents urged to save water ahead of winter

The Department of Water and Sanitation in KwaZulu-Natal has called on residents to use water sparingly as the winter season approaches.

This comes as the weekly status of dams reports showed a marginal increase from last weeks 72.1% to 72.4% this week. Compared to a similar period last year, the provinces dam levels stood at 60.9%.

The Umgeni Water Supply System, with dams supplying water to eThekwini Metro and surrounds, has increased from 82.8% to 83.1%. This time last year, it recorded 69.8%.

The department has called on residents to use water prudently, as it is anticipating that the dry winter season will have a major impact on water levels.

We have some districts that are still experiencing the effects of drought and this is a major concern for the department. The districts include Uthukela, Umzinyathi, Amajuba, Zululand, Uthungulu and Umgungundlovu areas, department spokesperson, Sputnik Ratau, said.

Ratau said the department has several ongoing short, medium and long-term interventions designed to mitigate drought effects in these districts.

One of the short-term measures is ensuring that the water tanks we provided this time last year are always filled up with water in order to enable communities that continue to experience inconsistent water supply to have water, Ratau said.

One of the provinces largest dam, Albert-Falls, has marginally increased from last weeks 52.3% to 52.4%, while the Nagle Dam declined from 85.3% to 83.4%.

Inanda Dam has decreased from 101.1% to 100.7%; Midmar Dam is at 100.5% from 100.1%, while Hazelmere Dam has increased from 53.8% to 54.2%.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2021-03-26. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
An argument turned into a shooting near a Bevil Oaks intersection Thursday morning.

Two women were driving near the intersection of Texas 105 and Sweetgum Road when one of them got out of the vehicle and shot through the drivers side window at the other women, according to a Jefferson County Sheriff's Office news release.

Police believe the women knew each other.

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Two other people in the car with the woman who was shot drove her directly to the hospital, the release said. Sheriffs deputies on Thursday afternoon said they expected her to be released shortly.

The other woman drove away, and was last seen on 105 heading toward Beaumont, according to Jefferson County Sheriffs Office.

The case is still an active investigation and no identities were released.

jorge.ramos@beaumontenterprise.com

twitter.com/byjorgeramos
New Delhi, March 26 : Despite the call for Bharat Bandh across the country by some farmer organisations, markets stayed open and business was going on as usual on Friday across the country, according to the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT).

The farmers' protests have been continuing at the borders of the national capital against the Union farm laws since November 26, 2020.

CAIT released a statement and said,"Bharat Bandh has had no impact on trade across the country. It has urged the farmers' organisations to leave their stubborn attitude and talk to the Central government about their problems and resolve them." CAIT is the apex traders organisation representing eight crore traders and more than 40,000 trade organisations across the country.

CAIT General Secretary, Praveen Khandelwal, lambasted those political parties who are using the support of farmers for their political gains. This is the time when farmers should show these parties the way out and start a dialogue with the Central government so that their issues can be resolved.

The apex traders' body said the farmers should give up their demand to repeal all the three Union farm laws, instead they should propose amendments to protect their issues in these three farm bills. It is an established fact that contentious issues can only be resolved through a negotiation process, the CAIT added.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
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Q: I have a rabbit living in my front yard and eating the leaves off my evergreen shrubs that are about 30 years old. Hes eaten all of the bottom leaves and I see him standing trying to reach the upper leaves. I have tried shooing him away every time I see him to no avail. I dont want to hurt him and want to know a safe way to get rid of him. I can tell hes a wild rabbit and not a store bought rabbit; he runs very fast when I approach him. I called a pest control company and they charge over $100.

Dr. Nichol: Why, that wascally wabbit! I think you need to contact Elmer Fudd for this job, although he was never very good at pest control.

To help send this rabbit packing, with kindness, I contacted Dr. Danny Levenson of the Southwest Animal Medical Center in Albuquerque. He is trained and experienced with rabbits, among multiple other pet species. He explained that if this naughty bunny is consuming just one or two bushes you can try decorative fencing or a physical barrier that wont let the rabbit in. The little porker will feast off someone elses landscaping if you make it difficult enough for him to filch your foliage.

Another option is a Havahart trap. Put really tasty rabbit food in it, like leafy greens and carrots from your salad. When you catch that varmint you can transport it somewhere far away. Dr. Levenson said, Not far like Narnia, but far like 1 to 2 miles.

You can buy a Havahart trap on Amazon for $29 or you can ask the New Mexico House Rabbit Society for help. While the name suggests an organization of rabbits, its membership is actually comprised of humans who are committed to the welfare of this generally benign species.

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Dr. Levenson also stressed that there is a new rabbit virus called RHDV (rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus) from Europe that is now in New Mexico. It kills more than 90% of wild rabbits. Touching a feral bunny, its stool or urine, and then handling a pet rabbit would risk spreading the infection.

Dr. Jeff Nichol, a residency-trained veterinary behaviorist, provides consultations in-person and by telephone and Zoom (505-792-5131). Each week he shares a blog and a Facebook Live video to help bring out the best in pets and their people. Sign up at no charge at drjeffnichol.com. Post questions on facebook.com/drjeffnichol or by mail to 4000 Montgomery NE, Albuquerque, NM, 87109.
Dink was gunned down in broad daylight on January 19, 2007, outside the Istanbul offices of the bilingual Turkish-Armenian Agos newspaper, where he was the editor. He was 53.

Dink had been an arduous proponent of reconciliation between Armenians and Turks and was repeatedly prosecuted for insulting Turkishness over his comments on Armenian identity and the massacres of Armenians by Ottoman Turks in 1915.

After his killing, tens of thousands of people gathered in central Istanbul to mourn.

Seventy-six suspects were facing charges including failing to uncover the plot to kill Dink.

Istanbuls main court on March 26 sentenced the citys former police intelligence chief, Ramazan Akyurek, and his former deputy, Ali Fuat Yilmazer, to life in prison for premeditated murder, Agos reported.

Former top Interior Ministry officers Yavuz Karakaya and Muharrem Demirkale were also sentenced to life in prison.

In 2012, ultranationalist sympathizer Ogun Samast, who was 17 at the time of the killing, was sentenced to 23 years in prison for Dinks killing.

Ali Oz, a former Interior Ministry commander of the Black Sea region of Trabzon where Samast came from, was sentenced to 28 years in prison on March 26.

Charges against another top Istanbul police chief were dropped due to the statute of limitation.

However, Dinks supporters and human rights activists say the most senior police officials have gone unpunished and want the investigation and trials to continue.

Some of those responsible for this assassination, including the sponsors, have still not been prosecuted, said Erol Onderoglu, the representative in Turkey for Reporters Without Borders (RSF), who has closely followed the trial.

This partial justice rendered after 14 years leaves a bitter taste and should not mark the end of the search for the truth.

The accused in the protracted trial included U.S.-based Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan blames for orchestrating a coup attempt in 2016. Gulen has lived in the United States since 1999 and denies any involvement in the failed coup.

The Istanbul court on March 26 ruled that Dinks murder was committed in line with the objectives of Feto -- an acronym Ankara uses for Gulens banned movement, Turkeys NTV reported.

Turkey claims Gulens network had widely infiltrated the countrys police and other state institutions over decades.

The court did not rule on the case of Gulen and 12 other fugitives and instead separated their cases.

During and immediately after World War I, as many as 1.5 million Armenians were killed or deported from Anatolia. Many historians, Armenia, and more than 30 countries consider the killings to be genocide.

As the successor state to the Ottoman Empire, Turkey objects to the use of the word genocide.

Ankara says that about 500,000 Armenians died as a result of civil strife, disease, and starvation rather than a planned Ottoman government effort to annihilate them. Turkey also asserts that hundreds of thousands of Muslims died in Anatolia at the time due to combat, starvation, cold, and disease.

With reporting by Reuters, AFP, and dpa
[March 26, 2021] Tenet Forms New Board Committee Focused on ESG

Tenet Healthcare Corporation (NYSE: THC) today announced that it has formed a new committee of its Board of Directors focused on matters directly related to ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance). Richard Fisher, former President and CEO, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, serves as Committee Chair, and he is joined by the following Committee members: Meghan M. FitzGerald, DrPH, Adjunct Associate Professor, Columbia University; Richard Mark, Chairman and President, Ameren Illinois Company; and Nadja West, M.D., Lieutenant General, U.S. Army (Ret.) and 44th Surgeon General of the U.S. Army. The ESG Committee assists the Board in discharging its oversight responsibility related to ESG matters, which are defined to include topics such as climate change impacts, energy and natural resources conservation, environmental and supply chain sustainability, human rights, diversity and inclusion and other ESG issues that are relevant and material to the Company. The ESG Committee also provides guidance to the Board on these matters and performs an oversight role in shaping the Company's ESG strategy. Ron A. Rittenmeyer, Executive Chairman and CEO, said, "We are pleased to stand up this new committee of our Board focused entirely on the business and societal impacts of ESG. While our responsibility lies, first and foremost, with the delivery of excellent medical care that is safe and compassionate, we equally embrace our commitment to cultivate a sustainable environment and an inclusive culture. We believe that our people, operations, facilities management and governance must align properly to generate sustainable business practices for the betterment of ll stakeholders we serve."



Since Tenet began its transformation at the end of 2017, the Company has been focused on realigning the organization on purpose and enhancing culture accordingly. The ESG Committee, together with Tenet leadership, will ensure continued success and accountability in ESG matters consistent with the following priorities: Elevating employees by providing support, career advancement opportunities and a culture that embraces inclusivity. This includes the launch of a new Diversity Council and Employee Resource Groups, along with activities focused on talent development and employee recognition.

by providing support, career advancement opportunities and a culture that embraces inclusivity. This includes the launch of a new Diversity Council and Employee Resource Groups, along with activities focused on talent development and employee recognition. Minimizing Tenet's impact on the environment with dedicated sustainability programs being formalized this year. The Company is cementing its commitment to environmental sustainability by setting new goals and standards, recruiting leadership with expertise in this area and maintaining accountability through active reporting and measurement.

with dedicated sustainability programs being formalized this year. The Company is cementing its commitment to environmental sustainability by setting new goals and standards, recruiting leadership with expertise in this area and maintaining accountability through active reporting and measurement. Giving back to its communities in support of local and national causes. The Company continues to demonstrate its passion for serving the underserved through many efforts, including those that focus on fighting hunger, investing in the education pipeline, aiding the safety net population and responding to natural disasters and tragedies.

in support of local and national causes. The Company continues to demonstrate its passion for serving the underserved through many efforts, including those that focus on fighting hunger, investing in the education pipeline, aiding the safety net population and responding to natural disasters and tragedies. Ensuring effective governance to maintain proper alignment between its business and social purposes. In addition to Board refreshment of more than 70 percent since Oct. 2017, Tenet operates under sound governance practices aligned to the interests of shareholders and other company stakeholders. Tenet will publish its 2021 ESG Report to the Investor Relations section of the Company's website later today.

About Tenet Healthcare Tenet Healthcare Corporation (NYSE: THC) is a diversified healthcare services company headquartered in Dallas with 110,000 employees. Through an expansive care network that includes United Surgical Partners International, we operate 65 hospitals and approximately 550 other healthcare facilities, including surgical hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers, urgent care and imaging centers and other care sites and clinics. We also operate Conifer Health Solutions, which provides revenue cycle management and value-based care services to hospitals, health systems, physician practices, employers and other clients. Across the Tenet enterprise, we are united by our mission to deliver quality, compassionate care in the communities we serve. For more information, please visit www.tenethealth.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210326005067/en/

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Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-26 23:56:17|Editor: huaxia

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Henry Ho Kin-chung speaks in an interview in Hong Kong, south China, March 22, 2021. (Xinhua/Li Gang)

HONG KONG, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Henry Ho Kin-chung has recently found an upsurge of supportive comments on his social media account, which he said is the best reward for speaking at a UN session early this month.

At the 46th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council on March 1, Ho, a Chinese delegate from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, debunked myths about the financial hub, including undermined freedoms and independent judiciary, in his online speeches.

After the session, he received many interview invitations from foreign media, recognition from legal professionals, and supportive messages from friends.

As people have begun to see through the western double standards on the human rights issue, revealing such hypocrisy can create more resonance, he said. Many of his friends told him that there should be more Hong Kong people like him to stand out and tell the truth on the international stage to clear the misunderstandings on Hong Kong.

Ho is the founder of Hong Kong-based think tank One Country Two Systems Youth Forum.

Ho, who used to study in Hong Kong, London and Beijing, has a deep understanding of the Western hypocrisy on human rights issues.

During the social unrest in 2019, Hong Kong police actually showed considerable restraint and only used a proper level of force in their law enforcement action against wanton violent activities from trashing public facility to assaulting innocent people, he said. However, Hong Kong police suffered from malicious slanders at that time.

"In the United States, by contrast, even when clashes are less violent than those in Hong Kong, the U.S. police deployed much stronger force than their Hong Kong peers," he said.

Ho also debunked Britain's accusation that the national security law in the HKSAR violates the Sino-British Joint Declaration.

"Which clause of the declaration has China violated?" Ho asked and said it is the British government who violated the declaration by granting holders of the British National Overseas passport the right of abode in Britain.

Citing another example of Britain's double standards, Ho said a British barrister, who was hired by the Department of Justice of the HKSAR government to participate in the handling of a case under the national security law in Hong Kong, was eventually unable to do so due to the pressure from British politicians.

"Such double standards are unbelievable," he said, adding that many legal professionals in Hong Kong, particularly those who had studied law in Britain before, found it hard to understand why British politicians, for political interests, interfered in Hong Kong's judiciary.

Looking back at his UN meeting experience, Ho wishes that he had more time to prepare as he had less than 10 days for preparing his online speech since receiving the invitation for the meeting.

Still, he effectively refuted rumors about the national security law in Hong Kong with solid facts and legal clauses.

"After the epidemic is over, I hope to attend more meetings of this kind, talk with more people from other parts of the world, and tell the (true) story of Hong Kong," he said. Enditem
Muslim majority Indonesia on Friday banned an annual exodus that sees millions travel across the vast nation to mark the end of Ramadan over fears of a surge in Covid-19 infections

Jakarta, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 26th Mar, 2021 ) :Muslim majority Indonesia on Friday banned an annual exodus that sees millions travel across the vast nation to mark the end of Ramadan over fears of a surge in Covid-19 infections.

Travellers pack into airports, train stations and ports across the nearly 5,000 kilometre (3,100 mile) long archipelago in a mass migration, known as Mudik, that is similar to China's Lunar New Year holiday or Christmas.

Many head to hometowns in time for celebrations at the end of islam's holy fasting month, a festival known as Eid al-Fitr.

Ramadan ends in mid-may this year.

On Friday, the government said it was banning the exodus as Indonesia -- one of the worst-hit nations in Asia -- rolls out a massive inoculation campaign.

The country earlier announced an ambitious target to vaccinate more than 181 million of its nearly 270 million people within a year.

"There will be no Mudik in 2021," Culture Minister Muhadjir Effendy said in a statement, citing fears of spreading the virus and inoculation efforts.

But he added that some may get exemptions for "urgent travel", without elaborating.

Fearing a public health disaster, the government last year slapped a ban on domestic sea and air travel and set up roadblocks to stop the cross-country movement.

But many took advantage of loopholes in the rules -- as well as relying on people smugglers and bogus travel documents -- to get around the ban.

Indonesia has officially reported nearly 1.5 million infections and more than 40,000 deaths.

But low testing rates mean the crisis is believed to be much more severe than those figures suggest.
The Central Regional Director of the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA), Mr Kwame Gyasi, has urged tourism facilities and institutions to make the consumption of chocolate and cocoa products a daily affair to boost the Ghana Beyond Aid agenda.

He said cocoa contained antioxidants to build a strong immune system, capable of fighting the COVID-19, and so its consumption on daily basis had become necessary.

Mr Gyasi made the appeal in an interview with the Ghana News Agency when the GTA, in collaboration with the Ridge Royal Hotel, donated quantities of cocoa products to the Regional COVID-19 Response Team.

The items were to be distributed to COVID-19 patients and frontline workers to boost their immune system.

He said research had shown the nutritional and health benefits of cocoa, including iron, magnesium, phosphorus and antioxidants that could fortify one's immune system.

Therefore, regular consumption of cocoa products, he said, would improve the health and wellness of all while giving strong boost to the Ghana Beyond Aid agenda.

Mr Gyasi encouraged the government to actualise its vision to serve all school children across the country with daily cocoa drinks to inculcate in them the habit of consuming cocoa products for good health.

He appealed to Ghanaians to patronise locally produced cocoa products instead of the foreign ones.

He proposed that cocoa drinks be served at all official functions as a way of encouraging national consumption and patronage of the product.
Bankruptcy procedure against Vneshprombank extended until fall

 keytown.me

18:06 26/03/2021

MOSCOW, March 26 (RAPSI)  The Moscow Commercial Court has extended the procedure in bankruptcy against Vneshprombank until September 14, according to court records.

Earlier, in November, the Moscow District Commercial Court dismissed cassation appeals filed by six former top managers of the bank against seizure of their property.

In August 2020, the Ninth Commercial Court of Appeals dismissed appeals against seizure of immovable assets belonging to eight former top managers of Vneshprombank, according to court records.

In January 2020, the Moscow Commercial Court granted a motion to seize assets lodged by the Deposit Insurance Agency (DIA). The motion was filed as part of a claim to recover about 219 billion rubles from the banks former executives.

The DIA found that from March 1, 2014 to March 14, 2016, the bank controlling persons granted loans to technical legal entities not engaged in economic activities and not having own property and incomes for servicing debts. Moreover, the deposit insurer revealed illegal funds debiting from the bank clients accounts. The banks execs also failed to take steps to prevent bankruptcy that caused damage to the financial organization.

According to the applicant, these circumstances should be considered as a reason for bringing the defendants to subsidiary liability.

In November 2018, the Moscow Commercial Court extended asset realization procedure against ex-Vneshprombank president Larisa Markus, who was declared bankrupt in May 2017 on the application of VTB24 bank. Later, the court prolonged bankruptcy proceedings against her husband Lazar Markus.

In March 2016, the Moscow Commercial Court declared Vneshprombank bankrupt. Vneshprombank was one of the top 40 by assets before it lost license in January of the same year.

Criminal cases against former top managers of Vneshprombank

In May 2017, Markus was sentenced to 9 years in prison for embezzlement. Later, her sentence was reduced by 6 months.

Investigators believe that ex-Vneshprombank president Larisa Markus along with her brother Georgy Bedzhamov, who once co-owned the bank, created an organized crime group to siphon money from the bank. The group including former vice-president of the bank Yekaterina Glushakova allegedly granted loans to sub-companies and did not refund money to Vneshprombank. Allegedly, from May 2009 to December 2015, conspirators managed to embezzle about 114 billion rubles.

Bedzhamov has been put on the international wanted list.




Mumbai: Amid rising COVID-19 cases, the Maharashtra government on Friday (March 26, 2021) decided to impose night curfew with effect from Sunday night. The announcement in this regard was made by the Chief Minister's Office.

As the number of coronavirus cases spiral out of control in Maharashtra, the state government has decided to impose a night curfew in the state from March 28.

Earlier in the day, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray held an important meeting via video conferencing to review the coronavirus situation in the state. All divisional commissioners, Collectors, SPs and senior doctors of district hospitals were in attendence.

The aim of the meeting was to formulate further strategies in view of the increasing cases of corona in the state. Night curfews have been announced across the state since Sunday to reduce congestion following growing Corona cases.

Malls will be closed from 8pm to 7am.

Meanwhile, lockdown was declared in Beed district from March 26 till April 4 in the wake of a massive rise in the COVID-19 cases. According to reports, the order to impose lockdown was issued by the Beed District Collector to prevent further spread of the deadly coronavirus. During the lockdown, all marriage halls, hotels and restaurants will remain shut in the district.
New Delhi:

After the closing of probe against six people who were accused of lynching a dairy farmer Pehlu Khan in Alwar, activists and civil society members have criticised the state government and police for the decision. Pehlu Khan died two days after cow vigilantes thrash him in April.

Speaking to Hindustan Times, CPI (ML) Politburo member Kavita Krishnan said that the decision to close down probe is deeply condemnable and shocking but not unexpected.

Kavita said that the closure of probe was expected as home minister and other ministers were in favour of giving clean chit since the time investigation had begun.

Author-activist Harsh Mander finds a pattern in all mob-lynching cases. He said that police always treat the victim as guilty and make all efforts to protect the accused.

Mander even went ahead to say that if the police are forced to file case against the accused then they also make sure that cross-cases are filed against victim.

The Rajasthan police on Thursday gave a clean chit to all six accused in connection with Pehlu Khan murder case. He was beaten by a group of men in Alwar while transporting cattle.

55-year-old Pehlu Khan, hailing from Nuh in Haryana, had died in a hospital in Behror of Alwar district on April 3 after he and four others were attacked by a mob of cow vigilantes while transporting cattle procured from a weekly market in Jaipur to their village.

A video footage of the incident had gone viral on social media.

The issue had also rocked Parliament and Rajasthan State Assembly where opposition mounted pressure on the government for swift action against the accused involved in the lynching incident.

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Farmers gathered at several highways, key roads and some railway tracks in Punjab and Haryana on Friday morning as part of their nationwide protest against the Centre's new agri laws.

According to the Samkyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), the is being observed from 6 am to 6 pm to mark four months of the farmers' agitation at Delhi's three borders -- Singhu, Ghazipur and Tikri.

Heavy police force has been deployed in the two states as part of security measures, an official said.

The farmers have gathered at several highways and roads in the two states including in Bathinda, Ludhiana, Amritsar, Patiala, Mohali, Rohtak, Jhajjar and Bhiwani districts.

A group of farmers who were holding a protest in Zirakpur and Kharar towns in Punjab, both on the outskirts of Chandigarh, said they were allowing ambulances and other emergency vehicles to pass.

Some of the protesters blocked the Ambala-Delhi highway near Ambala Cantt, police said.

While another group squatted on a railway track near Shahpur village, around five kilometers from Ambala Cantt, due to which all the trains running between Delhi and Saharanpurwere stranded, railway officials said.

The farmers also blocked the Ambala-Rajpura Highway on the Haryana-Punjab border near Shambhu barrier, and the Ambala-Hisar Highway near Ambala City.

Blockades on various state highways were also reported in Naraingarh and Mullana in Haryana, police said.

The SKM, an umbrella body of protesting unions, appealed to protesting farmers to be peaceful and not get involved in any kind of illegitimate debate and conflict during the 'bandh'.

"All shops, malls, markets and institutions will remain closed under complete All minor and big roads and trains will be blocked. All services will remain suspended except for ambulance and other essential services. The effect of will be observed inside Delhi as well," SKM had said in a statement.

Farmer leaders have said road and rail transport will be blocked and claimed that markets will also remain closed.

They also claimed that trade unions from organised and unorganised sectors, and transport and other associations too have extended support to the call for Bharat Bandh.

Meanwhile, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), apex religious body of the Sikhs, has also supported the nationwide protest.

SGPC president Jagir Kaur had said on Thursday that its offices would be kept closed on Friday in support of the Bharat Bandh.

Thousands of farmers, mainly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur demanding a complete repeal of the three farm laws and a legal guarantee for the minimum support price on their crops.

The statement issued by the SKM claimed that various farmers' organisations, trade unions, student organisations, bar associations, political parties and representatives of state governments have supported its call for a nationwide protest.

Apart from repealing of three farm laws, the demands of protesting unions include cancellation of all police cases against farmers, withdrawal of electricity and pollution bills, and reduction in prices of diesel, petrol and gas.

So far, there have been 11 rounds of talks between the protesting unions and government, but the deadlock has continued as both sides have stuck to their stand.

In January, the government had offered to suspend the farm laws for 12-18 months, which was rejected by the farmer unions.
The problem is widespread. In a report this month, Stop AAPI Hate, a group that tracks instances of violence and discrimination against Asian Americans in the United States, said it had received reports of 3,795 incidents between March 19, 2020, and Feb. 28. But it said the number could be higher because not all episodes had been reported.
Shares of Suryoday Small Finance Bank were trading at Rs 286.10 at 10:11 IST on the BSE, a discount of 6.1% over the initial public offer (IPO) price of Rs 305.

The stock was listed at Rs 293, a discount of 3.93% to the IPO price. So far, the stock hit a high of Rs 295.95 and low of Rs 278.80. On the BSE, 1.56 lakh shares were traded on the counter so far.

The IPO of Suryoday Small Finance Bank was subscribed 2.37 times. The issue opened for bidding on Wednesday, 17 March 2021, and it closed on Friday, 19 March 2021. The price band for the IPO was set at Rs 303-305 per share.

The retail individual investors category was subscribed 3.09 times. The qualified institutional buyers (QIBs) category was subscribed 2.18 times. The non-institutional investors category was subscribed 1.31 times.

The issue comprised of 1.90 crore equity shares comprising a fresh issue of up to 81.50 lakh equity shares and an offer for sale of up to 1.09 crore equity shares. Ahead of the IPO, the bank finalized allocation of 55.77 lakh shares to anchor investors at a price of Rs 305 per share, aggregating to Rs 170.12 crore.

The bank proposes to utilize the net proceeds from the offer towards augmenting bank's tier I capital base to meet future capital requirements. The listing of the bank is also in line with terms of the RBI in-principal approval, RBI final approval and SFB licensing guidelines, requiring the bank to list its equity shares on the stock exchanges within three years from the date of commencement of business.

The small finance bank reported a net profit of Rs 54.87 crore and a net total income of Rs 418.20 crore in the nine months ended on 31 December 2020.

Suryoday Small Finance Bank is among the leading Small Finance Bank (SFBs) in India in terms of net interest margins, return on assets, yields and deposit growth and had the lowest cost-to-income ratio among SFBs in India in FY2020.

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Seoul, March 26 : Samsung Electronics said it has developed a high-capacity dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) module.

The South Korean tech giant said its 512-gigabyte (GB) Double Data Rate 5 (DDR5) module is the industry's first DDR5 product to use a High-K Metal Gate (HKMG) solution that reduces power leakage.

DDR5 is the next-generation standard for DRAM. Samsung said its latest DDR5 product delivers more than twice the performance of DDR4 at up to 7,200 megabits per second, which is enough speed to process two 30GB ultra-high definition movies in one second.

Samsung said HKMG technology, which has been traditionally used in logic chips, leverages a high dielectric material in the insulation layer to reduce the leakage of current.

The HKMG process was adopted in Samsung's GDDR6 memory in 2018 for the first time in the industry before it was expanded to DDR5 memory, reports Yonhap news agency.

Its DDR5 module with HKMG solution consumes 13 per cent less power than products using existing process technology, according to Samsung, which makes it suitable for data centers seeking energy efficiency.

"By bringing this type of process innovation to DRAM manufacturing, we are able to offer our customers high-performance, yet energy-efficient, memory solutions to power the computers needed for medical research, financial markets, autonomous driving, smart cities and beyond," said Sohn Young-soo, vice president of DRAM memory planning at Samsung.

Samsung said it also applied through-silicon via (TSV) technology for the latest DDR5 memory to stack eight layers of 16-gigabit DRAM chips for the industry's top capacity of 512GB.

The company was the first one to use the TSV solution in DRAM chips in 2014 when introducing server modules with capacities up to 256GB.

Samsung said it is currently sampling different variations of its DDR5 memory products to customers for verification, adding that it is closely working with partners, including Intel Corp., to expand their use.

"Intel's engineering teams closely partner with memory leaders like Samsung to deliver fast, power-efficient DDR5 memory that is performance-optimized and compatible with our upcoming Intel Xeon Scalable processors, code-named Sapphire Rapids," said Carolyn Duran, vice president and general manager of memory and IO technology at Intel.
At least five people are dead after a series of tornadoes hatched by early spring super cell storms tore across Alabama and moved into Georgia early on Friday (Butch Dill)

Tornadoes have roared across parts of western Georgia and Alabama, where at least five people died in twisters that wrecked homes, splintered trees and crumpled businesses.

Meteorologists said a large, dangerous tornado swept through metro Atlantas Coweta County around midnight on Friday, sparking a tornado emergency for the city of Newnan and surrounding communities. There were several reports of downed trees and power lines.

Newnan police asked residents to get off the roads in a Facebook post, explaining that emergency officials were surveying the area.

Newnan Utilities said the storm knocked out phone and internet services. Hours later, general manager Dennis McEntire said the phone lines had returned, and urged residents to follow the utility on social media for any updates.

Its still dark so its hard to assess all of the damage but we believe we have 30 broken poles, he said. We serve about 10,000 customers and about half are without electricity right now.

Mr McEntire said the damage from the storm was severe and it will take several days, with the help from outside crews, to put the system together again.

Newnan mayor Keith Brady said no fatalities were immediately reported.

The storm followed a series of tornadoes that ripped through Alabama on Thursday, including one that authorities said travelled roughly 100 miles across the state.

Expand Close The US National Weather Service has issued multiple tornado warnings for Alabama and surrounding states (Butch Dill/AP) / Facebook

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In east Alabama, Calhoun County Sheriff Matthew Wade said five people died as a twister cut a diagonal path across the county, striking mostly rural areas  something that is likely to have kept the death toll from being higher.

Our hearts, our thoughts and our prayers go to the families, and we are going to do our best to let them know we love them, Mr Wade said at an evening briefing.

Multiple twisters sprang from a super cell of storms that later moved into Georgia, said John De Block, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Birmingham, Alabama.

Vast areas of Shelby County near Birmingham  the states biggest city  were badly damaged.

Centreville mayor Mike Oakley told ABC 33/40 news that a local airport was hit. We have airplanes torn apart like toys. Weve got homes along here that are totally destroyed, trees down, power lines down. Its pretty devastating.

Expand Close Authorities reported major tornado damage south of Alabamas capital Birmingham as strong storms moved through the state (Butch Dill/AP) / Facebook

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Whatsapp Authorities reported major tornado damage south of Alabamas capital Birmingham as strong storms moved through the state (Butch Dill/AP)

As many as eight tornadoes might have hit Alabama on Thursday, Mr De Block said, adding that investigation teams will review eight suspected tornado tracks, and the final number will depend on if any of those tracks can be connected.

First lady Jill Biden postponed a trip to Birmingham and Jasper, Alabama, planned for Friday because of the weather, her office said in a news release.

Thinking of everyone in Alabama and all of those impacted by the severe weather across the South tonight. My prayers are with the grieving families. Please stay safe, she tweeted late on Thursday.

Earlier, Alabama governor Kay Ivey issued an emergency declaration for 46 counties, and officials opened shelters in and around Birmingham.

Other parts of the southern US were also affected, with dangerous thunderstorms and flooding concerns for parts of Tennessee, Kentucky and the Carolinas.

In addition to deaths in Alabama, Mississippi had a storm-related death on Wednesday. Ester Jarrell, 62, died in Wilkinson County when a large tree toppled over on to her mobile home after heavy rain soaked the ground, an official said.
Hilaria Baldwin cradled both of her two new babies on her Insta Stories this Friday morning before stepping out in New York.

The 37-year-old shares six children including infants Eduardo Pau Lucas Baldwin, who was born on September 8 last year, and Maria Lucia Victoria Baldwin, who she welcomed via a surrogate last month, with her 62-year-old husband Alec Baldwin.

In one of her new pictures her little girl - who is nicknamed MariLu - was fussing with one eye closed prompting Hilaria to joke: 'Let's just pretend she's winking.'

'Schmushy': Hilaria Baldwin cradled her two new babies on her Insta Stories this Friday morning before stepping out in New York; she is pictured with her son Eduardo Pau Lucas Baldwin

Prior to welcoming Eduardo and MariLu she and Alec already shared Carmen, seven, Rafael, five, Leonardo, four, and Romeo, two.

Hilaria gave birth to Eduardo herself in September 2020 after two miscarriages - and then welcomed MariLu via surrogate in late February this year.

After spending quality time with her children Friday morning she stepped out for a bit of exercise to keep her stunning post-baby body in shape.

She posed up a storm for social media in a pair of leggings that showed off her enviably svelte gams and wrote that 'the pants come in blue too,' as she had modeled a maroon pair the previous day.

Baby mine: In one of her new pictures MariLu was fussing with one eye closed prompting Hilaria to joke: 'Let's just pretend she's winking'

During her outing she caught a glimpse of the Statue Of Liberty - the sight seen by countless European immigrants arriving on American shores a century ago.

Hilaria's latest posts come over a month after she apologized for faking her Spanish heritage in a controversy that came to light at the end of 2020.

Although she goes by 'Hilaria' and her CAA bio claimed she was born in Majorca, she is in fact from Boston and had the given name Hillary Hayward-Thomas.

Various interviews show her slipping into a Spanish accent and she once forgot the English word 'cucumber' during a televised cooking segment.

Looking fab: After spending quality time with her children Friday morning she stepped out for a bit of exercise to keep her stunning post-baby body in shape

As the story gained steam she insisted to the New York Times that the 'cucumber' moment was a 'brain fart' because she was nervous and unused to TV.

While appearing on the Cat & Nat podcast in New York in April 2020 she said: 'I moved here when I was 19 to go to NYU,' and when she was asked: 'From?' she replied: 'From - my family lives in Spain. They live in Majorca.'

When the scandal took off she told the New York Times: 'I was born in Boston. I spent time in Boston and in Spain. My family now lives in Spain. I moved to New York when I was 19 years old and I have lived here ever since.'

Last month she said on Instagram that she was 'sorry' about the whole affair and allowed that she 'should have been more clear.'

'Hi, lady!': During her outing she caught a glimpse of the Statue Of Liberty - the sight seen by countless European immigrants arriving on American shores a century ago

However she insisted that she was brought up 'with two cultures, American and Spanish' and feels 'a true sense of belonging to both.'

Alec and Hilaria shocked the public and sent the internet aflutter when they announced MariLu's birth but an insider has since told People: 'It's no one's business about a woman's right to choose how and when she expands her family.'

Recently the mother of six revealed on her Insta Stories that she is breastfeeding both of her infants and joked: 'This cow is tired and thirsty.'
A group seeking to oust San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin has raised over $75,000 in the initial weeks of its campaign, according to the groups campaign finance records .

More than 100 donors pitched in to the Committee Supporting the Recall of District Attorney Chesa Boudin between Jan. 1 and March 15, with a single tech investor bankrolling nearly one-third of the war chest.

Richie Greenberg, a former Republican mayoral candidate and spokesman for the committee, said the campaign has raised even more than whats been officially recorded so far  money that will be disclosed in subsequent finance reports. Greenberg said Thursday he was enthusiastic by the support but not surprised by it.

We had a couple of large donors, but the majority were $1,000 and below, he said.

The committee must collect 51,325 signatures  10% of the citys registered voters  by Aug. 11 for the campaign to qualify for a special election.

The recall effort comes just over a year after Boudin was sworn in as district attorney, a role he won after vowing to reduce mass incarceration, hold bad cops accountable and fortify the citys criminal-justice rehabilitation programs. Boudin has emerged as a national figure in a movement to elect progressive prosecutors, with voters increasingly rejecting the tough-on-crime criminal justice system that fed into to overflowing jail and prison populations.

Boudin on Thursday said his recall campaigns biggest supporters represent a departure from the citys famously progressive values.

We are not surprised to see that Richie Greenberg is leading a charge to push back against a San Francisco that serves everyone, not just the few, and that he is bankrolled by a few very wealthy individuals who have long been out of touch with what San Franciscans want and need, Boudin said.

They couldnt win the election so now they are trying to overturn it. Well keep doing our work.

The recall campaign's website blames Boudin for what it says is a failure to prosecute heinous crimes, surrendering to drug dealers and rising crime in certain categories.

Recent crime statistics show the District Attorneys Office files charges in about 78% of the drug arrests it receives and takes some action  including referrals to other law-enforcement agencies or diversion programs  in about 85% of them. Violent crime in San Francisco remains at historic lows, with overall crime down by 30% since last year.

Crimes including rape, robbery, assault, human trafficking and larceny have dropped since this time in 2020, while reports of burglary, motor vehicle theft and arson rose. Homicides have also risen, from six in 2020 to seven so far this year.

By far the recall campaigns largest donor in the period captured by the groups campaign finance records was David Sacks, a partner at Craft Ventures and former PayPal executive who forked over $25,000 of campaigns total $76,587. Sacks and his wife also donated to the campaign to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Sacks recently took aim at Boudin on Twitter for declining to enforce the three strikes law, a policy that significantly ratchets up prison sentences on a persons third offense. Critics of the law argued that it was a key driver of mass incarceration and disproportionately punished Black and Brown offenders.

California voters in 2012 rolled back these laws to only include serious or violent felonies, and Boudins office severely limits it altogether.

Sacks did not return a request for comment on social media and a number listed for him disconnected when The Chronicle tried calling.

Megan Cassidy is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: megan.cassidy@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @meganrcassidy
WASHINGTON  Former President Donald Trump on Thursday defended some of his supporters who rioted at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, saying they posed zero threat to the lawmakers who had assembled there to certify the Electoral College vote that confirmed Joe Bidens victory in the presidential race.

Trump complained to Fox News Channels Laura Ingraham that law enforcement was persecuting the Capitol rioters, while nothing happens to left-wing protesters.

Trump did acknowledge that those who stormed the Capitol went in and they shouldnt have done it.

But he added: Some of them went in and theyre, theyre hugging and kissing the police and the guards. You know, they had great relationships. A lot of the people were waved in and then they walked in and they walked out.

Trump made the comments even though the head of the Capitol Police officers union said about 140 officers were injured in the assault, the Washington Post reports. Police Officer Brian D. Sicknick died after being attacked with chemical spray while defending the Capitol.

Five people died during the riot, including a woman who was shot by a law-enforcement officer in the building.

More than 300 people have been charged in connection to the riot. Authorities have said they believe at least 100 more could face charges.

The Jan. 6 riot followed a fiery Trump rally outside the White House, in which he urged a mob of his supporters to fight like hell for him at the Capitol. A week later, the House impeached Trump for the second time, but the Senate eventually acquitted him on the charge of inciting the attack.
Moves by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) to compel public office holders and students of tertiary institutions of learning to undertake drug integrity test have been endorsed by some state House of Assemblies.

In separate interviews with LEADERSHIP Friday, leaders of the state legislatures said the initiative will bring sanity to the polity and ensure that only people with sound mind occupy public offices.

In Kwara State, the chairman, Public Accounts Committee of the State House of Assembly, Hon. Saheed Popoola and another lawmaker, Hon. Raheem Agboola, described the call for drug test for public office holders as a welcome development.

Popoola, however, said for the plan to materialise, NDLEA chairman, Brig-Gen Buba Marwa (rtd), should sponsor a bill to that effect at the National Assembly.

The lawmaker who represents Ojomu/Balogun constituency (Offa), said without an appropriate legislation, politicians would not take him seriously.

He said, "The call for drug test for public office holders in the country is not a bad idea. It will not however work until it becomes a constitutional arrangement. If the NDLEA chairman wants something like that, he should sponsor a bill to that effect at the National Assembly. If not, politicians will not take him seriously."

On whether he will support a legislation on drug test for public office holders, the lawmakers said, "I won't say yes or no until a time when such a bill is tabled before the state House of Assembly. This is because if I support the bill and others do not align with my position, my view becomes a minority judgement."

He added that if the arrangement works, it would certainly aid the fight against drug abuse in the country.

To Agboola, the only Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) member in the 24-man House of Assembly, he would support Marwa's move hundred percent.

Agboola who represents Ilorin South Constituency said hewould not hesitate to support such Bbill if sponsored from any quarters.

"Drug test for public office holders is a good idea. I support it hundred percent. Nobody should be left behind in the drug test, be it public office holders, technocrats and even drivers. This will greatly help in the fight against drug abuse," Agboola stated.

The chairman, Information Committee, Jigawa State House of Assembly, Hon Aminu Zakari Gwaiwa, said the state legislature is ever ready to make laws that could prevent irresponsible persons like drug abusers from holding elective positions.

Gwaiwa said leadership is a trust and it is duty bound upon every good citizens to ensure only responsible persons, people of integrity and foresight are allowed to hold it, not drug abusers who lack any of a above mention qualities.

He said drug abuse is the main cause of the increase in corruption, homicide, kidnapping, banditry, armed robbery, rape and other criminal activities in the country.

The lawmaker added that Jigawa Assembly would not hesitate to make laws or any effort within its jurisdiction to check the menace of drug abuse in the state.

Hon Gwaiwa described the proposal by the NDLEA chairman as a good move that should be critically examined and implemented in the fight against drug abuse in Nigeria.

In his opinion, the deputy speaker of the Assembly Hon Suleiman Musa Kadara said every right thinking person must support the plan to produce credible leaders in the society.

He said there is nobody who is not insane that my wish to join a bus or an aeroplane piloted by a drug abuser. So, the risks constituted by leaders with drug abuse habit are more dangerous than that of driver and pilot.

"So, it is long overdue to have such laws that could enforce drug test before allowing anybody to hold public office in Nigeria, I am hundred percent in support of Marwa's suggestion," he said.

Relatedly, the chairman of Imo State House of Assembly Committee on Information, Hon Johnson Duru, has described the proposal by Marwa as a welcome development.

According to him, Nigeria is practising democracy and everybody is entitled to ventilate on any issue that would lead to the development of the country and the institutionalisation of democrac. Duru stressed that this is still a proposal and not being brought to their notice as issues are not handled by commentaries and suggestions.

He submitted that there are rules and guidelines and procedures before any matter is debated on the floor of the House.

The lawmaker said when they get to the bridge "we will cross the river."

But the speaker, Osun State House of Assembly, Hon. Timothy Owoeye, has said the call for drug test for public office holders by Marwa is not necessary.

HJe told LEADERSHIP Friday in Osogbo the drug test would add nothing to the polity or good governance in the country.

According to him, some drugs are illicit yet they are prescribed drugs that may not be obtained over the counter.

"I am sure that we are aware that some drugs are illicit yet they are prescribed drugs that may not be obtained over the counter.

"Opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid morphine, which is processed clinically to produce Heroin for medicinal use yet an illegal drug. Anything that you do in your room is personal to you, the use of Marijuana for example is illicit, but if you use it personally, not disturbing the peace of others or constituting nuisance publicly, you can't be held liable," he said.

The director-general, Delta State Orientation Bureau, Barr. Eugene Uzum, said the proposed drug test for public officers was a white elephant inititiative.

He said such the call was not in the right direction.

Why We're Pursuing Test - NDLEA

Meanwhile, NDLEA has said it is pushing the "Integrity Test" on Nigerians seeking political office, public and civil service, and new and returning students in tertiary institutions.

Director, Media and Advocacy of NDLEA, Femi Babafemi, in an interview with LEADERSHIP Friday explained that the agency is pushing for the test to ensure that those seeking to represent Nigerians at various levels of leadership should be people of sound mind and not those who work under the influence of illicit drugs.

He said it is not yet a policy, a directive or an order, but a conversation to get the public to buy into the proposal, adding that even victims of drugs abuse should take ownership of the efforts.

"What the chairman is talking about is still at the level of advocacy, trying to push the conversation out there. If we are saying we want to fight drug abuse, illicit drugs in our society, we need the people, even the victims to buy in and take ownership of the efforts. It is not as if it is a policy, a directive or an order yet. It is just about making it a conversation so that people can see the strength and the good side of it. So that people can understand, appreciate why they need some of these things," he said.

Babafemi said the successes recorded in the fight against illicit drugs in the country were due to the new approach the chairman adopted. He ed that when the chairman came in, the first charge he gave the commanders, men and officers of the agency, was to go out on the offensive

NDLEA To Send Operatives To Foreign Missions

NDLEA is seeking for legal backing to enable it to appoint drug attachees from amongst its operatives to serve in any Nigerian foreign missions.

Also, the agency wants exclusive empowers to be the only government institution to deal with offenders or offences relating to illicit trafficking in narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances.

This followed the ongoing NDLEA Amendment Bill, SB 288 of 2021 under consideration at the Senate, sponsored by Senator Hezekiah Ayuba Dimka (Plateau Central) on the enforcement and execution of NDLEA Act Cap N30.

Marwa made this known in his presentation at a public hearing yesterday at the National Assembly.

Marwa who was represented by a director in the NDLEA, Shedrach Haruna, said the amendment seeks to address four basics in the principal Act, which includes: Establishment of additional scientific laboratories; replacement of the word 'heroine' to 'heroin'; restriction of sentencing discretion of judges and increase in amount of fine for punishment of obstruction.

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Specifically, the agency proposed the amendment of Section 45 where it may in "consultation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs appoints a drug attachee from amongst its staff to serve in any Nigerian diplomatic mission abroad."

126 Jailed For Drug Trafficking In 14 States

Meanwhile, NDLEA has said 126 Nigerians in 14 states have been sentenced to various jail terms for offences bordering on drug trafficking between January and February 2021.

In a statement issued by Babafemi, he said a convict, Musa Ibrahim, bagged 16 years, eight months jail term for trafficking 40 kilogrammes of cannabis sativa in Akure, Ondo State from a Federal High Court in the state capital in charge number FHC/AK/10C/2021. Another convict, Ibrahim, bagged 15 years imprisonment after he was found guilty of trafficking 6.7kg of cannabis in Bauchi in charge number FHC/BAU/CR/22/2010.

In Bauchi State, Haruna Aliya, was convicted and sentenced to five years imprisonment for trafficking 609 kilogrammes of cannabis. Justice Hassan Dikko of the Federal High Court, Bauchi, convicted both Aliya and Haladu.

In Jos, Plateau State, Eke Chibuke was convicted and sentenced to five years imprisonment for trafficking Tramadol and Diazepam, while Idan Kenneth charged with unlawful possession of 220 grammes of cannabis, 4.3 grammes of Tramadol, 3.3 grammes of Rophynol, was convicted on all three count charges and sentenced to two years on each count.

A breakdown of conviction records across some other states in February shows that 18 persons were sentenced to jail in Kano, five persons each were sentenced in Imo and Abia, while four were sentenced in Gombe.

Reacting to the record of conviction, Marwa commended the agency's Directorate of Prosecution and Legal Services for the diligent prosecution of the cases and charged them to do more so that such convictions will serve as deterrence to those that may want to be attracted to the illicit trade of drug.
And now, Google is pushing forward with an ambitious plan to give Android devices a new purpose. The company wants phones running its operating system to replace car keys and the traditional drivers license.In an announcement today, Google introduced the Android Ready SE Alliance, a new effort allowing companies and partners to get access to resources that would help them develop the necessary requirements to offer such capabilities.In other words, its a way to make sure OEMs are capable of taking advantage of the improvements Google has made in Android, and these include security systems supposed to make handling such critical data as safe as possible.The search giant explains that personal information requires a mix of tamper-resistant hardware and key storage, with the latter already bundled with Android and called StrongBox. As part of the new program, Google announced that StrongBox is ready for general availability, which means any OEM can use it to develop such technology.As far as the hardware part is concerned, Googles very own Pixel series is the best example in this regard. It packs a chip called Titan M specifically built for such implementations, allowing for new-gen systems that wouldnt be otherwise possible without a dedicated secure element.As for when Android devices would finally be able to double as car keys and mobile drivers licenses, its all just a matter of time, but expect more information in this regard later this year. Samsung is among the companies that want their phones to replace car keys, with an announcement shared in January promising that such capabilities could land by the summer.
Greatest increases are in Black men under 65 years old

'A persistent and troubling rural disadvantage'

Strategies needed to support rural Americans

CHICAGO ---Heart failure deaths are persistently higher in rural areas of the United States compared with urban areas, reports a new Northwestern Medicine study. The research also showed race disparities in heart failure are prevalent in rural and urban areas with greatest increases among Black adults under 65 years old.

Heart failure deaths have been increasing nationally since 2011, but there is significant geographic variation in these patterns based on race.

"This work demonstrates a persistent and troubling rural disadvantage with significantly higher rates of death in rural areas compared with urban areas," said lead study author Dr. Sadiya Khan, an assistant professor of medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and a Northwestern Medicine cardiologist.

The study was published in the journal PLOS ONE this month.

Possible factors for the disparities are higher levels of adverse social factors (e.g., lower income), risk factors such as obesity and diabetes in rural areas and fewer physicians, specifically cardiologists.

"Research is needed to identify barriers and define best strategies to prevent heart failure and optimize guideline-directed medical therapies, once heart failure develops," Khan said.

This is the first study that:

Focuses on geographic heterogeneity in heart failure mortality rates by rural or urban area

Demonstrates patterns of heart failure mortality are changing unfavorably with increases since 2011 in both rural and urban areas; these increases are greater among younger adults under age 65 years with greatest increases among Black men younger than 65.

The study used national death certificate data from the Centers for Disease Control that capture all deaths that occur in the U.S. Investigators identified cardiovascular deaths related to heart failure that occurred since 2011 and calculated annual age-adjusted mortality rates and trends in rural and urban areas, overall, by age groups and by race and sex.

###

Other Northwestern authors include Jacob Pierce, Nilay Shah, Lucia Petito, Lindsay Pool, Dr. Donald M. Lloyd-Jones and Joe Feinglass.

This work was supported by grants from National Institutes of Health's National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences Grant Number KL2TR001424 and the American Heart Association.
African Union welcomes DRC to African Peer Review Mechanism, urges other countries to join initiative
The Biden administration has just made two more very concerning appointments: Colin Kahl for undersecretary of defense for policy at the Pentagon, and Uzra Zeya for undersecretary of civilian security, democracy, and human rights. Both have histories of hostility to Jews and Israel.

According to Alana Goodman of The Washington Free Beacon, Zeya has worked for the anti-Israel Washington Report and its publisher the American Educational Trust. While there, she was a research assistant on a book which decried how the Israel lobby maliciously controls American policy-making, an old anti-Semitic conspiracy theory which the evidencedoes not back up. The same Washington Report has also published material accusing Israel of being behind 9/11.

Kahl, as Goodman has also reported, is a militant supporter of the catastrophic Iran nuclear deal, which the Biden administration, despite major setbacks, still wants to revive. Similarly, he opposes sanctions against Iran, has called opponents of the deal hawks, and possibly was involved in removing a statement affirming that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel from the 2012 DNC platform.
ANN ARBOR, MI  The University of Michigan Depression Center will now be known as the Frances and Kenneth Eisenberg and Family Depression Center.

The UM Board of Regents unanimously voted at its Thursday, March 25 meeting to approve the name change, which recognizes the Eisenbergs $30-million total giving to depression research and scholarship, according to a news release.

Thanks to the Eisenbergs extraordinary commitment to moving depression and bipolar illnesses out of the shadows and into the sunlight of advanced scientific research, discovery and evidence-based care, our university will be able to accelerate the pace of prevention, detection, treatment and support, said UM President Mark Schlissel. Its hard for me to imagine a more important and timely investment in medical research than what is being made by the Eisenberg family.

In total, the Eisenbergs have given $39 million to the university, including gifts to the Taubman Medical Research Institute and other areas of Michigan Medicine, the release states. In addition to a professorship in depression and neurosciences, their past gift to the Depression Center supports several award programs for research, according to the release.

The COVID-19 pandemic has sparked conversations about mental health in everyday life, Kenneth Eisenberg said, and there is a growing awareness of how widespread depression has become across the nation.

Frances and I wanted to provide a gift that would exponentially grow the potential to change millions of peoples lives for the better, as well as provide momentum to the incredible work that the Depression Center is doing in this area, Kenneth Eisenberg said. Its a message of hope and promise of better lives for millions.

The Depression Center was established in 2001 and was a founding member of the National Network of Depression Centers, which works to connect depression centers across the country and foster scientific discovery and evidence-based care, according to the release.

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By Ritah Kemigisa

The deputy speaker of parliament Jacob Oulanyah has hit back at speaker Rebecca Kadaga who accused him of running away from delegated assignments.

While launching her campaign bid for speakership, Kadaga said she had offered Oulanya opportunities to chair the house, offers which he often turned down.

However speaking to journalists after receiving his covid shot this morning at parliament, Oulanya said  thats not true, its not true, I never ran away my friend, never ,never, the truth has a way of coming out at their own time.

Oulanya however said he is confident he will win because he is assured of majority support.

This one when it comes , I will win big, we will wait for the vote, 300 and pour are still campaigning , if you have 300 you do not campaign, said Mr Oulanya.

He however says he is still awaiting for his NRM party to make calls for the expression of interest for the speakership job before he can take active engagement in the heated race.

Oulanya meanwhile told reporters that he has trust in the system of his party.
(Getty Images)

Congressional leaders have launched a sweeping investigation into the federal handling of the Capitol insurrection, including security and intelligence failures which allowed pro-Trump extremists to storm the building in a deadly attack as lawmakers convened to certify the 2020 election.

The probe will be overseen by seven House committees after Speaker Nancy Pelosi was unable to secure bipartisan support for an independent review of the incident, which left at least five people dead, as some House Republicans who supported former President Donald Trumps false conspiracy theories about a stolen election refused to back the measure.

In a letter sent to at least 16 federal agencies, from the U.S. Park Police to the White House, lawmakers demanded any communications relating to the January 6th session.

One of those letters, which Politico reported were identical in their requests, was sent to the Justice Department. It read in part: We understand that the Department continues to investigate and prosecute individuals involved in the events on January 6, 2021.

We are happy to work with you to ensure that the document requests in this letter do not interfere with ongoing investigations and prosecutions, the letter continued.

Meanwhile, Mr Trump defended some of his supporters who rioted at the Capitol on Thursday, saying they posed zero threat to the lawmakers who had assembled there to certify the Electoral College vote that confirmed President Joe Bidens victory in the presidential race.

Read more:

Mr Trump complained to Fox News Laura Ingraham that law enforcement was persecuting the Capitol rioters, while nothing happens to left-wing protesters.

Story continues

The former president did acknowledge that those who stormed the Capitol went in and they shouldnt have done it.

But he added: Some of them went in and theyre, theyre hugging and kissing the police and the guards. You know, they had great relationships. A lot of the people were waved in and then they walked in and they walked out.

More than 300 people have been charged in connection to the riot. Authorities have said they believe at least 100 more could face charges.

The January 6 riot followed a fiery Trump rally outside the White House, in which he urged a mob of his supporters to fight like hell for him at the Capitol. A week later, the House impeached Mr Trump for the second time, but the Senate eventually acquitted him on the charge of inciting the attack.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Return of the Contest

Return of the Contest

A once mysterious ship with an unlucky past has returned to the Lake Michigan shoreline.

The wreck of the schooner Contest has emerged from the sand for what could be the fourth time since the late 1800s when the ill-fated vessel went aground near the current channel to White Lake in Muskegon County.

Last seen in 2018, the remains of the 126-foot vessel recently became visible again due to beach erosion and falling Lake Michigan water levels.

Originally thought to be the larger, 170-foot schooner the L.C. Woodruff when it appeared in 1942 and again 1974, the Michigan Shipwreck Research Association (MSRA) determined it was the wreck of the Contest in 2018 after taking measurements of the centerboard section of the wreck's keelson.

Built in Buffalo, New York in 1855 the Contest had a troubled history as a lumber and grain transporter on the Great Lakes. Shortly after it was built, the Contest suffered a collision with another vessel in 1855, lost its sails and anchor in 1858, and was involved in a second collision in 1859. The schooner actually sank once before in Lake Erie in 1868 and was raised and returned to service at great cost to its owners.

The Contest's last voyage was in 1882 when it encountered a storm and ran aground just a few meters from the safety of the channel into White Lake. News reports at the time said the crew simply jumped onto the beach and took refuge at the recently built White River Light Station. The next day the crew reportedly stripped the vessel of anything salvageable and left the hull to the pounding surf and shifting sands of the Lake Michigan shoreline.

Until Mother Nature decides to reclaim the Contest, the best way to see the shipwreck is to visit the White River Light Station Museum in Whitehall and walk down the pier to the Lake Michigan shoreline.

For more information about the Contest and other Great Lakes shipwrecks, visit the MSRA web site or EGLE's shipwreck page.

Photo caption: Contest shipwreck unearthed in Whitehall.

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Targeted Lockdown in Parts of Brisbane After Man Contracts Virus Locally

The Queensland government is implementing a targeted lockdown in parts of Brisbane after a man was found to have been infectious with the CCP virus in the community for a week.

From noon on Friday, visitors will not be permitted at aged care and disability centres, hospitals, and correctional centres in the Brisbane City and Moreton Bay regional council areas.

I know these restrictions are hard, but we need to keep our most vulnerable safe, Deputy Premier Steven Miles wrote on Facebook on Friday.

This comes after a 26-year-old man from Stafford tested positive on Thursday night, having acquired the virus locally. Although he was tested on Thursday night, he was infectious in the community since last Fridayseven days ago.

Queensland Health is now carrying out contact tracing at all the venues he visited during that time. The man is known to have visited:

Carindale Shopping Centre

Bunnings at Stafford

The fresh food market stall at Gasworks, Newstead

Mammas Italian Restaurant at Redcliffe

The Guzman y Gomez drive-through at Stafford

Aldi at Stafford

The Queensland government urges anyone who feels sick to isolate and arrange to be tested for the virus immediately. People can call 13HEALTH (13 43 25 84) for more information.
We spoke with four college students that chose to use a credit union over a bank. Here are the three main findings

They really cared about credit unions being not-for-profit:

R: The charitable donations made by credit unions in my area are awesome. Im from Texas and when Hurricane Harvey hit, the credit unions in the Houston area all came together and pitched in donations and it really left an impact on me at a young age.

C: The social impact of everything has definitely become more and more important with each generation. Within the past couple of years, Ive started to care about which businesses I support, for example if a clothing store is ethical and sustainable. In my eyes, this was a huge selling point for my local credit union as they worked with local businesses that believed in the same things I did.

They saw the membership benefits to credit unions as favorable to banks:

D: One of the best things that my credit union offered was lots of scholarships for high school and college students. I was able to get a $500 scholarship myself. Nationwide banks do offer scholarships but literally a million people are applying for them so it doesnt seem very accessible, but when its in your community you know you its more attainable.

T: I was pleasantly surprised when I found out that credit unions offer better rates on loans and care about returning money back to members. As part of Gen Z, my financial situation was at the forefront of my concerns, particularly as I was about to move out of my familys home for the first time. I was keen to both save and grow my money and my local credit union offered the tools to help with both.

After they learned about credit unions and what they do for the communities, there was no second choice for them. They said the only hurdle is getting the credit union message out to young people (a recent study by Zogo Finance found that 76% of students didnt know what the function of a credit union was*):

R: Growing up I just always found banks more intimidating than credit unions. I was just starting to learn about personal finance and credit unions seemed like they were really willing to explain everything and help me out. I needed that.

C: As mentioned before, the fact that my credit union worked with local and sustainable businesses was a big selling point. However, this fact can get lost due to lack of awareness. I only knew about the community initiatives of my local credit union because my parents also used the same credit union, but I know a lot of my friends have no idea that credit unions are so invested in social change. I think we need to make sure young people know about this.

At Zogo, we work with over 75 credit unions nationwide to help them engage with the younger generations through our gamified financial literacy app. Visit www.zogofinance.com to meet with one of our Gen Z specialists and see how we can help your credit union tap into the future generations.




A North Korean Christian organization has turned down a proposal by its South Korean counterpart for a joint prayer on the occasion of Easter early next month, sources said Friday, amid no progress in Seoul's efforts to improve inter-Korean relations.







The South's National Council of Churches in Korea (NCCK) sent a draft of a joint prayer ahead of Easter that falls on April 4.







But the North's Korean Christian Federation (KCF) stated that "a joint prayer between the two Koreas would be meaningless at this point," according to the sources.







It expressed the position in a letter to Peter Prove, director of international affairs at the World Council of Churches. The religious organization asked for Prove's continued support for Pyongyang.







The two Christian organizations had often released a joint prayer ahead of Easter and Liberation Day, but the North side was unresponsive last year.







An NCCK official voiced regret over the situation in a phone interview with Yonhap News Agency.







"We understand that (North Korea) has indirectly rejected (the joint prayer)," the official said.







It is the first time that the KCF has clearly rejected the offer of a joint prayer via such a statement, the official added.







Pyongyang has accused the Moon Jae-in administration of hesitating to implement bilateral summit deals on promoting inter-Korean cooperation and exchanges. (Yonhap)


Jammu:

The Jammu and Kashmir State Human Rights Commission has directed the state govt to give a compensation of Rs. 35 lakh to a man who lost seven members of his family in a terror attack 18 years ago.

The Commission said the delay amounted to glaring violation of human rights.

Roop Lal, a resident of Mendhar in Poonch district, had lodged a complaint with the J&K State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) saying seven members of his family were killed by militants during an attack on his house on July 2, 1999.

After careful scrutiny of material available on record, the commission is satisfied that the complainant has made out a good case for grant of compensation to the tune of Rs 35 lakh, SHRC member Jung Bahadur Singh Jamwal said in his order released by the commission yesterday.

The Chief Secretary of the state is directed to pay the sum of Rs five lakh each to the complainant against the killing of seven members of his family, he said.

Jamwal said the delay on the part of the government to provide adequate compensation to Lal amounted to glaring violation of human rights.

The incident is rare but the authorities concerned with the payment of compensation were reluctant and ignorant about the pain and sufferings of the complainant. The compensation whatever was due within the ambit of various beneficial schemes floated by the government should have been extended to the complainant, he said.

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FILE PHOTO: Renesas Electronics Corp's logo is seen on its product at the company's conference in Tokyo

By Tim Kelly and Joyce Lee

TOKYO/SEOUL (Reuters) - Japan has called on equipment makers to help one of its biggest chipmakers restore production, the latest government move aimed at easing a semiconductor shortage that has hit production at car companies and is now pressuring makers of electronic devices.

A chip plant owned by Renesas Electronics Corp was hit by fire last week and replacing damaged machines could take several months. The company accounts for 30% of the global market for microcontroller units used in cars.

Underscoring the severity of the crisis, Hyundai Motor Co, until recently one of the automakers least affected due to prudent stockpiling, is facing curbs to production from April, the Financial Times reported https://www.ft.com/content/8f48ea84-ec31-479a-a3c0-f4a231299ce2 on Wednesday, citing a person with direct knowledge of the situation.

Renesas is one of the South Korean automaker's chip suppliers.

A Hyundai representative said the company is closely monitoring the situation and will optimise production in line with supply conditions. A union official said the automaker had enough chips for its popular models but would be making fewer of models like the Sonata sedan which do not sell as well.

Shares in Hyundai ended down 2.4%.

Japanese bureaucrats have contacted companies at home and overseas to request they provide parts and machinery to Renesas, a trade ministry official told Reuters on Wednesday.

In a further sign that chip woes are spilling beyond the auto industry, Intel Corp on Tuesday forecast lower-than expected annual profit, reflecting what it said was an industry-wide shortage of components such as substrates. The company's processors power personal computers and servers.

Earlier this month, sources also told Reuters that Qualcomm Inc was struggling to keep up with demand for its processor chips used in smartphones, including those made by Samsung Electronics.

In addition to Japan, Germany and the United States have also ramped up efforts to resolve the shortage, caused by a pandemic-driven surge in demand for consumer electronics and exacerbated by panic buying to shore up chip stockpiles.

Story continues

The White House has held meetings with automakers and suppliers to identify chokepoints and is liaising with international allies. Berlin asked Taiwan in January to persuade its chip foundries to increase supply to German car makers.

Governments and companies are also positioning themselves for long-term survival in the highly competitive semiconductor industry which has often been a flashpoint for trade tensions.

Intel announced on Tuesday that it plans to spend as much as $20 billion to build two factories in Arizona, challenging Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and TSMC, the two other companies that make the most advanced chips.

The move suggests that the United States is keen to shift some technological balance of power back home, as it is concerned about the risks of having too much chipmaking concentrated in Taiwan given tensions with China.

In Japan, Canon Inc, Tokyo Electron Ltd and Screen Semiconductor Electron will join a government funded 42 billion yen ($385 million) programme that will cooperate with overseas foundries including TSMC to develop advanced 2 nanometre chips, demand for which will be driven by the introduction of 5G technology.

Japan wants to ensure it is able to build advanced semiconductors in the future and aims to build a test line near Tokyo with help from TSMC which plans to establish a research and development facility there, a trade ministry official said.

($1 = 108.6900 yen)

(Reporting by Tim Kelly in Tokyo, and Joyce Lee and Heekyong Yang in Seoul; Writing by Sayantani Ghosh; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-27 00:43:16|Editor: huaxia

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LONDON, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Britain's retail sales volumes partly recovered in February with an increase of 2.1 percent when compared with the 8.2 percent fall seen in January, but sales were still down by 3.7 percent on a year earlier before the COVID-19 pandemic, the British Office for National Statistics (ONS) said Friday.

Non-food stores provided the largest positive contribution to the monthly growth in February sales volumes, aided by strong increases of 16.2 percent and 16.1 percent in department stores and household goods stores respectively, said the ONS.

Howard Archer, chief economic advisor to the EY ITEM Club, an economics forecasting group in Britain, said it marked "a modest rebound" of retail sales in February after an 8.2 percent fall in January when lockdown measures were brought back in.

Meanwhile, Kieran Tompkins, an economist at the London-based economic analysis firm Capital Economics, said "the fairly modest rise in retail sales volumes in February affirmed that the third COVID-19 lockdown has been tough for retailers, keeping sales suppressed following the plunge in January."

Notably, the proportion spent online increased to 36.1 percent in February, the highest on record, when compared with 35.2 percent in January and 20.0 percent reported in February 2020, said the ONS.

Archer said the modest bounce in retails was helped by online sales, adding "it is evident that the pandemic-related restrictions on non-essential stores has accelerated an already underlying trend for online sales rising."

For Tompkins, the performance in the sector will change "once non-essential retailers open in mid-April, which should help the economy begin to bounce back."

On Feb. 22, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced his four-step "roadmap" exiting the lockdown, the third of its kind since the start of the pandemic.

In the second step -- no earlier than April 12 -- all shops will be allowed to open, along with close-contact services, including hairdressers and beauty salons. Restaurants and pubs will also be allowed to serve food and alcohol to customers sitting outdoors. All COVID-19 restrictions in England are expected to be removed by mid-June.

Other parts of Britain, including Wales and Norther Ireland, have also unveiled plans to ease the restrictions.

To bring life back to normal, countries such as Britain, China, Germany, Russia and the United States have been racing against time to roll out coronavirus vaccines. Enditem
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The plagues seemed to be most relevant for the film," Josh explained of why they chose that section of Seder to highlight, nothing that they also included the traditional Dayenu song as an excuse for Idina Menzel, who plays Howard's wife, to sing.

Even with these Pesach parallels playing an integral role in the films setting and broader context, they weren't always an innate part of the movie's development. Uncut Gems was always intended to feature some sort of Jewish gathering, according to Josh, but Passovers selection as the uniting event was a coincidence, a product of casting basketball superstar Kevin Garnett and using his 2012 NBA playoff games as the storys backdrop.

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The high holiday depended on which basketball player we were going to write around, the elder Safdie told Variety in 2019. When Kevin Garnett became the character, we centered it around a playoff game, which coincidentally coincides with the Jewish calendar when Passover takes place.

Yet to Josh, it seems this lucky alignment enriched the story, providing additional layers of religious precedent to the films events. Form always follows function, and I believe mysticism follows function as well, he continued. The fact that the movie takes place around Passover, the holiest of holidays, is so apt. This particular holiday, youre supposed to derive much meaning from suffering, in a movie about a guy where your hero is enduring and suffering.

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As previously mentioned, Uncut Gems's seder scene is widely regarded as a lone moment of relative peace in (which may evoke the celebration's unusually relaxed dining protocols) amid the films adrenaline-fueled runtime, an effect ingeniously achieved by mirroring the intimate details of the writer's own Pesach celebration.

Once we landed on Passover itself, you start to mine your own personal experiences with Pesach and certain intricacies of thousands of years of tradition connected to this barbaric story, Josh explained. The way Jewish assimilation has happened, you have these xeroxed Haggadahs, one person has the nice Haggadah. You have the kids table because theyre not men yet  when youre bar mitzvahed, you can sit at the adults table.

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Even having an afikomen scene, added Benny Safdie. Showing that part, the post-dinner relaxation where everyone is just talking  its a strange holiday where you have all of these people talking about suffering and plagues and you have to be together with family at the same time.

More so than merely a break from the heart-racing action, the duo asserts the inclusion of the family-oriented scene is integral to understanding Sandler's character as more than just the human embodiment of chaos.

Its a pause from everything thats happening, Josh explained. You see what Howards life is other than the part we have in addition to the matches. Thats so necessary to understanding the film. If it wasnt there, I dont know if other things would click into place.

So folks, once you've finished your seder and found the virtual afikomen, try sitting down for a screening of Uncut Gems -- a modern Passover classic for when you've already rewatched the Rugrats special.

For more internet nonsense, follow Carly on Instagram at @HuntressThompson_, on Twitch.tv @HuntressThompson_ and on Twitter @TennesAnyone.
(Natural News) Governments worldwide have urged people to wear face masks amid the pandemic, claiming that the use of the masks will protect them from getting infected with the Wuhan coronavirus. But not all health experts are convinced this is true, and some have even sounded the alarm about the apparent effectiveness of face masks against the coronavirus.

One such expert, Lee Merritt, an orthopedic surgeon with the organization Americas Frontline Doctors, gave a presentation last year during a summit that the group organized. In her presentation, Merritt debunked various misconceptions about masks, including the idea that masks can ward off the coronavirus.

Merritt said the justification for mask-wearing is based on a nonsense narrative with little to no scientific basis. To illustrate her point, she showed a video of a man installing drywall while wearing a surgical mask with ear loops, similar to the mask that health authorities encourage people to wear to prevent infection.

However, when the man removed his mask, he still had flecks of drywall stuck around his nose and mouth. The mask failed to filter out drywall dust, which is about 10 micrometers (um) in size. Yet health authorities have been claiming that such surgical masks can protect against SARS-CoV-2, which measures about 0.125 um.

Surgeon debunks misconceptions about masks

Surgical face masks do protect against some viruses, but size matters immensely. That is because viral particles come in different sizes. The same holds true for bacterial particles. For instance, surgical masks are effective against the bacterium that causes tuberculosis because it is large, measuring about two to four um in length.

Merritt also underscored some of the most common misconceptions about face masks and busted each one. An especially popular misconception is the idea that masks keep particles in when the wearer talks, coughs or sneezes. These activities generate small liquid droplets called aerosols, which bacteria or viruses can latch onto.

Merritt explained that when the wearer sneezes, coughs or even just talks, the aerosols generated would simply take the path of least resistance. Depending on the type of face mask, aerosols may travel right through the material or exit through gaps along the sides of the face mask.

Moreover, another popular misconception is that face masks filter out most of the viral particles, thus reducing the total number of viral particles entering the body. The idea that a person is less likely to have a serious infection if there are fewer viral particles is not based on scientific studies or evidence, said Merritt.

But aside from not being as effective against the coronavirus as so-called health experts claim, masks may even pose a risk to human health. For instance, a recently published review of studies on mask-related adverse health effects suggested that mask-wearing may seriously harm people without any notable benefit.

The review, which was prepared by former physics professor Denis Rancourt, showed multiple ways masks can inflict damage and undermine health. Some of the mask-related adverse health effects included in the review are discomfort, irritation and psychological impact.

Merritt pointed out that the psychological effects of mask-wearing are particularly detrimental to children. For instance, because face masks cover up most of the persons face, children may find it difficult to develop facial recognition skills and be unable to pick up on non-verbal communication cues.

In addition, face masks block emotional signaling and may even severely impair childrens ability to connect or bond with others. Pathogenic viruses and bacteria can also rapidly accumulate on the surface of improperly used face masks. In such cases, masks may actually increase the risk of spreading viruses, noted Merritt.

To sum up, Merritts presentation raised serious doubts about the supposed effectiveness of face masks against the coronavirus. The good news is, mask-wearing is not the only way people may reduce their risk of contracting the dreaded virus.

Drinking water, eating clean, nutrient-dense foods, exercising and getting enough sleep each night are some of the ways you can strengthen your immune system naturally. (Related: Restore your immune system with a detox.)

Go to Pandemic.news for more articles about how face masks are ineffective against the coronavirus.

Sources include:

NaturalHealth365.com

NYTimes.com

Healthline.com
[March 26, 2021] EMPLOYERS Named Workers' Compensation Carrier of Choice by Illinois Hotel & Lodging Association

EMPLOYERS, America's small business insurance specialist, has been named workers' compensation carrier of choice by the Illinois Hotel & Lodging Association (IHLA). The alliance provides IHLA members with savings, and a range of benefits, coverage, resources and tools that make insurance more affordable and easier to manage. In addition to offering eligible members a 5 percent (5%) credit on their workers' compensation insurance premiums, EMPLOYERS will provide IHLA members with more than 100 years of experience working with hospitality businesses. EMPLOYERS guidance and services help small businesses implement risk management programs designed to keep employees safe, reduce costs and promote profitability. Policyholders can access Loss Control Connection?, a web-based loss control platform that combines safety and loss control information with a unique suite of software programs to help manage risk and reduce losses. "At a time when hotels are preparing to begin recovering from the devastating pandemic, the safety and wellbeing of our employees remains a top priority," said Michael Jacobson, president and chief executive officer of the Illinois Hotel & Lodging Association. "Our new alliance with EMPLOYERS helps IHLA provide our members with the resources needed to do just that. At the same time, hoteliers are experiencing increasing costs across the board and thi collaboration helps extend considerable savings on their workers' compensation insurance coverage which goes a long way into helping hotels survive the current climate and strive towards profitability once again."



"EMPLOYERS is committed to meeting the unique needs of the lodging and hospitality industries, which are among the largest classes of business for us," said Wayne Hilston, vice president sales - programs & payroll alliances for EMPLOYERS. "The best workers' compensation claim is the one that never happens, and keeping employees safe on the job is one of our main priorities. Unfortunately, workplace injuries still happen sometimes, and our claims adjusters can help control claim costs by working directly with injured workers and physicians. Just like IHLA's commitment to its members, our core focus is coming alongside policyholders, and providing helpful information and tools to successfully operate and grow their businesses. We are pleased to join together with the IHLA to provide its eligible members with valuable coverage and quality services." For more information about the program and to learn more about workers' compensation insurance coverage with EMPLOYERS, visit www.employers.com.

About IHLA

The Illinois Hotel & Lodging Association (IHLA) serves as the essential resource and unified voice for advancing the lodging industry across Illinois. Consisting of more than 500 hotels and their employees throughout the state, IHLA advocates the industry's position on political, legislative, and regulatory issues that have the potential to impact the success of Illinois hotels. For more information, visit http://www.illinoishotels.org/. About EMPLOYERS

Employers Holdings, Inc. is a holding company with subsidiaries that are specialty providers of workers' compensation insurance and services focused on select, small businesses engaged in low-to-medium hazard industries. The Company operates throughout the United States, with the exception of four states that are served exclusively by their state funds. Insurance is offered through Employers Insurance Company of Nevada, Employers Compensation Insurance Company, Employers Preferred Insurance Company and Employers Assurance Company, all rated A- (Excellent) by the A.M. Best Company. Not all companies do business in all jurisdictions. See www.employers.com for coverage availability. EMPLOYERS and America's small business insurance specialist are registered trademarks of EIG Services, Inc. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210326005296/en/

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The video footage shows the feline family standing on top of a hill in the Land of the Leopard National Park

Russian conservationists hailed Friday a rare sighting of an Amur leopard mother with three cubs in the Far East as proof of the efficiency of the country's efforts to boost the population of the endangered species.

Scientists in a Russian national park located in the Primorye region on the border with China obtained the stunning images using a remote camera trap.

The video footage shows the feline family standing on top of a hill in the Land of the Leopard National Park.

In the video, the young mother, identified as Leo 117F, is seen spotting a mystery animal and then leaving the scene, apparently walking closer towards it.

Soon her cubs also discover the animal and begin to watch their mother's interaction with the "intruder" intently, the park said. None appeared to be afraid.

Ivan Rakov, spokesman for the national park, said it was the first time that Leo 117F, who is believed to be four years old, had been caught on video with her cubs.

"We've discovered that she has been able to raise a family," Rakov told AFP from the Pacific port city of Vladivostok.

"This is her first litter."

He said raising three cubs at once in Russia's taiga was no mean feat and required a "lot of space and a lot of food."

Amur leopards are considered to be the rarest of the world's big cats. They can climb trees and their spot patterns are unique like people's fingerprints.

'Major success'

Rakov said the video footage showed that the fight against poachers and a series of other steps taken in recent years to boost the population of the threatened species had borne fruit.

Over the past 20 years the number of Amur leopards in Russia has grown to around 100 from 35.

"This is one more piece of evidence that measures taken by the Russian state to preserve the world's rarest big cat are working," Rakov said.

The population of the big cats had returned essentially "from the dead."

"It's a major success for Russia," said Alexei Kostyrya, rare species projects coordinator at WWF Russia's Amur branch, pointing to the country's joint conservation efforts with China.

"There are now much fewer poachers," he added.

Rakov said that about 40 of the animals have "dual citizenship" and roam freely between Russia and China.

Established in 2012, the national park is also home to other big cats including the Amur tiger and the lynx.

Explore further World's rarest wild cat doubles in number

 2021 AFP
Drive, dinner, soak

Friday night upstate

The renovated kitchen in Robert Fuller's weekend home. The designer normally doesn't like to cook but that has changed out of necessity. I said to myself at the beginning of the pandemic, If Im going to be eating, I might as well learn how to make some of the things that I love.

Its the end of another fast-paced and busy week working (remotely) as the U.S. Director of Visual Merchandising for Chanel. Ive been there for about 13 years now. I focus on the fragrance and beauty products  if you sell the Chanel products, I am responsible for directing how it looks and how its merchandised. My day can be as late as 8 or 9 p.m. but typically its about 6 p.m.

So around 6 p.m. today, I hop in the car for the two-and-a-half hour drive from Jersey City to my weekend cabin in the peaceful, remote, rural hamlet of Jewett, nestled between the two ski towns: Hunter and Windham. I usually listen to music on the drive up  it depends on my mood. Tonight, Im listening to The Avener. Its sort of like a jazzy French deep house music. Not a lot of vocals, mostly instrumentals.

My first stop is at the nearest supermarket, Tops in Tannersville, where I pick up some basic food essentials for the weekend: milk, eggs, English muffins, Duraflame firelogs. Oh, and Kit Kats (the new green tea flavor).

By 9:15 p.m. Ive made it! Immediately upon arrival at the cabin, I begin to unwind by starting a cozy fire, and pouring myself a glass of Valentina Passalacqua Nero di Troia that I bought from my dear friend John Michael, owner of Solo Vino, my favorite wine shop that carries natural and organic wines, located in the quaint town of Catskill.

Robert Fuller

Dinner tonight will be cooked at home. By the way, I want to say that I am not a cook and I do not enjoy cooking at all. I really dont! That has been spurred on by the pandemic. But I am a foodie. Even if I have a ham and cheese sandwich it has to be Gruyere cheese sprinkled with truffle oil. I said to myself at the beginning of the pandemic, If Im going to be eating, I might as well learn how to make some of the things that I love. So tonight its fettuccine alfredo with prosciutto and peas, with freshly shaved pecorino Romano from Talbott & Arding, and some wonderfully crusty bread from Breadfolks Bakery: two go-tos when in Hudson!

A long work week deserves a soak in the hot tub under the stars. When I bought this place, one of the things that I needed to do  and I didnt care if I went over budget  I had to have a hot tub if I was going to be in a remote wooded location. Its a must!

BBC One

Around 11 p.m., I indulge in a few British sitcoms on BritBox. I got BritBox maybe six months ago when I started running out shows to watch on Netflix, having watched everything. After a long workday during the week, I like to just unwind, pour a glass of wine and veg out on something thats almost mindless but funny. I appreciate the British sense of humor so much. I love shows like, Are You Being Served? and Keeping Up Appearances. It reminds me of when I was traveling a lot to the UK.

By 12:30 a.m., its time for bed.
A 57-year-old mother has given birth to a healthy baby boy, becoming one of the oldest women in the U.S. to deliver a child, four years after suffering the devastating loss of her 13-year-old daughter who died from an undiagnosed brain tumor.

Barbara Higgins, a teacher in New Hampshire, and her husband, Kenny Banzhoff, welcomed their son, Jack, at Concord Hospital on Saturday, having conceived the baby boy via IVF.

The mom opened up about her newborn and the heartbreaking loss of her daughter on the Today show, admitting: 'I'm 57. The whole thing was a bit surreal quite honestly.'

Scroll down for video

Breaking boundaries: A 57-year-old teacher has become one of the oldest women to give birth in the U.S. after welcoming a healthy baby boy on Saturday

Proud parents: Barbara Higgins and her husband, Kenny Banzhoff, conceived their son using IVF after their 13-year-old daughter Molly died of an undiagnosed brain tumor in 2016

Look of love: Barbara pointed out that there is no guarantee any parent will be alive to see their child grow up. 'Why should Jack not get to be alive just because I'm old?' she asked

Barbara became consumed with the idea of getting pregnant and having another child after losing her daughter Molly in 2016.

'Molly was 13 [and she] had an undiagnosed brain tumor and died very suddenly,' she said. 'That throws your life into a tailspin of feelings and experiences that you werent expecting.'

The mom, who has another daughter, Grace, told NBC Boston that her desire to get pregnant started subconsciously while she was working through her grief.

'I started having these dreams that I wanted to have a child, and I thought, "OK, Barb, that's a little crazy,"' she recalled, but her husband supported her decision.

The couple knew the IVF clinics in New Hampshire wouldn't work with a woman in her 50s, so they went out of state and found one in Boston, Massachusetts.

Message: Barbara said she started having dreams about having another child while grieving Molly's death

Looking back: Barbara and Kenny also have a daughter, Grace. The family is pictured before Molly's death

Fit mom: Barbara, who is a lifelong athlete, said her third pregnancy was an easy one. She continued weight training up until the day she gave birth

What are the risks of getting pregnant later in life? Most women see a significant decline in their fertility after the age of 32 due to a number of factors: On average, women are born with two million eggs, however this number decreases to just 25,000 by 37. At the age of 51, the average woman has just 1,000 eggs left

As women grow older, their risk of developing conditions like endometriosis and tubal disease increases, which can also cause fertility issues After the age of 35, pregnant mothers are at much greater risk of dangerous medical conditions while carrying their child, from gestational diabetes and high blood pressure to preeclampsia and placenta previa. Miscarriages and stillbirths are also much more common after the age of 35. Babies that are conceived later in a mother's life can also be at greater risk of developing conditions like Down syndrome and other chromosomal problems. Advertisement

Barbara had a brain tumor of her own while trying to get pregnant and had it removed, according to the Concord Monitor. She said trying to get pregnant again saved her life.

In addition to her health struggles, Kenny had been living with kidney disease and underwent a transplant, but now he feels 'great.'

Barbara's OB-GYN Dr. Ashish Chaudhari told Today that he carefully monitored her pregnancy with extra blood work, office visits, and ultrasounds.

The parents didn't tell anyone she was pregnant until she was 20 weeks along, and when they did, they admitted they were met with silence and shock.

Barbara, who is a lifelong athlete, said her third pregnancy was an easy one, crediting her active lifestyle and good genes.

'I do a lot of weight training and all that crazy Crossfit stuff that you hear about,' said the mom, who continued weightlifting until the day she gave birth.

Barbara delivered Jack after three hours of labor. He weighed 5 pounds, 13 ounces.

The teacher pointed out that there is no guarantee any parent will be alive to see their child grow up, regardless of their age.

'Who knows how I'll be in 10 years, but who knows how he'll be in 10 years,' she said. 'That isn't something that anyone can predict.

'And why should Jack not get to be alive just because I'm old.'

According to Guinness World Records, the oldest woman to give birth was 66-year-old Maria del Carmen Bousada Lara, who had twins in Spain in 2006.

Healthy: Barbara gave birth to Jack at Concord Hospital on Saturday after three hours of labor

Baby love: Jack weighed 5 pounds, 13 ounces when he was born on March 20

Proud parents: Barbara and Kenny appeared on the Today show Friday with their baby boy

Medical experts say the best time for a woman to get pregnant is between her late 20s and early 30s, citing this period as being the safest for both mother and child.

The majority of women see a significant decline in their fertility after the age of 32 due to a number of factors.

On average, women are born with around two million eggs, however this number decreases to just 25,000 by 37. At the age of 51, the average woman has just 1,000 eggs left. As women grow older, their risk of developing conditions like endometriosis and tubal disease increases, which also negatively affects fertility.

After the age of 35, pregnant mothers are also at much greater risk of dangerous medical conditions while carrying their child, from gestational diabetes and high blood pressure to preeclampsia and placenta previa.

Miscarriages and stillbirths are also much more common after the age of 35.

Babies that are conceived later in a mother's life can also be at greater risk of developing conditions like Down syndrome and other chromosomal problems.
Correspondent

Last week an image of a Chicken Slice outlet, which was vandalised by someone who used some spray paint to create a graffiti message appealing for the release of some MDC Alliance activists remanded in custody, made rounds on the social media.

The sight of a political graffiti message spray-painted incongruously on a recently painted Chicken Slice outlet wall summarised everything that is wrong with the MDC formations when it comes to Zimbabwe's economy.

Granted, the first thing that the party would do would be to deny responsibility for the criminal act and argue that anyone could vandalise the outlet's wall.

Yes, anyone could have done it, but how would a non-MDC member benefit from appealing for the release of the MDC Alliance activists?

The shameful act also exposed how the MDC leaders and members are short-sighted.

Their roots in the student activism mindless militancy that manifests itself in their readiness to engage in violence and destruction is evident.

Apart from tertiary institution student politics, this mentality also has its origins in the formation's historical origin from a labour body.

Food riots

Following Government's adoption of World Bank and International Monetary Fund-recommended austerity measures under the Economic Structural Adjustment Programme (ESAP) from 1991 to 1995 and the Zimbabwe Programme for Economic and Social Transformation (ZIMPREST) from 1996 to 2000, Zimbabweans' lives become very tough.

This is why all it took for the destructive January food riots in 1998 was a bread price hike.

The protests were hijacked by the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), which was fronted by its then secretary general, the late Morgan Tsvangirai.

While protesting is a right, which is guaranteed by the Constitution, using the right to violently vandalise and loot private businesses is not.

It ceases to be a right and becomes a criminal act.

Given the fact that all the MDC formations trace their umbilical cord to the ZCTU, one is not surprised that each time the formations stage protests, they re-live the massive destruction and looting of January 1998.

It never crossed the minds of the ZCTU leadership that pillaging private business also meant destroying workers' sources of livelihood and the labour body's source of its lifeblood -- membership subscriptions.

NERA and MDC-T youth violent and destructive protests

As part of the MDC-T's strategies to win the 2018 harmonised elections and to secure a conduit for funding from some countries following its traditional Western funders' decision to turn off the funding taps after its 2013 poor electoral showing, Tsvangirai formed the National Election Reform Agenda (NERA) in 2015.

The outfit was born out of the MDC-T's internal campaign, #WithoutReformsNoElections (WRENE).

Tsvangirai also invited the membership of other 13 opposition political parties into NERA during the same time that he was pushing for a coalition of opposition parties to face Zanu PF in 2018.

It is, therefore, not surprising that on August 24 and 26, 2016 MDC-T and NERA youths staged violent and destructive protests in Harare.

The MDC-T youths claimed to be demonstrating against alleged police brutality, while NERA youths were ostensibly protesting for political reforms ahead of the 2018.

In both cases, most of the casualties of the two mindless and violent protests were not Government as the perpetrators claimed.

While the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) and the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) lost a pick-up truck each to the MDC-T hooligans, most of the victims were private businesses such as Choppies, Goldtech and Bata among others.

A civil society group, Citizens Against Violence and Anarchy Trust (CAVAAT), which filed a lawsuit against NERA at the High Court on behalf of business operators in the central business district in June 2017, put the losses incurred by businesses as a result of the protest at $1million. In its court papers, CAVAAT argued that NERA was "in breach of its said legal duty, failed to put in place adequate safeguard to ensure that its demonstration was peaceful and that no property belonging to private citizens was destroyed."

In a default judgment issued in February 2018, the High Court ordered NERA to pay $300 000 damages to CAVAAT and costs of the suit.

Fuel price increase protests

When President Emmerson Mnangagwa announced a fuel price increase on January 12 2019, the ZCTU, which had been organising protests against Government on behalf of the MDC Alliance and just waiting for an opportune moment, threw Harare and Bulawayo into an orgy of violent and destructive protests.

In Bulawayo, many shops were torched and looted and, again, Choppies was a victim. The total loss incurred by businesses during the three-day protest was put at US$300 million.

Dragging innocent business into opposition politics

The story of the vandalised Chicken Slice referred at the beginning of this article defines the new lows that the MDC Alliance and its supporters have gone in dragging private business in its fight against Zanu PF.

Following the claims that a hired Impala Car Hire truck was used in the alleged abduction of a Bulawayo-based journalism student, Tawanda Muchehiwa, by unknown people in July last year, the formation's excitable youths like Takudzwa Ngadziore and Makomborero Haruzivishe went on rampage harassing the company and its workers.

The latter even locked up Impala Motor Spares workers in their central Harare shops arguing that the company should disclose the identity of the hirer of the truck, information which company's late owner, Thompson Dondo had already furnished to the police.

The MDC Alliance formation also pushed for a #BoycottImpala to punish the innocent company. Another company which suffered unfairly at the hands of the MDC Alliance is Chicken Inn. The company was punished by a #BoycottChickenInn campaign for supplying the police investigating the alleged abduction of three MDC Alliance, Cecilia Chimbiri, Joana Mamombe and Netsai Marowa, with closed circuit television footage covering the trio's visit to one of its outlets at a time that they claimed to have been kidnapped.

One would not be surprised that the attack on Chicken Slice was a missile meant for Chicken Inn, but shelled on the victim in a case of mistaken identity by the assailant.

It is, therefore, not surprising that a few weeks ago, the political outfit's leadership drove over 400 kilometres to Chiredzi to tell the Chilonga folk they (leaders) would boycott Dendairy products.

The people were obviously miffed because all they got was a statement that the MDC Alliance leaders, in their luxurious lives, would remember the Chilonga folk not by abstaining from eating good food or giving them any, but by avoiding the Dendairy brand.

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Although the formation's co-vice president, Tendai Biti claims to be the best Finance Minister Zimbabwe has ever had and to be more knowledgeable about the country's economy than any Zimbabwean, his behaviour is not too different from that of excitable youths like Ngadziore and Haruzivishe.

Biti and the rest of the MDC Alliance members would rather burn down the economy just to get power instead of nurturing the economy so that more people get employed and the quality of their lives improves.

He has been at the forefront calling for the boycotting companies such as Chicken Inn and Dendairy and labelling them enablers.

To the MDC Alliance, which invited sanctions, economically suffering Zimbabwe are an electoral trump card because apart from claiming to know better, the formation has no political strategy.

Facing futility

One wonders which country they are dreaming of running one day by planning to bring the economy to its knees.

Fortunately, Zimbabweans are not as foolish as the MDC Alliance leadership. They continue to support local companies.

The targeted companies continue do well because the MDC Alliance's mindset that its so-called enemies should be every Zimbabwean's adversaries is just childish.

The futility of the formation's hatchet job on the economy and Zimbabweans is exposed by the fact that it calls its largely unemployed young members (thanks to the sanctions) to boycott Impala when they cannot afford a one-way mushikashika (pirate taxi) trip or the most affordable meal at Chicken Inn.

The party is just out of touch with people's concerns and stupidly running rings around itself.
Parler has said it warned the FBI more than 50 times about violent content on its platform in the weeks leading up to the January 6 MAGA mob riot at the US Capitol, including rumors of an 'armed force' on the day of the attack.

The social media platform, a firm favorite among right-wing Americans, told the House Oversight and Reform Committee in a letter Thursday it had handed over multiple posts to US authorities where users had made specific threats to the Capitol on the day Congress was meeting to certify Joe Biden's election win.

Parler's cooperation with the bureau began back in November, it claimed, almost two months before the deadly siege that left five including a Capitol cop dead and sent lawmakers fleeing for their lives.

The letter, sent to New York Representative and chair of the House Oversight Committee Carolyn Maloney, comes as the platform is being investigated by the Committee for its part in the riot.

Parler has been blamed for failing to tackle extremist and violent content circulating on its platform after Donald Trump supporters jumped ship from other social media sites which were clamping down on misinformation and hate speech.

Several rioters had used the app to organize the siege and, in the days that followed, Apple, Amazon and Google dropped it from their services, throwing the platform offline.

Since then, Parler has made a comeback online and ousted its CEO John Matze, who is now suing the platform.

However, the reports of cooperation with the FBI raises renewed questions about whether authorities had prior intel and could have done more to prevent the events that arose on January 6.

Parler has said it referred violent content from its platform to the FBI more than 50 times in the weeks leading up to the January 6 MAGA mob riot at the US Capitol. Rioters break through a police barrier that day

The platform told the House Oversight and Reform Committee in a letter Thursday it had handed over multiple posts to US authorities where users had made specific threats to the Capitol on the day Congress were meeting to certify Joe Biden's election win

Parler said Thursday it began working with the FBI in November 'to facilitate proactive cooperation and referrals of violent threats and incitement to law enforcement.'

In the weeks between November and the deadly insurrection, the company said it notified the bureau of dozens of posts containing violent threats and illegal activities on its platform, including several related specifically to the Capitol on January 6.

'In the days and weeks leading up to Jan. 6, Parler referred violent content from its platform to the FBI for investigation over 50 times,' the company said in its letter.

'Parler even alerted law enforcement to specific threats of violence being planned at the Capitol.'

One post written on December 24 included a specific call for 'the congregation of an armed force of 150,000' people to 'react to the congressional events of January 6,' reported the Wall Street Journal.

The user spoke of 'some guys that are planning on lighting up Antifa' on January 6 and vowed to 'start eliminating people'.

That month, Parler said it also handed over three screenshots from one user who threatened to kill then-Attorney General Bill Barr and other lawmakers.

On January 2, four days before the riot, Parler said it handed a series of posts from another user describing the pro-Trump rally that day as 'a final stand' where people would 'take back the USA with force' and were 'ready to die' for their cause.

'It's no longer a protest,' the person wrote, according to Parler.

'This is a final stand where we are drawing the red line at Capitol Hill. I trust the American people will take back the USA with force and many are ready to die to take back #USA.'

Parler's cooperation with the bureau began back in November, it claimed, almost two months before the deadly siege that left five including a Capitol cop dead and sent lawmakers fleeing for their lives

Parler was thrown offline after the riot as Apple, Amazon and Google dropped it from their services. Since then, it has come back online and ousted its CEO John Matze (pictured), who is now suing the platform

The individual also said he planned to show up wearing body armor that day and made a specific threat to 'take' the Capitol building.

'This is not a party until they announce #Trump2020 a winner. Don't be surprised if we take the #capital [sic] building,' they wrote.

Another example of violent content Parler said it shared with the FBI was a post from an individual boasting that people were going armed to the Capitol on January 6 and were prepared to 'cause chaos' if lawmakers did 'the wrong thing'.

'They may be concealed at first but if congress does the wrong thing expect real chaos because Trump needs us to cause chaos to enact the #insurrectionact,' the person wrote in the post.

Parler said those referrals are 'only a fraction of the dozens of posts with violent rhetoric that Parler collected and forwarded to the FBI for investigation' and said it continued to 'dutifully and proactively' report violent content to the FBI following the Capitol riot.

'Far from being the far-right instigator and rogue company that Big Tech has portrayed Parler to be, the facts conclusively demonstrate that Parler has been a responsible and law-abiding company focused on ensuring that only free and lawful speech exists on its platform,' the letter read.

The FBI did not immediately return DailyMail.com's request for comment but the bureau has repeatedly insisted the bureau did not have intel on specific, credible threats on the Capitol on January 6 prior to the day's events but had flagged potential violence with various law enforcement agencies.

FBI Director Christopher Wray testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee about the January 6 riot. The bureau has repeatedly insisted it did not have intel on specific, credible threats on the Capitol on January 6 in advance of the attack

FBI Director Christopher Wray defended the bureau's handling of intelligence telling NPR last week 'what we did not have, as far as I can tell, is any indication that hundreds and hundreds of people were going to breach the US Capitol.

Wray appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee on March 2 as lawmakers and Americans continue to demand answers about how the rioters were able to carry out the attack.

Wray said the FBI sent a the bureau had sent a report on January 5 - the day before the attack - to agencies including the Capitol Police and DC's Metropolitan Police Department, detailing online chatter of a 'war' in DC the following day.

'As to why the information didn't flow to all the people within the various departments that they would prefer, I don't have a good answer for that,' he said.

His testimony came after three ex-officials who resigned in the wake of the attack - the ex-sergeants at arms of the House and Senate and the ex-US Capitol Police chief - pushed the blame onto a lack of intelligence.

Since the attacks, numerous Parler users have been charged in connection to the Capitol riots, and in some cases the Department of Justice has referred to the threats suspects made on the app in charging documents.

The app grew in popularity among the far right in the wake of the presidential election as the likes of Twitter and Facebook clamped down on spreading misinformation and hate speech as Donald Trump pushed false claims that he had won the White House race.

The letter about the right-wing platform's collaboration with US authorities came the same day the bosses of Facebook, Twitter and Google were hauled before a different House panel about the roles their platforms play in the spread of disinformation. Mark Zuckerberg

Also testifying Thursday, the head of Google's parent company Alphabet Sundar Pichai (left) and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey (right)

After Trump was banished from the mainstream apps for spreading false claims, millions of users flocked to Parler.

But Parler went offline in January as it was removed from Apple and Google app stores and taken off a web-hosting platform by Amazon as the companies accused the platform of failing to crack down on extremist content and calls for violence in the lead-up to the January 6 riot.

In late January, a judge ruled against Parler's request to force Amazon to restore the company to its web hosting services.

A month later, Parler re-launched its services online through host SkySilk as it said its new platform was built on 'sustainable, independent technology.'

New community guidelines on Parler state that the platform is 'viewpoint neutral' and will not allow for promotion of crime or unlawful acts.

The company's board of directors also unceremoniously fired its cofounder and CEO Matze in January with Mark Meckler, an attorney, political activist, and founder of the Tea Party Patriots, now serving as interim CEO.

Matze, 27, is now suing Parler for $3million claiming punitive and compensatory damages claiming his 40 percent stake in the company was stolen from him when he was ousted and accusing its leadership of bullying him.

Parler said some posts handed over to the FBI included threats to kill then-AG Bill Barr and other lawmakers

On January 2, Parler said it handed over posts from one user describing the pro-Trump rally as 'a final stand' where people were 'ready to die' for their cause. Four days later, the mob stormed the Capitol leaving five dead

He claims he was punished for trying to ban QAnon conspiracy theories and crack down on white supremacists and neo-Nazis using the app.

The letter about the right-wing platform's collaboration with US authorities came the same day the bosses of Facebook, Twitter and Google were hauled before a different House panel about the roles their platforms play in the spread of disinformation.

Facebook's CEO Mark Zuckerberg denied the platform played some role in the January 6 riot testifying that he believed the blame rested on Trump and those who broke into the building.

'I believe that the former president should be responsible for his words and that the people who broke the law should be responsible for their actions. So that leaves the question of the broader information ecosystem,' Zuckerberg said.

Alphabet's Sundar Pichai said he felt 'a deep sense of responsibility, but I think we worked hard this election, the effort was one of our most substantive efforts' while Twitter's Jack Dorsey admitted yes but that 'you also have to take into consideration the broader ecosystem.'
Khartoum / El Fasher / Port Sudan  Face masks, disinfection, and social distancing are to become mandatory in Sudan's state institutions, schools, public transport, and all gathering places subject to overcrowding, the Supreme Committee for Health Emergencies has said. The committee says it will activate a law to enforce this decision. A similar regulation has been in force for employees public and private institutions since last week.

In a statement following the committee's meeting in Khartoum on Tuesday, Sudan's Minister of Health Dr Omar El Najeeb noted that "there has been a steady increase in the number of injuries and deaths due to corona, especially in the states of Khartoum and El Gezira".

The minister stressed that the situation in Khartoum state is a cause for concern due to the increase in cases, especially among school children and teachers. He added that "the issue is complicated by the capacity of healthcare institutions in terms of the capabilities to receive cases, a severe shortage of absorptive capacity, as well as the problem of the lack of oxygen, medicines, and other aids".

The minister explained that the meeting also decided to form a committee from the Ministries of Health, Finance, and Energy to provide the necessary equipment for the health sector, accelerate the vaccination process, and increase the target groups for vaccination to include health professionals, seniors aged over 60 to higher, those with chronic conditions, and workers in vital sectors.

North Darfur state announced the suspension of studies in basic and secondary schools for a week, starting on Thursday. The decision issued by the Wali, Mohamed Arabi after a positive case was recorded among the students, excludes students in the eight grenade

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The Health Emergency Committee in North Darfur state announced that eight deaths were recorded in the second wave of the Corona pandemic, while the number of cases during the past week reached 16, including three cases that were recorded on Monday.

Arabi announced his approval of the recommendations issued by the joint meeting of the State Security Committee and the Emergency Health Committee on Tuesday. The recommendations included strictly prohibiting gatherings and imposing penalties on those violating the precautionary measures.

In eastern Sudan, Red Sea state announced a third wave of the Corona pandemic, indicating that positive cases are still being recorded. The state epidemiological report revealed 149 new cases, including 11 cases, on Monday.

Dr Taha Badawi, reporter of the Supreme Chamber of Corona Crisis Management in Red Sea state, told Radio Dabanga that the state has issued a decision to postpone the diving festival in Muhammad Qul locality for a week until the situation was assessed.

Positive cases since the beginning of the second wave of the pandemic in November 2020, cumulatively, amounted to 464, of which Port Sudan recorded 407, and cases received from transit travellers from other states 46.
People view the Supreme Court building from behind security fencing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Sunday, March 21, 2021, after portions of an outer perimeter of fencing were removed overnight to allow public access.
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SEREMBAN, Mar 25 (Sin Chew Daily) -- Public cemeteries are not supposed to close for Qing Ming, or tomb-sweeping festival, according to the Federation of Chinese Cemeteries Malaysia president Chen Zhang Xing.



To perform prayers at the ancestors' graves, standard operating procedures (SOPs) to prevent COVID-19 pandemic set by the government for Qing Ming festival should be good enough, he said.

Many Chinese cemetery operators in the country have announced that the cemeteries will not open for prayers during the Qing Ming festival despite government assurance RM50,000 fine will not be imposed on cemetery committees for SOP violation by members of the public.

Many who are planning to perform Qing Ming prayers are at a loss over the decision made by the committees.

Some have accused the committees of shunning their responsibilities by not opening the cemeteries during Qing Ming.

Chen said as long as members of the public comply with the government's SOPs, they should not be worried.



"Members of the public should not worry about the consequences for performing prayers at the cemeteries," he said.

Chen admitted that due to the varying sizes of the cemeteries, the committees should be the ones to decide time allocated for prayers during Qing Ming.

"The committees should be flexible in drafting time allocated for Qing Ming prayers. As long as members of the public comply with the SOPs, they should be allowed to visit the cemeteries even outside the visiting hours set by the committees," he added.

Chan said it should not be a problem for public cemeteries with no staff to monitor the crowd as long as visitors maintain social distancing, put on their face masks, have their body temperatures checked and limit the number of visitors per family to not more than six.

"The cemetery management will need to have MySejahtera QR code ready for members of the public to scan before they enter the cemetery. The management is deemed negligent If members of the public find no MySejahtera codes to scan while visiting the cemetery not within the visiting hours set by the committee," he said.

Qing Ming falls on April 4 this year, and Chinese Malaysians will generally pay respect by visiting the ancestors' graves ten days before or after Qing Ming.
Vanessa Jean-Baptiste has been taking moments to pause and enjoy the moment, as a years-long dream of opening a cannabis dispensary in Brockton come true.

Day by day I tell myself, sit back, relax and enjoy the moment because theres a lot thats happening but Im definitely grateful for where we are right now, Jean-Baptiste said in a phone interview Friday.

Legal Greens is opening its doors Sunday as the first Black woman-owned recreational cannabis store on the East Coast, said Jean-Baptiste, a Brockton native and first-generation Haitian-American. And Jean-Baptiste along with co-owner Mark Bouquet are the first Haitian-Americans to open a dispensary in the U.S., she said.

We fought really hard to get to where were at and its amazing to have the title with it, Jean-Baptiste said. The fact that were looking like were going to be the first fully recreational company in Brockton to open is huge within itself because we were looked at as the underdog and people didnt think we were going to get this far.

In 2018, Jean-Baptiste struggled to negotiate a host community agreement with Brockton, a necessary step to move forward in getting a license through the state Cannabis Control Commission. Once she had an HCA, having priority status as an economic empowerment applicant with the CCC helped Jean-Baptiste move through the licensing process.

Despite the states economic empowerment and social equity programs, created to benefit applicants who were disproportionately harmed by marijuana prohibition, much of the legal industry in Massachusetts is white.

Jean-Baptiste said shed like to see legislation regarding host community agreements be enacted to help address the issue. She said wants municipalities to have measuring criteria on which businesses are receiving HCAs.

With more small businesses opening up, well be able to show municipalities that small businesses matter as well as big corporate businesses, Jean-Baptiste said.

The impact of Legal Greens on Brockton will be positive, said Jean-Baptiste, who hopes that tax revenue from her business can help the city hire teachers, police officers and firefighters.

Its really needed in Brockton, she said. Us giving them tax money, and having other dispensaries giving tax money, will definitely benefit the city in the long run.

On Sunday, customers will be able to buy from a menu that includes about six or seven different strains of flower, pre-rolls, edibles like cookies and chocolate bars, and concentrates, Jean-Baptiste said. The store will be open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. seven days a week.

The shop is in Brocktons Revocation District, in the citys downtown. Before Legal Greens renovations, the location was a commercial building owned by Fred Fontaine, a long-time Haitian activist around Brockton.

Legal Greens has about 15 employees, most of whom are Brockton residents. Jean-Baptiste said many of the employees are also Black women, a personal priority.

Jean-Baptiste wants her dispensary to inspire an entrepreneurial spirit in others, she said.

In the beginning its hard but if you stick through it and you chip at it day by day it could really happen, she said. Your dreams could really become true.

To give back in the community, Legal Greens has offered workshops on how to start a business in Brockton or how to get into the cannabis industry. Its something Jean-Baptiste said she plans to continue.

Jean-Baptiste said she hopes to open another dispensary in Boston and wants to start a cannabis delivery service as well.
He revealed to fans that his mother, Falak, had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer back in January.

And Amir Khan, 34, has faced the sad reality of his mum's stage four cancer battle in a new BBC eight-part documentary.

Speaking on the programme, the boxer said: 'When I went over to her house she was really down and upset. It's a tough time.'

Strong: Amir Khan has faced the sad reality of his mum, Falak's stage four pancreatic cancer battle in a new BBC eight-part documentary (pictured together in 2005)

The former world champion explained: 'Shes had her second chemo.

'The doctor said with the first one she went through a lot of problems, so theyre going to reduce the chemo a bit.

'When I went over to her house she was really down and upset. Its a tough time.

'Ive been there every night, spending time with them trying to give my support in any way I can.'

Amir's parents live close to his 1.2million mansion in Bolton, Greater Manchester, with their three other children.

'It's a tough time': The boxer revealed when he's been over to his mother's house she's really down and upset (pictured with her and his father Shah in 2006)

He added: 'When they had the first op and chemo I went with my dad to give him support.

'It was good to see and speak to the doctors, and see how my mum was feeling.'

Amir revealed to his 1.3 million Instagram followers that his mother was fighting pancreatic cancer back in January.

In a heartfelt post, he wrote: 'My dear mum has been diagnosed with pancreas cancer, stage 4. Today she's feeling a lot better and stronger. Please keep her in your prayers.'

Nearby: Amir's parents live close to his and his wife Faryal Makhdoom's 1.2million mansion in Bolton, Greater Manchester (pictured together)

Amir's father told the MailOnline at the time: 'We just want everybody to pray for Falak. The family have been very supportive, and the NHS have been amazing in these very difficult times.

'Amir is currently isolating as he's just returned from Dubai, but he has been Facetiming his mother every day and giving her all the support, she needs.'

Shah added: 'God willing, she will recover. Falak has got all the family around her, they are constantly on the phone to her and we are giving her all the support she needs. We are with her all the way.

Brave: Amir told his fans about his mother's cancer battle on Instagram in January when he asked them to 'keep her in your prayers' (pictured in 2005)

'The world is in a very difficult situation with Covid but we are fortunate that we have so much love and support around us. We will do our best for Falak but at the end of the day, everything is in Allah's hands.'

'The NHS are doing an incredible not just for Falak but the whole country and we are very grateful to them.'

In response to Amir's Instagram post, fans reacted with a series of moving messages, with one declaring: 'In my prayers champ...' Another said: 'Lord bless her and help her have a quick recovery Amen.'
(Alliance News) - France's foreign minister on Friday accused Britain of "blackmail" against the EU over Covid-19 vaccine deliveries, saying the UK was under pressure because it lacked doses for second vaccine shots.

"The UK has taken great pride in vaccinating well with the first dose, except they have a problem with the second dose," Jean-Yves Le Drian told France Info radio.

"You are vaccinated when you have had both doses. Today there are as many people vaccinated with both in France as the UK," he added, while calling for a "co-operation agreement" with London over deliveries by pharma group AstraZeneca PLC.

"You can't be playing like this, a bit of blackmail, just because you hurried to get people vaccinated with a first shot, and now you're a bit handicapped because you don't have the second one," he added.

The latest European Union and UK row is about an AstraZeneca plant in the Netherlands, which Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government claims as part of the British vaccine supply chain.

The EU warned Thursday it would ban drugs firms from exporting coronavirus vaccines to the UK and other well-supplied countries until they make good on their promised deliveries to the bloc.

EU Chief Ursula von der Leyen's stark warning a which could hit UK-based AstraZeneca first a came after a video summit of all 27 EU leaders and stoked fears that cross-channel rivalry could damage global efforts to combat the pandemic.

According to data compiled by AFP, Britain has administered two vaccine doses to 4.1% of its population, against 3.9% overall in France.

source: AFP

Copyright 2021 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
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TORONTO, March 26, 2021 /CNW/ - Halo Collective Inc. ("Halo" or the "Company") (NEO: HALO) (OTCQX: HCANF) (Germany: A9KN) is pleased to announce that its wholly-owned subsidiary Bophelo Bioscience & Wellness (Pty) Ltd. ("Bophelo") has completed its first sale of cannabis flower to a licensed cannabis producer and exporter based in Lesotho, Africa. The license-to-license market in Africa is estimated to be $7.1B USD by 20231 and Bophelo is uniquely positioned to capitalize by cultivating high quality flower at affordable prices for African patients. Given this newfound demand Bophelo has hired 30 additional employees over the last week, bringing total workers on site to approximately 130.

Halo Collective Announces Bophelo's First Sale of Cannabis Flower (CNW Group/Halo Collective Inc.)

The purchaser bought two lots of two different strains from the 2020/2021 growing season at a price of 30 RND (approximately $2.00 USD) per gram. Bophelo's cultivation cost is estimated to be less than 5 RND (approximately $.33 USD) per gram. External test results of this raw material at an independent certified ISO 170252 lab showed average total THC content of over 20%i, which is high for African cannabis and allows Bophelo to compete with European growers at a substantially lower cost base.

The Halo management team is getting a clearer picture of the cannabis strains best suited for the pristine climate in Lesotho. After close to 2 years of hunting for the most suitable strains with the most anticipated sales potential, the Company feels confident that it has cultivated cannabis on par with Oregon and California flower at affordable prices for both African and European patients.

_____________________ 1 Source: Grandview Market Research

2 https://certifications.thomasnet.com/certifications/glossary/quality-certifications/iso_iec/iso_iec-17025/

Over the coming weeks, the Bophelo team will be selecting production strains from the following cultivars:

Story continues

OG DNA Chocolope

OG DNA Holy Grail

OG DNA Tangie

Blueberry Haze

Pineapple

Sanni and Kunkel Herijuana

Sanni Motherlode Kush

Bophelo has cloned number of mother plants from all varieties grown this year to ensure it can produce cloned replicas of the most desirable strains, thereby putting the best into full production while remaining diligent with our ongoing strain hunting efforts.

Sales to African licensed distributors should enable Bophelo to enter African markets quickly, which could unlock additional revenue streams.

After installing a butane extraction unit, which is expected to be finished within the next 42 days, Halo believes Bophelo will be the only volatile licensed extraction company in Lesotho. This may enable contracted extraction of oils and concentrates for other licensed domestic cultivators in Lesotho, another potential new incremental revenue stream.

Andreas Met, Founder of Halo Collective and Head of International Operations, who is guiding the development of Bophelo on-site in Lesotho, states: "As Bophelo begin sales in Africa and soon in Europe, Halo believe that our sales from Bophelo could exceed our sales in California within months and Oregon within a year. This is another critical milestone for Halo and represents two new revenue streams for the Company, that Halo did not envision until we started to market and sell our products and services in Africa. This initial sale, with potential revenue of over six times Bophelo's estimated cultivation costs, leads Halo to believe that Bophelo can become profitable in 2021." He continues. "Step by step, we are now able to unlock the full potential, as a result of our growing space of up to 200 hectares and experience the Company has accumulated over the last four years in Oregon, California and Nevada."

About Halo Collective

Halo is a leading, vertically integrated cannabis company that cultivates, extracts, manufactures, and distributes quality cannabis flower, oils, and concentrates and has sold approximately nine million grams of oils and concentrates since inception. Halo continues to evolve its business and scale efficiently, partnering with trustworthy leaders in the industry, who value the Company's operational expertise in bringing top-tier products to market. Current growth includes expansion in key U.S. markets, the United Kingdom and Africa, with planned expansion into the Canadian retail market.

Halo is led by a strong, diverse, and innovative management team with deep industry knowledge and blue-chip experience. The Company is currently operating in the United States in California and Oregon. The Company sells cannabis products principally to dispensaries under its brands, Hush, Mojave, and Exhale, and under partnership or license with OG DNA Genetics, Terphogz (doing business as Zkittlez) and FlowerShop*, a cannabis lifestyle and conceptual wellness brand in which G-Eazy is a partner and key member of Flowershop*.

As part of continued expansion and vertical integration in the U.S., Halo boasts several grow operations throughout Oregon and California. In Oregon, the Company has a combined 7 acres of outdoor cultivation, including East Evans Creek, a six-acre grow site in Jackson County, and Winberry Farms, a one-acre grow site located 30 miles outside Eugene in Lane County. In California, the Company is building out Ukiah Ventures; a planned 30,000-square-foot indoor grow, processing, and manufacturing facility including up to an additional five acres of industrial land to expand. Recently, Halo partnered with Green Matter Holding to purchase Bar X Ranch in Lake County, developing up to 80 acres of cultivation which would comprise the largest grow in Northern California.

Internationally, the Company's subsidiary Bophelo is currently cultivating cannabis in Lesotho, which holds one of the most extensive marijuana cultivation licenses in Africa with a future capacity of up to 495 acres. To further Halo's global presence, the Company has recently acquired CBPM importation and distribution licensing in the United Kingdom via cannabis suppliers Canmart Ltd ("Canmart"). Halo expects the cultivation and manufacturing operations of Bophelo, combined with the importation and distribution capabilities of Canmart, to drive a well-positioned business to serve the U.K. market.

The Company also has acquired a range of software development assets, including technology platforms CannPOS, Cannalift, and, more recently, CannaFeels. Halo also owns the discrete sublingual dosing technology, Accudab.

Connect with Halo Collective: Email | Website | LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information and Statements

This press release contains certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation and may also contain statements that may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking information and forward-looking statements are not representative of historical facts or information or current condition, but instead represent only Halo's beliefs regarding future events, plans or objectives, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and outside of Halo's control. Generally, such forward-looking information or forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or may contain statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "will continue", "will occur" or "will be achieved". Forward-looking information may relate to anticipated events or results including, but not limited to the development and prospects of Bophelo's operations and the distribution of Bophelo's cannabis products in Africa and Europe, Halo's planned expansion into the Canadian retail market, the expected size and capabilities of the final facility planned at Ukiah Ventures, the size of Halo's planned cultivation facility in Northern California and the ability of Bophelo and Canmart to serve the E.U., U.K. and Australian market.

By identifying such information and statements in this manner, Halo is alerting the reader that such information and statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such information and statements. In addition, in connection with the forward-looking information and forward-looking statements contained in this press release, Halo has made certain assumptions. Although Halo believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing, and the expectations contained in, the forward-looking information and statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information and statements, and no assurance or guarantee can be given that such forward-looking information and statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information and statements. Among others, the key factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking information and statements are the following: unforeseen delays or circumstances that prevent the applicable stock exchanges from commencing trading in the Company's shares or warrants; delays in obtaining required licenses or approvals, delays or unforeseen costs incurred in connection with construction, the ability of competitors to scale operations in Northern California, delays or unforeseen difficulties in connection with the cultivation and harvest of Halo's raw material, changes in general economic, business and political conditions, including changes in the financial markets; and the other risks disclosed in the Company's annual information form dated April 16, 2020 and other disclosure documents available on the Company's profile at www.sedar.com. Should one or more of these risks, uncertainties or other factors materialize, or should assumptions underlying the forward-looking information or statements prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein as intended, planned, anticipated, believed, estimated or expected.

The forward-looking information and forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release, and Halo does not undertake to update any forward-looking information and/or forward-looking statements that are contained or referenced herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking information and statements attributable to Halo or persons acting on its behalf is expressly qualified in its entirety by this notice.

Financial Outlook

This press release contains a financial outlook within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. The financial outlook has been prepared by management of the Company to provide an outlook for the sales of cannabis by Bophelo and may not be appropriate for any other purpose. The financial outlook has been prepared based on a number of assumptions including the assumptions discussed under the heading "Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information and Statements" above and assumptions with respect to market conditions, pricing, and demand. The actual results of the Company's operations for any period will likely vary from the amounts set forth in these projections and such variations may be material. The Company and its management believe that the financial outlook has been prepared on a reasonable basis. However, because this information is highly subjective and subject to numerous risks, including the risks discussed under the heading " Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information and Statements"" above, it should not be relied on as necessarily indicative of future results.

Third Party Information

This press release includes market and industry data that has been obtained from third party sources, including industry publications. The Company believes that the industry data is accurate and that its estimates and assumptions are reasonable, but there is no assurance as to the accuracy or completeness of this data. Third party sources generally state that the information contained therein has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but there is no assurance as to the accuracy or completeness of included information. Although the data is believed to be reliable, the Company has not independently verified any of the data from third party sources referred to in this press release or ascertained the underlying economic assumptions relied upon by such sources.

___________________________________

i . See below the full cannabinoid results:

Label SampleName CBDA CBGA CBG CBD THCV THCVA D9-THC THCA CBCA 505971-1 Herijuana 0.044 1.1789 0.2414

0.0241 0.1596 0.7025 19.9871 0.2338 505971-2 Herijuana 0.045 1.2161 0.2468

0.0245 0.163 0.7169 20.6287 0.2391

Mean 0.04 1.20 0.24

0.02 0.16 0.71 20.31 0.24

Std. Dev 0.00 0.03 0.00

0.00 0.00 0.01 0.45 0.00

%RSD 1.59 2.20 1.56

1.16 1.49 1.43 2.23 1.58

www.haloco.com (CNW Group/Halo Collective Inc.)

SOURCE Halo Collective Inc.

Cision

View original content to download multimedia: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/March2021/26/c9394.html
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 25)  It's a familiar scene from last year. A thick crowd of passengers is seen remain stranded at the Manila North Harbor just days after the government imposed stricter rules in the National Capital Region and nearby areas over the recent surge in COVID-19 cases.

The Philippine Ports Authority counted over a hundred people in the area, originally bound for Visayas, Mindanao, and Palawan. Some said their trips were postponed but they had no choice but to stay at the port for the past few days despite the risks of catching the coronavirus, because they do not have enough money to move elsewhere.

"Natatakot din (na mahawa) kaso wala na ring mauuwian, wala ding magagawa," said Eleah Joy Pabraquel, who was supposed to go to Bacolod City to see her family.

[Translation: I am afraid (of getting infected) but I have nowhere else to go. I can't do anything about it either.]

There were passengers who could not board since they were not aware of the COVID-19 test requirement. Others had their test results with them but the allotted effectivity period of 48 hours had since lapsed.

"Ang problem kasi natin sa Region 6, nagimpose sila ng moratorium hanggang April 4, hindi muna sila tatanggap ng inbound passengers," PPA General Manager Jay Santiago said. "Ang Palawan naman ang inaallow nila ay yung mga [authorized persons outside of residence]. 'Yung sa Zamboanga naman, they require yung mayroon kang RT-PCR negative result so 'yung mga naghihintay diyan sa labas, either one or more of those requirements, they do not have."

[Translation: The problem is, for Region 6, they imposed a moratorium until April 4 wherein they will not accept inbound passengers. Palawan only allowed authorized persons outside of residence. For Zamboanga, they require RT-PCR negative results but those waiting outside do not have either one of those requirements.]

Port officials said as much as they would like to accommodate the travelers, they have their own infections in their offices to deal with.

On Sunday, the national government created the NCR Plus 'bubble' covering Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Rizal and Laguna. From March 22 to April 4, no one apart from essential workers is allowed to leave the bubble, in an effort to contain the spread of COVID-19. The government made the announcement only a day before the bubble was implemented.

Around the same time last year, the government announced the enhanced community quarantine, which limited travel and movement within and beyond the island of Luzon. Different modifications to community quarantines were later added but overall resulted to 4.1 million stranded working-age Filipinos in different parts of the country.

In July, scores of travelers were also stuck in the harbor as they waited for their provinces to lift their restrictions and allow them to return home. But at that time, they were safely housed in the port's facilities.

CNN Philippines Correspondent Rex Remitio and Digital Producer Janine Peralta contributed to this report.
Affine, a leading Artificial Intelligence (AI) & Data Analytics Engineering consulting and solutions firm, has appointed Pitchfork Partners Strategic Consulting LLP. to advise on communication strategies.

Founded in February 2011, Affine is a leading consulting and solutions firm delivering Analytics-driven enterprise transformation. Affine offers capabilities across the analytical value chain, assisting over 45 Fortune-500 global enterprises across the USA, UK, Europe, Singapore and India.

Affine has a decades experience in delivering analytics-driven solutions for business transformation. With domain expertise in Hi-tech, Gaming, Manufacturing and CPG, Affine assists businesses with end-to-end solutions through AI & Deep Learning Solutions, Data Lake Design and Development, Big Data Powered Advanced Analytics, Cloud Advisory and Assessment, Cloud Migration, Deployment Consulting and Architecture Design.

Recently, Affine underwent a brand identity transformation. The new identity narrates Affine's decade-long journey as a catalyst for business transformation for global and Indian enterprises.

Affine's new identity represents the triangulation of solutions and services Affine provides as a catalyst of business transformation underpinned by AI, Data Analytics Engineering & Cloud.

The new positioning is aimed at enterprises, conglomerates & GCC's seeking 'game-changers' to transform their businesses and accelerate the enterprise decision-making process.

Pitchfork Partners will lead the brand and strategic communication for Affine, while supporting the strategy with insight-based analytics, to enable growth and strengthen the brand narrative.

Manas Agrawal, Co-founder and CEO, Affine said: We are entering an exciting phase of digital transformation and technological innovation. In this journey we are looking out for partners who share our beliefs and passion to share knowledge and transform businesses. Pitchfork Partners shares our beliefs, and its expertise will play an important role in our communication agenda. And we eagerly look forward to a sustained partnership and growth.

Jaideep Shergill, Co-founder, Pitchfork Partners, added: We are delighted to partner with Affine. We understand the dynamism and the shift taking place in the business sector in India. It is a privilege to partner with a leading innovations firm and be part of a journey towards transformation. We are looking forward to successfully support Affine with our expertise and capabilities.
Martin is an EU Aid Volunteer in Istanbul helping displaced families to integrate into Turkish society. In this article, he describes his experience with work in a diverse team and his view on migration and volunteering.

My name is Martin Pavelka and I am an EU Aid Volunteer from Slovakia, currently deployed as a Volunteer & Program Coordinator in Istanbul, Turkey by French organization ADICE. Before coming to Turkey, I spent a year working as a SlovakAid Volunteer with internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Georgia as a Grant & Project Manager.

Martin Pavelka, EU Aid Volunteer in Turkey

My host organization, Small Projects Istanbul (SPI), is an NGO with a mission to integrate and provide livelihood opportunities to 250+ displaced families from the MENA region. SPI is a community center with a womens social enterprise branch called Muhra.

At SPI, I engage in various educational, recreational, psychosocial, and social cohesion activities to help the refugee community (mostly Syrian) better integrate into Turkish society. Turkey is currently a host to some 4 million refugees, the largest number worldwide. Unfortunately, the number of local organizations working with this population is not sufficient and their effectiveness is often questionable. SPI is a clear exception. However, due to the COVID-19 crisis, weve had to transform our projects and activities onto an online platform.

During my deployment in Georgia, I knew that I wanted to stay in the field of international development. The EU Aid Volunteers' program allows professionals to spend a year in a development or humanitarian context and contribute to the growth of the local host organization. This was a great opportunity to experience something new and support the local environment with my skills.

Dont Imagine Overcrowded Camps and Flimsy Tents

Me and my host organization SPI seek to help refugee families from the Middle East and North Africa by creating a safe place for them to learn, connect with each other and increase their livelihood opportunities. We not only work with children and young people but also with women. More than forty displaced women work in our social enterprise Muhra, where they create jewelry and sew sustainable clothing. All of them have the chance to participate in various trainings such as sewing, tailoring, 3D printing or computer courses.

As a Volunteer Coordinator, I am responsible for the recruitment, training, and retention of our volunteers, who are the driving force of our organization. Most of our volunteers are Turkish and Syrians but quite often we accept other candidates, mostly from Europe. Apart from volunteer management, I am responsible for implementing and monitoring of more than twenty activities on a weekly basis.

International team of volunteers

The community we work with is already established in Istanbul. Most of the parents go to work and their children go to school. Still, their biggest obstacles include social stigma, employability, and lack of funds.

In total, more than two hundred and fifty families are registered at SPI. Each family has four children on average. Though most of our beneficiaries come from Syria, we work with a number of families from other countries, such Iraq, Egypt, Morocco, and Palestine. They all have the status of Refugee under temporary protection.

Stories as Fragments from a Movie

Members of the displaced community have taken the difficult path of fleeing their homeland due to wars, persecution, and injustice. Now, they face challenges with integration into local Turkish society. Some stories that I hear from my Syrian friends and colleagues sound almost like fragments from an action movie. However, for them, it was a harsh reality. Now, they seem to be enjoying joyful moments more than the others. Sometimes I get invitations to drink tea or coffee at their home.

Our community faces many challenges, such as social isolation, language barrier, and difficulties accessing services and relevant information. They often don't know their rights and where to seek help. The Turkish bureaucracy is unreal. Processing one confirmation of residence or registration of a foreign mobile phone can take months. This naturally requires patience and financial resources. One of our goals is to serve as an information point to our community.

The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Human Lives

Despite the current situation with COVID-19, I decided to stay in Istanbul. It is my home now. Overall, life in the city has calmed down but it has not completely stopped. Non-profit organizations often operate through grants from international donors. How development and humanitarian sectors will operate during this crisis is not clear.

The Coronavirus affected not only our organization but also our beneficiaries, the refugee community. Many families have lost their jobs and their source of income. As a response, we try to find ways to provide them with at least some financial assistance so they can cover their most basic needs. At the same time, we started distributing food packages to the most vulnerable families.

We also launched online activities, targeting children and young people. Through these efforts, we teach Turkish, provide homework support, and conduct creative activities. Online communication has its limitations but we have not been deterred. I believe that this program is a huge help to parents and relieves families of considerable stress from homeschooling.

Volunteering is Professionally and Personally Enriching

I work with a very international and diverse team where everyone comes from a different background. Therefore, I try to express my ideas simply and disassociate myself from my own norms and beliefs. I try to listen fully to what others say without the need to convince them of my truth. Thanks to intercultural sensitivity and communication skills, I feel that I can connect with various people - on both professional and a personal level. Additionally, I have become more resilient and internally strong and learned how to work with limited resources.

Working in a team in which everyone has a different mindset is always a bit challenging. Living in the context of other cultures is a great way to realize how much we don't know, how many cultures there are in the world, and that we are all interconnected. I also think it is necessary to constantly learn something and to regularly step out of ones comfort zone. My actions will not save the world, it is more of a drop in an ocean. Illusions and exaggerated expectations from any humanitarian deployment must be set aside. Otherwise, there may be a great disappointment.

video //www.youtube.com/embed/zJRNnqwkHsI

A short video about EU Aid Volunteers deployed in low-income countries on EU Aid Volunteers projects implemented by ADRA Slovakia.

Experiencing Migration on my own Skin

We often hear terms like migrant, asylum seeker, or refugee. It is important though to understand the differences between them. A migrant usually voluntarily crosses the borders of their own country. The reasons can be due to work, study, or volunteering. Refugees, however, flee their homes from war, persecution, loss of liberty, etc. If they stay, they would be in danger of death, torture, or imprisonment.

The media and educational institutions should be responsible for providing unbiased information about migration. Unfortunately, the opposite is often true, and only very extreme situations will be given space in the headlines of tabloid newspapers. Additionally, the phenomenon of climate change is having an increased impact on human lives and it will contribute to the migration of Slovakian people both within and to other countries. Then we will perhaps understand migration first-hand. When you meet refugees, you understand that on a human level, we are all equal. Prejudices are, however, deeply rooted in all of us. The change in perception will happen only if the civil society, the media, and local governments start to raise awareness and educate citizens about such topics.

In recent years, a lot has changed thanks to travel, study exchange, and globalization. For example, the elderly, through the experiences of their grandchildren, slowly become acquainted with the topic of diversity and sensitivity to other cultures. I hope very much that the global pandemic of the coronavirus does not slow down this movement.

Martin Pavelka

EU Aid Volunteer

This article was originally published on 9.6.2020: https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/echo/eu-aid-volunteers_en/node_en

During the period 2019/2020, Martin was a volunteer in Turkey in our partner organization Small Projects Istanbul. His deployment was a part of a project HVA - Humanitarian Volunteers in Action, where ADRA Slovakia in cooperation with organizations ADICE from France and MONDO from Estonia act as sending organizations. The project was funded by European Commission under EU Aid Volunteer Programme, managed by The Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) in cooperation with The European Commissions Directorate-General Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection (DG ECHO).

Martin continues volunteering on project SuDHAV 3 or Sustainable Development through Humanitarian Aid Volunteers 3. Follow our Facebook to learn more about Martin.
The warmer temperature and blooming flowers signal the arrival of spring. However, worries about respiratory diseases are also on the rise due to fine dust and viruses. The lung, which is vital to breathing, is rather challenging to create artificially for experimental use due to its complex structure and thinness. Recently, a POSTECH research team has succeeded in producing an artificial lung model using 3D printing.

Professor Sungjune Jung of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, and Professor Joo-Yeon Yoo and Ph.D. candidate Dayoon Kang of the Department of Life Sciences at POSTECH have together succeeded in creating a three-dimensional lung model containing a variety of human alveolar cell lines using inkjet bioprinting. Inkjet bioprinting is attracting attention for enabling the production of standardized and patient-customized tissues, and is anticipated to replace conventional test models as it can be mass-produced. The findings of this study were recently published in Advanced Science.

Human lungs constantly breathe to take in oxygen necessary for vital activity and expel carbon dioxide generated as a by-product. Oxygen entering the body arrives at the alveoli through the airways and is replaced with carbon dioxide carried by blood through the capillaries of the alveoli.

Here, the alveoli are made of a thin layer of epithelial cells and are surrounded by thin capillaries that mimic hollow grapes. The alveolar membrane, through which oxygen and carbon dioxide travel, is a three-layered structure of epithelial/basement membrane/endothelial capillary layer and is very thin for ease of gas exchange process. Until now, there have been limitations in accurately replicating alveoli with such thin and complex structure.

To this, the research team fabricated a three-layer alveolar barrier model with thickness of about 10 micrometers (m) through high-resolution deposition of alveolar cells using drop-on-demand1 inkjet printing. This newly produced model showed higher degree of simulation compared to a two-dimensional cell culture model as well as a three-dimensional non-structured model cultured from mixing alveolar cells and collagen.

The research team also confirmed that the newly developed alveolar barrier model similarly reproduced the physiological response at the actual tissue level in regards to viral infectivity and antiviral response. When this model was used as an influenza virus infection model, the researchers were able to observe the self-proliferation and antiviral response of the virus.

"We have been printing cells and fabricating tissues using the bioprinting method, but this is the first time in the world to simulate an alveolar barrier with a three-layer structure of about 10 m thickness," explained Professor Sungjune Jung of POSTECH. "It is also the first time an artificial alveolar barrier was infected with a virus and a physiological antiviral response was observed."

Professor Jung added, "The artificial tissue produced this time can be used as an early platform for evaluating efficacy of therapeutic drugs and vaccines countering infectious respiratory viruses - including the COVID-19 virus - as it enables mass production and quality control as well as fabrication of patient-customized disease models."

###

This study was conducted with the support from the Mid-career Researcher Program, Leading Research Center Program, and the Basic Research Program of the National Research Foundation of Korea.
On January 7th, a day after a photograph of her breaching the Senate chamber during the Capitol riot went viral, Christine Priola quit her job as an occupational therapist with the Cleveland Municipal School District. In the photo, Priola, dressed in a red winter jacket and blue tights with the words America Great visibly emblazoned along her leg, carried a homemade sign reading, in red block letters, the children cry out for justice. In her resignation letter, Priola wrote she was switching paths to expose the global evil of human trafficking and pedophilia, including in our government and childrens services agencies. Priola also complained about demands on her as a public-school employee. She did not want to receive a Covid-19 vaccine to return to in-person learning, she wrote, and opposed paying union dues which help fund people and groups that support the killing of unborn children.

The following week, after posting bond in a three-count federal criminal case stemming from her breach of the Capitol, Priola emerged briefly from her ranch-style home in Willoughby, Ohio, to speak to a scrum of reporters camped out in her yard. Wearing a white, long-sleeved T-shirt on which Save Our Children was written in black ink, she told the cameras: This world is run on the blood of innocent children. Please look into it.

More from Rolling Stone

Those three moments  the viral photo, Priolas resignation letter, and her curbside jeremiad  put the centrality of the QAnon conspiracy theory in the January 6th Capitol Riot insurrection on vivid display. QAnon adherents cling to the delusion that the deep state is part of a global cabal of child sex traffickers who abuse children and drink their blood, and that they, along with the salvific Donald Trump, must rescue these terrorized children from the clutches of unspeakable evil.

Story continues

QAnon did not emerge from a vacuum. It is the latest act in the longest-running morality play produced by the American right: that liberals are bloodthirsty criminals, and it is the patriotic duty of Christians to vanquish them. The prime audience for the play are pro-life voters, who, for the past five decades, have been following a narrative of blood, gore, and sin  planning their role in the nations salvation. Planned Parenthood has long been the plays ubiquitous villain. QAnon is the deranged zenith of the rights protracted crusade against the reproductive and sexual health care provider that each year treats 2.4 million patients while providing services, including contraception and screenings for cancer and sexually transmitted infections, to millions more. Just as the right has defamed Planned Parenthood, portraying it as a perverted and murderous miscreant, QAnon targets another public servant  the federal government  and similarly demonizes it as a deep state molester of innocent children and a mortal enemy of the Christian nation.

QAnons fixation with pedophilia and child sex trafficking shares ugly roots with the medieval anti-Semitic blood libel, in which Christians falsely accused Jews of drinking the blood of murdered Christian children, or using it to make Passover matzo. It echoes the satanic panics of the 1980s and 90s, when the lives of preschool teachers and day care providers were ruined over false accusations of satanic ritual abuse of children. Like QAnon, the satanic panics drew from factions across the political and social spectrum. But the particulars of QAnon  including its unambiguous orientation around Trump as the savior of a Christian nation besieged by evil liberals  make it both a creature of and attractive to the religious right.

For decades, religious-right organizers have fed their pro-life followers a relentless stream of propaganda demonizing Planned Parenthood, the nations largest provider of womens reproductive health care services. Beyond its support for abortion, the organization came to embody, in the rights fevered telling, everything that was anti-Christian and anti-American about liberalism. Over time, the false narratives about it became more unhinged and dishonest, and increasingly incited violent reactions from people who listened to them. Rusty Thomas, the leader of Operation Save America, whose members blockade the gates of hell to prevent women from entering Planned Parenthood facilities, calls them death camps. In 2015, the FBI issued an intelligence bulletin warning of lone offenders using tactics of arsons and threats all of which are typical of the pro-life extremist movement, amid a spate of attacks on Planned Parenthood facilities around the country.

In the early 1980s, the nascent religious right and its Republican allies in Congress agitated to defund Planned Parenthood, an effort that over the decades became as much as a purity test for Republicans as opposing abortion. Like other health care providers, Planned Parenthood received funding under Title X, a federal family-planning program. Although the Hyde Amendment, passed in 1976, bars federal Medicaid funds from being used for abortion services, the religious right persisted in attacking Planned Parenthood on multiple other fronts.

The very public effort to erode the publics trust in Planned Parenthood was rooted in the rights hostility to what it portrayed as liberalism run amok. The New Right, which emerged in the 1970s to build the infrastructure of what is now the modern conservative movement, positioned its activists as warriors against the social engineering of liberal bureaucrats in Washington. Its early campaigns, which its leaders used to enlist conservative white Christians into political battle, centered on portraying children as endangered by liberal machinations to rid public schools of mandatory sectarian prayer, to enforce racial quotas and busing, and to redesign curricula to reflect social changes.

The assault on Planned Parenthood was part of a broader campaign demonizing feminism, public schools, teachers unions, and even the government itself as enemies of the virtuous and patriotic American Christian family. A 1982 National Right to Life pamphlet accused the organization of training teens how to have sex, robbing parents of teaching their kids about sex in a natural family environment, a situation that may ultimately lead to a regressive inability for sexual expression beyond genital gratification. A 1984 publication from the American Life League claimed Planned Parenthood was bent on sterilizing the young, destroying the two-parent family as envisioned and created by God, and molesting the minds of men and women everywhere. The victims were defenseless children; the heroes were the Christian activists committed to rescuing them, thus restoring the nations righteousness.

In the early 1980s, religious-right messaging from organizations like the Moral Majority and Christian Voice lambasted abortion, but also stoked anxieties about kiddie porn, the childrens liberation movement, and the loss of parental control of day care and public schools, with the latter often referred to as government schools. Leaders equated homosexuality with pedophilia, charging the homosexual agenda would lead to child abuse by teachers. Mel and Norma Gabler, who pioneered religious campaigns against public-school textbooks they deemed anti-Christian or anti-American, made the spurious claim in their newsletter  repackaged and repeated by other religious-right organizations  that while talking, chewing gum, and making noise were the top disciplinary offenses in public schools in 1940, in 1982, as a result of secular humanism and situational ethics, top offenses included pregnancies, rape, abortions, and venereal disease.

For the burgeoning religious right, Planned Parenthood became a potent symbol of the multitude of sins unleashed by the enemies of a godly nation. In a 1981 hearing on funding for Title X, Alabama Sen. Jeremiah Denton, one of Planned Parenthoods leading congressional antagonists, grilled its president, Faye Wattleton, about the organizations sex-education materials in public schools. There is a clear message in the movie, as well as in these publications, that the child or teenager should not listen to parents, he complained. That these materials addressed sexuality, masturbation, and homosexuality, he went on, seem to me to be an intrusion into value impartation which the pastor or the parent should have priority, if not exclusive jurisdiction.

Over time, anti-choice activists baselessly accused Planned Parenthood of far worse than indoctrinating teenagers about sex. In 2002, Life Dynamics, a far-right anti-choice organization that claims to be the pro-life gateway to Americas abortion issues and news, published a report titled Child Predators, which purported to expose the partnership between Planned Parenthood and men who sexually abuse underage girls. The supposed abuse was not just physical but spiritual, fueling paranoia about demonic forces at war with Christians. Planned Parenthood sells sex, but merely as bait to steal souls  your childrens souls, warned a 2004 pamphlet from STOPP, an anti-Planned Parenthood program of the hard-right American Life League. The organization still promotes these materials, along with YouTube videos purporting to show that Planned Parenthood is hooking kids on sex.

Within a decade, the internet made slandering Planned Parenthood infinitely easier. Starting in the late 2000s, anti-choice activist Lila Rose began making and distributing undercover videos that she claimed proved the organization promoted trafficking in teenage girls. But the most explosive onslaught against Planned Parenthood came in 2015, when Roses colleague David Daleiden, operating a newly formed organization called the Center for Medical Progress, released deceptively obtained and misleadingly edited videos purporting to show that Planned Parenthood harvested fetal body parts for profit.

The videos electrified the religious right, and right-wing media stepped up to provide breathless coverage. Conservative media activist Brent Bozell claimed the videos showed most horrible atrocities the likes of which have not been seen since Nazi Germany. (In February, Bozells son was arrested in connection with his role in the Capitol insurrection.) LifeSiteNews, a popular anti-choice news site, and WND, a right-wing conspiracy cite, both published an interview with Zachary King, who claimed, without a shred of evidence that, as part of a satanist group, he performed satanic rituals inside abortion clinics. Robert Dear, who in 2015 killed three people and injured nine others in a gun attack at a Planned Parenthood in Colorado Springs, said he was angered by the stories hed heard about baby body parts, including those on Bill OReillys program on Fox.

Daleiden, a 32-year-old right-wing activist who claims to be a muckraking journalist, is now under criminal indictment in California, and Planned Parenthood successfully sued him for violation of federal anti-racketeering laws. (Daleiden denies criminal and civil culpability, and has appealed the civil verdict against him.) But he remains a hero to the anti-choice movement. Spurred by his videos, in 2015 congressional Republicans launched a Select Investigative Panel on Infant Lives to investigate his claims that Planned Parenthood mutilated fetal body parts for profit, and that medical advancements including vaccines were sullied by fetal-tissue research. After spending $1.6 million on the probe, in late 2016 the panel released a 400-page report that the science magazine Nature called science fiction, in which elected officials applied their own, distorted, vision of how science works, endangering the research of scientists who legally and ethically use fetal tissue for lifesaving vaccines and therapies. Under Trump, the Department of Health and Human Services hired March Bell, the panels staff director and chief counsel, to work as the chief of staff for Roger Severino, the director of the departments Office of Civil Rights.

In 2018, under Trump, HHS implemented a regulation that placed so many restrictions and requirements on Title X recipients that Planned Parenthood had no choice but to withdraw from the program. The Title X rollback achieved the defund Planned Parenthood goal and allowed Trumps HHS to tout how the rule includes a stronger focus on protecting women and children from being victimized by child abuse, child molestation, sexual abuse, rape, incest, intimate partner violence, and trafficking and meaningfully encourages parent-child communication in family planning decisions, and requires documentation of such encouragement. It was one of many actions the Trump administration took that led anti-choice leaders to call him the most pro-life president in history.

A recent poll conducted by the American Enterprise Institute found that white evangelicals are more likely even than other Republicans to believe the QAnon conspiracy theory. To the Reverend Rob Schenck, the arc from anti-Planned Parenthood to QAnon seems almost inevitable. For decades, Schenck was a leading figure in the anti-choice movement, notorious for Operation Rescue and blockading abortion clinics in Buffalo, New York, while displaying a fetus in a jar to shame women over what he claimed was murdering a child.

About 10 years ago, Schenck began to have a change of heart. He officially left the movement five years after that, began advocating for gun control, and wrote Costly Grace, a repentant book about his previous life. But he remains in touch with many of his old colleagues.

When I caught up with Schenck recently via Zoom, he immediately fell on his sword, lamenting the countless times he compared Planned Parenthood to the ancient biblical god Molech, who demanded child sacrifice in exchange for financial prosperity. Over the years Schenck came to agree with the Supreme Courts holding in Roe v. Wade, because, as he wrote in 2019, I can no longer pretend that telling poor pregnant women they have just one option  give birth and try your luck raising a child, even though the odds are stacked against you  is pro-life in any meaningful sense. But in his former life, he used to accuse women of sacrificing their children to an idolatrous god, Planned Parenthood. I must have said that thousands of times from a platform, on a video, whatever, published it hundreds of times, where we just said there is no difference between the child in the womb and outside of the womb, and thats why late-term abortion became such a fixation for us, Schenck told me. He sent millions of pieces of fundraising mail to supporters, intentionally filled with drama, heroes, and villains. And now, he says, We saw a lots of fortysomethings, fiftysomethings in the insurrection. They could be the children of people who got those letters, listened, you know, to those sermons, participated in the blockades of the Eighties, and [who] are now adults, saying, We got to take it one step further than our parents did. The blockades didnt work. Now its time to seize power and start jailing and executing these people. So thats also escalating.

The demonization of Planned Parenthood set the stage for the more unhinged permutations of QAnon, which Schenck says many of his old colleagues have fallen for. I get messages from my old crowd saying, Rob, how can you support baby eaters? Its gone to actually baby eating. You know that people at Planned Parenthood, Hillary Clinton, and her cabal, they dont just kill infants. They eat them.

Schenck, who used to share office space with Daleiden, said that for anti-choice activists, the Center for Medical Progress videos confirmed that his own sermons comparing abortion to child sacrifice were not metaphorical. We said they want to offer up infants as child sacrifice and that meant anything  people imagined stabbing the babys on the altar of Molech, slitting their throats, dismembering them, and then immolating, burning them, Schenck told me. To them, Daleiden proved what they had always suspected was true.

QAnon fulfilled a longing, says Schenck, stemming from a frustration that we were still in the realm of theory. In this view, Hillary Clinton, their elusive bete noire, was in fact selling children to sex traffickers and eating babies in the basement of a pizza parlor. While anti-choice activists, like Schenck in his former life, claimed to have seen fetuses in garbage dumpsters, anti-choicers now believe that QAnon has at long last proved that Hillary Clinton literally puts them on her plate.

For his old anti-abortion friends, Schenck says, it seems logical that such evil forces would steal the election from Trump, Americas redeemer. If you eat a childs face, youre certainly going to steal an election, Schenck says of this thinking.

Leo Kelly, who, like Priola, broke into Senate chamber on January 6th, spoke to LifeSiteNews, the anti-choice site that has long promoted anti-Planned Parenthood conspiracy theories, after he returned home to Iowa. He described participating with a group of men that prayed in the chamber as one of his cohorts consecrated it to Jesus. That, to me, was the ultimate statement of where we are in this movement. As for himself, Kelly said, I am redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ.

In both the long crusade against Planned Parenthood and more recently in QAnon and relatedly Stop the Steal, there is a consistent theme. On one side is Americas redeemer, made clean by the blood of Jesus. The other is an agent of Satan, awash in filth and blood and greed and sin.

In making their case in Trumps second impeachment trial, House managers steered clear of addressing the role that religion, or even QAnon, played in the insurrection. That was understandable, given the disingenuous but predictable backlash that they are anti-religion or anti-Christian. But in investigating the events of January 6th, which House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said a bipartisan commission will do, the role of religion cannot be ignored. The big lie at the heart of our politics right now is that depraved, demonic forces stole the reelection of an anointed leader who had been placed in the White House by God. Religion is not a sideshow.

In religion, people seek truth, and QAnon followers claim to possess it. But now that these delusions have turned deadly and shaken the nation to its core, it is long past time for our politics to confront how religion has been abused to subvert the truth. It is not a mystery where to start examining this question. Just ask Planned Parenthood.

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Camilla 'let Prince Charles enjoy taking centre stage in Greece' after he was 'effortlessly eclipsed' by Diana 'in every way' during their royal tours, a body language expert has claimed.

Prince Charles, 72, and the Duchess of Cornwall, 73, touched down in Greece on Wednesday on their first international trip of the year.

The couple are on a two-day visit to attend the Bicentenary Independence Day celebrations - but according to Judi James, Camilla has been taking a back seat while the Prince of Wales is enjoying taking the limelight.'

Speaking to FEMAIL, the body language expert contrasted Prince Charles' body language to his tours with Diana, and says it's as though there has been a 'complete role-reversal.'

'With Diana in the spotlight as Charles is now, we can see the Prince hanging back with a similar air of down-played reticence as Camilla appears to be using currently,' she claimed. 'With Camilla the low-key approach appears to be deliberate though, while with Charles it was clearly a source of frustration back in the day.'

Camilla 'let Charles enjoy the limelight in Greece' after he was 'effortlessly eclipsed' by Diana 'in every way' during their royal tours, body language expert Judi James has claimed. Pictured, Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou and her partner Pavlos Kotsonis welcome Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall Camilla in Athens, on March 25

Judi James noted that Diana was often seen ahead of Charles and walking quite independently but Camilla seems to stick close and often be standing or walking just behind her husband. Pictured, visiting the Ginger Factory in Yandina, Queensland, Australia, 12th April 1983

She continued: 'As Camilla would be all too well aware, Princess Diana cited her husbands jealousy of her popularity as one of the core reasons for the breakdown of their marriage.

And on tour with Charles in Greece, it looks very much as though lessons have been learned and that Camilla is determined to ensure that wife number two does not make the same mistake as wife number one.'

Judi went on to explain how unlike Camilla, 'Diana effortlessly eclipsed Charles in every way.'

'On their first tour of Australia, when her popularity was becoming obvious, she didnt just dazzle visually,' explained Judi. 'She dwarfed him intellectually too, dashing off a very competent piece by Rachmaninoff on the piano when asked to perform at a music college, while Charles could barely pull the bow across the strings of a cello.'

In addition to her 'brilliantly eye-catching' outfits, the body language expert explains how Princess Diana's 'height, body language charisma and her empathy with the crowds made her sparkle and Charles look like a damp squib.'

However, according to Judi, in Greece, the story could hardly be different.

Judi claimed Camilla looked "switched off" in body language terms, 'sitting back in her seat with her legs stretched out as though she was having a breather after a long morning spent shopping.' Pictured, joining The President of the Hellenic Republic and Mr. Pavlos Kotsonis for tea at the Presidential Mansion

With his gold medal on proud display around his neck, Judi explained how Prince Charle's gestures are open and over-congruent. Pictured, being presented with The Gold Medal of Athens by Mayor of Athens, Kostas Bakoyannis, at Athens City Hall during a two-day visit to Greece

'Camillas outfits are flattering but without dominating the attention,' explained Judi. 'She has opted for a safe navy blue when Diana would have worn daffodil yellow and bright, eye-catching pink.'

Judi also went on to note that while Diana was often seen ahead of Charles and 'walking quite independently,' Camilla 'seems to stick close' - often be standing or walking just behind her husband.

'When Camilla and Charles sat on small, throne-like chairs it was Charles sitting regally upright with his knees splayed while his hands were clasped up near his chest in what looked like an intentional gesture of imminent communication,' she explained.

'Camilla looked "switched off" in body language terms, sitting back in her seat with her legs stretched out as though she was having a breather after a long morning spent shopping.

In another photograph where the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall are being greeted by their hosts, Judi notes how Charles leans forward in what looks like an 'animated conversation', while Camilla 'hangs back' with her arms by her sides.

Princess Diana and Prince Charles riding in a Land Rover at the Hands Oval sportsground, Bunbury, Australia, 8th April 1983

She continued: 'Camilla appears to be waiting to see what Charles will do before proceeding and as a result Charles truly blossoms with this open goal in terms of stepping into the spotlight and acting like the natural star of the double act.'

The body language expert believes all of the 'passive flattery' on the Prince of Wales is visible in his outfits and the way he carries himself.

'His outfits have become what can only be described as dapper and his ties and pocket hankies suggest a desire to be centre stage,' she explained. 'His body language suggests the inner performer has been released too.'

'With his gold medal on proud display around his neck, his gestures are open and over-congruent, either with this upward point or with an empty embrace with his arms splayed out in mid-air, suggesting pure pleasure at being the centre of attention.'
CHICAGO, March 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Counterpointe Sustainable Real Estate (CounterpointeSRE) announced today that it has provided $4.6 million in Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE) funding in support of completed energy-efficiency work at the recently opened Amped Kitchens Chicago facility on Chicago's Northwest Side in the Belmont-Cragin neighborhood. The funding was provided through the Chicago PACE program.

Amped Kitchens property owners deployed $4.6 million in C-PACE financing to fund energy-efficient components of the building's gut rehabilitation.

The $4.6 million of C-PACE funding was applied with the consent of a consortium of New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) program investors including Local Initiatives Support Corporation, Southside Community Redevelopment Enterprise, FirstPathway Partners, Consortium America, Chicago Community Loan Fund, Blue Hub Capital and PNC Bank.

"The opportunity to provide a significant capital infusion to this project and its development team is valuable in that it both supports the energy-efficiency choices made by the Amped Kitchens and helps keep costs down for those that operate their businesses from this facility," stated Eric Alini, managing partner at CounterpointeSRE. "It's a win for everyone involved because it demonstrates that Chicago PACE and C-PACE nationally sit at the nexus of sustainability and economic development as evidenced by the support of the NMTC investors," Alini continued.

The PACE financing provided by CounterpointeSRE through the Chicago PACE program is earmarked to energy-efficiency improvements that included new HVAC and LED lighting. The HVAC improvements included upgraded systems such as ventilation that improve air quality for the tenants.

Amped Kitchens Chicago began its work in 2019 to convert a former Zenith television factory into a 113,000-square-foot facility with 64 kitchens for leasing to food manufacturers ranging from mom-and-pop operations to large corporate food manufacturers.

Previous reporting by Mark O'Meara in Novogradac captured sentiment towards the project including that of John Widmer, chief financial officer at FirstPathway Community Development LLC, an NMTC CDE based in Milwaukee.

"This is going to be a catalyst project for the Belmont Cragin area," stated Widmer. "There used to be a lot of manufacturing companies here."

About Counterpointe Sustainable Real Estate:

Counterpointe Sustainable Real Estate (CounterpointeSRE) is a leading commercial real estate finance provider specializing in sustainable infrastructure improvements through PACE financing. For more information on PACE financing or CounterpointeSRE, please visit counterpointesre.com.

Media Contact:

Adam Moskowitz

[email protected]

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Amped Kitchens, 5801 W. Dickens Ave.

Amped Kitchens property owners deployed $4.6 million in C-PACE financing to fund energy-efficient components of the building's gut rehabilitation.

SOURCE Counterpointe Sustainable Real Estate

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A University of Arizona Health Sciences researcher examined the role of cholesterol in both Alzheimer's disease and Type 2 diabetes to identify a small molecule that may help regulate cholesterol levels in the brain, making it a potential new therapeutic target for Alzheimer's disease.

There is no known cure for Alzheimer's disease, which affects more than 5.5 million people in the United States. In the last decade, scientists have found increasing evidence linking the underlying causes of Type 2 diabetes and Alzheimer's disease.

Type 2 diabetes occurs when insulin becomes less efficient at removing glucose from the bloodstream, resulting in high blood sugar that can cause abnormal cholesterol levels. A similar situation occurs in Alzheimer's disease, but rather than affecting the body as a whole, the effects are localized in the brain.

Alzheimer's and diabetes share many common causes. Our goal was to develop a way of identifying compounds that would counteract many detrimental changes that contribute to both Alzheimer's and Type 2 diabetes." Gregory Thatcher, PhD, professor of pharmacology and toxicology, UArizona College of Pharmacy and the newly named R. Ken and Donna Coit Endowed Chair in Drug Discovery

The paper, "Discovery of Nonlipogenic ABCA1 Inducing Compounds with Potential in Alzheimer's Disease and Type 2 Diabetes," was published in the journal ACS Pharmacology and Translational Science.

When cholesterol rises, due to insulin resistence or other factors, the body starts a process known as reverse cholestrol transport, during which specific molecules carry excess cholesterol to the liver to be excreted. Apolipoprotein E (APOE) is one of the proteins involved in reverse cholesterol transport.

APOE is also the strongest risk factor gene for Alzheimer's disease and related dementia, and an independent risk factor for Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Similarly, reduced activity of another cholesterol transporter, ATP-binding cassette transporter A1 (ABCA1), correlates with increased risk of cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes and Alzheimer's disease.

"While most people are aware of so-called 'good cholesterol,' and 'bad cholesterol,' associated with risk of heart attack and stroke, these broad concepts are also applicable to a healthy brain," said Dr. Thatcher, who has been working to develop advanced therapeutics for Alzheimer's for more than 20 years. "Moving cholesterol to where it is needed in the body has positive effects on many physiological processes and can help clear misfolded proteins that accumulate in the brain."

Increasing the activity of ABCA1 is expected to positively influence insulin signaling and reduce inflammation in the brain, making it a potential therapy for both Type 2 diabetes and Alzheimer's disease. In this study, Dr. Thatcher and the research team designed a way to identify small molecules that improve the function of ABCA1 in the body while avoiding unwanted effects to the liver.

In a March 20 paper in the journal EBioMedicine, "Metabolomic analysis of a selective ABCA1 inducer in obesogenic challenge provides a rationale for therapeutic development," Dr. Thatcher's team honed in on a specific small molecule, CL2-57, due to its ability to stimulate ABCA1 activity with positive effects on liver and plasma triglycerides. The use of this compound showed improved glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity, as well as reduced weight gain, among other beneficial effects.

Their future research will seek to improve the properties of the small molecules to increase the levels in the brain. Their long-term goal is to understand which patients suffering from the cognitive and neuropsychiatric symptoms of Alzheimer's and dementia will benefit from the treatment.

"During the Covid-19 pandemic we hear about the mounting deaths in nursing homes and it's important to remember that Alzheimer's and related dementia is a major cause of the elderly moving to nursing homes," Dr. Thatcher said. "It would be good to think of a future in which healthspan was extended, especially a healthy brain; maybe that's more important than lifespan."
Parler, the social network popular with Trump supporters, said on Thursday that it had been working with law enforcement for months to identify possible illegal activity, including notifying authorities of specific threats to the Capitol ahead of the Jan. 6 assault on Congress.

Parler said in a letter to Representative Carolyn B. Maloney, Democrat of New York and chair of the House Oversight Committee, that it formalized its relationship with the F.B.I. in November to facilitate proactive cooperation and referrals of violent threats and incitement to law enforcement.

The company said that it sent the bureau dozens of concerning posts written by its users, including some related to the deadly Jan. 6 attack.

In the days and weeks leading up to Jan. 6, Parler referred violent content from its platform to the F.B.I. for investigation over 50 times, the company said in its letter. Parler even alerted law enforcement to specific threats of violence being planned at the Capitol.
NOVARA, MAR 26 - An Italian mother and her then partner got life imprisonment Friday for killing a 20-month-old boy in Novara in May 2019. Gaia Russo and Nicolas Musi were found guilty of the murder of Leonardo Musi. The court upheld a sentence request from the prosecutor in the case, Silvia Baglivo. Leonardo was found to be dead when he arrived at a hospital in the northern town. The pair used the right to remain silent in questioning. Nicolas Musi, 24, was found guilty of killing Leonardo by repeated beatings. Gaia Russo, also 24, was found guilty of doing nothing to stop the beatings. (ANSA).
SHYMKENT, Kazakhstan -- Turn out the lights, the party's over.

But for officials in the southern Kazakh city of Shymkent, the trouble may have just begun.

Some residents are demanding an investigation after the local government said it spent around $1.3 million on Norouz celebrations this month.

The statement on the public procurement agency's website sparked angry public criticism from people who want to know where the money went. They say the mostly online events were far more modest than previous years and didn't look like a million-dollar party.

The average monthly salary in Kazakhstan is a little over $500, according to CEIC Data, an economics website.

After the burst of public criticism, Shymkent city authorities belatedly said that the amounts represented all the funds set aside by the city for all of the year's celebrations. But an itemized list of the spending suggested otherwise, and the damage to public trust appears to have been done.

Shymkent's celebrations to mark the Persian New Year included music and poetry competitions, an event to mark the anniversary of a local magazine, and advertisements of local cultural sites, among other things.

Norouz events throughout the Central Asian state of around 19 million people on March 21-23 were heavily scaled down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. "Norouz celebrations were not as big as previous years. It invites the question: Where have all those funds gone?" one Shymkent resident asked.

She added that throwing parties during the pandemic wasn't necessary in the first place, and the "money should have been spent for more important purposes."

One Shymkent man told RFE/RL that he hadn't noticed a single major Norouz event in Shymkent this year.

Another resident agreed. "They installed several traditional yurts in the old town. Did that cost that much money?" he said. "It boggles the mind to waste [that much] public money. It's very irresponsible, it's recklessness with public funds."

Changing Sums

According to the public procurement agency's website, the Norouz expenditure included the equivalent of $188,000 for a music contest, $117,600 for an anniversary event of a popular magazine called Haikap, and about $54,000 for the promotion of cultural spots.

Another $94,000 was said to have been spent to organize the "aitys," a traditional song-and-poetry competition held between poets, known locally as "aqyns."

Local journalist Miyat Kashibai said he compared the Norouz events in Shymkent and the city of Taraz and found that Shymkent's authorities claimed to have spent a lot more money for a similar scale of events. "According to my calculations, Taraz spent about $35,000 for its aitys, which took place shortly before the event in Shymkent. The aitys competitions in both cities were exactly on the same level," Kashibai said.

City officials later said there had been a mistake and that the reported $1.3 million was the amount set aside for all of this year's celebrations.

Deputy Governor Shyngys Mukan did not respond to journalists' questions about the statement on the official website. But he said the city's Norouz budget was about $494,000 this year.

Meanwhile, the anti-corruption agency announced that it will probe the allegations of corruption.

Written by Farangis Najibullah based on reporting by RFE/RL's Kazakh Service
The Philippines and Vietnam have expressed concern over a group of Chinese ships gathered near a disputed area of the South China Sea.

A spokesman for Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said he had spoken to Chinas ambassador about the situation at Whitsun Reef. The reef sits in a disputed area of the South China Sea claimed by the Philippines, China and Vietnam.

Vietnam also criticized the presence of the Chinese ships, saying they had violated the countrys sovereignty.

International concern has grown in recent days as the Philippines described a swarming and threatening presence of more than 200 Chinese ships in the area. Philippine officials have said it believes the ships are controlled by a maritime militia.

The Associated Press reported the Philippine military had ordered more navy ships to be deployed to the area to carry out sovereignty watches. So far, the ships have ignored Philippine demands to leave the area.

China has said it owns the offshore territory, which sits near the southwest end of the western Philippine province of Palawan. China also said the ships were sheltering from rough seas. It denied the ships were controlled by maritime militias.

Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana did not say how close the Philippine navy ships planned to get to the Chinese ships. But a military spokesman said the deployment was meant to protect Philippine naval forces in the area from harassment.

The Philippine government says the reef is well within the country's internationally recognized economic territory permitting the country to be in the area and explore resources.

China claims large parts of the South China Sea. Other claimants include Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei and Taiwan. China says its claims come from historical usage of the waters. Trillions of dollars of trade flow through the waters each year.

Vietnam also claims the reef as its territory. A foreign ministry spokeswoman said Thursday the Chinese ships were in violation of Vietnams sovereignty.

Vietnam requests that China stop this violation and respect Vietnams sovereignty, the spokeswoman told reporters.

Data released by the ship tracking website Marine Traffic said a Vietnamese coastguard ship was seen near the disputed area on Thursday. The foreign ministry spokeswoman said the coastguard was carrying out its duties as regulated by laws, including international law.

Im Bryan Lynn.

Reuters and The Associated Press reported on this story. Bryan Lynn adapted the reports for Learning English. Susan Shand was the editor.

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page.

__________________________________________________

Words in This Story

reef  n. a long line of rocks or coral or a high area of sand near the surface of the water in the ocean

sovereignty  n. a country's independent authority and the right to govern itself

swarm  v. to move in a large group

maritime  adj. concerning the sea

harassment  n. to make repeated attacks against (an enemy)

track  v. to follow the course along which someone or something moves or proceeds

regulate  v. to bring (something) under the control of authority
Hyderabad, March 27 : A Special Operations Team belonging to Rachakonda police commissionerate in the city on Friday arrested two notorious criminals who were wanted in connection with several crimes in Maharashtra.

The police also seized two country-made pistols.

Based on a credible information, the sleuths of Special Operations Team, LB Nagar zone of Rachakonda Commissionerate nabbed Nandakishore alias Manoj, 23, and Rohan Rajeev Chandaliya, 22. Both are from Pune in Maharashtra. Another person, Kiran Shivaji Khawale, 24, is absconding.

The two wanted criminals had arrived by train in Hyderabad on Thursday. They were arrested within barely 24 hours of their arrival when the police swung into action following a tip-off. The police caught the duo while they were looking for an accommodation in the city.

The police said the arrested persons were previously members of the notorious Raavan Saamrajya gang, headed by Aniketh Bahra Jadav in Jadav Basthi Ravet, Pune. Police officials said the duo were active since 2016 and wanted by the police for their involvement in several crimes coming under the purview of different police stations in Maharashtra.
Pictured is a former Titusville PEEPShow creation titled Finz up! Creations like this will be on display on Saturday at the YWCA following the egg hunt. Voting for this years favorite PEEP displays will take place until noon.
Antigua and Barbuda's health ministry has registered Russia's Sputnik V vaccine against the coronavirus, the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) said on Friday.

"RDIF announces that the Russian Sputnik V vaccine against coronavirus has been approved by the Ministry of Health, Wellness and the Environment of Antigua and Barbuda. Sputnik V is now approved for use in 57 countries globally with a total population of over 1.5 billion people. The vaccine was registered in Antigua and Barbuda under the emergency use authorisation procedure", RDIF said in a press release.

A Palestinian health worker displays a vial of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine in Gaza City February 24, 2021.

"Registration of Sputnik V will help save many lives and protect the population of Antigua and Barbuda. High efficacy of Sputnik V was confirmed by the leading medical journal The Lancet. The Russian vaccine is now one of the key tools to prevent the spread of the virus being included in vaccine portfolios of over 50 countries around the world," RDIF CEO Kirill Dmitriev said.

In the meantime, Sputnik V has become the second vaccine in terms of approvals across the globe. According to the prestigious medical magazine The Lancet, its efficacy stands at 91.6 percent.
BRUSSELS and STOCKHOLM, March 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Euroclear has agreed to acquire MFEX Group, a leading global digital fund distribution platform, majority owned by Nordic Capital.

The combination of MFEX's innovative distribution platform with Euroclear's FundSettle post-trade operations expertise creates a unique and compelling offering for fund distributors and fund management companies globally.

Faced with increasing levels of complexity and cost, fund management companies require an efficient mechanism to access a broad network of end investors in a fragmented marketplace. FundSettle already streamlines back office processes by delivering a single point of access for order management, settlement and asset servicing, bringing greater efficiencies and cost savings.

With this transaction, MFEX and Euroclear's complementary businesses are expected to produce significant value through revenue synergies, expanding the client service offering by creating a new funds market utility and a leading global provider of fund services.

Established in 1999, the MFEX Group is headquartered in Stockholm with over 300 employees internationally. Experts in global fund distribution, MFEX offers a complete solution for fund companies and distributors and has assets under administration of EUR 320 billion. Over 350 institutional clients use MFEX to access one of the world's largest range of funds with 80,000 funds from over 960 fund companies.

The parties have agreed not to disclose financial details. The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2021, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals.

Lieve Mostrey, Chief Executive Officer, Euroclear commented: "We are delighted to sign this agreement to acquire MFEX Group. We expect MFEX's broad fund distribution network, along with its talented people, to be very complementary to Euroclear as we continue to enhance our exceptional service, extend our customer proposition and grow our business."

Jean Devambez, Chief Executive Officer, MFEX Group said: "Over the past years, we have together with Nordic Capital invested in our platform and continued to transform the fund distribution proposition. Euroclear is a great strategic fit for the next stage of our journey. By adding our respective strengths, we will be able to build an even better and stronger solution for fund distribution."

MFEX co-founders and Board members, Olivier Huby and Oliver Lagerstrom added: "It has been a privilege to work closely with Nordic Capital and to grow MFEX together. We are delighted for MFEX to partner with Euroclear, which we believe will be a perfect combination for the future."

David Samuelson, Board member of MFEX and Principal, Nordic Capital Advisors also commented: "MFEX is a true leader in its field. Since Nordic Capital became a majority owner in 2018, in partnership with the founders, MFEX has experienced continued strong organic growth and executed a series of strategic, value accretive acquisitions. MFEX has developed from being a Nordic leader in its industry to a pan-European leader with an emerging global presence. Nordic Capital is pleased to have been able to support this journey. Now it is the ideal time for Nordic Capital to hand over to Euroclear as the next step for MFEX."

About Euroclear

Euroclear group is the financial industry's trusted provider of post trade services. Euroclear provides settlement and custody of domestic and cross- border securities for bonds, equities and derivatives to investment funds. Euroclear is a proven, resilient capital market infrastructure committed to delivering risk-mitigation, automation and efficiency at scale for its global client franchise.

The Euroclear group includes Euroclear Bank - which is rated AA+ by Fitch Ratings and AA by Standard & Poor's - as well as Euroclear Belgium, Euroclear Finland, Euroclear France, Euroclear Nederland, Euroclear Sweden and Euroclear UK & Ireland. The Euroclear group settled the equivalent of EUR 897 trillion in securities transactions in 2020, representing 276 million domestic and cross-border transactions, and held EUR 32.8 trillion in assets for clients by end 2020. For more information about Euroclear, please visit www.euroclear.com.

About MFEX

As independent experts in global fund distribution, MFEX offers a complete solution for fund companies and distributors. The MFEX Group was established in Sweden in 1999 and is headquartered in Stockholm with offices in Paris, Luxembourg, London, Geneva, Kuala Lumpur, Milan, Madrid, Umea, Hong Kong, Singapore and Zurich. The main supervisory authority is the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority (Finansinspektionen).

Today, MFEX is a pan-European leader with a global presence active in 52 countries on 5 continents with more than 300 employees. The company is divided into four main business areas: Trading and custody, Distribution agreement and rebate collection, Data and fund information and Due Diligence / AML & KYC (Global Fund Watch). More information is available at www.mfex.com

About Nordic Capital

Nordic Capital is a leading private equity investor with a resolute commitment to creating stronger, sustainable businesses through operational improvement and transformative growth. Nordic Capital focuses on selected regions and sectors where it has deep experience and a long history. Focus sectors are Healthcare, Technology & Payments, Financial Services, and selectively, Industrial & Business Services. Key regions are Europe and globally for Healthcare and Technology & Payments investments. Since inception in 1989, Nordic Capital has invested more than EUR 17 billion in close to 120 investments. The most recent fund is Nordic Capital Fund X with EUR 6.1 billion in committed capital, principally provided by international institutional investors such as pension funds. Nordic Capital Advisors have local offices in Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Germany, the UK and the US. For further information about Nordic Capital, please visit www.nordiccapital.com

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/832898/Euroclear_Logo.jpg

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1474566/MFEX_Logo.jpg
South Africas Public Investment Corporation (PIC) is holding discussions with shareholders in a bid to avert the liquidation of pan-African operating group Smile Telecoms Holdings.

Bloomberg reported that Smile last month began a restructuring programme, but could yet face liquidation unless the PIC  a creditor and minority shareholder of Smile  agrees an outstanding put option with the operators largest shareholder, Saudi Arabias Al Nahla group.

This would result in Smile defaulting on a series of senior loads worth around US$250 million. Its lenders, among them a number of African banks, would be forced to suffer these losses.

As part of Smiles restructuring, Al Nahla proposed a cash injection of US$50 million into the unit in exchange for the PIC granting additional terms to a put option for the sale of its stake to the other shareholders for US$45 million. This payment was due on 24th March; if no agreement is reached then the restructure may fail.

TeleGeography notes that Smile Telecoms Holdings was founded in 2007. Registered in Mauritius, the group offers mobile and broadband services in Nigeria, Uganda and Tanzania, and is looking to launch in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Market places remained closed in Amritsar on Friday (March 26) due to the Bharat Bandh call given by Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) in protest against recently introduced three farm laws. The attendance at the Golden Temple remained poor owing to the suspension of bus and rail services.

The majority of the tourists who had arrived in the holy city to pay obeisance at the Golden Temple from far-flung places had to remain confined to their hotels in the absence of local transport while a few managed to reach the Gurdwara on foot.

Zee News visited the Golden Temple and interacted with a few tourists who were caught unaware of the shutdown. They were of the opinion that both the government as well as hotel administration should have warned the tourists about the shut down so as to save the tourists from inconvenience.

Tanaya, a resident of Goa who had arrived at Golden Temple said that she had arrived in Amritsar on Thursday night and didnt have any information about the shutdown. She said though it didnt take much time to pay homage in the sanctum sanctorum but she was disappointed at the poor attendance of devotees in the Golden Temple.

Echoing her, Vishal Bhatia of Jhansi said, Yesterday it took me three hours to pay homage in the temple but today it took just thirty minutes. He said due to lock down people chose to stay at home to avoid any possible unpleasant situation due to the Bharat Bandh.

Notably, to extend support to the farmers the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) which manages the administration of historical Gurdwaras including Golden Temple have kept its offices closed.

Meanwhile, to attract attention, the activists of the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee took off their shirts to hold a bare body protest against the three agri laws introduced by the Centre government. Groups of farmers staged dharnas to block the vehicular traffic as well as rail traffic at various places.

Most of the market places, shopping plazas remained closed and the bus stand and railway station bore the deserted look.

Live TV
An Istanbul court has handed life sentences to two former Turkish police commanders and two top ex-security officers over the killing of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink 14 years ago.



Dink was gunned down in broad daylight on January 19, 2007, outside the Istanbul offices of the bilingual Turkish-Armenian Agos newspaper, where he was the editor. He was 53.

Dink had been an arduous proponent of reconciliation between Armenians and Turks and was repeatedly prosecuted for insulting "Turkishness" over his comments on Armenian identity and the massacres of Armenians by Ottoman Turks in 1915.

After his killing, tens of thousands of people gathered in central Istanbul to mourn.

Seventy-six suspects were facing charges including failing to uncover the plot to kill Dink.



Istanbul's main court on March 26 sentenced the city's former police intelligence chief, Ramazan Akyurek, and his former deputy, Ali Fuat Yilmazer, to life in prison for "premeditated murder," Agos reported.

Former top Interior Ministry officers Yavuz Karakaya and Muharrem Demirkale were also sentenced to life in prison.

In 2012, ultranationalist sympathizer Ogun Samast, who was 17 at the time of the killing, was sentenced to 23 years in prison for Dink's killing.

Ali Oz, a former Interior Ministry commander of the Black Sea region of Trabzon where Samast came from, was sentenced to 28 years in prison on March 26.

Charges against another top Istanbul police chief were dropped due to the statute of limitation.



However, Dink's supporters and human rights activists say the most senior police officials have gone unpunished and want the investigation and trials to continue.

"Some of those responsible for this assassination, including the sponsors, have still not been prosecuted," said Erol Onderoglu, the representative in Turkey for Reporters Without Borders (RSF), who has closely followed the trial.

"This partial justice rendered after 14 years leaves a bitter taste and should not mark the end of the search for the truth."

The accused in the protracted trial included U.S.-based Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan blames for orchestrating a coup attempt in 2016. Gulen has lived in the United States since 1999 and denies any involvement in the failed coup.

The Istanbul court on March 26 ruled that Dink's murder was committed "in line with the objectives of Feto" -- an acronym Ankara uses for Gulen's banned movement, Turkey's NTV reported.

Turkey claims Gulen's network had widely infiltrated the country's police and other state institutions over decades.

The court did not rule on the case of Gulen and 12 other fugitives and instead separated their cases.

Dink had pushed for reconciliation between Christian Armenians and Muslim Turks and had been prosecuted repeatedly for insulting "Turkishness" with his comments on Armenian identity and the mass killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks in 1915.

During and immediately after World War I, as many as 1.5 million Armenians were killed or deported from Anatolia. Many historians, Armenia, and more than 30 countries consider the killings to be genocide.

As the successor state to the Ottoman Empire, Turkey objects to the use of the word genocide.

Ankara says that about 500,000 Armenians died as a result of civil strife, disease, and starvation rather than a planned Ottoman government effort to annihilate them. Turkey also asserts that hundreds of thousands of Muslims died in Anatolia at the time due to combat, starvation, cold, and disease.

With reporting by Reuters, AFP, and dpa
Tight security at the entrance of Garissa University College on April 3, 2015, after Al-Shabaab militants attacked the University (file photo).

Nakuru, Kwale and Isiolo counties are hotbeds for violent extremism and radicalisation, a new study has revealed.

During the study that involved 1,230 respondents, data was collected in the three counties from August 5- 25 last year. While the study found that there have been no terrorist attacks recorded in the three counties in the six-months (February-July 2020), it established that Al-Shabaab continues to be the main active terror group in the counties.

The study is called 'Baseline Evaluation Report for Program to Address Polarisation, Radicalisation, and Extremism in Kenya (PROACT).

The household survey findings indicate that most people (62.5 percent) in Isiolo reported feeling safe from threats of terrorism, followed by Kwale (42 percent), and Nakuru (27.3 percent).

Fairly large numbers of people in Isiolo (58.9 percent) and Kwale (41.2 percent) believe that the radicalisation of young people by violent extremist groups is decreasing. However, this is in contrast to the minority (21.6 percent) who feel radicalisation has declined in Nakuru.

"This finding that can be explained by the widespread proliferation of gangs in and around Nakuru Town," explained the 96-page report that was made public on Wednesday in Nakuru Town during a dissemination and validation workshop held at Waterbuck Hotel.

Three counties

The report further reveals that the emergence of radicalisation and violent extremism in the three counties is driven by the prevailing poor socio-economic conditions, including factors such as poverty, inequality, and unemployment.

In Isiolo and Kwale, divisive religious ideologies on radicalisation and violent extremism are fairly similar as in Isiolo (31.3 percent) and Kwale (25.5 percent) said the two were linked.

However, only 10 percent of people in Nakuru see a link between the two issues.

Drug trafficking and drug abuse are also emerging as serious problems in the three counties, a threat that is making many young people more vulnerable to joining terror groups.

"Many parents are also reportedly not attentive to the warning signs of children slipping into crime," stated the report.

Chiefs were cited by many respondents as the most effective state officers to prevent and counter violent extremism.

At least 53.9 percent of people in Nakuru and 58 .6 percent in Isiolo believe the police are effective in preventing and countering violent extremism but only 31.6 percent in Kwale think so.

"The high rating for police effectiveness in Nakuru and Isiolo could be due to low or no terror attacks witnessed there. It is notable that large percentages of people--54.8 percent in Isiolo, 47 percent in Kwale, and 41.6 percent in Nakuru -- believe that the authorities take action on countering violent extremism reports."

Violent extremism

Local non-governmental organisations and community-based organisations in Isiolo and Kwale are also perceived as important and effective actors in addressing and preventing radicalisation and violent extremism.

In Isiolo and Kwale, people are more likely to provide information about terrorism to civil society actors and religious leaders, whom they expect will transmit the same to the relevant authorities.

They also collaborate with religious organisations and government institutions to support at-risk youth and sensitise communities on violent extremism.

The study found that the Nyumba Kumi committees and Community Policing Committees have contributed to the improvement of security in parts of Kwale. They have assisted chiefs and the police in monitoring radicalisation activities in local communities.

However, these mechanisms have been hampered by a lack of funding.

On a positive note, the reports show that there has been a good level of collaboration between the national government and civil society organisations in implementing the Isiolo County Action Plan to Prevent Violent Extremism 2018-2022.

"There is substantial community participation in the implementation of the plan. However, there were claims that the leadership of the Isiolo County Government has not been demonstrating enough interest or commitment to the implementation of the plan in terms of providing funding," said the report.

Kwale County Action Plan to Prevent Violent Extremism 2017-2020 has not been properly implemented because sufficient funds have not been allocated by the Kwale County Government and the national government.

"The county government allocates resources based on political considerations to the detriment of universal concerns such as security, and county assembly leaders have not prioritised the implementation of the plan because they do not have a legal mandate to address security issues," added the report.

The implementation of the Nakuru County Action Plan to Prevent Violent Extremism has helped increase public awareness about violent extremism in Nakuru County.

This has led to increased interest and involvement of non-state actors to share information and ideas for solutions.

However, effective implementation of the policy is beset by low levels of community ownership of the plan and inadequate funds. There is a consistency in the perceptions about police abuses in the three counties.

At least 56.5 percent of people in Isiolo, 58.8 percent in Kwale, and 55.1 percent in Nakuru -- believe that police use unnecessary force when dealing with citizens.

Most people (Isiolo-18.9 percent), Kwale-28.7 percent; Nakuru-34.6 percent also believe that police-citizen engagement is poor.

In Kwale, for example, claims were made that security officers routinely execute, abduct terrorism suspects and returnees. However, terrorists are also accused of killing chiefs and Nyumba Kumi elders.

Increased police brutality was also reported in the three counties during the initial months of the enforcement of Covid-19 control measures.

Affirmative action

There are mixed opinions about the impact of the ongoing police reform process and those working to prevent violent extremism in Nakuru and Isiolo believe that police-citizen relations have improved over the past two years. However, most actors in Kwale doubt the process.

Uwezo Fund

The study found that the National Hygiene Programme (Kazi Mtaani) could be a useful policy tool to address youth vulnerability to violent extremism while the national government's Affirmative Action Funds --Youth Enterprise Development Fund, the Uwezo Fund, and the Women Enterprise Fund have helped improve the lives of many people.

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"If well targeted to risk groups these funding programmes can help address the conditions that make people vulnerable to radicalisation and crime. However, there is inadequate public information about the existence of these facilities, application procedures are stringent, and loan amounts are too small."

The study established that the infrastructure and systems for mental health and psychosocial support are weak or even non-existent in Isiolo.

The study recommends that county governments develop comprehensive resources mobilisation plans for the implementation of the County Action Plans, prioritise research, advocacy, and lobbying activities aimed at strengthening community-level security and conflict management mechanisms such as Community Policing Committees, the Nyumba Kumi system, the Sub-County Forums among other initiatives.

The study was commissioned by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD and funded by the US Department of State to implement the PROACT in Kenya by 2023.

It was authored by Dr Michael Karanja assisted by lead researcher Mr Mikewa Ogada on behalf of Act Change Transform-Act, a not-for-profit organisation.

Other researchers in the project were Mr Tom Were, Mr Bonventure Chengeck, Ms Florence Osoo, and Mr Hussein Anekeya.

The study was also boosted by the support of research team members drawn from Isiolo Peace Link, Human Rights Agenda (Kwale); and Mid-Rift Human Rights Network (Nakuru).
Adherents of far-right groups who cluster online have turned repeatedly to one particular website in recent weeks  the federal database showing deaths and adverse reactions nationwide among people who have received Covid-19 vaccinations.

Although negative reactions have been relatively rare, the numbers are used by many extremist groups to try to bolster a rash of false and alarmist disinformation in articles and videos with titles like Covid-19 Vaccines Are Weapons of Mass Destruction  and Could Wipe out the Human Race or Doctors and Nurses Giving the Covid-19 Vaccine Will be Tried as War Criminals.

If the so-called Stop the Steal movement appeared to be chasing a lost cause once President Biden was inaugurated, its supporters among extremist organizations are now adopting a new agenda from the anti-vaccination campaign to try to undermine the government.

Bashing of the safety and efficacy of vaccines is occurring in chatrooms frequented by all manner of right-wing groups including the Proud Boys; the Boogaloo movement, a loose affiliation known for wanting to spark a second Civil War; and various paramilitary organizations.
New Delhi:

The security forces on Thursday apprehended Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist Zameer Ahmed in Bandipora district of Jammu and Kashmir.

Arms and ammunitions were also recovered from the terrorist.

Earlier in the day, security forces on Thursday gunned down Lashkar commander Abu Ismail in Nowgam encounter along with another terrorist.

Ismail was also allegedly involved in the Amarnath attack earlier this year, which killed eight pilgrims.

LeT commander was identified as the main culprit in the attack, who carried out the attack to revenge the death of his predecessor Bashir Lashkari.

The encounter which killed Ismail started between security forces and terrorists at around 5 PM at Aarigam, Nowgam in outskirts of Srinagar.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
GRAND RAPIDS, MI  Faith leaders in Kent County are rallying to encourage people to get the COVID-19 vaccine.

This week the Kent County COVID-19 Church Response Task Force has been ramping up its A Shot of Love campaign, a local effort to mobilize volunteers and promote vaccination in underserved communities.

The task force is a collection of faith leaders from throughout the community who have worked closely with Kent Countys health officials to support public health since April 2020.

The Rev. Khary Bridgewater, Assistant Pastor at Grace Christian Reformed Church in Grand Rapids, said the group has been monitoring conditions since the pandemic began. He said the groups charge is community safety, which is why churches closed in November.

Now that churches have reopened, there is a new challenge: rolling out the vaccine so their doors remain open.

As we were looking at the data again, we saw a couple things that had us particularly concerned, Bridgewater said. One was that the vaccine is available, but there was some hesitancy in certain communities, so we wanted to help people feel that the vaccine was for them, and that it was safe. So we realized we needed some sort of clear endorsement from the faith community.

What ensued was a campaign to utilize faith leadership and volunteers to host a series of vaccination rallies and registration drives around the community.

The campaign targets communities of lower socioeconomic status, Bridgewater said. He said the group looks for communities that have lower access to transportation and higher minority populations, which collectively create broad social vulnerability indicators, the campaign aims to combat.

The first event on March 23 drew 50 volunteers to Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church who went door-to-door to help residents sign up for vaccination. Other volunteers manned walk-up registration tables or fielded calls. There were over 100 people served, Bridgewater said.

While organizers have not released details yet to their website, the next scheduled visit is to Iglesia Vida Plena in Wyoming on Saturday, March 27. However, Bridgewater said that the support from volunteers and the need in the community has the potential to elevate this effort from a handful of events into a daily effort.

We initially planned to do 10 of these, but as we got into the community, we actually think its going to take a lot more effort than that to really do what we call saturation registration, Bridgewater said.

So, the Shot of Love campaign is designed to really get people understanding. We want to go door to door for as long as it takes to get people to feel safe and comfortable with the vaccine and answer their questions.

The momentum has only picked up, as Bridgewater said more volunteers want to get involved and may allow the campaign to work daily. The taskforce has even partnered with Cornerstone University, who will be providing students to help with door-to-door efforts.

It should be a nice little army of people trying to keep our community safe, Bridgewater said.

The level of support for the campaign was underestimated, but Bridgewater said that as volunteers can be vaccinated so they can safety help people register, the campaigns reach will only grow to help more people.

We didnt expect that and all of the calls now that were getting from churches and community groups that want to volunteer, so were racing to make sure that we can actually register volunteers and organize them so that we can deploy them in an efficient way, Bridgewater said. But yeah, its a good problem to have.

While volunteers have proven integral to the campaigns success, Bridgewater also highlighted the private-public organization partnerships around the community that have been able to mobilize efforts and make a difference.

Grand Rapids is already a tight-knit town where people care about one another, Bridgewater said. The faith community, the nonprofit community, all the community partners are really pulling together to care for one another.

Bridgewater said the task forces website will be continually updated with rally and registration drive information, as well as updates the group has. More information can be found here.

Read more:

Grand Rapids police strategic plan hits hiccup with union contract dispute

Whitmer vetoes bill aimed at limiting health departments emergency powers

Kalamazoo pastor accused of assaulting deacon found not guilty
Mumbai, March 26 : Musician-actor Alexx ONell is all set to release his next single and music video, "Twenty Days". The song revolves around a man's dilemma on whether he should tell his former love how he feels about her, after a year apart, when she returns in 20 days.

Alexx says that the song is very close to his heart.

"Of all my songs, 'Twenty Days' is possibly the closest to my heart -- the track and video convey the emotions just as I felt them while composing it, and the credit for that goes to an amazing team, including Bharat Goel and Shama Sikander here in India, and Ben Hillier in the UK," he says.

He adds that he is eagerly waiting to see how the song is accepted by the audience.

"I'm equal parts nervous and excited, but I can't wait for Twenty Days to be out and I sincerely hope that people will connect with it," he says.

The music video will release on April 2 on his official Youtube channel, AlexxONellMusic.

The actor was recently seen playing an American journalist in the horror comedy "Roohie", and the Sushmita Sen-starrer web series "Aarya".
After Deputy Police Commissioner Prashant Kadam said that two casualties were reported in a incident at a hospital located at the top floor of the Dreams mall, Bhandup, in early Friday, the hospital has claimed no such deaths have taken place. They clarified that the corpses recovered were of persons who earlier died due to COVID-19.

However, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has not accepted the hospital's claims as of now and said they are investigating the incident.

After few hours, the hospital released an official statement saying, "There was a on the first floor of Dreams mall, Bhandup, and the smoke reached up to the sunrise hospital located at the top floor. All alarms beeped due to the smoke and hence all patients were safely evacuated to the fire refuge area. There were 2 dead bodies, due to COVID-19, which were also evacuated."

"There was no casualty due to fire. All patients were promptly shifted to Jumbo COVID-19 center and some to other private hospitals. We are grateful to the fire brigade and to the for helping us save lives," added the statement.

It further added that the hospital was started in exceptional circumstances of covid last year and has helped in saving many patients' lives. It is functioning with all due compliances like fire license, nursing home license, etc.

"Two casualties have been reported in the incident. A level-3 or level-4 fire broke out on the first floor of a mall at 12:30 am. 76 COVID-19 patients were admitted to the hospital. 22 to 23 fire tenders are present at the spot," DCP Kadam had told reporters.

Speaking about the incident earlier today, Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar had said, "This is the first time I have seen a hospital in a mall. This is a very serious situation. Seven patients were on ventilators. 70 patients have been taken to another hospital. There will be an investigation to ascertain the cause of the fire."Further details are awaited.

A fire had broken out at the private COVID-19 hospital in Mumbai's Bhandup area on Thursday night.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-26 15:25:24|Editor: huaxia

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KUNMING, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Police in southwest China's Yunnan Province have recently seized over 23 kg of methamphetamine and arrested a drug trafficking suspect, border police said.

After receiving a tip-off in early March that a gang of drug dealers was planning to smuggle drugs into China, police in the city of Pu'er and the Hani-Yi Autonomous Prefecture of Honghe sent a joint task force team to investigate the case, according to the border police of Honghe.

On March 14, the team nabbed a suspect on the Lancang-Kunming highway and seized 250,000 methamphetamine pills weighing 23.44 kg in the suspect's vehicle.

Further investigation is underway.

Yunnan is a major front in China's battle against drug crime as it borders the Golden Triangle known for its rampant drug production and trafficking. Enditem
Right now the Joneses live in the northern wing with four of their children, one of whom is married and has two children. There are 20 bedrooms on the first floor alone so renovations will have to be done in phases, they said.
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Vanessa Zubia-Meza and her mother Margie Zubia are pictured in the window of their new restaurant called El Paseo in downtown El Paso, Texas on May 18, 2020. (Paul Ratje/AFP via Getty Images)

No Surge in COVID Two Weeks After Mask Mandate Lifted in Texas

After two weeks of lifting its mask mandate and allowing businesses to open at full capacity, Texas is not seeing a surge of new COVID-19 cases.

Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, issued an executive order (pdf) that went into effect on March 10 to loosen COVID-19 restrictions. Although the governments statewide mask mandate was lifted, individual businesses were still able to limit capacity or impose mask mandates at their own choosing.

But in Austin and Travis County, residents 10 years or older still have to wear a mask outside their home after a district judge refused to grant Attorney General Ken Paxton a restraining order that would have ended a mask mandate enforced by Travis County and Austin city officials. The trial is set to take place on March 26.

Texas had been witnessing a downward trend in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations prior to Abbotts announcement ending the restrictions.

COVID-19 is the disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus.

The Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) posted on Twitter yesterday that Texas saw a seven-day average decrease in the daily number of new cases, hospitalizations, and deaths.

#COVID19TX Update: Texans are slowing the spread with vaccines and #HealthyTexas steps. Keep it up to stop variants from reversing our progress. In the last 7 days #Texas averaged:

2,556 new cases a day

3,581 current hospitalizations

122 new fatalities reported a day pic.twitter.com/QXh4UWtOsY  Texas DSHS (@TexasDSHS) March 24, 2021

At the time the executive order was issued, March 2, new COVID-19 cases in the state stood at 7,240 cases, with a seven-day average of 7,259 cases. That number dropped to 5,350 cases by March 10 when the executive order came into effect and the economy fully opened.

Two weeks later on March 24, the number of daily new cases stands at 3,827, with a seven-day average of 3,401 cases.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott arrives for his COVID-19 press conference at the Texas State Capitol in Austin on March 29, 2020. (Tom Fox-Pool/Getty Images)

Abbott included in his order a provision for county judges across the states 22 hospital regions to use COVID-19 mitigation strategies if hospitalizations rise over 15 percent of hospital bed capacity for seven straight days.

County Judges may not impose jail time for not following COVID-19 orders nor may any penalties be imposed for failing to wear a face mask. If restrictions are imposed at a county level, those restrictions may not include reducing capacity to less than 50% for any type of entity, he added.

Abbotts mask mandate rollback had attracted criticism from high-profile figures, including California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Dr. Anthony Fauci, a top adviser to President Joe Biden.

We understand peoples need to get back to normal, and were going in that direction. But when you start doing things like completely putting aside all public health measures as if youre turning a light switch off, thats quite risky, Fauci said during an appearance on CNN earlier this month. We dont want to see another surge, and thats inviting one when you do that.

Mississippi also announced it was lifting COVID-19 related restrictions on March 2.

Starting tomorrow, we are lifting all of our county mask mandates and businesses will be able to operate at full capacity without any state-imposed rules, Republican Gov. Tate Reeves said on Twitter. Our hospitalizations and case numbers have plummeted, and the vaccine is being rapidly distributed. It is the time!

In Mississippi, new COVID-19 cases have also been steadily declining but not as much as in Texas.

There were 301 cases with a seven-day average of 582 on March 2. Two weeks later, Mississippi had 387 new cases and a seven-day average of 289 cases.

The states death toll is significantly lower than Texas, with four deaths on March 24 and a seven-day average of 6 deaths.

Texas saw 163 deaths on the same day, with a seven-day average of 123. This is down from March 10 which saw 202 deaths and a seven-day average of 190 deaths. Texas has around ten times the population of Mississippi.

At the time of publishing, more than six million Texan residents and 720,607 Mississippians have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
As if they didnt have enough on their plate with remote learning and COVID-19 safety, K-12 schools experienced a rash of ransomware attacks in 2020 thats expected to continue through the school year and into the future. To help educators navigate the problem, the federal Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and nonprofit National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) hosted a webinar on Wednesday in which cybersecurity experts urged constant vigilance, regular training and sharing resources.CISA has seen a marked increase in ransomware attacks on K-12 school systems since the start of the pandemic, and officials from the agency say theres no easy software solution to what is sure to be an ongoing problem. Citing an official alert from CISA published Dec. 10, Acting Deputy Assistant Director Bridgette Walsh said the fact of so much remote learning has given malicious actors more opportunities to exploit vulnerable remote desktop protocol (RDP) services. She said this has increased the need for training everyone on the system how to spot suspicious emails and attachments, and having a plan in case of an attack.Its often a game of whack-a-mole in terms of cybersecurity protection within an organization, because youre only as secure as every user in your organization, or who connects with you, she said. Its everybody from the top down. Everybody from the superintendent, all the way, honestly, to your students in schools who are using  laptops.Ryan Kalember, executive VP of the cybersecurity company Proofpoint Inc., said there is no piece of technology that will magically block the threat of ransomware, but some precautions are simple and free. For school districts with very limited budgets, he advised not worrying about ransomware on iOS devices, but focusing on student and staff training on laptops, email, even spreadsheets, as well as consulting with people who can locate network vulnerabilities.Cybersecurity is a $100-billion industry that has not solved this problem, so in a lot of respects, we are not necessarily focused on the thing that would be most impactful here, which, at the end of the day, I think is the human element, for about 90 percent of these threats, Kalember said. The other 10 percent, I think you can get scrappy on that front, too. Crowdsource a penetration test. Go figure out some smart computer science student in high school who knows how to use a tool like Shodan. Figure out if you have a vulnerable exchange server like weve heard about on the news the last couple of weeks. You can actually look at what the hackers are looking at, too  theyre looking at you from the outside.Aware of the financial limitations of so many K-12 districts at the moment, Walsh said another way for schools to shore up network security is to split the cost with shared service agreements, so neighboring schools arent paying for the same thing several times. She also recommended that school administrators make connections with county and state CIOs and CISOs.In any case, Walsh said CISA, the FBI and the U.S. federal government all advise against paying culprits to settle a ransomware attack. She gave three reasons: Paying comes with no assurance that the attackers returned all data and network access, nor that theyve completely vacated the system, nor that they wont turn around and do it again. She said any school district that gets hit or threatened with ransomware should call either the FBI or CISA, and the two agencies will coordinate with each other and the district on how to respond. CISA has a list of ransomware reference materials for K-12 schools here
Donald Trump could visit the Mexican border 'soon' amid pressure on Joe Biden to do the same, the former president's aide Jason Miller has said.

Miller told podcast host Michael Berry that Trump was 'very concerned' about Biden's efforts to roll back his policies after the new president halted border wall construction and repealed the so-called 'Muslim ban'.

Biden, who is under fire over mounting numbers of unaccompanied minors filling up border patrol stations, has said merely that he will visit the border 'at some point', adding that 'I know what's going on in these facilities'.

Miller said that Trump had wanted to 'let Biden go and fail on his own before he steps in' on the border issue but would make a trip as long as it did not look like 'showboating'.

Donald Trump, pictured signing part of his border wall in Arizona last year, could visit the Mexican border amid pressure on Joe Biden to do the same

Miller compared Biden's quick reversal of Trump's policies to 'driving down the freeway at 50-60mph and throwing the car into reverse'.

He also attacked Biden for putting Vice President Kamala Harris - whom he described as 'Mrs Open Borders' in charge of handling the border issue.

Biden and Harris both called for an end to Trump's strict border policies when they campaigned for the Democratic nomination.

'Joe Biden stood on that debate stage with the Democrats and even reiterated his belief in the general election that he supported citizenship for 11million undocumented folks,' Miller said.

'That's like putting up a signal flare of Fourth of July firework proportions to the entire Western Hemisphere for everyone who wants to come the United States to come.'

Asked about a possible visit by Trump, he said: 'You know, we discussed that recently. I could see him doing that soon.

'I think that President Trump wanted to let Joe Biden go and fail on his own before he goes and steps in on that.

'I think there's a very fine line between calling someone out on their policies and then appearing to do something that's showboating.

'Not immediately, but I could see a trip at some point in the future here, but it is something that President Trump is really concerned about.

Joe Biden last night said he would not apologize for rolling back Trump's immigration policies, saying they undermine 'human dignity'

In addition to his complaints about border security, Miller claimed that the Biden administration had even refused to continue painting Trump's border wall.

'They won't even paint the wall,' he said. They're supposed to paint the wall this month so it would be a black color as opposed to a rust color because of the elements and such, but Biden has even stopped that'.

Biden defended his policies at his first formal White House press conference on Thursday, saying he would not apologize for rolling back Trump's policies.

He told reporters that 'I guess I should be flattered people are coming because I'm the nice guy'.

But he claimed that 'the overwhelming majority of people coming to the border' were being sent back.

However, this is not backed up by government data which shows that more than half the 19,000 family members caught at the border in February were not expelled.

Migrants are seen near the border in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico earlier this week preparing to cross the Rio Bravo river

US Border Patrol caught roughly 100,000 migrants at the border in February, the highest monthly level since a spike in mid-2019.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said last week that border crossings are on pace for the highest level in 20 years.

Biden is using a Covid-19 public health order introduced under Trump's presidency to expel migrants without giving them a chance to claim asylum.

But he faces criticism over the nearly 5,000 unaccompanied children who are filling up crowded border stations as they await transfers to federal shelters.

'It turns out when politicians spend a two-year campaign advertising a porous border and amnesty, people listen,' GOP Senate leader Mitch McConnell said.

Biden said at the press conference that officials were in talks with Mexico to encourage Mexican authorities to take back more migrant families,.

Mayorkas said earlier this month that the United States was working with Mexico to increase its capacity to receive expelled families.
With Pennsylvania restaurants able to return to 75% indoor capacity April 4, Easton is planning to relocate concrete barriers that extend into some city streets to accommodate outdoor dining.

The city is proposing a new, slimmed-down concept for outdoor restaurant seating known as streateries, similar to the parklet concept.

For a fee, restaurants citywide will be able to set up seating in up to two parking spaces -- but not into the travel lane of the street. Easton Public Works will relocate the concrete barriers around the newly established dining areas.

Any restaurant that signs up to have additional seating in parking space areas, we will always protect those customers with those cement barriers, Mayor Sal Panto Jr. told lehighvalleylive.com. We want to make sure that the people are safe.

City officials introduced the concept Thursday in a meeting with restaurant owners. Easton Main Street Initiative Manager Kim Kmetz also took part and lauded the idea as a good compromise between expanded outdoor seating and improvements to both traffic flow and visibility for retail storefronts.

There will be fewer street closures in this, which I think is a good thing for everybody, she said.

The streateries permits would extend from May 1 to Oct. 31, Panto said. The proposal being sent to city council for approval would charge restaurants $160 a month per parking space, or $10 a day for the busiest dining days Thursday through Sunday multiplied by four weeks.

That clears the parking spaces in time for the return the following weekend of PA Bacon Fest, Kmetz said. The annual festival, pared down last year due to COVID-19, is just one of many Easton traditions slated to resume in 2021, Kmetz said. In-person Easton Out Loud events are scheduled to resume Friday, May 28; the Greater Easton Development Partnership is planning for live concerts every Thursday evening in Scott Park beginning June 3; and Panto announced in Thursdays streateries meeting that hes looking to restart summer cruise nights that bring people out to restaurants and retailers, Kmetz said.

Easton Heritage Day in July looks to be the first test of the resumption of in-person activities, she said, and of course all events will be subject to COVID-19 restrictions in place at the time.

Weve made it through a really tough year, so I think everybodys ready to come back, Kmetz said. Starting May 1, this program will allow additional dining outdoor options that they did not have prior to COVID.

The parking space seating does not allow for sidewalk seating, Easton Economic Development Coordinator Marek Tomanek noted, since that is covered by a separate permit from the city. Restaurants can apply for streateries permits by calling the Easton Department of Community and Economic Development at 610-250-6719.

In related changes to parking in the citys Downtown neighborhood:

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com.

Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com.
SPRINGFIELD  Illinois lawmakers are working on adding another fee for those who want to fish in the states rivers and various water holes, with the revenue going toward fighting the spread of invasive Asian carp.

Lawmakers in the House Agriculture and Conservation Committee forwarded House Bill 2744 to the floor for consideration last week after approving it along party lines. If enacted, it would implement the aquatic conservation stamp, a $5 stamp that fishermen must purchase before theyre able to legally fish in the state. It would be the same cost for in-state residents and those from elsewhere. It would become active in 2022.
A mother-of-six from Pennsylvania was headed to a beach vacation with her husband when authorities say she was shot dead in a road rage attack in North Carolina.

The Robeson County Sheriff's Office said Friday that authorities were still searching for her killer after the Thursday shooting.

The unidentified gunman was driving a silver or gray, 2010 model Chevy Malibu or Impala with tinted windows.

Julie Ebery, 47 (left), was shot and killed in a road rage attack while riding in a car with her husband, Ryan (pictured together, right), on their way to the beach in South Carolina

According to the sheriff's office, the woman who died was Julie Eberly, 47 of Manheim, Pennsylvania. Her husband, Ryan Eberly, was not injured.

Authorities said at 11.40am on Thursday, the couple were heading to the beach in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, with Ryan driving and Julie in the front passenger seat, when their car unknowingly came close to the shooter's vehicle while merging into another lane on Interstate 95 South near Lumberton.

'The suspect rolled down his window and fired multiple shots into the passenger door, one of which struck Julie Eberly,' the release said.

The gunmen then sped away and took Exit 22 before crossing the bridge into Lumberton.

Authorities say Julie's husband, Ryan (right), who was driving, unwittingly came close to another vehicle while merging into a lane near Lumberton, North Carolina

A person in the other car pulled out a gun and fired several shots at the Eberlys' passenger door, one of which struck Julie. The mom-of-six later died in the hospital

Julie was rushed to a hospital, where she died. Her husband was not harmed.

'This was an innocent family from Pennsylvania headed to the beach for a vacation," Sheriff Burnis Wilkins said. 'Thankfully they had left their six children at home with grandparents but now these kids have to live with the thought of their mother being murdered ... in such a cowardly and senseless way.'

Wilkins appealed to the public for help with locating 'the coward that has caused the tragedy.'

'If this is a local person, someone knows who this is without a thought,' said the sheriff. 'Someone knows the coward that drives a car as described and knows the person to carry a firearm. Who is it? Who can sleep knowing they did this?'

A GoFundMe campaign has been launched to help the family start a memorial foundation in Julie Eberly's name

The sheriff's office said Friday morning in a Facebook post that hundreds of people have contacted the office wishing to assist the family.

Meanwhile, a GoFundMe has been launched by Julie's mother-in-law to help start a memorial foundation in her name.

'We want to raise funds to honor Julie and her life,' the description reads. 'Julie was a beautiful, loving, generous, and giving person. We will be using the funds to help others and to give to the organizations that were close to her heart.'
Brendan Cole has rowed with critics after he was branded 'selfish' for ranting about the coronavirus lockdown and Covid vaccines in a new Instagram post.

The former Strictly Come Dancing professional, 44, posted a picture of himself at a bar in Mallorca, Spain, where he has a holiday home, as he labelled the closure of venues 'ridiculous' and 'unfair'.

Bars and restaurants in Mallorca have been allowed to serve customers outdoors since March 15.

The dancer ranted in his caption: 'Beautiful day in #Mallorca. Lovely to finally be able to support bars and restaurants devastated by ridiculous and unfair closers.'

Hitting back: Brendan Cole has rowed with critics after he was branded 'selfish' for ranting about the coronavirus lockdown and Covid vaccines in a new Instagram post

He added the following hashtags: '#sosturismo #sosrestaurante #travel #notovaccinepassport #nuremburgcode #noinforcedvaccine #yourbodyyourchoice.'

The Nuremberg Code is a set of research ethics principles for human experimentation created as a result of the Nuremberg trials at the end of the Second World War.

Brendan was quick to hit back at and row with critics over his choice of caption and hashtags as he insisted that he wasn't being 'insensitive'.

It comes after the star was slammed in December for suggesting that wearing a face mask to protect against the spread of Covid has no effect.

Rant: The former Strictly Come Dancing professional, 44, posted a picture of himself at a bar in Mallorca, Spain, where he has a holiday home, as he labelled the closure of venues 'ridiculous' and 'unfair'

'I am entitled to MY opinion!': It comes after Brendan was slammed in December for suggesting that wearing a face mask to protect against the spread of Covid has no effect (pictured in 2019)

One angry follower commented under the photo: 'This post is someone insensitive. What's not fair and ridiculous is the suffering due to covid for the families who have lost loved ones, the hospital staff and the sacrifices they have made.

'Only for people to ignore the warnings and then expect them to fix everything. Please be careful with your choice of words . You can see by the comments , it has not gone down well. Loss of respect from many.

'As someone the public know and many adore , please stop and think before you brush off a serious pandemic in this way . I wish you and your family well.

'Not everyone is as fortunate to be doing what you are and the cuts deep through these toughest of times.'

To which Brendan hit back with: 'I'm sorry that you are now a disappointed fan. I fail to see how I have been insensitive or used the wrong choice of words.

Response: Brendan was quick to hit back at critics over his choice of caption and hashtags as he insisted that he wasn't being 'insensitive'

'Perhaps I should have said as a caveat that it is heartbreaking all of the loss because of this and that I thank all of the NHS and people working hard under extreme conditions etc but my message was about saving industry and people's livelihoods.

'People have lost and are losing everything and I don't see it as insensitive to support them. I'm sorry but I don't think it's right to make people have the vaccine if they don't want to or can't.

'I don't think it's right to lock people down for this long as they have and I don't think it's right to have hundreds of thousands of people thrown into poverty. There is a bigger picture here in my opinion and I'm not sure you should be disappointed.

'Perhaps we can have a conversation about it and try to enlighten each other or understand where the other is coming from. With regard to your second message.

'Just so you know, I have worked extremely hard for my entire life to get where I am today. I have sacrificed a lot and risked more than you could know.

Anger: A different angry follower put: 'Why do we want to see you gloating with a beer in your hand. We are playing by the rules, you however are a selfish t*t.'

Reply: To which Brendan replied with: 'A selfish t*t for wanting people's business' back up and running and for freedom of choice? For the record I have played by the rules even though I did not necessarily agree with them!'

'I am and will be forever grateful for the fans that have as you put 'lined my pockets' but I don't think it's necessary to make comments like this. It's simply not very nice and belittles the career I've spent a lifetime building. Best wishes to you.'

A different angry follower put: 'Why do we want to see you gloating with a beer in your hand. We are playing by the rules, you however are a selfish t*t.'

To which Brendan replied with: 'A selfish t*t for wanting people's business' back up and running and for freedom of choice? For the record I have played by the rules even though I did not necessarily agree with them!

'I live on an island with very little COVID which has been under severe lockdowns where my children couldn't even leave the house for several months. We're made to wear masks everywhere. My daughter who is 8 has to wear one all day at school.

'If you want to call me names... do it from an educated position and not hiding behind your phone. I wish you happiness and good mental and physical health. 'Cheers'.

Critics: While a different angry fan commented under the photo: 'You know they were closed for a reason, yeh???'

He added: 'Best wishes to you. I'm afraid I don't share your fear for the risk (I'm not denying it's there) and would rather that the millions you talk of had not been thrown into poverty and instead we shield and pay for the old and vulnerable.'

To which Brendan replied with: 'A selfish t*t for wanting people's business' back up and running and for freedom of choice? For the record I have played by the rules even though I did not necessarily agree with them!

'I live on an island with very little COVID which has been under severe lockdowns where my children couldn't even leave the house for several months. We're made to wear masks everywhere. My daughter who is 8 has to wear one all day at school.

'If you want to call me names... do it from an educated position and not hiding behind your phone. I wish you happiness and good mental and physical health. 'Cheers'.

While a different angry fan commented under the photo: 'You know they were closed for a reason, yeh???'

To which Brendan fired back with: 'You'll have to tell that to the millions of people who have lost their businesses, gone bankrupt, or can't feed their children because of the measures put in place.

Slammed: It comes after Brendan was slammed in December for suggesting that wearing a face mask to protect against the spread of Covid has no effect

'Those people who will be set back years after risking all and building their business over many years all for it to be taken away with no thought to the consequences.

'I'm not saying that the people affected by this virus don't count but there is a bigger picture that has not been taken into account and I'm afraid that I don't agree with these measures.

'I take it that financially you haven't been too affected, or lost your business? We all have different opinions on this subject. It's important to listen to every voice as everyone has a story to tell.'

The follower replied: 'It up to govt, local authorities to fully support these industries, no one is questioning the devastating impact of covid but safety of life must come first, it is responsibility of govt to ensure that people are safe and secure.

'I fully understand the impact, I work with people affected by this, we have witnessed millions more enter poverty including children and families.

Hitting back: The former Strictly Come Dancing professional took to Instagram to insist that he has a 'right to protest' and was supported by former Strictly partner Jo Wood (pictured together on the show in 2009)

'But opening these industries when it still isn't safe and not everyone has had a vaccine means one must ere on the side of caution,' they added: 'Also how dare you assume I've not been affected, everyone has!'

Brendan hit back again as he responded: 'The government is not supporting all industries. If one has been furloughed that's good for them but there are millions who have not been and millions who have been left to fend for themselves.

'I didn't say you hadn't been affected. I presumed you didn't have a business that had been devastated. All business owners that I know feel the same way as I do.

'It's an opinion based on the safety measures most have put in place vs the complete closure of businesses for moths on end.

'Best wishes to you. I'm afraid I don't share your fear for the risk (I'm not denying it's there) and would rather that the millions you talk of had not been thrown into poverty and instead we shield and pay for the old and vulnerable.

'Every single death is a tragedy and I don't underestimate that, I'm simply saying that business and life closures for this amount of time will ruin and cost many lives for years to come as well. Thanks for the conversation. Respect.'

Lengthy: Brendan said that he had deleted his original post and apologised for causing 'any offence after followers branded him 'totally irresponsible', although he added that he is entitled to 'my opinion'

On Thursday, Matt Hancock claimed new government-backed research had found vaccination spared more than 6,000 lives by the end of February. He said the rollout's success meant he could 'see an end' to the crisis.

More than 450,000 Brits are being jabbed every day, government data up to March 23 shows 28,653,523 people have received a first vaccine dose, a rise of 325,650 on the previous day.

It comes after Brendan was slammed in December for suggesting that wearing a face mask to protect against the spread of Covid has no effect.

The former Strictly Come Dancing professional took to Instagram to insist that he is entitled to 'my opinion' in a lengthy statement.

Brendan said that he had deleted his original post and apologised for causing 'any offence after followers branded him 'totally irresponsible'.

Misinformation: Brendan came under fire for suggesting that wearing a face mask to protect against the spread of Covid has no effect where critics called him 'totally irresponsible'

Although the dancer added that he has a 'right to protest' and claimed that critics will 'simply abuse' anyone who dares to 'think differently'.

Brendan was supported by his former Strictly co-star, James Jordan, and former celebrity dance partner Jo Wood who stuck up for him in the comments section.

The dancer penned in a lengthy message shared to his grid and story: 'I have deleted the post that I reposted earlier as I am not in the business of causing offence to people and clearly it has p****d many of you off.

'I am entitled to my opinion on the subject but if I have offended you, for this I am sorry.

'If you are indeed upset by it, I do understand. I will point out that there is plenty of evidence on the contrary and it is up to each of us to believe what we believe.

'I am doing as I am told and wearing but have the right to protest... or at least I used to!'

Support: Jo Wood, 65, who was previously married to Rolling Stones star Ronnie Wood, supported Brendan in the comments (pictured together on Strictly in 2009)

Pals: The former model was paired with the dancer on the 2009 series of Strictly Come Dancing, she wrote: 'I love you Brendan .'

He added: 'We now seem to be living in a world where we are not allowed different views and will simply abuse anyone who thinks differently.

'I will continue to believe in the information from many medical practitioners and professionals in the know and continue to believe that this has been the wrong way to handle things, not only regarding the info in the post but with the various measures put in place.

'If you disagree with me, I will listen and debate but I will not abuse you for thinking differently. My intention was not to offend, simply to have a voice.'

Signing off his statement, he put: 'I wish you all well and hope that the many people whose lives are in ruins because of the various measures put in place will stay strong and somehow recover.'

Jo Wood, 65, who was previously married to Rolling Stones star Ronnie Wood, supported Brendan in the comments.

The former model was paired with the dancer on the 2009 series of Strictly Come Dancing, she wrote: 'I love you Brendan and I believe in freedom of speech we should all be free to have our own opinions and free to debate all issues ..

Former co-star: While fellow former Strictly dancer James Jordan, 42, who is known for his outspoken remarks, sarcastically commented on the post

Sarcasm: 'You're such a trouble maker!!! You should try and be more like me mate and not be so opinionated,' he joked

'I think you should of left your post up .. as I'm with your way of thinking 100%.'

While fellow former Strictly dancer James, 42, who is known for his outspoken remarks, sarcastically commented: 'You're such a trouble maker!!! You should try and be more like me mate and not be so opinionated.

'It's really not a good look I'm really not one that likes to get involved but felt I needed to say something.

'Some people even enjoy being s#@t stirrers. I think you need to just calm down Luv ya .'

Brendan came under fire for suggesting that wearing a face mask to protect against the spread of Covid has no effect.

The dancer was slammed for being 'totally irresponsible' after he shared an Instagram post doubting the efficacy of wearing a mask.

Raging: Brendan's followers, including medical professionals, were left fuming by his 'c**p' post and were quick to tell the dancer they had unfollowed him

He wrote: 'The first randomised trial of more than 6000 individuals to assess the effectiveness of surgical face masks against SARS-CoV-2 infection did not statistically significantly reduce the incident of infection.'

To further emphasise his point, he penned below: '#Repost @drmercola with @get_repost.

'The so-called 'Danmask-19 Trial,' published November 18, 2020, in the Annals of Internal Medicine, included 3,030 individuals assigned to wear a surgical face mask and 2,994 unmasked controls.'

Brendan's fans, including medical professionals, were left fuming by his 'c**p' post and were quick to tell him they had unfollowed him.

Others urged the New Zealand-born ballroom dancer to delete his controversial message, claiming it was full of 'misinformation' and would 'put others at risk'.

It is not the first time Brendan has voiced his controversial views on social media, as he previously took to Facebook to slam Covid-19 safety measures as 'outrageous'.
Video: We Are China

Shaxian snacks become increasingly popular both at home and abroad

People's Daily Online) 14:38, March 26, 2021

Shaxian snacks originating from Shaxian county in southeast Chinas Fujian province,

including siu mai, wontons, fried dumplings, taro dumplings, and tofu balls, are becoming increasingly popular across the country.

Pursuing small profits and quick returns, eateries that sell Shaxian snacks now generate a yearly turnover exceeding 50 billion yuan (about $7.66 billion).

Locals speak highly of the industry's contribution to the county's development, saying that noodles and wontons built the high-rise buildings of Shaxian.

Over 60,000 people from Shaxian now run snack bars across China and around the world.

(Web editor: He Zhuoyan, Liang Jun)
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WASHINGTON  President Joe Bidens dogs  Champ and Major  are roaming the White House again, after having been sent to Delaware when Major, the younger dog, injured a Secret Service agent.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said at the Wednesday briefing that the dogs met the Bidens last weekend at Camp David in Maryland and came back to Washington on Sunday.

The dogs had been in the Bidens home state of Delaware, where Major received some additional training after having been startled by a Secret Service agent who received a minor injury from the fracas.

Major did not bite someone and penetrate the skin, Biden told ABC News George Stephanopoulos last week. Hes a sweet dog. Eighty-five percent of the people there love him. All he does is lick them and wag his tail.

One of the two German shepherds waited on the balcony of the White House on Tuesday evening as Marine One landed on the South Lawn, having ferried the president back from a speech in Columbus, Ohio.

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The dogs will come and go and it will not be uncommon for them to head back to Delaware on occasion as the president and first lady often do as well, Psaki said.

Information from the New York Daily News was used in this report.
France said on Friday it hoped the publication of a report about its failings in the Rwandan genocide of 1994 would lead to improved relations with the African country, which have been fraught for decades.

We hope that the report might lead to new developments in our relations with Rwanda (and that) this time the process of rapprochement can be irreversible, President Emmanuel Macrons office said.

The report said France bore overwhelming responsibilities in the genocide and was blind to preparations for the massacres, while adding there was no evidence Paris was complicit in the killings.

The historical commission set up by Macron concluded there had been a failure on the part of France under former leader Francois Mitterrand over the genocide that saw around 800,000 people slaughtered, mainly from the ethnic Tutsi minority.

A statement from the French presidency said Macron welcomed the report as marking considerable progress in the understanding and description of Frances involvement in Rwanda.

France will at the same time continue its efforts in the fight against the impunity of those responsible for crimes of genocide, it added.

Several suspected participants in the massacres including Rwandan officials later fled to France, though only a handful of cases have gone to trial.
A video clip, where a local leader, with a TMC poster in hand, is heard stating "four Pakistan can be created if India's 30 per cent Muslims unite", has drawn major flak from the BJP, which sought to know if the ruling party in Bengal endorses such remarks.

The TMC, however, has distanced itself from the comment, stating that Sheikh Alam, seen in the video, is not a member of the TMC, and the party doesn't support what he said.

The 30-second video apparently shot at Nanoor in Birbhum, has gone viral on social media.

Alam is heard saying in the clip, "We minorities constitute 30% (of the population). The rest make for 70%. They (BJP) think they will come to power (in Bengal) with the help of this 70%. If 30% of minorities unite, if India's Muslims unite, four Pakistan can be created. Where will India's 70% go?"

Reacting to the clip, BJP national general secretary and the party's Bengal minder, Kailash Vijayvargiya, said it exposes the TMC's real intention.

"This video brings out the truth about TMC. This is a serious thing. How can someone staying in India claim that he will turn the country into Pakistan? We will never allow this to happen. Mamataji owes a reply to the people of the state and the country," he said.

Senior BJP leader Amit Malviya, in a tweet, wondered if Banerjee endorses Alam's stance.

"Yesterday, TMC leader Sheikh Alam, giving a speech in Basa para, Nanoor, in Birbhum AC said, if 30% of Muslims in India come together, then 4 Pakistan can be formed... He obviously owes his allegiance to Mamata Banerjee... Does she endorse this position? Do we want a Bengal like that?" he tweeted.

TMC Birbhum district president Anubrata Mandal, however, quickly clarified that Alam was not a leader of the state's ruling camp.

"Sheikh Alam is neither a member of the party nor is he a leader from Nanoor. We have no relation with him. We don't support such statements. India is a secular country and will remain so, he said.

Sheikh, when approached by reporters, said his words have been misinterpreted.

I never said we want to build a Pakistan in India. I just wanted to convey that if the Muslims are threatened, then we, too, know how to care for ourselves," he said.
Jessica Rowe has paid tribute to the Good Samaritan bus driver who helped her and her daughter escape their burning car moments before it exploded in a fireball.

The television star was picking up her eldest daughter Allegra, 14, from school in Sydney's eastern suburbs on Thursday afternoon when the black Volvo XC 60 began billowing smoke on New South Head Road in Rose Bay.

A passing school bus driver named Mev flagged them down to alert them of the danger and helped the pair escape from the vehicle and flee to safety just as the car burst into flames.

The pair luckily escaped uninjured but were traumatised by the ordeal.

Rowe hours later assured concerned fans she and Allegra were doing fine at home, and thanked Mev and all the others who helped them.

Jessica Rowe (right) and teenage daughter Allegra (left) are shaken but fine following their narrow escape from their burning Volvo

'We're safe and sound! Thank you for all of your kindness and love,' Rowe posted on Instagram late Thursday night.

'Thank you to the thoughtful, fast thinking and kind school bus driver Mev who got us out of the car, called the fire brigade, cleared the road and then stayed to drive us home.

'Thank you to the police and paramedics who are angels. And the tow truck driver! And the mums and dads who stopped to help. We love you.'

The post include a photo of Rowe dressed in pyjamas kissing Allegra as the teen cuddled the family dog Daphne.

She was flooded with messages from well-wishers.

Newsreader Chris Bath added: 'Now that is a serious school pick up story. Lots of love to all. Glad you are OK. How good is Mev!'

TV star Jessica Rowe and her teenage daughter are traumatised but unhurt after fleeing their car as it suddenly burst into flames

Rowe with her daughters Allegra (left) and Giselle (right)

Dramatic footage posted online by shocked onlookers shows the black vehicle stationary in the middle of New South Head Road, engulfed by fire.

Photos from the scene show a distraught Rowe and her daughter at the scene before heading home.

The burning car was on fire for a short period of time before it was quickly extinguished by firefighters

The expensive car, valued at least $65,690 was destroyed by the inferno and later towed away.

Rowe and her family and friends hailed the bus driver Mev as a hero for alerting the family before the situation became more serious.

'He got the everyone to move away from the footpath, directed traffic, rang the fire brigade and then drove them all home,' Rowe's manager David Wilson told the Wentworth Courier.

'There's no hospitalisation or anything like that involved, but both are really rattled as you would be.'

Mr Wilson later told news.com.au: 'Jess was saying to me earlier that if the school bus driver hadn't jumped out of his bus and run over to Jess' car and told them to get out right now it could have been a much more serious outcome.'

'The whole family is so very grateful to him for his quick action and courage. Approaching a car that was clearly in serious trouble meant he was also at risk of putting himself in harms way, and that's amazing.'

Jessica and her daughter fled to safety as her black Volvo XC 60 burst into flames (pictured)

Jessica Rowe's extensively gutted car (pictured) was later driven away by a tow truck

Rowe's husband of 16 years, Channel Nine newsreader Peter Overton, was preparing to present the nightly bulletin when he got the call from a distressed Allegra and dashed home to be with his family.

'Everyone at work could see that I was absolutely traumatised when I saw my 14-year-old on FaceTime absolutely inconsolable,' he told 2GB radio on his way home to his family on Thursday night.

'I saw in the background the car ablaze.

'Fire and rescue, ambulance and police were there. They're all OK and they're home now. There was a real fear that the car could've exploded.

'I want to point out, there's a lot of heroes we've been talking about in the floods and I salute them but I salute that bloke this afternoon who got Allegra and Jessica out and alerted them that smoke was coming out and that they had to get out of the car.'

Jessica Rowe and her husband of 16 years have two daughters- Giselle (left) and Allegra (right)

He understands the good Samaritan was driving a local school bus at the time.

'This bloke was fantastic. My greatest concern is that the car could have exploded, which happened outside a school,' Overton said.

'I'll make sure we find out his name and make contact with him. I'll be thankful to him when I meet him and I will.'

Overton said the cause of the blaze is still unknown.

'When Allegra rang me, just to see her absolute state of despair, that's why I can't wait to see her. I don't care about the car,' he said.
A man with an acquired brain injury who repeatedly punched a garda in the face has received a fully suspended sentence.

Paul Rooney (30), who suffered an acquired brain injury in 2003 when he was the victim of a hit-and-run incident, attacked a garda after he was caught dragging a bike still attached to a bike rack down a busy Dublin city centre street.

Rooney of Railway Street, Dublin, pleaded guilty to one count of assaulting a garda at Beaver Street, Dublin, on January 19, 2019. He has 37 previous convictions including criminal damage, theft and handling stolen property.

Judge Martin Nolan had previously adjourned the matter and ordered that it return to court immediately in the meantime if Rooney commited any further offences.

Judge Nolan expressed concerns that the accused will injure somebody badly in the future.

Passing sentence today, Judge Nolan said Rooney had behaved well since the previous sentencing hearing. He said that principally by reason of his medical history he was not going to imprison him.

Judge Nolan sentenced him to two-and-a-half years imprisonment, but suspended the entirety of the sentence on strict conditions.

At a previous sentencing hearing, the court heard that Rooney punched Garda Patrick Barker five to six times in the face after he was apprehended trying to steal a bike.

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His brothers and mother appeared on the scene and attempted to placate him, with his mother administering medication in an attempt to calm him down, Gda James Connolly told Garret Baker BL, prosecuting.

Gda Barker suffered a cut to the nose during the assault. Rooney was arrested and was extremely apologetic to the garda he had injured once his medication had taken effect, the court heard.

Judge Nolan accepted submissions by defence counsel, Gerardine Small BL, that her client has a significant brain injury. However, he noted Rooney's history of offending had grown more serious in recent years.

The problem I have is that he has this condition and he keeps committing crimes, Judge Nolan said. What is this court supposed to do?

The judge noted the court had only one tool left in the box.

The next time will he injure somebody badly. I am sorry for Mr Rooney, Judge Nolan said. But he is going to have to conform.

Read More
Cargo Ship With All Indian Crew Stuck In Suez Canal; All Safe & Accounted For: Company

Trade routes between Asia and Europe connected via the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea remain to be in a halted state as authorities in Egypt on Wednesday continued operations to dislodge the Ever Green container that was grounded diagonally in the Canal at around 7:35 am on Tuesday. Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement, the company that manages the container said that all the Indian 25-member crew onboard the container are safe. "All the crew came from India and are safe. However, we are trying to resolve the situation as soon as possible, but it proving to be extremely difficult," Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement stated, as reported by AP.

Read full story here

Canada Health Regulators Issue Disclaimers For AstraZeneca COVID-19 Vaccine

Canadian health regulators on Thursday, March 25, issued a disclaimer regarding blood clots that may form up in individuals who vaccinate with the Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine. In a statement, Health Canada said, Today, Health Canada updated the product monograph - or label - for the AstraZeneca and COVISHIELD COVID-19 vaccines to provide information on very rare reports of blood clots associated with low levels of blood platelets (i.e., thrombocytopenia) following immunization with the AstraZeneca vaccine. This comes after various European health regulators issued similar disclaimers. Also, due to this, a number of European nations stopped vaccinations with the AstraZeneca shot.

Read full story here

PM Modi Visits Bangladesh In 1st Foreign Tour Since 2019: What Makes Event Significant?

A year after Janta Curfew, which signified the onset of COVID-19 and one of the first major steps taken by the Government against the pandemic, Prime Minister Narendra Modi sets off on his first foreign visit. The leader is visiting Bangladesh on March 26-27 to bask in the milestone golden jubilee National Day celebrations of the neighbouring country. PM Modi asserted his commitment to the partnership with Bangladesh and support to the nation, hailing the dynamic leadership of PM Sheikh Hasina.

Read full story here

TMC Leader Says, 'If India's 30% Muslims Unite, 4 Pakistans Can Be Created'; BJP Hits Out

Ahead of West Bengal assembly elections, another Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader has courted controversy with his purported remarks that four Pakistan can be created if Indias 30% Muslim population comes together.

TMC leader Alam Sheikh, while addressing his supporters in Basa para, Nanoor, in Birbhum was reportedly head saying, "We minorities are 30%. The rest is 70%. They (BJP) think they will come to power (in Bengal) with this 70%. They should be ashamedif 30% of minorities uniteif Indias Muslims unite, four Pakistan can be created. Where will Indias 70% go?

Read full story here

Joe Biden Holds First Solo Press Conference, Talks About China And US-Mexico Border Issues

United States President Joe Biden held his first solo press conference on Thursday afternoon at the White House. President Biden took longer than his predecessors to formally address the press, however, he did make news on several issues. His last four predecessors Donald Trump, Barack Obama, George W Bush and Bill Clinton have had their first press briefings in the first two months of their Oval Office tenure. Biden, as opposed, has only limited conversational occasional briefings.

This afternoon, Im holding my first formal press conference as president. Tune in. https://t.co/dvl1RAtOjr  President Biden (@POTUS) March 25, 2021

Read full story here
Some Outdoors Events Returning to Oregon Coast

Published 03/25/21 at 1:50 AM PDT

By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff

(Oregon Coast)  Signs of spring and more outdoorsy fun on the Oregon coast are in the air, along with a sense of some aspects of these beaches returning. (Above: Seal Rock)

Farther north, Snowy Plover surveys will be taking place and the Portland Audobon needs some help. Around the Newport, a famed and very fun outdoor class is returning  something kids and parents have come to love in recent years.

You can help with with Snowy Plover detection surveys at sites from Clatsop Spit in Astoria to Sitka Sedge beach near Pacific City, happening from spring into summer. The surveys require walking for about four hours on sand. Attending one training session is required.

Portland Audubon is partnering with Oregon Parks and Recreation Department and the Institute for Natural Resources to monitor endangered Western Snowy Plovers at four sites on the north Oregon coast: Clatsop Spit, Sitka Sedge, Nehalem State Park, and Netarts Spit near Oceanside. The surveys take place from mid-March continuing through the summer.

We are looking for folks to perform presence absence surveys twice a month, the Portland Audobon said. Surveys will take two to four hours (depending on the site). We will also be monitoring discovered nests. Some sites will require a fair amount of walking on sandy beach habitat.

If you are interested in volunteering or just learning more about Snowy Plovers you can check out one of the two virtual training / presentations: April 2 and 3; and April 10 and11. It is mandatory to attend the training if you want to monitor plover nests.

Virtual training event info: https://audubonportland.org/ event/plover-patrol/

https://audubonportland.org/event/snowy-plover-patrol - training/2021-04-10/

You should send training RSVP to Allison Anholt at asopcoastalbirds@gmail.com

For more information contact Allison Anholt (Coastal Community Science Coordinator) or Joe Liebezeit, Staff Scientist (jliebezeit@audubonportland.org) or and visit the project webpage: https://audubonportland.org/get-involved/ community-science/snowy-plover-patrol/

Oregon Coast Hotels for this event - South Coast Hotels - Where to eat - Maps - Virtual Tours

On the central Oregon coast, the City of Newports recreation department is bringing back its Low Tide Learning classes. Here, you can get an eyeful  firsthand  of Oregon coast intertidal life as educators meet at spectacular Seal Rock, checking out its tidepools and other wonders.

After canceling last years Low Tide Learning classes due to the pandemic, we are trying again, said Newports Jenni Remillard. This class was in high demand in 2019, its first year. We are hoping we can safely hold this outdoor class with all COVID precautions taken including masks and social distancing.

Are you curious about what lives below the tides? Want to know whats safe to eat in an emergency situation (or a fun dinner party)? Join Remillards group for an exploration of tidepools. They will explore what creatures inhabit these ever changing environments and take a look at the many seaweeds of the Oregon coast.

We will be following COVID safe protocols so everyone must wear a mask and practice social distancing, she said.



Date: Saturday, April 24th at 3:45 pm or Saturday, May 1st at 9:30 am

Location: Meet at Seal Rock State Park

Cost: $10 per adult, $5 per child (16 and under) or $25 per family (pre registration is required).

Space is limited to 10. While everyone is welcome, be aware there is steep hill down to the beach with a paved trail. Wear sturdy shoes that can get wet or rubber boots. The rocks will be slippery. Children must be accompanied by an adult and everyone must wear masks.



Call 541 265 4859.



Oregon Coast Hotels for this event - South Coast Hotels - Where to eat - Maps - Virtual Tours





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Property movers are increasingly selling up and moving into a short-term rental, in a bid to make themselves attractive, chain-free buyers.

More than one in five of properties (21 per cent) listed on Rightmove, the UK's biggest online property portal, are now chain-free - a jump from 15 per cent this time last year.

Not having to sell their own home before completing may give a buyer an advantage in what is currently a highly competitive property market.

More movers are choosing to sell up and rent, in order to make them more attractive buyers

Last week, Rightmove said the UK was currently experiencing 'the strongest sellers' market in a decade' as the number of people enquiring about available properties broke its all-time record.

It said that landlords deciding to sell their rental properties had also contributed to the uptick in chain-free homes. This was due to falling rents, especially in London.

On the other side of the coin, homes that are being sold chain-free are also in demand as buyers rush to take advantage of the stamp duty holiday.

In February, the number of buyers searching for 'no chain' in Rightmove's keyword sort tool was 72 per cent higher than in February 2020.

Because of this demand, selling a home without an onward chain may result in the vendor getting a better price.

Rightmove data shows the number of chain-free homes has increased in every UK region

The percentage of chain-free homes available was up in all regions, according to Rightmove, but the biggest shift was in London where the figure jumped from 12 per cent of available homes this time last year to 21 per cent now.

In the West and East Midlands, almost a quarter of homes are now being advertised as chain-free.

'I sold and am renting it back while I find another home' One seller told This is Money that he has sold his flat on the Essex coast, as he is looking to buy a house and go a little more rural. When he accepted the offer, it transpired to be a landlord who plans to rent the property. To help the sale along, they offered to rent it back to him at a reduced rate while he searched for another home, to not hold the process up. 'I was a win-win really. I can now take my time and find the right home, without the pressure. I think that's a good thing in this current property market,' he said.

Nationally, Rightmove said rental demand was 41 per cent higher in February than in the same month last year.

As well as buyers wanting to be chain-free and secure the best price for their existing home, those who have chosen to move out of a city may also be renting first to make sure country life is definitely for them.

Those staying in London could also be looking to make use of the double-digit declines in rents in some areas until they find somewhere to buy.

Homes across the country are subject to bidding wars as demand has far exceeded supply.

Currently, almost two out of three properties on an agents' books are sold subject to contract.

Rightmove's director of property data Tim Bannister said: 'We know that one of the reasons sellers are often hesitant to come to market is because they can't find somewhere that they want to buy.

'But with record buyer demand and the stamp duty holiday being an added incentive for prospective buyers there seems to be a group of people who are choosing to sell up now and rent temporarily.

'Selling chain-free is perhaps something some owners hadn't considered as a possibility before now, but with the competitive market and stock shortage we currently have they're trying to put themselves in a more attractive position when their dream home comes along.'

Guy Gittins, chief executive of London estate agent Chestertons, added: 'The family house market is incredibly competitive in London, and many sellers are willing to break the chain in order to become chain-free buyers and place themselves in the best position to secure a property when the right one comes up.

'There are a number of other reasons as well, including a number of landlords selling their buy-to-let investments due to falling rents, second home owners deciding to cash in on some of the additional value that has built up in their property, and sellers making their property more attractive to buyers who want to meet the stamp duty holiday deadline.'

Some renters, especially those leaving big cities for more rural locations, are also using it as an opportunity to 'try out' an area before moving there long-term.

Oliver Custance Baker, property agent at Strutt & Parker in Exeter, said: 'This is definitely something that we've seen particularly as current stock levels aren't quite meeting levels of buyer demand.

'In the Tiverton area we have numerous buyers who are sitting in rented accommodation, not only so they can try out the area and the lifestyle on offer, but to make sure that they're first in the door when something that ticks their required boxes comes onto the market.'
ANKARA -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday met with visiting Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, pledging to build closer ties with China and deepen bilateral cooperation.

Congratulating the Communist Party of China (CPC) on the 100th anniversary of its founding, Erdogan said the Justice and Development Party, the ruling party of Turkey, looks forward to enhancing its communication with the CPC and contributing to the cooperation among the political parties around the world.

Turkey attaches great importance to developing its relations with China, the Turkish leader said, stressing that his country is firmly against any form of terrorism and hopes to build closer ties with China.

By publicly getting the jab of China-developed COVID-19 vaccine, he has shown to Turkish citizens as well as the whole world the safety and effectiveness of the Chinese vaccine, said Erdogan, adding that Turkey wants to deepen its vaccine cooperation with China and explore the potential of conducting such cooperation with a third party.

Turkey looks forward to increasing Turkey-China high-level exchanges, boosting mutual trust, promoting the synergy between China's Belt and Road Initiative and Turkey's "Middle Corridor" plan, enhancing cooperation in the fields including interconnection and intercommunication, infrastructure construction and investment, seeking more balanced development of bilateral trade, and encouraging local currency settlement, said the Turkish president.

He added that Turkey values China's five-point initiative for achieving the security and stability in the Middle East and is willing to deepen communication and coordination with China on regional affairs.

Wang conveyed the greetings from Chinese President Xi Jinping to Erdogan.

He told the Turkish leader that China has found a development path that fits its own conditions and is now opening up the new journey to comprehensively building a modern socialist country.

China is willing to share its experience in state governance and deepen friendly cooperation with Turkey, said the Chinese diplomat.

Marking the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the diplomatic ties between the two nations, China is ready to make joint efforts with Turkey to implement the important consensus reached by the heads of the two states, and take the bilateral ties onto a track of healthy and stable development, Wang said.

He highlighted the need for the two countries to continue to understand and support each other on the issues related to core interests, and insist on not interfering in each other's domestic affairs.

Wang pledged to continue China's help to Turkey in its fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

He added that, in the context of deepening the synergy between China's Belt and Road Initiative and Turkey's "Middle Corridor" plan, the two nations should strengthen cooperation in the high tech sectors including 5G technology, artificial intelligence, big data and digital economy, and steadily push forward cooperation on major projects to seek win-win results.

Wang promised that China will encourage more Chinese enterprises to import quality products from Turkey and increase their investment in Turkey.

As two important emerging economies, China and Turkey should solidify their unity and cooperate on deepening party communications, safeguarding the development rights of each other, and protecting the common interests of the developing countries, said the Chinese diplomat.

Earlier on Thursday, Wang met with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu.
NEW YORK, March 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Dust Control Systems market will register an incremental spend of about USD 4.57 Billion, growing at a CAGR of 4.70% during the five-year forecast period. A targeted strategic approach to Dust Control Systems sourcing can unlock several opportunities for buyers. This report also offers market impact and new opportunities created due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Download free sample report

Key Highlights Offered in the Report:

Dust Control Systems Market Procurement Research Report

Information on how to identify strategic and tactical negotiation levels that will help achieve the best prices.

Gain information on relevant pricing levels, detailed explanation on pros and cons of prevalent pricing models.

Methods to help engage with the right suppliers and discover KPI's to evaluate incumbent suppliers.

Get a free sample report for more information

Insights into buyer strategies and tactical negotiation levers:

Several strategic and tactical negotiation levers are explained in the report to help buyers achieve the best prices for the Dust Control Systems market. The report also aids buyers with relevant Dust Control Systems pricing levels, pros, and cons of prevalent pricing models such as volume-based pricing, spot pricing, and cost-plus pricing and category management strategies and best practices to fulfill their category objectives.

For more insights on buyer strategies and tactical negotiation levers, Click here.

Key Drivers and Trends Fueling Market Growth:

The pressure from substitutes and a moderate level of threat from new entrants has resulted in the low bargaining power of suppliers.

Price forecasts are beneficial in purchase planning, especially when supplemented by the constant monitoring of price influencing factors. During the forecast period, the market expects a change of 3.00%-5.00%.

Identify favorable opportunities in Dust Control Systems TCO (total cost of ownership).

Expected changes in price forecast and factors driving the current and future price changes.

Identify pricing models that offer the most rewarding opportunities.

Some of the top Dust Control Systems suppliers listed in this report:

This Dust Control Systems procurement intelligence report has enlisted the top suppliers and their cost structures, SLA terms, best selection criteria, and negotiation strategies.

Nederman Holding AB

Donaldson Co. Inc.

Parker-Hannifin Corp

Illinois Tool Works Inc.

Camfil AB

Sly Inc.

Hamon & Cie (International) SA

Spraying Systems Co.

CW Machine Worx

Duztech AB

Quaker Chemical Corp.

To get instant access to over 1000 market-ready procurement intelligence reports without any additional costs or commitment, Subscribe Now for Free.

Table of Content

Executive Summary

Market Insights

Category Pricing Insights

Cost-saving Opportunities

Best Practices

Category Ecosystem

Category Management Strategy

Category Management Enablers

Suppliers Selection

Suppliers under Coverage

US Market Insights

Category scope

Appendix

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An urban explorer plunged 20 feet to his death when he fell through the roof of an abandoned dairy building, an inquest heard today.

Ethan Bonnar, 22, suffered a traumatic brain injury after dropping through a sky light in the roof of the disused warehouse in Totnes, Devon.

The student, born in Scotland, had been reported missing but was found a day later in the building, having fallen 20 feet through a roof onto a concrete floor.

Ethan, who was studying an illustration course at Plymouth University, loved climbing and exploring abandoned buildings, said his girlfriend Charlotte Rose.

Ethan Bonnar (pictured left and right), 22, suffered a traumatic brain injury after dropping through a sky light in the roof of the disused warehouse in Totnes, Devon

The student, born in Scotland, loved climbing and exploring abandoned buildings, said his girlfriend Charlotte Rose

Judge's bid to stop urban explorers entering a construction site set to have tallest cranes in the City of London A High Court judge has moved to stop urban explorers entering a construction site expected to feature the tallest cranes in the City of London. Mrs Justice Stacey has made an order against 'persons unknown' after a construction firm creating a 155-metre tall building in Leadenhall Street took legal action. A barrister representing Mace Limited said there had been 'no known incursions' at the site but told the judge about 'seven instances of urban explorer trespass' at other Mace sites across London. Mrs Justice Stacey granted Mace's application for an injunction to 'restrain trespass'. She said in her ruling: 'The pattern of behaviour and bravado of urban explorers in relation to other notable London sites in the past two years leads me to conclude that the probability of a trespass is not only imminent and real, but also high.' She added: 'The risk of death or serious injury from an urban explorer trespass at the site is both real and would be grave and irreparable as demonstrated by the number of deaths of urban explorers over the past six years.' Advertisement

She said Ethan would explore either alone, with her or friends, adding: 'He did this not to cause damage but to take pictures and videos because he appreciated the aesthetic.'

A woman introduced them to the Urban Explorer forum and in July last year he decided to go to the old dairy site in Totnes and sent Charlotte a video from the roof of the building.

Charlotte said she had no more contact from Greenock-born Ethan and later contacted his mother, Cheryl Reynolds.

They reported him missing to the police and sent officers the video Ethan had taken.

Police searched the old dairy and found Ethan unconscious. He died later in a Plymouth hospital.

Detective Sergeant Andy Penhaligon told the inquest: 'No third party was present at the time Ethan fell through the roof.

'It appeared to be a tragic accident.'

Ethan's mother Cheryl, from Torquay, Devon, issued a warning to others about the dangers of urban exploring at the time of her son's death.

She said: 'What he did was so dangerous. I just want this message to get out there that these young people just don't realise how dangerous is it in these old buildings.

'I told Ethan not to do it and I told him he was being an idiot but he always thought he would be okay.

'The last thing he sent was this video of him on top of the roof.

'Ethan had a heart of gold, he was such a likeable, positive, outgoing person.'

The senior Plymouth and south Devon coroner Ian Arrow recorded a conclusion of accidental death.

He said: 'He went to a derelict building and while exploring that building he has fallen through the skylight and landed heavily on the concrete floor below.

'Ethan was clearly a content person who liked exploring.'
Protesters carry flags as they drive their motorcycles during an anti-coup protest in Mandalay, Myanmar on March 25. Photo: AP

A United Nations human rights investigator has called for an emergency summit on Myanmar, saying that the diplomatic response to last months military coup and the crackdown on dissent was out of step with the scale of the crisis.

Conditions in Myanmar are deteriorating, said Thomas Andrews, special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, in a statement.

But they will likely get much worse without an immediate, robust, international response.

The statement came as Myanmar security forces fired at pro-democracy activists taking part in street demonstrations yesterday, killing at least four people, news reports said, a day after a nationwide silent strike in protest against last months military coup.

Four people were killed in the town of Taunggyi in central Myanmar in the shooting, the Myanmar Now news portal said.

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Thousands of people held street protests in the commercial capital Yangon, the central city of Monywa and several other towns, according to witnesses and social media posts.

Are we united? Yes we are, protesters shouted in Monywa. The revolution must prevail.

Nant Khi Phyu Aye, one of those on the street, said many of the protesters were youngsters. They want to protest every day without skipping one day, she said.

Police fired at a street demonstration in the city of Mawlamyine and arrested 20 people, the Hinthar Media Corp said. At least two people were injured, it said.

Other media outlets reported that at least five people sustained bullet wounds when security forces opened fire on protests in other towns. Those reports were not independently verified.

At least 286 people have been killed since the February 1 coup in the crackdown on protests, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) activist group.

In a sign of growing international pressure, the United States is planning to impose sanctions on two conglomerates controlled by Myanmars military, sources familiar with the matter said.

Wednesdays silent strike left normally bustling areas of commercial hubs like Yangon and Monywa virtually deserted.

While the scale of the protests had been dropping in recent days, activists had called for big demonstrations yesterday.

The strongest storm comes after the silence, protest leader Ei Thinzar Maung said in a social media post.

Candlelit vigils took place across the country again overnight, photographs on social media showed.

In Thanlyin, on the outskirts of Yangon, protesters held up placards reading: We dont accept military coup.

Meanwhile, medical staff wearing white coats held a dawn march in the second city of Mandalay.

Five more people were wounded overnight in Mandalay, Myanmar Now reported.

A 16-year-old died after being shot in the back, it said.

The funeral of a seven-year-old girl killed on Tuesday  who becomes the youngest known victim of the crackdown  took place on Wednesday in Mandalay.

A spokesman for the military, which said on Tuesday that 164 protesters had been killed, did not answer calls looking for a comment.

The junta on Wednesday freed hundreds of people arrested in its crackdown on protests against the overthrow of the elected government of Aung Sang Suu Kyi.

There was no word from authorities on how many prisoners were released, but AAPP said 628 were freed on Wednesday out of more than 2,900 arrested since the coup. About 1,000 people had been freed in all, it said.

Among those released was Polish photojournalist Robert Bociaga, who was arrested in Taunggyi two weeks ago.

He said in a message that he planned to leave Myanmar yesterday.

The junta has faced international condemnation for the coup that halted Myanmars slow transition to democracy and for its deadly suppression of dissent.

It has tried to justify the takeover by saying a November 8 election won by Ms Suu Kyis National League for Democracy (NLD) was fraudulent  an accusation the electoral commission has rejected.

Military leaders have promised to hold a new election, but they have not set a date and have declared a state of emergency.

Suu Kyi, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 for her campaign to bring democratic civilian rule to Myanmar, has been in detention since the coup and faces charges that her lawyer says have been cooked up to discredit her.

The European Union and the United States imposed sanctions on Monday against individuals involved in the coup and the repression of the demonstrators.

Singapores Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan is due to meet his Indonesian counterpart in Jakarta and it is expected there will be discussions on Myanmar.

Malaysia and Indonesia are seeking an urgent meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) regional grouping, of which Myanmar is a member, to discuss the crisis.
The funeral of murdered Belfast woman Stacey Knell took place in east Belfast earlier today.

The number of mourners of those who attended Ms Knell's mother's house at Inverleith Drive for 10.30am to pay their respects were restricted due to Covid-19 regulations.

Ms Knell was then taken to Roselawn Cemetery where she was buried.

The 30-year-old was killed by her boyfriend, Ken Flanagan (26), last Friday.

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Flanagan then took his own life at the scene of the murder at a house on the Glenville Road in Newtownabbey.

Before he travelled to the property to murder Ms Knell, Flanagan killed his own mother, Karen McClean (50), in her home in Rathcoole, around a mile away from the Glenville Road murder scene.

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The murder-suicide left residents in Newtownabbey in shock at the horror which had unfolded on their doorsteps over the weekend.

On Sunday, we reported on how a former partner of Ms Knell, who has a child with her, contacted the PSNI earlier last Friday, just hours before the attacks took place, saying he was concerned about Flanagan being around his daughter.

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Since then, a GoFundMe appeal has been set up by friends of Ms Knell which has almost doubled the 1,500 it aimed to raise to help the victims family with funeral costs. The remainder will go to her nine-year-old daughter.

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A funeral notice described the young woman as the much loved mother of Sophia, devoted daughter of Roberta and Paul, a loving sister, aunt, cousin and friend to many.

It continued: Stacey will be very sadly missed by her loving family and many friends.

Meanwhile, tributes have poured in for the popular mum on social media.

One wrote: "Rest easy beautiful girl. You have been robbed of your precious young life. May God watch over your beautiful daughter and family and ease there pain. My thoughts go out to the entire family. God bless."

Another read: "Hope she gets the send off she deserves. My beautiful best friend. Gone far too soon. Absolutely heartbroken. Thoughts with all the family. Sweet dreams angel xxx."

The PSNI described the murders as shocking and horrific and said the police are not looking for anyone else in connection with their investigation.
More than a month after the deadly storms that crippled the states electric grid, lawmakers passed their first major reforms of the states top utility regulator and promised more changes to come.

The Texas Senate voted 30-0 on Thursday to overhaul the Public Utility Commission, expanding its board from three to five members and guaranteeing that at least three of them are not from the electricity industry to assure more viewpoints are being taken into account when they make decisions, particularly in an emergency.

That move comes as the Senate races to pass another bill as early as next week that would give the revamped PUC new teeth, including the ability to fine power companies up to $1 million for not weatherizing power plants and transmission lines. That same bill would also allow the Texas Railroad Commission to fine natural gas producers up to $1 million for failing to weatherize properly.

Both power plants and natural gas providers failed to winterize their facilities despite past failures and recommended fixes dating back a decade. State health officials have attributed 111 deaths to last months freeze, many caused by hypothermia, according to preliminary data released Thursday.

Reform is desperately needed, state Sen. Charles Schwertner, R-Georgetown, said during a debate of the changes in the makeup of the utility regulators board.

The PUC has been in turmoil since the storms hit Texas. All three board members appointed by the governor have resigned, and lawmakers have publicly scolded commissioners for not exercising enough of their authority to prevent the breakdowns that left millions of Texans without power as temperatures plummeted.

PUC IN TURMOIL: Top Texas utility regulator ousted as recording emerges of pledges to protect Wall Street

A key part of that, Schwertner said, is making sure the board has a different makeup so its members better understand the ramifications their choices have on the public.

We didnt want just industry insiders, Schwertner said of Senate Bill 2154, which would expand the PUC board and now heads to the Texas House for consideration. Both chambers have to pass identical legislation to get it to Gov. Greg Abbott for his approval.

The heavier lift lies ahead with the other bill, SB3, which passed through a key committee in the Senate and now heads to the floor. That bill creates an improved power outage alert network, aims to fix communication problems between agencies, demands utility companies winterize facilities and would essentially tax wind and solar power generators extra because they do not produce reliable energy in cold winter months like fossil fuels.

Schwertners bill doesnt offer any funding to help electric companies or natural gas companies to weatherize their facilities.

To me, its the cost of doing business, Schwertner said.

NO GAS, NO HEAT: This simple paperwork blunder left Texans cold during the deadly freeze

That has got some pushback from industry groups.

Todd Staples of the Texas Oil and Gas Association warned lawmakers during a committee hearing Thursday that demanding gas wells and pipelines be winterized means little if there is no electricity and roads are impassable for workers to keep the gas flowing. The natural gas industry has argued that disruptions to the fuel in February werent due to the weather but to the fact that electricity was out and crews could not get to the field to fix the equipment.

Still, Schwertner said giving the PUC and the Railroad Commission, which has jurisdiction over natural gas providers, the ability to hand out major fines is meant to send a message about how important weatherizing the grid is to the Legislature.

It puts an emphasis on it, Schwertner said.

After damaging winter storms in 2011, the states utility grid monitors recommended power generators winterize their facilities, but it was never mandated and most did little.

But wind and solar industry officials are also pushing back against the legislation over the fees they would also face. Although wind and solar have become a major piece of the states electric grid, Schwertner said they are not reliable during winter, creating a cost to the state as it tries to assure reliable generation both in the summer and in the winter.

Under his bill, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which manages the states grid, would create a fee system for wind and solar to account for their lack of production during winter storms. Its an idea long advocated by conservative groups that believe federal subsidies for wind and solar production have given those resources an unfair edge.

State Sen. Nathan Johnson, D-Dallas, is also pushing back against that part of the bill, questioning why a state that values free markets is trying to impose extra fees on some players in it.

The idea that were going to have a market  a competitive free market  where we impose some costs on some players because they are operating too inexpensively, is that what we are talking about with renewables? Johnson asked.

Johnson said hes struggling with the idea that Texas should pass down fees to producers of renewable energy in order to offset federal subsidies that they receive. He said instead of a free market, Texas is building a monstrosity of regulations and counter-regulations.

jeremy.wallace@chron.com

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ADDIS ABABA- Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD) arrived yesterday in Eritrean capital Asmara for a two-day working visit.

Upon arrival at the Asmara International Airport, Ethiopian delegation led by Premier Abiy was accorded a warm welcome by Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki.

The two leaders will discuss bilateral relations and regional developments.

The Prime Minister's delegation comprises Defense Minister Kenea Yadeta (PhD) and Minister of Innovation and Technology Abraham Belay (PhD).

Eritrean Minister of Foreign Affairs Osman Saleh and Presidential Advisor Yemane Gebreab were also present at the welcoming ceremony, it was learnt.
NAPERVILLE, Ill., March 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Calamos Investments, a leading global asset manager, announced that the firm has hired Dan Dufresne, former executive at Citadel LLC for two decades, as Chief Operating Officer. The announcement, made by John Koudounis, Calamos President and CEO, follows the successful execution of the firm's growth strategy.

President and CEO Koudounis stated, "Dan brings to the firm extensive operational and financial experience and expands the bench of our senior leadership team. While the firm has accomplished much due to our focused growth strategy and strong investment performance in recent years, those successes simply point to how much further we can go. His decision is an affirmation of our recent accomplishments and commitment to innovative investment solutions for our clients. Dan's experience and capabilities will help us continue on this path," Koudounis said.

"Since I named him as CEO almost five years ago, John Koudounis and I have collaborated on a long-term plan for the firm's continuing success into the future. Dan's appointment is an integral step that reinforces the strong foundation we have built in the last few years," said John Calamos Sr., Founder, Chairman and Global Chief Investment Officer.

"John Calamos has been a pioneer and innovator in our industry for over 40 years. Today, he and John Koudounis have firmly positioned Calamos Investments for success for the next 40 years and beyond with a focus on continued innovation and delivering world class products for clients. I am excited to join a firm with such an incredible heritage and promising future," Dufresne said.

Dufresne spent 21 years at Citadel, where he served as Global Treasurer, Global Head of Operations, and Global Head of Counterparty Strategy. He was CEO of multiple Citadel broker-dealer entities and a Portfolio Committee member of both Citadel and Citadel Securities for many years. He retired from the firm in 2020.

He has served on key finance industry forums including 11 years on the New York Federal Reserve's Treasury Market Practices Group, and 11 years on the US Treasury Department's Treasury Borrowing Advisory Committee, where he was Vice-Chair through September 2020. He was named to Crain's Chicago Business "Forty Under Forty" in 2009.

Founded in 1977, Calamos is an active manager that specializes in risk-managed strategies and pioneered investing in convertible securities and liquid alternatives. Koudounis joined the firm as Chief Executive Officer in 2016. During his tenure, AUM has nearly doubled to $35 billion.

As of December 31, 2020, five Calamos funds are ranked in the top 1% of their Morningstar category while 11 are in the top 10%. The Calamos Market Neutral Income Fund, one of the first liquid alts mutual funds launched in 1990, is now one of the largest mutual funds in the liquid alternatives category at over $10 billion AUM.

"During the market volatility and uncertainty of the pandemic, investors have responded to our strategies that help them manage risk and minimize market downside. Our portfolio managers and the rest of the investment team have demonstrated exceptional performance. Dan's contributions will support the firm's ongoing focus on our clients as we help them meet their financial goals," Koudounis said.

About Calamos

Calamos Investments is a diversified global investment firm offering innovative investment strategies including alternatives, multi-asset, convertible, fixed income, and equity. The firm offers strategies through separately managed portfolios, mutual funds, closed-end funds, private funds, and UCITS funds. Clients include major corporations, pension funds, endowments, foundations and individuals, as well as the financial advisors and consultants who serve them. Headquartered in the Chicago metropolitan area, the firm also has offices in New York, San Francisco, Milwaukee, and the Miami area. For more information, please visit www.calamos.com.

*Calamos Investments LLC, referred to herein as Calamos Investments, is a financial services company offering such services through its subsidiaries: Calamos Advisors LLC, Calamos Wealth Management LLC, Calamos Investments LLP and Calamos Financial Services LLC.

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Former U.S. Army prosecutor and progressive activist Glenn Kirschner wants every American business to sign a pledge declaring that the result of the 2020 Presidential Elections was in fact legitimate despite evidence showing election fraud. Kirschner, an analyst for NBC News and MSNBC, is looking to force businesses to openly reject the assertion that former President Donald Trump was cheated in the 2020 Elections.

WND reported that the former federal prosecutor is also threatening to publicize the names of companies that decline to commit to what he calls the "Democracy Pledge," part of which reads, "The 2020 presidential election was free and fair, and produced accurate, reliable results."

"Those who sought to undermine or otherwise refused to acknowledge these results, share responsibility for the civil unrest after the election, culminating in violence at the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021," the pledge indicated. Kirschner wants this pledged placed before "every company in the country" in the next months so consumers can decide whether or not they support such businesses.

The "Democracy Pledge" also includes a declaration of "valuing, affirming and supporting democracy" and that "the election of Joseph R. Biden and Kamala Harris was free, fair and legitimate."

Lastly, the pledge enjoins the public to refrain from supporting, endorsing, or donating to politicians and political groups that promoted what the Left believes are false conspiracy theories about the 2020 Presidential Elections or whose actions were not aligned with what the Left calls "democracy." Kirschner admitted that the "Democracy Pledge'' is an act that "[forces] companies' hands so they can't be agnostic."

According to the Huffington Post, Kirschner said that having such a pledge saying Biden won a "fair" election and displaying it in front of a business is basically a favor, as it "[provides] that information to consumers" and lets them "make their purchasing decisions accordingly."

The former federal prosecutor's promotion of cancel culture through the "Democratic Pledge" and calling out businesses whose views differ from his or the Left's is another step towards dividing America further. But Kirschner is convinced that it will increase transparency. He said that companies are also free to add its own language to the pledge.

He proudly reported that some companies have already approached him through his team's website with regards to adopting the pledge. He said that they have not actively approached businesses about it yet.

MSN reported that Kirschner's "open pressure campaign on corporate America" is also targeting leaders who continue to support former President Donald Trump. This includes state attorney generals and over 130 Republican lawmakers who signed on to the Texas attorney general's in January, which sued the federal government for President Biden's order to pause deportation on some illegal immigrants.

According to the Texas Tribune, the moratorium was signed on the very day of President Biden's inauguration in January. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton fired back with a lawsuit that was supported by Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Josh Hawley of Missouri, both of which Kirschner is also targeting with his "pledge."

Kirschner argued, "You can't support Donald Trump and argue that you are in favor of free and fair elections. If you're supporting him, you're just not supporting democracy."

The "Democracy Pledge," despite its name, however, doesn't seem to be democratic, or respectful of people's views, at all. Per the Legal Insurrection blog, "Any American business refusing to take this pledge, regardless of their own personal beliefs, will presumably be subjected to the cancel mob."

"There's probably something wrong with this, right?" the blog said.
Cultural Grants Awarded To Northern Berkshire Communities

NORTH ADAMS, Mass.  State Representative John Barrett III and the Northern Berkshire Cultural Council jointly announced the award of 63 grants totaling $72,500.00, for cultural programs in Northern Berkshire Communities.

These eleven communities are comprised of ; Adams, Cheshire, Clarksburg, Florida, Hancock, Lanesborough, Monroe, New Ashford, Savoy, Williamstown, and the City of North Adams. A complete list of recipients and grant amounts can be found here. http://Www.mass-culture.org/ccnb

"It's the local volunteers who really make this system work," said State Representative Barrett. "They make limited resources go as far as possible, and they make the tough decisions about which projects should be supported. Thanks to them, the arts, sciences, and humanities are part of people's everyday lives in communities across the state."

The Cultural Council of Northern Berkshire is part of a network of 329 Local Cultural Councils serving all 351 cities and towns in the Commonwealth. The LCC Program is the largest grassroots cultural funding network in the nation, supporting thousands of community-based projects in the arts, sciences, and humanities every year. The state legislature provides an annual appropriation to the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency, which then allocates funds to each community.

Decisions about which activities to support are made at the community level by a board of municipally appointed volunteers. The members of the Cultural Council of Northern Berkshire are:

Arthur De Bow, Co-Chair - North Adams

Lorna Gayle - Lanesborough

Cecilia Hirsch, Co-Chair - Williamstown

Henry Klein - Adams

Donna Motta - North Adams

Barbara Proper - Cheshire

Linda Rhoads - Adams

Mark Siegars - Lanesborough

Sally Sussman - Williamstown

Peter Traub - Savoy

Erica Jane Wetherell - Hancock

Maureen Riley Moriarty, Staff/Administrator

Statewide, more than $3.3 million will be distributed by local cultural councils in 2021. Grants will support an enormous range of grass-roots activities: concerts, exhibitions, radio and video productions, field trips for schoolchildren, after-school youth programs, writing workshops, historical preservation efforts, lectures, First Night celebrations, nature and science education programs for families and town festivals. Nearly half of LCC funds support educational activities for young people.

The Cultural Council of Northern Berkshire will seek applications again in the fall. For guidelines and complete information on the Cultural Council of Northern Berkshire, contact us at the email or number above. Applications and more information about the Local Cultural Council Program are available online at www.mass-culture.org . Applications are due Oct 15.
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Intelligent.com, a trusted resource for online degree rankings and higher education planning, has announced the Top 50 Master's in Mechanical Engineering Degree Programs for 2021. The comprehensive research guide is based on an assessment of 201 accredited colleges and universities in the nation. Each program is evaluated based on curriculum quality, graduation rate, reputation, and post-graduate employment.

The 2021 rankings are calculated through a unique scoring system which includes student engagement, potential return on investment and leading third party evaluations. Intelligent.com analyzed 201 schools, on a scale of 0 to 100, with only 50 making it to the final list. The methodology also uses an algorithm which collects and analyzes multiple rankings into one score to easily compare each school.

Students who pursue any one of these programs can expect to gain employment much quicker in comparison to candidates without a degree. In addition to accessibility and cost, the steady job growth in this market is one of the many reasons Intelligent.com researched and ranked the Top Master's in Mechanical Engineering Degree Programs. To access the complete ranking, please visit: https://www.intelligent.com/best-masters-in-mechanical-engineering-degree-programs/

2021 Master's in Mechanical Engineering Degree Programs featured on Intelligent.com (in alphabetical order):

Arizona State University

Auburn University

Boston University

California Institute of Technology

Carnegie Mellon University

Case Western Reserve University

Clemson University

Colorado State University

Columbia University

Cornell University

Duke University

Florida Institute of Technology

Georgia Institute of Technology

Iowa State University

Lehigh University

Michigan State University

Michigan Technological University

Missouri University of Science and Technology

North Carolina State University

Northwestern University

Ohio State University

Pennsylvania State University

Purdue University

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Rice University

Stanford University

State University of New York, Buffalo

Stevens Institute of Technology

Texas A & M University, College Station

University of New Mexico

University of Arizona

University of California, Los Angeles

University of Central Florida

University of Cincinnati

University of Colorado, Boulder

University of Delaware

University of Houston

University of Idaho

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

University of Maryland

University of Michigan, Dearborn

University of Notre Dame

University of Rochester

University of Southern California

University of Texas, Austin

University of Washington

University of Wisconsin, Madison

Washington State University

Washington University, St. Louis

Worcester Polytechnic Institute

About Intelligent.com

Intelligent.com provides unbiased research to help students make informed decisions about higher education programs. The website offers curated guides which include the best degree programs as well as information about financial aid, internships and even study strategies. With comprehensive, user-friendly guides and hundreds of program rankings, Intelligent.com is a trusted source among students and prospective students. To learn more, please visit https://www.intelligent.com/.


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Carers and advocates have savaged a proposed overhaul of the $22 billion National Disability Insurance Scheme, demanding the federal government rule out several potential reforms touted in a leaked draft of new laws.

Federal NDIS Minister Stuart Robert took to social media on Friday to justify the Morrison government reforms but said he found it abhorrent that an early draft of the possible changes was being used to unleash unnecessary concern on participants.

NDIS Minister Stuart Robert announced last year the government would appoint independent assessors to review everyone on the scheme. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Mr Robert said he had not seen the supposed draft for NDIS legislation reforms, which he said was one of 78 drafts, revealed by The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age on Friday.

The only draft legislation the government intends to introduce is the one I will release shortly, he wrote.
As he goes deeper into the Western Liberia in continuation of his nationwide tour, President George Manneh Weah is not just listening to, thanking and updating citizens of the government's gains in three years, but is also taking stock of and focus on the performance of those put in positions of trust.

At his first town hall meeting in Gbarma, Gbarpolu County, President Weah sternly warned government officials who are lazy and delaying progress to desist or get out.

According to the President, he came to the job with great passion to work because of the enormity of challenges plaguing the country and his love for the people, and that anyone standing in the way of development would not be countenanced.

The president's assertions stemmed from cities outcry about sluggishness and delays by individuals entrusted with responsibility to implement development projects.

"You elected me to serve you, after I told you that I was the best amongst those who were seeking the presidency at the time," the Chief Executive told a deafeningly cheering audience. "I therefore take the job seriously and anyone I appoint to help me deliver on the promises I made to you must move with the same speed with which I am moving. This is not time to make excuses. It's time to work," the Liberian Chief Executive noted.

In a rather spirited interaction with citizens of Gbarma on Wednesday, March 24, 2021, the President laid out the government's achievements in three years, emphasizing that the CDC-led administration has done remarkably well than past governments did in their first three years.

"I challenge anyone to prove me wrong that this government has not done excellently well in its first three years in office than other past governments did in three years," the President exclaimed.

"We have planted the seeds of development and we are seeing the fruits. I am glad the people are feeling the effect of the PAPD."

Though the government is progressing with its development programs, President Weah told citizens it was important to visit them, thank them and hear from them on what their development needs are.

He assured Gbarpolu citizens that they will never regret voting him to power because the government is working to meet their development needs.

In response to citizens request to also benefit from his pro-poor housing units, President Weah promised 100 pro-poor housing units in Gbarpolu County and that he would also light up the main street in Gbarma.

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"Where's your main road here," he quipped. "If it's the road I rode on, then rest assured that it will be lit up. The team is in Tubmanburg. From there, they will reach you."

Gbarma, the first major town of Gbarpolu County from the boundary with Bomi County, came alive as the President convoy cruised through the town following a traditional welcoming ceremony at the main entrance.

As did citizens of counties earlier toured, citizens of Gbarma and adjacent towns queued in throngs singing, waving and dancing as President Weah's convoy wended its way through the town.

Among many things, they hailed the President for choosing to visit them as well as the countless development undertakings across the length and breadth of the country.

The citizens appealed to the President to consider electrifying the city of Gbarma, constructing housing units, hospital and many others.

Following the Gbarma townhall meeting with Citizens, President Weah drove across the Lofa Bridge into Grand Cape Mount County where he also interacted with citizens of Tahn Town, Gola Konneh District.

The President used the time to thank citizens for keeping the peace, working with the government to achieve its development agenda.
Eva Salinas, 101-year-old who lives in a Lansing-area nursing home, never caught coronavirus.

But the pandemic almost killed her, says Traci Ruiz, an eldercare advocate who has overseen Salinas care in recent years.

A childless widow who turns 102 next month, Salinas was a vibrant woman who thrived in the social life at Ingham County Medical Care before the pandemic, Ruiz said. But the pandemic has severely restricted visitors, and residents have been largely confined to their rooms during the past year.

That isolation has been emotionally devastating for Salinas, Ruiz said.

Over the summer, she literally mentally broke down. She called me several times a day, screaming and crying, Ruiz said, and because of the restrictions, Salinas couldnt see a therapist in person.

By fall, Salinas physical health deteriorated to the point where her caretakers feared the centenarian might literally die of loneliness.

Ruiz arranged for hospice services, an arrangement that allowed Ruiz to regularly visit Salinas in person. She immediately blossomed and did a full 360 in terms of health, Ruiz said.

But Salinas still sorely misses the activities and social interactions that occurred in the home before the pandemic, and its been a miserable year for her, Ruiz said. This past year has been so emotional, so sad and frustrating.

Salinas is not alone. Perhaps no group has been hit harder by the pandemic than the elderly. Theyve comprised a lion share of COVID-19 deaths and hospitalizations, and the threat posed by the virus to their physical health has forced many into isolation, taking a tremendous toll on their mental health.

Advocates for the elderly are now hoping the current attention being paid to nursing homes and senior citizen services will galvanize policymakers to adopt long-term reforms.

I think the pandemic has put broad problems within the system into focus, said Mark Hornbeck, spokesman for the Michigan AARP. And we certainly hope that that will have positive, long-term impacts on services and long-term care facilities.

Among those problems are the way nursing homes are funded and staffed, two issues that are intertwined, said Lisa Sanders, spokeswoman for LeadingAge, a national advocacy agency that represents nonprofits that provide a range of senior services.

Its our fervent hope there will be sustained interest and desire now to fix many of the long-standing issues that providers have had, she said. The first one is the chronic underfunding of Medicaid, the primary revenue stream for many long-term care facilities.

That underfunding impacts the quality of care that nursing homes provide, especially in regards to attracting and retaining staff, said Sanders and others.

Even during the best of times, working as a caregiver in a nursing home has meant low wages for demanding work. The pandemic significantly increased the workload and stresses for those workers, even as the situation highlighted the importance of quality caregiving and the chronic issues of staffing turnover and shortages.

Starting last April, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer instituted a $2 an hour pay raise for direct-care workers in long-term care facilities funded by Medicaid, and she has proposed making that permanent. Advocates said the average starting hourly wage for a direct care worker is $11.44.

But pay is just part of the challenge in attracting and retaining staff, said Melissa Samuel, president and CEO of the Health Care Association of Michigan, which represents long-term care providers.

Regardless of wages, its a calling to be in this profession. Theres a certain kind of individual who can work with the geriatric population, Samuel said. So its about wages, but its providing a career path and ladder. Thats critical.

Samuels organization is among those pushing for a certified nurse aides program that would encourage workers to get additional training. The idea is to improve the skill level of aides, which would improve the quality of care, while giving workers a chance to get a salary bump once they earn their certificate.

That training also could be a gateway for aides to become a licensed practical nurse or a registered nurse, Samuel said. It could be a real nice step in between.

LeadingAge and the American Health Care Association also are hoping to leverage lessons learned during the pandemic to push a number of other reforms for long-term care facilities.

That includes better infection control strategies; having a registered nurse available around the clock; ensuring a stockpile of personal protective equipment; improving the system to evaluate nursing-home quality, and better strategies to identify low-performing facilities and either closing them or turning them around.

We know CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) will be looking at this. We know Congress will be looking at this, Samuel said. Our national association has some, what I would consider, pretty bold initiatives, things like having an infection preventionist on staff and looking at chronically poor-performing facilities. These are bold ideas, but given what this sector has gone through, we need to look at and consider them.

Jaque King, a policy analyst for University of Michigans Center for Health and Research Transformation who has looked at nursing homes responses to the pandemic, said its clear that quality of care within nursing homes is tied to staff.

Theres really a clear need to care for and support staff, she said. During our study, we heard a lot of issues around being undervalued and underpaid, and about the need for training and education going forward.

The pandemic also underscored some of the culture problems within individual nursing homes, she said, such as taking punitive approach vs. a teaching approach toward staff when problems arose, and the need for clarity as guidelines kept changing during the pandemic and some workers werent properly briefed.

Plus, theres the fact that staffing levels are really important to keeping nursing home residents safe, King said. Those are the kinds of challenges the pandemic really highlighted and brought to light.

Its not just the long-term care system thats under scrutiny. The high coronavirus case and deaths rates in nursing homes, along with the lockdowns and visitation bans within facilities, had some patients and families opting for home care instead, especially for shorter-term rehabilitation stints after a hospital stay.

Certainly, the pandemic has resulted in more people choosing to be home, said Barry Cargill, head of the Michigan HomeCare and Hospice Association.

The challenge for his members included trying to handle that increase in patients; dealing with the Medicaid and Medicare funding restrictions, and trying to provide quality care while keeping patients and caregivers safe.

That latter included a big embrace of technology, including telehealth and remote patient monitoring, he said. While those systems existed before the pandemic, theyve expanded considerably in the past year by necessity.

There is technology out there that helps accelerate care and how care is delivered, and the home-care arena is going to embrace that, Cargill said. Its fundamental change.

One barrier that still needs to be address is Medicare currently bans reimbursement of telehealth services by a home health agency, he said. If agencies wanted to do, they could but they had to do for free -- and some did. But thats not sustainable.

Like Samuel, Cargill said the pandemic highlights to need to raise wages for direct-care aides as a way to attract and retain quality workers. Were in a crisis mode right now, he said, adding that the $2 an hour wage hike given by the state doesnt apply to many home care workers..

Robyn Rontal, policy analytics director at U-Ms Center for Health and Research Transformation, said the shift to home care may be one of the lasting legacies of the pandemic.

For years, she said, theres been a movement to find ways to shift care to to the home with supportive services, she said. There are a lot of good examples innovate programs and polices that are starting to test that approach. But I think the pandemic shone a spotlight on the need for better services in the home.

These conversations are long overdue, says Ruiz, whose eldercare consulting agency, Traci Ruiz Consulting in Lansing, took on Eva Salinas as a pro bono client.

Ruiz described her frustration when she heard about plan in Ingham County to distribute food to those going hungry during the pandemic, but didnt take into account housebound seniors.

They cant drive, they dont have family or cant get to a mobile food pantry, she said. This was something that needed to be figured out ASAP. Its not something where we can just throw up our hands.

These seniors are people who wont ask for anything, she said. Theyre prideful. Theyve very much the generation that asked for the minimal. Were not going to turn out backs on seniors in the community.

Read more on MLive:

6 reasons that Michigans COVID-19 numbers are surging

How to find a COVID-19 vaccination appointment in Michigan

Pharmacies help ramp up coronavirus vaccines in Michigan
The Perspective

Atlanta, Georgia

March 26, 2021

The Congress for Democratic Change government of Liberia under George Weah through its National Security Agency (NSA), recently invited a Liberian lawmaker from Lofa County, Francis Sakila Nyumalin to answer to an opinion the government seems to describe as treason, a breach of the peace, or felony. The opinion expressed, if the seat of newly elected Senator, Brownie J. Samukai is declared vacant, all other elected positions to include President will be declared vacant and that will begin the process of negotiating for an interim government. This lettering is examining whether an opinion expressed by a sitting lawmaker shows intent to overthrow a government to which an arrest, detention, prosecution, or trial can be effected or whether a member of the Legislature, in general, can be arrested why serving the country?

Rep. Francis Sakila Nyumalin

Foundationally, it is important to emphasize that the constitutional framers of Liberias Republic created the Legislature and protected members of that branch of government from arbitrary arrests, detentions, prosecutions, and trials in the exercise of their functions. They mandated, No member of the Senate or House of Representatives shall be arrested, detained, prosecuted, or tried as a result of opinions expressed or votes cast in the exercise of the functions of his office. Members shall be privileged from arrests while attending, going to, or returning from sessions of the Legislature, except for treason, felony, or breach of the peace. All official acts done or performed and all statements made in the Chambers of the Legislature shall be privileged, and no Legislator shall be held accountable or punished, therefore. Article 42, 1986 constitution, Republic of Liberia

INTENTLY LOOKING AT ARTICLE 42

This endowed provision of the constitution is compressed and an intent look at key phrases and words matters in understanding the interpretative meaning of the framers voices in article 42. Like, this writing seeks to discover the intent of the framers, the meaning of opinions expressed, privileged from arrest while going to sessions, and returning from sessions, privileged acts done or performed and all statements made in the chambers.

Firstly, what is the intent of the framers in article 42? Likely, there are no purposeful ambiguities in the provision above. It clearly presents the framers strong will to protect members of the first branch, the Legislature in a clear sentence. And the purpose is to protect them from the Executive Branch of government, the Judiciary, and all others who may get offended for opinions expressed or votes cast in the performance of their functions or duties as elected legislators. With emphasis, the framers strongly knew that the Executive controlling the guns and money could use its powers to intimidate members of the first branch to work at its will and pleasure. Hence, the forewarnings of the framers, No member of the Senate or House of Representatives shall be arrested, detained, prosecuted or tried as a result of opinions expressed or votes cast in the exercise of the functions of his office, was written to guarantee good governance and promote an open democracy. So, keenly, we underscored opinion expressed, vote cast , and exercise of functions of the office .

Protecting OPINIONS EXPRESSED; the constitutional framers of Liberias democracy undeniably guaranteed opinions expressed. For that, they wrote, every person shall have the right to freedom of expression, being fully responsible for the abuse thereof. This right shall not be curtailed, restricted or enjoined by government save during an emergency declared in accordance with this Constitution. It further says, The right encompasses the right to hold opinions without interference and the right to knowledge. It includes freedom of speech and of the press, etc. In a stronger voice, the framers directed that In pursuance of this right, there shall be no limitation on the public rights to be informed about the government and its functionaries. Article 15, (a)(b) &(c), Liberian Constitution, 1986

Consequentially, with these strong constitutional words, we asked, is Representative Nyumalins opinion expressed, if the seat of newly elected Senator, Brownie J. Samukai is declared vacant, all other elected positions to include president will be declared vacant and that will begin the process of negotiating for an interim government, an act of treason, breach of the peach, felony, or abuse of free speech for which he should be arrested, detained, prosecuted, or tried?

Very likely not, the opinion expressed is protected by the constitution of Liberia and it should be without interference by the Executive as stated in article fifteen. Likely, the statement is purely a political statement. However, assuming an abuse occurs, the remedy is not an interference by the National Security Agency, but the House itself.

The meaning of  IN THE EXERCISE, and OF HIS OFFICE ; The phraseology,  in the exercise , and of his office is indicative that a member of the House or Senate is a master of his or her own conduct, and may or disregards the counsel of others as he or she performs duties assigned by the constitution of Liberia. The exercise of his office is conclusively unambiguous to the point that any Liberian who meets the requirements and elected to the office of Representative, or Senator and inducted; from the period of induction to the end of the elected six or nine years respectively, opinions expressed or votes cast is privileged, and no arrest, detention, prosecution, or trial can be, therefore. Further, it is clear that in the exercise of his office  is not limited to physical presence in the Capitol Building, the chambers or in session. An elected Lawmaker has a conferred title protected for the term of his or her election. He or she does not take off the title while visiting any public or private places for possible arrest. A lawmaker is a Lawmaker even when he or she is at his or her residence and at rest. This is why conscious decisions must be made always by electorates as to who become Representatives and Senators for Liberia because it is a position of honor and respect.

WHILE ATTENDING, GOING TO OR RETURNING FROM SESSIONS; Again, in article Forty-two, the prefatory sentence reveals these phrases: while attending sessions, while going to sessions, or while returning from sessions. These phrases reveal a significant fare-reading of a mandate from the framers. The mandate directs explicitly a privilege from arrest, detention, prosecution, and trial of Representatives for opinions expressed and votes cast. In these phraseological expressions, its realized that the daily movements of Representatives and Senators are protected from any security or sheriffs arrests and by extension their staffers too; the exceptional gap is, when they are at home. But even with that, they are protected under privacy law. So, clearly, the framers intentional privileges for Legislators for the six-year, and nine-year are safeguarded. The pragmatic truth for possible places of arrest, like the Capitol Building and the streets, are all protected. State securities cannot arrest them in their homes, not in the streets, and at the Capitol Building, the weight of the framers voices is state securities are constitutionally barred from arresting any legislator why attending, going to or returning from sessions.

The rationale for this purposeful privileged doctrine is to protect legislators to ensure that the constitutionally assigned duties are performed and discretionary duties are done independently without fear of outside interference.

Truly so, duties like providing for the security of the Republic; the common defense, declaring war and authorizing the Executive to conclude peace; to raise and support the Armed Forces of the Republic, and make appropriations provided that no appropriation of money for that use shall be for a longer-term then one year; and to make rules for the governance of the Armed Forces of the Republic, are few amongst many dutiful acts assigned that need no interference as provided for under the constitution. They are not to be sued for all actions taken in the province of their legislative workings and those privileges also extend to the staffers of the Legislators.

Article 34, Liberian constitution, 1986

Understanding PRIVILEGED ACTS DONE OR PERFORMED AND ALL STATEMENTS; it is written,  All official acts done or performed, and all statements made in the Chambers of the Legislature shall be privileged, and no Legislator shall be held accountable, or punished therefor. Article 42, the constitution of Liberia, 1986

Keenly, it is very important to highlight that the framers are speaking of three privileged actions that include all official acts done , all official acts performed and all statements made in the Chambers. By law, none of these acts by a sitting lawmaker, amount to an arrest, detention, prosecution, or trial.

Intently looking at the provision, the two letter-word or, is a conjunction. According to the Cambridge dictionary, it is conjunction that connects two possibilities or alternatives; it connects words, phrases and clauses which are the same grammatical type. In this case, the phrase all official acts done refers to discretionary duties completed as the result of official title, member of the House or Senate. This is reasonably connected with the verbal word, performed, an alternative is official acts required by law for a member of the House or the Senate to perform. It is an alternative to duties expected to be done. The framers being very conscious, and desirous to protect lawmakers, connected the two kinds of duties to a third, statements made in the chambers as privileged for members of the Legislature. That is, No member of the House of Representatives or the Senate is to be arrested for a discretionary duty done or any duty by law performed and any statement made in the chambers of the Legislature. The peoples Representatives when elected are privileged at all times until a constitutional amendment. It is not whether we like them or not, this is the law.

Further, the conjunction and between all official acts done or performed, and all statements made in the chambers of the Legislature, are two distinct actions. The first is any, actions done or performed, anywhere and not necessarily in the chambers as to the second, statements made. Assuming the framers wanted to restrict the privileges of official acts done or performed and the statements, all to the chambers of the Legislature, the drafters would have written law like; All official acts done, performed or statements made in the chambers of the Legislature, and not the former.

The EXCEPTIONS OF THE PRIVILEGES TREASON, BREACH OF THE PEACE AND FELONY; Under the doctrine of separation of powers, the Legislative branch is the only institution that regulates itself and regulates the two order branches of government as provided for under the constitution of Liberia. In the event of the privilege exceptions; like treason, breach of the peace and felony. Good governance necessitates the Executive Branch to present the facts to the Speaker and members of the House of Representatives or The President pro-tempore and members of the Senate for self-regulatory action against its own without fear or favor against any of its members. Either House whose member may be involved in any of the exceptions, a committee is usually best constituted for an investigation. If from a due process investigation, evidence corroborates otherwise with an allegation from the Executive, the constituted committee would report to the full plenary, and the plenary would determine a decision of the cause established and with the concurrence of two-thirds of the entire membership a House concerned, under its adopted rules of procedure can enforce an order by expelling, suspending or warning a member. In an event of an expulsion, the veil of legislative privileges or immunities is removed, thereafter, any executive action could be appropriate in law, but, until then the contrary is notwithstanding.

Further, emphases are placed that no person is guilty of an offense under Liberian laws unless he or she acts purposely, knowingly, recklessly, or negligently as the law may require, with respect to each material element of the offense, like a felony, Treason, or breach of the peach. Hence, one would wonder how the opinion expressed by Representative Nyumalin certifies any of the elements of these high constitutional crimes, the exceptions of the privileges when the House of Representatives that regulates itself has not formally acted to perform what the constitution requires of them, assuming the accusation levied against one of its own is true? Truly, Liberia must be governed by laws and not men; the expressed opinion is what can be described as a mere political statement.

Concluding, the prohibitory words in article forty-two of the constitution of Liberia and other powerful provisions regarding the expression of opinions by Lawmakers while exercising the duties of the office elected must be respected by the presidents of Liberia, the Judiciary Branch, and all others to include their agents like the National Security Agency (NSA). The framers mandate expresses a strong desire to protect discretionary duties done and performed by all elected members of the House and Senate. And with particularity, this writing calls on the government to ignore and submit to the framers command by respecting the laws and by restoring the dignity of Lofa County Representative, Francis Sakila Nyumalin. Further, this writing notes that if the expressed opinion of the Representative is one of the exceptions to the privileges, good governance dictates that such matter be presented to Members of the House of Representatives of which he is a fellow for action and not the National Security Agency, a creature of that body whose activities Representative Francis Sakila Nyumalin has an oversight. Lastly, the conjunction if used in the expressed opinion of the Representative is a conditionality of statement in its entirety, likely circumventing any intent to have committed any constitutional high crime.
The event saw the presence of Cambodian Ambassador to Vietnam Chay Navuth; Chairman of the Vietnamese National Assemblys Committee for External Relations and former Governor of the SBV Nguyen Van Giau; SBV Governor Nguyen Thi Hong; and 33 Team K officials.

On behalf of the Cambodia Government and people, Chay Navuth expressed his deep gratitude to the Government and people of Vietnam, especially the Vietnamese experts who were sent to help Cambodia in the past struggle for national liberation and the cause of post-war national development.

Cambodia always remembers the significant support of Vietnam in rescuing Cambodia from the genocidal Pol Pot regime and helping the country with its national reconstruction and development after the war, he affirmed.

Cambodian Ambassador to Vietnam Chay Navuth speaks at the ceremony. (Photo: SBV)



The SBV sent Team K specialists to assist Cambodia in training banking human resources, while sharing equipment with the NBC to use during the working process, such as safes, locks and other banking devices, the ambassador said, attributing the NBCs current achievements to the valuable support offered by the SBV specialists.

At the ceremony, Chay Navuth, as authorised by the Royal Government of Cambodia, presented the fifth-class Royal Order of Sahametrei and Certificates of Appreciation from the Cambodian Government and the NBC to 33 specialists of Team K in recognition of their important contributions to the construction of the Cambodian financial-banking system in the 1979-1989 period.

SBV Governor Nguyen Thi Hong speaks at the event. (Photo: SBV)

In her remarks, SBV Governor Nguyen Thi Hong expressed her pride in Team K officials contributions and efforts to rise above difficulties in the development cause of the country and the banking sector, as well as in developing the friendly cooperation between Vietnam and neighbouring Cambodia.

She thanked the Royal Government of Cambodia and the NBC for their recognition and presentation of noble awards to former experts of the Vietnamese banking sector, affirming the SBVs continued efforts to further enhance friendship and multifaceted collaboration with the NBC, thus contributing to tightening Vietnam-Cambodia solidarity and friendly cooperation.
A black man who was paralyzed after he was shot in the back by a white police officer in southeastern Wisconsin filed a civil lawsuit Thursday accusing the officer of excessive force.

Jacob Blake Jr was shot by Kenosha Officer Rusten Sheskey in August while Blake was about to get into an SUV during a domestic dispute. Blake's federal complaint against Sheskey, the only defendant, is seeking unspecified damages.

The shooting of Blake, captured on bystander video, turned the nation's spotlight on Wisconsin during a summer marked by protests over police brutality and racism.

Jacob Blake Jr was shot by Kenosha Officer Rusten Sheskey in August while Blake was about to get into an SUV during a domestic dispute

Blake, who was paralyzed after he was shot in the back by a white police officer in southeastern Wisconsin, filed a civil lawsuit Thursday accusing the officer of excessive force

Officer Sheskey and two other Kenosha officers were trying to arrest Blake on an outstanding warrant when a pocketknife fell from his pants during a scuffle

It happened three months after George Floyd died while being restrained by police officers in Minneapolis.

The white officer charged with murder and manslaughter in Floyd's killing is currently on trial.

Sheskey and two other Kenosha officers were trying to arrest Blake on an outstanding warrant when a pocketknife fell from his pants during a scuffle.

Blake said he picked it up before heading to a vehicle to drive away with two of his children in the back seat.

He said he was prepared to surrender once he put the knife in the vehicle.

Sheskey told investigators that he feared for his own safety so he opened fire.

Blake, who was paralyzed during the incident, said he picked up a pocketknife before heading to a vehicle to drive away with two of his children in the back seat. He said he was prepared to surrender once he put the knife in the vehicle, but Sheskey said he feared for his life

A Wisconsin prosecutor declined to file criminal charges against Sheskey, concluding he couldn't disprove the officer's contention that he acted in self-defense because he thought the man would stab him.

Court documents do not list an attorney for Sheskey.

The 18-page complaint includes still photos showing each of the seven shots fired by Sheskey.

The officer held the muzzle only a few feet away from where Blake's two young children were seated, putting them in 'imminent danger' from being hit by gunfire or ricocheting bullets, according to the complaint.

Shaskey's actions were 'undertaken with malice, willfulness, and reckless indifference to the rights' of Blake, the lawsuit said.
The traditional ruler said the declaration was in line with the state's anti FGM law (2017).

Twenty-two communities in IhitteUboma Local Government Area of Imo State on Thursday, declared an end to Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in the area.

The Chairman of Imo traditional institution in IhitteUboma, Jude Uwalaka, made the declaration for the abandonment of FGM in the local government area.

The traditional ruler said the declaration was in line with the state's anti FGM law (2017).

Mr Uwalaka thanked the support partners, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the National Orientation Agency (NOA) for their "enduring solidarity to the course".

He said anyone who violated the law would be duly prosecuted and punished as a deterrent to intending perpetrators.

"We, the 22 communities in IhitteUboma have reached a consensus to declare on this day that FGM is prohibited and abolished from our land in accordance with the Imo anti FGM law (2017).

"As law abiding citizens, we shall hand over for prosecution anyone who flaunts this declaration as the practice is now prohibited in IhitteUboma," the traditional ruler said.

The UNICEF Chief of Field Office, Enugu, Ibrahim Conteh, lauded the communities for taking the decision, saying it was a demonstration of civil obedience and adherence to extant laws.

Mr Conteh, who was represented by Benjamin Mbakwem, a UNICEF consultant for FGM in Imo and Ebonyi states, described the practice as a component of violence against women and girls.

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He commended the communities for taking what he described as a "bold step", while urging the leaders to sustain the momentum.

"We have been supporting the implementing partners through advocacy and community mobilisation to enhance social norms for the abandonment of FGM, and today we are most elated that the results are positive.

"UNICEF is in solidarity with the 22 communities of IhitteUboma and we kindly urge that this momentum be maintained and the resolutions sustainably implemented," he said.

Also speaking, the NOA director in Imo, Vitus Ekeocha, described the declaration as the most decisive step by the communities in the campaign to end FGM and commended them for their collective willingness.

"What we are witnessing here today is the outcome of various engagements and advocacy meetings with critical stakeholders on the negative health and psycho-social consequences of FGM on the female folk.

"This public declaration marks a great milestone in the history of Ihitte Uboma people and we commend the traditional rulers, religious, youths and women leaders for this step in the right direction," he said.

The Commissioner for Women Affairs in the state, Nkechinyere Ugwu, appealed to residents of the communities to remain law abiding and fight FGM until the end.

The Chairman of the local government area, Chike Omemgbe, thanked the support partners for their cooperation and pledged to establish a taskforce to monitor implementation of the declaration.

The event was attended by representatives of the 22 communities in the local government area, traditional and religious leaders.
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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.  Sandia National Laboratories has been awarded a $25 million contract to build, test and operate a new solar power test facility on its campus in New Mexico.

Using a concentrated beam of sunlight to heat up sand-like particles, lab officials say the system will be able to produce thermal energy for thousands of hours and will have the capacity to store six hours of energy. This heat can be used to spin a turbine or power an engine to generate electricity.

The contract was announced Thursday by the lab and the U.S. Energy Department. The goal of the federal agency is to develop technology that can make concentrating solar power plants more reliable and easier to build using fewer high-cost materials so that they can be more widely commercialized.

The New Mexico-based lab already is home to the National Solar Thermal Test Facility and has been working for years on the development of wind turbines and other renewable energy systems.

Officials say the team at Sandia is working with researchers from Australia as well as particle-technology researchers who are building a second concentrating solar power facility in Saudi Arabia to test variants of key components.

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Shade uses offensive attack to take down Shanksville in D5-A semis
United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has injected $7.5m (about Shs27.4b) in Karamoja Sub-region to address high tuberculosis (TB) prevalence and low treatment success rates in the area.

The 2020 to 2025 TB programme aims at supporting locally generated solutions and mobilising health facilities, village health teams, and community members for accelerated screening, successful treatment and prevention of TB.

"The United States mission in Uganda is committed to building a healthy, vibrant society where everyone has opportunities to achieve their full potential. Today, we join Uganda and the global community to acknowledge and remind the world how serious TB is and reaffirm our global commitment to ending the disease," said Mr Richard Nelson, the USAID Uganda mission director, at the national commemoration World TB Day in Moroto.

According to Ministry of Health, about 90,000 Ugandans get TB annually. Of these 1,500 have drug-resistant TB while an estimated 15,600 die of TB-related illnesses.

Health minister Ruth Jane Aceng said Karamoja is one of the high TB burdened regions and that the national TB treatment success cannot be achieved without involving it as a priority.

"It is estimated that in Karamoja, TB is 10 times more prevalent than the national average. The treatment success rate was significantly low below 50 per cent. We have seen progressive improvement to about 80 per cent of those who start TB treatment completing successfully which has improved the national treatment success rates to over 80 percent from 72 per cent," she said.

Ministry of Health has asked all leaders to involve the community in TB fight and follow up programmes instead of waiting for partners to do so.
FLINT, MI -- Attorneys for some residents in the Flint water crisis settlement are asking a federal court judge to give adults and children more time to register to opt-in or opt-out of the settlement with a Monday, March 29, deadline looming.

Philadelphia attorney Mark Cuker, who represents approximately 1,300 Flint residents in federal water cases, asked to extend the registration period to May 17, and U.S. District Court Judge Judith E. Levy has set a hearing for his request on Friday, March 26.

Cukers court motion asking for the additional time says the extension is needed to accommodate a sustained increase of public interest in registering and because of a lack of access to bone scan testing other than an existing test site operated by another law firm.

Without this additional time, many of Flint residents could either be excluded from the partial settlement process all together, while others will not be able to properly assess how to proceed now that there will be no alternative (bone) scanning available, if shown to be safe, Cukers motion says.

The state of Michigan and lead attorneys for individuals represented by their own lawyers oppose the 60-day extension, the motion filed Wednesday, March 25 says, while lead attorneys representing individuals in a class action tied to the settlement favor it.

On Thursday, March 26, two additional attorneys who represent Flint residents filed motions supporting the requested deadline extension.

Cuker said only a few days ago, in the midst of registration fever, he learned that an alternative site to scan residents bones to determine their lead exposure would not be feasible and said portable scanning equipment being used in Flint by the law firm Napoli Shkolnik has not been shown by qualified professionals to be safe for humans.

Adults and children with completed bone scans can earn significantly more than others in the same age categories, according to the settlement. Blood and neurological testing results can also be used to prove lead exposure in those making claims.

The $641-million water crisis settlement was reached by attorneys for Flint residents and the state of Michigan in August and was later joined by the city of Flint, McLaren Regional Medical Center and Rowe Professional Services, each of which agreed to pay millions of dollars to excuse themselves and their employees from more than 100 water crisis lawsuits pending in state and federal courts.

The settlement has received preliminary approval from Levy. It provides for nearly 80 percent of settlement funds -- after attorney fees and expenses -- to be paid to children who were younger than 18 when they were first exposed to Flint River water, which contained elevated levels of lead, bacteria and chlorination byproducts in 2014 and 2015.

As the registration deadline has approached, Cuker said response from the public has grown exponentially with his own law firm having scheduled more than 100 appointments with citizens seeking to register, with dozens more seeking appointments for the remainder of this week and into the weekend.

As of Monday, March 22, the U.S. District Court claims administrator reported that there were approximately 29,220 registrants that had been entered into the settlement database with an additional 4,121 registration forms that have been received but that are still being processed.

Additionally, a major qualifying proof for higher monetary awards -- bone scan testing -- is all but removed from the grid categories for thousands of citizens, who have not been able to get access to the procedure, the motion says.

Bone scans have been a major point of contention in the settlement agreement and Cuker said efforts to set up a safe clinic for the procedure have failed, in part because doctors who investigated the possibility were never able to obtain a device from the manufacturer that would be able to be modified (for human testing) because the manufacturer refused to provide one if it was going to be used on people.

Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha and Dr. Lawrence Reynolds, key figures in having the water crisis recognized as a federal emergency, have each advised against the procedure for children, particularly the use of a portable X-ray fluorescence device, or XRF, that was originally not designed for use on humans.

Hunter Shkolnik of Napoli Shkolnik and Corey Stern of Levy Konigsberg LLP, who were appointed as lead attorneys for individually represented Flint residents in the settlement, have defended use of the XRF, saying it is not being used to diagnose, prevent or treat any disease, and poses no risk to children or adults to exposure to radiation.

Read more on MLive:

Monday registration deadline looms for Flint water crisis settlement

Flint pediatrician who blew the whistle on water crisis wont recommend bone scans for kids

Flint mayors health advisor calls water settlement bone lead testing a human rights violation

Youngest Flint water crisis victims to get 80 percent of historic $600 million settlement
Police in Utah have arrested and charged six suspects in connection with the abduction and murder of a 25-year-old woman whose body has not been recovered nearly two months after her disappearance.

Conzuelo 'Nicole' Solorio-Romero, 25, was 'forcibly taken' from her Kearns home on February 6 and brought by car to an apartment in West Valley City, where police say she was shot in the back of the head.

Investigators say Solorio-Romero's attackers believed she had given information to the police on one of their close associates, resulting in his arrest.

Conzuelo 'Nicole' Solorio-Romero, 25, was taken from her Kearns, Utah, home on February 6 and shot in the back of the head

Orlando Tobar, 29 (left), and Jorge Medina-Reyes, 21 (right), have been charged with aggravated murder, aggravated kidnapping and obstruction of justice

A screenshot from surveillance video shows Solorio-Romero being forced into a car in Kearns

On Friday, the Kearns Unified Police Department announced the arrest of a sixth suspect in the case, identified as 26-year-old Cristian Noe Morales-Gonzalez, who was charged with obstruction of justice.

According to officials, Morales-Gonzalez, who goes by the street nickname 'the mechanic,' was called in to dispose of Solorio-Romero's body after her killing, reported Deseret News.

Orlando Tobar, 29, from Guatemala, and Jorge Medina-Reyes, 21, from Venezuela, were arrested last month and charged with aggravated murder, aggravated kidnapping and obstruction of justice.

According to a probable cause affidavit, it was Tobar who shot and killed Solorio-Romero after telling her she knew too much, and that she was not going to leave the apartment.

A witness later allegedly overheard Tobar tell someone that the victim did not die from the initial shot and he had to shoot her a second time.

Earlier this week, police arrested Carolina Marquez, 38 (left), and her son, 22-year-old, Fernando Marquez (right) on the same counts of Tobar and Medina-Reyes

Ivan Acosta, left, was arrested and charged with kidnapping and obstruction of justice. Cristian Noe Morales-Gonzalez, right, nicknamed 'the mechanic,' is suspected of disposing of Solorio-Romero's body

Police say Solorio-Romero worked at Carolina's eatery, Tacos Mi Caramelo, and that Carolina suspected her of snitching on her other son, leading to his arrest

Earlier this week, police arrested Carolina Marquez, 38, and her son, 22-year-old, Fernando Marquez, along with Ivan Acosta, 27. The trio were booked into jail on the some of the same charges as the first two suspects.

A confidential informant told police that Carolina, who owns the Tacos Mi Caramelo eatery where Solorio-Romerio worked, had been telling people that her other adult son was set up by someone and is now in jail, the affidavit stated.

Following the shooting, Medina-Reyes allegedly called Morales-Gonzalez and asked him to come over and dispose of Solorio-Romeros body.

Acosta told police that he saw the man dubbed 'the mechanic' leave in a white truck 'to go get rid of Nicole's body.'

During an interview with police, Carolina Marquez said everyone then headed to her restaurant in West Valley City before returning to the crime scene to clean up the blood, reported Fox 13 Now.
Portland police are searching for someone who they believe threatened a driver with a gun, then stole their car and crashed it into a TriMet vehicle early Thursday.

Police responded to Southeast 65th Avenue between Reedway and Harold streets about 5 a.m. on a report of a robbery. When officers arrived, they found a man who said he had been sitting in his 1999 Honda Accord and warming it up when someone came up to his car, pointed a gun to his head and ordered him out of the car.

The man said he complied and that the suspect got in the car and drove away. Police searched the area but didnt find the suspect or stolen car.

About 20 minutes later, the suspect crashed the stolen car into a TriMet LIFT vehicle near North Lombard Street at the Interstate 5 overpass.

Police said the driver and lone occupant of the TriMet vehicle was not seriously injured. The suspect fled the scene and left a handgun in the car.

Officers ask anyone who lives in the area of Southeast 65th Avenue and Harold Street who has surveillance footage to check their recordings from about 5 a.m. and report any signs of the suspect to Portland police.

They said the suspect is a man in his early 20s who stands 5-foot-6, weighs 145 pounds and has short hair. He was wearing a gray sweater and jeans, police said.

Jayati Ramakrishnan; 503-221-4320; jramakrishnan@oregonian.com; @JRamakrishnanOR
Holy Crap Breakfast Cereals available in Whole Foods locations in Toronto, Ottawa, Oakville, Mississauga, and Markham

Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - March 26, 2021) - Plant&Co. Brands Ltd. (CSE: VEGN) (FSE: VGP) (OTC Pink: VGANF) ("Plant&Co" or the "Company"), a modern health and wellness company curating delicious plant-based foods, is pleased to report its healthy and delicious Holy Crap breakfast cereals are now available in Whole Foods stores in Ontario.

Holy Crap breakfast cereal is a high-quality product that tastes greats, helps maintain a healthy gut, and makes consumers feel good inside and out. Holy Crap offers four distinct SKUs all of which contain certified organic, non-GMO, kosher and gluten free ingredients, such as hemp seed, buckwheat, chia seeds, and gluten-free oats. The tasty, nutrient-packed breakfast cereals have high levels of essential amino and fatty acids, a kick of fiber, and are free from the top 9 allergens and free from any additives like added flavors, preservatives, chemicals, color, salt, or oils.

Holy Crap Breakfast Cereals - healthy Gut, healthy mind!



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"We are delighted that consumers can now find Holy Crap organic breakfast cereals at all Whole Food locations across Canada. Our loyal consumers always tell us that eating Holy Crap makes them feel great and that it helps them maintain a healthy gut. With emerging science, we also know that maintaining a healthy gut creates a happy mindand who doesn't need a little more happy?" said Donna Reddy, President of Plant&Co.

Whole Foods has over 400 stores in North America, including 13 store locations in Canada. If you're visiting the Vancouver, Victoria, Toronto, or Ottawa area, you will find a Whole Foods store stocked with favorite products. Whole Foods is known for selling organic and all-natural products. When it comes to the food products it makes available, this progressive store maintains the strictest quality standards and this practice is shared with Holy Crap. No artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives are included in products - only the best quality. In 2017, Amazon agreed to buy the upscale grocery chain for US$13.4 billion, in a deal that instantly transformed it from a pioneer of online shopping into a merchant with physical outposts in hundreds of neighborhoods across the North America and into Europe.

As featured on CBC's Dragons Den, Holy Crap is focused on creating innovative brands and products inspired to improve lives through simple, quality ingredients. Holy Crap products are manufactured in Gibsons, British Columbia and are available at 575 locations across Canada including many well-known Canadian retailers such as Whole Foods, Save-On-Foods and London Drugs, as well as online through its website at www.holycrap.com and through www.amazon.ca.

The markets for breakfast cereals is large and growing. According to a recent analyst report by The Business Research Company, the global breakfast cereal market is expected to grow from $56.86 billion in 2020 to $60.07 billion in 2021 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.6%. While the year-over-year growth is mainly due to companies rearranging their operations and recovering from the impact of COVID-19, the market is estimated to reach $75.44 billion in 2025 at a CAGR of 6%. Growing adoption of convenience foods and rising health consciousness are likely to augment the demand for breakfast cereals over the forecast period. Furthermore, consciousness among people to consume healthy products, mostly in western countries, also plays a vital role in generating demand. Rising awareness among people in emerging economies regarding health benefits associated with breakfast cereals is poised to create ample opportunities for new market entrants.

About Whole Foods

Who are we? Well, we seek out the finest natural and organic foods available, maintain the strictest quality standards in the industry, and have an unshakeable commitment to sustainable agriculture. Add to that the excitement and fun we bring to shopping for groceries, and you start to get a sense of what we're all about. Oh yeah, we're a mission-driven company too.

About Plant&Co

Plant&Co. Brands Ltd. (CSE: VEGN) (FSE: VGP) (OTC Pink: VGANF) is modern health and wellness company curating delicious plant-based foods. For more information please visit: www.PlantandCo.com.

About Holy Crap Foods Inc.

At Holy Crap Foods Inc. our mission is to create products that create a healthy gut through simple, quality ingredients that ultimately feed the connection between gut and mind. Holy Crap is an organic breakfast cereal for today's consumer that expects their food to work hard for them. Our great tasting cereal helps maintain a healthy gut which creates a happy mind. For more information on the healthy and high-quality breakfast cereals visit: www.HolyCrap.com.

About YamChops

YamChops is a plant-based butcher shop based in Toronto, Ontario. Vegans, vegetarians, flexitarians and even meat enthusiasts love visiting the beautifully curated shop located in the heart of Toronto's food district. Whether customers sample YamChops' Tunaless "Tuna", Chick*n Schnitzel, Szechuan "Beef", Montreal Style "Steak", or browse their vegan grocery market assisted by its knowledgeable staff, customers will have an unforgettable experience at YamChops vegan butcher shop. YamChops' mission is to provide extraordinary plant-based foods and provide extraordinary service to its customers, with a vision to expand its plant based culinary experience and make YamChops the destination of choice for all consumers. For more product information please visit: www.YamChops.com. Interested entrepreneurs can find more information regarding YamChops franchising opportunities by visiting: https://yamchops.com/pages/franchise.

For additional information, please contact:

Shawn Moniz

Chief Executive Officer

Plant & Co. Brands Ltd.

ir@plantandco.com

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release, which has been prepared by management.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

All statements in this press release, other than statements of historical fact, are "forward-looking information" with respect to the Company within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking information is frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates at the date the statements are made, and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements including, but not limited to delays or uncertainties with regulatory approvals, including that of the CSE. There are uncertainties inherent in forward-looking information, including factors beyond the Company's control. There are no assurances that the business plans for Plant&Co. Brands described in this news release will come into effect on the terms or time frame described herein. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking information if circumstances or management's estimates or opinions should change except as required by law. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. For a description of the risks and uncertainties facing the Company and its business and affairs, readers should refer to the Company's Management's Discussion and Analysis and other disclosure filings with Canadian securities regulators, which are posted on www.sedar.com.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/78615
A right lane on Interstate 295 in Bellmawr, Camden County, remained closed on Friday for emergency repairs following the collapse of a retaining wall on an area of highway that has been under construction for years.

The New Jersey Department of Transportation tweeted one of three lanes would remain closed in Bellmawr from Exits 26 North to north of 26 South. 511nj.org reported Friday morning that the lane was closed from Exit 26 to Exit 28.

NJDOT is in the process of investigating the cause of the collapse, and monitoring the condition of the slope, DOT spokesman Steve Schapiro said in an email.

At this time, everything looks stable, however, the right lane on I-295 northbound will remain closed at least through Monday as a precaution while engineers gather data, Schapiro said. In addition, steps are being taken to further reinforce the slope.

The lane on I-295 was closed about noon on Thursday, when DOT announced that repair work was necessary to fix the wall, which was built as part of a new roadway on the $800 million Direct Connection project.

The highway was under construction by South State General Contractors of South Jersey. A woman who answered the phone at the company on Friday said the business would have no comment on the collapse.

The project began in phases back in 2014 and is designed to make the highway safer and reduce congestion at the intersection of I-295, I-76, and Route 42 in areas of Bellmawr, Mount Ephraim and Gloucester City.

Prior to the project, the interchange was one of the most congested roadways in New Jersey and it had a high rate of crashes, the DOT says on its website. (Direct Connection) will address quality-of-life issues relating to motorists, residents and the environment.

The project is currently in the third of four phases. The current contract, which was awarded to South State, began in April 2017 and is expected to finish in late 2024.

I-295 northbound 1 Right lane of 3 lanes remains closed until further notice from Exit 26N - I-76/I-676 to North of Exit 26S - Rt 42/I-76/I-676 in Bellmawr for emergency construction. Use caution, slow down and expect delays  NJDOT (@NewJerseyDOT) March 26, 2021

But DOT officials told NJ Advance Media on Friday that its too soon to know if the collapse would affect the projects schedule.

The main focus of this (Direct Connection) contract is completing the new bridge, which is the I-295 mainline direct connection over I-76/Route 42, the DOT says on its website.

When work under this contract is completed, I-295 southbound traffic will start using the new bridge, but I-295 northbound traffic will not be using the new bridge until new ramps are built under the fourth and final contract, the DOT said.

Browning Road Bridge over Route 42 also will be reconstructed as part of the third phase, according to the DOT.

Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a subscription.

Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com.
NASA is creating a space food system that provides astronauts with safe and nutritious meals for longer space exploration missions.

The space program's food scientists are working on designing food systems for Mars that vary from those on the International Space Station (ISS), according to a press release.

SPACE WINE: Here's what happens when you age super expensive wine in space

Gone are the days of space food that comes in cubes and semi-liquid nutrition tubes. Today crew members on the ISS can enjoy a Friday night pizza. However, a food system for the Red Planet and beyond needs a little more planning.

NASA

Grace Douglas, lead scientist for NASA's Advanced Food Technology divison, describes why the changes are necessary.

If we're going to start exploring and start becoming more Earth-independent, we need to start understanding how we produce the foods and not just take foods with us, Douglas said on a recent episode of "Houston We Have a Podcast."

NASA food scientists and nutritional biochemists highlight general criteria needed for an interplanetary food system.

Safety - Food grown on the spacecraft and in microgravity will be required to undergo cleaning and testing to reduce foodborne illnesses.

Stability - Crews on multi-year, round-trip missions to Mars will need to bring or grow food that lasts for years and keeps its nutrition value.

Nutrition - The Mars food system needs to be as nutritious as it is delicious

Resource minimization - The food system needs to provide safe, nutritious, palatable food while keeping resource consumption and waste to a minimum.

These, among other criteria, present challenges for designing a food system, and NASA is seeking ideas for addressing these issues through a Deep Space Food Challenge.

Think you could be the next greatest chef providing safe, nutritious, and tasty food for a trip to Mars?

The Deep Space Food Challenge is offering a prize of $500,000 for the best food system submitted by a member of public, according to NASA.

"By specifying the food system requirements and challenges for human expeditions to the Red Planet or other destinations, NASA will be better positioned to overcome these hurdles and ensure the health and performance of astronauts during interplanetary travel."
New Delhi: The Bihar School of Examination Board (BSEB) on Thursday (March 25) announced that they will be declaring the results for class 12th board examinations or BSEB Inter Result 2021 at 3 PM today.

The announcement by the board was made on its official website last night. The Bihar board will announce the inter result at 3.00 PM. The class 12th results will be announced by Minister for education & parliamentary affairs, Vijay Kumar Chaudhary in a press meeting.

Candidates who appeared in the Bihar Board Inter examination 2021 will be able to access their result on biharboardonline.bihar.gov.in and bsebbihar.com for all streams. These links was activated by Bihar board on Thursday.

Earlier last year, the Bihar board had declared the intermediate results in just 25 days. As per the last years data a total of 80.44% of students in all streams had passed the exam.

After the Minister for education & parliamentary affairs, Vijay Kumar Chaudhary announces the result in the press meeting, the candidates can check their results on official website of BSEB: biharboardonline.bihar.gov.in.

Last year, the passing percentage for science stream was 77.39 percent, for commerce stream it stood at 93.26 percent and for humanities stream it stood at 81.44 percent.

Step-by-step guide of accessing BSEB results:

Click on the link above to visit the official website of Bihar Board

The main page will appear, Click on the result tab option

Choose the examination link you are eligible for, either inter or class 12th

Select your stream, enter the BSEB roll number and click on submit.

Your BSEB result 2021 will be displayed on the screen

Click download

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By: Aarika Kim

Easter is a fantastic holiday. Think about it, which other holiday makes savouring copious amounts of chocolate eggs, breakfast foods, and delicious cocktails acceptable on a Sunday?

Whether you observe the holiday religiously or not, one things for sure: Easter brunch is always a good idea.

To help you, weve got a list of excellent restaurants in Singapore offering up the yummiest and most delicious brunch menus for the weekend.

1. Weekend Brunch at Escape, One Farrer Hotel

Weekend Brunch at Escape. (PHOTO: One Farrer Hotel)

Fans of seafood will love brunch at Escape. The restaurant will be launching its brunch menu officially on Easter weekend (April 3 and 4) that will feature more than 20 local and international dishes.

To start, each table will receive a one-time serving seafood platter consisting of marinated white clams, poached prawns, flower crab, and more.

The restaurant will also serve up an Easter-inspired brunch featuring hot cross buns, adorable Easter-themed cupcakes, and loads of savoury options like pasta and assorted grilled sausages. The little ones can also pick from the kids menu. As part of the festivities, kids can also design their cupcakes and enter a mini drawing competition.

Top this all off with complimentary usage of the swimming pool after brunch!

S$68++ per person on Saturdays and Sundays, top up S$28++ for 1 hour of free-flow beverages. Kids between 7 to 12 dine at half price, while kids below 7 eat for free.

For bookings, call +65 6705 7825

2. Prego

Easter 2021. (PHOTO: Prego)

Those looking for a different Easter brunch experience can head to Prego for a classic Italian menu.

From April 2 to 4, guests can look forward to dishes such as grilled octopus with cauliflower cream, lamb fillets, classic mascarpone cheese, chocolate, and passionfruit desserts as part of the celebrations.

Little ones will also get to take home a traditional Italian Easter gift!

S$58++ per person. Pregos Easter menu is available for both lunch (between 11.30 am and 2.30 pm) and dinner (between 5 pm to 10.30 pm).

Story continues

For reservation inquiries, please contact +65 6339 7777 or email reservations.singapore@fairmont.com.

3. Skai

Easter 2021. (PHOTO: Skai)

Indulge in a bottomless brunch that overlooks Singapores beautiful skyline when you book a table at SKAI for Easter brunch.

Expect a good mix of traditional brunch options and some Asian-inspired ones like crab eggs Benedict with yuzu and togarashi hollandaise sauce. Dessert lovers can look forward to SKAIs impressive dessert menu comprising Easter favourites like a spiced carrot cake, mini hot cross buns, and snow egg made with passion fruit and coconut.

S$178++ for brunch with free-flow Brut Taittinger or S$198++ for Rose Taittinger. Bespoke cocktails are also available. Brunch is available at S$89++ for kids between 6 to 12 years old.

For reservation inquiries, please contact +65 6339 7777 or email reservations.singapore@fairmont.com.

4. Shangri-La Hotel, Singapore

Origin Grill Easter Set Menu Dine-in. (PHOTO: Shangri-La Hotel)

The Shangri-Las Origin Grill has a three-course set brunch that consists of two appetisers, the main course, and dessert. Be sure to look out for the Scottish eggs with lamb merguez and dill and the stuffed lamb leg thats been sous vide in a herb marinade.

Available from April 2 to 4 between 12 pm and 2.30 pm for S$68++ per person.

Book now here .

5. The Line, Shangri La Hotel

The Line, Shangri-La Hotel. (PHOTO: Shangri-La Hotel)

Turn Easter into an international affair with a meal at The Line. Dishes like Maine lobster rolls, Tunisian-style organic egg shakshuka, and grilled New Zealand lamb leg with ratatouille will appear. Dont forget to make a beeline for the Easter-themed desserts like carrot cake and lemon jivara rabbit.

This menu is available for both brunch (between 12 pm and 3 pm) for S$88+ and dinner (between 6pm and 10pm) for S$98++.

Free-flow Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label Brut Champagne, house red and white wine, and other soft drinks will be available for S$198++ per adult on April 4.

Book now here .

6. The Atelier

The Atelier - Easter Sunday Family Brunch. (PHOTO: The Capitol Kempinski)

For a more intimate Easter affair, head on down to The Atelier for single-serving appetisers like oysters, charcuterie plates, hot seafood on pans, and more.

You could also order a whole Easter platter consisting of black Angus beef sirloin steak, roasted grass-fed lamb leg, and roasted spring chicken for sharing.

Little ones can head to the hotels foyer for movie screenings of cartoons, Easter cooking making, and colouring stations.

Brunch will be able on April 4 from 12pm to 3pm and priced at S$118++ for adults with an additional S$48++ for sparkling beverages, S$68++ for champagne, and S$118+ for a vintage beverage package. Brunch for kids between 6 to 12 years old will be S$59++.

For bookings, call +65 6715 6800 or email reservations.singapore@kempinski.com.

7. The Bar @ 15 Stamford

The Bar @ 15 Stamford. (PHOTO: 15 Stamford)

This one is for adults only. The Bar @ 15 Stamford will be holding a Liquid Easter Brunch with unlimited drinks. As part of the brunch menu, guests get to indulge in unlimited pourings of sparkling, red, and white wine, house pours liquor, and cocktails paired with a three-course meal from 15 Stamford.

Brunch is available on April 4 between 12 pm to 3 pm, priced at $128++ per person.

For bookings, call +65 6715 6800 or email reservations.singapore@kempinski.com .

8. Frieda

(PHOTO: Frieda)

For a German-style Easter brunch, head on down to Frieda. Available across two days, expect deviled eggs with crispy bacon, creamy leek and potato soup with chives, toasted sourdough with ham and gouda cheese. You can also get a poached salmon trout with parsley potatoes, pork skin with Dijon mustard, and an Easter rack of lamb and savoury pancakes.

Brunch is available between April 3 ($68++) and 4 ($78++), from 11.30 am to 3 pm. Brunch for kids between 6 to 12 is available at $39++ with an additional $48++ per adult for free-flow beers and wines.

For bookings, call +65 6715 6800 or email reservations.singapore@kempinski.com .

9. Zafferano

Zafferano Champagne Brunch. (PHOTO: Zafferano)

Zafferano presents a traditional Italian Easter brunch with highlights such as torta pasqualina, seasonal oysters, snow crab salad, and more.

Be sure to top it off with an assortment of fruit, cheeses, and loads of Italian desserts like pastiera Napolina and candied orange and eggs.

Brunch is available between April 3 and 4 from 12pm to 3pm. Prices are S$148++ per diner with free-flow of sparkling wine, house wines, beer, other drinks, S$198++ per diner with free-flow champagne, premium wines, and other beverages S$108++ per diner with free-flow soft drinks, juices, coffee, and tea.

Kids under six years old dine for free.

10. Alley on 25

Alley on 25. (PHOTO: Andaz Singapore)

Easter highlights at Alley on 25 include roasted lamb leg, honey baked ham, and a fresh bounty of seafood. There will also be an eggs station for those looking for more traditional dishes. Be sure not to miss out on the beef burger with seared foie gras and grilled jerk chicken too!

Brunch is available from 12 pm to 2.30 pm. Prices are S$88++ per person.

For more information, please visit andazsingapore.com.

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DGAP Voting Rights Announcement: QIAGEN N.V.

QIAGEN N.V.: Release according to Article 40, Section 1 of the WpHG [the German Securities Trading Act] with the objective of Europe-wide distribution



26.03.2021 / 22:05

Dissemination of a Voting Rights Announcement transmitted by DGAP - a service of EQS Group AG.

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.



The AFM (the Netherlands Authority For the Financial Markets has informed us on March 25, 2021 that a notification related to our institution has been released by the AFM. The following notification has been disclosed in the relevant register on the AFM website: Date of transaction: 19 mar 2021

Person obliged to notify: Goldman Sachs Group Inc., The

Issuing institution: Qiagen N.V.

Registration Chamber of Commerce: 12036979

Place of residence: VENLO Distribution in numbers Type of share Number of shares Number of voting rights Capital interest Voting rights Manner of disposal Settlement Warrant 2.489,00 2.489,00 Potential Potential Indirectly - Goldman, Sachs & Co. Wertpapier GmbH In cash Swap 77.905,00 77.905,00 Potential Potential Indirectly - Goldman, Sachs & Co. Wertpapier GmbH In cash Ordinary share 2.527,00 2.527,00 Real Real Indirectly - United Capital Financial Advisers, LLC Physical Delivery Contract for difference 78.652,00 78.652,00 Potential Potential Indirectly - Goldman Sachs International In cash Ordinary share 4.262,00 4.262,00 Real Real Indirectly - Goldman Sachs Asset Management International Physical Delivery Swap 14.541,00 14.541,00 Potential Potential Indirectly - Goldman Sachs International In cash Convertible bond 546.573,00 546.573,00 Potential Potential Indirectly - Goldman Sachs International Physical Delivery Ordinary share 133.505,00 133.505,00 Potential Potential Indirectly - Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC Physical Delivery Ordinary share 4.307,00 4.307,00 Potential Potential Indirectly - Goldman Sachs Bank Europe SE Physical Delivery Convertible bond 13.081,00 13.081,00 Potential Potential Indirectly - Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC Physical Delivery Ordinary share 18.471,00 18.471,00 Real Real Indirectly - Goldman Sachs International Physical Delivery Option 3.863.782,00 3.863.782,00 Potential Potential Indirectly - Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC Physical Delivery Ordinary share 36,00 36,00 Real Real Indirectly - Folio Investments Inc. Physical Delivery Swap 2.044,00 2.044,00 Potential Potential Indirectly - Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC In cash Ordinary share 870.523,00 870.523,00 Real Real Indirectly - Goldman Sachs Asset Management, L.P. Physical Delivery Ordinary share 1.166.363,00 1.166.363,00 Potential Potential Indirectly - Goldman Sachs International Physical Delivery Contract for difference 10.798,00 10.798,00 Potential Potential Indirectly - Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC In cash Warrant 64.731,00 64.731,00 Potential Potential Indirectly - Goldman Sachs International In cash Distribution in percentages Type Total holding Directly real Directly potential Indirectly real Indirectly potential Capital interest 2,98% 0,00% 0,00% 0,39% 2,59% Voting rights 2,98% 0,00% 0,00% 0,39% 2,59% QIAGEN N.V. is not responsible for the accuracy and correctness of the notification above. The content has been taken from the relevant register of the AFM:

https://www.afm.nl/en/professionals/registers/meldingenregisters/substantiele-deelnemingen/details?id=108607

26.03.2021 The DGAP Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements, Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases.

Archive at www.dgap.de


As countries struggle to meet ambitious targets to reduce carbon emissions, financial backers and government officials are grappling with how to study ideas for engineering the Earths climate.

Why it matters: Once dismissed as science fiction, solar geoengineering is now viewed as a possible tool to help humans reduce the dangerous impacts of climate change on ecosystems and society. However, much remains to be learned about these schemes before they can be considered.

Driving the news: A report released today by the National Academies of Sciences (NAS) details recommendations for conducting, funding and governing research on solar geoengineering.

The authors say most climate research resources should still be steered toward mitigation and adaptation, but they call for $100 million to $200 million to be devoted to studying solar geoengineering over the next five years. (About $10 million is spent worldwide today, says David Keith, a physicist and faculty director for the Harvard solar geoengineering program.)

to be devoted to studying solar geoengineering over the next five years. (About $10 million is spent worldwide today, says David Keith, a physicist and faculty director for the Harvard solar geoengineering program.) The report's authors also call for a comprehensive research program that would involve all federal agencies conducting climate research.

The research program would seek to answer not only if solar geoengineering programs can be feasibly deployed, but also address the thorny question of whether they should be once more is known about the technologies.

How it works: Solar geoengineering involves injecting aerosols into the stratosphere or brightening clouds over the world's oceans with the aim of reflecting sunlight and lowering global temperatures.

Where it stands: A slew of solar engineering concepts is on the drawing board  from flying balloons into the stratosphere to disperse aerosols to spraying sulfur dioxide from high-flying airplanes to using ships that help to evaporate saltwater into tiny droplets that brighten marine clouds.

But the technology doesn't exist yet, says Alan Robock, a climate scientist at Rutgers University who models the potential impact of geoengineering on the climate.

Right now, a research program affiliated with Harvard University is awaiting permission to test a high-flying balloon over Sweden, in a limited real-world experiment of a geoengineering tool. That small-scale experiment has encountered opposition from environmentalists, demonstrating the difficulties that further experiments (let alone deployment) may encounter.

Whether these concepts are possible or would work and under what conditions are still open questions, Robock says, and answering them is necessary in case we want to use the technology in the future.

Yes, but: The NAS report recommends funding modeling, theory and governance of solar geoengineering over the next five years. It specifically cautions against a move to develop and deploy such technologies.

Robock and other researchers argue money should be spent on building and testing ships and unmanned planes that underpin deploying the technology.

"People worry building the technology is a slippery slope to it being deployed," Robock says. "It is more of a sticky slope. The more we look into it, the more risks we may discover and reasons not to do it. Doing research doesnt necessarily lead to deployment  it might lessen the chances of it happening."

The pushback: Some of the opposition to solar geoengineering research stems from concerns that it could distract from efforts to rein in emissions.

I think the fear of many is that it will be exploited by interests that oppose emissions cuts like fossil fuel companies, says Keith. He sees solar geoengineering technologies as being where climate adaptation was just a few years ago, when some climate advocates did not want to discuss it due to the fear it would distract from emissions cuts.

Making emissions cuts are still the main focus of addressing global warming, said Chris Field, a climate scientist at Stanford University and lead author of the NAS report. Theres no sense in which solar engineering is an alternative to decarbonization, he said.

What they're saying: The authors also emphasize the need for governance  transparency, reporting and public input  "mechanisms of accountability which are critical in a field that is rife with conspiracy theories and misinformation," says Stewart Patrick of the Council on Foreign Relations.

"They are right to call for a sober assessment of the feasibility of solar geoengineering technologies and to hold out the prospect that geoengineering could ultimately become a third pillar of global climate action," he says.

"Without adequate rules, geoengineering will create massive, unintended consequences, deepen geopolitical rivalries and hasten the worlds division into climate winners and losers," Patrick wrote this week.

What to watch: The report also calls for researchers, governments and citizens in the Southern Hemisphere to be engaged in discussions and research.

"It will impact the one global atmosphere, so it will impact everybody," says Janos Pasztor, executive director of the Carnegie Climate Governance Initiative.

The bottom line: The underlying decision is, should humans do this or not? Keith said. Learn, then decide, is the right lesson from my point of view.
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.
Gandhinagar, March 27 : As many as 1,202 protected animals, birds and reptiles were killed in Gujarat between October 1, 2017 and September 30, 2020, the state government told the Legislative Assembly on Friday.

The government that at least 336 poachers were arrested in the state for hunting the scheduled animals, reptiles and birds in nearly two-and-a-half years.

Responding to an unstarred question by Congress MLA CJ Chavda, the state Forest Minister Ganpat Vasava said that eleven hunter gangs, were busted between April 2018 and September 2020 in Gujarat and action was taken against them under various sections of the Wildlife Protection Act.

Among wild animals and reptiles hunted include nine lions, eight leopards, 86 blue bulls, one crocodile, nine pythons, 17 turtles and three monkeys, he said.

In a reply to another unstarred question, the Forest Minister said that a total 17 people were killed and 120 injured in attacks by wild animals between 2019 and 2020.

"23 people were arrested for poaching migratory birds at Nal Sarovar Bird Sanctuary, one of India's largest wetland bird sanctuary located in the Ahmedabad district. Two of the poachers are still absconding," Vasava informed the house.

Among the wildlife which was destructed, there were corals too.Atotal of 83 sand corals were mentioned as poaching wildlife by the hunters.

"There is a myth that corals are believed to bring peace and prosperity. Some illegal collectors keep them as precious articles in their houses, believing that it will attract luck, prosperity, and peace," said Hemant Suthar, a retired forest official of Gujarat government.
When members of the Army Corps of Engineers unit based in Charleston open a time capsule 25 years from now, they'll find a lock of Lt. Col. Rachel Honderd's hair done up in a red-and-white bow and placed in a plastic bag.

Honderd, the first female commander of the Charleston district, placed that and other items in a time capsule to represent the federal agency's increasing diversity as it marks 150 years at its base in the Holy City.

"While I am the first female commander of the Charleston district, I won't be the last," Honderd said, adding the Army Corps continues to expand opportunities for women and people of color. "This symbolizes our diversity and how far we've come, but also how far we still have to go."

The time capsule was filled Friday during a 150th birthday celebration at the Army Corps headquarters on Hagood Avenue near Riley Park. It will be buried at the Cooper River Rediversion site in St. Stephen and opened in March 2046.

The Army Corps' presence in Charleston actually dates to 1821, when military officers first began making regular visits to the area to survey defense sites and manage erosion projects around Charleston Harbor. Some of their earliest works included the construction of forts Moultrie, Johnson and Sumter.

In March 1871, the Army Corps opened a permanent district headquarters in Charleston. Its first commander, Quincy Adams Gillmore, was put in charge of building the jetties that line the entrance to Charleston Harbor.

"We design and built infrastructure to last," Honderd said. "In fact, the first time we ever had to repair the jetties was just last year. That's the mark of some great craftsmanship."

The Army Corps, a mixture of military and civilian engineers and staff, has also led several efforts to deepen Charleston Harbor  from 12 feet to 17 feet in the 1800s and a current project that will give it a 52-foot depth by next year  the deepest on the East Coast.

The agency also regulates wetlands and reviews permit applications from developers and industries looking to build in South Carolina, protects and renourishes coastal beaches, constructs military facilities, handles civil engineering duties for public projects, maintains navigation channels and responds to natural disasters such as hurricanes.

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Most recently, the Army Corps is working with the city to study how to mitigate flooding risks caused by climate change, including a proposed 12-foot protective wall with gates and pump stations surrounding the peninsula.

Mayor John Tecklenburg and several Army Corps senior staff members added items to the time capsule, including: a city proclamation honoring the agency's local district; a key to the city; a copy of the Army Corps' coronavirus-related telework agreement; a map showing the proposed flood-control wall; and photos of current staff members.

"Since its founding in 1871, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Charleston District has been at the forefront of modern engineering," Tecklenburg said, reading from the proclamation. "The district has played a crucial role in the growth and prosperity of South Carolina."

Tecklenburg then jokingly asked why the Army Corps was burying its time capsule in St. George, about 50 miles inland from the peninsula.

"That doesn't give you any pause about the work you're doing  you don't think we're going to be under water or anything do you?" he asked, adding Charleston "is going to be high and dry" with both sides working together.

Honderd said the decision had to do with red tape rather than floodwater.

"Based on our rules and regulations, and we wouldn't be the government without them, it has to sit on federal property," she said.

The Army Corps headquarters in Charleston is on property owned by The Citadel military college. The closest land the agency owns is in St. Stephen.
Bill Weitkemper at a glance

Bill Weitkemper

4007 Day Flower Court

AGE: 72

OCCUPATION: Retired former sewer maintenance superintendent for the city of Columbia, 1975-2012

EDUCATION: Graduated from Hickman High School, attended Missouri State Teachers College in Kirksville

CAMPAIGN WEBSITE: None

SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS: Facebook

OTHER RELEVANT BACKGROUND:

Served on Mayors Task Force on Infrastructure, 2016-17; ran unsuccessful campaign for Fourth Ward City Council seat, 2013; received Dr. Edward H. Robb Award as Boone County's public servant of the year, 2012; appointed to Association of Boards of Certifications Collection Validation and Examination Committee in 2008 and served until 2012; qualified for the city of Columbia's No. 1 Club for city employees in 21 of the 23 years it was given; presented the American Public Works Associations Vincent A Tallo Service Award for 30-plus years Public Works service in 2005; recognized s a member of the Quarter Century Operators Club by the Water Environment Federation in 2000 and as a member of the Missouri Water Environment Associations Golden Manhole Society the same year; presented with the Missouri Water Environment Association's Collection System Award in 1996; inducted into the Missouri Water Pollution Control Associations Select Society of Sanitary Sludge Shovelers in 1995; earned Eagle Scout rank with the Boy Scouts of America in 1963; member of the Missouri Water and Wastewater Conference; the Missouri Water Pollution Control Association; the Missouri Water Environment Association; the Water Pollution Control Federation; the Water Environment Federation; the Association of Boards of Certifications Collection Validation and Examination Committee; the Boy Scouts of America as well as the Order of the Arrow; the Columbia Elks Club; the Show-Me and Luncheon Cosmopolitan Clubs of Columbia; the Columbia Apartment Association, for which he was president for two years; and the Columbia Municipal Employees Credit Union Board of Directors and Credit Committee.
Someone apparently activated the emergency brakes on the passenger train, and it was rear-ended by another train, causing two cars to derail and flip on their side, Egypts Railway Authorities said, although Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouly later added that no cause has been determined. The passenger train was headed to the Mediterranean port of Alexandria, north of Cairo, rail officials said.
Journalist Edouard Perrin's claim to the confidentiality of his sources was rejected by the French court during the appeal process on Thursday.

The Metz court of appeal declared inadmissible the request of journalist Edouard Perrin, who wanted the court to stop the seizure of documents from one of his informants, in the context of the "LuxLeaks" affair, which revealed a major case of tax evasion practised in Luxembourg.

The appeal court rejected his request, noting that Perrin had "no interest in acting".

Between 2012 and 2014, Raphael Halet, a disillusioned employee of the Luxembourg consultancy PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), had sent Perrin numerous documents proving large-scale tax evasion schemes carried out in Luxembourg through PwC.

PwC had requested and obtained an order from a summary judge in Metz to search the French home of Halet. His computer and e-mails exchanged with Perrin were seized. Perrin demanded the cancellation of all seizures.

Since then, Halet has been sentenced in Luxembourg to a six-month suspended prison sentence and a fine of 1,000 for "theft, computer fraud, and money laundering".

The European Court of Human Rights will review his case in the coming months.

However, the journalist Perrin was acquitted by the Grand Duchy's courts. The Metz Court of Appeal therefore considered that he no longer had an interest in the case and, as in the first instance, rejected his request.

"Mr Perrin's submissions do not contain any explanation of the interest that Mr Perrin would personally have in obtaining the retraction of the order made against Mr Halet," the judges wrote in the ruling handed down on Thursday, a partial copy of which was obtained by AFP.

The intervention of the National Union of Journalists (SNJ) in support of Perrin was also declared inadmissible. The SNJ and Perrin were ordered to pay the costs.

The journalist said he would give himself "time to think" before appealing to the Court of Cassation (one of the four courts of last resort in France and the supreme court of appeal in cases of civil and criminal matters).
Panic mode activated. Malawi Congress Party (MCP) are trying hard to stop Lilongwe Nsinja South aspiring independent candidate Yamikani Chadza to withdraw from the race for fear of being embarrassed if they lose the March 30 by elections in the area.

Nyasa Times can reveal that about 6 Police vehicles with heavily armed Police officers 'took' Chadza to Dickson Trading Centre on Thursday to address a rally announcing withdraw of his candidature after hours of debate at State House accompanied by Home Affairs Minister Richard Chimwendo Banda.

Several of his supporters confirmed the story including Chadza's campaign director Sam Mbendera.

"We are currently waiting for him (Chadza) at his house in Area 43 to come back from State House where he has gone in the company of Chimwendo Banda," said Mbendera.

He alleged that MCP is afraid that Chadza would win the by election with a landslide and the development would be embarrassing to the party which regards Lilongwe as its stronghold.

MCP will be represented by Francis Belekanyama, son to former cabinet minister and MP for the area Lingson Belekanyama who succumbed to Covid-19 on 12 January 2021.

"We told our candidate what to answer during his meeting at State House so we are waiting for him to get feedback," said Mbendera.

He said Chadza will win the elections because he is a 'people's person' and has not been imposed on the people.

"Chadza is development conscious and he is expected to present two proper ambulances to Chiunjiza and Dickson Health Centres which were neglected during the late Belekanyama's time. People were traveling to Mitundu Health Centre which is more than 30 kilometres away in Lilongwe Nsinja North constituency," said Mbendera.

We reported a bizarre incident where Chadza is said to have been struck by a lightning whilst in his sleep and had blood oozing from his nose and mouth when he woke up. He was taken to Kamuzu Central Hospital for medical treatment.

He has since been discharged.
Foreign visitors in Vinh Long (Photo: VNA)

Vinh Long  The Mekong Delta province of Vinh Long has mobilised resources to promote tourism development, with the aim of turning tourism into a spearhead economic sector by 2030.

During a conference held on March 24 to review the implementation of a resolution on tourism development in Vinh Long in the 2015-2021 period, participants discussed the provinces potential and advantages for tourism development, as well as measures to fully tap those strengths.

Their discussions specially focused on how to stimulate tourism demand in the province amid complex developments of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Vice Secretary of the provincial Party Committee Bui Van Nghiem said the local authorities have mobilised all resources for tourism development, and encouraged travel businesses and local community to build and popularise Vinh Longs image to visitors, gradually developing the sector into a key contributor to its economy.

The authorities have reviewed and issued support and incentive policies to encourage investment in the tourism sector, built infrastructure, adjusted the planning of tourist areas in order to call for more investment, and developed unique tourism products, promoted the application of technology and improved the quality of human resources serving tourism development.

The province will also continue to complete and effectively implement tourism development projects, and consider organising a tourism festival as an annual event to draw more holiday-makers.

Dialogues between the local authorities and businesses will be increased with the aim of removing difficulties facing travel companies.

Vinh Long welcomed over 6.1 million domestic and foreign visitors in the 2015-2019 period, earning nearly 1.7 trillion VND (over 73.6 million USD). The number of tourists and revenue averagely increased 11.6 percent and 25.7 percent per year.
South Carolina senators are considering legislation to crack down on companies that pollute the states waters with tiny plastic pellets.

A Senate Medical Affairs subcommittee voted 3-2 Wednesday to approve a bill that would give the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control the power to directly regulate the states pellet producers by approving permits and enforcing violations.

The pellets, also known as nurdles, are bead-like bits of plastic used to make larger plastic products. Many of these pellets are exported through the port of Charleston, where area residents have complained in recent years of finding the pellets clogging up local waterways.

Sen. Sandy Senn, R-Charleston, the bills sponsor, said the legislation was necessary as the pellet industry would only continue to grow in the state.

In one recent dispute over the origins of a 2019 pellet spill at Sullivans Island, pellet company Frontier Logistics paid $1 million to two environmental groups that had sued over the alleged pollution.

Sarah Church, a council member of the town, told lawmakers Wednesday that the pellets were the most insidious pollutant to arrive, ever.

Environmentalists speaking in favor of the bill said the pellets are virtually impossible to clean up due to their size and quantity and cause damage to animals, including sea turtles and passing migratory birds, which might mistake them for nutritious horseshoe crab or fish eggs.

Sen. Billy Garrett, R-McCormick, voiced the need to support the businesses but added, on the other hand, as my mother used to say, cleanliness is next to godliness.

No one testified against the bill Wednesday. The legislation now heads to the full Senate Medical Affairs committee.

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analysis

South Africa is likely headed for a third wave of COVID-19 infections, experts warn. With no windfall of vaccines in sight, many people at high risk of COVID-19 will remain unvaccinated. Now some doctors and medical ethicists are asking: Is a safe vaccine that could possibly protect them better than nothing?

This week, a peer-reviewed article in the New England Medical Journal confirmed what South African researchers announced to the world in February: Although the AstraZeneca vaccine was found to be safe, it only reduced a person's risk of developing mild-to-moderate COVID-19 caused by the B.1.351 variant in South Africa by about 10% - too little to be deemed effective. Prior to the variant's rise, the vaccine had been shown to reduce this risk by about 75%

The findings, however, come with wide confidence intervals - a commonly used measure to describe uncertainty in most studies -- and if conducted again, might return different results, explains Clare Cutland, one of the study's researchers and scientific coordinator at the University of the Witwatersrand's African Leadership in Vaccinology Expertise (Alive) initiative.

The study also wasn't large enough, nor did it include a diverse enough group of people, to tell us whether the vaccine works to prevent serious COVID-19, hospitalisations or deaths caused by the variant.

Why the WHO is not willing to give up on AstraZeneca... yet

South Africa ultimately scrapped its planned AstraZeneca vaccine rollout based on the disappointing findings regarding the new variant, despite having a million doses already in the country. Instead, the country opted to use the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) vaccine, which has been shown to be about 64% effective at preventing moderate to severe COVID-19 caused by the variant about a month after vaccination, according to data provided to the United States regulator, the Food and Drug Administration.

Some stocks of the Pfizer vaccine are also expected to arrive soon, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said earlier this month. In laboratory tests described in a March New England Medical Journal study the jab - like the J&J vaccine - worked less well against the new variant in South Africa, but scientists are confident it will still offer people some protection against infection and disease. The Pfizer vaccine has not been tested against the variant in human trials.

As of 5 March, the health department was in advanced stages of negotiating to sell its stock of the AstraZeneca jab to the African Union, Deputy Health Minister Joseph Phaahla told Parliament.

The World Health Organisation's (WHO) expert vaccine committee, however, continues to recommend AstraZeneca for use in countries with variants such as South Africa. The global body says AstraZeneca's two-dose jab may still protect against serious COVID-19 based on the fact that most COVID-19 vaccines work better to protect against serious COVID-19 as compared to milder forms. Plus, the WHO says that the vaccine was able to trigger certain immune system responses that may -- according to some research -- play a bigger role in warding off severe COVID-19 than antibodies alone.

In the face of clear gaps in data, the WHO's decision was also framed by a scarcity of vaccines amid mounting deaths.

"Waiting for more information, when we have enough to make a recommendation, I think, would not be appropriate," said WHO vaccine committee chair Alejandro Cravioto in February. "We have thousands of people dying from infection. Anything we can do to use a product that might reduce that is totally justified - even if the information is not as complete as we would like."

Countries are not required to follow WHO guidance.

Mkhize admits South Africa faces shortages of J&J and Pfizer vaccines in the second quarter of the year as a third wave of infections is expected. With few other vaccine options, some experts argue that, ethically, people at a high-risk of COVID-19 should be offered the AstraZeneca vaccine. After all, they say, it may give them some protection -- or it may give them no protection but otherwise do them no harm.

Chair of the Ministerial Advisory Committee (MAC) on COVID-19 vaccines Barry Schoub remains firm that without actual data from human clinical trials, it's inappropriate to use the vaccine. Meanwhile, some are calling for more transparency about how the final decision regarding AstraZeneca's use was made.

'It would seem ethically justified to give patients whatever protection you can'

Steve Biko Centre for Bioethics at Wits University director Kevin Behrens says whether the government might be ethically bound to offer the AstraZeneca jab to high-risk patients comes down to a discussion of harm.

"It all really revolves around harm and whether or not giving the vaccines to patients is in any way harming them. Are we harming them directly by putting them at risk, for instance, of some sort of severe reaction?" he asks. "The scientists are telling us.. that this vaccine is not going to cause those kinds of harms."

Several European countries recently suspended their AstraZeneca vaccine rollouts over concerns it could be linked to a heightened blood clot risk. On Thursday, the European Medicines Agency confirmed that the vaccine was not shown to increase a person's overall risk of blood clots after reviewing less than 30 reported cases of clots among 20 million vaccinated people. However, the regulator says the jab may be associated with very rare cases of specific types of blood clots, but further research is needed.

If the vaccine has been proven safe, Behrens explains, then giving it to - let's say - an elderly person isn't likely to harm them. But it could give them protection against becoming seriously ill and even dying of COVID-19.

"The most ethically justified thing, in that case, would be that [high-risk people] are given whatever protection you can give them," he says.

But Behren says this calculus changes suddenly if large amounts of a vaccine with better data -- such as the J&J jab -- were suddenly to become available.

The MAC did consider a targetted rollout of AstraZeneca

Dr Francois Venter is the director of the HIV research organisation Ezintsha and a deputy director at the Wits Reproductive Health Institute. A longtime HIV treatment advocate, Venter has been vocal about his support for a AstraZeneca rollout focused on high-risk groups using the country's existing stocks.

Venter says that as a doctor he would happily recommend AstraZeneca's vaccine to high-risk patients, family and friends.

"The absolute worst - and totally implausible - case scenario is that people get a vaccine that doesn't work," he argues. "The best-case scenario, which every piece of data seems to suggest, is that it's every bit as good as other vaccines and stops you totally getting very sick."

The health department did not respond to requests for comment.

Schoub says that the MAC discussed the WHO's AstraZeneca recommendations but ultimately did not adopt them. He also adds that the MAC did consider a limited rollout of the AstraZeneca jab among, for instance, the elderly when it looked like the vaccines might expire before South Africa could sell the jabs onward. The vaccine makers, the Serum Institute, ultimately said it was safe to extend the immunisations' shelf-life past original expiration dates.

Schoub remains firm: The responsible decision is to forgo offering the AstraZeneca vaccine to the elderly and vulnerable, who he adds might then stop social distancing or wearing masks believing themselves to be fully protected against COVID-19.

He also worries that rolling out a jab that may not work to prevent deaths and hospitalisations, may fuel vaccine hesitancy. And rolling out an additional vaccine also comes with added costs, Schoub says. "You're going to invest quite a significant amount of human and monetary resources in something where there's evidence, admittedly not conclusive evidence, that it's not going to work," Schoub tells Spotlight.

"The bottom line is this: It [AstraZeneca vaccine] may... be fairly effective against preventing severe disease," he explains. "The critical word is 'may'... we just don't know. And because we don't know we've got to try and go rather for vaccines where there is evidence."

'If this was a scientifically-based decision... I would love to see the calculus'

Ciara Staunton is a senior lecturer in law at London's Middlesex University who focuses on health governance and has worked in South Africa. The science of whether a treatment or a vaccine works is often not the only factor that governments consider when making healthcare decisions, she explains.

Instead, politics, economics, cost and even individual rights all play a role in how healthcare, including vaccines, are delivered in the face of scarce resources.

With so many competing interests, policymakers' transparency and accountability about how decisions are made are crucial for retaining trust, she warns.

"The old adage that justice must not only be done but must be seen to be done is so important," she says. "The responsibility falls on the government to explain to the public why it is making these decisions."

"Trust is key and it's something that's hard to get but very easy to lose," she says. "Once it's gone - it's incredibly difficult to get it back."

As part of the government's advisory body, workstreams of experts and some civil society representatives prepare summary recommendations on issues, which are then discussed at the larger MAC. Schoub confirms that no, non-medical representatives from civil society or patients' rights groups sit on the MAC.

The MAC ultimately provides the minister of health with brief advisories, which become the property of the health minister and are his to accept or reject, Schoub explains.

Some but not all of these advisories are posted to a dedicated section on the government's COVID-19 website. This section has not been updated since 11 January 2021 - about a month before the government halted the AstraZeneca rollout. And although these advisories summarise the MAC's recommendations, they do not outline the discussions that led up to them.

Spotlight has asked Health Minister Zweli Mkhize's spokesperson Lwazi Manzi for the MAC advisory regarding the decision to shelve the vaccine as well as a copy of the non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) that MAC and workstream members have signed.

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Schoub says these NDAs are to protect confidential research shared with experts for decision-making. Schoub -- who, like many MAC members does sometimes several media interviews a day - says these NDAs do not prohibit MAC members from discussing the nature of deliberations.

But given the contested data and uncertainty around whether AstraZeneca's vaccine could protect against serious COVID-19 -- and what is an uncharacteristic departure from WHO guidance for South Africa - some say there needs to be more transparency around how the decision to forgo a targeted rollout was made.

"If this was [a scientifically-based decision], I don't understand it," Venter says. "I would love to see the calculus explained openly."

He continues: "There has been a lack of transparency around the vaccines, much like so many COVID-19 decisions."

Should people most affected by COVID-19 sit on the MAC?

Vicki Pinkey-Atkinson heads the Non-communicable Diseases (NCD) Alliance and lives with several underlying health conditions that put her at a high-risk of serious COVID-19.

People with NCDs including high blood pressure, diabetes and obesity are more likely to be hospitalised and die from severe COVID-19, a review of almost 42 000 hospital records in South Africa shows. These findings have not yet been peer-reviewed.

Pinkey-Atkinson admits she has been privileged to be able to reduce her risk of developing serious COVID-19 by staying at home during the epidemic. She says she's already planned to spend another year largely at home and so isn't sure she would take an AstraZeneca vaccine if it was offered to her.

"I suppose I [might] take it if I knew I wasn't going to get vaccinated for another six months," she says. "There is a hesitancy to take this vaccine when there's been such a big show made of giving it away and it not working already."

Still, she says whether people living with NCDs should be offered the jab ahead of the third wave has to be a discussion that is much more inclusive and transparent than what has happened in the MAC: "There is no way for people living with NCDs to be involved."

Pinkey-Atkinson says after fighting to be included in ongoing discussions, she was asked in early March to join one of the MAC's workstreams but says she hasn't been part of any discussions.

When asked if the MAC should include representatives from the NCD sector, Schoub said he believed it wasn't appropriate. "The MAC is a body of experts of scientific and medical experts, who look at the scientific aspects, and not the sociological and anthropological and those kinds of issues," he explains. "There aren't any lay people on the committee at all. I don't think it's really appropriate."
File photo of Indian Army personnel performing during a function to commemorate 50 years of the Indo-Pakistani War for the independence of Bangladesh, in Kolkata on March 10, 2021. (Dibyangshu Sarkar/AFP via Getty Images)
WEST TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI) -- Right now in Vigo County, there is a $150 fine if you get caught littering. The Vigo County Commissioners are trying to up that price.

Darwin road is described to be a trash corridor by Vigo County Commissioner Chris Switzer.

Switzer said littering in this area is a huge problem.

He said this is a county road many residents and visitors take to get to the West Terre Haute.

He told News 10 when people take this road they often see trash lining both sides, and sometimes, they may toss trash themselves.

That's why the Vigo County Commissioners want to stop this problem in its tracks.

Switzer said when people come into our community they shouldn't be greeted by loads of trash.

He said, "I would say easily 1000 cars drive through here every day, and a lot of them are from out of town, a lot of them are residents that live on darwin road. But a lot of people are visiting this community so we want to make sure it's presentable to everyone who comes by."

Switzer said once a year volunteers get together to help clean up the area. Vigo county sheriff John Plasse said he believes it's not enough.

Sheriff Plasse said, "I know there's a lot of groups that go out and pick up trash. This is great, this community is really good about doing that. But sometimes they just can't keep up. And there's really no need to go out and pick up trash where you can put it somewhere, where it can be taken away."

To try and stop people from throwing their trash on the ground the commissioners office is working closely with the Vigo County Sheriffs Department.

Switzer told News 10 some things that are being discussed are increasing fines, setting up a trail camera, putting up numerous signs, and possibly having patrol cars out in the area.

Sheriff Plasse said, "I said whatever you need us to do, we'll do. Obviously, it's becoming a problem over there and it just makes your community look trashy."

Switzer said with the sheriff's department's help he hopes to clean up the area quickly.

He said, "With all the things coming to our community such as a casino, a convention center, and more visitors coming in, we want to make sure our community is extra clean. "
Farmer leaders have said road and rail transport will be blocked and claimed that markets will also remain closed

A group of farmers who were holding a protest in Zirakpur and Kharar towns in Punjab, both on the outskirts of Chandigarh, said they were allowing ambulances and other emergency vehicles to pass. (AFP file photo)

Chandigarh: Farmers gathered at several national highways, key roads and some railway tracks in Punjab and Haryana on Friday morning as part of their nationwide protest against the Centre's new agri laws.

According to the Samkyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), the Bharat Bandh is being observed from 6 am to 6 pm to mark four months of the farmers' agitation at Delhi's three borders -- Singhu, Ghazipur and Tikri.

Heavy police force has been deployed in the two states as part of security measures, an official said.

The farmers have gathered at several highways and roads in the two states including in Bathinda, Ludhiana, Amritsar, Patiala, Mohali, Rohtak, Jhajjar and Bhiwani districts.

A group of farmers who were holding a protest in Zirakpur and Kharar towns in Punjab, both on the outskirts of Chandigarh, said they were allowing ambulances and other emergency vehicles to pass.

Some of the protesters blocked the Ambala-Delhi highway near Ambala Cantt, police said.

While another group squatted on a railway track near Shahpur village, around five kilometers from Ambala Cantt, due to which all the trains running between Delhi and Saharanpur were stranded, railway officials said.

The farmers also blocked the Ambala-Rajpura Highway on the Haryana-Punjab border near Shambhu barrier, and the Ambala-Hisar Highway near Ambala City.

Blockades on various state highways were also reported in Naraingarh and Mullana in Haryana, police said.

The SKM, an umbrella body of protesting unions, appealed to protesting farmers to be peaceful and not get involved in any kind of illegitimate debate and conflict during the 'bandh'.

"All shops, malls, markets and institutions will remain closed under complete Bharat Bandh. All minor and big roads and trains will be blocked. All services will remain suspended except for ambulance and other essential services. The effect of Bharat Bandh will be observed inside Delhi as well," SKM had said in a statement.

Farmer leaders have said road and rail transport will be blocked and claimed that markets will also remain closed.

They also claimed that trade unions from organised and unorganised sectors, and transport and other associations too have extended support to the call for Bharat Bandh.

Meanwhile, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), apex religious body of the Sikhs, has also supported the nationwide protest.

SGPC president Jagir Kaur had said on Thursday that its offices would be kept closed on Friday in support of the Bharat Bandh.

Thousands of farmers, mainly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur demanding a complete repeal of the three farm laws and a legal guarantee for the minimum support price on their crops.

The statement issued by the SKM claimed that various farmers' organisations, trade unions, student organisations, bar associations, political parties and representatives of state governments have supported its call for a nationwide protest.

Apart from repealing of three farm laws, the demands of protesting unions include cancellation of all police cases against farmers, withdrawal of electricity and pollution bills, and reduction in prices of diesel, petrol and gas.

So far, there have been 11 rounds of talks between the protesting unions and government, but the deadlock has continued as both sides have stuck to their stand.

In January, the government had offered to suspend the farm laws for 12-18 months, which was rejected by the farmer unions.

Traffic movement suspended on Ghazipur border

The Delhi Police on Friday closed both carriageways of National Highway-24 passing through the Ghazipur border in view of the 'Bharat Bandh' called by farmer unions protesting against the three agri laws.

In a tweet, the Delhi Traffic Police said, "Traffic movement is closed on Ghazipur Border NH-24 (Both carriageways)."

The one side of the carriageway was earlier opened on March 15 for traffic. However, the other side from Ghaziabad towards Delhi is closed since the farmers' protest started.

The Delhi Police has said adequate security arrangements have been put in place in view of the bandh.

Delhi Police PRO Chinmoy Biswal had said there will be intense patrolling to maintain peace in the national capital.

"There will be adequate security arrangements in all police districts during the bandh.

"The patrolling staff will roam in their area throughout the day and their focus will be to maintain peace in busy marketplaces," Biswal had said.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi stressed on Thursday his country's full support for Libya's new interim government after meeting with the head of the Libyan Presidency Council.

Mohamed Menfi visited Cairo on Thursday to hold talks with El-Sisi and several other officials in a bid to galvanize support for his government which is expected to lead the war-stricken nation through general elections by the end of 2021.

El-Sisi said he wanted to see all territories in Libya united again and called for the exit of foreign forces and mercenaries from the country.

"We are ready to fully support (Libya's new interim government) in order to achieve the goal of Libyan territory unity, the stable Libyan state, far from foreign intervention, far from the presence of fighters and mercenaries on Libyan soil," he said.

El-Sisi also expressed his willingness to visit Tripoli soon.

France, Italy and Germany have also given their backing of the interim government.

Foreign ministers from the three European nations arrived in Libya's capital on Thursday for discussions with their Libyan counterpart which included the reopening of their embassies and consular services on Libyan soil.

They too stressed foreign fighters and mercenaries should immediately leave the country in order to ensure the full implementation a ceasefire agreement inked in October.

Oil-rich Libya in recent years has been split between rival east- and west-based administrations, each backed by armed groups and foreign governments.

In April 2019, east-based commander Khalifa Hifter launched a military offensive to wrestle the capital, Tripoli, from a U.N.-supported government.

Hifter's 14-month-long military campaign failed eventually after Turkey had thrown its full military backing behind his rivals forcing his troops to retreat eastwards

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
Union Health Ministry in its daily update on Friday said the cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country has crossed 5.5 crore with over 23 lakh inoculated in the last 24-hours.

"A total of 5,55,04,440 vaccine doses have been given, as per the provisional report till 7 am today. These include 80,34,547 HCWs (health care workers) who have taken the 1st dose and 51,04,398 HCWs who have taken the 2nd dose, 85,99,981 frontline workers (FLWs) 1st dose, 33,98,570 FLWs (2nd dose), 2,47,67,172 beneficiaries more than 60 years old and 55,99,772 beneficiaries aged 45 and above with specific co-morbidities," according to the Health Ministry said on Friday.

Total 23,58,731 vaccine doses were given in the last 24-hours, which marks the 69th day of

Of these, 21,54,934 beneficiaries were vaccinated across 40,595 sessions for 1st dose and 2,03,797 HCWs and FLWs received 2nd dose of the vaccine.

"Ten States account for nearly 70 per cent of the vaccine doses were given during the last 24 hours," the ministry said.

Meanwhile, India continues to witness a surge in new COVID-19 cases as 59,118 fresh infections and 257 deaths were reported in the country in the last 24 hours, the Union Health Ministry informed on Friday.

With fresh 32,987 recoveries, a total of 1,12,64,637 people have recovered from the diseases so far.

The cumulative number of cases reached 1,18,46,652 including 4,21,066 active cases and 1,60,949 deaths.

Five States, Maharashtra, Punjab, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh and Gujarat have reported a surge in daily new cases.

(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.)
Washington, March 26 : A Texas-based Indian-American man has pleaded guilty to a $24.8 million Covid-19 relief fraud scheme, according to media reports.

In a statement issued on Thursday, the Justice Department said that Dinesh Sah, 55, admitted that he submitted 15 fraudulent applications under the names of various purported businesses that he owned or controlled, to eight different lenders, the American Bazaar reported.

Sah claimed that these businesses had numerous employees and hundreds of thousands of dollars in payroll expenses when, in fact, no business had employees or paid wages consistent with the amounts claimed in the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) applications.

Sah admitted that he submitted fraudulent documentation in support of his applications, including fabricated federal tax filings and bank statements for the purported businesses, according to court documents.

"The Paycheck Protection Program was designed to aid struggling business owners, not to line the pockets of crafty profiteers," Acting US Attorney Prerak Shah of the Northern District of Texas said.

"Even as fellow businesspeople tried desperately to procure the funds they needed to keep their business afloat, Sah dipped into federal coffers to fund his lavish lifestyle." Sah admitted that, based on his false statements and fabricated documents, he received over $17 million in PPP loan funds and diverted the proceeds for his personal benefit.

As part of his guilty plea, Sah agreed to forfeit, among other property, eight homes, numerous luxury vehicles, and more than $7.2 million in fraudulent proceeds that the government has seized to date.

Sah pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering in the Northern District of Texas.

He will be sentenced at a later date and faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison.
Parts of the South that endured severe weather outbreaks in consecutive weeks won't be able to catch a break in the near future. AccuWeather forecasters say more volatile weather will arrive as soon as this weekend, and stormy weather could be unrelenting even into next week.

Communities were once again picking up the pieces on Friday after a destructive day of weather. In total, the National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center reported a total of 23 tornadoes with one in Mississippi, five in Georgia and 17 in Alabama.

Just a week earlier, a tornado outbreak spawned dozens of twisters, again with Alabama placed squarely in the crosshairs. Parts of Louisiana and Mississippi also faced heavy damage from violent storms. Despite widespread damage, no fatalities were reported. Officials and forecasters credited communities for being prepared and hunkering down during storm and tornado warnings for the miraculous outcome.

The turbulent weather pattern that developed during the middle to latter part of March is expected to continue through the final weekend of the month - and perhaps beyond that, according to AccuWeather meteorologists.

"Another feisty storm is forecast to shift from the central Plains to the Great Lakes this weekend, bringing with it the threat of more flooding and severe weather, across the southern U.S.," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Paul Walker said.

Many of the classic ingredients necessary to trigger severe weather will be present with the setup on Saturday, including warm, moist air streaming northward from the Gulf of Mexico.

"At this time, the threat of severe weather is not as high as those that have recently hit the region, but it only takes one strong storm to cause damage," Walker warned.

The main severe weather threats, in addition to frequent lightning, are likely to be heavy downpours, hail and damaging wind gusts from central Kentucky down to northern Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. An isolated tornado or two can touch down from the strongest storms.

Some communities may deal with several rounds of heavy thunderstorms, which will reduce visibility and escalate the risk of water ponding on roadways, that could hamper travel.

Gusty winds could also make for dangerous cross-winds for high profile vehicles, and widespread strong winds could cause tree damage and lead to power outages in the area.

In the line of fire will be some of the same areas already threatened by severe weather this month, including Memphis and Nashville, Tennessee, down to Birmingham, Alabama, and Jackson, Mississippi. Even if widespread severe weather does not occur over the weekend, any cleanup efforts still ongoing following the previous rounds of severe weather could be slowed.

Severe weather threats will shift eastward across the mid-Atlantic and Southeastern states on Sunday.

More bouts of rain may be on the way for the southern U.S. again next week, with the the next round of wet weather expected on Monday or Tuesday.
Rwanda on Friday hailed as an important step a French report that said Paris bore overwhelming responsibilities over the 1994 genocide but was not complicit in the killings.

Kigali said it welcomes the report of the Duclert Commission, which represents an important step toward a common understanding of Frances role in the genocide against the Tutsi.

An investigative report commissioned by the government of Rwanda in 2017 will be released in the coming weeks, the conclusions of which will complement and enrich those of the Duclert Commission, it added.
New Delhi, March 26 : Microsoft-owned open source developer platform GitHub on Friday announced a slew of initiatives for developers, students and startups in India, including open source grants worth Rs 1 crore and a partnership with Nasscom to reskill professionals.

The company also introduced fellowships for students with companies in India and extended its enterprise licenses to over 1,000 new startups in the country.

In 2020, more than 1.8 million developers in India joined GitHub, taking the developer community in the country to 5.8 million.

"For us, India is the fastest growing country in the world for GitHub. We have some incredible female leaders on the open source platform from the country who are developing for the world. By the third anniversary of GitHub India, in February 2023, we believe more than 10 million developers in India will be calling GitHub home," Erica Brescia, Chief Operating Officer, GitHub, told IANS.

"Together, Indian developers created 7.3 million new repositories over the past year, an increase of 81 per cent compared to the year before. One million developers in India created their first repository on GitHub this past year, more than any other country in the world," she informed.

Companies such as Infosys, InMobi, Udaan, ShareChat, Capillary Technologies, Swiggy, ArisGlobal and several others have selected GitHub to collaborate and build the software that powers their businesses, accelerating digital transformation.

As GitHub continues to grow its developer community in India, the company, during its two-day 'GitHub Satellite India' virtual event that kicked off on Friday, said it has introduced three new programmes for India: GitHub Open Source Grants, GitHub Externships, and GitHub Accelerate.

To support the growing community of student developers in the country, the 'GitHub Externships' will help connect the dots between open source, the next generation of software developers and successful companies.

In 2020, GitHub saw the number of students participating in the GitHub Campus programme increase by a massive 142 per cent.

"Indian developers are truly building the future of software and the country is uniquely positioned to continue to drive innovation that accelerates human progress," said Maneesh Sharma, Country Manager, GitHub India.

"We, at GitHub, are humbled to serve and celebrate this community connected by code and it is a privilege to be part of this incredible journey, empowering the developer community and businesses in India, to build the technology that is driving the nation's growth," Sharma added.

In 2020, GitHub had more than 100 higher education institutions join its educational programme, supported by 74 campus experts.

The company said that its 'GitHub Accelerate' programme will now be expanded to more than 1,000 new startups.

GitHub also announced a partnership with the Nasscom 'FutureSkills' programme.

The company will extend its 'GitHub Campus' programme and 'Student Developer Pack' to students, educators and institutes that are part of the Nasscom's university initiatives.

In June 2018, Microsoft acquired GitHub, a popular code-repository service used by many developers and large companies, for $7.5 billion in stock.
Megachurch Pastor John Gray offers prayers for Derrick Jaxn amid cheating scandal

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Megachurch Pastor John Gray has offered prayers to embattled Christian relationship guru Derrick Jaxn who's facing backlash after he confessed to being unfaithful to his wife multiple times during his marriage.

Grays prayer for Jaxn, which was highlighted by The Shade Room on Instagram, comes despite previous criticism from Jaxn, when he faced public criticism over allegations of infidelity in his own marriage in recent years.

Hey Derrick. You remember when I responded to your words about me? Remember when I posted videos about you? Neither do I. To be clear, Ive slept with one woman in my life. My wife. But that DOES NOT ABSOLVE ME OF THE WRONG I DID. Any interaction or communication with anyone was wrong. My failures are mine and I have gone through  and continue to  go through counseling to address the vast empty places that led me to behavior that is antithetical to how I was raised and what I believe. Ive learned in life that everyone gets a turn. When it was mine, I didnt obfuscate my wrong by addressing what I knew about others. I kept others names out of my mouth. Maybe it would be wise to do the same, Gray wrote. One more thing, I sincerely pray for you and your family to heal. I know how people throw you away. I will never do to another man what was done to me. May you receive the grace I didnt receive from others. May you rise to be a better man. One moment will not define your life.

In early 2020, Gray, who leads Relentless Church in Greenville, South Carolina, publicly revealed he had wanted to end his life and received prayer from Bishop T.D. Jakes as allegations of infidelity clouded his marriage. Prior to that, he told his congregation that his wife, Aventer, discovered that he had started listening to the wrong voices and let some people get too close  she set it off just like a good wife should.

Aventer Gray then revealed to their congregation that one of those wrong voices belonged to a strange woman, whom she fought off with prayer and Scripture.

In the summer of 2020, the megachurch pastor was also accused of another inappropriate relationship, but his lawyers argued that he was being blackmailed.

Jaxn, who is known for preaching that black men shouldnt cheat and presented himself as a model mate while doling out advice on what women deserved, heavily criticized Gray and accused him of manipulating his church and his followers.

On Monday, however, Jaxn publicly told his millions of followers on social media, with his wife Da'Naia by his side, that he was far from the ideal mate he presented himself to be after he was exposed by vlogger Tasha K.

Tasha K. interviewed a woman identified as Candice De Medeiros on Friday, who said she had an affair with Jaxn. She alleged that Jaxn told her he was separated from his wife of four years and that he planned a lavish Miami trip in July last year during which they had sex. She claimed that he also took her to his marital home in Atlanta, where they also connected while his family was away.

The truth is, and Im saying it here now, is that Derek Jackson was involved with other women outside the marriage," Jaxn stated in his confession. "And by involved, I want to be clear: Im not just talking about casually kicking it maybe at lunch or something like that. Im talking about as serious as sex, sexual flirtation and that kind of thing.

All of it falls under the umbrella of inappropriate, cheating, affairs, stepping out. Definitely not in line with the vows that I took and definitely not in the line with the biblical standard of what it means to be faithful, which is the standard that Im going by now, he said.

Asked by The Shade Room about his hypocrisy in calling out Gray for cheating on his wife when he was doing the same, Jaxn admitted to being prideful and egotistical.

When it came to John Gray, I dont want to make a separation because ultimately, were not different from each other. My sin is not greater than his, any of that stuff, he said.

He was going at the church talking about this strange woman. His wife was saying I put holy water on this strange woman. I personally felt that was manipulation. I personally felt like putting everything on the women and not on John Gray was manipulation to a church and playing organs and stuff like that. Again, from a place of pride, its so easy to call out somebody else whenever you got your own situation, he said. I have no place to sit there and judge the person. So if I did that, that was wrong. It was out of alignment, that was clown behavior. Egotistical, he said.

He further explained that 2020 was his lowest year but it was really what I needed.

For years, Ive been coming down on the hammer with people. Play no games, take no prisoners when it comes to certain things. And let me tell you something, for everybody listening out there man, you can believe in something so fervently that it develops a sense of pride and pride comes before the fall. And whenever you have pride and youre in a space God has allowed you to be, He has called you to be, but youre not doing it the right way, God will humble you, Jaxn said.
Lackawanna County is withholding $24,200 from the Wright Center for Community Health relating to its contract to administer the COVID-19 vaccine to county employees, Controller Gary DiBileo said.

County commissioners also are seeking information from the state Department of Health to help assess whether to take any action regarding that contract and two others the Area Agency on Aging has with the center to vaccinate and test elderly residents.

The county took the action after a Times-Tribune story Wednesday exposed the center's questionable billing practices related to the vaccine.

The article cited three current and former employees and two medical billing experts who contend the center is violating guidelines that dictate the services that must be provided in order to bill for an office visit.

The state Department of Health on Monday dropped The Wright Center from its list of providers authorized to administer the states allotment of the COVID-19 vaccine. County solicitor Frank Ruggiero said county officials want more information regarding the circumstances surrounding the centers removal from the list.

"Is that related to the billing practices or related to how many vaccines they are getting out?" Ruggiero asked. If its because of something more serious, then we would want to know that because obviously wed have to do due diligence to ensure we protect taxpayers.

DiBileo has similar concerns regarding the center's claims that an office visit is medically necessary to get the vaccine.

"We don't know what is an appropriate medical procedure," DiBileo said. I want to verify that is an acceptable practice.

The countys contract to vaccinate employees paid the center a $100 office visit fee for the first dose and $50 for the second dose. The terms were identical for the AAA contract to vaccinate elderly residents at subsidized housing complexes.

The AAA also has a separate contract with the center to conduct COVID-19 testing of elderly housing complex residents. That contract pays $227.49 for an office visit for non-Wright Center patients and $169.57 for existing patients, most of which is expected to be covered by insurance, said Jason Kavulich, director of the AAA. The county will pay any portion that is not covered.

Kavulich believes the office visit for the testing is higher than for the vaccine because it included fees associated with analysis of the test results. That conflicts with the contract, however, which says the center will bill the county for third-party laboratory tests.

Kavulich said the Wright Center has not billed the county yet for AAA contracts, but he expects fees related to COVID-19 testing to be negligible since most of the agencys clients have Medicare or Medicaid. The county will only be responsible for the full bill if someone is uninsured.

He also noted the cost for the AAA vaccine and testing contracts will be paid with federal funds the county received for COVID-19-related expenses, not the general fund.

Payment for the county vaccine contract will be paid from the general fund. DiBileo already paid one invoice for $11,100, but is withholding payment on two others for $15,200 and $9,000.

Ruggiero said its too early to say whether the county would seek to void the contracts and recoup any monies paid.

"We are not rushing to judgment," he said. "If it's determined somewhere along the way that the billing practices were inappropriate  we would then pursue whatever we could legally."
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Ricky Gervais has today ridiculed Muslims angry with a teacher given death threats after allegedly showing cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad to students, declaring: 'What next? People being punished for insulting unicorns?'.

The atheist British comedian, 59, has mocked the protesters who have gathered outside Batley Grammar School demanding the unnamed teacher is sacked for blasphemy, forcing the headteacher to keep 980 children at home.

Mr Gervais, a well known defender of free speech also famed for his own outrageous and often offensive jokes, tweeted to his 14.5million followers: 'Blasphemy? F***ing Blasphemy? It's 2021 for f**k's sake. What next? People being punished for insulting unicorns?'.

The creator of The Office, After Life and Extras, was backed by BBC broadcaster Nicky Campbell, who said Mr Gervais' tweet was about the 'lunacy of blasphemy', branding it a 'victimless crime' while rowing with a critic of the comedian. One commentator called Gervais' tweet: 'An insult to the Islamic community worldwide'.

He is famed for being outspoken on Twitter, especially scathing remarks about religion, saying previously: 'Imagine if you carried on believing in Santa and the tooth fairy into adulthood. And even killed & started wars over it. Haha. Imagine that'. On another occasion he wrote: 'Everyone has the right to believe anything they want. And everyone else has the right to find it f***ing ridiculous'.

Today it was revealed that a petition started by students of the teacher suspended by Batley Grammar School has been signed by thousands of people - at a rate of one per second - as it was revealed he was forced to flee his home because of death threats.

Ricky Gervais has defended freedom of speech today as protesters crowded at the gates of Batley Grammar School again to demand the sacking of a teacher who allegedly showed students a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad

Mr Gervais, a well known defender of free speech also famed for his own outrageous and often offensive jokes, tweeted to his 14.5million followers that it was like getting 'punished for insulting unicorns'

The 'burly Yorkshire lad' in his 20s, who has not been named, is getting support from police after he allegedly showed cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad as the headteacher today kept 980 children at home after 50 Muslim protesters from outside the area turned up for a second day.

Mr Gervais was accused by critics of insulting Muslims around the globe

Mohammed Hussain of the 'Purpose of Life' charity, which published the teacher's identity online, said he condemned violence in the name of Islam.

He said he had to speak out after being asked by a radio interviewer several times whether he condoned beheadings and apparently failing to condemn them.

He told Mail Online: 'I was shocked and upset at the questions. I couldn't understand why I was being asked about beheadings.

'I was trying to say that I was against beheadings and that the Prophet said that if you were to kill one innocent person you were killing Mankind. I am against any type of violence in the name of Islam and do not support the beheadings that have taken place.'

Some of his students have launched a petition trying to save his job, which has been signed by more than 8,500 people.

People who backed the campaign to save his job have described him as a 'good man' and a 'diligent teacher' who is 'respectful of all religions'. Others said the school must stand by him, insisting he was being 'bullied out' by 'radicals'.

One Muslim parent signed the petition, named Mohammed J, wrote: 'I would like to convey my support for the school and also the teacher concerned. He has taught my daughter and she speaks very highly of him. I would not hesitate to see him teach her again. I am confident that the teacher concerned did not mean any offence and I hope following an investigation he returns to his role at the school.'

Another signatory said: 'He is loved by many students. Muslim and non Muslim. Batley Grammar stand up for one of your own. Don't lose a good teacher'.

Protesters managed to close the school today but none of the demonstrators MailOnline spoke to this morning were parents of children there, and had travelled to Batley from Dewsbury, Bradford and Leeds to join a smaller group of locals social media and WhatsApp groups. Many have pledged to protest there every day until he is sacked.

Education secretary Gavin Williamson has condemned the protests and said schools must be free to show 'challenging or controversial' materials in class. Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick said it was 'very disturbing'that the teacher has been forced into hiding.

The amateur rugby player, trained to teach in the mid-2010s after going to university in the north of England, and now lives in the area close to his West Yorkshire school with his partner. Recently he described his love of his job and helping educate young people from his area.

His neighbour, who is concerned for her own safety after protesters published his name online, has told MailOnline that he left his home at 9.30am yesterday and was rushed into a black vehicle. It is not known if it was an unmarked police car.

She added: 'I saw him and his family leaving in a rush yesterday. They got into a black car. A car which belongs to them is still at the front. They seemed in a hurry and they haven't come back last night and are not here today. I have phoned the police myself because I am worried in case there is any trouble as I live above them and I have got a baby. I can't go and stay with my parents because of Covid.'

The row of the teacher's RE lesson continues as:

Ministers speak out to defend 'free speech' and demand people protesting outside the school must go home and let the school and council investigate;

Protesters say they will come every day and have done nothing wronmg by naming the teacher online, claiming if he had upset the LGBT or Jewish communities he would have already been sacked;

Neighbours described a 'kind' and 'smiling' teacher who loved his job and saw helping students as his vocation;

Pupils launch petition to save his job, which has also been backed by some Muslim parents whose children were taught by him;

Protesters bowed their heads outside the school today as it was revealed the teacher facing death threats has been forced to flee the area

A protester speaking 'on behalf of the Muslim community' read out a statement outside of the school on Friday, and said 'We do not accept that the school has taken this issue seriously, given that it's taken them four days to merely suspend only one of the teachers involved'

The RE teacher facing death threats and protests at his Batley school (pictured today) is a 'burly Yorkshire lad' who recently wrote about his love for the job

Today more Muslim protesters gathered at the gates of Batley Grammar School and were spoken to police as the teacher was suspended from his job and the headteacher issued a humbling apology and shut the school

A student turned up at the gates for school only to be told the headteacher had shut it down for the day due to the ongoing protests

One of the protesters watches a police officer at the gate of the West Yorkshire school where a young teacher was accused of blasphemy

Protesters told MailOnline that the teacher has insulted 2billion Muslims around the world and must be sacked immediately

The protesters have included local faith leaders from across Yorkshire who are calling for the school to take action now

The group outside the gates insist that they want a peaceful protest and will remain until the teacher has been fired

The protesters, all Muslim men, are angry that the RE teacher allegedly showed cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad to students.

A man amongst the 50 protesters admitted he had posted the teacher's name on Facebook with a letter condemning - but told Mail Online he had done nothing wrong

Dozens of British Muslims, all of them men, returned to the school today, holding prayers and speeches and demanding the immediate sacking of the teacher at the school, where almost three-quarters of pupils are from minority ethnic groups.

Teacher who sparked Batley school 'blasphemy' protests wrote of his love for his 'fantastic' job The RE teacher who sparked a blasphemy protest at the gates after allegedly showing cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad to students is a 'burly Yorkshire lad', it was revealed today. The amateur rugby player, who is in his late 20s, had trained to teach in the mid-2010s after going to university in the north of England, and now lives a short distance from his Batley school with his partner. In an article about life as a trainee teacher, he wrote: 'Teaching is a fantastic profession. One which I cannot wait to start.' He added: 'You also teach them about life'. He had spoken of his experiences as a trainee teacher, saying how it was a 'fantastic' profession that he 'could not wait' to begin, The Telegraph reports. One neighbour called him a 'nice man', while another called him a 'good, honest, burly Yorkshire lad' who 'always had a smile for us'. Advertisement

A protester speaking 'on behalf of the Muslim community' read out a statement outside of the school on Friday, in which he said: 'The teachers have breached the position of trust and failed their duty of safeguarding, and this issue must be addressed as a matter of urgency.

'We do not accept that the school has taken this issue seriously, given that it's taken them four days to merely suspend only one of the teachers involved'. He called on the entire British Muslim community to review the materials being taught in their children's schools.

Batley Grammar School was closed today after more than 50 Muslims returned to demand the sacking of a RE teacher. The protesters outside the school dispersed after a couple of hours this morning as the rain fell.

Labour MP for Batley and Spen Tracey Brabin has condemned those who 'seek to fan the flames' in the Prophet Muhammad row at a school in her constituency.

It comes as people gathered for a second day of protest outside Batley Grammar School, in Batley, near Bradford, West Yorkshire.

In a statement shared on Twitter, Ms Brabin said: 'No teacher should be facing intimidation or threats, there is no excuse for that.

'The focus must be on the welfare and education of the children at this school.

'I welcome the school's apology and recognition of the offence this has caused but conversations between the school, parents and local community must proceed in a dignified and respectful matter.

'Those who seek to fan the flames of this incident will only provoke hate and division in our community and I would encourage all involved to work together and calm the situation.'

But protesters outside the school again accused him of offending 2billion Muslims around the globe, arguing he should have been dismissed immediately.

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson has condemned the death threats.

He said: 'It is never acceptable to threaten or intimidate teachers. We encourage dialogue between parents and schools when issues emerge. However, the nature of protest we have seen, including issuing threats and in violation of coronavirus restrictions are completely unacceptable and must be brought to an end.

'Schools are free to include a full range of issues, ideas and materials in their curriculum, including where they are challenging or controversial, subject to their obligations to ensure political balance. They must balance this with the need to promote respect and tolerance between people of different faiths and beliefs, including in deciding which materials to use in the classroom.'

The school's headteacher took a late decision to keep pupils away and put them on online studies today due to the row. Private security guards have also been called to the school to monitor the protest, while police liaison officers trained to deal with protests and community relations were also at the gates. Some children were turned away this morning because the closure was at the 11th hour.

Protesters take part in a prayer outside Batley Grammar School in Batley today where protesters say they will return every day until the teacher is sacked

A police officer arrives at the protest today, which later ended abruptly after torrential rain in West Yorkshire this morning

The majority of the protesters are believed to be from outside the area. Labour MP for Batley and Spen Tracey Brabin condemned those who 'seek to fan the flames' in the row

The unnamed teacher had spoken of his experiences as a trainee teacher, saying recently how it was a 'fantastic' profession that he 'could not wait' to begin so he could 'teach students about life', The Telegraph reported.

Students launch petition defending suspended RE teacher A petition urging the headteacher to 'keep' the under fire teacher at Batley Grammar School' has been launched online. The campaign has also been backed by Muslim parents with children at the school, who say he is a good teacher. One, Mohammed J, wrote a message online saying: ' I would like to convey my support for the school and also the teacher concerned. He has taught my daughter and she speaks very highly of him and I believe he has provided a strong platform for my daughter to understand and view RE within the context of critical discourse. 'I would not hesitate to see him teach my daughter again. I am therefore confident that the teacher concerned did not mean any offence and i hope following an investigation he returns to his role at the school.' Advertisement

Today more Muslim protesters gathered at the gates and were spoken to by police for the second day after the unnamed teacher was suspended and the headteacher issued a humbling apology to parents at the state school, where almost three-quarters of pupils are from minority ethnic groups.

It is not known if all the group of around 50 men outside this morning were parents, with some likely to be from local mosques, including from nearby Leeds and Dewsbury.

Mohammed Hussain of the 'Purpose of Life' group has admitted to MailOnline that he shared teacher's name on social media with a letter condemning him.

He said: 'His name was already widely available in Internet posts and it was going around. I didn't make public his name first. It was not our intention to cause any danger to him. In fact we asked for only peaceful protest. We don't want people breaking the law. But we do feel that if this had been something that offended the LGBT community or something that was anti-Semitic, he would've been sacked on the spot.

'His resignation should be forthcoming immediately. He has insulted 2billion Muslims on the planet. We cannot stand for that. We have to make our voices heard on it.'

One man at the gates, who only wanted to be named as Muhammed, said: 'It's a very sensitive topic - it's about our prophet. Somebody has disrespected our prophet.

'We don't disrespect anybody else's religious beliefs. We just want to create awareness that this is wrong. Don't do it - it's as simple as that.

'It's a very peaceful protest today and we'll keep it like that.

'We want the individual involved to be suspended on a permanent basis - not a temporary basis. We'd be very disappointed (if the teacher isn't sacked).'

He then added that they will come to the school gates every day until the teacher is sacked.

The Communities Secretary said protests outside a school in West Yorkshire where a teacher was suspended for reportedly showing pupils a caricature of the Prophet Muhammad were 'not right'.

Robert Jenrick also said suggestions that a teacher at Batley Grammar School in Batley, near Bradford, was in hiding were 'very disturbing', telling Sky News: 'I don't know precisely what a teacher did in the classroom.

'We know that the school is looking into the matter and investigating, and that is absolutely right - the Department for Education (DfE) is liaising with the school and the council.

'What I can say is there has to be an appropriate balance - we have to ensure there is free speech, that teachers can teach uninhabited but that has to be done in a respectful and tolerant way and that's a balance to be struck by teaching professionals and the schools concerned.

'What I would also add is that I was disturbed to see scenes of people protesting outside the school - that is not right.

Batley Grammar School headteacher Gary Kibble wrote to parents to confirm the issues were being investigated

'We shouldn't have teachers, members of staff of schools feeling intimidated, and the reports that a teacher may even be in hiding is very disturbing. That is not a road we want to go down in this country, so I would strongly urge people who are concerned about this issue not to do that.'

The leader of the group told those gathered: 'Let's keep social distance and let's keep our masks on. We are here to protect the name of the Prophet.'

A police source says there were 'meetings' within West Yorkshire Police about the demonstration, and how best to manage the fallout - including keeping teachers safe.

'Officers have been especially assigned to him,' the source said. 'This is obviously very sensitive. Local Muslims are up in arms and the teacher has not apologised. There is obviously significant risk around the individual.'

Gavin Williamson has condemned the death threats made against a teacher who was suspended for allegedly showing a caricature of the Prophet Muhammad in a religious studies lesson on blasphemy.

The Education Secretary said that the protests outside the historic Batley Grammar School in West Yorkshire yesterday were 'completely unacceptable', after dozens of furious Muslim parents demonstrated and chanted 'shame on you' as they called for the teacher's removal.

One neighbour called him a 'nice man', while another called him a 'good, honest, burly Yorkshire lad' who 'always had a smile for us'.

Furious protesters outside the historic Batley Grammar School in West Yorkshire yesterday chanted 'shame on you' as they called for the teacher's removal, following allegations he showed a graphic depiction of the Prophet Muhammad in a lesson about blasphemy.

It is not yet known what exact image was shown to the children, but parents had claimed they were 'French' caricatures.

This could be a reference to those published by Charlie Hebdo in 2012, which had been used as a justification for the heinous murder of 12 people at the magazine's Paris office.

The teacher is now the subject of great controversy, finding himself in the middle of a row over freedom of speech and offensive material.

There was no sign of him at his home and the car was missing yesterday, following the outbreak of the row.

West Yorkshire Police sent specialist liaison officers trained to deal with protests and community relations were also at the gates

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson has now condemned the death threats made against the teacher. A Department for Education spokesperson said: 'It is never acceptable to threaten or intimidate teachers. We encourage dialogue between parents and schools when issues emerge

The backlash over his alleged actions come five months after history teacher Samuel Paty was beheaded on the street near his school in a Paris suburb by an Islamic extremist for showing Prophet Muhammad cartoons to his students.

The killing shocked the country and led to a fresh debate about freedom of speech and the integration of France's large Muslim population.

It also brought back memories of a wave of Islamist violence that started with the Charlie Hebdo massacre, sparked by the same cartoons in the satirical magazine in 2015 when gunmen killed 12 people.

Messages had been issued on social media on Wednesday urging Muslims to 'defend the honour of our Prophet Mohammed' by protesting by the school.

Muslim community leaders urged calm. The Ramadhan Foundation's Mohammed Shafiq said: 'We are proud to exercise our civic rights in regards to freedom of speech by standing up against such depictions.

'We do so in peace and reject any violence or threat of violence. We urge all who love the Prophet Muhammad PBUH within the British Muslim community to remember our responsibilities to reject violence and never give in to the narrative that some want to paint us as.'

A West Yorkshire Police officer read out a grovelling apology to mothers and fathers from headteacher Gary Kibble, but this provoked even more fury from those gathered as they called the teacher - who is now believed to be in hiding after he was identified online - a 'danger'.

Parents claimed that the teacher, who the school have not named, showed students a cartoon of the Prophet during a religious education class - and had predicted he would face a controversial reaction.

Though it is not yet known what exact image was shown to the children, parents had said they were 'French' caricatures, possibly referring to those published by Charlie Hebdo in 2012, which were used as a justification for the heinous murder of 12 people at the magazine's Paris office.

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson has now condemned the death threats made against the Batley teacher.

A Department for Education spokesperson said: 'It is never acceptable to threaten or intimidate teachers. We encourage dialogue between parents and schools when issues emerge.

'However, the nature of protest we have seen, including issuing threats and in violation of coronavirus restrictions are completely unacceptable and must be brought to an end.

'Schools are free to include a full range of issues, ideas and materials in their curriculum, including where they are challenging or controversial, subject to their obligations to ensure political balance.

'They must balance this with the need to promote respect and tolerance between people of different faiths and beliefs, including in deciding which materials to use in the classroom.'

Former Conservative Cabinet Minister Sajid Javid also condemned the backlash, writing: 'In this country we are free to peacefully follow, preach or query any religion or none. These are hard-won freedoms that must be upheld by all public institutions. Reports of intimidation in Batley set a deeply unsettling and potentially dangerous precedent.

'President Macron rightly warned about intolerant ''separatism'' two weeks before Samuel Paty was murdered. We cannot afford to wait for another tragedy to tackle extremism and reaffirm our values, as I argued recently.'

In posts to Facebook, the teacher is said to have accepted that pupils at the co-educational free school would tell their parents about the image before then displaying the cartoon to the class.

Police descend on Batley Grammar School in West Yorkshire on Thursday as dozens of furious Muslim parents protest outside

Mufti Mohammed Amin Pandor, a local Muslim scholar, told the crowd in Batley that the teacher has been suspended

Batley Grammar School headteacher Gary Kibble, pictured, has since apologised for the 'inappropriate' resource

An angry crowd had first gathered outside the grammar school at 7.30am on Thursday, causing the establishment to delay its opening and tell pupils to stay home amid chaotic scenes at the gates.

The parents were still protesting at lunchtime, as police began threatening them with Covid-19 fines and shut a road in both directions. Police later said there were no arrests or fines issued.

'Children must learn about faiths - but in a respectful, sensitive way': Headteacher Gary Kibble's full statement 'The school unequivocally apologises for using a totally inappropriate image in a religious studies lesson. It should not have been used. 'The member of staff has also relayed their sincere apologies. 'We have immediately withdrawn teaching on this part of the course, and we are revising how we go forward with the support of all communities represented in our school. 'It is important for children to learn about faiths and beliefs, but this must be done in a respectful, sensitive way. 'The member of staff has been suspended pending an independent formal investigation. 'The school is working closely with our governing body and community leaders to help us resolve this situation, and we continue to do so. 'I know many of you will have questions but we are undertaking a formal process now and it is therefore very difficult for us to be able to answer any of those questions without jeopardising that, but we hope that we can reach a swift conclusion moving forward.' Advertisement

It took until 2.30pm for the demonstration to be cleared by police, a spokesperson for West Yorkshire Police confirmed. MailOnline has asked the school a series of questions, including about what images were shown.

Muslim leader Mohammad Sajad Hussain, founder of a Batley-based charity, said he was 'deeply hurt' by the 'insulting caricatures of our beloved Prophet Mohammed' in an open letter. He said the charity is unwilling to work with or promote the school until the teacher is 'permanently removed'.

Dr Abdul Shaikh, an academic in Batley and Muslim activist, said he heard about the incident on social media on Wednesday night.

Speaking to the PA news agency, he said: 'I was shocked like many Muslims in the town that Muslim school children's religious sensitivities were completely ignored by the school teacher who decided to show an offensive image that lampooned the noble Prophet Mohammed.

'Every Muslim around the world holds the Prophet in the highest esteem. I feel that the school should be allowed to complete their investigation in due course and find a fair and adequate solution that satisfies first and foremost Muslim pupils, their parents and the wider Muslim community in Batley.

'This situation should not be allowed to happen again for the sake of community cohesion in the area.'

Qari Asim, a senior imam at the Makkah Mosque in Leeds, said: 'I sympathise with the parents and pupils because sadly, this is not the first time we have seen offensive images of Prophet Mohammed being used.

'People have a right to express their concerns and hurt but protests can't always achieve what can be achieved through constructive dialogue - fair investigation by the school, in consultation with the parents, should be allowed to take place.

'We do not want to fan the flames of Islamophobia and provoke hatred or division.'

And Mohammed Shafiq, CEO of the Ramadhan Foundation, condemned the teacher 'in the strongest terms' for not considering the 'hurt' he would cause by showing a drawing to children in a religious studies lesson.

He said: 'The World knows the love and respect we have for our Prophet and our hearts are pained tonight to know a teacher working with 70% Muslim pupils didn't consider the hurt this would cause.

'We understand the anger parents have been feeling and as we know this is not the first time under the cloak of freedom of speech our faith is being attacked.

'We love the Prophet Muhammad PBUH more than own lives and this incident has happened which will now be hijacked by those who have an interest in perpetuating an image of Muslims, we will not allow these attacks to go unanswered.'

He added: 'It is alarming that the Department of Education chose to amplify those divisions by attacking the parents and pupils rather than looking how we can come together to have a respectful discussion and seek an end to this issue.'

Mr Kibble, headteacher of the school founded in 1612 by the Reverend William Lee, said the RE teacher has been suspended, and went on to issue a 'sincere' and 'unequivocal' apology. He called the image 'totally inappropriate' and said the school had 'immediately withdrawn teaching on this part of the course'.

In a televised statement, he added: 'It is important for children to learn about faiths and beliefs, but this must be done in a respectful, sensitive way. The school is working closely with our governing body and community leaders to help us resolve this situation, and we continue to do so.'

The RE teacher, who lives with his partner a short distance from the school, was not home today and his car was not parked at the property.

A neighbour told MailOnline: 'He's a nice man. I see him go off to school, but not today or the day before.'

He was described by another neighbour as a 'local lad' who studied close to home and decided to teach in the area he was born and raised.

The neighbour said: 'He's a good, honest Yorkshire lad. Likes his rugby and always had a smile for us.'

The teacher's parents were also not at home.

The National Secular Society branded the protest as an 'attempt to impose an Islamic blasphemy taboo on a school'. Stephen Evans, its chief executive, said: 'Teachers must have a reasonable degree of freedom to explore sensitive subjects and enable students to think critically about them.

'And the school's weak response will fuel a climate of censorship, which is brought on by attempts to force society as a whole to accommodate unreasonable and reactionary religious views.'

Today's protest comes five months after history teacher Samuel Paty was beheaded on the street near his school in a Paris suburb by an Islamic extremist last October after showing Prophet Muhammad cartoons to his students.

The killing shocked the country and led to a fresh debate about freedom of speech and the integration of France's large Muslim population. It also brought back memories of a wave of Islamist violence that started with the Charlie Hebdo massacre, sparked by the same cartoons in the satirical magazine in 2015 when gunmen killed 12 people.

Mufti Mohammed Amin Pandor, a local Muslim scholar, told the crowd that the teacher had been suspended, which was later confirmed by the school, where almost three-quarters of pupils are from minority ethnic groups.

Muslims make up 41 per cent of the population in Batley, a historic market and mill town in the Kirkless region which was the constituency of Labour MP Jo Cox who was murdered by a far-Right extremist in June 2016.

The latest RE syllabus for the Calderdale, Kirklees and Leeds region, valid from 2019 to 2024, states that pupils should be able to 'give reasons why visual representation of God and the prophets is forbidden - haram - in Islam' by the end of key stage two - but does not specifically state whether teachers should show any of these images.

National guidance from the Department for Education also does not specifically address cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, but says RE must be taught according to 'either the locally agreed syllabus or in accordance with the school's designated religion or religious denomination, or in certain cases the trust deed relating to the school.'

Alumni from the school, which serves Halal-approved food in the canteen, include Innocent Smoothies founder Richard Reed, Ginetta Cars owner Lawrence Tomlinson and prominent 18th century theologian Joseph Priestley.

Mr Kibble wrote in a letter to parents: 'The school would like to thank the parents who contacted us on Monday, March 22 highlighting concerns with a resource used in an RS [religious studies] lesson that day.

'Upon investigation, it was clear that the resource used in the lesson was completely inappropriate and had the capacity to cause great offence to members of our school community for which we would like to offer a sincere and full apology.'

He added that the school had taken 'immediate action' to investigate what had happened, including the removal of the resource from materials and the suspension of that lesson content from the scheme of work.

Mr Kibble continued: 'As an additional precaution, we will undertake a formal review of the RS curriculum to ensure no other resource or statement is inappropriate and take appropriate action as needed.'

The headteacher, who is thought to have been in his role at the school for three years, also told how staff were now investigating the matter 'using formal processes and we are grateful for the support of the local authority'.

With parents gathering outside the school, it sent them all a text message to say: 'Due to the disturbance outside of school, if your child has not already set off please keep them at home as school will be starting at 10am.'

Later in a statement to ITV News, Mr Kibble said: 'The school unequivocally apologises for using a totally inappropriate image in a religious studies lesson. It should not have been used.

** Are you a parent of a child at Batley Grammar School? Please email: tips@dailymail.com ** Advertisement

'The member of staff has also relayed their sincere apologies. We have immediately withdrawn teaching on this part of the course, and we are revising how we go forward with the support of all communities represented in our school.

'It is important for children to learn about faiths and beliefs, but this must be done in a respectful, sensitive way.

'The member of staff has been suspended pending an independent formal investigation. The school is working closely with our governing body and community leaders to help us resolve this situation, and we continue to do so.

'I know many of you will have questions but we are undertaking a formal process now and it is therefore very difficult for us to be able to answer any of those questions without jeopardising that, but we hope that we can reach a swift conclusion moving forward.'

The protesters had been demanding the resignation of the teacher, with organisers asking anyone attending to do so in their vehicle. Officers were guarding all school entrances but the protest appeared to be peaceful.

How the death of teacher Samuel Paty in France led to a fresh debate about freedom of speech Five months ago, French teacher Samuel Paty was beheaded on the street near his school in Paris by an Islamic extremist last October after showing cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad to his students. The killing shocked the country and led to a fresh debate about freedom of speech and the integration of France's large Muslim population. It also brought back memories of a wave of Islamist violence following the Charlie Hebdo massacre, sparked by the same cartoons in the satirical magazine in 2015 when 12 people were killed. Mr Paty was beheaded by an 18-year-old man of Chechen descent on October 16. The man was shot dead by police shortly after the attack. On March 9, a girl aged 13 admitted to telling lies about the teacher after an online hate campaign kick-started by her comments. Mr Paty's killing, which happened in the town of Conflans-Sainte-Honorine just outside Paris, sent shockwaves through France and reignited tensions in the country over the strict divide of church and state. President Emmanuel Macron's response defending the cartoons of Muhammad and Mr Paty's actions sparked mass protests and boycotts of French goods in many Muslim-majority countries. Following Mr Macron's comments, three people were killed in a terrorist attack at a Catholic church in Nice on October 29. France has been hit by several major terror attacks in recent years. Its fiercely secular state was founded on the concept of laicite, which separates state institutions - including schools - from the influence of religion. In recent years, this policy has chafed with the reality of France's multi-cultural population, particularly Muslims, some of whom feel they have been unfairly targeted by secularism policies including a ban on the wearing of some forms of Islamic dress in public spaces. Teachers are increasingly on the front lines of this debate. Advertisement

In a video filmed by the Huddersfield Examiner, Mufti Mohammed Amin Pandor, a local prominent Muslim scholar who is director of the Peace Institute, told the crowd outside this morning: 'What has happened in the school, we are appalled.

'Look at what we do as a community, and you'll understand our stance. What has happened is totally unacceptable and we have made sure that the school understands that. The school is preparing a statement.

'So our discussion is they prepared a statement and we weren't happy with the statement, so we said no, the statement needs to be worded in this way. Some people think I tried to stop you guys from coming.

'I don't know where that information is from, so that's between whoever has spread that rumour and Allah. So that's nothing to do with me. This is a democratic country, you can protest. It's your right to protest.

'Somebody called me last night and said there's a protest for tomorrow, what should we do? I said we, as a group, have got a different stance, we want to work with the school. But if anyone wants to exercise their democratic right, you are here. So let's move on. So what's happening?

'The school is going to issue an apology, issue a statement. We have asked for amendments on the statement to say that they are very apologetic and they apologise. All the resources that were used have all been pulled out.

'The teacher has been suspended, the teacher has been suspended. Now then, you cannot sack him. You guys are professional, you know you can't just dismiss someone like that, they have due process.

'So he's been suspended, OK, he's been suspended. Now we've asked for an investigation, an investigation to be independent, and we have asked also that some of us get onto the investigation panel.

'So this is what we've asked for. So whether they do it or not, we can't force them, but they're investigating. And then we're going to work with the school to make sure in future things like this don't happen.'

Commenting on the situation, a woman in her 30s with a child at the school said: 'We are continuing to wait outside the school to try and speak to the headteacher, we want to hear what he has to say.

'He needs to come out, explain what happened, apologise for it and tell us how he will make sure nothing like this ever happens again.

'We feel like he's hiding away and that's not good enough, he needs to show his face. A lot of us have questions for him about how this ever happened in the first place, something clearly went very wrong.

'This image is so offensive to us and, in my opinion, there is no way it could have been part of the curriculum. What happened is very dangerous and we need answers.'

People hold a photo of Samuel Paty during a memorial march for him in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine on October 20, 2020

But Dr Paul Stott, associate fellow at the Henry Jackson Society think tank, told MailOnline: 'Secondary schools have a duty to introduce pupils to contentious ideas and debates, as part of a process of teaching children how, rather than what, to think.

'Schools in the UK must not concede policy to angry mobs at the school gates or to so-called community leaders.

'The school's censorious approach appears to be the exact opposite of the approach in France, where demands to sanitise classroom discussions by Islamist campaigners were resolutely rejected by the government, following the hideous murder of teacher Samuel Paty.'

The Free Speech Union said it stands 'in solidarity with the teacher at Batley Grammar who has been suspended at the behest of a censorious religious mob'.

Toby Young, its director general, said he is writing to the headteacher to object, copying in Education Secretary Gavin Williamson, and to the local Chief Constable asking him to make sure the teacher is 'protected from intimidation'.

He told MailOnline: 'Schools should be teaching children about the importance of free speech and for the headteacher to give in immediately to the demands of an outrage mob - apologising to them and suspending the teacher concerned - sets a very bad example. No one has the right not to be offended.'

Carole Pattison, cabinet member for learning at Kirkless Council, told MailOnline: 'Batley Grammar is an academy school so the council has a very limited role in its running but we are aware of issues raised by parents this week.

'We are pleased to see that the school has taken swift action to resolve the issues alongside the local community. They have apologised, taken immediate action on teaching materials and they are reviewing the relevant processes.'

A West Yorkshire Police spokesman said at about midday: 'We are aware of a small demonstration at the school, which is still ongoing. Local neighbourhood officers are in attendance.'

Police cordoned off Carlinghow Hill in both directions and the 213 bus service was diverted via Batley Field Hill.

Later, the force spokesman added: 'The demonstration has now ended. We closed the road for a short time. No arrests or FPNs (Fixed Penalty Notices) issued.'

The school, which has 990 pupils, was rated 'good' in its last Ofsted inspection. It used to be an all-boys school until girls were admitted into its sixth form in 1988 and it then became fully co-educational in 1996.

** Are you a parent of a child at Batley Grammar School? Please email: tips@dailymail.com **
The leader of the New Age group 'Love Has Won' has been accused of running a cult by former members who claim they were brainwashed, abused, and forced to wait on her hand and foot while living with her in Colorado.

Amy Carlson, 44, from Kansas, purports she is a divine being and insists her devoted followers call her 'Mom' or 'Mother God.' She alleges she has been trying to save humanity for 19 billion years and will one day lead 144,000 chosen people into a new mystical fifth dimension.

In the first episode of the new Vice series False Gods, host Josh Osborne explored the inner-workings of the so-called cult and its off-the-wall beliefs, which include the claim that Donald Trump was Carlson's loving father in a past life.

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God? Amy Carlson, 44, from Kansas, has convinced members of her New Age group 'Love Has Won' that she is a divine being who is trying to save humanity

Cult? The first episode of the new Vice series False Gods explores the allegations of brainwashing and abuse against Carlson, who has members call her 'Mom' or 'Mother God'

Love Has Won has about 20 full-time members in Colorado who are dedicated to recruiting more followers around the world through their daily live streams on YouTube.

They also raise donations and sell New Age merchandise to fund the group while tending to Carlson. It has been alleged that the members are underfed, banned from sitting, and never paid for their work.

Osborne interviewed several former members of Love Has Won as well as people who have lost their loved ones to Carlson and her teachings, with all of them insisting it's a cult.

The episode also featured disturbing clips of Carlson that were originally shared on the YouTube page Rising Above Love Has Won, which serves as a watchdog for the controversial group.

Carlson is supposed to be this nurturing, motherly being who birthed creation, but videos of her that have emerged show her screaming obscenities, holding up a cat by its fur, and allegedly having a young child put in a closet for having a tantrum.

Web-savvy: Love Has Won has about 20 full-time members in Colorado who spend their days recruiting members and raising donations via their daily live streams

If you say so: Carlson's followers believe she has been reincarnated 534 times and will one day lead 144,000 chosen people into a new mystical fifth dimension

Say what? Carlson has also convinced them that she speaks to the late actor Robin Williams and former President Donald Trump was her loving father in a past life

'It's a lot, a lot, a lot, a lot of mental manipulation, a lot of brainwash. She only lets us sleep four hours. We have to wake up every day at 5:00 a.m.,' Taylor, a former member, said in one of the videos. 'Everything is revolved around Amy.'

Even though Carlson claims to have been reincarnated 534 times, her family told Vice that she didn't get into New Age thinking until she turned 30. She then left her third marriage and job at McDonald's to embark on her mission to save humanity.

Aurora, a Love Has Won spokeswoman whose real name is Lauryn Suarez, defended the group and its leader while she and her live stream co-host Hope spoke with Vice.

'Mom was just in full consciousness from her whole life. She earned where she is at consciously,' she said of Carlson. 'And that's really why she just is the example because we are not at that consciousness level, nowhere near.'

Aurora believes that former President Trump was Carlson's father, explaining: 'Mom was incarnated and Donald Trump, when in that lifetime, was her father.'

Carlson has also convinced her devotees that she speaks to the late actor Robin Williams and can rid people of cancer by talking to them on the phone.

'The beings who have had the most healing and have been cured by Mom are the ones that had no fear and no doubt and they were in surrender,' Aurora told Vice.

'It is a scam': A former member named Ashley said Carlson just seemed like she was 'super drunk or high' when she claimed she was speaking to Williams

Proof? Former members have accused Carlson of drinking alcohol and doing drugs, even though the group is supposedly banned from taking them

Claims: An emerged video shows Carlson allegedly having a young child put in a small closet with the door closed for having a tantrum

Aurora's former friend Dan was among those to speak out against Love Has Won, saying it should be called what it is: 'a cult.'

This is Mother Earth? Another clip showed Carlson holding up a cat by its fur

'They like to talk about karma,' he said. 'I don't know if I'm a big believer in karma, but I think that I really do believe justice needs to be served for what Amy has done to these people, these families, these friendships.

'She has, in essence, destroyed the lives of a lot of young people.'

Aurora hit back at the claim by accusing those who are against the group of being the ones who are really in a cult.

'We're a "cult" because we see the truth and other people can't,' she said.

'But apparently, if you follow the collective mentality and you follow what everybody else is doing, you're not a cult

'Well, why? It's a group of people who all believe the same insanity. The collective all believes the same insanity, but yet they're not called a cult.'

Carlson runs the group with her partner, whom she refers to as 'Father God.' She has had several Father Gods over the years, including Andrew Profaci.

Allegations: 'It's a lot, a lot, a lot, a lot of mental manipulation, a lot of brainwash. She only lets us sleep four hours. We have to wake up every day at 5:00 a.m.,' said Taylor, a former member

Punishment: Members are expected to serve Carlson, and one man was allegedly tormented for bringing her meatballs instead of chicken parmesan (pictured)

Former member: Carlson runs the group with her partner, whom she refers to as 'Father God.' She has had several Father Gods over the years, including Andrew Profaci (pictured)

Looking back: Profaci became Carlson's Father God in 2014 and spent 10 months being her lover and caretaker before he left the group. He said she would drink heavily and get abusive

Profaci survived a deadly crash as a teen and went on a spiritual mission that led him to join Love Has Won. He became Carlson's Father God in 2014 and spent 10 months being her lover and caretaker before he left the group.

In his interview with Vice, he recalled flying to Denver and taking a five-and-a-half-hour taxi ride 'to the middle of nowhere in Colorado.'

Love Has Won members are supposedly banned from using drugs and alcohol, but he claimed that the substances were heavily abused.

'As soon as I got out of that taxi and walked in that front door, I realized I'd made a grave miscalculation,' he said. 'Everybody there was on a mushroom trip, and clearly none of them had gone to bed yet. It scared the c**p out of me.'

Profaci recalled how Carlson was charismatic and thoughtful but had an abusive side, especially when she was drinking.

'Amy, at that point in time, was definitely one of the most brilliant, insightful people I've ever met, but it all changed after dinner,' he said. 'She could drink like I've never seen before.

Another leader: Jason Castillo, 44, is Love Has Won's current Father God

Wrap sheet: Castillo has a history of criminal behavior, including drinking and driving, breaking and entering, and child neglect

Hard to handle: Castillo's sister Mindy Boyer started crying while speaking to Vice about his work in the group, saying she wished they 'would stop trying to recruit innocent people'

'She would fill a highball glass, I mean, almost the whole way with vodka and, you know, just spritz of water on top. She'd probably drink eight, nine of those a night.

'She would turn into somebody else. She would become angry. She would talk smack, and just be very bitter about things, yelling and cussing. I have never really seen anything like that before.'

Aurora denied that anyone in the group does drugs, saying Carlson is firmly against it and has kicked people out over it. However, footage shows her holding what looks like a joint and taking a hit from a bong. Hope justified Carlson drinking alcohol, saying she needs it to relieve pain.

'She's organic, so she's not going to consume pharmaceuticals,' she explained, 'but she does it with alcohol, which is organic, and that's what she explains is a natural painkiller because she cannot take morphine.'

A former member named Ashley told Vice that Love Has One is a 'cult' and a 'scam.'

'There were certain things that [Carlson] expressed that seemed so out there, like talking to Robin Williams,' she recalled. 'I mean, I witnessed her do this, and it just seemed like she was super drunk or high.'

Scary: In 2020, Alex Whitten abandoned his family to join Love Has Won. He was found wandering the desert, hallucinating, and naked with cactus needles in his feet days later

It's not true! Love Has Won spokeswomen Aurora (left) and Hope (right) defended the group and its leader

Angry: Aurora's former friend Dan said 'justice needs to be served' for what Carlson has don, saying she has 'destroyed the lives of a lot of young people'

Carlson's current Father God is Jason Castillo, 44, who has a history of criminal behavior, including drinking and driving, breaking and entering, and child neglect.

Castillo's sister Mindy Boyer started crying while speaking to Vice about his work in the group, which she is convinced is a cult.

'He can follow this group and he can think he's Father God for the rest of all time, but he's my brother; I would like him to have happiness,' she said. 'I just wish that they would stop trying to recruit innocent people from around the country to be just like them.'

In 2020, Alex Whitten abandoned his wife, kids, and six-figure salary to join Love Has Won. He was found wandering the desert, hallucinating, and naked with cactus needles in his feet days later, according to Vice.

However, Aurora had an explanation for that too.

'Sometimes people have a very quick awakening,' she said. 'If anybody's ever experienced that, it can be a bit disorienting because you just all of a sudden open up to all this spiritual energy, and it can be overwhelming depending on your being.

'But ultimately, we love Alex,' she added. 'And has never actually done an interview or said anything. It's always been his wife and his sister.'
SHEFFIELD  For the second time in the past two weeks, the Planning Board has denied a permit request for a cannabis grow operation proposed for Polikoff Road in Ashley Falls.

In a 5-0 vote Wednesday night, the board rejected ZGC, LLCs application for 100,000 square feet of commercial marijuana cultivation on 6 acres.

The board denied the plan on the grounds that the location  its in a residential area  isnt suited to a business. Concerns included the potential for odors and increased traffic, Chairman Ken Smith said Thursday.

Since the more than 15-acre farmland property abuts the Canaan, Conn., state line, officials and others from that town joined Ashley Falls residents in expressing their opposition.

For similar reasons, the board on March 18 unanimously denied a permit for a 98,000-square-foot grow operation to the north, off the same street. Residents had mounted a campaign against Wiseacre Farms plan, saying it was ill-suited to a neighborhood packed with families.

ZGC also would have had to build a structure, since temporary trailers are not permitted under the towns cannabis bylaws.

Interest in Sheffield by the industry has prompted an April 14 meeting for an open discussion between the planning and select boards.

Sheffield has five existing cannabis businesses, including cultivation and retail, and two prospective companies in various stages of permitting. Two others have indicated interest but have not presented plans.
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A series of colourised photographs have been released that show what it was like to travel across Europe one hundred years ago, in a time before civil aviation made globetrotting more accessible.

With international travel currently completely halted due to ongoing coronavirus restrictions, the photos offer a rare glimpse into the quarantine, test, and fine-free travelling lives of the generations who came before us.

The photographs were taken by German-American photographer Arnold Genthe whilst on a tour of Europe during the early 1900s, where he captured the people and sights of Spain, Greece and Belgium.

In one image, a group of dancers are seen performing while wearing traditional himation tunics at an ancient stone relic site in Greece in 1929.

In another, female flamenco dancers wear sevillana dresses while a male dancer plays the tambourine as the troupe performs at a small village in Spain.

Others showed an ornate bathing machine belonging to Spain's King Alfonso, sat atop the busy sands of San Sebastian beach, and another shows Spain's Burgos Cathedral originally consecrated in the year 1260.

Genthe also took a photo of Brussels' Grand Place, the central square of Belgium's capital city, showing people sitting in the square, shielding from the sun under parasols.

His photographs also capture a variety of people who lived in Europe at the time, showing what they wore, the work they did, and how the spent their leisure time.

Arnold moved to San Francisco, USA, to further his career as a tutor in the late 1800s but returned to Europe for a visit during his later life.

A series of colourised photographs have been released that reflect on what it was like to travel across Europe one hundred years ago. Pictured: An ornate bathing machine belonging to Spain's King Alfonso on San Sebastian Beach. The large hut appears to be on rails running down the beach. In the distance, smaller huts can be seen lining the ocean-front. The photographs were taken by German-American photographer Arnold Genthe whilst on a tour of Europe during the early 1900s

Pictured left and right: The Cathedral of Saint Mary of Burgos, a Catholic Cathedral dedicated to the Virgin Mary located in the Spanish city of Burgos in the 1900s (left) and today (right). In the picture taken in the 1900s by Genthe shows two men leading a group of pack donkeys down the slope. The picture of cathedral today shows a new staircase that has been built since Genthe's travels, but the cathedral otherwise remains largely the same as it was 100 years ago. It was originally consecrated in the year 1260.

Pictured: A group of dancers perform whilst wearing traditional himation tunics at an ancient stone relic site in Greece in 1929. The dancers appear to be recreating what ancient Greek women would have likely worn in the temple

Left: A short parade precedes a bull fight in Barcelona, Spain. Right: Some 19,000 bullfight aficionados packed into the Monumental bullring to hail the triumphant comeback of Jose Tomas in 2007. Bull fighting in Spain is a tradition that can be traced as back to before the Roman Empire, where the first bullfighting rings are believed to originate from

Pictured: A man on the back of a horse spears a bull in a bull fighting ring in Spain. The bull appears to have charged the horse he is riding on, which looks dangerously close to toppling over. On the other side of the horse, two more matadors can be seen, one holding fabric used to distract the bulls during the dangerous performance

Pictured: People are seen sitting under umbrellas in Brussels's Grand Place, the central square of Belgium's capital city. The square is surrounded by opulent guildhalls and two larger edifices, the city's Town Hall, and the King's House or Breadhouse

Pictured: Brussel's Grand Place today. The large building on the left is the Brussels City Museum, situated opposite the town hall. It became known as the King's House, although no king has ever lived there, or the Broodhuis ('Bread hall'), after the market whose place it took. It was rebuilt after suffering extensive damage from the bombardment of Brussels in 1695

Pictured left: The Roman Aqueduct of Segovia, as seen through the nearby streets of the old town found in the south-east of the country. It is one of the best-preserved elevated Roman aqueducts and the foremost symbol of Segovia, as evidenced by its presence on the city's coat of arms. Left: The Aqueduct, as seen on Google maps today through the streets

Left: Female flamenco dancers wore sevillana dresses whilst a male dancer played the tambourine as the troupe performed at a small village in Spain. Right: People and animals walk at the foot of the walls of a settlement in Europe. Genthe's travels took him to ancient walled settlements across the continent

Picrured: A man riding a donkey alongside a woman dressed in a long travel cloak and good ride along a path next to the 'Los Cuatro Postes de Avila', or 'The Four Posts' over looking over the ancient Spanish city of Avila, found north-west of Madrid

Left: Genthe encountered this curious family in a small Spanish village. Right: A woman poses for a photo on the doorstep of her house in a small settlement in Greece

Pictured: Traders selling their wares out of baskets, some of which are being carried by donkeys, outside of this cathedral
Its time to insert some levity in our Toyota Month coverage: heres a Toyota making a desperate dash for freedom, away from its driver, only to end up smashed into a parked vehicle. Its ok to laugh because no one was injured and the damage was most likely not significant, considering that the rebel Toyota was moving at a slow pace.The incident occurred in Singapore just recently and was captured by the dashcam of the car behind it. A woman got out of the black Toyota , seemingly to run her card through the toll post and open the barrier to get out of the parking structure. Either there was something wrong with the car or she forgot to take it out of drive, but it started to roll away from her.Though the image is blurry and the womans face is not towards the camera, you can sense the confusion and desperation in her gestures. She tries to get back inside the car but cant, she tries to hold the car back from rolling into the street, which she obviously cant, and she eventually settles for running behind it.Not that it goes very far: the car crosses the street and stops in the side of a parked car, just as its owner was getting ready to start it and drive off. The woman seems to alert the man, so no one is injured. Thats the bright side, along with the fact already mentioned above that damage couldnt have been significant.If you need or want a lesson on howto exit a car park, here it is. It would be easy to overgeneralize and make some wisecrack about how of course the driver was female, but since no one knows the whole story, let us not.
Revolution Tea Revolution Tea is a perfect fit to LIFEBRANDS as we share similar values and can benefit from our established distribution channels.

Revolution Tea is excited to announce that the company has been acquired by LIFEBRANDS Natural Food GmbH. With the strength of LIFEBRANDS, the reputation of Revolution Tea and the experience of the US based team, the company is poised to disrupt the US tea landscape.

Revolution Tea has been changing the beverage and tea industry since 1998. Marketing tea for drinking hot and over ice, the revolution has always been about improving the quality of the tea drinking experience through the brands commitment to source only the highest quality ingredients for every one of our products. It matters because we know its really all about the ingredients, full leaf tea, select herbs, real fruit pieces, essential oils and all natural flavors. This is what makes us different.

LIFEBRANDS was founded in 2000 by Lars Frederik Ellerbrock. Over the last 20 years, the company achieved a leading position in the international hot beverage FMCG market. The team created various successful brands in this segment. Lars succeeded in providing a platform for sustainable products and in raising the awareness for responsible enjoyment within the food industry.

While LIFEBRANDS is a significant player in the global tea market, Lars knowledge and experience in tea goes far beyond LIFEBRANDS. Lars is the majority shareholder of one of the leading global tea manufacturers based in Hamburg operating one of the biggest specialty tea warehouses in the world. Revolution Tea is a perfect fit to our FMCG brand portfolio as we share similar values and can benefit from each others long-term established distribution channels. Our intention is to grow Revolution Tea internationally with the extension of the product portfolio and a range of new innovations, the impact of social responsibility and sustainability engagement, Lars Frederik Ellerbrock says.

This new venture between Revolution Tea and LIFEBRANDS will be led by two veterans in the global tea industry. David Enser has been with Revolution Tea since 2006 and has been leading the company since 2011. David believes it is the featured benefits of doing business with Revolution Tea - sampling, promoting and advertising - that continue to build brand awareness, attract new consumers and help Revolutions best-in-class operators to sell more tea. Through Davids leadership, Revolution Teas portfolio has expanded to over thirty delicious tea blends available today in more than sixty countries around the world. David will continue to serve as President of Revolution Tea and lead the amazing team of employees from the companys offices in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Keith Bearden will join the team as the CEO for the newly formed company. Keith has been in the tea industry since 2005 when he started working with Yogi Tea as a consultant in their US operations in Eugene, Oregon. In 2008, Keith moved to Hamburg, Germany and took over the international operations for Yogi Tea. In the next six years, Keith was able to move Yogi Tea into a leader in the European tea market as well as opening distribution in Asia and the Middle East. Since returning to the US in 2014, Keith has gone on to lead several companies in the food, beverage and nutraceutical sectors. Keith also serves as the Chairman of the Advisory Board for LIFEBRANDS Natural Food GmbH in Hamburg, Germany.
Unaccompanied minors sleep side by side on the floor at a temporary processing facility in Donna, Texas, on March 23, 2021. (CBP)

Rep. Cuellar Says He Receives More Border Information From Mexico Than US Government

The Democrat lawmaker who leaked images of the conditions at migrant detention facilities said on Wednesday that hes received more information about the crisis at the U.S. southern border from Mexico than from U.S. government officials.

Im glad that my friend Roberta Jacobson and her team are in Mexico, and Ill get a read out right from the Mexicans because its hard to get information from our own government, Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) told MSNBC. Jacobson, who previously served as U.S. ambassador to Mexico from 2016 to 2018, is now serving as coordinator for the southwest border on the National Security Council.

I sit on the Homeland Appropriations [Committee]. I get more information from across the river than I get from my own government, which is just amazing, Cuellar added.

Cueller has been vocal about his dissatisfaction with President Joe Bidens administration and its handling of the burgeoning crisis, which has seen a significant surge in illegal border crossings, in particular from unaccompanied minors. While families and single adults are being expelled at the border, the administration is still accepting unaccompanied minors who arrive illegally, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said last week.

The influx of unaccompanied minors has overwhelmed border facilities and resources, and prompted the administration to build overflow facilities to house the immigrants under its humane policies. However, the administration has not been able to keep up with the flow of the illegal border crossings, prompting concerns of overcrowding in detention facilities amid a pandemic.

Photos of the facilities that were provided to media show children sleeping in crowded conditions with emergency blankets on floor mats, and in some photos, what appears to be on the floor with very little room to move or walk.

Cueller gave the photographs his team took during a recent trip to a Border Patrol facility to The Epoch Times, with his office describing the conditions as terrible, especially for children. He said during a separate interview on Thursday that he released the photos because its important to have the public know whats happening.

During his interview, Cueller lamented Bidens messaging to prospective Central American migrants, saying that more work is needed.

The first one was, dont come now; come later. Its like saying, dont break the law now, break it later. Im glad that message is gone, he said. The message has been much better.

He said the administration needs to be more direct in its messaging. He suggested showing images of illegal immigrants, but not children, being returned.

Biden, who vowed to reverse his predecessors immigration policies during his campaign, has recently pleaded to Central American migrants to stay put in their town or city or community instead of making the dangerous trip to illegally cross into the United States.

Upon taking office, Biden reversed several Trump-era immigration policies, including his predecessors key Migrant Protection Protocol, which sought to end the problematic catch and release policy and is credited for significantly stemming the flow of illegal immigrants following a surge in 2019.

Cueller had previously criticized Biden for several of his early moves on immigrants, suggesting that they had contributed to the situation at the border. He previously told Fox News that the administration should have taken a more cautious approach before making big changes, such as reforming MPP instead of abolishing it.

The Texas Democrat also alerted the public to how Border Patrol officers have been releasing illegal immigrants into the interior of the country without a future court date or any notice.

Over the weekend at [the] Anzalduas area by the bridge, there were about 150 folks [who] got released under what we call prosecutorial discretion, because Border Patrol says, We just dont have the space, Cuellar told Border Report on Monday.

He added that they were released without even a Notice To Appear, which is, in my opinion, unprecedented that youre going to release somebody and hope that they show up without a court date.

None of the people who were stopped were unaccompanied children, he said.

Jack Phillips contributed to this report.
Who are you? This sounds like a simple question, but really it's just about the hardest question there is. Philosophers have wrestled with it for millennia, and have still not settled on a definitive answer...
Microsoft is on the verge of acquiring the social networking platform of Discord, with the company acquisition already exclusive to the software company and has leaked of its prices with $10 billion to purchase it, as reported via Wall Street Journal on Thursday, March 25. Discord's VoIP (voice over internet platform) would soon belong to Microsoft, and the deal is expected to complete by April, according to people familiar with the deal.

Microsoft Discord Acquisition

In the past week, the reports have only suggested that the two companies are in talks, and have been discussing the matters privately, but developments show the rapid progression of the sale. Discord was initially rumored to put their platform and company up for sale, as several interested parties have started to flock.

However, the most prominent company among them is Microsoft, and they have shown a massive interest in the acquisition and taking the social networking platform under its wings to expand its offers among the community. Discord is known for mostly being used for game voice chats, along with its servers that act as "group chats" or communities.

Instead of the initial speculations that Discord was only testing waters and are to go public for its profit to increase, current reports are now suggesting that the Microsoft sale is evident and stronger than before. According to Wall Street Journal, Microsoft is now an exclusive client to Discord, who would soon purchase the company.

Read Also: 'The Great Suspender' Extension Alternatives: 5 Malware-Free Chrome Extensions!

Microsoft- Discord $10B Acquisition Finalizing in April

The acquisition is reportedly near finalizing their agreements, as the sale could push through anytime in the upcoming month of April, which is less than a week away from arriving. The same price of $10 billion is also the value of Discord to be paid by Microsoft, and the deal is a fast one, compared to other ventures by the software company.

Last year, Microsoft was also on the verge of closing the deal with the popular short video social media platform, TikTok, for $1.73 trillion to gain operating rights in the US, UK, Canada, and Australia regions. However, the acquisition failed, and ByteDance chose the path with Larry Ellison and Oracle, which is still under talks.

Discord is a platform preferred by most gamers, and this could mean a significant upgrade for Microsoft's Xbox, which is also known for its voice-chatting features while in-game. Discord could empower Microsoft, and go side-by-side with it, complementing the voice chats and online server forums for Microsoft Xbox Games.

Related Article: Microsoft Discord $10 Billion Deal: What Does This Mean for Xbox?

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Written by Isaiah Alonzo

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
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The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) in Anambra State said an accident on the Awkuzu axis of the Onitsha-Enugu Expressway on Thursday claimed the life of a yet-to-be identified male passenger.

The Sector Commander of the corps, Andrew Kumapayi, who confirmed the accident to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Awka, said it occurred at about 5.30 p.m.

Mr Kumapayi said the affected Toyota car, with registration number FD310ABC, was said on top speed when the accident happened.

He said, Eyewitness report reaching us indicates that the unidentified driver of the Toyota car was on top speed when he lost control and crashed the car.

The FRSC boss said three persons, including two male adults and a female adult were involved in the crash.

The driver and female passenger sustained some degrees of injuries, while the male passenger was confirmed dead at St. Charles Borromeo Hospital, Onitsha, he said.

He said the remains of the deceased have been deposited at Wisdom Mortuary in Awkuzu by the FRSC rescue team from Nteje Command.

Mr Kumapayi condoled with the family of the deceased and warned motorists to avoid speed and all forms of dangerous driving.

(NAN)
A 1930s brooch that belonged to aristocrat Maureen Constance Guinness is expected to spark a bidding war and reach a sale of between 1.5 to 2.2million when it is auctioned.

The diamond piece contains Kashmir sapphires, which are among the rarest coloured gemstones in the world, having been mined in the Himalayan area in the 19th century.

It belonged to Maureen, Marchioness Of Dufferin And Ava, who was an Anglo-Irish socialite, member of the Guinness brewing dynasty and along with her blonde sisters Aileen and Oonagh, known as the 'Golden Guinness Girls' of 1920s British society.

The trio, who had eight husbands between them, were the toast of Dublin and London and their antics were regularly covered by the British tabloids.

Their grandfather, Edward, first Earl of Iveagh, became the head of the family's brewing business in the late 1800s, making him the richest man in Ireland. Maureen died in 1998, aged 91.

Her brooch boasts a 55.19ct oval Kashmir sapphire - the largest of its type ever to appear at auction - alongside another of the gemstones weighing 25.97ct. Its set to sell to the highest bidder at Sotheby's Geneva on May 11, reported The Telegraph.

A 1930s brooch that belonged to aristocrat Maureen Constance Guinness (pictured in 1955) is expected to spark a bidding war and reach a sale of between 1.5 to 2.2million when it is auctioned

The diamond piece contains Kashmir sapphires (above), which are among the rarest coloured gemstones in the world, having been mined in the Himalayan area in the 19th century

Daughter of Arthur Ernest Guinness, the second son of the first Earl of Iveagh, Maureen spent her childhood in Chapelizod, Dublin, before travelling the world on a yacht in 1923.

She attended finishing school in Paris with her siblings, debuting in society in 1925, before inheriting and transforming the 3,000-acre Clandeboye mansion in Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland.

Maureen, who was well-known for her flamboyant style and penchant for practical jokes, was married three times, and one of the first women to sit on the board of Guinness Brewery.

On 3 July 1930, she married Basil Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, styled Earl of Ava, son and heir to the Marquess of Dufferin and Ava, at St Margaret's Westminster. She gave birth to their son, Sheridan, in 1938.

But her first husband was killed in action in Burma in 1945, and she was remarried three years later to Major Desmond Buchanan.

It belonged to Maureen, Marchioness Of Dufferin And Ava (pictured in 1936), who was an Anglo-Irish socialite, member of the Guinness brewing dynasty and along with her blonde sisters Aileen and Oonagh, known as the 'Golden Guinness Girls' of 1920s British society

Retaining her title, Maureens marriage lasted just six years and then in 1955, she wed her third husband Judge John Maude, who he died in 1986.

The highlight of her year was the annual black-tie dinner she gave for the Queen Mother which had to be perfect down to the last orchid.

Her brooch has been in her family's collection since the late 19th century, when they were first mined, before being mounted together in a brooch in the 1930.

While the piece is not signed, it is thought to be mounted by Cartier, as was the family tradition.

It is expected to sell for between 1.5million and 2.2million at the Magnificent and Noble Jewels auction, which will take place at Sotheby's Geneva on May 11.

The trio, who had eight husbands between them, were the toast of Dublin and London and their antics were regularly covered by the tabloids. Pictured, Maureen leaves the Houses of Parliament after the opening of the new session by the King on 18 June 1935

The highlight of her year was the annual black-tie dinner she gave for the Queen Mother which had to be perfect down to the last orchid. Pictured, the Duke and Duchess of York, later King George VI and Queen Elizabeth at Clandeboye in 1924

Kashmir sapphires are valued as significantly as they are because of their vibrant colour, often being described as blue velvet, and due to their rarity.

In 1881 a landslide exposed the sapphires in the Himalayas, but within just six years, the Kashmir sapphire mine was exhausted.

Despite many subsequent attempts, another source of the gemstones has never been established so only a limited number of them exist in the world.

As such, stones of the size displayed in the brooch are extremely rare, with only 10 Kashmir sapphires over 20 carats appearing at auction since 2015.

Speaking about the brooch, Benoit Repellin, Head of Sothebys Geneva Magnificent Jewels said: When I saw it I was amazed by the size of the bigger stone.

'Its a very elongated cut that obviously retained the maximum amount of weight from the original rough. I knew it would attract a lot of attention from collectors.
New Delhi, March 26 : The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Friday said that it has filed a supplementary chargesheet against two persons in connection with a Ghaziabad fake currency racket case.

An NIA spokesperson said that the agency has named chargesheet against Tausif Alam and Shahnawaj Ansari in the NIA Special Court at Lucknow under sections of the IPC and the UA (P) Act.

The official said that the during probe it was found that accused Mohammad Murad Alam had received the high quality counterfeit currency notes from the accused Tausif Alam, a resident of West Bengal's Malda and carried the consignment to deliver to accused Shahnawaj Ansari.

The fake Indian currency notes (FICN) was smuggled from across the border districts of Bangladesh and was being supplied to various consignees across different parts of the country, the official said.

The case relates to recovery of high quality fake Indian currency notes having total face value of Rs 2.49 lakh by Uttar Pradesh's ATS from the possession of Mohammad Murad Alam a resident of Bihar's Katihar, on December 11, 2019.

UP ATS had registered a case initially and the NIA took over the case on February 4, 2020. NIA had earlier filed charge sheet against one accused in this case.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-26 18:45:27|Editor: huaxia

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VIENTIANE, March 26 (Xinhua) -- The Lao Ministry of Health on Friday urged local authorities and people to help control the spread of dengue fever.

A total of 164 people has been diagnosed with dengue fever, according to a report by Center of Information and Education for Health under the Lao Ministry of Health.

According to the report, five simple measures are advised as being the most effective method of dengue control.

These measures consist of closing and sealing all unused containers, flushing out all water vessels, placing small guppy fish in water jars as these eat mosquito larvae, cleaning areas around homes, and doing these four tasks each week.

People falling ill have been also advised to take a blood test in the hospital, said the report.

According to the World Health Organization, dengue fever is one of the fastest emerging infections, with Thailand, Laos, the Philippines and Singapore also seeing high incidences. The number of cases in the Western Pacific Region has more than doubled over the past 10 years. Enditem
Leather lounges in Parliament House are being cleaned after new revelations emerged about staffers having group sex in the very building where laws are made.

Mike Hughes, the Assistant Serjeant-at-Arms, sent an email to every member of the House of Representatives informing them cleaners would be hard at work in April wiping down furniture in their Canberra offices.

'Over the April sitting recess DPS will be undertaking routine maintenance on leather lounges,' he said in the message obtained by Daily Mail Australia.

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Leather lounges in Parliament House are being cleaned after new revelations emerged about Liberal Party staff having group sex in the building where laws are made. Pictured is a 2013 stock image of lounges in Parliament House in Canberra

Mike Hughes, the Assistant Serjeant-at-Arms, sent an email to every member of the House of Representatives informing them Department of Parliamentary Services cleaners would be hard at work in April wiping down furniture in their Canberra offices

'Please let us know if there may be any times during the recess for which it is not suitable for these works to take place in your office.

'Alternatively, if it is inconvenient when they present at your suite, please advise them accordingly.'

Mr Hughes sent out the email to 151 lower house MPs on Thursday afternoon, a day after Peta Credlin, who was former prime minister Tony Abbott's chief-of-staff, claimed Liberal Party staffers had taken part in orgies inside Parliament House.

'When the MP cleaned out the staffer's desk and the computer, that MP uncovered evidence that for many months that staffer had regularly met with other men, in the middle of the day, when the MP was in question time, for orgies in political offices,' she told her Sky News viewers.

Mr Hughes sent out the email to 151 lower house MPs on Thursday afternoon a day after Peta Credlin, who was former prime minister Tony Abbott's chief-of-staff, revealed Liberal Party staffers had taken part in gay orgies inside Parliament House

'Labor staffers, not just this Coalition man, and a number of others too.'

Ms Credlin suggested a government minister was also involved.

'The former minister who is alleged to have male prostitutes delivered to Parliament House the former minister? I see you too,' she said.

A whistleblower this week shared footage with Ten News of a male staffer masturbating inside a female Liberal MP's office.

A Liberal Party source alleged government MPs and staffers had also used a small prayer room on the upper level of Parliament House to have sex.

A whistleblower this week shared footage with Ten News of a male staffer masturbating inside a female Liberal MP's office (pictured)

He also claimed prostitutes and 'rent boys' were brought into Parliament House for the pleasure of Coalition MPs.

'Having sex, procuring rent boys... in Parliament House, procured by staffers for MPs,' he told Ten News.

Another male Liberal Party staffer was also accused of masturbating on a desk in the office of a female federal Liberal MP, and having the disgusting act filmed.

Disturbing images showed at least four Coalition staffers in Parliament House performing lewd acts.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison this week condemned the 'disgraceful acts' that had occurred in Parliament House and vowed to listen more to the concerns of women

Senior staffers allegedly swapped photos and video of themselves performing the solo sex acts in a Facebook Messenger group.

The vile acts were carried out more than two years ago but were only exposed after one of the advisers dobbed the rest of them in.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison this week condemned the 'disgraceful acts' that had occurred in Parliament House and vowed to listen more to the concerns of women.

'I am even more concerned about, even more importantly, I acknowledge that many Australians, especially women, believe that I have not heard them, and that greatly distresses me,' he said.
Testimony is important for many Christians. So what happens when you cant remember how you came to know Jesus as your Savior or recall the things God has done in your life? Psalm 77:11 says, I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago. What happens to our faith when we cant remember?

Theologian Tricia Williams asked evangelical believers with dementia that question for her new book, What Happens to Faith When Christians Get Dementia? Their answer was that memories fade, but faith does not.

Williams, a longtime editor for Scripture Union, began focusing on pastoral care for people with dementia after prompting from a colleague who wanted to help his wife. First, she developed Bible reading and prayer resources. Then Williams went on to complete her PhD at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland under John Swinton, a leading scholar on the theology of dementia.

Her work is always with a pastoral purpose, she said. With this new book, she wants to help Christians provide better care for believers with dementia and see how the insights of those believers can apply to everyones faith journeys. While her current book is aimed at scholars, shes working on a second book based on the research for a general audience.

Williams spoke to CT about her findings and how to walk with people with dementia.

First, what are some of the symptoms of dementia? How do these symptoms raise worries for evangelical Christians?

Dementia is an umbrella term. Within that, there are a group of illnesses which often have similar symptoms, particularly initially. In my research, my participants had a mixture of Alzheimers and vascular dementia. There are other kinds as well.

The person who is living with someone who is developing dementia will notice concentration becoming more difficult and short-term memory loss. Then as dementia progresses, and that might take several years, they will notice memory becoming even more difficult, social habits being more difficult to monitor.

At a workshop I was doing with a church, there was lots of patient, pastoral, kind concern. Then, toward the end of the meeting, a lady whod been silent, obviously could stay silent no longer, just shouted out, Thats all fine, but actually I find this incredibly embarrassing because I am not sure how my father is going to behave when we go to church.

Some of the key questions people have are: Who am I? If your relational capacity is gone, and you cant think in a straight line anymore, is personhood still there? What is it that makes me human? Then, theres the question for a believer: So, what happens to my faith? If I cant remember anymore, if I cant confess my sins, is my salvation still safe? Then some people might say: Can you come to faith when you have dementia?

You interviewed eight people in early-to-moderate stages of dementia. Can you describe them?

They could still talk to me. Some were just discovering what it meant to live with dementia. One or two others were really fragile, and it was a real struggle for them to try to communicate.

They were all people who at that point knew that they had dementia and could imagine what that might mean. They were all aware of the stereotypical images which society brings to dementia and were all feeling a sense of Gods call in talking with me.

Heres a couple of them: Rosemary and Ron. These are pseudonyms to protect their privacy and their families.

Rosemary had been an English teacher. She was full of bubbly energy and desperately wanted to talk to me. Her conversation just rattled along. She said, The main thing is that I want this thing to be to the glory of God. She hardly seemed to a take breath when she talked to me until she said Amen at the end, and she did say Amen at the end.

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Ron was someone who was much frailer. He went to Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and was born again at a Billy Graham crusade. He said: I havent got a memory, but I have. What he meant by that was: Even though lots of everyday things have gone, he will never forget the presence of God with him.

How did you conduct the interviews? Was it hard for people to remember what the question was?

Yes. It was. For some people, it was difficult from them to remember why this stranger was in their homes talking with them. People did forget where we were going. Sometimes people told me an awful lot that I didnt really want to know because they went on all sorts of tangents. And that was fine. Id just gently and respectfully bring it back.

Someone told me, I can still drive at 70 miles per hour down the motorway. In my head Im thinking, Hmm, but should you be? But the person was telling me that, so Id think, Why did they want to tell me that? They want to say, I am in control. I dont need special concern. Im functioning just the same as anyone else, thank you very much. So, when something is said off-script, I would still dig to hear why they said that.

I was constantly prompting and bringing back to center. In my head, my framework was: What has been your experience of faith, what is your experience of faith now, and what do you think it will be like in the future?

What did dementia mean for these peoples faith?

Some think once dementia comes, the faith journey is over, whereas actually my research disclosed that faith is alive and well. In fact, people said to me its stronger. Alice said to me, I used to think I was quite clever. (She was a doctor.) Now I know I dont know very much. But I feel [that] though theres less of me, theres more of God.

Ive also talked about growing in faith, and that might seem really strange. Yet its there. From the disorientation, from the confusion that dementia brings into our lives, they were finding a reorientation.

Alice said, How do I serve God? Hes given me this gift, and I will do what I can with the loaves and fishes hes given me. She has this deep concern and deep understanding of some of the horrors of people who go into dementia without faith and is continuing to minster to them out of her own experience.

What lessons can we learn from people with dementia?

One area is memory. We tend to think of that as an autobiographical, linear memory. Memory is not just something that is about facts connected by neurons in the brain. Its connected to the whole of our bodies. So, I write quite a lot about our embodied memory. A really classic example is Marcel Prousts memory of a madeleine biscuit. He talks about how just the taste of the biscuit suddenly brings back the memory of his aunt.

That kind of memory is seen in people with dementia too. I can think of all sorts of examples: the way someone dresses. The way they speak to you. Their past histories are written in their bodies. Their manners, their politeness (or not). Their understanding of faith and songs and hymns. Its all there, deeply within memory.

It sounds like youre saying that we misunderstand memory, thinking its merely mental cognition?

We miss out, in fact. We are whole people. Its not just that neurons stop working, and therefore the whole person is gone. No. The whole person is there and is valuable. They may be shut off from us, and it may take more patience and more care to communicate. But we can prompt and begin to find that this person, like me, is a Christian, loves God, and is perhaps learning more about God and has more trust in God than I do.

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Naomi Feil, a social worker, developed the validation theory for communicating with people with advanced dementia. She just patiently, patiently works with a woman until (in one example) they were singing together, Jesus loves me; this I know. Deep, deep in us, there are truths.

My grandmother had dementia, and I remember people singing hymns with her to the end.

My research participants kept quoting references to Scripture and references to song. The words have become their language. Those things are deeply, deeply embedded. Sometimes you might just need to prompt someone to help them and to enter the moment. Just taking a bit of time, you find there is a whole wealth of spiritual experience and story there. They probably arent going to get up in front of you and give a coherent sermon, but the life of God is there and is a gift to us. Maybe we have things to learn if we would be patient enough to receive the gifts that this person brings to us.

How can Christians care for those with dementia?

Accompany people with dementia. Some highlighted this. One of the issues is that for people who were not married, going to church or participating in church activities was much more difficult. Rosemarymy ebullient, never-stop-talking ladyshe was wanting to still go to church and finding that very difficult. She remembers going up for Communion, but then she panicked because she didnt remember where she was sitting. She talked about her embarrassment that people were thinking, That silly women doesnt know where shes come from.

Practically, thats quite an easy thing to do something about. If people in church are aware, somebody can decide Im going to take on being your friend and guiding you through the service if you need it.

Also, for family members with people with dementia: Let other people share the burden with you. Maybe both the person living through dementia and their caregiver stop being seen at church and we can forget them. They may feel you wont understand, and therefore theyre getting worn down by the care. But both the family member and the person with dementia need other people from the body of Christ, sharing that burden.
A Portland landmark announced it will close at the end of June, citing a loss of revenue brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Portland Childrens Museum and the Opal School  a charter academy inside the museum  will be shuttered June 30, museum officials announced Thursday.

Officials said in a statement said that the museum experienced devastating attendance and revenue losses from the pandemic and resulting shutdown. Coupled with new cleaning protocols, limited capacity rules and nearly 50 staff positions that needed to be refilled after layoffs, the museums board determined it was not possible to keep the museum running.

Childrens museums across the country are reporting average losses of more than 70% of the income they had received in years past, and relief from public sources has not been adequate to relieve the impacts of the pandemic on cultural institutions, Laura Huerta Migus, the executive director of the Association of Childrens Museums, said in the statement. The closure of a childrens museum is devastating to the social fabric of a community, and the loss of Portland Childrens Museum will be felt for years to come.

The museum featured rotating exhibits highlighting an array of scientific and cultural themes. It also had several permanent exhibits, including a clay studio, a maker studio where children could create art, a construction zone and a transportation exhibit.

Prior to the pandemic, the museum had been averaging about 250,000 visitors per year. It is currently temporarily closed, according to its website.

David Peterson, the museums board chair, said the board wrestled with the decision and is saddened to close the museums doors.

Its lasting impact will live on through the creativity of countless families, children, educators, artists and musicians who called Portland Childrens Museum and Opal School their second home, Peterson said in the statement.

This year marks a pair of milestones: the museums 75th anniversary and the Opal Schools 20th.

The school, founded in 2001, was the first charter school authorized by Portland Public Schools. It includes a preschool, a charter elementary school and a professional development program for educators.

Students returned to in-person learning in November, according to the schools website.

The museum was the only childrens museum in North America that also included a research center, an on-site preschool and a charter school, officials said.

Museum workers will donate supplies to nonprofits as they close the building, officials said.

Jayati Ramakrishnan; 503-221-4320; jramakrishnan@oregonian.com; @JRamakrishnanOR
South Africa: End tribalism, urges Gauteng portfolio committee

The Gauteng Provincial Legislatures Portfolio Committee on Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA), has condemned the discrimination and harassment of a man dressed in IsiNdebele traditional attire, by the Centre Manager of Boulders Shopping Centre.

In a statement on Friday, the committee called on all communities in Gauteng to put an end to tribalism by speaking out on discriminatory, divisive and prejudicial behaviour.

It also encouraged unity among people regardless of tribal or cultural background.

The committee said Wednesdays incident in Midrand highlights the level of tolerance or lack thereof towards each others different cultural practices.

It said that as the country commemorates Human Rights Month, the onus is on communities to shift the narrative and bring about unity and social cohesion in the province.

The committee also took the opportunity to commend the Clicks manager at the store for speaking out against the discrimination as well as the chief executive officer of Redefine Properties for taking decisive action to suspend the centre manager.

This kind of accountability and consequence management where acts of discrimination are committed should be the norm. South Africa is a rainbow nation precisely due to the diversity of its people, said the committee.

It further added that cultural diversity and tolerance are entrenched in the Constitution through the Traditional Leadership and Governance Framework Act (Act No 41 of 2003) which states, among others, the recognition of traditional communities in South Africa.

As an economic hub, Gauteng has a yearly influx of people from across the country with diverse cultural backgrounds, who come to the province in search of economic opportunities. This then renders the community of Gauteng multi-cultural and inclusive, it is paramount that this diversity be embraced and celebrated by all.

The committee has encouraged residents to proudly display their multi-faceted cultures in a manner that brings about unity and celebrates diversity.

Discrimination and Prejudice of any kind should not be tolerated in our communities, it said.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2021-03-26. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
A view of Bergen Engines AS factory in Bergen

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia said on Friday that Norway had blocked the sale of a Norwegian maritime engine maker to a Russian company on a far-fetched pretext of national security, and accused Oslo of trying to curtail Moscow's commercial activities.

Norway's justice minister told parliament on Tuesday that Oslo would block Rolls-Royce from selling Bergen Engines to TMH Group on security grounds.

Russia's foreign ministry spokesman said the block was disconcerting and that the planned deal was purely commercial.

"The arguments that guided the Norwegian side ... are simply far-fetched, that is obvious," spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a news briefing on Friday.

"The cancellation of the (TMH Group) deal is in line with Oslo's two-track approach towards our country in recent years, with a bias towards containing our country."

(Reporting by Maria Kiselyova; writing by Tom Balmforth; editing by John Stonestreet)
A Mombasa court has released on bond terror suspect Richard Lazaro Kivatsi, even as the state tabled new evidence linking him to Al-Qaeda fighters in Mozambique.

The state, has claimed that a ballistic analysis of Mr Kivatsi's two mobile phones, indicate that he has been in close contact with two Kenyans, Mr Alfan Ali Juma and Mr Salim Rashid, who are alleged to have fled to the Southern African country to join the terror group.

The two, the court was told, are facing terror related offences in Mombasa and Shanzu courts, under PMCR1558 /2018 and 971/2020, but escaped to Mozambique, after they were granted bond by the respective trial courts.

"These two accused persons who are charged with terror offences, are out on bond and have breached the bond terms by not attending court and are at large to date. Intelligence reports indicate that the two are in Mozambique fighting for Al-Qaeda Anti -terror Police Unit officer Dickson Ndaru told the court.

The court was also informed that the latest developments was obtained following, a preliminary exploitation by ICT experts at ATPU Nairobi, of the accused two mobile phones recovered from him during his arrest.

Mr Ndaru has told the court that the suspect has used his phones to disseminate messages radicalizing people to join the militants.

He further claimed that it is believed that Mr Kivatsi has radicalized youth in Likoni, Majengo Mapya and Shimanzi, where he has been working as a casual labourer.

"We have intelligence reports that some of the persons he has radicalized have crossed the border to Somalia and Mozambique, to engage in terror related activities vial illegitimate routes along our Coastal porous borders, thus has the capacity and incentive to use the same routes within his knowledge to jump bail," said the investigator.

Mr Ndaru also claimed that the suspect is a flight risk, as he has no fixed abode ad children and that the person he associates with, have failed to adhere to the bond terms, adding that there was a reasonable suspicion he will also go underground.

Mr Kivatsi has been charged with being a member of Shabaab, an offence he has vehemently denied. The state allege that the suspect was found to be a member of the Somalia-based militants on March 11, in Shimanzi

However, the court has rejected prosecution's call for his continued detention, noting that his constitutional rights to be presented in court within the 24-hours was violated by the state.

Mombasa Chief Magistrate Edna Nyaloti granted Mr Kivatsi bond arguing that the prosecution has not availed any evidence to prove he has attempted to interfere or intimidated any witnesses or demonstrated how he will interfere with analysis of the call data by the ATPU ICT experts in Nairobi.

Further, the court ruled that the state has adequate resources to analyze the telephone date from the accused's phones and Sim cards and, gather relevant evidence while the suspect enjoys his right to liberty.

"The prosecution has not indicated that there is evidence of intelligence gathering with other criminal justice agencies nationally, regionally or internationally that point out that the accused is a dangerous terrorist suspect." said Ms Nyaloti.

The magistrate, further noted that the state has not availed warrant of arrests against Mr Juma and Mr Rashid, and has also failed to demonstrate that Mr Kivatsi is closely connected with them, or that he is an accomplice in the two cases. The prosecution, she said, has also not produced any messages retrieved from the accused's mobile phones.

"I am satisfied that the prosecution has not established compelling reasons to limit the accused's right to liberty. The prosecution has not charged the accused with any offence of radicalization. He may be released on a bond of Sh200,000 with one surety of a similar amount," she said.

The magistrate has directed Mr Kivatsi to report to the ATPU after every 14 days.

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The state had informed the court that the accused has information that might help in arresting accomplices, who are still at large.

ATPU claimed that a brief interfere with Mr Kivatsi has established that he has been in touch with a number of well-known suspected terrorists based in Somalia and in Kenya

The detectives have claimed that electronics recovered from the accused contain articles believed to be used in radicalization and likely to instigate a terrorist act.

It is also claimed that intelligence report indicated that the accused is involved in recruitment of persons to participate in terrorism activities including joining terror groups.

However, the suspect's advocate Chacha Mwita has discredited the prosecution's claims terming the same as baseless. The court has agreed with Mr Chacha that the state has not provided compelling reasons to limit the accused' liberty.
Prince Charles and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have appointed two NHS spin doctors to oversee their communications.

Simon Enright, 51, will take charge of Charles' public relations after playing a pivotal role in managing messaging during the pandemic in his role as communications director for NHS England.

Meanwhile, Victoria O'Byrne, director of communications for NHS Test and Trace, will be joining Kensington Palace to work with William and Kate.

The pair join at a critical juncture for the royals following the bombshell claims made by Harry and Meghan in their Oprah interview earlier this month.

Mr Enright, a former BBC Newsnight deputy editor, spent eight years with the NHS and will be replacing another BBC man, Julian Payne, who announced his departure in January.

Ms O'Byrne joined the health service in September last year and, according to her LinkedIn page, 'crisis communications' are among her specialities.

Prince Charles, pictured yesterday, has been on an official two-day visit to Greece this week

Simon Enright, 51, has played a major part in managing messaging during the coronavirus pandemic in his role as communications director for NHS England

Victoria O'Byrne, director of communications for NHS Test and Trace, will be joining Kensington Palace to work with William and Kate

It comes after Harry and Meghan unleashed a series of allegations during their interview which first aired on CBS on March 7.

The Duke accused his father of failing to return his calls and claimed Charles was 'trapped' inside the monarchy, while also accusing an unnamed royal of racism.

Married father-of-three Mr Enright would therefore face a major task in trying to improve Charles's image around the world after it was damaged by the claims.

An unnamed former BBC colleague told the Daily Telegraph that Mr Enright was 'the dream person to be in this role' and is 'a really positive, likeable person'.

They said: 'He'll be straight, enthusiastic and open with colleagues. This is a very smart hire at a time when the Prince of Wales could do with some help.'

From BBC Breakfast to NHS comms chief: Simon Enright's CV 1993 : CST Productions for Wire TV, researcher and reporter

: CST Productions for Wire TV, researcher and reporter 1997 : BBC News 24, senior broadcast journalist

: BBC News 24, senior broadcast journalist 2000 : BBC Breakfast, assistant editor

: BBC Breakfast, assistant editor 2004 : BBC Election, graphics editor

: BBC Election, graphics editor 2006 : BBC Newsnight, assistant editor

: BBC Newsnight, assistant editor 2007 : BBC Monitoring - The Big Questions, executive producer

: BBC Monitoring - The Big Questions, executive producer 2008 : BBC Local and European Elections, editor

: BBC Local and European Elections, editor 2008 : BBC Newsnight, deputy editor

: BBC Newsnight, deputy editor 2010 : BBC General Election, editor

: BBC General Election, editor 2010 : BBC News, world affairs assignment editor

: BBC News, world affairs assignment editor 2013 : BBC local TV, editor

: BBC local TV, editor 2013 : NHS England, director of communications Advertisement

Matt Tee, the NHS's executive director of integration, tweeted: 'Many congratulations to my friend Simon Enright on his appointment as Communications Secretary to The Prince of Wales. A great role for a great man.'

Mr Enright - who is the son of the late Labour MP and MEP Derek Enright - attended UWC Atlantic College at St Donat's Castle in South Wales before completing a degree in politics, philosophy and economics at the University of Oxford in 1991.

His media career began as a researcher and reporter for the now-defunct cable TV channel Wire TV in 1993, before he got his first job at the BBC in 1997.

He began working as a broadcast journalist on what was then News 24, then took a role as an assistant editor on BBC Breakfast in 2000.

Mr Enright became election graphics editor in 2004, assistant editor of Newsnight in 2006 and executive producer on The Big Questions in 2007.

He became deputy editor of Newsnight in 2008, edited the General Election in 2010, and then became BBC News assignment editor for world affairs.

His most recent job change in October 2013 saw him move into press relations, becoming director of communications for NHS England and NHS Improvement.

The reported appointment for Charles comes after the Prince was awarded the City of Athens Gold Medal of Honour during an official two-day visit to Greece.

Charles and Camilla's brief visit which concluded yesterday marked the bicentenary of Greece's uprising against the Ottoman Empire in 1821.

They joined President Katerina Sakellaropoulou and her partner Pavlos Kotsonis for tea in Athens after watching the Independence Day Military Parade.

Charles's son Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle unleashed a series of allegations during their interview with Oprah Winfrey which first aired on CBS on March 7

The heir-to-the-throne told the president that he and his wife were 'enormously touched' that they were invited to Athens for the occasion of the bicentenary.

Charles and Camilla's visit was at the request of the British Government following an invitation from the country's prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

Also yesterday, Prince Albert II of Monaco criticised Harry and Meghan's interview with Oprah as inappropriate, telling BBC World News their decision 'bothered' him.

The 63-year-old ruler, who is a distant cousin of the Queen and whose mother was actress Grace Kelly, said he understood the pressures faced by the Sussexes.

Mr Enright is set to join the communications team at Clarence House in London (file picture)

But he slammed their choice to air their issues to Oprah and tens of millions of TV viewers, saying such a 'public display of dissatisfaction... wasn't appropriate'.

He said: 'I think that this type of public display of dissatisfaction, to say the least, these type of conversations should be held within the intimate quarters of the family.

'It doesn't really have to be laid out in the public sphere like that. So, it did bother me a little bit. I can understand where they are coming from in a certain way, but I think it wasn't the appropriate forum to be able to have these kind of discussions.'

The Royal Family is still trying to pick up the pieces from the Sussexes' explosive interview with Oprah, in which they made a series of damaging allegations.

This included Harry and Meghan's explosive racism claims, in which they claimed a family member asked how dark their son Archie's skin might be.

In a statement Buckingham Palace insisted it took the couple's claims - particularly on race - 'very seriously', but pointedly added that 'recollections may vary'.

Prince William also angrily hit back at their claims the Royal Family is racist. Asked about the allegation, he retorted: 'We're very much not a racist family.'

MailOnline has contacted Clarence House and NHS England for comment.
The broken sewer pipe spewing water and sewage onto West Napoleon Avenue in Metairie since Wednesday may go days before it is fixed, Jefferson Parish officials said Thursday.

Crews can only work at night when sewer flows are low, and parish Public Works Director Mark Drewes said that workers had not yet been able to determine how big the break in the pipe is. Without knowing that, they can't say how long it will take to fix.

Until then, the water and sewage is being diverted in what looked Thursday like a small river into the West Napoleon canal before eventually flowing out to Lake Pontchatrain.

Until a temporary fix can be put in place, traffic eastbound on West Napoleon is being diverted around the break, which is between Transcontinental Drive and Clearview Parkway.

The break in the 66-inch force main pipe was caused by Tuesday's and Wednesday's heavy rains which, even though it's not intended, infiltrated the sewer system and overwhelmed a patch on that piece of pipe, Drewes said.

What's flowing out of the pipe now is probably 95% rainwater and 5% sewage, Drews said.

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The pipe is in line for a permanent fix, but parish officials are waiting on specially-fabricated parts for the repairs to be made. During the wait, the temporary patch was overwhelmed by flows that were perhaps six times what the normal amount due to the heavy rainfall, Drewes said.

Videos posted on social media on Wednesday showed water shooting several feet into the air as it gushed out of a hole throughout the day.

Thursday's weather will have an impact on how fast a new repair can be made, Drewes said. If the area doesn't get much more rain, levels in the pipe could drop enough to allow the work to be done Thursday night. But if the water levels don't drop, the work could drag into subsequent nights, he said.

Before even beginning a repair, workers are going to have to dig it out and figure out how large the break is. When a permanent repair is done, they plan to replace a 20-foot section of the pipe with newer pipe and the specially fabricated fittings to connect the new and old sections of pipe.

"We may not be able to finish the temporary repair tonight," he said. "Just depends on the severity of it."

Much of Jefferson's drainage and sewerage infrastructure was built in the 1950s and 1960s, Drewes said. That allows for more rainwater to infiltrate the old system and causes bigger breaks, he said.

Parish voters on March 20 approved by big margins the continuation of drainage and sewerage millages. The parish had said the millages are needed to help fund improvements to the systems.
By Michael Erman

(Reuters) - Inc and German partner BioNTech SE began testing their COVID-19 vaccine in children under 12, with hopes of expanding vaccination to that age range by early 2022, the U.S. drugmaker said on Thursday.

The first volunteers in the early-stage trial were given their first injections on Wednesday, spokesperson Sharon Castillo said.

The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine was authorized by U.S. regulators in late December for people age 16 and older. Nearly 66 million doses of the vaccine had been administered in the United States as of Wednesday morning, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The pediatric trial, which will include children as young as 6 months, follows a similar one launched by Moderna Inc last week.

Only the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine is being used in 16- and 17-year-olds in the United States. Moderna's shot was cleared for those age 18 and older, and no COVID-19 vaccine has been authorized in younger kids yet.

and BioNTech plan to initially test the safety of their two-shot vaccine at three different dosages - 10, 20 and 30 micrograms - in a 144-participant Phase I/II trial.

They plan to later expand to a 4,500-participant late-stage trial in which they will test the safety, tolerability and immune response generated by the vaccine, likely by measuring antibody levels in the young subjects.

Castillo said the companies hope to have data from the trial in the second half of 2021.

Meanwhile, Pfizer has been testing the vaccine in children from age 12 to 15. The company expects to have data from that trial in the coming weeks, Castillo said.

(Reporting by Michael Erman; Additional reporting by Julie Steenhuysen in Chicago; Editing by Bill Berkrot)

(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.)
Eric Andre, left, and Lil Rel Howery in the movie "Bad Trip." (Netflix)

The thing about critiquing almost any comedian is that you will inevitably find yourself coming up against avid (if not rabid) fans insistent that you just dont get the work. Eric Andre in particular, with his trademark Dadaist impulses and penchant for all things uncomfortably nude, is undoubtedly one of those figures. Those who enjoy his surreal and animated style of laughs will be quick to defend the comedian, citing his ability to deconstruct staid notions of late-night television and bland stand-up with his long-running Adult Swim series "The Eric Andre Show."

On the other hand, his detractors would rightfully point to Andres history of transphobic, fatphobic, and myriad other jokes which serve only to punch down at certain individuals who, one might argue, have already been punched down on enough.

Which is why "Bad Trip," the long-awaited hidden-camera comedy flick helmed by long-time "Eric Andre Show" director Kitao Sakurai, is such a curious film. Ostensibly a buddy road movie following Chris Carey (Andre, also a co-writer) and best friend Bud Malone (Lil Rel Howery) as they travel cross-country to New York, "Bad Trip" seems to be aware of these criticisms of Andre and the way in which they would be further visible in a wide-release movie (now launching on Netflix). The jump from Adult Swim to feature film has been accompanied by a watering down of Andres unpredictable absurdities and instead offers a much more conventional approach to its prankster schematics.

Tiffany Haddish in the movie "Bad Trip." (Dimitry Elyashkevich / Netflix)

The laughs are certainly there, but Andres almost trademark sense of intentional derangement is missing and in many ways, this is one of his strengths as a performer. Sure, there are the juvenile gags that form many of the films comedic centerpieces  a scene involving boisterous gorilla sex comes to mind as one of several moments that attempts to tap into Andres chaotic energy but fizzles out, leaving instead the bad taste of an obvious, if not adolescent, bit. While for some this style of failure might only deepen their appreciation for Andre and the ways in which they view him as a sort of anti-comedian, it's also imperative to remember that the phrase anti-comedy should not act as a synonym for shallow, empty or thoughtless.

Story continues

The film loosely entwines its real-world pranks with an overarching story that knows itself to be a farce, but cant help but be burdened by its halfhearted tries at sincerity. Andre is not a strong enough actor to pull this particular positioning off but then again, that is anything but the point here. Even within that, the slack nature of "Bad Trip's" premise is enough to put in higher relief both the successes and failures of the comedys gags. The former has a sharp ability to see the innately comedic textures of humanity (further seen in the films delightful post-credits sequence), while the latter is too staged and likewise rigidly edited (particularly toward the films front end which too often takes on the tonality of a warm-up).

For a cornier, more establishment type of comedian, the kind of story environment emblematic of these failures might be par for the course but for an iconoclast like Andre, the misses here can be glaring  I doubt even his most stringent detractors would honestly be able to call Andre a mediocre or average performer. Which is why it is so disappointing that "Bad Trip" falls just as easily into humdrum ordinariness as much as it does its most simple and effective bits.

Andres influences have always been clear, from Sacha Baron Cohen to Tom Green to the "Jackass" bunch, but they struggle in the present when faced with Andres move from surrealism to literalism. Unlike oft-cited inspiration and Borat star Cohen, Andres previous world-making has been exactly out of this world, if not a complete undoing and deflation of it. While he is able to elevate the everyday to the level of the comedic through a more even-keeled yet effective style of absurdity here, there is a certain degree of impact missing that will will be expected given the star. While Howery provides the perfect foil to Andres Chris and Tiffany Haddish (here playing Buds prison-breaking sister, Trina Malone) is, as always, nothing but an expert improviser (and arguably the reason to see "Bad Trip"), it is Andres strange turn to reality which will leave audiences searching for more.

All of this said and done, if it makes you laugh (and I mean really makes you laugh) as it often did me, that can be salve enough.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem gives a State of the State address in Pierre, S.D., on Jan. 8, 2019. (James Nord/AP Photo)

South Dakota Governor Signs Bills to Protect Gun Rights

Republican South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem signed into law three bills concerning gun ownership and the use of deadly force earlier this week, fortifying Second Amendment protections for gun owners in the state.

The laws include restrictions for gun seizure and fee reductions for concealed-carry permits, as well as clarification for the use of deadly force for self-defensealso known as the stand your ground law.

A person is justified in using or threatening to use deadly force if the person reasonably believes that using or threatening to use deadly force is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to himself, herself, or another, or to prevent the imminent commission of a forcible felony, reads House Bill 1212.

A person who uses or threatens to use deadly force in accordance with this section does not have a duty to retreat and has the right to stand his or her ground, if the person using or threatening to use the deadly force is (1) Not engaged in a criminal activity; and (2) In a place where the person has a right to be, the legislation states.

The state GOPs move to fortify the Second Amendment comes in the wake of recent shootings in Atlanta, Georgia, and Boulder, Colorado, that have prompted fresh calls from gun control activists for more restrictions.

Democrats, who control both the House and the Senate, have moved aggressively to tighten gun control laws, passing two bills in the House pertaining to firearms background checks. In the Senate, the bills would likely have to clear the 60-vote filibuster hurdle. The background check expansion laws would place additional restrictions on the sale or transfer of guns.

H.R. 8, also known as the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2021, passed 227203, with eight Republicans voting for it and one Democrat voting against it. The added restrictions include a provision that sales, gifts, and loans of firearms must be processed by a licensed gun dealer.

Ranking Member Joe Manchin, D-WV, speaks during a hearing to examine the nomination of Former Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm to be Secretary of Energy, on Capitol Hill in Washington on Jan. 27, 2021. (Jim Watson/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), perhaps the most centrist Democrat in the Senate, doesnt support the recent background check expansion bills.

Not at all, Manchin told reporters after being asked about whether he supports the reform attempt.

I come from a gun culture and Im a law-abiding gun owner, Manchin told reporters, stating that he supports background checks on sales of guns to people the seller doesnt know.

But if I know a person, no, Manchin said.
BOSTON  With jury trials back underway in Massachusetts after a pandemic-induced hiatus, Governors Council members used a judicial confirmation hearing Wednesday to voice concerns around COVID-19 safety and how face coverings impact the ability of lawyers to try cases.

Jury trials resumed in select counties in January. Now in Phase 2 of the high courts plan, which started March 1, there have been 22 jury trials this year with a 23rd ongoing in Woburn Superior Court, according to a Supreme Judicial Court spokeswoman.

While some courthouses are hosting these trials, in five counties the Trial Court is also leasing open venues with plenty of square footage. Lombardos function hall in Randolph, Eastfield Mall Cinemas in Springfield, the Cape Codder resort in Hyannis, and the Holiday Inn in Pittsfield are all under agreement with the Trial Court as off-site jury trial locations, along with a previously leased courthouse in Greenfield.

Andrew McKeever, spokesman for the Berkshire District Attorneys Office, said jury trials are expected to begin April 5 at the Holiday Inn.

The Trial Court is also looking at possible lease options in Suffolk County and is in active discussions with federal courts about using the federal courthouse in Boston, the spokeswoman told the News Service.

Bringing juries back to court during the COVID-19 pandemic means six jurors instead of 12, modified courtroom layouts, plexiglass, and  a point of frustration for Councilor Robert Jubinville  face masks.

The thing that concerns me, Jubinville told the District Court nominee before him, on the criminal side of the court, you as a judge or lawyer or prosecutor, or the jury, how do you determine whether a witness is credible or not when they wear a face mask?

Gardner District Court Clerk Magistrate Whitney Brown was fielding questions from the council at her hearing for a Westborough District Court judgeship. While Brown said safety must come first, she said it would be nice if masks could be removed with the use of social distancing.

Wednesdays hearing was in the State Houses Great Hall where the council has been meeting for some months. Councilors and nominees sit at a distance from each other, allowing them to de-mask while speaking or answering questions. Around half the council usually opts to participate via videoconference, instead.

We have, over thousands of years as humans, developed a technique of looking at peoples faces to determine reactions, and to decide whether or not we feel a threat, or we think somebody is not credible with us. Weve learned that through our lives, Jubinville said.

The Milton Democrat added that he is all for safety, but not at the expense of taking away somebodys ability to have a fair trial including the ability to see witnesses testify. He said a lawyers work is further handicapped when they cannot see jurors reactions to testimony.

The latest order from the high court does not appear to address the use of face coverings at trial.

Said nominee Brown, I think that youre right, that needs to be addressed. And I think that the burden would be on the Trial Court to create a space that is safe where people can remove their masks. Because I think were balancing that with, also you dont want jurors who are afraid or apprehensive, who are worried about their health and safety, not really paying attention to the proceeding, because thats not really fair to the defendant either.

Count Councilor Christopher Iannella among those feeling some apprehension about going to the courthouse.

Iannella laid out a hypothetical situation for Brown in which a jury trial is scheduled for her courthouse but a participant of the trial  like an attorney or witness  says they are uncomfortable being in court due to fears of contracting the virus.

Ive been vaccinated. But lets assume I havent been. I dont feel comfortable. Im really nervous about it. I dont want to participate. I mean, you may say six feet, but thereve been people who are seven, eight feet apart that have gotten COVID, Iannella said.

The Boston Democrat repeatedly pressed Brown on whether she would automatically continue the trial to a later date. The nominee said one persons discomfort would have an impact on everyone else in the courtroom, and that she would likely grant a continuance after first hearing details of the persons concerns.

We have to make sure that were delivering justice, were not just getting the job done, Brown said in response to both Jubinvilles and Iannellas lines of questioning. And I think one thing COVID has taught us is that we need to be able to be flexible. And were actually taking a much broader look at all the facets, now, of jury trial in the court system, which I think we wouldnt have but for the pandemic.

In her capacity as clerk magistrate for the Gardner and Winchendon courts, Brown said she had been flexible with some attorneys, set up teleconferences, and kept their cases on track during the pandemic when they did not feel safe returning in person.

Appointed to her Gardner post in 2005 by Gov. Mitt Romney, Brown was previously first assistant clerk magistrate of the Middlesex Superior Court in Cambridge, and earlier worked for Finneran and Associates in Newburyport and Kezer & Kezer in Malden.

With her in the Great Hall on Wednesday were her wife and two of their children. A third child was unable to attend because of COVID-19 restrictions at her college campus, while a son who was present Wednesday is the same age but deferred his enrollment until next fall because of the pandemic.

Several councilors said outright that they plan to support Browns confirmation at the next assembly.

Among those apparently supporting her is Councilor Marilyn Devaney, although the two appeared to hold different positions broadening the age range for the Juvenile Court.

Brown said she was in favor of raising the age of juvenile jurisdiction and started to cite a scientific finding that the brain is not fully developed until age 25, before she was cut off by the Watertown councilor.

I had four children before I was 25 and my brain was very formed, OK? I really hate hearing that, Devaney said. You cant go by a book, OK?

And while taking a judgeship  with its 70-year retirement age  means giving up a lifetime clerk magistrate post, one witness said its the best way to get a good judge.

Gardner District Court First Justice Arthur Haley said that he traveled the same route, and that starting as a clerk magistrate, running a courtroom and facing the crowd, provides a level of comfort.

The council did not receive any new nominations Wednesday from Gov. Charlie Baker. Two pending nominees, Kevin Smith for the Land Court and Dana Doyle for the Probate and Family Court, are scheduled for hearings on March 31 and April 7.
Figure 1. Schematic of the TA-LM-TENG. Credit: LUO et al.

Chinese scientists have proposed a highly reliable thermal power generator by combining thermoacoustic effect and triboelectric effect.

The latest research, published online in Applied Physics Letters and selected as a featured article, was directed by Prof. Luo Ercang and Prof. Yu Guoyao from the Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry (TIPC) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

The environmental and energy crises have been increased since the past decades. Developing thermal energy collectors to scavenge abundant low-quality thermal energy (such as waste heat, geothermal heat and combustion of biomass) and convert it into mechanical or electric energy is a promising energy strategy to diminish crises.

However, currently, the majority of thermal power generation technologies (such as Rankine cycle, internal combustion engine, and Stirling engine) involve solid moving parts, which undermine the reliability of these technologies and make frequent maintenance highly required.

In this work, scientists invested a novel thermal power generator which could convert thermal energy into electric energy. No solid moving part consists is one of the attractive features of this novel generator. The generator could be highly reliable and readily to achieve a long life span. Besides, this generator promises a theoretically high heat-to-electric conversion efficiency.

This novel thermal power generator called thermo-acoustically driven liquid-metal-based triboelectric nanogenerator (TA-LM-TENG), which includes two parts: thermoacoustic engine (TAHE) and liquid-metal-based triboelectric nanogenerator (LM-TENG).

The TAHE first converts thermal energy into acoustic energy via oscillatory thermal expansion and contraction of the working gas. The LM-TENG then converts the acoustic energy into electrical energy via the coupling effect of contact electrification and electrostatic induction.

As shown in the schematic, when heating the hot heat exchanger of the TAHE, the working gas in the engine will start spontaneous oscillation. The oscillatory motion of working gas pushes the liquid metal column resonantly flowing upward and downward in the U-shaped tube. Liquid metal immersed and separated with the Kapton material periodically. The generator therefore generates an alternate electric potential difference at the electrodes. Electrical power is extracted from the TA-LM-TENG.

In the preliminary experiments, the scientists obtained a highest open-circuit voltage amplitude of 15V on a conceptual prototype.

Explore further Researchers develop water-tube-based triboelectric nanogenerator for efficient ocean wave energy harvesting

More information: Shunmin Zhu et al. Thermoacoustically driven liquid-metal-based triboelectric nanogenerator: A thermal power generator without solid moving parts, Applied Physics Letters (2021). Journal information: Applied Physics Letters Shunmin Zhu et al. Thermoacoustically driven liquid-metal-based triboelectric nanogenerator: A thermal power generator without solid moving parts,(2021). DOI: 10.1063/5.0041415
New Delhi, March 26 : The Aam Aadmi Party government on Friday announced it will provide a government job to the brother of Intelligence Bureau (IB) staffer and Delhi riots victim Ankit Sharma.

According to the office of the Delhi Chief Minister, a proposal in this regard was approved in a cabinet meeting chaired by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday. Now, the proposal will be sent to Delhi Lt. Governor Anil Baijal seeking his consent.

Sharma had lost his life during the riots in north East Delhi last year. His charred body was recovered from a drain near his home in northeast Delhi's Chand Bagh area on February 27, 2020.

"The Delhi government wants to provide a government job to the late Ankit Sharma's brother as per the merit in Delhi government at the earliest. For this, the Delhi government will now have to get approval from the Lieutenant Governor therefore the proposal will be sent at the earliest for his approval," the statement issued by the Delhi Chief Minister's office read.

Earlier, the Delhi chief minister had provided financial aid of Rs 1 crore to Sharma's family during a visit to his home.
The Poppy Flight will be landing on Saturday to a fabulous welcome of poppies, dancers and stars at Classic Flyers.

Bringing together remembrance and hope for the future, 34 volunteer pilots will carry a knitted poppy and star on their leg of the flight of a nationwide itinerary of 30 locations, with the town of arrival hosting a welcome party.

Pilot Warren Butler will fly the Whitianga to Tauranga leg of the journey, arriving at 11am on March 27 at Tauranga Airport, before taxiing around to the museum.

Classic Flyers CEO Andrew Gormlie and fellow pilot Roger Van der Zanden will then fly the artworks on to Gisborne on Sunday in a Harvard.

At each stop on their journey, hand-knitted poppies and stars from local knitters will be added to the giant poppy and star masterpieces, with local communities and schools joining in the fun before they are flown on to the next location.

Dubbed The Poppy Flight Project, the mission is to raise funds for the RSA, NZ Warbirds Association and The Starship Foundation.

The packed day of events runs from 11am-1.30pm and includes a dance showcase by KJ Studios, fire engine rides, lots of kids learning activities and plenty of fun, with entry by gold coin donation.

There will be five performances from the KJ Studios dancers, and Ultimate Sounds DJ Bob will also entertain the crowds.

Our senior jazz troupe, Vixen, will be performing, says Kelsey Andrew from KJ Studios. It is their last year of dancing. Weve also got Kit, which is our four-to-six year olds, then our hip hop group Artic. Next will be Swift, our junior jazz crew, then John Tetley-Jones and Tazmyn Newman will perform something self-choreographed specifically for this event.

Sylvia McGrath, Heather Pearce, Elaine Paterson, Cecily Williams and Lorraine Hart from Bayswater have knitted poppies and stars to be added to the artworks.

The day will also feature a group of five knitters from Bayswater Village, who have been knitting poppies and stars for the artworks.

Weve been patiently waiting to do this since last year, says Elaine Paterson from Bayswater Village.

The knitters have produced around 100 red, black and white poppies, as well as pink stars, and will be adding them to the artworks, with the poppies supporting the RSA and the stars supporting Starship.

It is the brainchild of travel broker Melanie Salisbury, who plans and escorts aviation tours through her business Aviation Tours NZ. The giant poppy and star will be flown around New Zealand for four weeks in the lead up to ANZAC Day 2021.

Our project got shut down last year, says Melanie. The knitters have been knitting poppies for a long time now. It was originally planned for the lead up to ANZAC Day 2020, but was cancelled the week before departure due to lockdown. So the project was moved forward to ANZAC Day 2021.

Melanie is passionate about the reasons behind the project.

Its about bringing together remembrance and hope for the future, she says.

It will encourage our children to remember those who fought for our freedom, many of whom paid the ultimate price, and encourage them to think about returned service men and women who need our help and support now.

It will also encourage them to think about and support children and their families who are dealing with illness and challenges we can only imagine.

Everyone who fought for our freedom did so for our children, and we need to give everyone the best chance we can. The Starship Foundation can do that.

Our collective fundraising will help the RSA and the Starship Foundation continue to provide the care needed in many areas. The Poppy Flight will also help to keep our aviation history alive through the NZ Warbirds Association, without whom the flight would not be possible.

The public, including schools and local RSAs, are invited to attend the event. The finished poppy and star will be presented to the charities, along with donations, on ANZAC Day 2021.

More information about The Poppy Flight Project can be found at: www.poppyflight.co.nz
Form 4 students, who sat for the 2020-21 Malawi School Certificate of Education Examination (MSCE) are demanding that the Malawi National Examinations Board (MANEB) must release the results as soon as possible in order to enable those that will fail to re-write the examinations.

MANEB extended the registration of candidates and payment of examination fees for 2021 PSLCE, JCE and MSCE to 8th April 2021.

However, as the days are coming closer to the closing date, the students are worried that they might miss out if they fail the examinations.

Most of the students have vented their anger on MANEB's official Facebook page.

For instance, Timot Kayange wrote:"We need MSCE results so that we can go back to school before it is too late."

Another concerned parent, Gladwell Jarafi wrote, "Kindly release the results so that some our siblings can see their performance in order for them to decide on weather to register for a repeat or not."

Some weeks ago, Leadership of the Independent Schools Association of Malawi, (ISAMA) president, Joseph Patel, said they were hopeful that examinations will be out before April 8th,2021, which is the deadline for registration fee.

Patel said if MSCE examinations will be out before the deadline it will enable students who will fail the exams and want to resit for the exams to have a chance.

"We implore Maneb to release the exam results so that those who would have not done well would have a chance to retake the exams," said Patel.
GREENWICH  Two suspects were charged with trying to make a fraudulent withdrawal of funds from the TD Bank by using fake documents, police said.

Officers were called to the bank branch on Greenwich Avenue last Friday on a report of the male and female suspects, police said.

The female suspect was observed driving away in a car with Pennsylvania license plates, according to the arrest report, and the male suspect was walking away from the scene along Liberty Way. The woman was seen throwing paperwork out of the car before officers pulled her over, police said.

Both suspects were apprehended and later charged with a number of financial crimes, according to the arrest report.

John Buonocore, 40, of Florence Drive, Manchester, N.J.; and Schemika Williams, 32, of Bruckner Blvd., the Bronx, N.Y., were charged with forgery, criminal impersonation, identity theft, conspiracy and criminal attempt at larceny, police said

Williams was also given a ticket for littering and cited for motor-vehicle charges as well, after police determined she did not have a valid drivers license or registration, according to the arrest report.

Bail was set at $10,000 for Williams and $5,000 for Buonocore.

Buonocore and Williams both have a number of arrests involving financial and property crimes on their criminal record in New Jersey, according to court listings.
An urgent warning has been issued after scammers allegedly tried to collect donations while pretending to be from the SES in the wake of the NSW floods.

The Taree branch, 330km north of Sydney, took to Facebook to warn the community about scammers operating in their area.

'If you are contacted by anyone asking for donations on behalf of the NSW SES, this is a SCAM,' an outraged branch member wrote.

Taree volunteer SES members busy filling sandbags on March 19 to help their community weather the floods. Outraged members warned of scammers were pretending to fundraise

The Taree volunteer branch of SES (pictured) warned the community not to give money to anyone saying they are from the NSW SES. They urged the public to call police instead

'If someone knocks on your door asking for donations on behalf of the NSW SES, this is also a SCAM and should be reported immediately to the police.'

The NSW SES does not ask for donations or door-knock to raise money.

'It is unbelievable that people are so heartless to take advantage of the local communities good will during such trying times,' the post continued.

'They should ashamed of themselves.'

More than one scammer may be at work with residents reporting phone calls

One woman (pictured) allegedly tried to scam money while wearing a volunteer uniform. She was not a member of any SES unit - and the SES does not ask for any donations

More than 1,000 flood rescues were needed during NSW floods over the past two weeks. Pictured: NSW SES volunteers ferry locals over a flooded road at Rosebrook on Thursday

The NSW SES and NSW Police instead directed people to Givit.org.au, the NSW Government donation channel that targets gifts so people get what they need and unwanted donated goods do not hinder the recovery.

NSW Police urged the community to be on high alert for fraudsters.

'NSW Police urges the community to be aware and report any fraudulent activity collecting donations in relation to the NSW floods,' a spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia on Friday.

Scam artists have sometimes been able to obtain SES uniforms as members come and go from the volunteer organisation, so the public has been warned to be on their guard.

Angry Taree locals who spoke to 7News said one woman, a serial scammer, had tried to take advantage of their goodwill in every natural disaster, and they had set up a Facebook group dedicated to tracking her movements.

During the 2017 Cyclone Debbie clean up, the woman allegedly posted photographs of herself in the distinctive orange volunteer uniform, even though she was not a member.

They also said she tried to steal a horse during the Black Summer bushfires by telling a man that it was her horse that had escaped and trying to get his help to 'retrieve' it.

Taree SES unit members organising to help the community on March 21

Pictured: SES volunteers load food and essentials to a rescue helicopter for residents in areas cut off by floodwaters north-west of Sydney on Wednesday

She has also allegedly made fake fundraiser pages for bushfire victims, never handing over the money.

NSW Police said they were not aware of anybody posing as emergency service workers seeking donations in the Manning/Great Lakes police district.

WHEN SOMEONE ASKS FOR DONATIONS: If you are ever approached about assistance for flood recovery: - Ask to see identification and license numbers - Ask for the department contact number to call to verify the work - If the person is not from a government organisation, we recommend you do not let them into your house - Do not provide your personal details or disclose bank account details to anyone, in person or on the phone Source: NSW Police Advertisement

More than one scammer may be at work this time with locals taking to social media to report telephone calls falsely soliciting money for the NSW SES.

One woman described the phone calls, saying a few people were rung during the height of the NSW floods last Saturday.

'It starts off as though they are you (SES) and updating us on the situation then they ask for a donation,' she wrote on Facebook.

On Friday, the SES hoped to rescind the last of the 23 evacuation orders as floodwaters began to recede across NSW, and the organisation began to assess the flood damage.

By Friday evening, however, there were still just under 9,000 people still under evacuation orders, the Guardian reported.

A further 76,000 people were able to return to their homes after evacuation warnings were lifted.

There were 12,500 requests for help across the state and 1,000 flood rescues during the wild week of torrential rain, with the SES called to another 35 flood rescues on Thursday night.

So far more than 1300 properties have been assessed with water rising over the floorboards in more than 250 homes.

At least 75 houses are now uninhabitable according to SES standards.

The NSW SES began assessing the flood damage on Friday as flood waters recede. Pictured: volunteers in Windsor, west of Sydney, on March 21
More than two years after Eduardo Balaquit  a 59-year-old Filipino immigrant and family man  vanished while working as a cleaner in Winnipeg, police have charged a 35-year-old former colleague with his slaying.

More than two years after Eduardo Balaquit  a 59-year-old Filipino immigrant and family man  vanished while working as a cleaner in Winnipeg, police have charged a 35-year-old former colleague with his slaying.

Eduardo Balaquit.

Kyle Alexander James Pietz, 35, who worked at Westcon Equipment & Rentals with Balaquit but was no longer employed by the company the day the man disappeared, was arrested in Saskatoon Tuesday. Pietz was charged with manslaughter and made his first appearance in a Winnipeg courtroom Wednesday.

Winnipeg police Det.-Sgt. Wade McDonald announced the arrest during a press conference Thursday, characterizing the investigation into Balaquits disappearance as long, complex and gruelling.

"Eduardo was a hardworking man. He worked several jobs here in the city. He worked at this business for a number of years. He had just gone to work and never returned home," McDonald said.

"We believe he was a victim of a homicide, hes deceased, and Kyle Pietz is responsible."

MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Sergeant Wade McDonald of the Winnipeg Police Service Homicide Unit announces Thursday morning that they have made an arrest in the disappearance of Eduardo Balaquit on June 4, 2018.

Eduardo was a hardworking man. He worked several jobs here in the city. He worked at this business for a number of years. He had just gone to work and never returned home."  Winnipeg police Det.-Sgt. Wade McDonald

The mystery began on the evening of June 4, 2018, when Balaquit left home to go to work as a cleaner at Westcon, located in the 300 block of Keewatin Street. When he didnt return home that night, his wife and two sons knew something was wrong.

The next morning, it was discovered that only a portion of the Westcon business had been cleaned, indicating Balaquit had likely begun his work the previous evening but didn't finish. Soon after, police found his vehicle abandoned in a deserted parking lot nearby.

The window to Balaquits van was smashed and broken glass was scattered on the pavement. Personal belongings, including his cellphone, were found inside.

RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES When Eduardo Balaquit didnt return home from work on the evening of June 4, 2018, his wife Lumie and their two sons Erwin (left) and Edward (right) knew something was wrong.

The case quickly became high-profile news in the city, with the local Filipino community rallying behind Balaquits family and organizing searches for the missing father.

McDonald said it was clear to investigators that Balaquit had been the victim of a crime. It didnt take long before Pietz was identified as a person of interest, he said. At the time, Pietz was living in Winnipeg, but he later moved to Saskatchewan.

JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES The local Filipino community rallyed behind Balaquits family and organized searches for the missing father.

On June 13, 2018, Winnipeg police announced the investigation had led them to the Interlake region. A massive search with RCMP took place in the area surrounding the town of Arborg, 100 kilometres north of Winnipeg.

That search wrapped up by the end of the week without the results investigators were hoping for. To this day, Balaquits remains have not been found.

On the one-year anniversary of Balaquits disappearance, Winnipeg police released a stock photo of a blue Ford Escape. Police said the vehicle had been seen near the 300 block of Keewatin around the time Balaquit went missing.

Unsolved cases Thelma Krull Thelma Krull was last seen on the morning of July 11, 2015, leaving her home for a regular morning walk in the East Kildonan area. The 57-year-old grandmother never came home. A year later, Winnipeg police identified a suspect  a heavy-set man with a bowl cut  who had reportedly been spotted with a woman matching Krulls description. In fall 2018, a hunter found a skull in the Rural Municipality of Tache  later identified as Krulls. click to read more Thelma Krull Thelma Krull was last seen on the morning of July 11, 2015, leaving her home for a regular morning walk in the East Kildonan area. The 57-year-old grandmother never came home. A year later, Winnipeg police identified a suspect  a heavy-set man with a bowl cut  who had reportedly been spotted with a woman matching Krulls description. In fall 2018, a hunter found a skull in the Rural Municipality of Tache  later identified as Krulls. Amber McFarland Its been more than a decade since then-24-year-old Amber McFarland was last seen leaving a nightclub in Portage la Prairie in October 2008. A year after she never came home, two men  including her boyfriend  were arrested, but both were released without charges. RCMP declared the case a homicide that same year; there have been few developments since. Jennifer Catcheway Jennifer Leigh Catcheway, originally from Skownan First Nation, phoned her mother on June 19, 2008 to say she would be home in Portage la Prairie that evening to celebrate her 18th birthday. She never arrived. More than 10 years later, Catcheways family continue to search for her, believing the RCMP mishandled the case and have scarcely been in touch. Claudette Osborne In the early hours of July 25, 2008, Claudette Osborne called several members of her family from a payphone, located at the intersection of Selkirk Avenue and King Street, having just left the Lincoln Motor Hotel in Winnipeg. She was 21 and a mother of four. For the past 12 years, her family has led annual walks and vigils in the citys North End, but no leads, tips or answers have come to light. Sunshine Wood Sunshine Wood, a member of the Manto Sipi Cree Nation, was just 16 years old when she was last seen Feb. 20, 2004, smiling and holding the door of the St. Regis Hotel in downtown Winnipeg. The street-smart teen had moved to the city for high school, her father told media at the time, and Winnipeg police described her disappearance as out of character. The case remains unsolved more than 15 years later. Colten Pratt On the evening of Nov. 6, 2014, 26-year-old Colten Pratt was seen leaving the Marlborough Hotel in Winnipeg, planning on heading home to St. Vital. Pratt, who identified as two-spirit and originally hailed from Long Plain First Nation, may have been spotted early the next morning at a bus shelter on Main Street near Redwood Avenue. No one has heard from Pratt since.  Julia-Simone Rutgers Close

Investigators believed the same vehicle was later seen near Arborg. On Thursday, McDonald confirmed its believed Pietz owned a blue Ford Escape. While he wouldnt say what led police to Arborg, its possible the sighting of a similar vehicle brought their search to the area.

On Thursday, McDonald would not speak to a possible motive in the slaying, and repeatedly declined comment when asked for additional details about the crime.

"This has been a lengthy and complex investigation. Over time, a period of three years, the investigation has evolved. Manitoba Justice has reviewed the investigation and authorized the charge of manslaughter," McDonald said.

"Homicide investigations are tough work. Its difficult for our investigators and its difficult for their families... Its hard work, its long work, its exhausting. And sometimes, its ungratifying. It was a good feeling making that arrest."

Pietz does not appear to have a criminal record in Manitoba, although he does have two civil cases on the books. He was previously sued by a collection agency for $7,800 in unpaid credit card debt, and there was a $20,000 judgment against him in a St. Boniface court.

JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Volunteers search for Eduardo Balaquit in a field just outside the perimeter highway June 10, 2018.

When Pietz made his first appearance in court Wednesday, Crown attorney Brent Davidson said he would soon have a disclosure package for the defence totalling 175 gigabytes of data, which he called "an extensive amount of information."

Attempts to reach Balaquits family for comment were unsuccessful Thursday. In the aftermath of their fathers disappearance, Balaquits sons, Erwin and Edward, made repeated pleas through the media for information that could bring their father home.

"There are just all these days that you want him there for. Thanksgiving passes. My moms birthday passes. Christmas is coming. These are all events that are happening and he should be here," said Edward, in a 2018 interview to mark the six-month anniversary of his dad's disappearance.

"Until this is resolved, its hell. Its been hell."

with files from Dean Pritchard and Kevin Rollason

ryan.thorpe@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @rk_thorpe
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 26)  Chinese ships surround Julian Felipe Reef from different directions, a recent aerial footage of this feature in the West Philippine Sea shows.

Surveillance video obtained by CNN Philippines Chief Correspondent Pia Hontiveros from a highly placed defense source shows the flotilla of Chinese fishing vessels around the boomerang-shaped Julian Felipe Reef, internationally known as Whitsun Reef. It is located close to Bataraza, Palawan within the Philippines' exclusive economic zone.

Most of the Chinese vessels were grouped together in line formations, while others were scattered, as seen in the two-minute video of the shallow coral reef. It is not clear when the video was taken.

A view from the south shows two fishing vessels, one Chinese and the other Vietnamese. From the northeast were dozens of Chinese vessels lined up close to each other. From the northern part of the reef, most of the ships were spread out, although a few remained in clusters.

There were a total of 183 Chinese vessels, according to the source. This is similar to the figure given by Armed Forces chief Lt. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana during his confirmation hearing at the Commission on Appointments on Wednesday.

This could mean some of the ships had left, considering that the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea and the Philippine Coast Guard reported on March 20 the presence of around 220 Chinese vessels.

National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon, Jr. told CNN Philippines on Friday that 34 of these vessels are now in the vicinity of Philippine-occupied Pag-asa Island and Sandy Cay, north of Julian Felipe Reef. They are "backed up by two Chinese Coast Guard vessels," Esperon said.

The National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea earlier said the vessels were part of China's maritime militia, a claim China has denied. The Chinese Embassy in Manila said in a statement on Monday that these were fishing vessels taking shelter in the area due to rough sea conditions.

The video, however, shows clear skies, which could be a sign of good weather during the surveillance. Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana also questioned the sheer number of vessels, why they were moored together, and why they were staying in an area that is "open sea and not conducive for sheltering."

According to a 2019 report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies and Vulcan, Inc., the largest force in the disputed Spratlys is the fishing fleet that serves, at least part-time, in Chinas maritime militia, as evidenced by their lack of fishing activities and their tendency to congregate around reefs occupied by China or held by other claimants.

Gregory Poling, director of the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative at CSIS, told CNN Philippines New Day on Friday that since China continues to deny the operations of its militia, the Philippines has to rally international pressure and call out Beijings illegal behavior. Otherwise, Poling said Chinas ships would continue to swarm even Philippine-occupied features like Pag-asa Island, which was also surrounded by over 200 Chinese vessels in 2019, prompting Manila to file a diplomatic protest.

Early this week, the Department of Foreign Affairs sent a diplomatic protest and demanded China to "promptly withdraw" its vessels from Julian Felipe Reef. The Armed Forces of the Philippines also deployed more naval units to the area. Meanwhile, President Rodrigo Duterte raised the issue in a recent meeting with Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian, and reaffrimed the country's 2016 arbitral win, according to the Palace.

An arbitral tribunal in The Hague recognized areas within the Philippines' EEZ which the Chinese government contests, thereby invalidating the East Asian giant's sweeping claim to the South China Sea, which included areas Manila claims as part of the West Philippine Sea. China rejects the landmark ruling.

CNN Philippines' David Santos and Eimor Santos contributed to this report.
Watertown, NY (13601)

Today

Cloudy skies. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 59F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Cloudy skies. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 59F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph.
DUBLIN, March 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The "GCC Facility Management Market Research Report: By Service (Property, Cleaning, Security, Catering, Support, Environmental Management), End User (Commercial, Industrial, Residential), Mode (In-house, Outsourced) - Industry Analysis and Growth Forecast to 2030" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) facility management market reached a value of $53,804.3 million in 2019 and is predicted to progress at a CAGR of 10.1% between 2020 and 2030. According to the estimates, the market will generate a revenue of $137,297.8 million by 2030.

The market is being driven by the rising requirement for facility management services in residential and commercial buildings, industrial units, and civil infrastructure projects.



Additionally, the launch of several development programs such as the Qatar National Vision 2030, the Saudi Vision 2030, the U.A.E. Vision 2021, and the Kuwait National Development Plan in GCC countries, on account of the government's plan to fuel the expansion of various sectors, is also propelling the advancement of the GCC facility management market. The construction sector is predicted to exhibit rapid expansion in the forthcoming years, on account of presence of favorable economic conditions and surging tourism activities.



As part of various strategic visions, the member nations in GCC are allocating high budgets to the construction industry. This will eventually push up the requirement for facility management services in the region in the forthcoming years. Moreover, these nations are focusing on decreasing their economic reliance on the revenue generated by the oil and gas industry. As per reports and surveys, the governments of GCC nations will increase their investments.

The rising requirement for sustainable development is another important factor fueling the progress of the GCC facility management market. The expansion of the travel & tourism industry is a major factor responsible for the rapid economic progress of the GCC countries. Supported by the implementation of government policies, the hospitality, tourism, and travel industries of the GCC countries are registering huge growth. Based on end user, the GCC facility management market is divided into residential, industrial, and commercial categories.



Amongst these, the commercial category recorded the highest growth in the market during the past few years, on account of the huge investments in commercial real estate in the region. The National Transformation Program (NTP) 2020 was launched in 2016 for meeting the objectives and aims of the Saudi Vision 2030. Under this initiative, huge investments are being made for the accelerating the development of the region's private sector. This is, in turn, propelling the demand for facility management services.



Globally, the GCC facility management market is predicted to demonstrate huge expansion in Saudi Arabia in the coming years. This will be because of the launch of several real estate projects such as the Al Widyan by 2020, Red Sea Project by 2030, and Amaala by 2028 in the country. These projects will provide immense growth opportunities for the players operating in the industry. Many global organizations are announcing partnerships and collaborations with domestic firms for expanding their customer base.



Hence, it can be said with full surety that the market will register huge growth in the future years, mainly because of the launch of various development programs and the expansion of the travel & tourism industry in the region.



Key Topics Covered:

Chapter 1. Research Background



Chapter 2. Research Methodology



Chapter 3. Executive Summary



Chapter 4. Introduction

4.1 Definition of Market Segments

4.1.1 By Service

4.1.1.1 Property

4.1.1.1.1 HVAC maintenance

4.1.1.1.2 Mechanical & electrical maintenance

4.1.1.1.3 Others

4.1.1.2 Cleaning

4.1.1.3 Security

4.1.1.4 Catering

4.1.1.5 Support

4.1.1.6 Environmental management

4.1.1.7 Others

4.1.2 By End User

4.1.2.1 Commercial

4.1.2.2 Industrial

4.1.2.3 Residential

4.1.3 By Mode

4.1.3.1 In-house

4.1.3.2 Outsourced

4.1.3.2.1 Integrated

4.1.3.2.2 Bundled

4.1.3.2.3 Single

4.1.4 By Type

4.1.4.1 Hard

4.1.4.2 Soft

4.1.4.3 Others

4.2 Market Dynamics

4.2.1 Trends

4.2.1.1 Regulatory and economic development in GCC countries

4.2.1.2 Evolution of outsourced facility management services

4.2.2 Drivers

4.2.2.1 Increasing construction activities in GCC countries

4.2.2.2 Rising number of green building projects

4.2.2.3 Growing tourism industry

4.2.2.4 Smart facility management using advanced technologies

4.2.2.5 Impact analysis of drivers on the market forecast

4.2.3 Restraints

4.2.3.1 Low awareness regarding facility management services

4.2.3.2 Workforce management issues

4.2.3.3 Impact analysis of restraints on the market forecast

4.2.4 Opportunities

4.2.4.1 Adoption of IoT

4.3 Impact of COVID-19

4.4 Porter's Five Forces Analysis



Chapter 5. GCC Market Size and Forecast

5.1 By Service

5.1.1 Property Services, by Type

5.2 By End User

5.3 By Mode

5.3.1 Outsourced Services, by Type

5.4 By Type

5.5 By Country



Chapter 6. Saudi Arabia Market Size and Forecast



Chapter 7. U.A.E. Market Size and Forecast



Chapter 8. Kuwait Market Size and Forecast



Chapter 9. Qatar Market Size and Forecast



Chapter 10. Rest of GCC Market Size and Forecast



Chapter 11. Competitive Landscape

11.1 Key Offerings of Key Players

11.2 List of Other Players

11.3 Strategic Developments of Key Players



Chapter 12. Company Profiles

EMCOR Group Inc.

Khidmah LLC

Interserve plc

Musanadah Facilities Management Co. Ltd.

Engie Cofely

Kharafi National for Infrastructure Projects Developments Construction and Services S.A.E

United Facilities Management

Emrill Services LLC

Imdaad LLC

Farnek Services LLC

O&G Engineering W.L.L.

Fawaz Trading & Engineering Services Co. W.L.L.

EcovertFM Kuwait

Al Mazaya Holding Company

Al-Awsat United Real Estate Co.

R&E Petroleum Co.

Refrigeration Industries & Storage Company

PIMCO

Al-Asmakh Facilities Management W.L.L.

COMO Facilities Management Services

OCS Qatar LLC

CBM Qatar LLC

Elegancia Hospitality & Facility Management Services

Al Tamyoz Business Group

Conservo Facility Management Co. W.L.L.

Confident Enterprises W.L.L.

AMWAJ Catering Services

Al Shirawi Facilities Management LLC

Etisalat Facilities Management LLC

Transguard Group LLC

Blue Diamond Facilities Management LLC

Reliance Facilities Management

Deyaar Development PJSC

Muheel Services LLC

Safari Group

APSG Group

AMNCO

Enova Facility Management

Rezayat Group

Nesma Trading Co. Ltd.

Al Borj International

Petrojana

Al Hajry Overseas Co. Ltd.

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/tq8ld9

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]



For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

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For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900



U.S. Fax: 646-607-1904

Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716

SOURCE Research and Markets

Related Links

http://www.researchandmarkets.com


Deputy PM Vu Duc Dam, head of the nation's Covid-19 task force, received his second shot of the made-in-Vietnam Nanocovax vaccine Friday.

As per procedure, he waited 30 minutes for medical monitoring after taking the shot and then talked to other volunteers.

Accompanying the Deputy PM as a volunteer in the human trials for the vaccine was Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Pham Cong Tac.

Both officials had received their first shots on February 26.

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam gets his second shot of Nanocovax as part of its human trials in Hanoi, March 26, 2021. Photo by VnExpress/DN.

Do Quyet, director of the Military Medical University, said that after the second shot, the safety and efficacy of antibody generation and its antiviral ability will be re-assessed. These criteria were met after the first shot, he said.

"The Nanocovax vaccine is effective against the U.K variant," he added.

Quyet also said that Vietnam can compare the efficacy of Nanocovax with that of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which has been approved by the World Health Organization (WHO), obtaining an international license if the comparison is favorable.

He expressed confidence that Vietnam will have a commercially viable vaccine by the end of September.

On March 24, the UNICEF had announced that due to production delays, the distribution of Covid-19 vaccine through Covax, the projected deliveries to all countries would also be deferred and the quantities reviewed and adjusted.

Vietnam is now due to receive 811,200 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine next month. This quantity, based on an equitable pro-rata distribution of available doses between all participant countries, is smaller than previously announced for the first shipment. Based on initial information shared by the manufacturer, the aim is to deliver a total of 4,176,000 doses to Vietnam by the end of May, pending operational and supply constraints.
Amazon took an unusually combative tone on social media in pushing back against reports and tweets that its productivity demands are so intense that workers routinely urinate in bottles because they cant take bathroom breaks.

You dont really believe the peeing in bottles thing, do you? began a thread by Amazon News, which describes itself as the official account for news about Amazon. The company appeared to reference several media reports, including a recent article in The Guardian, in which Amazon workers and contract drivers have said they had to urinate in bottles in their vehicles to keep up with productivity rates.

Amazon workers are currently engaged in a labour spat with the company. Credit:AP

Paying workers $US15/hr doesnt make you a progressive workplace when you union-bust & make workers urinate in water bottles, Representative Mark Pocan, wrote in a Twitter post. He was initially responding to a tweet from Amazons top retail executive, who described the company as the Bernie Sanders of employers, calling out the progressive senator who is expected to be in Alabama on Friday (US time) in support of Amazon workers seeking to unionise.

The Guardian report cited a former driver who worked for several Amazon delivery providers in Austin, Texas, who described overwhelming 14-hour shifts. Delivery rates were so high, the driver said, he used a plastic bottle to relieve himself on a daily basis.
Are the skies above Marsabit the most dangerous part of Kenya's airspace? Pilots say landing an aircraft at the Marsabit airstrip has now become a deadly mission.

And while poor visibility due to a dark cloud that envelopes the surrounding mountainous region particularly in the morning has largely been blamed for tragic accidents, it has emerged there are also technical hiccups related to navigation.

Inaccurate GPS coordinates are also being cited for aircraft accidents in Marsabit that have claimed many lives in the past.

Colonel (rtd) Nahashon Mutea explained that most Kenyan airstrips, including Kisima in Maralal, Voi, Narok, Kitale and Eldoret are inaccurate in terms of coordinates and offset from the actual location, which could lead to accidents when navigating in poor visibility.

"A good example is the Marsabit airstrip. Once you select this option on the GPS, instead of leading you to the airstrip, it homes you in on Marsabit mountain, which could have disastrous consequences, especially during periods of poor visibility," said Colonel Mutea.

He added that a pilot who enters Kisima airstrip in Maralal on the GPS coordinates will find himself two nautical miles on the right side of the airstrip.

"This is why you need to do background checks and rely on local knowledge before you take off.

This would be hard for younger pilots who haven't flown there often or for those flying there for the first time," explained Colonel Mutea.

A recent incident was two weeks ago, when the crew of an aircraft flying into Kisima Mararal logged in the GPS coordinates that instead took the aircraft towards a dam to the right of the airstrip.

GPS coordinates

GPS coordinates are loaded by service providers before the aircraft is purchased, but it is not clear whether the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) is consulted prior to the loading and purchase.

"These pre-loaded GPS coordinates will show you the locations of airstrips and airports, but if I am flying to a place whose coordinates are not on the GPS, I load it manually," explained Mutea.

Screenshots from a WhatsApp group of pilots reveal how their GPS equipment that acts as a navigation tracking device (Garmin) and (Jeppeson) navigation charts, which provide navigation data, are rarely updated because the operators rarely pay for them, and that coordinates can only be updated if someone "calls it in".

GPS came in to replace the old techniques of using a paper map and a plotter, where a pilot had to periodically check the map to confirm passage over rivers or to check for hills and mountains.

Aided by satellites, the Garmin and Jeppeson databases expire periodically and it is up to the operator to ensure that they are regularly updated to include new airports being built, new radio frequencies and new procedures as they are developed.

"The challenge is that these updates are expensive, and small operators may experience financial setbacks. With small operators, pilots can buy their own GPS equipment and feed their data manually," said a senior pilot who sought anonymity.

He explained that paying for the updates is not a big challenge to big airlines, who most of the time have an agreement with the providers.

"Some equipment are so advanced and databases up-to-date that they have an inbuilt voice record. If you are flying under poor visibility, it will let you know the terrain you are flying into and on the display, it will show you whether there are aircraft near your location," he explained.

"After the recent incident, we raised this issue with KCAA, and they are currently working on it," said Colonel Mutea.

Aircraft crashes

However, when nation.africa questioned the KCAA to confirm if indeed the Marsabit GPS coordinates are inaccurate, they did not respond.

We had sought to find out who is responsible for loading of the GPS coordinates, when were they last updated, whether the coordinates can be rectified to reflect their actual position on the ground, and if not, the reason behind it.

Considering the lives that have been claimed by Marsabit in aircraft crashes, the agency had also been requested to comment on the possibility of Marsabit airspace being dangerous to consumers.

This is after it emerged that one of the pilots of the recent Marsabit crash had expressed discomfort about the flight hours before take-off.

In the absence of a response, it is not clear whether the fallen pilot raised the concern officially and whether it was addressed before the flight. The fallen aviator had wanted to delay the flight, hoping that by doing so, the bad weather he flew into would have cleared up.

On March 20, KCAA confirmed that the aircraft, registration number 5Y-JKN, had departed Wilson Airport in Nairobi at 8.20am with two people on board. The agency explained that the aircraft had crashed into a hill at approximately 10.10am, and that the aircraft accident investigation department had launched an investigation to determine the cause of the accident.

"Every aviator and operator knows that Marsabit is a no-go zone in the morning because of the low cloud base at that time, which usually clears up by mid-morning. Why couldn't they wait?" a friend of fallen Captain Mureithi had asked bitterly.

He explained that when a pilot experiences bad weather, some companies have a provision where their pilots can turn around and land elsewhere. When the weather clears, they can then take off again and complete their task of the day.

"Marsabit is a dangerous place to enter. It's one way in one way out, just that you have to wait until the cloud base has risen for you to do your operations safely," he explained.

Instrument landing system

He also added that with Covid-19, most pilots are scared of losing their jobs, so they cannot refuse assignments, and that airlines may be taking advantage of that fact to push the pilots to the limit.

"If you don't fully deliver, and given your standard operating procedure, then it appears like person A doesn't complete his job, but person B does, and therefore person B is better than person A. Every operator now wants to minimise the number of employees, so that means you have to keep yourself on toes, and do whatever you have been told, regardless of whether it will cost you your life," he explained.

He further explained that given the foggy weather, the pilot and his copilot may have struggled to find the airstrip and crashed while still at it.

"From the photos, you can tell that they were having a hard time looking for that airstrip. What they were doing is called a low high speed kind of manoeuver, which is usually done when there is a low cloud base - you try and identify where the airstrip is but you do not know where the masts are, where the electrical poles or hills are - and you are just flying blind," he stated.

"It is unlike airports, which have something called an instrument landing system. You just enter the coordinates there and the plane will bring you all the way to the ground. However, Marsabit airstrip does not have that provision," he added.

He explained the last 12 hours before John Brian took off were spent in unison.

"His last words were 'Bro, wacha nipige Marsabit mswaki nikirudi tupatane normal spot'. At some point during the day, I stepped into the shower. On coming out, I found so many missed calls. I got into my WhatsApp and saw pictures of the mangled plane, and wished to the high heavens that it wasn't Mureithi's," he explains.

The friend he was to meet a few hours later was never to come back.

"Out of denial, I even made a joke to my friends that my friend was on his way back. They tried to reason with me, but I was adamant. Later, I decided to call. His phone was off. I tried for the second and third time, but the calls weren't going through. At the time when he was supposed to be landing, I called again, and the phone was still off. It is then that the reality of what had happened hit me hard," said the sad source.

Narrow escape

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The horror of it was exacerbated by memories of his father's narrow escape in 2006. He should have been the pilot in command.

"I was still a young boy then, hanging out with my father in the mess hall of one of the military barracks. A colleague approached him and requested that he take up my father's shift that night, and my father would work his shift when the demand came up. My father agreed, and we hit the road that same evening to upcountry. The next morning, we woke up to news that he had crashed in Marsabit," explains Collins.

"These are not toys that we fly up there. The view of the earth below is awesome when you are up there, but everyone should remember that going up there is an option, and coming down is a must, whether you land soft or hard. If somebody doesn't address the Marsabit issue, it's a matter of time before another plane dives in there," he stated, adding that every company has a standard operating procedure on how to enter and leave dangerous airfields.

Now, his friend, who would have turned 27 this year has rested, and his ambitions have been cut short.

"Captain Mureithi was bright, top of his class, and we cannot say that he was incompetent. He went to the Kenya School of Flying, which is an envy of many pilots. He was being groomed to be a commercial airline pilot," said Collins.

Collins explains that shortly before Covid-19 hit, the late pilot had been shortlisted to join Kenya Airways, but when the pandemic hit, the recruitment was put on hold to be reviewed when things got back to normal.

"He had told me that flying is not the only thing we can do, and so we both enrolled for classes at the East African School of Aviation," he explained.

Marsabit airstrip has claimed many lives in the past, including 14 high-level delegates on peace mission in 2006. In the crash, Dr Guracha Galgalo (Moyale), Abdi Sasura (Saku), Titus Ngoyoni (Laisamis) and Abdullahi Adan (East African Legislative Assembly) lost their lives, their deaths hitting the then National Assembly hard.
 "White House Seeks Drug Clemency Candidates" ... like Weldon Angelos and Chris Williams? | Main | Unsurprisingly, AG Holder authorizes pursuit of death penalty against Boston bomber 

January 30, 2014

Smarter Sentencing Act passes Senate Judiciary Committee by 13-5 vote

I just received a notable news release from Families Against Mandatory Minimums concerning a notable vote today by the US Senate Judiciary Committee. Here are the basic via the FAMM report:

Today, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee passed the first major reconsideration of federal mandatory minimum drug sentencing laws since the Nixon Administration. The Committee voted, 13-5, in support of S. 1410, the Smarter Sentencing Act, a bipartisan bill sponsored by Senators Mike Lee (R-UT) and Richard Durbin (D-IL). The Smarter Sentencing Act: Reduces mandatory minimum sentences for federal drug offenders by half

Narrowly increases the scope of an existing safety valve exception to federal drug offenses

Allows 8,800 federal prisoners imprisoned for crack cocaine crimes to return to court to seek fairer punishments in line with the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010, a unanimously-passed measure to reduce the racially discriminatory disparity between crack and powder cocaine offenses

Requires the U.S. Department of Justice and other federal agencies to compile, and make publicly available on their websites, lists of all federal laws and regulations carrying criminal penalties. This part of the bill addresses growing bipartisan concerns about the issue of over-criminalization  that there are too many federal crimes and that people can and do unknowingly and unintentionally break laws and regulations and serve jail or prison time for violations that could be better addressed with fines.

Adds new mandatory minimum sentences for sexual abuse, domestic violence, and terrorism offenses

This new piece up at Huffington Post, headlined "Biggest Overhaul in Federal Drug Sentencing in Decades Clears Major Hurdle, Despite Opposition From Heartless Prosecutors," provides more information about who is for and who is against this important legislative development:

Today the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee passed bipartisan sentencing reform legislation that reduces the federal prison population, decreases racial disparities, saves taxpayer money, and reunites nonviolent drug law offenders with their families sooner. The reforms are supported by a strange bedfellows group of senators, including Senators Mike Lee (R-Utah), Rand Paul (R-Kentucky), Jeff Flake (R-Arizona), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Carl Levin (D-MI) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI). The legislation is opposed by some U.S. prosecutors who continue to defend a harsh, racially unjust system that has led to a greater percentage of black men being locked up in the U.S. than in South Africa at the height of Apartheid. The bill, the Smarter Sentencing Act, is the biggest overhaul in federal drug sentencing in decades. It would reduce federal mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenses and expand the ability of judges to use their own discretion when sentencing defendants, so that judges can consider the unique facts of each case and each individual before them. It would also make the reform to the crack/powder cocaine sentencing disparity that Congress passed in 2010 retroactive, so that thousands of people sentenced under the old draconian and racially unjust disparity can leave prison early. Even though U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder urged the committee to reform mandatory minimum sentencing yesterday, the National Association of Assistant U.S. Attorneys took the somewhat rare step of opposing the Attorney General by releasing a letter in opposition to reform. "We do not join with those who regard our federal system of justice as 'broken' or in need of major reconstruction," the organization said. "Instead, we consider the current federal mandatory minimum sentence framework as well-constructed and well worth preserving."

January 30, 2014 at 01:09 PM | Permalink

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Comments

So now what happens and how long before it actually can make differences in lives of those trapped in prison.

Cathy - a family incarcerated by these US attorneys who feel their job is threatened by reductions



Posted by: Cathy | Jan 30, 2014 1:43:54 PM

On what planet is the current sentencing regime "well-constructed"?

Posted by: PDB | Jan 30, 2014 2:30:09 PM

PDB --

On the planet where more incarceration, partly due to stiffer sentencing, has helped push the crime rate to a low point it has not seen for 50 years.

http://pricetheory.uchicago.edu/levitt/Papers/LevittUnderstandingWhyCrime2004.pdf

Sorry, but there IS a relationship between sentencing and crime.

Posted by: Bill Otis | Jan 30, 2014 3:56:49 PM

"Requires the U.S. Department of Justice and other federal agencies to compile, and make publicly available on their websites, lists of all federal laws and regulations carrying criminal penalties."

Is there enough room on the Internet for that?

Good news. The Smarter Sentencing Act really is smarter. Maybe the government will not be at war with so many of its citizens now.

Posted by: George | Jan 30, 2014 3:59:31 PM

My goodness. Another liberal claim of victory put together by sweeping important facts under the rug.

After all this bluster, the Committee DID NOT ELIMINATE A SINGLE MANDATORY MINIMUM FOR ANYTHING. To the exact contrary, it ADDED three mandatory minimums: for crimes involving sexual assault, interstate domestic violence, and nuclear export control offenses. It's difficult to imagine a more emphatic endorsement of the central idea here -- that judges STILL need binding instructions from Congress and are not to be trusted with their own frolics.

Anyway,I don't know how many MM's there were when the sun came up this morning, but you now have three more.

Congratulations, guys!

P.S. Of course, nobody really has anything at this point. A committee vote is one part of one process in one chamber. I can't wait for this to get to the House (if it makes it out of the Senate).

Posted by: Bill Otis | Jan 30, 2014 4:16:47 PM

Does this only apply to cocaine/crack charges? Does this include marijuana charges as well?

Posted by: Lola | Jan 30, 2014 4:59:13 PM

Look, there's no question that if you put everyone who commits an offense in jail, you can succeed in lowering the crime rate. I read the study cited by George, and even in this study, the guy admits there's no direct correlation between the use of the drugs and the crimes. I don't understand how ANYONE can be in favor of locking up fellow citizens for life just because they care to imbibe in a substance which has been deemed inappropriate, but not proven to cause harm to others.

Posted by: Mookie | Jan 30, 2014 6:05:06 PM

"Requires the U.S. Department of Justice and other federal agencies to compile, and make publicly available on their websites, lists of all federal laws and regulations carrying criminal penalties."

Isn't that already available in the federal criminal code? It's not as if the criminal code is some sort of secret.

Posted by: Domino | Jan 30, 2014 9:42:16 PM

Sure it is Domino. They make it secret via the amount of useless trash you have to wade though to get to any details.

who's going to read a 1,000 page law to find the 2 lines that mention the actual crime and any possible punishment.

Personally I think if you can't define your ideal law down to 1 page. SHUT UP!

we already have a perfect example!

"Thou shall not STEAL!"

"Thou shall nut MURDER"

and so on! Plain and simple. Which of course is why gov't will NEVER get it!

we could can 90% of the law based on those two sentences alone!

simple law!

"If it does not belong to you. It's a felony! amount of prison time upon conviction to be based on the amount stolen!"

"If you take a life and can not justify it to a court of law it's MURDER! amount of prison time upon conviction will be based on a 25 year base minus any time removed based on extenuating evidence."

damn we just removed 200,000 federal and state and local laws!

Of course we also just put 500,000 federal and state employees out of work!

Posted by: rodsmith | Jan 31, 2014 2:50:30 AM

Mookie makes a very important point that Bill Otis consistently ignores and makes his arguments about the correlation between incarceration rates and drops in crime rates prove way too much. Under Bill's way of thinking, we could lock up all under-privileged African American men convicted of speeding for life, and that would surely result in lower crime rates. There is only a matter of degree between that and taking the position that we should impose draconian sentences on drug (or other sorts of offenders) because they can be identified as members of society the removal of which for a long, long time will result in decreased crime levels. Bill's views boil down to, if you commit a crime you a deserve to get hit with a penalty tax, for being someone -- or a member of a social class -- who society needs less of.

We enter very dangerious territory when we justify incarceration of individuals based principally on keeping overall crime rates down, and lose the focus on closely correlating actual culpability and sentences, let alone taking into account opportunties for rehabilitation. Put differently, there is a sense in which Bill's arguments are more challenging to rebut if believe sentencing policy is about nothing but decreasing crime rates (though there is surely an offset for the havoc over-incarceration does to communities), but god help us if we lose the focus on justice, and adopt (somewhat ironically, given his professed political views) Bill's focus on social engineering. I find it very interesting, but it is actually quite logical, that conservative Republicans -- or "useful idiots" as the increasingly bitter Bill Otis would call them -- are leading the charge on these issues.

Posted by: Mark | Jan 31, 2014 1:52:42 PM

Mark --

"Bill's views boil down to, if you commit a crime you a deserve to get hit with a penalty tax, for being someone -- or a member of a social class -- who society needs less of."

What complete, and scurrilous, tripe. It is my side that insists that criminal culpability rest on behavior alone, and not on membership in any demographic category. It is your side that wants to ignore, dismiss, excuse or in some other way shuffle away from actual behavior to change the subject to something -- anything -- else.

One of your favorite subjects to change to is how anyone who disagrees with you about the seriousness of drug crimes must be -- guess what! -- a racist.

The rote whine of "racism!" is undertaken to muzzle dissent from the liberal orthodoxy and cow opponents into silence. It's The New McCarthyism, only worse: At least Joe McCarthy gave his whole name.

P.S. For anyone actually interested in debate rather than intimidation, there is a reason I point out the link between increased incarceration and decreased crime. The reason is that this link is, incredibly, often denied. There have been numerous claims, including on this forum, that incarceration INCREASES crime, by being a school for thieves or what have you. When I make the point that statistics overwhelmingly refute this claim, people like Mark, whoever he is, have nothing to say but to cry "racist."

Posted by: Bill Otis | Jan 31, 2014 2:36:12 PM

These natural, and apparently adequate means all failing, what will convince them? This, and this only: cease to call slavery wrong, and join them in calling it right. And this must be done thoroughly  done in acts as well as in words. Silence will not be tolerated  we must place ourselves avowedly with them  The whole atmosphere must be disinfected from all taint of opposition to slavery, before they will cease to believe that all their troubles proceed from us.-Pres. Lincoln, Cooper Union Address, 1860.

Posted by: anonymous | Jan 31, 2014 4:48:05 PM

So how does this affect 3 time offenders and when can these inmates go back to court? Will they have to go to court or will the sentencingjust be cut in writing.

Posted by: Robbin Rivers | Jan 31, 2014 8:32:11 PM

As a mother who has a son who ls doing 3o years for crack cocaine how do l learn too live my life again for every one day hes done i have done 2 does this mean imay get a chance too really sleep at night as god be my witness it has b een a long journey i pray god has answered my prayers all i can say is once you have found god you will never be the same lets give god all the glory because he can change the mind s of man mistakes we all made all we want is justice. Thats not too much to ask. Do you agree.

Posted by: Robbin Rivers | Jan 31, 2014 9:53:17 PM

When does this go to the senate? Can you post information on how this will affect those if it does that were considered career criminals using non violent drug charges from their past? Also for anyone to say that these laws are well constructed ... I'm so sure it wasn't with a straight face.. had to be on paper.. Thanks for the information.

Posted by: Goodman | Feb 3, 2014 8:20:24 AM

As for a guy who did federal time and seen bills come and go I just hope these guys don't sit on the bill for another yr th As N they have too start all over with the next congress they need too make this law HAPPENED LIKE NOW!!!!! Ex federal imate ... just been out 2yrs after doing 8yrs

Posted by: rory | Feb 3, 2014 9:46:29 PM

When will this take affect

Posted by: Ms Lian | Feb 4, 2014 2:22:49 AM

What about the state now? I have a brother who is incarcerated and just given a life sentence for marijuana in Alabama. What about the states? They should help everyone. Read about my petition here: https://www.change.org/petitions/gov-robert-bentley-decriminalization-of-possession-of-marijuana-and-abolish-habitual-offender-law-for-non-violent-offenders

Posted by: tami Harrison | Feb 16, 2014 10:38:35 PM

does the fair sentencing act apply to drug offender's that also have gun charges?

thank you

Posted by: kaela | Feb 17, 2014 7:34:51 PM

I am a mother..my 25 yr old son was sentenced to 22 years. For every day he is locked up like an animal, me and my heart are locked up for 10...Im also pulling time right along with my son, cause my heart refuses to allow me to do otherwise!! You see, my son has Epilepsy..GRAN MAL SEIZURES..HE IS MY BABY REGUARDLESS OF HIS AGE!! How can i LIVE my life knowing my son is locked up like an animal and can't live his life??? Please give us back our children...i beg you...

Posted by: Ruby Baeza | Feb 19, 2014 2:12:33 PM

I think the smarter sentencing act is great and I can't wait for it to go into full affect!!!! Some people are getting more time for drugs (especially Blacks) than those who Rape & Kill.... Smh, this crap is crazy but I pray this goes into affect soon and families are reunited much sooner than expected!!!

Posted by: Chyna | Mar 17, 2014 10:57:17 PM

Would there be any relief to the State inmates?

Posted by: Sharon | Mar 18, 2014 4:35:23 PM

I'm interested in knowing if this "Smarter Sentencing Act" or the "Fair Sentencing Act" could help my brother. He was a junkie out to get his drugs for himself, however he could get them, usually by assisting others to get theirs too. He made such a run with others across the state line and made the drug purchase. They returned him to his home then went back across state lines and shared their drugs with another man. The man died after doing the drugs. The drugs used were heroin and cocaine. The men who contributed to the man who died were both sentenced to 5 years apiece. My brother was sentenced to 20 years. he also agreed to turn over the dealer he got them from, who ran into Canada and hasn't been caught yet. The Feds agreed to drop 5 years off his sentence for that. He is still in a maximum security prison and no time has been reduced from his sentence. What else can I do to help him? He didn't deserve this sentence. I'm a family member interested in helping my brother.

Posted by: Sam Davis | Mar 29, 2014 5:54:52 PM

I am a mother of a son who was sent to prison for a mdo of 11 years and 4 years for drug trafficking he is in state prison he didn't hurt anyone but because he did not tell on anyone he has a mandatory sentence of 15 years why doesn't the same bill that passes for federal inmates apply to state inmates. I just don't think its fair

Posted by: Gwandean Harris | Apr 25, 2014 8:50:18 PM

IS SMARTER SENTENCING ACT PASS THE SENATE YET OR WHERE IS IT AT? I WANT TO THANK ALL INVOLE IN GETTING THIS BILL PASS,IT'S VERY IMPORTANT TO GET THIS BILL PASS IT'S THE RIGHT THING TO DO. ;;;;;GOD BLESS AMERICA

Posted by: ROBERT | Jun 9, 2014 4:05:32 PM

I would like to know if this is only going to affect the drug offenders or all other offenders especially the first timers that have been sentenced unfairly

Posted by: angela | Jun 23, 2014 4:04:19 PM

Does this apply to career criminals who have never commited a violent offense?

Posted by: Kelly Blanchard | Jul 18, 2014 10:31:40 PM

knowledge is power

Posted by: tammy graff | Jun 17, 2015 2:50:23 PM

Post a comment
Police clash with people protesting the visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Dhaka, March 26, 2021

Violence marred the 50th anniversary of Bangladeshs declaration of independence Friday with at least five people killed and dozens injured in clashes between police, pro-government activists and people protesting the visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The anti-Modi protesters in Dhaka, Chittagong and other places included supporters of Islamic groups and leftist organizations, both of which accuse the leader of Hindu-majority India of discriminating against Muslims.

Four people were killed in Chittagong as thousands of protesters clashed with police, said Md. Alauddin Talukder, assistant sub-inspector of the police post at Chittagong Medical College Hospital.

Four persons who were critically injured in a clash with the police in Hathazari were taken to Chittagong Medical College hospital. The doctors declared them dead, Talukder told BenarNews.

Three of them were students, while the other person was a local businessman.

Elsewhere in the country, another death was reported during an anti-Modi protest in Brahmanbaria district, officials said.

Hardline Islamic group Hefazat-e-Islam said those who died in Chittagong were members of the group.

Four of our workers were killed in police firing. Besides, 10 to 12 workers were also seriously injured, Maulana Azizul Islam, the organizing secretary of the Hefazat-e-Islam Bangladesh, told BenarNews.

After the jumma prayers [Friday prayers], we took out a peaceful procession. The police shot at the procession without any provocation.

Witnesses told BenarNews that thousands of students from the Hathazari madrassa emerged from campus after Friday prayers and began protesting Modis arrival in Dhaka.

They blocked the Chittagong-Khagrachhari highway and went on a rampage in government offices, Md. Mosi Uddowla Reza, an additional superintendent of police in Chittagong, told BenarNews over the phone.

The protesters also set the local land office on fire and attacked the Hathazari police station, prompting officers to open fire.

Police fired in self-defense, Reza said.

Dhaka protests

In Dhaka, around 60 people were injured in clashes with police at Dhakas Baitul Mokarram National Mosque, where anti-Modi protests broke out after Friday prayers.

Hundreds of worshipers came out of the mosque chanting anti-Modi slogans, prompting activists with the ruling Awami League and its front organizations to counter the protesters, according to witnesses. In the ensuing violence, police were attacked as well.

Police lobbed tear-gas canisters to disperse the angry crowd and the feuding groups. The clash continued for a couple of hours.

Sixty injured people took treatment at the emergency wing of Dhaka Medical College Hospital. In the afternoon, more Huzurs [people with a madrassa education] came to receive treatment, Md. Sakhawat, a security person who was on-duty at the emergency ward, told BenarNews.

The activists of the nearby Anandabazar neighborhood attacked the injured persons and drove them out of the hospital. The policeman in charge of the Dhaka Medical College Hospital police outpost and two on-duty constables were also beaten up by ruling party members.

Indias riotous, communal Prime Minister

Protests against Modis visit began last week in Dhaka, with demonstrators demanding that Bangladesh withdraw its invitation to Modi.

Earlier this week, Hefazat-e-Islam activists held a press conference in Dhaka with the group's leader, Mamunul Islam, saying there would be no violence if the government abided with its demand to cancel its invitation to Modi for the national festivities.

At the golden jubilee celebration of Bangladeshs independence and the celebration of Mujib Year, we should not host anyone whom the people of this country do not want to see, or whose presence would hurt the countrys people, Junaid Al Habib, president of the Dhaka unit of Hefazat-e-Islam.

We have this position because Narendra Modi is known globally as anti-Muslim.

On Friday, the group announced it would continue protests on Saturday, the second and final day of Modis visit.

Leftist student groups last week issued a statement criticizing Modi.

Inviting Indias riotous, communal Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the golden jubilee of independence is against the spirit of the liberation war, the statement said, according to a local publication New Age.

Our rulers call India our friend, but the BSF is often shooting and killing our people on Bangladesh-India border, the leftist group said, referring to Indias Border Security Force.

Modi was chief minister of Gujarat state during communal riots in 2002. He was accused of complicity during the anti-Muslim riots, but was acquitted of all charges in 2013 due to lack of evidence.

More than 40 Bangladeshis were killed by the BSF from last year, according to local human rights group Ain-O-Salish Kendra.

And as many as 1,185 Bangladeshis were shot dead by the Indian border police between 2000 and 2019, according to Odhikar, another Bangladeshi rights advocacy group.

Obaidul Quader, minister of Road Transport and Bridges in the Awami League government, criticized the protesters.

Those opposed to the visit of Narendra Modi have been trying to fish in the troubled water. They are anti-liberation forces, Quader told journalists in Dhaka on Friday.

We are grateful to India and the Indian people for the support they extended during our war of independence in in 1971. Bangladesh and India maintain excellent bilateral relations.

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina (right) greets her Indian counterpart Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka, March 26, 2021. [AFP]

India inextricably linked to Bangladeshs birth

Modi arrived in Dhaka mid-morning on Friday for a two-day visit on the invitation of the Bangladesh government to celebrate 50 years of the countrys declaration of independence.

Bangladeshs founder, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman  Prime Minister Sheikh Hasinas father  declared independence from what was then known as West Pakistan on March 26, 1971, after which the country fought a bloody war and won freedom in December that year.

India provided crucial military and diplomatic support to Bangladesh guerrillas during the war.

Hasina received Modi at the airport in Dhaka. It was the Indian leaders first foreign trip since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

After his arrival, Modi attended a special event organized as part of the 10-day celebrations to mark the jubilee.

I salute the brave soldiers of the Indian Army who stood with the brothers and sisters of Bangladesh in muktijuddo, Modi said, referring to the 1971 war, according to the state-run Press Trust of India.

He also spoke about the challenges both countries faced from terrorism.

We must remember that weve similar opportunities in fields of trade and commerce, but at the same time, weve similar threats like terrorism. The ideas and powers behind such types of inhumane acts are still active. We must remain vigilant and united to counter them, he said.

Hasina also spoke at the event and said India and Bangladesh have special ties.

India is inextricably linked to Bangladeshs birth. The neighboring country helped our freedom fighters with training, arms, and ammunition, Hasina said.

On Saturday, before returning to India, Modi is scheduled to travel to Orakandi village in Gopalganj district to worship at a temple of the Matua Hindu community. He also plans to worship at a Hindu temple in Satkhira district.
As a librarian, children were always asking for books about `kids like us. Well, there werent any books about kids like them. So when I sat down to write, I found myself writing about the sort of children I had grown up with, Cleary said in a 1993 Associated Press interview.

Dear Mr. Henshaw, the touching story of a lonely boy who corresponds with a childrens book author, won the 1984 John Newbery Medal for the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children. It came about because two different boys from different parts of the country asked me to write a book about a boy whose parents were divorced, she told National Public Radio as she neared her 90th birthday.

Ramona and Her Father in 1978 and Ramona Quimby, Age 8 in 1982 were named Newbery Honor Books.

Cleary ventured into fantasy with The Mouse and the Motorcycle, and the sequels Runaway Ralph and Ralph S. Mouse. Socks, about a cats struggle for acceptance when his owners have a baby, is told from the point of view of the pet himself.

She was named a Living Legend in 2000 by the Library of Congress. In 2003, she was chosen as one of the winners of the National Medal of Arts and met President George W. Bush. She is lauded in literary circles far and wide.
Mindshare India, the flagship agency from GroupM, sweeps 13 awards and Agency of the Year at Festival of Media APAC 2021.

Purpose-driven marketing and the innovative use of data & content were at the forefront of Mindshares success. HUL brands like Lifebuoy, Active Wheel, Boost and Blue Air were big winners along with PepsiCo, across categories like integration, partnership, real-time marketing and use of digital media.

Commenting on the win, Parthasarathy (Maps), CEO  Mindshare South Asia said, Mindshare India is ecstatic with this massive win. This is a booster shot to our teams who put in tremendous efforts during the difficult period of the pandemic. The seismic changes in consumer attitudes and behavior during this period called for a complete rethink of both messaging and media. Working in close partnership with our clients, we were able to drive meaningful narratives across brands. On behalf of my team, I thank FOMA for giving us this recognition, and our clients for giving us the opportunity & inspiration.

Mindshare was also awarded the Network of the year for the APAC region.


Ailes Marines has announced that the 62 wind turbine towers for its

Saint Brieuc

offshore wind farm will be assembled in the Port of Brests new polder.



Assembly of the 62 structures in Brest is part of the industrial plan designed by Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy to supply the

Saint Brieuc

offshore wind project and it includes a tower manufacturing facility at the port of Le Havre, which is creating 750 jobs.



French company Foure Lagadec, a specialist in industrial maintenance for the energy sector, and Spanish company Haizea Wind, manufacturer of wind turbine towers and offshore foundations, have been selected by Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy to put together the tower sections. The industrial programme proposed by the partnering companies includes the creation of new industrial capacity funded with 11.8 million from Ailes Marines.





Construction of the new assembly plant is expected to start in early 2022, with commissioning scheduled for late 2022. The construction and civil works will result in the creation of local jobs and the procurement of local services.





"Thanks to the expertise of our partner Haizea Wind and the commitment of Siemens Gamesa and Ailes Marines, we hope to deliver a major industrial challenge: to prove the feasibility and competitiveness of an offshore wind turbine tower manufacturing industry in France. The potential of the French and European offshore wind markets gives us hope, but we will need to mobilise all private and public players to make this industrial challenge a success," said Vincent Poulard, Foure Lagadec's North-West Regional Director.



Running alongside the offshore wind foundation works, this new industrial activity is expected to create at least 35 new industrial jobs at the marine energy terminal. The jobs include mechanical assemblers, welders, industrial electricians and logistics experts. The recruitment process should start in mid-2022 while assembling the three sections of all 62 wind turbines will take approximately 8 months.



These 35 new jobs are in addition to the 250 jobs already created by Navantia-Windar and their Breton subcontractors for the manufacture of the foundation elements that will equip Saint-Brieuc offshore wind farm. This means that no less than 285 jobs will be activated in and around the port of Brest for this project.





Javier Garcia Perez, Chairman of Ailes Marines and International Offshore Director for Iberdrola, said: "from the outset of the project in 2012, Ailes Marines' aim has been to turn Saint-Brieuc offshore wind project into a driver of economic development for northwest France. Ailes Marines is delighted with the creation of this new production facility in the port of Brest, which will provide the region with industrial skills and expertise in the marine renewable energy sectors."



The project to create the Marine Renewable Energy terminal in the port of Brest was initiated, supported and financed by the Brittany Region and its partners, the Finistere Departmental Council, Brest Metropole and the Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Western Brittany.





The 50 hectare terminal is designed to accommodate industrial companies specialising in marine renewable energies (MRE) such as offshore wind, floating offshore, wave and tidal energy and their industrial equipment.





The 496 MW

Saint Brieuc

wind farm, 16 km off the French coast, will feature 62 Siemens Gamesa

SG 8.0-167 DD

turbines, standing at 207 metres high. It is being developed by Ailes Marines, subsidiary of Spanish energy giant Iberdrola. Covering an area of 75km2 the project will be the first large-scale offshore wind farm in Brittany and, when operational in 2023, it will be capable of generating 1,820 GWh/year of electricity, expected to meet the demands of 835,000 people.

For more information on offshore wind farms worldwide,

click here

.
Turkish judges on Friday handed life sentences to two former police chiefs and two top ex-security officers over the 2007 killing of a Turkish-Armenian journalist, local media reported.

Seventy-six suspects were facing charges including failing to uncover the plot to kill Hrant Dink, editor-in-chief of Agos, a Turkish-Armenian bilingual newspaper.

Dink, a leading promoter of reconciliation between the Turkish and Armenian communities, was shot twice in the head outside his office in central Istanbul.

His murder plunged Turkey's Armenian community into mourning and sparked a sprawling trial that lasted over a decade and involved senior security officers who were accused of being aware of the murder plot but failing to act.

Istanbul's main court sentenced the city's former police intelligence chief Ramazan Akyurek and his former deputy Ali Fuat Yilmazer to life in prison for "premeditated murder", according to Agos.

Former top Istanbul interior ministry officers Yavuz Karakaya and Muharrem Demirkale were also jailed for life while charges against another top city police chief were dropped due to the statute of limitation.

Ogun Samast, who was an unemployed 17-year-old at the time, had confessed to the murder and was sentenced to almost 23 years in jail in 2011.

Ali Oz, a former interior ministry commander of the Black Sea region of Trabzon where the gunman came from, was sentenced to 28 years in jail on Friday.

- 'Bitter taste'-

Dink's supporters and human rights activists still believe that the most senior police officials have gone unpunished and want the investigation and trials to run on.

"Some of those responsible for this assassination, including the sponsors, have still not been prosecuted," said Erol Onderoglu, Turkey representative for Reporters Without Borders (RSF), who has closely followed the trial.

"This partial justice rendered after 14 years leaves a bitter taste and should not mark the end of the search for the truth."

Story continues

For years, prosecutors have looked into alleged links between the suspects and US-based Muslim preacher Fethullah Gulen, who is accused of masterminding a failed coup against President Recept Tayyip Erdogan in 2016.

The Istanbul court on Friday ruled that Dink's murder was committed "in line with the objectives of Feto" -- an acronym Ankara uses for Gulen's banned movement, NTV reported.

Dink's wife Rakel had said in January that blaming Gulen's movement for her husband's death nearly a decade before the failed coup was like "I didn't kill him, but my hand did".

lsb-fo/zak/jxb
Cairo, March 26 : At least 32 people were killed and 66 others wounded in Egypt's southern province of Sohag when two trains collided on Friday, according to a government statement that feared the number might rise.

The Egypt Health Ministry statement said at least 36 ambulances were sent to the scene and they transferred the wounded to four public hospitals nearby.

The rear end of a passenger train crashed into another with air-conditioning system in Tahta city, 467 km from here, causing at least three carriages to be derailed, an official security source told Xinhua news agency on condition of anonymity.

"The accident was horrible, and the people helped the security men find the wounded inside the damaged carriages," an eyewitness said.

Some bodies were still stuck inside the three carriages, he added.
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An Asian-owned nail salon in Healdsburg received an anonymous letter last week containing hateful threats, its owner said Thursday. The letter was postmarked three days after a gunman killed eight people at Atlanta-area massage parlors  including six women of Asian descent.

Vicky Mai, the owner of All Polish Nails & Spa, said she was shocked when she opened the letter, which contained a series of racist insults, derogatory language and read, in part, You dont belong here.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-26 22:15:43|Editor: huaxia

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DHAKA, March 26 (Xinhua) -- At least four people died in Bangladesh after a clash with police in the Hathazari area on the outskirts of the seaport city Chattogram Friday afternoon, Alauddin Talukdar, an official of Chattogram Medical College Hospital, told journalists.

He said on-duty doctors declared the four people dead when they were brought from Hathazari, where activists of religious group Hefazat-e-Islam fought with law enforcers for hours in protest of a foreign leader's visit.

Violence in Chattogram and elsewhere in the country left streets in flames and continued to escalate, leaving scores of others injured.

At least 50 people, including two journalists, were reportedly injured as a clash broke out between a group of protesters and a team of police in the Baitul Mukarram National Masjid area here on Friday afternoon.

Additional law enforcement personnel were deployed Friday in Dhaka to strengthen surveillance especially in the diplomatic areas following days of clashes in Dhaka. Enditem
A passenger is escorted to a coach by a member of the Defence Forces after arriving at Dublin Airport (Brian Lawless/PA)

The first group of people to face mandatory hotel quarantine in Ireland has arrived at the designated facility.

Around 20 passengers arriving into Dublin Airport on Friday were transferred by bus to the first quarantine centre at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Santry.

It marks the beginning of Irelands mandatory hotel quarantine system for passengers arriving from countries flagged as high risk for Covid-19 transmission.

As of 4am on Friday, all passengers from one of the 33 countries deemed high risk by the Government will have to quarantine for 12 nights at a hotel.

Passengers were transferred from the airport by bus, which was escorted by Army vehicles.

The stay at the hotel could be reduced if a person receives a negative test for the virus taken on day 10 of quarantine.

Countries on the list include Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Chile, Mauritius, Rwanda, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates and Zimbabwe.

Travellers are required to pre-book accommodation in a designated quarantine facility and to pre-pay for their stay.

The booking portal for mandatory hotel quarantining went live on the Government website earlier this week.

The cost per adult traveller for a 12-night stay inclusive of all services is 1,875 euro.

The Tifco Hotel Group, which has been appointed as the service provider, will provide full board accommodation, as well as ground transportation, security services and health and wellbeing services.

The Crowne Plaza Dublin Airport Hotel was the first hotel to begin receiving quarantining travellers.

All passengers arriving into Ireland from designated States after 04.00 on the morning of Friday, 26 March are now required to pre-book accommodation in a designated quarantine facility, and to pre-pay for their stay.



Booking portal - https://t.co/wCoJAc6XiW. pic.twitter.com/kQoyojNqqG  Irish Embassy Dar (@IrlEmbTanzania) March 24, 2021

If a person does not fulfil the legal requirement for mandatory hotel quarantine they are committing an offence, and can receive a fine of up to 2,500 euro and/or a six-month prison sentence.

The new quarantine rules also apply to any passenger who arrives from any other country without a negative PCR test for Covid-19 carried out no more than 72 hours before they arrive in Ireland.

Those passengers will have to pay a day rate of 150 euro.

The Defence Forces will not be involved in the everyday security or care of passengers in mandatory hotel quarantining.

According to the Governments Covid-19 guidelines, anyone who arrives into Ireland from a country not deemed high risk must quarantine at home provided they have a negative PCR test.

Friday saw 20 further deaths related to Covid-19 and an additional 584 confirmed cases, the Department of Health has said.

There are 317 coronavirus patients in hospitals, of which 67 are in intensive care units, down eight on the previous day.

There were 25 additional hospital admissions in the past 24 hours.
Dhaka: Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived here on Friday on a two-day visit to Bangladesh during which he will attend the celebrations of the golden jubilee of the country's independence, the birth centenary of Bangabandhu' Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and hold talks with his counterpart Sheikh Hasina.

Modi, who is visiting Bangladesh on his first trip to a foreign country since the outbreak of the coronavirus, was received by Prime Minister Hasina at Dhaka's Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport upon his arrival.

The prime minister travelled to Dhaka on the newly-inducted custom-made Boeing 777 aircraft. He wore his mask before alighting from the aircraft and exchanging pleasantries with Hasina.

He received a guard of honour at the airport.

The prime minister had on Thursday said he will hold substantive discussions with Hasina during the visit, as he expressed happiness that his first foreign tour after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic will be to a friendly neighbouring country with which India shares deep ties.

"Our partnership with Bangladesh is an important pillar of our Neighbourhood First policy, and we are committed to further deepen and diversify it. We will continue to support Bangladesh's remarkable development journey, under Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's dynamic leadership," Modi tweeted ahead of his visit.

He wrote that he was looking forward to remembering the life and ideals of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and celebrate 50 years of Bangladesh's War of Liberation, as well as our diplomatic ties.

Modi is scheduled to go straight to the National Martyrs' Memorial in Savar from the airport to pay tributes to the 1971 Liberation War martyrs.

Shortly afterwards, he will visit the Bangabandhu Memorial Museum at Dhanmondi 32, originally the Bangladesh founder's private residence, to pay homage to his memories.

Later, Modi will join the celebration programme as the guest of honour at the National Parade Square. Bangladesh President Abdul Hamid will be the chief guest at the function, which would be chaired by Prime Minister Hasina.

In the evening, Modi is scheduled to inaugurate the "Bangabandhu-Bapu Museum" jointly with his counterpart at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre. He will also attend a state banquet hosted in his honour by Hasina.

On Saturday, Modi will visit the mausoleum of 'Bangabandhu' Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at Tungipara in Gopalganj district, the first Indian dignitary to ever visit the place.

He is also scheduled to visit the Jeshoreshwari and Orkandi temples in southwestern Shatkhira and Gopalganj on Saturday.

On Saturday afternoon, Modi will hold talks with Hasina at the Prime Minister's Office, where at least five MoUs are expected to be signed and a number of projects inaugurated virtually.

Later, he will meet President Hamid at Bangabhaban presidential palace before leaving for New Delhi in the evening.

Modi's visit is taking place at a time Bangladesh is commemorating Mujib Borsho, the birth centenary of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and 50 years of the country's war of liberation. The two countries are also celebrating 50 years of the establishment of diplomatic ties.
DES MOINES, Iowa  A record number of Iowa students earned dual high school and community college credit in the 2019-20 school year.

The Iowa Department of Education says joint enrollment increased 2.4 percent to 51,800 students, including students who earned 216 associate degrees, 49 diplomas and 642 certificates along with high school diplomas.

In Iowa we have put a strong emphasis on dual enrollment because it helps students get a head start on college coursework while lowering the overall cost of higher education, says Governor Kim Reynolds. Theres more work to do, but we continue to see the benefits of the strong partnerships that exist between business, industry, and educators as they help students attain the necessary education for a successful career and exciting future.

State officials say high school students participating in joint enrollment programs accounted for 40.8 percent of total community college enrollment. Nearly 45 percent of participating high school students were seniors and 34 percent were juniors.

I am proud that Iowa makes joint enrollment available to all high schools across the state, says Education Director Ann Lebo. We will continue to look at ways to ensure joint enrollment growth in future years as a means to jump-start student success in college and career training.

The Department of Education says Iowa high school students earn community college credit at no cost to their families because of supplemental weighting provided by the states school funding formula and the contracts that school districts and nonpublic schools typically arrange with their local community college.
Around the world, March 30th is celebrated each year as World Bipolar Day (WBD), a day set aside to bring awareness to bipolar disorders and to eliminate social stigma. WBD happens on the birthday of Vincent Van Gogh, who was posthumously diagnosed as having bipolar disorder.



3Foundation, the Corporate Social Responsibility unit of Ghanas leading media conglomerate, Media General, has partnered with Psychosocial Africa, a not-for-profit organization for this years WBD celebration in Ghana.



Leading to the celebration, Psychosocial Africa will be leading a sensitization campaign on selected media networks including TV3 Network, Onua TV, 3FM, Onua FM, Akoma FM in Kumasi, Connect FM in Takoradi and on news portal, www.3news.com.



In addition, a series of platforms will be created across the Media General network on 30th March 2021 throughout the day for an open discussion on bipolar disorder and its related issues in Ghana and around the world.



Commenting on the partnership, the Chief Operating Officer of the Media General Group, Winfred Kingsley Afful said as a responsible company, we are concerned with the wellbeing of all Ghanaians and committed to enriching their lives. It is important to create a global education on bipolar disorder with improved sensitivity. That is the reason we decided to enter into this partnership to use our platforms to promote this subject.



On her part, Ms. Nana Abena Korkor Addo, Founder of Psychosocial Africa expressed her delight about the partnership and urged all Ghanaians to help in creating a great environment for people living with bipolar disorders.



It is important to highlight the importance of mental health and distress with the aim of creating awareness and offering education to help empower individuals struggling with such issues. This will help them to know what to do, how to face it and what measures to take to overcome such challenges, she added.



Bipolar disorder is associated with episodes of mood swings ranging from depressive lows to manic highs. The exact cause of bipolar disorder is not known, but a combination of genetics, environment and altered brain structure and chemistry may play a role.



Established in November 2016, Psychosocial Africa aims to champion education, motivation, empowerment and inspire change when it comes to the touchy subject of mental health in Ghana and beyond.





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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Spains coronavirus incidence rate is rising at an accelerating pace. Thats according to the latest report on the epidemiological situation from the Spanish Health Ministry, released on Thursday evening. The 14-day cumulative number of cases per 100,000 inhabitants now stands at 134.08. This data point has been steadily rising since March 16, when it fell to its lowest level of the third wave: 127.8. Although the increase has been gradual, it is picking up speed. On Thursday, the incidence rate was up 4.61% from last weeks figure, while on Wednesday the weekly rise was just 3.37%.

Indeed, the 14-day cumulative number of cases per 100,000 inhabitants rose on Thursday from the day before in all but six territories: Asturias, Castilla-La Mancha, Catalonia, Murcia, Valencia and the North African exclave city of Ceuta. There are spikes in multiple regions that are of concern to us, Health Minister Carolina Darias told Congress during a health commission on Thursday.

The health minister also highlighted another worrying data point: the seven-day cumulative number of cases per 100,000 is more than 50% of the 14-day rate in five regions and close to that threshold in three others. According to Darias, this indicates that transmission of the virus is accelerating and that the fourth wave of the pandemic has already begun, albeit timidly.

After the third wave, where the effort was focused on saving Christmas, we realized that was a mistake Health Minister Carolina Darias

Darias, however, said she was confident that the rollout of Covid-19 vaccines would be able to contain the pandemic. We only have a little way to go before we are out of the tunnel, but we still have to be prudent, she said, adding that the vaccination drive was Spains great hope to progressively improve the situation.

Spain is due to receive around 30 million doses of the vaccine in the second quarter of the year and vaccines are expected to become more readily available as pharmaceutical companies ramp up production. Spain is also expected to receive 5.5 million doses of the Janssen vaccine, which only needs one shot for full protection, in this period. According to Darias, the influx of doses will allow the vaccination drive to pick up more speed. I understand perfectly that we are all tired and that it is difficult to maintain measures for such a long time, but I want to insist that it is of the utmost importance that, between all of us, we contain this upward trend that we are in so that it does not continue, and avoid, as far as possible, a fourth wave and allow time for the vaccination drive to progress.

The health minister also recognized that the measures adopted in December by the regions and central government in a bid to save Christmas  such as allowing some inter-regional travel to visit family  led to a spike in cases. After the third wave, where the effort was focused on saving Christmas, we realized that was a mistake, she told Congress.

A total of 35,406 cases were recorded in the last seven days, 430 more than the same period last week

The Health Ministry reported 6,393 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, more than any other single-day figure from last week. As a result, the seven-day cumulative number of infections continues to rise. A total of 35,406 cases were recorded in the last seven days, 430 more than the same period last week. Since the beginning of the pandemic, 3,247,738 coronavirus cases have been recorded.

It is too soon for this rise to be reflected in hospitalizations, especially considering that part of the 80-and-over population and almost all residents of senior homes have now been vaccinated against the disease. But most Covid-19 cases reported are generally less serious. That said, the fall in occupancy rate has stabilized. The percentage of Covid-19 patients in intensive care units (ICUs) fell to 18.62% on Thursday, down from 18.64% the day before, while in general hospital wards, the drop was even smaller: from 6.24% to 6.23%.

The Health Ministrys report added 356 fatalities to the official toll, the highest single-day figure in three weeks. The number of deaths recorded over a seven-day period also continues to rise. On Thursday, this figure came in at 1,510, up from 825 a week ago. Since the start of the pandemic, the number of official victims stands at 74,420, although this total could be much higher given that many people died with Covid-19 during the first wave without being tested.

English version by Melissa Kitson.
TOKYO, March 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Astellas Pharma Inc. (TSE: 4503, President and CEO: Kenji Yasukawa, Ph.D., "Astellas") announced today the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has adopted a positive opinion recommending an additional indication for the oral once-daily therapy XTANDITM (enzalutamide) for adult men with metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer (mHSPC, also known as metastatic castration-sensitive prostate cancer or mCSPC).1 Men diagnosed with mHSPC tend to have a poor prognosis, with a median survival of approximately 3-4 years, underscoring the need for new treatment options.2

If approved by the European Commission (EC), enzalutamide will be the only oral treatment approved by the EC to treat three distinct types of advanced prostate cancer  non-metastatic and metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) and mHSPC.3 The CHMP decision is based on data from the pivotal Phase 3 ARCHES trial investigating enzalutamide in men with mHSPC.4

"This positive opinion from the CHMP is testament to our continuing commitment to addressing unmet needs for men with advanced prostate cancer," said Andrew Krivoshik, M.D., Ph.D., Senior Vice President and Global Therapeutic Area Head, Oncology Development, Astellas. "We are excited to be another step closer to approval of enzalutamide for the treatment of men with metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer in Europe."

Data from the ARCHES trial showed that enzalutamide plus androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) significantly reduced the risk of radiographic progression or death by 61% versus placebo plus ADT in men with mHSPC (n=1,150; hazard ratio [HR]=0.39 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.30-0.50]; P<0.0001).4

The safety analysis of the ARCHES trial appears consistent with the safety profile of enzalutamide in previous clinical trials in CRPC. In ARCHES, Grade 3 or greater adverse events (AEs) (defined as severe/disabling or life-threatening) were similar for patients receiving both enzalutamide plus ADT and those who received placebo plus ADT (24.3% vs. 25.6%).4

The positive opinion from the CHMP will now be reviewed by the EC, which has the authority to approve medicines for European Union member countries, as well as Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein.5

Enzalutamide is currently approved in the EU for the treatment of adult men with high-risk non-metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (nmCRPC) and adult men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) in whom chemotherapy is not yet clinically indicated, or following disease progression on or after docetaxel therapy.3 In the U.S., enzalutamide is approved in non-metastatic and metastatic CRPC as well as metastatic castration-sensitive prostate cancer (mCSPC) also referred to as mHSPC.6 In Japan, enzalutamide is indicated for the treatment of prostate cancer with distant metastasis, which includes mHSPC and CRPC.7,8

About metastatic Hormone-Sensitive Prostate Cancer (mHSPC)

In men with prostate cancer, the disease is considered metastatic once the cancer has spread outside of the prostate gland to other parts of the body. Men are considered hormone- (or castration-) sensitive if their disease still responds to medical or surgical treatment to lower testosterone levels. mHSPC has a median survival of approximately 34 years for men starting treatment with ADT.2

About XTANDI (enzalutamide)

Enzalutamide is currently indicated in the EU for:3

the treatment of adult men with high-risk non-metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC);

the treatment of adult men with metastatic CRPC who are asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic after failure of androgen deprivation therapy in whom chemotherapy is not yet clinically indicated; and

the treatment of adult men with metastatic CRPC whose disease has progressed on or after docetaxel therapy.

Important Safety Information

For important Safety Information for enzalutamide please see the full Summary of Product Characteristics at: https://www.medicines.org.uk/emc/product/3203.

About ARCHES

The company-sponsored, Phase 3, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multinational ARCHES trial (NCT02677896) enrolled 1,150 patients with mHSPC at sites in the U.S., Canada, Europe, South America, and the Asia-Pacific region. Patients in the trial were randomized to receive enzalutamide 160 mg daily or placebo and continued on a luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH) agonist or antagonist or had a history of bilateral orchiectomy. The primary endpoint of the trial was radiographic progression-free survival (rPFS) assessed by blinded independent central review. rPFS was defined as the time from randomization to radiographic disease progression at any time or death within 24 weeks after study drug discontinuation. Radiographic disease progression was defined by identification of two or more new bone lesions on a bone scan with confirmation (Prostate Cancer Working Group 2 criteria) and/or progression in soft tissue disease. Patients were stratified by volume of disease (low vs high) and prior docetaxel therapy for prostate cancer (no prior docetaxel, 1-5 cycles, or 6 prior cycles).4

About Astellas

Astellas Pharma Inc., is a pharmaceutical company conducting business in more than 70 countries around the world. We are promoting the Focus Area Approach that is designed to identify opportunities for the continuous creation of new drugs to address diseases with high unmet medical needs by focusing on Biology and Modality. Furthermore, we are also looking beyond our foundational Rx focus to create Rx+ healthcare solutions that combine our expertise and knowledge with cutting-edge technology in different fields of external partners. Through these efforts, Astellas stands on the forefront of healthcare change to turn innovative science into value for patients. For more information, please visit our website at https://www.astellas.com/en.

About the Pfizer/Astellas Collaboration

In October 2009, Medivation, Inc, which is now part of Pfizer (NYSE:PFE), and Astellas (TSE: 4503) entered into a global agreement to jointly develop and commercialize enzalutamide. The companies jointly commercialize enzalutamide in the United States and Astellas has responsibility for manufacturing and all additional regulatory filings globally, as well as commercializing enzalutamide outside the United States.

Astellas Cautionary Notes

In this press release, statements made with respect to current plans, estimates, strategies and beliefs and other statements that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements about the future performance of Astellas. These statements are based on management's current assumptions and beliefs in light of the information currently available to it and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to: (i) changes in general economic conditions and in laws and regulations, relating to pharmaceutical markets, (ii) currency exchange rate fluctuations, (iii) delays in new product launches, (iv) the inability of Astellas to market existing and new products effectively, (v) the inability of Astellas to continue to effectively research and develop products accepted by customers in highly competitive markets, and (vi) infringements of Astellas' intellectual property rights by third parties.

Information about pharmaceutical products (including products currently in development) which is included in this press release is not intended to constitute an advertisement or medical advice.

References

1 European Medicines Agency. Meeting highlights from the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) September 2019. Available at: https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/news/meeting-highlights-committee-medicinal-products-human-use-chmp-22-25-march-2021. Last accessed March 2021.

2 Mottet N, et al. Updated Guidelines for Metastatic Hormone-sensitive Prostate Cancer: Abiraterone Acetate Combined with Castration Is Another Standard. Eur Urol. 2018;3:316-321.

3 European Medicines Authority. Summary of Product Characteristics: Xtandi 40 mg soft capsules. Available at: https://www.medicines.org.uk/emc/product/3203/smpc. Last accessed March 2021.

4 Armstrong A, et al. Phase 3 study of androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) with enzalutamide (ENZA) or placebo (PBO) in metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer (mHSPC): the ARCHES trial. J Clin Oncol. 2019;7:687.

5 European Medicines Agency. Authorization of medicines. Available at: https://www.ema.europa.eu/about-us/what-we-do/authorisation-medicines. Last accessed March 2021.

6 Food and Drug Administration. Highlights of prescribing information. Available at: https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/label/2019/203415s015lbl.pdf. Last accessed March 2021.

7 Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency. Summary of Investigation Results Enzalutamide. Available at: https://www.pmda.go.jp/files/000232289.pdf. Last accessed March 2021.

8 Astellas Press Release. XTANDI (enzalutamide) Approved by Japan MHLW for the Treatment of Prostate Cancer with Distant Metastasis. Available at: https://www.astellas.com/system/files/news/2020-05/20200529_en_1.pdf. Last accessed March 2021.

SOURCE Astellas Pharma Inc.

Related Links

https://www.astellas.com/en


Burma How Myanmars Security Forces Murder Children Through History

(From left) Maung Tin Aung, who was killed in 1939, Harry Tan, killed in 1956, Ma Win Maw Oo, killed in 1988, Ma Khin Myo Chit, killed in 2021.

Yangon  Myanmar was deeply shocked by the horrific murder of a six-year-old girl in Mandalay this week and history shows that such brutality is not unique.

Khin Myo Chit was killed during a raid by the security forces on her home in Mandalay on Tuesday night.

More than 300 people have died during murderous crackdowns by the military regime since the February 1 coup. Many were young protesters in their 20s but Khin Myo Chit is the youngest victim so far.

She was the youngest in her eight-member Muslim household. She was shot in her fathers arms after the security forces broke into their house in Chanmyathazi Township.

In 1939, a 12-year-old in Mandalays Chinatown was gunned down by the British imperial security forces amid student protests against colonial rule. One of the student leaders, Ko Aung Kyaw, was killed by baton-wielding mounted police when thousands of students blockaded the Secretariat, the seat of British rule in Yangon (then Rangoon).

Student leaders were also arrested in Mandalay, prompting hundreds of thousands of residents to protest. Maung Tin Aung, 12, a son of the Tun Hla Hotels owner, from Mandalays National School joined the protest.

As the protesters, including Buddhist monks and children, marched through Mandalay, police fired from the city walls. Seventeen protesters, including seven monks and 10 civilians, were killed in the shooting.

Maung Tin Aung, who cried fight for freedom, was the youngest.

Mandalay residents named them martyrs and built a mausoleum in their honor, named after the Burmese lunar year 1300.

In 1956, Harry Tan, an ethnically Chinese 16-year-old, was shot dead during the first heavy crackdown against students after independence. He was shot as police dispersed students protesting against the governments cancelation of the seventh-grade examinations.

In 1988, a high school student Ma Win Maw Oo, 16, was shot dead by the security forces during the pro-democracy 8888 uprising.

Khin Myo Chit, Maung Tin Aung, Harry Tan and Ma Win Maw Oo were from different eras and faiths but their deaths expose the cruelty of different administrations and their will to kill children to defend their grip on power.



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A stylist wearing a face mask to protect against COVID-19 cuts a child's hair in Wuhan in central China's Hubei Province, Friday, March 26, 2021. Chinese officials briefed diplomats Friday on the ongoing research into the origin of COVID-19, ahead of the expected release of a long-awaited report from the World Health Organization. (Chinatopix via AP)

Chinese officials briefed diplomats Friday on the ongoing research into the origin of COVID-19, ahead of the expected release of a long-awaited report from the World Health Organization.

The briefing appeared to be an attempt by China to get out its view on the report, which has become enmeshed in a diplomatic spat. The U.S. and others have raised questions about Chinese influence and the independence of the findings, and China has accused critics of politicizing a scientific study.

"Our purpose is to show our openness and transparency," said Yang Tao, a Foreign Ministry official. "China fought the epidemic in a transparent manner and has nothing to hide."

The report, which has been delayed repeatedly, is based on a visit earlier this year by a WHO team of international experts to Wuhan, the city in central China where infections from a new coronavirus were first reported in late 2019.

The experts worked with Chinese counterparts, and both sides have to agree on the final report. It's unclear when it will come out.

Feng Zijian, a Chinese team member and the deputy director of China's Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said the experts examined four possible ways the virus got to Wuhan.

In this Feb. 9, 2021, file photo, Peter Ben Embarek of the World Health Organization team holds up a chart showing pathways of transmission of the virus during a joint press conference held at the end of the WHO mission in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province. Chinese officials briefed diplomats Friday, March 26, 2021, on the ongoing research into the origin of COVID-19, ahead of the expected release of a long-awaited report from the World Health Organization. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)

They are: a bat carrying the virus infected a human, a bat infected an intermediate mammal that spread it to a human, shipments of cold or frozen food, and a laboratory that researches viruses in Wuhan.

The experts voted on the hypotheses after in-depth discussion and concluded one of the two animal routes or the cold chain was most likely how it was transmitted. A lab leak was viewed as extremely unlikely, Feng said.

His remarks were reported by state broadcaster CCTV, which said envoys from 50 countries and the League of Arab States and the African Union attended the briefing at the Foreign Ministry.

"China firmly opposes certain countries' attempts to politicize the origin tracing issue and make groundless accusations and hold China accountable," the ministry said in an online post about the briefing.

Separately, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said, "I would like to stress that virus tracing is a scientific issue that should be studied by scientists through cooperation."

In this Jan. 31, 2021, file photo, the World Health Organization team is briefed outside of the Huanan Seafood Market on the third day of their field visit in Wuhan, China. Chinese officials briefed diplomats Friday, Masrch 26, 2021, on the ongoing research into the origin of COVID-19, ahead of the expected release of a long-awaited report from the World Health Organization. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)

She told reporters that the experts are still discussing the contents and translation of the report, and she did not know when it would be released.

At a press briefing later Friday in Geneva, the World Health Organization expert who led WHO's China mission said the nearly 400-page report was finalized and in the process of being fact-checked and translated.

"I expect that in the next few days, that whole process will be completed and we will be able to release it publicly," WHO expert Peter Ben Embarek said.

At a Biden administration health briefing Friday, U.S. CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said the agency was looking forward to the release of the WHO report.

Dr. Anthony Fauci said the explanation that "most public health officials agree with" about how COVID-19 appeared in humans is that the virus was likely spreading in China below the radar for several weeks, allowing it to be well adapted by the time it was recognized.

People wearing face masks to protect against COVID-19 wait in the rain to pick up children from a school in Wuhan in central China's Hubei Province, Friday, March 26, 2021. Chinese officials briefed diplomats Friday on the ongoing research into the origin of COVID-19, ahead of the expected release of a long-awaited report from the World Health Organization. (Chinatopix via AP)

The government's top infectious disease expert's comments came in response to speculation by former CDC head Robert Redfield on CNN that COVID-19 came from a lab.

"What he likely was expressing is that there certainly are possibilities ... of how a virus adapts itself to a efficient spread among humans," Fauci said.

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.
Seoul, March 26 : North Korea on Friday confirmed the launch of ballistic missiles a day earlier for the first time in about a year.

In a report, Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said: "The newly developed new-type tactical guided projectile is a weapon system whose warhead weight has been improved to be 2.5 tonnes with the use of the core technology of tactical guided projectile that was already developed." According to the KCNA, the launch was conducted by the Academy of Defence Science and it was "very successful just as it had been confidently predicted", Yonhap News Agency reported.

The two missiles "accurately hit the target" set in the water 600 km off the East Coast, it added.

On Thursday, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missiles were fired from the North's Hamju town in South Hamgyong Province, at 7.06 a.m and 7.25 a.m. and flew around 450 km with an altitude of 60 km.

The last time North Korea fired a ballistic missile was in March 2020.

The KCNA report said the launch was guided by Ri Pyong-chol, Vice Chairman of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party, but leader Kim Jong-un did not oversee the missile testing.

Thursday's launches came four days after the country fired two cruise missiles into the Yellow Sea on Sunday.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-26 21:17:26|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Recent claims made by enterprises like H&M and Nike of refusing to use Xinjiang cotton have triggered widespread denunciation and resistance from the Chinese public.

Behind the so-called Xinjiang cotton boycott are the sinister intentions of anti-China forces in some Western countries including the United States to smear China and suppress Chinese industry. The Chinese government and people firmly oppose it.

Cotton production in Xinjiang has long been highly mechanized and does not require a large number of cotton pickers.

The accusation of "forced labor" in Xinjiang's cotton industry is an utter lie.

The ultimate intention of using such phrases as "forced labor," "concentration camps" and "genocide" is to undermine Xinjiang's security and stability and stifle China's development.

Lawrence Wilkerson, chief of staff to former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, has once said that if the Central Intelligence Agency wanted to destabilize China, the best way to do so was to cause social unrest and push China from the inside.

Focusing on Xinjiang cotton has economic motives as well. Bizarre claims of "forced labor" and "human rights abuses" are mere allegations used to suppress China's textile industry.

China is the world's second largest cotton producer, and Xinjiang is the most important cotton producing region, accounting for nearly 90 percent of the country's cotton output.

Steady increases in China's cotton production and the growing textile industry are making some in the United States and the West nervous.

As the world's largest cotton exporter, the United States hyped up the Xinjiang issue as early as last February during the Trump administration and has issued a ban on cotton products from Xinjiang. Under the pretext of protecting human rights, the United States is attempting to bolster production at home.

"Countless lies are being spread by people who have never been to Xinjiang," said French journalist Maxime Vivas, who recently published a book about his two trips to the autonomous region in northwest China.

The U.S. government's "genocide" accusation against China was based on data abuse and false claims of a right-wing religious extremist, according to a report published last month by the independent news website Grayzone.

During the just-ended 46th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, Cuba delivered a joint statement on behalf of 64 countries urging relevant countries to stop interfering in China's internal affairs by manipulating Xinjiang related issues, refrain from making unfounded allegations against China out of political motivations and curbing the development of developing countries under the pretext of human rights.

China is focused on fighting terrorism and separatism in Xinjiang. It is preserving human rights in the region, not abusing them.

Western countries must quit fabricating narratives about Xinjiang and abandon attempts to undermine China's stability and development.

Foreign enterprises operating in China should respect market rules and avoid politicizing commercial issues.

China welcomes foreign companies and personnel to operate and grow in the country. But it resolutely opposes malicious attacks based on rumors and lies that harm China's interests. Enditem
Chennai, March 26 : Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman released the election manifesto of the BJP for the April 6 Puducherry Assembly polls on Friday with a slew of welfare measures and promising creation of 2,50,000 jobs for the youth.

Puducherry will get "Special Union Territory" status. This will ensure devolution of funds from 25 per cent to 40 per cent as was done in Jammu and Kashmir.

The manifesto also promised to meet the aspirations of the people as it is finalized after getting feedback from the public. The BJP had gathered opinion from around 50,000 people of Puducherry before preparing the manifesto.

"A BJP government at the Centre and the union territory will ensure implementation of all central schemes. The previous state government did not do this fearing that the credit would go to the central government and Prime Minister Narendra Modiji," the minister said.

The manifesto promises measures aimed at the empowerment of women, besides making Puducherry a spiritual hub and provide free and quality education to girls from Kindergarten to Post-Graduate level. The BJP has also promised free scooters to girls in colleges.

The promises also include interest-free loans of up to Rs 5 lakh for women self-help groups and also waiver of loans taken by Women SHG's which were affected by the Covid-19.

There will be 50 per cent reservation for women employees in government institutions and in local body elections, the manifesto promised, besides free public transport for women.

The BJP also promised free healthcare for women, setting up of sanitary napkin vending machines at schools, colleges, public places, PDS outlets and Anganwadis.

The manifesto promises to built a 150 ft statue of poet Subramania Bharathy and set up new tourism centres across Puducherry to promote tourism. It also promised to constitute new IT Parks, Textile parks, an elevated railway line to Chennai via Mammalapuram.

Creating separate school education board for Classes 10 and 12 that has been a long pending demand of the people of Puducherry.

The BJP has promised to convert Puducherry to a spiritual hub and to restore the glory of Thirunallar temple -- a new temple complex will be built. All donations at places of worship will be removed from government-control, the manifesto promised.

The Pondicherry University will be split into Pondicherry Technology University, Pondicherry Arts and Science University and Pondicherry Medical University.

Puducherry Public Service Commission will be constituted for government jobs which is a long pending demand of the people of the UT.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
The first phase of elections in high-stakes poll battle in West Bengal will be held on Saturday with both the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) and (BJP) seeking to outdo each other in poll promises and campaign rhetoric.

While the BJP is striving to form its first government in the state, the Left-ISF-Congress alliance is also striving to spring a surprise.

Thirty seats go to the polls in the first phase and include all constituencies in Purulia and Jhargram and some constituencies from Bankura, Purba Medinipur and Paschim Medinipur.

Elections to 294 constituencies in the state will be held in eight phases till April 29 and the results will be declared on May 2.

The first phase of polling will decide the electoral fate of 191 candidates including 21 women.

had won 27 out of these 30 seats in the 2016 elections and BJP was not a major player in the last polls. However, the party has gained in strength in the past five years and has emerged as the main challenger to the ruling party which has won two successive assembly polls. The BJP won 18 seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections against 22 won by the

Congress had won two seats going to the polls in the first phase and Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) had won one seat.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and senior BJP leaders including Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and party chief JP Nadda campaigned in the first phase. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has led the Trinamool campaign. She had earlier this month sustained "severe bone injuries" on her left foot and ankle as well as bruises and injuries on her shoulder, forearm and neck, according to the report of her initial medical examination.

She sustained injuries while on a visit to Nandigram, from where she is contesting the polls to take on her former ministerial colleague Suvendu Adhikari, who has joined the BJP. Nandigram will go to the polls in the second phase. Mamata Banerjee was discharged from the hospital on March 12 and she has been campaigning in a wheelchair.

During the power-packed campaigns, the BJP has talked of 'ashol poriborton' (actual change) and promised to build 'Sonar Bangla' (prosperous Bengal).

The party leaders have alleged that leaders are involved in "scams" and have also made allegations about the "siphoning of money" meant for relief in the wake of cyclone Amphan. The party has been accusing the ruling party of "tolabaji" (extortion). The BJP has also said that the TMC government had deprived the people of benefits of central welfare schemes such as PM Kisan and Ayushman Bharat.

The party has also been talking about economic backwardness and water problem in the constituencies going for polls in the first phase.

Several ex-TMC leaders, including Suvendu Adhikari's father Sisir Adhikari, MP, had joined BJP ahead of the polls. Bollywood star Mithun Chakraborty also joined BJP.

Mamata Banerjee has also been making scathing attacks on the BJP. "We do not want rioters and looters. We do not want Duryodhana and Dushasana," she said in a rally.

She has also been throwing challenge at BJP through her party's "khela hobe" (game will take place) slogan. BJP leaders have been responding to the slogan and the Prime Minister said at a rally that Banerjee's "khela" (game) will be "shesh" (over) and development will start on the day results are declared.

Mamata Banerjee has labeled Suvendu Adhikari as a "traitor". The TMC has been talking of development initiatives of its government in the region and of the increasing price of diesel, petrol and cooking gas. The Trinamool government also launched 'Duare Sarkar' outreach programme with an eye on the elections.

Some prominent names in the first phase of polling include Srikanto Mahato, Rajib Lochan Saren and Uttam Barik of TMC and Rabindranath Maity, Chandana Bauri and Rajib Kundu from BJP.

Congress has fielded five candidates for the first phase - Nepal Mahato from Baghmundi, Shiu Maiti from Bhagabanpur, Uttam Banerjee from Balarampur, Manas Kumar Karmahapatra from Egra and Partha Pratim Banerjee from Purulia.

Political parties have made efforts to woo voters through their manifestos. The BJP has promised 33 per cent job reservation to women, along with free public transport and education. It also promised to implement the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in the very first meeting of its cabinet if the party is able to form a government in the state.

The TMC has promised 5 lakh jobs in a year and financial assistance to the female heads of family. Around 7.32 crore voters electors are eligible to cast their votes at 1,01,916 polling booths in the state.

(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.)
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The whereabouts of missing Brit Sarm Heslop's boat skipper boyfriend were a mystery today as authorities admitted to DailyMail.com: 'He could be anywhere.'

Ryan Bane, 44, was last seen on Wednesday afternoon taking a dinghy to the shore before returning to his 47-ft catamaran with a plastic bag, sneakers and towels.

His yacht had been anchored at the same secluded spot in Frank bay, St. John for weeks but by Thursday morning it was gone - and more than 24 hours later law enforcement could still not say where it was.

The development will heap fresh anguish on Sarm's family who are desperate for Bane to give detectives a detailed account of what happened the night the former-flight attendant from Southampton, England vanished.

Ryan Bane, 44, claims girlfriend Sarm Heslop, 41, vanished without trace from his catamaran while it was anchored overnight in the U.S. Virgin Islands

Bane was last seen on Wednesday afternoon taking a dinghy to the shore before returning to his 47-ft catamaran with a plastic bag, sneakers and towels

Authorities have admitted to DailyMail.com: 'He could be anywhere'. His yacht had been anchored at the same secluded spot in Frank bay, St. John for weeks but by Thursday morning it was gone

Ryan Bane's boat is no longer sat in Frank Bay on Saint John in the US Virgin Islands as of early morning on Thursday

Heslop, from Southampton, England, met Bane on Tinder eight months ago. She disappeared from Siren Song, which was moored 120ft from Frank Bay on the extreme western end of St. John on March 8. The couple are pictured together

Bane's boat was moored in Frank Bay when he reported her missing in the early hours of March 8, sparking a massive land and sea rescue effort that failed to find her.

More than two weeks later the hunt for clues is at a standstill after the Michigan native lawyered up and refused to speak further with detectives or let them carry out a fingertip search of Siren Song.

Bane claims girlfriend Sarm Heslop, 41, vanished without trace from his catamaran while it was anchored overnight in the U.S. Virgin Islands

Authorities need a search warrant to board the $500,000 vessel but are yet to obtain one because Sarm's disappearance has not been classified as a criminal inquiry.

And because Bane is currently neither a suspect, nor a person of interest, there is nothing officers can legally do to prevent him from leaving the US Virgin Islands.

Tony Derima, a spokesman for the Virgin Islands Police Department said: 'I don't know if we are keeping tabs on him or anything like that because, since we never spoke to him, we never had a chance to tell him that he couldn't leave or his movements were restricted or anything like that.

'He's free to go about as he pleases. He could be anywhere.'

DailyMail.com has learned of further possible stumbles in the inquiry relating to CCTV evidence of the couple's last night out together.

According to friends the pair took their dinghy to Cruz Bay, the island's main tourist hub, for dinner and drinks on March 7 to celebrate a successful charter.

A barman at 420 to Center, a dive bar popular with St. John locals, confirmed to Detective Sergeant Richard Dominguez, a Virgin Islands-based FBI agent who is assisting the VIPD, that he saw the couple during his shift.

In his initial conversations with the VIPD, Bane said he finished dinner and went straight back to his boat with Sarm at 10pm.

There are at least a dozen cameras overlooking the shoreline where the couple landed their dinghy and the 50-yard walk to 420 to Center.

However many of the devices are used to livestream footage of the beach to social media, capturing party scenes and pretty sunsets for marketing purposes, but not to record.

A handful of business owners do operate conventional security cameras that store data, typically anything from 48 hours to a month, depending on how they are configured.

Ryan Bane refused to discuss his girlfriend Sarm Heslop's disappearance today as DailyMail.com confronted him on a secluded beach in the US Virgin Islands. He's pictured on Wednesday on shore

DailyMail.com asked the Michigan native if he would finally let cops search his 47ft catamaran - or whether he was prepared to reveal more about the night Sarm mysteriously vanished

Bane's luxury 47-foot catamaran, named Siren Song, was anchored in Frank Bay on St. John in the US Virgin Islands - but is now gone

These include Sherry Compton, who told DailyMail.com she was surprised that law enforcement didn't immediately come to her restaurant, Beach Bar, to ask for the hard drives.

'I heard about what had happened the next day from social media but the police did not come and talk to us,' she said.

Ryan Bane is seen in his mugshot after he was arrested in 2011 for attacking his ex-wife

'The FBI agent came in four or five days after. He had a timeline and he needed the footage before it automatically deleted.'

Dominguez also contacted systems engineer Steve Butcher, who installed the CCTV at Beach Bar as well as 12 livestreaming cameras for businesses dotted around downtown Cruz Bay.

Butcher told him there was nothing to look though because the livestreaming cameras weren't set up to record and the owners were responsible for their own data.

That conversation took place between the evening of March 16 and the morning of March 17 - nine to 10 days after Sarm vanished.

'Sadly that's the Virgin Islands. It's not First World. If it was me, if that was my wife, I would be disgusted,' Butcher told DailyMail.com.

Derima said that the VIPD had obtained 'hours of CCTV footage' but he declined to comment on when exactly that was collected or whether anything had potentially been missed.

Sarm met Bane on Tinder eight months ago and travelled to the Caribbean to work as a cook on Siren Song, which he charters out for more than $2,000 a day.

He claimed he was woken up at 2am by an anchor alarm, which triggers an alert if the boat strays from its position, and found her gone.

Police say Bane was advised to ring the US Coast Guard but it later emerged they did not receive the SOS call until 11:46am - more than nine hours later.

Coast Guards boarded Siren Song twice but when detectives asked to conduct a full forensic search Bane exercised his constitutional right to say no, reportedly on the advice of his attorney, David Cattie.

He was similarly reluctant to talk about the night Sarm vanished when DailyMail.com caught up with him on shore Wednesday, stonewalling our questions by saying 'no comment' four times.

A barman at 420 to Center, a dive bar popular with St. John locals, confirmed to Detective Sergeant Richard Dominguez, a Virgin Islands-based FBI agent who is assisting the VIPD, that he saw the couple during his shift

Pillsbury Sound, the stretch of water separating St. John from St. Thomas, is referred to locally as the 'washing machine' because of powerful rip currents that occur where the Caribbean Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean

Siren Song was moored 100ft from the shore in shallow waters however the seabed drops to 70ft deep a little further out

A close friend insisted that the rugged yacht skipper was not in hiding but was refusing to speak to the island's police officers because he didn't trust them.

'My suggestion to him was that he makes some sort of statement and is as cooperative as possible,' the friend said.

'But I think he's scared, I think he's totally spun out. He is definitely bereaved. He had finally found a girl he was in love with.

'I think that his concern is that the VIPD is not real well known for conducting any sort of investigation with clarity.

'He's concerned that something could go wrong or be spun the wrong way, or that they're going to be looking for something to implicate him as opposed to the other way around.'

Earlier this week it was revealed that Bane served 21 days in jail in 2011 for attacking his ex-wife, Corie Stevenson, as they drove home from a wedding in Lake Orion, Michigan.

According to a police complaint he flew into a rage and dragged her out of the truck before smashing her head into the dining room floor, chipping one of her teeth.

'Corie's front right tooth had a chip out of it that appeared to be fresh,' wrote Officer Vincent Lichok.

'Her right ear lobe was bloody and scratched. Her right shoulder and the right side of her neck showed red scratches. Her right eyelid was scratched and red.'

In the UK, Sarm's anguished friends and family have been pushing for answers in her disappearance, questioning Bane's timeline and saying they find it 'incredibly difficult to believe' she fell off the boat.

'We would like assurance that the authorities in the Virgin Islands are doing everything possible to find her and that the investigation into our beautiful and cherished daughter's disappearance includes a comprehensive fingertip search of the boat,' her parents Peter Heslop and Brenda Street said in a statement.
      

Saint Lucia, Friday, March 26th, 2021: The Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) is advancing plans to roll out digital currency, with the announcement on Wednesday (23 March) that the BOJ has selected an Ireland-based company as its technology partner.

According to a release from the bank:

"BOJ is pleased to announce that after an extensive procurement process, the technology provider chosen to support BOJ in testing a central bank digital currency (CBDC) solution in the Banks Fintech Regulatory Sandbox for a pilot in May to end December 2021 is eCurrency Mint Incorporated.

"eCurrency Mint will also be the provider when the national CBDC roll-out begins in early 2022.

"eCurrency Mint is a global thought leader and pioneer of the hardware, software, and cryptographic security protocol technology to enable central banks to securely issue, distribute and supervise CBDC, a digital fiat currency that will operate alongside notes and coins as digital legal tender."

Jamaica would be the third Caribbean jurisdiction to roll out a CBDC, following the Bahamas, which deployed the Sand Dollar in December 2020, and the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union, whose DCash will be officially launched in March 2021.

In May 2020, BOJ first took the decision to embark on designing a CBDC, a "digital innovation that is fast becoming a feature of global central banks."

CBDC is a digital form of central bank-issued currency and is, therefore, legal tender. It is not to be confused with cryptocurrency, which is privately issued and not backed by a central authority. CBDC is fully backed by the Central Bank, the sole issuer.
DUBAI, March 26 (Reuters) - Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi arrived in Iran on Friday for a visit that Iranian state media said would see the signing of a 25-year cooperation agreement between the two countries, which are both under U.S sanctions.

The accord, final details of which are yet to be announced, is expected to include Chinese investments in Irans key sectors such as energy and infrastructure.

In 2016, China, one of Irans largest trading partners and long-time ally, agreed to boost bilateral trade by more than 10 times to $600 billion in the next decade.

"The signing of the comprehensive cooperation programme of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the People's Republic of China by the foreign ministers of the two countries is another programme of this two-day trip," Iran's state news agency IRNA said.

The accord comes as Tehran hardens its stance towards the United States and the European signatories of the 2015 nuclear accord with world powers.

On Thursday, China's commerce ministry said the country will make efforts to safeguard the Iran nuclear deal and defend the legitimate interests of Sino-Iranian relations.

China's comments came after Reuters reported that Iran has "indirectly" moved record volumes of oil into China in recent months, marked as supplies from other countries, even as China customs data showed that no Iranian oil was imported in the first two months of this year.

U.S. President Joe Biden has sought to revive talks with Iran on the nuclear deal abandoned by former President Donald Trump in 2018, although harsh economic measures remain in place that Tehran insists be lifted before any negotiations resume.

The United States and the other Western powers that signed the 2015 deal appear at odds with Tehran over which side should return to the accord first, making it unlikely that U.S. sanctions which have crippled Iran's economy can be quickly removed.

However, the OPEC member's oil exports climbed in January after a boost in the fourth quarter, despite U.S. sanctions, in a sign that the end of Trump's term as U.S. president may be changing buyer behaviour, after a sharp drop in Iranian exports to China and other Asian customers since late 2018. (Reporting by Dubai newsroom, Editing by William Maclean)
After six new coronavirus cases of the Britain variant were detected in Iceland, authorities imposed new restrictions. As per the new restrictions, all schools will remain shut. Gyms, pools, theaters, cinemas and bars will also remain shut. Restaurants, shops and hairdressers can remain open in a limited capacity. Gatherings of more than 10 people have been banned for three weeks.

Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdottir said, We need to hit the brake. He further added, This variant seems to spread faster among children than we have previously experienced. As per the authorities, the six people infected with the variant have infected around 22 others before they were diagnosed. According to a tally by the Johns Hopkins university, Iceland has a total of 6,158 cases with 29 fatalities.

'Significantly higher' mortality rate

Earlier in March, scientists discovered that the more virulent UK strain of the coronavirus which was first detected across England and London has a "significantly higher mortality rate. The variant dubbed as B.1.1.7, is more lethal, and leads to more hospitalizations and caseload as compared to the other mutants, based on the analysis of data released by New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (NERVTAG) on SARS-CoV-2 variant. After several preliminary analyses, it was found that the death rate from the new SARS-CoV-2strain was 70 percent more lethal, a study published British Medical Journal revealed.

The new study backed the UK governments chief scientific adviser, Patrick Vallances preliminary analyses that suggested that in every 1000 men aged 60 years who were infected with the new variant 13 or 14 might be expected to die. Meanwhile, with respect to women, fatalities were10 in 1000 from the original variant. Researchers also found that around 8 percent of the total deaths occurring did not need hospital admission. But what we have not been able to detect yet is an increased rate of hospitalization, or once in the hospital, an increased rate of dying with this variant versus another variant, so thats where the uncertainty lies and thats where the work is needed, John Edmunds, a professor in the Centre for the Mathematical Modelling of Infectious Diseases at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine said.

(Image Credits: Pixabay)
Elusanmi Kolawole, on Thursday, told an Osun State Judicial Panel of Inquiry how he had been bearing three years' burden of expending N15,000 monthly on medication for the injuries he sustained in a police beating.

Details of Thursday's proceedings of the panel, set up to investigate cases of human rights violations and related extra-judicial killings, were shared on the Facebook wall of 'Office of the Osun State CPS'.

Mr Kolawole, who said he was arrested in Osogbo, Osun State, about three years ago, is praying the panel for an award of N7million compensation to assuage the adverse effect of the beating he received from the police.

He said the policemen beat him so mercilessly that he had been suffering memory loss.

He recalled that five policemen including one identified as Superintendent Ayuba, a police officer he claimed was serving in Ogun State, had stormed his house on the fateful day, levelling the allegation of buying a stolen car against him.

'I was beaten from Osogbo to Ilesa'

The petitioner alleged that the policemen forced him into a car and tortured him, repeatedly hitting him in the head with harmful weapons, all the way to Ilesa, another part of the state, to meet the person he had later sold the car in question to.

Mr Kolawole, who was being cross-examined by the respondent's counsel, on Thursday, said, "It is unfortunate that I have been turned to what I am today. As you can see, I have been suffering from memory loss due to the incident of police brutality, which I was a victim of.

"What actually happened was that I was in my house that fateful day when I saw about five fully-armed police officers who had come to arrest me. I was beaten mercilessly and forced into the vehicle.

"I was hit repeatedly on the head with different harmful weapons they took along and I was taken to Ilesa, the residence of the person that I sold the vehicle to.

"The injuries I sustained particularly on the head have been disturbing me till now to the extent that hardly I remember past occurrences. The ugly incident had caused a lot of damage to the extent that I spent N15,000 every month to buy drugs."

'I bought and resold the car'

The petitioner recalled that he bought the car in question from Waheed and Tajudeen Hassan, but later sold it to someone in Ilesa, after realising it was not his preference.

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He said he refuted the claim by the policemen that he bought the stolen car by showing them the necessary documents.

He added, "The car was sold to me at the rate of N220,000, out of which I paid N100,000 to the owner as deposit. When I made a move to return the car, I was asked to look for a buyer after which the person that sold the car to me and myself took it to someone that wanted to buy the car.

"But a few weeks later, five police officers came from Mogbon Police Division in Ogun State, alongside the persons that sold the car to me and I was bundled out of the house around 1:00 a.m. and taken to Ilesa and later to Zone 11 here in Osogbo."

According to him, he remained at Zone 11 in Osogbo for a few days before he was later released.

'Police sold my car to another police officer'

The petitioner said that the car, retrieved from the latest buyer, was taken to Magbon police station in Ogun State.

He alleged that the car was subsequently sold to another police officer.

"All efforts to retrieve the vehicle proved abortive but we later got to know that the car had been sold to a police officer in Ogun State," he added.

The panel chairman, Akin Oladimeji, a retired judge, adjourned the case till Friday for further hearing.

The petitioner's lawyer, Bidemi Odutola, who spoke with journalists after Thursday's proceedings, expressed confidence in the capacity of the panel to dispense justice.
The first Chinese tragedy to be translated into European languages, The Orphan of Zhao, will take the form of a new musical premiering at Shanghai Culture Square in May.

Following the Shanghai leg from May 27 to June 6, the musical will travel to 14 other cities in China, including Nanjing, Jiangsu province, Hangzhou and Ningbo, Zhejiang province, and Shenzhen and Guangzhou, Guangdong province.

The ancient Chinese play by Ji Junxiang in the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) tells the story of Cheng Ying, who sacrificed his baby son to replace the only survivor and heir of a persecuted family. Cheng then raised the latter as his own, only to reveal the truth when the young man was grown up and ready for revenge.

The tale, which was first translated into European languages by Voltaire and Goethe, has through the centuries become one of the most widely performed plays from China, with many theater and opera adaptations created.

Shanghai-based theater director Xu Jun had been considering making a new musical production for the play since 2015, but he wanted a new interpretation of the story where the characters' motivations are convincing for modern audiences.

Xu was introduced to the English adaptation of the Chinese play by British poet James Fenton in 2017, when he was on an exchange visit to the Royal Shakespeare Company.

"I was fascinated by Fenton's writing, which lit up the dark corners in the story that had long been neglected," said Xu at the media conference for the musical at Shanghai Culture Square on March 18.

Xu adds that he was impressed with the British author's understanding of Chinese culture, as well as his philosophical insight.

Fenton says in a video clip that he created the play on a short notice in 2012 at the request of Gregory Doran, director of the RSC. Though he was enchanted by the play, Fenton immediately noticed some unanswered questions in the minds of English audiences. The sacrificed child in the story was "somewhat forgotten by the play", he says, and without altering the story, he wanted to acknowledge the cruelty of the world depicted. This was why he added the ghost of the dead boy in the last scene.

Xu liked the idea so much that he decided to have the ghost witness the entire story instead of appearing only once. For the first time in China's theater history, the boy will have a body and his own will.

The Chinese version of Fenton's play, translated by Jin Shenghua and Peng Jingxi, will be published by Shanghai Translation Publishing House when the musical makes its debut.

While Fenton acknowledged that he never expected the play to "find its way back to China and in the form of a musical", he also recognized that the story possessed good material for music.

"The first thing I did when sitting down to write the play was to write the four songs," he says.

These songs were later adapted into Chinese by lyric writer Liang Mang, who together with composer Jin Peida has worked with Xu on his previous two musical productions, Jews in Shanghai in 2015 and Lady of the White Snake in 2018.
WASHINGTON  As tensions between the United States and China escalate, a little-known federal agency is at the center of a debate in the Biden administration about how tough an approach to take when it comes to protecting American technology.

The Bureau of Industry and Security, a division of the Commerce Department, wields significant power given its role in determining the types of technology that companies can export and that foreign businesses can have access to.

In recent months, Washington lawmakers, lobbyists and other interested parties have been vying to influence how the agency, under the Biden administration, will approach a technology relationship with China that is both crucial for American industry and national security.

China hawks, including a collection of national security experts, congressional Republicans and progressive Democrats, say that in the past, American industry has held too much sway over the bureau. They have been pressing the administration to select a leader for the agency who will take a more aggressive approach to regulating the technology that the United States exports, according to people familiar with the discussions.
New Delhi: The Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB) class 12th results have been declared. The results were announced by Bihar Education Minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary on Friday (March 26).

The students can check out their results on the official website of Bihar Board- biharboardonline.bihar.gov.in or onlinebseb.in. The Bihar Education Minister addressed a press conference to release the Bihar Board Intermediate Results 2021.

The students can also keep a tab on the official Twitter page of BSEB. Around 13.5 lakh students appeared for the Bihar Board Class 12 exam 2021 in 2021.

Follow the instructions below to check the results:

1. Visit the Bihar Boards website- biharboardonline.bihar.gov.in

2. Click on the link 'Results'

3. Click on Bihar board Class XII results'

4. Select stream

5. Enter your credentials, roll number etc., to log in.

6. Click 'Submit'

7. Check the results and download for future references.

A total of 13.5 lakh students, including 6.5 lakhs girls and 5.4 lakh boys registered for the class 12th board exams this year.

Meanwhile, the result for Class 10th Board exams 2021 is expected to be out by the end of March.

Live TV
Hiking has become a well-loved pastime for an increasing number of the Grand Duchy's residents, especially since the beginning of the pandemic.

The Ministry of Tourism reports that the number of visitors to many of the country's hiking trails increased in 2020 compared to the previous year.

The Mellerdall Trail counted no less than 160,000 walkers in 2020, an increase of 15,000 people compared to 2019. There was also a 25% increase in the number of visitors to the 158 kilometres of the Escapardenne trail.

5,000 kilometres of signposted footpaths are already available in Luxembourg. This began in the 1960s thanks to a boost from the Ministry of Tourism at the time.

Nowadays, 201 hiking trails are listed, and their distance varies from 4.3 to 15.7 kilometres. In addition, there are 43 CFL paths, 27 national footpaths, and numerous labelled walks and communal paths.

Luxembourg is also crossed by international routes such as the E2 European footpath which crosses Europe from Ireland to the French Riviera over more than 4,850 kilometres. The E3 route also passes through the Grand Duchy between the Algarve (Portugal) and Turkey over a total distance of almost 7,000 kilometres. The geoportail.lu website provides an overview of the various routes in Luxembourg.

Minett Trail to open this summer

As such, Luxembourg residents and hiking enthusiasts will likely be delighted to learn that a new hiking trail will be launched in July: the Minett Trail will stretch over 90 kilometres across the south of the country. This trail will be created in the framework of the Esch2022 European Capital of Culture campaign and will link Clemency to Bettembourg. The trail will connect the most beautiful places in the former mining basin of the Terres Rouges region and as of April 2022, 11 gites (small cottages) will offer hikers accommodation on site. Several architectural offices have selected unusual locations for these accommodations such as train carriages or the Bettembourg Park tower.

In addition to the permanent paths, an IVV walk is also planned by the various Luxembourg hiking associations every Sunday. The Luxembourg Hiking Federation features all the events on its website. If you like to walk in a group, you can join up to 1,600 people who participate in these hikes.


One of our readers recently asked about the word 'breaking.'

"I know about the word 'breaking,' as in 'breaking glass.' But what does it mean in 'breaking news'? And what is the meaning of 'breaking bad'?"

If you watch television news broadcasts from the United States, you often see the words "breaking news."

The noun "break" can mean something that causes a change or a delay in an action. You may hear a teacher say, "We will take a 10-minute break." Or you might enjoy a "coffee break," a few minutes away from work.

Breaking news

We have used the word "break" to mean to make "a first and partial disclosure," that is, to make something known to the public, for a long time. The Online Etymology Dictionary says the word has been used this way for more than 750 years.

In the news business, to "break a story" means to have the first report on the story. With social media like Twitter and Instagram, newsmakers and reporters can immediately send messages to the public. Being the first to report on an event or having an original story -- a "scoop" as reporters call it -- is becoming more difficult.

In the past, when there was a disaster or an important news event, reporters would interrupt a regular television or radio broadcast. They often said, "We interrupt this program for an important announcement." They did not use the words "breaking news" because it was clear they were "breaking into" the regular program.

Some media organizations still use the term "breaking news" to describe such an unusual report. But on many other news programs, the words "breaking news" appear every day, without a real interruption to the normal broadcast. They seem to simply mean that there is a news report coming up. It is probably not an original story.

The Cambridge Dictionary has a more up-to-date definition for "breaking news." That is, "information that is being received and broadcast about an event that has just happened or just begun."

Breaking bad

A popular U.S. television series, Breaking Bad, told the story of an average high school chemistry teacher who became a drug dealer.

The creator of the series, Vince Gilligan, was born in Richmond, Virginia. Gilligan told the American Film Institute that when he wrote the story, he gave it that name because he thought it was a commonly known expression. When he was growing up in Southern Virginia, the term "break bad" meant to "go wild" or to "break the law." Gilligan said you might hear someone say, "I was out the other night at the barand I really broke bad," ending up in a police car, for example.

Breaking Bad's main character, Walter White, goes from a person you like to someone you hate. So "breaking bad" means for a good person to start doing bad things. The term is not very common, but it does appear in some movies and other television programs. In the 2016 movie, Fishes 'n' Loaves: Heaven Sent, a character says,

Well, I mean, I guess we have our share of good old boys who break bad every now and again

In the U.S. South, "good old boys" refers to average local men.

My advice to our readers is to understand that the words "breaking news" mean a broadcaster simply wants you to pay attention to their report. And I also advise you to stay away from anyone who is "breaking bad!"

Im Jill Robbins.

Jill Robbins wrote this story for Learning English. Mario Ritter, Jr. was the editor.

________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

interrupt v. to cause (something) to stop happening for a time

original  adj. made or produced first; not a copy

character  n. a person who appears in a story, book, play, movie, or television show

What expressions do you know with the word "breaking" We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section.
The chief executive officers of Facebook, Twitter and Google parent Alphabet faced a fresh round of questioning in the US House over how they police falsehoods on their internet services, with lawmakers focusing on misleading information on Covid-19, vaccines and the election.

Facebooks Mark Zuckerberg, Twitters Jack Dorsey and Googles Sundar Pichai appeared on Thursday to answer renewed inquiries about content-moderation policies from members of two House Energy and Commerce subcommittees during a virtual hearing examining social medias role in promoting extremism and disinformation.

The witnesses here today have demonstrated time and again that promises to self-regulate dont work, said Jan Schakowsky, chair of the Consumer Protection and Commerce Subcommittee, in an opening statement.

Read More

Pressure is increasing on tech companies to more aggressively curtail violent and misleading material on their platforms following the January 6 riot at the US Capitol, which left five dead.

People died that day, and hundreds were seriously injured, said Representative Mike Doyle, a Pennsylvania Democrat. That attack and the movement that motivated it started and was nourished on your platforms. Your platforms suggested groups people should join, videos they should view, and posts they should like.

Thursdays hearing is sparking renewed US debate over whether to weaken or even revoke a decades-old legal shield that protects social media companies from liability for user-generated content posted on their sites.
The French branch of Swedish retailing giant Ikea is being prosecuted as a corporate entity along with several former executives

The former chief executive of Ikea's French operations on Friday denied any role in setting up an elaborate system to spy on staff and job applicants using private detectives and police officers.

The French branch of Swedish retailing giant Ikea is being prosecuted as a corporate entity along with several former executives in Versailles, southwest of Paris.

Prosecutors say Ikea France collected details on hundreds of existing and prospective staff, including confidential information about criminal records as part of a "spying system", sometimes targeting union members and their representatives.

The court is investigating Ikea's practices between 2009 and 2012, but prosecutors say they started nearly a decade earlier.

Ikea France's former director of risk management Jean-Francois Paris on Thursday accused ex-chief executive Jean-Louis Baillot of ordering the scheme in 2007 during a meal at an Ikea cafeteria south of Paris.

"It's ridiculous, grotesque. Can you imagine discussing such a sensitive subject next to all the employees (at the cafeteria), despite having headquarters next door with meeting rooms?" Jean-Louis Baillot told the court Friday.

"I practically never saw Mr Paris," said Baillot, insisting his former colleague had "complete autonomy" and did not answer to him.

Jean-Francois Paris admitted Thursday that he regularly sent lists of names of people "to be tested" to private investigators, whose combined annual bill could run up to 600,000 euros (around $700,000), according to court documents seen by AFP.

But Paris says the retailing giant and its former executives have sought to shift the blame solely onto his shoulders, after devising the scheme in response to a series of armed robberies from 2000.

"It's rather cowardly of the company, who put the system into place and then left me to fend for myself," he told the court Thursday.

Ikea France, which employs 10,000 people, faces a fine of up to 3.75 million euros ($4.5 million).

Founded in 1943, Swedish multinational Ikea is famous for its ready-to-assemble furniture, kitchen appliances and home accessories which are sold in 400 stores worldwide.

clw/ech/sjw/bp
Mar. 26The United Steelworkers Union announced Friday that it will start a strike at Allegheny Technologies Inc. next week.

The union says it informed ATI it will begin an unfair labor practice strike beginning at 7 a.m. Tuesday.

"We have provided the notice to ATI to ensure an orderly and safe shutdown of the equipment and facilities," the union said in a bargaining bulletin.

ATI spokeswoman Natalie Gillespie said the company is "incredibly disappointed" that the employees represented by the USW have elected to strike.

"Our latest proposal increases wages and continues premium-free health care for our employees, at a time when we are losing money, following one of the worst years in company history," she said. "As we have said previously, we are committed to rewarding our people's hard work. At the same time, we need to have a competitive cost structure that supports this business and our investment for the long term."

Gillespie said ATI will be dedicated to serving its customers without interruption "and will continue to safely operate in the manner necessary to deliver our commitments."

In voting that ended March 5, 95% of 1,300 USW members authorized a possible strike against ATI. Union members rallied outside ATI's facilities in Harrison on March 16.

The last contract between ATI and the union, approved in 2016 after a six-month lockout, expired at the end of February, following an agreed upon one-year extension.

The union advised employees to remove personal items from ATI facilities between now and when the strike is scheduled to begin.

"In addition to protesting the company's serious unfair labor practices, it is the utmost desire of the union to achieve a fair and equitable contract and we are prepared to meet with management on a 24/7 basis," the union said. "We will continue to bargain in good faith to reach a fair contract and we urge ATI to do the same."

Brian C. Rittmeyer is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Brian at 724-226-4701, brittmeyer@triblive.com or via Twitter .
The EUs attacks on AstraZeneca call into question the companys decision not to profit from its vaccine, according to a leading member of the scientific team that delivered the breakthrough.

Sir John Bell, the Oxford University professor who helped mastermind the AstraZeneca Covid vaccine, warned that the companys morale is being damaged by unwarranted criticism of its safety and efficacy.

Theres growing frustration within the British drugmaker over the attacks on its vaccine. Credit:AP

He said AstraZeneca had never had credit for its early decision not to profit from the vaccine and that repeated attacks from the EU and figures including Emmanuel Macron have called it into question.

Sir John said: Theres a point at which AstraZeneca could just say, youve got to be joking, were going to stop [charging cost price] now because were not getting any credit for what were doing.
Protesters have gathered for the third time in less than a week in Bristol for a Kill the Bill demonstration.

Hundreds of people gathered on College Green to rally against the Governments Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill.

Police said around 300 people joined a march through the city centre and the crowd headed towards Bridewell Street, the scene of Sundays violence.

A large police presence was on duty, including horses and dogs, and was preventing the protesters reaching Bridewell police station.

The first demonstration held last Sunday started off peacefully with around 3,000 attending but descended into a riot when around 500 people marched on a city centre police station.

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Avon and Somerset Police is investigating assaults on 40 officers and one member of the media.

Nine people have been arrested in connection with the disorder, which saw officers attacked, police vehicles set on fire and the windows of a police station smashed.

A second protest took place on College Green on Tuesday night and resulted in 15 arrests.

Police urged people not to attend any protests because public gatherings are not currently permitted under coronavirus legislation.

Chief Superintendent Claire Armes said: Once again, we remind everyone that were still in a pandemic which has cost many lives and remains a significant challenge for our colleagues in the NHS.

We have all sacrificed so much to stop the spread of this terrible disease and were so close to a relaxation of the restrictions, when protest will again be possible.

In Avon and Somerset we remain committed to facilitating peaceful protest when its safe and lawful to do so, however gatherings remain a breach of Covid-19 restrictions and risk increasing the spread of coronavirus.

A man holds a bunch of daffodils in front of a police line near to Bridewell police station (Ben Birchall/PA)

We urge you not to come.

We do understand the strength of opposition to the new legislation being debated in Parliament.

Protest is a right which were asking people to be responsible about exercising right now.

This is about public health and public safety at a time of pandemic.

Please consider making your voice heard in different ways, such as contacting your MP or signing one of the petitions available online.

I want to make it clear.

Peaceful protesters will be given the opportunity to disperse, but Bristol will not tolerate violent behaviour and were here to prevent it.

Police during the latest Kill The Bill protest in Bristol (Ben Birchall/PA)

Police have released images of 18 people they want to identify following the trouble on Sunday.

The force later said those arrested after Tuesdays protest had all been released from custody and face being fined or reported for summons for Covid breaches, while several were on conditional bail for obstructing the highway, pending further inquiries or charging decisions.

A 22-year-old man from Bristol was released on conditional bail for the theft of a police baton, which was recovered, and two women from Bristol, aged 19 and 24, accepted a caution for obstructing the highway.

Two of those arrested on Tuesday were in connection with the violent disorder on Sunday, and they have been released under investigation.

Meanwhile, the force has retracted claims two officers suffered fractures in Sunday nights riot.

We believed the information had been verified but it had not, and while we apologise for that there was no intention to mislead, a force spokesman said.

The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill would give the police in England and Wales more power to impose conditions on non-violent protests, including those deemed too noisy or a nuisance.

Those convicted under the proposed legislation could face a fine or jail.
CHANGSHA, China, March 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Every year on this day, millions of people across the world switch off lights at home, in buildings and in the streets for Earth Hour. Since 2008, the "hour of no power" serves as a symbol of commitment to the planet and to conserve energy and the environment. At SANY, this commitment is fulfilled through the constant innovation of energy-saving and environmental-friendly solutions in the development of our machines. Two recent examples include a dump truck and a mixer truck, freshly rolled out of SANY's intelligent flagship factory, both of which are equipped with hydrogen fuel cell technology. The latter is the first hydrogen-powered mixer truck in the world.

According to the R&D engineer of this project, hydrogen fuel cell construction vehicles have five important advantages. Among them, the realization of "zero pollution" with only water and heat being discharged is a leap toward the green future of the industry.

China is focused on carbon neutrality by 2060. This goal requires concrete steps to be taken, especially by manufacturers.

Apart from "zero pollution", the new fuel cell-powered construction vehicles also outperform traditional counterparts in these additional four areas:

1. Long battery life: A set of hydrogen cylinders with a combined capacity of 1,680 L ensures a driving distance of more than 500 kilometers, saving drivers from "mileage anxiety".

2. More power: With a large torque drive motor and an AMT gearbox, the high-power fuel cell stack features an energy conversion rate of over 50%. The vehicle demonstrates enhanced acceleration rate and climbing capacity.

3. Enhanced weather adaptability: The integrated heat management system performs automatic heating and cooling in hot and cold weather conditions to maintain optimal performance. 4. Extra safety considerations: Functions such as high heat protection, overcurrent protection, a low pressure alarm, and leakage detection and control in the hydrogen supply system guarantee a worry-free driving experience.

Li Tanbo, Deputy General Manager of SANY's Crane Business Unit, addressed in the rollout ceremony that SANY has entered a new phase in which the development of construction machinery is trending towards the application of green energy and green, intelligent equipment technologies. SANY plans to become the largest comprehensive hydrogen fuel solution provider and the number one electric construction vehicle manufacturer in China within five years.

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Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has announced night curfew across the state from March 28. The decision was taken in a high-level meeting with senior state government officials on Friday amid explosive rise in coronavirus cases in the state. Several districts of the Maharashtra already have placed certain restrictions to curb the fresh surge in COVID-19 cases.

Under the new restrictions, night movement is allowed, but gathering in public places has been prohibited. Malls shall remain closed between 8 PM and 7 AM. All social, political and cultural programmes will have to follow COVID-19 protocols.

"Don't want to impose lockdown but looking at the rising number of cases it seems that the present health infrastructure may fall short. Districts are advised to look into the avilibility of beds, health facilities, etc," said CM Thackeray.

A separate order in this regard will be issued soon by Disaster Management and Rehabilitation Department.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra government also issued COVID-19-related guidelines for celebrating Holi, Good Friday and Easter. The state government stated that people should celebrate Holi in a simple manner and avoid crowding.

Holi will be celebreated in the state on March 28 and Rang Panchami a day later. Noting that the state's Konkan region has a tradition of carrying a 'palkhi' or palanquin in a procession on Holi, the state government said this should be confined to temples and asked the local administration to do the needful.

Maharashtra government also urged the Christian community in the state to observe Good Friday on April 2 and Easter Sunday on April 4 in a simple manner considering the rampant spread of coronavirus.

As per the government directions, if a church is spacious, maximum of 50 persons should attend the prayer meet there during the holy week from March 28 to April 4. If the church is smaller in size, then a special prayer meet should be held in the presence of 10-25 persons. Four to five special masses may be organised depending on the need, the government further said.

Earlier today, fresh restrictions were imposed in the Palghar district considering the rise of coronavirus cases. District administration on Friday ordered wedding venues, lawns and ceremonial halls to be shut from April 15.

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Mills College students and alumnae, still staggered by the news that the 169-year-old womens school in Oakland will soon stop enrolling students, learned Thursday that 200 UC Berkeley freshmen will flood their campus next fall.

Mills has agreed to be the location for UC Berkeleys Changemaker in Oakland Program, a brand-new program that will allow 200 Berkeley first-year students of all genders to live and study on the Mills campus during the 2021-22 academic year, Mills President Elizabeth Hillman wrote Thursday in a letter to Mills students and employees.

Hillman added that the news was important enough to deliver during spring break because last weeks announcement that Mills will issue its last degrees in 2023 and will stop enrolling first-year students after this fall has brought forth a tide of emotions and questions, many of which concern what to expect next at Mills.

Mills reported an endowment of $189 million in 2015. But Moodys withdrew its rating for Mills debt that year, having downgraded it due to deficit spending and enrollment loss. The private college has declined to disclose its financials.

Students and alumnae say they are determined to get the trustees to reverse their decision at Mills, one of just 37 womens colleges left in the country, according to the 2021 Collegewise Guide to Womens Colleges. They plan to protest at 4 p.m. Friday at the school.

On the Facebook page Save Mills, with 1,600 members, students and alumnae had mixed reactions to news that UC Berkeley students will flood the campus. Some saw it as way to help Mills survive. But others quickly calculated the effect of 200 UC Berkeley students on the Mills campus of just 609 undergraduates.

Students are attending Mills to be surrounded by women, and those that identify as such, one woman posted. We need to move fast!

Another wrote: Wow  another surprise. I cant help feeling a bit concerned, prompting a discussion of whether UC Berkeleys so-called Berkeley Bro culture will find its way onto the Mills campus.

Hillman said in her letter that the visiting students will have separate classes and residence halls, but there will be opportunities for Mills and UC Berkeley students to interact through co-curricular activities.

COVID Resources Coronavirus Map Tracking COVID-19 cases across the Bay Area and California.

Among the benefits to normally overcrowded UC Berkeley is that it will relieve stress on our housing capacity, said Janet Gilmore, a spokeswoman for the University of Californias flagship campus. She said the yearlong program at Mills, nine miles from UC Berkeley, will include courses on education, labor and humanism, followed by internships at Oakland companies and nonprofits. UC Berkeley will hire the instructors.

Mills enrollment has dropped by more than 20% since 2018, to 609 undergraduates. Graduate enrollment fell by 28%, to 352 students.

Yet Mills began losing enrollment only in 2014, college records show. A year earlier, with 1,595 students  917 undergraduates and and 625 graduate students  enrollment was the highest since at least 1990. It remains unclear why enrollment declined every year since then after years of increases.

Nanette Asimov is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: nasimov@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Nanette Asimov
Remains found in a Missouri park are believed to be that of a missing Chinese woman whose husband has been charged with her murder after police believe he killed her to avoid a costly divorce and stop her fleeing the US with their daughter.

The skeletal remains, some clothing, a driver's license and some credit cards with Mengqi Ji Elledge's name on them were found in a remote area of Rock Bridge State Park in Boone County on Thursday.

Authorities say the remains, which were spotted by someone out walking in the state park, are believed to belong to Ji, who has been missing for 18 months.

Police officials said DNA and potentially other testing would be done to confirm.

Ji's husband, Joseph Elledge, was charged with first-degree murder back in February last year in relation to her disappearance.

The skeletal remains found in Missouri's Rock Bridge State on Thursday are believed to be that of Mengqi Ji Elledge. Her husband Joseph Elledge was charged with her murder in February last year. They are pictured with their two-year-old daughter

Elledge, who is a University of Missouri student, has pleaded not guilty to the murder charge and to related charges of child endangerment and domestic abuse.

Elledge, who is a University of Missouri student, has pleaded not guilty to the murder charge and to related charges of child endangerment and domestic abuse

He remains jailed without bond ahead of his trial, which is scheduled to start on November 1.

Prosecutors have speculated that Elledge strangled his wife to avoid a costly divorce and stop her from fleeing to China with their two-year-old daughter.

Elledge told authorities he realized his wife was missing when he woke on October 9, 2019 but didn't report that she was gone until 36 hours later when a friend came to the house at the request of Ji's mother.

He claims he had given her a massage with her lying on her stomach and him on her back before they went to bed.

Authorities say he drove to remote areas, spending around 45 minutes at a secluded access point to the Lamine River after dark, during those 24 hours.

Police said at the time that the locations were places 'where a body could be disposed of and not located for some time'.

Cadaver dogs detected the presence of human remains there but law enforcement was unable to find a body despite multiple searches.

Columbia Police Assistant Chief Jeremiah Hunter said parts of Rock Bridge State Park had been previously searched but not the area where the remains were found, which is about 30 feet from a road.

Columbia Police Assistant Chief Jeremiah Hunter said parts of Rock Bridge State Park had been previously searched but not the area where the remains were found, which is about 30 feet from a road. Authorities are pictured searching for the missing mother in 2019

Elledge told authorities he realized his wife was missing on October 9, 2019, but didn't report she was gone until the following day after a friend came to the house at the request of Ji's mother

During a court hearing in November 2019, Boone County Chief Prosecutor Dan Knight described Elledge as a 'jealous, controlling, manipulative psychopath.'

Knight played four audio recordings of the couple arguing.

In the recordings, the husband says: 'I don't like being with you', 'I'm eager to end it' and 'I will bury the earth under you'.

Ji can also be heard arguing with her husband, who raised his voice several times. At one point, he told her: 'I know you want me to hit you' and 'This, it's not abusive.'

He was also heard saying he wanted a divorce 'the sooner the better.'

Her mother told police that Elledge was a controlling husband who would not allow Ji to have a social life and would get upset if she left the house for trips that he thought were too long.

Defense attorneys argued during the hearing that Ji had exchanged sexually explicit messages with another person.

Elledge's attorney, Scott Rosenblum, said he had no comment Thursday evening. A message left with Ji's family attorney was not returned Thursday.

Ji received a master's degree in mechanical and aerospace engineering from the University of Missouri in December 2014.

She previously attended the East China University of Science and Technology in Shanghai.
Gaborone  Health and wellness minister Dr Edwin Dikoloti has stressed the importance of reinforcing emergency preparedness structures and response at all levels through a well-established public health emergency operation center.

He was speaking in Gaborone yesterday at the launch of the strengthening of COVID-19 and public health emergency response in Botswana project funded by the European Union (EU) to the tune of around P14 million (1 million Euros).

The project is the result of identification of gaps by the World Health Organization in Botswana's emergency preparedness, detection and response.

Minister Dikoloti said strengthening of public health emergency could only be achieved through prompt detection of potential outbreaks, timely verification and undertaking of appropriate measures to contain outbreaks at the source.

He said the project, which targeted COVID-19 prevention and control with the aim of strengthening epidemic preparedness and response, was intended to reduce morbidity and mortality and other epidemic-prone diseases in high risk areas.

"Furthermore, the project hopes to support the national and district levels to scale up early warning disease surveillance in the country with a focus on setting up sentinel sites for influenza-like illnesses and severe acute respiratory infections," he said.

Dr Dikoloti expressed profound gratitude to the EU and WHO for extending assistance to Botswana in the war against COVID-19.

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"The support from the two partners has covered the breadth of the health system but has also focused on some key life-changing areas such as the capacity to test for COVID-19 in the country," he said.

For her part, WHO representative, Dr Josephine Namboze said global health security was of utmost importance as emergencies could occur at any time.

As such, she said, all nations should be prepared to respond effectively to all threats including epidemics.

"COVID-19 has particularly shown the vulnerability of the whole world to public health threats and has reminded us of the need for health security as a concerted effort of governments and partners," she said.

Dr Namboze said the project would ensure availability and pre-positioning of lifesaving emergency supplies and drugs in high risk districts.

In addition, it would build capacity of clinicians in health facilities on COVID-19 case management and infection prevention and control, she said.

EU also donated lab investigation kits and COVID-19 supplies to the Ministry of Health and Wellness.

Source : BOPA
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-25 23:31:12|Editor: huaxia

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Photo taken on March 25, 2021 shows the grounded container ship Ever Given on the Suez Canal, Egypt. Egypt's Suez Canal Authority (SCA) said on Thursday that it has temporarily suspended navigation through the world's busiest shipping course until the grounded cargo ship is completely freed. (Xinhua/Wang Dongzhen)

CAIRO, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Egypt's Suez Canal Authority (SCA) said on Thursday that it has temporarily suspended navigation through the world's busiest shipping course until the grounded cargo ship is completely freed.

As the rescue work continues, there are 13 ships which set sail on Wednesday from Port Said and has dropped anchor in the waiting area for the container ship Ever Given to be completely released, the SCA said in a statement.

Nine tug boats, with a towing power of 160 tons, and two dredges are continuing to free the 400-meter-long and 59-meter-wide vessel, the statement added.

Dozens of cargo vessels carrying vital goods remain stranded at both ends of the canal.

The Ever Given, coming from China to Rotterdam, ran aground on Tuesday morning in the new channel of the canal, which was operated in 2015, amid a strong sandstorm and 40-knot winds.

The SCA has reopened the old channel for traffic on Wednesday to ease the traffic, while the 224,000-ton vessel remained wedged across the waterway blocking transit in both directions through the key shipping channel, said Saleh Hegazy, a maritime expert.

The vessel is one of the world's largest container ship, which has prolonged the time of freeing it, Hegazy told Xinhua.

He expected that the ship could be freed in two days if the dredges succeeded in removing the sand and dirt from the grounded bow of it.

The revenues of the canal are would not be impacted largely because the world trade movement is slow because of the repercussions of the COVID-19, the expert noted.

About 30 percent of the world's shipping container volume transits through the 193-km Suez Canal on a daily basis, according to the official statistics.

Osama Rabie, chairman of the SCA, told independent extra news TV on Thursday that the Suez Canal, through which 18,000 ships pass annually, sees such accidents once or twice per year.

The canal will work around the clock once the salvage and refloating operations, in order to compensate for the waiting time of the ships, Rabie said.

But the exact time to release the giant ship is not known, he added.

The Suez Canal is the main source of foreign currency for Egypt, bringing in 5.6 billion U.S. dollars in revenues in 2020.

"The canal is of particular importance for global oil supplies," said Medhat Youssef, former chairman of Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation, adding almost 25 percent of the global oil passes through the canal.

Egypt will lose a daily average of 15 million dollars in the canal's income, he noted.
The American boyfriend of missing Brit Sarm Heslop has hired a US Virgin Islands-based attorney who is also representing Ghislaine Maxwell.

Charter boat skipper Ryan Bane is being represented by lawyer David Cattie, whose other clients include the woman accused of being Jeffrey Epstein's chief recruiter.

Cattie has also represented another boat captain who was accused of manslaughter and later acquitted in 2019.

The move suggests Bane could be preparing for a legal battle over the disappearance of his girlfriend who was last seen on his boat on the US Virgin island of St John on March 8.

Ryan Bane, the American boyfriend of missing British woman Sarm Heslop (right) has hired a lawyer who is also representing Ghislaine Maxwell. The move suggests he is gearing up for a legal battle over the disappearance of his girlfriend, who was last seen on his boat in the US Virgin Island on March 8

David Cattie, an attorney based in the US Virgin Islands, was hired to represent Maxwell in her bid for Epstein's estate to pay for her legal fees

Bane is neither a suspect nor person of interest in the case, however, the 44-year-old has drawn media attention for failing to cooperate with authorities.

His nine-hour delay in calling the US Coast Guard has also raised eyebrows.

Instead, Bane called Cattie and afterwards refused to let police search his 47ft catamaran, Siren Song, where he and Heslop were staying.

Cattie's past clients include Rick Smith, a boat captain who was cleared of manslaughter in 2019

Cattie has represented Maxwell - who has pleaded not guilty - in her lawsuit against Epstein's estate to pay for her legal fees and has handled efforts by prosecutors in the USVI to stop her getting the money.

On April 15 last year, Cattie informed the US Justice Department 'that Ms. Maxwell has retained him in regard to the government's subpoenas'.

He wrote that 'the subpoena was clearly received by Maxwell, and attorney Cattie contacted the government on her behalf to negotiate a possible resolution of the subpoena'.

Cattie's past clients include Rick Smith who was cleared of Seaman's Manslaughter in January 2019 over the death of crewmember David Pontious.

According to reports in the USVI, Pontious had a mental episode while on board and took control of the Helm from Smith 350 miles offshore while traveling from Maine to the USVI.

Pontious then jumped off the ship and made no effort to swim back.

Bane was seen swigging beer on the deck of his luxury yacht on Tuesday, weeks after Heslop vanished without a trace. Authorities need a warrant to board but are yet to obtain one because Sarm's March 8 disappearance has not been classified as a criminal inquiry

Bane is refusing to cooperate with cops investigating Sarm's disappearance and has not allowed them to search his boat. Bane is currently neither a suspect, nor a person of interest

Heslop's friends insist they are not 'pointing fingers' at Bane but are calling on the American, who moved to the Caribbean in 2015, 'to provide as many details as possible'

Smith was cleared on a legal technicality by a judge before a trial could take place, but the case was a nightmare for him and he felt he was unfairly accused.

Smith told the Virgin Islands Daily News: 'I'm not thrilled about it. I don't know why they spent three years trying to destroy me, but they did'.

Bane, 44, met Heslop, 41, a former flight attendant from Southampton, England, on Tinder eight months ago and travelled to the Caribbean to work as a cook on Siren Song, which he charters out for more than $2,000 a day.

It's understood the couple had lined up ten or more bookings for the coming season, worth around $100,000.

Bane raised the alarm at 2.30am on March 8, telling police Heslop was gone but her belongings were still on board.

In his initial account to cops later that morning Bane said the pair had been out for dinner the previous night before going back to the boat at 10pm to sleep.

Ryan Bane refused to discuss his girlfriend Sarm Heslop's disappearance as DailyMail.com confronted him on a secluded beach in the US Virgin Islands Wednesday

He said he was woken up at 2am by an anchor alarm, which triggers an alert if the boat is straying from its position. By then Heslop had vanished.

Police say Bane was advised to ring the US Coast Guard but it later emerged they did not receive the SOS call until 11.46am - more than nine hours later.

A massive land and sea search involving divers, a helicopter and an island-wide appeal for leads subsequently failed to find Sarm or any evidence that she fell overboard.

Since then cops have been scouring CCTV from island bars and businesses to trace the couple's last steps but have been prevented from setting foot on Siren Song.

Police in the Virgin Islands said that soon after reporting Heslop missing Bane hired Cattie and refused to let them board his boat and conduct a search.

Court documents from Michigan have revealed that Bane has a dark past and was jailed for 21 days for beating up his ex-wife in his native Michigan.

Cori Stevenson said in one interview: 'Ryan's personality changed once we got married. It was a beautiful wedding in 2008 but it was like he flipped a switch'.

Cattie did not return calls requesting comment.

Bane's luxury 47-foot catamaran, named Siren Song, sits in Frank Bay on St. John in the US Virgin Islands

Earlier this week DailyMail.com published the first photos of Bane since Heslop's disappearance which showed him sitting on the Siren Song drinking a beer.

He repeatedly refused to comment when approached by a reporter.

A friend of Bane's had told DailyMail.com that he was 'scared' and 'totally spun out' by the whole episode.

The friend said: 'He is definitely bereaved. He had finally found a girl he was in love with.

'I think that his concern is that the (Virgin Islands police) is not real well known for conducting any sort of investigation with clarity.

'He's concerned that something could go wrong or be spun the wrong way, or that they're going to be looking for something to implicate him as opposed to the other way around'.
By Joe Dworetzky

Bay City News Foundation

In a federal lawsuit filed last week in San Francisco, dozens of landowners from Sonoma and Marin counties accused Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit of a land grab.

At issue is the "multi-use pathway" that SMART is building on a 43-mile stretch between Airport Boulevard in Sonoma County and San Rafael in Marin County. According to a progress report on its website, SMART has completed 24 miles of pathway and another 8.8 miles are "fully funded and planned for construction."

SMART was created in 2002 to develop and operate a commuter rail line parallel to U.S. Highway 101 in Sonoma and Marin counties. Train service began in 2017 and SMART controls the railroad right-of-way that runs through private lands adjacent to the railroad tracks.

The plaintiffs in the suit filed March 15 allege that SMART's rights under the right-of-way are derivative of the rights obtained by predecessor railroads through condemnations going back into the late 1800s. According to the complaint, those railroads only obtained authority to use the land in the right-of-way for "railroad purposes."

The pathway is being used for hiking and biking, not rail purposes, the plaintiffs contend, and therefore amounts to an unauthorized "taking" of their property for which they are entitled to compensation.

According to the complaint, "SMART has improperly and illegally invaded, taken, and burdened Plaintiffs' fee ownership in their land."

The plaintiffs are represented by Sacramento attorney Stuart Talley, and a Kansas City, Missouri law firm, Stewart, Wald & McCulley LLC, that has developed a specialty legal practice of bringing such claims against trail projects on railroad rights-of-way throughout the country.

According to its website, the law firm is handling roughly 50 "Rails-to-Trails" cases. It touts its expertise in the area stating, "there are very few law firms who have the 'niche' of successfully representing property owners in Trails Act cases and no lawyers have been as successful."

Rails-to-trails refers generally to building trails for public use on the beds of train tracks no longer being used for rail service or on adjoining property included in a railroad's right of way.

A section of a federal statute, the National Trails System Act, creates a "railbanking" process that allows un-utilized rail lines that would otherwise be abandoned to be preserved and used for trails until such time in the future as the railroad seeks to use the lines again for service.

Andrea Ferster is general counsel of the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, a non-profit organization that defines its mission as building "a nation connected by trails." Ferster says that the federal railbanking process is based on the supremacy of federal law over state law so that when an agency proceeds with railbanking under the Trails Act, otherwise applicable state law is "pre-empted" by the federal process.

SMART has not, to date, pursued railbanking.

In the view of attorney Thomas Stewart from the SWM firm representing the plaintiffs, SMART has not been smart in its approach.

According to Stewart, SMART should have pursued converting its easement to one for hiking and biking under the railbanking provisions of the Trails Act. Following that process would mean that the United States -- not SMART -- would be responsible for compensation due to landowners through a process at the U.S. Court of Claims.

Stewart predicts that SMART will ultimately decide to follow that process.

Thomas Lyons, general counsel for SMART, agrees that SMART could possibly pursue such a approach under federal law but he does not think that it is necessary.

Lyons says the multi-use pathway is a "railway purpose" and is therefore permitted in the right-of-way under California law.

Lyons points to the California statute that created SMART and notes that it contemplated that SMART would have passenger service "along with ancillary pathways connecting our stations."

Those pathways are important, among other things, to allow access to SMART stations for disabled riders, he says.

More generally, Lyons notes that the multi-use pathway is a part of SMART's overall rail strategy of creating a green alternative to car commuting. SMART's website says that its "investment in bicycle and pedestrian facilities connects people to other pathways and to train stations, providing opportunities for multi-modal commuting and recreation."

To that end, each two-car SMART train has space for up to 24 bikes and SMART stations have bike storage.

SMART envisions the pathway as a way that commuters can access the train without driving to a station, and then, with their bikes on the train, they can pedal from their stop to work or home.

Under this view, "railroad purposes" includes making pathways for bikers to reach trains, just as in times past, railroads made space for train riders arriving by horseback, carriage, automobile or bus.

Lyons acknowledges that every easement granted is different and the agency is "in the process of evaluating the claims and determining what our interests were granted back in the 1800s."

According to Stewart, what SMART is really trying to do is change the easement into one for biking and hiking. He says that if the federal law approach is not used, SMART will have an uphill battle because "under almost all state laws, when you change the scope of an easement to a different purpose or use, it extinguishes the original easement ... California is no different."

Stewart says SMART is "trying to have their cake and eat it too. They're trying to change the use and change the scope without utilizing the regulatory process correctly."

Stewart says he doesn't know why SMART hasn't pursued the federal approach.

He predicts that "if they don't do that, then they're going to get hit with one hell of a big price tag. And I think that would be a monumental error."

Copyright  2021 Bay City News, Inc. All rights reserved. Republication, rebroadcast or redistribution without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. Bay City News is a 24/7 news service covering the greater Bay Area.

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.
AFH Financial Group PLC - UK-based investment advice company - Says the requisite majority of shareholders voted in favour of AFH Financial's takeover by Cortina Bidco Ltd at the reconvened general meeting.

In January, AFH agreed to the GBP224.5 million takeover by Cortina, a company controlled by funds managed by Chicago-based private equity firm Flexpoint Ford LLC. Under the acquisition's terms, Flexpoint will acquire the wealth manager for 463 pence per share.

Current stock price: 474.10 pence, down 0.2% on Friday

Year-to-date change: up 38%

By Evelina Grecenko; evelinagrecenko@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2021 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Pablo Iglesias, leader of Unidas Podemos (UP), gave up his seat in the national parliament this week and will step down as deputy prime minister by the end of the month. It follows his announcement last week that he will head the UP electoral list in Madrid regional elections on 4 May.

All the parties have been finalising their electoral lists this week in what promises to be a high-profile campaign fought on clear ideological lines.

Former spokesperson in Valencia for Ciudadanos, Toni Canto, made headlines this week when he signed up to the PP's Madrid candidate list under Isabel Diaz Ayuso.
<p>Nine people were killed Thursday in Myanmar, according to the daily report of the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.</p> <p>Demonstrators were out in force in a continued show of opposition against the ruling military junta, one day after Wednesday&rsquo;s &ldquo;silent&rdquo; strike left the streets of many cities across the country practically empty.</p> <p>There were scattered reports of soldiers using force to break up protests in the southeastern city of Mawlamyine and in Hpa-An, the capital of southeastern Karen state. Soldiers also confronted protesters staging candlelight vigils across the country, with reports of at least one man shot and killed.</p> <p>The AAPP said in the report that at least 320 people have been killed by military forces during the crackdown. One of those killed was a 7-year-old girl who was shot Tuesday when soldiers broke into her home in Mandalay, according to <em>Myanmar Now</em> and Reuters. The child was reportedly sitting on her father&rsquo;s lap when the soldiers broke in and demanded to know if everyone in the family was at home. The father said yes, but the soldiers accused him of lying and opened fire, hitting the girl.</p> <p>The AAPP also said that more than 2,900 people have been arrested, charged or sentenced since the crackdown began. But more than 600 protesters were released Wednesday from Insein prison in the main city of Yangon in an apparent goodwill gesture by the junta. Associated Press journalist Thein Zaw, who was arrested while covering a street protest in Yangon along with eight other media workers, was among those released.</p> <p>Agence France-Presse has reported that a Molotov cocktail thrown at the Yangon headquarters of the National League for Democracy party of detained civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi caused a small fire.</p> <p>AFP quoted Soe Win, an NLD member in charge of the headquarters, saying that &quot;when the residents nearby knew about the fire, they called the fire service department to put it out ... it was under control by around 5 a.m.&rdquo;</p> <p>The United States and Britain imposed sanctions on Myanmar&#39;s ruling junta on Thursday, blacklisting military-controlled businesses.</p> <p>&ldquo;Today the United States is taking its most significant action to date to impose costs on the military regime,&rdquo; said Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a statement Thursday.</p> <p>The United States is designating two entities linked to the coup leaders, Myanma Economic Holdings Public Company Limited and Myanmar Economic Corporation Limited. MEHL and MEC are the two largest military holding companies in Burma, and all shares in them are held and managed by current or former Burmese military officers, regiments, and units, and organizations led by former service members.&rdquo;</p> <p>Blinken added that Britain would be taking similar actions against MEHL.</p> <p>Farhan Haq, a spokesperson for United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, issued a statement Wednesday urging the junta to exercise &ldquo;maximum restraint&rdquo; as Armed Forces Day on March 27 approaches. He called for &ldquo;accountability for all the crimes and human rights violations that continue to be perpetrated in Myanmar.&rdquo;</p> <p>Suu Kyi is facing four criminal charges, including the possession of unlicensed walkie-talkies, violating COVID-19 restrictions, breaching telecommunication laws and incitement to cause public unrest. She has also been accused by the junta of accepting $600,000 in illegal payments.</p> <p>Suu Kyi was scheduled to appear in court via videoconferencing Wednesday, but the session was postponed until April 1. Khin Maung Zaw, a lawyer for Aung San Suu Kyi, told VOA that police blocked the thoroughfare that led to the courthouse, and only allowed two junior lawyers to enter. Khin said the judge told the two lawyers the video conferencing sessions on the docket could not take place.</p> <p>Wednesday&rsquo;s appearance by Suu Kyi was originally scheduled for March 15 but was called off because of a lack of internet service. Authorities have imposed nightly internet shutdowns for several weeks to prevent any sharing of protests from across the country.</p> <p>Junta leaders also justified their coup by saying the Nov. 8 election won by Suu Kyi&#39;s NLD was fraudulent - an accusation the electoral commission rejected.</p>
Actor Byun Yo-han / Courtesy of Megabox Plus M





By Kwak Yeon-soo







It's been a decade since Byun Yo-han stepped into films with "Working on Holiday (2011)," but the actor said he is still driven and hungry to learn. Recalling that every project felt like hitting a wall, Byun took a two-year hiatus from acting before returning to the big screen with director Lee Joon-ik's new period film, "The Book of Fish" (2021).







"After a few years of acting, I was tired and felt like I needed time to reassess my career. Having taken some time off, I now want to focus on acting that I love so much," he said during a recent interview with The Korea Times held via Zoom.







Byun said he chose "The Book of Fish" as his first project back because the slow-paced, black-and-white film challenged him as an actor.







In the film, the 35-year-old actor plays young fisherman Chang-dae who helps exiled scholar Jeong Yak-jeon (Seol Kyung-gu) write a book about sea creatures during his time on Heuksan Island.







Chang-dae's character is more dynamic compared with the main character Jeong, who appears more considerate and quiet. Their opposite personalities are the result of their different social classes and ideologies.







A strong advocate of Confucianism, Chang-dae clashes with Jeong, who is keen on accepting Western principles and Catholicism. Despite their differences, the two characters interact and share an intrinsic connection.







Actor Byun Yo-han in a scene from "The Book of Fish" / Courtesy of Megabox Plus M





Byun discussed his preparation for the role and starring in a black-and-white film for the first time. "It was honorable just to be part of this project, but a little challenging because an actor's voice and gestures are important in a black-and-white film. It's harder to convey emotions with just your facial expressions. However, I tried to represent the character as truthfully as possible," he said.







The actor revealed that he visited Heuksan Island before shooting the film. "At first, I was pretty excited about going to the island and exploring my character in a more in-depth way. But as I approached the island, I could feel how solitary Jeong must have felt to be confined to a remote island," he said.







Byun expressed admiration for Seol, personally and professionally. "A big part of the story was our connection, and I think we had that because Seol was really all-in. He is a disciplined actor who does 1,000 jump ropes every morning regardless of the weather. Also, he was always prepared with his scenes and lines."







He also thanked director Lee, who believed in him and gave him the opportunity to go a bit further with his character.







"Director Lee looks at actors' positive sides. He closes his eyes to their weaknesses. Also, he always stresses that actors are his friends. I could really feel it in my heart. I was able to access the emotional dynamics of Chang-dae's character thanks to his direction," Byun said.







The actor revealed that he still has a lot of concerns about showing off "good acting," and that frequently bothers him. "Many tell me to be easy on myself, but I constantly push myself further. I really hope I can enjoy the process after all," he said.







Since making his debut in 2011, Byun has starred in many hit drama series, such as "Misaeng: Incomplete Life" (2014) and "Mr. Sunshine" (2018) as well as films including "Socialphobia" (2014) and "Will You Be There? (2016).







"The Book of Fish" will hit local theaters, March 31.


Abuja  President of Nigeria Muhammadu Buhari said, Thursday in Abuja, that a new basic chemicals platform worth $1.3bn will be ready for commissioning in the coming months, as part of a partnership between Morocco and Nigeria.

The said platform, under construction as part of this partnership, will produce ammonia and fertilizers in for this west African country, said Buhari in a meeting with the Fertilizer Producers and Suppliers Association of Nigeria (FEPSAN).

He recalled that, to improve the balance of trade between Nigeria and Morocco, the two countries have signed an agreement to develop a $1.3 billion Basic Chemicals Platform in Nigeria that will produce Ammonia, Phosphoric Acid, Sulphuric Acid and various Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium (NPK) and Diammonium Phosphate (DAP) fertilizers using Nigeria's gas reserves.

"HM King Mohammed VI of Morocco and I have agreed to extend the current Phosphate supply agreement between the Kingdom of Morocco and Nigeria. We both believe that to consolidate and expand on the successes recorded thus far, we must secure raw material supplies to our blenders," he said.

The Nigerian President added that the new plant when completed would complement the existing Dangote and Indorama Chemicals facilities which produce urea, ammonia and other industrial raw materials.

"When we combine these projects with the existing 44 blending plants, Nigeria will indeed become a regional and global fertilizer power house," he said.

On this occasion, the Nigerian head of state thanked, on behalf of Nigerians, "my brother and friend, HM King Mohammed VI for being with us during this difficult but exciting journey."

"This mutually beneficial partnership between our two countries is a true example of how intra-Africa trade and partnership should work," he concluded.
Justin Bieber and an unidentified pastor visited California State Prison in Lancaster, a city in the Antelope Valley north of Los Angeles, to participate in a faith-based program.

Bieber, who had returned from a weekend in Turks & Caicos in the Caribbean with his wife, Hailey, was spotted visiting the California State Prison on Tuesday.

TMZ snapped shots of the pop-star arriving at the prison in his tour bus. It is unclear whether Bieber was there sharing the Gospel or singing.

"The Warden of the institution approved a very brief visit by Mr. Bieber and his pastor to support faith-based programs at California State Prison, Los Angeles County," a spokesperson for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said in a statement to Fox News.

Source:The Christian Post
Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun, left, receives his first dose of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine at a public medical center in Jongno District, Seoul, Friday. Yonhap



By Nam Hyun-woo



Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun and other ministers have gotten their shots of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine publicly, in what appear to be the government's efforts to ease public concerns on the vaccine's safety.



Chung visited a public medical center in Jongno District, Seoul, Friday, and received his first dose of AstraZeneca vaccine. Along with Chung, Health and Welfare Minister Kwon Deok-chul and Interior and Safety Minister Jeon Hae-cheol also got their jabs at the center, where President Moon Jae-in received his first shot of the AstraZeneca vaccine on Tuesday.



"Vaccination is a matter of science, not politics," Chung said. "However, sometimes there are misunderstandings and groundless rumors, and we received shots to address that and it feels the same as getting a flu vaccine."






A couple in Balaka is facing murder charges for failing to look after their sick daughter.

Police in the district have charged Alick Joseph and his wife, Eliza Wilson with man slaughter for failing to supply food and other basic necessities to their two-year-old biological daughter.

According to police reports, the child was suffering from a certain disease since December 2020 and the two did not take her to the hospital believing that she was bewitched.

The reports further indicate that police at Phalula arrested the duo on February 23, 2021 and referred the victim to Phalula Health Centre where she died while receiving treatment.

According to Felix Misomali, Public relations officer for Balaka police the accused have been committed to the High Court to answer charge of manslaughter contrary to Section 208 of the Penal Code.

Misomali has since warned parents against neglecting the children under their custody saying they will face the law.
An influencer has revealed that she has been left with a droopy eyelid after getting botched Botox at a local medical spa, saying she looks like the supervillain 'Two-Face.'

Whitney Buha, 34, from Chicago, Illinois, has been sharing updates on her condition with her 60,000 Instagram followers for the past week after her eye started to droop, causing her other eye to bulge out to overcompensate for her impaired vision.

'I can't believe I'm going to show you guys this, but I'm getting a ton of questions about what happened with the Botox,' she said on her Instagram Stories. 'A lot of you get Botox. You didn't know this is possible. I didn't know this was possible either.'

Botched: Whitney Buha, 34, from Chicago, Illinois, is suffering from a droopy eyelid after getting Botox earlier this month. The condition is known as ptosis

Before and after: Whitney woke up with her left eye drooping and her other eye bulging out to overcompensate for her impaired vision

Whitney had her first Botox injection three years ago when she turned 30, and she has continued to get it biannually without any issues  until now.

She explained that she had Botox injected into her forehead, eyebrows, and upper lip to achieve a 'lip flip' at her appointment earlier this month.

The blogger noticed that her left eyebrow wasn't lifted as high as the right, and she texted her injector, who told her to come back to the medspa for four more units of Botox to even them out.

Whitney knew something went terribly wrong when she woke up three days later with a drooping eye, a condition known as ptosis.

'Ever since I went back, this is what has happened. So whatever she did relaxed this muscle,' she said, pointing to the area right below her eyebrow.

Candid: The influencer has been sharing updates on her condition on her Instagram Stories after her eye started to droop

Throwback: Whitney had her first Botox injection three years ago when she turned 30, and she has continued to get it biannually without any issues, until now

Start of it all: The blogger explained that when she got Botox to lift her eyebrows earlier this much, she noticed they were uneven, with the right side higher than the left

The appearance of the sagging was exacerbated by her right eye, which was bugging out.

'As you can see, my right eye is very wide open right now. I swear it's wider than it was before Botox,' she noted. 'I look like Two-Face. It's so embarrassing. I can't believe I'm showing this.'

Whitney was initially told there wasn't anything that could be done because Botox can't be dissolved. She spoke to a plastic surgeon who said he's never seen eye droop that bad, but he assured her it was temporary.

The influencer, who works in marketing full-time, said she wasn't comfortable sharing the name of the med spa, but she noted her injector is a registered nurse whom she had gone to before.

After everything that has happened, she admitted she probably won't ever go back to that location, though this experience hasn't turned her off Botox.

Scary: The nurse at the local medical spa she went to offered to inject four more units to lift her left brow, but the Botox seeped into the muscle that lifts the lid, causing her eyelid to sag

Troubling: Whitney spoke to a plastic surgeon who said he's never seen eye droop that bad, but he assured her it was temporary

At-home fix? She's been trying to speed up the process by massaging the area with her electric toothbrush and steaming her eye, which she has also documented

'If I'm being 100 per cent honest, yes, I will get Botox again in the future,' she admitted. 'You can judge me and say I'm crazy, but I've had Botox for three years, and I've never ever had a problem until this.

'I guess these things can happen, but it is rare,' she added. 'When Botox is good, it's really good.'

Whitney actually ended up getting more Botox to fix the issue after a nurse who serves as a medical director at another med spa recommended two more units in her eyelids near her lashes to help lift up the lid.

The professionals she spoke with believe the Botox seeped into the nearby levator palpebrae superioris, which raises the upper eyelid, causing it to droop after the injection.

She is still waiting for her latest Botox treatment to kick in and hopefully resolve the issue, but she was also prescribed eye drops that will help lift her lid a few millimeters.

Whitney has been keeping her fans updated with daily photos, and her eye seems to be slowly getting better day by day.

Bold move: Whitney ended up getting two more units of Botox to help lift her eyelid, but she's still waiting for it to kick in

Improvement: Whitney has been keeping her fans updated with daily photos. Her eye seems to be slowly getting better day by day, and she hasn't sworn off Botox

'People are so invested in this and want to know what's happening,' she told BuzzFeed, saying she is grateful for the advice and support she has received.

She's been trying to speed up the process by massaging the area with her electric toothbrush and steaming her eye, which she has also documented.

Whitney has somehow managed to keep her sense of humor about the situation, but she noted that knowing the drooping is temporary has helped.

'I feel like the year that we've all had, it's just been such a crazy year and it's not been a great year for anybody,' she said. 'So this was kind of another thing that I'm like, "Well, this is just something that's happening, and we're just going to get past it."'

The blogger said she will continue to get Botox in the future, though she will be more careful about her injector.

'If you have Botox and it's done right, I love it,' she said. 'It looks great. It makes me feel better.'
As Prime Minister Narendra Modi reminisced his 'satyagraha' for Bangladesh's Liberation in 1970s, a book written by him in his 20s against the oppressive Emergency imposed by the Indira Gandhi regime has come to the forefront. A then youth-leader Modi had written a book titled Sangharshmaan Gujarat which was published in 1978 about how Gujarat had opposed the Emergency and his involvement in it. In the book, he has urged his fellow young citizens to rebel against the government's oppression, warning about a dangerous tomorrow.

PM Modi's book on Emergency

On the cover of the book, in an open letter to the youth, Modi had highlighted how citizens had been silenced and how democracy had been destroyed, while autocracy was being promoted. Calling for youth's sacrifice to solve poverty, unemployment, lack of education, immorality and corruption, he had urged the youth to become the 'creators of the history'. Stating that it was upto the youth to 'free those imprisoned', Modi had reminded the yputh of their duty to challege the widespread 'unrest and helplessness'.

Newspaper reports from August 1971, show 10,000 Janasangh workers including 1200 women and children had staged a satyagraha as part of the 12-day 'Recognise Bangladesh' Satyagraha in Delhi. A TOI report states "120 buses were kept ready to transport to Delhi's National Stadium where they were tried by nine magistrates. The mammoth rally was addressed by party president Atal Bihari Vajpayee who declared that the Indo-Soviet joint statement implied a conspiracy between Delhi and Moscow to deny recognition to Bangla Desh".

(Credit: Times of India)

PM Modi recounts his 'satyagraha' for Bangladesh liberation

Earlier in the day, PM Modi recounted his own contribution to the nation's freedom struggle, while addressing the National Day program as its chief guest in National parade Ground, Dhaka. Lauding the Indian Army martyrs' sacrifice, he recounted how he had been arrested in India while staging a satyagraha in solidarity with Bangladesh's liberation. Today marks the 50th anniversary of the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War, which resulted in the formation of Bangladesh from Pakistan.

"One of the first movements of my life to join the struggle for the independence of Bangladesh. I and my partners had done a Satyagraha in support of freedom of Bangladesh and was even sent into jail. The atrocities forced by the Pakistan Army disturbed all of us internally and moved us," said PM Modi.

Slamming Pakistan Army's war crimes during the war, he said that 'Operation Searchlight' had stirred the movement in support of Bangladesh in India. Remembering late PM Indira Gandhi's leadership, he said, "Indira Gandhi ji's efforts are known to all. Atal ji also said that we aren't just fighting with people who're laying down their lives in the Liberation War, but we are also trying to give a new direction to history".

PM Modi's 2-day Bangladesh tour

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is on a two-day visit to Bangladesh to be a part of the neighbouring country's 50th Independence Day, making it the first foreign visit by PM Modi after the outbreak of the Coronavirus / COVID-19 pandemic. PM Modi recieved the invitation to be a part of its 50th Independence Day celebrations and to commemorate the birth centenary of the Father of the Nation of Bangladesh Sheikh Mujibur Rahman from his counterpart Sheikh Hasina, where heads of state from Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and the Maldives will also be present at the celebration. Incidentally, Bengal goes to polls on Saturday, amid PM Modi's Bangladesh visit.
United States President on Thursday (local time) said it is going to be hard to meet the May 1 deadline to pull out US troops from as per the deal made during the Donald

Speaking at his first press conference since taking office, Biden said that, "It is gonna be hard to meet the May 1 deadline. In terms of tactical reason....it is hard to get those troops out. We have been meeting with our allies, those who also have troops in If we leave we will do it in a safe and orderly way. We are in consultations with our allies and partners on how to proceed."

"It is not my intention to stay there for a long time. But the question is how and under what circumstances do we meet that agreement that was made by (former) President Trump," Biden said when asked about exit of US troops from

Lastly, Biden said, "We (US) will leave (Afghanistan), the question is when we will leave."

Since coming to power the Biden administration has made it clear that it is not willing to let the Taliban have its way as the price for ending the war in Afghanistan amid reports of al Qaeda gaining strength in the country.

On February 29, 2020, the US and the Taliban movement signed a peace deal in Doha, Qatar, stipulating a gradual withdrawal of US troops as well as the beginning of intra-Afghan negotiations and prisoner exchanges.

The talks were delayed multiple times until the Afghan government and the Taliban managed to agree on the prisoner exchange process as reported by Sputnik.

(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.)
Ammonite (15)

Verdict: Jurassic larks

Rating:

Tina (15)

Verdict: A Turner to prize

Rating:

Palaeontology, the study of fossils, is not the sexiest of subjects. Nor, usually, is early Victorian England.

In Ammonite, writer-director Francis Lee overcomes these problems by casting Kate Winslet as his fossil expert and giving her a lesbian relationship with a married protegee played by Saoirse Ronan.

At a stroke, 19th-century palaeontology is sexed up, becoming the tale of a woman who finds herself between a rock and a soft place.

There is no evidence that Mary Anning, Winslet's character, was a lesbian. We do know that her discoveries of fossils on the Dorset coast transformed understanding of prehistoric life, and that because she was female, and from humble stock, the scientific establishment of the 1840s snubbed her.

She is said, by the way, to have been the inspiration for the tongue-twister 'She sells seashells by the seashore'.

In Ammonite, writer-director Francis Lee overcomes these problems by casting Kate Winslet (right) as his fossil expert and giving her a lesbian relationship with a married protegee played by Saoirse Ronan (left)

We also know that she struck up a friendship with a woman called Charlotte Murchison (Ronan), whose husband Roderick was an acclaimed geologist.

But the real-life Charlotte was a decade older than Mary. Lee switches the age difference, doubles it and makes them lovers.

With that gigantic slab of artistic licence, the story becomes one of a clandestine relationship, although Lee keeps us waiting for the love that dared not speak its name.

Anning lives with her widowed mother Molly (a pinched Gemma Jones) in Lyme Regis. It is a gloomy household, with much to be gloomy about.

Mary squeezes a modest living out of selling her fossils, forcing her to deal with the public she appears to despise, while Molly, who has lost eight babies, instead mothers a collection of china dogs rather like Olivia Colman's Queen Anne in The Favourite (2018), who kept rabbits as proxies for her 17 dead children.

With that gigantic slab of artistic licence, the story becomes one of a clandestine relationship, although Lee keeps us waiting for the love that dared not speak its name

The Favourite was a sapphic period drama too, of course; and there have been several others recently, including Colette, Portrait Of A Lady On Fire, and on TV the excellent Gentleman Jack.

It feels like one of the odder responses to #MeToo, purging history of men, or at least making them dispensable.

In Ammonite there are only two of any significance: a dishy foreign doctor (Alec Secareanu), whose attempted wooing of Mary falls on very stony ground; and pompous Roderick Murchison (James McArdle), callously indifferent to his fragile wife.

She suffers from 'mild melancholia' and when he heads off on a geological expedition, he leaves her in Mary's care. For the first hour of the film, Lee is at pains to show us that Mary gets on much better with inanimate objects than animate ones, although an awkward encounter with a genteel townswoman played by Fiona Shaw hints heavily at a previous lesbian romance.

With that gigantic slab of artistic licence, the story becomes one of a clandestine relationship, although Lee (left with Kate Winslet) keeps us waiting for the love that dared not speak its name.

Dialogue is achingly sparse; Winslet and Ronan do more acting with their eyes than with their lips. But lips will have their moment. After 43 minutes, Charlotte cracks a smile. After 52 minutes, Mary follows suit. A little bit later, they smile at each other.

And soon these two women, buttoned-up in more ways than one, have managed to divest themselves of their copious undergarments and are having decidedly raunchy sex.

Their romance unlocks emotions in both of them, and because Winslet and Ronan are both such fine actresses, they keep us engaged. Can their love survive or will it, prey to the constraints of polite society, hit the rocks?

It is one of the failings of Ammonite that these are really the only rocks that interest us.

Lee, whose only previous feature God's Own Country (2017) was also about a gay relationship, has in a curious way done Anning the same disservice as her stuffy contemporaries, making her sex more important than her work.

Another singular woman, Tina Turner, is the subject of a terrific documentary, Tina, in which the male of the species is again cast in an unforgiving light.

Another singular woman, Tina Turner, is the subject of a terrific documentary, Tina, in which the male of the species is again cast in an unforgiving light

Come to think of it, that was also true of two other compelling chronicles of abused and exploited singing superstars, both also given an evocative, single-name title: Amy (2015) and Whitney (2018).

In the case of Tina Turner's abuser, her Svengali-like first husband Ike who forced his name on her along with much else, it's hard to forgive.

He beat her with wire coat hangers, then raped her, and her account of the night she finally left him is one of the film's most riveting moments.

But it is also an uplifting story of survival, and contains at least one treasurable item of music trivia: Tina Turner's thunderous 1984 anthem What's Love Got To Do With It was a cover version of a song previously recorded by... Buck's Fizz. I never knew that before, and I'm glad I do now.

Ammonite is available on digital platforms now. Tina is on Sky Documentaries, Now TV and altitude.film from Sunday.

Not even Judi can escape this one...

Six Minutes To Midnight (12A)

Rating:

Six Minutes to Midnight has a great title (it refers to the code for a secret phone number, Whitehall 1154), a great cast (including Judi Dench and Jim Broadbent) and a great premise, weaving a spy thriller out of the extraordinary true story of an Anglo-German finishing school in Bexhill-on-Sea in East Sussex attended by the daughters of senior Nazis, which stayed open until the very eve of World War II.

Unfortunately, it's a desperately clunky affair in which co-writer Eddie Izzard is miscast as an English teacher planted in the school by military intelligence.

Dame Judi, who plays the school's guileless headmistress, has teamed up before to great effect with a stand-up comedian, namely Billy Connolly in the charming 1997 drama Mrs Brown. But Izzard never looks comfortable, while benefiting in a way from a screenplay so ropey in parts that you wonder whether maybe we're meant to laugh, as when the girls line a staircase and sing in an unwitting pastiche of the 'So Long, Farewell' scene in The Sound Of Music.

It's a desperately clunky affair in which co-writer Eddie Izzard is miscast as an English teacher planted in the school by military intelligence. Pictured: Eddie Izzard and Judi Dench

Made in Italy (15)

Rating:

James D'Arcy, who has an acting role in Six Minutes To Midnight, is also the writer-director behind Made In Italy, a 'bittersweet comedy' pairing Liam Neeson with his son Micheal Richardson.

Unfortunately, this too is a crashing disappointment, blighted by lumpen acting, unconvincing dialogue and forced slapstick.

What it does have, however, is plenty of gorgeous Tuscan scenery as widowed painter Robert Foster (Neeson) and his semi-estranged son Jack (Richardson) restore an old family house there, prior to selling it so that Jack can buy his ex-wife out of her London art gallery.

The idea is that the adventure heals their relationship. But it's so inexpertly done, so stuffed with caricatures, that I found myself wishing on the unlikeable Jack the usual fate of Neeson's on-screen offspring. Where's Taken 4 when you need it?

Tom & Jerry The Movie (PG)

Rating:

Finally, do we need Tom & Jerry The Movie, which I reviewed in detail in Wednesday's paper? I think we could use some collective family fun right now, and this mash-up, plonking the venerable cartoon characters into real-life Manhattan, ticks at least some of the right boxes.

All available on digital platforms now.
European oil majors Shell, Eni, and OMV are looking to sell their oil and gas assets in North African country Tunisia, sources in the industry told Reuters on Friday.

Tunisia has been struggling to provide a stable regulatory environment for foreign firms over the past ten years since the Arab Spring of 2011. At the same time, Europes oil firms are now more aggressively looking to divest non-core assets to cut debt and open more investment opportunities in low-carbon energy sources as they plan to drastically cut emissions and become net-zero energy businesses in three decades.

According to Reuters sources, Shell has hired Rothschild & Co. to assist in the sale of its Tunisian assets, while Eni has retained investment bank Lazard for the sale of its operations in Tunisia. OMV, which has already sold part of its Tunisian portfolio, is also looking to exit the North African country, the sources told Reuters.

Italys Eni, which has been present in Tunisia since 1961, produced 1 million barrels of oil and condensate in the country in 2019, while annual gas production stood at 4 bcf. Eni has nine concession contacts and an exploration permit, Borj El Khadra, in Tunisia, according to its website.

Shell, which has been present in Tunisia for almost 90 years, sold in 2011 its downstream business but continued upstream exploration. With the 2016 acquisition of BG Group, Shell became the owner of producing offshore gas fields and their supporting facilities, a liquefied petroleum gas extraction plant, pipelines, storage, and export terminals.

Austria-based OMV has already sold part of its business in Tunisia, divesting some of its operations in 2018, but retaining its ownership of the development of the Nawara Concession, involving gas field infrastructure and a pipeline from a central processing plant.

The Tunisian assets of those majors may no longer be considered important given the net-zero pledges, while the political environment in Tunisia may have also played a role in the potential exodus.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Jersey Citys schools may be emptier than expected when they reopen this spring for the first time in more than a year.

The results of a survey completed by Jersey City Public School parents, revealed at Thursday nights Board of Education meeting, showed that, of those parents who responded to surveys, only 38% percent plan on sending their children to school for in-person learning.

That number is not final; only about half of JCPS parents have responded to the survey, meaning the number could increase or decrease when more responses are tallied.

But Jersey City School Deputy Superintendent Norma Fernandez said she doesnt expect that number to change much and called it a surprise.

I expected much higher, she said.

School districts across the country are embroiled in bitter disputes over reopening during the coronavirus pandemic, despite precautions and teachers who will have been vaccinated. Multiple BOE meetings have seen frustrated parents  and students  call in to urge Superintendent Franklin Walker to allow in-person instruction.

But the survey results show that some parents are not as enthused about the prospect of sending children back into classrooms.

Parents are afraid, Fernandez said. Also, with a hybrid schedule, they may not have the appropriate childcare with the flexibility to send them two days on, two days off.

The number of students in the Jersey City district has also decreased slightly as parents have pulled students out to homeschool them or send them to private schools, Fernandez said. That decrease, she said, was less than a thousand.

When you talk about the size of the district, its not a significant number, she said.

The district plans to divide classes into two cohorts, with each cohort attending two days of in-person classes a week. If fewer students than expected opt for in-person classes, that would allow the district more flexibility in class planning, Walker said, and could allow classrooms to hold 50% of in-person students at a time.

Staff and administrators will return to offices in the first weeks of April. The district has selected April 26 as a tentative reopening date for schools, with plans to nail down a solid date by April 19.

Earlier this week, Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop set aside 2,000 vaccines for teachers. Ron Greco, the president of teachers union Jersey City Education Association, said he hopes the educational staff will be fully vaccinated soon and said most educational employees have gotten at least one shot.

A survey found that, of the districts teachers who responded to a survey, 83% planned to return to in-person classrooms. More than one-quarter of the districts 2,567 teachers did not respond to the survey.

The Jersey City Public School district has spent $23 million on safety upgrades, including plexiglass barriers, thermal scanners, and PPE to prepare for in-person learning, Walker said at Thursdays board meeting Thursday.

Schools districts across the county are surveying parents and faculty to see how many parents want their children to return when schools reopen later this spring. In Harrison, roughly 38% of students returned to classrooms when the district opened for in-person learning earlier this month.

Bayonne is still completing its parent survey ahead of a planned return in May, and officials there could not be reached for comment.

Roughly half of North Bergen and Union City schools districts student bodies will return to classrooms when the districts resume in-person classes later this spring, officials said.

Ralph Passante, Union City schools coordinator of data and community development, said the district is expecting half, perhaps slightly less than half of the students to return when they resume classes in May. North Bergen expects a similar percentage.

By and large our teachers want to get back, our administrators want to get back, our students want to get back, Passante said. We all just want to do it safely.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, checks military training while inspecting a mobile corps of the People's Armed Police Force in Fujian Province, March 24, 2021. (Xinhua/Li Gang)

FUZHOU, March 26 (Xinhua) -- President Xi Jinping has stressed strengthening military training and combat readiness to enhance the capabilities to fulfill missions and tasks while inspecting a mobile corps of the People's Armed Police Force.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, inspected the corps in east China's Fujian Province on Wednesday.

Xi inspected military training courses including the use of anti-explosion devices, chemical reconnaissance and decontamination, and engineering machinery operation.

He talked with engineering machine operators and encouraged them to train diligently in a scientific manner to improve their capabilities to fulfill tasks.

Afterward, Xi was shown a video detailing the development of the corps and heard a report on the corps' performance.

Acknowledging their work, Xi called on the troops to consider worst-case scenarios, better coordinate missions, and improve operation and contingency plans to ensure their rapid response to any emergency.

Highlighting the importance of combat preparedness, Xi urged the corps to step up real-combat training and joint-combat training, and to strengthen science and technology-based and law-based training.

He also called for accelerated military modernization and combat capability development.

Xi demanded efforts to uphold the Party's absolute leadership over the armed forces and ensure the military remains absolutely loyal, pure, reliable, and the faithful guardian of the Party and the people.

He stressed Party history learning and education, demanding efforts to guide all officers and soldiers to stay true to the Party's founding mission and shoulder the task of strengthening the military.
Final election results yesterday showed Israel in political deadlock once again, with prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his opponents falling short of a governing majority.

Tuesdays vote, Israels fourth parliamentary elections in two years, was widely seen as a referendum on Mr Netanyahus fitness to rule while on trial for corruption.

He put Israels highly successful vaccination drive at the centre of his campaign but was criticised for earlier missteps during the pandemic and for refusing to step down after being indicted.

Israels election commission said that with 100pc of votes counted, Mr Netanyahus right-wing Likud party and his natural allies have won 52 seats in the 120-seat Knesset, Israels parliament.

An ideologically diverse array of parties committed to ousting him won 57 seats.

Read More

A right-wing party led by former Netanyahu ally Naftali Bennett won seven seats and an Arab Islamist party led by Mansour Abbas won four.

Both are uncommitted, but given the many rivalries in parliament, it is not clear whether either can deliver a required majority.

Party leaders have already begun negotiations that are expected to drag on for weeks. If no one is able to assemble a majority of at least 61 seats, then Israel will go to elections for an unprecedented fifth time in a little over two years.

Deep divisions between the various parties will make it difficult for either side to assemble a ruling coalition. Israelis vote for party lists rather than candidates in a system that often gives outsized power to small, sectarian factions.

Arab parties have never joined a governing coalition, and for nationalist parties, such an alliance is anathema.

Bezalel Smotrich, a Netanyahu ally and head of the far-right Religious Zionist party, said: A right-wing government will not be established with support from Abbas. Period. Not on my watch.

Gideon Saar, a defector from Mr Netanyahus Likud who now heads a six-seat party committed to ousting him, said: It is clear that Netanyahu does not have a majority to form a government under his leadership. Action must now be taken to realise the possibility of forming a government for change.

The Likud, which won the most seats of any party, fired back, saying such a bloc would be anti-democratic. It compared Mr Netanyahus opponents to the clerical leadership in Israels arch-enemy Iran, which vets candidates for high office.

Yohanan Plesner, president of the Israel Democracy Institute, said that the stalemate is Israels worst political crisis in decades.

Its apparent that our political system finds it very difficult to produce a decisive outcome, Mr Plesner said.

Several of Mr Netanyahus opponents have started discussing advancement of a bill to disqualify a politician under indictment from being tasked with forming a government.

Mr Netanyahu is on trial for fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in three cases. He has denied any wrongdoing and dismisses the charges as a witch-hunt.

Despite the charges, Mr Netanyahus Likud party received around a quarter of the votes, making it the largest party in parliament. A total of 13 parties received enough votes to enter the Knesset  the most since the 2003 election  and represent a variety of ultra-Orthodox, Arab, secular, nationalist, and liberal factions.
Tunis/Tunisia  A Ukrainian officer was injured following an accident on board his ship which docked at the Port of Gabes, in order to load 30,000 tonnes of DAP, the transport and logistics ministry reported on Thursday in a statement.

The accident occurred on Wednesday when the officer aboard the vessel flying the Marshall Islands flag was guiding the docking manoeuvers. The mooring cut and turned against him, hitting him in the chest, said Director-General of Sea Transport, Youssef Ben Romdhane told TAP.

The 54-year-old officer was rushed to a private polyclinic in Gabes. He had a rib fracture. His health is stable and he should leave the resuscitation room, added Ben Romdhane who went to his bedside together with the CEO of the Office of Ports and the Merchant Navy.
PARIS (AP)  A commission that spent nearly two years uncovering Frances role in 1994s Rwandan genocide concluded Friday that the country reacted too slowly in appreciating the extent of the horror that left over 800,000 dead and bears heavy and overwhelming responsibilities in the drift that led to the killings.

However, the French commission cleared the country of any complicity in the slaughter that mainly targeted Rwandas Tutsi ethnic minority.

Persistent claims that France under then-President Francois Mitterrand did not do enough to stop the genocide have damaged the Franco-Rwandan relationship since the 1990s.

As a result, French President Emmanuel Macron ordered the 15-member commission in May 2019 to shed light on what happened in Rwanda between 1990 and 1994.

Officials in Macrons office said the inquiry was not just about improving relations with Rwanda but with the whole African continent, since other countries also have questions about what France did at the time.

Its unclear if this report will succeed in improving relations between France and Rwanda and satisfy in particular Rwandan President Paul Kagame.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. APs earlier story follows below.

PARIS (AP)  The findings of a commission that has spent two years uncovering Frances role in 1994s Rwandan genocide are set to be made public Friday.

There have been persistent, and so-far unsubstantiated, claims that France under then-President Francois Mitterrand did not act responsibly enough to stop the slaughter of at least 800,000 people in Rwanda. Some have also accused France, a one-time colonial power in Africa, of being complicit in the killings, which principally claimed victims from Rwanda's Tutsi ethnic minority.

Historian Vincent Duclert, the commission head, is presenting the report to President Emmanuel Macron in Paris, after which it is supposed to be published online. The commission's 12 researchers had rare archival access to sensitive diplomatic and military intelligence.

Story continues

Claims of Frances role in the genocide have dogged the Franco-Rwandan relationship since the 1990s.

As a result, Macron in May 2019 ordered the commission to shed light on what happened between 1990 and 1994 in Rwanda to potentially ease relations between the two countries.

The commission has also looked at the presidential archives of Mitterrand, who had close ties to former Ruwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana, a member of the country's Hutu ethnic group.

The killings were triggered by the downing of a plane carrying Habyarimana and his Burundian counterpart Cyprien Ntaryamira on April 6, 1994.
Human chromosomes (grey) capped by telomeres (white). Credit: PD-NASA; PD-USGOV-NASA

There is no consensus across medical science as to whether or not there is a safe lower limit on alcohol consumption nor whether a small amount of alcohol is beneficial. The picture is complicated by the various congeners, such as polyphenols and other substances that are present in different concentrations in different types of alcoholic beverage, such as red and white wine, beers and ales, ciders, and spirits. Moreover, while, there has been a decisive classification of alcohol consumption as a cause of cancer, there is strong evidence that small quantities have a protective effect on the cardiovascular system.

Now, writing in the International Journal of Web and Grid Services, a team from China, Japan, Taiwan, and the U.S., has looked at how a feature of our genetic material, DNA, relates to aging and cancer and investigated a possible connection with alcohol consumption. The ends of our linear chromosomes are capped by repeated sequences of DNA base units that act as protective ends almost analogous to the stiff aglets on each end of a bootlace.

These protective sections are known as telomeres. Which each cell replication the length of the telomeres on the ends of our chromosomes get shorter. This limits the number of times a cell can replicate before there is insufficient protection for the DNA between the ends that encodes the proteins that make up the cell. Once the telomeres are damaged beyond repair or gone the cell will die. This degradative process has been linked to the limited lifespan of the cells in our bodies and the aging process itself.

Yan Pei of The University of Aizu in Aizuwakamatsu, Japan, and colleagues Jianqiang Li, Yu Guan, and Xi Xu of Beijing University of Technology, China, Jason Hung of the National Taichung University of Science and Technology, Taichung, Taiwan, and Weiliang Qiu of Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, U.S., have carried out a meta-analysis of the scientific literature. Their analysis suggests that telomere length is associated with alcohol consumption. Given that shorter telomeres, before they reach the critical length, can nevertheless lead to genomic instability, this alcohol-associated shortening could offer insight into how cancerous tumor growth might be triggered.

Telomere shortening is a natural part of the aging process. However, it is influenced by various factors that are beyond our control such as paternal age at birth, ethnicity, gender, age, telomere maintenance genes, genetic mutations of the telomeres. However, telomere length is also affected by inflammation and oxidative stress, environmental, psychosocial, behavioral exposures, and for some of those factors we may have limited control. For others, such as chronic exposure to large quantities of alcohol we have greater control.

Explore further Researchers develop new system to conduct accurate telomere profiling in less than 3 hours

More information: Jianqiang Li et al. Association between alcohol consumption and telomere length, International Journal of Web and Grid Services (2021). Jianqiang Li et al. Association between alcohol consumption and telomere length,(2021). DOI: 10.1504/IJWGS.2021.113686
Bhubaneswar, March 26 : As many as 8 rapes and 4 murder cases were registered in Odisha every day last year, according to the White Paper 2020 tabled in the state assembly on Friday.

Total 1.34 lakh cognisable cases including 1,470 murder, 514 cases of dacoity, 2,166 loot, 4,500 burglary, 10,412 theft, 3,524 swindling, 2,059 rioting, 2,984 rape, 9,817 MV accidents were reported during 2020.

According to the report, 1,34,230 cognisable offences were registered while 1,29,305 cases have been found true and charge-sheets were filed in 93,229 cases.

Odisha police registered a total of 2,984 rape cases last year while 2,907 of those were found to be true. Charge sheets were filed in 2,054 cases.

Out of 1470 murder cases registered during the year, 1,392 were found true and charge sheets have been submitted in 694 murder cases.

Similarly, the police registered 2,166 loot cases and filed charge sheets in 882 cases. Of the total cases, 2,127 were found to be true.

As many as 1816 accused persons have been arrested and stolen properties worth Rs 4.24 crore recovered during the year.

However, the report said that overall law and order situation was peaceful during 2020.

While the state government prioritises communal harmony, 27 situations of Hindu-Muslim and three of Hindu-Christian hatred were reported in 2020.

The situations were brought under control with the timely intervention of the local police and administration, the report said.

It said the government has been successful in the management of the Covid-19 situation.

While 8,902 police officers and staff were infected with the virus, 48 police personnel lost their lives on duty and 1002 donated plasma after recovering from Covid-19.

Around 18 incidents of Maoist encounters were reported in 2020-21.
A Thai legal scholar, who has worked on the human rights situations in North Korea and Syria, was officially appointed on Wednesday as the new U.N. Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Situation in Cambodia.

The U.N. Human Rights Council on Wednesday endorsed the candidacy and appointed Vitit Muntarbhorn as the next human rights rapporteur to Cambodia, taking over from Rhona Smith who has finished two terms in the U.N. position.

I wish to call on all states and stakeholders to cooperate with the newly-appointed mandate holders in the implementation of their mandates, said Council President Nazhat Shameem Khan.

An Sokkhoeun, Cambodias ambassador to the U.N. in Geneva, who spoke at the session, said the appointment of a special rapporteur showed the countrys resolute commitment to human rights.

While lending our renewed cooperation to the new Special Rapporteur  Cambodian government fervently hopes that the mandate holder undertakes the functions in strict adherence to the Code of Conduct and the Operational Manual of the Special Procedures, An Sokkhoeun said.

He said the rapporteur should establish facts based on objective, reliable information emanating from relevant credible sources. The government has routinely criticized human rights organizations, both domestic and international, for being anti-government and pro-opposition in their assessment of the countrys human rights situation.

Educated in the United Kingdom, Vitit Muntarbhorn is currently teaching at the Chulalongkorn University as professor emeritus. He previously spent years working with the U.N. on a range of rights issues, including LGBTQ, labor, childrens, and sexual rights.

From 2004 to 2010, he was the first U.N. Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights Situation in North Korea but never entered the country since Pyongyang does not recognize the mandate of the U.N. envoy to observe them.

In 2014, Muntarbhorn penned an article suggesting the possibility of invoking the International Criminal Court in response to the systematic, widespread and gross human rights abuses in North Korea.

Given that the judicial system in North Korea is not independent, it is worth exploring a resort to the international justice system, particularly referral to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for the prosecution of individual perpetrators, he wrote at the time.

Last week, Vitit Muntarbhorn criticized some ASEAN member states over their inactions to condemn the violence unleashed by the Myanmar military on protesters against its coup in early February.

[S]everal members of the group are still fence-sitting and regrettably turning a blind eye to the situation, he wrote.

Vitit Muntarbhorn on Thursday said he would not make any comment on his new role until his mandate starts on May 1.

It remains unclear when Muntarbhorn would make his first official visit to Cambodia, where Prime Minister Hun Sens government has been criticized over the deteriorating rights records since the 2017 dissolution of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party and persecution of dissidents and critics.

Outgoing rapporteur, Rhona Smith, welcomed Muntarbhorns appointment in a statement released Thursday.

I have had the honor of meeting him on several occasions over the years and we will be discussing a handover of the mandate during the weeks ahead, she said.
It all sounds positively rosy, particularly when you consider Oswald has spent the past two years dabbling in death for her new book, The Family Doctor, in which a normally sensible GP is driven to extreme measures after the murder of a close friend. Its very much in the Oswald vein, in that its a tight portrait of female friendship and reads like its made for the screen. Which it is. Oswald has already written a TV pilot. Debra Oswalds karaage chicken rice bowl. Credit:Edwina Pickles Its also very timely, with the safety of women being front-page news. Again. Oswald was inspired to write the book after hearing and reading about case after case of women being killed by their ex-partners. It would just burn in my guts, she says. And lots of people want to talk about it, about how helpless we feel and how angry we feel. And then the story came to me about a woman who has the chance, suddenly, and the means. Will she do it? What will happen if she does do it? What would you do? So its kind of a subversive daydream. I think its satisfying to imagine yourself going through that with Paula. To think, what if we did it? What will happen? And would it be satisfying? And it would, in a way. To be clear, she adds, leaning into the microphone: Im not advocating murder.

The details of the cases in The Family Doctor would ring true for any keen news consumer: a woman thrown from a bridge; a new partner then paraded outside of court for the benefit of TV cameras; and the accuseds he couldnt possibly be a killer, hes got a girlfriend defence. The shoyu ramen. Credit:Edwina Pickles Oswald spent time watching court cases, reading judges reports, talking to lawyer friends, as well as a former coroner. She also Googled. A lot. You know, How much hydromorphone does it take to kill a person? Whats the best way to strangle someone? The police probably have a file on me. Its quite the grim load, especially for someone who seems so innately cheerful. I had a fictional world to pull my feelings into, she says. You know, I got to play it out in the story of the character. So that was satisfying, actually. She pauses, then cackles: Youre looking at me like youre a little bit frightened. Only a little bit. To be fair, Oswald has form. Not only did she kill her leading man Patrick in Offspring, she knocked off Rocket the dog, too.

Theres something very satisfying about putting characters through things, and imagining the emotional response youre going to elicit from a reader or a viewer, she says. Its what we enjoy. I mean, when we killed the dog on Offspring, we wept because we all love dogs. But then we thought, Oh, this is story gold.  Oswald wrote for Offsprings first five seasons, winning an AACTA and a NSW Premiers Award for scriptwriting in the process, until it was dumped by Network Ten in 2014 for cost-cutting reasons. The show was resurrected  sans Oswald and co-writer Michael Lucas  in 2016 for another two seasons and then quietly shelved again, having never really clicked with viewers or critics. Has she watched the final two seasons? Look, people I know, people I love and respect, worked on it, she says. So I thought theres no way I can watch this. I dont want to do anything thats going to be disrespectful, because people worked hard on it. And I thought Ill cave in and watch it, but I never did. Really? Not even tempted a little?

I just thought itd make me sad. Oh. The main thing about Offspring, she continues, after stabbing at a large piece of chicken, Is that it was this huge blessing in my life. I was 50 by the time Offspring happened and working in TV and theatre, film and books for a long time. So I know how rare it is for something to come together with all that good fortune. And I dont take it for granted at all. You just count yourself lucky, thats the main thing. Patrick (Matthew Le Nevez) and Nina (Asher Keddie) moments before his death in Offspring. Oswald has been in television since 1984, writing for Sweet and Sour, Palace of Dreams and Police Rescue, where she sent Gary Sweet scurrying off a cliff (readers, he lived) and The Secret Life of Us. At home her TV tastes are almost the opposite of whats she written: the sex, death and longships of Vikings and the sex, death and dragons of Game of Thrones. Its Glover who prefers the rom-coms, which is why she persevered through the sex, baguettes and high-heels of Emily in Paris.

What does she think TV is missing these days? Loading This is a weird thing to say when Ive just written a book with murders in it but theres this idea at the moment that if something doesnt have a murder in it, its not going to grab people, she says. And theres that thing that youve got to grab people in the first 10 minutes. So theres a lot of television thats terrific, where the producers are required to kind of goose it up or make a murder central to it. Youve got to trust audiences to be interested in human beings relating to each other. Rather than it all having to be, Something happened; now were gonna go back and tell you how they got there. All those playing-with-chronology genres are great; its just that now its that, plus murders, is the only way youre allowed to tell a story about human beings and it strikes me as kind of narrow.

For all of her writing  including three adult books, nine childrens books and 11 plays  Oswald has been the subject of much writing herself. Glover has been featuring her under the alias of Jocasta in his Sydney Morning Herald column since he started writing it in 1985. Receipt for lunch with Debra Oswald at Osaka Trading Co. Its been so long I cant remember life before it happened, she says. And Jocasta is not me. Im nicer than her, as you have experienced for yourself [reader, its true!]. But I admire her; she is so tough, so uncompromising and sharp. She has never asked Glover to remove her from the column, apart from checking when he wrote about their two sons  Batboy and Space Cadet  to make sure there was nothing in there that would embarrass them. The nicest thing about it, is there are all these little moments in our lives that have been recorded that Im glad of, that I otherwise maybe would have forgotten. Its delightful. These days Jocasta has been slightly usurped in the columns by Clancy, the familys kelpie. Sometimes Im Richard Glovers partner; in the music world Im Joe Glovers mother; and now, in the dog park, Im Clancys owner. And thats fine. Im just quietly in the background, writing books where I kill men.
The surprise of President Bidens first press conference on Thursday was that he presented himself as, quite possibly, the right person for the job at this timeprincipled but pragmatic, calm but impassioned, attentive to big pictures and fine details, and, above all, humane in his approach to a problem. Some have made this point about his remarks on domestic issues, but it also fits his comments on foreign policy.

Just 65 days into his term, this may, of course, be wishful thinking. Biden faces serious challenges on every continent. America may be back, as hes proclaimed, but its interests and values have rarely been so imperiled.

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China, Iran, North Korea, and Afghanistan form the top stratum of his national-security agenda. On the first three, its hard to say which way Biden will be going; on the fourth, his direction is clear, but how he gets there is problematic. Interagency policy reviews are underway on all four and much more; but, meanwhile, on the most pressing casespotential crises that could reach turning points in a matter of weeksBidens team has faltered in its first steps.

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The most puzzling case is Iran. President Trump pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal, even though Iran was in compliance; he re-imposed sanctions, which had been lifted in exchange for the dismantlement of Irans nuclear program; a year later, after seeking a way around the obstruction with the Europeans, Iran resumed enriching uranium, citing Paragraph 36 of the deal, noting that if one side breaks its commitments, the other can respond in kind. During the 2020 campaign, Biden promised to return to the deal. (He had been vice president when President Obama and five other world leaders negotiated it.) Yet, upon entering the office, he said that the Iranians would have to make the first movethey would have to throw out their enriched uranium before he would lift the sanctions. The Iranians, not unreasonably, refused. They hadnt been the ones to tear up the deal; why should they unilaterally mend it, why should they trust the U.S. to follow suit?

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It is a mystery why Biden, in his first days as president, didnt work out an arrangement where the U.S. and Iran could make their moves simultaneously, perhaps under the European Unions auspices. In mid-February, the French foreign minister announced that he would hold host talks with Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Europes top diplomats to discuss saving the Iran nuclear deal. It looked like this would be the forum where such a formula would be arranged. But Irans officials refused to attendand the talks were canceled.

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So Biden blew it by seeking a diplomatic solution too late. Then the Iranians blew it by brushing off a meeting where a solution might have been broached. Will there be a third opportunity? Not necessarily. Iran holds presidential elections in June. Trumps withdrawal from the deal bolstered Tehrans most hardline political factions; Bidens hesitancy to repair Trumps damage reinforced their appeal. It may be that Iranian politics wont allow a restoration of the nuclear dealeven though both sides want one.

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China is a more complicated case. President Xi Jinping has been stepping up his aggressive actions and rhetoric; yet the U.S. and China also share common interests in combating climate change, terrorism, and nuclear non-proliferation. The challenge is to navigate a course that contains Chinas ambitions where our interests conflict while courting its cooperation where they coincide.

Yet, in their first meeting with Chinese diplomats, in Anchorage, Alaska, earlier this month, Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan went for all-out confrontation, itemizing Beijings sins at home and abroad, in front of reporters and cameras. They should have known Chinas top diplomat would bite back, and he did, in a 16-minute tirade. But Blinken seemed surprised and launched a second fusillade; Sullivan chimed in with an explanationwhich the Chinese termed naive and condescendingof why the American system is superior.

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Theres nothing wrong with standing up to China for U.S. values and interests, but Biden and his diplomats were in the midst of a campaign to win back allies after the four grim years of Trump. Some of these allies were inclined to join a side-alliance against China, but some were not, and very few would welcome signs of warwhether cold or all-outbetween Washington and Beijing.

The good news is that Biden seems to know this. Asked at his press conference on Thursday whether the tension at Anchorage bodes hardline trade policies toward China, Biden replied that those issues only touch a smidgen of what the relationship with China is all about.

Biden noted that hes known Xi for a long time: they talked at great length when both men were vice presidents; when Xi called to congratulate him on his election victory, they talked for two hours. They made clear to each other that, as Biden put it, were not looking for confrontation, though we know there will be steep, steep competition. Chinas goal is to become the leading country in the world. I dont criticize it for having the goal, Biden told the reporters, but added, Thats not going to happen on my watch. He will hold China accountable to follow international rules and will stand up for human rights. We dont always live up to our expectations on this score, Biden allowed, but its a value system, and the moment a president walks away from that, as the last one did, is the moment we begin to lose our legitimacy around the world.

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The centerpiece of U.S. strategy, though, will be to invest in American workers and American science. The U.S., he said, once invested 2 percent of its GDP in pure science; today it invests just 0.7 percent. Im going to change that and move back closer to 2 percent.

This monologue, which was spoken without reference to notes, embodies the mix of idealism and pragmatism implicit in traditional American diplomacy. More, it emulates the principle articulated late in life by the legendary diplomat George Kennan: It is primarily by example, never by precept, that a country such as ours exerts its most useful influence beyond its borders.

Blinken was already correcting his misstep in Anchorage. On Wednesday, the day before Bidens press conference, in a speech at a NATO conference in Brussels, Blinken stressed:

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The United States wont force our allies into an us or them choice with China We know that our allies have complex relationships with China that wont always align perfectly. But we need to navigate these challenges togetherto close the gaps in areas like technology and infrastructure, where Beijing is exploiting to exert coercive pressure. Well rely on innovation, not ultimatums. Because if we work together to make real our positive vision for the international orderif we stand up for the free and open system that we know provides the best conditions for human ingenuity, dignity, and connectionwere confident that we can outcompete China or anyone else on any playing field.

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Biden sees the fundamental conflict in the worldnot just with China but with several countries, including sometime-allies, and even within our own bordersas democracy vs. autocracy. And though he often spouts blithe optimism (we can do anythingwere the United States of America), he knows the contest is very much open.

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I predict to you, he told the reporters at Thursdays press conference, your children or grandchildren are going to be writing their dissertations on whether democracy or autocracy succeeded. How will democracies solve the problems? Xi believes democracy cant function in a complex world. Is he right? Thats whats at stake here, Biden went on. We have to demonstrate that democracies work.

This is what Biden emphasizes in most of his foreign-policy pronouncementsplaying up our strengths more than rattling on about others weaknesses. This is what Sullivan, in his better moments, means when he talks about the convergence of foreign and domestic policy. In this sense, the test of Bidens success or failure may not be clear when his time in office is over.

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Meanwhile, shit happens.

In Afghanistan, an agreement struck by the Trump administration calls for all U.S. troops to leave the country by May 1. At his press conference, Biden said it was logistically impossible to get out by then, but he will get out soon. Asked whether U.S. troops might still be there next year, he replied, I cant picture that being the case. How to pull out in coordination with NATO allies, and without seeing the country fall apartthats a harder question. He may have decided that ultimately theres little we can do about this, so, after 20 years of fighting, its time to leavea decision he urged Obama to make as well.

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North Korea is a knottier problem. Kim Jong-un is not going to give up his nuclear weapons. China is not going to make him. Now Kim has upped the tensionsthe only way he knows how to draw attention to himself and exert leverageby test-firing two ballistic missiles into Sea of Japan. Asked what hes going to do about it, Biden noted that the tests violated a U.N. Security Council resolution, hes consulting with allies, he will respond accordingly, but hes also prepared for some form of diplomacy. It was an honest answer, given that theres not much we can do about it at the moment.

Like most presidents, Biden would prefer to ponder and solve the big issues. He recently met with a group of historians to talk about Franklin Roosevelt and the other great presidents and how they dealt with their problems. Obama did this a few times too. Obama also wanted to pivot to Asia Pacific and deal with the challenges of the globes most dynamic regions, rather than remain mired in the sectarian battles of the Middle Eastthen proceeded to get mired there anyway.

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The world doesnt stop spinning, ancient feuds dont pause, power-mad tyrants dont stop flexing their muscles, while grand strategies are formulated or competing global visions of political philosophythe stuff of future dissertationsplay out. Its hardit must be impossibly wearyingto wrestle with the daily hammerings while staying focused on the ultimate goals. Thats what Biden is trying to do. Thats whats all presidents are supposed to do. Thats the job. He seems to know it. The story for all of us to keep in focus is whether he does it.
Debris flows are a mixture of boulders, sediments and water. They often occur during heavy precipitation events in steep alpine terrain and plow through gorges and mountain streams towards the valley in an uncontrolled fashion. In Switzerland alone, there are several hundred occurrences every year. Climate change facilitates this natural phenomenon as permafrost is becoming increasingly unstable and extreme weather events are on the rise. If debris flows are particularly large or if they occur in unexpected areas, they develop a considerable destructive potential that threatens human lives, infrastructure and the environment.

Warning systems play an important role in reducing the risk in exposed areas. It is crucial to be able to detect the approaching mud and debris as early and reliably as possible. Alarm systems are currently based on equipment that typically has to be installed in accessible, low-elevation valley sections. They register debris flows relatively late  a widespread problem in debris flow detection.

Researchers at ETH Zurich and the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL have now developed a new type of detector that can recognize debris flows earlier. From a safe distance, it identifies even the smallest vibrations induced by debris flows shortly after they are mobilized. The scientists led by Fabian Walter, ETH Professor of Glacier Seismology, presented their novel approach in the scientific journal Geophysical Research Letters.

Measurements at the Illgraben test site
Scientists at the Proteomics Core Unit of the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO), headed by Javier Munoz, have described the mechanisms, unknown to date, involved in maintaining embryonic stem cells in the best possible state for their use in regenerative medicine.

Their results, published in Nature Communications, will help to find novel stem-cell therapies for brain stroke, heart disease or neurodegenerative conditions like Alzheimer's or Parkinson's disease.

Naive pluripotent stem cells, ideal for doing research

Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) are pluripotent cells that can grow into all somatic cell types - a characteristic that is extremely useful for researchers and regenerative medicine. There are two types of pluripotency: naive and primed. The naive state comes before the primed one during embryonic development. Naive ESCs have the potential to differentiate into any cell types.

Thus, they are more relevant in research. However, the naive state is unstable, because naive ESCs are constantly receiving signals that regulate the transition to the primed state and their self-renewal. Understanding the mechanisms that regulate the pluripotent states is important because they might help achieve long-term maintenance of stable naive pluripotent stem cells in ESC cultures.

Traditionally, maintenance of naive ESC cultures is based on the inhibition of two of the signaling pathways that regulate cell differentiation - aka as the 2i culture method. Recently, naive ESCs have been maintained adopting a totally different approach, namely, the inhibition of Cdk8/19, a protein that regulates the expression of numerous genes, including the genes that help maintain the naive state.

While the two approaches are used to culture naive cells, little is known about the mechanisms involved." Javier Munoz, Study Lead, Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO)

Now, using proteomics, the large-scale characterization of proteins coded in a genome, CNIO scientists have described a large number of the molecular events that help stabilize these valuable ESC. "This is the first time proteomics has been used in this context," says Ana Martinez del Val, from the Proteomics Core Unit at CNIO, first author of the article.

"We analyzed the mechanisms at a number of levels. First, we conducted phosphoproteomic analyses, studying phosphorylated proteins. Phosphorylation regulates protein functions (by activating or inhibiting them). Second, we analyzed the expression of these proteins. Finally, we identified changes in metabolites (reaction intermediates or end products). With our integrated approach, we got an accurate picture of the causes of the high degree of plasticity of ESC," Martinez del Val explains.

The results of the study might have implications for research on some types of cancer. We know that "the inhibition of Cdk8 leads to reduced cell proliferation in acute myeloid leukemia by enhancing tumor suppressors", and that "Cdk8 is a colorectal cancer oncogene."

"Cdk8 activity is somehow enigmatic, since its functions vary considerably with the cell environment," says Munoz. "We have identified a number of Cdk8 targets that were unknown until now. This can help understand the function this protein regulates in other biological contexts."

Going beyond genomics with proteomics

The study by the CNIO team shows the need for a greater focus on proteomics in cancer research strategies.

Research into and treatment of disease have made huge progress in the past decades, courtesy of the techniques used in molecular biology. Two of the most frequently used techniques are genomics, the analysis of the DNA sequence - the molecule that carries all our genetic information - and transcriptomics, the study of the sets of RNA transcripts - the molecules that translate into proteins.

Proteins are macromolecules that are directly involved in chemical processes essential for life. The proteomic approach was adopted relatively recently by biomedical researchers. Proteomics has gained momentum over the past 15 years, yet it has become essential for genomics and transcriptomics to come full circle.

Genomics and proteomics study processes that take place before proteins are produced. "We use proteomics to study a number of properties of proteins that cannot be analyzed by studying DNA or RNA," says Martinez del Val. This is extremely important, since "proteins are responsible for a whole range of basic life functions that take place within cells," Munoz adds.
China has hit British institutions and MPs including former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith with sanctions in response to similar moves by the UK over the treatment of people in Xinjiang.

Britain, the US, Canada and the European Union on Monday slapped sanctions on Chinese officials deemed responsible for human rights abuses in the countrys autonomous north-west territory.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab announced a package of travel bans and asset freezes against four senior officials and the state-run Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps Public Security Bureau (XPCC PSB).

The Foreign Secretary said the abuse of the Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang was one of the worst human rights crises of our time and the international community cannot simply look the other way.

But Chinas Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement early on Friday that the move by Mr Raab was based on nothing but lies and disinformation, flagrantly breaches international law and basic norms governing international relations, grossly interferes in Chinas internal affairs, and severely undermines China-UK relations.

The ministry said it had sanctioned nine people and four British institutions that maliciously spread lies and disinformation.

Mr Duncan Smith, Tory MP Neil OBrien, Lord David Alton, Conservative MPs Tim Loughton and Nusrat Ghani, Labours Baroness Helena Kennedy, barrister Geoffrey Nice, Joanne Nicola Smith Finley, and chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee Tom Tugendhat were the individuals sanctioned.

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The groups were the China Research Group, the Conservative Party Human Rights Commission, Uyghur Tribunal and Essex Court Chambers.

As of today, the individuals concerned and their immediate family members are prohibited from entering the mainland, Hong Kong and Macao of China, their property in China will be frozen, and Chinese citizens and institutions will be prohibited from doing business with them, the ministry said, adding it reserves the right to take further measures.

The ministry also said it had summoned the UKs ambassador to China, Caroline Wilson, to lodge solemn representations, expressing firm opposition and strong condemnation.

In announcing his sanctions on Monday, Mr Raab told the Commons state control in Xinjiang is systemic.

Over a million people have been detained without trial, there are widespread claims of torture and rape in the camps, based on first-hand survivor testimony, he said.

Im sure the whole House will join me in condemning such appalling violations of the most basic human rights.

The EU had earlier announced its own sanctions, with Beijing responding by denouncing them as based on nothing but lies and disinformation and targeting its own measures at 10 individuals  including five MEPS  and four institutions.

The timing of Mr Raabs announcement came as the Government was under pressure to take a tougher stance on Beijing.

The Government faced a potential Tory revolt with backbenchers prepared to support an amendment to the Trade Bill aimed at preventing ministers signing a deal with countries involved in genocide.
Leader of Opposition in Karnataka and Congress leader said the cases filed against Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) president Rakesh Tikait in Shivamogga and Haveri has exposed the hidden agenda of Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa.

also urged Yediyurappa to withdraw all cases filed against the farmer's leader.

"I condemn the decision of the police to file cases against farmer's leader Rakesh Tikait. This has exposed the hidden agenda of self-proclaimed farmer's leader BS Yediyurappa. I urge him to immediately withdraw all the cases against Tikait," he tweeted.

"It has become a norm for the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) leaders to consider all anti-farm act protestors as criminals but the people of our country know who the real culprits are," he added.

He further said it is foolish on the part of Karnataka BJP leaders to think that they can control farmers by using the police force.

Two cases have been registered, one each in Karnataka's Shivamogga and Haveri, against Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) president Rakesh Tikait over his recent speech in Shivamogga.

On Saturday, while addressing a gathering of farmers, Tikait had said farmers in Karnataka should organise a protest in the state similar to that of Delhi and gherao Bengaluru from all sides.

"You need to make a 'Delhi' in Bengaluru. You need to gherao Bengaluru (like Delhi) from all sides and people will come and join your protest...The Prime Minister said farmers can sell crops anywhere so you take your crops to offices of District Collector, SDM and if the police stop you, ask them to buy crops on MSP," Tikait had 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.)
Every year, global communities mark World Tuberculosis (TB) Day with the aim to raise public awareness about the devastating health, social and economic impacts of the disease, strengthen effective intervention and at the same time, step up efforts to end the global TB epidemic.

Last Wednesday, March 24, the Day was marked with the theme "The clock is ticking" because the TB response urgently needs to be accelerated to reach the targets set in the Sustainable Development Goals and to realize the commitments made by Heads of State at the first-ever UN High Level Meeting on TB in 2018.

According to a message delivered by Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa, in relation to World TB Day 2021, in 2019, there were an estimated 2.5 million TB cases in the African Region accounting for 25 percent of the global burden. More than 500,000 African lives are lost to this disease every year. This is inexcusable, when TB screening and treatment is available for free in all countries.

"Too many people are pushed into poverty when they contract TB due to lost income, transport costs and other expenses."

Mentioning the survey conducted by some African countries, the report stated that households of people infected with TB are spending over 50 percent of their income on TB-related costs. This is well above the marker of 20 percent, which indicates catastrophic expenditure.

In recent years, some countries, including Ethiopia, have made significant progress and enabled to reduce new TB cases by 20 percent. However, overall progress in the WHO African Region remains slower than the milestones set for 2020, she added.

Collective action across sectors is crucial to address the challenges and accelerate progress towards ending TB by 2030. Determinants of health such as poverty, undernutrition, indoor pollution, tobacco smoking, and co-morbidities such as HIV continue to drive the TB epidemic in the African Region. This is why WHO has developed the multisectoral accountability framework and is supporting all countries to update their TB policies and to implement WHO guidelines.

"Today, I call upon governments and partners to bridge the financial gap for the TB response in Africa so that the Region can get on track to reach the SDG targets for this disease, for the benefit of African populations and future generations."

Ethiopia also held the 15th National TB Research Annual Conference and the World TB Day with the theme: "Now is the time to end TB."

Speaking on the occasion, Health State Minister Dr. Dereje Duguma said that Ethiopia though is working to end TB; it is still one of the 30 countries in the world where TB is endemic. Thus, a lot of work remains to be done.

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According to Dr. Dereje, every year while 157,000 people are infected by TB, 21,000 lives are lost to this disease. Among the people who are suspected to acquire the disease, 29 percent did not go to health institutions.

Noting the rising challenge of drug resistance tuberculosis, he said however, it is enabled to identify only 41 percent of cases. "Due attention should be given to prevent the spread of the disease."

Dr. Amsalu Bekele, Internalist and Lung Specialist at Addis Ababa University also said that because the symptoms between Coronavirus and TB tend to be similar, many people with cough quarantine and isolating themselves at home. People with cough that lasts for two or more weeks should visit health centers and tested for TB.

Currently, TB testing, treatment and follow up services are provided in all health centers established across the states, city administrations and 4,000 governmental and 800 licensed nongovernmental health institutions. In a similar way, in 67 health facilities, drug-resistant TB treatment is provided. Not less than 3,000 TB testing laboratories are also delivering services, it was learnt.
BEIJING, March 26 (Xinhua)  Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday exchanged congratulations with Cameroonian President Paul Biya on the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries.

In his message, Xi said that over the past half a century since the establishment of their diplomatic ties, China and Cameroon have been standing side by side through thick and thin, and the traditional friendship between the two countries has grown stronger with time.

In recent years, the friendly cooperative relations between the two countries have enjoyed a strong momentum of development with deepening political mutual trust and fruitful results in practical cooperation, Xi said.

The two countries have understood and supported each other on issues concerning each other's core interests and major concerns, and have coordinated closely in international and regional affairs, he noted.

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic, China has been working with Cameroon and other African countries to help and support each other in fighting the epidemic, which demonstrated the brotherly friendship between China and Africa that shares weal and woe, Xi said.

Xi emphasized that he attaches great importance to the development of China-Cameroon relations.

He expressed the willingness to work with Biya to take the opportunity of the 50th anniversary of the diplomatic ties to implement the outcomes of the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation and enhance their joint efforts to build the Belt and Road, so as to benefit the two countries and peoples and to make positive contributions to forging a closer China-Africa community with a shared future.

(Source: Xinhua)
Correction: A prior version of this story indicated that the wife of Gomez was a Michigan resident. She did not have lawful clearance to be in the U.S.

A Hispanic man, his wife and brother-in-law, all Michigan residents who spoke little English, were pulled over July 5, 2018 by a Michigan state trooper in Traverse City due to a loud exhaust.

Arnulfo Gomez, who moved to the U.S. three decades ago, provided a valid Michigan drivers license. Despite having a clean record and citizenship, he wasnt allowed to leave. All three were detained at the roadside for over a half-hour until another state trooper rolled up.

That trooper had a passenger. It was a Border Patrol agent.

The agent questioned the trio and ordered Gomezs wife, a longtime Michigan resident but not a lawful citizen, out of the vehicle.

Gomez later said, at that moment, he feared his wife would be taken from him and their two children, both U.S. citizens.

The trio were ultimately released. Police indicated they didnt want to detain the woman for possible deportation due to health issues she suffered and complications that might cause.

But the ACLU of Michigan believes the driver and passengers endured what would ordinarily be considered an unlawful detention, considering there was initially no probable cause to believe any crime had been committed, beyond claims of a loud muffler for which Gomez was never cited.

The ACLU used the incident to highlight what it believes is abusive and unaccountable encroachment of Border Patrol agents throughout the state.

Michigan cities located far from the Canadian border are focal points for Border Patrol immigration enforcement, and they shouldnt be, says the ACLU.

The civil rights organization on Thursday released a report, The Borders Long Shadow, which is five years in the making, based on numerous public information requests obtained through litigation from the often-secretive U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), an agency within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Enforcement records included Border Patrol activity between 2012 and 2019 and show that law enforcers routinely spend their time and resources targeting people of Latin American origin who are long-term Michigan residents, according to the ACLU report.

Findings focus on the alleged profiling of residents suspected of entering the country illegally based largely on ethnicity and language, as well as assistance the ACLU says Michigan state and local police frequently provide immigration enforcers that leads to arrests.

The ACLU is calling for stricter limitations on Border Patrol officers and their vast jurisdiction, an end to collaboration between state or local police and federal immigration agencies, less racial and ethnic profiling, greater access to Michigan ID for noncitizens and much more transparency and public reporting from federal agencies that enforce immigration laws.

Some of key findings included in the ACLU report:

96% of those detained or arrested by Border Patrol in Michigan are not white, described in reports using predetermined pigment descriptions that include: black, yellow, dark brown and medium brown. Only 3.7% were classified as white or fair.

Two thirds of Border Patrol arrests occurred in cities, townships or villages that dont share shoreline with an international border or waterway.

85% of those suspected of being in the country illegally who were detained by Border Patrol came from Latin America, although that segment only makes up about 17% of the states population.

A third of those detained by Border Patrol were legal citizens.

Among those arrested for being in the county illegally, more than 81% reported permanent Michigan addresses with an average length of residency in excess of seven years.

49% of Border Patrol arrests began with stops by a local or state police agency. State police were responsible for 38% of those initial contacts.

The number of Michigan Border Patrol agents increased from 35 in 2000 to 404 by 2019.

The report reveals what Border Patrol has been trying to hide, that it operates throughout the state, it targets people of color, shows little tangible results and it abuses its power to target people of color, said ACLU of Michigan attorney Monica Andrade, who helped co-author the report. And by the same token, (Michigan State Police) should be doing its job. Its job is to protect its community. Its not to cause this wedge in the community by breaking the trust and working with Border Patrol.

The ACLU said data shows that 70% of those arrested at border crossings are of Canadian or European descent, indicating Border Patrol is arresting a large number of residents from Latin American in other places around the state.

The Border Patrols mandated mission in Michigan is to patrol the U.S. border with Canada, Andrade said. Even though the majority of people who are attempting to enter Michigan are either from Canada or another European country, Border Patrol targets enforcement on people of color who did not enter the U.S. from Canada.

The Migration Policy Institute analyzing U.S. Census data in 2018 estimated nearly 73% of the nations nearly 11 million unauthorized residents arrived from Spanish-speaking countries.

A map released in the ACLU of Michigan' report analyzing Michigan Border Patrol enforcement data that shows the agency's jurisdiction in the state. Courtesy of the ACLU of Michigan.

Whether standing in a wide-open cornfield at the center of Michigans Lower Peninsula or driving along the Lake Michigan shoreline, no matter if youre hundreds of miles from the nearest border checkpoint, youre still technically in an international border zone when youre anywhere in Michigan.

Thats because U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents are allowed to operate within 100 miles of an international border and the Great Lakes are considered an international maritime boundary. The ACLU claims border agents and police agencies are taking advantage that wide jurisdictional authority that includes constitutional exemptions for federal border enforcers, allowing them to conduct warrantless searches and detain without standard probable cause.

All of Michigan falls within that jurisdiction, based on how they read it, which is wrong, Andrade said. Our position is that the Fourth Amendment protects everyone against unreasonable searches and seizures and that applies to everyone in the U.S.

MLive requested and was awaiting comment on the report from representatives for the CBP.

Michigan State Police responded to the ACLU report with a statement that it has or is in the process of instituting formal policies to improve the equitable treatment of all citizens. Some of the policy changes have occurred with ACLU involvement, according to State Police Director Col. Joe Gasper.

Existing policy directs troopers to presume every suspect is a U.S. citizen, unless they admit otherwise or unless there is reasonable cause to believe otherwise, state police said. They did not define reasonable cause.

State police have banned detention or arrest based solely on immigration warrants or violations. Troopers are also prohibited from extending detention for the purpose of confirming immigration status and requiring proof of immigration status, unless necessary as part of a criminal investigation, according to the statement.

The agency also now employs its own translators to assist when there is a language barrier, and doesnt contact federal immigration agencies except in emergency situations where no department assets are available.

After state police, the ACLU said Macomb County sheriffs deputies and Detroit police are involved in the next highest number of Border Patrol immigration arrests.

Traffic stops are definitely one way that we work with (Border Patrol), however, they do assist us on calls for service as well, said Macomb County Sheriffs Sgt. Renee Yax. For example, if we make contact with someone and they are unable to identify themselves properly and are unable to communicate with us, meaning the deputy and individual do not speak the same language, we may call on Border Patrol to assist us.

Border Patrol agents are helpful in aiding with translation as well as helping to identify someone that may not have proper U.S. identification.

Detroit since 2017 has had a city ordinance in place that prohibits officers from asking for information concerning immigration status for the purpose of ascertaining a persons compliance with federal immigration law or information concerning immigration status from a person who is seeking police services, or is a victim, or is a witness.

Cindy Gamboa, a director with the Detroit Hispanic Development Corporation who joined the ACLU in its announcement Thursday, said that based on her conversations with Detroits immigrant residents, police are frequently profiling for immigration purposes in violation of their own ordinance.

The other thing that were seeing a lot of in Detroit is theyre using Border Patrol for translation services, Gamboa said. Were saying that is not acceptable. There is other resources for translation and ... that could lead to deportation and family separation, as well.

Detroit police deny both claims.

Our directive prohibits immigration enforcement unless it is relevant to the prosecution or investigation of a violent criminal offense or when processing an arrested person on suspicion of committing a violent criminal offense, said Detroit Police Sgt. Nicole Kirkwood. We do not go out with the sole purpose of investigating violators of immigration law, any actions contrary to our directives is a violation.

Furthermore, we issued an administrative message last year to our members instructing all members if they interact with a citizen with limited ability to speak English, they shall not contact Border Patrol or any other federal agency for translation services.

Amid heightened tension around immigration after President Donald Trump took office in 2017 and signed an executive order for the hiring of 10,000 new Border Patrol officers, Detroits police chief said his department would cooperate with federal immigration officials.

We will contact Immigration if theyre here illegally, Chief James Craig said during an interview at the time.

The ACLU said its analysis of Border Patrol data makes it clear that the Border Patrols activities are far removed from the border have normalized racial profiling, promoted otherization and separated families.

State and local police are deeply entangled in, and complicit with, these discriminatory practices, the report concludes. Fundamental reforms are needed.

More on MLive:

Immigrants rally at Michigan Capitol

Detroit isnt a Sanctuary City

Drivers licenses for undocumented immigrants supported by Grand Rapids officials

Detroit police never ask immigration status

Whitmer, Dems support expanding drivers licenses to all immigrants

Immigrants detained in Detroit sweep
Research shows rent debts are increasing 'to the point where there is no hope of many being able to afford to pay them back.' Photo: Getty Images

There are an estimated 840,000 private tenants who have built rent arrears since lockdown measures began, a new report by the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) revealed. The organisation is renewing its call for an urgent financial package to help tenants pay off these debts.

NLRA research shows that these debts are increasing "to the point where there is no hope of many being able to afford to pay them back."

"The outcome will be that most will have to leave their homes as emergency measures taper down from June," it warned.

Earlier, the government had announced that regulations restricting repossessions will be extended until 31 May before being gradually wound down.

Ben Beadle, NLRA's CEO, said "ministers need to ensure the tenants have the financial means to pay off rent debts built as a result of the pandemic. Without this they will have to accept the inevitable consequence of rising homelessness and damaged credit scores.

The association said landlords are being impacted too. Most have been working with struggling tenants to help keep them in their homes but 60% have lost rental income as a result of the pandemic.

Of these, 39% said the losses were continuing to increase.

WATCH: How much money do I need to buy a house?

READ MORE: Chancellor urged to tackle UK's rent debt crisis with millions in arrears

Those who are making claims to repossess a property are seeing the process take them a year on average.

This is despite cases that courts are prioritising are those related to tenant anti-social behaviour and other criminal activity and where rent arrears were building before lockdown measures started.

The NRLA wants government-guaranteed, interest-free hardship loans to be made be available for tenants now in arrears who do not qualify for benefit support. For those who are getting benefits, it recommends further help in the form of grants.

It is asking courts to use video calls to ensure legitimate possession cases can be heard more swiftly. It also wants tenants to have access to legal advice and support much earlier in the process than at present.

Story continues

Last month, a coalition of landlords, housing groups and charities warned that the government needs to do more to support renters and avoid them "being scarred" by debts, otherwise more will lose their homes in the coming months, with the risk of an increase in homelessness.

WATCH: UK property: What is shared ownership?
Chronicle file

There are only a few paragraphs on the front page dedicated to it, but I wanted to point your attention to the story of brothers Howard and Hayne Doan from the Heights.

The two soldiers died within weeks of each other in 1945. Four years later, the two were finally going to be buried side-by-side, though the article doesn't explain why it took so long.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-25 15:02:30|Editor: huaxia

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ULAN BATOR, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia registered 285 new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, the highest daily number since reporting its first case in March 2020, the country's National Center for Communicable Diseases (NCCD) said Thursday.

Of the latest confirmed cases, 267 were detected in Ulan Bator, the country's capital and the hardest-hit city, and the remaining 18 cases were reported in seven provinces, the NCCD said in a statement.

The new cases in these provinces were found in people who had close contact with previously confirmed cases in Ulan Bator, the center added.

The Asian country has so far recorded a total of 5,895 cases, of which over 4,900 were detected in the capital.

Meanwhile, 97 more patients have recovered, bringing the total to 4,044.

The Asian country, which has a population of around 3.3 million, has recorded nine COVID-19 deaths so far. Enditem
Good morning, its Friday, March 26, 2021, the day of the week when I reprise a quotation meant to be uplifting or educational. Todays comes from the 44th president of the United States, with an assist from a little-known American schoolteacher who wrote a poem that was reprised seven years ago today in a military cemetery in Europe.

Poetry is a fitting theme today. Robert Frost was born on this date in 1874; on March 26, 1892, Walt Whitman went to his final rest. Ill cue up the scene for Barack Obama in a moment. First, Id point you to RCPs front page, which presents our poll averages, videos, breaking news stories, and aggregated opinion pieces spanning the political spectrum. We also offer original material from our own reporters, columnists, and contributors:

* * *

Biden Finally Meets the Press. Phil Wegmann has this analysis of the presidents first full press conference, which offered a stark contrast to those of his predecessor.

There Is No China Model. Richard Bernstein explores assertions about what makes the Chinese economy tick, and what its successes mask.

U.S. Cities Can Deliver Climate Solutions Outside the Courtroom. At RealClearEnergy, Sarah E. Hunt argues that local lawsuits aimed at global issues are counterproductive.

The Tale Wags the Dog as News Becomes Propaganda. Columnist J. Peder Zane weighs in on the Atlanta shootings and the medias preferred narrative.

Maybe Washington Should Let Nord Stream 2 Go. At RealClearWorld, Daniel DePretris considers opposition to the undersea Russian pipeline designed to transport more natural gas to Germany.

The Dignity of Work: AOCs View Has Replaced FDRs. At RealClearPolicy, Matt Weidinger assails the congresswomans advocacy of permanent relief regardless of ones ability to work.

Success, Not Corporate Wokeness, Elevates the Human Condition. At RealClearMarkets, Andrew Olivastro writes that social responsibility starts with job creation and sustainable growth.

Track Record of Bidens Education Secretary Nominee. At RealClearEducation, Tressa Pankovits examines claims that Cindy Marten reduced achievement gaps in San Diego schools.

* * *

John McCrae was a surgeon in a Canadian artillery unit in 1915 and was running an army field hospital when a mortally wounded lieutenant named Alexis Helmer was brought in during the Second Battle of Ypres. Helmer had been a student of McCraes in Montreal and the physician was moved in his grief to write a poem about the fallen. In Flanders Fields was published that same year in a London magazine.

McCrae was promoted during the war to lieutenant colonel, but he did not survive the war either. His verses live on, however, although they have had different meanings to ensuing generations. In only three stanzas, McCrae managed to write a poem that is both a lament of the wasted lives of war, and a call to arms. The first stanza sets the scene, the second mourns the fallen, and the third urges others to carry the torch of freedom forward. It was this last sentiment that was referenced on March 26, 2014, by President Obama as he placed a wreath at Flanders Field American Cemetery and Memorial in Belgium.

The U.S. president was preceded at the podium by Belgian King Philippe and Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo. Both leaders expressed gratitude for the Americans who fought side by side with Belgium and the other allies. The king, whose great-grandfather had resisted the Kaisers ultimatum, also invoked the words of Woodrow Wilson: There is a price which is too great to pay for peace, and that price can be put in one word. One cannot pay the price of self-respect.

We are gathered today to remember the millions of soldiers and civilians who died during the First World War in Belgium and in the rest of Europe, added the prime minister, and, especially, to remember the Americans who lost their lives in our cities and our countryside. On behalf of Belgium, I will honor their memory and thank them and their families for their terrible sacrifice.  We will never forget.

When it was his turn to speak, President Obama was equally gracious. Near the end of his brief remarks, the president recited the third stanza of John McCraes famous poem.

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.

Obama continued: What is lesser known is that three years after he wrote those words -- and thousands of miles away -- an American schoolteacher named Moina Michael read McCraes poem. And she was so moved that she wrote a response:

Oh! you who sleep in Flanders Fields,"

Sleep sweet -- to rise anew!

We caught the torch you threw

And holding high, we keep the Faith

With All who died.

We can say we caught the torch, Obama said, as if addressing the fallen heroes buried there. We kept the faith.

And thats our quote of the week.

Carl M. Cannon

Washington Bureau chief, RealClearPolitics

@CarlCannon (Twitter)

ccannon@realclearpolitics.com
The city of Charleston is set to receive nearly $21 million in federal coronavirus stimulus funding but city officials are unsure if they can use it to reverse a local property tax increase passed late last year.

The money was awarded to Charleston as part of the $1.9 billion stimulus package approved by Congress in early March. As part of that legislation, lawmakers allocated roughly $350 billion to help shore up the finances for local, state and tribal governments throughout the country.

The intent is to help those bodies recover from the coronavirus pandemic, which strained parts of the economy and led to dips in local tax revenue.

Charleston was not immune from the financial pressures. A decline in tourism and business-related tax revenue led the City Council in December to cut millions of dollars in city spending to help balance its budget.

In a split vote, the council members also reluctantly decided to raise property taxes to bring in an extra $3.2 million this year and avoid furloughing city employees, including firefighters and police officers.

That tax hike is expected to increase the bills for property owners in Charleston this year anywhere from $24 to $72 depending on the size of the home and whether the property is rented or owner occupied.

At the time, many of the council members who voted in favor of the tax increase said they would reverse that decision if the city received financial assistance from the federal government.

Councilman Harry Griffin, who represents outer West Ashley, wanted an answer from his colleagues this week on whether they would follow through on that promise now that the federal funds are on the way.

"We said that if we got federal funding we would roll back the tax increase," said Griffin, who voted against the tax increase in December.

The city's staff, however, informed the council at the March 23 meeting they needed more time to determine if the stimulus funds could be used in that way.

Amy Wharton, Charleston's chief financial officer, said the problem is the federal stimulus bill bans states from using the money to "directly or indirectly" offset a reduction in tax revenue.

The same language does not specifically apply to the money given to cities like Charleston, but Wharton said that is still a gray area that is up for dispute. If the council were to use the money to offset its property tax increase now, she said the city would run the risk of violating the law and could be forced to pay back all of the federal funds.

That's not something City Council members were willing to risk this week.

"You'd literally have to cough the money back up and return it to the federal government," Mayor John Tecklenburg said. "We just need to be prudent and careful about that before we make any firm decisions."

"I'm very concerned that we would make a wrong assumption on that," added Councilwoman Carol Jackson, who represents James Island.

Susan Herdina, an attorney for the city, told council members they may need to wait until the city receives more legal guidance from the federal Department of Treasury. She noted that more than 20 state attorneys general, including South Carolina's Alan Wilson, raised issues with the restrictions Congress placed on the federal stimulus funds.

The outcome of those legal disputes could also help to determine whether the city can use the federal money to reverse its earlier property tax increase, which will show up in people's bills this fall.

The council members plan to discuss the issue further at upcoming committee hearings, and many of them emphasized that they planned to roll back the property tax hike, if they can.

"Let's get the answers that we need to receive. I'm not wavering from my commitment on this," said Councilman Peter Shahid, who represents part of West Ashley.
press release

The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) have agreed to conduct a joint investigation into the human rights violations and abuses allegedly committed by all parties in the context of the Tigray conflict, as part of the much-needed accountability process for the victims.

The EHRC and OHCHR have been monitoring closely the human rights situation since the start of the conflict on 4 November 2020. Both organizations remain concerned about the reports of serious human rights violations and abuses and the devastating impact of the conflict on the civilian population. With multiple actors involved in the conflict and the gravity of the reported violations, an objective, independent investigation is urgently required.

The agreement to collaborate in a joint investigation is the result of an ongoing partnership and engagement between the two organizations, founded on shared objectives to advance and strengthen respect and protection of human rights as well as accountability for violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law committed by all parties in the context of the Tigray conflict. Such investigations are within the existing mandate of both organizations.

The deployment will start as soon as possible for an initial period of three months.
President Muhammadu Buhari has described Nigeria as a peaceful nation like Gambia, South Korea, Slovak, Australia, Bagladesh and Guinea Bissau.

Speaking on Thursday at the State House, Abuja, while receiving letters of credence from the envoys of the six countries, the president identified peace as another common thing among the seven countries apart from the fraternal relations between Nigeria and the nations.

He said: "In addition to the fraternal relations between us, the one thing Nigeria has in common with your countries is peace. Peace is priceless, desirable and crucial to sustainable development and achieving the targets set by the UN global initiatives.

"It is therefore imperative for us to work individually and bilaterally for sustainable peace. Achieving global peace is vital to attaining food security. Peace and food security should be pursued simultaneously."

He assured the new ambassadors that Nigeria enjoys very good bilateral relations with each of their countries, and there was need to enhance the cordial relations for the joint benefit of citizens.

The president used the forum to call on the international community to further collaborate on tackling some of the major threats across the globe, which include terrorism, insurgency, displacement of persons, and climate change, reiterating that the growing challenges pose real threat to human existence.

He, therefore, urged diplomats to work towards building stronger relations, with focus on providing joint solutions to rising human and natural challenges.

He said: "I would like to lay emphasis on the need for us to come together to address and overcome our common challenges. Terrorism, insurgency, displacement of persons, climate change, population explosion, human trafficking, corruption, poverty, and proliferation of small arms and light weapons are all either the sources of conflict or results of it.

"These challenges though on a diverse scale, threaten the existence of humanity and human relations. These challenges underscore the need for the international community to work together to collectively identify appropriate measures to globally overcome these challenges."

President Buhari told the envoys that the novel coronavirus pandemic remains humanity's greatest threat as it does not only affect public health, but also has a devastating effect on people's economy and livelihood.

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He noted that though countries around the world have commenced the vaccine rollout against the pandemic, mitigating the spread of the virus and the impact of its infection, remains cause for concern.

While welcoming the envoys to Nigeria as they formally assume diplomatic responsibilities, the president urged them to build on the successes of their predecessors, adding that: "This age-long tradition and practice enshrined in the Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations marks the official commencement of your functions as principal representatives of your respective countries."

The president received letters of credence from High Commissioner of The Gambia, Mr Mohamadou Musa Njie; Ambassador of South Korea, Mr Kim Young-Chae; Ambassador of Slovak, Mr Tomas Felix; High Commissioner of Australia, Mr John Gerard Donnelly; High Commissioner of Bangladesh, Mr Md. Masudur Rahman; and Ambassador of Guinea Bissau, Dr Jaao Ribeiro Butiam Co.

Speaking on behalf of the diplomats, High Commissioner of The Gambia thanked President Buhari for the warm reception they had received since coming into the country.

"We will not spare efforts in putting in our best to improve relations between our countries," he said.
opinion

Our planet is getting hotter and the consequences of our environmental plunder will not occur in one uninterrupted event. Climate change is not limited to temperature. We have to look out for an increase in the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events.

Wow, so much rain! Climate change is a hoax. This sentiment is preponderant on social media as South Africans celebrate the abundant rains that have bucketed down on parts of the country over the past few months. Cyclone Eloise, which made landfall in Beira, Mozambique, in January also dumped a lot of rain on the country, which must have put even broader smiles on farmers' faces.

Once again, climate scientists are being branded as doom-mongers, the boy who cried wolf and even pseudo-experts who peddle natural weather events as extraordinary, epoch-defining processes.

And yet, while some people are celebrating the rains, others are watching the skies nervously.

In the central and southern Karoo and the Eastern Cape, the situation is desperate. The Eastern Cape in particular must give us pause. Residents of Port Elizabeth are more preoccupied with water shortages than the name change to Gqeberha. They will deal with that later. For now, all the talk...
This story was co-published in partnership with the Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit news organization in Washington, D.C.

Nursing home social worker Sang Nguyen lived in constant fear that hed bring Covid-19 home to his parents and his 78-year-old grandmother. He knew from his job how deadly the coronavirus could be for older people with pre-existing health conditions.

So the family began hunkering down last year at home in Puyallup, Washington, not far from Tacoma. Nguyens parents, 46 and 55, both have underlying health issues and suspended operations at their nail salon. Nguyens teenage siblings stayed inside to attend high school online. His grandmother continued to divide her time between the Nguyen home and another childs house.

Nguyen, 25, had no choice but to report to work and try his best to avoid infecting his multigenerational family. Hed enter his house after work through the garage, take off his clothes to disinfect them and immediately shower.

I felt like Covid was truly consuming me, Nguyen said of the strain.

Sang Nguyen, 25, lives in a multigenerational household with his siblings, parents and grandmother in Puyallup, Washington. According to the National Asian Pacific Center on Aging, 42 percent of Asian American and Pacific Islanders are family caregivers, compared to 22 percent of the general population. (Center for Public Integrity)

Washington is among only a handful of states that have both recognized Covid-19s threat to multigenerational households and prioritized the distribution of vaccinations accordingly. A Center for Public Integrity analysis of every county in the U.S. shows that people of color, at greater risk from the virus for a variety of factors, are far more likely to live in the same home as older relatives.

Washington became the first state to put multigenerational households near the top of its Covid-19 vaccine priority list on Jan. 6.

Like other states, Washington followed federal guidance and first prioritized high risk health care workers, first responders and nursing home residents  the latter of whom account for about a third of Covid-19 deaths nationwide. But Washington broke new ground when it next prioritized people 70 or older and people 50 and older in multigenerational homes where they care for grandchildren or parents or receive care at home.

Story continues

The rollout hasnt always been smooth, according to some activists representing communities of color who pushed for it. But prominent virus experts are urging other jurisdictions, as vaccine supplies grow, to also target multigenerational homes as an effective way to reach communities of color.

Public Integritys analysis found that 18 percent of U.S. households are multigenerational. We define these households as consisting of at least two generations. That includes parents and adult children, as well as families that extend from grandparents to grandchildren. The percentages among people of color are much higher: 30 percent among Latinos, 25 percent among Asians and 24 percent among Black families, compared to 15 percent for non-Latino white households.

The analysis found that two states with high-priced housing, California and Hawaii, have the highest proportions of multigenerational households, at 24 percent and 23 percent, respectively. In numerous counties throughout the country, the percentages are even higher.

These households include millions of Americans and immigrants who live with extended family to suit elders needs, for cultural reasons or because its more affordable. Not coincidentally, health experts say, ethnicities with elevated rates of multigenerational homes suffer infections and death rates greater than their white counterparts of all ages.

Inside-the-home transmission is what has been killing so many older people of color, said Dr. Ashish Jha, a leading global public health expert and dean of the Brown University School of Public Health.

Vaccination of staff at Keck Medicine of USC - during the Coronavirus pandemic (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images file)

Jha agrees with other specialists that vaccinating essential workers, from teachers to farmworkers, is crucial to stop the spread of the virus.

But early vaccination of essential workers alone probably is not enough, Jha said. We really do need to find ways to prevent the intergenerational spread of the infection in these households.

These households are often made up of people of color, who have less access to health insurance and higher rates of health problems that make Covid-19 deadlier.

Focusing vaccination access on the most vulnerable demographics, regardless of age, would require prioritizing minority populations because they have more underlying health conditions, said Dr. James Hildreth, president of Meharry Medical College, a historically Black medical school in Nashville, Tennessee.

Whats keeping that from happening is that it appears to be prioritizing based on race, and in todays United States, Hildreth said, thats just not going to fly.

President Joe Biden wants all adults to be eligible for vaccinations no later than May 1, but it has been left to states to determine who should be prioritized in the meantime.

It felt like we were invisible

As anticipation of a vaccine release grew last year, leaders in Washingtons immigrant communities and communities of color asked the state to designate multigenerational families as an early high priority.

About 22 percent of Asian households in the state are multigenerational. But it felt like we were invisible, said Seattle resident Trang Tu, who lives with and cares for her 90-year-old mother.

Last summer, a federal advisory group tasked with developing plans to fairly distribute the vaccines began wrestling with the concerns of multigenerational families. The advisers suggested that local officials have latitude to vaccinate entire households regardless of age if experts thought it would be more efficient and equitable to protect vulnerable communities.

Tu, 48, joined a Dec. 20 Zoom meeting for the public with representatives of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Knowing that vaccines would be in short supply initially, CDC advisers had already recommended Dec. 1 that vaccinations first go to health care workers and residents of long-term care facilities where outbreaks had been so deadly.

The CDC also issued a statement at the time suggesting that as vaccine supply increased, it was open to future recommendations prioritizing multigenerational households.

Mobile Vaccination Clinic Serves Vulnerable Communities Affected By COVID (David Ryder / Getty Images file)

On Dec. 20, updated guidance from CDC advisers recommended that people ages 75 and up and frontline essential workers next receive vaccinations, followed by those 65 and older, other essential workers and people ages 16 to 64 with high-risk medical conditions. The CDC didnt explicitly prioritize multigenerational households but recognized that a greater percentage of elders of color live in them.

States largely adopted CDC vaccination priority guidelines. But because states were allowed flexibility to design their own plans, Tu focused on influencing her home state, Washington.

Covid-19 death rates in Washington have been disproportionately higher among households of color. Since the pandemic began, the death rate among Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders has been six times higher than that of white residents. Latino, Native American and Alaskan death rates have been three times higher. And the death rate has been nearly twice as high for Black residents.

Multigenerational households often include essential workers, such as Sang Nguyen, who are at greater risk of bringing the virus home. Then there are those caring for frail elders, such as Tu, who dont have priority eligibility for vaccinations because they arent employed at health care facilities.

Katie Meehan, the Washington Health Departments equity and social justice manager, said prioritizing multigenerational families was one of the strongest themes that emerged in discussions with community representatives last fall.

At least three other states have adopted versions of Washingtons policy.

Alaska began vaccinating people 45 and older in multigenerational households in February. The Alaska Tribal Health System was already doing so. Crucially, older adults may be more inclined to get vaccinated when they can do so with family members, said Clinton Bennett, a spokesman for the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services.

In early March, Minnesota began expanding eligibility to people 50 and up in homes with at least three generations, such as a grandparent, a parent and a grandchild.

Oregon also plans to target multigenerational households for vaccinations. Officials in Multnomah County, home to Portland, plan to consult with community organizations about which types of households should qualify. You can see how many people might define that differently, said Jessica Guernsey, the countys public health director.

Most states are now vaccinating those 65 and older, who account for 8 out of 10 Covid-19 deaths. But the age limit cuts out younger people of color, many of them likely to live in multigenerational households, who face disproportionate risks compared to white peers.

Thats why Jha, the Brown University expert, recommended last month that states lower the limit to 55 to reach vulnerable communities.

Data support his point. Among people ages 55 to 64, Black and Latino death rates are at least five times higher than for white people, according to the Brookings Institution, which analyzed CDC data.

Covid-19 hits multigenerational counties

Some of the counties Public Integrity found to have exceptionally large concentrations of multigenerational households have also been ravaged by Covid-19.

In the Latino-majority border community of Webb County, Texas, 36 percent of households are multigenerational, one of the highest concentrations in the country. At least 1 in 6 residents has been infected, and close to 30 percent of residents lack health insurance. In two California counties, San Bernardino and Imperial, two majority Latino counties, 30 percent of households are multigenerational. Elsewhere, such households are common among white families in West Virginia, Kentucky and other parts of Appalachia.

The South is home to large proportions of Black multigenerational households, especially in the Mississippi Delta.

Mississippi announced March 15 that it will allow anyone 16 and older to try to book appointments. That allows Paege Fuller, 35, to start trying. Fuller and her son, 11, moved back to Jackson from Houston after she lost her job because of the pandemic. Fuller is Black, as is 38 percent of Mississippis population. Although Black residents account for about 39 percent of Covid-19 deaths, the state estimates that they were only 28 percent of those who had been vaccinated through Monday.

Fuller lives with her mother, who works outside the home. She helps her grandparents, 86 and 87, who live nearby, shop and attend church virtually on an iPad. Fuller struggled for days to make a vaccination appointment for them, too. Her grandparents finally got shots in February. But the whole family is still fearful, especially as variants of the virus circulate that may be partly resistant to the vaccines.

Image: Fuller Family (Courtesy of the Fuller family)

Those are my grandparents, Fuller said. They took care of me, so it's my time to take care of them, and I want them around as long as possible.

The Muriels, a Latino family in Hernando County, Florida, know how easily the virus can spread inside a larger household.

In their Gulf Coast community north of Tampa, about 19 percent of households are multigenerational, one of the biggest concentrations in Florida. The Muriel household includes Kathy, 59, her husband, 58, and four sons, ages 24 to 32. They all tested positive for Covid-19 last year.

The family tried to fend off the virus with hand-washing, masks and distancing in public. But it was unnatural to be so careful at home. By the time we figured out I think you may have Covid, we all went down within a weeks time, Kathy said.

For months last summer, the family fought the viruss stew of symptoms: sore throat, body ache, fever chills, fatigue and eyeball pain. Theyve all recovered but worry that a variant could return like an unwanted and potentially deadly guest.

Florida is prioritizing seniors 65 and older but recently opened eligibility to those older than 50. Kathy and her husband can try to make an appointment now. One of her sons, a nursing home worker, was vaccinated in February.

Starting next week, the state is lowering the vaccination age to 40, and after April 5, Floridians age 18 and older will be eligible.

Soon, Kathys other adult sons will be able to at least try to get an appointment.

California: ZIP codes to get to families

In California, Imperial County public health workers fan out before dawn to find farmworkers to vaccinate. They hope their focus helps protect members of multigenerational families, close to 1 in 3 of all households there. In Los Angeles County  27 percent multigenerational  labor activists also pushed to vaccinate people at work to try to protect hard-hit blue-collar households.

Imperial is one of Americas primary vegetable-growing regions, with workers toiling through the pandemic. Last June the county had the highest Covid-19 death rate in California. Its still a high-risk community, with at least 1 in 7 people estimated to have been infected.

California health officials have a different approach to reach multigenerational families in Imperial and similar counties. The state is sending 40 percent of its vaccine supply to ZIP codes in the lowest quartile of an index it calls Healthy Places.

One factor in that score: how crowded the housing is.

It is the most equitable way to distribute our still-limited vaccine supply, the state said in a fact sheet about its plan. The state also reserves appointments in a registration system for residents in disproportionately affected communities.

Imperial County's health officer, Dr. Stephen Munday, said that targeting multigenerational households certainly makes a lot of sense but that the county is following the states plan. Munday also pointed out that early studies didnt determine how effective vaccines were at preventing people from spreading the virus because they still could carry it and appear asymptomatic.

Although they're inconclusive, new data show signs that some vaccines could reduce transmission. If thats confirmed, Munday said, its possible that health officials could develop strategies that include building mini herd immunity within multigenerational homes.

Rocky rollout in Washington

Washington health officials have translated Covid-19 vaccination webpages into multiple languages. Community groups are helping schedule appointments for eligible multigenerational households with members 50 and older. And nobodys asking for proof of eligibility at sites, officials say, because they want people to feel comfortable coming forward.

Yet the campaign has still left some people out, said Joseph Seia, executive director of the Pacific Islander Community Association of Washington.

Forcing people to go online to book times at mass vaccination sites, he said, has been a Hunger Games-like competition excluding elders and essential workers who dont sit at desks with computers. Hes booking appointments at pop-up clinics targeting neighborhoods where residents face disproportionate risk of infection and death.

Sang Nguyen was vaccinated before he resigned from his nursing home job in February. His grandparents and parents were eligible weeks later as members of a multigenerational household, but several appointments they made were canceled. Not enough vaccines, they were told.

They were finally vaccinated in mid-March  a relief for the whole family.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi left for Bangladesh on Friday on a two-day visit during which he will take part in a wide range of programmes aimed at furthering cooperation between the two countries.

"PM @narendramodi emplanes for Dhaka. During his Bangladesh visit he will take part in a wide range of programmes aimed at furthering cooperation with our friendly neighbour," the PMO tweeted, sharing a picture of Modi boarding the aircraft.

PM @narendramodi emplanes for Dhaka.



During his Bangladesh visit he will take part in a wide range of programmes aimed at furthering cooperation with our friendly neighbour. pic.twitter.com/X5qzwvjFNF  PMO India (@PMOIndia) March 26, 2021



Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on Thursday said he will hold substantive discussions with Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina during the visit, as he expressed happiness that his first foreign tour after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic will be to a friendly neighbouring country with which India shares deep ties.
UPDATE: Former N.J. resident charged with killing of ex-wife, two others found in car at New Mexico airport

Authorities in New Mexico have arrested a man sought for questioning in connection with the disappearance of several people whose bodies were found in a truck left at an Albuquerque airport earlier this month.

Daniel J. Lemos, 46, of Grants, New Mexico, was wanted on an unrelated drug possession warrant and was picked up Thursday by U.S. Marshals, police confirmed Thursday night.

He is not considered a suspect in the killings, police confirmed Friday, saying he had information investigators needed.

A former New Jersey resident, Sean M. Lannon, 47, of Grants, is considered a suspect in the killings of his ex-wife and three others found in the truck on March 5. Lannon has also been charged with murder in the bludgeoning death of his former teen mentor, 66-year-old Michael Dabkowski, in New Jersey earlier this month.

Three of the victims found in the truck, Jennifer Lannon, 39, Jesten Mata, 40, and Matthew Miller, 21, were reported missing from Grants in January and police announced in February that Lemos was sought for questioning in those disappearances.

A Grants investigator spoke with Lemos on Thursday night, Grants Lt. David Chavez said Friday.

He is cooperating with us currently  weve got some information which were going to go forward on another search warrant.

Chavez wouldnt elaborate on what Lemos said, but indicated charges against Lannon could be filed soon.

We should be getting charges cleared here within the next couple of days, he said.

Authorities in New Mexico are working closely with their counterparts in New Jersey, as well as the FBI, Chavez said.

Theres basically a task force working on this. Were all working closely together and were going to have another meeting on Monday.

The warrant for Lemos involved a January traffic stop by police on the Acoma Pueblo reservation, located about 30 miles from Grants. Lemos was a passenger in a car in which officers located methamphetamine and a loaded handgun. He was charged with possession of a controlled dangerous substance.

Sean M. LannonSalem County jail

Lemos, the Lannons, Mata and Miller were known associates, police previously said, adding that Jennifer Lannon and Mata were in a relationship.

The fourth victim, Randal Apostalon, 60, of Albuquerque, had no obvious connection to the others, but was known to give people rides for money, police confirmed. The victims were found in his truck.

The Associated Press reported that Apostalon died of blunt force trauma. The causes of death for the other victims have not been released, but an ex-fiance of Mata said she was told he was shot in the back of the head and dismembered.

Albuquerque Police detectives are heading to New Jersey to conduct additional interviews related to the case, a spokesman said Thursday. Police there believe Apostalon was killed in Albuquerque and they are handling that case, while Grants police are investigating the other killings.

Lannon allegedly confessed to the four killings in New Mexico and the death of Dabkowski, but also claimed he killed 11 others in New Mexico. Police say they have found no evidence yet to substantiate that additional claim.

Jennifer and Sean Lannon met in New Jersey and moved to New Mexico in 2017. Court records indicate they divorced in 2019 and Sean Lannon gained custody of their three kids.

He traveled to New Jersey with his children on March 4, a day before the bodies were found in New Mexico. He left the kids with family members in South Jersey and left, claiming he intended to return to New Mexico to find Jennifer. He told her family in January that she ran off with friends and didnt know where she had gone.

After dropping off the kids with his mother, Lannon allegedly traveled to Virginia, then returned to South Jersey, where police say he broke into a home in Elk Township either late on March 7 or early March 8, then tried to break into a second home on the morning of March 8. He was confronted by a resident around 11 a.m. and ran from the area.

He traveled via Uber and Lyft ride share services using an assumed name to get to Virginia, return to New Jersey and head to Elk Township.

He then traveled to Dabkowskis East Greenwich Township home via Uber that same day. Lannon told investigators Dabkowski had molested him as a child after they met through the Big Brothers Big Sisters program and said he had gone to the home to retrieve photos of the alleged abuse. A fight ensued, according to Lannon, and he beat Dabkowski to death with a hammer.

Police found Dabkowskis body in the laundry room of the home around 6:30 p.m. that night after conducting a well-being check in response to a concern about the victims whereabouts.

Investigators say Lannon stole Dabkowskis wallet and car and was still driving that vehicle when he was arrested in St. Louis, Missouri, on March 10. He told detectives he was on his way back to New Mexico.

Police have not said what Lannon was doing in Virginia and have not revealed if any photos relating to his claims about Dabkowski were recovered by investigators.

He remains jailed in New Jersey pending trial in the Dabkowski case.

A motive for the killings in New Mexico remains unclear.

While drug use seems to be a common factor among many of those involved in the Grants case, investigators dont believe narcotics was the driving factor in the killings.

Jennifer Lannons relationship with Mata was the likely spark, according to police.

We believe that was probably the primary reason. That was probably the triggering event, Chavez said, adding its a collision of a lot of things.

Miller, who was described as a friend of Mata, was likely just in the wrong place at the wrong time, according to the lieutenant.

Miller was kind of the unknown on this, he said. Were still trying to put together what happened with Matthew. Matthew was actually a pretty decent kid. He had dependency issues, but all in all he wasnt a bad kid. We dealt with him on minor things here and there. How he got into this, were still not positive.

Jennifer Lannon, 39, was one of four victims whose bodies were found in a vehicle in New Mexico last week. Her ex-husband is a person of interest in that case.

Reporter Noah Cohen contributed to this story.

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Matt Gray may be reached at mgray@njadvancemedia.com.
BAY CITY, MI - One lucky cat is safe and dry after being rescued from an unlikely place.

The Humane Society of Bay County (HSBC) stated that it received a cat that was rescued from a wooded island in the Saginaw River next to Bay Citys Middlegrounds on Wednesday, March 24. The cat was originally reported to be stuck on the island on social media by concerned citizens. A lone kayaker then ventured out on a mission to bring the stranded feline safely to shore.

Lots of community members stepped up to help us make this rescue happen, said Abby Fauble of the HSBC.

The HSBC was only able to provide the first name of the kayaker who came to the cats rescue. Elyssa was reported to have paddled out to the island in the Saginaw River, and after placing the cat in a cage for safety, then secured the cage to her kayak to bring it to dry land. The cat was then reported to have been given into the care of the HSBC and its volunteers where it was later placed with a foster.

Given the nature of its watery rescue, the cat was dubbed Kayak.

Kelly Zube is currently serving as Kayaks foster parent. Zube said that Kayak is in very good health and that he is an young male around six month old. However, hes a little stressed out from his ordeal and she said that hes not the friendliest quite yet. Fauble added that Zube will be working to encourage him to come out of his shell and to trust people.

Zube said that this water rescue was definitely a first for the HSBC.

We are very lucky to have social media for rescuing animals in distress. This was a first, but Ive seen many posts with cats in trees and tree removal companies come to their aid, said Zube.

According to Zube and HSBC, there is currently speculation that another cat could be out on the island and that a rescue is currently being worked on.

As for how Kayak made his way to the island in the first place? Zube is suspecting that the cat walked across the ice when the river was frozen and became stranded during the quick thaw after a recent burst of warm weather.

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Bay County shelter allows volunteers to check out a dog to take for a walk

Cat missing since spring flood in Michigan finds its way home 8 months later
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday went from Delhi to Dhaka on a new custom-made VVIP aircraft, using it for the first time on a foreign journey.

The prime minister is on a two-day visit to Bangladesh.

Narendra Modi

India and Bangladesh are currently celebrating the golden jubilee of the 1971 war victory. India had defeated Pakistan in December 1971, which led to the creation of Bangladesh.

The B777 aircraft, which has registration number VT-ALW, was delivered by Boeing to the Indian government in October last year.

The aircraft, which has call sign AI1 or Air India One, departed from Delhi around 8 am and landed at the Dhaka airport around 10.30 am on Friday, government officials said.

Narendra Modi

Another custom-made B777 aircraft, with registration number VT-ALV, was also delivered by the American aircraft giant to the Indian government in October last year. Both custom-made planes are to fly only president, vice president and prime minister of the country.

These two aircraft were part of Air India's commercial fleet for a few months in 2018 before they were sent back to Boeing for retrofitting for VVIP travel.

The B777 planes have state-of-the-art missile defence systems called Large Aircraft Infrared Countermeasures and Self-Protection Suites.
Tooth-worm's elusive identity revealed - it's odontoblasts. Credit: Nicholas Spinelli

For people with tooth decay, drinking a cold beverage can be agony.

"It's a unique kind of pain," says David Clapham, vice president and chief scientific officer of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI). "It's just excruciating."

Now, he and an international team of scientists have figured out how teeth sense the cold and pinpointed the molecular and cellular players involved. In both mice and humans, tooth cells called odontoblasts contain cold-sensitive proteins that detect temperature drops, the team reports March 26, 2021, in the journal Science Advances. Signals from these cells can ultimately trigger a jolt of pain to the brain.

The work offers an explanation for how one age-old home remedy eases toothaches. The main ingredient in clove oil, which has been used for centuries in dentistry, contains a chemical that blocks the "cold sensor"protein, says electrophysiologist Katharina Zimmermann, who led the work at Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nurnberg in Germany.

Developing drugs that target this sensor even more specifically could potentially eliminate tooth sensitivity to cold, Zimmermann says. "Once you have a molecule to target, there is a possibility of treatment."

Odontoblasts containing the ion channel TRPC5 (green) tightly pack the area between the pulp and the dentin in a mouse's molar. The cells' long-haired extensions fill the thin canals in dentin that extend towards the enamel. Credit: L. Bernal et al./Science Advances 2021

Mystery channel

Teeth decay when films of bacteria and acid eat away at the enamel, the hard, whitish covering of teeth. As enamel erodes, pits called cavities form. Roughly 2.4 billion peopleabout a third of the world's populationhave untreated cavities in permanent teeth, which can cause intense pain, including extreme cold sensitivity.

No one really knew how teeth sensed the cold, though scientists had proposed one main theory. Tiny canals inside the teeth contain fluid that moves when the temperature changes. Somehow, nerves can sense the direction of this movement, which signals whether a tooth is hot or cold, some researchers have suggested.

"We can't rule this theory out," but there wasn't any direct evidence for it, says Clapham a neurobiologist at HHMI's Janelia Research Campus. Fluid movement in teethand tooth biology in generalis difficult to study. Scientists have to cut through the enamelthe hardest substance in the human bodyand another tough layer called dentin, all without pulverizing the tooth's soft pulp and the blood vessels and nerves within it. Sometimes, the whole tooth "will just fall to pieces," Zimmermann says.

Zimmerman, Clapham, and their colleagues didn't set out to study teeth. Their work focused primarily on ion channels, pores in cells' membranes that act like molecular gates. After detecting a signala chemical message or temperature change, for examplethe channels either clamp shut or open wide and let ions flood into the cell. This creates an electrical pulse that zips from cell to cell. It's a rapid way to send information, and crucial in the brain, heart, and other tissues.

About fifteen years ago, when Zimmermann was a postdoc in Clapham's lab, the team discovered that an ion channel called TRPC5 was highly sensitive to the cold. But the team didn't know where in the body TRPC5's cold-sensing ability came into play. It wasn't the skin, they found. Mice that lacked the ion channel could still sense the cold, the team reported in 2011 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

After that, "we hit a dead end," Zimmermann says. The team was sitting at lunch one day discussing the problem when the idea finally hit. "David said, 'Well, what other tissues in the body sense the cold?' Zimmermann recalls. The answer was teeth.

Layer of odontoblasts embedded between vessels and interconnected with nerve axons and other cells of the tooth pulp. Contact with cold elicits electrical activity in odontoblasts and its surrounding network. Credit: Nicholas Spinelli

The whole tooth

TRPC5 does reside in teethand more so in teeth with cavities, study coauthor Jochen Lennerz, a pathologist from Massachusetts General Hospital, discovered after examining specimens from human adults.

A novel experimental set up in mice convinced the researchers that TRPC5 indeed functions as a cold sensor. Instead of cracking a tooth open and solely examining its cells in a dish, Zimmermann's team looked at the whole system: jawbone, teeth, and tooth nerves. The team recorded neural activity as an ice-cold solution touched the tooth. In normal mice, this frigid dip sparked nerve activity, indicating the tooth was sensing the cold. Not so in mice lacking TRPC5 or in teeth treated with a chemical that blocked the ion channel. That was a key clue that the ion channel could detect cold, Zimmermann says. One other ion channel the team studied, TRPA1, also seemed to play a role.

The team traced TRPC5's location to a specific cell type, the odontoblast, that resides between the pulp and the dentin. When someone with a a dentin-exposed tooth bites down on a popsicle, for example, those TRPC5-packed cells pick up on the cold sensation and an "ow!" signal speeds to the brain.

That sharp sensation hasn't been as extensively studied as other areas of science, Clapham says. Tooth pain may not be considered a trendy subject, he says, "but it is important and it affects a lot of people."

Zimmermann points out that the team's journey towards this discovery spanned more than a decade. Figuring out the function of particular molecules and cells is difficult, she says. "And good research can take a long time."

Explore further Do your pearly whites sometimes cause you pain?
NEW DELHI: On the occasion of World Theatre Day, Zee Theatre, India's first and only destination for Theatre on TV, unveils its brand campaign 'Makes you feel. Makes you think'. reinforcing the social impact that it is attempting to create with its teleplays.

Theatre has been at the heart of Indian culture for centuries and has played an integral role in shaping and reflecting society. Zee Theatre's plays center around stories that break taboos, question gender stereotypes, celebrate diversity, explore the past, imagine the future and examine the present with insight, honesty and compassion. This campaign Makes You Feel. Makes you Think is hence, aptly representative of the brands promise and purpose.

Watch here:

Commenting on the same, Shailja Kejriwal, Chief Creative Officer - Special Projects, ZEEL, says, The idea of Zee Theatre came from the quest of archiving the artform and taking it to the masses. Theatre has constantly reflected and addressed society and its challenges, stirring its viewers with messages that leave them thinking. At Zee Theatre, our aim is to bring gripping stories that evoke emotions and expand horizons, which not only make audiences feel a myriad of emotions but also reflect long after the curtain drops.

Launched in 2015, Zee Theatre has a repository of over 100 renowned plays that include Makarand Deshpandes classic Sir Sir Sarla, Purva Nareshs acclaimed play Ladies Sangeet, Ma Retire Hoti Hai, Purush featuring Ashutosh Rana, Dolls House amongst others. Renowned actors like Late Reema Laagoo, Makarand Deshpande, Swara Bhasker, Himani Shivpuri, Ashish Vidhyarthi, Aahana Kumra are a part of these plays.

Zee Theatre plays are available as VAS services on DTH platforms as Tatasky Theatre, DishTV & D2H Rangmach Active and Airtel Spotlight.
Kenya risks joining the UK's 'red list' of countries from where travellers are subjected to mandatory stay at quarantine hotels due to the government's reluctance to close the border with Tanzania.

Britain's Telegraph newspaper, quoting a source from the British High Commission in Nairobi, said that Kenya is likely to be added to the 'red list' by March 29.

Kenya has been hesitant to restrict movement on the Tanzania border, fearing retaliation by Dar es Salam.

Last August, Tanzania banned four Kenyan airlines from its market as a tit-for-tat trade war between the two countries escalated after Nairobi included Tanzanians among travellers to be put under mandatory quarantine.

Should the UK place Kenya on the "red list", travellers from the country to Britain will have to pre-book and pay 1,750 to spend 10 days in government-sanctioned hotels. The cost covers the hotel stay, transport and testing.

The decision would deliver yet another devastating blow to tourism not only in Kenya but across the continent.

With South Africa, Ethiopia, Qatar and UAE already on the red list, Nairobi has been the last major hub for connecting flights into the UK.

"For weeks, red list rumours have been circulating Nairobi; a refusal to close borders with neighbouring Tanzania, which has not published coronavirus statistics since May 2020, was touted as a key factor," said the Telegraph.

Wednesday, British High Commission in Nairobi told the Business Daily it would not comment on the reports of an alert on Kenya.

"The red list is kept under constant review and we will not hesitate to act when needed. We do not provide a running commentary on whether specific countries may be removed or added to the list," said British High Commission's spokesperson.

Tanzanian authorities have taken a controversially relaxed approach to tackling the coronavirus pandemic.

The refusal by former President John Magufuli, who died on March 17, to impose lockdowns or physical distancing measures and to halt the release of figures on infections since late April, made him a regional outlier and caused concern among Tanzania's neighbours and the World Health Organisation.

Tanzania's government has declared the country free from Covid-19 and has no plans for vaccination.

Top officials in Tanzania have also warned -- without providing any evidence -- that Covid-19 vaccines could be harmful and has instead been urging citizens to use steam inhalation and herbal medicines, neither of which have been approved by the WHO as treatments.

The UK is fretful that travellers from Kenya could bring Covid variants to Britain in the wake of free movement across the border with Tanzania.

Kenya, which had reported 124,707 cases of Covid-19 infections and 2,066 deaths by yesterday, is currently gripped by a third wave of infections, which is stretching its health facilities.

Kenya and Tanzania have in the last four years had bruising fights over work visa, taxes and market access rights for items such as sugar, milk and dairy products.

This has affected bilateral trade between the two nations, prompting a series of meetings, including a summit in Arusha from November 12-16 last year to try and thaw the frosty ties.

It was the second such summit following a similar one in May 2019 in which Kenya raised concerns over multiple non-tariff barriers placed on its goods entering Tanzania.

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Although the East African Community (EAC) Customs Union Protocol requires that partner States treat goods manufactured from each other like local products, Tanzania and Kenya have repeatedly feuded over market access.

For instance, Tanzania has frequently claimed that Kenyan manufacturers have abused duty-free sugar imports to make sweets and other confectioneries which they later dump into its market.

Tanzania, therefore, opted to retain 25 percent import duty on Kenyan-made confectioneries such as chocolate, ice cream, biscuits and sweets, citing use of imported industrial sugar besides continuing to levy 25 percent duty on Kenya's edible oils as well as the Tembo cement brand produced by Bamburi Cement factory that it says are made from imported palm and clinker respectively.

Nairobi retaliated by imposing new tariffs on Tanzanian products such as flour.
Northbrook, IL -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/25/2021 -- According to the new market research report "Pyrometer Market with COVID-19 Impact Analysis, by Type (Fixed, Handheld), Technology (Optical, Infrared), Wavelength (Single Wavelength, Multiwavelength), End-user Industry (Ceramics, Glass, Metal Processing), and Geography - Global Forecast to 2025", published by MarketsandMarkets, the Pyrometer Market is estimated to grow from USD 327 million in 2020 to reach USD 464 million by 2025; it is expected to grow at a CAGR of 7.3% from 2020 to 2025. A few key factors driving the growth of this market are increased importance of non-contact temperature measurements, emphasis of end-user industries on rugged temperature measurement devices, Industry 4.0 pushed demand for pyrometers, and surged popularity of application-specific pyrometers.



Ask for PDF Brochure: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownloadNew.asp?id=138406666



Fixed type pyrometers expected to hold larger share of the market during forecast period.



Fixed type pyrometers expected to hold larger share of the market from 2020 to 2025. Fixed pyrometers are rugged devices that are largely used in difficult terrains or areas with harsh environmental conditions. They are generally equipped with IP65-rated (NEMA4) stainless steel housings. These pyrometers are used to carry out high-precision temperature measurements in various industrial applications.



Infrared pyrometers expected to hold larger share of the market during forecast period.



Infrared pyrometers expected to hold larger share of the market during forecast period. Infrared pyrometers have extremely fast data acquisition rates catering to applications of a wide range of industries, including glass temperature measurement, measurements on thin plastic films, and measurements through flames, among others. These types of pyrometers are available in diverse designs, from handheld to integrated process control systems.



Metal processing end-user industry expected to grow at the highest CAGR during forecast period.



Metal processing end-user industry expected to grow at the highest CAGR during forecast period. Pyrometers are used in different stages of the diverse process of metal processing industries such as forging, rolling, extrusion, and others. Also, metal companies are seeking more pyrometer devices than other temperature measurement solutions such as thermocouples owing to their robust, accurate, and standalone temperature measurement capabilities.



Browse in-depth TOC on "Pyrometer Market"



89  Tables

52  Figures

180  Pages



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Pyrometer market in APAC to grow at highest CAGR during forecast period.



The pyrometer market in APAC will be driven by the growing demand for metals such as steel for complex industrial applications. China, Japan, South Korea, and India are expected to drive the pyrometer market in APAC. China remains the largest market for pyrometers and is anticipated to remain dominant throughout the forecast period. Investments for the expansion of glass manufacturing and government support for steel production are set to offer huge opportunities for the pyrometer market in APAC.



AMETEK Land (US), Fluke Corporation (US), CHINO Corporation (Japan), Advanced Energy Industries, Inc. (US), OMEGA Engineering (US), PCE Instruments (Germany), Optris GmbH (Germany), Sensortherm GmbH (Germany), CI Systems (US), DIAS Infrared GmbH (Germany), Williamson Corporation (US), and Micro-Epsilon (Germany) are few major players in pyrometer market.



Related Reports:



Temperature Sensor Market by Product Type (Thermocouples, RTDs, Thermistors, Temperature Sensor ICs, Bimetallic, Infrared, and Fiber Optic Temperature Sensors), Output, End-user Industry, and Region  Global Forecast to 2027



Infrared Thermometer Market by Type (Fixed, Portable), Component (Optical, Display & Interface Units), Application (Medical, Non-Medical), End-Use (Residential, Commercial, Industrial), and Geography - Global Forecast to 2025



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Kill the Bill protestors are set to march through Bristol for a third time tonight as they ignore pleas from the police to stay at home after earlier demonstrations turned into riots.

Around 3,000 campaigners calling for an end to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill first gathered on College Green on Sunday, with violent scenes showing police vans on fire and the city's Bridewell Police Station under siege.

Avon and Somerset Police claimed two police officers suffered broken bones amid the carnage - but that statement was retracted yesterday.

Protestors gathered again on Tuesday, with 13 people - mostly aged between 19 and 25 - arrested, while officers are trying to find out the names of 18 more demonstrators linked to disorder across the two protests.

Yesterday police shared footage from Sunday's protect, showing the moment a lit item was placed under a police van while a police officer was inside.

Tonight, demonstrators are set to descend on Bristol for a third time, prompting calls from Avon and Somerset Police for people to stay at home.

An activist who previously helped organise Bristol protests has also urged people to stay home.

After violent clashes with officers saw a police vans set alight on Sunday, demonstrators are set to return to College Green in Bristol for a third protest tonight

The unnamed man advised people wait until Monday, when coronavirus restrictions relax, to gather.

He said: 'My belief is that, in this current climate of lockdowns, young people, bored and frustrated by their situation, witnessing a standoff with police in the evening, could be inclined to take out their aggression on the police who they may feel responsible for their lack of possibilities at the moment.

'We normally chose day times on weekends to negate the risk of people with alternate agendas hijacking our protests.

'I cannot support the choice of a Friday afternoon start, it's a recipe for disaster, obviously, and therefore I fear this event has been organised by someone with bad intentions, and so I want to be distanced from it entirely, as do those I know.'

Chief Superintendent Claire Armes, Avon and Somerset Police's head of operational support, urged people not to march this weekend.

She said: 'We are aware that some people may be intending to protest in Bristol and Bath this weekend, 26 to 28 March.

'Once again, we remind everyone that we're still in a pandemic which has cost many lives and remains a significant challenge for our colleagues in the NHS.

'We have all sacrificed so much to stop the spread of this terrible disease and we're so close to a relaxation of the restrictions, when peaceful protest will again be possible.

'In Avon and Somerset we remain committed to facilitating peaceful protest when it's safe and lawful to do so, however gatherings remain a breach of COVID restrictions and risk increasing the spread of coronavirus.

So far 13 people, mostly aged between 19 and 25-years-old, have been arrested in connection with disorder at protests on Sunday and Tuesday

Fires were started and protestors clashed with police on Sunday. Chief Superintendent Claire Armes, Avon and Somerset Police's head of operational support, urged people not to march this weekend

A burning piece of card was placed under a police van as fires raged behind on Sunday night

Yesterday police released an image of an 18th protester they wanted to speak to after a lit item was placed under a police van with an officer still inside

'We urge you not to come. 'We do understand the strength of opposition to the new legislation being debated in Parliament.

'Protest is a right which we're asking people to be responsible about exercising right now. This is about public health and public safety at a time of pandemic.

'Please consider making your voice heard in different ways - such as contacting your MP or signing one of the petitions available online.

'Thirteen people were arrested after we asked people to disperse from Tuesday's protest.

'Ten of them were aged between 19 and 25 - young people who clearly have a social conscience, but who may now face a criminal conviction which could impact on their whole futures and their chances of making a real difference in society.

'I want to make it clear. Peaceful protestors will be given the opportunity to disperse, but Bristol will not tolerate violent behaviour and we're here to prevent it.'

Earlier in the week Avon and Somerset Police released photos of people they wish to trace over the disorder.

Yesterday they released footage of a lit item being placed underneath a police van, with an officer still inside, along with a picture of the man police would like to identify in connection with the incident.

Urging people to stay at home, Ch Supt Armes said: 'This is about public health and public safety at a time of pandemic'

Protestors are calling for an end to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, which could see additional measures created to crackdown on demonstrations

Around 3,000 protestors gathered at Sunday's demonstration, with fireworks let off in the street and little room for social distancing

The force is still looking to identify 17 people in connection with the unrest on Sunday night

The footage was released on the same day Avon and Somerst Police retracted claims that two officers had suffered broken bones amid the carnage.

A spokesman for the force told ITV: 'At the time the Chief Constable did interviews on Monday morning, it was believed the officer may have suffered broken bones and a punctured lung.

'Following further medical assessment, this was deemed not to be the case  but this officer's injuries were serious enough to result in hospital treatment and a CT scan.

'A second officer also suffered a suspected broken arm, but on further assessment this too was thankfully found not to be the case.'

An officer has described first hearing on the radio how colleagues were being injured outside the Bridewell police station.

They said: 'I was aware from the radio that my colleagues were under attack outside the front of Bridewell police station where damage had been caused.

'I could hear screaming and shouting from the officers as they were being attacked - a call was made for vehicles to be used to assist officers.

'The only way to protect my colleagues was to place the vehicle across, side on, in front of them to offer protection.

'There were glass bottles, rocks as big as fists, pallets, fences and other objects strewn across the road and being used against the police.

Ch Supt Carolyn Belafonte, who is overseeing the investigation into the disorder, said: 'This officer's account is just one of many we've gathered from our colleagues at the scene of this terrifying incident.

'It's upsetting to hear how colleagues feared for their lives that night and it strengthens our resolve to bring all those responsible to justice.

Newly released footage, taken during the violent 'Kill the Bill' disorder in the city on Sunday, shows the moment a lit item was placed under a police van while a police officer was inside

'Our investigation is continuing at pace but it is painstaking work.

'Our online gallery, which currently has 18 images within it, has been viewed more than 80,000 times since it was launched - and we've received more than 200 calls and around 280 evidential submissions from the public to date.. This is a phenomenal response and we're grateful for every piece of information.

'I would ask people to look at the latest image we have released and call us if you know who it is - or you can provide information via a dedicated form on our website.'
From time to time, whether motivated by politics or articulating a misinformed position, commentators will seek to claim Trinidad and Tobago is a failing state.

I take serious umbrage to that because when one understands what a failing state or economy looks like, it is clear we are very far from that. In fact, by independent measures, we are closer to the opposite side of that spectrum.
The current statute, however, is not John Adams or FDRs sedition. It contains a number of definitions for seditious conspiracy, including this: If two or more persons conspire  by force to hinder or delay the execution of any law of the United States  they shall be fined  or imprisoned  or both.

Those elements would appear to fit the actions of the worst Jan. 6 offenders like a glove. The point of storming the Capitol was to hinder or delay Congress legal duty to certify the election of Joe Biden to the presidency.

But as close a fit as the words appear to be, Garland and company have a number of consequential issues to consider. To bring the sedition charge and lose would be a spectacular defeat in one of the most important federal investigations in the history of the Department of Justice.

One issue related to proving conspiracy  there must be actual agreement among the conspirators about their actions, though case law has shown it neednt be express or explicit. It was a failure to prove conspiracy that did in the governments last sedition case, in 2010. The judge wasnt convinced that radical Christian militia members in Michigan had formed real plans to launch attacks.
Bretton G. Sciaroni, an American lawyer who became a powerful business broker and an adviser to the government in Cambodia after being fired as a White House official when he became embroiled in the Iran-contra scandal, died on March 12 at his home in Phnom Penh, the nations capital. He was 69.

His death was confirmed by his brother Brian. Friends said that he had been ill for some time, but that no autopsy was performed to determine the cause. Two fancy pens were placed in his pocket when he was buried, an honor generally reserved for senior officials.

In more than three decades in Cambodia, Mr. Sciaroni became a well-connected figure in legal and business circles there as he offered legal opinions to the government of Prime Minister Hun Sen. One served to justify the prime ministers seizure of full power in a violent 1997 coup.

That analysis and the controversy that followed it harked back to a legal opinion that Mr. Sciaroni had drawn up as a 35-year-old lawyer in Washington justifying a behind-the-scenes deal in which profits from arms sales to Iran were to be used to fund the Nicaraguan rebels known as the contras, despite a law severely limiting such assistance.
press release

The DA will request to present our higher education student funding model to the Ministerial Task Team (MTT) on NSFAS business processes. And that our model be incorporate into their long overdue report on the entity.

The MTT was established in June 2020 to review, among other issues, NSFAS' funding model.

In a recent meeting of the Portfolio Committee on Higher Education, Minister Blade Nzimande mentioned the need to reevaluate and review the Heher Commission report into higher education. The Minister viewed this report as a potential alternative whereby its recommendations must be considered in order to ensure the sustainability of NSFAS. This means that a consideration regarding a loan/bursary scheme feature for NSFAS is needed to ensure its viability.

We welcome this new approach by the Minister as it is in line with the DA's tiered system of loans/grants:

Annual household income Loan

R0 - R350 000 Full cost of study

R350 000 - R500 000 66% of the full cost of study

R500 000 - R650 000 33% of the full cost of study

Repayment of the loans in our scheme will only be required when the recipient obtains a job that pays them well enough to ensure that repayments are affordable. Differential repayment conditions will be introduced, some of which will take into account the number of dependents a particular recipient supports.

The funding scheme will emphasise quality. It will operate to maximise the number of high-quality graduates it supports. We believe output rather than input should gradually become the focus of student funding.

It is important that funding of NSFAS does not end up defunding higher education in the ANC's quest to further pursue unstainable fee free higher education.

Local Government Elections are coming up in 2021! Visit check.da.org.za to check your voter registration status
Gettyimagesbank









By Anna J. Park







Special-purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) are enjoying a heyday through initial public offerings (IPOs), particularly in the U.S. stock markets. SPACs are paper companies solely incorporated to raise capital through initial public offerings to acquire another existing company. SPACs in the U.S. have raised about $87.9 billion so far this year, already exceeding last year's total of $83.4 billion.







Despite their growing popularity in the U.S., SPACs are not as favored among investors in Korea. One of the reasons behind this is the trauma the Korean market holds. The country's very first SPAC failed and ended up getting liquidated. Back in 2010, the "Green Korea" SPAC by Daewoo Securities  now Mirae Asset Daewoo  raised 100 billion won ($90 million), but ended up getting liquidated after three years following failed attempts to acquire promising companies.







Since the failure of the nation's first SPAC, their sizes have grown much smaller here. Most SPACs during the last 10 years raised less than 10 billion won in capital on average. The unpopularity of SPACs also created a vicious circle of failing to attract big deals into the market as investors shunned parking their money in them.







This tendency continued until last year. In 2020, only 19 SPAC IPOs debuted on the Korean stock markets, attracting a total of 164 billion won. That means only around 8.6 billion won was raised per each SPAC, which is about 2 percent of the capital raised by an average SPAC in the U.S.







Investors' aversion of SPACs, however, seems to be changing in Korea now.







While SPACs in 2020 resulted in a single-digit competition rate in their average subscription process, the most recent SPACs are drawing at least double-digit stock allotment competition rates. "Hana Must 7th SPAC" logged a competition rate of 237.41:1, followed by 168.68:1 by "Hana Financial 17th SPAC," and 101.7:1 by "IBK 15th SPAC."







So far this year, six SPACs have debuted on the Korean stock markets, which is 50 percent higher than the number seen over the same period last year.







Despite the encouraging signs in the local SPAC market, observers are calling for systemic changes in regulations for further growth in Korea. Observers also believe SPAC IPOs could stimulate the country's venture startups.







"One of the greatest strengths of SPAC IPOs is that a public offering could be done in a much faster manner than traditional IPOs. But in the Korean market, SPAC IPOs and traditional IPOs are not too different in the speed of their public offerings," a market insider criticized, calling for regulatory changes in the SPAC IPO process.


analysis

Any probe into war crimes that involves the AU or the government's own human rights commission stands little chance of being effective.

Since 4 November, soldiers from the Ethiopian federal government, Amhara regional state, and Eritrea have waged a coordinated war in Tigray. For months, the region has been under a telecommunications blackout with journalists' movement severely restricted. Nonetheless, reports continue to emerge of massacres, rape and ethnic cleansing. Humanitarian access has also been blocked, denying millions of civilians in need of assistance.

Given the apparent scale of the gross human rights violations, European Union, US and UN agencies among others have been calling for an international investigation. The Ethiopian government first resisted this pressure, but eventually came up with a questionable proposal. It called upon the African Union (AU) to investigate human rights abuses together with the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC), a government agency.

In a surprising move, the Ethiopian government then also invited the UN Commissioner for Human Rights to jointly investigate, which was accepted. It remains unclear whether the UN's acceptance now means the AU's involvement has been annulled or what exact arrangement is being planned. What does remain clear, however, is that any investigation in Tigray that involves the AU or EHRC stands little chance of being legitimate and meaningful.

Un-independent arbiters

When the war against the Tigrayan Regional Government began, it quickly created a major humanitarian crisis and insecurity that threatened to destabilise the entire region. The need for AU action was clear, yet the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, displayed no interest in intervening. In fact, a month and a half into the war, he declared that: "In Ethiopia, the federal government took bold steps to preserve the unity, stability and respect for the constitutional order of the country, which is legitimate for all states." With this stance, he not only displayed partisanship and a disregard for the civilians caught up in the fighting, but he also undermined the peace efforts embarked upon by AU Chair, President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa.

One reason for the AU's bias may have been the international influence and diplomatic capital that Ethiopia has built up, ironically mostly during the time when the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front (TPLF) dominated the government. Another factor may be the undue influence accorded to Ethiopia due to the fact that it hosts the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa.

The EHRC is widely regarded as being similarly compromised. It is nominally an independent state organ, but many Ethiopians see it as biased in favour of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's administration. One reason for this is that its reporting has often been selective, targeting cases that reinforce the government's narrative. For example, it took the EHRC only a few days to send a team to the Tigrayan town of Maikadra to investigate allegations of a massacre in November 2020. About a week later, it released its preliminary report which attributed responsibility to Tigrayan fighters. In doing so, the EHRC ignored or discredited witness statements from numerous refugees in Sudan, reported in several news agencies, who claimed that Amhara militias had also committed massacres in Maikadra.

The EHRC has been much slower to investigate many other reports of massacres in Tigray. Although it did recently release a preliminary report regarding "grave human rights violations committed in Aksum" and pointed the finger at "Eritrean soldiers", these findings came nearly four months after the November attack. Notably, its statement also came just the day after Abiy acknowledged publicly for the first time that Eritrean forces were indeed operating in Tigray, after denying it for months.

Why a UN-led investigation is needed

Most Tigrayan political parties and the President of Tigray Debretsion Gebremichael have made it clear that they wouldn't consider a probe into the war led by the AU or EHRC as legitimate. They expect that any such effort would be unduly influenced by the Ethiopian government and serve as a way for the state to cover up, rather than expose, war crimes.

Impartiality - and the perception of impartiality - must be a key part of any human rights probe if it is to meaningfully investigate and pave the way for justice, accountability, and reconciliation. In the case of Tigray, this means that the task can only be entrusted to an international body that is seen as neutral and commands the trust of all the actors.

There is a practical element to this too. An investigation involving the AU or EHRC would struggle to secure cooperation not only from the parties to the conflict but many witnesses and victims. Moreover, it is likely that only an international body like the UN would have the authority and independence to be able to navigate such a complex conflict with such a wide range of actors that includes Eritrea and sub-regional ethnic militias. Investigators will not only need to shed light on atrocities in a context in which almost all allegations are being denied but make sense of the deeply historical drivers of the conflict, which will require the analysts to be detached from politics.

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A UN-mandated and -led investigation is the closest we can get to such a feat. And the International Commission of Inquiry on Darfur may be a good blueprint. The alleged atrocities are similar and some parallels can also be drawn regarding parties to the conflicts.

It is promising that Ethiopia invited the UN to join the investigation in Tigray. However, if the probe is to be effective and legitimate, the UN must now insist that it is conducted by only its officials - working independently, impartially, and without the intervention of any third party.

Goitom Gebreluel is a researcher working on African politics. Mulu Beyene is a doctoral candidate in law at the University of Bergen.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 26)  A restaurant group is expressing worry over the impact of current quarantine rules on indoor dining on how the public perceives it.

"Definitely, short-term losses [are] of course guaranteed almost. But I'm more worried of the long-term stigma of what the public would feel or think about indoor dining," Restaurant Owners of the Philippines (RestoPH) president Eric Teng told CNN Philippines' The Exchange with Rico Hizon.

Dine-ins are prohibited under the NCR Plus bubble, which covers main economic hub Metro Manila and adjacent provinces Bulacan, Laguna, Cavite, and Rizal. Restaurants and food establishments are only allowed to accommodate take-outs, deliveries, and maximum 50% capacity outdoor or al fresco dining.

Teng emphasized that the dine-in industry is generally safe especially inside malls, given how there are plenty of safety checks around from the mall entrance to the entrance of each restaurant.

"Restaurants, I can consider as safe zones. But of course the public may have a different perception after all this gets normalized," Teng said.

He also sounded the alarm on how banning dine-ins only shifted the demand to other venues like home parties, which are considered super-spreader events.

Still, Teng said restaurants have been employing creative means to adapt to the current restrictions, with some utilizing parking spaces or opening up roof decks to accommodate diners to ensure public safety.

"Give me any open space...roof deck, balcony, fire escapes. If we can put a table there, we can put candles and glassware, it's a table, it's a restaurant, it's al fresco," he added.
The LED bulbs, which come in both screw and pin forms, are aimed at addressing energy conservation for homes and businesses.

The Technology Incubation Centre in Ekiti has begun the mass production of energy-saving LED bulbs, the manager of the federal government-owned centre, Fasan Babatola, has said.

He said during a media tour of the centre that the production was achieved in collaboration with AB Tech Electronics, one of its 30 entrepreneurs, currently located at the centre where they were currently camped and conducting research to proffer solutions to some of the nation's problems.

According to him, the LED bulbs, which come in both screw and pin forms, are in 3 W, 5 W and 9 W capacities, aimed at addressing energy conservation for homes and businesses.

He disclosed that raw materials for the mass production of the energy saving bulbs abound in large quantity, and that it was also commercially viable, as every home needs electric bulbs, especially energy saving ones

"We are even going into mass production now. I can assure that we can roll out hundreds of thousands of these products within months.

"We can also assure that the energy saving LED bulb production is sustainable because everyone and all nations are trying to conserve power and Nigeria is not an exception", he said.

He explained that both the entrepreneurs and the centre were expecting fairly good profits on the project, after executing their different lines of actions.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the TIC, an agency of the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology, had also commenced the production of rechargeable bulbs and electrical insulators.

Mr Babatola explained that the terms of the TIC's partnership with the entrepreneurs was to camp them and incubate their products in its premises, provide technical expertise, mentor, as well as nurture them to maturity.

However, in order to qualify, he said, such entrepreneurs must have first registered with the agency under its open mentorship scheme, aimed at encouraging technological growth of the country, tackling employment and empowering businesses to grow.

The Centre manager also disclosed that 29 other product lines being undertaken at the centre, were currently operational, cutting across different spheres of the economy.

He listed some of them to include Asbestos Free ceiling tiles, Electrical insulators, simple agricultural equipment, dry foods processing, yoghurt production, Zobo fortified drink production, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, as well as animal feeds production.

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Others are wall bracket design, herbal ulcer production, cocoyam flour production, castor oil, potato and beans flower production, plantain chips, as well as local rice processing.

The manager also said SON and other regulatory agencies' certification were being processed for the products.

Mr Babatola appealed to the state government to provide the centre with a bigger transformer, to increase electricity supply, as well as establish an industrial park in the state to enable the Centre accommodate more entrepreneurs as its current premises was not enough to accommodate the high number of willing investors.

He also called on the federal government to consider creating a special dedicated fund for entrepreneurs under incubation, and also help address the centre's mobility problems.

Three entrepreneurs, Tope Popoola, Olori Popoola and Francis Olukayode, who spoke to NAN, expressed gratitude to the federal government for providing such a platform, to facilitate the growth of investments and realisation of visions.

(NAN)
Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced the furlough scheme at the start of the pandemic. (Pippa Fowles/10 Downing Street/Crown Copyright/PA)

The number of local positions propped up by the Governments Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) fell by 2% last month, official figures show.

According to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), the CJRS was supporting 106,500 positions at the end of February, with approximately one in seven employees on furlough.

The number for January was revised upwards from 106,200 to 109,000, approaching 113,200 in the first week of February before gradually falling again.

On 54,800, employers made more furlough claims for women than men.

In total across the UK, the scheme has supported around 11.4 million jobs, with HMRC paying out 57.7bn. At the end of February, the number of UK jobs on the CJRS was 4.65 million.

The initiative, the most expensive of all the Governments Covid-19 measures, has supported a total of 281,100 local positions since its introduction.

Under the terms of the CJRS, the Government pays 80% of an employees wages, up to a maximum of 2,500 a month.

It was due to expire at the end of last month before being extended until September.
LEYDEN, N.Y. -- A Lewis County man is charged after he allegedly shot the windows out of a parked vehicle with a BB gun while intoxicated.

According to the Lewis County Sheriff's Office, they received a complaint that 25-year-old James R. Chapman, of Lyons Falls, was under the influence at the time, when he shot out the windows of a vehicle at Sullivan's Trailer Park in the town of Leyden.

Chapman was arrested shortly before 6 p.m. on March 24.

He is charged with criminal mischief and endangering the welfare of a child.

Chapman was arraigned and released on his own recognizance.
Tata group stocks TCS, Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Voltas, Indian Hotels, Tata Metaliks, Rallis India, Tata Global Beverages, Tata Steel Long Products, Tata Power, Tata Coffee, Tinplate Company of India, Tata Chemicals, Tata Teleservices Maharashtra, Tata Communications and Tata Investment Corporation will be in focus. The Supreme Court is scheduled to pronounce on Friday its judgement on the cross appeals filed by Tata Sons Pvt Ltd and Cyrus Investments Pvt Ltd against the NCLAT order which had restored Cyrus Mistry as the executive chairman of the over $100 billion salt-to-software Tata conglomerate.

Shares of Suryoday Small Finance Bank will make its stock market debut today. The Rs 582-crore public issue was subscribed 2.4 times. The price range for the offer was Rs 303-305 per share.

Shares of Kalyan Jewellers India will debut on the bourses today, 26 March 2021. The Rs 1,175-crore public issue received a muted response and was subscribed 2.61 times. The issue was sold in the price band of Rs 86-87 per share.

Lupin has agreed in principle to subscribe to a partnership interest in ABCD Technologies LLP (to be renamed as Indo Health Services LLP) at a cost of Rs 40 crore.

Mahindra Lifespace Developers announced the addition of a new residential project in Kalyan. The company has entered into an agreement for sale for 10.3 acres. This new project will offer approximately 7 lakh sq. ft. of carpet area and is expected to be launched in FY 2022.

Hathway Cable & Datacom said that Jio Content Distribution Holdings, Jio Internet Distribution Holdings, and Jio Cable and Broadband Holdings will sell 33,79,83,855 equity shares or 19.09% stake in the company through offer for sale on March 26 and March 30. The floor price has been fixed at Rs 25.25 per share.

Den Networks said that Jio Futuristic Digital Holdings, Jio Digital Distribution Holdings and Jio Television Distribution Holdings will sell 5,54,85,048 equity shares or 11.63% stake in the company through offer for sale on March 26 and March 30. The floor price for the sale has been fixed at Rs 48.50 per share.

Somany Home Innovation said that Group Atlantic, France, will invest Rs 68.3 crore for a 50% stake in the water heater business subsidiary of the company.

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KYODO NEWS - Mar 26, 2021 - 18:42 | World, Coronavirus, All

The Indonesian government decided Friday to ban the public from leaving urban areas for their hometowns during the Eid al-Fitr Islamic holiday in May to reduce the risks of coronavirus transmission.

Muhadjir Effendy, coordinating minister for human development and culture, told a press conference that the ban will be imposed on all from May 6 to 17.

Muhadjir said past experience has shown that the number of confirmed coronavirus cases always increased following a long holiday.

Ordinarily, many Indonesians hit the road or fly a few days before the holiday, which marks the end of the Ramadan month of fasting and this year falls on May 13 and 14.

Last year, the government imposed such a ban on civil servants, military personnel, police officers and workers at state-owned enterprises, but only advised others not to go back to their hometowns.

Related coverage:

Indonesia starts vaccination as China promotes vaccine diplomacy

Indonesia extends border closure, OKs CoronaVac emergency use

Indonesia to close border to all foreign nationals from New Year
By Lukeman Mutesasira

The Uganda Premier League (UPL) has asked clubs to lift their brand images ahead of the second round that kicks off next week.

This call follows a meeting held yesterday between UPL Secretariat officials, Club CEOs and FUFA officials in Kampala.

Also discussed were tight fixture scheduling, Star Times quarterly packages and the importance of generating positive rapport to gain wider attraction.

Uganda Premier League Chief Executive Officer Bernard Bainaman says the move will generate revenue for the clubs and UPL at large.
China's State Council Information Office issued the Report on Human Rights Violations in the United States in 2020, on March 25, 2021.

Here are the highlights of the sixth part of the report:

[ Editor: Liu Jiaming ]
Photo: DARREN STONE, TIMES COLONIST Her Majesty's Canadian Ship Calgary conducts a sail past of the Victoria shoreline at Clover Point before embarking on a six-month deployment on Feb. 26, 2021.

Master Sailor Randolph Machtmes was found dead in his residence Thursday night, hours after being found guilty at a Victoria court martial of luring a child, invitation to sexual touching and disgraceful conduct.

The navy confirmed the death Friday. It said next of kin has been notified and the Canadian Armed Forces is providing support.

The B.C. Coroners Service is investigating the death, which the navy said is not considered suspicious.

We offer our deepest condolences to the family and friends of MS Machtmes.

The navy said its focus is on supporting those close to Machtmes as well as determining the impact this death will have on the ongoing legal processes.

Machtmess sentencing hearing had been set for April 22.

The charges against him stemmed from online communications the sailor initiated with a 15-year-old boy between September and November 2018. At the time, Machtmess ship, HMCS Calgary, was in Darwin, Australia, as part of a multinational exercise.

The boy and his mother went to Australian police and presented a large number of social media messages involving the boy and Machtmes.

Some of the messages had sexual comments in them. No physical contact was involved.
A crisis in the shipping container industry could lead to delays in wood pulp shipments, top industry professional fears as the pandemic has caused space on container ships to be scarce for months, with the Suez Canal blockage only making things worse.

Walter Schalka, CEO of Suzano, one of the largest wood-pulp exporters in South America, told Bloomberg that shipping problems has already forced his company to delay some shipments from its South American terminals. That could lead manufacturers to run out of wood pulp, ultimately causing shortages on supermarket shelves.

According to Bloomberg, the Brazil-based Suzano SA, primarily ships its pulp in cargo vessels known as break bulk. But as firms battle for space on container ships, break-bulk shipping of the sort needed by Suzano is falling by the wayside and docking at its terminals less often, according to Schalka.

The worldwide container shortage is driven in part, by a surge in online shopping and a Chinese export boom after the country suppressed the initial wave of the pandemic. Container shipping costs have increased by 250 per cent since January 2020, adding to the crisis.

Brazil is the worlds top supplier of pulp, according to the Bloomberg report, and Suzano accounts for about a third of global supplies of hardwood pulp, used to in the manufacturing of toilet paper.

For the entire Bloomberg report, click here.
Ethiopia is undergoing mammoth reforms in social, economic, political spheres since 2018 following the coming of Prime Minister Dr. Abiy Ahmed into office. With the reform, political space has been widened and several exiled opposition leaders and political parties have been allowed to operate inside the country. Hundreds of blocked blogs and websites have been unblocked. These moves have reignited hope among the people towards better democracy and freedom.

At the heart of democratic reforms is a fair, free and peaceful election. The government is exerting its outmost effort to create democratic state widening political space and creating conducive environment for opposition political parties. Equal participation of citizens and political parties is primarily ensured through conducting free and fair as well as peaceful election.

In a move to pave away for credible election, the country has amended repressive laws and ratified new laws. The government in fact amended several laws that are widely perceived as a detrimental effect on human rights, rule of law, democracy, and others. In the first rung is the new electoral law that has set out new rules for political party registration and change the election system.

These have had an effect in brining strong political parties in to the front burner as well as sidestepping weak and fragmented political parties from the playing ground. Independent National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) is established which is accountable to the House of Peoples' Representatives, the federal legislative house.

On the other hand, the new law on civil society has made it possible for nongovernmental organizations, professional associations, civic societies and other groups to engage in the advancement of human rights and democracy issue. And, these entities are expected to make their own contribution in making the poll credible through engaging in different responsibilities.

Though postponed for a year due to coronavirus pandemic, the 6th general election is yet another historic chance for Ethiopia towards democratic transition.

This week addressing member of the parliament Prime Minister Dr. Abiy Ahmed said that through democratic competition, Ethiopia can avert challenges related to disagreements, strengthen its democratic institutions, and begin transition to democracy.

Elections are a matter of survival the people of Ethiopians and the upcoming poll must be held on schedule this year despite many challenges.

The government is genuinely doing its level best to conduct truly competitive and fair election creating leveled playing field for everyone to participate in the election with fair and equal chance of winning mentality. The upcoming election is expected to be a critical juncture and chance for Ethiopia to transit to democracy.

The premier also noted that the government would make sure that all interested political parties are engaged in the election and treated equally and fairly with the view to making Ethiopia emerge a winner in the upcoming general election. The main objective of this election is creating democratic state by conducting democratic, peace and inclusive election.

The government has discussed with leaders of various parties and supported opposition political parties more than half way to participate in the election so far. Political parties' should be supported and the government is assisting them with all requires things so as to conduct inclusive election which will catapult Ethiopia to better stage. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed pledged that the government exerting its utmost effort to make the upcoming general election peaceful, fair, and democratic.

For the past many years the situation in the country is dominated by the inequality of opposition leaders in the country which had created mistrust amongst the peoples and political parties and lacks trust from the large public. The then ruling party is failed to satisfy the public interest witnessing grievances from the public.

In Ethiopia, there is a culture of assuming power forcefully without the willingness of the public. Following the reform despite the peaceful competitive political climate, the mentality and culture of seizing power through armed insurrection remains an existential threat to peace and democratization of the country. The focus of all should be to conduct free and democratic election that will make the country a winner, rather than a party.

"The upcoming general election is critical but challenging and the ruling party has prepared awareness raising programs to enlighten its tens of thousands of its political cadre regarding a free, fair and democratic election. I believe the upcoming election will make the country a winner. The political landscape has widened and the government has gone the extra mile to foster inclusive participation."

This year the election will not take place in a regular manner. The political space is now wide unlike previous year. Because of many issues the upcoming election will be critical and challenging. The government beg discussed and supports, more than half ways with the opposition political parties those who are trying to withdraw from the election, prime minister Abiy told the MPs.

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Recently some parties showed their willingness to participate in the upcoming election and pose question to the electoral board and the government will do its level best to accommodate all parties to participate in the election.

On the other hand the electoral board will facilitate the situation for parties to participate in the election. "We will support any party which is interested to participate in the election by all necessary means. Democracy developed through times it is not something ensured overnight. Most of the parties in Ethiopia lack experience of winning and competing in election."

He stated: "Our success is to make the election free and democratic. It should be Ethiopia's victory. I have personally tried to ensure that eligible parties take part in the election. No matter how fair and healthy an election is, it does not guarantee democracy except providing a foundation for democratic rule."

Democracy is a process that takes years. Parties need to leave the old tradition of being an escort and start competing as there is no better time to do so. The election will take place as the Ethiopian people must vote and move past bottlenecks, he added.
Dr. Simonetta Sipione, GlycoNet Investigator and Professor in the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Alberta, was recently awarded a major five-year grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), worth $1.04 million. The project builds upon work previously funded by GlycoNet.

The project aims to clarify the therapeutic role of gangliosides, a family of glycolipid molecules that have properties of both lipids and carbohydrates, in the brain.

"These gangliosides are highly enriched in the healthy brain. They help brain cells communicate with each other and with the environment," says Sipione, lead Investigator on the project.

"During aging and in some cases of neurodegenerative diseases, including Huntington's disease and Parkinson's disease, the level of some of the gangliosides is lower in the patient's brain," says Sipione. "We are interested in finding out why and developing a viable treatment that tackles the root of the disease, not just the symptoms."

Currently, patients who have neurodegenerative diseases are usually prescribed with medications to improve movement and fight depression. However, none of these medications address the disease cause, which is the accumulation of toxic proteins in the brain. Finding ways to prevent this toxic buildup will turn the table on current methods to treat these diseases.

Previously, Sipione's team was able to slow down neurodegeneration in a mouse model of Huntington's disease through injection of a type of ganglioside called GM1 into the mouse brain.

"Restoring the level of GM1 in the brain could be a potential treatment for those who experience, or show signs of, neurodegeneration," says Sipione. Now, her team is investigating the mechanism of action, as this knowledge would shed light on other aspects in neuro- and glycoscience and help develop treatments.

According to Sipione, the CIHR grant will enable her team to find out how GM1 helps the brain dispose of, or even prevent, the buildup of toxic proteins.

"To use a simple analogy, toxic proteins are like garbage and your brain is like a house. If garbage accumulates in the house and no one throws it out, your house is going to smell. We think GM1 and other gangliosides have a key role in instructing brain cells so that the garbage (toxic proteins) can be thrown out properly and eliminated by trash collectors, which are other biomolecules in the brain," she adds. "Our studies will help determine the underlying mechanism of GM1's therapeutic effects and whether other similar molecules could be a novel treatment, not only for Huntington's disease, but also potentially for Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease."

The Huntington Society of Canada reports that approximately 1 in 7,000 people in Canada has Huntington's disease. Another report from The Alzheimer's Society suggests that over 500,000 Canadians are living with dementia that results from neurogenerative disorders including Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. As seniors in Canada are a rapidly growing segment of the population, by 2031, it is estimated that the number will increase to 937,000.

Sipione, who trained as a biochemist, believes that her laboratory's interdisciplinary approach provides a unique opportunity to uncover issues central to brain health. Her goal is to leverage knowledge from her research discoveries to create tangible benefits for people both in Canada and worldwide.

###
For most Victorians, face masks were a mild inconvenience in the fight against COVID-19. But for retail worker Mia Belic, they were a necessity.

As the 18-year-old removed her mask at 6pm on Friday when the government restrictions were eased, it wasnt just a breath of fresh air she was met with, but the feeling of freedom that comes with the gradual return to normalcy in the wake of COVID-19.

Coles workers Brad Wilkinson and Mia Belic removed their masks at 6pm Friday when mandatory face coverings were lifted. Credit:Joe Armao

I feel like everyones going to be a lot more free, in a sense, like we dont have to wear a mask but if we choose to we can, to keep ourselves safe, Mia said.

Im just gonna breathe that fresh air.
Abuja  The federal government and Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) have resolved to carry out regular review of the progress made in the execution of Memorandum of Agreement (MoU) reached by both parties.

Speaking at the end their meeting last night, the Minister of Labour and Employment Senator Chris Ngige said the discussion was very fruitful.

He said they had agreed to reconvene before the end of May.

Speaking on the issue of the N30 billion revitalisation fund, the minister said they looked at the payment and how to streamline the outstanding payment into the national budget or into a special system fund.

Ngige said they also discussed the issue of check- off dues, adding that both OAGF and ASUU were asked to go back and look at their records and reconcile issues

With regards to Earned Academic Allowances (EAA), Ngige recalled that the government paid N40 billion to all the unions while the National Universities Commission (NUC) provided a formula, which was used for sharing it among all the university workers.

"We had pockets of protest and we managed it. Today, we also agreed to find a way to accommodate the balance in order to pay all as and when due.

"We also looked at salaries that were not captured by the office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF), resulting in some lecturers not having their full amount of payment since December or January 2020. We felt that such a thing should not arise. Notes were exchanged by the office of Accountant General and ASUU leadership. So, we want them to go back and cross check."

"We also looked at the issue of UTAS and also made certain recommendations which will be communicated to the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, who heads the supervising ministry, to enable them fast forward the various tests that are needed on the UTAS system like stress test, integrity test and the rest of them.

The President of ASUU, Professor Biodun Ogunyemi said the union was satisfied with the periodic review of the agreement so to prevent tension and resort to further industrial action.

"Put together, we want to agree that we had fruitful discussions and we have strong hopes that there will be fruitful and harmonious relationship in achieving the provisions of the MoA of 2020.

"We want to agree that it is a departure from the past because, now, we have agreed on intermittent or periodic review of the MoA so that areas that will create tension will be apprehended before matters degenerate," Ogunyemi said.
By Raya Jalabi and Lisa Barrington

DUBAI (Reuters) - Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis said on Friday they had attacked Saudi energy and military sites with 18 armed drones, and the kingdom's energy ministry reported that a projectile had struck a petroleum products distribution station, causing a fire.

The Saudi-led military coalition which is at war with the Houthis said late on Thursday it had intercepted several drones aimed at Saudi Arabia. On Monday, Riyadh presented a peace initiative that includes a nationwide truce https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSL1N2LL182 in Yemen as the war enters its seventh year.

The United States, which under new President Joe Biden is trying to help advance the peace process and stem Yemen's worsening humanitarian crisis, on Friday condemned the attacks as a "clear provocation meant to perpetuate the conflict."

"This the latest in a series of Houthi attempts to disrupt global energy supplies and threaten civilian populations," State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement.

The attacks coincided with the latest trip to the region by U.S. Special Envoy Tim Lenderking, who was expected to meet with the Houthis, having said earlier this month that he would "immediately" return when they were ready to talk.

The Houthis, who control Yemen's capital and most populous areas, have stepped up drone and missile attacks on Saudi targets in recent weeks. Meanwhile, Riyadh faces increasing pressure from Washington to end the war, after Biden withdrew his predecessor Donald Trump's support for the conflict.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said on Friday that the group had targeted facilities of state oil company Saudi Aramco in Ras al-Tanura, Rabigh, Yanbu and Jazan. He said they also targeted King Abdelaziz military base in Dammam and military sites in Najran and Asir.

"We are prepared to carry out stronger and harsher military attacks in the coming period," he said on Twitter.

Story continues

Aramco, when contacted by Reuters on Friday, said it would comment at the earliest opportunity.

The Saudi energy ministry said that at 9 p.m. on Thursday a projectile had struck a petroleum products distribution station in Jazan that caused a fire in a tank. There were no casualties.

The Saudi defence ministry said on Friday the kingdom would take deterrent actions to protect oil exports.

"These attacks confirm the terrorist Houthi militia's rejection of all political efforts to end the crisis," defence ministry spokesman Colonel Turki al-Malki, who also speaks for the Saudi-led coalition, said in a statement.

URGENT NEED FOR CEASEFIRE

The Houthis are pushing for the full lifting of the coalition's sea and air blockade on areas the group controls. In addition to stepping up drone and missile attacks on Saudi Arabia, they are pressing a ground offensive to seize Yemen's gas-rich Marib region forces loyal to the internationally-recognized, Saudi-backed government of Yemen.

The war has killed tens of thousands of people and caused what the United Nations says is the world's largest humanitarian crisis, with millions facing famine.

U.N. Special Envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths met senior Houthi official, Mohamed Abdulsalam, for talks in Oman on Friday to urge the group to enter a ceasefire and reach an agreement with the coalition, which controls Yemen's airspace, to re-open Sanaa airport.

Griffiths' office also said on Twitter that he discussed with Abdulsalam the need for an accord to lift the coalition's restrictions on the Houthi-controlled port of Hudaydah, and for the Houthis to resume the political dialogue with Yemen's internationally-recognized government.

U.S. envoy Lenderking also was in Oman on Friday "in coordination" with Griffiths for talks with government officials, deputy State Department spokeswoman Jalina Porter told reporters, but she declined to say whether the U.S. envoy had met the Houthis.

The Saudi-led coalition intervened in Yemen in March 2015 after the Houthis ousted the government in the capital Sanaa.

The Houthis deny Saudi accusations they are puppets of Iran and say they are fighting a corrupt system and foreign aggression.

(Reporting by Alaa Swilam in Cairo, Lisa Barrington and Maher Chmaytelli in Dubai and Jonathan Landay, Humeyra Pamuk and Simon Lewis in Washington; Writing by Raya Jalabi and Ghaida Ghantous; Editing by Gareth Jones, Raissa Kasolowsky and Grant McCool)
Modi arrived in Dhaka on Friday on a two-day visit to Bangladesh to attend the celebrations of the country's 50th year of liberation from Pakistan and the 100th birth anniversary of its founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the father of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

The clashes broke out after a section of radicals started to demonstrate against the visit of the Indian Prime Minister after the Friday prayers in front of the Baitul Mukarram mosque.

Four scribes, including two photojournalists, were injured in the clashes which erupted after the demonstrators tried to take out a procession after Friday prayers.

At that time, Modi was meeting with political leaders of the 14-party alliance at the Sonargaon Hotel in Karwan Bazar, not far from the Baitul Mokarram mosque.

Right after the prayers at noon, many radical demonstrators started raising slogans against the Indian Prime Minister's arrival in Dhaka near the south gate of the mosque, prompting the police to resort to lathi charge and fire rubber bullets to disperse the crowd.

As soon as the anti-Modi protesters started raising slogans, the leaders and activists of the ruling party's student wing, the Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), launched a protest against the radicals at the mosque's north gate area, leading to a scuffle between the two sides.

The police fired in the air and used tear-gas shells to bring the situation under control. Vehicular movement in the area was disrupted in view of the violent protests and the situation is still tense in the Baitul Mukarram area.
A GoFundMe page recently created to help pay the legal fees for a Canadian pastor who was jailed for not adhering to ongoing worship restrictions in response to COVID-19 has received more than $45,000 in donations.

Pastor James Coates of GraceLife Church in Edmonton, Alberta, who was released from jail last week after surrendering to authorities on Feb. 16, has been in court for disobeying the provinces restrictions that limit in-person worship gatherings to no more than 15% capacity.

The fundraising effort was launched by John Klassen last month, around the time Coates turned himself in to authorities. It has raised over $45,000 as of Friday morning.

Coates has been a rare and refreshing voice of courage in these [unprecedented] times. He has stood on the word of God faithfully, courageously and uncompromisingly as a man of God when all around him men falter and fail, reads the fundraising page, in part.

Source:The Christian Post
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, already faxing sexual harassment allegations, faces another probe over Covid testing for his family (Brendan McDermid/Pool/AP)

The New York attorney generals office called on ethics investigators Thursday to look into reports that embattled governor Andrew Cuomo and others connected to him received special access to coronavirus tests a year ago, when such testing was scarce.

The office of Attorney General Letitia James, Mr Cuomos fellow Democrat, issued a statement urging New Yorks Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE) to investigate after the reports were published in the Times Union of Albany, The New York Times and The Washington Post.

The recent reports alleging there was preferential treatment given for Covid-19 testing are troubling, the statement read.

While we do not have jurisdiction to investigate this matter, its imperative that JCOPE look into it immediately.

Expand Close Andrew Cuomo at a news conference on Wednesday (Brendan McDermid/Pool/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook

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Walt McClure, a spokesperson for the ethics commission, said it could not comment on anything that is or might be an investigative matter.

Members of Mr Cuomos family including his brother, CNN journalist Chris Cuomo, his mother, and at least one of his three sisters were tested by top health department officials, some of them several times, according to the Times Union of Albany.

The testing of people closely tied to the governor was carried out by high-ranking state health officials, The New York Times reported. It mostly happened in the early days of the pandemic in March 2020.

Rich Azzopardi, a spokesperson for Mr Cuomo, did not explicitly deny the administration had extended special treatment to people close to the governor but sought to dispute the notion. The governors office did not provide responses to a list of questions from The Associated Press, including whether the governor disputes the reports.

Expand Close CNNs Chris Cuomo (Evan Agostini/Invision/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook

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Chris Cuomo was diagnosed with Covid-19 in late March of 2020. The CNN anchor was swabbed by a top state health department doctor who visited his Hamptons home to collect samples from him and his family, The Washington Post cited anonymous sources as saying.

CNN spokesperson Matt Dornic said in a statement it was not surprising that in the earliest days of a once-in-a-century global pandemic, when Chris was showing symptoms and was concerned about possible spread, he turned to anyone he could for advice and assistance, as any human being would.

News of the priority testing program comes as the third-term governor battles controversies on multiple fronts, including an investigation by the state attorney general into allegations of sexual harassment, which Mr Cuomo has denied, and a federal inquiry into the states reporting of Covid-19 among nursing home residents.

The state Assembly has launched an investigation whether there are grounds to impeach the governor.
Editors Note: The Reporter-Telegram had a chance to catch up with Bob Fu of ChinaAid. We are offering highlights of that discussion Friday and inside the Weekend Edition.

In October, Bob Fu had Chinese Communists protesting in his front yard. Not exactly the best of times for Fu, his family or their north Midland neighbors.

The multi-week protest gave Midlanders a taste of the threat that Fu deals with on a constant basis.

Still, Fu, the leader of the Midland nonprofit ChinaAid, told the Reporter-Telegram that he is grateful for the protection he received from law enforcement, the FBI and Mayor Patrick Payton. He also wanted to thank the Midland community for its prayers for him and his family, which moved from location to location out of the state during the ordeal.

Fu, reflecting on the events of last fall, recalled Payton telling Midlanders that hes been through three difficult situations during his time as mayor  COVID and economic downturn and Chinese protestors in his city.

Two of them are related to China, Fu pointed out.

Fu was pleased that the White House -- today at NATO headquarters -- identified China as the No. 1 security threat to NATO. It was an improvement, he said, to an opening act that Fu said raised questions whether the president is naive or had acknowledged defeat. Fu referenced the high-level meeting between the Chinese and Americans in Alaska when the Chinese lectured the U.S. for its human rights record of late.

That was real sad to see on your own soil. That somehow the Communist Partys leader would lecture top leaders in the U.S. for 20 minutes is astonishing, said Fu, referencing the genocide of more than 1 million mostly moderate Muslims in concentration camps and the placing of Christians in prison for as much as 12 years for offering sermons.

Fu said President Biden made a serious mistake with the tone his administration set. Now is not the time for strategic ambiguity. Strategic clarity is needed, Fu said, adding the officials with the Chinese Communist Party are masters of deception and masters of rhetoric and that they talk without changing behavior.

It has been that way since Jimmy Carters time, said Fu, a participant in the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.

Fu has been consistent in his comments about administrations  even when George W. Bush occupied the Oval Office. In an interview he gave once, Fu gave the Bush administration on F of its China policy. He said while the former Midlander got higher marks for religious freedom that it accommodated Chinas business interests way too much.

Fu said Donald Trump earned the highest marks of any recent president. His China policy has been the best, the most coherent, said Fu, referencing conversations with those still in China that confirmed his thinking. He said Trumps strategy was the most comprehensive when dealing with the power that China has become.

This is why Communist Party leaders decided before he left office to enact a wait-and-see approach, Fu said. He was the first American president (the CCP) was really afraid of.

Fu hopes the current administration is tougher on the Chinese, which he said was active in the November election. He said the U.S. cant allow CCP civilian and social media companies to operate in the U.S. without impunity or raising money without obeying conscientious rules.

It was wrong for this administration to reverse (the policies in place) with executive actions, Fu said. When facing evil, you dont declare a ceasefire.

Coming this weekend: Bob Fu offers his thoughts on Asians being attacked in the United States, the migrants in Midland County and the events of Jan. 6 at the U.S. Capitol. Fu was in Washington that day.
The offshore oil and gas industry needs to adjust for climate change and make other adjustments as it looks to the future, said Scott Angelle, former Director of the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement.

Speaking to One Acadiana on Wednesday as part of a discussion titled American Offshore Energy: Turning Fear Into Hope, Angelle noted that drilling in the Gulf of Mexico has resulted in lower carbon emissions and that more drilling there would be better for the economy and the environment than if it was done in other parts of the world.

But the next generation is very concerned about climate change  long dismissed as political rhetoric  and change should be embraced, he said.

Americans by and large consider it to be a very serious, serious issue, Angelle said. The data says that young conservatives are very concerned about mother Earth. Young conservatives are going to be replacing older conservatives as we go through the cycle of life. These are the facts, and the facts are that voters really care about climate change.

Some in the industry have already embraced it but have been reluctant to speak about it, he said.

A New York Times poll from January indicated a majority of Americans in both parties want a government that will deal forcefully with climate change instead of denying it exists.

Support is growing in all areas of the country and not just in blue states, Angelle noted.

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I made a presentation to the Houston Downtown Petroleum Club, he said. There were people in that audience who are third-generation oil and gas people who came up to me after and said, Thank you for making it cool to talk about. You know, we can either put our head in the sand and get run over or we can be proactive. This is a real issue.

The energy industry will continue to change as alternative energy sources become more available, but the world will continue to rely on oil and gas, he noted, even as many in the industry are fearing that their best days are gone.

Last month President Joe Biden cancelled the lease sales for drilling in the Gulf that would have auctioned off 78 million acres for exploration. The move was expected after Biden issued an executive order in January halting all oil and gas leasing on federal lands and waters.

No lease sales, Angelle noted, would be more harmful to the environment since it would shift the drilling to other areas of the world and would result in more carbon-intensive actions. He cited a report from the Obama administration that made that report.

That statement is gold. Its unbelievable, Angelle said. And it wasnt put together by some right-wing people. It was put together by the Obama-Biden administration. And it says that having no lease sales would be worse for United States greenhouse gas emissions.
Authorities in Turkana County have raised the alarm over a spike in tuberculosis (TB) infections in the recent months.

According to the County TB Coordinator, Dr Job Okemwa, Turkana, which is among the top 10 high TB burden counties, has already recorded 600 infections since January this year.

Dr Okemwa warned the county could report more than 2,500 cases of TB if the current trend of infections is not controlled.

TB is a potentially serious infectious bacterial disease that mainly affects the lungs and which is spread when an infected person coughs or sneezes.

"The first quarter of this year is not over and yet we have already recorded 600 cases. Concerted efforts by both county and development partners must be stepped up to tackle this worrying trend," he said.

He noted that the county recorded 2,278 cases last year, up from 2,478 in 2019.

Drug resistant TB

He added that the county recorded 44 cases of drug resistant TB last year. The cases were resistant to at least one first line anti-TB drugs which he said could have been caused by patients failing to observe proper treatment procedures.

Dr Okemwa said that the county is partnering with Ampath Plus to roll out house-to-house screening of TB.

"The initiative has kicked off in populated settlements in Turkana Central Sub-County that contributes to at least 1,000 of the total TB cases in the county," he said.

Ampath Plus Team Lead Christopher Eweilar said that they are facilitating healthcare workers deployed in highly prone villages to screen locals and ensure those infected are immediately enrolled for treatment.

County Health Executive Jane Ajele said that the mass screening also targets all healthcare workers .

Ms Ajele asked locals with signs of coughing and chest pain not to shun away from going to hospitals for fear of being tested for Covid-19, noting that any of the two will be treated if detected.

County Health Chief Officer Augustine Lokwang noted that the attention given to Covid-19 prevention and control has overshadowed all other diseases including TB, resulting to the current spike in cases.
ISMAILIA, Egypt - Dredgers, tugboats and even a backhoe failed to free a giant cargo ship wedged in Egypts Suez Canal on Thursday. More than 150 vessels are now backed up, with hundreds more headed to the vital waterway, and losses to global shipping are mounting.

ISMAILIA, Egypt - Dredgers, tugboats and even a backhoe failed to free a giant cargo ship wedged in Egypts Suez Canal on Thursday. More than 150 vessels are now backed up, with hundreds more headed to the vital waterway, and losses to global shipping are mounting.

The skyscraper-sized Ever Given, carrying cargo between Asia and Europe, ran aground Tuesday in the narrow, man-made canal dividing continental Africa from the Sinai Peninsula. Even helped by high tides, authorities have been unable to push the Panama-flagged container vessel aside, and they are looking for new ideas to free it.

This satellite image from Planet Labs Inc. shows the cargo ship MV Ever Given stuck in the Suez Canal near Suez, Egypt, Tuesday, March 23, 2021. A cargo container ship that's among the largest in the world has turned sideways and blocked all traffic in Egypt's Suez Canal, officials said Wednesday, March 24, 2021, threatening to disrupt a global shipping system already strained by the coronavirus pandemic. (Planet Labs Inc. via AP)

In a sign of the turmoil the blockage has caused, the ship's Japanese owner even offered a written apology.

We are determined to keep on working hard to resolve this situation as soon as possible, Shoei Kisen Kaisha Ltd. said. We would like to apologize to all parties affected by this incident, including the ships travelling and planning to travel through Suez Canal.

As efforts to free it resumed at daylight Thursday, an Egyptian canal authority official said workers hoped to avoid offloading containers from the vessel as it would take days to do so and extend the closure. The official spoke on condition of anonymity as he wasn't authorized to talk to journalists.

This photo released by the Suez Canal Authority on Thursday, March 25, 2021, shows two tugboats next to the Ever Given, a Panama-flagged cargo ship, after it become wedged across the Suez Canal and blocking traffic in the vital waterway from another vessel. An operation is underway to try to work free the ship, which further imperiled global shipping Thursday as at least 150 other vessels needing to pass through the crucial waterway idled waiting for the obstruction to clear. (Suez Canal Authority via AP)

So far, dredgers have tried to clear silt around the massive ship. Tug boats nudged the vessel alongside it, trying to gain momentum. From the shore, at least one backhoe dug into the canal's sandy banks, suggesting the bow of the ship had plowed into it. However, satellite photos taken Thursday and analyzed by The Associated Press showed the vessel still stuck in the same location.

The vessel remained stuck as of Thursday night despite "continuous efforts to refloat it, according to canal service provider Leth Agencies.

Lt. Gen. Osama Rabei, the head of the canal authority, said navigation through the waterway would remain halted until the Ever Given is refloated. A team from Boskalis, a Dutch firm specialized in salvaging, arrived at the canal Thursday, although one of its top officials warned removing the vessel could take days to weeks."

A team from the Boskalis subsidiary SMIT "spent the day doing inspections and doing calculations to assess the state of the vessel and a plan on how to refloat the vessel, spokesman Martijn Schuttevaer told the AP. He did not offer a time frame.

The Suez Canal Authority said one idea the team discussed was scraping the bottom of the canal around the ship.

Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement, the company that manages the Ever Given, said they were focusing on dredging to remove sand and mud from around the port side of the vessels bow. It said a specialized suction dredger would join other dredgers on the site. That dredger is able to shift 2,000 cubic meters of material every hour, it said.

This photo released by the Suez Canal Authority on Thursday, March 25, 2021, shows a backhoe trying to dig out the keel of the Ever Given, a Panama-flagged cargo ship, that is wedged across the Suez Canal and blocking traffic in the vital waterway. An operation is underway to try to work free the ship, which further imperiled global shipping Thursday as at least 150 other vessels needing to pass through the crucial waterway idled waiting for the obstruction to clear. (Suez Canal Authority via AP)

BSMs continuing priorities are to safely re-float the vessel and for marine traffic in the Suez Canal to resume, it said without providing timeframe.

Boskalis chairman Peter Berdowski on Wednesday described the ship as a very heavy whale on the beach.

The ship, with the weight it now has, cant really be pulled free. You can forget it, he told the Dutch current affairs program Nieuwsuur.

Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement said its 25-member crew was safe and accounted for. Shoei Kisen Kaisha said all the crew came from India.

The ship had two pilots from Egypt's canal authority aboard the vessel to guide it when the grounding happened around 7:45 a.m. Tuesday, Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement said.

Canal service provider Leth Agencies said at least 150 ships were waiting for the Ever Given to be cleared, including vessels near Port Said on the Mediterranean Sea, Port Suez on the Red Sea and those already stuck in the canal system on Egypt's Great Bitter Lake.

This satellite image from Cnes2021, Distribution Airbus DS, shows the cargo ship MV Ever Given stuck in the Suez Canal near Suez, Egypt, Thursday, March 25, 2021. The skyscraper-sized cargo ship wedged across Egypt's Suez Canal further imperiled global shipping Thursday as at least 150 other vessels needing to pass through the crucial waterway idled waiting for the obstruction to clear, authorities said. (Cnes2021, Distribution Airbus DS via AP)

Cargo ships already behind the Ever Given in the canal will be reversed south back to Port Suez to free the channel, Leth Agencies said. Authorities hope to do the same to the Ever Given when they can free it.

But many more ships already are en route to the canal.

Using data from Automatic Identification System trackers on ships at sea, data firm Refinitiv shared an analysis with the AP showing over 300 ships remained on the way to the waterway over the next two weeks. Some vessels could still change course, but the crush of ships listing the Suez Canal as their destination shows an even-greater backlog looms for shippers already under pressure amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Blocking something like the Suez Canal really sets in motion a number of dominos toppling each other over, said Lars Jensen, chief executive of Denmark-based SeaIntelligence Consulting. The effect is not only going to be the simple, immediate one with cargo being delayed over the next few weeks, but will actually have repercussions several months down the line for the supply chain.

Evergreen Marine Corp., a major Taiwan-based shipping company that operates the ship, said the Ever Given had been overcome by strong winds as it entered the canal, something Egyptian officials earlier said as well. High winds and a sandstorm plagued the area Tuesday, with winds gusting to 50 kph (30 mph).

An initial report suggested the ship suffered a power blackout before the incident, something Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement denied.

Initial investigations rule out any mechanical or engine failure as a cause of the grounding, the company said.

In Japan, Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato told reporters the Suez Canal is part of a crucial international sea lane, and that the Japanese government was gathering information and working with local authorities.

The closure could affect oil and gas shipments to Europe from the Mideast, which rely on the canal to avoid sailing around Africa. The price of international benchmark Brent crude stood at over $61 a barrel Thursday.

Overall, famed shipping journal Lloyd's List estimates each day the Suez Canal is closed disrupts over $9 billion worth of goods that should be passing through the waterway. A quarter of all Suez Canal traffic a day comes from container ships like the Ever Given, the journal said.

The Ever Given, built in 2018 with a length of nearly 400 metres (a quarter mile) and a width of 59 metres (193 feet), is among the largest cargo ships in the world. It can carry some 20,000 containers at a time. It previously had been at ports in China before heading toward Rotterdam in the Netherlands.

Opened in 1869, the Suez Canal is a crucial link for oil, natural gas and cargo. It also remains one of Egypts top foreign currency earners. In 2015, the government of President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi completed a major expansion of the canal, allowing it to accommodate the worlds largest vessels. However, the Ever Given ran aground south of that new portion of the canal.

Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Associated Press writers Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo, Isabel DeBre in Dubai and Mike Corder at The Hague, Netherlands, contributed.
Prime Minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, Dr. Abiy Ahmed arrives in Asmara in the afternoon hours of today for a two-day working visit to the country.

Upon arrival at the Asmara International Airport, Dr. Abiy Ahmed was accorded a warm welcome by President Isaias Afwerki.

The two leaders will discuss bilateral relations and regional developments.

The Prime Minister's delegation comprises Dr. Kenea Yadeta, Minister of Defense of Ethiopia, and Dr. Abraham Belay, Minister of Innovation and Technology.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Osman Saleh and Presidential Advisor Mr. Yemane Gebreab were present at the welcoming ceremony.
*** Unofficial English translation - For convenience purposes only ***

UCB SA/NV - Public Limited Liability Company

Allee de la Recherche 60, 1070 Brussels

Enterprise nr. 0403.053.608 (RLE Brussels)

www.ucb.com

("UCB SA/NV" or the "Company")

CONVENING NOTICE TO THE GENERAL MEETING OF SHAREHOLDERS

The Board of Directors (the "Board") invites the shareholders for the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders (the "General Meeting") which will be held on Thursday, 29 April 2021, at 11:00 am CEST, at the registered office of UCB SA/NV, Allee de la Recherche 60 - 1070 Brussels, for the purpose of considering and voting on the items shown on the agenda set out below.

Due to the crisis of the Corona virus (Covid-19) and the measures taken by our governments and public authorities restricting gatherings, UCB SA/NV will not be able to allow physical access to its General Meeting of 29 April 2021, subject to any update which we could communicate in due course. Therefore, our shareholders should cast their votes (i) by proxy, by mandating the person mentioned in our proxy form and specifying their precise voting instructions, or (ii) by virtually participating in the General Meeting and voting electronically during such meeting.





Applicable formalities are detailed at the end of this convening notice. Shareholders may, to the extent indicated, use Lumi's AGM+ platform (http://lumiagm.com/) to complete all participation formalities, vote by proxy or virtually participate in and vote during the General Meeting. Shareholders should ensure that the device and the internet connection they are using to connect are adequate and stable in order to virtually participate in the meeting in a proper manner and enjoy all proposed functionalities.



ORDINARY PART

1. Report of the Board of Directors on the annual accounts for the financial year ended 31 December 2020



2. Report of the statutory auditor on the annual accounts for the financial year ended 31 December 2020



3. Communication of the consolidated annual accounts of the UCB Group relating to the financial year ended 31 December 2020

4. Approval of the annual accounts of UCB SA/NV for the financial year ended 31 December 2020 and appropriation of the results

Proposed resolution :

The General Meeting approves the annual accounts of UCB SA/NV for the financial year ended

31 December 2020 and the appropriation of the results reflected therein, including the approval of a gross dividend of  1.27 per share (*).

(*) The UCB shares held by UCB SA/NV (own shares) are not entitled to a dividend. Therefore, the aggregate amount to be distributed to the shareholders may fluctuate depending on the number of UCB shares held by UCB SA/NV (own shares) on the dividend approval date.

5.Approval of the remuneration report for the financial year ended 31 December 2020

The Belgian Code of Companies and Associations (BCCA) requires the annual General Meeting (AGM) to approve the remuneration report each year by separate vote. This report includes a description of the remuneration policy that was applicable in 2020 and information on remuneration of the members of the Board of Directors and of the Executive Committee. Compared to last year, the format and content of the remuneration report has been adapted to comply with the new requirements of the Law of 28 April 2020 implementing the Shareholders Right Directive II (SRD II) in Belgian Law and amending the BCCA.

Proposed resolution :

The General Meeting approves the remuneration report for the financial year ended 31 December 2020.

6.Approval of the remuneration policy 2021

The new Belgian Corporate Governance Code 2020 (the "2020 Code") and the new provisions of the BCCA implementing SRD II require UCB SA/NV to establish a remuneration policy and to submit such policy or any important change thereto to the approval of the General Meeting. UCB SA/NV's remuneration policy was approved for the first time by the annual General Meeting of 30 April 2020. Compared to the policy approved last year, the following changes are now proposed for approval by this AGM:

1/ with respect to the remuneration of the Executive Committee members, it is proposed to introduce clawback and malus mechanisms, shareholding guidelines, as well as additional disclosure including, for instance, financial and non-financial KPI's or compensation peer group;

2/ with respect to the remuneration of the Board, the only proposed change is an increase of the remuneration of the Chair, to be effective upon appointment of our new Chair, Stefan Oschmann, also submitted for approval by this General Meeting (see below under section 9). This proposal results from a benchmark review that was carried out in view to ensure that UCB SA/NV could attract the best independent candidate for chairing its Board by proposing an appropriate level of compensation. The proposed increased remuneration (from  240,000 to

 330,000 annual gross fee, which includes the role on any Board committees) corresponds to a level closer to the (regressed) median of our European Pharma reference UCB peer group (as disclosed in the Remuneration Report 2020). Our peer group is also disclosed in the report. For more details on these proposed changes, please refer to the Remuneration Report available on UCB website.

Proposed resolution :

The General Meeting approves the remuneration policy 2021.

7.Discharge in favour of the directors

Pursuant to the BCCA, the General Meeting must, after approval of the annual accounts, vote on the discharge of liability of the directors.

Proposed resolution :

The General Meeting grants discharge to the directors for the performance of their duties during the financial year ended 31 December 2020.

8.Discharge in favour of the statutory auditor

Pursuant to the BCCA, the General Meeting must, after approval of the annual accounts, vote on the discharge of liability of the statutory auditor.

Proposed resolution :

The General Meeting grants discharge to the statutory auditor for the performance of his duties during the financial year ended 31 December 2020.

9.Appointments and renewal of mandates of directors

The mandates of Mr. Albrecht De Graeve, Mrs. Viviane Monges and Mr. Roch Doliveux will expire on the date of this General Meeting (29 April 2021). Mr. Roch Doliveux informed the Board that, for personal reasons, he will not be candidate for a further renewal of his mandate and will therefore leave the Board of UCB SA/NV at the end of the term of his current mandate. Since Mrs. Evelyn du Monceau, current Chair of the Board, has reached the statutory age limit, she will resign from the Board with effect immediately after the closing of this General Meeting. Mrs. Alice Dautry has been replaced by Mrs. Susan Gasser by cooptation (by decision of the Board) with effect as of 1 January 2021 as independent director and member of the Scientific Committee of the Board. When a directorship becomes vacant in the course of the mandate, the Board has the right to fill the vacancy by cooptation in accordance with the rules of the BCCA and the Articles of Association of the Company and the cooptation must be ratified by this General Meeting for the period from 1 January 2021 until this meeting. A full director mandate of 4 years, starting on the date of this AGM (29 April 2021) requires a separate decision of this General Meeting (see below).

Considering the above and upon recommendation of the Governance, Nomination and Compensation Committee ("GNCC"), the Board of Directors proposes to this annual General Meeting:

the appointment of Mr. Stefan Oschmann, as independent director, for a term of 4 years; if so elected, Stefan Oschmann will become Chair of the Board and member of the GNCC; by the time of his appointment as Board member of UCB SA/NV, he will have terminated all of his functions at Merck KGaA;

the appointment of Mrs. Fiona du Monceau, as non-independent director, for a term of 4 years; since she is a representative of the reference shareholder, she does not qualify as independent director as per article 7:87 of the BCCA and provision 3.5 of the 2020 Code; if so elected by the General Meeting, Mrs. Fiona du Monceau will become Vice-Chair of the Board in replacement of Pierre Gurdjian (who stays in the Board as independent director) and Chair of the GNCC;

the ratification of the cooptation of Mrs. Susan Gasser as independent director for the period between

1 January 2021 to the date of this General Meeting (29 April 2021) and her appointment for a mandate of 4 years as independent director; if so elected, she will continue to be a member of the Scientific Committee of the Board;

the appointment of Mr. Jonathan Peacock, for a mandate of 4 years as independent director; if so elected by the General Meeting, he will become the Chair of the Audit Committee in replacement of Albrecht De Graeve, effective immediately upon his appointment by this General Meeting (i.e. 29 April 2021);

the renewal of the mandate of Mr. Albrecht De Graeve for a new mandate of 4 years, but for only 1 year as independent director. Albrecht De Graeve will qualify as independent director only for the first year of his renewed mandate of 4 years (until the General Meeting to be held in 2022). In accordance with the rules of the 2020 Code, non-executive board members can indeed qualify as independent if their total tenure does not exceed 12 years. Albrecht De Graeve was appointed for the first time as independent director at the General Meeting of 29 April 2010 and therefore qualifies as independent director for 1 additional year, until the General Meeting of 2022. If re-elected, Mr. Albrecht De Graeve would therefore stay as independent member of the Audit Committee (but not as Chair of this committee) for one additional year; until the annual General Meeting of April 2022. From the General Meeting of 2022 until the end of his mandate (2025) he will remain non-independent member of the Board and will no longer be member of the Audit Committee. In the context of the overall succession plan, the Board is of the opinion that, given his key role as Chair of the Audit Committee since 2015, it is important to keep him as an independent member of the Board and of the Audit Committee for an additional year in order to ensure a smooth transition and succession in a year of critical changes in the governance of the Company: Change of the Chair and Vice-Chair of the Board (respectively Mr. Stefan Oschmann and Mrs. Fiona du Monceau), of the Chair of the Audit Committee (Mr. Jonathan Peacock) and of the GNCC (Mrs. Fiona du Monceau) as well as a change of the external statutory Auditor (process conducted under the supervision of the Audit Committee - see below). Beyond 2022, Mr. Albrecht De Graeve will continue to bring his experience and key contribution to the Board as non-independent/non-executive director;

the renewal of the mandate of Mrs. Viviane Monges, for a new term of 4 years, as independent director; if so re-elected by the General Meeting, she will continue to be an independent member of the Audit Committee.

Mr. Stefan Oschmann, Mrs. Susan Gasser, Mr. Jonathan Peacock, Mrs. Viviane Monges and Mr. Albrecht De Graeve (until 2022 for the latter) each meet the independence criteria stipulated by article 7:87 of the BCCA, by provision 3.5 of the 2020 Code and by the Board.

Subject to the abovementioned appointments and renewals by the General Meeting, the Board and its special committees will continue to be composed of a majority of independent directors. The members of the Audit Committee will be Mr. Jonathan Peacock (Chair and independent), Mr. Albrecht De Graeve (independent until the AGM 2022), Mrs. Viviane Monges (independent) and Mr. Charles-Antoine Janssen (non-independent). Although staying as an independent member of the Board, Mr. Ulf Wiinberg will no longer be a member of the Audit Committee. The members of the GNCC will be Mrs. Fiona du Monceau (Chair and non-independent), Mr. Stefan Oschmann (independent), Mr. Pierre Gurdjian (independent) and Mrs. Kay Davies (independent). The members of the Scientific Committee will be Mrs. Kay Davies (Chair and independent) and Mrs. Susan Gasser (independent).

If all the above mandates are approved by the General Meeting 2021, the total number of Board members will increase from 13 to 14 members, which is below the maximum limit currently set forth in the UCB Corporate Governance Charter . This increase is to ensure a smooth transition, continuity and succession planning in years of important changes in the Board composition. Out of the 14 members, 9 members will be independent (and 8, as of April 2022). The Board will also be composed of 5 women out of 14 members (35%), which is in compliance with the gender diversity requirement of Article 7:86 of the BCCA.

The curriculum vitae, information on other Board mandates and skills of these directors are available on the internet site of UCB.

Proposed resolutions :

9.1.A) The General Meeting appoints Mr. Stefan Oschmann (*) as director for a term of four years until the close of the annual General Meeting of 2025.

B) The General Meeting acknowledges that, from the information made available to the Company, Mr. Stefan Oschmann qualifies as an independent director according to the independence criteria provided for by article 7:87 of the Belgian Code of Companies and Associations, by provision 3.5 of the 2020 Belgian Corporate Governance Code and by the Board, and appoints him as independent director.

9.2.The General Meeting appoints Mrs. Fiona du Monceau (*) as director for a term of four years until the close of the annual General Meeting of 2025.

9.3.A) The General Meeting ratifies the co-optation of Mrs. Susan Gasser (*) as independent director for the period from 1 January 2021 until the date of this meeting (29 April 2021).

B) The General Meeting appoints Mrs. Susan Gasser (*) as director for a term of four years until the close of the annual General Meeting of 2025.

C) The General Meeting acknowledges that, from the information made available to the Company, Mrs. Susan Gasser qualifies as an independent director according to the independence criteria provided for by article 7:87 of the Belgian Code of Companies and Associations, by provision 3.5 of the 2020 Belgian Corporate Governance Code and by the Board, and appoints her as independent director.

9.4.A) The General Meeting appoints Mr. Jonathan Peacock (*) as director for a term of four years until the close of the annual General Meeting of 2025.

B) The General Meeting acknowledges that, from the information made available to the Company, Mr. Jonathan Peacock qualifies as an independent director according to the independence criteria provided for by article 7:87 of the Belgian Code of Companies and Associations, by provision 3.5 of the 2020 Belgian Corporate Governance Code and by the Board and appoints him as independent director.

9.5.A) The General Meeting renews the appointment of Mr. Albrecht De Graeve (*) as director for a term of four years until the close of the annual General Meeting of 2025.

B) The General Meeting acknowledges that, from the information made available to the Company, Mr. Albrecht De Graeve qualifies as an independent director until the Annual General Meeting of 2022 according to the independence criteria provided for by article 7:87 of the Belgian Code of Companies and Associations, by provision 3.5 of the 2020 Belgian Corporate Governance Code and by the Board, and appoints him as independent director, until the annual General Meeting of 2022.

9.6.A) The General Meeting renews the appointment of Mrs. Viviane Monges (*) as director for a term of four years until the close of the annual General Meeting of 2025.

B) The General Meeting acknowledges that, from the information made available to the Company, Mrs. Viviane Monges qualifies as an independent director according to the independence criteria provided for by article 7:87 of the Belgian Code of Companies and Associations, by provision 3.5 of the 2020 Belgian Corporate Governance Code and by the Board, and appoints her as independent director.

.

10.Appointment of Statutory Auditor

The mandate of the Statutory Auditor, PwC Bedrijfsrevisoren BCVBA / Reviseurs d'Entreprises SCCRL (PwC), will expire at the end of this General Meeting. By application of the European and Belgian mandatory rotation rules applicable to external auditors, PwC is no longer eligible for re-election as external Statutory Auditor. As a result, in order to be compliant with the independence rules applicable to the appointment of a new external auditor and in accordance withRegulation (EU) No 537/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 April 2014 on specific requirements regarding statutory audit of public-interest entities and the BCCA, UCB SA/NV conducted, starting in 2018, a process to select a new Statutory Auditor for the audit mandate starting immediately after the General Meeting of 29 April 2021. The Audit Committee was overall responsible for the selection procedure and ensured it was conducted in a fair manner. For this purpose, and as per the applicable regulation, a request for proposal tender process was followed under the supervision of the Audit Committee. As a result of this comprehensive process, the audit firm Mazars Bedrijfsrevisoren - Reviseurs d'Entreprises CVBA - Avenue du Boulevard 21, box 8, 1210 Saint-Josse-ten-Noode (Brussels) - Belgium ("Mazars") was selected as the most suitable candidate. Procedures were put in place to safeguard the independence of Mazars during the 2 years preceding its formal appointment by this General Meeting, in accordance with the applicable independence rules.



Following the above described process, upon recommendation of the Audit Committee and presentation by the Company's Works Councils (of 21 and 26 January 2021), the Board of Directors proposes to appoint Mazars as its Statutory Auditor for a mandate of 3 years (legal term). In accordance with the rules of the BCCA, the General Meeting is competent for setting the annual fixed remuneration of the Statutory Auditor and its remuneration is therefore also proposed for approval by this General Meeting.

Proposed resolutions :

Upon recommendation of the Audit Committee and presentation by the Works Councils, the General Meeting appoints Mazars Bedrijfsrevisoren - Reviseurs d'Entreprises CVBA - having its registered office at Avenue du Boulevard 21, box 8, 1210 Saint-Josse-ten-Noode (Brussels) - Belgium and with company number 0428.837.889, as Statutory Auditor of the Company for a term of three (3) years ending at the end of the General Meeting that will resolve on the approval of the annual accounts for the financial year ended 31 December 2023. The representative currently designated by Mazars Bedrijfsrevisoren - Reviseurs d'Entreprises is Mr. Anton Nuttens, registered auditor. The Statutory Auditor's annual fee for the audit of the annual accounts of UCB SA/NV and the consolidated accounts, is fixed at EUR 415,000 (excl. VAT, out-of-pocket expenses and the IRE/IBR fee).

SPECIAL PART

11.Long-Term Incentive Plans - Program of free allocation of shares

This approval requested from the General Meeting is not as such required by Belgian law but is sought in order to ensure transparency and, as the case may be, compliance with foreign law for certain jurisdictions where our Long-Term Incentive Plans (LTI plans) are offered to our employees. For more information on UCB's LTI plans, please refer to the 2020 remuneration report. For the avoidance of doubt, UCB SA/NV confirms that it covers all its obligations under the LTI Plans with existing shares, i.e. through share buybacks, so there is no dilution for existing shareholders of UCB SA/NV.

Proposed resolution :

The General Meeting approves the decision of the Board of Directors to allocate an estimated number of 940,000 free shares:

of which an estimated number of 750,000 shares to eligible employees under the Long-Term Inventive policy (LTI policy), namely to 2,323 individuals, according to the applicable allocation criteria. These free shares will only vest if and when the eligible employees are still employed within the UCB Group three years after the grant of the awards; of which an estimated number of 190,000 shares to eligible employees under the Performance Share Plan, namely to 143 individuals, according to the applicable allocation criteria. These free shares will be delivered after a three-year vesting period and the number of shares actually allocated will vary from 0% to 150% of the number of shares initially granted depending on the level of achievement of the performance conditions set by the Board of UCB SA/NV at the moment of grant.

The estimated figures under a) and b) do not take into account employees hired or promoted to eligible levels between 1 January 2021 and 1 April 2021.

12.Change of control provisions - art. 7:151 of the Belgian Code of Companies and Associations

Pursuant to article 7:151 of the BCCA, the General Meeting is solely competent to approve change of control clauses whereby third parties are granted rights having a substantial influence on the assets of the Company or causing a substantial debt or undertaking for the Company, if the exercise of such rights depends on the launch of a public takeover bid on the shares of the Company or a change of control thereof.

12.1 EMTN Program - renewal

UCB SA/NV has entered into a Euro Medium Term Note Program dated 6 March 2013 for an amount of  3 000 000 000, with last update of the Base Prospectus on 8 March 2021, whereby the amount was increased to  5 000 000 000, as this program may be further amended, extended or updated from time to time (the "EMTN Program"). The terms of the EMTN Program provide for a change of control clause - condition 5 (e) (i) - under which, for any of the Notes issued under the EMTN Program where a change of control put is included in the relevant final terms, any and all of the holders of such notes can, in certain circumstances, require UCB SA/NV to redeem that Note, following a change of control at the level of UCB SA/NV, upon exercise of the change of control put, for a value equal to the put redemption amount increased with, if appropriate, interest accrued until the date of exercise of the change of control put (all as more particularly described in the Base Prospectus of the EMTN Program). In accordance with said article 7:151 of the Belgian Code of Companies and Associations, this clause must be approved by the General Meeting and it is hereby proposed to renew this approval for any series of notes issued under the EMTN Program including such clause during the next 12 months.

Proposed resolution :

Pursuant to article 7:151 of the Belgian Code of Companies and Associations, the General Meeting renews its approval: (i) of condition 5 (e) (i) of the Terms and Conditions of the EMTN Program (Redemption at the Option of Noteholders - Upon a Change of Control (Change of Control Put)), in respect of any series of notesto which such condition is made applicable being issued under the Programfrom 30 April 2021 until 28 April 2022, under which any and all of the holders of the relevant notes can, in certain circumstances when a change of control at the level of UCB SA/NV occurs, require UCB SA/NV to redeem that note on the change of control put date at the put redemption amount together, if appropriate, with interest accrued to such change of control put date, following a change of control of UCB SA/NV; and (ii) of any other provision of the EMTN Program or notes issued under the EMTN Program granting rights to third parties which could affect an obligation on UCB SA/NV where in each case the exercise of these rights is dependent on the occurrence of a change of control.

***



USE OF LUMI'S AGM+ PLATFORM

Shareholders who wish to do so can complete, as further detailed below, all participation formalities via Lumi's AGM+ platform: https://lumiagm.com/.



This platform also enables shareholders to either vote by proxy prior to the General Meeting or to virtually participate in and vote during the General Meeting.

PARTICIPATION FORMALITIES

In order to participate in the General Meeting, shareholders must comply with the following formalities:

1. Kindly note that all due dates and times mentioned herein are the final deadlines and that these will not be extended due to a weekend, holiday or for any other reason.



2. Registration Date : the registration date is 15 April 2021, at 24:00 CEST.



Owners of registered shares must be registered as a shareholder in UCB SA/NV's share register, held by Euroclear, on 15 April 2021, at 24:00 CEST. Owners of dematerialized shares must be registered as a shareholder on an account with a recognized account holder or settlement institution on 15 April 2021, at 24:00 CEST.

3. Voting by proxy : shareholders are allowed to be represented by a proxy holder at the General Meeting. Due to the measures taken by our governments and public authorities restricting gatherings, the proxies can only be given to a person designated by the Company, as mentioned in the proxy form. The proxy form approved by UCB SA/NV, which must be used to be represented at the General Meeting, can be downloaded from https://www.ucb.com/investors/UCB-shareholders/Shareholders-meeting-2021 .

Shareholders must deposit or send these proxies, duly filled out and signed, to UCB SA/NV's registered office, in such a way that they arrive at UCB at the very latest by 23 April 2021, 15:00 CEST. Scans by e-mail are allowed and recommended, provided that the proxy holder produces the original proxy at the latest prior to the General Meeting. Failure to comply with these requirements may result in UCB SA/NV not acknowledging the powers of the proxy holder.

For shareholders who choose to use the AGM+ platform, this platform enables them to electronically complete and submit proxies. In that case, no original must be provided prior to the General Meeting.

ONLY PERSONS HAVING NOTIFIED THEIR INTENTION TO PARTICIPATE BY PROXY IN THE GENERAL MEETING AT THE LATEST BY 23 APRIL 2021, 15:00 CEST AND IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE BELOW MENTIONED FORMALITIES WILL BE ALLOWED TO VOTE BY PROXY AT THE GENERAL MEETING.

a. Owners of registered shares must declare their intention to participate in the General Meeting at the latest by 23 April 2021, 15:00 CEST. In the case of voting by proxy, the proxy form will serve as declaration of the intention to participate in the General Meeting.

For shareholders who choose to use the AGM+ platform, this platform enables them to directly declare their intention to participate in the General Meeting and to vote by proxy.



b. Owners of dematerialized shares must declare their intention to participate in the General Meeting at the latest by 23 April 2021, 15:00 CEST. In the case of voting by proxy, the proxy form will serve as declaration of the intention to participate in the General Meeting, but owners of dematerialized shares must always provide a certificate issued by a recognized account holder or settlement institution evidencing their holding of dematerialized shares on the registration date to UCB SA/NV.

For shareholders who choose to use the AGM+ platform, this platform allows the above-mentioned certificate of dematerialized shares to be issued directly.

4. Voting by virtually participating in the General Meeting : as an alternative to voting by proxy, shareholders who wish to do so can virtually participate in and vote during the General Meeting, which will be broadcasted through the AGM+ platform.

Owners of registered shares must declare their intention to participate in the General Meeting at the latest by 23 April 2021, 15:00 CEST. The AGM+ platform enables them to directly declare their intention to participate in the General Meeting.

Owners of dematerialized shares must declare their intention to participate in the General Meeting at the latest by 23 April 2021, 15:00 CEST. The AGM+ platform enables them to directly declare their intention to participate in the General Meeting. The AGM+ platform also allows the certificates of dematerialized shares to be issued directly.

Importantly, shareholders who wish to use this participation modality must first complete all above-mentioned participation formalities directly through the AGM+ platform. These shareholders will then receive the procedure and login details in order to connect to the General Meeting. More information on the procedure can be found on the website of Lumi: https://www.lumiglobal.com/, as well on the website of UCB.

The AGM+ platform allows shareholders to (i) be directly, simultaneously and continuously informed of the discussions in the General Meeting, (ii) exercise their right to vote on all matters on which the General Meeting is called upon to decide and (iii) participate in the deliberations and exercise their right to ask questions during the General Meeting.

In accordance with article 7:137 of the BCCA, shareholders who virtually participate in and vote during the General Meeting through the AGM+ platform will be deemed to be present at the meeting. The AGM+ platform allows the Company to verify the capacity and identity of the shareholders.

As stated above, shareholders should make sure that the device and the internet connection they are using to connect are adequate and stable in order to virtually participate in the meeting on a proper manner and enjoy all proposed functionalities. UCB SA/NV cannot be held responsible should the shareholder encounter any connectivity issues, technical failures or malfunction of equipment attributable to his/her own internet connection and/or device.

5. New agenda items and new resolutions : in accordance with article 7:130 of the BCCA and under certain conditions, one or more shareholder(s) holding (together) at least 3% of the share capital of the Company may request to add items to the agenda and may file resolution proposals relating to the items on the agenda or to be added to the agenda.



Such request will only be valid if it is duly notified to UCB SA/NV's registered office in writingat the latest by 7 April 2021, 15:00 CEST. An updated agenda will, if applicable, be published on 14 April 2021. In such case, the Company will make an updated proxy form available in order to allow shareholders to give specific voting instructions thereon. The additional items on the agenda and the proposed resolutions will only be discussed at the General Meeting if this/these shareholder(s) holding (together) at least 3% of the share capital of the Company has/have fulfilled the admission formalities as detailed under points 3 and 4 above.



6. Written questions in advance of the General Meeting : in accordance with article 7:139 of the Belgian Code of Companies and Associations and under certain conditions, shareholders are entitled to submit questions in writing prior to the General Meeting to the Board of Directors or the statutory auditor regarding their reports or items on the agenda. The questions will be answered during the General Meeting provided (i) the shareholders concerned have complied with all required admission formalities and (ii) any communication of information or fact in response to such question does not prejudice the Company's business interests or the confidentiality undertaking of UCB SA/NV, its directors and statutory auditor.

Questions can be sent in writing to UCB SA/NV's registered office or by e-mail to shareholders.meeting@ucb.com in a way that they arrive at UCB by 23 April 2021, 15:00 CEST at the latest.

For shareholders who choose to use the AGM+ platform, this platform enables them to submit questions in writing in advance, subject to the above-mentioned deadline.



7. Available documentation : as of the date of publication of this notice, the documents to be presented at the General Meeting, the. Due to the crisis of the Corona virus (Covid-19) and the measures taken by our governments and public authorities imposing mandatory homeworking, the shareholders will not be able to consult the documents at UCB NV/SA's registered office but may request to receive a free hard copy of these documents.

The documents can also be accessed via the AGM+ platform.

8. Privacy notice : the Company is responsible for the processing of the personal data it receives from shareholders, holders of other securities issued by the Company (if any) and proxy holders in the context of the General Meeting of the shareholders in accordance with the applicable data protection legislation. The processing of such personal data will in particular take place for the analysis and management of the participation and voting procedure in relation to the General Meeting of the shareholders, in accordance with the applicable legislation and the Company's Privacy Policy. These personal data will be transferred to third parties for the purpose of providing assistance in the management of participation and voting procedures, and for analyzing the composition of the shareholder base of the Company. The personal data will not be stored any longer than necessary in light of the aforementioned objectives. Shareholders, holders of other securities issued by the Company and proxy holders can find the Company's Privacy Policy on the Company's website. This Privacy Policy contains detailed information regarding the processing of the personal data of, among others, shareholders, holders of other securities issued by the Company and proxy holders, including the rights that they can assert towards the Company in accordance with the applicable data protection legislation. The aforementioned can exercise their rights with regard to their personal data provided to the Company by contacting the Company's Data Protection Officer via 'dataprivacy@ucb.com'.

Attachment
You have to hand it to him, Sen. Ted Cruz knows how to commit to the bit.

The Texas senator has immortalized his infamous mullet on a spring break tank that you can cop for the low price of a $30 campaign donation.
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Like an innocuous kid version of The Purge, Miguel Artetas Yes Day imagines an annual 24-hour holiday of lawlessness.

The concept comes from Amy Krouse Rosenthals 2009 picture book, which suggested a day when parents  regularly such fonts of No!  have to answer in the positive to their childrens demands. For some, the idea had real appeal, not just for giving kids a shot at decision-making freedom but for momentarily relieving parents of the burden of constant disapproval.

One parent, in particular, took to Yes Day: Jennifer Garner. The actress has previously spoken on social media about holding the holiday with her three children. And shes a producer of the film, which is streaming on Netflix.

 No is part of the job, narrator Allison Torres (Garner) says in the films opening scenes. But so stern is Allison  the bad cop next to her more easygoing husband, Carlos (Edgar Ramirez)  that her three childrens school projects suggest a dictatorship in need of a coup. One makes a video comparing her to Stalin and Mussolini.

When a guidance counselor (Nat Faxon) suggests Yes Day as a remedy, Allison goes along, with a few stipulations. You cant break laws, and youve got to stay within 20 miles of home. This leads to a day of wall-to-wall fun, with bed-jumping, ice cream feasts, a car wash trip with the windows down and a surprise theme park visit. The day tests both Allisons helicopter parenting impulses and the kids own desire for independence. Thats especially true for 14-year-old Katie (Jenna Ortega, an impressively poised young actor), who wants to attend a concert without her mom.

Its all lightly predictable as the family works out a level of comfort that isnt all yes or entirely no. Theres something to be said for lower-stakes family films, a genre that has increasingly aped the world-ending scale of superhero films. (One pandemic discovery for my family was 1974s Swallows and Amazons, a charming British film about kids just playing on a lake. On their own, theyre plenty capable of making their own tents and adventures.)

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Yes Day isnt nearly so sweet. Arteta (The Good Girl, Cedar Rapids) has an underrated ability at crafting comic, humanistic movies out of commercial concepts. But Yes Day slides too often into contrived, loudly scored montages of fun that dont transfer to those of us watching. And while Garner and Ramirez are both fine actors, neither of them is funny. Not to be negative on Yes Day, but it would be a lot better if, say, Will Ferrell and Maya Rudolph played the parents. (Though what movie wouldnt be improved with that casting?) The films best moments come courtesy of Faxon and the very funny Arturo Castro, the Broad City actor who makes every scene hes in better. Here he plays a hapless and needy police officer.

Of course, after a pandemic year that has ruled out so much for kids, Yes Day may be a welcome reprieve for them. My kids, naturally, loved the idea and will probably take me to task for saying anything but yes to Yes Day.

Yes Day

2 stars

RATED: PG (for some rude and suggestive material, and brief language)

WHEN: Now streaming

WHERE: Netflix
A father-of-four accused of laundering crime cash told gardai that 1.2k had come from "up his Swiss roll" when asked to account for it, the Special Criminal Court has heard.

The non-jury court heard on Wednesday that Graham Whelan told officers from the Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau (DOCB) that he had gotten 1,275 in cash from "up his Swiss roll, up his arse" and told them to keep it, when they searched his penthouse suite at the south Dublin Intercontinental Hotel in 2019, which it is alleged he had booked for three nights.

Mr Whelan was granted bail by the three-judge court on Wednesday despite the objections of gardai, who said they believed the defendant was a flight risk as he had access to "endless amounts of cash".

Presiding judge Mr Justice Tony Hunt said that despite evidence of the accused man presenting as a flight risk, the crucial factor in this case was the death of Mr Whelan's partner.

Keith Spencer BL, defending, had submitted that his client's partner died last September and Mr Whelan was now responsible for their four children, who are aged between two and 10 years of age.

Mr Whelan (38), with an address at Walkinstown Avenue, Walkinstown, Dublin 12 appeared before the non-jury court last Monday charged with 10 non-scheduled offences that include charges related to drug trafficking.

BAIL HEARING

At Wednesdays bail hearing, Detective Garda Donal Donoghue told Gerardine Small BL, for the State, that he had arrested Mr Whelan on foot of a warrant at Walkinstown Avenue at 12.35pm on Monday afternoon.

The detective said gardai were objecting to bail under the OCallaghan principles and Section 2 of the Bail Act. Section 2 allows a court to refuse bail if the court is satisfied such refusal is necessary to prevent the person committing a serious offence while on bail.

The witness said gardai from the DOCB searched a penthouse suite at the Intercontinental Hotel on January 31, 2019, which he said Mr Whelan had booked for three nights and is alleged to have paid 2,140 for in cash.

Det Gda Donoghue said 1,275 in cash was found in Mr Whelan's pocket and after caution the accused told gardai that he got the money from "up his Swiss roll, up his arse" and told them to keep it.

The witness said the second item discovered was a receipt in Mr Whelan's name for 2,140 for the hotel, which the accused told gardai he had got from his life savings. The next item seized was an Audemers Piguet Royal Oak Gentleman's watch, which was valued at 28,000 and found on the accused's hand, said the detective.

A tick list was recovered with words such as "jacket", "nasty" and "duck", which the detective said were all code names for controlled drugs.

A number of mobile phones including a BQ Aquaris were seized, said the witness, which he believed the accused had on him to assist in drug trafficking offences. Cocaine and cannabis were also recovered from the bedroom, Det Gda Donoghue said.

Mr Whelan was not arrested after a search of the hotel room and a money laundering investigation started, said the detective.

On May 1 2019, the defendant's home was searched and he was arrested on suspicion of money laundering but later released without charge. During the search, the detective said gardai discovered that a substantial amount of work had been undertaken to refurbish his property and it was alleged that Mr Whelan had paid cash to upgrade the structure and internal fittings of the premises.

"An extremely high standard" of home improvements had been undertaken to refurbish the property, he added.

The detective said the maximum conviction for money laundering was 14 years in prison.

Det Gda Donoghue indicated he had a concern that the accused would interfere with witnesses in the case but said his main concern was that the defendant was a flight risk as he had access to "endless amounts of cash".

Ms Small said Mr Whelan's passport was seized from his family home on Clonard Road in Crumlin on May 1, 2019 and he had applied for a new one on June 12, 2019, saying he had lost his passport moving house. The detective said it was his belief that the accused was aware his original passport was in the possession of gardai on May 1 and it has not since been returned to the accused.

Ms Small asked the witness if his fears were allayed due to the fact that the accused is a father to four children. "My main fear is he is a flight risk despite that fact," he replied.

Keith Spencer BL, for Mr Whelan, put it to the witness that his client was unclear what items were taken from his house and it had transpired to be a passport. Mr Whelan's solicitor later got in touch with gardai and asked for his passport to be returned, he said.

The barrister said the accused had applied for another passport on June 20, 2019 and had ticked "lost" on the form. He was then issued with a new passport.

The detective accepted that his client's solicitor had written to gardai in October 2020 indicating that the accused was willing to cooperate with the investigation and would present himself at a garda station if he was to be arrested.

Mr Spencer said the accused's partner had died last September and he was now responsible for his four children who are aged between two and 10 years old.

In his submissions to the court, the lawyer said the offending was towards the lower end of the scale and the court could admit his client on bail subject to conditions.

Mr Spencer said his client did not know where his first passport was when he applied for the second one and only subsequently learned that his original passport was in the possession of gardai. "He had the tools to leave the jurisdiction but didn't leave and remained here," he added.

Mr Justice Hunt interjected saying: "He stood pat and took a second passport he was then not entitled to and put it in his back pocket".

Ms Small submitted that Mr Whelan was a "very real flight risk" with "significant ties outside the jurisdiction" and the passport issue was very concerning.

Presiding judge Mr Justice Hunt, sitting with Judge Gerard Griffin and Judge Flann Brennan, granted bail to Mr Whelan on Wednesday afternoon on a number of conditions.

Mr Justice Hunt said that while Mr Whelan does present a flight risk, the court has to consider whether the risk justifies a refusal of bail and whether it could be managed. He told Mr Whelan that the crucial factor in this case was his recent personal history, the death of his partner.

He added: Mr Whelan better understand very clearly thats the reason he is getting bail. He said that if he does not comply with the conditions his bail will be revoked.

The court will require an independent surety of 20,000, which is expected to be lodged this Friday. Mr Whelan must also give up his passport, undertake not to apply for a new one and must live at his family home in Walkinstown. He is subject to a curfew from 7pm to 7am and must sign on twice daily at his local garda station.

Mr Justice Hunt also asked the parties in the case to be prepared to go to trial by September this year.

CHARGES

Mr Whelan is charged with converting, transferring, handling, acquiring, possessing or using money in the amounts of 1,275 and 2,140 at the Intercontinental Hotel, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4, on January 31 2019, knowing or believing or being reckless as to whether the property was the proceeds of criminal conduct. The amount of 2,140 was paid for a room at the five star hotel.

He is also charged with converting, transferring, handling, acquiring, possessing or using an Audemers Piguet Royal Oak Gentleman's watch at the same time and location, knowing or believing or being reckless as to whether the property was the proceeds of criminal conduct.

The accused man is further charged with possessing or controlling an article to wit a tick list in circumstances giving rise to a reasonable inference that he possessed or controlled it for a purpose connected with the commission, preparation, facilitation or instigation of a drug trafficking offence on the same occasion.

He is also accused of possessing or controlling an article to wit a BQ Aquarius mobile phone in circumstances giving rise to a reasonable inference that he possessed or controlled it for a purpose connected with the commission, preparation, facilitation or instigation of a drug trafficking offence on the same occasion.

In addition, Mr Whelan is charged with possessing cocaine and cannabis in a room at the hotel on the same date. He is also charged with possessing cannabis on Walkinstown Avenue, Walkinstown, Dublin 12 on May 1, 2019.

The defendant is further charged with concealing and disguising the true nature or source of money used in the improvement and/or refurbishment of property at Walkinstown Avenue, Walkinstown, Dublin 12 between August 21 2018 and May 1 2019, knowing or believing or being reckless as to whether the property was the proceeds of criminal conduct.

Finally, Mr Whelan is accused of converting, transferring, handling, acquiring, possessing or using money in the improvement and/or refurbishment of the property between the same dates, knowing or believing or being reckless as to whether the property was the proceeds of criminal conduct.
The family of a six-year-old girl who was was gunned down in Myanmar as she ran into her father's arms have gone into hiding as they fear the global outcry over the child's death has made them military targets.

Khin Myo Chit was shot inside her home when security forces opened fire in the Chan Mya Thazi township, a suburb of the central city on Tuesday, according to witnesses.

She was rushed out to a car to seek medical treatment but died of bullet wounds just half an hour later.

Her father U Maung Ko Hashin Bai has since told local news outlet Myanmar Muslim Media her last words: 'She said, "I can't father, it's too painful".'

Police also beat and arrested his 19-year-old son.

Khin Myo Chit was running into her father's arms when she was gunned down by the military. Her last words were: 'I can't father, it's too painful'

Khin Myo Chit, six, was shot inside her home when security forces opened fire in the Chan Mya Thazi township, a suburb of the central city, according to witnesses. Pictured: Photograph reportedly of the girl's body

Khin's older sister May Thu Sumaya told the BBC that police officers had been searching the houses in their neighbourhood on Tuesday to search for weapons and make arrests.

The 25-year-old said: 'They kicked the door to open it. When the door was open, they asked my father whether there were any other people in the house.'

May said that her father had told them no but soldiers accused him of lying and began searching the house.

She said that was the moment that Khin ran over to their father to sit on his lap.

'Then they shot and hit her,' she said.

The grieving family held a funeral for the six-year-old in Mandaly earlier today.

The family of the six-year-old held a funeral for the child in Mandalay earlier today

The grieving family was able to bid farewell to the child and honour her with a funeral and burial on March 26

The military has made no immediate comment on the incident.

Residents said at least one person had been killed in shooting elsewhere in Mandalay, while charity Save the Children said on Tuesday that at least 20 children have so far been killed as the country's military continues its crackdown on protests.

Authorities have not hesitated to use lethal force to break up demonstrations staged against last month's military coup and detention of the country's de-facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi on February 1, 2021.

A further 17 children are being held in arbitrary detention - including an 11-year-old girl - the charity said, as it called a separate killing of a teenage boy 'horrifying'.

According to multiple sources on social media, the boy's sister said he was at home in a 'squatters' area', which was 'not strong enough to stop bullets'.

Footage of the boy's grieving mother is also circulating social media. The teenage boy was due to turn 15 in July.

Pictured: Family members cry over the dead body of a teenage boy Tun Tun Aung who was shot dead by security forces in front of his home on Monday, in Mandalay, March 23, 2021

In addition to child detainees, other protesters, many of them young students, continue to be arrested, with at least 488 students currently being held in detention according to the latest estimates from Save the Children.

Save the Children and its partners have responded to a total of 146 cases of child arrests or detentions across Myanmar, as of March 22.

At least twenty of those arrested are high-school students whose ages are unknown, though some of them could also be under 18, the charity added.

'We are horrified that children continue to be among the targets of these fatal attacks on peaceful protesters,' Save the Children said in a statement.

'The death of the boy is especially concerning given that he reportedly was killed while being at home, where he should have been safe from harm.

'The fact that so many children are being killed on an almost daily basis now shows a complete disregard for human life by security forces.

'The safety of children must be protected under all circumstances and we once again call on security forces to end these deadly attacks against protesters immediately.'

The charity also said that security forces have reportedly occupied more than 60 schools and university campuses across the country.

In at least one incident, security forces reportedly beat two teachers while entering premises, and left several others injured.

Pictured: Protesters take cover during clashes with security forces in Monywa, Myanmar March 21, 2021. Authorities have not hesitated to use lethal force to break up demonstrations staged against last month's military coup and detention of the country's de-facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi on February 1, 2021

Myanmar's junta on Tuesday defended its seven-week crackdown that has left more than 260 democracy protesters dead, insisting it would not tolerate 'anarchy'.

The junta has unleashed deadly violence as it struggles to quell nationwide protests against the February 1 ousting of civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

In a news conference in the capital Naypyidaw, junta spokesman Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun put the death toll lower at 164.

'I am sad because these violent terrorist people who died are our nationals,' he said.

The streets of towns and cities across the country have seen chaotic scenes for weeks as security forces clash with protesters demanding the restoration of democracy and the release of Suu Kyi.

The authorities have used tear gas, rubber bullets and live rounds to disperse protests, prompting a senior UN rights expert to warn they may be committing 'crimes against humanity'.

But despite widespread international condemnation, Zaw Min Tun defended the response, saying that the security forces were dealing with 'insurgents holding weapons' and five police and four soldiers had been killed.

'We have to crack down on the anarchy. Which countries in the world accept anarchy?' he said.

Anti-coup protesters prepare against a police crackdown at Taketa township in Yangon, Myanmar Saturday, March 20, 2021

Despite the bloodshed, protesters took to the streets again on Tuesday, staging dawn demonstrations in parts of the commercial capital Yangon.

As well as breaking up protests, the military has sought to stem the flow of news about the crackdown, banning several local media outlets and arresting dozens of journalists.

Mobile data networks are suspended and Zaw Min Tun said there were presently no plans to restore them.

Suu Kyi, not seen in public since being detained on February 1, is facing several criminal charges as well as allegations of accepting illegal payments of gold and cash.

Sean Turnell, an Australian adviser to the 75-year-old Nobel laureate, is being investigated under immigration and state secrets laws, the junta spokesman announced Tuesday.

Turnell, an economist and university professor, was the first foreign national arrested following the coup.

At a news conference in the capital Naypyitaw, the military presented a video of a former political colleague of ousted Aung San Suu Kyi claiming he had handed over large amounts of cash and gold to her personally, in what the military has characterised as corruption.

Such allegations were previously denied by her lawyer.

The mother of Khant Ngar Hein weeps during his funeral in Yangon, Myanmar Tuesday, March 16, 2021. Khant Ngar Hein, an 18-year old medical student, was fatally shot by security forces during an anti-crop protest on Sunday, March 14, in Tamwe, Yangon

Many of the protests Tuesday were staged in a way that avoided confrontations with authorities, who have not hesitated to use lethal force to break up demonstrations.

Some marches were held before dawn in Yangon, the country's biggest city, and elsewhere and went unmolested. Other protests adopted the tactic of having signboards or other inanimate objects lined up in the street to serve as proxies for human demonstrators.

The independent Assistance Association for Political Prisoners has verified 261 protesters' deaths nationwide but says the actual total, including cases where verification has been difficult, is probably much higher.

It said 2,682 people have also been arrested or charged since the coup, with 2,302 still detained or sought for arrest.

In its news conference, the military presented displays of seized homemade weapons and videos of street battles to argue that the demonstrators are violent and that its efforts to stop them are justified.

Images of Myanmar ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi are displayed during a protest against the military coup in Yangon, Myanmar, 18 March 2021

However, in the weeks since the February 1 coup, protesters only began using organised violence after more than 100 demonstrators had been shot dead by police and soldiers.

The allegations against Suu Kyi made by former Yangon Chief Minister Phyo Min Thein were first mentioned by the military several weeks ago. Last week the military-controlled Myawaddy TV station aired a similar video with a construction magnate who also claimed to have made large payoffs to Suu Kyi.

That video was replayed at Tuesday's news conference.

No supporting evidence for the allegations has been offered, and they are generally dismissed as an effort by the military to frame Suu Kyi so she can be discredited and tried on a serious criminal charge. She is already being held on several more minor charges.

A report in the state-controlled Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper on Tuesday said the junta has expressed fresh concern about civil servants, teachers and medical workers joining the Civil Disobedience Movement that is the vanguard group opposing last month's military takeover.

The report referred to the opposition group as CDM, the initials by which it is popularly known. The group encourages employees of key enterprises, such as government offices, to stay away from work.

Pictured: Residents prepare to free balloons with the 'R2P' message, or the 'Responsibility to Protect' principle that the international community is justified in taking action against a state that is deemed to have failed to protect its population from atrocities, in Myanmar, March 22

In what was a relatively conciliatory tone compared with earlier threats, the junta at its Monday meeting was reported to have described failing to show up at work as 'not a crime but a violation of the civil service disciplines.'

It said that for first offences, civil servants would have to sign confessions, but further offences would be dealt with according to civil service rules.

Previously, government employees have been detained for joining the CDM, and striking state railway workers have been kicked out of their government-supplied housing if they don't agree to go back to work.

Myanmar labor unions on March 7 issued a joint call for an extended nationwide work stoppage, with the goal of a 'full, extended shutdown of the Myanmar economy.' In a statement, they called for the strike to continue 'until we receive our democracy back.'

Tuesday's report of the junta's meeting also highlighted teachers' absences from work, saying some have joined the CDM, as have health workers.

The junta repeated its claims that civil servants, teachers and doctors joined the CDM under threat.

'They should make a complaint to the respective authorities about the matter,' said the newspaper's account of the junta meeting. 'Some teachers and doctors are still absent from work as they are worried that they may face punishment if they return to the unit,' junta chief Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing was cited saying.

Although the CDM does not advocate violence, the movement has painted those who don't give it support as collaborators with the junta with blood on their hands, who may be ostracised.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-26 14:28:21|Editor: huaxia

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CAIRO, March 26 (Xinhua) -- The Suez Canal, one of the world's most vital shipping routes, was blocked after one of the world's largest container ships ran aground in the narrow man-made channel early Tuesday, which has disrupted global shipments for days.

Here is a timeline of this global headline-making blockage:

March 25:

-- Japanese firm Shoei Kisen Kaisha, owner of the cargo ship, said in a statement that dislodging the giant vessel is "extremely" difficult.

-- Toshiaki Fujiwara, an official at Shoei Kisen Kaisha, told media that they "still don't know how long it will take" to refloat the ship.

-- Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement, manager of the vessel said an earlier attempt to refloat the vessel had failed.

-- Egypt's Suez Canal Authority (SCA) said that it has temporarily suspended navigation through the world's busiest shipping course until the grounded cargo ship is completely freed.

-- Nine tug boats, with a towing power of 160 tons, and two dredges are continuing to free the 400-meter-long and 59-meter-wide vessel, the SCA said.

-- Osama Rabie, chairman of the SCA, told independent extra news TV that the canal will work around the clock once the salvage and refloating operations are completed, in order to make up for the waiting time of the ships.

-- Boskalis, a Dutch firm that specializes in salvaging, arrived at the canal. Chairman Peter Berdowski told Dutch television program "Nieuwsuur" that the ship is like "a very heavy whale on the beach."

March 24:

-- The SCA said in a statement that it was diverting ships to the canal's old channel.

-- As the blockage has threatened the flow of oil through the waterway, oil prices posted a pronounced rebound.

-- Eight tugboats were at work trying to dislodge the vessel.

-- The grounded vessel has been partially refloated and is now alongside the Canal bank, said shipping agent GAC on its website at noon, citing information from the SCA.

March 23:

-- Ever Given, a 224,000-ton container ship, was grounded early Tuesday in the new passage of the Suez Canal after being blown off course by a dust storm.

-- Egypt was hit by a sand storm with heavy winds that reached up to 40 knots.

To be updated. Enditem
DHAKA: Bangladesh on Friday marked 50 years with President M Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina paying rich tributes to all the victims of the 1971 Liberation War.

President Hamid first placed a wreath at the altar of the National Memorial in Savar followed by the Prime Minister, reports The Daily Star. After placing the wreaths, Hamid and Hasina stood in silence as a mark ofrespect to the memories of the war victims.

A smartly turned-out contingent drawn from Bangladesh Army, Navy and Air Force presented a state salute on the occasion while the bugles played the last post. Later, the President and the Prime minister signed the visitors' book there on the occasion.

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's younger daughter Sheikh Rehana, Jatiya Sangsad Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury, Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain, senior Awami League leaders and high civil and military officials, among others, were present at the memorial.

Due to the Covid-19 outbreak, the state ceremony is being celebrated on a limited scale maintaining the health guidelines and social distancing. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has arrived in Dhaka to participate in the Golden Jubilee celebrations.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will join Hasina at the National Parade Ground, the main venue of the celebrations, in Dhaka with President Hamid as the chief guest.

Bangabandhu declared independence on March 26 that year after the Pakistani forces had brutally cracked down on the unarmed people of the then East Pakistan on the night of March 25, 1971.

BJP Chief Nadda on two-day visit to poll-bound Tamil Nadu, Kerala

Kerala: AK Antony is all set to call time on his parliamentary career

Ex CM Oommen Chandy gets clean chit in solar sex scam
New Delhi, March 26 : Five states -- Maharashtra, Punjab, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh and Gujarat -- have reported a surge in daily new cases, the Health Ministry said on Friday.

Of the 59,118 new cases reported in the last 24 hours through out the country, Maharashtra contributed 35,952, followed by Punjab with 2,661 while Karnataka reported 2,523 new cases -- which comes to 41,136 alone.

India's total active caseload continued to rise after touching its lowest mark in mid-February. It stands at 4.21 lakh (4,21,066) on Friday. A net incline of 25,874 cases was recorded from the total active caseload in the last 24 hours.

Three states -- Maharashtra, Kerala and Punjab together account for 73.64 per cent of the total active cases in the country.

India's cumulative recoveries stand at 1,12,64,637 as on the day. The national recovery rate is 95.09 per cent. A total of 32,987 recoveries were registered in the last 24 hours.

While 257 people lost their battle against the pandemic in the last 24 hours.

Six states account for 78.6 per cent of the new deaths. Maharashtra reported 111 casualties, followed by Punjab with 43.

So far, 5.55 crore doses of corona vaccines have been administered in the country since the drive began on January 16 after approval for 'Covishield' and 'Covaxin'.

Now, those over 45 years of age will also get Covid-19 vaccine from April 1, irrespective of the co-morbidities, the central government has announced.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Prokerala team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed
SUZHOU, China, March 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Kintor Pharmaceutical Limited (stock code 9939.HK, "Kintor Pharmaceutical" or the "Company"), a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing small molecule and biological therapeutics, recently announced its business highlights and financial results for the year ended December 31, 2020.

Dr. Youzhi Tong, co-founder, chairman, and CEO of Kintor Pharmaceutical, said, "In 2020, despite the global COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent public health crisis , the Kintor team overcame numerous challenges and continued making breakthroughs in research and development, and progress in clinical operations and commercial collaborations. On May 22, the Company was officially listed on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, raising approximately US$240 million, which will support the Company's long-term goals in developing and commercializing important therapeutics for unmet medical needs.

The Company's new investigational drug, proxalutamide, has expanded its indication to COVID-19. Clinical research has found that it may be an important tool in treating COVID-19 patients with mild, moderate, severe, and critical symptoms. In an investigator-initiated clinical trial in Brazil, results announced showed that among patients treated with proxalutamide the hospitalization rate of male patients with mild or moderate symptoms was reduced by 100%, while that of female patients was reduced by 90%; the mortality rate of severely-ill patients was reduced by 92%, cutting the length of stay by 9 days.

In addition, the Company collected positive data in a Taiwan-based Phase II clinical trial of the combination therapy of ALK-1 monoclonal antibody and nivolumab to treat metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The trial results showed an objective response rate (ORR) of 40%. The Phase II clinical trial of the combination therapy of ALK-1 monoclonal antibody and nivolumab for the second line therapy of HCC has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration(FDA), and we are in the process of recruiting patients.

In 2020, the Company established partnerships with six companies. We entered into an exclusive license agreement with the American firm, Gensun for the development and commercialization of the dual-target antibody PD-L1/TGF- in Greater China. We will be collaborating in the field of monoclonal antibody and bispecific antibody of biological medicine. We also reached a collaboration agreement with Alphamab Oncology to jointly promote the clinical research of ALK-1monoclonal antibody GT90001 combined with recombinant humanized PD-L1/CTLA-4 bispecific antibody KN046 for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma andother tumors globally. In August, Kintor Pharmaceutical opened a Good Manufacturing Plant (GMP).

In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, we at Kintor Pharmaceutical, are deeply aware of the great responsibilities we shoulder. We are gratified to see that proxalutamide is showing great promise in clinical trials for the treatment of COVID-19. The Kintor team has worked on proxalutamide for more than ten years. At the same time, I am pleased that we have received this Phase III clinical trial approval from the FDA. This has been the first Phase III clinical trial approval from the FDA since Kintor's 2009 founding.

Looking ahead to 2021, Kintor Pharmaceutical will continue its efforts to advance the developmentand commercialization of proxalutamide, as a safe and effective treatment for COVID-19.

In the future, the Company will accelerate the global clinical development of our existing product pipeline, continue to strengthen international and domestic partnerships, and fulfill our mission of "focusing on the research, development and commercialization of a large number of indications with unmet clinical needs." We will continue to work on benefiting more patients and creating long-term value for shareholders. "

Recent Business Progress Highlights

1. Product Pipeline Progress

Currently, the company has six products in clinical development. A number of clinical trials have made important progress:

Proxalutamide (GT0918, AR antagonist), a new generation of AR antagonist

COVID-19 (Brazil and U.S.): In July 2020, the Company signed a clinical trial research agreement with Applied Biology, a U.S. company, to collaborate in the clinical research of proxalutamide for the treatment of COVID-19 in Brazil. On January 7, 2021, the Company announced the final clinical research results of an investigator-initiated trial of proxalutamide in the treatment of male patients with mild and moderate COVID-19 infections. The results of the trial demonstrated the short-term use of proxalutamide is safe and can effectively prevent the deterioration of infection in males from mild to severe COVID-19 infections. In addition, hospitalization rates were reduced by 100%..

On January 10, 2021, data released by the company showed that proxalutamide can significantly inhibit the deterioration of female patients with COVID-19 from mild to severe, and reduce the risk of hospitalization by 90%.

On January 28, 2021, the Brazilian Institutional Review Board approved the clinical trial of proxalutamide in the treatment of severely ill patients with COVID-19 infections and provided support in the allocation of medical resources to further develop the treatment.

On March 11, 2021, the Company announced the results of a clinical study on proxalutamide in the treatment of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 infections. The study results showed the mortality rate of patients treated with proxalutamide was 92% lower than that of the control group, and the length of hospital stay was shortened by 9 days.

On March 4, 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted proxalutamide a Phase III clinical trial license for the treatment of patients with mild and moderate COVID-19 infections in the United States. Enrollment of patients will start in second quarter.

Metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (China): Two Phase III clinical trials of proxalutamide as a second-line therapy for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) and a combination of proxalutamide and Abiraterone as a first-line therapy are currently underway in China. In February 2021, the Company released the data of the Phase II clinical trial at American Society of Clinical Oncology Genitourinary Cancers Symposium (ASCO GU) in respect of the safety and tolerability of Proxalutamide in mCRPC patients who had failed standard chemotherapy (including Docetaxel) or were unable to tolerate or unwilling to receive standard chemotherapy .

The Phase III clinical trial of proxalutamide monotherapy finished recruiting patients on August 4, 2020. We expect to release results later in 2021.

Metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (U.S.): On July 16, 2020, the Phase II clinical trial of proxalutamide in the treatment of metastatic castration-resistant prostate completed patient enrollment in the United States. The clinical study results showed that proxalutamide was generally safe and effective on mCRPC patients progressed after the treatment with existing drugs such as enzalutamide and abiraterone. In February 2021, the Company announced the preliminary analysis of the Phase II study at American Society of Clinical Oncology Genitourinary Cancers Symposium(ASCO GU) in respect of the safety and tolerability of proxalutamide in mCRPC patients who had progressed on either abiraterone(Abi) or enzalutamide(Enza).

AR+ metastatic breast cancer (China): The Company is currently carrying out an open and multi-centre Phase Ic clinical trial to evaluate the safety, pharmacokinetic characteristics and initial efficacy of proxalutamide in combination with exemestane, letrozole and fulvestrant in patients with AR+ metastatic breast cancer.

Expected milestones in 2021

We will continue to advance the clinical development of proxalutamide for the treatment of COVID-19 infection in 2021 .

In addition, we will continue to advance the clinical development and regulatory process of proxalutamide for the treatment of mCRPC as a single agent and in combination with abiraterone in 2021.

Pyrilutamide (KX-826), AR antagonist forexternal use

Androgenetic alopecia (China): On December 29, 2020, the recruitment of patients for the Phase II clinical trial of pyrilutamide in China was completed. On September 17, 2020, the Company's application of new drug research for pyrilutamide gel formulation for the indication of androgenetic alopecia was approved by the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA).

Androgenetic alopecia (U.S.): In August 2020, the Company completed the Phase Ib clinical trial of pyrilutamide in the U.S. The analysis and evaluation of the trial data are in progress.

Acne (China): On September 17, 2020, the Company's application of new drug research for the acne indications of the pyrilutamide gel formulation was approved by the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA).

Expected milestones in 2021

The company expects to complete Phase II clinical research report and release data of pyrilutamide in China for androgenetic alopecia in the third quarter of 2021.

In the first half of 2021, data from the Phase Ib clinical research of pyrilutamidein the U.S. for androgenetic alopecia will be completed and released.

In the second quarter of 2021, the Company expects to complete the first enrollment of Phase I clinical trials of acne for pyrilutamide in China. The Phase I clinical trials are expected to be completed in 2021.

ALK-1 (GT90001), a new anti-angiogenesisinhibitor



Metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma (Taiwan): The Company is carrying out Phase II clinical trials of ALK-1 monoclonal antibody and nivolumab (PD-1) in Taiwan, China for the treatment for metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma. In January 2021, the Company announced the Taiwanese clinical trial data of ALK-1 monoclonal antibody and nivolumab combined with second-line treatment of metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma at the American Society of Clinical Oncology Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium(ASCO GI). The results showed the treatment was safe and that 40% of patients observed partial remission.

Metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma (U.S.): On February 11, 2021, FDA approved GT90001 combined with nivolumab for the second-line treatment for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma in the Phase II clinical trial. Enrollment of patients is currently underway.

Detorsertib (GT0486), PI3K/mTOR signaling pathway inhibitor

Metastatic solid tumor (China): The company obtained an IND approval in the PRC in August 2019. A Phase I clinical trial is currently underway.

Expected milestones in 2021

The Phase I clinical trial of GT20029 in China will be completed in 2021.

GT1708F (Hedgehog/SMOinhibitor), hedgehog signal transduction pathway inhibitor



Leukemia and Basal Cell Carcinoma (China): The company obtained China's IND approval in February 2020.

Basalcell carcinoma (U.S.): In November 2020, the U.S.FDA accepted the company's SMO antagonist for clinical trials in the treatment of basal cell carcinoma.

Expected milestones in 2021

The Phase I clinical trial of GT1708F for leukemia in China will be completed in 2021.

GT20029, PROTAC-AR degrader

Androgenetic alopecia and acne (China): In February 2021, the IND application was accepted by the Chinese Center for Drug Evaluation (CDE) for the treatment of androgenetic alopecia and acne. It is the world's first external AR degradation agent based on PROTAC technology.

Expected milestones in 2021

The Phase I clinical trial of GT20029 in China will be initiated in2021.

In addition to the above clinical-stage drugs, the Company is developing a variety of pre-clinical-stage drugs, including c-Myc inhibitors for the treatment of blood cancer and PD-L1/TGF- dual target antibodies for the treatment of various solid tumors as well as other indications.

2. Production Base

Suzhou: The Company's first GMP plant is located at No. 20 Songbei Road, Industrial Park, Suzhou, Jiangsu Province. It covers an area of about 20,000 square meters. It was put into operation in August 2020 for the commercial production of proxalutamide and pyrilutamide. In November 2020, the factory obtained the"Drug Manufacturing License."

Pinghu: The production base for crude drug and preparations in Pinghu, Zhejiang Province, covers an area of 40,000 square meters. The design of the project has been completed, and construction is expected to start in the third quarter of 2021. The construction will be completed before the end of 2022.

3. Commercial Collaboration

Pyrilutamide commercial collaboration:



On 20 June 2020, the Company and Jingdong Healthcare entered into a framework agreement pursuant to which the parties will embark on in-depth collaboration for thesales and marketing of pyrilutamide on the online pharmaceutical retail platform JD.com Pharmacy operated by JD Healthcare.

In March 2020, the Company signed a collaboration agreement with Sinopharm Holding Co., Ltd.,and will carry out all-round collaboration in product design, business channel expansion, terminal services, and other aspects.

Collaboration with Alphamab Oncology

In July 2020, the Company and Alphamab Oncology reached a collaboration agreement to jointly develop the combination therapy of PD-L1/CTLA-4 bispecific antibody KN046 andALK-1 monoclonal antibody GT90001 in HCC globally.

Collaboration with Gensun, US

In August 2020, the Company entered into an exclusive license agreement with an American company, Gensun Biopharma, for the PD-L1/TGF- dual target antibody GS19, Inc. Kintor Pharmaceutical obtained the exclusive right to carry out clinical development and commercialization with GS19 in the Greater China region.

Collaboration with MabPlex International

In September 2020, the company signed a strategic collaboration agreement with MabPlex International Co., Ltd., and the two parties launched a full range of collaboration on the development and production of bio-macromolecule drugs.

Collaboration with Biotheus



In October 2020, the Company and Biotheus (Zhuhai) Co., Ltd. reached astrategic collaboration agreement on the development of biological drugs.

4. Layout of Globalization

*Establishment of New Beijing Subsidiary: Clinical and Government Affairs

*Establishment of New Guangdong Subsidiary: Macromolecular R&D and Production Base

2020 Annual Financial Performance

As of December 31, 2020, the Company's research and development costs increased by RMB 114.8 million, up 53.6%, from RMB 214 million for the twelve months ended December 31, 2019 to RMB 328.8 million for the twelve months ended December 31, 2020. The main reason for the increase in R&D expenditure is that the Company continued to increase R&D investment, accelerated the advancement of multiple clinical trials in the product pipeline, increased R&D and clinical operating staff, and the expenditure of equity incentive plans.

As of December 31, 2019, the Company's cash and cash equivalents amounted to RMB 195.5 million compared with RMB 1389.0 million as of December 31, 2020, representing an increase of RMB 1193.5 million, which was mainly due to the IPO fund-raising and bank loans.

As of December 31, 2020, the Company has used RMB 218.5 million of bank financing, with RMB 101.0 million left.

About Kintor Pharmaceuticals

Kintor Pharmaceuticals is developing and commercializing a robust pipeline of smallmolecule and biological drugs for androgen-receptor-related disease areas with unmet medical needs, including COVID-19, prostate, breast and liver cancer, alopecia and acne. For more information, visit www.kintor.com.cn.

SOURCE Kintor Pharmaceutical Limited
ROME, MAR 26 - Italy's antitrust authority said Friday that it has fined highways company ASPI five million euros. It said ASPI had failed to reduce tolls on highways hit by jams and poor service due to the need for extraordinary roadworks to make them safe. It said these extraordinary interventions were made necessary by the shortcomings of the company's management and maintenance of these highways. (ANSA).
The popular CNN documentary series, The Windsors: Inside the Royal Dynasty, is currently airing in the UK for the first time.

The series tells the story of the Windsor family through history, charting events from King Edward VIIIs decision to abdicate in 1936 right through to the present day.

On Saturday 27 March an episode about King George VI, titled The Reluctant King will air on Channel 4.

But who was King George? And why was he known as a reluctant royal? Heres everything you need to know.

Who was King George VI?

George VI was Queen Elizabeth IIs father, making him grandfather to Prince Charles and great great grandfather to Princes George and Louis, Princess Charlotte and Archie Mountbatten-Windsor.

Read more:

He married Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon in 1923 and was known for being reserved and had strong religious beliefs.

George took the throne unexpectedly in 1936 after his older brother Edward VIII abdicated to marry Wallis Simpson, an American socialite who had been previously divorced (something which was largely viewed as unacceptable at the time due to the role of the monarch as head of the Church of England).

When he came to power, George was 40 years old. His first name was actually Albert (though he went by Bertie) but he chose the name George in honour of his father George V.

According to the royal family website, George was a dedicated King and worked hard to adapt to the role into which he was suddenly thrown.

What is best remembered for?

George reigned throughout the Second World War and is best known for his achievements at this time.

During the war, though he and his wife were encouraged to leave London, they refused - even after Buckingham Palace was hit by German bombs.

The couple became very popular after they visited severely bombed areas in the East End of London and elsewhere in the country.

The monarch died at just 56 in 1952 after developing lung cancer. The king died of coronary thrombosis at Sandringham House, and was succeeded by his daughter, the current monarch Queen Elizabeth II.

Why was King George VI known as the reluctant king?

George was known for being shy and famously had a stutter, something which was explored in detail in the 2010 filmThe Kings Speech, in which the monarch was portrayed by Colin Firth.

The film focuses on Georges friendship with Australian speech and language therapist Lionel Logue, who helped him overcome his stammer.

With Logues help, the King was able to make his first wartime radio broadcast in 1939 after Britain declared war on Germany.
Colorado officially released its latest changes to its COVID dial Tuesday, which removes most restrictions for counties with relatively minor transmission while paving the way for the state to hand public health control to individual counties.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham receives her first dose of the Pfizer vaccine Friday at Desert Sage Academy. New Mexico has administered 1.1 million vaccine doses, and 40 percent of New Mexicans have received at least one shot, making the state's vaccination rate among the highest in the nation.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 26, 2021) - Iconic Minerals Ltd. (TSXV: ICM) (OTC Pink: BVTEF) (FSE: YQGB) (the "Company" or "Iconic") announces that the Company has received Phase I funds totaling USD $1,600,000 and Nevada Lithium Corp. ("Nevada Lithium") has now obtained a 20% interest in the joint venture on the Bonnie Claire Property. Iconic, through its wholly owned subsidiary, Bonaventure Nevada Inc. ("Bonaventure") granted Nevada Lithium the option (the "Option") to earn up to a 50% interest in the Bonnie Claire lithium property located in Nye County, Nevada (the "Bonnie Claire Property"). See the news release dated December 15, 2020. Pursuant to the Option Agreement, Nevada Lithium may exercise the Option in three stages by funding USD $5,600,000 in cumulative exploration expenditures on the Bonnie Claire Property on or before October 1, 2021.

Bonnie Claire Property

The Bonnie Claire Property is located within Sarcobatus Valley, which is approximately 30 km (19 miles) long and 20 km (12 miles) wide. Quartz-rich volcanic tuffs containing anomalous amounts of lithium occur within and adjacent to the valley. Drill results from the salt flat have included lithium values as high as 2550 ppm Li and a 1560 foot (roughly 475 meter) vertical intercept that averaged 1153 ppm Li. The current 43-101 report on the project notes that, with a cutoff grade of 600 ppm Li and average grade of 1,027 ppm Li, one square mile contains an inferred resource of 5.025 billion kilograms Li (though this is a resource, not a reserve, and has not yet proven economic viability). The gravity low within the valley is 20 km (12 miles) long, and the current estimates of depth to basement rocks range from 600 to 1,200 meters (2,000 to 4,000 feet). The current claim block covers an area of 74 km2 (28.6 mi2) with potential for brine systems and further sediment resources.

Qualified Person

Richard Kern, Certified Professional Geologist, a qualified person as defined by Canadian National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this news release. Mr. Kern is not independent of the Company as he is the Chief Executive Officer of Iconic.

On behalf of the Board of Directors

SIGNED: "Richard Barnett"

Richard Barnett, CFO and Secretary

Contact: Keturah Nathe, VP Corporate Development (604) 336-8614

For further information on Iconic, please visit our website at www.iconicminerals.com. The Company's public documents may be accessed at www.sedar.com.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian and U.S. securities legislation, including the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein including, without limitation, statements with respect to the Option, the Joint Venture, the amount of the Offering, the expected use of proceeds from the Offering and the future business plans and exploration 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: "will", "believes", "expects", "anticipates", "intends", "estimates", "plans", "may", "should", "potential", "scheduled" or variations of such words and phrases and similar expressions, which, by their nature, refer to future events or results that may, could, would, might or will occur or be taken or achieved. In making the forward-looking statements in this news release, the Company has applied several material assumptions, including without limitation, that investor interest will be sufficient to close the Offering, that market fundamentals will result in sustained precious metals demand and prices, the receipt of any necessary permits, licenses and regulatory approvals required for the Option Agreement and the future development of the Company's projects in a timely manner.

Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. Such risks and other factors include, among others, operating and technical difficulties in connection with mineral exploration and development activities, actual results of exploration activities, including on the Bonnie Claire Property, requirements for additional capital, future prices of lithium and gold, changes in general economic conditions, changes in the financial markets and in the demand and market price for commodities, lack of investor interest in 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, risks relating to epidemics or pandemics such as COVID-19, including the impact of COVID-19 on the business, financial condition and exploration and development activities of the Company, 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 of the TSX Venture Exchange in respect of the Option Agreement and the Offering, 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 the Canadian Securities Authorities. All of the Company's Canadian public disclosure filings may be accessed via www.sedar.com and readers are urged to review these materials, including the technical reports filed with respect to the Company's mineral properties.

Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any of the forward-looking statements in this news release or incorporated by reference herein, except as otherwise required by law.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/78695
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Germany's Health Minister Jens Spahn, left, and Lothar Wieler, the head of Germany's Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for disease control attend a news conference on the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in Berlin, Germany March 26, 2021. (Hannibal Hanschke/Pool via AP)

German health officials warned Friday that the country's latest eruption of coronavirus cases has the potential to be worse than the previous two last year, and they urged people to stay at home during the upcoming Easter break to help slow the rapidly rising numbers of new infections.

Health Minister Jens Spahn told reporters that more than 10% of Germans had now received at least a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and that the rollout of shots, which has been criticized as too slow, was gathering speed.

At the same time, Spahn urged people to get tested regularly, observe hygiene and distancing recommendations and to avoid contact with large groups of people.

"The numbers are rising too quickly," he said. "If this continues unchecked, there's a danger that our health system will in April, during the course of April, be stretched to its limit."

Lothar Wieler, head of Germany's disease control center, the Robert Koch Institute, said that Germany is just at the "beginning of the third wave" of the pandemic. He said the more contagious variant of the virus first detected in Britain is now the dominant one in the country.

"It's more contagious and more dangerous, and thus more difficult to stop," Wieler said. "There are clear signals that this wave could be even worse than the first two waves."

Jens Spahn, Federal Minister of Health, arrives for a press conference on the Corona situation before Easter in Berlin, Germany, Friday, March 26, 2021. (Kay Nietfeld/dpa via AP)

The number of new weekly infections per 100,000 people was around 70 two weeks ago, compared to 119 on Friday, he said. Germany reported 21,573 new cases on Friday, compared to a daily number of 17,482 a week earlier.

"All the indicators at the moment point toward it getting worse in the coming weeks," Wieler said.

He said if Germans used the Easter period to further reduce contact, it would at least be possible to lessen the severity of a third wave.

"We can't stop this wave anymore, but we must try to flatten it as strongly as possible," Wieler said. "Therefore, we have to reduce infections with all methods we have available."

Germany plans to start requiring negative test results from all airline passengers entering the country from abroad. The requirement was set to take effect on Sunday but it was pushed back to Monday night to give airlines more time to prepare, Spahn said.

Germany's Health Minister Jens Spahn, right, talks to Lothar Wieler, the head of Germany's Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for disease control after a news conference on the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in Berlin, Germany March 26, 2021. (Hannibal Hanschke/Pool via AP)

Jens Spahn, Federal Minister of Health, left, and Lothar Wieler, President of the Robert Koch Institute, arrive for the press conference on the Corona situation before Easter in Berlin, Germany, Friday, March 26, 2021. (Kay Nietfeld/dpa via AP)

Germany's Health Minister Jens Spahn arrives for a news conference on the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in Berlin, Germany March 26, 2021. (Hannibal Hanschke/Pool via AP)

The honored Peggy Schirmer-Schmid, left, speaks to German President Frank Walter Steinmeier, center, during a ceremony to honor people for their services during the coronavirus pandemic with state's cross of merit at Bellevue Palace in Berlin, Germany, Friday, March 26, 2021. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, Pool)

Through at least May 12, all travelers will have to show a negative test result from within the previous 48 hours before boarding planes to Germany.

Spahn said the measure was meant to reduce the possibility of infections being brought in, but alone was not a "game changer for the Easter holidays."

A spokesman for German Chancellor Angela Merkel declined to say whether she would be traveling to her holiday home north of Berlin for Easter. But spokesman Steffen Seibert said that, speaking in general terms, "the chancellor will certainly adhere to all the recommendations that apply to us all."

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.
Large-scale tech companies use their resources to access untapped data in Ethiopia, so disclosed economist in the field.

Economist Getachew Minas stated that laws and regulations do not exist uniformly in the infrastructure-poor African countries including Ethiopia. As such, Western technology seeks to ensure its presence in these countries.

The existence of digital colonialism is not as such a usual phenomenon. Digital colonialism refers to a modern-day Scramble for Africa where large-scale tech companies extract, analyze, and own user data for profit and market influence.

The African countries, which are data sources, remain only with "nominal" benefits.

Adding he said that in the absence of strong and reliable user data protection laws in Africa, including Ethiopia, western tech companies exploit the situation. Because of their ownership of data infrastructure, these companies exploit data as a resource for profit and a myriad of uses including predictive analysis. It may be thought that strengthening data protection laws will be a barrier to digital colonialism. But, regardless of their relative strength or weakness, data protection laws have "limits."

He pointed out that large scale tech companies show that those legal limits create several loopholes. Digital colonialism includes violations of data privacy laws. It involves unchecked mass concentration of data without competition enforcement. It also involves uninformed consent. Coleman pointed out that digital colonialism puts limits to the nation-state privacy laws.

This situation is aggravated by the social, political and economic power imbalances and decades of resource pillaging. It is inherited from the colonial history of Africa when many countries faced imperialist aggression through military invasions, land conquests, economic exploitation, genocide, and violent resource extraction at the behest of colonial powers.

He noted that trading companies expanded indirect colonial rule through possessing new protectorates or spheres of influence. They exploited local factions and rivalries by arming them in exchange for better trading deals. They established paramilitary forces or native bandas to facilitate trading goals and increase profit.

These helped in laying the foundation for the eventual mass exploitation of mineral resources and agricultural opportunities across Africa, including Ethiopia. The control of territories by companies was designed for the "explicit" purpose of making business. It inevitably meant that the territories were administered simply for profit.

He went on to say that trading companies gradually became more intrusive in the governance of the colonies to further their economic interests and those of the colonial powers. As the intrusion grew, more demands were made on the African countries.

These demands were accompanied by the threat of "military" action to enforce concession to the interests of the trading companies. Eventually, chartered companies, as extensions of the government, were an authoritative force in territories, playing an imperative role in territorial annexations and profiting from raw materials and valuable minerals.

As to him, to fulfill the interests of the industrial capitalist structure built upon the backs of African people and lands, colonial powers violently took over nations.

They exploited resource-rich African lands for their own economic benefit and global economic interests, both directly and via chartered companies. Earlier colonialists arrived on African shores, including the Red Sea, to expand their empires by exploiting local labor to extract valuable natural resources and raw materials, building critical infrastructure like railroads in the process to facilitate the import and export of these dispossessed goods.

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He indicated that in this case, Ethiopia is severely affected by digital colonialism. This is essentially a misuse of technological capacities for the exploitation of the rich natural resources the continent is endowed with. In the previous centuries, Africa had been subdued by mere brutal colonialist forces. Currently, the abusive power of Western tech is more exploitative and offensive than the previous one.

The greatest irony, however, is that African countries, including Ethiopia, acquire the means of protection and defense from the tech offenders themselves.

They are not allowed to develop or imitate techs that may replace or substitute the technical expertise of the Western and other emerging powers. Both the superpowers and emerging ones watch Africa through the evil eyes of a colonial master. In this respect, selective South-South cooperation for mutual development is now a necessity.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-25 22:34:17|Editor: huaxia

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Hungarian President Janos Ader (R) meets with visiting Chinese State Councilor and Minister of National Defense Wei Fenghe in Budapest, Hungary, March 24, 2021. (Photo by Li Xiaowei/Xinhua)

BUDAPEST, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Hungarian President Janos Ader said here on Wednesday that he hoped Hungary and China will continue to strengthen cooperation on anti-pandemic, economy, trade, tourism and military affairs, and to promote the in-depth development of the Hungary-China comprehensive strategic partnership.

Ader made the remarks when meeting with visiting Chinese State Councilor and Minister of National Defense Wei Fenghe.

Hungary-China relations have developed rapidly and become closer in recent years, said Ader, adding that China's remarkable achievements in fighting COVID-19 and its post-pandemic economic recovery have drawn worldwide attention.

Ader thanked China for its vaccine support, which brought hope for Hungary to prevail over the pandemic.

During the meeting, Wei introduced China's recently-concluded "two sessions" and achievements in economic and social development.

China has always regarded Hungary as a good brother and partner and is willing to continue to strengthen cooperation with Hungary in various sectors, said Wei.

Wei also gave an introduction about the real situation of the construction and development in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, and refuted the lies and false accusations created by the United States and some other Western countries.

China firmly opposes and strongly condemns the unilateral sanctions imposed on China by the European Union, the United States, Britain, Canada and some other countries under the pretext of the so-called Xinjiang human rights issue, Wei said.

China appreciates Hungary's firm support and righteous words on Xinjiang-related issues and other issues concerning China's core interests, he noted.

Wei emphasized that China is willing to expand and strengthen military exchanges and cooperation with the Hungarian army so as to elevate the relations between the two militaries to a new level.

Hungarian Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjen met with Wei on the same day.

During his visit, Wei on Thursday held talks with Hungarian Defense Minister Tibor Benko. The two sides exchanged in-depth views on the relations between the two countries and two militaries, as well as the international and regional situations. Enditem
Spoiler: it did not work. But it does make for an interesting story.The Flagler County Sheriffs Office (FCSO) reports that a deputy noticed a 2018 Tesla Model 3 driving on the wrong side of the road last week, as it was coming out of a gas station. To prevent the driver from heading into heavy traffic, the deputy summoned the Tesla to pull over. It did but, just moments later, the car backed into the patrol car.Since both vehicles were stationary, the damage was minimal: the patrol car received a scratch on the bumper, and the damage to the Tesla was about $300. But what the deputy found inside the Tesla game him pause, at least at first: there was no one in the driver seat.There were two teenage girls inside, aged 14 and 15; one sat in the passenger seat and the other in the backseat. Asked about why they reversed into the patrol car, the girls claimed that the car had been driving itself on Autopilot and that it was Autopilot too that backed into the police car. One of the girls would later admit that the other had been driving before engaging Autopilot, so she was cited for driving without a license.In a statement, Sheriff Rick Staly highlights the obvious: even if its a smart car that can seemingly operate itself or with minimal human intervention, you still need a drivers license. We could also add: dont blame Autopilot for when youre eventually caught for joyriding without a drivers license and you accidentally back into the police cruiser.These kids are very lucky that no one was hurt and their actions didnt have more serious consequences, Staly says. It doesnt matter if you are driving a smart car, driving without a license is still against the law. I hope these kids have learned a valuable lesson and I am grateful that no one was hurt and only minimal damage occurred to their vehicle.
TOKYO, March 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Project LUMINA (Notes Co., Ltd., Aniplex Inc., and DELiGHTWORKS Inc.) is set to release the 2D fighting game "MELTY BLOOD: TYPE LUMINA" for the PlayStation4, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox One platforms in 2021.

"MELTY BLOOD: TYPE LUMINA", based on the world of "Tsukihime -A piece of blue glass moon-", TYPE-MOON's long-form romantic visual novel, is slated for release in 2021. With a story by Kinoko Nasu and new character designs by Takashi Takeuchi (both of TYPE-MOON), "MELTY BLOOD: TYPE LUMINA" is a 2D fighting game that allows players to utilize the skills of characters from "Tsukihime -A piece of blue glass moon-" in combat. The 2D characters also feature in animated battle scenes.

The new game is developed by French-Bread, the creative collective involved in the original "MELTY BLOOD" series. While staying true to the distinctive features of the classic "MELTY BLOOD" games, "MELTY BLOOD: TYPE LUMINA" has been built from the ground up for the modern gaming landscape, with features including support for HD visuals and a rebuilt fighting system.

"MELTY BLOOD: TYPE LUMINA" is set for worldwide release with support for five languages: Japanese, English, Chinese (simplified and traditional), and Korean. Voice acting is in Japanese only.

Official website: https://meltyblood.typelumina.com/en/

Images: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Yiu7O_06aqWKtw3ZbwVzakhVH1WbvXIS?usp=sharing

Game Overview

Over 10 playable characters will be featured, with each character offering a unique and diverse range of attacks and moves. Each character has a total of 10 different color schemes, and players even have the option of setting up their own custom colors.

Single-player modes are Story, Time Attack, and Survival. In Story mode, players will control their selected character through a series of must-win fights, and witness story events that are unique to that character. Try beating your fastest fight in Time Attack mode, or see how many battles you can endure before your limited health runs out in Survival mode.

While carrying over the classic features of the "Melty Blood" series, the new game's battle system has been rebuilt from the ground up. Features include the "Rapid Beat" system, which allows players to execute combinations with repeated presses of the attack buttons. Actions and systems that make use of new resources are also planned for inclusion.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1473970/Main_Visual_MELTY_BLOOD_TYPE_LUMINA.jpg
Joe Biden said on Thursday that he plans to run for reelection in 2024 and he has 'no idea' if he will be running against Donald Trump while ending speculation he would only be a one-term president.

Biden, 78, also said that if he does run in 2024 he 'would fully expect' that Vice President Kamala Harris would be on the ticket, saying: 'She's doing a great job, she's a great partner.'

He did however leave open the possibility of stepping aside after one term, as he made the comments just two months into his presidency.

'My plan is to run for reelection. That's my expectation,' Biden told reporters in a wide-ranging news conference, the first of his presidency.

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US President Joe Biden, 78, says his 'expectation' is to run for a second term in 2024, but also noted that he is a strong believer in fate

Biden said he has 'no idea' if he will be running against Donald Trump while ending speculation he would only be a one-term president

Biden, 78, also said that if he does run in 2024 he 'would fully expect' that Vice President Kamala Harris, left, would be on the ticket

Biden, who would be 81 in 2024, later pushed back against a reporter's suggestion that his 2024 plans were definite.

'I said, 'That is my expectation',' Biden said. 'I'm a great respecter of fate. I've never been able to plan four-and-a-half, three-and-a-half years ahead for certain.'

Biden also shrugged off whether he believed 2024 would be a rematch with former president Donald Trump, saying he had 'no idea' whether his predecessor would run.

'I don't even think about it. I have no idea,' Biden said, suggesting that Trump may not even be part of the Republican Party.

Trump took steps to start his own re-election campaign early on in 2017 shortly after taking office. He has teased another run, but he would be 78 himself at the beginning of the next president's term.

It is unusual to focus on running for re-election so early in a presidential term, but Biden's age and the possibility that Trump may run again have created early speculation about the 2024 presidential field.

Biden won the November election with record turnout that helped him beat Trump by more than seven million votes.

It may seem early, but several Republican presidential prospects are already jockeying for position ahead of the GOP's 2024 nomination fight.

On Friday, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo plans to deliver a speech in Iowa, which traditionally holds the nation's first presidential primary contest.

With a Democrat in the White House, there has been virtually no jockeying on the Democratic side so far.

Harris would be the most likely successor should Biden step aside, but she would probably face competition. So soon after taking office, however, Harris' allies have taken no steps to prepare for a presidential bid of her own.

Privately, many Democrats believe Biden will not seek a second term. But publicly, there's few willing to question his intentions.

'He's starting out by so far successfully improving our pandemic response both from a health perspective and economic perspective, which lays the groundwork for a successful term and reelection strategy,' said Democratic strategist Josh Schwerin. 'He's running.'

In his first extended grilling by reporters since taking office on January 20, the 78-year-old president faced questions on topics from immigration and North Korea to whether he would support an end to the filibuster blocking tactic in the US Senate.

The Democratic president also attacked Republican efforts to limit voting, describing the actions in dozens of states that would make it more difficult for millions of people to cast ballots as 'sick' and 'un-American.'

Republican lawmakers in several states have since begun drafting a series of changes to election law that would restrict voting, in moves that would likely hurt Democrats more than Republicans.

Democrats have branded the effort as the most direct assault on American democracy since the Jim Crow era, when state and local governments passed laws that legalized racial segregation.

During a question-and-answer session, Biden swatted aside concerns that such moves to curtail voting rights could cause his party to lose control of the House and Senate in the 2022 midterm elections.

'What I'm worried about is how un-American this whole initiative is. It's sick,' Biden said.

'Deciding that you're going to end voting at five o'clock, when working people are just getting off work? Deciding that there will be no absentee ballots under the most rigid circumstances?' Biden said, citing examples of the proposed changes.

'The Republican voters I know find this despicable,' he said, adding he would 'do everything in my power... to keep that from becoming the law.'
Atletico Madrid are clear that Marcos Llorente is not available for transfer this summer, with several clubs having taken an interest in the Spanish midfielder.

Manchester United have been linked with a move for the 26-year-old, who has scored nine goals and provided eight assists in 28 games in LaLiga Santander so far this season.

At the moment, though, according to sources at Atletico, no club has made a firm offer for Llorente.

Be that as it may, should an offer arrive from Manchester United or any club from Europe's elite, Atletico are unwilling to negotiate the sale of a player who has become an integral part of Diego Simeone's side.

Curiously, Los Colchoneros are not happy with the way in which this information about Llorente's possible departure has come to light, with something similar happening to Saul Niguez in the lead-up to the Getafe game, which saw Atletico go on to drop two points. They worry that it could destabilise their title push.

Atletico are nevertheless adamant that they will not enter into talks with anyone for Llorente - it is his 120 million euro release clause or nothing.

This figure is the same as Jan Oblak, but there have been some examples in the last couple of years of clubs paying the release clause for Atletico's players, as happened with Thomas Partey, Lucas Hernandez, Rodri Hernandez and Antoine Griezmann.

Salary increase

It should not be forgotten that, at present, Llorente is not currently one of the higher earners at the club. He joined from Real Madrid almost two years ago and agreed a salary of four million euros net, which is behind what Koke and Saul earn (seven million euros net) and is some way off Oblak's 10 million euros net.

Atletico, despite this, recognise that this is not the best moment to start giving players pay rises given the uncertainty caused by COVID-19, particularly with regard to the return of fans to the Estadio Wanda Metropolitano.
"Sisyphus: The Myth" Episode 12 reveals the life of young Han Tae Sul and the reunion of him and Gang Seo Hae in the present time.

Moreover, the latest episode also showed the connection between the Quantum and Time founder and Sigma through a painting.

Gang Seo Hae Meets Familiar Faces

The scene starts with Gang Seo Hae (Park Shin Hye) living in the future and wandering in the ravaged city.

For hours of navigating the area, she finds herself hallucinating as she sees her mother.

She immediately went back to her senses after she realized that she was caught up in a sandstorm. Struggling to get out and pull herself up, Gang Seo Hae was surprised to see a familiar face.

Luckily, she was saved by her dad, Gang Dong Gi (Kim Jong Tae), who tossed a rope and pulled her into a safe place.

When things have settled down, he talks to Gang Seo Hae and expresses how scared he is for his daughter. Although she knew that she could survive the situation, Seo Hae admitted that she needs help in order to complete her mission - and that is to get to the uploader.

As the duo continues their journey, they are stopped by a man with a rifle, asking them for their names and objective.

Seo Hae mentioned she is trying to save Tae Sul. Surprised by what he's heard, the man reveals himself, and it turns out, he was Tae Sul's driver and bodyguard who was gunned down during an assassination.

Han Tae Sul and Gang Seo Hae's Reunion

In the next scene, it showed the present time where Tae Sul and Seo Hae had reunited.

Aside from this, she also saw her father, who is living in the present time. In an emotional conversation, Seo Hae warned him about the upcoming war and how she's determined to change the future.

Following their reunion, Tae Sul, and Seo Hae attempt to convince President Park to let them go. She told the Asia Mart owner how she's confident that she can change the future because she has been there.

Trying their luck, Tae Sul offers him the code to fix the uploader despite his doubts. However, it was Gang Seo Hae who told him to provide President Park the code so they can leave the place.

The Young Han Tae Sul and Sigma

"Sisyphus: The Myth" Episode 12 also details the life of young Han Tae Sul and his connection with the Sigma boss.

During their conversation, Tae Sul thinks that Sigma already knew who he was prior to their first meeting.

He told Seo Hae that Sigma asked him if he could still remember him.

This prompted him to investigate and find more information about Sigma by starting with a painting that was left to him.

In the said artwork, it features an abstract painting of a boy. Both Tae Sul and Seo Hae looked into his old documents and found a similar drawing in one of his old school books with a phrase that says, "Tae Sul fixing a falling plane" and other events in his life like building his company, Quantum and Time.

Following this, he then realized that the boy who drew the pictures is his friend, Seo Won Ju. Right then and there, he was convinced that it was Sigma.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Park Shin Hye Makes a Deal with Sung Dong Il in 'Sisyphus: The Myth' Latest Episode

KDramastars owns this article

Written by Geca Wills
Senior Reporter

The 118 sitting and former MDC Members of Parliament and senators who sang, remained seated or walked out when President Mnangagwa came to Parliament on five formal occasions should be found in contempt of Parliament, be fined $400 000 each and lose their diplomatic passports, Parliament's Privileges Committee has recommended.

The committee, chaired by lawyer and Mudzi South National Assembly member Cde Jonathan Samkange (Zanu PF) tabled its report in Senate yesterday with the recommendations, and this must now be debated by the two Houses for final decision.

Two MPs, Zengeza West MP Mr Job Sikhala and former Mbizo MP Mr Settlement Chikwinya, should pay additional second fines of $800 000 for disrespecting the committee when it was carrying out its work as well as disrespecting the President.

If approved that would bring their fines to $1,2 million.

Parliament has the right to investigate charges of contempt of Parliament and can withdraw privileges, impose fines and, in the case of its own members, suspend these members.

So long as it remains within its constitutional powers and follows its own procedures, the decisions made in contempt proceedings are final and cannot be appealed to the courts.

The present Constitution has withdrawn the previous power Parliament had to imprison those found in contempt.

The committee did not recommend the full range of sanctions that can be applied, recommending just the withdrawal of one privilege, the diplomatic passports, and the fines but allowing those who still have seats to continue attending Parliament.

For many of the 87 Members of the National Assembly and 24 Senators the committee said were in contempt of Parliament, some are no longer legislators, having been recalled by the MDC-T, now led by Senator Douglas Mwonzora, or by the People's Democratic Party (PDP).

The committee was asked to investigate the opposition MPs' behaviour by Speaker of the National Assembly, Advocate Jacob Mudenda in terms of Parliamentary rules after Zanu PF Chief Whip Cde Pupirai Togarepi moved a motion to have them charged.

MDC-Alliance legislators sang, boycotted the sitting, remained seated or walked out of the chamber on five occasions when President Mnangagwa delivered his State of the Nation addresses, or was present on other formal occasions.

It was the committee's observation that during the hearing, the majority of MDC-Alliance members were defiant and unapologetic for their misconduct.

"Hon (Jane) Watson was particularly hostile and disrespectful in her responses to the committee suggesting that the chairperson was fooling himself or trying to fool her, which was not palatable to the committee.

"In summary, the committee found the MDC-Alliance members guilty of contemptuous behaviour. They also exhibited gross disrespect by boycotting, walking out and singing political songs, on the five occasions mentioned earlier in this report," reads the report presented by Cde Samkange.

"It is, therefore, the Committee's view that these allegations are of a very serious nature which are designed not only to demean and humiliate the President himself, but to scandalise him.

"This conduct was also intended to send a message to the local, regional and international community that the President was not democratically elected.

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"Taking into account the severity of the matter, the committee recommended that Parliament withdraws diplomatic passports from the Honourable Members listed in Annexures A and B from the date of adoption of this report; and that those members pay a Level 12 fine ($400 000) to the Consolidated Revenue Fund.

"Turning to Honourables Chikwinya and Sikhala, it must be stated that contempt of Parliament is committed during parliamentary proceedings.

"There is no need for further investigations as a record of what transpired already exists. It is the view of the committee that both Hon Chikwinya and Hon Sikhala committed contempt of Parliament when they appeared before the committee.

"For this reason, the committee recommends that they pay a Level 14 fine ($800 000) to the Consolidated Revenue Fund in addition to the fine given in paragraph 2 above," reads the report.
Two Queensland women who lied about visiting Melbourne while it was a coronavirus hotspot have been sentenced to community service.

Haja Umu Timbo and Diana Lasu, both 21, pleaded guilty in the Brisbane Magistrates Court for failing to comply with a public health direction and were each sentenced to 80 hours of unpaid community service.

Haja Timbo (second from left) leaves Brisbane Magistrates Court on Friday after being sentenced to 80 hours community service. Credit:Toby Crockford

Charges of fraud and producing false or misleading documents were dismissed by the prosecution.

Both women applied for a border pass on July 21 where they ticked No to being in a COVID-19 hotspot in Melbourne while it was a coronavirus hotspot in 2020.
Almost 15 per cent of people who test positive for coronavirus in England do not follow self-isolation rules, official figures suggest.

The Office for National Statistics said just 86 per cent of infected patients stayed at home and did not see other people during their 10-day quarantine.

More than a fifth of those who flouted the rules said they had at least one visitor to their home who was not there for emergency reasons.

But the most common excuse was leaving the house to go shopping, dropping children off at school or going to work. Thirteen per cent of isolators said they were not paid during their self-quarantine period.

The ONS analysed responses from 2,500 adults who had tested positive for Covid in February and who were at the end of their isolation period.

On the back of the concerning results, the Government today announced it will give an extra 13million a month to local councils to support people isolating. The money will go towards food and medicine deliveries and helping with caring responsibilities.

People who test positive for Covid or are a close contact of someone who is infected are legally required to self isolate for 10 days. Those caught flouting the rules can be fined 1,000  rising to 10,000 for repeat offenders and 'the most egregious breaches'.

Britons on low incomes who cannot work from home receive a 500 lump sum if they forced to self-isolate.

The Office for National Statistics said just 86 per cent of infected patients stayed at home and did not see other people during their 10-day quarantine. More than a fifth of those who flouted the rules said they had at least one visitor to their home who was not there for emergency reasons

Writing in its report, the ONS said non-compliant behaviour was most likely to take place between the onset of symptoms and getting a test result.

Half of respondents received their test result within 24 hours and 10 per cent waited more than 72 hours, it said.

Foreign holidays will be ILLEGAL from Monday: New Covid laws mean 5,000 fines for anyone leaving the UK without 'reasonable excuse' Travellers face a 5,000 fine for going abroad on holiday when a ban on leaving the UK without 'reasonable excuse' comes into force on Monday. The threat of fines has been extended until the end of June, making foreign summer holidays look increasingly unlikely as a third wave of coronavirus sweeps across Europe. And France is likely to be added to a 'red list' of countries requiring hotel quarantine by the end of the week. Health officials are increasingly concerned by a surge in cases of the South African Covid variant across the Channel. A senior minister even suggested the whole of the Continent could be put on the red list because of the botched vaccine rollout. Quarantine-free holidays may not be possible until August, killing off hopes of trips abroad until late summer. A 'traffic light' system is under consideration, allowing travel to 'green' countries without the need for quarantine on return. Government sources stressed however that no decision has yet been made. Advertisement

Some 98 per cent reported adhering to the requirements in the 24 hours after a positive test and 94 per cent between this point and the end of the 10 days.

More than one in three adults found self-isolating had a negative effect on their wellbeing and mental health.

But 58 per cent reported no effect.

Around a third reported a loss of income while 13 per cent of those who had been working prior to self-isolating  either in or outside their home  said they were not paid during the self-isolation period.

Tim Gibbs, from the ONS public services analysis team, said: 'Although it's a legal duty, self-isolation does disrupt day-to-day life and we can see that there are key side effects of self-isolation such as worsening mental health and loss of income.

'Despite this, our analysis shows that a majority of people report fully adhering to the rules throughout their self-isolation period.

'This behaviour is vital in preventing the spread of Covid-19 and keeping people safe.'

The Department of Health said its 13m cash injection would tackle the 'practical challenges of being asked to self-isolate'.

An extra 3.2m per month has been allocated to a free medicines delivery service for people who are self-isolating and dont have access to help in collecting their prescription.

Community pharmacies and dispensing doctors are already funded to provide a medicines delivery service in instances where shielding advice is in place. This system is being replicated to cover people who need to self-isolate.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said: 'I am delighted that today's statistics show the vast majority of people in this country are doing the right thing and following the rules to help protect the NHS, and save lives.

'The government has increased funding for local authorities by over 30 million a month to give financial and practical support to those who have to self-isolate, helping them to avoid spreading the disease to their communities.

'Around one in three have the virus without symptoms, so it is vital those who are asked to self-isolate by NHS Test and Trace do so to turn the table on this terrible virus.'
Carphone Warehouse is currently negotiating with Eir over its future relationship

Carphone Warehouse and Eir are currently negotiating on whether to continue their sales relationship, according to executives close to both companies.

It comes just weeks after Vodafone announced it will stop selling its phones and plans through the independent chain, which has 81 stores here.

A spokesperson for Carphone Warehouse said that it is currently working through commercial negotiations with Eir around the issue.

A spokesperson for Eir said that the company would not be commenting at this time on the matter.

Carphone Warehouse trades on the strength of being a one stop shop for all of Irelands biggest operators.

However, from April it will have a minority of mobile operator brands on board. This comes at a time when new budget entrants such as GoMo, 48 and Clear Mobile are chipping away at largest brands, while other players such as Tesco Mobile have built up substantial market share in Ireland.

A spokesperson for Three said that the operator remains committed to selling phones and plans through Carphone Warehouse. Three is Irelands second largest mobile operator.

Carphone Warehouse is still licking the wounds of a 20m loss on its own mobile operator, iD Mobile, launched in 2015. After struggling to gain customers, it folded in 2018.

Earlier this month, a spokesperson for Carphone Warehouse said that it remains committed to its mobile business in Ireland.

Were committed to our mobile category and were underway with our strategy for mobile in Ireland as we move to a truly omnichannel approach, to provide our customers with the amazing tech they want, whenever and wherever they want it.
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Gavin Williamson has condemned the death threats made against a teacher who was suspended for allegedly showing a caricature of the Prophet Mohammed in a religious studies lesson on blasphemy.

The Education Secretary said that the protests outside the historic Batley Grammar School in West Yorkshire yesterday were 'completely unacceptable', after dozens of furious Muslim parents demonstrated and chanted 'shame on you' as they called for the teacher's removal.

A West Yorkshire Police officer read out a grovelling apology to mothers and fathers from headteacher Gary Kibble, but this provoked even more fury from those gathered as they called the teacher - who is now believed to be in hiding after he was identified online - a 'danger'.

Parents claimed that the teacher, who the school have not named, showed students a cartoon of the Prophet during a religious education class - and had predicted he would face a controversial reaction.

Though it is not yet known what exact image was shown to the children, parents had said they were 'French' caricatures, possibly referring to those published by Charlie Hebdo in 2012, which were used as a justification for the heinous murder of 12 people at the magazine's Paris office.

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson has now condemned the death threats made against the Batley teacher.

A Department for Education spokesperson said: 'It is never acceptable to threaten or intimidate teachers. We encourage dialogue between parents and schools when issues emerge.

'However, the nature of protest we have seen, including issuing threats and in violation of coronavirus restrictions are completely unacceptable and must be brought to an end.

'Schools are free to include a full range of issues, ideas and materials in their curriculum, including where they are challenging or controversial, subject to their obligations to ensure political balance.

'They must balance this with the need to promote respect and tolerance between people of different faiths and beliefs, including in deciding which materials to use in the classroom.'

Former Conservative Cabinet Minister Sajid Javid also condemned the backlash, writing: 'In this country we are free to peacefully follow, preach or query any religion or none. These are hard-won freedoms that must be upheld by all public institutions. Reports of intimidation in Batley set a deeply unsettling and potentially dangerous precedent.

'President Macron rightly warned about intolerant ''separatism'' two weeks before Samuel Paty was murdered. We cannot afford to wait for another tragedy to tackle extremism and reaffirm our values, as I argued recently.'

In posts to Facebook, the teacher is said to have accepted that pupils at the co-educational free school would tell their parents about the image before then displaying the cartoon to the class.

Police descend on Batley Grammar School in West Yorkshire on Thursday as dozens of furious Muslim parents protest outside

Mufti Mohammed Amin Pandor, a local Muslim scholar, told the crowd in Batley that the teacher has been suspended

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson has now condemned the death threats made against the teacher. A Department for Education spokesperson said: 'It is never acceptable to threaten or intimidate teachers. We encourage dialogue between parents and schools when issues emerge'

The protests in Batley came after a teacher allegedly showed caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad during an RE lesson

Batley Grammar School headteacher Gary Kibble, pictured, has since apologised for the 'inappropriate' resource

An angry crowd had first gathered outside the grammar school at 7.30am on Thursday, causing the establishment to delay its opening and tell pupils to stay home amid chaotic scenes at the gates.

The parents were still protesting at lunchtime, as police began threatening them with Covid-19 fines and shut a road in both directions. Police later said there were no arrests or fines issued.

It took until 2.30pm for the demonstration to be cleared by police, a spokesperson for West Yorkshire Police confirmed. MailOnline has asked the school a series of questions, including about what images were shown.

'Children must learn about faiths - but in a respectful, sensitive way': Headteacher Gary Kibble's full statement 'The school unequivocally apologises for using a totally inappropriate image in a religious studies lesson. It should not have been used. 'The member of staff has also relayed their sincere apologies. 'We have immediately withdrawn teaching on this part of the course, and we are revising how we go forward with the support of all communities represented in our school. 'It is important for children to learn about faiths and beliefs, but this must be done in a respectful, sensitive way. 'The member of staff has been suspended pending an independent formal investigation. 'The school is working closely with our governing body and community leaders to help us resolve this situation, and we continue to do so. 'I know many of you will have questions but we are undertaking a formal process now and it is therefore very difficult for us to be able to answer any of those questions without jeopardising that, but we hope that we can reach a swift conclusion moving forward.' Advertisement

Muslim leader Mohammad Sajad Hussain, founder of a Batley-based charity, said he was 'deeply hurt' by the 'insulting caricatures of our beloved Prophet Mohammed' in an open letter. He said the charity is unwilling to work with or promote the school until the teacher is 'permanently removed'.

Dr Abdul Shaikh, an academic in Batley and Muslim activist, said he heard about the incident on social media on Wednesday night.

Speaking to the PA news agency, he said: 'I was shocked like many Muslims in the town that Muslim school children's religious sensitivities were completely ignored by the school teacher who decided to show an offensive image that lampooned the noble Prophet Mohammed.

'Every Muslim around the world holds the Prophet in the highest esteem. I feel that the school should be allowed to complete their investigation in due course and find a fair and adequate solution that satisfies first and foremost Muslim pupils, their parents and the wider Muslim community in Batley.

'This situation should not be allowed to happen again for the sake of community cohesion in the area.'

Qari Asim, a senior imam at the Makkah Mosque in Leeds, said: 'I sympathise with the parents and pupils because sadly, this is not the first time we have seen offensive images of Prophet Mohammed being used.

'People have a right to express their concerns and hurt but protests can't always achieve what can be achieved through constructive dialogue - fair investigation by the school, in consultation with the parents, should be allowed to take place.

'We do not want to fan the flames of Islamophobia and provoke hatred or division.'

And Mohammed Shafiq, CEO of the Ramadhan Foundation, condemned the teacher 'in the strongest terms' for not considering the 'hurt' he would cause by showing a drawing to children in a religious studies lesson.

He said: 'The World knows the love and respect we have for our Prophet and our hearts are pained tonight to know a teacher working with 70% Muslim pupils didn't consider the hurt this would cause.

'We understand the anger parents have been feeling and as we know this is not the first time under the cloak of freedom of speech our faith is being attacked.

'We love the Prophet Muhammad PBUH more than own lives and this incident has happened which will now be hijacked by those who have an interest in perpetuating an image of Muslims, we will not allow these attacks to go unanswered.'

He added: 'It is alarming that the Department of Education chose to amplify those divisions by attacking the parents and pupils rather than looking how we can come together to have a respectful discussion and seek an end to this issue.'

Mr Kibble, headteacher of the school founded in 1612 by the Reverend William Lee, said the RE teacher has been suspended, and went on to issue a 'sincere' and 'unequivocal' apology. He called the image 'totally inappropriate' and said the school had 'immediately withdrawn teaching on this part of the course'.

In a televised statement, he added: 'It is important for children to learn about faiths and beliefs, but this must be done in a respectful, sensitive way. The school is working closely with our governing body and community leaders to help us resolve this situation, and we continue to do so.'

The RE teacher, who lives with his partner a short distance from the school, was not home today and his car was not parked at the property.

A neighbour told MailOnline: 'He's a nice man. I see him go off to school, but not today or the day before.'

He was described by another neighbour as a 'local lad' who studied close to home and decided to teach in the area he was born and raised.

The neighbour said: 'He's a good, honest Yorkshire lad. Likes his rugby and always had a smile for us.'

The teacher's parents were also not at home.

The National Secular Society branded the protest as an 'attempt to impose an Islamic blasphemy taboo on a school'. Stephen Evans, its chief executive, said: 'Teachers must have a reasonable degree of freedom to explore sensitive subjects and enable students to think critically about them.

'And the school's weak response will fuel a climate of censorship, which is brought on by attempts to force society as a whole to accommodate unreasonable and reactionary religious views.'

Today's protest comes five months after history teacher Samuel Paty was beheaded on the street near his school in a Paris suburb by an Islamic extremist last October after showing Prophet Muhammad cartoons to his students.

The killing shocked the country and led to a fresh debate about freedom of speech and the integration of France's large Muslim population. It also brought back memories of a wave of Islamist violence that started with the Charlie Hebdo massacre, sparked by the same cartoons in the satirical magazine in 2015 when gunmen killed 12 people.

Angry parents gather to protest outside Batley Grammar School in West Yorkshire following the incident in an RE lesson

Batley Grammar School had to delay its opening and told pupils to stay at home amid chaotic scenes at its gates yesterday morning

Mufti Mohammed Amin Pandor, a local Muslim scholar, told the crowd that the teacher had been suspended, which was later confirmed by the school, where almost three-quarters of pupils are from minority ethnic groups.

Muslims make up 41 per cent of the population in Batley, a historic market and mill town in the Kirkless region which was the constituency of Labour MP Jo Cox who was murdered by a far-Right extremist in June 2016.

The latest RE syllabus for the Calderdale, Kirklees and Leeds region, valid from 2019 to 2024, states that pupils should be able to 'give reasons why visual representation of God and the prophets is forbidden - haram - in Islam' by the end of key stage two - but does not specifically state whether teachers should show any of these images.

National guidance from the Department for Education also does not specifically address cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, but says RE must be taught according to 'either the locally agreed syllabus or in accordance with the school's designated religion or religious denomination, or in certain cases the trust deed relating to the school.'

Alumni from the school, which serves Halal-approved food in the canteen, include Innocent Smoothies founder Richard Reed, Ginetta Cars owner Lawrence Tomlinson and prominent 18th century theologian Joseph Priestley.

Mr Kibble wrote in a letter to parents: 'The school would like to thank the parents who contacted us on Monday, March 22 highlighting concerns with a resource used in an RS [religious studies] lesson that day.

'Upon investigation, it was clear that the resource used in the lesson was completely inappropriate and had the capacity to cause great offence to members of our school community for which we would like to offer a sincere and full apology.'

He added that the school had taken 'immediate action' to investigate what had happened, including the removal of the resource from materials and the suspension of that lesson content from the scheme of work.

Mr Kibble continued: 'As an additional precaution, we will undertake a formal review of the RS curriculum to ensure no other resource or statement is inappropriate and take appropriate action as needed.'

The headteacher, who is thought to have been in his role at the school for three years, also told how staff were now investigating the matter 'using formal processes and we are grateful for the support of the local authority'.

With parents gathering outside the school, it sent them all a text message to say: 'Due to the disturbance outside of school, if your child has not already set off please keep them at home as school will be starting at 10am.'

A parent speaks to a police officer outside Batley Grammar School in West Yorkshire yesterday morning after the incident

Mufti Mohammed Amin Pandor, a local Muslim scholar, speaks to the crowd gathered outside Batley Grammar School

Later in a statement to ITV News, Mr Kibble said: 'The school unequivocally apologises for using a totally inappropriate image in a religious studies lesson. It should not have been used.

** Are you a parent of a child at Batley Grammar School? Please email: tips@dailymail.com ** Advertisement

'The member of staff has also relayed their sincere apologies. We have immediately withdrawn teaching on this part of the course, and we are revising how we go forward with the support of all communities represented in our school.

'It is important for children to learn about faiths and beliefs, but this must be done in a respectful, sensitive way.

'The member of staff has been suspended pending an independent formal investigation. The school is working closely with our governing body and community leaders to help us resolve this situation, and we continue to do so.

'I know many of you will have questions but we are undertaking a formal process now and it is therefore very difficult for us to be able to answer any of those questions without jeopardising that, but we hope that we can reach a swift conclusion moving forward.'

The protesters had been demanding the resignation of the teacher, with organisers asking anyone attending to do so in their vehicle. Officers were guarding all school entrances but the protest appeared to be peaceful.

Mufti Mohammed Amin Pandor tells the crowd outside the school in West Yorkshire that he has been speaking to staff

Mufti Mohammed Amin Pandor speaks to the crowd of parents who gathered to protest outside Batley Grammar School

Police block the road leading to the school after parents gathered outside Batley Grammar School Thurssday morning

Parents began gathering at 7.30am outside the co-educational free school in West Yorkshire and could be heard chanting

Police positioned outside the school gates amid the demonstrations taking place at Batley Grammar School Thursday morning

How the death of teacher Samuel Paty in France led to a fresh debate about freedom of speech Five months ago, French teacher Samuel Paty was beheaded on the street near his school in Paris by an Islamic extremist last October after showing cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad to his students. The killing shocked the country and led to a fresh debate about freedom of speech and the integration of France's large Muslim population. It also brought back memories of a wave of Islamist violence following the Charlie Hebdo massacre, sparked by the same cartoons in the satirical magazine in 2015 when 12 people were killed. Mr Paty was beheaded by an 18-year-old man of Chechen descent on October 16. The man was shot dead by police shortly after the attack. On March 9, a girl aged 13 admitted to telling lies about the teacher after an online hate campaign kick-started by her comments. Mr Paty's killing, which happened in the town of Conflans-Sainte-Honorine just outside Paris, sent shockwaves through France and reignited tensions in the country over the strict divide of church and state. President Emmanuel Macron's response defending the cartoons of Mohammed and Mr Paty's actions sparked mass protests and boycotts of French goods in many Muslim-majority countries. Following Mr Macron's comments, three people were killed in a terrorist attack at a Catholic church in Nice on October 29. France has been hit by several major terror attacks in recent years. Its fiercely secular state was founded on the concept of laicite, which separates state institutions - including schools - from the influence of religion. In recent years, this policy has chafed with the reality of France's multi-cultural population, particularly Muslims, some of whom feel they have been unfairly targeted by secularism policies including a ban on the wearing of some forms of Islamic dress in public spaces. Teachers are increasingly on the front lines of this debate. Advertisement

In a video filmed by the Huddersfield Examiner, Mufti Mohammed Amin Pandor, a local prominent Muslim scholar who is director of the Peace Institute, told the crowd outside this morning: 'What has happened in the school, we are appalled.

'Look at what we do as a community, and you'll understand our stance. What has happened is totally unacceptable and we have made sure that the school understands that. The school is preparing a statement.

'So our discussion is they prepared a statement and we weren't happy with the statement, so we said no, the statement needs to be worded in this way. Some people think I tried to stop you guys from coming.

'I don't know where that information is from, so that's between whoever has spread that rumour and Allah. So that's nothing to do with me. This is a democratic country, you can protest. It's your right to protest.

'Somebody called me last night and said there's a protest for tomorrow, what should we do? I said we, as a group, have got a different stance, we want to work with the school. But if anyone wants to exercise their democratic right, you are here. So let's move on. So what's happening?

'The school is going to issue an apology, issue a statement. We have asked for amendments on the statement to say that they are very apologetic and they apologise. All the resources that were used have all been pulled out.

'The teacher has been suspended, the teacher has been suspended. Now then, you cannot sack him. You guys are professional, you know you can't just dismiss someone like that, they have due process.

'So he's been suspended, OK, he's been suspended. Now we've asked for an investigation, an investigation to be independent, and we have asked also that some of us get onto the investigation panel.

'So this is what we've asked for. So whether they do it or not, we can't force them, but they're investigating. And then we're going to work with the school to make sure in future things like this don't happen.'

Commenting on the situation, a woman in her 30s with a child at the school said: 'We are continuing to wait outside the school to try and speak to the headteacher, we want to hear what he has to say.

'He needs to come out, explain what happened, apologise for it and tell us how he will make sure nothing like this ever happens again.

'We feel like he's hiding away and that's not good enough, he needs to show his face. A lot of us have questions for him about how this ever happened in the first place, something clearly went very wrong.

'This image is so offensive to us and, in my opinion, there is no way it could have been part of the curriculum. What happened is very dangerous and we need answers.'

'I am a teacher': People gather at the Place de la Republique in Paris to pay tribute to Samuel Paty on October 18, 2020

People hold a photo of Samuel Paty during a memorial march for him in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine on October 20, 2020

But Dr Paul Stott, associate fellow at the Henry Jackson Society think tank, told MailOnline: 'Secondary schools have a duty to introduce pupils to contentious ideas and debates, as part of a process of teaching children how, rather than what, to think.

Batley Grammar School headteacher Gary Kibble wrote to parents to confirm the issues were being investigated

'Schools in the UK must not concede policy to angry mobs at the school gates or to so-called community leaders.

'The school's censorious approach appears to be the exact opposite of the approach in France, where demands to sanitise classroom discussions by Islamist campaigners were resolutely rejected by the government, following the hideous murder of teacher Samuel Paty.'

The Free Speech Union said it stands 'in solidarity with the teacher at Batley Grammar who has been suspended at the behest of a censorious religious mob'.

Toby Young, its director general, said he is writing to the headteacher to object, copying in Education Secretary Gavin Williamson, and to the local Chief Constable asking him to make sure the teacher is 'protected from intimidation'.

He told MailOnline: 'Schools should be teaching children about the importance of free speech and for the headteacher to give in immediately to the demands of an outrage mob - apologising to them and suspending the teacher concerned - sets a very bad example. No one has the right not to be offended.'

Carole Pattison, cabinet member for learning at Kirkless Council, told MailOnline: 'Batley Grammar is an academy school so the council has a very limited role in its running but we are aware of issues raised by parents this week.

'We are pleased to see that the school has taken swift action to resolve the issues alongside the local community. They have apologised, taken immediate action on teaching materials and they are reviewing the relevant processes.'

A West Yorkshire Police spokesman said at about midday: 'We are aware of a small demonstration at the school, which is still ongoing. Local neighbourhood officers are in attendance.'

Police cordoned off Carlinghow Hill in both directions and the 213 bus service was diverted via Batley Field Hill.

Later, the force spokesman added: 'The demonstration has now ended. We closed the road for a short time. No arrests or FPNs (Fixed Penalty Notices) issued.'

The school, which has 990 pupils, was rated 'good' in its last Ofsted inspection. It used to be an all-boys school until girls were admitted into its sixth form in 1988 and it then became fully co-educational in 1996.

** Are you a parent of a child at Batley Grammar School? Please email: tips@dailymail.com **
Charlie Oppler, the president of the National Association of Realtors, issued a statement on Jan. 6., condemning the assault on the Capitol, but no formal actions have been taken against brokers involved in the siege. Responding to a query about the trade associations position, Wesley Shaw, a spokesman for the association, wrote that the organization was closely following the legal proceedings connected to the breach and was committed to taking any action that is deemed appropriate and in the best interest of our association, but deferred membership qualification decisions to the groups local associations.

With 1.4 million members, the association is the countrys largest trade organization, representing about half of all licensed real estate agents in the United States. Far from avoiding politics, the organizations Realtor Political Action Committee is the largest PAC operated on behalf of a trade association in the United States, Mr. Shaw said, giving close to $4 million annually to political candidates on both sides of the aisle who support real estate interests. The association encourages members to get involved in their communities, and to speak out on issues related to housing and property rights. But some may have become too outspoken.

In a year of political and social unrest, the association has been grappling with a wave of social media discourse that became so inflammatory it drove the association to update its code of ethics last November, banning all discriminatory behavior by its members.

After George Floyds death at the hands of Minneapolis police last May and the protests that followed, Realtor associations around the country were flooded with complaints about agents posting racist and sexist messages on their social media sites.

Calling out this activity last June, Jennifer Pino, then president of the Atlanta Realtors Association, wrote to the national association: We cannot continue to allow the Realtor brand to be damaged by these hateful few. This must be stopped.

Realtors were being outwardly discriminatory on social media while supposedly adhering to Fair Housing rules, said Ms. Pino, 49, managing broker at Sothebys International Realtys Buckhead office. If you were holding an open house, and you had expressed genuine hate for a protected class on social media, how could you possibly treat those people fairly?

Over the next several months, the association held numerous internal meetings and online forums seeking input to amend the code. In October, Matt Difanis, an Illinois broker who was then chairman of the organizations professional standards committee, released a video on YouTube where he shared examples from what he called the mountain of hate speech posted by agents. The sampling included messages like I think Black people bring out the worst in us, and homosexuals and lesbians are murderers, according to the scripture.
New Delhi, March 26 : In a big victory for the Uttar Pradesh government, the Supreme Court on Friday allowed transfer of gangster-turned-MLA Mukhtar Ansari from a Punjab jail to Banda jail in UP.

A bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan directed that Ansari be handed over to UP within two weeks, and then lodged in Banda jail. The top court allowed the UP government Article 32 petition seeking transfer of Ansari to a UP jail from Punjab.

Article 32 deals with the ''Right to Constitutional Remedies'', and gives the right to move the apex court for enforcement of the rights conferred in the Constitution.

The Uttar Pradesh government and the Punjab government had locked horns over whether a state government can file a petition under Article 32 to claim fundamental rights.

The UP government, under Article 32, had moved the Supreme Court seeking direction to the Punjab government and Rupnagar jail authority to immediately hand over gangster-turned-politician Ansari's custody to district jail Banda. Ansari is lodged in district jail Rupnagar since January 2019.

The Punjab government had contested these claims of the UP government saying that only a citizen can move the top court under Article 32 to claim fundamental rights and a state cannot invoke this provision. "The state by itself has not been given any right to move this court under Article 32 under any circumstances..therefore, the state of UP is not competent to file the present writ petition as it is neither citizen to whom the right is conferred and neither it has any fundamental rights which are exclusively conferred upon citizens", said the Punjab government, seeking dismissal of the UP's plea.

The Uttar Pradesh government had told the top court that Punjab government is "shamelessly" protecting gangster-turned-politician Ansari as he is not being handed back to UP where he faces trial for several heinous offences before a special MP/MLA court. Ansari has been lodged in district jail Rupnagar in Punjab in connection with an alleged extortion case.

The UP government said more than 30 FIRs and more than 14 criminal trials including heinous crimes of murder and under the Gangster Act are pending against Ansari in various MP/MLA courts, where his personal appearance is sought.
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

The United States will deliver 1.5 million surplus doses of AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine to Canada next week, Canadian Procurement Minister Anita Anand announced Friday.

Washington last week said it would send millions of doses to neighboring Canada and Mexico. AstraZeneca is approved in both countries, but is still awaiting the FDA's green light for use in the United States.

"I can now confirm that (the doses) will arrive in Canada this coming Tuesday by truck," Anand told a news conference in Ottawa.

Separately, Canada has ordered 20 million AstraZeneca jabs plus another two million doses of the same formula made by the Serum Institute of India.

Hedging bets, Ottawa has ordered or reserved a total of more than 400 million doses of vaccine from seven suppliers for a population of 38 million.

To date, only 11 percent of Canadians have received at least one shot, but authorities said vaccine shipments are expected to ramp up in the coming weeks.

Explore further Canada approves AstraZeneca Covid vaccine

 2021 AFP
Prague  The European Union (EU) is called upon to play a "leading role" in reviving talks between the parties for the final settlement of the conflict over the Sahara, said former Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs Ana Palacio.

The status quo in the Sahara - and in the Maghreb more broadly - cannot last, noted the former Spanish official in a column recently published by the international media organization "Project Syndicate", based in Prague, noting that "war, if it resumed, would fuel instability throughout the region."

On the recognition by the United States of the full and entire sovereignty of Morocco over its southern provinces, she noted that the "USA is not the only one to support Morocco in the Sahara dispute".

"By the end of 2020, 18 countries in sub-Saharan Africa and the Gulf had opened, or expressed their intention to open, consulates in the Sahara, implying a tacit recognition of the Moroccan sovereignty," she explained.

On the other hand, she went on, the Polisario recently unsuccessfully challenged the legality of agricultural exports and fisheries agreements between Morocco and the EU in the European Court of Justice.

She affirmed that "the Sahrawis are taken as hostages by the Polisario in order to support the narrative according to which Morocco is an occupier, a discourse which is not confirmed by international law", adding that none of the 69 resolutions of the Council of security on the Sahara "does refer to an occupation".

Rather, these resolutions call on the parties to negotiate a political settlement, she said.
Creche workers caring for the children of staff at the Beacon Hospital also received jabs from the private hospital earlier this month, it has emerged.

The Beacon Hospital said: "In keeping with the zero wastage policy, vaccines were administered to childcare providers located on the Beacon Medical Campus. These workers deliver an essential service to frontline healthcare workers."

Michael Cullen, chief executive of the hospital, is now facing calls to resign after it was revealed 20 teachers and staff from a private school in Bray, Co Wicklow were also inoculated this week.

Labour Party leader Alan Kelly described his position as entirely untenable, while Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said no private school should have received vaccines.

St Gerards Catholic School refused to comment on the matter.

Read More

The Beacon Hospital did not respond to queries about whether board members have also been vaccinated, or if an investigation into how the vaccines were given to teachers and childcare providers will be carried out.

Childcare workers and teachers are in Cohort 11 of the Health Service Executives vaccine roll-out.

The families of patients receiving cancer treatment at the Beacon have also condemned the hospitals actions, describing it as a kick in the teeth and incredibly upsetting.

Aoife Stokess 64-year-old mother, who is receiving cancer treatment at the Beacon, is in Cohort 4 and has yet to receive a vaccination date, despite this group currently being in the process of being vaccinated.

Im incredibly angry and so frustrated, Ms Stokes said.

How can a private hospital who looks after hundreds of patients in the vulnerable categories not have a stand-by list and end up giving vaccines to an external group of people.

Weve been able to get no answer about when my mam will be vaccinated. Weve gone from our GP to the Beacon to the HSE, who told her to ring an out of hours GP. From an organisational point of view, its so frustrating and its a kick in the teeth.

The HSE is investigating how the private hospital  which has apologised  vaccinated 20 staff from St Gerards private school, where it is understood Mr Cullen's children attend.

Giving vaccines to teachers in his childrens school ahead of vulnerable patients in the hospital is simply unjustifiable, Mr Kelly said.

Its beyond belief that the CEO thought this type of behaviour would be appropriate or acceptable and there is now a fundamental question over his judgement, he said.

He said Beacon had made a belated decision to join the Covid fight a few months ago.

This two-tier elitism is shocking, and unfortunately, has been enabled by the lack of a cohesive vaccine strategy from the Minister for Health, Mr Kelly said.

He said it undermined the message that the vaccine is being rolled out in an equitable way.

The incident, highlighted by the Irish Daily Mail, follows a similar incident at the Coombe Hospital in January, when vaccines were given to the Masters immediate family.

The CEO of the Beacon, Michael Cullen, said the situation arose because there were over 200 no-shows for a jab clinic. This happened because of double-booking with the Aviva stadium, and his facility was under time pressure to administer the doses.

The Beacon said it is now amending its processes to broaden our stand-by list to ensure that if there are leftover vaccines on any occasion in the future that there are sufficient numbers of identified individuals in a position to reach the Centre within the tight time frame required.

Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly described the situation as completely unacceptable. He told RTE: What Im instructing the HSE to do is to appoint a HSE lead over the situation at the Beacon.

However, he also said that the main priority remains to vaccinate as many people as possible, and as such the vaccination programme will not be pulled from the hospital.

It is an important part of the vaccination infrastructure for the Dublin area and the Beacon is doing it at their own cost, he said.

So, by stopping the vaccinations at the Beacon - while I understand it would send a very clear signal - ultimately we would be cutting off our nose to spite our face, because the priority right now has to be to vaccinate people as soon as the vaccines arrive in the country.

HSE chief Paul Reid, speaking on RTE radio, said protocols are in place and expressed disappointment that they had not been followed.

Sinn Fein TD for Wicklow, John Brady, said the incident between two private institutions, 13km apart, was without justification, and smacked of the well-heeled looking after the well-heeled."
StandWithUs is disappointed that Californias K-12 Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum was approved without the reasonable changes called for by so many people across the state. The State Board of Education voted for the final version unanimously, despite massive numbers of comments asking for edits before and during the March, 18th meeting. As local school districts consider the ESMC and other ethnic studies curricula, StandWithUs will fight relentlessly to ensure these courses humanize and do not harm the Jewish community.

Despite many improvements since the rejected first draft, the ESMC remains problematic, said Max Samarov, executive director of Research and Strategy at StandWithUs. It should have been revised to fix the new Arab American studies lesson plan, which was submitted last minute with almost no time for public review. The Jews Indigenous to the Middle East and North Africa

lesson should have been moved to the Asian American section to teach about anti-Semitism alongside Islamophobia. The Third World Liberation Front, which is the origin story of ethnic studies, should have been covered in a way that acknowledges its flaws along with its positive impact. We will fight relentlessly to prevent these problems from being reproduced and ensure Jews are represented fairly in schools.

Students, parents, and concerned citizens came out to the SBE meeting in huge numbers, calling on them to fix the above problems and others identified by StandWithUs. Many more sent emails beforehand in response to our call to action. The SBE meeting also featured many anti-Semitic comments from anti-Israel extremists, who smeared Jewish students and others calling in as white supremacists.

We are especially proud of all the students who spoke out during the SBE meeting and for almost two years leading up to this vote, said Kate Chavez, national associate director of High School Affairs at StandWithUs. Without their voices and courage in the face of hate, the ESMC would have been even more problematic. We look forward to empowering students, parents, and others in our network to engage education officials and fight for the education we deserve.

Since August 2019, StandWithUs has mobilized countless people across California to address hate and bias in the ESMC, together with a large coalition of partners. We are already building on this work across California and in other states that are adopting ethnic studies, using the lessons and best practices we have learned.
Google is planning to have its own custom chip, claiming that this hardware could be the new motherboard. Amin Vahdat, Google's vice president, said that the SoC or Systems-on-Chip could be the new motherboard.

Also Read: Google Releases New Update to Fix Android Apps Issue; Do This to Fix Your Chrome Browser and WebView

"To gain higher performance and to use less power, our workloads demand even deeper integration into the underlying hardware," said Vahdat via his official Google Cloud blog post.

"Instead of integrating components on a motherboard where they are separated by inches of wires, we are turning to SoC designs where multiple functions sit on the same chip," added the Google expert.

Google's upcoming SoC design

According to ZDNet's latest report, Google explained that the SoC needs less power and budget compared to the ASICs on a motherboard.

The tech giant firm added that custom SoC chips are just like a motherboard since it has individual functional units. These include TPUs, CPUs, compression, remote communication, secure data summarization, encryption, video transcoding, and more.

On the other hand, SoC designs also come from different sources.

Meanwhile, Vahdat confirmed that Uri Frank, an Intel veteran expert, will join Google's new SoC project as Google's vice president of engineering.

Once Frank is in the team, he will work on the server chip design. This just shows that Google is ready to make new efforts in the competition of creating new efficient chips. Vahdat said that a new and efficient SoC is possible since the cloud computing giant has designed and built some of the most efficient and largest computing systems.

What to expect from Google's new SoC

Google's vice president explained that the tech firm would not integrate components on a motherboard where the parts are inches apart. Instead, the company will transfer to creating SoC designs that have multiple functions on one chip.

Vahdat also added that the new SoCs would allow for even more customized chips, which have the ability to specialize for individual applications. If you want to know more details, just click this link.

For more news updates about Google and its upcoming innovations, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes.

Related Article: Google Assistant's New Memory Feature Makes It a Handy Organizer; Here are Its Functions

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Written by: Giuliano de Leon

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
West Bengal is all set to vote in the first phase of the assembly polls on March 21 i.e. Saturday. This is one of the most talked-about state polls in recent years, with the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress striving hard to retain her home turf and Prime Minister Narendra-led BJP emerging as a strong challenger in the eastern state. While Banerjee will aim for a hat-trick, the BJP that has made strong inroads, is leaving no stone unturned to make sure that the lotus blooms in West Bengal.

Also read: West Bengal Election 2021: Voting dates, poll full schedule, timings, election results, all FAQs

Here's a breakdown of phase 1 elections in West Bengal

In phase 1 of the West Bengal assembly elections, five districts will be covered. Districts going to polls in phase 1 are -- Paschim Midnapore Part-I, Purba Midnapore Part-I, Bankura, Jhargram, and Purulia.

Polling will start around 8 am and will go on till 6 pm. The counting of votes will start on May 2, while the results of the polls will be announced on May 4. The Election Commission has made all adequate arrangements to make sure people follow all Covid-19 norms and polling is held peacefully.

The assembly polls in West Bengal are being held in 8 phases. The next phase of polling will be held on April 1; followed by polling on April 6; April 10; April 17; April 22; April 26; and the final phase on April 29.

There are a total of 294 assembly seats in 23 districts of West Bengal that will go to polls, of which 68 are reserved for Scheduled Castes and 16 for the Scheduled Tribes.

Also Read: PM Modi to address public rallies in poll-bound West Bengal, Assam today

PHASE 1 of West Bengal assembly election:

Total number of seats: 30 seats

Polling districts: Paschim Midnapore Part-I, Purba Midnapore Part-I, Bankura, Jhargram and Purulia

Voting date: March 27

Politics in West Bengal has largely been dominated by TMC and the Communist Party of India (Marxist). For nearly 40 years, since 1980, the state remained isolated from national politics as the local narrative has always been ruled by Left ideology.

In 2011, Mamta Banerjee broke this trend and has ruled the state for 10 consecutive years. Now, the TMC is eyeing to withhold its power for the third straight term in the state. The CPI(M), which is contesting with Congress, has gradually started fading away in the state.

It is for the first-time when PM Modi-led BJP has hogged the limelight and it is aiming to make a debut as the ruling party in Bengal. The saffron party, however, swept the Lok Sabha elections in the state in 2019.
Chief Minister Uddhav



Thackeray on Friday said strict action will be taken against those found responsible for the fire at a hospital in a mall, which resulted in the death of 10 patients.

Speaking to reporters after visiting the mall, Thackeray apologised to the families of the victims and announced Rs 5 lakh compensation to the kin of each deceased.

Thackeray said the fire did not break out in the hospital, but at some office or shop situated below it.

According to officials, the incident occurred in Sunrise Hospital in the Dreams Mall building in Bhandup area shortly after Thursday midnight. The hospital is located on the top floor of the four-storeyed mall building and there were 76 patients, most of them being treated for COVID-19, when the fire broke out.

The chief minister said the state government had last year allowed some to treat COVID-19 patients given the spread of the disease and the said that the facility in the Bhandup mall was one of them.

"The permission was to end on March 31. Unfortunately, the fire broke on the first floor of the mall and spread upwards," he said.

The chief minister said that efforts were made to rescue all the patients admitted at the hospital. However, it took some time to evacuate those who were on ventilators.

"Unfortunately, they died," he said.

"We wake up after such incidents take place and then a probe is carried out. This incident, too, will be investigated. Action will be taken as per law probe against whoever is at fault," Thackeray added.

He said that in the recent past he had issued instructions to carry out structural and fire audits of COVID-19 care centres and field across the state.

"I had asked (the authorities) to ensure such incidents do not occur. Still, unfortunately, this has taken place.

"...I express regret to those who have lost their kin in the incident," he said in Marathi.

Speaking in Hindi, Thackeray later said, "I apologise to the kin of those who died in the incident."



The chief minister said that compensation of Rs 5 lakh will be given to the next kin of each deceased.

(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.)
(Getty Images)

A nine-year-old girl from Mexico has drowned after she attempted to cross the Rio Grande river into the United States, federal officials said on Friday.

The unidentified child was found stranded and unconscious on an island on the Mexico side of the Rio Grande river along with a mother from Guatemala and her three-year-old child from Mexico, according to a statement released by the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The two other migrants were also unresponsive.

US Border Patrol agents in the marine unit were alerted to the stranded individuals and immediately responded to the scene. They immediately began administering first aid while transporting the migrants to shore, the statement said.

The mother and three-year-old child regained consciousness during these resuscitation efforts.

Agents attempted life saving efforts on the second child, a nine-year-old from Mexico and transferred care to the Eagle Pass Fire Departments Emergency Medical Services, the statement continued.

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The nine-year-old girl never regained consciousness or showed responsiveness during these life saving efforts, and medical professionals pronounced her dead.

We extend our deepest condolences to the family and friends of this small child, said Del Rio Sector Chief Patrol Agent Austin L Skero II. During these hard times our agents remain resilient, and I am extremely proud of their efforts to preserve human life.

A CBP spokesperson confirmed to NBC News that the Guatemalan mother was the parent of both of the children who were with her when found on the island. Both children were Mexican nationals, the spokesperson added.

The statement released by the CBP did not detail the cause of death, but it was being investigated as a drowning, officials said.

Since the beginning of Fiscal Year 2021, 1 Oct, Del Rio Sector Border Patrol agents have rescued over 500 migrants attempting to illegally enter the country, the statement read.

This death comes as there has been a rise in migrants attempting to cross the US-Mexico border since President Joe Biden has entered office.
Gandhinagar:

Japan's Suzuki Motor Corp on Thursday announced fresh investments of around Rs 3,800 crore in Gujarat to add a third car production plant.

The company along with its partners Toshiba and Denso will also invest around Rs 1,150 crore for a new unit to produce lithium ion batteries.

The new investment in enhancing capacity of the Hansalpur plant will take the company's total investment in the facility to around Rs 13,400 crore, where it has already put in Rs 9,600 crore on two plants along with another engine and transmission production unit.

The Hansalpur-based plant is Suzuki Motor Corp's first wholly-owned unit in India.

Announcing the fresh investments, Suzuki Motor Corp (SMC) Chairman Osamu Suzuki said the company will invest Rs 3,800 crore on the third plant which will have a production capacity of 2.5 lakh units annually.

When the third plant starts functioning fully, the SMC's Gujarat plant will have a total capacity of 7.5 lakh units per annum. He, however, did not elaborate on the time for commissioning of the third plant.

The first two plants also have capacity of 2.5 lakh units per annum, while the engine and transmission unit has a capacity to produce 5 lakh units a year.

The overall production capacity of SMC along with its Indian arm, Maruti Suzuki's two plants in Haryana will increase to 22.5 lakh units annually.

Currently, the first plant at Hansalpur produces premium hatchback Baleno. The second plant along with the engine and transmission units is expected to go on stream in 2019.

He said with the new investment, the company's Hansalpur facility will help in generating employment for 10,000 people, including suppliers.

"We will also construct a hospital and school near Hanslapur facility," he added.

Last week Maruti Suzuki India Chairman R C Bhargava had stated that SMC was also considering setting up a fourth production line of 2.5 lakh units at Hansalpur plant to take its total capacity to a million units.

Suzuki said as part of strategy for adapting to new technologies, SMC along with its partners Toshiba and Denso will invest USD 180 million (around Rs 1,151 crore) to manufacture lithium ion batteries.

The batteries will be used for "hybrid vehicles manufactured in India and export these genuinely manufactured in India vehicles to international market", Suzuki said.

The plant is expected to be operational from 2020, he said adding, "We plan to continue with our efforts to promote make-in-India program further".

Last year, SMC had joined hands with Toshiba Corporation and Denso to set up a plant in India to produce lithium ion batteries.

The three Japanese entities inked an agreement to form a joint venture to tap growing popularity for electric vehicles in India and supply lithium-ion battery packs in the country.

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Michael McDowell is warning against putting pressure on Fine Gael and Fianna Fail politicians to vote along Government lines in next months Seanad by-elections.

The independent senator, who is also a senior barrister, has commissioned legal advice that warns it is a crime to ask someone for proof of how they voted.

This is a pre-emptive warning, said Mr McDowell, who intends to speak on the matter in the Seanad today.

Im concerned that Government parties will put pressure on members of the Oireachtas.

The law makes it very clear that its a criminal offence to pressurise anybody to disclose how they voted and I want to draw that to the attention of parties.

I intend to make available the legal advice so nobody can be in any doubt it would be an abuse of process.

Fine Gael said it would not be asking members to prove how they voted, for example by photographing their ballot papers.

Absolutely not, said a Fine Gael spokesperson.

In response to the question of how it intended to ensure members voted along party lines, Fianna Fail said the parliamentary party had unanimously endorsed a process to co-operate in a vote management agreement to maximise the partys chances of securing an additional seat in the Seanad.

Fianna Fail said this was agreed and re-emphasised at a recent parliamentary party meeting.

But Mr McDowell believes a number of Government backbenchers feel they are being asked to vote for candidates who might not be best suited to the roles.

Mr McDowell, who represents the National University of Ireland, said some political leaders were using the Upper House as a plaything.

His legal advice quotes from Article 18.5 of the Constitution, which states: Every election of the elected members of Seanad Eireann shall be held on the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote, and by secret postal ballot.

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The legal opinion notes that the courts have taken a strict view regarding secret voting.

A voting pact has been agreed between Fine Gael and Fianna Fail to share out two Seanad vacancies.

Gerry Horkan is the Fianna Fail candidate on the Industrial and Commercial Panel, while Maria Byrne is contesting the Agriculture Panel for Fine Gael.

The deal gives the two former senators a considerable advantage. But the question is whether party discipline will hold, amid dissatisfaction over the selection process.

Ms Byrne faces stiff opposition from Ian Marshall, who works with the Institute for Global Food Security at Queens University Belfast and is a former president of the Ulster Farmers Union.

Mr Marshall's candidacy is supported by Sinn Fein.

At Wednesdays Fine Gael parliamentary party, Tanaiste Leo Varadkar is understood to have admitted the Seanad seats were not a foregone conclusion. The party leadership is urging its TDs and senators to abide by the voting pact.

The Coalition suffered a surprise defeat last July when Independent TD Catherine Connolly was elected Leas-Cheann Comhairle in a secret ballot, beating Fergus ODowd who was expected to take the position.

Meanwhile, consternation has been caused by Dublin Lord Mayor and Green Party chair Hazel Chus nomination to run for one of the Seanad vacancies as an independent candidate.

This will erode the vote of the candidate agreed between Fianna Fail and Fine Gael.

Some 218 TDs and senators are eligible to vote in the two forthcoming by-elections, which arise following the resignations of Fine Gaels Michael DArcy and Sinn Feins Elisha McCallion.

Nominations have now closed and ballot papers will be issued on April 7, with April 21 the cut-off point for voting.
Blog

Nigerian lawmakers are seeking passage of a Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) that would reorganize the oil industry. Since the establishment of civilian government in 1999 after a generation of military rule, repeated attempts at passing a PIB have been made.

But the government, the political class, and the industry's leaders (foreign and domestic) have never reached a consensus that would make the reordering possible of such a crucial industry. The technical issues are exceedingly complex. Uncertainty around the bill has contributed to low levels of new investment in the industry.

However, against the backdrop of low international oil prices, the worldwide move away from fossil fuels, and pervasive security and other crises in the country, the Buhari administration appears to believe that passage now has a good chance. More generally, anecdotal evidence suggests that the political class has recognized that oil is likely to be less important in the future than it has been in the past.

Oil and natural gas are the property of the state. They are exploited in partnerships and joint agreements between the government-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and privately owned oil companies, both international (such as Agip, Total, Shell, ExxonMobil, and Chevron) and now numerous small Nigerian firms. In part because of security issues in the oil patch--including attacks on oil facilities reflecting an alienated population--about half of all oil production is offshore. Oil and gas are a relatively small percentage of Nigeria's economy and employ few but are nonetheless central to government revenue. Revenue from oil provides about 65 percent of government revenue (as of 2018), and securing and maintaining access to it is an essential driver of political-class behavior. Further, successive Nigerian governments made use of below-market-price oil to expand the country's political influence, especially with member states of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). Hence the PIB is a profoundly political document, with winner and losers.

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Earlier in this century, oil was at the center of the Washington-Abuja bilateral partnership. The United States typically purchased about half of Nigeria's two million-barrels-per-day production. Further, successive military and civilian governments assured Washington that in the event of a cut in Middle Eastern oil because of a political crisis, Nigeria would do what it could to increase its own production. (Nigeria's capacity to increase production was limited, but the commitment to do so was important politically.) Hence, in those days, a PIB was closely watched in Washington and in American board rooms. Now, however, the United States imports almost no oil from Nigeria, the result of domestic fracking and the expansion of oil production in the Western hemisphere. That reality reduces the political significance for Washington of a PIB--though not for the big American oil companies active in Nigeria. Nigeria now sells oil that once was bound to the United States to India, Indonesia, China, and elsewhere in Asia.

Will the Buhari administration succeed in passing a PIB? The chances would appear to be good for the passage of some sort of legislation. But what the new bill will actually mean will depend on the details--and also on the institutions and schedules required for its implementation. Hence a passed PIB is not over "until the fat lady sings."Blog posts represent the views of CFR fellows and staff and not those of CFR, which takes no institutional positions.
Thirty years ago this week Nick Squire took a phone call that irrevocably changed his world - news so shocking, illogical and heart-breaking that he can still recall every single word of it.

On the other end of the line was his mother Norma, calling from Northern Ireland. His parents had travelled there that morning from their home in England to help their daughter Penny (24) pack for her Army captain husband Duncan's new posting to Germany.

Now, as Nick numbly clutched the receiver, he tried to process what he was hearing: that his beautiful, vivacious and kind sister was dead; murdered a short time earlier while walking in Drumkeeragh Forest Park, near Ballynahinch.

That the young woman who had loved travelling the world would make only one more desperately sad final journey to the graveyard of the church near Cirencester where she'd wed only a few years before.

Inevitably Penny's brutal killing - she was lured to a lonely spot by her husband's lover, Susan Christie (22), a UDR private - made sensational, often lurid headlines, around the world. Here, the premeditated slaying of a young wife by another woman appalled people inured to the violent murders of the Troubles.

For the Squire family, though, this was a deeply personal loss and the start of an enduring grief that has wrought a heavy toll on all of them.

Nick's father, Des, now 80, suffered post-traumatic stress and took early retirement shortly after losing his adored daughter. His mother Norma, diagnosed with Alzheimer's several years ago, is now resident in a care home.

Thankfully, they've had their Covid-19 vaccinations and Des can visit his wife again.

Speaking publicly for the first time in three decades about his sister's murder, Nick (52) says: "My parents were never the same people again. And I didn't grieve properly for 25 years. I'm not ashamed to say it created poor coping mechanisms in me and got me into situations I didn't want to be in. It's taken me until now to realise there's a different path."

This Saturday marks the anniversary of Penny's murder, though for years Nick hid from the significance of that date.

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"People would have messaged me about it but I'd an in-built mechanism to put it to one side. If I focused on that day, I look at 11 o'clock, then 12... I know when the phone call came. I remember the feeling, how my life changed.

"I was at my parent's house with my then future wife. We both had flu. Her parents came round, I remember thinking that was strange.

"They were there for five minutes and hadn't said much. All the time I was thinking 'something's wrong'. Then the phone rang and my father-in-law said 'Nick, that's for you'. I felt absolute trepidation... it was mum.

"Mum said that something wasn't right and I thought it was dad.

"They'd left that morning to help Penny pack for a posting to Germany, which in a lot of ways was the catalyst for the decisions that were made by Christie.

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"When mum told me that it was Penny, five seconds later a tonne of bricks hit me on the shoulders. I sat down on the stairs. It was very much a case of 'oh, she has got this wrong, how can I fix this?' I was on this call for 10 minutes but no one could really speak.

"After that, well, it became obvious it was a situation you couldn't fix."

Nick, however, felt compelled to strive to make life better for his parents. He went on to have a 25-year globe-trotting career in internet security.

"I felt I had to steel myself to be something special for them. When it happened I was a simple farm engineer. Suddenly I decided to go another direction. I achieved a great deal, but it had a lot to do with wanting to make my parents feel good about something."

That, too, is primarily why Nick is finally breaking his silence on the landmark 30th anniversary of Penny's murder. He hopes that his father will draw comfort from reading a tribute that celebrates her many qualities and talents.

Brother and sister were incredibly close, even sharing the same birthday, May 23. Penny was born in 1966 and Nick arrived two years later. "We're Gemini... like distant twins," he says.

Nick always felt protective, especially when it came to her many male admirers.

Their father's job as an English teacher at Army bases around the world meant the siblings spent a lot of time together. Summer holidays were memorable.

"We'd a privileged childhood and I don't mean a silver spoon in the mouth," says Nick.

"Dad got a job in Gibraltar and we'd fantastic holidays. I remember going up into the Atlas mountains, seeing snow for the first time. We have Super Eight cine film of us all there. Dad is panning the camera around and you can see Penny and mum playing in the snow, then dad panned round to me writing my name in the snow... I'll leave it to you to imagine how I was doing that!

"I have flashback memories. Our birthdays were always big events because we'd shared the same day.

"Once on a campsite in Morocco mum laid out this beautiful spread of cake and sandwiches on a camping table which then collapsed and a goat got involved as well.

"We moved on to Germany when I was about five and each year about half of the school would be at our birthday party because I'd have my group and Penny would have her group there.

"Birthdays now are a bit double-edged. They are days of 'what ifs?'. You look at the wrinkles round your eyes and wonder what your sister would look like."

Those imponderables are made worse by how much potential Penny had.

"Penny was so vivacious, bubbly, energetic. She was very talented at whatever she turned her hand to. She was brilliant musically and played the clarinet, the oboe, the bassoon.

"She was the lead girl in all the school productions, from Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady to Nancy in Oliver.

"She was a soprano, with a stunning voice. When I was 11, I can remember her singing for a school choir in a big German church... a couple of solos and Once in Royal David's City. We still have the tape recording which dad listens to.

"She entered a competition for the Armed Forces for designing posters for foreign object damage for the RAF and won that.

"Penny had so much capability, she was head girl, at the centre of everything, though she never really did anything with it. She married into an Army life and that kind of negated university. There were a huge amount of missed opportunities."

Penny was just 16 when she met Duncan McAllister, then a 21-year-old lieutenant, in Germany. A year later they were discussing marriage. Nick says the striking comparisons with their parents' own love story meant they supported her decision not to go into third-level education.

"Dad was a trainee teacher and mum was in the sixth form when they met. They joined an operatic society so they could see each other. Marrying young was similar to (what) mum and dad (had done) so it was kind of just accepted. My parents had good old-fashioned values but were also very liberal."

No doubt hoping Penny and Duncan's marriage would be every bit as happy as their own, they could never have predicted the cataclysmic events that would engulf their daughter shortly after her husband was posted to Northern Ireland.

McAllister, by then a Captain, embarked upon an affair with Susan Christie in July 1990 after they met at an Army diving club he'd started. He'd always made it clear to his mistress that he would never leave his wife, Christie's trial was told.

When he tried to end the relationship, Christie invited Penny on a dog walk in Drumkeeragh Forest on March 27, 1991, where she cut her throat. Christie then stabbed herself, concocting a story they'd been attacked by a mystery man, but days later when McAllister told senior officers about the affair, she was arrested.

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In a sentence that provoked public outrage, Christie was found not guilty of murder and sentenced to five years for manslaughter, which meant she'd be freed after 18 months. After an appeal, the sentence was increased to nine years. She was freed in December 1995, having served almost five years.

Choosing his words carefully, Nick says: "The only infallible person involved in it isn't here. The one thing I would say is you don't go to court to see justice done, you go to court to see law done."

The outcome added to his parents' anguish. "I do hope there are people who live with guilt," he says.

The Squires were deeply hurt too by a Carlton Television drama, Beyond Reason, based on Penny's murder and screened just two years after her death. Des Squire described it as "profiting from tragedy".

Nick was also incensed when an Ulster artist used his sister's murder as the basis for a painting. "He then sold it to a Swiss couple," says Nick. "What is someone thinking? Doing something like that just to profit from misery? What's the motivation behind someone wanting to buy it?"

Nick reflects: "Life was never going to be the same afterwards for my parents, but things were certainly compounded by other people's poor actions.

"Life after losing Penny has never been particularly good for mum and dad.

"Mum carried on working until her mother couldn't be independent so moved from Devon to live with them. She had Alzheimer's for years.

"In their retirement mum and dad looked after her until she had to go into a home.

"No sooner had we done that than mum started showing all the signs of Alzheimer's. There was no real peaceful period for mum and dad to just be together."

In what many would see as a huge generosity of spirit, the Squire family remained in contact with Duncan McAllister for a number of years, reasoning that he could never have anticipated the cataclysmic outcome of his affair.

"If you drop a pebble into a lake, those ripples go a long way... at what stage do you say that it's direct blame," says Nick. "We were in contact with him fairly regularly over the years. But people need to live their lives with what they have got left and I didn't think it was particularly beneficial on an annual basis to uncover wounds. There was no sudden cessation. Things peter out over time. There's that acceptance you have to go on and live life."

Doing that proved fraught for Nick, who blames unresolved trauma for impacting on previous relationships. A proud dad-of-three, he's a son Harry (19) and daughter Lily (17) from his marriage and a daughter Lotte (6) from a subsequent relationship.

Recently, significant life changes - a new relationship and career - have brought a sense of, if not making peace with the past, learning to live with it.

Last week, he enjoyed his first day at college, where he's studying for qualifications in education. He lives on the West Sussex coast and runs a flourishing children's nursery with his partner Heather.

Sometimes there are unexpected comforts too. "Little signs and reminders which take you by surprise," he says. "I went to New York with my then wife, we were walking through the snow in Central Park and two golden setters suddenly came bounding up to us... those were the type of dogs Penny went to walk with Christie.

"I remember buying a kind of shawl you wrapped round yourself. Every time I picked it up, it gave me a connection to Penny... it was strange."

His daughter Lily has always "had a striking resemblance to Penny" and shares her late aunt's passion for the performing arts, winning a scholarship to the Brighton Dance Academy.

Nick has never been to Drumkeeragh Forest Park but will visit it one day. His former job occasionally brought him to Northern Ireland and he remains touched by how many people here still think of Penny.

On Saturday, he will have his father over to dinner to mark the occasion quietly.

It's been an intense conversation, but as we wrap up Nick laughs quietly, recalling the last time he ever saw Penny.

He'd gone to elaborate lengths to organise a surprise birthday party for his fiancee and as they turned into the street in Arundel where 30 guests were waiting in a pub, there was Penny "skulking across the road like a moorhen, she let the cat completely out of the bag. It's a nice memory".

He adds: "It's been very difficult to stir up all these emotions but I hope it will make for a nice tribute to Penny, something I will be able to show dad of a son doing the right thing, of a brother doing something for his sister."
MENOMONEE FALLS, Wis., March 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Continental Properties Company, Inc. ("Continental Properties") a privately held national multifamily and commercial real estate developer, owner, and operator has announced the closing of its first development fund, Continental Properties Real Estate Development Fund I, L.P. The fund closed in January with a total raise of $180 million of equity and will invest in suburban apartment communities developed and managed by Continental Properties with a total projected construction cost of over $700 million.

"We believe strongly in our suburban multifamily strategy, and our investors have benefited greatly from the growth in suburban employment and population. Stronger rent growth and demographics favor developing and owning suburban multifamily real estate. We are confident in the markets we have targeted for development and are pleased with the strength of our development pipeline. The Development Fund gives Continental and its investors an opportunity to invest in a geographically diverse portfolio of high-quality apartment communities," said Jim Schloemer, Founder and Chairman of Continental Properties and Treasurer of the National Multifamily Housing Council.

"Continental Properties has been executing on its suburban multifamily strategy with great success for over 20 years and recognizes that long-term fundamentals will support multifamily development well into the future. Trends in renter preferences, combined with the supply and demand metrics in our targeted development markets, continue to support our suburban strategy and positions us well to achieve outstanding returns for our investors," stated Dan Minahan, President and COO.

Interest in the Development Fund surpassed initial expectations. "We saw very strong interest from both our long-time investors who have trusted Continental with their investments for years as well as from new investors looking for ways to diversify their portfolios and invest with a proven real estate sponsor. We are grateful for the continued trust that our investors have placed in us, and we are highly committed to delivering outstanding results," commented Ed Madell, EVP and CFO.

Continental also recently launched Continental Properties Real Estate Income Fund II, L.P., a portfolio of up to 10 stabilized, income-producing multifamily properties developed and operated by Continental. The first closing is expected to occur in April 2021 with approximately $200 million of equity. For additional information, please reach out to Continental's Investor Relations Team at (262) 502-5500 or [email protected]

About Continental Properties

Continental Properties is a Wisconsin-based national developer and operator of multifamily communities, retail, and hospitality properties. Since its inception in 1979, Continental Properties has developed over 90 apartment communities encompassing more than 25,000 apartment homes in 19 states. Currently, Continental Properties owns and manages 60 communities comprised of over 16,200 homes in 16 states. For more information about Continental Properties, visit www.cproperties.com.

Inquiries

Media: [email protected] Continental Properties Company, Inc. (262) 502-5500

Investors: [email protected] Continental Properties Company, Inc. (262) 502-5500

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The folks who look after San Franciscos stray dogs and cats are terribly excited about the porcelain contraption on the roof of the citys brand-new, $77 million animal shelter.

This, said Virginia Donohue, executive director of San Francisco Animal Care and Control, changes everything.

What it is, she explained, is not exactly a toilet for dogs, but its close. Its a flushable porcelain unit for disposing of what dogs are well-known for producing. No other shelter in the Bay Area has one.

Donohue stood on the sparkling new rooftop exercise yard, beside the gleaming white device with chrome handles. Its state-of-the-art, she said, a touch of reverence in her voice.

At the old shelter on 15th Street, staffers disposed of dog poop by picking it up in plastic bags and hauling it, in bigger plastic bags, to the dumpster in the parking lot. At the new shelter, a staffer picks the stuff up with a metal scoop and carries it a few short steps to the porcelain bowl.

Whoosh, said Donohue, pulling the handle.

Lea Suzuki / The Chronicle

Each year the city-run shelter takes in 7,600 animals, adopts out 1,100 of them and reunites about 1,000 animals with their frantic owners. It also sells pet licenses and offers free spay and neuter surgeries through the San Francisco SPCA, an experience no animal ever forgets.

During the pandemic, the demand for pet adoptions has soared. Among the dogs and cats awaiting new homes are Caboose, Patty, Rooney and Clark, all of whom could all use a break. For now, all matches are made by video call. After the pairing is done, the rest of the human-pet relationship takes place in person.

The new shelter, six years in the planning, includes roomier cages, a modern veterinary suite and a comfy lounge for off-duty animal control officers, once commonly known as dogcatchers.

Theres also a separate exercise area for bunnies, who need no longer take turns using the dogs exercise area.

Lea Suzuki / The Chronicle

No detail was overlooked. The rooftop dog run was designed so that the porous artificial grass drains directly into a catch basin underneath.

Otherwise, Donohue said, after about a month you would have a very intense odor of dog pee up here.

Perhaps the biggest breakthrough is a new layout that features kennels with windows to make it easier and less stressful for pet owners to search the shelter on their own for lost pets. And theres a new lobby where staff now safely meets the public from behind 2-inch bulletproof windows. Thats because scenes at an animal shelter can be fraught with emotion, particularly after a pet has been taken into custody in a criminal case.

The new building has been opened gradually, as animals and equipment were brought over from the old shelter to the new one  an 1893 brick building that used to be the powerhouse for the citys streetcar fleet. Much of the $77 million went for retrofitting and steel reinforcing beams to make it earthquake-safe.

The new building is bright and sunny, with colorful wall hangings of happy critters by artist Favianna Rodriguez. Many animals have a great view of the Costco warehouse one block north, where much great pet food originates.

Just about everyone was excited about the move to the new shelter, especially nine hamsters, who had the roomy small-animal compound all to themselves, and Mayor London Breed, who put out an official statement praising the place.

Today we have a modern, resilient new shelter to ensure animals in our care are housed in safe, sanitary and humane conditions, the mayor said.

Steve Rubenstein is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: srubenstein@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SteveRubeSF
Workers could 'vote with their feet' and quit their jobs if they are not allowed to return to the office, Rishi Sunak has warned.

The Chancellor said that sitting with colleagues in the workplace encourages 'meetings that happen by chance' and 'people riffing off each other'.

He has urged businesses which have benefited from the pandemic to help fuel the economic recovery by investing and hiring.

Companies across the UK are looking at how to tackle the issue of remote versus office working once lockdown ends, with many backing a hybrid model.

Mr Sunak last week admitted that working from home was 'probably' here to stay - at least part-time.

But in a joint interview with the Daily Telegraph and the Sun today, he touted the benefits of the physical workplace, saying the opportunities afforded in an office cannot be beaten.

The Chancellor said that sitting with colleagues in the workplace encourages 'meetings that happen by chance' and 'people riffing off each other'.

Companies across the UK are looking at how to tackle the issue of remote versus office working once lockdown ends, with many backing a hybrid model.

'You can't beat the spontaneity, the team building, the culture that you create in a firm or an organisation from people actually spending physical time together,' he said.

Young people reaped the benefits of proximity to experienced mentors when working in an office, he added.

'Imagine you've just left college or university you start this job in a big company and you're sitting at home on your own.

'How do you get to know your peers, how do you learn the culture of an organisation, how do you get those mentors, which are important for your career development?'

He warned that if companies decide to get rid of their offices their staff might 'vote with their feet' and join competitors who allow them to attend work in-person.

But he recognised that programmes like Zoom mean there should be 'some extra flexibility' for those who still want to work from home and said hybrid models could suit both staff and businesses.
Jessica Rowe has spoken out about her terrifying ordeal after her car caught fire while she was driving along a busy Sydney road with her daughter on Thursday.

Appearing on Studio 10 on Friday, the TV presenter described the blaze as 'full on', but said she was thankful both she and her 14-year-old daughter, Allegra, emerged from the wreckage 'absolutely fine, safe and sound'.

Jessica, 50, explained that she was driving up a hill after picking Allegra up from school when her car 'really started to slow down'.

Frightening: Jessica Rowe has spoken out about her terrifying ordeal after her car caught fire while she was driving along a busy Sydney road with her daughter on Thursday

'All this smoke started pouring out of the bonnet and then was coming through the car, and it smelt like smoke, and I was thinking, "Oh, my God!" [I was] in a little bit of shock really, thinking, "What is happening?"' she recounted.

Jessica praised a quick-thinking school bus driver on the opposite side of the road, who pulled over and yelled at her and her daughter to get out of the vehicle.

She said the bus driver then helped get Allegra's school bag and hat out of the car, before clearing onlookers away from the burning vehicle.

Up in flames: The TV presenter described the blaze as 'full on', but said she was thankful both she and her daughter Allegra emerged from the wreckage 'absolutely fine, safe and sound'

'I still cannot quite believe it,' Jessica said of the ordeal.

She added that while Allegra was doing 'okay' now, she was 'very upset' at the time and the horrifying incident 'really gave her such a fright'.

She revealed a 'hysterical' Allegra called her father, Channel Nine news anchor Peter Overton, after the explosion as he was preparing to go on TV.

Scary: 'All this smoke started pouring out of the bonnet and was coming through the car, and it smelt like smoke, and I was thinking, "Oh my God... what is happening?"' she recounted

The 54-year-old newsman was 'so worried about her and so concerned' that he immediately left work and went straight home to be with his family.

'He couldn't believe it. I think for all of us, we were like, "What? What do you mean the car's on fire?"' she said.

'Everyone at work could see that I was absolutely traumatised when I saw my 14-year-old on FaceTime absolutely inconsolable,' Peter told 2GB on Thursday.

How it happened: Jessica, 50, explained that she was driving up a hill after picking Allegra up from school when her car 'really started to slow down'

Jessica admitted she had no idea what caused the blaze, and claimed that up until the fire it had been a 'really good, reliable car'.

Her manager told Daily Mail Australia on Friday: 'The car is a write-off and [the] cause is a mystery at this stage.'

The government issued a recall on certain Volvo models in January 2020, including the XC60, which was the car Jessica was driving at the time.

Heroic: The former Studio 10 host praised a quick-thinking school bus driver on the opposite side of the road, who pulled over and yelled at her and her daughter to get out

According to a report by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission last year, there was a problem with the car's engine valve.

'If the engine intake manifold melts or deforms, there may be unusual engine operation, activation of the engine malfunction indication light, engine interruption or lack of power, or the possibility of a localised engine bay fire,' the ACCC reported.

In addition to Allegra, Jessica and Peter, who married in 2004, are also parents to an 11-year-old daughter, Giselle.

Safe and sound: Jessica posted about the terrifying ordeal on Instagram on Thursday night, sharing a photo of herself and Allegra at home

Jessica posted about the terrifying ordeal on Instagram on Thursday night, sharing a photo of herself and Allegra at home.

'We're safe and sound! Thank you for all of your kindness and love,' she wrote.

'Thank you to the thoughtful, fast thinking and kind school bus driver Mev who got us out of the car, called the fire brigade, cleared the road and then stayed to drive us home.

Terrifying: Jessica revealed a 'hysterical' Allegra called her father, Channel Nine news anchor Peter Overton (left), after the explosion as he was preparing to go on TV

'Thank you to the police and paramedics who are angels. And the tow truck driver! And the mums and dads who stopped to help. We love you.'

The incident occurred on New South Head Road in Rose Bay, with dramatic footage posted online by onlookers showing the black vehicle engulfed by flames.

The car was on fire for a short period of time before it was extinguished by firefighters, and the wreckage was later towed away.
Two Tauranga car parking buildings could be classified as earthquake prone following precautionary seismic assessments.

Assessments of the Spring Street and Elizabeth Street car parking buildings have highlighted areas where strengthening and remediation work should be carried out to reduce the risk to users and extent of damage a significant earthquake event could cause.

Tauranga City Council corporate services general manager Paul Davidson says while there is no regulatory requirement to carry out the assessments, expert engineering advice suggests it will be prudent to do so.

A learning from the Canterbury and Kaikoura earthquakes was that buildings with long-span precast concrete flooring systems can have vulnerabilities and as both buildings utilise that system, we wanted to ensure that any works needed to surpass the required earthquake resistance standard were identified.

Parts of both buildings do not meet the minimum 34 per cent new building standard rating, which technically means they could be classified as earthquake-prone, requiring strengthening or demolition to be carried out within 25 years.

Advice provided by Chartered Professional Engineers, Kestrel Group, stresses that the NBS ratings for the buildings do not mean they are dangerous, or that there is any need to change the current use.

We are now working with engineering consultancy Beca to finalise strengthening options and costs and develop a timeline for the structural work to bring both buildings up to at least a 55 per cent NBS rating.

He says work will be scheduled to minimise inconvenience for regular users, but it's likely that each building will need to be closed to the public for a period of time.

Well be working hard to make sure the closure periods dont overlap and keep them as short as possible. Council staff will also provide advice on alternative all-day parking options for car park users.

Work to be undertaken on the Spring Street building includes the installation of additional steel bracing components and provision of independent support for the bridge linking to the roof of the adjacent building at 29 Grey Street.

An earlier component of work to apply seismic restraints to non-structural block walls on the north-eastern side of the building is expected to start this month.

Remediation work at the Elizabeth Street building will focus on ramp transitions in the first four levels of the building and connections between the eastern stair tower and the building.

The Council is working with the co-owners of the Elizabeth Street building to minimise any effects of the work programme on their commercial tenants.

A report on the buildings seismic status was received by commissioners in a public excluded session of the Council meeting held on March 8.

That report is now publicly available and has been uploaded to the Council website.
New Delhi, March 26 : The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed an application seeking to bar sale of Electoral Bonds ahead of the upcoming elections in West Bengal, Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Union Territory of Puducherry in March-end and April.

A bench headed by Chief Justice S.A. Bobde and comprising Justices A.S. Bopanna and V. Ramasubramanian said: "In light of the scheme introduced in 2018 and the fact they have been released in 2018, 2019, and 2020 without impediment, we do not see any reason to stay the issuance at this stage." The plea was filed by NGO Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) claiming there is a serious apprehension that any further sale of Electoral Bonds before the upcoming state elections, would further increase illegal and illicit funding of political parties through shell companies.

The NGO was represented by advocate Prashant Bhushan.

ADR had urged the top court to direct the Centre not to open any further window for sale of electoral bonds under the Electoral Bond Scheme, 2018, during the pendency of its writ petition.

The petitioner said it filed an intervention application in March 2019 and also in November 2019. In October, last year, the organization filed an application for early hearing in view of the upcoming Bihar elections then.

However, the matter has not been listed for more than a year now.

"the Electoral Bonds Scheme has opened the floodgates to unlimited corporate donations to political parties and anonymous financing by Indian as well as foreign companies which can have serious repercussions on the Indian democracy," the plea argued.
A teen suspect has been charged in the fatal shooting a 20-year-old man in Bessemer.

Bessemer police on Friday announced the arrest of 19-year-old GlennDarrius Robinson. He is charged with murder in the March 16 slaying of Saveon ThMarcus Washington.

Washington, of Bessemer, was found unresponsive about 5:40 p.m. that Tuesday in the 1800 block of Long 14th Street. Lt. Christian Clemons said he was lying in the roadway when officers got on the scene. He was pronounced dead at 5:51 p.m.

There were multiple shell casings in the street. Authorities said they have not yet determined a motive in the killing but said the victim and suspect knew each other, though to what extent wasnt immediately clear.

Robinson, who surrendered to police this week, was booked into the Jefferson County Jail at 2:13 p.m. Tuesday and released the same day after posting $150,000 bond.
Next is set to reveal that its profits were cut by more than half last year after its stores were shuttered by lockdown measures.

However, investors are banking that the company will recover strongly as restrictions continue to ease, with its share price more than doubling in the past 12 months despite the pandemic.

The retailer has consistently upgraded its profit forecasts over the past financial year as it has been buoyed by strong online sales volumes.

It is expected to post pre-tax profits of around 342 million for the year to January, compared with a 728 million profit for the previous year, when it announces its latest results on Thursday April 1.

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However, it represents a significant improvement from previous pessimistic projections, with boss Lord Simon Wolfson warning this time last year that it might not deliver a profit at all.

Investors have got accustomed to profit upgrades in recent months and will be hopeful that next weeks update will see a more optimistic forecast for the new financial year.

In January, Lord Wolfson said the retailer was expecting to deliver flat sales for 2021-22 with a pre-tax profit of around 670 million.

The forecast came as Next posted better-than-expected sales in the run-up to Christmas, with revenues dipping by 1.1% in the nine weeks to December 26.

Given the companys resilience throughout the pandemic, investors may also be hopeful that it could announce a surprise dividend pay-out as part of the update.

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: Next announced back in April that it would not pay an interim dividend and would be unlikely to announce a final payment next January either.

However, 28 FTSE 100 firms that cancelled dividends have since recommenced them and some analysts may be tempted to ask whether Next might do the same at some stage.

Analysts and investors will also be keen to hear more about how it will work with third-party brands and recently acquired businesses to help spark its recovery.

The company has bought stakes in Victorias Secrets UK business and fashion rival Reiss in the past 12 months as it has worked to grow its brand portfolio.

The model of larger stores in retail parks with third-party concessions has worked strongly for Next in recent years and is expected to help drive a return to growth after current lockdown restrictions lift.
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The Japanese owner of a huge container ship that is blocking the Suez Canal has issued an apology, as the crucial waterway remained closed to shipping traffic for the second full day.

Operators of the 400-meter cargo ship Ever Given -- the size of skyscraper -- say it lost power as it encountered strong winds and ran aground sideways as it headed into the Suez Canal from the Red Sea Tuesday. Efforts to tug or dig it out have so far been unsuccessful. It was carrying 20,000 shipping containers loaded with goods when it ran aground.

On its website, the Japanese firm Shoei Kisen Kaisha wrote, "We sincerely apologize for causing a great deal of concern to the vessels scheduled to sail and their related parties while navigating the Suez Canal due to the accident of this vessel."

Up to 12 percent of the world's total trade passes through the Suez Canal, which links Europe and Asia by connecting the Mediterranean to the Red Sea. By late Wednesday, more than 150 ships were waiting to pass through it.
[March 26, 2021] Offline-to-online merchant platform 'DotPe' secures $27.5 million series A funding from PayU, Info Edge Ventures and Google

GURUGRAM, India, March 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Gurgaon-based offline-to-online commerce platform, DotPe, announced today that it has secured USD 27.5 million in Series A funding, making it the first O2O company in India to receive such a substantial amount within a year of launch. The round was led by its early investor, PayU, the payments and fintech business of Prosus, resulting in an increase in the existing stake in the company. Info Edge Ventures has doubled down on its seed investment in the company made last year and more than doubled its shareholding. Google joins as a new investor. Started by ex-PayU Founder Shailaz Nag with Gyanesh Sharma and Anurag Gupta in 2020, DotPe stands notably as the only Indian platform to have successfully digitized enterprise as well as SMB merchants through a full stack solution- from giving them an online presence to enabling seamless ordering (in-store and remote), online payments and delivery. On the enterprise side, it has deep integration with 10,000+ restaurants and food courts, including leading global and domestic FnB brands. On the SMB front, it's product Digital Showroom has on-boarded over 5 million merchants within 6 months of launch in September 2020 with best-in-class retention and engagement. The product enables merchants to sell online by creating a digital storefront and accepting orders through WhatsApp. In the last 12 months, over 5 million Indian consumers have switched to the hassle-free way of ordering and buying from DotPe's merchants using its platform. Over 38% of orders daily are now through repeat consumers. Commenting on the fresh round of investment and DotPe's growth trajectory, Shailaz Nag, Cofounder, DotPe, said, "We are thrilled to see our existing investors, PayU and Info Edge Ventures, backing our vision and doubling down on their funding as new business horizons open up. We are pleased to add Google, an innovation leader, as an investor. This new partnership will empower businesses (big or small) to be more discoverable, expand business avenues and conduct commerce like never before. Pandemic or not, we are here to reimagine the way offline businesses work and bring the digital revolution to the doorstep of every entrepreneur." DotPe has made som key hires in the recent months. The fresh funding will be deployed towards accelerating product development, market expansion and scaling technology to meet the fast-growing market demand.



Anirban Mukherjee, CEO, PayU India, said, "In a very short time, DotPe has acquired a promising merchant base with its impeccable product experience and innovation. We have always believed in fostering innovation by working with such disruptive, early-stage start-ups. Under Shailaz's leadership, we believe DotPe is positioned for rapid expansion as it disrupts and transforms the offline to online segment. They also align seamlessly with PayU's vision of digitising payments in India by enabling merchants of all sizes. We are excited to build on our initial investment and continue to support the company on its journey." Kitty Agarwal, Partner, Info Edge Ventures, said, "DotPe has seen rapid adoption by merchants across industries- enterprises and SMBs- within a year of launch. The product experience and merchant and consumer stickiness is best-in-class with many marquee brands now expanding use cases with them and integrating even more deeply. Our significant follow-on investment attests to our belief in the team and the ecosystem play panning out. We see DotPe as an integrated commerce and fintech platform that empowers merchants and enables them to control their digital presence, discoverability, commerce, payments etc. to complete their offline-to-online journey and are excited about the possibilities ahead."

Sanjay Gupta, VP & Country Head, Google India, said, "In the last few months we've seen an acceleration in offline players seeking to move their businesses online. We're pleased to back young companies like DotPe that are supporting India's digital transformation by connecting consumers and merchants through helpful, innovative tools. This investment under Google for India digitization fund underlines our belief in working with India's start-up ecosystem towards the goal of building a more inclusive digital economy that will benefit everyone." About DotPe DotPe is the only Indian platform to have successfully penetrated the entire landscape of offline-to-online commerce- from merchants in rural pockets of India to FnB mega players. Headquartered in Gurgaon, DotPe was founded in March 2020 by Ex-Pay-U founder and team members, Shailaz Nag, Gyanesh Sharma, and Anurag Gupta. The company digitally powers the entire customer journey- ordering, payments, and delivery solutions for 10,000+ restaurants and food courts. For small and medium-sized businesses, the company has an app called Digital Showroom that helps businesses open a digital store front in under 15 seconds. The app offers a complete suite of business solutions to manage the entire customer journey. It recently raised $27.5 million from investors like Pay-U, Google, and Info Edge Ventures, bringing their total funding to $35.5 million. About PayU (a Prosus group company) PayU is the payments and fintech business of Prosus, a global consumer internet group and one of the largest technology investors in the world. Operating and investing globally in markets with long-term growth potential, Prosus builds leading consumer internet companies that empower people and enrich communities. Prosus has a primary listing on Euronext Amsterdam (AEX: PRX) and a secondary listing on the JSE Limited (XJSE: PRX), and is majority owned by Naspers. For more information on Prosus and its companies and investments, please visit www.prosus.com About Info Edge Ventures Info Edge Ventures is an early-stage venture capital fund backed by Info Edge and Temasek. The firm invests as the first or second institutional cheque in Seed to Series A technology companies across consumer, enterprise, healthcare, and fintech, with significant capital reserved for follow-ons. They are long-term patient capital with holding period of more than a decade. The team has previously deployed over $300mn across 25+ early stage startups, where they are first investors and continuing large shareholders of market leading companies like Zomato and Policybazaar. The new fund has invested in nine startups in social commerce, digital media, fintech, edtech, healthtech, gaming and SaaS. Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1474762/DotPe_Founders.jpg

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1213484/PayU_Logo.jpg

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On Wednesday March 24, disgruntled students of GIJ staged a peaceful demonstration against the management of the university for ordering them to defer their courses few weeks to their semester exams.



The issue drew lots of media attention as students took turns to explain series of injustice and gross disregard for student inputs in matters of GIJ.



A visit to the school by GH Press News Team saw the gates were under lock and key by the management as students wore red and black chanting at the top of their voice to register their displeasure.



On hearing the sad story by some well meaning GIJ students on television, the Chair and Leader of the Convention Peoples Party sent her media team to gather facts on the specific financial needs of students who simply have no means to complete fee payment. In a press briefing, Nana Frimpomaa set up a fund aimed at supporting needy students of GIJ.



Nana Frimpomaa who doubles as the Chief Executive of Caring Kids International today presented a check of 5000 Ghana cedis as initial support to GIJ student and called on government to absorb the fees of defaulting students using Covid Funds.



She said, it looks as if our school system is designed to make student suffer while in school and this is the very reason why most of these student become corrupt after school. The queen mother also called on students to keep fighting for their rights as it is the only way Ghana can correct its mammoth ills in institutions.



Nana Frimpomaa thanked management of GIJ for listening and extending registration deadline for students. She called on management to show compassion on issues of this kind.











Source: Barbie Gyamfuah/Gh Press Centre









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This astonishing satellite image reveals for the first time the vast bottleneck of ships waiting to get through Suez.

Carrying a vast amount of the worlds trade  some bound for the UK  the logjam caused by a grounded ship in the canal means billions of pounds worth of goods are delayed.

Here we have selected six of the ships which sailed from the Far East and are now backed up in the Red Sea. They are carrying everything from oil to furniture to beer and even live animals. A military dredging machine has now joined efforts to free the grounded 224,000-tonne Ever Given yesterday as frantic attempts to refloat the vessel have so far failed.

More than 200 vessels were caught in the logjam after the Ever Given ran aground on Tuesday amid strong winds

Analysts say an estimated 290million worth of trade is being held up every hour the ship remains wedged across the canal.

More than 200 vessels were caught in the logjam after the Ever Given  which is almost as long as the Empire State Building is high  ran aground on Tuesday amid strong winds and a dust storm sweeping off the Egyptian desert as it sailed from China to the Mediterranean.

As experts warned of major real world consequences as a result of the crisis, rescuers admitted they may have to bring in 200ft cranes to unload some of the ships 20,000 containers to help refloat it.

The complex operation could cause weeks of disruption  forcing cargo ships at the canal to take a two-week detour around Africas Cape of Good Hope.

The blockage has already disrupted global supply chains for everything from grains to baby clothes. Last night the White House said it is seeing the impact of the incident on energy markets and would respond to the situation if required.

And Downing Street has previously warned of the prospect of delays to goods entering the UK.

More than 20 per cent of Britains imports  worth more than 147billion  came from Asia in 2019, much of it on container ships using the Suez Canal to enter the Mediterranean.

Analysts say an estimated 290million worth of trade is being held up every hour the ship remains wedged across the canal

There are fears goods such as washing machines, car parts and toys which are commonly imported from China and other Asian trading partners could be in short supply as cargo ships destined for Europe remain stuck in the bottleneck

It is hoped the specialist suction dredger which arrived at the site yesterday could see the ship refloated within days

There are fears goods such as washing machines, car parts and toys which are commonly imported from China and other Asian trading partners could be in short supply as cargo ships destined for Europe remain stuck in the jam.

It is hoped the specialist suction dredger which arrived at the site yesterday could see the ship refloated within days.

The machine is capable of shifting 70,000 cubic feet of sand and mud every hour. Experts believe 706,000 cubic feet of sand needs to be removed for the ship to refloat.

Joe Reynolds, of the Maersk Ohio  a US-flagged container ship anchored in the Red Sea on the southern side of the bottleneck, said the gridlock was like a traffic jam on the M5.

Standing outside, as you look, everywhere around you is ships, he told Radio 4s Today programme. Its going to affect shipping schedules around the world.

The backlog of vessels is putting additional pressure on European ports and the international supply of containers, which is already strained by the pandemic. Even if the situation is resolved within the next 48 hours, port congestion and further delays to an already constrained supply chain is inevitable, ratings agency Moodys said.

The Ever Givens technical mangers, Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement, said two more tugs will join the rescue effort tomorrow.
Panaji, March 26 : While the Bharat Bandh called by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha had no impact in Goa, for a change a farming related issue, involving the plight of sugarcane farmers in Goa, rocked the state legislative assembly, forcing the Speaker Rajesh Patnekar to adjourn proceedings twice on Friday.

While the House has seen repeated disruptions over issues related to drugs, tourism, mining, etc, Friday's disruption was a rare instance of the legislative spotlight being focused on a farming-related issue in the state, which is regarded as the country's top party and holiday destination.

Opposition members stormed the well of the House on two occasions, accusing the Goa government of holding out payments of dues to sugarcane farmers in South Goa and the inability of the Chief Minister Pramod Sawant-led administration to restart the non-functional Sanjivani Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana, the state's only sugar factory located in South Goa.

"This government has not only held out payments in crores due to farmers, but no steps have been taken to restart the factory which was operational till sometime back," former Deputy Chief Minister and Goa Forward party MLA Vijai Sardesai said during Question Hour.

The factory was established as a co-operative enterprise during the reign of the state's first Chief Minister Dayanand Bandodkar in 1972, when Goa tried to borrow a page from Maharashtra and Karnataka, which have a prosperous track record of sugar production through a flourishing co-operative sector.

In recent years however, government mismanagement and lack of adequate local production of sugarcane had led to deterioration of the financial health of the government unit, which eventually shut down in 2020.

The closure has now put the future of more than 800 sugarcane farmers, who used to process their harvested crop at the Sanjeevani factory. Around 35,346 tons of sugarcane was crushed and processed at the Goa factory in 2018-19, nearly half of which was procured from outside the state and the other half from local farmers.

There are more than 800 sugarcane farmers in Goa who have been agitating, demanding that the government release their dues, which includes assured prices and other subsidies, totalling around Rs. 9 crore, at the earliest.

Goa's Agriculture Minister, deputy Chief Minister Chandrakant Kavlekar however claims that the delay in release of their dues was not on account of the government, but due to differences between two bodies of sugarcane farmers.

"We have not withheld payments of the farmers. We told the two committees to discuss and submit a formula," Kavlekar said, adding that there was "confusion" between the two farmer's organisations.

"We have kept a provision of Rs. 10 crore for them. We are willing to pay," Kavlekar also said.Chief Minister Pramod Sawant who also spoke during the discussion, said that the Goa government was working on a plan on reviving the sick unit over the next few years.
Mar. 26The man arrested pant-less last year after his presence in an area known for drug sales aroused the suspicion of sheriff's deputies has pleaded guilty to a single felony charge stemming from the incident.

Kristopher Lee Jordan, 41, of no fixed address, struck a plea deal earlier this month. In exchange for his pleading guilty to criminal possession of dangerous drugs, prosecutors will recommend he receive a partially suspended, five-year sentence with the state Department of Corrections.

They also will dismiss misdemeanor charges of criminal possession of drug paraphernalia and driving while suspended or revoked, according to court documents.

Jordan came under law enforcement suspicion after Lincoln County Sheriff's Office Deputy Brent Faulkner came across his vehicle parked near the intersection of U.S. Highway 2 and Bear Creek Road about 1:50 a.m., Nov. 21.

After chatting with Jordan, Faulkner allegedly ran his plates as "Bear Creek is known to me as a common area for drug interactions," according to the deputy's affidavit. He soon learned that Jordan's license was suspended.

Faulkner pulled Jordan over shortly thereafter. As he explained the situation, Faulkner noticed that Jordan was naked below the waist and was using a faux fur coat to cover himself.

During the conversation, Faulkner wrote that he spotted two syringe barrels on the driver's seat, tucked near the center console. Jordan allegedly claimed to suffer from diabetes.

Upon closer examination of the barrels, Faulkner noticed a crystalline substance in the plunger ends, court documents said.

Although Jordan gave authorities permission to search the rest of the vehicle, they held off owing to the mess inside. Jordan told Faulkner that he was living in the vehicle.

According to court documents, they later found a white, powdery substance in a crumpled plastic bag on Jordan's person. Deputies also found six syringes from the vehicle during a later search. Two were loaded, according to the documents.

A collection of drug paraphernalia, including spoons, Narcan nasal spray and suboxone strips, allegedly was removed from Jordan's vehicle during that search.

Jordan changed his plea in Lincoln County District Court on March 8. Sentencing has been set for April 12.
A Philippine health worker injects a dose of the Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine during a drive in San Juan City, Metro Manila, March 6, 2021.

The Philippine health department reported that daily COVID-19 infections hit a daily high on Friday amid a surge in local cases, as the World Bank lowered economic growth expectations for the Southeast Asian nation because of the pandemic.

As many as 9,838 new cases were recorded Friday, bringing the nationwide total of those who have been infected with the coronavirus to 702,856, according to health-department data.

The Philippines experienced the sharpest contraction of output among the largest economies of the region, said a report by the World Bank as the international financial institution dropped expectations for Philippine growth to 5.5 percent.

The contraction reflected an uncontrolled COVID-19 outbreak combined with strict nationwide lockdowns and mobility restrictions, a succession of natural disasters and delays in budget execution which weighed on public investment, the report said.

The Philippines began its inoculation program at the start of March, but only 1.12 million vaccine doses have arrived and slightly more than 500,000 of the countrys 110 million people received their first dose of the vaccine as of March 23.

The vaccination program is relying on doses donated by China and the World Health Organization through the Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) Facility.

On Thursday, the spokesman for President Rodrigo Duterte challenged local officials who were getting vaccines targeted for first responders and other health workers, adding that the country stood to lose millions of doses from the COVAX facility.

To all the mayors, stop it already. If you continue skipping the line, we might lose about 44 million dosages of COVAX Facility vaccines, spokesman Harry Roque said.

The government identified the mayors as Alfred Romualdez of Tacloban City, Leyte province, Dibu Tuan of TBoli and Sulpicio Villalobos Santo Nino in South Cotabato province, Noel Rosal of Legazpi, Albay province and Abraham Ibba of Bataraza, Palawan province.

Manilas Department of the Interior and Local Government ordered them to explain why they got the shots and threatened they could be prosecuted if they violated rules.

Soft lockdown

The Philippines has been hitting all-time high daily records since the middle of this month, a year after Duterte imposed varying degrees of lockdowns in the country to combat the coronavirus pandemic. Close to 55,000 people have been infected since March 20.

Physician Tony Leachon, who had served on the governments team handling the pandemic, called for reverting to tighter government restrictions, including stay-at-home orders, to control the surge.

Prematurely opening the economy without much testing and contact tracings resulted in social mobility, relaxed restrictions coinciding with the arrival of the new variants, in a time that we have limited vaccine supply, he said.

Duterte resorted to the use of law enforcement  curfews and police checkpoints  to fight the pandemic. His administration most recently restricted movements in Metro Manila and four neighboring provinces through Easter Sunday, April 4.

Church activities were restricted for Holy Week beginning with Palm Sunday, March 28, prompting a bishop to question the government.

The archdiocese in the predominately Catholic nation lamented the lack of consultation, even as it vowed to defy the ban on religious activities. Roque, meanwhile, warned the clergy that the government would not hesitate to force churches to close.

The government however relented on Friday, announcing it would allow once-a-day gatherings in churches while limiting capacity to 10 percent.

World Bank

Also on Friday, the World Bank, in its East Asia and Pacific Economic Update April 2021 report, downgraded its economic growth projection for the Philippines to 5.5 percent for this year from its outlook of 5.9 percent in December 2020.

Manila has been less successful in the region in transitioning away from shutdowns to a more efficient containment strategy, said Aaditya Mattoo, World Bank chief economist for East Asia and the Pacific.

Mattoo said the countrys tough response, referring to region-wide community quarantines, has imposed a big cost on the economy without delivering a commensurate benefit in terms of containment of the disease.

The report noted that Malaysia, despite political uncertainty, was expected to see its economy recover to a pre-pandemic level of 6.0 percent for 2021, conditional on a successful rollout of vaccines.

Indonesia is expected to see its economy recover to a pre-pandemic level of 4.4 percent while Thailand is projected to fall to 3.4 percent, a figure below the pre-pandemic level for 2021, according to the World Bank.
New Delhi:

A 9-year-old girl suffering from blood cancer has tested positive for HIV allegedly after getting a transfusion of infected blood, the police said on Thursday.

The teenage girl was being treated at the Alapuzha Medical College and Hospital from where she was referred to the Regional Cancer Centre (RCC) in Thiruvananthapuram.



After doctors noticed swelling in one of her eyes, they carried out various tests, including a blood test, which revealed she was HIV positive, the police said.

In the complaint, the girl's father said that she contracted the dreaded disease after a blood transfusion, but the police said they were still investigating how she got infected.

Meanwhile, the Kerala government ordered a probe by an expert team into a complaint thata 9-year-old girl suffering from blood cancer contracted HIV after blood transfusion at the Regional Cancer Centre.

Taking a serious view of the complaint by the girl's father, Health Minister K K Shylaja directed constitution of a panel, headed by the Joint Director of Medical Education (DME) Dr Sreekumari, to probe the matter.

The Minister said the committee has been asked to submita report after conducting an immediate probe.

She also said that the government would bear all expenses for further treatment of the girl.

According to police, the girl was being treated at the Alapuzha Medical College from where she was referred to the RCC for further treatment.

RCC authorities, in a statement, said the institution hadalready started an immediate departmental inquiry into the incident when the allegation came up.

They said the girl had come with the report of a bloodtest conducted in external laboratories.

Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala visited the girl andher family at the hospital in the morning and demanded acomprehensive probe into the incident.

Those responsible should be dismissed from service, hesaid, adding that the government should give financialassistance to the family.

Chennithala made this demand during a telephonic talk with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan after visiting the family.
Director General of the Azerbaijani Trend News Agency Ilgar Huseynov and Director General of Russia's TASS Sergey Mikhailov have agreed to expand cooperation.

The working meeting took place at the TASS headquarters in Moscow, Russia.

During the meeting the parties talked prospects for strengthening relations between the two agencies, interaction in the information sphere and the joint programs. The heads of TASS and Trend agreed to work out plans for expanding cooperation.

TASS is Russias leading state news agency. On September 1, 2020, the agency celebrated its 116th anniversary.

Founded in 1995 as a private media outlet in Azerbaijan, Trend News Agency is a news provider from the South Caucasus, Caspian region and the Central Asia.
SPRINGFIELD  A bill sponsored by state Rep. Katie Stuart, D-Edwardsville, to expand vote-by-mail and curbside voting is now headed to the governors office.

House Bill 1871, approved by the House last week, received Senate approval on Thursday. The bill would revise the state election code to make permanent some of the changes widely adopted across Illinois for the 2020 general election in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

During the election last November expanding vote-by-mail and offering curbside voting helped keep voters safe from exposure to COVID and increased ballot access for eligible voters, said Stuart. Im pleased that were one step closer to making these voting options a permanent part of our election process after the Senate vote today.

Stuart said she introduced HB 1871 to codify COVID safety measures put in place for the 2020 presidential election, including the use of drop boxes for return of vote by mail ballots and curbside voting to accommodate social distancing. Stuarts bill also ensures that funds from the federal Help America Vote Act can be used to support the use of drop boxes.

While these changes were initially put in place in response to the pandemic, permanent ballot drop boxes and curbside voting will make it easier for all voters, including seniors and the disabled, to vote in all future elections, said Stuart. This bill simply increases eligible voters options to cast a ballot so they can safely participate in our elections, and I look forward to it becoming law.

If the bill is sent to Gov. J.B. Pritzker quickly enough, it could take effect in time for the April 6 elections.

The changes include allowing election authorities to install drop box sites where voters can submit mail-in ballots without postage during and on Election Day. The bill also permits curbside voting where people can fill out ballots outside the polling place during early voting and on Election Day.

The bill passed out of committee on partisan lines Wednesday and advanced to the Senate floor for a vote, where it was approved on a bipartisan roll call of 48-7.

The law authorizing ballot drop boxes and curbside voting for the 2020 election expired on Jan. 1, 2021. But some election authorities, including Cook County, have continued to use drop boxes for the February primary election and the upcoming April 6 consolidated election.

Sangamon County Clerk Don Gray said his office is treating the single drop box outside the county building as an extension of the election office. The states election code allows voters to return their mail-in ballots to the election authority office, which is the county election office in Sangamon County.

I cant stress enough how universally popular and successful this resource was in the November general election, Gray said.

Sangamon County voters from both parties utilized it often, and resoundingly praised it as a service, Gray said of the countys two drop boxes for ballots.

Theres risks in anything but, you know, we believe this to be an accommodation of an extension of our office for people to return their ballots in this unique challenging environment of COVID-19, including for the consolidated (April) election, Gray said.

Larry Suffredin, an election attorney and Cook County Board Commissioner, said he didnt think any legal challenge would be brought over the ballots returned to the drop boxes on county clerks office premises because those ballots remain under the care and control of the clerks office.

[County clerks] control the lockbox, they control the access to the lockbox and the law says that your mail in ballot is to be returned to the clerk, he said. So I dont think that you have a legal issue with whats going on right now.

Ron DeBrock of The Telegraph contributed to this story.
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Brace yourselves, students and parents. Your L.A. Unified School District campus may be reopening in April for the first time in potentially 13 months, but the place won't be quite the same.

You may be prepared for the now-familiar COVID-19 countermeasures -- face mask requirements, social-distancing warning signs, hand sanitizer stations.

But are you ready for a kindergarten classroom without shared toys, books, counting buttons, a reading chair, or even a circle-time rug? Parent Chaka Forman wasn't.

"This make me sad," Forman said as he toured the Venice classroom where his son once attended kindergarten. "This was a vibrant room full of life, color, activity."

4:33 LAUSD Campuses Making Final Preparations For Reopening

But, he quickly added during his mid-March tour, "I'm sure the teacher in this room is going to do an incredible job with the constraints they're under."

We're here to help you prepare for school life under the new constraints, too. Here's what to expect when LAUSD campuses start reopening.

Some frequently-asked questions answered below:

Can elementary schoolers keep their current teacher?

Why can't middle- and high schoolers follow a more normal schedule?

How often will students get COVID-19 tests?

Will playgrounds be open? What about lunch tables? Can parents volunteer?

What if there's a coronavirus case on campus?

The Basics

WHEN IS MY LAUSD CAMPUS REOPENING?

The week of April 12: A relatively small number of LAUSD elementary schools and early education centers welcomed students back. Here's the district's map of the 72 campuses where some 30,000 students have already been given the option to return:

Here is LAUSD's map of the 72 campuses that reopened early.

The week of April 19: Most LAUSD elementary campuses and early education centers will reopen, with students in different grade levels arriving on a staggered schedule:

Students in preschool through Grade 1 will come back on Tuesday, April 20.

Grades 2-3 will return on Wednesday, April 21.

The remaining elementary students on April 22.

The week of April 26: Middle- and high school campuses will reopen to all students. Superintendent Austin Beutner shared the schedule:

On track to reopen schools. pic.twitter.com/AnckkRGfm5  Austin Beutner (@AustinLASchools) March 29, 2021

By the time LAUSD began its reopening process, many other local school districts will have, or plan to have, their elementary students back on campus  including neighboring Compton Unified and Las Virgenes Unified.

Already, school districts in Long Beach, Santa Clarita, Glendale, Rosemead, Downey, Norwalk and La Mirada have welcomed students back to campus.

L.A. Unified School District Superintendent Austin Beutner (center), United Teachers Los Angeles president Cecily Myart-Cruz (right) and Panorama High School principal Joe Nardulli lead reporters on a school tour to show off safety preparations made to welcome students back in the spring. (Kyle Stokes/LAist)

HOW MANY STUDENTS WILL BE INVITED BACK?

Starting in mid-April, all of them -- just not all at once. LAUSD campuses will run on "hybrid" schedules:

In elementary schools , students attending in person will be invited to on-campus classes for a three-hour block every day, either in the morning or afternoon. When students aren't attending classes, LAUSD will offer adult supervision from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. on school days.

, students attending in person will be invited to on-campus classes for a three-hour block every day, either in the morning or afternoon. When students aren't attending classes, LAUSD will offer adult supervision from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. on school days. Middle- and high school students will report to campus on alternating days: every other Monday and either Tuesday/Thursday or Wednesday/Friday. Middle school campuses will also have adult supervision available from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

students will report to campus on alternating days: every other Monday and either Tuesday/Thursday or Wednesday/Friday. Middle school campuses will also have adult supervision available from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. In early education centers, children from ages 2 to 4 will attend in stable groups of no larger than 12 students.

A student at Brainard Avenue Elementary in Lake View Terrace waits to use the restroom on April 13, 2021. Since reopening campuses to students, the L.A. Unified School District has only allows a few students at a time to use restrooms in order to maintain six feet of distance between all staff and students. (Kyle Stokes / LAist)

IS MY STUDENT REQUIRED TO GO BACK TO CAMPUS?

No. Students can choose to remain in full distance learning mode.

WHAT'S THE RETURN-TO-CAMPUS PLAN FOR SPECIAL EDUCATION STUDENTS?

LAUSD recently reached a separate tentative agreement with United Teachers Los Angeles that covers the finer details important to special education students.

Students in special education are due to return to campus on the same date as their peers -- though the agreement says students can continue to access specialized services and assessments remotely if parents agree.

The agreement also says that all special education teachers will be provided with personal protective equipment "appropriate to their job duties," from clear face masks to medical-grade masks to plexiglass barriers.

Just before the agreement was reached, LAUSD posted its own FAQ for special education parents. Among other information, the document says LAUSD will continue to provide transportation for students whose special education plans (IEPs) call for it.

L.A. Unified School District kindergarteners listen to their teacher in their classroom at Brainard Avenue Elementary in Lake View Terrace on April 13, 2021 -- the campus' first day hosting students since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. (Kyle Stokes / LAist)

What You Have To Do Before Going Back

DO WE HAVE TO LET OUR SCHOOL KNOW WHETHER WE'RE RETURNING?

Yes. LAUSD has been asking families to fill out this return to campus form at reopening.lausd.net. Fill out one of these forms for each child.

The district calls this a "survey," but treat the form like you're re-registering your students for school. LAUSD principals are using your answers to help assign students into "cohorts" and make other important plans.

The district extended its original March 19 deadline  but if you haven't filled out this form yet, at this point it's probably best to contact your school directly. If you do not fill out the form, LAUSD will assume your student is remaining in distance learning mode.

CAN I CHANGE MY MIND? CAN I SWITCH FROM DISTANCE LEARNING TO ON-CAMPUS CLASSES, OR VICE-VERSA?

Yes: Every two weeks, LAUSD will give you the option to switch your students out of  or back into  distance learning.

That said, if you've already submitted your survey and are having second thoughts, LAUSD recommends you contact your principal directly. Principals say they'll try and accommodate these changes, but understand: these reopening plans involve a lot of moving parts.

IS THERE ANYTHING MY STUDENT NEEDS TO DO TO PREPARE?

Yes. The week before returning to campus, your student must get a COVID-19 test.

You can schedule an appointment for a free test through LAUSD's Daily Pass website at one of 42 different testing sites located on school campuses throughout the district.

You don't have to get this test through LAUSD. You can get a test from another provider if you report the result within three days. But COVID-19 testing is mandatory. Students won't be allowed to return without a recent test result on file.

IF I HAD A VACCINE, I'D FEEL MORE COMFORTABLE SENDING MY STUDENT BACK.

LAUSD recently announced plans to open 25 vaccination sites on its campuses. The sites will be open to "families with children in schools" from specific ZIP codes.

If you want to make an appointment through the district, call (213) 328-3958. You can also check out our guide to scheduling a vaccine appointment in L.A.

An L.A. Unified School District student drops a nasal swab from a COVID-19 test into a tube during a demonstration at San Fernando Middle School on Oct. 16, 2020. (Kyle Stokes/KPCC/LAist)

How Elementary Hybrid Schedules Will Work

WILL MY STUDENT HAVE TO SWITCH TEACHERS OR CLASSES?

No guarantees. LAUSD has told principals to keep students with their current classes and teachers whenever possible. But the answer depends on how parents in your class answer the return-to-campus survey.

HOW ARE SCHOOLS DIVIDING CLASSES INTO 'A.M.' AND 'P.M.' COHORTS?

Again, it comes down to your survey answers and the size of your teacher's classroom.

Here's an example: Let's say "Ms. Perez" has 24 students in her class. Ms. Perez's classroom can only hold a maximum of 14 students while abiding by the six-foot rule.

This means if no more than 14 of Ms. Perez's students choose to return to campus, the entire class could stay together: Ms. Perez would teach 14 students in person in the morning, and 10 distance learners in the afternoon.

But if 15 or more of Ms. Perez's students choose to return to campus, the class would have to be split up somehow. Perhaps Ms. Perez would teach two in-person cohorts, while the remaining distance learners would shift to another teacher. Or maybe Ms. Perez would take the distance learners, and the in-person students would switch classes.

"It's kind of a weird catch-22," said Walgrove Avenue Elementary principal Andrea Kittelson. At her school, the vast majority of students are choosing to return to campus, which puts distance learners at a disadvantage.

"The number one priority is maintaining the same teacher," Kittelson said. "So the people who are choosing virtual are really nervous they're not going to get their same teacher."

In communities where most parents are hesitant to send their kids back, the dynamic could be reversed: opting to return to campus could make it harder to keep your teacher.

Transitional kindergarten teacher Heidi Ardin speaks with one of her students at Harding Elementary in Sylmar on April 13, 2021, the first day of L.A. Unified School District's transition to "hybrid" instruction since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. (Kyle Stokes / LAist)

CAN I CHOOSE WHETHER MY STUDENT ATTENDS CLASS IN THE MORNING OR AFTERNOON?

No. As a general rule, LAUSD is scheduling in-person cohorts to meet in the morning  but for example, if an entire teacher's class opts to return to campus, there will likely be an afternoon in-person cohort as well.

IF IT MEANS KEEPING A CLASS TOGETHER, COULD A TEACHER CHOOSE TO TEACH IN-PERSON AND OVER ZOOM AT THE SAME TIME?

District officials say it is possible  but it would have to be the teacher's choice. The teachers union's agreement with LAUSD specifically says the district can't require teachers to instruct in-person and distance learners simultaneously.

Los Angeles Unified officials say the district is continuing to prepare campuses and plans for the return to school, including reorganizing classrooms to allow for more physical distancing. (Chava Sanchez/LAist)

THE CDC NOW SAYS ELEMENTARY STUDENTS CAN SIT THREE FEET APART. DOES THAT CHANGE HOW LAUSD IS REOPENING MY SCHOOL?

For now, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control's recent updates to its school guidance will not affect LAUSD's plans for reopening schools.

LAUSD's school board and United Teachers Los Angeles members have already voted on a plan based on the six-foot rule. Changing that rule would involve new negotiations and new votes -- and UTLA has said the CDC's change "erodes school safety guidelines."

Union agreements aside, Superintendent Beutner has said he prefers LAUSD to "err on the side of caution," but may push to switch to the three-foot rule before the fall semester begins.

One group of LAUSD parents does not want to wait for the fall: They've filed a lawsuit calling to strike down the six-foot rule and force the resumption of full-time, in-person instruction as soon as possible.

Desks spaced six feet apart in a classroom at Panorama High School in the L.A. Unified School District. The nation's second-largest school system hopes to welcome back middle- and high schoolers to campuses in late April. (Kyle Stokes/KPCC/LAist)

How Secondary Hybrid Schedules Will Work

HOW WILL MIDDLE- AND HIGH SCHOOLERS ATTEND CLASSES UNDER THE HYBRID MODEL?

Students who opt to return to campus will continue to follow their current distance learning schedule. But unlike in normal times, they won't roam campuses, swapping rooms between classes.

Instead, they'll continue to attend classes virtually  but from classrooms, not at home. (Some critics dryly refer to LAUSD's model as "Zoom-in-a-room.")

Students will report to their "advisory" (think: homeroom) teacher's classroom and remain there throughout the day. Seated at desks spaced six feet apart, students will log into their individual classes and attend them virtually throughout the day.

At the front of the room, their advisory teachers will be on Zoom as well, leading their regular course schedules throughout the day.

In hopes of making the less-than-ideal situation work, LAUSD will provide noise-canceling headphones to each student. Students will also have 10-minute breaks between periods during which they can stretch and use the restroom.

WHICH DAYS EACH WEEK WILL MY STUDENT BE ON CAMPUS?

Middle- and high schoolers will rotate between attending two or three days per week.

The agreement gives schools some latitude to decide how to craft their calendar. At some schools, students might come to campus Monday-Wednesday-Friday one week, and Tuesday-Thursday the next.

Other campuses might choose to have students come in every other Monday, but otherwise stick to the same Wednesday-Friday or Tuesday-Thursday schedule.

Whatever schools decide, students will attend on the same days as their classmates from their advisory class. (If you really want to figure out which days those are: look at your schedule. If you attend what LAUSD marks as an "H" advisory class, you'll attend on one set of days. Students in "L" advisories will attend on the other days.)

WHY CAN'T LAUSD LET MIDDLE- AND HIGH SCHOOLERS FOLLOW A MORE NORMAL SCHEDULE?

If students followed a "normal" schedule moving from room to room for classes, passing each other in the hallways  it would be much easier for one COVID-19 case to turn into an outbreak.

Schools could theoretically have students remain in the same classroom and have teachers move from room to room. But that would still involve re-working a school's intricate master schedule; LAUSD officials decided this isn't worth the hassle so late in the school year.

Beutner has acknowledged concerns about the plan, but says this is the best LAUSD can do for now while also maintaining stable cohorts of students.

FAQ continues below the question box

DO YOU HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT REOPENING WE HAVEN'T ANSWERED?

L.A. Unified School Board member Nick Melvoin has his temperature checked before a campus tour at Walgrove Avenue Elementary School on March 17, 2021. (Chava Sanchez/LAist)

Entering Campus

WHAT WILL HAPPEN WHEN MY STUDENT ARRIVES ON CAMPUS?

To prevent crowding at entrances, LAUSD's plan calls for schools to open multiple access points on each campus. Your school may even assign your student to a designated entrance. Once they get to school, students will need:

A QR code from LAUSD's Daily Pass. It must be printed out beforehand or displayed on a smartphone. Your student needs a new Daily Pass every day. To get a pass, students answer a short list of questions about their health in the last 14 days. Students who report having a fever, chills, difficulty breathing or other symptoms won't get a pass and won't be allowed into school.

It must be printed out beforehand or displayed on a smartphone. Your student needs a new Daily Pass every day. To get a pass, students answer a short list of questions about their health in the last 14 days. Students who report having a fever, chills, difficulty breathing or other symptoms won't get a pass and won't be allowed into school. A recent negative COVID-19 test. LAUSD is requiring students who return to campus to get tested for COVID-19 every week  and will turn away any students without current test results on file. (More on that below)

LAUSD is requiring students who return to campus to get tested for COVID-19 every week  and will turn away any students without current test results on file. A facemask -- they're required on campus for all staff, students and visitors.

Students will show their QR code to an LAUSD staffer  or perhaps even a parent volunteer -- who will also take their temperature with one of those no-touch thermometers.

WHAT HAPPENS IF MY STUDENT FORGETS TO GET A DAILY PASS CODE? (...OR DOESN'T HAVE A DEVICE?)

Students can pass the Daily Pass health check verbally. The person staffing the school entrance will ask the same set of questions. You may also have to fill out a paper form.

That said, the Daily Pass website will not create a QR code for a student without a recent negative test on file -- or if their test came back positive. If that's the case, the person staffing the entrance will prevent the student from entering campus and direct their parents to a testing site.

(Chava Sanchez/LAist)

MY STUDENT RIDES THE BUS  WILL THE BUS DRIVER CHECK MY STUDENT'S PASS?

The bus driver will ask the student the Daily Pass health check questions  basically: Do you have symptoms? Have you been exposed? And do you agree to wear a mask?

ABOUT THOSE COVID-19 TESTS  HOW OFTEN ARE STUDENTS SUPPOSED TO GET ONE?

Every week. In fact, if a student's most recent negative test is more than a week old, the Daily Pass app won't create the QR code students need to enter campus. The person staffing the school entrance will also turn students away.

If a student is turned away for lack of a COVID-19 test, a parent will have to pick them up -- and will be referred to LAUSD's nearest testing center.

By the way, under UTLA's agreement with LAUSD, staff are also required to take frequent COVID-19 tests.

HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO GET MY STUDENT SO MANY COVID-19 TESTS?

After students return, Superintendent Beutner has said LAUSD plans to offer tests on each campus once a week: "Students will literally be tested at their desk."

LAUSD officials have said the district is finalizing a plan to bring rapid, 15-minute COVID-19 tests to campuses.

Officials have also said that if L.A. County's COVID-19 rates continue to go down, it's possible students won't have to take weekly tests.

(The UTLA agreement actually calls for less-frequent testing if the county is in the orange tier; for now LAUSD is sticking with weekly testing for students.)

A custodian at Brainard Avenue Elementary in Lake View Terrace cleans a door handle on April 13, 2021, the campus' first day hosting students since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. (Kyle Stokes / LAist)

Daily Life On A Hybrid Campus

IS THE DISTRICT DOING ANYTHING DIFFERENT TO KEEP CAMPUSES CLEAN?

Yes. LAUSD has switched to using thicker air filters and has re-wired HVAC systems to continuously circulate air. The district has also spent to hire more custodians and purchase protective gear and cleaning supplies -- all at a cost of $220 million.

The superintendent says some of those extra custodians will be given one task: clean every high-touch surface in a school "at least twice daily," according to the district's reopening protocols -- and that's at a minimum: LAUSD recently posted an FAQ promising to disinfect restrooms and high-touch surfaces "hourly."

In fact, on elementary campuses, LAUSD's agreement with the teachers' union also calls for each classroom to be cleaned in the hour between the morning and afternoon cohorts.

LAUSD has shown off electrostatic sprayer machines that promise quick disinfection  but classrooms will be cleaned with good-ole' fashioned squirt bottle products between student cohorts, district officials say.

Access to restrooms will also be limited, with urinals, stalls and sinks taped off to prevent crowding.

A first grader bounds toward a restroom on the campus of Brainard Avenue Elementary in Lake View Terrace. L.A. Unified School District campuses follow rules requiring six feet of distance between all staff and students at a time -- which means restroom capacity is limited. (Kyle Stokes / LAist)

WHERE WILL MY STUDENT EAT?

The answer to this question is likely to vary by campus and by grade level.

Students will be given a pouch full of grab-and-go meals the days they are on campus. The kit will contain three meals, including cold foods they can eat right away and frozen items they can take home.

Middle- and high schools will set aside designated areas where students may eat.

In elementary schools many students will likely go home after their three-hour class period is finished. Students staying for on-campus supervision will likely have designated spaces for meals: for example, at Walgrove Elementary, Principal Kittelson said the outdoor lunch tables are ready -- but she doesn't know to what extent students will need to use them.

The UTLA agreement specifies that students won't eat breakfast in the classroom, but the district will offer a breakfast item for early-arriving students between 7:30 and 8 a.m.

A snack will also be provided for later-arriving students. Some parents have told LAUSD board members that during the first week of campus reopenings, schools did not provide these snacks. But district officials say the plan is to provide snacks.

A kindergarten classroom at L.A. Unified's Walgrove Avenue Elementary School in Venice. Staff have removed furniture, toys and books from the room to comply with COVID-19 guidelines. (Chava Sanchez / LAist)

HOW HAVE CLASSROOMS CHANGED?

As you can probably guess: staff have moved student desks six feet apart. Bold labels warning "Do Not Sit Here" block off spaces at some tables. At each desk, students will keep their own box of supplies in a plastic baggie or bin. Rugs have been removed.

The impact in classrooms for younger students is the most striking: you'll find no collections of shared toys, no books, no button collections (for learning to count) and no play-kitchen in the classroom.

Teachers are allowed to give each student their own set of toys. The student will store those toys in his or her individual plastic baggie or bin, and cannot share those toys with other students.

A transitional kindergartener at Harding Elementary in Sylmar plays with blocks as Kelly Gonez, president of the L.A. Unified school board, looks on. The student has been given her own set of toys; shared toys, materials and supplies are not allowed in L.A. Unified School District classrooms under reopening guidelines for hybrid instruction. (Kyle Stokes / LAist)

WHAT ABOUT RECESS: CAN STUDENTS USE PLAYGROUND STRUCTURES?

As of now, no  and balls and toys have been removed from recreation yards, too. But the district is facing some pressure to reverse this decision, especially since L.A. city and county playgrounds are open.

The district is concerned staff won't be able to prevent students from gathering -- thereby violating the six-foot rule -- on an open playground structure.

WILL PARENT VOLUNTEERS BE ALLOWED TO WORK ON CAMPUS?

Yes  some principals could really use the extra pairs of hands.

Principals may ask on-campus volunteers to help out with temperature checks at school entrances, assist in the front office; or serve as COVID-era hall monitors, "observ[ing] the school campus for social distancing."

The district is also accepting "virtual" volunteers who can help out in online classes or breakout sessions.

Anyone looking to volunteer can fill out the district's online volunteer application. However, LAUSD has encouraged prospective volunteers to check with the school first to see if they're looking for help; the application process involves many steps, including getting fingerprinted and tested for tuberculosis.

The district has posted this flyer describing their volunteering requirements in more detail.

IS THERE ANY POLICY THAT PREVENTS CONTACT BETWEEN STUDENTS AND TEACHERS?

Local public health orders do require staff and students to maintain distance. When I asked, LAUSD affirmed that students must "[keep] six feet apart at all times."

"We encourage the three S's of Safety: screening, sanitizing, and social distancing," a district spokeswoman said in an email.

Under terms of the district's reopening plan, L.A. Unified will place hand sanitizer stations in every classroom. (Chava Sanchez/LAist)

COVID-19 On Campus

WHAT HAPPENS IF A STUDENT STARTS FEELING SICK?

If a student starts displaying possible COVID-19 symptoms at home, LAUSD will ask the student to remain off campus and isolate for 10 days.

Anyone with a fever of 100 degrees or higher will be stopped at the entrance and not allowed on campus.

If a student comes to school and only later starts feeling sick, LAUSD has asked schools to set up isolation areas  preferably outdoors  where students will be asked to stay until their families can pick them up (or until they can be sent to a doctor).

WHAT HAPPENS IF A STUDENT OR TEACHER IN MY CLASS TESTS POSITIVE?

Everyone must go into isolation or quarantine. The person who tests positive must "self-isolate" for 10 days; everyone exposed should "quarantine" for 14 days.

LAUSD officials say the goal of their COVID-19 testing program is to report results within 24 to 36 hours of the initial test  so in theory, they should be able to prevent a positive, asymptomatic case from coming to campus before school starts the next day.

But if there is on-campus exposure, schools have set up separate isolation and quarantine areas: isolation areas for the suspected positive case, and quarantine areas for anyone who might have been exposed.

WHERE CAN I GET MORE INFORMATION?

DO YOU HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT REOPENING WE HAVEN'T ANSWERED?

Get in touch with me by email, by direct message on Twitter, or via the question box below. I plan to update this post as new information becomes available.

UPDATES:

March 29, 8:05 a.m.: This article was updated with additional details about the dates on which students in specific grades will return to campus.

CORRECTION, March 26, 6:45 p.m.: An earlier version of this post suggested Pasadena Unified planned to have students on campus before Los Angeles Unified. After originally planning to begin reopening March 30, Pasadena Unified recently delayed its reopening until April 13.

April 5, 11 a.m.: This post was updated with information about LAUSD's vaccination clinics.

April 7, 10:25 a.m.: This post was updated throughout with new information from an LAUSD spokesperson and the district's updated reopening FAQ.

April 19, 12:10 p.m.: This post was updated throughout with new information and photos from the previous week's campus reopenings.

This article was originally published on March 26 at 11 a.m.


The Drug Administration of Vietnam has just sent an official dispatch to drug importers and manufacturers in Vietnam, asking them to find sources of Covid-19 vaccine supplies.

The request was made at a time when demand for vaccines has greatly increased, and the supply of vaccines for Vietnam has been affected.

In order to increase supply and access to many safe and effective sources of vaccines, the Drug Administration of Vietnam asked drug importers to urgently search for new supplies of Covid-19 vaccines (Astrazeneca, Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, JSC Generium (Sputnik V), Moderna, Sinovac...). The agency also asked local vaccine production and research establishments to speed up the research and production of Covid-19 vaccines.

The Covid-19 vaccine produced by Astrazeneca is transported to vaccination sites in Hanoi. - Photo: Pham Hai

Previously, on February 23, the Drug Administration of Vietnam sent the first dispatch to drug manufacturers and importers as well as domestic vaccine producers on this issue. The worldwide supply of Covid-19 vaccine is scarce. There are not enough manufacturers of vaccines that meet the pre-assessment standards of the World Health Organization (WHO), and their production capacity is limited. Moreover, a number of developed countries like the US, UK, and European countries actively supported research and development of the vaccine and placed big orders at the start of the research and development stage. Over 30 countries ordered volumes of vaccines that are higher than their populations, even when the vaccines were not produced. Some countries even ordered a number four times more than their population. This has made it difficult for many countries, especially developing ones, to have access to vaccine sources. The Vietnamese Ministry of Health has tried to access different sources of Covid-19 vaccine supplies. On March 23, the Preventive Medicine Agency received COVAX Facilitys announcement that vaccine delivery will be delayed. The import of AstraZeneca's vaccine by the Vietnam Vaccine Joint Stock Company (VNVC) may be delayed due to a shortage of vaccine supply in the world.

The Research Center for Vaccines and Medical Biologicals Production (POLYVAC) is negotiating with Russia to buy Sputnik V vaccine with the maximum quantity and supply in the shortest time. However, the manufacturer has not yet confirmed the plan of supplying Sputnik V vaccine to Vietnam.

The Health Ministry on March 23 approved with conditions Russias COVID-19 vaccine named Gam-COVID-Vac, also known as Sputnik V, for emergency use in COVID-19 prevention and control in the country. It is the second COVID-19 vaccine to be authorised in Vietnam.

The Ministry of Health is negotiating to buy Pfizer's vaccine. It is also working with Johnson & Johnson, Moderna, and manufacturers in India and China to ask for their official answer to the Covid-19 vaccine supply for Vietnam.

Besides seeking imported vaccine sources, Vietnam is promoting vaccine research and development at home. The Nanocovax vaccine developed by Nanogen has been tested on humans, and phase 2 of the clinical trial started on February 26. Covivac vaccine developed by IVAC entered the clinical trial phase 1 on March 15.

Nguyen Lien

Delivery date for COVAXs vaccine for Vietnam may change Due to the shortage of a global supply of Covid-19 vaccines, the vaccine batch provided for Vietnam by the COVAX program may arrive in Vietnam later than scheduled.
When Pacific Gas and Electric Co. cut power during a dry windstorm in October 2019, it may have prevented wildfires from burning more than 3 million acres and some 250,000 buildings, a new analysis shows.

Technosylva, a firm contracted by state utility regulators, evaluated PG&Es controversial fire safety shut-offs in 2019 as well as similar pre-emptive blackouts that year by Southern California electric companies.

Combining data about vegetation conditions, weather and building locations with wind damage the companies reported to their turned-off power lines, Technosylva projected what fires started by those equipment problems could have looked like if the electricity had stayed on. But critically, the analysis did not include estimates of how firefighters suppression efforts could have impacted the theoretical blazes.

Technosylva presented its findings in a public presentation Friday on the California Public Utilities Commission website. Fast, dry winds that prompted PG&E to turn off electricity for hundreds of thousands of households beginning Oct. 26, 2019, resulted in 422 cases of power line damage that would have likely caused a fire, according to Technosylva. Those fires could have consumed about 3.06 million acres and impacted 257,570 buildings, the firm calculated.

It was the most extreme scenario analyzed in regard to PG&Es contentious efforts to stop more devastating wildfires by turning off power to huge sections of its service area. Many people were affected for days.

At the time, the company faced withering criticism from customers and government officials over poor communication and execution of the blackouts, which were particularly concerning to people who rely on electricity for medical reasons.

And PG&Es 2019 efforts to stop fires were not a complete success. On Oct. 23 of that year, a PG&E power line in the mountains outside Geyserville started the Kincade Fire, which burned more than 77,000 acres, destroyed 374 buildings and forced thousands of Sonoma County residents to evacuate.

Still, the Technosylva analysis predicted even more devastation had PG&E not implemented widespread shut-offs that month. In one scenario, the Vacaville area could have suffered a power line-caused fire starting Oct. 27, 2019, that could have burned more than 50,000 acres and affected nearly 7,000 buildings, the firm said. At about the same time, a nearly 23,000-acre fire could have burned through some of the wildland-urban interface areas around Petaluma, damaging more than 5,300 buildings.

Some officials who spoke during public comments were skeptical of the firms modeling and reflected continued concern about the ways that shut-offs themselves can be harmful and disruptive. Technosylva said it will release a public report in the near future.

In a statement, PG&E emphasized that it considers power shut-offs a last-ditch measure to stop fires and acknowledges how disruptive the tactic can be for customers, especially those with medical needs. But the company also said that the Technosylva analysis showed that significant wildfires could have occurred without the October 2019 outages, and the hundreds of cases of wind damage validate the importance and continuing need for this tool.

J.D. Morris is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jd.morris@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @thejdmorris
Business owner Shawna Schimnowski has stopped tuning in to Premier Brian Pallisters news conferences.

"Its just easier not to, because Im forever disappointed," said Schimnowski, who runs Organic Tan Winnipeg on Provencher Boulevard. "I get that they cant just hand us money to keep our businesses open  there just has to be something they can do though to keep us from going into further debt, when these restrictions are only significantly impacting us and not necessarily the larger stores or chains.

Business owner Shawna Schimnowski.

"It could be better just to close down and restart when this might be over, hoping that my clientele is still there. But Ive worked years and years to get thousands of clients. What do I do now?"

Premier Pallister is adamant that allowing more leeway for larger retailers and wedding or church events under public-health orders is not a political decision. "Thats a groundless assertion," he said, answering a question from the Free Press at a media availability Thursday.

"The likelihood of us getting together in a small group setting or mid-sized group setting fairly soon is probably less likely than other restrictions we might lift," said Pallister. "We continue to be in constant focus in protecting the vulnerable in our province and will stay focused on that."

However, many storefront owners believe very little epidemiological rationale has been provided about the new pandemic protocols that go into effect this weekend  which continues to affect them far more than larger businesses.

The province is capping fitness centres at 25 per cent capacity, wedding sizes have been increased to 25 people and retailers are allowed 500 people or 50 per cent capacity (whichever is lower).

On top of that, commerce stakeholders are wary about the province not sharing all of the data from EngageMB surveys that the premier said has helped guide the governments decision to lift or maintain certain code-red restrictions.

And, business advocates said, sector-specific financial support must continue to be extended like the new $6-million arts and culture funding announced Thursday  rollout details for which are yet to be determined.

Loren Remillard, president of the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce, understands the pressure the province is facing. "Our criticisms are not to say they havent done enough because theres no playbooks on this," he said.

"But businesses have been severely struggling for months upon months; leveraging their personal assets, homes, cars, investments, retirement plans. When you give them some emergency support, the need doesnt go away for more in the community. How can you then say, Oh, thats enough."

Jonathan Alward, Manitoba director for the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, is worried about the lack of an overall plan for economic reopenings.

"I know that nothing can be black and white, and that it might change," he said. "But a generalized plan that says this is what would need to happen for us to give you more capacity limits or even a sense of something like that just isnt there right now. And while we keep asking, lots of owners are losing money every single day."

For Dino Camire, who runs One Family Fitness Centre on Britannica Road, its a "mockery" to say his business is open. Hes operating at a loss, cant book more than a handful of people at a time and is paying more overhead than he was a year ago.

"Its just frustrating how this has been extended so unsustainably," said Camire. "At this point, I could have a wedding at my gym and have more people allowed inside because of these rules. And wheres that sector-specific aid for us?"

Manitoba will only reconsider loosening restrictions after Easter and Passover, Pallister said Thursday.

temur.durrani@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @temurdur
Four eggs sit in a peregrine falcon nest on top of the Indiana Michigan Power Center in Fort Wayne. A 24/7 webcam stream is available to watch the eggs and the nesting falcons.
Low-cost Irish airline Ryanair has announced new summer connections from Malaga-Costa del Sol Airport to Menorca, Belfast, Fez and Rabat.

The leading operator, by passenger numbers, at Malaga airport will have a flight twice a week to Menorca, another daily route to Belfast and another with two weekly flights to the Moroccan cities of Fez and Rabat.

Dara Brady, Ryanair's marketing director, forecasts that as vaccination programmes advance in the coming months, air traffic will skyrocket this summer.

He continued, We are delighted to present our updated summer 2021 schedule for Spain, which has more than 2,500 weekly flights and 582 routes in total, as well as including 48 new connections to and from cities such as Naples, Fuerteventura, Vienna and Menorca.

He also noted that "Ryanair is very proud to support the recovery of jobs and local economies, while continuing its commitment to tourism and connectivity in Spain".

Brady reminded travellers, that due to the constantly changing Covid-19 restrictions, that the airline allows up to two free flight date changes.

This will allow our customers greater flexibility and peace of mind. They can book their flights to enjoy a well-deserved rest, with the peace of mind of being able to postpone or change their travel dates, if necessary, free-of-charge up to the end of October 2021.
Two Melbourne brothers and their friend have pleaded guilty to terror offences after planning to buy a firearm with the intention of gunning down members of the public.

Ertunc Eriklioglu, 33, Samed Eriklioglu, 28, and Hanifi Halis, 23, all pleaded guilty to one count each of conspiring together to do acts in preparation for, or planning, a terrorist act, including buying a firearm.

Ertunc Eriklioglu after his arrest on November 20, 2018. Credit:Justin McManus

The three men, who police believe at the time of their arrests were plotting a terror attack in the name of Islamic State, each pleaded guilty in the County Court on Friday after spending weeks preparing to take their cases to trial.

Their indictment says they were negotiating and agreeing to buy a firearm between November 9 and 19, 2018.
"He said I should remove my clothes. I started shouting, people were coming, he used his gun to chase a security guy away."

A victim of police abuse of power in Lagos has narrated his sad experience with an officer of the Nigerian Police Force in Lagos.

Monday Ojon narrated how a police officer brutalised him and made him crawl on all fours, naked at the busy CMS area of Lagos.

The petitioner, who appeared before the Lagos judicial panel, on Tuesday, said he encountered the police officer, 'Mr Kabiru,' on December 4, 2013. He said the incident happened at about 10 p.m.

"On that day, I was walking down to Tinubu Square and I saw an officer approaching with a stick in his hand and gun in another hand.

"As we met, he asked me where I was going, I told him I was going to Tinubu square. He said I should kneel and I asked for what."

He said he refused to kneel and that the officer started beating him with the stick on his hand.

"Until he beat me with the stick and the stick got broken on my head. He said he will not stop until I kneel. He saw another plank, he picked it and continued hitting me on my head, until I knelt down.

"He said I should remove my clothes. I started shouting, people were coming, he used his gun to chase a security guy away. He said he will waste me, he cocked the gun.

"He said I should remove my clothes and be the way my mother born me. I did because he already cocked the gun. He said I should start crawling," the petitioner narrated.

The petitioner said the officer, with tag number 354962, ordered him to start crawling from the street he was to Marina road, on Lagos Island.

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Mr Ojon said as he was crawling, the officer ordered people that were passing to kneel and crawl with him, but he was the only one that was naked.

Attempts by passersby and drivers to intervene were unsuccessful as the officer scared them away with his gun, the victim narrated.

Mr Ojon said a friend, who rides a tricycle on the axis, saw him among the crowd and approached the police officer to know what happened, but he was also chased away.

The petitioner further narrated that his friend alerted the police nearby and mobile police arrived shortly to talk to the officer, Mr Kabiru.

He said blood was gushing out from different parts of his body at that time because he had been battered by the officer.

"A patrol van later came with officers from Lion Building, including the DPO. They asked me questions, they took me to the station in their van and asked him to write a statement," he told the panel.

He added that he was issued a police medical paper to enable treat his injuries at a General Hospital.

Mr Ojon said all efforts to get a disciplinary action instituted against Mr Kabiru failed as the police took no action.

He said he had a meeting with the provost of Zone 2, Onikan over the matter, went to Human Rights Groups, but the police did not respond.

Stating his demands before the panel, Mr Ojon said he wants a disciplinary measure to be taken against officer Kabiru. He also asked to be compensated with a sum of N10 million.

Doris Okuwobi, a retired judge heading the panel, adjourned the matter till April 17 for further hearing.
The Niger State Governor, Mr. Abubakar Sani Bello, has thrown his weight behind the call for the establishments of state and local government police as the solution to the cases of insecurity presently facing the country.

Bello said this in Minna on Tuesday when he received a delegation of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) that was led by Mr. David Kolade Alabi, who paid him a courtesy visit at Government House, Minna.

He said that the present federal police is handicapped by manpower shortage and inadequate equipment to successfully confront security challenges facing the nation.

He said: "The time has come for the state police to be established especially as the federal police are being faced with inadequate manpower and other logistical challenges.

"Now I strongly believe state policing is necessary because we have to take the security down to the lowest level as the federal police cannot do it alone.

"We must break the responsibility from federal-to-states, and from states-to-local governments. Even at the local government level, they should have their police so that, at all levels, there is some measure of control and, in any case, it shouldn't be complicated."

He expressed the hope that when the state and local government police are established "we will get some peace and more so, that the police will be employed from the communities where they know everyone."

The governor advised the national leadership of the ALGON to prevail on its members nationwide to provide robust leadership at the local government levels because of their proximity to the people and as a result of the need to take development to the grassroots.

Bello disclosed that his government has given financial autonomy to local governments in the state.

He decried the present situation where only nine out of the 25 local government councils in the state can conveniently pay the salaries and allowances of their workers due to "over bloated salary payroll and ghost workers."

Alabi, the leader of the delegation, in his remarks said that the ALGON is worried by the unprecedented attack and banditry activities across the country, saying for this reason the organisation supports the call for the establishment of state police for effective community policing.
WASHINGTON  Biden administration officials are anticipating the supply of coronavirus vaccine to outstrip U.S. demand by mid-May if not sooner, and are grappling with what to do with looming surpluses when vaccine scarcity turns to glut.

President Biden has promised enough doses by the end of May to immunize all of the nations roughly 260 million adults. But between then and the end of July, the government has locked in commitments from manufacturers for enough vaccine to cover 400 million people  about 70 million more than the nations entire population.

Whether to keep, modify or redirect those orders is a question with significant implications, not just for the nations efforts to contain the virus but also for how soon the pandemic can be brought to an end. Of the vaccine doses given globally, about three-quarters have gone to only 10 countries. At least 30 countries have not yet injected a single person.

And global scarcity threatens to grow more acute as nations and regions clamp down on vaccine exports. With infections soaring, India, which had been a major vaccine distributor, is now holding back nearly all of the 2.4 million doses manufactured daily by a private company there. That action follows the European Unions decision this week to move emergency legislation that would curb vaccine exports for the next six weeks.
ABOUT 400 residents at Aussenkehr, 50 kilometres north-west of Noordoewer in the //Kharas region face eviction from what has been their home for 10 years, at the end of this month.

Some work for grape companies at the farm, while others run shebeens, bars, tuck shops and vending stalls.

Johannes Lengi, one of the workers, said they were told in January this year that they should move as Aussenkehr wants to extend the Spar complex which houses retail shops such as Beavers Canoe, Pep and Furnmart as well as FNB and Standard Bank. Other shops such as Lewis, Ackermans, and a Shell filling station also want space at the mall.

"We are unhappy with the situation as there is no land to move to, and authorities usually just push us towards the river if we do not move in with other families. We wrote them a letter detailing our challenges and requesting a meeting but they never responded," Lengi said.

The families complained that the notices were just posted on shop windows with no names, stamp or signature of the author. The people dismissed the notices until they appeared on the Aussenkehr Social Investment Committee WhatsApp group.

Aussenkehr is a private grape farm on the banks of the Orange River owned and managed by Dusan Vasiljevich. It is also home to a number of grape companies where 12 000 people are permanently employed and 17 000 are on short-term contracts.

These farmworkers have for all the years lived in squalor in reed or corrugated zinc shacks on the banks of the OrangeRiver since grape farming started in 1995, without potable water, sanitation facilities or electricity.

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Ten years ago Vasiljevich donated 600 hectares to the government to build houses for the people on the farm.

The Ministry of Urban and Rural Development and the //Kharas Regional Council drafted plans of a township called Newtown with 5 000 residential erven but no houses have been built so far.

Grape companies had expressed willingness to construct houses for their workers but former regional councillor for Karasberg West Paulus Efraim felt this would create a scenario where the people did not own the houses.

The councillor for Karasberg West constituency Taimi Kanyemba said the workers had asked to be moved to Newtown as they no longer want to live on Vasiljevich's land.

Kanyemba said the only challenge is the lack of sewerage facilities there. She said water pipes were laid already and connected, but there is no sewerage network as the N$8,8 million reticulation plant was vandalised but council wants the stakeholders to move the project ahead.

She said the Namibia Grape Company and Silverlands Grape Company are ready to construct houses for their employees at Newtown. She said these houses will be owned by the workers as the government has agreed to underwrite the land and the companies will deduct the cost, of the houses directly from the employees salaries.

The councillor said her office will meet the Aussenkehr farms management to ascertain whether the eviction notice still stands.

Attempts to get comment from the Aussenkehr farms management proved futile as for two weeks the management kept on referring The Namibian from one spokesperson to the other.
DARIEN  Police say $30,000 in jewelry, a laptop and wallet were stolen from one of 20 vehicles that were burglarized during a seven-day period.

Police said an unlocked 2020 Lexus containing the jewelry and laptop was burglarized while parked at the Ox Ridge Riding and Racquet Club sometime between 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on March 19. One of the bank cards from the stolen wallet was later used at Walgreens in Yonkers, N.Y., police said.

On March 22, an unlocked 2014 Lexus was burglarized sometime between 11:10 a.m. and 12:12 p.m. while parked at the Country Club of Darien. Stolen was a wallet containing $70 in cash, bank cards and ID, police said. The bank cards were used at 12:50 p.m. at Best Buy and 1 p.m. at GameStop, both in Norwalk, police said.

Motor vehicle break-ins nearly doubled in Darien from 2019 to 2020, according to statistics from the police department.

Police said all of the incidents last week involved unlocked vehicles.

Vehicles on Wakemore Street, Echo Drive, Echo Drive North, and Lake Drive were targeted during the overnight hours of March 15. Seven cars on Relihan Road, Sherry Lane, Hillside Avenue and Indian Spring were burglarized during the overnight hours of March 18.

Darien Police said they responded to a Hilton Street address at 3 a.m. March 21 after a neighbor reported seeing two people attempt to enter a vehicle. Though police said they could not locate a suspect, a check of other Hilton residences revealed four vehicles were burglarized.

Another vehicle was burglarized on Edgerton Street on March 22.

In addition, other items stolen from burglarized cars included a purse containing bank cards, 20 gift cards with a total value of $2,000, a wallet containing $400 in cash, cards and ID, and sunglasses, police said.

Police have attributed the increase in burglaries to Dariens reputation for having unlocked cars. Car burglaries nearly doubled in 2020 to 201 from 109 in 2019, the towns data shows.

In January, Capt. Jeremiah Marron said Darien residents have unfortunately become well-known for leaving cars unlocked with the keys or key fobs inside.

There were 48 motor vehicles stolen in 2020 compared with 31 in 2019. Other types of burglaries went down, from 25 in 2019 to 23 in 2020. Dariens motor vehicle burglaries have often occurred during the overnight hours in one neighborhood.

Numerous car burglaries were reported by police in 2020, including nearly 20 in July alone. Ten break-ins were reported in 24 hours, and an unlocked Mercedes with the keys in was stolen on the same night as several other car burglaries in June.

In December, Darien Police Chief Donald Anderson issued a letter to the community, urging residents to lock their cars before a more violent crime occurs.

Marron said car burglary and auto theft crimes are closely related and are being perpetrated almost predominantly by juveniles.

He said changes in legislation regarding crimes committed by juveniles in Connecticut have undoubtedly hamstrung policing efforts.

These juveniles suspects are very aware that they face little to no consequence for committing these crimes and often are repeat offenders, he said.

Marron cited this change as one of the reasons the rate of these crimes has increased over the last year in our area.

He said suspects rummage through unlocked cars looking for valuables, but ultimately seeking the vehicle keys or key fobs.

They will go driveway to driveway until almost inevitably they find a vehicle with the keys in it and theyre off, Marron said. ... As always, we will continue our proactive efforts in approaching this unfortunate but avoidable problem.
GRAND HAVEN, MI  Shovels hit the ground Friday, March 26 to signal the start of construction on development of a longstanding vacant property in downtown Grand Haven.

Four buildings containing 124 market rate apartments are being built at the former site of Stanco Metal Products, 105 Fulton St. The $24.7 million investment in Peerless Flats includes environmental cleanup of the property.

The site was home to industrial use for decades until Stanco Metals vacated it in the 1980s. Ownership has remained with Jerry Slagels family for over 100 years.

Its been a long time coming, Slagel said.

Development group River Caddis LLC partnered with the Slagel family and worked on plans for three years before receiving final approval from the Grand Haven Planning Commission in January.

The housing project is exciting for the city, said Grand Haven Mayor Bob Monetza, because over the years ideas for redevelopment have come and gone.

Peerless Flats is within walking distance to the Grand Haven farmers market, the Grand River and Lake Michigan. The three- and four-story buildings will be the tallest in town.

We think its going to be an asset to the community, said Slagel.

River Caddis president Kevin McGraw said hes happy to see construction underway, but its been a long haul working with the city, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation and the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy.

Related: New development brings housing, environmental cleanup to prominent Grand Haven property

Without all four of us working together, it didnt work, McGraw said. Its just really refreshing and uplifting to see everybody work together so well.

The development received a $4.75 million loan from the Michigan Community Revitalization Program through the Michigan Strategic Fund to assist with environmental cleanup efforts. The history of industrial use contributed to soil contamination of heavy metals, volatile organic compounds and some PFAS (Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) chemicals.

Remediation of the property will be the first step, McGraw said, and the remaining warehouse on site will be demolished in coming weeks.

Development plans also include an amenity building with an outdoor pool, fire pits, a dog run, a fitness center and community space.

Construction is expected to be done in phases, with the first two buildings completed by May 2022 and the amenity building and two other residential buildings by fall 2022.

More on MLive:

Bridge construction in Grand Haven, Tri Cities area will cause closures

Parents call for removal of police from Holland Public Schools that contribute to school-to-prison pipeline

Michigan restaurant owner who defied COVID-19 rules: Does fight hurt other businesses?
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has concluded plans to reduce importation of wheat by 60 percent over the next two years under its import substitution program.

Meanwhile, the apex bank is also set to finance one million hectares of rice farms this year as part of measures to ensure availability and stabilize the price.

Disclosing these on Wednesday in Gombe at the flag-off of the 2020 wet season harvest aggregation and the second cycle of the 2020 dry season distribution, Governor of CBN, Godwin Emefiele, stated: "CBN is committed to improving local production of wheat and reducing importation by 60 percent over the next two years. There is therefore no need to panic over the current prices of major staple food items."

While commending the resilience of farmers in Nigeria, who continued to farm to ensure food sufficiency in the country in spite of the challenges of insecurity in some parts of the nation, Emefiele warned hoarders and smugglers of products such as rice to desist from such as the apex bank is working with relevant agencies to ensure the stability of food prices in the country.

Emefiele noted that the Anchor Borrowers Program, ABP, has led to significant improvements in agricultural outputs as well as in improving incomes in the rural communities, adding that the achievements that have been recorded has also helped to show that Nigeria can achieve self-sufficiency in the production of staple food items within the shortest time possible.

"It is also encouraging news which presents different narratives which portend that most of our farmers are unable to go to their farms due to nationwide insecurity," he said.

The CBN governor further disclosed that the apex bank had financed 3,038,649 farmers cultivating 3,805,844 hectares across 21 commodities through 23 Participating Financial Institutions in the 36 states of the Federation and FCT, from the inception of the scheme till now.

Vanguard News Nigeria
(Natural News) A recent survey found that as many as one in every three Americans has overestimated the probability that a person who has contracted the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) will require hospitalization.

The study was conducted by researchers from the Franklin Templeton Investments and Gallup as part of the Economics of Recovery Survey. It involved asking around 35,000 American adults questions to gauge their understanding of COVID-related facts and concomitant behaviors.

In Dec. 2020, the volunteers were asked this question: What percentage of people who have been infected by the coronavirus needed to be hospitalized?

The authors noted that the correct answer is not precisely known, but the best available estimates place the figure between one to five percent of coronavirus cases. What startled the authors was the radically different perception people had.

Only 18 percent gave the correct answer of between one to five percent, or less than one in every five U.S. adults. Around 35 percent of adults thought at least half of all coronavirus cases need hospitalization.

If that were true, the millions of resulting patients would have overwhelmed hospitals throughout the pandemic, wrote the authors. The U.S. public is also deeply misinformed about the severity of the virus for the average infected person.

It should be noted that the perceptions were radically different when taking into account a persons political leanings. Democrats were more likely than Republicans to overestimate the harm of COVID-19.

Forty-one percent of Democrats and 27.9 percent of Republicans believed that half or more of coronavirus cases required hospitalizations. For Democrats, 47.3 percent believed between six to 49 percent of cases required hospitalizations, compared to just 42.7 percent of Republicans.

Nearly 26 percent of Republicans gauged the severity of the virus correctly, compared to just 9.8 percent of Democrats. (Related: Multiple studies show COVID-19 mortality rate has dropped significantly since beginning of pandemic.)

Overestimating risk of coronavirus has real-world consequences

Jon Miltimore, writing for the pro-free market think tank the Foundation for Economic Education, believes that at least part of the reason why Americans are misinformed about the severity of the coronavirus is the media.

Studies have shown that U.S. media, in particular, created a climate of fear by publishing a deluge of negative news in 2020, wrote Miltimore, who cited a study from the National Bureau of Economic Research, a private nonprofit research organization.

The study found that around 91 percent of stories the mainstream media outlets ran were negative in tone, even when the coronavirus was clearly in decline in the country and positive results were being achieved.

The negativity of the U.S. major media is notable even in areas with positive scientific developments including school re-openings, wrote the researchers. Stories of increasing COVID-19 cases outnumber stories of decreasing cases by a factor of 5.5 even during periods when new cases are declining.

Regardless of where these misconceptions about the coronavirus pandemic came from, the researchers from Franklin Templeton-Gallup were concerned that this skewed sense of reality could translate to important real-world implications.

Those who overestimate risks to young people or hold an exaggerated sense of risk upon infection are more likely to favor closing schools, restaurants and other businesses, wrote the Franklin Templeton-Gallup study authors.

Learn more about how people perceive the coronavirus pandemic by reading the latest articles at Pandemic.news.

Sources include:

FEE.org

Brookings.edu

NBER.org
The creative services team at Advance Media New York was one of 290 finalists from around the world and 35 others from the United States nominated for the International News Media Associations 2021 Global Media Awards.

The International News Media Association (INMA), a community of market-leading news media companies with more than 16,000 members in more than 70 countries, announced finalists for its 2021 Global Media Awards March 10. The competition garnered more than 600 entries from 37 countries.

This years INMA Global Media Awards include 20 categories focused on excellence in news brands, media platforms, subscriptions, business development and data and insights. In the category of Best Idea to Grow Advertising Sales, Advance was chosen as a finalist for its work on the 2020 Northeast Virtual College Fair.

Creative Services Manager Matt Sourwine said this is the first time his team has entered a global awards competition. We have a very talented creative team here at AMNY and its a real honor to be recognized on a global level. 2020 was a challenging year and we saw an opportunity to create a virtual experience that would benefit both students and colleges. Its humbling to see where the other finalists for this award are from too!

The virtual college fair connected higher education institutions and high school students during a global pandemic when in person visits werent possible. This unique opportunity gave prospective students a feel for the college campus from the comfort of their home while putting recruitment officers in touch with students interested in their schools. The Northeast Virtual College Fair was a joint effort between AMNY, PA Media Group and MassLive Media.

Countries leading the finalist list include India (47), United States (36), Austria and Norway (22 each), Australia, New Zealand and Sweden (with 19 finalists each).

Winners will be revealed in a virtual announcement June 3.

The second rendition of the Northeast Virtual College Fair runs March 22  April 11. Students can register at https://necollegefair.com/
Oregon frontline workers, people 16 and older with underlying medical conditions, and those who live in multi-generational households will be eligible to get the coronavirus vaccine starting April 5, two weeks earlier than officials had planned in an already accelerated timeline, Gov. Kate Browns office said Friday.

With increased supplies, expanding eligibility will allow health care providers and community-based organizations to be more efficient in their efforts to vaccinate hard-to-reach communities, Brown said in a news release.

Browns office cited increasing supplies of the vaccine and Oregons progress so far in vaccinating people 65 and older, one of the states first priority groups.

The states top health official on Friday touted the vaccine programs apparent successes in the months after a shaky rollout in December. About a quarter of Oregonians have received at least one shot of the vaccine  including 500,000 Oregonians 65 and older, or 66% of that demographics Oregon population, Oregon Health Authority Director Patrick Allen said during a news conference.

But Oregon in recent weeks has offered fewer coronavirus vaccinations than 31 other states in vaccines administered per 100,000 people, The Oregonian/OregonLive recently found.

That marks a precipitous fall from where the state stood mid-February. Oregon was 16th in the country in shots administered, per capita.

Many of the early vaccination problems likely stemmed primarily from vaccine shortages, which Oregon could not control. But, on some occasions, the states attempts to help people find and sign up for vaccine appointments only exacerbated eligible Oregonians frustrations, among other mostly sporadic woes.

In one example, an early iteration of a lottery system was flooded in February with 400,000 attempts to register, with every hopeful applicant competing for 3,400 available slots.

In another, appointments were so scarce and difficult for some seniors to acquire that they would seek and accept help from strangers they found online, in some cases handing over private information to people they did not personally know and were unaffiliated with an official organization.

Recently, some Oregonians also have been frustrated to find that the state has at times allocated outsize volumes of the vaccine to certain counties relative to those counties populations. On the ground, that meant shots could be sitting unadministered for 24 hours in one county, waiting for a taker, but snapped up in minutes when they became available in another.

But, as the state has said essentially from the beginning of the vaccine drive, the key to most of Oregons vaccine problems is getting more shots into the state. Additional vaccines have been arriving, Allen said Friday, and they will continue to arrive at a pace that he expects will allow all willing Oregonians to be vaccinated by early June.

We knew there would be turbulence, especially in the weeks that immediately followed the date a new band of seniors became eligible, Allen said. We also knew that bumpy experience would smooth out over time as more doses became available and more people got vaccinated.

Allen expressed substantially more faith that the vaccines he expected to come through in coming weeks would, indeed, be delivered. A 40,000-dose shortfall of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine that he said occurred this week also did not appear to shake his confidence. The state received 24,000 of about 64,000 vaccine doses Allen expected from the company, he said.

Though disappointing, the shortfall wont destabilize Oregons vaccine stock to the point that officials would have to postpone the dates when more groups become eligible for shots. At Oregons current rate of about 26,300 doses administered each day, the Johnson & Johnson doses that Allen said did not arrive would be enough to supply about one-and-a-half days of vaccinations.

CORONAVIRUS IN OREGON: LIVE DATA, STATS AND MAPS

Assuming vaccine supplies come through and the states ability to administer them is as robust as presented by Allen, getting Oregonians to actually sign up to receive their shots will be among the biggest challenges going forward, he said.

The health authority and local health agencies are trying to ensure white and non-white Oregonians get vaccinated at equal rates  a goal that will take concerted, deliberate effort, given some communities barriers to getting medical care and historic distrust of government.

Current coronavirus vaccine eligibility timeline:

March 29: Statewide, adults 45 to 64 with underlying medical conditions that put them at particularly significant risk of severe illness or death will be eligible, along with migrant and seasonal farm workers, food and seafood workers, agricultural workers, people living in low-income senior housing and people experiencing homelessness.

April 5: Adults 16 to 44 with underlying health conditions, people 50 and older living in multigenerational households, people from three or more generations who live under the same roof and frontline workers. Frontline workers encompasses a multitude of professions, many of them listed here.

April 26: Some counties will be able to open vaccines to all adults, depending on state approval.

May 1: All Oregonians will be eligible for a vaccine.

The United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 555, a union representing frontline workers in industries such as retail and manufacturing, praised Oregon officials decision, saying the accelerated vaccination timeline will save lives and bring us one step closer to the end of this pandemic.

Frontline workers are defined as employees who have regular close contact with people outside their homes for more than 15 minutes and cant limit or prevent that contact and still be able to do their jobs.

The list of professions that qualify as frontline workers is extensive. It includes people in professions as diverse as food service, retail, construction, information technology, pet care, gas stations and the U.S. Postal Service. Lawyers, lawmakers and members of the media will also be eligible for shots.

Oregon will launch one other vaccination phase before opening shots up to frontline workers. The state will enter that next phase Monday, opening vaccines to people 45 and older with underlying conditions, migrant and seasonal farmworkers, pregnant women and people displaced by wildfires, among others.

A total of 22 counties have already transitioned to that phase, with the states permission. Portland-area counties are not among them. The counties are: Baker, Benton, Coos, Deschutes, Douglas, Grant, Harney, Jefferson, Josephine, Klamath, Lake, Lane, Lincoln, Linn, Malheur, Marion, Morrow, Polk, Sherman, Umatilla, Union and Yamhill.

-- Fedor Zarkhin

503-294-7674; fzarkhin@oregonian.com
The Attorney-General of the Federation charged the foreigners and their firms with defrauding a Nigerian bank through an import loan scheme.

The Federal High Court in Lagos has summoned four Indian and British citizens, as well as their companies, to face fraud and cheating charges worth over $37 million.

The money translates into over N14 billion at the exchange rate of $1 to N380.5.

In the court documents obtained by PREMIUM TIMES, the Attorney-General of the Federation's (AGF) office accused the foreigners and others of defrauding a Nigerian bank, Access Bank Plc, through an import loan scheme.

The 11 defendants charged in the case were also accused of defrauding the federal government through tax evasion and refusal to pay relevant import duty.

PREMIUM TIMES, on Thursday, obtained copies of the court documents, including the charges and the summonses issued individually against seven out of the 11 defendants listed in the case as defendants.

The judge, Oluremi Oguntoyinbo, issued the individual summonses against the seven defendants on March 10 following an oral application by Pius Akutah of the Office of the AGF office.

The summonses, PREMIUM TIMES gathered, are part of moves to initiate extradition requests against the accused foreigners, who are said to have left Nigeria for their home countries.

"Complaint has been made this day by the Federal Republic of Nigeria," the judge stated, in each of the seven summonses seen by our reporter and ordered the affected the defendants to appear in court on May 5.

"You are, therefore, hereby, summoned to appear before the Federal High Court sitting at Court 7 on May 5, 2021 at the hour of 9.00 in the fore noon to answer to the said complaint," the documents read in part.

Those summoned

An Indian company, Kannu Aditya India Ltd, and its two Indian directors - Bhagwan Rawat and Mukul Tyagi - are among those summoned by the court.

Also summoned is a company registered in both the United Kingdom (U.K.) and in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Wilben Trade Limited.

The firm's British chairman, Marcus Wade, and its British chief executive officer, Andrew Fairie, were also issued separate summonses.

The court also issued a summons against a company owned by some Indians but registered in Nigeria, Metal Africa Steel Products (MASP) Limited.

Other defendants

The rest of the defendants are Prem Garg and Devashish Garg, father and son of Indian nationality, and owners of MASP Limited.

PREMIUM TIMES understands that the AGF office did not request the court to issue summonses against the Gargs because an extradition request had already been sent to Indian authorities to help bring them back to Nigeria, to face the charges.

The remaining defendants are a Nigerian firm, Fisolak Global Resources Limited, and its Nigerian Managing Director, Oluwatoyin Kolade.

'INTERPOL to be contacted'

In a "verifying affidavit" filed along with the charges, the AGF office said police investigations revealed a prima facie case against the defendants, and that the charges were filed to enable it to obtain a warrant of arrest to kick start the extradition process.

An official of the Federal Ministry of Justice, Abubakar Bello, who deposed to the affidavit, added that "by this charge, the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation will inform the INTERPOL NCB, Abuja" to declare the defendants "wanted" and "will proceed to make request for their extradition to stand trial before this honourable court".

Investigations

Access Bank Plc had sent a petition to the police in June 2019, accusing MASP and its owners of "fraudulently obtaining finance facilities by false pretence, forgery of transactional documents, and the diversion of the said facilities."

The bank said it granted $37.8 million as an import facility to MASP in August 2015, to support the company's importation of billets and acquisition of machinery for its expansion.

It said the facility was disbursed to the company, based along Ikorodu-Sagamu Road, in Ogun State, in two tranches of $32 million for the importation of steel billets and $5.8million for the importation of machinery.

The bank alleged that the company diverted a major part of the facilities.

Police investigators alleged that MASP Ltd obtained $32million from Access Bank purportedly for the importation of steel billets, but only bought less valued version of the products at about $6million, and diverted the balance of $26million.

The company was similarly accused of not spending the $5.8million on the machinery it was agreed for.

Charges

The AGF office filed 10 counts of conspiracy, over-invoicing, cheating, advance fee fraud, fraudulent conversion through record falsification, and tax evasion against the 11 defendants.

Mr Akutah, the lead prosecuting counsel from the AGF office, filed the charges before the Federal High Court in Lagos on October 8, 2020.

The charges are mainly in two folds, with part of them relating to the $32million and the others relating to the $5,724,000.

Both transactions, which were said to have taken place in August 2015, totalled $37,724,000 translating into over N14billion.

MASP, its owners as well as other alleged conspirators are part of the 11 defendants charged in the case.

Prem Garg, Devashish Garg (Indians), MASP Ltd., Fisolak Global Resources Limited (Nigerian firm), Ms Kolade, Wilben Trade Limited (U.K. and UAE firm), Mr Wade and Mr Fairie (British nationals) are fingered in respect of the $32million transaction.

The prosecution alleged in one of the counts that in August 2015, at Apapa Sea Port Lagos, the defendants committed an offence of "cheating" Access Bank.

The defendants allegedly caused the bank to deliver $32million for the purchase of steel billets, but went ahead to use the money "to purchase steel billets of a lesser value of about US$6,000,000, while diverting the difference of about US$26,000,000."

The alleged offence is said to be punishable under Section 421 of the Criminal Code Act, Cap C38 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.

The prosecution alleged in another count that the same set of defendants "conspired" among themselves to commit the offence of "inducing" the bank in Lagos "by means of over-invoicing" to deliver $32million "through the medium of contract with the bank for the benefit of Wilben Trade Ltd" in the UAE, "thereby committing an offence said to be punishable under Section 1(3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and other Fraud Related Offences Act, Cap. A6, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria."

It also alleged that the defendants obtained the $32million from Access Bank Plc under false pretence of purchasing steel billets of the same value but "fraudulently failed to do as agreed by contract" and thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 419A of the Criminal Code Act, Cap C38 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria."

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The prosecution also accused them of "conversion of the sum of US$32,000,000.00 derived directly from falsifying records to avoid payment of assessed duty payable on the letters of credit and thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 18 of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011."

They were also accused of defrauding the federal government of "duty payable", by unlawfully removing the metal billets from Tin Can Island Wharf, Lagos, to MASP Ltd at KM 16 Ikorodu-Sagamu Road, in Ogun State, "and thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 164 of the Customs and Excise Management Act, Cap C45, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004."

In respect of the $5.8million transaction, the prosecution alleged that the Gargs, MASP Limited, Fisolak Global Resources Limited,Ms Kolade Kannu Aditya India Ltd, Messrs Rawat and Tyagi, with an "intent to defraud" Access Bank Plc, allegedly induced the bank to deliver $5,724,000 to Kannu Aditya India Ltd based in Delhi, India "under the false pretence that they would import machinery".

The prosecution stated that, instead of importing the agreed machinery, the defendants "purchased products different from those stated in the contract and thereby committed an offence punishable under section 1(3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and other Fraud Related Offences Act, Cap. A6 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria."

The prosecution also alleged that the defendants, at Apapa Sea Port, Lagos, converted the $5,724,000, allegedly "derived directly from tax evasion and thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 18 of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011."
opinion

Lagos  Abracadabra is now commonly used as an incantation in the performance of magic. Literally it is used as the more you look, the less you know or see. Abracadabra is the best word to describe what is going on in Port Harcourt Refinery. The Refinery is situated at Alesa Eleme, which is 19 kilometres from Port Harcourt city. I have visited the refinery thrice. Twice I accompanied my two bosses, Alhaji Gidado Idris (GCON) and Chief Ufot Ekaette (CFR), both late Secretaries to the Government of the Federation. My last visit to the refinery was three years ago with a friend, who once worked there. One needs to see the refinery.

The scandal in Port Harcourt Refinery is so deep that it cannot be uncovered by the most competent spy master in the world.

The Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC), is a Nigeria-based oil and gas company primarily specialising in the refining of crude oil into petroleum products. The company is a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

The latest news about Port Harcourt Refinery is that the Central Government has approved $1.5 billion for the rehabilitation of the refinery. The Minister of State for Petroleum, Timipre Sylva, who briefed reporters after the FEC meeting said the rehabilitation will be done in three phases of 18, 24 and 44 months. He said the contract was awarded to an Italian company, Tecnimont SPA, who, according to the minister, are experts in refinery maintenance. Mr. Sylva said the funding of the repairs will be from many components including the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), budgetary provisions and Afreximbank. "The Ministry of Petroleum Resources presented a memo on the rehabilitation of Port Harcourt refinery for the sum of $1.5 billion, and that memo was $1.5 billion and it was approved by council today. "So we are happy to announce that the rehabilitation of productivity refinery will commence in three phases. The first phase is to be completed in 18 months, which will take the refinery to a production of 90 per cent of its nameplate capacity. "The second phase is to be completed in 24 months and all the final stage will be completed in 44 months and consultations are approved. "And I believe that this is good news for Nigeria."

To many, it is not good news. They call it capital flight. Only Italy will benefit while Nigeria becomes poorer.

The approval therefore confirms a January 7 report by Reuters this year that Nigeria's state oil firm NNPC is in talks to raise around $1 billion in a prepayment with trading firms to refurbish its largest refining complex at Port Harcourt. According to the report, the money would be repaid over seven years through deliveries of Nigerian crude and products from the refinery once the refurbishment is complete, the sources said. Cairo-based Afreximbank is leading the financing. "Afreximbank is looking into a facility for the refurbishment of the Port Harcourt Refinery. However, the borrower is yet to be determined," a spokesman for the bank said.

On July 27, 2017, the former Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu promised to end fuel importation by 2019, or he would resign from his position. He never resigned and fuel importation did not stop until he was dropped by President Muhammadu Buhari in his second term.

Nigeria has spent over $1.6 billion on the Turn-Around Maintenance of the country's four refineries, without any sign of improvement since 2000. Nigeria is the fifth largest exporter of crude oil in the world, but spends over $16 million per day importing refined petroleum products. This situation has been attributed to the poor refining capacity of the country. The total utilisation capacity of the refineries was estimated at below 40 per cent of the total installed refining capacity, making them the worst performing refineries in Africa. Dr. Ibe Kachikwu confirmed the poor conditions of the plants during an oil and gas stakeholders' meeting in Abuja on Tuesday, July 18, 2017. "Our refineries have not been maintained at the same levels that other nearby countries have continued to do theirs. Look at Ghana and Ivory Coast, the same refineries, about the same ages and working at over 90 per cent capacity," he said.

On November 22, 2019, the House of Representative ordered an investigation into the financial allocations set aside for 'Turn-Around Maintenance' of the petroleum refineries in Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna, estimated to have cost $396.33 million in four years. The inquiry was initiated following the motion titled "Call for investigation of the $396.33 million allegedly spent in four years on turn around maintenance of the nation's three refineries." At the plenary session, Ifeanyi Momah, representing Ihiala federal constituency of Anambra State called for the inquiry, alleging that the amount spent on maintenance of the facilities had not yielded the desired results.

The House also called on the Federal Government to consider "divesting a certain percentage of its shareholding in the Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna refineries to competent investors under a transparent and fair bidding process."

Also, the House mandated the Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream) to conduct an investigative hearing into the maintenance expenses made from 2015 to date while the committee was to submit its findings within eight weeks.

Till today, the report of the so called investigation by the House of Representatives has not surfaced.

Let us take a brief look on the three refineries that we have. The first, Port Harcourt Refinery was built in 1965 under the then Prime Minister, Alhaji Abubakar Tafawa Balewa (1912-1966; GCFR). It was commissioned, operated and managed by SHELL BP. The capacity was 35,000 barrel per day. However, ownership passed to the Central Government in 1970 under General Yakubu Gowon (85; GCFR). The Refinery was upgraded in 1971 to 60,000 barrel per day. The second Port Harcourt Refinery, a deep conversion facility, with an installed capacity of 150,000 barrel per day was built and commissioned on November 25, 1989 under General Ibrahim Babangida (79; GCFR), bringing the combined capacity of the refinery to 210,000 barrel per day. The refinery in 2000 under President Olusegun Obasanjo (84; GCFR), operated at about 47 per cent of the total installed capacity. The turn Around Maintenance (TAM), was last carried out in 1994 under General Sani Abacha (20 September, 1943 - 8 June, 1998; GCFR). The old refinery was shut down because internally generated power is not enough to run the two refineries and public power was unreliable.

Warri Refinery was commissioned in 1979 under General Olusegun Obasanjo with an initial capacity of 100,000 barrel per day. It was de-bottle-necked to a capacity of 125,000 barrel per day in 1988. It was further expanded in 1988 with the addition of a petrochemical plant with a capacity to produce 35,000 metric tonnes and 18,000 metric tonnes per annum of polypropylene and carbon black respectively. The last TAM was carried out in 1994. The Refinery operated from January to February 2000 at about 10.3 per cent of the installed capacity and was shut down because the main heater blew up. In 2000, four capital projects were identified for optimising the performance of the refinery at a total cost of $220.7 million dollars and N351.15 million.

The Kaduna Refinery was commissioned in 1980 by President Shehu Usman Aliyu Shagari (25 February 1925-28 December, 2018) with an initial capacity of 100,000 barrel per day. In 1985, under Major General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd.; GCFR), it was de-bottle-necked to 110,000 barrel per day. The refinery was integrated with a petrochemical plant in 1988 with a capacity for the production of 30,000 metric tonnes of linear alkyl benzene. It was shut down in August 2000 partly to allow rehabilitation of the heaters and because the TAM which started in 1998 was yet to be completed. The last TAM carried out before then was in 1992 which means that two consecutive TAM (1994 and 1996) were not carried out. Eighteen capital projects were identified for optimizing the performance of the refinery at a total cost two billion naira.

The refineries are limited liability companies, which should be able to do their production planning, funds projection and procurement. They should also have audited Profit and Loss Account and Balance Sheet. The refineries though limited liability companies, are not run like enterprises, which should pay their way. They have no Board of Directors and are tied to the apron string of the NNPC in a system of inter-locking directorates. They operate by presenting annual budgets and performance targets plans to the NNPC, which examines the budget and makes resources available on the basis of request and availability and not necessarily requirement. Furthermore, the financial operations of the refineries, whereby they are regarded as contract processors, to whom fixed processing fees are paid by the NNPC, who in turn supplies the crude oil and consigns all the petroleum products to PPMC for sale and distribution, does not allow for proper appreciation of the cost structure and profitability of refining operations.

In 2000, the Port Refinery was refining only about 90,000 barrel per day out of its installed combined capacity of 210,000 barrel per day since the old refinery was shut down due to a haulage constraints on naphtha and fuel oil tankage.

The major processes used by the refinery to produce petroleum products from crude oil are crude distillation, vacuum distillation, Naptha Hydro-Treating, Catalytic Cracking and Gas Concentration. The salable products obtainable from the refinery are liquefied petroleum gas or cooking gas, premium motor spirit or petrol, dual purpose kerosene (aviation/household), automotive gas oil or diesel and fuel oil. The refinery was also said to produce some special products namely--unstenched LPG for insecticide manufacture, straight run naphtha and propylene rich LPG, feed to to Eleme Petrochemical Plant. Product availiability at PHRC was said to be satisfactory in spite of the ongoing Turn Around Maintenance (TAM) which was commenced in May, 2000.

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Port Harcourt Refinery was said to generate its own steam and electrical power. During normal operations, three boilers and three turbo-generators were used to supply the required energy. Evacuation facilities available included 120 storage tanks of various sizes for crude oil, intermediate and finished products; two modern jetties at Okrika each of which had two berths- an outer berth capable of handling up to 35,000.00 DWT vessels, and inner berth for ships of up to 5,000 DWT; A 55-kilometre pipeline constructed from NNPC/Shell Bonny Terminal to supply crude to the refinery and road tankers and pipelines. The refinery has modern treatment plants to handle all waste from its operations.

The constraints of the refinery were poor performance of the two other refineries in the country; inadequate products evacuation facilities. By next year the 12 billion dollars oil refinery of the Dangote refinery being built on 6180 acres of land between the Atlantic Ocean and the Lekki Lagoon will take off and will process 650,000 barrels of crude oil daily.

With the Dangote Refinery and its monopolistic policy patronized, endorsed, encouraged and approved by the central government, whatever money to be spent on Port Harcourt Refinery will go down the drain again. The money will just be a waste. The Central Government has so much money to waste while the states are dying. And this is in a country that has the growing population of unemployed youths while poverty is on the rise daily. And this is in a country where nothing works while millions live in fear because of insecurity. And this is in a country that has the largest number of displaced people in Africa. And this in a country that is marching backward so fast.

It's so sad.

Eric Teniola , a former director in the Presidency, writes from Lagos
A fire captain with the Bentonville Fire Department has been arrested and is facing several charges for attacking an Asian man outside an Arkansas casino. Bentonville Fire Department Capt. Benjamin Snodgrass, 44, allegedly approached the victim, Liem Nguyen, outside the Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort in Hot Springs on the night of March 13, according to KARK.

Snodgrass asked Nguyen if he knew he was in America and started pushing him. Nguyen punched the man in self-defense and he punched the victim back, KATV reported. He comes walking back at me, telling me hes going to kill me and my kind of people and put a hold on me and thats when I defend myself, Nguyen said. After the fight, Nguyen called the Hot Springs Police Department to report the incident. Upon arriving at the scene, officers saw a red mark under Nguyens eye, his shirt torn and he had a scratch on his right knee. Authorities also attempted to speak to Snodgrass, but he was not speaking in clear sentences. He was also heard saying, I dont know guys, Im hammered. Although he admitted he confronted Nguyen about not being American, Snodgrass said nothing else happened.

Officers responding to the scene noted Snodgrass had blood on his left ear, lips and redness on both of his knuckles. Snodgrass was arrested and booked in the Garland County jail. He was charged with misdemeanor, third-degree battery and public intoxication but was released the following day after posting a $1,500 bail and pleaded not guilty. I never thought it would happen to me personally because I speak English perfectly and I spoke English to him perfectly, Nguyen said. Its 2021. It doesnt matter people are people, thats it theres no difference. He is scared to go out following the incident, he told KARK. Nguyen filed for a no-contact order on March 19 that was approved by a Garland County Judge. Snodgrass, who has been with the Bentonville Fire Department for over 12 years, was recently put on paid administrative leave pending the investigation, a spokesperson said. He is due to appear at the Garland County courtroom in Hot Springs on May 6. The attack occurred solely because of his nationality and a climate of hate by some in this country right now toward Asian-Americans, Julie Roper, Nguyens attorney, said. Roper also accused Snodgrass of threatening to kill Nguyen. The prosecution has yet to decide if they will pursue federal hate crime charges for the case and discuss the matter with the U.S. Attorney's Office, according to Garland County Prosecuting Attorney Michelle Lawrence. However, a spokesperson for the U.S Attorneys Office declined to comment on the case with an ongoing investigation. Bentonville Mayor Stephanie Orman condemned the incident and said the city does not condone or tolerate any form of discrimination or violence,4029TV reported. In fact, we have worked hard with the formation of a DEI task force both, in the community and internally as a staff, to make sure that everyone has a voice, they are heard, and feel welcome and protected in our community, Orman continued in the statement. We will continue our work to make Bentonville an inclusive, safe, and welcoming environment for all. Feature Image via Garland County jail (left), KATV (right)

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State leaders say the investigation is needed to regain trust in the department. However, county officials say the accusations aren't accurate.

Video Transcript

NATHALIE GRANDA: Well, Warren, those allegations have led to this letter from the State Latino Legislative Caucus, demanding that the governor step in and investigate the Fresno County Department of Public Health, as well as the Foster Farms facility. They're hoping that will help regain trust. However, county officials say those accusations are not accurate.

- The public, they deserve to know the truth of what exactly happened, of why it happened.

NATHALIE GRANDA: Latino state leaders want answers, now demanding Governor Newsom step in and investigate amid allegations that the Fresno County Health Department tipped off Foster Farm officials about a surprise Cal/OSHA inspection.

- We expect a serious-- a comprehensive investigation to restore trust.

NATHALIE GRANDA: State assembly members and victims of lost loved ones came together Thursday, calling for action after "The Fresno Bee" reported the department not only tipped off the company, but coordinated a media strategy to withhold information.

JOAQUIN ARAMBULA: It raises questions about whether components of the Fresno health safety system have been compromised and possibly biased.

NATHALIE GRANDA: State leaders say at least five people at the Southeast Fresno plant died and more than 20 were hospitalized. Bobby Singh Dhillon says his father worked at Foster Farms for more than 20 years and planned to retire late last year, until he died from COVID-19 complications.

BOBBY SINGH DHILLON: We already have paid the ultimate price of losing our father, but there should be accountability from Foster Farms, as they have failed their workers by not providing a safe work environment.

NATHALIE GRANDA: The Fresno County administrative officer, Jean Rousseau, says the allegations aren't accurate. He says in November of last year, they'd been working with Foster Farms on safety protocols, but once they noticed case rates going up, they contacted Cal/OSHA.

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Rousseau says Cal/OSHA officials told them they were slammed and they'd put them on a list. But the county didn't want to wait and set up a visit to the plant. County officials say they let Cal/OSHA know of the visit.

JEAN ROUSSEAU: And Cal/OSHA, during that conversation, asked if they could go to that meeting with us. So it wasn't a-- they weren't planning on going out on their own.

NATHALIE GRANDA: Rousseau then claims Foster Farms asked how many people would be attending so they can get a big enough room.

JEAN ROUSSEAU: They called us and asked how many people are coming out. We told them the number and that Cal/OSHA would be joining us. And they said, how many people are they going to bring so we can have a room that's large enough to properly social distance.

NATHALIE GRANDA: Did Cal/OSHA know that you told-- that you guys told Foster Farms?

JEAN ROUSSEAU: I believe so, yes. If the legislature and the governor wants to investigate this-- our actions. We welcome it. We have nothing to hide.

NATHALIE GRANDA: We did reach out to Foster Farms for comment, but have yet to receive one.

Live in downtown Fresno, I'm Nathalie Granda, ABC 30, Action News.
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

A new report shows that although progress has been made in recent years to reduce the gender pay gap in Australia, it will still take more than a quarter of a century to close it.

Research released today by the Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre and the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) found that while the total remuneration gender pay gap fell from 24.7 percent to 20.1 percent in the last seven years, it is likely to take another 26 years for the full-time total remuneration gender pay gap to close completely.

The report, "Gender Equity Insights 2021: Making it a Priority" revealed that the gender pay gap for executives could disappear in the next decade but the outlook was less positive for the predominantly female-dominated community and personal service workers.

Report author and Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre Deputy Director Associate Professor Rebecca Cassells said if the average annual rate of change continued, the gender pay gap among full-time executives would be eliminated within 10 years, and for senior managers in less than 15 years.

"For workers in non-management roles, it could take even longer. Some occupations may not see any change at all in their gender pay gap in the coming years," Associate Professor Cassells said.

"Our report showed organizations that implemented a comprehensive suite of gender equality policy and practice measures and did so consistently over time achieved lower gender pay gaps and, more women in senior leadership roles.

"We also found finance and insurance, utilities and mining companies are the most likely to adhere to best gender equity practices, with the mining sector being the biggest improver in recent years, while businesses in the health care and social assistance sector are only a quarter as likely to adhere to best practice."

Libby Lyons, director of the Workplace Gender Equality Agency, said that the report highlighted the importance of Australian businesses taking action to improve gender equality outcomes.

"The findings of last year's WGEA dataset showed that progress on gender equality had stalled in Australian workplaces. This report reveals a worrying level of apathy and indifference among many Australian employers towards improving gender equality outcomes in their organizations," Ms Lyons said.

"Expecting Australian women to wait a quarter of a century for the total remuneration gender pay gap to close is unacceptable. It may well take longer if employer inertia and complacency lead to a reversal of current trends. We also have to consider the effect that the COVID-19 pandemic may have on the outlook for women's employment and workforce participation. This will remain unclear until we collect the data from employers in the coming months and release our next dataset later this year.

"Employers must act now to embed gender equality in their organizations as a standard business practice. Not only will it drive better company performance, productivity and profitability but it will also deliver meaningful, systemic change that will close the gender pay gap faster and make our workplaces better, fairer and safer for both women and men."

Report co-author and Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre Director John Curtin Distinguished Professor Alan Duncan said despite recent progress toward gender equality there was considerable evidence of a degree of apathy and inaction among Australia's biggest organizations.

"An example of this is the diminishing efforts to narrow the gender pay gap through regular audits, the rate of which has slowed significantly, with more than half of reporting organizations not undertaking a regular pay gap analysis," Professor Duncan said.

"The managerial gender pay gap grew an extra 5.1 percentage points among those organizations that ceased regular pay gap audits, but decreased by 2.2 percentage points for organizations that consistently examined how they were paying women and men."

"What's more, organizations with a higher concentration of women tend to be the most apathetic. This is even evident when looking at board representation, where male-dominated industries are more likely to be closer to having a proportionate representation of women on boards than many female-dominated sectors.

"What we do know is that targets work. Organizations that have set consistent targets for appointing women on to boards, increase the share of female board members at twice the pace of those that set no targets.

"The risk of complacency is that we lose the hard-earned gains in improved gender equality outcomes."

Key findings:

The gender pay gap has fallen from 24.7 percent to 20.1 percent and at this rate of change will take another 26 years for the full-time gender pay gap for total remuneration to close;

A 4.4 percentage point reduction in the gender pay gap of managers between 2015 and 2020 and a 2.3 percentage point reduction for non-managers among companies that are the most consistent when it comes to gender equity policies and actions;

A 1.4 percentage point reduction in the gender pay gap of managers for the same period and no change for non-managers among companies that are the least consistent when it comes to gender equity policies and actions;

The mining sector was most improved for following the best gender equity practices with an increase of 8.4 points over the last five years;

Organizations in the education and training, health care and social assistance sectors ranked lowest on average in terms of their approach to gender equity in the workplace, and showed least improvement over the last five years;

The rate of pay audit actions has slowed, increasing by only 1.7 percentage points in the latest WGEA reporting data, while in previous years it has averaged growth of 3.7 percentage points;

Organizations that consistently undertook pay gap audits saw their managerial gender pay gap narrow at a faster rate than other companies, by up to 2.2 percentage points between 2017 and 2020;

Organizations that set consistent board targets saw the share of women on boards increase by 7.3 percentage points, lifting from 21.6 to 31.1 percent between 2015 and 2020; and

An increase of only 3.5 percentage points for companies that did not set any targets for women on boards.

Explore further Study: More women on boards and in senior leadership positions proves better for business

More information: Gender Equity Insights 2021: Making it a Priority. Gender Equity Insights 2021: Making it a Priority. bcec.edu.au/publications/gende  aking-it-a-priority/
This article appears in the March 26, 2021 issue of Executive Intelligence Review.

[Print version of this article]

Richard Freeman

The Global Reset: The Great Leap Backward

Richard Freeman writes on economics for Executive Intelligence Review and is co-author of the EIR Special Report, The Great Leap BackwardLaRouche Exposes the Green New Deal. He delivered this speech on March 20, 2021 to Panel 2 of the Schiller Institute conference, The World at a CrossroadsTwo Months into the Biden Administration.

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Schiller Institute Richard Freeman

Good afternoon.

Britains Prince Charles, BlackRock investment advisors, and the financiers of the City of London and Wall Street, are implementing, at great speed, a green genocide program called the Great Reset, or the Green New Deal. Under the clothing of environmentalism, it would implement radical population reduction; a shutdown of agricultural-manufacturing production; and the building of a $40 trillion green speculative bubble, all implemented through a central bankers dictatorship.

On cue, the witless President Joe Biden issued two very important executive ordersEO13990 and EO14008within the first week of taking office, and other programs were brought up, such as the policy paper, Making Mission Possible, to realize the Green New Deal.

This is being activated at a furious pace that few people actually see.

Unless we put a stop to the plans of Prince Charles and his friends, the physical economy will be torn asunder, and a genocide, perhaps several times greater than Hitlers, will ensue.

Environmentalism Is Killing People

In February of this year, EIR published the special report, The Great Leap Backward: LaRouche Exposes the Green New Deal. I urge you to get a copy of it and to study it. I can only give a few highlights.

The way to understand the Green New Deal is to understand its history, and its intent. It did not arise out of the thin blue sky. The Green New Deal was not assembled in 2017, as the media often dishonestly and profusely report. Rather it is the culmination of a 75-year project. The Green New Deal is a carefully crafted vehicle for radical population reduction, with almost no real concern about the environment. The genocidalists who assembled the Green New Deal, and its offshoots, believe that only the super-wealthy, the upper three or four percent of the population, are fit to live; they regard the other part of the population, the 96 percent, as, in the words of the Nazis, people whose lives are not worthy to live.

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Left to right: UNESCO/Claude Bablin, Creative Commons. Creative Commons

In 1946, Julian Huxley, called for the revival of the Nazi policy of eugenics, only one year after World War II had ended. In the same year of 1946, Huxley had created and appointed himself director of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). In the statement stating UNESCOs purpose, Huxley wrote:

The dead weight of genetic stupidity, mental instability, and disease-proneness, which already exist in the human species, will prove too great a burden for real progress to be achieved. Thus even though it is quite true that any radical eugenic policy will be for many years politically and psychologically impossible, it will be important for UNESCO to see that the eugenic problem is examined with the greatest possible care, and that the public mind is informed of the issues at stake so that much that is now unthinkable may at least become thinkable.

In 1946, the issue of eugenics was highly charged. Even though Huxley put it into UNESCOs policy statement, he would be taking his life into his hands if he called for eugenics as a movement openly, so he called the movement instead environmentalism.

As for Prince Philip, in the foreword to a 1987 book [by Fleur Cowles] called, If I Were an Animal, he wrote in response to human population growth, I must confess that I am tempted to ask for reincarnation as a deadly virus.

Princes Philip and Bernhard, along with Huxley, created the World Wildlife Fund as an organization command center for what would become the Great Reset. They deployed Philips son Charles for this purpose.

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Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark Prince Charles View full size



Prince Charles power derives not from himself, but comes from his location in an institutional arrangement amongst the monarchy; the City of London, Wall Street, and other financial centers; the Bank of England; and MI5, MI6, GCHQthe intelligence centers. I want to emphasize that there are other forces as well.

In the early 1990s, Philip et al. deployed Charles to help set up and direct the agenda of the Earth Summit, which was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1992. I will only report on two features. The summit was an extravaganza with more than 100 heads of state and 38,000 people in attendance. The first feature is that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change previously had reported on climate change as both natural and man-made. At the Rio summit, it only reported henceforth that climate change was man-made. Second, it laid out sharp reductions in greenhouses gases; the reductions were made mandatory at the Kyoto summit five years later in 1997. The Rio Earth summit became the precedent for all future UN environmental summits held every five years.

Second point, Prince Charles, using his close advisers, John Porritt and Tony Juniper, whom I call Charles little green men, established in 2008 in Britain the Green New Deal, with an organization bearing that name, but set up for export to the United States. This is nine years before the Green New Deal was supposedly discovered in the United States. Charles created the Green New Deal. Much more is available in our special report.

Bidens Green New Deal

The situation has intensified as the British attempt to impose the Great Reset/Green New Deal upon a willing Biden administration, making the United States the leading model for this program globally. Biden and his Special Envoy for Climate, former Secretary of State John Kerry, are working at a frenzied pace. They are adopting policies, by executive orders, that would, by design, significantly undermine Americas agricultural and industrial physical capacity and assets. This would threaten the nations human existence.

On January 20, a mere few hours after having been sworn in as President, Biden signed Executive Order 13990. In a simplified explanation, all federal, state, and local levels of government are required by law to evaluate each new potential infrastructure or other project on a cost-benefit analysis basis, in which the benefit is supposed to be greater than the cost. What Bidens EO13990 does, is it would make mandatory that social costs of carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases are made part of the cost-benefit analysis.

Without going into a detailed explanation here, the environmentalists falsely claim that carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and methane, increase the amount of global warming, which in turn, does serious damage to the economy. The environmentalists can assign a dollar amount of damage caused by each gas, which they make up, based on whatever price they choose. When that social cost of the gas is multiplied by, say, 1,000 additional tons of that gas being produced, that product can total tens of millions, or hundreds of millions of dollars of cost.

Those sums are now added onto the real costs of the project, like piping, mortar, etc., and suddenly the costs are too big relative to benefits to justify going ahead with the project. Were Bidens EO 13990 to go into effect, it would shut down the majority of federal, state, and local projects, especially in agriculture.

Figure 1 Alleged Social (Monetized) Costs of Carbon Dioxide, Methane, and Nitrous Oxide View full size



Figure 1 shows the social cost of each gas, and the concentration of the gases in the atmosphere. Notice that nitrous oxide constitutes only 3 one-hundred thousandths of a percent of all the gases in the atmosphere. Negligible. It is claimed that nitrous oxide depletes the Antarctic ozone hole. But Scientific American recently reported that the Antarctic ozone hole is the smallest since 1988. The Biden administration knows this, that it is fraud to say that nitrous oxide is depleting the ozone hole, but is pushing ahead on its Executive Order anyway.

The good news is that on March 8, Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt and the Attorneys General from 11 other states, filed suit against Bidens Executive Order 13990 in the Eastern District of Missouri, saying:

[It will] inflict trillions of dollars of damage to the U.S. economy for decades to come. It will destroy jobs, stifle energy production, strangle Americas energy independence, suppress agriculture, deter innovation, and impoverish working families.

As for Bidens EO 14008, it is sweeping. Its going to direct the Director of National Intelligence, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to report on the security implications of climate change. So, its now shifting climate change into a central policy in every agency, including our Defense Department and the intelligence services. Executive Order 14008 also has a policy called 3030 Conservation, a policy which my colleague Marcia Merry Baker will elaborate on tomorrow. But we can say it will take out of use 30% of federal lands and 30% of federal waters from any form of energy development or use for productive purposes like agriculture.

Lastly, we briefly consider a policy paper called, Making Mission Possible, produced by the London-based Energy Transitions Commission. The report appears to set the ground to heavily reduce the production and use of aluminum, cement, and steel, because allegedly their production involves the production of too much greenhouse gases that could lead supposedly to higher levels of global warming.

Figures 2, 3 and 4 list the top uses of aluminum, cement, and steelthree sectors that are indispensable for every feature of an economy. As Lyndon LaRouche has pointed out, an economy is an integrated feature; its not where we build a little something here, or there. You have different processes which are necessary as a whole to raise mankinds potential relative population-density, which means especially increasing the cognitive potential of man and making breakthroughs to next levels of development.

If you took those three elements out by themselves, you could not build infrastructure, you would not have manufacturing, you would not have agricultural implements. Kill off significant sections of agriculture, as Bidens executive orders would do, and the economy is blowing out, and human existence plummets, setting the stage for the 75-year-old project run by Julian Huxley, Prince Charles and Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, for the radical reduction of the population. But it is the same condition in most nations of the world with the exception of China, and positive sections of Asia.

The lawsuit filed by the Attorneys General of 12 states indicates we have tremendous openings, if we seize them. We can bring the Green New Deal completely down, and move into the world of the Belt and Road Initiative.
Nearly two dozen people in Washington are under observation after travel to Ebola-affected regions in West Africa, public health officials said Friday.

Officials in Oregon on Thursday announced that four people were similarly being monitored after travel to Guinea and Democratic Republic of the Congo, bringing the total in the region to 27.

Like in Oregon, officials in Washington said the risk to the public was very low.

The Washington Department of Health said all of the individuals had been in contact with state officials and would be monitored for 21 days, the incubation period for the virus. None had shown symptoms, officials said.

Unlike the coronavirus, which can be transmitted by aerosolized droplets, the Ebola virus is only spread by contact with bodily fluids, and the virus cannot be transmitted by asymptomatic people.

Richard Leman, Oregons chief medical officer for health security, preparedness and response, said the state was ready for this type of scenario.

Weve had to do this before, he said. These approaches were using have been successful in those instances, and weve never had a case of Ebola in Oregon.

Officials in Oregon and Washington have not released any details about the people being monitored  including their age, location or why they traveled to the affected region -- citing privacy laws.

As of Wednesday, Guinea had reported 18 cases and nine deaths related to the outbreak, which is centered in the southern region of the country. Democratic Republic of Congo has seen 12 cases and six deaths in the eastern part of the country near the border with Uganda.

The outbreaks were limited to small areas in both countries and had not affected large population centers.

Still, the Centers for Disease Control has issued warnings for both countries and told people to avoid unnecessary travel.

-- Kale Williams; kwilliams@oregonian.com; 503-294-4048; @sfkale
Burma History Rhymes Tragically in Myanmar

Anti-regime protesters confront security forces in Mandalay in early March. / The Irrawaddy

Mark Twain is said to have remarked that if history does not repeat itself, it often rhymes. Societies have a tendency to continue patterns of policy or actions, sometimes in spite of their previous and obvious deleterious or ineffective effects.

Evident in Myanmar today is the tragedy that is unfolding. Discernable patterns emerge where the leadership and the people have been through much of the same trauma before, but seem to be unaware of, or indifferent to, prior consequences. The times, generations, technology, and the international sphere may have changed, but the institutional patterns reemerge with dire consequences, even if memories have faded.

The Feb. 1 coup was the fourth since Burmese independence in 1948. The first, in 1958, was consensual because the legislature agreed to a time-limited Tatmadaw (Myanmar military) takeover, although it did so under duress. The second in 1962, designed to perpetuate military dominance, resulted in the loss of one life, and was an attempt at complete domination of society through an autocratic, single-party socialist state. The third in 1988, followed the chaos that was in effect a response to a failed peoples revolution and the massive losses of life that the military had unintentionally instigated through brutality and mismanagement. It was designed to prop up an unsuccessful military government and continue its hegemony in society. Myanmar cannot match the frequency of Thailands coups, but it far outstrips Thailand in loss of innocent lives and the Tatmadaw in Myanmar far exceeds Thai military control over its society.

At first, the 2021 coup seemed different from that of 1988. Ostensibly, it was prompted by Tatmadaw allegations that the National League for Democracys (NLD) overwhelming victory over the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party in the November 2020 election was marred by massive fraud, and the NLDs subsequent refusal to negotiate with the military.

Yet the Tatmadaw had command of those state administrative elements that ensured that their interests, and those that that they regarded as essential to a unified state, would remain under their control through the military-written constitution of 2008. Thus the election did not seem to threaten military interests, no matter how much it may have humiliated the Tatmadaw. The charges of NLD manipulation of the November 2020 elections seemed an exaggerated and very weak excuse on which to place their actions.

The Tatmadaw appeared initially to be avoiding violence, contrary to 1988, and used police rather than soldiers to control anti-coup demonstrations. But as the protests continued and spread nationwide, indiscriminate military killings and beatings became evident. It seemed the Tatmadaw had learned nothing from the hostility it had created through its brutality a generation earlier.

According to the State Administration Council, as the military called its supposed temporary government (it refused to be known as a regime or junta), elections will be held after one year, providing some stipulated conditions have been met, such as dealing with Covid-19 and election reform, as well as ethnic minority peace, which seems unrealistic, and the winning party will take over government.

This is a theoretical repeat of 1958, when the Tatmadaw-administered government, with the consent of the civilian legislature, ruled for a supposed six month period that turned into eighteen months. At that time, the military did a credible, if autocratic, job and supervised a relatively fair election in which the militarys preferred party lost, and the Tatmadaw went back (temporarily) to its barracks.

The situation is different today. A young generation has access to technology that keeps them in touch with the world, each other and which unites them. This generation cannot be isolated, is far better educated and is aware of the limitations of military authority. If they are forcibly cowed, that will be short lived and some apolitical event or incident could easily set off a new series of protests at any time. The real purpose of the coup seems to be the emasculation of the NLD and the removal of its leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi from the political sphere.

After the 1962 and 1988 coups, the judicial system was completely under military control. The charges made against those opposed to the military in 2021 are risible instances of the rule of law, which the military constantly invokes as it cuts off rights and subjects the population to authoritarian demands.

The opposition NLD today has invoked some of the past actions of the same party. When the military ignored the results of the 1990 elections, which were swept by the NLD, a group of elected members went into hiding and proclaimed an alternative government to the military. Eventually, it fled the country to Thailand, and ended up in Washington, D.C. where it lobbied Congress and successive administrations to recognize its legitimacy. So too after the 2021 coup, some elected NLD members, who could not take their seats in parliament, proclaimed the Committee Representing the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH) as representing the legitimate government, and sought support and foreign recognition. The military considers that those in or associated with the CRPH are involved in treasonous acts and has threatened them with prosecution.

The United States has also resumed an earlier pattern. In the 1990s, it imposed rigorous sanctions against the then junta in Myanmar, which simply let the Chinese assume a position of engorged importanceresented by the Burmese and of concern to the U.S. The new series of sanctions in 2021 are far more targeted and sophisticated than previous ones, but U.S. and Western leverage is extremely limited. Yet Congress feels it must respond to the outrageous crimes against humanity; the most ardent supporter of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in Congress has been Senator Mitch McConnell.

The imposition of sanctions is unlikely to bring regime change, which was the policy of both the Clinton and Bush administrations in the 1990s and 2000s. The West, including the European Union, Canada, and Australia will probably follow with sanctions. China, India, and the ASEAN states will demur. Japans Ministry of Foreign Affairs will be under pressure from the U.S., but Japanese business interests are extensive and are, in effect, the modest counter to Chinese influence. China will support any stable government in Myanmar because of its strategic interests and its extensive Belt and Road infrastructure projects.

However this present crisis ends, we are witnessing the beginnings of a long-term tragedy. The Tatmadaw appear to have learned little from its earlier actions and the enmity that the bulk of the populace feels toward their brutal actions will only increase. Future violence prompted by some apolitical event is predictable. The younger population, frustrated by repression yet aware of the opportunities of their contemporaries in neighboring states, will be denied the ability to contribute to society. The people at large will suffer as the economy contracts, foreign investment dwindles, employment stumbles, and the international market for many of Myanmars products are boycotted in sympathy for the Myanmar people.

Mark Twain was right. History does indeed rhyme. Even the modest progress of the past has been erased. Perhaps the NLD administration of the past five years has been wanting, but the current debacle means only the disintegration of the limited good that has developed. Our sympathy goes out to the suffering people of Myanmar.

David I. Steinberg is Distinguished Professor of Asian Studies Emeritus at Georgetown University

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Percentage of adult population who have

received at least one vaccine dose Hover over or tap a neighborhood for more detail

Just over a hundred days into New York Citys vaccination campaign, 30 percent of adults and half of those 65 and older have received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine. Millions more remain left to be vaccinated, and the city will have to overcome already significant disparities in vaccination rates across neighborhoods and demographic groups.

White and Asian New Yorkers have been vaccinated at higher rates than Black and Latino residents, who have been more likely to die from or be hospitalized with Covid-19 both in New York City and nationwide.

Some of the highest vaccination rates are in the citys wealthiest neighborhoods  places where residents were most likely to leave the city at the start of the pandemic. In parts of the Upper West Side and Upper East Side, about half of adults have received at least one shot. In Corona, Queens, where the virus was far deadlier, only 19 percent have.

Vaccination Rates by Race At least one shot Asian 32% White 29% Latino 17% Black 16% Vaccination Rates by Borough At least one shot Citywide 30% Bronx 26% Brooklyn 26% Manhattan 37% Queens 31% Staten Island 34%

Rates vary across each of the five boroughs. Nine of the top 10 ZIP codes where residents have received at least one shot are in Manhattan, which has more vaccine distribution sites than any other borough.

Vaccination sites

Twenty percent of Manhattan adults have been fully vaccinated, compared with 12 percent of Brooklyn adults.

One of the clearest demographic trends in who is getting vaccinated is age.

Areas with more residents ages 65+

Adults who have received at least one dose

There are more than 1.2 million New Yorkers age 65 and older, rivaling the entire population of Dallas. Older adults were among the first in line for the vaccine, and in general, areas of the city with more older residents have a higher percentage of vaccinations than others.

While about half of all of these New Yorkers have had at least one dose, about 70 percent of those over 65 are not yet fully vaccinated, suggesting the city still has a ways to go even as eligibility expands to younger groups.

The other clear demographic trend is race and ethnicity.

35% at least one shot Areas where most residents are white 25% at least one shot Areas where most residents are Black or Hispanic

Adults who have received at least one dose

Neighborhoods with mostly white residents, like the Upper East and Upper West Side, Riverdale in the Bronx, Breezy Point in Queens, mid-island and the south shore of Staten Island, are outpacing city averages.

The majority Black and Latino neighborhoods in large swaths of Queens, Brooklyn, upper Manhattan and the southern Bronx are in some cases 20 to 30 percentage points behind neighborhoods at the top of the list. Morris Park, Pelham Bay, and Co-op City in the Bronx are exceptions. People of color make up a majority of these neighborhoods, where more than 35 percent of residents have received at least one dose.

Reasons for the disparities vary, and they will not all be clear from simply looking at a map. Many seniors are homebound or have had trouble navigating complex and confusing websites to sign up for the vaccine (obstacles not just for seniors, really).

For Black and Latino New Yorkers, some surveys have shown higher rates of hesitancy toward a vaccine, though barriers to access are an equal if not greater challenge.

For non-English speakers, language barriers can create fear and confusion. For poorer residents, its simply more difficult (and more expensive) to take a few hours or a day or two off work to get a shot.

The city is averaging 60,000 to 70,000 shots per day. At that rate, it will take months to reach the remaining seven million New Yorkers, including children, who are not yet eligible for any vaccine.
When it comes to the leading ladies of the big screen, there are two categories: Audrey Hepburn and everyone else. Elegance, warmth, sly intelligence, patrician manners, and larkish approachability she combined like no other. She was the original Peoples Princess.

Many actors cite unhappy childhoods, but few triumphed over such dire privation as Audrey Hepburn. As we learn in the lovely documentary Audrey, which is streaming on Netflix, both her diplomat father and her aristocrat mother, who split up when she was six, were Fascists. Daddy left the family in Belgium and returned to his native England to become a Blackshirt; Mummy wrote op-eds praising Herr Hitler. Audrey was ten, in school in England, in 1939 when her father disastrously miscalculated how the war would play out and sent her back to the Continent. He wouldnt see her again for 25 years, when as a world-famous celebrity she tracked him down in Ireland. He received her visit coldly and unapologetically, but she posed with him smiling radiantly as ever. She is smiling in nearly all of her photographs; to please was her way.

Hepburn grew up with her stern mother in Holland, where she spent the war years, from age ten to age 15, in a state of hunger. Two uncles were executed for their part in the Resistance. We had to live in the cellar because parts of our house were being shot away, she recalled later. Audrey did cabaret work to entertain the Dutch, and carried Resistance messages in her shoes. All she wanted was to be a dancer, and after the war she won a scholarship to study ballet back in England. She was too far behind the other girls, though, and so could never catch up. She segued into acting, taking bit parts in English movies.

She was playing an unimportant role in an unimportant film in Paris when Colette, the author of the novel Gigi, spotted her at a hotel. Would Audrey like to go to Broadway to play the title part in the stage version of the story? She would. (This was a straight play; the musical of the same name had not yet been written.) Just six years after she had barely survived a wartime winter eating tulip bulbs, she was a star. After the play closed, William Wyler hired her to star in Roman Holiday, which won her an Oscar at 24, and the screen test that convinced him, as shown in the documentary, is absolutely enchanting. Her movie debut was actually her eighth appearance on screen.

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Movie stars at mid century were very different from actors today: Instead of obsessively trying new looks, new accents, and new personalities in each role, they stuck to what they did best, working diligently to make their off-screen personas live up to the magic they created on-screen. As she was about to start filming Sabrina in 1953, Hepburn made an appointment with Hubert de Givenchy, herself choosing the designer whose dresses would come to be central to her singular appeal. The couturier was annoyed: He had thought he was meeting Katharine Hepburn.

The Hepburn-Givenchy partnership across seven films was, like Audrey herself, beyond compare, carrying on through Love in the Afternoon, Breakfast at Tiffanys, Charade, and How to Steal a Million. No other combination of lady and dresses was ever as beguiling. Theres a purity about his clothes, but always with a sense of humor, Hepburn is heard saying in Audrey, which was directed by Helena Coan. Hubert would do something terribly simple but therell be just that one little bow or little rose, something that will give it . . . a little fun. As a family friend remarks in the film, When an artist meets another artist, the best things come out. Givenchy even designed Hepburns low-key 1969 wedding dress, a piece so unassuming it could have been sold at the Gap.

Recalling how she fought a studio chief who, absurdly, thought her performance of Moon River should be cut from Breakfast at Tiffanys, Sean Hepburn Ferrer describes his mother as a lioness. In Hollywood, he notes correctly, You have to fight for everything you believe in, and the toughness she developed as a child served her well in maturity. So did her humility. She was this really nice lady who came to our house, recalls Andrew Wald, the son of one of her friends. After 1967s Wait Until Dark, she decided she missed her son so much that she quit movies, and wasnt seen on screen again for a decade. I dont want to be made to sound virtuous, she said later, after her second son, Luca, was born. What made me happier was to stay home with my children. It was not a sacrifice. Her last important role, in Robin and Marian (1976), in which she appeared middle-aged for the first time, was a heartbreaker about flown youth, and in her very last appearance, in Steven Spielbergs Always (1989), she was an angel in white.

What we all saw is not what she noticed in the mirror, though. In one of the disarmingly frank interviews used as narration in the film (which is occasionally interrupted by unspeakably awful docudrama footage), Hepburn explains: Id like to have had smaller feet. Id have liked to have more figure. Id have liked to have a smaller nose. Id like to have been blonde. Oh well. Id like to have changed everything. Its fair to ask (though the film avoids the topic) whether Hepburns blade of a build created so much envy in her fans that many fell prey to anorexia and other disorders trying to look the way Holly Golightly looked in Givenchys simple, beautiful black shift.

On-screen graceful, Hepburn off-screen was fretful, not that she often let it show. She was a heavy smoker who was greatly upset by two divorces and a miscarriage. Her granddaughter reflects, My dad said about my grandmother that the best kept secret about Audrey was that she was sad. . . . For the woman who was the most loved in the whole world to have such a lack of love was so sad. In later years she finally found happiness with Dutch actor Robert Wolders, with whom she settled down in a quiet town in Switzerland, though the pair did not marry. She had only two children of her own, so she set out to be a mother to the world, becoming the face of UNICEF and a prodigious fundraiser for it. Some of her last days she spent comforting starving Somalian children in 1992.

As with many of her co-stars  notably the lower-class striver Cary Grant and the Park Avenue preppy Humphrey Bogart  her screen image was much the opposite of her biography, which was plagued by loss and suffering and near-starvation. Still, beneath the surface her pictures again and again charted a story that reflected her own dual nature. Roman Holiday, Sabrina, Funny Face, Love in the Afternoon, The Nuns Story, Breakfast at Tiffanys, My Fair Lady, Wait Until Dark: Each is a tale of a woman who transforms as dramatically as Audrey herself. There is a through line here of steely feminine will, the haute-couture necessary battle gear when fighting to create ones ideal self. Dazzling as she appeared, it was grit that made her. Perhaps the most important thing which I carried through life, she is heard saying at the end of the film, is that whatever Ive suffered has helped me later on.

More from National Review
Mar. 25A Maine lawmaker apologized for a Zoom background featuring a joke about the disgraced film producer Harvey Weinstein during a Wednesday committee meeting.

Rep. Bruce Bickford, R-Auburn, signed onto the Taxation Committee public hearing Wednesday with a background featuring a sign at a San Francisco bar in 2017 that read "Harvey Weinstein Charm School Rehab Center." Weinstein was convicted of rape and sexual assault and sentenced to 23 years in prison last year. Three women recently dropped sex trafficking charges against him after a settlement agreement was reached.

Bickford quickly changed his background to a lake, which he often uses during legislative meetings on Zoom. He apologized for the image on Thursday in a statement, saying it was in "poor taste."

"I sincerely regret the event and will ensure that it does not happen again. Please accept my apology," the statement read.

The background was reported to the Legislature's human resources department as a possible violation of the State House's harassment policies, said Jenna Howard, a spokesperson for House Speaker Ryan Fecteau, D-Biddeford.
Coca-Cola attempts to build an inclusive workplace (Getty Images)

Activists in Georgia are organising a boycott of Coca-Cola Co. for not opposing a voting rights bill making its way through the state legislature.

The activists want to see the company - one of Georgia's largest and most well known - condemn a Republican- led bill that would limit voter access.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution spoke with members of the AME Sixth Episcopal District, who said they were going to launch the boycott of the company's products until they publicly condemn the bill.

The legislation would enact new voter ID laws and change the time frame for voters to submit their ballots.

Bishop Reginald Jackson said "we will speak with our wallets," and called out the company for not fulfilling its promise to speak out about racial injustice issues.

Read more

"This past summer, Coke and other corporations said they needed to speak out against racism. But theyve been mighty quiet about this, he said.

The bishop said if the company wants the support of his community, it needs to stand up for their rights to participate in democracy.

If Coca-Cola wants Black and brown people to drink their product, then they must speak up when our rights, our lives and our very democracy as we know it is under attack, he said.

A prior version of the legislation included a move to end early voting on Sunday, which the bishop said was intended to block Black voters from getting to the polls. He said that traditionally Black churches would use services on Sunday to mobilise voters and get them to the polls following church services.

Story continues

Last week, the state GOP dropped its plan to stop early voting on Sunday.

Coca-Cola Co said it was supportive of "a balanced approach to the elections bills that have been introduced in the Georgia Legislature this session," in a statement to the paper.

"The ultimate goal should be fair, secure elections where access to voting is broad-based and inclusive, the company said.

The company has not issued an official statement beyond what was given to the paper, however it did say it was "aligned" with the state's chamber of commerce in its concerns about the legislation.

The chamber of commerce statement said it "supports accessible and secure voting while upholding election integrity and transparency. Simply put, we believe that it should be easy to vote, hard to commit fraud and that Georgians should have faith and confidence in secure, accessible, and fair elections."

The House will vote on the legislation on Thursday, and the state's legislature will have to agree on a finalised version of the bill Wednesday.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 25)  Government agencies backed two Senate bills that recognize all foundlings, or children with unknown parents, as Filipino citizens.

The Department of Justice said this will institutionalize the 2016 ruling of the Supreme Court on the case of then presidential candidate Senator Grace Poe.

The court allowed her to run for the post despite petitions claiming she could not run for office. In 2015, petitioner Rizalito David also filed a case before the Senate Electoral Tribunal alleging that she was not a natural-born Filipino and therefore not qualified to be a sitting senator.

"We are well aware that there was a Supreme Court decision sometime in the past particularly the case of Poe-Llamanzares, wherein the highest court declared that as a matter of law, foundlings are, as a class, natural born citizens," DOJ state counsel Paulito De Jesus told the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality on Thursday.

"Domestic laws on adoption support the principle that foundlings are Filipinos," he added.

Poe was left by her unknown parents in a church in Jaro in 1968. The man who found her had her registered as a foundling in Iloilo City, according to court records. Actor couple Fernando Poe, Jr. and Susan Roces took her in as their child and completed the legal adoption process in 1974.

The measures filed by Senators Lito Lapid and Risa Hontiveros seek to protect abandoned children, saying they are natural-born Filipinos "regardless of the status or circumstances of birth." Meanwhile, people who find and care for these foundlings will be recognized as their legitimate parents.

Officials from the Departments of Health and Social Welfare and Development also supported the proposal, while the United Nations Refugee Agency said the proposed law should carry a retroactive provision so that older foundlings, including those who have turned 18 years old, will no longer be considered at risk of statelessness.

The House of Representatives passed its own version of the bill in October 2020.
LAWRENCE COUNTY, Ill. (WTHI) - Drive-thru vaccine clinics are becoming the norm these days. They're a quick way to get a lot of people vaccinated. While the Lawrence County health department has the distribution down, the Illinois National Guard came in Thursday to lend a hand.

Chad Crewell with the Lawrence County health department says, "A lot of good comradery and they're just knocking it out. They're very fast-paced group of individuals and they're here to work and they've hit the ground running and that's what we've been doing all morning."

Folks 18 and older could get the johnson and johnson one-shot vaccine starting Thursday. The vaccine was also made available to surrounding counties. Giving folks like Rita and Stephen Adams from Crawford County a chance to see their grandkids again.

Rita Adams says "We're good. Just a little sore when it went it. But we're good. We're great."

500 vaccines were made available. The health department made the clinic available for walk-ins.

Amy Marley with the Lawrence County health department explains, "I had about 200 left. This was pretty short notice, we put this together in just a few days."

Before Thursday's clinic, Lawrence County had about 13% of its population fully vaccinated. With help from the national guard that number looks to spike. But even before the 500th shot was given health officials were planning another big clinic on April 24th.

Marley says, "We don't have all the details worked out on that yet. But at that point, we will be where we're to that phase of 16 and above so hopefully we'll be able to capture a lot. We're definitely going to do over a thousand."

For more information on how to register for the vaccine: Click Here
Counseling and student support teams will be present at Cooper Middle School on Monday and in the coming days to offer counseling and emotional support to any in-person or virtual student who may need it, the district said.
Scientists at Sinai Health say they have discovered a new pathway that controls dangerous overreactions in a body's immune system, including deadly forms of hyper-inflammation.

In new findings out today in the journal Science, researchers at the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute (LTRI) detail how a protein known as WAVE2, a protein expressed in all immune cells, plays a critical role in maintaining immune system balance.

As part of the research, scientists knocked out, or turned off, WAVE2 in a subset of immune cells in mice, which led to severe autoimmunity and inflammation, as well as an inability to mount an immune response to a viral infection.

The study's senior author, Dr. Kathy Siminovitch, said they also found that another protein, known as mTOR, became overly active in the absence of WAVE2, putting the immune system into overdrive and leading to immune cell exhaustion.

Much like Goldilocks, a proper immune response requires such a delicate balance. You have to get it just right. By developing a mouse strain in which T cells, key players in immunity, lack WAVE2, we have shown that this protein is absolutely required for balanced immune responses." Dr Kathy Siminovitch, Senior Investigator and Canada Research Chair in Mechanisms Regulating Immunologic Disease, Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute

How to keep the immune system from going into overdrive has been a key question for medical experts as they continue to grapple with the devastating effects of COVID-19 pandemic, particularly on the elderly population.

Patients over the age of 65 are at a higher risk of developing severe COVID-19, partly due to a phenomenon called "cytokine storm" where the immune system overacts and damages organs.

"The pandemic has starkly illuminated the critical importance of immune balance and the severe consequences of disrupting such balance," said Siminovitch. "It has also highlighted the importance of fundamental research, which has taken us where we are today in understanding the virus and having treatment and prevention strategies in hand."

For years, Dr. Siminovitch has been exploring the genetic and molecular mechanisms that regulate and maintain balance across the immune system. In previous work, she helped trace the complex molecular steps that turn a rare gene mutation into Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome, which impairs the immune system of boys, and can lead to death at a very young age.

Dr. Siminovitch said they would like to expand their research to look at how the WAVE2-mTOR pathway may contribute to specific autoimmune, inflammatory and other conditions, such as Alzheimer's disease.

"Understanding how to achieve this kind of control in immunity is really important," said Dr. Siminovitch. "This research opens the door to new ways of restoring that balance through the development of new therapeutics that target the WAVE2- mTOR pathway."
A teenager in Dublin has gone missing, as Gardai appeal to the public for any information on his whereabouts.

Gardai are seeking the public's help in tracing the whereabouts of Dylan Phoenix (15), who is missing from the Blackrock area of Dublin since March 12, 2021.

Dylan is described as being 5'10" (182cm), with brown hair, of normal build with blue eyes.

When last seen, Dylan was wearing a Black North Face Jacket and grey tracksuit bottoms.

Anyone with information on his whereabouts are asked to contact Gardai in Blackrock on 01 6665200, or the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111.
With the arrival of Yuki Tsunoda Helmut Marko has once again managed to have a junior driver make their debut in Formula 1. The Austrian is a big fan of the Japanese, who already impressed in Bahrain.

Yuki Tsunoda has only been in Europe for two years, but he has already made a huge impression. The Japanese driver won a race in his first year in Europe in Formula 3, and with the pressure on, he became the best Rookie in Formula 2 in 2020. With 3 wins and 4 poles, Marko couldn't ignore him.

Tsunoda makes impression

That Marko had made the right choice, became clear to him during the winter test. ''We gave him five sets of tyres and with each fresh tyre he was faster than the last. That was five optimal qualifying laps. Even Verstappen couldn't do that. The way Tsunoda goes over the track promises a lot for the future," Marko told Kronen Zeitung.

After Sebastian Vettel, Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen, Tsunoda should become a new pupil of Marko who can make the difference at Red Bull Racing. ''He is an exceptional boy. He also has a great sense of humour for a Japanese,'' concluded Marko.
The researchers say crisis in Nigeria's Benue valley has led to deaths, loss of livelihoods, displacements and disruption of states' economy within the area.

A survey has found that more than 300,000 Nigerians have been displaced in four states in the farmers and herders crisis in the country.

One of the lead researchers, Joseph Ochogwu, an associate research professor with the Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution, revealed this while presenting the policy brief on Thursday in Abuja.

The research, with the topic: "Trends and Dynamics of Conflict between Farmers and Pastoralists in Nigeria's Benue Valley," listed the states as Benue, Plateau, Nasarawa and Taraba.

According to Mr Ochogwu, Nigeria's Benue valley comprising Benue, Plateau, Taraba, Nasarawa, Adamawa and Kaduna have experienced escalating tensions between farmers and herders.

This, he said, had led to deaths, loss of livelihoods, displacements and disruption of states' economy within the area.

He said the conflict, which was primarily a contest over land and water, was threatening the country's food security and stability.

"The current crisis has assumed ethnic and religious dimensions.

"From 2001 to 2018, about 60,000 deaths were recorded in multiple clashes, it is estimated that more than 300,000 were displaced across states, 176,000 in Benue, about 100,000 in plateau, and 100,000 in Nasarawa and about 19,000 in Taraba.

"These displacements were mainly due to the surge of attacks and counter-attacks by the headers and farmers communities, in Benue alone, it is estimated that the crisis led to more than N400 billion economic losses resulting from destruction of properties.

"Between 2017 and May 2020, 645 attacks were carried out, 2,539 people were killed and 254 kidnappings were recorded in various states in Nigeria."

Mr Ochogwu said key findings of the research included trends and patterns of the conflict, gender dimension of the conflict, demographic shift, mental health and psychological support, and community resilience among others.

He noted that between 2018 and 2019, access to water and grazing land became more competitive.

This, Mr Ochogwu noted, led to frequent arguments, adding that there was distrust due to differences in ethno-religious and cultural identities and values.

He said the research made some recommendations to address the farmers and herders crisis in Nigeria which were informed by critical analysis of the trends and dynamics of the conflict in Benue, Plateau and Taraba states.

He said governments at all levels should work together to deploy a joint task force comprising the Army, Navy, Airforce, Police, para-military and civil institutions to restore law and order and build the population's confidence in the government.

Mr Ochogwu said the complex nature of the conflict required participatory, inclusive, coordinated and sustainable solutions.

He urged the state governments to strengthen the already existing community policing structure such as vigilantes for intelligence gathering.

According to him, the research recommended that development partners should partner with the government and community-based organisations to ensure that women are mainstreamed in peace building programmes.

He said the governments in key states should work with Civil Society Organisations, media organisations, gender and peace building experts to develop programmes using conventional media, and social media among others to deconstruct social norms.

Mr Ochogwu urged the Federal Government to order the investigation of all recent violence between farmers and pastoralists and expedite the trials of individuals or groups found to have participated, sponsored or involved in violence.

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He said the research recommended that governments should work together to tackle youth unemployment and underemployment.

Mr Ochogwu said state governments in Benue, Plateau and Taraba should recognise the critical role of religious and traditional institutions in peace building in the communities and include them in direct government and policy formulation process.

He said formal multi-stakeholders alternative resolution mechanisms should be set up at the state and council levels, adding that projects on social protection after conflicts such as asset transfers and capacity building for income diversification should be supported by the government.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the research was carried out by Zinariya Consult, a development and policy advocacy firm, with support from Global Rights and Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA).

(NAN)
Tate's Bake Shop workers in New York said that management had threatened them with deportation over their attempts to form a union. Most of the bake shop's 432 employees are undocumented workers.

According to the National Labor Relations Act, undocumented workers have a lawful right to unionize. It also noted that workers are protected under the act despite their immigration status, We Are Mitu reported.

Tate's Bake Shop workers said the company threatened to contact the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) if they continue with their plan to form a union next month. Workers also said that they are being harassed at work.

The employees spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of what the management may do with them, Insider reported. The Mondelez International owns Tate's Bake Shop cookies.

"They began threatening people based on their immigration status, telling them that if their documents are not in order and they attempted to join the labor union they would get deported," Cosmo Lubrano, president of Eastern States Joint Board union, told News 12.

The employees started talking about the possibility of forming a union when the pandemic started, feeling that the company might not be able to protect them if they would be infected with the COVID-19.

Anthony Miranti, an Eastern States' union delegate, said at the time, workers did not know any of the rules applicable to them.

Miranti noted that the workers were telling them that they are all at minimum wage and needed more paid time off, adding that nobody was listening to them.

Miranti further noted that workers who produce the said products should know that their job is secured and have a pension to retire someday.

Employees at the Tate's Bake Shop reportedly first approached the Eastern States Joint Board in the summer of last year.

READ NEXT: Will Undocumented Immigrants Survive Amid the COVID-19 Lock Down?

Response of Tate's Bake Shop Company

A spokesperson for Mondelez International denied the allegations that the company has violated any aspect of the National Labor Relations Act.

The spokesperson noted that the company takes pride in treating all of its employees with respect, adding that they nurtured a caring working environment and culture with their workers.

Employees said the bakeshop giant hired California-based labor relations consultant Carlos Flores, who proclaimed himself to assist in staying "Union Free" through campaigns, according to a Gothamist report.

Kathleen King initially owned Tate's Bake Shop. King used to sell her homemade cookies on her father's farm in 1970 when she was 11.

King was eventually fired by her new partners after the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) noted that the employees under them endured verbal abuse, retaliation, and other union-busting techniques, Grub Street reported.

In 2018, Mondelez International acquired the company for $500 million. Tate's Bake Shop was known for its buttery, thin chocolate chip cookies and earned public praises that include celebrities.

Mondelez International also owns brands like Oreo, Chips Ahoy, and Ritz crackers. Tate's Bake Shop was named the best chocolate chip cookie on the market by Consumer Reports in 2011.

The employees will receive ballots from the NLRB on Mar. 26 and have until Apr. 21 to cast their vote on unionizing.

READ MORE: Organizations Supporting Undocumented Immigrants Puts Pressure on California for a Weekly COVID-19 Relief Aid

WATCH: Tate's Bake Shop Looks to Future After Selling To Oreo Owner - From CBS New York




New Delhi, March 26 : It was silence that was his means of survival while at school in a small town in western Assam. With no knowledge or understanding of gender or sexuality, words promised no expressions.

But coming to Delhi for his undergraduate studies offered him the space to learn, grow, and find "a room of his own". Believing that coming out is a process that takes time and safety nets, Rafiul Alom Rahman, founder of 'The Queer Muslim Project', which aims to create a more positive conversation around gender, sexuality and faith, most particularly in Islam feels that in no way should it be a norm.

Stressing that the work they do at TQMP aims to create a world that is safe and affirming of people from diverse and inter-sectional backgrounds to live life on their own terms, he smiles, "Today, I am quite amazed to see the progress the queer movement has made in smaller towns and cities in India. Guwahati just had its 8th annual pride walk on March 21. That's quite a thing." Starting as an online initiative in March 2017, with the idea to promote and amplify queer and trans-affirming resources in Islam, soon, the virtual community grew, and people started requesting them for offline meet-ups. In May 2018, together with Aneka Trust in Bengaluru, they organised India's first ever national consultation on issues faced by LGBTQIA+ Muslims.

Adding that the two important learnings from the consultation were that there are very few spaces for queer Muslims to connect and feel safe, leading to poor mental well-being; and the representation of LGBTQIA+ and Muslim individuals are often coloured by Islamophobic and homophobic ideas, creating a double whammy for those at the intersection of these identities, he says, "This gave us the motivation to work towards positive representation and visibility of LGBTQIA+ Muslims through storytelling, creative workshops and publications, and affirmative art practice. At TQMP, we are not just characters in other people's stories; we are the agents of our stories." Talk to him about how social media, especially Instagram has been a major force for TQMP, Rahman says that they have grown to be one of the largest global online networks of queer, Muslim and allied individuals, with a community of over 26,000 people and counting. "We have also expanded our work beyond social media to launch a first-of-its-kind digital monthly newspaper in March 2021, titled 'The Queer Muslim'. The newspaper is the culmination of over three years of digital world-building, for us to bring together visual and written storytelling, specifically intended for a queer Muslim audience, but accessible to the world at large." Speaking about the experience with British Council, which has partnered with TQMP in India for the seventh edition of 'Five Films for Freedom', the world's largest LGBTIQ+ digital campaign, he says, "They have been a great partner, and our work is rooted in the spirit of collaboration and co-creation. I am personally excited about the curation we have put together for the 2021 edition of the 'Five Films For Freedom' programme in India. From community screenings to a digital storytelling workshop to even a podcast, you name it... Even the films - they are so diverse, inter-sectional and nuanced, and represent a variety of cultures and experiences around the world - a respite from the kind of stereotypical portrayals we often see of queer people in mainstream cinema." Even as the near future will witness TQMP organise a series of creative workshops and trainings for young queer artists, creators and community organizers, mention that in all the talk about gender, the experiences of the LGBT community is seldom taken into account, and he quotes Audre Lorde: "There is no thing as a single-issue struggle because we do not live single-issue lives."
Scottish University to Return Looted Sculpture to Nigeria

The University of Aberdeen in Scotland is set to return a Benin bronze sculpture to Nigeria, saying it was acquired by British soldiers in 1897 in "reprehensible circumstances." It is the first institution to agree to the full repatriation from a museum of a Benin bronze, placing pressure on other establishments, including the British Museum, to follow suit. The bronze, which depicts the Oba, or King of Benin, was part of a haul of thousands of items taken when British forces looted Benin City in southeastern Nigeria in 1897. Nigeria's Minister of Information and Culture Lai Mohammed called the move a "step in the right direction" and urged other holders of Nigerian antiquity "to emulate this". The news comes as Germany confirmed it was negotiating the repatriation of 440 bronze pieces that are in its possession at Berlin's Ethnological Museum. The repatriation process will include the training of Nigerian museum staff, archaeological excavations, and assisting with the construction of a new museum in Benin that has been designed by the Ghanaian-British architect David Adjaye. 90% of Africa's cultural heritage currently lies outside the continent. Pressure has mounted on former colonial powers to return all art work to their places of origin.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-26 11:15:14|Editor: huaxia

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KIGALI, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Rwanda on Thursday announced a plan to increase this year's Economic Recovery Fund by more than three times to 350 billion Rwandan francs (about 358 million U.S. dollars) in order to support the recovery of businesses severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Economic Recovery Fund, currently valued at 100 billion Rwandan francs (about 102 million dollars), prioritizes sectors including tourism and hospitality, manufacturing, transport and logistics, agro-processing, education, and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) linked to domestic and global supply chains, said Prime Minister Edouard Ngirente, while presenting the economic recovery plan in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic to parliament.

The manufacturing industry was one of the sectors hit hardest by the pandemic, falling by 19 percent, while the construction sector dropped by 6 percent, according to Ngirente.

He said the government has designed the Manufacture and Build to Recover Program, an initiative that aims to fast track private secondary investments in manufacturing and construction.

The program will help reduce the cost of setting up industries of key essential products and facilitating the growth of SMEs in the country, said the prime minister, who is also an economist.

He added that the program is expected to increase industrial output, create 27,394 new direct and indirect jobs, boost exports, recapture domestic market and generate more than 1 billion Rwandan francs (1.02 million dollars) through new investments during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

The government incentives under the program consist mainly of tax exemption on imported construction materials not available in the East African Community, he said. Enditem
The Perspective

Atlanta, Georgia

March 26, 2021

River Gee County

The creation of the County Development Fund (CDF) and the Social Development Fund (SDF) was welcomed by Liberians as a means of focusing national budget expenditures on the specific development needs of local communities. The main objective of the CDF and SDF is to open a new window of opportunity for the promotion of social development at the county level and, therefore, to lend reality to the imperative of subsidiarity as a global response to sub-national demands for development policy attention. Following closely on the heels of a constitutional reform effort aimed at economic devolution and deconcentration of political power in post-conflict Liberia, many Liberians felt that for the first time in Liberia, the execution of the budget process would once and for all be freed from the dictates of the Executive. Until now, budget allocation for development has always been carried out in the shadow of executive manipulation. For decades, budget planning has been held hostage to the monopolistic whims of the Executive as long as it continued to provide the pork barrel for rewarding and punishing political cronies and adversaries, respectively, through the provision or non-provision of resources for their counties. Whereas for many, the CDF and the SDF were devolutions by default, for others it heralded an opportunity for local development needs to find unmediated resonation with national budget allocation. In practice, it appears to have served more as a political tool for members of the legislature and local officials than a genuine instrument for community-based development.

In 2007, it was a relief when the national legislature passed the law establishing the County Development Fund (CDF). The CDF is captured in the budget law as a source of funding to facilitate post-war infrastructure development in all counties based on identified projects and serves as a source of funding for local government service delivery to be managed by local officials under the decentralization program. Operationalization of the CDF commenced in the budget year of 2007/2008, the same year (2007) the Fund came into being. In that budget year, the government apportioned for each county US$ 66,666 and provided the same amount the following budget year  2008/2009. Based on complaints from the counties that the amount was mingled, the CDF was increased to US$200,000.00 and has been so ever since.

In 2008, the Social Development Fund (SDF) was established for counties hosting concessions from international extractive concessionaires as negotiated in the Mineral Development Agreements (MDA). The payment of the SDF is made to the national government by concession companies through the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning. In concessionaire counties, monies from the two sources-CDF and SDF were merged into the County Development Account called the County Social Development Fund (CSDF).

The CDF & SDF purports to enlarge and deepen strategic options for entrenching the principle of subsidiarity in financing for social development. By that very token, it seeks to bypass the state-bureaucratic machinery through which traditional budget allocations are processed into legitimate expenditures. It does this by virtue of targeting the county and community development initiatives therein as the focus and site of state expenditures. The principal organ through which development projects are identified, prioritized, and adopted as undertakings deserving CDF & SDF support is the County Council. The County Council is the highest decision-making body of the CDF & SDF. The Council of each county comprises Statutory Superintendents, District Commissioners, Youth Representatives, Women Representatives, Elders, and Chiefs. These representatives, called delegates, participate in a called County Sitting, usually at the county capital city to discuss and make development and spending decisions about the CSDF. Citation to representative groups, institutions, and individuals to participate in the Sitting is communicated by the County Superintendent in agreement with the County Lawmakers. At the County Sitting, delegates discuss, agree on development projects, and estimate costs for the agreed-upon interventions. A resolution is then prepared, comprising decisions made by delegates during the Sitting, and is signed by each participant of the County Sitting. Additionally, during the Sitting, the body elects members of the Project Management Committee (PMT), comprising a Chair, Treasurer, and Controller for a three-year tenure, to manage the financial and technical aspects of the CDF & SDF to implement identified projects and report on progress made.

Following the County Sitting, the signed resolution is taken to the Ministry of Internal Affairs for verification. Once verified, the document is communicated to the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning with a request for transferal of the allocated fund in the CSDFs budget to the County Development Account. The transferal is supposed to take place in the first six months of the budget year to enable the implementation of agreed-upon development projects. Also, the Public Procurement and Concession Commission (PPCC) Threshold Schedule mandates spenders of public funds, including the CDF & SDF to publish contract award if the value is equal to or above US$20,000 for goods, US$10,000 for service, and US$30,000 for works. They are also required to use the National Open Competitive Bidding process when the value of the procurement is equal to or below US$500,000 for goods, US$ 200,000 for service, and US$ 1,000,000 for works.

RIVER GEE COUNTY CDF/SDF (CSDF)

CDF Fiscal Year 2007/2008..US$66,666.00

CDF Fiscal Year 2008/2009..US$ 66,666.00

CDF Fiscal Year 2010/2011......US$ 200,000.00

CDF Fiscal Year 2011/2012..US$ 200,000.00

The fiscal Year 2012/2013

CDF.. ..US$ 200,000.00

Euro Logging Company..US$ 191,000.00

Putu Iron Ore Mining (PIOM)US$ 350,000.00

TOTAL CSDF.....US$741, 000.00

The fiscal Year 2013/2014

CDFUS$ 200,000.00

SDF from Euro Logging CompanyUS$ 191,000.00

Putu Iron Ore Mining SDFUS$ 420,000.00

TOTAL CSDF....US$811, 000.00

The fiscal Year 2014/2015

CDF.US$ 200,000.00

SDF from Euro Logging Company.US$ 191,000.00

SDF from Putu Iron Ore Mining.US$ 600,000.00

TOTAL CSDF....US$991, 000.00

The fiscal Year 2015/2016

CDF.US$ 200,000.00

SDF from Euro Logging Company.US$ 191,000.00

SDF from Putu Iron Ore Mining.US$ 600,000.00

TOTAL CSDF....US$991,000.00

The fiscal Year 2016/2017

CDF.US$ 200,000.00

SDF from Euro Logging Company.US$ 191,000.00

SDF from Putu Iron Ore Mining.US$ 600,000.00

TOTAL CSDF....US$991,000.00

The fiscal Year 2017/2018

CDF.US$ 0

SDF from Euro Logging Company.US$ 0

SDF from Putu Iron Ore Mining.US$ 0

TOTAL CSDF....US$0

The fiscal Year 2018/2019

CDF.US$ 207,666.00

SDF from Euro Logging Company..US$ 0

SDF from Putu Iron Ore Mining.US$ 0

TOTAL CSDF....US$207,666.000

The fiscal Year 2019/2020

CDF.US$ 200,000.00

SDF from Euro Logging Company..US$ 0

SDF from Putu Iron Ore Mining.US$ 0

TOTAL CSDF...US$200,000.00

The fiscal Year 2020/2021

CDF....US$ 200,000.00

SDF from Euro Logging Company.US$ 0

SDF from Putu Iron Ore Mining.US$ 0

TOTAL CSDF........US$200,000.00

The CDF & SDF as decentralization tools offers opportunities not only for the expansion of democratic space and the active engagement of the people in development endeavors but also for effective and efficient delivery of public services. Like all processes of social engineering, its benefits come with strings attached: it can lead to fragmentation if not properly balanced with the necessary retention of reasonable power at the center. A closer and critical analysis of the statutory architecture of the law and the institutional framework for its implementation in River Gee County evokes a rude reminder that the CDF & SDF are arguably not the panaceas for rural development challenges that River Gee rural poor had anxiously been waiting for. There are concerns that County Sittings have not occurred frequently and monies are not managed in a transparent manner in River Gee. The CDF & SDF have failed to publish contracts equal to or above US$20,000 for goods, US$10,000 for service, and US$30,000 for works or participated in the National Open Competitive Bidding process when the value of the procurement is equal to or below US$500,000 for goods, US$ 200,000 for service, and US$ 1,000,000 for works as per PPCC laws.

During the County Council Sitting in the 2010/2011 budget year, US$110,000 was allotted for the construction of a modern 10 bedroom guest house to host senior government officials and diplomats. In 2013, the proposal for the construction of the Executive Guest House was amended and the budget was increased to US$200,000 to include a 10 bedroom house (with bathrooms) and a two suite presidential compartment, as well as a conference center with a capacity of about 200 persons. It was alleged that the leadership continued to increase the budget until it went up to about US$400,000, but the guest house is yet to be completed and there is no explanation about why the project stalled. Also, there is the concern of another incomplete project in Tienpo District. Allotments for the construction or opening of the main streets in Fish Town, since 2016, were left undone. The provincial city, Fish Town is underdeveloped and most of its alleys are yet to be opened to be able to increase socio-economic growth. The county lacks a modern guest house or hotel that could cater to foreign guests. It is reported that while touring the county during her administration, former President Ellen Sirleaf frowned on the countys lawmakers and stakeholders over their failure to develop the county. During his recent visit to the county, President George Weah lamented River Gee's backwardness by arguing that the educated elite failed the silent majority of citizens. President Weah was deeply concerned about the lack of modern facilities (city halls, town halls, decent guest houses, internet connectivity, etc.).

These concerns are alarming especially since most of the time auditors from the General Auditing Commission (GAC) have discovered that the guidelines of the Public Financial Management and Public Procurement and Concession laws are violated by managers of the CSDF. The people of River Gee must demand that the River Gee County Legislature Caucus in collaboration with the government of Liberia mandate the General Auditing Commission (GAC) to conduct a full-scale audit of the operations of the River Gees Social Development Funds and the County Development Funds covering the period after the last audit (if any) to ascertain that funds were used in keeping with law and procedures. Also, a social audit must be encouraged and use for auditing the funds within the CSDF account. Social Auditing is the process of ensuring accountability through the use of social movements and community groups. Therefore, a social audit is a community-driven initiative, where members of the community have access to the project files and to the project itself. The social audit takes place at the grassroots, where any citizen group, should be in a position to undertake the process - for a social audit to get underway, a citizen group needs access to the project files and to the project itself. The County Legislature Caucus must inquire from the executive branch why the Euro Logging Company Social development funds and the Putu Iron Ore Mining social development funds for River Gee County were not included in the budget for the following fiscal years: 2017/2018, 2018/2019, 2019/2020, and 2020/2021.

In conclusion, the creations of the CDF and SDF (CSDF) welcomed by citizens of River Gee as a means of focusing the county budget expenditures on the specific development needs of local communities. of the CDF and SDF have failed to build a presidential palace, rehabilitation/build of a county sports stadium, construction of clinics and/or hospitals, rehabilitation of city streets, road & internet connectivity, purchase of yellow earth-moving machines, renovation of the county administration building, construction of county and districts administration buildings, construction of city halls, renovation of city halls, construction of town halls, provision of scholarship for citizens, construction of community College, plus many more base on the River Gee county context. In practice, it appears to have served more as a political tool for members of the legislature and local officials than a genuine instrument for community-based development in River Gee County.



About the Author

Mr. Seltue Karweaye is a Geepo residing in the United States. He holds a Bachelors degree in Political Science with specialization in Public Administration from the Metropolitan State University in Minnesota, a Masters degree in degree in Politics and International Studies specialization in Peace and Conflict Studies from the Uppsala University in Sweden, Masters degree in Public Administration (MBA) with specialization in Public policy and Master of Business Administration (MBA) with a specialization in Public/Government Finance from the Texas Southern University in Texas. He can be reached at [email protected] or [email protected]
Former President Donald Trump on Thursday defended his supporters who rioted at the U.S. Capitol on January 6 and said they posed 'zero threat' despite five people dying.

Lawmakers had assembled there to certify the Electoral College vote that confirmed Joe Biden's victory in the presidential race while rioters who stormed the Capitol chanted 'Hang Mike Pence.'

Trump complained to Fox News' Laura Ingraham that law enforcement was 'persecuting' the Capitol rioters, while 'nothing happens' to left-wing protesters.

Trump did acknowledge that those who stormed the Capitol 'went in and they shouldn't have done it.'

President Donald Trump speaks to supporters before they rioted at the United States Capitol

Trump supporters clash with police and security forces as people try to storm the U.S. Capitol in Washington DC on January 6

Supporters of former President Donald Trump hold Trump 2020 flags as they riot outside the U.S. Capitolon January 6

A worker removes razor wire from a security fence on Capitol Hill in Washington on March 20

But he added: 'Some of them went in and they're, they're hugging and kissing the police and the guards. You know, they had great relationships. A lot of the people were waved in and then they walked in and they walked out.'

More than 300 people have been charged in connection to the riot. Authorities have said they believe at least 100 more could face charges.

The Jan. 6 riot followed a fiery Trump rally outside the White House, in which he urged a mob of his supporters to 'fight like hell' for him at the Capitol.

A week later, the House impeached Trump for the second time, but the Senate eventually acquitted him on the charge of inciting the attack.

Last month, it was revealed that Proud Boys member Dominic Pezzola, who was pictured smoking a cigar in the Capitol, talked about killing former Vice President Mike Pence.

Seattle Proud Boys leader Ethan Nordean, who was also charged by the FBI, had uploaded a video on Parler encouraging his fellow members to 'Let them remember the day they decided to make war with us' in the days before the siege.

Last week, the FBI has released a slew of 10 new videos showing MAGA rioters at the U.S. Capitol dousing cops with bear spray, grabbing gas masks and beating officers as they breached the Capitol.

That same day, it was revealed that a former Special Forces soldier in the U.S. Army had been charged with assaulting four police officers with a flag pole after vaulting it 'similar in fashion to throwing a spear.'

Jeffrey McKellop, of Virginia, faces up to 20 years imprisonment after he threw the flag pole at one of the officers, leaving a bloody gash near the cop's left eye, according to the FBI in an unsealed criminal complaint.
The cardinal invited the interim premier to re-launch institutional dialogue. The request for a new team of ministers and for consultations between the parties in a spirit of "unity and sincerity". But the rift between Hariri and President Aoun remains. The Feast of the Annunciation is an opportunity to strengthen the dialogue between Christians and Muslims.

Beirut (AsiaNews) - Card. Beshara Rai welcomed the prime minister in charge, Saad Hariri, to the patriarchal seat of Bkerke last night, in an attempt to unblock a political and institutional impasse that has long paralyzed Lebanese politics and risks wrecking the country.

The focus of the talks was the controversial formation of the new executive, which opened a further front of confrontation between the premier (exponent of the Sunni wing and close to Riyadh) and the Christian Maronite president Michel Aoun, linked to Hezbollah, a Shiite faction that refers in Tehran.

Hariri was accompanied by former minister Ghattas Khoury. In addition to the cardinal, there was also the former minister Sajaan Azzi, in a sort of enlarged summit. At the end of the meeting, the prime minister in charge explained that he had "accepted the patriarch's invitation to dinner" during which "we discussed what is happening around the formation of the new executive".

You know that visiting his Beatitude is important to me, because I am keen to listen to his point of view, especially in these difficult days. Hopefully we will continue the talks after dinner, Hariri told reporters.". The cardinal renewed the invitation, already launched several times in the past, to unblock and negotiate for the formation of a government "which the country is in dire need of, in a time of economic crisis that has pushed many Lebanese to poverty".

Yesterday was the Feast of the Annunciation, a national holiday since 2010 uniting Christians and Muslims. It also marked the 10th anniversary of Card. Rais appointment as Patriarch which he used to appeal to Aoun and Hariri to resume negotiations.

His words were echoed by the US ambassador Dorothy Shea, who in yesterday's meeting with the Lebanese president underlined the "urgency" of a stable executive, the result of a "compromise between the political forces that, to date, block this process.

Returning to the meeting between Hariri and the Maronite patriarch, the latter asked the prime minister in charge to submit a new government team to the President of the Republic and re-launched the request for consultation between the parties in a spirit of "unity and sincerity". The goal is to arrive at shared names and an equitable distribution of portfolios "respecting the Constitution and the National Pact of 1943".

Yesterday afternoon, Card. Rai presided over the solemn Eucharistic celebration for the Feast of the Annunciation. During the homily, the cardinal, as he often does at masses, returned to the political and institutional crisis by renewing the appeal to "active neutrality", to safeguard the Land of Ceders from regional tensions and to hold an international conference on Lebanon under the auspices of the United Nations.

The political crisis and its economic and social repercussions - he said - are getting worse and worse. We would never have imagined that Lebanon, the lighthouse of the East, would have experienced such a level of decline "and that all" decisions and prerogatives of power "would have been" delegitimized".

The cardinal, who has made the element of neutrality his battle horse, called with renewed insistence - albeit without making it explicit  for the disarmament of the pro-Iranian Shia Hezbollah movement and the holding of the international UN conference.

Lebanon as a civil state - concluded the cardinal - is for everyone, Christians and Muslims. Its conservation is a collective responsibility in which all the Lebanese components participate, a sign of our absolute belief in the unity, identity and role of Lebanon in the East and in the world ".
This article is part of Overlooked, a series of obituaries about remarkable people whose deaths, beginning in 1851, went unreported in The Times.

It wasnt long after Kitty Cone had enrolled at the Mount Vernon Seminary in Washington that she felt the grip of discrimination.

Cone walked with a cane, and the headmistress of the seminary, a private womens school, began imposing strange rules that segregated her from the rest of the student body. For instance, she demanded that Cone bathe in a separate tub outside of the suite that she shared with three other girls. But the tub was so big that she struggled to get out of it, so she just used the one in her suite. Another time, she was barred from attending a school activity, but she went anyway. Those acts got her expelled.

For a variety of reasons, the headmistress threw me out, but all having to do with disability, Cone said in an interview for the University of Illinois archives in 2009. I think she was worried about liability, looking back on it, because she gave me these prohibitions.
Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying's Regular Press Conference on March 26, 2021

2021/03/27

A video of Daniel Dumbrill delivering remarks at the event "Genocide in Xinjiang?"-A Discovery Zoom Panel was screened before the regular press began.

Hua Chunying: Good afternoon, friends from the press. Welcome to our daily press conference. As you can see, we have put up a projector here. Before the press conference started, you watched the video featuring Daniel Dumbrill, a Canadian, delivering remarks at the event "Genocide in Xinjiang?"-A Discovery Zoom Panel. I'd like to show you one more short video.

(Playing the video clip of remarks by Lawrence Wilkerson, former chief of staff to former Secretary of State Colin Powell and retired US Army Colonel at the Ron Paul Institute in August 2018)

We've just watched this video clip together. I wonder what you think of it. The speaker is Lawrence Wilkerson, former chief of staff to former Secretary of State Colin Powell and retired US Army Colonel. He was speaking at the Ron Paul Institute in August 2018 on the threefold purposes of the US presence in Afghanistan, one of which is to contain China. He said undisguisedly that "the third reason we were there [in Afghanistan] is because there are 20 million Uyghurs [in Xinjiang]. The CIA would want to destabilize China and that would be the best way to do it to foment unrest and to join with those Uyghurs in pushing the Han Chinese in Beijing from internal places rather than external".

Doesn't it feel like a deja vu? In an April 2019 speech at Texas A&M University, former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo boasted, "we lied, we cheated, we stole. [...] We had entire training courses. It reminds you of the glory of the American experiment." This is what the US has said and done.

In 2003, the US launched military strikes against Iraq on the grounds that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction, causing hundreds of thousands of casualties and making more than one million homeless. Years later, the US admitted that the evidence of Iraq's holding weapons of mass destruction was nothing more than a small tube of white washing powder.

In 2018, the US, the UK, France and some other countries launched air strikes on Syria, claiming that the Syrian government forces used chemical weapons against the Syrian people. The air strikes led to hundreds of thousands of casualties and displacement of innocent civilians. But the evidence of the so-called use of chemical weapons by the Syrian government turned out to be nothing more than a staged video directed by the White Helmets, a group funded by US and UK intelligence agencies.

In 2019, during the disturbance over proposed legislative amendments in Hong Kong, the CIA worked hand in glove with National Endowment for Democracy to sponsor, instigate and even command anti-China, destabilizing forces in Hong Kong to launch vandalizing, looting and arson attacks, and storm the Legislative Council building in the name of fighting for democracy and freedom in an attempt to spark a "color revolution" in Hong Kong .

Now, the US and its several Western allies are targeting the pure and white Xinjiang cotton. They imposed sanctions on relevant Chinese individuals and entity over the false accusation of the sensational "crimes" of "forced labor", "forced sterilization" and even "genocide" in Xinjiang.

However, as admitted by the former US official in the video clip you watched, the so-called Uyghur issue in Xinjiang is just a strategic conspiracy with an attempt to disrupt China from within and contain China. In this "play" staged by the US, some politicians and media outlets in the US and its ally countries played a very disgraceful role. Some of they colluded with anti-China forces to unscrupulously pursue rumor-mongering and smearing campaign against China with unfounded pretexts. And some, out of ideological prejudice, would rather believe in lies concocted by a handful of anti-China elements than listen to the voice of the 25 million people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang and face squarely the basic facts of development and progress in Xinjiang. They are full of righteous indignation in "defending" human rights in Xinjiang by citing some so-called "credible" witnesses or information. Now, after watching this video of Lawrence Wilkerson, will they believe in the words of their government official or continue to trust those clumsy actors of the play?

Facts have proved time and again that the Xinjiang issue is by no means about ethnicity, religion or human rights, but an issue of fighting separatism, terrorism and interference. The US has crafted the so-called Xinjiang issue, not because it cares for the Uighur people. Otherwise, why did it attack Muslim countries under the pretext of counter-terrorism following the September 11 attack, leading to deaths and family separations of tens of millions of Muslims? And why did they put in place the one and only "Muslim ban" in the world and discriminate against and persecute Muslims and other ethnic minorities in the US? Their true intention is to undermine China's security and stability and stop China from growing stronger.

We solemnly inform the US side that today's China is neither Iraq nor Syria, still less the late Qing Dynasty downtrodden by the Eight-Power Allied Forces. China is open and aboveboard. All malicious lies and rumors against China will fall apart before facts and truths. We have full resolution, determination and capability to firmly defend national sovereignty, security, dignity and honor.

My friends, I believe you will make a clean cut with all the lies and disinformation about Xinjiang after watching this video clip. Let the curtain fall on this US-staged play.

Bloomberg: So is it your contention that the CIA has convinced the world that there's genocide occurring in Xinjiang. And given all your efforts to change the narrative about Xinjiang, are you saying that the CIA did a better job than China?

Hua Chunying: As you can see from the video, a former senior American official, who helped instigate the Iraq war, confessed that an important reason for the U.S. presence in Afghanistan is that there are 20 million Uyghurs in Xinjiang. "The CIA would want to destabilize China, that would be the best way to do it to foment unrest, and join those Uyghurs in pushing the Han Chinese in Beijing from internal places rather than external." As you can see, that's his words. Some western media always talk about citing reliable sources. Would you regard this video a reliable source?

You all know what the CIA has done since then. A few years ago, BBC's Newsnight program revealed the relation between of the CIA and National Endowment for Democracy (NED) in the Occupy Central movement in Hong Kong. This is not a secret, but a well-known fact.

In the earlier video, you saw Daniel Dumbrill speaking at the "American/Canadian Propaganda - a Xinjiang 'Genocide' Panel". To go over a few points he made, "why the Xinjiang narrative matters so much to western governments right now, particularly the US, it's not because they really care about the Muslims". "One of the things I really wanted to figure out was if there was any concern that the US government is putting so much money behind this narrative, funding overseas Uyghur groups millions of dollars, and dedicating a lot of airtime towards it, and what this kind of effort usually means. We have a precedent for fake propaganda created to serve America's geopolitical interests". He also mentioned why the Canadian Parliament passed a resolution accusing China over Xinjiang-related issues. He said, "one of the main contributors was from the Uyghur Rights Advocacy Project, a Canadian NGO set up with funds from the NED, an organization that had its president say that what the CIA used to do covertly, they now do through the NED. This is basically a front to overthrow and destabilize governments and it has nothing to do with democracy." Over the years, there were only a few countries that the US has not interfered or instigated "color revolutions" directly or caused political turmoil and regime subversion behind the scenes.

Now the same thing is happening in Xinjiang. The CIA, ASPI and some western academics and media all have a role to play in this show plotted and directed by the US. It's high time that this show was wrapped up.

China Review News: On March 25, President Joe Biden said at his press conference after taking office that he asks China to play by the international rules. He also said that China doesn't have a democratic bone and the US won't allow China to out-compete it. "We're not looking for confrontation, although we know there will be steep, steep competition," Biden said. What is your response to his remarks?

Hua Chunying: We noticed that President Biden said the US is not seeking confrontation. China's position on China-US relations has been clear and consistent. Our policy toward the US has also been highly stable and consistent. As the Chinese side pointed out at the China-US high-level strategic dialogue in Anchorage, China is ready to earnestly implement the important common understanding reached between the two heads of state, and hopes that the US can work with China toward the same direction, and approach the bilateral relations in the principle of non-conflict, non-confrontation, mutual respect and win-win cooperation, so as to ensure sound and steady development of China-US relations.

I would like to point out the following:

First, the US is not in the position to ask China to play by international rules. The only system in the world is the international system centered on the UN, and the only set of rules is the basic norms governing international relations with the UN Charter as the core. Speaking of abiding by international rules, China is doing a great job while the US has a poor record. This is a fact recognized by the international community.

Second, the key to judge whether a political system is good or not lies in whether it suits a country's condition, whether it can bring political stability, social progress and better livelihood, whether it is welcomed and supported by the people, and whether it can contribute to the progress of humankind. No matter how a country boasts about its democratic values, it is not eligible to claim itself a "beacon of democracy" if it sits back and does nothing when over 500,000 people die of COVID-19, when over 40,000 citizens die of gunshots every year, and when hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians die and numerous families are shattered because of attacks it launches on sovereign countries under the pretext of fabricated proof.

China follows a people-centered philosophy. On the contrary to the electoral politics and partisan political interests pursued by the US, the Communist Party of China and the Chinese government serve the people whole-heartedly. We hit the poverty reduction target set in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development 10 years ahead of schedule. We have put in place the world's largest social security system, covering nearly 1.4 billion people and ensure that everyone has access to housing, education and medical insurance. The Chinese people's satisfaction and support toward the Chinese government's exceeds 90%. China has, after long-term exploration, found a right path to development. We are confident about this path. We will unswervingly follow the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

Third, difference and competition exists everywhere in our world. It is only natural for China and the US, the largest two economies with intertwined interests, to have competition. The key is to compete in a fair and just manner that can improve both sides, rather than seeking a zero-sum game. It is in the interests of the two countries and the world for cooperation to become the major goal of China and the US. We hope to have mutual respect, sound interactions and mutually beneficial cooperation with countries including the US so as to reinforce each other and deliver more benefits to the world.

The US said it won't allow China to out-compete the US. I must point out that our goal is not to out-compete the US, but rather to out-compete ourselves and constantly make progress.

AFP: Just to follow up on the videos that you screened earlier and the statement that you made afterwards regarding the Xinjiang issue. Would it be right to say that this is the ministry or China's stance that all the media outlets who have on separate occasions independently reported on the situation in Xinjiang over the past years, were acting in coordination and under the instructions of the US operations? You showed us the two clips earlier. I believe one involves the Canadian blogger who lives in Shenzhen and Hong Kong, China. So have Chinese official agencies themselves also embarked on study on the US influence that you alluded to earlier?

Hua Chunying: The question you raised is actually about the relationship between the media and some anti-China forces in the US and the West that spread rumors and disinformation to discredit Xinjiang. And I need to clarify to you that I was referring to some of the Western media.

As for foreign journalists in China, we made a special video and sent it to hundreds of foreign correspondents in China before the Spring Festival this year. Because last year was not easy and we wanted to extend our care to the foreign correspondents, who have worked very hard. Many of you have been in China for more than a decade or even decades. It is through your reports, and with your pen and lens, that the world has come to know China better. Especially last year during the outbreak, many foreign journalists stood by their posts and told the world about the Chinese people's fight against the epidemic. We have noticed that there are more and more objective reports on China, richer in content and with more diverse perspectives. We appreciate that. You can also feel that the Information Department of the Chinese Foreign Ministry and my colleagues have always been sincere, open and friendly in providing convenience and assistance to foreign journalists in their work and life in China. For example, during the outbreak last year, we helped you with interviews, which I believe you know very well.

But I must also stress that a few Western media have made very unfair reports on China, which are not only one-sided, but even fake news sometimes. What is the relationship between them and the US as well as its several allies? I have no idea. But there is no doubt that certain western media have played a disgraceful role in the US-led disinformation campaign against China.

In the video clip you just watched, Daniel Dumbrill named two media outlets, one from the US and the other from the UK. To save their face, I'm not going to specify them here. A so-called "concentration camp survivor" was propped up in a major way by these two media outlets recently, and the third version of her story widely deviated from the first. Curiously, the passport renewal date of this "survivor" was oddly the only thing blurred out in the report. It turns out it's a huge loophole in her story that nobody's talking about. It would be odd enough if China would grant a passport to someone they were trying to "genocide". It would be even more odd that her passport was renewed during the time she said she was under arrest. Anyone with an ounce of intelligence knows there's a problem here. So why such reports were made? Are such media outlets objective, fair and honest? Are they worthy of their readers?

That is why we are grateful to the vast majority of our friends from the media, who continue to report on China to the world and are willing to have a sincere and objective understanding of China. However, it is true that some Western media have spread a lot of disinformation about China. I think you all know who these media are. Journalists with these media outlets also know that very well. They should ask themselves, do they deserve the good working environment that the Chinese side provides them? Can they look the people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang in the eye? As they unconscionably fabricate fake news to smear China, can their conscience really be at ease? Won't their conscience smite them? I don't want to mention their names. What is done by night appears by day. I think the relevant media and journalists know what they've done better than anyone else. We will, as always, continue to facilitate the reporting of foreign correspondents in China and will do our best to provide more interview opportunities for you. Please feel free to come to me and my colleagues if you have any problem.

BBC: We've had an announcement from the Chinese government about sanctions on specific individuals and organizations in the United Kingdom. Can you explain a little bit about that? Why the decision was taken to do it and what the purpose of the sanctions is?

Hua Chunying: The United Kingdom (UK) imposed unilateral sanctions on relevant Chinese individuals and entity, citing the so-called human rights issues in Xinjiang. This move, based on nothing but lies and disinformation, flagrantly breaches international law and basic norms governing international relations, grossly interferes in China's internal affairs, and severely undermines China-UK relations. The Chinese Foreign Ministry has summoned British Ambassador to China to lodge solemn representations, expressing firm opposition and strong condemnation. The Chinese side decides to sanction nine individuals and four entities on the UK side that maliciously spread lies and disinformation. As of today, the individuals concerned and their immediate family members are prohibited from entering the mainland, Hong Kong and Macao of China, their property in China will be frozen, and Chinese citizens and institutions will be prohibited from doing business with them. China reserves the right to take further measures.

China is firmly determined to safeguard its national sovereignty, security and development interests, and warns the UK side not go further down the wrong path. Otherwise, China will resolutely make further reactions.

China Daily: We noticed that during his visit to the Middle East, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi made five proposals on achieving stability and security in the region. What is China's consideration behind the proposals?

Hua Chunying: The Middle East was a highland of brilliant civilizations in human history. Yet, due to protracted conflicts and turmoil in the more recent history, the region descended into a security lowland. For the region to emerge from chaos and enjoy stability, it must break free from the shadows of big-power geopolitical rivalry, stay impervious to external pressure and interference, and explore development paths suited to its regional realities. It must build a security architecture that accommodates the legitimate concerns of all sides.

Now, the Middle East still faces on-going epidemic, disturbances and hotspot issues. The region is again at a crossroads with choices to make about where it is heading. It is in this context that State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi made five proposals on realizing peace and stability in Middle East in an interview with Saudi Arabian media during his visit to the region.

First, advocating mutual respect. It is important to change the traditional mindset and see Middle East countries as partners for cooperation, development and peace, instead of simply perceiving the Middle East through the lens of geo-competition. It is important to support Middle East countries in exploring their own paths of development and pursue political settlement of such regional hotspot issues as Syria, Yemen and Libya.

Second, upholding equity and justice. Nothing represents equity and justice in the Middle East more than a sound solution to the question of Palestine. In its presidency of the UN Security Council this May, China will encourage the Security Council to fully deliberate on the question of Palestine to reaffirm the two-state solution. We will continue to invite peace advocates from Palestine and Israel to China for dialogue. We also welcome Palestinian and Israeli representatives to China for direct negotiations.

Third, achieving non-proliferation. Based on the merits in the evolution of the Iranian nuclear issue, relevant parties need to discuss and formulate the roadmap and time frame for the United States and Iran to resume compliance with the JCPOA. The pressing task is for the US to take substantive measures to lift its unilateral sanctions on Iran and long-arm jurisdiction on third parties, and for Iran to resume reciprocal compliance with its nuclear commitments, in an effort to achieve early harvest.

Fourth, jointly fostering collective security. It is important to encourage equal dialogue and consultation, mutual understanding and accommodation and improved relations among Gulf countries. It is imperative to resolutely combat terrorism and advance deradicalization. China proposes holding a multilateral dialogue conference for regional security in the Gulf region in China, to explore the establishment of a Middle East trust mechanism, and to build step by step a framework for collective, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security in the Middle East.

Fifth, accelerating development cooperation. It is important to help post-conflict countries rebuild, support greater diversity in the economic growth of oil producing countries, and assist other Middle East countries in achieving development and revitalization, in light of the resource endowments of different countries in the region. China will continue to hold the China-Arab Reform and Development Forum and the Middle East Security Forum to increase the sharing of governance experience with Middle East countries.

China has signed documents on Belt and Road cooperation with 19 Middle East countries and carried out distinctive collaboration with each of them. Looking ahead, China will deepen vaccine cooperation in light of the needs of regional countries and discuss with them trilateral vaccine cooperation with Africa. China will maintain close communication and coordination with relevant parties on the above-mentioned proposals so as to contribute our wisdom and strength to realizing peace, security and development in the Middle East.

CCTV: On March 24, the Schiller Institute released on its website a Declaration of China Experts from all over the World, which was jointly signed by 34 dignitaries from 18 countries, including former politicians, diplomats and scholars. The statement condemned recent international anti-China movement, and called on the west to acknowledge China's development achievements and splendid culture, have cooperation rather than confrontation with China. What is China's comment?

Hua Chunying: We have taken note of the above-mentioned statement. It represents the rational and just voice of visionary people in the world, condemns and rejects the crazy words and deeds of the western anti-China forces that wantonly attack, smear and even crafted rumors against China in disregard of facts.

The signatories of the statement have either lived and worked in China, or traveled to China on regular basis for long stay. They all have first-hand experience and objective observation of China. Many of them have witnessed the remarkable achievement China has scored since reform and opening up. They witness the journey where the Chinese Communist Party and Chinese government, with people-centered approach, led 850 million Chinese people out of extreme poverty. More recently, they have seen how 1.4 billion Chinese people, united as one, defeated the COVID-19 epidemic. Their statement once again proves that seeing is believing.

As a matter of fact, many foreign friends who have been living in or dealing with China for many years find that the closer they get to China, the more they will see that China in reality is far from or even completely opposite to the image some western media and politicians try to portray. I saw a lot of video clips uploaded by foreigners saying that they realized they were fooled by foreign media reports only after arriving in China and seeing the country as it is. China has always been open to the world. We welcome people from across the world to get closer to us and understand China. We hope certain individuals in the west will discard bias, return to rationality, liberate their thinking, seek truth from facts and view China from an objective perspective.

Kyodo News: China released the information that Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs Wu Jianghao met with the newly appointed DPRK Ambassador Ri Ryong Nam. What topics were brought up in their meeting? What did they talk about?

Hua Chunying: About Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs Wu Jianghao's meeting with ambassador Ri Ryong Nam, the Foreign Ministry released relevant information on its website. I don't have any more information to offer at the moment.

Xinhua News Agency: On March 24, Serbian people commemorated the victims of the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia 22 years ago. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic stressed Serbia will never forget what happened in 1999. Vucic reminded how NATO countries "attacked a sovereign country, without an approval of the United Nations". He condemned it as "a horrific act of crime, and act of aggression", and added that "They attacked us in order to kill us, humiliate us, and in the end -- to take a part of our territory." During the 78-day military attack, 2,500 civilians were killed, among whom 79 were children. Do you have any response?

Hua Chunying: NATO is picking a fight against China. At the foreign ministers' meeting of NATO members three days ago, they called China a "challenge". We have to remind NATO that it owns a debt of blood to the Chinese people. It shall not forget that the US-led NATO blatantly bombed Yugoslavia in 1999 in severe violation of relevant international conventions and basic norms of international relations, killing many innocent civilians, including three Chinese journalists. The deceased were gone and the living need to stay vigilant and ponder.

Today, the historical trend of peace and development is unstoppable, but power politics and hegemonism still resurface from time to time, seriously undermining and threatening world security, stability and international equity and justice. In Yugoslavia, Iraq, Libya and Syria, no one will forget the innocent civilians killed in the bombings, the crumbling walls under artillery shells, the glorious historical sites engulfed by raging fires.

The US and some western countries keep talking about "human rights" and "accountability". But did they show any care to the human rights of the people of those sovereign states when they blatantly waged war against them without the authorization of the Security Council, leading to hundreds of thousands of deaths, numerous family separations and displacements? Is this what they call "international rules"? Shouldn't they be held accountable for acts of war?

The world today doesn't run in a might-is-right way. The days when the big and strong bullied the small and weak are long gone. We call on all countries to work together to reject unilateral bullying practice, reach out with an open hand rather than fist, and have a handshake for peace.

Both China and Serbia are indomitable peace-loving countries that will not yield to might and power. China is ready to work with all peace-loving countries and people in the world, including Serbia, to firmly safeguard international fairness and justice and jointly uphold and promote world peace, stability and development.

AFP: The sanctions China announced today on the UK side include the Essex Court Chambers. I wonder if the sanctions apply to all the barristers with it?

Hua Chunying: I'd refer you to the statement we released.

The Chinese side decides to sanction the nine individuals and four entities on the UK side that maliciously spread lies and disinformation. The individuals concerned and their immediate family members are prohibited from entering China, their property in China will be frozen, and Chinese citizens and institutions will be prohibited from doing business with them. As to who the sanctions apply to, I believe they can feel it.

Yonhap: According to reports, the foreign ministers of the ROK and China will hold talks next week. The ROK government also says it's working on plans for talks between the foreign ministers. Do you have a comment?

Hua Chunying: China and the ROK are close neighbors and important cooperative partners. The two foreign ministers have all along maintained close exchange and good communication and coordination. We welcome the newly-appointed Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong to visit China at a mutually-convenient time. If the two sides come to any specific plan on that, we'll release information in due course.

China News Service: On March 25, the 75th session of the UN General Assembly held a meeting to mark the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade. Ambassador Dai Bing, Deputy Permanent Representative of China to the United Nations, attended and addressed the meeting. Can you give us more details?

Hua Chunying: On March 25, the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade, the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly held a special meeting attended by President of the General Assembly Volkan Bozkr and Secretary-General of the United Nations Antonio Guterres. Ambassador Dai Bing, Deputy Permanent Representative of China to the United Nations, attended the meeting and delivered a speech.

Slavery and the slave trade are among the worst violations of human rights in the history of humanity. For over 400 years, more than 15 million men, women and children were the victims of the tragic transatlantic slave trade, one of the darkest chapters in human history. What is even worse is that people of African descent still face racial discrimination today, prejudice, hatred and social injustice. This is a challenge to the conscience of mankind. The transatlantic slave trade ended more than two centuries ago, but the white supremacy mindset that underpinned it persists. Unfortunately, in the United States, tens of millions of people of African descent still suffer from discrimination and injustice. To them, freedom and equality are nothing but empty words in law documents. The death of African American George Floyd has led to them crying "I cannot breathe" in anger. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, there has been a surge in violent attacks against people of Asian descent. According to statistics, hate crimes against Asians in the 16 largest cities in the US soared by 150% between March 2020 and February 2021. We can't help but wonder: who will be the next victim?

The Chinese side has noted that the US has begun to publicly acknowledge its serious human rights problems. Admitting problems is good, but correcting mistakes is all the more important. It is hoped that the US side will take concrete actions to address such issues as racism, racial discrimination and police violence to effectively protect the rights of ethnic minorities. It should also engage in international cooperation based on sincerity and equality, stop spreading political lies and launching groundless attacks against other countries, stop labeling other countries based on lies and false information, and stop willfully provoking unilateral illegal sanctions and confrontation against other countries.

BBC: In an earlier answer, you referred to, I think, a BBC report detailing the CIA's role in Hong Kong. Do you have the details of that report? The date it was broadcast and the platform and that type of things?

Hua Chunying: Did I mention the BBC?

Journalist: Maybe I misheard.

Hua Chunying: I mentioned that there was a British media and an American media, and you made the connection yourself, right? There is too much to be said about the untrue reports by the BBC. I will not go into details here. We can do it some other day.

Bloomberg: You've mentioned that you think that the CIA is fomenting unrest in China and I wonder if you have any evidence that you like to show to us about that. If this is true, what security actions China's taking to counter the threat that you described from the CIA?

Hua Chunying: I need to correct you. It is Mr. Lawrence Wilkerson, retired US Army Colonel and chief of staff to former Secretary of State Colin Powell who said so openly, as you saw in that video clip. If you need to check again, we can forward the video to you.

Journalist: I did hear you say that the CIA is fomenting unrest in China. Is that the implication that you're making by showing this video? Just to be clear, you don't have any evidence the CIA is fomenting unrest in Xinjiang, right?

Hua Chunying: It is Mr. Wilkerson who said so. I said something to the effect that we can see its shadow in a series of incidents, including during the disturbance over the proposed legislative amendments in Hong Kong. We did see it.

As to the things CIA and NED have done, there are many videos and reports available online. If you are truly interested and not selective, you can find them easily enough. Perhaps you can ask the US side for clarification whether Mr. Wilkerson was telling the truth. Do they or do they not intend to use Uyghurs in Xinjiang as a pawn to foment unrest and destabilize China from within? The US should give China an explanation and clarification, a clear yes or no.

On issues relating to Xinjiang, we have abundant evidence to prove that some anti-China forces in the US and other Western countries fabricated rumors. As to what the US actually did, maybe they should make clarifications. China is aboveboard and has nothing to hide. We stand ready to expose all those lies and rumors with facts and truth, but will the US do likewise? So perhaps we can ask them to clarify and give an explicit answer, a clear yes or no.

Reuters: I just want to ask, following the recent coordinated sanctions by the US, EU, Canada and the UK, does China have any plans to impose any more retaliatory sanctions, especially I want to ask whether China has plans to impose sanctions on the US as well?

Hua Chunying: As we have said many times, the sanctions imposed by the US, the UK, Canada and the EU on relevant Chinese individuals and entities are utterly based on lies and false information. That is to say, the premise and basis for their sanctions against China are completely non-existent. It was based on malicious lies, rumors and false information that they've imposed the sanctions that severely undermine China's interests. We will not turn a blind eye to anything that undermines China's sovereignty, security and development interests, or impairs China's honor and dignity. We will make legitimate and necessary reactions. I also want to stress that it is the US, the UK, Canada and the EU that started provocation first. China was only acting in self-defence. China's response is legitimate, just and necessary.

The Chinese side has repeatedly and patiently explained to the US, the UK, Canada and the EU about the truth in response to their accusations in the best way it can. Unfortunately, they didn't want to listen. But when the day comes, don't say you are not given a heads-up. If they are bent on harming China's interests, we will have to talk and deal with them in a way that they can understand and remember .

NHK: Myanmar is to hold a large-scale military ceremony tomorrow. Will China send someone to attend?

Hua Chunying: I'm not aware of that.

The Paper: On March 25, the US House Foreign Affairs Committee adopted a bill to direct the Secretary of State to develop a strategy to regain observer status for Taiwan in the World Health Organization, asking the Secretary of State to give an account of the changes and improvements made to the United States plan to endorse and obtain observer status for Taiwan at the World Health Assembly. I wonder if you have a comment?

Hua Chunying: The US bill is a serious breach of the one-China principle and the three China-US joint communiques. It runs counter to international law and basic norms governing international relations. China rejects it. According to UNGA Resolution 2758 and WHA Resolution 25.1, the participation of China's Taiwan region in WHO events must be handled following the one-China principle. Based on this principle, the Central Government of China has made proper arrangements for the Taiwan region's participation in global health affairs.

The one-China principle is the political foundation of China-US relations and the core content of the three China-US joint communiques. We urge the US side to abide by the one-China principle and the three China-US joint communiques, comply with international law and basic norms governing international relations, stop reviewing and pushing the negative Taiwan-related bill, not to send out wrong signals to "Taiwan independence" forces and not to help the Taiwan region to expand its so-called "international space".

BBC: There have been some reports that the WHO report may be due to be released in the coming days. Do you have any information about that?

Hua Chunying: Chinese and international experts have been working on the report. As far as I understand, the communication on the content and translation of the report is still going on among relevant experts. I don't have any details about the timing or the content. I think the time for releasing the report depends on the on-going discussions of Chinese and foreign experts. But the main conclusion, findings and suggestions of the joint study on origin-tracing have been announced to the public at the press conference on February 9. I would like to stress that the issue of origin-tracing is a scientific one that should be left to scientists who can conduct cooperation and research.

AFP: China seems to be acting stronger in diplomacy. Sometimes this is called "wolf-warrior diplomacy". We also noticed that the countermeasures China takes against the UK comes in a wider scope the UK sanctions on China. What are reasons behind this strong reaction?

Hua Chunying: As I said earlier, with regard to what's happening between China, the UK and the EU, we are not the first to make provocations, but the one forced to retaliate in self-defense. The sanctions imposed by the US, the UK, Canada and the EU on China based on rumors, lies and disinformation violate international law and basic norms governing international relations and severely infringe on China's interests. This is unacceptable, and we are forced to take legitimate, necessary and just reactions. They should not be surprised at all by China's countermeasures. The Chinese side has repeatedly told them the truth, but they would rather believe the rumors and lies fabricated by a small number of anti-China forces than the truth and facts we told them time and again. They prefer to ignore the fact that more than 25 million people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang live a happy life there.

Under such circumstances, in order to safeguard China's interests and dignity, we must firmly reject their violation of China's sovereignty and interests and communicate with them by reciprocating what we received, a way they can understand and remember. China is a country of courtesy that values harmony. But if some countries repeatedly undermine China's sovereignty, security, honor and dignity, then we have to make clear our firm position. They might be a little uncomfortable with that because they've been used to the way that "I can say it but you cannot; I can do it, but you can't even accuse me if I do it." It's just not equal. They should learn and get used to treating China and other countries as equals and with mutual respect. This is the correct way for countries to get along with each other.

RIA Novosti: French President Macron after the first day of EU virtual summit said that Europe now is facing a new type of world war in the sector of vaccination. He pointed out that there are many reasons for this, including the fact that Russia and China are trying to use the vaccines to extend their global influence. I wonder if you have any comments?

Hua Chunying: Were the remarks of President Macron released just moments ago? (The journalist nodded.)

I haven't read the report yet, but China's position on vaccines is that they should be made a global public good. No country is absolutely safe until every country is safe. That's why China has been actively advancing international cooperation on vaccines and providing help and support at the request of relevant countries.

We believe that, be it Chinese vaccines or foreign vaccines, it is good vaccine as long as it is safe and effective in helping people to resist the virus. China has been honoring its commitment to make building a community of health for all with concrete actions. We hope other countries, especially developed and major countries with the capability, can lead by example and shoulder due responsibility. Indeed, some countries have hoarded vaccines far in excess of their population's needs. This is vaccines nationalism that will create "vaccine divide". This is not right.

The global effort to fight the pandemic is at a critical juncture. Solidarity and cooperation of the international community is the only way to defeat the virus at an early date. We hope all countries can make positive contribution to ensure the availability and affordability of vaccines in developing countries. China is ready to work with France and other countries to step up international cooperation on vaccines.

Bloomberg: The US and Taiwan have reached an agreement for their coast guards to cooperate. They signed a memorandum of understanding yesterday. Does the foreign ministry have any comment?

Hua Chunying: China's position on US-Taiwan interactions is clear and consistent. We ask the US to abide by the one-China principle and stipulations in the three Sino-US communiques, stop official exchanges and military interactions with Taiwan and be prudent on Taiwan-related issues. We also ask Taiwan not to try to add to its importance by soliciting US support.

TASS: On Wednesday, a giant cargo ship loaded with containers got wedged in Egypt's Suez Canal and blocked marine traffic, costing US$400 million losses per hour. Do you have any comment?

Hua Chunying: This is not a diplomatic issue. We hope the Suez Canal can function unimpeded and the relevant matter be properly handled at an early date.
EGLE Office of the Clean Water Public Advocate launches Benton Harbor Water Outreach Task Force

EGLE Office of the Clean Water Public Advocate launches Benton Harbor Water Outreach Task Force

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 26, 2021

EGLE Media Office, EGLE-Assist@Michigan.gov, 517-284-9278

State, local, and community partners continue to work together to provide additional outreach opportunities in Benton Harbor

The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) Office of the Clean Water Public Advocate announced today the creation of the Benton Harbor Water Outreach Task Force. The task force will provide regular updates about water outreach efforts and work to identify and remove lead service lines.

On March 31, 2021, the Benton Harbor Water Outreach Task Force will host a virtual Community Forum. Task force partners will provide updates about water testing, availability of free water filters to City of Benton Harbor residents and lead service line replacement, as well as other resources available to residents, including the Water Leak Pilot.

Members of the task force include a representative from the City of Benton Harbor, the Benton Harbor Community Water Council, Berrien County Health Department, Andrews University, Freshwater Future, and the Benton Spirit Community Newspaper. The task force will be supported by the Office of the Clean Water Public Advocate, EGLE, and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. Additional community partners will also be added in the future to help support the work of the task force.

"Through the efforts of the task force, we will continue to build a mechanism for collaboration benefiting Benton Harbor residents and ultimately serving as a roadmap for other communities impacted by water quality concerns," Sasy said. "I'm looking forward to a number of additional outreach events this year to ensure that Benton Harbor residents have access to water filters, updates about lead service line replacement and access to additional water resources like our Water Leak Pilot."

The Water Leak Pilot in Benton Harbor is part of the Office of the Clean Water Public Advocate's Focus on Water Initiative that brings together multi-sector partners to support community efforts and connect resources to address water concerns. Approximately 100 Benton Harbor residents will be the first in the state to benefit from the new initiative and receive free in-home plumbing repairs as well as free WaterSense faucet fixtures donated by KOHLER Co. and distributed by ETNA Supply, a Michigan family-owned business.

Michigan residents can find information about communities with current lead action level exceedances (ALE) by visiting Michigan.gov/MILeadSafe. Elevated lead levels were first discovered in Benton Harbor during routine testing in 2018 and residents were advised how to protect themselves by taking actions ranging from running their water in the mornings prior to first use to obtaining a lead reducing water filter. The Berrien County Health Department has been providing free filters to residents with funding from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.

Although Benton Harbor has constructed updates at its water treatment plant, much of the city's water distribution system is around 100 years old. Several water mains and lead service lines were installed in the first half of the 20th century and many homes built before the 1960s are likely to have lead service lines or pipes that pose a health risk to residents.

Benton Harbor installed corrosion control treatment technology at its water plant in March 2019 to reduce the amount of corrosivity in the water and has begun the process of replacing an estimated 3,000 lead service lines still in service. The city has also increased the monitoring of lead and copper in drinking water. Benton Harbor is now sampling twice as many homes as it did previously and has increased the testing frequency to every six months instead of every three years. The increased testing will help measure the effectiveness of the corrosion control treatment in lowering lead levels.

"It's important that we work together to make sure to get this work done," said Reverend Pinkney who leads the Benton Harbor Community Water Council. "I am happy to be part of the task force and continue to serve Benton Harbor community residents."

Residents interested in participating in the Community Forum should visit Michigan.gov/CleanWater for a link to the virtual webinar. Residents interested in the Water Leak Pilot should visit Michigan.gov/WaterLeakPilot. For more information about the Office of the Clean Water Public Advocate visit Michigan.gov/CleanWater.

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Kingstree, SC (29556)

Today

Thunderstorms. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. Low 67F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 70%..

Tonight

Thunderstorms. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. Low 67F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 70%.
More than three weeks after Christian Porter outed himself as the accused rapist in the Morrison cabinet, adding his strenuous denial, the Prime Minister finally has realised that its untenable to allow him to remain as Attorney-General of Australia. It took more than three weeks of unrelenting political damage for Morrison to see the blindingly obvious. Loading The person presiding over Australias system of justice cannot be a person accused of such a vile injustice, especially when there is no mechanism to allow him to clear his name. But instead of a decisive fix, Morrison is planning a thoroughly inadequate measure. He will remove Porter from the Attorney-Generals post, but give him another post in his cabinet. The Prime Minister will explain this as addressing the technicality that there could be a perceived conflict of interest when the Attorney-General, the person who nominates judges to the Federal Court, is also bringing a case before the Federal Court. That case, of course, is Porters defamation claim against the ABC. But the political reality is that Porter is damaged goods. By protecting him from the outset, Morrison fed the anger that moved 100,000 to march for justice for women. But now hes planning to give Porter another cabinet portfolio.

Loading If Porter had any loyalty to his Prime Minister, his party, his government or his country he would have stood down weeks ago and gone to the backbench. That would have been the cleanest fix. You cant be the subject of a national protest movement and pretend you enjoy public confidence. The next best fix would be for Morrison to send him to the backbench. But hes not planning to do that. Third best would be for Morrison to appoint a retired judge to assess whether Porter is a fit and proper person to hold ministerial office. As a NSW Supreme Court judge, Justice Francois Kunc, wrote this week, such an inquiry would not undermine the rule of law, as Morrison claims, but would actually enhance it by addressing the question of public confidence. But no, Morrison says Porter will continue to play a very important role in my cabinet. Likewise, hes going to remove the Defence Minister, Linda Reynolds. The Prime Minister said shes guilty of disgraceful misconduct by calling her former staffer and alleged rape victim, Brittany Higgins, a lying cow. Removing her is an acknowledgement that Reynolds, too, is damaged goods politically. But he wont send her to the backbench either. Like Porter, Morrison says she will continue to play a very important role in my cabinet.

Loading So whichever portfolios Porter and Reynolds are to be given next week, their constituencies can rejoice in the knowledge that theyre having political problems  damaged goods  dumped on them. As with almost every move Morrison has made in this saga, it doesnt solve a problem, it compounds a problem. And the more he ducks and dodges and delays, the more scandals emerge, the more problems build, the worse the situation gets. The Prime Minister accused of misleading Parliament is at the mild end. The Prime Ministers staff has been accused of backgrounding reporters with damaging claims about Higgins loved ones to diminish her demands for justice. For weeks this was in the realm of questions from the opposition while Morrison hoped it would go away, but now Higgins herself has lodged a formal complaint with his chief of staff. It joins the multiple other internal inquiries Morrison has ordered into related questions of cover-ups and bungling. The whole lot now sits festering in Morrisons personal office, issuing a rank stench throughout the executive wing of Parliament and a pall of disrepute across the entire government.

Morrisons plain lack of good faith in confronting the problems has served as a dare to malcontents in his own party, a dare to see how far they can push him before he confronts the problems fully, or breaks. So the disclosures ramp up. Loading Liberal staff members masturbating on female MPs desks, perhaps, and filming it for wider circulation. Or, if thats not lurid enough, claims of Liberal staff holding gay orgies in MPs offices during question time, according to Tony Abbotts former chief of staff, Peta Credlin. How about a government MP, Andrew Laming, who holds the Queensland seat of Bowman, disclosed to have been harassing two women online and in person for years? Both women are constituents of Lamings. One woman, a charity worker, says she was suicidal as a result of his harassment. The other, a teacher, reported Laming to the police after he hid in bushes and photographed her. If Morrison had trouble grappling with problem cabinet ministers, surely he could act decisively with such outrageous conduct by a backbencher? It depends on your definition of decisive. Morrison demanded Laming apologise, which he did in the House on Thursday. On Friday the Prime Minister said his behaviour had been disgraceful.

A spokesperson for the Prime Ministers Office said: At the Prime Ministers request, the Member for Bowman issued an unreserved public apology. His comments were not acceptable to both women and also to the Prime Minister. Every Australian has the right to feel safe online and Mr Laming has made a commitment to change his online communication practices. And that was it. End of story. Nothing to see here. Online communication practices is one of the great euphemisms for trolling or harassment or abuse. What euphemism would the PMO geniuses come up with for a strangler in the Liberals midst, one wonders? Someone counselled to change his respiratory modulation practices, perhaps? But at least the PMO was prepared to acknowledge that online trolling of constituents was bad. Hiding in the bushes to harass a constituent is, apparently, just the modern Liberal Party doing its thing. For perspective, the Laming story would have dominated the news for a week in less torrid times. He would have been drummed out of Parliament unceremoniously. But Morrison is content with his apology. Laming apparently intends to stand again at the next election. If Morrison is going to continue to accept him as a fit and proper member of Parliament, Labor leader Anthony Albanese says he will personally campaign against Laming in his seat at the next election.

Of course, Morrison should have required Laming to announce he would leave Parliament at the next election, at the very least. Instead, Laming becomes just another running sore for the government. The government is in a death spiral and Morrison is proving incapable of pulling it out. Loading When this sorry saga is written up as a case study in crisis management, it will be cited as an outstanding example of the how not to address a crisis. Perhaps the endless pattern of inadequate response, followed by escalating crisis, followed by inadequate response and so on will become known as Morrison syndrome or doing a Morrison. But that would be unfair to the other Morrison. The then Chief of Army, Lieutenant General David Morrison, was lauded for his decisive action in the so-called Jedi Council scandal of 2013 when he expelled army members for demeaning women. He made a public declaration that any man in the army who didnt respect women as equals should get out: There is no place for you amongst this band of brothers and sisters. David Morrison, later the Australian of the Year, stamped this quote onto the public consciousness: The standard you walk past is the standard you accept.
China hands over first batch of vaccine donation to Maldives

Xinhua) 13:17, March 26, 2021

Photo taken with a mobile phone shows staff unloading China-aided COVID-19 vaccines at the Velana International Airport in Male, the Maldives, March 24, 2021. The first batch of vaccines against COVID-19 and anti-epidemic materials donated by China to the Maldives arrived Wednesday night and were handed over on Thursday. (Photo by Guo Yingbin/Xinhua)

MALE, March 25 (Xinhua) -- The first batch of vaccines against COVID-19 and anti-epidemic materials donated by China to the Maldives arrived Wednesday night and were handed over on Thursday.

Chinese Ambassador to the Maldives Zhang Lizhong officially handed over the Sinopharm vaccines and some syringes to Maldivian Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid and Minister of Health Ahmed Naseem in an official ceremony held Thursday.

Speaking at the event, Zhang said the donation was a sign of the bonds of friendship between China and the Maldives and the donation fulfills China's commitment to making the vaccines as a "global public good."

The vaccine donation bears significance in cooperating to fight COVID-19, winning the battle at an early date, and promoting resumption of normal personnel exchanges and cooperation between China and the Maldives, the Chinese ambassador said.

China is ready to provide more support within its capacity to the Maldivian side in fighting the epidemic and recovering the economy, he said

Foreign Minister Shahid thanked the government and the people of China for contributing to the country's vaccination program, noting that Chinese companies in the Maldives have also contributed to the country's anti-epidemic efforts.

Health Minister Naseem also thanked the chinese government, hoping to strengthen cooperation between China and the Maldives as so to win an early victory over the pandemic.

The Maldives approved China's Sinopharm vaccine for emergency use on March 15.

(Web editor: Wen Ying, Liang Jun)
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The following list includes recent reports from the Midland County Sheriffs Office and the Midland Police Department. Compiled by reporter Mitchell Kukulka.

Wednesday, March 24

10:33 p.m. -- Deputies responded to a car-deer crash in Warren Township.

9:21 p.m. -- A 52-year-old Homer Township man requested a wellbeing check on a 54-year-old Lee Township woman after she allegedly made a suicidal statement after the pair broke up. Deputies contacted the woman at her Lee Township residence and she provided a different story. The woman said they were never in a dating relationship and she had only met him twice on a platonic level. Both parties were advised to block each other and cease contact if they could not get along civilly. The woman denied ever being suicidal.

9:18 p.m. -- Officers responded to a domestic assault in the 200 block of East Carpenter Street.

8:05 p.m. -- A 49-year-old Lee Township man reported he was the victim of a fraud. The man had been contacted about a purchase on his PayPal account that he did not actually do. The suspect advised him to go to an online website and they would refund the money, but the suspect refunded too much money. The suspect then requested that the man use gift cards to give the excess back, which he did. They were also able to access the man's bank account and he was out approximately $5,580 in total. After realizing it was a scam, the man reported it to the Sheriff's Office.

3:31 p.m. -- Deputies responded to a car-deer crash in Edenville Township.

2:55 p.m. -- Officers responded to a vehicle crash in the 800 block of West Chapel Lane.

2:32 p.m. -- The unemployment benefits agency contacted 9-1-1 requesting deputies check the wellbeing of a Larkin Township man, who made suicidal statements while attempting to file an unemployment claim. Deputies made contact with the 33-year-old man, who denied being suicidal. He said he made the statement because he is sick of the State of Michigan and the unemployment system.

12:46 p.m. -- Officers responded to a vehicle crash in the area of Sugnet Road and Washington Street.

12:03 p.m. -- Deputies responded to a Jerome Township location for a single-vehicle crash. The driver sustained non-life-threatening injuries and was transported to MidMichigan Medical Center-Midland for treatment.

11:39 a.m. -- Officers responded to a report of fraud in the 4200 block of Perrine Road.

8:38 a.m. -- Officers responded to a vehicle crash in the 4000 block of Wellness Drive.

12:17 a.m. -- Deputies were dispatched to a Lee Township residence for the death investigation of a 57-year-old Lee Township man. The death was believed to be of natural causes.
EARLY this year, precisely on January 18, the late President John Magufuli issued an order for the construction of eight classrooms at King'ongo Primary School in Dar es Salaam after he saw a video that went viral on social media showing pupils sitting on the floor.

The Head of State issued a stern warning to Dar es Salaam City authorities when he spoke of irresponsible leaders at a public rally in Kagera Region.

He said it was disheartening for pupils to sit on the floor due to shortage of desks in a constituency that has a Regional Commissioner, District Commissioner, District Executive Director and a professor of education as the constituency's Member of Parliament.

"I commend the reporter who exposed the rot on social media because there is no politics there like what district leaders wanted the public to believe. These are issues I would like to know about... I'm speaking from Kagera, but when I get to Dar es Salaam, I want to see classrooms built and pupils no longer sit on the floor," he said.

Dar es Salaam authorities had to hit the ground running in efforts to implement the president's three-week ultimatum.

Speaking to reporters a few days after the construction of classrooms, Ubungo Municipal Education Officer Abduly Buheti explained the challenges faced by King'ongo pupils studying under trees.

"The issue is that the school accommodates more than 2,500 pupils and we have few classrooms. If you divided the number and match it with the 10 classrooms available, it was difficult to ensure adequate accommodation. Fortunately President John Magufuli shed light on the gravity of the problem," Buheti said.

In the early weeks of February this year after the president's order eight classrooms at King'ongo Primary School in Ubungo municipality were built. Ubungo Mayor Japhary Nyaigeza said after receiving a call from President Magufuli all officials visited King'ongo Primary School to assess the situation.

The officials also inspected other schools in the municipality for a similar mission. It is sad to note that after a month President Magufuli issued his order to Ubungo authorities, the nation was informed by President Samia Suluhu Hassan that he died of heart complications.

The news was shocking and people who received the information through social media platforms rushed to national television to confirm the report. Among the people who went to verify the shocking news was the King'ongo Primary School head teacher Failuma Kidesu.

"It was midnight when I grabbed my phone. I was shocked when I found Rest in Peace JPM. I couldn't believe it. I thought it was a joke but I heard the voice of Mama Samia. That was the time I began to realize that it was true our dear president had died. Really, a great shock!"

"I rushed and looked at the national television and confirmed that the information was true. My body was trembled... I couldn't sleep."

"President Magufuli has left us an indelible mark here at King'ongo Primary School. It will live our hearts for generations and generations. We thank President Magufuli for the school; it took less than a month for regional authorities to complete the project." Kidesu continues: "Our pupils now sit very comfortably. Prior to the project our infrastructure was not sufficient to serve the pupil population."

"For Standard One, we had 400 students; we divided the class in two streams but still the number was too large as a single stream had 200 pupils. It was a challenge in teaching as one teacher was supposed to handle 200 pupils in one room. This is not good academically. Now, after completion of the project the number of pupils in one classroom reached 100." A teacher at the school, Suzana Lakati, said before the project, toilets were not enough to cater for the entire pupil population.

"Previously there were few toilets for pupils and teachers. The ratio of pupils and toilets was not proportional. After the completion of the project, water is now available at the school."

Apart from construction of classrooms and toilets, Dar es Salaam regional authorities also handed over desks to ensure pupils do not sit on the floor, according to another teacher at the school, Simon Matemanga. Mr Matemanga says the improvement of the infrastructure yielded positive results as it has increased the rate of pupil attendance.

"The attendance has increased; this is because pupils sit comfortably on desks - in a single desk you will find three or four pupils while previously there were 160 to 200 pupils in one stream compared to the current figure of 100," Mr Matemanga said.

"There was a huge challenge as truancy reigned high at the school. We'll remember President Magufuli by working hard because he wanted us all to work hard." Ms Lakati says that after the completion of the school rehabilitation project, it has been easy for teachers to supervise and mentor pupils.

"The attendance has improved as it is easier for the teacher to see all the children and identify who is present and absent. We as teachers enjoy teaching an accessible class. If the class is accessible the children will understand easier," she says.

Ms Lakati adds that it was not only school buildings that President Magufuli gave them, but also free education for every Tanzanian child accompanied by free books.

"He did many things, including providing free education as many children in Tanzania were deprived of the opportunity to study. Free education helped many children," she explains.

"The government has also bought and distributed free books to schools in the country. For instance, in our school we received books for Standard VII pupils."

Apart from teachers commenting on the rehabilitated school, parents note that the construction of classes has been a great blessing to their children as they have improved academically.

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Nsia Amos, a parent, who thanked the late President Magufuli for his great contribution to his child.

"My son has now progressed academically; he has shown a lot of significant changes even the handwriting has now improved. This has impressed and given me joy because before the order was issued he had a very bad handwriting."

"Apart from his handwriting, he did not do well in his studies. I used to go to his teachers every day, but now he is doing well." Another parent, Iluminata Rogati, says "I used to punish my child every day whenever I went through his exercise books.

I even wished to send him to another school but after President Magufuli issued the order and it was implemented, things have changed. My son is now completing his assignments and his exercise books are always marked." Maria Mwamtapu, also a parent, says "I recall those days when my child came home; he was scruffy.

It did not matter if it was sunny or rainy. Thanks to President Magufuli for the school repair project.

"I am very grateful to the late President Magufuli for building us classrooms; the construction of the classrooms will remain an important milestone in our school, says Vernocia Ndumbaro, a parent. "We will always remember our President and pray to God to rest him in eternal peace." "The classrooms President Magufuli built for us are better than the ones which we had previously," says King'ongo
A 40-year-old man was arrested on Thursday after allegedly running over two women with a vehicle at Okahao and fleeing the scene.

Omusati regional crime investigation coordinator deputy commissioner Moses Simaho Malakiya said the women were run over with a Toyota Corolla while trying to cross the road near a local bank.

They sustained serious injuries and were transported to Okahao State Hospital.

The driver is facing counts of reckless or negligent driving, driving a motor vehicle without a driving license,

failure to assetain nature and extent of injuries sustained by persons after the accident and failure to render assistance to injured person after the accident.

The suspect is due to appear in the Okahao Magistrate's Court on Friday.
Although demand for COVID-19 vaccines currently seems high, vaccine hesitancy could pose a major threat to public health efforts to end the pandemic, according to an editorial published today in the journal Science.

The authors, including David A. Broniatowski, associate director of the George Washington University Institute for Data, Democracy & Politics, point out that public sentiment towards vaccines are volatile in the face of events such as the recent controversy surrounding the AstraZeneca vaccine clinical trial data. For example, some people could develop safety concerns due to the news reporting about the AstraZeneca vaccine and then turn down the chance to get an approved COVID-19 vaccine--thus putting them at risk.

Vaccine hesitant people may have anxiety over safety concerns, or they might belong to a community that historically has mistrusted the medical establishment, according to the editorial.

Unfortunately, public health officials might not address their concerns. The editorial notes that people who are hesitant about getting the COVID-19 vaccine are often dismissed as anti-science. At the same time, the vaccine hesitant can be influenced by false information posted on social media or the internet by anti-vaxx activists and organized anti-vaxx groups, the authors said.

Vaccine hesitant people are targeted by anti-vaxxers and ridiculed by some health care providers. They are therefore doubly at risk." David A. Broniatowski, Associate Director, George Washington University Institute for Data, Democracy & Politics

How can vaccine hesitancy be addressed?

Broniatowski co-authored the editorial with Professor Heidi J. Larson, Director of The Vaccine Confidence Project at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.

"Messages about vaccines must be delivered in a way that is empathetic to avoid stigmatizing people who have questions about the vaccine. Particularly in the context of Covid-19, with all its uncertainties, people need to be reassured, and feel that their concerns are heard," Larson said. "And, if there is one thing we have learned in all our research, people's concerns can change. Listening needs to be ongoing."
As an offensive lineman, Justin Herrons job is to protect. When hes on the field, he prevents the quarterback from being hit by defensive players. He also helps clear the way for the running back. An offensive linemans job is unselfish and about putting others first.

Off the field, Justin Herron operates the same way.

On Wednesday, the Tempe Police Department in Arizona honored Herron and Phoenix resident Murry Rogers after the two men had stopped an attempted sexual assault last Saturday. According to the police, a 71-year-old retired teacher was out on her daily walk through a Tempe park when a 30-year-old man attacked her. The woman was seen being pushed to the ground and screaming for help. That's when Herron and Rogers intervened.

Tempe's interim police chief, Jeffrey Glover, presented Herron and Rogers with Outstanding Citizen certificates during a press conference on Wednesday.

"It was something that I never dreamed or I thought I would see, you know," Herron said during the press conference. "You see it in movies and TV all the time but you never think it's going to happen in real life until it does.

"In that moment, I was shocked. It was 11 a.m. It was in the middle of the day, not one cloud in the sky and in a very open field. It was just the fact that it had happened there at that time was just very, very shocking."

Herron, who is 6 feet 5 inches tall, weighs 305 pounds and is in his second year with the Patriots, called the scene terrifying. He was taking a walk in the park at the time. Rogers was there for his daughter's birthday party. When they heard the screams, both Good Samaritans ran toward the assault. Herron screamed at the man, told him to stop and pulled him off the victim. Rogers kept the suspect from fleeing the scene while Herron then consoled the victim.

"If not for the swift actions of Mr. Justin Herron and Mr. Murry Rogers, this vicious attack could have been much worse," said Tempe Police Detective Natalie Barela.

"The impact they've had on our victim's life," Glover said, "these two individuals stepped forward and truly saved her life."

The victim, Barela said, has experienced "a significant amount of trauma, but she is working through some of these things and physically doing OK." Herron and Rogers both met with the woman this week. The woman called both men her angels and it was said that there wasnt a dry eye in the house.

"I never thought in a thousand years that I would see her ever again," Herron said, "and a part of me was a little bit upset that I didn't ask for a name just so I could just know the name.

"It was heartwarming to see her, but also gut-wrenching to see how she responded to the trauma and how she's dealing with it. No one should go through that. No one. She has a great support system and I'm glad that she has that support system. It was emotional for me. It was emotional for everybody in the room to see her."
Myanmar authorities released Associated Press (AP) journalist Thein Zaw from detention on Wednesday, March 24, following his arrest three weeks ago. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) are relieved Thein Zaw has been released and urge the Myanmar military to release the remaining detained journalists.

A court hearing on Wednesday resulted in Zaws release from Insien prison in Yangon after a judge announced all charges against him would be dropped because he was doing his job at the time of his arrest. Leaving prison, he was taken home by his brothers and friend, looking visibly thinner than before his arrest.

Ian Phillips, the AP vice president for international news said they were deeply relieved that AP journalist Thein Zaw has been freed from prison in Myanmar. Zaw told the AP "I'm looking forward to meeting my family members, and I'm sorry for some colleagues who are still in prison."

Zaw was taken into custody in Yangon on February 27 after being charged under the countrys public order law for allegedly causing fear, spreading false news or agitating directly or indirectly a government employee. Myanmar authorities detained ten journalists across February 27 and 28 who were covering protests against the military coup. Myanmars public order law was hastily amended last month, when the military junta broadened its scope and increased the maximum prison sentence from two to three years.

On Wednesday, authorities also released more than 600 demonstrators who were arrested during the brutal crackdown. The move can be seen as a conciliatory gesture from the military, in attempts to appease protestors. The detainment of protests has been a hallmark of the military takeover, with BCC News reporting at least 40 journalists arrested since the February 1 coup.

The IFJ said: Journalists must be afforded the right to work safely and freely instead of being arrested for simply doing their job. Press freedom is vital in times of political conflict however the continual arrest of journalists in Myanmar signals a disregard by the Myanmar military-junta for the rights of media workers and democracy. The release of AP journalist Thein Zaw is a positive development and the IFJ urge the Myanmar military to ensure the release of the remaining journalists still detained.
Mumbai: Sachin Vaze was arrested on Saturday (March 13) by the National Investigation Agency (NIA). The agency started an investigation on February 25 as the bomb was placed outside the industrialist Mukesh Ambani's residence Antilia in South Mumbai.

Sachin Vaze has been taken into custody by NIA. The National Investigation Agency has charged Vaze with sections relating to conspiracy, criminal intimidation, negligent conduct in dealing with explosives, forgery, and possession of counterfeit seal.

Sachin Vaze was working with the Crime Intelligence Unit (CIU), Mumbai and was in charge of the investigation into the security scare outside Mukesh Ambani's residence Antilia. Former Chief Minister Devendra Fadanvis alleged that Sachin Vaze was in touch with Mansukh Hiren, a person with a car decor business in Thane who had possession of the "Scorpio" car that cause the security scare outside Antilia.

Mansukh Hiren had registered a report of the car missing the week before it appeared in front of the Mukesh Ambani's house. Devendra Fadanvis presented the call recordings between Vaze and Hiren in the state assemble and alleged that Sachin Vaze was the first person to reach the spot where it was parked outside Antilia in Mumbai's Charmichael road. Vaze denied this claim.

The dead body of Mansukh Hiren was found in Kalwa creek on the same day Fadanvis presented call records in the assembly. Hiren's wife alleged that Sachin Vaze was the one behind her husband's murder. She further alleged that the Scorpio car was with Vaze for many months until February 5 this year. The ATS is investigating the Hiran murder case. It had registered an FIR against an unidentified person.

According to NIA sources, a Toyota Land Cruiser Prado was found parked outside Waze's residence in the Saket area of adjoining Thane. A Mercedes car linked to Sachin Waze was also seized but it was not clear from where it was picked up. The total number of vehicles seized has gone up to five, including another Mercedes, a Scorpio and an Innova.

BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis claimed that when he was Maharashtra chief minister, Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray had called him in 2018 to seek reinstatement of the then suspended police officer Sachin Waze into the state police force.

He also accused the Shiv Sena of pressuring him over this demand at that time and demanded an NIA probe into the whole incident involving Sachin Waze.

Devendra Fadanvis said that "It could be a coincidence, but the sheer number of coincidences with regard to Vaze, in this case, is more than in a Bollywood film."

Sachin Vaze joined the Police force in 1990 and was posted to Gadchiroli. He later moved to Thane Police and then Mumbai Police Crime Branch. He worked as Assistant Police Inspector with Mumbai Police. He was one of the members of the famous "encounter specialist" in Mumbai along with Daya Naik and Pradeep Sharma. He left the job in 2007 and later joined Shiv Sena.

He was rehabilitated into the force in June 2020. He was made in charge of the Crime Intelligence Unit (CIU) and he started handling some of the most high-profile cases. He worked on cases such as fake social media followers case where rapper Badshah was summoned, TRP Scam, Dilip Chabria case and Hrithik Roshan's fake email case.

Live TV
Health Minister Martin Foley acknowledges there is still more work to be done implementing the recommendations of Victorias Royal Commission into Family Violence, five years after the inquiry delivered its findings.

Experts say the Andrews governments $3 billion in funding to counter domestic abuse has generated improvements, but progress has been slow in some areas. Reports to police are at a record high and women are being hospitalised because of family violence at the same rate as in 2016, when the royal commission made its recommendations.

Health Minister Martin Foley. Credit:Justin McManus

Mr Foley said the royal commission was the start of a long process, and pointed to recent allegations of sexual assault and harassment at Parliament House in Canberra as evidence of deep-seated cultural problems and the slow pace of changing attitudes towards women.

There is more work to be done, he said. Family violence continues to be the single most pressing law and order issue in our community, he said on Friday.
As Army Spc. Vanessa Guillen's grieving family visited Capitol Hill on Wednesday to push for legislation to prevent military sexual assault, the Texas woman accused of helping dismember the Fort Hood soldier's body last April asked a federal judge to throw out her confession.

Cecily Ann Aguilar's defense team has asked U.S. District Judge Alan Albright to suppress a confession that she helped her boyfriend, Spc. Aaron Robinson, dismember and dispose of Guillen's remains near the Leon River in Bell County, saying it was illegally obtained by local authorities.

The main argument in Wednesday's motion focuses on Aguilar not being read her rights by civilian investigators, but the document also offers a more detailed glimpse into a chaotic 24 hours leading to Robinson's death and Aguilar's arrest.

Aguilar is charged with conspiracy to tamper with Guillen's body, tampering with Guillen's body and hiding it near the river, according to the defense motion filed Wednesday.

Robinson  accused of bludgeoning Guillen with a hammer at Fort Hood on April 22  was never charged because he fatally shot himself on July 1 as officers tried to detain him for questioning, according to Killeen police. However, video footage of the incident has yet and may not ever be released because Texas law allows the video to be sealed if no charge or a conviction happens in the case.

On June 30, 2020, workers building a fence near the Leon River in Bell County discovered what they believed to be human remains in a pile of burned rubble.

Tim Miller, founder of the civilian group EquuSearch, revealed after the discovery that his crew actually found the site of her remains on June 21 but that Army officials ignored his pleas for them to dig at the location.

The U.S. Army's Criminal Investigation Division later in the year was criticized by an independent panel that found CID agents assigned to solve crimes at Fort Hood had for years lacked enough experience and leadership to properly respond to cases like Guillen's, leading to systemic violence on post.

Army leaders also fired or suspended 14 Fort Hood officials in December following several investigations into the post, including Maj. Gen. Scott Efflandt, whom Guillen's family had accused of not adequately responding to their pleas to help find the 20-year-old soldier.

The Bell County sheriff's office, after hearing of the fence workers' discovery on June 30, sent two detectives to the site and confirmed that human remains were found. Fort Hood, the Army CID, Texas Rangers and the FBI were then called in to investigate.

In Wednesday's motion, Aguilar's defense said she was working at a Killeen convenience store on June 30 when police officers came into the business to ask her some questions. At this point, authorities believed she was involved in Guillen's death.

Aguilar that day eventually tried to get onto Fort Hood when she was stopped by local police for more questioning, according to the motion. Aguilar said she knew she was not allowed on base, but was searching for a vehicle her estranged husband had left on post for her.

Aguilar was told multiple times to stop texting while she was talking to police and, when she continued texting, an officer took her phone away and she agreed to come into the station for questioning, the motion says.

Once at the station, Aguilar was not given her phone back and was brought into an interrogation room and questioned from 8:30 p.m. until 1 a.m., according to her defense lawyers.

The officers did not read Ms. Aguilar her Miranda rights at the beginning of the interrogation," the motion said. "They did not tell her anything she said could be held against her in court. They did not say she had the right to an attorney during questioning. And they did not ask if she was willing to waive those rights."

During the questioning, Aguilar told investigators that Robinson, whom she was dating while married, confessed to her that he had killed Guillen.

Aguilar also told investigators that Robinson took Guillen's body off the post, picked Aguilar up from her work at a gas station and then showed the body to her. Aguilar said Robinson then made her help him dispose of the body, according to the motion.

Army officials have said Robinson and Aguilar tried disposing of her remains for multiple days.

Army officials, however, have still released few details about how Robinson evaded authorities on June 30 and killed himself in the wee hours of July 1.

Wednesday's motion says local investigators listened in on several controlled calls with Aguilar and Robinson on June 30.

During one call, Robinson did not deny his involvement in the disappearance and death of Guillen. Robinson even texted Aguilar pictures of news articles about human remains being found. He also said during one call, "Baby, they found the pieces, they found the pieces."

In a previous interview with ABC News, Army leaders said Robinson was placed in a room on Fort Hood with an unarmed escort at some point on June 30.

Army leaders said Robinson was not detained, but investigators were suspicious he was involved in Guillen's disappearance.

Robinson ran away from base while he was being watched and somehow got ahold of a vehicle and a gun, according to Army leaders, the report said. However. Army leaders have yet to release any more information.

Aguilar during her questioning to police on June 30 told officers Robinson would try to escape and would shoot himself rather than be taken into custody, which was just hours before police say he took his own life.

Meanwhile, in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, the Guillen family attended a U.S. Senate committee hearing on sexual assault in the military. The family has maintained that Vanessa Guillen was repeatedly sexually harassed by multiple soldiers on post, including Robinson. However, Guillen told her family she was scared to report the abuse out of fear of retaliation.

Guillen's case also led to an investigation into Fort Hood's sexual harassment/assault response and prevention program, also known as SHARP. Investigators reported that Army leaders failed to address known problems, often leaving SHARP understaffed and in the hands of those not equipped to respond appropriately. As a result, the Central Texas post created a "permissive environment" that led to its culture of criminal behavior, investigators said.

Natalie Khawam, the Guillen family's attorney, was one of several who testified during the hearing Wednesday, agreeing with the committee chair, U.S. Sen. Kristen Gillibrand, D-N.Y., that sexual assault in the military is an epidemic.

"There is such an injustice that has happened to our soldiers," Khawam said on behalf of herself and the Guillen family. "Our soldiers deserved respect. Our soldiers deserve justice. We have to do this as a country. Not just members in the military, but all people."

Spc. Vanessa Guillen's family had driven to Washington also to attend a rally on Thursday to urge President Joe Biden and Congress to support the "I Am Vanessa Guillen Act," which would allow for sexual assault cases among military members to be investigated and prosecuted by those outside of the victim's and accused's direct chain of command.

This article is written by Heather Osbourne from Austin American-Statesman and was legally licensed via the Tribune Content Agency through the Industry Dive publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@industrydive.com.
Brittany Cartwright, who is set to become a mom next month, got to meet the newest member of the gang on Thursday.

The former Vanderpump Rules star met friend Lala Kent's daughter Ocean, who was born on March 15, and shared snaps of the moment she cradled the newborn.

Brittany, 32, could be seen in a green jumpsuit as she gazed down at the tiny tot who Lala welcomed with fiance Randall Emmett.

Pregnant: Brittany Cartwright got to meet pal Lala Kent's baby daughter Ocean on Thursday

'OMG Y'ALL I AM DYINGGGGGG @LALAKENT @RANDALLEMMETTFILMS' Brittany captioned the sweet snap that she shared to her Instagram stories.

Brittany, who is due on April 13, has been speaking out about haters on social media as she continues to be body-shamed about her pregnant figure.

'I don't know who else needs to hear this but all women carry differently and all are beautiful!!!' the Kentucky native wrote in a post Thursday.

The wife of Jax Taylor displayed her baby bump in a snap of her wearing just a bra and shorts.

Congratulations: Lala welcomed baby Ocean on March 15 with fiance Randall Emmett

Brittany, who is due on April 13, has been speaking out about haters on social media as she continues to be body-shamed about her pregnant figure

Proud: The wife of Jax Taylor displayed her baby bump in a snap of her wearing just a bra and shorts

'9 months pregnant and so proud of my body and every mark my healthy son has made!!' the mom-to-be wrote

'9 months pregnant and so proud of my body and every mark my healthy son has made!!' the mom-to-be wrote.

In another post Brittany shared a clip of her posing in a clingy grey jersey dress and denim jacket, the same outfit she showed off to followers in recent days and claims she got criticized for.

'Perfect example. Women even mother's have harassed me over this photo so I put it in a video form for your hatin' butts!!!' Brittany defiantly captioned the video.

Harassed: In another post Brittany shared a clip of her posing in a clingy grey jersey dress and denim jacket, the same outfit she showed off to followers in recent days and claims she got criticized for

Spread the love: In response to her words, it seems the Bravo star's fans came to her defense as she thanked them for all the positive comments in a follow-up post

In response to her words, it seems the Bravo star's fans came to her defense as she thanked them for all the positive comments in a follow-up post.

'I'm getting so much love and positive feedback from my stories and I love you all for that!! You never know what someone is going through so always try to be positive and supportive.

'Spread the love guys!!' she concluded her note.

Brittany and Jax, 42, were married in June 2019 in Brittany's native Kentucky, after getting engaged in Malibu the previous summer.

This is the first child for them both.
The Lagos Government Thursday night denied compromising the vaccination protocols rolled out by the Federal Government even as it said the allegations of malpractices at Falomo centre and sale of vaccines were untrue and unfounded.

Reacting to these and more in a press statement, the state Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi after he paid an unscheduled visit to some vaccination centres across the state also disclosed that the State had vaccinated over 100,000 persons.

The Commissioner and the state Information and Strategy counterpart, Mr Gbenga Omotoso visited the vaccination centres located inside the Police Hospital, Falomo and the Mainland Infectious Disease Hospital, Yaba to inspect activities at the vaccination sites.

Abayomi said the visit was geared towards getting firsthand information of the process at the sites, ascertaining the allegations and determining whether activities at the sites are in line with the government's protocol and best practices.

While noting that unscheduled visits to vaccination sites are part of the State government's monitoring and compliance strategy to ensure a seamless vaccination, the Commissioner said top officials of the Ministry and independent assessors had been going round to ensure compliance to vaccination protocols.

Abayomi said the visit to Falomo centre was specifically to verify the allegations of malpractices at the site and ensure that vaccination protocols are strictly implemented.

"This is the Falomo Police medical facility, which has been in the press recently. This is an unscheduled visit and they did not know we were coming. We do this all the time; we pay unscheduled visits to our facilities without informing the management in order to find out firsthand and in real-time how things are in the facilities.

"The Commissioner of Police in charge of this facility is not aware we are coming and this is deliberate in order for us to find out if there is any truth in the allegations that have been made against the centre, although we have done our investigation".

Abayomi also debunked the allegation of vaccine sales at any of the 88 vaccination sites, stating that the allegation at the Ikate vaccination site is "untrue and baseless".

He explained that COVID vaccination protocols are strictly monitored to ensure accountability of every unit of the vaccine received by the State, adding that every unit administered on citizens is accounted for at every stage of the process.

Abayomi noted that every unit of vaccine administered tallies with the vaccination card and the barcode on the vaccination card as part of the quality assurance and accountability framework put in place. He stated that it is difficult and near impossible for any unit of vaccine to be sold without being detected.

"This why vaccinators are mandated to return every unit vaccine vial after use to us for proper audit; we then destroy the vial ourselves after a proper audit has been taken and every vial accounted for", he said.

The Commissioner, while imploring citizens to desist from making unsubstantiated allegations and comments about the vaccination, challenged anyone with evidence of corrupt practices to come forward with it.

He noted that false allegations and rumours peddled by some citizens about the vaccination are inimical to the goal of the campaign, which the State government is striving to achieve. He advised Lagosians to jettison any allegation that is not substantiated, stressing that it is a deliberate attempt to subvert the exercise and discourage citizens from accepting the vaccine.

"The state government, in keeping with its excellent antecedent, is working hard to ensure a successful vaccination exercise and we can only do this with the support and cooperation of our citizens and stakeholders.".

Responding to the allegations, the Commissioner of Police in Charge of the Hospital, Mr Kayode Egbetokun, denied it all and challenged anyone with evidence of malpractices to come forward with it.

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"The Lagos State Government has stated clearly the categories of people that are qualified for vaccination in the first phase of the exercise. Before you can come into this facility, you must qualify for the vaccination and if you see the notice at the entrance of our facility, there is a notice listing the categories of people to be vaccinated and these are the groups of people we grant admission here.

"Anybody can make allegations, but anybody making allegations of thugs at our gate should come and substantiate the allegation. We at Falomo have continued to insist on strict adherence to the guidelines given by the state government.

"Nobody can collect money here; the allegation is baseless. Anybody who is alleging that somebody is collecting money should come forward with evidence".

Vanguard News Nigeria
Ive been working here for over 25 years and Id never seen anything like it, says Alejandra Torres, managing director of a childrens hospital in Spains Canary Islands, to describe the dramatic situation of irregular migrants arriving in the archipelago over the past week.

In recent days, a two-year-old child from Mali has died in the hospital after being rescued in critical condition from a migrant boat that departed from Dakhla in Western Sahara, on Africas northwestern coast. An adult woman remains in the intensive care unit, and another 11 minors and seven adults are still receiving medical care.

It is not common for boats to show up with so many minors and so many women Alejandra Torres, managing director of a childrens hospital in Spains Canary Islands

The police have opened an investigation into the case of the boat that carried the two-year-old child and 51 other people. Its not normal for people making such a short journey, between two and four days, to arrive in such poor condition, says a source at the Canaries Healthcare Service. One theory is that a few adults may have hoarded all the food and water on board. Passengers have been threatened, so it is hard to get them to explain the detail of their trip, says one police source.

The toddler was the 19th migrant to die so far this year on the so-called Canary Islands route, a dangerous Atlantic Ocean journey that has become one of the main gateways into Europe following the crackdown on crossings via the Mediterranean. In October of last year, there were 2,006 unaccompanied children and youths under state care in the Canaries. Right now that figure has risen to 2,658.

The islands have been experiencing a rise in migratory pressure since late 2019. So far this year around 3,000 people have arrived in the Spanish archipelago on vessels departing from the African coast. This figure is twice as high as over the same period last year, although it is far below the September-to-December period, when there were peaks of over 8,000 arrivals a month.

But something has been changing in recent days.

Women waiting at the port of Arguineguin in Gran Canaria on March 16. Borja Suarez / REUTERS

It is not common for migrants to arrive in such poor health, but above all, it is not common for boats to show up with so many minors and so many women, notes Torres. We are worried and dismayed at these numbers.

We are observing a rise in the number of women and children arriving in the Canaries, agrees Maria Jesus Vega, the spokesperson in Spain for the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR).

Its true that we are surprised at the rate of arrivals of women and minors, but we still have to wait to see if it represents a changing trend, adds Inigo Vila, director of the Emergency Unit of the Red Cross.

During the first three months of the year, women went from making up 5% of boat arrivals to representing 12%, according to official figures cited by refugee aid sources. And there has been a 4% rise in the number of underage arrivals.

There is great instability in the region: war in Malis case, and high violence levels in countries such as Guinea. To this must be added human rights violations linked to gender issues, genital mutilation, forced marriages and human trafficking, says Vega.

A strained system

This increased presence of women and children poses a new challenge to a system devised largely for healthy undocumented men. The Ombudsman has criticized the lack of specific protocols, which means that women and minors go through the same procedure as any other migrant: they are taken to a temporary holding center or to a police station, where they are formally held for 72 hours so they can be identified and questioned.

Medical sources in the Canary Islands said that the deceased childs mother spent several nights at a migrant camp in Barranco Seco until she was able to prove her relationship to her daughter and allowed to spend the last few hours with her in the hospital. And hospital sources said that several children have spent entire days all alone, despite existing protocols that say that separating children from adults claiming to be their direct relatives should only be done in cases of imminent risk.

Whats been happening with the latest arrivals evidences how many gaps remain in the assistance to women and children, says a source in the Canaries healthcare service, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The UNHCR spokesperson says Spain needs to improve the asylum request system for vulnerable groups like women and children. These are individuals who are fleeing situations of violence and who have made very complicated and risk-fraught journeys, for instance from Ivory Coast to Burkina Faso, to Mali, to Mauritania and to Dakhla, from which point they usually travel to the Canary Islands, explains Vega. There have been improvements since last year in terms of registering requests, but more resources are needed and the procedure has to be speeded up.

The Ombudsman has underscored the hurdles undermining migrants right to seek asylum. Although over 23,000 people arrived in the archipelago last year, there are hardly any Africans among the 4,000 protection applicants whose requests were processed, representing 8.6% of the total, compared with 90% filed by Latin Americans who arrived in Spain by air. According to the Ombudsman, this does not mean that African migrants are not fleeing conflict and persecution, but simply that they face numerous barriers when seeking asylum.

English version by Susana Urra.
ROCHESTER, Minn. - Two people were arrested Thursday for allegedly assaulting and robbing a Walmart employee.

Police said it was reported at Walmart North at 5:21 p.m. when a 17-year-old male who collects carts from the parking lot was assaulted and robbed by a group of people.

The victim suffered minor injuries on his arms and knees. He said he was getting the carts when the group shoved him down, took his iPhone, wallet and shoes off his feet.

Officers were able to get a license plate number and located the vehicle in the 1800 block of 25th St. NW.

Isaiah Chhin, 18, and a 17-year-old male were arrested. Police said it appears the victim and the suspects are familiar with each other.
As vaccine eligibility opens up, there are a few things to note before getting your vaccine.

For the two-dose Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, Linda Vail, Ingham County Health Officer, recommends being sure you are available for your second dose. If you will not be available for your second scheduled vaccine, do not schedule your first dose.

RELATED: How to find a COVID-19 vaccination appointment in Michigan

Currently, all Michiganders 50 years and older are available as well as younger adults with pre-existing conditions. On April 5, all Michigan residents age 16 and older will be eligible for a vaccine.

Those scheduling appointments will not be able to choose the vaccine they receive. Coronavirus vaccinations are provided at no cost to patients.

RELATED: 9 things to know about Michigans expansion of vaccine eligibility to all ages

Vail weighs in on what you need to know.

Before you go:

Wear clothes that make your upper arm easily accessible. Vail suggests wearing a jacket over a short sleeve shirt.

Make sure you bring a mask.

Bring photo identification, as well as any proof of employment if that pertains to your appointment. Some vaccine locations are requiring patients to bring an insurance card, Vail said. If you have insurance, bring your insurance card. If you dont have insurance, its OK.

Be sure you have not had another vaccine two weeks prior to your coronavirus vaccine. If you are getting a two dose coronavirus vaccine, do not plan to get a different vaccine in between your coronavirus doses, Vail said. In addition, do not plan to get a vaccine until two weeks after your final dose.

Be sure to eat. Some people get anxious before their vaccine and having low blood sugar does not help, Vail said. Eating has nothing to do with the vaccine, it just helps any nervousness.

After your vaccine:

Stay hydrated. This will help you feel better after your vaccine, Vail said.

You may also take an over the counter pain reliever if needed after your vaccine.

Feel free to move around and massage the area your vaccine is administered. That helps any soreness, Vail said.

You may have side effects after the vaccine, particularly your second dose. If you experience a fever or chills, this happens for some and is not an adverse reaction, Vail said. Instead, it is a side effect of your body building immunity.

You do not need to avoid any activities before or after your vaccine, Vail said. However, you may anticipate feeling a bit under the weather after your dose. Vail said it is up to each individual person to take the day off work after their dose or to lighten their schedule.

Once you are fully vaccinated, you can gather with other vaccinated people indoors without wearing masks or social distance, and with one household of people who are low risk, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Fully vaccinated means you have waited two weeks since receiving your second dose of Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, or two weeks after your single dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

Vaccinated individuals should still wear a mask, social distance and avoid crowds in public spaces, per the CDC.

Read more on MLive:

Vaccinated people can gather without masks, CDC says in new guidance

COVID-19 cases in Michigan nursing homes drop 96%, deaths drop 99% since late December

Pfizer begins studying use of COVID-19 vaccine in children 6 months to 11 years old

30% of Michigan adults have received first vaccine dose; see numbers in your county
Georgia was again the focus of presidential politics Friday as President Joe Biden blasted a new election law there as an 'atrocity'  and former President Donald Trump congratulated the state for changes Democrats are calling an illegal crackdown.

'Congratulations to Georgia and the Georgia State Legislature on changing their voter Rules and Regulations,' Trump said in a statement through his Save America PAC.

'They learned from the travesty of the 2020 Presidential Election, which can never be allowed to happen again. Too bad these changes could not have been done sooner!' Trump wrote from Mar-a-Lago, where he was pictured golfing Friday.

His comments came after Biden, who defeated him in Georgia by 11,780 votes, once again blasted the new effort by lawmakers in the state to place restrictions on mail voting, curtail voting hours, and throw up other roadblocks.

'It's an atrocity. If you want any indication that it has nothing to do with fairness, nothing to do with decency, they passed a law saying you can't provide water to people standing in line while they're waiting to vote?' Biden said as he left the White House Friday.

President Joe Biden called a new Georgia election bill an 'atrocity' and said in a statement it was 'Jim Crow in the 21st Century'

'You don't need anything else to know that this is nothing but punitive, designed to keep people from voting. You can't provide water for people about to vote. Give me a break,' he intoned.

In a new statement, Biden called the law 'Jim Crow in the 21st Century.'

Asked by reporters after flying to Wilmington what his administration could do about the matter, Biden said the 'Justice Department's taking a look as well.' Before a crucial 2013 Supreme Court ruling substantially weakened the law, the Voting Rights Act required southern states with a history of discrimination to obtain 'pre-clearance' from Washington before changing their voting laws.

The White House also defended a Georgia state lawmaker who was arrested outside Gov. Brian Kemp's office while protesting a bill he signed to cut back voting hours and prevent people from giving food or drink to people standing in line to cast a ballot.

State Rep. Park Cannon was hauled off by police officers after banging on the door to the room during Kemp's ceremony.

'Anyone who saw that video would have been deeply concerned by the actions that were taken by law enforcement to arrest her when she simply by the video that was provided seemed to be knocking on the door to see if she could watch a bill being signed into law,' White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Friday.

Georgia state troopers were captured on video forcibly removing Democratic lawmaker Park Cannon (left knocking on Brian Kemp's door and right being handcuffed) from outside Brian Kemp's office after she attempted to protest the governor's signing of a bill

As Kemp delivered his remarks about the bill, he was interrupted by a commotion before a livestream of the event cut out. Rep Cannon (pictured in red) was arrested by Capitol police amid a protest after knocking on the door of the governor's office during his remarks

White House press secretary Jen Psaki also went after the Georgia bill itself, which was enacted following Joe Biden's win in the state, followed by stunning Senate wins by Democrats Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock in runoff elections.

'It should not be harder, it should be easier to vote,' she said. We shoudl not put limitations in place. People should be able to vote from home, they should be able to use absentee ballots. There should be a range of restrictions that are undone, not put back in place.

Trump's praise for Georgia was a new tack - after the elections he repeatedly went after state Republican election officials after multiple recounts failed to change the outcome. He demanded Kemp, a Republican who is up for reelection in 2022, resign.

'He is an obstructionist who refuses to admit that we won Georgia, BIG!' Trump tweeted in late December.

During a Jan. 4 rally in Georgia two days before the Capitol riot, Trump vowed to campaign against Kemp, while calling Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger 'crazy.'

'Ill be here in about a year and a half campaigning against your governor, I guarantee you that,' Trump said. Democrats ended up winning both runoff races.

Vice President Kamala Harris joined the fray Friday with a pitch for the massive Senate voting rights bill that was the subject of a contentious Rules Committee hearing this week.

'I believe very strongly that Congress needs to pass the For The People Act,' she said, calling out what she termed 'abusive practices that we seen from the Georgia Legislature.'

The first black vice president said the law was designed to block 'whole populations from voting.'

Biden tore into the new law at his debut press conference Thursday, singling out provisions cutting off weekday early voting at 5 pm and prohibiting people from delivering food or water to people standing in line.

Biden called it 'sick' and 'un-American.'

One provision of the new law states: 'nor shall any person give, offer to give, or participate in the giving of any money or gifts, including, but not limited to, food and drink, to an elector.'

Volunteers and election workers, however, can set up their own water stations.

Top Democratic lawyers are already vowing to challenge the law as an unconstitutional effort to suppress black voters.

Georgia state troopers were captured on video forcibly removing a Democratic lawmaker from outside Brian Kemp's office after she attempted to protest the governor's signing of a bill that overhauls the state's troubled voting procedures Thursday.

Kemp drew protests as he signed into law the sweeping Republican-sponsored overhaul of state elections that includes greater legislative control over how elections are run.

As Kemp delivered his remarks about the bill, he was interrupted by a commotion before a livestream of the event cut out.

Democratic state Rep. Park Cannon was arrested by Capitol police amid a protest after knocking on the door of the governor's office during his remarks.

Video captured by a bystander shows Cannon, who is handcuffed with her arms behind her back, being forcibly removed from the Capitol by two officers, one on each arm.

Video captured by a bystander shows Cannon, who is handcuffed with her arms behind her back, being forcibly removed from the Capitol by two officers, one on each arm

She says 'where are you taking me?' and 'stop' as she is taken from the building

Joe Biden's statement on Georgia election law More Americans voted in the 2020 elections than any election in our nations history. In Georgia we saw this most historic demonstration of the power of the vote twice  in November and then again in the runoff election for the U.S. Senate seats in January. Recount after recount and court case after court case upheld the integrity and outcome of a clearly free, fair, and secure democratic process. Yet instead of celebrating the rights of all Georgians to vote or winning campaigns on the merits of their ideas, Republicans in the state instead rushed through an un-American law to deny people the right to vote. This law, like so many others being pursued by Republicans in statehouses across the country is a blatant attack on the Constitution and good conscience. Among the outrageous parts of this new state law, it ends voting hours early so working people cant cast their vote after their shift is over. It adds rigid restrictions on casting absentee ballots that will effectively deny the right to vote to countless voters. And it makes it a crime to provide water to voters while they wait in line  lines Republican officials themselves have created by reducing the number of polling sites across the state, disproportionately in Black neighborhoods. This is Jim Crow in the 21 Century. It must end. We have a moral and Constitutional obligation to act. I once again urge Congress to pass the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act to make it easier for all eligible Americans access the ballot box and prevent attacks on the sacred right to vote. And I will take my case to the American people  including Republicans who joined the broadest coalition of voters ever in this past election to put country before party. If you have the best ideas, you have nothing to hide. Let the people vote. Advertisement

She says 'where are you taking me?' and 'stop' as she is taken from the building.

In one clip of the video, Cannon says she's 'not doing anything' as police pull her through a metal detector and out the entrance of the building.

Other women, who appear to be a mix of lawmakers and reporters, are also heard questioning the officers about Cannon being forced outside.

Images from the Associated Press show Cannon being placed into the back of a patrol car. Cannon was charged with felony obstruction of law enforcement, punishable by 1 to 5 years in prison, and with disrupting a session of the General Assembly.

She was being held at the Fulton County jail, said an email from a Georgia State Patrol spokesperson, Lieut W. Mark Riley.

Just before 9.30pm, Cannon's lawyer, Gerald Griggs tweeted that the lawmaker 'is in the process of being released from the jail now'.

Video from the Atlanta branch of the NAACP showed protesters standing outside the jail in solidarity with Cannon.

The clip then shows Sen Raphael Warnock walking in the rain and into the building to 'get Representative Park Cannon', the NAACP said.

Cannon was protesting the signing of the bill, which Democrats and voting rights groups say will disproportionately disenfranchise voters of color.

It is one of a wave of GOP-backed election bills introduced in states around the country after former President Donald Trump stoked false claims that fraud led to his 2020 election defeat.

President Joe Biden called such GOP efforts 'un-American' and 'sick' during a news conference Thursday.

The Republican changes to voting law in Georgia follows record-breaking turnout that led to Democratic victories in the presidential contest and two US Senate runoffs in the once reliably red state.

'After the November election last year, I knew, like so many of you, that significant reforms to our state elections were needed,' said Kemp, who drew Trump's ire after certifying Biden's victory in Georgia.

Kemp signed the bill less than two hours after it cleared the Georgia General Assembly.

The bill passed the state House 100-75, before the state Senate quickly agreed to House changes, 34-20. Republicans in the legislature supported it. Democrats were opposed.

At his first news conference, Biden harshly criticized Republican moves to limit voting rights.

Images from the Associated Press show Cannon being placed into the back of a patrol car

Cannon was charged with felony obstruction of law enforcement, punishable by 1 to 5 years in prison, and with disrupting a session of the General Assembly

Cannon was released form the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta, Georgia, early Friday morning

Protesters waited for Cannon to be released from the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta

Demonstrators gathered outside the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta late Thursday night and waited hours for Cannon's release Friday morning

Just before 9.30pm, Cannon's (pictured) lawyer tweeted that the lawmaker 'is in the process of being released from the jail now'

'The Republican voters I know find this despicable, Republican voters, the folks outside this White House. I'm not talking about the elected officials. I'm talking about voters. Voters. And so I'm convinced that we'll be able to stop this because it is the most pernicious thing.' Biden said.

In Georgia, Democratic state Senate Minority Leader Gloria Butler called the efforts by Republicans 'voter suppression tactics'.

'We are witnessing right now a massive and unabashed assault on voting rights unlike anything we've seen since the Jim Crow era,' Butler added.

The law requires a photo ID in order to vote absentee by mail, after more than 1.3 million Georgia voters used that option during the COVID-19 pandemic.

It also cuts the time people have to request an absentee ballot and limits where ballot drop boxes can be placed and when they can be accessed.

Democratic Rep Rhonda Burnough said the bill is based on lies told by Republicans after November's election.

'Georgians turned out in record-breaking numbers because they could access the ballot,' Burnough said. 'Lies upon lies were told about our elections in response, and now this bill is before us built on those same lies.'

Kemp (center on Thursday) signed the bill less than two hours after it cleared the Georgia General Assembly

African Methodist Episcopal Church Bishop Reginald Jackson announces a boycott of Coca-Cola Co products outside the Georgia Capitol on Thursday in Atlanta. Jackson says Coca-Cola and other large Georgia companies haven't done enough to oppose restrictive voting bills

Ann White of Roswell holds protest signs on the North Wing stairs of the Georgia State Capitol building on day 38 of the legislative session in Atlanta on Thursday

Republican Rep Jan Jones said the provisions cutting the time people have to request an absentee ballot are meant to 'increase the likelihood of a voter's vote being cast successfully,' after concerns were raised about mail ballots not being received in time to be counted.

One of the biggest changes gives the GOP-controlled legislature more control over election administration. That has raised alarms about potential greater partisan influence.

The law replaces the elected secretary of state as the chair of the state election board with a new appointee of the legislature after Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger rebuffed Trump's attempts to overturn Georgia's election results.

It also allows the board to remove and replace county election officials deemed to be underperforming.

That provision is widely seen as something that could be used to target Fulton County, a Democratic stronghold covering most of Atlanta, which came under fire after long lines plagued summertime primary elections.

Republican Rep Barry Fleming, a driving force in crafting the law, said that provision would only be a 'temporary fix, so to speak, that ends and the control is turned back over to the locals after the problems are resolved.'

The law also reduces the timeframe in which runoff elections are held, including the amount of early voting for runoffs.

And it bars outside groups from handing out food or water to people in line to vote.

The law does not contain some of the more contentious proposals floated by Republicans earlier in the session, including limits on early voting on Sundays, a popular day for black churchgoers to vote in 'souls to the polls' events.

It instead mandates two Saturdays of early voting ahead of general elections, when only one had been mandatory, and leaves two Sundays as optional.
London, March 26 : Hollywood star Amber Heard is "pleased" with the decision by a British High court rejecting actor Johnny Depps libel case.

"We are pleased - but by no means surprised - by the Court's denial of Mr. Depp's application for appeal. The evidence presented in the UK case was overwhelming and undeniable," a statement from Heard's representatives read, as quoted by aceshowbiz.com.

On Thursday, it was reported that Depp had lost the bid to overturn a British High Court ruling, which had dismissed his libel claims against a British tabloid accusing the "Pirates Of The Caribbean" star of being a "wife beater" over charges of assaulting Heard, when the two were married.

"To reiterate, the original verdict was that Mr. Depp committed domestic violence against Amber on no fewer than 12 occasions and she was left in fear of her life. The verdict and lengthy, well-reasoned Judgment, including the Confidential Judgment, have been affirmed. Mr. Depp's claim of new and important evidence was nothing more than a press strategy, and has been soundly rejected by the Court," the statement added.

Last year, in what is regarded as the biggest English libel case of 21st century, the former couple was locked in a three-week trial, after Depp had sued the publisher of The Sun newspaper over a 2018 article calling him a "wife beater." The court had observed that the column, published in April 2018, was "substantially true".
Head of children's hiking group caught in avalanche detained

 flickr.com/ Ari Bakker

13:32 26/03/2021

ST. PETERSBURG, March 26 (RAPSI, Mikhail Telekhov)  The leader of a children's tourist group trapped under an avalanche in the Khibiny Mountains, what resulted in the death of a 13-year girl, has been detained until May 22, the Leninsky District Court of the town of Murmansk informs RAPSI.

Sergey Smirnov was charged with providing services not meeting safety requirements, what resulted in the death of a child. Investigators allege that Smirnov, an instructor of the St. Petersburg tourist club Skif, led a group of children aged 12 to 15 on the avalanche-risk slope on March 22.

As follows from the materials of the case, the head of the group failed to take into account the hazards presented by the hard-to-reach terrain of the region, its difficult relief, and the state and volume of snow cover before going on a multi-day ski trip with minors.

On the third day of the hike the children found themselves dangerously close to an overhanging snow mass on a hill, which collapsed when the group passed in its immediate vicinity. According to the press service of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Murmansk region, Smirnov committed numerous violations during his passage.

The reasons making investigators to insist on the arrest of the man are to be voiced next Monday according to the press service of the Investigative Committee.

The St. Petersburg main directorate of the federal Investigative Committee has opened a criminal case against managers of the Skif club over alleged negligence on their part.
An expert in maritime technology and engineering says the grounding of a large container ship in the Suez Canal is down to a a branch of physics known as hydrodynamics.

Evert Lataire, head of maritime technology division at the University of Ghent in Belgium says that the large container ship, which is now blocking one of the world's main trade arteries, was turned around by a phenomenon he's studied many times in models and simulations  the bank effect.

He said it happens when a large vessel, in a shallow body of water, gets too close to a bank.

Then displaced water can exert forces that may override a working ship's motor and rudder, sometimes flipping it 180 degrees.

Lataire heads a division that runs simulations and models for a number of different ships to test their ability to enter ports and other shipping facilities.

He says he recognized the situation almost immediately when he saw the path of the ship in vessel tracking sites.

The skyscraper-sized Ever Given, carrying cargo between Asia and Europe, ran aground Tuesday in the narrow, man-made canal dividing continental Africa from the Sinai Peninsula.

Even helped by high tides, authorities have been unable to push the Panama-flagged container vessel aside, and they are looking for new ideas to free it.

Lataire says that, from his research, it seems to have run ashore on both ends  though more deeply on the front bow, making refloating even more difficult.

Evergreen Marine Corp., a major Taiwan-based shipping company that operates the ship, said the Ever Given had been overcome by strong winds as it entered the canal, something Egyptian officials had echoed earlier.

High winds and a sandstorm plagued the area Tuesday, with winds gusting to 50 kph (30 mph).

An initial report suggested the ship suffered a power blackout before the incident, something Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement denied.

Lataire also explained movement patterns earlier in the ship's approach to the canal, saying it looks like the normal pattern of a ship that is maneuvering around a lowered anchor that is not resting on the sea floor.

That's something a ship might do while it's waiting for permission to start its journey through the canal, with Lataire adding he did not "see anything exotic".

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
The trade of at least $400 million of crude oil as well as liquefied natural gas (LNG), refined fuels and containers full of goods have come to a standstill in one of the worlds key shipping routes, with millions of dollars more at risk after a massive container ship ran aground in the Suez Canal.

Frantic efforts are under way to free the 400-metre long, 200,000-tonne Ever Given, one of worlds largest container ships, after it was blown off course by strong winds and blocked the canal at the 151km mark.

The Suez Canal Authority (SCA) has deployed seven tug boats to try to refloat the vessel, but their work has been hampered by strong winds and been unsuccessful so far, according to Maritime services group GAC.

At least seven vessels bearing 6.3 million barrels of crude oil have been delayed because of the accident, two northbound behind Ever Given, and five southbound, according to commodities analyst Kpler that tracks bulk goods vessel, South China Morning Post reported.

Using the Brent crude oil price of about $64 a barrel as a value proxy  oil prices shot up after the grounding  the seven vessels carry about $403 million of crude oil. If the Ever Given remains stuck into the weekend, three more vessels carrying 2.5 million barrels of oil, worth about another $160 million, will join the queue from the south, Kpler said.



Another 15 vessels carrying refined bulk products such as naphtha, jet fuel and petrol have been delayed in crossing the canal due to the congestion, Kpler added. Ten are waiting to the south of the canal, while five others heading south to Asia are stuck in the north.

Five LNG vessels and two liquefied petroleum gas carriers are also either delayed in the canal or are waiting to enter, Kpler said.

"While attempts to clear the ship from the canal continue, this queue will continue to build. A salvage squad from the Netherlands will attempt to dislodge the ship beginning Thursday," Kpler said.

The delayed ships are either in the canal or waiting at the north entrance at Port Said Anchorage and Great Bitter Lake Anchorage, or in the south at the Southern Suez Anchorage, said energy and commodities analyst Wood Mackenzie.

The Ever Given was travelling northbound towards Rotterdam from Yantian in China. The two carriers immediately behind it in the convoy  the container vessel Maersk Denver and the bulk carrier Ruby Asia III  were trapped as they watched the grounding unfold.

Supply chain and logistics service provider project44 is tracking 34 other container vessels carrying about 380,000 containers of non-bulk goods either already stuck in the canal or approaching it.

Twenty one of those carriers are within about 100km of the Ever Given waiting in the queue, while 13 other container ships are set to arrive within days.

Ever Given itself holds 20,000 containers of goods.

This brings the total number of goods-laden vessels stuck to about 100, although project44 says more ships, oil tankers, bulk carriers or RoRo vessels  cargo ships that carry wheeled cargo  are being backed up by the hour.

The Suez Canal is one of the busiest trade routes in the world and connects Europe, Asia and Africa. An average of 50 vessels travel through it each day, carrying about 3 million tonnes of cargo, mainly bulk goods such as LNG, oil, and containers. Each year, nearly 20,000 vessels travel the 200-kilometre artificial waterway, accounting for about 12% of world trade by volume.

Ships laden with grains, fertilizers, chemicals, coal, machinery, metal ores and food products all pass through the sea route. Aside from container traffic, the Suez Canal is important for oil and LNG  meaning prices for the commodities could rise as a result of the blockage.

Oil prices reversed a sharp sell-off a day earlier to rise 1% on Friday on mounting fears that it could take weeks to dislodge a giant container ship blocking the Suez Canal, which would squeeze supplies of crude and refined products. Prices, however, were still headed for a third consecutive weekly loss, with the outlook for demand dented by fresh coronavirus lockdowns in Europe.

Brent crude was higher by 54 cents, or 0.9%, at $62.49 a barrel by 0432 GMT, after dropping 3.8% on Thursday. WTI crude was up 65 cents, or 1.1%, at $59.21 a barrel, having tumbled 4.3% a day earlier.

Both benchmarks were on track for a weekly loss of about 3%, following a more than 6% decline last week.
Lindy Cameron, CEO of the UKs National Cyber Security Centre. (Courtesy of the NCSC)

UK Must Be Clear-Eyed on Chinas Tech Ambitions: Cyber Security Chief

Britain must be clear-eyed about Chinas ambitions in the technology sector and be alert to the threat it poses, the head of the UKs cyber security centre said on Friday.

In her first speech as chief executive of the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), Lindy Cameron outlined the cyber threats the UK is facing.

The National Cyber Security Centre  launched five years ago  is now a firmly embedded part of the UK cyber security landscape, and here to stay. Lindy Cameron, NCSC CEO. Read the full speech here: https://t.co/G6rXjAu4DV pic.twitter.com/96mEkZLwRa  NCSC UK (@NCSC) March 26, 2021

In July 2020, Foreign Secretary Raab said he was deeply concerned over evidence that China is engaged in malicious cyberattacks against commercial, medical, and academic institutions, including those working to respond to the coronavirus pandemic.

Recent global cyber incidents involving SolarWinds and Microsoft Exchange have shown the range of cyber threats we currently face, Cameron said in a virtual speech to an audience at Queens University, Belfast.

Microsoft said earlier this month that a China-linked cyber-espionage group had been remotely plundering email inboxes using freshly discovered flaws in Microsoft mail server software, causing a global wave of cyberattacks and data breaches.

Late last year, U.S. government systems were breached following the hack of SolarWinds, which U.S. federal agencies said was instigated by Russia for intelligence gathering.

Chinese soldiers work at computers. Cyberattacks from China have continued despite agreements from the CCP to stop. (mil.huanqiu.com)

In cyberlike in other areas of securityRussia poses the most acute and immediate threat to the UK, Cameron said.

Butas the Integrated Review makes clearwe must be clear-eyed about Chinese ambition in technological advancement, she said.

China will change the world we live in in a much more fundamental way than Russia will, Cameron told reporters.

In its Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development, and Foreign Policy published on March 16, the British government said: Chinas increasing power and international assertiveness is likely to be the most significant geopolitical factor of the 2020s.

The scale and reach of Chinas economy, size of its population, technological advancement and increasing ambition to project its influence on the global stage, for example through the Belt and Road Initiative, will have profound implications worldwide, it said.

A logo is displayed on a television screen in the National Cyber Security Centre in London, on Feb. 14, 2017. (Carl Court/Getty Images)

In addition to China and Russia, Cameron said North Korea and Iran have also been publicly named as having undertaken hostile activity in cyberspace.

We continue to be alert to the threat that these statesand otherspose to the UK, she said.

The NCSC, a part of the UKs GCHQ intelligence agency that was set up in 2017, is charged with protecting the nation from cyber-attacks.

Since then, it has dealt with over 2,000 significant incidents ranging from high sophistication covert state-sponsored attacks to criminal ones with major public impact, said Cameron.

In November 2020, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the formation of the National Cyber Force (NCF), which will work alongside the NCSC and conduct cyber operations to disrupt hostile state activities, counter-terror plots, and support military operations.

Reuters contributed to this report.
Geddes, N.Y. -- Hundreds of Covid-19 Janssen-Johnson & Johnson vaccine appointments are now open at the New York State Fairgrounds from March 31 to April 6.

You can make the appointments at the states Am I Eligible website. Right now, there are two different options for appointments at the fairgrounds, based on vaccine type (see photo above).

This vaccine requires only one dose. These are daytime appointments.

Other appointments for the Pfizer vaccine, which requires two shots 21 days apart, are also available at the fairgrounds through the end of May.

All of these appointments are for anyone who is currently eligible for the vaccine in New York.

Got a story idea or news tip youd like to share with a Syracuse-area reporter? Please contact me through email, Twitter, Facebook or at 315-470-2274.
Frontline Ltd. (the "Company") advises that the 2021 Annual General Meeting of the Company will be held on May 26, 2021. The record date for voting at the Annual General Meeting is set to April 9, 2021. The notice, agenda and associated material will be distributed prior to the meeting.

Hamilton, Bermuda

March 26, 2021

This information is subject of the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.
Chris Pratt and Patrick Schwarzenegger are ready to take the small screen together in the Amazon series The Terminal List.

News of Schwarzenegger's casting emerged Thursday via Deadline, who reported the Midnight Sun actor, 27, will play a key recurring character opposite leading man and brother-in-law Pratt, 41.

The series, which is currently shooting, is based on the Jack Carr novel about Navy SEAL James Reece's return home after his entire platoon is ambushed during a high-stakes covert mission.

Brotherly love: Patrick Schwarzenegger will be joining his brother-in-law Chris Pratt in the Amazon military thriller series The Terminal List as an important recurring character

According to Deadline: 'Reece returns home to his family with conflicting memories of the event and questions about his culpability.

'However, as new evidence comes to light, Reece discovers dark forces working against him, endangering not only his life but the lives of those he loves.

Patrick's character Donny Mitchell is Reece's 'fresh out of training' colleague, described as the 'baby-faced youngest team member' of the platoon.

The Terminal List also stars Constance Wu, Riley Keough, Taylor Kitsch and Jeanne Tripplehorn and will be directed by Antoine Fuqua.

Earlier this week Pratt shared a glimpse into production life via Instagram where he told fans he was 'going crazy' while cooped up in his trailer.

Intrigue: The series, which is currently shooting, is based on the Jack Carr novel about Navy SEAL James Reece's return home after his entire platoon is ambushed during a high-stakes covert mission

Set days: The Guardians Of The Galaxy star kept his spirits high with some antics as he waited in his trailer while filming the new Amazon series

Dressed in full hair and makeup as he geared up for a day on set as the Navy SEAL, Pratt kept his spirits high in his own strange ways.

'Literally this  literally. Literally, this,' he said with a lispy affectation while holding a now empty coffee mug post caffeine fix.

He continued to show off a range of facial expressions as he said 'Show me a cup more greater than this...I'll wait. I'm just gonna leave this right here for you,' he told the camera while placing it down.

Over caffeinated? 'Literally this  literally. Literally, this,' he said with a lispy affectation while holding a now empty coffee mug

Crooning: From there he broke into song as he belted 'It's a new dawn, new day,' while panning to a thing of Dawn dishwashing soap and hitting some low baritone notes

From there he broke into song as he belted 'It's a new dawn, new day,' while panning to a thing of Dawn dishwashing soap and hitting some low baritone notes.

Afterwards he put his own flare on the debate to ban single use plastic straws in an effort to prevent sea turtles from getting them stuck in their nose.

'Hey Chris Pratt here just going crazy in my trailer waiting to go to work, and I just wanna let you know that I care about sea turtles. See this straw  it's made out of paper cuz I know that sea turtles are constantly trying to do cocaine.'

Chris first posted about the series on March 9 as he reflected on his journey in Hollywood, while sharing that it is the first of many projects produced under his entity Indivisible Productions.

Interesting take: Afterwards he put his own flare on the debate to ban single use plastic straws in an effort to prevent sea turtles from getting them stuck in their nose
Hannah Montana aired on Disney Channel for the first time on March 24, 2006, and Miley Cyrus just celebrated the 15-year anniversary by ending her characters feud with Mikayla Skeech (Selena Gomez). The rivalry between the two pop-stars paralleled their real-life reported feud. But Cyrus just showed that theres nothing but love between the two stars  in real life, and on-camera.

Miley Cyrus in Hannah Montana | Disney Channel/Joel Warren

Selena Gomez guest-starred on Hannah Montana in two episodes

Selena Gomez made her Hannah Montana debut in the 2007 episode, I Want You to Want Me to Go to Florida. In the episode, Miley Stewart (as her pop alter-ego Hannah Montana) met Mikayla on a talk show after Mikayla performed. Hannah was shocked to learn that Mikayla told her she hated her.

Your voice is stingy, your music is stupid, your outfits make me want to puke on them but it looks like somebody already did, Mikayla said to Hannah. My problem is, is Im 10 times better than you and youre gonna find that out in Florida. Miss Hannah, Im taking all of your fan-ahs.

The two participated in a hunger-relief phone-athon together, where tension was high.

Their feud continued in the 2008 episode, Thats What Friends Are For? Miley learned that Mikayla was going to be her ex-boyfriends new co-star. But Mikaylas feud was with Hannah  not Miley. So when Miley visited the set as herself and not her alter-ego, Mikayla was nothing but nice to her. But still, Miley had a huge problem with Mikayla working with Jake Ryan (Cody Linley).

Even though the two girls fought over Jake, Miley apologized to Mikayla for trying to fire her from the acting project. In the end, Mikayla said that she would let Miley be friends with her.

We can do all my favorite things, Mikayla said. Shop, get our nails done, and talk about how much I hate Hannah Montana!

Miley Cyrus ended their characters feud in a Hannah Montana letter

RELATED: Hannah Montana: What Was the Alternate Ending of the Disney Channel Show?

In honor of the 15-year anniversary of the Hannah Montana premiere, Cyrus penned letters to multiple people from her blonde-haired alter-ego. While viewers never saw Mikayla and Hannahs reconciliation on-screen, fans can imagine what happened after Cyrus wrote Mikayla a loving letter in character.

She wrote: Mikayla! Hate makes you ugly Good thing I LOVE you! Always + 5ever  Hannah Montana.

The hate makes you ugly line referenced dialogue from the show. Mikayla told Hannah, I still hate you. And Hannah replied, Hate makes you ugly. Oops, too late.

Clearly, Cyrus wanted to show that Hannah and Mikayla eventually made up as feuding pop stars often do. Even though the make-up didnt happen on-screen, the moment was still touching and fun for former fans of the show.

Selena Gomez replied and proved the Hannah Montana feud is done

Love you  Selena Gomez (@selenagomez) March 25, 2021

Gomez saw the letter that Hannah wrote to Mikayla, and replied directly to the tweet herself. She said, love you, with some hearts and a rainbow emoji.

This proved that the decade-old feud between Hannah and Mikayla was done for good.

Maybe one day viewers can see where Hannah and Mikayla are now, years after their teen pop success in the world of Hannah Montana.

You can watch Hannah Montana on Disney+.
Hate stares at Asians from screens

China Daily) 13:51, March 26, 2021

Xinhua File Photo.

Adding to dangers on streets, they also suffer rise in online abuse, US poll finds

Asian Americans have suffered the biggest spike in serious incidents of online hate and harassment compared with other groups in the United States, an annual survey released on Wednesday shows.

About 17 percent of Asian Americans surveyed by the Anti-Defamation League said that they experienced severe online harassment compared with the 11 percent reported last year, It was the largest uptick in comparison to other groups, according to the ADL, which monitors the activities of domestic and international hate groups.

The survey defines severe online harassment as sexual harassment, stalking, physical threats and sustained harassment as well as swatting and doxingthe latter two refer to false police reports and the disclosure of someone's personal details, respectively.

Half of the Asian-American respondents who were harassed said it was because of their race or identity. Overall, 21 percent of Asian-American respondents said they were harassed online.

The survey of 2,251 people conducted by YouGov, a public opinion and data analytics firm, shows that racist incidents against the Asian community aren't just happening offline.

"The spike in physical violence against Asian Americans across the nation was whipped up in large part by bigotry and conspiracy theories that grew online, fanned by national leaders, including former president (Donald) Trump's incendiary rhetoric blaming China for the pandemic and referring to the virus as the 'China plague' or 'kung flu'," researchers said.

Anti-Asian sentiment increased 85 percent on Twitter after Trump was diagnosed with COVID-19 last fall, the report said. Trump also used the term "China virus" in several interviews.

Asian Americans experienced the most harassment on Facebook, followed by Twitter, Instagram and Google-owned YouTube, the report said.

700,000 tweets

A study published on March 17 by researchers at the University of California in San Francisco tracked nearly 700,000 tweets that used either the neutral hashtag "#covid19" or"#chinesevirus" from March 9 to March 23, 2020.

Researchers found evidence of an association between the hashtag#chinesevirus and anti-Asian language. Twenty percent of tweets that used "#covid19" showed anti-Asian sentiment, compared with 50 percent of tweets that used the hashtag#chinesevirus.

Trump's use of the phrase in his speeches and on Twitter coincided with an increase in its use by others online, the report said. The mean number of daily users in the #covid19 group rose by 379 percent after Trump's tweet, compared with an increase of #chinesevirus by 8,351 percent, the report said.

The World Health Organization warned in 2015 that naming diseases after specific areas or ethnic groups can perpetuate xenophobia around the globe.

The WHO announced the official name COVID-19 for the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus on Feb 11, 2020. COVID-19 is an abbreviation of "coronavirus disease 2019". "CO" stands for corona, "VI" for virus and "D" for disease.

The WHO, as well as the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, issued guidelines for this usage, warning against linking the disease to a specific place or area. Asian-American communities have warned for several months that political leaders' linking COVID-19 to China could lead to violence.

ADL chief executive Jonathan Greenblatt said the findings, which come amid a growing outcry over the rise in attacks on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders nationwide, show that efforts to curb surging anti-Asian sentiment by social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube have fallen short.

The report was issued the day before the CEOs of Facebook, Google and Twitter were expected to appear virtually before the House of Representatives' Energy and Commerce Committee to address how false information around the pandemic and the election spreads online and to discuss their handling of misinformation, disinformation and other harmful content.

(Web editor: Guo Wenrui, Liang Jun)
10 Years of Santal 33: Why Did it Capture the Worlds Nose?

Fragrance Reviews

Santal 33 gained a cult reputation worldwide for being the scent of upper-middle-class, millennial New York hipsters in the design, fashion, hospitality and creative sectors throughout the late two thousand and teens into the 2020s. It was first released in 2011 to a brand it may have been hard to bet on at the time, promoting synthetics when naturals were trending and clearly playing laboratory rather than truly being one, yet contained enough gimmick, pageantry and novelty to fit into the experience-economy mindset of the age.

Ten years later, and Le Labo is a powerhouse of modern perfumery. Personally, I feel there is indeed a common signature between all of their releases  a kind of dusty, stale musk that binds the base together like a sap. Not that this is a bad thing. On the contrary, the dry warmth and aloof sternness communicated by the brands signature musk has the hallmarks of both the smell and character of a modern art gallery.

Much has been written about Santal 33s coming-of-age, tracking the uprising of the formula from the slighter simpler, less smoky Santal 26 (first released as a candle), to a room spray, to skin fragrance. Founder Fabrice Penot once told The Cut that we ignored the few friends  who said, you should go for a perfume version. As the story goes, Penot was passing a stranger when he stopped to ask what scent he was wearing; it was that good. Learning that they were actually donning the Le Labo Santal room spray as a personal scent, his next visit to the office started with the exclamation, we have our next perfume, and it has actually always been there the whole time. It is Santal.



According to perfumer Frank Voekl, there are many other things going on in [Santal 33, apart from sandalwood]. A lot of strong, powerful, impactful notes in there that are sort of fighting and smoothing each other out. Its complex and simple at the same time. It is significant to note that Santal 33s rise was not just a branding exercise but had a lot, or was mostly, to do with its scent profile, provoking widespread word-of-mouth recommendations and outspoken compliments. Perhaps the most important factor in Santal 33s domination of niche scent fashion was its unmistakable, instantly recognizable sillage, different in both balance and effect from the core stock out there in the 2010s.

For me, the key in explaining Santal 33s success is its bitterness (what others have termed its pickle note, though celery, radish or mustard would probably fit the bill, too). Most likely resulting from the combination of papyrus, leather and violet, the tart and sour edge that defines the opening experience of Santal 33 crafts a sense of freshness with very few fresh materials, almost tangy or acidic with extreme dryness, like a hit of vinegar in a sauce. Whilst it was certainly not the first to express leather ideas in this style, I cant think of many other fragrances that manage to balance such harshness up top with comforting, buttery richness elsewhere (sandalwood, iris, amber) to shape a harmony that is at once invigorating, mysterious and never cloying.

Cleverly, the scent plays with suggestions of natural wood alongside urban and warehouse smells that are minimal and synthetic, hinting at paint, concrete, steel, plaster, rubber, white-walled art galleries and abandoned factory raves. Within that context, it is not hard to see how it would have pulled at the heartstrings of rich, wannabe hipsters that craved the spirituality of a Catskills log cabin as much as the pretension of a 5th Avenue gallery preview. In managing to evoke both austerity and reassurance (cultural synonyms for power and trust), in a single breath, Santal 33 tapped into the subconscious of 2011 New York like no other olfactory experience.

I appreciate the legacy of Santal 33 as it was crafted on timely scent architecture, rather than solely scent marketing, and paved the way for a new style of woody-leather-amber that was set to rule the market for the next decade.
Ankara, March 26 : The Turkish government said on Friday that the European Union (EU) needs to take "concrete and constructive" steps regarding lingering issues such as renewing a migration pact and considering visa liberalisation.

EU leaders declared on Thursday that they were prepared to boost trade and extend a 2016 migration pact with Ankara, but warned of sanctions if Turkey resumes its "illegal" energy exploration in the eastern Mediterranean, reports dpa news agency.

The bloc will take further decisions at a European Council meeting in June, Brussels said.

In a statement, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said that Ankara hopes putting forward preconditions and "addressing only certain areas and postponing them to June will not lead to losing a positive momentum (with the EU)".

The EU "has no authority" to label Turkish drilling activities as illegal, the statement said, blaming such rhetoric on "provocations" by the Greek side.

Turkey has been at odds with EU members Greece and Cyprus regarding maritime boundaries and natural gas reserves in a contested part of the eastern Mediterranean.

Ankara said it still "welcomes efforts made with the report to improve Turkey-EU relations on the basis of a positive agenda".
The director of Ford v Ferrari, The Wolverine, Walk the Line and The Call of the Wild apparently wont be shooting future projects in the Peach State.

I will not direct a film in Georgia, filmmaker James Mangold tweeted Thursday, after Georgia officials passed a bill overhauling the states election laws, including absentee voting.

Mangolds filmography also includes movies like Girl, Interrupted, Cop Land and 3:10 to Yuma.

The New York native is also directing the yet-to-be titled fifth film in the Indian Jones adventure franchise, as Collider has reported.

According to NPR writer Stephen Fowler, this weeks Georgia voting law overhaul includes new limitations on mail-in voting, expands most voters access to in-person early voting and caps a months-long battle over voting in a battleground state. In another NPR story, Jaclyn Diaz writes, It has been heavily criticized as a bill that would end up disenfranchising Black voters. Its also seen as Republicans rebuke of the November and January elections in which the states Black voters led the election of two Democrats to the Senate.

Mangolds films have won at least four Academy Awards. According to georgia.org, films to have been shot or partially shot in Georgia include classics like Deliverance and My Cousin Vinnie. More recently, features such as Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity Game and Coming 2 America, as well as TV hits like The Walking Dead, Stranger Things and Cobra Kai.

In a 2018 Time magazine story with the headline How Georgia Became the Hollywood of the South, Eliana Dockterman reported, Georgia has been working to attract Hollywood since 2008, when then governor Sonny Perdue signed a generous tax incentive for film productions. According to Dockterman, officials lobbied for the measure after the state lost the production of Ray, the biopic about Georgia native Ray Charles that won Jamie Foxx an Oscar, to Louisiana.
In this follow-up to an article in August 2020 about giving birth during the Covid-19 lockdown, the mothers reveal what their parenthood journeys have been like in the ensuing months.

For the first three months of his life, the baby boy to whom Mihlali Nkosi* gave birth at the height of the coronavirus pandemic only knew his mother as a masked person. Having tested positive for Covid-19 just days before the delivery, Nkosi was not allowed to kiss her son and had to show him love in other ways while they were both in quarantine.

"It was such a low point in my life because I tested positive for Covid and my mom, my dad and my gran had also tested positive," she says, adding that she had to move out of the family home temporarily.

The day after she gave birth, her mother, who had been asymptomatic before, was in a critical condition in hospital. Other family members wanted to help Nkosi look after her son, but they either had comorbidities or were afraid of contracting Covid-19 and spreading it to their households. Already having to juggle everything alone, Nkosi also had to recover much quicker than normal from the C-section she had. At some point, her stitches came out because she was just so busy.

Nkosi says because there are good and bad moments in those early days, having support after giving birth is important. "You need to be able to rest so you can recover, you need to take care of your scar. Somebody either needs to be taking care of you or your baby. You need that constant validation that you're doing a good job, because at some point you realise that you just don't know what you're doing, or if you're doing it right. You think 'maybe I'm a bad parent'," she says about navigating her way through parenthood in those first scary days.

Nkosi struggled to adjust to her son's sleeping patterns. He was still waking up every two hours like a newborn when he was between five and six months old, instead of waking up periodically for feeding or a nappy change. "I would go to work like a zombie and I would be so unproductive," she says.

Her social life has also taken a knock because of the pandemic. "You realise that you don't want people over... You end up over-controlling your environment, and you end up just not enjoying even the little things."

Nkosi's son turned eight months on 17 March. He is now able to roll over and tries to crawl in reverse. "We are going through those milestones very quickly," she says, adding that having a routine has helped him develop and grow at his own pace.

"Having everything structured from a young age is doing good for him. In terms of his social interactions, he loves kids, and I have a lot of nieces and nephews and cousins. When he sees them, he lights up and he will try to grab them, he will smile, he will laugh," says Nkosi, who is not keen to take him to a nursery school at such an early age.

Developing children's social skills

Angelina Maphula, a lecturer in the psychology department at the University of Venda, says children who don't play and interact with their peers may grow up to be independent, but they could have socialising and developmental problems that will only become evident later.

"When children play, they learn how to solve problems. So when they ... go to creche, they are able to pick up more words. And with language that impacts the child's intellectual development - even language development in terms of sharing, waiting your turn to speak or interacting in a group setting," she says.

Maphula says tools to enhance a child's development such as educational toys are important if one can afford to buy them. This is especially true if children are stuck at home as confinement is really stressful.

Thembeka Sibiya, who also gave birth during the lockdown, says she chose sending her boy Khaya to a nursery school early because it was a safer and more reliable option than getting a nanny.

"Kids get bored easily. There are only so many toys you can buy, there are only so many shows you can watch... There's only so much stimulation and interaction I can give him and he's growing now, he's crawling, he wants to stand, he's trying to talk," says Sibiya, adding that Khaya is emulating older children at the creche.

Maria Beda* says 14-month-old, Sibabalwe*, had to go to a creche when everyone in the house returned to work after lockdown regulations were eased. He was only a few months old at the time and, like Khaya, is the youngest child at his nursery school. Beda says he fell sick often but developed profoundly during that time.

"Now that he is back there this year, he has even learned how to bite people when he doesn't get his way," she says.

Beda echoes Sibiya's sentiments that there is only so much stimulation a small home can offer a child. Before Sibabalwe joined the creche, she saw how everything outside the confines of their house fascinated him when he went on a rare public outing. He was scared of masks and would cry when an unfamiliar voice rang out from behind the mask. Now he recognises masks and even knows how sanitiser works. During a video call, he reaches out his chunky arm, his fingers in the centre of his palm waiting for the sanitiser. And even as most of it lands on the floor, he spreads his tiny fingers and rubs his hands together before clapping for himself with a toothy grin.

Separation anxiety

Since the first interview in August last year, Sibiya has been retrenched from her job because of Covid-19. She says it has given her more time to spend with both Khaya and his seven-year-old brother, Esethu. She hasn't missed any of Khaya's milestones and she is able to fetch him from nursery school every day, with no need for aftercare outside her home.

Sibiya says Khaya is a clingy baby because they were isolated together and she didn't leave his side after he was born. "You know, babies want mommy. Well, with these Covid babies, it is like that on level five. uKhaya is obsessed with me, he wants me in front of his eyes at all times. I can't do anything," she says.

One of her lows during Covid-19 was losing many people around December. "I lived in constant fear because we lost so many people, like healthy people, young healthy people who were recovering or doing well and then you hear they are dead because of Covid," she says.

She has not contracted the virus and says she has not decided whether she will get vaccinated or not. And although it has been hard raising Khaya in isolated circumstances, there has been an upside as well. "As much as I say it has been isolating to be alone, being away from people has been nice. I don't have to see people, [do] small talk, laugh and [face] people wanting to see my baby, and I'm socially awkward so my social anxiety has been at an all-time low," she says.

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Asked if they would have more children, Nkosi and Sibiya reply with a big, resounding "no".

"It was so tough giving birth during Covid, and with the uncertainty of it, you don't know when it's actually going to end. I wouldn't go into making a whole new baby knowing the situation and what I went through - you know, having no support, no one could be there for me because I had Covid myself," says Nkosi.

Sibiya says she will consider having another baby when Khaya is five because he is such a handful. "He crawls everywhere, he takes everything, he keeps me busy. He makes a mess everywhere - for some reason babies believe that toys should be scattered all over the house - so my house is a mess, I have toys everywhere."

But, she says, the experience has allowed her to grow as a person. "I've learned to trust myself, especially after last year having postpartum depression and still having to soldier on so the children don't see and they aren't affected. Making sure I'm all right for them, it's an achievement for me. I had my breakdowns and I still carried on and made it through."

Sibiya wonders if her son will ever know the normal that she once knew, before the pandemic. "It's all they know, masks and sanitisers, so I guess for them it'll be harder to adapt to a non-Covid environment because they were born into a Covid environment," she says.

*Not their real names.
A recording of a Southwest Airlines pilot cursing people in Bay Area suddenly gained attention online this week, with the pilot at one point called the San Francisco residents "liberal f--ks."

The remarks, which occurred on a March 12 flight, were picked up over the Mineta San Jose International Airport's air traffic control scanner.

The recording was then posted on Live ATC, a website live streaming air traffic control audio transmissions. The site provides air traffic control from towers to radar facilities around the world.

SFist reported that the pilot's plane was getting ready to land at Mineta San Jose International Airport. A portion of the audio captured the pilot complaining about San Francisco residents while listening to air traffic controllers' directions regarding weather and runway conditions.

"F--k this place, god--mn liberal f--ks," the unidentified pilot said before an air traffic professional interrupted him.

But instead of stopping and showing professionalism, he continued with his rant, saying, "F---ing weirdos, probably driving around in f---ing Hyundais, f---ing roads and shit that go slow as f--k. You don't have balls unless you're f---ing rolling coal, man, god--mn it."

While the pilot rant about the Bay Area residents, a call for Southwest Airlines 531 could be heard in the background of the recording, SFGate reported.

On Thursday night, a spokesman for Southwest Airlines verified that the said recording was a portion of the audio from one of their company's flights and that the pilot worked for the company.

The spokesman also shared that Southwest Airlines is fully aware of the audio recording incident and that the company is fully addressing the situation internally.

READ NEXT: Brazil Hits 300,000 COVID-19 Deaths, Bolsonaro Under Scrutiny

Southwest Airlines Stand

Southwest Airlines told The Hill that the pilot's outburst was an isolated incident, and it involved only a single employee. The company further noted that it does not represent the respectful people of Southwest Airlines, which has a population of close to 60,000 hardworking individuals.

Southwest also emphasized that its corporate culture is built on a tenet of treating others with concern and dignity, which means the pilot's ranting is inconsistent with the professional behavior and the overall respect that the company requires from its employees.

In a statement on Wednesday, Ian Gregor, the spokesperson of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), said that based on the regulations of the FAA, the agency prohibits airline pilots from discussing subjects that are unrelated to the conduct of a safe flight while taxiing and flying below 10,000 feet altitude.

Demetria Machado, a spokesperson for San Jose Mineta airport, told SFGate that they had already forwarded the recording to the FAA. Machado also described the communication as "very unprofessional." Meanwhile, the FAA said it is now "investigating communications that an airline pilot made" last week.

READ MORE: Brazilian Man Beat His Girlfriend to Death Over a Wardrobe Malfunction

WATCH: AIRLINE PILOT CAUGHT SWEARING ABOUT THE BAY AREA | Hot Mic at San Jose - From VASAviation
More Vaccine Appointments Available in Murray

By West Kentucky Star Staff

MURRAY - Vaccine appointments are being scheduled in Murray for April 1 and 2.Murray-Calloway County Hospital said Friday that appointments for the first dose of the Moderna vaccine are available between 8 am and 2 pm. Priority is being given to those in phases 1A through 1C and those 50 or older, but anyone 18 or older will be allowed to schedule their first shot.When using the website http://www.MurrayKYvaccine.org, be sure to select April 1st or 2nd to see available appointments (see link below). The Murray Regional Vaccine Site will begin opening scheduling by Thursday for available appointments the following week.Please visit kyvax.com/KYdam to schedule appointments to get the Pfizer vaccine at the Regional Site at KY Dam Village State Park Convention Center (anyone age 16 and older).Utilize http://www.vaccinefinder.org to find local pharmacies with available appointments in the area. This site allows anyone to search by vaccine manufacturer, but it does not include regional sites.If anyone is homebound, they may contact the Calloway County Health Department at 270-753-3381. They are receiving a small weekly allocation of vaccine to administer to those who are homebound, do not have internet access, or who are otherwise vulnerable.Please visit https://govstatus.egov.com/kentucky-vaccine-survey to determine individual eligibility for the vaccine.On the Net:
A celebration of the Botanic Gardens 175th-anniversary will be held in the new arid garden. Credit:Jason South

Wild Cities

Cities might not contain areas of pristine wilderness, but they contain nature all the same and the authors of four new books looking at how urban centres might be enhanced will today discuss the topic for Melbourne Design Week. The speakers at Wild Cities are academics Wendy Steele, Ashley Dawson and Helene Frichot and anthropologist Tess Lea. It runs from 11am to 12pm on Saturday March 27, at Bookshop by Uro in Collingwood, $10.58. Go to eventbrite.com.au for tickets. The bookshops capacity is limited to 25 people but the event will also be live-streamed through Uro Publications Facebook page.

Forest Dreams

In 1998, the New York-based artist Agnes Denis visited Melbourne and, together with volunteers, planted 6000 native trees in five intersecting spirals at the City West Water Altona Treatment Plant. A Forest for Australia endured years of both drought and neglect, with half the plantation dying before the piece was restored in 2015. This work and another of the artists environmental pieces in Finland will be discussed in Forest Dreams for Melbourne Design Week on Monday, March 29, 4pm, at The Capitol, 113 Swanston Street, Melbourne. Free but go to eventbrite.com.au to register.
Obuasi  The Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor, has asked small-scale miners at Obuasi in the Ashanti Region to strictly adhere to mining laws and regulations in their operational activities.

He has, therefore, warned thatactivities of illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey, would be resisted using all means, adding that "there would be no space for any illegal small-scale mining."

He said the government would continue to ensure the strict regulation of the mining sector to prevent illegal mining activities.

The Minister said this yesterday when engaged members of the Small-scale Miners Association fromDunkwa, Fomena, Obuasi and other places.

The engagement was part of the Minister's two-day working visit to the Ashanti Region.

MrJinapor said the Ministry was opened to collaboration, deliberations and inputs from all stakeholders in addressing challenges and improving outcomes in the sector.

"Let's 'jaw jaw' and find the best solutions to the problems impeding progress in the sector. It is important we work together to stop illegal mining and protect the environment.The current wanton degradation of the environment is a threat to our survival," he said.

He said the government was counting on the support of the Association towards permanently eradicating illegal mining from the sector.

Interacting with the Minister, Chairman of the Small-scale Miners Association, Kofi Adams,asked the government to engage Anglogold Ashanti on their behalf to give them access to some parts of their restricted lands for small-scale mining.

He said the lands located at Abompe, Juabosoand EsasoNsuekyir, all in the Obuasi Municipality, were supportive of the rock mining, which the small-scale miners are familiar with.

He noted that such a gesture would ensure peace and cooperation between them and the mining firm and lead to the creation of jobs for the teeming youth of the area.
Mumbai, March 26 : Actor Akshay Oberoi, who is currently shooting for Vikram Bhatt's horror film "Cold", recently made a special gesture for his director friend Shankar Raman. The actor flew to Bhopal for a cameo appearance in Raman's untitled directorial.

Akshay has worked in Raman's critically acclaimed film "Gurgaon" in 2016.

"I am super excited for all the projects I am shooting for right now. When Shanker approached me for a cameo, I just had to say yes, not just because he is a friend but because I love his direction style. The memories of shooting for 'Gurgaon' came back to me and as soon as I got a break from shooting for 'Cold', I started out for Bhopal," Akshay tells IANS.

The actor has recently three OTT releases -- "Flesh 2", "Illegal" and "High" -- in recent months.

"I cannot deny that the last year has been very kind to me. It earned me the appreciation and love of the audience. I feel fortunate to have such great projects to offer the viewers," he said.

Akshay's other upcoming projects include "KTina" starring Disha Patani, and remake of the Tamil film "Thiruttu Payale 2". Akshay will also be seen reprising his role of an advocate in "Illegal Season 2".
Apart from Tata Sons, SpiceJet promoter Ajay Singh, in partnership with Ras Al Khaimah Investment Authority, and Ankur Bhatia, promoter of Delhi-based Bird group, has also emerged as bidders for the loss-making Air India. Both parties have placed bids in their capacities but they both could hold a majority stake in the airline if they get it.

Singh and the two investors have bid for a 100 per cent stake in Air India, sources in the know told The Economic Times. However, Singh and the other two promoters are yet to come up with an official statement on the possible tie-up and placing of bids. They had submitted EoIs (Expressions of Interest) in December, according to the report.

Singh, who's credited for turning around SpiceJet, had co-founded the airline in 2005 before selling it to Wilbur Ross, who then further sold it to Kalanithi Maran in 2010. Singh gained control of the airline again in 2015. Bhatia is the executive director at Bird group, which has business interests in travel technology, aviation services, hospitality, retail, and education.

Also read: Centre may get around Rs 15,000 crore from Air India sale

The central government is reportedly planning to invite financial bids for the privatisation of Air India by the end of this month. The plan is to wrap up the disinvestment process in the second half of the current calendar year.

The shortlisted entities might be given time till June or early July this year to furnish their financial bids. After the bids are locked, the sale of Air India will take another 3-4 months to finalise after evaluation of the financial bids.

ALSO READ: Air India employee consortium out of privatisation race

Earlier this month, the consortium of Air India employees was disqualified from the disinvestment process. The consortium was led by Air India Commercial Director Meenakshi Malik, who informed the employees of the development in a letter. That leaves Tata group, and SpiceJet and two other business groups as likely contenders for Air India.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in her 2021 Budget speech, had said the privatisation of Air India would be completed in 2021-22. The disinvestment is crucial to meet the Centre's Rs 1.2 lakh crore disinvestment target for the next financial year. Besides selling its 100 per cent stake in Air India and Air India Express, the government is also looking to offload its 50 per cent share in Air India Airport Services.

Air India presently has a fleet of 121 aircraft, out of which 65 are owned, while its subsidiary Air India Express has 25 Boeing 737, of which 10 are owned. It may record around Rs 10,000 crore financial loss this fiscal year. The airline's total debt has reduced to Rs 23,000 crore as the Centre shifted its Rs 30,000 crore working capital debt to a special purpose vehicle, AI Asset Holdings Ltd.

ALSO READ: Air India to phase out Boeing 747s marking end of an era
An art gallery on the campus of the Australian National University has removed three satirical artworks from an exhibition, including one that took aim at the persecution of Uighur Muslims, after complaints from Chinese international students.

Artist Luke Cornish says he experienced a torrent of abuse from Chinese students on social media after his exhibition of street art opened at the aMBUSH gallery on the ANU campus earlier this month.

Winnie the Pooh, representing President Xi Jinping, strangles Tigger  a rhyme for Uighur. Winnie the Pooh is banned in China after being widely used to mock Xi. Credit:

Ive copped a lot of online abuse calling me racist. It was definitely like a targeted attack because it all happened in about an hour. I was just smashed on social media. There was so much of it, Cornish said. I understand the gallery is protecting its reputation. But at the same time we shouldnt be bullied into censoring work about genocide.

Cornish said he agreed to take down one artwork of a 10 Chinese Yuan currency note featuring Mao Zedongs face over which he had painted a batman mask. The artwork was captioned: A shout out to the man that ate the bat in a Wuhan wet market that stopped the f---ing world (which probably didnt happen).
The number of bald eagles in the United States has more than quadrupled in the last dozen years.

It's estimated there are more than 316,000 bald eagles in the continental US, including over 70,000 nesting pairs, according to a new survey by the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

Dedicated preservation efforts have helped the species, which was on the brink of extinction as recently as the 1960s.

Newly confirmed Interior Secretary Deb Haaland called the report a 'historic conservation success story.'

'The bald eagle has always been considered a sacred species to American Indian people,' said Haaland, a member of the Laguna Pueblo and the first Native American Cabinet secretary. 'And similarly it's sacred to our nation as America's national symbol.'

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There are over 316,000 bald eagles in the continental US, according to a new report from the Fish and Wildlife Service. That's over four times the number reported in 2009

According to a 2020 update to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's 'Bald Eagle Population Size' report, there are an estimated 316,700 individual eagles in the lower 48 states, including 71,467 breeding pairs.

That's more than four times the 72,434 individuals and 30,548 pairs recorded in 2009and over seven times as many as when the bird was taken off the Endangered Species Act protection list in 2007.

At that point, the FWS reported about 9,800 breeding pairs.

The update looked at bird populations in four of six eagle management units (EMU) in the US: The Atlantic Flyway, Mississippi Flyway, Central Flyway, and Pacific Flyway North.

The Fish and Wildlife Service reported 71,467 bald eagle breeding pairs, more than double the 30,548 pairs reported in 2009. The agency looked at bird populations in four of six eagle management units (EMU) in the US: The Atlantic Flyway, Mississippi Flyway, Central Flyway and Pacific Flyway North

DDT, a popular insecticide introduced after WWII, was contaminating fish and plants eaten by bald eagles, resulting in birds' producing shells that were so thin they'd crack during incubation. DDT was eventually banned in 1972

The first major decline in bald eagles began in the mid-1800s, when the birds were shot and poisoned by farmers who saw them as a threat to livestock.

And as the country's human population expanded, the bird's nesting habitats declined.

Congress passed the Bald Eagle Protection Act in 1940, which prohibited killing, selling, or possessing the species but the popularity of the pesticide DDT after World War II proved a new threat.

The substance contaminated the aquatic plants and fish eaten by the eagles, and interfered with the birds' ability to produce strong eggshells.

As a result, shells were so thin they'd often break during incubation.

In the early 1960s, the bald eagle population reached an all-time low of 417 breeding pairs, according to the FWS.

DDT was banned in the US in 1972, and the bald eagle was placed on the Endangered Species Act passed the following year, beginning the bird's long road to recovery.

The majestic raptors aren't entirely out of the woods, though: scientists have recently pinpointed the deaths of hundreds of bald eagles in the southeastern US to bromine, a chemical used in insecticides, dyes, agricultural products and pharmaceuticals.

From 1994 to 1998, some 59 birds living near artificial lakes in Arkansas died as a result of a neurological disease later identified as avian vacuolar myelinopathy (AVM).

The first major decline in bald eagles began in the mid-1800s, when the birds were shot and poisoned by farmers who saw them as a threat to livestock

It was considered the deadliest plague affecting the species ever, according to The New York Times.

Since then dozens more birds, all living near artificial lakes in the Southeast, have succumbed to the condition, which eats away at the brain and spinal cord, New Scientist reported.

As a result, the birds become disoriented and clumsy, and can appear drunk  crashing into cliff faces or simply starving to death as their hunting instincts abandon them.

In a new report published in the journal Science, researchers point a finger at water-thyme, an underwater weed that flourishes in the lakes the birds habituate.

Fish and water birds became weak and uncoordinated after ingesting the plant, which made them easy prey for the eagles.

Timo Niedermeyer, a natural product chemist at Martin Luther University in Halle, Germany determined toxic levels of the chemical bromine in the weed was feeding a cyanobacterium that grows on its leaves.

A graphic from a new study in the journal Science illustrating how a cyanobacterium on the leaves of water thyme is leading to a deadly neurological condition in hundreds of bald eagles in the southeastern US

His research partner, Susan Wilde, an aquatic scientist at the University of Georgia, dubbed the bacteria Aetokthonos hydrillicola, or 'eagle killer that grows on water thyme.'

Bromine is a naturally occurring chemical but the weeds were soaking up so much that their tissue contained nearly 1,000 times more of the chemical than the surrounding water, New Scientist reported.

'We now know who is the killer, the cyanobacteria, and we know its weapon, the toxin, but now we need to find out where the bromide comes from, and the molecular mechanism of this toxin,' Niedermeyer told Chemistry World.

He theorized it might be coming from weed killer used by park rangers or wastewater from area power plants.

The bald eagle was already sacred in many Native American nations long before the arrival of Europeans but the US' founding fathers chose it as a symbol of the new nation to hearken back to the Roman Republic, which often used eagle imagery.

When the Continental Congress adopted the Great Seal of the United States in 1782, depicting a bald eagle grasping 13 arrows, it's estimated there were as many as 100,000 in the country.

Bald eagles are not actually 'bald'the name refers to an earlier definition for the word meaning 'white-headed.'
Rep. Henry Cuellar (TX-28) announced $7,005,500 in American Rescue Plan funding to Gateway Community Health Center. These funds, awarded through the Health Resources and Services Administration, will help to support COVID-19 vaccination and services for vulnerable populations in our community.

Gateway Community Health Center plays a critical role in making sure vulnerable populations have access to health care, especially as we continue to face this pandemic, Cuellar said. These critical funds will allow Gateway to expand COVID-19 vaccination, testing and treatment; deliver needed preventive and primary health care services to those at a higher risk for COVID-19; and expand health centers operational capacity, including modifying and improving infrastructure and adding mobile units.
No one should care what military pilots look like or who they love. Just give thanks for their service. Sadly, our military may be losing grou
PRESIDENT Samia Suluhu Hassan will on Friday lead Tanzanians in the funeral of the late President John Magufuli who will be laid to rest at his family graveyards in Chato District, Geita region.

The late Dr Magufuli who led the country from November 2015 to March 17th, 2021, died at the age of 61 on Wednesday last week, at Mzena hospital in Dar es Salaam region where he was receiving treatment on heart illness, a condition he had fought for more than a decade.

The burial services for the fallen fifth-phase president is set to commence at 6.30am sharp and conclude at 4.50pm. The body of the late iconic leader, Dr Magufuli, was brought to Chato on Wednesday.

The initial timetable for the funeral shows that, from 6.30 to 9.00am leaders and members of the public will be arriving at the Magufuli grounds. Then, at 7.30 the body of the late Dr Magufuli would be taken to the Roman Catholic ChurchChato Parish for a short Requiem Mass that will be held from 8.00- 9.30am.

After that, the body of the deceased will be taken to the Magufuli grounds for a mass to be presided by the President of Tanzania Episcopal Conference (TEC) bishop Gervas Nyaisonga.

There will be condolence messages from different representatives such as the Council of Elders in Chato, political parties, the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM), which Dr Magufuli was the national chairman, Defence and Security forces, Judiciary and the Parliament.

There will also be condolences from representatives of leaders from outside Tanzania, former presidents Jakaya Kikwete and Ali Hassan Mwinyi as well as the President of Zanzibar Dr Hussein Mwinyi.

President Samia will make a speech before the body is taken to the family graveyards for burial mass that will be led by the Catholic Church Bishop for RulengeNgara Diocese Severine Niwemugizi. Residents of Dar es Salaam, Dodoma, Zanzibar and Mwanza and Chato had an opportunity to pay tributes to the fallen Head of State between Saturday last week and on Thursday.

State funeral was held in Dodoma at the Jamhuri Stadium on Monday, where President Samia led Tanzanians to pay their last respects. The event was also attended by nine presidents from African countries including Uhuru Kenyatta (Kenya) Emmerson Mnangagwa (Zimbabwe), Filipe Nyusi (Mozambique) Lazarus Chakwera (Malawi) and Cyril Ramaphosa (South Africa). Others were Edgar Lungu (Zambia), Felix Tshisekedi (Democratic Republic of Congo), Azali Assoumani (Comoro) and Mokgweetsi Madison (Botswana). A list also had Prosper Bazombanza (Vice-President of Burundi), Nangolo Mbumba, who is the Vice-President of Namibia as well as Dr Edouard Ngirente, the Prime Minister of Rwanda. Dr Magufuli was born on October 29 and held different ministerial positions for about 20 years before becoming Tanzania's President. First elected as a Member of Parliament in 1995, he served in the Cabinet of Tanzania as Deputy Minister of Works from 1995 to 2000, Minister of Works from 2000 to 2006, Minister of Lands and Human Settlement from 2006 to 2008, Minister of Livestock and Fisheries from 2008 to 2010, and as Minister of Works for a second time from 2010 to 2015. Running as the candidate on the ruling CCM ticket, Dr Magufuli won the October 2015 presidential election and was sworn in on 5 November 2015.

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In July 2020 Magufuli was nominated again as the ruling party's presidential candidate in an election that was held on October 28th, last year. He received the highest votes and was therefore reelected for his second term that would have run to 2025.

He was chairman of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) from 2019 to 2020.
Rabat  French Minister Delegate to the Minister of Ecological Transition Jean Baptiste Djebbari welcomed, Thursday in Rabat, the professionalism, competence and dynamics of the Tangier-Med port complex, the leading container port in Africa and the Mediterranean.

In a statement to the press at the end of his meeting with Minister of Equipment, Transport, Logistics and Water Abdelkader Amara, the French official stressed that "bilateral cooperation in the port field is essential, all the more so because France is investing a lot in this sector".

He also described the cooperation between the National Railways Company (SNCF) and the National Railways Office (ONCF) as a "great success", both in terms of experience sharing and projects of the high-speed train network extension.

Amara noted that this high-level meeting focused on various subjects of bilateral cooperation, including international road transport, rail transport, trade, maritime transport and motorway transport within the framework of public-private partnerships in terms of infrastructure.

This meeting, marked by the participation of senior officials from both countries, was an opportunity to review the various bilateral cooperation actions, particularly with regard to road, rail and maritime transport.

It is part of the 14th France-Morocco high-level meeting held on December 19, 2019 in Paris, intended to give new impetus to the strategic, multidimensional and exceptional partnership relations between the two countries and to intensify the bilateral political dialogue.
It is with great sadness that the family of David Gage announces his passing on Wednesday, February 24, 2021, at the age of 74 years.

David was larger than life in both stature and personality. He was born in Weybridge, England but grew up in Bothwell, Ont. He spent most of his adult life in Brantford, Ont. where he sold cars at Shoots Hyundai and Brantford Nissan. He was also a successful owner and trainer of Standardbred racehorses.

David enjoyed sharing a meal and telling remarkable stories among friends and family. He loved playing pool and cards. He brought a sense of excitement with him wherever he went. He was a supporter of the Lions Club and Legion branches. He will be missed by his family and his many friends.

David will be lovingly remembered by his children Brent and Kim (Glenn). David will also be fondly remembered by his five grandchildren; Donovan, Grace, Gabriel, Cassandra and Dannika, by his sister Doreen and by his brothers Donald (Linda) and Darren (Carrie), and by his many nieces and nephews. David is predeceased by his partner Gail Read, his parents George and Gladys and his brother Douglas.

For those wishing to donate in David's honour, please do so to the Victorian Order of Nurses or to a charity of your choice. A private family funeral service will be held.

Please join Standardbred Canada in offering condolences to the family and friends of David Gage.
U.S. President Joe Biden gestures as he answers a question during his first formal news conference as president in the East Room of the White House in Washington on March 25, 2021. (Leah Millis/REUTERS)

Biden Says China Will Not Surpass US as Global Leader on His Watch

U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday said he would prevent China from passing the United States to become the most powerful country in the world, vowing to invest heavily to ensure America and its system of governance prevails as the leading model for the world.

Biden said he had spent hours upon hours with Xi Jinping when he served as vice president under President Barack Obama, and was convinced the Chinese president believed autocracynot democracyheld the key to the future.

The Democratic president said he had made it clear to Xi that the United States was not looking for confrontation but would insist that Chinas ruling communist party abide by international rules for fair competition and fair trade, and respect for human rights.

China has an overall goal  to become the leading country in the world, the wealthiest country in the world, and the most powerful country in the world, he told reporters at the White House. Thats not going to happen on my watch because the United States is going to continue to grow.

Biden took aim at Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin for embracing autocracy.

Hes one of the guys, like Putin, who thinks that autocracy is the way of the future, (and) democracy cant function in an ever-complex world, the president told his first news conference since taking office in January.

Earlier in March, Biden told ABC News he believed Putin was a killer, which sparked fury in Moscow.

He (Xi) doesnt have a democraticwith a small dbone in his body. But hes a smart, smart guy, he said.

Bidens remarks echoed those made during his presidential campaign, and come days after the first high-level, in-person talks between U.S. and Chinese officials under his administration in Alaska, where combative public statements lead by China laid bare the depth of tensions between the rivals.

Biden said he would work with U.S. allies to hold China accountable for its actions on Taiwan, Hong Kong, the South China Sea, and its treatment of the Uyghur minority, as well as push Beijing to stick to international rules for fair trade.

He said he told Xi during a two-hour conversation after taking office: As long as you and your country continue to so blatantly violate human rights, we are going to continue in an unrelenting way to call it to the attention of the world, and make it clear, make it clear, whats happening. And he understood that.

The moment a president walks away from that, as the last one did, is the moment we begin to lose our legitimacy around the world. Its who we are, he added.

Former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, expressed disappointment at Bidens remarks, saying on Twitter that he had not criticized China for wanting to become the most powerful country in the world while committing genocide against Uyghurs and other ethnic and religious minority groups in Xinjiang.

Biden doesnt think its necessary to criticize Chinaa country actively committing genocidefor wanting to become the most powerful country in the world. His weak leadership is going to have disastrous effects on Americas future. pic.twitter.com/EVMWg9ajJK  Nikki Haley (@NikkiHaley) March 25, 2021

Biden, who plans to unveil his proposal for a multi-trillion-dollar infrastructure bill next week, said he would ensure increased U.S. investment in promising new technologies, such as quantum computing, artificial intelligence, and biotechnology.

He said he aimed to return U.S. investment in research and technology development closer to the 2 percent of GDP invested in the 1960s from the current rate of about 0.7 percent.

The future lies in who can, in fact, own the future as it relates to technology, quantum computing, a whole range of things, including in the medical fields, he said.

We are going to make real investments, he said, noting that China spending three times more than the United States on infrastructure.

By Jarrett Renshaw, Andrea Shalal, and Michael Martina. The Epoch Times contributed to this article.
Ghana's active Coronavirus (COVID-19) case has seen a slight decline an update from the Ghana Health Service (GHS) has revealed.



The number of active cases which stood at 3,091 as of March 19, 2021 has decreased to 2,911 on March 20, 2021; out of which 33 were severe and 13 critical.



The country has also recorded 106 new cases bringing the total number of COVID-19 cases to 89,893.



The update from GHS indicated that nine more people have died, increasing the death toll to 734.



It also said the number of persons who have recovered/discharged from the disease is now 86,248.



Regional Breakdown



The Greater Accra Region still leads with the highest case count of 49,716 followed by the Ashanti Region with 15,234, Western and Eastern having 4,102 and 3,218 respectively.



Meanwhile, the Savanna Region has recorded the lowest case count of 117 infections.



Greater Accra Region - 49,716



Ashanti Region - 15,234



Western Region - 5,664



Eastern Region - 4,102



Central Region - 3,218



Volta Region - 2,330



Northern Region - 1,598



Bono East Region - 1,391



Bono Region - 1,307



Upper East Region - 1,296



Western North Region - 846



Ahafo Region - 694



Upper West Region - 477



Oti Region - 392



North East Region - 210



Savannah Region - 117

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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Samsung has announced that sales of the Galaxy S20 Fan Edition (or FE) in the Indian market are about to begin. Then again, those wondering why as the OEM has already done so may be interested to know that it means the Snapdragon 865-powered version this time. It will be available from March 30, 2021, although consumers are advised to register their interest in the device now.

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The Galaxy S20 FE offers many of its series' better attributes, albeit in a slightly less premium package overall, and, thus, at a reduced cost. It has been available in numerous markets for months now, although only in Exynos 990 form for many of them, India included. However, Samsung has now addressed this with a launch announcement for the Snapdragon 865 variant of this upper-mid-ranger.

It will be released on March 30, 2021 via Samsung's region-specific web-store, on a page that currently hosts a sign-up sheet for quick access to updates on the event in question. This, then, is potentially terrible timing - but only if you are, for example, OnePlus.

This OEM is one of a few that has just launched its own latest flagships in India (or may be just about to). However, many thrifty consumers may now be inclined to go with the S20 FE as a potential bargain alternative with a nearly-new Qualcomm flagship processor instead. Then again, the OEM has yet to reveal its price in its new market.

However, should Samsung hit that note right, it may have the opportunity to blow many other phones out of the water, newer features or not. This might hold true even despite the presence of the 9R, OnePlus' first-ever India-exclusive flagship variant, powered by a Snapdragon 870 processor.

However, not even this chipset's status as an 865+ refresh might prevent the FE from pulling the rug out from under the 9R in front of decently tech-savvy potential customers. All in all, the OEMs decision to start this S20 variants sales in India now might prove a considerable coup in this segment of the Indian market.

The Exynos 990 S20 FE is also available on Amazon.in
Olivia Mortimer/Getty Images

Bill HB800 would prevent schools from using any textbooks or materials that contain LGBTQ+ content.

Rep. Bruce Griffey said the bill serves to keep students focused on subjects like math and science.

The bill coincides with a wave of anti-trans bills being proposed across the US.

Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

Tennessee lawmakers want to ban any textbooks or curriculum that contain LGBTQ+ content from schools.

HB800 would prohibit public schools and teachers from including teaching materials that "promote, normalize, support, or address lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, or transgender (LGBT) issues or lifestyles." As of publication, it is unclear how lawmakers plan to define what qualifies as LGBT issues or lifestyle content.

Bruce Griffey, a Republican member of the Tennessee House of Representatives, drafted and introduced the bill before he was removed from the Education Instruction Subcommittee on March 25.

Griffey said the bill serves to focus school attention and resources on subjects that are critical to students like math and science.

"The promotion of LGBT issues and lifestyles in public schools offends a significant portion of students, parents, and Tennessee residents with Christian values," Griffey wrote in the bill.

According to the Charlotte Observer, the bill will be read and discussed by the state legislature's Education Instruction Subcommittee on March 30. If passed, the law would go into effect on July 1, 2021 and impact the 2021-2022 school year.

The proposal to ban LGBTQ+ books and educational materials from schools has legal precedent, as state lawmakers have attempted to pass similar bills since the 1990s, according to the National Coalition Against Censorship.

Tennessee's bill coincides with four anti-trans pieces of legislation being considered by state lawmakers, including SB0228 and HB0003 which would prohibit trans teens from competing on school sports teams.

Read the original article on Insider
First gas deliveries from Azerbaijan to Europe were launched in January 2021 via newly built Southern Gas Corridor pipeline infrastructure linking the Caspian gas producer to the Italian gas hub. The long-awaited gas, delivered through a 3,500-km pipeline, is expected to bring 10bn m3/year of gas to Europe (in addition to another 6bn m3 into Turkey). It will account for 2.5% of gas consumed in the EU.

Natural Gas World reports that in addition to being a new exporter of natural gas to Europe, Azerbaijan is one of the world oldest oil producers, with its production history having commenced back in 1848. Oilfields located next to Baku were discovered while the area was still under the Russian Empire rule and marked the early history of the petroleum industry. Under the Soviets, new discoveries of oil in the Caspian offshore were made by Schlumberger brothers, the founders of the world-famous oilfield service company. Although in the second half of 20th century many viewed the Caspian oil as a glory of the past, as the production levels were outstripped by the development of West Siberian oilfields, new hydrocarbon reserves were discovered with new exploration methods. New discoveries have resulted in new production and export volumes which provide up to 90% of the countrys export revenues. In turn, the EU demonstrated its own interest in diversification and established the Inogate programme, launched in 1996 and aimed at assisting infrastructural connectivity between the Caspian and Europe in order to find an alternative to either Russian or Middle Eastern routes of energy supply. Attention gradually shifted from oil to gas. Oil production volumes have been on their decline since the early 2010s, while natural gas production has increased. In this context, the EU supported both politically and financially the Southern Gas Corridor, consisting of three connected pipelines.

The energy transition challenge

The EU invested significant efforts into diversifying its oil and gas supplies and hence the commitment to the Caspian as an alternative source of its gas. A switch to natural gas imports from Azerbaijan would correspond to the transition to natural gas, deemed to be the cleanest fossil fuel. However, these long awaited gas supplies from Azerbaijan to Europe might face a new challenge  the energy transition towards a carbon-neutral economy, which diminishes the role of fossil fuels in the EU energy mix. If in the last few years, natural gas has been viewed mainly as the transition fuel deemed to be the least carbon-intensive fossil fuel, nowadays the industry is criticised for being responsible for a significant share of worldwide methane emissions. Consumers, especially in Europe, are becoming increasingly sensitive to the supply-chain emissions associated with their gas. It will not be long until producers will need to prove that their gas counts as low carbon.

In the context of the recently adopted EU Green Deal and a specific methane emissions strategy, Azerbaijan will need to ensure a low greenhouse gas footprint for its natural gas to be a viable partner of the EU. Otherwise, in the long term, all the previous efforts and investments into the new gas pipeline infrastructure will become stranded assets. The issue of methane emissions is, therefore, of pivotal importance for Azerbaijan to maintain market access to European buyers. To date, the hydrocarbon industry has mostly worked to reduce emissions from gas flaring from the upstream oil and gas sector. Since any hydrocarbon extraction implies releasing surplus methane and associated gases, companies often choose to flare the gas, the combustion of which generates the CO2. If those gases are not flared, and are just released into the air in methane form instead, the environmental damage becomes even greater.

Good progress with gas flaring but 

The good news is that Azerbaijan was able to significantly reduce gas flaring between 2012 and 2015, particularly in comparison with other Caspian peers (see Figure 2). A joint working group between Socar and BP  the largest international investor in the Azerbaijani hydrocarbon sector  was established to minimise the flaring of associated gas (which is the largest source of carbon dioxide emissions in the sector). As a result, Azerbaijan has a low flaring intensity (i.e. flaring per unit of oil production) around 28 ft3/barrel, a figure comparable to advanced hydrocarbon producers such as Norway and Saudi Arabia.

However, the World Bank satellite data confirms that the absolute volumes of flaring has increased since 2017  and so too has the flaring intensity". Increases in flaring intensity may indicate a deterioration of operational performance (or changes due to the intrinsic gas-to-oil ratio of the producing fields).

CO2 is however a lesser evil compared to methane. In addition to flaring (which itself is a significant emitter of methane, from so-called methane slip (i.e. incomplete combustion at the flare tip), the industry also releases venting and fugitive methane (or leaks), some of which is associated with gas transportation.

Methane emissions have been as high as 0.4bn m3/year, according to the International Energy Agency recent methane tracker. It might be worth noting the extensive risks posed when flaring is replaced by venting, which seems to occur in the Caspian basin at least from time to time. Overall, fugitive and vented methane emissions in Azerbaijan are estimated at 24mn CO2-equivalent tonnes of emissions if 20-year global warming potential is considered (over two decades, methane is 84 times more potent than CO2). On top of that, significant methane emissions create a revenue loss for Azerbaijan, which can reached $76mn annually.

As a result, criteria for a climate footprint will not solely be based on flaring reduction but also on mitigating methane venting and leaking. However, it remains difficult to determine the exact volume of methane emissions. Top-down estimates provided by the International Energy Agency cannot reflect all the possible emissions at component or facility level, which implies a bottom-up approach which is still at the embryonic stage in the analysed region. In 2019, Azerbaijans state-owned company Socar joined the Methane Initiative, and within this international voluntary framework, the company decided to install infrared cameras for methane emissions monitoring. Methane inventorisation is both a costly and lengthy process which should lead to a consistent leak detection and repair programme. As a result, natural gas from Azerbaijan would gain necessary certification and methane emissions standards.

Methane strategy hand in hand with building up power generation reliability

It might be worth noting that some methane emissions associated with oil and gas operations are commercially challenging to reduce. Emissions occur during the liquid unloading to the wells necessary to optimise extraction of hydrocarbons, during the usage of chemical injection pumps to repair deficiencies, and in using pneumatic controllers required for the pipeline system to stimulate gas flows. One of the solutions for methane emission reduction is the replacement of fuel-based equipment with electric ones whenever possible. However, this leads to the higher electricity consumption which further requires a reliable power system which ensures the industrial processes with no interruption. The recent crisis in Texas revealed that both hydrocarbon and power supply systems can be affected at an unprecedented scale for natural reasons with no expected reasons for the crisis.

Azerbaijans electricity sector reliability still needs to be improved, and the country will require incremental generation capacity to satisfy needs in agriculture and in rebuilding of post-conflict areas of Karabakh. At the same time, methane emission reduction can help in providing better power reliability since Azerbaijans electricity sector is increasingly dominated by natural gas on expense of oil products (Figure 4).

Methane emissions reduction can save additional gas for electricity generation and can be even used for smaller-scale power production. Adding to that, reliability of power supply requires investment into digitalisation, which is again an energy-consuming activity requiring additional power input. In short, one may advocate for an innovative circular economy approach, as reducing the methane surplus from flaring, venting and leaking contributes to digitalisation, while digitalisation can support increased energy efficiency and lead to a smaller carbon footprint.

Methane emissions reduction is a complex agenda, which needs a consistent approach backed by both the industry and the public sector. In this respect, exports to Europe can be a solid stimulus for Azerbaijan to take pro-active steps. Partly the pro-active steps will depend on the external dimension of the EU methane emissions strategy, and on the mechanisms to be used by Brussels to assist Azerbaijan.

Expanding the methane strategy beyond

The early 2021 has seen a rapprochement between Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan as the two Caspian states solved their disputes over Kapaz/Sardar offshore oilfields located on the disputed territorial waters. In the perspective of gas extraction from the same fields, Turkmenistan might be both capable and interested in joining Southern Gas Corridor and getting access to the European markets as well. As a result, with the natural gas link between Caspian and Europe, as well as with pro-active steps  both potential and existing  in reducing carbon footprint from the oil and gas sector, Azerbaijan could become the starting point for a further EU methane strategy in the region addressing the even more complex case of methane emissions that occur in Turkmenistan. Overall, the Caspian could become a good starting point for a EU methane emissions strategy outside Europe.
Tetra Bio-Pharma and Targeted Pharmaceuticals enter into an agreement to further its collaboration and co-development activities to advance Antiviral Central Nervous System Program

The addressable global market for central nervous system drugs is expected to grow to $163.05 billion in 2025

OTTAWA, ON / ACCESSWIRE / March 26, 2021 / Tetra Bio-Pharma Inc. ("Tetra" or the "Company") (TSX:TBP)(OTCQB:TBPMF)(FRA:JAM1), a biopharmaceutical pioneer in immunomodulator drug discovery and development announce they have initiated other research projects with Targeted Pharmaceuticals through its research agreement with the George Mason University NCBID to investigate the potential benefits of ARDS-003 in neuroinflammation and other antiviral applications.

The global central nervous system drugs market is expected to grow from $125.28 billion in 2020 to $163.05 billion in 2025 at a CAGR of 6%. (ref: Feb 2021, The Business research company).

Dr. Guy Chamberland, CEO and CRO commented, "We have initiated this new research agreement to further understand the potential therapeutic benefits of ARDS-003 in treating inflammatory conditions of the brain as well as learning more about the potential use of the drug candidate in other antiviral applications. The partnership with Targeted provides expertise into these areas of drug development that are critical for expanding the potential Return on Investment of our lead drug candidate ARDS-003."

About Tetra Bio-Pharma

Tetra Bio-Pharma (TSX: TBP) (OTCQB: TBPMF) (FRA:JAM1) is a biopharmaceutical pioneer in immunomodulator drug discovery and development with a FDA and a Health Canada cleared clinical program aimed at bringing novel prescription drugs and treatments to patients and their healthcare providers. Our evidence-based scientific approach has enabled us to develop a pipeline of cannabinoid-based drug products for a range of medical conditions, including pain, inflammation, and oncology. With patients at the core of what we do, Tetra Bio-Pharma is focused on providing rigorous scientific validation and safety data required for inclusion into the existing biopharma industry by regulators, physicians and insurance companies.

For more information visit: www.tetrabiopharma.com

About Targeted Pharmaceuticals LLC

Targeted Pharmaceuticals is a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company focused on treatments for oncology and central nervous system disorders.

Learn more at https://www.targetedpharma.com

About George Mason University

George Mason University is Virginia's largest public research university. Located near Washington, D.C., Mason enrolls more than 37,000 students from 130 countries and all 50 states. The National Center for Biodefense and Infectious Diseases (NCBID) at Mason focuses on host-pathogen interactions using proteomics and nanotechnology as they are applied to diagnostic, therapeutic, and vaccine development. NCBID manages The Biomedical Research Lab (BRL), one of thirteen Regional Biocontainment Laboratories in the U.S. constructed with funding support from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases/National Institutes of Health (NIAID/NIH), performing pioneering research of infectious diseases, both emerging and potential bio threat agents.

Learn more at www.ncbid.gmu.edu

The College of Science at Mason is a leader in scientific discovery creating innovative solutions for the rapidly changing needs of today's world. Mason's College of Science blends traditional science education with sought-after programs in disciplines as diverse as personalized medicine, infectious diseases, geoinformatics, climate dynamics, materials science, astronomy, forensic science, and applied mathematics. The College encourages meaningful education and research at all levels offering innovative undergraduate programs, minors, certificates, and graduate degree opportunities, as well as global, transfer-focused, and online, or hybrid, programs that allow professionals the opportunity to reskill or change careers.

Learn more at www.science.gmu.edu

Neither the TSX Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-looking statements

Some statements in this release may contain forward-looking information. All statements, other than of historical fact, that address activities, events or developments that the Company believes, expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future (including, without limitation, statements regarding potential acquisitions and financings) are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are generally identifiable by use of the words "may", "will", "should", "continue", "expect", "anticipate", "estimate", "believe", "intend", "plan" or "project" or the negative of these words or other variations on these words or comparable terminology. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the Company's ability to control or predict, that may cause the actual results of the Company to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations include, among other things, without limitation, the inability of the Company to obtain sufficient financing to execute the Company's business plan; competition; regulation and anticipated and unanticipated costs and delays, the success of the Company's research and development strategies, including the success of this product or any other product, the applicability of the discoveries made therein, the successful and timely completion and uncertainties related to the regulatory process, the timing of clinical trials, the timing and outcomes of regulatory or intellectual property decisions and other risks disclosed in the Company's public disclosure record on file with the relevant securities regulatory authorities. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results or events not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements included in this news release are made as of the date of this news release and the Company does not undertake an obligation to publicly update such forward-looking statements to reflect new information, subsequent events or otherwise unless required by applicable securities legislation.

For further information, please contact Tetra Bio-Pharma Inc.:

Tetra Bio-Pharma Inc.

Ms. Natalie Leroux

Phone: + 1 (833) 977-7575

Email: investors@tetrabiopharma.com

media@tetrabiopharma.com

SOURCE: Tetra Bio-Pharma

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/637560/Tetra-Bio-Pharma-Initiates-Additional-Studies-on-Leading-Drug-Candidate-ARDS-003
A Commonwealth Court panel Friday administered what could be a death blow to a challenge by a group of abortion providers to the constitutionality of Pennsylvanias Abortion Control Act and its restriction regarding publicly financed abortions for women who are on Medical Assistance.

In short, the court ruled in an opinion by Judge Mary Hannah Leavitt that the providers have no legal standing to challenge the act on behalf of their Medical Assistance clients who do not meet the three narrow criteria specified in the law for public financing of their abortions.

To allow reproductive health centers to assert the rights of others will require this court to rule on constitutional questions when the court has no way of knowing that the patients on whose behalf reproductive health centers purport to speak even want this assistance, Leavitt wrote.

The Abortion Control Act only allows for medical assistance funding for abortions that are necessary because of a danger to the life of the pregnant woman or which will terminate pregnancies that resulted from rape or incest.

The battle over the 38-year-old act has gone on for years.

Last year, Leavitts court allowed 26 GOP state legislators to intervene in the fight on behalf of the Department of Human Services, which was the target of a petition challenging the act. That petition was filed by the Allegheny Reproductive Health Center, the Allentown Womens Center, the Delaware County Womens Center, the Philadelphia Womens Center, Planned Parenthood Keystone, Parenthood Southeastern Pennsylvania, and Planned Parenthood of Western Pennsylvania.

Those providers perform 95 percent of the abortions in Pennsylvania, Leavitt noted. She cited their claim that the Abortion Control Acts funding restrictions discriminate against their clients because those who dont meet the three criteria are forced to choose between continuing their pregnancy to term or using funds needed for essentials of life to pay for an abortion procedure.

The acts restrictions also force the providers to devote their own finds and staffing to cover abortions for Medical Assistance clients who are ineligible for publicly funded abortions, Leavitt noted.

The Commonwealth Court ruling might not end the fight because it can be appealed to the state Supreme Court.
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All of us have things that we wish were not true of us. Sometimes we call these, regrets. And they usually fall into one or two categories. Things we have done unintentionally and intentionally. We have all sinned intentionally and we have all sinned unintentionally. Some sins are omission. Meaning, things you didnt do that you should have done. Some sins are commission. Meaning, things you did that you shouldnt have done, but you did. All of us have to deal with these categories of sin in our lives. The question is, will we respond to our own sin courageously or will we run and hide from it and pretend it doesnt exist, hoping it will go away?

The choice is ours and how we choose to respond will have a great impact on the future of our lives. One thing is for certain, it will take courage each day to face who we really are and ask God for the grace to become who He has created us to be.

In Jeremiahs day, the word of God came to him to remind the nation of Israel who they were before sin got the best of them. He tells Israel in Jeremiah 2:2 that He remembers their devotion to Him in their youth and their undying love for Him. He recalls in Jeremiah 2:3 how they were holy before Him and brought to Him as worship those things that mattered most to them. But along the way they incurred guilt and disaster came upon them because they started consuming the holy things in their lives for themselves.

Do you remember when you use to walk with the Lord in deep sincerity and give to Him the things that were most precious to you? If you and I are going to face the sin in our lives courageously we have to remember who we were before our disobedience got the best of us. We have to remember the sincerity of our original faith and go back to that place and rekindle that child-like heart for God, again.

To get back to a place of child-like faith with Jesus, we have to be willing to take responsibility for how we drifted from God in the first place. God tells Israel in Jeremiah 2:13 that they have forsaken Him. They abandoned God. They relied on themselves for their success and well-being. They saw themselves as their source of life. How about you? Are you drifting toward self-reliance?

God says to Israel in Jeremiah 2:17, Have you not brought this upon yourself by forsaking the Lord your God, when he led you in the way? That is a hard pill to swallow. I know it is for me when God speaks to me in this way. When God speaks to us in this way, what do we do?

I invite you to say, My sin is my fault. I brought this upon myself.

That statement of humility releases Gods grace in our lives and brings reconciliation to our souls.

Now I know in moments like this, it is easy to fall into the trap like Israel in Jeremiah 2:25 and say, It is hopeless. It is easy to say in times like this, I am doomed to fall into my addictions, vices, and self-destruction. I am hopeless!

If you and I are going to face our sin courageously we have to realize it is never too late to repent.

God resists the proud, but He gives grace to the humble. Confession is humility in motion through words.

You might say, Well, what if I choose not to repent, what will eventually occur? Jeremiah tells us in Jeremiah 2:26, As a thief is shamed when caught, so the house of Israel shall be shamed.

God forgives repented sin. He exposes unrepented sin.

Tell yourself, My consequences will be worse if I wait to repent.

You need to remember judgment and shame on unconfessed sin increases with time.

One of the strangest verses in the Bible is Jeremiah 3:3 where God tells Israel, You have the forehead of a whore; you refuse to be ashamed. What does it mean to have the forehead of a whore? It simply means you are not sorry for the sin you have committed or ashamed of it, you are actually proud of it.

Part of repentance is asking God to make your heart soft toward Him again so you can genuinely mean what you are saying to Him about your sin. God told Israel in Jeremiah 3:10 they did not return to him with her whole heart but in pretense. Meaning, they returned to God publicly for show but didnt mean it and God knew they didnt mean it because they didnt change.

God tells Israel in Jeremiah 3:13, Only acknowledge your guilt.

We cant say to God, I sinned, but. We have to leave the but out.

When you and I repent we have to truly acknowledge what we have done and not try to manage the consequences, but trust ourselves to a Creator who loves us and died for us.

I remember when I was 19 years old, thirty years ago now , I was in Florida for the summer and I was in a battle to go back to a sin God had freed me from. I felt like I had no choice. Then I felt the Lord said, Fall to your knees and beg me to help you. I fell to my knees and I said, Lord, help me. I want this sin more than I want you. Would you change my heart and help me overcome this?

Immediately, it left me.

It was one of those defining moments of my life.

I have never regretted that moment of repentance and neither will you.

It has made all the difference in my life these past thirty-years and it can in yours as well.

Courageously face your sin, today.
[March 26, 2021] Marelli strengthens its leadership team with new appointments in innovation, electrification, ADAS and electronics

SAITAMA, Japan, March 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Leading global automotive supplier, Marelli, has today announced new key appointments in strategic areas, in line with the objectives outlined in the "Ambition 2024" strategy. Joachim Fetzer will be appointed to the new position of Chief Technology and Innovation Officer (CTIO), while Hannes Prenn will join the company to take on the leadership of the Electric Powertrain business. Joachim Fetzer has served Marelli as EVP, Electric Powertrain CEO, for the last two years, strongly contributing to the development of the business and positioning it for future growth. In his new role, he will be dedicated to building the technology roadmaps across the business, aiming to further elevate Marelli's position as an innovative Tier 1 supplier. Hannes Prenn will join Marelli on 1 April as EVP, CEO of the Electric Powertrain business. In this role, he will be responsible for taking electrification to the next level within Marelli. Hannes joins Marelli from GKN Automotive, where he spent more than 20 years in a number of leadership positions. In his last role there, Hannes was Chief Operating Officer and President of the Electric Powertrain business. Marelli will strengthen its focus also on the key areas of ADAS and Electronics, two areas that are of significant importance to Marelli's focused growth strategy. After five years as CEO of Marelli's Electronics business, Heinrich Gerhard Schuering will be now taking on the role of EVP, Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS). In the new roe, he will be dedicated to building and executing Marelli's ADAS growth strategy.



Starting from 1 April Mike Peters will join as EVP, CEO, Electronics. Mike joins Marelli from the US based electronics company, Harman International, where he was President of the Automotive division and previously President of Harman Connected Car. Mike has been with Harman since 2017 and prior to that spent over 20 years with BMW and Continental in a variety of leadership positions. Within Marelli Electronics Business Unit, he will be responsible for further strengthening and deepening Marelli market position through new technologies, customer relationships, as well as greater alignment and cross-selling within the company. Marelli CEO and President, Beda Bolzenius, said, "The automotive industry is changing at a very fast pace. There is no time to stand still. Innovation, quality, consistency and efficiency are just some of the core attributes that remain critical to our future. These appointments confirm our commitment in building a more innovative company that is aligned to customer needs".

Hannes Prenn said, "I am absolutely delighted and can't wait to join the Marelli family. It is a big honour for me to take up the leadership of the Electric Powertrain Division, which is of strategic importance for the company. This is going to be an exciting journey that I am extremely proud to be part of. Marelli has everything it needs, and I have no doubts that we will achieve our ambitious goals in the eMobility world." Mike Peters commented, "I am very happy to be part of the Marelli team to advance and focus our activities in electronics, system design, software and cloud services company-wide. I am also looking forward to strengthen and further develop our positioning in the market through technology and intensive partnerships." About Marelli MARELLI is one of the world's leading global independent suppliers to the automotive sector. With a strong and established track record in innovation and manufacturing excellence, our mission is to transform the future of mobility through working with customers and partners to create a safer, greener and better-connected world. With around 60,000 employees worldwide, the MARELLI footprint includes 170 facilities and R&D centers across Asia, the Americas, Europe, and Africa, generating revenues of 13.6 Billion Euro (JPY 1,664 billion) in 2019. View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/marelli-strengthens-its-leadership-team-with-new-appointments-in-innovation-electrification-adas-and-electronics-301256788.html SOURCE Marelli

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The police say the officers discovered expired goods worth billions of naira at a warehouse where they were offered the bribe.

The police in Kano State have honoured two officers who rejected one million naira offered them as bribe.

The state Commissioner of Police, Sama'ila Dikko, called on other officers to emulate their example.

According to a statement by the police spokesperson in Kano, Abdullahi Kiyawa, Friday morning, Garba Rabo and Jamilu Buhari were serving on the task force of the Consumer Protection Council (CPC) in the state when they were offered the bribe.

He said in the course of their operation, they received information that expired goods worth billions of naira were kept in a warehouse in the Kano metropolis.

"The task force team stormed the warehouse, where one million naira was offered them as bribe. They rejected the bribe, recovered the expired goods, the money as exhibit and arrested the suspect," Mr Kiyawa narrated.

The Acting Managing Director of the CPC, Baffa Dan'agundi, also commended the officers for rejecting the bribe.

Mr Dan'agundi said the council had decided to show appreciation for the good conduct of the officers by presenting them with a gift of one million naira.

He called on the people to continue to support the police and appreciate those performing their duties well.
The UK and EU are set to sign a post-Brexit financial services deal expeditiously.

The two sides concluded talks on Friday on a memorandum of understanding, which was promised as part of last Decembers Brexit trade deal.

The memorandum clears the way for a separate decision on whether UK banking rules are judged to be equivalent to the blocs, allowing financial firms to sell products into the EU single market.

However, the EUs financial services chief Mairead McGuinness said this week that she was in no rush to make an equivalence decision, and indicated it would not be wide-ranging.

There wont be a moment, as there was with the trade agreement, where we are sitting down and announcing a big package. I see it more on a case-by-case basis, she said at an event this weeks.

The UK said in a statement on Friday that formal steps are needed before the memorandum can be signed, but that it can be done expeditiously.

The accord creates a joint financial regulatory forum to facilitate dialogue on financial services issues, the statement said.

The EU has similar talking shops in place with the US and other jurisdictions.

An early draft of the agreement seen by Bloomberg said the two sides should meet twice yearly for informal consultations on equivalence decisions and to share tax information and regulatory plans.

With Brexit, UK financial services firms lost their passport to sell across the bloc.

Many have since moved staff and assets across to subsidiaries on the continent, including to new centres such as Dublin.

Consultancy firm EY said that 43pc of financial firms have moved or plan to move some UK operations or staff to Europe, with 7,600 Brexit-related job moves up to 1 March.

Dublin remains the most popular destination for staff relocations and new EU offices, with 36 firms moving here or planning to move, according to EYs Financial Services Brexit Tracker.

Meanwhile, the EU has said it wants to find swift, pragmatic solutions to post-Brexit trade disruptions between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

After a meeting of EU and UK officials on Friday, the European Commission said the British government should consider a comprehensive veterinary agreement with the bloc to cut down on paperwork and physical checks on goods going to Northern Ireland.

The EU has launched legal action against the UK government for breaching the terms of the 2019 Brexit deal by unilaterally extending customs opt-outs on foods, parcels and pets going into Northern Ireland from mainland Britain.

The UK said the rules should be applied in a proportionate and pragmatic way, capable of maintaining cross-community confidence in Northern Ireland.
On this day, March 25 1821, a small rebellion in Greece started what came to be known as the Greek War of Independence. The war that stretched for 11 years eventually resulted at the end of the Ottoman rule. The Greek rebellion originated in the activities of Philiki Etaireia, a secret society founded in Odessa in 1814, at a time when the sense of Hellenism or Greek nationality was already common. Added to that, their economic progress and the impact of Western revolutionary ideas further intensified their Hellenism, resulting in a united rebellion against the four century-long rule.

The Greek Revolution

The revolt began in February 1821 when Alexander Ypsilantis, crossed the Prut River into Turkish-held Moldavia with a small force of troops. Ypsilantis was soon defeated by the Turks, but, in the meantime, on March 25, 1821, sporadic revolts against Ottoman rule had broken out in the Peloponnese, in Greece north of the Gulf of Corinth and on several islands. Within a year the rebels had gained control of the Peloponnese, and in January 1822 they declared the independence of Greece.

However, the Greeks suffered a setback when the Ottoman Turks in 1826, recaptured Peloponnese with the help of Egyptian sea power. In addition, they also captured Missolonghi, Athens and Athenian in subsequent years. The Greek cause, however, was saved by the intervention of the European powers including Great Britain, France and Russia. After complete destruction of the Egyptian fleet and several European mediated treaties, the Turkish Sultan finally recognised the Greek Independence in 1832 with the inking of the Treaty of Constantinople in 1832.

Greece officially marks its independence on March 25 and today it is celebrating 200 years of it. Amidst COVID-19 and a deteriorating economy, the Greeks are marking the bicentenary with a military parade and aeroplane flyby in Athens. On the occasion of the same, various world leaders including Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, US President Joe Biden have taken the opportunity to congratulate the European country.

#18212021 images from around the world celebrating Greece pic.twitter.com/M67LQRBf9U  EK (@Eleni_RSGreece) March 24, 2021

Best wishes to the people of Greece on the 200th anniversary of the Greek Revolution. The UK was proud to play its part in the establishment of the modern Greek state and I greatly value the friendship that exists between our people today   Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) March 25, 2021

All Image Credits: Associated Press/ Eleni_RSGreece
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Euro zone banks have enough capital to withstand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and finance the economic recovery, even though they are highly exposed to sectors hard hit by the coronavirus, the International Monetary Fund said on Friday.

"While the pandemic will significantly deplete banks' capital, their buffers are sufficiently large to withstand the likely impact of the crisis," the IMF said in a study. "With the right policies, banks will be able to support the recovery with new lending."

The IMF said that based on its January 2021 projections, banks in the 19 countries sharing the euro would stay broadly resilient to the deep recession in 2020 and the partial recovery this year.

"The aggregate capital ratio is projected to decline from 14.7 percent to 13.1 percent by the end of 2021 if policy support is maintained. Indeed no bank will breach the prudential minimum capital requirement of 4.5 percent, even without policy support," the IMF said.

The Washington-based lender of last resort stressed the importance of government support policies for banks, which include regulatory capital relief, debt moratoria, credit guarantees, deferred insolvency proceedings as well as grants, tax relief, and wage subsidies to firms.

The euro zone is already making use of such measures which so far total around 19% of GDP.

The Fund also said banks should be allowed to build back capital buffers gradually to preserve their lending capacity and restrictions on dividend payouts and share buy-backs should be maintained until the recovery was well under way.

"The EU authorities should use the current system-wide stress test, due in July 2021, to assess the need for precautionary recapitalizations," the IMF said.

(Reporting by Jan Strupczewski, Editing by William Maclean)
Whether youre dining out or welcoming family into your home, these Connecticut restaurants and caterers will make your Easter meal special.

The Cottage, 256 Post Road E., Westport, will be celebrating Easter by offering in-house dining from noon to 7 p.m., with a prix-fixe menu ($85 per guest; $45 per child under 12). Entree options include Maine halibut, king salmon, roasted saddle of lamb and confit pork brisket. Reservations can be made via phone (203-557-3701) or OpenTable. Information: thecottagewestport.com.

Shell & Bones, 100 S. Water St., New Haven, offers both in-house Easter dining and curbside takeout packages. Restaurant specials include salmon ceviche, roasted pork shank and passion fruit cheesecake.

For takeout, a carryout package is available for four ($165), which includes fig and shallot confit flatbread appetizer, choice of one entree for four (roasted lamb pappardelle or twin whole branzino) and choice of one dessert (passion fruit cheesecake or Mexican doughnuts). A special vegetarian dinner for four is also available for $130. The full a la carte takeout menu will also be available, as well as the restaurants new Marketplace option, offering seafood and shellfish, pantry staples and wine selections. shellandbones.com.

Luna Azzurra Italiano, 238 Post Road, Fairfield, offers brunch seatings at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m., with a variety of buffet offerings for $35 per person (buffet will be served by staff one table at a time). Cost is $35 for adults; $15 for kids 12 and under.

A feed the family takeout option includes prime rib, rack of lamb or spiral ham with potatoes and vegetable for $100 to $150 (feeds 4 to 6). 203-292-8202, luna-azzurra-italiano.business.site/.

Centro Ristorante & Bar, 1435 Post Road, Fairfield, offers an Easter catering menu with appetizers, entrees, desserts, and meals to go for two or four people. Order deadline is March 31. Visit Centros Facebook page for details.

BONDA, 75 Hillside Road, Fairfield, offers a large catering menu with breakfast options, soups, salads, main courses and sides. Visit bondarestaurant.com for details.

Herbaceous Catering, which serves the Westport and Fairfield areas, features an Easter menu with appetizers, entrees (including ham), blue oyster mushroom Wellington, vegetable sides, quiche and desserts. herbaceouscateringholidaystore.com

Match Restaurant, 98 Washington St., Norwalk, hosts Easter brunch with entrees like brioche French toast, breakfast burrito, wood-roasted chicken or swordfish and rack of lamb. 203-852-1088, matchsono.com.

Brick Walk Tavern, 1275 Post Road, Fairfield, offers a special Easter menu with entrees like Berkshire pork chop, grilled whole branzino, rare tuna, roast lamb loin, Grandmas lasagna and pappardelle Bolognese. 475-888-9966, brickwalktavern.com.

Hilton Mystic, 20 Coogan Blvd. Mystic, offers brunch from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Brunch will take place in the ballroom, allowing guest seating to be spread out comfortably to allow for social distancing. The menu includes stations with omelets, breakfast favorites, salads, soups, raw bar, hot entrees, carved meats and desserts. Cost is $45 for adults, $20 for children (kids 5 and under are free). Book online at https://bit.ly/2ZZE2ml.

The Wharf at Madison Beach Hotel, 94 W. Wharf Road, Madison, is serving an Easter prix fixe menu for dine-in from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. for $58, with entrees like carved ham, rack of lamb, prime rib, seafood Newburg, Cornish game hen and eggplant ratatouille. Easter dinner to go is also available (order by 2 p.m. on Mar. 31 for pickup Apr. 3 between noon and 4 p.m.). Order online at http://bit.ly/WharfEaster.

Saybrook Point Resort & Marina, 2 Bridge St., Old Saybrook, hosts an Easter prix-fixe brunch from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., with entree options like pan-seared salmon, roasted chicken, hoisin-glazed duck, carved prime rib, pistachio Dijon rack of lamb and spring vegetable pasta primavera. Cost is $69.95. Information: saybrook.com/event/easter-sunday/.

To-go options are also available. Visit saybrook.com/eat-drink/easter_takeout/.

The Capital Grille, with locations in Hartford and Stamford, offers a three-course Easter meal (starting at $155) for takeout, including whole rack of bone-in filet, salad, grilled asparagus, mashed potatoes, and flourless chocolate espresso cake. Extras like lobster tails, shrimp cocktail and lobster mac and cheese are available. Each dinner serves 4 to 6 and can be prepared to reheat or ready-to-serve. Pre-order is available with pickup on April 3 or 4.

Easter brunch is also available at the restaurants, with a $49 prix-fixe menu featuring entree choices of sauteed jumbo shrimp and grits, lobster frittata, bone-in NY strip and eggs, center-cut filet mignon and pan-seared sea bass. Information: thecapitalgrille.com.

The Fresh Market, with locations in Avon, Guilford and Westport, offers a rack of lamb dinner for two ($39.99) and two sizes of Easter ham meals for 4 to 10 guests ($49.99 to $79.99). Meals include vegetables, sides and desserts. The Easter Bunny will be visiting stores April 1-3 between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. thefreshmarket.com.

Waters Edge Resort & Spa, 1525 Boston Post Road, Westbrook, offers an Easter brunch prix-fixe menu with entrees of ham, prime rib, rack of lamb, salmon and spinach and mushroom ravioli ($42 to $49) and to-go meal options. Visit watersedgeresortandspa.com/events/category/holidays/list/ for details.

Wood-n-Tap, with 9 locations in Connecticut, is open on Easter Sunday, with its spring menu featured. Entrees include chicken Milanese and crab-stuffed sole. woodntap.com/menus/seasonalmenu.

Que Whiskey Kitchen, 461 Queen St., Southington, offers individual smoked leg of lamb dinners for $24, with garlic mashed potatoes, Brussels sprouts and a Guinness gravy. Its available both for in-house dining or carryout curbside pick-up. Cost is $24. For more information, visit qwhiskeykitchen.com.
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KENT  Marvelwood will host a virtual Preview Day on Saturday, April 3, at 10 a.m.

Online viewers can learn more about the private college preparatory and boarding schools intentionally small school and customized curriculum that supports all types of learners, an announcement said.
India may discuss the leasing of minesweeper vessels from South Korea, a longstanding demand of the Indian Navy, during talks between defence minister Rajnath Singh and his visiting South Korean counterpart Suh Wook on Friday.

Suh, a former South Korean Army general who became the defence minister last September, arrived in New Delhi later on Thursday.

Also Read | Lessons from Indias tryst with lockdown

During the visit, Singh and Suh will discuss IndiaRoK (republic of Korea) defence cooperation along with other regional and international issues of mutual interest," according to a statement from Indias defence ministry.

According to a person familiar with the development, the subject of leasing minesweepers from South Korea could come up in discussions with Suh. South Korea, Russia and the US are seen as the three countries having minesweepers that are key to keeping sea lanes and harbours safe from floating or underwater mines.

The talks could also cover a follow-on order for the 155mm, 52 calibre K9 Vajra howitzer built by Indias Larsen & Toubro with technology transfer from South Koreas Hanwha Defense, the person cited above said. The K9 Vajra is based on South Koreas K9 Thunder. L&T has completed an order of 100 howitzers from the Indian Army last month under a contract awarded in 2017.

The Indian Navy has been on the lookout for mine-counter measure vessels or MCMVs since 2005. It was earlier in talks with South Koreas Kangnam Corporation to build 12 vessels at Goa Shipyard Ltd. But the talks failed in 2018 with India cancelling the estimated $5 billion deal that also involved transfer of technology.

High costs involved and some compliance issues," were seen as the deal breakers, the person cited above said.

Given the resource crunch facing the Indian armed forces, the option of leasing incorporated in the Defence Acquisition Plan 2020 has come in handy for the forces.

The Indian Navy has already leased high-altitude drones to keep watch over the Indian Ocean region that New Delhi considers its sphere of influence where China has recently been increasing its profile.

The talks between Singh and Suh could also include the Indo-Pacific, the concept of the Quad and its first leaders meet on 12 March besides military-to-military cooperation.





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Suspected militants on Wednesday attacked the northern Mozambican town of Palma, the hub of a huge gas exploration project, security sources said, as construction work was due to resume on the scheme.

Mozambique's Cabo Delgado province has since 2017 been the target of attacks by a shadowy jihadist group, raiding villages and towns in a bid to establish an Islamic caliphate.

The violence has rocked the development of Africa's largest liquified natural gas (LNG) project off the Afungi peninsula, led by French oil giant Total.

The latest attack came as Total announced earlier Wednesday that it would "progressively resume" construction at the site "following the implementation of additional site security measures".

"Total and the government of Mozambique have worked together to define and implement an action plan" to reinforce the security of the Afungi site and the surrounding area, the company said in a statement.

But several security sources who did not wish to be named later told AFP that Palma was under seige.

One military commander based in the capital Maputo said two groups of "militants" had concomitantly attacked a police checkpoint and residential neighbourhoods.

"Government forces resisted but then they had to flee," said another military source in Palma.

"The militants are using heavy, new weapons that we have never seen before."

A third source said a plane about to land in Afungi was forced to turn back due to a "heavy weapons attack".

Cabo Delgado's jihadists, known locally as Al-Shabab, are affiliated to the Islamic State group.

The insurgency has killed at least 2,600 people, half of them civilians, according to the US-based data collecting agency Armed Conflict Location and Event Data (ACLED).

Amnesty International this month said locals were "caught" between militants and Mozambican security forces fighting the insurgents alongside private militia.

The watchdog accused all three parties of "war crimes" causing hundreds of civilian deaths.

Nearly 700,000 people have been uprooted by the violence, placing severe pressure on humanitarian support in the region.

Total itself evacuated some staff in January after jihadists launched a series of attacks just kilometres from the LNG site.

The $20 billion project is still being built and not due to go online until 2024.

Total is the main investor and hold 26.5 percent of the shares.

Six other international businesses are also involved, including Italy's Eni and US major ExxonMobil.
KYODO NEWS - Mar 27, 2021 - 02:20 | World, All

The death toll from crackdowns on anti-coup protests by Myanmar's military had reached 320 by Thursday night, a rights group monitoring the situation said, while the outside world has found few effective means to rein in the indiscriminate violence against citizens.

There is a growing concern that the military may intensify its crackdown with a military parade scheduled for Armed Forces Day on Saturday, which is considered the most important event for the military.

Meanwhile, the military released Friday over 300 people who had been detained by security forces, including protesters. It is unclear on what grounds they were released, but some have speculated that the move may be aimed at appeasing the public ahead of the military parade.

Save the Children, a nongovernmental group, said more than 20 children have been killed since the military seized power in a coup on Feb. 1, including a 7-year-old girl who was shot dead at her home on Tuesday in the country's second-largest city Mandalay.

She has become the youngest victim of the crackdowns.

In Mandalay on Monday, a 14-year-old boy was reportedly killed in an assault by soldiers while he was at home.

"Even staying in your home is not secure," Ko Bo Kyi, co-secretary of the rights group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, said on Twitter, adding that the Mandalay girl was killed "intentionally...not accidentally."

The more than 300 detainees left a prison in the suburbs of the country's largest city Yangon in six buses on Friday. The mass release came two days after the military released about 630 detainees.

The military ousted the elected government led by Aung San Suu Kyi, alleging widespread voter fraud in last November's general election, which was won resoundingly by her National League for Democracy party.

The military has been keeping Suu Kyi and other prominent politicians in detention.
A top private school whose alumni include Emma Watson, Tom Hiddleston and Hugh Laurie has appointed its first female head in 144 years.

Emma Goldsmith will take up the role at the 30,000-a-year Dragon School in Oxfordshire from September.

She becomes the twelfth head of the school in its 144-year history, succeeding Crispin Hyde-Dunn.

She said: 'I am thrilled to be appointed as head of the Dragon, it will be a privilege to lead this extraordinary school.

'The future is full of possibilities and I am looking forward to meeting the children, staff, parents and old Dragons over the coming months.'

Emma Goldsmith (pictured) will take up the role at Dragon School in Oxfordshire from September

She becomes the twelfth head of the school in its 144-year history, succeeding Crispin Hyde-Dunn (file photo)

The Dragon School was founded in 1877 by a group of Oxford University dons for their own children and is for pupils aged four to 13.

Its former pupils included Tim Henman, Dom Joly, Hugh Laurie, Emma Watson, Jack Whitehall and Rory Stewart.

Mrs Goldsmith has previously worked as deputy head at Bloxham School, Banbury, where she also worked as housemistress, setting up the first girls' boarding house.

She will move to the Dragon from her position as head of Winchester House School, where she won 'Best Head of a Prep School' at the 2019 Tatler Awards.

Andrew Webb, chair of governors at the Dragon, said: 'Emma brings a wealth of teaching and leadership experience, and we are excited by her deep understanding of the needs of pupils and their families.

'Her knowledge of both prep and senior schools will be invaluable in ensuring the Dragon remains at the forefront of prep school education.'

Harry Potter star Emma Watson (pictured in New York in 2019) was among the school's former pupils

Its former pupils also include Tom Hiddleston (left) Tim Henman, Dom Joly, Hugh Laurie (right), Jack Whitehall and Rory Stewart

The school came under flak in September after it changed the name of the senior boys' boarding house from Gunga Din.

Named after Rudyard Kipling's 1890 poem, the title had been used for more than 80 years at the school.

It is now known as Dragon House because the school claims: ' 'Gunga' has now become derogatory, and even used as a racial slur.'

The governors said the original name 'comes from the eponymous poem by Rudyard Kipling' telling the story of Gunga Din, an Indian 'bhishti' or water-carrier.

They say Gunga Din remains faithful to those he serves and dies while trying to save the English soldier who narrates the poem and who says in its final line: 'You're a better man than I am, Gunga Din!'

Rudyard Kipling's accomplishments appear to count for little in 21st-century Britain - but one furious former pupil wrote to the Dragon to discuss their personal 'outrage,' at changing the boarding house name

Emphasising the name Gunga Din was chosen 'to highlight the higher ideals of equality, fairness and human dignity', the governors added 'these align with today's core Dragon values of kindness, courage and respect'.

But claiming 'Gunga' has now become derogatory the governors add 'such potentially offensive language is against the Dragon's ethos of inclusivity and diversity', and 'is no longer appropriate'.

Saira Uppal, the Dragon's director of development and external relations, said: 'The change is not in response to any comment or complaint.

'We are responsive to sensitivities which exist today.'

One furious former pupil wrote to the school to express their 'utter outrage at the craven and absurd decision' to rename the boarding house.

'You have chosen to give way to ignorance and the misguided forces of political correctness...

'This decision has let down generations of Dragons. It has made me ashamed to call myself an OD and I never thought I would say that.'

Kipling biographer Andrew Lycett, who has 'no evidence Gunga is used as a racial slur', said despite the change he hopes pupils continue to study the author and poem.
EV

The milestone model is - of course - a Bentayga sport utility vehicle because SUVs make up most of the companys sales in this day and age. Be that as it may, its worth remembering that Bentley was elevated to new heights in 1998 when the Volkswagen Group bought the carmaker from Vickers plc.In 2003, the introduction of the Continental GT represented a transformative moment for the brand, declared chief executive officer Adrian Hallmark. The grand tourer accounted for 80,000 sales of the 200,000 total, cementing Bentleys status as a luxurious, sporty brand more than ever before.The pace of progress has accelerated significantly since 2003, added head honcho Adrian Hallmark, and we are now entering the next period of transformation as we pursue our Beyond100 strategy. In other words, Bentley prepares to go electric just like the rest of the Volkswagen Group. So far, Audi and Volkswagen have both announced that they will not invest any more money in new engines, which is pretty saddening news.Turning our attention back to Bentley, the landmark vehicle is equipped with a hybrid powerplant. Not as potent as the twin-turbo V8 or twin-turbo W12, the twin-turbo V6 and e-motor of the Bentayga Hybrid develop a total of 443 horsepower (450 PS) and 516 pound-feet (700 Nm) of torque. Total range is quoted at 536 miles (approximately 863 kilometers), with up to 31 miles (50 kilometers) ofrange at speeds of up to 84 mph (135 kph).Going forward, Bentley will offer only plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles by 2026. The entire lineup will switch to battery-electric powertrains by 2030 when the automaker intends to be end-to-end carbon neutral.
Something was up with Jack Dorsey on Thursday, and it wasnt just the background of his video call. While Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg and Alphabet and Google boss Sundar Pichai testified to Congress from tasteful home-office settings, the Twitter CEO, with his now-usual wild-man beard and nose ring, appeared to be in his kitchen. He had a clock showing the prices of various cryptocurrencies (if you were wondering what that was, which many people were).

Obsessing about the fact that Jack Dorsey, testifying before Congress from his kitchen, seems to keep multiple cups of spoons next to a utensil caddy on his counter. Why? Do they not fit in the caddy? Does neither fit in a drawer? pic.twitter.com/WpGfkPdPrG  Karen Levy (@karen_ec_levy) March 25, 2021

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The hourslong hearing, the first with these CEOs since the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol attack, was intended to interrogate how social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Googles YouTube contribute to radicalization, affect young children, and amplify misinformation. But from the start, members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee tried to pin down their witnesses with yes-or-no questions. Unsurprisingly, the CEOs tried not to comply, often trying to explaining at length why a particular matter was complicated until a representative cut them off to ask, again, yes or no? This pattern repeated itself over and over again.

Although Dorsey was recognized early on for being the only CEO to answer yes to a question about social medias role in the attack on the Capitolhe said that Twitter did bear some responsibilitythere were plenty of questions he strained not to answer directly. Notably, when Democratic Rep. Bobby Rush of Illinois pressured Dorsey to answer whether Twitter had completed a civil rights audit of Twitteryes or noDorsey instead said, Weve chosen a different approach.

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Representatives quickly grew frustrated. Let me say this, and I think its irritating all of us. And that is, no one seems to know the word yes or the word no, Democratic Rep. Anna Eshoo of California said. Republican Rep. Billy Long of Missouri also asked, Do you know the difference between these two words, yes and no? to which Dorsey deadpanned, Yes, I know the difference. And then the CEO of Twitter went on Twitter. The tweet had a single question mark and a poll: yes or no?

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Then, while he faced the online hearing room, Dorsey started liking tweets both relevant and random: mentions of his crypto clock, a picture of a San Francisco intersection, and praise for his ability to tweet while testifying. At the beginning of the hearing, Dorsey had used his opening remarks to discuss Twitters idea for a decentralized open-source protocol that would purportedly address some of the current problems with social media. When a Twitter user pointed out that it would be awesome if members of Congress asked him about this, Dorsey tweeted, Agreed.

In the perfect climax to Dorseys sly tweeting, Democratic Rep. Kathleen Rice of New York busted him for posting while on the digital stand. Mr. Dorsey, what is winning, yes or no on your Twitter account poll? Rice asked, raising her eyebrows, before questioning. Yes, Dorsey responded coolly. Hmm, your multitasking skills are quite impressive, Rice finished. Dorsey kept liking and responding to tweets during the hearing, which went on for nearly six hours. Which of the tasks before him was getting the bulk of Dorseys attention? Yes.

Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society.
Consumer finance: New vitality after 10-year journey

Experts attending the consumer finance seminar held by VIR lauded the tremendous development the segment has made over the past 10 years, saying that consumer finance and consumer credit has come to play a crucial role in preventing black credit, helping people approach legal financial support, while simultaneously stimulating consumption as well as promoting manufacturing activities.

According to the experts, during the past 10 years, consumer finance has been playing an important role in building a comprehensive financial system in Vietnam.

Based on the assignment of the government and the prime minister, during the past time, the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) implemented synchronous solutions to create favourable conditions for consumer credit to develop as well as contribute to protecting customers right.

Notably, these circulars are Circular No.43/2016/TT-NHNN dated December 30, 2016, regulating consumer lending by finance companies, Circular No.19/2016/TT-NHNN dated June 30, 2016, regulating the banking card operations, and Circular No.26/2017/TT-NHNN amending and supplementing a number of articles of Circular No.19/2016/TT-NHNN.

In addition, the SBV issued regulations for new products, models, services, and payment means associated with the Fourth Industrial Revolution such as digital banking, identification technology (such as e-Know Your Customer  eKYC), and regulations on opening individual payment accounts electronically. Furthermore, the SBV is researching and exploring the role blockchain can play in the payment field, applying big data and AI in a number of fields.

The SBV proposed the prime minister to allow the implementation of the controlled trial management mechanism for fintech activities, the decree replacing Decision No.20/2017 / QD-TTg on microfinance activities.

Le Trong Minh, editor-in-chief of VIR said, looking back on the year when the Vietnamese economy was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, and over 10 years of development of consumer finance, along with the positive achievements, the number of consumer finance companies remained limited. These companies proportion of contributing to the outstanding loans in the economy is still low.

"The untapped market potential remains huge, not to mention that individual financial needs will continue to increase as the economy continues on a high-speed growth trajectory, Minh said.

The consumer loan market is becoming more and more active with the emergence of many new investors, especially foreign ones. The market share of these companies increased from 1 per cent in 2011 to 16.3 per cent in 2020. By the end of 2020, there were 16 registered consumer finance companies with a total charter capital of about VND22 trillion ($956.5 million).

At the seminar, Dr Can Van Luc, a banking expert, offered several suggestions to develop a sustainable consumer finance market. Notably, state regulatory agencies should continue to improve the legal framework on managing financial companies; create conditions for small- and medium-sized financial companies to develop; increase competitiveness through attracting capital from foreign investors; and attract international preferential capital.

"Besides, it is necessary to develop technology platforms for consumer lending, reducing costs, increasing labour productivity, and coordinating to develop new business models in fintech, peer-to-peer lending, and mobile money. Finally, it is necessary to promote financial education for consumers and build a workforce for effective and sustainable development," Luc said.

Consumer lending was formally authorised in Vietnam in 1995, and has grown strongly in the last 10 years, promoting economic growth (including consumption, production, and services), increasing access to credit, reducing the rate of black credit, and limiting cash payments. Besides, there are still problems that need to be solved.

Consumer finance is part of consumer credit. The Vietnamese consumer finance market was born in the late 1990s when commercial banks began integrating such loans into their retail banking products. However, the market has only really begun to develop since 2007, when consumer finance companies joined the market.
The logo of Allianz is seen in Paris

By Pamela Barbaglia, Stephen Jewkes and Carolyn Cohn

LONDON (Reuters) - German insurer Allianz is nearing a 2.5 billion euro ($2.94 billion) deal to buy Aviva's Polish unit, trumping rival bids from Italy's Generali and Dutch insurer NN, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Allianz is close to entering exclusive talks with Aviva and a deal could be announced as soon as Friday, the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

A spokesperson for Aviva confirmed the British insurer was exploring options for its Polish business.

Allianz and Generali declined to comment while NN was not immediately available.

The German firm prevailed in a competitive auction that kicked off last year when Aviva's boss Amanda Blanc embarked on an ambitious plan to sell assets across Europe and shift the company's focus to its core operations in Britain, Canada and Ireland.

Aviva is the second-largest life insurer in Poland after state-owned PZU and the tenth biggest provider of general insurance in the country. Its Polish business also includes two key bancassurance partnerships with Santander and ING.

Allianz, which recently missed out on a deal to buy Aviva's French operations, submitted the highest bid for the British insurer's Polish unit - a key asset to grow its influence across central and eastern Europe, the sources said.

Allianz already has a presence in both life and general insurance in Poland as well as businesses in various eastern European markets including Russia and Ukraine.

Allianz, which first entered the Polish market in 1997, ranks as Europe's biggest insurer and while it has no plans to grow its life insurance operations, it sees the deal as a springboard to further expand across lucrative central and eastern European markets, the sources said.

Generali and NN came close to matching Allianz's offer after Aviva gave bidders a chance to sweeten their binding bids which were initially submitted on March 22, the sources said.

Story continues

"Aviva is the real winner in this auction," one of the sources said, adding that the London-listed insurer had lured bidders to pay up using the strategic geographical positioning of the asset.

Panmure Gordon analysts initially estimated the sale of Aviva's remaining European assets in Poland and Italy would be worth 2.1 billion pounds ($2.9 billion) overall.

Aviva sold its life insurance businesses in Italy to France's CNP Assurances for 543 million euros on March 4.

It also pocketed 3.2 billion euros from the sale of its French operations to Macif's Aema Groupe in February and an additional 122 million pounds from flipping its 40% stake in a joint venture in Turkey to Ageas Insurance International.

($1 = 0.8496 euros)

(Reporting by Pamela Barbaglia, Stephen Jewkes, Carolyn Cohn and Alex Huebner; Editing by Leslie Adler and Richard Pullin)
Spanish police said Thursday they had dismantled a ring suspected of financing Al-Qaeda and arrested three men, including the top representative of Spain's Muslim community.

Those detained were suspected of having "exploited an NGO to finance the activities of terrorist fighters," a National Police statement said.

The organisation is believed to have collected donations for orphaned children in Syria, but "a part" of the funds went instead to areas of Syria "controlled by Al-Qaeda militias with the aim of supporting their fighters", it added.

"Another part of the proceeds was destined to defray the expenses of a school centre for orphaned children located in a conflict zone, whose activities were focused on the training of future mujahideen."

The head of the Islamic Commission of Spain (CIE), Mohammad Ayman Adlbi, was arrested Tuesday as part of the operation and later released without charge, police and government sources said.

"I must express our confidence in the judicial administration, regardless of the suspicions, which we consider unfounded," Ayman Adlbi said in a statement released late Wednesday by the CIE.

He also voiced his "great displeasure" at being arrested when he could have easily been invited for "an interview" at the police station.

Ayman Adlbi was appointed last year to head the CIE, which represents Muslims before Spanish state bodies and oversees religious services at the country's mosques as well as Muslim education.

One of the men arrested, a treasurer of a federation which is part of the CIE, the Union of Islamic Communities of Spain, was placed in preventative detention, a judicial source said.

Police said the arrests follow a two-year investigation.

Since 2015, Spain's alert level has been held at level four out of five, indicating a high risk of an attack.
North Korea said Saturday that U.S. President Joe Biden had revealed "his deep-seated hostility" toward Pyongyang and had encroached on its right to self-defense by criticizing its latest missile test, the official [North] Korean Central News Agency said.

North Korea on Friday claimed it had launched a new type of tactical short-range ballistic missile. Biden said that the test had violated UN Security Council resolutions but that he remained open to diplomacy with Pyongyang.

Ri Pyong Chol, secretary of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, said the missile test was self-defensive against threats posed by South Korea and the United States with their joint military exercises and advanced weapons.


A house is totally destroyed after a tornado touches down south of Birmingham, Ala. in the Eagle Point community damaging multiple homes, Thursday, March 25, 2021. Authorities reported major tornado damage Thursday south of Birmingham as strong storms moved through the state. The governor issued an emergency declaration as meteorologists warned that more twisters were likely on their way. (AP Photo/Butch Dill) PHOTO:AP Photo/Butch Dill

At Least 5 Dead After Alabama, Georgia Tornadoes

By The Associated Press

GEORGIA/ALABAMA - Blaring tornado sirens and howling winds roared across parts of western Georgia early Friday as severe storms pounded southern states, including in Alabama where at least five people died in twisters that wrecked homes, splintered trees and crumpled businesses.

Meteorologists said a large, dangerous tornado swept through metro Atlanta's Coweta County around midnight Friday, sparking a tornado emergency for the city of Newnan and surrounding communities. There were several reports downed trees and power lines.

Newnan Utilities said the storm knocked out its phone and internet services. Hours later, general manager Dennis McEntire said the phone lines returned. He urged residents to follow the utility on social media for any updates.

McEntire said the damage from the storm was severe and it will take several days, with the help from outside crews, to put the system together again.

Newnan Mayor Keith Brady said no fatalities were immediately reported.

The strong storm followed a series of tornadoes that ripped through Alabama on Thursday, including one that authorities said traveled roughly 100 miles (160 kilometers) across the state.

In east Alabama, Calhoun County Sheriff Matthew Wade said five people died in a twister that cut a diagonal path across the county, striking mostly rural areas  something that likely kept the death toll from being higher.

Our hearts, our thoughts and our prayers go to the families, and we are going to do our best to let them know we love them, Wade said at an evening briefing.

Multiple twisters sprang from a super cell of storms that later moved into Georgia, said John De Block, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Birmingham.

Several school districts were closed or delayed Friday due to the damage.

Vast areas of Shelby County near Birmingham  the states biggest city  were badly damaged.

In the city of Pelham, James Dunaway said he initially ignored the tornado warning when it came over his phone. But then he heard the twister approaching, left the upstairs bedroom where he had been watching television and entered a hallway  just before the storm blew off the roof and sides of his house. His bedroom was left fully exposed.

Im very lucky to be alive, Dunaway, 75, told Al.com.

Firefighters outside a flattened home in the Eagle Point subdivision, also in Shelby County, said the family that lived there made it out alive. Nearby homes were roofless or missing their second stories.

Farther west in the city of Centreville, south of Tuscaloosa, Cindy Smitherman and her family and neighbors huddled in their underground storm pit as a twister passed over their home.

A tree fell on the shelter door, trapping the eight inside for about 20 minutes until someone came with a chain saw to help free them, said Smitherman, 62. The twister downed trees, overturned cars and destroyed a workshop on the property.

Im just glad were alive, she said. Praise the Lord.

Centreville Mayor Mike Oakley told ABC 33/40 news that a local airport was hit. We have airplanes torn apart like toys. Weve got homes along here that are totally destroyed, trees down, power lines down. Its pretty devastating.

As many as eight tornadoes might have hit Alabama on Thursday, De Block said. He said investigation teams will review eight suspected tornado tracks, and the final twister number will depend on if any of those tracks can be connected.

First lady Jill Biden postponed a trip to Birmingham and Jasper, Alabama, that she had planned for Friday because of the severe weather, her office said in a news release.

Thinking of everyone in Alabama and all of those impacted by the severe weather across the South tonight. My prayers are with the grieving families. Please stay safe, Biden tweeted late Thursday.

Earlier, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey issued an emergency declaration for 46 counties, and officials opened shelters in and around Birmingham.

Other parts of the southern U.S. were also affected, with dangerous thunderstorms and flooding concerns for parts of Tennessee, Kentucky and the Carolinas.

In addition to deaths in Alabama, Mississippi had a storm-related death on Wednesday. Ester Jarrell, 62, died in that states Wilkinson County when a large tree toppled over onto her mobile home after heavy rain soaked the ground, an official told AP.
Some of the 20 residents and staff at Cottonwoods care home on Ethel Street who have COVID-19 previously received two vaccination shots against the disease. But the jabs likely didn't have time to take effect, Dr. Bonnie Henry said Thursday.
By Elizabeth Kamurungi

Ugandans who have received the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine will have to wait a little longer for the second dose, following the health ministrys decision to use all available doses for the first dose.

Initially, the ministrys plan was to vaccinate 482,000 people using the first batch of the 964,000 vaccines so far received. An individual is supposed to get two doses of AstraZeneca within 8-12 weeks apart.

Dr Alfred Driwale, the assistant commissioner for immunisation says the country awaits another consignment in May which will be used to administer the second phase.

Meanwhile, according to the BBC, the European Commission president says vaccine producer AstraZeneca must catch up on its promised deliveries to the EU before exporting doses elsewhere.

Ursula von der Leyen says the company has to honour the contract it has with member states. She spoke after EU leaders held a summit to discuss vaccine supplies.

This also comes just a day after India temporarily suspended vaccine exports as the government gives priority to an expansion of its domestic immunization campaign, a move that threatens to disrupt the distribution of doses to the developing world.

Indias biggest vaccine maker, the Serum Institute of India, has been supplying millions of doses of AstraZeneca PLCs vaccine to countries around the world including Uganda, as well as Covax, the United Nations-backed effort to provide vaccines to poor countries.
Long distance has been a way of life for Heather Hwalek and Taylor Washburn, who have spent more days apart than together, since meeting a decade ago at Yale.

I dont think Ive ever connected with anyone like Taylor, said Ms. Hwalek, 34, a program officer at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in Seattle. Both of us are somewhat career-driven and very independent.

That is somewhat of an understatement from Ms. Hwalek, who has lived and worked in four countries  the United States, South Africa, China and Japan  since her relationship began in March 2011 with Mr. Washburn, 39, a shareholder at the Seattle law firm Lane Powell.

Along the way they broke up four times.

I never wanted to break up with her because I knew I would never find anyone else like her, said Mr. Washburn, who was taken by Ms. Hwalek the moment he met her on the Yale campus, where she was studying for a masters degree in international relations.
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Parents at Batley Grammar School say pupils were shown cartoons of the Prophet Muhammed as part of the school's curriculum.

One parent told MailOnline that their teenage daughter was shown the same controversial images in a PowerPoint presentation during a Religious Education lesson two years ago.

In that instance, they said, the lesson was taken by another teacher to the one suspended by the school after threats and protests by angry Muslims.

During that lesson two pupils were warned beforehand that the content would include caricatures of the Prophet and they were given the opportunity to leave the classroom if they were likely to be offended.

Suggesting that blame should be aimed at the school and its Headteacher Gary Kibble and not the suspended RE teacher, the parent said: 'My daughter said she was saw image two years ago during her RE lesson.

'No one complained and students who might have been offended were given the chance to leave the room.'

Other parents rallied to the support teacher who has been the subject of demonstrations outside the school.

The parent of a year 9 student said the suspended teacher had their full support and hit out at 'extremists' forcing the school to close.

The man said his daughter told him a cartoon depicting the Prophet was shown to a year 9 class as part of a PowerPoint presentation.

Mr Kibble had earlier claimed the use in the most recent instance was 'completely inappropriate', suggesting it was a one-off event.

The parents' comments come after a petition started by students for the suspended teacher who showed the cartoons was signed by thousands of people today - at a rate of one per second - as it was revealed he was forced to flee his home because of death threats.

The 'burly Yorkshire lad' in his 20s, who has not been named, is getting support from police after he allegedly showed cartoons of the Prophet Muhammed as Mr Kibble kept 980 children at home after 50 Muslim protesters from outside the area turned up for a second day.

The petition to save his job has been signed by more than 8,500 people.

People who backed the campaign to save his job have described him as a 'good man' and a 'diligent teacher' who is 'respectful of all religions'. Others said the school must stand by him, insisting he was being 'bullied out' by 'radicals'.

Education secretary Gavin Williamson has condemned the protests and said schools must be free to show 'challenging or controversial' materials in class. Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick said it was 'very disturbing' that the teacher has been forced into hiding.

The row of the teacher's RE lesson continues as:

Ministers speak out to defend 'free speech' and demand people protesting outside the school must go home and let the school and council investigate;

Protesters say they will come every day and have done nothing wrong by naming the teacher online, claiming if he had upset the LGBT or Jewish communities he would have already been sacked;

Neighbours described a 'kind' and 'smiling' teacher who loved his job and saw helping students as his vocation;

Comedian Ricky Gervais weighed into the row by declaring: 'What next? People being punished for insulting unicorns?'

The equality watchdog said police could take enforcement action over the sharing of the teacher's identity

Protesters bowed their heads outside the school today as it was revealed the teacher facing death threats has been forced to flee the area

A protester speaking 'on behalf of the Muslim community' read out a statement outside of the school on Friday, and said 'We do not accept that the school has taken this issue seriously, given that it's taken them four days to merely suspend only one of the teachers involved'

The RE teacher facing death threats and protests at his Batley school (pictured today) is a 'burly Yorkshire lad' who recently wrote about his love for the job

Today more Muslim protesters gathered at the gates of Batley Grammar School and were spoken to police as the teacher was suspended from his job and the headteacher issued a humbling apology and shut the school

A student turned up at the gates for school only to be told the headteacher had shut it down for the day due to the ongoing protests

One of the protesters watches a police officer at the gate of the West Yorkshire school where a young teacher was accused of blasphemy

Protesters told MailOnline that the teacher has insulted 2billion Muslims around the world and must be sacked immediately

The protesters have included local faith leaders from across Yorkshire who are calling for the school to take action now

The group outside the gates insist that they want a peaceful protest and will remain until the teacher has been fired

The protesters, all Muslim men, are angry that the RE teacher allegedly showed cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad to students.

A man amongst the 50 protesters admitted he had posted the teacher's name on Facebook with a letter condemning - but told Mail Online he had done nothing wrong

The parent who said her daughter was shown the cartoons two years ago said: 'She had a different RE teacher on that occasion.

'The one who is now in hiding was not even at the school then, so the lesson must have been part of the school curriculum and he was just doing his job. No one complained.

'It is madness what is now happening to the teacher as it seems he was simply presenting a class with material that had been used before.'

'What next? People being punished for insulting unicorns?': Ricky Gervais ridicules furious backlash at teacher Mr Gervais, a well known defender of free speech also famed for his own outrageous and often offensive jokes, tweeted to his 14.5million followers that it was like getting 'punished for insulting unicorns' Ricky Gervais has ridiculed Muslims angry with a teacher given death threats after allegedly showing cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad to students, declaring: 'What next? People being punished for insulting unicorns?'. The atheist British comedian has mocked the protesters who gathered outside Batley Grammar School again today demanding the unnamed teacher is sacked for blasphemy, forcing the headteacher to keep 980 children at home. Mr Gervais, a well known defender of free speech also famed for his own outrageous and often offensive jokes, tweeted to his 14.5million followers: 'Blasphemy? F***ing Blasphemy? It's 2021 for f**k's sake. What next? People being punished for insulting unicorns?'. The creator of The Office, After Life and Extras, was backed by BBC broadcaster Nicky Campbell, who said Mr Gervais' tweet was about the 'lunacy of blasphemy', branding it a 'victimless crime' while rowing with a critic of the comedian. One critic of the comedian called his tweet: 'An insult to the Islamic community worldwide'. Gervais is famed for being outspoken on Twitter, especially scathing remarks about religion, saying previously: 'Imagine if you carried on believing in Santa and the tooth fairy into adulthood. And even killed & started wars over it. Haha. Imagine that'. On another occasion he wrote: 'Everyone has the right to believe anything they want. And everyone else has the right to find it f***ing ridiculous'. Advertisement

And the father who said his daughter told him about a year 9 class being shown the images as part of a PowerPoint presentation said: 'It is making us so angry what is happening.

'This teacher has apologised and has been suspended and should not be taken any further.

'From what my daughter has told me this was all part of the teaching material and had been used before.

'There was one person in the class who complained, and this has all kicked off.

'My daughter said the teacher is very well liked by all the students and they feel it is so unfair what is happening.

'I don't know of any other parents who are outside the school protesting. They have come from the outside.

'Parents are outrage what is happening to the teacher and the fact that he has got to go into hiding and is in fear of his life. The protestors have said they will not leave from outside the school until he is sacked, but that should not happen.

'Our kids just want to go back to school and we do not need all this interference.'

People who backed the campaign to save the teacher's job have described him as a 'good man' and a 'diligent teacher' who is 'respectful of all religions'. Others said the school must stand by him, insisting he was being 'bullied out' by 'radicals'.

One Muslim parent signed the petition, named Mohammed J, wrote: 'I would like to convey my support for the school and also the teacher concerned. He has taught my daughter and she speaks very highly of him. I would not hesitate to see him teach her again. I am confident that the teacher concerned did not mean any offence and I hope following an investigation he returns to his role at the school.'

Another signatory said: 'He is loved by many students. Muslim and non Muslim. Batley Grammar stand up for one of your own. Don't lose a good teacher'.

The suspended teacher is an amateur rugby player who trained to teach in the mid-2010s after going to university in the north of England.

He now lives in the area close to his West Yorkshire school with his partner. Recently he described his love of his job and of helping educate young people from his area.

His neighbour, who is concerned for her own safety after protesters published his name online, has told MailOnline that he left his home at 9.30am yesterday and was rushed into a black vehicle. It is not known if it was an unmarked police car.

She added: 'I saw him and his family leaving in a rush yesterday. They got into a black car. A car which belongs to them is still at the front. They seemed in a hurry and they haven't come back last night and are not here today.

'I have phoned the police myself because I am worried in case there is any trouble as I live above them and I have got a baby. I can't go and stay with my parents because of Covid.'

Dozens of British Muslims, all of them men, returned to the school today, holding prayers and speeches and demanding the immediate sacking of the teacher at the school, where almost three-quarters of pupils are from minority ethnic groups.

A protester speaking 'on behalf of the Muslim community' read out a statement outside of the school on Friday, in which he said: 'The teachers have breached the position of trust and failed their duty of safeguarding, and this issue must be addressed as a matter of urgency.

'We do not accept that the school has taken this issue seriously, given that it's taken them four days to merely suspend only one of the teachers involved'. He called on the entire British Muslim community to review the materials being taught in their children's schools.

Batley Grammar School was closed today after more than 50 Muslims returned to demand the sacking of a RE teacher. The protesters outside the school dispersed after a couple of hours this morning as the rain fell.

Labour MP for Batley and Spen Tracey Brabin condemned those who 'seek to fan the flames'.

In a statement shared on Twitter, Ms Brabin said: 'No teacher should be facing intimidation or threats, there is no excuse for that.

Batley Grammar School headteacher Gary Kibble, pictured, has since apologised for the 'inappropriate' resource

'The focus must be on the welfare and education of the children at this school.

'I welcome the school's apology and recognition of the offence this has caused but conversations between the school, parents and local community must proceed in a dignified and respectful matter.

'Those who seek to fan the flames of this incident will only provoke hate and division in our community and I would encourage all involved to work together and calm the situation.'

But protesters outside the school again accused him of offending 2billion Muslims around the globe, arguing he should have been dismissed immediately.

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson has condemned the death threats.

He said: 'It is never acceptable to threaten or intimidate teachers. We encourage dialogue between parents and schools when issues emerge. However, the nature of protest we have seen, including issuing threats and in violation of coronavirus restrictions are completely unacceptable and must be brought to an end.

Teacher who sparked Batley school 'blasphemy' protests wrote of his love for his 'fantastic' job The RE teacher who sparked a blasphemy protest at the gates after allegedly showing cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad to students is a 'burly Yorkshire lad', it was revealed today. The amateur rugby player, who is in his late 20s, had trained to teach in the mid-2010s after going to university in the north of England, and now lives a short distance from his Batley school with his partner. In an article about life as a trainee teacher, he wrote: 'Teaching is a fantastic profession. One which I cannot wait to start.' He added: 'You also teach them about life'. He had spoken of his experiences as a trainee teacher, saying how it was a 'fantastic' profession that he 'could not wait' to begin, The Telegraph reports. One neighbour called him a 'nice man', while another called him a 'good, honest, burly Yorkshire lad' who 'always had a smile for us'. Advertisement

'Schools are free to include a full range of issues, ideas and materials in their curriculum, including where they are challenging or controversial, subject to their obligations to ensure political balance. They must balance this with the need to promote respect and tolerance between people of different faiths and beliefs, including in deciding which materials to use in the classroom.'

The school's headteacher took a late decision to keep pupils away and put them on online studies today due to the row. Private security guards have also been called to the school to monitor the protest, while police liaison officers trained to deal with protests and community relations were also at the gates. Some children were turned away this morning because the closure was at the 11th hour.

The unnamed teacher had spoken of his experiences as a trainee teacher, saying recently how it was a 'fantastic' profession that he 'could not wait' to begin so he could 'teach students about life', The Telegraph reported.

Today more Muslim protesters gathered at the gates and were spoken to by police for the second day after the unnamed teacher was suspended and the headteacher issued a humbling apology to parents at the state school, where almost three-quarters of pupils are from minority ethnic groups.

It is not known if all the group of around 50 men outside this morning were parents, with some likely to be from local mosques, including from nearby Leeds and Dewsbury.

Mohammed Hussain of the 'Purpose of Life' group has admitted to MailOnline that he shared teacher's name on social media with a letter condemning him.

He said: 'His name was already widely available in Internet posts and it was going around. I didn't make public his name first. It was not our intention to cause any danger to him. In fact we asked for only peaceful protest. We don't want people breaking the law. But we do feel that if this had been something that offended the LGBT community or something that was anti-Semitic, he would've been sacked on the spot.

'His resignation should be forthcoming immediately. He has insulted 2billion Muslims on the planet. We cannot stand for that. We have to make our voices heard on it.'

One man at the gates, who only wanted to be named as Muhammed, said: 'It's a very sensitive topic - it's about our prophet. Somebody has disrespected our prophet.

'We don't disrespect anybody else's religious beliefs. We just want to create awareness that this is wrong. Don't do it - it's as simple as that.

'It's a very peaceful protest today and we'll keep it like that.

'We want the individual involved to be suspended on a permanent basis - not a temporary basis. We'd be very disappointed (if the teacher isn't sacked).'

He then added that they will come to the school gates every day until the teacher is fired.

Protesters take part in a prayer outside Batley Grammar School in Batley today where protesters say they will return every day until the teacher is sacked

A police officer arrives at the protest today, which later ended abruptly after torrential rain in West Yorkshire this morning

The majority of the protesters are believed to be from outside the area. Labour MP for Batley and Spen Tracey Brabin condemned those who 'seek to fan the flames' in the row

The Communities Secretary said protests outside a school in West Yorkshire where a teacher was suspended for reportedly showing pupils a caricature of the Prophet Muhammad were 'not right'.

Robert Jenrick also said suggestions that a teacher at Batley Grammar School in Batley, near Bradford, was in hiding were 'very disturbing', telling Sky News: 'I don't know precisely what a teacher did in the classroom.

'We know that the school is looking into the matter and investigating, and that is absolutely right - the Department for Education (DfE) is liaising with the school and the council.

'What I can say is there has to be an appropriate balance - we have to ensure there is free speech, that teachers can teach uninhabited but that has to be done in a respectful and tolerant way and that's a balance to be struck by teaching professionals and the schools concerned.

'What I would also add is that I was disturbed to see scenes of people protesting outside the school - that is not right.

Batley Grammar School headteacher Gary Kibble wrote to parents to confirm the issues were being investigated

'We shouldn't have teachers, members of staff of schools feeling intimidated, and the reports that a teacher may even be in hiding is very disturbing. That is not a road we want to go down in this country, so I would strongly urge people who are concerned about this issue not to do that.'

The leader of the group told those gathered: 'Let's keep social distance and let's keep our masks on. We are here to protect the name of the Prophet.'

A police source says there were 'meetings' within West Yorkshire Police about the demonstration, and how best to manage the fallout - including keeping teachers safe.

'Officers have been especially assigned to him,' the source said. 'This is obviously very sensitive. Local Muslims are up in arms and the teacher has not apologised. There is obviously significant risk around the individual.'

Gavin Williamson has condemned the death threats made against a teacher who was suspended for allegedly showing a caricature of the Prophet Muhammad in a religious studies lesson on blasphemy.

The Education Secretary said that the protests outside the historic Batley Grammar School in West Yorkshire yesterday were 'completely unacceptable', after dozens of furious Muslim parents demonstrated and chanted 'shame on you' as they called for the teacher's removal.

One neighbour called him a 'nice man', while another called him a 'good, honest, burly Yorkshire lad' who 'always had a smile for us'.

Furious protesters outside the historic Batley Grammar School in West Yorkshire yesterday chanted 'shame on you' as they called for the teacher's removal, following allegations he showed a graphic depiction of the Prophet Mohammed in a lesson about blasphemy.

It is not yet known what exact image was shown to the children, but parents had claimed they were 'French' caricatures.

This could be a reference to those published by Charlie Hebdo in 2012, which had been used as a justification for the heinous murder of 12 people at the magazine's Paris office.

The teacher is now the subject of great controversy, finding himself in the middle of a row over freedom of speech and offensive material.

There was no sign of him at his home and the car was missing yesterday, following the outbreak of the row.

West Yorkshire Police sent specialist liaison officers trained to deal with protests and community relations were also at the gates

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson has now condemned the death threats made against the teacher. A Department for Education spokesperson said: 'It is never acceptable to threaten or intimidate teachers. We encourage dialogue between parents and schools when issues emerge

The backlash over his alleged actions come five months after history teacher Samuel Paty was beheaded on the street near his school in a Paris suburb by an Islamic extremist for showing Prophet Muhammad cartoons to his students.

Equalities chief says police could take action after teacher's identity was shared The equality watchdog has said police could take enforcement action over the sharing of a teacher's identity after one was suspended for showing pupils a caricature of the Prophet Mohammed. Equality and Human Rights Commission chair Baroness Kishwer Falkner said: 'Children's education should not be disrupted by protests in what has already been a difficult year. The school is taking action and ought to be trusted to do so. 'A teacher's identity being shared, making them fear for their safety, is simply unacceptable and could result in enforcement action from the police. 'Schools are places where children learn about ideas, values, difference and respect. This sometimes involves exposing them to contentious issues and different views and ideas. For schools to meet their legal duty to foster good relations between people from different groups, this should be done in a balanced, respectful and sensitive way.' Advertisement

The killing shocked the country and led to a fresh debate about freedom of speech and the integration of France's large Muslim population.

It also brought back memories of a wave of Islamist violence that started with the Charlie Hebdo massacre, sparked by the same cartoons in the satirical magazine in 2015 when gunmen killed 12 people.

Messages had been issued on social media on Wednesday urging Muslims to 'defend the honour of our Prophet Mohammed' by protesting by the school.

Muslim community leaders urged calm. The Ramadhan Foundation's Mohammed Shafiq said: 'We are proud to exercise our civic rights in regards to freedom of speech by standing up against such depictions.

'We do so in peace and reject any violence or threat of violence. We urge all who love the Prophet Muhammad PBUH within the British Muslim community to remember our responsibilities to reject violence and never give in to the narrative that some want to paint us as.'

A West Yorkshire Police officer read out a grovelling apology to mothers and fathers from headteacher Gary Kibble, but this provoked even more fury from those gathered as they called the teacher - who is now believed to be in hiding after he was identified online - a 'danger'.

Parents claimed that the teacher, who the school have not named, showed students a cartoon of the Prophet during a religious education class - and had predicted he would face a controversial reaction.

Though it is not yet known what exact image was shown to the children, parents had said they were 'French' caricatures, possibly referring to those published by Charlie Hebdo in 2012, which were used as a justification for the heinous murder of 12 people at the magazine's Paris office.

A Department for Education spokesperson said: 'It is never acceptable to threaten or intimidate teachers. We encourage dialogue between parents and schools when issues emerge.

'However, the nature of protest we have seen, including issuing threats and in violation of coronavirus restrictions are completely unacceptable and must be brought to an end.

'Schools are free to include a full range of issues, ideas and materials in their curriculum, including where they are challenging or controversial, subject to their obligations to ensure political balance.

'They must balance this with the need to promote respect and tolerance between people of different faiths and beliefs, including in deciding which materials to use in the classroom.'

Former Conservative Cabinet Minister Sajid Javid also condemned the backlash, writing: 'In this country we are free to peacefully follow, preach or query any religion or none. These are hard-won freedoms that must be upheld by all public institutions. Reports of intimidation in Batley set a deeply unsettling and potentially dangerous precedent.

'President Macron rightly warned about intolerant ''separatism'' two weeks before Samuel Paty was murdered. We cannot afford to wait for another tragedy to tackle extremism and reaffirm our values, as I argued recently.'

In posts to Facebook, the teacher is said to have accepted that pupils at the co-educational free school would tell their parents about the image before then displaying the cartoon to the class.

Police descend on Batley Grammar School in West Yorkshire on Thursday as dozens of furious Muslim parents protest outside

Mufti Mohammed Amin Pandor, a local Muslim scholar, told the crowd in Batley that the teacher has been suspended

An angry crowd had first gathered outside the grammar school at 7.30am on Thursday, causing the establishment to delay its opening and tell pupils to stay home amid chaotic scenes at the gates.

The parents were still protesting at lunchtime, as police began threatening them with Covid-19 fines and shut a road in both directions. Police later said there were no arrests or fines issued.

'Children must learn about faiths - but in a respectful, sensitive way': Headteacher Gary Kibble's full statement 'The school unequivocally apologises for using a totally inappropriate image in a religious studies lesson. It should not have been used. 'The member of staff has also relayed their sincere apologies. 'We have immediately withdrawn teaching on this part of the course, and we are revising how we go forward with the support of all communities represented in our school. 'It is important for children to learn about faiths and beliefs, but this must be done in a respectful, sensitive way. 'The member of staff has been suspended pending an independent formal investigation. 'The school is working closely with our governing body and community leaders to help us resolve this situation, and we continue to do so. 'I know many of you will have questions but we are undertaking a formal process now and it is therefore very difficult for us to be able to answer any of those questions without jeopardising that, but we hope that we can reach a swift conclusion moving forward.' Advertisement

It took until 2.30pm for the demonstration to be cleared by police, a spokesperson for West Yorkshire Police confirmed. MailOnline has asked the school a series of questions, including about what images were shown.

Muslim leader Mohammad Sajad Hussain, founder of a Batley-based charity, said he was 'deeply hurt' by the 'insulting caricatures of our beloved Prophet Mohammed' in an open letter. He said the charity is unwilling to work with or promote the school until the teacher is 'permanently removed'.

Dr Abdul Shaikh, an academic in Batley and Muslim activist, said he heard about the incident on social media on Wednesday night.

Speaking to the PA news agency, he said: 'I was shocked like many Muslims in the town that Muslim school children's religious sensitivities were completely ignored by the school teacher who decided to show an offensive image that lampooned the noble Prophet Mohammed.

'Every Muslim around the world holds the Prophet in the highest esteem. I feel that the school should be allowed to complete their investigation in due course and find a fair and adequate solution that satisfies first and foremost Muslim pupils, their parents and the wider Muslim community in Batley.

'This situation should not be allowed to happen again for the sake of community cohesion in the area.'

Qari Asim, a senior imam at the Makkah Mosque in Leeds, said: 'I sympathise with the parents and pupils because sadly, this is not the first time we have seen offensive images of Prophet Mohammed being used.

'People have a right to express their concerns and hurt but protests can't always achieve what can be achieved through constructive dialogue - fair investigation by the school, in consultation with the parents, should be allowed to take place.

'We do not want to fan the flames of Islamophobia and provoke hatred or division.'

And Mohammed Shafiq, CEO of the Ramadhan Foundation, condemned the teacher 'in the strongest terms' for not considering the 'hurt' he would cause by showing a drawing to children in a religious studies lesson.

He said: 'The World knows the love and respect we have for our Prophet and our hearts are pained tonight to know a teacher working with 70% Muslim pupils didn't consider the hurt this would cause.

'We understand the anger parents have been feeling and as we know this is not the first time under the cloak of freedom of speech our faith is being attacked.

'We love the Prophet Muhammad PBUH more than own lives and this incident has happened which will now be hijacked by those who have an interest in perpetuating an image of Muslims, we will not allow these attacks to go unanswered.'

He added: 'It is alarming that the Department of Education chose to amplify those divisions by attacking the parents and pupils rather than looking how we can come together to have a respectful discussion and seek an end to this issue.'

Mr Kibble, headteacher of the school founded in 1612 by the Reverend William Lee, said the RE teacher has been suspended, and went on to issue a 'sincere' and 'unequivocal' apology. He called the image 'totally inappropriate' and said the school had 'immediately withdrawn teaching on this part of the course'.

In a televised statement, he added: 'It is important for children to learn about faiths and beliefs, but this must be done in a respectful, sensitive way. The school is working closely with our governing body and community leaders to help us resolve this situation, and we continue to do so.'

The RE teacher, who lives with his partner a short distance from the school, was not home today and his car was not parked at the property.

A neighbour told MailOnline: 'He's a nice man. I see him go off to school, but not today or the day before.'

He was described by another neighbour as a 'local lad' who studied close to home and decided to teach in the area he was born and raised.

The neighbour said: 'He's a good, honest Yorkshire lad. Likes his rugby and always had a smile for us.'

The teacher's parents were also not at home.

The National Secular Society branded the protest as an 'attempt to impose an Islamic blasphemy taboo on a school'. Stephen Evans, its chief executive, said: 'Teachers must have a reasonable degree of freedom to explore sensitive subjects and enable students to think critically about them.

'And the school's weak response will fuel a climate of censorship, which is brought on by attempts to force society as a whole to accommodate unreasonable and reactionary religious views.'

Today's protest comes five months after history teacher Samuel Paty was beheaded on the street near his school in a Paris suburb by an Islamic extremist last October after showing Prophet Muhammad cartoons to his students.

The killing shocked the country and led to a fresh debate about freedom of speech and the integration of France's large Muslim population. It also brought back memories of a wave of Islamist violence that started with the Charlie Hebdo massacre, sparked by the same cartoons in the satirical magazine in 2015 when gunmen killed 12 people.

Mufti Mohammed Amin Pandor, a local Muslim scholar, told the crowd that the teacher had been suspended, which was later confirmed by the school, where almost three-quarters of pupils are from minority ethnic groups.

Muslims make up 41 per cent of the population in Batley, a historic market and mill town in the Kirkless region which was the constituency of Labour MP Jo Cox who was murdered by a far-Right extremist in June 2016.

The latest RE syllabus for the Calderdale, Kirklees and Leeds region, valid from 2019 to 2024, states that pupils should be able to 'give reasons why visual representation of God and the prophets is forbidden - haram - in Islam' by the end of key stage two - but does not specifically state whether teachers should show any of these images.

National guidance from the Department for Education also does not specifically address cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, but says RE must be taught according to 'either the locally agreed syllabus or in accordance with the school's designated religion or religious denomination, or in certain cases the trust deed relating to the school.'

Alumni from the school, which serves Halal-approved food in the canteen, include Innocent Smoothies founder Richard Reed, Ginetta Cars owner Lawrence Tomlinson and prominent 18th century theologian Joseph Priestley.

Mr Kibble wrote in a letter to parents: 'The school would like to thank the parents who contacted us on Monday, March 22 highlighting concerns with a resource used in an RS [religious studies] lesson that day.

'Upon investigation, it was clear that the resource used in the lesson was completely inappropriate and had the capacity to cause great offence to members of our school community for which we would like to offer a sincere and full apology.'

He added that the school had taken 'immediate action' to investigate what had happened, including the removal of the resource from materials and the suspension of that lesson content from the scheme of work.

Mr Kibble continued: 'As an additional precaution, we will undertake a formal review of the RS curriculum to ensure no other resource or statement is inappropriate and take appropriate action as needed.'

The headteacher, who is thought to have been in his role at the school for three years, also told how staff were now investigating the matter 'using formal processes and we are grateful for the support of the local authority'.

With parents gathering outside the school, it sent them all a text message to say: 'Due to the disturbance outside of school, if your child has not already set off please keep them at home as school will be starting at 10am.'

Later in a statement to ITV News, Mr Kibble said: 'The school unequivocally apologises for using a totally inappropriate image in a religious studies lesson. It should not have been used.

** Are you a parent of a child at Batley Grammar School? Please email: tips@dailymail.com ** Advertisement

'The member of staff has also relayed their sincere apologies. We have immediately withdrawn teaching on this part of the course, and we are revising how we go forward with the support of all communities represented in our school.

'It is important for children to learn about faiths and beliefs, but this must be done in a respectful, sensitive way.

'The member of staff has been suspended pending an independent formal investigation. The school is working closely with our governing body and community leaders to help us resolve this situation, and we continue to do so.

'I know many of you will have questions but we are undertaking a formal process now and it is therefore very difficult for us to be able to answer any of those questions without jeopardising that, but we hope that we can reach a swift conclusion moving forward.'

The protesters had been demanding the resignation of the teacher, with organisers asking anyone attending to do so in their vehicle. Officers were guarding all school entrances but the protest appeared to be peaceful.

How the death of teacher Samuel Paty in France led to a fresh debate about freedom of speech Five months ago, French teacher Samuel Paty was beheaded on the street near his school in Paris by an Islamic extremist last October after showing cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad to his students. The killing shocked the country and led to a fresh debate about freedom of speech and the integration of France's large Muslim population. It also brought back memories of a wave of Islamist violence following the Charlie Hebdo massacre, sparked by the same cartoons in the satirical magazine in 2015 when 12 people were killed. Mr Paty was beheaded by an 18-year-old man of Chechen descent on October 16. The man was shot dead by police shortly after the attack. On March 9, a girl aged 13 admitted to telling lies about the teacher after an online hate campaign kick-started by her comments. Mr Paty's killing, which happened in the town of Conflans-Sainte-Honorine just outside Paris, sent shockwaves through France and reignited tensions in the country over the strict divide of church and state. President Emmanuel Macron's response defending the cartoons of Muhammad and Mr Paty's actions sparked mass protests and boycotts of French goods in many Muslim-majority countries. Following Mr Macron's comments, three people were killed in a terrorist attack at a Catholic church in Nice on October 29. France has been hit by several major terror attacks in recent years. Its fiercely secular state was founded on the concept of laicite, which separates state institutions - including schools - from the influence of religion. In recent years, this policy has chafed with the reality of France's multi-cultural population, particularly Muslims, some of whom feel they have been unfairly targeted by secularism policies including a ban on the wearing of some forms of Islamic dress in public spaces. Teachers are increasingly on the front lines of this debate. Advertisement

In a video filmed by the Huddersfield Examiner, Mufti Mohammed Amin Pandor, a local prominent Muslim scholar who is director of the Peace Institute, told the crowd outside this morning: 'What has happened in the school, we are appalled.

'Look at what we do as a community, and you'll understand our stance. What has happened is totally unacceptable and we have made sure that the school understands that. The school is preparing a statement.

'So our discussion is they prepared a statement and we weren't happy with the statement, so we said no, the statement needs to be worded in this way. Some people think I tried to stop you guys from coming.

'I don't know where that information is from, so that's between whoever has spread that rumour and Allah. So that's nothing to do with me. This is a democratic country, you can protest. It's your right to protest.

'Somebody called me last night and said there's a protest for tomorrow, what should we do? I said we, as a group, have got a different stance, we want to work with the school. But if anyone wants to exercise their democratic right, you are here. So let's move on. So what's happening?

'The school is going to issue an apology, issue a statement. We have asked for amendments on the statement to say that they are very apologetic and they apologise. All the resources that were used have all been pulled out.

'The teacher has been suspended, the teacher has been suspended. Now then, you cannot sack him. You guys are professional, you know you can't just dismiss someone like that, they have due process.

'So he's been suspended, OK, he's been suspended. Now we've asked for an investigation, an investigation to be independent, and we have asked also that some of us get onto the investigation panel.

'So this is what we've asked for. So whether they do it or not, we can't force them, but they're investigating. And then we're going to work with the school to make sure in future things like this don't happen.'

Commenting on the situation, a woman in her 30s with a child at the school said: 'We are continuing to wait outside the school to try and speak to the headteacher, we want to hear what he has to say.

'He needs to come out, explain what happened, apologise for it and tell us how he will make sure nothing like this ever happens again.

'We feel like he's hiding away and that's not good enough, he needs to show his face. A lot of us have questions for him about how this ever happened in the first place, something clearly went very wrong.

'This image is so offensive to us and, in my opinion, there is no way it could have been part of the curriculum. What happened is very dangerous and we need answers.'

People hold a photo of Samuel Paty during a memorial march for him in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine on October 20, 2020

But Dr Paul Stott, associate fellow at the Henry Jackson Society think tank, told MailOnline: 'Secondary schools have a duty to introduce pupils to contentious ideas and debates, as part of a process of teaching children how, rather than what, to think.

'Schools in the UK must not concede policy to angry mobs at the school gates or to so-called community leaders.

'The school's censorious approach appears to be the exact opposite of the approach in France, where demands to sanitise classroom discussions by Islamist campaigners were resolutely rejected by the government, following the hideous murder of teacher Samuel Paty.'

The Free Speech Union said it stands 'in solidarity with the teacher at Batley Grammar who has been suspended at the behest of a censorious religious mob'.

Toby Young, its director general, said he is writing to the headteacher to object, copying in Education Secretary Gavin Williamson, and to the local Chief Constable asking him to make sure the teacher is 'protected from intimidation'.

He told MailOnline: 'Schools should be teaching children about the importance of free speech and for the headteacher to give in immediately to the demands of an outrage mob - apologising to them and suspending the teacher concerned - sets a very bad example. No one has the right not to be offended.'

Carole Pattison, cabinet member for learning at Kirkless Council, told MailOnline: 'Batley Grammar is an academy school so the council has a very limited role in its running but we are aware of issues raised by parents this week.

'We are pleased to see that the school has taken swift action to resolve the issues alongside the local community. They have apologised, taken immediate action on teaching materials and they are reviewing the relevant processes.'

A West Yorkshire Police spokesman said at about midday: 'We are aware of a small demonstration at the school, which is still ongoing. Local neighbourhood officers are in attendance.'

Police cordoned off Carlinghow Hill in both directions and the 213 bus service was diverted via Batley Field Hill.

Later, the force spokesman added: 'The demonstration has now ended. We closed the road for a short time. No arrests or FPNs (Fixed Penalty Notices) issued.'

The school, which has 990 pupils, was rated 'good' in its last Ofsted inspection. It used to be an all-boys school until girls were admitted into its sixth form in 1988 and it then became fully co-educational in 1996.

** Are you a parent of a child at Batley Grammar School? Please email: tips@dailymail.com **
Remember the girl whod scored 99.9 percentile on Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Main in February and had said she would re-sit the exam for better results? Well, what a comeback because Kavya Chopra is now one of the two students from Rajasthan to get a perfect 300/300 score in this months JEE Main, alongside Mridul Agrawal.

Whats more, shes now the first female student to get a perfect score on JEE Main, the entrance exam that sets the qualification of students into engineering programs in India.

 Facebook

I had scored 99.97 percentile in JEE Main 2021 February attempt. But my target was to secure above 99.98 percentile, which was the reason for appearing in March 2021, she said, according to IndiaTimes. In the first attempt, I focused more on physics and chemistry, yet I scored less in chemistry. Hence, I had to put more effort into chemistry for the next 15 days for the March examination.



If she clears JEE Advanced, she might opt for computer science engineering from IIT-Bombay," her mother, Shikha Chopra, told the Indian Express.

Mridul Agrawal, another student who earned a perfect score on the exam, had also made his second attempt and came out on top this year.

 India Times

People took to Twitter to congratulate them, especially celebrating the achievements of the first female student to get a perfect score.



few days ago we all laughed on her but she proved us all wrong greatest ever comeback in my book https://t.co/vVOum1RYwV  . (@sanket7262) March 25, 2021
New Delhi, March 26 : Amid the surge of Covid-19 cases along with other mutated variants, India has reported the presence of a 'double mutant' coronavirus variant, triggering fear among many.

However, health experts on Friday said that the double mutant variant may be less dangerous than expected as the most vulnerable patients are having only mild illnesses.

The experts emphasised that as per the current evidence, new variants are observed from few states. But, details about its epidemiology are yet to be known.

"There is no need to panic about the strains and mutation as it's a completely natural and unavoidable process. Covid appropriate behaviour and accepting vaccines remains the solution for any strain," Harshal R Salve, Associate Professor at Centre for Community Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS), New Delhi, told IANS.

Also, they are hopeful that the present vaccines available may help us protect against the recently reported variant too.

"There is a strong possibility that the vaccine may be effective in protecting against a new variant," said Neha Gupta, Infectious Diseases Specialist at Medanta - The Medicity Gurgaon.

This week, the Union Health Ministry said that a total of 771 variants of concerns (VOCs) have been detected in a total of 10,787 positive samples shared by the states and union territories, including a new double mutant variant.

These include 736 samples positive for viruses of the UK (B.1.1.7) lineage, 34 samples of the South African (B.1.351) lineage and one sample of the Brazilian (P.1) lineage.

"Though VOCs and a new double mutant variant have been found in India, these have not been detected in numbers sufficient to either establish or direct relationship or explain the rapid increase in cases in some states," the Health Ministry said.

The government said that an analysis of the samples collected from Maharashtra showed "an increase in the fraction of samples with the E484Q and L452R mutations" compared with December last year.

"Such (double) mutations confer immune escape and increased infectivity," the health ministry said in a statement.

These mutations have been found in about 15-20 per cent of samples and do not match any previously catalogued VOCs.

These have been categorised as VOCs but require the same epidemiological and public health response of 'increased testing, comprehensive tracking of close contacts, prompt isolation of positive cases and contacts as well as treatment as per National Treatment Protocol" by the states and Union Territories, according to the Health Ministry.

According to Jeremy Kamil, a virologist at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center Shreveport in the US, the E484Q is similar to E484K -- a mutation seen in the B.1.351 (South Africa) and P.1 (Brazil) variants, the BBC reported on Thursday.

India reported 59,118 coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, the highest single-day spike since October, 2020, taking the total tally to 1,18,46,652 on Friday. Cases have been increasing by leaps and bounds for the past two weeks.

With the death of 257 people in the last 24 hours, the fatality toll has reached 1,60,949 in India. The active caseload in the country has mounted to 4,21,066.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
By Neoma Williams

For The Herald

Two seats on the Hart School Board will expire in May. Marsela Marin has chosen to file for a place on the ballot but Alex Carrasco will not seek reelection.

Maria Marquez filed for a place on the ballot, and since she and Marin are the only two persons filing, the May election was cancelled in a unanimous vote at the March 8 school board meeting. Board members present were Mary Ann Carrasco, Angelica Ramirez, Alex Carrasco, Julissa Chavez, Martha Gonzales, Marsela Marin and Erasmo Mata.

Christopher Estrada of San Angelo, a December 2020 graduate of Angelo State University, is the new ag teacher at Hart ISD. There was no ag teacher this school year until his employment. He teaches culinary arts, carpentry, construction and welding. He is not certified as a teacher and is in an alternative certification program.

The Board approved the school cafeteria contract amendments with A+ Foods, which was set to expire June 30, 2022. The company has served Hart ISD this past school year.

The contract amended the previous contract that began July 1, 2020, with amendments being changing terms, nondiscrimination statements, etc. The contract expires July 1, 2022.

There are two employees for the Hart school cafeteria. The company provides guidance to them and A+ Foods keeps the district in compliance with federal and state programs and laws. Students are provided food at no cost. Adults pay for their meals. USDA provides food, and the local district pays A+ for food.

Superintendent Krista Lara said that the school had paid A+ $24,000 last year and expects that amount to be $16,500 for the upcoming school year. She said this amount is over what is received either by payment or USDA commodities. After initially contracting with A+, the cafeteria employees were reduced from three to two. Lara said that through A+, the food quality is better and the students are happier.

That makes it worth it, she added.

The Board accepted the quote of $25,255.48 from Advanced Networks of Texas, which provides telecommunications services (ERATE eligible internet equipment). Lara said that the federal government pays 90% of this amount and the school district, 10 percent.

In other action, the board approved changes to the school calendar, some of which call for school on Fridays at half a day because there were enough COVID days banked that have not been used.

Also discussed was the 2020-2021 secondary targeted improvement plan for state mandated tests. The STAAR tests were cancelled last year and also this year because of the pandemic. The school, however, continues to work on targeted improvements.
Almost half of the Australian population don't hold any religious beliefs, new research has found, with Christians now a shrinking minority.

The number of Australians that described themselves as having no religion was at 26 per cent in 2003 but this has since jumped to 45 per cent this month, data from Roy Morgan found.

In a survey conducted with people aged 14 and older, it was also found that only 53 per cent of the population could identify a religion they belonged to - a drop from 73 per cent in 2003.

Almost half of the Australian population don't hold any religious beliefs, new research has found (pictured St George Cathedral in Perth)

Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine said the figures show the sharp shift in attitudes to religion.

'Australia and Australians have changed in many different ways over the past two decades or so, and changes in the part religion plays in people's lives is a prime example,' she said.

'There has been a drop of over 24% in those who describe themselves as Christian, from a majority of 68.1% to a minority of 44.0% over that period.'

However for those who do identify with a religion, the amount who regularly attend church or worship has 'remained remarkably consistent'.

In 2003, 18 per cent of people said they frequented church often and in 2020 this number only dropped to 17 per cent.

Last year a teacher's union called for the removal of scripture classes from public schools, saying they should instead be taught outside of normal school hours.

The research also showed that the percentage of those who identified as Christians had also dropped significantly

The New South Wales Teachers Federation president Angelo Gavrielatos earlier told Daily Mail Australia religious education should occur outside of school hours as it was a private matter for parents and their children.

'School time is for teaching and learning, and special religious instruction should not be interrupting the crucial learning of students during the school day,' Mr Gavrielatos said.

'To do otherwise denies students valuable time necessary to ensure their educational needs can be met.'

A census conducted in 2016 said that a growing share of the population were of non-Christian faiths due to immigration.

The Sikh religion is one of the fastest growing groups in Australia with more than 125,000 members.
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Britain's daily Covid death toll plunged 30 per cent in a week today to 70 as experts insisted the Covid outbreak was 'well under control' even though cases were up.

Data across the board suggest that cases have 'levelled off' since schools reopened, while positive test numbers rose by 30 per cent week-on-week to 6,187 compared to 4,802 recorded last Friday.

Scientists today sought to reassure Britons that the upticks were 'inevitable' once parts of society unlocked, saying the figures were 'not yet evidence' the ultra-cautious lockdown easing plans needed to be pushed back.

They added the successful vaccine drive - which today hit more than 29million first doses - had weakened the link between infections and hospitalisations and deaths because far fewer people will get seriously ill from now on.

It came as No10's scientific advisers revealed England's R rate may have risen as high as one, in another sign cases may now be plateauing.

SAGE scientists today upgraded their estimate of the R rate - how many people each infected person passes the virus on to - to between 0.8 and one, meaning the outbreak is no longer shrinking as quickly as it was. Advisers also claimed the measure - which is based on three weeks' worth of data - didn't 'fully reflect' schools reopening on March 8, hinting it will spike above the crucial level in April.

They added, however, that R was no longer a key measure because Downing Street has accepted it will rise as restrictions get relaxed. Ministers will only act if hospital admissions spiral out of control.

Separate Office for National Statistics data estimated 162,500 people in England had the virus on any given day last week, a rise of 1.5 per cent on the previous seven-day spell. Statisticians said the figures - based on swabs of more than 100,000 people - only suggested cases were 'levelling off' rather than rising.

The Covid Symptom Study app also indicated cases had plateaued, predicting 3,245 symptomatic infections each day last week - up 0.6 per cent on the week before. For comparison, around 70,000 people were developing tell-tale signs of Covid every day during the peak of the second wave in January.

Professor James Naismith, the head of Oxford University's Rosalind Franklin Institute, said today the ONS data was 'less reassuring than last week' but that it was 'not yet evidence we need to change course'.

Boris Johnson's plan to reopen schools has seen all pupils testing themselves twice a week, more than doubling the number of tests done daily - to around 1.1million - and inevitably fuelling a rise in cases as many more are spotted that would have previously gone unreported.

It comes as European leaders today threatened to block vaccines bound for Britain with an export ban they claim could derail the rollout of second doses.

France escalated the row by suggesting the UK does not have sufficient supplies to give inoculated citizens their next injection - and that the programme is at the mercy of EU shipments. Paris's foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian also accused the UK of 'blackmailing' Brussels ahead of crunch talks this weekend.

Britain is warning the EU against pursuing the Commission-proposed vaccine export ban and ministers have refused to rule out a tit-for-tat retaliation if the bloc imposes an embargo on jabs leaving the Continent.

The Department of Health posted another 70 Covid deaths today, down a third on the 101 recorded time last Friday. Experts have said the successful vaccination drive should keep these low as more people are immune to the virus

Covid cases rose 28 per cent, however, after 6,187 were announced compared to 4,802 from a week ago. The uptick is not a cause for concern, experts say, and was to be expected after schools reopened

More than 324,942 first doses and 234,382 second doses were given out today in Britain's vaccination drive

The Office for National Statistics predicted Covid cases 'levelled off' last week. It said there may be 162,500 in England, which was a 1.5 per cent rise on the 160,200 recorded the previous week

Covid cases in England rose by less than one per cent last week, according to the King's College London Covid-19 Symptom study app. But Professor Tim Spector, who leads the app, said the cases were under control

The ONS data showed cases may be rising fastest among schoolchildren, but that there was also an uptick in those aged 35 to 49 years old, suggesting infections may have seeded into other age groups

The King's College London epidemiologist said cases were rising among schoolchildren, which was to be expected as they had been invited back to classrooms. He added the rise was happening faster in Scotland and Wales

Boris Johnson has asked all pupils to test themselves for the virus twice a week to root out any outbreaks early

In other Covid news:

Lord Sumption warns masks and social distancing could be in place for 10 years - as long as Britain endured rationing after the Second World War;

Fears mount the UK could run out of second doses as France threatens supply of Pfizer jabs from EU and delivery of AstraZeneca jabs from India is delayed;

And NHS figures show parts of London are still lagging behind in the roll-out to 50 to 55-year-olds;

SAGE study also finds one in 25 people hospitalised with Covid since December got the jab - but vast majority had caught disease before protection from the jabs kicked in;

Scientists reveal Covid survivors given one dose of Pfizer's jab make seven times more antibodies than those who are uninfected but get first dose;

Police say they will not stop or arrest people leaving the country in breach of Covid laws despite ministers bringing in 5,000 fines;

And ONS reveals nearly 15 per cent of Covid patients in England are not following self-isolation rules.

Professor Naismith added: 'Overall the numbers [of cases] in England have levelled off and are showing no further decline.

'We seem unlikely to lower prevalence further and may be lucky to keep current levels, although more outdoor living will help as the weather improves.'

But on a positive note he said that even in a 'full-blown third wave' the successful vaccination drive had already ensured millions of people are protected.

FURIOUS TORIES ACCUSE EU OF HAVING 'NO RESPECT' AFTER FRENCH THREATEN TO BLOCK JAB EXPORTS Tory MPs have railed against threats from EU leaders to use an export ban to block shipments of second vaccine doses to the UK. France today escalated the row by suggesting Britain does not have sufficient stockpiles of Pfizer jabs to administer its round of second doses - and that the rollout is at the mercy of EU shipments. Paris's foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian also accused the UK of 'blackmailing' Brussels and making it 'pay the price' for the Britain's decision to 'hurry ahead' with first doses, ahead of crunch talks this weekend to reach an agreement on supplies. EU leaders last night stepped back from the brink of the vaccine embargo - which was being pushed by the under-fire Commission President Ursula von der Leyen - after Angela Merkel and Dutch PM Mark Rutte instead called for a diplomatic approach. But Emmanuel Macron is leading a group of hardline states still agitating for the export ban. Conservative MP Philip Davies told MailOnline: 'I think the French and the EU should take note of the maxim: when you're in a hole, stop digging.' He added: 'It goes to prove we were so right to leave the EU, they're thrashing around trying to cover for their own incompetence and in turn are behaving like a protectionist racket. 'I think the Prime Minister was completely right when he said that no company is going to want to do business in an organisation that blocks exports, and has no respect for contract law.' Tory MP Bob Seely, a member of the Commons foreign affairs committee, said: 'At a time when everyone has a duty to be working together, for both the good of the EU and the UK, the wretched vaccine nationalism of some EU politicians is appalling.' Ministers have refused to rule out a tit-for-tat retaliation if the bloc imposes an embargo on jabs leaving the Continent. Yet a senior government source stressed the UK has enough supplies to give people their second dose. They said this afternoon: 'We are confident in vaccine targets, offering first dose to all over-50s by April 15 and all adults by July 31, as well as second doses.' There are understood to be around 12million second doses due to be administered in April. Advertisement

'The vaccines are safe and very effective at saving lives and preventing hospitalisations,' he said.

'We have still to work out how successful they are at limiting the spread of the virus. [But] even if they are 100 per cent effective, the biggest effects upon the spread will come as we approach the herd immunity threshold [around 75 per cent of adults jabbed].'

Professor Tim Spector, the King's College London epidemiologist who leads the Covid symptom-tracking app, said data suggested cases were rising slightly 'off the back of schools reopening' but that the numbers are 'currently well under control and aren't a cause for concern'.

He added that infections were ticking up faster in Wales and Scotland, where schools went back earlier but with a more staggered reopening with only younger year groups asked back at first.

Professor Lawrence Young, a virologist at Warwick Medical School, added it was 'inevitable' infections would start to level off as lockdown was eased.

'Every change as we slowly release from lockdown is likely to have an effect on the levels of infection,' he said.

'While vaccination and the current lockdown are clearly bringing down overall infection levels, theres no room for complacency as we lift further restrictions.'

And Professor Paul Hunter, an infectious diseases expert at the University of East Anglia, said the figures suggested the decline in infections had 'slowed or even plateaued' but that it may not derail the lockdown exit.

'In my view, this latest data does not put the next phase of easing out of lockdown in doubt,' he said.

'Firstly the uptick in children is not yet sufficiently big to indicate that this is definitely a real increase and not just a random variation. And secondly at present this does not yet appear to be causing any slowing in the decline of daily admissions to hospital, though it may still be a little early to expect to see any clear impact.'

SAGE scientists said the R rate may have risen to one in England - suggesting everyone who had the virus was passing it on to one other person - up from the upper estimate of up to 0.9 last week.

They added, however, that the figure was a lagging indicator and did not take into account the full reopening of schools - suggesting the true number may be slightly higher.

The North East and Yorkshire had the highest R rate, between 0.8 and one. It was between 0.7 and one in the East of England, Midlands, North West and South East.

In London and the South West, however, it was still between 0.7 and 0.9, indicating cases may still be receding in these areas.

Before vaccines came on stream it was crucial for the R value to stay below one. But with ministers now accepting that cases will spike when restrictions are eased, the R rate is no longer a crucial measurement.

Instead, they will only hit the panic button if hospital admissions or deaths rise. However, scientists yesterday told MailOnline vaccines had solved the problem of people getting seriously ill or dying, even though no jab is 100 per cent effective.

The Office for National Statistics' huge survey is considered to be the gold-standard way of monitoring the Covid outbreak because it is based on random swabbing of more than 100,000 people in the country.

This means it picks up both symptomatic and asymptomatic infections - when there are no tell-tale warning signs - which are missed by the national testing system.

When the cases were broken down by age, the data predicted they were ticking upwards among schoolchildren and 35 to 50-year-olds in the week to March 20.

For six to 11-year-old children the positivity rate - the proportion that have the virus - went up from 0.48 to 0.5. In 11 to 16-year-olds, it went from 0.5 to 0.53 per cent.

There were also warning signs of spill over of infections in to parents, after the rate ticked upwards slightly among 35 to 49-year-olds from 0.43 to 0.44 per cent.

But cases were still falling or remained stable in the other age groups. The positivity rate dropped in 17 to 24-year-olds, falling from 0.18 to 0.16 per cent. This group includes students at universities, and those undertaking apprenticeships.

Positivity rates were lowest among over-70s, who are most at risk from the virus (0.15 per cent). Everyone in this group has already been offered a Covid vaccine.

When Public Health England figures were broken down by age they showed cases were only ticking up among those aged five to 19, but were still falling across all other age groups. They fell fastest in the over-70s who are least at risk from the virus

Prevalence figures for the UK showed the outbreak appears to be focused in the north of England, Wales and central Scotland

ONS data also predicted the positivity rate in England overall was 0.3 per cent last week, the equivalent of one in 340 residents and the second lowest in the country.

Scotland had the highest rate at 0.41 per cent - or 1 in 240 residents. Nicola Sturgeon is still planning to lift the 'stay-at-home' order from April 2, and allow hairdressers and barbers to reopen three days later. She has promised to follow the 'data not dates' and scientists say Scotland's actions should be watched, as it is about a week or two ahead of the rest of the country on its epidemic curve.

Northern Ireland had the second highest rate at 0.32 per cent - or 1 in 320 people. Arlene Foster allowed primary pupils to return to face-to-face learning on March 22 - too early for an impact to be shown in the data - and will permit up to six people from two households to meet from next Thursday as lockdown is eased.

Wales had the lowest positivity rate at 0.22 per cent - or 1 in 450 people. Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford has steamed ahead with plans to relax travel restrictions within the UK nation from tomorrow, allowing residents to travel to any other location within Wales.

The Covid Symptom tracking app also predicted the fall in cases had stalled, and that they were now rising among schoolchildren.

It relies on daily reports from more than one million people across the UK, who enter whether they are feeling unwell and what signs of illness they have. But the app cannot detect asymptomatic infections, which Government scientists say make up about a third of all cases.

Britain's infections may have ticked up by about seven per cent last week, it estimated, after it recorded 4,785 daily cases compared to 4,470 the week before.

Scotland saw symptomatic daily cases tick up by 16 per cent last week, after they rose to 756. Nicola Sturgeon has reopened schools and the UK nation is planning to relax its stay-at-home order on April 2.

And Wales saw its cases dip by one per cent last week, after they fell from 424 to 420 per day. The Welsh Government will lift its stay local rule from Saturday which will allow citizens to travel to any area within the UK nation. Six people from two different households will also be allowed to meet.

Public Health England data yesterday revealed some 56 of 149 local authorities saw their Covid outbreaks grow last week, but that the rise was among schoolchildren.

When the figures were broken down by age, they showed cases were only spiking among five to nine-year-olds, by half, and 10 to 19-year-olds, by a quarter.

But they continued falling in all other age groups, and hit their lowest levels since August in the over-70s. Everyone in this age group has been offered at least one dose of the Covid vaccine.

Dr Yvonne Doyle, PHE's medical director, warned cases appeared to have 'plateaued' in most parts of the country, and were rising in younger age groups. She added: 'We must not drop our guard now after so much effort by so many. We need only look to Europe to see how easy it is for things to take a turn for the worse.'
CALGARY - WestJet is adding 11 domestic routes across Western Canada in anticipation of summer demand for travel.

A ground worker approaches a WestJet Airlines Boeing 737 Max aircraft after it arrived at Vancouver International Airport in Richmond, B.C., on Thursday, January 21, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

CALGARY - WestJet is adding 11 domestic routes across Western Canada in anticipation of summer demand for travel.

The announcement follows a decision by the airline earlier this week to restore service to Atlantic Canada and Quebec City.

WestJet chief executive Ed Sims says the airline is looking at the coming months with cautious optimism.

The new flights include service between Toronto and Comox, B.C.; and between Ottawa and Victoria.

Four of the 11 routes  between Toronto and Fort McMurray, Alta., Nanaimo, B.C. and Edmonton; Edmonton and Kamloops, B.C., and Prince George and Abbotsford, B.C.  were routes operated several years ago.

The new flights are set to begin in June.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 26, 2021.
Casablanca  The Morocco-European Union (EU) institutional twinning meets the imperatives of modern public accounting, said on Thursday Raphael Martin De Lagarde, Minister-Advisor, Deputy Head of Mission at the French Embassy in Morocco.

"This twinning is particularly structuring since it responds to the requirements of modern and transparent public accounting", underlined De Lagarde, who was speaking at the Morocco-EU twinning seminar entitled "Support for the modernization of public finance management", organized in the webinar format.

As part of the EU's Hakama program, it provides support for the modernization of the Moroccan administration in terms of public governance, said the French official. The said twinning also aims to increase performance and budget transparency through the implementation of reforms of the public financial structure and the dematerialization of procedures affecting all the professions of the General Treasury of the Kingdom (TGR).

He added that "the philosophy is to build an overall logic to increase performance and the budget transparency by perfecting the accounting system, modernizing the controls and the information systems and training agents".

This philosophy is likely to allow the administration to lay bricks: a certification of State accounts that meets harmonized international standards, noted De Lagarde.

For his part, Deputy Director General at the Directorate General of Public Finances (DGFiP) of France, Antoine Magnant, highlighted the historical links between the TGR and the DGFiP, noting that the Morocco-EU cooperation is multifactorial and has many facets.

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This is an old relationship, he said, specifying that the administrations and communities of civil servants of the TGR and the DGFi have an extremely strong bond.

Stressing the importance of the modernization of public financial management, Magnant praised the efforts of the TGR for the implementation of reforms relating to the management of public finances and the dematerialization of procedures.

For her part, Adele Lieber, delegate for international relations at the DGFiP, highlighted the close cooperation between the TGR and the French body marked by friendship and common respect. "Technical cooperation has been fueled in the past by many missions and study visits", she said, adding that this allows the two institutions to have a common framework, a culture of common public finances.

The Morocco-EU twinning, initiated by the TGR, the Department of the Treasury and External Finances (DTFE) and the DGFiP of France, aims to support the efforts of the TGR for the implementation of reforms relating to the management of public finances and the dematerialization of procedures in all its areas of activity.

Spanning 24 months, the project is funded by the EU by up to one million euros and managed with the support of the DTFE.
Kano, Nigeria, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 26th Mar, 2021 ) :Criminal gangs have killed two dozen local vigilate guards and a soldier in central Nigeria, officials said on Friday, in the latest violence in the restive region.

Dozens of motorcycle-riding assailants called bandits by locals late on Monday opened fire on the vigilantes in an ambush, outside Kotonkoro village in Mariga district in Niger state, killing 25.

Local communities often form semi-official self-defense groups to collaborate with security forces against gangs of kidnappers and cattle rustlers who raid and pillage villages in Nigeria's northwest and central states.

"We have lost 25 members to the bandits," Abu Hashim, head of vigilantes in Mariga, told AFP.

"We have recovered 20 of the deceased but we are yet to reclaim five more bodies which are still in the bush," he said.

A local lawmaker, Ibrahim Ilyasu, confirmed the attack, saying a soldier was also killed.

The vigilantes were on the trail of the bandits who had attacked a military post at the outskirts of the village, killing a soldier in a gunfight, Ilyasu told AFP.
(Natural News) A new requirement that forces all seafarers to be injected with experimental Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) gene therapy cocktails before entering shipping ports is causing major delays and disruptions throughout the global supply chain.

The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) says reports are flooding in about entire payloads being denied due to their shipping crews not being 100 percent injected. Even in cases where there are simply no injections available, crews are reportedly being turned away.

A legal document that will soon circulate throughout the shipping industry warns that requiring seafarers to be injected with Chinese virus chemicals as a condition of entry into ports is creating a legal minefield, especially when there are not even enough jabs available to inject.

According to the ICS, crews on ships can originate from more than 30 different nations at a time, crossing numerous borders throughout their contracts. Many of them hail from third world countries where Wuhan flu shots might not be available until at least 2024.

Roughly 900,000 of the worlds working seafarers live in developing nations where mass injections will not occur for another few years. This spells disaster for the global supply chain, which will be at a standstill until every last crew member is able to be needled.

ICS said measures could lead shipowners to cancel voyages if crew members are not vaccinated or risk legal, financial and reputational damage by sailing with unvaccinated crews, writes Charlie Hart for Supply Management.

Delays into ports caused by unvaccinated crew would open up legal liabilities and costs for owners, which would not be recoverable from charterers. Furthermore, while owners would be able to address the need for seafarer vaccines in new contracts, owners attempting to change existing contracts or asking crew to receive a specific vaccine requested by a port could open themselves up to legal liabilities, the ICS report explains.

Another crew change crisis is brewing for 2021

Last year, some 400,000 seafarers were stranded aboard their shipping vessels due to travel restrictions that were imposed during the early days of the plandemic. This deadlock situation was dubbed the crew change crisis of 2020.

A similar situation is brewing once again in 2021 as unvaccinated seafarers could end up having to quit or be replaced with vaccinated crew members, or else remain stuck at sea with nowhere to port. The ICS says it is currently exploring all avenues to find a solution.

One idea is to set up vaccination hubs at key international ports throughout the world where crew members could be vaccinated as a condition of entry. This effort could fail, though, if there are not enough vaccines available to be administered at them.

Were already seeing reports of states requiring proof of Covid-19 vaccination for seafarers, laments Guy Platten, ICS secretary-general, adding that shipping firms are in an impossible position with no remedy.

If our workers cant pass through international borders, this will undoubtedly cause delays and disruptions in the supply chain. For a sector expected to help drive the global vaccination effort, this is totally unacceptable.

While the shipping industry is bearing the brunt of the problem, Patten warns that other sectors could soon feel significant impact as international business slowly recovers from being shut down by the global government system.

Bud Darr, executive vice president of maritime policy and government affairs at the MSC Group expressed similar sentiments. Seafarers, he says, have already given us so much and do not deserve to be put in this difficult position.

The shipping industry needs to find creative solutions to the problem, he insists.

More related news about how the governments Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) response is destroying the global economy can be found at Collapse.news.

Sources for this article include:

CIPS.org

NaturalNews.com
In August 2019, a week shy of my 39th birthday, I climbed into the cab of a semi-truck in San Diego with a man Id met just two months before. We were bound for Austin, Texas, and technically, this was our fourth date.

Now, Im as big of a fan of not getting murdered as the next girl, and Ill be the first to admit that the premise of going on a blind date with a long haul trucker I met online absolutely sounded like an episode of "Unsolved Mysteries" waiting to happen. But as I watched Brandt from behind the bushes outside of the Oakland restaurant Mua, where we were to meet for the first time, I caught no murder vibes. I couldnt tell you what we talked about during that first date; my heart was beating too hard and the music was too loud. All I knew was that he was handsome, polite and surprisingly wholesome-seeming for a man who claimed to love Lou Reed as much as he does.

In the year that followed, I saw more of the United States than I had in my entire life up to that point. My time spent living and working on the road with Brandt and his (now our) pug Sally, is among the happiest of my life. And it almost never happened.

Instead of playing it cool, as the misguided 1990s romantic comedies of our youth advised, Brandt and I dove in  texting and talking on the phone nonstop during those first two months of long-distance dating. Two weeks into one of his trips, I was in the middle of typing I wish I was there with you too for what felt like the millionth time, when I realized that, if I really hustled, in six to eight hours I could be there.

I hesitated only momentarily wondering if driving from Oakland to San Diego at 5 p.m. on a Saturday night to be with some dude Id only met in person once was the right move. Lyrics from a Bright Eyes song I hadnt heard in at least a decade came to mind as I schlepped my weekend bag to my car:

Remember the time I drove all night? / Just to meet you in the morning? ... / And now I dont care, I could go anywhere with you / And Id probably be happy.

As I set my map for San Diego, I got a text  a link, from Brandt, to that same Bright Eyes song. It had to be a sign, right?

When I arrived, well after midnight, Brandt greeted me in the street. Before I could get out of the car, Sally leapt through my window and into my lap, planting gross but cute dog kisses on my face.

---

I had wanted to road trip across the U.S. from the time I was a teenager, but the demands of adulthood  work, bills, student debt  had always taken priority. So much of the traveling I had done up until this point had been through reliving others experiences of a place anecdotally.

Take Austin, for example, where we were headed now: I had wanted to visit since I was in my early twenties, but had never been. Suddenly, the fact that my writing work was freelance no longer felt like a personal failing on my part, but kismet. If I had gotten, say, the in-house job I so desperately thought I wanted just a few months before, I couldnt have been here, about to hit the road with Brandt for the first time.

There is something deeply meditative, almost mesmerizing, about seeing the world from 6 feet above the road through the wide-screen windshield of a semi-truck. During the first several hundred miles of our trip to Texas, I delighted in every cactus, Joshua tree and desert rock formation I saw. I remember the first time we crossed time zones: from Pacific to Mountain in Arizona, and from Mountain to Central as we rolled into Texas.

We stopped and slept for the evening in a sandy truck stop parking lot just south of El Paso, where billboards had sprung up between the super churches and pawn shops, Guitar Centers and gentlemens clubs: El Paso Strong, Prayers For El Paso and a simple one that read: Enoughs Enough: Ban Assault Rifles.

Brandt pointed to the helado-colored shanties in hues of fresa, chicle, mango on the hillside across the Rio Grande in Ciudad Juarez. We noticed the way the chones and chaquetas were strung up on clotheslines like family flags. It had been two weeks since a white gunman had killed 23 mostly Latinx people in this border town. This, too, was what seeing America was about.

The next morning, in Austin, we lined up outside of Terry Blacks Barbecue with dozens of strangers. I delighted in the easy way our linemates chatted with us, as though we were all waiting to go on a roller coaster, not a meat bender. This chattiness is a quirk of Southern manners Ive been charmed by again and again in our travels. Conversation there seems to flow as naturally and without worry as sweat does in the Southern heat.

Though Brandt had a delivery in east Texas the following Monday, and I had a deadline approaching, the weekend was ours. We spent it eating breakfast tacos, sipping iced tea, swimming at Barton Springs, and made a favorite discovery in Cheer-Up Charlies, where on that particular night, dozens of Austins gorgeous LGBTQ youth were gathered as glam-synth country act Pelvis Wrestley cast musical spells over the crowd.

Over time, our long days on the road began to take on a shape of their own. In the morning, after taking Sally for a walk and scaring up a simple breakfast and some much-needed caffeine for ourselves, Id work for as long as my Wi-Fi reception and concentration would allow. By the late afternoon, Id take out my earbuds and rejoin the road trip, aware, once again, that I was in the passenger seat of a white International semi-truck, that from nose to trailer tail measured a cumbersome 70 feet long, rolling cross-country with the man and dog Id grown to love to the point of inseparability.

On our first date, hed beamed as he told me about his three sons, all nearly grown, and how hed gotten his commercial drivers license at 22, as a means to support them. He and his ex-wife had been separated for over a decade, and Brandt had spent the past five years on the road working for a moving company, reuniting newly relocated people with their worldly possessions.

Once I joined him, Brandt and I passed the time listening to history podcasts, books on tape and an ever-growing playlist of shared songs that was now three months deep. On the days that Brandt had deliveries, Id have him drop me at a local coffee shop where I could enjoy previously simple pleasures, like free internet and peeing indoors. At the end of those days, Id come home to the 2018 International LT  or Kevin as wed come to call the truck  having barely gotten my land legs back, my hair and clothes stinking of burnt coffee.

My time on the road with Brandt lasted nearly nine months. Id typically join him on the road for a few weeks each time, breaking every so often to tend to medical appointments and my apartment.

We were sharing a gray upholstered living space that was approximately 7 feet by 5 feet. Each and every item we brought with us had to have a designated place. The bottom bunk was not just where we slept but where we played board games, streamed movies and my office on the days I couldnt get to a coffee shop.

Our first purchase together was a fancy XL twin mattress to ease the back aches that come from two adults  including one who is 6 feet 2 inches tall  spooning in cramped, creative configurations most nights. If one of us had to get out of bed, not smooshing the other person (or the dog) involved a complex choreography. And, almost inevitably, as soon as I was settled in for the evening, Brandt and Sally lulling me with their tandem snoring, I would have to pee.

I would lay there at 3 a.m., unable to sleep, calculating the distance from the truck to the truck stop bathroom alongside the likelihood of getting kidnapped from a truck stop parking lot at that time of night. More often than not, I wound up relieving myself in an extra large plastic beverage cup wed picked up at a convenience store for this express purpose.

With showers going for $20 a pop, our shower schedule was set to every other day, as most of the truck stops we frequented offered a free shower with every big-rig diesel tank fill-up. About once a week, Brandts company would put us up in a hotel for a night or two, where wed luxuriate in food delivery apps and indoor plumbing.

Over time, I took to cooking dinner utilizing an air fryer, an electric skillet, a rice cooker, a folding table and an extension cord we ran from the cab of the truck outdoors. Meal planning, prep and clean-up added an extra 2 to 3 hours each day to our already tight schedule, but it was better than living on fast food.

---

From Texas, we cut up through Oklahoma and Kansas, where summer lightning storms lit up the road in silver flashes and mosquitoes savaged my ankles. We stopped in Colorado Springs for a few days, then pushed through Utah and Idaho, where I ogled the giant red and gold rock cliffs that reminded me of old "Road Runner" cartoons. This leg of the trip was two weeks.

Once, in Washington state, following my whimsy one weekend, we wound up at a sheepdog trial on someones private ranch. Later, we were 8 miles past North Bend  a town made famous by David Lynchs "Twin Peaks"  when I realized where we had just been. Oh well, I thought, next time.

Then I thought of my father, and how one afternoon as I was driving him home from radiation treatments, hed wanted to take a detour to show me his favorite tree. Over the years, its trunk had nearly swallowed the No Trespassing sign nailed to it. But wed been so busy talking, I missed the turn and said, Oh well, next time.

There isnt going to be a next time, he said. I turned around  and he died five weeks later while I was on a long-planned trip to New Orleans, which hed forbidden me from canceling.

Since I first watched Lynchs bizarro noir soap opera with my dad, Id wanted us to visit South Bends R and R Diner together for a damned good cup of coffee and a slice of cherry pie. But we never made it, and it had taken me 39 years to get this close. So I asked Brandt to turn Kevin around. The stop meant we would have to make up for lost time later, but it was worth it for our conversations with locals and a long walk in the autumn woods with Sally.

---

At the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak, Id taken a break from my nine months on the road with Brandt and was in my hometown in rural northern California, visiting family. Brandt was on a cross-country work trip with his eldest son, Zion, 21. Suddenly, things like hand sanitizer, anti-bacterial wipes, rubber gloves and masks were impossible to find, and his company didnt provide him with PPE. To get to running water, Brandt and Zion had to go where other people congregated: truck stop bathrooms, showers at the gym.

To do his essential job, Brandt was required to go into the homes of strangers. For a while, even the fast-food restaurants were shut down, and Brandt sent me photos of empty supermarket shelves. He and Zion got sick out on the road, with chest colds that would not go away and left them weak, but in those early days testing sites were nearly impossible to find. I spent those weeks we were apart in a blind panic, worried for Brandt and Zion, watching as my freelance work dried up, and as the businesses of many of my friends folded overnight.

When Brandt finally got off the road six weeks later, in late April, I made the typically 13-hour drive from Mendocino to San Diego in nine hours flat  the once congested freeways were ghostly quiet.

Now, a year later, our lives look nothing like our early days together on the road. Brandt was laid off, and we decided to ride out the pandemic in the small coastal California town of Fort Bragg, where I grew up. A local trucking company hired him for work that kept him closer to home, delivering items like dialysis machines to our local hospital, dog food to the local feed stores, organic flour to the small bakeries.

Our two-bedroom apartment and queen-sized bed feel palatial compared to Kevins sleeper cab, and I am still amazed at how quickly dinner can be made with access to four burners and a sink.

On occasion, Brandt still goes on longer out-of-town trips, running fish from our local harbor to markets in Fishermans Wharf or organic soil from Humboldt to LA. Whenever possible, I go with him. But for now, without it feeling safe to go to restaurants or see live music, the road has gone from a place of spontaneity and possibility to one where we, by necessity, continue our isolation.

Like many of us, most of the traveling I did in the past year was in my memory and imagination. Knowing now, as my father had, that there isnt always a next time, I often think of how lucky Brandt and I were to find each other before the world shut down, and that together we got to take in this country as it was, before riding, alongside everyone else, into what it may yet become, post-pandemic.

Esther Liner is a freelance writer and photographer based on the Mendocino Coast.
Dismay at Angela Merkel's handling of Covid-19 has prompted calls for a limit on how long German chancellors can stay in power.

Merkel has served four terms in office since 2005, working with five different UK prime ministers from Blair to Johnson and four US presidents from Bush to Biden.

But Germany's chaotic handling of the pandemic in recent weeks has led to discontent in her own ranks - with conservative MP Carsten Linnemann accusing Merkel of slipping into a 'comfort zone' during her long tenure.

'We need a new mechanism: we have to limit the chancellorship to two terms,' he told Spiegel, as Merkel prepares to bow out following September's election.

Angela Merkel, pictured, is nearing the end of her 16-year term as chancellor and is coming under growing pressure over Germany's handling of Covid-19

Germany has had only four chancellors since 1974 and Merkel is not even the longest-serving of those, with Helmut Kohl holding the record for his 1982-98 term.

But Linnemann said a two-term limit like that imposed on US presidents would force parties such as Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) to renew themselves.

He suggested that top ministerial posts and senior party positions in the CDU should also be subject to term limits.

'We were doing well, the economy was humming along. We got ourselves into a comfort zone and slept through the chance of renewal,' Linnemann said.

'Then in the pandemic we suddenly discover for example that the whole political procurement process doesn't work, from vaccinations to testing. That has to be a wake-up call,' he said.

Political scientist Wolfgang Merkel - no relation - also endorsed the idea of term limits in an interview with RND.

'Mrs Merkel has been in power for 16 years now, her creative energies seem to be exhausted,' he said.

'It's a structural flaw that our constitution allows people to govern for so long at a time,' he said, pointing to Kohl's long rule and Konrad Adenauer's 1949-63 tenure.

Merkel's long rule has seen her work with five different UK prime ministers and four US presidents (she is pictured here with Tony Blair in 2005)

Merkel is not even the longest-serving chancellor in post-war Germany, having worked with the record-holder Helmut Kohl (pictured with a younger Merkel in 1991)

Merkel has long been accused of lacking ideology and preferring to muddle through the series of crises which Germany and Europe have faced during her tenure.

She has also spent most of her 16-year term in a loveless coalition with the centre-left SPD rather than the CDU's more natural pro-business partners, the FDP.

The CDU elected another moderate, Armin Laschet, as its new chairman in January, but it remains unclear who will lead the bloc into the September election.

Markus Soeder, the tough-talking leader of Bavaria, is also seen as a contender for Merkel's job - although he may decide not to seek the chancellorship.

Germany's prolonged lockdown has sent the party's poll ratings into freefall, wiping out the bounce that the party enjoyed in the early months of the pandemic.

Polls this week have shown the CDU and its Bavarian allies on just 26 per cent of the vote between them, which would be their worst showing since World War II.

A successor to Merkel could potentially form an alliance with Germany's Greens, who have surged in the polls since the last election in 2017.

But the CDU's slump also raises the possibility of the party being dumped out of power altogether, possibly ushering in the country's first Green chancellor.

Anger at Merkel comes as Germany enters a third wave of the pandemic, as shown on this infection graph, which a top health official says could be the worst yet

Merkel enjoyed a bounce in the polls after Germany escaped the first wave with relatively few deaths, but fatalities soared during the second wave in the winter, as shown here

Germany's virus woes are set to continue for some time longer with a top official warning today that the ascending third wave could be the worst of the lot.

Lothar Wieler, the head of the Robert Koch institute, raised the prospect of infections rising to a horrifying 100,000 per day if the virus is not brought under contorl.

Merkel's health minister Jens Spahn said the German health system could reach its limits in April as the British variant fuels a new wave of infections.

The government is also under pressure over the slow vaccine campaign, which has yet to reach even 10 per cent of Germany's 83million population.

EU supply chaos and public reluctance to take the AstraZeneca shot have both been blamed for the slow progress compared to countries such as Britain.

With only a minority of the population immunised against Covid-19, lockdown restrictions have been extended into next month and could get even tougher.

Merkel sought to bring in an ultra-strict lockdown for five days over the Easter weekend, in which even grocery stores would largely have been closed.

But she had to scrap the plan this week amid massive public criticism, prompting her to plead for 'forgiveness' for what she said was 'my mistake, and my mistake alone'.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-26 07:46:01|Editor: huaxia

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A bus is overturned due to the slippery road caused by heavy rain in Suva, Fiji, March 25, 2021.Heavy rainfall caused flooding across Fiji's capital city. (FIJI SUN/Handout via Xinhua)
Chato  The Catholic Church Bishop for Rulenge-Ngara Diocese Severine Niwemugizi has on Thursday said that it was after an order from President John Magufuli that the immigration department returned his passport.

Bishop Niwemugizi known for speaking his mind, something that has landed him in trouble with authorities in the past.

In September 2017, he was summoned by immigration officials after he had said that Magufuli's presidency would fail if he did not resume the stalled constitutional review process.

The immigration officials confiscated Bishop Niwemugizi's passport and details of what happened there after has been scanty.

But leading a burial mass for the body of Dr Magufuli at the Mary the Virgin Catholic Church in Chato, Bishop Niwemuguzi said the departed leader ordered immigration officials to return him his passport.

This, he said , it was all due to his belief that being a Bishop he was the person who would lead a mass at his burial.

Dr Magufuli died at Mzena Hospital in Dar es Salaam on March 17 after suffering heart complications.

Tanzanians have been paying last respect to the fallen leader during the exercise that started in Dar es Salaam before proceeding to Dodoma, Zanzibar, Mwanza and Chato in Geita Region and that he is expected to be buried here today.

"This is the second time I'm telling you that President Magufuli told me in 2015 that being a Bishop, I'm the person who would bury him. In the second time, he instructed the immigration commissioner to return my passport hinting on the same reasons," he said.

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He added: "My response to the Head of State has been that nobody knows who will die first, therefore let it be a responsibility of the person who will remain behind to take care of the burial of another."

According to him, the content of their conversation has come true following the death of Dr Magifuli who served the country in various ministerial positions before becoming president after winning the 2015 General Election.

The Bishop who commended, the late President for efficient execution of his duties, cited verses in the Holly Bible as he called on church believers to get prepared for death.

He reminded the audience of songs composed by a Tanzanian musician, the late Ramadhani Mtoro aka Dr Remmy Ongala on how death saying has no mercy.

"The musician says in the song that he would appeal against death, something all of us in the Rulenge -Ngara Diocese would have done for Dr Magufuli to continue serving the country," he said.

The Bishop said Dr Magufuli has left the world through the first death, noting that the buring question was whether he will overcome the second death. However, the country should believe that he has rested in peace.

He hailed President Samia Sukuhu Hassan, challenging her to fulfill the promise he made to emulate her predecessor, ex-president, Dr Magufuli.
Because of potentially harmful bacteria, a hand sanitizer manufacturer based in southwest Florida has released a nationwide recall of 26 lots of its stock. The Sarasota-based Sanit Technologies released its written recall, which was later made public by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

FDA recalls some hand sanitizers

The main reason for the recall is that its Durisan Antimicrobial Solutions Hand Sanitizer contains elevated amounts of potentially dangerous bacteria burkholderia cepacia complex and ralstonia pickettii. Hand sanitizers may be safe if they penetrate the bloodstream from a cut, wound, or scrape, or they may be harmful if they affect the bloodstream and lungs, as per Newsweek.

When soap and water aren't available, antimicrobial hand sanitizer, which doesn't contain alcohol, is usually used. It aims to reduce bacteria on the skin that can cause diseases.

The recalled items were made between February 1 and June 30, 2020, and were sold in stores worldwide. "During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the problem was uncovered during a routine audit based on manufacturing scale-up," the FDA stated.

People Who Had Common Cold Could be Protected Against COVID-19 Study Suggests

According to the recall, if you have the hand sanitizers, you should either throw them away or return them to the shop where you bought them for a refund. Recalls of hand sanitizers have been underway for almost a year, beginning with more than 200 products manufactured and distributed in Mexico during the COVID-19 pandemic.

By Labor Day Weekend, the company had expanded from nine hand sanitizing items in June to over 200. It began with products produced and distributed in Mexico and progressed to products made and distributed in the United States.

The presence of methanol or 1-propanol is the leading cause of most recalls. More than 200 hand sanitizers have now been added to the FDA's "do not use" list. The FDA has announced that it will continue to investigate products and ensure that those who buy and use them are healthy.

Though hand sanitizer is widely recommended to keep the hands clean when out in public-or even at home-a substantial number of them have been found to contain methanol, which can be poisonous if ingested or infiltrated improperly through the skin.

Pfizer Launches First-Ever COVID-19 Pill, Prevents Virus Mutation Inside the Human Cells

Recalled hand sanitizers contain cancer-causing chemical

According to a new analysis, several hand sanitizers that popped up amid the COVID-19 pandemic to help meet demand produce elevated amounts of a cancer-causing chemical. Valisure, a New Haven, Connecticut-based online pharmacy, said it found benzene in some samples of various hand sanitizer products, Daily Mail reported.

Benzene is a liquid chemical that is typically colorless but, at room temperature, can become a light yellow color. It can be found naturally in volcanoes and forest fires, but it is still used to produce detergents, dyes, lubricants, and rubbers.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), high levels of benzene can cause cells to fail, causing the bone marrow to produce inadequate red blood cells or causing the immune system to lose white blood cells. The International Agency for Research on Cancer of the Health Organization has listed benzene as a carcinogen, positioning it in Group 1 alongside other contaminants such as asbestos.

When the COVID-19 pandemic struck more than a year ago, panicked customers rushed to the pharmacy to get hand sanitizers to help shield themselves from infection. Popular products like Equate and Suave, which had no benzene found in the test, were quickly sold out. However, Bloomberg announced that some of the new items were available for purchase on Amazon.com and Target.

Due to a lack of hand sanitizer, alcohol distilleries throughout the United States transformed their facilities to satisfy demand, including Absolut Vodka and Jameson Irish Whisky. Some customers go so far as to make their own at home.

Adults With Down Syndrome More Likely To Die From COVID-19

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New Delhi:

Scotland Yard officials have been roped in to assist the investigation of murder of senior journalist Gauri Lankesh, Bangalore police officials said.

The officials will work along with the Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed by the Karnataka government to crack the case.

According to sources in the Bangalore police, two officials of the Scotland Yard are assisting the SIT.

The duo officials have expertise in technical investigation, said a senior Banglore police official not willing to be named.

The senior official also added that the Scotland Yard team not satisfied with the response given by Gauris brother Indrajit Lankesh will be questioned again.

Also Read| Gauri Lankesh murder: This is how Bollywood reacts to senior journalist's murder



According to sources the Scotland Yard along with SIT will question former Naxal leaders  Sirimane Nagaraj and Noor Sridhar. The two CPI-Maoist leaders were brought to mainstream by Gauri.

Another senior police official not willing to be quoted said that the SIT and Scotland Yard together will question history-sheeter Kunigal Giri  currently in judicial custody.

Also Read| Gauri Lankesh murder: Writing against RSS might have been the reason for her death, says BJP MLA



The joint investigating team will be visiting Vijayapura. According to sources the team plans to visit the place as Vijaypura supplies illegal weapons to the state.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
SHELTON  John Scollin, one of two volunteer city firefighters accused in a police report of sexually and physically assaulting a woman, has stepped down as captain of Echo Hose Hook and Ladder Co.

Scollin and volunteer firefighter Matthew Perkowski  who is also a Trumbull police sergeant  were suspended two weeks ago pending an internal investigation into the alleged assault, which police said occurred on Sept. 6, 2020.

Deputy Fire Chief Paul Wilson told Hearst Connecticut Media that Scollin submitted a letter of resignation from his captaincy Monday at the fire company meeting.

Wilson said both Scollin and Perkowski remain members of Echo Hose Hook and Ladder but remain suspended pending completion of the internal investigation.

Mayor Mark Lauretti and other Shelton officials said they were not notified of the alleged assaults until two weeks ago when Hearst Connecticut Media obtained a copy of the police report through a Freedom of Information Act request.

Scollin and Perkowski, who have not responded to requests seeking comment, have not been charged and the woman who reported the incident has declined to pursue the case.

In his report, Shelton Police Detective Richard Bango said he consulted with the Derby assistant states attorney who informed him that, because the alleged physical assault occurred during the alleged sex assault, the matter would only be pursued if the woman pressed charges. Shelton police closed the case on Sept. 17.

In the report, the woman accused Scollin of assaulting her outside the Echo Hose firehouse before they went to Perkowskis Shelton home where she said both men physically and sexually assaulted her.

Shelton Board of Fire Commissioners Chairman Michael Maglione and other Shelton officials said they were not aware of the alleged incident until they were contacted last week by Hearst Connecticut Media.

Maglione said action was taken as soon as we became aware of this.

Bango noted in the report the Trumbull Police Department was notified about the womans accusations involving Perkowski.

Trumbull police conducted an internal investigation that resulted in Police Chief Michael Lombardo suspending Perkowski for 15 days. When reached by Hearst Connecticut Media, Lombardo said he could not comment on a pending personnel matter, saying only that the incident occurred outside of Perkowskis role as a police officer.

Perkowski appealed through a union grievance, but the Trumbull Police Commission unanimously upheld the suspension on Jan. 21, calling the accusations against the officer abusive and reprehensible.

Perkowski has a pending appeal with the state Board of Mediation and Arbitration, according to a statement from his attorney, Gregory Cerritelli.

brian.gioiele@hearstmediact.com
London, March 26 : English star Benedict Cumberbatch, who produces and stars in the upcoming film, "The Mauritanian", says he picked up the book "Guantanamo Diary", on which the film is based, and read it from the beginning to end. The star claims he was just blown away by Mohamedou Ould Slahi, whose life inspires the story.

Based on harrowing events that happened post 9/11, "The Mauritanian" follows the story of Slahi (played by Tahar Rahim), who was captured by the US government and imprisoned for years without trial at Guantanamo Bay. It is an inspiring account of survival against all odds as Slahi fought for freedom.

Cumberbatch who is the producer of the film, also essays the character of military prosecutor Lieutenant Colonel Stuart Couch.

"I picked the book up and read it from the beginning to end and was just blown away by Mohamedou, by his humanity and his humor, his extraordinary endurance, the fact that he came through all of this and emerged to teach us all something about the indefatigable joy of the human spirit. I was utterly charmed by him and his story was heart-breaking and troubling," he said.

Cumberbatch further delves into what compelled him to take up the story.

"One of the most heart-breaking moments in the film is when you feel that they have broken his spirit, where there is no hope... at the end of the day this is a celebration of the human spirit, this film, that's really what it's about," he said.

He added: "It's about a human point of view, of what we can endure, what we shouldn't have to endure and how to take solace from that and to realise the human spirit is a pretty extraordinarily robust entity and Mohamedou is literally living proof of that. I want audiences to be enthralled, I want them to completely fall under Mohamedou's spell and care about his predicament." The cast also includes Jodie Foster, Shailene Woodley and Zachary Levi. The film will be released in India on April 2 by PVR Pictures.
Federal Emergency Management Agency plans to send 6,000 COVID-19 doses daily to the large-scale vaccination site at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston and for mobile vaccination units, the Baker administration announced Friday.

FEMA will start sending 6,000 doses to Boston on Monday as part of a state-federal partnership known as the Community Vaccination Center program. The agency also allocated $213 million and sent 10 federal workers to Massachusetts to help with vaccination efforts.

The new federal supply, along with at least 1,000 doses allocated by the state, brings the total of doses available at the Hynes to 7,000 doses a day. But at least some of the doses are expected to go to mobile vaccination clinics that serve Boston, Chelsea and Revere.

These FEMA-sponsored sites do come with vaccines, which from my point of view, will mean more for us, if we have designated sites that are part of this program, but they are going to continue to invest in a big way, both in the retail pharmacies channel and in their federally qualified community health center channel, Gov. Charlie Baker said, noting that the state has 27 federally qualified community health centers.

The program doesnt replace the mass vaccination site led by CIC Health, a private vendor that has received millions from the state to administer vaccine doses. Instead, FEMA will send additional doses daily for eight weeks to expand the supply at the convention center.

We are extremely grateful for the additional vaccine supply and the corresponding complement of federal and state staff for the duration of eight weeks, said a CIC Health spokesperson, who did not give a name, in a statement to MassLive.

While more than 1.1 million Massachusetts residents have been fully vaccinated using Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, state data show lower levels of vaccinations among Black and Latino residents compared to white residents.

But the states network of super vaccination sites, regional collaboratives, hospitals and pharmacies outsize the supply coming in from the federal government, Baker said. He estimates Massachusetts could handle two or three times the amount of vaccine supply the state is receiving from the Biden administration.

Im especially anxious to see a lot more of the J&J vaccine because its a single dose, it doesnt require all the same issues around storage and management that Pfizer and Moderna do, the Republican governor said. I think the big challenge going forward is that states have created a lot of capacity here. The feds are continuing to build their channel, and we now have in Massachusetts far more capacity than we have supply.

Massachusetts applied in February for the program, Baker said. The Massachusetts congressional delegation asked FEMA in a letter to work with the Bay State under a pilot program to make vaccines more accessible, especially to nonwhite residents who may struggle to access appointments.

I am delighted that with support from the entire Massachusetts Congressional Delegation, FEMA has approved the commonwealths application for a federally-supported vaccination site, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat, said in a statement Friday morning. This program will provide the necessary resources and support to complement the ongoing efforts by the commonwealth to prioritize disproportionately impacted communities that have greatly suffered from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Residents interested in getting vaccinated at the convention center should pre-register at vaccinesignup.mass.gov, according to CIC Health.

People who get appointments at the convention center can get there through public transit or by car, as free parking is available near the site. The Hynes has interpreters for patients who speak Spanish, Mandarin and Haitian Creole. The state relies on a telephonic translation service that claims to have access to 240 other languages.

The CVC program aims to support cities and towns with vaccination efforts. The program takes at least one to three days to ramp up.

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Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-25 21:49:00|Editor: huaxia

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The government of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on Tuesday expressed firm opposition and strong condemnation of the European Union (EU)'s unilateral sanctions against some individuals and entities in Xinjiang.

The regional government said the sanctions turned a blind eye to facts, gravely violated international law and basic norms governing international relations and seriously interfered in China's internal affairs, adding that the decision made by the EU is a piece of waste paper.

"The accusations made by some people and media in the EU about 'genocide' in Xinjiang are nothing but lies of the century," said Elijian Anayit, spokesperson for the Xinjiang regional government.

Produced by Xinhua Global Service
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has fielded former IAS officer K Ratna Prabha as its candidate in Tirupati for the by-polls in Andhra Pradesh and Mangala Suresh Angadi to the Belgaum parliamentary constituency in Karnataka.

The Belgaum constituency fell vacant following the death of Mangala Suresh Angadi's husband and Union minister Suresh Angadi last year.

In a statement issued on Thursday, the also released the names of nine candidates for by- in six states.

Ganga Narayan Singh will contest the Madhupur seat in Jharkhand, while Sharanu Salagar and Pratapgouda Patil will contest the seats in Basavakalyan and Maski in Karnataka respectively.

In Madhya Pradesh, Rahul Singh will contest in Damoh and in Mizoram, Lalhriatrenga Chhangte will contest the Serchhip seat.

Ashrit Pattnayak will fight for the Pipili seat in Odisha, while in Rajasthan, Ratanlal Jat, Khemaram Meghwal and Deepti Maheshwari will contest the Sahara, Sujangarh and Rajsamand seats respectively.

By- for these seats will be held on April 17 and results will be declared on May 2.

(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.)
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Like something out of Wallace and Gromit, Apple has applied to patent a futuristic mattress sensor that can monitor peoples sleep and then wake them up by gently moving them in the morning. The iPhone maker has been working on an in-bed haptic device, according to a filing, which would be inserted into a persons bed on top of their mattress before they go to sleep. Apples sleep device could use sensors that monitor light, sound and weight to detect which position someone is sleeping in and whether theyre snoring. If connected to the customers iPhone, the sensor could also be used as a silent alarm clock that wakes people up at the desired time by gently moving them. Telegraph

Apple is also internally discussing releasing a rugged version of its Apple Watch designed for use in extreme environments, according to a new report in Bloomberg. The company is said to have considered a release as early as later this year, or 2022. If released, the watch could offer similar core functionality to the regular Apple Watch, but with a more rugged construction such as a rubberized exterior. The report also notes that Apple is planning new swim-tracking features for its watches.



Dyson has just revealed its new V15 Detect vacuum cleaner which comes packed with a laser to show you exactly where each minute speck minute of dust is around your home. The new Dyson V15 Detect looks very similar to previous cordless models but tucked inside the cleaning head is a new laser that is able to reveal exactly which bits of your floor arent as spick and span and you may think. It works by sending out a beam of green light to highlight the dirt. Express.

Communications regulator Ofcom has announced plans to open a new technology hub in Manchester  creating up to 150 new jobs by 2025. It comes as the organisation prepares to become the regulator for internet companies under the Governments proposed Online Safety Bill. Ofcom said it wanted to draw on Manchesters reputation as a centre for technology and innovation as it seeks new recruits to help prepare for the new online regulation. The new hub is expected to be operational by the summer, with the new roles created to offer digital and technical expertise. Yahoo! News

Governments around the world are subsidizing the construction of semiconductor factories as a chip shortage hobbles the auto and electronics industries and highlights the worlds singular dependence on Taiwan for vital supplies. The United States, the European Union and Japan are contemplating spending tens of billions of dollars on cutting-edge fabs, or chip fabrication plants, as unease grows that more than two-thirds of advanced computing chips are manufactured in Taiwan. Earlier this week, a top U.S. military commander told U.S. lawmakers that a Chinese takeover of the island was the militarys foremost concern in the Pacific. Reuters.

And finally, onlookers have said they briefly thought aliens were here after a falling SpaceX rocket lit up the skies over the United States Pacific Northwest. The Falcon 9 second stage rocket drew awe from onlookers in Seattle as it burned up in the Earths atmosphere shortly after 9pm on Thursday. Front desk supervisor Eberton Paul spotted the blaze of flames as it passed by the citys famous Space Needle tower.

Hey @NASA what the heck just happened over the Seattle night sky? pic.twitter.com/QZqSJrf937  Eto (@EbertonPaul) March 26, 2021

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Kiev, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 27th Mar, 2021 ) :The Ukrainian military said that four soldiers were killed in shelling it blamed on Moscow-backed separatists in the east of the country on Friday, further undermining a ceasefire brokered last year.

"Unfortunately, from the beginning of 2021 we see an increase in escalation," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote in a statement in Telegram late on Friday.

"We cannot allow the peace process to be thrown a hundred steps back," he said, adding that in the near future he hoped to discuss the matter with Russia, Germany and France who comprise the Normandy format, a talking shop intended to help resolve the conflict, that last met in 2019 shortly after Zelensky was elected.

Ukraine this month called on European allies to intervene to halt an uptick in violence between its army and separatist fighters who broke away from Kiev in 2014 when the Kremlin annexed the Crimean peninsula.

The increase in fighting has raised fears over a fresh outbreak after a ceasefire brokered last July between Kiev and the separatists ushered in several months of relative calm.

The Ukrainian army said the four servicemen were killed when separatist fighters opened fire with mortars and grenades near the village of Shumy north of the separatist's de facto capital Donetsk.

As a result of shelling "four soldiers from the Joint Forces were killed and two were injured", the army said in a statement posted on Facebook.

Zelensky said that Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Ruslan Khomchak immediately flew to the scene.

The skirmish brings the total number of Ukrainian servicemen killed since the beginning of 2021 to 19 as Kiev accuses Moscow and separatists of using banned military hardware.

The fighting has claimed more than 13,000 lives since 2014, according to the United Nations, but the number of new deaths has fallen in recent years.
Duckworth, Hirono drop threat to block Biden's nominees who aren't racial minorities, LGBT

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Democrat Senators Mazie Hirono of Hawaii and Tammy Duckworth of Illinois have backed off a threat to block President Joe Bidens white nominees until more minorities are nominated.

Hirono and Duckworth had initially demanded that the Biden administration include more diversity in his administration nominees, taking particular issue with the lack of Asian Americans among his nominees.

On Tuesday, Duckworth told reporters that she informed the Biden administration that she would oppose all non-minority and non-LGBT nominees until more Asian Americans were nominated to high-ranking positions in the executive branch.

"I am a 'no' vote, on the floor, on all non-diversity nominees. ... I will vote for racial minorities and LGBTQ but anybody else, I'm not voting for," said Duckworth.

Hirono initially backed Duckworth, saying she, too, would not vote to confirm any of Bidens white nominees until his administration committed to having "more diversity representation in the cabinet and in senior White House positions."

"This is not about pitting one diversity group against another. So I'm happy to vote for a Hispanic, a black person, an LGBTQ person, an AAPI person. I'd just like to see more diversity representation," Hirono said, according to NPR.

However, Hirono took to Twitter on Tuesday evening to announce that she was dropping the objection after speaking with the White House, which promised to appoint a high-level Asian American Pacific Islander liaison.

I welcome the appointment of a senior level White House liaison to the AAPI community to further strengthen our voice, Hirono said on Twitter. I had a productive conversation with the White House [on Tuesday] to make clear my perspective about the importance of diversity in the Presidents cabinet.

Ben Garmisa, the communications director for Duckworth, said in a statement Tuesday evening that the senator was also dropping her objections after speaking with the administration.

Duckworth appreciates the Biden administrations assurances that it will do much more to elevate AAPI voices and perspectives at the highest levels of government, including appointing an AAPI senior White House official to represent the community, secure the confirmation of AAPI appointments and advance policy proposals that are relevant and important to the community, stated Garmisa, according to CBS News.

Accordingly, she will not stand in the way of President Bidens qualified nominees  which will include more AAPI leaders.

Critics of Duckworth and Hirono's demands, which were unconstitutional, among them The Daily Wire's Matt Walsh, denounced their views as engaging in anti-white racism.

[The left has] built into the system an excuse to be racist because it is part of critical race theory, and our kids are indoctrinated into this stuff from the age of 5 on up. They are told it doesnt count if its against a white person, Walsh told Fox News host Tucker Carlson.

Its important for us to call this out and to also name it. To call it what it is. This is specifically anti-white racism, which is now the only acceptable form of racism in the West. Thats what it is, and its a scourge, its evil, its wrong and we need to call it what it is.

On multiple occasions, including last December, Biden promised to make his cabinet the most diverse cabinet anyone in American history has ever announced.

Im going to keep my commitment that the administration, both in the White House and outside in the cabinet, is going to look like the country, Biden said last year, according to CNN.

And when its all over people will take a look and say, I promise you, youll see the most diverse cabinet representative of all folks, Asian Americans, African Americans, Latinos, LGBTQ, across the board.
They're trying their best. Satellite image 2021 Maxar Technologies

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the US has offered assistance to re-open the Suez Canal.

A massive cargo ship has blocked the major waterway in Egypt for days.

"We're tracking the situation very closely," Psaki said Friday.

See more stories on Insider's business page.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Friday said the United States has offered assistance to help re-open the Suez Canal, a major waterway in Egypt that has been jammed by a massive cargo ship for days.

"We're tracking the situation very closely," Psaki told reporters during a press conference. "We understand that Egyptian officials are working to remove the tanker as soon as possible and continue traffic."

"We're consulting with our Egyptian partners about how we can best support their efforts," Psaki added.

The Ever Given vessel is 1,300 feet long and nearly 200 feet wide, or about the size of the Empire State Building. It ran aground early Tuesday, likely due to strong winds and poor visibility, and has since been stuck sideways in the canal.

The blockage has disrupted one of the world's most important trade routes, which connects Europe to Asia. Hundreds of container ships have been halted because of the enormous boat.

The ship's owner, Japanese company Shoei Kisen, hopes to dislodge it on Saturday, according to Japanese newspaper Nikkei Asia. The timeframe seems optimistic, as shipping experts have said that it could take weeks to free the vessel.

The canal is responsible for around 10% of global trade, and an estimated 1.9 million barrels of oil are usually transported through the route every day. The London-based shipping-news journal, Lloyd's List, reported that the maritime traffic jam is costing the global economy roughly $400 million an hour.

"We do see some potential impacts on energy markets," Psaki said Friday. "Obviously, that's one of the reasons we offered assistance from the United States."

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A major fire broke out at a hospital in Mumbai's Bhandup at around 12:30 am on Friday. One COVID-19 patient died and 70 others were evacuated. During the time of the incident, more than 70 coronavirus-infected patients were admitted to the hospital.

Reports said two patients died but a BMC control room official said there was confirmation of only one fatality so far.

The rescue operation is underway. At least 23 fire engineers were rushed to the hospital to douse the fire when the incident happened. Currently, the rescued patients have been shifted to a safer refuge area and oxygen support has been made available for them. As per media reports, 30 patients have been shifted to Mulund Jumbo centre, three patients shifted to Fortis Hospital and other patients themselves admitted to different hospitals.

Last night, a fire broke out on the first floor of Dreams Mall Sunrise Hospital. The hospital is located inside the mall. However, the cause of the fire is yet to be known. Mumbai mayor Kishori Pednekar said, "I've seen a hospital at the mall for the first time. Action will be taken. 70 patients, including COVID infected, shifted to another hospital."

The incident comes amid an upsurge in coronavirus cases in Mumbai. On Thursday, the city logged 5,504 new infections, the highest daily count since the pandemic began.

Also read: Govt looking to gauge Indian companies' exposure to cryptocurrencies

Also read: Data key in maximising India's agricultural output
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Leveraging the innovative capacity of Fintechs, the Buhari administration is accelerating interventions, especially those under its Economic Sustainability Plan (ESP), including programmes on renewable energy, agriculture, improving access to credit and direct cash transfers, among others, according to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

Mr Osinbajo stated this Friday at the official launch of the Nigeria Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Fintech Hackathon organized by Financial Centre for Sustainability Lagos (FC4S Lagos), Nigeria Climate Innovation Centre (NCIC), Access Bank and AfricaHacks.

According to the Vice President, this is incredibly powerful for our efforts at resolving the climate crisis; transitioning to cleaner energy but also it introduces a tremendous opportunity for Fintech companies for payments systems.

Being able to manage that whole process, collect monies in some case, and in many cases, payout to owners. I think that there are tremendous opportunities there. This is something we are starting now. Of course, several companies have already shown some interest.

So, as we address climate concerns, there are major opportunities for Fintech companies and their creativity is going to be very crucial here.

Speaking about leveraging innovations by Fintechs to address challenges in agriculture, the vice president said we need to expand the scope of sustainable farming and farming techniques.

His words: This has become crucial because we realise that now with deforestation and all the issues with farmer-herder clashes and all of that, there is a need for us to look more closely at how to be more creative with the farming technique, engage our farmers, educate our farmers, use more extension workers actively. And I found this to be the case especially as we are trying to implement an aspect of our Economic sustainability plan.

So, we have to first find out where these new farmers work and we have to geo-tag them to their farms. But more importantly, we had to get credit to them one way or the other because many of them are in far-flung areas of the country.

But not just credit, also information that they would need for choosing the right type of fertilizer, and other farm input. There is no question at all that Fin-Tech is crucial and would even be more crucial especially as we pursue goals of financial inclusion and trying to reach hitherto unreachable parts of the country.

Continuing, Mr Osinbajo said, there is no way of addressing the issues of poverty and all the issues around the SDGs if we are not able to reach those that need to be reached with credit.

In ensuring a smooth transition to clean energy, the vice president said: it requires somebody who is able to facilitate movement of money quickly and this is the sort of thing we hope Fintech companies would do especially as we expand the scope of the transition to clean energy to LPGs all across the country.

The vice president enjoined young Nigerians to aspire to achieve their dreams and take advantage of the exciting opportunities that abound in the tech systems.

The Naija SDGs Hackathon aims to facilitate the development of Fintech solutions that have a direct impact on the realization of the SDGs. Top teams will be supported by institutions to scale these solutions to become Fintech success stories in Nigeria.

Guests at the launch event include the Senior Special Assistant to the President of Nigeria on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire; the Special Adviser to the Lagos State Governor on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Solape Hammond; the former Special Adviser to the UK Prime Minister on Social Justice, Young People & Opportunities, Nero Ugwhujabo; the CEO of FMDQ Group and Chairman of Financial Centre for Sustainability Lagos (FC4S Lagos), Bola Onadele; Deputy Managing Director of Access Bank, Roosevelt Ogbonna; Chairman/CEO of Nigeria Climate Innovation Centre (NCIC), Peter Bamkole, and Co-Founder, AfricaHacks, Christine Dikongue, among others.

Laolu Akande

Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Publicity

Office of the Vice President
Sonys plan to acquire anime streamer Crunchyroll from AT&Ts Warnermedia may have just been dealt a blow. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has extended its antitrust review of the sale, reports tech site The Information, citing three people familiar with the process.

In December, after months of rumors, it was announced that Sonys Funimation Global Group would buy Crunchyroll for $1.175 billion, subject to regulatory approval. The news prompted a backlash from many anime fans, who argued that this represented too much consolidation: Funimation and Crunchyroll are the two leading anime streamers in the U.S. The DOJ is said to be looking into whether Japanese studios would have fewer options for overseas distribution as a result of the merger.

The review could take six months or longer, according to The Information. After that, the DOJ will either approve the deal or sue to block it. The DOJ did not respond to The Informations request for comment.
Worcesters Main South Community Development Corporation has been awarded $60,000 in COVID relief grants to redistribute to local small businesses, the Baker administration announced Thursday.

The grants come as part of MassDevelopments Transformative Development Initiative, which is providing a total of $510,000 in COVID-19 emergency grants for Attleboro, Barnstable, Brockton, Chelsea, Chicopee, Fall River, Fitchburg, Lawrence, Springfield and Worcester.

Our administration recognizes the immense challenges COVID-19 has created for small businesses across the Commonwealth, and remains committed to providing the resources they need to navigate the pandemic, Gov. Charlie Baker said in a news release. We were proud to direct over $700 million to stand up a grant program for small businesses that is the largest of its kind in the country, and look forward to building on that support through the funding announced today to help ensure a strong recovery for businesses throughout our Gateway Cities.

MassDevelopment launched the TDI Local COVID-19 Emergency Grants program in 2020 in response to the coronavirus pandemics impact on small businesses.

The purpose of this program is simple: help our Gateway City small businesses keep the lights on during this challenging economic crisis, said MassDevelopment president and CEO Dan Rivera. Over the past five years, MassDevelopments Transformative Development Initiative (TDI) has worked on the ground in Gateway Cities to build relationships, increase investment, and accelerate economic growth. When COVID-19 hit, our staff was uniquely positioned to understand the needs of local businesses, help them identify and access available resources, and create targeted assistance like this to help them meet the challenges created by the pandemic.

This is the second round of COVID relief grants the program has made since the start of the pandemic. In April 2020, it awarded $545,000 in funding to 10 organizations, which assisted 192 small businesses, according to the news release.

MassDevelopments TDI Local funds have provided critical relief for small business owners struggling to survive the economic devastation of the COVID-19 pandemic. With minimal regulation and a community administered allocation system, the grant funds have reached those most in need, said Steve Teasdale, executive director, Main South CDC. Specifically, they have assisted those businesses that have not had access to regulated federal relief programs. The flexibility of the TDI local grant funds has enabled them to be used broadly, whether for rent, vendor payments or payroll costs. Hence, they have played a major role in allowing small businesses that are essential to our inner-city communities to survive.

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When you cant shift a ship thats stuck fast into the wall of a canal thats vital to world trade, theres only one thing to do: call the salvage guys.

The Ever Given container ship - a 200,000-tonne behemoth - has been blocking what is arguably the worlds most important waterway, the Suez Canal, since earlier this week.

Lieutenant General Ossama Rabei, head of the Suez Canal Authority, is overseeing the efforts to dislodge the container ship. Credit:AP

The struggle to dislodge it is now turning the worlds attention to the work of SMIT Salvage, a legendary Dutch firm whose employees parachute themselves from one ship wreckage to the next, saving vessels often during violent storms. The company is synonymous with some of the most daring naval salvages, including lifting a sunken Russian nuclear submarine in 2001, and removing fuel from inside the Costa Concordia cruise ship after it ran aground in Italy in 2012.

SMIT, a unit of Royal Boskalis Westminster NV, is one of the companies appointed by Ever Givens owner to help move the vessel. The first job will be to work out exactly how entrenched in the wall the ship is, said Boskalis spokesman Martijn Schuttevaer.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-26 10:32:14|Editor: huaxia

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NIAMEY, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Thirteen civilians were killed Wednesday evening during a new series of attacks by armed gunmen in western Niger, next to borders with Mali, the region's governor said Thursday night on national television.

At around 5:30 p.m. local time (1630 GMT), the perpetrators, coming in large numbers on motorcycles, attacked three villages in the region of Tillabery, Governor Ibrahim Tijani Katiella said, noting that they killed six people in Zibane-Koira Zeno, one in Zibane-Koira Tegui and six in Gadabo.

The governor said he and General Salifou Modi, chief of staff of the Nigerien armies, led a high-level delegation to the scene to send condolences to the locals on behalf of the government.

Katiella said on TV that all measures will be taken to catch those lawless bandits.

Last Sunday, armed gunmen carried out several attacks in the country's western region of Tahoua, killing 137 civilians.

In recent years, the western part of Niger, bordering Mali, has become scenes of operations for terrorist groups that carry out deadly attacks on armed forces and civilians, despite the presence of French anti-terror troops.

The vast Sahelo-Saharan zone faces great threats to its peace, security and development, with in particular the presence of terrorist groups such as Boko Haram in the countries bordering Lake Chad, and jihadists based in northern Mali. Enditem
"Did they want to kill him?" wondered Jamison Firestone in a November 2009 interview with RFE/RL's Russian Service. "I don't know."

Firestone was the managing partner of Firestone Duncan, a Moscow law firm that hired Sergei Magnitsky to look into suspicions of massive tax fraud and theft in the takeover of companies belonging to the investment firm Hermitage Capital Management. Magnitsky died after 358 days in a Moscow pretrial-remand prison on November 16, 2009. He had not been charged with any crime.

"Magnitsky showed that a group of Interior Ministry officers were guilty of embezzling from the state budget the sum of $230 million," Firestone said. "And these officers were among the group that arrested him. They did this in order to silence him. After his arrest, they had to justify their actions and create some accusations. It took them 10 months to fabricate their nonsensical story," he said. "Clearly, the investigators were trying to force him to confess to things that were not true."

'A Deliberate Strategy'

Magnitsky, who was 37, had repeatedly said he was being denied medical treatment, and rights activists said his mistreatment amounted to torture.

More than a decade later, supporters of imprisoned opposition leader Aleksei Navalny are issuing increasingly alarming warnings that Navalny's health has deteriorated in the weeks since his arrest upon returning to Russia from Germany in January and particularly since he was moved to a prison in the Vladimir region earlier this month.

Navalny lawyer Vadim Kobzev accused the authorities of "a deliberate strategy...to undermine his health," while Navalny's wife, Yulia Navalnaya, said her husband's treatment was "personal revenge" for his political activity.

Navalny had been in Germany since August 2020, when he was flown there for treatment following a near-fatal poisoning with a Novichok-type nerve agent on a trip to Siberia. He has blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin for the incident, which open-source investigators have argued was carried out by a team of Federal Security Service (FSB) operatives. In December, Navalny claimed he had duped one of the alleged FSB operatives, Konstantin Kudryavtsev, into confessing to participating in the poisoning during a 49-minute telephone conversation in which Navalny posed as a Kremlin official.

Navalny has complained of severe back pain and a loss of sensation in his right leg that has made it "practically nonfunctional." He did not appear for a scheduled meeting with his lawyers on March 24. The following day, Russian prison officials issued a terse statement saying that Navalny's health was "stable" and "satisfactory."

After being allowed to see him, his lawyers disputed that claim, with one saying his condition was "extremely unfavorable."

In two recent letters to the authorities that were made public on March 25, Navalny charged that his jailers were torturing him through sleep deprivation and withholding medical treatment in a deliberate effort to harm his health.

"This is exact deja-vu from the Magnitsky case," wrote Hermitage Capital CEO and head of the Global Magnitsky Justice Campaign Bill Browder in a post on Twitter on March 25. "The medical neglect that Putin is inflicting on Alexei Navalny is deliberate and Putin wants the world to know he's doing it."

'A Torture Chamber'

Speaking to RFE/RL in 2009, just a month before Magnitsky's death, Browder noted the prisoner's deteriorating health. "He has been in custody for 11 months now," he said. "He has not been granted one single visit with his family. He has lost 18 kilograms."

"Sergei Magnitsky was held in the pretrial jail under inhuman conditions," Firestone said in the interview conducted shortly after Magnitsky's death. "He had serious health problems, including a serious digestive illness. The prison knew perfectly well about this because at first they gave him medical help. Later the authorities began pressuring him to force him to give false testimony. So they stopped giving him medical treatment. They took away his medications. They refused to allow him to consult with his doctor. Magnitsky complained about this many times. During this time, he lost more than 20 kilograms."

Magnitsky filed many complaints about his treatment, Firestone added. "Just the list of his complaints about this takes up four pages," he said.

Although Magnitsky was transferred to Moscow's Matrosskaya Tishina jail on the day of his death, he spent most of his imprisonment in the notorious Cell Block No. 2 of the Butyrka remand prison. Roman Popkov was an activist with the illegal radical leftist National Bolshevik movement who spent two years in the same building at Butyrka and was released the year before Magnitsky's death.

"As I read his diaries, I understood that nothing has changed in the last year," he told RFE/RL in December 2009. "I could see this cell block remained a torture chamber."

"They throw people in there with a single aim -- to convince them deep down of their complete helplessness in the face of the system," Popkov added. "The police investigations unit sends them to Butyrka and the Butyrka administration sends them into those basements so that they will be more agreeable with the investigators and the court."

According to The New York Times, at 11 a.m. on November 16, Butyrka prison doctor Larisa Litvinova ordered Magnitsky's transfer to Matrosskaya Tishina because his health situation had become urgent. After six hours, an ambulance arrived for him. He arrived at 6:30 p.m. A doctor prescribed him a painkiller, ordered a psychiatric evaluation, and left. Staff found him unconscious on his cell floor at 9:20 p.m. and he was pronounced dead half an hour later.

The official cause of death was given as toxic shock and heart failure brought on by pancreatitis.

In an open letter to the Russian government in March 2010, human rights activist and then-head of the Moscow Helsinki Group Lyudmila Alekseyeva wrote that Magnitsky's death "resulted from willfully cruel treatment."

"Torture was used by officers of the Interior Ministry as a method to pressure Mr. Sergei Magnitsky in the course of the investigation of a criminal case," Alekseyeva wrote. "Mr. Sergei Magnitsky died from torture that was willfully inflicted on him."

An initial investigation by the Kremlin's advisory Human Rights Council concluded that Magnitsky had been severely beaten and denied treatment.

Hitting Rights Abusers 'Where It Hurts Most'

After years of international campaigning by Browder and others, the United States in 2012 passed the original Magnitsky Act that allowed Washington to impose targeted sanctions on individuals in Russia accused of human rights violations. In 2015, the United States adopted the Global Magnitsky Act that extended the same penalties to alleged rights abusers in other countries.

The anti-corruption NGO Global Witness has called the U.S. Magnitsky laws "an important tool" in the fight against abuses. "It's a successful example of concrete action being taken against the corrupt and the worst human rights abusers, hitting them where it hurts most -- in their pocket," Global Witness wrote in December 2019.

Over the next few years, Canada, the United Kingdom, the European Union, and others adopted similar legislation. The EU's European Magnitsky Act was adopted in December 2020.

Taken together, the laws "fundamentally changed the role of targeted financial measures in the global fight against human rights abuses and corruption," Atlantic Council senior fellow Hagar Hajjar Chemali wrote after the EU adopted the measure.

"The EU has said it would impose its first round of sanctions under this law at the beginning of 2021 and it is expected that Russian targets involved not only in the death of Sergei Magnitsky but also those tied to the recent attempted murder of key Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny will be included," Chemali wrote. "Navalny has encouraged the EU to target Russian oligarchs and those close to Russian President Vladimir Putin, in particular because of the assets and estates they have in Europe."

On March 24, Browder posted on Twitter: "Alexei Navalny says health has sharply deteriorated in jail. This is how the hell that Putin has in store for him begins. I've seen it before with Sergei Magnitsky and its horrific. We must be ready to sanction a lot more Putin regime people."

After the United Kingdom imposed Magnitsky Act sanctions on 25 Russians and 20 Saudis allegedly involved in laundering "blood money" in July 2020, British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab lauded the new diplomatic tool.

"I think it's absolutely right, particularly as a tool of foreign policy, that we subject the individuals responsible for...abuses -- whether it's torture, extrajudicial killing, or whatever it may be -- to asset freezes and visa bans," Raab told Reuters at the time. "I think it's right as a statement of our international posture to say that we don't want people responsible for these appalling crimes, with blood on their hands, coming to this country, doing their Christmas shopping in Knightsbridge or the King's Road or trying to invest in British banks or British property."

On March 26, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed most of the parallels between the Magnitsky case and Navalny's. He noted, however, that Magnitsky was posthumously convicted of large-scale tax evasion in July 2013, in what observers believe was the first-ever posthumous trial in Russia's modern history.

"We don't see any parallels," Peskov said, "apart from the fact that unfortunately, the deceased Magnitsky was convicted and sentenced. Navalny is also convicted and sentenced."

Navalny has been convicted at two trials on financial-crimes charges that he and supporters contend were fabricated to blunt his challenge to Putin. They also contend that the parole-violation claim that resulted in his current prison term is absurd and unfounded.
ROME, MAR 26 - Italy's nationwide COVID-19 Rt reproduction number has fallen to 1.08, down from 1.16 last week, sources said Friday ahead of the release of the weekly coronavirus monitoring report of the health ministry and the Higher Health Institute (ISS). The report says that the incidence of COVID-19 cases has fallen to 240 cases for every 100,000 inhabitants from 264 last week, according to the sources. The report said "the overall risk has improved, but remains high in general". Five regions have a high risk: Friuli Venezia-Giulia, Lazio, Piedmont, Puglia and Tuscany. Thirteen have a moderate risk, while three have a low risk: Basilicata, Campania, and the Autonomous Province of Bolzano. Higher Health Institute (ISS) President Silvio Brusaferro said the contagion curve was slowing and there were the first signs of stabilization. "We are beginning to see a decrease in cases," he said. The report said rigorous measures must be maintained and physical interactions reduced. Health ministry prevention chief Gianni Rezza said "with the restrictive measures and vaccines, we are hoping for a serene summer". Brusaferro and Rezza said new indications would soon be issued about home care. (ANSA).
In the next five years, experts predict a shortage of nearly 2 million cybersecurity professionals in the U.S. CyberPatriot (CP), a national youth education program, hopes to fill this gap by recruiting and engaging future leaders.

The CP program, created by the Air Force Association in 2009, inspires K-12 students to pursue cybersecurity and STEM fields by helping develop technical skills, expanding critical thinking and preparing for the challenges of the future.

Mike Cullen, an Air Force veteran and Rhode Island-based STEM educator, says the country is facing burgeoning, powerful and persistent threats to our digital infrastructure. At the same time, Cullen stresses that there is a huge unmet demand for talent to counter these threats.

The CP program plans to address these challenges through a variety of educational initiatives, including camps, literature series and educational models. The program is best known for the National Youth Cyber Defense Competition, the nation's largest such competition that puts high school and middle-school students in charge of securing virtual networks.

"This competition brings an important brain sport to the attention of schools and culture with little understanding of the opportunities," Cullen said. As part of the competition, students break into teams and race to secure virtual networks. In addition to the hard skills of network security and digital infrastructure, teams also must foster their soft skills, including teamwork.

According to the Air Force Association's website, nearly 25,000 students from across the country have participated in the competition since its inception. Nearly 60% of CP alumni go on to major in cybersecurity or computer science in college, and 82% of program graduates were working in the field post-graduation.

Teens RJ White and Olivia Ruggiero, both of Rhode Island, praise the program's curriculum and its role in a competition that provides them with technical and life skills.

RJ, a high school senior who will attend Worchester Polytechnic Institute next year, says the program helped him better navigate how computers work and inspired his academic aspirations.

"CP opened my eyes to how vulnerable computers and operating systems are, making me rethink how I work online from passwords and security settings to the dangers of simply opening an email or clicking a link," he said.

White says that he's learned that no computer can ever be 100% secure.

"As technology and the internet evolve, so are threats," he said.

Olivia says that the program has helped her with problem-solving, independent thinking and leadership skills. While in middle school, she served as CP captain of teams at both schools.

"When switching schools, I went from being captain of an all-female team to an all-male team. Although I had seniority, I had to prove myself in a male-dominated program. This was difficult, [but at the same time], I received support and praise and feel I will be capable of handling similar situations later in life," Olivia said.

Olivia, currently a junior in high school, plans to major in pre-law. And though her focus isn't STEM, she said her experiences with CP helped her navigate the International Baccalaureate (IB) Program. She credits CP with helping her apply critical thinking skills to her experiences and the world around her.

Cullen says CP is imperative in getting the next generation of cyber professionals ready to meet tomorrow's challenges.

"As threats rapidly evolve and become more consequential, it's essential to keep building a diverse talent pool. The resultant out-of-the-box thinking is no longer a luxury, but an operational imperative," he concluded.

This year's competition will be held virtually March 18-22. Registration for the 2021-22 competition will open in April. For more information about CyberPatriot, visit https://www.uscyberpatriot.org.

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England's Covid vaccine postcode lottery was laid bare again today as data revealed just a third of people aged between 50 and 54 have been inoculated in parts of the country.

And three boroughs  all of which are in London  have still yet to even reach 60 per cent of everyone over the age of 50, with at least 4million vulnerable people still yet to get jabbed across the nation.

Meanwhile, the Isles of Scilly and suburban commuter towns in Suffolk are among the best-performing parts of the country, reaching upwards of 90 per cent of over-50s.

The government is aiming to offer all over-50s one dose of vaccine by mid-April before lockdown is lifted. But the roll-out will be 'paused' in April because of supply issues, with GPs attempting to mop up eligible adults who have yet to accept their invite.

NHS England statistics show just 60 per cent of adults in the 50-54 age group had at least one dose of either the Pfizer-BioNTech or Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine by March 21  the most recent day local data is available for.

It comes after the NHS's most senior doctor yesterday urged every eligible adult who has yet to be jabbed to book an appointment by Monday or risk having to wait weeks because of a supply shortage that will delay the roll-out in April.

MailOnline's analysis of the figures shows parts of the country have vaccinated more than twice the proportion of 50- to 55-year-olds than others.

Eden in Cumbria, Burnley in Lancashire and Rutland in the East Midlands have all seen fewer than 40 per cent of people in the age group. For comparison, five areas of the country have vaccinated more than 80 per cent of the cohort.

They were: the Isles of Scilly (88 per cent), Mid Suffolk (82 per cent), East Cambridgeshire (81 per cent), Babergh in Suffolk (81 per cent) and Malvern Hills in Worcestershire (80 per cent).

Meanwhile, London is significantly lagging behind in the mammoth NHS drive, with nearly a quarter of over-80s still yet to have a first dose in Hackney  four months since the rollout began four the age group.

First doses are expected to be restricted from next week due to severe shortages in the vaccine supply, meaning millions of over-40s will likely have to wait until the end of April to be jabbed.

Vaccine centres in Devon, Cornwall and Kent are among those to have confirmed they will 'have to pause' during the month-long slowdown, which has been triggered by a shortfall of 5million AstraZeneca jabs from India. No10 is currently negotiating with Narenda Modi's government to get the batch shipped over immediately.

Ministers are concerned anti-vaxx messages spread online are preventing people from taking up the offer of a jab, meaning millions of vulnerable Brits could still be at risk from the disease when it is allowed to spread when restrictions are eased. Ministers also have to account for jabs not being 100 per cent effective.

And the shortage in available doses from next week will further threaten the likelihood of a successful roll-out to the remaining 21million adults in Britain.

Just a third of people aged 50 to 55 had a jab in parts of England by March 21 despite the rollout being extended to the cohort last week, NHS figures have revealed

More than four million adults over 50 are yet to receive their first dose of the vaccine, amid warnings that supply shortages mean people seeking a jab should do so before the end of the week or risk missing out

Top 10 areas for the vaccine roll-out to people aged 50 to 55 Eden, Cumbria Burnley, Lancashire Rutland, East Midlands Corby, Northamptonshire Newham, London Kensington and Chelsea, London 35.2 per cent 39.5 per cent 39.9 per cent 40.3 per cent 40.5 per cent 42.5 per cent Northumberland, Cumbria Pendle, Lancashire North Tyneside Redcar and Cleveland, North East 43.0 per cent 43.0 per cent 43.1 per cent 43.5 per cent Advertisement

Bottom 10 areas for the vaccine roll-out to people aged 50 to 55 Isles of Scilly Mid Suffolk East Cambridgeshire Babergh, Suffolk Malvern Hills, Worcestershire 88.0 per cent 82.3 per cent 81.5 per cent 81.0 per cent 80.2 per cent Warwick Stafford Harrogate, North Yorkshire Surrey Heath Selby, North Yorkshire 79.9 per cent 79.8 per cent 79.8 per cent 79.3 per cent 79.3 per cent Advertisement

MailOnline's analysis shows some 47 of areas of the country have yet to vaccinate half of adults between 50 and 55, with the proportion low in both remote areas of the North and inner city urban areas.

The lowest rate after Eden, Burnley, and Rutland was in Corby, Northamptonshire, where just 2,225 adults in the cohort have been vaccinated  an uptake rate of just 40.3 per cent.

It was followed by Newham (40.5 per cent) and Kensington and Chelsea (42.5 per cent), both in London, Northumberland in Cumbria (43 per cent), Pendle in Lancashire (43.1 per cent) and North Tyneside (43.1 per cent).

But looking at the figures for all over-50s presents a much different picture, where the lack of uptake among older cohorts sees London lagging behind the rest of the country.

Most people over 50 have now been invited for jabs, with NHS bosses now trying to mop up people who are hesitant. Over-80s were invited for a vaccination back in December.

All of the top 16 worst-performing areas for rollout among over-50s were in the capital , with Newham (59.3 per cent) and Kensington and Chelsea (59.4 per cent) being the worst and third worst respectively.

Westminster (59.3 per cent) was the second worst and Kensington and Chelsea was followed by Hackney (61 per cent), Lambeth (62.9 per cent), Hammersmith and Fulham (63 per cent)

Mass coronavirus vaccination sites across the UK have announced they will close temporarily next month due to looming supply issues. Vaccine centres in Devon, Cornwall and Kent are among those to have confirmed they will 'have to pause' during the month-long slowdown. If the rest of the country follows suit, it could mean all 150 mass sites will shut

The unusually optimistic projections from No10's experts will pile more pressure on the PM to speed up his lockdown-loosening plan

QUARTER of care home staff have still not accepted a first Covid jab, data shows Nearly a quarter of staff at older adult care homes in England have not been given a first dose of coronavirus vaccine, new figures show. The latest data from NHS England, published on Thursday, shows that 76.6 per cent of eligible staff at older adult care homes had been given a first jab by March 21. It is the fifth consecutive week that the proportion of staff given a first dose has been around 75 per cent, going back to 71.5 per cent by February 21. This compares to 93.7 per cent of eligible older adult care home residents receiving a first dose of vaccine by March 21. Residents and staff are classed as eligible for the vaccine if they have not had Covid-19 in the previous 28 days. The latest figures come just days after the Government confirmed it is considering the possibility of making vaccination a legal requirement for healthcare staff. The Telegraph reported details of a leaked paper submitted to the 'Covid O' sub-committee of Cabinet, which said the Prime Minister and the Health Secretary had agreed to the proposal. But Matt Hancock has insisted 'no final decision' has yet been taken. Mr Hancock had previously told LBC that 'many' care homes had asked for this to happen, adding: 'There's a legal change that's required and, as you can see, I'm open to that, but no final decision has been taken.' Advertisement

In total, more than 100,000 over-50s in those 16 boroughs alone are still yet to have a jab, with the Government's May deadline fast approaching.

Meanwhile, the data also showed just 76 per cent of care home workers have taken up the offer of the vaccine. Just 64.5 per cent of carers in London have been jabbed.

Uptake among the group  who work with the most vulnerable people in society  is lowest in Barnet in north London (45 per cent), Barnsley in south Yorkshire (55.8 per cent) and Bath and North East Somerset (57.6 per cent).

A spokesperson for the Adam Smith Institute thinktank said: 'Every person who misses their jab, or their opportunity for a jab as imports are restricted, represents a possibility for an infection.

'Every person in the vulnerable groups unvaccinated represents a risk to their life personally and possibly unnecessary risk to the lives of others through uncontrolled transmission.

'The claim is often made that you need to make many multiples of people vaccinated at the lower age ranges to save the life of one vaccinated in the highest risk group is true in strict probability of risk to life of the individuals involved, we're now at a point approaching antibody build up in a percentage near herd immunity across the whole population via vaccines and those that sadly caught the virus already.

'Any and all extra doses in arms now will help to slow and stop the spread of the vaccine and force it into retreat even as we unlock.'

It comes as mass coronavirus vaccination sites across the UK have announced they will close temporarily next month due to looming supply issues.

If the rest of the country follows centres in Devon, Cornwall and Kent's suit, it could see all 150 mass vaccination sites shut because of shortage in supply.

The focus of the rollout will turn to ensuring there are sufficient vaccine stocks to dish out crucial second doses, with staff at mass hubs around the country expected to be redeployed.

Local vaccination centres have also been told to close unfilled bookings from March 31, with the supply constraint expected to last throughout April. The NHS has called on over-50s to book their first vaccine appointment while they still can before Monday, or risk facing delays.

GPs will continue contacting eligible patients on their lists, but some vaccination sites including Westpoint, near Exeter, have revealed they will shut between April 1 and 11. All of Kent's five mass vaccination centres, for example, are set to close 'for a number of weeks' from next month.

The pause in Britain's vaccine drive will mean that fewer Britons are vaccinated when No10 starts to reopen the economy on April 12 - but ministers have insisted the timetable will not be affected despite predictions of an 'exit wave' of Covid cases as society opens up.

EUs new jab threat: Desperate Von Der Leyen threatens to block AstraZeneca vaccine exports to UK until firm 'catches-up' on deliveries to EU as Macron says he supports blockade - despite rebellion by numerous member states who refused to back outright ban

European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen has desperately threatened to block AstraZeneca vaccine exports to Britain until the firm 'catches-up' on its deliveries to the Continent.

EU leaders stopped short of voting for an explicit export ban amid bitter squabbling over their dose allocations at a crunch virtual summit hosted by Brussels on Thursday evening.

But despite alarm at the legal implications from countries including Belgium, the Netherlands, Ireland, Sweden and Denmark, it was clear that the threat of embargoes would not be taken off the table.

Von der Leyen maintained the tough stance, telling a news conference that AstraZeneca 'has to honour the contract it has with the European member states, before it can engage again in exporting vaccines.'

'We could have been much faster if all pharmaceutical companies had fulfilled their contracts,' she added. 'AstraZenaca has committed to a lower number of doses than was contracted.'

It comes despite an apparent effort to ease tensions on Wednesday night when the EU agreed to put out a joint statement with the UK 'to create a win-win situation and expand vaccine supply for all our citizens.'

US vaccine-maker Pfizer, which ships jabs from Europe to Britain, echoed Boris Johnson's sentiments today as it warned the bloc that export controls risked creating a 'lose-lose' situation for everyone.

But Emmanuel Macron, who has admitted that Europe's vaccine roll-out 'lacked ambition,' struck a defiant tone this evening as he called the blockade threat 'the end of naivety.'

'I support export control mechanisms put in place by the European Commission. I support the fact that we must block all exports for as long as some drug companies don't respect their commitments with Europeans,' the French president said after the meeting.

France, along with Germany, has backed tough measures to resolve the crisis which has seen Brussels blame Britain, blockade Australia and beg the United States for doses of the AstraZeneca jab - which earlier this year leaders like Macron claimed was 'ineffective.'

Macron and Merkel are feeling the heat domestically as they battle soaring infection rates amid a third wave of the virus which has brought yet more scrutiny on their woeful vaccine roll-outs.

Newly-Brexited Britain has managed 46 doses per 100 people in the population, this compares to just 14 doses per 100 in Germany and 13 per 100 in France, which prides itself on its well-endowed public healthcare system.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen maintained the tough stance, telling the news conference that AstraZeneca 'has to honour the contract it has with the European member states, before it can engage again in exporting vaccines'

Emmanuel Macron speaking after the summit and gesturing to a graph which appears to show the shortfall in doses from AstraZeneca (far right bar on his graph). He struck a defiant tone this evening as he called the blockade threat 'the end of naivety'

The UK's vaccine rollout has surged far ahead of the EU's leaving the bloc under huge pressure to explain why

German Chancellor Angela Merkel arrives for a statement after video conference of EU leaders at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany

French President Emmanuel Macron attends an EU summit video conference from the Elysee Palace in Paris

Boris Johnson visits the Monkey Puzzle Nursery in Greenford, in the London borough of Ealing on Thursday

Angela Merkel said after the summit: 'We are on the one hand inclined to respect global supply chains and want to fight protectionism, but of course we also want to protect our own people because we know this is the way out of the crisis. In relation to Britain, we want a win-win situation, we want to act sensibly politically.'

Europe's intransigence comes after an extraordinary rebuke from the former Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker who called Europe's vaccine war with Britain 'stupid.'

Now India bans AstraZeneca exports to keep jabs for their own population in fresh blow to Britain's supply chain woes after EU threatened an embargo until deliveries are met India has banned AstraZeneca exports in a fresh blow to Britain's supply chain woes after the EU last night threatened an embargo until deliveries are met. A second wave is gripping the country and there is increased demand for the doses made by the Serum Institute of India (SII), the world's biggest vaccine-maker. The SII has been told to stop all exports until India's needs can be met, sources at the health ministry in Delhi revealed. But India last night sought to reassure its international customers that they would get their shipments of vaccine, including Britain which has a pending order for 5 million doses. Another 53,000 cases were recorded on Wednesday, the highest single-day tally for five months. Fifty-three million Indians have received at least one dose of a vaccine, but Prime Minister Narendra Modhi has set a target of 300 million by June in the country of 1.4 billion. A government source said it had not imposed any ban on vaccine exports 'unlike many other countries,' and that it would continue to supply doses in phases. 'We remain committed to help the world with vaccines, including through the COVAX facility,' the source told Reuters. However, a health ministry source told The Times: 'Other countries will get supplies only if there are vaccines left over after keeping enough for our own population.' The move will also affect supplies to the GAVI/WHO-backed global COVAX vaccine-sharing facility, through which 64 poorer countries are supposed to get doses from the SII, the programme's procurement and distributing partner UNICEF told Reuters. Deliveries will be delayed in March and April 'as the government of India battles a new wave of COVID-19 infections,' GAVI, an alliance of countries, companies and charities that promote vaccination, said in a statement. COVAX was in talks with India to 'ensure some supplies are completed during March and April,' it said, adding that the SII had supplied 28 million doses to COVAX. An additional 40 million doses had been expected in March and up to 50 million doses in April. An Indian government source said it may be necessary to adjust supply schedules given India's vaccination needs. 'All stakeholders would have to work together to adjust the schedules as required,' the source said. India's foreign ministry and the SII did not reply to requests for comment. 'Everything else has taken a backseat (to India's needs), for the time being at least,' said one of the sources. 'No exports, nothing till the time the India situation stabilises. The government won't take such a big chance at the moment when so many need to be vaccinated in India.' India has so far exported more than 60.5 million doses in total, according to the foreign ministry's website, and many countries are relying on the COVAX programme to immunise their citizens. The SII has already delayed shipments of the AstraZeneca drug to Brazil, Britain, Morocco and Saudi Arabia. British authorities are in touch with Delhi to get its second batch of 5 million doses ordered from SII. Advertisement

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz also warned that a failure to resolve grievances between member states over how many doses each would receive risked 'damage to the EU like we haven't seen in a long time.'

Von der Leyen referenced the third wave that is gripping much of Europe and which has caused ratcheting tensions between nations over how many vaccine doses they will be allocated.

Merkel, under pressure in Germany after making a U-turn on plans for an extended Easter holiday to stop the spread, defended the EU's decision to procure vaccines jointly for all member states.

'Now that we see that even small differences in the distribution of vaccines cause big discussions, I would not like to imagine if some member states had vaccines and others did not,' she told German lawmakers ahead of the summit. 'That would shake the internal market to its core.'

Macron said the EU had been late in ramping up vaccine production and inoculations, but was catching up and would become the world's biggest producer of vaccines this summer.

He added that the EU, unlike other countries, had exported a big part of its production instead of keeping it for itself.

'Europe is not a selfish continent. Because when I read what the press on the other side of the Channel writes, we're being accused of being selfish. Wrong! We let our supply chains untouched,' Macron said.

'But we saw that the United States tend to protect their own vaccine production ... that the United Kingdom did not export many doses. Actually, none. So we put in place an export control mechanism.'

The EU's executive unveiled plans on Wednesday to tighten oversight of vaccine exports that would allow greater scope to block shipments to countries with higher inoculation rates.

A draft of the summit conclusions seen by Reuters said on vaccines that leaders would stress 'the importance of ... export authorisations', and reaffirm that vaccine producers must be respect contractual delivery deadlines.

However, diplomats said countries with misgivings about a tougher stand on exports would not put up strong resistance.

'Their message is ... please act very cautiously, in a very balanced way,' said one EU diplomat. 'But there is nobody who says don't do it.'

The two-day summit will conclude on Friday.

It comes after the EU and the UK on Wednesday night issued a joint statement pledging to work together after Boris Johnson warned that businesses could flee the bloc's borders if it imposed 'arbitrary' blockades.

And Health Secretary Matt Hancock delivered another blunt rebuke today, insisting that the UK's contract with AstraZeneca was fundamentally better than the EU's.

'I believe that free trading nations follow the law of contracts,' he told the FT. 'They have a ''best efforts'' contract and we have an exclusivity deal.'

On a visit to a nursery today, Boris Johnson said he was 'on the side of openness' in trade in vaccines.

He said: 'One thing I am firmly libertarian about is free trade and I don't want to see blockades of vaccines or of medicines, I don't think that's the way forward either for us or for any of our friends.'

Ahead of the talks, Mr Kurz took aim at the EU's joint procurement system, which is meant to split up supplies based on the size of population.

'The word solidarity is always being called upon and used so often in the European Union - people are trying to take care of the whole world,' Mr Kurz said.

'And when member states have a lot less vaccines available to them than others, then I think this is a big issue for Europe. I would even go so far as to say that I think that when there is no solution, this could cause damage to the European Union like we haven't seen in a long time.'

Earlier, the French president admitted that the bloc had not gone 'fast enough or strong enough' on on vaccines.

But Mr Macron seemingly could not bring himself to acknowledge the UK's stunning progress, instead heaping praise on the US for 'shooting for the stars'.

Speaking to the Bundestag this morning, Angela Merkel appeared to accept that the EU's contracts were not as strong as the UK's.

'British production sites are manufacturing for Britain and the United States is not exporting, so we are reliant on what we can make in Europe,' she said.

Insisting production within the bloc must be ramped up, she added: 'We have to assume that the virus, with its mutations, may be occupying us for a long time to come so the question goes far beyond this year.'

However, she also tried to defend the EU's decision to procure vaccines jointly - something that has been blamed for making it less nimble than the UK.

The Europeans are angry that UK-based pharma giant AstraZeneca has failed to meet its vaccine delivery promises to them while ensuring smoother supplies to former member Britain, who ordered their doses months earlier.

Austrian chancellor Sebastian Kurz (pictured attending the summit today) accused other member states of taking more than their fair share of jabs, warning that failure to resolve their grievances risked 'damage to the EU like we haven't seen in a long time'

German Chancellor Angela Merkel defended the EU's joint procurement approach today in a speech to the Bundestag

The EU summit today and tomorrow is taking place via video link after the council admitted that the pandemic prevented them meeting in person

On a visit to a nursery in London today, Mr Johnson said he was 'on the side of openness' in trade in vaccines

It has emerged that Brussels bureaucrats even ordered a raid on an Italian vaccine factory in a bid to grab British jabs  only to find doses destined for the world's poorest nations and the people of Europe.

The looming third wave of coronavirus infections and Europe's struggle to mount a vaccination drive will dominate the video summit, where leaders of the 27 states will also be addressed by US President Joe Biden.

The bloc stepped back from the brink of a vaccine war with Britain last night following a furious backlash by member states.

Merkel 'is definitely a lame duck' after lockdown shambles Angela Merkel is 'definitively a lame duck' after she was forced to make a humiliating U-turn by scrapping plans for a strict Easter lockdown, a former German government spokesman has said. Bela Anda, a press secretary under Merkel's predecessor Gerhard Schroeder, said Merkel had seen her power 'eroded' by the fiasco - with her party's poll ratings in freefall six months before an election which will determine her successor. Merkel asked the German public for 'forgiveness' at an astonishing press conference on Wednesday where she said the widely-criticised plan for a total shutdown over Easter had been 'my mistake, and my mistake alone'. 'The political world in Berlin will draw the conclusion that from today, Angela Merkel is definitively - I'm sorry to say it - a lame duck,' Anda told Bild last night. 'It's certainly clear that a decision which is made and then not implemented means an erosion of power for Merkel from today onwards'. Advertisement

In an apparent climbdown, the European Commission agreed a joint statement with the UK offering to work to find a 'win-win' solution to the row.

The statement came at the end of a day of brinkmanship in which Brussels tabled proposals allowing it to block the export of vaccines to the UK.

Mr Johnson warned that blockading life-saving vaccine supplies would do lasting reputational damage to the EU and deter international firms from wanting to invest there.

Former health secretary Jeremy Hunt branded the proposed export ban 'idiotic' and warned it could wreck the EU's relations with Britain for years.

'Step by step the EU is destroying the possibility of a long-term partnership and friendship with its closest neighbour,' he said.

Other Tory MPs branded the threats 'mind-blowingly stupid'.

Even senior MEPs warned that the EU had pulled out the 'shotgun' but was at risk of 'shooting ourselves in the foot'.

In an interview with Greek television channel ERT, Mr Macron conceded that the EU had lacked ambition.

'Everybody, all the experts said: Never in the history of mankind was a vaccine developed in less than a year,' he said.

'We didn't shoot for the stars. That should be a lesson for all of us.

'We were wrong to lack ambition, to lack the madness, I would say, to say: It's possible, let's do it.'

However, Mr Macron - who has been one of the most hawkish EU leaders against the UK over Brexit - could not bring himself to make a cross-Channel comparison.

Instead he hailed the American effort to develop vaccines.

'We didn't think it would happen that quickly... You can give that to the Americans, as early as the summer of 2020 they said: let's pull out all the stops and do it,' he said.

This chart shows how the AstraZeneca supply chain looks across Europe

'As far as we're concerned, we didn't go fast enough, strong enough on this. We thought the vaccines would take time to take off.'

Mrs Merkel told the Bundestag this morning: 'Despite all the complaints, it was right to rely on the joint procurement and approval of vaccines by the European Union.

'Now that we see even small differences in the distribution of vaccines cause big discussions, I would not like to imagine if some member states had vaccines and others did not. That would shake the internal market to its core.'

Mr Juncker told the BBC: 'I'm not a fan of this idea. This could create major reputational damage to the EU, who used to be the world free trade champion.

'I don't think this is the right way to do it. We have to pull back from a vaccine war.

'Nobody understands why we're witnessing such a stupid vaccine war. This cannot be dealt with in a war atmosphere.

'We are not in war and we are not enemies, we are allies. We have special relations with Britain, there's room for dialogue.'

The former commission chief lashed out at the EU for 'major mistakes' in being 'too cautious' and 'too budget conscious' when approving and procuring vaccines.

The UK-EU joint statement last night acknowledged the third wave of cases in Europe made co-operation more important but said no resolution had yet been reached.

'Given our interdependencies, we are working on specific steps we can take  in the short, medium and long term  to create a win-win situation and expand vaccine supply for all our citizens,' it said. 'In the end, openness and global co-operation of all countries will be key to finally overcome this pandemic and ensure better preparation for meeting future challenges.'

However, ministers are concerned that the commission powers are still in place, and there is not expected to be any formal decision from EU leaders today.

Mr Johnson has refused categorically to rule out retaliatory action  which could see the UK suspend the export of vaccine ingredients  although he made clear he was not in favour of the move at this stage.

Negotiations are thought to centre on an AstraZeneca plant in the Netherlands.

One Whitehall source said: 'They have armed themselves with a bazooka and pointed it at us  it is quite incendiary, not to mention morally and legally outrageous.'

France and Germany have backed a hardline stance as they try to deflect attention from their own sluggish vaccination campaigns.

EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, who is fighting to keep her job over the disastrous vaccine rollout, has toughened her stance towards Britain in recent days

A source close to Mr Macron warned that the EU would no longer continue to be 'the useful idiot' in allowing jabs to be shipped overseas while the bloc struggles for supplies.

But the prospect of a damaging ban has alarmed a string of other EU countries. Ireland has declared the idea a 'very retrograde step', while Belgium, the Netherlands, Poland, Finland and Sweden are also said to harbour concerns.

Yesterday began with an extraordinary raid by Italian authorities on an AstraZeneca plant wrongly suspected of preparing to export millions of doses to Britain. In fact, the 29million jabs were destined for other EU countries and parts of the Third World.

European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen then published 'temporary' powers allowing the EU to block the export of jabs to countries such as the UK which have higher vaccination rates.

The plan could threaten millions of doses of the AZ vaccine due to be shipped from the Netherlands. But it could also cut off the UK's entire supply of the Pfizer jab, which comes from Belgium. Such a move could jeopardise the ability of the NHS to administer second doses of the vaccine.

A further threat to the UK rollout emerged last night as India was reported to have blocked all major exports of the AZ vaccine because infections there are soaring.

Two weeks after five million doses for the UK were stopped, sources said Narendra Modi's government has now implemented a complete ban on exports by the Serum Institute of India, the world's biggest vaccine manufacturer.

The move will also affect supplies to the Covax vaccine-sharing facility through which more than 180 poorer countries are expected to get doses, one of the sources said. Covax would also be hit by any EU ban. Its co-chairman Jane Halton said any threats from Brussels to hold vaccine exports hostage would be 'extremely regrettable'.

EU health commissioner Stella Kyriakides denied the plans amounted to an export ban, adding: 'We're dealing with a pandemic and this is not seeking to punish any countries.'

One EU diplomat said Britain had 'taken a risk' by leaving itself 'extremely dependent' on the EU for second doses of the Pfizer jab.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 26)  An urgent bill touted by the economic team to provide immediate relief to businesses amid the pandemic will lapse into law on March 27, a Trade official said.

"It's going to lapse actually tomorrow," Trade Undersecretary Rafaelita Aldaba said Friday during the 2nd Philippines-Singapore Business and Investment Summit hosted by the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Although tagged as an urgent measure in 2020, it appeared President Rodrigo Duterte left the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) Act unsigned on his desk for a month.

CREATE, which is part of the government's tax reform program, will cut the corporate income tax rate to 25% from the current 30%. It will apply retroactively from July 2020, meaning companies will save on annual tax payments.

For small firms, it's down to 20% of earnings.

"With CREATE, we are leaving money in the private sector's hands to revitalize their businesses," Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said in his speech. "We trust that enterprises will re-invest their tax savings from CREATE back into the economy to spur domestic activity and create more jobs for our people."

Local and foreign business groups have long lobbied for the passage of the proposed law, saying it would give "instant relief" amid the country's worst recession that forced lower sales volumes, worker layoffs, and business closures.

Once a bill reaches Malacanang, the President may either sign the law, veto it in part or in full, or let it come into force by itself after 30 days. The bill was approved by both houses of Congress last year and reconciled by a bicameral conference panel last February.
Former police station to be repaired and refurbished

Manx National Heritage has secured a tenant for the former Baillie Scott Police Station in Castletown.

Expressions of interest and proposals for the future use and Lease of the building were invited late last year.



Applicants were required to demonstrate that their proposal is economically sustainable, as well as creating community benefit, including an opportunity for continued public access to the building.

Marlinspike Properties Limited has been announced as the successful bidder.

Edmund Southworth, Director of Manx National Heritage said: MNH is pleased to confirm that we have been able to identify a prospective tenant for the building. The successful bidders proposal will facilitate the repair and refurbishment of the Baillie Scott Police Station and subject to planning consent, provide for future public access to the building, as well as providing the potential for future community use of part of the space in the building."

"The planned development in Castletown will provide a positive social and economic benefit to the town, with the additional benefit of substantial investment in essential repairs to the roof and the removal of non-historic internal additions."
Shareholders in Elanders AB (publ) are invited to attend the Annual General Meeting to be held on Wednesday 28 April 2021 at 3.00 p.m.

Due to the ongoing pandemic, the Board of Elanders has decided to take certain precautions in connection with the Meeting. These precautions entail that the participants may only attend the Meeting remotely via computer or other internet-connected device or by postal voting as further described below. This means that the Annual General Meeting will be conducted without the physical presence of shareholders, representatives or third parties.

RIGHT TO PARTICIPATE

Shareholders who wish to attend the Annual General Meeting must be recorded in the register of shareholders maintained by Euroclear Sweden AB on Tuesday 20 April 2021. In addition, shareholders must notify the company of their intention to participate in the Meeting in accordance with the below.

Shareholders who choose to participate in, and vote at, the Meeting online (i.e. participate electronically) must give notice of participation not later than on Thursday 22 April 2021.

Shareholders who choose to vote in advance give notice of participation by submitting their postal vote in accordance with the instructions in the section "Postal voting" below so that the postal vote is received by Elanders no later than Tuesday 27 April 2021.

In order to be entitled to participate in the meeting, shareholders who have trustee-registered their shares must, in addition to notify its intention to participate in the meeting, re-register the shares with Euroclear Sweden AB in their own name. Such registration, which may be temporary (so called voting rights registration), is to be requested with the trustee in accordance with the trustee's routines at such time in advance as decided by the trustee. Voting rights registrations made no later than Thursday 22 April 2021 will be taken into account in the production of the share register.

There are a total of 35,357,751 shares in Elanders, whereof 1,814,813 class A-shares with ten votes per share and 33,542,938 class B-shares with one vote per share. The shares entitle to 51,691,068 votes in total. The company does not hold any treasury shares.

NOTIFICATION

Notice of attendance shall be made in one of the following ways:

by submitting a postal voting form, see below for more information;

on Elanders' website www.elanders.com (https://www.elanders.com/about-elanders/corporate-governance/annual-general-meeting/annual-general-meeting-2021/);

(https://www.elanders.com/about-elanders/corporate-governance/annual-general-meeting/annual-general-meeting-2021/); in writing to Elanders AB (publ), att "Annual General Meeting 2021", c/o Euroclear Sweden AB, Box 191, 101 23 Stockholm, Sweden; or

by telephone +46 8 402 91 33.

The notice shall state name, address, telephone number, personal or corporate identity number and, if applicable, the number of advisors (not more than two) that will accompany the shareholder at the Meeting. Registered participants will by post receive a participation card with information to enable online remote participation.

Shareholder represented by a proxy shall issue a power of attorney for the proxy. If the power of attorney is issued by a legal entity, a registration certificate or a corresponding document which indicates the authorised signatories of the legal entity must be enclosed. The original power of attorney, and any registration certificate or the equivalent, should be sent to the company well in advance of the Meeting at the address above. Proxy forms are available at www.elanders.com and can also be ordered from the company at the address above.

POSTAL VOTING

Shareholders may exercise their voting rights by voting in advance using postal voting. A special form must be used for postal voting, which is available on www.elanders.com . Where necessary, a hard copy of this form may be sent to shareholders. Shareholders do not need to submit a separate registration when voting by post only; a completed and signed postal voting form is valid as registration to participate in the Meeting.

The completed form may be sent by email to GeneralMeetingService@euroclear.com or the original may be posted to Elanders AB. In order to qualify as a valid registration, the electronic signature must be registered no later than Tuesday 27 April 2021.

If the shareholder is a legal entity, the form should be signed by authorised signatory. Proof of registration or other authorisation document must be enclosed with the form. The same also applies for shareholders voting in advance by proxy. If the shareholder is represented by proxy, the power of attorney shall be enclosed (see further "Notification" above.)

Shareholders may not assign specific instructions or conditions to voting in advance. If this has been done, these votes will be deemed to be invalid. Additional instructions are provided in the postal voting form.

ONLINE PARTICIPATION

Shareholders who wish to participate online must notify the Company of their intention to participate online no later than Thursday 22 April 2021. Shareholders who wish to be represented by proxy must notify the Company of such intention within the same period and in accordance with the instructions above. Participation cards will, on a current basis, be sent out by post to the shareholders and proxies who have given notice of attending the Meeting digitallyand registrar an email address.

The online remote participation is being organised by Euroclear Sweden and its subcontractor Lumi. To enable the Meeting to be held digitally the Board of Directors has by virtue of the temporary law applicable during 2021 decided that also non-shareholders shall be able to attend the negotiations of the Meeting.

To attend the Meeting the participant must access the Lumi AGM website https://web.lumiagm.com . This website can be accessed from most web browsers, e.g. Internet Explorer (version 11), Edge, Google Chrome, Firefox and Safari on a computer, laptop or other internet-enabled device such as a tablet or smartphone. Participants may also use the Lumi AGM app ("Lumi AGM" available on Apple App Store or Google Play Store).

When logging in to the Meeting, the Meeting ID 147-384-315 must be entered. The participant will then be prompted to enter username and password which are found on the participation card. Access to the Meeting via the website and the Lumi app will be available from 2.30 p.m. CEST on 28 April 2021. Participants must have accessed the Meeting no later than 3.00 p.m. CEST on 28 April 2021 to be able to participate in and vote at the Meeting. More detailed information on remote participation at the Meeting, including the voting procedure, is available at www.elanders.com .

In order to be able to participate in the Meeting remotely it is the participant's responsibility to ensure a functioning internet connectivity for the duration of the Meeting. Elanders has carefully prepared to enable participation and voting online. However, it cannot be ruled out that any technical complication entails functional deficiencies. If this happens, or if the participation online otherwise did not work as intended, the Meeting will be held disregarding online votes that would otherwise have been casted. Therefore, it is important to note that if you want to be certain of being able to vote, you should vote in advance. See further information under "Postal voting" above.

Shareholders may vote by post and participate online (without voting) during the meeting.

PROPOSED AGENDA

Opening of the Meeting Election of Chairman of the Meeting Preparation and approval of the voting list Approval of the agenda Election of two persons to approve the minutes Determination of whether the Meeting has been duly convened Presentation by the Chief Executive Officer Presentation of the work performed by the Board and its committees Presentation of the annual accounts and the auditors' report as well as the consolidated financial statements and the auditors' report for the group Resolutions regarding

a) adoption of the income statement and balance sheet as well as the consolidated income statement and balance sheet

b) allocation of the company's profits according to the adopted balance sheet

c) the discharge of Board Members and the Chief Executive Officer from liability Determination of the number of Board Members, deputies and auditors Resolutions regarding

a) the remuneration to the Board of Directors

b) the remuneration to the auditor Election of Board Members and Chairman of the Board

a) re-election of Carl Bennet;

b) re-election of Dan Frohm;

c) re-election of Erik Gabrielson;

d) re-election of Cecilia Lager;

e) re-election of Anne Lenerius;

f) re-election of Magnus Nilsson;

g) re-election of Johan Stern;

h) re-election of Caroline Sundewall;

i) new-election of Eva Elmstedt; and

j) re-election of Carl Bennet as Chairman of the Board. Election of auditor Resolution regarding the nomination committee Resolution to approve the Board of Directors' remuneration report Closure of the Meeting

VOTING LIST (ITEM 3)

The voting list proposed for approval under item 3 on the agenda is the voting list prepared by Euroclear Sweden AB, based on the shareholders' register, received notices of attendance and postal votes as well as shareholders, advisors and proxies attending digitally, and verified by the persons elected to approve the minutes.

DIVIDEND DISTRIBUTION (ITEM 10 b)

The Board of Directors proposes that the Annual General Meeting resolves on a dividend of SEK 3.10 (0) per share for the fiscal year 2020. As record date for the dividend, the Board proposes Friday 30 April 2021. If the Meeting resolves in accordance with the proposal, it is expected that the dividend will be disbursed by Euroclear Sweden on Wednesday 5 May 2021. The last day for trading in the Elanders share including the right to dividend is Wednesday 28 April 2021.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS ETC (ITEMS 2 and 11 - 14)

The nomination committee, composed of Carl Bennet (Carl Bennet AB), Chairman, Hans Hedstrom (Carnegie Fonder), Carl Gustafsson (Didner & Gerge Fonder) and Fredrik Karlsson (Svolder), proposes:

the appointment of Carl Bennet as Chairman of the Meeting,

that the Board shall be composed of nine Members without any deputies,

that the remuneration to the Members of the Board shall amount to SEK 4,119,000 (4,322,000 preceding year), to be divided so that the Chairman receives SEK 760,000 (730,000) and the other Members not employed by the company receive SEK 380,000 (365,000) each, the chairman of the audit committee receives SEK 154,000 (148,000) and each other Member of the audit committee receives SEK 77,000 (74,000), the chairman of the remuneration committee receives SEK 80,000 (76,000) and each other Member of the remuneration committee receives SEK 40,000 (38,000),

the re-election of the Board Members Carl Bennet, Dan Frohm, Erik Gabrielson, Cecilia Lager, Anne Lenerius, Magnus Nilsson, Johan Stern and Caroline Sundewall and new-election of Eva Elmstedt. Pam Fredman and Linus Karlsson have declined re-election.

the re-election of Carl Bennet as Chairman of the Board,

that the company shall have one auditor without any deputies,

that remuneration to the auditor be paid according to approved invoices within the limits of the offer, and

the re-election of PricewaterhouseCoopers AB as auditor of the company.

Board member proposed for new-election

Eva Elmstedt, born 1960

Bachelor's degree in Economics and Computer Science from School of Economics, Stockholm.

Other assignments: Chairman of the Board of Proact IT Group and a member of the Boards of Addtech, Arjo, Semcon and Smart Eye.

Shareholding (private and through closely related parties): 1,500 B-shares.

The proposal concerning the auditor is consistent with the audit committee's recommendation.

For further information on the proposed Members of the Board, please refer to the nomination committee's proposal which is available at the company's website.

THE NOMINATION COMMITTEE (ITEM 15)

The nomination committee proposes that the Annual General Meeting resolves:

to instruct the Chairman of the Board to convene a nomination committee for the Annual General Meeting 2022, composed of the Chairman of the Board and one representative of each of the company's four largest shareholders as per 31 August 2021,

to instruct the Chairman of the Board, in consultation with the representatives of the company's four largest shareholders, to determine if one representative of the minority shareholders also should be appointed to the nomination committee,

that, in the event any of the four largest shareholders refrains from exercising its right to appoint a representative to the nomination committee, such right shall pass to the shareholder that, next to these four shareholders, has the largest shareholding in the company,

that, in the event a representative no longer represents the relevant shareholder, or otherwise resigns from the nomination committee prior to the completion of its work, such shareholder shall be offered the opportunity to appoint a new representative to the nomination committee,

that, in the event a representative represents a shareholder that has sold all or the main part of its shareholding in Elanders, the nomination committee may resolve that such member shall resign and, if deemed appropriate by the nomination committee, offer another representative for a larger shareholder a place in the nomination committee, and

that the nomination committee shall perform such duties that fall on the nomination committee in accordance with the Swedish Corporate Governance Code.

DOCUMENTS

The annual report, the board's remuneration report and other supporting documentation will be held available at the company's premises at Flojelbergsgatan 1C in Molndal, Sweden, and on its website, www.elanders.com , at least three weeks before the Meeting. Copies of these documents will be sent to shareholders who so request and provide their postal address.

The shareholders are reminded of their right to demand information according to Chapter 7 Section 32 of the Swedish Companies Act.

The register of shareholders for the meeting will be held available at Elanders' premises at the address indicated above.

For information about the processing of your personal data, please refer to www.euroclear.com/dam/ESw/Legal/Privacy-notice-bolagsstammor-engelska.pdf .

Elanders' corporate registration number is 556008-1621 and its registered office is in Molndal municipality, Sweden.

Molndal, Sweden in March 2021

The Board of Directors of Elanders AB (publ)

Attachment
Lokesh Kishan Tilwani, son of Malal Tilwani (complainant), has yesterday testified before Magistrate Mark Ngegba at the Freetown Magistrate Court No. 1 in the ongoing preliminary investigation into allegations of robbery with aggravation and related charges.

The witness recalled on 5th December, 2020, when he returned home late at night and met the doors closed and that he made his way in and locked all the doors.

He told the court that he, the mother and grandmother went to bed, adding that before long, he received a call from her mother, who requested that they sleep in the same room because she had a nightmare.

He continued that he took all his mobile phones and moved over to the complainant's room.

"At around 4:30 am I heard some bang on our door. We subsequently got up to enquire what was happening. We saw eight guys including the accused who were in possession of cutlasses," he disclosed.

He added that his mom asked the alleged burglars what they wanted and they replied that they came on an operation.

He said the accused pushed him to the ground, while the others made their way into the other rooms.

Tilwani said he became apprehensive and was in deep shock as the robbers were in possession of cutlasses and were demanding money from them.

He said after they established that there was no money inside the house, they started taking their phones.

"I was with my late father's ring on my finger which the robbers demanded for, but I resisted and they started beating me with their cutlasses on my back.And in the process, they slashed two of my fingers and left me in pain," he further explained.

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He added that one of the robbers took his mother inside her room while the others stood next to him. He said each time he attempted to get up, the robbers will kick him down.

He said the robbers made away with items valued over Le76 million Leones.

He said during the process, one of the robbers told his colleagues that it was late 5am for them to leave the premises.

He continued that after they left, he made a call at the Congo Cross Police Station to inform the police about the alleged incident, adding that the police officers later showed up and took snap shot of the crime scene. He said he later made statement to the police, who issued him with a police medical form for treatment at the Connaught Hospital.

The witness was cross examined by Lawyer Ibrahim Macfoy.

Assistant Superintendent of Police , Joan M. S. Bull and Assistant Superintendent Ibrahim S. Mansaray alleged that the accused (Abdul Koroma, alias Diamond) on Saturday, 5th December, 2020, at No. 12 Kossie Williams Drive, off Aberdeen Road, Cockle Bay in Freetown, conspired with other persons unknown to commit a felony, to with robbery with aggravation and robbed Mala Tilwani several items valued over two hundred million Leones.

Meanwhile, Lawyer Macfoy renewed his application for bail, but Magistrate Ngegba refused bail and adjourned the matter to Monday, 29th March, 202
Minister for Military Production Mohamed Ahmed Morsy discussed with the Vice Chairman of Talis group on Thursday 25/3/2021 bilateral cooperation.

The meeting is part of a series of gatherings to follow up the latest developments of joint cooperation in the different military and civil domains, Morsy said.

For his part, Talis's vice chairman said his company is keen to develop partnership with the State Ministry for Military Production, stressing the French side is very interested in deepening cooperation with Egypt in the current phase.
Washington, March 26 : The US will "respond" to North Korea if it continues to escalate tensions by testing ballistic missiles, President Joe Biden said on Thursday.

"We're consulting with our allies and partners, and there will be responses if they choose to escalate. We will respond accordingly," Biden told reporters, DPA news agency reported.

In the early hours of Thursday North Korea test-fired its first ballistic missiles since Biden took office, in a show of force to the new administration in Washington.

Two short-range missiles were fired from the North Korean town of Hamju and travelled some 450 km at an altitude of 60 kilometres, the South Korean military's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said.

Biden said he was "prepared for some form of diplomacy," but that the dialogue must be preconditioned upon "the end result of denuclearization." When asked by a reporter if North Korea was his "top foreign policy issue," Biden responded: "Yes." The test-fires had triggered prompt condemnation from Japan, one of Washington's closest allies in region.

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said Tokyo is making "a serious protest" after Pyongyang fired the missiles into the Sea of Japan - known in South Korea as the East Sea - and that Tokyo "strongly condemns" the act.

"The launch threatens the peace and stability of our country and the region and it was a clear violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions," Suga told reporters.

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called for fresh negotiations over the peace process on the Korean peninsula.

During a visit to Seoul, Lavrov called for talks to find a solution to the problems on the divided peninsula. Russia is committed to peace and stability, he said.

It marks the second time Pyongyang has launched missiles in the past week.

North Korea fired two cruise missiles off its west coast on Sunday, Yonhap news reported on Wednesday.

That test on Sunday came in the wake of joint military exercises by the armed forces of South Korea and the US. The nine-day command exercise, which did not include field training, ended on Thursday last week.

The influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Kim Yo Jong, had condemned the military exercises and accused the new US administration of wanting to cause trouble as a first step.

North Korea is banned from testing ballistic missiles by UN resolutions, and has been slapped with tough international sanctions to deter it from continuing to develop rockets that could be equipped with nuclear warheads.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Thiruvananthapuram, March 26 : The poll battle at Vatakara in Kozhikode district has reached a crescendo with K.K.Rema of the Revolutionary Marxist Party (RMP) getting the full support of the Congress-led UDF.

Though pitted against, M. Chandran of the Loktantrik Janata Dal (LJD) an ally of the ruling Left, the real battle is between Rema and none other than Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

Rema is the widow of T.P. Chandrasekharan, the founder of RMP, who was hacked 51 times by assailants in May 4, 2012 when he was returning home on his motorcycle in his hometown near Kozhikode.

In the case, 11 people were given life imprisonment, of which three were mid-level CPI-M leaders and the demand for a probe into the conspiracy behind the murder is still with the court.

Rema has time and again taken on Vijayan for calling her husband "a renegade".

Between her busy election campaign schedule she interacted with IANS. Here are the excerpts: Q: How is the campaign going?

A: The response from the people has been overwhelming. The support from the voters is beyond my expectations. I have the whole-hearted support from people from all walks of life irrespective of political affiliations. So, I am very much certain about my victory.

Q: Did you expect the Congress-led UDF to extend the support, would you have contested even without the support of the UDF? A: Of course, we had decided to contest from constituencies where we thought we could win confidently. We wanted to expose the CPI-M-led LDF government's anti-people misrule and campaign against the politics of the CPM. Even if we had not received the support from the Congress-led UDF, we would have contested in the elections.

Q: You did say that on May 2, Pinarayi Vijayan would know who was TP Chandrashekaran. Can you elaborate? A: T.P. Chandrasekharan advocated a certain brand of politics, a politics that cannot be defeated by his rivals. He was killed with the intention of annihilating that brand of politics with which he sought to dissent and express his dissenting voice.

The CPI-M and Pinarayi Vijayan mistakenly thought that by killing T.P. Chandrasekharan, his brand of politics will end once and for all. But, after he was murdered, thousands of Chandrasekharans emerged espousing his brand of politics.

Both LDF and Pinarayi Vijayan will realize this on May 2.

Q: How would you rate Pinarayi Vijayan as a Chief Minister? A: Kerala has never witnessed a 'ruler' like Pinarayi Vijayan. He is so arrogant and autocratic. He is symbol of high-handedness. We feel that he is a ruler like Hitler and Mussolini. He lacks even an iota of humanity which we expect from a ruler.

That is what we can figure out from his body language and the way he conducts himself. Even after Chandrasekharan's death, Vijayan used extremely heinous word to address him. Only a person like Pinarayi Vijayan can do that.

Q: Most pre-poll surveys have predicted the Vijayan will retain power, what do you have to say? A: I don't trust all these pre-poll surveys. They lack credibility and are the handiwork of event management companies. We have seen how pre-poll surveys in the past were damp squibs. In the last Lok Sabha elections, pre-poll surveys predicted that Shashi Tharoor and Sreekantan will not win. Such surveys are paid exercises. They cannot reflect what is really going in the minds of the people.

Q: This is the first time that Vijayan is leading an election campaign how do you think he is fairing? A: During the last Lok Sabha elections, Pinarayi Vijayan was the chief minister of Kerala. But his images were not used anywhere for the campaign. This time they are going to taste defeat by putting Vijayan as the central figure of the campaign.

Earlier the CPI-M used V.S. Achuthanadan for election campaign. Both V.S. and Pinarayi represent different brands of politics.

Pinarayi Vijayan represents a politics that's dominated by bourgeois and capitalist forces. There is no doubt that people will defeat his brand of politics. Ordinary people don't like this kind of politics being carried out by Pinarayi.

Q: If you win the election, what would be your priorities? A: There has not been proper development in the Vatakara constituency for past four decades. Another problem is the severe drinking water shortage in the coastal areas. People in these areas face the hardships of rough sea. Ordinary people here don't get the true benefits of Vatakara district hospital. They have to rely on private hospital for better treatment. My aim is to raise the standards of this hospital.

We need a complete overhaul in all sectors. I will ensure the participation of people in the overall development of Vatakara.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Bharat Thakrar, the man who built one of Kenya's biggest marketing and advertising firms, says he joined the communications world by accident.

Mr Thakrar, 69, the marketing guru who bestrode the sector like a colossus for nearly four decades, quit yesterday as the chief executive of WPP-Scangroup where he was a founding shareholder.

The resignation of the billionaire, who has attended Harvard Business School, comes weeks after his suspension.

Mr Thakrar was suspended alongside chief finance officer Satyabrata Das on February 18 when it became clear he had lost favour with his board.

"The world is very different from the one I stumbled into when I joined communications by accident almost 40 years ago," Mr Thakrar wrote in a recent article posted on his LinkedIn page.

Thakrar's suspension

"A temporary position in a local advertising agency kickstarted the journey into lifelong love and desire to create the best of communication campaigns for African brands," he said, adding the only skill that has been a constant his years of experience is having an open mind.

This is perhaps the time the former chairman of the Advertising Practitioners Association (APA) in Kenya will need an open mind.

His name has been dropped from the Scangroup website at a time foreign investors own 81.4 per cent of the firm.

Listed companies in Kenya rarely go to such an extent unless the claims touch on financial impropriety or other irreconcilable differences.

In a notice to financial markets, the company said further to the announcement regarding the suspension, Mr Thakrar had tendered his resignation as CEO and board member.

Recruitment of new CEO

"Mr Thakrar has resigned as a director of the company's subsidiaries and affiliates. Investigation into the allegations of misconduct and possible offences against the two will continue," the statement read.

The board said it would start the recruitment of a new CEO.

"The board has delegated authority to interim Chief Operating Officer Alec Graham," the statement added.

The suspension of Mr Das indicates the allegations facing the executives could be financial in nature. The profitability of the firm has been on a free fall in the last five years, from Sh478 million in 2015 to Sh158 million in 2019. WPP-Scangroup's best year was 2018 when it recorded a Sh612 million profit.

Mr Thakrar turned down our requests for an interview.

Marketing genius

Until the death of Safaricom chief executive Bob Collymore, Mr Thakrar was the silent tiger whose influence was felt all over the industry.

Those who love Mr Thakrar describe him as an assertive marketing genius, always looking for an opportunity. Those he fell out with say he is ruthless.

WPP-Scangroup started as a private limited liability company in January 1999, trading as Media Initiative EA Ltd.

It changed its name to Scangroup Ltd in October 2005.

Scangroup then listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange in August 2006. It is the only marketing company listed on NSE. The initial public offer raised Sh94 million.

Presence in 25 countries

He was the largest shareholder at the time, with a 28.53 per cent stake. His holdings were at one time valued at more than Sh1 billion. Mr Thakrar's ownership now has a mark-to-market value of about Sh250 million.

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In late 2013, Scangroup became a subsidiary of WPP, subsequently being renamed WPP-Scangroup Plc in June 2015. His ownership has dropped to 10.6 per cent.

WPP on the other hand raised its stake in the company to a controlling 56.3 per cent through a mix of share purchases and folding some subsidiaries.

The group has grown to have presence in 25 countries in Sub-Sahara, including Cameroon, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.

It has minority interests in operations in Namibia and Zimbabwe and affiliates in Angola, Botswana, Congo, DR Congo, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Niger, Sierra Leone, Sudan.
It will not be an easy election for any of the three blocs that are competing for the voters hearts and minds

The 2021 West Bengal Assembly elections is more than just a contest between a regional party, the Trinamul Congress, and the challenger, which is a national party, the BJP. It is a battle that may well trigger a limited, yet crucial, domino effect in Indian politics.

The battle for West Bengal which begins on March 27, the first day of the eight-phase election, will be a test like no other. This contest is not a verdict on the performance of the Trinamul Congress government led by Mamata Banerjee over the past 10 years or the prospects of the state under a new untested regime of the BJP. It is a confrontation between two ideological positions that are fundamental to the future form of Indias polity.

If the Trinamul Congress manages to retain power, then the war for federalism, multi-party democracy and secular politics will get a shot in the arm against the BJPs vision of a one-nation, one-identity, one nation-one party model or, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi explains it at every one of the many public meetings he has addressed in West Bengal as another unit of the double engine sarkar model. The conquest of this border state for the BJP would significantly strengthen its ideological and popular appeal as the defender of the Hindu majority and its legitimacy to discriminate on the basis of religious identity against the Muslim minority through a process that cancels the status of Muslims as citizens by deploying the Citizenship Amendment Act as an instrument of exclusion.

It will not be an easy election for any of the three blocs that are competing for the voters hearts and minds. Because elections are about choosing a party for running a government, ideology and policy matter in equal measure. It boils down to weighing two things -- first, which party will do more or give more to the voter; second, which party can be trusted to keep its election promises. Every voter will decide based on his or her priorities, which is a complex mix of basic needs, aspirations and sentiments.

And then there is the Samyukta Morcha, a combination of the CPI(M)-led Left Front, the Congress and the newly hatched Indian Secular Front headed by a Muslim cleric, Abbasuddin Siddiqui. Put together as a survival and restoration strategy for the Left parties and the Congress, on its performance will depend the fate of the BJP and to an extent the Trinamul Congress.

The first and second phases, on March 27 and April 1, will set the stage as the 60 seats cover constituencies in East and West Midnapore, Jhargram, Purulia, Bankura, West Burdwan and South 24 Parganas districts where the BJP has pinned its hopes of beating the Trinamul Congress. Nandigram, in East Midnapore, is the crucial constituency; Mamata Banerjee is contesting against Suvendu Adhikari, once her blue-eyed boy now with the BJP, and it will be the key to this election. It defines the nature of the contest between the dominant Trinamul Congress and its leader, and the BJP led by Narendra Modi and defectors from the Trinamul Congress.

It will be definitive in another sense; it will give a clue of how the Samyukta Morchas appeal, especially that of the CPI(M) and the ISFs appeal works. Will the CPI(M) cut into the BJPs vote share by taking back the support it lost in 2019? Will the ISF cut into Trinamul Congress Muslim vote share? Any reduction in the BJPs vote share will make its position, as the main challenger, precarious.

The options for the voter boils down to this -- the Trinamul Congress, which as the party of the incumbent government has a lot to live down, but has a leader who remains the most popular choice as chief minister; the BJP, that does not have a chief ministerial candidate and is banking on the Narendra Modi mystique to hoist it to power and then install a face to lead the government, should it succeed in winning; or, the newly formed Samyukta Morcha, which is in the running as the alternative, if not to the party in power then as the alternative to the party in the Opposition.

This is also a fight between Mamata Banerjee and the rest. Can she be dislodged from her position of dominating the political landscape of West Bengal? Her campaign slogan Bangla nijer meyeke chai, that is, Bengal wants it own daughter, underlines the centrality of Mamata Banerjee.

The BJPs campaign has swung between Ashol Poriborton, or real change, which is a makeover of the Trinamul Congress 2011 slogan calling for poriborton, Sonar Bangla, that is restoration of Bengal to an imaginary unspecified golden age, and Aar Noy Anyay, that is no more oppression, wrongdoing, abuse, violation and a host of grievances, as it tests the public response and calibrates its appeal. By projecting itself as the only party in West Bengal which does not have legacy issues, since it was a nonentity till the 2016 Assembly elections and zoomed to principal challenger position after the 2019 Lok Sabha elections winning 18 seats out of the states 42, the BJP has crafted a narrative of being a newly minted choice. For the BJP, West Bengal is like the final frontier; it has positioned itself as defending the nation from being overrun by Muslims crossing over as illegal immigrants, of bringing the periphery into the centre by imprinting Hindutva trademarks on the wayward margin through adoption of Jai Shri Ram as a unifier and the Ganga Arti as a sacred practice.

The CPI(M)s campaign does not have a single defining slogan; instead it has updated its appeal by delivering its messages in the language of urban young adult voters, selling itself through reusing a mix of advertising slogans in Hindi, flash mobs and songs that are a takeoff on popular lyrics.

Inserting itself in between the spaces separating the parties in the fray, a platform has emerged that has one unequivocal message -- No Vote to BJP. It is an appeal for tactical choices in every constituency to keep the saffron tide at bay. Its also a call to Bengali voters to use their choice to shut out the principal enemy, even if it means voting to bring back the Trinamul Congress for a third term.

West Bengal has to decide to be its whimsical wayward self or join the gang.
An 84-year-old Asian man was sitting on his walker waiting for a bus in San Francisco last year when, seemingly out of nowhere, a stranger took a run at him and viciously kicked him to the ground.

The unprovoked attack was caught on video and left the victim, Rong Xin Liao, with a scar on his head.

Now, more than a year later, Liao says he is afraid to step outside his home amid a surge of violent hate crimes and harassment targeting Asian-Americans across the US since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.

Rong Xin Liao, 74, was waiting for a bus in San Francisco in February 2020 when a man ran up to him and knocked him to the ground with a kick

Surveillance video captured the shocking attack that took place on February 20, 2020, in the Tenderloin district

The suspect, 23-year-old Eric Ramos-Hernandez, ran off after the attack, leaving Liao unconscious and bleeding on the ground. The suspect was later arrested

'Every day there is crime in San Francisco,' Liao told KGO-TV through a translator. 'Old people have to be careful'.

Liao's ordeal began on the morning February 20, 2020, as he was waiting for the 31 Balboa bus near the intersection of Eddy and Leavenworth streets in the Tenderloin district.

Surveillance video from across the street shows the senior sitting in his walker when a man who was later identified as 23-year-old Eric Ramos-Hernandez runs up to him, kicks him to the ground and flees.

Liao required six stitches to close a wound on his head and spent four nights in the hospital

Liao said he lost consciousness, sustained a head injury that required six stitches and spent four nights in the hospital.

'I didn't do anything to him,' the man said of his attacker.

Ramos-Hernandez was eventually arrested and his criminal case is still winding its way through the courts. His next hearing is scheduled for April 14.

Liao, who lives in an assisted living facility, said he wanted to be present during the hearing, but it will not be possible because of COVID restrictions.

No motive has been found behind the attack on Liao, who said he wants a severe punishment for Ramos-Hernandez.

San Francisco has emerged as one of the nation's hotbeds of violence against Asian seniors.

Liao now says he is afraid to go outside amid a wave of anti-Asian hate crimes

Earlier this month, a 70-year-old Asian woman was attacked by a white man in his 30s, but she was able to fight him off with a wooden stick and ended up putting her assailant in the hospital.

In New York City, an elderly Sri Lankan man was punched in the face and a 25-year-old Asian woman was urinated on in two separate incidents that occurred just days apart in the subway.
India and Bangladesh are expected to sign at least five Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's two-day visit to the country to attend the celebrations of the golden jubilee of its independence and the birth centenary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

On his first trip to a foreign country since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, Prime Minister Modi will visit Bangladesh from March 26 to 27 during which he will also hold restricted and delegation-level talks with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

"The number of MoUs could be more or lessbut five-plus (instruments are likely to be signed)," Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dr A K Abdul Momen told reporters here.

He said the two sides were still in negotiations over the number of MoUs to be signed after Prime Minister Modi's bilateral meeting with his counterpart Hasina on Saturday.

Momen, however, said the Indian prime minister's main objective was to join the celebrations but the two leaders would hold talks wherein all major issues were likely to be discussed.

After his arrival at the Dhaka airport on Friday morning, Modi is scheduled to go straight to the National Martyrs Memorial in Savar to pay tributes to the 1971 Liberation War the martyrs.

Shortly afterwards, he will visit the Bangabandhu Memorial Museum at Dhanmondi 32, originally the Bangladesh founder's private residence, to pay homage to his memories.

Later, Modi will join the celebration programme as the guest of honour at the National Parade Square. Bangladesh President Abdul Hamid will be the chief guest at the function, which would be chaired by Prime Minister Hasina.

Read | Bangladesh redecorates two Hindu temples for Prime Minister Modis visit

In the evening, Modi is scheduled to inaugurate the Bangabandhu-Bapu Museum jointly with his counterpart at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre.

He will also attend a state banquet hosted in his honour by Hasina.

On Saturday, Modi will visit the mausoleum of 'Bangabandhu' Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at Tungipara in Gopalganj district, the first Indian dignitary to ever visit the place.

He is also scheduled to visit the Jeshoreshwari and Orkandi temples in southwestern Shatkhira and Gopalganj on Saturday.

In the afternoon, Modi will hold talks with Hasina at the Prime Ministers Office, where the MoUs are to be signed and a number of projects inaugurated virtually.

Later, he will meet President Md Abdul Hamid at Bangabhaban presidential palace before leaving for New Delhi in the evening.

Modi's visit is taking place at a time Bangladesh is commemorating Mujib Borsho, the birth centenary of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and 50 years of the country's war of liberation. The two countries are also celebrating 50 years of the establishment of diplomatic ties.

Maldives President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, Nepal President Bidya Devi Bhandari, Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and Bhutan Prime Minister Dr Lotay Tshering have already attended the 10-day special programme, which began on March 17, coinciding with Bangabandhus birthday.

Seve

ral global leaders, including Queen Elizabeth II, Pope Francis, Chinese President Xi Jinping, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, sent video messages on the occasion.

US Ambassador to Bangladesh Earl Miller is scheduled to read out a letter from President Joe Biden virtually on Friday, at the final grand ceremony at National Parade Square, to be joined by Prime Minister Modi.
opinion

In opposing my position on the legitimate right of the people of Delta State to the sum of 4.2 million confiscated and recovered from the James Ibori loot some colleagues have argued that the fund should be forfeited to the federal government on the grounds that the Uduaghan regime had said that no money was missing from the coffers of the state government. No doubt, the former Delta State Government had denied any loss of money during the proceedings of the Federal High Court for the confiscation of the $15 million bribe given to Mr. Nuhu Ribadu by Chief James Ibori. Hence, the presiding judge, Kolawole J. (now JCA) directed that the fund be paid into the Federation Account for distribution in line with the provisions of the Revenue Allocation Act. But the Delta State Government never said that the over 100 million confiscated from Chief Ibori in the London trial did not belong to the people of Delta State.

However, it is on record that the federal government openly opposed the trial of Chief Ibori in the United Kingdom. In fact, in utter breach of the provisions of the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty between Nigeria and the United Kingdom, the then Attorney-General of the Federation, Chief Michael Aondoakaa SAN rejected the request to make relevant documents available for the trial in the United Kingdom on the ground of sovereignty. In particular, Chief Aondoakaa refused to entertain the request of the UK Metropolitan Police and made under bilateral mutual assistance to Nigeria on the grounds that the request was not made by the Home Office.

The request was to question Chief Ibori about his involvement in corruption and money laundering that occurred in the United Kingdom. Aondoakaa said: "I think Nigeria, as a sovereign nation, deserves some respect. They (the Metropolitan Police) knew they were wrong, otherwise why did they now write through the Home Office requesting mutual assistance to quiz a prominent Nigerian. ... I cannot compromise the sovereignty of this country, if they make incompetent requests I will turn them down 20 times. Any request from Metropolitan Police would be refused by this office, period." (See Kolawole Olaniyan, Corruption and Human Rights Law in Africa, Oxford: Hart, 2014, p 15).

Dr. Olaniyan criticised the use of "Sovereignty, technicalities, and 'small details'" as justifications for refusing requests for mutual cooperation and assistance in cases of corruption involving high-ranking state officials.

Similarly, African representatives who participated in the negotiation of the UNCAC insisted that any reference to protection of sovereignty should not be interpreted in a way that would undermine the efforts of countries seeking to recover illicit assets. Article 51 of UNCAC on asset-recovery explicitly states that the return of stolen assets is "a fundamental principle of the Convention." The effectiveness of the asset recovery provisions of UNCAC depends to a large extent on the measures for mutual legal assistance. Thus, states are required to establish a legal framework to enable them to provide assistance to other states in the recovery of assets acquired through corrupt practices recognised under the convention.

To ensure effective international cooperation in the fight against corruption and money laundering, the UNCAC in article 60 requires states "to consider" various potential methods to provide technical assistance to each other in their plans and programs to prevent and combat corruption.

As far as international law is concerned, the recovered fund belongs to the people of Delta State who are the victims of the corrupt practice of Chief Ibori. Having ratified the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) both Nigeria and the United Kingdom are bound by Article 35 thereof which states that: "Each State Party shall take such measures as may be necessary, in accordance with principles of its domestic law, to ensure that entities or persons who have suffered damage as a result of an act of corruption have the right to initiate legal proceedings against those responsible for that damage in order to obtain compensation."

The British Government is releasing the stolen money to Nigeria in strict compliance with international law and not out sheer generosity as erroneously argued by some lawyers. According to the travaux preparatoires to the UNCAC, "this article is intended to establish the principle that States Parties should ensure that they have mechanisms permitting persons or entities suffering damage to initiate legal proceedings, in appropriate circumstances, against those who commit acts of corruption."

Notably, former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan aptly captured the growing international community's concern with corruption and its negative impact on human rights during the 2003 adoption by the General Assembly of UNCAC when he said: "Corruption is an insidious plague that has a wide range of corrosive effects on societies. Corruption hurts the poor disproportionately by diverting funds intended for development, undermining a government's ability to provide basic services."

From the foregoing, it is undoubtedly clear that the huge success recorded in the prosecution of the case was anchored on the collaboration between the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Metropolitan Police. To that extent, the federal government which had set out to frustrate the trial of Chief Ibori cannot turn round to lay claim to the fund confiscated on the orders of the British courts. Having regards to the facts and circumstances of the case the Ibori loot belongs to the people of Delta State in toto under domestic and international law. After all, the federal government had handed over the fund stolen by two former governors, in similar circumstances, to the people of Bayelsa and Plateau States.

Nigeria through the EFCC has consistently returned huge sums of money recovered from local criminal elements convicted by Nigerian courts for swindling foreigners including European and Americans. Sometime in November 2005, the EFCC returned US $17 million to a Brazilian bank - the first installment of $242 million siphoned by a group of Nigerian scammers to William Richey, a lawyer representing the defunct Banco Noroeste of Sao Paolo, Brazil. On that occasion, the head of the EFCC, Mr. Nuhu Ribadu said that "By making this restitution to the victim of the scam we also want to send a strong, unequivocal message that we will no longer harbour such fraudulently acquired funds no matter where the victim is." The return of the huge fund was based on the orders of forfeiture made by Olubunmi Oyewole J. (now JCA).

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But out of sheer colonial mentality, some lawyers are asking the Nigerian people to clap for the British Government for returning 4.2 million out of Ibori loot of over 100 million warehoused illegally in the United Kingdom in defiance of the money laundering laws of that country. It is interesting to note that many Nigerian lawyers are not aware that banks and other financial institutions in the United Kingdom have recently been ordered to pay hundreds of millions of dollars as damages for aiding and abetting corrupt public officials and drug barons who live in foreign countries.

Finally, no doubt, the former Delta State Government was irresponsible to have denied that Chief Ibori looted the treasury of the State at the material time. But such denial cannot be a justification for the confiscation of the Ibori loot of over 100 million that is expected to be repatriated to Nigeria by the British Government. After all, before his assumption of office as President in May 2015, General Mohammadu Buhari had repeatedly maintained that the late General Sani Abacha did not steal a dime from the account of the federal government. But the federal government under the President's watch has continued to recover the remaining Abacha loot and no one has suggested that such recovered loot be paid to the account of the United Nations or African Union on moral grounds.

Falana SAN, is the Interim Chair of Alliance on Surviving Covid-19 and Beyond
In nearly 25 years in office, U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern has helped pass hundreds of bill. However, the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan stands alone in terms of bill combating poverty.

This bill is probably the biggest piece of anti-poverty legislation that I have ever voted for in my career, McGovern said.

The COVID-19 relief package - through which millions of Americans have already received stimulus checks - will also deliver nearly $200 million of relief to Worcester, McGovern said on Thursday during the citys weekly COVID briefing.

Its a big, bold plan, but its a big, bad crisis were facing, McGovern said.

The city is set to receive about $115 million in stimulus funding as well as $81 million for schools.

The city will have a wide desecration in how that money will be utilized, McGovern said. But the city will not only benefit from the direct assistance that goes directly to Worcester but the rescue checks, the city will benefit from that.

The American Relief Plan was responsible for the stimulus checks some Americans have already received. Anyone who hasnt received a stimulus check, McGovern said, should remain patient.

McGovern also highlighted the fact the the bill created $28 billion in grants for restaurants and bars.

Help is on the way for small businesses and restaurants who were disproportionately harmed because of the economic crisis, McGovern said.

McGovern emphasized that the funding is grant money, not loans, like the Paycheck Protection Program, which needed to be paid pack in certain situations.

McGovern said his office is in contact with the Small Business Administration to ensure businesses in his district will have the ability to apply for the funding as soon as possible.

The bill should also help Massachusetts acquire and administer more vaccines, McGovern said. As of Thursday, more than 1.1 million residents in Massachusetts have been fully vaccinated.

That will continue to increase steadily so that everybody, not only in the greater Worcester area, but everybody in the commonwealth will have access to a vaccine hopefully within the next couple of months at the latest, McGovern said.

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It may have only been ten seconds, but it felt like 45 minutes, Josh Farmer said.

Im here, he said, a day after he rode out an EF-2 tornado inside the closet of a 142-year-old church that was almost completely destroyed Thursday afternoon.

Farmer is the caretaker of Ragan Chapel United Methodist Church off Ragan Chapel Road in Ohatchee, which was completely destroyed by the storm, which also killed five people, including one man less than a quarter mile from the church.

17 Ragan Chapel United Methodist Church

Farmers house, which sat behind the church, was also pushed off its foundation by the storm. Chris Darden of the National Weather Service said at a 2 p.m. press conference that the storm which hit Ohatchee was at least a high-end EF-2 tornado with at least 135 mph winds at least a half-mile wide. The storm started in Southern Mississippi and wound its way across Alabama, cutting through the northern part of Calhoun County.

This afternoon, church members sifted through the remains and planned to have a service on Sunday morning. Danny Poss, pastor for the past year, said the church was too old to be insured. It had about 21 members, but was down about a dozen meeting weekly with COVID-19 restrictions. Before Thursday, it was a white, picturesque country church surrounded by lush trees adjoining a cemetery with some rustic headstones so old they were handmade.

Standing among the wreckage, Farmer said he owed his life to ABC 33/40 meteorologist James Spann. He was inside the old parsonage behind the church when the weatherman told people in the area to get to their safe space. He ran to the church and found shelter inside a hallway closet, waiting about 15 minutes until the storm ripped the church apart.

Here is full coverage of the storms

The sanctuary is gone. The kitchen area and several Sunday School classrooms are exposed, with walls and roof gone. Yet chairs, kitchen appliances, even books, remain in place where they had been prior to the storm. Many articles were being stored up for a yard sale. The closet and a couple of bathrooms were the only parts of the church that remained intact.

That was Gods design, Poss said, astonished that Farmer made it through alive.

Once the storm passed, Farmer knew something had happened because part of the closet ceiling now looking out into the sky. He opened the door, but took several minutes to realize the enormity of what was gone.

When I walked out of the closet, it was the most self-aware moment of my life, he said. I thought, OK, am I still here? But I didnt realize half of the church was gone and the other half was completely demolished.

Poss said the church is getting help through the North Alabama Conference of the United Methodist Church, and two other area churches had offered use of their sanctuaries. But Ragan Chapel will need help to rebuild.

Janet Weathington has been a member of the church for 43 years. She was one of several who came to help.

Over half of my life has been in this church, she said. Its not really the church. Its just the building the church meets in.

But looking at the remains, she was overcome.

Its hard to see though, she said, her voice quavering. But you praise God in the storm.
BAY CITY, MI - Vaccine providers in Bay County are continuing to distribute the COVID-19 vaccine while contending with rising cases of the virus.

Bay County Health Department health officers Joel Strasz said that Bay County is seeing an increase in cases. Currently Bay County has been averaging 30 cases a day this week, which is up from a previous 20 per day average. However, Strasz added that 65 cases alone were reported on Thursday, March 25 for the daily case count.

Strasz said that a quarter of those cases involve those under the age of 25, with Strasz adding that definitive outbreaks in schools are driving the increase of cases as well as the recent loosening of public health restrictions and the recent St. Patricks Day holiday.

Were seeing increases in young adults between the ages of 20 and 30, so Im thinking that some of that probably has to do with the loosening of restrictions and St. Patricks Day parties and things like that that may have occurred, he said.

Strasz also contributed the spread to the possibility of COVID-19 variants circulating in the community. While no lab confirmed variant cases have been reported in Bay County as of Thursday, March 25, cases of the United Kingdom variant have been observed in neighboring Saginaw and Tuscola counties.

Our advice to everyone is, number one  this thing is not over, you need to mask, you need to distance, you need to use good hygiene, you need to really keep an eye on your symptoms and you need to get vaccinated, said Strasz.

Bay County residents 16 and older can register online for the COVID-19 vaccine here and find more information at www.baycounty-mi.gov/health. Other vaccine distributors accepting registrations include Walgreens, Rite Aid and Meijer.

According to information from the state of Michigan, 30,132 Bay County residents have been vaccinated as of Friday, March 26. The state is reporting that this means that 35.4% of Bay Countys population has been covered with the vaccine.

Read more on MLive:

COVID-19 pandemic hit seniors hard. Could it lead to a rethinking of how we care for the elderly?

30% of Michigan adults have received first vaccine dose; see numbers in your county

Friday, March 26, coronavirus data by Michigan county: 37 counties now over 10% positivity rate
If you wanted to go fast back in the middle of the 20th century -- faster than anyone ever had before -- you came to America. Specifically, you found your way to the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah.

These were the glory days of the internal-combustion engine, when few people had health concerns about vehicle-exhaust emissions and fewer still worried about the Arctic melting.

English auto racers George Eyston and John Rhodes Cobb, both Seagrave Trophy winners, started blasting across the salt flats in the 1930s. Their roaring sprints in custom-built, spaceship-like racecars were a big deal, and so reporters from Portland trekked the 800 miles to the remote Utah desert to witness their efforts.

In the late summer of 1938, the friendly rivalry reached a peak as the two Cambridge University graduates traded the land-speed record back and forth in an ever-escalating contest.

Capt. George Eyston and his car Thunderbolt" travelled at 309.6 miles per hour on the salt beds near Utah in 1937. (AP Photo)ASSOCIATED PRESS

First Eyston topped his own year-old mark with a 345.49 miles-per-hour average along the salt flats. (The record had been barely 200 mph just a decade earlier.) Two weeks later, Cobb managed to pull off a 350-mph dash, snatching the Fastest Man Alive moniker. The very next day, Eyston smashed the new mark, recording a speed of 357.5 mph.

Cobb, a big, bluff and affable figure, was popular with American newsmen, Oregon Journal columnist Marlowe Branagan wrote. He was much more gracious than was Capt. John Eyston.

So the assembled reporters must have been pleased in 1939 when, back in Utahs great nothingness, Cobb stretched the record to 369.74 miles per hour, a new mark Eyston would never match.

An ad in The Oregon Journal used John Cobb's world record to sell motor oil.

Wrote Branagan years later:

We recall the epoch-making event, as we were there, armed with a portable typewriter, a shirt which clung to our rotund frame as the white sun peeped above the horizon and the general idea a fellow with as much mazuma as John Cobb was slightly nuts for risking the state of his health just to see how fast he could push his [vehicle] across the gleaming sands.

Shortly after Cobb set that record, Great Britain entered World War II, and Cobb joined the Royal Air Force. Eyman, an artilleryman in World War I, went to work for the ministry of production.

John Cobb is seen here seated in his Railton race car just after roaring across the salt flats on Aug. 18, 1939, in a test run. (AP Photo)AP

Then, once fascism had been defeated, it was back to the salt flats for Cobb. In 1947, he bested his own record again, with a 394.19 miles-per-hour average jaunt. Eyston never attempted to go faster.

With the land-speed record secure for the time being, Cobb turned his attention to the world water speed record. In 1952, while going more than 200 miles per hour at Loch Ness in Scotland, Cobbs speedboat broke up, killing him. He was 52. (Eyston, who was assisting Cobb in his attempt to set the water-speed mark, died in 1979 at 82.)

Cobbs land-speed record stood until 1964, shortly before the rocket-propulsion era kicked off. The most recent land-speed mark set at the salt flats -- 622 miles per hour -- came in 1970. The record now stands at 763 miles per hour.

-- Douglas Perry

dperry@oregonian.com

@douglasmperry
A Southwest Airlines pilot this month ranted while in the cockpit about how much he hated San Francisco and its denizens, prompting a Federal Aviation Administration investigation. The remarks were picked up on an air-traffic-control scanner over Mineta San Jose International Airport, SFGate.com reported this week.

The pilot, who Southwest has not named, called San Franciscans weirdos. Additional comments indicate he was frustrated with the number of Hyundai drivers, the condition of the citys roads, how its residents drive, and the number of liberals living in the city.

While the pilot continued complaining, Southwest Airlines Flight 531 reportedly was identified, and air-traffic controllers could be heard giving directions.

The pilots diatribe took place March 12 and was posted on the internet livestream Live ATC. San Jose airport personnel reported the incident to the FAA.

Southwest Airlines told SFGate that the Dallas-based company was fully addressing the situation internally.

An FAA spokesperson said in a statement that its regulations require cockpit crew to talk only about subjects related to safely conducting their flight while taxiing and flying below 10,000 feet.

-- Douglas Perry

dperry@oregonian.com

@douglasmperry
Illustration by Brian Stauffer

Heres the good news: You should soon be eligible for a Covid-19 vaccine (if you arent already), after President Bidens recent announcement that every adult in America should be eligible for vaccination by May. Many states are moving even faster.

Which brings us to the less-good news: Being eligible for a vaccine and getting vaccinated are two very different things. While it feels as if the course of Americas vaccine effort is about to turn a corner, vaccinating the nation is a process that will take months, even after everyone is eligible.

To understand how the next phase of the vaccination effort will play out, we can look at the vaccine rollouts in Idaho, Florida and other states to see who has been vaccinated, how quickly and why. They show why we are headed for an America marked by pockets of herd immunity (oases) and swaths of the country with low rates of vaccination (deserts).

It is taking much longer to vaccinate poorer Americans than the wealthy.

Wealthier counties have higher vaccination rates in Florida St. Johns County* 100% vaccinated Miami-Dade County 80 60 40 Putnam County 45k 55k 65k 75k $35k Median household income St. Johns County* 100% vaccinated TRENDLINE Miami-Dade County 90 80 70 60 50 40 Putnam County 40k 45k 50k 55k 60k 65k 70k 75k $35k Median household income St. Johns County* 100% vaccinated Dade County TRENDLINE 80 60 40 Putnam County 45k 55k 65k 75k $35k Median household income St. Johns County* 100% vaccinated TRENDLINE 90 Miami-Dade County 80 70 60 50 Putnam County 40 40k 45k 50k 55k 60k 65k 70k 75k $35k Median household income *Percentage vaccinated shows the number of people vaccinated in the county compared with the population estimate, and can therefore exceed 100 percent in certain circumstances.  Source: Florida Department of Health, Census Bureaus American Community Survey 2015-19

Within states and among equally eligible people, the richest areas are getting vaccines faster. This suggests that even if all poorer Americans seek out the vaccines, it will take a long time to vaccinate them at our current rates.

Consider a slice of Floridas seniors, ages 65 to 74, who have been eligible for vaccination for four months.

Almost all seniors in the states wealthiest county, St. Johns, have been vaccinated. (The numbers may be inflated because of seasonal residents, or snowbirds, who arent necessarily counted as part of the countys population but are still counted among people getting vaccinated there.) But the first county west of St. Johns is one of the states poorest: Putnam, where the median annual income is about $35,000. Only half of the countys residents ages 65 to 74 have been vaccinated.

The pattern is echoed throughout Florida, with wealthier counties achieving much higher vaccination rates than lower-income counties.

The reasons are myriad: The states rollout has been deeply reliant on tech savviness and reliable transportation to secure and then get to vaccination appointments, said Dr. Frederick Anderson, who runs a community health clinic at Florida International Universitys medical school. Additionally, some of the current vaccines are difficult to store and transport, which makes vaccine rollout easier in population hubs, which tend to be wealthier.

While comparable data doesnt exist in every state, its a worrying sign ahead of a national rollout. If vaccination rates resemble Floridas uptake among seniors in poor neighborhoods, the country will struggle to reach herd immunity.

When eligibility is expanded in other states, vaccinations are expected to surge among the wealthiest Americans and lag among the poorest. At the rates that Floridas poorer counties are vaccinating people ages 65 to 74, it will take months for the rest of the states seniors to catch up with higher-income Floridians.

Some counties are months behind in efforts to vaccinate seniors Floridas largest county, Miami-Dade, should finish vaccinating its seniors next month at its current rate of vaccination. But Putnam County would take months more to finish at its current rate. Share vaccinated 100% St. Johns County has reached 100% of its seniors 80 60 Florida 40 Putnam County would finish by mid-June 20 At the current pace, Miami-Dade County would finish by mid-April 0 Jan. 24 Feb. 7 21 March 7 21 Share vaccinated 100% St. Johns County has reached 100% of its seniors At the current pace, Miami-Dade County would finish by mid-April 80 60 Florida Putnam County would finish by mid-June 40 20 0 Jan. 24 31 Feb. 7 14 21 28 March 7 14 21 Share vaccinated 100% St. Johns County 80 60 Florida 40 Putnam would finish by mid- June 20 At the current pace, Miami-Dade County would finish by mid-April 0 Jan. 24 Feb. 7 21 March 7 21 Note: Data reported as of March 24 for individuals with at least one dose, ages 65 to 74, by county of residence. Dates reflect when each vaccination was reported.  Source: Florida Department of Health, Census Bureaus American Community Survey 2015-19

These huge disparities will persist, but were hoping that theyll start to go down with these community engagement efforts, Dr. Anderson said. These disparities are hundreds of years in the making. Were not going to reverse them overnight.

Progress has already stalled in some parts of the country.

Despite the uneven rollout in Florida, people are still seeking out the vaccines at a steady rate. Thats not the case in Idaho, where many parts of the state have settled at distressingly low vaccination rates. State officials have had to expand eligibility at an accelerated pace because of low uptake in wide swaths of Idaho.

The rural counties are lagging slightly behind what we would expect, said Dave Jeppesen, the director of Idahos health department, in a news conference Wednesday.

Data published by Idaho reveals how the current vaccination efforts are reaching a plateau in poorer parts of the state. The poorest 25 percent of ZIP codes in the state are seeing vaccination rates stalling below 70 percent for people ages 65 to 74.

Vaccine uptake for seniors in poorer Idaho ZIP codes is stalling Share vaccinated 100% Highest-income ZIP codes 80 60 Lowest-income ZIP codes 40 20 Jan. 24 31 Feb. 7 14 21 28 March 7 14 21 Share vaccinated 100% 90 Highest-income ZIP codes 80 70 60 Lowest-income ZIP codes 50 40 30 20 10 Jan. 24 31 Feb. 7 14 21 28 March 7 14 21 Share vaccinated 100% Highest-income ZIP codes 80 60 Lowest-income ZIP codes 40 20 0 Jan. 24 31 Feb. 7 14 21 28 March 7 14 21 Note: Data reported as of March 22 for individuals with at least one dose, ages 65 to 74, in the 25 percent of Idaho ZIP codes with the highest median income and the 25 percent of Idaho ZIP codes with the lowest.  Source: Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, Census Bureaus American Community Survey 2015-19

Nationally, many conservatives  men in particular  have said in multiple polls that they do not wish to be vaccinated. In some of Idahos more conservative counties, senior vaccination rates are below 40 percent.

Idaho seniors in deep-red counties see slower vaccine uptake Blaine County, home of the popular Sun Valley ski resort, is one of the state's few left-leaning counties. It has seen more vaccines administered to seniors than there are seniors reported as living there permanently. Share vaccinated Blaine County* 100% Ada County TRENDLINE 90 Fewer are vaccinated where Trumps support was greater 80 70 60 50 Supported Biden Supported Trump 40 +10 Biden +10 Trump 30 30 50 70 2020 presidential election results Share vaccinated Blaine County* 100% Ada County 90 Fewer seniors are vaccinated where Trumps support was greater 80 TRENDLINE 70 60 50 Idaho County 40 Supported Biden Supported Trump 30 20 20 30 40 50 60 70 +10 Biden +10 Trump 2020 presidential election results Share vaccinated Blaine County* Fewer are vaccinated where Trumps support was greater TRENDLINE 90 80 70 Ada County 60 50 Supported Biden Supported Trump 40 30 30 50 70 +10 Biden +10 Trump 2020 presidential election results Share vaccinated Blaine County* 100% Ada County 90 Fewer seniors are vaccinated where Trumps support was greater 80 TRENDLINE 70 60 50 Idaho County 40 Supported Biden Supported Trump 30 20 20 30 40 50 60 70 +10 Biden +10 Trump 2020 presidential election results *Percentage vaccinated shows the number of people vaccinated in the county compared with the population estimate, and can therefore exceed 100 percent in certain circumstances. Note: Data reported as of March 24 for individuals with at least one dose, ages 65 to 74, by county where the vaccines were administered.  Source: Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, New York Times election results database

Some states still have a long way to go.

States will be in radically different places when they open vaccinations to all adults, in part because of differences in eligibility requirements thus far, such as whether they prioritized certain groups of essential workers alongside older residents. Their progress points to where vaccine oases and deserts may soon emerge.

Vaccine deserts more likely in states that are falling behind 40 % of non-seniors (18-64) vaccinated Average for 65+ AK 35 More likely to see vaccine oases 30 SD ND Average for 18-64-year-olds CT 25 RI AR 20 TN AL GA 15 More likely to see vaccine deserts 50% 60 70 80 Share of senior population vaccinated 40 % of non-seniors (18-64) vaccinated Average for 65+ AK NM 35 More likely to see vaccine oases 30 NJ HI SD ND OK KY CT NY MA IL PA MD CA NE 25 RI MT VA UT Average for 18-64-year-olds WV IA MN WA AZ NV NC WI KS CO WY ME LA OH AR VT TX MO MI NH 20 DC ID DE OR MS IN TN SC AL GA FL More likely to see vaccine deserts 15 50% 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 Share of senior population vaccinated 40 % of non-seniors (18-64) vaccinated Average for 65+ AK 35 More likely to see vaccine oases 30 SD ND CT Average for 18-64-year-olds 25 RI AR 20 TN AL GA 15 More likely to see vaccine deserts 50% 60 70 80 Share of senior population vaccinated 40 % of non-seniors (18-64) vaccinated Average for 65+ AK NM 35 More likely to see vaccine oases 30 NJ HI SD ND OK KY CT NY MA IL PA MD CA NE 25 RI MT Average for 18-64-year-olds VA UT WV IA MN WA AZ NV NC WI KS CO WY ME LA OH AR VT TX MI MO NH DC ID 20 DE OR MS IN TN SC AL GA FL More likely to see vaccine deserts 15 50% 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 Share of senior population vaccinated Note: Data reported as of March 24.  Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Logistical hurdles and missteps could drive slower vaccination campaigns. But states may also be falling behind because of high levels of vaccine hesitancy.

If that's the case, it will take more than just opening up eligibility to get the country to levels of vaccination that can reach herd immunity  when roughly 70 percent of people are vaccinated, making it too difficult for the virus to spread.

Counterintuitively, the states that are moving fastest to expand eligibility are more likely to have a harder time reaching that level.

In those states, the data shows that vaccine uptake is not reaching herd immunity levels in certain areas. If that trend continues as vaccine eligibility expands, we can expect to see more vaccine deserts and oases over the coming months.
The Giant Impact hypothesis for the origin of the LLSVPs. Credit: Li et al.

A team of scientists at Arizona State University has proposed that the large blobs of material in Earth's mantle (the large low-shear velocity provinces, LLSVPs) may be left over pieces of Theia, a protoplanet theorized to have struck Earth, resulting in the creation of the moon. The group argued their case at this year's Lunar and Planetary Science Conference and are awaiting publication in Geophysical Research Letters.

Most space scientists have come to believe that the moon was created when another planet (now called Theia) collided with a very early Earthpieces of Earth, Theia or both that were flung into space during the collision eventually coalesced into the moon. Theories regarding what happened to the rest of Theia are still being argued. In this new effort, the team in Arizona suggests that much of Theia's mantle wound up in Earth's mantle, forming what are now called the large low-shear-velocity provinces, LLSVPsone beneath parts of the African continent and one beneath the Pacific Ocean.

Scientists have been studying the LLSVPs for many yearstheir existence has been confirmed by studying seismic readings around the globe. When seismic waves run into the LLSVPs, they slow down, suggesting the material they are made of is denser than the rest of the mantle. The LLSVPs are very large and rest on the rim of the outer core. The team at ASU note that if Theia's mantle was denser than Earth's, any of it that made its way to the mantle would eventually work its way to the core.

To back up their ideas, the team at ASU built a model depicting Earth as it was approximately 4.5 billion years ago and then showing what could have happened if there were a collision with a planet the size of Mars, or even larger. The model also assumed that the mantle of the theorized planet Theia was rich in iron, making it extremely dense. In their model, Theia winds up mostly destroyed, with pieces flung into space to create the moon, and much of its mantle breaking into fragments, which make it all the way into Earth's mantle. Over billions of years, the fragments merge, forming the LLSVPs.

The researchers note that the idea of Theian fragments making up the LLSVPs has been expressed before by others in the field, but suggest their work is the most comprehensive to date.

Explore further Supercomputer simulations could unlock mystery of Moon's formation

More information: 52nd Lunar and Planetary Science Conference 2021 (LPI Contrib. No. 2548) Journal information: Geophysical Research Letters 52nd Lunar and Planetary Science Conference 2021 (LPI Contrib. No. 2548) www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2021/pdf/1980.pdf

 2021 Science X Network




Haiti - Politic : We have only one Nation dixit Jovenel Moise





Thursday March 25, President Jovenel Moise in a new message published on his official Twitter account, after that of the day before https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-33319-haiti-politic-message-from-president-jovenel-moise.html once again called for national unity and speaks of its necessity, a message that we invite you to read.



Message from President Moise :



"We only have one Nation. We must strive and work for unity. Haiti is an indivisible Republic. Since the dawn of our history, our misfortunes have always been in proportion to our divisions. But never, the fortune betrayed a united Haiti.



The call for national unity must not remain at the level of words and symbols alone, and appear to stem from incantation and denial of realities. It must be accompanied by real decisions, and a policy that meets the expectations of the Nation as a whole,



The call for national unity is necessary to preserve peace face the threats of tearing apart. It expresses the existence of the Haitian people. This speech is in itself mobilizing and allows the leaders of the power and the opposition to take responsibility vis-a-vis the Nation."



HL/ HaitiLibre


















The late Robin Njogu's wife Carol has eulogized her husband as a supportive man who was always there for her and the family.

The widow particularly recalled an incident from their dating days when he lost the company car when visiting him.

"He stopped by our house in Jericho (estate) to say 'hi'. He was using the company's car. He asked the driver to park and wait for him. As he sneaked in to see me, some guys had just committed a crime in the neighbourhood and found a car with a driver. They jumped in and commandeered the driver. Just like that, a company car was missing because Robin had stopped on his way to see me. I don't know how he got away with that," she explained.

At the time of his death, Robin was the Managing Editor - Radio at the Royal Media Services.

He succumbed to Covid-19 related complications at the Aga Khan hospital where he had been at the Intensive Care Unit for more than a week.

His died two days after his mother had also breathed her last.

Carol's eulogy was read on her behalf by Pauline Chegu who is a family friend.

"He chose me, I accepted it. We became one and accepted each other on December 3, 2005. He was not the type to surprise me or send me presents. Earlier on, in our relationship, I complained about it. I was not getting any chocolates or gifts on my birthday. One Valentine's Day he surprised me with a gift that was neatly wrapped. I was touched and flattered. I opened it and found it was mutura. The first gift. That's how romantic he was."

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According to Carol, the two met on the first day she reported to (Kenya Institute of Mass Communication (KIMC).

"As I struggled with my bags at the gate, a man approached me and offered to help. Ignoring him, I hastened my steps towards the hostels. I knew there and then this was the kind of men I was warned against. I looked back at a distance to make sure he had gone away only to find him unmoved looking at me with that smile he always had."

"A few days later, he approached me and asked to borrow Sh100. I did not ask any questions. I gave him and continued on my way. One week later he found me and returned the Sh100, that's how we started but then again that's my story. If Robin were here, he would have told a different side of the story."

The late Njogu will be buried on Saturday at his home in Cherangany, Trans Nzoia County.

Only family and close friends will attend the burial as per the Covid-19 protocols.

He is survived by his wife and three children.

President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Deputy William Ruto are among scores of leaders who've shared their condolences to the family.
Burma Striking Healthcare Workers Threatened by Myanmar Junta Officials

Health workers were the first to come out on strike against the military regime, launching the CDM on February 3, two days after the coup. / The Irrawaddy

Striking healthcare workers in Ayeyarwady Regions Ngapudaw Township who are participating in the civil disobedience movement (CDM) are being pressured to return to work by their managers and the township general administration department.

[Managers] hand in glove with the township general administrative department have made threats. They called us on the phone and said we would suffer from unpleasant consequences if we dont return to work within the week, said one striking healthcare worker.

The workers were told that if they dont return to work, they would be suspended from their positions, would no longer be included on the payroll and would have to pay back government loans by the end of this month.

Thousands of civil servants across Myanmar are taking part in the CDM in protest at the militarys Feb.1 coup

The striking health staff in Ngapudaw Township said they support only the democratically-elected government and will continue to participate in the CDM until it succeeds.

We will continue the CDM. We are participating in the CDM because we dont like military rule and we will only accept the elected government that the majority of the people voted for, said a striking doctor.

Nearly 200 health workers in Ngapudaw Township are on strike, around 61 percent of the total workforce of the Health Ministry in the township.

The Committee Representing the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), a body that represents the elected parliamentarians of the National League for Democracy, said on March 16 that it would prosecute officials who oppress, threaten or impose unfair punishments on striking civil servants.

The CPRH also pledged to compensate and reward striking government employees. It set a March 31 deadline for civil servants to join the CDM, warning that action would be taken against those who do not join the strike.

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The Morrison government is considering radical reforms to the $22 billion National Disability Insurance Scheme including denying funding to Australians with acquired brain injuries and fetal alcohol spectrum disorder as well as reducing avenue of appeal for participants as part of secret plans to save costs.

The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age have obtained a confidential 300-page draft of proposed legislative changes to the NDIS that includes hundreds of comments from senior decision-makers within the National Disability Insurance Agency, which administers the scheme, raising concerns over proposed changes.

Minister for the NDIS Stuart Robert is considering significant changes to the program. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

The proposed federal government overhaul of the scheme is poised to concentrate more power in the hands of the minister through rule changes and dilute the influence of state and territory governments, which contribute almost half of the annual funding for 430,000 Australians living with a disability. The overhaul also canvassed removing the contentious reasonable and necessary test for the provision of support and services, which could have ripped funding from thousands of Australians and led to warnings from top bureaucrats that it would render the program unsustainable.

NDIS Minister Stuart Robert foreshadowed major changes to the NDIS  introduced by the Gillard government in 2013  earlier this year after the Federal Court ruled the use of trained sex therapists was a reasonable and necessary support that could be funded by the NDIS. He said the federal government would make a principled decision because it did not believe taxpayers funds should be used for prostitution services.
A leading hotel in Rishikesh has been closed for 48 hours as a precautionary measure after 16 of its employees tested positive for COVID-19 in a day, an official said on Friday.

Sixteen employees of Taj Rishikesh Resort and Spa tested positive for on Thursday, Narendra Nagar SDM Yukta Mishra said.

The hotel has been closed for 48 hours during which it will be fully sanitised and its entire staff will be tested for COVID-19, she said.

People who may have come in contact with the employees of the hotel are also being traced, the SDM said.

Twenty-three of the hotel's employees have tested positive for the disease over the last 10 days, health department sources said.

Twenty-seven fresh cases of COVID-19 were reported on Thursday from Muni-ki-Reti area in Tehri district which include 16 from Taj Rishikesh Resort and Spa, eight tourists and three employees of an ashram.

Twenty-two tourists from Gujarat who had come in a bus on a 15-day tour of north India via Pushkar, Jaipur, Udaipur, Mathura and Haridwar had tested positive for the virus on March 23.

Rising cases of at a time when Haridwar prepares for Kumbh which sees a huge gathering of devotees is a cause of concern for the state government.

The Uttarakhand dispensation has made it mandatory for devotees to bring a negative RT-PCR report not older than 72 hours or a vaccination certificate with them.

Kumbh mela is scheduled to begin on April 1.

(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 an interview with RFE/RLs Armenian Service on Friday, Avinian said that a process of border delimitation and demarcation would require at least the establishment of bilateral relations between the two neighboring nations that waged a war over Nagorno-Karabakh last fall.

These are legal processes. As such we do not have legally fixed borders with Azerbaijan. For such processes, I think, we first need to have bilateral relations, because these processes presuppose the establishment of at least bilateral relations, he said, adding that border delimitation and demarcation are a long process requiring much effort.

The need for specifying borders between Armenia and Azerbaijan arose after the two countries signed a Russian-brokered ceasefire agreement last November putting an end to a six-week war in which more than 6,000 people were killed.

Under the terms of the document called a trilateral statement, a chunk of Nagorno-Karabakh and all seven districts around it were placed under Azerbaijani administration after almost 30 years of control by ethnic Armenian forces.

The agreement also led to the deployment of around 2,000 Russian peacekeepers along frontline areas and a land corridor connecting the disputed territory with Armenia.

As Armenians withdrew from several districts it created an additional border between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The matter, in particular, concerns Armenias southern Syunik province and eastern Gegharkunik province.

In the interview Avinian again insisted that Armenia and Azerbaijan have signed no other document besides the November 9 ceasefire agreement and the trilateral statement signed in Moscow on January 11 this year.

In any case, I am not aware of any such document. As for the agreements on the Goris-David Bek section [of the road in Syunik], these agreements are with the Russian side, and Russian border guards are stationed there on the basis of these agreements, the deputy prime minister explained.

Addressing the issue of Armenian captives in Azerbaijan, the official expressed confidence that Armenia will achieve results in getting them released by Baku.

The Russian Federation unequivocally shares our approach that all prisoners of war and detained persons must be returned And I am definitely convinced that we will achieve results. I also want to emphasize that international pressure on Azerbaijan in this regard is growing and will continue to grow, Avinian said.
New Delhi, March 26 : In view of the Friday Bharat Bandh call by farmer unions against three farm laws, the Delhi Police have strengthened the security arrangements in the national capital.

A senior police official told IANS all personnel of the Delhi Police will be on the ground as part of the arrangements made for the Bharat Bandh. The police officials in Delhi Police Head Quarters said the security arrangements include Police Control Room (PCR) vans, Quick Response Team (QRT) vans and motorcycle patrolling teams.

"The entire Delhi Police will be on the ground. Delhi Police has made adequate law and order arrangements in view of the bandh call given by farmers. All district authorities have been directed to put all their men on the ground for patrolling from the morning itself," said an official spokesperson of the Delhi Police.

The official also said the police have made adequate preparations at the borders, where farmers have been protesting for four months.

"We have taken adequate measures at the borders as well. Barricades and pickets will be in place so that no person with ill intention can cause disturbance and enter the city," said Delhi police.

The Bandh call was given by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) on the completion of four months of farmers' protest. Farm unions have demanded the repeal of the three agricultural laws, a law on MSP and procurement, cancellation of all police cases against farmers, rollback of electricity and pollution bills and for reducing prices of diesel, petrol and gas.

In a statement, the farmer union said: "All minor and big roads and trains will be blocked and all services will remain suspended except for ambulance and other essential services.

Scores of farmers from Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh have been protesting against the Centre three farms laws at three border of the national capital -- Sighu, Tikri and Ghazipur.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Jimmy Sengenberger is host of The Jimmy Sengenberger Show on News/Talk 710 KNUS. He also hosts Jimmy at the Crossroads, a webshow and podcast in partnership with The Washington Examiner.
A man has died and two others are in hospital following a shooting in Corio in Geelong, Victoria, in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Police were called to the Princes Highway near Harpur Road at 6am, with the homicide squad soon scrambled to the scene.

The highway is closed and police have removed a smashed-up car.
President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump on stage after speaking to supporters at Joint Base Andrews before boarding Air Force One for his last time as president in Joint Base Andrews, Md., on Jan. 20, 2021. (Pete Marovich-Pool/Getty Images)

Trump Sat Down With 4 Ohio US Senate Hopefuls During Fundraiser

Former President Donald Trump pulled four potential candidates for the Ohio U.S. Senate seat into a face-to-face meeting during a fundraiser at his gold club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Wednesday, according to two sources close to the people in the room.

The former president headlined a fundraiser that day for former Trump White House official Max Miller, who is running for the U.S. House of Representatives as a primary challenger to Rep. Anthony Gonzales (R-Ohio), one of the ten Republicans who voted to impeach Trump.

Before the dinner and his planned appearance on stage, Trump summoned the four contenders for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Portman (R-Ohio) to a meeting in a private room. Two of the meeting attendees, former Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel and former Ohio GOP Chair Jane Timken, have formally announced their candidacies. The two others, investment banker Mike Gibbons and tech company executive Bernie Moreno, have yet to formally enter the fray.

Politico was the first to report on the meeting. The Epoch Times verified the details with two people close to the attendees.

Trump opened up the discussion by asking the group how the race is going. The four candidates then took turns to make their cases. All for dropped references to their support of the former president, apparently angling for a Trump endorsement, which has become the most coveted credential for Republicans in primary elections.

Gibbons mentioned that he has given six-figure donations to Trumps campaign through the Republican National Committee in 2016 and 2020. Moreno said his daughter worked for Trumps 2020 campaign. Mandel positioned himself as the fighter and touted internal polling showing him well ahead of Timken. Timken brushed the comments aside and argued that her own polling tells a different story.

It was Josh and Jane trying to one-up themselves on who was a better candidate and better Trump fan. Mike and Moreno made their cases in a more diplomatic way than the other two probably did, a person close to one of the attendees told The Epoch Times.

In official campaign statements, Timken and Mandel said they are running to fight for Trumps agenda in Washington. Timken describes herself as a pro-Trump conservative. Mandel has said he is going to Washington to fight for President Trumps America First Agenda and to pulverize the Uniparty.

The meeting lasted roughly 15 minutes. Both during the meeting and later during his speech on stage, Trump said he liked all four of the candidates.

They all took the time to fly there and I think he was being very gracious with his time to allow them all to come in and talk about the Ohio Senate race in a state that hes done well in both times, one of the sources said about the meeting.

A fifth candidate, J.D. Vance, is all but certain to enter the race, according to a person close to the potential campaign. Tech billionaire Peter Thiel donated $10 million to a political action committee (PAC) that would back Vance if he ran, according to Bryan Lanza, the communications director for the PAC.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-26 20:50:21|Editor: huaxia

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A child riding on an electric tricycle visits a bazaar in Hami City of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, March 20, 2021. (Xinhua/Wang Fei)

"...it's very unfortunate some people, including some journalists, they start with very strong bias and prejudice. That's their problem. That's how they come to very different conclusions about the particular situation, very much against real facts," said the ambassador.



WASHINGTON, March 26 (Xinhua) -- It's immoral to manipulate any particular family's story to fabricate reports on Xinjiang as Iraq War stories cannot be repeated, Chinese Ambassador to the United States Cui Tiankai said in an interview with CNN on Thursday.

In response to a question raised by CNN anchor Christiane Amanpour about the cable network's so-called investigative story at an orphanage in China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Cui said, "I think it's very unfortunate. It's immoral to take advantage of any particular family situation and manipulate it. This is not true journalism. It's very unfortunate for CNN."

When asked to comment on the CNN story, Cui said, "And also you're talking about media coverage, satellite pictures. I remember all these things happened over the years, for instance, in maybe more than a dozen years ago in Iraq, a few years in Syria, in Libya."

Cui Tiankai, the Chinese ambassador to the United States, addresses the 15th anniversary and Chinese Lunar New Year gala of China General Chamber of Commerce-U.S.A. in New York, the United States, Jan. 8, 2020. (Xinhua/Wang Ying)

"I still remember you reporting the Iraq War some years ago. So, can people come out and repeat these same stories to the world? No. Because many of the stories were just based on falsehood, were just fabrication," Cui added.

"And it's very unfortunate some people, including some journalists, they start with very strong bias and prejudice. That's their problem. That's how they come to very different conclusions about the particular situation, very much against real facts," said Cui.

In the last few years, more than 1,000 people, including diplomats and journalists, from over 100 countries, many of them Muslim countries, have visited Xinjiang, the Chinese ambassador said, refuting CNN's claim that Xinjiang was closed to international officials and journalists. "What they have seen are real facts."

Bahraini Ambassador to China Anwar Alabdulla (2nd L) and Nepalese Ambassador to China Leela Mani Paudyal interact with local children at Guyuanxiang community in Urumqi, capital city of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Aug. 19, 2019. (Xinhua/Sun Shaoxiong)

Cui said the big threat to people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang, until very recently, was terrorist attacks, hurting and killing thousands of innocent people from all ethnic groups.

"It was a very serious threat. There was strong demand by the local people that the government had to do something to stop it. So this has been our priority, to stop the spread of terrorist attacks. Some of them are connected with international groups like ISIS," he said.

"There was mounting terrorist, extremist and violent ideology among the local population. That was also very dangerous. But what we did was not start war there. We did not use missiles or drones. We set up efforts for education and training, helping people to learn more about the law, to acquire good skills to improve their lives, find good jobs," he said.



Farmers pick pomegranates in Pishan County of Hotan, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Oct. 8, 2020. (Photo by Adil Nadir/Xinhua)

Now the Xinjiang region has not seen a single terrorist attack in the last few years. "In terms of the population, the Uygur population has more than doubled in the last four decades," Cui said, adding that "So how can people talk about the so-called genocide?" 
Donald Trump has lashed out at President Joe Biden, calling his border policy 'outrageous' and 'inhumane' after Biden accused him of letting migrant children 'starve to death'.

At his press conference on Thursday, Biden had said: 'The idea that I'm going to say, which I would never do, if an unaccompanied child ends up at the border, we're just going to let them starve to death and stay on the other side -- no previous administrations did either, except Trump.'

'First of all, it's just the opposite,' Trump said in response to Biden's remark in an interview with Fox News host Laura Ingraham.

'By the time we finished what we were doing [on the border], very few people were coming up because they knew they weren't going to get through. We stopped 'catch and release' -- which was a disaster,' said Trump.

'What they are doing now is outrageous. And they should finish the wall,' he added regarding a massive surge in illegal border crossings, particularly by unaccompanied minors, that has overwhelmed Border Patrol in recent weeks.

Donald Trump has lashed out at President Joe Biden, calling his border policy 'outrageous' and 'inhumane' after Biden accused him of letting migrant children 'starve to death'

President Joe Biden suggested that Trump let migrant children 'starve to death' at the border

'What you're seeing now is inhumane,' Trump said of hastily constructed migrant holding facilities that are filled far above capacity. 'A tremendous number of children, they're living on top of each other in squalor.'

'That's why they won't allow the press to come in. We let the press come in... but they're living in very dangerous conditions,' Trump added.

'They can't be allowed to destroy our country, and at the southern border, they are destroying our country,' Trump continued.

Trump also slammed the White House press for 'softball' questions at Biden's first press conference.

'There were strange questions and they were asked in a very interesting way, they were softballs,' he said. 'It's very sad to watch, they're feeding them questions, they're easy questions.'

Trump also continued to remain coy about the possibility of forming his own social media platform, after he was banned from Twitter, Facebook and YouTube in January in response to the U.S. Capitol riot.

'I have a lot of options,' he said. 'We might open up our own platform.'

However Trump sounded noncommittal, again praising his new mode of issuing press statements as superior to tweeting.

'What I'm doing now, I almost like it better,' he said of issuing press statements. 'You do it less and you do it better.'

Trump ripped the Biden White House for what he called an 'absolute embarrassment' at a summit with Chinese officials in Anchorage, Alaska, last week.

National Security Adviser Jacob Sullivan and Secretary of State Antony Blinken held a diplomatic meeting with top Chinese diplomat Yang Jiechi, who harshly scolded the American side for racial divisions and unrest in the country.

'We never had anything like that happen... That was an absolute embarrassment to our country. I could not believe it,' Trump said of the meeting.

'We should have walked out. Nobody ever talked to my group that way, have nobody ever talked to me that way, I can tell you that.'

Stephen Miller, the key architect of many of Trump's immigration policies, in a separate interview also slammed Biden for suggesting that Trump let migrant children 'starve to death' at the border.

'What Joe Biden said at that press conference is a detestable lie,' Stephen Miller said. 'It's not just a smear against President Trump. It's a smear against the patriotic border agents

'What Joe Biden said at that press conference is a detestable lie,' Miller told Fox News. 'It's not just a smear against President Trump. It's a smear against the patriotic border agents who saved the lives, who rescued unaccompanied minors and got them safely back home.'

Miller defended the Trump administration's policy of returning unaccompanied minors to their country of origin, accusing Biden's administration of truly 'separating families.'

'If you came here as a 15-year-old from Honduras and Border Patrol apprehended you, they would then process you, put you on a chartered flight paid for by the U.S. Government, send you back to your home country, meet up with social services in Honduras, work with our State Department to get you back with your own family,' Miller said of Trump policies.

'Joe Biden is separating these families, stranding them in the United States, and sending the message not just to Central America, but to the whole world that if you split off your family, if you send someone here 17 or younger alone, they will stay here for life,' he added.

'His [Biden's] administration, in writing, terminated the reunification policy we had in place to send unaccompanied minors back to their home countries wherever they may come from,' Miller continued.

'He [Biden] terminated that policy in writing, that's not in dispute. I guess he doesn't know, or his staff is lying to him so that he then can mislead the country,' said Miller.

Migrants lie on mattresses inside a temporary processing facility for migrants, including unaccompanied minors, in Donna, Texas in a Biden administration handout photo

'We didn't need surge facilities to hold tens, hundreds of thousands of people the way that we are going, because we had a process for returning them -- be it to Mexico, Central America, or elsewhere. He [Biden] dismantled that process, invited the surge, and now he has nowhere to put them,' Miller said.

Miller is viewed as the mastermind of the 'zero tolerance' policy during the Trump administration that saw all illegal border crossers arrested, resulting in parents being separated from children. The policy was rescinded after fierce backlash.

Biden said on Thursday he would not apologize for rolling back immigration policies of his Republican predecessor that undermined 'human dignity' and brushed off criticism that migrants were making the journey to the southern border because they perceived him to be a 'nice guy.'

While he mostly struck an empathetic tone, he said the United States was expelling the vast majority of migrants, including families, under a COVID-19 public health order.

The Trump-era order allows border agents to rapidly expel migrants without giving them a chance to claim asylum, but it has angered civil rights groups, who say it is illegal.

The number of migrants caught at the border has climbed sharply in recent weeks, thrusting Biden into an emerging humanitarian and political crisis a little more than two months after he took office.

Asylum seeking migrant families and unaccompanied minors from Central America take refuge in a makeshift U.S. Customs and Border Protection processing center in Texas

The migrants include a rising number of unaccompanied minors, who have not been subject to the pandemic-related expulsion policy.

As of Tuesday, nearly 5,000 children were backed up in crowded border stations awaiting transfers to overwhelmed federal shelters.

Biden said he would not leave children stranded at the border.

'I make no apologies for ending programs that did not exist before Trump became president that have an incredibly negative impact on the law, international law, as well as on human dignity,' he said.

U.S. Border Patrol caught roughly 100,000 migrants at the border in February, the highest monthly level since a spike in mid-2019.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said last week that illegal border crossings are on pace for the highest level in 20 years.
Activists face charges after mid-week rally

THAILAND: Bangkok police say they will lay charges against many of the people who participated in the anti-government protest at Ratchaprasong intersection on Wednesday night (Mar 24).

policepolitics

By Bangkok Post

Friday 26 March 2021, 08:55AM

Protesters occupy Ratchaprasong intersection in Bangkok during a rally pressing for the release of their detained leaders. Photo: Pattarapong Chatpattarasill.

City deputy police chief Pol Maj Gen Piya Tavichai said charges would be brought against 11 rally leaders who addressed the demonstrators. Police had already identified 10 of them.

Others would include people using loudspeakers, rally guards and some demonstrators, he said.

People who held up banners with messages insulting the monarchy, and any media that broadcast the illegal messages from the rally with the intention of breaking the law would also be prosecuted, Pol Maj Gen Piya said.

Teams of police recorded pictures and voices and people will be summoned to acknowledge charges, he said.

Sonthiya Sawasdee, adviser to the House committee on law, justice and human rights, yesterday (Mar 25) asked police to take action against rally speakers who spoke offensively about the royal institution, and against a satellite TV station that broadcast rally speeches live, without screening the content.

Thousands of demonstrators packed Ratchaprasong intersection on Wednesday evening and into the night, demanding monarchy reforms, an end to the lese majeste law and the release of detained rally leaders being prosecuted for lese majeste and other offences.

Panusaya Rung Sithijirawattanakul, a key leader of the protesting Ratsadon group who is being detained at the Central Womens Correctional Institution, has urged more supporters of the group to come out onto the streets to keep the fight going.

Her message was posted on Wednesday on her Facebook account by her elder sister on her behalf, according to the post.

Ms Panusaya admitted the number of people taking part in the groups rallies has fallen considerably when compared to last years protests.

The situation now isnt good at all as we have been put in jail. More of our friends might be detained in prison if they are denied bail, she said in the Facebook post.

If everyone isnt coming out on the streets no matter whether it is fear or complacency that deters you, it could be someone close to you who will walk into prison [as a detained suspect] next time, she said.

Democracy will have to continue now and forever, although the people [protesters] may be gone [during this fight]. If you miss us and want us to walk free from prison and dont want anyone else to come in again, ask your parents and families to join hands and fight for us, she said.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, meanwhile, called for peace and national unity.
The bespoke masterpiece well be admiring today is the work of Moto Motivos ambitious mastermind, Johann Keyser. In the past, we examined his accomplishments on a unique Ducati ST4S-based entity that manages to look just about as rad as it gets. This time around, Keysers chosen donor was a 1975 model from Moto Guzzis 850T lineup.Mandello del Larios two-wheeled marvel is put in motion by a four-stroke longitudinally mounted V-twin engine that boasts a healthy displacement of 844cc and two valves per cylinder. At approximately 6,100 revs, this feral piece of air-cooled machinery will be more than happy to deliver as much as 55 hp.A five-speed transmission feeds this oomph to the rear 18-inch wheel by means of a shaft final drive, enabling the Italian beast to reach a respectable top speed of 112 mph (181 kph). Now, lets take a quick look at how Moto Motivo went about breathing new life into this timeless classic.For starters, the very first thing youll notice is a custom cafe racer-style gas chamber replacing the factory unit. The one-off aluminum garment was meticulously hand-shaped to fit like a glove over the bikes frame and cylinder heads. 850T s original handlebar has been discarded to make room for an aftermarket alternative that wears bar-end turn signals.At the rear, Keyser went about modifying the standard subframe to accommodate a new leather saddle, while the airbox was replaced by a pair of mesh-covered alloy velocity stacks. You will also find custom fenders hugging the machines tires on both ends. As soon as the bodywork wizardry was concluded, the moto guru proceeded to install an assortment of modern electrics, including a fresh wiring harness and a state-of-the-art ignition system, among others.To summon a healthy dose of additional stopping power, the rear drum module was removed in favor of an 850 T3s disc brake setup. Lastly, we spot a set of powder-coated mufflers topping off the fiends exhaust, while its aluminum fuel tank received a classy two-tone color scheme that rounds it all out nicely.
Its starting to make sense. People in the Florida Legislature want to pass a law to keep their home phone numbers and addresses secret from those who pay their salaries. They also want their birth dates confidential. Thats because many are old enough to know better, but they dont.

Back when public service was seen as more virtuous and everybody had a land-line telephone, politicians proudly listed their numbers in the phone book. If you needed to find your legislator, you looked up the name of Howard Forman, or Toni Jennings, for instance. It went with the job, which is called public office for a reason.

Todays Legislature treats transparency as if it were a virus. A lot of current lawmakers want to make their home phone numbers and addresses secret, which will make it harder for the public to find them. If you need help filing for unemployment, or your civic club wants to invite a senator as a guest speaker, forget it. Elected officials will have their own witness protection program  in the Sunshine State of all places.

But on second thought, maybe you can see why. The people demanding this secrecy are the same people who want to restrict your First Amendment right to protest, make it harder to vote, trample on home rule powers of cities and counties, hand out more tax breaks to businesses at the expense of working families, and scare college kids into thinking they could lose their Bright Futures scholarships.

No wonder they dont want their constituents knowing where they are.

The House secrecy bill (HB 1207) easily cleared a committee this week on a 12 to 4 vote as two Democrats joined 10 Republicans. Four Democrats refused to go along: Reps. Kelly Skidmore and Emily Slosberg of Boca Raton and Travaris McCurdy and Carlos Guillermo Smith of Orlando. Smith predicted shenanigans if theres no way to check whether lawmakers live in the districts they represent.

Explaining their yes votes, freshman Reps. Kevin Chambliss of Homestead and Yvonne Hinson of Gainesville both cited the violent Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, and the potential for more trouble. After the siege, Hinson said she erased her contact information from her Facebook page.

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I didnt want myself or my staff subject to any unsafe reprisals, Hinson said in debate. I have children, I have grandchildren, I have relatives and I live alone.

Hinsons concern is understandable, but enacting more secrecy wont make us safer. Floridians have a right to access of information. Its guaranteed in the state Constitution. No right should ever be taken away so casually.

A couple of lawmakers told anecdotes about getting threats. Thats bad, but it doesnt justify a public records exemption that will be on the books forever and, history tells us, will only lead to broader exemptions and more secrecy.

Next year, county commissioners will want the same protection, then school board members, then mayors, and eventually dog catchers.

Holding office has privileges and responsibilities, and one of those is having to take a late-night phone call from a distraught constituent who needs help. Any legislator who looks for ways to avoid that responsibility should find another line of work.

During recent Zoom calls as part of Broward Days, several lawmakers enthusiastically gave out their cell phone numbers. Said Rep. Mike Gottlieb, D-Davie: Ill give you my cell phone. Its really important that you reach out to us. Thats the spirit.

The First Amendment Foundation, an open government watchdog group, opposes the bill and notes that if legislators home addresses are secret, we wont know if they live in their districts as the law requires. The bill also shields disclosure of the names and employment information of lawmakers spouses, so it removes a valuable safeguard against conflicts of interest.

By law, a new public records exemption must pass by a two-thirds vote of both houses, or by 27 senators and 80 representatives, if all are present. In practice, it means Democrats have just enough votes to stop this bad idea  only if they stick together and vote no.

See, Republicans love it when Democrats vote for their bad ideas. It provides cover for them to claim bipartisan support. But it extracts a price, too. When Democrats side with Republicans, the minority party squanders a bit more of the limited relevance it has  and in this case, in the pursuit of secrecy that violates the basic rights of Floridians.

Steve Bousquet is a Sun Sentinel columnist in Tallahassee. Contact him at sbousquet@sunsentinel.com or (850) 567-2240 and follow him on Twitter @stevebousquet.
Today, Beter Bed Holding N.V. (Beter Bed Holding) has published the notice and agenda for its Annual General Meeting (AGM) to be held on Wednesday, 12 May 2021. Due to the continued presence of COVID-19 (Coronavirus) in the Netherlands, and on the basis of the Temporary Law COVID-19 Justice and Safety, shareholders can only virtually attend the Annual General Meeting through a live webcast. Shareholders can exercise their voting rights by way of an electronic proxy with voting instructions.

During the AGM, Beter Bed Holding will look back on the results achieved over 2020, and update the shareholders on the current developments. Following a very strong 2020, in which Beter Bed Holding has clearly proven that it has outperformed the positive bedding market with its new strategic route, the year 2021 was started with a record order book of  24.8 million (up 19% vs. 31 December 2019), despite the COVID-19 pandemic and store closures following the second lockdown as of mid-December. Furthermore, Beter Bed Holding intends to provide its shareholders with an update on its strategy and priorities for the mid-term during the upcoming AGM.

Update first quarter 2021

In the first quarter of 2021, sales have been impacted by the mandatory store closures in the Netherlands, which has partly been offset by the strong growth in online sales. Beter Bed Holding has clearly benefited from the investments made in its omni-channel approach and online order intake continued to increase significantly compared to the same period a year earlier. The current "shopping by appointment" regulations, in place in the Netherlands since 3 March 2021, have helped to bring in-store order intake back to pre-COVID levels. In light of its current performance, Beter Bed Holding is not eligible for the Dutch governmental support schemes NOW (tegemoetkoming personeelskosten) or TVL (tegemoetkoming vaste lasten en voorraadvergoeding), which both have a 20% decrease in sales threshold.

John Kruijssen, CEO of Beter Bed Holding, comments:

"Although the lockdown in the Netherlands still constraints us to open in full, we are very pleased to be able to welcome many customers back in our stores within the current guidelines. We have taken all precautionary measures to ensure a safe shopping experience. At the same time, we experience a continuously increasing traffic on our websites and we continue to invest in our digital capabilities. We have increased stock levels and improved methods of transportation to ensure deliveries can continue to take place within normal lead times."



Shopping by appointment

Since 3 March 2021, the Dutch government has allowed shops to reopen by appointment only. This fits the Beter Bed and Beddenreus formulas very well, and all Beter Bed and Beddenreus stores in the Netherlands have been open since. Customers have reacted extremely positive. The stores take all the health authorities' guidelines into account and continue to see employees and customers health as their first priority. As stated during the last COVID-19 press conference on Tuesday 23 March 2021, the number of infections is still increasing, as is the number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care units (ICUs). The current measures are therefore prolonged until 20 April 2021.

Beter Bed Holding will continue to welcome its customers through "shopping by appointment" and via its websites Beterbed.nl and Beddenreus.nl, and continues to benefit from the increased attention consumers have for health and well-being during this pandemic, with spending on a good night's sleep significantly higher.

Further updates

At the AGM, Beter Bed Holding will publish a strategy update. Beter Bed Holding will publish its Q1 trading update on 16 April 2021. The latest information on the AGM, such as the agenda including explanatory notes and the notice for the AGM, is available on the company's website www.beterbedholding.com .

About Beter Bed Holding

Beter Bed Holding is a sleep specialist operating in the European retail, wholesale and B2B sectors, providing the very best beds and sleep products at affordable prices to match the unique needs of every customer. We believe that the better we sleep, the happier, healthier and more productive we are. And we will not rest until everyone gets the high-quality sleep they deserve.

At year-end 2020, Beter Bed Holding N.V.'s 151 stores generated revenue of over  222 million, with approximately 15% share of online revenue.

Beter Bed Holding has been listed on Euronext Amsterdam with security code BBED NL0000339703 since December 1996.

For more information

Press enquiries: Uneke Dekkers / CFF Communications

T +31.

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Access the Experts: Cathy Pettid In this installment, Pettid answers: How does one go about explaining psychological and anxiety disorders to older relatives who seem to think such disorders are all mental?

In This Installment of Access the Experts Assistant Vice Chancellor and Dean of Students Cathy Pettid answers the question: How does one go about explaining psychological and anxiety disorders to older relatives who seem to think such disorders are all mental? About Pettid Pettids professional career has spanned over two decades at UNO. During that time, she has served as a licensed mental health practitioner, director of Counseling Services, senior director for achievement, and most recently, assistant vice chancellor and dean of students. She has also served as an adjunct instructor for both undergraduate and graduate students.

Access the Experts

Access the Experts is an innovative partnership between the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) and News Channel Nebraska (NCN), where viewers submit their questions to be answered by UNO faculty members.

New segments of Access the Experts air every Tuesday and Thursday at 6:46 A.M. and 6:46 P.M. If youre not sure how to tune in, visit News Channel Nebraskas website to view their coverage areas.

View all segments on our Access the Experts page.

About the University of Nebraska at Omaha

Located in one of Americas best cities to live, work and learn, the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) is Nebraskas premier metropolitan university. With more than 15,000 students enrolled in 200-plus programs of study, UNO is recognized nationally for its online education, graduate education, military friendliness and community engagement efforts. Founded in 1908, UNO has served learners of all backgrounds for more than 100 years and is dedicated to another century of excellence both in the classroom and in the community.

Follow UNO on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube.
(Alliance News) - The European Commission president has warned AstraZeneca PLC that it must "honour" its vaccine contract with the bloc before exporting doses elsewhere in the world.

Ursula von der Leyen urged "transparency" from other countries, but did not confirm if the EU would bring in tougher export restrictions on coronavirus jabs, amid a row over supplies with the British-Swedish pharmaceutical giant.

However, she acknowledged that worldwide supply chains needed to remain "intact" for vaccine production, while some European leaders appeared optimistic that the UK and EU could soon resolve their dispute over supplies.

Elsewhere, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson sought to calm fears over the possible introduction of coronavirus certificates after publicans criticised his suggestion that it may be up to landlords to decide to request proof of vaccination in venues.

Just days after the prime minister flagged tougher measures to prevent Covid-19 variants being transmitted from Europe, the Telegraph reports the government is planning to implement a mass testing regime for lorry drivers arriving in the UK.

Earlier, addressing a Brussels press conference following a meeting of the European Council on Thursday, von der Leyen said she had "no knowledge" of the UK exporting jabs, while 77 million doses had been exported to 33 countries by the EU so far.

It came after the European Commission set out a tougher regime to stem supplies of jabs to nations faring better in the pandemic as the bloc's states faced a third wave of cases.

von der Leyen told reporters: "Companies have to honour their contract to the EU before they export to other regions in the world. This is of course the case with AstraZeneca.

"I think it is clear that the company [AstraZeneca] has to catch up and honour the contract it has with the EU member states before it can engage again in exporting vaccines."

She added: "We have worldwide supply chains that have to be intact and it is of the utmost importance that we get back to an attitude of openness."

Asked about how many vaccines the UK had exported, von der Leyen told reporters: "I have no knowledge so far of UK exports, perhaps I am mistaken and waiting for their transparency."

Following the summit, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander de Croo said that he believed the EU's dispute with the UK over vaccine supplies "can be resolved" as he referred to a phone call with Johnson last week.

"We think that the discussion we have with the UK can be resolved based on good agreements," de Croo told a Brussels press conference.

Striking a similar tone, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said that he was "cautiously optimistic" that divisions between the UK and the EU could be resolved.

"I think that on Saturday or soon after, they could come to an agreement which would be very helpful because we are friends, the UK and the rest of Europe, and we need each other," he told reporters.

But leaders appeared to be divided on the issue following the summit, with French president Emmanuel Macron insisting that the EU is "no longer naive" with its export controls tool.

It came after Johnson acknowledged the "moral complexities" around a domestic coronavirus certificate and suggested that it might only be possible to introduce one after all adults had been offered a vaccine at the end of July.

The government will say more on the possible use of Covid status certificates in early April, which could be based on whether people have developed antibodies through infection, as well as vaccinations and negative tests.

But landlords rejected their use after the PM's earlier suggestion it could be up to them to decide whether to screen customers' certificates on entry.

A mobile phone app which features a scannable QR code could be used to provide a virtual coronavirus certificate for entrance into pubs, clubs and restaurants, according to the Daily Mail.

Measures to implement Johnson's "road map" out of lockdown, which will see England's restrictions eased in a series of stages over the coming months, were passed without a vote.

But a series of Tory MPs refused to back a six-month extension to emergency powers contained in the Coronavirus Act after Health Secretary Matt Hancock was unable to say whether they would definitely expire after that.

Some 76 MPs voted to oppose the extension of the laws, although the measure passed with a majority of 408.

source: PA

Copyright 2021 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
John Adams, of Braintree, was the principal author of the constitution of the commonwealth of Massachusetts. Our state Constitution went into effect almost 241 years ago (Oct. 25, 1780), and served as a model upon which the Constitution of the United States was fashioned years later.

The Massachusetts Constitution remains as the oldest written, functioning constitution effective in the world today. An integral part of the Massachusetts Constitution defines how we determine our elected officials: by majority vote of we, the people. There is a move to dilute the voting rights of Massachusetts citizens through the efforts to institute universal mail-in voting, permanently.

Chapter 115 of the Acts of 2020 created a narrow modification to the 240-year legacy of our voting system in Massachusetts by permitting all voters to be eligible to vote by mail because of the COVID-19 pandemic. That legislation served its purpose, and now it is time to return to the voting system that served us so well for more than two centuries.

In Massachusetts, we vote in person unless there is illness or other reason why a voter is unable to attend the polls at election time.

No other country in the world uses a mail-in voting system without verification of identification of the person purporting to cast a ballot. Universal mail-in ballots create ambiguity in the results when there is no authentication of electors.

Congress is debating HB 1/SB 1 that would bring universal mail-in voting on a nationwide level. This would irreparably damage our American voting system and place the United States at a distinct global disadvantage compared to European nations that require stringent voter identification in order to cast ballots.

The high cost of universal mail-in voting creates an unfunded mandate to cities and towns. That cost must be absorbed by the taxpayers. Further, photo identification is required for a multitude of other activities without question: in airports, banks, pharmacies, medical offices, liquor and cannabis purchases, hotels, Medicare-Medicaid applications just to name a few. Doesnt our most sacred duty as a citizen deserve the same respect?

With COVID-19 vaccinations being widely distributed within the commonwealth and based upon recent pandemic data Massachusetts will be able to safely conduct elections in person. The provisions of absentee voting for those not available or physically unable to vote in person will remain intact, just as they have for decades. No one will be denied their voting rights by assuring the integrity of every legal vote.

Voting is not just one of our most important rights, it is our sacred duty. Doesnt that deserve integrity? We say, Yes.

George Bitzas

Cecilia P. Calabrese

Mario Tedeschi

Members, Agawam City Council

Related content:
Islamabad, March 26 : After detailed discussions on the Indus Water Treaty (IWT) during the two-day meeting between delegations of Pakistan and India in New Delhi, Islamabad will be hosting the Indian counterpart delegation for the second round of talks during next month.

Mehar Ali Shah, the Indus Water Commissioner from Pakistan, said the "dialogue with the neighbouring country on the water issues would continue in the future." "The Indian side has listened to the objections raised by Pakistan on different projects on its rivers and promised serious review of such projects," he maintained, while speaking to media at the Wagah border upon his return from India.

The Pakistani delegation led by Shah was in New Delhi for the two-day talks. As per the Indian external affairs ministry, "talks were held in a cordial manner", adding that both sides agreed to interact more frequently to resolve issues through bilateral discussions." Shah highlighted the meeting of the Permanent Indus Commission (PIC) in New Delhi as a positive step forward as it had not happened since August 2018.

"It is a good sign that India invited the Pakistani side for a meeting even during the tough times of the Covid-19 pandemic," Shah said.

As per details of the meeting, the Indian side shared flood data for the monsoon season, while Pakistan shared its concerns over the construction of various projects.

"India has expressed willingness for the visit and will give us the names and dates for the site visits. Pakistan will invite Indian officials for a meeting after April 1," said Shah.

Pakistan's foreign ministry has maintained that both sides have agreed to make endeavours to resolve the issues, conduct tours of inspection and hold the next meeting of the commission in Pakistan at an early date.

"The 116th meeting of the Permanent Indus Commission (PIC) was held in New Delhi from 23-24 March 2021. Under the relevant provisions of the Indus Water Treaty (IWT), the meeting is held annually alternatively in Pakistan and India," maintains the Pakistan foreign office.

"The Pakistan side reiterated its objections to the Indian projects, including Pakal Dul, Lower Kulnai, Durbuk Shyok and Nimu Chilling," it added.
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On the day that I was fully vaccinated against COVID-19, I decided to take a trip.

This was on Tuesday, exactly two weeks after my second dose of vaccine, a day Id been waiting for the way a kid waits for Santa Claus. When the day finally came, I woke up to a gust of fresh air, the sense of a door opening to reveal a remembered world.

Before I continue, let me say: I know that getting even a first dose of the vaccine remains no more than a wish for most Americans. But being over 65 occasionally has advantages, and whenever you reach your fully vaccinated day, youll know its a milestone worth marking.

In that celebratory spirit, I decided to do something Id longed to do but hadnt done in a year.

Get on a plane? Nope. Not yet. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still cautions against travel unless its necessary. But I wanted to go somewhere, see the world from a different angle. And so I fished around in a junk drawer and found my passport to freedom.

AKA my Ventra card.

I was going to ride the Brown Line L to the Loop and back.

There are people who have continued to ride public transportation through the pandemic, many of them workers who dont have any other way to get to and from their jobs. For most of us, though, riding around in closed spaces with strangers hasnt been a risk worth taking.

Now here I was, tapping my old card on the turnstile reader, elated by the familiar ping that confirmed, Yes, you do have money left on this card!

I hiked up the familiar, grungy stairs toward a promising patch of sky.

Then there was Chicago, the way you can see it only from an elevated train platform, looking not so different than it had a year ago. There were wooden porches and brick chimneys and old wooden stairs, flat roofs and sloping roofs, the peeling paint of old turrets, graffiti etched so high on walls it was hard to imagine how it got there. Out on the horizon, beyond the tops of bare trees, stretched Chicagos skyscrapers.

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I hadnt waited long when the train rumbled up from the distance, headlights on, looking just like I remembered. The metal doors opened with the familiar ruckus. The train set off down the tracks with a familiar clatter.

Only four other people were in the car. They sat far apart. All of us were masked. I glanced down at the blue seat in front of me. Someone had etched a uniquely male body part into the plastic.

Yes, the L was still the L. The pandemic hadnt changed everything.

But if the ride felt familiar, it didnt feel the same. The train rocked past theaters and restaurants where Id once gone; they were now closed temporarily or forever. Cars passed in the streets below, but not as many as there used to be.

After Id been riding for a while, a male voice announced, Doors open on the right at Merchandise Mart. I was glad to recognize his voice. But when the doors opened and two of the passengers in my car got off, no one got on. The platform at that usually busy stop was empty.

Same thing at the next stop. From there, I rode alone.

From the L, I could see through the upper windows of Loop buildings, which helped to explain the empty platforms. In a few windows, the lights were on and bodies moved around at a distance from each other.

But many offices, places once bustling with people, now sat dark, their indoor window ledges resembling still lifes from a vanished time: pens crowded in coffee cups, bottles of lotion, staplers, objects that probably hadnt felt a human hand in a year.

And chairs. In those empty offices sat so many chairs. Beautiful, ergonomic chairs pushed up against desks or arranged around conference tables. Empty chairs. Waiting chairs. Chairs that hadnt felt a human derriere in a year.

Eventually, the train pulled into the Washington and Wabash stop, where in a pre-pandemic age I would have gotten off to go to work. Now through the L window, I watched the stop fade into the distance as the train clattered on. In my empty L car, I headed home, fully vaccinated though not fully liberated, glad that Id gone to visit the waiting city.
All doses of Covishield vaccine from first batch to be used only for first vaccination  Liashko

All 500,000 doses of the Indian-made Covishield (AstraZeneca) vaccine, which arrived in Ukraine as part of the first batch at the end of February, will be used only for the first vaccination, Deputy Health Minister of Ukraine Viktor Liashko said during a press briefing in Kyiv in Friday.

"Due to the change in the strategy of using the first batch of Covishield vaccine, all 500,000 doses will be used for the first vaccination against COVID-19. The Covishield vaccine from subsequent deliveries will be used for booster vaccination. According to the updated plan, the second vaccination will not be given earlier than May 20," Liashko said.

As reported, the first batch of 500,000 doses of Oxford/AstraZeneca (Covishield) vaccine was delivered to Ukraine on the morning of February 23.

On February 25, the vaccination of medical workers started in Ukraine. In addition to them, Health Minister of Health Maksym Stepanov and President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky were also vaccinated.
[March 26, 2021] Getir Becomes A Unicorn with $2.6bn Valuation

ISTANBUL, March 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Getir, pioneers of ultrafast grocery delivery, have completed a $300mn Series C funding round just two months after finalizing its $128mn Series B round. The Series C round was led by Sequoia Capital and repeat investor Tiger Global. The investment round included 7 out of 8 existing funds. Istanbul-based Getir have revolutionized the grocery delivery sector and its new valuation of $2.6bn means that it has achieved 'unicorn' status in just 5 and a half years. The latest capital injection will support its exponential growth in Turkey and the UK and its rapid expansion strategy into three more European markets in the coming months. Getir began its international expansion by entering the UK market in January 2021 by launching in London's Zones 1&2. Within two months Londoners have quickly embraced the service. The tech company also plans t expand into three more European markets - Germany, France, The Netherlands - reaching a total of five markets within six months of its international debut.



"We began in 2015 with the vision to disrupt how people get their groceries. Every month, we deliver a variety of 1,500 products to millions of people in Turkey in an average of 10 minutes. Thanks to the interest in our groundbreaking business model, we had the opportunity to finalize a Series C round only two months after our Series B. We have now raised $300mn and will use the investment for our ambitious European expansion. We are glad to announce that we have become the fastest Turkish unicorn. And in the coming months we will also start operating in Germany, France and the Netherlands. Once the spread of the COVID-19 virus settles we also intend to start operating in Brazil," says Getir Founder, Nazim Salur. About Getir

Getir is the ultrafast delivery pioneer. The tech company, based in Istanbul, has revolutionized last-mile delivery with its 10-minute grocery delivery proposition. Getir delivers a selection of 1,500 everyday items to its customers in minutes, 7 days a week, day and night. Getir, which has launched operations in London as of January 2021 also has sub-brands - GetirFood, GetirMore and GetirWater. Getir is, first and foremost, a technology company that operates in retail and logistics. It was founded in 2015 by Nazim Salur (founder of BiTaksi, Turkey's leading taxi app), Serkan Borancili (founder of GittiGidiyor which was acquired by eBay in 2011) and Tuncay Tutek (ex-PepsiCo and P&G executive in Europe & the Middle East). View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/getir-becomes-a-unicorn-with-2-6bn-valuation-301256950.html SOURCE Getir

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Ahead of todays Senate Banking Committee hearing to discuss the implementation of the American Rescue Plan and the coronavirus pandemic, NAFCU Vice President of Legislative Affairs Brad Thaler called on the committee to consider several tools to help credit unions serve their members as the nation works toward recovery from the crisis.

In the letter sent Wednesday, Thaler reiterated the associations call for the extension or expansion of key provisions from past relief efforts, including the Small Business Administrations (SBA) paycheck protection program and 7(a) loan program, parity in deposit insurance provisions, making permanent changes to increase access to the NCUAs Central Liquidity Facility (CLF); and relief from the current expected credit loss (CECL) standard.

Thaler also outlined several measures that would assist credit unions as they continue to step up to help their communities amid the crisis, including:
American tourists - chafing at social distancing rules, impatient over the rollout of coronavirus vaccines - are surging back to Cancun.

William Cruz can't decide whether to welcome them, or worry about a new wave of coronavirus cases.

"Should gringos come here?" asked the father of two. who waits tables in the city's popular tourist district.

He knows he needs them, desperately.

He was forced to close a beer store he owned after revenue collapsed last year. Does he want outsiders to come to Cancun?

Cruz answers his own question. At first, he says, "I'd say no . . . because you risk infecting your family and us."

Then he thinks about what it would mean to lose yet another job. "So, let them come," he said, laughing at the contradiction. "What I think most about is the money, to bring something back home."

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has encouraged Americans to avoid all travel to Mexico. More than 2 million coronavirus cases have been detected so far in the country, and Mexico has the third-highest covid-19 death toll in the world.

Under Mexico's four-stage "stoplight" color-coded system, the state of Quintana Roo is considered phase yellow. Hotels and restaurants are allowed to open, but at 60% capacity, and nightclubs are required to be closed entirely.

But with tourists who seem to want to keep partying, economic pressures make it hard for Cancun to contemplate turning visitors away.

Tourism accounts for 87% of the state's gross domestic product. "So, if anything happens to tourism, it happens to all of us," said Marisol Vanegas, tourism secretary for Quintana Roo.

The city saw more than 6 million tourists in 2019. That number dropped to nearly half in 2020, as countries locked down because of the pandemic, Vanegas said.

But the tourists are back this year, with Vanegas projecting 5 million arrivals in 2021.

Many of those visitors are Americans, according to Vanegas, with visitors from Texas topping the list.

"The reason is that North Americans cannot travel to Europe," Vanegas said. "Many of the airlines are redirecting flights, as an alternative, to Cancun."

The economic boom poses a health hazard for workers, especially in some crowded nightclubs along Kukulcan Boulevard that remain open by serving food, thus technically qualifying as restaurant-bars.

Rigoberto Trujillo, 32, a security guard at a nightclub on the tourist strip, says he worries about catching the virus but that he is even more worried about not having work.

His hours were cut to a few days a week during the early days of the pandemic. With the spring break influx, he is back to full time.But his fear of the virus remains.

"We try to provide a good service," he said. "I want that service to continue being that way, so I have to take care of myself as well." Every night he changes out of his work clothes before entering his home and then takes a shower before greeting his family.

On a recent evening, spring break revelers - many unmasked - packed a popular nightclub on Kukulcan Boulevard. Masked security guards patted down maskless tourists before they joined at least 100 others.

Scantily clad dancers performed in feather-plumed headdresses and bedazzled face masks. When the show was over, house music blasted and revelers flooded the dance floor. Masked waiters passed through the crowd with trays of drinks.

Across the street, hundreds of partyers lined up to see an indoor cabaret show. A representative for the club said the arena holds 1,500 people and is operating at 40 percent capacity.

The state government has strictly enforced partial capacity at restaurants across the state, and hotels maintain limited capacity - some businesses were shut down after flouting the measures.

But it seems this party strip of clubs in Cancun has found a way around the restrictions.

The nightclubs, packed with tourists, have not escaped Miriam Cortes, the president of the Vacation Club Association of Quintana Roo.

"Authorities have failed to act despite having all the evidence. It's not like it's hidden; you walk down the street and you see it. You see it every single day," she said of the clubs teeming with tourists. "We're outraged."

She said she is concerned about service industry workers in compromised conditions. "But we are also worried about people being able to eat," she said. International tourists returning to some countries, such as the United States, are required to show a negative test before boarding their flights home.

And when an international traveler tests positive for the coronavirus in Cancun, many hotels promise to provide a two-week quarantine stay free. But the quarantine is not strictly enforced - and even some testing has come into question.

In one case in Cancun, nearly two weeks ago, an unaccredited lab was found to have given faulty coronavirus tests to 44 Argentine tourists.

Mexican authorities stated the tourists provided negative tests before boarding a plane to Argentina. When they arrived to their destination, the tourists were administered another test and all 44 resulted positive for covid.

Ellie Langdon, a 19-year-old college student from Minnesota, had visited one of the clubs in the party strip the night before. She said the restrictions in the United States are overblown.

"If I'm not sick, I'm not going to put my whole life on hold," she said. "You should come here. And you should have the best time and get your money's worth because it's vacation and you're not going to come to Cancun and not live it up."

She didn't plan to quarantine when she returned home.

Anthony Rega, a 43-year-old New Jersey mortgage broker on vacation with a friend, said he too visited the clubs on the strip. "Everybody was on top of each other there," he said of partyers not observing social distancing.

He said he didn't see the need to quarantine for two weeks, as long as he did not feel ill.

"If I feel OK after a day or two - obviously I got a negative test coming home - I'm going to think it's clear sailing from there."
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 26)  The Inter-Agency Task Force has allowed once-a-day indoor religious gatherings, with attendance limited to 10% of seating capacity of churches from April 1 (Holy Thursday) to 4 (Easter Sunday), Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said Friday.

Kinakailangang sundin ang maximum indoor seating capacity sa lahat ng oras, Roque said in a briefing.

[Translation: The maximum indoor seating capacity should be followed at all times.]

He said church groups should implement the following measures against COVID-19 during the period:

-No gatherings or conduct of religious activities outside the place of worship

-The use of audio-video screens or public address systems outside the church mass/worship service is being celebrated shall be prohibited

-Live singing, if any, shall be strictly limited while recorded singing is encouraged

Roque urged religious groups to set up a system that would allow devotees to reserve slots for in-person attendance in churches to ensure that capacity limits are complied with.

The official said local units of the Philippine National Police and barangay officials should monitor the implementation of these guidelines.

Fr. Genaro Diwa, an official of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines, assured Friday they will comply with the IATF rules.

The priest also said there will only be one cantor for all the celebrations that will be permitted for churches during the Holy Week.

"We issued this instruction to all the parishes," he said in a briefing.

Other devotees could join religious services remotely amid the "instability of the health situation" in the country, he added.

Speaking to CNN Philippines' Newsroom Ngayon, CBCP Executive Secretary Fr. Jerome Secillano said this "once-a-day" religious event does not literally mean only one mass will be held. He explained this refers to the mass wherein only 10% will be allowed to enter churches, while other celebrations will be streamed using social media platforms.

On contact tracing, he said some churches are implementing online registration, while others do it manually or prior to entry to the establishment itself.

Secillano also reminded the faithful who will go to churches to follow minim health standards. He also said there are alternative ways to celebrate the Holy Week while ensuring one's safety.

The IATF decision came after Bishop Broderick Pabillo of the Manila archdiocese asked the IATF to clarify rules on mass gatherings in areas under the NCR Plus 'bubble.' Those put in a bubble until April 4 to tackle the surge in new COVID-19 cases are Metro Manila, Cavite, Rizal, Laguna, and Bulacan.

Pabillo announced in his pastoral instruction on March 23 that in-person worship for a small number of devotees is allowed in churches and parishes in the Archdiocese of Manila starting March 24. He said only 10% of the venue size must be filled. On the same day, Malacanang asked Pabillo not to encourage the Catholic faithful to violate protocols amid the ban on religious gatherings in the NCR Plus.
Pfizer Inc and German partner BioNTech SE began testing their COVID-19 vaccine in children under 12, with hopes of expanding vaccination to that age range by early 2022, the US drugmaker said on Thursday. The first volunteers in the early-stage trial were given their first injections on Wednesday, Pfizer spokesperson Sharon Castillo said.

The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine was authorized by US regulators in late December for people age 16 and older. Nearly 66 million doses of the vaccine had been administered in the United States as of Wednesday morning, according to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The pediatric trial, which will include children as young as 6 months, follows a similar one launched by Moderna Inc last week. Only the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is being used in 16- and 17-year-olds in the United States. Moderna's shot was cleared for those age 18 and older, and no COVID-19 vaccine has been authorized in younger kids yet.

Pfizer and BioNTech plan to initially test the safety of their two-shot vaccine at three different dosages - 10, 20 and 30 micrograms - in a 144-participant Phase I/II trial. They plan to later expand to a 4,500-participant late-stage trial in which they will test the safety, tolerability and immune response generated by the vaccine, likely by measuring antibody levels in the young subjects.

Castillo said the companies hope to have data from the trial in the second half of 2021. Meanwhile, Pfizer has been testing the vaccine in children from age 12 to 15. The company expects to have data from that trial in the coming weeks, Castillo said.

Also read: India puts AstraZeneca vaccine exports on hold as COVID-19 infections rise
The first shipping of the Chinese-made CoronaVac vaccine arrives at Mexico City International Airport in Mexico on Feb. 20, 2021. (Hector Vivas/Getty Images)

Beijings Vaccine Diplomacy Part of Long Term Influence Campaign Against US and Its Neighbors: Experts

The Chinese regime has stepped up its vaccine diplomacy push around the world, with about 80 countries and three international organizations signing up to receive China-made vaccines, according to Chinese authorities.

These efforts are an extension of a long-running campaign by Beijing to increase its influence around the globe, experts say. Internal documents obtained by The Epoch Times also detail how the regime has previously sought to sway elites in the United States, Central, and South American through front groups.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping delivered a video speech to the Colombian people at the invitation of Colombian President Ivan Duque, when the third batch of COVID-19 vaccines provided by China arrived on March 20.

David Castrillon, a professor at the Externado University of Colombia and member of the Colombia-China Friendship Association, told Chinese state-run media Xinhua, The vaccine is essential for the economy of our country. We have a very weak economy at the moment due to COVID-19.

State-run CCTVs program broadcasts the third batch of Chinese COVID-19 vaccines arrive in Colombia on March 20, 2020. (Screenshot from CCTV)

Days ago, Adm. Craig S. Faller, commander of U.S. Southern Command, warned members of the Senate Armed Services Committee about Chinas heavy-handed vaccine diplomacy in Latin America and the Caribbean during the pandemic.

[China] theyre using vaccines to leverage deals for their 5G, and theyre using it to drive a wedge between some nations in the region, Faller said on March 16.

China was eroding U.S. influence in the region, he added.

Exclusive: The Role of Chinese Chambers of Commerce in the US

Internal documents (pdf) obtained by The Epoch Times show that the CCP has been penetrating the United States for years through Chinese civil organizations. It also has been active in influencing countries in Central and South America.

In mid-May 2016, the American Chinese Commerce Development Association (ACCDA), a U.S. civil organization, invited the Embrace China art troupe of nine members to tour Los Angeles and Sao Paulo, Brazil, for cultural performances.

The troupe was led by Zhao Jihong, vice president of the Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese (FROC) Liaoning Province.

The Liaoning FROC is under the direct leadership of the Liaoning Provincial Committee of the CCP. It is also a member of the All China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese (AFROC).

AFROC is one of the four main agencies of the United Front Work Department (UFWD), according to an investigation by Clive Hamilton, author of Silent Invasion.

The website of the ACCDA (www.usccda.org) is now defunct.

According to the Internet Archives backup pages, the ACCDA ties closely to Chinese embassies and consulates, suggesting a link to the UFWD.

The CCPs united front system is subject to influence organizations outside the party, particularly those representing civil society, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute reported in June 2020.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping called the United Front one of the Partys magic weapons. By expanding the United Front, the department carries out foreign political infiltration, suppresses dissident movements, gathers intelligence, and facilitates the technology transfer to China.

On Nov. 20, 2014, Honorary Adviser of ACCDA Chiu PuiYIP was invited to attend former President Barack Obamas immigration reform plan conference in Washington, the Internet Archive shows.

Former President Barack Obama meets representatives of ACCDA in Washington, on Nov. 20, 2014. (Screenshot from Internet Archive)

On Feb. 11, 2015, the ACCDA joined a Chinese New Year reception hosted by the Chinese Consulate General in New York. Both Li Xiong, Executive Vice President of the ACCDA, and Consulate General of the Chinese Consulate General in New York Zhang Qiyue attended the reception.

The 2016 invitation letter sent to the Liaoning FROCs performance group was issued by Li Xiong. The document reveals that ACCDA would cover food, accommodation, travel, and reception expenses for the troupe during the five-day visit.

The Epoch Times reached out to ACCDA for comment on their relationship to the UFWD and their role in Chinas global expansion.

Many overseas Chinese communities, student bodies have long been accused of being engaging in the CCPs influence efforts.

Newsweek reported in October 2020 that over 600 U.S. groups were branches of the United Front Organizations manipulated by the CCP, exerting influence on the United States. These include hometown associations, chambers of commerce, friendship associations, Chinese language media, Chinese students and scholars associations, and Beijing-backed Confucius Institutes.

Influence in the USs Back Yard

Neighbors of the United States are threatened by Beijings attempts at subversion, shown from internal documents.

On March 11, Faller described Chinas growing influence in Southcom as a concerning trend.

Beijing now has 29 government exchange programs with Latin America and the Caribbean, and continues to expand offers of professional military education, equipment donations, and funding for infrastructure projects, Faller said in written testimony (pdf).

In Mexico, the Zhonghua Business Association (Zhonghua Mexico), made up of Chinese companies, entrepreneurs, and business groups, has facilitated Chinese officials visits and exchange events since it was founded in 2010.

The independent, autonomous, and self-sustainable association is officially registered with the Chinese Embassy in Mexico and the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office, implying that it falls under the leadership of the UFWD.

The association lists several activities online that involved interaction with the Chinese government.

For example, on June 3, 2019, the government of Zhongshan city, a Chinese city in Guangdong Province, held an investment and economic promotion event in Mexico, which was hosted by the local Zhonghua Mexico.

The Sichuan Province FROC visited Zhonghua Mexico on June 27, 2019. A meeting of overseas Chinese leaders was held at the associations office.

On July 30, 2019, Zhonghua Mexico, the Mexican Chinese Youth United Association, the Mexican Zhejiang Chamber of Commerce, and the Mexican Wenzhou Chamber of Commerce were invited to attend the reception of the 92nd anniversary of the founding of the CCPs army, Peoples Liberation Army, held by the Chinese Embassy in Mexico.

On August 24, 2019, a delegation from the government of Taishan City visited Zhonghua Mexico. Leaders of Zhonghua Mexico, the Mexican Chinese Youth United Association, and the Mexican Canton Chamber of Commerce received the delegation at the associations office.

On Dec. 16, 2019, a Shandong economic and trade delegation visited Zhonghua Mexico, hosted by President Jin Jiachi and Ye Tianhui, the president of the Zhejiang Chamber of Commerce in Mexico.

The Epoch Times reached out to Zhonghua Mexico for comment.

Current affairs commentator Li Linyi told the Chinese-language Epoch Times that from Colombia to Mexico, Beijing was stepping up its infiltration and has invaded the backyard of the United States.

He considers Xis speech to Colombia as a direct provocation to the United States by publicly exaggerating Chinas influence through vaccine diplomacy in Central and South America.

The Biden administrations non-conflict policy towards the Chinese regime was taken advantage of, Li said.
TORONTO, ON, March 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Honey Badger Silver Inc. (TUF TSX:V), the silver-focused mineral company based in Toronto, Canada with an extensive portfolio of interests in the Thunder Bay Cobalt-Silver District and in southeast and south central Yukon, today announced that Chad Williams, Chairman, will present live at VirtualInvestorConferences.com on March 31st.

DATE: March 31st.

TIME: 4pm ET

LINK: https://bit.ly/2O4IcXP

This will be a live, interactive online event where investors are invited to ask the company questions in real-time. If attendees are not able to join the event live on the day of the conference, an archived webcast will also be made available after the event.

It is recommended that investors pre-register and run the online system check to expedite participation and receive event updates.

Learn more about the event at www.virtualinvestorconferences.com.

Honey Badger Silver Inc.

Honey Badger Silver is a Canadian silver company based in Toronto, Ontario focused on the acquisition, development and integration of accretive transactions of silver ounces. The company is led by a highly experienced leadership with a track record of value creation backed by a skilled technical team. With a dominant land position in Ontario's historic Thunder Bay Silver District and advanced projects in southeast and south-central Yukon, Honey Badger Silver is positioning to be a top tier silver producer.

About Virtual Investor Conferences

Virtual Investor Conferences (VIC) is the leading proprietary investor conference series that provides an interactive forum for publicly-traded companies to meet and present directly with investors.



A real-time solution for investor engagement, Virtual Investor Conferences is part of OTC Market Group's suite of investor relations services specifically designed for more efficient Investor Access. Replicating the look and feel of on-site investor conferences, Virtual Investor Conferences combine leading-edge conferencing and investor communications capabilities with a comprehensive global investor audience network.

SOURCE VirtualInvestorConferences.com

Related Links

http://www.virtualinvestorconferences.com


Nairobi  Kenya announced tight restrictions Friday, in measures aimed at curbing the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic after the third wave swept the country with unprecedented infections and deaths since February.

In issuing the new restrictions, President Uhuru Kenyatta declared the five counties of Nairobi, Machakos, Kiambu, Kajiado and Nakuru COVID-19 infected regions wihich require tough restrictions.

Effectively, he said, "there shall be a cessation of movement int and out of the five counties effective Saturday until further notice."

And he ordered bars to remain closed in the affected counties with restaurants only allowed to have take-aways.

He said the action was prompted by the rise in coronavirus infections which had shot up ten times higher in the past one month.
Its been more than a year since watching a movie in theaters didnt come with caveats, mask mandates and concerns about ventilation.

But with vaccine distribution under way, some theaters and movie studios are announcing their plans to return to a more familiar business model. These plans come after Governor Tom Wolf put COVID-19 restrictions in place in December due to rapidly rising infection rates, closing theaters across the state from Dec. 12 through Jan. 4.

One major theater chain in our region, Regal Cinemas, has announced that they will begin reopening in April. The chain closed the doors of their theaters in October, but at least one in our area wont be reopening at all - the Great Escape theater at the Harrisburg Mall closed its doors for good in October when the lease was terminated.

The reopening of more than 500 Regal locations will come in two phases. Some will open April 2, to coincide with the release of Warner Bros. big-budget monster mash-up, Godzilla vs. Kong.

Other Regal locations will reopen a few weeks later, on April 16, just in time for the violent video game adaptation of Mortal Kombat. And while Regals parent company Cineworld has not yet announced all of the theaters that will reopen or on which dates, some of that information has been made available on their website.

In our area, those locations include Regal Harrisburg, 1500 Caughey Drive, Harrisburg; Regal Lebanon Valley, 2200 Lebanon Valley Mall Road, Lebanon; Regal Manor, 1246 Millersville Pike, Lancaster; and Regal West Manchester, 455 Town Center Drive, York. As of now, none of those locations reopening dates have been announced.

Regals announcement comes not long after AMC announced that they planned to have 99 percent of their theaters reopened by March 26. The company was at one point at risk of bankruptcy during the pandemic, but announced earlier this year that, thanks to the actions of investors, the cinema chain is no longer in danger of such a move.

AMC Classic Camp Hill 12 at 3431 Simpson Ferry Road in Camp Hill, AMC Classic Hampden 8 at 4950 Carlisle Pike in Mechanicsburg, AMC Classic Selingsgrove 12 at the Susquehanna Valley Mall in Selinsgrove and AMC Fairgrounds 10 in Reading all have showtimes listed for March 26.

Several other theaters in our region have either remained in operation since the January reopening, or will be resuming this weekend. Penn Cinema 14 in Lititz, Reel Cinemas Lancaster, Carlisle Commons Movies 8, Queensgate Movies 13 in York, Hanover Movies 16, The New Main in Ephrata, Gateway Theater 8 in Gettysburg, Reading Movies 11 all have showings scheduled for March 26 and into the weekend.

But lest we forget, we are still in the throes of a pandemic. All theaters require masks for patrons and are still operating at a limited capacity. Conditions have changed a bit since we examined movie theaters reopening at the end of August last year, with more and more people receiving one of the several COVID-19 vaccines every day. But the risk of transmission is still a grave one, even potentially among those who have been vaccinated, and new variants of the disease are also a possibility that may make transmission even easier.

There are also theaters such as the Midtown Cinema in Harrisburg that are operating only with private screenings. Theaters can be rented for groups of ten or fewer, and movies can be selected from the cinemas library. More info can be found here for Midtown Cinema.

For those who want to enjoy movies but still arent ready to risk watching in a theater, many studios have announced that their upcoming releases will also have a simultaneous release on a streaming platform such as HBO Max. HBO Max subscribers will not have to pay extra for these first-run streaming releases, either. More info on their upcoming release schedule or how to subscribe can be found here.

Disney has announced that the next installment of their Marvel Cinematic Universe, Black Widow, is coming to Disney Plus as well as a theatrical release on July 9. But while shell be in good company with her Avenger buddies new Disney Plus exclusive series, WandaVision and Falcon and the Winter Soldier, subscribers will still need to pay a $30 early-access fee to rent the film in July.

However, Disney Plus will see several of their upcoming releases, such as the Pixar film Luca scheduled for June 18, debut on the streaming platform with no extra fee.

For more info on showtimes for upcoming theaters in our area, visit Fandango.com.
Patna, March 26 : Two minor children within the age group of 9 to 12 years were found dead in the outskirts of the Bihar capital, an official said on Friday. Three people were arrested in connection to the crime.

Patna police said that three people -- two sons and their step mother were arrested in connection with the Neura village incident. They have confessed to the crime.

The deceased were identified as Anish Kumar, 12, and Shivam Kumar, 9.

The official said that the minor children were kidnapped three days ago and their dead bodies were found in two jute bags at Sone Canal adjoining to Punpun river and Dharai Chak village under Janipur police station on Friday morning.

The deceased's father Vinod Kumar said that he has two marriages and he was living with the second wife. His first wife Sunita Devi and her two sons Saurabh Kumar and Gulshan Kumar were into property dispute with him.

Vinod further alleged that one Harendra Singh is also involved in the murder of his two minor children.

"Sunita Devi and her sons were demanding more properties from Vinod Kumar which the latter refused. Vinod had already given half of his property to Sunita Devi.

As per the confession of the accused, they kidnapped Anish and Shivam on Tuesday and killed them. After the murder, they stuffed their bodies in two separate jute bags and threw them at two different places with the motive to mislead police," said an investigating officer of Neura police station requested anonymity.

"As per preliminary investigation, the dead bodies were found in semi decomposed stage. Hence, it is extremely hard to find out how they were murdered. We are waiting for post mortem report to ascertain the same," said Danapur SDPO Vineet Kumar.

The interrogation of the accused was currently underway. The involvement of one more person is being suspected. Hunt is on to nab that person," the officer said.
Addition of free trade agreements opens up potential for more countries to cooperate in textiles. Photo: Le Toan

This year, Vietnams textile and apparel industry stands ready to sell more than the previous year. The Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (VITAS) forecasts that the industry will reach about $37-38 billion, up from $35.3 billion in 2020, but will continue to face difficulties due to the impacts of COVID-19.

Restructuring had been the major goal in the transition of Duc Giang Garment Corporation in 2020 in the midst of disrupted global supply chains and stagnating orders for the textile and garment industry during the first two quarters of the year. However, the company has put its faith into plans to develop four research and development centres, two online sales centres, and several sales and showrooms.

The company earlier this year emphasised the scale of its ambitions and announced it would step up trade promotion, focus on key customers, seek new ones, and strongly develop the domestic market, aiming to increase by 11 per cent to reach a revenue of VND2.3 trillion ($100 million) and pre-tax profit of VND35 billion ($1.5 million), up 40 per cent compared to 2020.

General director Vu Duc Giang said the corporation had acceptable business results in 2020 as revenues reached VND2.1 trillion ($91 million), with exports making up $72 million of this and a profit of around VND25 billion ($1.08 million). However, Giang also noted that the complicated development of the pandemic will remain a great challenge.

Last year, Vietnams textile and garment industrys gross output decreased by 22 per cent over the previous year. According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the export value of the industry has shown signs of recovery since June thanks to the increased demand from major export markets such as the United States and Europe.

In a report published in early March, VNDIRECT Securities Company found that only a few companies changed production lines in a timely manner, while most of them were heavily affected by the pandemic. VNDIRECT estimates that the total revenues of 2020 of listed textile and garment companies decreased by 15.1 per cent while net profits plummeted by 20.9 per cent over the previous year.

Nguyen Duc Hao, an analyst at VNDIRECT, said that some textile enterprises have converted a part of their production lines to medical masks and personal protective equipment, thereby partly compensating for the decline in sales.

Vietnams mask production capacity for exports is already very large, and Hao believed that after satisfying the domestic demand, products can be exported, with Vietnam having the potential to become the worlds new hub for the export of facemasks.

Positive forecasts are now covering the worldwide market. According to the Global Textile and Garment Market report, the total global demand is expected to increase from $594 billion in 2020 to $654 billion by the end of 2021, up 10.1 per cent. This growth comes mainly from rearranged production lines and a gradual recovery from the pandemic.

VNDIRECT expects the export turnover of Vietnams textile and garment industry in 2021 to recover according to the prospects of economic recovery in major export markets such as the US, the EU, Japan, and South Korea.

The securities company estimated that textile export value will increase 6.2 per cent on-year to $6.8 billion in the first quarter of 2021 due to strong pent-up demand in countries such as China, the US, and South Korea.

Many free trade agreements (FTAs) that Vietnam participates in is the driving force for its textile and apparel industry in the long term. However, fabric production is still a bottleneck for the industry as it must comply with the requirements of the FTAs on product origin.

For instance, the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership requires the application of the three-stage principle of spinning, weaving, and sewing to be implemented in CPTPP member countries.

Meanwhile, the EU-Vietnam FTA (EVFTA) imposes a technical requirement called fabric onwards and prohibits the use of fabrics originating from certain locations in China. Since Vietnam has to import most of the fabric from China, which accounts for 58 per cent of the total value of Vietnams fabric imports, it will cause certain difficulties.

VNDIRECTs Hao realised that producers will need time to develop the proper production chain to meet the initial rules, but the EVFTA will have a positive impact on the textile industry in the long run.

The dependence on raw materials from China, Hao said, could be resolved by cooperating with other countries in the region. For example, an online trade conference between the Vietnam Trade Office in India and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Indian Importers was held in December.

According to the Apparel Export Promotion Council of India, the countrys businesses are considering investment into textile and garment with Vietnam to promote the development of the domestic industry.

Meanwhile, Vietnam has negotiated with EU countries on a provision allowing domestic businesses to add the origin of textile and garment materials imported from South Korea and other countries that have signed an FTA with the EU to their textile products.

In addition, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) could become a double-edged sword for fabric and yarn manufacturing, Hao commented.

The RCEP, signed in November between six ASEAN member countries and five non-ASEAN countries, creates a market of 2.2 billion consumers. With it, Vietnam will enter a wider market with less stringent commitments than within the EVFTA and the CPTPP.

VNDIRECT thus still expects the RCEP to support textile businesses to reduce input costs as fabric export taxes from China are reduced from 10 to 2 per cent. It projected that the cost of goods sold in the garment segment will decrease by 5-5.5 per cent.
An effigy of Twitter CEO, Jack Dorsey (C), dressed as a January 6, 2021, insurrectionist is placed near the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on March 25, 2021 (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Big Tech bosses were branded smug and untouchable as they were grilled by lawmakers in the congressional hearing over social media disinformation.

Facebooks Mark Zuckerberg, Googles Sundar Pichai and Twitters Jack Dorsey appeared before a House committee for the first time since the Capitol riot on 6 January.

The CEOs appeared by video to answer questions about the role their platforms played in the pro-Trump insurrection, with the lawmakers suggesting it was an event that showed a need for greater regulation.

Mike Doyle, the chair of the Energy and Commerce Committee started the hearing by asking all three executives if they felt responsibility for the violence that was unleashed on the Capitol.

None of the three men was willing to give Mr Doyle that answer.

Read more:

Smug

Republican congressman Bill Johnson from Ohio became combative with the three executives during his five minutes of questioning.

Mr Johnson, who was among 12 Republican members of the committee who voted to overturn Joe Bidens election win, compared the tech companies to tobacco firms, and said they were equally dangerous to society.

Big Tech is essentially handing our children a lit cigarette and hoping they will stay hooked for life, said Mr Johnson.

He then asked the businessmen if they should be held accountable to Congress and the American public for how they run their companies.

All three men replied that they already believed they were being held accountable, an answer that Mr Johnson did not care for.

Gentlemen, let me tell you this. Theres a lot of smugness among you. Theres an air of untouchableness in your responses to many of the tough questions youre being asked, he told them.

Story continues

Instagram for kids

Mark Zuckerberg confirmed that Facebook was looking to create an Instagram for under 13s, but insisted that it was still early in thinking through how the product would work.

Clearly there is a a large number of kids under 13 who would want to use Instagram and we currently do not let them do that, said Mr Zuckerberg.

Helping people stay connected with friends, learning about different content online is broadly positive. I think that something like this could be very helpful.

Currently Instagram requires users to verify theIr age and anyone under 13 is not eligible for an account.

Any new Facebook service would join Youtube Kids, which Mr Zuckerberg said he enjoyed using with his daughters, who are three and five.

Section 230

Congress, and Joe Biden, appears broadly in favour of getting rid of Section 230, which protects the legal liability of platforms for their users.

Mr Zuckerberg has proposed that Congress should require internet platforms to earn liability immunity.

Instead of being granted immunity, platforms should be required to demonstrate that they have systems in place for identifying unlawful content and removing it, he wrote ahead of the hearing.

But Mr Dorsey and Mr Pichai both did not go that far in supporting that level of change, with Mr Dorsey saying it would be difficult to differentiate between a small and large internet platform.

Yes or No

Lawmakers were focused on getting the three executives to answer yes or no questions throughout the hearing.

So much so that Mr Dorsey took to Twitter during it to pose a yes/no poll of his own, and within two hours had more than 65,000 votes, with yes receiving more than 65 per cent of the vote.

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Frustrated members of the committee regularly cut off the three men when they refused to give a one word answer to their question.

Let me just say this, and its I think its irritating all of us, and that is that no one seems to know the word yes or the word no, said Representative Anna G Eshoo.

Spanish

All three executives were asked about the Spanish-language misinformation that appeared on their platforms, particularly on Facebook.

Lawmakers cited a study by the human rights group Avaaz, which stated that 70 per cent of Spanish-language misinformation had not been labelled as such by Facebooks fact checkers, compared with 30 per cent of English-language misinformation.

False claims about vaccines have been cited as a reason why Latinos have been getting vaccinated at a low rate, according to The Washington Post.

Mr Zuckerberg did not answer a question about how much the company spent on dealign with Spanish-language misinformation compared to English-language.

Oversight

The three CEOs were asked by Vermont lawmaker Peter Welch if they thought a new federal agency should be created to oversee their industry.

Politicians from both parties have called for greater regulation of the tech industry in recent years and the federal government has launched antitrust investigations into both Google and Facebook.

Mr Zuckerberg said that he was supportive of the idea.

Ive said a number of times that I think that private companies should not be making so many decisions alone, said Mr Zuckerberg.

And I think that the solution that youre talking about could be very effective and positive.

Mr Pichai said he would defer to Congress on the establishment of any new agency and Mr Dorsey said he would need to look at the specifics of any plan.
[March 25, 2021] AMEC Wisetron and DAS Environmental Expert GmbH Reach Strategic Cooperation Agreement

SHANGHAI, March 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- AMEC Wisetron Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd (AMEC Wisetron), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment Inc. China (AMEC, SSE Stock Code: 688012), and DAS Environmental Expert GmbH (DAS) signed a strategic cooperation agreement that aims to explore close cooperation in the field of exhaust gas treatment equipment in the semiconductor industry, and jointly promote the development of the environmental technology industry. Dr. Gerald Yin, Chairman and CEO of AMEC, Yidong Zhang, Vice President of AMEC and General Manager of AMEC Wisetron, Rene Reichardt, CEO of DAS, Guy Davies, Director of Global Business Development of DAS, Maximilian Lilienthal, CFO of DAS, Bin Wu, Sales Director CN of DAS, Shao Li, Director BUC CN of DAS and other representatives from both sides attended the signing ceremony. The two parties conducted in-depth discussions on the future development of exhaust gas treatment equipment in the semiconductor industry and reached an agreement on project cooperation. Registered and established in December 2014 in Lingang, Shanghai, AMEC Wisetron specializes in R&D, manufacturing and sales in environmental protection and renewable energy sector in pan-semiconductor industry. Leveraging AMEC's technology expertise in the field of pan-semiconductor equipment manufacturing, AMEC Wisetron will provide localized manufacturing services for the exhaust gas treatment equipment of DAS. Headquartered in Dresden, Germany, DAS is an environmental technology company that specializes in challenging exhaust gas treatment and industrial and domestic wastewater treatment in high-tech prouction. Under the strategic cooperation framework with AMEC Wisetron, DAS will be mainly responsible for product sales and after-sales services. In the future, AMEC Wisetron and DAS will also seek deeper cooperation in local product development.



At the signing ceremony, Dr. Gerald Yin, Chairman and CEO of AMEC, and Rene Reichardt, CEO of DAS, delivered speeches respectively. "As an important part of AMEC's growth strategy, AMEC Wisetron has made a lot of positive progress in new business such as VOC and exhaust gas treatment equipment in recent years." Said Dr. Gerald Yin, Chairman and CEO of AMEC. "DAS is a recognized global leader with solid technology foundation in the field of waste gas and wastewater treatment equipment. We are pleased to cooperate with DAS, as it will be mutually beneficial and win-win for both of us in the high-tech field. As a pioneer in pan-semiconductor equipment manufacturing sector in China, AMEC Wisetron will enhance development with DAS together. We look forward to showcasing our capabilities as the partnership progresses in resource sharing, technology expertise and market exploration to provide our customers with excellent products and services."

"As a leading pan-semiconductor equipment manufacturer in China, AMEC Wisetron is our first choice of technology manufacturing partner in China." Said Rene Reichardt, CEO of DAS. "The strategic partnership is of great importance, as the integration of resources and utilizing complementary advantages of both sides will not only better serve our customers but also make greater contributions to accelerating the development of the environmental protection technology industry." AMEC Wisetron Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd Founded in December 2014 and headquartered in Shanghai, China, AMEC Wisetron Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd (AMEC Wisetron) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment Inc. China (AMEC, SSE Stock Code: 688012). AMEC Wisetron specializes in the R&D, manufacturing and sales of environmental protection equipment and renewable energy products in the pan-semiconductor industry. The VOC (Volatile Organic Gas) air purifier designed and manufactured by AMEC Wisetron for the electronics industry is now widely used to improve the cleanroom working environment of the production line of the panel display industry; the local scrubber waste gas abatement system designed and manufactured by AMEC Wisetron is now widely used in IC, displays, LED and solar industries. DAS Environmental Expert GmbH DAS Environmental Expert GmbH headquartered in Dresden is an environmental technology enterprise. Founded in 1991, it has become one of the leading technology and equipment providers for process waste gas abatement solutions. International leaders in the semiconductor, the TFT, LED, and electronic industries as well as the solar industry, Nanotechnology, and MEMS are using DAS' technology. In a second business branch, the company develops process and system solutions for the treatment of industrial wastewaters. DAS Environmental Expert operates worldwide and currently has 600+ employees. SOURCE AMEC Wisetron Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd

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States are scrambling to vaccinate as many people as they can while the rate of new U.S. coronavirus infections stays steady, but still high, for a third week.

At more than 55,000 new COVID-19 cases a day, public health experts believe that is a level that could rapidly become yet another surge, The New York Times reported.

A sense of urgency is being felt keenly by state officials: At least 31 have pledged to make vaccines available to all adults by mid-April, and many more have announced plans to expand eligibility on or before May 1, a goal set by President Joe Biden.

Alaska, Mississippi, Utah and West Virginia have already made all adults eligible to receive shots, and some local jurisdictions have also begun vaccinating all adults, the Times reported.

On Thursday, California opened up vaccine eligibility to any resident 50 or older and will expand that to residents 16 or older on April 15. And Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said that any state resident aged 40 or older would be eligible starting on Monday, and that the minimum age would drop to 18 on April 5, the Times reported.

In Connecticut, which is one of the most-vaccinated states in the country, Gov. Ned Lamont said that all residents 16 and above would be eligible beginning on Thursday. New Hampshire will make shots available to all residents 16 and older starting on April 2, and North Carolina plans to do so on April 7. In Rhode Island, Gov. Dan McKee said the state was on track to make vaccines available to all residents over 16 by April 19, the Times reported.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said the state would open vaccinations to those 40 and older starting on Monday. And in Minnesota, Gov. Tim Walz is expected to announce on Friday that all residents over the age of 16 will be eligible starting next Tuesday.

The moves all come at a tenuous point in the pandemic, with 25 states reporting persistently high infections, according to a Times database. Over the past week, there has been a daily average of 58,579 new cases, about the same as the average two weeks earlier.

The number of deaths continues to decline, averaging about 1,000 a day, down from the more than 2,000 daily deaths seen just a month ago. But eight states are seeing rising deaths: Kentucky, Maryland, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Ohio, Utah and West Virginia, the Times reported.

Biden sets new goal of 200 million shots by 100th day in office

President Joe Biden said Thursday that the country will put 200 million coronavirus vaccine doses into the arms of Americans by his 100th day in office, doubling the goal he first set when he was inaugurated.

"We will, by my 100th day in office, have administered 200 million shots in people's arms," Mr. Biden said, announcing his new goal at the start of his first news conference. "That's right200 million shots in 100 days. I know it's ambitious, twice our original goal, but no other country in the world has even come close."

The goal appears attainable: As of Friday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that over 133 million shots had been administered, and that just over 14 percent of the American population was fully vaccinated.

The United States is averaging about 2.5 million vaccine doses a day. If that pace continues, about half of the nation's population will be at least partly vaccinated by mid-May, the Times said.

Vaccine makers are now hitting their stride, and Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson have promised enough doses to inoculate all 260 million adult Americans by May. In June, the first vaccine producers, Pfizer and Moderna, are expected to deliver another 100 million dosesenough to vaccinate 50 million more people, The New York Times reported.

Officials say the nation will soon reach a point where the supply of vaccine outpaces demand. At that point, the biggest challenge will be convincing still skeptical Americans to get the shots, and deciding what to do with a growing stockpile, the Times reported.

Vaccine hesitancy is particularly prominent among minorities and Republicans, the Times said.

Earlier Thursday, White House officials said the administration would spend $10 billion on congressionally-appropriated money to expand access to COVID-19 vaccines and build vaccine confidence in the hardest-hit and highest-risk communities.

AstraZeneca lowers efficacy rate of its COVID vaccine

Following a sharp rebuke from an independent oversight board over potentially misleading information on the effectiveness of its coronavirus vaccine, AstraZeneca released new data late Wednesday that showed the vaccine is slightly less effective than the company claimed on Monday.

After saying that the vaccine was 79 percent effective on Monday, the company said Wednesday that the vaccine was 76 percent effective at preventing COVID-19.

"The [latest] primary analysis is consistent with our previously released interim analysis, and confirms that our COVID-19 vaccine is highly effective in adults, including those aged 65 years and over," Mene Pangalos, executive vice president of BioPharmaceuticals R&D at AstraZeneca, said in a company news release. "We look forward to filing our regulatory submission for Emergency Use Authorization in the U.S. and preparing for the rollout of millions of doses across America."

The latest results do strengthen the case for the vaccine's efficacy, but they may not restore AstraZeneca's credibility with U.S. health officials, The New York Times said.

When it released its interim trial results on Monday, AstraZeneca ignored dozens of recently confirmed COVID-19 cases that had cropped up in trial volunteers before mid-February, the Times reported.

In a letter to the company and federal health officials later that day, the independent board that was overseeing the clinical trial issued a highly unusual reprimand to AstraZeneca for appearing to cherry-pick data to make its vaccine appear more effective, the Times reported.

"Decisions like this are what erode public trust in the scientific process," the oversight board's letter said. The members of the monitoring board wrote that their statistical modeling had found that the vaccine might have a lower efficacy ratebetween 69 and 74 percentif the COVID-19 cases in question were included in the analysis, the Times reported.

It was not clear on Wednesday why the oversight board's projection turned out to be lower than the figure in AstraZeneca's latest results. Those statistics could still change because there are still 14 possible COVID-19 cases that AstraZeneca officials have not yet classified as actual cases, according to the company's statement.

The dispute over AstraZeneca's U.S. trial results follows a safety scare in Europe that prompted more than a dozen countries to temporarily suspend use of the vaccine. European regulators said last week that a review had found the shot to be safe, after a small number of people who had been vaccinated developed blood clots and abnormal bleeding. The U.S. trial did not turn up any signs of such safety problems, the Times said.

AstraZeneca's latest efforts might not make much difference in the United States, where the vaccine is not yet authorized and is unlikely to become available before May, the Times said. By then, there will be enough vaccine doses for all of the nation's adults from the three vaccines that have already been authorized: Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson.

A global scourge

By Friday, the U.S. coronavirus case count passed 30.3 million while the death toll passed 546,000, according to a Times tally. On Friday, the top five states for coronavirus infections were: California with over 3.6 million cases; Texas with nearly 2.8 million cases; Florida with over 2 million cases; New York with nearly 1.8 million cases; and Illinois with over 1.2 million cases.

Curbing the spread of the coronavirus in the rest of the world remains challenging.

In Brazil, the coronavirus case count was over 12.3 million by Friday, with more than 303,000 deaths, a Johns Hopkins University tally showed. India had over 11.8 million cases and nearly 161,000 deaths as of Friday, the Hopkins tally showed.

Worldwide, the number of reported infections neared 125.6 million on Friday, with over 2.7 million deaths recorded, according to the Hopkins tally.

Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak

More information: The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more on the The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more on the new coronavirus.

Copyright  2020 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
A worthwhile event and conversation with a local biz lady who shares her story that, thankfully, hasn't been scripted by the DNC.



Read more . . .

Jackie Nguyen, owner of Cafe Ca Phe, is using her voice to care for her community. This Sunday, she's hosting a vigil outside of her mobile cafe in honor of the people who died in the Atlanta shooting and all those impacted by the rise in hate crimes.
Irish Ferries operator Irish Continental Group (ICG) has announced plans to introduce a new ship on its Rosslare  Pembroke route. The ship, Blue Star 1, will be the fastest roll-on-roll-off passenger vessel between Ireland and the UK.

The company is also adding a new service from the UK to France.

The new ship between Rosslare  Pembroke has the capacity to carry up to 1,500 passengers, 100 freight vehicles and 700 cars depending on freight volume.

Andrew Sheen, Irish Ferries managing director, said: The introduction of this ship underlines our commitment to the Rosslare to Pembroke route, the primary shipping corridor between Ireland and South Wales.

Delivery of the vessel is expected early next month.

The company has also announced a new service on the Dover  Calais route.

The UK to France shipping route, which is due to launch in June, will significantly strengthen the capacity and reliability of the land bridge for exporters and importers, according to a statement from the group.

It comes at a time when the company, along with Stena Line and DFDS and others have all added direct freight services between Ireland and France, allowing hauliers to avoid the UK land bridge.

Doug Bannister, chief executive of the Port of Dover, said: This announcement gives the millions of customers across the UK and the Republic of Ireland who value the intrinsic benefits of the shortest sea crossing to Europe, the prospect of even more choice.

Hauliers will now have one operator providing an inclusive service on the Dublin - Holyhead, Rosslare - Pembroke and Dover - Calais routes, ICG said.

The company also intends to offer passenger services on the route.

Patrick ODonnell, analyst at Goodbody, said the announcements offer clear direction to the ambition of ICG to become a broader and more strategic player in freight and passenger traffic across Western Europe.

The fact that it has been selected to offer services on such a major route at Dover-Calais is testament to the groups credentials as both a high quality and financially strong operator and clearly strengthens its freight and passenger division measurably offering clear earnings upside when the service is fully operational and Covid travel restrictions are eased, he added.

ICG reported an operating loss, including non-trading items, of 10.4m in 2020, amid a challenging year for the group. This is a swing on the companys earnings before interest and tax (Ebit) of 64.9m the prior year.

The loss is mainly due to Covid-19 travel restrictions on its passenger business, according to annual results from the group released earlier this month.

ICG also incurred a non-trading expense of 11.2m last year due to changes to its pension scheme.

Revenue at the Dublin-listed company fell to 277.1m in 2020, down 22.5pc on the corresponding period in 2019.

During the year ICGs roll-on-roll-off (RoRo) traffic increased 7pc to 335,500 freight units.

Shares in ICG were up over 8pc in trading on Friday afternoon in Dublin.
Thousands of farmers are observing a 12-hour long 'Bharat bandh' today to strengthen their four-month agitation against the Centre's three contentious farm laws passed in September last year. The bandh is called by Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) that began at 6 am on Friday and will conclude at 6 pm on the same day. The Bharat bandh is likely to impact the transport services as well as escalate the traffic problem, especially in the national capital Delhi.





Samyukt Kisan Morcha has called for a 12 hour long Bharat Bandh today, protestors block the road at Singhu Border pic.twitter.com/CIxfHmGZuF  ANI (@ANI) March 26, 2021

According to a statement released by the SKM, farmers have been protesting on the borders of Delhi for the last four months and instead of accepting their demands, the government is discrediting them completely.

Here's all you need to know about Bharat Bandh:

1. Rail and road transportation may get affected

Due to Bharat Bandh, the rail and road transportation services are likely to be affected in parts of the country as the farmers' unions have said that all small and big roads and trains will be blocked.

Earlier today, several protesters blocked railway tracks in Amritsar, Punjab. In Ambala, the demonstrators blocked GT Road and railway track near Shahpur in view of Bharat bandh, news agency ANI reported.

Punjab: Protestors block railway track in Amritsar as a mark of protest against the three agricultural laws during 'Bharat Bandh' called by Samyukt Kisan Morcha pic.twitter.com/dAZgfXa3yw  ANI (@ANI) March 26, 2021

Ambala: Protesters block GT Road and railway track near Shahpur, in view of 12-hour 'Bharat Bandh' call by Samyukt Kisan Morcha against Centre's Farm Laws#Haryanapic.twitter.com/1D6k4qjPlN  ANI (@ANI) March 26, 2021

2. Markets may remain close in several parts of the country

The SKM has appealed to close all shops, malls, markets, and institutions on Bharat Bandh day. All services will remain suspended except for ambulance and other essential services.

3. Farmers may not observe bandh in poll-bound states

The SKM leaders said in poll-bound Tamil Nadu, Assam, West Bengal, Kerala and Puducherry, the farmers will not be observing Bharat Bandh.

4. Delhi traders' organisation refuses to participate in bandh

The Chambers of Trade and Industry, a body representing traders in Delhi, said they support farmers' demand but shops and factories will remain open during the 'Bharat Bandh'. "We discussed it with business owners and traders. Most of them said they support the demands of the farmers and the Centre should find a solution to the issue," CTI chairman Subhash Khandelwal said.

5. Odisha declares closure of educational institutes

The Odisha government has declared the closure of all educational institutions across the state in view of the nationwide Bharat Bandh.

6. Delhi traffic updates in view of Bharat bandh

The Delhi traffic police informed that the Ghazipur border NH-24 (both carriageways) has been closed for traffic movement. "Traffic Alert Traffic movement is closed on Ghazipur Border NH-24 (Both carriageway), Kindly avoid the stretch. COVID PRECAUTIONS: WEAR MASK, MAINTAIN SOCIAL DISTANCING, KEEP HAND HYGIENE," Delhi Traffic Police tweeted. On Friday, farmers blocked the Ghazipur border (Delhi-UP border) to strengthen their movement against the Centre's three farm laws.

Protesters are sitting at 31 locations across Punjab and Haryana spanning Delhi, Ambala & Firozepur division affecting rail movement. Train services affected at 32 locations, 4 Shatabdi trains cancelled: Indian Railways#BharatBandh  ANI (@ANI) March 26, 2021

7. Delhi Police's security arrangement for Bharat Bandh

The Delhi Police said adequate security arrangements have been put in place in view of the 'Bharat Bandh'. Delhi Police PRO Chinmoy Biswal said there will be intense patrolling to maintain peace in the national capital.

8. Why farmers have called for Bharat Bandh

Farmers want to intensify their months-long agitation, asking the Centre to repeal the three agricultural laws. They have also asked for the cancellation of all police cases against farmers, rollback of "electricity bill and pollution bill" and cut in fuel prices.

Thousands of farmers, mainly from Punjab, Haryana, and western Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur since November 26, demanding a complete repeal of the three farm laws and a legal guarantee for the minimum support price of their crops. So far, there have been 11 rounds of talks between the protesting unions and government, but the deadlock continues as both sides stuck to their stands. In January, the government offered to suspend the farm laws for 12-18 months, which was rejected by the farmer unions.

Also read:



Also read:
Key companies covered are MISUMI (Tokyo, Japan), Curtiss-Wright Corporation (North Carolina, The U.S.), TAMAGAWA SEIKI Co. Ltd. (Nagano, Japan), Parker Hannifin Corporation (Ohio, The U.S.), Moog Inc. (New York, The U.S.), Eaton Corporation Inc. (Ohio, The U.S.), SMC Corporation (Tokyo, Japan), Emerson Electric Co. (Missouri, The U.S.), Rockwell Automation, Inc. (Wisconsin, The U.S.), Venture MFG Co. (Ohio, The U.S.), ABB (Zurich, Switzerland), Rotork PLC (Bath, The U.K.), and more players profiled in actuators market research report

Pune, India, March 26, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- As per a recent report by Fortune Business Insights, titled, Actuators Market Size, Share & COVID-19 Impact Analysis, By Motion (Linear and Rotary), By Type (Hydraulic, Pneumatic, Electric, and Others), By End-Use Industry (Aerospace & Defense, Automotive, Construction, Chemicals, and Others), and Regional Forecast, 2020-2027, the value of this market was USD 47.09 billion in 2019. The forecast period is set between 2020 to 2027 and the market is likely to exhibit a CAGR of 10.65%. The global actuators market size is likely to showcase notable growth in the coming years and reach USD 79.35 billion by the end of 2027 on account of the advent of technological advancement and the increasing need for the latest automated equipment by various end-user industries.

Most industries worldwide were impacted negatively by the current COVID-19 pandemic. Apart from the healthcare sector, most of the industrial sectors witnessed the downfall of the world economy. However, the governments of various nations are engaging in multiple strategies to deal with this situation and we hope that life turns back to normal. Fortune Business Insights is offering special analytical reports on various markets impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. These reports will help investors take the necessary financial decisions for multiple markets in the years to come.





Objectives of the Report:



Story continues

The report is based on a comprehensive analysis of the market keeping in mind the prime boosting, repelling, and challenging factors. It also throws light on the notable industry developments, major trends, and other interesting insights into the market. The report also highlights the table of segmentation in details and lists the names of the segment in the leading position with market figures. For more information on the report, log on to the company website.





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Drivers & Restraints:

Development of Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence Sectors to Aid in Expansion

An actuator comprises the key component of all the machines used by various industries such as food, manufacturing, automotive and transportation, agriculture, healthcare industry, and others. This stands as a key factor driving the global actuators market growth. This, coupled with the rising population, growing urbanization, and the increasing use of industrial robots for minimizing the chances of human errors are also expected to aid in the expansion of the market. Additionally, the increasing demand from the aerospace and automotive industries is further expected to add impetus to the market in the coming years.

On the contrary, installing and maintaining pneumatic and hydraulic actuators is expensive, which may pose a major challenge to the market in the coming years. This, coupled with the current coronavirus pandemic that forced most of the international businesses to stay at a temporary halt may also hamper the market. Additionally, the possibility of oil or water leakage and other damages to the actuator is likely to cause hindrance to the market in the coming years.

Nevertheless, the rising demand for commercial aircraft is expected to promote the growth of the market in the forecast period.





List of the Leading Companies Profiled in the Global Actuators Market are:

Rockwell Automation, Inc. (Wisconsin, The U.S.)

Venture MFG Co. (Ohio, The U.S.)

ABB (Zurich, Switzerland)

Rotork PLC (Bath, The U.K.)

MISUMI (Tokyo, Japan)

Curtiss-Wright Corporation (North Carolina, The U.S.)

TAMAGAWA SEIKI Co. Ltd. (Nagano, Japan)

Parker Hannifin Corporation (Ohio, The U.S.)

Moog Inc. (New York, The U.S.)

Eaton Corporation Inc. (Ohio, The U.S.)

SMC Corporation (Tokyo, Japan)

Emerson Electric Co. (Missouri, The U.S.)





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Major Segment:

Hydraulic Segment to Emerge Dominant Owing to Growing Demand from Mining and Construction Sector

Based on segmentation by type, the hydraulic segment dominant the market shares in 2019. This is owing to the increasing adoption of hydraulic actuators in heavy equipment used by various application sectors such as mining, construction, agriculture, and others. This is further attributed to the integrated failure backup features and less power consumption. However, the electrical segment earned a 21% share and is likely to exhibit significant growth in the forecast period.





Regional Analysis:

North America Emerged Dominant Owing to Growing Demand from Aerospace Industry

Regionally, North America earned USD 16.48 billion in 2019 and gained the largest actuators market share. The growth of this region is attributed to the increasing demand from the aerospace and defense sectors. Besides this, the market in Asia Pacific is likely to show rapid growth in the coming years with China and Japan in the leading position. This is accountable to the rapid industrialization and growing urbanization. Furthermore, the market in Europe and the Middle East and Africa will exhibit notable growth in the coming years on account of the increasing manufacturing units for automobile production of brands such as Audi, BMW, and others.





Competitive Landscape-

Players Focusing on Innovative Technologies to Earn Lions Share

The global market for actuators is fragmented in nature attributable to the presence of many large and medium-scale vendors. Companies such as Rotork PLC., Rockwell Automation, and others are focusing on strengthening their product portfolio and specializing in pneumatic and hydraulic actuators to gain competitive edge. The other players are engaging in the development of innovative technologies for gaining a competitive edge in the market.





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Detailed Table of Content:

Introduction Research Scope Market Segmentation Research Methodology Definitions and Assumptions

Executive Summary

Market Dynamics Market Drivers Market Restraints Market Opportunities Emerging Trends

Key Insights Overview of the Parent/Related Markets Industry SWOT Analysis Regulatory Analysis Recent Industry Developments - Policies, Partnerships, New Product Launches, and Mergers & Acquisitions

Quantitative Insights- Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Global Actuators Market Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Global Actuators Market Steps taken by Industry/ Companies/ Governments to overcome the impact Key Developments in the Industry in Response to COVID-19 pandemic Potential opportunities due to COVID-19 Outbreak

Global Actuators Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast, 2016-2027 Key Findings / Summary Market Size Estimates and Forecast By Motion (Value) Linear Rotary By Type (Value) Hydraulic Pneumatic Electric Others By End-Use Industry (Value) Aerospace & Defense Automotive Construction Chemicals Food & Beverages Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals Marine Mining Oil & Gas Power Generation Others By Region (Value) North America Europe Asia Pacific Rest of the World



TOC Continued!





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Major Industry Developments of the Market Include:



April 2019  The Boeing Company awarded a contract to Moog Inc., for the delivery of wing fold actuation and wing flight systems for an unmanned refueling program of the U.S. Navy called MQ-25. This will help to build a strong foundation for the future of the company.

April 2017  The control and valves business of Pentair was acquired by Emerson Electric Co. for managing the production of control valves, regulators, and actuators, thereby strengthening the portfolio of the company.





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The leader of The Gambia Action Party (GAP), Musa Batchilly has called on politicians in the country to put aside all their differences andput the interest of the nation first.

Batchilly was speaking over the weekend during the Inter- Party Committee (IPC), inaugural quarterly breakfast meeting with the political leaders held at the Sir Dawda Kairaba International Conference Centre.

He reminded that elections come and go, but Gambia remains, further challenging all towork towards the development of the country.

Batchilly recalled that in 2016, if not for the help of God, the country would have plunged into chaos.

To this end, he urged all to nurture peace and unity especially in build up to the 2021 December elections.

"Gambia is a beautiful country, no one can develop this country unless we the Gambians." he noted.

Fabakary Tombong Jatta, party leader of the Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC), said the MoU and presentation made by the co-chair Hon. Halifa Sallah, had almost embodied all that was required to ensure peaceful, transparent and credible elections if they all partner together as political parties with the IEC.

"One of the concerns I have observed and think is critical to ensuring that political parties come to an exact result during elections, is the IEC ensuring that those regulate regulations are carried out to the maximum level."

FTJ observed that it is a requirement that counting is done on the spot and political parties have representatives where counting is done.

"It is also a requirement that those counting agents must have certified results signed by the IEC and parties' representatives.Moreoften than not, most of the party's representatives come back with piece of paper not signed."

Also speaking, Mai Ahmad Fatty,leader of The Gambia Moral Congress (GMC), said there is no competition among them, but what they have is a contest of ideas and 'if that prevails', the Inter- Party Relationship amongst them and the MoU will be better understood.

"We must hold each other as brothers and sisters, as people belonging to the same country, sharing same destiny, moving forward in unity, harmony, in peace and in understanding to build a future for our country that is durable and that will be envy of other democracies."
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An Iraqi refugee who pleaded guilty to raping a woman in a dark Sydney alleyway has broken down in court after his barrister announced he was pulling out of the case.

Sayer Hamood Jaber Alenezi, 39, sobbed, wailed and rocked back and forth as he faced a judge at the Downing Centre District Court on Friday.

Alenezi was expected to be sentenced after pleading guilty to a charge of sexual intercourse without consent relating to a horror late night 2019 incident.

'The accused was a stranger to (the victim) and the offence happened in a dark alleyway, not far from Oxford Street within the city,' the prosecutor told the court.

But there were dramatic scenes when Judge David Arnott SC prepared to hear the victim read her impact statement and sentence the offender.

Sayer Hamood Jaber Alenezi rocked back and forth, cradled his head in his hands and wailed during what was supposed to be his sentencing for raping a woman in a dark alleyway in the Sydney CBD in late 2019

Alenezi's barrister told the court that his client had been 'hysterical' and had raised 'issues' with his plea of guilty during an earlier conference.

He added Alenezi had post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of 'very traumatic life experiences' and 'I can't continue to act for him'.

'He became somewhat hysterical at times,' the lawyer said. 'I think I will have no option (but) to seek leave of the court to withdraw'.

Alenezi then appeared in court via audio-visual link where he made bizarre and defamatory comments about his own lawyer via an Arabic interpreter.

'I've got only to God to help ... I don't have money to get (a lawyer) and I have only God.'

Alenezi pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a 22-year-old woman in late 2019

Alenezi is pictured outside court earlier in the case. He has since been refused bail and is behind bars at the Long Bay correctional centre

After several minutes listening to a distressed Alenezi speak, Judge Arnott told him 'you need to calm down.'

The prosecution noted that Alenezi's crime had weighed heavily on his victim - who had required psychiatric treatment herself as a result of the attack.

'(She) has been devastated by this offending.'

Judge Arnott said Alenezi wasn't in a fit state to go on and the case was adjourned to a later date so he can have a chance to make a decision on who his lawyer will be.

Alenezi, who was on a bridging visa, is likely to be deported at the conclusion of a jail sentence. He faces up to 14 years' imprisonment.
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President Joe Biden misstated the reality at the U.S.-Mexico border and offered a misleading account of who's getting the most benefits from the Donald Trump tax cuts in his first presidential press conference.

Biden took questions for nearly an hour Thursday, answering multiple queries from the Associated Press, PBS, The Washington Post, ABC News, Wall Street Journal, NBC News, CBS News, CNN, Bloomberg and Univision.

He was grilled on a number of topics, including the situation at the border, the Senate filibuster, working with Republicans, his 2024 re-election plans and Afghanistan - but received no questions on the coronavirus pandemic or on relations with Russia amid rising tensions with the Kremlin or his stumbles as he climbed the Air Force One stairs.

DailyMail.com fact-checked Biden's claims and found many weren't entirely accurate.

ON MIGRANTS AT THE BORDER

BIDEN'S CLAIM: 'Nothing has changed' in the numbers of children coming to the United States since his predecessor, Donald Trump, was in office.

'As many people came - 28 per cent increase in children to the border in my administration; 31 per cent in the last year in 2019, before the pandemic - in the Trump administration,' Biden told reporters Thursday.

'It happens every single solitary year. There is a significant increase in the number of people coming to the border in the winter months of January, February, March. It happens every year.'

THE FACTS: The president erred. Unaccompanied immigrant children have come to the border at a higher percentage than what he said.

According to statistics published by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, authorities encountered 9,457 children without a parent in February, a 61 per cent increase from January, not 28 per cent. The numbers of unaccompanied children did rise 31 per cent between January 2019 and February 2019.

In response, the Homeland Security Department pointed to figures for all border crossings, including adults and families traveling together. There was a 28 per cent rise in all encounters with migrants between January and last month, compared with 31 per cent between the same months in 2019. But Biden specifically noted a rise 'in children.'

Biden correctly noted seasonal trends in migration and a tendency in many years for more border crossings before hot summer months. But while he tried to play down his inauguration as a reason many children and teenagers have decided to migrate to the U.S., people interviewed by The AP have expressed hope that the country would be more permissive to migrants under Biden than under Trump.

BIDEN'S CLAIM: His administration has been sending back the 'majority' of migrant families trying to cross into the US.

'We're sending back the vast majority of families that are coming. We're trying to work out now with Mexico their willingness to take those families back. That's what's happening. They're not getting across the border,' he said.

THE FACTS: Not true, at least not according to last month's figures, CNN reported.

The data shows only 41 per cent of immigrant families were turned away under Title 42, which allows the US Border Patrol to immediately expel any migrant to prevent the spread of COVID-19, in February.

It is true, however, that the majority of single adults, or 79 per cent, were sent back last month.

President Joe Biden misstated the reality at the U.S.-Mexico border during his first presidential press conference

BIDEN'S CLAIM: That Donald Trump cut a $700 million bipartisan plan to address the root causes of why people are leaving their home countries. Biden said: 'What did Trump do? He eliminated that funding. He didn't use it. He didn't do it.'

THE FACTS: This is partially true, NBC News found. Trump did announce $700 million in aid cuts to Central American countries in 2019, but the State Department later restored the majority of that funding.

ON TRUMP'S TAX CUTS BENEFITS

BIDEN'S CLAIM: Republicans who contend his pandemic relief package is too expensive passed a tax cut favoring the top 1 per cent.

'Do you hear them complain when they passed (a) close to $2trillion Trump tax cut, with 83 per cent going to the top 1 per cent? Do you hear them talk about that at all?' Biden said.

President Biden also offered a misleading account of who benefited from Donald Trump's tax cuts

THE FACTS: Biden's comments are misleading. The tax cuts disproportionately favor the top 1 per cent, but not nearly as much as Biden and many Democrats claim.

Biden can cite his figure because many of the Trump tax cuts for families and individuals will expire, unless Congress extends them. If they expire as scheduled, 83 per cent of the tax cuts that remain in place will go to the top 1 per cent of earners in 2027, according to an analysis by the Tax Policy Center.

But's it's not the case that the highest 1 per cent of income earners are getting 83 per cent of the benefits now or over the next several years. Biden is expected to propose a corporate tax increase that would undo a lot of what Trump achieved in his 2017 overhaul.

ON THE FILIBUSTER STASTICS

BIDEN'S CLAIM: There were five times as many motions to break the filibuster in 2020 than there were between 1917 and 1971.

'Between 1917 and 1971, the filibuster existed, there were a total of 58 motions to break a filibuster. That whole time. Last year alone there were five times that many,' the president said.

THE FACTS: Biden's figures are misleading. In 2020, the number of motions filed to end a Senate debate - a proxy measure for the use of the filibuster - was about double, not five times, the number from 1917 to 1971, CNN found.

According to official Senate data, there were 58 cloture motions filed from 1917 through 1970 and 13 filed in 1971. If Biden was referring to the number of cloture motions filed from 1917 through 1970, he'd be right when he said there were a total of 58 but if the 1971 figures are added in the total number of cloture motions would be 71.

While Biden exaggerated the number of cloture motions filed in the past year, he was accurate on his general point that the number of filibusters has increased. There were 118 cloture motions filed in 2020 alone, closer to double the amount filed between 1917 and 1971.

U.S. Border Patrol agents question asylum seekers after their group of immigrants crossed the Rio Grande into Texas

VACCINATION RATE IN THE US VERSUS THE REST OF THE WORLD

BIDEN'S CLAIM: He said that 'no other country in the world has even come close, not even close to what we are doing' on getting COVID vaccines into people's arms.

THE FACTS: The United States has vaccinated more total people than any other country in the world there are smaller nations that have vaccinated a larger proportion of their total population.

The US has administered vaccines to more than 130 million people but 16 countries - including Chile, Israel and the United Kingdom - have administered vaccines to more people per capita.

THE AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN AND ECONOMIC GROWTH

BIDEN'S CLAIM: That since his $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan was signed passed a 'majority of forecasters have significantly increased their projections. Now projecting it will exceed 6%, a 6% growth in GDP.'

THE FACTS: It's true that many economists upgraded their 2021 gross domestic product forecasts north of 6% either just before or after the package was passed by Congress, CNN found, but it's hard to say whether a majority did without a survey of all economists.

As it was apparent the COVID relief plan would become law, several economists upgraded their forecasts of 2021 US GDP growth.

RSM chief economist Joe Brusuelas said the legislation would boost GDP by 3 points and is predicting 7.2% growth in 2021.

In March, Goldman Sachs increased its 2021 US GDP growth projection to 7% and Morgan Stanley is now predicting 7.3% growth.

REPUBLICAN SUPPORT FOR BIDEN'S COVID RELIEF PACKAGE

BIDEN'S CLAIM: The president claimed support from Republican voters for his plan even as he didn't garner a single GOP vote in Congress. He said that even if Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell says that 'the last thing I did, this last piece of legislation, is so far left, well, then he ought to take a look at his party. Over 50% of them must be over that edge as well. Because they support what I did.'

THE FACTS: While polls have shown Republicans support the American Rescue Plan multiple surveys have shown that level of support is below the majority level.

A CNN poll in March found 26% of Republican supported the plan while 73% opposed. A Monmouth University poll found Republican support at 33%.

CHEAT SHEETS

Additionally, images taken at the news conference showed Biden using cheat sheets to help him with the questioning.

The 78-year-old is seen holding one sheet that showed the headshots of journalists that he planned to call on.

Another cheat card listed stats about infrastructure, but Biden was still forced to correct himself after mistakenly saying the US ranked 85th in the world in infrastructure.

The bullet point on one of his notes read: 'The United States now ranks 13th globally in infrastructure quality, down from 5th place in 2002.'

The performance has been blasted by former President Donald Trump and a host of media commentators, including Sean Hannity who called it 'embarrassing' and said: 'We really need to ask who is running the show at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue?'

Images taken during President Joe Biden's first press conference on Thursday showed him using cheat sheets. The 78-year-old Democrat is seen holding one sheet that showed the headshots (pictured) of journalists at the press conference that he planned on calling on

'The United States now ranks 13th globally in infrastructure quality  down from 5th place in 2002,' one bullet point (pictured) reads -- but Biden still mistakenly claimed the US ranks 85th in the world

President Joe Biden holds notes in hand as he speaks during the first formal press conference of his presidency in the East Room of the White House in Washington DC on Thursday

Tripping up the stairs and forgetting his Pentagon chief's name: Biden's record of gaffes AIR FORCE ONE SLIP-UP Biden tripped up the Air Force One stairs last week Video last week showed Biden tripping up the stairs as he boarded Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews. Biden grabbed the hand railing to catch his balance, but lost his footing twice more and fell to his knees. White House Deputy Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre later told reporters that Biden was '100 per cent fine', adding that it was 'pretty windy'. CALLING KAMALA 'PRESIDENT HARRIS' Just a day earlier, Biden accidentally referred to Vice President Kamala Harris as 'President Harris.' 'Now when President Harris and I took a virtual tour of a vaccination center in Arizona not long ago, one of the nurses on that, on that tour injecting people, giving vaccinations, said that each shot was like administering a dose of hope,' Biden said. Later that day, when the White House released the transcript of his speech, Harris's proper title was inserted with brackets. FORGOT PENTAGON CHIEF'S NAME In a speech on March 9, Biden seemed to forget the name of his Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin. 'I want to thank Sec - the former general - I keep calling him "General,"' Biden said. 'My - the guy who runs that outfit over there. I want to make sure we thank the Secretary for all he's done to try to implement what we've just talked about, and for recommending these two women for promotion.' MIXES UP GRANDDAUGHTERS During an Election Day speech in Philadelphia, Biden trailed off as he told the crowd: 'I want to introduce you to two of my granddaughters...this is my son, Beau Biden who a lot of you helped elect to the Senate in Delaware.' The then-candidate had meant to introduce the crowd to Natalie, Beau's daughter. But he had also mixed up his granddaughters - having put his arm around Finnegan Biden, Hunter's daughter. Beau Biden passed away in 2015 after a months-long battle with glioblastoma, one of the deadliest types of brain cancer. TOLD STATE SENATOR IN WHEELCHAIR TO STAND UP In 2008, after Biden had been named Barack Obama's running mate, he attended a campaign rally in Missouri. It was there that he called on Missouri state senator Chuck Graham, who passed away last year, to stand up for the crowd. 'I'm told Chuck Graham, state senator, is here. Stand up Chuck, let 'em see you,' Biden said - before realizing Graham was in a wheelchair due to muscular dystrophy. 'Oh, God love you. What am I talking about. I'll tell you what, you're making everybody else stand up, though, pal,' Biden corrected himself. Advertisement

'I still think the majority of the American people don't like the fact that we are now ranked what, 85th in the world in infrastructure. I mean, look,' he said, before later circling back and clarifying: 'We rank 13th globally in infrastructure.'

Despite the cheat sheets, Biden at several points in the press conference appeared to lose his train of thought.

After speaking for four minutes about the surge of migrants at the border, he remarked, 'And the other thing we're doing, I might add...' before cutting himself off to ask, 'Am I giving you too long of an answer? Because if you don't want the detail '

'I don't know how much detail you want about immigration,' he continued. 'Maybe I'll stop there.'

At another point, Biden was speaking at length about the Senate filibuster when he lost his train of thought again.

'I've never been particularly poor at calculating how to get things done in the United States Senate. So the best way to get something done, if you hold near and dear to you that you like to be able to' he said, trailing off.

'Anyway, we're ready to get a lot done,' he then continued.

At another point in the press conference, things turned downright bizarre when Biden made a reference to 'Jim Eagle' when accusing Republicans of trying to restrict voting rights to disenfranchise black voters.

'So I'm convinced that we'll be able to stop this because it is the most pernicious thing. This makes Jim Crow look like Jim Eagle,' he said of voting restrictions.

Observers all seemed to agree that Biden was trying to make the point that restrictions such as voter ID laws are 'worse than Jim Crow' -- but the exact role of Jim Eagle in the analogy was lost on many.

Jim Crow refers to laws that enforced racial segregation in schools, public places, transportation and all aspect of public life in many U.S. states from the 1870s to the 1950s.

Biden's Jim Eagle remarks predictably drew mockery from conservative critics.

'Duh. It's an analogy. Crow, eagle. They're both birds, but an eagle is much bigger than a crow,' said Fox News host Tucker Carlson. 'That means that asking people to show a driver's license when they vote is much more racist than segregation and lynchings.'

'Segregation and lynchings were Jim Crow, voter ID laws are Jim Eagle -- way worse,' he added sarcastically.

Thursday's conversation was his first since he took office on January 20. It was also limited to 25 reporters.

At the one-hour press conference on Thursday, Biden called on just 10 reporters to ask questions, and many of them focused on the migrant crisis at the southern border, leaving little time for other subjects.

Though Biden addressed relations with China at length, he faced no questions about the ongoing investigation of the origins of COVID-19 -- or any other question about his pandemic response and vaccine rollout.

There were no questions about potential tax hikes to fund Biden's reported $3 trillion green infrastructure plan, and relations with Russia were left unmentioned despite recent tensions after Biden labeled Vladimir Putin a 'killer'.

Biden was also not asked to weigh in on New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, his fellow Democrat who faces twin scandals over his handling of nursing homes in the pandemic, and allegations of sexual harassment and bullying. This week, reports emerged he had also prioritized COVID-19 testing for family, including his CNN anchor brother Chris, and friends at the height of the pandemic when ordinary New Yorkers struggled to get access.

Parents desperate to get their children back in the classroom also did not get the chance to hear Biden's plan to reopen schools in the coronavirus pandemic.

Also unmentioned at the presser was a recent report from Politico detailing a 2018 incident in which the Secret Service intervened after president's daughter-in-law Hallie discarded a gun belonging to Hunter Biden in a trash can.

Biden's notes included headshots of reporters with notations apparently indicated the order he planned to call on them
The Gambia (PHTG), a peacebuilding and social cohesion organisation last week held a Community Dialogue on Peace in communities in the Upper River, Central River and the North Bank Regions respectively.

The UN Peace-building Fund through UNFPA-The Gambia funded the programme.The Community Dialogue on Peace and Inclusion, which targets women, young people and marginalised groups, is part of the organization's activities to be implemented under the UNFPA The Gambia Youth Programming for the year 2021.

The activity, is aimed at creating a safe space for members of each of the communities, thus providing an opportunity to discuss underlying root causes of conflict, conflict prevention mechanisms, and respect for diversity, tolerance, inclusion, and sustainable peace.

Bakary Sonko, national programme coordinator PHTG, explained that they had very interesting discussions with the communities, during which they identified major causes of conflict among them.

"Some of them are related to resources, some deep-rooted social constructs and even politics. I must admit that it is important we have these conversations, across all generations in communities. We will eventually find solutions to most of our problems, build and sustain peaceful societies." Sonko stated.

The Gambia, he observed, has been grappling with numerous potential conflict issues, particularly post 2016. To that end, he indicated that it was important they find a lasting solution.

Sonkohowever lamented that they cannot do this without a substantial understanding of the major threats to their peace.

"Thus, this is why engagements like these become worthwhile. They provide us with the opportunity to rethink our strategies of managing conflict".

Participants in all the regions acknowledged that there exist complex issues in their respective communities that could spark violent conflict. In this connection, he said what is impressive is that all appreciated the importance of building inclusive, tolerant, and peaceful societies for development.

Wuday Sanneh, a member of Song Kunda Young Female Network underscored that peace is the bedrock of all endeavours to advance society.

"Our communities and country at large are no exception to this reality. To make our communities peaceful, rights and dignity of all must be guaranteed and respected."

Traditionally, many factors such as joking relations and inter-marriagesstrengthen bonds among members of communities in the country. This, she observed, made The Gambia famous and enviable for its long stability and peace in the sub-region and beyond.

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Lamin Sainey Sonko, Alkalo of Katamina said The Gambia has been a champion of peace and stability in West Africa and beyond. This, he added, is a result of the sacrifices of our forebearers. "For us to maintain this, we need to dialogue more, respect each other, appreciate our differences and see ourselves as Gambians than any other classification, and ensure equality."

Sonko recalled that the 4th December Presidential Election in The Gambia will be a watershed moment in the country's political history. "It is the first since the country's democratic transition in 2016".

"Misinformation, fake news and use of vulgar language by political party supporters against opponents especially on social media are scary. This attitude is a threat to our peace and security and serves no one's interest. We can politic while we remain respectful and tolerant", says Yusupha Jobe of Katamina.

The activity, which targeted four regions of the country, has directly reached over 160 people, the majority being women and young people.
Benedict Rogers, a UK human rights activist, speaks at a rally commemorating the 20th anniversary of the persecution of Falun Gong in China, on the West lawn of Capitol Hill in Washington on July 18, 2019. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times)

Chinese Sanctions Wake-Up Call for West: UK Rights Advocates

The Chinese regimes sanctions against Western individuals and entities who have been vocal about its human rights record should serve as a wake-up call for the democratic world, UK politicians and human rights advocates said on Friday.

Chinas Foreign Ministry said it would sanction nine individuals and four entities on the UK side that maliciously spread lies and disinformation about the treatment of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang.

Benedict Rogers, deputy chair of the Conservative Party Human Rights Commission, one of the entities on the sanctions list, said, Actually, its the Chinese Communist Party regime that spreads lies and misinformation.

Workers walk by the perimeter fence of what is officially known as a vocational skills education centre in Dabancheng in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China, on Sept. 4, 2018. (Thomas Peter/Reuters)

I think the regime is reacting not because it has any credibility on its side, but because it doesnt like the truth being exposed and a light being shone on the human rights situation. And so its lashing out in response to that, he told The Epoch Times.

I think that it should make people in the democratic world wake up to the fact that this is a regime that doesnt behave in a normal, rational way. It doesnt use the norms of diplomacy.

He said the democratic world needs to work together to confront the Chinese Communist Party.

This news should serve as a wake-up call that if we dont stand up to this regime, our own freedom and democracy will come under increasing assault, he said.

Profoundly Sinister

Among those sanctioned are five British MPs. Two of them, Conservative MPs Tom Tugendhat and Neil OBrien, lead the China Research Group, which is one of the sanctioned UK entities.

In a statement, Tugendhat and OBrien said, This is the first time Beijing has targeted elected politicians in the UK with sanctions and shows they are increasingly pushing boundaries.

Conservative MP Tom Tugendhat takes part in a meeting of a conservative research group in Westminster Hall in London on April 9, 2019. (Tolga Akmen/AFP via Getty Images)

It is tempting to laugh off this measure as a diplomatic tantrum. But in reality it is profoundly sinister and just serves as a clear demonstration of many of the concerns we have been raising about the direction of China under Xi Jinping, they said.

As British legislators this will not actually affect us hugely, but the point of Beijings actions is to make others feel threatened, and to have a chilling effect on business people in particular.

Badge of Honour

Rogers said the sanctions, which include a travel ban and asset freeze, do not have any impact on him because he does not have any property or assets in China and has already been denied entry to Hong Kong previously.

Rogers, who has been vocal against the Chinese regimes abuse in both Xinjiang and Hong Kong, was denied entry when arriving in Hong Kong in October 2017.

So in effect, this for me personally is simply a symbolic initiative. Its really a badge of honour that I take as a recognition of my human rights work, he said.

Nusrat Ghani, one of the Tory MPs on the sanctions list, expressed similar sentiments.

She said she wont be intimidated or silenced, and neither should the British government.

I will use my freedom to raise the plight of the Uyghur & I will take this sanction as badge of honour, she wrote on Twitter.

Baroness Helena Kennedy speaks on stage at the Man Booker Prize dinner and reception at The Guildhall in London, on Oct. 17, 2017. (Chris Jackson  WPA Pool / Getty Images)

No Impact

Another sanctioned British parliamentarian, Labour peer Baroness Helena Kennedy, also said the sanction will have no impact on her work.

Im basing my criticism of what is happening in this part of China on evidence. And its my view that there are serious human rights abuses taking place, she told NTD.

We have a duty under the Genocide Convention to protect people from genocide. And you dont wait until its over. You have to act while you think it might be taking place. And the evidence points towards the genocide being in progress.

Ive built my life around protecting civil liberties both in the UK and globally, she said. This wont make any difference to the work that I do.

Sir Geoffrey Nice QC, chair of the China Tribunal into forced organ harvesting on the first day of public hearings, London, UK, Dec. 8, 2018. (Justin Palmer)

Beijing also sanctioned Sir Geoffrey Nice QC, who chaired the China Tribunal on forced organ harvesting and is now leading the Uyghur Tribunal investigating Beijings abuse in Xinjiang.

In a statement emailed to The Epoch Times, Nice said, The sanctions imposed by the PRC [Peoples Republic of China] will not affect the work of The Tribunal and will not be held against the PRC by The Tribunal in reaching an independent judgment on the information provided to The Tribunal by any group, state, or individual that wishes to engage.

We continue to hope that the PRC will respond to our invitations to cooperate with The Tribunal and provide evidence to help The Tribunal in its work.

Academic Repression

Newcastle University academic Jo Smith Finley was also sanctioned by Beijing for her research on human rights violations against Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims in Xinjiang.

In a statement emailed to The Epoch Times she said she had no regrets for speaking out and would not be silenced.

Dr Joanne Smith Finley (with permission from Dr Smith Finley)

That the Chinese authorities should resort to imposing sanctions on UK politicians, legal chambers, and a sole academic is disappointing, depressing and wholly counter-productive, she said.

Since 2014, I have watched in horror the policy changes that led to an atmosphere of intimidation and terror across Chinas peripheries, affecting first Tibet and Xinjiang, and now also Hong Kong and Inner Mongolia. In Xinjiang, the situation has reached crisis point, with many scholars, activists, and legal observers concluding that we are seeing the perpetration of crimes against humanity and the beginnings of a slow genocide.

In such a context, I would lack academic and moral integrity were I not to share the audio-visual, observational, and interview data I have obtained over the past three decades.

Reporting by Jane Werrell of NTD and Lily Zhou.

This article has been updated with comment from Jo Smith Finley.
Warning: Spoilers from The Falcon and the Winter Soldier season 1, episode 2 are discussed in this article.

It's time for the world to get to know our new Captain America.

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier's premiere episode ended with a cliffhanger that introduced John Walker (Wyatt Russell) as the U.S. government's pick to carry the shield and don the suit after Steve Rogers (Chris Evans). Now, in episode 2, John is doing what every newly cast star would do to earn the public's affection: He's made the promotional rounds.

John got a massive press tour, complete with "Cap Is Back" posters, to introduce him to the American public. It all culminated with an interview with Good Morning America on the football field of his old high school, where we got to know a little bit about his background, including his military career in counterterrorism.

"What I thought was interesting about John is that Steve was a soldier from a different era. They're both soldiers from different eras, and the era of John is very different than the era of Steve," Russell explains to EW. "The type of military men who are going to Iraq and Afghanistan was different because the time was different, and the grey area now, you see everything. Everything's filmed. There's a much different way of fighting now. You go in guns blazing first and ask questions later."

Chuck Zlotnick/Marvel Studios

While Steve's internal compass was directed by moral and ethical obligations  "fighting for something more than just getting the job done," as Russell puts it  John is more of a company man with the company being the United States military.

"John's the type of guy who's like, 'Look, you want me to do the job? I will finish the job for you,'" Russell says. "Sometimes that might require things in the grey areas where you are not comfortable but I am, and I need to be able to do my job."

Story continues

That dichotomy between the legacy of Steve's Cap and John stepping into this role results in an internal struggle for the newly minted hero. It's a question of identity, which trickles down to all the characters, including Anthony Mackie's Sam Wilson and Sebastian Stan's Bucky Barnes.

There are questions of, "Who am I in this suit?" Russell elaborates. "What does it mean to me? What does it mean to the people watching?"

"Everybody has this idea of imposter syndrome to a degree, like even Sam at the beginning," he adds. "[Sam] didn't necessarily feel comfortable with being Captain America. He didn't feel right. Everybody deals with those things differently. So, it's a big difference between this guy [John] and Steve. He's a little bit more of a [jump in] head first type guy."

In terms of how John fits into the rest of the story, Russell calls him "a wrench that gets thrown into the whole deal." Sam, he remarks, is on a "hero's journey" and getting to the point where he's "a fully realized person." "I'm an obstacle in that," he says.

Marvel Studios

Russell didn't read much of the original Marvel Comics in preparation for the role. Part of that is because he was never a comic book guy growing up. None of his friends read comics, either. He was an athlete, a hockey player. Though he found the comic artwork of John informative for the physical approach to the role.

"Your shoulders are a bit more rolled forward," the actor notes. "It's just a little bit more bull."

John, in the comics, follows his family's footsteps by joining the army. Eager to serve his country and get in on the action, he agrees to undergo experimentation that gives him super strength and becomes known as Super-Patriot, wanting to emulate Steve Rogers. The character later becomes an official Captain America after Steve hangs up the shield for ethical reasons.

Russell didn't care to know much of this lore because The Falcon and the Winter Soldier wasn't so "derivative" of this exact comic book story. However, pieces of it, of course, carried over into the show. For one, actor Cle Bennett plays Lemar Hoskins, John's friend who became an enhanced fighter named Battlestar. In the series, Lemar is part of John's Captain America strike force. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier also makes mention of the Power Brokers. A corrupt entrepreneur who went by Power Broker (singular) in the comics is how John and Lemar both got their enhanced abilities.

Russell didn't watch any of the past Marvel movies until he landed the role, either. When he finally did, he realized why Evans was so good as Captain America.

"It's next to an impossible job as far as I'm concerned," Russell says. "You're trying to be a character who's perfect. Then playing against that, of trying to be a character who's perfect but feels like he's not at all, he did an unreal job of towing that line."

Check out our daily must-see picks  plus news, celeb interviews, trivia, and more  in EW's What to Watch podcast, hosted by Gerrad Hall.

Related content:
Chandigarh, March 26 : Cutting across party lines and trade unions, the 12-hour long statewide protests on Friday by farmers evoked a good response in Punjab and Haryana as normal life was disrupted, but in Chandigarh it was almost normal.

Rail traffic across Punjab and Haryana was badly hit as farmers, farm labourers, commission agents, trade unions and activists of political parties squatted on railway lines and national highways.

However, there was no report of any untoward incident from anywhere in the states. Emergency medical services were exempted from the blockade.

The activists of several farmer associations were seen asking traders at several places in the Congress-ruled Punjab to keep their shops and business establishments closed to mark the pan-India protest.

Reports of blocking roads and highways were received from Punjab's Patiala, Ludhiana, Bathinda, Moga, Hoshiarpur, Jalandhar and other places.

Sufficient security arrangements were made in both the states to prevent any untoward incident, said a senior police official here.

Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ekta-Ugrahan) General Secretary Sukhdev Singh Kokri Kalan said the farmers would observe complete blockade of rail and road movement. Taxis and other vehicles would also not be allowed.

He said the truck unions have extended their support to the farmer unions.

Expressing solidarity with farmers, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), which has control over Sikh religious affairs and manages gurdwaras in Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, including the holiest of Sikh shrines Harmandir Sahib, popularly known as Golden Temple, in Amritsar, has announced closing its offices.

SGPC President Bibi Jagir Kaur said the Centre should repeal the farm laws.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
The global recorded music market grew by 7.4 percent in 2020, the sixth consecutive year of growth, according to the Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), the organization that represents the recorded music industry worldwide. Figures released today in IFPI's Global Music Report show total revenues for 2020 were $21.6 billion.

Growth was driven by streaming, especially by paid subscription streaming revenues, which increased by 18.5 percent. There were 443 million users of paid subscription accounts at the end of 2020.

Asia grew 9.5 percent and digital revenues surpassed a 50 percent share of the region's total revenues, for the first time. The report said that Asia would have been the fastest-growing region, with exceptional growth of 29.9 percent.

Total streaming (including both paid subscription and advertising-supported) grew 19.9 percent and reached $13.4 billion, or 62.1 percent of total global recorded music revenues. The growth in streaming revenues more than offset the decline in other formats' revenues, including physical revenues which declined 4.7 percent; and revenues from performance rights which declined 10.1 percent - largely as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The work and investment of record companies has helped lay the foundations for a predominantly digital industry that proved its resilience against the extraordinary circumstances of 2020. In a challenging year, record companies have worked alongside their artist partners to support them in creating and recording music and the whole sector has continued to drive innovations in the ways fans can experience music around the world.

IFPI Chief Executive Frances Moore said: "As the world contends with the COVID-19 pandemic, we are reminded of the enduring power of music to console, heal and lift our spirits.

"Some things are timeless, like the power of a great song or the connection between artists and fans. But some things have changed. With so much of the world in lockdown and live music shut down, in nearly every corner of the globe most fans enjoyed music via streaming," she said.

Fuelled by record companies' ongoing investment in artists and their careers, along with innovative efforts to help artists bring music to fans in new ways, recorded music revenues grew globally for the sixth consecutive year, driven by subscription streaming. As record companies continue to expand their geographical footprint and cultural reach, music has become more globally connected today, than ever before and this growth has spread across all regions around the globe.

Recorded music revenues grew in every region around the world in 2020, including Latin America maintaining its position as the fastest-growing region globally (15.9 percent) as streaming revenues grew by 30.2 percent and accounted for 84.1 percent of the region's total revenues.

Featured as a region in the report for the first time, recorded music revenues in the Africa and Middle East region increased by 8.4 percent, driven primarily by the Middle East and North Africa region (37.8 percent). Streaming dominated, with revenues up 36.4 percent.

Revenues in Europe, the second-largest recorded music region in the world, grew by 3.5 percent as strong streaming growth of 20.7 percent offset declines in all other consumption formats. The US market grew by 7.3 percent and Canadian recorded music revenues grew by 8.1 percent.
Volunteer, and get vaccinated early! read the cheery message in my university email inbox in February. Obviously intrigued, I clicked on the link at the bottom of the message, followed the instructions to request access to North Carolinas COVID-19 Vaccine Management System, and 24 hours later received confirmation that I had been approved. I signed up for a shift at a smaller hospital in the University of North Carolina system.

I arrived that morning and received a rushed two-minute set of instructions that served as training from a harried doctor. My job was simple: walk individuals from the line to the vaccination rooms, and then seat them in observation for nurses to monitor for any reactions. From snatches of muttered conversations I caught between the other volunteers, I gleaned that there was a slim chance, if you spoke to the right doctors or made friends with the right administrator on duty, you could receive a dose at the end of the day.

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I received my first dose of the Moderna vaccine at the end of my second volunteer shift, a day that I had signed up for because I heard the nurses whisper it would be promising for volunteers, since the state was set to receive a large shipment of doses the night before. For several hours I walked mostly elderly and lovely individuals from room to room, reveling in their excitement about being vaccinated. As the afternoon wore on and they started tallying appointment no-shows, it became clear that there would indeed be leftover doses that day. Shaking, I gave my name to the clinic coordinator and watched her scribble it down on a Post-It note. I cried in my car after my shot. It had been such a long time since I felt any sort of relief.

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Ever since my injection, I have grappled with my early vaccination experience. The volunteers I have worked with have all been like meyounger, white, educated, not yet eligible, and able to take time off their jobs to seek extra doses. I have listened to similar stories from friends and family around the country, all from my same demographic, about their experiences volunteering in pursuit of extra doses.

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The opportunities to get vaccinated early by volunteering are hodgepodge and very dependent on how each state chooses to administer its doses. In Rhode Island, Brown Universitys college newspaper reported on March 16 that some students had received leftover doses at the end of the day, despite a city of Providence spokesperson writing that he strongly discouraged students from volunteering in pursuit of a vaccine in order to prioritize the most vulnerable. In California, officials advertised the opportunity to get vaccinated early if you completed a four-hour volunteer shift, yet many hopefuls have been unable to sign up for shifts through the states system for weeks due to an overload of interest and website glitches. The University of Alabama at Birmingham has been openly vaccinating its volunteers since early in the year. The UNC clinics were initially open to everyone in the university system, and volunteering was named as a way to jump the line in February. They changed their rules in early Marchshortly after I received my first doseso that only UNC Health employees were eligible to volunteer.

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For several weeks after I was vaccinated, I was hesitant to tell anyone about my experience. I felt like I had gamed the system. I believedand still believethat vaccine clinics are missing a huge opportunity to more equitably distribute their leftover doses. It turns out that, as Katherine J. Wu reported in the Atlantic, many of us have chosen to keep our vaccination a secret.

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I spoke to Arthur Caplan, a professor of bioethics and head of the Division of Medical Ethics at NYU Langone who specializes in vaccine ethics, to try to make sense of the moral questions volunteering in pursuit of a vaccine raises.* My internal conflict, he says, demonstrates that no good deed goes unpunished.

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Volunteer opportunities are unequivocally geared toward people like methose who are able to take paid time off work and who have the resources, connections, and technological savvy to find opportunities in their states. These demographics are also more likely to take advantage of opportunities to get vaccinated before they are eligible.

I dont think too many people in the bus driver world or people who are trying to clean rooms at nursing homes are going to be volunteering, Caplan said. A volunteer system takes the disparity of the better off and the safer and gives them an advantage. Thats inherently unfair, and we should feel bad about that.

But at the same time, guidance on who is eligible for a doseand on a more micro level, what vaccine sites should do with leftover doseshas been so poor, Caplan says, that it makes sense for clinics to try to use their end-of-day doses in the most convenient way possible, often by injecting the volunteers who are there on the premises.

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There has not been five words of guidance about that issue since it appeared, Caplan said of surplus doses. The worst thing you could do is waste vaccine.

When Caplan himself was vaccinated at an end-of-day appointment in Connecticut, he was asked if he knew anyone who wanted a leftover dose. He of course did, and called his connections to let them know extras were available.

The open pursuit of leftover dosesthrough volunteer opportunities or through more directly marketed opportunities, like the website Dr. Bdemonstrates how poorly structured the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions guidelines were for vaccinating anyone other than health care workers with clear patient contact. Once those demographics were vaccinated, definitions took precedence over efficiency.

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The whole idea of trying to vaccinate essential workers was, in my opinion, ethically ludicrous, Caplan says. Trying to vaccinate by who is essential opens up a question that were not prepared to answerwho is essential?

As more and more doses become available, the question of who is essential fades in America, slightly. But the pandemic is still not over. Just over a quarter of the U.S. has received at least one dose of a vaccine. The opportunity for volunteers to seek out early doses remains, especially in areas with high demand. Some states have already made all adults eligible or will soon, but others are still several weeks away. And eligibility is not the same as access, at least not right now. Extra doses will still need to be administered. And we may go through this rigmarole again if boosters or entirely new vaccines are eventually needed, should variants continue to pose a threat to herd immunity.

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That means the ethical question of leftover vaccine access will also persist. Widening the volunteer pool, actively recruiting in higher-need areas, could be one way to administer extra doses more equitably. Some cities have already undertaken more targeted initiatives to try and make dose distribution more equitable. In Baltimore, churches are administering pop-up clinics for some of the most underserved communities. In Los Angeles, similar initiatives have cropped up in Koreatown. In Chapel Hill, one of UNCs larger vaccine sites started a leftover dose Twitter page on Wednesday to try to increase access to extra doses.

These initiatives are a start, especially in a system that has completely forsaken, as Caplan points out, clarification of any definitions about who qualifies for a vaccine or who should receive a leftover. But I imagine a futureperhaps even a future achievable during this pandemic, but certainly for the next public health crisiswhere these clinics could do more. Where volunteer opportunities and chances at early vaccination are not just presented to those with access, but to those who need them most.

Correction, March 26, 2021: This piece originally misidentified the Division of Medical Ethics as the Division of Bioethics.

Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society.
Dogs will be able to join their owners for a stroll on the beach in North Wildwood this summer, but only during certain hours.

Leashed dogs will be allowed on the sand when lifeguards arent on duty  before 9 a.m. and after 5:30 p.m, Mayor Patrick Rosenello said.

It became an enforcement challenge. Rosenello said Thursday. Folks would call the police on a person walking a dog early in the morning when they were the only person within a mile. Its hard to justify why someone cant walk their dog at 6:30 in the morning on an empty beach.

Rosenello said the overwhelming majority of people in town are responsible dog owners, so he doesnt anticipate many issues.

While police will politely ask violators to leave before considering issuing a summons, a $100 penalty is possible for offenders, the mayor said.

It typically doesnt turn into a fine, the mayor added. Its more of a Hey, you cant have the dog here and you have to go. 

Dogs are allowed on the beach 24 hours a day during the offseason when North Wildwoods beaches are not guarded  from around mid-September to mid-May, according to Rosenello.

Neighboring Wildwood has a dog park and designated beach for four-legged pets.

Meanwhile, in Ocean County, some Shore towns are not so pet-friendly. Seaside Heights has banned most dogs from its beach and boardwalk amid rising complaints about owners not cleaning up after their pets. Only service dogs are now allowed.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.

Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com.
The name of the woman killed in a September crash when a Lebanon County man was on his phone and ran a red light was released Friday by the West Earl Township Police Department.

Karen Lynn Miller, of Lancaster, was killed at the scene on September 26, police said. The crash happened at the intersection of Newport Rd and Oregon Pike.

Six months after the crash, Justin Mark Brubacker, 20, of Richland, voluntarily turned himself in. He went to the New Holland Magisterial District Court Office at 10 a.m. on March 26, where he was arraigned.

His bail was set at $150,000, which he was able to post, police said.

Brubacker was charged with homicide by vehicle, involuntary manslaughter, and traffic violations including a citation for using prohibited text-based operations.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled from April 13.

Read more from PennLive

Police investigate shooting in Lancaster County

Community college in Pa. closes Friday due to threat related to a former student
Armenia has been riven by disputes over its leadership since its military defeat by Azerbaijan last fall. Newly called elections are unlikely to reconcile the divisions in Armenian society caused by the battlefield losses, Celestine Bohlen, a US journalist, writes for the Council on Foreign Relations.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has called for early elections after weeks of protests and a standoff with his own army. Whats going on? Pashinyan, Armenias forty-five-year-old prime minister who was elected in 2018 on the back of a so-called Velvet Revolution, is banking on early elections set for June 20 to quell a political crisis that has its roots in Armenias bitter defeat in a forty-four-day war with neighboring Azerbaijan last year.

Pashinyan himself triggered the crisis on February 23, when he suggested in a TV interview that Iskander missiles provided to Armenia by Russia had underperformed during the war. When a senior military official scoffed at these remarks, Pashinyan fired the official, only to find himself publicly challenged by the chief of the general staff and some forty top military officers, all of whom demanded his resignation.

Defying what he called a military coup detat, Pashinyan summoned his supporters to the streets of the capital, Yerevan, to face off against demonstrators calling for his ouster. The rival protests came to a head on March 9, when the oppositiona coalition of sixteen parties barricaded the parliament building.

The debate about the performance of the Russian missiles was beside the point. (Moscow denied they were even used.) The main issue is Pashinyans leadership during the war and his continued defense of the tripartite cease-fire agreement brokered by Russia. That deal forced Armenia to cede Azerbaijani territory seized almost thirty years ago, after the first war over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Major opposition parties signed off on Pashinyans March 18 announcement of early elections, but some minor parties vowed to continue their protests, pressing for the formation of an interim government ahead of the balloting in June.

What is at stake if the countrys political crisis continues?

Prolonged instability in Armenia could endanger the fragile truce that went into effect on November 10. Even if Pashinyans government survives the June elections, his authority has been damaged, and opposition to the truce negotiated last November remains high. Tensions in the Nagorno-Karabakh region peaked again in recent weeks as both Armenia and Azerbaijan announced on relatively short notice that they were conducting large-scale military exercises. The first war over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh began in 1991 as the Soviet Union was collapsing. The victorious Armenian army not only liberated the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh, but also occupied seven surrounding Azerbaijani districts as a buffer zone. The land grab led to an exodus of some 250,000 Azerbaijanis, whose displacement remained a festering wound for the next three decades. Last November, after Azerbaijani forces overwhelmed the Armenian military with help from drones provided by its ally Turkey, Azerbaijan took back the seven districts, plus one-third of the so-called Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Has Russia gained influence over Armenia and the region since brokering the peace deal?

Russia has been widely credited with bringing last years war to an end, an achievement that will allow it to keep its peacekeepers in the region for at least five years. This has assured Moscow a major role in the regions future. But Russia now has to maintain a delicate balance in its relations with both Armenia and Azerbaijan, a difficult task given that the status of Nagorno-Karabakh remains unresolved. And although Moscows influence has increased, so too has its vulnerability because of the position of its peacekeepers, who are in both Armenia-controlled Nagorno-Karabakh and the critical Lachin Corridor, now back under Azerbaijani control, that links the disputed region with Armenia.
By Damali Mukhaye

The Uganda National Examinations Board Executive Secretary, Daniel Odongo has asked all school heads across the county to brief candidates against all forms of mal-practice during briefing today.

Addressing journalists this morning at their offices in Ntinda, Kampala Odongo says that most candidates have been disqualified and had their results withheld in the past by the board because they were not adequately taken through consequences of mal-practice.

He has asked head teachers to discourage their candidates against entering examination rooms with unauthorized material and not to accept any form of external assistance, not to copy from their colleagues nor disobey invigilators directives as all these lead to disqualification.

Briefing of candidates across the country is under way in various schools across the country.

Odongo has also asked religious leaders across the country to pray for successful conduct of exams and safety of learners during the entire process when the candidates write their exams on Monday and Tuesday.

He urges Muslim leaders to dedicate the candidates during Ijuma prayers this afternoon while the Christians and asked to do the same during their services on Saturday and Sunday.
The past few days have been momentous for Tanzania. There has been the death of one president, Dr John Pombe Magufuli, and the swearing in of another, Her Excellency Samia Suluhu Hassan, affectionately known as Mama Samia.

Such transitions have proved to be remarkably tricky affairs for Africa's fledgling democracies in the past, as demonstrated in Malawi following the death of President Mutharika in 2012. So, Tanzanians must be thankful that cooler heads have prevailed this time around, and that the precedent might serve the nation well in the future.

Mama Samia is now the new president, a female president as some would prefer to put it. However, while she is both female and president, what Tanzania needs is not a female president but a transformative president, one who will take this nation into a better future.

The years of Magufuli's presidency have been unlike any other in the history of this nation. It has been a period of dramatic change, incredibly positive by some accounts, and extremely destructive according to others. Ultimately, President Magufuli leaves behind a legacy that is so controversial that Tanzanians will struggle to come to terms with for years to come.

Whatever one thinks of Magufuli, he has infused the government with certain positive qualities, and it will be such a loss to allow them to pass on with him.

Firstly, speed of execution. Magufuli was not a leader who would allow nonsense to stand in the way of achieving his ends. If something was a priority to him, he expected speedy results. In a continent that is not exactly known for efficiency, that's a quality Tanzania cannot afford to let go of.
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Continuing its over 75 year-long legacy in churning out riveting stories for the Tamil audience, AVM Productions announces their next offering - an intriguing crime thriller, Tamil Stalkers. Directed by Arivazhagan Venkatachalam, the show is inspired from a real-life film piracy group and dwells on the stark realties of content piracy in the Tamil film industry. The series marks AVMs foray into OTT and will go live on SonyLIV later this year.

Illegal and unauthorised duplication of content is one of the gravest concerns plaguing content creators world over. In India, the Tamil film industry, has been fighting a never-ending battle with this issue owing to various online piracy websites. This show deep dives into the dark side of this piracy world and unravels the industrys constant battle against identifying the group that is involved in releasing pirated content.

Dwelling on a meaningful yet entertaining narrative, the show will be available for the audience in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada.

Comments :

Aruna Guhan and Aparna Guhan Shyam, Partners, AVM Productions

Tamil Stalkers dwells on the unheard aspects of the Tamil industrys relentless battle against piracy and ways to counter the menace. We are extremely passionate to bring it forth to the audience in partnership with SonyLIV, that has been headlining the category with relevant and intriguing narratives. Along with a visionary director like Arivazhagan, we are sure to hit the right chords with Tamil Stalkers.

Danish Khan - Business Head - SonyLIV, StudioNEXT & Sony Entertainment Television, Sony Pictures Networks India

We at SonyLIV are delighted to start our Tamil language LIV Original slate with Tamil Stalkers, a show that will be produced by one of the pioneer creative powerhouse AVM. We look forward to partner with Aruna, Aparna and their highly talented team of writers, technicians and actors to bring what we believe is one of the most relevant and compelling stories.

Tamil Stalkers to launch soon only on SonyLIV
The Initiative for ASEAN Integration (IAI) Task Force convened the 63rd meeting virtually in Jakarta, Indonesia on March 25.

At the event. - Photo: VNA

Ambassador Nguyen Hai Bang, Permanent Representative of Vietnam to ASEAN chaired the meeting in the capacity of chair of the Task Force in 2021.



This was a regular meeting of ASEAN permanent representatives to review the implementation of projects within the IAI and seek solutions to further improve the efficiency of IAI Work Plans, including the completion of the IAI Work Plan III (2016-2020) and the launch of IAI Work Plan IV (2021-2025) which was adopted in late 2020.



So far, 22 out of 26 action lines of the IAI Work Plan III, or 84.6 percent, have been implemented across five strategic areas of Food and Agriculture, Trade Facilitation, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), Education, and Health and Well-being.



Currently, 127 projects have been approved and implemented with total capital of 30.79 million USD. By the end of the work plan in July 2021, seven additional projects will be designed to complete the remaining four action lines.



At the meeting, the Task Force approved 17 new projects within the IAI Work Plan IV (2021-2025), 16 of which are funded by Singapore and one by Japan.



In the future, the Task Force will continue to speed up the second phase of the project supporting the implementation of the IAI Work Plan IV, including the organisation of national consultations in CLMV countries (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam) and a regional consultation forum, thus building detail implementation plan and propose model projects in CLMV countries.



The IAI was adopted by ASEAN member countries in 2000 with an aim to narrow down the development gap among ASEAN countries and support CLMV countries in full integration into the regional economy.

VNA

Vietnams new representative to ASEAN presents credentials Ambassador Nguyen Hai Bang presented his letter of credential to ASEAN Secretary-General Dato Lim Jock Hoi at a virtual ceremony on February 26, officially becoming Vietnams representative to the ASEAN.
Migrants: Council of Europe says Italy and Malta incompliant On Libya and delayed rescues, put human lives at risk

(ANSAmed) - ROME, MARCH 26 - A spokesperson for Council of Europe Human Rights Commissioner Dunja Mijatovic said Friday that EU states must urgently change their migration policies in the Mediterranean since current ones place at risk the lives and human rights of refugees and migrants.



The comment came during an international conference on saving lives in the Mediterranean Sea sponsored by ASGI in collaboration with the Jesuit refugee Service of Malta and Aditus, as well as the Foundation Assistance Internationale, which discussed the conclusions of a report on migrants with special focus on the Mediterranean and the role of EU Member States Italy and Malta.



The spokesperson, who was taking part on behalf of Mijatovic, said that many actions by Member States seem to have an implicit or explicit aim of leaving the field open to the Libyan Coast Guard to intercept migrant boats.



The reference was to an agreement signed by Italy and Malta with Libya, the IRINI operation and actions taken against NGOs working to recuse migrants at sea.



The spokesperson said that the policies of EU states were putting human rights at risk and that they must change.(ANSAmed).




Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

As the COVID-19 pandemic sent millions of Americans home this time last year, many professionals struggled to navigate work and household responsibilities. But a recent survey from Harvard Business School Online shows that working online did work. In fact, many professionals even experienced advancement and growthboth on the job and at homethis year. "The past year has been difficult for everyone, but what's surprising is how well people feel they've performed at work, while at home," said Patrick Mullane, HBS Online's executive director. "Now, as we're preparing to get back to 'business as usual," it seems professionals don't want 'business as usual." Instead, they want flexibility from their employers to allow them to maintain the new work/home balance and productivity they have come to enjoy."

HBS Online retained Cambridge, Mass.-based market research firm City Square Associates to survey nearly 1,500 professionals who worked remotely during the COVID-19 shutdown from March 2020 to March 2021. Respondents were asked to compare this past year to the prior one.

Professional growth despite personal struggles

Despite the widespread hardships and heartbreaks of COVID-19, there is positive news. The HBS Online survey revealed that respondents experienced professional and personal wins, along with embracing many healthyand even some unhealthyhabits.

"Many of us have Zoom fatigue," said Simeen Mohsen, HBS Online's managing director of product management. "Yet, despite not being in the office, many professionals still performed well and were even able to grow in their careers. They somehow rose to the occasion and gave it their all, both as individuals and as teams."

Want to go back to office, but with more flexibility and certain conditions

The survey showed that many professionals miss their colleagues and other aspects of being in the office, and some want to go back. But since they proved they were able to perform, and even excel, during the pandemic, they want more flexibility.

This story is published courtesy of the Harvard Gazette, Harvard University's official newspaper. For additional university news, visit Harvard.edu.
Kerrville, TX (78028)

Today

Mostly cloudy with showers and a few thunderstorms. Low 62F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%..

Tonight

Mostly cloudy with showers and a few thunderstorms. Low 62F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%.
Leader of the European Solidarity party, fifth President of Ukraine (2014-2019) Petro Poroshenko discussed with Ambassador of the People's Republic of China to Ukraine Fan Xianrong ways to strengthen cooperation in order to combat the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

As reported on the European Solidarity website, during a telephone conversation on Friday, Poroshenko drew the interlocutor's attention to the threatening situation with the spread of coronavirus in Ukraine, stressed the urgent need to vaccinate Ukrainian citizens and thanked the Chinese side for showing solidarity by supplying the first batch of Chinese vaccine to Ukraine.

"Poroshenko called on the Chinese side to continue supplying vaccines to Ukraine to effectively counter COVID-19," the message said.
The University of Southern California has agreed to pay around $1 billion in settlement to women alleging health center gynecologist George Tyndall of sex abuse on his patients, the university announced.



The settlement covers a group of 710 women suing the university in the Los Angeles Superior Court. They settled their claims for $852 million.

On top of that, USC previously agreed to thousands other alumnae and students $215 million in 2018 as part of class settlement action, according to Los Angeles Times report.

The university also agreed to pay up to $25 million in legal fees.

Tyndall was a former longtime gynecologist at the USC and was charged with sexually assaulting 16 women at the student health center. During the first criminal counts in a case, USC has offered to pay $215 million to settle possibly thousands of claims, according to CBS News 2019 report.

The former gynecologist was accused of sexual misconduct between 2009 and 2016 and has pleaded not guilty.

USC said in a statement that it is pledged to reaching a fair agreement for its former students.

USC President Carol L. Folt said that she is deeply sorry for the pain experienced by valued members of the USC community.

"We appreciate the courage of all who came forward and hope this much needed resolution provides some relief to the women abused by George Tyndall," Folt was quoted in an NBC News report.

READ MORE: Nearly 90,000 Sexual Abuse Claims Filed Against Boy Scouts of America

The Case

Hundreds of women came forward to report their case to the police. However, some of those fell outside the 10-year criminal statute of limitations.

Others did not rise to the level of charges or lacked evidence to prosecute.

One USC law school graduate, who is now a sex crimes prosecutor in Ventura County, said that she saw Tyndall. She said and none of his victims should have ever seen Tyndall after her encounter.

"Like many, I was inexperienced in what a gynecological exam would entail. So, when he closed the door and locked it, I thought it was odd but what did I know?" Audry Nafziger was quoted in a report.

In addition, an investigation by the Department of Education's civil rights office found that USC mishandled the accusations against Tyndall during his employment at the university's health center. This could have potentially allowed the abuse to continue.

Many victims clamored for criminal charges to be filed against USC administrators who knew the abuse for decades and did not dismiss him from his position, according to an Associated Press report.

Tyndall's attorney, Leonard Levine, said that the accused continues to deny that he has done any of the misconduct laid against him.

Levine added that Tyndall is confident he will be totally exonerated when the allegations are tested in a jury trial.

The complaints started in 1990 when a co-worker alleged Tyndall that he was improperly photographing students' genitals, according to a LA Times report.

Some colleagues also feared that he was targeting USC's growing population of Chinese students, who had limited understanding of the English language and American medical practices.

One nurse came forward in 2016 to the campus rape crisis center. That was the only time that Tyndall was suspended.

However, USC top administrators had allowed Tyndall to resign quietly with a financial payout in a secret deal.

USC did not inform Tyndall's patients nor reported him to the Medical Board of California, which is an agency responsible for protecting patients from abusive doctors.

READ NEXT: Jeffrey Epstein Victim Starts Foundation for Survivors of Sexual Abuse

WATCH: Ex-USC Gynecologist Pleads Not Guilty to Sex Abuse Charges - from KTLA 5






Francesca Paris is The Eagle's data and public records reporter. She was previously the North Adams reporter. A California native and Williams College alumna, she has worked at NPR in Washington, D.C. and WBUR in Boston. Find her on Twitter at @fparises.
Gov. Phil Murphys statement that virtual learning will not continue in September is prompting plenty of reaction from parents leery of their children retuning to classrooms due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Deanna Nye, whose three children have been receiving virtual instruction since last March, said she wants to retain that option.

I understand kids need to be back in school, it is so important, but some kids are thriving remotely, Nye said.

Nye said she is not ready for her children to return to classrooms, though there have been only 947 documented cases of in-school transmission of the coronavirus in New Jersey during the current school year.

Her son, who is in the 2nd grade, has multiple medical conditions placing him at a higher risk of COVID-19 complications, and she said she would worry about him possibly contracting the virus from his two siblings.

If COVID magically disappears, maybe I would send them, she said.

Murphys statement on Wednesday was a reversal of his decision last summer to allow parents to choose all-remote learning for their children during the 2020-21 school year. It came as he announced that most schools can move classroom desks three feet apart, instead of six feet, under revised social distancing guidance issued by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

He acknowledged that he is open to shifting course, depending on circumstances.

The Governor expects all districts to provide in-person instruction in the fall, Murphys spokesperson, Alyana Alfaro, said on Thursday.

If the current rate of vaccine allocation and anticipated fall 2021 health reality stands up, we would expect that every student will be able to attend school full time in person this fall. Of course, we will always follow the best available public health guidance at the time, Alfaro said.

Richard Bozza, executive director of the New Jersey Association of School Administrators, said Murphys announcement offered clarification that was much sought after by school districts.

Local administrators already are well into the process of planning for the next school year, he added.

Budgets are being planned. Decisions about personnel are being made, Bozza said.

Eliminating the virtual option would not require anyone to send their child to school, he added.

Parents still have the option to home-school their children, Bozza said.

The statewide teachers union, the New Jersey Education Association, offered support for Murphys decision.

We believe that, when it is safe, in-person instruction is the best educational option for most students in most circumstances, NJEA spokesperson Steve Baker said.

The state has always had procedures to deal with the rare exceptions to that, even before the pandemic, and I assume those procedures will remain in place. Our focus is on making sure that all of our buildings are safe and that all of the other necessary precautions are in place so that we can safely return to in-person instruction, Baker said.

A showdown over Murphys directive, though, may be looming in Somerset Countys largest school district. Supporters of keeping remote learning as an option have formed a Facebook group and submitted a written statement shared Tuesday night at the Bridgewater-Raritan Regional school board meeting.

The K-12 district is using a hybrid schedule but about half of the students are learning from home, according to Nye, who lives in the district.

Many of us have still not resumed normalcy (i.e. dining out) so the thought of something as seemingly simple as feeding our children lunch in the school building is extremely concerning, read the statement, attributed to BRRSD-Parents for Virtual Choice.

As the COVID cases trend downward, some virtual families would like the opportunity for our children to attend school at some point next school year. We would like to see transparency with regards to the ventilation improvements. This, coupled with the current cases in our community, will allow us to make an informed decision as to when we feel safe sending our children back to the school buildings, read the statement.

The details that would have to be worked out to do this safely and efficiently are much more complicated than what meets the eye. As the virus evolves between now and September, its important to plan for all scenarios, including the need for a full virtual option this fall, it reads.

Nationally and in New Jersey, there has been a growing push in recent weeks for schools to fully reopen.

As of Wednesday, 143 districts with about 97,000 students were open for all in-person instruction, Murphy said. In addition, 534 districts with more than 833,000 students were open for hybrid instruction. Another 44 districts with 121,600 students were a mix of in-person, hybrid, or all-remote learning, while 90 districts with 302,000 students remained all remote.

Michelle Prejean, a parent of three from Basking Ridge, said she believes parents deserve a choice. Her two younger children are on hybrid schedules, while her high school junior daughter has opted for virtual instruction.

Other states have managed to do both. So should we, said Prejean, who moved to New Jersey from Texas three years ago.

I dont want the state telling me whats best for my kids, Prejean said.

Bozza said there is justification for seeking a return to classrooms.

Children learning from home have less contact with their peers and teachers, he said, and that this has long been seen as a key part of education.

Theres a great sense of pressure to be back to some sense of normalcy, Bozza said.

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Rob Jennings may be reached at rjennings@njadvancemedia.com.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP)  Virginias House speaker on Friday said she supports moving up the date for legalizing adult recreational use of marijuana in Virginia to this summer, a key change pushed by advocates who have sharply criticized legislation approved by lawmakers last month that would delay legalization until 2024.

Democratic Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn announced on Twitter that she will back an amendment to the bill with a July 1 legalization date.

The time is now for us to act, she said.

Filler-Corn said she will also push for other amendments, including a provision that calls for people who are currently incarcerated for nonviolent marijuana-related offenses to have an opportunity for resentencing.

Filler-Corn is also calling for an amendment that would automatically seal marijuana-related criminal records for nonviolent offenses on July 1. She also wants the legislation amended to legalize the private cultivation of a limited number of marijuana plants for personal use.

Filler-Corn said legalization alone is not enough.

We must also address the historic targeting of black and brown individuals over non-violent marijuana related offenses, she tweeted, referring to the three additional amendments she has proposed.

Last month, lawmakers approved a bill to legalize marijuana for adult recreational use, but not until 2024, when retail sales of the drug would begin and regulations would go into effect to control the marijuana marketplace in Virginia.

With that vote, Virginia became the first Southern state to vote to legalize marijuana, joining 15 other states and the District of Columbia. But the bill was roundly criticized by some lawmakers and advocates who wanted simple possession legalized quickly to end penalties for people with small amounts of marijuana.

Lawmakers last year decriminalized marijuana, making simple possession a civil penalty that can be punished by a fine of no more than $25.

The legislation to legalize simple possession beginning Jan. 1, 2024, has been on Democratic Gov. Ralph Northams desk for a month now. He has a deadline of Wednesday to send amendments to the House and Senate for their consideration. Northam has not said publicly what amendments he plans to make, but suggested in an interview with VPM News on Wednesday that he, too, wanted a faster timeline on legalization.

I personally dont think we should be arresting or penalizing somebody for something were getting ready to legalize, Northam said.

Northams spokeswoman, Alena Yarmosky, declined to comment directly on Filler-Corns announcement.

Governor Northam continues to have productive conversations with legislators and stakeholders on amendments to the marijuana legalization bill, Yarmosky said in a statement.

The Governor is grateful to the General Assembly for their hard work on this important issue, and he looks forward to continuing to improve this legislation. His top priority is making sure we legalize marijuana in an equitable way, Yarmosky said in a statement.

The Senate had sought in its original bill to legalize simple possession on July 1 to immediately end punishments for people with small amounts of marijuana. But some House Democrats had pushed for a legalization date in 2024, arguing that legalization without a legal market for marijuana could promote the growth of the black market.

Democratic Sen. Jennifer McClellan said support in the Senate for the July 1 date has not changed.

Im glad to see the House appears to be coming around to our position on the July 1 date. That gives me even more confidence that thats whats going to happen, said McClellan, who is running for governor.

The 2024 date had also drawn sharp criticism from the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia, Marijuana Justice and other racial justice advocacy groups.

Chelsea Higgs Wise, executive director of Marijuana Justice, said she is pleased that Filler-Corn has thrown her support behind the July 1 legalization date.

It sounds like they are making the correct amendments to meet the demands that racial justice advocates have been pushing for, so this is really exciting, she said. Im really thrilled that the political will has shifted  to repeal the prohibition of simple possession now and to repair peoples lives by releasing, resentencing and sealing records.

By DENISE LAVOIE

Associated Press
CHICAGO, March 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- According to the new market research report "Automotive Switch Market By Type (Knob, Lever, Button, Touchpad & Others), Switch Application (HVAC, Indicator, Electronic, Engine Management, Power Windows, Ignition, Multi-purpose & Others), Vehicle Type and Region - Global Forecast to 2026", published by MarketsandMarkets, the Automotive Switches Market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 3.8% from 2021 to 2026, and the market size is expected to grow from USD 6.2 billion in 2021 to USD 7.5 billion by 2026.

Growing popularity of premium vehicles with advanced systems such as power windows, front & rear AC conditioning, EMS systems etc. is expected to significantly boost Automotive Switches Market. Trends towards lightweight vehicle parts is also expected to propel Automotive Switches Market.

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Air conditioner temperature switch is the fastest growing market by application

Increase in superior cabin experience has propelled to ever-increasing the growth of the AC lines market. Today, almost all the vehicles that are manufactured are equipped with an air conditioning system. Thus, there is tough competition between automakers to provide enhanced comfort. This competition has increased pressure on OEMs to deliver technologically advanced automotive air conditioning systems. Also, the increasing popularity of premium vehicles, has driven the adoption of rear AC system. Thus, the increasing demand for rear air conditioning has also driven the growth of air conditioner temperature switch is expected to grow further in coming years.

PC is the largest market for automotive switches, by vehicle type

The passenger car segment is estimated to hold the largest market share of the Automotive Switches Market during the forecast period. The growing PC production in countries such as China, India, Brazil is driving Automotive Switches Market. Growing Installation of systems such as infotainment display, power windows are driving market for touchpad, and buttons. Thus, considering the above-mentioned factors, the PC Automotive Switches Market is expected to get a significant boost in the forecast period.

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Asia Pacific is estimated to be the largest geographical segment of the Automotive Switches Market

The Asia-Oceania region comprises of countries such as China, India, and Japan. The region is dominated by developing countries such as India and China, where the automotive industry is growing at a faster pace. Increasing number of vehicle manufacturing facilities due to low cost of production in developing countries, increasing production capacity, and growing demand for light and heavy vehicles is driving the market for automotive switches in these countries. At the same time, the demand for luxury cars has increased considerably. The increase in demand for vehicles, especially premium passenger cars, has accentuated the need for cabin comfort and luxury and enhanced the demand for better air conditioning systems, driving Automotive Switches Market. Thus, the market for Automotive Switches Market in the region is expected to grow significantly in the coming years.

The Automotive Switches Market is dominated by global players and comprises several regional players as well. The key players in the Automotive Switches Market are Robert Bosch GmbH (Germany), Continental AG (Germany), ZF Friedrichshafen AG(Germany), Alps Alpine Co., Ltd. (Japan), Panasonic Corporation (Japan).

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Automotive Interior Market by Component (Seat, Interior Lighting), Material (Glass Composite, Carbon Composite, Metal, Vinyl, Fabric), Autonomous Driving (Semi-autonomous, Autonomous), Electric Vehicle, Vehicle Type and Region - Global Forecast to 2025

Automotive Lighting Market for ICE & EV by Technology (Halogen, LED, Xenon/HID), Position & Application (Head, Side, Tail, Fog, DRL, CHMSL, Dashboard, Glovebox, Reading, Dome, Rear View Mirror), Adaptive Lighting and Region - Global Forecast to 2025

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Brooklyn, New York--(Newsfile Corp. - March 26, 2021) - Green Stream Holdings Inc. (OTC Pink: GSFI) ("the Company") (http://www.GreenRainSolar.com ), an emerging leader in the solar utility and finance space, announces today it has filed its most recent Quarterly Report for the period ending January 31st, 2021 via EDGAR. The report was filed on March 23, with an Amended Report filed yesterday and submitted by GlobalOne Filings and signed off on by James DiPrima, the Company's CEO.

The report can be found at https://sec.report/Ticker/GSFI

The company anticipates status to reflect as Pink Current Information Tier on OTC Markets within the coming days and anticipates increased accessibility for investors as a result.

Shareholders-visit greenrainsolar.com. where you can view Green Stream's news, filings and even a live Level 2 stream, along with other company information.

GSFI Company Proposal



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About Green Stream Finance, Inc.:

Green Stream Finance, Inc., a Wyoming-based corporation with satellite offices in Malibu, CA and New York, NY, is focused on exploiting currently unmet markets in the solar energy space, and is currently licensed in California, Nevada, Arizona, Washington, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Colorado, Hawaii, and Canada. The Company's next-generation solar greenhouses constructed and managed by Green Rain Solar, LLC, a Nevada-based division, utilize proprietary greenhouse technology and trademarked design developed by world-renowned architect Mr. Antony Morali. The Company is currently targeting high-growth solar market segments for its advanced solar greenhouse and advanced solar battery products. The Company has a growing footprint in the significantly underserved solar market in New York City where it is targeting 50,000 to 100,000 square feet of rooftop space for the installation of its solar panels. Green Stream is looking to forge key partnership with major investment groups, brokers, and private investors in order to capitalize on a variety of unique investment opportunities in the commercial solar energy markets. The Company is dedicated to becoming a major player in this critical space. Through its innovative solar product offerings and industry partnerships, the Company is well-positioned to become a significant player in the solar space.

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This press release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and is subject to the safe harbor created by those sections. This material contains statements about expected future events and/or financial results that are forward-looking in nature and subject to risks and uncertainties. That includes the possibility that the business outlined in this press release cannot be concluded for some reason. That could be as a result of technical, installation, permitting or other problems that were not anticipated. Such forward-looking statements by definition involve risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Green Stream Finance, Inc. to be materially different from the statements made herein. Except for any obligation under the U.S. federal securities laws, Green Stream Finance, Inc. undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

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TWO police officers died in separate incidents after they were attacked by people in Bulawayo and Gokwe while a suspected armed robber was shot and killed after resisting arrest in Kwekwe.

In the Bulawayo case, the police officer died after he tried to save a friend from being attacked while in Gokwe, the officer died after being stabbed on his way home.

All the suspects involved in the brutal murders are still at large and a manhunt has since been launched.

National police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi confirmed the murder cases.

"The ZRP is investigating three murder cases which occurred in Bulawayo and Midlands Provinces from Mach 15 to 19, 2021 involving members of the Zimbabwe Republic police.

"On March 18, a police officer aged 30 clad in police uniform who was trying to restrain an attack on his friend was tripped on to the ground by three unknown men in Magwegwe, Bulawayo. The victim landed on the ground with the back of his head and died from injuries sustained," he said.

Asst Comm Nyathi said on March 19 in Gokwe, a police officer who was in the company of a friend was on his way home from work, was stabbed with a knife on the thigh for an unspecified reason and died on the spot.

The friend was also stabbed on the left shoulder and right thigh and was ferried to hospital by well-wishers.

"The two suspects involved in the stabbings are also at large," he said.

Police are appealing for information that might lead to the arrest of the five suspects who killed the police officers to contact any nearest police station or the national complaints desk on (0242) 703631.

Meanwhile, a 20-year-old man was shot and killed in Amaveni, Kwekwe on March 15 by a police officer on duty who intended to arrest him in connection with cases of assault and robbery.

"The victim resisted arrest and attacked three police officers with a home-made knife after initially hiding in his bedroom. He was shot once on the chest and succumbed to the injuries," said Asst Comm Nyathi.
A matatu driver has died while six other people have been seriously injured following crash along the Sagana-Makutano road in Kirinyaga County.

The crash happened Thursday when the mini bus collided with a lorry near Makutano town.

The injured were rushed to Kerugoya and Sagana hospitals for treatment.

The accident caused a huge traffic jam as residents sought to rescue passengers who had been trapped in the mangled bus.

Residents used axes to free the victims from the badly damaged bus.

According to the witnesses, the bus was travelling to Nairobi from Nyeri when the accident happened.

"We saw the driver of the lorry lose control before his vehicle crashed into the mini bus from behind," one of the witnesses, Mr John Kangangi, said.

A traffic officer at the scene did not wish to be named said investigations had been launched to establish the actual circumstances under which the accident occurred.

The lorry driver escaped from the scene and he is being sought by the police.

The accident comes barely two weeks after another one in which three family members died on the same route.
Ondjiva  The practice of handicrafts and promotion of craft fairs have been the main incentive and therapy for female inmates at Peu-Peu prison in southern Cunene province.

Over the years, the inmates have dedicated themselves to the production of handicrafts such as baskets, mats, gourds, carpets and slippers, many of which have undeniable artistic value.

Speaking to Angop, about the exhibition of arts and crafts being held from March 20 to 31, the head of the Peu Peu prison, 2nd sub-chief Alidia Muela, said the products are the result of a work that reflects the wishes and desires of the inmates.

Alidia Muela underlined that the work is being developed as occupational therapy for the inmates to facilitate their reintegration.

Over the years, the inmates have dedicated themselves to the production of handicrafts such as baskets, mats, gourds, carpets and slippers, many of which have undeniable artistic value.

Speaking to Angop, about the exhibition of arts and crafts being held from March 20 to 31, the head of the Peu Peu prison, 2nd sub-chief Alidia Muela, said the products are the result of a work that reflects the wishes and desires of the inmates.

Alidia Muela underlined that the work is being developed as occupational therapy for the inmates to facilitate their reintegration.
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Copyright  2021 Albuquerque Journal

SANTA FE  After a cannabis legalization bill fizzled in the final hours of this years 60-day legislative session, a small group of New Mexico lawmakers have been working in recent days to plant the seed for a possible bipartisan breakthrough.

They will have that chance after Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said Friday she will call lawmakers back to the state Capitol for a special session starting Tuesday.

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In addition to the proposal to legalize recreational marijuana for adult users, the governor also said she would add to the special session agenda a bill dealing with the expansion of a state economic development program.

I am grateful to those legislative leaders and members who have expressed enthusiasm about returning to the peoples work so soon after a challenging 60-day session, Lujan Grisham said in a statement. The unique circumstances of the session, with public health safeguards in place, in my view prevented the measures on my call from crossing the finish line.

A House-approved cannabis legalization bill stalled in the Senate in the final days of the session that ended March 20, with Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth, D-Santa Fe, opting not to bring it up for a vote that could have prompted a lengthy debate and blocked other measures from winning final approval.

But Lujan Grisham said shortly after adjournment she would take the rare step of calling an immediate special session to get the legalization bill across the finish line.

In an interview this week, Wirth said hes hopeful the special session can be wrapped up in just a couple of days  or perhaps even in a single day.

I continue to remain optimistic were going to get this done, Wirth told the Journal.

He said the inclusion of social justice provisions  including expungement for past cannabis-related convictions  in the House-approved legalization bill was a roadblock to getting the bill through the Senate in the final hours of this years 60-day session.

I think that message has been heard and there may be more than one bill, Wirth said.

Since taking office in 2019, Lujan Grisham has touted cannabis legalization as a job-creation measure and a way to bolster New Mexicos economy.

While I applaud the Legislature and staff for their incredible perseverance and productivity during the 60-day session in the face of these challenges, we must and we will forge ahead and finish the job on these initiatives together for the good of the people and future of our great state, the governor said Friday.

Good framework

Not all lawmakers are enthusiastic about the prospect of returning to the Roundhouse after a two-month session that was for the most part conducted remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Specifically, Republican legislative leaders have blasted Lujan Grisham for calling a special session in the week leading up to Easter.

Marijuana legalization does not constitute a public emergency and a special session is not a tool for a governor to extend a legislative session, three top GOP senators said in a statement Friday, adding the timing was disrespectful to New Mexicans of faith, including many legislators.

But backers of cannabis legalization say theyre hopeful a deal can be all but brokered before the special session begins.

And a bipartisan group of lawmakers has been holding talks with one another and the Governors Office on the issue since the 60-day session ended.

Were not starting from scratch  weve got a good framework, Rep. Javier Martinez, D-Albuquerque, a sponsor of the House-approved legalization bill, said in a recent interview.

In addition, Sen. Cliff Pirtle, R-Roswell, said hes been in communication with the Governors Office and top-ranking Senate Democrats about finding common ground on cannabis legalization.

He unveiled a reworked bill draft this week that, among other things, would bar state agencies from limiting how many marijuana plants a licensed producer could possess or manufacture.

As for the other issue in the special session mix, the economic development proposal would authorize some tax revenue generated by large-scale construction projects to go back into a state closing fund.

Such an arrangement would require approval by local governments that participate in the Local Economic Development Act, which has been used to help offset business relocation and expansion costs, such as Netflix making Albuquerque its national production hub.

$50K a session

The special session will be the third called by Lujan Grisham in her 27 months in office.

The Democratic governor called two special sessions last year  one in June and one in November  to deal with budgetary issues, and financial relief for New Mexico businesses and workers amid the pandemic.

And another special session could be called later this year for the once-a-decade task of redrawing political boundary lines.

Legislative Council Service Director Raul Burciaga said Friday that security fencing erected around the Roundhouse in advance of this years 60-day session will be taken down before next weeks special session begins.

The fencing was put up after a violent insurrection in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6 and threats of political violence at state capitols nationwide.

However, Burciaga said the Roundhouse will remain off-limits to lobbyists and members of the public during the upcoming special session due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

As during this years 60-day session and the two 2020 special sessions, only lawmakers, legislative staffers and media members will be allowed in the building.

Meanwhile, there will be a sense of urgency to conduct the cannabis special session quickly as the daily cost of recent special sessions has averaged about $50,000.
The EU is ready to engage with Turkey in a "phased, proportionate, reversible manner," to enhance cooperation in areas of common interest, according to a European Council conclusion adopted by EU leaders on Thursday.

They met virtually to discuss foreign policy issues, including Turkey and the Eastern Mediterranean. The session was chaired by European Council President Charles Michel.

The EU leaders asked the Council to work on a mandate on the modernization of the 25-year-old EU-Turkey Customs Union, and noted that the EU is ready "to take further decisions at the European Council meeting in June."

The de-escalation of tension in the Eastern Mediterranean, resumption of talks between Turkey and Greece, and upcoming talks on Cyprus under the auspices of the UN was welcomed.

"Provided that the current de-escalation is sustained and that Turkey engages constructively, and subject to the established conditionalities set out in the previous European Council conclusions, in order to further strengthen the recent more positive dynamic, the European Union is ready to engage with Turkey in a phased, proportionate and reversible manner to enhance cooperation in a number of areas of common interest and take further decision at the European Council meeting in June," the document read.

They said that the EU is ready to launch "high-level dialogue with Turkey on issues of mutual concern" such as counter-terrorism, public health, and climate.

The representatives also urged the Commission to look for ways to improve people-to-people contact and mobility with Turkey, Anadolu agency reported.

According to the document, the 27-member bloc is committed to resolve the Cyprus dispute in accordance with the related UN Security Council resolutions, and the EU is looking forward to the resumption of talks under the auspices of the UN, in which the bloc will participate as an observer.
Officials in Sokoto are providing differing details about the reported death in the latest outbreak of cholera at Government Girls College, Mareba.

The state's commissioner for science and technology, Kulu Haruna. Another 30 people have been discharged from hospital.

But Abdurrahaman Dantsoho, the Director of Public Health in Sokoto state ministry of health, confirmed the students were all treated, adding that the ministry was not aware of the rumour of death as a result of the incident, according to the News Agency of Nigeria.

Sokoto state government deployed 10 doctors and other paramedics to contain the outbreak.

Haruna,said quick state intervention helped bring the outbreak under control

"And all the infected students have been isolated to curtail the spread of the disease," she said.

The affected students were currently in stable condition, Haruna said.

The outbreak is believed to have started two days ago, forcing the school management to convert of one its halls into an isolation centre.

Dantsoho said the ministry had commenced investigation, testing samples of water, food and other surrounding materials collected.

(NAN)
An Irish student living in Paris has gone viral after sharing the downside to the city  and what it's really like to do an 'Emily in Paris'.

Mandy Cherie, 22, originally from Donegal, has lived in the French capital for the last three years  studying business and marketing, alongside the language of love.

But while young people are romanticising the city on social media, following the release of Netflixs Emily in Paris, starring Lily Collins, Mandy has revealed that living in the city of lights isn't all it's cracked up to be.

Taking to TikTok, the young woman has shared several clips about the dirt, rampant pickpockets and weekly protests  with one of the videos racking up 8.9 million views with 1.4 million likes so far.

While she had some grievances with the French capital, Mandy also said she loved the French lifestyle and fashion and invited others to visit Paris.

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Mandy Cherie, 22, from Donegal, Ireland, has been living in Paris for the past three years, and has been dubbed the real life Emily in Paris

In 2020, the show about how American girl Emily, played by Lilly Collins, pictured, moved to the French capital was a huge hit for Netflix

Sure, you might have a romance or two, a la Emily  but be prepared for dog poo 'all over' the streets and holding your breath through a stench of smoke while en route to your date, Mandy warned.

And you might struggle as an expat, as Mandy said it's 'hard to find jobs and housing as a foreigner'.

There's also the high cost of living and 'mean Parisians' to battle.

'A lot of people think its going to be the most romantic and perfect place, like what we see in Emily in Paris,' Mandy said.

Mandy, pictured, complained about 'mean Parisians' and bad service, left, in her video, and also said Paris was rife with pickpockets

'While that aspect does exist, its also important to bear in mind that its a real city with real life problems.

'Every aspect of life is slowed down by bureaucracy, for example, and one of the biggest obstacles to overcome is learning the language, which can often feel overwhelming.'

In one TikTok video, Mandy walks the streets of the city dressed in a chic outfit including a baby yellow jacket, cream jumper, leather skirt and trendy patterned tights.

The Eiffel Tower can be seen in the background as she shakes her head and details her annoyances with the city, saying they give her 'the ick'  a term to describe something that makes you cringe.

The Irish woman in Paris complained about the high cost of Paris living and the fact there was dog poo everywhere

Mandy, pictured, said Parisians were 'rude' and that the city's apartments were 'tiny' in one of her follow-up videos

Mandy, pictured by the metro, left, joked learning French was one of the bad things about living in France

In follow-up videos, Mandy details more issues with her current city, such as the 'tiny apartments, drama in the Metro, rude Parisians' and the fact that you'll have to learn speaking French.

But the insight hasn't put off hardcore France fans, with one person commenting: 'I'm still going to Paris' in caps.

'Nah, I'm staying in Britain we safe here,' wrote someone else.

'I love Paris: only 2 problems, 1: there are only apartments. 2: if you don't have money you can't survive a week in beauty there,' wrote another person.

The Irish woman, pictured, said there were protests happening weekly and that the city smelled of smoke

Mandy, pictured, said it was hard to find a job and accommodation in Paris and that there were lots of 'drama' happening in the metro

Mandy said: 'It [the original video] went way more viral than I had expected.

'A lot of people took it as me hating on Paris but that is not the case at all.

'A lot of people come to Paris and they expect it to be like a Pinterest board, being totally unprepared for the not-so-romantic aspects of the city.

'We rarely see the pick-pockets, the crazy things that happen in the metro or the day-to-day problems talked about on social media or in movies.

'I wish more people could understand that you can love a city even in spite of its flaws.'

The 22-year-old Irish woman also said there were good reasons to want to move to Paris like she had

Pictured: Mandy said people should follow their dreams and said Paris had given her an opportunity to learn a new language and culture

The 22-year-old Irish expat hailed Paris as a fashion and culture capital of the world in one of her videos

The Irish woman said she fell in love with Paris and the lifestyle and had enjoyed all the experiences it offered her (pictured in Paris)

Mandy originally moved to Paris as part of an Erasmus programme with her university, where she was studying French.

She realised she was 'really in love' with the city and lifestyle, and enjoyed the new experiences and 'amazing' people it offered.

In a separate clip, the real life Emily in Paris has also shared why people should move to the French capital, including the 'amazing nights out' and the incredible fashion and culture.

People said they still wanted to go to Paris in spite of Mandy's playful smears. Some joked Britain was safer

Mandy has been living in Paris since 2017, when she moved there for the Erasmus exchange programme

While she went viral for criticising the French capital, Mandy, pictured, said there were still a lot of things she liked about Paris
An 11-year-old boy who went to a Jackson Township dam Thursday to swim with a friend drowned after getting caught up in the current, police said.

Northern York County Regional Police said an 11- and 12-year-old boy went to a low head dam near Hershey Road around 5:43 p.m. so they could swim in Codorus Creek. But the 11-year-old soon started struggling in the dams current and went under water, police said.

The 12-year-old boy ran for help, and police said the 11-year-old was soon found along the south bank of the creek.

The 11-year-old was taken to York Hospital for treatment but was pronounced dead at the hospital, police said. He has not been identified as of Friday morning.

Police are continuing to investigate. Anyone with information should call the Northern York County Regional Police Department at 717-467-TELL(8355).

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Friday, March 26, 2021

The New Hampshire Supreme Court Professional Conduct Committee imposed a public censure with conditions for an attorney's statements in admission applications to the state and federal bars

In 2015, Attorney Forghany was subject to disciplinary proceedings in Connecticut and Massachusetts. Attorney Forghany disclosed the existence of those proceedings in the N.H. Petition. The OBA subsequently requested information regarding the outcome of those proceedings. Although neither the Connecticut State Grievance Board nor the Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers pursued disciplinary action against Ms. Forghany, she failed to provide information specifically responsive to the OBA's request. Ms. Forghany instead mistakenly provided a "letter of good standing with disciplinary history" from the Connecticut State Grievance Board. Ms. Forghany also failed to disclose on the N.H. Petition that she had previously asserted a medical condition in mitigation in a disciplinary matter.

The Federal Petition seeks broader categories of information than the N.H. Petition. In her Federal Petition, Ms. Forghany disclosed the most significant finding but omitted less significant findings that formed the basis of the Connecticut and Massachusetts disciplinary proceedings. In addition, she failed to disclose she had been a plaintiff in three small claims lawsuits, each of which was resolved in her favor, although she had disclosed these lawsuits in the N.H. Petition.

The issue arose when the federal court sought additional information. At that juncture, the attorney sought to supplement her state application.

Her practice involves a high-volume consumer bankruptcy and foreclosure relief matters.

On the merits of the dismissed bar complaints

she actively manages her stress levels and instituted management practices to ensure she serves her clients effectively. She altered her firm's procedures to ensure no repetition of the circumstances that led to the underlying matter. Finally, Ms. Forghany has never been sued for malpractice and has had no such claims filed against her.

Federally

To date, Judge McCafferty has taken no further action with respect to Ms. Forghany's application.

Here

there is no clear and convincing evidence that Ms. Forghany violated Rule 8.1(b), because Ms. Forghany began the process of correcting and supplementing her N.H. Petition in a reasonably timely way following the airing of issues with Judge McCafferty on July 23, 2019.

Mr. Forghany admits that she violated Rule 8.1(a), and that her state of mind was both negligent and knowing. Additional details regarding her state of mind are set forth further herein.

The order sets forth the conditions imposed.

If a Hearing Panel determines that a condition has been violated, the Panel shall impose a one-year suspension. If the Hearing Panel determines that no condition of the Stipulation has been violated, the Stipulation shall continue in force and effect pursuant to its terms. The PCC shall review the decision of the Hearing Panel.

(Mike Frisch)

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/legal_profession/2021/03/the-new-hampshire-imposed-a-public-reprimand-with-conditions-for-an-attorneys-statements-in-admission-applications-to-the-sta.html
Last week, my 11-year-old daughter went back to her school campus for the first time in 50 weeks. As we prepared for her return, we cleaned out her backpack, which was frozen in time: It still held the remnants of a class field trip taken the first week of March 2020; her sunscreen, hat, playing cards, and souvenir pen all stark reminders of the moment just before we hibernated into our own silos.

We replaced these relics with the folders and books she needed to bring back to school. She readjusted the straps, already worn-in to the contours of her shoulders, and after what has surely been the longest shortest time, her backpack was ready to be put to use once again.

We are currently in a stretch of time marking the one-year anniversary of when the world as we knew it shut down. Whether you count by the Jewish calendar and remember Purimas the last time we gathered as a community, or whether you count by the secular calendar and consider March 12 the last day of pre-pandemic life, its been a year. Twelve months of Covid-19 means weve endured 12 months of Zoom school and camp, of missed birthday parties and weddings, of uncertainty and disorientation, of deep loss and grief. There is a lot of emotion as we approach this anniversary.

I stopped using the word unprecedented a long time ago  it was so often repeated by everyone, everywhere, that it felt trite by April 2020. But it really is the appropriate word to describe the experience of this past year. Whats more, something that is unprecedented has repercussions. We know that our brains are pattern-seeking. As adults, our patterns of behavior have certainly changed since the pandemic began  for example, many adults social circles have shrunk, as we no longer see acquaintances or co-workers, and we focus just on the people with whom we have deeper relationships. And I know many of us are concerned about the patterns developing in children.

Im the head of school at Jewish day school in Los Angeles, and recently I sat on a virtual panel of international school leaders. As educators from Italy, Sri Lanka, and Nairobi all spoke, we found solidarity in what we are collectively witnessing, whether students were attending school in person or via Zoom: Were all seeing increases in childhood anxieties. We see regression of social, emotional, and developmental milestones. We see children much more comfortable with a handful of peers than in a large group. We see children more cautious to approach others. For our younger children, especially, this pandemic year represents a large percentage of their life, and therefore of their experience of living. Our older children comprehend the events and ramifications of the pandemic in ways that will inform who they become as adults, just as the Depression and World War II did for our grandparents.

I dont mean to paint a picture thats all gloom and doom  there have been some beautiful consequences of this year as well. In the beforetimes, my husband and I both worked long hours, and having both of us at home to do the bedtime routine was a luxury. Now, however, our weekday evenings are filled with family dinners and unstructured time in which to enjoy one anothers company, laugh together, and slow down. At school, Ive had loads of conversations with parents who feel acute relief to have been granted precious reprieve from after-school activities, birthday parties, or Sunday sports. Our community has banded together. And our children have (often) learned to get along with siblings they didnt necessarily enjoy as much when they had other options.

Still, I think its essential that as we come upon the one-year anniversary of the time when all our lives changed, and when all of these new patterns of behavior began to take shape, we mark it with intention.

Marking time is important for all humans to do; its one way that we make meaning out of our experiences. But marking time is especially important in Judaism. We mark a week, a month, and a year after a person dies. We celebrate holidays based on historical events that happened thousands of years ago. In fact, the Jewish calendar is so full of time specific events that we acknowledge the one month of the year, Heshvan  which usually falls in October/November  in which they are absent.

Its crucial that we also mark time in the pandemic world  which has in so many ways felt somehow separate from time as we usually know it  to honor this significant epoch in our lives. Its equally important to remind ourselves that its not all blursday.

But what does it look like to mark time when you are actively in the midst of the thing you are marking? What is our goal? And how do we commemorate this one-year anniversary in a way that gives us  and our children  strength to continue navigating through the ongoing pandemic? We are not in a moment (yet) in which we can say, Thats behind us; what did we get out of it?

And yet, we can still reflect on the year, consider what we have learned and lost and gained, and make decisions about how to move forward. Here are some of my suggestions on how to do this:

Remember that this, too, shall pass (really!). While we know that our brains are pattern seeking, it is also true that the neuroplasticity of our brains can shift. I hear so many parents who are worried about how this pandemic is impacting their childrens development. While our childrens growth has shifted because of the past years events, we need to remember that the patterns we have now are not the patterns we will have forever.

Do something to commemorate the year. You might want to take a Zoom-free day, write a letter to your future self, find a special hike, or mark the time with silence. Specifically naming the anniversary, and doing something to mark it as a specific moment in time is what helps us to make meaning and to categorize this time in our life.

Name what has helped you. As a school, we are planning to make time capsules with our students in which they are each sharing one resource that has helped through the last year. You dont have to make an actual artifact to think about who and what has kept you grounded.

Celebrate what you have accomplished. Many of us werent sure how we would get through two weeks of distance learning. Now, of course, we have managed 50-plus weeks of living in a Covid world. Remember that accomplishments come in all shapes and sizes (and not just 1,000-piece puzzles and sourdough bread starters). Try to recognize the full range of ways in which youve gotten through this time.

Its going to take time to fully unpack the meaning of this chapter, for ourselves and for our children  but that is work for another time. For now, we are still in the midst of the pandemic and, at this point, it is important that we simply find ways to commemorate one year of these unprecedented times.

As for myself, I am making a commitment to find time to breathe in some lessons from this year. I intend to feel gratitude for the people and resources that have sustained me; to grieve the events I wish I were attending as spring begins to bloom; to ensure I have enough sustenance to continue on the journey; and to feel gratitude for the fact that a certain 11-year-olds messy backpack will once again be flung through our front door.
New Fulton Amtrak Station Could be Built Next Year

By West Kentucky Star Staff

FULTON - Plans to replace Fulton's aging Amtrak station could become a reality by late 2022.The Fulton County Transit Authority says Amtrak is currently selecting design firms to work on the project, which would replace the current mobile building being used as a station with a larger, permanent structure.We have begun the process to get Fulton the new station we promised, said Amtrak official Derrick James. Right now, were selecting from our on-call team of design firms. Throughout the summer we will review the designs as it advances through several phases. Once a design is finalized well go out for bid for construction.James said construction on the new station could begin in November, and be completed 9 or 10 months later.James says the project will feature a new, enclosed, climate-controlled station building with unisex restroom, and a 750-foot long lighted passenger boarding platform.Locally raised funds are still being considered to pay for the project, according to James.We had discussed using locally raised funds for enhancement of our project, items that were not allowed to spend funds on, James said. Our work will all take place on CN ROW, but we could certainly use a marquee sign out on Highway 51 to highlight the location of the station. This location is not on property we have access to. We could use Fulton Countys support for such an initiative.Fulton County Transit Authority Executive Director Kenney Etherton celebrated the news that the project was moving forward.In spite of a pandemic, we can still put good news out, Etherton said. Our Amtrak project is progressing. I am looking forward to the design and construction phases to begin.City Manager Mike Gunn also applauded the news.I know the community has heard it before, but I am excited to finally have an anticipated start date for construction of the new Amtrak station here in the City of Fulton. Just be patient, Gunn said. Having one of our transportation partners committed to providing the community a new station by 2022 is such great news. I cant wait for the design to be completed and construction to begin in November.Gunn added he feels the new station will enhance connectivity to the rest of the country for the city as well as Kentucky.
Despite coronavirus restrictions limiting the celebrations, the Carmen Thyssen Museum in Malaga commemorated on Wednesday the tenth anniversary of its opening to the public. During the proceedings, which were carried out with the appropriate social distancing and usage of masks, the museum was hailed by managing director Javier Ferrer as an "economic, cultural and social hub" in the city.

Over the past decade, he revealed that the museum has welcomed 1.5 million visitors, has held works from 350 museums across the world and has loaned out forty of its own pieces for national and international exhibitions. The museum is now keen to renew the loan agreement it has to display these works with their owner, Baroness Carmen Thyssen.

In a recent interview, Baroness Thyssen announced that negotiations had begun to renew the loan. The initial agreement, signed in 2011, lasts for another five years and grants the museum temporary possession of some of Thyssens collection free of charge. It originally applied to 230 works of art, although now the figure is around 300. Although the baroness did not elaborate on what the new agreement might look like, Malagas mayor Francisco de la Torre expressed his hope that it would allow the museum to keep as many as possible of its works.

The mayor also stated that he was waiting for Baroness Thyssen to come to a formal agreement with the Spanish government over the future of her collection in the country before continuing talks on the renewal of the loan in Malaga. Indeed, Baroness Thyssen is expected to come to a fifteen-year agreement with the government to keep her 400 international artworks in Spain at a cost of 6.5 million a year.

On Wednesday, her nephew Guillermo Cervera, patron of the Malaga museum, took part in the anniversary celebrations and thanked the gallerys staff and the local government for their role in developing it into a cultural institution. He also praised how the museum has been able to promote economic, social and urban change, for example through the renovation of the Villalon palace where the gallery is located.
For people with tooth decay, drinking a cold beverage can be agony.

"It's a unique kind of pain," says David Clapham, vice president and chief scientific officer of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI). "It's just excruciating."

Now, he and an international team of scientists have figured out how teeth sense the cold and pinpointed the molecular and cellular players involved. In both mice and humans, tooth cells called odontoblasts contain cold-sensitive proteins that detect temperature drops, the team reports March 26, 2021, in the journal Science Advances. Signals from these cells can ultimately trigger a jolt of pain to the brain.

The work offers an explanation for how one age-old home remedy eases toothaches. The main ingredient in clove oil, which has been used for centuries in dentistry, contains a chemical that blocks the "cold sensor"protein, says electrophysiologist Katharina Zimmermann, who led the work at Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nurnberg in Germany.

Developing drugs that target this sensor even more specifically could potentially eliminate tooth sensitivity to cold, Zimmermann says. "Once you have a molecule to target, there is a possibility of treatment."

Mystery channel

Teeth decay when films of bacteria and acid eat away at the enamel, the hard, whitish covering of teeth. As enamel erodes, pits called cavities form. Roughly 2.4 billion people - about a third of the world's population - have untreated cavities in permanent teeth, which can cause intense pain, including extreme cold sensitivity.

No one really knew how teeth sensed the cold, though scientists had proposed one main theory. Tiny canals inside the teeth contain fluid that moves when the temperature changes. Somehow, nerves can sense the direction of this movement, which signals whether a tooth is hot or cold, some researchers have suggested.

"We can't rule this theory out," but there wasn't any direct evidence for it, says Clapham a neurobiologist at HHMI's Janelia Research Campus. Fluid movement in teeth - and tooth biology in general - is difficult to study. Scientists have to cut through the enamel - the hardest substance in the human body - and another tough layer called dentin, all without pulverizing the tooth's soft pulp and the blood vessels and nerves within it. Sometimes, the whole tooth "will just fall to pieces," Zimmermann says.

Zimmerman, Clapham, and their colleagues didn't set out to study teeth. Their work focused primarily on ion channels, pores in cells' membranes that act like molecular gates. After detecting a signal - a chemical message or temperature change, for example - the channels either clamp shut or open wide and let ions flood into the cell. This creates an electrical pulse that zips from cell to cell. It's a rapid way to send information, and crucial in the brain, heart, and other tissues.

About fifteen years ago, when Zimmermann was a postdoc in Clapham's lab, the team discovered that an ion channel called TRPC5 was highly sensitive to the cold. But the team didn't know where in the body TRPC5's cold-sensing ability came into play. It wasn't the skin, they found. Mice that lacked the ion channel could still sense the cold, the team reported in 2011 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

After that, "we hit a dead end," Zimmermann says. The team was sitting at lunch one day discussing the problem when the idea finally hit. "David said, 'Well, what other tissues in the body sense the cold?' Zimmermann recalls. The answer was teeth.

The whole tooth

TRPC5 does reside in teeth - and more so in teeth with cavities, study coauthor Jochen Lennerz, a pathologist from Massachusetts General Hospital, discovered after examining specimens from human adults.

A novel experimental set up in mice convinced the researchers that TRPC5 indeed functions as a cold sensor. Instead of cracking a tooth open and solely examining its cells in a dish, Zimmermann's team looked at the whole system: jawbone, teeth, and tooth nerves. The team recorded neural activity as an ice-cold solution touched the tooth. In normal mice, this frigid dip sparked nerve activity, indicating the tooth was sensing the cold. Not so in mice lacking TRPC5 or in teeth treated with a chemical that blocked the ion channel. That was a key clue that the ion channel could detect cold, Zimmermann says. One other ion channel the team studied, TRPA1, also seemed to play a role.

The team traced TRPC5's location to a specific cell type, the odontoblast, that resides between the pulp and the dentin. When someone with a a dentin-exposed tooth bites down on a popsicle, for example, those TRPC5-packed cells pick up on the cold sensation and an "ow!" signal speeds to the brain.

That sharp sensation hasn't been as extensively studied as other areas of science, Clapham says. Tooth pain may not be considered a trendy subject, he says, "but it is important and it affects a lot of people."

Zimmermann points out that the team's journey towards this discovery spanned more than a decade. Figuring out the function of particular molecules and cells is difficult, she says. "And good research can take a long time."

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MUSKEGON, MI  After Aniya Mack was killed by ex-boyfriend in 2018, her childhood friend Danzell James set out to learn about domestic violence and tell people her story.

The result of that effort is the recently launched ANIYA Project, a Muskegon County nonprofit organization that pays tribute to Mack and aims to raise awareness on intimate partner violence.

I wanted to do something to honor my friend, prevent domestic violence, and educate our community on domestic violence, said James, who is spearheading the ANIYA Project. A lot of people may not be aware of how serious this is.

Mack and James both graduated from Muskegon Heights High School in 2012. During those years, Mack participated in the marching band as a majorette, choreographed dances and played clarinet in the concert band.

Anything that had to do with music, she would catch on easily, James remembers about his longtime friend.

Aniya Mack, right, dancing during a Muskegon Heights High School marching band performance in March of 2012. (Muskegon Chronicle File photo by Hye Soo Nah)

Macks passion for music laid the groundwork for the ANIYA Projects main event: an annual talent show for Muskegon County 11th and 12th graders to showcase their musical abilities and compete for a $5,000 scholarship.

The competition will be held in October, but James said its the springboard into a larger effort to educate high schoolers on intimate partner violence.

It gives us the opportunity to catch kids while theyre young, James said.

When Mack died, James didnt know much about domestic violence. He now believes awareness is key to addressing the issue that he says can affect anyone at any age.

I dont want this to happen again in our community, James said. Just being two steps ahead in preventing this from happening again by educating.

In Muskegon County, over 1,300 reported incidents of domestic violence were reported in 2019, according to latest crime statistics from Michigan State Police.

The ANIYA Project is partnering with Every Womans Place to help bring its message into schools. The Muskegon-based organization provides services for survivors of intimate violence and runs workshops in local high schools.

Elisa Hopper, the director of development for Every Womans Place, said the collaboration with the ANIYA Project will help them reach more students.

This matters because it happened in our community, said Hopper. If we dont have that conversation with young people, it could continue to happen.

James, a hip hop artist, recently moved back to Muskegon County. He said Macks mother and family support the work hes doing with the ANIYA Project.

I know the world will hear her story, James said.

More on MLive:

Drone captures view of 1882 Lake Michigan shipwreck suddenly uncovered on beach

Walk-in vaccine clinic comes as COVID-19 cases continue to climb in Muskegon County

Whats next for the Muskegon County casino project?
WAAY 31 on Friday spoke with relatives of three of the victims in Thursday's deadly tornado in Ohatchee.

Barbara Harris, 69, her husband 74-year-old Joe Wayne Harris, and their daughter, 38-year-old Ebonique (Ebony) Harris were found dead Thursday at 549 Grayton Road South.

Joe Wayne Harris and Barbara Harris, and Ebonique "Ebony" Harris (Image courtesy of Kelvin Bowers)

What 529 Grayton Road South looked like before tornado damage. Photo from when the house was being built in the 1980s. Credit: Kelvin Bowers What 529 Grayton Road South looked like before tornado damage. Photo from when the house was being built in the 1980s. Credit: Kelvin Bowers Joe Wayne Harris and Barbara Harris, and Ebonique "Ebony" Harris (Image courtesy of Kelvin Bowers)

Before Thursdays deadly tornado, four mobile homes stood on Grayton Road South. One house was moved about 15 feet beyond its foundation by the wind.

The family who lives on that property says the tornado hit about 3 p.m. Thursday. Some family members were able to escape in cars. When they came back, they found three of their loved ones dead.

"When I came back, it was demolished, said Sheldon Abbott. Everything was gone. Everything was gone. I lost everything. Everything. I mean, you just can't explain it. You know you hear about it every day on the news, but once it hits you, it hits you."

Abbot, 47, said he has lived on that property his entire life. He and his mother were able to leave the property in time. Abbott is the cousin and nephew of those killed.

Kelvin Bowers lives in the house that was uprooted from the foundation.

"It's terrible, man. Like, to know my family was in this stuff? Like, they're gone. This is what it did. Guess we really have to take heed now. When they say leave, we really might need to leave. Nobody should take chances no more," said Bowers.

Bowers spoke with WAAY 31 Friday before the sunrise, unable to see the entire damage on his property.

"I lost family members. Everything is destroyed. I don't know what to say. It's devastating," said Bowers.

Abbott said tornadoes in this area are common, but no on expects one to hit this close to home.

"Usually, we miss a tornado because it'll hit on the other side of the mountain. This time, we weren't so lucky," said Abbott.

Both Abbott and Bowers pointed the same thing out, a cross still hanging in Bowers' den, untouched and unscathed.

"It's just rough. It's rough. Words cannot explain, but we are blessed. Some of us are really blessed. All of our kids are blessed, so it could've been worse than what it was," said Abbott.

Thursdays severe weather also took the lives of Emily Myra Willborn and James William Geno.

Willborn, 71, died in a mobile home in Wellington.

Geno died in a mobile home in Ohatchee and wouldve celebrated his 72nd birthday on Saturday.
A mathematician's journey in Edo Japan

Researchers from Kumamoto University (Japan) have discovered two primary historical documents showing that Mitsuyoshi Yoshida, author of the popular Edo-period Japanese arithmetic book "Jinkouki," was invited by the Kumamoto clan to stay in Kumamoto (from Kyoto) between 1636 and 1637. At that time, the Kumamoto clan had a lot of construction work to do, including castle restoration and levee building, and Yoshida possessed cutting-edge knowledge of arithmetic systems, civil engineering, and hydraulic technologies. These documents provide important clues into the society of the early Edo period.

When the abacus (invented around the 14th century) was imported from China, it quickly spread across Japan. As the textbook covering its use and the arithmetic skills needed for daily life and business, Jinkouki is said to have greatly contributed to the use of the abacus in Japan. After the first edition was published in 1627, many revised editions and similar books were published. The textbook was widely used by both experts and the general public.

Mathematician Mitsuyoshi Yoshida came from a family that earned a lot of wealth through finance in Kyoto and overseas trade, and contributed to civil engineering projects such as river improvement and canal development. Mitsuyoshi himself worked on the Shobutani Tunnel, a water utilization facility in Kyoto. However, much of what is known about him today is based on hearsay so specific details about his life remain unknown. When he was invited to Kumamoto, the local government was busy with the restoration of Kumamoto Castle, levee construction, and large-scale arable land development.

The first of the two historical documents was signed by four "sobugyo" (chief magistrates) from Kumamoto. The four addressees were the officials in charge of rice, finances, and expenditures of the Hosokawa clan in Osaka office.

[Original Japanese text of the first historical document.]

13163672110.9.51.2 

  









 







[Translation] (Eisei Bunko Document Number: 10.9.51.2)

Sent 21 July 1636 (lunar calendar)

- This message is to inform you that the arithmetician Mr. Shichibei (Mitsuyoshi) Yoshida, who accompanied Lord Tadatoshi from Kyoto to Kumamoto, will now be returning to Kyoto.

- This letterbox contains a document with the Lord's approval which is to be sent to the officials in charge of expenditures in Kyoto. Please make sure it is delivered. Also, send a receipt to Kumamoto by regular delivery to confirm that you have received it.

At the end of March 1636, the feudal lord (daimyo) of the Kumamoto domain, Tadatoshi Hosokawa, was in Edo (present-day Tokyo) finishing overseeing construction of the stone walls of Edo Castle, which had begun at the New Year. He left Edo on May 13 and arrived in Kumamoto on June 9, stopping at Kyoto along the way. Since the Japanese phrase typically meaning "accompanied by" is used in the document, researchers assume that Tadatoshi himself brought Mitsuyoshi Yoshida from Kyoto to Kumamoto at that time.

This document is a copy of a letter from the Kumamoto magistrate to four officials in charge of expenditures in Osaka when Mitsuyoshi was to return to Kyoto (around July 21st) after being in Kumamoto for two months. The four men were the magistrates in Osaka who handled the finances and expenses of the Hosokawa family. This letter seems to be instructions from Kumamoto to the Osaka office, which is near Kyoto, to pay for Mitsuyoshi's transportation, food, and living expenses on his way back to Kyoto.

The second document is a copy of an order from the Imperial Magistrate's Office in Kumamoto Castle to Rokuzaemon Torii, the Hosokawa clan officer (also based in the castle) in charge of guest care.

[Original Japanese text of the second historical document.]

1416372714.16.37   



[Translation] (Eisei Bunko Document Number: 14.16.37)

Sent 7 February 1637

Like last year, Mr. Shichibei (Mitsuyoshi) Yoshida will be invited to Kumamoto from Kyoto. As such, the Magistrate directs Mr. Rokuzaemon Torii to have rice provided to him from the day he arrives.

This document confirms that Shichibei (Mitsuyoshi) Yoshida was invited to Kumamoto as a guest again in 1637. These two primary historical documents prove that Mitsuyoshi stayed in Kumamoto twice, once in 1636 and again in 1637, as a guest rather than in the service of the Hosokawa family as had been previously thought.

Previously, the mathematician was only known to have stayed in the Kumamoto domain by references from later compilations and secondary historical documents; no primary historical documents had been identified to support those claims. This discovery confirms Mitsuyoshi Yoshida's stay in Kumamoto as historical fact, and that he was invited as a guest rather than in service to the Hosokawa family&emdash;an important distinction during this time in Japanese history.

At a time when the Hosokawa clan was busy with large-scale development projects, Mitsuyoshi Yoshida provided a mathematical (arithmetic) system essential for civil engineering work as well as the most advanced hydraulic engineering technology from Kyoto. This discovery of these documents confirms that large-scale infrastructure development in the early 17-century that transformed the local society, such as flood control and agricultural land development, was based on technological and cultural exchange between the central and local governments.

###

An article entitled by Kumamoto University's Noriko Goto discusses the discovery of these documents was published in the February 2021 issue of Mathematical Communications, Volume 25-4 of the Journal of The Mathematical Society of Japan (Japanese only).

Eisei Bunko Research Center

"Eisei Bunko" is the name of a foundation established to retain and care for ancestral works of art, literary manuscripts, and other historical materials (ancient texts, records, illustrations, etc.) of the Hosokawa family, who were once the daimyo of Kumamoto. In 1964, several pieces from the Hosokawa Kitaoka Mansion collection in Kumamoto City were entrusted to the Kumamoto University Library. These continue to be used in educational research conducted by the University.

This story has been published on: 2021-03-26. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
A Washington man pleaded guilty to first-degree murder on Thursday after admitting starting a three-alarm fire at a community college in 1987 when he was 12 years old which killed a veteran firefighter.

Elmer Nash Jr., now 47, was charged for the fire that destroyed the library at Everett Community College and claimed the life of firefighter Gary Parks, 48.

More than 100 firefighters responded to the blaze on February 16, 1987 that gutted the structure, and Parks was among the first to arrive and enter the building.

Parks, an 18-year veteran of the Everett Fire Department, was separated from five other firefighters and was trapped in the blaze and died.

But the case went cold for three decades until Nash was recognized by cold case detective Mike Atwood when he was being booked into jail on unrelated charges in 2017, the Daily Herald reports.

Elmer Nash Jr.,47, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder on Thursday for starting a deadly three-alarm fire when he was 12-years-old that killed Everett firefighter Gary Parks

Everett firefighter Gary Parks died responding the the Everett Community College fire in 1987

Shortly after the fire, investigations determined the fire was deliberately set and The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms sent a special team to Everett to investigate the arson.

Nash was looked at as a suspect at the time after investigators found graffiti that blamed him for the blaze.

Police questioned him in 1987 but nothing came of it and other leads went nowhere for investigators until the case was picked up again by Everett Police Department Detective Atwood in 2016.

According to the Daily Herald, a chance encounter in a police station in April 2017 broke the cold case open.

The 1987 fire reportedly caused millions of dollars in damage to Everett Community College. More than 100 firefighters responded, and Parks was among the first to arrive and enter the building.

While assisting in a separate investigation, Detective Atwood recognized Nash as a suspect in the 1987 fire at a booking desk in the Snohomish County Jail.

When he approached Nash to have a discussion, the career criminal brought up the Everett Community College fire.

Nash agreed to speak to Atwood and the detective met up with him the following day at the local jail.

During questioning from fellow Detective Karen Kowalchyk, Nash asked what the statute of limitations would be for somebody who set the 1987 fire.

During questioning Nash placed himself on the roof of the library on the night of the fire and suggested matchsticks were used to start the blaze.

Nash then told Detective Kowalchyk he was on the library roof that night because he and two friends had broken in, hoping to find something to steal.

Nash told Detective Kowalchyk the fire was started to destroy evidence of their fingerprints at the scene.

According to a statement from the City of Everett, Nash eventually confessed to starting the deadly fire and told detectives he had not intended on hurting anyone.

Detectives also interviewed people to whom Nash had confessed starting the fire.

While fighting the 1987 fire Parks became separated from five other firefighters and was trapped in the blaze and died. A memorial of a firefighter's helmet and jacket now stands at Everett Community College

According to UPI reports, Stan Horton, the Everett Community College library director at the time, said the fire caused millions of dollars in damage, destroying 50,000 books, 20,000 periodicals and hundreds of student records.

A memorial of a firefighter's helmet and jacket now stands at Everett Community College.

More than 30 years after the arson that claimed her husband's life, Parks' widow Kathy expressed her gratitude for the breakthrough in the case.

'Gary was a good man, a trusted partner and friend you could always count on,' she said.

'We are so very grateful to the detectives who never gave up on this case. Our family will always suffer knowing Gary hasn't reaped the fruits of his life, grandchildren, daughters' successes, and a wife who will cherish him forever.'

In plea negotiations, the prosecution and defense agreed to recommend a sentence lower than the standard sentencing range for Nash.

Defense attorney Philip Sayles said Nash understands that the judge does not have to follow the recommendation. His standard sentencing range as an adult would be 34 to 45 years in prison.
More than four in 10 Britons believes that China is a direct threat to the United Kingdom, a new poll reveals today.

Some 43 per cent of those polled by Redfield and Wilton Strategies for MailOnline see Beijing as an adversary.

In contrast little more than one in 10 (11 per cent) of the 1,500 people quizzed see China as a global ally.

Additionally, just 15 per cent want the UK to force closer ties with the Communist state and almost a third (29 per cent) was the UK to cool relations.

The poll comes in the wake of a growing row between the two countries over Hong Kong, a former UK territory, and the mistreatment of the Uighur Muslim minority in China's remote Xinjiang province.

The ethnic cleansing underway has been branded 'genocide' by the US and this week the UK was among a swathe of countries which introduced sanctions against officials believed to be involved.

More than half (54 per cent) of those polled said they felt the UK had a responsibility to protest against human rights abuses in China.

Beijing overnight slapped sanctions on British politicians and academics in revenge for the international effort.

They are all strong critic of China's atrocities and taking aim at the regime on Twitter this morning Boris Johnson said he stands 'firmly' with those affected.

'The MPs and other British citizens sanctioned by China today are performing a vital role shining a light on the gross human rights violations being perpetrated against Uyghur Muslims,' he said.

'Freedom to speak out in opposition to abuse is fundamental and I stand firmly with them.'

It comes amid a growing schism in Conservative ranks over whether to stand up to the totalitarian regime of Xi Jinping or treat more carefully with a global trade superpower.

China hawks including former party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith were hit with the sanctions, which he said he would wear as a 'badge of honour' for demanding tougher action against China.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab announced a package of travel bans and asset freezes against four senior officials and the state-run Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps Public Security Bureau (XPCC PSB).

Taking aim at China on Twitter this morning Mr Johnson said he stands 'firmly' with those affected.

China has hit British institutions and MPs including former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith (pictured in the House of Commons last December) with sanctions in response to similar moves by the UK over the treatment of people in Xinjiang

He said the abuse of Uighur Muslims was 'one of the worst human rights crises of our time' and the global community 'cannot simply look the other way'.

But China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today that Mr Raab's move was 'based on nothing but lies and disinformation, flagrantly breaches international law and basic norms governing international relations, grossly interferes in China's internal affairs, and severely undermines China-UK relations'. The Ministry said it had sanctioned nine people and four British institutions 'that maliciously spread lies and disinformation'.

Tory MPs Sir Iain, Neil O'Brien, Tim Loughton, Nusrat Ghani and chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee Tom Tugendhat were sanctioned, along with crossbench peer Lord Alton, Labour's Baroness Kennedy, barrister Geoffrey Nice and academic Jo Smith Finley.

Activists and UN rights experts say at least one million people, mainly Uighurs and other Muslim minorities, have been detained in a vast system of camps in China's western Xinjiang region in recent years.

Former inmates say they were subject to ideological training, forced labour and abuse in the camps. The activists and some Western politicians also accuse China of carrying out forced sterilisations on Uighur women and separating children from their families.

China has repeatedly denied all accusations of abuse and says its camps offer vocational training and are needed to fight extremism.
ALBANY  Albany Medical Center is facing over $40,000 in fines after the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited the hospital for failing to protect nurses from exposure to coronavirus.

The New York State Nurses Association, which filed the OSHA complaint last fall on behalf of nurses at the hospital, said Friday it was notified this week of the citations, which center around the hospitals N95 mask policies. The nurses had alleged, among other things, that they were being forced to repeatedly reuse N95 masks to the point that they were becoming degraded and no longer fit.

According to a March 8 letter obtained by the Times Union, OSHA Acting Area Director Margaret Rawson informed the hospital it was being cited on three serious violations, including failure to provide N95 respirators to all employees who were caring for known and suspected COVID-19 patients, failure to ensure nurses who got N95s had performed a seal check to ensure proper fit, and failure to ensure certain nurses could demonstrate user knowledge of how to inspect, put on, remove, use and check the seals of their masks.

AMC management has never taken COVID protocols seriously, said Tonia Bazel, a nurse on the hospitals medical/surgical unit. OSHA has confirmed what we have been saying for months. We, as nurses, are doing everything we can to keep people safe and healthy without the help of our management."

OSHA proposed total penalties of nearly $41,000 and corrective actions. The hospital had 15 days to contest the citations and penalties.

Matthew Markham, a spokesman for the hospital, said in an email that the hospital has contested the citations and believes they were issued in error.

On the first citation, regarding supposedly not requiring N95 respirators: Health care workers at Albany Med have been using N95 masks for aerosol generating procedures throughout the pandemic, he wrote. In addition, OSHAs other two citation items clearly state that Albany Med required employees to wear N95s while providing care to suspected and confirmed positive Covid-19 patients, which contradicts this item.

Two of the citations do state that, but its unclear whether they refer to the requirement as a policy the hospital followed or a policy it had in place but did not actively enforce.

OSHA did not respond to a request for comment Friday afternoon.

Markham said the hospital denies the other alleged violations and maintains a sufficient supply of N95 masks.

The March 8 letter said the violations occurred on or about Nov. 1, 2020 and thereafter in the C2, C3W and C4 units, as well as in the emergency room. This would have been around the time a second surge of COVID-19 was bearing down on the Capital Region and causing a spike in hospitalizations.

"AMC refuses to listen to us or take proper measures to protect us during this pandemic, said Michele Hana, a nurse in the emergency room. They do not support nurses but even in the face of this we still fight to provide quality care."

The nurses' union and Albany Med have had a contentious relationship for years. They remain locked in contract negotiations nearly three years after nurses first voted to join NYSNA, and last fall nurses went on strike over working conditions they said were unsafe and emotionally and physically taxing.
Thank you for tuning in to episode 106 of The CUInsight Experience podcast, with your host, Randy Smith, co-founder of CUInsight.com. This episode is brought to you by our friends at PSCU. As the nations premier payments CUSO, PSCU proudly supports the success of more than 1,500 credit unions.

My guest on todays show is The Honorable Todd M. Harper, Chairman of the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA). Chairman Harper was recently appointed to lead the NCUA Board by President Biden. We talked about what it was like when he got the nod to lead the NCUA personally, his journey to getting there, and what he wanted to be when he grew up. We also had a great conversation on the importance of DEI in credit unions.

Chairman Harper shares his F.I.R.E. philosophy on credit union regulation, what the NCUA will focus on in the next twelve months, and the first place people should start when getting ready to have the DEI conversation. Chairman Harper also talks about how he keeps up with the pace of change in the credit union space.

Chairman Harper has been lucky to have some great friends in his life, and he talks about the ones that have shaped him into who he is today. He also discusses how networking, being kind, and confident can lead you up the ranks when you are looking for a promotion. He tells us how he stays true to his purpose in his personal life and his career.

In the rapid-fire questions, we learn what Chairman Harper was like in high school and how he likes to recharge. Who was the first person who came to mind when Chairman Harper hears the word success? Youll have to listen to find out. This was a great conversation and I cant wait to do it again. Enjoy!

Subscribe on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play, Stitcher

Books mentioned on The CUInsight Experience podcast: Book List

How to find Chairman Todd Harper:

The Honorable Todd Harper, Chairman of the NCUA

www.ncua.gov

board@ncua.gov

LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube

Show notes from this episode:

A big shout-out to our friends at PSCU, an amazing sponsor of The CUInsight Experience podcast. Thank you!

If you are interested in taking the Diversity Self Assessment, click here.

Chairman Harpers remarks at the 2021 CUNA GAC are available now.

Check out what Chairman Harper and his team are doing at the NCUA to assist Credit Unions, including the Share Insurance Fund, by clicking here!

To learn more about the NCUA Office of Business Innovation, click here.

To learn more about the NCUA Office of National Examinations and Supervision, click here.

Shout out: Catherine Galicia

Shout out: Chuck, former Chief of Staff on Capitol Hill

Shout out: Mike Fryzel

Shout out: Mike Radway

Shout out: Rick Metsger

Shout out: John McKechnie

Shout out: Paul Kanjorksi, Kanjorski Scholarship

Shout out: Debbie Matz

Shout out: Mary Schapiro

Shout out: Pat Montebono, Chairman Harpers Math Teacher

Shout out: Antonio Neves

Shout out: JT

Shout out: Pat and Lorraine

Shout out: Indiana University

Shout out: Jim Hayden

Shout out: CULCT

Shout out: Diana Dykstra

Shout out: Jill Nowacki

Shout out: Brian Schools, Chartway FCU

Shout out: Paw Paws USA

Book mentioned: Thank You for Being Late: An Optimists Guide to Thriving in the Age of Accelerations by Thomas Friedman

Book mentioned:The Millionaire Next Door: The Surprising Secrets of Americas Wealthy by Thomas J. Stanley & William D. Danko

Book mentioned: The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America by Richard Rothstein

Book mentioned: The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair by Erik Larson

Book mentioned: The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz by Erik Larson

Book mentioned: StrengthsFinders 2.0 by Tom Rath

Book mentioned: Leadership Without Easy Answers by Ronald A. Heifetz

Album mentioned: The Police: Ghost in the Machine

Song mentioned: RESPECT by Aretha Franklin

Album mentioned: Queens Greatest Hits

Album mentioned: Immaculate Collection by Madonna

Album mentioned: Tracy Chapman by Tracy Chapman

Album mentioned: Faith by George Michael

Previous guests mentioned in this episode: Diana Dykstra (16), Jill Nowacki (episodes 4, 18, 37, 64, 82 & 101)

In This Episode:

[02:30]  Welcome to the show, Chairman Harper!

[02:59]  What did you feel like when you got the position as Chairman of the NCUA?

[05:36]  Chairman Harper shares his philosophy on regulation in the credit union space.

[07:37]  Chairman Harper discusses what the NCUA will focus on around credit unions in the next 12 months.[10:35]  The first place people should start when starting the DEI conversation is by taking the Diversity Self Assessment and NCUA.gov.

[12:53]  How do you keep pace with the changes happening in the space?

[16:58]  Chairman Harper shares which in his life helped shape who he is.

[19:19]  Chairman Harper is lucky to have some very good friends in his life.

[20:50]  Did you start out knowing you were going to be in public service? Government?

[23:23]  Chairman Harper speaks about the inspiration to take a position with the NCUA.

[24:46]  Chairman Harper shares how the inspiration has changed with the new titles.

[28:27]  Chairman Harper discusses that networking and being kind is what a person can do to move up through the ranks.

[30:02]  How do you stay true to your purpose in your personal life and in your career?

[31:01]  Chairman Harper shares what he used to do that he doesnt do anymore.

[32:23]  You have to be strong is a myth about leadership that Chairman Harper wants to debunk.

[34:43]  Chairman Harper keeps his weekends free, and he takes a long vacation each year, but also he hangs out with friends to recharge.

[36:27]  Chairman Harper talks about what he said no to, that he is so glad he did.

[37:40]  Chairman Harper speaks about what he was like in high school and whether he ever got into memorable trouble.

[40:11]  What book do you think everyone should read?

[44:15]  What is the greatest song of all time?

[45:50]  Chairman Harpers mom is who he thinks about when he hears the word success.

[48:12]  Chairman Harpers final thoughts for the listeners.

[48:37]  Thank you for being on the show!
Have you tuned in this week to Spread the Music 2021, a virtual festival hosted by the Michigan Music Alliance?

Several great Michigan entertainers have performed over the last two days to help raises funds for musicians.

The festival continues through Sunday with even more acts, including soloists, DJs and some big-name headliners with The Accidentals performing at 9 tonight and Brian Vander Ark at 9 p.m. on Sunday. Performers are all performing virtually from home, as well as some venues.

Those venues include:

20 Front Street in Lake Orion (7 p.m. tonight).

Seven Steps Up in Spring Lake (7 p.m. Saturday).

The Listening Room in Grand Rapids (7 p.m. Sunday).

About 200 musicians will perform over five days. And theyre excited for the opportunity.

It means everything, said bluegrass performer Mark Lavengood in a recent video interview at Grand Havens Third Coast Recording with Bill Chrysler and Elle Lively of the Michigan Music Alliance.

It means I get that thrill of being on the stage again. Its Michigan Music Alliance stepping up to put money into artists pockets and empowering artists with knowledge to stay afloat during the pandemic.

Lavengood is scheduled to perform at 7 p.m. Sunday at The Listening Room in Grand Rapids, along with several other acts.

According to Michigan music supporter John Sinkevics of localspins.com, fans can contribute money via Facebook throughout the festival, which hopes to raise more than $50,000.

Learn how to make donations at linktr.ee/michiganartistrelieffund.

Learn more about the festival at spreadthemusicfestival.org.

Stream the performances on the Michigan Music Alliance Facebook page at facebook.com/michiganmusicalliance.

Friday, March 26

10:00 AM - Judy Banker Band

11:00 AM - Handgrenades

12:00 PM -Dede Alder

1:00 PM - Treeskin

2:00 PM -Jah Connery

3:00 PM - Shawn Butzin

4:00 PM - JROB

5:00 PM - Aaron James Wright

5:30 PM - KANIN

6:00 PM - Ani & Kora

7:00 PM - Live from 20 Front Street

Mike Ward, Tom Alter, Jill Jack and Kat Steih

9:00 PM - The Aaccidentals

10:00 PM - After Party Konundrum

Saturday, March 27

10:00 AM - Wakefire

11:00 AM - The Moonrays

12:00 PM - The Brandino Extravaganza

1:00 PM - Kate Hinote Trio

2:00 PM - Deepfall

3:00 PM - Kari Lynch Band

4:00 PM - Indigo Moon

5:00 PM - The Hazel James Band

6:00 PM - Valentiger

7:00 PM - Live from Seven Steps Up

Megan Dooley, Nicholas James, Carrie McFerrin, Sandra Effert, Max Lockwood, Kaitlin Rose and Nathan Walton

10:00 PM - Jackson Smith & Vin Dombroski

10:30 PM - Jack Droppers & The Best Intentions

11:00 PM - Flylitegemini

The Verve Pipe's Brian Vander Ark performs at 9 p.m. Sunday, March 28, as part of the virtual Spread the Music Festival 2021. (Mike Clark | MLive.com) Grand Rapids Press/MLive.comGrand Rapids Press/MLive.com

Sunday, March 28

10:00 AM - Normal Mode

11:00 AM - Nessa Music

12:00 PM - In The Blue Jazz Ensemble

1:00 PM - The Mickeys

2:00 PM - Overdrive Orchestra

3:00 PM - LVRS

4:00 PM - Barbarossa Brothers

5:00 PM - The Blue Pines

6:00 PM - The Gasoline Gypsies

7:00 PM - Live from The Listening Room

Mark Lavengood, Loren Johnson, Stovepipe, Emilee Petersmark, Ben Traverse and Hannah Laine

9:00 PM - Brian Vander Ark

The Michigan Music Alliance has been a leader in helping the Michigan music community through the pandemic. It was formed almost two years ago.

Watch this interview with Elle Lively, executive director of the Michigan Music Alliance, with Amy Sherman of Michigans Best. It was recorded late last year as part of our Crafted in Michigan series presented by Founders.
At least 14 people have been injured during a demonstration here in Dhaka University campus against the upcoming scheduled visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Modi is expected to arrive on Friday to attend the joint celebrations of the Golden Jubilee of Bangladesh's independence and birth centenary of Father of the Nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

The injured include two journalists, and two pro-government Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) workers.

Activists of Left student organisations, who were demonstrating on Thursday against Modi's visit, allegedly came under attack from the BCL at Dhaka University campus.

Earlier in the day, Jubo Odhikar Parishad activists clashed with police in the city's Motijheel area while protesting against the Indian prime minister's visit.

Left student organisations under the banner of 'Progressive Student Alliance' were demonstrating at the VC Chattar area of the campus protesting against Modi's visit.

The Left organisations alleged the ruling party student wing Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) activists carried out the attack on the demonstrators around 8 p.m. on Thursday evening.

All the 14 injured are undergoing treatment at Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

The clashes ensued when the law enforcers obstructed the demonstrators.
Covid-19-related disinformation just keeps going and going.

Following are some of the notable falsehoods that have appeared on social media and messaging platforms.

Kenyan Catholic doctors against vaccines

On 11 March, Kenya received its first batch of vaccines through the Covax facility. The very next day a statement appeared online from an entity called the Kenya Catholic Doctors Association, which claimed that Covid-19 vaccines were unsafe, that Bill Gates was profiting from the pandemic, and that the vaccines were to enable population control.

Both the Kenyan government and the World Health Organisation (WHO) had to issue statements in response to assure Kenyans of the safety of the vaccines.

Dodgy treatment advice

One disproven treatment for Covid-19 is steaming or steam inhalation.

This practice appears to be especially popular across African social media groups, despite the WHO and various national health authorities having warned for some time now that steaming has no impact on Covid-19, and may even be dangerous.

Another dodgy piece of advice is to drink herbal remedies or teas to treat Covid-19.

Once again, the WHO has cautioned that existing herbal remedies have not been proven to be effective treatments against Covid-19.

Social grant scam

Scammers have been active since the start of the pandemic, and in March 2021 another scam went continental.

A WhatsApp promotion for a Covid-19 social grant went viral across large parts of Africa and gave many hope, while causing confusion.

The scam encouraged people to sign up for a 'federal' grant by clicking on a link.

It turns out the scam first emerged in Nigeria in February 2021, where people were warned against submitting private details on the suspicious website. Across the continent people were warned not to fall for the scam. In Namibia, the Ministry of Finance also issued a warning against the scam in mid-March.

Skepticism around the Sinopharm vaccine

In mid-March Namibia received a large batch of Sinopharm's Covid-19 vaccine.

The arrival of the vaccine and the roll-out of the vaccination programme were accompanied by much online skepticism and misinformation around the safety of the vaccine.

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However, around the world, in dozens of countries, millions of people have already been vaccinated with the Sinopharm vaccine, and no major health incidents or deaths have been reported as a result.

Even so, the fact that all the data around the efficacy of the Sinopharm vaccine was still not available by late March remained a concern.

Covid-19 vaccines and pregnancy

In March, people were spreading messages that claimed Covid-19 vaccines are harmful to pregnant women. However, the WHO in January 2021 stated: "While pregnancy puts women at higher risk of severe Covid-19, very little data are available to assess vaccine safety in pregnancy . . . we don't have any specific reason to believe there will be specific risks that would outweigh the benefits of vaccination for pregnant women."

The United States' Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has stated: "There is currently no evidence that any vaccines, including Covid-19 vaccines, cause fertility problems."

Interestingly, the Namibian Ministry of Health and Social Services has indicated that pregnant women would not be vaccinated with the Sinopharm vaccine.

Vaccines altering DNA

Anti-vaccine disinformation has in March also claimed Covid-19 vaccines change human DNA once in the body. This is a misrepresentation of what are called 'DNA vaccines' or mRNA vaccines - messenger RNA vaccines.

Health authorities around the world have been at pains to explain that mRNA vaccines do not alter human DNA, because they do not enter the human cell nucleus where DNA resides.
The casket of Virginia Beach shooting victim Katherine Nixon is brought to a hearse after a funeral service at St. Gregory The Great Catholic Church in Virginia Beach, Va. on June 6, 2019. (Steve Helber/AP Photo)

Final Report Finds No Motive in Virginia Beach Mass Shooting

Police in Virginia Beach cannot determine a motive for a city engineers rampage in 2019 that killed 12 people in the municipal building where he worked, according to the citys final investigative report released Wednesday.

Despite exhaustive investigative work and in spite of unsubstantiated rumors and accusations, it appears we may never know why he committed this heinous act, the reports conclusion states.

The 24-page report says shooter DeWayne Craddock did not leave a note or any other account that would explain his actions.

There were no common characteristics among the victims who were killed and injured relating to their age, race or gender, the report adds.

Craddock had worked in the citys public utilities department for more than nine years. He killed eleven co-workers and a contractor who was getting a permit. Four others were seriously wounded and a police officer responding to the shooting received a bullet in his tactical vest but escaped serious injury. Craddock was killed in a shootout with police.

The report details the events of that day and profiles Craddocks work and personal life in the years leading up to the violence.

Things began to change for him around 2017, the report said. He was getting a divorce and started to have performance issues at work. In 2018, he received a written reprimand for poor performance, failed to meet expectations on an evaluation and didnt get a merit raise.

At times, the suspect referenced the belief he was being tasked with work outside of his pay grade, the report said. This concern was specifically addressed by his supervisor in 2018. The suspect was told that he had been making improvements and was given encouragement.

Community members hold hands and pray around a memorial to honor those killed in a mass shooting that took place at the Virginia Beach Municipal Center days earlier, in Virginia Beach, Va. on June 2, 2019. (Sarah Holm/The Virginian-Pilot via AP)

Leaders in the department said the shooter would have met job performance standards in his 2019 evaluation, the report said.

The report found no substantiated witness reports of any incidents involving threatening behaviors or statements, nor did investigators locate any written statements to that effect.

Some co-workers used words like quiet and introverted to describe Craddock while others called him a jerk or characterized him as schizophrenic.

But the report concluded that the investigation did not uncover any indications of violent tendencies or acts of violence committed by the suspect prior to May 31, 2019.

The report is unlikely to satisfy at least some of the victims families, who blame a toxic workplace and failure by supervisors to recognize warning signs.

Jason Nixon, whose wife, Kate Nixon, was killed, said Wednesday that the shooter was upset because he was having trouble at work and lost out on a promotion.

Human resources dropped the ball on policies, protocol and procedures, Nixon said. My wife warned them all the time that theres something wrong with this guy.

The rampage in Virginia Beach had been the latest in a string of high-profile mass shootings, happening in between the high school killings in Parkland, Florida, that left 17 people dead and the Walmart massacre in El Paso, Texas, that left 23 dead.

Some of the victims family members have felt that the tragedy was effectively forgotten after the national spotlight moved on to other mass killings. Then came the coronavirus pandemic.

Nixon said that mass shootings in Boulder, Colorado, this week and in Atlanta last week have only reminded him that no official motive has been given for the killings of his wife and 11 others.

By Ben Finley
Seychelles reopens its borders on Thursday to visitors from any country except those coming directly from South Africa to relaunch the island nation's tourism industry, which has been battered by the COVID-19 pandemic.

All travellers will still be required to present a negative PCR test taken 72 hours prior to departure and stay in certified accommodations.

SNA looks at the airlines that are connecting the island nation to the world amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Emirates

Already connecting Seychelles to Dubai five times a week, the airline will as from March 28 increase the frequency to seven days a week using a Boeing 777-300ER aircraft.

Qatar Airways

The airline is already operating flights to the Seychelles three times a week -- Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. With the reopening to visitors from any country, the airline will offer more seats by using its Boeing 787 Dreamliners.

Air Seychelles

The Seychelles' flag carrier is offering services between Seychelles and Tel Aviv three times a week from March 31 on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays throughout the summer season.

Air Seychelles is also connecting Seychelles to Dubai at Terminal 3 with weekly flights from March 26 to May 29.

The airline will resume passenger flight to Mumbai from April 7, Mauritius in June 2 and Tel Aviv in August 5.

Aeroflot

After a hiatus of 17 years, the Russia-based airline with its hub in Moscow will connect Seychelles to Russia with a twice weekly flight with B777 starting April 2. The flights operate on Fridays and Sundays.

Air Austral

This airline connects Seychelles with Reunion, a French department in the Indian Ocean. Connectivity will resume once a week starting April 4.

EL AL/Arkia

The flag carrier of Israel and the second largest airline -- Arkia -- will link Seychelles to Tel Aviv from April 4 with charter flights.

Turkey Airlines

The airline will resume its flights connecting Instanbul to the Seychelles as of April 23. The Turkish flag carrier will have two flights per week from Istanbul to the archipelago in the Indian Ocean - on Mondays and Thursdays.

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Ethiopian airline

The airline which links Seychelles to its hub in Addis Ababa will return on May 2 with daily flights. With its links to various European countries, this means that from Addis Ababa, there are easy connections to different European-Asian markets.

Kenya Airways

Operating in the Seychelles for the past four decades, Kenya Airways will resume services from its capital Nairobi to Seychelles with a once-weekly flight from June 27.

Edelweiss Air

Linking Seychelles to Zurich in Switzerland, this airline has been offering services since September 2018. Edelweiss Air will be returning to the island nation as of July 3 with once-weekly flights.

Etihad Airways

The Abu Dhabi-based airline started operations in the island nation after it bought a 40 percent share in the national airline -- Air Seychelles -- in 2012. The airline will resume flights from March 30 to June 30 twice weekly and increase to daily flights effective July 1.

Condor

A leisure airline from Germany, Condor will connect Seychelles to Frankfurt in Germany with one flight per week. Condor will return from Frankfurt to Seychelles starting Saturday, October 1. It will be operating the route with a Boeing 767.
I've been a reporter and editor at Missouri community newspapers for 35 years and joined the Columbia Missourian in 2003. My emphasis at the Missourian is on local government and elections. You can reach me at swaffords@missouri.edu or at 573-884-5366.

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Animafest Zagreb has announced the short film competition selections for its 2021 edition. The Croatian festival is planning to hold an in-person event on June 712.

In the grand competition, 44 films were selected from more than 820 submissions. The student competition will feature 45 shorts picked from 840 submissions, and 23 films will compete in the Croatian competition.

Many films and filmmakers Cartoon Brew has profiled are represented in the line-up. One of our favorite shorts of 2021 so far, Joanna Quinns Affairs of the Art, plays in the grand competition, as does Maalbeek by Ismael Jofroy Chandoutis, whose graduation film Swatted we recently featured. Other highlights include Martina Scarpellis music video A Little Too Much and Under the Skin, the Bark, the new film from Annecy Cristal winner Franck Dion.
The Base, according to sources who spoke online and in person with Nazzaro, is an accelerationist project whose purpose is to hasten the collapse of American liberal democracy into civil war and bring about a white ethnostate. In encrypted chats, members discussed the methods and efficacy of such tactics as sabotaging infrastructure and guerrilla warfare. There is no suggestion that any of the Australian recruits have participated in these activities or had any plans to carry out terrorist activities in Australia. But the leaked audio makes tangible the threat lurking in Australian suburbs while also laying bare what philosopher Hannah Arendt called the banality of evil. Some of the potential recruits still live at home, havent managed to actually read the key texts that inform The Bases ideology, or say they will have to take the bus to militant training events because they are about to lose their drivers licence. Sell myself to the devil Smith at times in his vetting interview sounds nervous and unsure, as if hes trying to convince himself of his views as he describes them to The Bases leaders. He offers a potted summary of his 12-month descent into extremism via his One Nation membership, his doomed tilt at an unwinnable political seat in Federal Parliament and his entry into Perth neo-Nazi group, the Society of West Australian Nationalists, which is run by former Liberal Party volunteer David Donis. Being around that sort of party structure and political structure in Australia, I sort of lost faith in the whole thing. And then I decided to take more direct action, and then got pushed onto the Society of West Australian Nationalists, he said.

His loss of faith in Pauline Hansons One Nation, and then SWAN, led him to The Base as he became more and more extreme and passionate about my views and it was harder and harder to speak out about it for fear of losing my political career. And I thought, well, I have to sell myself to the devil to have a career in politics, or I can leave my career in politics and live an authentic life. And I think that, you know, leaving politics behind is a much better option, he said. Sara Qasem gives her victim impact statement during the sentencing hearing for Australian Brenton Tarrant. Credit:AP All The Bases Australian applicants describe, to varying extents, the same frustration that society and the political system has failed them; some say direct action may be the only solution. Three Australian Base applicants (Smith is not one of them) described supporting Brenton Tarrants murderous March 2019 mosque rampage in New Zealand. One of them, a 23-year-old calling himself RooReich, says of Tarrant: Theyre saying hes an alt-right fascist Nazi, blah, blah, blah. Im like, Well, if thats what he is then, OK. Ill just be that. If you want me to be the boogeyman, I guess, Im the f...ing boogeyman ... There is no political or democratic solution at all. Were not voting our way out of this.

Follow the leader Nazzaro, The Bases Russian-based leader, began advertising his group in July 2018, trying to recruit members. He was also active in the Read SIEGE group on the white power-friendly alt-tech platform Gab. The group was dedicated to promoting the work and ideas of neo-Nazi James Mason, author of the book, Siege, who advocated terrorism as a means of creating a white ethnostate. Base propaganda posted on social media. In autumn 2018, early recruiting material for The Base stopped short of explicitly advocating for terrorism. However, in most of the recorded vetting interviews, standard questions for potential recruits included whether they considered themselves national socialists and whether or not they had read Siege, a compilation of Masons newsletters that became the central text of the accelerationist movement. Recruits were also asked whether they believed a political solution could remedy the perceived genocide of white people. The ideal recruit would answer, respectively, yes, yes and no.

While The Base was operating, Nazzaro reiterated its emphasis on action. He demanded that members engage in training and meet-ups, and that potential recruits detail any skills they could bring to the group or teach other members via communications on encrypted apps. Fertile recruiting grounds A photo included in a recent FBI court filing shows unidentified members of the neo-Nazi group The Base. Eventually, some members of the group began acting on the hate that The Base fostered. Former members in New Jersey and Wisconsin stand accused of conspiring to vandalise synagogues; the Georgia cell is accused of plotting an assassination. Charging documents for the cell based in Delaware and Maryland allege the men discussed firing at random into a pro-gun rally in Virginia in January 2020.

In late October 2019, members of The Bases vetting committee received a bundle of identically formatted PDF documents from five Australian men. They had been emailed to Nazzaro from a sixth Australian, who operated under the alias Volkskrieger and who acted as a virtual local franchisee in bringing these recruits forward. Volkskrieger is a German word that means peoples warrior. A recorded conversation between Nazzaro and Volkskrieger in May 2019 captures The Base leader telling his Australian point man that we need someone dedicated, who can really lead the charge and handle and keep the guys that do come in the door, keep the morale up and keep them motivated. Volkskrieger responded: Thats fine. Yeah. Im, Im happy to do the role. The Australian then asked Nazzaro about FBI attention and whether one of the more strident Base members who had been arrested had become a police informant.

If you go and talk all that talk and then suddenly when the heats up you crack like a f---ing egg, thats pathetic, Volkskrieger is recorded saying. The Age and Sydney Morning Herald have identified him as a young Perth tradesman living with his parents. Among the biggest insights provided by the leaked tapes is the way Australian local neo-Nazi groups who publicly disavow terrorism, such as The Lads Society (which has morphed into the National Socialist Network) and David Donis SWAN, were viewed by The Base as recruiting grounds. Volkskrieger told The Bases leadership cell he was trying to suss out members in the group and see which ones I could potentially bring up to The Base  theres definitely blokes that I can slowly pull over. Between Volkskrieger and the five applicants he brought to The Base, four claimed some involvement in The Lads Society or SWAN, including one who claimed to be The Lads Queensland chapter leader, Grant Fuller.

Fuller denied trying to join The Base, while Volkskrieger did not respond to efforts to contact him. Donis also declined to comment, although there is no suggestion he knew SWANs members were double-patching behind his back. There is also no suggestion that Donis, Fuller or Smith support domestic terrorism. The organised resistance As each of the applicants were tested by Nazzaro, they seemed eager to impress him. RooReich, a Brisbane neo-Nazi, explained he sort of joined The Base because he was readying himself for societal collapse and the militant response needed to realise The Bases vision of white supremacy. If it came to the cops, interrogation and stuff like that, I already have lies in my head already at what Im going to say to them. And I can remain pretty consistent and confident in those sort of lies, he told The Bases vetting committee in late 2019. A Perth-based applicant calling himself James Jameson impressed on Nazzaro that I know how to f--- people up with minimum physical exertion and that he got enjoyment watching the Christchurch massacre of March 2019. Ive eaten several meals watching that, Jameson explained, while outlining his vision for an Australian group of networked survivalists across the country with access to firearms to act as an organised resistance.

Asked if The Base was a terrorist organisation, Nazzaro said it was an entirely legal survivalism and self-defence network. He also denied it was a neo-Nazi group. He had started a group in Australia because it aimed to be an international network of mutual support. Grant Fuller, self-professed leader of The Lads Society, one of the countrys biggest neo-Nazi groups, who recently underwent a vetting interview with US neo-Nazi organisation The Base. When the leaked vetting calls and social media records were obtained in early 2020, The Base had recruited two Australians, was preparing to vet two more and had interviewed another two, including Dean Smith, who withdrew their applications for their own reasons. According to internal sources who asked not to be named, Smith discontinued his application, choosing to remain with SWAN, which does not allow so-called double-patching. As groups such as The Lads expand and fracture, they soak up more and more ASIO resources (the agency has said 40 per cent of its caseload is dedicated to ideologically motivated extremist groups). State police are also keeping watch, with Victoria Police Assistant Commissioner Mick Hermans on Friday telling a media briefing how right-wing extremism activity had probably doubled in the past 18 months and was in a purple patch. He also cautioned that while The Base wasnt operating as an entity in Australia, its ability to connect with Australians remained.
Top US health officials say they're encouraged by the accelerating Covid-19 vaccinations.

But not enough Americans are fully vaccinated yet to suppress the spread of the virus -- and eased restrictions across the country coupled with spring break crowds could spell trouble, one expert said Wednesday.

'What concerns me is the footage of what's happening in spring breakers, in people who are not continuing to implement prevention strategies while we get fully scaled up,' US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said during a White House Covid-19 briefing.

'We need to hang in there for just a little while longer because we can see a time in the next couple of months where we will have a lot more people vaccinated and we will really be able to blunt infection rates,' she added.

The coming weeks are especially critical: Covid-19 cases in the country have seen a slight increase, according to Walensky, while a highly contagious -- and potentially more deadly -- variant is circulating. Some experts have warned that by getting lax with safety measures, the country could see infections surge again.

'If we choose to invest in prevention right now, we will ultimately come out of this pandemic faster and with fewer lives lost,' the CDC director said.

So while the US is getting closer to turning the corner, it's not there yet. The country continues to add tens of thousands of new cases and hundreds of virus-related deaths every day.

'When you are at that level, I don't think you can declare victory and say you've turned the corner,' Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's leading infectious disease expert, said during the briefing. 'You've got to continue to do what we're doing: more vaccinations and continue to do public health measures until we actually do turn the corner.'

You asked, we answered: Your top questions about Covid-19 and vaccines

'A jolt of hope for all of us'

The good news: Vaccinations are already making a difference.

More than a quarter of Americans have gotten at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, according to CDC data. About 14% of the US population is fully vaccinated.

The pace of vaccinations has doubled in less than two months, the CDC data shows, and now more than 70% of people 65 and older have received at least one shot.

That 65 and older population has also seen a larger decline in Covid-19 case rates, death rates and hospitalizations than any other age group and now account for a smaller share of total hospitalizations than they did a few months ago, according to an analysis of CDC data.

Track Covid-19 vaccinations in the US

In nursing homes, which were prioritized for vaccinations nationwide since the start of the rollouts, Covid-19 cases and deaths among residents are the lowest they've been since tracking began back in May, according to data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

Several recent studies also showed vaccines protected health care workers, Walensky and Fauci said during the Wednesday briefing.

'These findings should be a jolt of hope for all of us and to serve as a catalyst for everyone to roll up their sleeves when the vaccine is available,' Walensky said.

In total, vaccines have likely already saved at least 40,000 American lives so far, former CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden told CNN on Wednesday night. 'They're remarkably effective, they're remarkably safe,' Frieden said.

More states are expanding vaccine eligibility

As more states try to get more shots into arms faster, officials have unveiled timelines for expanded eligibility -- and in many cases have set a date for when the vaccines will be open to anyone 16 and older.

Pfizer's vaccine is the only one available for use by people who are 16 and older, while the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines are both authorized for people 18 and older.

Vaccine eligibility across the country

North Carolina and California are the latest states to expand vaccine eligibility.

All Californians over the age of 16 can get vaccinated starting April 15, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Thursday. Those aged 50 and older can get vaccinated starting April 1.

California currently receives about 1.8 million doses of the vaccine per week, according to a press release from the governor's office.

But based on the current estimates, the state said it expects to allocate 'approximately 2.5 million first and second doses per week in the first half of April, and more than 3 million doses in the second half of April.'

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper announced that the state will be expanding vaccine eligibility to all adults starting April 7.

'I'm encouraged that North Carolina will be able to open eligibility to all adults well ahead of the president's May 1st goal,' Cooper said in a press conference Thursday afternoon.

Earlier Thursday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced that vaccinations in his state will be open to anyone over the age of 18 beginning April 5. Starting Monday, March 29, Floridians 40 and over can get vaccinated.

What could stand in the way of more vaccinations

As vaccine eligibility opens up, some local officials worry that soon the challenge will be short demand, rather than short supply.

That could happen within the next four to six weeks, says Lori Tremmel Freeman, CEO of the National Association of County and City Health Officials.

'We will get to the point pretty quickly where we're saying, 'OK, now we're into the really hard phase of this where we're down to the population that is not so willing to get the vaccine,'' Freeman said.

It's that last mile of 'people that are hesitant' that will be challenging, she added. And other experts and officials have also expressed concern about that last stretch.

'The hesitancy is worrisome not just here, but all across the country, and I expect as a country we'll get to 50% vaccination rate of the population. But we're going to have a harder time getting from 50% to 70%,' Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson told CNN earlier this week.

'It's about overcoming the skepticism, it is about education,' he said.

Pfizer begins vaccine trial in children ages 5 to 11

Researchers at Duke University have begun testing Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine in children under the age of 12, the company told CNN on Thursday. At least two children have already received the first shot.

The company is beginning the trials first in the 5- to 11-year-old age group to determine the appropriate dosage

The trial will enroll 144 children below the age of 12. Two thirds of the children will receive vaccine and one third will receive placebo. At a six-month follow up, all participants will be unblinded, and those on placebo will be eligible for the vaccine.

Pfizer has already evaluated the vaccine in 2,259 children between the ages of 12 and 15. The company told CNN that the tolerability findings were strong enough among this age group to encourage trials in younger children. It anticipates being able to share the data about the safety and efficacy of the vaccine in the older age group soon.

Results from the under-12 trial are expected by the end of 2021.

The Pfizer vaccine currently has an emergency authorization from the US Food and Drug Administration for those 16 and older.
The world's biggest open source company, Red Hat, has pulled funding from the Free Software Foundation and any events hosted by the foundation due to its allowing its founder, Richard Stallman, to rejoin the board.

But the company, which crossed US$3 billion in annual revenue in 2019, is yet to put its name, as an organisation. on the letter which calls for Stallman and the FSF board to go, though the names of individual Red Hat developers are on the list [See screesnhot on right, below].

In a blog post issued on Thursday US time, the company said: "Considering the circumstances of Richard Stallmans original resignation in 2019, Red Hat was appalled to learn that he had rejoined the FSF board of directors.

"As a result, we are immediately suspending all Red Hat funding of the FSF and any FSF-hosted events.

"In addition, many Red Hat contributors have told us they no longer plan to participate in FSF-led or backed events, and we stand behind them."

Stallman announced that he was rejoining the board during the FSF's annual LibrePlanet conference on 19 March.

There has been a push to oust him and also one to retain him on the board.

Earlier on Thursday, SUSE, the second largest open source vendor, said it was against Stallman remaining on the board and put its name to the open anti-Stallman letter.

The Red Hat statement added: "In 2019, we called on the FSF board to use the opportunity created by Stallmans departure to transition to a more diverse, inclusive board membership.

"The FSF took only limited steps in this direction. Richard Stallmans return has reopened wounds we had hoped would slowly heal after his departure.

"We believe that in order to regain the confidence of the broader free software community, the FSF should make fundamental and lasting changes to its governance.

"On Wednesday, the FSF board of directors committed to a series of changes related to organisational governance and the appointment of members to its board of directors.

"However, we have no reason to believe that the most recent FSF board statement signals any meaningful commitment to positive change.

"We look forward to working with the FSF and others to enable the FSF to once again become an effective and trusted advocacy organisation in line with its chartered non-profit mission."
Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam was given a second shot of the locally-produced Nano Covax novel coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine as part of the second stage of human trials on March 26.

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam receives a second shot of the locally-produced Nano Covax COVID-19 vaccine (Photo: Minh Khoi)

The Deputy PM is one of a total of 560 volunteers partaking in the trials which started on February 26.

He also spent time visiting and encouraging volunteers and on-duty medical workers, while expressing his firm belief in the ability of local scientists to successfully develop efficient and effective COVID-19 vaccines.

Lieut. Gen. Do Quyet, director of the Military Medical University, stated that the vaccine has succeeded in creating large amounts of antibodies among volunteers, whilst also proving to be effective against mutant strains.

He added that the second phase will ultimately allow researchers to witness exactly how immunogenic the Nano Covax vaccine is. Volunteers participating in the second phase include people aged 65 and above, along with those with non-severe underlying health conditions such as hypertension and diabetes.

The director said the third phase of human trials may require only 10,000 volunteers who will be divided into two groups. The first group of 5000 people will be injected with the AstraZeneca vaccine, while the remaining volunteers will then receive the locally-made Nano Covax vaccine.

He added that the nation has the scientific knowledge to compare any side effects and antiviral efficacy between the local vaccine and the AstraZeneca vaccine. If the positive results between the two vaccines come out the same, then the Vietnamese Nano Covax vaccine might be licensed by the Ministry of Health ahead of schedule.

VOV

30 people to be tested with Covivac vaccine in Vietnam Vietnam will continue to test the domestically-made Covid-19 vaccine called Covivac on 30 volunteers on March 23-25.
Medical workers at the Rwanda Biomedical Centre (RBC) are not sure when the country will be getting more Covid-19 vaccine doses, having used up all that was available.

The country received its first vaccine doses earlier this month and has since rolled out a vaccination campaign, targeting priority groups like frontline medics, teachers and people with underlying health conditions among others.

By Wednesday, March 23, a total of 348,629 people had been inoculated at least once, as the country wound up the first phase of the campaign.

Going forward, according to Dr Sabin Nsanzimana, the Director-General of RBC, the date for getting another consignment of vaccines is not yet known, though he hopes it could be soon.

"The biggest challenge now in this vaccination campaign is access to enough doses that are needed and on time. As I said before, all the doses we received both AstraZeneca and Pfizer have been utilized, and we are expecting the next doses," he said while speaking during a virtual press briefing organised by the World Health Organisation (WHO)

But, he added; "We don't know the exact date and time when they will be available. We hope it could be very soon."

The largest number of doses shipped in the country were secured through the COVAX initiative, a WHO-backed mechanism that is assisting low and middle-income countries to access the Covid-19 vaccine.

Currently, the initiative has delivered vaccine doses to many African countries, save for ten including Eritrea, Madagascar, Tanzania, Burundi, CAR, Cameroon, Chad, Zambia Burkina Faso, and Mauritania which are yet to get their first consignments.

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The target of the initiative is to have 20 per cent of the African population vaccinated by the end of this year, however, there have been challenges that have slowed down the delivery process.

Richard Mihigo, the Coordinator of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases Unit at WHO African Region Office, told media during the same online briefing that the "20 per cent of the population" inoculation goal is still within reach.

"This goal is still valid and we are working hard to make sure that the vaccine doses will be delivered to reach 20 per cent of the population, through the COVAX initiative before the end of the year," he said.

Mihigo also reflected on the need for Africa to develop its capacities to manufacture vaccines in the long run, urging that if another pandemic comes, it should not find the continent in the same position where it is hard to manufacture vaccines.

"If we are to learn something out of this pandemic, it is about how this region can to try to invest in our local capacity to produce vaccines, because we cannot wait until another pandemic," he said.

"There is a lot of efforts going on through the African Union and the WHO about supporting countries to try at least establish some capacities (in line with manufacturing vaccines)," he said

Meanwhile, Nsanzimana reiterated that vaccination currently does not replace the rest of the preventive measures that people should follow.

"The vaccine is not coming to replace masks immediately. It is not coming to replace social distance and everything that we have been doing before," he said.
First Lady Jill Biden, who was expected to arrive in Birmingham on Friday along with actress Jennifer Garner, has postponed her Alabama visit.

The Office of the First Lady released a statement announcing the postponement on Thursday afternoon after tornadoes swept across the state, causing widespread destruction and killing five people.

Due to the severe weather across the South and tragic loss of life in Alabama, the First Lady and Jennifer Garner are postponing their trip to Birmingham and Jasper, the statement said.

It did not announce a new date.

Biden and Garner were scheduled to tour the Jasper Area Service Center and the YWCA of Central Alabama as part of Bidens Help is Here Tour to explain how the recently passed federal stimulus plan will lower child poverty, the White House said.

During the visits to Jasper and Birmingham, Biden and Garner were expected to explain how the $1.9 trillion stimulus plan will cut child poverty by half, according to the White House.
Coronavirus survivors who get vaccinated respond up to seven times better to it than those who haven't had the virus, a study has found.

Researchers found that antibody levels were three times higher in people who had the virus and then one dose of Pfizer's jab, compared to someone who had never been infected but had two doses of the same vaccine.

The difference was even bigger when they looked at people who had never caught Covid and were only given one dose.

But the experts claimed the single dose produced a 'robust' immune response in 99 per cent of people. They said levels of protection are even stronger after the top-up jab, underlining the importance of people coming forward for their second shot.

Data showed the jabs offered a 'breadth' of immune response, leaving experts confident that the current crop of vaccines should be effective against the South African variant and other mutant strains.

The findings support the UK policy of rapid roll-out of one dose of vaccine to provide cover as quickly as possible for millions of Britons in higher-risk groups, researchers say.

The study was done on 237 health workers in Sheffield, Oxford, Liverpool, Newcastle and Birmingham. Most volunteers were female.

It measured levels of both antibodies and T-cells, which are substances used by the immune system to destroy the coronavirus. Higher levels generally mean stronger immunity.

Scientists found that, after one dose of the vaccine, people who had been infected with Covid in the past had 6.8 times as many antibodies in their blood as those who had not.

They had 2.9 times as many antibodies after one dose as people who had not been infected but who had been given two jabs, the total vaccine course.

But the experts said second doses are still needed for everyone because the booster is thought to make immunity last for longer.

Graphic shows the relative levels of antibodies in people who have never had the virus but had one dose (left); people who had previous infection and then one dose (centre); and people who never had the virus but had two doses (right). Individual dots are separate people's measurements, with the horizontal lines representing an average. Previous infection with the virus, followed by a booster vaccine, offers the strongest immunity. But it is not a safe way to develop protection because of the danger of disease

The study comes after findings in the last few months showed antibody responses after one dose are significantly higher in people who have had survived Covid.

The new study, named Protective Immunity from T-cells to Covid in Health workers (PITCH), was published online.

In it, 113 people who had previously caught the coronavirus and 103 who had never been infected were given one dose of Pfizer's vaccine.

And 21 healthcare workers who had not previously had the virus were given two jabs. No Covid survivors were given both doses.

Workers who received both doses were given them three weeks apart, in line with what was done in clinical studies that saw it approved in December.

But the NHS is using a 12-week gap to stretch supplies across more people, after UK regulators insisted it was safe to do so.

After one dose coronavirus survivors had 5.9 times the number of T-cells  a type of white blood cell that binds to and kills viruses  as those who have never been infected.

Their T-cell response was as strong after one dose as those who had both jabs but had not had the virus.

Professor Miles Carroll, an Oxford University virologist and author of the study, said it was too early to say Covid survivors do not need a second dose.

He said: 'What you find is that even if people who have been previously infected and have had one dose, some people might have a really good response and some people might have a mediocre response.

'So having that second dose, even if you were previously infected, is essential to ensure that you have good, solid immunity.

Pictured: Rae Mackenzie receives his first coronavirus vaccine in Lewis Sports Centre in Stornoway, Scotland, yesterday

'And also  what we don't know  is that it's likely that second dose will increase the longevity of response even if you've had prior infection.

'So the advice would be to have that second dose.'

And Professor Susanna Dunachie, the chief investigator for the study at Oxford, added: 'It's possible in the future, when we've seen everyone at six months, we may be able to address that.

'But right now the safest course of action is to advise the two doses, particularly with the variants of concern.'

The study also found a first dose in previously-infected people gave a higher breadth of T-cell responses, making them better protected against variants of concern.

Professor Carrol said: In general, the stronger your antibody response is, the more likely it is you will have protection against the variants of concern.

So the key is getting a really strong response. Getting a second dose is going to help you with that response.'

The study found no link between age and the levels of T-cell or antibody response after a dose of the vaccine.

Its findings have not yet been peer-reviewed and the authors say further research is needed to determine the long-term effects of vaccines on immunity.

Experts said the study shows the Pfizer vaccine is successful at both bringing non-infected people's immunity up and enhancing the range of immune responses in people who had previously had the virus.

Professor Eleanor Riley, and immunologist at the University of Edinburgh, said: 'This large, well-controlled study of UK health care workers demonstrates that a single dose of the Pfizer-BioNtech Covid vaccine induces antibody and T-cell responses comparable to those seen after natural infection.'

She said the findings back the JCVI's decision to recommend a 12-week gap between first and second doses in the UK, which has led to criticism in other countries.

Professor Riley added: 'Importantly, this study shows that vaccination of previously infected individuals not only boosts their immune responses but also broadens the repertoire of immune responses to SARS-CoV-2.

'In so doing, [it] enhances the response to several variants of concern including the so-called Kent, South African and Brazilian variants.

'These data demonstrate the importance of vaccinating everyone, including people who have already been infected.'

And Professor Daniel Altmann, an immunologist at Imperial College London, said: 'Findings such as this have inevitably led to debate about whether vaccine supplies could be stretched further by offering only a single dose to those known to have been previously infected.

'For most of the world, including the UK, there may be sufficient diagnostic uncertainty as to who was definitely infected to make this approach hard to implement efficiently.'

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said: 'The PITCH study presents further proof that vaccines provide excellent protection against the virus.

'Thanks to the incredible efforts of our vaccination programme, over half of all adults in the UK have had the jab, and we remain on track to offer all adults a vaccine by the end of July.

'The vaccine has already saved thousands of lives in the UK.

'A second vaccine jab is crucial for longer-term protection, regardless of whether you have previously had Covid or not and I urge everyone to make sure they attend their second appointment  to keep themselves and those around them safe.'
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Kingho Investment Company Limited, Gilbert Zhao has disclosed that the vision of his company is to build an internationally respected iron ore industry in Sierra Leone

Mr Zhao made this disclosure during the official opening ceremony by Kingho Mining Company of the New Tonkolili Iron Ore Mining Project at the mining site in Ferengbeya Village, Tonkolili District, Northern Province of the Republic of Sierra Leone.

Whilst dilating further, the CEO said that through safe and best mining practices, Kingho will continue to do business in Sierra Leone "with a trail of development in all facets of life which the company is hopeful to contribute to."

Furthermore, in elaborating on the relevance of the mines towards the development of Sierra Leone, Mr Gilbert Zhao said that he envisions that the "mine will have profound and transformative impact on the national economy as was in the recent glory past and it will also have transformative effect on our impact communities by offering jobs, economic opportunities, training, and other business opportunities."

In addition, the CEO noted that Kingho has a strategy and business model that will lead to rapid and sustainable economic development of Sierra Leone through the company's Integrated Iron Ore Project Model.

Expanding on the Integrated Iron Ore Project Model, the CEO said that it will involve 3 stages. "Stage 1 which is between year 1 - 3, we projected exporting totally up to 20Mt of 57% Iron Ore by the end of Year 3. In stage 2 between Year 4 - 6 when we will complete our beneficiation plant, we will be producing high value 5.7Mt per year of Iron powder with a grade of 65%. We hope to complete our vertical integration process in stage 3 wherein for the first time Sierra Leone will boast of a steel plant industrial park in the country," Mr Zhao noted, adding that Kingho will expand production capacity up to 30Mt leading to the construction of a steel plant.

"Kingho Company pride ourselves with the way we treat people and our communities with fairness, respect and dignity and respect of the national and local laws" Gilbert Zhao detailed, whilst further elaborating that "even before now, we have embarked on corporate social responsibility projects and we will do more on that front by supporting tangible and sustainable projects that will benefit the wider community."

Meanwhile whilst making his statement on behalf of government, the Minister of Mines and Mineral Resources, Honourable Musa Timothy Kabba assured the people of Tonkolili that on the start of the operation, his ministry and the National Minerals Agency (NMA) will ensure that Kingho expands on its social corporate responsibility. He urged the people of the mining communities to be very patient with the company as according to him, "the company took over at a very difficult time when many other companies worldwide were shutting down". He called on the people to be very optimistic with regards their mines and assured that government will do everything possible to ensure that the minerals benefit the people.

In a statement read on behalf of the Ambassador of the People's Republic of China to the Republic of Sierra Leone His Excellency Hu Zhangling, the Ambassador commended the resilience of Kingho to invest in Sierra Leone since 2010 during which period the country's economy faced three (3) major shocks- the drop in Iron Ore price, the Ebola Outbreak and the COVID-19 Outbreak. He said the official opening of the New Tonkolili Iron Ore Mining Project "signals a new beginning for a brighter future." He expressed optimism that Kingho's commencement of Iron Ore production at this moment in time "will inject new impetus to Sierra Leone's development, thus worthy commendation."

The Director General of NMA Julius Daniel Mattai said the decision to give Kingho the full-scale mining license which the company deserves is ethically and morally correct. He called on everyone to work in hand to ensure the goodies of the mines are achieved.

Chairman Parliamentary Committee on Mines and Mineral Resources, Honourable Saa Emerson Lamina said it is the desire of the president to ensure the revamping of the Sierra Leone's economy. He called on the people of Tonkolili to maintain peace and tranquility in the mining areas, noting that the proceeds of the mines are used to elevate every sector of the government's socio-development programmes.

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Other statements were made by the Resident Minister Northern Province, Abu Abu Koroma who called for unity between the company and the mining communities; the Executive Chairman of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Dr Bondi Gevao who assured the mining communities that his agency will monitor the activities of Kingho to guarantee that its mining is done within the framework of the environmental laws of the country.

The programme was chaired by the Minister of Labour and Social Security, Hon Alpha Timbo and was climaxed with a site visit and the official pronouncement of the start of mining by the Honourable Minister of Mines and Mineral Resources.
Handwritten notes placed between the ancient stones of the Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem, Nov. 14, 2018.

(Israel Hayom) - Workers at the Western Wall (Kotel) in Jerusalem on Tuesday conducted the site's customary biannual clearout of all the notes stuck between the stones over the course of the previous six months.

The notes are traditionally collected before Passover, which this year begins after Shabbat on the evening of March 27, and on Rosh Hashanah. Mindful of public-health regulations, workers wore gloves, masks and used disposable wooden sticks to remove the notes. These will be buried on the Mount of Olives, along with holy materials that are deemed too worn-out for use.

Rabbi of the Western Wall Shmuel Rabinowitz oversaw the ceremonial clearout and recited a prayer for the burial of the notes.

According to the Western Wall Heritage Foundation, the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a spike in the number of notes e-mailed to the Kotel by Jews all over the world. Since Passover 2020, more than 71,000 such notes have been e-mailed to the foundation, many times more than prior to the coronavirus crisis.

The countries from which most of the notes hailed were the United States, Brazil, France, Canada, Germany, Spain, Poland, Argentina and Mexico, as well as the Lapland region of Finland.

The Western Wall Heritage Foundation also said that it is preparing for Passover prayers, including the traditional Priestly Blessing, which normally draws tens of thousands of worshippers. Last year, only 10 kohanim (Jewish high priests) were allowed at the Western Wall.

This year, the prayers will be held in accordance with Health Ministry directives, which, as of March 17, allow for public prayer in capsules. They will also be live streamed for the sake of those unable to participate.

This article first appeared in Israel Hayom.
Nearly 12 years after the end of the civil war in Sri Lanka, there is still no accountability for grave crimes that likely constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity, Michelle Bachelet told the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council on February 24. The High Commissioner for Human Rights said the UN had failed to live up to its prevention role in Sri Lanka and must not make the same mistakes in the face of early warning signs of further violations. Under the current government there has been increasing militarization, restriction of civil space and discriminatory rhetoric from State officials at the highest levels against Muslim and Tamil minorities, which risks generating further polarization and violence, according to Bachelets report.

She called on member states to consider new options, such as a referral to the International Criminal Court (ICC), universal jurisdiction cases against Sri Lankan officials implicated in war crimes, or an international evidence-gathering body. Members of the Tamil community broadly welcomed Bachelets report, which is tough in comparison with previous ones, according to Kannanathan Rajganna, a member of the Sri Lankan diaspora in Switzerland and chairman of a new NGO, International Humanitarian Approach. But he says Tamils are saddened that the UN has not taken strong action in more than a decade. In the Tamil diaspora, the main thinking is that there should be a criminal investigation, especially focussing on what happened in 2009, says Rajganna. He thinks the Sri Lankan government has just been playing for time and removing evidence.

New evidence-gathering means

In the wake of Bachelets report, the Human Rights Council on March 23 adopted a UK-led resolution expressing serious concern and calling on Sri Lanka to implement the recommendations in her report. The March 23 resolution also decides to strengthen () the capacity of the Office of the High Commissioner to collect, consolidate, analyse and preserve information and evidence and to develop possible strategies for future accountability processes for gross violations of human rights or serious violations of international humanitarian law in Sri Lanka, to advocate for victims and survivors, and to support relevant judicial and other proceedings, including in member states, with competent jurisdiction. The resolution was backed by 22 countries and opposed by 11, including China and Pakistan. There were 14 abstentions, including Sri Lankas big neighbour India.

But the total additional budget requirement approved with the resolution is only $2,856,300 (for 2021 and 2022), and still to be approved by the UN General Assembly at its 76th session in September. Human Rights Watch hopes the new evidence gathering capacity will enhance international scrutiny of rights violations in Sri Lanka. It says that with this resolution, the cause of Sri Lankan victims has taken an important step forward, by creating a powerful investigative mechanism to prepare international prosecutions. Amnesty International also welcomed it, but underlined that the real impact of further monitoring and reporting will rely on other UN member states using the resolution as a basis for concrete action, including investigations and prosecutions under universal jurisdiction and a possible referral to the International Criminal Court.

Michelle Bachelet, former President of Chile, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.  Fabrice Coffrini / AFP

Sri Lankan government in abject denial

Sri Lankas civil war lasted some 25 years, pitting the majority Sinhalese government against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which fought for a separate homeland for minority Tamils in the north and east of the country. Grave crimes were committed on both sides. For example, the LTTE used suicide bombers and child soldiers. Government, especially in the final stages of the war, was brutal. The conflict ended with a massive assault in 2009, in which tens of thousands of Tamil civilians died. Current president Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who was defence chief at the time, is widely seen as the man who ordered the final assault.

Successive governments have promised reconciliation and accountability measures. The previous government of Maithripala Sirisena co-sponsored a Human Rights Council resolution in 2015 with a road-map for transitional justice which appeared to raise hope. There was little follow-up, although it did launch a probe into war-era disappearances and a government Office for Reparations. Proposals for a war crimes court and truth and reconciliation commission remain a dead letter.

Charu Lata Hogg, an associate fellow on the Asia-Pacific programme of United Kingdom think-tank Chatham House, says the origins of impunity lie in lack of independence of Sri Lankas judicial and other institutions, which go back to its independence from Britain in 1948. But this is getting worse under the current government, according to Bachelets report. It says, for example, that a constitutional amendment in October 2020 has fundamentally eroded the independence of key commissions and institutions, including the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, the Election Commission, the National Police Commission and the judiciary.

Plus, says Hogg, it is the same people in power now as in 2009, so that its like calling individuals to investigate and prosecute themselves  its not going to happen. She says the current government sees what happened as a war on terrorism and chooses not to address the underlying issues that led to the war in the first place. It is in abject denial, she told Justice Info.

Alternative international options

Bachelet says that domestic initiatives have repeatedly failed to ensure justice for victims and promote reconciliation, and urges UN member states to pursue alternative international options for ensuring justice and reparations. Sri Lanka is not a party to the Rome Statute of the ICC, so the only possibility for that Court to get involved would be a referral from the UN Security Council. This seems highly unlikely, says Hogg, as it would almost certainly be vetoed by China and Russia.

And what about universal jurisdiction cases in other countries? As the Syria cases have revealed, universal jurisdiction provides a promising way forward, says Hogg. There have been some attempts. For example, in 2011 two NGOs including TRIAL International filed war crimes complaints with Swiss authorities against former general Jaghat Dias, who was at the time Sri Lankas deputy ambassador to Germany and Switzerland. But he was recalled to Sri Lanka, escaping possible judicial proceedings. In the case of Sri Lanka, TRIAL International believes that universal jurisdiction is currently one of the few tools that would allow Sri Lankans to benefit from some degree of justice, even if outside the country, says Jennifer Triscone, legal advisor at the Swiss NGO.

Although not strictly a universal jurisdiction case, the daughter of assassinated journalist Lasantha Wickrematunge sought to hold Rajapaksa  now president of Sri Lanka  responsible in a US court for her fathers murder in January 2009 and the widespread and systematic targeting of journalists perceived to be critical of the government. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco dropped the case this month, after a ruling that the president has immunity as head of state. But it did not rule out future litigation against Rajapaksa once he no longer enjoys immunity.
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Forty-eight hours after its launch, "The Bible in a Year" (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) became the No. 1 show on Apple Podcasts. The show now boasts over 1.3 million downloads. The producer explains the podcasts popularity: People are hungry for God, and were honored to help them encounter Gods word through a daily podcast, especially as so many of us continue to be cut off from our parishes, communities, and loved ones during these difficult days.

People are hungry for God because, as the Westminster Shorter Catechism states, Mans chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever. However, the catechism adds that all mankind by their fall lost communion with God.

The news demonstrates every day that we still live in a fallen world. For instance:

A ship that would be taller than the Empire State Building if turned upright became stuck in the Suez Canal, blocking all traffic on one of the busiest shipping arteries in the world.

A black hole three million times heavier than our sun is racing across the universe and scientists dont know why. (Fortunately, its about 230 million light-years away from us.)

A man in Los Angeles says he found shrimp tails in his breakfast cereal, along with a length of string and something that looks like dental floss. The company says it is investigating.

Other stories are more troubling, such as the death by suicide of Kent Taylor, the founder and CEO of the Texas Roadhouse restaurant chain. His family said that he had been dealing with symptoms related to COVID-19 and that the suffering that greatly intensified in recent days became unbearable. And of course, the shootings in Georgia and Colorado continue to make headlines as we grieve for those who died and those who knew and loved them.

A brilliant article explains our cultural moment

Desmond Tutu noted, Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness. The question, of course, is where to find such light. In this context, a fascinating article by John Doherty of The Witherspoon Institute caught my eye recently.

He notes that ancient Gnosticism (from the Greek gnosis, meaning knowledge) claimed that living by right reason is the path to salvation. Doherty believes that many contemporary secularists follow a new variant of this approach by seeking to ground human reality entirely upon knowledge found only in human intelligence. Machiavelli, the founder of modern political thought, built on this approach by positing a public life built on justice.

The problem, however, is that humans are incapable of attaining true knowledge or justice apart from divine grace.

Doherty notes that when recent generations of secular society began to abandon the Judeo-Christian worldview upon which Western culture was built, the results were disastrous. Society expected from public institutions those services that Christians and churches had provided, such as schools, hospitals, and businesses. To replace them, nations set up lumbering social-service bureaucracies and socialist states, animated not by the wisdom of mercy, but by paid labor, law, and an increasingly inhuman secularism.

However, when these failed to meet expectations, citizens demanded still more government interventions. Their logical outcomes were the totalitarian regimes of the twentieth century and todays state-sponsored promotion of [secularist] ideologies.

Doherty concludes: We need to live betterto put ourselves in order, cooperating freely with our Creator. No one else can do it for us. The state can help, but only in a secondary role. The more honest and humane we are in business, family relations, and civic life, the less we need the state to police us, the more freedom we gain to develop our potential, and the wiser we become to craft laws and institutions that serve human dignity and the common good. The external order of society begins in the internal order of each individual person.

More committed to Christianity than to Christ?

How, then, are we to develop this internal order? This question brings me to the point of todays Daily Article.

As we proceed toward Good Friday and Easter Sunday, it has become clear to me that many of us are living in the former more than the latter. After nearly forty years as a pastor and nearly fifty years as a Christian, I must confess that I and many Christians I know can be more committed to Christianity than to Christ. We confuse time with Christians with time with Christ.

We asked Jesus to forgive our sins and give us eternal life; now we are doing what our religion requires in response: going to church (mainly online during the pandemic), reading the Bible, praying, giving money and time, and trying to live moral lives. But we all too often do all of this in our strength rather than that of the risen Lord Jesus. We separate Sunday from Monday and religion from the real world. It is as though Jesus were still in the tomb rather than alive in our lives and our world.

Part of the explanation lies in our Greco-Roman cultural heritage and its transactional religions (place a sacrifice on the altar so the god will bless your crops). But part of the issue is our fallen nature and desire to be our own God (Genesis 3:5). If we meet the risen Jesus every day, he may change us into something we dont want to become. He may send us somewhere we dont want to go. He asked Abraham to follow his call not knowing where he was going and may ask the same of us (Hebrews 11:8).

However, as Pastor Greg Laurie noted, Gods plans for you are better than any plans you have for yourself. Corrie ten Boom testified: The safest place to be is in the center of Gods will.

A living Christ does everything for me

If you are seeking wisdom today, I encourage you to go to the risen Christ, for his wisdom is even greater than Solomon, the wisest human who ever lived (Matthew 12:42; 1 Kings 4:31).

If you are seeking forgiveness, I encourage you to go to the risen Christ, for he alone can give us redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace (Ephesians 1:7).

If you are seeking strength today, I encourage you to go to the risen Christ, for he alone can empower you to do all things (Philippians 4:13).

If you are seeking peace, I encourage you to go to the risen Christ, for then the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:7).

Andrew Murray was right: A dead Christ I must do everything for; a living Christ does everything for me.

Which is true for you today?

Originally published at the Denison Forum
INDIANAPOLIS (WLFI)  A new Indiana law will remove the residency requirement for police officers and firefighters.

Right now, police and fire department members must live within 50 miles of where they work, regardless of the city's employee residency rules.

House Bill 1033 would get rid of that rule.

The bill also says they must have transportation to work and working telephone service.

A city with a population of less than 7,500 hundred can create an ordinance requiring officers or firefighters to live in the county where they work.

The city can also require a member of the department to live in the county of service for 5 years.

Democratic State Rep. Sheila Klinker said it helps departments retain employees after they've invested in training.

"Those folks feel when they train those ladies and gentlemen, they'd like to have them serve for at least a certain period of time in their area."

The law goes into effect on July 1.
Stock Market News

London Shares - More major investment firms reject Deliveroo shares over worker rights 26-03-2021 04:05



Stock News headlines are gathered from financial news sources around the web. Views and opinions on each item are from their respective authors and website. They are not opinions of LiveCharts.co.uk
Melissa Phillip, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer

Are you taking good care of your COVID-19 vaccination card? If you're concerned about its preservation, office supply stores want to help.

Office Depot, which also owns Office Max, will laminate vaccination cards for free for all fully-vaccinated people through Sunday, July 25.
By Carolina Mandl and Tatiana Bautzer

SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Less than a month ago, Banco Santander Brasil had nearly 65% of its employees back in offices, while Brazil's two largest banks kept almost all of theirs working from home.

Now, under pressure from workers and health authorities, the Brazilian unit of Spain's Banco Santander is telling more of its staff to stay at home.

Santander Brasil's retreat is the latest sign of tension between a corporate eagerness to re-open offices and the growing risk of contagion as Brazil's COVID-19 crisis worsens.

"There are no hospital beds left, so banks are sending workers back home," Ivone Silva, head of the bank workers' union in the Sao Paulo region said.

Santander Brasil said in a statement to the union on Wednesday that it will further cut the size of the teams working at its headquarters, but did not disclose by how much.

"After a lot of pressure, Santander reduced the number of employees in their offices to about 30%," Silva said.

Santander Brasil declined to comment on whether the move was taken under pressure. In an internal memo to workers, it said it was emptying its buildings due to the worsening pandemic.

The Brazilian bank's Chief Executive Sergio Rial has been an outspoken critic of working from home, saying it prevents dissemination of the company's culture.

"It's no panacea, nor something transformative as you might imagine," he said on one conference call.

Banks are among Brazil's largest employers and 450,000 people work for financial institutions in roles ranging from tellers to traders and investment bankers.

In Spain, a third wave of the coronavirus pandemic also forced Santander to send workers home again, reducing office staff to 30-40% in January and February from 50-60% in December.

A spokesman said it has since returned to December levels.

REMOTE WORK 'UNAVOIDABLE'

Santander Brasil is not alone in having to revise its plans.

Story continues

Banco BTG Pactual also retreated from returning 30% of staff to its Sao Paulo headquarters in recent weeks, reducing that to just 10%, Mateus Carneiro, BTG partner and head of Human Resources, told Reuters.

Even with health protocols in place at the office, remote work is "unavoidable" at the moment, Carneiro said, citing high infection rates and the overwhelmed Brazilian health system.

Those working at the offices of Latin America's largest independent investment bank are tested twice a week, Carneiro said, and must social distance from colleagues.

"Now it's a safety issue," Carneiro said, adding that the bank hoped to have just 15% to 30% of its 3,800 employees working remotely in the longer term, as it considers a physical presence important for mentoring and investment banking work.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who for months played down the pandemic, has called outgoing Petroleo Brasileiro Chief Executive Roberto Castello Branco's practice of running the oil company remotely "unacceptable".

"We still have some companies with a very controlling management style, that want their employees close by," said Tatiana Iwai, a professor specializing in work culture at the Insper business school, of mid-sized Brazilian companies.

Nevertheless, Banco Bradesco SA and Itau Unibanco Holding SA have kept 94% and 97% of employees working from home. Their CEOs said this month they had no estimate for a return to the office, but they are planning to adopt part-time remote work when the pandemic is over.

In Europe, HSBC, Lloyds, Nationwide and Santander UK have said they will slash office space and mix working from home with offices.

Brazil's bank workers union said Santander and Itau in Brazil failed to follow a government suggestion that they open their branches less than five hours per day. Most cut working hours by one hour, but some slowly returned to longer hours.

Santander said in a note to clients on Wednesday that it would temporarily close some branches for two weeks to help curb the spread of the virus and cut working hours by one hour.

Itau also said in an e-mail to Reuters that its branches will close an hour earlier from Friday.

(Reporting by Carolina Mandl and Tatiana Bautzer; Additional reporting by Stephen Eisenhammer in Sao Paulo and Emma Pinedo Gonzalez in Madrid; Editing by Christian Plumb, Alexandra Hudson and Alexander Smith)
The union government on Friday said it sent two high-level multidisciplinary teams to Chhattisgarh and Chandigarh in view of surge in number of cases in recent days.

"These teams will work with the respective governments to ascertain the reasons for surge, assist in undertaking gap analysis and recommend requisite Covid-19 control and containment measures," the government said.

The team to Chhattisgarh is headed by Dr S K Singh, Director, National Center for Disease Control (NCDC) and has experts from AIIMS, Raipur and All India Institute of Hygiene and Public Health. The team to Chandigarh is led by Shri Vijoy Kumar Singh, Additional Secretary & Financial Advisor, Ministry of Textiles with experts drawn from Dr RML Hospital and Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi.

Chhattisgarh has recently witnessed a significant spurt in fresh Covid cases as well as new deaths every day. Chandigarh has also seen a significant surge in new cases. The deployed teams shall visit the most affected hotspots to take a stock of on-ground implementation of public health interventions.

They will share the key findings, recommendations and remedial measures to be taken up with the Chief Secretary.

The reports of central teams are shared with the states for further follow up action. The follow up and compliance on part of states is monitored by the Union Ministry of Health.

This deployment is latest in a series of teams that health ministry has deputed over the last couple of months in view of reports of resurgence in number of cases currently being reported by many States.

On Thursday, Chhattisgarh reported by 2,419 new infections, the highest single-day addition in the past four months, taking the state's tally to 332,113, according to the state health department. The death toll rose by 15 to touch 4,026.

Schools and colleges have been closed in Chhattisgarh and the chief minister Baghel on Sunday had chaired a meeting of his cabinet ministers and senior officials to ensure that all health protocols related to are in place to check the spread of the virus.

Meanwhile Chandigarh added 226 new cases on Thursday and the caseload soared over 25,000 cases. The city has also added close to 3,500 new cases of Coronavirus to its overall tally in the last 25 days.
Lagos  Residents and commercial business operators in Baruwa community in Lagos where high pressure petroleum products pipeline passes through, have raised alarm that underwater contamination which had persisted over time is becoming a threat to their existence.

To this end, community leaders have called on Lagos state government to consider an emergency evacuation plan following the recent discovery of polluted water containing large quantity of petrol in their reservoirs.

A competent source at the Lagos Environmental Protection Agency(LASEPA), said, a recommendation had since been made to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation(NNPC) and the Petroleum Products Marketing Company (PPMC), a subsidiary of the NNPC, to carry out massive cleanup of the area after evaluation of underground water contamination.

The public relations officer in the Lagos State Ministry of Environment, Kunle Adeshina, told LEADERSHIP that government has assigned the responsibility to LASEPA to ensure appropriate remedial action on the issue.

Speaking with LEADERSHIP during a visit to the affected areas, the traditional ruler of the area and Baale of Baruwa, Alhaji Halil Baruwa, said the community informed the Nigeria Pipelines and Storage Company of imminent health crises as a result of fresh emission of petrol odour pervading the area.

The Baale provided a written letter addressed to the managing director of the Nigeria Pipelines and Storage Company, Mrs Ada Oyetunde dated 11th of February 2021, titled, 'Report/Reminder of Underground Contaminated Water At Baruwa In Ipaja/Ayobo Local Government, Lagos State since 1998 (Over 23 Years).'

He said it was sad that NNPC claimed it spent over N49.68 billion on pipeline repairs in ten months and Mosimi area accounted for 83 per cent of the vandalised points yet pipelines in Baruwa were not included in the exercise.

"We have written series of letters to both Lagos State, the NNPC and the federal government. All we see is staff from Lagos State or NNPC from Mosimi and Federal Capital coming to collect sample of the affected ground water and that ends it. On daily basis, members of the community buy water from hawkers for their domestic/household use, satchel water for drinking," he said.

The Baale also reported that constant vandalism of the pipelines has added to more leakages as a result of exposure of the pipeline due to erosion menace.

The large population of Baruwa, is highly terrified as vandalism blitz fear stares in their faces following exposure of pipelines conveying petroleum products to most parts of the South West.

Flash flood from rainfall has caused devastating erosion around the pipelines thus exposing them on the surface.

Last year, an explosion at a gas station in Baruwa, a suburb of Lagos, Nigeria's commercial hub claimed several lives and damaged properties.

Many others were injured and rescued by responders in Baruwa, a densely populated area in the Ipaja axis of Lagos.

The head of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, said the devastation was massive but rescue operations made frantic efforts to stop escalation of the fire.

Oke-Osanyintolu said 25 houses, mostly bungalows, 16 shops, and one primary school were so far noted to have been affected by the explosion, as the rescue operation in the area is still ongoing.

The gas station, owned by a private operator, was known for trading cooking gas.

Baruwa is known to be hosting high pressure petroleum products pipelines.

The pipelines have been severally breached causing fire and leakages and reportedly contaminated underground water in the community.

Vandalisation of petroleum pipelines is a major cause of pipeline fire disasters, said the Baale.

However, except the number of deaths recorded, little information of the effects of such disasters on the environment is often reported and post-disaster remediation process is thus usually unmonitored or ineffective.

Over the years, crude oil spillage through pipeline vandalism is considered one of the major problems in Baruwa.

Rising cases of pipeline vandalism by unknown persons have significantly affected sources of revenues of government and oil companies operating in Nigeria.

This has resulted in significant negative socioeconomic and environmental problems in the community with serious effects on human lives and farm lands.

Although factors such as institutional weakness, lack of effective implementation of environmental laws were hypothesized as the causes of vandalism in Nigeria and they are considered neither exhaustive nor confirmed as no available empirical evidences can be found confirming the asserted causes of vandalism.

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However, a number of empirical researches claimed that institutional weakness, injustices, marginalisation and corruption force people to fight for justice in a negative way.

In June last year, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), blamed pipeline vandalism, crude oil and petroleum products theft for the not-too-impressive performance of some of its subsidiaries and division as recorded in its recently-released audited financial statements.

LEADERSHIP had earlier reported that vandalism of NNPC pipelines across the country rose by a phenomenal spike of 50 per cent in January 2020.

This information is part of the monthly financial and operations report, which was released in April this year.

According to the general manager, group public affairs division for NNPC, Dr. Kennie Obateru, stressed that 60 pipeline points were vandalised compared to 40 incidents recorded in December 2019.

Atlas Cove-Mosimi and Mosimi-Ibadan axis pipelines accounted for 50 per cent and 17 per cent of the breaks respectively, with the remaining 33 per cent being accounted for by all other routes.
Jennifer Metcalfe has revealed becoming a mother has made her love her job on Hollyoaks even more as it feels like a 'break' from parenting duties.

The actress, 37, has portrayed Mercedes McQueen on the Channel 4 soap for 15 years and has no plans to hang up her boots anytime soon after recently sparking fears she was planning to quit the show.

The soap star welcomed her son Daye in June 2017, sharing him with her ex, Geordie Shore star Greg Lake.

Job: Jennifer Metcalfe has revealed becoming a mother has made her love her job on Hollyoaks even more as it feels like a 'break' from parenting duties (pictured with her son Daye, three)

Speaking on the Soap From The Box podcast, Jennifer said: 'I found an extra new love for my job, and I didn't think I could love it anymore, since having my little boy.

'I think before I had him, I've always loved my job, you'd go out, socialise with your friends after work.

'Now because I don't get to go out all the time, you're a bit tired, your work becomes your social life, your everything.

'It becomes your little bit of time for you as an adult. I honestly think going to work is like having a day off, having a bit of a break.

Role: The actress, 37, has portrayed Mercedes McQueen on the Channel 4 soap for 15 years and has no plans to hang up her boots anytime soon

'But then when I do go into work I can't wait to pick him up from nursery. I love it. I feel very privileged.'

Jennifer said she knows working on a show like Hollyoaks people are 'coming and going' all the time, but she has never felt the desire to leave.

She told The Sun: 'I've been at Hollyoaks for 15 years, we just celebrated our 25th anniversary last year so to spend over half of Hollyoaks' living life there, I'm pretty chuffed with that.

'Hollyoaks is that kind of place where people are coming and going all the time, you make gorgeous friends and you know you're going to see them after if they want to leave and it's the right decision for them.

'I don't feel heavy with any of that, I love my job. I just think if you're in England and you want to work every day and you're an actor, what can you do other than a soap?'

Jennifer said: 'It becomes your little bit of time for you as an adult. I honestly think going to work is like having a day off, having a bit of a break' (pictured with Ricky Whittle as Calvin)

It comes after Jennifer sparked fears she was planning to leave Hollyoaks when she shared a cryptic post to her Instagram Stories.

The TV star uploaded a photo of what appeared to be her dressing room door which read: 'It's a wrap', prompting some fans to speculate she could be planning to quit Hollyoaks.

Hollyoaks fans can expect to see drama unfold this spring as Channel 4 released a new trailer on its social media platforms on Tuesday.

In the clip, Mercedes hints she's cheating on her husband Sylver (David Tag) once again as she grows close to his daughter Cher's boyfriend, Romeo (Owen Warner).

'It's a wrap': It comes after Jennifer sparked fears she was planning to leave Hollyoaks when she shared a cryptic post to her Instagram Stories

Pub manager Mercedes has been facing trolling in recent episodes after her stepchild and nemesis Cher (Bethannie Hare) secretly shared her sex tape online.

Their feud causes friction in her marriage, with the sly landlady turning to Romeo for support.

Once he realises his girlfriend is behind the leak, the patisserie employee prepares to confront her about his discovery, but is hesitant about informing her on his unfaithful ways.

Watch Hollyoaks on Channel 4 each weekday at 6.30pm.
A total of 126 Nigerians across 14 states in Nigeria have been sentenced to various jail terms for offences bordering on drug trafficking between January and February 2021.

Of the convicts, Musa Ibrahim who was prosecuted for trafficking 40 kilograms of cannabis sativa in Akure, Ondo state was sentenced to 16 years, eight months imprisonment by a Federal High Court in the state capital in charge number FHC/AK/10C/2021.

Another convict, Ibrahim Haladu bagged 15 years imprisonment after he was found guilty of trafficking 6.7kg of cannabis in Bauchi in charge number FHC/BAU/CR/22/2010.

Also in Bauchi state, Haruna Aliya was convicted and sentenced to five years imprisonment for trafficking 609kilogrammes of cannabis.

According to a statement by Femi Babafemi, Director of Media and Advocacy, "Justice Hassan Dikko of the Federal High Court, Bauchi, convicted both Aliya and Haladu.

"In Jos, Plateau state, Eke Chibuke was convicted and sentenced to five years imprisonment for trafficking Tramadol and Diazepam, while Idan Kenneth charged with unlawful possession of 220 grammes of cannabis, 4.3 grammes of Tramadol, 3.3 grammes of Rophynol, was convicted on all three count charges and sentenced to two years on each count.

A breakdown of conviction records across some other states in February shows that 18 persons were sent to jail in Kano, five each in Imo and Abia and four in Gombe.

Speaking on the record of conviction, Chairman/Chief Executive of the NDLEA, Brig. General Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), commended the Agency's Directorate of Prosecution and Legal Services for the diligent prosecution of the cases.

He charged them to do more so that such convictions will serve as deterrence to those that may want to be attracted to the illicit trade of drug trafficking.

Vanguard News Nigeria
After rolling out the update to Android 11 for the Zenfone 6 back in December (in Taiwan) and January (globally), Asus is now finally ready to do the same for its newer Zenfone 7 series.

The new software version is now appearing over-the-air on both Zenfone 7 and Zenfone 7 Pro units in Taiwan, Asus' home market. For both smartphones, the new build number is 30.40.30.93. It arrives carrying the March 2021 security patch level, as it should.

Aside from all the usual bells and whistles that Google packed into Android 11, this release also has updated built-in apps.

Asus says the update is rolling out in batches, so it may take a few days (at least) for all Zenfone 7 and 7 Pro units in Taiwan to receive it. After that, hopefully this will go global sooner rather than later.

Source (in Chinese) | Via
There was a confirmed transaction at $442 per tonne cfr Vietnam on a shredded basis for 32,000 tonnes of United States-origin scrap, mostly made up of shredded scrap.This is equivalent to a price of $437 per tonne cfr Vietnam for heavy melting scrap (HMS) 1&2 (80:20) and $447 per tonne cfr Vietnam for plate & structural (P&S) scrap.A major scrapyard in the US had sold the cargo to a south Vietnamese buyer.There was heard to be an offer for Europe-origin HMS 1&2 (70:30) at $440 per tonne cfr Vietnam, which is equivalent to $440-445 per tonne cfr Vietnam for HMS 1&2 (80:2) materials.But not everyone in the market believed this was a real offer."I don't think this is right, because any additional freight to Asia compared with Turkey will be huge," a trader in Vietnam told Fastmarkets on Friday March 26.Fastmarkets weekly price assessment for deep-sea bulk cargoes of steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20), cfr Vietnam was $437 per tonne on Friday, narrowing downward by $1 per tonne from $437-438 per tonne on February 19.Demand for imported scrap remains stable, especially with Vietnamese billet producers seeing good sales volumes to China.There have been transactions as high as $590 per tonne fob Vietnam for billet exports. This is equivalent to around $620 per tonne cfr China after including freight costs.Domestic scrap prices have also increased, with special scrap selling for 9,150 Vietnamese Dong per kg ($396 per tonne), and Type 1 scrap selling for 8,950 Dong per kg. Type 2 scrap is selling for 8,850 Dong per kg, while Type 3 scrap is selling for 8,350 Dong per kg. This is an increase of 150 Dong per kg.Japanese supply remained limited due to a lack of vessels available to ship mini-bulk cargoes to Vietnam and China.There were some offers at $435-445 per tonne cfr Vietnam, but there were no confirmed transactions."It's hard to enter into real negotiations now due to the freight situation, both buyers and sellers do not want to confirm deals," a buyer source in Vietnam said.Hong Kong-origin H1&H2 (50:50) cargoes were offered at $425 per tonne cfr Vietnam.Fastmarkets weekly price assessment of steel scrap H2, Japan-origin import, cfr Vietnam was $435-445 per tonne on Friday, up by $10-15 per tonne from $425-430 per tonne on March 19 Transactions were concluded at $395 and $396 per tonne cfr Vietnam this week for US-origin containerized HMS 1&2 (80:20) cargoes.
By KEVIN McGILL, The Associated Press

Blaring tornado sirens and howling winds roared across parts of western Georgia early Friday as severe storms pounded southern states, including in Alabama where at least five people died in twisters that wrecked homes, splintered trees and crumpled businesses.

Meteorologists said a large, dangerous tornado swept through metro Atlantas Coweta County around midnight Friday, sparking a tornado emergency for the city of Newnan and surrounding communities. There were several reports downed trees and power lines.

Newnan Mayor Keith Brady said no fatalities were immediately reported.

The strong storm followed a series of tornadoes that ripped through Alabama on Thursday, including one that authorities said traveled roughly 100 miles across the state.

In east Alabama, Calhoun County Sheriff Matthew Wade said five people died in a twister that cut a diagonal path across the county, striking mostly rural areas  something that likely kept the death toll from being higher.

Our hearts, our thoughts and our prayers go to the families, and we are going to do our best to let them know we love them, Wade said at an evening briefing.

Multiple twisters sprang from a super cell of storms that later moved into Georgia, said John De Block, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Birmingham.

Several school districts were closed or delayed Friday due to the damage.

Vast areas of Shelby County near Birmingham  the states biggest city  were badly damaged.

In the city of Pelham, James Dunaway said he initially ignored the tornado warning when it came over his phone. But then he heard the twister approaching, left the upstairs bedroom where he had been watching television and entered a hallway  just before the storm blew off the roof and sides of his house. His bedroom was left fully exposed.

Im very lucky to be alive, Dunaway, 75, told Al.com.

Firefighters outside a flattened home in the Eagle Point subdivision, also in Shelby County, said the family that lived there made it out alive. Nearby homes were roofless or missing their second stories.

Farther west in the city of Centreville, south of Tuscaloosa, Cindy Smitherman and her family and neighbors huddled in their underground storm pit as a twister passed over their home.

A tree fell on the shelter door, trapping the eight inside for about 20 minutes until someone came with a chain saw to help free them, said Smitherman, 62. The twister downed trees, overturned cars and destroyed a workshop on the property.

Im just glad were alive, she said. Praise the Lord.

Centreville Mayor Mike Oakley told ABC 33/40 news that a local airport was hit. We have airplanes torn apart like toys. Weve got homes along here that are totally destroyed, trees down, power lines down. Its pretty devastating.

As many as eight tornadoes might have hit Alabama on Thursday, De Block said. He said investigation teams will review eight suspected tornado tracks, and the final twister number will depend on if any of those tracks can be connected.

First lady Jill Biden postponed a trip to Birmingham and Jasper, Alabama, that she had planned for Friday because of the severe weather, her office said in a news release.

Other parts of the southern U.S. were also affected, with dangerous thunderstorms and flooding concerns for parts of Tennessee, Kentucky and the Carolinas.

In addition to deaths in Alabama, Mississippi had a storm-related death on Wednesday. Ester Jarrell, 62, died in that states Wilkinson County when a large tree toppled over onto her mobile home after heavy rain soaked the ground, an official told AP.
Decades of poaching and shrinking habitats have devastated elephant populations across Africa, conservationists said Thursday, warning that one species found in rainforests was a step away from extinction.

In an update of its "Red List" of threatened species, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) highlighted the broad deterioration of the situation for elephants in most of Africa.

Forest elephants on the continent have been particularly hard-hit, it said. Their numbers have fallen by more than 86 percent over three decades, and they are now considered "critically endangered" -- just a step away from becoming extinct.

The population of the African savanna elephants had meanwhile decreased by at least 60 percent over the past 50 years, IUCN said, with the Red List now listing that species as "endangered".

Previously, elephants on the continent were assessed as a single species considered vulnerable, but not endangered.

"Today's new IUCN Red List assessments of both African elephant species underline the persistent pressures faced by these iconic animals," IUCN chief Bruno Oberle said in a statement.

Just half a century ago, around 1.5 million elephants roamed across Africa, but in the most recent large-scale assessment of population numbers in 2016, there were only around 415,000 remaining.

'Wake-up call'

"These are really sharp declines," said Benson Okita-Ouma of Save the Elephants and the co-chair of the IUCN African Elephant Specialist Group.

While the next full assessment of African elephant population numbers is not expected until 2022 or 2023, he told AFP that the declines seen already should really sound "alarm bells".

Elephants will not disappear from Africa overnight, he said, but stressed that "what this assessment is giving us is an early warning that unless we turn around things, we are likely to (see) these animals go extinct".

"It is a wake-up call to the entire globe that we are going down a steep terrain, when it comes to... the viability of these elephants."

Experts had agreed it was better to treat African forest and savanna elephants as separate species following fresh research into the genetics of the elephant populations, IUCN said.

Forest elephants are found in the tropical jungles of Central Africa and in various habitats in West Africa, and are thought to occupy currently only a quarter of their historic range.

The largest remaining populations are found in Gabon and the Republic of Congo.

The savanna elephant meanwhile prefers open country and is found in a variety of habitats in sub-Saharan Africa.

Poaching explosion

Both elephant species had seen particularly sharp declines since 2008, as poaching for ivory exploded.

The problem peaked in 2011, but continues to threaten populations, IUCN said.

Perhaps even more alarming, according to Okita-Ouma, is the ever-increasing destruction of elephant habitats due to expanding land use for agriculture and other activities.

"If we don't plan our land-use properly, moving forward, then as much as we stop poaching and we stop illegal killing of these animals, there will still be other forms of indirect killings as a result of poor land-use planning," he said.

Despite the overall declining trend, Thursday's report highlighted the positive impact conservation efforts can have.

Some forest elephant populations have stabilised in well-managed conservation areas in Gabon and the Republic of Congo.

And savanna elephant numbers have been stable or growing for decades in the Kavango-Zambezi transfrontier conservation area that stretches across the borders of five southern African countries.

"Several African countries have led the way in recent years, proving that we can reverse elephant declines, and we must work together to ensure their example can be followed." Oberle said.

Okita-Ouma said the Covid-19 pandemic was taking a toll on conservation efforts as many countries had seen tourism revenues used to fund protection measures evaporate.

At the same time, he said, the dramatic decline in human activity in many areas had allowed elephants to "recolonise" areas they had previously been driven from.

"During the lockdowns, we have seen animals moving all over, and that is a positive side for the animals."
The name change, if only centering on the name change, will only be cosmetic if it doesnt improve the student experience, Swinney said. ... We realized as an equity team, it is important we listen to those who have institutional memory, those most impacted, which include students and families and those responsible for implementation, meaning the people who work at the school.
Jeffery Deroy Lewis, an inmate at Valdosta State Prison, along with Octavius Henry, Alexis Jay Stokley, and Khalid Eugene Mouton, inmates at Hays State Prison, and an accomplice, Jessica Corley Stokley, have been indicted and arraigned on federal drug trafficking and bribery charges stemming from a scheme to smuggle narcotics into Hays State Prison by bribing corrections officer Voltaire Peter Pierre.

Hays State Prison is south of Chattanooga at Trion, Ga.

These inmates allegedly smuggled drugs and other contraband into the prison, putting guards and fellow inmates in danger, said Acting U.S. Attorney Kurt R. Erskine. By using hidden cell phones to coordinate with conspirators, they sent and received payments via payment apps and prepaid cards, and allegedly bribed at least one prison official to allow illegal drugs to enter the prison community.

Prisons should be a place of rehabilitation, not a place to continue committing crimes, said Chris Hacker, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta. Illegal cell phones have emboldened inmates and their associates to engage in criminal conduct, sometimes with the help of law enforcement officials. It threatens both inmates and staff and the FBI will pursue these investigations no matter who is involved.

These defendants being charged demonstrate the collaborative efforts of state and federal partners to dismantle this conspiracy. The officer violated his oath and the publics trust by contributing to this criminal activity within the prison system, said Vic Reynolds, Director, Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

According to Acting U.S. Attorney Erskine, the charges, and other information presented in court: From approximately June 2018 through October 2018, the defendants allegedly conspired to smuggle drugs, including methamphetamine, cocaine base (i.e., crack cocaine), and marijuana, along with other contraband into Hays State Prison.

The inmates allegedly communicated via contraband cell phones and through coded email messages sent via the prison email system with conspirators outside the prison to arrange for drugs and other contraband to be dropped at the home of Pierre, a Hays State Prison corrections officer who later smuggled the packages into prison for distribution to inmates. The inmates then transmitted drug payments and bribe payments to Pierre through a combination of prepaid debit cards and a payment app.

Voltaire Peter Pierre pleaded guilty to trafficking methamphetamine, crack cocaine, and marijuana on October 17, 2019.

Jeffery Deroy Lewis, a/k/a 2500, 30, of Atlanta, Georgia, Octavius Henry, a/k/a Forever, a/k/a Robert Barrow, 33, of Atlanta, Georgia, Alexis Jay Stokley, 41, of Atlanta, Georgia, and Jessica Corley Stokley, 38, of Atlanta, Georgia, were arraigned on March 9, 2021, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Walter E. Johnson on charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances, possession with intent to distribute controlled substances, and conspiracy to commit bribery after being indicted by a federal grand jury on February 16, 2021. Khalid Eugene Mouton, a/k/a Michael Howard, 42, of Atlanta, Georgia, is pending arraignment.

This case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ryan M. Christian and Calvin A. Leipold, III are prosecuting the case.
Head of the EU Delegation to Ukraine Matti Maasikas and U.S. Charge d'Affaires in Ukraine Kristina Kvien met with Head of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Committee on Legal Policy Andriy Kostin and called for the improvement of the bill on the resumption of work of the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine (HQCJ).

"The U.S. Embassy and the EU Delegation to Ukraine met with Legal Policy Chair Kostin. Improvements needed to the draft law re-establishing the High Qualifications Commission of Judges to ensure the independence of the HQCJ Selection Commission and meaningful role for independent experts," Maasikas wrote on Twitter on Friday.


Researchers are mapping the strange "lost" continent of Zealandia for the first time. The huge landmass in the South Pacific vanished 23 million years ago under the waves - and has never been investigated. It was initially part of the huge Gondwana (supercontinent), which was created by continents that are present in the southern hemisphere.

The Unknown Continent

Zealandia is six times bigger than Madagascar, enclosing 1.9 million square miles, the next-biggest continental grain. It stretches from west to the Kenn Plateau off Australia's east coast, and from the south of New Zealand northward to New Caledonia. Around 94 percent of the landmass is beneath the water

The unknown continent is currently being partly mapped thanks to a deepwater mapping mission overseen by The University of Queensland. Chief researcher Dr. Derya Gurer used 28 days at sea on Schmidt Ocean Institute's studye vessel Falkor, examining the north-western verge of the continent.

"We're merely just beginning to uncover Zealandia's secrets," Dr. Derya explained.

"It's stayed a secret in clear sight until now and is notoriously impossible to research."

Also Read: See Astronomers' Hydrogen Map of Milky Way Galaxy with Unprecedented Detail

Bathymetric Map

Radar scans conducted by the group examined the contours of the slim relationship between the Coral Seas and Tasman in the Cato Trough area - the tiny corridor between Zealandia and Australia. In all, they have offered 14,00 square miles of topographical evidence to the Seabed 2030 program.

The program intends to create a publicly accessible bathymetric map to assess the depth of the planet's ocean ground depth by 2030. The sea ground is full of indications for comprehending the complicated geologic history of both the Zealandia and Australian continental scales, Dr. Derya explained.

This data will also enhance our knowledge of the complicated design of the crust between the Zealandia and Australian scales. It's believed to involve some little continental piece, or microcontinents, that were shattered from Australia, and before in the supercontinent Gondwana.

The Supercontinent

Between 85 and 79 million years ago Zealandia is assumed to have left Gondwana . The supercontinent comprised what is present-day Australia, Zealandia, South America, Indian subcontinent, Antarctica, Arabia, and Africa, It's believed that Zealandia was virtually fully flooded in water, around a 23million years ago.

Specialists used up to 20 years of gathering data to bring about the case for the flooded landmass being a continent. Their actions were hindered because most of them are invisible under the waves. Zealandia was given continent status in 2017 followed by a paper that was released in the GSA Today Journal.

Hidden Mountains Under the Earth's Crust

In it, scientists victoriously insisted that the landmass was a different geological being that fulfilled all the standards applied to the world's other continents. Those involved elevation over the surrounding region, distinct geology, an adequately-defined region, and a crust more firm than that discovered on the ocean ground.



In other reports, the history of a lost continent concealed for 100 million years under Europe has been uncovered for the first time. secret mountains under the Earth's crust buried 400 miles could be bigger than Everest. And, there's an unknown stash of over a quadrillion tons of diamonds concealed under the Earth's surface.

Related Article: Norway is Providing the World a Free Satellite Map of its Tropical Forests

For more news, updates about maps and similar topics don't forget to follow Nature World News!
The Duchess of Cambridge sent a 'deeply personal' letter to Sarah Everard's family, sources have revealed.

The 33-year-old marketing executive went missing just three miles from where Kate and her sister Pippa used to share a flat in Chelsea, southwest London, before her marriage to Prince William.

The Duchess, 39, visited Clapham Common to lay flowers at the bandstand earlier this month alongside other mourners in the days after Ms Everard's body was found.

She has since sent a message to Ms Everard's family and, although the contents of the letter have been kept private, the duchess is believed to have offered her condolences and told the family that they are in her thoughts.

The Duchess of Cambridge was seen placing daffodils at the vigil for Sarah Everard on Clapham Common earlier this month

A source told The Mirror: 'This was a deeply personal and heartfelt letter, simply to express her absolute sadness at what Sarah's family and loved ones are going through.

'The Duchess knows that no words can change what has happened, but wanted to let them know that they and Sarah are in her thoughts.

'She remembers what it is like to walk alone as a young woman in London, and elsewhere, and like so many other women she has been thinking deeply about her experiences during those times.

Durham University graduate Ms Everard went missing on March 3 while walking home after visiting a friend

'It was important for her to pay her respects in this way.

'This was a private matter to her and she wanted to show unity with everyone else who shares these feelings.'

A separate source close to Ms Everard's family said they were 'extremely touched' to have received the letter.

Kensington Palace said it would not comment on private correspondence.

The Duchess had made a private visit to the bandstand in Clapham Common where mourners placed flowers and cards earlier this month.

The mother-of-three laid daffodils and paused for a moment to reflect on the dozens of bouquets.

And a Palace source said at the time that Kate had attended the memorial 'to pay her respects to Sarah and her family'.

Later police were criticised for their heavy-handed treatment of women who attended a vigil at the site, which officers said was in breach of Covid rules.

Durham University graduate Ms Everard was described by her family as 'bright, beautiful and a wonderful daughter and sister' who was 'kind, thoughtful, caring and dependable.'

She went missing on March 3 while walking through the common en route to her home in Brixton after visiting a friend.

Her body was found in woodland near Ashford, Kent, on March 10.

It was reported earlier this week that her cause of death is still unknown.

Later police were criticised for their heavy-handed treatment of women who attended a vigil at the site (pictured) which officers said was in breach of Covid rules

Ms Everard's death sparked an outpouring of support from women nationwide, who had felt scared walking alone or who had been the victim of sexual harassment or assault.

Serving Metropolitan Police officer Wayne Couzens, 48, from Deal, also in Kent, has been charged with her murder.

Couzens, a married father-of-two, worked in Scotland Yard's Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Unit.

His plea hearing has been scheduled for July 9, while a provisional trial date has been pencilled in for October 25.


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Jeff Bezos last week announced he will be stepping down from his role of CEO Amazon. Bezos is following Microsoft's lead and putting his cloud executive Andy Jassy in charge of the company. Given that Microsoft was exceedingly successful with putting Satya Nadella in the same role, it would seem that this would be a slam-dunk success.

But the issue is that Amazon is not Microsoft; it is an online retail company with an unusual interest in cloud services. Amazon's success is that, up until now, its cloud business was run by a subject matter expert, and Bezos, while building Amazon, became an expert in online retail.

Blue Origin, which Elon Musk's SpaceX has significantly eclipsed, is also run by experts. Still, Bezos isn't a rocket scientist, and this game of musical chairs will end with their cloud expert running the retail business and Bezos attempting to run full time a rocket company.

This effort will almost certainly not end well because each executive's skills -- with the possible exception of who takes over Andy Jassy's cloud job -- are unqualified for the part of Bezo's empire they are running.

Let's explore this potential train wreck this week, and we'll close with my product of the week, the new robotic Echo Show 10.

Succession

One of the most significant omissions with companies that are just a few decades old, like Amazon, is the lack of a formal succession training program for the CEO job.

Often the CEO founder, who has grown up with their company, doesn't realize the unique skills they have and assumes almost any senior executive can do the job.

More mature companies like IBM have formal programs where employees are identified early and extensively trained as executive assistants by former CEOs, and in various company roles. Hence, they gain the breadth they need for the job that they can demonstrate to the board when it comes time to replace the CEO. Like I did when I was in the IBM program, they also learn whether they even want the job (I didn't).

Why Bezos Is Likely Leaving

This lack of formal succession often results in the selected CEO underperforming because they either lack the necessary breadth or the interest to do the job as it needs to be done. The typical reason that a CEO like Bezos voluntarily steps down is that they no longer enjoy the job, which becomes very political, bureaucratic, and increasingly regulated as the company grows.

Amazon is facing a vast number of things that I'm sure most of us wouldn't enjoy facing any more than Jeff Bezos does. The company is being unionized, is under antitrust review, its taxes are about to go up a lot, and it faces increasing competition from Walmart and China's online retail firms.

Because of Amazon's size, it's restricted from many aggressive ways to compete. Both the unionization effort and antitrust investigation could result in massive headaches for the CEO.

Wrong Choice

Now, the guy that likes running a cloud business that isn't facing antitrust and isn't being unionized mostly requires technical competence rather than political savvy. Both union fighting and litigation experience don't look like a fit to me.

When Microsoft pivoted to become a cloud business it was no longer under an antitrust cloud. As a result, competent technical leaders like Nadella and, a decade earlier, Steve Ballmer made more sense because Microsoft dealt with operational problems resulting from their antitrust effort. Even so, Balmer was still viewed as a failure because he lacked the technical competence needed to run a technology company.

Given the threats to, and the nature of, Amazon's business, the company needs someone who understands how to address the threats and grasps the online retail market. Where Amazon needs its top cloud expert isn't running the company; it's running AWS, a mostly separate entity that also has Amazon as a client.

To offer an analogy, Amazon is doing this as if Microsoft and Walmart merged, and Satya Nadella ran the combined company. There is a pretty good chance that both Microsoft and Walmart would suffer, since Satya does not have the retail comprehensiveness to run Walmart.

I expect this move at Amazon to demonstrate that a successful CEO must be an expert in the business of the company, and also be able to formulate a strategy to address the imminent threats the firm faces.

A better move would have been to anticipate an unfavorable antitrust action and spin off AWS as a separate company to help ensure that result wouldn't damage the company. As part of Amazon, selling cloud services to other retailers or into markets like China is problematic due to Amazon's retail power.

Separately, Amazon would be free to compete against Microsoft and Google more evenly because it wouldn't be seen as a competitor or threat to many companies. Businesses, as a general practice, avoid buying from competitors like the plague.

Repeating Bill Gates' Mistake

When he went through the antitrust trials, Bill Gates realized he no longer enjoyed the job of running Microsoft. Things had changed a lot and became similar to what Bezos is facing at Amazon: assorted government challenges, bureaucracy, and people stopping you from doing things you enjoy.

Bill wanted out, and he saw running his charity as something he'd enjoy more. But rather than looking for the best candidate to replace him, he picked the easiest in Steve Ballmer. That cost the company one of their best operational executives and caused Gates the loss of his closest friend.

Even though there was supposed to be an overlap where Bill trained Steve, Bill pretty much moved on and left Steve to screw up -- which Steve did with a vengeance. Most notable were the failed Yahoo acquisition, the Nokia acquisition, Windows Vista, Windows 8, and the Zune debacle.

It wasn't that Ballmer was a lousy manager; he did impressively well until he became CEO, whereupon he was out of his depth, which in turn made him overly defensive, which led to him not getting timely help.

About that help: Bill did provide Steve with a technical resource out of Lotus' Iris software group, but Ray Ozzie (who replaced Gates as chief architect) didn't get along with Balmer, likely because Steve saw him as more of a threat than a partner. Also, Ray wasn't known to work well in large companies and hadn't grown up at Microsoft, making him a poor choice. They should have selected someone that Steve liked from inside Microsoft to offset his lack of programming skills and knowledge.

Bezos appears to be making this same mistake, choosing someone not because they have the right skills but because they are comfortable and foolish enough to take the job without realizing they are likely to hate it.

Back to the Microsoft-Walmart analogy...Think about it: If Satya Nadella were offered the job to run Walmart, even though he is a successful CEO, I think he'd be smart enough to say "hell no." That situation would bring about all the stuff he hates about being CEO without any of the technical aspects he loves; and he'd have to learn large scale retail and how to manage unionized employees (Walmart has been fighting unions for years, mostly with surprising success).

Like Gates and Ballmer, Bezos and Jassy appear to be close friends, and just like with Gates and Ballmer, friendship is unlikely to survive this move if, as I expect, Jassy is now a square peg in a round hole.

Wrapping Up

Companies need succession planning. CEOs aren't immortal; they aren't infallible, they aren't always honest, and they often have issues with abusing power, given that every CEO will need to be replaced at some point.

It is the board's job to find the best person for the job. With good succession planning, the firm will have internally several viable candidates at any time that are trained and ready to step in. Without it, you get something like we saw at Microsoft with Steve Ballmer; and now see with what I view as a bad skills match that will likely damage Amazon and force out their top cloud executive, hence damaging AWS.

Unlike Bill Gates' charity, running a rocket company will be problematic for someone that isn't the right kind of engineer, much like running a software company was with Ballmer. There is always a chance this will work out, but the odds don't look good and, I expect, Amazon, AWS, and Blue Origin will all be badly harmed by this move.

The Amazon Echo Show 10

I'm a colossal Echo fan. I've had nearly every Amazon Echo made since the firm came out with the platform. This digital assistant is our home's music source, it helps manage our shopping and it even turns out our lights at night.

There's an Echo in every room of my house, except for closets and pet rooms (I'm a bit worried about what would happen if my pets figured out how to use it). We have the old Echo Show in the kitchen and my office. It works fine in my office mostly because I never really use the display and only ask it questions or to update shopping lists.

But, in the kitchen, the display isn't angled correctly to use it for cooking, or to watch videos while cooking. Touching the device when you are preparing food can mess it up and, during a pandemic, touching anything others may touch is problematic. It will show if someone is at the door because it connects to the door camera, but that does you little good if you can't see the display.

The new Echo Show 10 adds a motorized screen that will rotate to face you when you need to see something without touching it. Not only is that a ton more fun to show off when you have folks over, but it is also much more convenient when you have to see what is on the screen and your hands are dirty, or you are across the room at the wrong angle.

Echo Show 10

Ironically, it also looks like my favorite iMac -- which for me is an added plus. The new Echo Show 10 will release on Feb. 25 for $249 -- and it is my product of the week.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ECT News Network.

Rob Enderle has been an ECT News Network columnist since 2003. His areas of interest include AI, autonomous driving, drones, personal technology, emerging technology, regulation, litigation, M&E, and technology in politics. He has an MBA in human resources, marketing and computer science. He is also a certified management accountant. Enderle currently is president and principal analyst of the Enderle Group, a consultancy that serves the technology industry. He formerly served as a senior research fellow at Giga Information Group and Forrester. Email Rob.


President Joe Biden is a nice guy. On Thursday, at his first formal press conference, he apologized to reporters for giving long answers. He expressed sympathy for political opponents who had criticized him. He worried about the surge of migrants along the Southwestern border, but he said he would hold off on visiting the area, because I dont want to become the issue or bring the Secret Service and everybody with me to get in the way. Its hard to imagine Donald Trump, the king of spite and vanity, saying such things.

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Were far better off with Biden, a kind and decent leader, than we were with Trump. But sometimes, a president has to be stern. When thousands of people from other countries cross uninvited into the United States, some of them wearing Biden shirts or saying theyre here because Biden is welcomingand when our facilities for housing unaccompanied migrant children overflow as a resultthe president needs to send a clear message, with no inviting undertones, that the deluge must stop. For nearly an hour on Thursday, reporters challenged Biden to do this. He couldnt.

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Youve said over and over again that immigrants shouldnt come to this country right now, PBS NewsHour reporter Yamiche Alcindor told the president. That message is not being received. Instead, the perception of you  as a moral, decent man is the reason why a lot of immigrants are coming to this country and entrusting you with unaccompanied minors. In response, Biden pointed out that the overwhelming majority of people coming to the border and crossing are being sent back. But he acknowledged that the appreciative perception of him tugged at his emotions: I guess I should be flattered people are coming because Im the nice guy.

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As reporters continued to ask about the border, Biden emphasized the generous things he had done and would do to help families in Latin America and migrant children stranded in the United States. He promised more beds and money to take care of the children, and he pledged that the government would move quickly to unite them with their relatives in the United States. These answers were commendable, but without an accompanying firmness about shutting down the influx, they sent a tempting signal to families considering migration. Biden ridiculed the idea that a mother would send her son on the long journey to America because Joe Biden is a nice guy and hell take care of him. But the president also affirmed that he would do just that, putting kids safely in a place where they can be taken care of.

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ABC reporter Cecilia Vega told Biden that she had just met a boy who walked here from Honduras.  His mother says that she sent her son to this country because she believes that you are not deporting unaccompanied minors. Vega asked the president: Is your messaging, in saying that these children are and will be allowed to stay in this country and work their way through this process, encouraging families  to come? Later, NBC reporter Kristen Welker asked Biden whether he had scrapped Trumps strict border policies too quickly, before he had an alternative system in place. Biden deflected these practical questions by invoking moral indignation: Rolling back the policies of separating children from their mothers, I make no apology for that. Rolling back the policies of Remain in Mexico, sitting on the edge of the Rio Grande in a muddy circumstance with not enough to eat, I make no apologies for that. These Trump policies were an affront to human dignity, said Biden.

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Again and again, Biden described migration as a desperate gambit by people who otherwise faced lethal violence or poverty. They had no choice, he said. Anyone in Latin America hearing these words, or a description of them, could reasonably conclude that the president of the United States felt morally bound to let them in. Biden shunned the Republican argument that the journey should be made futile and more costly by blocking everyone, including minors, at the border, as Trump did. Instead, the president proposed to disincentivize migration through aid to Latin America, making it preferable to stay home, rather than making it harder to get into the United States. When Univision reporter Janet Rodriguez pointed out that it would take many years to improve life in Latin Americaand asked Biden how he would realistically and physically keep these families from coming to the U.S. in the meantimehe had no good answer.

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Biden is capable of being tough. He made clear that he would crack down on China. He pointed out that he had passed the COVID relief bill despite GOP opposition, and he told Senate Republicans they could choose to compromise and have a say in legislation or, implicitly, get beaten again. He also signaled that he was willing to curtail or eliminate the filibuster if Republicans abused it. And he warned his subordinates that if the government failed to speed up the process of reuniting migrant families, officials responsible for that process would lose their jobs.

Not once, however, did Biden direct such sternness at migrants themselves. He simply cant bear it. Weve replaced Trump, a frightening brute, with a man who feels the plight of every person seeking a better life in the United States.

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I admire Biden for that. I dont understand why Im entitled to live in this bountiful country just because I had the good luck to be born here, while billions of other people are locked out. But that leaves me, Biden, and our nation with a problem. If we cant bear to close our doors to anyone who comes knocking, millions of people will arrive here. Well end up with overflowing detention centers and suffering, or well have to release more and more migrants into the United States. Its a recipe for chaos. Ive barely begun to think through what that would mean. It doesnt look as though Biden has, either.
Geralyn and David Hickey in front of The Coffee Potter, their independent coffee shop in Long Valley, New Jersey Everyone at Crimson Cup understands our business and wants us to succeed. They are available any time of day, any day of the week, if we have a question, a problem, or want to brainstorm an idea. - David Hickey, The Coffee Potter

For the past four years, The Coffee Potter has served as a sanctuary for people in Long Valley, New Jersey to enjoy terrific coffee, food and the company of their neighbors.

That was the goal of Owners Geralyn and David Hickey when they opened their new coffee house on March 16, 2017, with the help of nationally acclaimed coffee roaster Crimson Cup Coffee & Tea.

Were thrilled to congratulate Geralyn and David on four years of running a thriving independent coffee shop, said Crimson Cup Founder and President Greg Ubert. We look forward to helping them grow their unique business in the years to come.

To mark their anniversary, the Hickeys talked about how they grew their coffee business from the grounds up with the help of Crimson Cup.

Our town was long overdue not just for a coffee shop but for a place where people could meet, connect with one another, and feel welcome, said David Hickey. Our mission is to unite our local community and connect its people.

Geralyn Hickey gave credit for the coffee shops growth to customers, employees and relationships formed over the last four years  including the relationship with Crimson Cup.

The bonds our staff have formed with our customers are truly precious to us, she said. Weve been there for our customers as they married, changed jobs, had babies, dealt with illness and experienced both joy and loss. Our deep focus on relationships and loving our neighbors sets us apart.

David said the companys core values of Integrity, Quality, Kindness/Respect and Fun help the coffee house stand out in the local community.

Our employees are an absolute differentiator for us, he said. They live and work by our core values, and our customers love our employees.

The relationship with Crimson Cup has been essential to the shops success. The resources Crimson Cup makes available to us, from marketing to equipment maintenance, have been invaluable, Geralyn said.

Everyone at Crimson Cup understands our business and wants us to succeed, David added. They are available any time of day, any day of the week, if we have a question, a problem, or want to brainstorm an idea.

For the Hickeys and over 150 local business owners in 30 states, the road to opening and running a successful coffee shop started with Crimson Cups 7 Steps to Success coffee shop franchise alternative program.

As the coffee partner for The Coffee Potter and over 150 independent coffee shops in 30 states, we believe their success is our success, Ubert said.

The program takes its name and content from Uberts book, Seven Steps to Success: a Commonsense Guide to Succeed in Specialty Coffee.

Crimson Cup consultants guide new coffee shop owners in writing a coffee shop business plan. They continue providing expert advice on site evaluation, equipment, training, marketing materials, menu ideas and much more.

A 7 Steps trainer with extensive experience stays onsite for a full week before the shops opening, and returns for grand opening celebrations.

David Hickey observed that adapting to change, especially over the last year, has been key to the shops continuing success.

Crimson Cup has been so willing to support new ideas like our subscription program, making it so much easier for us to try new things, he said.

The Columbus coffee roaster continues to deliver coffee, coffee shop supplies, ongoing training and support.

Customers rave about the coffee, food and service. Their coffee is amazing - every combination you can ask for, said one Yelp reviewer. I also love their pastries and their service is amazing.

Crimson Cups coffee ranks among the countrys best. Among many national honors, the roaster won 2017 and 2020 Good Food Awards  which recognize the best tasting, most responsibly sourced coffees in the United States. It was also named a finalist for a 2021 Good Food Award.

Passion for helping their local community inspires the couple to give back. Our heart is to try to lift the burden of fundraising off local nonprofits, so they can focus their precious time and energy into the mission of their organizations, Geralyn said.

For example, we have a coffee subscription that supports local non-profits and charities, she added. Each month, a portion of your monthly subscription goes to support a local non-profit or charity of your choice."

Their coffee business nourishes the couples relationship with each other and their neighbors. Its given us the opportunity to work together, and we are proud of contributing in such a big way to our community, David said.

Ubert said the couples focus on their local community made them a perfect fit for Crimson Cup. Our mission is Coffee+Community, and giving back is one of our core values.

Independent coffee shops act as local community hubs where people gather to discuss ideas, do business and support one another, he added. They play an essential role in creating a vibrant community!

Asked for advice for other prospective coffee shop owners, the Hickeys advised giving Crimson Cup a serious look. We honestly dont think we could have accomplished what we accomplished without them, Geralyn said.

The Coffee Potter is open 7 days a week at 24 Schooleys Mountain Road in Long Valley, New Jersey. For the latest news and updates, follow their Facebook Page.

About Crimson Cup Coffee & Tea

Columbus, Ohio coffee roaster Crimson Cup Coffee & Tea is a 2020 Good Food Award winner, 2019 Golden Bear Champion for Small Franchise/Chain Roaster and Roast magazines 2016 Macro Roaster of the Year. Since 1991, Crimson Cup has roasted sustainably sourced craft coffee for consumers and wholesale coffee customers.

Through its 7 Steps to Success coffee franchise alternative program, the company teaches entrepreneurs to run independent coffee houses in their local communities. By developing a coffee shop business plan, entrepreneurs gain insight into how much it costs to open a coffee shop.

Crimson Cup also supports life-enriching projects through its Friend2Farmer initiatives, promoting the education, health, sustainability and ecnomic growth of small-plot coffee farmers and their communities.

Crimson Cup coffee is available through over 350 independent coffee houses, grocers, college and universities, restaurants and food service operations across 30 states, Guam and Bangladesh. The company also operates several Crimson Cup Coffee Houses and a new Crimson retail flagship store. To learn more, visit crimsoncup.com, or follow the company on Facebook and Instagram.
NEW YORK, March 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Shutterstock, Inc. (NYSE: SSTK), a leading global creative platform offering full-service solutions, high-quality content, and tools for brands, businesses and media companies, will report its first quarter 2021 business and financial results on Tuesday, April 27, 2021 before the market opens.

The company will host a conference call at 8:30 a.m. ET to discuss the results. The conference call can be accessed in the U.S. at (844) 634-1442 or outside the U.S. at (615) 247-0239 with the conference ID# 8919625. A live audio webcast of the call will also be available on Shutterstock's website at http://investor.shutterstock.com .

Following completion of the call, a recorded replay of the webcast will be available in the investor relations section of Shutterstock's website. A telephone replay of the call will also be available until May 4, 2021 in the U.S. at (855) 859-2056 or outside the U.S. at (404) 537-3406 with the conference ID# 8919625.

About Shutterstock

Shutterstock, Inc. (NYSE: SSTK ), is a leading global creative platform offering full-service solutions, high-quality content, and tools for brands, businesses and media companies. Directly and through its group subsidiaries, Shutterstock's comprehensive collection includes high-quality licensed photographs , vectors , illustrations , videos and music . Working with its growing community of over 1.6 million contributors, Shutterstock adds hundreds of thousands of images each week, and currently has more than 360 million images and more than 21 million video clips available.

Headquartered in New York City, Shutterstock has offices around the world and customers in more than 150 countries. The Company also owns Bigstock , a value-oriented stock media offering; Shutterstock Studios, an end-to-end custom creative shop ; Offset, a high-end image collection ; PremiumBeat, a curated royalty-free music library; Shutterstock Editorial, a premier source of editorial images and videos for the world's media; Amper Music, an AI-driven music platform ; and TurboSquid, a leading 3D content marketplace .

For more information, please visit www.shutterstock.com and follow Shutterstock on Twitter and on Facebook .

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For these women from Char Areas of the north-eastern state of Assam, the Kantha (a type of embroidery craft) making work brought them together and they extended support to each other as a group and fostered deep solidarity.

Anjuman Ara Begum, TwoCircles.net

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Assam: Sixty-two-year-old Rejia Ahmed felt jittery as it was the first time that she had been to a public meeting. On March 8, Rejia was invited to preside over the daylong program to celebrate International Womens Day in a remote Kandapara village in the Barpeta district of the north-eastern state of Assam.

International Womens Day is a global day that celebrates the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women on March 8 every year. The day also marks a call to affirmative action for gender equality and to raise awareness of bias against women. Women gathered at Kandapara were excited to know that the day originated through a struggle for labour rights.

I dont know how I will perform. But I am very excited about the day, she whispered to the woman sitting next to her. Slowly she picked up the mic and talked about the importance of womens rights. The event was significant for the women from nearby villages  as it was the first time they had gathered to celebrate a day dedicated to women.

The women from these areas were completely unaware of such a day. On March 8, nearly forty women dressed in their best attire gathered and spent an entire day together in merriment. For many of these women, this experience was new.

The meeting of these women and sharing their life experiences was made possible by a womens initiative called Amrapari, that creates livelihood options for women using traditional textile knowledge of Kantha making.

Talking to TwoCircles.net, the women recounted how they are struggling for survival and how they have been affected by citizenship rights issues like NRC, detention camps, perennial natural calamities like floods and the ongoing Covid-19 lockdown. These issues have directly affected their livelihood.

Amrapari provided them with a space to come together and celebrate their resilience. Apart from celebrating their togetherness, these rural women from Assam also took a pledge to not practice child marriage and to encourage the education of girl children and to work for financial independence.

Amrapari, an initiative launched last year has successfully provided income generation opportunities to women using traditional skills like Kantha making (a type of embroidery craft). Initially, twenty women formed four groups with five members and started stitching Kantha. It takes about 7-10 days to complete one Kantha  depending on the design and size. Soon, three more groups were formed as more women showed interest in taking it up as a source of income.

The Char areas of Assam have limited livelihood options for its residents. Male members of the family usually move outside as migrant workers while womenfolk engage themselves as daily agricultural labourers or engage in some small home based works.

Most of the women artisans associated with Amrapari are agricultural labourers, small fishing net makers or home-makers. Several of them are also D-voters (sometimes also referred to as Dubious voter or Doubtful voter is a category of voters in Assam who are disenfranchised by the government on the account of their alleged lack of proper citizenship credentials) and facing litigation to prove their Indian citizenship.

For these women, the Kantha making work brought them together and they extended support to each other as a group and fostered deep solidarity.

To market the products, Amrapari started to publicize its Kantha works through social media platforms in October 2020. Within a short period, it gained popularity and support. Traditional designs along with a contemporary touch is used to stitch Amraparis Kantha [Cotton quilt]. These are century-old designs and were used by women using old cotton clothes. Once made, it was used solely for the family members or gift items for close relations or simply used as a decorative piece.

Kantha making was not a full-time job and sometimes it took months for women to make one. The thickness of Kantha would depend on the need and factors like climate, availability of materials and economic status of the person. Smaller Kantha was used as gift items for newborn babies and highly designed Kantha with floral motifs were gifted during weddings. A table runner like Kantha called Dastarkhana was considered extremely essential to serve food to guests. Kantha making was considered a part of the responsibility of women and was not commercialized for a long time.

Traditionally, Kantha making was considered a dignified skill for women who would stitch during their leisure times and varieties of design, patchwork and motifs were innovated. Threads of several colours were used aesthetically.

In earlier days, women used to wear Sarees with well-defined border designs called Pari. Cotton yarns from the Pari were meticulously taken out, rolled and reused as a thread to stitch Kantha. Sometimes additional threads were used to give the shape of odd, even, pipra etc stitch designs.

The durability of a Kantha depended on the density of stitches. More stitches mean more durability as well as warmth on rainy days and winter. Stitches are not drawn on the clothes. Instead, an outline is made using the needle and thread and then the shapes are made.

Women from these areas would innovate new patterns to impress family members and peers.

Amrapari is currently using both traditional as well as contemporary designs.

E-commerce provides an important platform for these rural women to sell their products and earn. Currently, Amrapri is selling through its social media handles as well as through online portals like Flipkart and Arts of India etc.

In a very short period, Amrapari became a tool of resilience for the women of Rupakuchi village in the Barpeta area of Assam.

Ujala Khatun, 19, was struggling with fulfilling her basic needs. Her father, the lone earning member is a small farmer and struggles to provide two meals a day for the family. The Covid-19 lockdown further reduced his income. Ujala, being the eldest among the children, felt the burden of responsibility lay with her. The weak financial condition and lack of social security system prevented her from continuing education after class X. She dropped from school and took up manual work as a daily wage labourer. However, she faced gender discrimination as a worker.

She says she was paid 200 Rupees while men working along with her were paid 300 Rupees. Gender disparity in wages saddened her but she continued to work due to a lack of other livelihood options. River erosion also affected her life. Ujalas family had to move several times to different villages and it caused financial and mental trauma to the family.

During the lockdown, Ujala lost her source of income and had no means to look after her family. This is when Amrapari stood by her and trained her to learn stitching Kantha.

Ujala is a laborious and quick learner. She continues to work as a daily wage labourer and in the evening, she makes beautiful Kantha. She is now supporting her younger sisters to continue their education.

The struggles of Moyjan Khatun, 30, hailing from the same village is not any different. Her father Ajmat Ali is the main bread earner for the family and works as a manual labourer. The familys financial condition remains weak. I grew up in enormous challenges that deprived me of education and opportunity for a decent livelihood, she says.

Moyjaan became a victim of child marriage and was married at the age of 15. She was married to a man from the same village, who works as a boatman on a daily wage basis.

Moyjan became a mother after two years of marriage. Unfortunately, her son died by drowning at the age of 2.5 years. Her sons death was traumatic for her.

Moyjan later gave birth to two daughters, one of whom had a heart condition and died recently. The death of her children has left her in trauma but she continues to work and support her family.

Moyjans financial condition further deteriorated during the lockdown. There was no earning from the boat as all transport was suspended. Her husband was unable to earn.

It was at this time that Amrapari extended support to the family. Moyjan became an artisan and started stitching Ketha to earn a living. Despite losing her young daughter, Moyjan continues to work and make beautiful Kanthas.

Another artisan of Amrapari is the 19-year-old Narzina Khatun. She was born in Gagalmari village, Barpeta district of Assam. A 12th standard student, Narzina has three other siblings. Her father is a simple cycle repairing man and her mother is a housewife.

Talking to TwoCircles.net, Narzina said that she loves to study and aims to complete her graduation. She believes that only education can bring prosperity to her life. However, she was not able to procure the 1500 rupees required for her admission. Because of lockdown, her family lost income sources and couldnt provide the amount required. Amrapari supported her to complete her admission. She then learnt Kheta stitching and now is a very skilled artisan. She supports her studies with the income from Kheta making.

The stories of the women simply confirm that women in Char areas of Assam can become economically independent and share equal family responsibility. Its only a matter of time that these women will create their own space and become agents of change.

During a countrywide lockdown in India, women exhibited better resilience capacity than men. The women who gathered at Kandapara village in Assam to celebrate International Womens Day are a fitting example of this.

Anjuman Ara Begum is a human rights activist and legal researcher based in Guwahati, Assam.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-25 16:26:27|Editor: huaxia

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Bikila Hurisa, head of Ethiopia's ruling Prosperity Party's public and international relations speaks in an interview with Xinhua in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, March 4, 2021. (Photo by Michael Tewelde/Xinhua)

ADDIS ABABA, March 25 (Xinhua) -- The Communist Party of China (CPC) can serve as a best example across the world of breaking a circle of problems and achieving miracles at home and in the global arena, a senior official from Ethiopia's ruling Prosperity Party has said.

Making the remarks in a recent interview with Xinhua, Bikila Hurisa, head of the Ethiopian party's public and international relations, stressed that developing countries, such as Ethiopia, could learn a lot from what China has done in the past decades.

"Over the last 50 years, what China has achieved is a real miracle that particularly every citizen of the world can witness," Hurisa said, highlighting China's success in lifting a population of hundreds of millions out of poverty and building a moderately prosperous society.

He said that the global community, particularly the developing world, should analyze the major secrets behind China's success to adjust and introduce the Chinese model to their own systems.

"What are the secrets of this miracle is a very important question that every developing country should think, and the leadership and political parties of the world, particularly the poor countries, should think," he noted.

According to Hurisa, one major factor behind the Chinese miracle is the CPC's leadership in terms of truly understanding the real problems facing the Chinese people.

Hurisa underscored the crucial role of China's reforms, which he described as a people-centered agenda, in terms of pulling hundreds of millions of the Chinese people out of poverty.

"The leadership role of the CPC is very important," he noted. "What other countries should learn is when your people are in absolute poverty, governments and parties should take the leadership, and the role of the state and the role of a strong party in solving the real problems of the citizens is very, very strong and clear."

"That's what we have learned from the CPC and what we learned from the Chinese leadership," he added.

During the interview, Hurisa spoke highly of the importance Chinese government has attached to science, technology and innovation, which he said has helped a lot in solving the real problems facing the Chinese people.

"This is a miracle." Whenever a nation includes creativity and innovation in problem-solving, it will create a miracle, he said.

He said investments in research and development, innovations and technology have significantly helped China promote investment, employment and entrepreneurship that are locally based, as well as home-grown creativity.

Hurisa also praised China's growing positive influence in global poverty reduction, socioeconomic development, as well as in diplomatic arenas, which he said is widely visible in Ethiopia.

"All the bilateral and multilateral relationships that China developed with other parts of the world are based on peaceful relationships, mutual development, mutual businesses, mutual interactions, people-to-people relationships, business-to-business relationships," he said.

"These are very important, and that's why China is getting more and more recognition from all parts of the world," he emphasized.

Ethiopia in general and the ruling party in particular, according to Hurisa, have significantly benefited from the CPC's and the Chinese government's very strategic and positive engagement in Ethiopia's drive for development.

"Ethiopia does not forget the role the Chinese government, under the leadership of the CPC, played in (solving) the social economic and political problems of Ethiopia," he added.
KONNOR PERRIN, Chariho boys lacrosse, freshman: Perrin established a school record for assists in a game with nine in the Chargers 22-0 win over Ponaganset. Perrin leads the team with 21 assists to go with 14 goals.

LILA RICH, Stonington girls track, senior: Rich won two events at the ECC Division I track meet. Rich was first in the high jump (5-0) and the pole vault (10-0) as the Bears finished third at the meet.

MADIGAN HILTZ, Westerly boys lacrosse, senior: Hiltz scored seven goals and had three assists in pair of victories for the Bulldogs. Hiltz has 17 goals and seven assists for the season.

ADDIE HAUPTMANN, Wheeler softball, junior: Hauptmann was 4 for 9 with a home run and six RBIs in two games. For the season, Hauptmann is hitting .617 with eight homers and 42 RBIs. She has 50 hits.

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Brisbane, March 26 : Australia's third-largest city of Brisbane is on high alert following a rare case of local Covid-19 transmission revealed by authorities on Friday.

It is the first locally acquired case reported in Australia in over a week, with most states gradually rolling back restrictions to near pre-pandemic levels, reports Xinhua news agency.

A 26-year-old man tested positive on Thursday, and he was potentially infected while in the community since March 19.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the case shouldn't cause alarm, but was a timely reminder of the importance of continuing to practice good hygiene and social distancing.

"We absolutely want people, especially over the next 2-3 days, to come forward and get tested if you are feeling unwell and you have symptoms," Palaszczuk said.

Queensland's Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young said it was not known how the man contracted the disease and that genomic sequencing was being conducted to determine the source.

"We don't know where this virus is next going to pop up but as I've always said if we can find the first case in a cluster, not the fortieth, we'll be able to get on top of it much more quickly," Young said.

Young urged residents to abide by the Covid-19 restrictions still in place in Queensland including allowing one person per two square meters for indoor venues.

"If you are in that vulnerable cohort, maybe stay at home for the next three days until we understand exactly what is happening here," she added.

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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The global on-demand transportation market size is expected to reach USD 304.97 billion by 2025, according to a study conducted by Grand View Research, Inc. It is anticipated to expand at a CAGR of 19.8% during the forecast period. Rising penetration of smartphones and connected vehicles is increasing the adoption of on-demand transportation services such as e-hailing, car sharing, car rental, and station-based mobility. These services enable users to pre-book, modify, or cancel their taxi reservations via mobile applications such as Uber and Gett.

Advancements in IT infrastructure and growing usage of car sharing services by millennials are anticipated to drive the adoption of on-demand transportation services in Europe. Asia Pacific is estimated to witness considerable growth over the forecast period, owing to increased traffic and fuel prices. Government initiatives, such as the Smart Mobility 2030 plan of the Land Transport Authority of Singapore, are also likely to bolster the market growth.

Among different on-demand transportation services, car rental was anticipated to be the largest segment in terms of market share in 2017. However, demand for other services such as e-hailing and car sharing are anticipated to witness a substantial rise over the forecast period. Market participants are engaging in different business expansion strategies such as product launches and partnerships to gain market share. For instance, in September 2018, BMW and Daimler announced their collaboration for starting combined car sharing service in Germany.

Browse Details of Report @ https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/on-demand-transportation-market

The ban on DIDI Chuxing by the Chinese government in September 2018 for alleged passenger murders has increased concerns among customers over ride sharing. Similar cases have been filed on Uber drivers for misbehaving and mistreating users in the past. Moreover, issues regarding poor connectivity and high costs of developing infrastructure may further hamper the growth of the market. Therefore, service providers are focusing on developing car-sharing applications, which do not require internet connectivity for accessing them.

Further key findings from the study suggest:

 E-hailing services is poised to witness the fastest CAGR of 20.4% over the forecast period, as these services provide flexibility to users by allowing them to reserve taxis through an application

 Micro mobility segment is projected to register the highest CAGR of 24.7% over the forecast period

 Asia Pacific is anticipated to be the most promising region during the forecast period due to increased traffic and vehicle costs in countries such as Japan and China

 Some of the prominent participants in the on-demand transportation market are International Business Machines Corporation (IBM); BMW Group; Daimler Group; Ford Motor Company; General Motor Company; Gett, Inc.; and Robert Bosch GmbH.
26.03.2021



Golden Ocean Group Limited (the "Company") advises that a Special General Meeting of the Shareholders of the Company was held on March 26, 2021 at 9:00 a.m. at Par-la-Ville Place, 4th Floor, 14 Par-la-Ville Road, Hamilton, Bermuda (the "Meeting"). The following resolution was in line with the proposal in the notice to the Meeting.

The Company's authorized share capital be increased from US$10,000,000.00 divided into 200,000,000 common shares of US$0.05 par value each to US$15,000,000.00 divided into 300,000,000 common shares of US$0.05 par value each by the creation of 100,000,000 common shares of US$0.05 par value each.

Hamilton, Bermuda

August 31, 2020




(JNS)  As of this writing, South Africas Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng was on day seven of a 10-day deadline to publicly apologize for a speech he made last year in which he offered a full-throated defense of Israel, and still, he stood fast  no apology was forthcoming.

Mogoengs uncompromising stance has enraged South Africas powerful pro-Palestinian lobby and reignited the charge that the modern-day State of Israel is a reincarnation of South Africas old apartheid regime when a white minority that constituted 10 percent of the population ruled over a legally segregated, brutalized black majority who constituted 90 percent.

The context of this latest row over Zionism in a country that is peculiarly obsessed with the conflict between the Palestinians and Israel was the speech that Mogoeng gave in June 2020 at a webinar hosted by The Jerusalem Post. Appearing alongside South African Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein, Mogoeng explained that his love of the Jewish state was rooted in his Christian faith. He then chastised the ruling ANCs hardline pro-Palestinian foreign policy, pointing to the hypocrisy that allows Israel to be effectively excommunicated by South Africa while the government maintains close relations with its former colonizers at the same time.

Did Israel take away our land or the land of Africa? Did Israel take our mineral wealth? Weve got to move from a position of principle here, Mogoeng declared at the webinar. In the predictable firestorm that followed, three pro-Palestinian organizations, including South Africas national committee promoting the antis-Semitic BDS campaign, filed protests with the official judicial body that deals with complaints against judges. That body, the Judicial Conduct Committee, duly found Mogoeng guilty of misconduct on March 5. In a measure that brought to mind uncomfortable associations with what passes for justice in totalitarian states, the JCC drafted a three-paragraph apology on Mogoengs behalf, ordering him to sign it within 10 days.

In the nine months that have passed since Mogoeng made those remarks, the chief justice has made it abundantly clear that he will never apologize for expressing his support for Israel. Even if 50 million people were to march every day for 10 years for me to do so, I would not apologize, he told local media outlets a few days after the webinar, going on to quote Queen Esther on the eve of her mission to defeat Haman: If I perish, I perish. Indeed, that last comment so excised the JCC that the apology scripted for Mogoengs covers those words as well as his original statements about Israel!

It should be observed that Mogoeng is not shy of making politically controversial remarks in provocative language, including one that will distress many supporters of Israel for reasons that are entirely unrelated to Israel. Last December, he warned that some COVID-19 vaccines might turn out to be the work of the devil, with the purpose of advancing a satanic agenda of the mark of the beast. He went on to say: If there is any vaccine that is deliberately intended to do harm to people, that vaccine must never see the light of day. I cry unto God to stop it.

Against this wider background, it doesnt seem completely unreasonable that South Africas judicial overseers would want to reign in a chief justice who strays into areas well outside of his remit, like public health protocols or foreign policy. More basically, in South Africa as in any democratic country, judges who loudly and casually opine on policy matters violate the spirit, if not the letter, of the separation of powers that keeps our institutions independent and accountable.

But this limited perspective misses the elemental point that what stood out in the case of Mogoengs Israel comments was the politically loaded fury underlying the response to them. The South African Jewish academic Milton Shain expressed it well in a recent opinion piece for Business Day. Arguing that legal experts would legitimately debate whether or not Mogoeng had contravened the judicial code, Shain asserted that what seems to be drowned out by the surrounding noise is the vehemence with which his words were greeted at the outset, as opposed to the relative silence around his comments on the Covid-19 vaccinenot to mention the unusual alacrity with which the judicial conduct committee has acted on the matter.

Why? Because Mogoeng was talking about Israel positively while shining a light on the double standard in South African foreign policy that enables its government to cozy up to repressive regimes around the world, from Iran to China, while depicting Israel as a rogue apartheid state. In doing so, he struck at the heart of the Cold War-era, ideological dogma that still informs the ruling ANCs view of the worldin this case, that Zionism is a form of racism and that anyone who questions that slanderous notion must themselves be a racist.

Whether or not Mogoeng abused his position as chief justiceand as I said, my view is that members of the judiciary making political statements is not something we should encouragethe impact of his comments has again exposed the moral rot at the heart of South African foreign policy. Sadly, many of the leaders of the anti-apartheid struggle have openly encouraged the false application of this term to Israel, despite the glaring absence of the key monstrosities  no right to vote for black people, deliberately restricted educational opportunities for black people, a ban on inter-racial relationships, draconian laws to punish those who spoke out against the system and much else  that defined apartheid in South Africa. In confronting this falsehood, Mogoeng was also speaking for thousands of Christian black South Africans who loathe their governments policy towards Israel as a consequence of their spiritual identification with the Jewish state.

If Mogoeng continues with his refusal to parrot a scripted apology, the next step for the pro-Palestinian lobby will be to press for his dismissal. That will involve a bitter struggle that will divert South Africans from more pressing matters, like defeating the coronavirus pandemic and combating mass unemployment. Then again, as has frequently been demonstrated by anti-Zionist campaigns inside and beyond South Africa, for the pro-Palestinian lobby, Palestine always comes first, no matter the price.

Ben Cohen is a New York City-based journalist and author who writes a weekly column on Jewish and international affairs for JNS.
WOOD RIVER  The Madison County Health Department late Thursday reported 63 new confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases in the county, the highest one-day count since Feb. 26.

The health department also reported an additional COVID-19 related death, a man in his 30s, to take the death count to 476.

There were 19 COVID-19 patients in Madison County hospitals Thursday, none on ventilators. To date the county has recorded 28,487 cases and 281,485 tests.

On Friday, the Illinois Department of Public Health reported six Madison County deaths  a man in his 30s, a woman in her 50s, a woman in her 60s, a man in his 60s, a man in his 70s and a woman in her 90s  among 33 additional COVID-19 related deaths statewide.

The IDPH also was reporting the death of a Macoupin County woman in her 60s, taking the countys death toll to 109.

There are sometimes discrepancies in the number of cases and deaths reported at the state and local levels, in part because of the volume of cases, and also as each local department forwards the information and it is verified. Local health officials have said the cases eventually reconcile as the reporting catches up.

At noon Friday, the county health department was reporting available vaccination times for Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. To schedule a vaccination, visit the Madison County Health Departments website at https://events.juvare.com/IL-IDPH/885b73c8-4c83-4205-806f-4c23528fa7bd/. People without computer access can call 618-650-8445 for help scheduling an appointment.

The department also is planning a Deaf Day of vaccinations on Tuesday, 1-4 p.m., at the Collinsville waterpark (Splash City) at 10 Gateway Drive. Sign language interpreters will be on hand. To participate call 618-219-8761 or 618-310-0054; or email botz@impactcil.org or loxenham@lincinc.org.

On Friday, the IDPH reported 5,281,618 vaccines had been administered statewide, including 364,302 for long-term care facilities, according to the IDPH. The seven-day rolling average of vaccines administered daily is 99,449 doses.

More Information Vaccinations First: 66,781 (25.25%) Fully: 50,633 (19.15%) Source: IDPH COVID-19 cases by county Madison - 28,487 (476 deaths) Jersey - 2,525 (47 deaths) Calhoun - 512 (5 deaths) Greene - 1,337 (47 deaths) Macoupin - 4,632 (109 deaths) Montgomery - 3,583 (71 deaths) St. Clair - 26,484 (492 deaths) Clinton - 5,661 (89 deaths) Bond - 1,927 (24 deaths) Monroe - 4,177 (89 deaths) Randolph - 4,023 (82 deaths) Washington - 1,607 (25 deaths) Source: IDPH & Madison, Macoupin, Jersey and Greene county health departments COVID-19 cases by ZIP code 62002 (Alton) - 3,337 62010 (Bethalto) - 1,297 62067 (Moro) - 299 62035 (Godfrey) - 1,972 62037 (Grafton) - 191 62012 (Brighton) - 718 62014 (Bunker Hill) - 334 62052 (Jerseyville) - 1,596 62095 (Wood River) - 1,206 62084 (Roxana) - 159 62048 (Hartford) - 129 62087 (South Roxana) - 171 62018 (Cottage Hills) - 294 62024 (East Alton) - 891 62025 (Edwardsville) - 3,611 62034 (Glen Carbon) - 1,407 62062 (Maryville) - 951 62294 (Troy) - 1,868 62040 (Granite City/Pontoon Beach) - 4,159 62234 (Collinsville) - 3,447 62249 (Highland) -2,084 62281 (St. Jacob) -400 62097 (Worden) - 293 62088 (Staunton) - 704 62069 (Mt. Olive) - 304 62033 (Gillespie) -525 62626 (Carlinville) - 933 62016 (Carrollton) - 416 62044 (Greenfield) - 175 62092 (White Hall) - 383 62082 (Roodhouse) - 261 62047 (Hardin) - 179 62022 (Dow) - 126 The Telegraph has reduced the number of zip codes reported daily. For a more complete list of cases by ZIP code, visit https://www.dph.illinois.gov/covid19/covid19-statistics. Source: Illinois Department of Public Health See More Collapse

The IDPH also reported 6,146,815 doses of vaccine had been delivered to providers in Illinois on Thursday. About 414,900 doses have been allocated to the federal governments Pharmacy Partnership Program for long-term care facilities. This brings the total Illinois doses to 6,561,715.

The IDPH on Friday reported 117,414 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in Madison County. That includes 66,781 people receiving at least first doses and 50,633  or 19.15%  fully vaccinated.

The Madison County Health Department has said the actual numbers for both vaccination categories is higher than the IDPH figures.

The IDPH also reported that 20.14% of the residents in Calhoun County are now fully vaccinated. Other fully vaccinated rates were 19.71% in Jersey County, 19.27% in Greene County and 16.68% in Macoupin County.

On Friday the IDPH reported 3,002 new cases of COVID-19 statewide. To date, the IDPH has reported 1,232,900 cases, including 21,203 deaths.

The preliminary seven-day statewide positivity for cases as a percent of total test from March 19-25 was 2.9%, according to the IDPH on Friday. The preliminary seven-day statewide test positivity for the same period was 3.3%.

Statewide, there were 1,302 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, including 264 in intensive care units and 120 on ventilators.

For more COVID-19 information, visit https://coronavirus-response-madcoil.hub.arcgis.com/, www.madisonchd.org or Facebook @madisonchd. Also visit www.co.madison.il.us or Facebook @madisoncountyil for more vaccination news and daily updates.

For The Telegraphs online vaccine tracker, visit https://www.thetelegraph.com/coronavirus-vaccine-tracker-alton-illinois/. For additional vaccine locations visit https://coronavirus.illinois.gov/s/vaccination-location.

Local and statewide information also is available at www.dph.illinois.gov. Click the coronavirus banner.

For health-related questions about COVID-19, people also can call the IDPH hotline at 1-800-889-3931 or email dph.sick@illinois.gov.

Capitol News Illinois contributed to this story.
Catholic churches across Northern Ireland made a "cautious return" to public worship on Friday, ahead of Holy Week and Easter.

In January of this year, the four main churches voluntarily suspended in-person gatherings due to the latest Covid-19 lockdown and rising case numbers, but last week confirmed they would resume in time for Easter.

The resumption followed ongoing consultations involving religious representatives, Stormont's first ministers and public health officials.

Catholic bishops in Northern Ireland have emphasised the need for "continued caution" and a "rigorous application of all mitigations and safeguards required" to ensure a safe return to mass.

They said public worship would only resume after a "thorough risk assessment", which means some parishes may decide to delay reopening for worshippers "until a later date".

The Church of Ireland, Methodist and Presbyterian churches will resume in-person services from Good Friday, April 2.

Attendances will continue to be limited for the time being because of the need for social distancing and congregations will have to wear face coverings.

At St Mary's Chapel in Belfast on Friday worshippers were welcomed back inside the oldest Catholic church in the city for mass for the first time in over three months.

Fr Timothy Bartlett, administrator of St Mary's, told the Belfast Telegraph that reopening the doors to congregations was an incredibly welcome development that was being undertaken cautiously and carefully.

"So many people here today will be thrilled, particularly as they are able to receive Holy Communion again which is one thing you can't do over a webcam," he added. "But everyone is being very cautious and careful and we are repeating time and again the need to observe all the mitigations like social distancing, cleaning of hands and not delaying after mass and talking to other people but moving straight on as quickly as possible.

"In all of that caution there is an underlying relief which we hope will be the first signs of hope for our whole society.

"We're moving back to some kind of new normal and hoping that other sectors opening up is not too far away.

"Please God that's our deepest prayer, not just for ourselves but for everybody in our society."

Among the mass-goers there was also a sense of joy and relief at a slow return to some sort of normality.

Marie Madden (80) said: "I think you have to give our Lord at least one hour in the week of your time and I really missed not being able to go to church.

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"I have a lung problem so I wasn't able to go along much because I was shielding, but I'm out now with one of my vaccinations done. It's just great to be back in circulation and I hope God eradicates this virus soon."

"It's absolutely fantastic and thank God we're getting back to a near normal," Mairead Campbell (75) said.

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"Going to mass just gives you that bit of hope and I felt totally safe because everything is so well organised," she added.

Meta Nolan (84) was also among the lunchtime worshippers, and said: "I just feel so at home and it was lovely to get back. I have no technology to watch online so I really missed it, especially with it being so close to Easter.

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"At my age I feel so blessed to be able to get out again."

Equally glad to be back was Ruairi Crummey (21), who felt the churches shouldn't have been closed: "It's essential to me but I do understand why they did it. I'm going to try and go as much as I can now especially since it's Holy Week next week.

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"I had been watching online mass ever Sunday but it's just not the same since you can't receive Holy Communion."

His friend Adrian Calderon (26) said: "We have been waiting for this moment and it's important for me to be here.

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"It's a really good thing and it means so much."
Syracuse, N.Y.  The coronavirus pandemic has certainly hurt the Syracuse areas economy, killing thousands of jobs. But the president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York thinks the pandemic could potentially help the areas economy in a couple of ways, too.

John Williams, who joined the New York Federal Reserve in 2018 after serving in the same roles with the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco for seven years, held a series of video meetings with Syracuse-area business leaders this week. The meetings focused on the pandemic and its impact on business.

Williams said he came away from the meetings seeing a couple of ways the areas economy can benefit from the permanent changes the pandemic is bringing.

Remote workforce

The pandemic has forced many people to work from home. And the shift to a remote workforce is not likely to change after the pandemic ends, Williams said. That could benefit places like Syracuse where housing and other costs are much lower than they are in major metropolitan areas, he said.

There are people who are thinking the cost of living in New York or other big cities is really prohibitive, Williams said.

You can have a much nicer work-life balance and lifestyle owning a home, say, in Syracuse or surrounding areas. So I think it is opening people up to some of the advantages of the lower-cost areas and I think businesses will be thinking about how to attract that talent to do that.

The shift to remote work could also open Syracuse businesses to a greater labor pool because they can hire people no matter where they live, he said.

Businesses are thinking, hey, we were able to operate some jobs pretty effectively remotely so maybe, you know, we can continue to do that and that can help add to the pool of labor thats available to work in the area, Williams said.

On-shoring supply chains

Many businesses saw their global supply chains disrupted during the pandemic. Williams said Syracuse could benefit from what will be a likely effort by American companies to bring manufacturing back to the U.S. to simplify and protect those supply chains.

The pandemic really showed that these very lengthy, complex supply chains that go all around the world a few times before you get the final product that you produce, that those really got interrupted by the pandemic, he said. Just the complexity of the supply chains, theyre arent as resilient to a pandemic and I think businesses are thinking about, if you can, bringing in some more of the suppliers to be more local.

That would be perhaps an opportunity for the region to attract some of that manufacturing, he said. I dont think its going to be a complete U-turn from the longer-term trends weve seen of manufacturing playing a lesser role, but perhaps some pivot on that.

Rick Moriarty covers business news and consumer issues. Got a tip, comment or story idea? Contact him anytime: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 315-470-3148
The coalition led by Saudi Arabia and fighting in Yemen against the Iran-aligned Houthi movement has allowed four fuel ships to dock at the Red Sea port of Hodeidah port in Yemen, sources with knowledge of the situation told Reuters on Wednesday.

Earlier this week, Saudi Arabia proposed a ceasefire to the war in Yemen. The ceasefire was suggested by Saudi Arabias Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan and comes after a couple of rocky weeks in the battle that included missile strikes on Saudi Aramcos infrastructure.

The ceasefire will be executed, according to Prince Faisal, if the Houthis announce their acceptance of it.

The plan includes reopening the Sanaa airport, which has been closed for six years. The ceasefire proposal also came just hours after the Saudi-led coalition forces conducted airstrikes against Houthi military bases in Yemens capital Sanaa. Those airstrikes followed an attack on an oil target in Saudi Arabia earlier this month. It also comes just weeks after President Joe Biden announced that the United States would no longer provide logistical and intelligence support to the Saudis for the war in Yemen.

The clearing of fuel ships to dock at Hodeidah came after the Houthis said they would agree to a ceasefire proposed by Saudi Arabia only if the Saudi-led coalition lifts the air and sea blockade.

According to Reuters sources, four vessels carrying gas oil, liquefied petroleum gas, and fuel oil have been cleared to enter the port of Hodeidah.

The Houthis, however, say that they would not accept any military or political conditions for the provision of fuel, among other necessities.

In recent weeks, the Houthis have claimed a number of attacks on Saudi oil infrastructure, including a drone attack on the Riyadh refinery and a drone-and-ballistic-missile attack at oil facilities at the Saudi port of Ras Tanura, one of the worlds largest oil ports.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

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Former Ravens wide receiver Willie Snead IV is signing a one-year deal with the Las Vegas Raiders, according to his agent, Drew Rosenhaus.

The Ravens werent expected to target Snead, 28, in free agency, though he graded out as their second-best wide receiver and No. 66 overall in the NFL last season, according to Pro Football Focus. He had 25 catches for 356 yards over the Ravens first nine games, but an ankle injury and coronavirus infection partly limited him to eight receptions for 76 yards over the rest of the regular season.

A tough slot receiver and well-liked teammate, Snead had 126 catches for 1,422 yards and nine touchdowns over three seasons and 45 games in Baltimore. But an exit seemed increasingly likely last month. After former Ravens wide receiver Dez Bryant, another unrestricted free agent, wrote on social media that the team was no longer a good fit for him, Snead tweeted, Any receiver can be a true #1 1/4 u2032 , if they are in a system that allows them to be.

Sneads target appeared to be the Ravens passing offense, which ranked last in the NFL in attempts, completions and yardage last season. He later wrote: You give any receiver 100+ targets, if they worth a damn, theyll be considered a #1 because they have had plenty of opportunities to show it.

With Sneads departure, the Ravens have just four wide receivers on their roster who caught a pass last season: Marquise Hollywood Brown (58 catches, 769 yards), Miles Boykin (19 catches, 266 yards), Devin Duvernay (20 catches, 201 yards) and James Proche II (one catch, 14 yards). Deon Cain (nine catches, 124 yards in 2019), Jaylon Moore and Binjimen Victor are also under contract.
The University of Southern California on Thursday announced a settlement for $852 million, bringing the total to $1.1 billion going to the former patients of a campus gynecologist accused sexually abusing hundreds of patients.

The $1.1 billion sum is a combination of three sets of settlements with the alleged victims of Dr. George Tyndall.

Tyndall, 74, pleaded not guilty last year to six new charges. He has previously pleaded not guilty to dozens of other charges.

Tyndall resigned in 2017 after nearly 30 years with USC. Allegations against him became public in 2018 through an L.A. Times investigation.

A federal judge last year approved a $215 million class-action settlement with thousands of former patients.

USC and the 710 women who filed civil cases in Los Angeles Superior Court involving George Tyndall have reached a global agreement that is fair and reasonable, an announcement from the school states. The $852 million settlement will end this litigation in state court. The USC Board of Trustees has ratified the settlement.

Separate statements were issued by numerous USC parties.

A statement from USC President Carol L. Folt reads:

I am deeply sorry for the pain experienced by these valued members of the USC community. We appreciate the courage of all who came forward and hope this much needed resolution provides some relief to the women abused by George Tyndall.

A FAQ sheet from the school notes that 16,019 claimants in the federal class action received payments, and that any patient who saw Tyndall was eligible to participate in the class action. In the state court litigation, 761 plaintiffs received compensation.

The school said it has taken several measures to try and prevent this sort of thing from happening again:

We have implemented sweeping institutional reforms to prevent anything like this from happening again. Most importantly, the university introduced a new governance for Student Health under Keck Medicine. We added robust new protections, protocols and oversights and have enhanced safety and wellness. We have established greater accountability with clear checks and balances, we have created new offices and added many more staff with professional expertise.

Related:

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CONSTRUCTION of the Coonagh to Knockalisheen Road has begun after the Department of Transport gave the go-ahead for the multi-million euro project.

Limerick City and County Council has appointed Roadbridge for the contract following a competitive tendering process for the project costing around 29 million.

The overall cost of the project will be in the region of 58 million and involves the construction of a new distributor road between Coonagh Roundabout on the Ennis Road and the Knockalisheen Road in the Moyross area on the northside of the city.

There was public outcry earlier this year when Minister Eamon Ryan suggested he might not sign off on the long-awaited project. However, following consultation with local stakeholders, he confirmed it would go ahead.

The new road is a key element of the Limerick Regeneration Framework Implementation Plan and the works will comprise of the 2.2 kms of new urban dual carriageway with footpaths and cycleways; 600 metres of new urban single carriageway road with footpaths and cycleways and 2 kms of major improvements to an existing urban single carriageway road.

The project, which will take 33 months to complete, also includes two bridges over the Limerick to Galway railway line, three new roundabouts and two traffic signal-controlled junctions.

Speaking at the contract signing, Mayor of the City and County of Limerick Cllr Michael Collins said: This is a very important step in the delivery of the Limerick Regeneration programme. It has been a long time in the planning and it will be worth the wait for the community of Moyross and the wider northside of the city. It will also ask as a catalyst for the improvement in economic and social developments along the route, which will be of huge benefit once the recovery from the pandemic gets underway.

Seamus Hanrahan, Director of Capital Investment with Limerick City and County Council added: The commencement of the main contract is very welcome as it will dramatically improve connectivity on the northside of Limerick city and increase accessibility to a range of retail, education and employment services. This project has received strong wide-ranging support and its delivery is a cornerstone of the regeneration of Moyross.

Paraic McCarthy, Project Manager at Roadbridge said: Roadbridge are delighted to have been awarded the contract to construct the Coonagh to Knockalisheen Distributor Road Scheme. As a global multi-disciplined civil engineering company, with our head office here in Limerick, we are looking forward to working with Limerick City and County Council, Clare County Council, the local community, and all stakeholders to deliver this critical infrastructure for the growth of Limerick city and the wider region.
Tributes have been paid to a Kurdish sniper who fought against the so-called Islamic State and who was blasted to death in a gangland slaying.

Two Albanians and a fellow Kurd have been jailed for their part in the execution of father-of-two Hamawand Ali Hussain, in a terraced house in Hartlepool, in September 2019.

Teesside Crown Court heard how Mr Hussain, who came to the UK in 2005 and was a British citizen, was a cannabis dealer who was lured to the house and shot at point-blank range.

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Police later traced CCTV images of gang members buying an axe, blades, gaffer tape, cable ties and nylon rope days before the meeting.

The prosecution said there was no clear motive for the murder, but police believed the victim had made enemies of a group of Albanian drug dealers who decided to take him out.

Following the trial which started in January, Kurd Noza Saffari, 39, of Park Lane, Middlesbrough; and Albanians Dorian Pirija, 33, of Trillo Avenue, Bolton; and Qazim Marku, 24, of Maxwell Road, West Drayton, London; were cleared of murder but convicted of manslaughter.

They were sentenced on Thursday, with Saffari being jailed for 15 years, and Pirija and Marku for 19 years each.

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Anxhelo Xhaferi, 24, of Acton Street, Middlesbrough, who had been charged with murder was cleared and walked free.

After the case, Mr Hussains family released a tribute and a series of photos of him fighting against IS.

They said: He was a brilliant father and his children saw him as their hero, a brave man who protected them.

They knew about his involvement fighting against ISIS and felt so proud of this, as did the family and the rest of the Kurdish community.

Cleveland Police were still seeking to trace four men in connection with the killing, including the man believed to have pulled the trigger.

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Following his death, Peshmerga commanders described Mr Hussain as a great warrior.

According to reports, he returned to Kurdistan in 2014 with his British wife to fight ISIS and was injured during the offensives of Shingal and Zummar, but carried on until the end of the war.

After his death, the Kurdistan-based Rudaw news organisation quoted Brigadier General Musa Gardi as saying: He was a genius and an active Peshmerga.

Believe me, there were only a few like Hamawand.
Anyone hoping President Joe Biden's first formal news conference Thursday would produce a series of gaffes and misstatements must be deeply disappointed. Americans who want a competent, coherent, focused President should feel reassured.

Biden made news by answering a question he had dodged before -- the one about a second term (he is 78). "My plan," he told reporters, "is to run for reelection in 2024." He also made news on the pandemic, announcing he is doubling the initial goal of administering 100 million vaccines in his first 100 days, to 200 million doses.

And over roughly one hour, the President took tough questions from journalists without making any significant mistakes or verbal stumbles, defended his administration vigorously, and showed a deep and nuanced understanding of a wide range of issues -- and the politics needed for results.

"I got elected to solve problems," he declared at the outset, explaining why he has focused on the country's most urgent -- the pandemic and the economy -- while preparing to address more long-term challenges, such as gun control, immigration, climate change and voting rights.

As it happens, crises on those fronts are not waiting for him to finish work on his top priorities. And neither were the reporters he faced.

But from America's border crisis to China, from the federal budget to the global contests between democracy and autocracy, he avoided easy answers, articulating complexities and laying out reasonable approaches. He didn't promise to solve it all, but vowed to make improvements.

Some of the toughest questioning centered on the surge of migrants at the southern border, where thousands of unaccompanied children await processing in overcrowded conditions. When asked if he found this acceptable, he looked almost offended by the question, and was defensive, saying his administration is working hard on rebuilding facilities that were dismantled by the previous presidency.

But he offered no apologies for not sending the children back across the border. "The idea that I'm going to say ... if an unaccompanied child ends up at the border, we're going to let him starve to death and stay on the other side," he declared, "I'm not going to do it."

In a remarkable display of compassion unlike any I recall hearing from another US president -- and in striking contrast to his predecessor -- he described the excruciating decision process that would lead a parent to send her child alone on a thousand-mile journey to an unknown fate. "What a desperate act to have to take," he said. "The circumstances must be horrible."

People leave, he said, because of earthquakes, floods, lack of food, gang violence. He plans, he said, to help address those problems inside Central America, and to make sure the funding for solutions bypasses corrupt governments.

Biden showed an interesting perspective on the filibuster, the rule requiring 60 votes to pass major legislation in the Senate, which is complicating his legislative goals. He said he's inclined to go back to the old method in place when he came to the Senate -- "120 years ago," he joked. Back then, a filibuster required senators to speak until they couldn't go any longer. When asked if he thought the filibuster is a relic of the racist Jim Crow era, he said yes, but explained he also understands what is possible in politics. Still, he said the rule is being "abused in a gigantic way," showing openness to its repeal.

The President used some of his most passionate language to attack Republican efforts to restrict voting rights -- as in a bill that passed the Georgia House Thursday. He called the strategy "un-American," "sick," saying even Republican voters find the move "despicable," and vowing to do everything in his power to counter it.

He called out the hypocrisy of Republicans suddenly concerned about the size of the federal deficit after having expressed no qualms about massive tax cuts that so lavishly have benefited the rich. "When the federal budget is saving people's lives, they don't think it's such a good idea," he said, "when it's feathering the nests of the wealthiest Americans," they don't object.

On foreign policy, Biden explained that the ongoing friction between China and even Russia is part of a larger challenge: a contest between democracy and autocracy. He laid out the multifaceted rivalry between China and the United States, noting that trade -- the near-obsessive focus of former President Donald Trump -- is only one area where the two countries are at odds.

Rebuilding relationships with allies will be a key element of Biden's approach, especially after Trump frayed so many long-standing strategic ties. (Looking at his wristwatch, Biden told reporters that he was about to go on a virtual meeting with 27 heads of state.)

The President has expressed his wholehearted embrace of America as global leader, and on Thursday restated his plan to convene a summit of democracies in the United States, to "discuss the future."

Biden's first news conference was not just a startling departure from his predecessor's -- he never insulted anyone, didn't praise himself, and spoke in full, coherent sentences. It was a strong performance by any standard. Anyone who watched after listening to the absurd claims in right-wing media that Biden suffers from cognitive troubles could see that the smear is patently false.

For most Americans, who approve of the job Biden is doing and want the country to do well, this was a most welcome and reassuring 60 minutes.
DOOM Eternal is Getting Further Updates in 2021
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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).
Mar. 25ROCKLAND, Maine  The former owner of a now defunct construction company allegedly stole more than $500,000 from customers through deceptive business practices, according to the Maine Attorney General's Office.

Malcolm Stewart, 56, was indicted by a Knox County Grand Jury Thursday on a charge of theft by deception. A warrant has been issued for his arrest. Stewart is currently living in South Carolina.

Stewart abruptly closed his Union-based business, Castle Builders, in September of 2019, leaving clients with unfinished projects that had already been paid and 22 employees out of work.

The indictment comes about one year after the attorney general's office filed a lawsuit against Stewart and his wife under the state's Unfair Trade Practices Law to prevent the couple from continuing to solicit business and to seek restitution for former customers.

The indictment alleges that Stewart had 57 customers pay deposits for home construction projects that "he knew he did not have the capacity to complete," according to a release from the attorney general's office.

The total amount of money Stewart gained through this process was over $400,000. Despite receiving deposits from these customers, Stewart usually performed no work for the money, but in a few instances a minimal amount of work was started, the release stated.

Stewart also received an advance $50,000 loan from two customers in December of 2018. He allegedly told the customers he had "cash flow problems because customers were not paying him," the attorney general's office said.

While he claimed to have the capacity to pay back the loan when the customers gave him money, Stewart never repaid the loan.

When arrested, the court has ordered that Stewart be held on $50,000 bail.


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RTHK: EU warns will block AstraZeneca vaccine exports

The European Union warned on Thursday that it will ban drugs firms from exporting coronavirus vaccines to the UK and other countries until they make good on their promised deliveries to the bloc.

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen's stark warning - which could hit UK-based AstraZeneca first - came after a video summit of all 27 EU leaders and stoked fears that cross-Channel rivalry could damage global efforts to combat the pandemic.

Some leaders stressed that an embargo should be a last resort if negotiations for a better way of sharing vaccine production come up short, but von der Leyen and France's President Emmanuel Macron adopted an uncompromising tone.

"I think it is clear that first of all the company (AstraZeneca) has to catch up, has to honour the contract it has with the European member states, before it can engage again in exporting vaccines," von der Leyen told a news conference.

The focus of the latest row is an AstraZeneca plant in the Netherlands, which Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government claims as part of the British vaccine supply chain.

Macron declared his firm support for the Commission's plan, declaring "an end to naivety".

"I support the idea that we should block all possible exports for as long as the labs don't respect their commitments to Europeans," he said.

The Netherlands and Belgium, centres of EU vaccine production, are skittish at talk of an embargo, fearful that disruption to global supply chains could hurt other firms' production.

"The supply chains are so intricate, they're so intertwined, so it's not automatically a good thing if this new instrument is to be applied," Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said, citing the example of a Belgian plant making BioNTech/Pfizer vaccines that relies on raw materials from Britain.

But Rutte also told reporters he warned Johnson that the Netherlands would enforce any EU decision to halt exports - even as he hoped for a quick resolution.

"Luckily at least the two (sides) are talking and it seems, I think, on Saturday or soon after they could come to an agreement," Rutte told reporters.

"That would be very helpful, because we are friends, the UK and the rest of Europe, and we need each other."

London was alarmed by von der Leyen's decision this week to tighten Europe's export control mechanism to give the Commission more leeway to block exports if EU vaccine supplies are at stake.

Johnson is also concerned that a ban that extends beyond UK-based AstraZeneca's disputed supply could also block BioNTech/Pfizer vaccines produced in Belgium.

That would imperil Britain's vaccination drive, which has so far proved more successful than those of EU member states, which have been hit by a massive shortfall in deliveries.

As tempers frayed this week, a joint statement by the British government and the commission on Wednesday said both sides were looking for ways to cooperate towards a "win-win" compromise, but no details were given.

While Britain accuses the European Union of vaccine "nationalism", von der Leyen noted that the bloc was "the region that exports the most vaccines worldwide".

She said that, since the beginning of December, companies in the EU had sent 77 million doses of Covid vaccines out of the bloc - with an EU official noting that more than a quarter of those went to Britain.

But von der Leyen said the next three months will see overall vaccine supplies more than triple and the EU - population 450 million - is on track to see 70 percent of adults fully vaccinated by mid-September.

AstraZeneca is expected to deliver 30 million doses to the EU in the first quarter, a pledge already radically reduced from the 120 million doses it was initially contracted to provide.

Another sensitive issue is the distribution of vaccines within Europe.

A group of six smaller states led by Austria demanded more doses after they missed an earlier opportunity to secure a bigger share of costlier vaccines by betting on the cheaper - but unreliably supplied - AstraZeneca one.

But after the talks, Rutte said Austria does not seem in "bad shape at the moment" and member states had asked ambassadors to find a solution for harder-hit Bulgaria, Croatia and Latvia. (AFP)

This story has been published on: 2021-03-26. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Serbia vaccinates migrants amid surge in COVID-19 cases View Photo

KRNJACA, Serbia (AP)  Bashir Ahmad Shirzay lived through wars in Afghanistan, survived a harrowing journey to reach Europe and has no intention of taking a gamble with the coronavirus.

He was among the first to roll up his sleeve for a COVID-19 shot on Friday as Serbia became the first European country to vaccinate people living in its refugee camps and asylum centers, according to United Nations officials.

We should take the vaccine for our health, Shirzay said. The virus takes a lot of lives.

Some 530 migrants and asylum-seekers across Serbia have signed up to get vaccinated. The first recipients had their initial jabs of the AstraZeneca vaccine Friday at a drab camp on the outskirts of the Serbian capital, Belgrade.

Today is a very, very special day because we have vaccination of refugees and asylum-seekers in the centers, Francesca Bonelli, a U.N. refugee agency representative in Serbia, said. It is really an important sign of support that Serbia provides to refugees, and it is a very good example of inclusion of refugees in Serbian society.

Thousands of refugees and economic migrants from the Middle East, Africa and Asia are stuck in Serbia and neighboring Bosnia while awaiting opportunities to cross a border into European Union member Croatia and continue on to wealthier Western nations.

Serbia has administered the most coronavirus shots per capita of any country in Europe, a distinction it holds in part because the government worked to secure vaccine supplies from Russia and China. But the Balkan country, like the rest of central and eastern Europe, is facing another onslaught of confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths.

Migrants, many of whom live out in the open or under conditions at camps where the virus is easily spread, are considered one of the most vulnerable risk groups in the pandemic. A camp in neighboring Bosnia experienced a major outbreak this month.

Vaccination is really important because they are living in the collective centers and keeping the physical distancing is very hard and very difficult to truly control the outbreak, so this is really a great opportunity for the migrant population to receive this vaccination, Abebayehu Assefa Mengistu, a World Health Organization representative in Serbia, said.

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AP writer Dusan Stojanovic in Belgrade contributed.

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Follow APs global migration coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/migration

By IVANA BZGANOVIC

Associated Press
Patna: The Bihar School of Examination (BSEB) is going to declare the class 12th intermediate result on Friday (March 26). The results will be displayed on its official website - biharboardonline.bihar.gov.in. The board conducted Class 12 exams from February 17 to 24, 2021.

On Thursday (March 25) The Bihar School of Examination Board (BSEB) activated a link on its official website biharboardonline.bihar.gov.in in order to check the results online. However, later the official sources confirmed that the results are yet to be declared.

Minister for education and parliamentary affairs, Vijay Kumar Chaudhary will be having a press meeting at 3 PM where he will announce the 12th board examination results 2021.

Last year, the passing percentage for the science stream was 77.39 per cent, for the commerce stream it stood at 93.26 per cent and for the humanities stream, it stood at 81.44 per cent. In 2020, BSEB had announced intermediate results in just 25 days. As per the reports, a total of 80.44 per cent of students in Arts, Science and Commerce streams had passed the examination that year.

Live TV
The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) said bulk power has been restored to Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, and its environs as at Wednesday.

This is nearly two months after insurgents attacked the 330 kilovolts (kV) Damaturu to Maiduguri transmission line on January 26, 2021, cutting off the capital from the national power grid.

TCN restored the power using temporary 33kV high tension poles as a by-pass transmission line while its engineers continue to reconstruct the three vandalised towers.

According to the TCN spokesperson, Mrs Ndidi Mbah, in a statement, the Managing Director/CEO of TCN, Engr. Sule Abdulaziz, said while work was ongoing on the temporary transmission line in the month of February 2021, five out of the TCN engineers working on the line were rushed to the hospital after their vehicle stepped on a buried explosive device by insurgents.

Despite the incident, he said TCN engineers re-mobilized to site and completed the temporary transmission line. Presently, work is still ongoing on the towers.

Engr. Abdulaziz was grateful to Governor Babagana Zulum for his assistance so far, and commended the team of TCN engineers who consistently put their lives on the line to ensure that the 330kV Damaturu-Maiduguri by-pass is completed.
Tirupati, March 26 : Interim Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Friday approved the candidature of Chinta Mohan, a six-time MP from Tirupati, as the party's candidate for the forthcoming Tirupati Lok Sabha bypoll scheduled on April 17.

"Congress President Sonia Gandhi has approved the candidature of Chinta Mohan as the Congress candidate for the ensuing by-election to the Lok Sabha seat in Tirupati," said Congress General Secretary Mukul Wasnik.

Mohan, a medical doctor, is no novice to the SC seat in Tirupati, having represented it for a record six times. He was first elected from Tirupati in 1984 as a Telugu Desam Party (TDP) candidate, followed by five more stints as an MP from the same constituency, as a Congress representative.

However, the six-time MP's electoral fortunes nosedived along with the Congress party in 2014, thanks to the party's miscalculations and misadventures with the bifurcation of united Andhra Pradesh.

In fact, the 'none of the above option' (NOTA) received more votes than Congress candidate Mohan in 2014 when the party tested its political fortunes after dividing the erstwhile state into Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

With the announcement of Mohan's candidature, as many as four political parties have announced their candidates' names.

M. Gurumoorthy is the ruling YSRCP candidate, the TDP has fielded Panabaka Lakshmi, former Karnataka chief secretary Ratna Prabha is the BJP-Janasena nominee, while the Congress has put up Mohan as its candidate.

Lakshmi has already filed her nomination for the bypoll while Gurumoorthy is expected to do the same on Monday.

While the YSRCP is riding high on landslide victories in the recent rural and urban local body polls, the BJP is not helping itself by vowing to privatise the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP), depriving special category status to Andhra, besides talking about introducing GST at the Tirupati temple, among other issues.

If Ratna Prabha garners more votes than Lakshmi, it may indicate some shifting patterns of political affiliations in the southern state.

It will also force some fundamental questions on TDP, which currently is considered to be the principal opposition party in the state.

Likewise, if the ruling YSRCP wins the Parliamentary seat, it can be seen as an approval of Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy and his welfare plank of governance.
Ancient genomes trace the origin and decline of the Scythians

Because of their interactions and conflicts with the major contemporaneous civilizations of Eurasia, the Scythians enjoy a legendary status in historiography and popular culture. The Scythians had major influences on the cultures of their powerful neighbors, spreading new technologies such as saddles and other improvements for horse riding. The ancient Greek, Roman, Persian and Chinese empires all left a multitude of sources describing, from their perspectives, the customs and practices of the feared horse warriors that came from the interior lands of Eurasia.

Still, despite evidence from external sources, little is known about Scythian history. Without a written language or direct sources, the language or languages they spoke, where they came from and the extent to which the various cultures spread across such a huge area were in fact related to one another, remain unclear.

The Iron Age transition and the formation of the genetic profile of the Scythians

A new study published in Science Advances by an international team of geneticists, anthropologists and archeologists lead by scientists from the Archaeogenetics Department of the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Jena, Germany, helps illuminate the history of the Scythians with 111 ancient genomes from key Scythian and non-Scythian archaeological cultures of the Central Asian steppe. The results of this study reveal that substantial genetic turnovers were associated with the decline of the long-lasting Bronze Age sedentary groups and the rise of Scythian nomad cultures in the Iron Age. Their findings show that, following the relatively homogenous ancestry of the late Bronze Age herders, at the turn of the first millennium BCE, influxes from the east, west and south into the steppe formed new admixed gene pools.

The diverse peoples of the Central Asian Steppe

The study goes even further, identifying at least two main sources of origin for the nomadic Iron Age groups. An eastern source likely originated from populations in the Altai Mountains that, during the course of the Iron Age, spread west and south, admixing as they moved. These genetic results match with the timing and locations found in the archeological record and suggest an expansion of populations from the Altai area, where the earliest Scythian burials are found, connecting different renowned cultures such as the Saka, the Tasmola and the Pazyryk found in southern, central and eastern Kazakhstan respectively. Surprisingly, the groups located in the western Ural Mountains descend from a second separate, but simultaneous source. Contrary to the eastern case, this western gene pool, characteristic of the early Sauromatian-Sarmatian cultures, remained largely consistent through the westward spread of the Sarmatian cultures from the Urals into the Pontic-Caspian steppe.

The decline of the Scythian cultures associated with new genetic turnovers

The study also covers the transition period after the Iron Age, revealing new genetic turnovers and admixture events. These events intensified at the turn of the first millennium CE, concurrent with the decline and then disappearance of the Scythian cultures in the Central Steppe. In this case, the new far eastern Eurasian influx is plausibly associated with the spread of the nomad empires of the Eastern steppe in the first centuries CE, such as the Xiongnu and Xianbei confederations, as well as minor influxes from Iranian sources likely linked to the expansion of Persian-related civilization from the south.

Although many of the open questions on the history of the Scythians cannot be solved by ancient DNA alone, this study demonstrates how much the populations of Eurasia have changed and intermixed through time. Future studies should continue to explore the dynamics of these trans-Eurasian connections by covering different periods and geographic regions, revealing the history of connections between west, central and east Eurasia in the remote past and their genetic legacy in present day Eurasian populations.

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This story has been published on: 2021-03-26. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
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STEPANAKERT, MARCH 26, ARMENPRESS. The joint session of the Security Councils of Armenia and Artsakh was held in Yerevan on March 26 chaired by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and President of Artsakh Arayik Harutyunyan, the Armenian PMs Office told Armenpress.

Welcoming the session participants, the President of Artsakh stated that the decision on providing 110 billion drams for house-building and infrastructure restoration in Artsakh will play a great role for solving the humanitarian problems in Artsakh, as well as for its future development.

There are already preliminary programs, some activities for constructing approximately 4,000 houses, and we will develop new projects on building 2,000 more houses in the next months. We always take into account todays reality in these projects, and also plan the works of providing the locals with jobs, discuss also modern cooperation models, the President of Artsakh said.

In his turn the Prime Minister of Armenia noted that the program worth 110 billion drams to be provided to Artsakh will be carried out through the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund.

Currently, the Fund has 58 billion drams donated during its latest fundraising, and the Armenian government will provide 52 billion drams more. We have also made few more decisions according to which we not only must implement the provision of the Roadmap released by me on November 18, 2020 relating to the restoration of normal life in Artsakh, but also we must carry out development programs in Artsakh in order to have enough socio-economic development rates, PM Pashinyan said, adding that today they will discuss also joint strategic approaches relating to the security environment.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
Atomically dispersed catalysts have received extensive research attention, because they exhibit excellent activity and unique selectivity for many important catalytic reactions. The atomically dispersed nature of these metal catalysts confers their unique electronic structures as well as designated coordination-unsaturated environments for the optimized adsorption/activation of the reactants. One grand challenge faced by these atomically dispersed catalysts is that the supported isolated metal \atoms are usually thermally unstable and tend to aggregate into large clusters/particles at evaluated reaction temperatures. As a result, most reported atomically dispersed catalysts have an extremely low metal loading below 1.5wt%. Because of the extremely low metal loading, many atomically dispersed catalysts suffer from low mass-specific activity, which is often considered more crucial, especially in industrial applications. Therefore, developing new strategies for constructing atomically dispersed catalysts with high metal loading, high thermal stability, and high catalytic performance is of great importance.

In order to achieve high metal loading and high thermal stability, the support material should have a high specific surface area with abundant surface sites that could provide strong anchoring to the supported metal species. Meanwhile, for optimizing the catalytic performance, the support material should also be carefully chosen to tune the electronic properties of the supported species, and to participate in catalyzing the reaction. In a new article published in the Beijing-based National Science Review, scientists at the College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering of Peking University in Beijing, China, and at University of Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, China, and at University of Science and Technology of China in Hefei, China report a facile synthesis of a thermally stable atomically dispersed Ir/MoC catalyst with metal loading as high as 4 wt%, an unusually high value for carbide supported metal catalysts. The strong interaction between Ir and the MoC substrate enables high dispersion of Ir on the MoC surface, and modulates the electronic structure of the supported Ir species. Using quinoline hydrogenation as a model reaction, Ir/MoC catalyst exhibits remarkable reactivity, selectivity, and stability. The presence of high-density isolated Ir atoms is the key to achieve high metal-normalized activity and mass-specific activity, whereas MoC substrate contributes to block the unselective hydrogenation of benzene ring in quinoline at harsh reaction conditions. Based on theoretical calculations, the authors show that water-promoted quinoline hydrogenation mechanism is preferred over the Ir/MoC, which contributes to high selectivity towards 1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinoline.

Noteworthy is that the authors pointed out the importance of metal loading for atomically dispersed catalyst based on their reaction data as "We can draw the conclusion that the Ir1 species on -MoC surface are more reactive than Ir clusters or Ir NPs in this reaction, giving the highest metal-normalized activity on 0.5-4% Ir/-MoC catalysts (Figure 1). We need to point out that very low metal loading of a supported metal catalyst can result in an extremely low mass-specific activity, which is a drawback in practical applications. In our view, high-loading atomically dispersed catalyst (e.g. 4% Ir/-MoC) and catalyst with the highest density of isolated metal atom (e.g. 7% Ir/-MoC) are significant for both academia and chemical industry."

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This work was financially supported by the National Key R&D Program of China and Natural Science Foundation of China. The work at UCAS is supported by Beijing Outstanding Young Scientist Program, the Key Research Program of Frontier Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities.
Craig 'muMs' Grant, best known for his starring role in the TV series Oz and regularly collaborating with Spike Lee, passed away on Wednesday at 52.

While the star's cause of death has yet to be determined, LAByrinth Theater Company, of which he was a member, announced his death.

'The LAByrinth Theater family is deeply saddened to share the news of the unexpected loss of Craig 'muMs' Grant,' the post read.

Gone too soon: Craig 'muMs' Grant, best known for his starring role in the TV series Oz and regularly collaborating with Spike Lee, passed away on Wednesday at 52; seen in 2013

The group continued: 'We'll forever miss our friend, brother, LAB member, Emcee, mentor, poet, actor, spoken-word giant, and fire-breathing teddy bear. muMs' presence, performances, and words inspired a generation. His legacy will live on, from the Bronx and into the beyond. Keep rocking the mic, Schemer!'

At the time of his death, THR reported Grant was 'shooting a recurring role on the Starz series Hightown in Wilmington, North Carolina, and was set to travel to Atlanta on Monday to wrap a recurring arc on the BET streaming series All the Queen's Men.'

The actor also recently wrapped production on Steven Soderbergh's crime thriller film No Sudden Move, set to be released in 2022 on HBO Max.

Unexpected: While the star's cause of death has yet to be determined, LAByrinth Theater Company, of which he was a member, announced his death (seen in 2015)

Grant's agency released a statement, saying: 'We are heartbroken over the loss of one of the most genuine, caring, loving souls we have ever had the pleasure of representing.'

'Craig was more than our client, he was our dear friend. We all just lost a phenomenal man,' they added.

In addition to appearances in series like Chappelle's Show, The Sopranos and Boston Legal, he was unforgettable as Arnold 'Poet' Jackson in Oz, portraying a heroin addict, who recites poetry for his fellow inmates.

'The LAByrinth Theater family is deeply saddened to share the news of the unexpected loss of Craig 'muMs' Grant,' the post read; pictured in 2017 at the The Paley Center for Media

The critically-acclaimed ran from 1997 to 2003. Some of his other big screen credits included Side Effects, Birdman and the Good Time.

Grant was also in talks with the National Black Theatre and The Public to stage this summer, and had his writing described as 'Shakespearean' by the late Philip Seymour Hoffman, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The pair were both members of the LAByrinth Theater Company.

Unfinished business: At the time of his death, THR reported Grant was 'shooting a recurring role on the Starz series Hightown in Wilmington, North Carolina, and was set to travel to Atlanta on Monday to wrap a recurring arc on the BET streaming series All the Queen's Men (seen in 2010)

Grant was born in New York City, raised in the Bronx and attended Mount St. Michael Academy High School as a teenager.

Grant's loved ones turned to social media to grieve his loss, including actor Kirk Acevedo, who played Miguel Alvarez on Oz.

'My brother from OZ, I spent too much time with this man onset. Too many amazing stories,' Acevedo tweeted. 'This is heartbreaking.'

Talented: In addition to appearances in series like Chappelle's Show, The Sopranos and Boston Legal, he was unforgettable in the as Arnold 'Poet' Jackson in Oz, portraying a heroin addict and prisoner who recites poetry for other inmates

Additionally, he praised his pal's poetry and wrote Grant would 'be missed.'

'One of the first poets I ever saw at the Nuyorican during my first ever summer in New York,' producer Franklin Leonard wrote on Twitter. 'This one cuts deep. Damn.'

Meanwhile, writer Jorge Rivera tweeted Grant was 'a friend, a brother, a mentor, a confidant, a cheerleader, a collaborator, and a spirit guide.'

He concluded: 'There will never be another like him. I'm absolutely gutted.'

'My brother from OZ, I spent too much time with this man onset. Too many amazing stories,' Acevedo tweeted. 'This is heartbreaking'
Health official proud of residents turning out for vaccine shots
The South African coronavirus variant may make vaccines 30 per cent less effective, the Government's scientific advisers have warned.

Analysis by SAGE found the strain can cause up to a 10-fold decrease in the effectiveness of antibodies in vaccinated or previously infected people.

While antibodies are not the only part of the immune response against Covid  white blood cells also help  they play a crucial role in fighting off the infection.

In a meeting on March 12, SAGE said the drop in antibodies 'translates into a potential 30 per cent drop in vaccine efficacy'.

Its review found the variant was able to infect South African patients who had survived older strains and data suggested some immunised patients will still catch it.

But the expert group stressed it is still not clear 'what the implications are for protection from severe disease'.

The emergence and rise of the South African and similar Brazilian strain abroad has made summer holidays this year increasingly unlikely.

Ministers and their scientific advisers are keen not to allow a huge dump of imported cases into the UK which could undermine the country's vaccine rollout.

The South African coronavirus variant may make vaccines 30 per cent less effective, the Government's scientific advisers have said said (file)

They variants which have been spotted in the UK: Public Health England's latest find was a strain believed to have spawned in New York

The South African strain  officially known as B.1.351  has three key mutations on its spike protein which help it 'hide' from the immune system, known as E484K, N501Y and K417N.

Covid uses its spike to latch onto human cells and the current crop of vaccines have been designed to train people's bodies to recognise that protein.

SAGE said the Brazilian P.1 variant was less worrying, because it has fewer concerning mutations, but it might still be somewhat vaccine resistant.

The analysis presented to the group looked at studies in South Africa which found people infected with older strains of Covid were just as likely to catch the new variant as patients who'd never had any infection.

It said this was evidence 'prior infection, with 2020 prototype SARS-CoV-2, did not reduce the risk of subsequent Covid-19 illness likely due to the B.1.351 variant'.

India claims it has spotted a 'double mutant' Covid variant that spreads easier and may escape vaccines. India has claimed it has spotted a 'double mutant' Covid variant that may spread easier and make vaccines less potent. Government-backed researchers detected the strain in samples taken in the western state of Maharashtra. They suggested the variant is a hybrid of two different Covid strains  a rare event which occurs when two viruses merge together inside an infected person. Indian health officials said the variant's mutations signal a risk of 'immune escape and increased infectivity'. But they added that the variant had not been detected in high enough numbers to be behind India's latest wave of infections. The variant, yet to be named, has two main mutations that concern experts. E484Q and L452R  both found on the spike protein, which the immune system targets to fight off the coronavirus  are thought to play a role in transmissibility and antibody escape. However, British scientists told MailOnline today there was 'no evidence' to suggest the virus is a 'recombination variant', when two strains merge. Dr Simon Clarke, a molecular biologist at Reading University, said it was more likely to be another variant that randomly spawned with those two mutations. He added: 'We should not try to make this out to be something it's not because it is most likely the same thing we've seen in other variants, like the one in Brazil and South Africa  which all have multiple mutations on their spike protein. I've not yet seen any evidence to suggest it is a recombinant.' Only one hybrid version of coronavirus has been spotted so far. It was found in the US and was a mix between the Kent variant and a strain found in California. Advertisement

Real-world data of the strain's impact on current vaccines was scarce, SAGE said, with only one randomised clinical trial by AstraZeneca directly measuring its effect.

That small study, of adults under 65, showed the vaccine was just 10 per cent effective at stopping severe disease.

But this was widely criticised at the time because it looked only at a small number of young people who had extremely low odds of getting seriously ill.

Johnson and Johnson's vaccine, by comparison, was found to be about 64 per cent effective in South Africa - though it did not break down specific variants. And a jab made by the American firm Novavax was 60 per cent effective in the country, but again did not look specifically at different types of the virus.

SAGE said: 'Overall, this suggests a modest decrease in vaccine efficacy against B.1.351 infection.

'From analysis of clinical trial results and laboratory studies, a provisional conclusion is that as the neutralising antibody (NAb) titres fall against variants, we can expect a decrease in vaccine efficacy.'

Meanwhile, the analysis found reinfection from the Kent variant was 'rare' and that 'antibodies to earlier viruses will continue to provide protection', as well as the vaccines.

The South African version is thought to be at least 60 per cent more infectious than the original version of Covid, but it does not appear to have an 'evolutionary edge' over the Kent strain, which is why experts believe there has not been a huge outbreak in the UK.

Public Health England has so far spotted 412 cases of the South African strain in the UK, although it is likely to be more widespread because officials only analyse a handful of positive samples.

It comes as all lorry drivers entering England face compulsory Covid-19 tests to fight the threat of new variants - despite fears the scheme could disrupt food supplies.

Hauliers, border force officials and other workers have been exempt from testing when entering the UK, but Whitehall is set to announce a change this weekend.

Those arriving will have to take a customised test once they are in Britain, rather than at the borders, to avoid delays that could lead to empty shelves in supermarkets and shops.

Despite concerns over delays, Boris Johnson said on Wednesday that the Government 'can't rule out tougher measures'.

A Government source told The Telegraph: 'The potential impact is hard to quantify but there is a concern that an inbound testing regime will introduce an additional burden that could cause significant points of friction.'

Those staying longer than two days will have to have a test within 48 hours of arriving and then every 72 hours, with fines similar to the 2,000 penalties for travellers who fail to test during home quarantine.

Border Force staff engaged in cross Channel work and similar arrangements for those working on trains and ferries in the area will have to take three mandatory tests a week.
A group of powerful House committee chairs fired off a sweeping request to the White House and top federal agencies for documents related to the Capitol riot  forcing the Biden Administration to decide whether to make claims that would shield Trump administration conduct.

Signers include some of the same panel chairs, like House Intelligence chair Rep. Adam Schiff and Oversight chair Rep. Carolyn Maloney, who peppered the Trump administration with document requests, with little success.

Now, they want a raft of federal agencies to hand over documents and information about the weeks leading up to the riot  an event that sparked Trump's impeachment on 'incitement of insurrection,' which resulted in his acquittal in the Senate.

A group of House Democratic committee chairs has written the White House and agency heads seeking documents 'relating to the counting of the Electoral College vote on January 6, 2021, or the potential for demonstrations, violence, or attacks in the National Capital Region on or around January 6, 2021'

They want documents and communications 'received, prepared, or sent' by the FBI in connection to the counting of the electoral votes Jan. 6th  on potential for demonstrations or violence. They also seek FBI documents in the aftermath of the riot  amid a public airing of views from a top Justice Department official about whether rioters should be charged with sedition.

A similar request went to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, amid concern about the three hours it took to dispatch National Guard to protect the Capitol Jan. 6th.

The move comes after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's plan for a bipartisan riot commission to investigate the matter has stalled.

They want Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines to turn over threat assessments, information reports, and intelligence assessments.

The document requests went to top agency heads who might have information related to the Jan. 6th riot

Lawmakers leading top investigative panels signed it

House Intelligence Chair Rep. Adam Schiff, who struggled to claw information out of the Trump administration, was among the signers

House Oversight Committee chair Rep. Carolyn Maloney is also seeking information from government agencies

A request seeks information from the Executive Office of the President

President Joe Biden will have to decide whether to assert privilege claims or hand over information

A letter to White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain seeks documents in the Executive Office of the President and Vice President 'relating to the counting of the Electoral College vote on January 6, 2021, or the potential for demonstrations, violence, or attacks in the National Capital Region on or around January 6, 2021.'

The document requests are not in the form of subpoena, and are likely to kick off negotiations between Congress, which went to court to assert its oversight prerogative during the Trump administration, and the Biden-run agencies.

When DailyMail.com asked White House press secretary Jen Psaki about documents and information soon after Biden took office, she referred questions to the Archives. Document requests through that agency can take years  although the White House and Congress can order it to turn over information.
Russia could end the armed conflict in eastern Ukraine tomorrow, but the Kremlin chooses to fuel the conflict, Charge dAffaires of the U.S. Mission to the OSCE Courtney Austrian has said.

She said this at a meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna on Thursday, March 25, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

This month marks the beginning of the eighth year of Russian hostilities toward its sovereign neighbor. Russias aggression in eastern Ukraine has resulted in more than 13,000 people killed and more than 1.4 million forced from their homes. The participating States of this Permanent Council and the international community have overwhelmingly and consistently condemned Russia for its violation of Ukraines territorial integrity, yet Moscow continues to pursue aggression in the Donbas," she said.

The diplomat added that at the same time, Russian families endure the loss of loved ones in a pointless conflict in eastern Ukraine. "Our Russian colleagues consistently deny their countrys role in the conflict. Repeating a lie does not make it true. Russia continues to obstruct the peace process, including in the Trilateral Contact Group," Austrian added.

She noted that real progress in the peace negotiations can be expected "only when Russia truly acknowledges its role  in the conflict it manufactured and sustains  and only when Russia engages in good faith discussions on the peace process."

According to the U.S. representative to the OSCE, instead of blatant misdirection, Russia should focus on its own commitments under Minsk. "Namely, Russia should direct the forces it arms, trains, leads and fights alongside to lay down their weapons, dismantle unlawful military formations, and remove Russias hardware from the territory of Ukraine. It should immediately cease the emplacement of new landmines, facilitate the safe delivery of international humanitarian assistance to Russia-controlled areas of eastern Ukraine, and reinstate Ukraines full control over its internationally recognized border with Russia," she said.

"Lets be clear: Russia could do all of these things today. Russia could end this conflict tomorrow. Instead, it chooses to fuel the conflict," Austrian said.

As Ukrinform reported, on February 26, seven years have passed since the start of the Russian Federation's military aggression against Ukraine, which led to the illegal annexation of the Crimean peninsula and the occupation of parts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Ukraine created the Crimean Platform as a consultative and coordination format for coordinating international efforts to counter Russia's criminal actions and restore its territorial integrity. As part of this initiative, Ukraine intends to hold a Crimean summit in Kyiv on August 23 this year and adopt the Crimean Declaration, which will be open for signing by all countries of goodwill. The main goal of the Crimean Platform is the de-occupation of Crimea and its return to Ukraine.

ish
As pro-democracy supporters marched down the streets of Minsk on March 25, a reporter did a video interview with Nina Bahinskaya, a frail yet fiery veteran of protests in Belarus for decades.

As Bahinskaya speaks while she walks, a chilling scene plays out a few meters behind her. A woman -- later identified as film student Maria Tsikhanava -- is quickly approached by what appears to be a black-clad, balaclava-wearing Belarusian security officer, who grabs her and whisks her away, all in a few seconds and all unbeknownst to Bahinskaya, who marches on.

Belarusian leader Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya had hoped the rally on March 25 -- or Freedom Day, as it is also the day commemorating the founding of a short-lived democratic Belarusian republic more than 100 years ago -- would breathe new life into the country's protest movement demanding Alyaksandr Lukashenka, in power since 1994, step down.

The country has been rocked by protests since Lukashenka claimed a landslide victory and a sixth straight term in an August presidential election that many Belarusians believe was rigged in his favor. Supporters of Tsikhanouskaya, a political novice who was buoyed by big crowds at campaign rallies, was the actual winner. She is now in exile in neighboring Lithuania.

Tens of thousands marched in the wake of the disputed vote, but those numbers have dwindled in the last few months. Winter weather and weariness have contributed, but the incident filmed on the streets of Minsk on March 25 highlights the huge risk Belarusians take in coming out to voice opposition to Lukashenka.

More than 33,000 have been detained, hundreds beaten on the streets or in detention, some described by rights groups as torture, at least four people have been killed, and independent reporters targeted in the government crackdown. "The Belarusian authorities are conducting a targeted campaign of intimidation against civil society in an effort to silence all critics of the government," Human Rights Watch said on March 18 in a statement.

Crushing Protests

Ahead of the planned action, the commander of Interior Ministry troops, Mikalay Karpyankou, described Belarusian protesters as "enemies of our state," before vowing to "deal with them quickly," and harshly as in the past "with pleasure."

Crisis In Belarus Read our coverage as Belarusians continue to demand the resignation of Alyaksandr Lukashenka amid a brutal crackdown on protesters. The West refuses to recognize him as the country's legitimate leader after an August 9 election considered fraudulent.

Ivan Tertel, the head of the KGB, told Lukashenka on March 9 that foreign actors were applying "unprecedented pressure on our state," claiming -- without providing evidence -- that plans had been discovered to "destabilize the situation" in Belarus on March 25-27.

State-run TV had aired footage of Interior Ministry forces drilling ahead of the planned demonstrations. On March 25, police and army officers, police vans, military vehicles, were out in force across Minsk in a not so subtle hint to the public to stay away.

Lukashenka's government has justified its actions by casting protesters as pawns of foreign forces and being bent on causing havoc.

To avoid being swept up in any mass police crackdown, the Nexta Telegram channel, which has mobilized and coordinated demonstrations, had urged protesters to march through courtyards and organize flash mobs.

Even with less-concentrated crowds, the Belarusian human rights monitor Vyasna said a total of 245 people were detained in 23 cities and towns across Belarus on March 25, including 176 in Minsk.

Franak Viacorka, an adviser to Tsikhanouskaya, said there had been "hundreds of actions," including fireworks, flash mobs, performances, and courtyard rallies, but acknowledged the "tanks and armored vehicles" deployed by Lukashenka, had "frightened" people along with the earlier repressions and beatings. "It is clear this all had an impact on the number of people [who turned out on March 25]," Viacorka told Current Time, the Russian-language network led by RFE/RL in cooperation with VOA.

Growing International Pressure

While Lukashenka may for now "control the streets," as Tsikhanouskaya herself acknowledged in February, he is losing what leverage he had left on the international stage, at least in the West.

The UN's top human rights body on March 24 voted to investigate allegations of widespread human rights abuses in Belarus. Russia, which has close ties to Belarus and has helped prop up Lukashenka since the disputed election, was one of the countries to vote against the measure.

UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet has been asked to lead the investigation aiming to bring alleged perpetrators to justice. The rights council authorized a budget of $2.5 million and the hiring of 20 experts and staff to carry out the investigation.

Washington, subdued in its criticism under former President Donald Trump, has become more vocal under President Joe Biden. On March 25, the U.S. State Department demanded the immediate release of the more than 290 political prisoners in Belarus, and highlighted the plight of Ihar Losik and Maryya Kalesnikava.

Kalesnikava, who faces national-security charges that supporters say are absurd, had her pretrial detention extended on March 22. Arrested in September, Kalesnikava, a key aide to Tsikhanouskaya and a senior member of the opposition's Coordination Council, was ordered to remain in detention until May 8.

Losik, a popular blogger and RFE/RL consultant, has been held since June on charges his supporters say are trumped up. He had been charged initially with allegedly using his popular Telegram channel to "prepare to disrupt public order" ahead of the August 9 presidential election.

Losik, 28, tried to slit his wrists and launched a four-day hunger strike on March 11 after being informed he faced new unspecified charges.

The statement by State Department spokesman Ned Price came a day after the top two members of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee also called for the release of all political prisoners in Belarus and pledged their support for the pro-democracy movement in the country. "We will continue to support the Belarusian people's democratic aspirations until the illegitimate Lukashenka steps down, all political prisoners -- including RFE/RL consultant Ihar Losik -- are released and, new free and fair elections are held," Representatives Gregory Meeks (Democrat-New York) and Representative Michael McCaul (Republican-Texas) said in a statement.

The European Union, United States, Canada, and other countries have refused to recognize the 66-year-old as the legitimate leader of Belarus and have slapped him and senior Belarusian officials with sanctions in response to the "falsification" of the vote and postelection crackdown.

Angry Neighbors

On March 25, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania imposed travel bans on another 118 Belarusian officials. The first round of bans since November expands the list of the sanctioned, already containing Lukashenka, to a total of 274, the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry said.

Lukashenka also faces worsening relations with Poland, which accuses Belarus of persecuting the ethnic Polish community.

Andrzej Poczobut, a journalist and a member of the Association of Poles in Belarus was detained in Hrodna early on March 25, two days after the association's leader, Andzelika Borys, was arrested and sentenced to 15 days in jail. The arrest came amid a worsening standoff following tit-for-tat diplomatic expulsions this month, including the heads of the Polish consulates in Brest and Hrodna.

And while Belarusians may be for now reluctant to return to the street, more than 750,000 have added their signature to an online campaign launched by Tsikhanouskaya to demand Lukashenka enter internationally mediated talks on ending the political crisis.

Nexta has called for mass protests on March 27, casting it as "the day we start the second wave of street protests."

Despite the fear instilled by the Lukashenka government crackdown, Viacorka is convinced it is only a matter of time before Belarusians turn out in larger numbers.

"People need to be shoulder to shoulder with one another, to see again that they are the majority, to feel that energy they got from those large marches," he said.

With reporting by Current Time and RFE/RL's Belarus Service
The company said the agreement with DMG Blockchain Solutions is aiming to create a green Bitcoin and reduce the impact of cryptocurrency mining on the environment

( ) ( ) said it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with DMG Blockchain Solutions, a blockchain and cryptocurrency technology firm, to launch the first Bitcoin mining pool powered exclusively by clean energy.

Under the terms of the deal, Argo and DMG will jointly launch Terra Pool, which will initially consist of both companies processing power which is mostly generated by hydroelectric resources.

The firm said Terra Pool represented the first ever opportunity to create a green Bitcoin and is aiming to expand the shift from conventional power to clean energy and reduce the impact of Bitcoin mining on the environment.

"Addressing climate change is a priority for Argo and partnering with DMG to create the first 'green' Bitcoin mining pool is an important step towards protecting our planet now and for generations to come. We are hopeful other companies within the Bitcoin mining industry follow in our footsteps to demonstrate broader climate consciousness", Argo chief executive Peter Wall said in a statement.
ANSAmed - weekly diary from March 29 to April 4

(ANSAmed) - ROME, MARCH 26 - The following are the main events of interest in the Euro-Mediterranean area between March 29 and April 4: MONDAY, MARCH 29 BRUSSELS - EU 5th online conference on supporting the future of Syria and the region co-chaired by the European Commission and the UN (until 30/3).



LESBOS - visit by EU immigration commissioner Ylva Johansson.



TRIPOLI - reopening of the French embassy in Libya.



ABU DHABI - World Congress on Immunization start (until 30/3).



DUBAI - 14th edition of an art fair (until 3/4) .



TUESDAY, MARCH 30 BRUSSELS - Council of Europe parliamentary assembly (Committee for Political Affairs and Democracy - PACE).



WEDNESDAY, MARCH 31 ANKARA - Constitutional Court will be examining a request by the general prosecutor's office of the highest court to dissolve the pro-Kurd party HDP.



THURSDAY, APRIL 1 NICOSIA - an agreement for travel between Israel and Cyprus for vaccinated citizens will come into effect.



FRIDAY, APRIL 2 No major event scheduled SATURDAY, APRIL 3 CAIRO - inauguration of the new national Museum of Civilisation on the archaeological site of El-Fustat in Old Cairo with the transfer of 22 royal mummies from the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square.



SUNDAY, APRIL 4 No major event scheduled.



(ANSAmed).




U.S. President Joe Biden speaks during the first formal press conference of his presidency in the East Room of the White House in Washington, in Washington, DC, March 25. EPA




UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson on March 26 lambasted China for imposing sanctions on nine British individuals and four entities stating that the freedom to speak out against the human rights abuses faced by the Muslim minority of Uyghurs in Chinas Xinjiang is fundamental. British PM, in a Twitter statement, said that the members of the UK parliament along with other citizens that have been sanctioned by China are currently playing a vital role in raising the violations taking place against Uyghurs. Johnson reiterated his support to all individuals.

The MPs and other British citizens sanctioned by China today are performing a vital role shining a light on the gross human rights violations being perpetrated against Uyghur Muslims.



Freedom to speak out in opposition to abuse is fundamental and I stand firmly with them.  Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) March 26, 2021

Johnsons reaction came after the Chinese Foreign Ministry on Friday said that it has introduced sanctions on nine British citizens and four entities in response to Londons sanctions on Beijing over the issue of human rights violations in Xinjiang. It said in a statement, The Chinese Foreign Ministry has summoned British Ambassador to China to lodge solemn representations, expressing firm opposition and strong condemnation. The Chinese side decides to sanction ... nine individuals and four entities on the UK side that maliciously spread lies and disinformation.

Earlier, UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab also said if Beijing wants to credibly rebut claims of human rights abuses in Xinjiang, it should allow the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights full access to verify the truth.

China to freeze properties of 9 UK citizens

With the sanctions introduced on March 26, the Chinese Foreign Ministry also said that they will freeze the property of all the nine sanctioned UK nationals while banning the Chinese citizens and institutions from doing any sort of business with them. Those sanctioned include nine individuals, Tom Tugendhat, Iain Duncan Smith, Neil O'Brien, David Alton, Tim Loughton, Nusrat Ghani, Helena Kennedy, Geoffrey Nice, Joanne Nicola Smith Finley.

The four entities are China Research Group, Conservative Party Human Rights Commission, Uyghur Tribunal, and Essex Court Chambers. Chinese Foreign Ministry said, China is firmly determined to safeguard its national sovereignty, security, and development interests, and warns the UK side not to go further down the wrong path. Otherwise, China will resolutely make further reactions.

Image credits: AP


OneConnect to Foster Development of New Digital Ecosystem in Capital Market

HONG KONG and SHANGHAI, March 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd. (hereafter "Ping An Group", HKEX: 2318; SSE: 601318) has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Shenzhen Stock Exchange (hereafter "SZSE"). Representatives of both parties including Peter Ma, Chairman of Ping An Group, Jessica Tan, Co-CEO of Ping An Group, Wang Jianjun, Chairman of SZSE, and Li Hui, Deputy General Manager of SZSE, attended the signing ceremony. The strategic partnership will focus on fintech innovation, diversified financing channels, technology exchange and collaboration, and will help demonstrate the capital market's function of serving the real economy. OneConnect will facilitate the strategic cooperation on behalf of Ping An Group.

Peter Ma, Chairman of Ping An Group, said that the strategic cooperation established between Ping An Group and SZSE at the start of China's national 14th Five-Year Plan is of profound significance. The strategic cooperation is an important milestone for the Ping An to deliver on its "finance + technology" and "finance + ecosystem" strategies, by working with SZSE to build a digital ecosystem in the capital market.

Jessica Tan, Co-CEO of Ping An Group, said she believes that technology will play critical role in developing an influential ecosystem in the global capital market. This cooperation between Ping An and SZSE will support the innovation and development of fintech in the capital market, she said.

Ye Wangchun, Chairman and CEO of OneConnect, said, "On the basis of this cooperation, OneConnect will fully demonstrate its functions as a market platform and its ability to lead the development of financial industry technology as it supports SZSE in building an open and collaborative digital system for the industry."

As a leading technology-as-a-service platform for financial institutions in China, OneConnect had served nearly 700 banks and more than 100 insurance companies as of the end of December 2020. Ping An Group also signed a fintech strategic cooperation agreement with the HKEX Group in September 2019, with OneConnect leading on behalf of the Group. The two parties continue to work together in the fintech field.

SZSE is a national securities trading venue approved by the State Council of the People's Republic of China. Serving the real economy and supporting the national strategy, the SZSE strives to build an innovative capital center and a world-class exchange. SZSE places great importance on the fintech innovations and applications in the capital market. It promotes the development and progress of fintech to serve the real economy.

For more information, please visit www.group.pingan.com and follow us on LinkedIn - PING AN.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1474868/image1.jpg
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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.  Police are investigating after a woman was found unconscious Thursday afternoon in a car alongside the Interstate 25 frontage road near Montgomery.

Daren DeAguero, an Albuquerque police spokesman, said the woman was discovered by officers around 12:45 p.m. in the area of 4400 Pan American Freeway.

He said she was taken to the hospital in critical condition but gave no other details.

DeAguero said the violent crimes unit is processing the scene.

Police had cordoned off a large section of mesa beside the frontage road on Thursday evening. A car could be seen with its door open and evidence markers on the ground around it in the middle of the dirt area. Nearby, a mobile crime lab sat idle with its lights on.

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analysis

If the TRIPS waiver bid succeeds, access to Covid-19 vaccines and medicines could be expanded and nations could scale up their manufacture. But that would only be half the battle. South Africa would still need to fix legislation to enable greater access to these lifesaving drugs.

On the face of it, medical innovation offers hope for sick people in need of medicine, but many legislative and other barriers lie between innovation and the realisation of that hope. Currently, South Africa's patent law regime protects the intellectual property of a patent holder to the detriment of people's right to health. A patent holder has monopoly over the market of the patented drug. Thus, patent holders benefit while access to medicine for those most in need remains constrained.

This systemic problem is reflected in the production and sale of Covid-19 medicines. There is some hope that, for this narrow category of medicines, patent monopolies and inequalities in access to medicines will be corrected. South Africa and India made a joint proposal to the TRIPS Council at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) - the body tasked with coordinating intellectual property globally - to correct this for Covid-19-related medicines and technology. They sought a...
US President Joe Biden has blamed "the Brits" for leaving his great grandfather with no other option but to leave Ireland.

Mr Biden, who can trace family back to Mayo and Louth, was speaking at his first formal news conference since his term began on January 20.

The 78-year-old Democrat has often spoken of his Irish heritage, and has strongly supported moves to prevent a hard border in Ireland.

Asked yesterday about children at the US-Mexico border, Mr Biden referred to his ancestors when talking about the difficult choices migrants have to make.

He said: "When my great grandfather got on a coffin ship in the Irish Sea, expectation was, was he going to live long enough on that ship to get to the United States of America? But they left because of what the Brits had been doing.

"They were in real, real trouble. They didn't want to leave. But they had no choice.

"I can't guarantee we're going to solve everything, but I can guarantee we can make everything better. We can make it better. We can change the lives of so many people."
Madison County will end its mask mandate next month, following the lead set by Gov. Kay Ivey for ending the statewide rule for wearing masks due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle addressed the Madison County mandate at Thursday nights city council meeting. Madison County was not expected to continue with its mask mandate beyond the April 9 expiration of the statewide mandate.

Madison County began requiring masks one week before Ivey and State Health Officer Scott Harris put the statewide order into effect on July 15, 2020.

Battle said Madison County Health Officer Karen Landers has indicated they will go along with the governors mask ordinance and when the mask ordinance ends, the (Madison County) mask ordinance will end.

When Madison County put its mask ordinance into effect, Battle along with Madison Mayor Paul Finley and Madison County Commission Chair Dale Strong all supported it.

Since the pandemic began, 488 deaths have been attributed to COVID-19 in Madison County and there have been 33,401 cases, according to the Alabama Department of Public Health. There have also been more than 47,000 hospitalizations.

Hospitalization have been in decline in Madison County since reaching a high of about 270 people in early January. On Thursday, Huntsville Hospital reported 28 people were hospitalized in Madison County due to COVID-19.

In another nod to the progress being made in fighting the pandemic, the weekly COVID-19 briefings by government and healthcare officials in Huntsville will end next week. Those noon briefings have been ongoing for more than a year and are typically aired live by Huntsville television stations.

Even when the mask requirement ends, Battle cautioned that individual businesses and public buildings could still mandate wearing masks.

It will be up to that private entity or public entity and it will be up to individual choice as to whether you mask or not, the mayor said.
Among the great unknowns of the COVID-19 vaccines now in use against the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus is how long immunity lasts and whether booster shots will be needed over time.

Scientists at the VA's Office of Research and Development in White River Junction, Vermont, have found that the vaccines can provide immunity for at least seven to nine months -- a time frame similar to the immune response generated in people who have had COVID-19.

The study examined antibodies in some of the 240,000 veterans who have contracted COVID-19, Dr. Richard Stone, VA's acting under secretary for health, said Friday.

"The evidence is that between seven and nine months, we can feel comfortable that you are still protected. We think it will be longer than that. That is not a limitation," Stone said, speaking to reporters during a news conference Friday with VA Secretary Denis McDonough.

Read Next: Tragic Mishap Was Preventable': How the Marines Failed 9 Troops Whose 35-Year-Old AAV Sank in the Pacific

While several studies have shown that immunity following a COVID-19 infection can last at least six months, and perhaps as many as eight months, research on the lasting impact of COVID-19 vaccines is ongoing, and scientists have been hesitant to discuss the time frame before all the data is compiled.

But the VA's findings, Stone said, could "extend" the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions message that immunity from a vaccine lasts at least six months.

"Right now it appears we will be able to publish in the next few weeks," Stone said.

The results of yet-to-be published research should be treated with caution, as primary outcomes may differ from those in final publication.

Information on the long-term effectiveness of vaccines will help determine whether booster shots will be needed and help officials plan for a recurrent immunization program, Stone said.

"Hundreds of researchers and public health leaders, and I am one of those  believe this is an endemic disease just like influenza. How do we reduce mortality and hospitalization, and clearly it's the ability to deliver immunizations," Stone said.

As of Friday, VA had recorded 240,765 cases of COVID-19 and 11,218 deaths from the disease. VA has delivered 2,316,780 doses of the coronavirus vaccine and fully vaccinated nearly 1.7 million veterans.

VA now receives roughly 200,000 doses of the various COVID-19 vaccines each week, including those made by Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson, and it has built a system designed to administer up to 300,000 a week for veterans enrolled in VA health care, according to McDonough.

But a law signed this week by President Joe Biden greatly expanded VA's vaccination mission, giving the department the authority to inoculate veterans, their spouses and caregivers who are not enrolled in VA health care.

McDonough said that VA is building a computer system needed to track vaccines administered to non-enrolled veterans and other eligible people. The VA's vaccine allocations will increase to 250,000 doses per week starting next week, he said.

"It may take us one to two weeks to get there," McDonough said about establishing a system to report non-enrolled veterans' information to the CDC. "We're working feverishly to get to where we need to be, because we want to get the vaccines in people's arms as fast as we can."

McDonough added that the biggest challenge for VA regarding vaccine distribution is in rural areas where vaccine hesitancy is more prevalent. VA has launched mobile units designed to get vaccines out to rural and "highly rural areas," and has completed 317 missions, with another 31 planned by May 1.

"While we are very happy to see [an] uptick among our veterans of color -- in fact, we are seeing less hesitancy among Black veterans than we feared we might see -- we have work to do on rural and highly rural veterans," McDonough said.

"There's not hesitancy [among most vets], and there needn't be hesitancy," McDonough said. "We're now seeing 2 million veterans vaccinated with very little associated problems."

The VA maintains a registry of its veteran patients who have had COVID-19. This registry is used for research, to monitor for lasting symptoms and to understand the long-term impact on health of the illness, according to Dr. Carolyn Clancy, acting VA deputy secretary.

Stone said the VA immunization research was done in conjunction with, and was partially funded by, the CDC and the Food and Drug Administration.

-- Patricia Kime can be reached at Patricia.Kime@Monster.com. Follow her on Twitter @patriciakime.

Related: The VA Has Now Administered More COVID-19 Vaccines Than 42 States
The Huawei stand promotes 5G products at the IFA 2020 Special Edition consumer electronics and appliances trade fair on the fair's opening day in Berlin, Germany, on Sept. 3, 2020. (Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

Canada Enhances Scrutiny of Foreign Investments to Prevent Takeovers in Key Sectors

The Canadian government announced new investment guidelines on Wednesday aimed at preventing foreign governments and investors from stealing intellectual property and sensitive data and taking over key sectors.

Innovation Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said in a statement that the updates to the 2016 Guidelines on the National Security Review of Investments will enhance the scrutiny of foreign investments to ensure that theyre not a national security threat.

The updated guidelines released today identify areas that could present national security concerns in foreign investment. These include sensitive personal data, certain sensitive technology areas, critical minerals, and investments by state-owned or state-influenced investors, Champagne said. The renewed guidelines will provide additional transparency and clarity for Canadian businesses and foreign investors.

In January, Public Safety Minister Bill Blair said Canada has been targeted for intellectual property theft from states such as China and Russia.

Canada is signalling that it is not going to be as open or as friendly to countries that have potential national security concerns when it comes to our research institutions and funding agencies, Jim Hinton, a prominent Canadian intellectual property lawyer, told the Globe and Mail.

Champagne said Wednesdays announcement is in accordance with the April 2020 Policy Statement on Foreign Investment Review and COVID-19, which enhanced scrutiny of investments in critical goods and services, particularly in the health sector. He said the April 2020 policy will remain in place until the Canadian economy begins to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a joint statement, announced Wednesday with the Public Safety Minister and the Health Minister, Champagne said the government will ask universities and federal granting councils to also develop specific risk guidelines that will integrate national security considerations into the evaluation and funding of research partnerships.

Universities, I think, have been somewhat naive at times in Canada about the value of some of the research they are doing and this is a very clear message to them you have to be really careful about this information and it could have really sensitive applications, Peter Glossop, a Toronto lawyer, told the Globe and Mail.

These announcements came after Canadas Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) was criticized after it announced in February it was going to collaborate with Chinese telecom giant Huawei Technologies to provide research funding for Canadian universities.

The NSERC provides up to $4.8-million in research funding. While Huawei did not disclose the proportion of its contribution, but told the Globe and Mail that its greater than $4.8-million.
FAMOUS Bongo Flava artists on Thursday took to the stage in Chato to pay their tribute to their beloved the late President John Magufuli, who passed away in Dar es Salaam last week.

Among the artists who took the stage in Chato are Goodluck Gozbert, Linah Sanga, Stamina and Khadija Kopa.

Since the death of the former President Magufuli, who will be laid to rest in his hometown Chato today, hosts of local and some foreign artists have been mourning him with songs of grief and honour for his contribution to the nation building.

Other artists who have also mourned the hero with appealing songs include Nasibu Abdul alias Diamond Platnumz, Ali Kiba, Rajabu Kahali (Harmonize), Zuhura Soud (Zuchu) and Faustina Mfinaga (Nandy).

The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information, Culture, Arts and Sports, who is also Chief Government Spokesperson Hassan Abbasi hailed the artists for their consolation songs.

"The government has approved this schedule for artists to have the opportunity to perform farewell songs to their fallen leader. This is a great honour for artists to mourn for our late President Dr Magufuli," he added.

President Magufuli will be long remembered by artists for his contribution in the development of arts and culture in the country.

He is also fondly remembered for his support and appreciation of Bongo flava music, as proved when he included huge number of artists during his election campaigns
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) will soon come out with rules and regulations to guide and restrict the number of presidential hopefuls to stem early declaration of presidential ambitions.

It will address the issue of some aspirants coming out early to test the waters while the restrictions will also help the party focus on delivering its mandate as a government.



The General Secretary of the NPP, Mr John Boadu, who announced this at a press conference in Techiman last Tuesday, said regional executives from the Greater Accra, Ashanti, Bono, Bono East and Ahafo regions, have endorsed the proposals of the national executives to come out with such rules and regulations.



Presidential candidate



He said that the recent jostling for positions in the party was too early and unnecessary.



According to him, with the party in government, elections for the party's flag bearer position could only take place 11 months to the next elections in 2024.



Mr Boadu explained that the performance of President Akufo-Addo would enable anybody who became flag bearer of the party to win the 2024 elections.



Before the press conference, the national executives led by the national chairman of the party, Mr Freddie Blay, met the regional and constituency executives to thank them for the hard work exhibited during the just ended general election leading to the victory of the party.



Eight-year cycle



Mr Boadu explained that the national executive would remain focused in its quest to break the eight-year cycle and was not bothered about the person who would lead the party now.



He said the party was working hard through the grassroots to break the eight-year cycle in Ghanaian politics, explaining that the party was not taking anything for granted.



He said the eight-year cycle was unhealthy for the country and expressed confidence that Ghanaians would retain the NPP in power to break the eight-year jinx in 2024.



Registration



He announced that the party would next month begin a nationwide exercise to compile a new register of all its members.



The exercise, which will be conducted at all the party's 38,000 polling stations in the country, will form part of the party's restructuring and reorganisation efforts.



New members who desire to join the party will also be encouraged to register.



Mr Boadu said the date for the official commencement would be announced after the party's National Executive Committee met to adopt the proposed modalities for its rollout.



Mr Boadu, therefore, urged members of the party and prospective members to take advantage of the registration exercise to get their details captured in the membership register.



The register, he said, shall be kept at the polling station level and updated every six months in line with Article 3(10) of the NPP constitution.



Reclaim seats



During the meeting with the executives, Mr Blay challenged regional and constituency executives in the region to work hard to reclaim their lost seats, especially the Techiman North Constituency.



He charged the executives in the Bono, Bono East and Ahafo regions to go back to the drawing board to find out the cause of the loss of some seats in the three regions in order to correct their mistakes.

Source: graphiconline.com









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Scientists have identified new genetic clues in people who've had small and often apparently 'silent strokes that are difficult to treat and a major cause of vascular dementia, according to research funded by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) and published in The Lancet Neurology.

Researchers discovered changes to 12 genetic regions in the DNA of people who have had a lacunar stroke - a type of stroke caused by the weakening of the small blood vessels deep within the brain. Over time, damage to the blood vessels and subsequent interruption to blood flow can lead to long-term disability, causing difficulty with thinking, memory, walking, and ultimately dementia.

There are few proven drugs to prevent or treat lacunar strokes. The blood vessels affected are less than a millimeter wide and a lacunar stroke can strike without the person knowing. It's not usually until someone has had a number of these strokes and starts to see signs of dementia that they realize something is wrong.

To date, only one genetic fault has been associated with lacunar strokes. However, after over a decade of research, Professor Hugh Markus and his team at the University of Cambridge working with researchers from around the world now believe their genetic breakthrough holds the key to finding much-needed treatments for lacunar stroke and vascular dementia.

Researchers scanned and compared the genetic code of 7,338 patients who had a lacunar stroke with 254,798 people who had not. Participants were recruited from across Europe, United States, South America, and Australia after they attended hospital and had an MRI or CT brain scan.

They discovered that many of the 12 genetic regions linked to lacunar strokes were involved in maintaining the neurovascular unit - the part of the brain that separates the blood vessels from the brain and ensures that nerves function normally.

These genetic changes are thought to make the small blood vessels 'leakier', causing toxic substances to enter the brain, and meaning that messages traveling around the brain slow down or don't arrive at all.

The team now plans to test whether new treatments can correct these abnormalities on brain cells in the lab. They hope to begin human clinical trials in the next ten years.

The study also highlighted that high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and a history of smoking are causally associated with an increased risk of lacunar stroke, identifying things that we can immediately tackle.

Professor Hugh Markus, BHF-funded researcher, leader of the study, and neurologist at the University of Cambridge, said:

"These small and often silent lacunar strokes have gone under the radar for a long time, and so we haven't been able treat patients as well as we'd like to. Although small, their consequences for patients can be enormous. They cause a quarter of all strokes and they are the type of stroke which is most likely to lead to vascular dementia.

"We now plan to use this new genetic blueprint as a springboard to develop much-needed treatments to prevent lacunar strokes from occurring in the first place and to help stave off dementia."

Genetics offers one of the few ways we can discover completely new insights into what causes disease such as lacunar stroke. It is only by a better understanding of what causes the disease that we will be able to develop better treatments." Dr. Matthew Traylor, Study First Author, Queen Mary University of London

Professor Sir Nilesh Samani, Medical Director at the British Heart Foundation and cardiologist, said:

"This is the most extensive genetic search to date which truly gets to grips with what causes lacunar strokes. These findings are a significant leap forward and we now have a much greater understanding of the genetics and biology behind what causes the small blood vessels deep in the brain to become diseased.

"Lacunar strokes affect around 35,000 people in the UK each year. This research provides real hope that we can prevent and treat this devastating type of stroke much better in the future."
A host of Britains biggest fund managers have snubbed Deliveroos stock market float amid growing concern over the treatment of its workers.

Aberdeen Standard, Legal & General and M&G joined Aviva in shunning what looks like being the biggest London listing in a decade.

In a further setback, CCLA, which manages funds for the Church of England, charities and councils, said it would not take part, as did BMO Global, the asset management arm of the Bank of Montreal in Canada.

Underpaid? Investors are concerned about tens of thousands of Deliveroo's delivery riders, some of whom are thought to make less than 2 per hour

The funds collectively manage trillions of pounds of savers money so their decision is a blow to Deliveroo, which is seeking a valuation of up to 8.8billion.

There are concerns about tens of thousands of the firms riders, some of whom are thought to make less than 2 per hour.

Deliveroos 50,000 UK riders are classed as self-employed, meaning they are not entitled to the minimum wage, holiday pay or sick leave.

However, that arrangement has come under scrutiny after a Supreme Court ruling forced Uber to change course and offer taxi drivers those benefits.

Deliveroo insists that this ruling does not apply to its riders, who value the freedom to choose when and where they work.

But yesterday major funds lined up in opposition to the practice, saying it was a red flag.

Rupert Krefting, head of corporate finance and stewardship at M&G, said: We do not intend to participate in the Deliveroo IPO [initial public offering].

Whilst we acknowledge the disruptive impact that Deliveroo has had on the food services market, we still see risks to the sustainability of its business model for long term investors.

'This is largely driven by the companys reliance on gig-economy workers in the UK as informal employment contracts potentially fall short in offering the value, job security and benefits of full employment.

Andrew Millington, head of UK equities at Aberdeen Standard, said: There are actually a number of red flags around Deliveroo and the sustainability of its business model, but employee rights is the key one.

As a long-term owner of Deliveroo, we wouldnt be comfortable that the business model is sustainable and that the way in which its workforce is employed is sustainable for the long term.

The judgement that we have to make is whether we as shareholders can effect positive change. Where we find it much more difficult, unfortunately, we sometimes have to take the view that disinvesting  or not investing in the first place  is our only option.

L&G ruled itself out of investing as well, pointing to Deliveroos proposed dual-class share structure  which will give founder Will Shu greater voting powers  as a concern, as well as the rights of employees.

BMO Global and CCLA have also shunned the listing, according to the BBC.

The flurry of opposition came a day after Aviva revealed that it would not invest in Deliveroo because of investment risk and social issues.

Thousands of invoices from 300 riders showed that one-in-three riders earned less than the National Living Wage of 8.72 an hour, according to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism. Some reportedly made less than 2 per hour.

Deliveroos listing next month is expected to be the biggest since mining giants Glencores debut in 2011.

It is targeting a valuation of between 7.6billion and 8.8billion. Boss Shu, 41, is expected to make almost 600million from the deal.

But Neil Wilson, chief market analyst at Markets.com, said the company was now facing a bumpier road after public criticism from big City institutions.

Deliveroo said: Deliveroo riders are self-employed because this gives them the freedom to choose when and where to work.

We are confident in our business model, which has been upheld by UK courts three times, including the High Court twice.
A masked street vendor in Nicaragua, where public health researchers have lost their jobs for criticizing the governments lack of response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Credit: University of California - San Diego

By summer 2020, well into the COVID-19 pandemic, Nicaragua's hospitals were full of patients with respiratory infections. Doctors and nurses were dying. The health system was collapsing.

Yet the government has consistently downplayed the COVID-19 pandemic. Health care workers lack appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE), such as masks, gloves and gowns. Access to testing is rare. Businesses have remained open, and the government holds events with large crowds.

The true extent of the coronavirus crisis remains unknown in Nicaragua.

"It's been kind of surreal," said Jorge Huete-Perez, senior vice president and director of the Molecular Biology Center at University of Central America in Managua, Nicaragua.

"On one hand, we would hear about the many COVID-19 deaths in Europe and the U.S. and lockdowns all over world, including in our neighboring countries, and yet in Nicaragua we had the authorities telling us that everything was under control and that COVID-19 was a problem only for foreign people. They have opted for a policy of denial and secrecy, which in the end has only exacerbated the crisis."

Huete-Perez and other scientists have done their best to counter their government's lack of information and action. From the beginning, they knew the pandemic was serious, particularly given that a large portion of Nicaragua's population lives in poverty and in overcrowded spaces. They urged people to stay home.

Eventually, the crisis motivated a group of Nicaraguan researchers to investigate the real situation, particularly for those perhaps at greatest riskhealth care workers.

Huete-Perez shared his frustrations with an old friend and colleague: Dr. James McKerrow, dean of Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at UC San Diego. The two had worked together many years earlier to study Chagas disease, a parasitic infection that is the leading cause of heart disease in South America.

"I thought something needed to be done," McKerrow said.

In June 2020, Huete-Perez and McKerrow began collaborating to collect and analyze data on the rates of COVID-19 infection among Nicaraguan health care workers.

A researcher in Nicaragua tests samples from health care workers for COVID-19. Credit: University of California - San Diego

They discovered that a study conducted relatively easily in most countries was notably complicated in Nicaragua. One of the study's co-authors was fired for voicing concern about the failed management of the health crisis. Many health care workers didn't want to participate in the study because they were afraid that they would be fired for doing so. The team kept questionnaires very short so that it wouldn't take too long to fill them out.

"I remember one morning, almost at the end of the study period, one of our collaborators went to a hospital to pick up saliva samples for the study and had a guard following her for 15 minutes," Huete-Perez said. "As a precaution, she decided to leave the building through a back door."

In Nicaragua, hospital administrators have been known to spy on and intimidate doctors and nurses. After that scare, a doctor told Huete-Perez that he didn't want to continue with the study.

Despite these challenges, Huete-Perez, McKerrow and team finished their research and published their findings in January 2021 in the journal PLOS ONE.

"Contradicting the official line in Nicaragua can be dangerous," Huete-Perez said. "But in this study, we learned that many doctors, unaware that they are infected, are treating patients without appropriate protection. That is unacceptable."

More than 400 physicians, nurses and medical assistants working in Nicaragua provided saliva samples for COVID-19 testing and completed a questionnaire to track their health, demographics and job functions. The published paper revealed that approximately 30 percent of participants had been infected with the coronavirus. Nearly 55 percent of those who tested positive were asymptomatic and still treating patients. Half of the health care workers who tested positive were under age 40.

"I was surprised and disturbed to find just how bad the situation was," McKerrow said. "A lot of health care workers are infected. We saw that same risk initially in places in the U.S. too, but once we knew about it, we jumped on it, made sure they had adequate PPE, got tested regularly, and had access to medications and now vaccinations. That hasn't happened in Nicaragua."

Nicaragua didn't get to this state by accident or bad luck, said Richard Feinberg, professor in the School of Global Policy and Strategy at UC San Diego and an expert on U.S.-Latin American relations.

Rather, he said, the lack of transparency is intentional, and can be traced back to a popular uprising in 2018, during which President Daniel Ortega's government suppressed dissent with gunfire. Since then, according to Feinberg, the government has been trying to convince everyone that everything is back to normal.

"The Ortega government is increasingly authoritarian; his own wife is vice president and in charge of communications," Feinberg said. "Even before COVID-19, they created their own alternate reality that 'everything is fine' in Nicaragua, and the government is on top of everything. Yet the people can see with their own eyes that friends are getting ill, going to the hospital and not coming back out."

Explore further Health care workers most at risk for COVID-19

More information: Jorge A. Huete-Perez et al. First report on prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection among health-care workers in Nicaragua, PLOS ONE (2021). Journal information: PLoS ONE Jorge A. Huete-Perez et al. First report on prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection among health-care workers in Nicaragua,(2021). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0246084
Police request motorist cooperation for HRH Princess Ubolratana visit

PHUKET: Phuket City Police confirmed that roads will only be closed for a very short while to accommodate a visit by HRH Princess Ubolratana later today (Mar 26), but also asked for cooperation from motorists to ensure plans go smoothly.

transportpolice

By The Phuket News

Friday 26 March 2021, 03:36PM

Photo: PSU Phuket Facebook page.

Princess Ubolratana will be in Phuket to officiate the To be Number One event at the Prince of Songkla University Phuket Campus, in Kathu.

Her royal highness is scheduled to arrive at Phuket airport at 5pm, and will then make her way to the university along the main road, Phuket City Traffic Police Deputy Chief Lt Col Rungrit Rattanaphakdee said this afternoon.

During her royal highnesss visit, police will only close the road for a very short time, and we will re-open as usual as soon as her vehicle has driven past.

For those who have to travel along the road from Phuket International Airport to PSU, please attempt to travel earlier or, if possible, choose an alternative route so as to avoid any disruptions made by the HRH visit, Col Rungrit added.

Princess Ubolratana launched the To Be Number One Foundation in 2002 to combat drug use by young people. The foundation today has more than 31 million members throughout the country.

The project encourages young people to strive to excel in whatever field they enjoy the most, be it academic studies, sports, the arts or singing and dancing.
Oregon brothers Matthew Leland Klein and Jonathanpeter Allen Klein, who are accused of storming the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, were ordered Friday to be held in custody pending trial on six felony charges.

The two appeared separately from Portland before U.S. Magistrate Judge Zia M. Faruqui in the District of Columbia federal court via Zoom video conference.

Matthew Klein, 24, and Jonathanpeter Klein, 21, are expected to remain in custody in Portland at least until their next video-feed hearing on April 1 before a federal district judge in Washington, D.C. That also will allow Matthew Klein to resolve pending gun possession charges in Multnomah County. The brothers are being held at the Multnomah County Detention Center.

The federal magistrate judge cited a ruling out Friday from a panel of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia that stemmed from a challenge of detention by a 31-year-old Tennessee man and his 57-year-old mother from Georgia who were charged in the Jan. 6 riot.

The appeals panel specifically wrote that in its view those who actually assaulted police officers and broke through windows, doors, and barricades and those who aided, conspired with, planned or coordinated such actions, are in a different category of dangerousness than those who cheered on the violence or entered the Capitol after others cleared the way.

In the cases against the Klein brothers, prosecutors allege they both wrenched open a door on the north side of the U.S. Capitol after having already entered and exited the building. They were held back by law enforcement officers.

The exact example of what the court gave is what the defendant has done, Faruqui said during Jonathanpeter Kleins hearing.

Government evidence that Jonathanpeter Klein coordinated the trip to Washington, D.C., with his brother, was excited about it and proclaimed his allegiance to the Proud Boys, wore tactical gear and carried paintball guns and batons to prior rallies in Oregon, convinced the magistrate judge that pretrial detention was warranted.

He is more than just a passive participant. He was actively involved, Faruqui ruled during Jonathanpeter Kleins hearing.

This was an attack on the lawful democratic process and the foundation of our peaceful society as the transition of power is occurring, the judge said.

The Kleins were among the first group to breach the Capitol about 2:16 p.m., after Matthew Klein helped others ascend a wall to gain access to a stairwell leading to the Capitols Upper West Terrace, according to prosecutors.

After leaving, they later joined to wrench open a secure door on the Capitols north side as part of a second or third wave of attacks on the nations Capitol, showing a reckless disregard for others and the danger posed against law enforcement officers attempting to fend off a new group of rioters trying to gain entry, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher K. Veatch.

The two brothers are charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States, aiding and abetting in the obstruction of an official proceeding, obstruction of law enforcement during civil disorder, destruction of government property, entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds and disorderly conduct in a restricted building or grounds.

Theyre among more than 320 people charged in the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. The riot temporarily halted members of Congress from certifying the results of the 2020 Electoral College vote as they were forced to evacuate the House and Senate chambers while police struggled to hold back the intruders.

Veatch argued that the Klein brothers have conflated violence with political discourse and have shown a willingness, if not eagerness, to engage in violence against those with whom they disagree, be it Black Lives Matters supporters or the United States government.

Jonathanpeter Kleins defense lawyer Michelle Sweet had urged her clients release pending trial. She said he can continue to work at Ruggs Ranch in Heppner, located in eastern Oregon, and the ranch owner John Flynn could serve as his third-party guardian.

The Klein brothers were living with their parents in South America until February 2020. Their parents lived as missionaries in Argentina and Chile. Jonathanpeter Klein and his brother were home schooled when they were younger, and Jonathanpeter started doing landscaping work at age 15 after a morning of home lessons, Sweet said. He also volunteered as a translator, she said.

The Klein family returned to Oregon on Feb. 24, 2020, and the brothers parents now live in Baker City. Jonathanpeter Klein worked as a roofer during the day and for Dominos Pizza at night before he decided in mid- to late January of this year to get out of the Portland area because of the politically and emotionally charged environment, Sweet said.

On Jan. 25 of this year, Jonathanpeter went to work at the Ruggs Ranch, where he was being trained to serve as a guide by the owner, who has helped him kind of straighten his mind out, Sweet said.

Firearms on the ranch would be locked up as of March 31, and the younger Klein would be working with cows, hay and irrigation if he were allowed to be released pending trial, his lawyer said. Nanci Klein, the brothers mother, wrote a letter to the court on her sons behalf and also offered to have them return to her home to live if the court preferred.

The prosecutor presented to the court images of the Klein brothers attending a Sept. 7 demonstration outside Oregons Capitol in Salem, a Sept. 26 Proud Boy rally in Portlands Delta Park, and photos of the brothers at a pro-Trump rally just a day earlier in Washington, D.C.

Matthew Klein was charged with carrying a loaded firearm in a truck after Portland police stopped it leaving the Proud Boys rally in North Portlands Delta Park on Sept. 26, according to court records. Those charges in Multnomah County are still pending and were pending when he participated in the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, the prosecutor noted.

The younger Klein was caught on video wearing tactical gear and chasing down a Black Lives Matter supporter outside the Oregon Capitol on Sept. 7. and also firing a paintball gun at an unidentified target that day, according to court records.

Photos from Jonathanpeter Kleins email account showed him on Aug. 29 standing in the back of a red pickup truck with others, carrying an expandable baton in front of a Trump flag and near a frayed Gadsden flag in what appeared to be a pro-Trump rally in Oregon. It also showed a March 2020 photo of him standing before a Trump flag holding a rifle.

Veatch argued that Jonathan Kleins move to a ranch in a remote part of eastern Oregon in late January could have been a sign of flight.

His email and social media accounts that contain photos of him holding batons, rifles and paintball guns and posing for photos wearing the Proud Boys insignia shows he certainly wasnt trying to hide it or was displeased with his conduct, the prosecutor said.

-- Maxine Bernstein

Email at mbernstein@oregonian.com; 503-221-8212

Follow on Twitter @maxoregonian